I feel spread out, bloated even. And I am expanding farther. My skin is rubbery. No, it is rubber, and I am filled with air. Through a distorted pink lens, I see a group of foals giggling and playing. One nudges me with his head, and I go sailing across the room onto another's head. They pass me back and forth. I want to laugh as well, but I have no mouth.

Eventually, the children are called away by older voices. I am left alone with my thoughts as I float up and bump against the ceiling. It is a high vantage point. I can see a huge gathering of ponies eating cake, smiling, and laughing. They have forgotten about me. But I have not forgotten them. Nor have I forgotten that for a moment, I shared in their happiness perfectly. That comforts me, even as the air starts to slowly seep out of my body. Days and nights pass, and I am neglected in favor of other merriments.

Yet wherefore should I be envious? Hath not the cake as much right as I to make them happy? Is not the cake's life shorter and more violent besides? And what of the games? Have the children not a choice in the matter? Would I not, by demanding they play with me, be denying them the very essence of what brings them joy?

My philosophy is brought to an end as one of the foals finally comes toward me! I have sunk down to the floor by this point, but I like to imagine I rise just a little at the sight of her.

She is carrying a needle in her teeth. She has come to pop me. I am not afraid. Death holds no power over the bringers of joy. The party is over, but the instant of perfect connection among me and the three foals will remain forever. A memory of diamond and steel that will continue even after it is forgotten, because it has shaped who they are. The very air that made me who I was will be a part of their world forever.

She jabs me. I feel pain, but only for a fraction of a second. My insides rush out of me, spilling everywhere invisibly as my skin flies through the air like a jet. She yelps in surprise at the loud popping sound I make. The yelp transforms into laughter like a puddle evaporating into the sky under the light of the midday sun. Her face is full of rapture. It is the last thing I see before darkness claims me, and I could not have asked for a finer sight.

Luna snapped out of her meditation with the same violence with which she had felt the sting of the needle. The trance had only lasted an hour this time, but she felt urgently hungry and thirsty, as if she had had nothing for a week. She sat on the grass in gloomy contemplation, as she carefully moderated herself through drinking an entire flask of water and eating several rations of hay.

Some distance away, Zecora was busy chanting what was either a language Luna had never heard before, or a sequence of nonsense syllables. As she did so, she was grinding a series of stems, roots, and fruits into a fine power, then filling a shallow clay bowl with the powder. With her eyes closed through the whole process, she added water to the mixture and stirred, until a gray-green slop of grainy consistency was left. Zecora poured the viscous liquid into two earthenware jars, not missing a beat with her meditative chanting the whole time, which she continued for several minutes afterward.

Luna waited patiently for Zecora's eyelids to open and for voice to drift off, then slowly stepped over to her friend.

“What was that?” she asked.

“The first of precautions we will need,” Zecora responded, “if what you fear is true indeed. This one will strengthen our hearts, and for our minds I will use all of my arts.” She carefully took out a single bio-luminescent green berry and plopped it into one of the jars, causing a blast of green mist to fly out of it, before she corked both bottles tightly. “And for myself some extra defense, because my power is not as immense.” She tucked the containers into her saddle packs.

“That is most wise,” said Luna. “I am glad to have thee with me for what is to come.”

Zecora smiled. “That reminds me of one thing. Why do we not find others to bring?”

“I have considered that, but thou knowest already that I would do this alone if I could. This darkness be on mine own head, and by my deeds it must be made right.”

“Even if I did agree, then what about me?”

Luna stood there, completely still, holding Zecora's calm gaze. “Qaratab,” she answered, causing Zecora's eyes to widen slightly. “As thou said'st so long ago, our spirits are as kin. I could no more leave thee behind than I could leave my wings, or my eyes, or my compassion.”

Zecora stiffly turned away, walking back toward the road on which they had been traveling. Luna heard faint sniffling, and she simultaneously did and did not regret her words.

“We should continue on,” Zecora called back, “there is much ground to cover before dawn.”

“Indeed.” Luna sighed, mostly at herself. “We are likely a week distant from the forest at our current pace, which puts us well ahead of any astronomical events my students could have referred to in speaking with thee. I do have to take a detour to Ponyville, but that will take less than an evening. Still, 'tis best to hurry. Surprise is the most effective weapon 'gainst plotters and schemers.”

Zecora mixed several more concoctions during the journey, but spoke little. 'Tis strange, Luna wondered one night as they sat opposite each other over a small fire. As a tactician and warrior, I know how valuable what she is doing is. But truly, all I wish is for her to speak to me as she did before. I miss her voice, so deep, rich, and wise. I have gone and ruined that though, have I not?

Luna tried not to hint at her feelings, however. It was probably better, she reasoned, to wait until she had resolved the present situation before trying to make sense of the future.

“Twilight Sparkle,” said Luna softly, crouched next to the bed of the mare in question.

Twilight's eyes shot open, but Luna kept her from crying out with a gentle hoof laid on her mouth.

“I am truly sorry to come before thee in this manner,” Luna whispered, “but I would prefer that my presence here be not known.”

She drew her hoof away, and Twilight sat up, blinking the sleep from her eyes. A thin, upside-down crescent moon hung in the sky outside of her bedside window, like a wicked smile. Wisps of black, smoke-like clouds drifted across the night, obscuring the light of the stars. All Twilight could see around her in that minimal light was a muted silver twinkle coming from the Princess's ensemble. Conversely, Luna could make out the surprised, curious, and groggy expression of Twilight perfectly, and it brought a familial smile to her face.

“Didst thou tell Celestia of the items I asked thee to keep here?” Luna asked bluntly.

“What?” Twilight looked genuinely shocked. “Of course not!”

“Truly?” Luna raised a hoof and scratched at her chin. “I do not mean to impugn thy honor by saying this, but I thought that thy relationship with her would have overcome any obligation thou felt toward me.”

“Well, you asked me to keep it a secret. Are you saying you wanted me to tell her?”

“No, I did not. It simply... changes things. In that case, didst thou attempt to look inside?”

“No, Princess Luna,” Twilight said. “And I'm a little hurt that you think I would. A friend doesn't snoop in their friends' belongings.”

Luna suppressed a chuckle. The statement was delivered almost like an essay summary sentence. “I apologize. Do not worry over it, my dear Twilight Sparkle. All will soon be well. Trust in me.”

As Twilight woke up further, she remembered something else. “By the way, I also found another possible reference to crown jewels in my research—which I also kept secret, just for the record. You probably already know, but I thought it was interesting...”

“What is it?” said Luna.

“There are allusions to at least two unicorn kings having some type of magical gem in their crowns,” Twilight said. “One passage says that Argent II used his scrying powers to find Equestria. The book never mentions the gem again though, and that doesn't explain how the other tribes found Equestria either, and”—she noticed an accent of lecturing in her voice—”and that probably doesn't help you figure out how to put yours back together. Nevermind.” She shuffled her hooves against her cushion.

“Nay, thy efforts have not been wasted.” Luna stepped close enough that even Twilight's non-nocturnal sight could make out the light blue of her eyes in the surrounding darkness. They stood out in the interior of the treehouse almost as much as Luna's magically twinkling collar and hoof caps. “If that is all that one as intelligent as thyself could find, then 'tis quite likely that I am venturing out to meet the only entities who can repair it forthwith.”

“Princess Luna...” Twilight whispered, looking straight down at the floor.

“Yes?” During the middle of her turn to go and fetch the chest that she had hidden in Twilight's home, Luna stopped.

“Is there something I can do to help?” Twilight continued, getting out of her bed and standing up to face the Princess. “Or maybe something somepony I know can do to help? We're familiar with adventure and danger. Maybe not as much as you are, but you can never have too much support.”

Luna silently spread her wings and prepared to glide down to the ground floor from Twilight's balcony. “Thou art quite correct in that regard. However, should my plan fail, 'twill fall upon the Elements of Harmony to protect Equestria in my stead. 'Twould be most ill indeed if our nation were to lose us both in one stroke.”

“Hearing you talk like that just makes me think somepony should come with you even more.” Twilight's voice was full of curiosity, anger, worry, and hurt. Luna's mind was torn among reaching out and comforting her, rebuking her condescending tone, and asking her to come along after all.

“I shall have thou and thy friends with me, thanks to the Elements. But I shall tell thee more of that upon my return.” Luna smiled as she realized what a tease that would be to Twilight, but she did not want to elaborate further just yet. Instead, she swooped down to where her invisible treasure chest sat. Her passing produced only the faintest breeze against the copious blankets surrounding Spike's slumbering form, and even the sound of her releasing the spell and undoing the lock with her horn only caused him to roll slightly to his left.

For now, Luna took only the cracked, black-veined marble that had been her crown jewel. She could come back and get the other items once she had discovered for certain whether or not her apprentices had been the cause of their decay. With the gem secured in her saddle bag, Luna cast the illusion spell on the trunk again, then flapped her way to one of the windows.

“Fare thee well, Twilight Sparkle,” she said, taking a long, lingering look at the pony who, without even knowing her, had once saved her from absolute darkness. Twilight's muffled shout for her to wait nearly stopped Luna from launching herself off the balcony, but she swept into the blackened sky nonetheless. Lights turned on in the library as she left. Luna hoped Zecora's expert guidance would be enough to keep Twilight from finding their trail.

Zecora was waiting at the edge of town, holding the mask she had made from the griffon lady Aquitaine's soul. Luna set down a respectful distance away, taking in the scene silently.

“If you could undo your greatest ill,” Zecora said in a somber, almost mournful voice, “would you make truth of that will?”

“I would not,” Luna replied, with hardly any hesitation. “Whatever power I may possess over the past is nothing compared to that which I can exert over the present and future. 'Tis better to focus my energy there, rather than to seek out some miracle that could undo what evil has already been done, without also undoing the good.”

“Yet here we stand on the edge,” said Zecora, “ready to face your past within this massive hedge.”

“Yes, of course.” Luna made an uneasy half-frown. “I suspect thou wert not speaking of mine own past, however. What troubles thee, Zecora?”

“It is overstating to say I am troubled. It is only memories, which to the surface have bubbled.” Zecora put the feather-decorated, beaked mask back in one of her bags, then turned to face Luna. She smiled wanly, though in a slightly warmer fashion than the cat-like sliver of moon hanging in the sky. “I have also been thinking of your chivalric vow, and I finally understand what to do now. I may not be able to make all amends, but there are some evils which I can cleanse.”

“Thou speakest almost like one of my paladins,” Luna said. “Though to be honest, that surpriseth me. As a role model, I have been... inconsistent.”

“To see where your heart truly lies, I am more than enough wise.” Zecora began to take steady steps toward the boundary of the Everfree Forest, which was even darker than the rest of the night. “Your errors make you real, and reality shows the worth of one's ideals. I am glad you are not just a story-book, for it also means giving myself a look.”

“Zecora, I...” Luna followed her companion's steps, only dimly aware that several clouds were beginning to coalesce into one far above her head, a storm cloud willed there by her subconscious.

Zecora looked back to see Luna keeping her face stern and rocky, just as she always did when fighting back her against turbulent emotions. “Everything will be okay, Luna dear,” she said. “Our path will soon be clear.”

Zecora took Luna along the safe trails. Though the Princess of the Night longed to do battle with whatever possessed the leering, hungry eyes just beyond her vision, she knew that she had to save all of her energy tonight.

Ever since the storm cloud had followed her into the woods, she seemed to have even more of that energy, in fact. She felt every part of her, from her horn to her hindlegs, pulsing with new vigor. But it wasn't as if the forest was giving her strength, it was more as if Equestria had been holding her strength back. But that could not be, could it? Reflecting on the implications made her nearly lose her balance on the narrow cliff she and Zecora were currently circling around, sending a few pebbles falling into the bubbling, yellow-green mire far below.

Two heads of a blue-scaled hydra shot up from underneath the muck with a huge splash and peered in the direction of the pebbles. Luna and Zecora were well-hidden by foliage, but Luna's hooves and wings twitched, and a couple sparks escaped from her horn. She grit her teeth and willed herself not to fly off and slay the beast, even before Zecora could lay a hoof on her to hold her back. Reluctantly, she crouched down beside the zebra and waited.

The two heads of the hydra opened their gaping maws wide, reared back—and let out an enormous, simultaneous yawn, before diving back under the water of the swamp. Its third head remained asleep the entire time.

Once the danger had passed, Luna reflected on the conversation they had recently had about the past and decided that now was the time to ask. “Zecora, is thy fourth mask a pony?” she whispered, although even her whisper had a firm, commanding volume to it now. “I have never seen it used, and thou takest some pains to hide it.”

Zecora looked straight into Luna's eyes. She chewed her lip uncertainly for a second, but then she pulled off one of her bags and dug through her belongings, accompanied by many clanks and cracks of clay and glass. She finished searching and held up the final mask that she had carved.

Or rather, that she had not carved. It was almost completely blank; the mask was simply a plain mahogany board with two eye holes carved through it. It was devoid of any other work or decoration.

“It is something of a reserve,” Zecora said with a rare frown on her face, “and I wondered long what use it could serve. If the Elements had failed to defeat Nightmare Moon, using it on her is one path I might have hewn.”

Luna's jaw dropped in horror and anger, and lightning flashed across the sky not too distant from them.

“I know now what folly that would have been,” Zecora quietly but quickly added, with a wince at the crack of thunder that followed the lightning. “Your ponies saved me from much sin.” She slid her eyes away from Luna's and began to trace the wood's patterns of rings and knots that served as the mask's only adornment.

“Zecora,” said Luna, scowling, “burn it. Leave that corruption behind thee.”

“It is unsafe to do that tonight,” Zecora said, “but when this is over... I might.”

“'Twould be foolish not to. Temptation is not a thing one should court.”

Zecora nodded but said no more. The pair continued their journey through the Everfree Forest, Luna with her face etched in deep lines of melancholy thought, and Zecora focusing on avoiding the copious dangers that surrounded them.

At last, after hours of pressing through a mixed gauntlet of obstacles from jungles, swamps, and deciduous forests, Luna and Zecora returned to the massive, miles-long lake. The immediate area was still scorched, lacking any foliage or large animals, but there was no diseased mist, and the water had become fresh and clean—for swamp water. A small, dark mass of clouds had followed them, however, driving off the small critters that had come to explore the desolation. A few bats and owls circled in menacing silence through the sky, drawn there by the vision of their Princess of the Night.

As Luna stared into the murky depths of the lake, she noticed that, to her right, Zecora was wrapping her bags in large, smooth leaves which she had collected along the way. Zecora explained that they would provide some water-proofing, and Luna allowed her to do the same with her own luggage. She could have easily cast a spell to solve that problem and the breathing problem as well, and indeed, she was aching to do so, but there was a good chance that this encounter could try all of her abilities. She had to save every bit.

Luna looked to Zecora, trying to think of something to say. Should she offer her companion one last chance to back out? Should she pour her heart out? Should she offer heroic words of encouragement in the face what was to come? Express her doubts? Thank her for being here at all?

Zecora smiled at her, not mysteriously or condescendingly, but knowingly and happily. The smile seemed to radiate not despite everything they had been through, but because of it, even the negative. Zecora's face had brightened from a cold, distant comet to a close, shining one. All of Luna's words died on her tongue when she saw it. It was real and true, and she felt like she was at least partially responsible for it. She felt humbled, proud, and exhilarated all at once, a rush of emotion so intense that she forgot to smile back and merely stood there, dumbfounded.

Almost as if to spare Luna the awkwardness of fumbling for words, Zecora made her way out into the lake. She swam above the surface, her long neck protruding from the water and her wet tail floating behind her.

Luna hesitated at first, as violent memories of the last time she had been in the lake came back to her, but she shook it away. Be bold. She strode into the water and caught up to Zecora quickly with long, powerful strokes, aided by using her wings as paddles. She moved so fast, in fact, that she didn't realize how cold the water was until she was nearly submerged in it. Her teeth chattered, although she noted, with a small degree of pride, that there was a chattering sound coming from in front of her as well.

Zecora came to a stop after only a short distance, considering the vast expanse of the lake. She was chewing something dark and black, and when she swallowed it, her eyes flashed a pure golden color. When the flash faded, her pupils had grown to nearly the size of her entire irises, wide enough to let in large amounts of light, yet also shielded by a thin, filmy secondary set of eyelids. She took a deep breath and then dove down, followed closely by her friend.

It wasn't as dark as Luna remembered, nor were there any corpses trying to grab her, not even hallucinatory ones. Doubly bolstered by the increased magical power she felt here in the forest, and by the sight of familiar black and white hair leading the way, she was not afraid. Which was a good thing, because they were swimming farther down than she thought the lake went, and only her dark-adjusted eyes allowed her to keep track of Zecora. And it was only with the consumption of that sight-enhancing substance that Zecora was able to lead her anywhere.

Indulgently reflecting on how brave she was, Luna inadvertently swam right into Zecora's backside, only narrowly avoiding jabbing her with her horn. A watery “ouch” reached Luna's ears, but the zebra looked back at her and pantomimed a laugh, then turned back around. Making her way to float side by side, Luna saw that Zecora had stopped at the lake's floor and was digging at a pile of silt with her hooves. Luna joined in, both casting aside the slick, grainy substance until their hooves struck something smooth and solid. Uncovering more of it, they revealed a pristine, rust-less, metal portal. It was open to the lake, yet not a drop of water was passing through. A faint tingle of ambient magic teased Luna's horn.

Through the portal was a dry, curving tunnel of smooth, white stone, although its whiteness was barely visible even to Luna. It was not glowing, as Zecora said it had been when she was here last. That could signify either that they were unexpected, or that it was a trap, but there was only one way to find out. Besides, Luna felt certain that she could adapt to and overcome anything that was thrown at her. After all, she had taught her adversaries the very fundamentals of magic and more.

More importantly though, inside the portal there was air. Even though she had extensive practice in holding her breath, she still felt a strong urge to get out of the black, frigid water. She splashed through after Zecora, both of them passing through the barrier with no difficulty, only a slight tickling sensation, and landing on the hard rock inside. The abrupt changes in pressure and gravitation hurt, causing her ears and joints to pop, but she was too relieved to be able to breathe again to care. It was better than nearly drowning, like she had when fighting Thin Mint.

It was almost as cold down below as the water had been. She and Zecora likely would have been shivering even if their coats and manes were not soaked. Luna's heightened senses could neither smell nor taste anything, giving her the odd but distinct impression that the air even smelled cold. The lack of sound was also deafening. The only external sound she could hear was the icy water of the lake dripping off of their bodies and splashing on the stone. She looked up and caught glimpses of fish swimming above them, as if the opening to the tunnel were the glass of an aquarium suspended over their heads.

After a few moments to catch her breath, Zecora went to work undoing the leaves binding Luna's saddlebags, and the Princess returned the favor. Then Zecora hoofed a vial and sprinkled the black powder inside it on the leaves. Within seconds, the large leaves were completely dry, all of the moisture outside of them absorbed into the powder. She brushed the substance off, revealing fresh leaves that looked as if they had just come right off the tree. She then began to bind them around her hooves. The leaves were smooth and thick enough, Luna realized, that it would muffle her steps. With an appreciative nod, Luna bound her hooves the same way. She was unused to trying to be so stealthy, but Zecora had proven the approach's value in the past.

Luna felt a jab of pain in her head, like an abrupt and acute headache. She heard a grunt next to her as well. Zecora quickly took out the two jars that she had prepared earlier that week, and offered one to Luna.

“This happened to me before,” Zecora whispered, so faintly she was almost subvocalizing. “Let me know if you need more.”

Luna took a sip of the lumpy soup, and the headache dulled. Another, longer swig, and it was gone entirely. She mouthed her thanks, and they continued on. What was that? she wondered. 'Twas not natural. Do they know we are here, or is that a passive defense? She became even more alert now. Whatever came at her, she would have spells ready to deal with it, and her raw strength if they failed.

The path did not diverge, but it twisted and turned extensively, at times going down, then up, then straight. All light was gone now, and only by carefully feeling their way along the passage did they find their way. Several more times, the piercing pain returned, each time fiercer than the last. Zecora's mixture still worked, but it was over halfway empty, and the last flash was so intense that Luna felt herself getting dizzy and disoriented, even after the pain was gone. Zecora was stumbling a little too. Luna reached out with one of her wings and wrapped it around her shoulders. It would not be very useful as physical support, but she hoped it would provide some spiritual comfort. Zecora did seem to move a little more confidently at the touch. Luna smiled to herself.

She suddenly whipped the wing in front of Zecora, blocking her path. She had heard something, a rustling sound like cloth moving against stone. Crouching down, she cast her first, and probably not last, spell of the night. She carefully layered the magic so that her horn wouldn't glow as she enchanted her senses, magnifying her sight and hearing significantly.

The stone was carved and maintained so well that only then could she make out the cracks where the blocks had been fitted together. The rock shone faintly to her as well, like the light of the most distant stars that could be seen from Equestria. They had nearly reached the end of the tunnel, which opened into an atrium supported by four arched doorways, one of which they were about to pass through, and two highly polished columns. One was white, inscribed from plinth to capital with black writing, and the other was black, etched with white symbols in the same manner. The words were a mixture of a dizzying array of Equestrian dialects, separated by huge distances in space and time, which the writer or writers had somehow worked into semi-coherent sentences. It appeared to be some kind of haphazard, confused collection of rudimentary spells, but before she could start to decipher it, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

She turned, and her eyes widened as she found Zecora's lips pressed against hers. Her feathers fluttered, stirring a gentle breeze around the pair. This was the first attempt anyone had made to kiss her in literal ages. She slowly lowered her eyelids and returned the kiss once, but only once, making it a warm but chaste peck. Then she pulled away, her face furious. She was already mentally rehearsing a tirade about inappropriateness, audacity, extremely poor timing, and... her thoughts froze.

There was something rough and grainy on her lips, like sand. She licked at it instinctively, and immediately cursed herself for doing so. All of the headaches that she had previously drunk away seemed to return all at once. The world spun, her knees quivering. Zecora was backing away into the darkness, through the archway, her ears flat against her head, her tail tucked between her legs.

“What is the meaning of this?” Luna demanded, but with a slight slurring to her voice. Her lips and tongue were going numb. There was a ringing in her ears preventing her from hearing her own words. Whatever this was, her supernatural healing ability somehow could not keep up with it. Just as she stepped forward to pursue the retreating Zecora, the columns in the atrium, and every inch of stone that the secret complex was made out of, burst into full light. Luna screamed. She was too sluggish and distracted by the kiss to cancel her sense-heightening spell in time, causing even the pale moonlight the stone was now emitting to sear her eyes in agony.

Luna pressed her front hooves against her eyes, trying to block out as much light as possible. Her hindlegs were unable to keep her steady in her current state. She stumbled backwards, collapsing to the floor of the tunnel. She focused her healing capacity on her eyes, a task which she dimly noted was much harder now than it should have been. Her horn felt like it too was becoming numb. Still, she managed to repair enough of the damage to open her eyes.

She saw Zecora still backing away, moving between the bright pillars toward the doorway opposite the one they had just entered. Luna charged after her, her dark wings spreading out wide to take her into an airborne tackle. Right as she reached the halfway point between the columns, Luna watched in confusion and horror as the image of the zebra disappeared in a puff of green smoke. She whirled around rapidly. Another Zecora, her head now bent all the way to the ground and her face flushing bright red, stood in a third archway. Behind the zebra, three ponies wearing dark purple robes stepped out of the tunnel.

Luna leaped at them, only to find her dive stopped short by an invisible wall of electricity that sparked to life around her hooves. She screamed again as the energy burned and cracked against her legs. She struggled to press forward. Every inch she gained increased the pain exponentially. Her horn crackled and sparked, sending out powerful but half-formed spells that did little but crack and blacken the stone around her. They were blocked by the shield as well.

Peels of thunder shook the entire underwater cavern as lightning strikes flew out from the cloud that Luna had formed on her way to the lake. But even that only shook some dust free. Luna fell back, teetering on the edge of collapse. Entire patches of her coat had been burned away, replaced by black singes. Her hooves were bleeding from the quick. Her split, frayed tail was thrashing back and forth wildly. Her breathing was shallow and rapid. Her body was shaking from the poison, but even that and her involuntary stumbling seemed to have rage behind them. Her face was bent beyond simple anger into an avatar of cold fury as she re-evaluated her tactics.

“Zecora,” one of the hood-covered ponies, a female, said softly, “I know this might be painful for you to see, and I know we didn't give you much choice in the matter, but I want to thank you for doing this anyway. It was the right thing.”

Meanwhile, Luna was pounding at the floor of the chamber with all of her might. She smashed and pulverized huge chunks of stone, so hard that her metal shoes bent and broke. She cast them aside with a growl and continued to dig until her hooves were cracked and gushing blood. She managed to get three feet down before her impaired regeneration simply couldn't keep up with the damage that she was inflicting on herself. Supporting herself on her knees, Luna ground her teeth.

“Just give me the spell you spoke of,” Zecora replied, emotionless and unsmiling, “and I will then retire up above.”

“Are you sure you want to give up that power, though?” a second voice, harsher and meaner, and also from a mare, said. “Transformation is a difficult feat even for the most powerful of unicorns, much less a zebra.”

Zecora nodded, her eyes still cast down. At the edge of her vision, she could see Luna pacing in pained, hobbling steps around her prison, and she could feel the weight of the Princess's gaze bearing down on her soul.

“As you wish,” the first, kinder voice said. A black telekinetic aura wrapped around a scroll from inside her robe and floated it over to Zecora, who grasped and unrolled it. As Zecora read, the robed pony spoke again. “With the mystical reagents listed, and with that incantation, you should be able to unbind a spirit from a physical object. Why you would want to is beyond me, but zebras have always been odd creatures.”

Satisfied with the contents, Zecora tucked the scroll along with the rest of her belongings. “Understanding me,” she said, her voice laced with thinly-veiled scorn, “is not a feat I expect from you three.”

“Goodbye then,” the second mare said brusquely.

“We will probably not see you again,” the first said, “since you won't remember how to get here, so farewell, Zecora. I hope you find what you're searching for.”

Zecora began to walk toward the exit, studiously avoiding looking up.

“That is how it is to be then?” Luna said, slurring but still projecting the full force of her emotions into her voice. “'Twas all a lie? A more cowardly and false-hearted creature I have never met.”

Zecora's steps faltered, but she continued her departure.

“Thou art a fool!” Luna spat. “If thou hadst simply asked me to help, we could have found a solution. Instead thou trustest to their aid?”

Zecora entered the tunnel they had come in.

“Liar!” It burned her throat to use it, but the Royal Canterlot Voice came out of Luna's lungs with a will of its own. Her wings beat the air furiously, making her body hover several feet off of the floor. “Thou vile betrayer! Come and face me, whelp!”

The black and white tail of Zecora disappeared around the first bend in the passageway.

“Come back! I—I command thee!” She flew at the force field again, to even less effect and more pain than before. Luna inhaled the smoke from her burning flesh and entered a severe coughing fit, which caused her wings to falter and her body to crunch into the ground.

“Do not leave!” she shouted between bursts of coughing, her magic too drained now even to amplify her voice. “Do not... do not leave me here alone. Please...”

Nothing appeared from down the tunnel for a few moments, but then there was a flicker of a shadow. A shape rounded the corner quickly, and her heart soared. But only for a moment. The equine that entered the chamber had a stark white coat, a dark mane, and green ooze caught in both. Moreover, her lower body was not equine at all, but more like a huge fish's tail. Luna felt a kind of sad terror as she saw Thin Mint once again.

None of the three robed ponies who now stepped into her view seemed to notice the newcomer. Indeed, when Luna blinked, the apparition was gone. She blinked again and it returned, and she breathed a sigh of relief. The three ponies in front of her looked blurry and indistinct, but her other student... she looked so real. She could even smell the seaweed in her hair. Luna resolved to keep her eyes open as long as she could, to keep the one real thing left to her around just a little longer.

The trio of less-real ponies pulled back their hoods. Even with her mind at its sharpest, it would have been hard to remember them clearly, but they were somewhat familiar. They had to be the former students of hers whom Zecora had talked about. They were all unicorns, wearing the simple Academy uniform robes.

Reluctantly, Luna pulled her stare off of Mint's hopeful, comforting smile to look at the ponies who were starting to speak to her.

She looked at the lone male first. His cryptic smile reminded her of Zecora's, although where Zecora's was steady and stable, his seemed just on the edge of snapping, as if it were ready to turn into a hateful frown, an insane laugh, or a cruel sneer at any moment. Actually, she knew that expression, and she shuddered when it finally clicked whom she was staring at. Nickle Waltz had performed unethical, sociopathic experiments on children. Even on her worst days, when she was closest to becoming Nightmare Moon, Luna bore a special place in her heart for children. None of the foals were permanently harmed, but he was, by means of the Princess's punishment of magical and chemical gelding. She could not fathom why he would choose to continue to follow her after that, yet there he stood, looking as young as the last time she had seen him.

Her eyes moved over to the next pony, who, mercifully, did not stir up any such troubling memories. In fact, she barely stirred any memories at all. Platina was a completely mediocre student who happened to be gifted at taking tests. Between exams, all she seemed to do was socialize with better students and, Luna strongly suspected, copy their assignments. It always struck Luna that Platina was more interested in being close to power than actually obtaining it herself. She must have grown past that to have survived a thousand years with her youthful, vibrant silvery hair unmarred by any signs of the whiter tone of old age. That would have taken more than simply knowing powerful ponies.

The last was Willowleaf, or so she guessed. Little remained of her body. Her neck was bare bones, except for an intact voicebox leading to a mouth that was mostly skin on one side, and mostly bare muscle on the other. Her eyes were still the deep brown they had been before, but they were framed by only the barest essential tissue that she would need to form facial expressions. Luna suspected that not much of her body remained underneath the robe either. It was all animated by a subtle nimbus of black energy, which commanded the joints and bones where no nerves or muscles remained. She had seen worse monstrosities, but she winced at the sight of this one, because Willowleaf had been such a meek, unassuming pony. Almost like Twilight's friend Fluttershy. Why hath she done this to herself?

Willowleaf spoke, which was an unsettling sight even for a pony as well-traveled as Princess Luna, and not diminished in the least by the gentle tone she used.

“Try to forget her, Princess Luna.” Willowleaf turned toward the door and, for an instant, Luna thought she was talking about Thin Mint. “Like you said, she betrayed you.” Ah, she must be speaking of Zecora then. Is that better or worse? “We are your true friends, whether you see us as such or not. Even though, long ago, you changed from Celestia's definition of 'good' to your own, and now apparently back again to hers. Even though we were separated by impossible time and distance, we never forgot you, and we labored for so long to bring you back.

“Even though you didn't come back to us right away when we freed you, and even though you've changed greatly from the Princess we knew, we're still your faithful students. And unlike the love of Celestia, that zebra, or your common subjects, our love is not conditional upon your behavior.”

“Your love?” Luna snapped raggedly. “What love is it to poison and imprison a 'friend'?”

Willowleaf frowned. “We only did that because we need to talk, and based on what we've heard about your actions and attitudes since being brainwashed by the so-called Elements of Harmony... you probably aren't going to like what we have to talk about.”

Luna's face slumped against the cold, hard floor. She laid there so perfectly still and unblinking for so long that her three apprentices began to share nervous glances among themselves, while the ghost of Thin Mint gurgled through her gills in something approximating laughter. Not mocking, cruel laughter, but the kind of sound she might have made as a happy young filly. Or a happy mare, if I had not brought ruin to her in her youth.

“Your Highness?” Willowleaf said gently. “Will you hear us? It's important.”

Princess Luna didn't move.

“Okay. We'll wait here until you're ready.”

“Like we always have,” added Platina in a cold, yet patient and understanding voice. Waltz nodded and grinned wider. He turned his head to look where Luna was looking, almost as if he could see the vision of her fourth student too.

They all laid down on the floor, watching her silently as Luna's red, burning eyes, desperate for just one blink that she refused to give them, gazed intently behind them.

Her mouth twisted into a crooked smile, and a burbling chuckle escaped from her throat. All things considered... 'tis rather amusing how stupid I have been. The chuckle turned into a laugh, and then a cackle, and then a howling guffaw. With her eyes still transfixed, unmoving, Luna beat her legs against her prison in violent merriment.