"For the record, I'd much prefer the moon next time." joked Epsilon.

The princess laughed. "I think I can make the arrangement."

The two alicorns shared a laugh as they made their way back into the throne room. Unusually bored, the princess began flipping through an old astronomy book until she came across a peculiar star pattern. "Hah! I remember hearing about this. Celestia was always the prankster." she said.

The constellation in question was made on a winter night over three hundred years ago, a night where Nightmare Moon refused to allow Celestia to raise the moon. In response to that, using a few hundred stars she had written out the phrase 'GO TO HELL LUNA' in the sky.

"I heard it made Starswirl the Bearded turn in his grave." added Epsilon.

"I for one wouldn't be surprised. Celestia tends to have that effect on ponies. Even me."

Speaking of Celestia... "I'm going to take a walk. I'll return within the hour."

"Where are you going?" asked the princess. However, by the time she spoke, Epsilon had already teleported away. "So much for walking..."

----------

Spike felt the world fade around him as Peppers refused to loosen his death grip, preventing the young dragon from taking in any oxygen. He squirmed around in place, knowing well that Celestia's magic would be useless against naturally resistant dragons. No energy to continue fighting it, Spike surrendered to the elder dragon.

So that's it? This is how it ends? You're pathetic.

You loosened the jar.

What?

If you hadn't driven me mad, I'd have already solved this puzzle. Now exhausted from everything that you did, I'm pinned under what could be old enough to be my grandfather.

You're an idiot. The answer is obvious.

If it's so obvious, then what is it? Why won't you tell me?

Don't you understand? I've told you this a thousand times. I am you, and whatever you don't know, I don't know. However, for some reason, the back of your mind wants you to know that the answer is obvious. And, that you're stupid.

Such a help to me isn't it?

No, but what of it? It's not like you're going to have much chance to be consulting with me if you don't get your ass off the ground.

Perhaps not. How am I supposed to do that?

Hatred.

I genuinely hate everything. Peppers is still on top of me. What now?

This entire time you focus on protecting what you love, and it has made you weak. Focus on destroying what you hate. Kill this insignificant whelp of a dragon, and kill Luna too. It's not like either of them had any concern for your life.

... I don't need to turn to that.

You don't? Last time I checked, you're only going to be conscious for the next few seconds, make up your mind pal. Think about it. Think how Peppers betrayed your trust. Think of what Luna stole from you.

I...

Think of Twilight.

With that, Spike tore open his eyes and with a burst of strength, grabbed and twisted Pepper's fore arm, breaking it. The red dragon yelped in pain and astonishment, thrashing about as Spike tackled him to the cold ground. The three young mares looked on in horror at the scene as Celestia magically restrained Macintosh.

Spike boomed his words in a voice that did not belong to him as his eyes turned pitch black. "DRAGON OF CANTERLOT CITY!"

Peppers coughed up a large sum of blood as he responded to the formal address. "Dragon of the Drasilian Highlands."

"THOU HAS OFFENDED US, CONSPIRED AGAINST US, AND ENDANGERED US! WE CANNOT ALLOW THE CONTINUITY OF SUCH HORRENDOUS ACTIONS!"

Peppers looked the purple dragon in the eyes. "Spike, you don't understand, I-"

"SLEEP." commanded Spike, and as he said it, the red dragon surrendered his consciousness and began breathing in a slow, rhythmic fashion. Macintosh shouted muffled curses from inside Celestia's aura as his dragon fell to the ground, which went generally unnoticed.

Finished his assault, Spike's eyes returned to normal and he fell to the ground in exhaustion.

----------

Epsilon reappeared in the long abandoned palace hallway, adorned with immortalized history in stained glass windows. Slowly he made his way to the very picture that had captured his attention fifty years ago. However, now, it was not just a window. Below the glass was a gilded marble coffin, a true testament to the princess who now rests inside.

He sat down next to the coffin and looked up at the old window. He finally understood what the picture meant, and it tortured him. He could have done something. He could have stopped her. But he didn't. He did the opposite, he helped her succeed. He was equally guilty.

"It's been awhile since I visited, hasn't it?" laughed Epsilon to himself as he spoke into the open air. "She's changed now, you know. She isn't the same pony as when she killed you. I know you would be so proud of her. I am. Her hate is gone... She's so grown up."

Epsilon coughed quietly as he cried before the grave. "I know we only met once, but Celestia told me so much about you. She always spoke so highly of you, even after everything that happened. It's all over soon. I'm going to make things right again, for you. I promise."

He closed his eyes and trembled, trying to muster the strength to continue speaking. "You'll never believe what I did today. I raised the sun! It was amazing, you should have been there. I'm learning a lot about magic that I didn't know. Even though I don't have my horn, I can still use it. She taught me that. You know... She feels remorse. She feels it every day. I only hope that you could ever forgive her like I have."

Epsilon's speech was interrupted as a lone leaf slammed against the window with a crack. He looked up at the leaf and laughed. "Is that a yes?" he asked. "Anyways, I came here for a reason. I'm going to try something, and I thought you should be here when I did it."

Epsilon sat down in a meditative position and began taking slow, deep breaths. It took much longer this time without the urgent calls of the sun and the moon, but he eventually found his way into the depths of his own mind and began sorting through his various thoughts and emotions.

He worked through it quickly this time, he was getting a lot better at it. With a last review of his now untangled brain, Epsilon temporarily silenced all but the logical parts of his mind. He openly welcomed the sensation that followed. The unbelievable ability to be standing everywhere in the world at once, the ability to hear, see, and feel everything, and everypony.

Like last time, however, he was on a mission. He focused himself on the outskirts of Manehatten and scouted the area for the familiar presence of his mother, Celestia. Though it is very difficult to read the mind of an alicorn even in Epsilon's divine state, he could still locate, and even converse with Celestia if he found her.

He noticed a few large sources of heat and magic in a clearing outside of the city, and decided it would be best to look there first. To his luck, there was indeed a white alicorn within the group. But... What he saw was not what he expected.

There were two large dragons, both of whom he could identify as Spike and Peppers. They were both heavily wounded, though that wasn't the problem at hoof. The magic which engulfed Spike was not gold like everypony else's, it was tainted black.  It spun around violently inside the dragon's head, threatening to escape at any moment. Epsilon knew that if that were to occur, it would mean death.

Celestia would have to wait.

Epsilon dove into the young dragon's mind, and what he saw was unsettling at best. Thoughts and memories were torn, corrupted, and burned entirely beyond repair. Even natural brain functions, instincts, and nerve receptors were horribly damaged. It reminded him of Aquarius in some ways, but he didn't dwell on it.

These were definitely the Elements of Chaos at work, that combined with Spike's torturous childhood formed a lethal combination of mental diseases. First things first - Epsilon had to find the real Spike in here, wherever he was.

Sadly, the alicorn's neurological knowledge was limited. It took him a good twenty minutes to get anywhere close to the sealed-off Spike, and even once he found the dragon, he couldn't get anywhere close to breaking the lock. This was too far advanced, there was no way he could manually cure Spike from his insanity, especially from a hundred miles away.

I'm running out of time here. Think Epsilon, think!

As remorseful as he was about intruding on Celestia, she was the only one who would know anything about these sort of illnesses. Cautiously, Epsilon entered the goddess' mind. As he expected, it was heavily guarded by various protection spells. However, the parts of her brain that were guarded mostly were personal or secret, things he had no interest in. Irrelevant forgotten medical study? Wide open.

Epsilon carefully dug around inside Celestia's mind, trying his best not to bring attention to his presence. Finally he found what he was looking for, records on violent mental diseases. Not only did he find books worth of information on normal things, but a similar experience that Celestia had fresh thoughts on, her sister Luna!  Nightmare Moon's symptoms perfectly matched Spikes, or so that's what Celestia believes.

Pleased with the information he had uncovered, Epsilon returned to the physical world and found himself at the foot of the grave where he had been grieving earlier. Instead of crying, this time he smiled and laughed. He galloped across the hallway and made his way to a large, ornate door encrypted with various hieroglyphs.

How did I not think of this sooner?

----------

Applejack stared at her struggling brother in disbelief. "What the hay..."

"Ah'm sorry AJ, but ah serve she of Equestria. Nopony else." declared Macintosh.

Discord grumbled as he woke from his unpleasant slumber. "How's that working for you?"

Macintosh stared at his sister, he could physically see her connecting things inside her mind. He expected what was about to happen, he expected all of the screaming and yelling. He expected Applejack's curses, he expected her pity, and he expected her shame. He expected her marefriend to join in as well, and he probably deserved both his sister's, and the cyan pegasus' rage. But something much, much worse happened.  

It never came.

Celestia released her ethereal grip as Applejack approached her brother, trying her best to hold back the tears welling up in her eyes. "Ah forgive you."

Macintosh was at a complete loss for words.

Rainbow approached the scarlet stallion and rested a hoof on his shoulder. "I would have done the same. Element of Loyalty, you know. Look... I don't really know what to say here, but we're family, Big Mac. I don't think you ever intended to hurt anypony. Hell, you were trying to save one! Even if it is just mean old Luna..."

Macintosh was utterly taken back by the understanding nature of his friends. The friends he had just conspired against. He looked up at the white alicorn who had just held him, sadness in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Celestia."

She nodded gracefully. "I understand. Although, it isn't me you should be apologizing to."

The stallion turned around to see a bruised draconequus, arms crossed and brow raised. "Sorry, Discord."

The mismatched pony thing broke out into laughter. "All's fair, love and war."

Almost on cue to that statement, both sleeping dragons slowly became aware of their surroundings - and each other. Peppers and Spike jumped to their feet, oblivious to the emotional scene behind them. Both dragons growled equally loud and snorted out large bursts of toxic smoke.

"We settle this in draconic manner. No more sneak attacks, and no more magic." challenged Peppers.

Spike chuckled deeply. "Fight until crippling injury."

The red dragon shot a jet of yellow flame into the air. "No. Until death."

"Enough. Neither of you are fighting until anything."

All eight of the group turned to see an older white stallion with a long, flowing blue mane.  He was wearing an ensemble of the finest jewelry, four golden shoes with star gems, each a different colour. A necklace with a bright red sun shaped gem inside, and a large crown with a dark blue moon. He stood tall with massive wings outstretched, and these were definitely not pegasus wings.

They were alicorn wings.

Macintosh, Peppers, and Fluttershy immediately bowed down to the royal figure before them as they realized who they were looking at. Celestia approached her foal and ran a hoof through his mane, as if she didn't believe he was really standing there.

"You have no horn, how did you get here?" asked Celestia.

Epsilon smiled softly and motioned Celestia away from him. "I have been studying magic, mother. It seems that a horn has never really been required for the use of magic, and I will happily compare notes with you. But this isn't the time."

Celestia nodded in response, and Epsilon walked closer to Spike. "Dragon of the Drasilian Highlands."

Spike lowered his gaze and examined Epsilon. "Alicorn of Canterlot City."

"You request audience with she of Equestria, and you wish to fight her. You are a fool." said Epsilon.

Spike growled and spat at the ground before the stallion. "Luna will be a meal to me soon enough."

"Is that so? I have but a fraction of the magical ability that her highness possesses, and I guarantee to it that you would never be able to defeat me in combat." scoffed Epsilon.

"Is that a challenge?" he asked.

"I believe so." said Epsilon, teleporting a good fifty feet away and hoofing at the ground, beckoning Spike.

Generosity...

The gem on Epsilon's back hoof began to glow as he recited the names of the elements in his head.

Laughter...

Spike returned the taunting gesture with his own clawing at the dirt, and upped Epsilon with a piercing screech into the sky.

Loyalty...

Celestia immediately recognized what Epsilon was doing and nodded at him. He gave her a wink, and returned his attention to the fierce purple dragon in front of him.

Honesty...

At this point, his hooves were burning with multicoloured light as the elements began to slowly lift him into the air. His sun necklace glowed brighter then all combined as he thought the fifth element.

Kindness...

Not willing to let him finish whatever he was doing, Spike took off and charged the concentrated alicorn. He clenched his teeth in pain as he formed a huge fireball in his lungs. It cried to be released, but Spike knew to save it and let it grow. Just as he reached Epsilon and opened his mouth to let go of the flame, he felt Celestia seal it shut magically as Epsilon leaned in towards his forehead.

"Magic!"

----------

The hour that Epsilon was supposed to return came and passed, and the princess became more and more worried for his safety. She knew better then anypony else that Epsilon could handle himself fine, but what of Celestia? What would she do to him if she found him? Horrible things most likely. The same horrible things Celestia would do to her.

Panic setting in, the frantic alicorn quickly entered and cleared her own mind. She couldn't waste a second when Epsilon's safety was at risk, he was way too important to her. He was all she had.

The princess tapped into her well-researched magical plane and began looking around for her misplaced companion. The castle was checked first, and as she expected, he was nowhere to be seen. Having no other leads to go on, the alicorn searched around for Celestia's elysian life force. It wasn't long before she found it... And confirmed her worst fears.

"Oh no..."

----------

Spike woke up in a pleasant grassy meadow, abundant with many species of sweet smelling flowers. There was a clear blue sky, and the gentle spring sun bathed the baby dragon's scales perfectly. In front of him was something he never thought he would see again - The ponyville library. Not to mention, it towered over him. He was a kid again.

"Am I dead? Is this heaven?" he asked the open air around him.

"No. This is the place in between."

Spike was genuinely startled by the voice, he hadn't actually expected anyone to answer him. He turned around to see a towering white alicorn above him, dressed in royal jewelry that complimented his long, highlighted blue mane. The baby dragon knew exactly who this was.

"You're that pony from Appleoosa, the one who helped kill Aquarius."

Epsilon smiled and knelt down to be on equal grounds with Spike. "The one and only."

"What are you doing in my dream?" he asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I created your dream. Well, not me entirely. You can thank the Elements of Harmony for this."

Spike did a double take in confusion. "What? You used the elements on me? But I'm not the evil one!"

"Spike, I know you aren't. You have such good intentions, and I respect you for that." he said. "But I can feel your pain. You are very ill, my dragon. Everything that has happened to you is not the intervention of the princess, or myself. It is not some curse that has been placed on you.  It is a very serious disease you have developed, and today within my studies, I managed to catch it by accident."

"That explains a lot actually. But if the elements can cure me, then why am I in this place? And why did you call it the 'place in between'?" he asked.

Epsilon rested a wing over Spike and nuzzled him in a purely paternal way. "You have a very, very long life to live. A life so long that it shall only be outlived by the alicorns and chimera themselves. You drove yourself mad because you lost somepony special to you. Spike... It is going to happen again. And if you don't want to go through with the pain again... You don't have to."

Spike fell to his knees as he realized what Epsilon meant. "Are you... Are you asking me if I want to die?"

Epsilon sighed. "It is your choice, my child. I can cure you of your illness, and you can return to life as it is. You can live through loss again, and you can go through the struggles of life. I can also grant you peace. I can send you to a place where you are returned to your childhood, where time will never pass, and your friends will never grow old. It will be just like the good times."

Spike considered it for a moment. "But... It won't be real, will it?"

"No. No it won't."

Spike closed his eyes and let out a sigh of his own. "I've made my decision. Please, cure me of my insanity. I am returning to Celestia, and I am returning to my friends. Every moment I will ever spend with them is worth all the pain I must endure to be there."

The small dragon was met with a bear hug from Epsilon as the fantasy world faded around them.

"I'm so proud of you."

----------

Spike awoke to the sound of Epsilon's voice as he magically reviewed the dragon's vital signs. For the first time in so many years, he saw everything clearly. He no longer felt the overwhelming depression, the doubt, the hatred... He was free. The weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. He was happy again.

Interrupting the alicorn's lecture, Spike wrapped his long neck around Epsilon and brought him in for a crushing hug. "I love you."

Epsilon let out a fake cough. "Air!"

The purple dragon smiled sheepishly and let go of the white stallion. "Right. Ponies. Smaller than dragons."

"So I'm guessing it worked?" asked Celestia.

Epsilon smiled and turned to his mother. "Of course it worked, even better than I expected. Not only is he fully healed, but you can expect improved brain function."

"The elements work miracles, don't they?" added Discord.

"Indeed. But there are still more pressing matters at hoof." said Celestia, angrily glaring at Epsilon.

Epsilon sighed. "I know you have many questions. I am not the one to answer them. I have to return to the castle soon."

Celestia sharpened her gaze. "What..."

"I was not supposed to leave in the first place. I came because I saw Spike's condition. If not for me, he would probably be dead right now. Can't this fight take place another day?" he pleaded.

Celestia scoffed at him. "You want us to just let you go? Do you even know who you are defending, Epsilon?"

"Do you even know who you are attacking? She's changed, mother." he asked.

The alicorn mare was slightly taken back, and offended. "Luna doesn't change. She played that card on me thirty years ago. I could have just as well sent her to the moon. But she manipulated all of us and played victim, so I let her stay. Look where it got us. You will bring me to her, now."

Epsilon's mouth hung open. "What?... You want to talk to Luna? Mother, that isn't even possible."

Celestia grit her teeth as her patience withered away. "Why is it impossible? Is she too important for me now? Why can't I speak with my sister?"

The argument was interrupted as a regal figure teleported next to Epsilon, earning the stunned looks of everypony gathered in the field. The alicorn princess stood tall, her lavender coat and ethereal dark mane which was complimented by a pink highlight flowing gracefully in the wind. Twilight sighed and hung her head as she approached Celestia and spoke in a soft, sad tone.

"Because Luna has been dead for thirty years."