Princess Celestia sat on her throne, trying her best to look cheerful for her citizens. On the inside, however, she was anything but cheerful.

It had only been a few days since her sister, Luna, was locked away in the dream world.

Occasionally, she could hear her voice talking to her through her thoughts. She might've been hallucinating, but something told her it was real.
Something inside her was telling her that the voices she was hearing were definitely that of her sister.

It was hearing the voice of her sister that kept her motivated to atleast try to seem happy. To atleast try to appear that nothing was wrong.

It reassured her that there was still hope that Luna could return. After all, she returned after being banished to the moon, didn't she?

Of course, there had to be a reason that Luna was still able to communicate with her. Perhaps it was simply her powerful ability to manipulate and interact with dreams? Or maybe it was simply the fact that they were sisters?

Nopony really knew. Not even Celestia.

Despite her rule lasting for longer than she could remember, nothing like this had ever happened before. Previously when they had fought Null, Princess Luna had banished him to the dream world before he could act.
It was funny how the tables had turned now.

How she was communicating with Celestia wasn't the only question to be answered, either. There was also the matter as to why she was communicating.

Being stuck in the dream world, Luna had vastly more knowledge than those in the physical world. Everything that Null did or said, she would hear. They were both trapped inside of your mind together, after all.

Luna wasn't just communicating with her sister for a chat. It was only a matter of time before something was to happen, and it was only a matter of time before she would have to warn Celestia about the coming threat.

"Sister..." a voice echoed in Celestia's mind. If it wasn't for the fact that she knew who was talking to her, she would have been startled.

"Sister... Can you hear me?" Luna's voice asked, her voice seeming urgent.

"Yes, Luna. I can." Celestia replied instantly, sensing the urgency in her voice. Naturally sensing that something was wrong, her natural instincts to protect her kingdom began to kick in.

"Look up..." Luna's voice advised, seeming to confuse Celestia at first.

Cautiously, the Alicorn Princess turned her head to look up, only to see something that she had never seen before.

A large black stain lay on the roof of her throne room, occasionally moving like black ink. It was exactly the same substance that seemed to be coating your own element of determination. Tiny white stars lay flashing against the dark, sinister background, giving life to an otherwise eerie smudge.

"What is..." Celestia asked herself, about to call for her guards. She stopped herself, realising that two Pegasi wearing armour wouldn't be able to do anything about an entity that even she didn't know the existence of.

She glanced to the ceiling again, only to see something that shocked her. The stain was beginning to grow, slowly expanding from a small circle into a much large one. Eventually, it stopped growing, and maintained it's position in a shape about the size of Celestia.

The Alicorn Princess continued to stare as the edge of the circle began to glow yellow. The small white stars began to sparkle more intensely as the yellow glow got even brighter.

Celestia gasped as she finally realised what the circle was.

It was a portal.

Moments after realising, a large black unicorn, roughly just under the size of the portal, began to emerge, a sinister smirk on his face. There was no doubt that it was Null, and he had finally harnessed enough determination from your element to manifest in the real world.

Celestia didn't speak, and instead just stared, her eyes wide with shock, at the shadowy unicorn before her.

"Hello, Princess." Null said, standing mere metres away from the throne.

That night was the best sleep you had ever had. Instead of a strange dream or vision, your slumber was simply filled with thoughts of Rainbow Dash.

It was a sleep you didn't to wake up from, but you knew you'd have to eventually.

After such an amazing rest, you expected to slowly wake up with the sunlight shining down on you, embraced in Rainbow Dash's hoofs.
While technically that did happen, you didn't wake up the way you expected.

"Storm..." a voice whispered, waking you up, but also keeping you stuck in a dream. It was as if you were unconscious, but conscious at the same time.

And that voice...

You could have sworn that you recognised it.

"Canterlot..." the voice added, and then you began to realise who it was that was speaking to you. It was none other than Princess Luna. While she could talk to her sister thanks to their undeniable link, you weren't quite sure why she was able to talk to you.

The answer was quite obvious, though. Null could communicate with you when he was trapped inside your mind, so there was no reason why Luna couldn't aswell.

"What do you mean? What about Canterlot?" you asked, despite not being able to see anything. Lifting your hoofs up to your face, you couldn't even see them. Even whilst attempting to fly, you didn't move.

Much to your concern, Luna didn't respond. Something was happening, and you needed to get to Canterlot fast. The first question, however, was how you were going to wake up. Princess Luna wasn't responding, but you were still 'unconscious'.

Not long after that thought crossed your mind, a familiar pain that you never wished to feel again began growing inside of you.
It started in your chest, slowly spreading outwards to your legs. After that, it grew outwards towards your wings, and then finally along your neck and to your head. Instinctivel, you fell to the ground, despite not being able to see it. There was nothing you could support yourself with, so you simply collapsed onto the ground, coughing up a few drops of blood as the pain beat against your chest.

"Gah!" you cried, shooting awake in Rainbow's bed. You hurriedly took in breath after breath as you looked around the bedroom, and surely enough all of your pain had vanished.

Rainbow's eyes opened as she gently removed her hoofs from around you, rubbing her eyes, "W-What? What's wrong?"

Despite obviously seeming tired, she sat up and began to listen to you, even though she could have easily pretended to ignore you and go back to sleep. Even then though, Luna's words, however few, seemed very urgent. You weren't sure how much time you had.

"We need to go to Canterlot." you said, still panting a little. It was very early in the morning, and you were half expecting Rainbow to just brush you off and go back to sleep.

"What? Why?" she asked, seeming confused. You couldn't blame her, though. You were pretty confused too, but you knew that something bad was happening. Otherwise, Luna wouldn't have wasted her energy trying to communicate with you.

"I'm not certain, but I think it might be in danger." you explained. She could tell that you were being serious, as all traces of tiredness were wiped from her face as soon as you mentioned the word 'danger'.

"How do you know?" Rainbow asked, but deep down she knew you were being truthful.

"Princess Luna told me. Kinda." you explained, and that was all she needed.
Rainbow Dash grabbed your hoof and pulled you out of the house via the bedroom window. It wasn't an ordinary way to exit the house, but atleast you hadn't been left behind this time.

Both you and Rainbow Dash knew that, If Luna was right and Canterlot really was in danger, then you needed to be ready. You needed your friends.

Both Null and Princess Celestia stood, staring at eachother with hatred. Her royal guards most likely would lose a fight against such a foe, so this was going to be up to her.

"It's been a while since I last saw you, princess." Null said, with an un-wholesome smile, "The last I saw you was when you and your sister banished me to the dream world."

Celestia stared at the shadow unicorn angrily, but she didn't want to let her own anger consume her. The fate of Equestria was hanging more and more in the balance, and every choice she made would count.

"What have you done with her?" Celestia asked, sternly.

"Oh, nothing much." Null began, a smirk on his face, "I never meant to hit her, but thanks to her sacrifice, I managed to make this part of my plan much easier!"

The Alicorn Princess was confused, but she didn't want to show it. Surely Luna's sacrifice had lead on to become something good, right?

"What do you mean?" Celestia asked, preparing her magic just in case.

"If Luna didn't do what she did, then I would have to fight both of you right now," Null explained, closing of the dream portal that he had entered through. Although Luna theoretically couldn't return to Equestria without the help of determination, he didn't want to take any chances, "Because she's no longer here, it'll be a lot easier to take just you on!"

Princess Celestia narrowed her eyes, her horn beginning to glow. It seemed that the only choice in this situation was to fight, whether she liked it or not.

"My sister might be gone for now, but I'm going to fulfill what her final wish would have been," she said, her horn glowing brighter than anypony had ever seen before, "To send you back to where you belong."

Null was unfazed by the Alicorn's threat, but the multicoloured beam of light flying in his direction was a different story.

Unprepared for such an attack, the beam hit the unicorn head on, sending him flying into the wall of the throne room. Unfortunately, the blast wasn't enough to kill him, but it seemed to incapacitate him.

"H-how..." Null groaned as he attempted to climb to his hoofs, "How is your magic so powerful?"

If any other pony attempted to perform such an attack on him, it wouldn't have any effect. By now, he had harnessed enough determination from your own element that almost all attacks should have been like nothing to him.

"I suppose you could say that I'm having some help..." Celestia announced, her horn flashing purple briefly. She took a few steps down from the throne, and began to advance towards the fallen unicorn.

Still, he was attempting to get back on all fours, but that was something Celestia couldn't allow. Realising that she had the upper hand, she used her magic to collapse one of the many pillars that supported the roof of the throne room. Piles upon piles of rubble rained down upon Null, trapping his two hind legs. This would surely cost a lot of bits to rebuild, but it would be worth it.

Null roared with pain as rubble buried his entire lower half. It seemed as if he had been defeated. All of that time spent preparing, only for Celestia to best him immediately upon his return.

"I expected more from you." Celestia said, approaching the fallen unicorn whilst preparing a spell that would cast him back to the dream world where he belongs.

Null stared at the ground, defeated, but for some odd reason... He was smiling.

"You expected more from me?" he said, still looking down at the floor. He laughed, as if somepony had just a told a horrible joke and he was just trying to be polite, "Look above the throne."

Startled by the shadow unicorns sudden confidence, Celestia turned around to face her and Luna's throne. What was hovering above it left her speechless.

Mere metres above her throne was the element of determination, now more than three quarters of the way corrupted by Null's black substance.

"Do you understand now, princess?" Null asked, rising from the pile of rubble as if it was nothing. His eyes flowed yellow, a contrast to the deep black that they were when you last fought him, "I now hold the most powerful magic in Equestria!"

Celestia, speechless, remained unaware of the ginormous yellow hoof that was flying in her direction. It seemed like determination could create its own artificial punches.

The magical hoof slammed into the Alicorn, like a full force punch from a minotaur. She went flying across the throne room, crashing into the the stained glass panes above the throne. Somehow, it didn't break, and she fell to the floor with pain.

"C'mon, Princess! Where's all your fight gone?" Null mocked, knowing that there was no way that her magic could beat his, "What happened to that 'help' you were getting?"

Although Luna was helping Celestia create more powerful magic, this would have no effect in the latter couldn't even muster the energy to use magic to begin with.

To add insult to injury, Null repeated the same process that was performed on him, only this time the roles were reversed. Using his own magic, he sent an entire pillar crashing down on the weakened Alicorn, rendering her unable to fight.

"Looks like I win, after all!" Null announced, approaching Celestia, "After that lacklustre fight, I think I have several years of frustrations to take out on... Hm..."

Null pondered, standing mere inches away from the incapacitated princess.

"Ah, yes! Manehatten will do nicely!" he announced, planning the next step of his plan, "That place holds plenty of ponies to drain of there magic!"

"Don't..." Celestia whispered, weakly.

"I'm sorry, what was that? I couldn't quite hear you." Null mocked, laughing sadisticly. Although at first Null acted menacing and even ominous, it seemed as if the power of almost an entire element of harmony was going to his head.

Despite it being entirely unnecessary, the evil unicorn shattered the stained glass window above the thrones, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a city to terrorise!"

Null magically grew a pair of wings, glowing yellow like the sun, before shooting up and out of the window he had previously shattered. It seemed he had defeated both of the princesses.

You and your friends had almost arrived, but it was moments too soon. Null was already long gone, and Celestia was unable to move.
Both you and Rainbow Dash crashed through the doors to the throne room, ignoring the guard's calls from the opposite end of the corridor. The rest of your friends followed, before letting out a gasp over what they saw before them.

Upon seeing the remains of the throne room, you froze in mid-air, your jaw dropping.

"Celestia!" Twilight cried, galloping past both you and Rainbow. Using her magic, she began to pick up and move pieces of the rubble that trapped the Alicorn Princess underneath, "Everypony, help me!"

Adhering to Twilight's request, you, along with the rest of your friends, began to assist her.

Rarity helped by removing pieces of rubble, much like Twilight, whereas Applejack and Pinkie Pie simply picked up individual pieces of threw them off to the side. You, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy each helped by clearing large pieces of rubble, and carrying them elsewhere.

Eventually, Celestia was no longer trapped below rubble, but it seemed as if she was still unable to move.

"What happened here?" Rainbow Dash asked, glancing at the broken pillars and smashed glass panes. It certainly looked like a battle had happened.

"I... I don't know..." Fluttershy answered, looking worried by the current events.

Twilight had sat down by the princess' side, resting a single hoof on her with the intention of comforting her. You had already lost one princess for an uncertain amount of time, the last thing you all needed was to lose both.

Celestia let out a few coughs, seemingly conscious again. Slowly and cautiously, her eyes began to open, staring in horror at the ruins of her throne room.
"T-Twilight..." she stuttered, confused. The last thing she could remember was looking up as mountains of rocks and rubble collapsed onto her.

"Princess! What happened to you?" Twilight asked, tears almost forming in her eyes.

"Yeah, princess. You ain't exactly lookin' so good." Applejack added.

"Null was here. Null has came to the real world," Celestia began, seeming to be panicked, "You have to go to Manehatten. Warn the ponies there about him."

It seemed that Luna had been correct; Canterlot was indeed in danger. You were too late to stop Null this time, but if you could reach Manehatten in time, you could put an end to it right there.

"C'mon everypony. We've got a city to save." you announced, new found determination in your eyes. You knew that your element was no longer fully in control, but nothing could take away your determination. Nothing could ever take away your courage.

You really wings fanned out, ready to take flight, but Twilight stopped you, "I'm gonna stay here with Celestia."

That seemed fair. You knew how much both of the princesses meant to her, and she wouldn't be able to bear losing them both.
You gave her a simple nod in response, smiling warmly.

"Make sure you all come back, ok?" she added, smiling in response. On the outside, she was smiling, but on the inside you knew that she was hurting more than she ever had done before.

Rainbow Dash laughed, flying over to you and nudging you, "Why wouldn't we when we've got me and Storm to protect us?"

It honestly made you happy that even in times like these, she never lost her usual spark.

Twilight laughed in response, rubbing her eye. Even Celestia seemed to smirk a little.

"Good luck, everypony." she said, hoping that this would be the last ever time she would have to hear the name 'Null'. You had similar hopes, but it was up to you and your friends to make those hopes become reality.

Slowly, you approached Twilight and pulled her into a hug. Honestly, you didn't care about whether or not this made Rainbow Dash jealous. She needed this.

"Thank you." Twilight said, smiling as the two of you parted.

The rest of your friends said their goodbyes, and thankfully Rainbow didn't seem too jealous over your previous action. Honestly it would have kinda annoyed you if she was.

"Ready, Storm?" Rainbow asked, waiting near the door with the rest of her friends.

You looked up to her, a determined grin growing on your face.

"Let's go, everypony."

Author's Notes:

So I've taken both of the princesses out of the picture for the time being. Neither of them are dead though, so they will all come back at some point.

I wanted the next chapter to be set on a train as one more smaller chapter before the chapter in Manehatten, but I'm not sure whether I can even make it long enough to be it's own chapter. If I can't make it longer, I'll just put it at the start of the next chapter instead