Dear Princess Celestia,

I’m happy to report that “The Winter Wrap-Up” proceeded flawlessly this year. Not a single animal was left unattended, every bird was properly guided back home, and all pony homes remained undamaged as the ice thawed away. Entirely on schedule too, with not a single activity ahead or behind.

Mayor Mare was ecstatic to hear the news, happy that this year required no saving grace from any pony to save the day. In her own words, “It does my heart good not to worry about these events all the time.” She is such a kind mare. We really are lucky to have her leading the town.

Applejack and the rest of the Apple family are hard at work already, as usual. They estimate that the first collection of apples could be as early as a few weeks from now, if their optimism holds up.  I’ve never doubted Applejack’s word before, at least when she’s not working herself to the ground, so I have no reason to start now.

Speaking of predictions, it came as no surprise to anypony that Pinkie Pie threw a party in celebration of the perfect wrap-up this year, complete with her very own fresh batch of spring cupcakes. The surprise here? They were filled with fresh dandelions from the new spring’s growth; just a few hours after spring had come in! That pony never does cease to amaze me.

Applejack and Rarity didn’t stay long oddly enough. It’s normal for Applejack to want to leave early, as she nearly always has some work that needs to be done at the farm, but Rarity usual uses Pinkie’s parties as an attempt for dress inspiration or sales. Her early departure was a rarity in itself. Stop laughing Rainbow. Anyways, she was probably being kind to Applejack, as the poor mare works so tirelessly day and night for her family. The two are rather a lot alike in that regard, Applejack for Apple Bloom and Rarity for Sweetie Bell. I must be hard having to work so hard just keep a home for their family…

Speaking of home, Rainbow Dash offered to fly me home. It was a little shocking at first, having the opportunity to be flown personally by a pegasus… sorry, “Equestria’s fastest pegasus.” Satisfied Rainbow? Yes I’m writing this down. Because the prince-Wait! Stop!

Sincerely,

Twi

Celestia blinked.

Of the many letters she received from her faithful student, this one, by far, had the most abrupt and unsatisfying endings she had ever read. No conclusion, no great lesson, and no “faithful” send off as she usually penned.

The princess of the sun began to chuckle lightly upon her throne.

“Is something amusing to you sister?” The white alicorn turned to see her younger counterpart, Princess Luna. The mare was trotting into the throne room, a look of curiosity on her.

“Just a letter I received from my faithful student,” Celestia answered honestly. “It feels as if something went… awry in the last moments of writing the letter.” She stifled another laugh as she spoke. Her magic enveloping the letter, slowly moved it into the grasp of the lunar princess. When the aura about the letter changed hues, Celestia relaxed her magic, waiting with a smile as Luna’s eyes began to scan the message.

“It does appear…” she noted as she read, “off in decorum as she approaches the end. Does thou believe young Twilight Sparkle’s initiative to be… lessening?” Her face formed the expression of worried trepidation, afraid that she would stumble into the territory of words her sister did not wish to engage in. A small release of laughter from the tall alicorn alleviated such fears.

“Not at all, my precious sister. There is a deeper, if you will, unspoken message in my faithful student’s words, one I believe that she is not aware she made.” Her words earned the same curious look from the alicorn of night, her brows low, lips slightly parted, and head tilted just a bit to the side. Celestia felt her smile stretch the skin beneath her pristine white fur.

“W- I,” Luna spoke with a slight blush, tongue near falling back into ancient Equine, “do not fully comprehend of what you speak? What message could she possibly pass without comprehension of doing so?”

Celestia beckoned her closer with a wing, still seated upon the throne of the royal court, now in a small commotion as the transition between day  and night was about to begin. With the exchange of the sky came a transfer of ponies as well, both of the royal guard and the ponies in service to each sister. While the transfer occurred, and the sisters exchanged the sun for the moon, the hall remained empty from visitors. Only the guards coming to and leaving from their posts gave the room life, aside from the royal alicorn sisters.

Luna seated herself next to her sister, wings furled behind her as the note floated between the two. Celestia gave a slight, polite, cough before she began to speak.

“Over my faithful student’s past letters, she has written more and more of the young Rainbow Dash remaining in her presence even as she writes these reports to me. This is not terribly unordinary, as the Elements of Harmony are all students of mine when it comes to the Magic of Friendship.” The lunar princess nodded her head in understanding.

“However, what is a rare occurrence for Twilight is openly showing her letters to her friends as she writes them. When she remained with me here in Canterlot, she was terribly picky about finishing her work before anypony could see it.” Celestia let out another small fit of laughter.

“Now what does… do you laugh at?” Luna asked perplexed.

“Just a memory my dearest sister,” the sun princess began, “one of Twilight in her youth. I attempted to sneak a peek at her work once as she studied through one of Star Swirl’s journals of magical research. The fright I gave her was great enough for her to burn her work to ashes in a second.” Small giggles began to work their way through Celestia’s muzzle, poorly held back by lip and hoof.

“Perhaps I have yet to adjust my sense of humor for this age,” Luna muttered to herself. “Memory of past aside, what does young Twilight Sparkle’s actions mean? Is her openness with her friends merely a sign of their friendship together?”

“Oh yes,” Celestia agreed, “there is a friendship between the two, never doubt that. What my faithful student has written upon, however, gives signs of something else growing between the two. It is a connection deeper than friendship.” Her eyes looked to Luna expectantly.

“So you suspect young Twilight Sparkle of finding a connection deeper than friendship,” Luna concluded, hesitation still present in her voice. “May I ponder upon this as we walk?”

“We?” Celestia asked teasingly. Luna did not appreciate it.

“I truthfully meant you and I sister, not only myself. We still have a duty to perform for our subjects.” Her words did nothing to lessen Celestia’s smile.

“I know, and you are right dearest sister, our little ponies need your night, and my day needs its rest.” The white alicorn stood from her throne, ruffling her wings as she moved from the steps. Once they were side by side, the two began their short trek to the castle’s balcony. The guards were near ending their rotations and as were the castle staff. Candles began to light under the command of unicorn maids and blinds closed by the pegasi.

“So this bond that young Twilight Sparkle has found… what would it happen to be?” Luna asked again.

“A young scholar once gave a quote that for such a bond.” The white alicorn gave a small cough before continuing.

“True love is like ghosts, which everypony talks about, but few have seen.”

The accusation of her sister made the lunar princess near trip over her hooves.

“Love, Celestia?”

“Indeed, love. No different than Twilight’s brother and our niece.” Despite the clear shock over Luna, Celestia trotted on in the faux appearance of noticing.

“It would give explanation to that rather abrupt ending. It is not fitting to the style of your faithful student.” Luna mumbled the last bit to herself, though not a word escaped Celestia’s ears.

“After three years of diligent well formatted reports, I can find it in me to forgive her for one moment of informality, further excused by the mare she was with.”

“Indeed. We, you and I,” Luna clarified as she saw the sparkle in her sister’s eye, “should offer our congratulations next she comes to Canterlot. Perhaps it would be fitting to invite the young Rainbow Dash as well.”

“Oh yes,” Celestia agreed. “It has been sometime since Twilight has come to visit. Perhaps now with the Winter Wrap-Up completed, and to such a stellar degree, my faithful student can find it within herself to rest for a moment.” Celestia and Luna both gave a small amount of laughter at the comment.

“Indeed so, young Twilight Sparkle does lack the ability to properly relax, lest by your order dearest sister.”

“True, though I do wish often she would refrain from seeing me in such a way, at least for a short while.” Not even the alicorn princess could suppress the sigh of regret that vibrated through her muzzle.

“What do thou- you mean?” Their trots slowed in pace, despite the short distance they had left to travel to the castle’s balcony. “Is it not a grand thing your faithful student holds you in such high regard?”

“I have no qualms with the praise Twilight offers me. It warms me like my sun to Equestria, knowing that I am appreciated for being more than just a ruler. However…” She licked her lips, as if uncertain of how to voice her concern. “As of years late, Twilight has begun the slow and inevitable descent of departure from me. No longer is she just my faithful student, or I her mentor. Now she sees me more as a… critic of her works more than a true friend, and I whole heartedly regret that Luna.” Celestia’s held fell. It was only by a small amount, but enough that now she and her sister where on equal height with one another.

“Oh sister.”

“I care for her Luna. I watched her grow from a young filly to a fine mare, watching as she learned with a passion that I have not seen for centuries. Every little thing I did with her remains precious with me, but I fear now that she remembers my actions as only those of a ruler to a subject and I don’t want that.” She shook as she took in a breath of air. Luna remained stone faced and silent. Both had since stopped their trot.

“Even now, she is falling in love with the Element of Loyalty and I feel a joy for her unlike I have for any of my other little ponies.” Celestia took in another deep breath of air before continuing. “I am honestly afraid Luna. Afraid that my most faithful student, my most precious pony, will someday no longer see the need to see me at all.”

Luna wasted no time to act.

As sisters would, she rubbed her muzzle gently across the white fur of her sister’s frame, offering the solar princess the calming touch of the lunar sky. “You think too heavily of these matters. Though I have known our subjects for far less time than you, I know well the kindness and adoration Twilight still has for you.” The white alicorn’s gaze turned to her younger’s own, looking into the soul of her most precious friend.

“Whilst all our other subjects forsook me during the time of departure and arrival, young Twilight Sparkle spent time to aid me.” Both ignored the shiver of the others, horrid memories of a time now long past them. “She saw me not as a princess of the night, but as a mare in need of attention and friends. Using the lessons that she had learned, from both you and the other Elements of Harmony, young Twilight Sparkle gave me the knowledge to make my own friends from our subjects, to enjoy my time with other ponies. Not once did she treat me as anything but another mare in need of some aid.” The lunar princess took a breath before continuing.

“You have done more than just well with young Twilight Sparkle, my dearest sister, and I assure you as the Mare of the Night, she sees you in a manner far different than the rest of our subjects. You are more than a mentor. You are one of her greatest friends.”

Celestia said nothing in response. Both stood there, hooves length away from the balcony, seconds away from performing the duty. The mind of the elder alicorn thought hard on the words her younger had spoken, thinking of her student’s actions, her words, her praise, everything that she gave her in return for lessons of magic. In honesty, Celestia would believe that she received the better end of the deal. She taught the basics to a filly that loved to learn while she received the adoration and love of a foal. Had they truly grown apart so much that she could no longer see the love Twilight had for her? No, no she hadn’t. She just wasn’t looking hard enough.

“You… truly believe that? You know that Twilight thinks of me in such a way?” Luna nodded kindly in response.

“I do. We are willing a gamble of our celestial orb for it.” She smiled at her elder, and Celestia did the same.

“Thank you Luna, you set an old alicorn’s mind at ease.” The dark alicorn chuckled at the words, but Celestia had her own quip ready to deliver. “But do watch your tongue, dearest sister. ‘We are sure thou forgot thee’s modern tongue.’” Luna’s eyes bulged at the accusation, and now Celestia laughed again in turn. Mane billowing behind her, she began her trot again for the balcony.

“Come Luna, it’s time to raise your moon.” With a sigh, the dark alicorn followed her sister to the castle’s edge, overlooking the capital city of Equastria. The sight was the same as it was every morning and night, but it made the view no less spectacular. Ponies finishing up their daily tasks, stores closing as they prepared for the blanket of night, it was a peace that many welcomed after the rush and stress of a day’s work. Luna smiled upon her city, their city.

Both sisters took a deep breath as they began their task. A shimmer of their horns in unison and the sky began to change. The giant celestial orb of warmth crawled beyond the mountain range, silently disappearing from the Equastrian sky. Its departure was mourned, but inevitable. And as the sun set, the moon began to rise. Its slow ascent brought a comforting blanket of light upon the otherwise dark lands, offering a sense of peace the burning orb could not offer. When it slowly settled into place, its friends began to take their place. Small dots of light decorating the otherwise barren sky. They stretched across the landscape, covering the land in a peaceful calm, lulling all beneath into a state of harmony. When they were finished, the alicorns turned to one another.

“Good night, my most precious sister,” Celestia spoke as she rubbed her head against Luna’s.

“And to you as well, Tia.” Luna returned the embrace in kind.

The white alicorn left for her chambers, knowing that as long as her sister stood on the throne, their kingdom would be at peace.

“Dash!”

The sudden shout forced the cyan pegasus to tumble from her peaceful nap. A quick flick of her wings righted herself just before she landed on the ground below. Her shock was there, but it was quickly replaced by a spout of anger. Whoever had woken her up from her nap was gonna have to come up with something good. A push of her wings and she turned to face the perpetrator.

All thoughts of anger left her.

“Geez Rainbow, you literally slept the day away,” a young purple unicorn commented as she walked up to her floating friend. A content smile was on her muzzle as she stood just beneath the pegasus. Dash, for her part, simply stared back, sleep still trying to take control of her mind.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m cool,” the pegasi spoke quickly, hooves landing on the ground as she gave her body a quick stretch. “Just woke up on the wrong side of the cloud. So what’s up?” Twilight opened her mouth to speak… only to be interrupted by the pegasus.

“Whoa! It’s already night! You’re right, I really slept the day away. Geez, this is gonna kill my schedule.” She rubbed a hoof to the back of her head, waiting for the Element of Magic to make a comment or remark on her slothness. When none came, she looked to her friend to see what was wrong. The smile the unicorn previously had was gone, replaced instead with a small frown of disappointment. Her hooves played with one another nervously, as if afraid to speak.

“You’ve forgotten haven’t you?” Rainbow Dash froze.

She had forgotten. She knew that. She knew because she couldn’t remember. That means that she forgot it, whatever it was.

Yep, completely and totally forgot.

“Nah, of course I didn’t forget Twi’. We’ve been planning this for a while now.” She did all she could to make sure the purple mare couldn’t see through her cover. Good thing she wasn’t Applejack.

“Oh good, you didn’t forget, I was worried for a second.” ‘So was I’ Rainbow Dash thought as she let out an internal sigh of relief.  “So, I have it all set up already, all I need is your help to make sure the skies are clear. You can do that, right?” The reaction of the blue pegasus said it all.

“In ten seconds flat!”

She was gone in a flash of rainbow hue, zipping into the night sky. The seconds were counting down in her head as soon as she bucked her first cloud. Pushing off of it, she moved to the next one just a little bit higher. She let her wing beat it out of existence as she moved to the next puff of white just beyond it. A small flap of Rainbow’s wings put her above. She stilled in the air for just a moment before she drove through the cloud, dissipating it into the night sky. She bucked two more clouds out of existence in her descent, removing another as she lifted her wings to ascend one more time.

With every cloud the pegasus kicked or flapped away, the brighter the sky got around her. ‘Sure beats doing this in the middle of the day with the heat on your neck.’ Dash thought to herself as she bucked another cloud into oblivion. And it was true. The cool night air gave her more energy than before, the stickiness of sweat yet having to mat down her fur. Too bad there wasn’t a night shift weather patrol, she would have really loved it.

By the time she was done, the sky was free of a single blemish. Not even a wisp of smoke was left to tarnish the sky. Flapping her wings in place, the cyan pegasus looked into the night sky to view the stars. The stars… viewing the stars…

Rainbow gave herself a face-hoof.

She turned in the sky as she searched for the familiar hue of violet on the ground below. The light from the night sky was more than vibrant enough for her to see. A dot of indigo caught her own violet eyes and she took off. Her unicorn friend was perched on a hill in the small field, a large metal object sitting on stilts just beside her. Twilight was looking at it, then the sky, and back again. Dash knew what the object was almost instantly.

“Oh good, your back!” she spoke enthusiastically at her descending pegasi friend. “I’ve got the telescope all set up. With a sky as clear as this, I’m sure we’ll be able to see every constellation Luna designed!”

“And who cleared the sky for your viewing pleasure?” Dash asked with a proud grin, chin up and hoof to her chest. Twilight indulged her with a sigh.

“You did Rainbow. Thank you.” She smiled as she moved her head towards the scope. “Do you want to see it now?” The pegasus looked to the telescope with curious eyes, tilting her head as if the question seriously mattered.

“Sure, I’ve got time.” Twilight let out a small laugh at the response, but trotted over to the telescope with her fellow mare regardless. They sat down with the telescope between them.

“Alright, now I’ve positioned the telescope to 25 degrees North of Northwest, so it’s left to just a rule of hoof to angle the rest of the telescope along the appropriate constellations in the Northern hemisphere. It would be hard to start off looking for specific discontinuities in the sky, so a low magnification of about eight time zoom would be a good bench mark, as opposed to a detailed forty or fifty. A place to look for would be-”

“Hey Twilight.” Said unicorn shook herself from her ramblings at the voice, looking at the pegasi over the telescope, hoof behind her head as she scratched her rainbow mane. “I’m used to clearing the skies, not really looking up at them. Do you think you could help me this time?”

“Oh, oh!” Twilight spoke with a dash of red from embarrassment. “Yes, oh I’m sorry Dash. I just get a little excited when I gaze at the stars.”

“I never would have figured,” Dash spoke sarcastically. She walked over to the unicorn’s side, sitting close enough for eyes to easily see into the lens. She looked into to the scope with one eye, squinting the other shut.

What she saw took her breath away.

As she looked upon the stars, she saw small specks of life dancing upon them, pillows of flame rising and falling among each one as they conversed within the sky. It was as silent as a winter’s night, but it was loud enough for Rainbow to tune out every detail around her. She watched the stars move in place. With every flame that grew and fell, it felt like she was watching them talk, speaking to one another in a language that Dash could only dream of understanding. Their beauty was… too awesome.

She gently maneuvered a hoof to increase the magnification, proud without saying it as she was greeted with an increase in the size of the stars. It didn’t change much, but what it did felt worth it. Small spots of the celestial orbs burned away from the small specks in the sky, letting them fall freely into the dark backdrop of the night.

“They almost look… alive,” Rainbow commented under her breath, staring in rapt attention through the scope as she gently moved it along its axis. Each star she saw was just as fascinating as the next.

“In a way they are,” Twilight commented beside her. “Princess Luna explained in one of her ancient texts that the stars are not all that different than Celestia’s sun. They are warm orbs of combusting helium so far away from Equestria that we only feel a speck of light and warmth from them.”

“How far away are they?”

“Light years Dash. Sorry to say, not even the Fastest Pegasus in Equestria could reach them in her lifetime, even if she could breathe in the vacuum of space.” She couldn’t tell if Twilight was teasing or instructing her, but she turned to see the mare regardless. Judging from the expression she had, it was teasing.

Her lips were pulled into a smile as her eyes shut themselves halfway. Her violet hued mane stood still against the still air of the night, head lulled just to her side as if she forgot how to keep it up straight. That familiar tail of violet and pink swayed behind her in a way Dash felt slightly… enticing. Rainbow swallowed a ball in her throat.

“S-so… uh, these stars…” she stuttered looking back into the sky. She wanted to look back into the telescope, Dash really did. But if she did, Twilight would have seen the red burning harshly against her cyan coat. That just wouldn’t be cool. She had to ask something, anything, to get Twilight focused on them. It shouldn’t be that hard. She was an egghead. So the fastest pegasus in all of Equestria asked the first thing that came to her mind.

“H-How many of them are there?”

“Oh, millions of them!” the lavender unicorn spoke enthusiastically. “Each star you see is part of the greater Equine Galaxy, so named by Princess Luna for being shaped similar the princesses. Every star you see is part of our galaxy, but beyond our galaxy there are millions of others, and each of those galaxies have millions of their own stars! And the best part about it? Each of those stars has their own ring of planets surrounding them, much like Equestria with Princess Celestia’s sun. I haven’t even been able to calculate the number of planets that could theoretically sustain life, let alone exist at all!”

Rainbow let her head come back down; watching with a small smile at the unicorn’s unbridled joy towards her knowledge of the night sky. But the pegasus had to admit it. Knowing just how large the universe was, putting in perspective how small they really were. It just felt like… there was so much more for them to do.

It was odd really, and she scratched her mane as the thought surfaced. Just a few years ago, she would have hated the thought of being so small compared to everything around her. But now, after being with her friends, banishing evil with the Elements of Harmony, and seeing just what she was capable of, it made her feel… giddy, she guessed. The idea there were other places out there, other living things she had yet to see, it excited her.

She really was the fastest pegasus in all of Equestria, but what about other worlds? Would there be pegasi there as fast as her? Unicorns as smart as Twilight? Earth Ponies as strong as Applejack? Rainbow let off a snicker. Now she knew why Twilight loved to do research so much.

Maybe being an egghead wasn’t so bad after all.

“So,” the pegasus began, earning the unicorn’s attention, “show me what else is out there.” With a proud smile, Twilight did just that.

Twilight must have spent hours describing the celestial sky to the pegasus, detailing every ounce of information she had piled up on Luna’s sky. She noted the naming of every star, the decision to create every constellation, the meaning behind every location, and the mysteries behind it all. She spoke about the planets that existed between the stars, so small not even her telescope could see, about the dust clouds that moved without direction through the abyss of space, guided only occasionally by the lunar princess herself. With every word she spoke, she grew more and more excited. With every word she spoke, Dash grew more and more nerve racked.

The pegasus was losing concentration between Twilight’s words. Every time the unicorn gestured towards a constellation, her lavender coat would brush over Dash, eliciting a warm feeling. She would lean in close and instruct the pegasus on how to adjust the telescope properly, letting her breath tickle down the cyan coat of her friend, letting her feel like electricity was shooting through her body. The worst was every moment the unicorn decided to stop talking, her tail chose to catch up for her. It swished back and forth against rainbow’s own tail, occasionally entwining itself with the rainbow fibers of the pegasus. Sweat was beading across her mane and muzzle, dripping like she just flew through a cloud. Twilight didn’t notice a thing.

“Do want to see more?”

As much as Rainbow enjoyed the stars, she really did, she didn’t want to look through the telescope anymore. She was just too hot to focus, especially with Twilight so close to her. With a sigh, she let herself fall back onto the grass, letting the cool blades chill her body. A pleasurable sigh released itself from her lips.

“Are you alright Dash?”

Was she alright? Completely. Was she happy? Insanely. Was she comfortable? Not quite. She could feel Twilight looking down at her as she laid in the grass, probably going through a list of possibilities for her friend’s odd behavior. She didn’t mind at all, having the unicorn dot over her, but she couldn’t stand how calm Twilight was about this.

Did she even know what was going on, or was she just that much of an egghead? Inviting her out to see the stars? Alone? How else was a pony supposed to take that?

Dash sucked in a breath. She had to steel herself. Courage. Loyalty. She could do this.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m cool,” she said with her front hooves behind her head. Tilting her head back, she looked up into the night sky, watching the stars without a telescope in hoof. They were numerous enough, and bright enough, to still take her breath away.

It gave her an idea.

“Hey Twi, why don’t you lay down with me?” Dash said as she patted a patch of grass next to her. She fully expected her friend to give a confused look.

“Really? But we only just started looking through the telescope. I mean, there is so much more for you to see. There’s the astral cloud just beyond the constellation of Orion’s Mane, or even the meteor shower that supposed to pass next to The Star of Spartatrot. That’s not to mention the image we can see of Starswirl’s Comet tonight. Do you really want t-” She never got a chance to finish.

In the midst of her ramblings, Dash had managed to grasp on the unicorns side, pulling the surprised lavender mare down onto the grass next to her. Her face was full of bewilderment before looking over at Dash, then the sky, and back to Dash again. The pegasus, to her credit, just gave her signature grin as she looked back.

“See, isn’t this better?”

Twilight had to admit, it was better.

She wasn’t analyzing the stars for details, wasn’t outlaying grand portraits in the eternal sky, didn’t question the amount of energy or heat from each star, and definitely wasn’t running any kind of calculation to predict which star was brighter than any other.

It felt… odd, but nice. Lying on her back, staring into the starry night sky, clear of even a single blemish, it really was very nice.

“Yeah, I guess it is Rainbow.”

“Good,” Dash responded as she snuggled herself further into the grass, hooves behind her head for support.

It was odd, at least to Twilight. All the years she had spent researching the stars, she couldn’t remember the last time she just sat back and appreciated them for being… there. It was simple to blame her analytical mind, her desire to  learn more that should ever be possible, but that excuse could only go so far.

If she was ever quizzed about the intentions of Celestia, a quiz that she would need prep time to study for, she was sure of only a few facts. Sending Twilight to Ponyville was not merely convenient timing on the alicorn’s part. She believed Twilight capable, more than herself, to free Princess Luna from the curse and monstrosity of Nightmare Moon. Small things like that made up all of Princess Celestia’s decisions. Small, almost unnoticeable orders that would roll into something far greater than what they seemed.

Another prime example of that would be her friendship reports. Celestia knew more than most ponies, aside from her parents and Shining Armor, that Twilight sought a deeper understanding in everything. She was a hard pony to stand back and appreciate the big picture. While the friendship reports were meant to do just that, Twilight slowly realized something over time. In order to write the reports, to really understand what she was sending to her mentor, she had to appreciate the big picture.

Twilight couldn’t just report facts about what made up the bonds of friendship, she had to experience them, feel them, and build them. She had to experience the entirety of what it meant to be a friend to some pony, and how that made all the difference in the world. Simply, her work on friendship, he reports on the magic behind it, gave Twilight Sparkle a deeper appreciation for just what the big picture meant.

Now, lying under Princess Luna’s night sky, she was so glad her princess had given her the task. After all, now she could appreciate the night sky for its beauty, not its depth.

“Are you cold?” Twilight didn’t even think she was until she felt her legs shiver.

“Sorry, I guess I am. Just got too caught up in this.” She let out a weak laughter as she began to roll onto her side. “It was supposed to get a little cold tonight, so I brought a blanket with meee!”

She let out small shriek of surprise as she felt herself being pulled onto her back. Confused, she turned her head to Dash, ready to ask what was wrong. But she never needed the words.

Rainbow Dash had her wings extended over and under the purple unicorn, cocooning her within the cyan wings of Equestria’s fastest, and coolest, pegasus.  She wouldn’t lie, it was warm, and extremely comfortable, more so than the rough fabric of her thick blanket would have been. Each feather in Dash’s wings tickled Twilight through her fur, warming her with their touch. As ironic as she knew it was, and as she would later note, it felt like she was lying on a cloud.

“R-Rainbow…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Dash responded with her signature smile. “Wasn’t going to let my number one favorite bookworm get frigid under my watch.” She sounded so proud, so happy to be keeping Twilight warm. It made the violet unicorn blush.

“You can’t see the stars though.”

“There’s always tomorrow.”

Twilight was truly speechless. Equal parts due to comfort, shock, but most importantly to her, joy. She didn’t know why, she literally could not explain why, but having Rainbow Dash hold her like this, protectively in a warm embrace, felt… warm.

“Thank you.” She spoke quietly, nestling herself into the embrace of her friend.

“Any time Twi.”

The two lay together peacefully, warmed by each other and cooled by the night. Twilight let herself snuggle closer as she enjoyed the Pegasus’s embrace. It was peaceful in a way she could hardly describe, a task difficult enough for her inquisitive mind. It was more than just the warmth of her friend, or the comfort her feathered wings provided. It was as if she was being guarded, protected, within the embrace of Dash. It was almost as if nothing else in Equestria mattered.

All that mattered to her right now was Rainbow Dash.

“Wait… what’s that?” Dash asked as she pointed her hoof around Twilight. The purple mare gave the pegasus as quizzical look before shifting in the pegasus’s wings. When she faced the same direction as Dash, she saw just what was so odd.

A small spot was missing in the sky. That’s the only way she could describe it. Where she was looking, she knew there were supposed to be several stars in place. No less than 3 stars were missing from what was supposed to be the constellation of Zinc the Griffon. That couldn’t be right. There was no way Princess Luna would possibly make that kind of mistake. A hundred ideas went through Twilight’s mind for the reasons those few star could be missing. Maybe it was a trick of the night, a few stray clouds that blocked the view. Or maybe some artificial light was taking away from their projection. It was also entirely possible that the princess removed them to remodel the constellation. They did only make up the griffon’s shield. Now he would be holding just a sword in his battle stance. But all the ideas that Twilight had became nothing when she saw another oddity in the sky.

A star vanished from sight.

The sight filled her with complete and total dread. From the rigidness of Dash’s wings, she must have seen the same thing.

“I know I’m new to this and all, but… that isn’t normal, is it?”

“No,” Twilight spoke, her voice near failing as she watched another brilliant star in Luna’s sky be swallowed.

“No it isn’t.”

Despite how warm Rainbow’s wings were, Twilight couldn’t suppress her shiver of terror.

“Please hold still darling,” a white unicorn spoke as her magic levitated a brush in the air. “Your mane is just full of the dreadful Knots. Celestia knows when the last time you ran a proper comb through this was.” She heard a small grumble beneath her, but did well to ignore it. What she did not ignore were the words that followed.

“’Ah don’t know ‘bout this Rarity,” a tan coated pony spoke in return to the unicorn’s words. “Ain’t likely ah’m gonna be goin’ out concerned about mah looks any day now.”

“Of course you’re not Applejack, and that’s precisely the problem,” the unicorn answered. “You are a young mare, hard-working and, strong as you are, you need to look your best from time to time. Honestly, how can you expect to attract the attention of any decent colts if you’re covered in dirt with knotted hair all the time?”

“Now hold it righ’ there darlin’,” Applejack spoke as she began to turn about, but a quick hoof held her in place. “Who’s ta say I don’t get no attention from them colts an’ stallions?” She gave a small grunt as Rarity took out another stubborn twist in her mane. The unicorn couldn’t’ conceal her smile even if she tried.

“I’m to say so sweetheart, and it would just be the death of me if I let you go out thinking that mister right would just fall in your lap.” Her magic lifted earth pony’s mane, fluffing it like a pillow before letting it settle back down. “It may be the duty of the stallion to ask you out for tea, but you have to grab his attention first. The first thing you want him to think is, ‘Wow! That mare is simply smashing!’ Not something along the lines of, ‘She could do with a bath.’ Appearances do matter Applejack.” Clear as day, the earth pony was about to make a retort. But before she could voice her though, Rarity lowered the brush and presented the mare a mirror.

“Done! So what do you think? I’d say you look rather dazzling myself.” It may not have been the first time Applejack had to agree with Rarity, but should could count the occasions like apples in a basket.

Her mane hung low against her neck, falling just beneath the knees in her fore-hooves. Under the lighting in Rarity’s Boutique, it practically shined. It almost felt unnatural to her. She was so used to the thick straw blonde mane that seeing such… regal redesign felt more like watching another pony than herself.

“One could so easily get lost in your eyes with your hair down like this. Truly darling, you simply must wear it like this more often.” Applejack nodded her head dumbly. Just another apple in a basket, the earth pony reminded herself, just one more occasion out of less than a dozen.

But there was still that nagging sense of loss. Not sorrow or grief, just… like something wasn’t there, an empty spot that she needed to be filled to think properly? Was it something that Rarity did to her? Maybe, but the orange mare doubted. She shook her head left and right, letting her long mane billow in the momentum of the swings. Even to herself, the image in the mirror nearly took her own breath away.

“I… I must say that are quite dazzling Applejack,” the unicorn spoke with a stutter. “I don’t suppose we could give you these treatments of mine more often, could we?”

“’Ah suppose we could,” she answered automatically. That nagging feeling of loss still hung with her. What was it? She certainly didn’t miss the messy mare that stared back at her an hour prior to Rarity’s “beautification process”, but it still felt like something could be added, improved upon the unicorn’s design. Her hoof rose to brush the top of her head, tracing her straightened mane from top to bottom. As soon as she pressed on the top of her head, she knew what was missing.

Her signature Applejack hat.

She put her hoof to her face in disbelief of her own stupidity. How could she forget her favorite hat? She didn’t look that good. Did she? Didn’t matter, she needed her hat back. Looking to her side, she saw the familiar shade of brown. A quick bit and flick of her head, and she felt the accustomed sensation of it settling back on her head. She also heard the groan from Rarity like a tree in a spring’s new wind.

“Really Applejack? We spend the better part of an hour straightening and fixing your mane only for you to put that silly little accessory back over it? This experience was supposed to make you see yourself more as a mare, not an apple picker with a fine mane.”

“Hey now,” Applejack retorted with a turn, “I’ve had this hat with me for the better par’ of ma’ life. Isn’t no way ah’m gonna up and leave it for one day of brush n’ comb.” She rose to her fullest as she looked at the unicorn, who looked back without a hint of submission.

“I am not saying you have to do away with it, as much as that would please me, I simply wish you could enjoy some time without that rough patched hat on your head. Really darling, your hair looks so marvelous without it.”

“An’ ah say that ah look plenty well better with it. Been in mah family for a good long while now, and it’s gonna stay there.”

“And it can honey, but can’t it stay in your home perhaps? Why wear this when out and about in Ponyville? Wouldn’t you rather have ponies look at you for your elegance and not your… what is the word for it… grit?”

“Hey now, grit ain’t nothin’ bad. It sure beats the stuffin’ out of elegance. Ah would much rather them ponies look to me for my grit than looks. Skin ain’t that deep.”

“My apologies Applejack, I must have used the wrong word,” Rarity spoke with a bitten lip. The apple farmer smiled in victory, in what she took as submission form the unicorn.

“Ain’t no problem sugarcube.”

“But if you hold that hat of yours in such high regard, perhaps I should try it on myself.” Before the earth pony could muster up a proper argument, she felt the fabric of her hat leave her flattened mane. Her jade eyes looked up to see the hat surrounded by the familiar hue of Rarity’s magic, levitating it through the air. It landed on the white unicorn’s head with a graceful pat.

For a moment, neither spoke. Rarity felt she needed to move her head about to test the mobility of the hat, while Applejack looked on with a dumbstruck expression. She knew Rarity to be one to march to her own beat, setting styles that others could follow, but she never expected the unicorn to so openly take her hat.

Or look so good while wearing it.

“I must admit darling, it does feel nice and warm,” the unicorn spoke as she pushed the hat with her hoof. “But I don’t really see how you come across wearing it so often.”

“Just… Just habit ah guess. Can ah have it back now?”

“Hmm, hold on a moment. I think I may be able to spruce this up a bit.” Those words caught the pony’s attention.

“Oh no, hay no, ain’t no way you’re messin’ with mah hat,” she spoke as she marched closer to her unicorn friend.

“Why ever not? Don’t you think I did a marvelous job on your mane?”

“Yeah, ya did, but my hat ain’t made to be fiddled with. Best be given it back to me now.”

“Please Applejack, I know that I have just the materials needed around her somewhere. Give me a few moments and I’ll make this hat of yours something worth wearing with that new mane of yours.”

“Aw no, that ain’t gonna happen Rarity,” she spoke as she raised her muzzle to take the hat back. Rarity, however, seemed rather adamant this time about getting her way. Applejack felt the pull of the unicorn’s magic just after she found herself lying on her back, looking up stunned at the white unicorn.

“Now I know this isn’t what you are used to, but I promise you that I can make this hat something presentable.” Those words were starting to annoy the orange pony.

“Confound it Rarity!” she spoke harshly. “That is what ah was ‘fraid of! Ah don’t mind a bit of sprucin’ up time to time, but do ya really think that ah want my hat to change with me? Please Rare, can’t I have it back?”

The words cut Rarity deep. She didn’t mean to threaten the earth pony like she had. A change in style, an update in wardrobe, which was what she did daily for ponies all around Ponyville, Canterlot, Trottingham, and beyond. Was… was she really hurting her friend by trying to? With that thought in mind, adding details to the hat felt far less needed than before.

Still, the thought continued to linger. Would it hurt to at least ask?

“Maybe I could just add a little daisy design?”

“That’s it.”

Before the white mare could let out a shriek, she felt the full weight of Applejack upon her, pushing the unicorn on her back as the earth pony reached with her muzzle for the hat on her head.

Apparently yes, it would hurt to ask.

“A-Applejack!” Rarity spoke the name out of shear surprise. Her hooves were pinned to her sides as the heavier mare’s weight pressed won on them, neck craning to reach the brown cowboy cap on the unicorn’s head.

“Now best be holdin’ still darlin’. I ain’t gettin’ up till I get what I want.”

The unicorn gasped audibly as she felt the farmpony lean close to her, fur tickling her underbelly as she reached further for the hat. Just out of reach, but unwilling to unpin Rarity, the orange pony, reached with her tongue, hoping to get catch just the tip of her hat with the wet appendage.

It was at that moment another pony voiced itself.

“O-Oh my…”

The farmpony and fashion star turned their heads to see the source of the noise, despite their predicament.

The found the four familiar faces of their friends looking back at them. Blushing was hardly the word used to describe the heat the four felt. Embarrassment was hardly the word that explains what Rarity and Applejack were feeling. All they saw was the contact, the accessories, and tongue extended towards the unicorn’s horn.

“Th-This…” Applejack stuttered from atop Rarity, unable to find the words. “This ain’t wha’ it looks like!”

“She’s right!” Rarity spoke in agreement. “We were just helping one another with senses of style is all!”

“But… but you are, um, wearing her hat,” the shy canary pegasus spoke with a slightly bent hoof.

“Trading fashion!”

“And Applejack, your mane is so… straight,” Dash noted with a tilt of her head.

“Like the gal said, fashion sense!”

“Then why were you sticking your tongue out, too?”

“And you’re, um, lying on one, ah, another…”

“Like she said, it ain’t what it looks like!”

“Really? That’s weird, cause I could have sworn that you to were trying to do the oogie boogie together. You know the twisted tango, midnight wallop, night time rooster, or maybe the-”

“It doesn’t matter!” Twilight interrupted the pink earth pony, new found urgency in her voice as she fought away the blush. She took a few gasping breaths as she refocused her mind. She found Pinkie Pie, Dash found Fluttershy, now they found Rarity and Applejack. It didn’t, shouldn’t, matter what they were doing. Something far worse than poor timing was occurring around them.

“Girls, we have to get to Canterlot, fast. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna need us!”

“Wha’ for darlin’?” Applejack questioned as got off Rarity, helping her unicorn friend back to her hooves. She told herself the blush was still from embarrassment. Rarity did the same.

“The stars are disappearing Applejack,” the lavender unicorn spoke. “Rainbow Dash and I watched a few just blink out of existence. They were there and then gone without any warning.”

“Oh that is just dreadful! What pony would do such a thing to the princess’s marvelous night?” Rarity questioned with a hoof to her mouth.

“Ah got a better one, how many ponies can pull them stars outta the sky?”

“Well, um, Twilight was already telling us about that on our way here. She can tell you, if she doesn’t mind, I hope.”

“We all know Princess Luna controls her night, but Celestia did so for a thousand years before her. But we’ve also all seen another pony manipulate the cycles of night and day, for nothing less than a laugh.” The anger on her face was clearer than the rainbow spectrum of Dash’s mane. The anger she had mirrored Applejack’s own. The farmpony spat the name they all were thinking like a rotten apple, already mentally preparing herself for the ride to Canterlot.

“Discord.”

She knew what it was. She knew the moment she sensed it.

Whatever slumber Celestial had been enjoying ended the moment that sickly feeling reached her. Her eyes opened in shock, pupils dilated in terror. Breathing hitched in her throat as the sensation flowed through her every cell. The covers were removed from her form without any grace, her hooves touching ground after her magic had already opened the door.

The alicorn fled from her chambers as if chased, moving through the castle walls with haste. Guards around her voice their concern or curiosity to her state, but she paid them little mind. She had to make sure; she had to know what was happening. If the guards were truly terrified for her, they could follow her.  Her duty was to all her little ponies.

A balcony approached her as she moved through the halls. With the grace she lacked when she awoke, she spread her wings as she jumped from the alcove, letting the mighty feathered appendages gently guide her to the ground below. Should her sun have risen and subjects been awake, she doubtlessly would have heard gasps of shock and cheers of joy. Hooves on the ground, she turned to the royal gardens, searching for the collection of statues before the royal garden maze.

She looked to every piece of carved stone present. Star Swirl the Bearded, Commander Hurricane, Smart Cookie, Private Pansy, Royal Hound, Beethoofen, Michael Manegelo, and dozens of others. There was one missing.

She knew which one it was. She already knew.

Of course she knew. But still, she rather wished she never did. Staring at the empty podium, nothing but pebbles of stone upon it, she knew that the statue was gone. Because the statue was gone, she knew what it meant.

Discord was free once more.

“Sister!” Celestia heard the cry from above. She turned to see Princess Luna descending from an alcove, face showing clear panic and pain as the moon lit her features. Once her dark hooves touched the ground, she wasted no time in rushing the elder alicorn, wrapping her in her dark wings. Princess Celestia gasped for just a moment, then quickly tented her younger mare in her own white blanket.

“Luna, you felt it, too?” Celestia questioned her sister under her embrace. She saw the lunar mane shiver and bob in confirmation. That was all the princess of the sun needed. Her wings wrapped tighter around her sister protectively.

“He’s taking my stars sister, my stars…” The pity and pain of Luna’s voice racked against Celestia’s nerves, sparking her hatred and loathing for the creature of chaos in the flames she thought reduced to cinders.

“Commander!” Celestia shouted. No sooner did the words reach the night air than did a pegasus guard come flying into the garden. Despite the clearly private scene, he held is face as stoic as any other moment.

“Yes your highness?”

“Gather the elements,” she spoke without moving an eye from her sister’s sky. “We need them once more. Spread as many of your guard ponies as you can about Canterlot as well. Send any reserves to other cities. Tell anyone who asks the truth. Discord is free again.” The anger was clear as she spoke the name.

“Right away, you highness.” The guard took off with a beat of his wings, vanishing beyond the castle walls.

“Dearest sister,” Princess Luna spoke in the elder alicorn’s embrace, “has Discord truly returned again?”

“I fear so, my precious sister,” the solar princess spoke. “I truly fear so.”

The lunar princesses slowly freed herself from Celestia’s embrace, turning instead to her night sky. Celestia stood beside Luna as both sisters watched the younger’s night. The dark alicorn would give a small cry every time another star vanished from existence. For every light that vanished in her abyss, it felt to Luna like a piece of her had left with it. It was an agonizing experience, feeling as if your soul was leaving you before your time, your life departing despite your will to live. The elder alicorn could only wrap a wing around her younger sister in comfort. Comfort that… despite all she may wish… did little good to what they saw.

How did he get out again? Was he growing immune to the Elements of Harmony? Such a thought was terrifying to the princess of the sun. The ultimate evil against Equestria, slowly growing immune to the one true defense they had against him. If that was the case, how would they eventually be able to stop him? What would happen the day the elements affected him no more than a summer’s breeze?

“Princess Celestia!” The white alicorn turned with joy in her eyes as her faithful student entered the royal garden, the other Elements of Harmony just behind her.

“Twilight!” Celestia spoke joyfully. “How did you arrive so quickly? I sent my guard out only a few moments ago.”

“We were already on our way here your majesty,” Rarity spoke. “Twilight and Rainbow Dash saw the stars disappearing and gathered us in a moment’s notice. We left as quickly as we could.”

“For that, I am grateful. For both your wisdom and action, my faithful student.” She could see the young unicorn blush. “But we do not have time relax. You are indeed correct that something is amiss with the harmony of the world, and I truly hate to bear the responsibility of telling you why.”

“Discord’s back, aint’ he?” Applejack asked, disdain clear on her usual cheery tone. It was impossible to miss.

“Yes, your are correct young Applejack, Discord has returned once more. No, I know not how,” she spoke before the ever curious unicorn could voice the question. “But what matters most is resealing him before he can possibly commit any travesties upon Equestria.”

“Do you know where he is princess?” Dash asked as she flew above her friends, careful that the alicorn was still a head above her.

“Unfortunately not.” All eyes turned to the dark alicorn besides Celestia. Her head remained raised and he back turned as she peered into her slowly vanishing night. “We cannot sense the monster’s presence, though we know his end shall be nigh.” The anger in her voice was unmistakable.

“I-I’m terribly sorry about your stars Princess Luna, um, I-I really am,” Fluttershy spoke softly as she approached the princess.

“Though thou may attest to bare your pity, thou knows not the pain I truly feel.” The canary pegasus quickly began to retreat at what she felt were harsh words. She was right. “Can thou comprehend the pain summoned by the departure of the spirit? Has thou truly experienced pain no different than agony?”

“Sister…” the alabaster alicorn began, but the darker sibling would have none of it.

“But thou sits not alone in ignorance. Not a pony amongst the Elements dares to imagine our pain, yet speak as if they possess power to aid us through pitied words.” Her snout snarled as a face of painful rage. Only fear kept Fluttershy from rushing behind the safety of her nearby friends.

“Not until thou can truly experience and endure pain such as mine may thou insult us with your honeyed and false words. Does thou und-” The heavy and firm hoof of the princess of the sun silenced the princess of the night. Violet eyes met blue as they stared into one another. One looked down at the younger with an understanding gaze of pain while the other with rage.

“Please Luna… Let’s focus on the matters at hoof,” Celestia spoke to her younger sibling. “Once the creature of chaos is banished again to his prison of stone, then we can search for a means to restore your night. They aren’t lost and they aren’t gone. We will find your stars again.”

Luna held her face of anger for only a moment longer, looking defiantly as she could into the alabaster alicorn’s eyes. But like the stars above, the emotion slowly left her face, replaced instead with the familiar calm aura of a leader, a princess. Turning to her side, she looked at the cowering pegasus, hiding fruitlessly behind her tail. She delivered a small sigh as she trotted slowly to the Element of Kindness.

“W-I apologize for my crass behavior, young Fluttershy. I… am not in the midst of a peaceful mindset.” Her eyes closed as she lowered her head, waiting for the denial or acceptance of the Element of Kindness. However, if her last meeting was anything to run by, the canary pegasus would only utter a small eep before she would dive to the nearest convenient foliage. What she received was a gentle response from a near whispering voice.

“Th-That’s okay. You’re just stressed. I’ve been that way too, um, so I understand.” However, her brave words fell apart as the dark alicorn looked up to her with a look of mild shock. “I’m sorry, if I spoke out of turn that is. You can just forget what I said, but only if you want to that is.”

“Nonsense. Your words are… kind to me. Thank you.” The gentle words from the ruler lifted the spirit of Fluttershy like the butterflies that adorned her cutie mark.

“Now then, let’s proceed to the Elements of Harmony.” With her simple announcement, Celestia turned towards the castle, the rest of the Elements of Harmony quickly following.

Twilight followed close beside her mentor, moving through the halls with as much memory for the castle as the princess herself. She had grown up within these walls; it was her home for quite some time. The ret of the ponies followed close behind, with Luna only a pony’s length away from her sister. It was a secret to no pony how pained she still felt. Her words had done more than enough to explain why she felt so… But though words helped a great deal, it often took action or time to aid pains that afflicted more than the body.

Twilight, however, spoke quickly as a though crossed her mind.

“Princess Celestia, where are Princess Cadance and my brother?”

“Or the Wonder Bolts?” Dash quickly added, now as curious as her egg-head friend. Celestia gave them both a small glance as she continued to trot towards the main hall. The ponies followed her obligingly.

“Princess Cadance is in Trottingham overseeing a political dispute among the lower and middle classes. Captain Shining Armor was requested to take a temporary post in Hoofington in order to train the city guard there. I have no doubt both of them will make haste back here now with the… fading night.” She chose her words carefully as her sister remained in earshot. Still, a quiver was seen through the dark mare’s body, and it brought a small pinch of sorrow to the alabaster sister.

“As for the Wonder Bolts… they are most likely resting at home. Spitfire warned me that they were doing some rigorous practice routines earlier today. Half for creating some more tricks, and another half for being more prepared for the… frequent problems that seem to occur.” Dash couldn’t suppress the drop in her head, no matter how small it was.

“Don’t worry Dashie, that just means they’re all snuggly wuggly in bed,” Pinkie Pie spoke to the still aerial pegasus. “You can probably say hi to them tomorrow when I throw the “We Beat Discord Again AGAIN party!” A small fit of laughter vibrated through the ponies.

“I think ya may be countin’ a few too many apples ‘fore they fall from the tree, Pinkie.” Applejack spoke to the pink mare.

“Nope, I’m counting ponies. And I say eight to one, Discord’s done.” She raised her head with prideful indignation. Zecora would be thrilled to hear her rhymes.

The Great Doors to the main hall came into view in the candle lit hall, two golden armored guards standing just to either end. They raised their hooves in salute as the royalty and honored guests came into view.

“At ease,” Celestia spoke to the two. They both lowered their legs in practiced unison. A small flare of magic came from Celestia’s horn before surrounding the large white doors, pushing them open in act effortless when compared to the sun. Even though it was for near the umpteenth time, Twilight still marveled at the sight to see her mentor’s magic.

“Luna and I have seen to adding an additional layer of protection over the elements this time,” Princess Celestia spoke as they all trotted down the grand hall. “Discord is talented in his means to twist and corrupt, but it would take more time than he has to possible overpower the shielding we have built. However, with so much protection surrounding it, even the most untrained of unicorns, insensitive pegasi, or apathetic earth ponies could feel the waves of our magic. So… the castle decorators had their fun…” She motioned with a hoof towards the resting place of the Elements of Harmony.

The ponies approached the wall at then of the room. It was more decorated than they had recalled from their last encounter. Large paintings and glyphs of each of the ponies decorated the once white structure, depicting each of them with the Elements above.

Dash flew above with Loyalty against her chest. Applejack stood proud on bottom with Honesty surrounding her. Pinkie Pie was painted mid-hop on the right, caught mid-cheer as Laughter danced from her mouth. Fluttershy was hesitantly beating her wings, encouraged to do so by the Kindness of butterflies surrounding her. Rarity glowed beneath Pinkie Pie, Generosity emanating from every lady like detail of her posture, pose, and pristine condition. In the center of them all, Twilight floated with eyes of white, Magic surrounding her in an embrace that called for attention, peace, unity, and harmony.

And around all of them hung stain glasses of their accomplishments. The purging of Nightmare Moon, the first and second sealing of Discord, defending Canterlot from the Changelings, and many many others. Not one of the ponies spoke, but for several different reasons.

“Awesome!” Dash cheered as she flew up next to her painted self. “They totally nailed me, all the way down to my sheer awesomeness.”

“Dash! Please act more civilized,” Rarity cajoled the pegasus. “Though I must agree, whoever painted the wall took great care to detail us properly. Why, they even curled my mane correctly, how thoughtful of them.”

“Mine too!” Pinkie bounced. “I look so happy, like I’m about to plan a party! I’ve never seen myself while I’m planning, but I bet I look like this. I know you guys look right though, cause I always see you.”

“I think it, um, looks very nice. Thank you your highnesses,” Fluttershy squeaked to the alicorns beside her.

“I second tha’,” Applejack agreed. “Didn’t think I’d be honored like a proper Canterlo’ pony one day.”

“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, thank you so much. I… I didn’t know we deserved something like… this…”

“Of course you do my faithful student.” The princess leaned her head down towards the unicorn, taking her in a soft hug. “You have done more than prove yourself as my student, and done more than many ponies ever dream to. I think a simple mural on the wall is deserving of your efforts.”

“Believe me princess, this is anything but just simple,” The unicorn spoke admiringly.

“Yes, quite so, but I do believe we have more important matters at hoof,” Rarity spoke up, returning the admiring ponies back to reality.

“Yes, oh yes, I’m sorry I forgot.”

“Sa’me here.”

“My bad.”

“Woopsie, sorry princess.”

“It is quite already,” Princess Celestia spoke softly to the Elements surrounding her. “Now please, step aside as Luna and I dispel the barrier. And please,” she began to add to the already moving ponies, “be ready to adorn them as soon as they are presented. We cannot know where Discord is, and the greatest moment of weakness will be the time between when the spell is gone and the Elements are worn.”

All the Elements nodded, some flexing themselves as if to dash at the jewels once they were present. With a nod to one another, the alicorns stood before the mighty wall, and lit their horns.

The magic of night and day combined into one, swirling against and around the spells and traps that protected the Elements from those with cruel intentions. The painted images of the ponies began to shake against the stone before they slowly slid away. The granite and cobblestone moved with the command of the princess, revealing the gold trimmed and ruby decorated box within.

Celestia levitated the box the box before her, presenting it to the ponies who would wear the jewels by rights. Her aura opened the lid and reached inside…

“Let me guess: Empty”

All mares present spun in the room, heads looking high to the source of the voice far above them. There hung a familiar, infamous, shape.

Discord.

The creature of many parts stared down at the Elements of Harmony and Rulers of Equestria. His toothy grin and relaxed pose doing nothing but anger the ponies below. His claw and claw beat against one another in way that spoke of nothing but pride.

“It is so good to see you all again.” His liquid voice spoke the honeyed words. “It really has been just too long since we were able to chat. It’s usually just freedom, havoc, battle, victory, never time for anything like tea, milk, and cotton candy.” As he spoke, a glass of the now near infamous liquid appeared in his paw. He sipped on it nonchalantly from his position far above the ponies below.

“Monster! What has though done with our stars?!” Princess Luna shouted at the creature, but he passed it off like a fly’s presence.

“Fine, fine, no conversations,” He spoke waving his paw, letting his glass of chocolate milk fall and vanish into the stone floor. “Really, you ponies are just so boring and predictable. I don’t understand how you can live the way you do at all.”

“Discord!” Twilight shouted up at the draconequus. “How did you free yourself?!” Unlike the princess of the night, the unicorn’s words actually inspired an answer from the mad creature. It was just not the response they wished.

“Wrong question again, little Sparkle,” the master of chaos spoke as he snapped his fingers, disappearing in a flash only to reappear just besides Twilight. “What you should be asking is what happened to your precious magical stones? Isn’t that why you came here again? I mean, this is where I first met the new batch of precious ponies to wear their magical jewelry and call themselves heroes.” He waved his great paw in a sweeping motion.

“Alright, fine!” she yelled back to the spirit of chaos. “I’ll play your game. What did you do to the Elements of Harmony?”

“Tsk, Tsk,” Discord spoke with a wave of his sharp claw. “You don’t really think that I’d let you use the Elements again, did you? I was prepared this early last time, and the time before that, too!” An angry huff pushed its way through Twilight’s nostrils in place of the scream she wished to make.

“Then why did you-”

“Honestly, give me some credit here. It may be all fun and games, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you have the unfair advantage.” In a flash, he disappeared from the rafters above, reappearing before Twilight on the ground. He gave his toothy grin to the lavender unicorn, bending low enough for their snouts to touch.

“This is my game, and I make the rules. And I say the rules have changed.”

Twilight did all she could to defy the monster. She clenched her jaw, straightened her eyes, stood on tall hooves, and lit her horn. But it didn’t do any good. Her teeth trembled despite all the will she had, her hooves shook as she tried to make herself taller, and her eyes began to wet as Discord’s eyes bore into her own. She was truly, mortally, afraid for her life.

“Yeah, then what the hay are the new rules?” Rainbow Dash asked as she pushed, fearlessly pushed, the deity away from Twilight. “No, scratch that, why are you doing this again? You know that we’ll just beat your sorry flank again! You put the princesses in stone and that still couldn’t stop us!” Twilight tried not to notice the way her mentor shook at the memory Dash had conjured.

Discord looked at the pegasus silently. His claw drew itself up to his lips, scratching the lock of hair just beneath it. The once jovial and self-satisfying look of malice was gone, replaced with an oddly out of place appearance of contemplation. That look… it quickly began to make Twilight, all the ponies, nervous. Whatever Discord was thinking, it wasn’t good.

“You’re right about that, my little Dashie,” he said with a soft pat on the rainbow mane and crooked smile on his already twisted lips.

“Wha? What the hay does that mean?” Dash shouted angrily as she pushed his paw away.

“If I did everything the same again, of course you’d beat me.” That gave the ponies room to pause. Celestia took a step back as if she just watched her sun raise itself. Never once had Discord so openly admitted such a thing. He… he could be lying. It wouldn’t be far past him to do it, in fact it would be right in the park. That had to be it. There was no way Discord would-

“No matter what I do, no matter how I do it, you little ponies find a way to beat me,” he continued with wave of his hands. “Break your spirits, break your bones, or even turning you to stone, it never does any lasting good.” He dramatically fell like he was in a play, claw to his head and eyes rolling back. “There just simply isn’t a way for me to beat you ponies of harmony.”

It was no longer a question, it was a fact. Discord was lying to all the ponies in the room. Celestia knew it the moment he began the charade. There was a trap in his words, some false hope or alluring plan to give him the edge. But what was it? What was he planning? The princess didn’t know. After all, what good did thinking logically do in Discord’s mind?

“Really?!” the high pitched squeak of one Pinkie Pie vibrated through the royal hall. “That’s so cool! It’s kinda weird too. I mean, last time you were here, you were all, “hahaha, you don’t even know who I am. I’ll lock you up in stone, then banish you, then lock you up in the place I banished you to,” but then we went, “Go away you big meanie Discord!” then BLAM! You were back inside that statue again. How did you get outa gain anyways? Are you even stuck in there? Do have parties by yourself? That can’ be fun, and I should know, parties of one are never any-”

“Pinkie Pie,” a voice spoke from behind, so quiet she almost missed it over her own voice. Maybe she really had a few times. “C-Can you not m-make Mr. Discord m-mad at us. Well… that is if you don’t mind… I’m sorry… I-I just don’t want him to h-h-hate us.”

“Too late for that sweet little Fluttercry.” The deity of chaos spoke maliciously towards the canary coated pony. A small sound of fear was all the pegasus uttered before she ran behind Celestia, shaking worse than a tree in the midst of a tornado. The Princess of the Sun was not pleased.

“Enough Discord!” she shouted at the beast. “If you truly recognize yourself beaten, then be gone! Leave Equestria, leave these lands and never return!” Her wingers flared themselves over her head as she stood tall, regal, and strong as every pony knew her to be. As awed as her subjects were, Discord himself hardly bat an eyelid at the display.

“Oh come now Celestia, do you really think I’d go through all the trouble of getting out of that stone prison, searching the galaxy, and terrifying these ponies just for fun? Well alright, granted those last two are a real blast! I mean, who couldn’t give off a good laugh at little Fluttercry over there?”  Celestia lowered herself just enough to wrap the pegasus in her wing, shielding her from Discord’s gaze. “Or how about little miss Rarity over there? She’s so humbled by my presence she can’t even speak!”

Said unicorn stood stock still as she eyed the spirit of chaos. She did not have the power of Twilight, the courage of Dash, or the protection of Fluttershy. She had nothing to hide her fear. And so her fear was more obvious than anyone else’s. Her dilated pupils, her sweat drenched coat, her shaking hooves. Nothing hid her fright from the beast. And that may have been more terrifying than Discord himself.

“Best be keepin’ away from her ya dirty varmint.” A voice spoke just beside Rarity. She didn’t even know who it was until the pony stepped in front of her, the cowboy hat blocking her view of the spirit of chaos.

“Oh and young Applejack comes to save the fair maiden from the beast of deceit.” He chuckled darkly to himself as he floated above the pair. “Always knew the Element of Honesty could be honest with herself.” Discord’s laughter only grew with the throaty growl that came from the orange mare. “A bit touchy are we? Perhaps it is a new development. Wouldn’t know, I’ve been far too busy these past few months. What with looking across the entire universe and all.” Those words grasped the ponies’ attention.

“So thee truly are at fault for taking our stars!” Luna shouted at Discord, hoof extended accusingly. “Return them at once creature of chaos, or you shall be forced to contend with the elements once…”

“Once more?” Discord ventured with a sinister smile. “Because we both know just how capable you are of using the elements, aren’t we… Nightmare-”

A crackle of lightening met his fur.

Luna gasped as the beast was sent sprawling across the floor. The sight of dark smoke and the scent of burnt flesh filling the room as he flew. It took the lunar princess a moment until she looked to her side, watching the traces of magic disappear from her sister’s horn. The magic was fading, but the rage was as plain as the rays of her sun.

“You will never speak to my sister in such a way, monster.”

The cold words sent shivers through the ponies in spite of the heat her anger gave. Now more than ever, she appeared to be the ruler of Equestria, showing just how powerful she was to a foe that threatened the safety and way of life of her subjects. It was truly terrifying. However, like Chrysalis before, the lands of Equestria and beyond proved to have creatures strong and powerful enough to stand against the forces Celestia could summon. Discord was surely one of the creatures.

“Brave, bravo Celestia, I really have a hard time remembering the last time you struck first in any fight. Usually you wait for someone to kidnap one of your ponies, or attempt to sack your kingdom, or maybe even turn your sister into-” The lightening arced again for the master of chaos. But this time, he was prepared.

The lightening billowed and died against a barrier in front of the draconequus, dissipating into the air of the grand hall as if it never existed. Whatever hope the ponies had in their leader’s magic vanished with the lightning. Discord really was more powerful.

“Hey now Tia’, it’s very rude to interrupt someone when they’re talking. Didn’t you ever learn proper manners?” he mocked the royal alicorn, flying through the hall’s grand space. Despite his ominous presence, he appeared to not have a care in the world.

“Why are you here again Discord?” Rainbow Dash finally voiced. “Do ya think you can beat us? We already smoked your scaly, leather, and furry hide twice before! I’ll bet my wing feathers we can do it again.” She finished with a proud smirk.

The princesses readied themselves, as did the guards of the court. All fully believed that the pegasus’s words would either anger Discord to attack, or force him to play a “prank” on the cyan flyer. Neither option was a pleasant one. So shock, no less than the third time that night, reached all of them when the master of chaos finally spoke his return.

“You’re right little Dashie. I can’t beat you.”

Every pony, even Pinkie Pie, was stunned silent. There were far too many ways to take his words. If he was honest, he was playing an angle that none of them could predict, foresee, or possibly prepare for. If he was lying, then they were in the same situation of being naked of the Elements of Harmony. Only this time, he had them in a state of confusion. Discord didn’t need to worry about panic. His presence alone was enough to cause a riot.

“What game are you playing Discord?” Luna voiced the thought of every pony in the room. She was walking a fine line with words alone. It was impossible to tell what would set Discord off.

“I’m not playing any game at all, at least not until I get you involved.” Discord slithered through the air towards the Princess of Night. “Do you want to know why I can’t beat you? Don’t you care to know why I keep coming back?” Discord ventured to the dark alicorn. Luna stood her ground, tall and proud, as the spirit of chaos approached maliciously.

“I wasn’t joking, as rare as that is, when I said I couldn’t beat you ponies again. Because whenever I win, it’s just a countdown until I lose, and then the same to you. Up and down, up and down, harmony and chaos, harmony and chaos, yin and yang! That’s what this is,” he continued to cryptically explain. The princesses and Elements of Harmony were confused enough if Discord was just giving another riddle.

“It’s a cycle. A cursed, predictable cycle.”

The hatred in his eyes was undeniable. It brought a shiver to every pony it fell upon. But as quick as it appeared, it vanished. The commotion of the court, however, had drawn the attention of the Royal Guard. The familiar metal of Gold began to flood the room, followed quickly by the shades of blue above. The guardians of night and day were both in the court, but Discord but not a one of them any mind as he continued to rant.

“Trapped between A and B, never reaching what either needs. I want chaos the way you want harmony, but this cycle prevents either from being. So I’ve had enough, I’m done, this path is gone. I’m going to end it all.” He smiled again, looking directly into Luna’s eyes as he did.

“And it’s gonna be fun.”

His tail whipped the air in a vicious slash, cracking against the stone. Or maybe it was the stone that was cracking. The lion’s paw flexed itself in the air before he brought it down in a vicious thrust. This time, it was the stone that cracked. However, something began to form around the appendage.

A black sickly forming shadow began to muster itself around his fist. Swirling, churning, and growing around him. To even the most ignorant of ponies, it looked more sick and evil than the monster himself. It was all the reason the guards began to approach.

“Halt!” Celestia called quickly upon seeing their actions. She knew better, better than anypony, even the Elements, that the Royal Guard was of little match for the Spirit of Chaos. It gave only more reason for Discord to grin.

“Oh why thank you Celestia, I do appreciate that. You wouldn’t believe how much concentration this requires. And I mean concentration, because I simply have to focus to make this work. Do you have any idea how painful it is for me to focus on anything? It’s nothing pleasant, let me tell you that.” His tail slowly slithered into the muck, entering deeper than anypony wished to know.

Twilight stood at her mentor’s side, horn glowing lightly as she prepared a spell. What the spell would do, she didn’t know yet, but she had to be prepared. Rainbow Dash had much the same thought, hunching over next to the lavender unicorn with wings flared. She was ready to pounce in a second. Applejack dug at the stone from her place off to the side, preparing a charge like the monster of chaos was just another tree in her orchard. Rarity stood close to her, visibly shaking in terror. Fluttershy was little different, but she huddled in a corner behind a thick set of drapes. Only the pink of her tail was visible. Pinkie Pie, despite all that had happened, still looked on with her now signature blissfully ignorant fascination.

“Ah, finally done.” In a swift motion, his tail and paw withdrew themselves from the black pool of the stone floor.

“What are you doing Discord?” Celestia did nothing to hide the venom in her words. Discord paid the alicorn neither notice nor mind.

“Now let’s see what I can find behind portal number one.”

His claw and paw dove into the black abyss.

Begin

Sweat poured from him like the blood of his fallen foes.

He had conquered a temple built by the commands of the gods, defeated foes that could level cities, and bested the very worst of trap the temple could ever offer.

And he now had his prize.

Pandora’s Box was in his hands.

After a thousand years, the box was at last free, the power to kill a god once more upon the land.

Kratos had found the means to destroy the God of War.

However, far away from the temple, in the now crumbling city of Athens, the god felt the Spartan succeed. His assaults on the city ceased, apathetic to the small amounts of sword and arrows the beat against his side like drops of rain on a mountain.

“So little Spartan, you’ve recovered Zeus’s precious box. But you will not live long enough to see it open.”

Already the powerful deity of destruction moved to end the one thing that could stop his might. The box was far away, as was the man who wished so desperately to wield it. But to a god, a master of Olympus, and incarnation of war, distance was as pointless and vague as the concept of time. His hand reached for a fallen pillar amongst the rubble of the city, gripping it as a child would a stick.

“I will see to that.” With a great heave of his arm, Ares sent the pillar through the air straighter and truer than any arrow fired by man. It flew with strength immeasurable, and with a destination clear.

“Goodbye Spartan,” he cruelly spoke as he watched the stone column sail through the sands of the desert and towards the might moving temple. “You will rot in the depths of Hades for all eternity!”

Standing before the box, still on the back of a titan, Kratos watched the object grow against the horizon, the pillar approaching faster than he could react. It was only when it was too late that the Ghost of Sparta realized what was happening.

The pillar impacted him, impaling him against the wall of the temple.

The pain could not compare.

His insides were torn, his bones were shattered, and his body hung uselessly against the mighty walls of the now empty temple. Blood filled his vision and screams met his ears. The blows of the Minotaur, the clubbing of Cyclops, even the flaming boulders of Hades could do little to compare to the pain and torment he felt.

But he fought on.

His hands reached to the pillar that now had severed his body. Uselessly, he pushed against the stone, trying with fruitless strength to move the object out of him, to free him from this tortuous confine. He tried to focus, he needed to focus, but he could not. Even on the brink of his death, his mind would not let him focus, even to save himself.

As the life left Kratos his thoughts returned to that fateful night, the night that had changed his life forever. Even in death… the memories, the visions would not fade. His wars. His murders. His crimes. They repeated endlessly within his head. But only one memory, only one crime, filled his mind with something other than rage and hate for himself. Only one memory gave him the thirst for vengeance like none other.

Only the memory of slaughtering his own wife and child.

How could he forget spilling the blood of his own family?  A cruel trick, orchestrated by the God of War, his now former master.

“My wife…” he spoke weakly to the deceased form of his beloved. “My child…” He near sobbed as his eyes rested on the unmoving form of his descendant. “How? They were left in Sparta.” His mind had searched hard for the answer, hoping it would come to him in a way that could somehow save their already past lives. It came, but in a different form.

“You are becoming all that I hoped you to be Kratos.” the God of War spoke to him through a vision of flames. His face held nothing but cruel pride for the equally cruel trick he had played on his own champion’s life. “Now with your wife and child dead, nothing will hold you back. You’ll become even stronger! You will become death itself!”

But as the flames consumed the temple, Kratos knew his true enemy. He knew that there was no mortal on Earth who held any blame or burden for the death of his family more than the god who had once saved his life. There was no mortal, no Spartan, no soul of Hades, who deserved his rage, his hate, and his fury more than Ares himself.

Ares.

Stepping out of the now crumbling temple, Kratos let the name fill his body. What had once brought him strength and conviction, now summoned only anger and rage. He threw his head back, screaming the name into the night.

“Ares!!”

The village around him burned. A village he and his men had set on fire. There were no souls present to witness his deed. No servant of any god to condemn him for what he rightfully deserved. None that is, but the one who warmed him against it.

The old sage of soot skin turned to fallen general, spite and malice upon her face and even words as she spoke.

“From this night on, your terrible deed will be visible to all.” Her hand waved against the air, moving objects that lay beyond her sight. The churning of dust was heard in tandem with the motion of her hand. It was with a sick stomach that Kratos realized that what the priestess was moving was not sand or dust… but ashes.

“The ashes of your family will remain fastened to your skin. Never to be removed.” The Spartan watched with horror as the remains of his beloved wife and child surrounded him, only to quickly attach to him. As his tan skinned changed to alabaster white, as the memory of the night scarred itself within his mind, Kratos earned a new title, a new name, that would strike fear into the lives of the many throughout all of Greece.

The Ghost of Sparta, was born.

And now as he hung against Pandora’s temple, the box out of his reach, he watched his only means for vengeance slip away. The harpies under the command of his onetime master lifted the powerful chest away from the dying broken man. He reached a limp arm for the vanishing object, willing with all that he felt it would return, but it did not.

In death, Kratos knew he had failed. Kratos had failed to kill the God of War.

The Ghost of Sparta was dead.

End

The dark void of Discord rippled in the Royal Hall. Everypony present flexed in nervous anticipation. The Guards stood prepared, wings extended and snouts to the ground, ready to charge at whatever form of creature or monster Discord deemed fit to bring into the land of Equestria.

“Now let me tell you a little story, my little ponies, a narrative if you will,” The master of chaos spoke with a truly childlike demeanor. “There are hundreds of worlds like this one, I’d wager closer to a million in fact. Each and every one of them is different in some peculiar fascinating way. Do you want to know how I know?” His mismatched eyes beaded as he looked across the ponies in the room. Every pony, guards as well, stepped back from the maniacal beast.

“Because that’s what I’ve been doing while trapped in stone. I’ve been exploring.”

“That’s… impossible!” Twilight shouted. “That defeats the entire purpose of trapping you in the first place!”

“Oh don’t give yourself too little credit Lil’ Sparkle,” Discord spoke back. “I could do nothing to the world, or worlds, around me. Just watch and stare as perfectly boring harmony walked about and did whatever it wanted. But that doesn’t mean I couldn’t plan.”

The shadow beneath him began to pulse, and Twilight stepped back as it did so. She didn’t know if something was going to come out of it, or if she was going to get dragged into it. Whatever did happen though, she already knew she wouldn’t like it.

“As I was narrating,” the draconequus continued with small cough, “there are so many different kinds of worlds, and so many different forms of harmony. I must say too, it was really awful, watching all these different animals laugh, learn, play, and love in ways you ponies have yet to really imagine.” The scowl on Discord’s face was impossible to miss.

“But then I realized something. What they had is like what we have. There is harmony, and then chaos. Up, then down, left, then right,” he spoke then with a wicked smile.

“Different kinds of harmony, that came with different illustrations of chaos.”

It didn’t take long for the ponies to realize the train of thought.

“You wouldn’t,” Celestia voiced threateningly, horn crackling with energy. Luna was no far behind her sister’s train of thought, as her blue horn began to pulse with its own energy.

“I would, your highnesses,” Discord spoke as he began to rise, claw and paw coming forth from the dark portal below. “I really, really, would.”

What came next was nothing short of mortifying.

Discord’s hand slowly rose from the black shadows of the portal, slowly as if carried down by some massive weight. And indeed there was. His face gleamed with pride as he catch was slowly drawn to the surface, covered in the same black intangible mist as the portal itself. It was tall by any pony standards, no doubt above even Princess Celestia in height. The black mess of Discord’s portal continued to drip from it as the spirit’s claw and paw held the thing up. His smile was unmistakable and impossible to miss.

“I got quite a catch, haven’t I?” His voice spoke as his mismatched red eyes looked the intangible shape over. “It’s so hard to tell what it is yet, but I have to say, I just love the outcome. But enough beating around the bush, let’s see what I really reeled in.”

Unceremoniously, Discord dropped the… thing next to the portal, the black ooze spraying across the white tiles. The ponies retreated from the stuff, but only truly gasped in horror as the different balls of darkness attempted to roll themselves back to the dark portal. For the princesses, however, the black conjuncture of Discord was not their concern. Their concern lay with the thing he had produced form it.

His paw flicked over the creature, lashing chunks of the black junk away. His claw repeated the same gesture oppositely, shedding more the thing beneath the darkness to the curious and fearful ponies in the hall. Those who were able to look beyond the draconequus, remove their sight from the mobile darkness, saw a sight beneath the spirit of chaos unlike anything they had ever seen.

It was bare of any hair, its skin plain as the Celestia’s day. The skin was of purest white marred only by a large scar that traveled along the torso. An oddly designed mark traveled up its body, by note of one lavender unicorn, red as loyalty. It curved around its foreleg, swirling like a snake in slumber, resting at the shoulder of the appendage. A similar mark traveled across its moon white face, covering majority of its left side. But beneath the marking was the only lock of hair along its entire body, hanging down from the chin in a manner similar to the master of chaos himself. The only clothing the creature wore aside from the guards on each hoof was a stretch of red textured cloth across his loins.

The creature was hideous, and words did little to prove it, but what truly set the guards on edge, neglecting the method of the creature’s introduction, were the unmistakable weapons it bore. Short, but viciously jagged swords were held on each hoof. Chains wrapped around the things fore-hooves, holding the blades tightly against the body, binding them. They were twisted, malicious, and worst of all, looked as if they belonged perfectly with the thing.

The ponies did not react kindly to the sight of the thing.

“W-What is…. tha- tha- tha-” Dash’s voice betrayed her as she tried to speak. Shock and awe, confusion and terror owning too much of her mind for words to form. But while her voice had failed, the unicorns no longer possessed the ability to breath. Twilight was losing her breath as well.

“Oh! I know this one!” Discord cheered as he backed up from the creature he had summoned, his jovial attitude only beckoning the fear and confusion from the ponies in the hall. “He’s more brutal than anything I’ve ever seen! This one time, a couple of months ago, I watched him rip the arm off some creature and beat it to death with it! Would have been perfect if he had just threatened to do it first.” His jovial recalling of the event only brought sickness to the ponies who heard. Poor Fluttershy had not the heart to hear anymore as she trembled with slow tears falling down her coat at the mental image. The drapes she hid behind slowly darkened as her tears fell.

“You… monster…” Applejack spoke through a clenched jaw. If her emotions could show, she would have been blowing smoke from her nostrils and shattering the stone floor with her hooves. Truth be told, as she always did, she loathed the monster before her like never before.

“Aw, come now, is that really such a terrible idea?” He questioned them, genuinely questioned. “Sure, it sounds bad, but just wait till you see it in action. I guarantee you’ll want to see more.”

“Nothing of the sort shall occur!” Celestia boomed, voice shaking the lights of the room. “You will return the creature to the plane you stole him from, and you will surrender yourself to us! Or so help you Discord, you shall WISH to be encased in stone!” Luna shivered beside her sister, as did the other ponies in the room. Discord, however, was either unimpressed or unamused.

“Meh,” he dismissed with wave of his paw. “You can attempt, dear Celestia, to do away with me as before, but I assure you, I shall not go quietly anymore. Because this thing,” he spoke as his form curled around the creature, paw atop the immobile thing’s head, “is just one part to an extensive key that will be my victory, your defeat, and the beginning of eternal chaos! In fact…” He rose away from the creature, talons of his claw beating in rhythm against his chin.

“Is… Is h-h-he d-d…” Fluttershy spoke on a quivering voice and weak hooves. Her form just barely peaked out from behind the curtain, eyes still red with tears. “D-d-dead?”

“Hmm. You know I’m really not sure. Let’s check.” Discord’s head fell against the white creature’s torso, covering almost the thing’s entire form. A faux look of contemplation was on his features, red eyes looking forward emptily. “Doesn’t seem like it, but I can’t say why he’s so out of it. I mean, death can’t be that tiring, am I right?”

His comment drew a collective gasp from the ponies.

“So… so he is dead. You killed him!” Twilight yelled at the draconequus. For all the horrors he often spoke of, and terrors he brought forth or manipulated, she had never seen the spirit of chaos do such a horrific thing. “Why? Why?! Didn’t you say you don’t turn ponies into stone?! Don’t you prefer chaos? Why would… why would you ki-kill…” Her voice slowly weakened under the force of her own words, the depth of Discord’s actions slowly weighing her down.

Twilight Sparkle was a pony who could read the deeper meaning of actions better than any other pony. She saw through the lies of Chrysalis, the capability of her friends, and the strength within every pony around her. So it was not hard for her to see the deeper meaning behind Discord’s one horrific action.

If he was capable of killing, what were they to do to stop him?

“Oh relax you little pony, I didn’t kill him. He’s not dead.” Twilight’s spirit flew, and she heard breaths being released from the ponies around her. “But he did die already.” And then she sucked the gasp right back in.

“Hey now, you can’t be dead and alive,” Pinkie Pie interjected fearlessly, maybe a bit foolishly, to the Master of Chaos. “Being alive means you aren’t dead, and if you are dead, that means you’re no longer alive. You can’t be both at the same time. That’s like being happy about being sad, it just doesn’t work that way. So what do you mean he’s alive but dead?” Discord smiled broad and bright before answered the inquisitive pink pony.

“Well my good Pinkie Pie, I mean that he died back on his world, but is alive here on ours. Just before the two eggheads over the start to question,” he spoke with a flick of his paw’s thumb towards Twilight and Celestia. “I’ll explain.” Flying into the air, he gave a small cough, preparing some elaborate speech. It was only by the hoof of Celestia that the guards did not attempt to strike him down.

“This little creature here is called a man. Ma-a-a-a-an,” he drew out insultingly. “He has seen more blood and war than Celestia has years. In fact, he was made by a god.”

“T-that’s not possible,” Rarity stuttered from beside Applejack, fear still as thick in her voice as it was plain on her body. “It… It just isn’t.”

“Oh, maybe not here, but it certainly is there. In fact, there were dozens of gods, for so many things. One for love, one for wine, one for the dead, one for the earth, one for the sea, one for the sky, one for the sun, none for the moon, sorry Luna, but most importantly, one for war. Any pony want to guess what one used him?”

A tentative hoof was raised, barely off the ground and shaking with fear, much the same as near every pony in the room.

“W-w-war?” Fluttershy squeaked, moving out from the curtains. A quick glance from Discord nearly sent her back. She chose instead the safety behind the dark alicorn of the night. Luna made no objections.

“Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!” The Master of Chaos cheered for the canary pegasus. “He was made like this by the God of War! A little bit a mayhem, a dash of destruction, then… the-death-and-murder-of-his-family.” His snarl was as fierce as the weight of his words.

“You brought such a monster to my realm?!” Celestia roared at Discord, horn crackling with energy at the thought. Same as before, Discord merely cheered.

“But… but he died, you said so. What does that have to do with him coming here?” Rainbow Dash spoke up. Her question was one part curiosity, two parts accusation. “He was protected by a god… How is it possible for him to die?”

“Simple, the god killed him.”

For maybe the umpteenth time that day, the ponies gasped. Fluttershy began to cry again.

“Ho-wh-wa… why?” Applejack asked as she stepped a hoof back. She honestly couldn’t understand why any pony would do such a thing.

“Hard to believe, I know, but I speak from experience that there are worse things than death. You know, let’s say for example, being trapped in stone for millennia.” His accusation was not unnoticed. “But I can tell your curious little minds just won’t be satisfied without knowing how…” Discord leaned over as he hung in the air, his facing growing stern with the details that would soon be spoken.

“So let’s move on.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Wha- No!” she shouted at Discord. “Tell us! Tell us why the God of War turned on him! Tell us why you brought him here. Tell us… Tell us how you brought him here…” She looked sternly to the Master of Chaos with her lavender eyes, trying to look as demanding as possible. For her credit, she did. For her debt, Discord cared little.

“Oh it must be just awful for you not to know something, huh Twi?” Discord mocked the unicorn. “But the less you know, the better. For me at least. Two birds, one stone. You’re distracted by not knowing something, and I get to leave your mind in a less harmonic state than before.” He disappeared momentarily, reappearing above the unicorn as he let his crimson eyes stare down at here.

“But I guess that if we are going to play, and I just want you to play so badly, I have to give you something.” Once more he vanished, and reappeared far above the ponies. He was lying in a hammock hung from the rafters… upside down.

Some chocolate milk in hand, he drank the glass.

“But only you Twilight. I can’t answer a question for every pony. We’re on a schedule here, and just like all proper schedules, I have no idea when the next step will happen.”

Twilight was about to voice herself, but stopped. This was Discord. Whatever she asked she had to be careful of. If she said her words wrong, or voiced her question as she normally would, he would easily twist it into a riddle or vague response that would gain her nothing. He was impossible to predict, so anything broad was out of the question.

“Hey Twilight.” The unicorn turned her head to see the familiar curls of pink bouncing towards her. “I know you wanna ask him a lot of things, but I just wanna know how the MA-A-A-AN got here.” Her obliviousness to Discord’s mocking aside, the mare did have a point. That was one question she wanted to know. But there were also so many others!

“My dearest student.” Twilight practically whipped her head at the voice of her princess and mentor. “I know you may wish to know why this being went through the pain that he did, but think wisely on it. For us to understand his pain would mean we would need to feel something akin to it.” Her eyes looked up to the draconequus above, and the way they hardened made a bone in Twilight shiver. “I’m more than confident if you ask Discord about how the creature was harmed, he’ll give more than words to show it.” That… that was true, and Twilight Sparkle was in no mood to feel any pain great enough that she would be granted death.

“Then… what should I ask?” Her eyes looked around the hall, looking to her friends for help. Fluttershy was still hyperventilating against the back hooves of Princess Luna, who let her dark wings shield the canary pegasus from the view of Discord above. She had done more than any could expect in front of the master of chaos, and the princess would not neglect a pony in need. Rarity and Applejack were sitting next to one another, the latter keeping a defensive pose between the white unicorn and draconequus, or at least as much as she could with Discord so high from the ground. Rainbow Dash just stared at the man on the ground either too shocked or too confused to speak. The rest of the guard had now surrounded the room, keeping themselves prepared and ready with eyes focused on both the twisted draconequees and misshapen being on the floor.

“I would ask him about the world from which the man came from.” Once more Twilight was enraptured by her mentor’s voice. “We know little of the workings of other worlds, if nothing at all, and knowing the cause behind the chaos may give light to the harmony to best it. Remember Twilight, knowledge is its own tool.” She was right. Of course she was right, she’s Princess Celestia! But… then how was Twilight to form the question? If she asked it plainly, would she bet taken to the world, or would she get a riddle about it? She needed details, but she couldn’t think of a way to make Discord give them to her. She put a hoof to her head in heavy thought.

“Or… or you can ask him about how it came here.” Three pairs of eyes looked to the cyan pegasus. Her eyes were still on the unmoving creature. “I mean… Discord said he didn’t kill it, but that it died, and now it’s alive here… I don’t think knowing anything about his world will make sense of that, at least not in a way that any of us would like.” Rainbow Dash did have a point as well. If the creature’s world was as hectic and awful as Discord just hinted at, it was incredibly unlikely that any pony would be able to learn much about it, at least joyfully. And what was learning without happiness?

“Hey Dashie, that was my idea!”

“Yeah, I know, but it is a good idea.” Her eyes had yet to leave the man.

“Then… Then I guess I’ll ask him that,” Twilight spoke to herself, but loud enough for the mares surrounding her to hear. Nods of approval were given, minus the excited bounce of Pinkie Pie, which she took for agreement.

The unicorn let herself take a deep breath of air before she spoke to Discord far above her.

“Wait!”

That wasn’t her voice.

The three Elements and princess turned to see the lunar princess trotting to them, a dawning look upon her face. Twilight knew that look instantly. Luna had an idea.

“Twilight Sparkle. Discord is expecting you to ask questions he knows the answers to, correct?” Well… she hoped he had the answers, but yes that was correct. “I am prepared to offer my horn as payment than no manner the form of question you ask, he will answer in only riddle and rhyme.”

“Well, yeah, but how else does the thing talk?” A dark look over Dash made the pegasus think fast. “Uh, your majesty.”

“Better… but you think only of moments where you ask questions for details he is aware of. He has time to make riddles, to form mazes to trap you in. What better way to distract us then to have us search for an answer he has already given?” That was also true. The spirit of chaos was proud of his ability to confuse the mares. Trickery was no new tool in that bag.

“Then, dear sister, what do you suspect Twilight should ask?” Celestia voiced to the younger alicorn. Luna looked up with the same look as before. It wasn’t just an idea, now Twilight knew it was a good idea.

“Ask him a question he has to think about.”

Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea.

“Wait… how does that help?” Twilight asked the dark alicorn. “What good is a question he can’t answer? I mean, that just means I’ll have made him think for a while, but that doesn’t do us any good right now.”

“If he doesn’t know the answer, then he’ll speak as he thinks. We know him to be vile and evil, but he is no foal, at least not the kind he acts to be,” Luna explained carefully to the ponies. “He is old and wise, merely twisted as well. If you force his hand to think, then you may very well uncover the answer thou… you seek.”

The plan rolled itself over in the unicorn’s mind. Her prior encounters with Discord had left her with the impression that he was powerful, but mentally lacking. However, she could not think of a good reason why. His plans were conniving and detailed. His plots thought out and prepared. The few moments she did speak with him, he was always able to provide answers. It was true, to a degree, that the draconequus above was wiser than he allowed others to think.

“That… makes… sense…” the mare slowly spoke. “So… should I ask him about… your stars?”

It was a rare sight for any mare to witness a face turn from satisfied joy to unhindered rage.

“No.” Her voice was as cold as ice despite the heat her anger gave. “If… he tells of my stars, I will not let the answer be given to me in riddle. I am Princess Luna, Ruler of the Night, and I will exercise my patience for the matters closer at hand. Once Discord is defeated, he and his monster, then I will force the answer from him.”

“O-Okay,” Twilight spoke to the terrifying form of her princess. “I’m sorry, I just wondered if-”

“You need apologize for nothing, Twilight Sparkle.” The princess motioned with a very rigid hoof. “Now ask a question he does not expect, and you may receive an answer free of cryptic rhymes.”

The lavender unicorn gave her ruler a small nod before turning away. Her hooves trotted lightly across the stone floor of the grand hall, head hung now in thought. What was a question that Discord might not expect the answer to? He’d definitely expect her to ask about how the “man” got here, already answered who he was, and the gloating was near forcing her to ask about the state of the night. Anything he mentioned, even in passing, was something he most likely knew, thus, something he would give riddles for.

Her lavender eyes looked about the room in hope of seeing something that could spark an idea. Princess Celestia had a wing about her sister now, calming the younger monarch from her state of barely contained fury. Maybe she could ask Discord about the man’s family? No that wouldn’t solve anything, Discord said that the God of War had… yeah it would be a waste of a question.

Looking at her friends, Twilight saw little else to help her. Rainbow Dash was still gawking at the sight of the man on the ground, Pinkie Pie bouncing around the room without direction, Applejack comforting a near distraught Rarity, and Fluttershy curling around herself as she followed the pink pony. Asking about the creature’s friends would be pointless. From the way Discord described him, it sounded like all of his friends were already… well gone.

She could ask about where the Elements of Harmony were, but he would definitely expect a question like that. It was a riddle last time and the time before. The chances of him forgetting where he hid the Elements were less likely than Luna becoming Nightmare Moon again. There had to be something though!

The guards were still spread out across the hall. The pegasi and unicorns of Celestia’s golden guard mixing well with the dark trimmed steel of Luna’s shadow guard. They each appeared powerful and disciplined in different ways. While the familiar white and gold of The Sun Court appeared strong and trained, the guards belonging to The Night Court looked more terrifying by appearance. Together however, mixed like a crowd of ponies in Ponyville, they looked like a force capable of quelling the dragons in migration. They looked… looks…

The man! Why did he look the way he did? Why was he not a pony, or a griffon, or a dragon, or… or something else? Did he always look like this, or was he larger, smaller, thinner, wider, or even of a different gender? It… It didn’t do much for answering questions she had about the man, but it was a safe assumption that all she could relevantly ask was already known to the draconequus. But if she asked how the portal worked, she might have a better chance. And that really was something that could help them defeat the monster again.

“Discord!” she called up to the master of chaos. He looked up to her from his reverse position, chocolate milk falling up as she caught it in his muzzle. “I know what to ask you!”

“Really? Finally, that took long enough. Surprise me next time would you? Ask the question before you think of it, that doesn’t happen often enough.” His claw snapped once, forcing the hammock and glass out of existence, his body hung in the air as he waited for the unicorn to continue. Twilight tried to hide her assured grin.

“How come the man looks the way he does?” It was for a moment, just a moment, but it was long enough for Twilight to see it.

Discord’s wings stopped beating.

His eyes opened wider, his jaw slightly parted, and his two mismatched forehooves going slack at his side. Element of Magic indeed, finding a question an omnipotent being didn’t expect.

“You want me… to explain… why he looks like… that?” His paw pointed towards the white skinned beast on the ground, still having yet to move a muscle since his appearance.

“No, I want you to explain why, if, and how, he looks the way he does after you pulled him out of the portal! For something that sounds to have… died violently, he looks rather clean.” It was quite possibly just her imagination, but Twilight thought she could feel a proud smile on her princess’s muzzle.

“Oh that,” Discord spoke taken aback even further. “You want to know about that?” The unicorn nodded eagerly. “Hmm… didn’t expect that.” It took all that she could not cheer in victory.

“Well truth be told, I don’t really know, or want to know, or need to know, or care.” The unicorn almost broke out dancing, but the situation at hand, and the presence of her princess, kept her instincts in check.

“Ah, but you promised we had one question,” Twilight pointed out to the master of chaos, a smirk holding its place on her lips. If he saw it, Discord paid it no mind.

“Fine, if you dull ponies can’t live without answer, I’ll give it my best.” Holding up his paw and claw, Discord began to narrate once more. “Since I dragged him here from death as he searched for his after life, his spirit probably chose a form that was best suited for him, familiar I guess. Personally, I’d try and mix it up. Be a draconequus here, windigo there, and maybe a changeling somewhere else. I always did tell myself I could be anything I wanted to be, so why don’t I just go ahead and be everything!” His laughter was both unanswered and unappreciated.

“So you took his soul from death… and the souls that come here… can choose their shape?” Twilight clarified. It wasn’t a lost art by any means to change form, but only temporarily. This sounded more… permanent.

“Yes, yes, yes, and no. So three fourths yes, too even a ratio for my taste.” Discord gave a shudder before he continued. “They come here. They choose their shape, but only by what they remember. Can’t exactly expect every life to understand the beauty of chaos that well yet. After all,” Discord began with a shudder, “you ponies have made it clear to me just how much you value the familiar.”

“Is this the reason for taking my stars?” Princess Luna asked, rage unbidden from her voice. “Have you… swept away my starry night to claim lives in this cruel manner?”

Discord flew himself down the ground, curling around the princess of night before either alicorn could react. Any fear she may have been hiding came to the surface full throttle.

“Why yes, my precious moon, indeed I have. After all, there’s only one common road the souls can travel before they reach their paradise. Sadly, it wasn’t exactly through the familiar plains, if you catch my drift.”

“The… stars?” Celestia questioned on hitched breath. The idea was unfathomable. But like before, Discord paid her little mind.

“So yes and no,” he spoke with his toothy grin to Luna, claw under the dark alicorn’s jaw. “I took your stars away from you, but I did so by taking you away from your stars. I had to put this precious land of you ponies somewhere all souls had to cross to go through, somewhere, I guess you could say, close to home.”

“The stars didn’t move, Equestria did.”

Not a single sound broke the deafening silence of the room. There were no gasps of surprise, no trembling knees, no soft cries of fear. Instead, there was just stone silence. No pony, no Element of Harmony nor princess of Equestria truly thought Discord so capable as to move their entire land to… nonexistence.

“So, you’re saying that we-”

“Up! That’s it! Question time is over!” Discord announced with a wave of his claw, uncurling from Luna and flying high into the hall again. “I’ve answered more than one question, so you should be thankful little Sparkle. Just had one rule, but it was my rule, so I bent it a little, in your favor no less. Better thank me when we’re done.”

“Now let’s see if I can’t make that spark.”

No pony could prepare for what came next.

The master of chaos raised his claw and paw into the air, curled around one another with a pocket of air in between. Faster than the ponies could comprehend, a ball of light began to form in the appendages of Discord. It grew quickly in intensity and heat, near mimicking the sun with its shine.

Instinct flooded the guards below. The pegasi jumped into the air as they charged for the draconequus as their unicorn allies below raised their horns. The attempts were fruitless, and quickly so, as the flying ponies were forced to stop beneath the heat of the now near solar orb. The magic  of the unicorns proved equally useless as Discord’s shield of magic reflected the deadly rays with as much difficultly as a fish swims through water.

“Oh, and just so you know what name to scream. Call the man Kratos.”

The words may have well been a curse.

The ball of light descended from the furred paw and scaled claw of the master of chaos. It sized no larger than a pony’s head, but had more magic in it than any unicorn in the room thought themselves capable of creating. It met Kratos’s chest without impact or noise, almost anti-climatically. But the orb came from what followed.

The creature began to scream.

His were loud and painful, giving most ponies motive to trot away quickly in fright. Fluttershy quickly began to cry again in absolute terror of the noise. Kratos thrashed against the tiled floor as his eyes opened. The blades chained to his arms lit with an intense fire as he moved to stand. Tiles and granite cracked beneath the force of his arms and legs as they pushed against the flooring beneath him. As he reached his knees, blades still clenched in his hands, the screams began to subside. They turned from tormenting pain yells into deep heavy breaths. Each gasp filled his lungs, pushing and lowering his muscular chest with forced effort. For a moment, no pony moved, not even Discord high above.

They watched, enraptured, as the creature pushed once more against the tile ground, rising to his tallest on his feet. Every member of the guard, night and day, kept themselves at a distance, yet still before any Element of Harmony and the Princesses themselves. Eyes of slit orange and determined gold watched the man of white carefully.

Their gazes froze when the met his eyes.

The burning eyes of Kratos gave them a sensation of pause they had never experienced before. His eyes, the portals to his soul, had more hate and disdain within them than any enemy they were ever trained to face. The pegasi dare not fly, the unicorns dare not spark, and the earth pares dare not move.

Kratos’s features turned in confusion as his eyes scanned the various ponies in the room. The muscles in his neck turned as the rest of his body flexed.

“What torture in Hades is this?”

His voice was deep and powerful, as filled with hate as the gaze he bore. It gave Twilight and Dash no less pause they facing a dragon looking for blood. Applejack still stood before Rarity, despite the guards in gold and blue that stood before each of them. Fluttershy, still in tears and weak in the hooves, huddled behind the unfurled wings of the Princess of the Night. Celestia stood next to her kin, form tall as she loomed far above the guards around her.

Pinkie Pie, however, was the only pony among the many that huddled within the hall that had no features of fear or panic across her muzzle. If anything, she appeared almost excited to see Kratos awake and on his feet. Celestia began to step forward, ready to address the man of white, but was stopped by the only other life in the room with the will and power to speak.

“Hades sent me Kratos,” Discord spoke as he curled down beside the foreign warrior. What was he speaking of? The question ran through the mind of more than one pony in the room.

“For what purpose has he sent a beast such as you? And I ask again, what manner of his domain do I face myself in?”

“Ah, two excellent questions at once! Oh this is exciting, don’t you agree Celestia?” The white alicorn gritted her teeth as she snarled at the master of chaos. “Or how about you little miss magic?” Discord pointed to Twilight. Her expression was more of disgust than anger.

“Answer me beast!” Kratos roared at the twisted form of Discord, who appeared not even the slightest bit perturbed by the anger of the warrior. The Elements, the princesses, and the guards, however, all took visible trots back at the voice. His cry alone… it felt powerful.

“Oh my apologizes Spartan, I just get side-tracked fairly easily.” The spirit of disharmony uncurled himself, standing to his fullest in front of the white skinned man. By size comparison, Discord towered over Kratos by over twice his height, literally. But somehow… by some magic, the smaller of the two appeared far more intimidating than the other.

“What you see before you are the final shreds of hope of all of the lost souls of Hades.” Confusion washed through the ponies like a new spring’s breeze. “Turns out, too many of the mortals who end up here hold on to that frilly little emotion. Not quite sure why, but they’ve started to manifest themselves, and they are of such stupid little things.”

That didn’t go unanswered.

“Hey! We’re-” The pink mare had her lips zipped before she could finish, the afterglow of a flash fading around her head.

“Noisy little ponies, aren’t they? Any how, the big man says you can have your… what was it now…” Discord beat his claws against his chin in mock though. His paw snapped at an already known idea. “That’s right! You’re already doomed life back. Who knows? You may even live long enough to actually kill your master.”

“You taunt me monster?” Kratos let his voice drip with venom as his blades growled with fire.

“Now now, I’m you’re free pass to Greece. These ponies…” He spoke with a sweep of his claw. “Are just the block in the path. Now how do you usually get rid of your problems? Cook them a cake? Offer them treats? No, no, you kill them, horrifically, almost randomly.”

“Cease thou words, foul cur!”

Luna’s voice roared across the ponies, pushing the few aerial pegasi to the ground. Many more of the unicorns held themselves with magic.

“Thee speaks only in twisted tongues!”

The Elements braced themselves against one another, some more prepared than others for the infamous yell of the Princess of the Night. The stone of the grand hall shook beneath its volume and groaned beneath its might.

“Send this foul creature from our sight or face the wrath of day and night!”

Discord, with a grin as malicious as ever, took to the rafters of the hall again with a flash of his magic. Kratos however, stood ground in a different way all together.

His blades impacted the ground beneath him, shattering the stone as they forced themselves into place. The winds and force of Luna’s words pushed against him with more might than any other pony in the room, but his body held firm against the ground beneath him. When her command was finished, however, and Kratos began to rise, the princess of the night recognized the error of her action.

“Whether the beast speaks truth or fiction, you want my life all the same.” His accusation came with a tug of his blades, pulling the jagged tools from the Grand Hall’s floor in a shower of stone. Celestia held her ground next to her sister. “I will take yours before your wish is ever uttered.”

“No! Please, I do now know who you are but believe us when we say we are no enemy to you!” Kratos had yet to stop his march towards the alicorns. His blades were still lit by an unholy flames and face twisted with rage.

“Halt!”

A guard pony, a pegasi coated gray jumped before his two rulers with commendable fearlessness. He hunched himself over, wings flared as he stood his strongest. The white skinned warrior slowed his pace, eyeing the creature with a look filled with no less hate.

“Cease and desist your threatening actions, or else you will be held accountable by Equestrian High Court!” High above, the ponies could hear Discord laughing in joy.

“I don’t think he cares much about that,” Rainbow Dash muttered as she flew around in the air, fighting herself for getting a better view, or getting further away.

“Do you surrender yourself?” the guard voice again.

“Stand down,” Celestia spoke to the gold armored guard. But he did nothing of the sort.

“No, your majesty.” He must have sensed the look of shock from the alabaster alicorn, because his eyes had yet to leave the now still Kratos. “Your life is in danger, as well as Princess Luna. We of the Royal Guard are sworn to protect you both with our lives, and I will not abandon my post because of some monstrous creation.”

“Go forth Kratos,” Discord spoke high above, near shaking with excitement. “Go forth in the name of Olympus.”

His words must have hit a chord.

The man of white swung his blade before the princesses could take a breath. It flew threw the air in an arc, wrapped in the flames of rage. It hit the gray pegasi with a clean hit above his armor, just at the base of his feathered appendage.

The guard’s wing fell off, burnt and broken.

At that moment, Tartarus was let loose.

Twilight heard herself scream before she realized she done it, a shrill shriek of terrified origins. She was not alone. Fluttershy openly sobbed tearfully in panic and horror, unaware of the way she dampened the coat of the Princess of the night. Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie all stood stock still in shock and horror at the sight they witnesses.

The guards, however, reacted.

Armor of golden light and nightly blue mixed as the unicorns and pegasi charged at their now deemed foe. Bolts of magic were fired at the white skinned man as pegasi flew from the air into tackling formations.

Nothing hit.

Kratos rolled onto his back, jumping out of the doge with his blades beside him. They hung from his arms by chains, still lit by the vicious fire he so fearlessly used.

“I do not care what form of creatures you are!” he roared at the Royal Guard before him. “You will not stop me from getting my Revenge!” The white skinned man pulled his arms together with a clearly brutal force.

The jagged blades swung in front of him in a wide arc. They cut the air with their heat, aiming to maim the ponies with their edge. One crossed across the muzzle of a night guard, earning a cry of pain. The other met only the gold armor of Celestia’s court guard, grazing across it as it left a vicious gap in the now useless armor. Kratos however, was not finished yet.

Blades in mid swing, the white skinned man twisted his body. The blades were pulled behind them as they moved in a vertical loop around him. The wrapped around the air, the chains growing taunt as the tip of the arc, just before they met the ground. The pegasi and unicorns easily dodged the obvious assault, most readying them for a swift counter. They never got the chance.

When the blades met the ground, a fire blew from beneath them.

Several of the pegasi of the Night Court fell with pained cries as their wings lit on fire. The concentrations of the unicorns were immediately shattered. The guard collective became completely still at the sight of the monster’s power. To Kratos, it was an opportunity.

His chains twisted on his arms, pulling the hit of his blades back to his hand. He was already in mid spring towards the guards, when he was able to grasp the evil devices.

“RAAGH!” he gave  fierce cry as he jumped forward into the air with his blades raised. A gasp of either surprise or shock gave from one of the night guards, but it was drowned out beneath sound and force of the white skinned beast landing on another.

“Too bad for that pony,” Discord chuckled to himself from high above.

As soon as Kratos connected, his blades set to work, brutalizing the poor pony caught beneath his grasp.

First a foreleg was cut, then his armor was dented, then a rear leg cut off… then an eye… then a horn.

CLINK

The blades could do no more damage as they impacted something other than the pony that was still beneath him. A blue hued shield of magic had formed around the Royal Guard of The Night Court. The scowl on his face grew deeper as he tried again.

CLINK

The jagged tool of fire hit without force against the unicorn again.

Before Kratos could try again, a crackle of energy impacted his side, sending him from the Royal Guards of Night and Day. He gave a grunt of pain as he bounced across the tiled floor of the Great Hall, rising to his knees quickly after he stopped.

“Stand back!” Celestia called to her guard as she flew over them all. Luna stood tall behind her sister’s aerial form, horn glowing at its brightest. “You are no match for this creature of Discord’s bidding. Take the injured and retreat!” Her hooves landed before the warrior, wings flared in challenge.

“I will protect my ponies from your pathless wrath.” If Kratos cared for her words, he did not show it.

“RAAAAAAGH!”

Kratos threw his blades at the princess, watching as they deflected harmlessly across her shield. However, the failure only seemed to encourage him to attack harder. His steps grew closer and closer to the alicorn as the blades continued to dance around his form, twisting against the chains he commanded. Every pass they made at the princess of day was met with the same effect.

Celestia kept the shield up with all of her power. She was weaker than what she could be, her sun setting with a majority of her magic. But she could keep this shield, she could hold off the deadly assault of this damned warrior.

“Quickly!” Celestia called back again. “Retreat!”

“None of you shall leave here ALIVE” Kratos pulled his blades back to his hands, holding them at his sides in preparation for something. Celestia readied herself, shield taking in more of her near god-like powers. Her concentration broke however, when the beast of Discord’s bidding began to perform some cryptic movement. His arms moved above and below him, swinging without force around his body. He twisted and twirled the blades in his hands before hunching over and sending the to the tile ground.

If Tartarus was opened before, Kratos now brought the apocalypse.

Formless creatures of red and black flew from the white skinned man. They flew through the air in clouds of red. They screamed with cries of The Everfree’s banshees. By appearance alone, they were terrifying. By action, they were nightmares. The amorphous red wraiths flew around the room, eliciting cries of fear and panic from the Elements, and even the guards alike.

Rainbow Dash flew as fast as she could in the enclosed space, avoiding the monster that now chased her through the air. Applejack hauled Rarity onto her back as she deftly avoided the monster of red which chased after her. Twilight Sparkle lit a shield of her strongest magic, unable to stop the tears that were falling down her muzzle as one of the creatures flew around her, assaulting her violet shield ruthlessly. Fluttershy hid behind the alicorn princess of the night sobbing hysterically to herself. Pinkie Pie… was no where to be seen.

“Way to use Hades’s Army to do the job!” Discord cheered again above, his claw and paw clapping together. “You do the God of the Dead proud!”

The Royal Guard, who were already beaten and harmed, could do little against the beasts of burden that assaulted them. They tore through the golden army of day like butter and rent the dark armor of night even worse. They cried in pain as the creatures thrashed against their exposed bodies. The specters of dark flames threw the pegasi against the walls, letting their wings crack and bend at odd angles. The unicorns found themselves unable to summon magic as they were tossed and beaten like dolls amongst a pile of rabid dogs.

Their pain was as evident in their screams.

And Celestia could do nothing to help them.

The moment she turned to aid her ponies, Kratos began to assault her again. She didn’t know if it was to distract her or to anger her, but he was accomplishing both. Every attempt she made to strike her own magic at Kratos was cut off by another angry slash of his chained blades, forcing her to add more of her magic to the shield. If she slipped for a moment, Celestia was doubtless the blades would tear through her mercilessly.

Luna was doing what she could. Her magic encased herself and Fluttershy in a protective bubble, as she attempted to do the same to the already injured ponies. Small fields of magic formed around every guard who was injured or maimed, keeping them as safe as possible from the onslaught of the “Spartan”. But she knew, from history and logic, it was a losing battle.

They had no Elements to use. The Royal Guard was being thrashed. Celestia and herself were indisposed with merely distracting the creatures. And Kratos… he was doing more than merely witling down her sister’s magic. He was easily plowing through what little she had to offer during Luna’s night. It wouldn’t be long before Kratos would be able to break the shield of light, doubtlessly begin to assault the princess of the sun, and soon turn his attention to the rest of the ponies who could only flee in this moment.

But there had to be something… just one thing she could do to help. Her dark eyes scanned the room as she searched for more injured ponies in thought. Her magical shield wrapped around another guard of her court, horn shattered beneath the assault of a red wraith. She would mourn his injuries later.

Where had theses creatures come from? There was nothing that Kratos had done aside from some cryptic dance to bring them into Equestria. He hadn’t used a spell she was familiar with, or rune she could translate, or even a portal that… used a portal…

Princess Luna had an idea.

Her dark eyes looked to the portal of Discord’s creation. It still swirled with energy she couldn’t imagine and with intent she couldn’t place. One part of it beckoned her while the other repulsed her. But the idea was still in her mind.

If Discord brought a warrior into her land, couldn’t she?

There were a million thoughts against it. It could make the current situation worse. She might be able to use it. It could take away her magic. It could take away her horn. It could take away her life. But no argument her mind summoned stopped her body from trotting over to the portal, eyes above it and wings flared.

This was an idea, but it was a horribly unpredictable idea.

“P-Please help…” a pegasus cried as she pushed herself as close to the princess as possible. “I’m s-s-so scared…” Her body shook with fearful sobs, eyes shut as she blindly held the princess of the night.

‘She is terrified…’ The dark alicorn thought as she looked back into the swirling portal of Discord’s magic. She looked up again to see the creature of white with swords of flames, terrorizing and attempting to maim the guards the castle. Her sister was doing little well in restraining the creature. No Elements of Harmony, little magical effect… small chance for survival…

“As am I…’

Luna plunged her head into the dark abyss. Next Chapter: The Alpha Estimated time remaining: 8 Hours, 21 Minutes