Spitfire paced back and forth in her room in the castle. At her side with a look of worry was Feather Flight and sleeping snuggly underneath her wing was Nightingale. Every so often, the former Wonderbolt would stop and stare out the balcony window towards the mountains in the east, chewing her hoof nervously much to Feather Flight's dismay.

It was over those mountains that Winter Rose, her daughter, was fighting one final battle. It was no ordinary battle either, she knew this, but she didn't have the heart to tell her fiance, nor her second adopted daughter. The fear that came with knowing what was at stake in Canterlot drove her mad with worry. If Feather knew that their little girl was the only thing standing before the end of the world, it would break her heart.

She stopped her pacing once more and stared out the window towards Canterlot. It has been a few hours since the sky turned red and the moon eclipsed the sun, meaning that Phase two of the plan was in effect.

From her briefing with Luna and the other generals, it was up to Luna to entrap Celestia in Pandora's Box—A prison they created to keep Celestia subdued until the Elements of Harmony could be used to purify her. The second part of the plan involved her daughter. Her little Rose was tasked on sneaking into the Missle Silo and disabling the Balefire Bomb while security was low, that, however, didn't make her feel any better.

Even though that was the less dangerous part of the plan, Spitfire was still going to spank that fillies ass for taking such a risky mission, then never let her go once its all said and done. Frankly, she wanted to be the one to stop the bomb and keep her daughter out of harm's way, but knowing the risks, and being ordered by Princess Luna, and Twilight, she couldn't.

"This sucks!" Spitfire choked and began pacing again. Feather Flight let out a sigh and picked up Nightingale by the scruff and tucked her in on the king-sized bed at the end of the room. Once the little filly was nice and snug, Feather walked over to the pacing Spitfire and draped a wing over her before pulling the frantic mare into a warm embrace.

"I know," she cooed softly into Spitfires' ears as she tightened her grip with the aid of her wings. Spitfire closed her eyes, letting herself relax in the arms of the mare she loved.

"Rose is a strong filly. She will be home in no time, you'll see!" Feather purred. Spitfire cracked a smile, her worry subsiding to the warmth radiating from her marefriend.

"I hope so, Feather. I hope so." she sighed, looking up into the night sky where stars twinkled like diamonds even through the bloody haze, even two comets; one big and one small tried to reach their little brothers and sisters. Spitfire cracked a smile, and Feather joined her. Even little Nightingale, who was pretending to sleep, hopped off the bed to watch the shooting stars fly through the air.

Summer sat upon a low-hanging cloud in the sky, her features tired and disheveled. Her wings twitched as if they were in pain. Each spasm pinched her nerves as if she was flying faster than her wings would allow. If one were to listen closely, they would hear the muffled sobs and whimpers escape the clenched teeth of the Filly.

With her muzzle buried in the cloud for comfort and to silence her screams of anguish, Summer convulsed in a tiny ball of spasming flesh. It was as though ice was shredding her face, her body, her soul. Each shard cut deep into invisible wounds, leaving behind millions of scars that will last forever.

Yet, even as she cried to herself above the castle, her eyes never looked away from the blood-red sky. She couldn't, and when the sight of two comets appear from the east, the pain didn't matter, but what did matter was that her heart belonged to the smaller of the two.

She could feel it, the azure comet's heartbeat. The soft, gentle, and very playful heartbeat; one that loved music, that loved to dance, that loved simply to Love. Summer wanted to cry, to beg for the azure comet to come home, to not leave her, but she knew that was a lie. Once in the air, the comet will never come back and try as she might hold herself together from the pure agony of watching it go, it called back to her with such gentle tenderness, and soothing words, telling Summer that everything BE okay.

That she will find love again.

"But I don't want anyone else. I want you!" Summer screamed, her cries directed straight towards the fading comet. The comet replied, "I know." Deflating from what little energy Summer had left in her body, she watched the comet slowly disappear beyond the horizon, and once its azure tail left her vision, she managed, though all the pain she was feeling, to give one, last, genuine smile.

"I love you."

Luna huffed long winded breaths in victory, her opponent chained down and locked inside Pandoras Box. Her armor was in tatters, and beyond repair, but that didn't matter at the moment. What did matter, however, was the injuries she sustained during the fight against her sister, Celestia.

Large gashes from flank to whithers, hundreds of little cuts and bruises, and even a broken wing. Luna was glad that was all that she sustained even though if Celestia was sane, she could have received far more horrific wounds from her sister.

Leaning against the rune-covered box that was roughly the size of a small house, Luna smiled as her horn glowed softly in the darkness, casting a healing spell to mend her more serious of injuries. To her right, she found her scythe laying on the ground. The blade was snapped in two, as was the shaft. Off in the distance near the old pedestal of harmony was one part of the shaft, but as for the blade? She didn't have a clue.

"Well, Rose. I hope everything went okay on your end," Luna grimace as her healing spell found her blade deeply embedded in her back. Craning her neck to see the source, she heard the sounds of hooves rushing towards her location.

With growing weakness of her body, she saw a small contingent of ponies rush into the room, weapons drawn and clad in armor. From where she lay, the leader of the group looked like a Zebra, and the Zebra saw her. 'She looks familiar, but I can't tell through this haze.'

"There you are Mare of the Night. We have been given quite a fright!" the Zebra gasped. Luna managed to crack a smile as she knew who's voice that belonged to the Zebra, but before she could reply, the group gasped as well.

"It's Nightmare Moon!"

"She will kill us all!"

"My name's Jeff."

"Give us back the sun you monster!"

"Wait, she is injured?!"

Wincing from each insult and threat from the residence of Ponyvile brought a little bit of nostalgia from when they first met all those years ago. The same level of fear was present, but if it were not for Twilight and her friends, she might not have ever got to know them, nor enjoy her days off in Ponyville in the summer home she bought there after the defeat of Tirek.

'And quick to form a mob. Somethings just never change,' she chuckled to herself.

`"So Mare of Fright! What have you done this Night?!" Zecora demanded through her aging, yet still pleasant, if not fear-filled, voice.

"I-I have saved you from a Demon far worse than Tirek all those years ago, and locked it away in the prison behind me," Luna replied hoarsely. "Now...If you'll excuse me," she pushed herself up to her hooves, with her right forehoof curling against her body to protect it from further damage, and began hobbling towards the open wall. "I need some medical attention."

Zecora and the others watched in horror as the Princess of the Night limped gracefully away from them and towards a sizeable hole in the wall. Their words failed to form in their throats as the sight of one of Luna's wings dragged against the floor, held on by only a few tendons that were slowly weaving themselves back together from whatever magic she was using.

They watched as the Princess of the Moon stopped at the hole in the wall where the light from the blood-red sky poured in like a sickly wound, and heard a quiet, "Oh no." Enticed from the sudden stop, and with what little bravery Zecora could muster, she walked up to wounded Alicorn with wary trepidation, only to stop next to her and find what she was looking at.

To Zecora, there were two comets flying in the sky. To Luna, it was the bomb and a Jetstreamer trying to stop it. Luna slumped to the ground as blood-filled tears caressed her cheeks and dripped onto the ground. Rose had failed. She had failed.

In a matter of hours, everything will all be for naught. Soon, balefire will cleanse the world clean of all life. It will be so fast that not even the ponies within the room would realize what had happened. With all her strength leaving her, Luna hung her head and cried.

She cried for all the foals, pups, hatchlings, kittens, and cubs of the world, and how they would never get to dream again. She will never get to see the wacky adventures that children think of any more, She will never get to see her sister healed and brought back to her, but most importantly.

She won't get to see her night in all it's beauty one last time.