Secret Agent Macintosh: Whispers

Chapters

A Letter
Familiar Faces
Nightmares
The Watchers
A Busy Night
Staying Awake
A History and a Victory
The Statues of Canterlot

A Letter

Chapter One

A Letter

Ponyville was never a very interesting place, at first glance. It was just another town, with normal towny things to deal with. Not too far from Canterlot, and not too slow, just rather normal. Then of course there was the whole ordeal with Nightmare Moon and the Elements of Harmony and the rest is history. But even after that ruckus, it looked and felt like a normal town.

As long as you stayed away from people like Pinkie Pie or Twilight Sparkle, a pony could carry on without having to deal with too much surprise or chaos. They might even miss an Ursa Minor rampaging through the market, or if they tried exceptionally hard, they could even miss the great Parasprite infestation. There were many unusual happenings, almost too many to count. As normal as the town of Ponyville appeared on the surface, it would always turn into an unbelievable culmination of coincidence and oddity if any pony was too look deeper.

And there was one pony, only one, who was just like that town. A stallion who knew so many secrets, knew times that should be far beyond him, a stallion who fraternized with royalty and had seen far more than he should of, yes, he and that town were very similar. They both worked very hard, endlessly so, and they both appeared like they would never give up.

An idea that seemed to be hard at work this very day, on the edge of Ponyville, in a dirt field. Big Macintosh plowing the ground, like he often did, with an air of resoluteness and strength about him as he did so.

It was hot out, too hot too early, and Big Mac decided to assume that the Weather Pegasi must have made some sort of mistake. He was sweating mostly from the heat, but also from the exertion he must have done a million times before.

Sometimes Applejack would help him, but she was with her friends today, like she was more and more often these days. He told her that she could go. Still, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop thinking that he wanted her here, with him. That was how he always wanted it, to be with her. No matter if it was in this heat, trudging through dry earth that would get on their hooves and coats.

Big Mac grunted as he hit a particularly tough patch of dirt.

Maybe she would come back soon. That would be nice, he thought.

A different kind of thought entered his mind, one which had been nagging him for a long time. He hated those thoughts, and how they stuck to the back of his mind so often.

So instead, he thought about the other, also loathsome thought that plagued his mind lately. Well, “loathsome” wasn’t quite so accurate. The truth was he was split on the topic. On one hoof it was what he had been waiting for so long, hoping that he would finally be able to have an adventure again. On the other hoof, he had been dreading it.

The letter came in the mail exactly one week ago. It had no return address but he knew exactly who the sender was. He put off opening it for as long as he could; instead he held it in his hoof as he propped up the mailbox Derpy broke upon the delivery. He opened it when he was alone in his room, his hooves shaking as he read it.

Yet, he was able to breathe a sigh of relief when he was done; all it told him to do was be prepared. He had almost laughed at that. He had been prepared for the past year!

But there was something in the tone that gave him an ominous feel, something was definitely going to happen again, and it was going to happen soon.

“We might need your help, in the future. When the time comes, will you help us, for Princess and Country?” asked the blue stallion.

Big Macintosh sighed, trying to push that memory out of his mind as well. It seemed there was nothing he liked to think about lately. So instead of thinking he concentrated on his work: the plowing. Just pure physical labor to get his mind off of things.

Big Macintosh was nothing if not a farm stallion. He worked, day after day, for the family, for the farm, for the apples, and he worked hard.

There were many ponies, far too many, that thought he was stupid, because he never talked. But there is a thing that ponies do, when they don’t talk. They think. And there was rarely a pony in all of Equestria who thought as much as he did. Equally there was not a pony in all of Equestria alive who thought as poor about Big Macintosh as Big Macintosh did.

In his own opinion he was a horrible stallion. A weak thing, not by the physical standards that all the mares of Ponyville seemed to compare him to, but in every other aspect, he was simply weak. When Applejack left for Canterlot, he cried, every day until she came back, or the time she told him that she was not coming back to Ponyville, or seemingly, every time she was away. He was weak for snuggling with that weird ragdoll at night.

Farming was his life. And so was Applejack.

In Big Macintosh’s opinion there was no mare more beautiful or more innocent than his sister dearest. He felt the tug again. It made him angry after he felt it. Then sad.

A year ago he was injured, and Applejack wore herself ragged trying to buck all the apples. That made him feel sad too, but in those days there were so many things that made him feel sad. He tried to do what chores that Granny Smith gave him, but they could only occupy him so much. So he tried his hoof at writing to keep himself occupied. He wrote, and he drew a little bit too, about all the marvelous things that he had seen. All the secrets he found. The times that he kept hidden from even Applejack and all of Ponyville.

All his guilt, prides, and even a few stories all in a little journal of his own. All the while he put on the best stoic face he could for everypony else. He couldn’t show them how he felt.

He told himself, during those dark times, “Big Mac, if you ever loved them then you wouldn’t burden them, not with this.”

He kept the journal, the secret one, in his wardrobe, where he kept almost all his secrets. It may have seemed a little bit unsecure to other ponies, but he didn’t trust another place to hide those dirty things.

Of course, he also had a wardrobe in his wardrobe, but most of the clothes belonged to his Grandfather, Johnny Smith, and he didn’t wear them very often. Although…he had found himself trying them on more often lately. He planned to wear those clothes if he was indeed called back. And so they become as just as bad a reminder as that stupid letter.

He knew that he would have to go back eventually, somewhere in the back of his mind. He would have to see more amazing things, and more atrocities. But more importantly, he would have to leave Applejack. Maybe he would be forced to do more bad and dirty things.

His mind was made up on the issue a long time ago. He would do it if it would protect her.

Big Macintosh found himself tearing up as those horrid thoughts burned through his mind. He felt as though he would break down…any moment now.

Suddenly something distracted him. A loud crunch and a jarring impact. He glanced back, almost relieved by the good distraction. The plow had broken.

Slowly he unhitched himself from the contraption, and then lightly kicked the edge of it. “Buck it,” he said out loud, trying to hold up some semblances of anger for the accident which would no doubt cause him a collection of normal irritations.

“Big Mac!” called out a voice from behind him. He turned around, surprised to see Applejack trotting towards him.

It appeared that Big Mac was acting perfectly normal as he waited for his sister to meet him, but the truth was that he was frozen, and he was staring at her.

How her blonde hair always seemed to fall in exactly the right way, her green eyes always seemed to be bright, and her light coat and apple cutie mark always seemed to be what his eyes were begging to see. Oh how beautiful she was! To him everything seemed so perfect about her. But, he often had to remind himself that beneath and within Applejack was just as beautiful, the very essence of Honesty as the world came to know her and the kind and strong mare that Big Mac loved.

He surprised himself that he allowed the thought to break through while he was in her presence. He did love Applejack, and in more ways that he could ever let her know.

“Howdy there Applejack,” he finally managed to say.

She was smiling, obviously she had a good time with her friends.

“Yeah, Howdy to you to. I got a letter for you. A little bit odd though, no return address. Oh, and Derpy broke the mailbox again,” Applejack told him.

Big Macintosh blinked. He ignored the compulsion to look to the ground in self-pity and shame. So it really was time then.

Doing his best not to hesitate, he accepted the letter and stuck it in between his yoke and his neck. He knew that it would be sweaty and damp when he tried to read it, but he didn’t care. Reading it wasn’t going to be a pleasant experience anyway.

“Thanks a bundle Applejack. As ya’ can see the plow is broke, you go ahead to the house, I’ll drag it up to the barn,” he said.

“Ah, nonsense Big Mac, you’ve been working all day and I ‘avn’t even seen ya! I’ll do it and we can walk together,” she objected. Big Mac had intentions to resist, and take it up anyway, but she was already grabbing it.

He smiled to himself.

“How was the day out?” asked Big Macintosh.

Applejack burst into all the details, about Twilight’s schedule for optimal amounts of fun per hour, and Rarity accidentally slipping into a puddle, with some equally accidental involvement on the part of Pinkie Pie.

Big Macintosh listened intently as he walked by her side, only giving her an Eeyup, or N-nope when it was needed.

It was only after the broken plow was pushed into the barn that Big Macintosh spoke up to his sister.

“Hey, Applejack,” he said.

“Yeah?” she asked, stopping.

“I…I just wanted to say that I loved you,” he said to her, allowing himself just this once to say it. After all, not even he knew what was going to happen after he read the letter.

He Walked close enough to his dearest Applejack for their coats to brush. He nuzzled her gently.

For some reason Applejack blushed at the sudden display of affection. “Well…thank you kindly Big Mac, I love you too.” She spoke as his sister, but he didn’t care.

He would cherish those words until the day that he died.

“Eeeyup,” he said to no one in particular before they both entered their house.

Just as he expected, the dinner prepared was wonderful, delicious, warm, and normal. He didn’t talk very much throughout it, even receiving the scolding from Granny Smith without uttering more than three words. She went off on how in her day Johnny would have found a way to fix the problem with a ball of yarn and a screwdriver.

But just like all things that ponies enjoy, the dinner ended far too quickly.

As there was nothing left to be done for the farm, the family, or the apples, he was forced to retire to his bedroom. He gave one last fleeting glance at Applejack, who was standing downstairs, before he closed the door behind him.

He was left all alone in his dimly lit room. Sighing, he took off his yoke, and brought out the wrinkled letter in front of him so that he could stare.

Don’t worry, if it’s a letter, then it’s nothing catastrophic, but I promise that I won’t send for your help unless the situation is dire,” the blue stallion had told him.

He couldn’t help but sigh one more time before he opened the letter, his hooves shaking just like before. His eyes grew wide and his throat whimpered as he saw what lay inside.

51-93-59-0-45

Nine numbers, his summons.

Big Macintosh closed his eyes tightly, so hard that it hurt.

“Pull yourself together, stallion,” he muttered to himself. “Everything will be alright.”

But suddenly, he rejected that idea. “No!” he whispered sternly. “You will be more than alright, you understand, you will be bucking brilliant!”

He stood to his hooves defiantly and trotted over to his wardrobe, opening it without any sign of hesitation.

He grabbed the suit first, his grandfather’s suit, and with a near comical fury he put it on.

It was a dark and black thing, complete with a grey vest, and a slick black bowtie. Last, he put on the old brown coat, untouched since the death of old Grandpa Smith. Some of his knickknacks were still in his pockets, but Big Mac decided not to mess with them.

Finally, he diverted his attention to the box at the very bottom of his wardrobe. Swallowing once, he quickly tapped in the combination to make it open, revealing something that Big Macintosh could only describe as revolting. Something that didn’t belong to him, but rather to a dead pony.

The blue stallion and the dead pony had called it a vortex manipulator, a tiny little device that strapped to his ankle and was encased in a cool black material. Big Mac forced his hooves to take the horrid thing and strap it to his ankle. It gave him shivers when it was on.

He then turned back to the letter, and trying to follow the old instructions as best he could, typed in the numbers that were sent to him into his Vortex Manipulator. Big Macintosh looked at himself in the mirror. He looked so strange. Almost like some kind of secret agent that came from a film. He found that he liked it a little.

“Oh that’s right,” he whispered to himself. He was going to Canterlot, he knew that it wouldn’t be himself if he tried to talk the way they did, but…he didn’t want to make a fool of himself around those ponies. Especially one in particular.

“Purple pocket pants in a poor paced plight of prancing pilot piles,” he repeated the odd tongue twister several times before moving on to, “Three Trotting Tailors Tied Twenty Tabby Timed Tables in a Triangle.”

The sun was long set by the time he was satisfied. He took a deep breath, and picked up a letter he had written before he walked out his door, knowing that he had one last thing to do before he left. He trotted on the tips of his hooves, careful to not make a single noise that would wake a single soul.

He placed his own hoof written letter on the kitchen table and then slowly opened the back door, making sure it did not creak.

From there he broke into a gallop, seemingly fleeing from everything he loved in that darkness. He galloped and galloped and galloped, never stopping until he reached another secret place. The place was hidden behind a growth of brambles not far from one of their apple orchards.

There lay Big Macintosh’s greatest grievance, the thing he hated most in the entire world other than himself.

The inscription on the wooden marker read as thus.

Here lies the body of Captain John Hart:

a pony who once trotted in eternity

Big Mac stared at it with guilt.

He was a dirty pony because of what he did. Those memories burned within his mind: the memories of the pony he killed.

The deceased wasn’t a good pony, far from it, but he was still a life that Big Macintosh crushed with a swift kick from his hind hooves. And it was because of that wretched pony that Big Macintosh hated himself more than any other pony alive.

He remembered what the blue stallion had said.

“When the time comes, will you help us, for Princess and Country?”

“No,” he declared to himself. “For Applejack.”

He activated the vortex manipulator, and disappeared.

Familiar Faces

Chapter Two

Familiar Faces

Big Mac felt a familiar, yet still very painful wave, pass through his body. It was almost as if somepony had taken a wrench and tightened every single muscle and bone to their max, just before loosening them like rusty screws.

His eyes were closed as he tried to roll out the new kinks in his back. But as he opened them, he realized he had made a mistake.

This was not Canterlot.

No.

This was all wrong.

The palm tree plants, the odd smelling air, the heat around him.

They were all wrong.

“RAAAAAAAAWWWWRRR!!!!” The screech of an ancient and feral beast came from behind him.

Big Macintosh swallowed. He turned around to see a vicious, jagged tooth Ponisaur running towards him with an intent to kill and feast.

“OH BUCK! OH BUCK! OH BUCK!” exclaimed Big Mac, having transformed to red, juicy prey, he galloped forward as fast as he could.

He jumped over one of the mini palm trees that were blocking his way, but he instantly realized that was a mistake as well. He had just jumped over a cliff!

Big Macintosh, with the grace of a drunken giraffe, fell butt first into the bottom of the ravine, six feet below. Hearing the approach of the Ponisaur, he did his best to regain what composure he had left and to find a place to hide and actually fix this. He looked around desperately, and was only just able to scurry into a small cave carved out of the ravine wall before he heard the second roar of the reptile-like creature above him.

He held his breath.

He could hear the beast scratching and sniffing the ground just above him.

The lack of oxygen began to hurt.

The Ponisaur roared one more time, then jumped across the ravine, and kept running.

Big Macintosh gasped, trying to get his breath back.

When he finally calmed down enough he angrily grabbed the letter from his pocket and flipped open his vortex manipulator. There must be some kind of mistake. Why would they send him here?

Perhaps he had forgotten how to use it properly. It had been over a year, after all. Maybe he had just been stupid. He scanned over all the numbers and symbols flashing across the scene, his ears were flattened with annoyance and irritation from his situation.

Suddenly he hit himself in the forehead.

He had forgotten the zero in his coordinates.

“Stupid Macintosh,” he muttered to himself as started pressing buttons to amend the error.

With all the silly numbers back in their proper place, Big Macintosh was just about to reactivate the Manipulator when he felt something tickling his side. Instinctively he looked down.

His eyes widened as he saw a spider the size of his face beginning to crawl on his flank.

“CELESTIA DAMN THE JURASSIC!” he exclaimed on an octave higher than he thought his voice could go. He jumped out of the cave, escaping the monster spider.

Hurriedly he pushed another button and then disappeared.

The warping and roaring sound of the time vortex echoed in his ears just before he collapsed on the cold metal floor. He groaned, feeling the same abuse of his body as before.

When he opened his eyes he found himself looking into the face of a pony that he wished that he could have forgotten a long time ago. But instead of forgetting, he remembered.

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The only way that Big Macintosh could describe the thing laying on the dirt ground of his field was by calling it utterly and absolutely ugly. It didn’t have any fur at all, but rather wrinkly orange, brown and calloused skin with a few stray hairs popping up around its body. It’s eyes were sunken deep into its skull, and looked full of malice and darkness even closed.

It was still breathing, but unconscious, something Big Mac was grateful for. He didn’t want to be the reason why some poor wild animal had to die, even if that same animal tried to attack him earlier.

Truth be told, he was more irritated by the Blue Pegasus that was speaking to him than the animal. He was quite something, and so were his eyebrows, very well defined. His coat was a deep ocean blue, and his cutie mark was the Orion Constellation. He was wearing an equally blue military jacket, fancy and covered with honors. It fit him very well. He was very good looking, however, Big Mac didn’t really roll the way this stallion wanted him to.

He was becoming rather annoyed at the compliments dropped at him between explanations of why they were taking this thing back to Canterlot.

“It’s called a weevil, and no need to worry big fellow, there shouldn’t be any more of them headed your way.”

“An’ who did you say you ponies were?” asked Big Macintosh, watching as the green unicorn loaded the thing into a wagon.

“We are with the royal guard. That is Captain John Hart, and I’m Captain Jack Harkness,” said the blue pegasus with the odd name, winking at Big Mac before motioning with his free hoof towards a dark brown, slim unicorn wearing a red jacket.

This other pony glared bitterly as if he had eaten something foul and blamed the ingestion all on Jack. He sent his compatriot an impatient look, hoping for a moment to list his grievances.

“They sent two captains just for this?”

“Very nasty creatures, weevils,” answered Captain Jack.

Big Mac glanced sideways at the bodyl. “Eeyup,” was all he said, thinking how it bared its fangs before it ran at him.

He turned away from the guard ponies, and went back to the apple orchard to finish bucking the trees.

He heard Captain John speak angrily to his fellow Captain. “Jack, aren’t we going to talk about this?”

“Not now John,” was all he got before Jack started trotting towards the wagon.

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It was two months before Big Macintosh met the two Captains again. The early morning sun was only just beginning gracing Ponyville when he heard the knock on the door.

He had been full of trepidation as he opened it. He hadn’t been expecting anyone. But when he saw who the visitors were, he only became confused.

“Er…can I help ya Ponies?” asked Big Mac to the pegasus and unicorn on his doorstep.

“Follow up survey,” said Captain John quickly.

“We were just wondering if you have seen anything unusual lately. All the farming things going alright? Any unusual, unplanned weather? Creature sightings? And the Sun, anything odd with the sun lately?” asked Jack.

Big Mac peered past the two stallions, checking on the rising sun. Right on time for the season. Celestia seemed to be doing her job just fine.

“Nnnope, nothing unusual here. Did another one of them weevil’s get loose?”

“No, not at all,” said Captain John, who was wearing a forced smile. “Come on let’s go Jack,” he said grabbing his partner by the collar and dragging him away.

Big Macintosh watched curiously as they left. There was something odd about those two ponies. He wasn’t certain what it was, but it was there. There was obviously some kind of tension between them, and some kind of history. Recalling the flirting demeanor that the blue one laid upon him last time he could make an educated guess that it was a romantic history.

But that wasn’t his business.

Big Macintosh closed the door and went back inside.

“Who was that, Big Mac?” asked Applejack, who was standing in the hallway behind him. Her mane was wet, and it clung to her damp coat like a million tiny dragonflies to a hillside. She was drying herself off with a towel.

Big Macintosh smiled a little bit. She looked so beautiful.

“Nopony important, just those guards I told you about before. Some kind a’ survey,” he told her as his mind furiously went to work trying to expunge all the wishful thoughts of them snuggling together and nuzzling by a fire as she dried off.

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Everypony was asleep that very night as Big Macintosh sat there in the kitchen with a spoonful of peanut butter in his mouth. He drew it over the inside of his mouth with his tongue as he went over his blizzard of thoughts with a fine tooth comb.

It was getting worse lately. How much he was thinking about Applejack.

How absolutely beautiful she was.

About how much he wanted to be with her, closer than they ever were before.

Parts of him, sensible, logical parts of him told him that he was being the same old stupid stallion he always was. She was his sister. To do something like that…to so much as tell her…it would betray the most sacred trust he had ever had with any pony.

Not to mention the genetic problems….

He stuck out his peanut butter covered tongue in disgust, a feeling that was aimed at himself.

He didn’t want to do that with her. That would be so over simplistic that it almost made him want to break a pane of glass with his forehead. Maybe eventually… but he didn’t enjoy allowing that idea to flourish.

Rather, there was one fantasy that kept cropping up in his mind, one that refused to leave no matter how many times he had tried to burn it, flatten it, hide it, or even flush it down his mental toilet.

He wanted to hold her tight and nuzzle against her chest, feel their fur rub against each other, and tell her, more than anything in the world, he wanted her to know that he loved her more than he loved anything else, even life itself. He wanted her to feel warm and happy in his embrace. And maybe, just maybe, just a little, she would love him back in the same way.

Lust was for clopping and drunken escapades. Cuddling was for ponies.

He smiled bitterly to himself.

What a stupid romantic he was!

Big Macintosh had great doubt that Applejack would ever have so much as a single thought like that about him. Or that she would even accept him as such.

Of course there was the other, more stubborn problem of his other responsibilities. Granny Smith would probably buck his teeth out if she ever found out he was thinking of such things. And Applebloom…how would he even explain it? The family depended on him, the only stallion of the house, to sustain the farm and thus them all.

Big Macintosh was, and always would be a farm pony.

He enjoyed it, he really did. The simple life. The chores, plowing, and bucking that he knew by heart. He loved his job. Not as much as he loved Applejack, but he still loved it.

Last week he had finally gotten around to reading those Daring Doo books everypony seemed to be reading. They were good, nice story, nice characters, wonderful adventures. However it was not long after he was done that he asked himself an odd question:

Would he take the chance to have such a wonderful adventure if it meant leaving his farm and family? If he could see all the greatest marvels in all the world? If he could find a brilliant, clever, adventurous mare to spend his time with? If he could just gallop and gallop and never look back?

The answer, he decided only minutes later, was no.

He loved this life too much, even if it meant holding the pain of unrequited love, and the knowledge that no one would ever truly know him and the things that made him think.

Big Macintosh swallowed, and twisted the lid back onto the peanut butter jar. As soon as he put the jar back in the pantry, and heard the spoon clatter down in the sink, he made to trot up the stairs and to his room.

But suddenly there was a knock on the door. Well, not really a knock, more like two large objects suddenly falling onto the porch.

Big Macintosh stood frozen on the base of the stairs. He as sure as Tartarus wasn’t expecting anypony in the middle of the night.

He eyed the door suspiciously, not sure what lay behind it.

Now, Big Macintosh never before considered himself to be scared of many things that go bump in the night. But, there was an inescapable feeling which dawned upon him as he puzzled over what was behind that door. A wave of dread went through his body, pushing him to run as fast as he could with his strongly built legs, all the way up to his room, to lock the door and jump beneath the bed before shutting his eyes and waiting for day to come.

Because, as his gently shiver told him, what lay behind that door would drag him into a living nightmare, that would devour him like a pack of hungry timber wolves.

But, Big Macintosh had never considered himself to scared of things that went bump in the night. He did not know what was behind that door, and there was no reason to be afriad. So instead of running and hiding, he slowly walked to the door and opened it.

He gasped, instantly stunned by the morbid scene.

It was the blue stallion, Captain Jack.

His limp, bloody body lay on the porch, dozens of bullet holes and stab wounds across his chest.

He was holding a revolver in his right hoof, a hoof that had some kind of contraption wrapped around its ankle.

Big Macintosh thought that he was dead. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t even know what happened. How could he?

He knew that he should try to help somehow, but for that moment all he could do was stare in disbelief.

The pony he had talked to that very day was…just dead.

His eyes were open, but they weren’t moving. It was as if someone had just stuck two off color marbles into a rag doll body.

It was horrifying.

Then, without so much as a blink, Jack let out a sudden gasp, inhaling greedily what air he could. His eyes brought back to attention as if they had simply been distracted.

“Oh Celestia! Are ya’ alright?” asked Big Macintosh as he rushed to the fallen soldier’s side.

Big Macintosh tried to figure out something he could do to help. Anything. But he could only watch in shocked awe as each bullet hole and seeping wound closed and healed.

It took only a few moments before the injured pegasus was breathing normally. That was when he began muttering.

“I…I have to…I have to stop him…” he spoke as if he didn’t even believe himself.

“Who, stop who? Cap’n Harkness, what’s this about?” asked Big Mac hopelessly confused.

Jack didn’t answer the question, and instead starting tapping numbers into the little device on his ankle.

Big Macintosh threw his hoof down stubbornly. “What’s this about Cap’n? And how did you manage that trick, I’ve never seen magic like that before?”

Jack’s hoof stopped tapping, and he looked up to the pony who stood above him with an almost pleading look. “He…is going to destroy the world…I have to stop him, don’t I…” he spoke, as if wanting Big Macintosh to tell him if he was right or wrong.

“Who’s doin what!” exclaimed Big Macintosh, feeling genuinely frightened now. He reached out with his hoof, almost trying to check whether or not his mere touch would cause the impossible stallion to disappear.

By the time Big Macintosh lightly touched the Vortex Manipulator, it was too late for Jack to stop. There was a flash of light as the device was activated and both ponies disappeared.

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“Nice to see you again Big Mac, did you miss me?” asked Captain Jack Harkness, extending a hoof to the fallen pony, coincidently in the reverse situation they were in all those months ago.

“The immortal Captain Jack,” spoke a piece of Macintosh’s mind.

Big Macintosh narrowed his eyes and stood up all on his own. “It’s been too soon, Jack.”

“That’s Captain Jack Harkness. And that’s a nice suit you got there, Big Mac, very… suave,” he winked at Big Mac, who did his best to dust all the Jurassic dirt off his jacket.

Momentarily ignoring the pony who had greeted him, Big Macintosh took a gander around him. It had been a long time since he was in here. It looked much cleaner now.

He was standing on a platform, raised just a few hooves above the main floor. The room was part of some kind of cave, reinforced with a crisscrossing metal structure and the floor itself was made of the cold steel.

In front of him lay about a dozen of what Big Mac recognized as computer stations, with at least half of them currently occupied by a pony. At the very center of the room was a pillar, made of both red glass and metal. Leading away from the column was a whole assortment of wires and cables, each one of vital electrical importance.

Glancing behind him Big Macintosh, saw a wall made of tiles that would fit well in an underground train station. There was a word spelled out in large black bold font across it, a declaration, announcing what this place was, and all it stood for. Only a select few ponies in all of Equestria had ever seen or heard that word, even fewer knew what it meant, as it was a secret word.

TORCHWOOD

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“So who are you people, exactly,” Big Macintosh asked bitterly, standing over the grave of Captain John Hart with the blue pegasus standing by his side. He wore a bandage around his shoulder. The injury a parting gift from the dead pony.

“We are the Torchwood Institute. Founded by Princess Celestia three hundred and sixty four years ago, we are here to prepare Equestria for the future,” Captain Jack spoke tiredly, his voice laced with the melancholy nostalgia that came from standing over his friend’s grave. He had obviously given the introduction to many, many ponies before. But this time it was different.

“I thought that John could help us, I thought he would have been able to calm down just a little after all this time. It was useful too, finally having a fully functional Vortex Manipulator around. That’s one of the reasons why I’m giving you this offer. The other reasons being that you fought hoof to hoof with a veteran time agent all across time and space, and somehow won, and saved the world.

“We might need your help in the future. When the time comes, will you help us, for Princess and Country?” he asked. “The Vortex Manipulator is biolocked to you. You’re the only one who can activate it now.”

Big Macintosh swallowed.

“You can still use yours as a teleport.”

“Some circumstances will need time travel,” he replied.

“Fine, if you need me, then call me,” Big Mac conceded.

“Good.” Jack smiled grimly as he began tapping into the Vortex Manipulator on his ankle. “There is someone in Canterlot who wants to see you, just one last trip, I promise.”

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“You didn’t have any trouble getting here, now did you?” asked Captain Jack, not failing to notice the dirtiness of Big Macintosh’s ‘suave’ suit.

“I forgot to plug in the zero.”

Captain Jack did some math in his head before giving Big Mac an empathetic look. “That must have been messy.”

“Eeeyup,” he replied nodding his head slowly.

A minty green unicorn wearing a headset trotted up the steps to the platform. “Captain, we dispatched Tugs and Martin to investigate the code blue.”

“Good, have them report back as soon as they get there, Lyra.”

“You’re not going to go down?” she asked.

Jack shook his head. “I stopped chasing after code blues a long time ago. But, have you met Big Macintosh over here? I have heard he is quite the stud back in Ponyville.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t know about that, been very busy with the wedding plans, Jack,” she said, rolling her eyes. They stopped at Big Mac’s ankle, and she stared at the device curiously, only for a moment before she retreated back to one of the computer stations below.

“Good pony, Lyra Heartstrings, hard worker,” Jack said, watching as she left.

Big Macintosh cleared his throat, and held up the beaten letter. He was tired of the captain taking the situation so lightly.

“That’s right, very important things to deal with. I’m glad you came, Big Mac. I really didn’t want to have to go all the way to Ponyville to fetch you.”

“What’s the emergency? And what time are we going to?”

“What makes you think we are going to a different time?” asked Captain Jack.

“I can’t see any other reason you would need me.”

Captain Jack lifted up his eyebrows suggestively, “How about for that fantastic plot?”

Big Macintosh just blinked. “Can we get on with it, Jack?” His voice reflected how tired he was with all this already.

The flirty expression on Jack’s face instantly melted, going back to a serious one. “Alright Big Mac.” Somehow he managed to sound just as tired. Perhaps neither of them really wanted to meet again in the first place.

“Follow me. I’ll explain what I can on the way,” Captain Jack directed him, turning around.

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Without any warning or fanfare, Big Macintosh found himself in a different place entirely and feeling as though his body had just been used a horse shoe.

One moment he had been on his porch, and now, he was in…some place made out of tarnished metal.

“Stay here big fella, no one else has to get hurt in all this,” Jack told him as he began to gallop down the corridor of the metal hallway.

“Wha…where are we?!” exclaimed Big Macintosh instantly chasing after the pony who had taken him wherever he was now.

He caught up to him in almost a heartbeat, and jumped on top of him, forcing him to stop.

“Tell me what’s going on here!” he demanded, “What did you mean he was going to destroy the world?!”

“I don’t have time for this! Get off me!” shouted Captain Jack, struggling to throw the stronger earth pony off. Big Macintosh refused to yield.

After nearly a minute of wasted wiggling, the trapped pegasus gave up.

“Alright you want to know? It’s Captain John. He’s rigged a piece of space in the center of the sun to be linked to the inside of the time-space rift underneath Canterlot! If he activates that link then he will implode both the rift and the sun! The rift will destroy Equestria and then the sun will eventually expand to destroy the rest of the planet before collapsing again into a black hole! That’s what I’m trying to stop, now get off of me!” he shouted again. His explanation was enough to distract the simple farmer so that Jack could throw him off before dashing up the hall. Trying to stop the imminent apocalypse.

Big Macintosh sat there, seemingly dumbstruck. The words of the Captain worked their way through his mind. And, somehow, he realized what was happening.

Guiltily he found that his first thought, the first realization, was that if that Captain John Hart fellow was going to kill everyone, then he was going to kill Applejack. His second thoughts went to Applebloom and Granny Smith.

But in the several seconds in which those thoughts came to be, he was filled with resolve. He wasn’t about that Celestia dammed unicorn get away with that.

His hooves suddenly found themselves galloping full speed down the hall after the Captain.

It only took a few minutes for him to find the two Captains. All he had to do was follow the gunfire.

They were in a large room, one that was utterly destroyed. Pieces of complex machines and computers scattered about. At the very center was a pillar made of red glass and steel. Captain John stood beside it, the device on his ankle wired into the pillar.

Captain Jack lay fallen before him, shot innumerable times.

The brown pony stood at the center of it all, lording over the scene of chaos and death with a look in his eyes that showed the true meaning of malice and hate. It didn’t seem to matter that he and all the world was going to fall into oblivion.

The consequences having been dammed, and fates already decided, the nightmare of the simple farmer began to unfold.

Brought about by his own hooves.

John pressed a button on his device and the air behind him began to glow with a bright light.

Big Macintosh didn’t hesitate for a second before he sprang into action.

He jumped with all the strength in his muscular limbs catching the malicious Captain by surprise.

His hoof collided with the Vortex Manipulator.

In a shower of sparks the two of them fell into the rift.

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“The problem is hard to explain, it’ll be much easier once I show you. I can say, though, that it involves Princess Luna and events that transpired a long, long time ago,” Jack spoke as his and Big Macintosh’s hooves clopped with a metallic echo against the aged steel.

“So back in time it is, pre-Nightmare Moon?”

“Yup. I will be going with you, your time partner. Best to use the buddy system when it comes to these things. I took two low-level perception filters out of the vault for the mission. The less impact we leave in the past the better.”

The two broke into an awkward silence as they stopped in front of the elevator doors. There was much that they had refused to say to each other the last time. Big Mac decided that it if they were indeed going to be partners in all this then some of it needed to be said.

“Hey, Jack,” He spoke as the elevator doors opened.

“Yeah?” Jack asked as they walked into it.

“I’m sorry, for…what ended up happening.”

The silence returned.

“Yeah. Me too.” They were both looking forward, at the door, as neither of them dared look at the other after the words were spoken.

“You never told me how long it was for you,” said Jack.

Big Macintosh swallowed, “Three months. And for them, Applejack, Applebloom, and Granny Smith…it was only three days. The Vortex Manipulator was damaged when we fell into the rift. That was how it got biolocked to me, and him, but that wasn’t all. The Vortex Manipulator got stuck to random, permanently. So every day I spent chasing after him, at five to two P.M. It would displace us both, some random planet, some random time. Three months was how long it took for him to fix it. I stopped him just before he was able to start again where he left off, destroying Equestria.”

“That’s almost one hundred times,” Jack was surprised. He knew that it had been long enough to leave some permanent scars within Big Macintosh, but three months…

No matter the ordeal of Big Macintosh, there was one question that he had been begging to ask his fellow time traveler ever since he returned.

“Did he tell you why, John that is?”

“He…” Macintosh hesitated. “He said that you broke his heart.”

That bitter smile was back on the mouth of the blue Pegasus. “Yeah, I was wondering if he would have bothered telling you the truth.”

Jack sighed as the elevator came to a stop. “Well the past is the past, even for a time traveler.”

They walked out, and the metal floor was replaced by dark purple and white tiles.

“Welcome to the tour of Canterlot Castle, ever been before?” asked Jack.

“Nnope, missed that field trip in school.”

Jack led him down the corridors of the ancient and noble palace that was home to the royal sisters. This time stopping at a double set of doors. They were very large doors, very ornate, colored in deep purples and blues, the earmarks of a gateway to something of the highest importance.

In this case, the bedroom of Princess Luna.

The royal guards who stood vigilant at the entrance and courteously opened the door for the Captain of Torchwood they had been expecting.

Once again Big Macintosh was met with a familiar face. This one was more welcoming than the others. She had a white coat, bright pink eyes and a mane that was befitting of her name. Princess Celestia.

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It was night outside, and dim inside, but Princess Celestia still sat alone in her throne room with just one other pony. Big Macintosh, the farm pony from the town of Ponyville.

She had already dismissed Captain Harkness and the royal guard ponies so that she could have the time alone with this pony who had just saved her and all her subjects from near certain destruction. Now that they were alone, Big Macintosh was nearly too afraid to speak in the presence of the princess.

“You saved Equestria, Big Macintosh. Not many ponies can say that. And even fewer can say that they accomplished such a task on their own. You deserve to be rewarded,” said Princess Celestia to the smaller red pony who stood beneath her.

Big Macintosh did not look up at her. “I killed a pony,” he told her simply.

Celestia’s expression remained a kind one. “You did what was necessary in the face of a horrible situation. You are not the only pony who has had to be forced to sacrifice a life and their own innocence for the sake of the many.”

Big Macintosh stayed silent.

“I should thank you for keeping Torchwood a secret on your own volition. I meant what I said, Big Macintosh, you deserve to be rewarded for your service to your fellow ponies. Is there anything that Equestria can do for you?” she asked once again, her voice soft and comforting.

A reward!? What an idea! What did Big Macintosh want? What could he possibly want?

The answer was obvious.

He wanted to be home again! To see Applejack again! He wanted to rest!

But there was something else, a horrible realization. Celestia said it herself. This was a secret. A secret that he wouldn’t dare burden those he loved with. Even though he craved, more than anything, to let everything just explode! Everything bottled up in his soul from his hunt of the demented Captain.

He had seen travesties! Civilizations burning! Ponies dying! Monsters hiding in the darkness and taking the guise of the light! Echoes of a tortured eternity rang through his mind!

One hundred different times and different worlds!

He had seen magnificence! Worlds shouting out in celebration for just one more precious year of existence! Ponies living lives, falling in love! He witnessed beings of light twisting through the air, and entities of sound laughing with joy in his ears!

All the while clinging to the desperate hope that he could go back. That he could one day see his precious Applejack again without the Sun turning against Equestria and burning the planet!

Could he really not tell a soul?

The scars, inside and out. Was he really left to heal them all by himself?

Celestia watched quietly as tears began to drip from Big Macintosh’s eyes.

For the first time that night, traumatized little pony looked up as he whimpered his request.

“I…I…I…would just like a pony to talk to, Princess. Just one…please…”

His crying eyes begged for pity from none other than the Princess of the Sun.

Big Macintosh had cried many times in his life. Too many times for him to count. However this was the first time he had ever shared his moment of despair with any other pony.

There was something humbling about crying. The shear exposure of weakness to the world, and open vulnerability of a wounded soul. And there was nothing more humbling than crying in front of the ruler of all Equestria.

Princess Celestia stood up and then stepped down from her throne. She now stood directly over Big Macintosh, who had finally shut his eyes in shame.

“It is alright, it’s alright, my little pony. It’s alright,” she told him as her horn began to glow in the dim light.

Big Macintosh felt and heard the gently pop of an alicorn teleporting. He suddenly felt warmer, and the ground felt so much softer beneath his hooves.

He opened his eyes to find that it was too dark to see anything at all. Princess Celestia had taken pity on him. Now he could cry in the dark.

A soft and gentle wing enveloped itself around the crying pony, urging him to lay down. Big Macintosh didn’t know what to do but comply, letting himself fall onto the bed.

“Princess…?”

Celestia drew herself close to the battle worn hero and embraced him. “You wished to talk to somepony, here is your chance, my dearest little pony.”

Big Macintosh did talk to Celestia. He told her everything, the deepest and darkest secrets he kept hidden even from Applejack, and all the stories of his travels. And he was comforted through every second of it.

That night, he fell into a sweet dreamless sleep in the embrace of a Princess.

But not before he told a special secret. The reason he was able to bear being thrown through time and space, and fighting hoof to hoof with a great trickster.

The only thought that kept him moving forward, and fighting through it all.

He told princess Celestia that he loved Applejack.

And she kept his secret.

Thus was his reward.

Nightmares

Chapter Three

Nightmares

Big Macintosh bowed for the two royal sisters present in the room, but as he lowered his head, he kept his eyes on Celestia.

They exchanged a look filled with mutual gratefulness.

“Princess Celestia,” he said.

“Big Macintosh, Captain Jack Harkness, thank you for coming to my sister’s aid,” replied the Princess, her tone full of formality. However, both of the ponies in her service detected the wavers of desperation in her voice.

Captain Jack didn’t bother with the formality of bowing. “Torchwood serves you and the future of Equestria. Just doing our job, Princess.”

With the pleasantries complete, the everypony turned their attention to the Princess of the Night asleep on the bed.

Big Macintosh had never met Luna before, but he, like every other pony, had heard the old stories of Nightmare Moon, even firsthand accounts from his sister, all detailing her malice. Looking at the sleeping blue pony now, he could not even imagine that such infamy could stem from her.

There was something wrong with Luna. At first glance, Big Macintosh thought she was simply asleep. But as he looked closer he realized there was more to it than that. Her neck and ears twitched sporadically and there was a sheen of sweat on her coat. It looked as though she was in a deep, fever-induced sleep.

Celestia was lying next to her sister, ignoring the sweating and the twitching, with one of her wings wrapped around her sister’s side. As if she was holding Luna so close that she might not be able to fall away even if there was a black hole pulling her into oblivion.

“Is she alright?” asked Big Macintosh stepping closer.

Celestia shook her head solemnly. “No, she is not. My sister was found this way two days ago. At first we thought she was ill, however the greatest healers in Equestria have not been able to understand what is plaguing her. I have tried my own spells to heal her, and even Torchwood has tried to use their most powerful devices to revive her. Nothing has so much as stirred her. Although, sometimes she tosses and turns in her slumber, and whispers words that do not make sense. It is almost as if she is in a nightmare.”

Jack stepped forward, watching Luna’s distress closely. “We have gone over nearly every possibility and known ailment. We thought that maybe a fragment of her Nightmare Moon personality survived the Elements of Harmony, but this isn’t how it happened before. We don’t know what it is or how it got to her. We just have one clue.”

Jack picked up a book from the nightstand beside the bed.

It was a very large book, as big as one of the dictionaries Big Mac had seen in the Ponyville Library. The cover was a dark navy blue with patterns of the night sky and the moon inlayed onto its cover in the same fashion as Luna’s cutie mark.

“That is my sister’s diary. She did well to hide it, even I was unaware she kept one until two days ago,” said Princess Celestia, watching carefully as her Captain handled the book.

“Torchwood analyzed it. It is authentic and written with Princess Luna’s style. There are entries that date back over two thousand and six hundred years. It has an enchantment on it that preserved it this long. However, that is not the intriguing part.”

Jack flipped open the book and pointed his hoof to the picture drawn on the page.

“This entry is dated to be one thousand and one years ago. One day before the nightmare moon incident.”

Big Macintosh swallowed, looking at the picture.

It was him, and a dozen different ponies he didn’t recognize, all of them armed and storming the gates of a stone Castle. He told himself, in his head, that it was most likely just a pony that looked like him…but considering the reason he was here, he knew that he was telling himself lies.

“The diary doesn’t provide any insight into what is going on in the picture. There are, as expected, entries about her feelings of ill will towards, you, your highness. However, there is one more detail that is unexpected. She describes some anomaly she has encountered during her duties over the realm of dreams. Some kind of thought, or idea. This entry here is the most helpful,” Jack flipped to a different page and cleared his throat.

“I heard the whispers again today, louder than before. I did my best to rid the dreams of them, however they are very persistent. If sister was not so busy with her own duties in the daytime, mayhaps she could help. The whispers are devious; I even heard them say, quite vainly, that they are of an immense intelligence. I know I should not listen to them, as they haunt the dreams of my little ponies, but they do say what a wonderful world would be if only it was night more often, and that the world was more of dreams than my sister’s world. I know I should not listen to them, but it feels difficult to disagree with them at times…”

Jack sighed and put the book back down. “We believe that these whispers may be connected with Luna’s transformation, but we aren’t sure.”

“Have you tried using the Elements of Harmony again on her?” asked Big Macintosh, studying the faces of the distressed monarchs.

“No, not every problem can be solved with the use of the elements. In fact there are a few instances in history where problems were exaggerated by them. It all depends on the situation, and the elements are best suited against beings with pure malicious intent and other forms of malicious corruption. Until we know what this is, we aren’t trying anything else,” said the Captain.

“Are you sure that these whispers are involved in what is happening now?”

“Yes, I am.” Jack flipped open to another page, the last one with words on it. The words were slanted, and messier than the other entries, like they were written in haste.

It read, “Celestia, the whispers are back, I will try to stop them but they are back, closer, and stronger than before, whatever you do not…”

The rest just trailed off.

“This was the page the diary was open to when we found it lying next to her on the bed. It was the last thing she wrote,” Jack told Big Macintosh.

“So this is the mission? Go find out what caused this, and then pray that we find a way to reverse it? Back one thousand and one years ago?” asked Big Macintosh.

“Yup.” Captain Jack closed the dairy and then reached into his pockets, pulling out two small necklaces. He offered one to Big Macintosh. “You will need this. A perception filter should keep us from being noticed. Oh, and these.” He took a piece of paper out from a different pocket and also gave it to him. “Those are the coordinates.”

Jack smiled bitterly as he watched Big Macintosh type them in.

“I must warn you both, Captain Jack Harkness, and Big Macintosh, that those days were very dark times for Equestria. Exercise great caution,” Princess Celestia advised them.

“We will, Princess, but I doubt that it will be the worst place either of us has been to,” replied Jack truthfully.

“Please,” spoke Celestia in a tone that approached begging, “find a way to bring her back…I cannot lose her, not again.”

“We will do everything we can, Princess,” spoke Jack.

“Cannot...cannot…wake…up,” muttered Princess Luna weakly.

Celestia looked down on her sister with despair as she nuzzled her. “It will be alright Luna, it will be alright. Our best little ponies are going to help you.” The mighty alicorn looked to the young farmer and old captain for something, anything, that might save her sister.

“I will see you soon, Princess.”

Big Macintosh sighed as he finished putting in the coordinates.

He did not want to do this. He did not want to leave his life behind again, but he owed Celestia something that he owed no other pony.

He had hopes this would be over quickly, and his dear Applejack wouldn’t even notice his absence.

Captain Jack placed his hoof onto the edge of the Vortex Manipulator, and then Big Macintosh activated it. The two agents of Torchwood fell into the Time Vortex.

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Applejack was out of breath, sprawled out on the wooden floors.

She was terrified.

She could not move, whether out of fright, or out of irony, she did not know.

But she just watched as the red pony who stood at her side for all her life died.

A hundred cuts and slashes ripped through his fur, his breathing ragged.

A shadow stood above him, holding a bloodied butcher’s knife.

“Wake up, Applejack,” spoke the beaten body of Big Macintosh.

Applejack shook her head, not willing to give up. “I got to save ya’. Big Mac, stay with me!”

“Nnope, I’m sorry, sis.”

She looked on in confusion as Big Macintosh crawled forward desperately, the shadow watching with content amusement.

With his forehoofs he pushed her forward, sliding her off the edge.

“You have to wake up,” he whispered into her ear just before she fell.

She fell into darkness.

It was like going a thousand miles per hour through the darkest night sky.

And it was like staying perfectly still in the center of nowhere and nothingness.

Thus is the way a pony falls to their death in the dream.

Applejack gasped, sitting upright in her bed. She was covered in a cold sweat and breathing like she had just run a race against Rainbow Dash.

It was just a nightmare.

She was still terrified.

For a long time she just sat there waiting for her breathing to slow.

It was mere seconds after rational thought returned to her that she left the bed, nervously trotting to a safe haven.

The door to her brother’s room creaked when she opened it. She hoped he would hear it, that he would sit up, looking to see what intruded, just so she could see him alright. Just to prove that her dream was just a dream.

But a growing pit in her stomach formed when she saw no likeness of her brother dearest in the bed.

She looked around, hoping for just a trace of him, but to no avail.

Slowly Applejack walked to the bed, and jumped on top of it so that she could nestle herself in safety within the protective blankets. She sighed, hoping with every ounce of her frightened mind of the night that he would come back.

“Where did ya’ head off to Big Mac?” she asked.

The Watchers

Chapter Four

The Watchers

Dear Everypony,

Sorry about having to take off like this, I just found out last night that I had to go, and I didn’t want to bother anypony. Don’t worry, I’m fine, and I should be back soon. I got a letter last night from an old friend in a bit of trouble. It should only be a couple days.

Applejack might have to take the plow into town to get it fixed, and if you need it there should be enough bits in the second drawer of my nightstand. That is unless Granny Smith remembered how to use that screwdriver and yarn. And tell Applebloom good morning for me before she goes to school.

Love,

Big Macintosh

“Well…what do ya’ suppose this is ‘bout?” asked Applejack as she rubbed her tired eyes as if she was trying to rub out the memory of her nightmare.

Granny Smith and Applebloom peered around Applejack’s shoulder to read the letter.

“What friend is Big Mac talking about, Applejack?” asked Applebloom, curious. She never saw her big brother with anypony they didn’t know.

“I don’t know Applebloom, but ya’ have to get ready for school.”

“Must be off to see some mare…” muttered Granny Smith as she went off to the pantry to make breakfast.

“When has anypony ever seen Big Macintosh, in his right mind, going after mares, or anypony for that matter?” asked Applejack, trying to think back.

“Eh! They get crafty at his age,” said Granny Smith as she found the flour.

“I just hope he’s alright. It ain’t like him to run off like this,” said Applejack.

“Have some faith in your brother. He can stand on his own four hooves better than most stallions.”

Applejack smiled and nodded in agreement. “I just hope he comes back soon. Last time something like this happened, he came back with a busted shoulder. And…it feels weird not hav’n him around.”

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Meanwhile…one thousand and one years ago…

The interior castle walls were built from a dull grey rock. To escape the dreary normalness of the other walls, the room with the long dining table was covered with the most beautiful, majestic and masterfully crafted tapestries imaginable.

The left half had a scheme of bright colors, an assortment of yellows, whites, oranges, and pinks. While the right half had a darker scheme with black, navy blue, but accented with the sparkles and noble silver of the moon and stars.

One half belonged in the honor of the Princess of the Sun, the other, in the honor of the Princess of the Moon.

Beside the tapestries there was a stained glass window at the very end of the room, opposite the door. It depicted the Royal Sisters themselves, in the same fashion as the famous flag of Equestria.

There were three ponies sitting at the grand wooden table. Princess Luna sat at the far end, closest to the door, and Princess Celestia sat on the opposite end, closest to the stained glass window.

The last pony was not alicorn like the other two, nor was he royalty, and nor was he famous to history.

He had a rather scruffy violet mane, and a sepia brown coat, over which he wore his simple black vest. His was wearing a tiny pair of spectacles over his eyes, and he had to periodically push them back up his nose because he looked down far too often.

His cutie mark was two intertwined quills, similar to the two quills he kept in the left side pocket of his vest.

He sat close to Celestia, on her right hand side, but spent most of his time looking down at his meal.

For most ponies dusk was an odd time to be having diner, however, it was the best time for the two princesses of the diarchy to be together before they exchange their duties.

“Well then, sister dearest, how went the day?” asked Princess Luna, taking a sip from her teacup.

“It went well. I was able to go through four more audiences than on a usual day. Nothing particular to decree, and no news of disaster. I think it to be the most normal day we have had in a long time, Luna. I take it you slept well?” Celestia daintily took a bite from her salad.

“Yes of course. Hopefully the realm of dreams will be most entertaining today. The ponies of Baltimare are ever so creative this time of year.”

“How about you, Telltail Twirler? How have you been, of late you have rarely spoken.”

The unicorn paused in the middle of taking a sip of his soup to look up at his princess. “Um………It has been…fine…Princess.”

He put down in his spoon and kept looking down as he quickly whipped out the journal in his pocket and wrote something down.

Celestia giggled, amused.

Luna rolled her eyes. “I do not understand why you wish to have him around. Then again I could never understand the appeal of having a lost dog following a pony around all day and night.”

“No need to be so bitter about things, Luna.”

“I am…not lost… or a dog..,” whispered Telltail to himself. He wrote another thing down. “Just doing my job.”

“If I did not know better, sister, I would think that you were jealous. If you wish to have a student of your own you simply have to ask,” Celestia continued.

“Secretary is more like it, or perhaps servant, secretary, and historian all in one pony?” Luna watched as the little unicorn kept scribbling in his journal.

“What can I say? He is invaluable to me,” Celestia said with proud smile.

Suddenly Telltail’s ears perked up. “Did you hear that, Princess?”

“Hear what, Telltail?”

He glanced curiously behind himself, he blinked several times before turning his attention back to the soup. “Nothing. My apologies, Princess.”

The two stallions in the corner breathed a sigh of relief.

One of these stallions had a red coat, and one had a blue coat .

Captain Jack Harkness of the Torchwood Institute, and Big Macintosh, the farmer from Ponyville, both far out of their home time zone.

If somepony were to know they were there, simply sitting in the corner of the room, they would not be able to conceive how those two were able to stay hidden so long. Their first rate camouflage was all in thanks to the two perception filters around their necks, tricking the minds around them into not noticing the strange ponies.

It was not long before the meal was over. Luna and Celestia went to finish their daily duties: setting the Sun and raising the Moon.

Telltail put away his journal and looked back into the room one last time before he loyally followed his Princess Celestia out.

Once they were alone Big Macintosh shook his head, annoyed. “This is ridiculous.”

“I really don’t see what you’re complaining about. We get to save Princess Luna and get great views of her flank all day long.”

Big Mac’s ears flattened, still annoyed. “We have been at this for two days now. Nothing’s happened! We are no closer to finding out what these whispers are than when we got here. And I still haven’t adjusted to Luna’s sleeping schedule. In fact…I haven’t seen you sleep yet.”

“Oh, that’s because I don’t sleep. Don’t need to, so I stopped a century ago.” Jack stood to his hooves and then stretched, his back cracking a little.

“We have three days before Nightmare Moon goes down in infamy,” Big Macintosh sighed. “What do we do?”

“We just keep watching, Big Mac. That is what we're here to do. Not to interfere, just to observe, and hope we don’t get mutilated in the processes. Would be a bigger problem for you, of course. Though, it would mean I'd have to wait an entire millennium to catch back up…ugh…I hate it when that kind of stuff happens. So just do me a favor and don’t get into any trouble,” said Jack as rolled his neck back and forth, trying to get it back in working order after standing still for so long.

“I don’t plan on it.”

They both walked over to the table and helped themselves to what was left behind. They ate quickly, knowing that the servants would be back soon to clean it up.

“Does it bother you?” asked Big Mac after he took a sip of the lukewarm soup.

“What?”

“What’s going to happen to Luna and Celestia, and who knows who else. It’s just weird. She’s talking so normally, being like a regular Princess. But somewhere, on the inside she is just sad, and bitter, and jealous. And…it’s going to drive her insane. Isn’t that… sad?” asked Big Mac, now looking at the place where Princess Luna had been sitting.

Jack shrugged. “It’s History. It has to happen. I’m not going to say it isn’t sad, but what happens here must always happen.”

Somewhere within Big Macintosh’s mind a voice whispered, “History can be rewritten…”

“History can be rewritten.” He spoke it out loud.

Jack shook his head. “Not this. There are some points in time and space that are fixed, nothing we can do to change them. I may be no expert, but I have a feeling this is one of those points.” He paused for a moment, and then smiled at a fond memory.

“I had a friend. He used to say that sometimes. Called himself the Doctor. Never found another pony quite like him. He’s brilliant, clever, a real looker too, although I haven’t seen him in a while. Wish he would pop up though…”

“His name’s the Doctor?”

“Yup.”

“Sounds like a rather special pony to you.”

“He is. And I’ll tell you a secret Big Mac. He taught me how to be the pony I am now. Who knows who’d be dead if he hadn’t.” Jack munched on a stalk of celery thoughtfully.

Without any warning, the doors behind them opened, and two royal servants came out.

Big Macintosh and Captain Jack froze.

The servants walked right past them, picked up the used plates and then left.

Big Macintosh heard his stomach growl after the food was out of the room.

“Alright now, come on. Princess Luna should be in the throne room by now.” Jack nudged his partner.

With a sigh Big Macintosh trotted out to the hall.

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The atrium of the palace was meant to be a grand, showy thing for all the ponies who passed through it. However, the only pony present in it was hardly admiring the great architecture of spiral arches, or magnificent paintings, or even the expertly carved statues.

He was tapping his hoof on the ground with impatience, his ears and head twitching for every second that passed.

He was here for matters of the greatest importance! At least...that was what he told himself.

To Tartarus if it meant he would be bucked into the dungeon.

To think he traveled six hundred and forty three miles on hoof from the mountainside he called home all the way to this irritatingly fancy town and home of the Royal Sisters just so he would be thrown in the dungeon!

He wasn’t about to wait another day for his incarceration! And he would tell the truth to no one other than Princess Luna. She was the only one in all of Equestria who could have any hope of understanding the situation.

He looked down to his hoofs. They were only slightly tired from the journey, but he would not have cared if they were withered stumps at this point. All he cared about was the blood that was once splattered on them.

He couldn’t look at them without thinking about it. Without remembering precisely where the little red dots landed.

He groaned. “Where the buck is everypony?!” he asked to the empty room.

This particularly stubborn pony was named Mountainmill Everfree.

He had a dark shade of green gracing his fur, and a chestnut shade of brown for his mane and beard. He was a pony of the mountains, and appropriately, the hard worker in a flour mill. Although, the flour mill wasn’t on the mountain, but rather at its base.

He was a strong pony from all that physical labor. And somehow, after what he did, he stood like a proud pony. Filled with conviction, even if he was becoming more and more impatient because of that very same conviction.

He already made his choice, why did fate want to give him more time to think about it!

He was wearing an old saddle bag, one that he desperately wanted to throw off and stomp on. He didn’t need it anymore. He just needed Princess Luna!

“Salutations!! Is there anypony in this castle?!” he called out loudly.

“Excuse me, but, who are you…” asked the voice of an inquisitive stallion standing behind him.

Mountainmill turned around and breathed a sigh of relief. This pony was wearing the flashy and decorative uniform of the Lunar Guard.

This stallion, with his dark black coat and incredibly ornate dress, was a unicorn and Mountainmill could just see the fringes of a golden colored mane under his helmet.

“I’m Mountainmill Everfree. And you are?”

“Sir Nightaura Vortex, what is your business here, peasant,” spoke the guard with an arrogant tone. Mountainmill didn’t appreciate his attitude.

Maybe he should just forget all of it if it meant dealing with such rude ponies.

He almost laughed at himself for just thinking that thought. He had come this far…

“I would like to have an audience with Princess Luna.”

Sir Nightaura looked at the common pony with a questionable gaze. “You want to do what?” he asked, one part in disbelief, one part sheer aggravation.

Mountainmill’s ears flattened. “Did I stutter?”

“Princess Luna does not take audiences,” Sir Nightaura sneered. “Unlike her pink maned sister, she has far more important things to do with her time than entertain the likes of you. There are nightmares to banish, and stars to twinkle, now if you do not mind I have my own duties to attend to.” The Lunar guard trotted with dismissal past the “peasant”. “Come back in the morning if you want to talk to someone who will listen to your sob story.”

Mountainmill narrowed his eyes as Sir Nightaura trotted his pompous flank out of the room.

He waited for a good few minutes for the sound of clopping hooves to fade away. Then he snorted, and began to follow the same path which the Lunar Guard took.

It seemed he would have to take matters into his own hooves.

Again.

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“The night sky is one of the most beautiful things this universe has to offer ponies.

Entire galaxies, nebulas, stars, planets, moons, and countless worlds living in the space between.

Darkness and blue and stars and light. Twinkling and gracing ponies with their majesty for a hundred trillion years before they, one sad, and quiet day, burnout.

Thus turns the universe. Light will give way to darkness the same way the hymn of an orchestra gives way to silence.

And ponies got to see all of it! And what did they do for the alicorn that showed them the veil of eternity? They ignored her!” Princess Luna thought bitterly.

She was lying down on the cold marble tiles that made up her moon-lit mosaic. She looked up at her night sky through the glass ceiling. She thought it was beautiful. Yet, it seemed that not very many of her subjects shared that enthusiasm.

Beyond the reaches of the castle she called home, there was little praise for her, or her work. She could not even count the amount paintings and murals that were publicly dedicated throughout all the cities and towns toward her sister and not her.

And those works would be up kept with the greatest care, while her few memorials would crack and fade with time.

Sure the Sun was important, even though it was but one star, it gave life to the plants, and gifted the farmers their ripe food.

But it seemed that was all those little ponies cared about: their own tiny, selfish lives.

She knew it was not kind to think such things, but her irritation and bitterness was not improving. She could barely sit at the table with her sister anymore without feeling the utter and overwhelming feelings of frustration.

Such feelings would pass…she hoped. The dreams almost always gave her hope. Maybe somepony would dream of the night sky. That would simply make her night.

Sighing, impatiently she turned to the unicorn of the lunar guard which stood beside her.

The room was a circular one, and there were eleven unicorns of the Lunar Guard present. The task that brought them together required magic.

“Are all of the Nightmare Knights in attendance?” Luna asked her guard.

She shook her head. “We are missing Sir Nightaura, Princess.”

Before Princess Luna could respond to the Knight’s absence, the secret entrance to the room opened, and in strode the proud trotting unicorn himself.

“Nice of you to join us, Sir Nightaura,” spoke the Princess, now standing up.

“I apologize for being late, Princess Luna, I was delayed by a common pony in the atrium. Are you doing well, Princess? The sky is absolutely marvelous tonight,” said her loyal knight.

Luna smiled, “We are doing well, Sir Nightaura. Now that you are here, the Nightmare Knights may begin their crusade. We will retire to Sanctum for our own work in the dreams of ponies. The whispers will be gone by dawn with good hope,” she declared, switching to the Royal we in front of her Knights.

“Actually your highness, if it is alright, perhaps the Knights should address these rogue elements who take the form of whispers. They are no match for us. I am sure your presence would be greatly appreciated in the nightmares of other more troubled foals.”

Luna paused and thought about it.

She did create the Nightmare Knights to aid her with the nightly duties to the dreams of the little Equestrian ponies. These were the most skilled unicorns in dream magic of in all of Equestria. Together, they could defeat a nightmare with almost as much ease as herself.

Although, if she was truthful to herself, the creation of the secret Knighthood had a great deal to do with her own vanity. It was not a lot of vanity, just the wish to be admired and appreciated by a mere handful of ponies close to her. But it was still vanity.

“Very well, Sir Nightaura, I trust your judgment. If you feel that you can deal with this adversary, then I will leave you to it.”

Luna looked down fondly onto her most trusted and loyal ponies. “A good night to you all.” She turned around, and trotted around to a door at the back of the room and entered her own sanctum, where should would begin her night full of duty.

An odd smile formed around the muzzle of Sir Nightaura Vortex. A devious and nefarious one. “Thank you, Princess,” he whispered to himself.

However, unaware to the Knights of Nightmares, or the Princesses of the Sun and Moon, the stubborn mountain dweller, or even the most studious and observant student of Celestia, there were two ponies watching all that unfolded within the castle, trying to understand it.

They stood in the room with the glass ceiling with the unicorns of the Lunar Guard, watching as their horns began to glow.

They did not quite know what was happening. These watchers needed to watch a little bit longer.

But if there was one word Big Macintosh could use to summarize the events that swirled about this castle, one word to encompass the tragedy and travesty that was about to occur, one word left for all the broken hearted, and dead who would be left in the wake of events to come, that word would be HISTORY.

The play thing of time travelers.

A Busy Night

Chapter Five

A Busy Night

Princess Celestia sat in her bed in her dark bedroom, waiting.

Her patience, at first glance, was filled with great dignity and regality that was appropriate for a Princess, but if a pony was to look closer they might notice the occasional quick breath, spontaneous little smiles, accompanied by a quick bashful blinking. She was waiting for somepony she should not be waiting for.

Somepony who spurned naughty thoughts within her mind.

The pony she was being so patient for was none other than Telltail Twirler, her precious student.

It must have been eight years to the day that she found that skinny little orphan on the streets.

He had stolen a simple apple from a street vendor. To escape the vendor's wrath, he had teleported away at the last moment, just as she and her royal guards were cantering down the road.

He was very young, still a foal at the time. He should not have been able to accomplish such a feat, especially with no one to teach magic to him. It was pure chance that Princess Celestia saw the ordeal. But she was impressed. And so she tracked down that little unicorn, and gave him the opportunity of a life time.

That is, after she had him return the stolen apple.

Slowly, she gained an odd affection towards the quiet and studious pony.

If anypony was to find out the truth of the mentor and her student there would be a scandal larger than potbellied dragon. But in Celestia’s mind, it was worth it.

She had been a Princess for a long time now. Carrying out regal duties and responsibilities became burdensome at times and sometimes she felt she should treat herself. Allow herself to divulge. Just give into a little desire and guilty pleasure every now and then. Once a century she would find herself a consort of the bedroom.

It was sad, always sad, when they aged and died and she would have to carry on. She often told herself there are many sad things in the world. It did not mean she could not enjoy some of the happy things that same world had to offer.

There was an old Equestrian adage that came to mind, in regards to all she had lost over her long life.

Time heals all wounds, and destroys all things.

There was a surreal popping noise in the dark room, the sound of a unicorn teleporting.

Celestia smiled to herself and moved to allow Telltail into the bed.

The two ponies of high statute, had shed their clothes: his dark vest, her necklace and crown.

Celestia surrounded Telltail with her wing and drew him up against her body. He was a much smaller pony than Celestia, and it was almost as if he was a teddy bear in her embrace.

She nuzzled him affectionately.

There were nights that they made love to each other, and other nights they just slept sweetly in the other’s embrace.

Celestia cherished all of those nights.

Telltail rarely spoke to her. Well, he rarely spoke to anypony. He rarely showed much emotion either. And there were nights when he would not look at his Princess, when he would just stare into the darkness.

Sometimes Celestia had the worst realizations, worrying that perhaps, because of her position, she forced Telltail into this. But those thoughts would pass, when, one night, out of the blue, he would whisper that he loved her.

Telltail was more than just her lover. He was a proper confidant. The only pony, in these days and ages, that she could tell her true thoughts to. She could trust him, and him alone to never tell another soul.

“Luna has been so distant to me lately. Being so curt at dinner and breakfast, she barely speaks to me otherwise anymore. She worries me so much sometimes.” Celestia sighed and hugged her little pony tighter.

Telltail didn’t say anything.

“What do you think of the subject, Telltail? I know you must have some conclusion or opinion, from all the notes you have taken on her.”

There was silence for a moment.

It was true. Telltail always took note of the ponies around him. Every turn of phrase, every characterizing action, every misplaced blink. He was a very observant pony. And there was not a pony in the entire castle he did not make mention of in his journal.

Telltail spoke. “She has been avoiding eye contact with you, Princess, while choosing to stare at you when you are not looking, and symbolic objects such as your depictions in and outside the castle. She has also taken a greater interest in the training of the Lunar guard and her level of personal control over them. She has said herself that you enjoy greater admiration from your subjects. It is my belief that she has grown jealous of that admiration towards you. This may be influenced by events in her childhood. She also needs more sodium in her diet, and has been slowly losing the ability to perform complex mathematical equations for lack of practice. In addition to that, she is depending more and more on her duties in the dreams of other ponies for stability and meaning in her life.”

Celestia blinked, having forgotten how thorough Telltail could be in his summations.

After thinking about what he said, she sighed once more. “I suppose I should find some more time to spend with her, perhaps we could talk about it…”

There was silence once again.

“What about me, Telltail, what is your conclusion about me?”

“In regards to what?”

“In regards to yourself, Telltail.”

“Well…um…you are you, Princess…” Celestia could almost feel the blush radiating from him.

“In regards to me…you…are everything. If you wish, Princess I could list two hundred and forty seven accurate statements of relevance.”

Celestia kissed him on the nose. “That won’t be necessary Telltail…you know, sometimes I feel that you are smarter than us all.”

“That’s not true, Princess. Only with age can come true wisdom. I am still young.” He spoke as if he was disappointed with his age.

“Don’t sound so sad about that. Being young is such a marvelous thing, Telltail.”

“Why? Because ignorance is bliss?”

“No, my dearest, because even when one has lived a life of thousands of years and can look back on the most wonderful of times on their deathbed, it will never compare to all the things that could be done, and all the memories that could be made by a young foal. For one is finite, and the other is infinite.”

“Perhaps…Princess…”

“You know that you may call me Celestia when we are alone, Telltail,” Princess Celestia told her lover.

“Perhaps…Princess…”

Celestia smiled and nuzzled her very own little pony again.

“Princess…Celestia…do you love me?” asked Telltail shyly.

The princess blinked in surprise. Telltail never asked such a question before. He had never been so bold.

“Why of course, Telltail. I love you.”

“Thank you, Princess…” Telltail’s last words were barely a whisper. There was something sad in his words. Something melancholy. Almost like it was the last time he would have such a moment with her.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes I am, Princess. We should rest now, shouldn’t we?”

Celstia nodded, and then, being bolder than he had ever been before, Telltail kissed her, on the mouth.

“Goodnight.”

They fell asleep together, like they often did, feeling the heat of the other’s body, and the heartbeat of the other’s heart.

They fell asleep, in the dark. But they should have stayed awake. For this was going to be a busy night in the Castle of the Royal Sisters.

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Mountainmill Everfree was lost.

The stone castle was like a maze with ever shifting walls; absolutely nothing like his forests and mountains.

It was hard enough to find his way here and convince the guard ponies to let him in. Would he really be defeated by a stupid poorly adorned hallway!?

“SALUTAIONS!” he shouted, “IS THERE ANYPONY HERE?”

“You would think they would at least have guards around,” he muttered to himself.

Sighing, he sat down in front of one of Luna’s tapestries, a depiction of her silhouette against the moon.

“I never anticipated this to be a pleasant experience, but this is simply ridiculous.”

He sent Luna a prayer that he would find her tonight.

He had to keep moving,

He had to stay put.

If he stood still too long, then their faces would come back.

If he kept moving he might simply get kicked out, and then he would never get his audience.

Mountainmill considered himself to be a tough pony. Wasn’t one for remorse, or despair. Rarely ever looked back. Sometimes he even scared himself at how complacent he could feel at the funeral of his own father.

But now…he wished he could feel it even less.

His brother and his sister! He killed them both!

Sure, he did not have a choice. But it was still their bodies, and their faces which lost all hints of life when he was done with them.

He had not cried a tear yet.

But the shame, and the guilt, it crept up on him, like the shadows of a setting sun. It didn’t go away, not for one moment, not even in his dreams where death upon death slithered into every nightmare.

He tried going back to work. But it didn’t stop.

He buried them, and he even found a way to destroy that Celestia damned pyramid that caused all of it.

It still didn’t stop. The bad dreams.

The whispers too.

They were what took his brother and his sister from him. With all their empty promises, and visions of grandeur. They came to him as well, when he tried to destroy that stupid pyramid. They were almost too much to resist.

He didn’t know how, but they persisted even after he destroyed the pyramid.

He hated that thing so much.

It was the reason he was forced to kill his brother and his sister, or face his own death. It was the reason he could not sleep without facing eternal torment.

Maybe it would get better after this ordeal was all over.

He just had to find Princess Luna!!

He got up, revitalized with purpose.

“Oh…that’s right…lost.” He growled in frustration.

He bucked his hind legs back, hitting the tapestry of Luna, and the wall behind it.

Still frustrated.

He hit it again.

Something cracked.

He hit it one more time.

Suddenly the whole wall gave way.

“What?” he turned around as the tapestry and a section of the stone wall collapsed.

It wasn’t a wall at all, or stone. Just wood and plaster painted to look like rock.

There was a hallway behind it. Naturally curious, Mountainmill trotted into it.

“Salutations!” he called down the hall.

“HOW DARE YOU BREAK THE SEAL OF THE SANCTUM!” screeched back a voice.

“Oh, it’s you, that rude guard pony with the ridiculous name,” said Mountainmill flatly. He found himself in a circular room with a glass ceiling and surrounded by unicorns in highly decorated Lunar Guard uniforms face to face with that pony he encountered earlier, Sir Nightaura Vortex.

Sir Nightaura glared at the mountain pony.

“Is Princess Luna around here somewhere? I really must speak to her. If not, then two ponies would have died in vain.”

“Unfortunately no, Mister Everfree. She is very busy,” Nightaura said through gritted teeth, ignoring the point of the two deaths.

“Well then, I’ll just pop off and check somewhere else.” Mountainmill turned to leave. But a magical purple glow surrounded him, holding him back.

“No. I am sorry, Mister Everfree, but neither I nor my fellow knights can allow you to speak to the Princess, tonight. And frankly your meddling is becoming annoying, if it continues it is going to be detrimental to our plans.”

“And what are you going to do, then?” Mountain Mill’s voice dropped to dead seriousness.

“In the name of our patron, I sentence you to death.”

Mountainmill stared at the Nightmare Knight, and then he smiled.

“At least there won’t be any more nightmares.”

“Yes… no more nightmares.”

The glow grew brighter. The other unicorns did nothing.

The knight’s eyes were filled with cruelty. The simple pony, his eyes were filled with complacency.

Dying was his consolation prize. At least he got that much.

But then something happened.

There was a red pony and ….a blue one. They came out of nowhere.

Or were they there the whole time?

Big Macintosh jumped onto Mountainmill and then they both disappeared in a flash of light.

“Um, sir…” said one of the Knights awkwardly, and confused.

Everypony left was staring at the mysterious blue pony.

He cleared his throat. “If you will excuse me.”

Captain Jack pressed a button on the device on his wrist, and then disappeared as well.

There was a pause in the room. Many of the Nightmare Knights were still unsure of what just happened.

“Sir….” repeated the same pony.

Sir Nightaura did not miss a beat. “You two, go after these rogue ponies. They cannot not stop us. Not now. The rest of us will begin the spell. Tonight, Princess Luna will be ours. The Mistress of dreams and the moon will fall and our Patron of the universe will rise!”

"Huzzah!" the others shouted together.

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“What were you thinking?! You just blew our cover!” asked Jack harshly after finding himself a barren hallway of the castle. There was clear frustration in his voice.

“Shut up, Jack. They were going to kill him,” replied an equally frustrated Big Macintosh.

“You can’t just do stuff like that. Time can only take so much abuse you know…and hello. I’m Captain Jack Harkness.” He turned to the mountain pony with a charming smile.

Big Macintosh face-hoofed at the sight of spontaneous flirting.

“No it’s alright,” began Mountainmill, seemingly unfazed. “You two didn’t have to save me. It’s what I deserve for killing my brother and sister.”

Both Big Mac and Jack were staring at the new pony strangely now.

“You two wouldn’t happen to know where I can find Princess Luna,” asked Mountainmill, remembering his original goal. “But it’s alright if I die before that. Then the nightmares and the whispers will go away.”

“…did you just say whispers?” asked Big Macintosh.

“Yes.”

“What whispers?”

Montainmill blinked, and diverted his gaze. “You know, before this started I had a brother and a sister.”

“What happened to them?” asked Big Macintosh tentatively, frightened by what answer he may get.

Mountainmill lowered his eyebrows thoughtfully and frowned. As if he was remembering something foul.

“I killed them. But I didn’t have a choice. The whispers possessed them, it told them lies and...they would have killed me,” said Mountainmill, nodding his head up and down slowly, as if he was trying to convince himself.

“Are you alright?” asked Big Mac, sounding concerned.

“Hmm? Yes...er, no...I need to see Princess Luna.” he said.

“How exactly did it possess them. What happened?” asked Jack.

“There was a pyramid made of golden orbs, and it fell from the sky. It made a really big hole when it hit the ground. When they touched it they began to hear the whispers. And it said that it understood them, that it could make them great, or loved and that it would help them change the world,” answered Mountainmill, his voice distant.

“How do you know what the whispers said?” Jack pressed further.

“Because I can hear them too,” replied Mountainmill. “They tried to kill me when I wouldn’t touch the spheres as well. But I won. And I used the flour mill to destroy the pyramid. Of course, in order to do that I had to pick it up... I thought the whispers would go away once I destroyed it. But they didn’t.“

Jack and Big Mac exchanged a look of sudden realization, finally understanding some of this.

“That thing, it must be some kind of psychic creature to affect their minds like that and have no physical form. And if the ponies it controlled fell asleep…” Captain Jack mused out loud.

“Then it would be in the dreams,” Big Macintosh finished the thought for him.

“Caught up in Princess Luna’s dream realm network.”

“But wait, the diary said that she was fighting them, and that, although they were persistent, she was winning. What happens to change that?” asked Big Macintosh to the mysterious forces of the universe which governed these areas of shades of grey.

“The Knights said they had a patron….”

The expression being exchanged by the two agents of Torchwood morphed from one of understanding to alarm.

“We have to get back there!” exclaimed Big Mac galloping down the hall towards the Nightmare Knight’s sanctuary.

“Is Princess Luna there?” asked Mountainmill.

“Yes!” Jack called to him as he chased after his partner in time.

As Big Macintosh rounded the corner in the hallway, he suddenly yelped and did an about face. The two ponies in his wake followed suit once they saw the two Nightmare Knights charging down the hall.

“Run!” shouted Big Mac.

As the Knights sped past a suit of armour, they didn’t bother to yell at their prey to stop. Instead, they used their horns, and caused the armor to glow. Strips of metal began to tear off, jagged edged pieces. They pointed themselves at the escaping ponies and then flew with an ominous whistle.

Jack glanced back when he heard the metal screeching in protest at being torn apart. He was quick on his hooves, and turned around as fast as he could.

In a single fluid motion he let his coat fall off his body, and then spread his wings as he jumped into the air. Showing off all of his Pegasus glory.

The shards of metal struck him fiercely and swiftly. There was a single exclamation of agony, just one shout in pain, his wings and backed arched from the shock, and then he fell limp.

Mountainmill slid to a stop as soon as he saw the good captain’s sacrifice. “We have to help him!”

“He’ll be fine,” Big Mac said into Mountainmill's ear, and pushed him forward. They could not afford to stay still.

Only one of the Knights paused over Jack’s body, picking him and his coat up with their magic. The second went on in their pursuit.

Big Macintosh glanced to his side at the pony who galloped with him. The pony that was now his responsibility. He bit his tongue, forcing himself not to look back. “Jack will be okay, he’s always okay,” he thought to himself.

Then another, more frightening thought cropped up in the adrenaline fueled mind of Big Macintosh.

“I’m on my own now…”

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Princess Luna sighed as she watched the little filly bound through the wildflower meadow.

She wanted to stay there forever. So she could just watch the joy that she brought about. The dreams were the only time she could indulge herself, as the only other ponies awake were the lunar guard and her Nightmare Knights, and all of them had jobs to do.

This filly was having a nightmare about her father. He had thrown her into her closest that was full of scorpions and spiders. Luna helped her overcome it.

That was the thing about ponies and their dreams. Luna knew in life, under the harsh rays of the sun, not all ponies were equal. Some pony might be happier, or more successful, or more loved. But under the gentle light of the moon, in the depths of dreams, Luna strove for all ponies to be equal. All of them would be happy, loved, and given a chance to escape all the burdens and pain reality brought them...even if that pain was their own fault.

Princess Luna collected all of her conviction and then turned away from the smiling filly. The skin of the dream world warped around her as she slowly trotted forward.

Now she was in a dark room.

She lit up her horn and looked around, trying to discern whose dream this was. But there was no one in sight.

Perhaps this was one of the rarer dreams where the dreamer was not inside?

After looking around for a little while Luna decided that this was not in fact a nightmare, and turned to leave.

Suddenly there was a hoofstep behind her. Then another. And another.

Her ears twitched and she turned around.

There were silhouettes in the shadows cast by her light.

“I am here to extend to you a final chance, Princess. You see this world of dreams, I tell you, I can make this world greater than the one your sister has such great providence over. There are things in this world that not even you have knowledge of. I can help you, Princess. I know you princess.” The voice in this dream was quiet, and calm, and seemingly detached from the blackened room around it.

The whispers, this was one of their tricks.

“We do not humor such deviants as thyself, foul creature!” Luna shouted back at the whispers. “We have seen the perversions thy have made to dreams of our ponies! Thy are nothing more than a thought, a poor deranged thought. Thy are less than a drop of water beneath our hooves.” Luna lowered her horn, which began to grow brighter. “Thy shall taint these dreams no more!”

“It is a shame you think such, Princess. I was hoping you would make this much easier for me. It has been difficult to maintain my form in this realm, very chaotic. However, as I am sure you will see, Princess, I am very resourceful. I am very smart. And I must say that I am surprised. As someone with your stature I thought you would be much more civil when engaging an enemy. You have not even asked for my name, Princess Luna.”

Luna sneered at his remarks.

“I am the Great Intelligence. And you are precisely what I need, Princess Luna.”

Just as Luna was about to unleash the full force of her magic against the vile whispers the silhouettes stepped out of the shadows, revealing their true forms.

The Nightmare Knights.

Luna stepped back in surprise.

“Having a good night, Princess? I must say that it was about time you were introduced to our patron,” spoke Sir Nightaura, the closest to the Princess.

“B-but, you are our Knights, you serve us, and defeat such nightmares and things like this creature!” she protested, almost trying to convince herself their betrayal was false.

“Hush now, Princess. Time to go to sleep,” Nightaura cooed to Luna as if he was speaking to a foal past their bedtime.

The Nightmare Knights pointed their glowing horns toward their former mistress.

Thus began the fall of the Princess of the Night.

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Big Macintosh galloped as fast as he could, all the while trying to type in new coordinates into the teleport.

“What are you doing?” asked Mountainmill, dodging one of the intense and deadly beams of magic sent after him.

“I need to get us out of this castle. This thing on my wrist, I can use it like a teleport, but I need to change where the end location is set, or else we will end up where we were before,” Big Mac grunted. It was very hard to keep running and typing at the same time. He was losing his balance.

“Hey, what was your name?” he asked the mountain pony.

“Mountainmill Everfree, nice of you to ask. And who are you?”

“Just call me Macintosh,” Big Mac told him. “And I would be mighty grateful, Mountainmill, if you could give me a good distraction.”

“Alright!” exclaimed Mountainmill, skidding to a stop.

“Hey! Asshole!” he shouted at the knight. And then he jumped out the stained glass window.

Big Macintosh stopped in his tracks when he saw Mountainmill’s stunt. “Oh,” he said simply once he realized that he was on the first floor.

He jumped after him, and galloped down the castle lawn.

“You could have told me that was your distraction!” Big Mac shouted, still trying to type in the coordinates.

The unicorn in pursuit teleported in front of them. His eyes glaring as he prepared a fatal spell.

Big Macintosh was barely able to catch up to Mountainmill, grasp his flank, and then activate the teleport.

Mountainmill blinked in confusion from moving suddenly again. “Ah,” he spoke once he noticed that they had escaped the Nightmare Knight. “Will he be able to follow us?” he asked.

Big Macintosh shook his head, “No, this kind of teleportation is different from a unicorn’s. They would need a little more than just one pony’s magic to track that. Torchwood could, but thankfully they won’t exist for another seven hundred years.”

“Hmmm, alright,” Mountainmill said full of complacency.

“Now, where are we?” Big Mac asked the air.

He was a good while away from the stone castle, just outside of the walls. Looking the other way he could see a town in the moonlight. Little glints from fireplaces and lanterns, and smoke billowing from chimneys. There were not very many trees, just flat, grassy plains.

“Just outside Rheostallion by the looks of it. The capital of Equestria,” Mountainmill told him as he was sniffing the cold night air.

“Eeeyup,” said Big Macintosh with a sigh. He laid himself down in the grass.

Not sure what to do, Mountainmill lay down next to him.

Big Macintosh twisted, pulling himself onto his back. He looked up at the stars.

“I ‘ave to get Jack back, somehow.” His words were almost a prayer to Princess Luna herself, as he gazed up at the heavens.

The blackness was broken and sprinkled with the glowing silver within the high up stars and gibbous moon. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, Big Mac knew how much complexity lay behind that sky. All the worlds, galaxies and nebulas of rolling gasses. Black holes, supernovas, and the medusa cascade. All the marvels and wonders of the universe. The portal to those wonders, the night sky, was in the dominion of Princess Luna.

When Big Macintosh was young, when Granny Smith told him the old story of the disgraced sister of Celestia, he could not imagine how the jealousy of a single pony would make them doom all of Equestria. Jealousy was never an emotion he was well acquainted with back then.

After Big Macintosh had seen so much of the cosmos chasing Captain John Hart, he found himself wondering how Princess Luna could be jealous of Princess Celestia. Compared to a single star, the sun, suspended in a single sky, Luna held trillions of worlds and billions stars in her domain. The moon was merely the most celebrated of her heavenly bodies. How could Princess Luna be jealous? She reigned over so much more majesty and if other ponies didn't recognize that, that was there own loss, their own ignorance.

However, he could see her frustration, and understand her pain much better after his adventure. He knew more than most ponies what it was like to be ignored.

Understanding all that made it even sadder to think about the history which was going to be made in just one more day.

Although, Big Macintosh had more immediate problems to deal with. If he was to save the Princess Luna of his time and day, he would have to act quickly.

“Is there any chance that Princess Luna will be around when we do our rescue?” asked Mountainmill.

Big Macintosh sent Mountainmill a curious glance. “Why are ya so interested in seeing Princess Luna? Why not Princess Celestia? You were prepared to die a little bit earlier, but you still want to see her. Why?”

“Simple. When I tell you that I have murdered my brother and sister, your feelings probably went to them, as they should. If you are particularly understanding pony you might take in my justification for it. Princess Luna watches our dreams. She may have seen my nightmares. She is probably the only pony in Equestria who knows the pain I bear, and probably the only pony who could offer me any pity. That’s all I want, before I die anyway.” Mountainmill explained his reasoning with a calm and passive tone. Big Macintosh did not understand how one pony could be so complacent when talking about their imminent death or incarceration.

“Oh,” was all Big Mac could manage in response.

“Yeah, well, anyway. What’s the plan?”

Big Macintosh groaned as he tried to compose something lucid from his mind. “I dunno. I could try teleporting back in, but they might be expecting us that way. It probably is not a good idea for us to wake up anybody with authority, too much explaining to do there… I’m just not sure. Give me another second.”

“Too bad there isn’t anypony we can go to for help. Princess Celestia would probably be able to deal with those Nightmare Knights in a second.”

“Eeyup, but she is going to have to some bigger problems to deal with tomorrow…” suddenly Big Macintosh sat up. He remembered something important. “Yer right, we do need some help. But not from any princess. Because all we really need is a good distraction. Something to get the Royal Guards and the Nightmare Knights busy, that way I can get Jack back, and stop whatever creature got inside the dream realm network.”

Big Mac started trotting towards the distant lights of the town.

“What are you doing?” asked Mountainmill as he got up to follow him.

“To get help.”

“How?”

“With this!” Big Macintosh pulled out a piece of paper from his jacket pocket. It was a little bit larger than a business card.

“And what’s that?”

“It’s psychic paper, it belonged to Captain Jack. I stole it from him yesterday.”

“Why did you steal it?”

“To impress him. Now come on, we don’t have much time. It’s only a couple hours until dawn!”

Mountainmill shrugged and accepted the strange pony’s answer. He started to gallop in order to catch up. He was filled with a newfound energy.

It appeared they had a plan now.

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The sun was supposed to rise soon.

Princess Celestia and Telltail Twirler were sitting in their proper places on the dining table. Telltail was back in his vest and glasses. Celestia was once again in her crown and ornate necklace.

Celestia was waiting patiently for her sister, watching the door.

Telltail kept his head down, but every now and then he would send a careful gaze to his Princess.

His ears went up in attention when he heard heavy hoofsteps come from the hall.

The door opened. The dark blue haired Princess Luna peered in.

She smiled. It was an odd smile, a smile that said she knew something that they did not.

“Good morning, sister dearest,” she said.

Staying Awake

Chapter Six

Staying Awake

Now, there is something that must be understood about Torchwood. Unlike many of the other highly funded organizations created under the reign of Princess Celestia, Torchwood’s purpose was not to help, or even save ponies. At least not directly.

Their mission was simple. Prepare Equestria for the future, and serve the Princess and her secrets.

Torchwood was created three hundred and sixty four years ago when Princess Celestia was visiting the Torchwood estate on her way to Hoofington for a Winter Solstice celebration.

On the way there the Princess came upon two travelers, Roseluck, and a mysterious stallion named The Doctor. She had met The Doctor once before, a long, long time ago, and she did not recognize him, upon the sight of him.

Unbeknownst to the Princess or The Doctor, something was waiting for them in the Torchwood estate. A werepony, worshipped, and protected by a secret order of unicorns. A pony during the day, this beast became a wolfish nightmare beneath the full moon. It was a creature from another world.

The beast killed the Royal Guards and was nearly impervious to Princess Celestia’s magic, which was already greatly weakened thanks to the deranged unicorns who worshipped the wolf.

In the end, The Doctor defeated the beast and Princess Celestia was saved. However, many good Guard Ponies gave up their lives, along with their gracious host, the owner of the Torchwood Estate.

Princess Celestia knighted The Doctor for his work, and then declared him an enemy of the state. For all of the strength and cleverness of the werepony, The Doctor was far the stronger and the cleverer, and far more dangerous.

Princess Celestia had dealt with creatures from other worlds in the past, but it was not until then that she realized what must be done. Equestria would one day reach for those same stars that held such dangerous creatures and beasts. And Equestria would be found again, and again by those same beings.

The Doctor would not always be there to save Equestria, and Celestia did not expect him to. Therefore, she created the Torchwood Institute, in memory of those who fell to the wolf. It was there to prepare Equestria for anything the universe could throw at them.

And so it did. Between gathering up fallen alien technology, and fighting the odd alien invasion, Torchwood stood strong. It was one hundred years after its founding that the good Captain Jack went into its employment, looking for The Doctor.

As Torchwood continued, and kept their operations a secret, something odd began to form. Within the deep and neatly organized files of the Torchwood archives laid a history. Not the one that an average pony would be acquainted with. No, not that one. This history was a deviant history! One that lay between and just behind the lines of the classroom textbooks. A secret history. One filled with strange coincidences that were not really coincidences, and aliens which were intertwined in the fate of ponies.

There is one particular report, within the filing cabinets of Torchwood, that was special. The one that is considered the most outrageous and well kept secret part of this history. The senior Torchwood agents would show this file to the rookies, just to teach them how deep some secrets ran, and to see the various reactions made by the rookies once they saw the truth.

This story in this report in the filing cabinet detailed the real events behind the rise of Nightmare Moon.

How The Great Intelligence overtook the Royal Sisters.

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“This'll do,” spoke Big Macintosh, stopping in front of the tavern.

It took longer than Big Macintosh expected to find this place, and it was nearly dawn. The sky was growing lighter in anticipation of the royal sisters changing the setting to day.

The tavern was an old, wooden building, befitting of the time period. There was a wooden sign of a mug filled with a frothy drink hanging just above the door.

“Why do you want to go in there? Anypony left at this hour would be passed out drunk.” Mountainmill looked at the shop skeptically. He hoped he hadn’t just followed this pony around all night so that they could get a drink in the shadiest bar in town.

“That’s what I’m countin on,” replied Big Mac. He took a deep breath, and then bravely walked in.

The room was a cesspool of alcohol smelling breath, and ponies collapsed on the floor, on the bar, and on the tables. Big Macintosh wrinkled his nose. He finally understood why Granny Smith wouldn’t let them make alcoholic cider any more.

“Dang, this place is worse ‘an Berry Punch and Pinkie Pie’s New Years Eve party,” he commented.

“So what was the plan, again?” asked Mountainmill, stepping away from one of the groaning ponies.

All the ponies were wearing the same shirt, blue cotton with stripes. If he had to guess, Big Macintosh would have said they were a rugby team.

“Oh, just follow mah lead,” replied Big Mac. He cleared his throat.

“Wait,” Mountainmill stopped him with his hoof. “Why have you been doing that?”

“Doin’ what?”

“That. You’re talking with an accent. You weren’t doing that around that the other stallion.”

“Well, I was trying not to then,” said Big Macintosh defensively. He remembered to articulate that time.

“Why?”

“To impress him.”

“And why do you want to impress him?”

Big Mac diverted his gaze away from Mountainmill, “Does it matter? We got work to do.”

He cleared his throat one more time. “ATTTENTTTION!!” he shouted, with the air of a drill sergeant about him.

A few of the ponies lifted their heads and groaned. Their hangovers were visible in their eyes.

“Wha…hic…iz et?” asked one of them with hiccup. He still had a surplus of alcohol in his system.

“Everypony to their hooves!” Big Macintosh stomped his front hoof for emphasis.

Slowly some of them did as they were told.

“Um, who..is you?” asked a chubby pony sprawled out on a table, pointing at Big Mac accusingly.

Big Mac fished deep into the pocket of his Grandfather’s old suit and pulled something out. “I am Crimson Crown, Pro-Consul of the High Equestrian Court of Her Majesty, Princess Celestia!”

Mountainmill sent him an odd glance, and Big Mac realized he had pulled out an old watch instead of the psychic paper. He quickly threw the watch back into the pocket and found the paper.

“And this is my most loyal clerk, Everfree. We are here to announce that your urgent help is required at the Castle. Therefore you are being drafted into the Royal Guards, your enrollment is effective immediately!”

“I…don’t understand,” said one of the bigger ponies as he wobbly stood to his hooves.

Big Macintosh jumped with a dizzying speed in front of this pony. “Did I say you could be confused, Soldier!” he shouted angrily, his nose almost touching the other pony’s nose.

“Ugh, um, n-no, sir?” he replied timidly, backing away a little.

“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!?!” Big Mac shouted even louder this time.

“NO SIR!” The pony swallowed and straightened himself.

“EXCELLENT!”

“Well, I still don’t understand,” muttered a green pony next to him.

“STAND STRAIGHT SOLDIER, or else you’ll get the stockades!!” Mountainmill said sternly, joining Big Mac in the act.

The green pony lifted his slouch, and locked his knees nervously. He glanced back and forth to the other drunk ponies in the tavern with dazed eyes.

It took a barn load of shouting and the world’s most unusual psychology to get the Cranberry Jammed Rugby Team of Rheostallion (as that was the name of the poor group of drunken ponies) up and out of the tavern.

The sight of the drunk and hungover rugby team marching down the middle of the street was something to see indeed! Every single stallion and mare awake at for this early hour stared at them with great curiosity. They wondered what could possibly be going on. None of them approached the wibbly and wobbly troop though, as nopony ever approached another pony which had just left that tavern.

They did not make ten feet before one of them collapsed, and had to be dragged and wiggled for the next half-mile before he finally made it to his hooves.

They raided a tools shed just out of town. Big Mac and Mountainmill passed it off for their armory. They armed themselves with pitchforks, axes, shovels and a bucket.

Mountainmill took up a spare straw hat and immediately forged a liking to it. Big Mac just rolled his eyes when Mountainmill put it on.

By some miracle of Celestia, or a greater divine power, they made it to the Castle of the Royal Sisters.

The rugby players, although tired from carrying their weapons, accepted the hype their recruiters fed them with vigor.

“For Princess and Country!” Mountianmill urged them on, irony heavy on his words.

“CHARGE!!!!” shouted a chubby one, running at the gates on his own. He ran face first into the door.

The others looked at their fallen comrade for a moment.

“CHHAARGEE!!!!!!!!” they all shouted in unison, throwing themselves at the gate. They made for a beautifully well rounded pile in front of the door.

By now some of the real Royal Guards posted on the wall of Castle began to notice the attack.

Big Macintosh flattened his ears, annoyed at how spectacularly his recruits failed. He trotted past the heaping mound of ponies to the door, and then he turned around. He took a deep breath, preparing his muscles, and then he bucked the wooden gate with every ounce of strength he had left.

The door didn’t even stand a chance against the seasoned apple bucker.

There was a crack, and then it yielded, swinging in.

The Rugby players cheered and then continued their charge into the castle.

Big Mac stopped Mountainmill before he went after the others.

“I’m going to go find Jack. Try to make as much ruckus as ya’ can, and go towards where the Knight’s Sanctum is. But if things get violent, then just surrender. I don’t want nopony getting hurt,” Big Macintosh told him.

Mountainmill nodded. “I got it, Macintosh. You just watch out for yourself.” He galloped after the loud and disorderly troop of ponies.

Big Macintosh nodded to himself, and then he disappeared, having used his teleport.

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“Good morning to you as well, Luna,” Princess Celestia replied cordially. “I trust that you had a pleasant night.”

“A most pleasant night indeed.” The body of Princess Luna stepped into the dining room, trotting confidently to the table.

“That is good to hear. May I ask, what made this night so pleasant?” asked Celestia. She took a sip of her tea.

Luna’s mouth twisted into that same smile as before, a smile that Celestia had never seen her wear before this day. It made her feel uneasy.

“Simple, Celestia. Last night, I defeated Princess Luna.” The voice dropped an octave, and suddenly it did not sound like Luna.

The room was still for a moment.

Celestia blinked, and put down her tea. “I…I do not understand.”

Telltail looked up and stared at the thing which appeared to be Princess Luna.

“It is not difficult to comprehend, Celestia. I needed a form. I have been wanting one for, oh, so long. This one is perfect, absolutely perfect. So I took it. I assure you that Luna was not very keen on giving it up, however, she was overpowered. Still, it is a very simple form. I will need much more to sustain myself.”

“Luna, what are you talking about?” Celestia took to her hooves, frightened by the words her sister’s body spoke.

A sigh escaped Luna’s body. “No, I am not Luna.”

The horn of the Princess of the Moon began to glow. “You look a little tired, Celestia, perhaps you should take a nap.”

Celestia took another step back, her eyes widening in disbelief. “No….Luna…what are you doing!”

“PRINCESS CELESTIA!!” shouted a stallion’s voice. This voice was not used to shouting, as those two words were the loudest he had ever spoken.

Telltail jumped onto the table, his hooves sliding a pitcher of syrup and a bowl of fruit onto the floor. He glared viciously at the thing possessing Princess Luna.

“Get out of here, Princess Celestia! NOW!”

Celestia stood still, stupefied by what was occurring.

“Oh, the poor little secretary finally speaks up? Most curious. Neither Luna nor I ever took you to be a particularly brave one. It is amusing that you believe that you can defeat me, especially with all the might of an immortal Alicorn at my side,” she said condescendingly.

Telltail swallowed, afraid. “You shall not harm her, Nightmare Moon!!” His horn glowed with a green glow.

“Nightmare Moon? Hi-ha ha ha ha ha haaa.” Luna’s body laughed heartily.

Telltail fought the urge to run, just teleport away, to save himself, but he resisted, and stood shivering between Celestia and the thing.

“I do not even know who you are talking about. However, you should both know that I am neither Luna, nor this Nightmare Moon!”

Suddenly the blue light from Luna’s horn flared. It grew, and in a split second it encompassed both Telltail Twirler and Princess Celestia.

Telltail attempted to fight back, alighting a glow of his own, but his green was too slow, and it was overwhelmed by her blue.

The light subsided after a moment.

Both Celestia and Telltail were still standing, but not for long. Their legs gave way beneath them and they collapsed. They felt a sudden tiredness and pure exhaustion take them. Their eyelids grew heavy, and they fought to stay awake.

“I am not Luna, or anypony, dearest Princess Celestia. I am so much more. I am the Great Intelligence.”

The Great Intelligence grinned at his handiwork. He rather liked this magic. It was very useful.

His new ears twitched as he heard something come from outside from the gates to the castle.

He stepped over the whimpering body of Princess Celestia, whom still fought her fate, and he peered out the window.

“Hmm,” he spoke to himself. He watched as a dozen ponies try to storm the castle in a comical fashion. “I suppose they are after the blue pony,” he mused once he spotted the two stallions which escaped his servants earlier. Including the one with a Vortex Manipulator on his ankle.

Through all his travels and knowledge of time and space the Great Intelligence knew very well of the little devices favored by Time Agents. If those two ponies in the sanctum were indeed Time Travelers then he could use this device to his advantage.

Time travel was much easier when he did not have a physical form like this one, and now that he did have one, he would need a little help like a Vortex Manipulator if he wanted to expand his reach.

The Manipulator on the blue pony was broken, and of no use to him, but it seemed as though the red pony’s Manipulator was working.

The Great Intelligence, using Luna’s magic, summoned forth an ornate blue book, and cracked it open to the first blank page, which was unfortunately inscribed with yesterday‘s date. With a blue glow, the picture of the ponies storming the castle became imprinted onto the page. “For prosperity,” he said.

As quick as the book was summoned it disappeared, and the Great intelligence turned back around and headed for the door.

He stepped over Celestia one more time, his new hooves hitting the ground. He liked this new body. Though a little bit awkward, it fit his needs like no other body he’d encountered. Such power, in such a simple being, power that was truly wasted before.

“Go put these two in dungeon. Keep giving them the sleeping spell until it takes. I believe they will be especially resilient to it, given their mastery over magic, but they will fall soon,” he told the two Nightmare Knights waiting in the hall.

As his servants did as they were told, he made his way back to the sanctum. He had confidence that the royal guard could take care of the little band of vigilante ponies the escapees brought with them.

He stopped himself, remembering he still had a good while before Princess Celestia would be subdued, and until then he did not want to attract any unnecessary attention.

He used the powerful Alicorn magic he stole to lower the moon, and raise the sun, officially beginning the day.

After he performed the royal duty, he made to go back to the sanctum. He had no doubt that the time traveling pony was headed there as well, the one with a Vortex Manipulator.

The Great Intelligence was ever so interested in meeting the pony who possessed the power to travel through time. Such power would be very useful to him.

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Big Macintosh took a deep breath after he teleported into the empty hall.

Chances were the Nightmare Knights took Jack back into their Sanctum. He was not sure how they would react when they found out they could not kill the good Captain Jack. For Jack’s sake, he hoped they would not respond violently.

Big Mac glanced down to the necklace he wore, making sure that his perception filter was still there. Only then did he proceed.

The tapestry of Luna and her Moon was in front of him. He hesitated, and then he slowly and delicately pushed the tapestry aside so he could enter.

He trotted softly, and stuck to the shadows of the short hallway. Carefully he peered into the Sanctum.

All the Knights and the Great Intelligence were staring coldly at him when he did.

“Um…” was all Big Mac could manage.

A blue magical glow encased him, and threw him forward with a violent speed.

He did not even have enough time to shout before his face collided with the wall, his body flying right past the Great Intelligence, who did not flinch.

“Ughhh,” Big Mac groaned as he slid down the wall.

“Did you really believe we could be fooled by the same trick twice?” asked Sir Nightaura, who was smirking.

Big Macintosh didn’t respond to that. His face tingled with pain.

“What shall we do with him, Great Intelligence?” asked the smug Knight who stood over Big Mac’s body.

“Take him to the dungeon, Nightaura. I would accompany you two, however, I think I will deal with Celestia’s Guards first, and then I will meet you there. I intend to check on Celestia’s status in the dungeon. Luna’s memories paint her to be a worthy adversary, but I hope that she will succumb to her sleep soon,” spoke the Great Intelligence.

Using Luna’s magic he took the Vortex Manipulator off Big Macintosh’s ankle. “And I think I will add this to my growing collection.”

A few of the Knights chuckled at that.

Big Macintosh did not move.

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The dungeon beneath the Castle of the Royal Sisters was a dark place.

It had very poor lighting.

It was very rare for Princess Celestia to trek down into the dungeons, as there were rarely prisoners there worth visiting.

The castle dungeons were reserved for the worst of the worst criminals in Equestria. Murderers, molesters, and terrorists. This century had more than its fair share of those.

These cells were special, and imbued with magic from the royal sisters and some of Equestria’s cleverest unicorns. The walls were made ten times stronger the best Equestrian steel, and the cell was reinforced with magic during its creation as to keep the unicorns from abusing their magic to escape.

There was something deeply ironic about the situation today, that the mare of highest royalty was now trapped in one of those cells.

The two Nightmare Knights stood in the hallway, lighting up their horns every five minutes to renew the sleeping spell. Telltail and Princess Celestia fought the spell with every ounce of their being. They knew within their bones that something vile was waiting for them in their dreams.

Celestia was thrown in her own cell, and Telltail was placed in the adjacent one.

There was something lying in the corner of Celestia’s cell. It was a bundle of blue cloth, wrapped around a lump. She did not know what it was, and she did not want to know. There was blood oozing from it.

The Princess’s body was sprawled out on the floor, limp, and tired. Her horn glowed dimly, fighting with all her magic, as suppressed as it was by the cell, to resist the sleeping spell.

She could not see Telltail, the wall between them was thick stone, but she was able to drag herself to the edge of her cell, and hear his breathing on the other side. It was a shallow breathing, like hers, not the deep and peaceful breathes from sleeping. He was still fighting the spell too.

Celestia tried to concentrate on her breathing and her blinking to keep herself awake.

However, her mind kept going back to what had just happened. Was Luna really gone?

The last thing she had left. The one pony who stayed by her side after all these years.

Celestia had lost so many ponies in her life. She could barely remember when she was a normal pony, when she was actually young.

Yet, she could remember the events on Canterlot Hill like they were yesterday. Odd how time works in the mind.

She remembered the day her mother died. The day that a Draconequus saved her life. The day that the fabric of time and space was torn apart.

She remembered how the elder Alicorns fell to the two beasts of primal ore. And how her sister and she rose higher than any Alicorn before.

Celestia knew the curse she would bare after those days, somewhere within her she knew how lonely her life would become. But she reserved hope, for she had Luna to spend this eternity with.

She honestly and wholeheartedly believed that no matter what she lost, or who she lost, or what happened to her, or whatever disparity she would encounter, she would always have Luna.

Was Luna gone now?

That question broke her heart.

“Telltail…” Princess Celestia whimpered, hoping that her student could hear her.

“P-princess?” spoke Telltail, his ears going attentive, saving him, for the moment, from sleep.

“Are you well?” she asked weakly.

Telltail swallowed. “As well as I can be. And you, Princess?”

“I do not think so.”

“We need to escape, Princess.” Telltail tried to drag himself closer to Celestia’s voice.

Princess Celestia sighed and stared at the wall, trying to imagine her friend on the other side.

“Thank you, Telltail, for trying to protect me,” Celestia told him, “I am very grateful.”

“You can thank me when we are free, Princess.”

“Why did you call that thing Nightmare Moon?”

“That does not matter.”

Celestia was silent for a moment.

“Very well, Telltail.”

“Do you have enough power to cast a spell over the guards?” asked Telltail, shifting his tired eyes over to the two Nightmare Knights.

The Knights watched their captives carefully and coldly, it seemed they had forgotten all loyalty to the Royal Sisters.

“No…I do not. It would not matter either way…I…I fear that Luna is lost to us. Even if we could escape ,Luna is my equal in concern to magic, and now the thing which possesses her has all that magic, and the assistance of Luna’s traitorous Knights. I do not know what I could do to save her.”

Celestia tried not to think of that foreign smile and voice in Luna’s body. It hurt when she did, in her chest.

“The Elements of Harmony might save her, or at the very least stop the monster that possesses her.”

“But I cannot use the Elements without Luna, she has the elements of Magic, Honesty and Generosity. I can do nothing to help…I did nothing to help her.” She sounded so sorrowful as she spoke those quiet words.

Princess Celestia felt her eyes water as she remembered what Telltail said to her in the night.

And she remembered all the times with Luna. Oh those times! Such long times!

How Luna was the one to stand by her side when they were forced to imprison Discord.

How Luna was the one to stand by her side when she raised her first sun.

Luna who fought on the front lines in the great griffon wars.

Luna who mapped every star in her night sky and then gave the chart to her sister as a birthday present.

For every heart break and every loss she had Luna.

When their mother died in the Battle of Canterlot Hill all those millennium ago Luna and Celestia held each other in the other’s wings and wept over her grave. There were not many graves for the fallen on Canterlot Hill, but Discord had been kind enough to help them dig it into the solid rock.

They had cried a lot in their lives, as was appropriate for ones that have lived so long.

They truly loved each other. A love that would outlive their lovers and their friends.

When Telltail told her his observations about Luna, she thought she had an eternity to make amends with Luna, but it turned out she was too late.

Without Luna what would she do?

“Princess…do not give up…please,” the student begged his teacher.

“I am sorry Telltail. You deserve much better than this.”

As tired and immobile as he was, Telltail managed to turn his head no.

“No. That it is not true, Princess. You deserved a far better pony than me. And even if I am not strong or smart enough to save you, or Luna, or even myself I promise I will not stop trying to fight for you. Still, I do not believe we are going to die today. In fact, I know that we survive.”

“How?” asked Princess Celestia

“You say that you cannot use the Elements, but I know that you can. I know you have it all in you, every element. I have seen them.

“I know that you have Magic, you are more powerful than the greatest unicorn. You can rise the sun every morning like it is a foal's rubber ball.

“I know that you are generous, because of every patient audience you give to the citizens of Equestria.

“I know that you are honest, because I know ponies, I know when they lie, and I know that you have never lied to me!

“I know that you are loyal because you always think of your subjects first in every decision you make, but you never forget those closest to you. You never loved me or Luna or anypony any less, so remember that Luna pushed you away, not the other way around!

“I know you have laughter, I do! It is a wonderful thing to hear, and when you tricked the Captain of the Royal Guard into falling into all that molasses I laughed with the other guards, when he wasn’t looking.

“And you…” Telltail felt a tear track down his cheek and into his mouth so he could taste its saltiness, “you are so, so kind. There is nopony in all of Equestria who has been more kind to me than you. Nopony, I swear. You were so kind…you picked me off of the streets. ME! Useless me! And you gave me so much! You taught me so much! About friendship! About life! About…love. And I could see all that kindness! With every word you spoke! Every time you ever touched me, you were so kind and gentle. A-and…and…oh, Celestia I love you. I love you… I do… please don’t give up…please.”

Telltail descended into a whimpering and crying mess. He did not want to lose his princess. The pony he loved more than his own life.

Celestia smiled bitterly, and felt her own fair share of tears meet her eyes. “I love you too, Telltail…and…I promise to try as hard as I can.”

“Thank you,” Telltail whispered. He felt his wet eyelashes gently scrape the wall every time he blinked the tears away.

Slowly the light from Princess’s horn grew brighter, and brighter. Her eyes grew full of resolve, and she pushed every bit of strength she had left into her limbs.

It looked wobbly, and it felt impossible, but Celestia did stand to her hooves.

The guards exchanged a worried glance and they tried to recast the sleeping spell.

Celestia stood strong against their magic.

There was a small, pained chuckle from behind the Princess. “Well, that’s better. You should really listen to that kid more, the situation looked absolutely abysmal a minute ago,” spoke the voice of a stallion.

The princess in the cell whirled around, surprised.

Standing behind her was a handsome looking pony with dark blue fur and a light blue mane. He was wearing a fancy military jacket that was dripping with blood. And he was smiling a devilish smile. “It is nice to have somepony who can inspire us,” he said.

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“If you try to escape I will kill you,” spoke Sir Nightaura as he trotted just behind Big Macintosh.

“Eeyup,” said Big Mac quietly to himself. He kept looking down at the floor.

“I will take that sound of affirmation as a sign that you understand.”

“Eeeyup.”

“…Good.”

The sound of eight hooves trotting echoed in the hall.

“Is it alright if I ask ya’ a question?” asked Big Macintosh.

“No.”

“What did that thing say to convince you to betray the Royal Sisters?”

Nightaura rolled his eyes. Then he sighed.

“He told me the same things that Princess Luna told me when she asked me to be a Knight, except, I think he will actually try to accomplish something.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Ugh…it’s complicated.”

“I can handle it. I’ve had to deal with a lot of complicated stuff lately.”

Nightaura thought about it. It was not like it mattered what he told this pony.

“The Great Intelligence is going to put Equestria to sleep.”

Big Mac glanced back to his captor, confused. “Why?”

“So that he can consume the minds of ponies. But that is not what is important. What’s important is that everypony has a good life. Yes…that is what is important.”

“An’ how exactly will gettin’ consumed give ponies a good life?” he asked bitterly.

“Because, the Great Intelligence will bring order to the dream realm. He will defeat the nightmares once and for all, and he will grant us a beautiful life. Time means nothing in a dream, a single night can be mere seconds or entire years. He could consume us in a minute out here, but in there we could live to be a hundred. Tell me, is there anypony that you love?” asked Nightaura.

Big Mac went back to looking at the floor. “Eeyup,” he whispered, keeping one pony in mind. The pony he wished he could go to now. The pony he wished would kiss him and tell him all would be well.

“Now imagine that you could be with her for the rest of your life. She wouldn’t die, or break your heart, not once. You two could live out your lives in happiness until you are both old and tired. A dream life.”

“She would be a construct of my own mind.”

“Pfft, the universe could be a hologram for all we know. Does it matter?”

“Everpony would die.”

“Everpony will die. The Great Intelligence isn’t about to change that.”

“It would be sad.”

“So what? Life is hell and dreams are always better, especially when we can control them. I would take a sad dream over existence out here any day.”

“How can you say that?”

Nightaura frowned. “Because I was the youngest child in the Lunar Guard, fighting on the front lines and hiding under dead ponies as arrows flew overhead, at twelve. Because of every jerk who kicked me in the face because I refused to pay attention. Because of every bottle of cheap whiskey my father would throw away empty. Because my mother found time to sleep with every Stallion in the city of Rheostallion but never in the house that I lived in! Because it hurt, all of it, and within in this stupid, suffocating reality there was no escaping it! Life is hell! And I taught myself dream magic to free myself from it all! Princess Luna was one of the few ponies who knew the value of dreams, but she was too afraid to go far enough to save anypony from this hell!”

“That doesn’t give ya’ll the right to end it.”

“No, but it does give us the right to improve it.”

Big Macintosh slowed down and glared back at his captor. “Why does this ‘Great Intelligence’ need to consume ponies’ minds anyway?”

“To sustain himself, of course. The Great Intelligence is a being from the universe before ours, in order to survive the collapse of his reality he converted himself to pure information. All he has wanted since coming to this universe is to have a form for himself. Luna’s form wasn’t exactly made for him so he needs new patterns of information that come from a pony’s mind to keep himself stable,” Nightaura told his prisoner, ignoring his glare of disapproval.

“That sounds stupid,” said Big Macintosh.

Niughtaura didn’t reply to that.

They kept trotting on through the halls, no longer talking.

Eventually they made it to the dungeons, where some familiar faces were waiting for them.

“Jack!” exclaimed Big Macintosh once he saw his partner again.

Captain Jack Harkness smiled from behind the cell bars. “Hey! Looking good Big Mac! Though I would have preferred if you had, I don’t know, some delta force commandos with you.”

“I came to rescue you,” Big Macintosh told him.

Jack glanced from the prison bars to his partner and then back to the bars. “Would you mind trying again from the beginning?”

“Sorry,” Big Mac apologized.

“Well,” Jack began as he leaned up against the prison bars, “I never did like being the responsible one.”

“Shut up!” shouted one of the Nightmare Knights.

Big Macintosh did as he was told, and turned his attention to the other two prisoners: Princess Celestia and Telltail Twirler. Both of their horns glowed rebelliously, fighting the magic of the Knights and there was an intensity around them. The Princess was standing, while her student had finally pushed himself into a sitting position.

“Who are you two?” asked Princess Celestia.

“Traveling sales ponies. We sell the best tasting pickled apples at discounted prices,” replied Captain Jack. He came up with their cover days ago.

Big Mac just rolled his eyes.

Suddenly there was a popping sound and in a flash there came another pony to the dungeon. It was the Great Intelligence, sulking within Luna’s body.

He cleared his voice, making sure he could lower it to the proper octave so as not to sound feminine.

“I thought I should inform you, Princess Celestia, that the Royal Guard will not be coming to save you,” he said smugly.

However, his expression grew pensive when he noticed how hard Celestia was working to stay standing.

“Is Luna still in there, somewhere?” she asked, ignoring the point about the Royal Guard.

“Of course we is not, I…” the Great Intelligence paused, realizing he misspoke. “No! Of course she is not.”

Celstia smiled, the twinkles of hope beginning to spark back into her eyes. “Yes…she is.”

The Great Intelligence stared at the princess and the situation for only a second. “What caused her to stand up?” he asked his Knights.

“She was talking to her student,” said one of them.

“Ahhh, I see.” The Great Intelligence took a step towards Telltail, and stood tall over the unicorn’s body. “Celestia was ever so fond of you, wasn’t she?”

Telltail stared his captor bravely and defiantly in the eyes.

“I wonder what she would do without you?”

A blue glow grew from Luna’s horn.

Telltail did not flinch or look away. “She would survive,” he said simply.

In response the Great Intelligence used the mighty magic to fire a blue beam at the defenseless pony.

There was a bright flash.

“NO!!” shouted Celestia.

It was too late. The light abated, and where there was once a pony named Telltail Twirler, there was only a black smudge on the ground.

From where she stood Celestia could not see what happened, but she knew that it was bad.

“Telltail!” she called out.

Nopony called back.

“Telltail are you alright!” She sounded so desperate to hear his voice. She needed to know that he was alive.

When she heard no response for a second time she turned to Big Macintosh, her eyes begging for any sign of good news.

Big Macintosh swallowed and then looked down, he could not bear to see those eyes. He shook his head no.

The effect on Celestia was nearly instantaneous. She stared into space for a moment, a moment in which her eyes frothed over with rage.

Her gaze turned vicious and her horn glowed even brighter.

There was screaming. Howling.

The Alicorn threw herself at the bars of her prison over and over again, hitting them with all her might.

The bars shuddered and the walls vibrated.

Celestia kept shouting, in her fit of rage, asking “How could you!?” one moment then declaring “You will burn!!” the next. “Bring him back,” she begged, and “Telltail,” she sobbed.

All the while the Great Intelligence did not move, nor show a single emotion. He just watched as Celestia tired herself out.

Eventually Celestia’s sobbing was the last thing to go. As soon as she finished her outburst the Great Intelligence recast the sleeping spell. This time there was no resistance to it, and the Princess of the Sun fell the to the dungeon floor, her eyes closed.

Celestia was not the only pony angry because of Telltail’s unwarranted death. Big Macintosh felt a wave of rage crash through him, simmering in his soul. It created a single repetitive thought cycling in his mind. He was going to destroy this thing. He was going to kill this Great Intelligence. If for nothing else, then for that one little pony’s bravery.

He did not speak, though. If he made his move now then there was no doubt he would die.

However there was one pony who was going to speak his mind about this.

“You didn’t have to do that! He couldn’t hurt you!” shouted Captain Jack angrily.

The Great intelligence turned his attention to the Captain. With another burst of blue colored magic, Jack was thrown against the wall of the cell.

The magic kept pushing, crushing him against the stone wall until there was a sickening crack from a hundred different bones breaking. Once he stopped struggling he was dropped limp onto the floor.

“You are a very entertaining pony,” said the Great Intelligence to the dead body.

Big Macintosh swallowed. He could feel the mortality in the air.

“It is time to proceed to the next step. I will be in the Dining Room. All that is required of you three is to contain these ponies,” spoke the Great Intelligence with a detached tone to the Knights.

“We understand,” said Sir Nightaura, appearing unfazed by the murder.

The Great Intelligence nodded, and then his body disappeared in a flash of teleportation.

“I suggest that you embrace what is going to happen,” said Nightaura as he took the key to Telltail’s cell from his fellow Knight, “No need to worry yourself needlessly.” He unlocked the cell with the black smudge and beckoned for Big Macintosh to go inside.

Big Mac hesitated for a moment, glancing to Jack who was almost done healing himself, then he walked very slowly into the cell.

“You were right about one thing, Nightaura,” said Big Mac, taking his time to trot into his prison.

“Right about what?”

“Life is hell.”

“What made you change your mind?”

Big Mac heard a soft click.

“The fact that you don’t know what a revolver looks like.”

Sir Nightaura Vortex made a confused expression,

BANG!!

Nightaura still looked confused as he collapsed from the gunshot to his head.

The other two Knights did not even have time to react.

BANG!!

Big Macintosh found himself staring at three dead bodies.

“Hey! Big fellow, go get the keys,” said Jack as he put his revolver back into his pocket.

Big Macintosh stood motionless, looking at the dead bodies.

“Big Mac?” asked Captain Jack when he saw no movement.

“Eeeyup, I know,” spoke the farm pony finally. He took the key off of a dying Knight. The corpse stopped breathing as soon as Big Mac touched it.

“I’ll take care of Princess Celestia, just go and try to stop that thing!” said Jack as he took the key through the bars.

Big Macintosh nodded and then took off with impressive speed, leaving all the death behind him.

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The Great Intelligence stood in the room he had many memories of. It was the personal dining room of the Royal Sisters, and those memories were stolen from Princess Luna.

As he stood there in his new body, the Great intelligence reflected on a few things. His fortune had been very good lately. The fact that he could gain such a powerful form as this one, and have such loyal followers as the Nightmare Knights was evidence of that.

All of Equestria was going to fall to him soon. After that, the planet would fall. And then, with the help of his new vortex manipulator, all of time and space would be his. His to consume, or to enjoy.

He permitted himself to smile, and feel a tingling of joy.

Now, he began.

With a burst of his magic the stained glass exploded outwards, giving him an unobstructed view of his first prize: the city of Rheostallion.

As he poured his power and magic into his stolen horn, the Great Intelligence heard the sound of a pony sliding to a stop behind him. With a calm glance back he recognized the red-coated time traveling pony. Briefly, he wondered how this pony could have escaped, but it did not matter. This pony was too late to stop him.

A massive pulse burst forth from the Alicorn’s horn. It passed through Big Macintosh, who was thrown backwards by the sheer force. The wave of energy passed straight through the castle, through every single living pony, putting them to sleep.

The spell did not stop at the castle, it went further. In the distance the Great Intelligence observed as his spell flew through the great city of Rheostallion. Ponies slowed their paces and then fainted in the streets.

The spell lured a million ponies to their dreams.

The Great intelligence smiled at his success.

He closed his eyes and began to feast.

A History and a Victory

Chapter Seven

A History and a Victory

There was a big ruckus being created on the lawn of the Castle of the Royal Sisters.

The team of Rugby players galloped in circles and swirls as the Royal Guards chased them around. Anypony who stood in the way of the renegade troop got a heavy and over excited hoof punch to the face.

Things had turned violent a long time ago; however, nopony listened to Mountainmill’s pleas for surrender. He shouted and trotted around in the chaos for a good twenty minutes before he gave up and decided it better to distance himself from the brouhaha.

With the guard’s centering their attention to the Cranberry Jammed Rugby Team of Rheostallion, Mountianmill was able wander around aimlessly undisturbed.

Moutainmill glanced back at the castle and remembered Big Mac. He bit his lip, considering, and then trotted towards entryway. Perhaps he should go back into the castle and try to help Macintosh. That seemed like a good idea.

Mountianmill decided that to be his plan of action, but just as he was about to implement it, he stopped.

He didn’t know how to get back into the castle. He was lost. Again.

Looking around, he could see the outer wall to his left, and the face of the castle to his right. There was a beautiful stained glass window above him, depicting the two royal sisters.

“You stupid pony,” he said to himself.

The window exploded outwards.

Mountainmill jumped up in surprise, a few pieces of glass pierced his skin. It hurt, but it wasn’t serious.

Trotting backwards carefully, he tried to see what had caused the explosion.

He became even more surprised when he discovered Princess Luna standing behind the window sill.

“Princess Luna! What luck! This would all be over soon!” he thought to himself.

“Princess! SALUTAIONS!!” he hollered up.

It did not look like she could hear him. He tried jumping up and shouting more, but it did not work.

“Oh, come on!” he exclaimed irritably.

He watched as a blue glow formed around the Princess’s body, wondering what it could be.

He did not think much of it, as the pulse of blue magic passed through him. He just kept shouting. It seemed to tire him out, and he thought that perhaps he should take a rest.

Before he could stop himself he lay down on the ground, and closed his eyes. He did not open them.

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Mountainmill found himself in a place he never thought he would see again: his home.

His old, homely kitchen, with the broken cabinets and the rusty butter knife he left on the table. There were pots and pans strewn about, so messy from the haste he left in.

He did not know how he got there, and he was not sure what he should do now. So he simply sat down, and sighed.

“Well, I wonder what mess I’ve gotten into now…” he said tiredly.

“No mess, I promise,” spoke an eerily familiar voice from behind him, the voice of a stallion. The voice sent shivers down Mountainmill’s spine and caused his eyes to grow wide in fright.

“We are here to give you what you want,” said a different voice, the voice of a mare.

Mountainmill kept shivering. His mind was captured with absolute terror and disbelief.

“And what is that?” he asked with his voice barely a whisper.

“Forgiveness,” the two ponies spoke the word together. They spoke it softly and reassuringly, trying to show through their tone alone that they meant no harm.

Slowly, Mountainmill turned his shaking gaze around towards the two ponies he knew so well.

There stood behind him, with great calm and quiet love, his brother and sister.

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“Princess Celestia! Princess!! Can you hear me!?” called Captain Jack as loud as he could to the sleeping Alicorn. He kicked her jaw lightly, hoping that he could rouse her.

She did not respond.

He had been at this for at least ten minutes, starting as soon as he dragged her body outside of the cell. The sleeping spell had already passed over him, and it was a good thing he didn’t sleep anymore, or else he would have been out just like everypony else.

Still…it did slow him down a bit.

Jack was running out of options. If he and Big Mac could not stop this monster, then Princess Celestia was their last hope. Since he was not a unicorn he couldn’t exactly use magic to reverse the effects of the spell. And even if the spell was not in place, Jack felt that Celestia wouldn’t want to wake up.

Finally, he stopped shaking her, and sighed.

“Please, please, forgive me for this Princess,” Captain Jack prayed.

Collecting his resolve, he took the revolver out of his pocket, slipped the harness onto his ankle, and then pointed it at her flank.

He grimaced.

BANG!!

The reaction was instantaneous and violent.

Celestia’s eyes opened wide. She jumped to her hooves and used her magic to push Jack up against the wall.

Thankfully, she was not as violent as The Great Intelligence and the force from the blow did not kill the Captain, but would have still given him a nasty bruise if he didn’t heal so quickly.

Jack groaned.

“What did you do!? What happened!?” Princess Celestia looked around wildly, trying to understand why she suddenly hurt so much.

“It’s alright, it’s alright. The bullet just grazed you,” said Jack, trying to reassure her.

Slowly the magic eased its grasp and let him down.

Celestia began to remember what had occurred. She remembered why her heart was broken.

“Luna… and Telltail…” she whispered to herself, trying to divine meaning in those words.

“Princess, you have to listen to me,” said Captain Jack, he took a cautious step towards her.

Celestia did not even look at him.

“They are dead, aren’t they?” she spoke so softly, as if the full sound of her voice would shatter what was left within her.

“Princes Celestia, there may be a way to save your sister!”

Celestia stilled her sobbing, and slowly looked up the Captain. “What way?”

“The Elements of Harmony.”

“…I cannot.” The Princess looked back down, defeated before she even began.

“What do you mean you cannot?” asked Jack accusingly. “Yes you can!”

“Be still. We should rest. There is nothing else I can do. The Elements of Harmony are beyond my grasp without Luna. There is nothing that can stop this Great Intelligence.”

“You could fight him, you could survive.”

“I do not want to.”

“You promised Telltail that you wouldn’t give up…”

“Telltail is dead.”

“And you have already forgotten his life, then?”

Celestia glared viscously up at the Captain, “Do not insult me! He meant very much to me.”

“Then remember what he said! I was there, I heard what he told you! He believed in you! Equestria believes in you! Give them something to believe in!”

“I have failed them…”

Suddenly Jack’s expression hardened. He took the revolver back out of his pocket and put it on.

“What Telltail said to you was nothing short of beautiful. He loved you. He really did. He tried to save you. Now, I thought that you loved him too, and I understand that it hurts that you have lost him, and that you think that you have lost Luna, but that is no excuse. You have an opportunity here. You can either find within yourself everything that Telltail already saw and save Luna, or you can stay here and mope while I go and kill this Great Intelligence taking Luna with him.” Jack cocked the gun and he stared down at the Princess, refusing to back down. “I have already killed three bad ponies today. I would hate to add one good pony to that list. But make no mistake, I would not hesitate.”

There was silence for a moment.

“If you believe that it will save Equestria, why don’t you just go now?” asked Celestia.

“Because Telltail wasn’t the only one here who believes in you,” Jack told her.

Celestia swallowed; her expression softened.

“Who are you?”

“A friend.”

“But… I don’t know you.”

Jack smiled a knowing smile. “You will.”

“Well, if you know me so well, and you know what must be done, then what do I do?”

Jack paused, and he studied the Princess’s face. He knew that face well, and he had known it well for more than two hundred years. There was something different about her now from the Celestia he knew. It was only that second when he fully understood what it was.

“You are so young…”

“No, I'm not.”

“You are younger than I’ve ever seen you.” He sighed, and he looked into her eyes. “I know that once you’re on your own, you think you won’t make it, not for a whole eternity, not alone. But you do, because you survive, just like me.”

Celestia looked at the pony before her, blood drying on his fur. Somehow, she knew, she just knew, he was telling the truth.

“What do I do?” the princess asked one more time.

“You save us,” Jack uncocked the gun, “And then you live.”

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Big Macintosh groaned; he forced himself to push his body up, sliding against the wall. There was a dull throbbing in his head, and…something felt awfully wrong about the space around him. It felt too light, too empty…like how the world felt within a dream.

It did not take him very long to reach the conclusion that this actually was a dream, or rather, he was standing within the Dream Realm Network.

He was still in the place where he went to sleep, just outside the dining room. However, things looked different. There was an odd glow about the place, a dark blue hue. There was no single place the light came from, it simply existed.

Suddenly, something came flying down the corridor. Big Macintosh had to duck in order to avoid it.

He was not entirely sure what it was, it looked like a bunch of brightly colored river stones, and it was as if they were falling down…horizontally.

Quickly more and more of the strange colorful objects came hurdling down the hall, all going into the dining room, towards the Great Intelligence.

The stolen horn still glowed vibrantly, absorbing all of the little bits that flew into the room. His eyes were closed, and there was a satisfied and simply ecstatic grin on his face.

Big Macintosh watched the curious scene, and it began to dawn on him what was happening. Those bright little things were the broken pieces of a mind the Great Intelligence was consuming. Those were ponies, being eaten right before his very eyes.

It made him sick to his stomach.

He knew that he had to do something, he had to stop him, but he did not know how. He remembered when the Great Intelligence misspoke in the dungeons, perhaps Celestia was right and there was something of Luna left in there. Maybe he could get through to her somehow.

Big Mac took a deep breath, summoning what lucid courage he had left in this dream world.

“Luna! I…I know you can hear me!” he said loudly, instantly gaining attention.

The Alicorn turned around to see his smaller adversary.

“Hmmm, it is you, the time traveling pony… it is fascinating that you are still here. My new organizations should have put you into your own dream. Perhaps you had a concussion from the force of the spell…yes that seems about right. No matter, I can consume you now,” spoke the Great Intelligence.

Big Macintosh stood his ground, not even trying to avoid the monster’s gaze.

“Celestia still loves you,” said Big Mac, “She will still try to save you.”

The Great Intelligence raised an eyebrow. “I did not gauge you to be a stupid pony, but you have entirely failed to listen. Luna is no more.”

“Listen to me, he doesn’t win! You can fight him, this is your realm Luna! This is your body, you can beat him!” he exclaimed, hoping with all his being that his cries were heard.

The Great Intelligence looked amused, and prepared himself to send Big Macintosh into oblivion. “Goodbye you silly little po…….”

He stopped talking, and his eyes stopped moving, his face simply froze, staring into space.

Slowly, a different voice began to speak.

“We…….will………………FIGHT!” The Alicorn’s face did not move, not once, but the words burst forth from Luna’s throat with a resilience and a passion that perhaps no expression could convey. These were Luna’s words; this was her declaration of war against the Great Intelligence.

Big Macintosh smiled joyously, his prayer answered. “You can do it, Luna! YA’ CAN DO IT!!”

With a great shudder, the two beings were thrown into battle.

Her horn stopped glowing as she threw herself against the wall. Her wings flailed out, trying to understand which being they should take their orders from.

“NO! You cannot defeat me!” screeched the Great Intelligence. He batted the wings towards her face, trying desperately to distract her. “This body is mine now!!”

Luna growled. She bared her teeth and then attacked the offending wing, tearing off four of her primary feathers.

Big Macintosh took a step back; the battle grew more barbaric by the second. He was not sure, but it was possible this scene of conflict existed not only in the dream world, but in the real one.

Without warning her back leg gave way, and she fell onto the floor. She blinked rapidly.

The frightened onlooker was not sure who was in control.

Her hooves scratched against the tile floor desperately, twitching sporadically.

“Get out!! GET OUT!!!” Luna shouted, hitting her head against the floor.

Her face was pained, and her mind was in turmoil.

“ENOUGH!!” exclaimed the Great Intelligence.

The stolen horn began to glow again, and her body was thrown into the wooden table.

There was silence.

The body did not move or stir. Big Macintosh glanced around nervously. The essences of the ponies had stopped flying into the room as soon as the battle began, leaving everything so very still.

“Princess Luna?” he asked, taking a cautious step forward.

Nothing moved.

He trotted to her side and swallowed. Her eyes were closed.

“Princess?” he said timidly, hoping she was alright.

Her eyes snapped open, and then narrowed.

“You should not have done that,” said the thing which was clearly not Princess Luna.

“No…” whispered Big Macintosh in disbelief: the Great Intelligence had won.

Luna’s body wearily stood up. “You will die now.”

Big Macintosh tried to think quickly. He had to find a way to stop the Great Intelligence! There must have been something, some weakness, some secret that could save him.

He kept finding blank after blank in his mind. He glanced down at his hooves, watching as they began to turn into bits of colorful information, ready to be consumed. He forced himself not to panic. He had to think.

Suddenly, an odd thought came to him.

“It’s History. It has to happen. I’m not going to say it isn’t sad, but what happens here must always happen.” He remembered the Captain’s words.

“History,” he repeated softly, even as his body began to dissolve.

“Hmm? Have something to say, Earth Pony?” asked the Great Intelligence.

“Yeah…. I am sorry, Princess Luna. I am so sorry,” he said softly.

“Is that all?”

His short tail began to disappear.

“I always wanted to know.....how did it feel, to govern over all of Equestria and not have a single pony admire you? How did it feel? When they ignored your moon? Or your work in the dreams? Celestia always got all the glory because she was a bit brighter. How did it feel to live in her shadow? How did it feel when the only ponies you trusted turned against you in favor of a monster? How does it feel to lose, Princess? How does it feel, knowing you will be forgotten in history?!” Big Macintosh spat out those words, forcing bitterness upon them. And he hated himself for every syllable.

The destruction of the Big Mac’s body stopped and Luna’s eyes blinked in confusion.

“Why do we even need a moon? Why do we even need you? You lost to barrel full of whispers. It doesn’t surprise me that you fell into the realm of obscurity a long time ago! Even Celestia has stopped caring! Why do you think she gave Telltail more attention than she ever gave you!”

Luna’s face twisted into disbelief and hurt. Big Macintosh could tell he had struck a nerve, but he had to force down his inner disgust towards himself and before he kept talking.

“She barely talks to you anymore, doesn’t she? When she thought that she lost you, what did she do? Nothing! We both remember what she did when she thought Telltail died. She doesn’t need you. She didn’t need you! You know what? I think I was wrong, maybe she doesn’t love you. Maybe you are going to die here with the rest of us! And you will die, UNLOVED, and UNWANTED. And then….we will forget about you. Because, in the end, you were nothing….” Big Macintosh finished his speech quietly, and somehow, he knew that he had succeeded. And he never loathed himself more for being right.

The expression on Luna’s face shifted from hurt to something different: anger.

No, it was more than simple anger. It was fury, pure fury, from a place deeper within Luna than even the Great Intelligence could reach, and stronger than any other thought or emotion within her body.

“W-what is this?!” asked the Great Intelligence, feeling the control slipping away from him. “I defeated you! I-I won, you cannot have this body! It is mine!”

Even as he spoke the Great Intelligence was being overwhelmed, losing his control over the mouth and throat he could no longer speak.

A magically, dark light encompassed her body. “ Be silent, foul deviant! Thy are one thought, one simple idea in a realm with billions upon billions of greater thoughts. Thy are a single stream of information and I disperse thee!!”

Big Macintosh shivered when he heard her shouting, because it was no longer Princess Luna talking, nor was it the Great Intelligence.

Luna’s body began to change into something new. Her coat grew darker, her main grew wilder and lost some of its luster, the whites of her eyes tinted themselves blue, and her necklace and crown, the very symbol of her royalty, inverted their colors. Her crown turned from a simple tiara to the frightening sight of an Alicorn battle helmet and her stature grew taller, into a height that rivaled her sister’s.

“Luna, is gone… The Great Intelligence is gone… They were weak... I am strong… Yet… I do not know who I am…WHO AM I?!” she shouted viciously, gazing into Big Macintosh’s very being.

Big Macintosh dropped his act, draining all the resolve from his face, and replacing it with sorrow.

“You are Nightmare Moon,” he told her truthfully.

“Yes, I like that….I like that very much!” she accepted her new identity.

She smiled, amused, as she looked down at the helpless red pony before her. “I have no need of your petty information like that filthy mind parasite. You can have yourself back,” she declared.

The little bright bits of Big Mac’s body flew back to him, making him whole.

“But be aware, you will be punished gravely for your words of malice, foul little pony. None shall insult me, not anymore, not after all I have been through,” spoke Nightmare Moon, an evil glint in her eyes, as if she had a very special punishment in mind.

“And what did ya’ go through, exactly? Ya’ didn’t even exist until a few seconds ago,” spoke Big Mac, letting some of his accent bleed through. He had lost patience with being articulate, as he no longer had anypony to impress, and he no longer had any pride to show.

“Fool, I have existed for millenniums! For every day Luna was forgotten, or insulted with ignorance, or left with nopony for herself I burned within her! Yet she pushed me down. Now I push her down, for I shall now be, forever more, the stronger.”

“I see,” whispered Big Macintosh as he just stood there, staring. He could not look away, and he could not escape the words that repeated themselves accusingly over and over inside his mind.

“What have you done?”

“You just created Nightmare Moon.”

“What have you done?!”

“You made it happen.”

“You just made Nightmare Moon happen!”

“You made history……….”

“Enough of this dream world!” declared Nightmare Moon, her horn glowing.

The room began to grow dark, and Big Macintosh realized he was waking up.

“What are ya’ going to do?” he asked just before he felt himself being dragged back into the real world.

“I am going to get what I deserve….” replied Nightmare Moon.

She smiled wickedly.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

When Nightmare Moon opened her eyes she found herself back in the real dining room, the place where Luna had tea with her sister. All those bitter memories.

She looked around, trying to find the red pony, but he was nowhere to be found. She gave up that search quickly, writing him off as a mere distraction.

For in this moment, she had something much grander to accomplish.

She stepped up to the edge of window sill; a shard of stained glass crunched under her hooves. She stood tall and noble there on that ledge, a creature that was to be reckoned with: an Alicorn who had nothing to hold her back, not even herself.

The sun was shining, up in the sky, in the glory of the midday.

“No more shall the sun burn down upon us, for it has had its time. From now through the end of days the moon shall reign to be admired!” she avowed, shouting as loud as she could from her perch.

With the mighty magic of the Alicorn, the sun was lowered, bringing the day down with it. She ignored the sound of tentative hoofsteps behind her.

Then arose the moon, bringing night and darkness across the lands.

“Hehe……hahahahaha,” Nightmare Moon laughed a little to herself, knowing that her ponies, who had fallen asleep during the day, were waking up to the night.

With her task complete and the deed done she sighed, and sat down, deciding to admire her beautiful night sky.

She waited for Celestia to speak, knowing that she had been standing behind her the entire time.

It took longer than Nightmare Moon expected, but eventually she heard the confused and shocked voice of her sister.

“……L-Luna?”’ Princess Celestia asked timidly.

Nightmare Moon did not even look back, she just shook her head.

“Luna is gone.”

“Then…it is the Great Intelligence I am speaking to?”

“No, he is gone as well.”

“Who are you? Do I know you?” asked Celestia, taking a few steps forward. This pony did not look like her sister anymore, nor did it sound like her. She looked much scarier than Luna.

“No, you do not know me, but I know you,” she did not look away from that bright silvery moon as she spoke, not once. “My name is Nightmare Moon.”

Celestia swallowed. “What happened to the Great Intelligence?”

“I destroyed him, with great joy.”

“And Luna?”

“She is in here, somewhere within me. I am suppressing her.”

“Will you give her back to me?”

“No.”

“Please….”

“No.”

Celestia blinked, not sure what she should do. “Why?”

Nightmare Moon said nothing.

“Why did you raise the moon…it is not time…”

“Where you not listening?! The time no longer matters for the night sky, for it shall not change again!”

“You cannot simply keep it night time forever. Equestria cannot survive like that.”

“I don’t care.”

“So many would die….millions upon millions….the crops would no longer grow….we could use magic to help keep the plants alive….but it would not be sustainable…..all of the world would eventually starve to death…..everypony would die. How can you not care?” asked Celestia, clinging to the hope she could reason with this new pony.

“I. Do. Not. Care.”

“What do you care about, then?”

“I care about getting what is rightfully mine! The very thing you have never wanted, for you have never gone without it! Everypony has simply adored you and every single thing you stand for. They frolic about in the day, bask beneath your sun, and worship your very image! I have suffered long enough in your shadow, dearest sister. The moon shall stay aloft and steady until our ponies learn not to ignore those who grant them such beauty.”

“You cannot be serious. Your suffering and vanity does not outweigh the suffering of millions of ponies!” exclaimed Princess Celestia.

“I am immortal! My suffering is eternal. Theirs is not!”

Nightmare Moon looked up at the moon and stars, refusing to face Celestia.

Celesita’s gaze turned from one of hope to something much more dangerous.

“I will not permit you to do this,” said Celestia, her aura of magic surrounding the edges of the moon.

Nightmare Moon turned around in a flash, putting her own magic to work with efficient malice. Dark shadows grew across the room, and as soon as they touched Celestia’s hooves there was an explosion.

The perversion of Princess Luna stood up, and faced her sister.

“Do not try to stop me!” she shouted angrily.

Celestia had been blown back against the wall. Defiantly, she stood back to her hooves.

“Luna would never do this,” said Celestia.

“Then it is good I am not her.”

Celestia’s horn glowed threateningly. “I will fight you.”

Nightmare Moon smiled. “Good.”

The magic crackled in the air. Shadows shifted in their corners. Light gleamed from windows and the torches.

The glowing aura’s from their horns grew more and more, encompassing each side of the room with either the black between the stars, or the blinding white from the center of sun.

Neither pony moved, yet the battle waged was more violent and powerful than any battle in the memory of mortal ponies. Their magic clashed against the other’s. Pushing and pulling. Exploding and imploding. Flying and falling. The light would pierce. The dark would smother. Fire would rage. And void would run.

Neither force taking the advantage. For every loss there was a gain. For every disparity there was a hope.

As it stood, the match was equal.

It was a war fought in inches.

That is not to say that it was not a destructive war, or a frightening one. Anypony watching would have been terrified out of their minds as they saw the Castle of the Royal Sisters destroyed before their very eyes.

The forces of light and dark broke apart anything in their way. The simple wooden table was blown to bits in an instance. The stone walls and ceiling were thrown and crushed as if they were made of dust and dirt. Every single window shattered by the sheer force.

The world crumbled around them.

Somewhere within the forces of magic, the two Alicorns glared in frustration, neither able to take a step forward without taking a step back.

They reached out with their magic and pushed harder, creating a surge of power. It made an explosion, larger than the ones before. It shook the very foundations of the castle and, for the moment, dispersed the two opposing magics.

The floor beneath their hooves had already disappeared, so the two Alicorns stretched their wings and kept themselves to the sky.

With the last wisps of power and telekinesis evaporating away, the two adversaries finally saw their opponent once more.

The effort put forth for such a battle was not an easy one, and both breathed heavily.

“What is your plan, Princesss? Do you honestly believe you can defeat me? To do that you would have to kill me! And with me you would be killing Luna; is that something you are prepared to do? To be truthful, I am not sure if you are capable of it or not,” said Nightmare Moon, her voice commanding the attention of the Princess.

“No.” spoke Celestia. “I will not kill you. And I will tell you why. It is because there was once a little pony who was very dear to me, and he told me that I was kind….and I believed him.”

Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow, unimpressed with the reason. “Is that it?”

“No. It is also because I love you, Luna. And if there is one thing you should know, then know that. Know that I will love you always.”

“You cannot have her back!” said Nigtmare Moon defensively, speaking a little too quickly.

“Yes I can,” replied Princess Celestia confidently. “I am going to save her.”

Nightmare Moon frowned, “But….you can’t….”

“Watch me,” said Celestia, she reached out with her telekinesis, looking for five very special objects in the part of the castle which remained standing. It was only a second before the five very special stones were by her side.

“But, that’s impossible! You need Luna to use the Elements of Harmony!”

“No, all I need is magic, generosity, honesty, loyalty, laughter and kindness. And I think I have that,” said Celestia as she swirled the ancient pieces of power around her.

Nightmare Moon remembered all that Luna did, she remembered when those stones were first made and used; she knew what they were capable of. And it frightened her.

It was no use to run, or to hide. If Celestia planned to use the Elements of Harmony then Nightmare Moon had only one option: she had to fight.

The shadows cast by the moon began to move, brought forth by Nightmare Moon’s magic, coming to her aid.

The Elements of Harmony shined their bright light, one after the other, just before the final and sixth Element connected their forces together: the magic from Celestia.

Once more the forces of light and darkness met, except this time there was no way the darkness could prevail.

The shadows fell, and light overtook Nightmare Moon, but when the light faded it did not reveal Princess Luna, not at all. Instead there was Nightmare Moon so weakened by the powerful magic that she could no longer fly high above the Castle, and began to plummet down to the ruins.

“NO!” exclaimed Celestia.

She did not know why the Elements failed, nor did she even try to understand. All she could think of was to save her sister.

Celestia tucked in her wings and plunged after Nightmare Moon with her swiftest speed.

She was just able to catch the body a single second before it hit the ground.

Nightmare Moon stayed limp as she was lowered gently to the floor.

“No…no…you are fine. You must be,” spoke Celestia desperately. She knelt over the body of her adversary, somehow hoping that the mare which stole her sister was alright. “The Elements of Harmony would never kill anypony.”

Celestia shook her roughly, trying to wake her up.

Nightmare Moon groaned, lifting her eyelids a little. She blinked repeatedly, trying to process the image of her white coated enemy kneeling over her. And then she smiled, realizing what had happened.

“It appears you are not as well connected to the elements as you thought you were,” spoke Nightmare Moon weakly.

“You can barely stand. I have defeated you,” said the Princess, “Please, just give her back to me. You say that you are a part of her, then, even if you brought her back you wouldn’t die, would you? Just let me have her.”

Nightmare Moon merely kept smiling, unwilling to accept surrender

“What do you want so badly that you would do all this? I have already won. I can simply lower the moon now.”

Nightmare Moon shook her head, and even as weak as she was, she was able to take hold of the moon with her magic. “The moon is mine, and she will obey me over you as long as I shall live.”

Celestia sighed. “You wish to be admired, don’t you?”

Slowly, the smile began to fade from Nightmare Moon’s mouth.

“And you wished to be loved as well?”

Nightmare Moon no longer looked so smug, or defiant. She just kept looking at Celestia, the meaning in her gaze imperceptible.

Celestia lowered herself once more, and pulled her wing around the pony which only moments ago fought to kill her. She hugged her, and she laid down beside her.

For a moment they stayed like that. Neither one moving for their dared not, as if a single flinch would destroy this tiny reality.

“That is what Luna wanted, isn’t it?” said Celestia softly. “I will not forsake her; just give her back to me.”

The whole world grew as soft at the Princess’s words, waiting for the response from the fallen mare.

But then Nightmare Moon tensed her muscles and pushed Celestia away.

“No,” she said stubbornly. “You are just one pony.”

“Sometimes one pony is all we need.”

Nightmare Moon ignored her sisters words

“You wish to be admired?” Celestia asked one more time.

Nightmare Moon still held her silence.

The Elements of Harmony began to stir again.

“Then you shall be admired.”

This time, Nightmare Moon did not even try to fight back, for she knew it was no use. She did not cry or shout, or give a single protest. She just lay there, waiting to get what she deserved.

The world around Nightmare Moon turned blindingly white for the second time. And so did the moon itself grow brighter.

And when this glow did come to pass the world had changed.

The body of Nightmare Moon had disappeared.

There was now the face of a mare on the moon.

The Castle of the Royal Sisters was all but ruins.

Princess Luna was gone.

Princess Celestia was alone.

The last true born Alicorn in Equestria laid there and looked up at the moon. At her sister.

She would lower the moon, but not today. For now, all the ponies of Equestria would admire the night sky.

A single tear ran down Celestia's face. She was alone

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Captain Jack Harkness and Big Macintosh stood up against the outer wall of the castle. They had watched the great Alicorn battle from the beginning to the end. There was an air of solemness about them now and they didn't speak.

Big Macintosh pulled out the two vortex manipulators he had stolen back from Nightmare Moon and looked at them.

Now the battle was over.

“Hey…Jack.”

“Yeah?”

“You alright?”

“I’ll Live. And you?”

“Eeyup….I guess I will…”

They kept watching Celestia, just her sitting there.

“How did Nightmare Moon….what happened?” asked Jack, honestly curious.

“I happened. I just…made it happen.”

“Oh,” was all he could say.

“What is it like, living that long, Jack?” asked Big Macintosh, something sad wavering in his voice.

Captain Jack Harkness glanced up to the moon, and then to his friend. He could see the pain in the young stallion’s eyes. “You saved a lot of ponies’ lives today. You did what you had to do. Remember that.”

“….what is it like?”

Jack sighed, wishing he didn't have to answer.

“It's like surviving. Just moving forward because staying behind hurts too much. But then… sometimes it’s different. Sometimes life is fighting. And it’s what we fight for that makes it all worth it.”

Big Macintosh looked down to the ground, but then, feeling something soft touch his shoulder, he looked up. It was Captain Jack reaching out with his wing.

“Come on big fellow,” he said with a comforting smile. “Just a few last goodbyes, and then we can go home.” He nodded his head towards the open field where Mountainmill Everfree stood. They watched as he picked up his straw hat, dusted it off, and put it back on his head.

Big Macintosh looked at the mountain pony for a little while, and then he smiled, happy to know that he survived.

“Eeyup,” he said, trotting forward.

Jack brushed off some of the dried blood on his coat before putting it on and following Big Mac.

“Ah! Salutations Macintosh, I see that you finally found Jack,” Mountainmill greeted them happily, even though he stood among the bodies of dead royal guards and rugby players.

“What happened to these ponies?” asked Jack once he caught up to Big Mac.

“I dunno, they just didn’t wake up. They aren’t breathing either,” said Mountaimill, looking down at the green furred rugby player he shouted at that very morning. “About half of the ponies I’ve seen are like them.”

“The Great Intelligence must have gotten to them before he was defeated by Nightmare Moon,” Big Macintosh figured. “Half?”

“Yeah, half.”

“If it’s like that in the city then that would be five hundred thousand ponies dead,” Jack calculated.

“It seems like they’ll need a pony like me to help clean this place up,” said Mountainmill, glancing to one of the Royal Guards that was scrambling about, trying to make sense of what happened.

“And what about Luna?” asked Big Macintosh. “You can’t go see her now.”

Mountainmill smiled tranquilly. “That’s okay. I got what I needed. I…I think I can move forward.”

“It’s good to hear that,” Big Mac told him, “And you are really just going to stay here?”

“Yeah. It isn’t like there is much waiting for me back home. At this point the house has probably been sacked for all its worth, and I’m still wanted for murder. At least here I can be useful. And the countryside isn’t too horrid to look at….could use a few trees though,” Mountainmill Everfree commented as he peered over Big Macintosh’s shoulder to see the city of Rheostallion. “What about you two, where are you headed?”

Big Mac glanced to his partner, and then smiled. “We are just saying goodbye. Then we’ll be off.”

“Off to where?”

“Wherever we are needed.”

“Hmm,” Mountianmill said thoughtfully, “Well, good luck and goodbye, I suppose.” He tipped his straw hat to the two time travelers and then galloped off to help.

Big Macintosh and Captain Jack stood there for a while, looking around at all of the dead.

“So we are back to our first objective, then,” said Jack, sending one more glance to the new moon in the sky.

“Princess Luna….how are we supposed to wake her up. I think it is safe to say that the Great Intelligence is behind it, but what do we do?” asked Big Mac.

“Well…. We need to kick him out of her. Just the knowledge that it is the Great Intelligence should greatly help Luna deal with it on her own. Maybe if we could get a copy of her consciousness before the Great Intelligence overcame her then we could download that copy into her now; she could use her magic to stop anything that’s left of him.”

Big Mac raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“We don’t really have something specialized to do that. But there was this old trick we had in the Time Agency for intelligence gathering. I should be able to fix together a makeshift mental extrapolator using some psychic paper and the red settings on the teleport,” Jack mused to himself.

“Um…okay.”

“Now, where did I put that psychic paper?” asked Jack, searching through his pockets.

Big Macintosh pulled the paper out of his jacket pocket and held it out.

Jack blinked with surprise and then grinned. “Sly devil,” he said to himself before he took the paper. He started to tap new instructions into his Vortex Manipulator.

“All I will need to do is find a way to touch this paper against Luna’s head,” said Jack as he finished.

“I’ll do it,” said Big Mac.

“What? Are you sure you—"

“I want to.”

Jack hesitated for a second but then handed the paper over to his partner. “Alright.”

“Is that it?” asked Big Mac as he put the paper back into his pocket.

“No,” replied Jack, he glanced back to the ruins of the castle. “One last goodbye.”

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

The world kept moving around Celestia, even though she stayed still. Royal guards were running about, trying to make senses of what happened. The citizens of Rheostallion were just as confused and distressed, waking up to find their friends and loved ones dead.

She knew that she should get up, and go to their aid, try to restore order, but she could not. She simply could not stand.

Yesterday she had two of her dearest friends by her side. A lover. And a sister.

Now she had no one. Nothing but a panicked country she had to care for.

Perhaps it was all for nothing.

Perhaps it would be alright if she disappeared from Equestria, perhaps it would be alright if she simply wept, because that was what she wanted to do with all of her burning soul.

With neither words, nor a herald, she heard the sound of hoofsteps to her side. She looked over slowly and she saw the two mysterious stallions.

“Thank you,” spoke the blue pony. “Thank you so much, Princess”

With those words the two stallions bowed in respect.

Celestia did not know what to say, and she did not get the chance to.

There was a bright light and then they disappeared.

Celestia thought about what had occurred.

She closed her eyes and she stood up.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Luna happily trotted through the halls of Canterlot Castle. It was odd that there were these random moments where a sudden joy would overtake her. She was home; it had been months since she had returned, but still those moments came. Those wonderful moments. When she would smile at her sister, or look at sky and the earth, or even like now, when she walked on the hard marble floors.

The first few weeks back Celestia had barely left her side. Luna was grateful for that, she truly was. Celestia may not have said it outright, but Luna could tell that she felt responsible for what happened.

She could not remember everything that happened near the end, nor very much of the past millennium, but she still knew that many of the things that happened were out of their hooves. Not all of them…but many of them.

Luna smiled to herself as she trotted around the corner, but suddenly her head hit something hard, throwing her back.

She slipped unto her flank, and shook her head, now throbbing from the impact.

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so, so, so sorry, Princess Luna,” a red stallion frantically apologized.

“Fear not, little pony, we are alright. Thy did not mean to do that, we forgive thee,” replied Luna, trying to stop her eyes from spinning.

“No, you misunderstand,” spoke the stallion, his tone dropping into something much sadder and much more serious. “I am sorry.”

Then he galloped past her, not looking back.

Luna blinked, and looked down, not sure what had just happened. Slowly she stood back to her hooves and made to trot forward, but then she stopped.

She gasped and turned back into the hall, “Wait!” she called back.

There was nopony there.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

The bedroom of Princess Luna was once again a busy place. The Royal Guards guarding the door, the two Princesses lying within, and the two agents of Torchwood performing their work.

Captain Jack busily typed in more commands into the Vortex Manipulator, the piece of psychic paper resting on her forehead just below her horn.

Celestia stood beside him, watching anxiously.

And Big Macintosh stood behind the two, not watching at all.

“You are confident this will work, Captain?” she asked.

“Well…. Probably,” he said as Luna groaned in her slumber.

“Do not….do not…” she whimpered.

“It will be alright, sister,” Celestia tried to comfort her.

“Time to see if this works,” said Jack, his hoof hovering over the button.

Luna let out one last whimper, “…..wake up….,” and then Jack pushed the button.

There was a small beep, and Luna stilled her shivering.

“Is that it?” asked Celestia.

The question was answered for her as Luna’s eyes gently fluttered open. She awoke to the face of a pony she did not know.

“Who…are…thee?” she asked, looking weakly at Jack.

“Captain Jack Harkness, Ma’am,” he said with a joyous and cheeky smile.

Celestia let out a sigh of relief, “Oh, Luna, you frightened me so much….” she began, nuzzling her sister; neither her nor Jack, nor Luna noticing as a red farm pony slipped out of the room and into the hall.

Big Macintosh had left as soon as he knew Luna had awaken, but he did not try to look at her, and he made sure she did not look at him. So he just sat there, hanging his head low, opposite the door to the bedroom.

He waited for nearly half an hour before Celestia walked into the all, closing the door behind her and dismissing the guards. She smiled gratefully.

“I should thank you again, Big Macintosh. Thank you for bringing her back to me.”

Big Macintosh did not raise his gaze from the floor. “But it was mah fault ya’ lost her the first time.”

Celestia sighed. “It’s just history,” she told him. “And you should know that you did not simply bring her back to me, you stopped the Great Intelligence once again. He was able to kill thousands the first time, if it had not been for your efforts and Nightmare Moon then he could have killed millions. You have saved many ponies lives today, including those dear to you. Including her…”

Big Macintosh did not reply, but still soaked in her words.

“You are a good pony, and I am truly grateful for what you have done, Including the protection of these secrets. I doubt our little ponies would take it well if they found out they had much more to fear than manticores and rogue dragons.”

“I will keep your secrets, Princess,” Big Mac promised quietly.

“And I will keep yours,” replied Celestia knowingly.

“May I go home now, Princess?” asked Big Macintosh.

“Yes you may.”

“Thank you,” he whispered, and he began to tap in the coordinates to the farm.

“Sleep well, my little pony,” she told him.

Big Macintosh looked up tiredly, Celestia looked down warmly, and he activated the teleport.

Celestia looked at the spot where her secret agent once sat, and then sighed, hoping the best for him.

It was not long before the doors to the bedroom opened again, and Captain Jack came out.

“She is well?” asked Celestia.

“All her vitals check out, nothing abnormal. She is trying to see how the Great Intelligence got to her as we speak,” Jack reported.

“Good,” said Celestia, deep in thought. “You may go retire to the Torchwood Hub if you wish.”

“Actually, if it is alright, could I stay with you and Luna for a few hours? I should make sure that the mental transition went as smooth as it looks.”

The Princess considered for a moment. “Very well, Captain Harkness.”

“And… I wanted to say I was sorry…for shooting you in the flank.”

Celestia smiled fondly to her Captain. “You always did what had to be done. That is why I chose you for Torchwood all those years ago.”

“Really…and here I always thought it was because of my winning smile.”

Celestia chuckled. “Thank you, Captain.”

“For what favor am I currently being thanked for?”

“For teaching me some good things about survival, all those years ago.”

“Ahhhh.” Jack smiled. “You’re welcome.”

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

The house on the farm hadn’t changed. It was quiet, old, comforting, and filled with good memories. As Big Macintosh looked at it now, his mission complete, he felt it was not his home as much as it was before. Every time he left, it grew further away from him, and with the house, his family. He kept too many secrets and too much of himself far, far away.

It was night time already. The moon was not out tonight as the weather Pegasi decided it would be overcast until tomorrow, something that Big Macintosh was grateful for.

He was very tired so he trotted wearily to his home, hoping that everypony was asleep so he wouldn’t have to come with a decent explanation for his absence until tomorrow.

He opened the front door slowly, making sure it did not make a sound, and stepped into the house.

“Big Mac!”

Big Macintosh jumped up, startled. He looked around wildly trying to figure out where the voice came from, and he froze once he saw her.

It was Applejack, looking nearly surprised as her brother. She was sitting at the kitchen table, looking through the doorway at him; there was a jar of peanut butter on the table, and a spoon in her hoof.

“Umm….” was all he could manage.

Applejack dropped the spoon onto the table; it landed with a clatter. She trotted over to where Big Mac stood, studying his face curiously, he did not move.

She stood very close to him. Big Macintosh stared at her, letting himself feel joy, proper joy, for the first time in a long while, just from being able to see this beautiful Mare again. And beautiful she truly was, even in the dim light.

Applejck moved forward, embracing her brother, and resting her neck on his shoulders. Big Mac was a little surprised by the warm hug, and he felt something hot growing inside him, something he forced himself to ignore.

“Where did ya’ head off to Sugarcube? You worried me half to death,” she asked, rubbing her hoof against him lightly.

Big Macintosh swallowed. “I left ya’ a letter.”

“An’ ya barely said anything in it. Is this here friend some pony I know? Ya’ didn’t even say where you went. An’….an’ why are ya’ wearing Granpa’s clothes?” she asked, letting him go, a look of concern on her face.

“Well…I went to Canterlot, an’ I thought I’d try to fit in.”

“Why would ya’ want ta go to Canterlot?”

“That’s where mah friend lives,” replied Big Macintosh, keeping Jack in mind so he wouldn’t have to lie completely. “An’ I am an adult stallion….I think I can do things like these on my own.”

“But you didn’t even tell us until after ya’ left….and the last time you disappeared like this you came back with a busted shoulder. Ya’ can’t just worry all of us like that.”

“I was only gone fer a day,” he said, hoping that Applejack would let this go.

Applejack raised her eyebrows. “It’s been two days…”

Big Mac bit his tongue, realizing his stupid mistake, he forgot to check the date.

Suddenly Applejack noticed something odd about her brother’s tired face, something dark underneath his fur. She looked closer and gently prodded his cheek with her hoof.

At first Big Macintosh wasn’t sure what she was doing, but then as she touched his cheek he felt a dull painful throbbing; it must have been a bruise left from being thrown into the wall. He winced away from her.

“Big Mac, is….is somepony hurting you?” her voice becoming infinitely more concerned.

“Nope,” he said softly.

“Is there somepony threatening you?”

He shook his head gently.

“Big Mac…. whatever this is ya’ can tell me. You’ve always been there for me, just let me be there for you. I’m your sister….I can help you. Please let me help you…”

Big Macintosh looked down, knowing that he could not tell her the truth. Not without hurting her.

“If there is a pony hurting you– ”

“I’m fine!” Big Mac snapped, wishing she would stop.

Applejack took a step back.

A new emotion played across her face: hurt.

“Alright, Big Mac,” she whispered.

There was a cold silence between them for a moment.

And then Applejack turned around then galloped up the stars: running away from him.

He opened his mouth to apologize, but it was too late. She closed the door to her room behind her.

“Oh…you idiot…” he said to himself. He closed his eyes tightly.

He did not know how, but he found himself standing in front of her door, his hoof ready to knock. Yet, something held it back. Something within him did not want to go in there. Something within him knew he would go too far, and hurt Applejack. Whether it be with an unplanned confession, or with single motion of lust.

Slowly he withdrew his hoof and looked down in shame.

He never wanted to hurt her, not ever again.

He trotted back to his own room, refusing to look back.

He closed the door behind him, still making sure it did not make a sound.

It felt so odd, being back in that room. It smelled so familiar and yet so foreign.

He opened the door to his armoire, the guardian of his secrets, and he stared inside.

There were the hangers for his clothes, the box for his Vortex Manipulator, and the journal for his memories and dreams.

With a low growl he grabbed his coat and then hurled it into the armoire as hard as he could. The rest of his clothes came next, being thrown with fury into the wooden box. Lastly he grabbed the Vortex Manipulator, ripping it off of his ankle, and then bashing it down against the floor.

He breathed deeply, staring at the haphazardly thrown clothes, but then he reached back into the armoire and drew out his journal, his very special journal.

He did not take it out to write with, he was far too tired for that, instead he flipped to a very special page in his very special journal. A page he knew so very well.

There lay a drawing he drew with his own hooves; to him it was the best thing he ever drew. It was his only drawing of Applejack.

He may not have been able to see her in reality, but that did not mean he had nothing he needed to say to her. He laid himself down onto the floor and ran his eyes over and over that picture.

“I saved you…” he whispered.

“I did….I saved you. And you will never know, will ya’?” he shivered as he spoke those words.

He laid his bruised cheek down against the page. “But that’s alright…’cause I saved you.”

An unusual sound began to escape his throat, a sound he could not even name. It was a lamenting sound, the sound of sobbing, and yet there was laughter, whimpering laughter.

Big Macintosh thought about all that had occurred.

He thought about Applejack.

He thought about Captain Jack.

He thought about Celestia.

He thought about Nightmare Moon and Luna.

He thought of the Great Intelligence.

He thought of all the ponies he had seen die.

He thought of all the ponies he had seen survive.

He thought about Applejack.

Celestia was right, he had saved so many lives…he had saved Applejack’s life. He had defeated the Great Intelligence. He had won.

He kept sobbing and laughing. Sobbing for the sad things. Laughing for the irony.

“I won,” he whispered.

A teardrop fell onto the page.

“…I won.”

The Statues of Canterlot

Part Two of Big Macintosh's Epic Adventure with Torchwood, The Statues of Canterlot, is finally here!

You can find it right here!

I hope you all enjoy!

Yours Truly,

The Insula Sol