“If she let you out, you have to know...Where is Nightmare Moon?” Twilight asked, returning to her serious tone.

Cal stood silently. “Yeah, I wish I could help you there,” he finally said. “She told me she was gonna hide somewhere she called the ‘Moonlit Observatory’. When I asked where it was, she only told me it was somewhere important to her.” The green alicorn scratched his chin. “If you can think of anywhere that would qualify, I’d recommend checking ‘em out,” he continued, causing Twilight to groan in frustration. “Even if I knew where it was, you guys aren’t even close to prepared enough to attack it. Somepony told me that something like, half of the guys that attacked the castle died.”

“The ponies that died were the better part of the group they were picked from,” Twilight mumbled. “There are plenty more fighters, but they’re not that good...Thankfully Travis believes in ‘strengthening the weakest link, so the others will step up their performance to avoid becoming the weakest link’...or something like that.”

__________________________________________________________________________

“The highest ranking members of the Rising Sun - excluding Derpy, who felt the need to disappear altogether - got together at the end of that year to discuss where Nightmare Moon may have been hiding, of course after they all questioned why I had not moved the sun or moon,” Twilight said, still struggling to remain calm. “Vinyl was already almost ten months into her pregnancy, so she would sleep in Princess Luna’s old room. Of the five ponies there, only me, Travis, Vinyl and Cal knew who the father was.”

__________________________________________________________________________

“Alright everypony. You all seem to be done whining about the sun still not rising, and I’m putting a stop to talking about Vinyl’s bastard child before we forget why we’re here!” Twilight announced loudly, slamming her front hooves onto the library table in front of her.

“Woah there, Twilight. My foal won’t be born a bastard,” the white unicorn responded calmly. “I do plan to marry the father.” Travis’ face turned a visible shade of red, which he struggled to hide from Scootaloo and Wingkins, neither of which had been paying attention.

“Twilight’s right though, guys,” Travis said, still blushing slightly. “We really should figure out where this Observatory is.”

The purple unicorn sighed as she leaned forward on her hooves. “Somewhere important to her...” she mumbled, magically pulling a dozen books off the library shelves and placing them in front of her. “Let’s see...Book on why she exists...Book on what she did...Sequel describing how she did it...Another sequel on the ponies involved...All of these are useless!” Twilight yelled, slamming her head onto another book. “Ugh. Not the smartest thing I’ve...hello-o-o-o...’Important Locations of Equestria’s Wars’, published a few years ago,” she said as she lifted her head up. The mare opened the book and flipped through the pages. “‘Nightmare Moon’s Uprising’...Only three. This castle; an old, dead town; and...Well, she’s not in the last one.” Twilight slammed the book shut.

“Why not?” Scootaloo and Wingkins asked simultaneously.

“It was a building in Manehattan...’Was’ being the keyword. It was knocked down years ago, and Brandy bought up the property,” Twilight explained. “Scoots, gather up say...Two, maybe three dozen other ponies, and go to the town on page 1087,” she continued, magically passing the book over to the orange pegasus. “And Wingkins, you and Travis gather up a dozen others and search the castle some more. If either of your groups finds anything, let me know ASAP.”

__________________________________________________________________________

“It only took them a week to tell me neither the castle nor the town held the observatory, or anything like it...Though I had remembered one final place it could have been, and sent a squad of scouts to search it.”

“The old castle in the Everfree Forest. Scouts informed me of a number of groups of Nightmare Guards in about a mile radius of the castle.”

“We were to prepare for another assault immediately.”

__________________________________________________________________________

Twilight was again in the black void she visited when she slept. “Good, I’ve got some things to ask you, Death!” she called. After a while with no response, the darkness faded away, and Twilight saw three ponies and a dragon on a massive, old, mossy bridge over a canyon...A brown coated, blonde pegasus standing in the way of a leather wearing orange pony with a green mane; a purple unicorn with a pink and purple braided mane; and a tall purple and green dragon with at least five different weapons and a shield on his back and waist.

“Wait, is that...That’s me!” Twilight said, shocked, as the purple unicorn in front of her took a step towards the brown pegasus in her way. “Too far away to hear them, though...and I can’t seem to move, either. Joy.” As the Twilight on the bridge spoke, she looked behind her nervously. After a while, the orange pony seemed to teleport to the pegasus in front of him, and placed the blade of a dagger to the brown pony’s throat. A short while later, the brown pegasus stepped aside, and allowed the three to pass. The orange pony stopped immediately after passing the pegasus, and released a powerful kick to Wingkins’ leg, letting out an audible crack, and a cry of pain.

Shortly after, as an earsplitting screech filled the air, a dark creature appeared. “Enjoying yourself, Philosopher? I know seeking knowledge is in your nature, but I sadly must ask you to avoid that period of time,” Death said, snapping his shadowy fingers, returning Twilight and himself to the black void. “I cannot allow you to view any of your friends’ deaths...Now, you mentioned some questions?” the shadowy figure asked, sipping from a small pink cup that was previously absent.

Twilight glared at Death, enraged that she would be unable to stop another friend’s death. “Yes. I was informed that your children were the cause of death for many ponies that simply wished for freedom,” she said, holding her rage back.

Death silently suspended his cup in midair. “I suppose you are the perfect pony to tell...but first, they are technically not my ‘children’...They are more like my...spawn,” he said, conjuring a cup similar to his filled with tea, before handing it to Twilight. “A thousand years ago, one of my spawn joined with Nightmare Moon, and possessed the corpse of an alicorn that the evil one had created, and convinced her that my remaining three could be...persuaded, to follow in his steps,” the dark creature explained, cup back in hand. “Fortunately, your Celestia stopped Nightmare Moon, and by extension, my spawn, from corrupting the others. Though with the return of Nightmare Moon and the first of my spawn to betray me, the others felt afraid, and joined them to protect themselves...More tea?” Death continued, conjuring a steaming tea kettle, which Twilight refused. “No? Very well. As I was saying, my last three spawn joined Nightmare Moon to protect themselves, and possessed your friends.”

“You mean Fluttershy Rarity and AJ, right?” Twilight asked, slowly calming down.

“Indeed. Do not worry about them, though...They have been dead since the day you saw the princesses sacrifice themselves, and I have protected their souls since.” Death reached into his robe and removed a biscuit. “I protected them so I would have leverage to ask you this...” he said, staring directly into the purple unicorn’s eyes. “Destroy my spawn. Let them cause no more pain or suffering. Burn their souls from their bodies, destroy the bodies if you must. Just end them.”

Twilight shook her head. “You’re pretty terrible at this, you know,” she said. “You come in here with a tiny pink cup filled with...minty tea, and you tell me something that equates to ‘everypony who’s died has done so because one of my kids hated me’. Couldn’t you at least make something dramatic up? I mean, if you know when everypony is going to die - which you pretty much must, by the way - then you probably know other things, like everything that is going to happen EVER, blah blah blah. Look, my point is you’ve had THOUSANDS OF YEARS to think something up, and the best you can come up with is family issues?” The purple mare gave Death a disappointed look. “Think of something good for next time, okay?”

__________________________________________________________________________

Twilight jolted up in her bed. As she looked around her empty room, she remembered her dream. “Did I seriously tell DEATH that he wasn’t dramatic enough?” she thought as she facehoofed. Around her hoof, she noticed Spike wasn’t in his bed. “Must be breakfast...He really loves Celestia’s old ‘guest’ bed.” The purple unicorn got out of bed and stretched before opening her door and leaving. As she exited her room, she noticed an orange pony leaving the room next to hers. “Morning, Travis,” Twilight said to him, startling him. “Vinyl give you some love last night?” She smirked, causing her friend to blush.

“N-No. She, er...um...” Travis stuttered. “Sh-She called for me and asked me to get her some breakfast?” he said, nervously voicing it as if it were a question.

Twilight laughed in response. “Alright then, bud. Let’s get some food."

__________________________________________________________________________

“Just a normal morning, really. We ate, we joked, we laughed, and we avoided the topic of the events of the day after as much as we could,” the queen said. “Spike had said he had a surprise for me, and that it would really help us fight Nightmare Moon, though.”

__________________________________________________________________________

“Alright, Twi, it’s just through this door,” Spike said, leading the purple unicorn to the courtyard. “Just remember, this counts as your warning.”

“Yes, yes, Spike, you’ve said that a half dozen times al...ready...” Twilight said as the door opened, revealing a group of straw ponies blazing, an even larger group impaled on a spire of ice, Caladium, and two other alicorns: One pale blue, with a thick horn, and a mane paler than his coat where it grew from his head, but black at the end; The other bright red with a long, pointed horn, and a mane of pure fire. Twilight slowly turned to glare at Spike. “I don’t know if you’re an ass or a hero, Spike,” she said flatly.

The green alicorn noticed Spike and Twilight, and began trotting towards them. “Mornin’ you two! Have a nice breakfast? Hope so!” he said, his voice overly cheerful and bordering on yelling. “Hey, get over here you guys! Don’t even think about talkin’ back, sis’, or I’ll kick your teeth in!” he called, his tone unchanging. “These are my other siblings, Twi. Meet Frostbite...”

The pale alicorn bowed. “Your people are quite kind, miss Sparkle,” he said, his voice neutral. “I didn’t expect anypony would be willing to free me from that gel after it froze.”

“...And Scarlet,” Cal finished, gesturing to the alicorn with a burning mane.

“Make me angry and you die,” Scarlet said, her breath alone causing Twilight to sweat.

Cal’s eye twitched, his smile still firm. “Teeth, sis’,” he said, causing the red alicorn to shudder.

Twilight merely shook her head. “Guess Travis’ll have to whip up some more gear for you-”

“No need, Twilight!” Cal interrupted as loudly as he could. “Hehe, sorry...But yeah, no need. Frostbite’s an expert on defensive magic, and Scarlet, as you know...” The red alicorn growled. “Oh suck it up, sis’. Scarlet can’t use magic, but her body's almost rock-hard,” Cal finished.

“You just like rubbing that in,” Scarlet said quietly, struggling to stay calm.

The green alicorn laughed. “So what if I do? Point stands, we don’t need armor. Let’s head to the war room.”

__________________________________________________________________________

“Our ‘war room’ was simply an old wing of the library,” Twilight explained. “When we arrived, Travis was depositing a book on one of the shelves, and Honeydew and Wingkins were asleep on the top of that shelf.” The queen briefly chuckled. “Scootaloo on the other hoof was brooding at the table...She was the first to realize we’d be taking Nightmare Moon head-first on the anniversary of Rainbow’s death.”

__________________________________________________________________________

“Please tell me we’ve got a plan that’ll work this time?” Honeydew asked, worried that the events of the previous assault would repeat themselves. “I’d rather straight up die than be the last survivor again, y’know? Wasn’t really a pleasant experience.”

“Yes, swee-er, Honeydew, we have a good plan,” Twilight responded, blushing a little. “Me, Scoots, Travis, Spike and Wingkins are going to land on the bridge separating the eastern tower from the main part of the ruins about thirty-five minutes after the distraction,” she explained, thankful that nobody noticed her face or her slip of the tongue. “After we land, we’ll inspect the tower, and then explore the ruins for any clues about the Observatory.”

“Why that bridge, and what if we can’t take it?” Travis asked as he inserted an assortment of small vials into pockets on his armor.

Twilight smiled at the orange earth pony. “Glad you asked. That’s the only bridge remaining, and if, for any reason, we can’t land on the bridge, we’ll go in through the front gate, explore the castle, and then head for the tower,” she responded proudly. “Good enough plan, Honeydew?”

The pale green pony thought for a moment. “What about me and the alicorns?” he finally questioned.

“Me, Frostbite and Scarlet are gonna be part of the distraction,” Cal said, before Twilight could respond. “After all, what’s more distracting than three god-like ponies kicking ass?”

The unmarked purple unicorn nodded. “Indeed. As for you, Honeydew...You’ll be remaining in the castle to take care of Vinyl.” The green earth pony’s jaw dropped. “And you’d better do a good job, too! That foal’s father is one mean son-of-a-bitch when he gets angry,” Twilight whispered the last part to Honeydew, grinning at her lover’s reaction. “Alright everypony, inform all the troops about their roles in the plan and when we’ll meet. Do what you want with the rest of the day!” the purple mare announced loudly.

Scootaloo approached Twilight as the rest of the ponies and Spike left the library. “Twi, please...is there another day we can do this? I mean, I kinda wanted to spend tomorrow at Rainbow’s grave...” the orange pegasus said sadly.

Twilight turned and gave Scootaloo a small smile. “Scootaloo, what made Rainbow Dash special in her last few years of life? Ah, rhetorical question...It was what the princesses gave her,” the purple unicorn said, putting a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “The will to fight...the desire for victory. What would be a better way to honor her than a glorious battle for the freedom of thousands of ponies?”

Scootaloo returned the smile at Twilight’s comment. “You make a good point there, Twi. I’m gonna let Vinyl know about this, tell her that Travis’ll be ok, so she doesn’t have to worry about her kid being a bastard, and then I’m goin’ to get some more pancakes. Buckin’ love pancakes.”

Twilight gave the orange pegasus a confused as she left. “How does she know about...Ah screw it.” The purple mare conjured an assortment of mirrors and began braiding her mane and tail. “Pretty sure my mane was braided in that vision...Well, I highly doubt that my hair being different would change much in time, but it couldn't really hurt trying a new style” she reasoned mentally.

__________________________________________________________________________

The clash of steel on steel and the crackling of magical spells could be heard far below as the four ponies and single dragon flew above the battle towards the eastern side of the ancient castle, everypony below oblivious to their presence. “Remember, tower first, then castle!” Spike yelled as he tried to keep his weapons from falling from his mount’s.

“ALRIGHT LET’S DO THIS!” an enthusiastic Wingkins yelled as Travis steered himself closer to the brown pegasus. “LEEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY-”

SMACK! The orange pony swung his hoof as hard as he could against the back of his ally’s head. “Because we really want them to know where we are, Leeroy,” he said rudely, holding his hooves in front of him as if he was asking what was going through the pegasus’ head.

Twilight turned her head as she struggled to fly with her frail wings. “Calm down, Travis, we’re almost at the bri-”. The purple mare stopped mid-air as if she’d just flown into a wall. Rubbing her face, she put her free hoof in front of her. “A force field. Not surprising, I guess.” Twilight’s four friends groaned at the news. “Well, we don’t really have time to look for a way around it...Guess we’ve gotta go to plan B and hope we can use the front door.”

As the group headed for the battlefield in front of the ruins, a bright purple lightning bolt flashed across the sky through them and struck Scootaloo. As the orange pegasus fell, her wings began to blow away with the wind, as Rainbow and Pinkie’s bodies had before. “Oh for...” she shouted, before the rest of her began disintegrating.

Before anypony noticed Scootaloo fall, a large purple figure flew from the clouds, sporting massive, dragon-like wings; and a curved, sharply-tipped horn. “Oh fuck it’s him!” Travis yelled, clearly scared witless. “Scraaaamble!” he called as the group dispersed to avoid more electric bursts.

__________________________________________________________________________

Twilight, Spike, Leeroy and Travis landed in an area near the ruins after abandoning their attacker. “You met Voide, I see,” a green alicorn said, startling the group as he emerged from a nearby bush, his voice quiet. “Pretty sure those wings are new.”

Spike immediately turned to Cal with a scared look on his face. “That’s your brother!? Hell, you weren’t kidding when you said we didn’t wanna meet him...I mean, did you see what he did to...” the dragon stopped, the events of the past few minutes only just sinking in. “Man...first Applebloom, then Pinkie...Sweetie Belle...Brandy...Rainbow Dash...and now Scootaloo.” A stream of tears began rolling down the dragon’s face.

Twilight approached her assistant, her horn back and glowing, as she wiped Spike’s face dry. “I already told Scoots this, but the best way we can honor our fallen is by giving Nightmare Moon a helluva fight for her life.”

“I’ve got good news though, guys,” Cal said, turning back towards the bush he came from. The green alicorn’s horn let out a weak glow, and the foliage in front of him moved, revealing the terrain to be completely frozen, and an assortment of ponies frozen solid, including another alicorn. “Storm got cocky, and Frostbite got mad,” he explained before anypony could ask about it. “Former was common, latter wasn’t. Oh, and don’t worry about Scarlet, she said she was gonna go stab some of Nightmare Moon’s henchponies.” Cal’s mouth grew into a little smile as he spoke about his sister and her love of violence.

Travis had been leaning against a tree after abandoning his mechanical wings, almost asleep. As the orange pony shook himself awake, he attempted to get his allies’ attention. “Can we go now? I seriously don’t want that bugger sneaking up on us again, and I’d like to get back to cutting ponies soon,” he said, yawning.

The green alicorn turned to Travis, still smiling. “Probably not. Force field came down a little before you got here, but I’m pretty sure there are about three, maybe four or five dozen guards in the castle still, and since you met the crazy brother in the air, the front gate would still be your best bet,” Cal stated. When he heard of the ponies in the castle, the orange earth pony’s bored expression turned to one of glee, before he ran off towards the ruins, with Spike, Twilight and Leeroy following him.

__________________________________________________________________________

“Five swords, a bow, a quiver, and a shield,” Twilight had thought since she had entered the ancient castle of the royal sisters with her group. “Five swords and a shield...Three ponies and a dragon...My hair...Everything is going along just like in my vision.” The group stopped as the hall turned pink, and the air was filled with tiny arcing bolts. Twilight turned to see the huge starry alicorn they had encountered materialize about thirty feet behind her.

As the air hummed, a single thought that wasn't their own went through the group’s heads: “I’ve found you.” Voide’s horn began glowing brightly, as a large lightning ball fired from it.

Just before the ball would have impacted Twlight, Spike jumped between the purple mare and the projectile and swung his shield, knocking the purple energy at the wall to his left, knocking it down. “C’mon!” Wingkins called as he jumped through the hole.

Twilight put up a barrier between the group and the alicorn before following her friends. As she entered the next room, she noticed Leeroy silently staring at a mare comforting a small filly. “Mommy, what’s gonna happen to us?” the filly asked.

“Hush, baby...Please, please don’t hurt us...My husband forced us to come here. We just want to go back to Canterlot...please...” the mare begged. Travis pushed Leeroy aside as he approached the two scared ponies.

“Don’t worry. Go that way,” he said, pointing the way they had come. “Take a right, then a left, and go straight. You shouldn’t run into any trouble. If you meet anypony wearing gold armor, tell them Tav sent you their way.” The orange pony patted the mare on the back. “Now haul it, there’s a crazy alicorn hunting us down, and I’d rather not see innocent ponies get hurt.” The mare nodded and put her filly on her back, before galloping through the hole and away from the group. “Alright, let’s go. Our old friend V’ll likely be a bit pissy now,” Travis said, heading for a door on the other side of the room.

Spike opened the door, revealing a tall tower and a large, mossy bridge spanning a canyon. “Oh no,” Twilight thought, fearful of which of her friends would die on the bridge. As the purple mare took a step forward, Leeroy dashed in front of her, blocking her path. “Wingkins, what’re you doing?” she asked, nervously looking over her shoulder to see if Voide had caught up with them.

“Twilight...we can’t keep doing this. Those guard ponies have families for buck’s sake!” the brown pegasus responded, tears beginning to roll down his face. “We killed them for being loyal to Equestria...To their queen!”

Twilight turned back to Leeroy, more angry than nervous now. “Leeroy, if they were loyal to Equestria, OR their queen, they wouldn’t be here! They would be back in Canterlot! When we took Canterlot Castle back, I took over the throne, because we needed a leader!” she shouted.

“It doesn’t matter! They have wives, husbands, FOALS! You would deprive a small filly of her father because of his beliefs!?” the brown pegasus retorted. “We’re done here! We’re giving up!”

“They are loyal to Nightmare Moon! They want eternal nighttime you fool!” Travis said, moving swiftly to place the blade of his dagger to Leeroy’s neck. “Look at it this way, you stupid sack of crap...I have a mare back in Canterlot, and she is very dear to me, as she holds my child. She was already on Nightmare Moon’s hit-list long before I met her. If I...if we give up here, what’ll happen to her? Huh!?” the orange pony said as he struggled to keep his rage in check, and his dagger from entering his ally’s throat. “I’ve already lost a wife...I’ve already lost a daughter...I’ve lost my best FUCKING friends! I AM NOT GOING TO LET THAT HAPPEN AGAIN! MOVE. THE HELL. OUT. OF OUR. GOD-DAMNED WAY, OR I WILL END YOU RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!” as Travis furiously yelled, the pressure he was putting on his blade drew a small amount of Leeroy’s blood. After a short silence, the brown pegasus stepped to the side, and allowed Twilight and Spike to pass. Travis replaced his dagger in its sheath, and followed his purple friends, though he stopped immediately behind Leeroy, and delivered a swift, powerful kick to the brown pegasus’ rear leg, letting out an extremely loud crack, and a louder cry of pain from the victim. “Bitch.”

Twilight immediately turned around and rushed to Leeroy’s aid. As she leaned in towards her ally, her horn let out a soft glow, which coiled through the air and around the shattered leg. “Leeroy, if you really believe what you told us...Then you’re not welcome to fight with us anymore,” the purple unicorn said, helping her friend up. “Go back to Cloudsdale. I don’t want to see you in Canterlot unless I’ve called for you.” Twilight glared at Leeroy as the blond pegasus stood up before flying off. “If I see him again, I’m gonna break both his rear legs.”

The two remaining ponies and Spike continued to cross the bridge as an ear-splitting screech filled the air, and the bridge began to rumble. Within seconds, Travis and Spike had drawn their weapons, and stood ready for combat. “Get goin, Twi. I get the feeling this is gonna turn real ugly real fast, and I’d feel better knowing you were beating Nightmare Moon senseless,” Spike said, striking a corestone arrow on the ground and notching it.

“Aye, he’s right, Sparkle. We can probably handle whatever’s coming,” Travis added, nodding.

Twilight slowly backed towards the tower before turning and galloping towards it. “Oh Celestia, please let the Observatory be in there...”

__________________________________________________________________________

As Twilight entered the tower, the scenery changed drastically. The inside of the tower resembled the foyer of Canterlot Castle, only the ceiling was replaced with a vast terrain of stars. Turning to examine every angle of her surroundings the purple mare noticed that there was no doorway, or even a wall the way she came. “At least I got my wish,” she thought, heading for the stairs. With each step she took upwards, the castle faded more and more into space, and the stars shone brighter. As she continued to climb, a large door began to form further up the stairs.

When Twilight reached the door and attempted to open it, a mysterious voice spoke to her. “Only those who see all as equals may enter.”

“See all as equals?” the purple mare thought. Twilight stood, pondering what the door could be telling her. “Ah, that could work!” The unmarked mare concentrated as hard as she could, and what little color was present in the Observatory faded. Twilight again approached the door and attempted to open it, this time successfully. “So, this is a test to see if I’m ‘worthy’ to proceed?” she thought. “A cliché if I ever saw one.”

As she passed through the door and restored her horn, she stood on a large, wall-less platform with a single other pony. “About time, sugarcube,” Applejack said in an unusual tone, as she lifted her hat to reveal bloodshot eyes.

“Stuff it. I don’t know what your real name is, but I do know you’re not Applejack,” Twilight retorted, magically drawing her sword. “Oh, and by the way, your father said he wants you home!” The purple mare charged and swung her sword, which the blond mare easily dodged.

The corrupt Applejack began shrilly laughing. “Aw, daddy wants me home? Well sucks to be-” a deep roar filled the air, causing the entire observatory to tremble, though neither pony was affected much by the shaking. “Know what? Screw the chit-chat, I’m feelin bloodthirsty NOW!” AJ shouted as she bucked at Twilight.

The purple mare sidestepped her attacker’s hooves and sliced the legs attached to them off cleanly, though a pair of tendrils shot from the stumps and reattached them almost immediately. “Uh-uh, sugarcube, that ain’t gonna work,” Applejack said, clicking her tongue.

“Guess I’ll have to try something different, then.” Twilight responded, as a layer of flame enveloped her sword. The orange mare leapt at Twilight, who again dodged before swinging at AJ’s unprotected torso. The two halves of the pony landed and began writhing, as if something was trying to escape through the charred wounds created by the purple unicorn’s blade. After a short while, the corpse parts stopped moving and began to fade while a massive shadow resembling Death slowly pulled itself from the head.

“Why are you fighting this, you foolish wench?” it rasped, standing up on its tall, thin legs.

“Better question: How are you - a spawn of the grim reaper - so weak that you lost to a single unicorn?” Twilight mocked, spinning her sword in the air. “And in two swings, at that!” As the purple mare taunted her foe, a unicorn with a coat white as snow appeared behind her.

“Oh Twilight...You poor thing, you’re delusional!” Rarity said in a sweet voice, slowly approaching Twilight, who spun around, holding her blade defensively. “Please, allow me to show you the true face of your so-called ‘ally’, Travis...” A tendril of silver light emerged from the white unicorn’s horn, connecting both unicorns.

__________________________________________________________________________

Twilight was standing in the front row of a massive crowd in the middle of a town, unable to move. In front of her stood a set of gallows, a strange bipedal creature in heavy armor, and another bipedal creature in a white and blue dress, with a rope tied around her neck. “This woman - Madam Linara Tav - is accused of aiding a high-ranking Lordaeron official in deserting the citizens of a city besieged by the Scourge! She claims her husband was slain by an Abomination whilst aiding said citizens escaping, though she has been unable to supply proof over the years she was held, and as such, is to be executed!”

“Wait...Tav?” Twilight attempted to say, to no avail.

“Travis Tav was one of our Spy Masters, and as such, was entrusted with many secrets that could lead to the downfall of the Alliance, and with his disappearance, we must believe that somebody aided him in escaping, and as such, caused the deaths of hundeds of citizens!” the armored man continued shouting, as a hooded man beside Twilight seemed to struggle with his rage.

“This guy’s logic is...odd, to say the least,” Twilight thought, as a short green creature pulled the hooded man down towards him and whispered something to him, before the scenery changed back to that of the Observatory.

“You see, darling, your friend Travis abandoned his family...He allowed them to execute his beloved wife, when he was right there...He has shown he is a coward, and unwilling to save those he has the power to save.” Rarity laughed as she disappeared.

The purple unicorn turned calmly, and channeled her magic into her blazing sword, turning the flame surrounding it a bright yellow. “That was probably the most random thing I've seen, and honestly? I can’t really say I’m convinced.” Twilight reared back and swung her blade, sending out a massive wave of holy fire, burning the shadowy creature and sending it to the afterlife. “Me soul on fire feeling hot hot hot.” Sparkle laughed and sheathed her sword, continuing to climb the staircase.

__________________________________________________________________________

“The stairs led me to a door that required a pony with the ‘knowledge to understand it’,” the queen stated. “The door took me somewhere I could not have imagined in my worst nightmares. The entire time I was there, I was surrounded by creatures much like the ones from the vision Rarity showed me.”

__________________________________________________________________________

Twilight stood on one of the five large platform surrounding a churning whirlpool, staring at the massive abomination of a dragon clinging to the ground in front of her. “YOUR ARMOR MEANS NOTHING. YOUR FAITH, EVEN LESS,” the dragon roared, seemingly making no attempt to defend the tentacle that was being attacked by almost two dozen small bipedal creatures.

“Mom?” Twilight heard, turning around to see an alicorn as dark as the midnight ocean, with a golden mane seemingly made of stars staring back at her. “What are you doing he-” a massive metal spike struck the alicorn. As the purple mare struggled with the scene that had just unfolded in front of her, her head began to hurt, as if somepony had stabbed her brain with a burning chunk of steel. Every other creature on the platform began shouting or crying in pain, until a female wearing extremely thick armor tore the spike from the ground and threw it through the tentacle at the dragon.

“SUCK ON THAT, YA BIG UGLY BASTARD!” she yelled, her voice strained as if she was losing it, with a slight echo.

As the tentacle receded into the water, all of the armored woman’s allies stared at her with fearful expressions on their faces. “Hot damn!” a familiar voice spoke. A thin, leather-clad creature wielding two daggers smacked her on the back as he ran by, and leapt across the gap between the platform Twilight was on and the adjoining one.

The purple mare still stood, stunned by all that had happened wherever she was, staring across the water at the group of heroes mercilessly attacking the wounded dragon until the world around her faded, and she floated in darkness. For what seemed like hours, she thought about what the scene could have meant, until a strange idea entered her mind. “Wait...What if that had no meaning whatsoever? What if it was just meant to keep me from continuing?” Twilight suddenly felt solid ground under her hooves, as a walkway of stars formed beneath her, leading to a third door. “Though that doesn’t explain that alicorn...Who could she have been? Why did she call me ‘mom’...?”

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As the queen finished describing the strange world, she gave her daughter a questioning look from the corner of her eye.

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Twilight approached the door and attempted to open it. “Do you have the will to end it all?” it asked.

“Yes, I have the will. I’m going to finish this, I’m going to protect Equestria as long as I live, and nopony will stand in my way!” The large wooden door creaked as it opened.

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As Twilight entered the final doorway, she was met with the sight of a glorious moonlit chamber resembling the throne room in Canterlot, though with only three walls, as well as her three remaining foes. “So glad you could make it, Sparkle,” Nightmare Moon said, spitting the last word. “Please, have a seat, enjoy the show.” The alicorn’s horn began glowing, its aura spreading to Fluttershy and Rarity. As the black alicorn started chanting, a bright light flashed, and the three ponies could be heard cackling. After the light subsided, Twilight looked up to see a dark red alicorn with a mane of dripping blood and whiteless eyes to match; and a gray one, who’s mane was like eternally blowing ash. “Meet the spawn of Death in their true forms!” Nightmare Moon shouted, as the two flying alicorns divebombed towards Twilight.

The purple mare’s eyes flashed blue, signalling her wings to replace her horn, before she slid to the side and bucked the gray alicorn in the side, exploding it into a cloud of smoke. Twilight continued to dodge her second foe until it stumbled, giving her an opportunity to strike. In one fluid motion, the purple pegasus drew her sword and sliced her attacker’s head off. Twilight stabbed her blade into the starry floor as the second alicorn’s body splashed into a pool of blood, and turned to face Nightmare Moon. “Are you kidding me? These guys can’t be this weak!” she yelled, the remains of her foes moving towards the center of the room.

“Mother Moon, forgive us for making you wait to see this foolish mortal’s end!” two voices simultaneously said, as a golem of blood-red ash slowly formed in front of Twilight, who simply scowled.

“I just easily downed two alicorns, and they combined to form something that - lemme guess - is ‘unbeatable’? Totally not cliché,” the purple pegasus said in an unsurprised tone. “You’re terrible at this, y’know that?” she shouted at the black alicorn observing the battle, before pulling her sword from the ground.

As the golem readied itself to attack, Twilight leapt at it, using her wings to propel herself higher. As swiftly as she could, the purple pegasus thrust the blade into her foe’s chest and leapt back, her eyes flashing a bright gold. As her reclaimed horn began glowing, a mass of electricity sparked from it. With a near-deafening CRACK, a bolt of bright blue lightning shot from Twilight’s horn and struck her sword, electrocuting the golem, and engulfing it in azure flames.

After landing, the purple unicorn, ignoring her sword, slowly approached her final foe. Nightmare Moon, in an attempt to impale the approaching mare, charged at her head-first. Twilight magically leapt above the attacking alicorn, and landed on her back, knocking her to the ground. “Don’t you even think about trying to escape, you rat-bastard,” she said, telekinetically snapping Nightmare Moon’s horn off as close to the base as she could, and crushing the bones in her wings. Before stepping off of her foe’s back, Twilight drew glowing chains from the ground, trapping the alicorn’s legs. “Any last words before I end you, you disappointment of a tyrant?” she asked as she glared into her enemy’s eyes, making her experience the fear she had sown across Equestria. As the color faded from the Observatory, Twilight looked around. “Oh for Celestia’s sake, not again!”

“Halt, Sparkle. This is not your destiny,” the familiar shadowy creature that was Death said as he emerged from the ground. “Please join us once more, Warrior...And you as well, Judge,” as the reaper spoke, Twilight felt weaker, and two glowing orbs floated from her chest, each moving to a different side of her. To her left, a cyan pegasus with a wispy rainbow mane and an animated blue flame on her flank, wearing brightly shining armor appeared; To her right, a blindfolded pink earth pony with a straight mane and a scale cutie mark that shined nearly as much as the other’s armor.

“What the hay is going on here!?” Twilight asked loudly, confusion filling her voice.

“If you must know...The outcome of this entire war was planned, though the events that took part throughout it strayed from their paths,” Death responded as he hovered over to the trapped alicorn. “Due to how the spirit realm works, I am forbidden from prematurely ending any living creature’s life without permission from a Spiritual Judge...Such as your friend, Pinkamena.” The reaper gestured to the blindfolded pony. “Sparkle, you and miss Dash were supposed to protect her, and guide her here...But alas, she was captured and executed. Thankfully for all of ponykind though, I had convinced her to entrust her soul to a friend of her choice...And she chose you, as did Rainbow Dash.”

Pinkie stepped forward and examined Nightmare Moon. “Spawn of Discord, I know of all your past deeds, and I know of the pain and chaos you have brought upon thousands of innocent ponies, as well as the corruption their souls endured,” she spoke in a strangely dignified tone. “Nightmare Moon, daughter of chaos, I sentence you to eternal damnation! Do as you wish, reaper.”

“As you command, Your Honor.” The shadowy creature destroyed the crippled pony’s bonds before thrusting an arm into her torso. After Death tore Nightmare Moon’s soul from her body, she began attempting to crawl away.

“F...Father Discord...Help me...Help your daughter...please...” she struggled to say as she faded into nothingness.

“It is done...Now, raise the sun, Sparkle. Your world has lived in twilight for far too long. It is time it saw the light of day. I am aware of it being the moon’s time to - pardon the pun - shine, but still.” Color returned to the world, and the three spirits disappeared.

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Twilight trotted over to the edge of the starry platform, and took a deep breath. Both the sun and the moon began glowing in unison with her horn, though try as she might, neither of the celestial bodies would move. The purple mare sat, attempting to hold back her tears of failure. “I...I can’t...I can’t move them, and I can’t show Equestria we’ve won!”

“Really now, Twilight Sparkle? I thought I taught you better than that.” A pure white hoof turned the unicorn around, and she sat face-to-face with Princess Celestia. “You cannot move them...yet,” the princess said, pulling three glowing spheres from her student’s body. “Only an alicorn can control the celestial bodies, and while you possessed all you needed to become one, they cannot be used separately.” As the three orbs spun closer and closer to each other, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie briefly reappeared, this time as they did before their deaths, before fading as Nightmare Moon had done.

“Twilight Sparkle, I bestow upon you the power of the rulers, and grant you the title of ‘alicorn’!” The spheres began glowing brighter as they approached each other, until they emitted one final flash of light upon contact. As the light subsided, Twilight found herself alone in the Observatory, taller than before, with both wings and a horn. She again turned to the edge of the platform, as a voice spoke in her head. “Attune yourself with the celestial bodies, Twilight.” The alicorn nodded.

Twilight took in yet another deep breath, and her horn glowed brighter than ever before, its aura surrounding the sun and the moon, causing both to glow a bright purple as they slowly moved across space. As the celestial bodies moved, the new alicorn felt a tingling on her flank, and turned to view it: A sun with a crescent moon overlapping a portion of it.

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Travis, badly wounded, held the near-dead, heavily burnt and smoking Spike’s head off the ground. “Well, there you have it, buddy...She won. We won. The sun’s up, and even a beautiful shade of purple...just like Twi.” An admiring silence remained until the orange stallion placed his friend’s head back on the cobblestone bridge, reached for a book hanging from the dragon’s armor, and cut the rope tying it to him. “I’ll give this to Twilight, buddy...You just rest. The afterlife is hell...You’ll need the energy.” Travis sat in silence, mourning the loss of another friend.

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“Hence the Twilight Dawn,” Twilight said over the sobbing of thousands of ponies. “After the funerals, I spent the next twenty years mourning the fallen daily, until Honeydew convinced me it was time to move on. He proposed to me and I made him into an alicorn...Though with my magic not being quite as strong as a natural alicorn’s, he turned into, more or less, a glorified earth pony.” The queen stepped away from her podium. “Now, citizens of Equestria, it’s about time for me to raise the sun. I thank you for listening to my story, and I congratulate you on being the last generation to witness the Twilight Dawn,” she said before teleporting away.

The crowd of ponies all looked to the east as a bright purple glow filled the sky, and cheers filled the air.

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Seven days later

Twilight was lying on her bed, waiting for the king to return, when the air went cold. “Hello, old friend. It is nice to see you again,” the tall shadow by the door said.

“I can’t really say the same to you, sadly,” Twilight responded with a smirk. “I suppose you’re here for a reason, then?” The queen stood up and approached Death, each step making her smaller, and causing her wings to fade more and more.

“Yes...Your friends are awaiting you.” The reaper opened the door to reveal a large, shining city that seemed to stretch forever, with five ponies and a purple dragon waiting. “After you, miss Sparkle.”

As Twilight entered the door, she looked back. "You're still terrible at drama."