1: The Everfree Forest

"Come on girls, where are you?"

It was a fine afternoon in Ponyville. The sun was shining through the clouds, despite the Weather Team supposed to have set up a cloud coverage that could develop into a light rain later that night. A young pale coated filly sat alone in her tree house, batting her bright red mane while she waited for her friends to arrive so they could proceed with their latest attempt to get their Cutie Marks. Her name was Apple Bloom and the tree house she was sitting in had belonged to her older sister, Applejack, who had given it to her and her friends. They had, in turn, used it as the main base of their Cutie Mark hunting operations, scouring every option they could think of and plan their days accordingly.

So far none of them had even come close to discovering what their special talents were, but that never made Apple Bloom give up on searching for hers.

"Sorry we're last Apple Bloom," a voice behind her said, causing her to turn around and find Scootaloo standing at the open door, "but I had to wait for Sweetie to persuade her sister to let her come out and play."

"She wanted to put me in a dress!" exclaimed a voice from below the tree house, causing Apple Bloom to look out the window and see Sweetie Belle sitting beside Scootaloo's scooter, "And not just your ordinary everyday dress, but one of those dresses that she made for those stuck up ponies in Canterlot to wear. If not for Scootaloo coming when she did I don't think that my sister would have let me go, even though I kept telling her I was only hanging out with you guys."

"Yeah yeah," Scootaloo said, waving a hoof before turning to Apple Bloom, "So, what's on our plan of action for today? Are we leaping off a cliff and paragliding? Oh, are we getting out the scuba gear and diving into the depths of Ponyville's lake? Or, and this is my favorite one, are we going to get out our rock star costumes and start singing songs like everypony else?"

"NO! That's a terrible idea," Sweetie shouted, running up the ramp until she was at the front door, "We tried that once for the school talent show and we failed in front of everypony. There is no way that I am going anywhere near that ever again."

Apple Bloom had to agree with Sweetie Belle, donning their talent show costumes, wherever they had hidden them after the affair, and trying to sing again was a terrible idea. They had been labeled as jokers during that time, but it was painfully clear that neither of them cared much to try getting a Cutie Mark in singing again. Apple Bloom was sure that her sister had either buried her costume somewhere on the farm, where Apple Bloom wouldn't look, or had burned it one night.

Scootaloo had been the one to suggest many of the numerous activities that they had tried over the last few months, going from simple track running to launching themselves with a catapult. Often either Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle would tell her that an idea of her's was insane and that they shouldn't do it, as they usually, somehow, ended up covered in tree sap and were stuck together. Whenever they came home like that they were usually interrogated by their older sisters or, in Scootaloo's case, by her parents and asked what they had been doing.

"Well then," Scootaloo said, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof, "how about we try Monster Hunters again? I know we didn't find much in the Everfree Forest the last time we were there, but I heard a rumor that there are still several monsters lurking in the forest. I'm sure that we can find something in the forest this time."

"Fine, I guess that we can try that again," Apple Bloom sighed, knowing that she wouldn't have come up with anything better than that, "I just hope we don't run into any dangerous creatures that like to eat fillies as snacks."

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It took them some time to gather up the couple of nets and strings that they had stashed away from their first attempt at monster hunting, but once they had everything they climbed onto Scootaloo's scooter and got underway. Scootaloo led them from the Sweet Apple Acres, crisscrossing throughout the streets of Ponyville, before they got anywhere near Flyttershy's cottage. During their ride they were shouted at by the various ponies that they passed, mostly because Scootaloo knocked their back wagon into several stalls and knocked over a few of them.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had to shout apologizes to the ponies behind their shoulders, as Scootaloo sped away from them before they had a chance to help them put their stalls in order again. Apple Bloom was sure that she spotted her sister's apple stall with one of her many cousins watching over it, selling the apples that Applejack had harvested earlier that day. They neared Sweetie's house, but as they got closer Scootaloo curved around the building, approached a ramp she had set up in her spare time, and launched them into the sky. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle held on for their lives as they soared through the air, each wondering why they thought that Scootaloo would have just gone with a simple ride for once.

"Scootaloo, you are insane!" Sweetie exclaimed, just as they hit the ground and Scootaloo continued on as if nothing had happened.

"That was awesome!" Scootaloo replied, unaware that her friends were glaring at the back of her head, "If only Rainbow Dash had seen that, I bet that even she would have been impressed by that stunt."

After a few more dangerous stunts and a wasted hour they finally arrived at the edge of the Everfree Forest, where Scootaloo parked her scooter near the sigh so ponies would know that she, and likely her friends, were somewhere inside the dangerous place. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle got off their part of the scooter and pulled off their helmets, turning to the last wagon and exchanging them for their hunting materials. Scootaloo follow suit, though she put on a vest that allowed her to carry a lot more rope and thread, items that they needed the last time they came to the forest and had only brought a small amount of. This time, however, they were more than prepared to deal with any sort of monster that they found and they each had a good feeling about this trip.

"Let's go hunting!" Scootaloo exclaimed, fueled by all the rad tricks she had done on the way there as she started walking towards the first set of trees.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle sighed before following after her, knowing that if they let her go too far ahead of them they would never be able to find her without getting an adult to help search for her. Neither one of them wanted to tell their older sisters that they had gone into the Everfree Forest and lost Scootaloo somewhere inside, as they had both been grounded from ever returning to this place until they were older.

Ten minutes passed before they found any signs or tracks that would lead them to one of the monsters that were still living in the closest parts of the forest. The track they found was a huge paw print, something that made Sweetie Belle think of the Diamond Dogs and immediately made her forget about them. The Diamond Dogs would never come into the Everfree Forest to hunt for their precious gemstones, so it had to be some other creature that had large paws. Still, it was their only clue to hunting down one of the Everfree monsters and they followed it to the west, leading them deeper and deeper into the forest.

As they walked further down the path Sweetie couldn't help but notice that the forest, which was usually full of animal noises almost everyday, was unnaturally quiet. The tracks they were following eventually grew in number, making them assume that there were at least two or even three of whatever they were hunting somewhere in front of them. Despite the fact that they were in the Everfree Forest Scootaloo kept grinning, thinking of all the tricks she had done and how jealous Rainbow Dash was going to be when she told her. Apple Bloom sniffed the air every now and then, just looking for anything that would make them turn around and call it quits for the day, when something burnt hit her nose.

"Something's burning," Apple Bloom said, looking off to their right and pointing with her hoof, "somewhere in that direction."

"What do you think girls, should we investigate it?" Scootaloo eagerly said, clearly wanting to see what was on fire, "Some of our tracks lead that way anyway, so I'm all for seeing what's over there."

"Clearly it is two to one," Sweetie Belle sighed, just wanting to get their visit to the Everfree Forest over with so she could go home, "so let's head over there and see what's going on."

"Oh, I hope its one of our monsters!" Scootaloo said, nearly hopping as they turned down the new path, "Then we can set up our traps, use somepony who will act as the bait, and then trap whatever comes after us. This is going to be so awesome!"

They crept up to the clearing that their tracks had led them to and hid in the bushes, their eyes searching for whatever was the cause of the burnt smell or the tracks they had been following. Sitting in the clearing was a gray colored dog like creature that wore what they assumed was a jacket, who tossed a couple of sticks onto a campfire. So Sweetie Belle had been wrong in her thinking that the tracks didn't belong to a Diamond Dog, because that was what was sitting on the log near the fire. The Crusaders would have backed up and began their trap set up, but just as they were about to three more Diamond Dogs entered the clearing.

"There you guys are," the one sitting down huffed, his voice rough as he noticed the others, "please tell me you found something to eat in this miserable forest."

"No go boss," one of the dogs replied, laying down a spear before sitting in front of the fire, "We searched all over this forest, but there's not much around."

"I saw some filly tracks a while back," a second dog growled, clearly annoyed that he hadn't found who made them, "but wherever those fillies went I haven't been able to find them."

"Your tracking senses must be getting old then," the fourth dog chuckled, his spear resting exactly on the bush that the Crusaders were hiding in, "I'm pretty sure that they smelled our fire and came to investigate, so I'm willing to bet that they're still around here somewhere."

Scootaloo didn't like where the Diamond Dog's conversation was heading so, instead of quietly talking to her friends and plan their escape, she did the next best thing.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders Escape Artists!"

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle should have known that Scootaloo would have revealed their location to the Diamond Dogs, but they hadn't expected her to do it that fast. The moment the dog's eyes were upon them the three of them turned around and bolted for the forest path they had strayed from not a few minutes ago. Unfortunately when they returned to where the pah was supposed to be they found nothing that had led them to their current position, so they turned to the right and kept moving. They were lucky that they hadn't stopped for more than a few seconds, as a few spears passed by where they had been standing and hit a couple of trees.

"This is not how I envisioned this day to go," Sweetie Belle said, not bothering to look back as she heard the dogs gaining on them.

"I am never returning to the Everfree until I'm older," Apple Bloom replied, too scared to even listen to what her friend had said.

They came to yet another clearing in the forest, but where the last one had been big enough for four Diamond Dogs this one was large enough to build a small building in. The only thing in the clearing was a large white cloud that hovered a few inches off the ground, though it took the Crusaders a moment to realize that somepony was sleeping on it. The pony could have only been a pegasus, as those were the only ponies that could control the clouds or even sleep on them whenever they wanted to.

"There you are," a voice behind them said, causing them to look back and find the Diamond Dogs staring at them, "and what's this? We've found yet another pony to capture so we can eat him later as well. We shall eat like kings for a few weeks!"

"Ugh...whose there?" the pony on the cloud said, sounding as if he was waking up from a nap they had interrupted, "Sounds like some moronic Diamond Dogs."

"Nice try ponies, but Diamond Dogs are smarter than you," the lead dog said, raising his spear and pointing it right at Apple Bloom, "Now get your friend off his cloud and come quietly, otherwise we'll have to poke you with our spears."

"Maybe if we threaten the fillies the adult will follow our orders," another dog said, turning to Scootaloo, "though I am dying to eat the filly that made us run after them. We should eat her first."

"Mister stallion help us," Sweetie cried, just as she and her friends ducked under the stallion's cloud, "they're going to eat us!"

The stallion, annoyed beyond belief at this point, sighed and got off his cloud, allowing his hooves to touch the ground in front of the Diamond Dogs. Sweetie Belle looked up at him and where she expected to see a pegasus prepared to deal with the dogs she found that the stallion also had a horn on top of his head. Not only that, but the colors of his mane and tail looked like they were simply made of fire, despite the fact that there was no smoke coming from them. Sweetie, having seen Twilight and a few of the other princesses, knew that the stallion could only be an alicorn, but she had no idea who he was or if he was a friend of the princesses.

"Why can I never have a moment's peace?" the stallion asked, taking a burning stick from his mouth and blowing a puff of smoke out, "And shouldn't you dogs be underground, mining for precious gemstones and whatnot?"

"Nice try pony," the lead dog replied, pointing all their spears at the stallion, "but we are still going to capture and eat all of you."

"Yeah, so I have heard." the stallion sighed, "Tell me something original and I might let you go."

"We are going to eat you!" the dogs shouted, running towards the stallion without a care in the world.

A flash. That was all that was needed to install fear into the hearts of the Diamond Dogs. The stallion sat in the same spot, staring at the frozen dogs as they envisioned being burned alive, before they finally dropped their spears and ran away. Once they were gone the stallion dragged the Crusaders out from under his cloud and climbed back onto it, rolling over and wanting to drift off to sleep again. The Crusaders were confused about what had happened, but Sweetie felt that they needed to thank the stallion for saving their hides regardless.

"Um...Mister stallion?" Sweetie said, getting nothing in return from the pony, "I just wanted to thank you for saving us."

"Kid, this place isn't safe for little children," the stallion replied, not even bothering to look back at her, "If I were you I would never step a hoof in this forest for the rest of my days."

Sweetie waited for him to say something else, but when the stallion remained quiet she sighed and followed after her friends. They might not have gotten anywhere near their Cutie Marks during their visit to the Everfree Forest, but Sweetie knew they needed to tell somepony about the alicorn stallion they had seen. She knew of one pony who would at least listen to their story without outright grounding them, though she would put it past the mare to tell their sisters what they had done.

They needed to tell Twilight Sparkle about the alicorn they had seen as soon as possible.

2: A Truth Unaccepted

Two hours. That's how long the Crusaders spent in the Everfree Forest, going down countless paths and getting nowhere near the actual entrance they had set Scootaloo's scooter near. Eventually they found the entrance, though Sweetie was unsure of how they found it when they had been deep in the forest and had lost their original path. She had been pretty sure that they had been somewhere near the Ruined Castle, where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna once lived a thousand years ago. It was also where her sister Rarity and her friends had found the Elements of Harmony and defeated Nightmare Moon.

Just thinking of her sister made Sweetie realize that she was likely going to be late for dinner, which would irritate Rarity to no end and cause her to ask where she had been.

"So girls," Scootaloo said, strapping her helmet back on and throwing her gear in the last wagon, "who want's to go home?"

"I do," Apple Bloom replied, sighing after the long walk they had just gone through, "We didn't get any closer to getting our Cutie Marks and we were almost eaten by Diamond Dogs. I just want to go home, have some dinner, and go to sleep so I can start working on the farm tomorrow morning."

"What about you Sweetie?" Scootaloo asked, tapping her hoof as the two climbed into the wagon they rode in, "Where do you want me to drop you off?"

"Twilight's library," Sweetie replied, "Someone needs to tell Twilight about the alicorn we saw and, seeing how you both want to go straight home, I figured that I'd be the one to do that. She needs to know that the stallion's in the forest, not that he seems like somepony whose going to burn the forest down."

"Whatever," Scootaloo said, getting underway and heading back to Ponyville, "that's not as fun as hanging out with Rainbow Dash."

Sweetie Belle sighed; Scootaloo was obsessed with Rainbow Dash and mentioned her almost all the time, which was starting to drive Apple Bloom and Sweetie a little insane. Everypony knew that Twilight's tree house had been destroyed shortly after Tirek's escape and a new castle built near the edge of town, but Twilight had gone out of her way to rebuild a library for the ponies of Ponyville. She had put a lot of time, effort, and bits into reconstructing every rare book from memory, choosing to simply buy new copies of the common books. The library was basically the same as it had been before it had been destroyed, though Twilight wasn't living in it and visited it every so often to make sure it was run correctly.

Sweetie only chose the library because she knew that Twilight visited it on Saturday and would be there until at least eight o'clock, though sometimes she'd be there till midnight. She knew these times thanks to her sister telling her the various visits she made to make sure that Twilight was getting enough food and sleep.

Scootaloo, being true to her nature, rode her scooter fast and started performing tricks, risking their well being as the sun gave way to night at long last. One trick involved her soaring through the air, with the others and their gear behind her, for a few moments before hitting the ground and circling around Rarity's boutique. Sweetie was sure that Rarity heard the scooter as they passed by the shop, but they were long gone before the front door was even opened an inch. Sweetie knew that she was in deep trouble when Rarity found out that she and her friends had gone into the Everfree Forest, without telling anyone.

"Okay, here we are," Scootaloo said, stopping in front of the new library and lifting a hoof towards it, "Twilight's library. I hope you have fun...reading books and whatever else you two do."

"I'll see you guys whenever my sister lets me again," Sweetie said, stepping off the wagon and putting her helmet back in place, "I'll just head in, tell Twilight about the alicorn, and then head home so I can get chewed out by my sister."

"Have fun Sweetie Belle," Apple Bloom told her friend, just as Scootaloo started down the road again, "Scootaloo! Slow down before you break something!"

Sweetie sighed and moved towards the wooden door, wondering if Twilight was going to believe her when she told her that there was another alicorn sleeping in the Everfree Forest. Twilight seemed to not believe most of the things that the Crusaders told her, but there was always the chance that telling her about a mysterious alicorn. Before her nerves got the better of her she raised her hoof and knocked on the door, hearing something hit the ground before hooves followed it. Not a moment later the door opened to reveal a lavender pony standing on the other side, though Sweetie knew it was Twilight Sparkle within seconds.

"Sweetie Belle? What are you doing here at this time of night?" Twilight asked, her magic turning on and dragging the filly inside, "Does Rarity know that your all alone, walking the streets of Ponyville without someone to protect you? What if someone decided to attack you? No one would have known what happened to you until morning came..."

"Twilight, there's an alicorn in the Everfree Forest!" Sweetie exclaimed, feeling the magic release her and allowed her to stand back up.

"Excuse me? Is that where you were?" Twilight said, a look of pure shock on her face, "Rarity stopped by earlier this afternoon and said that you guys were planning on doing something stupid, but we should have known you'd choose to go back to the Everfree Forest. I have told you repeatedly that the forest is a dangerous place for fillies, yet you intentionally go back there and search for your Cutie Marks once more. You guys are lucky you didn't run into any monsters while you were there."

"Didn't you hear me Twilight?" Sweetie asked, knowing that Twilight was more focused on where she had been and not what she had seen, "We were crusading in the Everfree Forest, I won't deny that, but we ran into a group of Diamond Dogs..."

"You ran into Diamond Dogs?!" Twilight exclaimed, not even letting her finish this time, "Sweetie Belle, you know those dogs can be dangerous and downright unpredictable. You guys are lucky that they didn't capture you, as it is well known that they eat any ponies that they are lucky enough to capture."

"Twilight," Sweetie tried yet again, wondering why she was trying so hard, "we ended up running away from the Diamond Dogs, but then we came to this clearing and found a stand alone cloud resting near the ground. Sitting on that cloud was what we assumed was just a pegasus, but when we hid under his cloud he complained about us ruining his sleep and climbed off his cloud. Then we discovered that he was an alicorn with a flaming mane and tail and some sort of burning stick in his mouth. I don't know what he did next, but he somehow managed to chase the Diamond Dogs away without moving a muscle."

Twilight stood there for a few moments, staring at Sweetie as if she was trying to figure out if she was telling the truth or had created an elaborate lie to cover the fact that she and her friends had visited the Everfree Forest. It was clear by the look on her face that she wasn't believing anything Sweetie was saying, which was what Sweetie had been expecting.

"So you think there's an alicorn, an alicorn stallion mind you, that's living in the Everfree Forest?" Twilight asked, shaking her head before moving to the bookshelves, "Let me tell you what's wrong with that statement; there are only four alicorns in all of Equestria, all of which are mares. You've got Princess Celestia, who controls the Sun, and her sister Princess Luna, who controls the Moon. Then you've got Princess Cadence, whose a master at love and matchmaking ponies to their true loves. And lastly there's me, the Princess of Friendship. There aren't any alicorn stallions in all of recorded history."

"We still saw him though," Sweetie argued, still wondering why she was trying to prove her point to Twilight, "so I know that it wasn't the heat of the moment that made all three of us see the same thing."

"Sweetie Belle, I don't know how many times I can tell you this," Twilight sighed, her eyes rolling over titles as her magic brought her books before sending them back, "there are no alicorn stallions. The best explanation I can come up with is that, in a moment of extreme stress, such as being chased by Diamond Dogs, your mind and imagination created something to save you from harm. While it may not have actually done anything to save you the Diamond Dogs must have decided to leave you alone so they didn't incur the wrath of Ponyville for foalknapping you."

"Are you saying that the stallion was just a piece of my imagination?" Sweetie asked, glaring at the back of Twilight's head, "But Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and I saw him climb off his cloud, pull some burning stick out of his mouth, and then blow a puff of smoke out before driving off four Diamond Dogs. I'm sorry, but I don't think we could have come up with the same vision at the same time."

Twilight cancelled her magic and all the books hit the floor, causing Sweetie to look at her and wonder if she had pressed the situation too far. Twilight moved to the open window and was gone in a flash, leaving Sweetie to wander over to the pile of books that she had left behind and try to put them back where they belonged. Before she could even pick up the first book there was another flash behind her, causing her to look back and find Rarity looming over her.

"Um..." Sweetie began, wondering how she was going to worm her way out of the lecture that was coming.

"Sweetie Belle, Twilight tells me that you and your friends went into the Everfree Forest...again." Rarity said, staring her little sister straight in the eyes, "Care to tell me exactly why you decided to return to that forest? And please, don't tell me its because me and my friends do it all the time."

"Umm...Cutie Mark Crusaders Monster Hunters," Sweetie answered, "Scootaloo wanted to hunt monsters in the Everfree Forest, so we went along and tried it again. But Rarity, we found an alicorn stallion in the middle of the forest. He saved us from the Diamond Dogs that were chasing us so they could capture and eat us."

"And Sweetie Belle, Twilight has told you that alicorn stallions don't exist yet," Rarity said, shaking her head before grabbing her sister's tail with magic, "Now then, we're heading home to discuss the punishment you'll be receiving for heading into the Everfree Forest with your friends without letting any of us know. Maybe I'll ground you for a week and make you focus more on your schoolwork, instead of concerning yourself with finding your talent ahead of time."

"You know she just imagined the alicorn right?" Twilight asked, just making sure that Rarity understood what she had tried to explain in the brief time she had spent at the boutique.

"And does it look like I care?" Rarity replied, dropping her sister gently onto her back before turning to the front door, "Thanks for telling me where Sweetie Belle was Twilight, I was getting worried sick about her well being. I might just owe you one this time, for helping me find her of course."

Twilight just stood there as Rarity left the library, carrying her younger sister along as they headed back to the boutique, where she knew that Sweetie was going to get the full lecture. The only thing that she had to do that night, besides fixing the book mess that she had created before teleporting to Rarity's place, was head to the Sweet Apple Acres and tell Applejack what her sister had done with her friends. No doubt that Apple Bloom would be grounded from crusading for a while like Sweetie Belle was, though Twilight had no idea how to find who cared for Scootaloo.

Before she closed the door she listened to Sweetie Belle complain, still spouting that she and her friends had seen an alicorn stallion in the Everfree Forest and was standing by her story no matter what she was told. It made Twilight chuckle before she gently closed the door, knowing she'd have to spend some time teaching Sweetie about her fellow alicorns. She knew that, whenever that day came, it was going to be a fun day for her.

"Hmm...Rarity owing me one for once..." Twilight muttered, turning her attention to the pile of books and picking several of them up, "Maybe she won't mind helping out with some of my research one day."

3: An Apple's Truth

It irritated Twilight to no end. She was a mare who believed in facts before proving if something was real and she could interact with it or if someone had made something up as an excuse as to why they were doing something dangerous. She should have known that the Cutie Mark Crusaders would have run into the forest, for about the twentieth time in the last two months, and would have made something inside the forest angry. But this blunt lie that Sweetie Belle had come up with, even claiming that her friends had seen it as well, just irritated her to no end and made her head hurt.

There was no alicorn stallion sleeping inside the Everfree Forest, she was absolutely sure of that. She had run test after test on the forest a few days after her initial arrival and the defeat of Nightmare Moon, but hadn't found anything to suggest that there was another alicorn besides the three she had known. The forest still had some secrets, that she was sure of, but there was no way that she could have missed something like an alicorn, who, according to Sweetie, was sleeping on a cloud. She refused to accept the story without proof, of which she was sure there was none at all.

"Oh stop your pacing Twilight," Spike moaned, sweeping up a pile of dust before dumping it in their trash bin, "You know what they say about fillies, they made up things when they're stressed out and tend to believe whatever they made up. I'm sure the Crusaders ran into a harmless creature and, fearing that it had been the 'monster' they had been searching for, ran away before it could gobble them up. Then they made up a fictional character, that they had to have created ahead of time to get their stories straight, who could save them from certain demise."

"Wow Spike, I didn't know you knew all of that," Twilight said, pleased that Spike had actually remembered something from all the books they had been working on.

"Well, I was their age once," Spike chuckled, stashing the broom and dustpan in the closet, "I remember when I used to make up stories abut how I was saving the fair maiden from certain doom by slaying a ferocious beast that had kidnapped her. Or, in one of my better stories, I would do battle with an evil sorcerer and defeat him or her to release a village from the evil spell they had cast upon the villagers."

"Or how you'd jump on my back and made me chase down my brother," Twilight told him, sliding a few more books back into place, "just so you could leap onto him and tie him up like a pig. Or how you would pull out cutouts of battle armor and have a battle with Shining, just to see which of you were the better trained soldier that should be joining Celestia's guard."

"Hey, it would have been a first for dragons everywhere," Spike said, waging a claw in the air, "If I could have taken the exam I'm sure I would have passed with flying colors and been given special armor to let other dragons know that we can live in peace with ponies after all. And when the Changelings attacked I could have pulled out my weapon and charged into battle, to protect the Princess that I was sworn to keep save with my very live."

"You were too young to do any of that," Twilight told him, bursting the bubble before it inflated any bigger than it had before, "but you were a fine knight when you helped us rescue Rarity from those Diamond Dogs that one time."

Her conversation with Spike was enough to make her focus on something other than the lie that Sweetie had told her. She still had to tell Applejack about what her sister had done, but considering the time it was and how much sleep she had missed in the last few days Twilight decided to talk with Applejack in the morning. Once she was sure that no one else was coming to the library Twilight switched the sign to 'Closed', locked the door, and blew out the lights before teleporting them over to their castle. She'd get a quick bite to eat before heading to bed, she had a big day trying to explain what Apple Bloom had did to Applejack.

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Sweet Apple Acres, Apple Bloom's home and workplace for the moment. Apple Bloom had told her sister that she was going to spend an hour or two hanging out with her friends before returning home for supper. Scootaloo had spent a good hour of tricks before they had reached the forest earlier, cutting into the time she had promised that she'd be gone. She wasn't looking forward to telling her sister that she had been gone later than she had promised, nor was she excited about telling her that they had gone into the Everfree Forest and had nearly been eaten by Diamond Dogs. She also wasn't sure what to say about the alicorn that she and her friends had seen, but decided that telling the whole truth would be easier then telling a lie.

There was no point in lying to Applejack, she was the Element of Honesty and always knew when Apple Bloom was lying to her.

"Apple Bloom," Scootaloo said, stopping Apple Bloom in her tracks, "Are...are you going to tell Applejack everything?"

"Yes," Apple Bloom replied, shaking her head slightly, "Even if I tried to hold pieces of our adventure back Applejack would be able to tell and then I'd be in trouble for lying to her. I'd rather just tell my sister everything and hope she goes easy on me for going to the Everfree Forest without telling her."

"And are you going to tell her that it was my idea that we went into the forest?" Scootaloo asked, a hint of fear in her voice.

"Everything Scootaloo," Apple Bloom said, starting down the path to the house.

Scootaloo sighed and got her scooter going, not wanting to be anywhere near the farm when Applejack learned that she had risked her sister's life to go monster hunting in the Everfree Forest. She wasn't sure that Applejack would do to her, but she didn't want to be anywhere near her in the next few days. As Scootaloo sped away she wondered if Sweetie Belle had been successful with telling Twilight about the stallion they had found, but knowing Twilight she knew it wouldn't be that simple. It was a shame that they couldn't get anything of the stallion's while they were there, as having proof would have shaken Twilight to her core.

Apple Bloom, on the other hoof, walked up to the front door of her house and pushed it open, finding her sister standing on the other side and staring down at her. Before she could open her mouth to explain why she had been gone so long Applejack threw her front legs around her and brought her into a hug.

"Apple Bloom, I was worried sick about you," Applejack said, tears falling from her eyes, "Spike sent a letter saying that you and your friends had gone into the Everfree Forest and I had feared for your safety. What were you thinking, heading into that dangerous forest without letting anyone know?"

"Scootaloo wanted to hunt monsters," Apple Bloom told her, "and we came across a group of Diamond Dogs that wanted to eat us. We tried running away from them, but eventually we came to a clearing with a cloud that was hanging near the ground and had a stallion sleeping on it. We didn't know who the stallion was, but we dashed under his cloud and Sweetie cried out for the stallion to save us from being eaten by the dogs. I thought that we were done for, but then the stallion climbed off his cloud and we learned that he was actually an alicorn with a flaming mane. I don't know how he managed to chase them off, but if we hadn't found him and Sweetie hadn't cried out for aid we might not have escaped from those dogs.

Sweetie Belle wanted to be dropped off at Twilight's library so she could tell her that we found an alicorn in the forest, though we really don't have evidence that he was there. I just wanted to come home so I could jump into the warm embrace of my sister and proclaim that I was going to stay away from the forest until I was older, just like you."

"Well, grab an apple and then get to bed," Applejack said, letting her sister go, "You've had a tiring day and I won't push a punishment on you until the morning..."

"I'm grounded from Scootaloo aren't I?" Apple Bloom asked, heading for the kitchen.

"And crusading for a week," Applejack replied, watching her sister take her apple upstairs before she closed the front door.

Applejack had seen it in her sister's eyes, she had been telling the truth when she had mentioned the alicorn stallion that she and her friends had bumped into. It sounded weird to think about there being a fifth alicorn in Equestria, one that everyone knew next to nothing about, but she believed her sister. Twilight wasn't going to like the fact that she was on the opposite side of the argument, but, as the Element of Honesty, she could tell when ponies were lying and knew the stallion existed. Applejack only wondered who the stallion was and what he was doing in the Everfree Forest, besides sleeping like a certain pegasus she knew.

-----------------------

"Ha ha ha ha ha," one of the Diamond Dogs said, holding a spear as he and his friends approached the cloud sitting pony, "He may have bested us when there were only four of us, but now that we have three times the amount of dogs he doesn't stand a chance. Foolish pony, there are no ponies who can best a Diamond Dog in combat."

"Boss, he'll hear you if you keep talking so loudly," a second dog said, armor pieces brushing against each other as it approached the clearing, "but I can agree, this pony doesn't stand much of a chance against us."

The Diamond Dogs may have been beaten earlier by a cheap trick, but they managed to gather several groups together to deal with something that could ruin the kingdom they were trying to build. All the Diamond Dogs present wouldn't stand for allowing some strange pony to continue to live in the forest, and so they gathered together to end the pony before it could defeat them. So they surrounded the clearing, bringing all the spears and rope bindings they had at the time with them, and prepared to bring the fight to the pony.

"For Dogtopia," one of the latest recruits shouted, dashing forward and bringing his spear down on the cloud.

At first the leader thought that they had gotten the stallion before he could even react, but as seconds passed them by the dog that attacked first burst into flames, running around while screaming his head off. The cloud vanished in the blink of an eye, replaced with the stallion who barely looked like he had been awake for more than a minute and still had the stick in his mouth. The leader stared at the pony, wondering if it was some miracle that had set his recruit on fire and not the stallion who had tricked them before.

"Oh not you guys again," the stallion moaned, blowing a puff of smoke out before returning the stick, "Seriously, you should have stayed in whatever hole you all climbed out of."

"Foolish pony, I bring reinforcements," the leader grinned, gripping his spear and holding it in front of him, "You don't stand a chance of defeating all of us and escaping being eaten. Attack him boys!"

The stallion stood there and let the other eleven Diamond Dogs jump out into the open, spears and rope flying towards him as if the dogs thought they stood a chance. A ring of flames surrounded him, catching the weapons and rope before burning them to cinders, causing the Diamond Dogs to slow down before they reached him. The stallion sighed and looked to his left, the flames bursting to life and reaching for the dogs in that direction, making each of them catch on fire. He then looked to his right and repeated the process, watching the dogs running around with their coats on fire and bumping into each other quite often.

Eventually it was just him and the Diamond Dog who claimed to be the leader of the group that had attacked him, but all the stallion did was sigh and pull out his cloud. The lead dog growled and picked up his spear, charging at the stallion while his back was turned, but, just like the rest of his comrades, he caught on fire as well. The stallion climbed onto his cloud as the last of the dogs disappeared into the forest, stretching his legs just a bit before getting into a comfortable position.

"Never mess with a superior opponent," the stallion yawned, staring up at the stars for a moment, "how true those words have become."

4: Investigation

Morning came and Sweetie Belle met it with a sense of dread, wondering what fresh punishments awaited her for venturing into the Everfree Forest with her friends. She was already grounded from crusading for the next week, so about the only thing that Rarity could still take away from her was hanging with her friends. She climbed out of her bed and made her way downstairs, keeping an eye out for her sister as she started to prepare a light breakfast. There was one thing that she continued to think about as she did so, the only thing that would either shorten the time she was grounded or extend it even more.

She needed to head back into the Everfree Forest, find where she and her friends had found the mysterious alicorn, and find something about him that she could use as evidence that he existed. If she had evidence Twilight would have to accept that she was telling the truth, but she'd likely get in trouble regardless.

"Hey Rarity, I've got some information from Applejack," Twilight's voice rang out, causing Sweetie to wonder why she was there to begin with, "she talked with her sister the moment she returned home and Apple Bloom told her the same story that Sweetie told me. Apparently Applejack believes her, because she came over an hour ago and asked what I thought about the stallion that's sleeping in the Everfree Forest."

"And what did you tell her dear?" came Rarity's voice, who sounded calm while she gathered information.

"I told her that I didn't believe Sweetie Belle when she told me the same story," Twilight replied, "I stated the same facts that I told Sweetie, that there has never been a alicorn stallion in all of recorded history. Applejack suggested that, before i jump to anymore conclusions, I should head to where the Crusaders found the stallion and investigate the area. I honestly think that heading into the Everfree Forest to look for this mysterious stallion is both a complete waste of time and insanely dangerous to everyone going."

"Who are you taking into the forest with you?" Rarity asked, "Because if you want to take Sweetie Belle then I would insist that I come along and make sure she stays safe."

"Applejack offered her services in fighting anything that might attack us," Twilight spoke up, almost as if she had thought of it before arriving at the store, "so I decided that I might as well take her up on her offer. I realized that I would need a guide to find where the stallion had been discovered, so, after some thought, I decided that one of the Crusaders would have to serve as my guide. Applejack also suggested that I bring along all three of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, though I think its just so she could keep her eyes on her sister and keep her out of trouble."

"So the Crusaders are going to guide you to the stallion and see if they were right?" Rarity replied, closing a drawer while she spoke, "I'll get Sweetie Belle and meet you near the Everfree Forest."

Rarity walked into the doorway and spotted Sweetie eating her morning meal, allowing a smile to appear on her face before walking up to the table.

"So, Sweetie Belle," Rarity said, sitting across from her little sister, "Applejack spoke to Twilight this morning and somehow convinced her that the stallion you and your friends had seen was truly real. Apparently Apple Bloom told her the same story you told Twilight and she believed her sister, so now Twilight wants to find the area you guys stumbled on. Twilight needs a guide to find the clearing you discovered yesterday, so she's going to bring you and your friends along to help her in her investigation."

"So, when are we leaving?" Sweetie Belle asked, swallowing the last of her breakfast and wondering if this had been the sense of dread that she had felt earlier.

"As soon as you are ready," Rarity said, placing a hoof on her chin as if she had thought about something, "Your punishment for entering the Everfree without telling us will have to wait until this afternoon, as Twilight requires your aid as soon as possible. Now, let's see if this alicorn stallion of yours even exists."

---------------------------

Sweetie Belle had not expected to return to the Everfree Forest so soon, but not even an hour after learning that she would be returning to the forest she found herself standing near the sign Scootaloo had stopped at the previous day. At first it was only her and her sister that were standing near the sign, but after a few minutes Applejack and Apple Bloom came walking up the path. Apple Bloom stared at the trees and Sweetie assumed that she was sharing the same feelings that she was, the sense of dread and fear that the forest commanded. Applejack, on the other hoof, seemed indifferent about the forest, which was normal seeing how she had already visited the forest so many times in the past.

"So, you convinced your sister that we were telling the truth?" Sweetie Belle asked, noticing that their older sisters got into their own conversation and left them alone for the moment.

"I told her everything," Apple Bloom replied, her eyes locked on the forest, "Scootaloo's monster hunting quest, our run in with the Diamond Dogs, the clearing we found, and then the alicorn stallion that chased off the Diamond Dogs. I thought that she was going to say that I was pulling her leg, but then said that she believed me and the next thing I know I'm coming back here. All I was told was that we're supposed to follow our tracks until we find the clearing, that's all."

"We're hunting for clues on that alicorn we saw," Sweetie told her, recalling the conversation she had overheard, "Twilight doesn't think we'll find him in the forest, but I'm hoping that we find something that will tell her that he's real."

"This alicorn of yours is not real," a voice said, causing them to turn around and notice that Twilight had arrived, "but I am willing to spend some time exploring the forest. We'll find this clearing and find out if your mysterious stallion is still there or not."

Standing behind Twilight was Scootaloo, whose head was hung low and ignored everyone that was standing around her, almost like she was ashamed by bringing her friends to the forest the previous day. She also didn't seem to be at all interested in returning to the Everfree forest, which was what Apple Bloom seemed to be like at the moment. Her scooter, which was almost always with her, was nowhere to be seen, so Sweetie assumed that the scooter had been left at either her house or Twilight's library.

"Okay, here's the plan for our venture into the forest," Twilight said, standing near the front of their group, "We are going to head into the forest, follow the path that the Crusaders took to discover where the Diamond Dogs had made their camp, and then follow the path they took when they ran from said dogs. With any luck we'll come to the same clearing that they found and find the stallion that was sleeping on the cloud, who I still refuse to believe is living in the forest. If we find this stallion, and if he's actually an alicorn, then I will be the one to ask him all the questions and verify that he's on the Princesses side."

Sweetie Belle wasn't sure if the lazy stallion was on their side or served one of the darker powers in the world, but she assumed that he didn't care about either side. When they had been threatened by the Diamond Dogs the stallion didn't care about them and even moaned when the dogs wanted to cook him alive. The Crusaders had been lucky that the stallion had stepped in and made the dogs run away in fear, otherwise last night would have been their last night ever. Seeing how Twilight wanted to find the stallion Sweetie moved to the front of the group and started walking into the forest, making sure to follow their steps from the previous afternoon.

They started moving to the north, following their small hoof prints that they had left in the dirt forward until Sweetie noticed the paw marks that had led them to the Diamond Dogs' camp. Just like the previous afternoon the forest was unnaturally quiet and the smell of something burning, like a camp fire, lingered in the air all around them. It still confused Sweetie that the Diamond Dogs had abandoned their tunnels and started to live in the forest, struggling against the harsh creatures that lived all around them. All they seemed to do was camp out in the middle of a forest, catch whatever came their way, and cooked the poor creature for whatever meal they were having.

Eventually they came to the campsite that they had discovered the previous afternoon, but where Sweetie Belle had expected to find one or two of the dogs waiting for them they found nothing but an abandoned campsite. The fire was long dead and the camp looked the same since the Crusaders had been there, signs that the dogs hadn't been around for some time. Sweetie had the feeling that they might have had another run in with the stallion and had been defeated for a second time, but what that meant she didn't have any idea.

"So this part is true at least," Twilight said, stepping into the campsite and studying it, "From the looks of the campfire its clear that, whoever was here earlier, hasn't been to this camp in the last twelve hours at least. That gives whoever camped here enough time to chase a group of fillies deeper into the Everfree Forest and come back to tend to the fire without it dying. Seeing how the fire is dead it is quite possible that the group of Diamond Dogs that you encountered scattered to their hidden caves to hide in their natural habitats."

"Twilight, I'd love to hear more about this camp," Applejack said, interrupting her friend for a moment, "but I'd rather get this venture finished so I can return to the farm. Apple Bloom and I do have to work on the farm and get our apples ready for sale soon."

"I understand," Twilight replied, staring over at Sweetie Belle, "so, where did you guys go from here?"

Sweetie, with the help of both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, retraced their steps to the forest path and continued to the west, heading deeper into the Everfree Forest. As they continued down the path Sweetie noticed the spears that were stuck in the trees, the only other sign that they had been attacked by the Diamond Dogs the previous afternoon. The dogs hadn't bothered to take them out of the trees, clearly thinking that they didn't need all of their weapons to take down three defenseless fillies. As they walked Sweetie also noticed that Rarity glared at everything around them, caring more for the dirt that was gathering on her hooves than what they were actually doing.

Eventually they came to the clearing that the Crusaders had discovered the previous evening, only this time there were patches where it looked like flames had licked the ground. There were also places where several impressions of rope and fallen spears littered the ground, enough of them to tell that someone had been fighting a large group. Resting in the center of the clearing, as if taunting Sweetie and her friends, was what they assumed was the same cloud that they had seen the stallion resting on. Sweetie was about to tell the others that they had likely wasted their time and that the stallion wasn't there, but then she noticed the puffs of smoke rising from the cloud.

"Whose there?" Twilight shouted, her eyes laying on the cloud and waited for whoever it was to show him or herself.

"Ugh...whose ruining my sleep now?" a voice said, the same one that Sweetie recognized as the stallion's, "Seriously, first my sleep is interrupted by three fillies and then again when a large group of Diamond Dogs shouted that wanted to get rid of me. When will I get a moment's rest in this forest?"

The stallion lifted his head up, let out a loud yawn, and then stared at the opening that every annoyance over the last day seemed to come from. What he found was the same three fillies that had interrupted his sleep, an orange coated earth pony that could only be a local farmer, a white coated unicorn that he assumed worked on dresses for the elite, and a lavender coated alicorn that seemed to be shocked. He chuckled and grabbed his stick, pulling it out of his mouth, releasing another puff of smoke, and putting it back where it belonged before he laid his head back down on the cloud.

Twilight was shocked to find that the Crusaders had been right, that there was an alicorn stallion, with a mane and tail made of pure fire, living in the Everfree Forest. She absolutely hated being wrong, but while her friends and the Crusaders stood near the clearings opening she started walking forward, intending on reaching the cloud. The stallion seemed to ignore her as she walked towards him, as if he was more focused on...whatever he was doing...then the ponies that had found him this time.

"Um, sir?" Twilight asked, wondering how to get his attention, "I hope you don't mind if I ask you some questions..."

"Crimson Flare," the stallion replied, puffing his smoke out while not even looking up.

"Excuse me?" Twilight asked, not sure what that was supposed to be.

"That's my name," the stallion answered, letting out another yawn, "none of this 'mister stallion' and 'sir'. The next question you are going to ask me is what I'm doing in the Everfree Forest. The answer is simple, I'm just sleeping."

"I have so many more questions to ask you," Twilight said, drawing even closer to the cloud and the alicorn, "Like how long have you been around in Equestria, what were you doing when Tirek escaped from his prison, and where's your kingdom just to name a few. Maybe even who your parents are so I can trace your history through the family records in Canterlot. Ooooh, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are going to be overjoyed that we managed to find another alicorn, a stallion none the less."

The moment that Twilight spoke the names of the Princesses the stallion climbed off his cloud, somehow stashed it somewhere, and took off before she could even react. She flared her wings and took off, following the alicorn into the air and keeping an eye on him so she could get the answers to all of her questions. The stallion looked back, noticed her gaining on him, and vanished in the blink of an eye, completely disappearing and leaving Twilight to wonder where he had vanished to. There was no telling where the stallion could have teleported to, leaving Twilight to wonder what she was going to tell Celestia now.

"So what now Twilight?" Applejack asked, just as she landed back in the clearing with the stallion nowhere to be seen.

"Back to Ponyville," Twilight said, shaking her head as she walked to the clearing's opening, "I'll have to consult my books and find a way to track our mysterious stallion down. There are too many questions left unanswered for me to leave this alone."

Sweetie Belle had the feeling that the stallion would continue to hide from them until he was ready to return. Plus he was an alicorn, so it was quite possible that he would go someplace where they wouldn't think to look for him. The only good thing that had come from their venture into the forest was the fact that the Crusaders had been proven they story was the real deal and not something they had made up. Maybe Twilight would be able to find the stallion again one day, but Sweetie knew that it would be some time before that happened.

"Crimson Flare," Twilight muttered, thinking about the stallion, "we shall meet again."

---------------------------

Crimson Flare appeared in the ruined yard of the Castle of the Two Sisters, allowing his wings to fold against his sides as he stared at the fallen stones. From what he knew most ponies stayed away from the ruins, so it made the perfect place to place his cloud and peacefully rest for the next few days. After that time he knew that the strange lavender alicorn and her friends would forget about him and then he'd be able to return to his favorite sleeping spot. He summoned his cloud, pulled out the stick that had been in his mouth earlier, and climbed onto his fluffy bed, letting out a puff of smoke as he stared into the sky. The sky was clear for the moment, but he knew that one of these days a powerful storm would hit the ruins hard and reveal something else to Equestria.

"The storms coming," Crimson chuckled, letting out yet another yawn before closing her eyes, "the Everfree is overdue for a good storm."

5: Castle of the Two Sisters

Twilight remained silent on the trek back to Ponyville, her mind racing through the dozens of spells that she had learned in the last year years as she tried to recall the best spell she could use to locate their mysterious friend. Most of the basic tracking spells she knew required something of the pony she was looking for so she could accurately track them down, which she didn't have. The intermediate spells either required a physical picture of who she was looking for, which she didn't have, or a sample of their blood, which kind of grossed her out. That left the more advanced tracking spells, which would physically drain her magical reserves for a few days, but the results would be immediate.

The only problem with the advanced tracking spell she had in mind was that she needed a crystal ball, a focus that would serve as an eye and show her exactly where the stallion was. And she had absolutely no idea where she was going to find a crystal ball in Ponyville, short of visiting Princess Celestia and asking if she could borrow one of hers. Then Celestia would ask her why she needed the crystal ball to begin with and then Twilight would have to tell her about the alicorn stallion that she had found. It was better, in Twilight's mind, to find where Crimson Flare had gone, track him to wherever he went, and then ask him every question she had, before telling Celestia about him.

Which left her with her current problem, finding a crystal ball somewhere in Ponyville.

"Is something the matter Twilight?" Rarity asked, seeing that her friend was lost in thought and annoyed with something, "I haven't seen you this annoyed with something since, well, the incident with Tirek."

"Just reviewing tracking spells," Twilight sighed, shaking her head ever so slightly, "the only spell that I know of that can help me locate where Crimson Flare ran off to requires something that I don't have."

"Oh? There's something that the powerful Twilight Sparkle doesn't have?" Rarity mocked for a moment, but then she became her serious self a moment later, "Tell me dear, what is it that you need so you can find this 'Crimson Flare'?"

"A crystal ball," Twilight replied, "if I had one of those I could use it to find where he wandered off to and get the exact location of where I can search next."

"Is that all?" Rarity laughed, as if it was funny that Twilight didn't have a crystal sphere, "Oh Twilight, I seem to recall that Pinkie Pie had one of those crystal balls some time ago, when she was trying to read ponies futures and freak them out with her tricks. Course she had Rainbow Dash helping her, so there's no telling where the crystal ball ended up. If you want my advice, just track down Pinkie and ask where she hid the thing. I'm sure that its gathering dust in some corner of Sugarcube Corner."

Twilight had almost forgotten about the time that Pinkie had dressed up as a gypsy, set up a stand that she had wandered into, and tried to read her fortune while Rainbow Dash was waiting in the wing to prank her. It was an elaborate plan that only Pinkie could have come up with, so it would have made sense that she would have gone all out and acquire a real crystal ball to complete her costume. Rarity was right in one regard, Pinkie would still have the crystal ball somewhere and would likely just give it to her for an amount of time that Twilight would need it for.

"I'll be sure to ask her," Twilight said, just as they safely emerged from the Everfree Forest, "Once I knew where he went I'm sure that it would be in our best interests to get together and find him together."

"So once you get his location we'll meet up again," Rarity moaned slightly, not really caring about the alicorn anymore and just wanting to get home, "Fine, just be sure to give me some warning before we leave the town."

"If you two will excuse us, we need to get back to the farm." Applejack said, gently pulling her sister in the direction of the farm, "We've got apples to harvest and some places that need repainting. Come on Apple Bloom, we've got work to do."

"Unfortunately, I must agree with Applejack," Rarity said, staring down at her hooves for a moment, "I've got to go home, get the dirt and grim off my hooves, and then get to work on some of the dresses that were ordered yesterday. Come along Sweetie, I'm sure you've got homework to do."

Twilight watched her friends and their sisters walk away, though she was left alone with Scootaloo, who stared at her friends as if she was feeling guilty about everything. After a few moments Scootaloo sighed and stared for Ponyville, not doubt heading to the library so she could get her scooter and head back home. Twilight, on the other hoof, flared her wings and took off, intending to fly all the way to Sugarcube Corner while hoping that Pinkie was still there.

-----------------------------

When Twilight arrived at the Sugarcube Corner she found that there were a dozen ponies waiting in line, no doubt wanting to get their hooves on something to snack on before they went home for the evening. She stayed outside the building, keeping taps on how many ponies were left, until the line had disappeared and she was the only one left. Miss Cake welcomed her as she entered the building, though she went back to work and left Twilight to wait for Pinkie to finish whatever she was doing. After a few minutes of waiting Pinkie finally came out of the basement, humming some tune to herself before coming to a halt right in front of Twilight.

"Hiya Twilight," Pinkie said, smiling as she pulled out a muffin and bit into it, "What's going on? Need some help tracking down an alicorn stallion that blew you off?"

Normally Twilight would be shocked that Pinkie knew exactly what she was doing or what she needed, but she had come to not question Pinkie and just go with it. She'd have to ask her later how she knew about Crimson Flare, as Twilight didn't know about him until earlier that day.

"Yeah, something like that," Twilight replied, "I need a crystal ball for one of my spells so I can find him and I was told that you might still have one laying around somewhere. Do you think I could borrow it?"

"Oh, sure, let me get it real quick," Pinkie said, shoving her hoof into her mane and moving it around for a few moments before pulling out a crate and putting it on the floor, "One crystal ball, ready for whatever use you need it for."

Twilight was used to Pinkie putting her hooves into her hair and pulling something out of it, but most the time she pulled out random pieces of candy or instruments. The fact that she had the crystal ball, placed in a crate and waiting for Twilight to come for it, just told her exactly how well Pinkie was at planning. She popped the lid off the crate and stared down at the crystal ball, seeing how it was shiny and well prepared for what she needed it for.

"Thanks Pinkie," Twilight said, sealing the crate and lifting it into the air, "I'm going to head back to my castle and see where this stallion is, so I won't be available for a few hours."

"Want to explore the Castle of the Two Sisters later tonight?" Pinkie randomly asked, getting up in her face for a moment.

"Um...sure," Twilight said, not really sure why Pinkie wanted to explore the castle again, "I'll make sure to be done with my spell before I come back to the Everfree Forest."

"Okie dokie lokie," Pinkie said, bouncing a bit before pulling a list out of her mane, "I've got to invite the others to our party, otherwise we won't have any fun tonight."

Before Twilight could ask her anything Pinkie rounded a corner and vanished, another feature that Twilight was familiar with and should have seen coming. She made sure that the crate was stable and took off, heading back to her castle so she could begin the spell that would allow her to find the mysterious Crimson Flare. As she flew through the air she kept an eye out for Rainbow Dash, just in case she was prepping the weather for the night and needed to diverge from the path she had set for herself. After a few minutes she landed outside her castle, finding that Spike was waiting for her inside and had spent some time cleaning whatever messes he could find.

"What do you have there Twilight?" Spike asked, noticing the crate and wondering what was inside it.

"A crystal ball, courtesy of Pinkie Pie," Twilight replied, moving up the stairs so she could visit one of the empty rooms, "I'm going to preform an advanced tracking spell to find the alicorn stallion that I met earlier. He vanished before I could get any answers out of him, so I'm going to track him down and then head out to where he's resting. Then I'm going to ask him as many questions that I can."

"Wait, so Sweetie Belle was telling the truth?" Spike asked, following after Twilight so he could learn everything that she had learned.

"Yeah, turns out that she was right," Twilight remarked, opening a door and finding an empty room, "All I was able to get out of him was that his name was Crimson Flare. Now, I'm going to use this crystal ball and find out where he flew off to, so I can find him whenever I want and get my answers."

Spike shrugged and watched Twilight place the crate in the center of the empty room and take off the lid, revealing the clear orb to the sunlight for what he assumed was the first time in a few weeks. Twilight gently pulled the sphere out of the crate, replaced the lid, and laid placed it on the top of the crate before moving to the window. She closed the curtains and shrouded the room in shadow, giving her the perfect lighting she needed so she could clearly see whatever the sphere showed her. Spike stood near the door as Twilight sat in front of the crate, her magic lighting up and surging into the sphere as she focused on the spell she needed to use.

At first nothing happened to the crystal ball, causing Spike to worry that the alicorn they were looking for had teleported to someplace that a tracking spell wouldn't reach. Then, as if it had somehow heard Spike's worries, a scene appeared in the center of the crystal and a spectrum of colors began to fill the empty room. At first Spike couldn't tell what the were looking at, but Twilight applied more magic to the crystal and the scene began to sharpen until they could see somepony. Then he noticed an alicorn sleeping on a cloud, a stallion with a flaming mane that didn't seem to have a care in the world. That was when Spike noticed the surrounding area, a ruined area of a castle that he assumed was the Castle of the Two Sisters that they had visited several times in the past.

"Why there?" Twilight asked, staring at the image of the stallion as she cut off her magic, "Why would he choose the Castle of the Two Sisters, of all places, to hide in?"

"I don't know," Spike said, pulling the curtains open, "but I'm guessing that we're going to head into the forest tonight and look for him?"

"Yes," Twilight replied, recalling what Pinkie had said earlier, "and, if Pinkie manages to invite the others, we'll have a full group of ponies to search for him. I had best get ready for tonight."

-----------------------------

It was roughly eight at night, the perfect time for Twilight and her friends to venture into the Everfree Forest and make their way to the ruined castle. They were all done with their work for the day and those of them that had siblings had given them dinner before putting them to bed early for the night. Twilight had expected to be the first one to arrive at the sign, but when she and Spike got there she noticed Pinkie sitting next to it, blowing up a balloon while she waited. After a few minutes Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash arrived, both of them chatting with each other and only stopping when they neared the sign.

Before Twilight could welcome them she spotted Applejack and Rarity, the two of them arguing over something that she was sure wasn't relevant to their current task.

"So, we're heading back to the old castle?" Rarity asked, raising an eyebrow as she stared at the forest, "Well, I'm glad that we could find where that alicorn wandered off to."

"What's this about an alicorn?" Rainbow asked, confused as to what they were talking about.

"Oh, the Crusaders came into the forest to look for their Cutie Marks," Rarity said, "they ran into a group of Diamond Dogs, were chased through the forest, and found a stallion sleeping in a cloud. He's an alicorn and Twilight's trying to find him again, though it sounds like she found where he went."

"We had best hurry in case he decides to move," Twilight said, moving into the forest, "let's get to the castle."

Seeing how they knew the path to the ruined castle it took roughly fifteen minutes for them to traverse the forest and appear before the stone arches. They strolled into the castle, keeping their eyes peeled for either the cloud the stallion slept on, the stallion himself, or a trap that might have been placed to warn him of ponies in the immediate area. They had learned not to touch anything from their previous visit, least they set off a hidden passage that might land them somewhere else in the forest. Pinkie continued to bounce around, her eyes scanning the immediate area around her as if she was looking for something, but then she continued into the next room and left them behind.

"Should we follow her?" Applejack asked, worried that something might happen to Pinkie, "Or maybe split up and follow her?"

"Pinkie's just being, well, Pinkie," Twilight sighed, looking around for a lever they might have missed the last time they were in the castle, "but it will be me who finds the alicorn first. Now help me find a lever or switch that might reveal a hidden passage."

Twilight was concerned that Pinkie might run into some trouble, as the old castle was said to hold dozens of secrets that hailed from the time before Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon. Of course Pinkie seemed to know almost everything about certain things and then had no idea about others, making Twilight wonder if she was bluffing half the time. But if none of them could find the stallion Twilight was certain that Pinkie would be able to find him, using whatever method of searching that she used. As she took a step forward she smelled something that wasn't old and musty, something that was oddly familiar to her that she had come into contact with earlier that day.

It smelled like the stick that the stallion had been burning earlier and now Twilight had an idea of how to find him before Pinkie could. She rounded a corner, walked up the hallway that she found herself in, and passed by a set of ruined windows, all of which were shattered due to old age. She passed by the windows and stopped in her tracks, the smell had disappeared for a moment and it forced her to retrace her steps back to the windows. Her friends stared at her for a moment before she turned to look out the broken windows, looking into a courtyard she's never been in before and finding a cloud in the middle of it. A cloud, she noticed, that a certain flaming maned alicorn stallion was sleeping on.

"Well," Twilight said, not sure what to feel at that point, "that was easy. Hey, Crimson Flare!"

Crimson moaned and lifted his head, staring up at the broken windows of the courtyard and finding the lavender alicorn, and what he assumed were her friends, staring down at him. He pulled the stick out of his mouth and let another puff of smoke escape, rolling onto his back so he could stare up at the beautiful night sky and the shining stars. He heard the sound of a cannon going off and he bolted up, looking around for the cause of the cannon fire and finding what he assumed was strange party items littered across the courtyard. Standing near one of the courtyards entrances was a pink mare with a puffy mane, but she had the look of somepony who had experience with a cannon.

"Oh go away," Crimson said, leaning back on the cloud and closing his eyes, "just leave me in peace."

"Here's something you don't know," Twilight called down to him, "Pinkie here won't leave a pony alone until she friends them. So fine, we'll leave the castle, but Pinkie will stay here and continue to pester you until she causes you to cave in and befriend her, just like everypony in Ponyville. Or you can answer my questions without her making you mad."

Crimson sighed and took a puff of his stick, listening to the alicorn mare and sensing the fact that either scenario was a losing situation for him. Either the alicorn won and got her answers or the pink mare won and befriended him, leading to the alicorn mare still getting her answers out of him. He rolled off the cloud and touched the ground, barely lighting his horn as he shrunk his cloud down to a size that he could hide without anyone finding it. Once the cloud was gone he unfurled his wings and leapt into the air, passing through the window frames and landing right behind the assembled group of ponies.

"Fine," Crimson said, putting his stick back where it belonged, "Take me to whatever interrogation chamber you have prepared for me and ask me whatever questions you desire. If it will make you ponies leave me alone."

"We are going to be best friends forever!" Pinkie exclaimed, appearing behind him and throwing her hooves over him, "Oooh, this means that I need to plan your 'Welcome to Ponyville' party."

Just as swiftly as she arrived the mare was gone, leaving him with five completely different mares and one baby dragon that continued to stare at him. Crimson wondered if he had doomed himself to constantly be annoyed by other ponies and never being allowed to be alone ever again. It was in that moment that he wished the three fillies that had found him had never gone anywhere near him, as it was their fault that his peace and quiet had been shattered. His only hope was that the mare's questions would be as swift as possible and the pink one's party would be over quickly so he could return to his freedom.

Somehow he doubted that he would be getting any peace in the next day or two.

6: Twilight's Questioning

Crimson followed the group of mares out of the ruined castle and down a path that would lead them to someplace they kept referring to as Ponyville. He had personally never heard of the town before, but he knew a lot had to have changed in the last thousand years. The lavender mare and her baby dragon, plus the orange coated farmer and white coated dress maker, took their place at the front of the line. The other two mares, a cyan pegasus and a yellow pegasus, stayed behind him and he knew that they were making sure that he didn't try any funny business. The pink mare was long gone, though he suspected that he'd see her again before the other mares would let him go back to being alone.

He could have just fled again, but seeing how they found him so fast he wasn't in the mood to be tracked down and annoyed even further by them. Better, he believed, to follow them to their base of operations, enter whatever interrogation chamber they had constructed, and answer the questions they had. Once they were done he would ditch them and head back to his favorite area in the forest, where he could sleep and ignore them all once more.

"Spike, I need you to do something," Twilight said, her voice low enough that only he would hear her, "I need you to write a letter and send it to Princess Celestia when we reach the castle. She and Luna have to know about this turn of events."

Spike nodded and leapt onto her back, where he pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill before starting a small letter that he could burn later. As he worked he looked up once to see what the alicorn was doing, only to notice that the stallion was staring at him with a look that he thought was curiosity. Spike waved to the stallion for a bit and then returned to his work, making sure to have the letter completed before they got anywhere near the castle.

As they walked Crimson noticed a camp site that stank of the Diamond Dogs, telling him exactly where the dogs that had chased the fillies had come from. He had hoped that there would be more of the dogs around the camp, so he could demonstrate that he wasn't to be messed with and persuade them to let him leave. Unfortunately for him there were no more Diamond Dogs in the immediate area, so he mentally sighed and followed the mares out of the forest. It was the first time in the last thousand years that he had actually stepped outside the Everfree Forest, so he was a little surprised to find a town sitting near the edge of the forest.

"This is Ponyville," Twilight said, waving a hoof towards the town, "founded a few hundred years ago and held together by the earth ponies and pegasi that call the town home."

"And the giant crystal castle?" Crimson inquired, beckoning to the crystal structure he was sure was fairly new.

"You mean my castle?" Twilight asked, "I got that when my friends and I unlocked this box hidden below the Castle of the Two Sisters, where we found the Tree of Harmony. With the power of the box and our friendship we defeated Tirek and restored everypony's magic, resulting in the creation of this castle."

"Good one," Crimson chuckled, knowing that the demon was locked away in Tartarus, "there is no way that Tirek could have escaped from his prison."

Twilight had no idea how Crimson couldn't have heard the destruction that had been caused when she and Tirek had battled a few weeks ago. The mountain they had fought near was wrecked beyond belief and the surrounding area had been shredded to pieces, making her wonder how he missed it all. She let it sink to the back of her mind for the moment, she had a lot more questions to ask him and wanted to do so in the privacy of her castle. Twilight was pleased that they had chosen to look for Crimson at night time, as they didn't have to worry about anypony seeing him before she was ready to announce his presence to Equestria.

As they reached Twilight's castle and began to file inside Spike took a moment to turn towards Canterlot and blow a burst of fire on the letter he had written, turning it to smoke before it made its way towards the city.

"In here," Twilight said, opening the door to the same room she had used the crystal ball in, "this is as good as its going to get I'm afraid. I haven't had enough time to furnish all the rooms that came with the castle, so you'll have to forgive that there's no bed or any dressers present."

"Ah, a crystal ball," Crimson noted, eying the sphere as it sat in the middle of the room, "a useful item for using one of the advanced tracking spells. That explains how you found me so fast. I must say, I am impressed."

Crimson walked forward and grabbed the sphere with his magic, lifting it into the box it was resting on top of before shoving the box against the wall. Once the area was cleared he pulled out his cloud and enlarged it back to its normal size, before getting on it and rolling over into his comfy spot. Twilight coughed and caught his attention, causing him to sigh for a moment and lean forward, just so he could get the questions over with. Before he even let her get anywhere he pulled out his stick and took another puff, letting the smoke escape before he gave the alicorn his attention.

"What are you doing?" Twilight asked, eying the burning stick that the stallion had with him all the time.

"Oh, this?" Crimson replied, pulling the stick out and spinning it for a second, "This is called smoking. Don't tell me, ponies gave up smoking in the last thousand years?"

"I've never seen a pony, ugh, smoke before," Twilight said, not sure if she wanted to learn about it, "but that's not what I wanted to ask you. I know your an alicorn, but what do you represent?"

"Pardon?" Crimson replied, tilting his head to the side as he replaced his stick.

"Oh, you know, how Celestia controls the Sun," Twilight commented, "Luna controls the Moon, Cadence has some power over Love, and I'm all about Friendship. What about you?"

"Oh, so that's what you meant," Crimson said, barely missing a beat as he watched the mare's friends take some seats around his cloud, "I guess you could say that I'm the Prince of Fire."

"Fire?" Twilight asked, surprised that somepony would be given control over such a dangerous element, "Why fire exactly?"

"Its my affinity," Crimson replied, lifting the stick from his mouth and holding it before them all, "Here, allow me to show you exactly what I mean."

The moment that he magic surged through the stick it burst into flames, twisting around him until it looked like there was a serpent made of flames wrapped around him. The serpent stared at Twilight and her friends for a moment, as if regarding each of them as individuals, before its head returned to Crimson's side. The serpent hissed for a second or two before twisting back into the shape of the stick that he had held in his mouth earlier, which he returned to its rightful place.

"What was what?" Twilight asked, not sure what had just happened, "What did you do?"

"Just a spell and nothing more," Crimson said, shrugging off the question like neither of them mattered, "So what else do you have for me to answer?"

Twilight was a little annoyed that he just brushed off her question, one that was related to magic no less, as if what he had done was something that anypony could do. She knew no such spell that could take a simple flame and turn it into such a beast, one that seemed almost intelligent and had studied them. One way or another she'd find out exactly how Crimson had performed that spell, but for now she had many more questions to ask before she let Pinkie have him.

"Seeing how you've already confirmed that you are, in fact, a Prince of Equestria, that leads me to my next question," Twilight said, hoping for a concrete answer this time, "Every Princess has their own kingdom that they rule over, though celestia and Luna share Canterlot; but where is your kingdom?"

"I don't have one," Crimson replied, releasing a puff of smoke, "I guess my cousin and I would have inherited the place known as Canterlot, but one thing led to another and I eventually fled to the Everfree Forest. I've been in the Everfree Forest for the last thousand years, enjoying my peace and quiet from anypony who would have bothered me. There I would deal with whatever beast wanted to get at me, like those Diamond Dogs, a few Timberwolves, and even a stray Manticore at one point."

"Hmm, interesting," Twilight commented, filing that piece of information away for the moment, "How come I haven't see you or your cousin in the records before? I'm sure that Princess Celestia or Princess Luna would have kept some record of other alicorns that existed during the same time as they did."

"Because the book is hidden from the eyes of normal ponies," Crimson replied, staring right at her now, "From what I remember the book is located in the Starswirl the Bearded wing of the royal library, in the last row on the right side, about halfway up the shelf. The reason you haven't seen it is because its enchanted, enabling only alicorns to see the book on the shelf, to be able to pull it free, and then to open and read its pages. Its a one of a kind book, so I don't think that either of them would have destroyed it yet, if they even remember that its sitting there."

"What about your royal jewelry?" Twilight asked, realizing that she hadn't seen anything resembling what any of the Princesses wore in public, "All alicorns that I have seen are always wearing some form of royal jewelry, but not you. Why is that?"

"I threw them into some chest in the ruined castle," Crimson replied, shaking his head as if he didn't care about the pieces of jewelry, "located in some forgotten room that I sealed up tight. They kept reminding me of what my mother had planned for me, so I put them somewhere where I would never look at them again. Enough about me for now, I wish to ask you a few questions."

"Oh?" Twilight said, curious as to what the stallion wanted to know of her, "Go ahead, fire away."

"You mentioned another alicorn," Crimson said, "something about a Princess of Love. Care to explain?"

"Oh, you mean Cadence?" Twilight replied, somewhat surprised by the stallion's question, "Well, Cadence was my foalsitter once upon a time and her talent was the love that everypony feels in their hearts. She can fix two ponies broken hearts and make them fall back in love with each other, though she eventually became a Princess under Celestia's watch. After a while, and after being assaulted by Chrysalis and Sombra, she took over control of the Crystal Empire, where she and my brother Shining Armor have been living ever since."

"Chrysalis?" Crimson asked, not recalling the name while the other sank in easily.

"Yeah, the Queen of the Changelings," Twilight said, "She wanted to take over Canterlot and feed off the love of everypony there, but Cadence and Shining Armor were able to repel them with the power of their love. Chrysalis was able to beat Celestia thanks to the love energy she had taken from my brother, but her victory was short lived and life returned to normal."

Crimson removed the stick from his mouth and laughed. Every pair of every rested on him, as if all the mares were trying to figure out exactly why he was laughing in the first place. After a moment he settled down, picking the stick up and blowing another puff of smoke, calming his nerves before he considered what he was going to tell them.

"It was a ploy on Celestia's part," Crimson said, "she let her enemy, this Chrysalis, think that she had won the battle and had defeated the alicorn that controlled the sun. Her plan had been to strike when her enemy was distracted by her gloating, so she could show her subjects that she could best any foe no matter what. Then this Cadence and Shining Armor blast everything away and her plan falls to ruins, before she praises them like the heroes they were. Reminds me of how she and Luna trapped Discord in stone and left him to rot in the castle gardens so many years ago."

"Yeah, about that," Twilight said, not sure how to put this, "Discord's been reformed. Last I heard he went on vacation somewhere to the north and said that he'd be gone for a week or two."

Crimson stared at them each in turn again, almost as if he was trying to read them and determine their best qualities without them telling him. He puffed on his stick and more smoke escaped, but Twilight caught a glimpse of the smoke twisting into a smoky serpent before dissipating completely. For a while he remained quiet and the silence filled the room, making Twilight wonder exactly he was thinking about as she prepped her next question.

"The Elements of Harmony," Crimson said, causing some of the mares to gasp, "Yeah, I've heard of those ancient gemstones and I've seen them in use once, but that explains how you could have turned Discord. Now, names and Element."

"The names Rainbow Dash," Rainbow said, lifting a hoof to her forehead as if saluting him, "I'm the fastest flyer in Equestria and I'm the Element of Loyalty."

"I'm Applejack of Sweet Apple Acres," Applejack replied, tipping her hat just a bit, "and I'm the Element of Honesty. The pink mare you saw earlier was Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter."

"Rarity darling," Rarity said next, looking over the stallion as if measuring him, "Ponyville's top fashion designer and the Element of Generosity."

"Oh, um...I'm F..Flutt...Fluttershy," Fluttershy weakly said, feeling the stallion's eyes on her, "a...and I...I'm the El...Elem...Element of K...Kind....Kindness."

Crimson turned to the lavender alicorn, waiting for her to tell him exactly who she was, in case he had missed it earlier, and which Element she represented. Though at this point he could tell which Element was leftover, he just wanted to hear her speak her Element like her friends had done.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle, former librarian of Ponyville," Twilight told him, not really sure where he was going with this, "I was, I AM, the Element of Magic."

Crimson nodded, laid back against his cloud, and rolled onto his side, not really caring about any questions that Twilight or her friends might still have for him. All he had to do was simply sleep through the whole next day and he'd be free to go back to the Everfree Forest, where he could forget about all these mares.

"So, ugh, one last question," Twilight tried, hoping that Crimson would actually listen to her question and answer her this time, "who are your parents?"

Crimson lifted his head and glared at her, long enough for Twilight to shudder and shift her gaze to the floor, which made him let out a sigh and resume his sleeping position. Twilight could feel his anger and hate at being asked that one question, as if it brought back bad memories or demons that he didn't want to deal with. It also explained why he had fled from her when she had asked the same question earlier in the Everfree Forest; Crimson didn't want them to know who his parents were. The door behind Twilight opened just a bit and Spike popped his head inside, beckoning for her and the others to join him outside, before she sighed and walked out.

Twilight walked into the hallway and found none other than Princess Celestia standing out in the hallway, motioning for silence for some reason. Twilight nodded her understanding and gestured for her friends to leave the room as well, each of them surprised to find the Princess standing in the hallway. She waited a moment, just to be sure that Crimson didn't wake up and wonder where each of them went, but after a while she nodded and moved out of the Princess' way. She only hoped that Celestia could get more answers out of the stallion then she could with as stubborn as Crimson could be at times.

Celestia silently walked into the bare room and found Crimson resting on his cloud, his flaming mane moving around as he either ignored who was around them or just slept. She surpassed a chuckle that had threatened to escape her, even if a thousand years passed it seemed that Crimson would resist change with every fiber of his being.

"Hello son," Celestia said, her voice filling the room while Twilight and her friends gasped behind her.

7: The Party

"SON OF A..." Crimson shouted, rolling off his cloud at the sound of an oddly familiar voice speaking to him, "Whose annoying me this...time?"

He looked at the door to the room that he had claimed as his for the night and found his mother, in all her glory, standing in the doorway, staring right at him. She looked almost identical to the last time he had seen her, the same triple colored flowing mane and tail, the same white coat, and the same golden jewelry she always wore. The only difference was that she looked less menacing, a look that had been replaced by a much kinder and friendlier tone that he was unfamiliar with. It was a look that filled him with anger, the same anger that he had felt a thousand years ago when he had discovered what his mother had planned for him.

"Oh, its you," Crimson spat at his mother, growling at her as he climbed onto his cloud, "Why don't you just go back to Canterlot, or wherever you call home these days, and just leave me alone?"

"And here I was hoping your attitude had improved over the last thousand years," Celestia sighed, clearly hoping for a warmer reaction than that, "I was also hoping you might have overcome spending your days on that cloud of yours."

Crimson said nothing, choosing to ignore his mother and hope that she eventually gave up, let him return to his life in the Everfree Forest, and then leave him to his peace for the rest of their lives. He rested on his cloud, his anger burning like the fire in his heart as he let his stick burn freely and blew out a puff of smoke every now and then. After a moment he left his cloud give out under him and he hit the ground hard, causing him to growl and look up at his mother, whose horn was glowing. He wasn't sure if she meant to cause him harm or not, but at that point he really didn't care as he got onto his hooves and spun a cloud of smoke around. The smoke's shape distorted until a fully grown smoke tiger appeared beside him, which growled at his mother and pawed the crystal ground as it prepared to jump.

What happened next was Celestia's magic raced forward and collided with the tiger, breaking it into pieces as the stick that was resting in Crimson's mouth turned to dust.

"What have I told you about smoking?" Celestia asked, raising her eyebrow as her gaze remained on her son, "It is a disgusting habit that, once started, is incredibly hard to break. Especially if somepony has been doing it for the last thousand years."

"I'm not a little colt anymore," Crimson spat, conjuring a small silver tin before pulling out another stick and lighting it, "so you cannot tell me what to do anymore, Mother. And please, refrain from destroying my Smokesticks, I only have two or three more before I have to harvest more of them."

"Give me the Sigil of Fire and I might do that," Celestia calmly said, knowing that if she met anger with anger it would only fuel her son's anger even more, "It was entrusted into your safekeeping over a thousand years ago and then you disappeared with it."

"Gone and forgotten," Crimson spat, his eyes resting on his mother and his magic at the ready to summon a flame creature in a moments notice, "just like most of the other Sigils. Forgotten like every powerful artifact that you came into contact with. Just forget about it and leave me alone, otherwise things will get nasty fast."

Celestia stared into his eyes and knew he wasn't bluffing; his anger at her was so great that he was ready to do anything and everything to make her go away. She knew where two of the other Sigils were located, as she was the one who had dived into their resting places and secured them in the safest place ever constructed. Despite what he said Crimson knew exactly where the Sigil of Fire was located, but she wasn't willing to annoy him any further in case he decided to burn something down.

"Fine, no Sigil of Fire for now," Celestia replied, knowing that she was giving him the win for now, "but in all seriousness, you need to stop smoking before you get a disease or something. Even alicorns can get sick son and when you do you'll regret not listening to me."

"Go. Away." Crimson spat at her, growling as he conjured his cloud back into the room, "Otherwise whatever happens next will be your fault, just as everything that has happened in Equestria, even the stuff I don't know about, is all your fault."

"A leader is supposed to make mistakes my son," Celestia said, watching her son climb onto the bed and growl at her again, "and I've make more mistakes then I'm willing to admit. But I have learned from each and every one of my mistakes."

Crimson huffed and rolled onto his side, choosing to close out the world so he could finally rest on his cloud, letting the smoke from his new stick fill the air around him. Celestia sighed and turned back towards the door, passing by Twilight and her friends before she gently closed the door with a really light tug. She continued walking down the hallway, eventually turning into a dining room area and taking a seat at the table, where she placed her crown and let out a long drawn-out sigh.

"Twilight darling, we had better get going," Rarity said, beckoning to herself and the rest of their friends, "Its almost midnight and we're going to need some rest so we can survive Pinkie's party tomorrow. Good night dear."

"Night girls," Twilight said, showing them to the door and closing it before returning to her mentor, "Princess? Is something wrong?"

"Oh Twilight, I had hoped that Crimson had changed," Celestia sighed, staring at the gemstone in her crown, "but it seems that even a thousand years aren't enough to change his habits. He was a smart stallion a thousand years ago, enough that ponies often suggested that he might be one of the finest strategists of the time, but then he acquired...some less desirable habits. He stared smoking, sleeping on that cloud of his, and ignoring everypony that was around him until he eventually disappeared from the eyes of the public."

"It almost sounds like he blames you for everything," Twilight commented, wrapping a wing around her mentor, "but don't worry Princess Celestia, I don't blame you for anything at all."

"Thanks Twilight," Celestia said, smiling as she checked the time, "Well, I had better get back to Canterlot and talk with Luna, she might be interested in this turn of events. Maybe she can ask where the Sigil of Fire is so we can find it later."

"Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked, something coming to mind.

"Yes Twilight?" Celestia said, looking up at her student for a moment, "What is it?"

"Do you think you'd be able to come to Crimson's 'Welcome to Ponyville' party?" Twilight asked, knowing that it might not be the best idea in the world, but also knew that the two of them needed to make up after the last thousand years.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Celestia replied, smiling at Twilight.

Twilight had no idea what these Sigils were, something that she really hated, but she knew that one day she'd find out about them and what they were supposed to do. Celestia grabbed her crown and made for the open window, leaping into the air and letting her wings catch the air so she could get back to Canterlot. Twilight, on the other hoof, retreated to her own room, where Spike was already sound asleep, and climbed into her own bed without delay. Her mind continued to wonder about Crimson and all the things that he claimed, wondering exactly how many of them were really true and how many he had made up. Eventually she went to sleep and drifted off into the dream world.

-----------------------------

Crimson moaned and opened his eyes, staring up at a bunch of trees that resembled the trees that he had always slept around in the Everfree Forest. He knew he wasn't in the Everfree Forest for three reasons; first, the color of the sky was completely wrong, two, he was feeling absolutely no familiar magical energy from the surrounding trees, and three, he had fallen asleep in a crystal castle and not a forest setting. Without being told where he was Crimson knew the answer, he only thought that he'd have some time alone before he was pulled into his Aunt's realm.

He was in the Dreaming World, where Princess Luna ruled.

"Nephew Crimson!" a vice called out, giving him little time before somepony wrapped their legs around him from behind, "It has been too long since last we saw you. Tell us dear nephew, how are you faring in the Everfree Forest?"

Crimson sighed and pulled himself free from her embrace, turning around to find his aunt, Princess Luna, standing behind in in all of her glory. She looked the same as the last day he had seen her, the day that he had left his old home to pursue his own lifestyle and chose to start living amongst the creatures in the Everfree Forest. On his first night in the forest she had come to him in his dreams, to understand why he had left her and her sister and to let him know that she was sorry for any pain that she might have caused him. It wasn't that his aunt had done anything to him, rather it was his mother and her plans for him that had eventually led him to leave the castle behind.

"I'd be much better if I was in the actual Everfree Forest," Crimson replied, puffing his stick while taking a seat, "but I can't be there on account of three young fillies found me and ratted me out to this Twilight Sparkle. Surely you've heard of her?"

"Indeed I have," Luna said, sitting across from him while conjuring a table full of snacks between them, "she and her friends were the ones that saved me from the Nightmare that had taken over. They used the Elements of Harmony and broke through my jealously that I had harbored towards my sister, allowing me to regain who I had been before. I believe those fillies were the Cutie Mark Crusaders, though they do whatever comes into their minds and hope it gets them their Cutie Marks."

Crimson laughed, it explained why the three fillies had been in the Everfree Forest in the first place. Every time he was around his mother he felt nothing but hate and anger, but his aunt, on the other hoof, was one of the few ponies that could cool his burning anger. She was the only pony, in all of Equestria, that could actually make him forget about the troubles of the normal world and make him freely laugh. That was one of the reasons he liked his aunt more than his mother, she could calm the rage that filled him at any moment.

"I've met them," Crimson said, lifting a dreamcake up and taking a bite out of it, "they seemed insane, but I guess I was a little too arrogant to believe that I could rest easy for the rest of my life without being discovered. Once this party is over I'll head back to my peaceful existence and hopefully be forgotten."

"Don't be mad at me nephew," Luna suddenly said, catching his attention more than usual, "but dearest sister asked about the Sigil of Fire and never got a straight answer. Surely you can tell me more than what you told her?"

"I could never be mad at you Aunt Luna," Crimson sighed, wondering how best to tell the truth, "Its with my royal jewelry, sealed in the ruined castle in a room that only I should be able to unlock. Seeing how my mother's latest student is the Element of Magic I bet that if she knew where the room was located she'd send this Twilight Sparkle into the ruins and break my seal. The important thing is that the Sigil is safe, just as you charged me to keep it."

"And about my daughter?" Luna asked, hoping that he could give her something, "You were the last pony to see my sweet daughter, surely you might know when she'll return to me?"

Crimson remembered his cousin with ease, knowing that she was quite the fighter, resisted orders as much as he resisted his mother's wishes, and had been lost in a freak storm when they had last flown over the Everfree Forest. That was the other reason he had been waiting in the Everfree for the last thousand years, besides remaining alone he was waiting for his cousin to return. He had been keeping watch on the skies for a reason, he was waiting for the storm to come back and bring Luna's daughter back to her.

"A few more days," Crimson replied, letting out a long puff of smoke, "I have kept watch on the Everfree Forest and I can tell that she'll be returning soon."

Tears filled Luna's eyes as she reached across the table and embraced her nephew, happy to hear that her daughter would be returning to her soon. Crimson, however, decided to accept the gesture and returned it, knowing that he was putting his aunt through a lot by just telling her the truth.

"Well, I had better let you sleep," Luna said, pulling back and wiping the tears away, "You've got a big day tomorrow. Knowing Pinkie her party could start early and go well into the afternoon."

Crimson nodded and the Dream began to fade, returning him to his peaceful rest until the morning came and he'd be forced to hang out with the lavender alicorn and her friends.

-----------------------------

When Crimson woke up he felt the sting of the sun's rays hitting his eyes, causing him to lift a hoof to block it before he eventually climbed off his cloud. It was something that he had blocked out with the trees in the Everfree, but now he had to deal with the sunlight and it only made him want to leave the town even faster. He growled and shrunk his cloud, stashing it with his tin before he made his way towards the door of his room, only to find a baby dragon staring at him.

"Are you okay?" the dragon asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I'm not much of a morning pony," Crimson replied, not sure if he should be angry with the dragon or just neutral, "So, what does your Princess want of me this morning? More questions, or are we going to hit the party and get this over with?"

"You mean Twilight?" the dragon asked, "She wanted me to get you and direct you to Sugarcube Corner, where Pinkie has put together a party for you. I guess once the party is over your free to do whatever you want, like return to the Everfree Forest and ignore Ponyville."

"Very well then," Crimson said, knowing that he wouldn't be left alone until the party was truly over, "lead on then."

Crimson had expected the town to be silent, but the moment that he stepped out of the crystal castle he found dozens of ponies walking around the street. They seemed to be going about their daily lives, buying whatever items they needed while chatting with others that they passed. One or two ponies noticed him and the dragon, but instead of freaking out that there was another alicorn walking the streets they accepted him with a simple nod. He was confused, having thought that ponies feared the alicorns at one point, but it seemed like his mother had broken that down and now they were accepted.

"Here we are," Spike said, beckoning to a building that reminded Crimson of ice cream with sprinkles, "Sugarcube Corner. The girls are inside waiting for you, so I wouldn't keep them waiting."

Crimson sighed and walked through the doors, finding at least a dozen ponies, six of which he recognized immediately, while the others stared at him in wonder and awe. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were sitting near what he assumed was a tub of water, but they attacked the water and came up with an apple in their mouths. Rarity and Fluttershy sat at a table, sipping on cups of tea, while Spike ran over and joined whatever conversation they were having at the moment. Twilight, on the other hoof, sat at a table alone, shuffling through some paperwork that Crimson was sure came with her kingdom. That left the mare known as Pinkie Pie, who spotted him from across the room and came right at him, appearing next to him in an instant.

"The pony of the hour is here!" Pinkie loudly said, strapping a party hat to his head before directing him to a cake that sat in the back of the room, "Ponies will say hi, want to chat with you, and then we'll all eat cake before the party is done."

Crimson moaned and sat near Twilight for the next few minutes, watching pony after pony come up to him and officially welcome to the town of Ponyville. He met with the Mayor, a pony called Mayor Mare apparently, and a house builder at the same time, as if they wanted Crimson to move into the town. After that he really didn't care who the other four ponies were, despite that one of them controlled the towns weather and one of them knew the best plants. He drowned most of them out, wanting the party to be over so he could go back to the forest and be alone.

"Princess Celestia! You came." Twilight exclaimed, noticing her mentor enter the building.

"I told you I'd make it," Celestia said, walking towards the table with a piece of parchment floating behind her, "Hello son, I hope you've enjoyed the party so far."

Crimson had noticed his mother entering the building and had hoped that she would converse with the town's Mayor, but instead she came right to Twilight's table. The moment she was near them he growled at her, his earlier anger returning as the end of his stick produced a flame of its own. He was positive that either the pink mare had invited her or Twilight had, but he was willing to bet that it had been the alicorn, as she had been his mother's student at one point.

"Unfortunately I cannot stay," Celestia said, dropping the scroll next to Crimson, "I have matters in Canterlot to deal with and am needed back before noon. I came to give you this son, in the hopes that you'd forgive me."

Crimson watched his mother leave the building and take off, no doubt to return to Canterlot and tell the nobles of yet another alicorn they could pester. For a few minutes he remained angry, but then he finally cooled off enough to glance at the scroll that had been left behind and noticed that Twilight was looking at it as well. He sighed and grabbed it, pulling it close to him before unwrapping it and reading what his mother was trying to bother him with this time.

"Let's see; 'A public notice to all the Provinces of Equestria that Crimson Flare, son of Princess Celestia, has been named the Prince of Fire and the Co-Owner of the Everfree Kingdom.'," Crimson started reading, realizing exactly what move his mother had played on him.

His mother was a crafty one, issuing a notice to all of Equestria and telling everypony that there was another alicorn that was residing in the Everfree Forest. There was no way that he was going to get any peace now that the entire world knew of his existence, which was the complete opposite of what he wanted. The fact that his freedom had been smashed into pieces with this once act just made him even more angry than he had already been. He tried to burn the blasted parchment, but the flames just rolled off it and the parchment looked the same, yet just another trick from his crafty mother.

He'd play by her rules for now, but she had no idea that his cousin was close to coming back and that the same moves she was making on him would fail on her.

8: The Sigil of Fire

Crimson growled and stashed the scroll in his hiding place, puffing some smoke out of his mouth as he watched the rest of the partygoers leave the building. No doubt that they all had jobs to attend to and had only come out so they could meet the latest addition to the list of alicorns in Equestria. The only ponies that stayed behind were Pinkie Pie, who clearly worked at Sugarcube Corner and had set up the party with the owner's permission, and Twilight Sparkle. The alicorn just sat next to him, either reading one of the pieces of parchment that rested on the table or making notes in a journal that floated next to her.

Instead of wasting his day in the Sugarcube Corner he decided to head back to the Everfree Forest, knowing that he needed to see how much needed to be repaired before he even considered moving into the castle. He got onto his hooves and walked out of the building, turning around the corner and heading for the exit of the town that led to the entrance of the forest. As he walked a flame escaped from his stick and turned into the serpent he had summoned earlier, which hissed at him as if it had asked a question.

"To the ruined castle of course," Crimson growled, not even bothering to turn back to the serpent, "My mother wants to find the Sigil of Fire, but she cannot locate it without my cooperation. She knows its a matter of time before I head to where the Sigil is located and move it, but she doesn't know I'm going to move it right now."

"Crimson? Where are you going?"

He had forgotten that Twilight was likely interested in the Sigils, as the moment that his mother had mentioned them her eyes had lit up with the prospect of gaining more information. The serpent hissed at him and beckoned to Twilight with his tail, as if it was curious as to who she actually was and what he was going to do with her. Crimson growled at the serpent, but made no comment to it, causing it to blow a small bout of flames out of its mouth before staring at Twilight.

"To the ruined castle of course," Crimson replied, turning back to the street, "as my mother has issued a notice telling everypony that I'm around and that I have my own kingdom I am missing one key item. Surely you know what I am referring to?"

"Your royal jewelry!" Twilight exclaimed, the truth dawning on her, "You must let me accompany you into the Everfree Forest and show them to me, as they are ancient relics from Equestria's past. They need to be studied and cataloged for future generations."

"You won't leave me alone if I say no anyway," Crimson commented, beckoning for her to join him, "and I'd rather not waste any time arguing with you. So just follow me into the Everfree Forest, take notes on what needs repairs in the castle, and stay out of my way so I can get my jewelry."

The serpent hissed at him again, but instead of responding to it Crimson used his magic and reconnected it to his stick, sending it back to where it had come from. Twilight gave him the same look she had given him the first time he had summoned the serpent, one of curiosity at seeing a spell she hadn't learned about. It was clear that she wanted to learn the spell, but he wasn't in the mood for teaching anything to anypony and silently made his way out of the town. Even without looking back he knew that Twilight was following him, because she wanted to learn everything about him and his magic that she could.

Crimson wasn't planning on showing her anymore of his magic, so Twilight was about to be disappointed with their journey through the Everfree Forest. It didn't take them very long to reach the entrance to the Everfree, but the moment they did Crimson stepped forward and walked right past the sign. He had many places in the Everfree where he could sleep and place traps, so seeing now they were scattered throughout the forest he knew the pathways inside and out. With him in charge they'd be able to make their way to the ruined castle in a matter of fifteen to twenty minutes, but with those Diamond Dogs running around he knew that his times could change.

Not even halfway to the ruined castle they were stopped by another large gathering of Diamond Dogs, roughly twelve of them that had their spears and nets ready for him this time. They were the same Diamond Dogs he had trashed only a day or two ago, thought it didn't seem like they had taken the hint that he wasn't to be messed with.

"Foolish pony," the lead dog said, standing near a tree while staring at him, "you have walked right into our trap. Third times the charm they say."

"Not you schmucks again," Crimson moaned, already annoyed at having his mother ruin his life and not needing these dogs again, "Why won't you take my hints and get lost? I have burned you all time and time again, yet you keep coming back like you think I'll give up and let you win. Here's my ultimatum for you guys; either get lost and leave the Everfree Forest, or I will burn the daylights out of you all."

"Nice try pony, but we will win," the Diamond Dog said, spear at the ready, "And this time we'll crush two of you in an instant."

"Ugh, fine, have it your way," Crimson growled, turning to Twilight for a moment, "Twilight, be a dear and move back a bit. I'd rather not get an earful from my mother if I accidentally burn you with one of my spells."

Twilight, not exactly sure what was going on now, backed up to one of the trees they had passed and stayed by it, watching Crimson and wondering what he was going to do. Crimson, once he was sure that the mare was out of the way, tapped the ground with his hoof once and the entire area around him was engulfed by flames. Twilight yelped and jumped backwards, surprised by how fast he had summoned the flames and worried that they might have singed her wings a bit, but found nothing burnt.

The Diamond Dogs, on the other hoof, released a chorus of yelps and tried to retreat, but instead they found themselves clocked in place as the flames licked their paws. Crimson released a puff of smoke and two large serpents, each of them made of fire, emerged from his stick and coiled around him as if they were protecting him. The Diamond Dogs cowered before the flaming creatures, which raced towards them and began to consume them, burning their spears, nets, ropes, and even their fur. After a minute of suffering Crimson recalled the serpents and the flames died down, leaving the Diamond Dogs in a state of pure agony.

"Now, if I see any of you ever again I won't hesitate to turn you all to bones," Crimson shouted, his voice booming into their ears, "Leave the Everfree Forest and never return."

Twilight was shocked that he could have done so much damage to those poor Diamond Dogs in such a short amount of time, yet feel nothing for them. She knew that, from the answers Crimson had given her, that he was constantly being attacked by the Diamond Dogs over the last thousand years. She suspected that he had finally snapped and had gone all out on them, like he was teaching them a lesson that they hadn't be able to learn at all. Still, just by looking at all the damage he had done, Twilight knew that the rage and anger in his heart hadn't lessened in the last day at all. In fact Twilight as sure that his rage and anger had increased by an incredible amount.

It made her wonder how much rage, anger, and hatred he was carrying in his heart.

Crimson took a puff of his stick and released a large smoke cloud into the air, letting it float into the sky before he even considered completing what he had come to do. He sighed and continued along the path that he had chosen the moment they entered the forest, knowing Twilight would tag along as he heard the beat of wings. He had to admire her curiosity, it was powerful enough to make her walk past the damage he had done so she could learn what the Sigils were and to see his ancient jewelry.

"How could you do that to them?" Twilight asked, hoping that he didn't do something like that to her while they walked.

"Because they were annoying and I have had enough of them in the last thousand years," Crimson replied, letting his smoke come off the stick freely, "Those dogs were lucky that I didn't unleash everything I had on them, otherwise we would have walked through charred bodies and scattered bones."

Twilight wasn't sure she wanted to see how much power he would wield if he used everything he had, knowing it had to be more than what she just witnessed. She silently followed after him, keeping her eyes peeled for anymore creatures that might incite Crimson's rage and cause him to burn them down. As they walked she also noticed that Crimson had fallen silent, as if he wanted to stay true to the task he had set for himself and would not deviate from it. She was still curious about the Sigils, but knew she'd have to wait a while before she learned anything about them and why Princess Celestia wanted the Fire one.

Crimson approached the worn out bridge that led to the ruined castle and crossed it, ignoring the fact that he could have just flown across even as one of the planks snapped in half.

"First order of business would be to repair this bridge," Crimson commented, blowing a puff of smoke out, "and maybe build a second one to help the flow of ponies I'm sure will be coming one day."

Twilight nodded and pulled out a clean piece of parchment, taking a quill and making a note of the bridge work that needed to be done, including the suggestion of a second one. She had to agree that the bridge needed to be repaired or even replaced, but she wasn't too sure that there needed to be a second bridge. They moved into the front area of the castle, Crimson making comments on the plants, fixtures, and stairs that could improve the place's image while Twilight made notes about them. He also made some strange comments about throwing up some walls around the castle for protection, as if he was preparing for a fight with something, but Twilight continued her notes anyway.

On the inside of the actual castle Crimson had a few ideas for every single piece that he could lay his eyes on, going from the banners above the thrones, to the carpet they walked on, and even the thrones themselves. Twilight was beginning to think that he was designing the castle not only for himself, but for the cousin that he continued to say was going to arrive soon. With the banners she made a note about the Cutie Marks Crimson wanted to use, a spiral of fire for himself and lightning that was surrounded by a dark swirl for his cousin. From what she was gathering his cousin seemed like a strange pony, but Twilight kept her mouth shut as Crimson continued down another hallway.

They eventually made their way down the same hallway that Twilight had followed when she had caught the scent of his stick, which had enabled her to find him. They passed the broken windows, a note being added to replace all of them, before they came to a split in the hallway and turned to the right. They descended into the lower reaches of the castle, where Twilight and her friends had found the journal that Princesses Celestia and Luna had shared a thousand years ago. Now that Twilight thought about it she never saw a mention of their children in that journal, but according to Crimson the book was in the royal library.

Crimson stopped halfway down the hallway and stared at the wall on their right, though what Twilight saw was just a normal wall without anything strange about it. She wondered why he had chosen to stop here of all places, but after a moment his horn lit up and a doorway appeared in the side of the wall. She watched as a dozen magical runes appeared on the door, though from what she could tell they were designed to prevent anypony that wasn't Crimson from opening the room. Other runes were designed to paralyze anypony foolish enough to find and touch the door, letting Twilight know that he had put a lot of effort into protecting the room.

After a few moments the runes shattered one by one, eventually leaving the wooden door bare and allowing Crimson to push the door open with his magic. He walked into the room and the darkness was cast away, revealing a dozen torches that lined a hallway that lead to another wooden door. This one, Twilight noted, was also surrounded by runes, only these four runes were much more powerful than the ones on the previous door. Crimson looked at the runes as they melted away, releasing their hold on the door and allowing him to push it open without delay.

What Twilight found in the room was a bunch of empty bookshelves, a painting or two, and a rather large chest that was bound up in rune after rune. Crimson walked up the chest and his magic wrapped around it, acting like the keys as they ripped through the runes and the various locks that had been placed on it. Once everything was off of the chest Crimson lifted the lid up and began lifting items out of the chest, revealing the jewelry he used to wear a thousand years ago. They were colored deep red, similar a bright flame, and Crimson attached his hoof shoes without much delay, though when he pulled out his chest piece and crown Twilight noticed a large ruby resting in the chest piece.

"What is that?" Twilight asked, feeling the magic radiating from the gemstone and not believing how much was coming from it.

"This is the Sigil of Fire," Crimson replied, placing a small deep red crown on his head, "one of the four stones that channel the Primordial power of the fundamental elements. The Prime Sigils channel the power of the four elements; Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. They were once considered to be powerful relics that a skilled unicorn could use to perform some of the most dangerous magic rituals Equestria's early history. Ponies fought over them for years, until somepony named Starswirl the Bearded found the four Prime Sigils and scattered them across the world, hiding them in places where the rest of the world wouldn't be able to find them.

Then you have the Minor Sigils, smaller gemstones that aren't incredibly important, but are worth putting the time into collecting them to keep out of the wrong hooves. I know of several Minor Sigils that actually exist; Light, Stars, Shadow, Chaos, Love, Deception, Hatred, and Power. Most of the Minor Sigils are symbols of power, so you'll see them on top of crowns or attached to a piece of jewelry that the pony that found it usually wears. I would assume that my mother and aunt are both still carrying their Minor Sigils of the Sun and Moon, but the others are scattered and lost."

Twilight caught the bit where the Minor Sigils would be worn by the pony that found them and then recalled seeing a small gemstone on top of Cadence's crown. There had also been a small gemstone attached to Queen Chrysalis' crown when she attacked Canterlot, though she didn't remember seeing Discord, Sombra, or even Tirek carrying a small stone with them. She had also caught the bit about Starswirl the Bearded, how he had somehow found the Prime Sigils and hid them across the world to stop the fighting. It just proved that he had the best intentions for everypony else when he managed to hide them.

"So, are you going to give Princess Celestia the Sigil?" Twilight asked, hoping that he'd do the right thing.

"Absolutely not," Crimson declared, turning around and heading for the door, "I found the Sigil of Fire's resting place and liberated it, attaching it to my royal jewelry so I could carry it with me at all times. Once I fled and came to the forest I stashed both the jewelry and the Sigil in this chest, sealing them away until I ever needed to take them out again. I'm positive that my mother has found the Prime Sigils of Water and Earth, though the Sigil of Wind has been missing for a very long time. I won't be giving her the third Sigil."

Twilight didn't know whether or not to be annoyed with him that he wouldn't give the Sigil back, or if she should be curious about the Sigils as a whole. She was also curious as to what the rituals were that the Sigils were a part of, what could have possessed Starswirl the Bearded to take them and hide them away. She promised herself that the next time she visited Canterlot she's look for the book Crimson had told her about and see if she couldn't find the other Sigils. She had a feeling she knew where Princess Celestia might have put them, but she wasn't about to say anything in case Crimson was looking to collect the others as well.

"You know, I don't think you ever told me what your cousin's name was," Twilight commented, following Crimson out of the formerly sealed off room, "Do you think you could share that information with me?"

"I cannot," Crimson replied, sealing the room off once they were back in the main hallway, "I will only reveal her name to ponies once she returns to Equestria, which should be soon. I would apologize for this, but I wish to keep my secrets to myself and sharing my cousin's name and titles aren't one I can share just yet."

Twilight moaned, realizing that getting any answers with Crimson was like trying to crack one of the hardest puzzles she had ever encountered. She had barely gotten any answers out of him already, but he had been cooperative up until the point when she had mentioned his parents. She needed to get her hooves on that book, so she could discover everything about Crimson and his cousin without having to ask him anymore.

She needed to plan a trip to Canterlot and visit the royal library, because that book was as good as hers.

9: The Forgotten Book

As Twilight followed Crimson out of the ruined castle, which was apparently going to be remade into a home for him and his mysterious cousin, her mind began to wander. Crimson seemed like a decent stallion half the time, but when he let his rage and anger take over he almost seemed like a bright flame whose sole purpose was to destroy. To Twilight it almost looked like there were two personalities to him, but she knew that most ponies had a single personality, until something or somepony broke them in some way. As they walked he continued to smoke on his stick, something that Twilight found annoying since he never seemed to remove the stick unless it was used up.

The anger towards Princess Celestia, Twilight continued to come back to that and it made her wonder exactly what she had planned for Crimson that had set him off. Being a Prince of Equestria was unlikely, as he had already been one in the ancient days and clearly had no trouble putting his royal jewelry back on. She knew what a strategist was, but every time she looked at him she couldn't see what had made him so special for that role back during the early days of Equestria. There was something about him that she couldn't quite place her hoof on, but she also knew where the answers about him and his cousin laid.

After all, it was Crimson who had told her where the book should be located and she intended to get as many answers as possible out of it when she got to Canterlot.

"So, where is this Canterlot you mentioned earlier?" Crimson commented, snapping Twilight out of her thoughts, "All I know about it was that my mother and aunt were going to build another city on the side of a mountain. Whether or not they actually did that I never cared to find out until now."

"To the east of course," Twilight replied, really wishing that they could see the city over the trees, "built into the side of a mountain and accessed by either flying or taking the train."

"Ah, I see my mother stuck to her original plans," Crimson said, releasing another puff into the air, "I think its time that I head to this 'Canterlot' and see if it matches the rest of the plans that she and Aunt Luna made together."

Twilight sighed and realized that she was never going to get away from him, which gave her plenty of time to study his habits and learn more than what a book could tell her. She tapped him on his side and beckoned for him to follow her, taking off into the skies and heading for the few clouds that happened to be floating around the forest. He stared at her like she had lost her mind, but once they were in the air she pointed towards Canterlot and began the flight towards the city, knowing that he would follow. Sure enough she caught him in her sights as they went, but at least he'd get to see the city Celestia and Luna had planned to make a long time ago.

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"So, this is Canterlot." Crimson commented, sounding neutral as they landed near what he assumed was the train station, "Its...not really living up to what my mother and aunt had planned over a thousand years ago."

"We've been here all of one minute and you already hate it," Twilight moaned, realizing how hard it was to impress the alicorn, "Just let me show you around the city and then make your decision when we're done."

There was also something strange happening with the Sigil of Fire, Twilight could no longer feel the magical power that had been radiating from it when Crimson had uncovered it. She wasn't sure how he had pulled it off, but she was sure that Crimson had activated one of the ancient spells he must have placed on his chest piece. A spell that she was sure was designed to restrict the magic of the Sigil and prevent any unicorns or alicorns from feeling the power it contained. It was the perfect way for him to carry the Sigil without somepony questioning him as to why he had something that radiated so much power.

"As you wish," Crimson said, blowing a puff of smoke into the air as he followed her into the city, "I'd like to see what has become of my mother's grand city she had designed."

Another thing Twilight noticed about Crimson was that he spoke about Princess Luna with praise and respect, though when he spoke of Princess Celestia he made her out to be the villain of some epic story. She knew Princess Celestia had fought with many ponies a thousand years ago, she had even met a lot of them, but she knew that there was no way that the Princess would ever do anything like that to her own child. She needed the facts before she made any decisions about Crimson, facts that she was about to acquire once she got her hooves on that book.

As they walked through the crowds ponies stopped and stared at them, some of them pointing at Crimson and whispering amongst each other. News had traveled fast through Canterlot, telling of Crimson's presence to all of Equestria, and it seemed like everypony who had read the notice didn't know what to make of it. Now that they could see who Princess Celestia had mentioned they were shocked and surprised to see him walking amongst them, in their capital no less. They also appeared to be shocked to see Twilight walking beside him, but some figured that she was just showing him the city and left it at that.

"So," Twilight said, walking past the park as they got closer to the castle, "did you or your cousin have a pet or an assistant?"

"Not me," Crimson replied, blowing yet another puff out, "as for my cousin I know she didn't have a pet, but an assistant could be another matter. She never mentioned one to me, but there is a chance she found something, like your dragon for instance, to help her out."

"His name is Spike," Twilight told him, not really sure if she ever told Crimson his name or not, "and when I was just a filly I hatched him from his egg. We have literally been together most of the time since that day. In fact, he even helped save the Crystal Empire from Sombra when he returned some time ago."

There was more that she could have said, but then they crossed paths with Prince Blueblood, one of the worst nobles in the entire city in Twilight's opinion. His mane, tail, and coat were perfect as always, but the moment he noticed who was standing next to Twilight his face turned sour and angry. The last time Twilight had seen him angry was during the Grand Galloping Gala, which was the only time she ever had any reason to interact with him. He wasn't exactly friendly towards Rarity, but she had no idea what was setting him off this time.

"So, your the Prince that everypony is all worked up about," Blueblood spat, glaring right at Crimson like he was going to attack him, "the Prince that Princess Celestia cares sooooo much about. You come out of exile for one day and suddenly your a Prince of Equestria with your own blasted Kingdom in the middle of the blasted Everfree Forest. What makes you so damn special?"

"Besides the fact that she's my mother?" Crimson stated, releasing a puff of smoke into the air, "She's been planning this since the day my cousin and I left, so I wouldn't get your tail in a bunch about all of this."

"By Celestia's mane," Blueblood said, staring at the stick in his mouth, "what are you doing?"

"Smoking," Crimson replied, pulling the stick out and spinning it around the noble before returning it to its rightful place, "I know most ponies these days don't smoke at all, but I've been doing it for a long time and nopony will prevent me from doing what I want. Don't bother trying to talk me down from it, my mother tried for years to make me quit smoking and I've brushed her off every single time she tried."

"You would dare disobey Princess Celestia?" Blueblood exclaimed, a hoof going to his mouth.

"I'm her son and we fight all the time," Crimson said, moving past the noble that he really didn't care about, "Now leave me in peace or I'll show you why I am called the Prince of Fire."

Twilight followed Crimson further down the street, leaving a frightened Blueblood standing alone in the middle of the street, knowing that it would be some time before he overcame his nerves. She had felt the power in Crimson's voice, similar to Princess Luna's Royal Canterlot Voice, that had somehow installed fear into Blueblood. The more she stayed around Crimson the more she learned about him, though she was beginning to think that he truly didn't care about anypony else. One thing was clear in her mind, she needed to get that book and learn all about Crimson.

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Twilight was kind enough to lead Crimson right to the Royal Library, a large structure that had a few guards to make sure that somepony didn't walk out with something that wasn't theirs. Crimson made a note of how many guards there were, what patters he could tell by just a glance, and how many wards there were around the building. If he was correct and his mother had placed the other two Sigils in the library, where ponies would pass them everyday without realizing what they actually were. Though if it were him hiding the Sigil of Earth and Sigil of Water he would have separated them, hiding one in a library and the other in the castle itself.

He spotted several more guards as they entered the hallway that would lead them to the Starswirl Wing, each of them saluting them as they passed and moving on with their routines. The moment that they passed into the actual library Crimson could literally feel the magical energy of one Sigil resting somewhere near them. That was when he spotted the giant hourglass resting in the middle of the chamber and could feel his own Sigil reacting to it, watching as an emerald color phased into existence inside the sands.

"So, she did separate them," Crimson said to himself, silently wondering where the other was located, "The Sigil of Earth, transformed from its natural state to look like normal sand in an ever turning hourglass. Very clever mother, taking my own suggestion for this particular Sigil and using it to hide it. Makes me wonder if you followed through with the other Sigil."

Twilight looked around just in case Princess Celestia came into the room while she wasn't looking, but found that they were still alone for the moment. While Crimson stared at the hourglass, and she guessed the Sigil of Earth, she turned towards the side of the wing that he had mentioned during her questioning. She turned to the right side of the library and made her way down to the last row of shelves, turning right yet again and staring up at the rows of books. Her magic rolled up the shelves, though her eyes fell right on a book, ironically located on the middle shelf and in the middle of the the row, that she didn't recognize.

The book, she noticed, was titled The Tale of Crimson Flare and Nightfury.

She had found it, the book that would tell her everything she needed to know about Crimson and his mysterious cousin, who she now knew was named Nightfury. With this one book she could learn exactly why Crimson hated Princess Celestia so much, why he had run away to the Everfree Forest, and how he had come into possession of the Sigil of Fire. All the answers she could ask for were resting right before her eyes, now all she needed to do was check the book out, which should be easy considering everypony that wasn't a alicorn thought it was a different book, and she'd be home free.

All of Crimson's secrets were hers now.

10: The Hidden Lake

"So you found it," Crimson noted, catching the grin that rested on Twilight's face, "exactly where I said it would be. Leave it to my mother to leave something so important in a place where it could easily get lost and eventually be lost to history forever. I hope you enjoy history, as most of whats in that book was written by my cousin before she vanished and then finished by my own hooves, though I'm willing to bet my mother messed with whats in it."

"I may hazard the same guess dearest nephew," a voice behind them said, causing Crimson to turn around and find his aunt standing behind him, "but I am willing to bet that you could fix the book of any errors that you might find with some time."

"How did you find us so fast?" Crimson asked, merely curious so he could fix the problem before his mother was aware of how close he was to her now.

"I felt the Sigil of Fire once you removed the bindings in the ruined castle," Luna smiled, placing a hoof on the gemstone, "I knew that you would rebind the magic so you could keep it hidden, but I also knew you'd come to Canterlot to explore and see where my sister hid the other Sigils. I can see that she took your suggestion and hid the Sigil of Earth in this hourglass, something she never bothered to show me the moment I returned to who I once was. However, I was shown where the Sigil of Water was located when I came back, so I could show you where it is if the two of you are interested in seeing the third Prime Sigil."

Crimson merely smiled and nodded, silently telling Luna that they'd love to see where the third Sigil was located, to which Luna returned the smile. Twilight was surprised that Crimson was so friendly around Princess Luna, but when he was around Princess Celestia or even spoke about her he seemed to become angry. She really hoped that the book she now carried would tell her exactly what the cause of that anger was, because then she might be able to help him overcome it.

Luna led them out of the royal library, stopping to give Twilight a few seconds to check out the book, and into a side entrance that connected with the main castle. The guards bowed as they made their way down the hallway, though Twilight knew they weren't used to seeing Crimson, as he was the newest member of the alicorn Princes and Princesses. Crimson himself didn't seem to mind the guards, but he had experience with them a thousand years ago and knew that they were merely there to protect everypony.

They made their way past the throne room, where Luna quickly told them that Celestia was in the middle of a very important court session and couldn't be bothered. Crimson seemed to release a sigh of relief at that news, letting them know that he was glad they wouldn't have to deal with his mother just yet. They continued past the throne room and around the next corner, walking down a hallway that slowly cut the sunlight off until the only lights they had were the torches on the walls. Twilight half expected them to travel towards a room near Luna's personal room, but they continued deeper into the hallway until she was sure that they had gone into the mountain itself.

As they walked Twilight thought she heard the sound of running water, but she knew from the maps of the area of Canterlot she had studied that they weren't any rivers that ran through the mountain. Crimson, hearing the water as well, raised an eyebrow as they approached an opening that was surrounded by light, not wasting a second at all. Once they entered the opened area Twilight and Crimson found a rather large lake resting in the ground before them, leaving Twilight to wonder where in the mountain they were.

"A transportation spell," Crimson commented, eying the opening they had entered from, "attached to a doorway like the one we entered and designed to take us someplace else."

"Right you are nephew," Luna said, finding it funny that he had beaten Twilight to the punch, "My sister designed the spell on that doorway, choosing this very location as the place that you would come out at once you stepped through it. Now, take a good look at the lake and tell me what you see."

Twilight stared out at the lake and wondered what they were supposed to be looking for, but after a few seconds she noticed that the water was running all by itself. She cast a short look back at Crimson and spotted the Sigil of Fire, catching a small glow within the gemstone, before returning her gaze to the water. The Sigil had reacted when they had gotten close to the Sigil of Earth, but it had died down the moment that Crimson revealed, even for a second, that the Sigil was the sand itself. It clicked in her mind what she was seeing, though she wondered how long it would have taken her to figure it out without seeing the Sigils of Fire or Earth.

"Its here isn't it?" Twilight asked, turning to Princess Luna to learn the truth, "The Sigil of Water is right in front of us isn't it?"

"That it is," Crimson commented, tapping the water ever so slightly and causing a sapphire glow to appear in the middle of everything, "though the same thing that happened to the Sigil of Earth has happened to the Sigil of Water. My mother transformed this Sigil into a large body of water, which she hid in the center of the mountain that was hiding the other Sigil we just saw. Its funny really, I suggested doing this to the Sigils to prevent our enemies from learning of their existence and here I find that my mother is using my suggestions to hide them in plain sight."

"You had valid suggestions a thousand years ago," Luna remarked, grinning as the water died down and the glow disappeared, "I'm not surprised that my sister decided to use some of them to hide several of our powerful artifacts in plain sight, to confuse our enemies and pretend that they were truly lost. If I know my sister she's waiting for all four Prime Sigils to be out in the open so she can capture them and hide them wherever she wants, no doubt using another of your suggestions. She won't make her move until the Sigil of Air is revealed and she's sure that she can get it before anypony else does."

"She just wants to keep them safe," Twilight said, wondering why Princess Luna though that Celestia was going to take the Sigil from Crimson just like that, "but, as Crimson said not too long ago, the Sigil of Air has been lost for a very long time."

"And its coming back," Crimson replied, stopping Twilight in her tracks, "I cannot share with you all the details of how I know this, but just trust me that I know what I'm talking about."

Twilight moaned and decided that getting a headache from talking to Crimson wasn't something that she really wanted at that moment, not when she had what she had come for. She had the book that would tell her everything, so she really didn't need to waste anymore time with Crimson, as he apparently wanted to spend his time with Princess Luna. She walked to the doorway and passed through it, finding herself back in the hallway they had walked down not ten minutes ago and sighed. Now all she had to do was leave the castle and then head back home, where she could study the book without too many interruptions.

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"You mentioned that it would be a few days before my daughter returned," Luna commented, staring out at the lake as Crimson floated on his cloud next to her, "could you tell me more of what might happen when she arrives so I can prepare for it?"

"It'll be a storm unlike any other," Crimson said, releasing a puff of smoke into the air, "The Everfree Forest doesn't get many storms, but I've noticed that the storm that took Nightfury is going to occur again sometime tomorrow. I have spent the last thousand years setting up hundreds of spells and runes all across the forest, all designed to release Nightfury from wherever she's being held and bring her back to us. All those spells get tiring after a while, thus I have taken to sleeping on a cloud that allows me to rest until I have the strength to do the same thing at a different site."

"And you plan on keeping the Sigil of Fire with you?" Luna asked, curious if he'd say the same thing to her that he had said a thousand years ago.

"For as long as I can," Crimson replied, sighing as he stared up at the ceiling, "Look, Aunt Luna, I'm sorry for whatever pain I may have caused you a thousand years ago, but I can promise you that I will do whatever I can to bring Nightfury back to us."

"I'm overjoyed to hear you say that," Luna said, tears running down as she thought about her daughter, "I can't wait to see my darling Nightfury again after so many years. I'm sure that she and Twilight will get along, seeing how they both enjoy reading and studying whatever catches their eyes, be it Pinkie Pie or the Sigils themselves. I'm sure if Twilight knew how to reverse the spell that Celestia cast on the Sigils she would undo them and then take them to her castle so she could study them."

"Just one more day," Crimson commented, blowing another puff into the air and twisting it into the shape of a serpent, "just one more day and she'll return to those that miss her dearly."

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Twilight emerged from the hallway that they had taken and made her way towards the throne room, just so she could leave the castle and go home. The guards saluted her as she passed, to which she nodded at them and allowed them to relax as she moved further down the hallway. She eventually made her way towards the throne room, where she found the door was opened and decided that she might as well tell Princess Celestia about the Sigil she was looking for. She peeked her head into the throne room and found Princess Celestia sitting in her usual place, with her usual two guards waiting at the bottom.

"Oh, Twilight," Celestia said, surprised that her student would visit without an advanced letter being sent to her, "What brings you to Canterlot this evening?"

Twilight had been caught up in discovering so much about Crimson that she had forgotten that it had been the early morning when she had left Ponyville. So much had gone on that day that she had, for the moment, lost track of the time and then realized that she was getting hungry for missing lunch. She'd make sure to grab something before she started studying the book she had found, but she needed to tell the Princess what she found out.

"Just showing Crimson around," Twilight answered, walking up to the throne, "He's talking to Princess Luna right now, so I thought I'd come here and tell you what I found out."

"Oh?" Celestia said, wondering what her student could have found out about her son that made her want to share with her, "And what have you found out Twilight?"

"He's got the Sigil of Fire," Twilight replied, knowing that Princess Celestia would want to know that it had been found again, "He stashed it in the ruined castle with his royal jewelry. I showed him around the city for a bit, but we found where the other two Sigils, Earth and Water, are hiding. Unfortunately Crimson doesn't want to give the Sigil over, but I thought that you'd want to know that he had it."

"I knew he had it stashed away somewhere," Celestia sighed, knowing that her son would not part with the Sigil if she asked for it, "I'll have to convince Luna to ask him if she can have the Sigil for a while, so we can properly secure it with the others. Was there anything else that he said that I should know about?"

For a moment Twilight considered asking what had made Crimson so mad at her that all he could think of was his anger whenever the two of them were in the same area. Instead of asking about that she decided to share what he had told her, about the fourth Sigil that she had originally been told was lost to everypony.

"Yes, there is," Twilight said, "Crimson confessed to both Luna and myself that the fourth Sigil, the Sigil of Air, was going to come back to Equestria soon. He wouldn't share exactly how he knew it was going to come back or when it was coming back, but he wanted us to know that it would be returning soon."

"I see," Celestia said, not sure if her son had lied to them or had spoken the truth, "Well, I'll be sure to keep my eyes out for its return then, if my son was telling the truth."

Twilight nodded and excused herself, knowing that there was something going on between Princess Celestia and Crimson Flare that she didn't want to get caught between. She had her book and all the secrets that it could contain about Crimson and Nightfury, secrets she was excited to find out. She just needed to go home and she could start uncovering everything.

11: The Storm Comes

After her visit with Princess Celestia Twilight left the throne room and immediately headed back to Ponyville, her mind returning to the book that she carried and the potential secrets that it could contain. Celestia had mentioned that her son had been one of the finest strategists in Equestria's history, but Crimson never verified the truth of that statement. Instead he basically told her to find and read the book she now carried, as if it held every answer to all the unanswered questions that she had tried to ask him.

Though something bothered Twilight; if the book she carried was so important to Princess Celestia, then why hadn't she been asked about it when she had visited the throne room. It was almost as if Princess Celestia had expected her to find the book and check it out, so she could research and get to know both of the mysterious alicorns. She intended to learn about Crimson and the ever mysterious Nightfury, but she also wondered what she could learn about the past that wasn't recorded anywhere else.

As she flew across the sky she noticed how far into the evening it was getting, telling her that she really had spent too much time in Canterlot and had completely missed one meal. When she arrived in Ponyville she noticed that most ponies were returning home for the evening, most likely to have dinner and get ready for bed. She sighed as she touched down in front of her castle, opened the front door, and headed inside before she walked to her study room, where she could have some peace for a while. When she entered the study she found Spike was already inside the room, sitting on one of the chairs and reading a book that was related to dragons.

"Oh, hey Twilight," Spike said, welcoming her the moment that he saw her enter the room, "Where's Crimson Flare? I thought that you'd be by his side almost all day long."

"He stayed behind in Canterlot," Twilight answered, pulling out the book she had checked out and placed it on a nearby desk, "but I got what I had gone to Canterlot for in the first place. This book will tell me everything I want to know about Crimson Flare, his cousin, the mysterious Nightfury, and what they had done before vanishing."

"Nightfury?" Spike asked, not really getting what she was saying, "Who would that be?"

"Apparently she's Princess Luna's daughter," Twilight told him, though that was really the only thing she knew about her, "but I am hoping that I can learn even more about her and Crimson by reading this book. Who knows what ancient secrets are resting within these pages, just waiting to be revealed to Equestria again?"

Spike sighed and went back to his reading, but Twilight didn't mind as she approached her own book and gently opened it to the first page, just in case the pages were fragile. To her surprise the book opened up like it had been freshly bound and had just been placed on the shelf, which she knew wasn't the case as it was over a thousand years old. It was in good condition for being so old, so Twilight made sure to keep anything that would harm it away from the table before beginning her own reading.

An hour passed before Twilight pulled herself back from the book and rubbed her eyes, curious as to why the part of the book she had read was all about the Dragon Wars, the time in Equestria's early history when the dragons sought to enslave all of pony kind. The countless books that she had already read on the subject made numerous notes about the various strategies that were used against the Dragon King, but never once did they mention who Princess Celestia's strategist was. Twilight had always assumed that it had been Princess Celestia or Princess Luna who had come up with the strategies and had simply told no one so they didn't hog all the glory to themselves.

The book she was reading, however, credited Crimson Flare as the strategist whose plans had lead the Equestrian army to victory against the Dragon King. Plans, she had discovered, that had been added to by his own cousin, whose research findings in how to effectively defeat a dragon had proven to be a big help. The book credited Crimson for denying a dangerous plan, that would have involved a massive loss of lives on both sides of the war, in favor of a plan that had, in the long run, forced the Dragon King to surrender the war. The pony that had suggested the denied plan was Princess Celestia herself, which surprised Twilight that one of her mentor's plans had been shot down, by her own son no less.

Another thing that caught her attention was that, near the beginning of the Dragon Wars, Crimson Flare had come up with a sound plan that could have cut the time of the war in half. The Dragon Wars had raged on for ten long years before a treaty had been signed by the Dragon King, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna, ending most of the conflict between their races. The cause of Crimson's plan, which had been backed by half of the military leaders back then, being denied and pushed to the side was none other than Princess Celestia herself. It shocked Twilight to her core, that the mare she had looked up to for so long had once been a warmonger that was fighting the dragons, risking the lives of the ponies she was ruling over.

She guessed that Princess Celestia had been right in her comment to her son, leaders were supposed to make mistakes and learn from each and every one of them. It didn't make up for what Twilight was learning about, but she was glad that her mentor had learned something from her own experiences. She was beginning to see why Crimson hated Princess Celestia so much, but she knew that this had to be the tip of the iceberg that was his hatred for her.

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Morning eventually came to Ponyville, but all Twilight got was a shake that snapped her out of the sleep she had fallen into while studying the book. There had been too much in the book for her to get through, even after the few hours she had spent trying to understand the true nature of the Dragon Wars. She had gone to bed late last night, all so she could regain her energy so she culd tackle the book once more and see what else she could possibly learn from it. That had been her original plan, but when Spike work her up he seemed almost scared of something.

"What's wrong Spike?" Twilight asked, yawning as she stared out the window and saw only a cloudy sky, "Don't tell me Rainbow Dash is trying some new trick that's going to somehow clear every cloud in the sky."

"Well, see, that's the thing," Spike said, rubbing the back of his head just a bit, "she's not doing that. There's a massive storm front moving over the Everfree Forest and the pegasi are too scared to approach it, fearing that they'll awaken the storm over Ponyville."

Twilight, knowing how odd it was for there to be a storm of any kind over the Everfree Forest, threw off her covers and opened the window, her eyes widening. Stretching out before her was one gigantic cluster of storm clouds, positioned right over the Everfree Forest as if that was where they actually belonged. It was strange, seeing so many clouds over the one place where Twilight wasn't used to seeing them, leaving her to wonder what was going to happen.

"So, the time has come at long last," a voice behind her said, causing her to turn around and find Crimson Flare standing there, "I have waited one thousand years for this day. The time has finally come for my cousin to return to Equestria."

"Wait a minute..." Twilight said, wondering where he had come from, "Where did you come from and how did you get in my room?"

"He came through the front door with Princess Luna," Spike spoke up, waving a claw in the air, "and as for how he got in, he just waited for me to come wake you up and show you the clouds over the forest. So, is it true that we're going into the forest to watch Nightfury break out of her prison?"

"Excuse me?" Twilight asked, not following what Spike was saying, who turned to Crimson for support.

"I have invited you, your dragon friend here, and my aunt to watch Nightfury return," Crimson replied, blowing a puff out of his mouth, "Usually I would ask for your forgiveness for not saying anything sooner, but, unfortunately, I do not have the time to apologize for not saying anything at all. A storm like this one only passes over the Everfree Forest once every thousand years, so if I miss this now then I will have to wait a thousand more years to release her. I suggest we get underway, otherwise we'll end up missing everything."

Twilight sighed and followed after Crimson, heading down the stairs with Spike in tow and found Princess Luna waiting for them at the landing, humming a tune to herself. The moment that they came down the stairs Twilight noticed that there was another arrival near the front door, which was none other than Princess Celestia herself. Crimson glared at his mother, but both he and Twilight knew that Celestia had found out about what was going on by asking Luna and then decided to tag along. Twilight thought that Crimson was going to burst into flames, but he sighed and released a large smoke cloud into the air before staring at his mother.

"Look, I don't have time to get into a fight with you," Crimson said, beckoning to the storm clouds, "if I miss this storm then we'd all have to wait another thousand years to release Nightfury. I would appreciate it if you stayed out of the way and let me do what needs to be done."

Princess Celestia stayed silent and beckoned for him to lead the way, causing Crimson to huff before leaving the castle, heading outside and opening his wings. Crimson took off and started towards the Everfree Forest, followed shortly by both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, though Twilight made sure that Spike was ready before taking off. Twilight had been so sure that Crimson would have burst when he saw his mother again, but apparently missing the storm that could release his cousin was enough for him to overlook his anger for the moment.

As they made their way towards the Everfree Forest Twilight noticed that there were a dozen pegasi in the air, making sure the storm stayed over the forest and came nowhere near the town. She couldn't blame them for being cautious, as the original storm that snatched Nightfury was powerful enough to rip her out of their world. She still didn't understand how she could have survived being sealed in a storm, but she was still learning what it meant to be an alicorn and knew there were somethings she hadn't discovered yet. Crimson made a slight turn and headed right towards the middle of the forest, exactly where Twilight knew the ruined castle rested and made her wonder why they were heading there.

Twilight and the Princesses landed before the ruined castle, but where Twilight expected Crimson to land as well he simply turned and flew into the forest itself.

"What is he doing?" Twilight asked, not sure what was going on anymore.

"He's gone to activate the ritual," Luna replied, shaking her head slightly, "He didn't explain everything that was going to happen, but he said that he needed to activate the runes and spells that he's placed all over the forest. My guess is that he needs them all activated before the real storm hits, otherwise all of his planning would have been in vain."

Just as the words left Princess Luna's mouth the wind picked up and shook the trees, followed by a round of thunder ringing throughout the entire area. As they stood there Twilight remembered one place in the entire ruined castle where they could see over the top of the trees, the chamber where she and her friends had activated the Elements of Harmony. She mentioned the chamber to both of the Princesses and they agreed with her, that the chamber would give them the perfect vantage point to watch whatever happened. Even as they made their way to the chamber they saw lightning spring off the clouds, though none of it came their way and they made it to the chamber easily.

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Crimson, after leaving his mother, aunt, and the new alicorn behind at the ruined castle, made his way back to the clearing that he had been found at, somewhat glad to be back. His horn lit up and a magical circle, the one he had been constructing over the last two hundred and fifty years, sprung up all around him, wrapping around the clearing. Flames came up from the ground, rising into the air until they reached over the tops of the trees, though as that happened he could feel the other three circles awaken. As the Elemental Circles woke up at last the sky erupted, the storm reacting to the magic exactly like he knew it would and had prepared for.

"Elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water," Crimson shouted, feeling the ground shake around him while the sky vibrated with lightning, "awaken and heed my call. Ancient magic of the Everfree Forest, rise into the sky and strike the ancient storm, to free she who was wrongfully imprisoned. Sigil of Fire, reinforce the power of the Everfree Forest and act as an anchor for Princess Nightfury, daughter of Princess Luna, and the Sigil of Wind, so that they may return to Equestria at long last."

Even as he spoke he could feel the four elements reacting to his call, arching towards the summoning circles he had painstakingly created over the last thousand years. All was going according to his plan, as the moment the elements were in their circles Crimson latched onto their energy and sent them straight into the sky, right towards the center of the storm. He had one shot at freeing his cousin; if the storm proved stronger than an alicorn that was wielding all four elements and one of the Prime Sigils then he wouldn't be seeing his cousin for another thousand years.

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Twilight felt the magic long before she felt the effects shake the ground all around them, astonished by how much power Crimson Flare had collected over the last thousand years. It made sense that he would have done everything possible to break through whatever prison that was keeping Nightfury out of Equestria, but she never expected him to go this far. Then she saw it, blue flames that wrapped around the entire forest as if the Everfree was one giant magical summoning circle, using the very magic of the forest to fuel Crimson's spell.

"I continue to be amazed by my son," Celestia commented, feeling the magic that was being used all around them as the rain continued to hit the ruined castle, "I thought that he was just sleeping the years away, ignoring everypony around him, but now I know that my earlier thoughts were incorrect. My son has stayed true to his roots as a strategist, spending the last thousand years creating this giant magical circle so he can pierce the veil that's keeping Nightfury imprisoned. If anypony can figure out how to save Nightfury it would be my son."

"I pray that he succeeds dear sister," Luna said, staring up at the sky as she waited for the main event, "I would give anything and everything to be with my dear Nightfury again."

"Um...Twilight?" Spike said, staring past the cloud layer that rested in the middle of the storm, "What's going on?"

It took Twilight a minute to realize what Spike was asking about, but the moment that she spotted what was happening in the sky she was taken aback once more. The four elements had responded to the summoning circles and had gathered in the middle of the sky, spiraling around each other before ascending into the middle of the storm. The ground all around the forest violently shook as the clouds rippled, lightning flashing towards the summoning circles as Twilight caught onto the dual nature of the circles. Crimson had designed them to summon the four elements to break the prison that Nightfury was in, but once that happened they drew the lightning towards them.

Crimson had created a way to not only pierce the barrier, but to also draw the lightning away from the central area, where the prison happened to rest.

Before she could reply to Spike's question the sky rippled, the clouds ripping themselves apart and exposing what was resting in the direct center of it all. Twilight's eyes widened as she spotted the prison that was keeping Nightfury locked away, a large dark blue sphere that rested right in the center of the storm. She was sure that it could have contained a pony that was near Princess Luna's size, but then she noticed that it was beginning to crack from the intense power of Crimson's spell. The cracks raced across the entire sphere before shattering it, an eruption of magic following it and causing all the clouds to break apart from each other.

Resting where the sphere used to be was a midnight blue coated mare with a jet black mane and tail that blew in the breeze, but whether or not it was like the Princesses manes and tails Twilight was unsure of. The mare wore a set of silver jewelry that looked a lot like the set that Crimson wore, but where Crimson's chest piece had a red gemstone inside it the mare's happened to have an opal white gemstone in the center of her chest piece. As the storm calmed down the mare looked down towards where they were standing and a smile immediately came on her face as she made her way towards them.

"Mother!" the mare happily cried, landing and throwing her hooves over Princess Luna.

"I'm here my dearest Nightfury," Luna said, wrapping her daughter in a hug that was a long time coming as tears ran down from her eyes, "I'm here for you, my daughter."

12: Guest of Honor

Twilight, who was already sort of used to how Crimson acted around his mother, was honestly surprised by how friendly that the latest alicorn was with her mother. Crimson hated Princess Celestia with a passion, but Nightfury seemed to be an exact opposite of her cousin, which made Twilight smile just a bit. According to the book Nightfury was just like her in some ways, they both liked to study whatever caught their interest and she was sure that they could share countless stories about their experiments.

"How long was I gone anyway?" Nightfury asked, after spending the last five minutes just hugging her mother and finally separating from her just a tiny bit, "The last thing I remember before the storm swallowed me whole was when I was flying over the Everfree, heading home with the Sigil of Air that I had studied the night before."

"You've been gone ... a thousand years ... cousin," Crimson coughed, landing near them and looking completely worn out, "I ... underestimated how powerful that spell would be."

"You have my thanks dearest nephew," Luna said, wiping some of the tears from her eyes, "for reuniting me with my daughter."

"Wait a second here, a thousand years?!" Nightfury asked, her eyes widening as she looked around and realized that the pristine castle she was expecting was now a ruin, "What happened to our home? I remember this area being full of windows, constructed walls and ceilings, and hallways that could get you wherever you wanted."

"A thousand years of neglect will do that I'm afraid," Celestia commented, knowing that it was also because of the painful memories that reminded her of when she and Luna had fought, "but, now that you and Crimson are back, we're going to rebuild the entire castle for the two of you to start your kingdom."

"The Everfree Kingdom?" Nightfury gasped, her eyes lighting up as she stared at her aunt, "Are you serious? We're actually going to start the construction of the kingdom that was supposed to rival Canterlot?"

"My student, Twilight Sparkle, came here with Crimson yesterday," Celestia continued, noting her niece's excitement towards the project, "they made some notes about what needed to be repaired from all the damage and what needed to be added to make the castle even better than before."

"Twilight Sparkle?" Nightfury said, loving the idea of meeting her aunt's personal student, "So, when do I get to meet this Twilight Sparkle? She sounds like the kind of mare that would know a lot about magic and how to reconstruct most of the wards that have broken over the last thousand years."

Twilight wasn't the only one who was surprised that Nightfury had completely overlooked the extra alicorn in the ruined chamber, but she didn't blame her for not noticing her. After all, she had literally just escaped from a powerful storm, thanks to Crimson for planning for this event for the last thousand years, and had been reunited with her family. Twilight didn't blame her for not noticing her, she would have done the same thing if she had been in Nightfury's place, though she cleared her voice and drew the alicorn's attention to her.

"That would be me," Twilight said, beckoning to herself before pointing to Spike, "I am Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, and this is Spike, my number one assistant. It is a pleasure to meet you Nightfury."

She wasn't exactly sure what to say to an alicorn who had been trapped in a storm for the last thousand years, but she figured that her name and what she was the princess of was a start. She also wasn't sure that Nightfury was going to do when she learned that there was a Princess of Love, Cadence, running the Crystal Empire to the north of Canterlot.

"Another alicorn?!" Nightfury exclaimed, rushing to Twilight's side and immediately started looking over her, "Oh my, I see now, the Elements of Harmony did this to you didn't they? I can feel their magic all around you, as if you've used them countless times in the past. Oh, wait, where are my manners? I am Nightfury, Princess of Darkness."

"Darkness?" Twilight asked, not exactly following what it meant at the moment.

"Yeah, I basically keep the boundaries between us and the shadows at bay," Nightfury remarked, pulling back and stopping by her mother, "Shadows are basically monsters that thrive on trying to enter Equestria and cause as much havoc as possible, by taking over some ponies form and doing whatever they wanted."

"I suggest that we move back to Ponyville," Celestia commented, beckoning for all of them to move out of the ruined castle, "I'm sure there will be plenty of time for the two of you to compare notes. Luna and I will have to return to Canterlot before the morning hits so we can make up the paperwork that you'll be needing Nightfuty, as a proper princess of Equestria. There will be plenty of time to get you up to speed on what's happened in the last thousand years, so you don't need to worry about anything tonight."

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Instead of flying out of the Everfree Forest, the remnants of the storm still hanging around above the trees, the group of alicorn's spend a good hour and a half walking before they left the forest. During that time Nightfury decided to get better acquainted with her new research buddy, asking Twilight question after question about the last thousand years. Each was different from the last, as one question was about how she had gotten a dragon for an assistant and another was about the Crystal Empire. Twilight was more than happy to answer the questions, though she could tell that Crimson was not in the mood for the constant chatter and suspected that he'd drift off to sleep the moment they got back to the castle.

When they finally reached the sign that told ponies about the forest Pinkie Pie stepped out from behind it, causing Nightfury to stop in her tracks and stare at the mare. Pinkie, on the other hoof, approached the group, gave Nightfury a card with a balloon attached to it, before vanishing behind the sign with a puff of confetti. She gently opened the card and found an invitation to a party the following day, which confused her and made her look to Twilight for answers.

"Just Pinkie being Pinkie," Twilight said, smiling to herself before getting serious, "She's like that sometimes, as she'll invite new ponies that come to the town to a welcome party in which a large number of ponies come to party and welcome the new pony to town. She did the same thing to Crimson not too long ago, but at least she gave you an advanced warning about it. I wouldn't worry about it too much."

Pinkie appearing like that made Nightfury launch into a whole new set of questions for Twilight to answer, all of them directed towards the pink mare she had just met. Twilight gave her the answers that she knew off the top of her head, knowing that trying to understand how Pinkie worked was like trying to make Discord give up Chaos completely. It just didn't work. Twilight made sure to tell her all about the time she actually experimented on Pinkie, trying to understand her, and tried to get the point across that it wasn't worth the headache in the long run. Nightfury seemed disappointed about not being able to understand Pinkie, but that didn't stop her from asking questions about her and the rest of her friends.

When they reached the castle Princess Celestia and Princess Luna bid them farewell and took off, but not without Luna taking a moment to hug her daughter once more. They were needed in Canterlot in the morning, so Twilight didn't bother them with any questions about her newest castlemate and watched them disappear into the distance. Once the Princesses were gone Twilight opened the doors and let both of the alicorn's enter without delay, watching Crimson walk upstairs and closing the door to the room he had slept in before. Twilight chuckled a bit before showing Nightfury to one of her spare rooms, this one actually having a bed in case one of her friends wanted to spend the night in the castle.

"So," Nightfury said, taking in the room she was going to stay in and finding a chest to deposit her jewelry in, "when do you think we can start the reconstruction of the castle?"

"Well, with as bad as the castle is looking right now," Twilight replied, remembering the notes she had made, "I'd have to say that we could start as early as the middle of next week. We still have to get all the workers to the castle, which means we need to clear a pathway between Ponyville and the castle for them to safely traverse the forest. Something like that would take at least two days, maybe three depending on how many times the denizens of the forest decide to strike out at us."

"I might be able to help with that," Nightfury commented, shaking her head before dropping her crown into the chest, "but right now I am desperately in need of some sleep. After all, I've been in trapped in a storm for so long and its nearly impossible for somepony to sleep when all they hear is the sound of roaring wind."

Twilight had no comment for that statement and wished Nightfury a good nights sleep, closing the door as gently as possible before returning to her own room. Spike, having gone back to their room the moment they entered the castle, was already asleep by the time she reached her room, not that she blamed him. There had been a storm, a surge of magic that she was pretty sure every unicorn in all of Equestria had felt, and the arrival of Princess Luna's daughter. The day had been exciting, but it had passed by so fast that Twilight wasn't even sure how it was possible, until she considered that it had been nighttime when the storm had arrived.

Twilight let out a yawn before climbing into her own bed, knowing that the next day was going to be even stranger now that she had another alicorn to deal with.

--------------------------------------------

Morning, when it arrived, was annoying for Twilight, but she dragged herself out of her bed when she smelled somepony making pancakes and caught the hint of syrup. She made her way to the kitchen and found both Crimson and Nightfury sitting at the table, one discussing the finer points of magic while Crimson just released another puff of smoke. Twilight was starting to get annoyed with the constant smoking, but she could deal with it as she knew that the two of them would be gone within a week or two. Then she spotted Spike coming into the room, carrying four plates of pancakes as if he had known that just making them would get Twilight up.

"So these are pancakes," Nightfury said, tearing a piece of one out and eating it, "Wow, these are light and fluffy, just like you said Spike."

"Hehehe, I told you so," Spike said, grinning as he turned to Crimson, "What about you Crimson, how did they turn out?"

"I'd say I wish I had a dragon like you a thousand years ago," Crimson commented, "If you weren't working for an alicorn I would have suggested that you consider taking some cooking classes and become a chef in a year or two. Maybe we can convince Twilight to let you go to cooking school and then offer you a position in our castle once its finished. Imagine that, the first dragon chef in all of Equestria, cooking for the son of Princess Celestia and the daughter of Princess Luna."

"I wouldn't go that far," Spike replied, rubbing the back of his head as he spotted Twilight standing by the door, "Oh, hey Twilight, I made breakfast for everypony before you all head over to Pinkie's party."

"I've been in this town less than a day and I've already got a party," Nightfury said, wondering what was coming her way, "I have to admit it, but that mare is crazy."

"You telling me," Crimson replied, swallowing another pancake, "knew my name, where to find me, and I'm guessing my connection to my mother, all without even speaking to me once. I'm sure that, by now, she's discovered who you are, who your parents are, and whatever she's managed to dig up in the short period of time we've been here."

Twilight chuckled and soon the four of them were talking the morning meal away, something that she wasn't sure that Crimson was capable of when she had first met him. When they had first came into contact with each other he seemed like the type of stallion who didn't care about anything and wanted to be left alone, but now Twilight knew the truth. He had acted that way in order to get them to leave him alone, so he could enact the ritual that would break the prison that kept his cousin trapped. Now that Nightfury was back it was like a long lost side of him had resurfaced, something that could combat the anger that he had bottled up in his heart.

An hour passed before any of them were ready to even leave the castle, but Twilight convinced the reunited alicorns that being late to one of Pinkie's parties was the last thing they wanted right now. She noted that the both of them still wore their jewelry, containing the Sigils of Fire and Air, as they walked outside, but that didn't bother her so much. Eventually they were walking the streets of Ponyville, ponies staring at Nightfury and pointing at her, just like they had done when Twilight and Crimson had taken to the streets. She didn't seem to mind the attention one bit and waved to ponies as they passed by them.

"I told you that you needed to laugh more cousin," Nightfury commented at one point, as they drew closer to the door of Sugarcube Corner, "instead of bottling up your emotions. Maybe we can work on your anger someday."

When they got inside the Sugarcube Corner they found Pinkie, the rest of Twilight's friends, and a couple of ponies from the town waiting for them. Where Crimson had merely brushed off his guests during his party Nightfury nearly jumped at the chance to meet the rest of the Elements of Harmony and was gone in seconds. She was quick to pinpoint where Pinkie was hiding and pounced on her, wrapping her in a hug as she giggled and the pair of them moved on to the rest of Twilight's friends were sitting. Twilight was amazed by how fast Nightfury was adapting to her surroundings, but she figured it was something that came naturally to her.

"She seems to be enjoying herself," a voice said, causing Twilight to turn around and find Princess Luna standing behind her, "Just as my sister came to deliver a letter to her son, telling all of Equestria of his Princehood, so do I bring one to my daughter, announcing her presence to the whole of Equestria. She's currently caught up in the moment of making friends and having a blast, so could you please give her this in my stead?"

"Why me?" Twilight asked, beckoning to Crimson, who happened to be laughing at whatever his cousin was doing, "Why not him?"

"I haven't the time to explain," Luna said, dropping the scroll onto Twilight's table, "just give her this when your able and I'm sure she'll understand that I'm caught up with work in Canterlot."

Twilight nodded and Luna walked out of Sugarcube Corner, though how nopony noticed her Twilight would never be able to figure out. For the moment she made sure the scroll was safe and watched her newest friend enjoy herself, playing a prank on Rainbow Dash and making everypony, including Rainbow, laugh. Twilight grinned and knew that, with Nightfury adding to the mix of strangeness that was Ponyville these days, life was getting even better.

13: A Lesson in Darkness

The party had lasted for two hours, giving Nightfury enough time to mingle with everypony that came to visit her and play a couple of pranks on a few ponies that Pinkie picked out. It gave her time to meet the rest of the Elements of Harmony, remembering all their names so she would know exactly who ponies were talking about without having to ask. She spoke with several of the most important ponies in all of Ponyville, namely the Mayor, and answered whatever questions they had for her, like if she was going to stay in Ponyville and did she need a temporary residence before her castle was finished.

She smiled at them and gently told them that she and her cousin would be staying with Twilight for the next week or two, giving the workers that her mother and aunt hired plenty of time to work on the ruined castle.

When the party was over Nightfury made her way to the table that Twilight and her cousin were sitting at, noting that Crimson looked like he was bored as he released a puff of smoke into the air. She took a seat at their table and grinned, knowing that she had a blast hanging with someponies for the first time in a thousand years, something that she had missed. It was refreshing to actually have a conversation she could be a part of and not be forced to listen to the constant wind until she was sure that she would have been driven mad. Crimson moaned as she sat down, but she figured it was fatigue from all the magic he had channeled the previous day to break open the prison that had held her.

"Your mother came by earlier," Twilight said, still not used to referring to either Princess Celestia or Princess Luna as a mother, "She wanted me to give you this scroll, which, if my memory serves, will be exactly like the one Crimson got when Pinkie threw him his 'Welcome to Ponyville' party. It should be a copy of the announcement that went out to the rest of Equestria, telling everypony that your here and that your the Co-Owner of the 'Everfree Kingdom'. Unfortunately, Princess Luna had duties to perform in Canterlot and couldn't stay very long."

"Awww," Nightfury replied, disappointed that her mother couldn't stay longer, "I guess being a Princess in a modern Equestria might be harder than I originally thought, but I'm sure that you and Crimson could help me adjust."

Crimson huffed and looked away, giving the message that he had no interest in teaching anypony about the new practices that would be required of a Princess. Nightfury didn't know what she expected of her cousin at this point, as he had literally spent the last thousand years preparing for a single event. Now that his plan had succeeded and she was free Nightfury wondered what her cousin had up his sleeves this time, or if he had even planned that far.

"Crimson mentioned the Prime Sigils a few days ago," Twilight commented, drawing both of the alicorns attention to her, "and I was just wondering if you'd possibly let me borrow the Sigil of Air for a few days? Crimson rudely shot me down before I could ask him when he showed me the Sigil of Fire, but I hoped for more of a tempered reaction for you."

"Its not as simple as that Twilight," Nightfury replied, shaking her head before staring down at the opal stone she carried, "The Sigils only allow certain ponies to carry them, which is usually revealed to the pony by a vision of some kind that tells them of their destiny. Sometimes an alicorn will be given the honor of carrying even one of the Prime Sigils, but only if their elemental affinity matches one of the Prime Four, Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Take Crimson for example, his elemental affinity is fire, so the Sigil of Fire called out for him to find it and he did so without delay.

Another problem is the primordial power that each one of them contains, which is usually bound by a certain type of metal that keeps its powers in check. Gold blocks Fire, Silver blocks Air, Bronze blocks Earth, and Platinum blocks Water. The reaction of the Sigil being kept in such a state usually distorts the metal its in, such as Fire turning gold into a state of looking like somepony is wearing flames around their neck. Air really doesn't do anything and I haven't seen the other two Sigils to tell you exactly what they are capable of doing. Giving an inexperienced alicorn one of the Sigils, or any unicorn for that matter, would result in a disaster that could destroy the land around them."

"Oh, well," Twilight said, amazed that Crimson could have forgotten something so important, "Crimson didn't tell me that it would have been dangerous for me to acquire one of them without any prior knowledge."

"Well, he was always the strategist," Nightfury replied, sighing before looking up at Twilight, "but that's not the end of that. Maybe I'll show you how to properly control the power of the Sigil of Air, but I'm afraid that's really all I can offer in that category. If you were interested in the Darkness, however, I could show you a thing or two about them, but we'd have to be somewhere private."

Twilight remembered that Nightfury had mentioned something about the Darkness when she had introduced herself, but all she could pinpoint was that she was the Princess of Darkness. She wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but she was positive that it was a type of magic and her eyes lit up the moment Nightfury had mentioned showing her something.

"Where would be an appropriate place to display the magic?" Twilight asked, wishing that she still had the basement of her old library, "We could always head into the castle and do it without somepony walking in on us..."

"Why not the Everfree Forest?" Crimson commented, causing Twilight to look at him, "There are plenty of places for you two to show off your magic without anypony, namely my mother, bothering you. I'd say the same about those Cutie Mark Crusaders, but they might find you by accident and not understand what they're walking into before its too late. And speaking of the little devil, here comes one of them now. If you'll excuse me, I'm heading back to the castle to sleep and get my energy back, so don't bother me or I might burn you a little."

Before either of them could stop him Crimson got up and made his way out of Sugarcube Corner, just seconds before Sweetie Belle came up to the table. Twilight wondered what her friends were doing, but figured that Apple Bloom was busy with the harvest and Scootaloo was likely practicing so she could fly like Rainbow Dash. If Twilight had to guess she would have guessed that Sweetie Belle had the day off from school and was coming to learn something from her.

"Oh aren't you a cutie," Nightfury said, eying the filly as she thought of something, "What's your name?"

"I'm Sweetie Bell," Sweetie replied, somewhat surprised that the new princess had taken an interest in her, "and Rarity is my older sister. My friends Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and I are the Cutie Mark Crusaders and we crusade almost every day to find our special talents. Its how we ran into Prince Crimson Flare."

"I remember him telling me about that this morning," Nightfury remarked, a smile appearing on her face, "Tell you what, I'll show both you and Twilight a little something about the Darkness and the magic that comes from it. Oh, Twilight, I just realized that once the castle is complete either Crimson or I are going to have to open a School of Magic to teach fillies how to control their magic. Maybe we can come up with something before the castle is finished being repaired."

Twilight continued to be amazed by how fast Nightfury could think of something that she might have missed being added to the ruined castle, which made her wonder if she had read the list she had made. To be completely she hadn't even considered adding a school to the list of things that needed to be changed in the castle, as they still needed to repair the place. Now that she knew that Nightfury was thinking of a school she wondered how hard it would be to designate some area of the castle for her to teach whatever students came to them. Though she had to admit that learning anything about the Darkness and the magic that it held was something that caught Twilight's attention almost immediately.

That was when she thought of the perfect place where they could be free from distractions for the time being, though it would quickly fall apart if Crimson had lied to her.

"What about the Everfree Forest?" Twilight asked, getting a surprised look from Sweetie Belle, "Hear me out, its the perfect place where she can show us exactly what this Darkness is without somepony bothering us or getting in the way before she finished. Besides, you'd be traveling with two alicorns the entire time, so I don't think any of the creatures that call the forest home would dare to bother us."

"If you say so Twilight," Sweetie replied, not liking the idea of returning to the Everfree, even with two alicorns coming with her.

"Then we had best get going," Nightfury said, getting out of her seat, "and I think I have the perfect place in mind where we can avoid detection for some time."

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For the first time since Twilight started visiting the Everfree Forest the trees were silent, the winds had died down completely, and none of the creatures that called the forest home were making any noises. The Everfree Forest was silent, though Twilight had to wonder if if was because of the storm that had tore through the forest the previous day. Or maybe it was the fact that there was a hint of a lingering magical energy, Crimson's from when he summoned everything he had to pierce the storm. She also considered that it could very well be that the forest was shocked from what had transpired and was taking a short break, if the forest could think for itself.

Nightfury seemed to know where they were going, but that was to be expected as the Everfree Forest hadn't changed in the last thousand years. As such Twilight suspected that both Crimson and Nightfury knew the layout of the forest like the back of their hooves and could traverse any part of with with their eyes closed. Twilight was more than ready to follow Nightfury into the forest, though Sweetie Belle trotted behind her and she could tell that the young filly was scared, even without the creatures running around. As they moved through the trees Twilight noticed that they were delving into the depths of the forest, someplace where Twilight had never been before.

Eventually they came to a small clearing, similar to the one that Crimson had been found sleeping in, but it looked as if the shadows covered most of the ground and the sun couldn't pierce the top of the trees.

"Welcome to my private sanctum," Nightfury said, smiling as she stepped into the clearing, "I would come here and perform my weekly rituals, directing my magic towards whatever breaches there were in the Veil between our world and the Darkness. Even if there weren't any breaches I would store part of my power here, in the off chance that I was somehow sealed away in a prison for an extended period of time. It was a good thing I prepared for being sealed away, because I'm sure that something might have broken through the Veil if my magic hadn't patched up the breaches."

"Explain this Darkness," Twilight inquired, eager to learn something while they were there, "What exactly is it and why are the denizens of that world eager to enter Equestria?"

"Oh how to explain it to somepony who hasn't heard of them?" Nightfury commented, shaking her head before turning to her companions, "Basically the Darkness is a world that is filled and ruled by every negative emotion that you can think of, such as hatred, envy, pain, and pride. Shadows are creatures that call that world home, but they could be anything from a young filly that's interested in learning the secrets of magic to a demon that wants to rule the world. The Darkness is separated from Equestria by what I call the Veil, a gigantic web of magic that prevents most of the Darkness from seeping into our world, but there are cases where one of its denizens manage to cross over.

My job as the Princess of Darkness is to maintain the Veil, watching for creatures that are trying to breach the web and patching up whatever holes they're making, forcing them back into their world. Most of the creatures that managed to cross over before I could patch up the breach they made had to be hunted down and deported back to their world, save for one. I found a creature that was completely different from the rest of her kind and found that she had a soft spot for the power of knowledge. I persuaded her to return to her world, but only in exchange for gaining the power to call her into a willing pony's body so she could work as a personal assistant for a few hours each day.

Thorn's likely gone mad from me not calling her for the last thousand years, but I can only hope that she's still listening for my voice and is willing to come when I call her. Sweetie Belle, is it okay if I channel her through your body for a few minutes? I just need a chance to speak with her and arrange a permanent solution, as most of the ponies that volunteered for this are long gone by now."

"Why don't I channel her?" Twilight asked, not willing to place Sweetie Belle in danger.

"Channeling a Shadow into an alicorn is extremely dangerous," Nightfury told them, sighing just a bit, "What would happen is that, even though Thorn is one of the more passive Shadows you'll meet, even letting her into your body would twist your mind and body. Shadows and alicorns don't mix and they could create a creature that's bent on destroying all live on Equestria, which would all depend on the power of the alicorn they're controlling."

For some reason that statement made Twilight think about why Princess Luna, angered by her subjects for rejecting her night, had become Nightmare Moon and declared she was enforcing her night upon the entire world. She wasn't sure that she was even right about this thought, but she wanted to know what Sweetie Belle was thinking about this turn of events. Sweetie looked a little scared that there was going to be something dangerous sharing her body for a few minutes, but Twilight suspected that she was freaking out on the inside.

"Is it painless?" Sweetie Belle asked, raising a valid question.

"Yes," Nightfury replied, "All the ponies that volunteered to do this told me that there was no pain from allowing a Shadow to enter their body, which also means that if you weren't willing and I forced it on you I'd be causing you pain. As long as you are willing to allow me to perform this spell I can promise you that no harm will come to you."

"O...okay," Sweetie said, trying to steel her nerves before they got the better of her and made her run from the clearing, "I'm w...willing, but p...please be quick."

Nightfury nodded and directed her to the center of the clearing, asking Twilight to back up so she didn't get caught in the spell and accidentally channel the Shadow into her body. Twilight, having considered how dangerous it could be for her, complied with the request and backed out just a bit, making sure she was over the line that Nightfury pointed out. Once Twilight was in place Nightfury approached the center of the clearing, her magic igniting the ancient runes she had carved into the ground and called her summoning circle into existence. This was the only place to safely summon a Shadow into Equestria, though she was glad that it had survived all the years that she had been trapped in the storm.

When the circle stabilized Nightfury called upon her magic and directed it towards the Veil, allowing the magic to push against her and cast a vibration into the Darkness. The vibration was the call, the signature that she had taught Thorn to listen for so she would know exactly when she was being called into Equestria. She hoped that Thorn was still listening for her call, but as the seconds ticked away she was slowly losing hope and suspected that Thorn might have moved on. Just when she thought that it would be best to cancel the call she felt the return vibration all around her, the grass moving and the trees blowing as if there was magic at work.

That was before a fog wrapped around the circle, spiraling around the area before it neared Sweetie Belle, where it seeped into her body until all of it was gone. The immediate reaction to the fog entering her body was for Sweetie's coat to change, dulling to a grey color and her head dipped close to the ground. When Sweetie rose her head back up Twilight was shocked to see that her eyes had changed to a bright red color, making her suspect that the spell Nightfury had cast actually worked. Sweetie looked down at herself in confusion and gently raised a leg up, making the normal movements as if she had forgotten how to walk, but then stopped the moment she spotted Nightfury standing near her.

"Princess Nightfury?" Sweetie asked, her voice sounding a little rough, "Is that really you?"

"Oh Thorn," Nightfury said, stepping close to her and draping a wing over her, "Yes, its really me. My cousin managed to break the storm that was holding me for the last thousand years, which is why you didn't hear from me for so long."

"I was shocked to feel you call after a thousand years," Sweetie replied, or rather Thorn did, "I thought it was my imagination finally getting the better of me, but when I decided to investigate I could tell that the call was actually real. I set what I was doing aside and came to you as fast as I possibly could, though I am somewhat surprised that you used a filly as my temporary body this time. Is this young filly going to be my permanent body that I'll be sharing or is there somepony else I'll be sharing a body with when you call me?"

"I need to ask my mother and make some arrangements," Nightfury said, shaking her head before beckoning to Twilight, "Allow me to introduce Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship. Twilight, this is Thorn, my personal assistant from a thousand years ago."

"Its...a pleasure to meet you Thorn," Twilight said, not sure if she should be happy to finally meet one of the Shadows or to be scared, "I'd introduce you to Sweetie Belle, but your currently sharing her body and all..."

Thorn glared at her for a moment before turning to Nightfury and whispered something into her ear, though it had to be something that the two of them had shared a thousand years ago and didn't want her to know about. Nightfury, in turn, whispered something back to her assistant, who stood there as if she was a stone statue and waited until she was done whispering to her. Once the two were done speaking Thorn opened Sweetie's mouth and a grey swirl escaped from inside her, her coat and eyes returning to their normal colors. The circle died down and the clearing returned to normal, though Sweetie seemed exhausted and Twilight knew that channeling something from another realm had tired her out.

She would need to get her back home before Rarity came looking for her, though she wasn't looking forward to the conversation she was going to have to have with her later.

"Twilight, I have to ask you something," Nightfury said, "I need you to tell me anything and everything you know about somepony that Aunt Celestia called Nightmare Moon."

14: Truth about the Nightmare

"Oh, Nightmare Moon," Twilight sighed, remembering the time when she had searched for the answers about the Mare in the Moon, "now that's a name that I haven't heard for years. I haven't thought about her since the day my friends and I defeated her in the ruined castle, wiping the darkness from her heart and returning her to who she had been before; Princess Luna."

"Wait a minute..." Nightfury exclaimed, her eyes widening as she realized exactly what Twilight had just told her, "Are you telling me that my mother, my kind and loving mother, turned into a monster that wanted to plunge the world into eternal darkness?"

"Yes, that actually happened," Twilight replied, picking Sweetie Belle up and plopping her on her back, "I had to drink a potion that would reveal something from the past to me, but when I did I saw Princess Luna give into the darkness in her heart and witnessed how Nightmare Moon was created. Princess Celestia was forced to use the Elements of Harmony on Luna, sending her to the moon for a thousand years, but, like I said, my friends and I recovered the Elements of Harmony and freed her from the darkness that had consumed her.

How did you even find out about Nightmare Moon and her plan for Eternal Darkness, when you were sealed in a raging storm that only appeared once every thousand years?"

"Oh, that would have been Thorn," Nightfury commented, though it sounded like she knew something else, "She told me that, a year after I stopped calling on her, that one of the rulers of the Darkness suddenly vanished one day and every Shadow had been searching for her ever since. Then, just a few years ago, she suddenly reappeared, wrecked beyond belief and spouting some nonsense about being defeated by six mares that channeled some powerful magic. Thorn made a note of what the Nightmare, as that was what the mare wanted to be called, said and relayed anything of importance to me whenever we met."

"Wait, so Nightmare Moon was actually a Shadow?" Twilight asked, realizing that it was a crazy idea that only Princess Luna could actually verify if they asked her.

"It sounds like it," Nightfury replied, shaking her head as they started out of the forest, "Thorn made a note of Nightmare's sister being rather angry the moment she vanished, which could have been the moment that my mother accidentally called the Shadow into our world and, more importantly, into her body. Whoever this second ruler of the Darkness is Thorn either wasn't able to acquire the information and share it with me, or she's unable to do so without tipping the other mare off. I have the feeling that I haven't seen or heard the last of the Shadow's activity for quite some time."

The more that Twilight thought about Thorn, the strange Shadow that Nightfury had befriended over a thousand years ago, the more she wondered what her role was in the world known as the Darkness. It appeared that Thorn was just like Twilight in a sense, which was that they both enjoyed studying and learning about magic, which is what lead Nightfury to bond with the Shadow. Thorn had seemed excited when she had been summoned for the first time in a thousand years, but then had remembered her duties to Nightfury and told her all about Nightmare Moon escaping from her world.

Twilight wasn't sure that she could trust the Shadow just yet, but she trusted Nightfury to keep the Shadow in line and that was enough for her stressed mind to handle at the moment.

---------------------------------

It took them an hour to get back to Ponyville, but when they reached Rarity's Boutique Twilight had to explain to Rarity why Sweetie Belle had been with her that afternoon and why she had been exhausted. She wasn't too pleased that they didn't tell her that they were taking Sweetie with them, but then she got mad at Twilight when she heard that they let a Shadow into her little sister's body. Rarity didn't know what a Shadow was, nor did she care what they were, but she insisted that something terrible could have happened to her sister during the entire thing. Eventually Rarity huffed in their faces and took her sister inside, leaving Twilight and Nightfury to their own devices for the remainder of the afternoon.

Instead of returning to the castle Nightfury inquired where Canterlot had been built, causing Twilight to smile and point to the east, right at the city that was built on the side of a mountain. Before Twilight could inquire as to what Nightfury wanted to look for in Canterlot she took off, leaving Twilight behind and allowing her to do whatever she wanted. Instead of following the other alicorn Twilight simply sighed and moved back to her castle, where she would find Spike and have him send a letter to the Princesses that Nightfury was on her way to Canterlot.

There were multiple reasons for Nightfury heading to the city of Canterlot for the first time; she wanted to explore the place her aunt created, she needed to speak with her mother about the Nightmare, and she needed to find the other two Sigils and make sure they were both still safe. Thorn had commented that the other leader of the Shadows was trying to discover where they were located so she could gather them at her leisure, though Nightfury knew what the mysterious mare was planning. The leader of the Shadows was trying to open a gateway between the Darkness and Equestria, allowing them access to their world through a hole that not even she could fix.

Nightfury wasn't willing to risk the safety of their world, which is why she needed to make sure that the Sigils of Earth and Water were safe and sound.

With as fast as she flew she reached Canterlot within an hour, but as she landed outside the castle she realized that she had absolutely no idea where her aunt could have hidden the two Sigils. The guards, two white coated pegasi, stared at her as her eyes darting all over the place, looking around for the possible locations where the Sigils could be hidden. It was then that she recalled that Crimson mentioned that he and Twilight had come to Canterlot within the last few days had had discovered where they were located, but she really wished he had told her where. After a few minutes of debating between her options she spied what she assumed was the Royal Library, which she suspected was the best place to start her search.

She quickly made her way to the library, entering the hallway before she was forced to search for the opening that would lead her right into the library. As she drew closer to the library she noticed that her Sigil started to glow, telling her that she was closer to the first Sigil then she had thought she was. When Nightfury reached the library she passed through the opening and immediately began her search, her eyes scanning the room, the shelves, and even the carpet for any hidden compartments. She noticed the hourglass after five minutes of searching, but when she looked at it she noticed an emerald color appear in the sands.

She had found the Sigil of Earth, but now she needed to find the Sigil of Water and suspected that it would be even harder to find than the one before her.

"Nightfury?" a voice behind her said, causing her to turn around and find her mother standing by the doorway, "What are you doing in Canterlot? I thought you would have been enjoying your freedom and making friends with the residents of Ponyville."

"Mother?" Nightfury gasp, surprised that she had been found out so quickly, "How did you know I was here?"

"Well, the guards saw you heading this way," Luna remarked, draping a wing over her daughter, "so when they told me you were here I knew you'd be doing the same thing that Crimson did when he came to Canterlot; searching for the Sigils. Also, Twilight Sparkle sent my sister and I a letter saying that you were on your way here, so I just ordered the guards to tell me the moment you arrived. But what would possess you to leave Ponyville and come here, so soon after returning to Equestrua?"

"Well..." Nightfury said, hoping that her mother remembered her assistant, "Twilight asked me what the Darkness was and I took her into the Everfree Forest, where I showed her one of the denizens of the world she didn't know even existed. I summoned Thorn for the first time in the last thousand years and conversed with her, though she shared some disturbing things with me that I needed to check up on. I was just checking the locations of the other two Sigils, Earth and Water, to be sure that they were both safe and sound and that they hadn't been taken."

"Sounds like you need to check on the Sigil of Water then," Luna replied, though she saw that there was something else in her daughter's eyes, "but there's something else you need to ask me."

"I heard about Nightmare Moon," Nightfury said, turning to face her mother, "I heard that, shortly after Crimson and I disappeared, you lashed out at Aunt Celestia and became a creature bent on blocking out the sun. Mother, Twilight and the others may not know the whole truth about the ordeal, but I managed to piece enough together to realize what happened back then. You broke the Veil for a moment, just a brief moment, and allowed a Shadow to take control of your body, twisting you into somepony that was completely different from who you were. How could you do something like that?"

Nightfury looked like she was a little panicked, as if the thought of her mother becoming something different was something that she had never thought of or even considered. Luna couldn't blame her, she didn't like what happened anymore than her daughter did.

"I...I was depressed," Luna sighed, knowing that this topic would have come up once her daughter had summoned her assistant again, "you were gone, Crimson had all but vanished from the face of Equestria, and ponies began to ignore my beautiful night so much that it made me angry at my own sister. When I finally spoke with her I let my fury get the better of me and I could feel the Veil that you protected, something I was barely aware of if you hadn't spoken about it, open for a moment. The Nightmare took over my body and my mind, though the next thing I remember after that ordeal was waking up in the ruined castle, my mind and body freed at long last.

I can only assume that the Nightmare had been blasted back to the Darkness by the Elements of Harmony, where she belonged and where she would stay if I could help it. After I regained my powers I finally spoke with my dear sister and told her about the Veil, explaining what had happened to me when the Nightmare took over. She said that she knew what had happened, as she found your journal detailing the Darkness and all the Shadows that you and Thorn already knew about. She forgave me for what happened, though she did return your journal to me and I have kept it in my room every since, waiting for you to return."

"Can I check anyway?" Nightfury asked, meaning a brief magical scan for any lingering trace of the Shadows, "I just want to be sure that the Nightmare didn't leave any nasty surprises."

Luna nodded and held her head down, letting her daughter's horn light up as she made sure that there was nothing lingering in her magic or her mind. She recognized the spell, as they had used it to great effect to hunt down those tainted by the Shadows before they departed them back to their world. If there was really anything lingering in her mind or body Nightfury would find it, where she would immediately get rid of the taint and free her once more.

"How is Thorn doing anyway?" Luna asked, wondering what the little Shadow was up to, "Last I heard of her she was warning us of the potential war with the dragons, which sparked the Dragon Wars of our history."

"She's fine," Nightfury replied, her horn dying down and letting out a sigh, just glad that her mother was safe and sound from the Shadow's taint, "she commented that she hadn't been summoned in the last thousand years and asked who she was going to be sharing a body with so she could perform her duties again. I don't know who would be willing to let a Shadow into their body, so there's no telling when I'll be able to call on her again."

"Come, let's leave the library and show you the fourth Sigil," Luna said, beckoning for her daughter to join her as she moved towards the hallway, "I'm sure that you are more interested in finding it then speaking about the Darkness and all the Shadows that reside in that world. I'm positive that we can come up with a plan to let your assistant come back into our world again."

Nightfury nodded and the two of them made their way down the hallways, passing by quite the number of guards as they went, before they passed the throne room. Luna made sure to tell her daughter that Celestia was still busy with the evening court, just like she had done with Crimson when he had visited Canterlot earlier. Nightfury seemed more interested in learning about the court at the moment, but when Luna reminded her of the fourth Sigil she sighed and followed after her mother. Luna, however, promised her that she would let her sit in one night while she performed her court duties, so she could see what being a princess was all about these days.

Eventually Luna led them down the same hallway that contained the hidden gateway, where they approached the glowing lights and followed the sound of running water. Nightfury rubbed her eyes a bit before she looked out at the lake that she found themselves standing in front of, wondering if this was where the Sigil was located. The Sigil of Air glowed for a moment before dying down, though the center of the lake began to glow with a sapphire hue, telling her that the last Sigil was right in front of her.

"She took Crimson's suggestions to heart," Nightfury commented, realizing what the sands and the water meant, "Aunt Celestia hide both of the Sigils where nopony would ever think to look for them."

"That she did," Luna said, draping her wing over her daughter again, "Now that we've gotten all of the Sigil business out of the way I have some things that I need to give back to you, things that my sister rescued from the ruined castle before she departed. I'm sure there's a couple of items that you'd love to have in your possession again."

Nightfury smiled and pressed her head against her mother, enjoying the moment they were sharing as she stared out at the lake and ignored the fact that the Sigil of Water rested before her.

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Rarity's Boutique, quiet save for the noise of Rarity's tools that worked whenever she was working on an order for dresses, the occasional hat, or even a winter suit. Thanks to the two parties she had attended over the last week she was a few orders behind, but she intended to get all her work done in time for the buyers to pick them up. When Twilight had returned with her little sister Rarity had gently put Sweetie Belle to rest in her room before getting to her work, knowing that her sister would be up and about in an hour or two. She figured that she could get some work done before allowing Sweetie to go hang out with her friends, if that was what she wanted to do with the rest of her afternoon.

Sweetie Belle shifted in her bed while her sister worked, squirming about as her peaceful dream suddenly shifted into a nightmare that seized her mind. She moaned as she felt her body start to go cold, but then started to violently cough as something smoky entered her mouth and forced itself down her throat. She thought that it felt exactly like what had happened in the summoning circle that Nightfury had used, but instead of no pain this one was forcing it upon her. Eventually Sweetie Belle sighed and the darkness coursed through her body, wrapping itself around her as she stopped squirming and coughing.

Her eyes snapped open, revealing their bright red color, and she looked down at her coat, watching it turn into the dull grey color it had been earlier that day.

"Hehehehehe," Sweetie chuckled, a grin appearing on her face before she cracked her mouth open, "Ha ha ha ha ha!"

15: Stalking the Flame

"Oh how I have longed to return to this world," Sweetie Belle said, her rough voice filling the bedroom just a bit, "I must remember to thank Nightfury for, unknowingly, opening the way for me to...wait, why is this room so big?"

Sweetie's head turned left and right, observing the room she had found herself in and staring at all the contents she could find, before finally looking down at her body. Instead of finding the body of a grown pony, which she had been expecting, she found that she had taken over the body of a young unicorn filly. She had expected the Princess of Darkness to choose who her assistant was going to be sharing a body with, but from what the shadow knew Nightfury would never choose a filly to be her assistant. She had waited a thousand years for her plan to unfold, but it had been ruined by the one thing that she never would have suspected; pure chance.

When she returned to the Darkness she was going to scour the world and find Thorn, and then completely erase the Shadow from existence so she could vent her anger.

"Okay, calm down Glimmer," Sweetie said, closing her eyes as she forced her anger to go down, "Its okay, you can work around this curve ball and still reach the endgame, that hasn't changed. All I need to do is learn the mannerisms of a filly and then make sure she's physically and magically fit enough for my plans. If I'm fast enough I might be able to track down the Sigil of Fire and then take it from the alicorn that's holding it, though there's no telling what he'll do between now and then.

Now, let's see what this filly has to tell me, so that I may better understand how to be like her."

Sweetie Belle, or rather Glimmer, focused her mind and allowed the dark magic to seep into the room, making sure not to pour too much into the act in case one of the Princesses was watching for signs of a disturbance. As her body and mind crawled to a near halt she found herself in a mental library, filled with dozens upon dozens of books and several floating images that were scattered around her. The books were containers for the filly's memories, starting at the beginning of her life and going up until that evening, so she could read about something before viewing it. The images would allow her to glimpse into the filly's past, so that she might learn how she acted and better her impersonation of her, so that she wouldn't be discovered.

Glimmer smiled as she began her search, there might not be a whole lot for her to work with, but there was enough material for her to understand the filly whose body she was in control of.

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Time was strange in this memory vault type of spell, as Glimmer could spend an entire day scouring the small library of the body she was controlling, the young filly named Sweetie Belle, and only an hour would pass in the real world. If she had control over an adult pony, as she had originally planned, she would have spent a good week, maybe two, scouring their mental library before making her move. She would have spent roughly a day or two in actual time in the library, giving her time to know each and every detail about the pony so she could pass as him or her.

She had spent a few hours mimicking Sweetie's voice, curving the harsh nature of her natural voice down until she managed to make it sound almost identical to the filly's. She practiced how the filly acted, so she could blend in with her friends if she needed to, though she felt incredibly silly for following every strange move the young pony made. Glimmer knew it was necessary for her to learn everything about the young pony, because she might make more trips to this realm and she needed a host that Princess Nightfury wasn't keeping an eye on.

Eventually she finished with the mental library and pulled herself out of Sweetie's mind, returning to the real world and stretching her stiff body, working some of the knots out of her muscles. She had forgotten how stiff the body of a mortal could get when she pulled off that spell, but the feeling eventually left her body and she was ready to go. She climbed off the bed and made her way to the door, gripping the handle with her magic and twisting it open so that she could leave the room. From the sounds coming from the downstairs area Rarity, the older sister of the pony she was controlling, was still making dresses for her various clients.

Glimmer didn't care for the dresses and whoever they were being made for, as they held no information as to how she could find and steal one of the Sigils.

She silently made her way down the stairs, peeking her head around the corner to make sure that Rarity was, indeed, working on her dresses and occupied to the point where she wouldn't hear what was around her. Once Glimmer was sure that the coast was as clear as it was going to get she silently walked over to the front door, gently pulling it open before throwing herself outside. Not moments after she was outside she turned around and closed the door, hoping that Rarity didn't discover that she was up and called on of the Princesses to find her. She sighed and smiled to herself, she couldn't believe that she managed to pull that off, in her current body, without Rarity noticing her walking around.

Now that she was outside she scanned the streets and wondered where she could find her first target, the alicorn who commanded the power of fire; Crimson Flare. According to what Sweetie Belle had known Crimson was supposed to be heading back to the crystal castle near the edge of town, where it would only be him and a baby dragon. She suspected that it was only those two in the castle, but there was always a chance that the other alicorn, Twilight Sparkle, would be back and foil her plans. She needed to be sure that she could enter the castle, find where Crimson was sleeping for the night, and then try to take the Sigil before he realized what was happening.

As she walked down the street she received glances from the few ponies that walked with her, though she knew that they were a little surprised to find that Sweetie's coat had changed color. She considered throwing a sleeper spell around and knocking them all asleep so she could erase their memories, but that option would only lead the Princesses to investigate the town. She did not need them on the hunt for her before she did anything, so she glanced back at the street and continued on her way, slowly making her way towards the glittering castle in the distance.

It took her about ten minutes to reach the castle, but before she moved into the building she made sure to walk around the outside, taking note of where each of the openings were located in case she needed to make a quick getaway. As she did this she noticed that there were two rooms with lights on, one of which she assumed was the baby dragon that followed Princess Twilight around. The second light, the smaller light of the two, she assumed belonged to Crimson, who was likely smoking and chilling until he decided what to do next. He was going to be magically drained for the next few days, after pulling off that magical stunt to release Princess Nightfury he was likely tired and wanted to be left alone.

Once she was gone scanning the building she approached the front door, but as she reached for the knob with her magic it started to turn on its own, alerting her to the fact that someone was coming out before throwing herself into one of the nearby bushes. She watched the door open and a lavender coated alicorn came walking out of the castle, a frown on her face as she turned back to the small purple dragon that stood in the doorway.

"Are you sure that this can't wait until morning Twilight?" the dragon, Spike she recalled, said, clearly annoyed that his mentor was leaving again, "I'm sure that Nightfury can do this by herself."

"She was in Canterlot when she felt something pass through the Veil," Twilight replied, shaking her head before turning her gaze to the town, "and she's on her way to make sure that nothing violent came through. She's asked me to begin the search for whatever might have come through, starting at Rarity's Boutique, where she swears that she originally felt the disturbance. I need you to stay here and watch over Crimson while he's sleeping, so that there's someone to greet Nightfury when she and Princess Luna arrive. I'll be back when this is done Spike."

"Oh, okay," Spike sighed, waving a claw at her, "Go find whatever Nightfury felt and be safe."

Twilight opened her wings and took off, leaving Spike behind for a few moments before the baby dragon sighed and went back inside, closing the door behind him. Glimmer knew now that her plan was in jeopardy, as she was about to have three Princesses on her tail and knew that she wouldn't be able to find from all of them. Once she was sure that the lavender alicorn was out of hearing range she pulled herself out of the bushes and approached the door, gripping the knob with her magic and gently opening it. She poked her head inside, making sure that the baby dragon wasn't around, before pulling herself inside and closing the door as gently as she had opened it.

Before she got anywhere she heard the sound of the baby dragon coming and hid in the shadows, where she was sure she could hide for the moment.

"Hello?" Spike called out, staring at the door and finding no one around it, "Huh, I could have sworn that something opened the door. Must have been...my imagination?"

That was when Glimmer remembered a key piece of information that had been useful in the past when she had to deal with dragons, they could see heat signatures. It wasn't very strong in baby dragons, but they could see enough to know when something that wasn't supposed to be there was lurking around them. She had used this knowledge to great effect during the Dragon Wars, but it had been over a thousand years since she was last out in the field and had forgotten that until now. Spike would be seeing her outline, though she didn't have a lot of time before he sent a warning out to his master that there was somepony in the castle that shouldn't be there.

"Sweetie Belle?" Spike asked, wondering if he was even right as he approached the small figure he saw, "Is that you?"

"Surprise attack!" Glimmer shouted, jumping out of the shadows and throwing her front right leg backwards towards Spike's neck, hitting just hard enough to knock the baby dragon out.

Spike hit the ground in seconds, but Glimmer rubbed her leg where she had hit him, remembering that it hurt when she attacked a dragon, even a baby dragon, with her bare hooves. If Spike had been a larger, more grown and mature dragon, she could have easily snapped the bone in her leg without him even breaking a sweat. Now that he was down she turned to the staircase and made her way up the stairs, hoping that her shout hadn't woken Crimson up or make him alert to the possibility that there was somepony that shouldn't be in the castle.

Once she reached the top stair she turned to the left and made her way down the hallway, realizing that there were at least half a dozen doors that she could choose from. She opened the first door on her right and found nothing but a bare room, so she closed the door and opened the one behind her instead, finding another bare room. She growled as she approached the second door on her left, opening it up to find a bed that had been used recently and hadn't been put back in order since that morning. She knew that it had to have been Nightfury's room, which meant that Crimson's room had to be close to where she was at that exact moment. She turned to the room across from where she was standing and gently opened it up, a pleasant sight unfolding before her and causing her to grin.

She found Crimson Flare sleeping on his cloud, his chest piece facing the air and the Sigil of Fire exposed for those who knew what it was to take it from him. Her day couldn't have gotten any better.

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"I'm coming!" Rarity said, hearing the knock on her front door and stopping what she was working on so she greet her potential customer, but that went down the drain as she found Twilight standing outside, "Oh, hello Twilight. To what do I owe the pleasure of a visit this late at night?"

"I come on behalf of Nightfury," Twilight replied, stepping into the boutique as she looked for signs of the Shadow that was supposed to have crossed over, "She sent me a letter a few minutes ago and warned me that something managed to cross through the Veil, though she swears that the source was here."

"Please Twilight, you know I don't have the knowledge to summon a monster from another realm," Rarity sighed, wondering why the new princess really sent Twilight to her boutique, "I'm sure that it was just a reaction to her coming back to Equestria after being trapped in a storm for the last thousand years. But, if she insists that there's something dangerous in my boutique and sent you to find it then I'll just have to take her word for it. So begin your search and show me what this 'creature' is supposed to be."

Twilight had no idea what she was looking for, but she had the basics of the Shadow finding spell, all thanks to Nightfury, so she was sure she could find something. Her horn lit up and the entire room filled with a layer of grey fog, which wrapped around everything before settling down, a faint black line appearing on the floor. Twilight raised her eyebrow and followed the trail, turning around the corner and heading up the stairs, Rarity following behind in pure curiosity.

Once they reached the top of the stairs Twilight turned again and followed the trail until they came to an open door, leading to a bedroom that could only belong to Sweetie Belle. She expected to find Sweetie laying in the bed, resting from her ordeal of having a Shadow share her body for a few minutes, but she was nowhere to be seen. Twilight glanced at the trail and her eyes widened as it stopped right in the middle of the bed, where Rarity had told her she was going to put her little sister.

"Twilight?" Rarity asked, her eyes darting around the room as she realized her sister was missing, "WHERE'S SWEETIE BELLE?!"

"She must have been possessed by a Shadow," Twilight replied, more to herself as she wondered how it could have happened, "Nightfury reported that there had been a small breach in the Veil, which she was sealing before making her way here, but it seems that something did come through. But what would a Shadow want with Sweetie Belle?"

That was when Twilight looked out the window and noticed the same trail leading off into the distance, heading straight towards her castle and giving her an idea. The only thing in her castle that anypony, Shadow or not, would considering stealing was one of the four legendary Sigils, but they would have only known that if they had followed her around for the last few days. Twilight knew that Crimson was still in the castle, which meant that whatever had possessed Sweetie Belle was using her to grab the Sigil of Fire.

She told Rarity to meet her at her castle before taking off, hoping that she could make it in time to at least warn Crimson before whatever was controlling Sweetie found him.

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Glimmer entered Crimson's room and silently approached the cloud, shadows wrapping around the walls as she eyed the Sigil, feeling its power calling out to her. She had been close to finding this same Sigil over a thousand years ago, but then some dragon noticed her and she ended up sparking a war between them and ponies. This time, however, she had knocked out the only creature that could mess up her plan and the keeper of the Sigil was out like a light, giving her the perfect chance to take it. She leapt onto the cloud and stood over Crimson, raising her right hoof before the shadows erupted out of it, surging into the metal around the Sigil and gripping the stone tight.

A mere filly cannot touch one of the Sigils without causing harm to him or herself, Glimmer thought, a smug look appearing on Sweetie's face, but Shadows do not have to play by that rule. All I have to do is loosen the metals hold on the Sigil and then rip it out before Crimson notices. Oh how the mighty have fallen...

Flames burst out of the metal and wrapped around Glimmer's shadows, wrapping around them so fast that they eventually reached Sweetie's hoof and gripped her tight. It had caught her by surprise, but she should have suspected something from the Prince of Fire, once considered a master strategist by many of the Shadows. She tried to pull herself back so she could escape the trap that Crimson had laid for whoever came for the Sigil, but try as she might she could not simply separate herself from the flames.

"Look what the cat dragged in," a voice said, causing Glimmer to look down and find Crimson staring right at her, "I knew it was a matter of time before somepony came to take my Sigil from me, though I never would have expected it to be you; Glimmer Scale."

"How did you know?" Glimmer asked, glaring right into Crimson's eyes.

"Please, you were the only Shadow that would try to take a Sigil like this," Crimson replied, blowing a puff of smoke into the air before staring at the filly again, "and every single time you failed. Sometimes you can teach an old dog new tricks, but it seems that your just an old dog that can't learn any new tricks. Tell you what Glimmer, tell me exactly who your working for and what you plan to do with the Sigils and maybe, just maybe, I won't hold you here so my cousin can force you out of this poor filly. Or I'll just burn you and find out for myself."

Glimmer focused the shadows on the flames and shattered the connection between the metal and herself, scorching the area where the flames had wrapped around her leg and forcing her off of Crimson. Before he had a chance to grab her Glimmer turned and ran into the hallway, turning hard to the left and heading right for the main door of the castle. Her leg hurt like mad, but she had gotten off easy and could have been wounded even worse than this, though she grunted through the pain and made her way down the stairs as fast as she possibly could.

She approached the door and sent her magic to grab the handle, but before it could reach it the door opened and revealed three ponies standing on the other side; Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Nightfury. Spike moaned and got up, but seeing what was happening he immediately ran behind Twilight, though he made sure he could see everything that was happening. Glimmer growled and turned back to the staircase, but before she got any further Crimson landed at the bottom and stared right at her, daring her to make a move towards any of them. She considered fighting them all and trying to escape from them, but with her damaged leg her chances at pulling off a successful escape were immediately slim, though she then remembered how to leave in a fashion that couldn't be stopped.

Glimmer threw out her magic and smoke began to pour out of Sweetie's mouth, gathering into a smoky creature that curled around the young filly until she was completely out of her. Sweetie's coat returned it its natural color and her eyes returned to normal, but the moment that she collapsed on the floor her older sister broke rank, running right towards them. Glimmer, using the diversion the mare created, flew over their heads and passed into the street, where she became one with the shadows until she was completely gone. She knew that she would be back to try for the Sigils again, but she needed a plan that could outdo Crimson and whatever else he had hidden.

"What was that?" Twilight asked, concerned for Sweetie's well being and wondering what had just happened.

"An old enemy," Crimson spat, staring off into the shadows in the off chance he might spot his target, "I'm afraid that things have gotten even worse now that Glimmer's back in the game."

16: Rage

Rarity, wanting nothing to do with what Crimson and Nightfury were talking about, had collected her sister and headed back to her boutique, so she could keep a closer eye on Sweetie Belle. Twilight couldn't blame her for not wanting to hear what the two alicorns had to talk about, but she was interested in who the new Shadow was and why she had come into her castle. Not moments after Nightfury had arrived back in Ponyville Princess Luna came knocking at the door, though by the look on her face Twilight knew that she must have felt the breach in the Veil as well.

So the four of them sat at the table Twilight used when she and her friends came to the castle and discussed whatever was on their agenda, though they hadn't needed to use it in the last week.

"So who was that exactly?" Twilight asked, turning to her right so she could face Crimson, who was still smoking on his stick, "You mentioned a name, Glimmer I believe."

"Yes, that I did," Crimson said, blowing a puff of smoke into the air before turning his attention to the others, "Back before we engaged in a war with the dragons we had only discovered one of the four Prime Sigils, the Sigil of Air that Nightfury's been carrying. Her assistant, the Shadow known as Thorn, then discovered where one of the other three Sigils were located, but the location of that Sigil is what had sparked the Dragon Wars. The Sigil had been buried in the deepest reaches of the dragon's main mountain, which only added to the raging fires that rested on the mountain side.

However, just as Thorn revealed to us the location of the Sigil, a second Shadow approached the Dragon King and told him of the Sigil that rested in his mountain. The Shadow told him that Starswirl the Bearded had buried the Sigil deep in the mountain to keep it out of sight, so he could prevent those who would misuse it from finding it. The last thing the Shadow told him was that we would be coming to take the Sigil away from him, though she suggested raising his forces so he could defend the Sigil from us. The Dragon King took her words to heart and raised his army, turning on us the moment we arrived and forced us to return with our own, and much smaller, army.

That Shadow, we learned later in the war, was called Glimmer Scale, who had forced herself into one of the Dragon King's elite guards so she could watch the war and claim the Sigil before either side could."

"How do you know she had taken over a dragon's body?" Twilight asked, not really seeing how he could have known that fact.

"Because once my mother tossed my plan to save hundreds of lives out the window I took action," Crimson growled, grinding his teeth just a bit as he remembered what had happened, "I snuck into the mountain while the dragons were distracted, found my way through the countless tunnels that I discovered under the mountain, and eventually found where the Sigil was located. However, the moment I arrived I found out that I was not alone in the chamber, as an ashy scaled dragon stepped out of the shadows and faced me.

Now, I knew what happened to ponies when they were possessed by Shadows, but that was the first time I had seen a dragon that had been possessed. She demanded to know why I was down there, trespassing where I did not belong, but I fired it back at her by informing her that she had broken through the Veil and needed to be sent home. That was when I finally met Glimmer Scale, a dangerous Shadow that had been trained by her mysterious master in the art of magical and physical combat. She taunted me, telling me that she and the rest of her kind knew exactly where the other three Sigils were located, but I refused to let her get into my head.

Instead of letting her speak whatever lies she was spouting I lashed out with my flames, catching her off guard for a moment and making her back up, though she regained herself and came at me. We fought for some time, exchanging magical and physical blows, until she finally scored a blow on me that forced me backwards by some distance. During the fight we had been circling around the chamber, so when she wounded me I landed near the Sigil, which lead me to get the idea to contain it in my chest piece and prevent her from getting her claws on it.

I felt the power of the Sigil the moment I had it around my neck, so I turned it on Glimmer and burnt her so badly that she was forced to exit the dragon that she had been possessing. She swore that she'd continue hunting me, so that she could finally get her claws on the Sigil of Fire, but she was only spouting threats that held no value."

"I would have to say your wrong son," a voice said, just as Princess Celestia walked into the room, "Glimmer has had the last thousand years to plan how she was going to go about collecting the four Prime Sigils, though it seems like she has chosen to start with the one we took from her, yours. Had you not placed a spell on your necklace to interfere with whoever tried to take the Sigil she could have ripped it out and would have been long gone before you ever knew what happened."

"Oh no, we are not going down this road," Crimson growled, glaring daggers at his mother as she sat across from him, "I am not going to be blamed for a Shadow breaching the Veil, possessing an innocent filly, and then using said filly to find me and nearly take the Sigil from me. Furthermore, I am not going to just give you the Sigil of Fire, so you can lock it away in your personal study and have an ever burning flame all the time."

"And how would you know that?" Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow as she listened to Crimson.

"Oh come on," Crimson nearly shouted, flames sparking on his stick, "I suggested that, when we found the Sigil of Earth, we build a royal library and convert the Sigil into sand that would be used to fill an hourglass, exactly like where it is now. I suggested that we dig a tunnel into the mountain where you wanted to build Canterlot, so we could convert the Sigil of Water into a large body of water, exactly like it is now. I had suggested turning the Sigil of Fire into an ever burning flame that we could place anywhere in Canterlot, for everypony to see in the dark without the fear of the darkness around them. The Sigil of Air was to be converted into an ever blowing gust of wind that could be used from a war horn, which we would have displayed somewhere in Canterlot that everypony could see at any given time.

All of these ideas were mine, which you stole to suit your personal agenda. Now that something came close to taking mine away from me you're going to demand that I give the Sigil of Fire to you and trust that you can keep it safe."

"I would like the Sigil of Fire, yes," Celestia said, as calmly as she possibly could, "Please, would you give me the Sigil?"

Twilight had felt Tirek's power when she had fought him, but she could feel the intensity of Crimson's anger as he continued to glare at Princess Celestia. It continued to surprise her that he could have so much built up anger inside of him, all of which was somehow, one way or another, directed at his mother. Celestia continued to face that anger every time she and Crimson were in the same room, though Twilight was amazed that she could remain so calm at a time like this. From everything she knew of Crimson Twilight wondered if he would actually give her the third Sigil at long last or, as she suspected he might do, brush her off and keep it.

"No!" Crimson growled, stretching the word out as his anger seethed out of his mouth, "I don't know how many times I have to tell you, but I will not surrender the Sigil just because you ask me to. Respect my decision and leave me alone!"

"I had hoped that you would see reason after the latest development," Celestia sighed, shaking her head slightly, "but it seems that, even after the return of Glimmer, you refuse to let me have the Sigil so it can be kept safe with the others. I guess that I have no choice but to rip it out and take it back to Canterlot."

Flames enveloped Crimson before they leapt over Princess Celestia, coiling around the chair she was sitting in before heading right towards the front door. As they reached the outside of the castle Crimson flew out of the flames and went into the sky, not even bothering to look back so he could get the Sigil back to his hiding place. Celestia stayed in her seat for a moment, knowing that one day she would have had to fight for the Sigil of Fire again, but never would she have expected her son to keep it from her like this. After a minute she drew herself out of her seat and approached the door, flaring her wings before she took off, spotting Crimson and heading right towards him.

Twilight had no idea what was happening, but as she made a move to follow her mentor outside she noticed that both Nightfury and Luna just remained seated.

"What about you two?" Twilight asked, wondering if they were going to help either alicorn out.

"They need to work this out for themselves," Luna sighed, shaking her head before staring out the window, "though I wish they had chosen their words instead of attacking each other. Don't worry about Ponyville Twilight, I made sure to throw a sleeping spell over everypony that would only activate in case this had happened, though if it hadn't I would have removed it. The five of us should be the only ponies awake at the moment, so we won't have to worry about somepony seeing something that they shouldn't have seen."

"I had wondered when this fight was going to happen," Nightfury mumbled, letting out a long sigh before staring out at the sky, "though now I can only hope that they end this fight fast, before something notices what's happening."

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Crimson had wanted to get as far away from Ponyville, and his mother for that matter, as quickly as his wings could take him, but he should have known that his hopes would have been dashed. Before he could get to the border between the town and the forest he hit an invisible wall and bounced off of it, giving him a moment to shake his head and gather his bearings real quick. He stared at the wall, now that he knew that it was there, and rolled his magic over it, finding that it stretched all the way around the town and made him leaving almost impossible.

He knew that there were only two other alicorns that could have pulled off something like this, three if he counted Twilight Sparkle, but there was one who would have used such a spell against him.

"Very clever mother," Crimson growled, turning around to see his mother fly up to him, "You are so determined to make sure I give you the Sigil that you went through all the effort of placing this powerful barrier around the entire town and, if I'm not mistaken, a sleeping spell to make sure nopony sees what's coming next."

"I didn't want it to come to this Crimson," Celestia said, staring into her son's eyes for a moment, "and I still don't want to do this. I'd rather come to some middle ground, that we can negotiate and come to an agreement on, than fight my own son, over something like one of the Sigils."

"You should have thought about that before demanding the Sigil again," Crimson shouted, flames dancing around his body, "now you have ignited the anger that I have been carrying and must suffer the consequences for doing so."

Celestia had been expecting him to summon some type of creature from the stick that he carried in his mouth, but instead of some hawk or eagle the flames continued to build until a winged serpent appeared around him. Crimson's horn ignited and the serpent came flying towards her, though she barely had time to dodge it before it missed and coiled around the middle of her body. She remembered the creature well, it was one of the creatures that Crimson had designed with the sole purpose of wearing down his opponents to the point where he could easily win.

Fortunately she had seen this creature in action many times and had developed a method to get rid of them easily, letting her magic grip the creature with ease before erasing it completely. And, to her amusement, the stick that Crimson was carrying shattered into fragments, just like what had happened when she destroyed the creature a day or two ago.

Crimson roared at her and came flying towards her, his horn literally on fire as his magic swarmed around him, heeding the call of his anger towards her. She leapt over him and let him continue on for a bit before turning around, watching him as he circled back and tried to hit her a second time, where he missed as well. Instead of making a third trip towards her Crimson called upon his magic and summoned a wave of flames, which raced towards her and forced her to summon a shield to protect herself. Once she was sure that the flames were gone she banished the shield and looked around for Crimson, making sure that he didn't have any surprises for her.

Instead of another spell, like she was expecting, Crimson came at her and threw his front hoof at her face, hitting her square in the side of her head and knocking her out of the air for the moment. She regained herself after a moment and looked up at her son, wondering how to go about the fight without making him hate her even more than he already did. After a few moments she shook her head and summoned her magic, throwing a spear of light at Crimson that struck him in the side, blasting him out of his high perch and bringing him closer to her. Crimson growled and wrapped his magic around her, gripping her hard enough to bruise her before he tossed her, sending her halfway across town before she could correct herself.

Before she could even make a move towards the other side of the barrier she noticed a ring of flames wrap around the entire barrier, lighting up the area and making it impossible for either of them to hide. She knew that Crimson was doing this in order to intimidate her into surrendering to him, but she had no desire to give into such a cheap trick like this. Though one thing she noticed about the flames that had hit her was that there were darker colored than any she had seen her son use in the past and, more importantly, they packed enough power to hurt her.

"I won't lose to such a cheap trick son," she shouted, hoping that Crimson would come towards her so they could end this, "Come on, show me the true power of your anger."

She saw it long before Crimson ever got close to her, the deep red flames that wrapped around him body so much that it almost seemed like he had combusted during the fight. He came racing towards her, his magic flaring around him as he prepared one powerful and devastating attack, one that could use up nearly all of his magic in the form of a physical attack. She knew the spell as well, as she had taught him how to use such a move as his final and most powerful attack over a thousand years ago, warning him not to use it against another alicorn unless he had no other choice. The only way to counter against such a powerful and destructive spell was to do the same thing to her own body, except she needed to focus her magic into a defensive form to prevent the buildings and ponies below from being harmed.

As such her magic ignited, covering her body in a golden shine that formed the magical armor of the defensive version of the spell, something that she had not needed to use in over a thousand years at least. She sighed and flew towards her son, feeling the dread of what was about to come and wishing that she could have avoided all of this madness by simply trusting that he could keep the Sigil safe. Eventually the two of them crossed paths in midair, though the resulting connection between their magics would only be known to three other ponies; Luna, Nightfury, and Twilight.

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Twilight paced around the windows, wondering what was going to happen when the magic of both Prince Crimson Flare and Princess Celestia crossed paths. She knew what had happened the moment that she and Tirek had fought each other, they had blown the surrounding area to pieces before they stopped. Neither Princess Luna or Nightfury seemed to worry about what might be happening, though they were more concerned for the ponies that could potentially be caught in the crossfire. The only thing the three of them had to go on was the ring of fire that covered the entire town, though that wasn't much in itself.

"The finale should be coming soon," Luna remarked, feeling the magic in the air, "I would have to hazard a guess that they'll pour most of their magical energies into one final attack and then call it quits."

"I would say that your right mother," Nightfury agreed, though she was feeling the same thing that her mother was feeling, 'I just hope they get it all out of their systems so we can be a peaceful family again."

That was before a screech of magic colliding with magic filled the air and an explosion, equal to the power of one of the ones that Twilight had seen in her fight against Tirek, ripped through the sky itself. For a moment all Twilight could feel was the magic that had taken place outside her castle, but then the shockwave hit the castle and knocked her off of her hooves. Luna managed to catch her before she hurt herself, bringing her over to where they were sitting while they waited out the effects of the explosion. Twilight was thankful that none of the buildings seemed damaged from the small glance she had, as she had no idea how she would have explained any damages to the buildings.

"That was too much," Luna cried, knowing that one of her family members was going to be hurting at the moment, "They went too far for such a small fight. We'll need to check up on them and be sure that nothing bad happened to either one of them."

Twilight nodded and the three of them left the castle, waiting until the wind had died down before they made their way to wherever Crimson and Celestia eventually landed. Though she was worried that one of them, either Celestia or Crimson, was injured from the fight and had no idea what to do if she found them in such a state.

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Both Celestia and Crimson hit the ground near the edge of the barrier, just outside the Everfree Forest, creating two small craters on either side of the dirt road. Crimson, used to the constant fighting he had to endure in the forest, thanks to the Diamond Dogs and a number of other creatures, managed to get back onto his hooves without much damage to his body. There were some scratches and burn marks from where he was certain that his mother's attack had reflected on his, but there wasn't much for him to worry about. He smirked and pulled out the container that contained his sticks, noting that he was currently on the last one and needed to harvest more of them.

Celestia, on the other hoof, was out of practice with her battle techniques, so when she hit the ground she fell to the center of her crater and moaned as pain shot through her legs. Her body was covered in burned patches of fur, scratches that were light enough for her to patch with some simple magic, and some cuts that would require some attention when she got back to Canterlot. She was also certain that a few of the bones in her legs might be cracked in some places, which she knew she could hide with some easy casts that would come off in a week or two.

She was only thankful that Crimson had only been at half of his maximum power, all from battling the storm that had been keeping Nightfury sealed away. She knew that if her son had been at full power she would have walked away with more broken bones than she had received and, she was fairly certain of this, a broken wing or two.

"For all of your 'infinite wisdom' you sure made some dumb decisions today," Crimson commented, lighting the stick and placing it in its rightful place, "for example, just because everypony else follows whatever you say and are willing to follow your every command doesn't meant that I will conform for you. When I said that I wasn't going to hoof over the Sigil of Fire, I meant that I wasn't going to give it to you until I was sure that I was no longer capable of hiding it anymore. You already have two of the Prime Sigils, and I'm pretty sure that Nightfury would give her's away if you so much as asked her to, but I had hoped that you would respect my choices.

And you know what mother? You disgust me! You attacked your own son and for what? An artifact of pure power that you are just going to hide away in your castle, with the rest of the artifacts that you've no doubt been hoarding since I disappeared. Your lucky that Aunt Luna was willing to put this entire town under a sleeping spell, otherwise everypony would know how horrible you are to your own family. You would have destroyed everything you worked for in a single instant, but you got extremely lucky today. Pray that your luck doesn't end mother, because when it does you'll wish it hadn't ended."

As Crimson turned to the barrier in an attempt to leave Celestia pulled herself up a bit and pointed her horn at the shimmering wall of magic, calling upon the last pieces of her magic to cancel the spell. She grunted and, with some effort on her part, managed to pull herself out of the crater, enough to watch her son walked towards the forest.

"Tell me Crimson, my son," Celestia huffed, stopping him cold in his tracks, "am I worthy of your forgiveness?"

"No," Crimson growled, stretching the word as he turned his head back to glare at her, "you are no where near being worthy of my forgiveness, mother. It will take some time before I ever consider forgiving you for everything you've done."

Tears filled Celestia's eyes as she collapsed on the ground, pain coursing through her body as she struggled to watch her son, as he walked into the Everfree Forest. She didn't know if she should feel sorry for herself, for being a terrible mother that eventually turned her son against her, or sorry for Crimson, for making him feel so much anger and hatred towards her. Eventually Crimson was swallowed by the forest and she laid her head on the ground at long last, letting her pain and exhaustion take her for the moment.

The last thing she heard before completely blacking out was somepony, not her son, calling her name from somewhere above where she happened to lay.

17: Thief in the Night

Sweetie Belle coughed violently as she stared at the open window in her bedroom, hearing the noise of her sister working with her thread and cloth, weaving together a dress for her clients. Rarity needed to finish all the orders that she had before she could consider taking a break, so Sweetie was left alone for the most part, so she could nurse the burn on her front leg. She had no idea how she had gotten the burn, but she assumed it had been because of the Shadow that had possessed her earlier, which was the only thing that she remembered. It wasn't a friendly Shadow, that much she was sure of, but she knew that she needed Princess Nightfury's help to protect herself from another invasion.

Unfortunately, leaving herself in the position she was in, without any information on how to defend herself from the Shadows, gave them the perfect opportunity to do it again. Sweetie's eyes widened as she realized that there was a smoky mist filling the room, wrapping around the bed before surging towards her mouth. She knew what was coming, so she squirmed as the Shadow tried to enter her body, trying to make it so the creature would leave her alone, but there wasn't much she could do against it in her current state. Eventually the mist entered her body and she slipped into the darkness, allowing the vile Shadow to take over and do whatever dastardly deed that it had planned.

Glimmer moaned as she straightened the poor filly's body, hating that this was the only creature that she had access to for the moment and casting a look at her injured leg. Crimson had bested her earlier that day, stealing the Sigil of Fire for her again, but this time she wasn't going to deal with him and his plans just yet. Nightfury was out of the question, as she was surrounded by the other alicorn's at the moment, which meant that the Sigil of Air was out of her reach for the moment. That left just the Sigil's of Water and Earth, which she suspected Princess Celestia had locked away somewhere in her fortress, the place she called Canterlot.

She threw off the covers and touched the floor, where she started to make her way to the door before she had to stop, the pain in her leg making it harder to do anything and just reminded her of how close she had been.

This will not do, Glimmer thought, her magic igniting and wrapping around the burn so she could heal it, if I am to get anything done tonight I need this body to be at full power and not weighed down by an injury.

It took her about five minutes to deal with the burn, as the flames that Prince Crimson used tended to be more powerful than the normal fire most ponies were used to. All that meant was that it took her longer to heal any burn she received from her ancient foe, though she would rather stay away from him until she could figure out how to steal his Sigil. Once the burn was healed and her leg was back to normal, as normal as it could get with Glimmer possessing the filly, she opened the bedroom door and made her way into the hallway. For the second time since possessing the filly she had to remark that her older sister was still working, giving her the opportunity to leave without being seen.

Unlike the previous time she had left the boutique there was absolutely nopony around, so Glimmer grinned to herself and made her way to the train station. Her previous host had been a dragon, so she had the power to fly, but while she was trapped to use the filly she was possessing she'd have to resort to using her magic to aid her. The plan was simple, she'd get a ticket to Canterlot, board the train before the filly's sister noticed she was missing again, and get to Canterlot so she could begin her search.

She made it to the train station without much getting in her way, but the moment she arrived she was stopped by the owner of the building, a light brown earth pony that dressed like he was a train conductor.

"What are you doing all the way out here, little filly?" the earth pony asked, looking around for what Glimmer assumed were her parents, though she knew he wouldn't find them, "Where are your parents?"

"Oh, you don't need to worry about them," Glimmer said, staring into the elder pony's eyes, "All you need to worry about is getting me a ticket to Canterlot and making sure that I get underway as soon as possible."

"I don't underst..." the conductor started, but then stopped the moment that he saw that patches of black were seeping into the ground all around the filly, before they came racing towards him.

Glimmer smiled as the darkness wrapped around the earth pony without any form of resistance, giving her the perfect chance to try shifting out of her current body and into a new one. When she tried she found that she was unable to leave her current body, causing her to abandon the idea for the moment as she let the darkness cloud the pony's judgement. She could have always killed the pony and gotten the ticket herself, but leaving a body behind would have alerted others to a killer and the Princesses might have discovered her before she could get even one of the Prime Sigils. Better, she believed, to take the conductor's mind for the moment, get her ticket the easy way, and then make him forget everything that he had witnessed that night.

Besides, killing a pony and making the body disappear would tax her host's body, which could potentially ruin her chances of finding her targets before the Princesses returned to Canterlot.

Once she had the conductor under her control, which wasn't at its best she had to admit, she got her ticket and directed him back to whatever he had been doing before she came along. The clock on the wall, she noted, was set to have the train arrive in a few minutes, so it gave her the chance to rest her body and get back a small amount of magic before she ventured into enemy territory. She didn't have to wait long, as the train came rolling into the station moments later, but she waited till it came to a complete halt and opened its doors before making her way inside. To Glimmer's delight there was nopony else in the train, save for the pony that made sure that the train went from one location to another without anything happening to it.

A minute or two later the doors closed and the train began its departure, where she finally let go of the elder pony's mind and let him go on with his life as if she had never been there to begin with.

------------------------------------------------------

It took between ten to fifteen minutes for the train to reach Canterlot, giving Glimmer plenty of time to review everything that she knew about the city so she could plan out where she was going to search. The main part of the castle would be an obvious place to hide even one of the Sigils, but Glimmer knew that Princess Celestia was too smart to leave such a powerful artifact, much less two of them, where her throne rested. That left Glimmer with two options, she would either have to ransack the Royal Library for a Sigil or a piece of information or, a much more satisfying option, tear Princess Celestia's room apart till she found one.

Unfortunately, she knew that she would have to check the library for any information, so she would not be ripping the castle apart in her attempt to find the Sigils.

The moment the train reached the station Glimmer made for the doors and stepped out into the night, heading right towards the central park, where she could make sure she knew her route. The sights around her almost made her smile, there was almost nopony around that could get in her way, save for a couple of the royal guards that patrolled the city. Seeing how it was night time the guards were the bat ponies that followed Princess Luna during the night, but they might be able to see her thanks to their night vision. She stopped in front of the map and gazed up at it, finding where she was located, thanks to the bright yellow star saying 'You are HERE', and quickly traced her path to the castle, pleased to find that she wouldn't have to change anything.

"Hold there boys," she heard somepony behind her say, telling her that some of the guards had spotted her and she could hear one coming her way, "Come here little filly, so we can find your parents and make sure you get home safely."

Glimmer cast a small look behind her and counted three bat ponies standing behind her, wearing a full set of their gleaming armor and staring her way. She could not afford to be detained by any of the guards, but she couldn't just put them down without somepony finding out and ruining her chances at getting what she came for. Then there was always the chance that somepony might look out their window while she fought the guards, further raising the alarms and destroying her mission altogether. The moment that the guard cleared his throat she made up her mind, focusing on causing the least amount of damage in the shortest amount of time.

Maybe this will give the royal Princesses a chance to remember just how dangerous a Shadow can truly be, Glimmer thought, allowing the shadows to gather around her, as well as serving as the perfect chance to test my abilities again.

The guard reached out and touched her shoulder, but Glimmer grabbed it as hard as the shadows would allow her, hearing the sound of bones snapping, before she lifted the guard over her heard and crashed him into the map she had been looking at. The other two guards stared at her for a moment, as if they couldn't believe that a filly could lift a fully grown pony clear off the ground and then maneuver them like that. Glimmer used that opportunity to summon the shadows out of the ground and lifted the other two as well, slamming them into each other hard enough to knock them out.

Glimmer grinned and continued on her way, making sure that she was nowhere near them when they were discovered, though she was grinning ear to ear, knowing that the Princesses would be worried once they returned.

It took her a good half an hour to make her way through the city, which had been because she continued to come across more guards and had to restrain herself from attacking them. If she left a trail of wounded ponies in her wake somepony was bound to call on the Princesses to check things out and then everything would have been ruined. So she went out of her way to move in the alleyways and between the houses themselves, anything that would allow her to bypass any patrol that stood in her way. Eventually she reached the castle, but before she passed through the doors, which were also guarded, she hid in the nearby bush and studied the area around her.

From what she could gather she could tell that there were at least six guards walking around the area, with another two that came out of some part of the castle just to be sure that everything was okay. The best thing she noticed was that there was a sign attached to one of the doors, one that informed her that the door the guards glanced at was the library. She had to thank Princess Celestia for being so foolish to leave something like that out in the open, because the enemies that knew her well enough would know where to look for the dangerous artifacts. She just needed to time her jump correctly and she was sure that she could enter the doorway before any of the guards noticed that she was inside the bushes.

"Did you hear?" one of the guards asked another one, "Something attacked one of our patrols near the train station. We're not completely sure what caused the attack, but it is advised to keep an eye out for anything, or anypony, that's not where they are supposed to be tonight. One of the guards managed to tell us that the attacker was small, almost like a filly, but be careful in case there's something much more dangerous out there."

"Like a changeling sir?" the second guard asked, his facial expressions never changing, even when he was basically told that the enemy could be a filly.

"Especially like a changeling," the first replied, getting ready to move onto the next guard so he could repeat what he had just said, "Keep your eyes open and weapons at the ready, something's coming our way and we need to be prepared for it."

As the first guard made his way around to the other guards, to tell them the same thing he had told the second guard, Glimmer noticed that the second guard was staring right at her bush. Not staring at the bush in general, but staring at it enough as if he could see through it and was gazing upon her while she crouched in the shadows. She could not afford to be found out by one guard, but she knew that if she felled the one guard then the others were going to find out that that she was here. If it came to ruining her cover then she was going to have to fight, which made her reach for her magic and let the shadows gather near her hooves, forming a weapon she had no reason to use for the last thousand years.

I have had no reason to loose this weapon in the last thousand years, Glimmer thought, as the shadows formed a bow with an arrow nocked, ready to be loosed at the guard that was staring at her, but I might have to use it if I want to get the Sigils.

"Over here!" the guard shouted, pulling on his lance and pointing it towards the bush she was in, "I've got something lurking in this bush over here!"

That was when Glimmer decided to screw the consequences of her next action and loosed the arrow she had prepared, letting it fly right into the guard's shoulder and knocking him clean into the wall. As she leapt out of the bush she let the shadows surround her, giving her a layer of living armor that would protect her in case she let the other guards get too close. A guard came at her before she could nock another arrow, throwing his lance into her armor and lifting her off the ground, but she would not be defeated so easily. The moment she was above the guard's head she sent the shadows down the weapon and into his body, tainting his mind enough to shut down his body for the next few hours.

She hit the ground running and drew the second arrow, loosing it with a glance back and pinned the third guard to the ground, hard enough to put him out of commission for the moment. Another arrow was drawn out and she made sure to get another guard in the shoulder, knocking their numbers down to two as she approached the door that lead to the library. She sighed and came to a stop before the door, turning around and pulling out two more arrows from the shadows that supplied her with her ammo. She quickly took aim and loosed them on the guards, nearly smiling when the closest one was pinned to the ground, but the feeling vanished when the second arrow missed completely.

"I've got you," the last guard said, lifting her into the air and slamming her against the wall, "Now, tell me who sent you to attack Canterlot and maybe I'll tell the Princesses that you cooperated enough to earn a reduced sentence in the prisons."

That was when Glimmer sent the shadows into the guard's mind, showing him the terrors of her world, terrors that would frighten him to his very core. The last thing she knew the guard would see would be the vision of her master, a creature so terrible that not even she, her master's second, could utter her name without being in the presence of her master. The sight would ruin the guard's mind and likely put him in a coma that could last for days, weeks, or, if she was lucky, a few months before he managed to break free. Once the guard's hold on her vanished and the guard hit the ground Glimmer brushed the dust off her coat and made her way into the library, eager to find a Sigil.

Now, if I were a powerful alicorn, where would I hide one of the Prime Sigils? Glimmer asked herself, stopping by the hourglass as she looked around the area she was standing in, I wouldn't dare to hide it in plain sight, least one of my enemies sneak into the castle and find out where I put one.

She spent a good five minutes wandering around the library, moving as fast as the filly's body would allow her, before she eventually returned to the hourglass. The entire night had been one piece of bad news after another, but now, with her prime area to search eliminated, she had no idea where one of the Sigils could be resting. As she made her way towards the door she glanced back at the hourglass, just in time for her to see something shimmer inside the glass, something that she would be able to recognize almost immediately.

"Well I'll be damned," Glimmer said to herself, staring at the hourglass as she realized what was in there, "She went through the effort to find one of the Sigils and then went the extra mile to change its form. I wonder if Princess Celestia came up with this idea herself, or stole it from her son the moment he told them what he wanted to do with them."

The shadows seeped out of the ground and wrapped around her front right hoof, which she had pressed against the glass of the hourglass after she raised herself to the same height as the glass itself. The shadows gathered the sand up, breaking through the glass and scattering the shards around the base, but she didn't let that bother her at all. The sands struggled against the shadows, as if the Sigil was resisting her because she wasn't the one who had made it into it's current shape, but she pressed on and pushed the grains of sand together.

Eventually the sand ignited and fused together, creating a burst of energy that knocked the books off the nearest shelves to where she was floating, but when it was all said and done Glimmer grinned; floating in front of her was an emerald the size of the gem she tried to steal from Crimson. It was the Sigil of Earth, complete at long last. Her master had given her a special chest that would carry the Prime Sigils that she found without allowing them to be taken from her, so Glimmer called upon the shadows and pulled the chest out. She gently opened the lid and pulled the Sigil of Earth over to the spot she had chosen for it a long time ago, the northern part, and left three spots empty. Once the Sigil was safe she closed the lid and dispelled the chest, hoping that she could find the other Sigil, the Sigil of Water, without needing the one she had just found.

"Stop right there Criminal Scum!" a guard shouted, his weapon drawn as he came to a stop behind her, "You have committed crimes against Equestria, Princesses Celestia and Luna, and their beloved ponies. What say you in your defense?!"

Glimmer sighed and spun around, an arrow nocked in her bow and loosed into the guard's shoulder before he had a chance to even move from the doorway. She hit him hard enough to pin him to the wall that stood behind him, so she didn't have to worry about him getting in her way as she made her escape from the library. The time for stealth was long over, as she had to loose more arrows at the guards that came running after her, though she had to wonder how they had all found out about her so quickly. She didn't have a clear escape path in mind, but there was a tug of magic that she could only describe as the magic of the Sigil's, which only wanted to lead her deeper into the castle.

Eventually she made a turn that lead her down a dark hallway, leading her away from the perusing guards, who had continued down the hallway she had been in as if they hadn't seen the one she had went down. She continued to follow the pull of the Sigil, for that was the only thing that could be pulling her deeper and deeper into the mountain, to the vault that she suspected that Princess Celestia had constructed. After a few minutes she passed through an opening that dropped her out by a large body of water, one that she had assumed was being used for some purpose by the Princesses.

As she stood at the edge of the water she could feel the pull of the Sigil of Water, which she was beginning to see as the water began to shimmer and glow. She had to give Princess Celestia credit for hiding a Sigil where almost nopony would be able to find it, but then again, Glimmer was not like most ponies, so she could look where others wouldn't dare to look. Unlike her encounter with the Sigil of Earth she called upon a vast amount of shadows and forced the water to pool in the middle of the area, where she knew she could control everything. The water reacted violently to her touch, something that she had expected from the Sigil of Earth, but she knew that she could outdo whatever game the water wanted to play.

As she whirled all the water together she could feel the actual Sigil taking shape, which eventually came into focus with a floating sapphire the size of the Sigils she had already seen. She pulled the chest back out of her storage space and opened it up, pulling the second Sigil over to her before placing it inside the slot she had ready, which was on the western direction. As she clicked the chest shut and returned it to the shadows she couldn't help but wonder if there had been a security measure in place that she could have missed. After taking the first Sigil she expected to be stopped by either Princess Luna or Princess Celestia, but neither one of them had shown up and it made her worry that it had been too easy.

Eventually she let the shadows wrap around her so she could take the filly back to her house, confidant that her victory over the two Princesses would go unnoticed for some time. She had finally beaten them and she knew that her master would be pleased that she was halfway done with her mission. Now she had to plan on finding Crimson Flare and Nightfury so she could steal their Sigil's, though she knew she'd be saving Crimson and his Sigil for last.

18: Council of Shadows

Glimmer had arrived in Sweetie Belle's room, stepping out of the shadows with a smug grin on her face, not a few minutes after her successful raid on Canterlot. She had done what she could not accomplice nearly two thousand years ago, only this time she had gone one step further then she had originally planned. Instead of walking away from her enemy's capital with one Sigil, she had managed to find a second Sigil, left unguarded in the middle of the mountain, and claimed it for her own master. A master, she was sure, that would be pleased with her progress.

Just as she climbed into the bed and prepared herself to leave her host behind she heard it, the familiar call of the shadows that came from either ruler of the Darkness, Nightmare Moon or her sister, her true master. She turned and looked at the nearby mirror, finding the surface pulse as if it was made of water and knew who was using it as her speaking device. She grinned once more and threw off the covers, approaching the mirror as a form began to take shape and noticed a familiar set of eyes staring at her. Once she was in front of the mirror she knelt before it and bowed her head, showing respect for the Ruler of the Darkness she was about to commune with.

And then she was there, Nightmare Moon's head was floating in the center of the mirror and staring at her, though even across the Veil she could feel the stare of her true master, lurking behind her sister.

"Princess Nightmare Moon," Glimmer said, keeping her head down until she was told to rise, "I was not expecting any contact from you until I had returned to the Darkness with my findings."

"Spare me the pleasantries and raise your head, Glimmer," Nightmare Moon remarked, giving her a moment to do so before continuing, "We have heard that you are still searching for the four Prime Sigils that reside across Equestria and may have actually received some good news about them for once. Tell us, what is this good news that you have received and why haven't we heard of it yet?"

"I'll cut right to the heart of it then, my masters," Glimmer replied, showing her smile to the mirror, "About an hour or two ago I snuck into Canterlot in search of any Sigils that the Princesses might have hidden in plain view of their precious ponies. I was forced to fight a couple of guards to get into the royal library, but I made sure that they had been wrecked so they couldn't tell anypony else about me. In the library I came across an hourglass, one that I soon discovered held the Sigil of Earth, so I collected it without delay and moved on before more guards arrived."

"That is good news indeed," Nightmare remakred, an eyebrow raised before she realized that she had interrupted the tale, "What else happened in Canterlot?"

"I found the Sigil of Water," Glimmer told the mirror, "and I stole it before anypony knew what was happening. In some related news I noticed that both Princess Nightfury and Prince Crimson Flare have returned to the public eye and have been reintroduced to the rest of Equestria. Both of them are still carrying their Sigils and I tried to recover the Sigil of Fire, but Crimson caught me in the act and made it impossible for me to acquire it."

"This is excellent news," Nightmare Moon said, and Glimmer could see the joy in her eyes, "though it is unfortunate that Crimson Flare continues to be a thorn in our side, more so than his annoying cousin that guards the Veil..."

Glimmer had know this part was coming, the part where her master spoke to Nightmare in her mind, so she could relay whatever instructions she had to tell her. Glimmer had only communicated with her master, face to face, only once in her entire life and she had felt the incredible power that she contained in that instant. Her master insisted that she speak through her sister, using Nightmare Moon like her mouthpiece, until the Veil was broken and they were free to cross over.

"As you wish, dearest sister," Nightmare suddenly said, her attention returning to Glimmer as whatever conversation she was having with her sister ended, "Glimmer, my sister has already contacted the other Shadows that have made Equestria their temporary home and has ordered them to make for the Everfree Forest. There they will meet and plan how to acquire the remaining Sigils from their Bearers, but they require an...expert...to guide them in their mission. Therefore, my sister has commanded that you are to venture into the Everfree Forest, find the meeting spot of the Shadows, and guide them in their mission.

Congratulations Glimmer Scale, you are now the leader of the Council of Shadows."

Glimmer's jaw nearly dropped at the mention of the secretive network of Shadows that served under her master and Nightmare Moon, as they were not talked about lightly. Back during the Dragon War she had received word from them that the Sigil of Fire had been located in the dragon's mountain, so she had followed that information and caused the war. Most of the members of the Council had caused some form of war or outbreak to earn their places amongst their numbers, but never would Glimmer have suspected that she would take over the Council.

That meant that she was the most devious, deceitful, and dangerous Shadow under her master's command, which is exactly what all the Alicorn's of Equestria believed she was.

"I will do as commanded," Glimmer said, collecting herself before a small grin sprung onto her face, "I will find the Council meeting and begin directing them in their mission to find the other Sigils."

"Do not fail us Glimmer," Nightmare Moon said, "We can create a new Council leader based on their skills, but that also means we can destroy them if they fail us."

Glimmer nodded and bowed her head once more, feeling the pressure of her master's gaze lift as the spell they were using to communicate with her faded. As she straightened herself up she considered where the other Shadows could have gathered in the Everfree Forest, but then she thought of a place that would be like spitting in Princess Nightfury's eyes. The Shadows could very well be meeting in the same place that the Veil was patched back up, where Nightfury made sure that the boundary between worlds remained stable. Glimmer grinned as she made a note to make herself a black cloak, one that would allow her to hide her current form while giving her the ability to use the power of the Sigils she had already acquired.

---------------------------------------

The Sanctum of Nightfury, buried deep in the Everfree Forest, was a place that was not known to most ponies that called Equestria home, save for those the Princess truly trusted. The race of creatures called the Shadows only knew about the area because their masters could feel the Princess use the area to keep them contained in their world. As the seconds ticked by several forms materialized around the open area, appearing between the trees as they made sure that none of their enemies had discovered their meeting. They had been called to this area by their master, to welcome their newest leader and to listen to what he or she had to tell them about acquiring the remaining Sigils.

The six of them were the infamous members of the Council of Shadows, though most of them were unknown to the ponies of Equestria and each of them had no love for the others.

"I do hope our new leader doesn't jeopardize our mission by being late," one of the Shadows mentioned, not stepping out of the darkness as it stared at the others, "I'd hate to tell our master that he or she was...unable...to follow through with what was promised."

"Calm yourself," a second Shadow spoke up, "if our new leader is late to the meeting it will only be because they were given no idea where we were supposed to meet. Besides, if our leader is who I am thinking of then I daresay that we shall not be disappointed."

The other four Shadows remained silent, allowing the two of them to duke it out, but one of those four grunted once or twice while they waited, telling the others that he'd rather be in charge then taking orders. They took note of his behavior and made no attempt to stop it, leaving it for their new leader to take care of the moment that they decided to arrive. Fortunately they didn't have to wait long for their leader to arrive, as a minute after the one Shadow grunted the wind whipped around and a seventh form joined them. The six of them held their breath for a moment, making sure that they made the best first impression despite whatever each of them were feeling at the moment.

"Ah, I see that I was correct in my assumption of where you would be holding this meeting," Glimmer said, intentionally distorting Sweetie Belle's natural voice to make it more like the voice she had used when she was a dragon, "I know we have some order of business to take care of, but I would first like to know each of your names and what earned you the right to stand in this Council. Do this simple act for me and I shall tell each of you who I am."

"I am Grimwing," an ashy griffin said, stepping forward and revealing herself to the others, "It was I who caused the Griffin Wars between the griffins, the dragons, and the ponies, who joined during the third war. While searching for one of the Prime Sigils I caused the deaths of at least a thousand creatures, earning me the scorn of each race that was involved."

"I am known as Obsidian," the second Shadow said, stepping out and revealing an ashy scaled dragon, "During the time of the Dragon Wars I took the lives of at least seven hundred ponies, to which I will forever thank Princess Celestia for allowing her troops to continue to fight me in battle. I shall repay such a kindness by delivering to her the end of the world she tried to create and will enjoy watching her crumble in defeat."

"Poison Mist," an ashy pegasus mare said, appearing in the space next to Obsidian, "I was the one responsible for poisoning the water of Cloudsdale, thus poisoning several key areas of the Equestrian Government. My poison was responsible for the deaths of a few key politicians from each nation, but only Celestia appeared to be immune to my special blend. I also made sure to poison several small villages before I was found out, though I took quite a decent number of ponies and griffins down before that happened."

"I am Crater," the fourth Shadow, an ashy earth pony stallion, said as he stepped out of the shadows, "of the Terrible Twins. We were responsible for the near destruction of the Everfree Kingdom nearly two thousand years ago, but we were stopped by Princess Nightfury. How she discovered us has remained a mystery, but we have promised our master that we would stop her this time, before she ruined our latest plans."

"...and I am Boulder," the fifth Shadow, a stallion nearly identical to Crater save for a scar over his left eye, "the other half of the Terrible Twins. After waiting a thousand years since our first defeat we returned to Equestria, intending to bring ruin to Princess Celestia by destroying her new kingdom. We nearly destroyed the kingdom of Canterlot, but Celestia found us out and cast us back into the darkness, where we planned our revenge in secret."

Glimmer nodded her understanding to the five Shadows that had already spoke, knowing each of their names and deeds thanks to the constant information she had received from her master. She had made sure to keep constant tabs on possible members of the Council of Shadows, going as far to create her own personal folder of possibilities. Now she knew five of them, but as she turned to the sixth Shadow she believed she knew exactly who it was that was staring at her, though she wanted him to speak for himself.

"And you?" Glimmer asked, turning the attention of the Council to the last Shadow, "Who might you be?"

The shadows unraveled themselves and revealed a stallion whose unnatural dark grey coat and pure black mane stood out as he appeared before them. He was wearing a suit of silver steel armor with a lush red cape attached to the back of it, which covered his backside, and a steel crown on the top of his head. The strands of purple mist, the telltale signs of somepony who used Dark Magic, came out of his eyes and told everypony exactly who he was without him having to say anything.

"I am King Sombra," the stallion growled, almost as if speaking was something he would rather avoid, "the King of Monsters and Shadows. I am the sole pony responsible for the War of the Crystal Empire, where hundreds of ponies fell in my gamble for power until I had acquired control of the entire Empire. My rule was cut short when Princess Celestia and Princess Luna arrived and blew me into Oblivion, though I took the Empire with me until I was able to return. I came back a year ago, intending to take back what had been taken from me, but I was defeated by the Princess of Love, Cadence, and blown apart all over again. I shall use my full wrath to ruin all of the Princesses of Equestria, regardless of who they are and what powers they might have at their beck and call.

And what about you? You, who has hidden behind the shadows while each of us divulge our names, our deeds, and our personal reasons for wanting to bring harm to the Princesses. Just who are you?"

Glimmer chuckled as she walked out of the shadows, allowing her new underlings to gaze upon her small body, which was covered by a robe that she had made before coming here. She wore a hood that covered her head, preventing them from seeing that she was controlling the body of a filly, but she did enchant it to make her eyes look like they contained a fire that was full of fury. Behind her floated four dark green spheres, two of which were empty at the moment, but the other two contained a small spark in them, one light green and one deep blue.

"I am Glimmer Scale," she replied, staring right at Sombra until he was forced to break away from her gaze, "It was I who caused the Dragon Wars, though I eventually lost the Sigil of Fire to Prince Crimson Flare. We may have lost the Sigil, but during the course of ten years I was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of ponies, dragons, and the occasion griffin that wandered too close to the battlefield. Now, however, I have two of the Prime Sigils that were once kept hidden by our enemies, Earth and Water."

"Then tell us, Glimmer," Sombra challenged, "What do you have planned for recovering the last two Sigils?"

"We will infiltrate the staff that are going to rebuild the Everfree Kingdom," Glimmer said, pointing behind him in the direction of the ruined castle, "we will learn of each and every passage that exists in that castle, blend in with the workers, and, when the time is right, we will strike at our enemies. We will kidnap the Keeper of either the Sigil of Air, Princess Nightfury, or the Sigil of Fire, Prince Crimson Flare, and then steal their Sigil before the Sisters are even aware of what is happening. Once we have acquired one of the other two Sigils we will plan the final stage of our assault, where we will recover the final Sigil and complete the mission that our masters set out for us.

Now, go out into the night and return to the recruitment center in disguise. I shall contact each of you when the time has come to put the first phase of our plan into action."

After she gave her command each of the Shadows, save for Sombra, bowed to her in respect and disappeared into the shadows behind them, vanishing in a matter of seconds. Sombra stared at her for another moment, as if trying to decide between attacking her and stealing the two Sigils she already had, or folding and just go along with the plan for now. She glared at him and he backed up, disappearing into the shadows and leaving her to whatever evil act she had planned before she left as well. Instead Glimmer grinned and stared at the ruined castle, wondering if either of her enemies knew how close the danger was to their new home.

Soon she would have her revenge on Crimson Flare and Nightfury, and she would take great pleasure in bringing ruin down upon them and their parents.

19: Rude Awakening

Celestia moaned as the light of her sun hit her face, making her turn around so she could rest her head on the other side of her pillow and rest some more. Then, when she realized that somepony else had moved the sun in her absence, she raised her head and opened her eyes, only to find that she was resting in one of the rooms in Twilight's castle. In the process of moving she noticed that she had a few bandages on her legs and around her chest, but she was more concerned for whoever had raised her sun for her.

"See Twilight?" she heard Spike cay, turning towards the voice and spotted him standing there, along with Twilight, "I told you that the Princess was going to be all right."

Celestia noted that Twilight had the look of somepony that was annoyed, curious, and concerned about something all at once, which was never good in most cases. She knew that she could be concerned for her well-being, as she had, foolishly, fought her own son in the middle of the night, only furthering his hatred towards her. That was the only thing that came to her mind, which made her curious as to what else there was that could have made her student have the expressions she currently had.

"What's wrong Twilight?" Celestia asked, hoping that she might be able to comfort her student.

"Well, Princess Luna returned to Canterlot earlier this morning and performed your daily duties," Twilight replied, giving her a moment before beckoning to the sun, "so she basically did what you did during her banishment, she raised both the sun and the moon. It seems that somepony broke into the castle last night and severely hurt most of the Lunar Guards that were on duty that night, pinning them to the walls or throwing them into the stonework. Whoever was behind the attack also hit the royal library, throwing many of the valuable books off of their shelves and damaging some of them in the process.

The unfortunate part is that the hourglass was found shattered with the glass scattered around it, but all of the sand was found missing, not even a grain of it remained in the library."

"You don't mean..." Celestia said, her eyes widening as she realized exactly what Twilight could be telling her.

"The Sigil of Earth is missing," Twilight replied, shaking her head, "so Princess Luna did some investigating before ponies started their duties and made a second startling discovery...the Sigil of Water is also missing..."

"Sweet Faust help us..." Celestia breathed, noticing that Twilight was looking at her notes and had not heard what she had said, "How could we have lost both of them in one night?"

"That would be our fault," another voice said, just as Nightfury walked in, "Crimson and I have been wearing our Sigils since the day we found them, so it is possible that somepony, well versed in their magical signatures, followed our trail and found the Sigils. Now, there is only one creature that is well versed in the magic of the Sigils, Glimmer Scale. I'm afraid that, in our attempt to make sure they were safe, we ended up hoofing over two of the Prime Sigils that you spent the last thousand years collecting."

"We still have one of them though," Celestia sighed, referring to Nightfury's Sigil as she had no idea what Crimson was doing now, "I guess we'll have to keep you and your Sigil safe until we can find Glimmer and deport her back to her world. The only problem is that we don't have a way to find her, as that now that she has two of the Prime Sigils she'll be focusing her mind to using their power to hide herself."

"We need to dismantle the Council of Shadows," a third voice said, causing Celestia to turn towards the door and find her son, the Sigil attached to his neck, present, "the bothersome group of Shadows that serve whoever commands the Darkness, acting on his or her behalf in our own world. I got a letter and a package from Aunt Luna earlier, the letter describing what happened in Canterlot last night while the package contained the fragments of the weapon that was used against the guards. I studied the fragments and found that they belong to a bow that's been made up of shadows, but the tip of the arrow told me exactly who came knocking at our door; Glimmer Scale."

Twilight had been surprised when Crimson had entered the room, wondering why he had bothered to return and aid them, when he wanted nothing to do with his own mother. She couldn't understand his anger and hatred towards Princess Celestia, no matter how much she read she couldn't piece everything together. But now here he was, walking into the room and telling them that they needed to find the shadowy ponies that were aiding Glimmer in her campaign.

"Back when Nightfury and I lived in the Everfree Kingdom we took it upon ourselves to destroy the Council of Shadows," Crimson continued, walking past the bed, and his mother, before stopping in front of the window, "She would keep an eye out for any unusual magical signatures that belonged to the Shadows and I, using said information, would figure out which Shadow she was referring to. Several times I thought I had cornered one of the leaders of the Council, but in the end I was only able to fully destroy one of them, ending his reign before he could do any lasting damage.

Now it would seem that Glimmer might have taken the place of the previous leader, though she is in a position where she could damage us before we can find her. If we are to find the leaders of this Council and destroy them before they can gather the remaining Sigils then I propose that everypony follows what I say to the letter."

"Come on cousin, you know we need your help," Nightfury said, though she knew that Aunt Celestia would never admit to it, "Without you the Sigil of Air would have been trapped outside Equestria until I found a way to break through on my own, without you we would have lost your Sigil to Glimmer during the Dragon Wars, and without you we wouldn't have been able to negotiate a peace treaty with the Griffin Kingdom and stop the war with them. You know that, in order to survive the coming storm, we're going to need you now more than ever."

Crimson waited for a few minutes, seeing if his aunt, his mother, or Twilight had any objections to following his orders until the Council was dealt with. He knew that if NIghtfury had no objections to following him, then Aunt Luna would follow her daughter until she saw fit to change her mind and deviate from the plan. He truly had no idea if his mother would ever consider following even one of his orders, as she threw them aside during the Dragon Wars, but he would be okay if she left him alone anyway. He did know that Twilight, Equestria's newest princess, would likely follow her mentor until the end, but a part of him wanted her to see how the world was almost two thousand years ago.

"Very well," Celestia sighed, knowing that she severely needed all the help she could get and that turning her son away would be a major mistake that she couldn't afford to make, "What will your first order be, Knight-Commander of the Everfree Kingdom?"

"Knight-Commander!?" Twilight gasped, recalling that, throughout all of her readings, she spotted references to a Knight-Commander that happened to be involved in the Dragon Wars, "Your telling me that Crimson is the Knight-Commander that nearly all of the history books talk about?"

"My name was stricken from the history books, so no Shadow could figure out who I was," Crimson remarked, a small grin appearing on his face, "It was, after all, another move on the chess board, one that I deemed necessary at the time. I knew that Glimmer would come looking for me, so I practically erased almost every mention of myself and went into hiding. My mother, on the other hoof, took it another step further and forgot about me until a few days ago, when you stumbled upon me before I could finish my spell. Now Glimmer knows who and what I once was, so she's bound to be preparing her forces for my arrival.

My first order is to double the guard patrols in Ponyville, so we can show the ponies that they have nothing to fear and to keep an eye out for any strange activity. We'll set up a way for them to communicate with each other, so that way we can find out where a Shadow was last seen without having to get there much later than we usually do. Aunt Luna, you and my mother should return to Canterlot for now, to calm your citizens down and tend to the wounded guards, all while keeping an eye out. Once the builders have arrived we'll add a few guards to watch over them, so they can make sure that the rebuilding of the Everfree Castle goes ahead as planned.

Twilight Sparkle, I want you and Nightfury to combine your knowledge of the Darkness, the Shadows, and the residents of Ponyville, so we can flush out any Shadows that are trying to get closer to us. We need to find the leaders of the Council and send them back to their world before they can get their hooves on one of our remaining Sigils. I, on the other hoof, will remain here, pouring over the maps of the immediate areas so I can better plan our future moves and prevent the citizens from realizing that something is, in fact, wrong. We had best get started before Glimmer catches wind of our plans, so your all dismissed."

Twilight looked up at Princess Luna, wondering if she should leave or not, but after a few seconds she beckoned for Nightfury to follow her to her study area and the two left almost immediately. Luna looked over at her sister and wrapped a hoof around her, helping her out of the bed before they made their way out of the room as well. Crimson, once he was sure that they were all gone, sighed for a moment before he stared out the window, staring down at the ponies that passed by the castle while doing their daily tasks.

As he watched the ponies walk by he spotted the three fillies that had been the first to discover him, the one known as Sweetie Belle leading the other two to whatever they had planned for that day. He knew that he needed to keep an eye on her as well, just in case Glimmer decided to take her body again and use her against her will. He needed to find Glimmer fast, otherwise he was sure that the Council would continue to operate until the end of their existence.

Glimmer grinned as she lead the other Crusaders, who were obvious to the fact that Sweetie was possessed, away from the crystal castle, knowing that everything was coming into place. Soon, she knew, they would have the remaining Sigils. It was only a matter of time.

20: The Dawn Guard

It took the entire day for Princess Celestia, hiding her bruises and bandages with an illusion spell, to arrange for an increase to the guards that patrolled Ponyville. It was both easy and hard for her to do so; easy in the regard that she could assign a few veteran officers to watch over the younger officers, though it was hard because, while she wanted to assign a few Lunar Guards as well, most of her sister's guards were out of commission for the moment. It literally took her hours to go through all her records and decide which of her guards were to be transferred to Ponyville, followed by the appropriate paperwork.

In the end she had at least fifty of her guards ready for transfer to the small city though, after a quick letter to Cadence and a reply coming an hour later, she felt that she was going overboard. Cadence was determined to meet with both Nightfury and Crimson Flare, thus she was coming from the Crystal Empire with a detachment of twenty-five guards. Her son was going to have enough guards to protect both Ponyville and start his own garrison in the Everfree Castle, whenever he got around to doing so.

She only prayed that Crimson remembered the enchantment that allowed the guards of the past to detect Shadows on their own, otherwise they might not find Glimmer before it was too late.

--------------------------------------

Crimson sighed as he looked over the blueprints of Ponyville, there were too many places where one of his enemies could slip through the cracks and get into the town. He suspected that his mother was going to assign a small detachment of guards to the town, but with a minimum number of at least fifteen guards that made it near impossible to protect the entire area of Twilight's kingdom. Glimmer could easily enter the town with that number of guards and get to the Sigils before they got anywhere close to completing the Everfree Castle, which meant checkmate on himself.

He would not, and could not, allow himself to be checkmated by this enemy, not after dodging her for so long and thwarting every plan he could discover. By his estimations they needed at least fifty guards for both Twilight's kingdom and the Everfree Kingdom, but he had no idea if his mother would be able to pull off those numbers.

"You shouldn't work yourself to the bone cousin," Nightfury commented, walking into the 'war room', as Crimson had already started calling it, with Twilight at her side, "otherwise we'll be hoofing over one of our remaining Sigils to Glimmer. You need to rest before mother and Aunt Celestia come back with the detachment of guards you asked them to bring."

"Glimmer does not rest in her pursuit to acquire the Prime Sigils," Crimson said, placing a rune on the area of the map between Ponyville and the Everfree, "so I cannot rest until we deport her, destroy her Council completely, and secure the Sigils that she stole from us. I spent the last thousand years coming up with dozens upon dozens of plans, preparing for the day where she decided to show herself again, but now it seems that we're playing her game now."

"So how will you find her," Twilight asked, glancing down at the map that Crimson was working on before taking a seat across from him, "when you couldn't detect her before she broke into my castle? And how will you find her if you don't leave my castle at all and spend you days pouring over every map we have of Ponyville and the Everfree Forest?"

"Crimson created a special rune during the time we lived in the Everfree Castle," Nightfury responded, sitting across from her cousin and ignoring the map completely, "one that he placed on the armor of our own Royal Guard. We shared a Royal Guard between us, half of which were on duty when Crimson ruled and the other half relaxing until it was my turn to sit on the throne. With the rune on each of their armor it gave them the ability to find the magical signature of a Shadow and track them down, though they were always under orders to tell us the moment they found something.

What Crimson plans on doing is placing the rune on the guards that Aunt Celestia sends our way, so they can better do the job that they are being tasked with. They'll be able to protect both your kingdom and the Everfree Kingdom from the lesser Shadows, though they'll need one of us to deal with a Council Member or, Moon forbid, Glimmer herself. In her present state, with two of the Prime Sigils backing her now, it would take the combined power of both me and Crimson to weaken Glimmer to the point where a third alicorn could take her down. That will all depend on who is around at the moment we discover her location."

"You guys had your own Royal Guard?" Twilight asked, curious as to who they were and if she already had some information stored somewhere in her brain.

Crimson was amazed that Twilight could get so excited about some random piece of information and completely ignore the fact that she might very well be called upon to deal with Glimmer, when they find her. He guessed that, seeing how she had no battle experience outside whatever his mother sent her to do, she was more of a bookworm and researcher than a warrior like Aunt Luna was. He still had no idea who the other alicorn, a Princess Cadence, was or what type of alicorn she was, like a fighter or a researcher.

"Yes, though they weren't as large as the guards that guard mother and Aunt Celestia these days," Nightfury replied, apparently thinking about it before telling her about them, "We called them the Dawn Guard, on account for the fact that they protected our ponies, and ourselves, from the Shadows that dared to enter our world. They helped us track down many of the hard to find Shadows, who were on a level below Gimmer as it were, and aided us in holding them down so we could focus on deporting them. I can only assume that, after Crimson and I vanished, they settled into guarding mother and Aunt Celestia until they, too, vanished into the background.

Do any members of the Dawn Guard still exist? That I do not know, but we can train a few of the guards that are coming from Canterlot into decent replacements."

"Um, Twilight?" another voice said, just as Spike appeared by the door, "The Princesses are here, and they're asking for all of us to come downstairs."

Crimson sighed and steeled himself, knowing that he'd want to lash out at his mother, but also knew that, by doing so, it would just open the way for Glimmer to attack them. He needed to remain calm when they were near each other, which he knew was going to be quite the task considering how much anger he had inside of him. He nodded to the others and followed the little dragon outside, wondering what they needed to see that was so important to interrupt him while he was planning. Once they were outside he immediately spotted what he assumed his mother wanted to show him, the seventy-five guards that were standing before the crystal castle.

"You told me you needed more guards," Celestia said, walking up to the group with Luna right behind her, "so I managed to transfer a decent amount of my own guard to Ponnyville. Princess Cadence has generously gifted fifty of her own guards to the cause, giving us a equal hundred guards to deal with our 'problem'."

Crimson nodded and looked behind his mother and aunt, spotting another alicorn, this one having a pink coat with three colors in her mane and tail, walking towards them. He was pretty sure who this new alicorn was, as there was only one he had yet to meet, but he held his tongue and let her approach, giving her the opportunity to speak first.

"Prince Crimson Flare and Princess Nightfury I presume?" Cadence asked, stopping right beside Celestia and smiling at them as she extended her hoof out.

"That would be us," Nightfury replied, shaking her hoof before motioning for her cousin to do the same, "I take it you are Princess Cadence of the Crystal Empire?"

"That I am," Cadence said, shaking Crimson's hoof, who gave her a light smile before pulling away, "Celestia told me a little about your 'problem' and asked if I could lend you some of my guards. It wasn't easy to convince some of my guards to come all the way down here, but once I told them that somepony wants to do more harm to my sister-in-law's kingdom they came in numbers. So you've got fifty of my own Royal Guards here, but I expect some explanation on what's going on."

"There will be time for the whole explanation later," Crimson replied, turning to face the assembled guards, "A third of you will be assigned to the garrison of Ponyville, where you will patrol the town and make sure that it is safe from those that would do Princess Twilight and her ponies harm. The other two-thirds will have the task of making sure that the path to the Everfree Castle is secure and safe from the denizens that call the forest home. You'll also be charged with overseeing the ponies that will begin the construction process to rebuild the castle, where my cousin Nightfury and I will be making our home in a few weeks time.

There are ponies who would want to do us harm, but when you all leave this castle and report to the garrison we will give you the tools that will help you find these ponies. You will be given the names of several ponies that we suspect will be coming here, so that you can keep an eye out for them and report their location should they show up. If any of you find one of the high ranking targets on the list I would advise against attacking immediately, just wait until one of us arrives and we'll deal with them together.

Should any of you find the maximum threat target, one Glimmer Scale, I would advise against confronting her and follow her from a safe distance, so that we can come and aid you. Glimmer Scale is not to be underestimated. Is that clear?"

"YES SIR!" the guards called out, raising their front right hoof to their foreheads in a salute.

"Dismissed!" Crimson said, watching the guards begin the walk towards the garrison they had set up earlier that morning.

"What exactly happened while I was in the Crystal Empire?" Cadence asked, not understanding what was happening or who this 'Glimmer Scale' was supposed to be.

"Come inside and we'll explain," Nightfury replied, beckoning for them to follow her inside.

Crimson sighed as he stared out at the town once more, wondering where Glimmer was this time and what she was planning to do to him, his cousin, and young Twilight. He needed to find her fast, before she destroyed anything or managed to get her claws on another Prime Sigil.

21: Assault on the Castle

Glimmer dashed behind a building and let the guard that had been walking behind her pass her by, keeping her host's eyes on him as she wondered what was happening. She had known that Crimson, her ancient enemy, would have eventually called in the Royal Guard and set them up across the small town, but this was unexpected. She had been told, by Poison Mist in fact, that Crimson was supposed to be in the Everfree Forest, sulking from some sort of argument with his mother, but she saw him, earlier that day, in front of the crystal castle of Princess Twilight Sparkle.

Commanding a section of guards no less! Glimmer thought, her anger washing over her face before she regained herself, That blasted Shadow pegasus lied to me and expected me to believe her. We were supposed to recon the town, get to know the layout before the guards showed up, and then strike the moment their guard was down. Now our entire plan has been blown to pieces, all because one blasted pegasus couldn't do her job.

"I could hear the darkness vibrating with your anger," a voice said, just as a grey stallion, with no red horn, armor, or dark magic, appeared behind her, "and I saw the command, which ruins our plans. Tell me, what shall we do now?"

"They'll be hunting us down now anyway," Glimmer groaned, hating to ditch one of her own finely tuned plans, "so tell the others to prepare for the assault, only there's a change of target this time."

"Oh?" Sombra asked, already prepared to disappear once more, "Where shall our forces be pointed at?"

"There," Glimmer replied, beckoning towards the crystal castle with as little effort as possible, "all six Princesses are now in attendance in this one town. Celestia, Luna, Crimson Flare, Nightfury, Cadence, and Twilight Sparkle, with the remaining two Prime Sigils, are just sitting there, waiting for something to happen. Tell the others and open the gates, we'll be marching soon."

The moment she mentioned that Princess Cadence was back Sombra was already heading into the darkness, intending to marshal their forces so he could exact his revenge on the Princess that took his empire from him. Glimmer knew the others would be excited as well, as they all wanted Princess Celestia and Princess Luna under their hooves, to show them that they were superior. Her only focus was on finding a way into the castle, so she could get close to either Crimson and Nightfury, before she stole one of their Sigil's away from them. Then she realized who she was possessing and an idea popped into her head, she only had to execute it before they caught on to her.

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"The guards have been given their runes and know what to look for," Crimson said, sighing as he wondered why he felt that they were missing a key piece of information, "but so far none of them have seen any trace of a single Shadow, not even a lesser one. Where is Glimmer this time?"

"Maybe the arrival of our guards spooked her?" Cadence asked, still trying to wrap her head around everything they had been trying to tell her for the last two hours, "It is seven to one hundred after all, so they'd be fighting at terrible odds."

"These Shadows have fought in the most terrible wars across all of history," Twilight replied, worried that there was some clue they were missing, "usually fighting a whole army by themselves. They'll likely laughing at us, but I cannot help but wonder where they are and what they're planning."

That was when a filly burst into the room and ran over to where Nightfury was sitting, though all of the Princesses knew who the young pony was, as she had offered to allow Nightfury's assistant to possess her body for a couple of hours at a time. The young azure coated unicorn mare was homeless and had no ponies watching over her, so Nightfury took it upon herself to offer the job to the young pony, who accepted in seconds. The grey coat told them all that Thorn was in the building, which meant that she must have uncovered something during her research in the enemy capital.

"What's wrong Thorn?" Nightfury asked, noticing that her assistant had a worried look on her face as she approached.

"Princess, I come baring news," the young pony said, coming to a stop before catching her breath, "I overheard a couple of guards saying that they were preparing to open a few gates, by the request of Glimmer Scale and authorized by her own master. Then, before I could make for the nearest quiet area to call on this filly's services, the Nightmare walked into their chamber and commanded the two of them to prepare her sister's personal gate to be readied. All she told them after that was 'The Darkstar comes to Equestria once more', though I don't know if that's the name of Nightmare's sister or just her title."

"Blast it all, they're preparing for an invasion," Crimson snapped, slamming his hoof on the table, "We'll need to use half of the guards to escort ponies out of their homes and someplace safe, so they don't get caught in the crossfire, while the other half prepares for their arrival. There's no telling when they'll arrive, but we know they're coming for our Sigils."

"That's not exactly true," Celestia spoke up, stepping into the room and drawing the attention to her, "I just got a report from one of the guards saying that they saw black crystals growing out of the ground and that they are coming towards the town. They also reported seeing a mass of shadows surrounding them, melding into forms of ponies that looked out of this world and gathering in significant forces. Glimmer's making her move, though it seems like Sombra is aiding her in his pursuit for vengeance."

"Blast it all again," Crimson groaned, wondering how many Shadows were coming their way, "With two of the Prime Sigils Glimmer has the power to open gateways to her home world, but only to summon the minor warriors and grunts. We need to get those Sigils back, before she gains enough power over them to do even more damage than she's already done..."

"Knight-Commander!" a guard shouted, bursting into the room before saluting the assembled alicorns, "We've received word from the outer patrol and they're telling us that a mass of shadows is coming towards the city from the Everfree Forest."

Crimson, not believing the speed of which he was receiving all this news, rushed to one of the windows and threw it open, his eyes scanning the trees for any signs of their enemy. Then he saw it, the black mist that always told them when an army of Shadows was nearing their location, but he could see a good four dozen of them forming already. As he watched them he spotted another familiar sight, two stallions what were walking towards the castle in the intent to destroy in their eyes. He knew that they could only be Boulder and Crater, which meant that they needed someponies to deal with them before they could wreck their forces.

"Aunt Luna, we've got company!" Crimson shouted, flames wrapping around the side of his body as a longsword materialized between his wings, "Its Crater and Boulder."

"Oh not these foul demons again," Luna replied, sighing as she prepared to take off, "I'll take the fight to them and make sure that they don't get close to the castle."

"And there's another one over there!" Cadence said, pointing at a swirling mass of shadows that formed into a familiar stallion, "Sombra...I guess it falls to me to defeat him, only this time I'll go alone."

Twilight watched as the two alicorns made their way out of the castle, though she had to wonder what Glimmer hoped to accomplish by sending out members of her Council to do war with them. She was most certainly coming for the Sigils of Fire and Air, but she knew from experience that neither of the newest alicorns would be willing to part with theirs.

"Twilight Sparkle," Crimson said, turning his head so he could look back at her, "I'll need you to erect a barrier around the castle, one that will prevent anypony from entering unless we give them permission to do so."

Twilight, familiar with how the magic of the spell worked despite almost never using it, nodded at his request and moved to the open floor area of the chamber. Magical runes danced around her before settling on the floor, creating the perfect circle that she required to perform the spell, though she needed to concentrate to complete it. She took a seat in the center of the circle and prepared to start the spell, but a guard came in escorting Sweetie Belle, who Twilight assumed had been nearby and the guard had grabbed her to get her out of the way. She nodded and the guard left, leaving Sweetie to move over to a bookshelf while she closed her eyes, focusing on the task she was working on.

Crimson watched as the air around the crystal castle began to shimmer before the barrier took shape, beginning its descent towards the ground while keeping its bubble shape. He knew that, with three of the Council members running around already, there were still four Shadows unaccounted for and that made him take the step they needed. He suspected that the other three members were lurking around on the soon to be battlefield, waiting to draw one of them out so they could try and take their Sigils, but his main concern was Glimmer. He had no idea where she was, and that alone made him summon something that could protect himself and his cousin, just in case their enemy was coming their way already.

Glimmer watched as the alicorns around her turned their attention to the events happening outside of the castle, save for the young Twilight of course. They were so focused on the coming wave of Shadows that they all forgot that there could very well be one of them hidden amongst them, though she knew she was lucky to have gotten through without them noticing so far. That was when she noticed another filly standing beside Nightfury, her intended target at the moment, one that reminded her of an annoying Shadow she had seen back home. The filly was staring at her as well, as if she was trying to determine who and what she was, though it continued to remind her of the same Shadow over and over.

Then it clicked in her head that, seeing how Nightfury had returned and Thorn had been summoned once before, that she could very well be looking at Thorn in her new host's body.

"Princess Nightfury! She's here!" the filly spoke up, nearly shouting at the assembled alicorns while pointing over at her, "Glimmer Scale's right here!"

Glimmer, not wasting a second the moment her rouse was discovered, leapt into the air and headed in the direction of Nightfury, though while she did so the air around her shimmered. One moment she was the same filly that the ponies around her were used to seeing, but the next she was a grey coated filly that was wearing a cloak, with the two orbs floating nearly over her head. Her magic ignited the moment she touched the ground, one set of them turning into chains and wrapping around Nightfury without giving her a chance to defend herself. The second bit of magic she summoned smacked the other filly in the head, knocking her onto her back and out of the way so she could make her escape.

"So long losers!" Glimmer shouted over her shoulder, dragging Nightfury out of the open window and disappearing into the mass of Shadows before the barrier could even reach the ground.

"Oh, she is so done for," Celestia said, anger in her voice, "and so, too, will her tiresome Council."

22: The Sundering

"Blast it all trice fold," Crimson growled, flames wrapping around his body as his anger rose once more, "How dare she invade one of our castles, in the guise of a filly no less, and drag my cousin out before we have a chance to do anything. Princess Twilight, you might as well forgo the barrier and prepare to battle with whichever Council member decides to show his or her ugly face next. I'm going to tear Glimmer apart, rescue Nightfury, and stop this madness before we lose any lives."

Before either of the alicorns could stop him Crimson leapt out the open window, opened his wings almost immediately, and soared into the air, passing the barrier that was quickly falling apart. Dozens of Shadows looked up at him as he flew over their heads, though he could tell that they all glared at him and those that had horns began to prepare their spells. This was one of the consequences from deporting so many of them back to their home world, but he had done it to keep him world safe from them and their mysterious master. Though even as he tried to pass over them he knew it might not be the best idea as dozens of spells came up into the sky, no doubt aimed right at him.

As he prepared to pull his wings in and use his flames to protect himself a ball of fire appeared between him and the spells, though each and every one of the attacks was sucked up as if they were nothing. Once the flames died down Crimson's eyes widened as he spotted his mother, of all ponies, floating between him and the legion of Shadows that hated him. She seemed annoyed, but Crimson was sure that it was directed at the Shadows and not him.

"Go, stop Glimmer and save Nightfury," Celestia shouted, her horn lighting as she focused on the Shadows below her, "I shall deal with all of these enemies."

Crimson nodded and flapped his wings, heading for the Everfree Forest, where he knew Glimmer would be hiding until she managed to rip off his cousin's Sigil and claim it for herself. He had no idea what Glimmer had planned for the Sigils that she already had, but he needed to stop her before she managed to complete whatever she was doing.

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Glimmer landed in the center of the summoning circle and tossed Nightfury to the left of the circle, in the eastern direction and the opposite direction of where the Sigil of Water would eventually rest. The chained alicorn moaned and rose to a sitting position, but once she realized that the chains were still there she tried to call on her magic and shatter them, though nothing seemed to happen. Glimmer had to grin as the Sigils she had already acquired partly appeared in their proper positions; the Sigil of Earth appearing to the north and the Sigil of Water appearing to the west.

So far everything was going according to plan, though all she had to do now was prepare her spell and then everything would be ready for her Masters' arrival.

"You'll never win Glimmer," Nightfury said, violently moving as she tried to shake off the chains that held her down, "One of my family members will come find you and then we'll deport you back to your world, so we can save the poor filly that your possessing."

"You don't seem to understand the position that your in," Glimmer replied, turning to face the alicorn, "I have acquired three of the sour Prime Sigils that you and your family have spent the last two thousand years gathering and hiding from me and my Masters. Few Shadows have been known to cross from our world and stay in yours for more than a few weeks, all thanks to you hunting us and 'deporting' us. I am one of those you could never catch and I would only leave this world to make sure you wasted your time and resources chasing me, not knowing that I was already gone.

Now imagine a gateway, one that cannot be closed at all, that connects this world to my world, one that each and every Shadow can use whenever they want. We will pour into this world, where we wont need to possess frail bodies like the filly that I'm inside this very instant, and command all of our terrible powers. You and your family wont have the power to deport us without finding some way to undo the gateway, but we would never give you the chance to figure something out. My Masters will take this world for themselves and we will grow in size once more, until the time comes for us to infiltrate a new world and add it to the ever growing list of worlds we have.

Once this world belongs to us we'll make sure that you and your family, including those irritating Elements of Harmony, are immersed in the energy that makes our world what it is. Eventually all of you will see the world the same way we do and you'll rejoice at the chance to bring the same gift to the other worlds when the time comes. Once you belong to us, in body and in mind, my Masters will become your Masters and they'll send you out whenever they choose to, so you, too, can study the inhabitants of whichever new world we find. Though by the time that happens this world become like ours, expanding our home until we're forced to grow again."

"You are utterly insane," Nightfury shouted, hoping that one of her family members had followed Glimmer and could hear her voice, "if you open a gateway between our worlds you'll end up killing everypony here. You'll end up destroying the whole of Equestria in the process."

"That's what you think will happen," Glimmer replied, drawing runes in the ground that circled the summoning circle, "but my Masters know what will happen and have given me my orders. There is no denying my Masters, no matter how insane or dangerous their orders happen to be. We will own this world and every pony, dragon, dog, and griffin that calls this world home, including every resource you have and those you haven't even discovered yet."

"And you'll destroy Equestria for sure," a third voice said, just as Crimson appeared in the southern direction where, unbeknownst to him, Glimmer wanted him anyway, "I'm going to deport you and stop this mad scheme you and your 'Masters' have concocted."

"It doesn't matter what you want to do to me anymore," Glimmer shouted, her grin widening as the runes she had drawn glowed bright red, "Thanks to you, Prince Crimson Flare, I now have all four Prime Sigils in the same area, where all of them are under the influence of my desires."

As she spoke the other Primes Sigils, Earth and Water, fully appeared in their circles, where a third circle wrapped around Nightfury before tearing her Sigil out of her necklace and throwing her out of the circle. Before Crimson could move a band of red energy wrapped around his neck and pulled him to the ground, where more of them attached to his own necklace and dug into the metal. Crimson's enchantments met the magic head on, but the collision between the two shattered the front of his necklace and the Sigil came free, where it was grabbed and pulled into the magic that Glimmer had summoned.

As the Sigil of Fire settled into the spell and Crimson got onto his hooves Glimmer glanced at the trees around the circle and they shattered, creating a clearing that any pegasus could see from the air. Energy began to pour out of each of the Sigils, though they seemed to be gathering around Glimmer, who was waiting for the perfect moment to finish the spell.

"Stop it Glimmer!" Crimson shouted, noticing that the wind was staring to act up as the ground around them lightly shook, "The Sigils weren't made for this purpose. You'll end up destroying yourself and all of Equestria!"

"My Masters shall finally enter Equestria with all their great and terrible power," Glimmer exclaimed, the energy around her sharpening into a blade shape, "and soon you shall see the ponies that will bring the end of this world and start a new one in its place!"

Glimmer turned around and released the energy, watching it strike at the air and leaving a scar that was the height of the trees that rested around them. The black scar sat there for a moment, feeding on the magic of the Prime Sigils, before it began to open, spreading wide open until it was the length of five trees. Red metal wrapped around the edges of the scar, securing its place in the world and creating the gateway that Glimmer had been talking about earlier. The three of them watched as darkness seeped out of the gateway, spilling into the ground and slowly spreading outwards in every direction, though Crimson and Nightfury gulped as they watched their hard work shatter before them.

Then something came out of the gateway, though both of them were surprised by what was standing before them; a near black coated alicorn that reminded the both of them of Luna. The alicorn glanced up at the sky, took in the colors for a few moments, before breathing the air in and then blowing it back out, before she started laughing.

"It is so good to be back in Equestria once again," the alicorn said, her eyes scanning the ponies around her until she found Glimmer kneeling before her, "Ah, Glimmer Scale, you have lived up to your word, as we thought you would. You promised us a gateway between worlds and that was what you delivered. We are very pleased with the work you've done."

"Thank you, Princess Nightmare Moon," Glimmer replied, bowing her head as she cast a glance towards the gateway, "Is she...Is your sister coming as well?"

"She is coming as we speak," Nightmare chuckled, moving out of the way so she could witness her sister's arrival, "I wish to see her reaction to visiting this world for the first time."

The gateway rippled for a moment, as if it was trying to stop whoever was between the worlds from coming through, but in the end the gateway lost its fight and the pony it was keeping back stepped into their world. A second alicorn mare stepped out of the gateway, though while the first reminded Crimson of his aunt this one reminded him too much of his own mother. The alicorn's coat was as ashy grey as every other Shadow Crimson and Nightfury had seen over the last two thousand years, where's her mane was made up of black flames. Her eyes were the same evil blue that Nightmare Moon had, though they lacked the slit in them, and her jewelry, identical to his mother's, was nearly pitch black colored.

"So, this is Equestria?" the evil alicorn said, her voice sounding almost neutral as if she was bored already, "Yes, this will make for an excellent addition to my empire..."

"OUR empire, dear sister," Nightmare Moon corrected, the other alicorn's head turning around to look at her so fast that she was forced to back away almost immediately.

"MY EMPIRE!" the alicorn continued, her gaze returning to the three ponies that stood before them all, "You have done well, Glimmer Scale, to open the way for my arrival. Go, separate yourself from the filly that you cling to and come back to this world in your true form."

The moment those words left the alicorn's mouth Sweetie's body shook as the black mist that was Glimmer left her completely, spinning through the air for a brief moment before disappearing. The gateway shimmered for a moment before a third form emerged from it, though Crimson wasn't surprised to find a grey scaled dragon standing beside the dark alicorns. Once the deed was done Glimmer picked up Sweetie Belle, who was completely out of it at the moment, and grinned before she tossed her in Nightfury's direction, not caring if she was caught or hit the ground. Nightfury caught the poor filly with ease, though she appeared to be worried for their chances against the dark alicorns, if it came to them having to fight them.

"This feels fantastic," Glimmer commented, turning to her masters and bowing her head, "It is an honor to serve you, Princess Nightmare Moon and Princess Darkstar."

"Ah, you two must be the meddlesome alicorns that have stood in Glimmer's way for the last two thousand years," the dark version of Celestia, Darkstar if Glimmer was correct, said, turning to face them, "Nightfury, the daughter of my sister's own shadow, and Crimson Flare, the son of my own shadow. I would have said that it was a honor to meet the two of you at long last, but with everything you two have put us through I'm more inclined to just ignore you. I have more...pressing matters to attend to at the moment.

Dearest sister, if you want to have fun with them then be my guest. Just don't let anything interrupt me."

Darkstar moved to the center of the circle that Glimmer had created and runes began to dance all around her, spinning through the air as they wrapped around her and the Prime Sigils. The energy from the Sigils began to seep into the darkness that was spilling out of the gateway, allowing the vile element to continue across the ground. Crimson watched for a moment before a tremor hit the forest, causing the ground to violently shake for a few moments before it calmed down seconds later. The trees around them began to turn black as the sky itself began to darken, as if Equestria was becoming sick from what Darkstar was doing.

Crimson knew that they'd have to act fast, otherwise the entire world would be destroyed by the madness of Glimmer and her foul masters.

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Celestia, backed by some stun spells by Twilight, had spent the last ten minutes fighting off as many Shadows as she could without giving them an opening to use against her. They needed to trap as many of them as they possibly could, so they could deport them back to their world, though there was more of them than Celestia had expected. Luna and Cadence were holding their own against their opponents, but Celestia hoped that her son could stop Glimmer before she did something irreversible. She never wanted to bring war to her precious ponies, but the Shadows seemed to want to make all of them relive the past until they could defeat them.

Her train of though was ruined the moment the ground violently shook under her enemy's hooves and the wind around them whipped around as if a storm was approaching. She knew there wasn't a storm in the immediate area, nor had one been scheduled at all, which meant that something was happening with Glimmer and her son. Then she felt it, the energy of the Prime Sigils being directed somewhere, followed by the eerie sense that something was wrong in the Everfree Forest.

"Princess Celestia," Twilight called from above, having taken a higher position to get a better view of who to hit and pointed out at the forest, "something just appeared in the Everfree Forest. I don't know what it is, but if what I'm feeling is right then something terrible is happening there."

"We must stop Glimmer now," Luna called out, slamming a Shadow into the ground before joining them, "otherwise there's no telling how she'll misuse the power of the Prime Sigils."

Celestia nodded and headed in the direction of the foul magic they were all feeling, noticing that Cadence had joined them after a few seconds and was leaving Sombra behind. She knew that if Glimmer had all four Prime Sigils, which seemed like the case at this point, they were going to need the combined powers of every alicorn they had just to beat her into submission. She prayed that Crimson had a plan to stop Glimmer, otherwise she wasn't sure what was going to happen when they arrived to help him and Nightfury out.

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"How does it feel Glimmer?" Crimson asked, getting up as he faced his long time enemy, "How does it feel to finally best the Knight-Commander of the Equestrian Army at long last? I'm sure that your pleased with yourself, but all of you should beware of any other traps or runes that your unaware of."

"Oh what are you talking about this time?" Glimmer asked, cracking her claws as she approached him and stared him in the eyes, "You tried to claim and hide the Prime Sigils for two thousand years, which is impressive, but now I have beaten you. We have the power of the Sigils now, which means that we're free to tear open the way between worlds and take everything for ourselves, leaving you without a way to stop us. Face it, you've lost at long last."

"Sister, I don't mean to alarm you," Nightmare Moon said, looking around the circle and finding something odd happening, "the darkness has stopped in its tracks."

The darkness was seeping out of the gateway, but it was stopping beyond the runes that Glimmer had drawn, where a third set of runes happened to be sitting. These ones, unlike Nightfury's blue summoning runes and Glimmer's red runes, were golden colored and they seemed to stop the vile element from going any further. The ground violently shook once more, but then they noticed that the ground beneath their hooves was rising the moment they passed the tops of the trees that made up the Everfree Forest. In that moment of confusion Crimson nodded his head and slammed his hooves into the ground, causing the area they were on to rise even higher in the sky.

Nightyfury, catching the nod immediately, pulled her wings open and let the wind take her, pulling herself and Sweetie Belle off of the stone platform that the gateway was on.

Glimmer noticed Nightfury leaving and opened her wings to take off after her, but then the ground they stood on began to tilt back just a bit and threw off her balance for a moment. She looked up at her Masters, wondering if either of them had any idea as to what was going on at that moment, but they seemed as confused as she was. That was before she noticed her circle of runes start to shatter, the magic disappearing before her eyes and releasing the Prime Sigils from where they were floating. She heard Crimson grunt for a moment and three of the Sigils, Earth, Air, and Water, fell from they were standing, returning to the ground and the ponies she had stolen them from.

"That didn't do any good Crimson," Glimmer gloated, pointing at the still working gateway, "now that the way between worlds is open we don't need the Sigils to keep it open anymore. I will take great pleasure in breaking you at long last."

"Its time to end this once and for all," Crimson said, catching the Sigil of Fire and revealing the crack that he had placed in it so long ago, "My mother may have discovered a method to transform a Sigil into something that represents it, such as an hourglass filled with sand or a lake full of water, but I was the first to discover that harming them was possible. I'm going to destroy your gateway and make it impossible for any of you and your kind to return to our world ever again."

Glimmer, somehow understanding what he was going to do, leapt his way and bared her claws to rend as much life out of him as she could before she got the Sigil back, but then a powerful gust of wind hit her square in the chest. She looked behind Crimson and found Nightfury passing by, her horn dimming down as she disappeared once more, though Glimmer knew what had happened. She fought against the wind, but her draconic strength was nothing against the fury of one of the alicorns she had fought once more and she found herself being thrown backwards. Before she could correct her course she hit the gateway's energy and disappeared once more, returning to the Darkness she had come from.

Crimson grunted and fired a blast of energy at Nightmare Moon, using Glimmer's disappearance as a distraction so he could get the force he needed to move her. She leapt back as she was hit, but he knew that would happen and charged at her, pressing his hind legs into her chest armor and knocking her towards the gateway. Nightmare Moon seemed to stop just before the gateway and stood up, grinning evilly at him, but then something tugged on her hind leg and she looked back to find the magic latched onto her. She flared her wings to escape the gateway, but the magic dragged her through the gateway and left Crimson alone with Darkstar.

"So, you planned for this to happen," Darkstar commented, facing the stallion that was the source of all her problems, "but none of that matters anymore. I am still here, and with the power of the Black Sun still coursing through my veins I shall destroy you and enslave this world, just like I have done with every other world we have conquered. Then, when your chained in defeat, I shall open the gateway between our worlds once more and the Darkness shall consume everything that makes up your world."

Instead of speaking Crimson leapt forward, hitting Darkstar square in the chest and knocking her back towards the still open gateway, though he wasn't done yet. Every time Darkstar got up he hit her again, pushing her back towards the dark energy, intending to push her back into her world before slamming the gateway shut. Each time she got hit Darkstar would grunt and call upon her magic, only Crimson would have nothing to do with it and proceeded to hit her once more. Then her hind leg touched the gateway and the magic latched onto her, just like it had done with Nightmare Moon, but as it pulled her back she extended her magic and grabbed onto Crimson, dragging him close to her.

"If I am to return to my world than I shall drag you back with me!" Darkstar shouted, feeling the magic pull her deeper into the gateway,
I shall torture you until the end of time itself!"

That was before the ground the gateway had been on tipped even more, though neither one of them really noticed the change save for the change in perspective. Crimson, knowing what would happen if he let the gateway stay open, allowed a small smirk to appear on his face as he pulled out the tin that contained his smokes, removing the last one and lighting it. He tossed the tin away and blew some smoke out, glancing towards Ponyville and noticed four alicorns coming towards the platform, though he knew who was among them. He leapt towards Darkstar and hit her square in the chest with the Sigil of Fire, cracking the fragile crystal and causing an explosion to rock the entire area around them, destroying the Sigil and the gateway in the process.

Celestia covered her eyes the moment an explosion appeared before them, but the moment the smoke cleared there was no sign of the Shadow that her son was fighting. There was also no sign of her son at all, save for the tin he had discarded.

"No no no!" Celestia shouted, tears flowing as she realized that she may have just lost her own son, "CRIMSON!"

23: World of Darkness

It was the day following Glimmer's assault on Ponyville, where she and her Shadows had come out of the shadows to do war with Princess Celestia, her sister, and their children. Twilight and Cadence had basically been in harms way because of the vendetta that Glimmer had against the royal sisters, blaming them for all her problems. She had captured all four of the Prime Sigils and had torn open a gateway to her home world, allowing her foul masters to enter Equestria and begin whatever they had planned. They might have gotten away with it, had Crimson, the Knight-Commander of Equestria's old armies and the son of Princess Celestia, not put a stop to it.

Twilight had no idea how he managed to defeat three Shadows and seal the gateway that had been created, but Crimson was a wonder that she would never have the pleasure of figuring out.

The guards that had been injured in the fight with the Shadows had been given the next week off of work, so they could mend their wounds before they were needed again. Cadence's guards almost immediately returned to the Crystal Empire, though Cadence and Shining followed them the following morning, after saying goodbye to Twilight and the sisters. Nightfury, on the other hoof, remained mostly alone in her chambers in the castle, calling upon her assistant to conduct some studies of some kind. Twilight hated to see her mentor so sad, as she was dealing with what had happened to Crimson worse than the others, but she had to return to Ponyville and clean up the mess that had been left behind.

As the morning dawned upon Equestria and slowly advanced towards noon, Celestia remained in her personal chambers, staring at the tin that her son had carried with him at all times. It was void of the pieces of wood that he enjoyed smoking, though she had wished that there was one inside so she could just light it and let it burn, so she could keep him in mind at all times. It saddened her that she had lost her son for a second time, though this time she wasn't sure if he was lurking somewhere else or if he was truly gone for real. Now she had to mourn Crimson all over again, which only made her heart ache more than it should have.

The servants had come in to clean the room early after the sun was up, the cook had sent her something for breakfast, and even the guards, who were usually silent, had asked her if she was okay. She turned them all away, preferring to keep to herself until she could regain her composure for the rest of her faithful ponies. The only pony she couldn't turn away was her sister, who also mourned Crimson's disappearance, though she remained cheerful that her daughter might uncover something. Even as Celestia heard her sister's knock on her chamber doors she made no effort to open them herself, letting her sister open the doors and walk into the chamber, closing them so no pony else knew what they would be speaking of.

"I see you haven't moved one bit," Luna remarked, stopping before her sister's bed and noticing that she was still staring at the tin, "and I hear that you refused to eat breakfast for the first time in over a thousand years."

"I'm mourning, if you cannot tell," Celestia replied, turning to face her sister while tears still ran down her muzzle, "I just lost my son, for the second time in my long life I'll remind you. I thought I had lost him forever the first time, but now I'm not sure if I've lost him forever or if I've lost him for the time being. I'm allowed to ignore a meal or two while I mourn."

"Look, I just came to update you on what Nightfury's doing," Luna continued, sighing as she remained standing, "She and Thorn are going to be scouring the entirety of the Shadow's world, looking for ways to defeat Nightmare Moon and Darkstar in case they decide to invade us again. They're also looking for any signs of Crimson, just in case he survived the explosion that destroyed the gateway."

"Please, don't wound me with false promises," Celestia moaned, knowing the thought of them finding a wrecked form of her son filled her with dread, "If you're going to search for Crimson then only tell me when you have progress, such as a definite sighting and an actual conversation with him. Either way, you two have my blessing to continue with your duties."

"Fine, I'll leave you to mourn," Luna sighed, wondering why her sister was being so difficult these days, "I need to run Canterlot while you sulk in your chambers."

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"Are you sure about this Nightfury?" Thorn asked, following her teacher into her chambers before closing the door behind them, "Glimmer saw me when she entered that castle, so she'll likely have told her masters that I'm not on their side anymore. I'm not sure that I'll be able to do much with them looking for me."

"But you're our only hope of discovering what happened to my cousin," Nightfury replied, putting the finishing touches on her new summoning circle, one that she planned on transferring to the Everfree Forest the moment she return to Ponyville, "Look, Crimson planned for nearly every possible path that Glimmer could have taken once she got her claws on all four Prime Sigils, so he must have planned for every possible outcome after he defeated her. He likely planned this out, so he could travel to the Shadow's home world and put a permanent stop to their plans to conquer Equestria.

You need to scour your home world for Crimson and then get him somewhere safe so he can get a message back to Aunt Celestia that he's okay, this has to be first on our to do list. Once he's okay and able to work you'll need to find out what Darkstar is planning, so we can plan how to stop her before she invades our world once again. We need to cripple Darkstar's empire before another gateway is forged, because now that she knows what to do there's no telling how long it will take for her to make her own. You need to get going immediately."

Thorn glanced at the summoning circle that wrapped around the center of the bedroom, worried that Darkstar would sense her coming back to her home world. Everything hinged on Darkstar being too upset by the defeat to notice a Shadow returning to the Darkness, though she had no idea how long something like that would last. After a moment she sighed and approached the circle, stepping over the freshly drawn runes as she wondered where she could start her search for Crimson. There was one place in mind that she could start her search, but she seriously hoped that the mares that ran the town would be too busy dealing with Darkstar.

"I wish you luck Thorn," Nightfury said, the circle's magic weaving around the stone as Thorn began to detach from the filly, "be careful on the other side and find my cousin."

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Crimson moaned in pain as he felt the sun touch his eyes, making him remember when the Cutie Mark Crusaders had found him and brought him back into the world before the time he had been waiting for. He picked himself up and opened his eyes, finding a deep gray colored sky, different than the light blue sky he was used to, hanging above his head. He glanced down at the ground and found that the grass that he was sitting in was deep red colored, almost looking like it was made from blood or something. When he glanced back up at the sky, remembering what Darkstar had said about a different colored sun, that was when he noticed a large black as night sun hanging in the noon position.

He moaned again and got up onto his hooves, knowing that, by the information he could get by looking at his surroundings, he was in the world of the Shadow's, what they called the Darkness. Now that he knew where he was he had to find somewhere safe, someplace where he could formulate a plan of attack to stop Darkstar and whatever she was planning. He glanced around and found that there were dozens upon dozens of trees that reminded him of the Everfree Forest, which meant that the ruined castle had to be around him somewhere.

Before he could start moving he heard a roar pierce the air, a roar that made him think back to the few times he had a run in with an Ursa Major in his own forest.

"Blast it all, I don't have time for this," Crimson moaned, moving in the direction that he believed the castle was in, "I don't have time to any creatures of this forest, much less an Ursa Major."

As he began to move he realized that he was moving slower than he originally wanted, though he had expected to have sustained some damage from destroying the Sigil of Fire. He also noted that his neck was a lot lighter once more, which told him that his necklace had been destroyed, either from Glimmer ripping the Sigil out or from his own actions. He weaved his way through the trees, making sure to avoid hitting them with his strained wings and hurting them more than they were already were, while trying to avoid whatever was following him. As he moved he also noticed that something was moving with him, around his immediate area, though when he looked in the direction he noticed something bone white following him.

Though after a brief moment of observation he realized that there was a few Diamond Dogs following him, something he truly didn't want to contend with at the moment.

"Blast it all once more, I don't have time to deal with you lot," Crimson shouted, a small amount of flames wrapping around him while he ran, "begone before I'm forced to take drastic measures."

After a few seconds the Diamond Dogs, or whatever they were called in this strange world, decided that he wasn't worth the effort and disappeared into the surrounding trees. At least that's what it seemed like at first, until he heard another Ursa roar pierce the air around him and told him that it was gaining on him. He had managed to beat the ones in his own forest without any problems, but they were a pain to watch, form a plan around, and then trap so they didn't cause any problems. He didn't know how terrible the Ursa's of this world were, but in his current state he didn't have the power to deal with one of them at all.

He continued on his path, hating how sluggish he was moving, until he noticed that the amount of trees around him was beginning to thin out. That meant that he was either coming closer to where Ponyville rested or the ruined castle, which is what he really hoped he was drawing closer to. After another moment of fast trotting he spotted a wooden bridge that stretched across a large gap, though it told him that he had found the location he had been searching for. The moment he burst out of the trees he spotted the ruined castle across the gap, which looked almost like the one in his own world, and that made him wonder how identical it was to the one he knew.

Before he could even get further in that thought process a third roar tore through the air, causing him to turn around in time to see a massive black as night bear emerge from the trees.

"This cannot be happening to me right now," Crimson commented, turning around so he could face the Ursa Major while he slowly backed onto the wooden bridge.

The Ursa stared at him for a moment, as if wondering if he was prey or something else, before an angry look appeared on its muzzle and it roared at him once more. The Ursa took a step forward, almost as if it wanted to do battle with him, but a second later a bolt of red lightning hit it square in the chest and knocked it backwards. Crimson looked around, trying to find the source of the lightning, until he noticed a dark blue coated pegasus mare fly towards the bridge, though she seemed focused on the Ursa and not on him. Not that he could blame her, as a few seconds later the Ursa got back up and growled, now more annoyed with the mare than it was with him.

That was before a volley of light filled orbs flew past the two of them, connecting with the Ursa's chest and blasting it even further back into the trees. The Ursa roared at them before turning around and vanishing into the forest, leaving Crimson to wonder why it had given up on hurting them so easily.

"Yeah, that's right, you better run!" the pegasus mare shouted at the Ursa Major, which didn't even bother to turn around and engage them once more, "Nothing starts the day off on the right hoof by scaring off an Umbra Major."

"Are you insane Spectra?" a second voice said, causing Crimson to turn around and find a light purple alicorn, one that reminded him of Twilight Sparkle, approaching him and the pegasus, "You know we cannot let an Umbra Major get this close to the castle, which means that you and your squad aren't doing their duties right. You should have scoured the area around the castle and made sure that it was safe for us to get back to my castle before the Sister's returned to their throne."

"Oh come on Midnight, you know we can only do so much," the pegasus, Spectra Crimson noted, replied, landing beside Crimson and walking towards the alicorn, "with half of my squad spying on Shadowlot there's not a lot me and the others can do at the moment. You've got ten pegasi to keep an eye on the entire Evergleam Forest, which isn't the safest place thanks to that Umbra Major and the Opal Dogs I spotted earlier."

"They're getting bolder everyday it seems," the alicorn, Midnight, commented, before noticing that there was another pony standing near them, "Oh, I was not aware that somepony else had managed to find our secret hideout. My name is Midnight Shine, Princess of the town known as Ponyville and current ruler of the Evergleam Castle, where the Sister's once ruled all of the land. This is Spectra Dash, Commander of the Pegasus Corps that survey our enemies positions and report back to us with anything they might find. And who, if I might ask, do we have the honor of addressing?"

"Crimson Flare, the Prince of Fire," Crimson replied, seeing that the young alicorn was confused, just like her counterpart in the main Equestria, "In my world I'm the son of Princess Celestia, whose the counterpart of your own Princess Darkstar."

"Oh....OH!" Midnight exclaimed, understanding exactly what he meant, "Your HIS counterpart?! Quickly, we have to get you inside the castle and have Angelshy take a look at you, just in case you sustained any wounds on your journey here. I'll have to send a letter to Scarcity and have her gather both Jackie and Pinkamena, so that we're all here and out of the way in case the Sister's return to Ponyville early. We've got a war to plan now that your here."

"Excuse me?" Crimson asked, wondering why the Shadows would be turning against their own rulers, "What's all this about a war?"

"Its very simple," Midnight said, grinning as she turned back towards the ruined castle, "You have just found the home of the Rebellion, where the ponies that hate the rule of the Sister's gather to plan their downfall. And now that you, the Knight-Commander of the main Equestria's forces, have arrived we finally have a chance at outwitting and defeating the Sister's at long last."

24: The Stronghold

"I can understand why there are some ponies that would hate the Sisters that rule your world," Crimson commented, following Midnight into the ruined castle, "but why would you, her personal student, want to see her fall? Why would the Elements of Harmony of this world turn against their leaders and try to destroy them?"

"We, the Shadows that call the Darkness home, have been at war with the countless worlds around us for the last two to three thousand years," Midnight replied, sadly sighing as she cast a glance at the surrounding area, "so we were fighting all the other races of our world a lot sooner than you guys were. You guys fought the dragons over two thousand years ago, thanks to Glimmer that is, but we had already been fighting them for a few hundred years before she made a move. Just like in your world the three tribes hated each other, but where you guys got over it we remained in such a state that we could not move on at all. Our battles happened a lot sooner than yours had, but there was always two figures that appeared to quell the fighting for the rest of our kind..."

"The Sisters..." Crimson responded, knowing that he was indeed cutting her off and finding that she really didn't mind the outburst of his all that much.

"Yes, they destroyed King Nova when he tried to liberate the Crystal Empire from their control," Midnight spoke up, though she almost choked a bit as she did so, "Order, the Spirit of Harmony, was turned into an opal statue when he tried to liberate Shadowlot from the Sister's, though they shattered his statue so he could never regain himself. Queen Meta and her changelings tried to take the city when Princess Rhythm and Captain Gloomy Armor were getting married, but she and her army were decimated by the combined power of the Sisters and Princess Rhythm. From what I've heard Queen Meta was executed almost immediately after the attack, which only lead to the destruction of the majority of her Hive. Lord Tirek, well, after you defeated him he came here, only to be nearly torn to pieces and was cast back into his cell, where he's been healing ever since.

Our only allies are the rest of the Elements of Harmony, Sunlight Shimmer, who returned to us after we asked for her assistance, and the remaining fifty changelings of Queen Meta's Hive. There's also fifty Shadows that have allied themselves with us, though they prefer to remain hidden so the Sisters don't seen them until its too late."

"What about my Shadow?" Crimson asked, curious as to where his own Shadow was and where he sided on the matter, "Or the Shadow of my cousin for that matter."

"There's no easy way for me to say this..." Midnight replied, though Crimson knew that he was going to receive some terrible news from those words alone.

"They're dead," Spectra spoke up, for the first time since her conversation with Midnight, "Ebon Flare and Dayfury tried to stage a coup against the Sisters, but somehow Darkstar found out and she nearly obliterated them from our world when they fought. Still, they fought against her terrible power in the hopes that they could beat her, but Darkstar was too strong for them and, instead of showing mercy to her own child, she slew Ebon Flare in plain view of everypony. Dayfury was executed the following hour, much to Nightmare Moon's horror and that, in turn, lead to a rebellion that caused her to be banished the your world for a thousand years, where Darkstar received a much weaker Princess Luna and merely locked her up."

Crimson remembered the story of Nightmare Moon and how his aunt had become such a creature, but now it seemed like his aunt and her Shadow had merely switched places. It seemed almost ironic, that both of them rebelled against their sister and were beaten down, only to be sent to the other side and then trapped in the moon of that world. It would have made things much simpler if his Shadow was still alive, so there would have been somepony else that was as good at strategy as he was. He could imagine the damage that he and Ebon would have caused if the two of them had been given the chance to work together, but they had been robbed of that chance.

"What was Ebon doing before he and Dayfury tried their coup?" Crimson asked, hoping that somepony knew what he had been working on so he could continue.

"He was trying to divine where his mother's power was coming from," Midnight replied, shaking her head as they turned a corner, "Darkstar should be as powerful as your mother, Princess Celestia, but there's a mysterious aura around her that makes everypony fear her and even makes her own sister back off. She's got some other power, one that she hasn't shown anypony, that's making her extremely more powerful than your mother, something I hope we never get the chance to discover. Ebon was determined to figure out whatever his mother's hidden power truly was, but, from what he told me, he could never figure out where the power came from or what it was."

"I guess that I'll have to take up where he left off and see if I can't find out something that he had missed," Crimson commented, wondering what power Darkstar could be hiding so well that nopony knew of its existence. Save for her son that is, as Ebon seemed to think that there was something different about her and had been determined to figure it out.

"His lab is right here," Midnight said, beckoning to a door that they were passing, "once we've shown you our base of operations and, make sure that your fit for duty, your more than welcome to follow in Ebon's hoofsteps. I'm not sure what we missed when he was here, but I know there has to be something that we haven't considered that could be giving Darkstar her powers."

"What about your world's Elements of Harmony?" Crimson asked, curious as to what happened to them if Darkstar had destroyed their enemies by herself.

"They're attached to certain locations in Shadowlot," Midnight replied, sighing as she remembered where they were, "it doesn't seem like it, but if you were to look in the direction of the city you'd see a shimmer of a barrier hanging over everything. Darkstar is using the Elements to power a protective barrier, keeping her capital safe whenever she personally goes out to conquer other worlds. It would not surprise me if she's ranting at this very moment, telling the others that she'll have your head for stalling her plans."

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"Sister, please reconsider," Nightmare begged, standing before her sister's throne with Glimmer standing beside her, "I know that your angry that Crimson stalled our operations to take his world, but that's no reason to force open a gateway from our world to theirs. You have no idea what could happen if we opened one of those gates in our own world."

"I shall do what I want, whenever I want," Darkstar growled, staring down at her sister for a moment, "If I were to give you the command to make sure my forces are at the ready, then you would go to the front lines and make sure that they are ready for battle. If I give you the command to make sure that the Elements are still arrayed in the barrier position, then you would go out into the city and make sure that all SIX Elements are exactly where they should be. IF I give you the command to build me a gateway to Crimson's Equestria, than you would know to leave my presence, track down my most talented of mages, and force them to build the gateway, regardless of whatever 'consequences' there might be.

Do I make myself clear dear sister?"

Glimmer shivered slightly as the temperature in the royal chamber decreased by at least twenty degrees, all from the sudden tone that her master had taken on. It was a sign of her using her innate powers, those that most Shadows had no idea even existed and would give them even more dread for when their leader turned her gaze on them. Glimmer had some suspicions as to how her master could have acquired such powers, but without any evidence there was no way of telling which one of her theories was the correct one. As she stood her ground she could tell that Nightmare was also shivering, caught off guard by the fact that her own sister would do such a thing to them both.

"Y...yes, I understand," Nightmare Moon stated, fear dripping from her words, "I shall consult the mages and see if they can't replicate the gateway that Glimmer created back in the other world."

"Do that," Darkstar commanded, Nightmare gulping before trotting out of the chamber, "Glimmer, normally I would have commended you on your service in Crimson's world, but in light of recent events I have considered doing nothing to you at all. Instead, I would like to give you another mission; I need you to head to Princess Midnight's domain and see if there are any lingering sources of magic that don't belong to this world. If Crimson followed us to our own world than I need to know where he is, only so I can obliterate all traces of him from existence."

"Yes, my master," Glimmer said, her body shifting into shadows as she fled from the chamber, heading towards the destination that she had been assigned to search.

25: Struggle over the Forest

"Midnight!" a voice called out, causing Crimson to look back and find a small gray dragon, exactly like the one that followed Twilight Sparkle around, run up to the small group, "The others are waiting for you in the courtyard!"

"Good work Cinder," Midnight replied, patting the dragon on the head as she corrected her course, "Did anything happen in Ponyville that I need to be aware of, or can it all wait until our guest figures out what we need to do to stop our enemy?"

"The Mayor found some stray changelings last night," the dragon, Cinder, replied as he fell in with the group, "she's offered them a place to stay until you have an opportunity to speak with them. It seems like one of them might be of some importance, but the group wouldn't say anything past that they're here to speak with you and that they might have some information that you'd be interested in."

"I'll be sure to speak with her when we return," Midnight said, shaking her head before pressing through a stone arch, "Girls! We're here, and we have company!"

Crimson looked around the courtyard, a perfect mirror image to the one that Twilight and her friends had found him in, and watched as four ponies, the Shadows of the missing Element Bearers, stepped out from where they were hiding. Expect for the colors of their coats, their eyes, and their manes and tails, they were near copies of the ponies he had met in the ruins of his mother's castle. Applejack's Shadow, Jackie he recalled, tipped her hat up and stared at him, but after a few seconds she nodded and seemed to relax, which lead to the other three relaxing somewhat. Pinkamena and Scarcity glanced at him, but while he could tell that Rarity's Shadow was designing something in her head, likely armor he thought, the party mare's Shadow, complete with straight deflated hair, simply stared.

Angelshy, the last remaining Shadow of the Element Bearers, approached him and glanced over his entire body, no doubt searching for any burns and injuries he might have sustained before arriving in their world.

"I don't see any burns that could have been from fighting Darkstar," the pegasus commented, running a hoof over his wings while she spoke, "I would recommend preening a few of your feathers, maybe comb your coat a bit, and get rid of the dust that might have attached to you on your ride here. Other than that I don't see anything wrong with you, but I would personally recommend building yourself a personal gateway back home and getting out of here as quickly as you can."

"Excuse me?" Crimson asked, wondering why she would turn away somepony that could help them defeat the Sisters.

"Forgive her, she's just tired from the constant war," Midnight replied, sighing as her friends spread out around the courtyard, "Angelshy doesn't understand that, while you resemble our previous leader, you are our best hope for finding out what gives Darkstar her powers and then defeating her. It pains her to see you, as she sees Ebon and the hope that he brought her, so give her some time and I'm positive that she'll warm up to you, just like she did to Ebon."

"Were she and Ebon, well," Crimson stared, unsure of how to ask the question.

"Were they coltfriend and marefriend?" Midnight said, asking the question that Crimson didn't, "Honestly, I wouldn't be able to tell you at all. Yes, Angelshy is my friend and we all usually tell each other everything, but she could have kept something back for herself. If you want to know the answer to the question, I recommend asking her yourself. Now, how about we see to Ebon's chamber and see if you can't pick up where he left off."

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The Mayor of Ponyville looked out as her ponies went about their days, acting as if nothing was wrong while they waited for word to come from their leader, Princess Midnight. Ponyville was a haven for those that despised the SIsters, though the ones that Darkstar wanted the most chose to hide in the forest, where they were unlikely to be found. Darkstar and her sister were far too busy preparing for war, so it gave the rebels a chance to prepare without somepony coming to look for them. The Mayor would have preferred to have the day go by without anything happening, but then she noticed a familiar shadowy dragon approaching from the direction of Shadowlot.

"Glimmer Scale, I was unaware that you'd be visiting us today," the Mayor said, giving the dragon a smile as she approached, "is there anything I can help you with?"

"Maybe," Glimmer growled, annoyed that Crimson had somehow followed her into her home world, "I'm looking for a pony that doesn't belong to this world. Maybe you've seen him?"

"Can't say that I have," the Mayor replied, placing a hoof on her chin while she pretended to think about it, "I would have expected such a pony to have emerged in the same area you did."

"Well then, I'm heading to the Evergleam Forest," Glimmer growled, annoyed that she'd have to search every inch of the forest, "if you see your pretty princess, be sure to tell her where I am."

The Mayor nodded and watched the dragon take off towards the forest, where she knew that Princess Midnight and her friends, the Elements of Chaos, would be waiting. Once Glimmer was out of sight the Mayor ran to her office building, moved right into her office without wasting a second, and pulled out a special stone that, when it was broken, would transmit whatever message she wanted to Princess Midnight. She prepared a mental image of Glimmer and a message that she was on her way, and then, when everything was ready, she took the stone and shattered it on her desk. She only prayed that the stone's ability worked.

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Midnight had barely retraced her steps to Ebon's lab when she felt the magic keeping the Mayor's emergency stone go off, indicating that it had been shattered. Not a moment later she received the warning that the Mayor wanted her to know about, an image of Glimmer flashing through her mind with a brief glance at the forest. She knew exactly what she was being told, though she had hoped that they would have had more time before Darkstar sent Glimmer out to look for Crimson.

"Something wrong?" Crimson asked, noticing that his guide had frozen up and knew that nothing good ever followed it.

"Glimmer's coming to the forest," Midnight said, shaking her head as she turned around once more, "I have to warn the others and make sure we're prepared for her arrival in the castle. She cannot see you here, otherwise she'll head back to Shadowlot and tell Darkstar everything she's seen."

"To Tartarus with this," Crimson stated, slamming a hoof against the ground, "I have had enough of Glimmer following me around, getting in the way of my grand plans to make Equestria better for everypony. I am going to show her what happens when she messes with me, but this time I won't be holding back at all. Midnight, do whatever you want, but I am going to deal with Glimmer when she arrives."

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Glimmer landed outside the ruined castle, just passed the breaking bridge but not far enough into the area in case Princess Midnight was really here. A few moments after she landed she spotted an alicorn walking her way, one that she knew was immediate Midnight Shine, as Princess Rhythm was in the Crystal Empire. The mare waved a hoof at her in greeting, something that she could never understand, but nodded as she approached the Princess, giving her a slight bow. It was something that all Shadows were trained to do when meeting with any of the Princesses, be they Rhythm, Midnight Shine, Nightmare Moon, or Darkstar herself.

"Glimmer Scale, what a present surprise," Midnight said, keeping an eye on her 'guest', "What brings you to the ruined castle of the Sisters, in the heart of the Evergleam Forest?"

"I come seeking a stallion that doesn't belong here," Glimmer replied, knowing that the Princess might be able to point her in the right direction, "one Crimson Flare, son of Princess Celestia of the Prime Equestria. He stopped our Masters' plans in his world and he has, somehow, followed us back here, no doubt to cause harm to us. As such I have been tasked with finding him. Any ideas where he could be?"

"Yeah," a voice said, just as a hoof touched her shoulder for a moment, causing her to turn around to face Crimson, "how about right behind you?"

Before she had a chance to react flames wrapped around her body and she was yanked into the air, though she knew that she had, somehow, walked into another one of Crimson's traps. As she corrected herself Crimson's wings flapped and he burst into the air, traveling the distance towards her and throwing his front hoof into her stomach. She reached for him, but instead of grabbing onto his neck, which was now missing his necklace she noted, he pulled just out of her reach and kicked her hard in the head. She spun around and shattered the flames that held her, using what was left over to make a harpoon that she spun in her claws before throwing it towards her enemy.

Crimson moved to the right and let the harpoon disappear into the forest, where flames danced for a moment before the forest consumed them all. He growled and flew in closer once more, only this time he had to duck as Glimmer regained her bow and arrows, the one weapon that he really hated fighting against. He flared his wings and moved out of the way the moment he noticed the weapon, letting the volley of arrows that followed to pass him by without causing harm to himself. As he flew he allowed himself to call on his magic, summoning his armor and longsword as he sought a way to get closer to Glimmer than he had been.

Midnight threw up a barrier as the arrows came towards the castle, protecting herself and her friends from the fight while she considered what to do. She wanted nothing more than to destroy Glimmer, but she was afraid that her mentor would discover her betrayal and then that would start the war she knew was coming. Before she could truly decide on what to do she heard the sound of hoofs stepping on the stone behind her, causing her to turn around and find Spectra standing there.

"I am tired of that dragon ruining our fun," Spectra said, grinning as she made sure her armor and weapons were at the ready, "Midnight, crank up the storm. I'm going in."

Before Midnight had a chance to respond Spectra was gone, leaving behind a blood red trail as she traveled to join the fight, though she suspected that Crimson would enjoy the help. She pressed her hoof against the stone of the arch she stood under and let a little magic out, connecting with the magic that she had built into the rest of the castle. Storm clouds started to gather in the air, a little trick she learned when she had visited the royal library and studied many of her mentor's tomes.

Glimmer focused on Crimson and prepared to loose a volley of arrows in his direction, but just as she was about to release them a bolt of lightning hit her in the back. She glanced up at the sky and noticed the storm that was forming overhead, wondering how she could have missed the signs that one was rolling in. Before she had a chance to move a second bolt struck her, but this time when she zeroed in on the direction it came from she spotted a certain pegasus frowning at her. She had expected Crimson to find some allies in this world, as there were those who hated her Masters, but she couldn't understand how he could have turned one of the Elements of Chaos to his side, with so little time.

"You would betray us Spectra?" Glimmer shouted, drawing her bowstring back as she prepared to loose an arrow at the pegasus, "Then I shall be forced to put you down, just like Crimson here!"

A third bolt of lightning reached for her and she pushed herself back to avoid it, but instead of being the target the entire time the bolt hit her bow and shattered it. She had heard that, thanks to the intense training that they had to go through, each member of the Elements of Chaos had unique abilities, though she had never seen one of them use them in combat before. She had always been too busy with dealing with Crimson and his tricks to notice how powerful the Elements had gotten, so for her to see lightning so strong that it could shatter her shadow-forged bow she knew she was in trouble.

All of this trouble, she noted, came from just one of the six Element Bearers deciding to turn against her and her Masters, so she dreaded to imagine what would happen if one or two more joined the fight.

"Yeah, I'd like to see you fall," Spectra shouted in return, lightning flashing in response to her anger, "You and your masters have ruled over all of Shadow Kind for too long, and now its time that we stood up to you."

"You use 'we' as if there's more than two of you fighting me," Glimmer stated, giving off an air of confidence that she knew she had, "Sure, you may rebel against me, Spectra, and ally yourself with one of our sworn enemies, but that doesn't mean that you now possess the power to take me out. I have withstood the power of four alicorns in the Prime Equestria, so what can you do to me with just one?"

"We can do this," a voice behind her said, just as something latched onto her tail and immediately pulled her from the sky, dragging her down to the ground.

As Glimmer prepared to beat her wings and escape the hold she was in, three silver restriction bands appeared around her chest, tightening until her wings and arms were bound to her body. As she fell she caught a glimpse of what was latched onto her tail, though her eyes widened as she recognized Angelshy, the other pegasus of the group. Once they were closer to the ground Angelshy flipped her over and slammed her into the ground, following up by slamming her hooves into her chest and cracking the area around them a bit. The moment the pegasus released her Glimmer moved to pick herself up so she could cut the mare down, but then Jackie, the farm pony, appeared out of nowhere and another hoof found its way into her already wounded chest.

Only this time, when Jackie hit her the ground around them shook a bit and Glimmer was sure that some of the trees moaned from the shock waves that had been produced.

Glimmer groaned as the two mares backed up, waiting for her to make the next move so they could coordinate their attacks with Spectra and deliver another punishing blow. She had absolutely no idea how Crimson had managed to track down the three of them and then convince them all that they should turn on their Masters. As she got up she noticed two more mares walking in her direction, Scarcity and Pinkamena, but with how things were going for her she had no idea where they stood. If she had to hope for one of the Elements siding with her she would have placed her bits on Midnight, as she was Darkstar's personal student and almost always sided with her mentor.

"Scarcity? Pinkamena?" Glimmer asked, watching them move around to her backside while the other three demanded the area in front of her, "Please tell me you two see reason and help me put these rebels in their place!"

"Of course we see reason darling," Scarcity replied, pulling crystal spears out of the ground and pointing them directly at her, "but helping you would only prolong the Sisters rule over our kind. We are heading towards our own destruction, and the only way to stop it is for your masters to fall at long last."

"Its time for you to die, Glimmer Scale," Pinkamena stated, pulling out a giant blade while frowning at her, "though the only Shadows that will mourn your passing with be your masters, who will follow you into the Void sooner or later."

FIVE of them! Glimmer thought as she looked around, He managed to turn five of our surprise weapons against us, all within the span of a single day. If I wasn't outmatched I'd kill Crimson first and damn the consequences for not dealing with the traitors first.

Glimmer grunted and yanked her arms out, tearing the magical bonds around her body to pieces, though she was in time to jump out of the way as Pinkamena's blade came crashing down on where she had been standing. She also managed to avoid the majority of Scarcity's spears, but she got careless and one of them cut through her left wing, causing her to fumble for a moment. It was in that moment that both Angelshy and Jackie planted their hooves on her shoulders and heaved her into the air, where Spectra was waiting with a powerful bolt of lightning that scorched her back just a little bit.

"Midnight, I could use a little help here!" Glimmer shouted, regaining her balance before she was forced to move once more, "Talk some sense into these friends of yours!"

That was right before a bolt of pure magical energy burst out of the ruins and collided with her side, blasting her out of the air and throwing her against the ground. As Glimmer picked herself up she cast a glance at the ruins and found Midnight walking out into the open, her horn dying down as she let out a sigh. Glimmer could not believe that she had been betrayed by Darkstar's own student, one of the few Shadows that she had believed would side with her Masters no matter what. Glimmer growled and brought her claws together, gathering her magical energy into a blast that would give her a chance to escape and warn her Masters about this betrayal.

"Very well then," Glimmer shouted, "I shall just have to eliminate all of you before you rise an army to go to war against my Masters..."

Before she had a chance to finish Jackie rushed right at her and swung her hoof at her, landing in the same area that she had been hit in earlier and she could have sworn she heard something crack. As she backed up she felt two weapons run across her back, cutting into her as she cursed herself for forgetting that Scarcity and Pinkamena were the ones with weapons. Angelshy, using what the others were doing as a distraction, latched onto Glimmer's back and heaved her into the air, where Spectra was waiting with a barrage of lightning bolts. Each piece of lightning was stronger than the one that came before it, though Glimmer knew her body couldn't keep up the struggle for much longer.

Glimmer could deal with fighting one or even two of them at the same time, but with all Six of the Elements of Chaos turned against her she knew her chances of survival were slim. She spread her wings to flee, abandoning the idea of using her spell to make an opening, when Midnight grabbed her with her magic and threw her high above the forest. She flipped around and corrected herself, giving her the chance to glare down at the traitorous Elements, before a sword blade erupted from her chest. At first she thought it was Pinkamena, but when she looked back at who the weapon belonged to she found Crimson floating behind her, his magic connected to the weapon.

She had gotten so caught up fighting the Elements that she never once considered where Crimson would be, though this time she sensed that this would be the last time they crossed paths.

"Begone Glimmer Scale," Crimson said, the flames around his sword spreading out and devouring everything that had been his greatest enemy, "may you trouble these worlds no more."

Crimson retracted his blade and landed on the ground near his new allies, knowing that it was only a matter of time until Darkstar became aware of the Element's betrayal. They would have to move quickly, but he suspected that they'd enjoy getting the chance to do some damage to their enemy before Crimson revealed his grand plan to them. He gave them a smile, knowing full well that his luck must have finally changed for the better.

26: Ebon's Research

"I cannot believe that we did that," Midnight moaned, shaking her head, "Darkstar is sure to have felt the death of her champion and she'll either send another Shadow to look into it or she'll come herself."

"Glimmer had it coming," Crimson said, glad that his enemy had finally been eliminated, "Now we must focus on building up our strength before we challenge Darkstar; which means that we'll need to find the remains of Nova and Order, so we can bring them back from the Void. We'll also need to recover the Elements of Chaos themselves, because without them the Tree of Chaos is likely dying and that means that this world is slowly being chocked. Once we have the Elements back we'll need to save the Tree, which will, unfortunately, tell Darkstar that we're doing something to disrupt her plans.

We'll also need allies, which means that we'll need to, somehow, convince Princess Rhythm and her husband that Darkstar is trying to destroy their world. Talking to Nightmare Moon is out of the question, as she listens to her sister and does whatever is commanded of her, but we shouldn't rule out the possibility that she might turn on her if she senses that Darkstar is going to lose the war. Queen Meta is also out of the question, as you told me that she was executed when she failed to take down Shadowlot. King Nova and Order should be able to lend us their powers, provided we give them enough time to recover from what Darkstar did to each of them. Though if we are to challenge and defeat Darkstar, which seems impossible at the moment, we'll need to find out what her source of power is and then either use it ourselves or destroy it completely.

Now, if Ebon is as smart as I am, he would have constructed a vault somewhere in the castle, someplace where only he, and by some extent myself, could open."

"Why would Ebon make a vault that only he and his counterpart could open?" Pinkamena asked, sheathing her blade while curiosity got the better of her, "Why wouldn't he tell any of us, his closest friends and allies, that he had such a vault?"

"For the same reason I didn't tell my own mother," Crimson said, a smile appearing on his face, "we both hid the vault's existence so our mother wouldn't find out about it. Inside my vault are some of the most dangerous magical artifacts that existed in a time before my mother and aunt ruled over Equestria, all found by searching the world over. Many of them should have been forgotten completely, but I managed to move the majority of them so deep below the Everfree Forest that not even their magical essence could escape."

"How...how big is the vault?" Midnight asked, almost scared of asking at this point, "How many magical items are there overall? Is there anything we might be able to use to combat Darkstar?"

"My vault is only two floors worth of items," Crimson replied, "that's because our Equestria doesn't go to war with other worlds and conquer them. Because of this single fact there many be twice as many items as mine, or there could be anywhere between five to ten times as many artifacts. Ebon likely buried the worst of the worst in the deepest reaches of his vault, so don't expect me to go down that far to see what he found. We'll also need to check the Logbook, where each and every artifact that is in the vault is listed, just to see what Ebon found and if they can aid us."

"Excuse me? Princess Midnight?" a voice behind them said, causing the entire group to turn around and find the Ponyville Mayor standing there, with a small group behind her, "We saw the fight from the town and came running as fast as we could. Is everything alright?"

"Glimmer Scale is dead," Midnight replied, causing the group to cheer just a bit, "are these the ponies you told Cinder to tell me about?"

"Ah yes, they are indeed," the Mayor answered, beckoning for the ponies to approach them, "how soon will the rest of our allies be coming to the castle?"

"They should be here within the next three hours," Midnight said, sighing just a bit, "but that's if they hold true to what their letters said. With Glimmer's appearance they might be waiting until the coast is clear, though I'll be seeing them soon. You had best get back to the town and make sure those that are ready to move are the first to leave, because I'm not sure how long the forest will remain as quiet as it is now."

The Mayor bowed her head and headed back the way she came, disappearing into the Evergleam Forest, which was as quiet as Midnight had claimed it was. Crimson cast a glance at the ponies that had come to Midnight to aid her, but as he watched them he cast their eyes shifting colors until they were all light blue. He recalled the last time he had seen eyes change that quickly was when he had met the Changeling Queen Chrysalis, though he knew several glamour spells that could produce the same result. If he was right about who these ponies were, and he was almost a hundred percent sure he was right, than he may have found their way to recover what he had told Midnight that they needed.

Before he had a chance to ask them who and what they were azure flames wrapped around the seven ponies, telling him that they were indeed changelings. He and his allies watched as the flames slowly disappeared, but when they did Crimson noticed that five of them happened to be the lightly armored scouts he had met the one time. The sixth changeling wore more armor than his companions, which told Crimson that he was either a fighter class changeling or a high ranking commander. When the seventh changeling was revealed Crimson noted that the mare was about the same size as Darkstar, had both a pair of wings and a jagged horn, and a small hidden crown on the back of her head.

He knew that she had to be the new Changeling Queen, because Midnight had told him that Meta had been executed in Shadowlot around the time of her brother's wedding.

"Queen Meta, what a surprise!" Midnight exclaimed, bowing slightly to the supposed to be dead monarch, "I wasn't sure that you were going to come to the meeting today."

"I wouldn't dare miss out on one of these meetings, my dear Princess Midnight." Queen Meta replied, respectfully bowing her head to Midnight in return, "I had heard rumors of a failed attack on the Prime Equestria, which had been lead by Darkstar herself, and how she had been stopped by a stallion that was nearly identical to our own Ebon. When I arrived in Ponyville I heard that Glimmer was coming here, so we followed in the shadows and watched you all stand up to her, fighting her above the forest until you destroyed her. With her champion gone and the Elements' betrayal still hidden from her, Darkstar will no doubt step up her timetable on her latest plan to destroy the Prime Equestria.

Ah, Lord Crimson Flare, forgive me for not speaking to you immediately after answering Midnight."

"Its a pleasure to meet you as well," Crimson said, not sure what to make of the day he was having anymore, "Truth be told, I had been informed that you had been executed soon after the wedding between Princess Rhythm and Lord Gloomy Armor, but now I see that what I had been told was not true."

"We tell that story so nopony knows she survived," Midnight replied, "if Darkstar knew that Meta had escaped the prisons of Shadowlot, with one of her scouts staying back to take her place, we never would have gotten her out of the city. Darkstar would have decimated the entire city to kill one of her enemies, so we used a glamour that persisted until the following week on the scout that stayed behind. Once we were sure the coast was clear a few scouts went back in, recovered the body by acting as 'allies' to the master, and got out before Darkstar found out. Unfortunately, Meta is the only other enemy of Darkstar that survived her initial fight, as Nova and Order are, truly, lingering in a different place."

"Enough about this doom and gloom," Meta said, shaking her head before glancing over at Crimson, "I also heard some of the Shadowlot guards mention that Darkstar has called on her most talented mages, so that they can begin constructing a 'gateway' for her. Crimson, I suspect that you know what's going on, but we seriously need you to find out what Ebon was researching and if he might have found something to help us beat Darkstar."

Crimson nodded and made his way back into the castle, recounting his steps that would lead him to the door that held the lab Midnight had mentioned. There he found stacks and stacks of books, notes, reference materials that he suspected were copied from Darkstar's library, and even a map with at least two dozen locations circled with a few words near them. He knew what he was looking at, Ebon had constructed a map of magical artifacts that he hadn't gotten his hooves on, while also searching for the source of his mother's power. Crimson grinned and flared his horn to bring a book over to him, he had the best starting point to find out what he needed on every magical source that rested in this strange world.

One of them was definitely the source that Darkstar was using, he just needed to figure out which it was and make sure that was either brought back to Ebon's vault or destroyed.

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Darkstar watched from her balcony, glaring down at the workers who were building the gateway that they had the blueprints for, provided by the mages she had assigned to the project. They, the thirty brightest mages across her entire realm, had been assembled and begun work on the gateway that she desired, despite their protests that the use of such a gateway would likely destroy their world. She would have liked to add her student Midnight to the list of mages, but she had been assigned to help Glimmer search the Evergleam Forest for her enemy.

Crimson Flare had followed her to her own world, but now he was on her home territory and that meant that she could destroy him the moment she found him.

"Mistress, I have an update for you," one of her servants said, bowing as she approached her.

"Speak then," Darkstar growled, letting the servant know that she didn't have time to waste.

"The gateway is about a fifth of the way completed," the servant replied, fear dripping from her voice, "The mages say that the moment it awakens that the entire world, if not those around us, will feel it. They're afraid of the backlash of such a gate, but your overseers have kept them in line and they're working as hard and as fast as they can. They say that it should take them a week to complete, at minimum."

"Good, good," Darkstar said, staring down again at the giant construct that the mages were working on, the giant ring that would wrap around Shadowlot until it was ready.

Soon she'd have her way into the Prime Equestria, but once she was there once more there would be nothing and nopony to stop her from destroying everything. She's love to see the look on Crimson's face when he watched his world burn around him and realized that there was nothing he could have done to stop her.

27: The Elements of Chaos

It wasn't hard for Crimson to follow Ebon's notes, as they were merely two sides of the same coin, so it was almost like he was reading his own notes on this world. There were scraps of paper, whole journals, and books, ones he assumed that he had checked out and his mother never came to collect, scattered everywhere. Ebon had located so many artifacts and recovered them that it amazed Crimson as to the effort his counterpart went through to keep his world safe, though there was one note he made sure to keep in mind while he searched. Ebon had been thinking the same thing that Crimson had told his new allies, they needed to recover the Elements of Chaos before the Tree died and Darkstar began her assault on his home world.

Ebon had also been kind enough to offer his own plan on how he would have reacquired the Elements, though the moment Crimson noticed it he realized that it would require one item from the Vault to make it work.

"How's it coming?" Midnight asked, walking into the chamber before staring at all the moved papers and books.

"I may have found a way to recover the Elements," Crimson replied, beckoning her over before pointing out what Ebon had been working on, "Ebon devised a plan to use your latest allies, the Changelings, to get passed the Shadowlot guards and get you six close enough to the Elements without raising suspicion. He planned on coming with you guys, so he could keep an eye out for danger, like his mother or aunt, and make a hasty escape once the Elements are recovered."

"So besides my friends, myself, and a few changelings, what else do we need?" Midnight asked, curious as to how they could pull off such a heist without her mentor finding out.

"The Eye of the Changeling," Crimson said, pulling out a small drawing and showing her, "a special necklace that allows the wearer to pass themselves off as a changeling or even have their powers until they take it off. This is how Ebon planned on getting passed his mother, which means that we'll need to access the Vault before we leave for Shadowlot."

"You mean we get to see what Ebon hid from us?" Midnight asked, her eyes widening as she wondered what he might have hidden away beneath their hooves.

"A small section of it anyway," Crimson said, moving out of the chamber as he began to retrace the path he used to get to his own Vault, "though we'll never find his Vault if he hid it someplace other than where I put mine."

He and Midnight moved throughout the entire castle, going from the hallway where Ebon's lab had been stored to the abandoned throne room of the Two Sisters. From there they crossed to the courtyard, where Princess Twilight and her friends had found him back in his home world, and approached a stone wall not too far from the center. Crimson, taking a chance that this was where Ebon had placed the Vault, tapped the stones in a certain order, the same one that he had placed on the wall in his world, as it was the combination to open the way for them. As he tapped the stones they glowed bright blue, but after a moment, a moment that Crimson used to wonder if Ebon's code was different, the stones receded into the wall and opened the pathway he had been seeking.

Resting before them was the hidden passage that Ebon and Crimson had, at the same time he suspected, built into the foundation of the ruined castle, surrounded by ancient runes that protected it from scrying, or searching for it. The runes, nearly as old as Time itself, prevented their mothers from finding it, in the off chance that they discovered a magical trace leading them back to the castle.

"Impressive," Midnight commented, eyeing the spellwork as they walked passed the stone wall, "I would have never thought to look for something behind that wall."

Crimson chuckled as he lead Midnight down the passageway, the torches lighting themselves as they approached, exactly as Crimson thought they would. There was a few twists and turns, all of which Crimson was expecting as they descended under the ruined castle, until they came to a solid door made of ebony, silver, and gold. To most this door would be impossible to open, but the moment Crimson approached it there was an unlocking sound before the door separated into three pieces. As the pair approached the doorway the pieces slipped into the walls around them, disappearing from view and allowing them to enter the Vault.

What Midnight found was a large ring, one that she suspected that wrapped around a good portion of the ruined castle, that was filled with all sorts of magical items. She was sure that the majority of them had been either lost in some war, lost to the passages of time itself, or even locked away in her mentor's armory. She approached the edge of where they were standing and gazed down, gasping as she found out that there was another nine rings that should could see from where they stood, though she had to wonder how deep it went. There were thousands of magical artifacts, many of which she was sure that they could use against Darkstar and stop whatever she was planning this time.

"This...is...amazing..." Midnight said, trying to keep the excitement trapped inside her and keep Crimson from finding out about how excited she was.

"His collection is ten times the size of my own," Crimson commented, walking over to a large leather bound book and pulled it open, "Now, let us see where he placed the Eye so we can get our operation underway. There's no telling what Darkstar and Nightmare Moon are up to this time."

"IS THAT THE CROWN OF THE DRAGON KING?!" Midnight shrieked, hurrying down the stairs to the ring that held the legendary crown that she had only read about.

Crimson moaned and continued his search, silently wishing that he had made the journey to the Vault alone so he wouldn't have to worry about this sort of thing.

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Nightmare Moon sighed as she watched, from a distance, the construction of the gateway that her sister wanted to use to invade the world she continued to call Prime Equestria, though she wasn't wrong with calling it that. Several of her personal mages, loyal to her and currently on loan to her sister, had sent her a set of documents, copies of the official report that Darkstar got all the time, not long ago. Their findings, however, proved that Nightmare had been right about the gateway before her sister had even introduced such an idea and started the construction.

The power to fuel the awakening of such a gateway, one that could rip the fabric of reality apart so Darkstar could travel to Crimson's Equestria, could cause shock waves across both worlds. Her sister wanted to conquer every world she came across, the Prime Equestria being no exception, but she failed to understand the consequences of what her actions would bring. The gateway, unless shut down and destroyed before it could be activated, would first consume whatever world it was opened to before damaging the world it was used it, but the bad news didn't end there. Nightmare's mages claimed that, if the gateway was used on the Prime Equestria, that the destruction of that world would ripple across all the worlds, destroying everything and everyone.

Darkstar didn't seem to care what she was trying to do, but now that Nightmare knew of the dangers she needed to find the only pony in her realm that could help her defeat her sister, before it was too late. The problem was that she had no idea if Glimmer had found and killed Crimson already or if Crimson had gotten tired of playing with Glimmer and had ended the game.

"My Princess?" a guard said, causing Nightmare to look up from the report she had been staring at and notice him standing there, "Princess Midnight Shine, the Elements of Chaos, and a band of changelings await you in the castle gardens. Shall I tell them that you are busy and send them away?"

"NO! I mean, no, I'll see them now," Nightmare said, surprised by how quickly she had told the guard not to send them away, "Thanks for informing me that they were here."

The guard bowed and left the throne room, causing Nightmare to sigh as she considered how she was going to ask Midnight to betray her mentor and save the worlds from destruction. Before she left the throne she picked up the folder of reports she had been collecting and knew she'd need them to convince Midnight of what her mentor was doing. She was only thankful that Darkstar was preoccupied with the construction of her gateway and not interested in running Shadowlot until she was finished with her war. As she walked towards the ironclad doors she wondered why Midnight had brought a group of changelings with her, but figured that they had to be hungry and desperate to side with their old enemy.

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Midnight sat on a bench and looked at what her friends and the nervous changelings were doing, though most of them were standing as still as the statues around them. It made her wonder if Order's fragments were around the garden somewhere, she she expected her mentor to be smarter than that and never really considered looking for them here. Though she knew why they were all nervous, despite being in a seemingly peaceful garden; they were in the middle of their enemy's territory and there was no telling when they'd be found out by Darkstar. That fear had, all by itself, prompted Midnight to ask to speak with Nightmare, though she wondered if the Princess would leave her busy schedule to speak with them.

She had been trapped in her thoughts for a moment, but when she noticed a movement to her left she thought it was Nightmare and turned to face it, though she only found a changeling guard rubbing his head.

"Listening to the Hive hurts more than I thought it would," the guard moaned, though she knew that it was merely Crimson in disguise, "I don't know how they get used to such a terrible pain."

"It takes constant practice," Queen Meta, having changed how she looked, her mane style and shape of her horn, so nopony would think it was actually her, said "If you had told me before we came here that you were planning on using the Eye to disguise yourself I would have given you some lessons on how to block the Hive Mind. We shouldn't be risking this, as the Hive Mind can damage those that aren't used to it and we cannot risk losing you before we finish what we started."

"Everything is a risk when we deal with Darkstar," Crimson commented, rubbing his head some more, "I will risk a little pain to secure the Elements of Chaos and give this world some more time before Darkstar does whatever she's doing."

"Shh, here comes Nightmare," Midnight said, spotting the Princess as she walked across the grass to where they were sitting, "Princess Nightmare Moon, I'm glad that you could give us a moment out of your busy schedule."

"Its more like the schedule that my sister wants me on," Nightmare huffed, eyeing the two changelings standing beside Midnight, paying close attention to the one rubbing its head every now and then, "Midnight, I know you likely brought these changelings to add them to Darkstar's army of followers, but I have advise you against giving her any more aid."

"Excuse me?" Midnight asked, confused as to why Nightmare would tell her to stop what she was doing.

Nightmare's eyes darted to the changelings around her, a queen and a guard she noted, before sighing and deciding against her better judgement to move this indoors. She needed Midnight on her side, so they could find Crimson and enlist his help on stopping Darkstar before she literally destroyed everything. Though she had to count herself lucky that her guards generally stayed away from her, which meant that she could easily tell Midnight what was going on without it reaching her sister.

"Some of my mages are helping my sister put together a gateway that will allow her to travel to whatever world she wishes," Nightmare explained, silently hoping that Midnight would trust her at this critical point, "and they're reporting that the awakening of such a gateway will literally destroy everything, as she's planning on invading the Prime Equestria once more. If she's allowed to open that gateway for more than a few minutes then it will devour Crimson's world, which will set off a chain reaction that will destroy every world in existence. I'm not sure if my sister even cares about what she's trying to do, so I have to ask you to stop aiding her and help me devise a plan to stop her.

Midnight, I need you to look over these reports, help me find Crimson, and then convince him that his world is in more danger than he could possibly know."

"Um, may I take a peek at those?" Crimson asked, hoping that his act as a curious guard might succeed.

"Oh drop the act for her Crimson," Midnight said, causing Nightmare to raise her eyebrows as the flames raced over the changeling to reveal a unicorn wearing a golden necklace with an emerald in the center, "We planned on coming here to take the Elements of Chaos, so we could save the world from choking, and that meant that we needed something to get him through the guards without being seen."

"The Eye of the Changeling, of course," Nightmare commented, understanding why Crimson wasn't appearing as an alicorn, "I am quite surprised that you managed to find it so quickly. I suspect that my nephew Ebon found it somewhere and hid it where only you could find it. Now, what's this about taking the Elements of Chaos? If we're going to act against my sister than I'm going to need to know how we're going to go about doing it."

Not even an hour later the Element Bearers, each accompanied by a changeling guard and baring a map of where the Elements were located, separated and went their separate ways. Their plan was simple, follow the maps and find their way to the locations of their Elements, where they would reacquire them and then regroup at the castle. Nightmare Moon, on the other hoof, would be accompanied by the Changeling Queen, who she discovered was the long thought to be dead Queen Meta, while she delved into the castle and recovered the pieces of Order's state and Nova's horn.

If she was going to go against her sister once more than she could need to make sure that her allies got something better than one of the Princesses of Shadowlot, like the Spirit of Harmony and the King of Light.

"Are you sure about this Midnight?" Crimson asked, running alongside Midnight and her guard, "Are you absolutely sure that we can trust Nightmare Moon to uphold her end of the deal and continue to aid us till we stop her sister?"

"Crimson, you saw the report like I did," Midnight replied, moving across the street while avoiding the shadows that were walking around, "if that gateway opens then everything dies. Darkstar is going to destroy each and every world in a single instant, which is something that we need to stop at all costs. I trust Princess Nightmare Moon to do the right thing, which at the moment is giving us all the help we need to get the Elements, our missing allies, and then an escape route."

"I trust your judgement on this then," Crimson commented, spotting a stone pillar ahead of them, with a familiar gemstone set in the center of it, "Well I'll be, she let us right to the Element of Darkness. Now, if I were Darkstar I would have placed a lock on this one Element that would prevent it from leaving until the other five were removed from their positions."

"I'm starting to hate it when your right," Midnight moaned, her magic search finding a spell that fit what he was speaking of, "Tell the others to remove their Elements the moment they find them and then get out of there. If Darkstar is attuned to these pillars then I don't want them anywhere near them when the Element gets removed."

The changeling guard nodded and relayed the message to his comrades that were following the Element Bearers, each of which sent back a reply to verify that the message had been received. The Queen was also informed, so their newest ally would know how much time she had before she had to be back at the front of the castle with her things. Not a moment later the sky above them shimmered and Crimson spotted six separate colors surrounding Shadowlot, which he assumed were the barriers the Elements produced, before one of them faded. Crimson knew what happened before it had been reported in, one of the Elements had been removed and the barrier it had produced had been stripped from the sky.

"Good job Angelshy," Midnight commented, naming the pony who took the Element, "Come on girls, get the rest of them before somepony tells Darkstar."

The sky shimmered not a minute later, though the blue barrier dropped and told them that Pinkamena had found her Element without too much trouble. Before the sky had a chance to make the barriers fade a third barrier, the orange one Crimson noted, shattered as well and robbed the city of half of its protection. Crimson noted the Elements of Chaos were making decent progress, but then the fourth barrier, the red one, shattered into pieces and they fell from the sky, crashing around the city. Not a moment later Crimson could hear the shadows screaming, which meant that they knew the barriers were failing and that it was a matter of time until Darkstar found them. That was seconds before the fifth barrier, the purple one, shattered like those before it, leaving them with one more Element to grab.

Midnight, not wanting to waste a precious second, threw her magic around her Element and ripped it from the pillar, shattering the magenta barrier in the sky and exposing the city to Darkstar's enemies.

"Let's go," Midnight said, stashing the gemstone in her bag as they began the trek back to the castle.

Along the way they found shadows running for their lives, screaming about the barriers being down and that they were totally exposed without them. Some, Crimson noted, were pointing up at the sky with joy in their eyes, almost as if they had been wanting this since the barriers had been put up. As they slowly drew closer to the castle Crimson ignited the necklace he wore and his guard guise reappeared, allowing him to blend in once more. Once his group reached the castle he spotted Nightmare Moon standing outside, though once she spotted them she beckoned with her wing and the royal guards let them pass.

The guard apparently thought they had been in the city and came to help, but Crimson wasn't complaining as they made their way right into the passageway that Nightmare lead them to.

"We need to hurry before my sister notices," Nightmare said, leading them through the castle until they came to a deserted passageway, "This tunnel will lead you down to the train tracks that head to Ponyville, where I keep a spare train hidden in case something similar to this happens. You'll notice a lever near the main one, if you pull that it will activate the secondary track that I had designed to lead into the Evergleam Forest, which will get you close to the ruined castle. I intended for this to be my escape route in case my sister was under attack and could have lost, but you need it more than me right now. Take the bag in the train and resurrect Order and Nova, though they'll need to be filled in the moment they're back.

I will join you in the castle when I am able, but make sure to keep those Elements safe and restore the Tree when things here die down."

Midnight nodded and the group left Nightmare behind, leaving her to deal with her sister and whatever mood she was in, while they made their way to safety. Midnight prayed that Darkstar was too occupied to notice what was happening in her city.

---------------------------------------------

"So the barriers are gone and the Elements have been taken," Darkstar commented, mostly to herself as she stood high over the workers that were working on her gateway, "No matter, there is nopony foalish enough to attack me while I am in my city. I will find Crimson and end his life before I begin my invasion of his world. Soon none of his plans will matter and he will understand that I cannot be defeated."

As she laughed the workers shuddered as they listened, unaware of the danger they were in the moment their master activated the gigantic gateway for the first time.

28: Long Dead Allies

Getting the train out of the Shadowlot mountain and into the Evergleam Forest wasn't easy, but thanks to whatever spells Nightmare Moon had placed on it Crimson and his allies managed to arrive at their destination without delay. Crimson was glad that they had managed to get into Darkstar's base of operations, steal the Elements of Chaos, and get out without raising the alarm. What he hadn't expected was Nightmare Moon coming to Midnight, give her a full report on the dangers of what her own sister was doing, and give Crimson, her own sworn enemy, her full cooperation. He was only trusting Nightmare because Darkstar needed to be stopped, before she reduced his own Equestria to ashes, and effectively all the worlds connected to it in some way.

The strangest part was that Nightmare had given them the pieces of Order's statue and the horn of King Nova, telling them that they needed to resurrect some new allies. Crimson knew that they needed as many allies as they could get before they launched a full scale attack on Shadowlot, though it made him wonder if he could convince Princess Rhythm and her husband to turn as well.

As the group walked out of the train Crimson took the pouch that contained the pieces of their allies and beckoned for the others to join him, as he made his way towards the pit that surrounded the ruined castle. Once they reached the bottom they turned the corner and entered the cave, the one that held the large white tree that the Elements of Chaos used to be attached to. Crimson looked over the tree and immediately realized that it was indeed dying, but he wasn't sure if the Elements could help it recover at this point.

"Shall we get this show on the road?" Midnight asked, placing the pouch on the ground and pulling out the six ancient gemstones that were the Elements of Chaos.

"Proceed," Crimson said, backing up and giving them room to do what they needed to do.

"Okay girls, you know the drill," Midnight said, the gems floating until they were in front of the pony, "Let's heal the tree and buy some time to stop Darkstar."

"Dishonesty!" Jackie shouted, an orange light emitting from her stone.

"Brutality!" Angelshy called out, a pink glow wrapping around her.

"Betrayal!" Spectra said, a red glow joining the others in seconds.

"Greed!" Scarcity called out, a purple glow appearing not a second later.

"Sorrow!" Pinkamena barked, a light blue glow joining the other four.

"And Dark Magic!" Midnight shouted, a magenta glow wrapping around the other five before blasting the ground in front of the tree, creating some form of pool of energy.

Before any of them could react to the pool the six gemstone lifted into the air and floated around the dying tree, each sinking into one of the openings before all six of them were in their rightful spot. The tree glowed with energy and seemed to pulse, though Crimson was surprised that the tree was resurrected from near death with so little effort on their part. He glanced back at the pool until an idea came to mind, which lead him to place his pouch on the ground, withdraw the statue fragments, and gently sank all of them into the pool. For a moment nothing happened, but then a clawed appendage emerged from the pool of energy and a creature, akin to what Discord was, pulled himself free.

"I...I'm alive?!" the creature, essentially a white holy version of Crimson's own Discord, said, completely in shock, "I don't understand, I was destroyed by Darkstar and my pieces locked away..."

"Order?" Midnight asked, wondering if the experience of being in a death like state might have effected their allies, "Are you alright?"

"No, I am not alright!" Order snapped, turning his gaze to them all, "I have been dead ever since my last battle with Darkstar and I assumed that I would never see the light of day again, or whatever passes for light in this world these days. Now, I can understand if you went behind Darkstar's back and resurrected me to equal the growing darkness of this world, but please tell me we have some sort of plan. I don't want to come back to life, only to die at the blackened hoof of my ancient enemy."

"Oh, we've got the beginnings of a plan," Midnight replied, beckoning a wing over to Crimson, "Order, allow me to introduce Prince Crimson Flare of the Prime Equestria. He's here to help us put a stop to Darkstar's plot to basically destroy everything. We're also bringing back King Nova, so if you'll wait a minute or two we can fill you two in on whats happening at the same time."

Order huffed, but he moved out of the way and Midnight beckoned for Crimson to continue, figuring that if he could do it once, without direction, he could do the same again. Crimson pulled out the pearl horn from the pouch and gently placed it in the pool, letting it sink into the energy and waited for something to happen. Then the pool seemed to pulse as strands of white energy broke out of the pool, though it was followed by a ironclad hoof and the body of a light grey coated stallion. The light pulled itself back and sank into the areas that were the stallion's mane and tail, though he breathed the fresh air and let out a sigh of relief.

"It is...good to be alive again," the stallion said, opening his eyes to see Midnight, her friends, Queen Meta, Order, and Crimson around him, "I see that I am not the only one who was resurrected. Tell me, Midnight, is there a reason for calling us back from beyond the grave?"

"Darkstar's going to open a gateway that's going to rip the fabric of reality apart," Crimson said, causing Nova to turn to him, "King Nova, we're in the middle of devising a plan that will allow us to attack Shadowlot and defeat her before she has a chance to open it. As you can see the Elements of Chaos, Queen Meta and her changelings, and Nightmare Moon have gathered together to combat the madness that is happening in Shadowlot. Will you help us stop Darkstar, before she tears everything apart?"

"I...I will aid you in your quest," Nova replied, beckoning for Crimson to follow him as he slowly made his way to the opening of the cave, "I must tell Crimson something that Ebon entrusted to my care, Midnight. I will return once he knows what I was told to pass on."

Midnight nodded her understanding and returned her attention to getting Order caught up on who their enemies were and who their allies were, as well as the dangers they all faced. Crimson walked along side Nova, helping the King onto his hooves if he happened to stumble as he remembered how to properly walk once more. They walked a few minutes away from the cave, which told Crimson that whatever secret Ebon had given him must have been a terrible one if the others weren't allowed to hear it.

"I assume, by the look of the gemstone around your neck, that you have already delved into Ebon's fault?" Nova asked, somewhat surprising Crimson in the process.

"Yes, I did," Crimson replied, "Ebon left his plan on how to acquire the Elements of Chaos and wrote down that the Eye of the Changeling would aid him in that regard."

"All of those artifacts, each of them dangerous in the hooves of Darkstar and kept safe by her own son," Nova commented, "if only she knew what Ebon was really up to. I doubt that he told anypony else what his plan was. Before Darkstar came to my former Empire to sack it and take complete control over it, Ebon came to me the night before and I gave him two very important items. The first was that, deep beneath the Crystal Empire, there existed a pool of unnatural energy that Darkstar always came after, regardless of where it was in the whole world. When I lost my fight with her I cast two spells, the first was the one that sealed the empire away, but the second was to lock the pool in the same place, forcing her to waste time searching before she realized that she had to return to the same place every time.

The second item I gave Ebon was a special necklace, one that held a power that not even I was familiar with at the time, but I gave it away to keep it safe. Years later I managed to split a piece of myself out of my prison and sought Ebon out, only to learn that he was frightened of the power of the stone I had given him. He could not use it, he said, and eventually it joined the other artifacts he locked away, in the deepest reaches where only he and I knew the location of. Ebon only crafted a single key and he gave it to me, though when I was slain by Darkstar I took it with me to the grave, figuring that it would keep the stone safe.

It was almost as if Ebon knew what his mother would do in the future, though he continued to tell me that his counterpart would know exactly what to do with it the moment he found it. He wanted me to give you this the moment we met, so you could follow in his steps."

Before Crimson would say anything Nova pulled a gold and silver key out of his mane and levitated it over to him, allowing him to grab it before letting go. Nova didn't say anymore before returning to the others, basically telling him that he was supposed to go check on the stone and do whatever he needed to do. Crimson flared his wings and took off, heading around to the courtyard of the castle and returned to the wall he had shown Midnight, tapping in the sequence once more. Once the door was open he walked inside, quickly following the path until he returned to the circular gateway, mindful of the three metals that parted for him to continue.

As he entered the Vault he passed by the open tome, left at the page he had been searching for when he had come looking for the Eye of the Changeling. He approached the staircase and began to walk down the levels, still finding himself amazed at how many artifacts his counterpart could find and recover before his mother destroyed him. If he had more time and didn't need to stop a power mad monarch he would have liked to have studied a few of them, but he knew that it would likely never come to pass. Eventually he reached the final ring, where Ebon stored the most dangerous of the artifacts that he had recovered, and looked over each of them, looking for a place when a key would fit into.

When he was halfway around the ring he stopped in front of a simple iron box, one that was no larger than the one he had used to hide his royal jewelry in, and slid the key into the lock. Once he heard the clicking sound he opened the top of the chest and found something he wasn't expecting, an icy blue version of his own royal jewelry. The only difference was the gem that sat in the necklace, it was pitch black and seemed to suck in some of the magic that held the lid open for him. He was shocked, it was a gemstone that held a magic that was akin to Tirek's own magic, though he had to wonder what Ebon was thinking by allowing the thing to exist.

That was when he noticed the leather bound book sitting next to the necklace, one that, upon opening, revealed to him everything that Ebon had been planning before he had faced his mother. It was a foolish, crazy, rash, and nearly impossible plan if several of the factors that were mentioned failed to happen, but Crimson was positive that he could put it to good use.

--------------------------------------------

When Crimson, now wearing the royal jewelry of his counterpart, emerged from the Vault he found that Nightmare Moon had joined them in the courtyard, offering her apologies to both Order and Nova. The moment she noticed him she beckoned him over, clearly wanting to hear what the next step of his plan was now that they had more allies.

"I take it you have more to your plan than recovering the Elements of Chaos and resurrecting Order and King Nova?" Nightmare asked, raising her eyebrows while the others gathered near them.

"Yes, I do," Crimson said, looking the rest of his allies in the eyes, "We need to head to the Crystal Empire and have a chat with Princess Rhythm and her husband. Its time we raised a proper army."

29: The Pool of Darkness

Getting Nightmare Moon to agree with his plan, one that involved him 'surrendering' to Princess Rhythm so he could privately speak with her, so actually harder than Crimson was expecting. He was told, by both King Nova and Nightmare, that the last Princess was loyal to Darkstar and whatever cause she was working towards at the time. All that told Crimson was that she either had no idea what Darkstar was planning this time, or she was turning a blind eye to the fact that the destruction of everything was drawing closer with every hour. Crimson did, however, point out that Princess Rhythm was the only one that had an army that Darkstar would never see turning on her, giving them an advantage for when they laid siege to Shadowlot.

After about an hour of telling Crimson that it was a bad idea to speak with Princess Rhythm Nightmare finally gave up and Nova did the same, figuring that whatever he had planned was the best course of action. He knew that they would have bent to his idea eventually, after all, they were the ones that wanted him to plan their attack on Darkstar and bring her to her knees. Even with Nightmare and her Lunar Guard, King Nova and his powers over Light, Order and his ability to use Harmony, and the Elements of Chaos themselves, there just wasn't enough of them to do battle with all of Shadowlot.

They needed an army, like he had told them, and the only Princess around that could help them out was Rhythm, though he knew the dangers of his plan before they had been told to the entire group. The plan hinged on Rhythm choosing to side with them over Darkstar, though they wouldn't know until they came before her and told her what was going on.

-------------------------------------------------

"My Princess," one of the Crystal Guards said, trotting into the royal throne room and saluting his leaders, "We've spotted Princess Nightmare Moon and the Elements of Chaos chasing somepony near the border of the Empire half an hour ago. Upon further inspection it appears that the pony they were chasing is none other than Crimson Flare, the Prince of Fire of the Prime Equestria. Before we could join in they had him and Princess Nightmare was requesting that she bring him to you and imprison him deep beneath the Palace."

Princess Rhythm thought it was strange that Crimson Flare, the enemy of Princess Darkstar, would suddenly appear near the Crystal Empire, after stealing the Elements of Chaos no less, with Princess Nightmare Moon not far behind. It was also strange that he would suddenly be brought down the moment her guards noticed what was going on, though that could have been due to Nightmare's abilities. Still, Princess Midnight and her friends were following the duo, which only told her that they must have been after the stolen Elements, though none of this seemed right to her.

"Bring them forward," she eventually replied, not sure what to make of what was going on, "I would like to speak with Crimson before I send him into the dungeons."

Not ten minutes later Nightmare Moon, Midnight, and the Elements of Chaos walked into the throne room, bringing a bound Crimson in right behind them. The strange thing was that Crimson didn't look defeated, rather he had the look of somepony that was looking for specific, something that only he knew about. The two Princesses brought Crimson before the throne, but after a moment Rhythm gave the command for the guards to leave the room and sealed the door with spells that prevented eavesdropping. That was one of the great things about a paranoid leader ruling the Empire before she took over, he made sure his enemies couldn't figure out his plans.

"So, you are the infamous Crimson Flare I have heard so much about," she commented, wishing that her husband had been in the throne room before the door had closed, "Let me tell you, I'm disappointed that you broke into Shadowlot, stole the Elements of Chaos, and came all the way here, only to be caught by Nightmare Moon. You should have quit while you were ahead."

That was mere moments before the chains that had been keeping Crimson held down shattered, the magic fading away until Crimson was free to move once more. The strange thing that followed was that he didn't move to attack her and the other Princesses made no move to detain him once the bindings were broken. Instead Crimson pulled out a folder, from the bag that Spectra had been carrying, and levitated it over to her, dropping it on the arm of her throne.

"I'm sure that you'll find the contents of that folder very interesting," Crimson commented, letting out a sigh as he resumed looking around the room, "Trust me on that, I found it very interesting when I opened it."

Rhythm glanced at the folder, wondering if it was a decoy to make her divert her attention so Crimson could attack her the moment he had a clear shot, before she let her curiosity get the better of her. She opened the folder and began pulling out the pages that had been inside it, finding reports from Princess Nightmare's own personal mages that were working on Princess Darkstar's project. The first couple were what she expected, reports on what Darkstar wanted to make, how long it would take to make such a thing, and then the purpose for the creation. What she didn't expect to find was that the gateway that Darkstar wanted to make was going to be so powerful that it was going to rip the fabric of reality apart.

The more she read the last few reports the more she realized that Darkstar was planning on destroying everything the moment she opened that gateway above the Prime Equestria.

"You can't be serious!" she shouted, tossing the papers to the ground before growling at Crimson, "Are you telling me that Princess Darkstar is seriously building a gateway that, once activated, will destroy everything in all of existence the moment she connects it to your world?"

"She's even willing to kill all of us in Shadowlot as well," Nightmare replied, "I have tried to talk some sense into my sister, but she is so blinded by her desire to destroy Crimson's world that she doesn't care about the consequences that might happen to our world. As much as it pains us to ask this, but we need you to put aside your allegiance to Darkstar and help us defeat her before she has a chance to open that gateway at all. Crimson has a plan that just might work, but we need an army that can fight against her forces so we aren't swarmed when we take the fight to her."

Rhythm stared down at Crimson, trying to determine where he really stood in this conflict, but sighed as she realized that they truly needed his ability to plan now that Ebon was dead. Darkstar, by herself, was too smart for her own sister to outmatch and was too powerful for even Midnight to handle at times, which explained why they had sought out Crimson. It also explained why they wanted her help as well, as the Crystal Army was large enough to fight the forces of Shadowlot to a draw, though with the Lunar Guard they had more warriors than Darkstar did at the moment.

There was one other thing that they could have come to the Crystal Empire for, the source of power that allowed Darkstar to fight on a higher level than the rest of the alicorns of this world.

"So, you came to destroy the Pool," Rhythm commented, noticing that Crimson was the only one to nod while the rest of them looked at her with confused looks on their faces, "Yes, if you get rid of it then we should be able to weaken Darkstar, maybe enough to make whatever plan your creating actually work in our favor. I do hope you have a plan for blowing it sky high, because I tried the first day I took over the Empire and its still standing."

"Yes, I have something in mind," Crimson replied, making sure not to tap the gemstone he was wearing with Ebon's lost jewelry.

"If there was anypony that could destroy that blasted Pool I'm sure it would be you," Rhythm said, sighing as she got off the throne, "Very well then Crimson, follow me to the source of Darkstar's powers and let's see what you can do to it. I shall leave the rest of you here, to tell my husband of our plans and get the soldiers ready to march on Shadowlot. The sooner we leave the Crystal Empire the sooner we can bring an end to the construction of that gateway."

Crimson followed the Princess around the Crystal Palace, knowing that there had to be a thousand thoughts going through her mind at that exact moment. It was hard to ask her to turn against Darkstar, to turn against everything she had been taught and use the skills she had been taught against the pony that had taught her. It was also devastating to learn that said pony was trying to build a gateway that was going to, literally, destroy all of existence, including the world they lived on. Rhythm had to make a hard choice, but Crimson was glad that she had chosen the right path in the end.

They weaved through the palace, guards saluting them as they passed, though many of them stared at Crimson as they went by, apparently not knowing what was going on. He knew that they'd be on the field of battle soon enough, charging up the Shadowlot to fight those that still stood with Darkstar before she succeeded in her plans. He knew that, even with this army, there would be no way to stop her if she was still tied to the Pool, which is why it needed to be destroyed as soon as possible. Crimson had to admit, he had no idea what was going to happen when he destroyed the source of Darkstar's unnatural powers, but he was sure that all the alicorns would feel it.

Eventually they made their way to a large ebony door, located under the streets of the Crystal Empire, that had only one lock on it, which Rhythm presented not a moment later. Only, before she unlocked the door she paused as if she wanted to say something.

"I'll warn you about this now," Rhythm said, her voice breaking for a moment, "but the moment I open this door Darkstar will know about it and she'll likely assume that I've betrayed her. There are two possibilities to this; either she comes to stop us, or she'll decide that she doesn't care. Either way, you'll need to act fast before she makes up her mind."

Crimson nodded and the door opened, though the moment it was open he could feel the darkness pulsing from where he was standing and it nearly knocked the breath out of him. The sheer power was unbelievable, though Crimson now knew exactly how Darkstar was able to command the Darkness to do exactly what she wanted when Glimmer had opened that gate in his own world. Without wasting another second he charged into the abyss, following the tug of the gemstone while trying not to fall over from the icy feeling in the air. Then he found it, resting in what he assumed was the direct center of the massive cavern, the tarnished silver pool that was filled with an eerie black liquid.

Despite its massive size, and no doubt the same for the depth, Crimson knew that it had to bee the pool that Darkstar drew her unnatural power from, the very thing he came to destroy.

Crimson flared his wings and leapt over the water, soaring towards the direct center of the pool and charged his horn, waiting till he was directly above it before loosing his spell. He summoned a large fireball and sent it straight down at the pool, causing an explosion that rocked the very foundation of the structure around him. The water went crazy, rushing at him from two sides as if the Pool wanted to be rid of the intruder that was disturbing it, but then the magic really happened. The gemstone around his neck flared, causing the two waves to suddenly converge on where he was and pool into the stone as it greedily soaked it all in.

Even though he wasn't on the ground he could feel the Pool shake and crack from the pressure of its magic being taken away from it, though he was positive that many more could feel it as well. Once he had all of the water, and thus all of its power, bound up in the gemstone he landed on the empty center of the Pool and the structure around him shattered into a hundred pieces of tarnished silver. He fell to his knees for a moment, taken aback by how much power the stone had taken, and moaned slightly as he pulled himself back to a standing position.

"We need to move now," Crimson said, eventually returning to Princess Rhythm, "before Darkstar has a chance to finish that gateway of hers and open it."

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Darkstar was proud that her workers were nearing completion of her gateway, though as she stared at it she was hit by something she was not expecting. The Pool had been destroyed, but she had absorbed enough of its power over the last thousand years to give her the ability to naturally draw on the Darkness without the Pool. Still, only Princess Rhythm knew of the Pool's existence, but she did not possess the power to harm the Pool, much less completely destroy it like she had felt a moment ago. No, Rhythm had betrayed her and had allowed whoever destroyed the Pool access to one of the world's greatest treasures, one that she would have destroyed the moment she was gone using it.

There was only one other pony, across all of the worlds she had walked through and conquered, that could have wormed his way into the Crystal Empire and, against all odds, destroyed the Pool. Crimson Flare was alive and well, which meant that he had killed Glimmer, stolen the Elements of Chaos, and broken the Pool of Darkness. She knew that he'd be coming to Shadowlot soon, which meant that her army would need to be ready for the exact moment he decided to show himself. This time she would ruin him and shatter his bones upon the stones of Shadowlot, before she shattered his world completely.

30: Attack on Shadowlot

"Are you sure that your okay?" Nightmare asked, just as her group boarded the train and noted that Crimson seemed to be a tad bit slower than before he had wandered off with Princess Rhythm.

"I'm...fine..." Crimson coughed, wondering how long the effects of destroying that infernal pool would last, "We should have weakened Darkstar, so now we should focus on bringing our full power to bare against Shadowlot. We cannot allow her to activate that gateway."

Truth was that he was basically carrying the power of the Pool of Darkness with him, captured in the necklace that he was currently wearing and had told nopony about. It was a dangerous artifact, one that his counterpart had taken into his vault and locked away until it was truly needed, that mimicked one of the most destructive and dangerous villains in all of Equestria. Tirek's magic was something that he never expected that he'd have to shoulder someday, but it was a necessary evil if he wanted to defeat Darkstar and save all of creation. He couldn't bring himself to tell the others about the necklace, just in the off chance that one of them had heard of it and wanted it for themselves.

"We've got several trains that departed ahead of us," Princess Rhythm said, being the last to board with her husband and personal guard in tow, "so they'll arrive outside Shadowlot before we will, but they are under orders not to attack until we arrive and give them the signal to being the assault. Princess Nightmare, what will the Lunar Guard be doing before the assault happens?"

"I have given them orders to station themselves near the main gates," Nightmare replied, polishing her helmet while she did so, "so all of my sister's guards should be around the palace, taking their breaks until their next shift comes up. This way we'll be able to get at least halfway through the city before they even realize that the city is under attack, giving us the opportunity to sneak up on the palace. My guard is also under orders to try and not destroy the city when the fight breaks out, but knowing Darkstar's guard I'm sure there will be a few broken buildings when this is done."

"Good, we're making progress," Princess Rhythm said, turning to face Queen Meta, "How about the remainder of the Changeling army? What will they be doing?"

"They are approaching the city as we speak," Queen Meta replied, glancing out at the window as the train began the journey towards their destination, "I have given them orders to wait among the Crystal Guard, so that way any of Darkstar's guards won't realize that we're gathering against them. As such they have cast an illusion spell on Order and Nova, making them appear as normal guards at the moment, and a magic containing spell, to shield their powers so Darkstar doesn't feel them before we arrive."

"And the Elements of Chaos?" Rhythm continued, turning towards Midnight and her friends.

"All six of us are in attendance," Midnight replied, setting down the scroll she had been reading, "I have sent word to the Mayor to move all of our soldiers and mages into the army as well, so that way we'll have some extra fire power for when things get heated. According to the response I got it seems that there is a Shadow asking around for Crimson, but when the Mayor asked the name of who would be searching for him this time all she got back was 'Thorn'."

"She's looking for me?" Crimson asked, surprised that it had taken the resourceful Shadow so long to get word to him, "Tell her to meet up with us, I need to have her inform my mother, aunt, and cousin of the dangers that are about to happen. If we fail to stop Darkstar from opening that gate then there needs to be somepony on the other side that can intercept her, stalling her so we have enough time to break the gate completely."

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When they arrived outside Shadowlot Crimson was expecting to see between two hundred to three hundred guards waiting for their Princesses commands, but then he got a pleasant surprise. There were at least five hundred guards standing before them, combined between just the Changelings and the Crystal Guard, and he assumed there were at least a hundred waiting inside thanks to Nightmare. He could even see the mages and soldiers that came from Midnight's Ponyville, which meant that everything was slowly falling into place for the invasion to happen.

As he walked out of the train he was greeted by a strange sight, a black dragon, twice the size of Spike in his home world, approached the group and stopped them. As the Shadow approached them Crimson noticed that she carried a whip that was rolled up around her left arm, parts of them having spikes attached to it.

"Crimson, it is good to see you again," the Shadow dragon said, a smile appearing on her face, "I was told that you had something for me to deliver to Nightfury and our mother."

"Yes, I'd like for you to take this to my mother," Crimson said, pulling out the scroll he had spent the majority of the train ride writing, "Inside is a detailed description on what's going to happen if we fail to stop Darkstar, so she, my aunt, and Nightfury need to get as many allies together as they can to mirror our own. My mother needs to know what to do if Darkstar opens that gateway, so get to her as quickly as possible and make sure she reads that scroll."

"As you wish," Thorn replied, taking the scroll in one hand before saluting him, "I shall return when I am able."

Before any of them could make a reply Thorn shimmered and disappeared, though Crimson knew that she would be heading towards the pony that served as her host in the main Equestria. He had spoken the truth to those around him, if they failed than they would need the powers of his own world to make sure Darkstar failed in her quest. There was only one way forward, and that happened to be going through with the war that he had painstakingly planned before gathering his allies together.

"Okay, we've gathered here under your wishes," Princess Rhythm commented, two ponies shimmering as Order's and Nova's disguises faded away, "Now tell us what you have in mind for this assault."

"Very well," Crimson said, pulling out a large scroll that held the map of Shadowlot, "We'll need to launch a pincer attack from the main two gates, effectively splitting our forces in two at the moment. These forces will need to take care of any lone guards that aren't on our side don't raise the alarm and alert Darkstar. Order will take the secondary gate, so Darkstar doesn't notice him among a sea of guards by accident, while Queen Meta follows along with half of her army. Nova, Rhythm, and Nightmare will take the front door, leading a frontal assault that will eventually allow them to meet us with the others in front of the palace, hopefully gaining the attention of our enemy's forces.

While your all doing that Midnight and I will take the hidden tunnel into the palace, effectively making sure that we can sneak up on Darkstar and hopefully get a shot at her before she realizes what's happening. The rest of the Elements of Chaos are free to join the other two halves of the army, taking the fight to the enemy, and will join us the moment you break through the palace gates. The reason I need Midnight with me is that she has a vast amount of arcane knowledge that will come in handy in delaying or even destroying the gateway before its activated."

"We have our orders," Nova commented, his eyes landing on the sole tower of the city, "Darkstar wont wait forever to activate the gateway, so the moment she notices us she'll power it up and start the countdown towards the end of everything."

Crimson nodded and let his allies go to their designated locations, effectively splitting the army in half as they moved around to the second entrance. As they did so Crimson and Midnight made their way back to the hidden tracks that Nightmare had shown them thanks to the train she had allowed them to use earlier. It was a wonder that Darkstar didn't know about the tracks, but it was that bit of wonder that would allow them to get close enough to surprise their foe before she realized what was happening.

As they traced their steps back into the palace they kept their ears open, waiting for the sound of battle to start so they could make their way to Darkstar's lair. Before they even got near the palace passages they heard a guard run right passed the opening they were approaching, shouting something about an assault. Crimson had to grin for a moment, the plan was underway and it was a matter of time until Darkstar knew they were coming for her.

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Darkstar stared out at Shadowlot, watching the large force of Shadows separate into two sections and present themselves before the two entrances to her city. As they did so she felt the familiar power of Order and Nova, two enemies she knew that she had slain a long time ago, and that told her that her sister, who was the only other one who had the spell to open her vault, had betrayed her as well. The Crystal Guard basically told her that Princess Rhythm and her husband were against her as well, though she noted that Queen Meta, whose magic she would never forget the touch of, was out there as well.

Her enemies had come to fight her once more, but that hardly mattered as her masterpiece, the gateway that would allow her to traverse the worlds without having to wait on her minions to open the way for her, was finally completed. Her sister thought that the gateway was far from complete and would be coming to destroy it, but she had caught the spies and threw the majority of them under her mind shatter spell, allowing her to use them without her sister realizing that she was being played. She made her sister believe that she had time to talk sense into her, but in reality she had the majority of the gate completed before hand and had recently completed it. Now all she had to do was activate it and she'd be able to completely destroy everything that Crimson Flare was fighting to protect.

Then she heard it, the sound of her guard realizing that there was a threat to the safety of their Princess and forming ranks to deal with the traitors that were coming their way. It would have brought a smile to her face, to know that they would be fighting a losing battle, but she cared not for her guards and the outcome of the fight. Her horn lit up and her magic connected to the gateway, awakening it from its slumber and allowing it to gather the magic it needed to open the way to her desired destination.

"Princess Darkstar!" a voice behind her shouted, causing her to turn her head and find her student standing behind her, "It looks like your sister has betrayed us and she has managed to recruit Princess Rhythm, my brother Gloomy Armor, and the Changeling Queen to her cause. It also looks like she's resurrected Order and Nova to fight at her side..."

"You can drop the act, Midnight," Darkstar replied, turning to face the city once more, "Come now, I know you and the Elements helped me put the gemstones into those pillars, but you couldn't have known that I placed a special spell on them all to prevent all but the one that they had been assigned to from releasing them. Yes, the Elements of Chaos were stolen, but thanks to my spell I knew that you and your friends stole them, shattering the barriers above Shadowlot. You, my faithful student, have betrayed me, as have my sister and everypony else that I have given even an ounce of power to, so allow me to ask one simple question.

Where is Crimson Flare?"

That was before a beam of magical energy burst out of the shadows behind Midnight and hit Darkstar square in the back, knocking her into the air and causing her to turn around and find Crimson standing there.

"Yeah, I'm right here," Crimson replied, charging up his horn while Midnight did the same, "We're here to stop you from opening that gateway and destroying everything in the process."

"Does it look like I care?!" Darkstar snapped, her magic hitting the tower beneath their hooves and breaking it into pieces, causing them to rain down on the palace, "I AM DARKSTAR, THE DEVOURER OF WORLDS! YOU MEAN NOTHING TO ME!"

Crimson and Midnight took to the skies as the tower crumpled, watching as a simple spell caused the entire structure to fall apart until there was nothing left. Crimson knew that Darkstar didn't care for the citizens of her world, but for her to rain destruction on them just made him want to stop her even more than before. At least that was the plan, but before either of them could draw closer to the insane alicorn Crimson noticed that there was something moving around the city, heading towards the sky above them. His eyes widened as he realized what he was looking at; it was the gateway that they had come to destroy, except that it was completely built.

Before either of them could make a move the middle of the gate began to spark, a swirl of magic appearing as the very air above them ignited and the sun and moon formed an eclipse.

"I shall bring total ruin to your world, Crimson Flare," Darkstar shouted, a smile appearing on her face at long last, "so despite all your attempts to stop me I have out maneuvered you. I, and I alone, have beaten the great Knight-Commander of the Prime Equestria. Now you will watch as your world is consumed by the Darkness."

Just as Crimson prepared a spell Darkstar flew towards the gateway's center and disappeared in a flash of light, leaving her world behind and beginning the countdown to the end of everything. Crimson grunted and flew after her, slamming into the magic of the gateway and passing through it, appearing in a black area with only two openings. He noticed Darkstar flying ahead of him, unaware that he was even following her, and followed along, hoping that he could catch her before she realized that he was there. He just hoped that he could stop her before the gateway's magic could do any real damage to his world and the rest of the worlds.

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Celestia, having received her son's message, something she was glad to have as it told her that Crimson was alive and well, had spent what little time he had given her to gather some guards together. She had sent a few letters out, hoping to get the villains that Twilight and her friends had defeated together to defeat this threat that her son mentioned. Her work was interrupted as she noticed something strange, the moon was rising up to meet the sun until the two of them created an eclipse in the middle of the sky. Before she could get off the throne and question her sister she noticed a large ring suddenly appear in the sky, sitting directly over Canterlot and her precious ponies.

As an eerie darkness seeped out of the large ring she knew one thing, the threat that Crimson had warned her about was coming their way and that it was bringing destruction with it.

31: Darkness Comes to Light

"Princess Celestia," Twilight said, landing beside her former mentor, "What is that...vile contraption?"

"I wish I knew Twilight," Celestia replied, staring at the metallic gate, "Crimson said that something like this would happen if he failed to stop Darkstar, but it appears that she's one step ahead. I just hope that he knows what he's doing this time."

The comment made Twilight wonder if there was actually a time where Crimson had been in the wrong about something, but after everything she's seen and read she figured that Crimson knew exactly what he was doing. Before she could say anything she felt a vibration in the magic around the ring, as if something was coming out of the gate and it was prepping for the arrival. Than, just as she was about to fly towards it, the magic snapped open and flared outwards, the middle of the gate swirling as a foul darkness started to seep out of it. The sky around the gate darkened, as if it was seeping into the sky itself, before something finally emerged from the gate, though it wasn't what Twilight was expecting.

A different colored Celestia burst out of the gate, who she assumed was the mare that Crimson had named Darkstar, who just floated there as she stared at the world before her.

"So that's Darkstar," said a voice behind the two mares, turning out to be Princess Luna, "I can sense her power from here. How can we defeat something of her level?"

"Crimson has a plan," Celestia replied, a light smile appearing on her face, "He's always got a plan of some kind."

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"So, the gate worked," Darkstar commented, gazing at the bright colors of the land around her and imagining the destruction she would bring to this world, "The Prime Equestria, how I despise this world. I shall enjoy destroying everything that Crimson holds dear."

She turned her gaze to the west, where she found an identical castle to the one she ruled, though she found the pristine condition of the castle to be in terrible taste. A wicked grin appeared on her face as she charged up her horn, knowing that she would first destroy the home that Crimson had before she took over his world. It was fitting, she decided, that he attacked her capital and that she would return the favor, only she had the power to destroy and would require less time than it would take Crimson to do anything. Before she could unleash the magic something hit her in the side of the head, hard enough to make her horn point to the ground and discharge her horn, blowing a hole in the ground.

Much to her rage she discovered that Crimson had, somehow, followed her through the gate and was literally attacking her hard enough to change the direction of her spell.

"I have had enough of you!" Darkstar shouted, grabbing Crimson's leg and throwing him towards Canterlot, "Why? Why is it that every time I try to ruin this world your here, standing in my way? I shall enjoy destroying you and your pathetic world."

Before Crimson had a chance to dodge or move out of the way she charged up her horn and blasted him in the side, causing him to descend to the ground for a bit before he corrected his course. Seeing how he managed to get up from the blast and continue fighting Darkstar felt her rage grow even more, though she was fortunate to have the object of her rage so close to her. Crimson charged up his own spell and came at her, though she moved to his back and slammed another spell into his spine, throwing him towards the ground. As Crimson prepared to correct himself Darkstar unleashed another blast, this one hitting him hard enough to force him to hit the ground and shatter the surrounding area.

Crimson moaned as he picked himself up, knowing that if he hadn't been wearing the gemstone that mimicked Tirek's powers he would have been severely hurt. It was amazing that the stone could even absorb a fraction of Darkstar's magic, but he had no idea how much longer the stone could hold on before he was forced to expel all the magic. As he stood up he focused on Darkstar and looked back at the gate, knowing that he had little time to spare to actually planning an offensive against his enemy. He grunted and loaded another spell before he flared his wings, taking to the sky and loosing the spell the moment he lined up perfectly with Darkstar.

Darkstar simply took the spell at face value and shrugged it off, glaring at her enemy as she considered how to best break him before she broke his world. That was before a beam of light hit her in the side and knocked her out of the sky for a moment, but she corrected herself and glared in the direction of the attack, finding Crimson's mother coming her way.

"So, Crimson cannot defeat me and he brings in this world's true champion to stop me?" Darkstar shouted, locking eyes with Celestia as the Darkness continued to seep out of the gate, "Tell me, dearest Celestia, did he tell you that, no matter what he's done, I will always be one step ahead of him? I will shroud your world in Darkness and consume you and your ponies before you have a chance to fight back, just like I did with every other world I came to conquer. Your Equestria will be no different."

"Your certainly talkative," Celestia commented, summoning her golden spear and pointing it at the evil version of herself, "I shall be blunt, I will fight you and Crimson will stop you. I'm afraid that we don't have more time to talk."

With that said Celestia burst through the air, rocketing towards Darkstar and slamming her weapon into her side with enough force to throw her towards the Everfree Forest. Darkstar was surprised that the Princess would show such a display of power right off the bat, but it was more enjoyable than beating somepony who wasn't even trying. She knew that she could destroy Crimson later, though she wouldn't put it passed him to try something dangerous to get back at her and the gate. While she was distracted for a moment Celestia hit her again, sending her even further into the forest, where she hit the ruined castle and shattered one of the walls in the process.

Crimson, on the other hoof, stared up at the gate and tapped on the gemstone, wondering if it held the power to consume the Darkness that was pouring out of it. Instead of wasting time he flared his wings and continued towards the gate, passing the outer edge of the ring until he was right above it, where he could focus on what needed to be done. He tapped the stone again and let its magic connect to the area around the gate, hoping to stall the Darkness before it could set off a chain reaction that would destroy all of creation.

Darkstar, feeling Crimson beginning to do something to her gate, swung her magic at Celestia and knocked her out of the air before she flared her wings. She took off immediately, taking to the skies above the Everfree Forest as she zeroed in on where her true enemy was located, right above her gate. As Celestia corrected herself Darkstar flew through the skies, quickly reaching above the tallest spire in Canterlot before Crimson turned his head and noticed her coming. Once she was near the gate she loosed a teleportation spell and appeared behind her enemy, giving him a swift kick in the side that knocked him over the edge of the gate and caused him to descend just a tiny bit.

"I have had enough of you," Darkstar shouted, her magic wrapping around the gemstone in her necklace before she shattered it, "I shall show you the true meaning of terror and despair."

Darkness surged out of the stone and surrounded Darkstar, reaching all around her until she was shrouded from the view of everyone that was watching the fight. Celestia came to a stop near her son, though she was more focused on stopping Darkstar than learning what her son had planned for the fight. When the mass of darkness finally pulled itself away from Darkstar both Celestia and Crimson were shocked by what they found waiting for them; Darkstar's body had been twisted into a more monstrous form. Her legs had been broken and rearranged, turning into those that the Diamond Dogs had and allowed her to walk on her hind legs without any sort of pain. Her body was covered in ashy grey fur, while her front legs had been turned into a mockery of the Diamond Dog's paws, which would allow her to grab things with ease. Her pristine wings had been warped into large bat-like wings and her head had been warped into that of a large wolf's head, both adding to her terrifying visage.

Crimson had to admit it, but the amount of power that Darkstar was putting out, and her terrifying final form, was enough to make him wonder if he even stood a chance at this point. Before he could comment, however, Darkstar held her arm out and the air around her shimmered, though a moment later a scythe appeared out of thin air and she grabbed it without delay.

"I have not had the opportunity to call on my full power in over two thousand years," Darkstar said, her voice sounding as if she was filled with pure evil, "The last time I used this form was against enemies that truly deserved to meet their end at the end of my scythe, but I have made an exception for you, Crimson. Now, witness my full power!"

Just as the words left her mouth she swung the scythe towards the air next to her and the weapon cut through the air, creating a tear in the sky that let them see to another dimension that wasn't Equestria or the Darkness. Crimson had never seen the school building that laid on the other side of the tear, but he dreaded to think of the consequences of what Darkstar was doing. That was when the gate started to hum, causing the ground to break below it as several more tears opened in the sky around Darkstar, revealing more worlds that were in danger of being destroyed.

"So the end has begun," Darkstar commented, pointing the head of her weapon at Crimson, "Too bad that you won't be around to see your world end."

Before Crimson had a chance to say anything a wave of darkness hit him square in the chest, hard enough to send him rocketing through the air towards the Everfree Forest until he crashed into the ruins. As he pulled himself up, as gently as he could, he violently coughed and noticed that he had coughed up blood, telling him that the impact was worse than he had expected. By all rights Darkstar's attack should have severely hurt him, but the worst he was getting from this ordeal was a cracked rib and some blood. It was then that he realized that he truly had no choice, if he wanted to defeat Darkstar he was going to have to unleash the magic of the gemstone and hoped that it was as powerful as his counterpart dreaded it was.

He stood up and gripped the gemstone with his magic, pausing for a moment to steady his breathing, before he closed his magic and shattered the stone into a thousand fragments. Then, just as he thought would happen, a mass of darkness erupted out of the necklace, surrounding him and covered him in seconds, exactly like what happened to Darkstar. As the darkness began to seep into his body he closed his eyes and prayed that he didn't end up messed up like Darkstar, in body or in the mind.

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"Do you have any idea what your doing?" Celestia asked, making sure to keep her distance from Darkstar while worrying about her son and how she was going to beat this enemy, "Your precious gate is going to destroy all of creation. Our world will die, your world is going to die, and all the worlds you see around us will die. Your destroying all of creation with this gate!"

"Your wrong in that regard," Darkstar laughed, spinning her scythe around while looking at all the worlds she would eventually conquer, "This world will be consumed by the Darkness, your ponies made into slaves that will serve me, and your soldiers will follow me into battle when I come to a new world to take over. You and your fellow alicorns will be made into slaves to serve my will, just as your enemies will fall into allies for my cause. Face it Celestia, I will be the one walking away from this with all the prizes."

That was before a beam of black energy shot through the air and hit her square in the chest, knocking her right out of the center of the gate and forced her to correct herself once she had passed the outer edge. She expected to find that her sister had somehow worked up the courage to cross over the worlds and come after her, but as she traced the beam back to its attacker she found a surprising sight. Crimson Flare had somehow survived her attack, only this time he was baring an ashy colored coat and his fiery mane and tail had changed to an icy blue color. With the blackened jewelry and the blood red eyes the changes almost made it seem like her own son had come back from the dead, but it was just giving Crimson an eviler look than what he already had.

It was almost as if Crimson had somehow found a sliver of her son's soul and had merged with him, in an attempt to gain enough power to stop her.

"You need to gather the others so they can seal the gate before it causes anymore destruction," Crimson told his mother, briefly turning to face her, "All of their counterparts are waiting on the other side, preparing their magic for the moment I told them to wait for, but you need to get them all together. I'll stall her for as long as I am able."

Celestia had absolutely no idea what her son was going on about, what with his secret plan that he hadn't informed her about until this exact moment, but she knew that she needed to trust him once more. She turned back towards Canterlot and flew off, though as she did so she heard the sound of Darkstar preparing an attack on her and heard Crimson block it with his own spell. As she flew she really hoped that whatever plan her son had made would work, otherwise she was sure that she didn't like the outcome that would be theirs if they failed.

"So, you have been holding back as well," Darkstar commented, readying her scythe and her magic, "I should have known that it couldn't be this easy to defeat you, even if you were planning an offensive while I smacked you around like a doll. This time I shall use my full power and obliterate you, leaving nothing for the darkness to bring back. Then I shall raze your world to the ground, just like I have done to the countless worlds I attacked before this one..."

Before she could finish her monologue a beam of black energy hit her once more, cutting her off in mid sentence and causing her to glare at Crimson with hate in her eyes.

"Yes, I stopped your villainous monologue," Crimson said, magic sparking around his body, "but, like I said earlier, we don't have the time to waste on speeches. I'm coming, Darkstar."

With that said he burst out of the sky, rocketing towards Darkstar with a speed that matched what her's was while she was at full power, much to her amazement. Before she had a chance to swing at Crimson he disappeared, but the moment she turned to look behind her she was hit in the back by another beam of energy. As she corrected herself Darkstar realized that he must have combined his flight and teleportation spell, creating a flash step or something that made her lose him for a moment. She spun around and swung the scythe, letting the darkness cut through the air as Crimson met it head on, stopping it before he shattered it before her eyes.

She was starting to think that it might not be so easy to defeat Crimson, not if he continued to display the same amount of power that he was showing her.

Crimson pulled out a black sword and held it to his right, but as Darkstar watched she realized that he was gathering the darkness to him, allowing it to gather on the blade itself. Then, just as she prepared to defend herself, he swung the weapon, a huge wave of energy coming her way and barreling right into her chest, letting loose an explosion. She flew out of the smoke with ease, though her body was actually damaged from the impact and she brought her magic into her horn, intending to strike her enemy down. Crimson, seeing her emerge and charge her horn, called his own magic to his horn, challenging her to have their magic collide in a magic duel of sorts.

The resulting explosion between the two beams of magic created a gigantic black sphere between them, forcing the two of them to push their magic against the others magic. Darkstar thought she was going to get away with winning such a match, but the moment she let her arrogance take hold Crimson's magic overtook her own, pushing the sphere down at her. Before she had a chance to move out of the way the sphere exploded, blasting her out of the air and causing her to land on the broken ground below the gate.

As she landed she felt something odd, she was beginning to feel like she actually wasn't going to best Crimson, not with the fact that his power up and his planning skills were combined. It was then she decided to try a new plan, where she'd enter the gate once more and return to her own world, where she'd destroy her enemies, consume their powers, and then erase Crimson's world. She flared her wings and took to the sky, spiraling around to make it harder for Crimson to target her, though she countered herself lucky as she passed him and flew into the gate.

Once she realized that he wasn't following her she knew she was home free. And that meant she was free to kill the enemies of Shadowlot and gain their powers.

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"She's coming!" Midnight shouted, having gathered her energy like the rest of her allies, "Let's put a stop to Darkstar at long last."

They had swept through the guards that defended the city, as they had lost all hope the moment that Darkstar decided to abandon them and rain destruction on them. Now she, her friends, Nightmare, Rhythm, Nova, Order, and Meta were preparing their magic, hoping to seal the gateway away before it could ruin everything. The moment they saw Darkstar in the middle of the gate, crossing back to their world, they had gathered in an array around the gate and poured their magic into it, intending to seal it before she could cross over. Midnight made a note of Darkstar's unusual form, but at the moment she could feel the gate closing on their side and that gave her hope.

Darkstar, on the other hoof, noticed the opening to her world closing, much too fast for her to safely make it back to her captial, so she turned around and headed to Crimson's world. It was then that she discovered that she had been tricked once more, as the moment she entered the gate her enemies and their Primal counterparts started the same spell at the same time. She noticed an imbalance of magic on both sides and realized that, seeing how her own son and niece were still dead, she could still break into her world and return to Crimson's world when the time was right. Though when she turned around she found two ponies waiting on the Darkness side that she had thought she would never see again, Ebon Flare and Dayfury.

"Goodbye mother," Ebon shouted into the void, just as Darkstar swore that the exit to Crimson's world was sealed shut, which was moments before the exit to her home world closed before her.

She screamed in anger, using her magic to attack everything and anything around her, trying to hit something that would tell her that she could move to another world. That was before the magic of the void, a place she knew absolutely nothing about, began to close on her, sucking on her own magic as her body began to turn to dust. She moved against the magic, gathering her own into a magical blast that she detonated immediately, only to find that it was absorbed by the void in seconds. Her wings broke into pieces, her legs snapped, her horn shattered, and she could feel the rest of her body breaking as the void claimed her for itself.

And then, just as she prepared to scream again, the void consumed the rest of her, ending her existence in the blink of an eye.

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Crimson huffed as he landed in the plains near Canterlot, the fragments of the large gate, those that somehow survived the sealing spell, landing all around him. Somehow, against all the odds that had been presented before him, he had managed to stop Darkstar and save not only his own world and the world of the Shadows, but the rest of creation. He began to chuckle, as the realization that he had finally ended the threat that Glimmer had brought with her dawned on him, even as he collapsed among the ruined gate. He opened his eyes for a moment and noticed his mother coming his way, though he was too tired to care about his anger.

"I told you about the threat," Crimson commented, letting his exhaustion claim him, "I...told you...so..."

"That you did son," Celestia smiled, tears filling her eyes as she wrapped her wings over her tired son, "That you did."

32: Epilogue

-Two days after Darkstar's invasion, Canterlot-

Celestia, free from her morning duties thanks to her niece Nightfury volunteering to take over for once, strolled through the streets of Canterlot, a smile on her face. She was heading for the hospital, where her son had been admitted after his battle with the dreaded Princess Darkstar in the skies above the capital. She had received a letter from the staff saying that he was ready to receive visitors, which was thanks to the fact that he hadn't been terribly injured in the fight and that his alicorn blood could heal him quicker than most ponies did. She wanted to be the first one to speak to Crimson after the ordeal, mostly so she could apologize for nearly erasing every mention of him from history in an attempt to keep her enemies from discovering his existence.

It wasn't much, that much Celestia knew for sure, but it was a start to reestablish a bond between the two of them that might eventually let him stop so angry with her so much.

"Ah, Princess Celestia," one of the nurses said, welcoming her the moment she walked into the building, "What can we do for you today?"

"I'm here to see my son, Crimson Flare," Celestia happily replied, "I was informed that he was willing to speak to ponies this morning and I came the moment I was able."

"Crimson Flare eh?" the nurse commented, pulling over her records while she searched for his folder, "I have to say, he was quiet most of the first day, keeping to himself for the most part, though he did ask me once if he could leave for an hour or two to get one of his 'smokes'. To his disappointment we had to keep him here, but he complied and has remained here the entire time..."

"Which is no longer the truth," another pony, a doctor, said, approaching the two of them, "Princess Celestia, it seems that, before your arrival, Crimson Flare decided to leave his bed and took off, though one of his attendants recalled that he mentioned the ruined castle in the middle of the Everfree Forest. Does it mean anything to you?"

"Yes," Celestia sighed, knowing exactly what he was referring to, "I know exactly where he went."

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Celestia flew into the ruined castle and landed outside the main entrance, noting all the lumber, stone, and tools that were scattered around the immediate area. The workers she had commissioned to repair the castle so that her son and niece could rule the Everfree Kingdom, as they had planned to do well over a thousand years ago. She sighed and took a deep breath in, noting the familiar scent of fireweed, the main ingredient that her son used when he was crafting a new batch of smokes. He was also the only one who knew where to find his special ingredient, which he would never share, because he knew that if she knew where the stash was she might destroy it all.

She followed the scent into the ruins, twisting through the rotting tunnels and passing many of the chambers she was familiar with, before she passed by the courtyard. It was then that she glanced down at the courtyard, noting the white cloud with an ashy coated alicorn laying on it, recreating the scene that Twilight described when she found her son. She wished that whatever magic her son had used had worn off by now, as the ashy color reminded her of Darkstar, the evil version of herself that wanted to destroy their world. She cast a slow fall spell on herself and leapt out of the window, silently falling to the courtyard floor and touching the ground without her son even moving one bit.

"I was waiting for you to show up," her son said, pulling the stick out of his mouth and releasing a puff of smoke, "Ah, its good to have one of these again. I missed them when I was in the Darkness, gathering allies to defeat Darkstar."

"And gaining a new power I see," Celestia commented, surprised that her son had heard her when she had made no noise, "excellent work by the way. I was positive that you had some sort of plan for dealing with that Shadow."

"She had it coming," Crimson replied, staring up at the cloudy sky, "turning her own sister, her student, and the rest of her allies against her so they could save their world. Truth be told I had no idea what that gemstone was going to do when I shattered it, so I have no idea how long these effects are going to last. I guess there's a price for gaining the power to defeat someone of Darkstar's caliber."

Celestia walked up to the cloud and took a seat next to it, casting a look at her son, who sighed and turned his head towards her after a few seconds. She wished that she knew more about the Darkness and its magic, so she could figure out what happened to her son and figure out a way to reverse the changes. What worried her was that he didn't seem to mind having his coat change color, his mane and tail changing to a different type of fire, and his eyes shifting to blood red. It was almost as if he had accepted the changes and was going to live with them for the rest of his life.

"You know, I truly am sorry for anything I've done to you over the years," Celestia said, realizing something as she spoke, "and you do realize that you shattered one of the Prime Sigils as well?"

"It was a necessary evil," Crimson replied, sighing as his hoof moved to his neck and touched the empty place where he had carried the Sigil of Fire on his royal necklace, "I'm sure that the Sigil is out there somewhere, reforming itself so it can balance all of Equestria. If you desire the four Prime Sigils back where they belong, sealed away in Canterlot, than maybe Twilight, Nightfury, and I can see where they ended up."

"Right now I just want to spend time with you," Celestia said, draping her wing over her son, "I love you son."