Could you believe the Library almost didn't wake up to post this? Shame on me.

Chapter 16: Back Down to Earth

For the first time in a long time, Tyr woke up alone. The usual body of warmth he held close to him was oddly missing. He sat up and scanned the room, not finding who he was looking for. He got up, slipped on a pair of shorts and another t-shirt and walked out into the hall. Twilight and Cadance were standing outside the bathroom. "Waiting on someone?" He asked jokingly, walking over. The worried looks he got made him lose his joking attitude.

Luna emerged from the bathroom, looking paler than usual. "Beloved…"

"Christ!" He rushed over to her, taking her in his arms. "What's wrong?"

"I woke up this morning and saw her run into the bathroom," Twilight said. "She's been throwing up for almost half an hour."

Tyr looked at his princess. "You started feeling worse this morning?"

Luna nodded. "I… didn't want to wake you…"

"This is exactly the thing you wake me up for. Moony, you can always ask me for help."

Luna nodded wordlessly, hanging onto Tyr. "You should put her back in bed," Cadance suggested.

Suddenly, Luna shook her head, pulling away from Tyr and running back into the bathroom. The sound of retching reached his ears. "…Maybe we should watch over her," Twilight offered.

"Good idea." She smiled sadly at Tyr. "We'll let you know when she feels better."

Sighing and realizing he was not needed, Tyr could do nothing but nod. He left the hall and went into the living room, surprised to find all the guys there. "…Surprised to see you all up early," He said.

"Hey, we don't oversleep," Flash said with a grin.

"Heard Luna wasn't feeling to well," Shining said. "She alright?"

"She's throwing up," Tyr explained, sitting beside Ace. "It might be what upset her stomach last night."

"Hope she's alright," Flash said.

"Cadance and Twilight are taking care of her." He glanced over at Ace, who was sitting there with a happy smile on his face. "…Did I miss something?"

"Apparently, Ace had a good night," Night said, rolling his eyes.

"Dude." Ace grinned. "It was awesome."

"How he managed it in my house without me knowing is beyond me," Shining muttered.

"How on earth…?" Tyr frowned. "With who?"

"You won't believe me."

"Try me."

"…Rainbow Dash."

Everyone in the room paused at that. Tyr coughed. "I don't believe you."

Ace laughed. "Figures. But she wandered into where I was sleeping last night, and a bit of harmless flirting ended up with us enjoying one another's company."

"Well, at least you got laid," Night said with a dismissive snort.

"That's not just it!" Ace said excitedly. "You guys don't even know. I've had like the biggest crush on Rainbow Dash for ages."

"Really?" Shining frowned. "Well, not surprising, as you were a Pegasus in Equestria. And she was pretty famous."

"That's not it either. I knew Dash back in school. We even worked on the weather team before I moved to Canterlot to become a Royal Guard."

"So you've liked her all this time?" Tyr asked.

"Yeah. But I never talked to her or anything, until last night." He leaned back in his seat. "You guys think I have a chance?"

Flash shrugged. "I mean, there isn't any hope lost for you if you managed to convince her to sleep with you…"

"Way to make it sound like she took pity on me, Flash."

As they laughed at that, the woman of the hour came around the corner, wearing only her underwear. Her rainbow hair was as unkempt as usual, but as far as Tyr could tell that's how it looked like all the time. "Hey guys," She said with a lopsided smile.

"Hey Dash," Flash said. He smiled. "Seems you had a rough night."

For once, Rainbow blushed. "Yeah… speaking of that, Ace, can I talk to you for a bit?"

"Uh… sure." Ace got up and followed Rainbow out onto the porch.

"What do you think is up?" Tyr asked.

"Maybe she's confessing to him," Night offered.

"Rainbow Dash confessing to a guy? That's silly!" Pinkie said.

Everyone turned to stare at the party girl who had suddenly appeared in Tyr's lap. Tyr himself didn't look too surprised. "Morning, Pinkie," He said.

"Howdy Tyr!" She giggled and hopped off his lap. "Morning everybody!"

"Um… morning Pinkie," Shining said. "You always this hyper in the morning?"

"Pinkie-winkle is always like this," Rarity said, coming out. Tyr was not surprised to see her already dressed up, hair and all.

"Morning Rarity." Tyr said.

"Good to see you, Tyr." She glanced over where she could see Rainbow and Ace talking. The latter of the pair didn't seem too happy. "…Seems she's done it again," She said with a sigh.

"Done what again?"

"Rainbow had a nasty habit of jumping into relationships," Rarity said. "She was… pardon my pun… too fast. She doesn't think about the other person."

"Seems Ace is finding that out now," Night said, no trace of humor in his voice. It was true, their friend seemed to be becoming increasingly distressed.

"Poor bastard," Flash murmured.

"I thought she was into girls?" Tyr asked. Flash and Night looked at him with shock.

"She changes sexual preference to suit her," Rarity said with a sigh.

Ace stormed back in. "Well, at least I know what it feels like to have my emotions played with."

"I didn't mean for you to take it that way!" Dash followed him in. "Look, it was kinda a spur of the moment thing, and I didn't know you felt that way about me."

"So it doesn't matter to you how I feel?"

Dash scratched at her head. "Well… to be honest, I thought it was just going to be a one night thing."

"I didn't!"

"Well you always seemed like a pretty shallow guy, so I thought you weren't looking for a serious relationship or something!" Dash frowned.

"Well, as you can see, I am looking for that sort of relationship. To be perfectly honest, I feel insulted that you'd think it'd be fine to just have a one-night stand."

"Seems something has happened," Celestia's voice murmured. Tyr looked over to see her leaned against the corner, watching quietly.

Dash threw her hands up into the air, and flapped her wings irritably. "Forget it. This is pointless."

"It doesn't bother you that you just played with the heart of a guy that genuinely likes you?" Ace fumed.

Dash shrugged. "You're the one who expected more…"

"How dare you—"

"That's enough," Celestia said softly. Her voice was just loud enough to be heard. "Both of you, stop. It seems you have both made a mistake."

"This isn't the time or the place to have this conversation darling, especially not in public like this." Rarity nodded in agreement.

Ace sighed. For once, Tyr saw his friend genuinely sad. "Right. Sorry everyone."

"Yeah," Dash added halfheartedly. "I'm gonna go see if AJ and Shy are done with breakfast."

As she left, Ace sat down heavily in a chair. "Sorry man," Flash murmured.

Pinkie frowned, unable to fully understand what was going on. "Hey, Ace, cheer up…"

"I'll be fine," Ace said with a smile Tyr could tell was forced.

"You don't look fine…"

"Daddy…" Sherry called, coming down the hallway. She was rubbing her eyes and almost bumped into Celestia. "…Sorry Princess…"

Celestia chuckled softly. "It's quite all right, little one."

Sherry wandered over to her father and climbed into his lap. She put a brush in his hand. "Please?"

He smiled. "Sure love." He began to brush her hair out.

"That must feel good," Rarity noted.

"She asks me to do this every now and then," Tyr said. "To tell the truth, I don't mind."

To her credit, Sherry seemed to be enjoying the attention too. "If only I could do anything with Pinkie's hair," Rarity sighed. "That pink mane of hers in untamable."

Pinkie giggled. "Rarity's already broken two combs in my hair," She said.

Tyr raised an eyebrow. "That's… pretty impressive."

"Hey y'all," AJ peeked out of the kitchen. "If y'all want breakfast, come and get it."

"That sounds good," Rarity said, heading over to the kitchen. Pinkie bounced after her.

"I'll bring y'all some," AJ said, nodding to Tyr.

"Thanks AJ," He said, continuing to brush Sherry's hair. As the others left the room, Luna came out from the hallway. "Moony, you feeling better?"

Luna nodded and sat beside him. "Twilight gave me some medicine to settle my stomach. I'm feeling much better now."

"Luna was sick?" Sherry murmured.

"Yeah, but you were probably still asleep," Tyr chuckled. He deftly brushed Sherry's hair into a ponytail. "There we go. All done."

"Thanks daddy."

"Of course love."

AJ came out of the kitchen with a couple plates full of food. "Here y'all go. I managed to grab you some before Rainbow and Pinkie ate all of it."

"Thanks again, AJ."

"It's no problem, sugarcube. Enjoy!"

Tyr handed one plate to Sherry, and set the other in Luna's lap. "Tyr…?" She asked.

"We can share." He said, smiling. "You might want to get something in your stomach."

"You are most likely correct. Thank you."

"Of course, Moony."

Luna blushed. "I do not think I have ever been as embarrassed with a nickname since Tia started calling me Lulu."

"I think it's cute," Cadance said, appearing suddenly.

Luna blushed. "Of course you do," She muttered.

Cadance giggled. "So, where is everyone?"

"Eating breakfast," Tyr said, popping a slice of apple in his mouth.

"Ah, that sounds good right about now…"

Celestia came out of the kitchen, a slim white phone held up to her ear. "Mmhm. Yes, I can be there. You want my sister to come along as well? …I see. Very well, I shall alert my guards."

"Is something the matter, Big Sister?" Luna asked as Celestia hung up her cell.

"It seems a major politician is requesting our presence at a… dinner," Celestia explained. "It is more than likely due to the upcoming political vote that is happening. "

"So he's trying to curry favor for when the Equestrians get to vote." Tyr said.

"I would not be surprised. A lot of people started asking for my help when they found out I have a large group of weather-controlling girls at my beck and call." She chuckled softly. "But then again, at least 45% of the population of the area is Equestrian now."

"That's… actually a pretty big number," Tyr said thoughtfully.

"It is, isn't it?" She smiled. "Well, the dinner is late tonight, but we should probably head home."

"Aw, I wanna stay longer," Sherry pouted.

"You can always come by again," Cadance said. "Shining and I don't mind at all."

"I'd hate to overstay our welcome," Tyr said.

"It's no big deal, honest!" Cadance grinned. "Plus… Sherry said you were good at CoD."

"…Is that a challenge?"

"You bet your sweet behind it is."

Tyr grinned. He hadn't expected the Princess of Love to be a gamer, but it was a pleasant surprise. "I'll send you my gamer tag. We'll play sometime."

"Yeah, that'll be fun! It gets boring beating Shining in everything anyway."

-x-

"Alright you two, be good while we're gone, okay?" Tyr and Luna were outside his house, getting ready to leave. They had made it home with decent time, and they were just now leaving the house for the political dinner. Luna had dressed up, while Tyr was in his uniform. Chrys and Sherry were bidding them goodbye from the front door.

"We'll be good," Chrys said, rolling her eyes.

"Considering the nature of the meeting, we may be home late," Luna said thoughtfully.

"I'll make sure she goes to bed on time."

Tyr grinned. "Good."

Sherry rolled her eyes. "You guys just be safe, okay?"

"It's just a simple dinner," Tyr assured her with a comforting pat. "It shouldn't be anything too serious."

"I hope so…" Chrys murmured. She sighed. "Have fun."

Tyr helped Luna get in before jumping into the driver's seat. "We'll try," Tyr said with a laugh. With a last wave, the two of them drove off.

Chrys frowned as they vanished out of sight. Sherry noticed, and looked up at her. "Something wrong, Chrys?"

"No…" Chrys said slowly. "But I have the odd feeling that tonight will not end on a good note."

Tyr was having the exact same thought as he pulled up a short distance away from the restaurant where Celestia was having the dinner. Unlike the first meeting they went to, Tyr was on alert instead of being part of it. And for some reason, there was a massive crowd outside. "What in the night…" Luna murmured.

"News reporters," Tyr said with a sigh. "I should have guessed."

They got out, and almost immediately, they were mobbed. Obviously, someone had revealed that Luna was coming to this meeting, and every news reporter was asking a myriad of questions.

"Is it true that Equestria had four princesses?"

"Is it true you were banished at one point?"

"Do all Equestrians have wings?"

"What are your thoughts on Human-Equestrian relations?"

"Why didn't you arrive with your sister?"

Tyr forced his way through the crowd, keeping Luna close beside him. She was caught off guard by all the flashing lights and the barrage of questions, and it was just enough for her to keep up. Tyr wasn't surprised. From where she was from, news reporters probably didn't ever swarm her like this. With this kind of attention, it was no shock to him that she was confused, like a deer in the headlights. Tyr pulled her into the restaurant, shutting the door firmly behind them. He let out a sigh. "I hate reporters."

"I have… never dealt with anything like that," Luna murmured, still recovering. "Thank you, Tyr."

"It's his job," Flash said, coming over. He had a wide grin on his face. "Nice to see you escaped the horde outside."

"Would have warranted a warning," Tyr said, frowning. He glanced over at his princess. She was recovering quickly, straightening out her clothing. "You okay?"

"I'll be fine. Now, Flash Sentry, take me to where my sister is."

Flash bowed slightly. "Very well, Princess. Tyr, you mind watching the doors?"

Tyr nodded. "Got it."

"This is all ridiculous, isn't it?" Flash muttered, glancing outside.

"No kidding…"

Tyr took his position near the door while Flash escorted Luna to where Celestia was sitting with a long table of dignitaries, the mayor of the town, and the governor. Celestia noticed her sister's arrival, and motioned to the empty seat beside her. As Luna sat down, the mayor turned to Celestia. "So this is your sister?" He asked.

"Yes, Mayor Trent." Celestia smiled. "I would like you all to meet Luna, my younger sister."

A small chorus of greeting came, and Luna nodded in reply. "So that story about you two ruling jointly…?"

"Is true. I know it may seem strange to you, it was a system we both agreed on."

"Makes me wonder if we could get a system like that to work here," An older looking man murmured, laughing at his own joke.

"Well, if it worked for us…" Celestia laughed quietly. "Although we had the system for a long time, Governor Ortega."

The Governor laughed. "Well, tradition has its uses."

"So," Mayor Trent said, "Let us get to the main point. What exactly do you want for your people?"

"I suppose that is the real question, is it not?" Celestia frowned and looked like she was considering the question. Luna knew that it was a fake gesture; Tia knew good and well what she wanted to say. She only paused like that when she was messing with her audience.

"I suppose it would be something like citizenship for the Equestrians," Ortega murmured.

"Ah, that is something I considered," Celestia said with a smile. "I would be remiss if my ponies… er, people were not treated fairly because of something I could have easily addressed."

"It is a simple matter," Ortega agreed. "One that I can rectify in a matter of hours."

"I would be very grateful for that." Celestia's smile never wavered as a small squad of waiters arrived. They swiftly took their orders before vanishing back into the wings. "Also, there is another matter I would like to address."

"And what is that?"

Celestia's demeanor changed almost instantly, her magenta eyes hardening in the space of a moment. "I would like to talk about the attacks that have occurred against Equestrians and have gone unpunished."

There was silence at the table. "You do know of the attacks that have been plaguing our people," Luna pointed out.

"Of course we know," Trent said. "It is on the news quite often."

"But that is just it. We have not heard of any attempts being made to find the offenders." Luna frowned. "The protection of our subjects is mine and my sister's responsibilities. We would be remiss if we ignored their plight."

"All efforts are being made—"

"But that is the problem in its entirety, Mr. Mayor," Celestia said softly. "As far as I am aware, the absolute minimum is being done to arrest my little one's antagonists."

"…I understand. We will increase our efforts."

"That is good news. I would hate for anything further to happen."

"Anything further?" Ortega said questioningly.

Luna frowned as their waiters came out with their food. She and Celestia had ordered large house salads, while the other men and women around the table had ordered steaks and other meat related dishes. She felt her stomach turn slightly, but a comforting hand on her arm from her sister convinced her to hold it down. "Despite our propensity to peace and togetherness," Celestia was saying, "We place great emphasis on protecting those we care about."

"What do you mean?" Trent asked, mouth full of steak.

"Entire communities would often come together in times of great crisis," Luna said, frowning. "Whenever one was threatened, no one would hesitate to help them."

"So if these attacks continue…"

"You will have more problems than just burying Equestrians. Before long, you may have humans to bury as well."

Ortega narrowed his eyes. "…Is that a threat?"

"I make no threats," Luna assured him, sticking a forkful of salad into her mouth. It was quite good, although she felt Tyr made better. "Only promises. We will never strike out in anger, but we will not hesitate to protect those we care about."

Trent managed a weak chuckle. He was clearly unused to dealing with people with such surety in their hearts, and Luna's declaration had obviously shaken him. "Well, we should all work together to solve this problem, correct?"

"That is all we wanted in the first place," Celestia assured him, her smile returning. "Now, let us move on to… happier topics, shall we?"

As the conversation at the table switched topics, a conversation started up at the door. Ace had gone over to join Tyr by the door. "Hey man," He murmured.

"Yo, Ace," Tyr said in response. Neither of them said anything for a minute, both content to stay silent and listen to the talks happening at the table. Whereas Celestia was somewhat animated and engaging, Luna was keeping quiet, only speaking when she felt it necessary. But when she spoke, she commanded attention. It was a scene that brought a smile to Tyr's face. She had changed a lot since they had first met, going from that quiet and reserved midnight mystery to a princess in all but station.

"You really are in love, huh?" Ace asked suddenly.

"What?" Tyr glanced over to him.

"You love Luna, don't you?"

"Well… yeah. I do. I love her a lot."

Ace smiled. "Lucky."

"Still bothered by what happened with Rainbow Dash?"

"…Yeah. Can you blame me?" He sighed. "I dunno if I could say I loved her, but I damn sure was close to it."

"I understand. I used to have a girl that was like that for me."

Ace raised an eyebrow. "You actually had a girl before the Princess?"

"It didn't last long, really. About a month or so to be honest. She wasn't who I thought she was."

"Celestia. That must have been rough."

Tyr shrugged. "Life goes on, right? And I have Luna now, so I'm probably the happiest man on the planet."

"Way to rub it in, bro."

"Sorry. So you're giving up on Dash?"

"I dunno. Maybe. Flash and Night say I should but… what do you think?"

"…You had one night with her, right?"

"Yeah."

Tyr thought for a moment. "I say keep up with it. Keep trying to get her to look at you in that way. If you still feel something for her, that is."

Ace smiled, a bit more of his usual pep returning. "You know what? You're a good friend, Tyr. I appreciate you listening to me spout all my crap."

"I'm pretty sure I can think of one person who doesn't think love is crap," Tyr said with a slight laugh.

"I think I can guess who you mean."

Ace turned his attention back to the dinner. Luna had apparently said something that made the humans at the table stop eating. A couple were even pushing their plates away as if they were finished. Tyr wasn't surprised. Sherry had explained to him a long time ago that eating meat was almost like cannibalism to Equestrians, due to their former status as ponies. He had avoided eating meat around any of his friends because for most, it still induced a bit of queasiness, despite it not upsetting their stomachs like it would have in their previous bodies. Luna had probably just pointed that out. "Seems not everything is okay over there."

Luna caught Tyr's eyes on her and gave him a small smile. He waved back in response. "Lovebirds," Ace chuckled.

"Oh, shut up."

The meeting lasted at least an hour more, with several promises of action to be taken being made. Celestia, for the most part, seemed satisfied. "Tyr, Ace, come here please," She called softly.

"Duty calls," Ace said. The two made their way over. Ace coughed slightly and switched to a more professional demeanor. Tyr had to give it to him; Ace knew how to act when he was on the job. "Did you need something, Princess?"

"The meeting is over and it is quite late." She spared a glance out to the outside of the restaurant. The reporters were still there, having been spurred to action by the sight of them all beginning to stand up. "I believe we've kept the masses waiting long enough."

"Ugh, I can't stand reporters," Ortega murmured.

"Will you two bring the cars around?" Celestia asked.

"Of course, Princess," Ace said, bowing slightly. Tyr simply nodded.

"He seems very loyal," Trent said thoughtfully.

Celestia nodded. "Ace Guard has served me faithfully for quite some time. One of these days I will have to reward him."

Ace scratched at the back of his head. "You don't have to do that, Princess, I'm happy to serve."

Celestia's face broke out into a wide smile. "So modest."

"…Come on Tyr, let's go." Ace led Tyr to the door.

"Seems you're a favorite of the Princess," Tyr said, elbowing his friend.

"My dad used to serve her as well," Ace said. "It kinda runs in the family."

"I doubt Tia is giving you favor just cause your dad used to protect her."

"Tia?"

"Sorry. Being around Luna…"

"Nah, I get it." They reached the doors. "Ready to face the mob?"

"I'm pretty sure they're here for the two beautiful princesses, not their bodyguards." Tyr pushed open the doors. As if giving credence to his statement, the mob of reporters seemed disappointed to see them. "See?"

"Yeah, yeah. We're parked over that way."

"Well, we're the other way. I'll pull in behind you."

"Right on, then."

They moved through the crowd, a few reporters attempting to get some kind of response from them. Ace broke away to one side, while Tyr tried to beeline towards his truck. Walking through the crowd was what could only be described as trying to walk through molasses. They were pressing around him, even more so now that he wasn't escorting Luna. "I'd have been better off bringing her with me," He grumbled to himself. He bumped into a man as he avoided an overeager cameraman. "Sorry."

The man only responded with two words. "…Freak-Lover."

Tyr barely had time to register the term before a glint of steel slipped out of the folds of the man's coat to bury itself in his gut. Before his body fully recognized the pain, the knife slipped back out and the man pushed off into the crowd. "Damn," Tyr managed to murmur as he staggered to his knees. He hadn't seen it coming.

Luna saw the crowd outside suddenly go wild with panic. "…what is going on out there?" She asked quietly.

"Maybe they're getting impatient," Celestia said with a chuckle.

"Or maybe perhaps Ace or Tyr hit someone," Luna said. She smiled. "I would not be surprised if my demon has…" She trailed off as the crowd began to part.

"Is that…?" Trent murmured, squinting from behind his glasses.

"Tyr," Luna breathed, seeing her lover knelt amongst the crowd, hands clasped to his stomach. Her voice was no louder than a choked whisper. "What…?"

"What's going on?" Celestia came over to stand beside her sister. She paused when she saw the scene before them. "What… what happened?"

Luna felt her heart lurch up to her throat. Tyr was kneeling in a growing pool of blood. As she stood there, frozen in terror, she could only watch as the man she loved swayed to the side and then collapsed to the ground. "T-Tyr…?"

Celestia glanced worriedly over at her sister. "Luna, wait a moment—"

"TYR!" Luna screamed, wings bursting wide open as she propelled herself to the doors. The crowd outside started to turn to her, but a single roar from her parted them. "STAND ASIDE!"

They did, giving the princess a straight beeline to her beloved. She fell to her knees just short of him. She pulled him into her arms, ignoring the blood that was getting on her from his weeping stomach wound. He coughed up blood. "…Hey, Moony," He managed to weakly say.

"Beloved…! What happened?"

"Can't… really say. I think I've got blood going into my lungs." He spit up more blood. "Guess I… Ugh… couldn't sense it coming since you weren't in any danger…"

"Tyr! Please, beloved, don't speak, save your strength…" She pressed her hands to his wound, hoping to staunch the flow.

"I… screwed up, Luna…"

Luna watched, horrified, as blood leaked from between her fingers. "Tyr? Tyr please, don't do this!"

Tyr didn't respond, instead coughing up more blood directly on her. His eyes lidded over. "S…Sorry…"

"No! Beloved, don't leave me, please! Don't!" Luna's pleading was becoming more and more desperate as Tyr's eyes slowly closed. She looked up and around the crowd. "Why has no one called for help!? What are you doing!?" She crushed her head against his, sobbing wildly. "I can't! I can't lose him, not now!"

"He got what he deserved, the freak-lover."

Luna looked up at the voice, lines running down her face from her tears. The man who had done it stood before her, bloody knife still held in his hand. "…w-what? Why would you do this?"

"Because freaks like you don't belong in our world."

The words touched Luna in a way no one could have known. Her eyes blanked as something deep inside her snapped. "Don't belong?" She murmured softly. "I believe you have no right to decide that."

She stood, wings pulled around her as if to protect her from the elements. Her eyes glowed an unnatural dark blue, and a moon emblem burned into life on the back of her right hand. The knife wielder backed up a step as magical energy surrounded the Princess of the Night. Celestia watched, horrified, from the doorway. "This can't be possible!"

"She's using magic," Flash said, gritting his teeth.

"I know," Celestia murmured, glancing down at her right hand. A golden sun had appeared there. "And because of that, I'm scared."

Luna began to moan. It was low, like a lament of the damned. Then, it began to build in power, before she was crying out to the night sky, magical energy swirling about like a typhoon. The people around her scattered, seeking cover. The murderer stood before for her, fear written on his every feature. "You seek to ruin everything I hold dear!" Luna roared, voice carrying.

Now realizing what he had awoken, the man threw down his knife and fell to his knees. Celestia came outside. "Luna! Have mercy on the man, he is simply misguided!"

Luna turned slightly. Her pupil-less eyes seemed to regard her impassively. "Mercy? No, dear sister. These people wish to steal the light from my life. Therefore…" She extended her wings. "…I will drown them in the darkness they wish me to feel."

Her aura engulfed the man, dark energy swirling up around his head. When it receded, his eyes were as black as night. "W-what? I can't… I can't see!?"

Celestia felt her own magic rise to her aid, her hands glowing a gentle golden color. "My poor little sister…"

Luna smiled, black lines dripping from her eyes. "Tyr was my everything. I could endure everything as long as he was there. Without him… I am lost in the dark."

Luna's magic began to surge again, and Celestia knew there was no more talking to her. She felt Flash and Night come to her side. "What do we do, Princess?" Flash asked.

"Can we stop her?" Night asked.

Celestia thought for a moment. The last time her sister had fallen to the darkness, she had been motivated by jealousy. "…No. Unicorn and Alicorn magic is tied to our emotions. Luna is currently feeling one of the strongest emotions save love: Despair. With my magic, I may be able to hold her, but…"

"What should we do?"

"Go. Get Twilight and the other Elements."

"What?" Flash frowned. "They don't have the Elements of Harmony anymore, what can they do?"

"They may not have the Elements, but they still are the Elements of Harmony. Together, they can help us save my sister from herself once more!"

The two guards shared a look. "We will not fail you, Princess," Night said.

"But what will you do?" Flash asked.

Celestia reached down and tore off the lower half of her dress. Despite themselves, Night and Flash blushed. She smiled back at them. "I believe I'll do what only an older sister can do for her little sister."

Opening her wings, she strode down towards Luna. The Princess of the Night turned, all emotion drained from her features. She was lost inside of herself, and Celestia could tell that no amount of talking would get through to her. "We'll go at once!" Flash said, and he and Night ran off. With that part of her plan in motion, Celestia channeled as much of her magical energy into her hands. It was a lot different than focusing it into a horn, but it was the same principle. As the golden glow about her grew, she faced down the darkness coming from her sister. For the first time in over a thousand years, the two sisters faced each other in battle.

"Come, Luna," Celestia said gently, though her eyes were hard. "Come cry on your big sister Tia's shoulder."

-x-

"Spike," Twilight called from her kitchen. "I made some tea. Do you want some?"

"Nah, I'm cool," Spike said, continuing to read his comic books. "Hey, you think we should have invited Sherry over while her dad was out?"

"She's got Chrysalis to watch out for her, right? She'll be okay." Twilight entered the living room with a cup of steaming hot tea. She set it down on the coffee table and sat down in a chair across from her surrogate son before turning to the TV.

"If you say so. I'm surprised you trust her after everything that happened."

"Well, Friendship is Magic…"

"I guess."

"Anything good on?"

"I know you're going to turn to the news anyway, so I'll just say no."

Twilight rolled her eyes, but grabbed the remote and changed the channel to the news. Almost as soon as she had done so, her front door burst open. "What!?"

Pinkie was the first inside, followed by Ace, and then the rest of her friends came piling in. Night and Flash came in a minute later. "Hiya Twilight!" Pinkie said cheerily.

"What…what in Celestia's name are you all doing here?" Twilight asked, confused.

Ace, out of breath after flying so much, gestured to Pinkie. The Element of Laughter took one deep breath. "So Ace came crashing into my house about ten minutes ago saying Princess Celestia needed the Elements to stop her sister from going all crazy evil again and it took him a long time just to explain it to me so that I could understand and then I had to explain it to AJ and the Fluttershy and then Rare-bear and then Dashie and now you!" She grinned widely.

"…Huh?"

"Celestia needs us, darling," Rarity said. "Flash said Tyr was hurt."

"And that Luna has gone all crazy like cause of it," AJ added.

Twilight frowned. "But we dispelled Nightmare Moon…"

Spike sat up straight. "Wait a sec, go back. You said Tyr got hurt?"

Silence fell. Not even Pinkie seemed energetic anymore. Flash stepped forward to talk to his girlfriend. "Twi… if we don't go help Celestia now… Tyr might die."

Twilight's eyes widened. She jumped up. "But what are we supposed to do? We have no magic!"

She swept her hand off to the side to illustrate her frustration. With almost explosive force, her tea cup flew off the table and shattered against the wall. Everyone stared at it for a long moment. "Seems we do have magic, darling," Rarity pointed out slowly.

"So we can at least do something!" Dash said adamantly.

"…Alright. Where are we going?"

"Everybody in the van!" AJ said, running back outside. The others quickly followed, those with wings instead taking to the air. "Y'all can keep up, right?"

"I might be winded, but I'm not one to give up that easily," Ace said, flapping his pearly white wings once for emphasis.

"You heard the man," Dash said with an appreciative nod.

AJ nodded. "Then don't fall behind!"

She took off, putting pedal to the metal as the apple van tore down the streets. Twilight and the Pegasii following behind on their wings. "You can see it," AJ murmured, looking up in the sky. Gold and deep blue flashes lit up the otherwise dark night.

"With a full moon as a backdrop," Night muttered.

"We'll be there in a minute," AJ said through gritted teeth. "I reckon I'm not looking forward to facing down Nightmare Moon again."

"She's not Nightmare Moon," Flash said. "There's no evil in her, just… pain."

"I hope Tyr is alright," Rarity said. No one else spoke. The feeling was mutual between all of them.

They reached the area in record time. "Let it not be said you aren't a good driver," Night muttered as they piled out.

"Applejack is the best driver I know!" Pinkie said, giggling.

"By Celestia… Luna did all this…?" Twilight murmured as she, Dash, Fluttershy and Ace landed nearby. The area in front of the restaurant was pitted with shallow craters and scorched with magical burn marks. In the middle of it was Luna, standing protectively over Tyr. He was wrapped in some sort of magical field made of Luna's magic.

Celestia appeared then, pulling herself out of the rubble of a destroyed wall. "You called, Twilight?"

"Teacher!" Twilight and the others gaped at her appearance. The woman that was normally always radiant and beautiful was covered in grime and a number of myriad cuts and bruises. A wound on her forehead was bleeding profusely, but she still had that look of determination on her face. Even the soft smile she gave at seeing them all was the same. "What… what happened to you?"

Celestia gently touched her forehead. "Hm. It has been sometime since I have bled like this…"

"We should tend to those wounds!" Fluttershy squeaked, coming over. Celestia gently placed a hand on the shy girl's shoulder.

"Soon, little ones. I have to attend to my sister first."

Rarity looked over at Luna. Magical power still radiated from her. "I've never seen magic like that before…"

"Is Tyr still alive?" Pinkie asked, concern in her voice. "He's… he's not dead, is he? He can't be!"

"He's not," a quiet voice said. Everyone turned to find Chrys, her gossamer-like wings fluttering slightly as she landed. She dropped to her knees almost as soon as her feet touched the ground. "Ugh."

"What do you mean?" Dash demanded. "How the hell would you know?"

"Because if he's dead I wouldn't be here!" Chrys spat angrily. The outburst made her sway a bit, and she put her hands on the ground for stability. "Hellfire…"

"A Binding," Celestia murmured. "If Tyr dies, she dies as well."

"Right you are, Sun Princess. So I have actual stock in whether my best friend dies or not!"

"Calm yourself," Celestia warned.

"…Right. Sorry."

"So what do we do?" AJ asked.

"I know what we do," Dash growled, and shot off at Luna.

"Rainbow Dash, wait!" Twilight called, but she was too late. The rainbow haired hothead sped off towards Luna. She aimed a punch for her jaw, but Luna simply held up a hand. A tendril of dark magic grabbed Dash in midair, stopping her short.

"Oh horse-feathers," Dash managed to say before she was smashed into an abandoned car. She cried out in pain.

"Dashie!" Pinkie exclaimed. She made to move to her friend's aid, but Ace was faster. He shot past her, grabbed Dash, and flew her off to a safe spot. "Oh. Well, that's good."

"What are we going to do?" AJ frowned. "If Dash can't get close, how do you reckon any of us can?"

"If Princess Celestia's magic can't match her…" Rarity began.

"I have a plan," Chrys said. "For any of you willing to listen."

Celestia looked down at her. "And what is this plan?"

"You plan to trust a Changeling with your sister's wellbeing?" Night muttered, surprised.

"Like she said, Tyr is her lifeline. Without him, she would die." Celestia frowned. "This time, our desires are in the same place."

"I suppose that's fair," AJ muttered.

"So what are we supposed to do?" Rarity asked. "If we can't fight her…"

"She is fueled by despair, correct?" Chrys snapped. "I can taste it all the way over here."

"So what is your plan then?"

Chrys looked around. "…I need you all to distract her or restrain her so I can get close."

AJ frowned. "Get close and do what, exactly?"

"Just do it!" Chrys looked pained. "Tyr doesn't have much time! He needs medical attention now!"

"Luna is preserving his life, but even that has its limits," Celestia told them. "We must act quickly."

"S-so what should we do?" Fluttershy asked.

"I have an idea," Flash said. "AJ, Pinkie, grab Ace and Rainbow and distract her. Night and I will back you up, while Fluttershy gets anyone who's hurt out of the way. Twi, Rarity, Princess, can you work together to do a restraining spell?"

"I-I've never done a spell like that," Rarity said in protest.

"You only need to provide strength. You do that a lot with your dresses, right?"

"Well, that is true… but…"

"We can do this," Twilight said with a wide smile. "We can do anything as long as we work together."

"Right as always, my favored student," Celestia agreed.

"Oh, I just hope this doesn't end badly," Fluttershy squeaked.

"You and me both sugar," AJ murmured. "You and me both."

"Let's go, let's go!" Pinkie said, bouncing back and forth.

AJ sighed. "Let's get on with it then."

The group spread out, AJ and Pinkie running over to get Ace and Dash caught up on the plan, Night and Flash taking up positions across from each other, Fluttershy behind them, and Twilight, Celestia, and Rarity further back. "Let's do this," Twilight murmured as the three women put their hands together.

"Alright Rainbow!" AJ called out. "Do what you do best!"

"Fly circles around her?" Dash asked, sticking her chest out.

"I was gonna say 'piss her off', but that works too."

"Yeah, whatever. Come on Ace, let's fly circles around her!" The two Pegasii shot off towards Luna, avoiding several swipes of magical energy as she attempted to swat them away.

"Tag!" Pinkie said, touching Luna on the back of the head. She skipped away before she could get hit with anything.

"Oh my, oh my, oh my," Fluttershy murmured, watching her friends skirt danger. She was panicking so much that she didn't see the torn off car wheel hurled in her direction as it barely missed Pinkie Pie.

"Watch it!" Night hissed, pulling the frail girl aside. The tire clattered harmlessly past her.

"Oh goodness!"

"Shy, you alright?" AJ called, worried about her girlfriend. Luna took advantage of her distraction to smash the cowgirl aside like she was paper. She smashed into a wall and slumped to the ground, unconscious.

"Jackie!" Fluttershy screamed, breaking free of Night. She rushed over to where AJ was lying.

"Hurry up!" Chrys hissed, avoiding a blast of magical energy. Luna was becoming more and more indiscriminate, and at this rate, she may even accidentally hit Tyr…

"We're doing our best here!" Twilight exclaimed. Having gotten her magic back was wonderful, but she didn't have any practice feeling it like she used to. It was all she could do to follow Celestia's lead.

"Your friends won't last long at this rate," Chrys said, watching Luna easily dispatch of Dash. Ace was by her side in a flash, carrying her away.

"They're your friends too!" Twilight snapped back. The statement caught the Changeling off guard, and she simply sat there staring at Twilight.

"I can't!" Rarity cried out, suddenly breaking away and dropping to her knees. She was sweating profusely. "Oh, oh this is too much!"

"It's quite alright," Celestia said. Even she was straining under the pressure. "You have contributed enough. We can complete the spell now."

"Be ready!" Twilight said to Chrys. The Changeling forced herself to her feet and nodded.

Flash felt the ground hit him hard as he landed. Luna's magic was almost actively attacking anyone who came close, although the girl herself was still focused on Tyr. The back of his neck prickled, and he saw Celestia and Twilight readying their spell. "Everyone! Get clear!"

The ones still standing quickly scattered, moving out of the way. Celestia and Twilight clasped their hands together, golden and violet aura's mixing together. "Now, Twilight!" Celestia called.

Twilight nodded. "Yes!"

The two of them focused their magic forward into one large blast, catching the distracted Luna and wrapping around her limbs like cuffs. "What…?" She muttered, falling to the ground. "Let me go!"

Chrys opened her gossamer wings and used what little strength she had to propel herself to Luna's side. She caught the smaller girl in an awkward hug. "You've done quite a bit of damage, haven't you?" She asked quietly.

"Release me! I have to protect Tyr…!"

"You've done enough." Chrys held Luna out at arm's length. "Now, open up."

Her right hand latched on to Luna's forehead, and a vivid green glow enveloped them both. Then suddenly, the dark aura around Luna was drawn away, almost literally pulled off of her and absorbed into the green. A soundless scream left Luna's mouth, and Chrys grinned wildly. After a long agonizing minute, Chrys released her, and the Princess of the Night collapsed, unconscious. "What did you…" Night began, but Chrys shot him a dirty look before moving to Tyr's side. Without saying a word, she leaned over a bit into his neck.

"What the heck are you doing!?" Twilight demanded.

"Saving his life!" Chrys shot back vehemently. "I have done what I can to stabilize him, but he needs proper care!" She glanced around. "…As do all the others."

"I already called 911!" Pinkie said excitedly, as a number of cop cars and ambulances began driving up.

"We should get your wounds looked at as well, Princess," Flash said, limping over. Celestia put a hand on his shoulder.

"Only when everyone else has been seen to." She smiled. "Worry about yourself first, alright?"

"…Right."

"Oh, damnation!" Chrys suddenly cursed. "Sherry is back at home!"

-x-

As always, hope you enjoyed the chapter. For those of you who are curious, in my continuity, Changeling saliva (when injected into the bloodstream or ingested) functions as a sort of medicine. I'd like to think it keeps blood from flowing through open wounds and redirects it... somewhere else. Its a wonder drug. ^_^

Hope you look forward to the next chapter, and this time I'll make sure the Library wakes up on time. Thanks for reading!