Hooves of Clay

by iisaw

First published 25th of June, 2012

Twilight deals poorly with disillusionment.

Twilight devises a way to end a certain threat against Equestria, once and for all. She attempts a powerful, dangerous spell and, unfortunately, everything goes exactly as she plans. Her actions aren't driven by the purest of motives, and her disillusionment leads her down the road to dire consequences. . . a road somepony has walked before her.
WARNING: Spoilers in the comments!

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Crossing the Line

Twilight Sparkle walked slowly toward Ponyville's town square. It was too hot a day to hurry even though the weather pegasi had thoughtfully scattered large cumulus clouds over the town to provide clumps of shade as relief from the midsummer sun. It wasn't just the heat that sapped Twilight's energy. She had been feeling less energetic for a while, even though she had been sleeping more than usual lately. She thought it might just be a normal sort of letdown after the big, joyous event of her brother's wedding, but she was getting tired of being tired.

Twilight hadn't decided if a smoothie or ice cream would be a better remedy for her lethargy, but she was determined to drag Pinkie Pie out of Sugarcube Corner to join her for a cold, sugary treat. Working in a bakery in this weather had to be exhausting. She turned the corner into the square and saw Pinkie and Applejack unloading bushel baskets of apples from a cart. Pinkie was chattering away about a quadruple order of special apple tarts and a sweating Applejack nodded along to the pink pony's monologue. Pinkie didn't look exhausted at all.

"Where do you get all that energy, Pinkie?" the unicorn called out to her.

Pinkie giggled. "Silly Twilight! I make it myself!"

"Well, maybe you can make an extra batch and lend me some of it, because..." Twilight's joke died in her mouth as she caught sight of two ponies coming out of Sugarcube Corner. Bon Bon gave Lyra an affectionate nuzzle as they passed the apple cart. Twilight stared at them, her eyes widening in shock.

Applejack frowned. "Twi? Is somethin' wrong?"

Twilight Sparkle screamed in rage and attacked. Her powerful magic was her most effective weapon and truly something to be feared, but she went for Lyra with hooves and teeth. Lyra reared in panic to avoid Twilight's vicious snap at her nose and caught two stiff forelegs in her throat. She tumbled over backwards and Twilight reared over her, bringing down hard hooves again and again with murderous force. Everypony nearby froze in shock and disbelief. Even Applejack delayed for seconds before leaping at Twilight and slamming her to the ground with a powerful head-butt to the ribs.

For several moments all was confusion and chaos. Bon Bon let out a long scream of horror, ponies gathered and gawked, Twilight struggled to get her breath back and to get her hooves under her, Mr. and Mrs. Cake rushed out of the bakery to see what was going on, and Lyra just lay there motionless in the dust.

Twilight actually growled as she tried to stand. Applejack put a hoof to her shoulder and shoved her hard. "Twilight Sparkle, if you don't stay down, I swear by Celestia I will buck you into next week! What in tarnation has got into... whoah!"

Applejack abruptly lifted off the ground, surrounded by a nimbus of lavender magic, and floated over to the unmoving body of Lyra. She tilted forward so that she was head down over the unicorn's body. But it wasn't a unicorn. It wasn't even a pony. The dark, chitinous form was one that Applejack easily recognized: A changeling.

Twilight got to her hooves, wincing at the pain in her ribs, and went to the still sobbing Bon Bon. "It's all right Bon Bon. That isn't Lyra."

"W-what?" Bon Bon looked up from the body and her face twisted in anger. "What happened? What did you do to her? You monster! You..."

Twilight sighed and winced again. There was a soft pop and a flash of magic just barely visible in the bright sunlight. Bon Bon's eyes went out of focus and she lay down in the street and went to sleep.

"Uh, Twi?" Applejack asked from her awkward position in the air, "Could you put me down now?"

Twilight set the farm pony down gently beside Pinkie Pie, whose pupils were only just then starting to expand from the pinpoints of classic shock.

"Oh, Twilight! That was so scary! You got all mean-looking and hit poor Lyra, only it wasn't really Lyra, but I didn't know that, so I thought you'd gone all crazy again, but crazy mean instead of just your normal crazy, and that's not fun at all, but you really were..."

There was a brighter flash of magic and a whoomph as the air rushed in to fill the space where Twilight had been.

"...just saving Bon Bon from..." Pinkie trailed off and exchanged glances with Applejack. "I think something's bothering Twilight."

Applejack grimaced. "Somethin' ain't right with that gal, that's for sure. Look, can you take care of Bon Bon? I'm gonna head over to the library an' see if I can't locate the burr under Twilight's saddle."

"But she wasn't wearing a... ooooh, that's one of those folksy saying of yours, right?"

Applejack rolled her eyes and trotted off.

Twilight Sparkle appeared in a flash of magic in the middle of the side room on the main floor of the library, startling Lyra who was busy copying music from a book of old ballads.

"Hey Twilight!" Lyra lifted her quill from where she had dropped it onto the book and frowned at the blotch it had left on the page. "You surprised me."

Twilight didn't look at her when she said, "You need to go over to Sugarcube corner right now. Bon Bon is there and she needs you."

"Uh... is she alright? What..."

Twilight clenched her teeth together and hissed, "Just go. Now."

Lyra went.

"SPIKE!" Twilight went through to the main room and unlocked the door to the basement. "SPIKE!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Jeeze, Twilight, gimme a chance to..." The little dragon froze in dismay when he saw the grim look on his guardian's face. "What's wrong?"

"Get the book with the red cover out of the iron chest in the basement and bring it up here," she said, ignoring his question.

A rarely used sense of self-preservation kicked in and Spike raced down the stairs to fetch the book without another word. Twilight had warned Spike not to touch the iron chest or its contents when she had brought it to the library a week previously, and Spike had had no trouble obeying her. It was old and rusted and didn't look like it would contain anything valuable or tasty. Gems were usually kept in nice, clean velvet boxes.

"'Don't touch it', 'go get it'," Spike grumbled to himself, "She should make up her mind!" The lid of the chest opened with a screech of rusty hinges and he lifted out the book Twilight had asked for. He flipped it open in curiosity and saw that the text was a very old form of runic Equestrian that he couldn't read. An odd, red seal had been stamped over the letters of the first page. It was a symbol that Spike thought he had seen somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where. The book smelled of mildew and the pages were brittle and flaking at the edges. Spike knew that the older and more fragile the book was the more Twilight usually valued it, so he gently closed the cover and carefully carried it upstairs.

Twilight barely glanced at him. She nodded toward one of the book rests on the central table indicating where Spike should set the volume down. She was concentrating on using her magic to scrape something off of one of her fore hooves. She held up the gob of green goo and examined it critically.

"Uh... what's that, Twilight?"

"Something I need to complete a spell I've been working on."

"Oh? What kind of spell? Can I help?"

"No!" Twilight caught herself and lowered her voice. "I'm sorry, Spike. This is one spell I should do by myself. Could you leave me alone, please?" She hesitated when she saw her assistant's expression sag and added, "Maybe you could go out for ice cream. Take some bits from the jar and go treat yourself."

Spike smiled at that but it was a forced smile. He could tell something was wrong. "Are you sure? I don't mind helping out."

Twilight Sparkle forced a smile of her own and replied, "I'm sure, Spike. I really should be alone when I do this spell."

At that moment Applejack and Rainbow Dash burst in through the front door.

"AJ says you've gone all nutso again, Twi! Did you really kick some changeling flank? I wouldn't mind a bit of that action myself! D'you think there's any more of them around?"

"Hello, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said, while simultaneously letting out a prolonged sigh. It was a skill she had picked up since moving to Ponyville and had often found need of. "Yes, I beat up one of those evil things. No, I haven't gone 'nutso', unless by 'nutso' you mean 'able to spot a changeling that had everypony else fooled.' Now if you don't mind..."

Applejack stared at the unicorn through narrowed eyes. "Twi, you didn't just beat that bug. You out-an'-out stomped it to pieces."

"Whoa! No kidding? Awesome!" Rainbow Dash held out a hoof for a bump. When Twilight just stared at her, she slowly lowered it. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"I don't reckon it is," Applejack said quietly.

Twilight angrily snapped her teeth shut and turned her head away from her friends. "Rainbow, you asked if there were any more of them around? Well, since the collective noun for changelings is 'swarm', I'm guessing yes. Probably a lot more. And I'm right in the middle of trying to do something about it, so I'd appreciate it if you girls would kindly leave me alone to get on with it!"

There was a long silence.

"Sugarcube, I hate those durned things just as much as you do, but you are riled up like I've never seen before. I can't rightly say what's eatin' at you, but it sure as sugar is somethin' more than just those critters showin' up again. No, don't you dare feed me a load of horse apples! You're hurtin' an' I want to help you. We're friends, ain't we?"

Twilight hung her head. "Alright, alright. I guess I am a little 'riled up', but I really need to try and get rid of the changelings as soon as possible. Who knows how many of them are walking around Ponyville right now? Let me just do this, and then we can all sit down and talk things over afterward."

"Fair enough, Twi, but we ain't leaving. We're your friends an' we're gonna be here to support you ifin all we do is sit an' watch the pretty lights."

"Yeah! What she said!"

"It might be dangerous."

Rainbow Dash snorted derisively and Applejack actually chuckled. "Any more dangerous than facin' down Nightmare Moon or Discord? I reckon we'll risk it."

"Me, too!" put in Spike a little less certainly.

Twilight gave them all a wan little smile. "Thanks, girls. You really are great friends. And Spike?" Her smile widened a bit. "Best. Assistant. Ever." She tuned to the book on the stand and opened it gently. The green blob she had scraped off her hoof floated over a blank spot on the page.

"What's that?"

"Hush, RD! Can't you see she's conjurin'?"

"It's changeling blood," Twilight answered mechanically, without looking up from the book. "The Law of Contagion comes into play with a spell like this. The magic needs something to work through to make a connection to the bio-matrix of the changelings."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Clear as mud," she muttered under her breath. Applejack hissed at her and stuck an elbow in her ribs.

"Brace yourselves," Twilight said, and her horn began to glow. The light quickly built up to a brilliant intensity and blended with the glob of changeling blood to form a sickly green sphere that spun and pulsed above the unicorn's head.

"Wow, that's pretty awesome! What's it supposed to..."

The sphere exploded outward, in a burst of energy, passing through the ponies and the wooden trunk of the library with a blast of white noise. There followed a moment of awe-struck silence within the room, and then the screaming started outside. The voices of hysterical ponies were clearly audible, even through the thick walls.

"Oh, Sweet Celestia! What is that thing?"

"What the hay just happened?"

"Ew! Ew! Bugs! I hate bugs!"

"The horror! The horror!"

Inside the library, Rainbow Dash and Applejack exchanged wide-eyed looks.

"I reckon it worked."

"Ya think?"

"Way to go, Twilight!"

"So what exactly did that there spell of yours do, sugarcube?"

Twilight hesitated, and when she finally spoke it was in a subdued voice. "It sent out a shockwave of death magic tuned to the changelings. It will keep expanding and killing them until it runs out of energy." She looked up at her friends, tried to smile, and failed. "It should clear out all of Ponyville... probably a little farther."

Applejack stared at her in horror. "Death magic?" she gasped.

"Whoa," Rainbow Dash said. She struggled for something else to add, and then very quietly finished, "That's... harsh."

There was a long, uncomfortable silence, and then Spike pointed out that a red glow was coming from between the pages of the spell book.

Twilight roughly flipped the pages over to the front of the book, sending a spatter of parchment flakes across the bookstand. The seal on the first page was glowing brightly and emitting a thin, keening sound. "Oh, no," she gasped, "no, no, no! Everyone, get out of here!"

Applejack's expression hardened. "We ain't leavin' you, Twi!"

"You've got to! It's an alarm spell! You've got to get away from here! You can't be here when she..."

A brilliant flash of golden magic interrupted her. Suddenly Princess Celestia and four unicorn guards stood crowded into the room between Twilight Sparkle and the central table. The Princess's normally gently flowing mane and tail rippled furiously upward like multicolored flames and her eyes blazed with anger. The full force of the Canterlot royal voice assaulted them all as the princess bellowed, "TWILIGHT SPARKLE, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

Defiance

Everyone threw themselves face down onto the library floor into the most abrupt and heartfelt bows they had ever made before their princess. Everyone but Twilight Sparkle. Twilight's knees reflexively buckled, but she stopped herself from bowing and stood up straight again. It took a huge effort of will, but she managed to look Princess Celestia in the eyes even though she couldn't stop her legs from shaking.

"What I've done is saved Ponyville from a ch-changeling invasion," Twilight said, her voice breaking on the last word.

The princess said nothing in reply but made a sharp motion of her head and caught up the red spell book in her magic. It floated over to her and she flipped through the pages. After a moment, the seal stopped glowing and the book snapped shut.

"You stole this book from the sealed vault in the archives," the princess continued at a bearable volume. "You used awful magic that you know is forbidden. You killed uncounted living beings." The furious motion of her mane slowed and it drooped toward the ground. Her voice softened even further. "How could you do such things, Twilight Sparkle?"

"How could I arm myself against those parasites?" Twilight felt her fear become indignation, and her voice rose. "How could I treat them like the giant, emotional ticks that they are? If they didn't want to die then they shouldn't have attacked my ponies!"

"Your ponies, Twilight Sparkle?"

Twilight blinked in confusion and stuttered, "Y-you know what I mean. All my... friends here."

"If you thought the changelings would try to infiltrate Ponyville why didn't you come to me? Why did you decide to deal with them yourself?"

Twilight took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself and said, "I didn't know they would be back... not so soon and not here, anyway. I just wanted to be ready." She looked up at the princess in a pointed manner. "Somepony needed to be."

The guards' eyes widened at the disrespect, and there was a sharp intake of breath from one of them. Twilight felt a tug on her tail and looked down to see a still prostrate Spike making urgent shushing motions at her. It only made her angrier. "What? What, Spike? Is this another of those stupid 'you can't say that' situations, even though it's the truth? If we waited for her to do something we'd all be..."

"Twilight," Celestia said. Her voice was low, barely audible, but everyone in the room felt a sudden chill run up their spines. A piece of paper slid out of the old book and floated over to hover in front of Twilight. "You say you were only preparing for an invasion, Twilight Sparkle? If so, what did you need with this?"

Twilight looked with dismay at her map of the rocky wasteland that was home to the changeling swarm. The three most probable locations of the queen's hive were marked with large crosses and accompanying notes.

"Well?"

Twilight hung her head in shame.

"Twilight Sparkle, answer me."

The little unicorn began to tremble. "I..." she began to speak but seemed to run out of breath after the first word. She swallowed and tried again, her head still between her forelegs, "They're evil. Can't you understand that? They've hurt so many ponies, and they wouldn't stop just because they've been thrown out once."

"And so you planned to... what? Go hunting changelings in their homeland? How is that any better than what they did to us?" The floating piece of paper crumpled slowly into a tight ball. "Along with everything else, Twilight Sparkle, you've deliberately lied to me. I am so disappointed in you." Princess Celestia closed her eyes and her voice shook ever so slightly as she said, "You will come to Canterlot and I will decide your punishment there."

Twilight's head flew up and she gasped as if she'd been struck. "No! I didn't mean to... I mean I... I..." She broke off and stamped her hooves on the floor in a burst of anger and frustration. "You are disappointed in me?" she screamed. "You couldn't even..."

Without warning, the princess and Twilight vanished in a violent burst of golden magic. The ponies and dragon left behind all looked at each other in dismay.

"Uhmn, Sarge?" one of the guard ponies said after nervously clearing his throat. "I think Her Majesty forgot about us. What do we do now? Hoof it back to Canterlot?"

The sergeant gave him a sour look. "Do you want to be back at the palace when Shining Armor finds out what's going on between his kid sister and the princess?"

"Oh, horseapples!"

"Exactly. I think we should provide aid and comfort to the good citizens of Ponyville by cleaning up changeling carcasses until we get further orders." He motioned his squad out the library door.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Spike sat gaping at each other for a long time. Finally, Applejack shook herself and stood up. "RD, I'll fetch Rarity, you go an' round up the rest of the gals. We'll meet up with y'all at the train station. I reckon Twilight's gonna need us."

Twilight felt the familiar twisting sensation of Princess Celestia's spell as it hit her and had a moment of interstitial time to wonder where she'd appear. Would it be a jail cell or a dungeon? She didn't expect a pleasant sitting room in the palace. The princess didn't appear with her, and Twilight took a moment to marvel at the control it must have taken to send the two of them to different destinations. Then the full weight of what she had done and said hit her. She sank to the floor and bowed her head until her horn hit the floor. "Twilight Sparkle: Smartest utter idiot in Equestria," she muttered to herself.

Some while later she heard a polite knock at the door followed by the sound of hoofsteps entering the room. "Ms. Sparkle?"

Twilight didn't bother raising her head. "What?" Her voice was barely audible even to herself but the other pony evidently had good ears.

"I am instructed to inform you that Her Royal Majesty has requested that you not leave this suite until you are called for. In the meantime, I am to act as your hoofmaiden and see to your needs."

"Thank you, but right now all I want is to be left alone."

"I will be very quiet, ma'am. You will hardly know I'm here."

"Huh?" That did spur Twilight to look up. The unicorn mare looking down at her was large and muscular, with a rough, sharply angled face. She wore no clothing but Twilight could see the flattened stripes on her coat where the straps of barding would rest.

"Hoofmaiden, huh?" Twilight commented sourly.

"Yes, ma’am."

"Do you have to be in the same room with me, Snowdrop?"

"Oh." The mare had the good grace to look slightly embarrassed. "I see. We thought you might not recognize me, since I only joined the guard a couple of months before you moved away from Canterlot."

"What's the point of the deception?" Twilight growled.

Snowdrop sighed. "Her Majesty ordered that you be guarded, but the captain thought it might be... less stressful for you if it wasn't so obvious."

"Oh, no," Twilight groaned, bringing a hoof to her face, "I didn't even think about dragging Shining Armor into this mess! Ponyfeathers! I didn't think at all. What in Equestria is wrong with me?"

Snowdrop didn't say anything.

"Fine. Guard away." Twilight began to pace around the room. "What are you going to do if I just pop off to somewhere else or throw myself off the balcony?"

"Please don't do that, Ms. Sparkle. Her Majesty and the captain would be very unhappy, you would be dead or a fugitive, and I would have to explain to them why I failed to do my duty."

"Oh, don't worry," Twilight sighed and stopped pacing at the open French windows that led onto the balcony to gaze unhappily at the magnificent view. "I think I've done enough damage for one day."

Snowdrop didn't reply and Twilight stayed where she was. Her thoughts chased themselves in useless circles as she watched the sun sink lower in the sky. There were clouds scattered in the West. They were obviously placed so as to provide a decorative sunset, but the sun dropped below the horizon with a sudden haste that left no time to appreciate the colors in the sky.

"Wow," Twilight muttered with a wince, "it looks like she's still pretty upset. I guess I don't blame her. I can't believe the way I... ugh! Why was I so angry? Why did I think I could get away with..." Twilight looked over her shoulder at Snowdrop. "Why am I asking you? Because I'm not talking to myself. Really."

"Of course not, Ms. Sparkle."

"Just call me Twilight... or dummy."

"I prefer Ms. Sparkle, Ms. Sparkle. It's near dinnertime. Would you like to order something to eat?"

That reminded Twilight that she hadn't had anything since breakfast. She took a moment to try to assess whether her current emotional state would dictate a meal based on nutrition or on how well its colors would go with the rug. "Maybe something light." She turned to face Snowdrop. "The palace kitchen does a yummy pasta salad. Why don't you order two? You must be getting hungry yourself."

The sudden look of dismay on her guard's face was wholly unexpected.

"Uh... don't you like pasta salad?"

Snowdrop didn't answer. She suddenly snapped to attention and froze in place as if she'd been hit by a cockatrice's stare. Twilight spun around to find the Princess of the Moon glaring into the room from the balcony. There was no hesitation then; Twilight dropped into a deep, formal bow.

"Fie! Give us no obeisance that thou wouldst withhold from our sister, Twilight Sparkle!" Princess Luna cried out, not quite at the volume of the royal Canterlot voice.

"Oh," Twilight said, looking up but not rising, "you've heard about..."

"We come hither from her chambers, direct. She is most vexed!"

"Your Majesty, I regret my disrespect, and I will apologize to Princess Celestia as soon as she'll let me, but I don't regret my actions. I know she's upset about me killing all those..."

"Pah! Honorless foes of our little ponies such as those insects should be trodden underhoof!" Princess Luna stomped one hoof on the floor with bone-crushing force to emphasize her statement.

"Huh? I don't understand."

"Ken thee not, indeed? We would feign enlighten... oh, moonrocks! I'm so upset that I'm slipping back into archaic Equestrian! Twilight Sparkle, how could you treat my sister like that!"

"I..." Twilight collapsed from her bow and lay on the floor in a puddle of misery. "I don't know! I was just so angry!"

The Princess stood, looking down on the sobbing unicorn for a long moment and then raised her head and spoke to Snowdrop, "Leave us, guard. I wish to speak privately."

Snowdrop spoke without moving from her rigid, braced position, "Your Majesty, my orders from Her Majesty... uh... that is, Her Majesty of the Sun, are to..."

Princess Luna gave her a flat stare. "The moon is in the sky now and I never repeat an order." There was a flash of dark blue magic and Snowdrop was no longer in the room.

"Oh!" Twilight exclaimed. "You didn't hurt her, did you? She was only doing her job."

The Princess ignored her question. "You chose to violate the laws of Equestria and go against the wishes of my sister. Why?"

Twilight sat up and took a moment to compose herself. "I did it to protect the kingdom from the changelings."

"You reasoned out the only sure way to do this and made a logical decision to disobey the laws of the kingdom and the desires of its monarch for the good of all?"

"Yes, that's it exactly!"

"The law says your method was criminal. Your sovereign says your actions were unnecessary and cruel. Yet you acted in spite of..."

"Because I was right!" Twilight suddenly shouted.

"It seems your cool, thoughtful solution is twisted around a smoldering coal of anger that blazes to life at the slightest wind of opposition. Why is that, Twilight Sparkle?"

"I... I don't know."

"Nor do I know the why of it. But I know where your hubris will lead you." Princess Luna turned away and strode to the balcony.

"I don't understand, princess. Don't go! If you really know something that will help, please tell me."

"I will do better than that, Twilight Sparkle, I will show you." The princess stepped lightly up on to the railing of the balcony and beckoned with a hoof. "Follow me."

Twilight looked down at the slope of the mountain far below and then back up at the princess. "Uhmn... I can't fly but if you give me a moment, I'll fix that. I've got a spell for wings. It takes a lot of energy but..."

"Oh yes," Princess Luna said, giving an irritated shake of her head. "Don't trouble yourself!" Her horn glowed briefly, and Twilight felt a sudden tingling behind her shoulders. She turned to see two rather large wings sprouting from her back. Black wings. Black, leathery bat wings.

"Eagh!" Twilight tried to jump out from underneath her new limbs and succeeded just about as well as one might expect.

The princess raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh... ah... sorry!" Twilight forced herself to stop trying to flinch away from the new parts of her own anatomy. "Just a little... surprised... and... uh... not so fond of bats, actually."

"No? But they are delightful creatures!"

"I'm sure they are, Your Majesty," Twilight replied, plastering a wholly false smile onto her face.

Princess Luna shrugged and bounded into the air. "Follow," she called down to Twilight.

Regardless of how ghastly they looked, the wings worked very well, and soon Twilight was soaring beside the princess high over Canterlot. She'd seen the city from the air several times but never at night; piloting a balloon in the dark was a foolish thing to do. She didn't have long to admire the lights because the princess led her in a long, banking turn that took them down the valley towards Ponyville. For a moment Twilight felt a powerful surge of homesickness. She couldn't help but wish she was back in the library with Spike and everything was the way it had been yesterday.

"Twilight Sparkle, attend!"

Twilight shook herself out of her reverie to discover that Princess Luna was some distance away. Twilight had been unconsciously heading for Ponyville, while the princess had veered to the West. Twilight banked and gave a few powerful flaps of her wings to catch up. The lights of Ponyville slid off to her right. Ahead was nothing but darkness.

"Where are we headed, Your Majesty?"

"Please, Twilight, call me Luna. We are alone, and there is no need to be formal." Luna laughed, and there was a noticeable tone of bitterness in it. "No need for monarchs and titles... particularly in this place."

"Why? Where are we? I can't see a thing!"

"Your pardon, I forgot."

There was a spark of blue magic in her eyes, and suddenly the blackness below Twilight resolved itself into a dim but clearly visible landscape in shades of soft gray.

"'Tis the Everfree, Twilight, and there is our destination, the summer palace... what little remains of it, that is. It has fared better than the rest of the republic, at least."

Twilight followed Luna into a descending spiral toward the ruins. "What republic is that?"

Luna made a gesture of her head indicating with her horn the forested landscape below. "Why, the Everfree Republic of course!"

Revelations

Princess Luna flew straight into the throne room of the ruined castle, tucking her wings in just enough to avoid clipping the edges of the empty lancet window and flaring them again to slow to an elegant touchdown. Twilight Sparkle managed not to hit the outer wall or face-plant onto the marble tiles, but her landing wouldn't have been called graceful even by the most charitable of ponies. Rainbow Dash would have laughed her cutie mark off.

"I trust you remember this spot, Twilight Sparkle." It wasn't really a question.

"Of course." Twilight nodded, straightening up from the awkward position she had dropped into to keep herself from taking a pratfall. "What did you want to show me?"

Luna closed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nose. She didn't say anything for a long while. Twilight shuffled her hooves nervously. Eventually Luna walked to the opposite wall and looked down into the courtyard below. It was only just visible beneath the encroaching trees and bushes. "The Summer Sun Celebration," Luna said quietly. "So many ponies came to see the dawn and were greeted by a nightmare instead."

"I remember," Twilight said, moving to stand beside the princess. "I was there."

Luna gave a throaty chuckle. "No, I'm speaking of the one a thousand years before. The one that happened here."

"Ah."

Luna turned and looked at Twilight as if expecting something more from the little mare and then went on. "The one where a young princess broke the laws of her kingdom and the heavens, and the heart of her sister, because she thought that she knew better how the world should be ordered."

"Uh... wait... you aren't comparing what I did to..."

"'Twas rebellion, Twilight Sparkle. In Canterlot thou didst insist to us the rightness of thine actions in a voice we knew right well. It was kin to that we did fling into the teeth of our sister in this place so long ago: 'I am right!' Those were the last words between us before... before..."

"Luna..." Twilight could see the princess visibly shaking with emotion. She instinctively touched her head to Luna's shoulder in a gesture of comfort.

Luna let the touch continue for a moment but then moved away from the unicorn and began to pace restlessly across the great hall. The whistling of the wind through the broken windows and the twisted trees outside slowly became notes of a mournful tune, and the Princess of the Night began to sing.

"A long thousand years ago, I knew that I was right:
That all my little ponies were wrong to shun my night.
I knew that they would love it, if only they would come
And seek the wonders of darkness, far from the blinding sun.

"But none of them would heed me and from my sight they fled.
It was then that the Nightmare took me and the moon rose full and red.
I battled my own dear sister for naught but a jealousy
But Harmony was her weapon and an end she made of me."

Luna fixed her eyes on Twilight and began to circle her as she continued to sing.

"A long thousand years ago, I knew that I should rule;
With all my heart I knew it, and I was just a fool.
And now you stand before me with righteous anger, bright,
So bright you see not behind you lurks a specter of endless night."

Twilight shook her head in denial and tried to back away from the princess but Luna's circling had taken on a distinctly predatory feel, as if she were a shark closing in on a meal.

"So take heed Twilight Sparkle and tread not the road I chose.
Ahead lies naught but a Nightmare and in your heart she grows."

Closer and closer Luna paced, and as she approached she changed. She grew taller, her coat darkened, and it was Nightmare Moon who loomed above Twilight as she finished her song.

"We two are not so different; take warning from a friend.
We two are not so different, not so different in the end."

"What was that, soldier?" Shining Armor barked at the shivering, wet pony that stood at attention before him.

"Lily pond, sir," Snowdrop repeated, "she dropped me in the big lily pond in the lower terrace garden."

"And why in the name of the sun and moon didn't you high-tail it back to your post instead of coming here?"

"I did, sir! But the suite was empty and I thought I should report to you instead of..."

Shining Armor waved her to silence with a curt gesture and spoke to the two armored pegasi that stood to one side. "Each of you take a squad and begin an aerial search for Twilight Sparkle and Princess Luna. If you find them, send back a messenger and keep following them, but don't approach." Not unless you're good swimmers, he added silently to himself.

The two pegasi saluted smartly and left the room.

Shining Armor turned back to the dripping mare. "You're relieved. Go home and get cleaned up."

"S-sir, I did my best..."

Shining Armor sighed and pressed a hoof against the bridge of his muzzle. "I know. You won't be reprimanded for this. There's not much anypony can do when a princess decides to stick her horn into matters."

Snowdrop was about to comment in agreement when she thought better of it, and she bit back her words. It wouldn't do to forget that the captain was married to one, after all.

Twilight followed the Princess of the Night down the staircase to the salon where the Elements of Harmony had been found. The princess was herself again.

"It's entirely different, Luna!" Twilight insisted. "I'm just an ordinary pony. I'm sure there are plenty of ponies who kick against the traces of Celestia's rule, and nothing much ever comes of it. Or are you saying that the nightmare thing that took you over is still lurking around somewhere and might try for me if I misbehave? That's sounds an awful lot like a filly's bed-time story to me."

Luna stopped abruptly, and Twilight had to quickly step to one side to avoid plowing into the princess from behind. "The nightmare... yes Twilight, Nightmare Moon is just a bed-time story. She doesn't exist. She never existed."

"But... but I saw her..."

"Yes, and you saw her again just now, didn't you?" Luna gave a bitter laugh. "She is a mere costume! She is a metaphor given physical form, an expression of power and cruelty and disregard for anything but my own selfish wishes, and you think it has nothing to do with you!"

"I..."

"You think that you, an ordinary pony, are immune to such folly?" Luna turned away and continued down the stairs. "I will teach you otherwise."

They emerged into the salon, and Luna crossed to the huge stone sculpture that had once supported the Elements of Harmony. Luna swept away the dead leaves and debris that had collected against the base of the pedestal. "Read what it says there," Luna commanded, pointing with a hoof.

Twilight peered at the old runic letters. "Unto the ponies of the Everfree Republic," she read slowly, "We sunder ourselves from this weapon and give it unto your keeping, in token that we intend our nations should ever be at peace. We give our royal pledge that your lands shall be forever free from our magics, for good or ill. - Celestia, Principessa."

"Ordinary ponies, Twilight Sparkle. All they knew was that Celestia had shown weakness... had failed to prevent the terror of eternal night, until there was no remedy but war against her own sister. They lost faith in her and thought they could better rule themselves."

Luna went to a window and gestured out toward the dark forest. "They demanded freedom from Celestia's rule, and in her grief she gave it to them, along with these lands you now know as the Everfree Forest. They did quite well for a dozen decades or so, until their glorious republic tore itself apart under the weight of in-fighting, corruption, and the lust for power. They might have survived all that; other democratic nations have. No, what doomed them was good, honest ponies whose only fault was that they had the unshakable conviction that they were right. Because, of course, when other ponies disagreed, they were not only wrong... they became the enemy."

Luna turned back to gaze at Twilight, and there were unshed tears in her eyes. "I watched it all from the moon and laughed as they died and the wild magic took over their land. The tragedy was that I did not learn from it. You must learn from it, Twilight Sparkle."

"But... if I feel I am right and... Princess Celestia is... is..." Twilight gave up on logic and burst into tears. "She didn't know! I knew! But when I tried to tell her... when I tried to tell all of them that there was something wrong with Cadence, they left me and went to comfort her! The princess left me to be trapped by that evil thing!" Twilight's tears ran down her snarling face as she slammed her hooves against the broken tiles of a ruined castle in the middle of a failed and forgotten nation. "And then she lost! She wasn't strong enough to protect me!" Twilight paused and gasped for air. "I mean Equestria! She wasn't strong enough to protect Equestria."

Luna took Twilight between her forelegs, wrapped her within her wings, and let Twilight sob against her chest until she quieted.

"Oh, Luna," Twilight sniffled, some while later, "what should I do?"

"Ask her pardon and forgive her, Twilight. Forgive her for not being the infallible, immortal sun goddess you assumed her to be. She is but a pony like you or I, and even with the wisdom of so long a life she is not always right."

Twilight thought about Luna's words for a few moments and then sighed. "You're right, I do need to forgive her... because I realize now that it was her I was angry with all along." She looked up at Luna. "But, 'a pony like you or I'? I'll still don't think I can compare myself to either of you."

"How so?" Luna asked in a much lighter tone, "Merely because we are longer lived than you and can drag the celestial spheres around by the short and curlies?"

Twilight gasped. "Luna! That's vulgar! If you're trying to act more like one of the common pony folk, I think that's going a bit far."

Luna was taken aback. "Is it very rude? I heard one of the guards use the phrase, and I thought it sounded rather comical."

Twilight explained it to her.

"Fie! 'Tis most vexatious! Ofttimes the prattle of... oh dear, I'm doing it again, aren't I?"

Shining Armor was not having a good night. He stood on the battlement of Cantelot Castle's gatehouse and surveyed the carnage below. "Sergeant," he said, when he could trust himself to speak in a calm, level voice, "tell me again how five mares and a baby dragon got through an iron portcullis and past your whole platoon."

"Uh... it was the pink one, sir." The poor guard was trying to look anywhere but into the eyes of his disapproving captain. "She had a cannon loaded with... uh... cake."

"Chocolate cake," another guard helpfully amended. "You know the kind they call 'Death by Chocolate'?"

"Except nobody died," a third guard remarked.

"No, but it sure did a number on that portcullis! I never knew it was possible to embed frosting into forged iron," the sergeant explained. "Then the one with the rainbow mane blasted us with some sort of concussion, and by the time we got sorted out, they were already past us and into the castle."

Shining Armor forced himself not to sigh or smack his face with a hoof. "Sergeant, I want you to get your ponies and search the castle until you find those mares, and then I want you to politely ask them to stop rampaging through the halls. Tell them that Twilight is okay and I will come and take them to her as soon as I can." And hope they don't kick my flank when they find out I'm lying, he thought sourly. Oh, Twily, where are you?

Twilight was stalling. She wasn't performing the aerial maneuver; she didn't yet trust her flying skills for that. She was delaying by circling Canterlot and pretending she was admiring the lights.

'Twilight," Luna said as she slid down the air closer to the unicorn's side, "I fear we must descend, now. You cannot put it off any longer."

"I suppose so." Still, Twilight circled. "I remember the day I was afraid she would send me back to magic kindergarten for being tardy. What do you think she will do to me for using black magic and committing treason?"

"You must know she loves you dearly. Otherwise your words would not have hurt her so and your prison would have been very much less pleasant than the Rose Suite. I am sure she will be lenient."

"She loves you, but a thousand years ago..." Twilight began and then cut herself off, cringing.

There was a short silence and then Luna said, simply, "You must face her, Twilight."

"I suppose." Twilight sighed. "Anyway, I think those two flights of pegasi guards are getting fed up with pretending they just happen to be flying in the same direction we are. I don't want my brother to get upset because he thinks I'm messing around with his guardsponies."

"Where is she?" Rainbow Dash demanded of Shining Armor. "If you don't tell us right now, I'm gonna let Pinkie Pie go all random on your sorry flank!"

Shining Armor glanced over to where the pink party pony stood with her fore hooves crossed over her chest and her lower lip stuck out in an adorable pout. Adorable to anyone who didn't know what she was capable of, that is. Shining Armor shuddered and groped for something, anything, he could say to placate the mares surrounding him. Fortunately, his luck chose that moment to do an abrupt about face.

"Here she is, captain!" came a shout from the air above the courtyard, and the flight of guards surrounding Twilight landed not ten yards away.

Twilight's friends all shouted in relief and happiness and rushed to greet her... until they got a good look at her.

Rainbow Dash was the first to react. She pulled up so sharply that Applejack ran full-tilt into her back, and they both crashed to the cobblestones in a heap. Fluttershy suddenly tried to hide not just her face but her whole body underneath her mane, and Rarity fainted on top of her. Pinkie Pie tripped over all of them, flipping over the whole pony pile up, to land right in front of a surprised Twilight Sparkle. Pinkie's pupils shrank to pinpoints, and her mouth dropped open in horror.

"Oh, no!" Pinkie screamed, "Twilight's a vampire! Run for your lives!"

Confrontation

"Don't worry, Twilight," Shining Armor assured his sister, "Luna offered to explain everything to your friends."

"If I had known that her see-in-the-dark spell had given me glowing cat eyes, I would have asked her to dispel it before I landed. The bat wings are bad enough," Twilight grumbled.

Two silent guards flanked Twilight Sparkle as her brother led the way through the palace to the chamber where Princess Celestia awaited them. Protocol dictated that guards should be of the same type as the prisoners they accompanied. Given the circumstances, Shining Armor had chosen one pegasus and one unicorn.

They passed the throne room and continued along the hall toward the smaller chambers. Twilight took it as a good sign. The last thing she wanted was to have the princess towering over her from the top of the great dais. It was too much to hope that they were headed to the princess's private apartments, which would indicate that their meeting would have the tone of a cozy chat.

Shining Armor stopped before the double doors of a small audience chamber and turned to his sister. "Don't worry, Twily," he said, forcing a grin. "The princess will get everything sorted out. It'll be okay. You'll be just fine."

It sounded to Twilight as if he was trying to convince himself. She tried to smile back but just couldn't manage it. She wanted to say something but couldn't come up with anything that didn't feel trite or false so she settled for a nod.

Shining Armor turned away and knocked on the doors.

"Send her in," came the princess's muffled voice.

Shining Armor hesitated ever so slightly and then opened the door for his sister to enter the room alone.

Princess Celestia sat on a slightly raised platform at the far end of the room. Behind her was a large tapestry depicting dozens of ponies, happily engaged in work and play, beneath a giant sun whose rays extended across the whole of the sky. The "beneficent sun" was a common theme in Canterlot civic artwork. Twilight suspected that the tapestry's presence was a not-so-subtle message.

Twilight bowed, straightened, and waited for her princess to speak. It seemed as if Celestia was calm, but Twilight couldn't help noticing that the very ends of her tail and mane snapped with more energy than usual. She kept her lowered gaze firmly fixed on the golden peytral that covered the princess's chest.

"As an exercise in logical thinking," Celestia began, in the even tone she had often adopted in their private tutorials, "I ask you to put yourself in my position, Twilight Sparkle. What would you have done from this afternoon onwards?"

Twilight thought she had rid herself of her anger, but Celestia's words brought a fresh flush of heat to her cheeks. "I'm sure Your Majesty knows that Princess Luna had a little talk with me." Twilight ruffled her leathery wings for unnecessary emphasis. "Now that I see things from a more historical perspective, I understand that exile wouldn't be enough to protect the kingdom from a pony like me. So... I suppose I should be sealed away somewhere or turned to stone or... whatever it takes to stop me from rebelling against you and bringing harm to all ponykind."

Twilight immediately regretted her blunt words, and the tone she had uttered them in, but she didn't think her evaluation was far from the truth.

"Yes," said Celestia quietly. "Perhaps that would be for the best. I could put you in the sculpture garden and visit you there when I want to remember happier days."

Twilight looked up to discover tears streaming down her teacher's face, and her heart twisted in her chest. "Oh, princess! No... no... please, don't cry! I'm not worth it!"

Celestia bowed her head, and great, racking sobs began to shake her body.

"Please... please..." Twilight's own tears began to fall. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" The little unicorn threw herself at her teacher's hooves and pressed her face against them, sobbing, "I was wrong! Everything I did was wrong... everything I thought was wrong. Please don't cry!"

"I... I am as much to blame as you, my faithful student," Celestia whispered hoarsely. "You believed in me too much, and I trusted you too little. Which is the greater crime?"

"Theft," Twilight sobbed, "black magic, treason... all of it is worse! I deserve whatever punishment you give me."

Celestia lowered her head and nuzzled Twilight. Their tears mingled between their cheeks. "No, my dear, I will not punish you. Punishment is a harsh tool to correct a pony's course in life. You need only a gentle nudge, I think."

Twilight sighed in relief. "You're being so nice about all this. I'm so ashamed about the way I behaved toward you."

"If you weren't regretful," the Princess said quietly, "I wouldn't be inclined to be quite so forgiving. Here..." Two large, linen serviettes floated over from a low table. "...let us dry our tears. I will order some tea and sandwiches and we will continue our conversation."

"I... I still think something had to be done about the changelings but I can see that I should have talked with you first. I shouldn't have taken such drastic action on my own. We do better together... I mean, all ponies do... when we share our troubles as well as our joys."

"That is true, Twilight, but don't forget your own convictions merely to be in harmony with others. You are a brilliant mare and..." Celestia lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "I will deny saying this if you ever quote me... many of my little ponies have the mental capacity of goldfish!"

Twilight laughed out loud and then caught herself, somewhat appalled that she would laugh at such a statement. But when she exchanged glances with the princess, they both burst out laughing and kept laughing for a long while.

Later, after a relieved looking Shining Armor had personally delivered their meal, Celestia lifted another object off of the low table and presented it to Twilight. It was a scroll of dark, bitter-smelling material. "As for your actions today, they may have had more far-reaching consequences than you intended. I received this letter this evening from Queen Chrysalis. Please read it."

Twilight took the scroll from her and read.

Unto Princess Celestia of Equestria,

I am writing to assure you that the recent incursion of changelings into Equestria was the work of a few disaffected and rebellious members of my hive and in no way was condoned or ordered by myself. I hope our relationship can remain peaceful, and I assure you that I have no further designs against your kingdom. There is no need at all to further employ whatever weapon it was that you used against the changelings in Ponyville.

Very Sincerely,

Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings

"But that's a lie!" Twilight stomped a hoof. "I did my research! Those drones are incapable of acting independently. Their minds are just reflections of the Queen's will. Without her mental influence, they're just animals... even less than that, they're..."

"Yes, Twilight, I know," Princess Celestia interrupted gently, "but I will accept the Queen's non-apology as if I believed her, and there will be peace between us."

"But that’s..."

"That's politics, Twilight."

"Well..." Twilight paused and stood for a few moments, thinking. After a while Celestia looked at her quizzically and the unicorn sighed and said, quietly, "Politics suck."

"That depends, like so much in life, on how one does it. As I believe I have already said once this evening, I prefer peace and harmony to punishment." They were both silent for a moment and then Celestia added, "And speaking of doing things badly, I still regret not trusting you, even though you..."

"No, you've forgiven me for... well... everything. Let's call it even."

"Oh, that was more for my own sake than yours," Celestia said, calmly taking a sip from her tea cup.

Twilight frowned. "How so?"

"Well, if you were... banished, for instance, I would have felt it my duty to visit you, and the moon is so cold and dusty."

Twilight half-choked on the bite of watercress sandwich she was eating.

"For reasons I can't fathom, Luna seems to like it, though." Celestia continued, studying the ripples in her tea. "She sleeps up there, so you'd have had a bit of company. Unfortunately, she snores."

Twilight managed to swallow her bite of sandwich. "You're awful!" she accused through a wide grin. And then, thoughtfully, "Luna doesn't really sleep on the moon, does she?"

"Oh yes, most days. How else do you think she managed to miss an entire army of changelings invading Canterlot?"

Twilight gave it some thought. "I bet the stargazing is great from up there."

"Ask her sometime; I'm sure she'd be delighted to take you up for a sleepover. Dress warmly."

Twilight looked at the gently teasing expression on her teacher's face and was nearly overcome with a powerful surge of emotion. "I love you, princess, and I promise I'm going to do my best to be a better pony for you."

Celestia enfolded her student in a gentle hug and said, "I love you, too, Twilight Sparkle, and I will do my best to be a better princess for you... and for all of my little ponies."

When they parted, Twilight nearly upset the tea service with one of her wings. "Dumb things," she grumbled. "Well, at least I know what my 'costume' is going to be for next Nightmare Night."

The Princess chuckled and offered her student more tea.