Sun, Moon and Love

by The Golden Dragon Lord

Danielle has traveled the world several times, taken down multiple enemies, and has learned the Magic of Friendship, but can she face her past? After so long, she reunites with her beloved princesses, but will it end in a happily ever after? My female human OC in Equestria because how often do human girls end up there?

1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: don't own anything but Danielle and this should be a different take on the human in Equestria story I already have here.

(First Person)

It's always strange to go back to your first home, or at least, that's what I think. Then again, my first home is long gone by now so I guess this is my second that I'm going back to, even if it's not for very long.

This job shouldn't take too long, maybe a few months, and then I'll be out of the country again and back to doing whatever I want to do.

Wish I could remember what I liked doing after not occupying my time with them for so long.

Looking around my surroundings now, I have to admit that the train compartment is nice. Much nicer than they were when they were first being created…again, to my perspective, anyway. The various ponies seated in the car were either talking, reading, relaxing or sometimes looking in my direction and shivering slightly.

I suppose I can understand why they would be nervous around me. I was wearing a long dark cloak with silver adornments with the hood up to hide my face, as well as black boots and gloves to completely hide my figure. (AN: think of the Organization XIII cloaks).

Still, hiding my face and body was the best way I could think of to keep the ponies from being even more afraid of me. After all, how common are humans in Equestria?

I'll answer that. One. I'm the only human still alive on this world of ponies, griffins and other species.

Taking a deep breath as I tried not to dwell on that fact, I crossed my arms and relaxed deeper into my seat, trying not to think of anything. Clearing my mind was something I was relatively good at after so long and it helped me relax for a good few minutes.

Still, the fact that I had been requested for a position in a town close to the capital of Equestria, a town close to…them, made me both nervous and anxious, though no one would be able to tell even if I wasn't hiding my expressions under a hood.

Dear sweet Equestria, I hadn't seen those two in so long. Would they recognize me if we met?

Stupid question, of course they would.

My world was shattered over a millennia ago and my mind was still at war with itself. What would happen if we met again? What would happen if we didn't?

It's a funny thing. My heart is telling me that meeting them would be the best thing to ever happen to me after our fateful departure over a thousand years ago. My head is telling me that this whole thing is a bad idea and I should just walk away, find a job elsewhere and avoid going anywhere near those two.

Ah, the age old argument; heart or the mind? Who is right and which would lead me to a better future? This ancient debate will not be settled today as I have no clue which side to follow, which stance would be better in the long run.

Isn't that always the way until something happens to push one over the other? Sadly, I have no sense of an epiphany and I doubt one will be occurring within the next several hours.

For some reason, staying in Griffonia seemed like a much better idea now. Sadly, they didn't need me anymore and this town I'm going to does, so that's where I'm heading.

This train is scheduled to arrive at my stop in a few hours, but it seems like much longer by the time we finally get there.

"Attention passengers, we have arrived in Ponyville. Please disembark if this is your stop and collect any personal belongings as you leave. Our next stop is Trottingham. Thank you and have a nice day."

I nodded to the porters as they saw me standing and I took my one bag, a backpack that I had had for a long time now. It was enchanted to be much bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside, feather light and to be completely unbreakable. No amount of magic could destroy my bag or the contents with all of the protections I put on it.

Not surprisingly, when I stepped off of the train and onto the station platform, the town was covered in about two feet of snow. It was the dead of winter and it was much colder in the land of the griffins so it didn't bother me as much as it could have, but I still wanted to get inside as soon as possible.

The various ponies near me giving me a wide berth, probably thinking I was some minotaur or something with my bipedal figure and size, I headed for the town proper.

My eyes traveled over everything as I made my trip to the Town Hall. It was hard to ignore the atmosphere around here and I don't mean the temperature.

While the buildings were actually rather tastefully done, the locals were clearly worried about something. After so long reading a pony's expressions, it wasn't hard to tell that the general mood of the town was nervous, anxious, even if on the outside the locals seemed happy and content with their lives. I had learned a while ago that ponies were terrible liars with worse poker faces. The ponies living here were scared, anxious, afraid about something.

Something that would have me to deal with if I had anything to say about it.

As I walked, I had to muse why, why did I care so much?

These were ponies, not humans like myself. Yes, they were sentient and were currently the dominant species on the planet, but they were not like me. After all these centuries, all of the things I had been through, all of the horrible things I had seen, experienced and done, I still cared about a small town filled with ponies.

Why did I care, though? Was my heart just unwilling to become cold and devoid of emotion? Did I seek acceptance from them, despite that my very appearance was enough to make ponies just like these cower in fear? Or was it left over from…them?

I had no answers and only more questions.

Maybe I just wanted to help a group that couldn't help themselves, or maybe I thought I would feel guilty knowing that I had the power to stop something and didn't because of selfish reasons.

Such an old and forgotten saying, but I completely agree. With great power, comes great responsibility.

I don't know if that is the reason I do the things I do, but it makes me feel slightly better thinking it.

Taking in the town to give my eyes something to do, I had to admit that it was a quaint little place. Not large by any standards and probably only big enough to house a few hundred residents, but it has a nice friendly feel to it. If it wasn't so close to Canterlot, I might have thought of settling down here for a while.

The locals around me didn't react much to my presence other than moving away with worried expressions. Not like there were many locals out and about anyway, what with so much snow on the ground and the cold temperature. Many businesses were closed for the day with a few exceptions here and there so I had a pretty clear path to the Town Hall, which was a moderately sized building in the center of town.

"Help! Somepony!"

Stopping, my ears perked at the voice coming from nearby. Blinking for a moment to make sure I wasn't hearing things, I looked down an alleyway between what looked to be a fabric shop and a blade sharpening one. Down the alleyway was a pure white unicorn with a curled purple mane currently fighting with some armed thug trying to steal her purse. The thug was a unicorn as well and completely unremarkable other than him wearing some dark hoodie.

Looking around, I saw that no one was either hearing the struggle or they were ignoring it. My money was on no one knowing what was going on as small towns like this had quite a few caring neighbors that would help at a moment's notice.

"Let go of my bag, ruffian. This was signed by Sapphire Shores, herself!"

"All the more reason to take it," said the thug, smirking.

I had to admit, the mare's voice was actually pretty pleasant to hear. Very upper class for such a small town and I had to take a moment to wonder if she was merely here visiting or if she lived here. Sadly, my musings were cut short when the thug pulled out a switchblade from his hoodie and extended the blade, making the mare gasp in surprise.

Sighing gently to myself, I didn't waste any more time before I entered the alleyway myself.

"You really don't want to do that, buddy."

Both ponies stopped for a moment and turned to look at me, the mare scared that she might have another to contend with and the thug confused and angry that there was a witness.

"Back away from the mare and leave, or I'll get violent."

The thug rolled his eyes and went back to what he was doing before, pressing his knife close to the mare's neck with his magic, making her whimper in fear. "I'm sure."

"Well, I tried," I shrugged, seeing that he was doing this the hard way. I smirked, even if no one could see it, and I rushed forward. Too fast for the normal eye to follow, the thug was suddenly upside down, hanging by his short tail and pinned against a wall. The mare blinked, surprised by the sudden turn of events.

"Hey, what the…let me go!"

I held out my hand and the switchblade levitated into my hand, blade still extended as I looked at it, not letting the stallion move. "Not a bad blade. Seven inches, made of stainless steel with the handle made of ebony." I turned the blade over for a moment. "Your choice. Horn or testicles, this blade should make quick work of either."

The stallion's eyes bugged out beyond the blood rushing to his head, unable to pale with so much blood displacement. "You're crazy!"

"I'm not the one who tried to rob a mare a block away from Town Hall," I responded dryly. "Now, apologize or don't, I don't care. You got one strike against me. Get three and I'll use this knife the way I want to use it."

I stepped back and the stallion fell onto the ground head first, making him wince in pain. As much as he wanted to do something, anything, to this strange character that had just appeared out of nowhere to stop what would have been a simple theft, just one thought was running through his mind.

'Gotta get out of here!'

Without apologizing or trying to get his knife back, he galloped off, leaving the mare and myself in the alleyway. I snorted and pocketed the knife, figuring I might have a use for it later and turned to leave. My job was done and I was sure the mare would be fine now.

"Thank you for your assistance," said the white and purple unicorn mare, following me out of the alleyway. "Caught me by surprise before I could truly defend myself."

I nodded but I blinked when a light blue glow surrounded my hood before it was pulled back, revealing my face to the mare I had just saved. I sighed as I saw the mare look…interested? That was a new one.

"Is there anything I can do to repay you, darling?"

I shook my head and figured it would be pointless to put my hood back up now that she had already seen my face. I happened to like it but most ponies had never seen a human before and tended to be scared of me before getting to know me. Still, I liked my heart shaped face, dark auburn hair that currently fell to my waist and hazel eyes.

"I just need to get to Town Hall, miss," I said, trying to imply that I didn't want or need anything from her and I needed to go.

"Oh, yes, of course," said the mare, now looking a little disappointed that she couldn't thank me properly. "In any case, if you need any help at all, just remember that I am Rarity at the Carousal Boutique."

I could tell that she was putting on a brave face due to my complete black wardrobe and was just pretending to not notice it, but I had to admit that she at least didn't say anything about it. Nor about myself being a different species than her.

I finally nodded and left, hearing her mutter something about needing to see Sweetie Belle or something as we headed in different directions.

Entering Town Hall didn't take much longer after that and I took note of the simple but practical lobby I entered. The warmth from the cold outside was much needed and I suspected that a unicorn had cast a spell to keep the building warm no matter the weather outside.

I hadn't put my hood back on, but I figured I might as well school my features to become emotionless so I didn't have to bother with it. Clearing my mind had become easier as the years went on and I'm not sure if that was a good thing or a bad one.

Just one more reason I'm not sure if I'm still human or not at this point.

The secretary at the desk looked fairly bored as she filled in paperwork but looked up as I approached. I could see it when she saw my face and who I was before I even got within an arm's reach from her desk. The usual polite look on the mare's face turned nervous, her eyes widened and I could distinctly smell a faint aroma of sweat coming in her direction. She licked her lips and I could tell the smile she put in place was clearly fake, but I ignored it.

"Greetings, do you have an appointment with somepony or need directions somewhere? How can I help you today?"

Someone's nervous, but at least she wasn't afraid for her life. That had happened more than once by just talking to some random pony.

"I have an appointment with someone named Mayor Mare today," I said with as little emotion in my voice as possible. I'm not heartless, but I'm not very polite to those that are afraid of me before meeting me. "She didn't give me a time frame, however."

The mare in front of me nodded and started flipping through what looked to be a day planner. She nodded after only a few seconds of looking. "Yes, she cleared most of her day to meet with you. I'll go ask if she's-"

"Amasmytht, where's that coffee I told you to make earlier?" The newcomer was an older mare who walked into the room, looking patiently resigned to her lack of caffeine. She had a tan coat with a silver mane, glasses worn on her snout while her cutie mark was a rolled piece of parchment.

The secretary had the grace to blush, not that it was overly visible with her dark purple coat. "I'll, uh, get it right away, Miss Mare. Oh, and your appointment is here."

She scampered off, probably to some break room for the beverage in question. The mayor sighed fondly before turning to me. If she was surprised or worried to see that I was a human, she hid it extremely well. "My apologies about her. Very good at her job but a barista she will never be. Now then, my office and schedule is free, so please, join me."

I shrugged and followed the earth pony through a door to the left and behind the secretary's desk and entered the mayor's office. As expected by now, it was simple and practical as it was just a medium sized room with a large desk in the center, several filing cabinets along the walls with a couple of knickknacks scattered around to make it seem more inviting.

The one thing that looked very out of place in the room, however, was a filly playing with some cheap toys in the corner. The unicorn filly felt just as out of place as she looked, apparently, as she only played half heartedly, clearly wanting to be somewhere else. The young pony's coat was a brilliant spring green while her mane was more of an emerald shade.

Raising my eyebrow slightly at the filly's appearance, I mentally shrugged and slung my backpack next to the chair in front of the desk, taking a seat. The mayor sighed slightly as she sat down as well, looking at me with a questioning look, her hooves in front of her and resting on the desk.

After several long moments of simply staring at each other, the mayor finally moved a file from one side of her desk and opened it. "Danielle Potter, only human in the world and not been sighted in Equestria in recent memory. Traveling problem solver as you have been recorded in helping almost every country and kingdom in the world. Last seen in Griffonia where you aided the griffins against the dragons in their latest war. Rose to the rank of three star general before the war ended."

I smiled slightly. "I remember being told that I would have risen higher if the war had lasted any longer."

Mayor Mare smiled slightly and turned a page in the file. "I have in this file over thirty recommendations from multiple rulers, kings, queens, princes, princesses, tsars, emperors, feudal lords and other types of leaders of why anyone should hire you. That is precisely why I wanted you for this position when I heard what you have done." She looked up from the file and looked into my eye. "I'm not going to mince words, Miss Potter. Ponyville might seem like another small town with an equally small population, but things happen here on a regular basis that require us to rebuild the place all the time. This town has been over run by everything from parasprites to traveling show mares to even an ursa minor. Just a few months ago, a rampaging magic stealing centaur blew up our library and destroyed a good portion of the town before the local librarian beat him. Now we have news that random ponies on the street are either being killed or kidnapped and I don't like it. We need a town guardian and if I can get the best, than I will do my utmost to try."

I frowned slightly as I had heard of the various stories of kidnappings and murders. I didn't like it as much as anyone else did, but I didn't have any reason to stop them until now. I hadn't been here in Equestria in so long that I kind of stopped caring about what happened here if I could avoid it.

Before I could say anything, the mayor continued. "I know that being the guardian of a small town is a big downgrade from your last job, and I am willing to compensate you-"

She stopped when I held out my hand and faintly smiled. "Miss Mayor, I have enough bits in the bank to never need to work for at least several hundred years, possibly longer, even if I spend it haphazardly. I don't care about money. What I do care about, however, are ponies being attacked and taken or killed. This might be the way to find out what is happening or it might not be, but if I can protect a town's worth of ponies by taking this job, than I'll do it." As I was talking, I tried to ignore, with some amusement, that the strange filly was poking through my bag, obviously curious. Only I could get some of the really dangerous things in there so I wasn't too worried.

The mayor's face sighed in relief but I frowned slightly again. "This town is very close to Canterlot. Wouldn't the princesses send someone if you asked them?"

"True, but they're busy most of the time and I would have no idea of their qualifications. You, however, who has a very extensive list of rulers backing you, from various different species and races…well, I would be a fool not to want you."

I smiled slightly, idly noting how the filly had stuck almost her entire body into my backpack, only her tail sticking out.

I hummed slightly as I tried to word my next question, but the door opened to reveal the secretary from before, a steaming cup of coffee in her magical aura. "Coffee, Miss Mayor."

Mayor Mare sighed and took the cup, rolling her eyes in the process. "Thank you, miss Amasytht."

Before the other mare could leave, I had to ask something. "What about your local princess? I heard something about that. Wouldn't she be magically powerful enough to deal with any threat to the town?"

Both mares snorted in amusement. "While I have every bit of faith in Twilight Sparkle," said the purple mare, smirking now, "I doubt her capacity to fix every problem."

Mayor Mare nodded with another eye roll. "I remember when she first got here and while she has come a long way since then, I still recall when she created more problems than she fixed."

"Twilight is responsible for the town almost being destroyed a few times," said the other mare, nodding in remembrance.

They both muttered something that sounded like Spikezilla, but as I wasn't privy to that incident, I decided to stay silent. While I watched both mares groan over that incident, I turned down to see the little filly finish looking around in my bag and look up at me, probably trying to figure out what I was.

I can't help it. Little fillies and colts always made me break through any façade I was using at the time and forced me to smile. The filly didn't look scared of me, more curious questioning than anything else and I had to give my first true smile all day, which made her relax slightly more. Moving slowly so she could move away if she wanted, I raised my hand and slowly started to pet her, stroking the filly's head and neck with soft movements.

The filly had looked worried for a moment but after I had started, her eyes, which were a light orange, widened in surprise before she relaxed, muttering words under her breath as I continued to pet her. Smiling some more, I shifted my hand so it was now scratching her ears and I don't think I had ever heard a filly coo in delight more than at that moment. By now her eyes were closed, mentally demanding that I keep going.

I don't really like how I get the occasional thought from others when I'm not guarding against it. A filly that would have no mental barriers would be fair game for me when I'm not actively trying to scan her thoughts.

In any case, I looked back to the mayor and found that the secretary had left again, leaving us alone in the room again.

"If I were to take the job, what would be the situation with housing?"

The mayor smiled and rummaged for something in a desk drawer. "We don't have anything in the way of hotels, I'm afraid. Ponyville is so small that it's almost pointless to have one. I do, however, know of a nice sized house for rent that I'm willing and ready to give you." She pulled out a key and put it on the desk between us. "Now, as for the filly here…"

"I was wondering about that," I commented lightly, still petting the filly behind the ears, though I could tell she was listening too now that she was being mentioned.

The mayor sighed and her eyes turned downcast, which didn't put me in the greatest of moods for this part of the conversation. "Riley here is the lone survivor from an attack on the outskirts of Ponyville. We ran a background check and found that she has no remaining family and no one wants to adopt her as she is a survivor of the attacks going around."

I raised an eyebrow as I kept petting the filly, Riley, before I frowned slightly. "You want me to adopt her." I didn't even bother to phrase it as a question.

Riley looked up in shock as the mayor started to really smirk, which kind of pissed me off, to be honest. "It would help us and her a great deal if you would, yes."

My eyes narrowed and I leaned back in my chair, Riley staring off into the distance, lost in thought for the moment. "What makes you so sure I would be a good parent?" I was, but that was beside the point.

Mayor Mare tapped my file with her hoof and her smile continued. "You forget I have read all of the recommendations praising you from every ruler and leader in thirty countries here. Most of which say something about you being good with children. The queen of Saddle Arabia even wrote: 'Danielle is so good with fillies and colts that one would be a foal to not think she would be a good mother.' And a quote from King Pyrite from the dragons: 'hatchlings naturally flock toward her and the way she cares for them is truly a blessing to see.' The file also lists all of the other children you have adopted over your long career."

I winced slightly. True, I had adopted fillies, colts, griffins, cats and even a dragon hatchling over the centuries but I wasn't sure if I was ready for it again so soon. My last adoptee, a griffin named Gabriella, had been such a treasure to raise and she had only recently decided to leave the nest, so to speak, and was already trying to find her way in the world. Raising a unicorn filly? I could, but…

Looking down at Riley, it was clear she was taking my silence for a negative and it almost hurt to see her shoulders slumped with disappointment. Frowning for a moment, knowing that I was well and truly trapped, I sighed and looked at the smug and expectant look the mayor was giving me.

"Tricking me into a trap like this, that's a new low for someone to pull on me." I shook my head. "Where are the adoption forms?"

Riley blinked and looked at me again with another look of shock as Mayor Mare gave me the forms already laid out with the filly's information on it. It just needed me to look it over and sign my name. I gave the adult mare a disapproving look before I signed the stupid forms, giving me legal custody of a young unicorn filly. At least reading the information I found that she was nine, almost ten years old with a birthday in late January.

By the time I was done, I had agreed to take care of a young green coated filly.

Mayor Mare smiled as she took the forms back. "I'll have these filed as soon as I can and it will become official by the end of the week. Congratulations. Now, the house in question is quite large. Two stories, five bedrooms and three baths, fairly large backyard, it's fully furnished with food already stocked and it's ready to be moved into at a moment's notice. The pay for this job is three thousand bits a month with another thousand bonus for taking Riley in. Any questions?"

"Do you have a map or directions to the house?" She nodded and gave the directions to the house in question, sliding the key in my direction as she did so. "Thanks. Could you give Riley and I a moment, alone?"

"Of course." Standing, the mayor left her office, leaving me alone with my new ward.

Taking a deep breath, I saw Riley looked nervous, her head down, not sure what to do. I smiled sadly and went back to rubbing the back of her neck, which seemed to calm her down slightly. "Are you okay, sweetheart?"

Riley bit her lip before she looked back at me, still nervous. "What's going to happen now?"

Dang, she actually had a very cute Irish accent! It wasn't that strong, but it was definitely there. I took another breath and brought her onto my lap fully, making her stiffen for a moment before relaxing slightly. "Riley, I know I don't know you and you don't know me, but I'll be there whenever you want to talk about anything. I'm not your mother and I won't try and replace her, but I promise I will give you as much love as I can, okay?"

Riley gave a shaky breath and leaned into my chest, trembling slightly from fear or nerves, I don't know. "…What are you, anyway?"

"Human. The last one in this world as well. I promise you that I won't hurt you. I've raised fillies before and I know what I'm doing."

She slowly nodded, enjoying the soothing hand slowly running through her mane and coat. "I…I don't know if I can call you mom…"

"Take it at your own pace, sweetheart," I smiled. "I'm not expecting you to call me that either, at least not now."

Riley gave me a nervous smile and it was clear that she was willing to give this a try as much as I was.

Nodding, I made a motion that I was going to stand and she jumped off my lap, allowing me to do so. Looking outside, I saw that the light snowfall that had started when I had entered Town Hall had increased to a full scale blizzard. Frowning, I turned when the door opened to reveal the mayor again.

"Finished?" when I nodded, she continued. "Like I said, the house in question is fully stocked, which includes fire wood for the fire place if you need it. Before doing that, though, might I recommend that you go to the local bakery first? It's on the way and I think Riley could use some food in her."

I nodded slowly and looked at Riley, who did look a bit under nourished.

Getting directions to the bakery as well, we left the office and, making sure that everything was secured in my backpack, threw it back over my shoulders. Then came the daunting task of what to do about the blizzard.

"Uh, Miss Danielle?" said Riley, looking at me nervously about the snow outside. "I, uh…can't really handle the cold."

I gave that some consideration before I nodded in an idea. "Come on, you." Opening my coat, I picked up Riley and stowed her inside, her small body just tiny enough to fit. "That should help."

Riley was clearly surprised by the action but didn't really complain about the cold when we got outside, giving the mayor one last word of thanks.

(Third POV)

Danielle started moving through the blizzard in a brisk pace, not wanting to be outside in this weather as much as possible. She could endure it just fine but the filly in her coat would not for too long.

Riley swallowed as she huddled into her new guardian's chest, already shivering from the snow. It wasn't as bad as she suspected, the human's clothes good at warding away the cold, but she still felt terrible in this weather.

The little filly didn't really know what to make of this whole situation. The human she was clinging to had been nice to her so far and she had to admit, she did like the way she had called her sweetheart earlier, but she was right, they didn't know much about each other yet.

She was careful of letting herself trust again as the last time she had done so, she had been hurt badly, as had her mother. But now that she was gone…she tried not to think about that, just wanting to stay away from the freezing cold weather.

She could tell that Danielle was powerful. Some unicorns having a sense of being able to tell how much magical power someone had, but she had no idea by how much or if Danielle was even a good person. True, she had seemed nice in the office of the stuffy earth pony lady, but she had no clue if Danielle could be trusted.

Danielle could feel Riley shiver under her coat, trying to warm herself in the powerful snow flurry around them. Mentally sighing at the poor weather, Danielle channeled magic from her into the little filly clutching to her, keeping her from getting too cold.

After several long minutes where Riley was sure she would freeze if she were out much longer, they found the bakery in question. It was a nice looking place that was built to look like a gingerbread house covered in icing and candy. The sign over the front door said it was 'Sugarcube Corner.'

Opening the door, Danielle saw that the place was fairly well packed with locals of all three pony races, mostly mares. Ponyville was a mostly mare dominated town so it wasn't that surprising.

The inside of the bakery was much warmer and Riley poked her head out of Danielle's coat to look around, probably tempted by the scent of pastries and other treats like all fillies.

The moment Danielle entered and the closest ponies saw her make her way through the shop toward a free table, she could hear the whispers and murmurs. It probably didn't help she was dressed in all black, but she ignored it as much as possible.

Still, she had to hear at least some of what the locals were saying.

"What is that? A hairless monkey?"

"Never seen one of those before."

"Think it's sentient?"

"Poor filly, stuck with that thing."

It was a little known fact but some ponies were extremely racist, with those from small towns and communities being the worst. By all rights, Ponyville wouldn't even be worthy of a train station if it wasn't so close to the capital.

It seemed that Riley was either too focused on getting some food in her or she just didn't hear the murmurs as she didn't react to them. There was only one free table in the whole place and it was a standard booth so Danielle calmly opened her coat enough for the filly to jump out, only shivering slightly from the cold outside.

At least the locals that hadn't seen Riley before now looked surprised to see her, which shut them up for a moment.

Standing on the seat beside the table, Riley nervously looked at Danielle, who sat down heavily across from her newly adopted daughter. "Uh, Miss Danielle?"

"Hmm?"

"I, uh, have to use the bathroom."

Stopping what she was doing for a moment, Danielle nodded. "I see one over there," she nodded toward the public restroom at the back of the bakery. "Need any help or can you handle it yourself?"

Riley raised an eyebrow. "I can manage." With that, she zoomed off toward the bathroom, causing Danielle to smile at the cute scene she had made.

With that small crises averted, Danielle leaned back in her seat, trying to relax as much as she could when the entire building was staring at her.

While a loving mother and wife, Cupcake, the co-owner of the bakery and current waitress, had no interest in taking the stranger's order. When she had first seen the strange figure, she had first thought of minotaurs, but the body type, while similar, was too different to equal one. Not to mention the entirely black outfit she was wearing was more than a little intimidating.

Still, Cupcake swallowed and made her way toward the newcomer, ready to either take a customer's order or run depending on what would happen when she approached.

Approaching the lone bipedal figure still sitting alone at the booth, she smiled as much as she could. "Welcome to Sugarcube Corner, how can I help you?"

Danielle could tell that the mare next to her was nervous, but ignored it like it was second nature to her, which it was by now. She hummed slightly before answering. "If you have one, I'll take a large cinnamon roll, a blueberry muffin and can I ask if you sell real food as well as pastries?"

Cupcake frowned. "We mostly specialize in pastries but I might be able to arrange something."

Danielle nodded. "The filly I came in here with hasn't been eating much lately so if you could arrange something, perhaps a salad or rice and vegetables, it would be appreciated."

"I can work something out."

"Do you have any whole pastries for sale?"

"I finished a chocolate cake about an hour ago."

"Perfect, I'll take that on our way out." Danielle pulled out a large handful of bits and put them on the table, much to the surprise of everyone in the room. "Keep the change if it's too much and tell me if it isn't enough."

"Uh," Cupcake blinked as she was sure that the amount on the table was twice as much as the bill would be, but she didn't want to argue with someone over this. "Of course. I'll have your order out as soon as possible."

Danielle nodded and the lone human in the room could tell that Cupcake was both confused and happy about what had happened as she left back into the kitchens. Letting out a slow breath, the red headed human relaxed back into her seat again, looking into the opposite wall as if in deep thought.

About a minute later, Riley came back looking much better. She raised an eyebrow when she noticed everyone in the room still staring at them and started to become uncomfortable. Sitting down, she looked at Danielle questioningly. "Um, why are they staring, Miss Danielle?"

The human next to her smiled sadly. "I'm just different and locals don't like those of other species, apparently. Don't worry about it sweetie." Riley didn't look convinced but slowly shrugged and made herself comfortable. It helped when everyone had heard Danielle and some shifted awkwardly, looking away now as they continued what they had been doing.

Danielle smiled slightly before turning to Riley. "I ordered something for you that you might like. If not, I'm sure we'll find something in our new house you might like instead."

"Uh, I'm sure I'll eat anything you give me," said Riley, honestly too hungry to care what she ate at the moment.

Before either of them could ask or say anything else, a blur got their attention and a pegasus landed next to them. She was probably in her early to mid twenties with a cyan blue coat and a rainbow mane and tail cut in a tomboyish style. She pointed a hoof at Danielle, who blinked at her. "Did that filly say your name was Danielle? As in the same Danielle that won the last five fighting tournaments in Japan? The one who beat the fearsome Minotaur Bronze Strength in hand to hand combat?"

Blinking again, Danielle snorted in amusement. "That Minotaur wasn't that tough, honestly. Yeah, he was strong, but his technique was terrible and he relied too much on his left side."

By now, everyone was paying attention again and the rainbow mare smirked. "Yeah, what ever happened after that? You aren't defending your title?"

"Nah, gave it up a few years ago," said Danielle, relaxing again and the mare looked at her incredulously. "Seriously, I had fun in Japan, but other places needed me more than that and I learned what I wanted from there."

Riley, who had been listening intently, raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Fighting tournament? Where have you been?"

Danielle smiled a real smile and reached into her bag for a moment. Looking for a moment, she pulled out a large album and opened to reveal the multitude of photos inside. "I've been everywhere at least once, Riley." She turned to a specific page and showed it off to her newly adopted daughter. "This is me in Japan when I was learning some new techniques under the Earth pony Burning Aura. He and a griffin friend of his named Scar Claw taught me a lot over the course of a few years there." She turned the page a few times and nodded. "Here's me with King Blood Beak in Griffonia only a few months ago."

"What's that uniform you're wearing?" asked Riley, getting into the photos and pointing.

Danielle chuckled. "That's the Griffin military uniform for the rank of General. Managed to make it to three stars before the war ended and I wasn't needed there anymore. Came over to Ponyville shortly after that."

The rainbow pegasus was about to ask something when Cupcake appeared again and dropped off their food. "Here you are, dear," she said to Riley, who looked ravenously at the steamed rice and vegetables in front of her, but even more so at the muffin placed in front of her. Cupcake then turned to Danielle. "I'll have your other order ready in a moment."

The human nodded with a smile and turned toward her cinnamon roll, which was still warm from the oven and had just the right amount of icing on it.

Riley wasted no time and started on her food, proving that she really hadn't eaten much in a while. Still, her eyes never left her new guardian, who ate at a more sedate pace.

"So," said the rainbow mare, who seemingly refused to leave. "Is it true that you fought and defeated a dragon that was attacking a town?"

"Which time?" asked Danielle between bites, dabbing at her mouth with a napkin. "That time in Europe when a dragon was ransacking a German town? That dragon in Africa that was holding locals hostage for diamonds?"

The mare blinked, clearly not hearing about those. "No, the one in Japan."

Danielle's eyes narrowed and the air in the room seemed to grow colder to everyone but Riley, who noticed, but didn't feel it herself. The entire room seemed to shudder for a moment and the pegasus swallowed nervously.

"That, is an incident that I won't talk about. Queen Tiamat was not a dragon but a pure monster that refused to see anyone other than her as intelligent or sapient. That's all I'll say on the matter."

The moment she finished, the air seemed to regain its warmth and everyone breathed a sigh of relief that the moment had passed.

Several long moments then passed in an awkward silence before an unexpected newcomer interrupted their temporary reverie. "Hi! You look funny! What are you?"

Everyone turned to face a very unexpected figure. First, the speaker was a filly, a very young one about half Riley's age, so maybe four or five. Second, she was an Alicorn filly, which was supposed to be impossible, but here she was. Danielle saw both the wings and horn and her eye almost twitched in remembrance of better times.

The filly had a pink coat with a curly mass for a mane and tail that was a combination of pink and purple. Her eyes were very innocent and they just had the power to make anyone melt just by looking at them. Though Danielle could tell that something was slightly off…

"Flurry," said a more mature voice and Danielle turned to see another Alicorn that appeared to be an older version of the filly. The red head's eyes widened slightly, taking in this mare's beauty. Something seemed slightly off about her too but she was easily able to ignore it, looking into those magenta eyes of the older mare and mother. "You know that was rude." Looking at Danielle, she gave an apologetic look. "Sorry about her, miss."

Danielle gave her own reassuring smile and the mother in front of her stared into the human's deep and expressive hazel eyes. "No problem, princess." She had known of there being a princess of love that was also an Alicorn, but she had never actually met her or seen what she looked like before now. She was…stunning. She smiled as much as she could and looked at the filly, Flurry. "I'm known as a human and very rare in this world. I'm Danielle, and you?"

The filly, who was currently looking at her inquisitively, smiled as well. "Flurry Heart. I like you!"

Danielle nodded and turned to Riley, who was just finishing her food. "Looks like you have a new friend, Riley."

The green unicorn turned to Flurry Heart and shrugged, not very interested in a young Alicorn.

The rainbow mare looked at the princess of love and nodded to her respectfully. "Princess Cadence."

Cadence smiled at Rainbow before her gaze became fixated on this strange creature in front of her that Flurry seemed to like for some reason. Her daughter might be young, but she was already a good judge of character and was rarely wrong.

Danielle, if that was her name, was so different than anything or anyone she had ever met by appearance alone, but if Flurry was correct, than this strange figure could be trusted. Looking at Riley, Cadence saw that there was some connection between the older filly and Danielle and she had been watching enough in the shadows to see some sort of parental bond starting to form.

She had to admit, it was kind of attractive to see parental love starting to bloom and Danielle was very maternal, as Cadence could see from her domain of love. Not to mention that those hazel eyes of Danielle's were very attractive to her.

Danielle and Cadence stared at each other for a long moment before they were interrupted by Cupcake putting a large box on the table. "There's your last order. Thank you for coming and come again." It was clear she had forced that out and hadn't really meant it but at least she was trying to be polite.

Danielle, seeing that both she and Riley were done with their food, nodded and stood up. "Ready to go?" she asked Riley and the filly nodded, getting up as well. She then turned to Cadence and the other mare. "Good to meet you both, but we should get to our new home. Until next time."

Giving their good-byes, Danielle and Riley left the bakery with their box, the small unicorn jumping into Danielle's coat again as they went back into the snow.

XXXXXX

Staring at the moon was really one of the few things the younger sister did anymore. The lunar princess had her ears down, tail wrapped around her and eyes downcast even as they looked up at the celestial body above her. So many things she wished had not happened the way they had, so many things left unsaid and undone, so many things she regretted, and had not been able to fix since she had come back.

Princess Luna might be thousands of years old, but she had stopped aging at about the time of her twenty-fifth birthday, and being an Alicorn had protected her mind from the ravages of age. The down side to being partially immortal, however, was remembering everything, or at least almost everything, that had happened in her very long life.

And not forgiving herself for her failures was, sadly, a part of her personality.

She had her sister and while Celestia was fairly understanding about everything, it just wasn't the same as it had been over a thousand years before. She had had everything then, and just because she had been jealous, she had ruined everything. She had been selfish and had essentially had a child-like temper tantrum that she was still being punished for.

Celestia had not helped and her actions had only made her furious when she had returned. Still, she had swallowed her rage and how hurt she was and pretended that everything was fine, despite it not being close to being true.

The years she had been back had not been pleasant. While nice to be around ponies and her sister again, she missed the one she truly wanted to see once more and it was Celestia's fault she was not here. She also had to deal with the fear the common pony had for her thanks to her failed coup over a thousand years ago. Her darker persona compared to her sister had not helped matters either as she was just not as appealing as the other princesses.

She was still a little ticked off over that, that she had a niece that was an Alicorn as well, Princess of Love to add salt onto the wound. She had been gone for a thousand years and Cadence's appearance seemed like a slap to the face on top of everything else, but she had grinned and bore it well, though she didn't like spending time with her if she could avoid it.

Oh, we need another princess? Let's just grab this pegasus and turn her into an Alicorn! Who needs a millennia old Princess of the Night when we can have love instead!

All in all, she thought she handled her temper very well around the pink interloper whenever they were forced to be in the same room together. In the last few years, she had only been snappish at her twice and answered questions directed at her as courteously as possible.

She sighed internally, wanting another princess to be around her. One that was far more enjoyable to be around, the one that had stolen her heart all those centuries ago and would do anything to get her back.

Knowing that her sister was probably asleep by now, and how Celestia had deflected questions about the subject whenever Luna brought it up, the lunar princess had nothing else to do.

She watched the moon.

XXXXXX

Cadence's eye twitched as she watched the expressions on the lavender pony in front of her, Flurry Heart frowning between her legs. The Princess of Love swallowed any derogatory words she wanted to say to her former favorite foal sitting client as she tried to keep her temper.

It was clear that Cadence had not had a good few months and she needed a place to stay for a while. Twilight had been a great friend the last time they had met and she truly did not want that to end now, but the newest princess was making it difficult.

"Twilight-"

"Stop, just stop," said Twilight, interrupting her before the older mare could say anything else. Twilight had been pacing in front of her for the last half hour and the love princess had sensed everything from anger, confusion, rage, and more confusion before it was now currently stuck on furious. Stopping her pacing, Twilight turned to her old foal sitter with a stern expression, hiding how angry she really was. "You left my brother."

"He didn't really give me much of a choice, Twilight," said Cadence in a blunt tone, eyes narrowing. Cadence was tired from lack of sleep recently and while she had more stamina than average as an Alicorn, she had been run ragged the last few months. "I'm just asking for a place to stay for a bit, not to take anypony's side."

Twilight snorted. "Why didn't you try and find a way to fix whatever problem it was? For Celestia's sake, Cadence, you two had a filly together! In a marriage, you work out your problems, not divorce your spouse over any small argument!"

Cadence growled but reigned herself in before she did something she would regret later. Flurry whimpered slightly between her legs but the mother put a calming hoof to her side without breaking eye contact with Twilight. This mare in front of her had no clue, no idea what her marriage with Shining had been like and now she had the gall to try and lecture her about what marriage was?

"Some things can't be worked out, Twilight, and Shining broke several rules we had set up when we had started dating, let alone agreed with when we married." Cadence really thought she was being generous with the ignorant mare in front of her. She had never really wanted to marry Shining Armor but had been forced to at the time, but to Tartarus with that now!

Twilight's expression hardened, which was not what the older mare wanted to see. "All I'm seeing is a former sister-in-law that didn't try hard enough to keep the happily ever after she lost. Get out of my house, Cadence. We're not family anymore."

That probably stung more than Cadence expected but she struggled to keep her composure, not wanting to scare Flurry, who was still whimpering. "You'd deny your niece a place to stay out in the cold?" She had hoped to use Flurry like this but the bile rose in her throat at the mere thought of using her daughter like a bargaining chip. She should be a better mother than this, but she was getting desperate.

"Not my problem. Apologize to Shining and take him back, then I'll consider her my niece again."

Flurry was constantly whispering, "Not going back to daddy," over and over again and Cadence knew that would never happen.

Finally, the older princess snorted. "Fine. At least now I can see that the title of Princess of Friendship only goes so far. Come on, Flurry." She made for the door to the castle, Flurry following with tears in her eyes.

The snow was only getting worse the longer the day went and it was now close to evening, which meant that it would get even colder than it already was. Swallowing, Cadence used some magic to keep herself and Flurry from getting too cold, her magic already stretched thin from being so tired, and took off from the Castle of Friendship.

Twilight might have turned her down but she had other options she could use. She didn't want to go back to Canterlot as there was a pretty good chance that Shining would turn up there at some point to complain. As for her options, well, Fluttershy was so nice that it would be hard for her to turn down anyone, let alone a friend in this weather. Rarity was the Element of Generosity so it was likely that she would let them stay with her for at least one day.

She had enough bits in her saddle bags to rent a house for a few days if it came to that but she would prefer not to as that was fairly impractical and something that took time and energy, something she didn't have.

If worst came to absolute worst, she could get back onto the train and find a place to stay somewhere else, but that would require possibly hours of staying awake even longer than she already had been in vain hope.

Something on her face must have transferred to her daughter as Flurry looked up at her, breaking her out of her thoughts. "What now, mommy?"

Shaking out of her reverie, Cadence tried to smile as comfortingly as she could to the very young filly currently pressed against her side. "Now, we try and see mommy's other friends and hope one of them will let us stay with them." She really hoped that Fluttershy or Rarity would give them a room for at least one night. The sun had pretty much set and the air around them was getting colder, even with her warming spell.

Sighing, she tried to take as much comfort from Flurry's presence as she could and they started making their way back to the town proper, the castle being on the outskirts of Ponyville itself.

Wondering which of Twilight's friends she should try first, she frowned as, even though it was rapidly approaching night time, it was getting darker and colder even more so than it should. It was as if some sort of magic was influencing her surroundings and Cadence gulped, using a wing to make a make shift sort of shield for her daughter, who was also feeling the effects.

The cold air was getting unnaturally colder, far beyond anything pegasi could manage with their weather magic in such a short time. Her immediate thoughts came up with Windigos, but she had banished that thought at being impossible, knowing that they were much farther north.

As they continued walking, Cadence saw that the street lights near them suddenly went out on their own, as did all of the other lights in the nearby houses, leaving them plunged in complete darkness. The sky was overcast so there was no moon and even though Cadence had slightly better night vision than average, it was completely useless in this darkness.

'This isn't just ordinary everyday darkness, this is…advanced darkness.'

Her tongue wetting her very dry lips, she could feel her heart start to hammer in her chest. Next to her, Flurry was clearly panicking, clutching at her leg as hard as she could. Trying more magic in her weakened state, she lit her horn to try and see around her and while it worked, she could only see a thin trail around her.

"Everything will be alright," said Cadence softly, but she wasn't sure who she was trying to reassure, Flurry or herself.

The light from her horn showed that, even though it was clearly below freezing before, the windows and doors around her were being covered in ice and frost at an unnatural and rapid pace.

Having been standing in the middle of the street for the last few minutes, Cadence tried to move again, when she heard a rushing sound, making her whip her head around in a panic.

She and Flurry weren't alone out here…

Breathing rapidly, the Princess of Love and her daughter, who had created her own light with her own horn, looked around, unable to move from their position from fear.

The sound seemed to settle behind them and they managed to both turn around, Cadence pointing the light she was shining at what was now in front of her.

Her eyes widened. The figure in front of her was huge. Clearly bipedal and standing at eight feet tall was a large skeletal figure looking like it was dressed in a tattered black cloak. The hood was up so Cadence couldn't see its face, but it was giving a deep rattling breath as it seemed to suck more than air from around itself.

Cadence tried to turn and run, but found herself rooted to the spot again, wishing she could move as she watched the figure in fear and terror. Flurry, not being as frozen as her mother, shot a beam from her horn only for the impact to not have any effect on the creature in front of them, looking like it hadn't even felt it.

Then the creature slowly moved toward them, seemingly gliding above the snow without touching it.

Thoughts and moments kept flashing in Cadence's mind, distracting her and keeping her from focusing.

"Be a good little princess and stay here, won't you? I might actually spare you once I take over Equestria, I could use a new maid that's not a Changeling for once."

"Bow to me, princess. The Crystal Empire will be mine again!"

"Leave me alone, Caddy! We both knew we didn't love each other when we married and Flurry will get what you just got if you bother me one more time!"

Her worst memories and experiences flashing through her mind prevented her from being able to do anything and somehow, she knew the figure in front of her was responsible for it. She didn't know how she knew that but she did.

Looking up again, she was startled at how close the robed figure was now, standing right in front of her now. Flurry had wrapped herself in a magic bubble but it was flickering and she knew it wouldn't last much longer. The filly was softly crying but Cadence couldn't hear what her daughter was crying about, only that it was horrible.

The figure reached out and what Cadence recognized as a hand came out from under its robes, and she struggled hard not to gag. The appendage was mottled green, covered in scabs and looked dead looking, like someone had cut it off and left it to decompose in water for a long time. The hand moved closer to her and she couldn't resist it, she was too tired and weak to struggle any more than she already had.

Her mind was utterly blank except for her disgust at what was going on and the horrible thoughts and memories flaring through her mind. Her eyes were growing hazy as the hand grabbed the back of her head and pulled her closer while the other hand removed its hood.

Cadence had thought this couldn't get any worse, she was wrong. Feeling ready to pass out, she looked up and saw that the figure didn't have a face. No eyes, nose, or anything but blank green and scabbed skin. But there was a mouth, a wide shapeless maw that was pulling much more than air into it.

The hand behind her head pulled her up as it leaned down, Cadence somehow knowing that it was trying to kiss her. Why, she didn't know, but she knew it couldn't be a good thing and she doubled her feeble struggles. The hand dragging her forward, however, was too strong, too iron clad for her break it and, as tears welled in her eyes, she could only hope that Flurry could get away while this thing was busy with her.

"That was pretty good for a whore, Caddy, but I expect you to do better next time."

'Sick bastard,' she thought in her blind panic and what could be her final moments, 'why did he have to be the last thing I ever heard?'

When Cadence and the robed figure were only a few inches apart, the princess took a moment to realize that she was let go, the hand released her and she fell face first into the snow. Using the little strength she still had, she used her forelegs to feebly push herself up and she saw the figure being covered in some sort of white fire. Her mind trying to process what was happening, she was aware that the air was suddenly becoming warmer, still cold with snow everywhere, but the unnatural chill was fading by the second.

The robed figure that had attacked her was seemingly and silently screaming in agony as the white fire covered more and more of its body, a ring of the same fire prevented it from going anywhere. Soon, the only thing that was left of her assailant was smoke, ash, and several balls of light that faded from view.

Utterly exhausted, drained of any and all energy, Cadence could barely keep her eyes open and she slumped into the snow again. The last thing she saw before she fell unconscious was a rush of red and black gently rubbing her back.

"Don't worry, I'll get you and your daughter out of here to safety. It's gone now."

The pink princess let the darkness overcome her.

XXXXXX

The house she had been given the directions to was actually very nice, Danielle concluded as she let Riley out of her coat again. Riley shivered heavily but the interior of the house was warm and Danielle figured she might as well get a fire going in the nearby fireplace to rid her new ward the last of her chill.

The house was fully furnished like the mayor had said and Danielle had to nod at the tasteful furniture around her, though they were a bit bland. The kitchen was fully stocked but she decided to go shopping at a later date to pick up any particulars Riley might want. She put the cake she had gotten from the bakery into the refrigerator and looked to her new adopted daughter, looking around curiously.

She smiled. "While we're here in Ponyville, this is where we're staying. Why don't you go upstairs and find a room you like?"

Riley nodded, but looked nervous. "Could you, uh, come with me?"

Smiling again, Danielle nodded and they headed up the stairs to check out the layout. She was a bit surprised to find everything was large enough for her, as she was a bit taller than a pony, but she hoped the mayor had seen that coming when she was organizing everything and that was why this was the house she got.

It didn't take long to discover that Riley had chosen the biggest of the non-master bedrooms and had wasted no time in making herself comfortable. Danielle decided to be the good parent she was and pulled out a spare toothbrush for her, making Riley groan.

"Do I have to?"

Danielle gave her a look and Riley sighed, both heading to the bathroom. True, Danielle could have easily used magic, but there was something comforting about doing something by hand the old fashioned way. The young filly next to her grumbled slightly but didn't complain as she brushed her own teeth, though she looked slightly happier when Danielle rubbed her head for agreeing without too much of a fight.

Riley had been yawning ever since they had arrived and looked ready for an early night. It was only mid-evening but that didn't mean much after everything. "Tired sweetheart?"

Riley nodded sleepily and settled into the plain bed she had chosen. They would go shopping to customize the place later, but for now neither of them cared about that and just wanted to go to bed. Danielle made sure her daughter was comfortable and even kissed her forehead, making Riley blush in embarrassment. "Miss Danielle~"

Danielle only smiled and rubbed Riley's ears, making her stop complaining. "Good night sweetheart. I'll see you in the morning."

Riley gave another nod and got comfortable under the blankets. Danielle left the room and turned out the lights with a backward glance and closed the door to the room, sighing as she did so.

It had been a while since she had taken care of a child so young and she had to admit, she kind of liked it. Most of the children she had adopted had been either a little older or were teenagers at the time. Letting out a breath, she waved her hand over the house while concentrating on what she wanted, nodding when she felt the new ward settle over the building.

If Riley woke up in the middle of the night and needed her, the ward would alert her right away. It was something she had come up with a long time ago and it worked as well now as it did back then.

Frowning, not even bothering to put up other wards at the moment as she would wait until the next morning to do that, she ignored the master bedroom and headed out the front door again, using warming charms to keep the cold away as she put her hood back up.

She had been hired to protect this town and patrol for any monsters or enemies and she was going to do that. Being dressed in all black helped in that as she stood in her front yard while wondering where she should start.

Without trying, she found herself staring at the entrance to the Everfree Forest. Hands in her pockets and looking at the entrance, her mind went back to when she had used to live in this forest with those two, their castle, their home and fortress against the world. Now, the forest had overgrown and she had no doubt that the castle was nothing more than a thousand year old ruin by now.

She found that it did hurt slightly to think of the home she had lived in for so long was nothing more than a relic from the past, forgotten and unloved.

'Canterlot castle is probably bigger and nicer, but the Everfree Castle holds so many memories that I can't let go. At least, not now. Maybe later.'

The entire forest was different than the rest of the country and she had a sneaking suspicion as to why, though she had no proof to support her theory. Weather was easy for Pegasi magic to manipulate but some sort of magical field prevented the forest from working under those rules. Like the forest itself was making its own chaos magic to counteract a pony's natural harmony based power.

Danielle sighed at that thought, knowing of only one person who specialized in chaos magic to such an extent. Hoping that she never ran into him again, she turned and walked down the path next to the forest, making sure to not enter the tree line.

A few minutes later she came across a cottage on the other side of a small creek, making her fairly surprised that someone was brave enough to live so close to such a forest. Hoping that the dark windows of the cottage meant that whoever lived there was asleep and safe, she turned to head back the way she came when she felt a disturbance.

She stopped dead in her tracks as she let the sensation she was feeling wash over her, knowing what it was. Her eyes widened and her mind couldn't process what it was for a moment, disbelief written all over her currently unseen face. She took in the cold atmosphere, the unnatural chill in the air and a trail of dead vegetation she just noticed leading toward Ponyville.

Without warning, she broke into a run, moving much faster than a standard person or even a pony would be capable of. Her mind was playing scenarios but she was still disbelieving that she was feeling what she thought she was.

'Impossible! Inconceivable! I destroyed them all, every last one of them! Millennia ago! They cannot be back, not now!'

Bursting into the town square again, she followed the chill and ran even faster, hoping she wasn't too late. The spread of the cold had temporarily stopped, meaning that the thing responsible wasn't moving for the moment. That either meant that it was considering its surroundings or next move, or that it had found a victim.

'Don't be late, don't be late, don't be late!'

Skidding around a corner, she saw what she had hoped she would never see again. Tall, covered in tattered robes, sucking in the despair of its victim, was a dementor. It was completely absurd to ever think that one could be back after so long, so ridiculous of an idea that she would never had believed it if she wasn't looking right at one. Even worse, it had a victim and was moving its head closer, ready for a kiss.

Danielle's blood was on fire as she glared at one of her old enemies. Furious that she had missed even one in her massive genocide of these soul sucking monsters. Not needing a wand, not needing a real intent, she let her mind drift back briefly to one of the last times she had held her lover in her arms before she raised her hand.

'EXPECTO PATRONUM!'

She didn't need to even think the words, she had the spell down perfectly, but it gave her a sense of grim pleasure to watch as her patronus burst into existence in front of her. Danielle tried to hide her wince as she saw what her silvery guardian had taken the form of but the patronus looked to be covered in a dazzling white fire, burning everything impure away from it. The guardian launched itself at the soul sucking demon and crashed into it, sending it flying back. It then beat the dementor down into the ground and set its robes on fire, watching as the pure white flames burned the tattered robes and rotten flesh.

Danielle watched impassively as her patronus destroyed the dementor to ash, even when it left behind the balls of light behind that she knew had been the trapped souls the demon had taken in its life, suffering a fate worse than death. Now that the wraith was gone, the souls would finally go onto their afterlife, no longer suffering in a plane of existence not their own.

Breathing heavily and not even watching as her patronus looked at her before vanishing, she got onto a knee and saw that the one she had saved had been the Alicorn mother she had met earlier, Cadence if she remembered the name correctly. That meant…she saw a glowing golden bubble for the first time and knew that the little filly inside was safe for now. The bubble faded to reveal the little filly in question, Flurry Heart, passed out in the snow like her mother.

Leaning down to Cadence and checking her over, she saw that the older mare was barely conscious and was extremely close to passing out completely. Understandable and actually preferable after everything and Danielle nodded to her reassuringly.

"Don't worry, I'll get you and your daughter out of here to safety. It's gone now."

The pink Alicorn passed out. Hoping that her message got through to her, she scooped up the young filly into her arms and cradled her close while using magic to levitate the fairly young princess.

Sighing, she began her trek back to her new house.

XXXXX

The Princess of the Night's eyes flew open the moment she had felt a foreign magical signature she had not felt in a very long time. Swallowing, she lifted her horn and tried to trace the energy but it was too faint to properly do so. Still, she kept trying, hoping and praying she was correct.

The magic she had felt had been from fairly far away, beyond Canterlot to the towns only about thirty to fifty miles away, but she knew what she had felt and it made her more excited than any other time in the last thousand plus years.

Should she tell her sister when the older sibling was awake? After thinking about it for a moment, she decided not to unless she was absolutely sure. Even then, she possibly might not anyway just for her being angry at her sister for her actions.

She took in a deep breath and let hope fill her, something she hadn't felt in a long time. The lunar princess would not lose her again if she had anything to say about it!

XXXXXX

Cadence woke up feeling absolutely horrible, groaning at the very painful headache throbbing through her head. The last thing she had remembered was being attacked by a monster after Twilight had turned her down and passing out.

She shuddered at the mere thought of what she had been through. The creature had somehow managed to make her relive her worst memories and moments, forcing them on her until she had no good memories left. She didn't want to even think about what it did to Flurry.

FLURRY HEART!

Scrambling to her hooves in a blind panic, she was breathing heavily as she looked around wildly, trying to find her daughter. She only relaxed slightly when she saw the still sleeping filly in a play pen next to her, a blanket draped over her as some drool escaped and ran down her chin.

Slowly calming down, seeing that her daughter was fine and nearby, she sat down on the bed she had been sleeping in and looked around, curious. The room she was in was an undecorated bedroom that only had the essentials, but it didn't look dangerous.

Checking her body, she found she didn't have any sort of magic blocking items on her person and, if anything, she felt much better than she had a moment ago. Now that her headache was fading due to her Alicorn biology, she could tell that she felt, not good, but better.

Wondering whose house this was, she took a moment to decide what to do with Flurry before mentally shrugging, knowing that she didn't want to leave her daughter behind if she could help it. Carefully, she levitated Flurry out of the play pen and placed her on her back, the blanket still wrapped around the young filly. Moving slowly so as to not awaken her cargo, she used magic to open the door and look around.

Hearing noise coming from downstairs, she headed in that direction, careful to mind the stairs and saw that the living room of the house she was in was also bare of personal effects. Frowning slightly, she followed the sounds she still heard and found the kitchen with no problem.

Eyes widening, she saw that, currently making batter for pancakes or waffles, was the same being she had met the previous night in the bakery. What was her name and species? Danielle the human? Not sure what to do, she merely watched the red haired human prepare the meal and felt some sort of feeling in her heart, examining this person perform a menial task was making her heart race more than it should.

When Danielle noticed her, she simply nodded with a smile. "Morning princess. How do you take your pancakes?"

Cadence blinked in surprise at the question and smiled faintly. "Strawberries, if you have them. Danielle, correct?"

"Correct and I'm sorry to say we are out of fresh strawberries. This house was stocked before I moved in last night but the lack of fresh produce is slightly annoying. I have frozen strawberries I can heat for you if you would like?"

Questions were filling Cadence's mind at that but the most important thing to her at that moment was the status of the strawberries. "Heated is fine. Once she's awake, I know that Flurry would like the same."

Danielle nodded and continued to work, pulling out a pan from a cupboard and, after waiting for it to warm, started making pancakes.

The moment was so strange and surreal to her that it took Cadence a moment to truly process everything around her. Slowly levitating Flurry over to the nearby couch, she cocked her head to the side as she watched Danielle pour an equal amount of batter onto the pan she was working at, making a trio of roughly proportional pancakes.

Finally, the silence was starting to get to her. "How, how did I get here? What happened last night?"

Danielle sighed slightly as she tested if a pancake was ready to be flipped or not. "I've been hired to be Ponyville's new guardian by the mayor and last night was my first patrol. I'm sorry to say that you were the victim of a Dementor, the first one, to my knowledge, in thousands of years."

"Dementor…" Cadence mulled that word around her head for a moment, aware that Flurry's nose was twitching now that the smell of pancakes was filling the kitchen. "Tall and hooded, tattered robes?"

"That's the one," said Danielle, working at the stove and talking at the same time. "They force their victims to relive their worst memories and moments, leaving them without any good ones until they are nothing more than a shell of their former selves." She shook her head in disgust. "Foul loathsome creatures. They should be extinct, so I have no idea how or why one attacked you last night."

Cadence looked at her supposed savior and host for a few moments before shuddering slightly. "What killed them?"

Danielle's smile turned sad as she placed a plate of pancakes on the kitchen table for her and a smaller one for Flurry. "I did. Excuse me but I have to wake up Riley for breakfast. I'll be right back." She placed some syrup and a bowl of thawed strawberries on the table as well as she left the kitchen and went up the stairs, ready to get her daughter.

The pink Alicorn swallowed as she looked at the food on the table, honestly starving but unsure if she could stomach any food at the moment. She had no idea if Danielle had told her even remotely the truth but some things did make sense. If these Dementor things were real, than the human had given her a very accurate description of what they could do.

She was so lost in thought for that brief moment that she was shaken out of it when she heard Flurry stretch out on the couch with a yawn. The filly rubbed the sleep from her eyes with her foreleg before she turned to the table and saw the pancakes. Her expression instantly turned ravenous and she wasted no time in jumping onto the chair next to the table, eager to start eating. "Morning mommy, thank you for these."

Cadence smiled slightly. "Morning to you too, Flurry, but I didn't make these." Flurry paused what she was doing, the bottle of syrup still only halfway to her plate. Cadence knew she had her daughter's interest and continued. "Do you remember what happened last night, after we left Twilight's castle?"

Flurry swallowed and shivered, causing her mother to wrap a wing around her comfortingly. "I…I remember, but I don't want to…"

"We were rescued and brought here last night," said the older Alicorn, smiling at her daughter. "That Danielle human we met last night saved us."

"I do remember doing that," said Danielle as she walked into the room as well, Riley hot on her heels looking hungry as well. She took a moment to ruffle Flurry's hair slightly before she started making more pancakes, causing the young filly to pout slightly and Riley to narrow her eyes at her with a small frown. "Riley, anything special with your pancakes? Berries? Chocolate?"

"We have chocolate?"

Danielle nodded and Riley's eyes gleamed, nodding like crazy at that. The sole human in the room chuckled as she mixed some chocolate chips into the batter and continued what she was doing, making Riley lick her lips in anticipation.

"I take it you've had chocolate chip pancakes before?" Asked Cadence to Riley, trying to be polite and getting to know the young filly.

Riley nodded before her eyes became downcast. "Yeah…dad used to make them…"

Danielle sighed as she flipped a pancake and moved over to her adopted daughter, putting a hand on her shoulder, making the green unicorn filly look at her. "Cherish your father, Riley, but don't dwell on him. Be happy with the time you did have with him. I never knew my father, he died when I was much younger than you are now, but I wish I had some memories of him."

Riley swallowed and gave a watery smile, which was fragile but the best they could probably get at the moment. Danielle gave a comforting squeeze and moved back to the pancakes, making sure to make Riley's extra perfect.

Throughout that whole exchange, Cadence was smiling between the two, feeling the familiar love grow very slightly. She was looking at Danielle with a slightly better light than she had the previous night and saw that even though they were two different species, Danielle truly did care about Riley, even if the bond was still new. She had to admit that Danielle had a very impressive figure and did look attractive to her, combined with being good with kids and she honestly wanted to see if anything could form between them. A date here or there would probably do them both some good and that was honestly all she wanted at the moment. Flurry however had heard what Danielle had said about fathers and had paused in her devouring of the pancakes in front of her, thinking.

Flurry had only had one father figure and her's had let her down, hard. She didn't judge the entire stallion population from what her father did but it did make her worried about the possibility of making male friends. She was smarter than the average five year old, a side-effect of being born an Alicorn, and knew she was being at least slightly irrational, but she couldn't help it. She was still young, after all.

Danielle sat down with her own breakfast and they all ate in silence, all thinking their own thoughts. The lone human in the kitchen was contemplating everything she would do that day as she started making a mental check-list, including getting some toys for Riley and maybe Flurry, and helping the princess at her table with whatever was bothering her. She also should go to the mayor and report the Dementor attack the previous night.

Once they were done, Danielle flicked her wrist and the dishes rose into the air and started cleaning themselves, much to the amusement of the two fillies. They were about to leave when Cadence stopped Danielle, looking curious and thankful.

"I never really thanked you, did I?" She asked, rhetorically, smiling at Danielle, who looked at the princess with an amused look. "You saved the lives of myself and my daughter, and then you give us a roof over our heads for the night, even giving us breakfast. Really, thank you for everything."

"Well, I couldn't just let a Dementor suck out your souls, could I? I fought them a long time ago and I'm still surprised any are still around after I thought I wiped them out."

"What spell did you use?" Asked Cadence, looking curious. "Flurry shot a spell at it and it didn't do anything. But you used white fire, I think, and killed it."

"And then you passed out," said Danielle, teasingly, which caused the Princess of Love to roll her eyes and smile back. "I used some old, ancient magic called the Patronus, a piece of magic just as old as the Dementor."

"How old?"

"Millenia," said Danielle, shrugging, though that caused Cadence's eyes to widen at the year. "Probably more as I do think its been even longer than that. The Patronus Charm is very old magic, like I said, and is powered by the very opposite of what a Dementor feeds and is empowered by. A Dementor feeds on depression, misery and hopelessness while the charm is powered by happiness, joy and love. The more powerful the emotion, the stronger it is. Combined with a need to protect and take out whatever is threatening the caster and it becomes strong enough to kill a Dementor."

She chuckled as she shook her head. "I hadn't used that charm in so long…and it can even be used to send messages from one person to another, so long as they are within a certain radius. I have no idea if ponies could even use such magic or if it's just a human spell."

Cadence was impressed and, while the two fillies started exploring the house with each other, the two adults became deeply engrossed in a conversation about magic and its applications in various situations.

XXXXXX

Twilight was busy going over various documents about the town so she didn't notice her personal assistant right away. Then again, that was nothing new as the youngest Alicorn and newest princess had been fairly scatterbrained long before she had even studied under Princess Celestia. It was just a personality quirk she had had since she had been young and no one had really thought much of it for the most part.

Spike didn't really care that much when his first attempt to get Twilight's attention didn't work as he had been through this enough times to know he would get it eventually. Their relationship was truly one of the stranger ones in the area. As a dragon, Twilight had been forced to hatch Spike's egg back when she had been a filly and that had created a bond between the two of them that would most likely last for decades to come. While Celestia had raised Spike in his very early years as Twilight had been too young at the time, the young lavender filly had taken over when she had been old enough. Since then, they had created something that was like a cross between mother/son, brother/sister and scholar/assistant.

It was strange, of course, but somehow they had managed to make it work between them, which had shut up anyone who had thought a pony couldn't raise a dragon.

On Spike's third attempt to get Twilight's attention, the lavender Alicorn blinked and was startled out of the documents she had been reading, accidentally scattering them around her. "Who? What? Spike, what are you doing?"

Spike rolled his eyes with an amused look as he pulled out a scroll. "The mayor sent this to you about half an hour ago. She said something about hiring a new guardian for the town after it had been almost destroyed so many times."

Twilight blinked again before taking the scroll in her magical aura and unrolled it, reading it with a frown. "Hiring a guardian? While I can see the logic in that, this is something she should have consulted me about first."

While a new princess, Twilight didn't actually rule anything at the moment. It could be argued that she ruled over Ponyville, but it was more like she was an unofficial advisor to the mayor and second in command over the town. She was in charge if something truly dangerous happened, but the mayor was still the supreme authority for the day-to-day operations. While the mayor didn't need to contact her if she was hiring someone to such a position, it was considered common courtesy to do so.

Twilight was still frowning as she rolled up the scroll again and put it aside for the moment. "Write to the mayor and tell her that I want to talk to her about her choice when we both have some free time. I've never heard of this Danielle pony before and I want to know more if she's the new guardian of the town."

Spike nodded but frowned himself. "Twi, didn't you hear? Danielle isn't a pony and she's famous! She won a fighting tournament in Japan five years in a row and was a three star war general in the griffin army in their last war. And now she's here to guard Ponyville! I'm getting her autograph if I can!"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Sure, Spike. See if you can arrange a meeting with her as well, then. I'm curious to see what she can do for herself." She went back to her paperwork and Spike shrugged, going off to write a few letters to send.

XXXXXX

Danielle was currently eating lunch as she watched the one adult and two fillies around her, smiling slightly as she continued what she was doing. She was reading a book by a pretty good author named Twilight Velvet and had to admit that it was some of the better works of fiction she had read in a while. Not the best, but still pretty good.

She had recently come back from the mayor's office and had concluded she had defeated a powerful wraith like demon the previous night. She had to admit that she had no idea if it was the only one in the area but at least she got a thank you for saving the life of a princess. She had also been told that she should expect an invitation to the local princess's castle for a meeting some time soon. Apparently, the lavender Alicorn that presided over the area was fairly predictable like that.

She had also gone to a local toy store and had bought a few toys for both young fillies that should keep them occupied until she could go to a better one for more. Danielle had never kept the toys she had bought between one adoptee and another, not liking the idea of hand-me-down toys from her.

As she was reaching the end of her lunch, a heavy sigh got her attention and she looked next to her to see a fairly exhausted but happy Cadence sinking low in her chair. Seeing her captive audience, the princess smiled at her. "Raising foals and fillies is exhausting."

Danielle chuckled but nodded. "True, but very rewarding."

"That it is," said Cadence, nodding with a far away look on her face. "That it is. And something that I wouldn't give up for the world. Flurry means everything to me."

"The mark of a true mother," said Danielle, almost more to herself than to the pony next to her. Riley and Flurry were playing on the floor in the living room, both getting along the best two differently aged fillies could. "When one is willing to give themselves to save their child, to give everything to see them happy and healthy in the future."

Cadence was silent for a moment before she sighed. "Before you got rid of that…demon, I thought I was going to die." Her voice was quiet, but still audible to the human next to her, and growing sadder the more she spoke. "I kept thinking that I hoped Flurry could get away while it was busy with me. I didn't think about saving myself, I just wanted to save her, no matter what it cost me in the process."

Danielle sighed. "The Dementor's Kiss, the ultimate weapon of those demons…which isn't important right now. I really should ask and forgive me if I'm being too forward, but where is the father?"

Cadence tensed at the mere mention of the father but sighed, her shoulders slumping as she sat down on the chair. Her mood starting to match the heavy snow fall outside. "Shining Armor…he's probably either in the Crystal Empire or in Canterlot right now. I never want him anywhere near Flurry ever again, not after what he did to either of us…"

The human in the room was silent, not mentioning that she had found and healed the two black eyes she had seen on both Alicorns when she had brought them in, one on each. Both had been hidden by a very good illusion, but it had been nothing compared to what she was capable of. She personally wanted to find this Shining Armor and either punch him in the face and send him flying, or threaten him with disfigurement until he wet himself, whichever she was allowed to give him at the time. She settled with hesitating before putting an arm around Cadence's shoulder, which caused the Princess to wince slightly again before, realizing she and her daughter were safe, put her head on Danielle's shoulder comfortingly, absorbing as much warmth as possible.

On the floor, Riley was playing with several balls at the same time while Flurry had some dolls, but looked at their adoptive mother and birth mother respectively when they thought they weren't watching. Riley had her eyebrow raised in curiosity while Flurry was just confused. The younger filly turned to the older one, an inquisitive look on her face. "Are our moms weird?"

Riley slowly nodded before she shrugged it off and sent a ball bouncing from floor to wall to ceiling before she retook control of the ball with her magic. It was a moderate level game made to help young unicorns control their magic and while Riley wasn't very good at it, she was good enough to avoid breaking anything.

When Cadence had finally stood up to stretch, Danielle figured she needed to as well. Needing something to drink as well, she went over to the refrigerator and opened it only for there to be a huge bang and a bunch of confetti to rain down on the somewhat surprised human.

Confused, she looked around only to see a very large pink face and blue eyes staring at her from less than an inch away. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie and you know it's VERY rude to come to town to stay for a while and not let me meet you! I mean, I had to learn from Mr and Mrs. Cake that you were even in town and I didn't even know of your address until I found it in Town Hall. But now that I've found you, I have to throw you a party to welcome you to Ponyville and introduce you to everyone so you can make lots and lots of friends!"

She said all of that very fast and it wasn't until she was halfway done before Danielle noticed that the pink mare was sticking out of her shirt, somehow with her not even able to feel her in there. Having honestly seen weirder, though not by much, she gently but firmly grabbed the pink mare by the mane and pulled her out of her clothes, giving her an annoyed look. "Have you been in my clothes for long?"

Pinkie didn't seem to mind at all after she was dropped to the floor and she made a dismissive sound. "Pfft, not for that long. Only until it was funny! Now, about that party…oh, you totally have to meet my friend Rarity! She should be able to get you out of that black and into something more fun! Right Princess?"

Cadence, who hadn't said anything until now, sighed and shook her head fondly. "Sure, Pinkie, we can see Rarity." She then paused and nodded to herself before looking at Danielle. "You could use some new clothes that aren't black, Danielle."

Danielle gave a long suffering sigh. "I do have clothes that aren't black, but they are pretty old…fine, we can go clothes shopping." Pinkie jumped up and confetti seemed to come out of her mane and ears before Danielle continued. "But no pink." Pinkie landed on the floor after she had paused in mid-air and shrugged.

"Some just can't pull it off." She mock haughtily then walked to the door with her nose in the air. It was so ridiculous for such a goofy pony to do such a thing that Danielle had to struggle to hold in her laughter.

Finally just rolling her eyes, Danielle turned to the others. "Riley, get anything you want to take with you, we're going to meet a new neighbor."

"You too, Flurry," said Cadence, "we're going to see Rarity."

Both fillies nodded and left the room, though Flurry seemed a lot more interested of the two, as they both got ready.

Fifteen minutes later had Danielle trudge through the snow with the others, a blanket warming charm on all of them to keep them from getting too cold from the snow. While it wasn't a huge blizzard, it was still coming down at a good rate so the charm was needed.

Flurry, apparently used to snow, had been jumping in and out of snow banks on the way to Pinkie's friend's. The cute Alicorn filly would constantly jump into one mound of snow and pop out of another in a completely different location near them, making her mother shake her head in amusement and exasperation.

While the Princess of Love kept an eye on both fillies, Pinkie had been doing a running commentary since before they left the house.

"And I was saying Oatmeal and she said something else that made milk squirt out of my nose! Even though I hadn't been drinking any at the time but it just had to be done! And that is how I saved the winter holidays around my house when I was a filly. True story."

Danielle sighed heavily but no one came to save her as Pinkie started on yet another story that she honestly didn't care about. Still, she politely nodded and made sounds of encouragement at the right times just to keep up the charade that she was listening.

She did not raise herself to be impolite, after all.

Luckily, they reached the Carousel Boutique shortly after Pinkie started on her new story and Danielle didn't waste any time before she started knocking, eager to talk to someone else instead. When the door opened it didn't reveal Rarity but a much younger looking filly that looked a little older than Riley.

The new filly had a pure white coat with a curled mane and tail that consisted of a few different shades of purple. The filly's eyes widened when they saw Danielle but widened even more when she saw Cadence and Flurry. Before Danielle could say anything, Pinkie beat her to it.

"Hey Sweetie-Belle, Rarity home?"

Sweetie-Belle nodded and took a step aside so they could enter. "Yeah, she's inside. You can wait while I can get her?"

They nodded and Danielle found herself in a room that looked one part living room, one part clothing store and one part runway. Not surprising as in small towns like this, most businesses tend to be homes as well so rooms had to have more than one purpose.

It didn't take long for the young filly to come back down from upstairs to get her sister and Rarity came down. Danielle recognized that white coat and curled purple mane from the day before and had to admit, she didn't think she would meet her again so soon. Somehow, she hadn't matched Pinkie's friend Rarity to this unicorn in front of her until now.

"Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, where everything is…" She trailed off when she recognized Danielle and her eyes widened. "Oh darling, it is wonderful to meet you again. I did wonder if we were to see each other after yesterday, but did not hold out hope."

Cadence raised an eyebrow. "You two met each other?"

Danielle shrugged. "Helped her out yesterday and she said I had to come see her at some point. Didn't know you were that Rarity. Well anyway, Pinkie here seems to think I need a new wardrobe and as long as it isn't pink, I'm willing to see what you can come up with."

Rarity's eyes widened before seeming to shine at the prospect at the idea. "Of course I would love to! Oh yes, Sweetie, could you entertain our guests while I take Miss Danielle here for a…private consultation?"

Sweetie had apparently been asked to do things like that in the past and shrugged. "Sure, have fun." She gave Danielle would could possibly be an apologetic look as the human was pulled up the stairs to Rarity's work room.

They only made it to the top of the stairs when a whimper got Danielle's attention, causing her to stop in her tracks. Rarity, not hearing anything, kept going but turned back when she noticed the human not following her. "Miss Danielle?"

Frowning slightly, Danielle held up a finger. "One moment, please?" Without waiting to see what the reaction was, Danielle went downstairs again and saw a certain green unicorn filly among the others that looked far more panicked than she should be. Riley calmed down when she saw Danielle again and shot toward her, causing the human to start for a moment before calming down and rub the top of the unicorn's head.

Sighing, Danielle got down on one knee and tried to look at her adopted daughter in the eye. "Riley," the unicorn wouldn't look at her in the eye and she sighed again. "Riley, please, look at me." The young unicorn slowly did so, Danielle seeing the panic in her eyes. "You can tell me anything, you know. What's bothering you?"

Riley didn't seem to want to say anything as she looked uncomfortable and embarrassed. She finally slumped down until she was sitting on the floor and sighed, looking elsewhere again, not saying anything.

Pursing her lips for a moment, Danielle tried a different tactic. "Are you scared of something?"

Hesitating, Riley tensed, not wanting to answer, which was enough of one for Danielle. She sighed and rubbed the top of Riley's head again. "You know I'll be in the other room, right? I'll be within shouting distance, so if something happens, I can hear you."

Riley looked up and Danielle could see the unshed tears in them. Riley swallowed and looked at the others in the room, who were watching the whole thing unfold in silence. "I…I don't know them…"

Danielle sighed and brought Riley into a hug, which was returned after a few long moments. "I know you don't know them well, but you know they won't hurt you, right? I can tell, they won't do anything to you."

"I know," said Riley, quietly enough that only Danielle could hear her. "But…"

"But…you want to be with me?" Riley nodded. Danielle could understand. The only time the two of them had been apart since meeting the previous day had been when Riley had gone to bed. Other than that, they had always been within eyesight of the other and it scared Riley to be left alone with ponies she didn't know.

Sighing and silently going over everything she could do, she thought of something and nodded to herself. Separating from Riley for a moment, she dropped her backpack from her shoulder and started digging in it for a moment before pulling out two hand mirrors.

"These are communication mirrors," said Danielle, giving one to Riley, who held out hers with a look of curiosity. "Say my name in yours and you can talk to me through them. These are pretty rare, so treat it well, okay?"

Riley didn't say anything but she took hers with reverence, like she had been given a precious gift and wouldn't lose it. Danielle smiled and ruffled her hair, which caused her to pout for a moment before standing again. Looking at Rarity, she shrugged. "Sorry about that, now, shall we continue?"

Rarity, who was smiling sadly at what she had seen, nodded silently and they both headed up the stairs again, giving Riley another smile before they were out of eyesight of each other.

Danielle was smiling fondly when she entered Rarity's work room when the mirror she was holding grew warm. Chuckling slightly, she turned on the mirror and saw Riley's relieved face when she saw the mirror worked. "Couldn't resist, could you?"

Riley turned slightly red in embarrassment and Danielle chuckled again. "Please at least try and make friends with Flurry and Sweetie-Belle, alright? I promise I'll see you soon, sweetie." Riley looked down but nodded and Danielle cut the connection, shaking her head sadly.

Looking at Rarity, she noticed the fancy unicorn was giving her a knowing look. "What?"

"Nothing darling, really, just updating my perception of you from the last time we met. If I recall, you were a bit of brute in your efforts to remove that ruffian, but now that I know you are good with fillies…"

Danielle sighed as she looked around. Rarity's work room was covered on what could only be called organized chaos, only making sense to the fancy pony next to her. "She lost her parents recently and I adopted her. She's a bit fragile at the moment and I'm being gentle with her until we are both used to each other, okay? Now, what's first for this new wardrobe I'm supposed to get?"

Rarity's smirk told her she wasn't fooled by the subject change but allowed it anyway, levitating a pair of glasses toward her as well as a tape measure. "If you could remove everything but your inner garments, we may begin."

Sighing again, Danielle took off her dark cloak and threw it aside, leaving herself in a standard blouse and a pair of jeans she had managed to get in Griffonia. It was fairly hard to find clothes that fit her anymore, thanks to being a unique species and only one of her kind. Giving Rarity a look telling her that she wouldn't be removing anymore, the fancy unicorn didn't seem bothered at all and went to work, moving the tape measure around while recording the results.

"I must say, I am somewhat excited to work on a new model with your figure and body type. There are few enough bipeds in the world and so few of them require my services that I am feeling positively giddy!"

Danielle smiled as the tape measure took the length of her inner arm. "As long as I can wear it and it isn't pink, I'm sure anything you make will be wonderful. I've found that there are few ponies that want to make clothes for me so I'm forced to talk to others like griffins."

Rarity barely hummed and Danielle wasn't sure if she was even listening. She seemed 'in the zone' as it were and was already coming up with ideas she wanted to try. "Hmm, interesting, darling…now, what do you feel about dresses?"

"If I'm going somewhere formal," said Danielle, not liking where this was going. "I don't wear dresses around the house and I have a bit of an active lifestyle. Dresses usually get in the way if a threat comes around and I need to fight."

The fashionable unicorn frowned slightly at the idea of combat but seemed to understand to an extent. "Yes…I could see that…something light and speedy, if I am correct. Some durable material, but not cumbersome…I'm sure I can come up with something with some time."

Danielle nodded, liking where she was going now. "How much do you think this will cost me? I have plenty of money."

Rarity shook herself at that. "Cost? No, no dear, no cost! You saved me from a violent ruffian just yesterday and you didn't let me thank you then. No, this is a thank you gift from me."

Frowning, Danielle thought about it. "I have a bit of an honor complex and I don't like getting things like this for free. How about I just cover the cost of the more expensive materials you'll need for this?"

"I…" Rarity hesitated before seeing the look in Danielle's face and finally sighed, nodding. "Very well, if you insist on paying for something we can work something out, I suppose."

XXXXXX

Celestia had been walking through the hallways of Canterlot castle when she noticed a sight she normally wouldn't have seen. Her sister was outside in the gardens and was just staring in a seemingly random direction. It was odd for Luna to be outside at all during the day when she would normally be sleeping but in the gardens? This was cause for some small investigation. Luckily, her busy schedule allowed her some free time at the moment so she had no trouble making her way outside herself.

The day itself was cold but bright with only a few clouds over the castle. It didn't escape Celestia's notice that there were various clouds in every direction of Canterlot but not over the city itself but she chose to ignore that for the moment, more interested in her sister's wellbeing.

Normally, she wouldn't care that much, but she figured she should do her part in trying to keep a somewhat healthy relationship with her. Approaching the darker Alicorn, Celestia noticed the direction Luna was facing and took note of it, wondering why she would be facing toward Ponyville of all places.

Sitting down next to the Princess of the Night, the larger pony wondered how long it would take before she was noticed. After five minutes of Luna simply staring in the direction she wanted and not moving, Celestia was starting to get unnerved. Ever since she came back from the moon, Luna had been able to sit or stand in a single position for as long as she wanted without moving a muscle.

Pursing her lips together, the larger sister carefully poked Luna in the side, wondering what would happen. It took several long moments before Luna came back to the world around her, blinking rapidly before turning to look at Celestia. After another long few moments of silence, the elder sister mentally sighed. "Something troubling you, sister?"

Luna came back to the world around her and breathed a heavy sigh before looking back in the direction of Ponyville. "I am not sure you would care enough for what I might have discovered last night, sister."

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Luna, of course I would care for anything you might have found out last night."

She got another sigh back but it wasn't as large as the previous one. Luna's eyes flicked in random directions before she sat down, her tail wrapped around her. "I could have imagined it, but last night, I felt her magic. The magic of the one we lost."

If she had been expecting some great revelation of some hidden secret, Luna was disappointed. She didn't need to turn around to hear Celestia swallow heavily and the elder sister's heart rate to increase rapidly. Of course, on the outside the larger pony was as impeccable as ever, but to someone who had known her for centuries, the signs were all there. Celestia finally turned in the same direction Luna was, "Oh."

Luna almost snorted. The one they had let get away, the one that Celestia had hurt beyond all others and all she had to say for herself was 'Oh?' Luna wanted to jump down her sister's throat, throw accusations at her and blame her for everything that had gone wrong in over a thousand years, but knew that it wouldn't amount to anything. It wouldn't do a thing to help her so what was the point?

"Are you sure?" Asked Celestia, her voice calm and steady despite any emotions she was actually feeling. Luna always hated that but kept silent, knowing there was more. "After so long-"

"I would know her magic anywhere, sister," said Luna, her tone clipped and no nonsense. She paused for several long moments before continuing. "I am wondering, if it is actually her or a unicorn with the exact same feeling to it. It was there one moment and gone the next, so the validity is thrown into doubt, of course. But…there is hope."

"…I see," said Celestia, her tone and face emotionless. Luna really struggled as even though she hadn't even looked at her sister, she knew that Celestia was hiding everything, even from herself. More and more, the younger sister knew that her fellow ruler was becoming less like a pony and more of a machine. She hated it but she couldn't do anything about it. Finally, Celestia stood up while Luna continued to sit, not moving from her vigil. "…Keep me informed." With that, she left, leaving the lunar princess alone in the garden.

Luna sighed, not moving to join her sister when she knew it wouldn't help. There was only one that could ever bring the ever royal Celestia out of her comfort zone and embrace life and neither knew if she was even still alive. Still, this was the best lead Luna had had ever since she came back and she was not going to let it go to waste. All she needed was for that magic to flare again and she would be there as soon as she could.

'Please, be there. I need you, Tia needs you but I need to know that you forgive me for everything I did to you. I love you too much…' Luna really tried hard not to cry at the thought of her love hating her, but she needed to apologize if nothing else. 'Please, just forgive me.'

XXXXXX

Danielle felt like a shudder went through her body for some reason but mostly ignored it as she relaxed in Rarity's living room/fashion studio. She was reclining in a couch with Riley snuggled up to her, looking like a nap might be a part of her immediate future. Sweetie-Belle and Flurry were playing by drawing various pictures on a sketch pad the older filly had while Cadence helped where ever she could.

She had no clue where Pinkie was but knew she was around somewhere, watching and waiting just in case.

When Rarity had finished her measurements and a brief overview of what Danielle needed in both work and casual clothes, she had been ushered off so the fashionista could work in peace. Though she had been forced to promise to stay to provide feedback on the finished sketches when Rarity was done drawing them.

Danielle had to admit, Rarity was quite the artist both on paper and in her clothing lines, no two ever having the exact same work. Even two outfits that looked the same could have a slight difference in cut or sewing that would make it stand out, even against each other. Ponyville certainly had a very dedicated seamstress they could call on whenever they needed it.

When it looked like Rarity would be a while, Danielle apologized softly to Riley and made to stand up, causing the green unicorn to pout slightly as she was moved. Stretching for a few moments, she yawned slightly and turned to Riley. "I'm going outside for some air, you want to come with?"

Riley took a look at the snow filled clouds outside and shook her head. "I'm fine here."

Danielle shrugged. "Stay inside and bond with Flurry and Sweetie-Belle then. I should be back in a few minutes."

Riley nodded, though she looked worried, and Danielle made for the door, giving Cadence a reassuring look on the way out. Once outside, the human took a moment to really look around as she hadn't really managed earlier. The small town was as peaceful as it could be with barely anyone out and about due to the heavy snow earlier. The same snow that had slowed down to a crawl and had lost momentum about an hour ago so it was now only a few flakes every couple of seconds.

Smiling as she was sadly used to the snow and cold temperatures, she licked her lips slightly as she scanned the area with her senses, trying to figure out if there was anything around that wasn't supposed to be.

"Whatcha doing out here, silly!"

To her credit, Danielle didn't cry out in shock too much as she was now suddenly staring at a pair of big blue eyes from less than an inch away. Choking on the words she wanted to say but shouldn't intelligibly, she settled for glaring at the pink menace that was currently on her shoulders and leaning upside down over her.

Swallowing, Danielle grabbed the pink earth pony by the fluffy tail and pulled her off. "I was trying to find out if there is anything out here that I should be aware of, but I'm not sensing anything at the moment. There isn't anything out here that shouldn't be."

Pinkie got up from where she had been left in the snow and bounced toward her, not bothering with trying to get the snow off of her. "Okay dokie! But Ponyville is like, really peaceful! I doubt anything will show up here."

"Can never be too careful," said Danielle distractedly, sending her senses out even farther for anything odd. "Besides, it was what I was hired for by the mayor, to protect this town in case anything happens."

"Ooh, a guardian protector, huh? That sounds super important and dangerous!"

"And from the sound of it, you're a baker and party planner," Danielle retaliated with a smirk, starting to get used to the pink menace. It wasn't like she didn't like Pinkie Pie, its just that she wasn't used to her brand of inane humor yet.

"So, how'd the clothes thing go?"

Danielle looked at Pinkie with a curious look and only got a more innocent one back in response. Figuring that there was no harm in telling her, she shrugged. "Rarity's working on some designs right now and when she's done I can tell her any specifics I would like. I don't think she'll start making anything until later today or tomorrow."

"That's cool as she designs things for everypony here in town, which is kind of strange as nopony really wears clothes that much but she is a seamstress so-" She was cut off when Danielle slapped a hand over her mouth, now looking around intently.

"Pinkie! Be quiet for a moment, I…" her eyes widened when she recognized what she was sensing. "No, it can't be him…he's gone, I defeated him a long time ago…"

Pinkie looked at her inquisitively, but couldn't ask anything coherently as there was a large explosion that rocked the town slightly and something came flying toward them. Eyes widening again, Danielle shoved herself and Pinkie out of the way as a kitchen oven of all things came crashing down right where they had been a moment ago.

Getting to her feet again, Danielle growled, her eyes blazing in anger. "He's back? Of all the things I thought I had to deal with…"

Before Pinkie could do anything, there was a flash of light and magic about two hundred yards away from them near the center of town and a certain Lord of Chaos appeared out of nowhere, along with a butter yellow pegasus that was yelling at him.

Danielle, seething in anger and hatred, didn't even see the pegasus, her eyes solely focused on the messed up chimera/dragon combination now standing in the center of town, the frozen fountain next to him now pouring hot fudge instead of water.

"Oh, that's just Discord," said Pinkie to Danielle's unhearing ears. "He's cool when you get to know him…where are you going?"

Danielle was a blur, moving so fast that the standard pony eye couldn't catch her as she slammed her fist right into a distracted Discord's face. The pegasus yelling at him for shooting her oven out of her house stopped abruptly when Discord was sent skidding back across the snow and crashed into several snow banks, away from any houses or businesses.

Now glowing in magic and anger, Danielle stood about fifty feet away from Discord as the Lord of Chaos got to his mismatched feet, a confused expression on his face. "I helped seal you away, I watched as you were turned to stone, what are you doing back here, Discord?"

Discord saw who was talking to him and he gave a muffled snort of laughter. "Well, look who was brought back from the past! Danielle Lily Potter! Its been what? Three, four thousand years since we last met?"

"Give or take a century, yeah," said Danielle, not relaxing from the battle stance she had entered. "So, destroy any more lives since the last time I saw you? You were pretty good at that."

Before Discord could say anything, he had to quickly block several more punches that threatened to drive him into the ground. "I'm not doing anything! I'm reformed!"

"Right, sure," said Danielle scathingly as she grabbed Discord's lion paw and flipped the god over her shoulder and slammed him into the snow covered ground face first. Only for him to melt into the ground and come up again as a flower a few yards away before turning back to normal as the petals fell off his face. "I know the real you, Discord. You might not kill directly but you lie, cheat, steal and manipulate others for your sick games!" She suddenly felt a vine around her ankle, that had not been there before, come to life and trip her, sending her to the ground.

"Hard as it might be for you, try and understand that I have left that part behind me," said Discord. "I'm not the same god of chaos that I once was."

Danielle jumped to her feet in an instant and growled, moving so fast that she was a blur again. Discord's eyes widened as she suddenly appeared below him with a fireball lodged in her fist. He quickly absorbed the fireball and sent Danielle flying into the air straight above them, only to shock a few ponies watching as Danielle righted herself and hovered above them.

"LIAR!"

Danielle flew down as fast as her body would allow, feet first, and made to slam Discord into the ground again. Instead, Discord grimaced and shot a bolt of lightning at her, making her cry out in pain before falling in a heap about twenty feet away from him.

Getting to her feet again, she smirked. "Been a while since this has happened." She held out her hands and two glowing energy blades formed in them, making Discord uncomfortable. "Die!"

Discord enlarged his own claws and was forced to block and deflect the blades trying to take off his head. While he was distracted by the blades in front of him, he didn't notice until it was too late when two large hands made of earth grabbed him from underneath, preventing him from moving. He retaliated quickly though and simple made a large enough explosion to blow up the hands binding him, and send Danielle flying back again, crashing into more snow and through a poor pony's awning.

"I'm not your enemy anymore, Danielle," said Discord as he recovered from the sudden use of his powers and Danielle got to her feet, still glaring at him hatefully. "Celestia believes that I've been reformed!"

"Lies and more lies," snarled Danielle, panting slightly but putting that aside for the moment as got ready for her next attack. "You've done too many things for anyone to attempt to reform you!" She let loose a large beam of pure magic from her hands that Discord met with one of his own.

The two beams hit each other in midair as they battled for dominance in the middle of the town square. Finally, both beams hit critical before one could overpower the other and it simply caused an explosion, blowing Discord off his feet this time, throwing him through a couple of statues and creating a new trench in the ground.

Discord was back upright in no time and shot into the air, Danielle following as she flew after him, having mastering flight from a very young age. For his part, the god of chaos could only shake his head with a sigh as he immersed himself in his magic, glowing a chaotic golden yellow color. Danielle covered herself in her own pure silver aura and they both launched themselves at each other, like two comets colliding in midair.

The entire town watched, amazed as two extremely powerful magical titans clashed over their heads.

XXXXXX

Luna had been sitting alone in the gardens all day, desperately trying to find the magical aura she had sensed the night before. So far, she had received a lot of nothing but she kept trying, not wanting to give up just yet. She was tired from being up all night and half the day but she didn't care, she needed to keep going even if it was against her own nature to stay up when the sun was out.

'Come on, I know that magic is somewhere nearby…show up again already!'

She was considering taking a short food break, or get a guard to get her something so she could stay, when her eyes widened, fine tuning her senses when she got a reading on her radar again. The aura she had been looking for had returned and with a vengeance. Before it had been a small blip, but now it was all over the place, like the person was using tons of magic at a rapid rate while not caring if anyone was tracking it or not.

She couldn't deny it, it was the magical aura of the one she had looking for. For a moment, she froze, happy tears running down her muzzle as she realized it was who she wanted to see.

Snapping back into focus a moment later, she extended her wings with a bit of a wince from how stiff they were. She would need to properly stretch them later but she had to go now! Before she lost the signal again.

'I'm coming for you!'

XXXXXX

"Uh, Twilight, you might want to take a look at this."

"Not now, Spike, I'm studying something here."

Spike rolled his eyes and forcibly turned Twilight's head to the window he had been staring out of, watching smugly as her expression turned from annoyed to shocked.

"What the…Is that Discord!"

"Yep."

"Fighting someone we've never seen before?"

"I think so."

"They'll destroy the town at this rate! Come on Spike, let's find out what's going on!"

"Way ahead of you," said Spike, burning a letter he had written to Celestia, just in case they needed back-up.

XXXXXX

Luna teleported herself to Ponyville in midair, allowing her plenty of time to land and survey the area. Unfortunately, when she appeared, she had to quickly avoid a ball of pure flaming plasma as it almost hit her head. The ball kept going and hit a nearby meadow, which burst into flames that the Pegsi were trying to put out with various rain clouds.

Landing quickly, Luna looked up just in time to see a definite human shape battling a Discord shaped one, both crashing into each other with various weapons, shooting spells and energy blasts at each other and either punching or swiping at the other. Folding her wings, she saw Fluttershy nearby and made her way over quickly, wondering what was going on.

"Dear Fluttershy, would you kindly explain what is happening here?"

The shy yellow pegasus shook her head in awe of the power the two were showing the entire town and looked at the lunar princess. "Princess Luna! Well, uh…Discord and I got into a disagreement earlier and then he was forced into a fight by that…well, uh…"

"Human," said Luna, nodding as she now understood what must have happened. She shook her head. "Danielle never did like Discord, and with good reason, but she must not have heard of his recent reformation."

"Oh, um…princess, what do we do?"

"I'm not sure we can stop her," said another voice and Luna saw that Cadence was also watching the fight with her daughter and a green unicorn filly she hadn't met yet. The younger princess shook her head. "I think they'll just keep going at it until they get tired."

"Sadly astute and correct, I believe," said Luna, sighing as she watched. "I doubt I could keep up with either of them with my current power." She was slightly tired from lack of sleep but even at full power, she doubted she could match Discord, let alone both him and an enraged human. "I doubt she is listening, but we should try and calm them down if we have the chance."

They all watched as a silver comet hit a nearby house and smashed through the roof, tiles and wood flying everywhere as both adult Alicorns shielded the locals with magical barriers.

Surprisingly, Danielle flew out of the wrecked roof and landed in the still unmelted snow by the now completely destroyed fountain in town square. Her clothes were in tatters and she was bleeding from several shallow cuts but other than panting somewhat heavily, she still looked ready to continue.

Cadence and Fluttershy took the moment to rush forward but stopped before they could become targets themselves. "Danielle!" Yelled the Princess of Love, "Discord is not your enemy! Please, calm down!"

"He's been reformed! He won't hurt anyone now!"

Danielle only seemed to be half listening. She didn't see Luna as she stared at her hated enemy. She finally chuckled as Discord landed on the ground himself. "Have to admit, Discord, didn't think I would have to reveal this so soon. But, if it's the only way to stop you, than fine."

Danielle's magical aura softly changed as she closed her eyes for a moment. The silver glow around her slowly became darker and even though it didn't turn black, it was still close. With a cry of pain, skeletal wings burst from her back and everyone winced at the horrible noise that followed it. The red head raised a hand and a pure black and silver scythe appeared in her hand and Discord started looking uneasy.

"Time to die, bastard," Danielle flew off, much faster than before and Discord barely had enough time to raise a barrier before he was launched backwards, crashing through several houses and trees. A sudden pillar of earth under Danielle shot the red head into the air where Discord teleported to, both exchanging blows that could topple buildings.

Watching sadly, Luna sighed as she stood next to Cadence, Fluttershy and Pinkie. "So she did master that power…"

"Princess Luna," said Fluttershy, turning from the battle to the lunar Alicorn. "What is going on?"

Luna hesitated as she refused to look away from the battle over the town. "Danielle is an old…friend of mine and my sister's from a long time ago. She must have only recently come back to Equestria. The powers she is showing off now…she hadn't fully mastered them when I last saw her, but they give her some powers of life and death."

"Does that mean she can kill Discord like she is now?" Asked Cadence, looking worried. "I admit that I'm not his biggest fan, but-"

"I have no idea," said Luna, shaking her head. "Even together, my sister and I were never able to fully understand the powers she is showing off now. Discord is a spirit, a manifestation of pure chaos. As long as there is chaos and strife in the world, he shouldn't be able to die. But now…"

Up above, Danielle was hit by one of Discord's claws and she winced in pain but she powered through. Vanishing from sight, she reappeared right behind the chaotic monster and sliced her scythe too fast for the normal eye could see. A shield was raised just in time but Danielle forced her blade through the barrier and shattered it, slicing off Discord's lion's paw.

Discord cried out in pain and swatted Danielle with his tail, turning her hair into licorice in the process. Growling, Danielle quickly flew at Discord from below and prepared her scythe for another blow, this time her attack was blocked and she was punched in the gut by Discord's remaining hand.

A large shimmering shield was put up around Danielle, trapping her inside and unable to go anywhere. Growling, she slammed on the magical barrier but nothing fazed it.

A now fully healed but panting Discord floated in front of her, eyebrow raised as Danielle pounded on the shield. "You really do not give up, do you? I'm not the same now as I was a few thousand years ago. There's no reason to fight."

Danielle snorted before she focused on her inner power instead. She knew that this would exhaust her but she didn't care at the moment. Her body glowing with an almost black aura, she built up her magic and let it all out in one large burst.

The resulting explosion managed to shatter the barrier and the magical feedback blasted Discord out of the air, crash landing in some field near the Everfree forest in a new crater. Now limp, Danielle landed nearby, falling over a hundred feet as her body smacked into the partially frozen ground, her hair back to normal.

Several long moments after landing, Danielle, coughing and weak but still sporting her skeletal wings, panted as she used her scythe to help her stand. Looking around her, she saw Discord's barely moving form in a perfect crater near her and she limped toward him.

"Not the way I wanted to win, but I'll take it." She raised her scythe, her grip weak from the fighting. "You'll never hurt anyone again."

A shock went through her and she dropped the scythe, making her wince in pain. Coughing again, she spat out some blood and figured that she had some internal damage that was preventing her from giving the final blow. "Damn."

Tired, she struggled to remain standing when she froze, warm forelegs of a pony wrapping around her in a gentle hug. Her wings vanished as her power left her, unable to keep the magic going that supported them. Blinking, she knew the scent of the one hugging her very intimately and she had to struggle to hold back tears.

Swallowing, she weakly smiled, though she knew the pony behind her couldn't see it very well. "Been a long time…Lulu."

Luna sighed happily as she tightened the hug, still not fully believing that she had her human in her embrace. Nuzzling into the back of Danielle's neck, she breathed in the scent of her former lover happily. "It has been so long…I missed you so much…"

Danielle smiled sadly and turned around, ignoring Discord for the moment. Now fully facing the lunar princess, she softly caressed the Alicorn's mane, causing Luna to lean into the touch for a moment. "You have no idea how much I missed you, Lulu." She sighed. "Now, about Discord here-"

"I don't suppose saying that I missed you too would do anything, would it?" Asked Discord as he pried himself out of the ground. "It has been so boring without you around since I came back."

Danielle gave him a dry look. "No, it wouldn't do anything. I still remember the horrible things you have done, Discord."

The lord of chaos shrugged. "Eh, can't blame a guy for trying."

Danielle rolled her eyes and leaned slightly into Luna, who was all too happy to support her weight. "Should have figured you would eventually find out I was here, Lulu. Knew I couldn't keep myself hidden from you for too long."

Luna shook her head. "Why would you want to hide from me in the first place?"

There were two more flashes of light nearby and Danielle sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she gave a fake smile. "There would be the reason. Hey Tia, you're looking good."

The two new Alicorns that arrived were completely different in almost every way. Danielle didn't recognize the shorter and younger of the two newcomers but assumed she was the new local princess of the area. The taller pony was one she knew very well by now. While she and Luna were roughly the same height of about six feet tall, Celestia was a head taller than either of them, making her about six foot six if one didn't count the foot long horn.

The younger Alicorn hissed at Danielle, anger showing on her expression that honestly made Danielle bored. "Treat Princess Celestia with respect-"

"Twilight," said Celestia, interrupting her student with a kind but firm tone, making the young lavender princess shut up instantly. Danielle rolled her eyes at the obedience and crossed her arms as the oldest princess in the area looked at her. Celestia's eyes softened very slightly looking at her. "Danielle Potter, it is…good, to see you again after so long."

Danielle shrugged, not uncrossing her arms as she held Celestia's gaze easily. "Well, you know me, Tia. Had to explore the world a bit after our…altercation over a thousand years ago, learn how to use my powers, that sort of thing."

Celestia sighed and looked down at her, no one else, not even Cadence, Flurry or Riley who had just appeared, dared to say anything. "I don't expect you to forgive me for what I did back then-"

"You're right, I don't," said Danielle emotionlessly, making Celestia give an almost unnoticeable wince. "You screwed that up, just like you screwed up everything back then."

"Danielle," said Luna, warningly, but the lone human in the clearing continued.

"Why are you here, Tia? If it's to get me to stop pounding on Discord, fine. I have no clue what he said or did to convince anyone here that he's supposedly reformed, but whatever. I'll just have to keep a closer watch on him to make sure he doesn't do anything."

Discord snorted. "Right, of course you could stop me," he said, sarcastically.

"Do you want me to go at you at full power this time? Take you seriously this time?"

"Please, you know neither of us went at it at full power."

The lavender princess's eyes widened. "You destroyed a huge chunk of the town! You weren't even going at it at full power?"

Danielle looked at her, bored. "Please. If Discord and I fought at full power, there wouldn't even be a Ponyville left by now. Don't worry, I'll fix everything once this fun little meeting is over like it never happened." She looked at Celestia. "Now what? Going to force me to leave Equestria like last time?"

Celestia gave another almost unnoticeable wince. "I do apologize for that and no, I'm not going to exile you again. In my defense, I did lift your exile a mere fifty years after I decreed it once I had calmed down."

Danielle snorted. "Oh, it only took you fifty years to realize that I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH NIGHTMARE MOON! Damn it, Tia, you know more than anyone that that was more your fault than either mine or even Luna's fault! I was just a convenient scapegoat for you to blame everything on once all was said and done!"

Luna looked down, not liking where the conversation was going, even if she should have known it was inevitable.

"And I do apologize for that," said Celestia, her tone as light as it had been in the beginning but there was a trace amount of irritation now. "If I could go back and change it, I would. But enough of that. I'm just glad that you're back safe and sound. Would you like to accompany Luna and I back to the castle in Canterlot? We have much to catch up on."

Danielle scoffed. "Oh, that is so you, Tia. You give an order and just expect it to be obeyed. Did you change at all over a thousand years? Screw you! You haven't even admitted that you did anything wrong! Apologize? Yeah, but not say you did anything wrong."

She huffed and got off of Luna, able to support her own weight again. "Poor Celestia, too busy running an entire country that she forgot the only two people around her that could possibly understand her! Fuck you, Tia! You cost me Luna and then turned an entire nation that I had fought and killed for against me!"

It was only now that Celestia was showing some more signs of growing anger but only to those that actually knew what to look for, meaning only Danielle, Luna and Discord. Even Twilight and Cadence couldn't tell. Visibly trying to calm herself down, Celestia approached Danielle and leaned down until they were face to face. "Do you have any idea, what it was like for me back then? The pain of using the Elements of Harmony like that? Yes, I admit that I pushed you aside when I shouldn't have back then, but it was a stressful time for me and I needed to be seen doing something."

"And I take the fall for you, well done on being a true politician," said Danielle, giving a slow golf clap. "Princess of the Sun, sure, right. Princess of Public Images, more like. You always had to be little miss perfect, couldn't let anyone see you for who you are or publicly admit to making a mistake." Danielle smirked, "I bet Luna missed me more than you when she came back."

"FUCK YOU!"

Danielle chuckled. "Ah, you do remember some human swear words from back in the day, good for you." She grew serious and leaned right into Celestia's face, her expression unflinching at the furious glare she was getting. "I made sacrifices for you, and you threw them in my face, Tia. I might eventually forgive you for everything you did to me, but I'll never forget."

Both were growling now, trying to make the other back down. It might have been comical for a six foot six extremely powerful Alicorn princess of the sun to glare down a magically tired human six inches shorter than her if the situation wasn't so serious.

After several long moments, both stopped growling but were staring at each other intently. "You want to make out?" "You want to make out?" Both asked at the same time.

That caused everyone to stare at the two powerful beings in surprise and Luna to sigh, smacking her face with her hoof and shake her head. "You two have never changed, have you?"

Danielle sighed and pulled back first, though Celestia was a split second behind her. "As much as I would love to ravish you right here and now, Tia, I do have a job to do and that includes fixing the town from my own battle. I'm sure you can find me if you need me but for both of our sakes, don't need me."

She made her way back to town, Riley running after her on her heels.

Celestia let a small look of hurt show on her face that was obvious to everyone in the area and sighed. "For what it is worth, I am sorry for letting you take the fall for my mistake, Danielle. I'm not saying I'm entirely at fault, but I admit that I had a large part in that fiasco."

Danielle turned back and shrugged. "Good enough for now, Tia. Now, I really do need to go as I have a town to fix and I still need to consult with Rarity about my new clothes, not to mention get dinner ready soon for my new adopted daughter. See you around." She walked off toward the center of town where most of the damage was located without looking back.

Celestia sighed and sat down in the snow, sadly chuckling to herself. "She really hasn't changed, has she Luna?"

Luna smiled and shook her head. "Not really, and I love her for that."

Twilight meanwhile was staring at her mentor with her jaw wide open. "Wha? What just happened? Princess, you…you…?"

The large solar princess sighed and shook her head, looking at her student with deadpanned look. "Yes, Twilight, Danielle is my ex-girlfriend and ex-fiance."

Luna looked at her dryly. "Only because you convinced her. If I remember correctly, she was with me at the time."

Celestia rolled her eyes. "I made her fall for me and you know it."

"She was with me first and foremost and you know it. You just muscled into our relationship."

"Still fell in love with me in addition to already loving you, though," said Celestia, smugly.

"And yet, she is still more in love with me at the moment than she is with you," said Luna, just as smugly, causing the elder sister to sigh in defeat.

"Fine, you have me there. I just have to fight my back into her good graces and we can all be together again."

"Don't think that'll be too easy!" Yelled Danielle from the town square, somehow able to hear the entire conversation from where she had been standing.

Both Luna and Celestia grinned at each other and walked with Twilight and Cadence along with Flurry back to town. Luna smiled as she saw what Danielle was about to do. "Oh, I have not seen her do this in years."

"It is always impressive," Celestia mused, ready to watch the show as she sat down on a nearby bench, away from anything broken.

Cadence looked at them curiously. "What do you-?"

"You might want to duck your head," said Luna, smiling as she sat down as well.

It didn't take long before both younger princesses and Flurry found out what the two elder ones were talking about as Danielle started moving. With Riley nearby, Danielle had her eyes closed as she swished her hands through the air, focusing on what she wanted to happen.

Twilight was about to ask what was going on when her jaw dropped a second time. The various broken pieces of wood, stone and other materials scattered around from the battle started flying around the town. Every pony in town seemed to be outside watching as things flew back to where they were supposed to go. Support beams fixed themselves, walls rose whole again, ripped curtains repaired, and the large holes in the ground around them filled on their own.

Throughout it all, Danielle was in the middle of it, focusing her energy as a nearby statue repaired itself, looking as perfect as it had before she had thrown Discord through it.

Cadence let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding and could only mouth a 'wow' as she stared at everything fix itself. She didn't study magic for a living but she knew more than most and the amount used to fix everything in one large spell would have been overwhelming. She then noticed that Flurry was standing on some piece of glass that was trying to get free. Gesturing toward her daughter, Flurry noticed and let the piece of glass free and it flew toward a nearby window, making it whole and shine again.

Smiling a bit, Danielle stepped down from where she had been standing and crossed her arms, looking at Celestia and Luna a bit smugly. "Well?"

Both smirked and started clapping their front hooves together, getting an honest laugh out of the new resident human. The two princesses applauding seemed to shake the rest of the town and they all started as well, getting some wolf whistles as well.

Danielle inclined her head to the town and letting out a breath, she held out her arms for Riley, who wasted no time as she jumped in them, allowing herself to be carried as Danielle started for Rarity's.

They were half way there and away from most of the noise when Danielle sighed, looking down at her new daughter. "You aren't scared of me now, are you?"

Riley was silent as she laid in Danielle's arms, finally looking at her after several long moments. "That Discord guy, he hurt you?"

Danielle fell silent as she walked, Rarity's front door approaching rapidly. "A long time ago, yes. I had to take him down thousands of years ago, but he personally assaulted me and many of the things he did was too close to home for me. So, yes, he did hurt me."

"He deserved it, then," said Riley, her voice matter of fact without remorse. Danielle stopped walking, not moving about five feet from Rarity's front door. Slowly, she looked down Riley, who looked politely curious at the sudden stop.

"Riley, I could have killed him in anger and hatred. That is not a good thing and I do feel bad about now that my temper is calming down. True, I still don't like him and I don't think I ever will, but I shouldn't just hurt someone because I can."

Riley cocked a head to the side, frowning. "But he hurt you."

"It doesn't mean it's right. That's why I'm going to talk to Discord about our fight later if I can…eventually. I almost destroyed the town I was so angry."

"You fixed it, though."

"Doesn't matter. I still put innocent lives at risk because I was angry." She sighed, shoulders slumping slightly. "I should be better than that."

Riley shrugged, not seeing what was so wrong with what happened. Danielle looked worried but didn't say anything, opening the door to Rarity's shop and letting them inside.

XXXXXX

Letting out a breath she had been holding for a while, Danielle stared in a random direction, not sure how long she had been sitting there. She was currently on the roof of the house she was living in for as long as she was here in Ponyville. She knew she could probably live in luxury if she wanted to, but that just wasn't who she was, not sure if she could go through with the promise of living in Canterlot Castle from Celestia.

Ooh, Celestia, not a good sign if she was thinking of her by her name. She was so mixed up right now and had no idea what to think. Of all things that could happen by seeing the Solar Princess again, she didn't think that the love she felt for her would rise again so soon. Seeing Luna again was hard as well, maybe harder as Danielle truly loved the Lunar Princess, and even though they had found each other again, she couldn't get anywhere near either princess at the moment. She just…couldn't, not right now.

Too many feelings and emotions to handle all at once that she had to stop and analyze them first before seeing them again.

It didn't take long before she got a visitor on the roof with her, making her nod to her acknowledgement, "Hey."

Cadence nodded to her as she sat down on the roof as well, not saying anything as she offered more of a silent comfort. After several long minutes, the pink princess looked at her with a happy expression. "So, you with both Celestia and Luna, huh?"

Danielle scoffed and shook her head, looking lost for the moment. "Yeah, a very long time ago. And a very long story."

"I have time."

Danielle snorted but she smiled slightly, honestly wanting to talk about it to someone. "You sure?" When Cadence nodded, she shrugged. "Okay, just wanted to warn you." She was silent for a long moment before starting. "I'm not sure as to the exact time frame, but I think it was about ten thousand years ago when I was born, which is older than either Celestia or Luna, and humans were still the dominant species of the planet back then. I had been born with powerful magic and they only grew stronger from there, using my power to defeat a powerful dark terrorist leader, the same one who killed my parents when I was a year old. Doing so required me to use three powerful magical artifacts that are probably on par with the Elements of Harmony. I won, but I was also given some powers of life and death and even gave me partial immortality, making me forever in my mid-twenties physically."

"I'm sorry to hear about your parents, even if it were millennia ago," said Cadence, honestly feeling bad for her human companion.

Danielle shrugged. "I never knew them, not really. I lived with my aunt, uncle and cousin but they hated that I had magic and they didn't, or they just didn't like anything they thought wasn't normal, I don't know. In turn, they hated me, they hated the magical school I went to, they hated my friends, etc. I still have some scars from that time in my life." Most of those scars weren't physical, true, but she liked to think she had outgrown her time at the Dursleys. "I raised myself, I learned how to do everything on my own and didn't need any parental figure to hold my hand as I grew up.

"Anyway, I defeated the one who killed my parents when I was seventeen, almost eighteen and took down most of his followers at the same time. After that, I didn't know what to do. I had been given job offers, marriage proposals and more but I didn't know what I wanted. So, I decided that I wanted to travel, see the world that I had helped save." She shook her head. "It was a good trip, and it took a few years for me to learn everything that I had wanted to. I think I was about twenty-one when I met another person claiming to be a dark lord." She snorted. "He was more of a rich daddy's boy that liked throwing out dark curses but he was still dangerous and I was in the area. I fought him and won, but I guess he got the last laugh in the end."

Danielle closed her eyes and sighed, leaning back as she started looking at the early evening sky, not looking at Cadence at all. "I still don't know what spell he hit me with right after I defeated him. It's been a few thousand years and…well, it put me into a magically induced coma that couldn't be broken. I don't know what happened after that, I was unconscious, but I pieced together that my body had been put into the magical government's building at the time for study, trying to figure out what had happened and how to wake me. Apparently, they failed miserably."

Danielle sighed again, picking up a fallen twig on the roof and twirled it in her fingers, Cadence watching without saying anything.

"The only real thing I remember is waking up in I think a cave. I don't really recall much of anything after I woke up right away, just seeing that the curse either wore off or Celestia and Luna woke me up with Alicorn powers or a combination of the two, but they were the first people I met after I woke up. At that point, they were young, very young and were nowhere near the mature figures everyone looks up to. They told me they were looking for a way to stop Discord who was terrorizing the local population and found me in what is now Manehattan. Makes sense as it was known as Manhattan when I fought that dark lord. They took care of me when I was still weak and I bonded with both of them, they doing the same for me. The three of us were like best friends as we came up with a way to defeat Discord.

"We finally found the answer to defeat him in the Everfree Forest over there in what became to be known as the Tree of Harmony. The Elements of Harmony. We found that two of them worked out very well between the three of us. I found a connection with what later became the Elements of Magic and Kindness. Luna took Honesty and Loyalty while Celestia took Laughter and Generosity. Together, the three of us defeated Discord, but it was a very long and grueling fight, with him much more powerful than he was when I fought him earlier today. The fight with him took years, with both sides almost failing multiple times. I saw him commit many atrocities just because he could, making other's lives miserable like a game, which is what he saw the world as, a game with toys he could use and break as he wanted."

"That would explain why you attacked him earlier," said Cadence, smiling sadly.

Danielle nodded mutely. "After we defeated him, the three of us had to create a new government with the help of ponies like Starswirl and Clover, most of them warming up to me as the only human still alive in this world. Together with Starswirl, I did find out that I had been asleep for over eight thousand years, but it was probably closer to ten. It was only my partial immortality that allowed me to live for so long and outlive my entire species, and now I was in a world with magical talking ponies as the dominate species of the planet. That was an adjustment, but not a big one.

"Discord's defeat and sealing him in stone had also injured the three of us and before we could do anything, the common pony was calling for a Triarchy, with the three of us becoming princesses."

"You're a princess?" Asked Cadence, looking stunned.

Danielle shrugged. "Haven't been called that in centuries and I never really liked the title. Most just called me Danielle, even if Celestia and Luna didn't really care one way or the other, not stopping anyone if they did use their titles. Anyway, we built a castle in the Everfree Forest and used that as the capital for the new nation of Equestria, creating a whole new system of government from scratch. Now that we had some free time, in between tons of meetings, I spent more and more time with Luna while Celestia was more interested in politics than either of us. After a few years, Luna and I…we just, clicked. I hadn't had any relationship with anyone before and neither had she so we sort of acted like teenagers in love for awhile," said Danielle, blushing slightly. "We were probably worse than any teens though, we couldn't keep our hands or hooves off each other. We had a lot in common and we became official girlfriends, even talking about marriage at some point in the very distant future."

Cadence smiled. "You were happy?"

Danielle nodded, smiling too now. "Yeah, very. I loved her, she loved me, it was very simple and I loved it. Celestia knew and fully supported us both, even if some on the council at that time thought it was strange, we didn't care." She then sighed, looking annoyed now. "It didn't help though that as Equestria was becoming more powerful, we became bigger targets for other nations. Luna had always been better at combat magic than her sister so she and I were constantly sent on various missions to either defend our borders, protect important people or make treaties and alliances with others for aid. Most of them had us separate from each other and it was hard on both of us, especially since for the most part, Celestia didn't leave the castle as she took care of the home front."

Danielle closed her eyes and sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose painfully. "I should have seen the signs, but I was constantly away from her, away from Luna. I didn't see her nearly enough and we had gone through a couple of tragedies already on a more personal basis together. It got worse when Celestia…I don't know, I think she was jealous or maybe she just wanted to see what was the big deal with our relationship, but she sort of forced her way in as well. Suddenly, whenever I was home from a mission and Luna was still out, I found myself in various romantic situations with Celestia. I still loved Luna more than anything, but I found myself falling for Celestia as well and she with me. I want to say that she manipulated me and the entire situation, but I can't prove it and…well, it worked. Celestia opened up to me more than before and I truly helped her with her issues like I should have been helping Luna with hers."

Cadence narrowed her eyes but didn't say anything, not wanting to pass judgement just yet.

Danielle sighed again, looking exhausted as she wrapped her arms around her legs, a lost look in her eyes. "I know I should have handled the situation better, we all should have, but it all came together in the most horrible of ways. Luna knew about Celestia and I. I told her since I didn't want to lie to her. She accepted it, but wasn't that happy about it and she couldn't really have done anything anyway. I mean, Celestia was the popular princess even back then, able to get away with anything. If some Solar Princess wants to force her way into even her own sister's relationship, well, it's not like even we could fight her if she was determined. That abuse of power was probably the last straw, I don't know. The darkness that had been building up inside of Luna that I should have been helping but couldn't because of my missions finally had to have some outlet and Nightmare Moon was born.

"I tried to talk her down, tried to convince her to become Luna again. The last thing I wanted was to fight her, and that was denied me as I was forced into it by Celestia. She pretty much told me to fight and hold her off in that final battle while she prepared the Elements of Harmony. It, it killed me, doing that, but I didn't have a choice because Celestia's word was law and even I couldn't refuse her without facing her anger. That and…maybe I was punishing myself for not helping Luna earlier, I don't know. I should have told Celestia where to shove it and helped Luna anyway, damned the consequences, but I didn't and had to fight an evil twisted version of the mare I had fallen in love with.

"When the Elements banished her to the moon, I was heartbroken. I wanted her purified and for everything to go back to the way they were, but because the Elements decided to punish all three of us, they gave Luna a thousand year long time out. I didn't know it was for a thousand years at the time, I thought it was permanent and that was the worst part. I didn't think I would ever see my Lulu again and I don't think I ever really recovered from that."

Cadence's eyes widened slightly at seeing the tears falling down Danielle's face, the human not even seeming to notice as she wiped her nose with her sleeve.

"Nightmare Moon did not go quietly as in the battle that held her off, she stabbed me with her horn and almost killed me. If that horn had been even a fraction of an inch off in any direction, I would have died and I still almost lost my life from blood loss. I woke up several days after Luna's banishment, expecting me to at least bond with Celestia over our shared loss, but that didn't happen. Celestia was running damage control and barely had time for me. When we did meet, she blamed me for Nightmare Moon, saying that I should have prevented it when Luna and I were engaged at the time. I argued back that thanks to Celestia herself, I barely had any time to see her and if anything, she was more to blame than I was for preventing us from spending any time together. Celestia…didn't like that.

"Celestia exiled me from Equestrian borders right after that, telling me that I had a lifetime ban from ever coming within these borders again." Danielle smiled a little fondly now, shaking her head. "Like she could really prevent me from coming back altogether, but I figured I had overstayed my welcome and I left the next day. Since then, I've been traveling the world all over again, solving problems, learning how to use my powers, meeting as many people as possible that could help me or may have answers to my questions. I tried so hard to move on from both Celestia and Luna, figuring that I was setting myself up for failure if I held out hope of seeing them again, but I couldn't. I love them too much for that and I never was able to get over them, especially Luna, who never deserved any of what happened to her.

"Now, now I have no idea what to do with either of them. Celestia screwed me over, but my feelings for her have never diminished and I still love Luna just as much now as I did over a thousand years ago."

Cadence frowned and thought for several long minutes. She could feel Danielle's love for the two princesses and knew that it was far stronger than anything she had seen before with any other couple, though her love for Luna was stronger. Finally, she sighed and hummed to herself.

"Danielle, I can't tell you what to do, but have you thought of just…starting over? Get over any feelings you felt for them in the past and simply date them like you were doing so for the first time? Get to know them as they are now instead of what they were like in the past?"

Danielle let out a breath and smiled awkwardly. "That would be hard, but it's probably for the best, I guess. I've changed and I know that they have too." She shook her head. "Honestly, at this point, I would say that anyone has a chance with me now, not just those two. Cadence…Do you want to go out for an actual date in a few days?"

Cadence's eyes widened at the question. "Really? I mean…really? An actual date?"

Danielle smiled and nodded. "Like a real date, yes. Just tell me when you're free and if I can arrange it, we'll go out to dinner then. Cadence, I'm not asking for anything serious. Just a casual date to see if we could be compatible together. What do you say?"

The Princess of Love's eyes were still wide as she seriously thought about it. Swallowing, she finally nodded after considering the pros and cons. "I would love to. How about…day after tomorrow at six?"

"It's a date," said Danielle, smiling now.

"Um, what about Princesses Celestia and Luna?"

Danielle rolled her eyes. "If they don't like it, they can come to me, not you. If they want me back, they have to make the first move as I'm sick and tired of waiting for them. Luna might have an excuse of being on the moon but Celestia doesn't have that luxury."

Nodding, the two of them were silent for several long minutes, simply enjoying each other's company before heading back into the house.

XXXXXX

Twilight was pacing back and forth, not sure how to feel about several revelations that had been brought to life. Her mentor had been at one point engaged to be married and that fiancé had come back, with that other person being a human of all beings.

She had nothing against humans, seeing as she had been one twice and had met the human counterparts to her friends, but she had never seen one in this word, thinking they just weren't native to Equestria. The fact that this particular human was a famous fighter, guardian and parental figure all over the world and was here in Ponyville for the immediate future was both exciting and terrifying to her. This human was a match for Discord as he was now and was probably one for the two princesses as well made her a possible threat.

Her entire world had been rocked several times that day and she hated it when she didn't have the answers she wanted. So many questions were being fired through her head that she wasn't sure which one she should write down first. How a human could have magic was just one of them as the humans in the mirror world hadn't had any. How a relationship between a human and a pony could work was another and one she didn't really want to think about. The exact past relationship between this human and the two princesses was also thrust into her mind and she had no idea what to feel about that besides confusion and curiosity.

"Twilight, just accept that you don't know anything about Danielle and you have to go talk to her if you want answers," said Spike, shaking his head as he watched Twilight pace, going back to his chores.

"She doesn't seem to like me, Spike," said Twilight, annoyed at that fact. "I don't think she would answer any questions I ask. I don't even know if she's truly who she says she is or if she's just manipulating the princesses. She could just be using dark magic to mind control them for all I know."

"Or you could ask someone who really knows her," said the voice of Discord from the upper level of the castle. Looking up at him, he materialized from a painting of the wall wearing the same clothes of the occupants of the painting, a blue suit, a matching hat and umbrella. "I knew her from way back in the day and I can tell you she hasn't changed that much."

"What do you know about her, really Discord?" Asked Twilight, prepared to take any information from the spirit of chaos with a grain of salt.

Discord reached into a pocket of his suit and pulled out what looked to be a standard diary, making Twilight curious and somewhat eager to read a new book. "This book has everything you would want to know about Danielle Potter. If you can handle it, it might prove useful to you."

Twilight used magic to levitate the book to the table next to her and she frowned at Discord. "Why are you helping me understand her? You two fought earlier."

"Yes, but I'm not ashamed to admit that I sort of deserved it," said Discord, rolling his eyes as he was forced to admit it. "I did sort of destroy her first home just to taunt her back in the day." He materialized a globe of the planet and showed off the country of Britain from what it used to look like.

Twilight frowned. "That's not what Britain looks like, the shape is all wrong."

"No, that's what it used to look like thousands of years ago," said Discord, poking a talon at the country on the globe. "When Danielle worked with Celestia and Luna to defeat me, I might have…broken off a large portion of it." He proved it when the top half of the country on the globe broke away and sank into the 'water'. "I would have to say that about…oh, a few million lives died that day when they couldn't escape in time," said Discord, shrugging without a care in the world, much to Twilight's horror. "Seemed like a fun idea at the time and it really was. I feel a little bad about that now, but not by much."

Twilight stared at him in fear that he would do that just because he could before looking at that diary. "How does this work?"

"It's a book, you open it."

Twilight glared at him before opening the book and frowned when she saw that there weren't any words written down to read. Flipping to the front page, all she saw was a date that didn't make any sense to her. "October 31, 1981? What is that supposed to mean?"

"Touch your horn to the date and you'll find out."

Looking at Spike, who shrugged and put a claw on her back, she touched the page with her horn. She instantly felt a sinking feeling and she and Spike gasped, looking around when they saw that the scenery had changed.

Twilight and Spike were suddenly standing in some sort of small town roughly the size of Ponyville, but they were surrounded by humans, dozens of them. It was night time, but it looked to be Nightmare Night if all of the various children running around in costume meant anything.

"Twilight, what happened?"

"I, I think this might be the past," said Twilight, not sure if she was right or not. No one said anything about a pony and a dragon appearing out of nowhere and Twilight nudged a hoof at a random child near her, her hoof went right through him like he wasn't even there. "No, this is a memory."

"Who's that?" Asked Spike, pointing at a tall figure dressed in dark robes. The hood was up and they couldn't see his face, but he was extremely tall compared to the other humans around and almost skeletally thin.

Twilight swallowed, having a feeling that this figure is the one they should be following through this memory. One child came up to the tall figure. "Wow, nice costume, mister!"

The figure turned to the child and the kid saw the face under that hood. It must have been terrifying as the kid had a look of fear on his face before running toward his mother. The figure didn't say anything as it held a stick in their hand before coming to a decision and moving away, apparently thinking it wasn't worth it.

Twilight and Spike followed the figure toward one of the houses on the block, a modest two story one that looked extremely quaint and comfortable. Twilight could easily see herself staying in a house like that at some point in the future.

The figure entered the property and looked through the window, causing Twilight and Spike to do the same. In the living room, they saw a dark haired young man caring for a one year old baby girl, her dark auburn red hair visible even through the window.

"That's Danielle, isn't it?" Asked Spike, looking at the baby.

Twilight swallowed, getting a bad feeling about this. She swallowed. "Probably, to be honest."

They watched a woman the same age as the man came into the room. She looked so similar to Danielle that it was uncanny, but this woman had emerald green eyes, not the hazel they had seen belong to Danielle. They were obviously Danielle's parents and the strange figure watching with them was doing so almost hungrily.

They watched as Danielle's mother carried her upstairs while her father stood up, stretching and throwing a wooden stick he had been holding onto the couch. Since he had been creating multicolored puffs of smoke for his daughter's amusement, Twilight assumed that the stick was a magical focus item of some sort, probably a wand.

Before she could wonder why he would need a wand when Danielle didn't use one during her fight with Discord or fixing the town afterward, the dark hooded figure moved again. Holding a wand of his own, the figure simply pointed it at the door and it was blown off its hinges, sending it flying into the house. Twilight and Spike looked at each other in fear and jumped into the house to watch what would happen.

Danielle's father, seeing what he was up against, panicked and spoke to the stairway. "Lily, it's him! Go, I'll hold him off!"

The dark figure looked amused for a split second and when the dark haired man rushed for his wand, there was a flash of green light from the stranger's wand tip, hitting the man in the chest. Twilight stared in horror. The man was dead before he hit the floor. Spike threw up, not caring to find out what would happen outside once done.

The figure wasn't done as he casually walked over the now rapidly cooling corpse and started climbing the stairs. The two viewers followed as they saw a rapidly and crudely constructed barrier of furniture and boxes. The figure lazily waved his wand and everything moved out of the way, before blasting the door open.

Danielle's mother, Lily, was standing between the figure and a crib behind her, where the baby Danielle was watching everything curiously. The figure finally spoke for the first time as he looked at the auburn haired woman.

"Move aside."

"No, please, not her, not my daughter."

"Move aside, move aside now, girl."

"No, please, not Danielle, not my daughter. Take me, kill me instead!"

"Last chance, girl! Move aside!"

"No, please, have mercy! Kill me, instead!"

There was no more arguing and with another flash of green light, Danielle's mother crumpled to the floor, dead like her husband. Twilight and Spike were desperately trying hard not to get sick as they watched, the killer had moved onto Danielle now.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Danielle hadn't made a sound, clearly looking at the stranger with a sort of polite curiosity. Almost like she thought that the stranger was her father and her mother would get back up, laughing.

Twilight wanted to do something, anything, but she couldn't. She was in a memory, not able to do anything as she could only watch. The man pointed his wand at Danielle, contemplating the baby girl for a moment before another jet of green light flew from his wand.

Twilight and Spike watched, amazed as the green light hit Danielle in the chest but instead of killing the infant, the curse seemed to struggle for a moment before bouncing off and hitting the killer instead. There was a long drawn out scream from the stranger before he vanished, his body disappearing and leaving the now crying baby girl behind.

The force also ejected Twilight and Spike who were suddenly standing back in their own bodies, in their own time in the Ponyville castle. Twilight was shaking and pale, never wanting to see anything like that again while Spike was dry heaving in the corner, doing his best to not throw up for real this time.

Discord had been waiting for them to arrive again and nodded. "Intense, isn't it?"

"That…that…" Twilight swallowed the bile that threatened to rise in her throat as she sat down, her wings tucked into her body and tail wrapped around herself. "That was…horrific. Who could…?"

"His name was Voldemort, I believe," said Discord, picking some dirt from under his talon. "A mad mass murderer and terrorist leader. I won't give away any more as you'll find out from that diary if you decide to go in again. Most of the entries aren't as graphic as that."

"I…Spike, you want to go in again?"

Spike swallowed and smiled at her weakly. "If they aren't that bad, I could stomach it. When's the next date?"

Twilight flipped to the next page and it showed that the date was November 1&2 1981. "Looks like this is the next day and the day after. Shall we?" Spike nodded and she touched her horn to the page, transporting them both inside again.

When the scenery around them stabilized again, they found themselves on a quiet suburban street in the middle of the night that wouldn't look out of place on the outskirts of Manehatten. The strange part however was that every house on either side of the street looked exactly the same. The same lawns, the same mailboxes, the same color for the houses, it just seemed unnatural. Sure, there were some differences, like a birdbath here or different things she recognized as those car things she had seen from the mirror world but the street looked so cookie cutter like that Twilight felt sorry for anyone who lived here.

"Where are we?" Asked Spike, looking around.

"Good question," said Twilight, looking at the numbers. Seeing a cat as the only thing alive and moving at this time of the night, they made their way over to that. The cat looked unremarkable, except for some markings around the eyes that looked like glasses.

Feeling that this cat was important, Twilight and Spike sat down on the low garden wall next to Number 4 and waited for something to happen. They didn't have to wait long before another figure appeared on the street out of nowhere. Twilight jumped down and saw that it was an old male human, very old judging by the color and size of his beard and wrinkles. He didn't seem that threatening but Twilight stayed on guard just in case, still shaken from the last memory she had seen from this book.

The old man rummaged for something in the old cloak he was wearing and pulled out something Twilight didn't recognize but seemed to be a small silver box like thing. The pony watched as the man flipped the top of the small hand held box thing and clicked something, causing the light of the nearby streetlight to zoom into it. He clicked it again and another ball of light from another streetlight was sucked in. He kept clicking until every streetlight on the street was out until they were plunged into almost total darkness.

"Uh, Twilight?"

"I got it." Twilight's horn glowed and a ring of light visible only to them allowed them to see everything within a certain radius. The occupants of the memory couldn't see the light and carried on with the memory like usual.

Turning their attention back to the old man, he had sat down on the same wall as the cat and was humming to himself slightly. Finally, after several moments, he spoke to it. "Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."

'Professor?'

Before Twilight could voice her thought out loud, she blinked as where the cat had been sitting was now a rather severe looking female human that while not as old as the ancient man next to her, still seemed to have a great amount of experience and wisdom. Professor McGonagall was wearing an emerald green cloak and tall pointed hat, making her look far more normal than her companion.

The woman sniffed. "How did you know it was me, Albus?"

Albus smiled slightly. "My dear professor, I have never seen a cat sit so stiffly."

"You'd be stiff if you had been sitting on a brick wall, all day," said Professor McGonagall.

"All day, when you could have been celebrating? I must have passed about a hundred feasts and parties on the way here."

"Oh yes, they're celebrating. I've heard the rumors and what people have been up to, it was on their news," she jabbed her thumb at the dark windows of Number 4. "Flocks of owls up and down the country, shootings stars over Kent, well they weren't completely clueless, they were bound to notice something."

"You can't really blame them, we've had precious little to celebrate for the last twelve or so years." He pulled out a small bag from a pocket of his robes. "Would you care for a sherbet lemon?"

"A what?"

"A sherbert lemon. They are a kind of Muggle sweet that I'm rather fond of."

"No thank you," said Professor McGonagall, as if she felt this wasn't the right time for sherbet lemons. "What I'm curious about, is if the rumors everyone is talking about is true or not?"

She waited for Albus to say something but the old man was fishing for another piece of candy from his bag and did not answer. Her expression clearly told her that no matter what everyone was saying, she wouldn't believe it until Albus told her it was true or not. She finally sighed.

"What they are saying, is that You-Know-Who-"

"Oh really, Minerva, must you use that name," chastised Albus, who was smiling. "I thought you of all people would call him by his real name. Voldemort." Minerva winced but Albus was choosing another sherbet lemon and didn't notice. "It gets so confusing to say all of that You-Who-Know nonsense. I never had any trouble saying his name."

"That's because you're the only person he ever feared."

"We're lucky it's dark, I haven't blushed so much since Madame Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs. In any case, Voldemort has powers that I will never have."

"Only because you are too, well, noble to use them."

"You flatter me."

Professor McGonagall sighed. "Back on topic, the rumors say that You-Know…oh, alright, Voldemort, went after the Potters just last night. The rumors say that the Potters are…dead?" Albus inclined his head and Professor McGonagall gaped. "They are! Oh, I heard but I didn't want to believe it, oh Albus…"

"I know, I know," said Albus, his voice now sounding heavy and full of mourning.

"That's not all," said Professor McGonagall. "They say that he tried to kill the Potter's daughter, Danielle. But it didn't work, that the curse rebounded, and that's why he's gone!" When Albus inclined his head again, Professor McGongall stared at him. "That's true! Of all the things that could stop him, of all the people that he's killed, he couldn't kill a little girl? How could that have happened, Albus?"

"We can only guess, we may never know," said Albus, who was now unsticking two sherbet lemons stuck together.

Twilight, who she and Spike had remained silent up until then, frowned. 'He knows…or he knows more than he's saying.'

"Where is Danielle Potter now?" Asked Professor McGonagall, staring at him and the pockets of his robes, as if wondering if he would pull the girl out of them as well.

"Hagrid is bringing her," said Albus.

"You think it is wise, trusting Hagrid with this?" Asked Professor McGonagall, looking skeptical. "And why here, of all places anyway? What makes this house so special?"

"They are the only family she has left," said Albus heavily.

Professor McGongall stared at him before looking back at the dark windows of Number 4. "Albus, you can't really mean here? I watched these people all day and they're terrible! They have this son, I saw him kicking his mother down the street, screaming for sweets. Danielle Potter coming to live here? She will be famous, a legend, I wouldn't be surprised if today were known as Danielle Potter day in the future."

"Exactly. Better that she grows up away from all of that…until she is ready to handle it."

Professor McGonagall swallowed, looking like she wanted to say something before finally sighing. "Very well, Albus, I'll trust you on this."

Albus nodded and they lapsed into silence for several long moments, occasionally looking around as if wondering which direction this Hagrid would be coming from. The old man finally took out a watch and examined it. "Hagrid is late. I wonder if he-"

The rest of his sentence was cut off when there was a huge roar that got everyone's attention, especially Twilight's and Spike's. Looking around, they finally looked to see what appeared to be a headlight high in the air but approaching the ground fast. With a loud thump, a huge motorcycle that Twilight remembered seeing near Sunset Shimmer hit the ground, skidding to a stop near the two other humans.

Both pony and dragon's eyes widened when they saw the occupant of the motorcycle though. If the vehicle was huge, it was nothing compared to its rider. Standing at what was probably twelve feet tall was a huge man whose face was mostly hidden behind a large scraggly beard. His hands were the size of trash can lids and his feet were encased in what looked to be leather dolphins. Now that he was getting off the motorcycle he pulled out a bundle of blankets near him.

Albus and Professor McGonagall stood up and approached him. "Hagrid, thank goodness," said Albus, "where on earth did you get that motorcycle?"

"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore sir," said Hagrid, "young Sirius Black leant it to me. I've got her sir."

"No problems I hope?" Asked Dumbledore as Professor McGonagall took the blankets from the giant of a man.

"No sir. Fell asleep as we were flying over Bristol."

Professor McGonagall unwrapped the blankets enough to see Danielle's face and Twilight saw the cute face of the baby human again. The elderly woman shook her head with a small smile. "Looks so much like Lily."

"Indeed," said Albus, smiling himself. He took Danielle into his arms now. "Well, better get this over with."

Everyone swallowed as the old man approached the door of Number 4 and placed baby Danielle on the doorstep. Then, taking out a letter, he slipped it into the blankets as well and after a spell used to keep her asleep and warm through the night, he approached the other two adults.

For a moment, everyone stared at the bundle of blankets before Albus sighed. "Well, that's that. We have nothing else to do here so we might as well join the celebrations."

"Aye, sir," said Hagrid, moving toward the motorcycle. "I should be getting the bike back to Sirius Black sir." He kick started the bike and with an almighty roar, it launched itself into the sky and out of sight.

Albus turned to Professor McGonagall. "I'll be seeing you back at the school, I trust?" He didn't get an answer but they did see a cat running into the distance and was lost into the darkness. The old man shook his head and turned down the street. When he was about ten feet out when he pulled out the same silver box from before and a single click, all of the balls of light flew back where they had been taken.

Looking back at Number 4, Albus nodded. "Good luck, Danielle." With a small pop, he vanished.

Twilight and Spike could only just barely look at each other when the book spat them back out so they were back in Ponyville again. The Alicorn sat down and stared at the nearby wall, not sure what to say or do. Spike was much the same as they tried to process what they had just seen.

The new princess broke the silence. "Did they really just leave her on a doorstep like a bottle of milk? Not even waiting to see if anyone would take her into the house?"

"Pretty irresponsible, Twilight, I know."

"That's…that has to be criminal. Ugh, I need parchment and a quill to write all of this down. I have a feeling we're going to see a lot that will require me to take notes. Spike?"

"I'm on it, Twi."

XXXXXX

"Mistress, one of the monsters you had freed was destroyed last night."

"Yes, I had noticed when it never returned, fool. It was only a scout, though, and now I know that Ponyville is more interesting than I had thought if something is capable of destroying it. This might be a threat to my plans…proceed as planned but be ready to keep an eye on Ponyville, just in case."

"Yes, Mistress."

XXXXXX

Danielle smiled as she watched her newly adopted daughter play with some new toys she had bought for her the previous day. Sitting at the table with her arms crossed, she felt content as she thought about everything that had happened recently, though she was dreading the inevitable return of Luna as she knew the Princess of the Night would show up at her door at some point that day.

She had patrolled the previous night after making dinner for Riley, Cadence and Flurry and hadn't found anything wrong. Ponyville seemed like a sleepy little town then and she hoped that the Dementor the night before that was just a fluke. She didn't like how her instincts were telling her that it was part of a larger conspiracy, or at least something bigger than one Dementor, but she ignored it for now as she continued to watch the two fillies play She truly envied them and their simple lives but pushed past that as she continued with her thoughts.

Cadence was off in town, talking to the few friends she had in this town and trying to figure out what she wanted to do now. By all rights, she had more of a claim to the throne of the Crystal Empire than her now ex-husband Shining Armor, but proving it and going through the paper work would be a nightmare. Danielle knew she would rather have Cadence in charge as she was a good ruler and truly cared about others while she had only heard negative things about Shining.

It was about an hour before noon when the door knocked, indicating Danielle had a visitor. The moment the knocking started, Flurry paused what she was doing, paying attention with a razor sharp intensity. Riley was much more calm, but still nervous from the tenseness Flurry was feeling.

Danielle smiled at them reassuringly and opened the door, knowing that she would protect them if it was someone like Shining. Taking one look at the visitor she had, Danielle chuckled. "I knew you would show up at some point, Lulu."

Princess Luna smiled shyly on her doorstep, looking as impeccable as ever. Her midnight blue mane and tail constantly flowing behind her going very well with her navy blue coat. She looked more tired and more world weary than she had before the Nightmare Moon incident, but she still exuded beauty and grace extremely hard to copy. Luna's eyes showed how happy she was to see her, though, and Danielle couldn't deny that she probably had the same look in her own eyes.

"I had to see you again, Danielle, just to prove to myself that it wasn't a dream."

Danielle smiled and moved aside for Luna to enter the house, which the large pony did with only a moment's hesitation. Once they were both completely inside and in the living room, Danielle opened her arms with a smile. "I missed you, Lulu."

Luna nodded and they both embraced, standing on her hind legs as she did so, both glad to be in each other's arms again. The lunar princess sighed as she inhaled Danielle's scent, calming her down now like it always had in the past. Danielle could hear Luna's rapid heartbeat and rubbed the pony's mane and back soothingly, which only made Luna almost purr in happiness.

Separating, Danielle helped Luna get back down onto all four hooves and turned to a now calm and happy Flurry and a curious Riley. "Riley, this is Princess Luna, an old friend of mine and will probably come visit every now and then, right?"

Luna nodded and stepped forward to the two fillies. "Danielle means a lot to me and I promise I will do my best to make her and you happy."

Riley considered Luna for a few long moments before nodding and inclining her head to the Princess. Flurry didn't use the same caution and rushed forward, hugging a surprised Luna's side before they both relaxed into the hug as well.

"It's good to see you again, Aunt Luna," said Flurry, smiling happily. Her expression became worried. "Daddy isn't going to find out where I am, right?"

Luna scowled at the thought of Shining Armor but shook her head. "I have no reason to tell him where you are and have no interest in letting him know. Rest assured, Flurry Heart, he will not find out from me and I fully support you staying here for the moment."

Flurry nodded, now fully relaxed as she returned to her toys. Danielle caught Luna's eye and with a subtle nod, they headed for the kitchen table where they would have some privacy away from the two fillies. When they were both seated, Danielle smiled and Luna did so as well, both truly enjoying being in the other's presence again.

"Business before pleasure, Luna," said Danielle, sighing, much to Luna's annoyance and acceptance. "How bad is Shining Armor?"

Luna let out a breath and rested her back against the chair. "I didn't know Shining Armor too well, but I knew of him, before he married Cadenza and moved to the Crystal Empire. I mostly worked with the head of the Night Guard and not Captain Armor. That said, the files I read stated that he had wanted to get into the guard from an early age, tested as one of the best of his class and passed the needed tests to get in very well. Mostly due to the fact that his sister became my sister's student, Shining rose through the ranks fairly quickly. That's not to say that he's not competent, but it did help. From what my own captain has told me, Midnight claims that Shining was a good tactician, but he wasn't the best captain. The ponies under him said he could come up with various plans and strategies to win faux battles with no problem, but he secretly had a horrible temper when pushed and was fairly impatient.

"That said, I never really personally interacted with him very much, so what I mostly know about him is second hoof accounts."

Danielle nodded slowly. "Vices?"

"Other than the occasional drink, not really," said Luna, shrugging. "Any reason you are interested other than the fact you have his daughter in your house as a guest?"

Danielle paused, not sure if she should reveal what she found out, but sighed. "When I saved Cadence and Flurry and brought them here, I treated them for Dementor exposure like I was taught. However, I also found that they both had…well, black eyes, concealed with a fairly good illusion spell." Luna's eyes narrowed at the information and Danielle nodded. "I don't want to come out and say it, but if you claim that Shining Armor drinks occasionally and has a temper…"

Luna breathed through her nose heavily for a moment before sighing. "I have never been a huge fan of Princess Cadenza, as I'm sure you can figure out, Danielle." Danielle nodded sadly and Luna lost some of her hard look before she sighed again. "That being said, I cannot fault her for leaving him if we are right in our assumptions. Shining is currently in Canterlot, which has left the Crystal Empire without anyone to truly guard it I might add, and is arguing to officially take over Cadenza's royal title. He was a prince consort while married, but now he wants to be known as prince officially."

Danielle snorted. "That won't happen. The law states that one must either have the power needed to match an Alicorn, familiar ties to a royal family that is no less than two generations, or be married to royalty in order to obtain an official title. From what little I do know, Shining Armor's best bet would be to claim a royal title to protect Flurry Heart until she is of age, but since Cadence is still alive and has full guardianship of her, he can't use that."

Luna sighed and rested her head in her hoof. "Politics has never been my forte, you should know that, Danielle."

Danielle chuckled and nodded, reaching out her hand and holding Luna's hoof on the table, making her smile at her. "I don't care for it much either, leave that your sister as she can have it. Still, I've been around so many royal figures around the world that it was hard to not pick up something from them."

Luna smiled wryly. "Fixing their problems and adopting their children would do that, I imagine."

The human in the room snorted and chuckled again, which caused Luna to smile a bit, though it was somewhat sad. "I haven't adopted as many children as you seem to think, but yes, I have taken care of more than my fair share of young ones. I think you would like a few of them." She smiled sadly as well and squeezed Luna's hoof comfortingly. "I know what you are thinking of, Lulu."

Luna turned so she wasn't looking at her, not able to look her in the eyes. "No, I'm happy that you were able to be a parent, even if they were all adopted. It is a pleasure that you helped raise so many good ponies, griffins and more."

Danielle sighed and moved her chair over so she and Luna were face to face, moving her head so they were making eye contact. "I don't blame you, Lulu. I could never blame you for what happened so many years ago."

The unshed tears that had been plaguing Luna's eyes finally came out and, after sniffling a bit, broke down sobbing into Danielle's chest, causing her to hug her tightly. Danielle sighed mentally and did her best to calm down the distressed Alicorn, rubbing her back soothingly again and whispering things into her ear about how what happened was not Luna's fault.

"It is my fault," said Luna, muffled from hiding in Danielle's flannel shirt. "If I hadn't gone off to battle Sombra with you or Celestia-"

"Luna, Lulu, I don't blame you, alright? Yes, it was a mistake, but it was not you, but him, alright? I blame Sombra, not you, never you."

Luna sniffed and burrowed her head into Danielle's shirt again, not wanting to resurface. Danielle swallowed as her mind went back to that horrible day as well. She tried not to think about it, but Luna remembering it made her do so as well.

It was about two months after the first battle with Sombra and the Crystal Empire. The Elements of Harmony weren't working against him for some reason and they had to fight him personally to save the crystal ponies from his dark tyranny.

She still remembered that time fondly and was only surprised that it had taken so long. A couple of months before the battle, Luna had proudly told her that she was pregnant and she was the other parent. Danielle, knowing exactly how that happened, could only cry happy tears that she would be a parent with Luna who was about two weeks along at that point. She had wanted to make sure that nothing would happen to Luna until it was safe to do so, but Luna had never been one to simply stay at home when things were dangerous elsewhere and she was needed. Despite both her and Celestia telling Luna to take it easy and relax, the lunar princess had refused to lay down on the job and had entered the battle with Sombra with them.

Danielle had been distracted with Luna being in the fight that she hadn't even noticed herself taking more damage than she would have taken otherwise. What really got her though was when Sombra had gotten a lucky shot and had hit Luna in the side, making her crash into a few buildings. She still shivered at that as she remembered the rage and hatred she had felt at Sombra, pounding him into the ground over and over again for hurting Luna.

In the end, it hadn't mattered. Sombra got the last laugh in the end. Yes, Danielle had killed him, but he continued to exist through some spirit form like Voldemort had and had somehow managed to make the entire kingdom vanish until it returned centuries later.

It wasn't discovered until a day or two after the battle with Sombra did they discover that the spell Luna had been hit with had shocked her badly and the blunt force trauma through several buildings hadn't helped.

Luna would live, but she lost the filly.

Danielle hadn't moved from Luna's side for days after that, constantly reassuring her that she still loved her and more. It didn't help that Celestia a few weeks later had ordered them both to opposite sides of Equestria to deal with problems there. It hadn't been the first or last time Danielle had thought that Celestia had terrible timing and a lack of empathy for those closest to her.

Looking back on it, that might have been one of the final straws that had led to Nightmare Moon, but Danielle didn't want to dwell on the past like that, not when she had a still softly crying Luna in her arms.

"…Luna, please, listen to me when I tell you that I don't blame you and you shouldn't blame yourself either. Yes, it was a mistake, but we are stronger than this and we can finally move past it. Let me help, Lulu."

Luna sniffled as she was running out of tears, looking up at Danielle, who gave her a look that screamed loving patience. Swallowing, Luna very slowly nodded. "…okay."

Danielle smiled and kissed the top of Luna's head, making her blush prettily. "That's my princess. Now, is there anything good that has happened since I've been gone? I can tell you all about the places I've been to."

Luna smiled weakly and nodded. "I'd like that."

When Cadence arrived back at the house about an hour and a half later, she was somewhat surprised to see Danielle talk to Luna at the table, tea in hand and hoof, talking about old times and laugh about the various people they remembered from back then.

"Remember when Starswirl first saw me?" Asked Danielle, her eyes showing her amusement, "I thought he was going to have a heart attack."

Luna laughed, nodding along as remembered that day. "I remember that he thought that Discord had created you from a variety of different species to cause chose among ponies. Ah, it took myself, Tia and Clover all to calm him down, didn't it?"

Danielle laughed this time. "He only calmed down because Clover had taken his hat! He loved that hat and wouldn't fire a spell off at all if someone took it!"

Luna snickered before she looked behind Danielle to see Cadence, nodding to her and turning back. "I think Princess Platinum almost had a stroke she was laughing so hard. She was so embarrassed that her number one magic user could be defeated so easily."

"And Commander Hurricane was taking notes the whole time!" Laughed Danielle, making Luna snicker as well, remembering that along with many other meetings the three pony tribes had made when they all agreed to combine into one.

Cadence stared at the odd sight in front of her as she had never seen Luna so happy and carefree but she shook off her surprise and, smiling herself, she approached them hesitantly. "You seem to be having fun, Princess Luna."

Luna stared at her for several moments, Cadence's smile sliding off her face as she felt she was being judged by the elder Alicorn. Danielle sighed and shook her head. "Really, Luna? Be nice."

Luna stopped and rolled her eyes, looking away from the younger princess to Danielle instead, making Cadence sigh in relief. "You know my feelings on the matter."

"I do, but Cadence doesn't deserve to be glared at like that."

"I wasn't glaring."

"Yes, you were, Luna," said Danielle, sounding more amused than chastising. "You're taking your anger and frustration out on her and she doesn't deserve it."

"I…I do not…"

"Luna…"

"…Maybe a little."

Danielle chuckled and shook her head, smiling. "You really haven't changed much, have you, Luna?"

Luna sighed, her expression saying otherwise. "I spent a thousand years reflecting on my mistakes, Danielle. I did come back changed."

"Yes, but not where it counts," said Danielle, smiling as she placed a hand on Luna's shoulder. "You still have a good portion of your humor intact and all you have to do it improve your image to the common citizen and you will be accepted again in no time. The rest will follow."

Luna looked doubtful but nodded, grateful. "Like how we still love each other?"

Danielle smiled and nodded. "Like that." At a look from Cadence, Danielle then sighed. "Speaking of which, Luna, Cadence here and I have been talking about a few things."

Luna's eyes turned slightly fearful. "Like?"

"Luna, do not take this the wrong way, I still love you, but…I don't think I can love you the way I used to, not right away, at least." The Princess of the Night was about to say something when she stopped, holding herself back from getting too upset. Seeing that Luna held her self from saying what she wanted, Danielle continued. "Luna, when we left off, we were constantly sharing the same bed, acting like love struck teenagers half the time and apart from each other on missions the other half. I've changed since then, as have you, like you said. I want us to start over as much as we can. I want us to go on dates, start our courtship over and really get to know how we are now."

The darker Alicorn swallowed and looked doubtful. "I…understand. It would be hard-"

"That's what I said," Danielle mock grumbled.

Luna smiled slightly. "But you are sure that this would be beneficial to our relationship?"

"I do," said Danielle, nodding. "We can't really expect each other to be comfortable for us to sleep together so soon after being apart for so long. I'm sorry, Luna, but suddenly going back to where we were will take some time for both of us." She then grimaced. "And, I'm very sorry for this, but you did kind of stab me before we didn't see each other for a thousand years, and that didn't help matters."

Luna flinched horribly, looking like she wanted to argue that point before she thought better of it. Calming herself, she sighed. "I can only offer the excuse that I wasn't myself when I…almost killed you. I am so sorry for that."

"Luna, I know you were Nightmare Moon at that point and I know you weren't acting like yourself, but you still did stab me after I failed to talk you down and that…hurt me, more than I thought. I still love you and want to be with you in the future, just give us both some time to get used to the idea again, alright?"

Luna swallowed and nodded. "Okay," she said in a very soft and vulnerable tone that caused Danielle's heart to melt and make it hard to not just hold her like she used to right then. Smiling weakly, the lunar Alicorn looked hopeful. "Would you like to go out with me?"

Danielle smiled and nodded. "I would love to. But before we do so, I should tell you something." Luna looked curious and a little cautious and Danielle sighed. "Luna, at this point in my life, I don't think anyone, even you, have exclusive rights to my heart. You probably have the best chance, but I do want to try dating again and with others. Luna, don't take this the wrong way, but I have a date with Cadence here tomorrow. Maybe nothing will come out of it, but I want to know if something might. Can you please not do anything to ruin this date, Luna."

Luna had a few unshed tears in her eyes but swallowed again, not answering right away. She was so confused as to what Danielle was asking for her and to her own emotions regarding everything. She had a date with Danielle coming up, which is what she wanted, but now Cadence, the pony she felt had replaced her and had never truly trusted, was getting the same chance she was getting. She so wanted to be selfish and only take Danielle for herself, not even allowing her sister to have her either, but she squashed that thought hurriedly. Selfishness and jealously had been the route to Nightmare Moon and she never wanted to go down that path again.

Still, it was just one date and it might not even go well, not to mention that Cadence was a single mother at the moment, which was not the best option for a single mare or human only wanting a casual date. She also still had the advantage over the Princess of Love as she had known Danielle longer than the other Alicorn, already knowing what she liked and able to woo her to a better degree than her competition.

Finally she nodded with a weak smile, wiping her wet eyes in the process. "Yes, of course, Danielle, Cadenza. I do not want to get between you two, as I am sure you will do the same for Danielle and myself?"

Cadence had been silent as Danielle and Luna had their conversation and had felt a multitude of different emotions from the normally stoic Princess of the Night. If Cadence was honest with herself, she was more than a little intimidated by the lunar princess as, even though she had done her best to act friendly toward her, Luna had always given her the cold shoulder and even ignored her at times. But now she was sensing Luna feeling emotions beyond the normal annoyance, exhaustion and mild depression but also happiness, joy, a strong sense of love, confusion, depression again, sadness and now finally resigned acceptance. She really did not want Luna to resent her if she could avoid it and while she would have liked a casual date with no expectations, she didn't want it at the cost of Luna's ire.

"Princess Luna," said Cadence, softly, "if you would prefer if I cancel my date with Danielle…"

"Cadence," said Danielle, firmly, "I'm not canceling our date and Luna here will have to accept that I'm single at the moment and am free to date whoever I want. That being said, Luna, I'm looking forward to what you come up with for our date."

Luna looked like she wanted to argue, but knew she was on thin ice and she should be grateful to getting a second chance like she was, so she swallowed her pride and nodded, not like she had much before this meeting anyway.

Danielle saw it and sighed, "Luna, I love and care about you, but I think it's pretty obvious we're not engaged at the moment like we used to be. I want to love you as you are now and not as you used to be and just because I want to go on a date with someone else, doesn't make me love you any less. Please, trust me on this."

The lunar princess let out a deep breath, clearly relaxing now as she gave a shy smile. "Understood. So, anything happier you want to talk about?"

Danielle and Cadence smiled and the younger princess sat down at the table, not as intimidated by Luna now as she usually was. It really helped when Luna smiled. "You two must know so much, having been around for so long and having met so many people."

Danielle chuckled at Cadence's words. "I've met a lot and remember a lot as well. Luna, remember Queen Jade?"

Luna blinked before scoffing. "With how amazing she was at her famous berry pie? I don't think anyone could forget her. Now she was a ruler one could be envious of."

"Queen Jade?"

Turning to see that the speaker was Riley, who had wondered over after getting bored and wanted to see what the adults were talking about. Flurry was right behind her and jumped onto the nearby chair to get a better vantage point.

Danielle smiled and conjured a chair for Riley, who sat down with no hesitation. "Queen Jade was the ruler of the Crystal Empire before Sombra took over. Amazingly sweet pony as she came up with a lot of the customs still celebrated today. She taught Celestia, Luna here and I as much as she could about ruling before she was defeated and brought down."

Cadence sighed. "I managed to read a bit about her but most books about her weren't found in the Crystal Empire. I think Sombra probably burned them when he took over. I can't find much about her and I want to."

Luna nodded. "Sombra was a general in Queen Jade's army and was one of the most loyal and fierce fighters in her employ. How he eventually fell from grace and took over…I suspect either Discord or Grogar, but I'm not sure."

"Grogar?" Asked Cadence, never having heard that name before.

Danielle made a face of disgust that made Riley smile a bit. "Extremely dark necromancer that toyed with the art for fun on his off time. I believe he was a sheep, a ram to be precise, but he was so dark that he put a lot of the monsters I've fought with to shame. He was taken down eventually, cast into Tartarus for all eternity and sealed so tightly he can't come back, but he was so dark that he corrupted many that just accidentally wandered too close to him. I wouldn't be surprised if he had made a base in the far north and Sombra had been charged with getting rid of him, becoming corrupted in the process."

"It would make sense," said Luna, nodding. "Still, Queen Jade was the better ruler, even coming up with a way for ponies to live so far north when most went south."

"Why did they move south?" Asked Riley, confused, "Because of the Windigos?"

"Partly," said Danielle, resting her arms on the chair as she thought of her answer. "You see, many thousands of years ago, most ponies of Equestria used to live in the far north, for some reason I will never understand." Where what she used to call Canada and the Arctic, actually. "While most moved south for warmer weather, the Windigos didn't make things any easier, especially as they had no way of getting rid of them back then. Now, back then, the three tribes still didn't like each other, but a unicorn named Jade refused to move south, stating that it was her home and she would find a way to make it work. Working hard, she finally found a way to make a strong enough shield to keep the snow and ice out."

"Like what the Crystal Heart does now?" Asked Flurry, sounding curious.

Danielle blinked and chuckled. "That thing still works? I thought someone else would have found something better by now. I didn't think I made it that durable."

Cadence stared at her, surprised. "YOU made the Crystal Heart? Really!"

Danielle chuckled and leaned back in her chair. "The Crystal Heart was a piece of crystal Jade, Luna, Celestia and I found when we were exploring that area's caves. I think this was only a year or two after the two sisters got me out of that coma. Anyway, it wasn't that hard to heavily enchant and imbue the power of Jade's love powered shield magic into the crystal. Unfortunately, it required a pretty good amount of love based magic to give it a kick start needed to protect the Crystal Empire, but Jade made it work. She fully planned on having it protect her city after she was gone, at least until a better solution was created."

Cadence continued to stare at her, eyes wide as she sat in her seat. "That is…amazing. You can enchant to such a level?"

Danielle chuckled again. "Cadence, enchanting was a hobby of mine since I was a little older than Riley here. It was one of my favorite classes back when I was going to school and no one was better than me. I was mostly good at enchanting, offensive and defensive magic and warding, or putting up various kinds of protective barriers." She then frowned and started grumbling. "I still hate math though, stupid Arithmancy."

Cadence giggled and Luna had a fond smile on her face, remembering how much Danielle had complained about that so many years ago.

"So, any other stories?"

XXXXXX

After filling in two rolls of parchment of various things she thought might be important, Twilight figured she was ready for another jump into the diary. Discord had left awhile ago but Spike was willing to give it another shot with the promise of trying to leave if it got too intense for him.

"You sure you want to go in again, Twilight? We can always leave it for tomorrow."

Twilight had thought of that but shook her head. "No, there are too many questions I want answered to wait until tomorrow. You don't have to come, Spike, I won't ask that of you."

"And I don't want to leave you alone in there," said Spike firmly.

Smiling at her number one assistant, Twilight flipped the diary to the next page. The date was a few years after the last one at the twentieth of August, 1985. "So, Danielle would be…five years old in this one?" She shrugged and touched her horn to the paper, sending both her and Spike into the memory.

Seeing that the scenery had stopped shifting, Twilight saw that they were inside of a painfully bland house that lacked any kind of originality at first glance. They were standing in a hallway right next to a living room with the only things she could see were a door that probably led outside to her right, another door that had a kitchen beyond it on her left and a staircase in front of her to the second floor.

Raising an eyebrow at what she was supposed to be seeing, a fairly horse faced human woman came down the stairs, grumbling to herself. She was blonde and extremely skinny, much more so than the other humans Twilight had seen so far, and was wearing a lurid pink apron. The woman opened a door on the side of the stairs that Twilight and Spike had thought to be for a closet when they blinked at seeing a little ragged red haired bundle curled into a moth eaten blanket.

"Wake up, girl!"

The bundle stirred and sat up to reveal that it was a fairly sleepy Danielle. Twilight was now fully realizing that this cupboard under a staircase was Danielle's room and her eye started twitching so much she almost missed what was next. The woman grabbed Danielle by the arm and pulled her out of the cupboard, showing that the little girl was only wearing a large t-shirt several sizes too big for her and clearly male underwear that was just as clearly worn by someone else before her.

"Make breakfast and make it right this time, girl!"

Danielle flinched and nodded. "Yes, Aunt Petunia."

Now Spike was getting just as angry as Twilight as they followed the little human girl through the door into the kitchen as the older woman went back upstairs. "They're making what is essentially a little filly cook breakfast? Dressed like that?"

"It would seem so," said Twilight, her voice even but full of hidden anger. They watched as Danielle had to pull a stool to the kitchen counter and started to make breakfast, cracking eggs and frying bacon, which made Twilight wrinkle her nose and Spike to look curious at the strips of meat.

"This is too much work for a little girl," muttered Spike as they watched, both horrified by what was going on and a bit intrigued at the cooking skill Danielle was showing, which was above average for a beginner.

They continued watching as the rest of the family entered about ten minutes after Danielle had started. Petunia sat down but also a fat walrus of a man came in along with what seemed to be a human like pig that learned to walk on his hind legs. Twilight examined everything with a sort of laser like focus and quickly deduced what that Minerva woman had meant by these humans being the worst sort of people imaginable. She couldn't detect any sign from her various friendship lessons any of the kindness, generosity, or affection she was used to seeing and it was making her sick. It was like these…people, only just barely liked each other and even then, it was more like a united front against Danielle that kept them together.

Danielle barely got any of the breakfast she had made and ate as quickly as possible, leaving the house as soon as she was done and dressed. Following her around, Twilight deduced that since it was August, she was off from school or something and simply tried to enjoy the neighborhood.

"Everyone on the block," said Spike, looking around at the various people on the sidewalk, "even they don't like her."

It was true as random neighbors either glared or sneered at Danielle, moving their children away from her. Twilight overheard something about Danielle being a troublemaker and she was nothing more than a burden on her aunt, uncle and cousin, but to her, it just seemed wrong.

Ending up at the park, Danielle sat down next to a tree and simply relaxed, closing her eyes to the world and everything around her. Twilight had to smile at that, having found peace in nature a few times when she was younger as well, well, at least before she had been accepted by Celestia to be her student.

Twilight and Spike realized as they watched that everything seemed to be going much faster than usual, like time was moving faster. Realizing quickly that the diary was speeding through the unimportant parts of the memory, it slowed back down to normal when the sun was at the point a little before noon.

"Ah, is little Danielle alone?" Asked a voice in a mock baby tone. Danielle sighed as she stood up from her tree, looking at her cousin and his cronies, three other boys that were almost as big and stupid as Dudley was.

"Don't do this, Dudley," said Danielle, sounding bored. "Leave me alone."

"Ooh," said the gang mockingly before they burst out laughing. "She sure showed us," said Piers, smirking.

"Want to give her a head start this time?"

Dudley shrugged. "Eh, why not? You get about thirty seconds."

Danielle smiled slightly. "I don't think you can count that high," she said, before taking off, making her cousin's gang cry out in fury and start chasing her around the park. Every adult nearby just shook their heads at their antics but didn't say anything, clearly used to this kind of behavior.

Twilight shook her head sadly as she and Spike watched. Danielle clearly did not deserve being chased around in a bullying manner by her own cousin and especially without an adult nearby to help her. Throw in the lack of a loving environment and wearing hand me down clothes from a male family member and Danielle was pretty much a poster child for abuse and neglect.

While she had no way to prove it, Twilight was sure that Danielle had gone through verbal and emotional abuse with possible physical as well. She hoped it didn't go beyond that but even that was worrisome.

"Twilight…" said Spike warningly, knowing what Twilight was thinking of.

"Spike, statistics prove that abused children often become abusers themselves."

"Twi, her records have shown that she's great with fillies and colts. Various rulers stated that she would be a great parent. She's adopted enough to have shown that."

Twilight frowned but didn't answer, just watching as Danielle stayed ahead of her cousin and his gang with little effort, not sure what to feel.

The memory didn't go past Danielle making a simple dinner for herself and her relatives before being forced back into her cupboard. Coming out of the diary, Twilight sighed and sat down for several long moments, thinking about everything while going through some deep breathing exercises. Spike was much less calm and left the room for several long minutes, furious about something as he worked out his anger and frustration.

Letting out a breath slowly, Twilight's horn glowed and she levitated a quill over to the parchment set out and ready and started to take a few notes on what she had seen, wondering what was important and what wasn't. There had to be a reason she was seeing these specific memories that Discord hadn't told her and she was going to find it!

When Spike came back, he looked calmer but still angry about what he had seen. "Let's go back."

Twilight looked at him and his stern expression and decided that doing so could possibly calm him down. Turning the page, she saw that the date was a few years after the last one at June 12, 1991.

"Danielle should be around eleven at this point. Let's go." Spike didn't need to be told twice and held onto Twilight as they were sucked into the memory again.

Everything righted itself and they found themselves back in Danielle's relative's house, back in front of the cupboard under the stairs that Twilight was starting to hate. Spike rolled his eyes at where they had ended up in again and they watched as Danielle's cousin, who was even larger and fatter than before, was jumping up and down on one of the steps. "Wake up cousin, we're going to the zoo!"

The door to the cupboard opened and a clearly ten or eleven year old Danielle was visible for just a moment before her cousin pushed her back in unceremoniously. A thud from inside the cupboard told Twilight that she had crashed into the back wall from the force of the shove and the Alicorn's eye started twitching again.

Reappearing a moment later with a large sigh, Danielle made her way into the kitchen where Petunia was fawning over her son.

"Oh, there's my Dudders, there's my little angel!"

"Happy birthday son," said Vernon, nodding to Dudley with a gruff smile.

When they saw Danielle, who was still dressed in her cousin's old cast offs, Petunia glared at her. "Just make breakfast and try not to burn anything."

Danielle rolled her eyes. "Yes, Aunt Petunia," she got to work making what she normally made.

Petunia meanwhile was holding her hands over her son's eyes. "I want everything to be perfect, for my Dudley's special day." She removed her hands and revealed a large pile of presents on a side table, making Twilight and Spike shake their heads at the sheer number.

"I know that I didn't get that many before going…uh, horde mode," said Spike sheepishly and rubbing the back of his head, "but that many can't be good for this guy."

"And I'm not getting you more as I don't want another horde mode incident happening," said Twilight sternly. "Still, this boy is clearly a spoiled brat."

Dudley was counting his presents and his face fell. "Twenty-six? That's two less than last year!"

"Dudley, you didn't count this big one from your Aunt Marge, under the big one from mummy and daddy," Petunia cooed at him.

"So spoiled," said Twilight.

"Alright, twenty-seven then," said Dudley, who looked to be on the verge of a temper tantrum. Danielle made sure to set down the breakfast on the table and started eating her small amount quickly in case Dudley turned the table over.

Petunia apparently sensed danger too as she wrapped her son into a hug. "And while we are out today, we'll buy you two more presents. Is that alright, popkin. Two more presents."

Dudley screwed up his face in thought, it looked like hard work. "So I'll have twenty…twenty…?"

"Twenty-nine, sweetums," said Petunia.

Twilight's eye was twitching like crazy now. "Dear sweet Equestria and Celestia, he can't even count! That's the most basic of the-" the rest of her words were lost in garbled faux swears and she felt her brain short circuit at the sheer stupidity she was watching.

Vernon chuckled and ruffled his son's hair. "Little tyke want's his money's worth. That a boy, Dudley."

"Encouraging such behavior," muttered Twilight, her already low opinion of these people dropping even lower.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a ringing noise she thought might be from a human telephone and Petunia left to go answer it. While she was gone, Dudley started ripping open presents, revealing a lot of things that looked shiny and fancy but overall useless. He was ripping the wrapping off a gold watch when Petunia came back with a worried look.

"Bad news Vernon, Mrs. Figg has broken her leg, she can't take her," she said, jabbing a thumb at Danielle.

Spike looked at Twilight. "Family friend?"

"Possibly."

"Now what?" Asked Petunia, "We can't bring her with us to the zoo."

"We could phone Marge," suggested Vernon.

"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the girl."

From the look Danielle was giving, the feeling was completely mutual. The memory sped up slightly and Twilight and Spike were soon standing in front of what was clearly a zoo, following Danielle and her relatives inside. Twilight was seriously wondering how bad this 'Marge' could be but if she was anything like these humans, she wasn't holding her breath for someone decent.

Twilight and Spike watched as Dudley and a friend of his were treated much better than Danielle as they walked around the zoo, the auburn haired girl staying far enough away from them that they were in sight, but not included in their family outing. The Alicorn's eyes narrowed as even though she was being starved for basic affection, Danielle was actually having a good time. Was even this kind of outing, where she was excluded but still out of the house, that much of a treat for her?

After lunch, Twilight grimaced as she and Spike followed the humans into the reptile house, forced to listen to Dudley and his friend go on and on about huge snakes. Spike smiled slightly at Twilight. "I thought you were over your fear of snakes?"

Twilight made a face. "Over my fear and liking them are two completely different things, Spike."

They quickly were standing in front of a huge snake tank where a very large boa constrictor was currently sleeping in. It could have crushed Vernon's car into a trash can if it wanted to and Twilight was trying hard to wince at the sight of it, having never liked snakes. Spike had no problem whatsoever and actually jumped on the small railing around the tank, trying to get a closer look.

Dudley looked at his father. "Make it move." Vernon knocked on the glass but the snake didn't budge. "Do it again!" His father rapped on the glass again with his knuckles but the large reptile snoozed on. "This is boring," he whined and walked off, his parents and friend following him.

Danielle stayed by the snake tank however and sighed, looking back at the snake. What happened next made Twilight blink and shudder slightly. "Sorry about that, he's a moron." Twilight heard the English, but she also heard a faint hiss at the same time and she wasn't sure what that just was. Had Danielle just tried to speak to the snake?

Spike seemed confused too but they were distracted when the snake moved so it was eye level to the human girl on the other side of the glass. It winked.

Twilight stared. Thanks to the time she had spent with Fluttershy, she knew that snakes didn't have eye lids so how was that even possible? Not to mention how the snake seemed able to understand Danielle and she wasn't aware that humans could understand animals.

Danielle seemed just as confused but seemed curious as well. "Can you understand me?"

The snake nodded and looked up at the ceiling, giving a very good look that said, 'I get that all the time.'

"How is this possible?" Asked Twilight, not understanding any of this.

"Who cares, this is awesome!" Said Spike, smirking at the idea of Danielle being able to understand snakes.

Danielle looked around to see if anyone was looking at them and saw that no one was so she continued. "The sign says you were bred here in the zoo. You want to get out of here, don't you?" The snake nodded again but Danielle sighed. "Can't help you there, I'm afraid. But-"

"Dudley! Mr. Dursley! Come quick, you won't believe what this snake is doing!" Yelled Dudley's friend and the fat boy came waddling over quickly.

"Outta the way, you!" Dudley gave Danielle such a hard elbow to the ribs that the redheaded girl crashed to the ground with a grunt, making Twilight and Spike wince at the impact.

Dudley was pressing himself against the glass when Danielle glared at him, growling. What happened next made Twilight blink when the glass in front of the tank simply vanished. Dudley, who had been pressing all of his weight against the glass, found himself struggling not to fall until he lost his battle with gravity and fell in, splashing into the water at the bottom of the tank.

The snake itself saw its chance and slithered right out of the tank and onto the floor. It hissed something to Danielle that Twilight couldn't understand but the human girl nodded, shocked as well, and the snake made its way out of the reptile house, much to the screams of the other zoo guests.

Dudley stood up and tried to get out of the enclosure when he was blocked by the glass that had reappeared, trapping him inside the tank. Twilight had to struggle not to laugh at the chubby human boy's misfortune while Spike was rolling on the floor laughing. It only got better when the two older Dursleys came around again and saw their son inside the glass, Petunia screaming in horror while Vernon's face turned red.

The memory sped up again but Twilight was able to make out a meeting with the zoo keeper who had freed Dudley and the car ride home. The memory went back to normal speed then and Petunia ushered Dudley up the stairs and Vernon grabbed Danielle by the hair, forcing her against the stairs. "What happened?" He growled.

Twilight's eyes narrowed in extreme dislike as Danielle's own widened in fear. "I don't know!" Vernon growled and banged the back of her head against the wall next to her cupboard door. "I swear, one moment the glass was there, and then it was gone! It was like magic!"

Vernon forced the door to the cupboard open and shoved Danielle inside before slamming the door closed. "There's no such thing, as magic!" Said Vernon harshly through the grate in the door before closing that as well, forcing Danielle into complete darkness.

The memory ended and Twilight and Spike were standing in their castle again. Both looked at each other, each with their own murderous expressions and they both stalked off in opposite directions, needing to vent the anger they were feeling before they could get back to the book.

Hope you liked it as I plan on turning this into a full story and I have a ton of ideas for this. If you have questions or comments, I can try and answer them in the next chapter. Thank you for reading.