The newly named Dimmed Star stood panting in the dark of her cell, straining to keep her voice down so that the guards just outside would not hear her. A thin sheen of sweat covered her frame, dripping down her fur and into the medium-sized pool of black fluid that rested beneath her. Closing her black eyes, she took a deep breath, releasing it as she slowly drew the puddle back onto her legs, letting it soak into her. The whole of the floor was a black stained mess with small gouges and nicks in the stone. Opening her eyes again, she walked over to the back corner of the room where a notebook that had not been there before sat, along with a pile of bones, some that still held chunks of meat.

Dropping next to the book, her horn lit up with its black aura and one of the few bones that still had meat was quickly brought up to her lips. Taking one end into her mouth, she chewed idly while picking up a quill with her aura and began to jot down notes.

'Let's see what else we have now.' Looking to the page before, she nodded to herself as she swirled her tongue around the edge of the bone in her mouth, scraping and savoring the meat still clinging to it.

Dimmed Star had spent the entire time since getting out of her ' restraints,' testing her body and her new abilities. She had begun with her horn's magic first, as it was the more familiar to her than what she could do without it and she wanted to see if there were any changes in her mana pool or the strength of her spells in general. So far everything seemed to remain the same with the exception that her magic's aura had changed color altogether. She did note that although the color of a unicorn's natural aura was the same as their iris, her's took on the color of her sclera. Glancing over, she took in her appearance once more in the small hoof-held mirror she had also acquired. The mare that stared back at her looked nothing like what she had come to expect in the many years of her previous life. The glowing teal dots that acted as her iris flicked about the face in the mirror, before she turned back to the notebook.

'The Ink my body seems to produce and absorb is quite useful but I'll need to avoid using it for practical things. The stains it leaves behind are quite bothersome and I'd hate to ruin a book by using it to turn the page.' She had come to call the liquid Ink, as it reminded her of the same ink used by quills. It was a black fluid that left a dark stain on any surface, it made sense to her.

Raising her left hoof, some of the fluid rose up off her leg and formed into a ball at the tip, small strands connecting it to her, before changing shape into a three-fingered claw, then the scythe-like blade that she had remembered using back in the ballroom. She quirked her head and it closed in on itself, fusing together once more and becoming a ball again, before gradually molding itself into the form of a very small rabbit. The little black rabbit sat on her hoof and stared back at her, its eyes a glowing red. It leaned forward as though sniffing her, before turning and beginning to hop around the frog of her hoof. She grinned lightly, her sharp teeth flashing before she felt her stomach grumble after watching it for a moment.

'Great, made myself hungry again.' She melted the rabbit back into a ball and let the liquid hover above her hoof again. After a moment of thought, she narrowed her eyes at the ball and watched as more fluid poured from her hoof and into it, slowly rising off her stomach and into a standing position. Her magic kept the quill jotting notes down in the journal as she watched the liquid intently, a long black pole now resting along the frog of her hoof.

Suddenly, with the sound of a sickening squelch, the shape of a large curved blade shot from one end of the staff. With a strained grunt, sweat now cresting her brow, the entire object began to harden. A sound akin to glass under strain came from the scythe as it crystallized in her hoof. Nary another minute passed and she stood using the staff of the weapon to keep herself up as she panted, sweat dripping down her face, a triumphant grin as her sharp teeth closed tightly around the end of the bone in her mouth, snapping it and letting the rest fall to the floor with a clatter.

'Full solid object creation, success.' She lowered her quill and took the weapon in her aura, holding it in the air before her to get a good look.

The entire object looked as though it had been crafted out of obsidian, it's uneven surface slightly jagged in places and it's blade nearly transparent. Giving it a slight spin through the air, a whistling could be heard, she raised an eyebrow at this.

'Why does it make that sound? Is it because of the uneven surface?' She brought it closer and ran the frog of her hoof along the edge of the blade, the familiar bite of pain causing her to flinch slightly, but otherwise, she ignored it. Lifting her hoof, she looked to the wound as the black Ink poured from the wound in place of blood, before it suddenly rose up, grabbed the edges of the injury, and sealed it shut as though it was never there.

'Back to its normal speed it would seem.' She thought. That was another thing that she had been testing the limits of. After getting free from the restraints, she had noticed that she had no wounds on her body and after forcing herself to push through the fear of pain, she had finally bitten into her leg with her sharp teeth, tearing into the flesh and making her tear up at the pain. When she released it, she almost missed when the Ink that filled her veins quickly shut the wound and repaired her flesh. After seeing her newfound regeneration, she began to toy with it to see if it had limits. It did, as she had discovered after many hours of testing.

She could recover from any wound that she was able to inflict on herself, and if her memory served, even getting fully vaporized would only delay her. But as she tested the limits and boundaries, she began to feel quite sick and even found that her ability to heal was getting much slower with each new injury, until her body stopped healing itself entirely. It was at this point that she had passed out, for how long she had no way of telling. When she awoke, the last of her wounds were just sealing closed and she came to the conclusion that her body could only take so much damage before her regeneration would be burnt out and she would become fully vulnerable to harm, possibly even death. Another drawback had been the extreme hunger she felt upon waking, hence the devoured corpse of a meal behind her.

Glancing to the scythe out of the corner of her eye, she lowered it to the floor and let her aura fade. With a hard stomp on the shaft, the weapon shattered, its pieces flying off, before freezing in the air, melting into a liquid state again and beginning to fly back towards her hoof. She watched the spectacle with interest as the liquid swirled around her hoof in a whirlpool, before getting absorbed by her body once more.

'So no matter how far, it will always return to me?' She had already spent a great deal of time toying with the Ink, seeing how it reacted to her emotions and how long she could manipulate it before tiring herself out, but she had yet to see if any part of it would return to her it wasn't directly in contact with her in some way. She turned back to the notebook and lowered herself once more. Picking up the quill, she jotted down a single question that had been burning in her mind since she began her testing.

'What am I?' She stared at the underlined words before she felt a wetness fall from her right eye. Blinking in confusion, she looked to the mirror and stared as a single black tear dripped from the corner of her eye. She watched as the liquid came to a stop halfway down her face, before it was soaked up through her fur and the stain it left behind faded away, leaving her coat as its new dark purple. The sound of the heavy iron door to her cell slowly creaking open made her ears flick in its direction, but she did not look up as she picked up another bone in her magic and dropped one end into her mouth, idly chewing on the leftover cartilage of the dead rabbit. Light slowly filled the room as the door opened.

'Here we go.'

Celestia stood within her private chambers, staring within the frame of a full-body mirror outlined with golden decorations, each one accentuating a symbol of the Sun in some way. She sighed as the dress maids and doctors around her fussed over trying to put her normal regalia on while not hindering her movement or the bandages over her wounds. Stretching the wing that was once held in a sling, she winced at the jolt of pain it caused her but ignored it for the most part.

'I'm lucky it was a sprain, had that pillar hit me without my barrier...' The memory of when her student had actually yanked one of the stone pillars from its place and had thrown it at her with all the fury of a Minotaur, still sent a shiver down her spine.

" Princess? I need you to place your wing back down please." Looking to her left, she barely gave the doctor a sound of acknowledgment, before wincing as she folded her wing back, the doctor quickly placing it back into a sling. Celestia turned back away from the doctor, absent-mindedly stepping into her golden shoes.

'... Dimmed Star... Why would she change her name? She did seem quite upset when anypony called her Twilight, but to outright cast her name aside?' She glanced to the mirror once more as a maid began to levitate her chest ornamentation over to her, the symbol of a blazing Sun upon its surface. She barely registered its familiar weight, her mind wandering.

' Where did she even come up with such a name? Dimmed Star... it's so different from anything I could imagine her thinking up... but this isn't Twilight that I'm talking about anymore. Something has taken hold of her, and it's rooted itself so deep that the Elements could only suppress it, not cleanse her of its influence.' She blinked as a lightweight was placed upon her head. Clearing her thoughts, she looked into the mirror to see herself in full regalia. Her colorful and radiant mane and tail flowed against an invisible wind, her fur as white as snow and the regalia shined brilliantly in the light of the risen Sun that shined through the balcony to her right, not showing any of the wear or damage from the battle the day before. Perhaps it was a different set and the other had been sent for repairs? She hardly cared enough to notice. Her eyes connected to her own, the light bags under them the only sign of her sleepless night.

'... Traitor...' A voice called in the back of her mind, mockingly. Her eyes closed tightly, willing the voice that had haunted her the entirety of the night to be silent once more. She had been down this road once before, a thousand years ago. Looking to the writing desk on the other side of the mirror, she looked longingly to the framed image of herself, a small purple and green baby dragon and a young purple unicorn filly. She sat next to the young filly who held the small drake with a bright smile, but it could not match that of the filly's. Despite having been told many times to look to the camera, the filly could not help but constantly steal glances at her beloved mentor all the while hugging the drake as though he were a brand new teddy bear.

She sighed as she turned away from the picture and the mirror, hardly noticing that the doctors and hoof maids had already left out. Walking to the balcony, she peered out at the Sun, mentally noting that it was in the right position for the current time, before the sound of wings flapping and hooves adorned in shoes clipped upon the concrete surface. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

"Did you have a good evening, sister?" Silence was her answer. Turning to face her, Celestia took in her younger sister's appearance.

Although technically they were near the same age, because Luna had been sealed in the Moon, time for her had stopped and thus so did the aging of her body. She stood a full head shorter than her and though her mane flowed much like her own and was speckled with lights reminiscent of the night sky, she couldn't help but wonder how much more detailed her mane and tail would be if she had never been sealed away. She stood before her in regalia quite similar to herself, only instead of the luminous gold, it was a deep black with the emblem of a crescent Moon on the front of the chest ornament. Her own crown bore purple amethyst jewels and was much taller than that of her sister Luna's, which bore no distinctive features or decorations.

What drew her attention the most, however, was the one part of her sister that was not ornamentation. It was a single band of silver, that sat upon her sister's horn. Internally she struggled every time she saw it, but it was the best of what she could hope for after so long. Ever since Luna's return, Celestia had been fighting hoof and wing to get her reinstated into the Diarchy, but the governing council that she had appointed had other ideas.

"Tis not I with whom you should be concerned, dear sister," Luna spoke cautiously as she approached her eldest. Celestia nodded lightly towards her as the two embraced. She eyed the silver band upon her horn and scowled inwardly. Although she had served her sentence on the Moon, she had still assaulted the Princess on her return as Nightmare Moon. Not only that, but she had succeeded in sealing her away with the Moon in her place and then proceeded to bring about Eternal Night as prophesied. Thankfully she was stopped and returned to her natural state by Twilight and her friends, but the council would not have everything go quite so smoothly. They agreed to allow Luna back within the Diarchy, but only after serving a minimum of two years under house arrest, her magic sealed unless she was performing her duties as Ruler of the Night and under armed guard at all times. Speaking of, she glanced up to note the two pegasus guards flying just above the balcony, circling the two of them from a respectable distance.

She had only managed to get her sister out of the council's clutches for one night so far, and that had been last Nightmare Night. It had taken a great effort on her part to work around the council and even though she was successful for the one night, she was still feeling the backlash even today. Yet she could not complain, though she would have liked to have had her sister at the wedding ceremony yesterday, in hindsight, she was glad that they had forbade her presence.

"Sister?" Celestia realized she had been silent far too long and had created an awkward pause. She pulled away from her sister and gave the best smile she possibly could.

"It's nothing Luna, you needn't concern yourself with it." However, Luna would not be deterred. Her wings spread and she slipped into her old Ponish, as she was want when flustered.

"Do not take us for a fool sister! We know what hath transpired between thyself and thy apprentice. We..." Nearing the end of her outburst, she calmed herself with a deep breath and continued in modern Equish, " I want to know if you are going to be OK?"

"How much did you hear exactly?" Celestia's ears folded back as she sat upon the balcony. Luna ruffled the feathers of her wings as she made it a point to eye up her sister's bandaged body, causing Celestia to feel very self-conscious.

"Not enough, t'would seem." She turned from Celestia and looked to the rising Sun.

"But enough to know that thou must attend her trial this morn. We do not suppose thou has time to recount the tale?" Celestia also looked to the Sun, mentally assuring herself of the time, before shaking her head.

"Sadly no, I must be in the Courts with the council before she is brought to trial." She could practically see the weight that seemed to appear on her sister's shoulders as she said this. Any mention of the council always brought her sister down in some way.

"We- I see." A silence passed between them for a few moments, before Luna turned to face the edge of the balcony.

"Very well then, I shall see you tonight in the realm of dreams. There you can show me what happened." A familiar feeling of dread boiled in Celestia's stomach as she stared at her sister's back wide-eyed.

"P-please..." Luna stopped her movement in surprise and looked over her shoulder, only to stare in shock at what greeted her.

Celestia now stood, her body trembling as her face was hidden in shadow as it looked to the ground. A tear dripped to stone between her hooves.

"Sister?" Luna asked fearfully. After a moment, Celestia raised her head to face her sister. Luna gasped as she witnessed the face of a struggling and broken mare. Rushing forward, she embraced her sister's quaking form and held her tightly, tears glistening in her own eyes.

"Pl-please don't... don't make me relive that..." Celestia's voice came in a bare whisper and Luna felt as though she had been stabbed through the heart.

"We are so sorry sister. We can still be a bit insensitive, we are so, so very sorry." The two sat embracing one another for a time, Celestia fighting to regain control of herself and Luna struggling with the image of her usually strong and indomitable sister, now barely holding herself together.

Spike wearily opened his eyes as the Sun's light streamed in through the windows of the guest suite. He slowly raised himself up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and pushing the covers off of himself.

"Oh hey, Spike's awake!" The squeaky sound of Sweetie Belle's voice made him look over to the bed to his immediate right. There he could see the blurry forms of three fillies playing what looked to be a game of ' Go Fish.' From the looks of it, Applebloom was winning and Scootaloo wasn't too happy about it as they seemed to be betting with stacks of candy. Sweetie Belle still had a hoof full of sweets and didn't seem particularly interested in either winning or losing judging from the smile she bore.

"Did y'all sleep well?" Applebloom asked around the lollipop she was currently enjoying. Spike nodded slowly, carefully looking around the room as his vision cleared up.

"Where is everypony?" His voice was hoarse and his throat hurt. Reaching a claw up, he rubbed at it carefully. Sweetie Belle perked up at this and quickly hopped off the bed and over to the nightstand nearby.

"Rarity said you might have a sore throat when you woke up, something about crying in your sleep?" She reached up and grabbed a tray that held a glass of water in between her teeth. She wobbled unsteadily as she walked over to him and placed it on the edge of the bed, pushing it towards him and struggling to climb the mattress. Looking to one another for a moment, Applebloom and Scootaloo put down their own cards and rushed to join the drake and filly.

Spike took the glass of water gratefully and gulped down almost half of the glass in one go, before placing it back on the tray just as Scootaloo and Applebloom made it up the bed.

"As for everypony else, they all went to the trial." Scootaloo's scratchy voice provided as she sat across from him, with Sweetie to his right and Applebloom to his left. He blinked in confusion at this.

"Trial? What trial?" They all looked to him for a moment, before realization dawned and Applebloom face-hoofed herself.

"Tha's right! Y'all were asleep when all that talk went down." He looked to her, even more, confused as she glanced at the others, hoping either one of them would take this one. Scootaloo pretended not to notice and whistled, while Sweetie Belle suddenly found the hairs of her tail very interesting.

'Traitors' She mouthed in their direction, turning back to the worried drake.

"We-well. They said tha' 'cause of wha' she did at the weddin' an' all, Twilight has a trial today." Spike's eyes widened in shock.

"WHAT! Bu-but what about the three-week grace period! There are procedures and rules an-and-" He quickly shot to his clawed feet on the bed, nearly tipping the tray and glass of water in his panic.

"I have to get to the trial!" He shouted as she rushed to the edge of the bed and tried to jump off, only to be snatched back by his tail. Looking back, he found the tip in the mouth of Scootaloo, whose tail was held by Applebloom, her lollipop discarded, whose tail was held by Sweetie Belle.

"Ya can't!" Scootaloo strained through her mouthful. Spike clawed at the mattress's edge, trying to pull away.

" I have to!" He shouted as he struggled to pull his tail free from their grasp. Neither side budged an inch as both sides struggled, one driven by the longing and need to be there for someone who had always been there for them, the other three driven by desperation to keep the promise they had made to their sisters and friends. Spike pulled harder, tears brimming in his eyes.

"Let. Me. Go!" He shouted back at the three fillies.

"We can't!" They called back, strain showing on each of their faces. The struggle continued for a few moments more before finally, one side gave out and Spike was yanked back hard onto the mattress, the tray and glass of water finally spilling over onto the side of the mattress. Before he could recover, the fillies were on him, holding him in place.

"Please! I have to go! I have to be there for her! I HAVE TO PROVE I'M NOT A BAD FRIEND!" His tears flowed freely now. Suddenly he felt the hard slap of a hoof across his face and all was silent. He slowly looked to see the crying and red face of Applebloom standing over him.

"You're not a bad friend!" She shouted, her voice loud enough to rival Pinkie's party cannon. Spike sat below them, frozen for a moment, before looking down as he sniffled.

"Bu-but I am... I... I walked out on her too... I..." Instead of the slap of a hoof, he felt himself become wrapped up in the forelegs of his friends.

"You didn't know any better, Spike... None of us would have..." Sweetie Belle whimpered into him as she held tightly. The other two nodded in agreement as they tightened their hugs. Spike closed his eyes for a moment, letting himself be retrained the best way that they knew how.

"Why... why won't you let me go?" He asked in an almost whisper. Scootaloo raised her head this time, her eyes slightly red from holding back her own tears.

"They made us promise to keep you here..." She mumbled. Spike trembled in their grasp. No one would let him see his Twilight.

"They... they said it was for the best... that you wouldn't recognize her anyways..." Spike shook his head in violent protest to Sweetie Belle's words, his movement prompting them to tighten their grips.

"I'll always recognize Twilight! No matter what she looks like now, I'll always know it's her! Sh-she's my mo... my... my friend!" He strained, his voice choking with his sobs. There was a silence between them as he finally stopped struggling, each of them breathed heavily after having exercised so much of their energy.

"It'll be okay Spike." Applebloom's voice finally carried over them. Spike didn't bother to look in her direction, he was too tired.

"Yeah, have some faith in them. They'll get this whole thing sorted out!" Scootaloo boasted, her own heavy breathing causing her words to come in gasping breaths. Sweetie Belle only nodded, having less stamina than her two physically active friends, she was hard-pressed to keep up.

Taking a deep breath, Spike finally relented, bringing a claw to his face to wipe at his eyes.

"Yo-you're right... I should believe in my friends..."

Author's Notes:

Shaded: NEXT TIME ON DRAGON BA- * SLAM* -oh lookie the pretty pony... * Collapses*

Twilight: * Uses a rag to clean blood off a metal bat* I can NOT believe he just went there.

Dimmed Star: Well, he IS the lowest of the low...

Twilight: That may be, but I didn't think he could POSSIBLY sink any lower...

Dimmed Star: So who's got the disclaimer this time? He's not gonna wake up from that anytime soon. * nudges Shaded*

Shaded: * Twitches while blood starts to pool around me*

Twilight: Already taken care of. * Holds up tape recorder and hits play*

Shaded's Voice: I do not own MLP: FIM or the Equinox Ponies!

Dimmed Star: When did you record that?

Twilight: * Shrugs* I don't really remember, I think it was when we had him on the Rack?

Dimmed Star: Ah, yea, I'd have recorded that too.