In Between Worlds

by Boopy Doopy

First published 7th of June, 2020

Twilight Sparkle accidentally creates a portal to another world. This causes many problems.

Lightning Blade was absolutely unprepared to be chasing Brimstone around Equestria. Midnight Bloom absolutely didn't want to be the ruler of Illandra. However, neither had much of a choice in the matter because of Twilight Sparkle's appearance.

Chapter One

Author's Notes:

This takes place directly before season 9 and directly after season 8

The moment before Lightning Blade cast his spell, Twilight Sparkle suddenly appeared out of a black portal, which, for a moment, served as the doorway between Illandra and Equestria.

It was quite unexpected, and the sight of her shocked the alicorn prince, interrupting his concentration for just a second as he flew through the sky. He quickly regained it, but it was already too late. Losing his concentration might not have meant much had Brimstone not been in his grasp at that very moment. However, he was, and as a result, Lightning Blade was unable to stop the momentum from sending them through the portal in the sky, much to one's anger and the other's satisfaction.

It was exactly one second before the two reappeared on the other side, in the place where the pony who interrupted Lightning Blade came from. The portal they came through disappeared the instant after they exited to the other side, and then, before he could blink, Brimstone himself had vanished from his grasp, making his way off to… somewhere. Lightning Blade growled to himself, angry with what just played out in the last few seconds. He had lost Brimstone because of that pony’s interference, whoever she was.

He had a perfect plan, too. Or, at the very least, unbelievable luck. Somehow, he’d managed to take Brimstone of all ponies by surprise. There were very few who would have been able to accomplish such a thing, those few being the most powerful ponies to ever exist. And yet, somehow, he was able to do it. However, just before he was able to cast his spell and pull the pony into stasis with him, that mare came in and interrupted his concentration. And thus, he was thrust here, and, unfortunately, would have to find and capture Brimstone again. He sighed to himself at that thought. He knew that recapturing him wouldn’t be easy; it was unlikely that Brimstone would be taken by surprise a second time.

Of course, to find him, Lightning Blade would have to find out where they had ended up. He stopped hovering in the air, setting his hooves on the ground, and looked around himself. He was clearly in a castle of some sort, one with a purple ground and blue walls that were covered in white crystals. A large room is what he saw himself in, one that was fairly empty except for a large table with six chairs around it. The table seemed to have a map on it, but he didn’t take time to examine it, seeing as he didn’t think it would be that helpful in finding Brimstone. He was sure the villain knew just as much about where he was as Lightning Blade did. Of course, he had the benefit of being able to hide wherever he so chose, whereas Lightning Blade had to locate him in a place he didn’t know. He stamped a hoof in frustration. If that pony would have just waited one moment later to show up…

“Twilight! You’re back!” a voice said excitedly as the prince listened to a pony make its way into the room. Or, at least, he assumed it was a pony. The prince turned around, and was given a surprise when he saw that it was actually a dragon entering the room. A baby dragon, but a dragon nonetheless, and one that could talk at that. It was a light purple color, with green scales and wings, and didn’t look very menacing. It was a sharp contrast to the creatures at home, who simply destroyed buildings and killed ponies without a second thought, and were mostly colored either red or black. And couldn’t talk. It was a very strange sight to behold, however, the prince kept his surprise off of his face.

“Oh. You’re not Twilight Sparkle,” the dragon said, seeming unconcerned about the fact that a potential intruder was in this castle. Although, it did give Lightning Blade a name to go with the pony who sent him here. Twilight Sparkle. It was similar to the name of his best friend, Midnight Bloom.

“No, I’m not,” he responded, then, not wanting to waste any time, proceeded to get down to business. “Have you seen a sulfur coated alicorn with a red horn and black mane around here?”

“Uh, no, I don’t think so…” the dragon answered, seeming confused by the question. “That sounds kind of like Sombra though… what color is sulfur?”

“Yellow.”

“Okay, no, I haven’t seen him.”

It was what Lightning Blade expected him to say, but he still hoped for a better answer. He wasn’t really feeling up to searching the world, let alone one he didn’t know, for the villain, and sighed at the prospect of having to. Although, he made a mental note of the name, Sombra...

“What are you doing here?” the dragon asked him curiously. “Who are you?”

He debated answering the question, not wanting to tell a dragon of all creatures who he was, but decided there was no harm in it. It didn’t seem as though this particular dragon was any threat, especially if it was allowed to be in this castle without supervision. Besides, he was an alicorn, and was still wearing the Crown of Illandra on his head. It didn’t take that much thinking to realize he was important.

“I am Prince Lightning Blade, the ruler of Illandra,” he announced, spreading his wings out a bit, a gesture he subconsciously did when greeting his subjects.

“Nice. I’m Spike,” Spike introduced simply, giving a small bow. “I’m Princess Twilight’s assistant.”

Ah, the pony’s assistant. It made sense now why a dragon would be kept in the castle. Although Lightning Blade was sure that the title “assistant” was a proxy for the word “slave”. He was also intrigued by the idea of that pony being a princess. It made sense though, she being an alicorn after all. He thought he remembered also seeing her wearing a crown.

“Um, do you know where she’s at?” the dragon asked him.

“From what I can tell, she’s in Illandra,” the alicorn explained, silently adding, “Likely dealing with the aftermath of Brimstone’s appearance.”

“Do you know when she’s going to be back?”

“I wouldn’t be able to say. I only saw her for a second before I was sent here.” The prince paused, adding, “Since you’re the princess’s... assistant, would you be able to direct me to the pony who would be in charge in her absence? There’s somepony else who came here with me, and it’s very important that I find them.” He made certain to leave out the fact that the pony he was searching for was highly dangerous, so as not to start rumors or cause the dragon to panic.

“Oh, that would be Princess Celestia and Luna. They live in Canterlot and rule over all of Equestria.”

He had to assume that Equestria was the nation they lived in, in the same way Illandra was the nation he himself ruled over. He thought it was a bit weird to name a nation after one’s species, but didn't think much more of it. Although, the mention of two other princesses brought up an important question.

“There’s more than one princess in… Equestria?” he asked, puzzled.

“Yup,” Spike explained. “There’s five actually. But one’s a foal.”

He had confusion on his face at that knowledge. This nation had not one ruler, but four. And they made a foal into a princess as well. How they kept things from descending into political turmoil, he had no idea.

“Is that not normal where you’re from?” Spike asked innocently.

“No, I’m the only ruler of Illandra,” he answered. Or, at least, he was. He was actually planning to give up being ruler that very day, to have Midnight Bloom be crowned as Princess of Illandra. Not that he wanted to, but it was what needed to be done to keep Illandra safe from Brimstone forever. Besides, Midnight was his friend, and she had once before given up being ruler to him. It was only fitting that he did the same for her. However, that pony, Twilight Sparkle, had to insert herself and screw things up for him.

“Which princess do you believe would be the most helpful to me?” he asked.

“That would be Celestia,” the dragon answered. “I can take you to her.”

“If that’s no trouble to you,” Lightning Blade said politely.

“It’s no problem. Just follow me and we’ll be there in no time.”

The prince followed behind Spike, who quickly led him out of the room and through the castle. He was curious about the lack of guards, or any other ponies for that matter, in the castle, but didn’t ask. It seemed largely empty anyway, lacking many valuables and whatnot. It honestly gave him the impression that it was recently moved into, like this Twilight Sparkle was recently crowned a princess, much like himself.

“You know,” Spike started, trying to make small talk, “for an alicorn prince, you’re not that big, only a little taller than Twilight is.”

“That’s because I haven’t fully grown,” he responded. “I’ve only just become an alicorn two years ago.”

“Hey, that’s almost as long as Twilight’s been one! She was actually Princess Celestia's student."

So one princess was another's lesser. That was how they kept themselves out of political unrest. This Celestia was likely at the top, and made rulers out of those she could trust to keep her subjects in line. It was still a strange thought, however, to know that multiple princesses were alive and ruling at the same time. In Illandra, a prince or princess was only crowned when the previous was about to pass on. How the previous knew when that would happen, he had no idea.

Well, he had some idea. The one before him, Princess Rosalie, explained that it was a feeling they got. She didn’t know how or why they got it, but they did. It was the very same feeling he'd had in the weeks leading up to today. The feeling that his reign would be coming to an end, despite ruling so briefly in comparison to every pony before him. Still, despite his initial worry, he accepted it, and planned to give up his rule and the crown to Midnight Bloom once he had cast his spell.

However, as of now, the crown was still on his head because that pony, Twilight Sparkle, had interfered and broke his concentration.

The prince was led out, and he realized why the castle he teleported into was so empty. It was located in the middle of nowhere. Maybe this pony, Twilight, wasn't actually trusted by Celestia, and was only made a ruler to keep her at bay, and to stop her from teleporting into other countries and causing disruptions. Or from teleporting those countries' rulers to places they didn't belong.

He turned around to view the castle itself, and was shocked to see that the entire thing was built into a tree. It was a castle in a tree. Not an ordinary tree either. This one was blue and crystal looking, the castle itself being bright purple, with yellow peaks contrasting against it.

"Who would ever build their castle in a tree?" Lightning Blade asked, flabbergasted.

“It wasn’t built,” Spike answered. “That castle grew out of a chest after Twilight defeated Tirek and became the Princess of Friendship. It’s actually a long story.”

He quickly took the surprise he felt off of his face. “Princess of Friendship,” the prince thought, rolling his eyes. “Scratch that. I’m not in another country. I’m in another world entirely.”

Midnight Bloom stood terrified, partly because of both the pony’s sudden appearance and the destruction created before the pony’s arrival, but mostly because Prince Lightning Blade had left. He was gone, which meant that, as the only alicorn available, she was the one who had to rule amidst the destruction. Her ruling Illandra wasn’t something she could pass off to somepony else again, especially now, seeing as the crown had left with him.

Well, maybe. There was another alicorn standing directly in front of her, and she did have a crown on her head, which meant she might have been a princess. However, it was ridiculous to think she could rule, seeing as Midnight didn’t even know who she was. Not to mention the fact that she looked more terrified than Midnight herself felt, seeming like she wanted to hyperventilate as she stared out at what was left of the city, glancing between her and the destruction.

It wasn’t just her staring, though. Everypony in Magnus was staring at her, at both of them, waiting for something to be done. Waiting for Midnight to do something, as though there was much she could do about the destruction of the city, or about the now hundreds of injured and dying ponies in it. She was an alicorn, and a natural born one at that, which meant she should have been more powerful than Lightning Blade was, maybe as powerful as Illandra herself. However, she felt as though a foal would be more useful than her. With wings too small to fly, an undersized horn that wouldn’t cast magic, and hooves that were unable to grip things, she felt like the most useless pony in the world, able only to stand around and watch as others got things done.

Still yet, they stared, the eerie silence in the city becoming deafening to Midnight. They needed somepony, and she wasn’t it. All Midnight wanted to do was ball up and cry, and let somepony else take charge. And very conveniently, there just so happened to be another alicorn standing directly in front of her, one who wore the crown of some kind of ruler on her head. Although she didn’t know her, she found herself hoping the purple coated alicorn would quickly take charge of the situation for her, so that she herself wouldn’t have to.

“W-what… what happened here?” the purple pony stammered out nervously, her voice cracking, still wide eyed as she tried to process the scene in front of her. It was a look that Midnight didn’t like, and wasn't the reaction she was hoping for. She bit the inside of her cheek as she saw her hope for somepony else to take charge start to fade away, and knew that, as much as she wanted to break down, she couldn't keep standing there waiting for something to happen.

"Um, excuse me?" she started very quietly, barely audible, taking a timid step towards the alicorn. "Are you… do you... know any healing magic?"

The alicorn didn't answer, staring off as though she didn't hear her. She'd never encountered anything close to what she was seeing now. While she'd seen and faced many situations and villains, she never had to deal with somepony who was actually dying, let alone hundreds of them at the same time. And they all, including Midnight, were waiting for her to do something. As though she could help them when she didn't even know where she was or what had happened.

Midnight stared at her, cowering back a bit as she waited for her to answer. However, the purple alicorn, looking as though she couldn’t believe what she saw, said nothing. Realizing that this wasn't something she could pass off to somepony else, at least not immediately, Midnight raised her head and asked a bit louder, "Does anypony here know any healing spells?"

She watched as a few ponies raised their hooves, wincing at the sight of a couple of bloodied ones. "I- if you're able, we need you to help any injured ponies you might see," she got out, then glanced at the alicorn next to her. She sorely wished she would take over, and waited a few seconds to see if she would before continuing. "Are- are there any strong earth ponies and unicorns?" Several more hooves raised, along with a few nods from some ponies. "We… need to start looking for any ponies who might be crushed under rubble," she told them.

“Yes, Midni- Princess Midnight Bloom,” somepony said.

She flinched at those words. She didn’t want to be called princess. She wasn’t the princess. Prince Lightning Blade would return to reclaim his spot as ruler. Eventually. After all, he did still have the crown, which meant that he was still the ruler of Illandra. And, until he returned it, he would stay ruler.

“Um,” she stammered quietly, quickly shaking her head so that her hair would cover what could be seen of her horn, doing her very best not to blush, “I- I’m not- I’m not the, um… princess. But, um, we need any pegasi who are still able to fly to gather supplies from other cities, and bring in any ponies willing to assist us.” She paused, and added, “If that’s not any trouble anyway.”

She silently wished that they wouldn’t have listened to her as she watched ponies stand up to do what they were told. She wished they would have fought back against her, or that somepony else would have taken charge. Namely, the other alicorn in the ruined city. They would have listened to her just as much as they listened to Midnight. Maybe more so, seeing as she did have the crown of a princess.

Midnight Bloom turned to her, and saw that she was still staring into space. It wasn’t good to see. Midnight needed her to get herself together so she could take charge over the city for her. Even though she didn’t know her, Midnight didn’t think she would be the kind of pony to cause more chaos. Besides, she was an alicorn, and Midnight wanted as much help as she could possibly get, especially given her limitations.

“Um, excuse me?” she asked the alicorn again quietly. “Are you okay?” The purple pony looked to her again, seemingly acknowledging that she heard her and casting a strange expression. Midnight thought that she in general looked strange. If there was one word to describe her appearance, it would have been purple. Her coat, her mane, and even her eyes, they were all purple. It was quite strange to see a pony with so little variation. The only thing that really stood out about her, despite her alicorn status and her crown, was a star-like tattoo near her flank.

Midnight herself, despite lacking the tattoo this pony had, had to admit that she was very similar looking to her, with a few differences. The biggest difference they had was their eyes, Midnight’s being dark green, like grass. Her coat was a couple of shades on the blue side of violet, and her hair a couple of shades on the purple side, with a deep purple stripe in it, just like this pony, although her own stripe was much less pink than this pony’s. She was taller than Midnight, about as tall as Lightning Blade, and had the same kind of build as each other, although Midnight herself felt more stout. And judging by her crown, they were also, as of now, both rulers of their respective countries.

No, that wasn’t true. Midnight Bloom was not the ruler of Illandra. That title still belonged to Lightning Blade. She was just holding his place for him until he got back.

“Um,” Midnight started again, “if it’s no trouble… or, um, who are you?”

“...what?” the pony asked, confused, still seeming like she wasn’t paying attention.

“Well, um, you’re an alicorn,” Midnight explained, rubbing one of her hooves behind her leg, “so I was just wondering if you were a princess…”

“Oh, um, yes!” the alicorn announced, suddenly snapping to attention. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship.”

That was another thing they had similar. Twilight Sparkle was a very similar sounding name to Midnight Bloom, although she thought that the former sounded a bit more upbeat, perfect for somepony who claimed to be a princess of “friendship”. She wondered what becoming such a princess would entail. Maybe she helped other ponies become friends… or maybe served as an ambassador to other nations?

She watched the pony, Twilight Sparkle, swallow, trying to keep her composure. “Can I ask what happened here?” she got out, using a hoof to wave to the destruction around them.

“Well… Brimstone happened,” Midnight answered simply.

“Brimstone? Like, sulfur? What does that mean?”

She sighed, saying, “He’s a pony. It’s... a long story.” She then paused for a second, and changed the subject. “Ah, I know you don’t know me, or, well, any of us, since you just…” She trailed off, referring to her sudden appearance out of the portal she watched her friend fly into, then continued. “But, um, would you be willing to… take charge… for me?"

She knew Princess Rosalie, if she were still around, would be upset with her for trying to give up her rule to somepony else again, and especially somepony she didn’t know. She knew her best friend, Lightning Blade, would be upset, too. But Midnight couldn’t help it. She desperately didn’t want the job, and even if she did, she was completely useless. She would be the most ineffective princess to ever exist. Besides, this pony could take it away from her in a second if she wanted to anyway, so she might as well have asked.

"Take charge?" Twilight asked, confused. "Of what? This city? Didn’t that other pony say you were the princess?”

Midnight looked at the ground uncomfortably. “Yes, well… I’m not the princess. I’m not supposed to be the princess.”

That was a lie, and she knew it. It was entirely Lightning Blade’s intention for her to be princess, and Rosalie’s intention before him. They both used the saying “Illandra is never wrong” to try and convince her to accept it, and most of the time, she believed in that saying. However, if Illandra was saying that Midnight was meant to be princess, then she was absolutely wrong.

“But you’re an alicorn!”

Of course, Midnight was, and she hated that fact. It was the exact same reasoning Rosalie and Lightning Blade used when they tried to get her to accept being princess. She hated that she had to be born one, and thought that she was an embarrassment to every alicorn who existed before her. She couldn't do anything. However, even as useless as her body was, they still used the simple explanation, “You’re an alicorn,” when trying to convince her to take up ruling Illandra.

She took a breath at Twilight’s response, her eyes becoming a tiny bit wet as she shook her hair to cover her horn again. “Well, um… I mean… can you please do this for me?”

Chapter Two

It was less than half an hour before the alicorn and the dragon were standing in front of the city. Or a city. It appeared to Lightning Blade, at least on its surface, to be a small, unimportant town, one of perhaps hundreds in the country he found himself in. It simply reinforced the idea that this so-called "princess" was simply sent away to stay out of trouble.

"I now present to you: Ponyville!" Spike announced, stretching out an arm for emphasis. He seemed excited as he did so, and looked to the prince for his reaction.

The prince remained expressionless as he stared, quickly learning a lot about where he was just off of this glance. The very first thing that caught his eye were the roofs of the houses. Wherever he traveled, whether in Illandra or otherwise, when he saw thatched roofing, he immediately knew that it was someplace underdeveloped. It didn't help his perception of the town that each house seemed to have been built in a seemingly random location, at least where he was viewing from, with no thought put towards city planning. He didn't see any out houses however, which he figured was either a good thing or a very bad thing.

He then turned his attention to the ponies in the city, or, in this case, the creatures. In Illandra, the only sentient creatures were equines, so it was a bit of a shock to see so many different types of things walking around. However, he wasn't caught completely off guard thanks to meeting the dragon next to him. As well, it didn't seem as though there were that many creatures wandering around, to be about an eighty-twenty percent split between ponies and those other… things.

The town itself seemed clean enough, as well as the creatures in it. Although, he couldn’t help but feel annoyed at the fact that it was named Ponyville, and that he was heading to the city of Canterlot, where somepony named Celestia ruled over Equestria. In Illandra, they didn’t name things after their species, instead giving names after important ponies, like the nation of Illandra or the city of Magnus. In some cases, they named places after the terrain, like Highloch, where he and Midnight Bloom both came from.

“Well,” the dragon asked hopefully, “what do you think?”

Lightning Blade gave it another second of thought before answering. “It seems… exotic,” he said. It was the best he could honestly answer, although he thought "strange" might have been a more appropriate description.

"I'm glad you like it! It's where Princess Celestia told Twilight to move to so she could make new friends, and where she stopped Nightmare Moon when she found the Elements of Harmony."

"That settles it," he thought. "She was sent away because she causes trouble."

"I can show you around if you want," Spike told him eagerly.

"If it's alright, I'd rather get to this pony, Celestia, as quickly as possible."

"Oh…" Spike let out, a bit dejected. "Okay. Well, the train station is at the back of town, so I'll just point out the most important stuff on the way."

"If you insist," Lightning Blade answered, starting to walk again.

The two made their way into Ponyville, receiving stares from every creature there, especially the ponies. Out of habit, Lightning Blade subconsciously slowed his walk a bit and let them get a good view of him. He was used to the stares he received, and as such, it took him a little while to realize that these creatures weren't just staring, but gawking at him as he walked, and seemed to be a bit on edge by his presence. There was a silence spreading through them, and their reactions were a mix of surprise and fear. There were a few instances of excitement, but it was mostly fear, which was something he wasn’t really expecting from them, and not one he ever received from his subjects. To try and set them more at ease at his sight, he gave them reassuring smiles as he passed by each of them. It helped a little, but not much.

“Have they never seen an alicorn before?” the prince asked as he dropped his smile, not bothering to whisper. “Why do they seem so afraid? I thought you said that a princess lived here.”

“Well, she does, but ponies are still pretty excited to see her. And it might be because you’re a stallion, and they haven’t ever seen a male alicorn.”

That caused Lightning Blade to stop in his tracks. “You’ve no male alicorns here?” he asked, surprised.

“Nope, none that I’ve ever seen. I don’t think there’s ever been one as far as I know.”

That was extremely shocking for him to hear. While in Illandra, most of the rulers were mares, it wasn’t exclusively mares. It made some sense why he would get such fearful stares if there had never been a male alicorn in Equestria.

He tried to put the thought out of his head as he began walking again. However, as soon as he took another step, he was tackled and pushed to the ground from behind by another pony. It was unexpected, and not the sort of thing he would normally let happen to him. He was normally more in tune to what was going on around him, especially when he was out traveling through someplace he'd never been. He assumed that their gawking and his surprise had lowered his guard. However, it only took him a moment to regain his senses, and he quickly used his strength to turn himself over from under the pony so that he was on top of them.

"Woooow! You're good!" the pony, a bright pink mare with hot pink hair, told him with a large smile as she lay under him. "I've never seen anypony that-"

He shoved a hoof in her mouth, silencing her. "What are you doing?" he demanded, glaring angrily at her. "Who are you?"

“It’s okay!” Spike told the prince. “That’s just Pinkie Pie!”

Despite what the dragon told him, he stayed on top of the mare, Pinkie Pie. She was strangely calm about the whole experience, seeming almost excited actually. She kept on a smile as he continued to glare at her, debating whether she was attacking him or simply just crazy. She looked like the latter as she continued to try and talk over his hoof, but he couldn’t be entirely sure.

“Tell me why you're attacking me,” he commanded, removing his hoof from her muzzle.

“I’m not attacking you, silly!” she told him, still grinning at him. “I’m just meeting somepony I’ve never met before! And that pony just so happens to be you!”

Lightning Blaze stared at her suspiciously, debating if she was telling the truth or not. She didn’t seem as though she was lying, and that dragon obviously knew her. If his reaction was any indication, she did this all the time to ponies, and they believed her to be harmless. Of course, while the probability was small, the mare might have been Brimstone in disguise. However, even as powerful as Brimstone was, Lightning Blaze knew that he couldn’t shapeshift. At least, he thought he couldn’t shapeshift. He wasn’t entirely sure. In any case, the alicorn didn’t believe that the villain would be so direct in attacking him.

After staring intimidatingly at her for a few more seconds, he spoke. “Don’t do that again,” he commanded. “Do you understand?”

“Okie dokie!” she told the alicorn, still grinning foolishly at him.

He kept the angry glare he had on and stayed on top of her for a few more seconds before letting her up. When he did, she immediately bounded up from the ground and started hopping around him like nopony he’d ever seen. He made sure to keep his eyes on her as she started jabbering at him.

“Who are you? Where are you from? Are you a prince? How did you become an alicorn? What’s your favorite color?” On and on she went, asking question after question without even offering him time to answer the previous. As the pink pony went on, Lightning Blade began to wonder if she was afflicted with some sort of mental illness. It would explain why that dragon said that she was “just Pinkie Pie”, and why she went around jumping on ponies she didn’t know.

“Since you’re somepony new, we have to throw you a ‘welcome to Ponyville’ party so you can make new friends!” she said to him excitedly as she kept on bouncing.

She was definitely unhinged, that much he could tell. Deciding he was better off leaving her, he started to make his way past her, before remembering that he should ask about Brimstone. He debated for a second whether or not to ask this… mare. She likely wouldn’t know, and might just bother him about it. However, despite this, he knew he had to ask. He wouldn’t have been doing his due diligence if he didn’t.

Pinkie Pie was still grinning stupidly at him, and he sighed before speaking. “Have you seen a yellow coated alicorn anywhere in the last little while?”

“Well, of course I have, silly!” she answered. “One’s standing right in front of me! You!”

Lightning Blade scowled at her again, and added, “He had a black mane and tail, as well as a red horn.”

“Hmmm, that sounds a lot like Sombra, except Sombra’s not yellow or an alicorn.”

That was the second time the prince heard that name, and he decided he needed to ask about it. “Who is that pony, Sombra?”

“He was just some big, old, meanie who tried to take over the Crystal Empire before Spike here stopped him.”

He looked at Pinkie Pie skeptically, then turned to Spike wordlessly for confirmation. Lightning Blade watched him shrug and say, “Yeah, it’s true. It’s not a big deal or anything, though.”

“Where is this pony now?”

“Umm…” the dragon answered unsure. “Dead, probably?”

Lightning Blade rolled his eyes. Dead probably. That wasn’t reassuring for him to hear, although it might have left him with a clue. Of course, it might also mean absolutely nothing and he’d just be wasting his time looking into it. Still, he would be thorough and ask the ruler of this country about it when he got to her.

“Wait, is that pony you’re looking for… is he a bad guy?”

This was what the prince didn't want to get into. However, seeing as it was pretty much already revealed by his asking about that other pony, he decided to be honest. "Yes," he answered bluntly. "That's why you're taking me to see that princess, Celestia."

"What is he going to do?" Spike asked.

"That, for now, is none of your concern," Lightning Blade answered.

"Is he gonna try to take over Equestria?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Because if so, I should definitely tell my friends about this. Hey! Rain-"

"No you don't!" he commanded forcefully, cutting the mare off. "Nopony is going to hear about this except the princess, understand? We're not going to bring everypony into a panic when we don’t have to." The prince knew that panic was the last thing they needed. Brimstone fed off of panic.

"I don't know…" Spike trailed off, unsure. "Maybe we should tell them. I mean, Pinkie and her friends have saved Equestria before…"

Lightning Blade found that very hard to believe. With as looney as the mare near him seemed to be, any friends she had likely wouldn't be capable of stopping a mouse from stealing cheese, let alone stopping somepony like Brimstone. He himself was barely able to stop him. He was certain that whoever this mare’s friends were wouldn’t be able to do anything.

“No,” he said with finality. “Nopony is going to know about this, at least not yet. We’re going to go to the ruler of this country and see what help they can offer.”

“I’m pretty sure she’ll ask me and my friends to help you. So maybe we should get a headstart and tell them!”

“We’ll tell them when she asks us ti tell them. Until then-”

“Hey Spike, hiya Pinkie,” a voice called, interrupting the stallion. He turned to see a light blue pegasus with rainbow colored hair floating above them, watching as they talked. “Watcha doing?” the pegasus asked.

“Hi Rainbow Dash! We’re going to Canterlot to tell Princess Celestia something super important!”

Lightning Blade growled slightly to himself, rolling his eyes. He didn’t even know why he tried.

Midnight Bloom watched as Twilight Sparkle worked, quickly organizing the city according to who could do what and what ponies were in most need. Gone was the nervousness she had before as she had a calm and collected focus on what she was doing. It seemed almost like second nature to her as she directed ponies around. It seemed to Midnight exactly like what a princess would and should do.

She was almost jealous of her, but it felt more like she was ashamed of herself. That should have been her leading them, but it wasn’t. She knew it was Lightning Blade’s intention for her to be in charge, and yet here she was, shrinking away her responsibilities to somepony else. Somepony who was a complete stranger.

“No,” she silently told herself. “Don’t think that way. You’re handing leadership over to somepony who can do something. It’d be irresponsible to try and do something you know you can’t.” That’s what she told herself anyway. It didn’t stop her from feeling like a failure though, but that feeling was normal enough for her anyway.

“Midnight?” a pony, Sterling Silver, got out. “What's going on?”

She turned towards him, surprised at how unexpectedly he appeared. She knew who he was, he being an acquaintance of hers and a friend of Lightning's, and knew him almost as long as she knew the prince. She knew that he was typically one to be unfazed in troubling situations, but in this instance, he had a look of surprise on his face as he spoke to her.

He was asking about the battle the prince and the villain had. Not that it was much of a battle. She wasn’t even sure herself what happened. Lightning Blade said he had a trick he had planned on using on Brimstone and knew a spell that could banish a pony to stasis. As well, he explained that he’d be sent to stasis with him, and that she’d be given the crown to rule over Illandra, the way Princess Rosalie originally intended. The two fought on this point, Midnight doing everything in her power to try and convince him that it was a bad idea to make her ruler, explaining how useless and ineffective she would be, but this was a moot point. To Lightning Blade, what he said was going to happen, and that was final.

And then… well, she didn't know exactly what happened, but judging by the look of surprise he had just before he left, it hadn't been what he intended.

"Where's Lightning?" Sterling Silver pressed. "Didn't he say he'd give the crown to you?"

"I, um- I don't know what happened," she answered quietly. "A few seconds before he left, she came here," she continued, pointing a hoof at Twilight, who turned nervously to look at the two of them. "It didn't look like he planned it, but I don't know. He might have changed his mind about me. I mean, she does have a crown after all…"

Sterling dropped his surprise, sending a glare her way that asked if she was being serious. He, along with a few others, knew what happened between her and Princess Rosalie. He also knew that Lightning Blade wasn’t one to change his mind easily once he made a decision.

“Princess Midnight,” he started, making sure to emphasize the first word. He watched her cringe back as he continued, “You know as well as I that anything outside of your ruling Illandra wasn’t what he intended.”

She swallowed nervously at those words. “Well, um… I mean, it can’t be a coincidence that she appeared a few seconds before he left can it?” she asked.

“Midnight…”

“And well,” she continued, whispering now as the two watched the alicorn make their way towards them, “she could easily force her way to power if she wanted to anyway, so why bother?”

“That sounds like an excuse.”

“Besides, with how I am, she'll be able to help more in an hour than I ever could in a lifetime…”

“That’s awful reasoning,” Sterling Silver whispered harshly.

“Um, excuse me?” Twilight Sparkle started nervously as she got up to them, her voice cracking. “I really need your help.”

Given how she looked and sounded, nervous was a severe understatement. She was frazzled, legs shaking, hair already a bit of a mess in her few minutes of being in Illandra. Her eyes were wide from what she’d seen, wide because they were looking to her for a solution to whatever happened here. Even that alicorn asked her if she could take charge over the situation that was this city. She didn’t even know her, yet she was expecting her to do something, as if she had the slightest idea what she was doing. Sure, she was a princess, but she’d never face anything like this.

Midnight didn’t know what she needed help with, but she automatically started to protest. “Well, I- I’m not really-”

“Please? I really need your help,” she almost begged. She looked like she was about to cry, she was that upset. “This is all… it’s just.. too much!”

Apparently, the calm and collected focus Midnight thought Twilight Sparkle had portrayed was an act, or maybe shock. Still, she was able to get something done, seeing as there were more ponies up and working on helping ponies around them now, following whatever orders the Princess of Friendship assigned to them.

“Princess!” another pony called from behind the three of them, rushing up with fresh tears. "My son!" she cried. "He's crushed under the rubble of our house! You have to help him!"

Both alicorns flinched hearing that as both of them thought different things. Twilight Sparkle looked to Midnight Bloom, hoping she would go in her place. She’d seen more dead and dying ponies in the last few minutes than she had in her lifetime, and she didn’t want to see anymore, especially not what was probably a colt being crushed under rubble. Midnight herself simply looked at the ground knowing there was nothing she could do, wishing the alicorn in front of her would go, but somehow knowing she wouldn’t.

“Well, um… w-we have ponies d-digging through-” Midnight shakily tried to get out.

"Please! We can't wait that long! He won't make it if we have to wait for them to get to us!"

Both this pony and the alicorn looked desperately at Midnight, as though she could do something, the former sobbing as Midnight stared quietly back at the two of them. "Where's Prince Lightning Blade?" the mother asked in between her tears.

She trailed off, looking away. “He’s umm…”

“He’s not here at the moment” Sterling interjected quickly. “However, it was Prince Lightning Blade’s intention to make Midnight Bloom the new Princess of Illandra.”

Twilight Sparkle and the mare looked at Midnight with hopefulness, while she herself grimaced, sending a glare Sterling’s way. She hated that he brought it up, and didn’t know why he did. Everypony already heard when that other pony called her princess a little while ago. Besides, it wasn’t as though anything about her changed in the past few minutes upon the prince’s departure. He was getting this mare’s hopes up for no reason, and putting Midnight in a spot to let her down.

“I- I really think you should wait-”

“We can’t wait!” she pleaded. “You’re the princess! You have to do something!”

Once again, Midnight felt the urge to cry, and tried to shake her head and take a step back. However, before she could, she felt herself being pulled by the mare’s magic. She didn’t try to fight it, not that she could, and followed to where the mare took her, Twilight and Sterling keeping pace behind the two.

As she neared the wreckage of a building, Midnight flinched at the sight of the scene around her. There were dozens dead and hundreds injured as she passed by, with many more working to follow the orders both she and Twilight gave out. She watched as the purple pony held back her tears at the destruction. Having seen similar destruction before, Midnight herself under normal circumstances would give a sad sigh and wait for what her best friend instructed her to help with. Now, however, doing so would leave her and everypony else waiting on somepony who wasn’t there. They needed somepony to help them, and that somepony wasn’t there. It made her terribly afraid to know they were relying on her to do something she couldn't.

“Please!” the mother said, pointing to the rubble at somepony as she cried. “Do something!”

Midnight Bloom took a second to gather the strength to look, then turned to the pony. What she saw was both not as bad as she imagined and worse than she imagined. It was a colt, probably nine or ten years old, laying partially under the rubble of a house. He was still breathing, but it was slow, and his eyes were unfocused. It was good that he was still among the living, but bad because it looked like he could be gone at any minute, and his mother was expecting her to do something about it.

“I’m fine,” he told them, directing his unfocused gaze to Midnight. It was clear though that he wasn’t fine. They didn’t know what happened to him beyond what they could see, but it looked like he wouldn’t last long without medical attention.

“I’m fine,” he said again, trying to reassure them as his mother rushed up to him and stroked his cheek. “I can wait while you help other ponies.”

“Do something!” the mare demanded, almost angry as she stared at Midnight. “He can’t wait!”

“Think of an excuse, think of an excuse, think of an excuse,” Midnight thought to herself. She wanted an excuse for why she couldn’t move the colt without revealing her complete lack of ability. She looked behind her to Twilight and Sterling, the former of whom stared ahead at the colt with eyes that were sad and fearful, the latter staring back at her with a look that told her she could handle it when she couldn't. She was absolutely hating him for saying anything to this mare. He knew full well there was nothing she could do.

Midnight turned back to the mother and nervously started to speak again. “Um, I- I really think we should w-wait for the ponies working through the rubble…”

The mare opened her mouth to protest, but before she could get a word out, Sterling Silver spoke up. “The princess doesn’t want to move him without help because we don’t know how he might be pinned under there. Moving him would risk hurting him, or even killing him.”

“So I’m supposed to just sit and wait while he… lays here dying?” she asked angrily, and turned back to her son. His eyes were closed now, his cheek pressed against the dirt as though he were sleeping. She went up to him and used her hoof to brush his mane. “Sandstone? Please don’t fall asleep.”

The colt, Sandstone, didn’t respond. He simply lay motionless, eyes still closed, still seeming as though he was sleeping.

“Sandstone?” the mare asked, with fear and worry in her voice, shaking her son slightly.

Twilight Sparkle turned away with tears in her eyes, Midnight Bloom grimacing at the sight of them while Sterling Silver frowned slightly. All that could be heard was the colt's mother crying, along with the sound of hundreds of ponies working to help each other amidst the destruction.