When I woke I found myself greeted by the warm sunlight that I had come to love so much. My eyes dawned on my little sister, still unconscious and free of the armor that changed her into a monster. Though, the armor was not far as it was a few feet away from her, right next to my own demonic suit.

As I stood up I realized that the sky was off. The sun was shining, but the moon hung next to it, looking as its equal. The balance of night and day was strangely stunning and unsettling. Pink greens and blues swirled into cosmic abyss behind both celestial bodies. I felt dizzy for a moment looking at it and averted my gaze. I would have to change that later.

As I changed my path of sight I saw a group of very short Alicorns of a height I had never seen before. Upon further investigation, I realized that these were not Alicorns at all; they were lacking in either a horn or wings. A few of them had none at all!

I stood above them, taller and fuller. I could imagine that they would have been scared of me.

"Young ones," I assumed them to be young based on their size alone. "Tell me, what the name of your race is."

"Well," answered the one with neither horn nor wings. "I am an Earth pony. My friend here is a Pegasus pony and this one a unicorn. So, I guess, we are ponies, as you are yourself."

I laughed at her.

"That is nonsense, I am no pony."I did not say so out of spite for these ponies. "See here?"

I wiggled my horn and ruffled my feathers at them, almost playfully.

"I am called an Alicorn. I come from a proud race filled with majestic warriors. We Alicorns gallop across the stars and all who meet us do so with respect." I tried to make us sound non-threatening; when in reality we conquer lands and enslave their inhabitants.

"Wow, that sounds cool." The Pegasus pony flew into the air "I am the leader of the Pegasus tribe, commander Hurricane!"

I laughed at her tricks as she swooped, punched and kicked at the air, all the while feeling suddenly relieved.

The ponies all introduced themselves to me. The unicorns were Princess Platinum and Clover the Clever. The Pegasi were Commander Hurricane and Private Pansy. The Earth ponies were named Chancellor Puddinghead and Smart Cookie.

They were odd names indeed. The ponies seemed to be named for their personalities rather than for randomness sake. I wondered if the ponies were named later in their lives once a personality started to emerge from the foal.

"Celestia!" I heard Luna call out from behind me. "Finally you have done something right."

"What is that sister?" I turned around and asked her with worry dripping from my voice. If she thought it was good, then perhaps it was the opposite.

"I don't know where we are, or how we got here, but when we claim this land in the name of our father he will surely be proud of me."

"Now, listen hear!" Smart Cookie interrupted.

Luna stopped and her ears perked.

"What is this I hear?" She said sarcastically. "A little equine is challenging me?"

"Just because you're bigger than-"

"Cookie, don't!" I cried, but it was too late. "No!"

Luna had banished her. Where she had banished her was considered an unknown to any but herself. Nopony in our culture had ever travelled to the moon, unless they were imprisoned, but Luna. She loved the moon and I once offered to go with her, but it was her solitary place; that place where she could relax all to herself. It was, for the Alicorns, used as a prison. Once they were there, they never came back. Eventually they just disappeared from the whole thing.

The other ponies gasped in unison. I couldn't help but tear up myself at the sight of Puddinghead's watery eyes.

"Now, ponies," She marched over to her armor. "You shall address me as your queen, Celestia as well."

Luna wasn't being cruel or rash as far as my culture was aware. That sort of thing was simply normal. My mother and I seemed to be the only ones aware that there was more to life than having absolute power. As far as Luna was aware, death was being relaxed compared to the torture a subject might endure for the same action towards the princesses.

"Dear ponies," I addressed them kindly. "I prefer Celestia, but only princess if you must. Please do not call me queen. That is my mother."

"Your mother was a failure to our race, she is not the queen."

I shied away from the confrontation and left it at that. It was technically true; we were both failures, my mother and I, and there was no other way.

As we walked away from the scared and broken ponies I walked next to my sister.

"I was only trying to make things easier for them." I told her. "They are fragile and not used to the lifestyle we are."

Luna looked at me unsurely. She was never used to being questioned by anyone, but me, and the thought always scared her. She didn't have my father here to chastise me for those thoughts this time.

"They will learn." Luna closed her eyes. "Where are we?"

I shook my head.

"I have no idea. I've been thinking of every possibility and I've never come across these half sized, half-breed ponies before."

I had thought of everything I could. All I remembered was the bright light on the sphinx's planet. Perhaps this was the other side of it.

"The soldiers would have found our position now if we were where they could find us. It's not hard to single out and locate our energy signature." Luna said coldly.

"So we're where they can't sense our magic?" I asked her.

"The only places where that happens are in other dimensions, through black holes and behind time folds." Luna recalled her lesson on Alicorns that get lost.

"So we should give up on the idea of father finding us." I stated simply.

"Celestia, I think you're right." She spoke solemnly, but not necessarily sadly. "So we'll start an empire here."

She seemed to relish the idea, but she also seemed reserved about it, as if she was scared.

As she painted the vision of her empire to me I envisioned pain. She told of a land where the ponies helped to further the Alicorn name. I could only see slavery. Luna was wrong in her ideas of a great leader. She wasn't a bad pony, only misguided. She would do anything to be successful in my father's eyes, even if she thought that meant being unnecessarily crude.

"Here!" She looked at a clear valley with trees growing sparingly around the premises. "Our castle shall be a glorious tribute to the Moon and Sun."

Luna set out to the pony civilizations almost right away and setup the propaganda to get an army going. I watched her and by the end of the day she already had ponies drawing up plans for our castle.

In return for their work I grew the plants at a faster rate than normal. The ponies were amazed at what it produced. They told me the unicorns tried a similar method the results were bitter tasting plants. Being an Alicorn, my magic was strong, and thus yielded the proper taste.

"Thank you, Queen Celestia."

"Please," I corrected them. "Call me Celestia, and if anything, just princess."

It was wrong of me to assume the role of a princess when I had not been born into it, or even earned it in this land. I knew that Luna would not accept any less, though, so if I were to play into her game, it would be on my terms.

"Thank you very much, Princess Celestia."

I looked out at all of the ponies, some sad, others afraid. I knew this was not the land I wanted to rule. I didn't know how to change it though. I couldn't stand up to my sister; she was stronger than me with her armor. I just couldn't bring myself to put it on long enough to try and control it. So I stayed there, and as I brought the sun slowly toward the horizon. I dreamed of a kingdom where all were happy because there was plenty of everything to go around.

NOTES: In all actuality I meant to add Author's Notes to this one. I didn't originally but whatever. let me know how you guys like it! I'll let you in on a little secret: This story is finished, but I'm releasing them in a timely manner so that I may finish the sequel before the last chapter is out. Don't worry, it won't be long at all.