Celestia sat on her throne, contemplative and quiet. Surrounding her presence were diplomats, concerned citizens, ambassadors of neighboring nations, and even a few ponies of whom she’s never heard of. Regardless of their status or background, her mind concentrated on the floor carpet instead of the prodding eyes of the ponies.

“Princess Celestia,” a noblepony rang out, catching her attention. “What do you intend on doing about the presence of this malicious character over Ponyville?!”

“Princess!” She allowed herself to be carried over by another voice. “Massive tremors continue to ravage the land, and plant life everywhere are experiencing an increase in decomposition!”

“Your Highness,” yet another voice called,” The masses are in a frenzy, they are claiming that monster sightings and creature natures have been going awry in just a matter of hours! Reports of this nature haven’t been documented since the rule of Discord!”

“Yes,” Celestia finally said, her soft voice quelling the tumultuous roar of the ponies in the throne room. “Yes, I am aware of all of these things, and I am aware that the stability of our land is at risk.”

“Not just the stability of your land,” a familiar mustached griffon chimed in. “My country is experiencing severe drought; literally, whole lakes drying up in a matter of minutes!”

“Chaos on this scale has pillaged your country before,” rang a Saddle Arabian from the far corner of the room. “Those nations that have neighbored yours have experienced some fallout from the troubles, including mine.”

“I assure you, the situation is under control,” Celestia affirmed, shuffling a bit and clearing her throat.. The line was too much of a cliche even for her.

“How have you decided to remedy the problem?”

“I have dispatched a trustworthy and valuable team to look into the situation,” she answered.

“Who are the ponies in this team?”

“Why have you not gotten involved yourself?”

“What if this squad cannot solve the problem?”

“Enough!” Celestia roared. As she spoke, she rose from her throne, stamping her hooves on the ground. Her voice boomed throughout the chamber, rattling the hanging chandeliers and upsetting the balance of her guarding troops.

“P-princess?” a voice questioned shakily.

“Forgive me,” she said without retreating. “Allow me to rationalize with you ponies for a moment.”

All of the bodies in the room returned to attention, quills and ears perched on the edge of their docks.

“It is true that a great evil has once again set its sights on Equestria,” she started. “It is also true that in the past, such incidents were enough of a problem to warrant such fears you have brought up; but I say to you, back then, we were not strong as a nation.” She cast her gaze upon the two non pony bodies in the room. “We were weak as a continent,” she corrected herself.

“Is this supposed to be uplifting?” a Canterlot noble asked.

“This is supposed to be a revelation, my dear Ironhoof,” she replied. “There is a power that exists in this land that has, however, bested these evil thoughts and worries time and time again.”

“Are you referring to—?”

“No,” Celestia quickly rebuked. “I speak of a stronger magic than the ones the Elements of Harmony posses. I speak of the unity of harmony between us and between the world.”

“Which unity do you speak of?” the Saddle Arabian stallion chuckled. “There is no ultimate peace or anything of the sort.”

“That is where you are wrong,” Celestia replied. “This danger threatens not only our land, but the entire world. Gray Umbra, as he calls himself, has declared war on harmony. He intends to rid the world of it, wherever it may be present, starting with our homes.”

“Gray Umbra?” Murmurs rang throughout the crowd. Some guards peered at the princess, but held their tongues and quickly retracted to their positions.

“Now do you see? There does exist an ultimate harmony between all living things, sentient and otherwise. Such a threat exists to snuff out this peace.”

“You mentioned… a solution?” inquired a pony in the room.

“I did, and it is working now, as we speak,” Celestia explained, transfixing her gaze towards the world below. “I have confidence in my subjects, but that is greatly overshadowed by the faith I give to my friends.”

“Is it… can it really be over?” Applejack asked, staring at the large structure in the middle of the wasteland. It remained dormant, save for the glimmering mirror in the center of its frame.

“This book is amazing!” Twilight suddenly shrieked, causing the ponies in the area to leap into the air.

“Cool your head, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash sighed. “Some of us are still on edge here.”

“Sorry,” Twilight peeped, blushing a little. “It’s just that, this book explains so much about the Harmonolith, and the Elements, and… There’s too much information to logically sort out in my current state of mind!”

“Yes, it is quite an intriguing read, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said, lying on the floor. She smiled at Twilight, treating her own wounds with her magic.

“Oh my gosh, Princess, I’m sorry I forgot!” Twilight cried, setting the book down and rushing over to her. Luna shook her head.

“It is alright,” she explained. “I am still able to care for myself, though I do appreciate the aid you and your friends have brought to the battlefield this day.” An overlapping green light lined Luna’s body alongside her visible white aura.

“In truth, we should thank you for risking your life in order to fend off Gray.” Twilight spoke as she concentrated on her mentor’s wounds. “Did you really think you’d be able to do it?”

“That was my first intention, upon arriving,” Luna said, rising to her hooves now. Twilight deactivated her spell and began examining her other friends. “It wasn’t until Gray was able to morph when I fully realized the danger I had set myself in. I knew then, it would require my full effort hold him off as soon as Celestia had quelled the demands of the ponies.”

“I bet she has her hooves full,” Rarity began, helping Twilight with the quick patch ups around the camp.

“As soon as news of the incident over Ponyville spread across Equestria, my sister has had to deal with the constant complaints and demands of our country and beyond.” Luna stretched her wings out, folding them comfortably back into resting position as she continued, “We had originally planned on confronting Gray together, while we left Twilight in our stead over Equestria.”

“You what?!” Twilight shouted, dispelling her magic over Rainbow’s wings.

“Hey! Still sore here!” the pegasus cried.

“Wow, Twilight was going to be princess over all of Equestria!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Had I known, I would’ve made a cake! Then we all could’ve eaten it on your command!”

“I… I don’t know how to run a country,” Twilight breathed rather suddenly. “I’m kind of glad that didn’t happen.”

“I don’t know what caused my sister to deviate from the original plan, but I have a feeling you six had a part in it. I was stunned to see you return, even after having found you in the state you were in previous, Twilight,” Luna said.

“I was reminded of a few things, and some loose ends had to be tied up,” she said, looking over to Rainbow. Rarity had continued the healing in Twilight’s stead for the moment. “I can say that I’m thankful for your intervention as well.”

“I’ll just be holding onto this then, so we don’t lose it,” Pinkie said, lodging the book back into her mane. “Neat-O, now we need-O to leave-O.”

“Yeah, it seems we handled that Gray Umbra just fine. I don’t think there’s anything else to be worrying about,” Applejack cheered. Her hooves began to shake suddenly as the boots around them shattered into glowing shrapnel. “What the hay?!”

“I apologize, Applejack,” Luna said. “It seems the Feather Shoes have lost their durability.”

“It’s not like I needed them anymore anyway, even if they were kinda cool,” she replied.

A low rumble began to stir as the unaware ponies carried out their conversations. The tremor intensified, bringing their attention to the center sculpture of the rotating sunshine-bordered crescent moon. One of the spiked rays grew darker in color, eventually disintegrating into dust as a light breeze blew through.

“What was that?” Fluttershy squeaked.

“I don’t know,” Twilight gasped, holding her hoof out. Pinkie Pie slid over towards her, cocking her head sideways and rattling it about. The book slid out of her mane and into Twilight’s hooves. She opened the text, skimming through the pages quickly.

“What does it say about dissolving statues?” Applejack gulped.

“Here,” Twilight said, laying the book on the floor. “The structure is built like a cosmic prison, housing the entity of any mass of power for a predetermined amount of time,” she began to read. “Its previous host revealed a mechanism most peculiar to the function of the Harmonolith, that which we have named, the Sundials.”

“Who has named?” Fluttershy asked.

“I’m not sure yet,” Twilight replied, trying to find her place again. “The Sundials are an ancient timer, set automatically whenever a new force is sealed within the Harmonolith’s realm. The durability of the prison is judged upon the rate at which the Sundials decay, ranging anywhere from 10,000 years to 10,000 seconds.”

“Where… Where did you find this book?” Luna interrupted now.

“I found it in the library on a reading table,” Fluttershy answered. “It was sitting there, and the insignia on the cover looked like the structure we saw from the castle.”

“Indeed, this is an ancient relic of which my sister and I have little knowledge of,” Luna revealed. “It was here before ponykind even populated this region of the world. We simply documented our findings of the structure in that book, and hid it in secret after Discord’s invasion of Equestria.”

“You and Princess Celestia wrote this record?” Twilight gasped, losing a little of her breath.

“We wrote what we discovered, but truth be told, there was text pre-dating even our existence when we stumbled across it,” Luna said.

“Do you know what was housed in it before you discovered it?” Rainbow Dash wondered.

“It was from this that my sister and I claimed the Elements of Harmony in their pure form, and crafted them into jewels,” she explained. “We assumed that the Elements were stored in the Harmonolith because the precursor race had no way of keeping it in this world.”

“So then, this thing was built by aliens?” Pinkie asked.

“Alien is a good enough term for it,” Twilight commented. “How were you and the princess able to extract the Elements from it?”

“It was here long before Celestia and I discovered it, most likely revered as a sacred structure before our time,” Luna began.

We stumbled upon it while we were out playing one day… We were just small fillies.

The structure itself was partially buried under the forest, which is why we hadn’t noticed it before. Celestia had hidden behind one of the mirror spires, and she accidentally stumbled upon the center piece when trying to flee from me. That day, we stared into the mirror and watched as six shining lights fluttered about inside, circling the reflection of our bodies. It was our favorite thing, to visit the enchanted mirror and allow the mirror lights to whiz around us.

We thought nothing of it, and presumed it to be a simple enchanted ruin, that is, until many years later. Discord appeared, plaguing our neighboring nations, closing the distance between himself and Equestria every day. At the time of invasion, our father was able to handle the beast alone, but the toll that his chaos took over the nation was too much for it to bear. In the end, the King conceded in order to protect us, and we went into hiding.

For centuries, Discord ruled over Equestria, swatting away every attempt my sister and I made to overthrow him. He refused to destroy us however, in hopes that we would try as often as possible to overpower him, in which we played directly into his claws.

There came an instance where Celestia and I sat down-trodden and defeated. The country had lost hope in us, and we lost hope in ourselves.

It was then that we made note of the Sundials on the crescent moon. In all the years that we had been around the Harmonolith, we never documented the rays spoking out of the center piece. I could starkly recall, however, that while we were young, there was a significant amount more than what we had seen in that exact moment.

We faced the mirror one more time, disgusted at our defeat and saddened by the loss of our nation. The glimmering lights from our childhood circled our reflections once more, though this time they shimmered with a hotter intensity.

We stood stunned as the last Sundial began to vanish, and the mirror began to ripple, releasing six burning beams of color into our world. My sister and I were pushed back, unsure if this new event would unfurl fouly, or perhaps benefit us. What we saw would forever change us then.

As if designed to heal the scars that Discord had inflicted upon the land, the glimmering lights spread across the forest, mending the chaos that the draconequus left in his wake. Whole patches of forest were rejuvenated. Rivers and springs burst with life once more, and the air cleared of Discord’s pungent fog. The floating lights finished their task and came down low, flying over our heads as if they were still in the mirror.

At first, we had no clue what to expect, but the sight of these things healing the land brought a new feeling in our hearts. It was a spark of hope, and a firm belief that we would prevail this time. The lights filled us up with their peace… their harmony… and my sister and I allowed ourselves to be taken by them.

The overwhelming confidence within us brought our minds at ease, and we were awakened to the fact that these lights were in fact more than simple glowing gases. They were the embodiments of harmony themselves, the Elements of Harmony.

In the end, we confronted Discord and used our new powers to transform him into stone. We undid the evil that soaked our lands and restored Equestria to its former glory. Certain that the elements couldn’t exist outside of their dimension for long, but wanting to keep their power, Celestia and I forged six unique jewels and enchanted them with a powerful spell. We sealed the power of the Elements of Harmony within them, and placed them away for safe keeping.

“Studies were conducted by my sister and I in order to discover more about the origins of the elements and the nature of the Harmonolith, but the great divide between our subjects began to prod its way into our lives,” Luna explained. “Celestia and I grew more distant with every passing year, ignoring the Harmonolith and focusing on quelling the disputes between the disgruntled ponies until…” She choked a little.

Twilight nodded, giving Luna the chance to continue.

“Well, the structure was hidden from plain view shortly after the banishment of Nightmare Moon,” she finished. “I doubt Celestia had the motivation to resume its research then.”

“Nightmare Moon, wait a minute,” Twilight murmured, her voice shaking. “Didn’t Gray extract the essence of Nightmare Moon away from you?”

Luna gasped, rising to her hooves. She stood there, waiting and listening, feeling for something in the air. The other ponies watched as she began to move her head, a small smile beginning to form over her face.

“I don’t believe it,” she began, breathing a little quickly. “She’s gone. I don’t… I don’t feel the Nightmare’s presence!”

“That’s a good thing?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Gray Umbra actually did a good thing?”

“For now,” Twilight answered. “Gray also mentioned that it could be anywhere. He didn’t have enough time to absorb its power.”

An eerie hissing noise grabbed the attention of the party again. They all looked over to the mirror, watching silently as another Sundial began to disintegrate.

“That was two in less time than I would’ve liked,” Twilight said, swallowing the fear in her throat.

“So, I take it he’s not done yet,” Rarity said, observing the Harmonolith herself. “All we’ve manage to do is buy some time.”

“Then we must use it wisely,” Luna commanded, motioning with her wings. Twilight and her friends trotted over to her and waited underwing. “Celestia must be informed of our progress, and we must figure out a way to extract Discord’s magic from Gray’s body.”

“We can’t do that,” Twilight said quickly, halting Luna from performing any magic.

“And why is that?” Luna inquired, raising a brow.

“Gray said himself that the only reason he can’t outright destroy the world is because of Discord’s influence within him. If we remove Discord, we could doom the planet further.”

“B-but what happens if you defeat Gray Umbra without saving Discord?” Fluttershy piped in. Twilight turned to her friend and blinked. She wanted to say something positive, but all she could muster out was a soft sigh.

“This complicates matters,” Luna admitted, biting her lip. “Regardless, we must see my sister immediately. Stay close, my subjects. We will persist through this if it’s the last thing we do.”

“Hopefully it ain’t,” Applejack remarked with a gulp.

A powerful wind engulfed the ponies within Luna’s wingspan, and began sparkling with life. Magic aura spilled from Luna’s horn as a cool blue haze surrounded the party, shrouding them in a starry mist. The lunar princess’s eyes glowed a powerful white, and in the next moment, a bright flash of light replaced the seven bodies standing in a battle-scarred wasteland.

The empty landscape morphed into all manner of color, transforming from a dead forest into an overcrowded throne room. The inhabitants of the room shrieked and called out in surprise as they were greeted with the faces of seven confused ponies. A brief silence held between both parties was disturbed as one clamor rose another and one’s cries turned into cheers. Eventually, Luna and the other ponies were swarmed by the congregation in the room, ponies and non-ponies pushing and shoving, shouting and crying to vie for their attention.

“BE STILL!” came a powerful voice from the back of the room. The sea of civilians parted, revealing Celestia, standing on the edge of the stairs leading to her throne. She was breathing hard, and her eyes twisted in concern. Without thinking, she began to gallop, full speed across the room and into the neck of her smaller sibling.

“Sister,” Luna sighed, returning the embrace.

“I’m glad to see you back in one piece,” Celestia said.

“Only thanks to these ponies, dear sister,” Luna replied, letting go. Celestia cast her gaze upon the six Ponyville residents behind Luna. She smiled and trotted over to Twilight, touching the bridge of her snout to her student’s.

“Princess,” Twilight began, but was cut off as Celestia’s wings covered her body.

“You all are fine, and here I was beginning to worry,” she said. Twilight stood still, just staring off at the mix of bodies in the room. Celestia removed her hug and turned to the crowd, a radiant smile spread wide across her face. As if her very face were the sun itself, the room brightened and the air became hot, filling everypony with a powerful warmth. Her wings broadened until they were at full mass, and her mane flowed powerfully in the vibrant sunlight that streamed through the stained-glass windows.

“As I have told you, the matter has been dealt with!”

“Wait—”

“The ponies you see before you are the very reason that the world has not succumbed to the—”

“Princess Celestia, wait!” Twilight shouted. Celestia held her announcement and peered at the smaller alicorn with wide eyes.

“What is it, Twilight?”

“We… we stopped Gray Umbra, yes, but we have not defeated him yet.” The crowd in the room began to stir with commotion once more, this time with hushed words. Everypony shifted nervously and shook their heads. Some let out grunts of disapproval, and yet others murmured prayers.

“What do you mean? How could you have quelled his thirst for destruction?” Celestia wondered, lowering her wings and stance.

“Perhaps… It would be better discussing this matter privately,” Luna suggested, her eyes shifting to and from every individual in the room.

“So be it,” Celestia said, nodding at one of the guards in the room. Immediately, they began escorting the diplomats and upper-crusts out of the chamber. There arose an uproar from the crowd as they were being pushed out, demanding to know and cursing Celestia, as well as her ‘team’ for their incompetence.

She ignored their shouts, instead fully concentrated on both her sister and apprentice. After the room had been evacuated, the guards themselves left, leaving a chilling silence to now press against the remaining ponies in the room.

“There is much to be discussed, sister,” Luna began, leading them all towards the back of the room.

“I cannot help but feel that this whole situation is a grim reminder of our mortality,” Celestia said, musing over her new thoughts.

“But, ain’t y’all… Well, haven’t y’all lived a lot longer than normal ponies?” Applejack asked.

“Perhaps, but that does not mean we are not subject to the decay of time,” Celestia replied.

She rose from her seat and trotted over to a window, looking at the stained-glass presentation within its frames. It held the form of two ponies, circling a crescent moon and shining sun, a finely crafted depiction of Equestria in its background. “How long do we have until the seal is completely broken?”

“I am unsure,” Luna said. “However, two Sundials vanished within a short period of time between each other. I say, not enough is a fair estimate.”

“And, what about Discord?” Pinkie Pie asked. “We really can’t leave him trapped in Gray Umbra’s body.

“However tempting it may be,” Rarity added. Fluttershy directed her head towards the floor. “Oh, I’m sorry, dear… I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Yes, you did, and I don’t think you have to apologize,” Rainbow said.

“Even so,” Celestia interjected, “Discord is now as much a denizen of Equestria as each of us are. Twilight attested to that just a short while ago.”

“Then, we truly are stuck… There’s no way to defeat Gray without destroying Discord in the process, and removing Discord from Gray’s being presents a greater danger to the world,” Luna sighed.

“Perhaps not,” Celestia chimed in after a moment. “Yes, it is true that the removal of Discord presents more of a threat to the world, but keep in mind that Gray will also be significantly weaker.”

“But that doesn’t do us any good if we can’t destroy him after the fact,” Twilight cried. “He’s not just a mindless monster, he’s adjusted his fighting to disrupt our harmony whenever we’ve gotten the edge over him,” Twilight explained. “Even if you, and Luna, and even Discord went against him, he would find a way to split us up.”

“I see,” Celestia mused. She thought to herself a short while and then spoke, “The Harmonlith is a vessel meant to house extreme power. It is there that we must defeat Gray Umbra and there alone. Anywhere else would surely result in the planet being torn apart by the strain of our magic.”

“You plan on doing this, how?” Luna asked.

“Sister, you explained to me that the Nightmare has left you, correct?” Celestia smiled at Luna.

“What does that have to do with—?” Luna gasped mid-sentence, and she returned the smile. “Of course… I understand now.”

“What? What is happening right now?” Twilight asked, moving her head between both princesses.

“Twilight Sparkle, I have a task for you and your friends,” Celestia said, turning to her. “You have done well in your efforts against Gray Umbra, and I applaud you for your bravery. However, you have played your part, and now my sister and I must intervene.” Luna gave Celestia a nod.

“Hold on a minute,” Rainbow Dash shouted, leaping in the air. “What are we supposed to do while you two fight Gray?”

“We are resuming our original plan,” Celestia began, trotting over to her throne. “Our intention was to safely evacuate the towns within distance of Gray’s influence, and then Twilight, and you all, would retreat while Luna, Discord, and I dealt with the monster.”

She stopped in front of her royal seat and used her muzzle to push in a shimmering red jewel atop the chair. Luna followed suit, mimicking her sister’s action. The platform that held their thrones began to part, and a small pedestal rose from the ground. Resting on this surface was a glass case, and within the case rested an aged book with yellowed pages.

“More books!” Pinkie exclaimed, eyeing this one carefully as Celestia removed it from its case.

“Of course,” Celestia resumed, “our plan has to be altered to account for Discord’s absence. This is the modified version.”

“Is there some kind of spell you’re going to use to extract Discord?” Twilight asked, studying the old thing. It was in glyphs she couldn’t make out, and far older than anything she’d even seen from any library.

“No,” Celestia said, opening to a crinkled page. The paper seemed to cry out in pain even with her delicate magic touch. “This spell will allow Luna and I to share the same body, and to share each other’s magic.”

“Whoa nelly,” Applejack gasped. “So, will y'all be like… double princesses or something?”

“We’ll have enough power to save Discord, and defeat Gray Umbra. In the meantime, You six will serve as a contingency plan, as well as our placeholders as leaders of Equestria,” Celestia explained.

“Twilight Sparkle, we need you to keep the spirit of hope and the magic of unity alive in Equestria. The only thing that can counter Gray’s immense evil, is our unified harmony,” Luna stated.

“R-run the… In charge… K-k-keep the peace?” Twilight began hyperventilating.

“I’m sure you’ll do fine,” Celestia said, placing a wing over her. “I wouldn’t have asked you if I doubted your abilities. Not to mention, you’ll share this task with your friends, and I’m certain they believe in you as much as I do.”

“You got that right,” this new voice echoed from across the hall. The mares in the room turned around to stare at the stallion before them. “If anything, I’d say she’s overqualified,” he said, chuckling afterwards. The white stallion, garbed in vibrant gleaming armor stood there, a smirk of etched across his face and a hoof raised to his blue mane.

“Shining?” Twilight cried, stumbling forward as she began charging towards him.

“Reporting for duty Prin—”

“I’m so happy to see you!” Twilight shouted, jumping at the last second onto his neck. He hugged her back.

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” he replied. “I wish I could’ve come sooner, but I was busy preparing defenses in the Crystal Empire. The whole world is ready to defend itself from this terror.” They hugged again, this time Twilight having to squirm out of his grasp.

“Shining Armor, thank you for your assistance. Canterlot is glad to have you back in her force,” Celestia said with a bow.

“The pleasure is mine, Princess Celestia,” he bowed back. “The former Captain of the Guard couldn’t leave his home undefended in its time of need.” He looked at Twilight. “I hear you’ll be calling the shots while the princesses are busy handling the problem,” he said.

“So it seems,” Twilight replied, the butterflies flitting around in her stomach again.

“Then I’ve got nothing to worry about, and neither does Equestria.” He saluted her and bowed.

“Twilight,” Celestia called from the opposite end of the room. “We cannot dawdle any longer. I must inform you of the contingency plan, should it be necessary, and the secondary reason for you to maintain order in our absence.”

“Yes, Princess,” Twilight called, turning around to return to the meeting, but doubling back to give another hug to her brother. She hurried over to the group once more and nodded.

“Harmony is essential, not only because it keeps us together, but because we need it for your Harmonia spell. That is why, should the need arise, I will do my best to signal you in advance and lead Gray Umbra into a secluded area. There, you will strike him down should I fail to do so before the seal breaks.”

“Are we understood? This is our final push against Gray Umbra’s assault, we cannot let up for even a moment,” Luna spoke. “The fate of the world rests in all of our hooves, princess or not, pony, or otherwise.”

“Understood,” Twilight said, controlling her breathing and halting her fidgeting.

Celestia and Luna looked at each other and then towards the ancient page from the old book. They relaxed their bodies and began manifesting their magic in their horns. After a moment of silence, they began to read from the book simultaneously. Their voices boomed around the chamber, echoing off of the walls and shaking the foundations of the castle.

Powerful sparks of energy emitted from their bodies and a blinding light enveloped both of their forms. Twilight and her friends backed away, standing at the foot of the stairs as they watched a swirl of color circle the two princesses. Very subtly could they make out their forms.

Their voices stopped, and the book shut, but the lights and colors intensified. In perfect unison, both alicorns raised their wings and reared back on their hind legs. The turned to face each other, their manes flowing as wildly as the winds and aura that whipped against their celestial figures. A powerful shout from both of their lungs reverberated throughout the whole room as they brought their bodies down, their hooves touching the floor and their horns colliding in a perfect “X”.

An explosion shook the entire castle, alerting the guards and citizens outside of the premises. The royal bodies still within the castle walls shouted in mixed cries of fear and confusion, pouring out in a hurried horde. The light show did not end, however, and the power both alicorns gave off only seemed to increase. Twilight and the rest of the ponies in the room shielded their faces as a second flash engulfed the hall, coupled with a powerful wave of magic.

“Wh-what’s going on?! Why is there so much wind and light?” Rarity shrieked.

“The power of both princesses combined,” Twilight shouted. “It’s incredible! I can’t believe such a thing exists!”

Finally, the room began to fade back into existence. The gusts died down, and the noises ceased, but the aura flowing into the room remained as spirited as the body it rolled off of.

“Pr-princess…” Twilight stood, mouth agape and eyes wide.

“Yes, Princess Sparkle?” a powerful voice echoed throughout the room.

Standing before the party of ponies below was the tall form of a four-winged alicorn. Her coat divided into two colors, one an alabaster white, and the second a midnight-blue. Her wings burst open, boasting glistening white primary feathers and powerfully bold, secondary blue plumes.

Her mane flowed like ethereal starlight, a wonderfully crafted constellation of galaxies and stars within a technicolor universe. Garbed over her chest was a glistening yoke, adorned with aged glyphs, and in the center, a crescent moon within a bright sun. The alicorn’s eyes opened, her gaze sending a powerful feeling throughout the chamber. Determination, confidence, power; all those qualities and more exuded from her mighty stare.

“You are… confused as to what to make of this, yes?” she spoke, her very voice nearly bringing down the supports in the hall. Twilight merely nodded. The new alicorn looked down and examined her own body, and then back at the gawking ponies. “A name is not important, to be honest… but if thou shouldst require one…” She looked up for a moment and smiled.

“That… is…. wicked cool!” Rainbow Dash shouted giddily.

“She’s gorgeous,” Rarity exclaimed.

“Eirene,” the alicorn said.

“Princess—”

“Not Princess, just Eirene,” she asserted, folding her wings. “Now, my little ponies. We have work to do.”