Taming the Rage

Chapters

Chapter 1 - Explosion (Revised)
Chapter 2 - Regret (Revised)
Chapter 3 - Ways of Living (final)
Chapter 5 - Shadows and Suspicions (final)
Chapter 6 - Gathering (final)
Chapter 7 - Gathering (OLD)
Chapter 8 - Enter My Web (OLD)
Chapter 9 - Little Sister (OLD)
Chapter 10 - Simmer (OLD)
Chapter 11 - Boil (OLD)
Chapter 12 - Stir (OLD)
Chapter 13 - Burn Part 1 (OLD)
Chapter 13 - Burn Part 2 (OLD)
Chapter 13 - Burn Part 3 (OLD)
Chapter 13 - Burn Part 4 (OLD)
Epilogue (OLD)
Chapter 4 - Investigation (final)

Chapter 1 - Explosion (Revised)

Chapter 1 - Explosion

written by Fire Soul

The steady 'clop-clop-clop' of Princess Celestia's hooves could be heard in the throne room as she paced back and forth, her brow furrowed and her head angled down towards the ground, her legs almost at a trot. She was lost in thought, and it took a moment for her sister to snap her out of it by cutting in front of her.

"Sister, please! You've not said a word since Twilight-" she tried to say to Celestia, but the slightly taller and still somewhat older-looking Princess gazed at her sister, looked her right in the eyes.

Luna was taken aback at the actual worry she saw....the genuine expression of concern that Luna could only recall seeing in the eyes of expectant Fathers waiting for their foals to be born, or a doting Mother repeatedly asking 'where is she?!' when her foal has gone missing. It tore at her deeply, to see her sister, the Sun Goddess, in such distress.

Her tone became less frantic, but no less concerned as they continued to look each other in the eyes. "Tia, what....what happened in there?"

Celestia thought about what she should, what she could tell Luna, she could keep up this look of regal professionalism and regain her composure, but....this was Twilight! Or was it? This wasn't the Twilight she knew.

"She....she cursed at me. She screamed for me to get out, and Spike already looked unnerved when I went in there. She has never...." Celestia tried to say, closing her eyes and clenching her teeth in a pained expression.

Luna sighed and slowly motioned to their thrones, moving to take a seat upon her own while Celestia followed her sister's example, slumping ever-so-slightly as she did so. To most, it would be imperceptible, but Luna knew her sister well, even after a thousand years of absence....Tia was truly upset, apparently for good reason.

Celestia's eyes slid shut while a hoof pressed just under the base of her horn, the royal shaking her head slowly. "All I did was go in to see how her studies were coming along, and the moment I mentioned the exams that were coming up, she just froze, and....she looked so exhausted and worn down, and her eyes were bloodshot. I should've asked how she was doing first, why didn't I?"

Luna sighed and shook her head, thinking on what had happened merely fifteen or so minutes prior. She had heard the language, heard the shouting from down the hall...nopony would ever, should ever, get away with talking to one of the Princesses the way Twilight did! But here Celestia was, blaming herself. They were both sensible, and intelligent, she knew there was more to this than just some hurt feelings.

She firmly tapped the metal shoe of her hoof against the legrest of her throne, smiling over to her sibling. "Celestia....talk to me. You know you can always open up to me."

Celestia glanced over to her sister with a grateful, yes sad smile, once again taking in the sight of her sister once again seated upon her own black marble throne, meshing wonderfully with her sister's natural violet hues.

With the return of much of her sister's strength came Luna's body returning to the way it was meant to look, not the small, almost foal-like shape she was in when the Elements of Harmony had purified her. No, now she looked regal, with poise, confident and strong like her sister, her wings large and her head held high.

Of course, they both had ethereal manes with very distinct differences as well. Where Celestia's flowed straight and in a pastel rainbow color at all times, Luna's was dark, black as the void that she painted with her stars and lit up with her beautiful moon, her mane constantly flowing as if a mass of cloud being pushed around by an unseen wind, with shimmering images of star patterns appearing and disappearing in dim flickers constantly, making her mane seem to sparkle of its own accord.

Celestia's gaze wandered towards the floor as she lost herself in thoughts of her student. "I am afraid of what her studies are doing to her, Luna. She's not doing well with them....not in the slightest."

"Well that shouldn't be too much of an issue," Luna offered, smiling a little. "Just remove her from her studies for a time."

Celestia simply shook her head. "She refuses. Every time, she's refused. Every time I've offered to help, she keeps pushing me away, and her mood keeps becoming worse and worse. She's not taking care of her mane, I can tell she's not sleeping well enough, she's probably not eating right, and...." she said, her words slowly cutting off, as if she had more to say, but she felt there was no need to.

Luna shifted in her seat. Normally personal issues like this would be dealt with in the privacy of their chambers, but they were currently in recess for the Night Court. She didn't really have the time to march all the way back to her room with her sister just to talk about personal issues.

"What should I do, Luna? I can't comfort her, she just keeps getting more and more edgy and....stressed out. She doesn't handle pressure well when she gets overwhelmed by it."

Before anything else could be said, a wave of magic drew the attention of every single pony in the throne room. Things had gone deathly silent as a second wave made everyone's stomach churn.

Celestia paled instantly, her pupils shrinking to pinpricks in abject terror. She knew that magic. She knew it as if it were her own! Instantly, she forced herself from her seat and tried to teleport, but the steady and fluctuating waves of very, very ill-feeling magic continued to disrupt her concentration. She felt furious, but only until the wave passed through her.

Realizing that it would take too long and have too large a margin of error to try to teleport back to the school's wing of the castle, she took off in a full sprint that seemed to border on desperation. No one save for Luna had ever seen her take off running like that before.

Luna knew that, given the chance, she would likely take to wing through the larger hallways in order to reach her student faster. No doubt, her sister would require some sort of assistance, and Twilight Sparkle was her friend as well!

She quickly got up from her throne and motioned to her assistant. "Court is cancelled for tonight, get everypony safely out of the castle in case this isn't what we all think it is!"

She took off after her sister a moment later, a mild panic welling in her as well. Not because she recognized these waves of raw magic as Twilight's, but because she recognized the nature of the magic itself. She prayed it wasn't too late to stop Twilight before she hurt herself.

Spike tried his best to keep his distance from his 'boss'. Twilight's horrendous sleeping patterns usually made her grumpy, sure, especially now that they were back in Canterlot, doing what they've always done best: out-smarting and out-studying the rest of the one-percenters that made up the most intelligent and magically gifted unicorns in all of Equestria.

Now, though....now, she was different. She wasn't Twilight. Every second that passed she seemed to be dwelling on something other than the book, and it was showing in the scowl on her face. Then there were the things, the words muttered under her breath as she paced the room, book glowing with a more and more intense amount of magical energy the more upset she seemed to get.

Soon she just screamed in an indescribable frustration and threw the book in Spike's direction, making him drop several others he was carrying over to her that she'd outright ordered the 'annoying purple midget' to get for her. She'd been like this for several days, and he was hoping that at the sight of Celestia coming in to check on her, Twilight would at least calm down some, maybe be reassured about the upcoming exams. Instead, it had the opposite effect: he'd never expected to see a young unicorn like Twilight get angry enough at a single question to make Princess Celestia shrivel in her presence and back out of the room, with Twilight in her face all the way until she could slam the door and get the Princess out of her disheveled mane.

Twilight snarled at nothing, glaring down at the floor. "Everyone, irritating! Everything in this damn place, it ticks me off!" she grumbled, growing louder with every few words.

her horn glowed and an entire stack of books went flying across the room, almost hitting Spike in the head. "Get out!" she shouted, suddenly turning her head to look in the thoroughly terrified little purple dragon's direction. "GET OUT!!!" she screamed at him, the look in her eyes almost murderous in nature.

Spike barely managed to open the door and rush his way out into the hallway before several more books flew in his direction, thudding and skidding across the polished marble floor. He could see guards coming his way, and he instinctively rushed to them, tears in his eyes.

Her entire body was shaking, and even she could tell something was wrong. She was smart, she was intelligent enough to know that things had gone too far, but she was quickly losing her own coherence. "Wh-what's wrong with me....why am I here?! WHY AM I HERE?!?!"

She screamed as her fury and her magic intertwined and lashed out, a powerful blaze of lavender magic crashing over the room and ripping books from their shelves with enough force to send paper scattering through the air, torn out of their binding by a young, stressed, infuriated, and thoroughly broken young mare.

"This damn castle, all of these Goddess-forsaken classes!" she screamed, her anger only continuing to get worse, and her magic more and more intense, the hinges on her door creaking under the building maelstrom of air pressure in the room.

Celestia could feel it, and Luna could now too. That much power wasn't natural, that wasn't born from simply knowing how to control magic. That was power born from pouring your very essence into it, and they could feel the anger emanating from it, pulsating in steady waves of increasing ferocity.

She had slowed down when she'd spotted her sister flying towards her, both of them keeping low to the ground to avoid banging their heads in an effort to avoid fleeing students and rallying guards that had the same idea as they did.

They both landed alongside the small group that was keeping a decent distance from Twilight's room, a few of them gasping as her door was suddenly ripped off of its frame and tossed across the hallway, smashing against a stone pillar.

Wind whipped up in the hallway anywhere close to Twilight's room, the circulating air holding a harsh magical aura that could only be felt, not seen, and Spike had already found himself hiding behind several of the guards....who were equally as hesitant to go anywhere near that room. A horrible, furious scream wailed through the wind rushing out of the room, and something could be heard smashing against one of the walls inside.

"Guards! I want everyone near this room vacated at once! No one is to come inside or disturb us!" Celestia commanded, and they quickly obeyed.

They may have been afraid, but at least two of them ran past the doorway to get to the other side of the hallway. The guards went to work getting confused, and even scared unicorns out of their rooms and far, far away from what one could only define as a whirlwind of hate. Spike had remained, in disbelief that this was coming from Twilight, and because he was torn: leave her like this, or stay for when the Princess eventually managed to fix whatever was wrong....it's not like the Princess could fail, right?

Celestia cautiously approached the doorway, her sister standing close to her side. She shook her head once and sternly rested a hoof on Luna's wither, urging her away. "No, sister. I am at fault for this....I should be the one to confront her."

Luna stared up at Celestia for a moment, then nodded and stepped away, moving back away from the door, watching her sister move to step inside.

Celestia took a deep breath to steady herself before stepping into the room, calling out to her student. "Twilight!!" she tried to shout out over the roar of the maelstrom.

Twilight could hear a voice. A familiar voice, through all of her screaming, everything that she'd ever felt that she never let go, so many things, so many memories that she thought she'd forgotten had come bubbling to the surface like a furious volcano of emotion just waiting to erupt, and her current state was the result. She was angry, but she was equally scared, mainly of herself. She felt weak, helpless, barely aware of the damage and carnage she was causing around her, her eyes glowing white with magic-addled tears running down her cheeks and dissipating into the whirlwind of air before they could ever reach her chin.

Her magic was raging out of control, her bed tossed against one wall and almost completely upside-down, the room torn apart and in shambles with papers flying everywhere. Twilight had collapsed in a heap on the ground and began sobbing uncontrollably. She hated everything right now. Nothing else mattered except everything she hated. There was nothing good, only bad. These feelings, these thoughts continued to consume her and make her condition worse and worse, her chin hitting the ground while her forelegs came up and planted her hooves over her face.

She muttered something to herself in-between her crying, but when she heard that voice call out her name again, her anger suddenly had her upright and turning to face her, glowing eyes focusing on the alicorn standing in the doorway as if she were ready to commit any crime imaginable to make her suffer and pay for intruding upon her right now.

"Twilight, please, let me talk to you!" Celestia tried to call out to her over the roar of the wind and the flapping paper that threatened to start leaving paper cuts, but for the most part her fur and mane stayed in the way enough to stop that from ever being an issue.

"YOU!!" Twilight hissed out through her teeth, loud enough to be heard plenty clearly by the Princess.

Suddenly, Celestia felt that maelstrom coming under control, and she knew she, the Goddess of the Sun, was in a very bad position right now.

"You're the reason I'm here!" she shouted, accentuating the last word with a book that came around within the swirling wind, aiming for the current focus of her fury.

Celestia grunted and stumbled sideways, barely keeping her balance from the impact of the book in the side of her head. Then another hit her, and another, the wind constantly swirling and changing directions now, like a vicious invisible serpent, bludgeoning her with whatever it could ensnare in its violent grasp.

"I came here because YOU wanted me to do this!" she continued on, her magic reaching out and grabbing her coffee table next, raising it up and aiming for Celestia with it.

The Princess saw it coming and side-stepped swiftly, trying to get closer to her charge, but a broken-off leg from the table took her by surprise. She felt and heard a heavy, meaty 'thr-KRACK!' when the heaviest end of it impacted the side of her face, and she cried out in pain while blood shot out from a suddenly busted-open part of the inside of her lip, cut open by flesh being slammed and ground against the edge of one of her teeth.

Luna had looked inside just as she'd seen her sister struck down by a surprise blow to the head, the shattered leg of the table dissipating in the maelstrom and being discarded in favor of searching for other blunt instruments. She tried to rush to her sister's side, barely making it a few steps into the room as several books bashed at Celestia's face from the opposite side that the table leg had hit her.

This was like dealing with something both tangible and intangible, its reach and where it was going to attack from unidentifiable until it was almost too late. Luna almost didn't see the table heading for her sister, and her magic was too disrupted from the overwhelming influence of Twilight's maelstrom to bring forth a defense in time. She could only watch and listen as the table smashed over her sister's side with a loud and disturbing cracking sound of wood and bone.

Despite the pain and the injuries she'd sustained, easily having a broken rib from that last strike, she called out to Luna. "I told you not to interfere, Luna!" Celestia screamed over the howling winds.

She didn't know what to do. Her mind raced for a solution as she watched her traumatized friend struggle with her own emotions against the wall nearby, her back against a series of empty bookshelves. Should she try to knock Twilight out herself? No....that would likely only end with her own injuries, as well as Twilight's. Instead, she focused her magic and charged her horn, preparing herself.

"I will help you get close to her!"

Celestia ducked as another broken table leg whizzed past her head, narrowly missing bashing her snout in half most likely, and quickly nodded to Luna. She was too dazed to properly focus her magic at the moment, and she refused to retreat....Twilight might pursue her if she tried to escape the room, and this destruction would spread through the castle in that scenario. No, she had to try to stop this where it started.

She quickly nodded to her sister, and Luna began focusing on keeping a shield around them, the magic-formed winds crashing over the barrier and straining her more than she'd expected. It was as if the winds themselves were actively attacking her shield! She took firm steps in time with Celestia's as her sister's horn began to glow as well, pouring her magic into the shield to reinforce it and take some of the strain off of Luna.

Celestia could only stare at Twilight with a deep feeling of guilt and regret. Perhaps if she'd been more insistent, more....something, anything, she could've stopped this from happening in the first place.

Twilight Sparkle, one of the most intelligent and skilled unicorns in Celestia's entire school, her prodigy, was having a nervous breakdown and crumbling under the pressure.

Twilight was having an infuriatingly hard time hitting her now, that unseen shield from Luna blocking her from all sides. "STAY AWAY FROM ME!!" she screamed, a snake of random objects making a trail and trying to slam down on Celestia's back, but none of them made contact, only being repelled away. "I came back to make YOU PROUD OF ME!!"

The injured Alicorn limped over towards her student, slowly but surely, looking her in the eyes. She could see her lips moving sometimes between her screams, but she couldn't hear what she was saying, but it was something she was saying over and over and over in-between her bursts of fury.

Finally, she was too close for Twilight to possibly stop her now, and Twilight curled up almost fetally, glaring at her.

"Don't touch me! Get away from me! Just leave me alone....!" she desperately pleaded in an aggravated tone, the winds slowly beginning to die down as Twilight's reserves began to dwindle.

Her anger refused to fully subside, her eyes slowly beginning to return to normal as she stared into Celestia's eyes, those understanding, always compassionate....but at the moment pained and sorrowful eyes. She felt Celestia's forelegs slowly wrap around her neck, the larger Goddess's body gently nestling in next to and against Twilight's own....and the anger simply gave way to the tears.

"Why? Why did you bring me back here....?" she asked, as if pleading for an answer, any answer, that could make everything she was feeling right now go away. Her mind felt burnt out, and her body exhausted, her magic utterly drained.

Twilight's entire body was trembling, and Celestia's heart shattered as she both felt and heard her student fall apart in a crenscendo of wailing cries and sobs. All of the tattered book covers and papers, random destroyed parts of things that used to be cabinets, tables, and parts of Twilight's bed, all of it fell to the ground all around them as her magic gave out.

Celestia felt herself beginning to tremble as well, she didn't need to cry or shed tears to feel her student's pain. It was too much. She knew it was too much the moment she could finally hear what her student had been uttering to herself throughout the entire ordeal.

"Please....! Just let me go home....!"

With a shaky breath, both from the pain in her side and from she herself being on the verge of tears upon realizing the horrible mistake she'd completely missed this past year and a half, she turned her head to speak to Luna, just holding her student close to her, not daring to move away from Twilight even for a moment.

"Sister....please. Arrange for a transport to Ponyville, and send a messenger pegasus, the fastest one we have....tell him to contact the other Elements of Harmony, and have them go to the Ponyvi-....Twilight's Library." she requested with a wheezing cough, the sharp pain in her side flaring with every hack.

Luna lowered her head a distance away from the two of them, just watching the scene that had unfolded before her. She could only feel a fraction of the pain that those two were going through, but it was enough for her to respect her sister's wishes instead of demanding that the doctor take a look at Celestia first, after the things she'd been hit with.

As Luna left, Spike felt it safe enough to step inside, tentatively stepping towards the two that were nestled against each other against a far wall, him stepping over tattered remains of many of Twilight's favorite books, pages from a multitude of them. Somehow, the very sight of it was ghastly to him, to see Twilight so willingly rip apart one of her favorite things in the world.

"Princess....? Is she....okay?"

Celestia looked up from gently nuzzling Twilight's shaking form. It could barely be seen, but she was crying as well, a few tears trickling down otherwise pristine cheeks of white fur, tainted by bruises and small bits of blood in certain places. She had little actual need for a doctor, she healed faster than any mortal pony, but it could still take a few days.

"Spike....I will understand if you want to stay here, after what you've just witnessed....you don't have to go back with her if you're afraid of her." she muttered, her voice shaky and subdued, not just because of the injury to her ribs.

"Go back? To Ponyville?" he guessed, and Celestia just nodded, looking down at her trembling student, whose sobbing had given way to bleary, wide eyes.

Twilight was in shock at what she'd just done, and a flurry of emotions in her were still swirling about, like a washing machine tossing her emotional insides about and making sure everything mixed together in a horrifying mess. Her mind was muddled and she couldn't think. She couldn't recall yesterday. She could remember most everything, but she couldn't recall yesterday. Why? What was wrong with her?

"Pr-Princess....?" she said, her voice shaky and broken, her looking up at her with those wide-terrified eyes. "I-I'm sorry....!" she barely managed to squeak out to her.

In that moment, Spike had made up his mind. "Sorry Princess, but I'm her number one assistant....she'll have to do worse than this to make me stay away!" he said, hoping that would at least, somehow, lift the lavender unicorn's spirits....but she didn't even acknowledge him.

Celestia smiled at that and nodded once to him before shifting her attention back to Twilight, leaning down to nuzzle the young mare with the less aching side of her muzzle.

"No, Twilight....don't think about what just happened. Lay your head down and rest. You're going home, tonight....I won't keep you in this place a moment longer than is necessary."

Celestia took a deep breath, then struggled to hold back a cough, tasting blood as her chest quivered with some suppressed, quiet hacks. "I never should've asked you to come back here. Not like this."

Author's Note

Okay, so....yeah! This has needed doing for quite a while now. Now that I'm working on the sequel, I figure I should go back and get this taken care of! Some things need to be changed and corrected anyways, so hey.

Chapter 2 - Regret (Revised)

Chapter 2 - Regret

written by Fire Soul

The moon sat full and high in the sky as a lone pegasus vigorously beat his wings in a rush for Ponyville. The rolling plains between Canterlot and Ponyville rushed past the low-flying stallion, a set of saddlebags slung over his back bearing Princess Luna's royal seal.

He gave a quick glance up towards the moon. Despite the fact that it was only a half-moon, the lack of cloud cover had the moon's light illuminating the hills and casting shadows as if it were the sun, pouring its warmth over the world. It lended a certain mystique to the world, he had to admit.

Light, flight-assisting armor glistened in the moonlight, the dark shades of the Night Guard's unique design clinging to an altered, bat-like motif that included fancy wing-like formations on the withers and along several edges of the armor that gave a more volatile, dangerous presence to the wearer. At the center of the chest, like a badge of honor, was an eye-like design in the form of Nightmare Moon's draconic eyes, also adhering to the colors of the rest of the armor.

That overall design marked him as one of the few elite amongst the Moori, the Princess's Night Guard, the template only being used to develop armor for those that have risen above the simple status of being just any loyal protector of Equestria. It was meant to define him as someone special, much like hundreds of others that take on important tasks and jobs for their Princess.

To him, it just stood as a testament to just how much of his life was spent working. Every single day, flying important, sometimes even classified documents, missives and correspondences to and from the Princesses, to the point of it being extremely rare for him to ever get some significant down-time. It was even more rare for him to have enough time to actually leave Canterlot for a day or two, spend some time away, and then come back.

Tonight, however, the emergency flight to Ponyville he'd been ordered into worked in his favor. It had been far too long since he'd seen Rainbow Dash in action, since the Best Young Flier's competition actually, and he'd only been able to go because he'd personally requested it from Princess Luna herself. Even then, he only had time to stay for the length of the competition, and then it was straight back to Canterlot to return to his duties.

His job certainly didn't allow for much of a personal life.

He flew up high as he reached Ponyville's outskirts, quickly surveying the town to try to spot Rainbow Dash's cloud home. It didn't take him long to pick it out, he'd been there plenty of times over the last year or so, but he'd heard a few letters back that she'd had to move her cloud home somewhere else in town. Something about zoning issues.

He only had a half-hour to get all of the Element Bearers together in the library, so Rainbow was the obvious first choice. It certainly had nothing to do with the fact that he was really, really eager to see her again after a solid month of nothing but letters!

He quickly flew over and landed at her doorstep, the familiar design of Spectra waterfalls almost making him feel welcome as if it were a second home. Almost. He held no illusions to the fact that their relationship was mostly long-distance.

"Rainbow Dash! Message, direct from the Crown!" he called out while banging on the front door.

Rainbow Dash uh'ed and mumbled a few incoherent things to herself while she was startled awake, the loud voice outside of her cloud home not exactly very subtle in its intentions. She grumbled and nonchalantly fwumped out of bed onto barely-bracing legs, knees bent while her head hung low to what passed as ground inside of her home, shaking left and right a few times to clear her drowsiness from her consciousness.

"Heywhuzzat? Huh? YEAH?" she called out, her voice slowly picking up as she became more aware and woke up more. "Yeah, I'm comin'!"

Halfway down the stairs from the upstairs area of her cloud home, the knocking banged insistently at her front door yet again.

"I'm comin'! Sheesh...." she said, only uttering her words at the end.

She threw open the door just as the pony's hoof hit her door again, the disheveled mare glaring forward sleepily. "I've got work in the mornin', this better be really freakin'-oh."

She froze mid-rant when she realized a Night Guard was standing in front of her, decked out in armor that was very different from the average Moori's. She couldn't help but smile when she noticed the draconic eye over the center of his chestplate. There was only one Royal Messenger that would have a reason to show up at her doorstep, and even with his darker fur and black mane that was pretty much uniform for all Night Guards, she knew that playful smirk of his anywhere!

"Well, 'bout time you found time to visit! Could've picked a better time of day though. What? Couldn't resist these flanks?" she teased him, wiggling her backside a little while she stood there, leaning against the soft doorframe.

He rolled his eyes and waggled a hoof at her. "Ignoring the fact that we haven't even done that yet," he said, smirking a bit. "Unless of course you're offering?"

"Pff...not 'til you find a less time-consuming job, buddy."

He just rolled his eyes at that and shrugged a little. "Yeah, I know, I know....I'm working on it. Kinda hard to up and quit this job, we have to find an appropriate replacement, and that's difficult. Anyways, need your help with something."

"Oh, yeah? What's up?"

He straightened up in a more formal posture for the Guard, clearing his throat quietly. "Official message from Princess Celestia herself. She wants all of the Elements of Harmony to meet in Twilight's Library. Arrangements have already been made to have Twilight and Spike replace the librarian currently volunteering for the job," he explained, nodding his head to her. "On a personal note, I wish to ask for your assistance in gathering them, the aforementioned will be arriving shortly."

Rainbow Dash blinked her eyes a few times and stared at him for a moment. Then, she grinned and jumped once in excitement. "Whoo! Twilight's comin' back, ALRIGHT! That must mean her studies are all done, right? That's great! We've been wanting to go and visit, but we figured, yanno....don't wanna disturb her. We know how she gets when her nose is buried in her books."

He endeavored to keep his mouth shut on the matter. He may have gotten some small details from Princess Luna before taking off, but it wasn't enough to properly evaluate the situation or what exactly happened. All he knew was that Celestia looked really beat up, and Twilight was near-catatonic under Celestia's wing.

He dropped his thoughts and quickly returned to his original objective. "Well, help me gather the Bearers then! Tell ya what: if I gather Rarity and Pinkie Pie before YOU gather Applejack and Fluttershy, then you buy me a free dinner...." he said, a sly smirk rising up in the corner of his lips while he looked down at her.

Dash stared at him for a moment with a quirked brow, then smirked and stepped out of her house, shutting the door behind herself and forcing him to step back to give her room on the front stoop. "Okay....and when I win?" she asked with all the smug rapport she could muster shortly after waking up in the dead of night.

Strider hah'ed and shrugged his shoulders at her. "Then I treat you to dinner, what else? Whoever wins names the time and place," he said simply, casually, a very confident smile gracing his lips. "Unless you think you can't handle that...."

Rainbow didn't need much more goading than that, but he kept on pressing the buttons, and with a little huff she turned away from him, aiming herself in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

"Oh, you are ON!" she said, hunching down and readying herself for a rather impromptu race in the middle of the night. But then, she peeked over her shoulder. "It was, y'know, nice to see you again. Been a while, Strider."

He turned in the direction of Sugarcube Corner, smiling a little. "Yeah....it really was. I'll try to get some leave soon."

With three firm pats of one of his forehooves on the cloudy ground, they both flared their wings and took off like rockets. They both had their destinations, and while Rainbow was tired, the exhilaration of flight quickly woke her back up. It was worth it though, Twilight was coming back!

With the combined speed and activity of Rainbow Dash and Wind Strider, it had only taken around ten minutes to get everyone together at the library, mostly because they all shared a combined excitement in finally getting to see Twilight again and spend time with her, after such a long time apart.

"Ooh! I think I hear 'em! Why didn't you get here sooner so I could get a party going, huh?!" Pinkie asked with a certain amount of exasperation, looking in Wind Strider's direction.

He just cleared his throat. "It's not my place to say, ma'am."

Even Rainbow Dash had been a bit confused by Strider's silence, normally he was the really talkative type....even when she did beat him in a race, as was always expected. They hadn't discussed the terms of her reward yet, but she was sure that could wait until later. For now, she had a friend to welcome home, and she could hear hooves clopping against the ground outside while the wheels of a carriage landed not moments after.

"Ooh, I think she's here~!" Rarity said with accentuated, theatrical excitement, all of them waiting to practically pounce on their long-overdue friend after such a long time.

When the library door opened however, Pinkie found her over-eagerness to put a smile on somepony's face to bring her face-to-horn with Twilight instead.

"Twilight? Why are you staring at the....uh....?" Pinkie started to ask, but when she lowered her head to get a good look at her friend, even she lost her smile. She'd never seen that kind of expression on the lavender unicorn's face.

Twilight slowly lifted her head, she was in surprise, yes, but she also wasn't entirely here. The entire ride over was spent in near-silence, her mind a-buzz with thought, and at the same time, she was thinking of nothing at all. Her mind was staying occupied by spinning its wheels, that was the only way she could describe it, the only thing tangible within her thoughts being what she felt right now, felt the entire ride over: fear, and hate.

She couldn't rationalize it, and that scared her. She had harmed her teacher greatly, and hated her, thus she feared retribution. Her anger and frustration with her workload made her lose control and lash out, and she hated herself for her weak, puny willpower. She hated herself for being weak. She was afraid of herself because she was weak, and might hurt somepony else. She feared her irrational hatred, because it made her want to lash out more, because it felt good to lash out, to harm and break, rip and tear. Two emotions, both stabbing at her psyche the entire ride over, only fended off by the soothing words of the wounded Celestia.

"Why...." she whispered, swallowing hard. "Why are you all here....?" she asked, her voice throaty and quiet, as if she may start crying all over again if she dared to break the stunned silence any further.

Pinkie slowly got out of the way, looking to her friend with a concerned gaze while she passed by, followed in suit by her teacher, who still hadn't patched herself up. Spike was the last one in, and he looked to them all.

Only Wind Strider bowed as Her Majesty entered, the others looking at her with shocked expressions, staring at the slightly bloodied wound on the Princess's side, her face swollen in different areas, her lip bloody and cut. Rainbow Dash silently glared at Wind Strider, who didn't dare meet her gaze, he knew she was looking in his direction, he knew that she knew that he already knew all about this. He was going to catch hell from her, and there was no reason to unnerve himself with a very volatile staring contest.

Twilight cautiously met their gazes while moving forward, her cheeks stained with dried tears, the fur visibly matted in a thin trail down to her chin on each cheek. Her expression never changed even when Rarity reached out to her. The chance of Rarity laying even a hoof on her startled her, and she edged away quickly, like a twitch reflex to get away, her eyes locked with Rarity's for a moment, widening further in an irrational fear of her, like she was someone she didn't know, or a monstrosity reaching out.

She didn't want to be touched. She didn't want them looking at her either, but she made no motion to ask or even make them leave. She felt broken, shattered, and physically weak. She made her way past them with faltering steps, her footing unsure. She almost fell over when she started to make her way up the stairs to her room, or at least the equivalent to a room, Celestia following her up.

Spike stood in front of the staircase at the bottom, turning to face everyone while they gathered around to try to go up after them. They were all curious, stunned, and worried about their friend, but Spike stopped them by standing firm and holding out his hands.

"Look....just give her some time, alright?" Spike said, his normally more firm voice sounding soft and subdued. "I'll explain what happened, but....we should wait until the Princess's gotten her settled down."

She was shaking again by the time she'd made it to the top of the stairs, acutely aware of Princess Celestia's eyes on her all the way. She couldn't escape it, couldn't get away from the staring. The condescending glare, the disgust that the Princess had for her. Her head hung low as she gravitated towards her bed, as if it were calling to her, demanding her to come and lay down. She felt the need, she just wanted to curl up and disappear. Get away from all of their stares.

All of their eyes....especially Princess Celestia's.

"I'm sorry, Princess...." she whispered, her entire body starting to tremble again, slowly looking to the Princess again, her eyes locked in that terrified expression.

"Shh, Twilight....stop apologizing." she whispered to her, gently sliding the covers out from underneath her, gently covering the lavender unicorn up.

"B-but I-" she tried to start, but Celestia was having none of it. A hoof gently touched the tip of her nose, Celestia smiling a little.

"Don't. Don't put yourself through any more of this. What you need is rest," she said, smiling through all of the injuries her face had taken, all of them marring her normally pristine and beautiful complexion, some blood even managing to stain that billowing, pastel-colored mane of hers. "Now, just stay here, with your friends....you can write to me when you're ready."

With that, Twilight just sat up and watched with a mix of dismay and guilt as Celestia turned and favored her right side more, her left being too sore from that table breaking over her body to bear very much of her weight it seemed. Twilight's mind swam with a multitude of excuses, questions, and concerns for the whole situation that she had caused.

Ultimately, her weakened and guilty mind could only come to one conclusion.

I'm not going to be her student anymore....she's leaving me here in Ponyville. I'll never be allowed to finish my studies now!

She slowly laid herself back down and closed her eyes, her teeth clenched as silent, choked sobs accompanied freshly-flowing tears.

Spike in the short time they were upstairs had explained as much as he could, the girls listening while Wind Strider stood off to the side, by the doorway. If that mare did what she did again, he didn't want to be anywhere near the blast radius.

"....So that's when I ran out of the room, and everything started going crazy. Then Princess Celestia and Princess Luna-" he said, his voice suddenly being cut off by Celestia's gentle, but firm overtone.

"She had a breakdown. Please, you're her friends....watch over her. Do what I cannot," she said, walking past them, a look of dejection in her eyes while she went for the door. "This is my fault to begin with."

After Princess Celestia left, everyone except Rainbow Dash rushed upstairs, almost barrelling over Spike in the process. She flew up to get a look at Twilight, face buried in her pillow, quietly sobbing to herself while the others gathered around her, and her attention suddenly turned in Wind Strider's direction. She hovered over to him, inches away from his face, her teeth clenched in a menacing display while she glared into his eyes.

"You. Me. Outside. Now."

Celestia saw Rainbow Dash and her sister's courier arguing as she left on her chariot, silently wondering if she'd done the right thing. Was this appropriate, leaving such a volatile potential for destruction in the care of ponies that knew no better? No, most likely not....but she certainly couldn't fix this. Her only solution would be to shut the lid on the matter by sealing her magic away, and that was absolutely out of the question!

She saw the instability in her student's eyes, the fear, the emotions twisting her up inside like a tornado of darkness. She'd been ripped asunder by the stress she herself imposed, and Celestia did nothing to stop it. She simply believed her student to be infallible and let her be, her kind nature this time working against somepony she cared for very much.

"WHAT IN TARTARUS WAS THAT?!" Rainbow shouted at him, once they were outside, looking as if she were about to bull-rush him.

"H-hey, haven't you ever heard of 'don't shoot the messenger'?!" Strider responded quickly, taking a step back.

Every time he stepped back, she stepped forward, staying in the slightly unnerved stallion's face the entire time. "You could've told us. You could've warned us, you jerk!" she shouted, knocking heads with him for a moment, staring him in the eyes and giving him a firm shove. "So what the fuck?!"

Strider clenched his teeth, feeling a bit indignant about the sudden shove. "What?! You think I knew?!"

"You're the Royal Messenger, you were delivering the message, how could you not know?!"

"I didn't get any specifics! I was just told something bad happened and that I should get you all to the library! I mean yeah, Celestia looked beat up and Twilight looked catatonic-"

Rainbow seethed and pressed her head against his harder. "So you did know!"

Celestia winced at the accusatory tone of Rainbow's voice. Ah, lover's spats. She could only listen in as they went back and forth, until Strider backed down and sighed, sitting down.

"I guess I could've mentioned that....sorry." he muttered, running his hoof over his particularly long mane.

Rainbow snorted in frustration and looked away from him, her irritation plain as day on her face. She hated it and loved it when he did that. Getting all apologetic and backing down....it wasn't something she could often do. She could respect that. Humility wasn't her strong suit.

Eventually the tension went out of her body, her flared wings folding down as her challenging posture fell apart. "Yeah...you could've. S'fine. Sorry for snapping, I guess."

He sat in silence for a moment with her, oblivious to Princess Celestia eavesdropping passively from a short distance away. When the quiet had lasted just long enough to make things exceptionally awkward, he cleared his throat to get Dash's attention again, since her focus seemed to be drawn back to the library.

"I was going to ask if maybe I could stay the night, but I think it's a bad time right now," he said, smiling a little. "Your friend needs you more than I do right now."

Rainbow seemed ready to protest, but it died in her throat when he held a hoof up. She sighed and nodded a little. "Yeah....guess you're right."

Her crestfallen expression prompted him to stand again and move to nuzzle her cheek with his own. At least it seemed to get a small smile out of her.

"Hey. I'll do everything I can to get some time off as soon as I can, okay? Maybe by then things will have calmed down for Twilight." he muttered while stepping back, smirking at the sight of her eyes darting around to see if anyone saw them.

He couldn't help but chuckle. She was still so shy, no matter how much she tried to hide it!

"Y-yeah. Yeah, sure! I'll see you, y'know, whenever you get the chance."

He nodded and looked to his saddlebags, nosing through one of them to check one of the seals on the letters. "Got one for the Mayor....probably in response to her zoning issues. See you soon I hope!" he said as he straightened up and took to the air, flying away.

Rainbow watched him go, then sighed and turned to head back into the library, her disappointment quickly forgotten as the voices of her friends reached her ears, just past the entrance's threshold. She closed the door behind herself and prepared to spend the rest of the very early morning consoling a clearly traumatized friend.

That didn't stop her from glancing out the window here and there.

Celestia kept a mental note of the encounter from her position within her chariot. She didn't like what she'd seen in Rainbow's eyes, but it wasn't her business. Still, if she could find a way to help, she'd certainly keep it in mind. For the moment however, she lightly tapped her golden-clad hoof onto the armrest of her chariot, and they were off.

As the light shone through the windows of the tree-turned-library, Twilight quietly roused from her slumber, still feeling as shiftless and as weak as the day before. Her sleep was broken and unendingly short, no decent amount of it felt like enough. She continually forgot things that her friends kept having to remind her about, and a smile was rarely seen on her grim visage. Another day spent with another friend, another day listening to their false joy at having her back. That was what she felt it was, anyways, waking up to seeing Applejack already at the library, tending to another breakfast with Spike's help.

It had gone on like this for an entire week, her friends cycling themselves and their times with her every day as if standing guard over a prisoner, or keeping watch over her while she was on her death bed. It irritated her, immensely. She didn't know why, any other time she would enjoy their company, but every day, their presence just angered her. She hated herself, she hated them, she hated them being around so much. She hated them for their kindness because she felt like she was being pitied, doted upon like a helpless child.

Hate?

She stopped herself for a moment, in the middle of breakfast, barely paying any attention to what Applejack was saying about her farmwork, just idly chewing and nibbling at her alfalfa leaves, not feeling particularly hungry despite not having eaten anything substantial the majority of the week, her loss of weight more than enough proof of that.

Do I....I don't really hate them, do I?

That question weighed on her until she noticed someone step in through the front door, her eyes turning from the table to the yellow-furred pegasus that had walked in, packs and all, apparently she'd brought quite a few things with her today. Board games, more than likely, probably more Chess. That was so Fluttershy, using all of her unofficial studies in various types of medicine, even what little she knew of psychology, to know how to help a depressed friend who had simply shut down. Twilight hadn't even touched a book since coming back, and the few people that came in to borrow books dealt with Spike instead of her, in fact many of them preferred it.

Often times Twilight's mood was on a hair trigger, her anger an unstable boiling cauldron barely hidden under a frown and a gaze of indifference, as if she could tear into someone at any moment just as much as she could randomly give them a hug. She was unreadable, and that was how she wanted it. She didn't want them to see what she was feeling. Bottle it up, hide it, contain the anger and frustration....

"Twilight? Twilight, did you hear me? It's your move." Fluttershy said, waving a hoof in front of her face, that same usual serene smile crossing her lips. Applejack was still downstairs, cleaning up breakfast with Spike.

When did I get here?

She cringed inwardly at the thought of being so out of it that she was on auto-pilot, her lack of memory of even moving from one place to the next causing more irritation. That was all every day seemed to be. Building amounts of deeper and deeper levels of irritation, for more and more trivial things. Even now, just sitting here, with their usual Chess game, she was annoyed by the presence of her friends.

She wasn't tolerating it today, feeling a pressure deep down that was urging her to do something she didn't want to do. "Can you please just leave me alone today?" she tried to ask in as gentle a voice as she could, her eyes keeping their gaze down towards the ground.

Fluttershy wasn't surprised, but she couldn't help but feel a little upset by the request. "Really? Are you sure Twilight?" she asked, which only made the lavender Unicorn grimace a little. "I mean, maybe we could just go for a walk if you're feeling cooped up in here."

Her lips twisted more into a frown, her already fake smile devolving into a depressed scowl. "Please just get out."

Applejack walked back upstairs a moment later, smiling over at them. "Well y'all, I'm headin' on outta here....hey, Twi? Everythin' alright?" she asked, starting to approach them, but she was quickly interrupted by being....well, promptly ignored and cut off by Fluttershy, who seemed to gain a more assertive tone, despite being one of the most tame in the room.

She stayed still in her seat, looking to Twilight sternly while she spoke. "Twilight, you know I can't just leave you here like this. You shouldn't be left alone!"

Twilight gritted her teeth and inhaled sharply, quelling that intense burst of fury deep within her. Her forelegs were trembling against the edge of the table, she was fighting the compulsion so hard....she couldn't remember ever feeling like this, and it both scared her and made her even more angry. It was screaming at her, pulling at every fiber of her being...!

"Spike is always here with me, so just shut up and get out, please?" she said in a more threatening tone, glaring at Fluttershy now, that anger locked away starting to show itself the more she tried to hold it back. She felt like she was breaking again, but in a smaller way, as if the little bit of headway she'd made in pulling herself back together was falling apart in the face of such a daunting amount of negative emotion.

"Uh, Fluttershy? Maybe we should let Twi have some time to herself fer now." Applejack said, hoping to at least diffuse the situation enough to make the look in Twilight's eyes go away. She'd seen that look before, not with such....ferocity, but it meant nothing good, by any means.

Fluttershy didn't budge. "No, I'm not leaving. I'm not going to just let Twilight sit here and be-" she continued to say, still keeping her eyes locked with her further angered friend.

Spike began to fidget downstairs as he saw Twilight tensing more on her side of the Chess board. "GET OUT of my home!" she snarled out at her friend, easily the kindest friend she'd ever met. Some part of her was afraid, and upset, and angry, and....she didn't know what she was doing anymore!

"Whoa-hey now! C'mon now Twi, ah know yer not feelin' real nice or nothin', but ya don't gotta yell at us." AJ said as calmly as she could, holding a hoof out at her friend in hopes of placating her. She knew things were rapidly spiraling out of control, if Twilight's eye-twitch was any indication.

She glared over at AJ for a moment, then clenched her eyes shut and took a few deep breaths. "Shut up and get out. I said I want to be left alone and I mean it," she growled out, her eyes snapping open to glare straight at Fluttershy. ""I asked you as nicely as I can right now, so please leave....!"

Fluttershy sat quietly, staring Twilight down. "No. I'm not going anywhere."

Twilight was shaking now, that urge within her growing with every passing second. She looked like she was trying to speak, but words weren't coming out, just air, her head turning this way and that as if she were saying 'no' to something, but her eyes never shifting away from Fluttershy's gaze as a burning fury started to overtake her. She couldn't stop it, and it was either let it happen, or force it down, and whatever it was, it was persuading her in silence to let it out.

"GET OUT, damn it!"

With a swift movement, the Chess board had inadvertently been knocked out of the way, a forehoof swinging forward and across the small table it had been sitting on, the small stump table making for very little distance for her to reach before she connected with the side of Fluttershy's head. The distinct yelp of pain barely registered to her, that singular moment of release both sickening her and bringing her an immense satisfaction.

She was panting heatedly, glaring down at her laid-out friend, who was cringing in pain and holding her forehooves over one side of her face. A sharp sting of regret chilled her to the bone, putting all of that roiling fury to rest in an instant.

Applejack watched the entire exchange in shock. "Fluttershy! Twi, what in tarnation's-"

Applejack was cut off once again by Fluttershy, who quickly got to her hooves. "Stop!" she called out.

Twilight looked at her in surprise just the same as Applejack did, that chilling rush of regret built into a full-blown sense of betrayal and self-loathing when she saw the large red mark on Fluttershy's cheek, her hooves weakly stumbling back just a bit.

Fluttershy just looked to her with a content smile, the pain in her face ignored, for now. "Do you feel better now, Twilight?"

Pain. That hurt. She had caused pain, and it felt good for the moment, but now, it hurt. Her friend hurt, and thus so did she. She caused it, and was transfixed upon it, staring into Fluttershy's eyes, or rather, her face in general.

Her own thoughts were chewing away at her. It could have been worse, she could have summoned her magic and crushed her with her bed. She could have thrown her headfirst out of the window and she could have broken something, unable to catch herself in time. She could have-

A hug. Warmth. She snapped out of her thoughts with a blink, her transfixed stare and gleaming eyes brimming with tears, waiting to descend, disappearing as she felt the pegasus wrap her forelegs around Twilight's shoulders and just hug her.

"It's okay Twilight. I forgive you."

She recognized the pain she felt, at that point, and she gently hugged her friend in return, Applejack still not entirely sure what had just happened. Fluttershy gets decked, and she hugs the pony that decked her? That didn't make a lick of sense to someone like her, but then, she was a very straightforward kind of pony. She stayed for a moment longer to make sure nothing else happened, then walked back downstairs, waving to Spike on the way out.

"M'sorry, Fluttershy....I-I don't know what's wrong with me!"

Her friend only hugged her tighter. "You're just angry Twilight. It happens to the best of us."

Chapter 3 - Ways of Living (final)

Chapter 3 - Ways of Living

written by Fire Soul

Another quiet day upon another quiet day rolled over Twilight's life, forming a blanket-like haze of time that, for the most part, she didn't remember. After all the emotions were done pouring through her uncontrolled, her anger being kept down and silenced after a couple of weeks, life was simply....bland.

Everything she enjoyed, she hated now. She couldn't stand a book for more than half an hour at a time, even a recreational one, the very thought of reading usually turning her away from the task, yet she kept coming back to it because it was her favorite hobby at the same time, and she couldn't change that. She was like an abused mare, coming back to her violent coltfriend only to get another beating for even thinking of trying to get away from him.

Even her research was a disgusting topic in her mind. Where she would normally delight in studying what exactly had happened to her, she for the most part didn't want to think about it or recall that horrible, horrible night. She knew she wasn't herself then, and she still didn't feel like herself now. However, at least she had some kind of emotional drive before; this felt like emptiness and nothing but.

She felt shiftless, thoughtless and entirely lacking in any emotions, aside from the occasional burst of rage and brief, weak bits of happiness drawn out by a silly moment from Pinkie Pie or a genuinely endearing moment of care shown by her friends going the extra mile for her, in her current condition. Almost every smile was forced otherwise, mainly to make ponies stop being so nervous in her presence. Even if the feelings were false, at least smiling brought some semblance of normalcy to her daily routine.

The only time she'd really, honestly smiled was during a few times spent with Fluttershy, who seemed to understand her situation better than any of her other friends. Well, her and Pinkie Pie. We're talking about Pinkie Pie here, after all. It's hard to NOT get an honest laugh and smile around her zany behavior. At least, even in this situation, Pinkie had enough sense not to throw Twilight a party, because there was little worth celebrating about her current affairs, aside from her finally being back from her studies.

That single swing she'd taken at Fluttershy had made her eternally sorry for what she had done, believing that her friend would be afraid to actually be around her after thinking about what happened, but....that hug she gave to Twilight, it had Twilight's insides twisting, and her thoughts turning this way and that the more they spent time together.

She felt guilty and hated herself for hurting her friend, even slightly, but she was also elated and happy that she was still willing to hang around. Without her interest in her books (what little was left of it) keeping her occupied enough, Twilight found herself spending a fairly decent amount of time with Fluttershy, going to the spa with her and Rarity every week.

"Oh, I'm so glad you could join us again this week darling, I see so little of you lately!" Rarity could be heard saying from behind her own mud mask, her eyes covered up by cucumber slices.

She was currently shoulder-deep in a nice, warm spa with Fluttershy and Twilight, each having similar treatments given. Fluttershy just let out a happy sigh as the water bubbled around them with who-knows-what added to it to rejuvenate their flesh and fur.

"The Carousel Boutique's been very busy lately, so many orders this time of year you know. Dresses, jewelry, hats, and apparently shoes are in this season, so I of course have been working on my own designs!" she said while sinking just a little lower into the bubbling water.

"Ooh, really? Maybe I should get a new hat...." Fluttershy began to say, the normally shy pegasus apparently capable of relaxing with this kind of conversation just as well as she could relax around any of her animal friends. Rarity was probably her closest friend out of their entire group, and she knew the fashionista best, so if there was a style worth having in your wardrobe, it was definitely at least one of Rarity's items.

Twilight just couldn't get into it, but she could definitely get into this jacuzzi. She didn't often treat herself to something like this because it actually cost a pretty penny, but she could see why Rarity and Fluttershy put forth the effort to make this a weekly thing for both of them. THIS was nice.

She sunk down into the heated waters until she was up to her chin, and let the heat take her away for now, listening to her friends continue on about the latest fashion trends, the styles featured by others in various magazines, the sorts of things she didn't really read herself. Of course, she only spoke up when someone spoke her name.

"Twilight, what about you? Do you have time tomorrow? I could really use your help with a design I'm working on, and your figure is absolutely perfect for it!" Rarity stated in her usual, theatrical way, flourishing her words as if she were on a stage; truly, Trixie would've been proud. "I really would appreciate it, sometimes those model stands just can't give me the kind of feedback I need for some of the more tricky designs I make up."

"Sometimes?" Fluttershy asked, smiling with only a slight smugness, looking as thought she knew something that the other two did not. "So does that mean that they talk to you?" she asked, giggling quietly and gently rolling her head on her shoulders, to help the muscles stretch out after they got so relaxed thus far, in this delightfully hot water. "I've heard they've got medication for that kind of crazy."

Twilight just laughed a little and interrupted them, her voice floating along with the bubbling water, as if she were one with it, she was so relaxed right now. "Hmm, sure, I can come over and help you out if you really need the help, Rarity...." she muttered over them. She couldn't really tell if they were looking at her, but considering they all had mud masks on and cucumber slices over their eyes, she didn't really think it would matter. "Not like I have anything better to do."

Rarity lightly quirked a brow, but quickly relaxed her head back so that the cucumber slices didn't didn't fall out after that. "Are you sure about that, Twilight? I wouldn't want to impose. I haven't heard much about your studies lately either, what do you usually do with your time nowaday-hm?"

A slosh of water and a firm shake of her shoulder drew her attention, confusing her. What was with the sudden interruption? She wasn't sure what all of that was about, but given her friend's delicate state of mind lately, she just stayed quiet about it, not that she'd been silenced fast enough.

Twilight's thoughts darkened a little, and her light smile had faded into something of a frown. "I don't....I don't really do much of my studies anymore, Rarity," she said, letting out a small breath. "I haven't touched a book since I got back, they just don't appeal to me as much as they used to. Same goes for my studies."

She sat up straighter, turning her head this way and that as one of the attendants came over to remove the little slices from over their eyes. A few blinks of her eyes cleared her vision up once more, and she gave a faint smile to her concerned friends.

Rarity tilted her head a little and looked her friend over. She knew a fake smile when she saw it, especially on one so untrained as Twilight Sparkle. She wasn't even trying to make it convincing!

"But darling....reading is your bread and butter, studying even! Why would you ever stop?"

"I just....I don't know," Twilight muttered, rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof. "I just feel so....tired, all the time! The moment I open a book, I just start thinking about Canterlot, and I feel totally worn out. I want to do something else, but I don't know what. Everything I've tried gets the same response out of me, it becomes nothing more than an exercise in wasting time!"

Rarity and Fluttershy exchanged concerned looks before glancing over at their frustrated friend, unsure of what to say. Twilight picked up on their worries just by meeting their gazes, and tried to muster up a proper smile this time.

"I'm alright though, I'm sure it, uh....just takes time, right?" she stated as reassuringly as she could.

Fluttershy stared just a bit longer, then smiled and nodded in agreement. Rarity wasn't sure what she could possibly say about the situation, so she simply went along with her friends and began to make small-talk once more. At least it seemed to lighten the mood.

A brown-furred pegasus flew low over one of the main streets of Ponyville, making a beeline for Sugarcube Corner. Strider doubted he'd beaten the rush, but compared to Canterlot's population, he figured that the 'rush' in Ponyville was probably not even close to being as bad as he was used to.

Oh, how wrong he wished he wasn't.

Pinkie Pie was crazy-busy, but that didn't stop the energetic pony from serving around three people at a time, thanks to her abundant stamina and joyful personality. As customers left, she always said her goodbyes with her usual Pinkie Pie flair and joviality, her happy demeanor seeming to always infect her treats and give everyone a little smile-on-the-go effect the moment they bit into one of her delicious cup-sized baked goods. He walked up to the counter and got a similar greeting as most of the previous, but she seemed to, somehow, put forth more effort because she hadn't seen him before.

"Welcome to Sugarcube Corner! Where the fun is free, and everything's Pinkie-keen!" she said while stepping in from the back room once more.

In all honesty, Pinkie Pie's personality creeped him out. Her endless joy, the all-smiles behavior and being able to pop up seemingly out of nowhere....on more than one occasion, he had the feeling that she'd seen him and Dash spending more time together lately. He didn't mind it so much if she stayed quiet about it.

"Hi there! I'm here for the, uh...oh, what were they, the....oh!" he said, pointing to a set of what looked like VERY fresh, apple-sized cupcakes with a blue coloring and rainbow frosting on them, a little candy cherry atop each one.

Pinkie turned her head and looked to them, then grinned back at him. "Oh! You're the one that ordered Rainbow Dash's favorites, the order that came in from Canterlot? That's odd that you have the exact same tastes as my bestest-best friend Rainbow Dash,-" she said, leaning in towards him and giving him a knowing grin. "-y'knoooooow what I mean?"

He cringed inwardly and shook the insinuation off. A quick mental check of his facial expression and what he wanted to say next streamlined his thought process, and he canted his head to one side just ever-so-slightly. The inflection had to be just right....

"I'm sorry, I...don't understand?"

Pinkie got to work packing up the order properly while she spoke to him, that infectious smile never leaving her. "Well see, Rainbow's the only one that ever orders this and she's never talked about having any brothers or sisters and we never really see her parents around, so I thought 'Hey, maybe Rainbow has a coltfriend she's never told any of us about!', and maybe he knows exactly what she likes and maybe he's not around much because I've never seen him before-"

"I...get it, miss. I think," he said quickly and loudly enough to hopefully cut her off, looking to the box of cupcakes she'd placed before him on the counter. He quickly fished some bits out. "But I'm afraid you're mistaken. I'm just a friend visiting, she told me where she got these from, so I thought I'd surprise her!"

Pinkie leaned forward over the counter some, her eyes closing to slits as she stared into his own, then looked him over for a moment. He grew nervous as she leaned in closer and closer...then just as suddenly backed away and became all smiles again.

"Wwweeeeelll...okay then!"

He blinked. "Uh? Okay?"

"Huh?"

"What?"

"Nothing!"

He blinked a few times, then shook his head and smiled. "Wow....ah, okay then, miss Pie...that's your name, right?"

"Pinkie Pie~!"

He nodded once and moved to leave, the box of cupcakes sitting on his back, wrapped up in a bag. He didn't recall the moment when he'd put them on his back, but he wasn't complaining. He needed to get away from Pinkie.

Now he was a bit more clear on why she freaked him out. Before now, he'd only observed from a distance whenever he came to Ponyville, and heard things here and there from Rainbow Dash. Well, that and dossiers given to him by the Princess, but that was another matter entirely.

No, if anything, his fear came from her perceptiveness. He knew those eyes. Pinkie knew, but she was choosing to say nothing on the matter. That was his assumption anyways, she didn't seem like the kind of mare to just up and spout everyone's business unless she genuinely thought it would help matters. With that said, he wasn't sure whether or not she'd stay silent about it.

"Bye-bye, pony-I-don't-know-but-probably-will-sometime-soon!"

He smiled a little at that and waved to her once while stepping out the front door. Well, perhaps she would keep it quiet. If not for his sake then for Rainbow's. If anyone knew Rainbow better than him, it would be her closest friends.

It wasn't exactly a long flight to Dash's house from Sugarcube Corner, but it still gave him enough time to snack on one of the cupcakes on the way there. He'd just gotten way too curious about what they tasted like, all rainbow-colored and semi-tangy and sweet...or so the Cakes had said when he'd placed the order, anyways.

He'd certainly not been disappointed!

The moment his hooves touched down outside of her home, Rainbow took notice; cloud homes weren't all that good at keeping noise out unless you insulated them on the inside, which she had foregone. She was in her kitchen at the moment, whipping up a little something for a late breakfast before her usual morning routine of work and flight training. She'd already gone out first thing to confirm her orders for the weather team, so she had the advantage of being able to do her job however she wished as long as it got done. Being the boss had its perks!

Of course, she'd already given out her orders and she was only expecting one pony today, so it was either him, or one of her employees needed some clarification. "Door's open, c'mon in!" she called out to whoever it was.

He stepped into the house without even having to knock, finding it particularly odd compared to what he was used to. Ponyville didn't have a lot of pegasi burglars, he supposed.

"Hey Rainbow! Where ya at?" he called out to her.

"In the kitchen!"

He walked over and pushed the kitchen door open just in time to hear her pop one of her wings right at the primary joint while stretching herself out. He moved over to the table and picked up the bagged box on his back and set it down on the table, grinning over at her. "Gotcha something special! I put in the order last week, I wasn't sure if I'd actually get them on time or not, but your friend must put all that energy of hers to excessive use."

"Ooh! Are those what I think they are?" she asked, staring through the plastic cover on the front of the tote.

He licked his lips and nodded. "Uh-huh! Though I had one on the way here. Sooo, not exactly a dozen left."

"Rainbow Cupcakes....hah," she said, flipping the top open and pulling one out with her mouth, catching it in her hoof. "Thanks!"

She held the cupcake in her hoof and took a bite, mmm'ing with almost orgasmic satisfaction as the sweet and tart flavor spread over her palate. Then a thought hit her.

"Wait, you put this order in last week? How'd you do that?"

He smirked a little at her. "There is such a thing as mail orders, you know."

She swallowed what she'd already chewed up, then opened her mouth to question him further. A memory of his last visit, before Twilight returned to Ponyville, made her come to a realization before she said anything. "Oh! Oh right, I had some of these last time you were here, that's how you know. Okay, that makes sense."

He nodded and picked one up from the box, his eyes flashing over the cupcakes quickly and taking stock of how many were left. Nine. "Yup! Couldn't think of anything else outside of Wonderbolts stuff. You're a hard mare to buy gifts for."

Rainbow just grinned and took another bite of her cupcake while he did the same. "Yeah well, if it ain't Wonderbolts, I'm usually not interested!"

"Pff, don't I know it....anyways," he said, taking a bite and swallowing before continuing. "What're your plans today?"

She finished off her cupcake quickly and flexed her wings upwards again, the feathers trembling as she pushed them as far out as she could before tucking them back in. "Eh, probably gonna get my work done, then after that it's nothing but speed exercises! I need to get fast enough to pull off the Sonic Rainboom again."

"I thought you managed it because your friend was going to die if you didn't reach her?"

She shrugged it off, but the light smirk in the corner of her mouth said everything he needed to know.

"Ah, it was nothin'! I mean, I thought the Wonderbolts had her, but...yyyeah," she muttered, glancing out her nearby window. "Not their finest moment. B-but hey, I'm sure not everyone can be cool at all times, right?"

He rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Right."

"Besides, it's not like I can just throw one of my friends off of a cloud and then chase after them whenever I want to pull of a Rainboom! Well," she said, grinning a little. "Not if I want to have any friends left at the end of the day."

He couldn't help but laugh at that, shaking his head. "I dunno, Pinkie would probably think it was fun!"

"You kiddin' me?! Clearly you've never seen her Pinkie Copter," she said, shaking her head in amusement. "Only Pinkie would own her own personal hoof-powered helicopter."

He blinked a few times at that, then shrugged it off and looked down to the cupcakes. Eh, he didn't want another one, they weren't meant for him anyways.

Rainbow rolled her head this way and that, then started to stretch her neck out as well. "So, you gonna come and practice with me? You know me, always looking for an audience! Maybe a flying buddy too."

He shook his head. "Not right away, unfortunately. I only got this week off because I have some things I have to take care of here and there, but it should only be a few hours."

She wilted a little. "O-oh," she muttered, then nodded to him, her smile seeming rather forced compared to before. "Alright then. I'll see you for lunch then?"

He sighed and smiled a little, walking up to her and nuzzling her cheek with his own again. "Yeah, I might be done by then...sorry."

"S'fine," she said, blushing from the show of affection. "I know your job keeps you busy."

"Yeah, and I know it bothers you. I really am working on it."

She broke away from him a little, smiling weakly. "Yeah, yeah, just get to work so you can come fly with me!"

He nodded quickly and leaned in, his head tilting to one side to plant a more meaningful, warm kiss on her lips. Her eyes shot wide open for a moment before drifting shut again and returning it. Her wings flapped reflexively a few times before she settled down enough to fold them in again, her breath caught in her chest and a delightful tingle burning in her chest, making her feel warm and happy.

Just like that, it was over when he pulled away. She took a deep breath and let it out, leaning back away from him with a little bashful nibble on her lower lip. She could feel the heat in her cheeks, the distinct blush burning right through her fur and making her embarrassment all too obvious to him, much to his amusement.

"That....was a cheap trick."

He grinned a bit. "And yet, you didn't stop me."

"Pff, whatever. You just did that so I wouldn't be so upset with you."

"Guilty as charged!" he stated smugly, trotting over towards the kitchen door. "I'll try my best to be back by noon, I swear. See you later, Rainbow!"

She wanted to ask him if maybe whatever he had to do could wait 'til later, but whatever it was, he seemed to be rushing to get it done. Well, maybe that would be good enough, she supposed.

Rainbow lingered in her kitchen for a while longer, getting herself some juice and enjoying another one of her cupcakes before heading out herself, her thoughts lingering on that kiss. She normally didn't like distractions during her training, but just being around him made her feel oddly invigorated. The fact that he really knew how to treat a mare, even a more tomcoltish one like her, helped too. Well, when he was around anyways, which was a rarity at best.

It left a bittersweet tinge to every visit he managed to make. She didn't feel incomplete without him around, but when he was around, it instantly reminded her of what she was missing. That bothered her a lot.

She shook off her thoughts and finished stretching herself out before taking off from her front stoop, her powerful wings rapidly propelling her high into the sky, far above the clouds. She immediately went to work, doing her best to work the distracting thoughts out of her head.

"Better not keep me waiting Strider," she mumbled to herself while bucking a cloud into nothingness. "It's really uncool."

Applejack's hooves could be heard tapping against the floor, likely in frustration since the sound had increased in volume over the course of an hour or two. On the table were several sheets of paper, a multitude of documents not limited to but including just about all of the farm's finances, as well as personal finances. She had already subtracted a LOT of luxuries from her own part of the bills, but this season still wasn't adding up, not at all, and it was getting on her nerves.

It all started with the Parasprite swarm that put a dent in the boost they got from the bumper crop earlier last year. Every extra bit they earned was wasted rebuilding the house, and she couldn't even really blame anypony for what happened because one, nobody expected such a creature to be capable of that kind of damage, and two, even if Twilight's spell hadn't changed their eating habits, they would've just consumed all of the apples, and likely the trees as well! THAT would've been infinitely more devastating than losing the house, at least with the apples and the trees still around they can re-grow and re-plant seeds, as well as harvest seeds.

That would have been an easy loss to deal with, everything would have simply been the same status quo as it was every year, Ponyville's finances rarely experiencing a drastic enough shift and a lack of love for apples enough to have the Apple Family losing money instead of at least breaking even. They grew some of the best apples around and everyone knew it, it was the main reason their business thrived. That, and Applejack was more savvy to the world of business than most would expect from such a small-town pony with a Southern drawl.

That said, other issues began to crop up, and they couldn't have all come at a worse time. Spread out it would've still been easy to work through them, but it was just one thing after another. First, a few stray Parasprites randomly raided a section of the farm in the middle of the night and ate up a large portion of the late Summer crop before she could get Pinkie to take them somewhere further away.

On top of that, smaller thieves continued to wander in and raid their stores here and there before they could ship the apples out, and that wasn't even counting what parts of the crop were normally lost to lack of watering, rotting over time, falling off the trees and bruising before they can be bucked off into the buckets...a multitude of issues, all of them cropping up at the same time and causing a big problem that AJ was having serious trouble finding a way to handle.

Big Macintosh was in the kitchen cleaning up dinner when he heard his sister grunt in frustration. They'd both been at it all day long, nothing particularly new for them, but having to come in from work, take a shower and then sit right down and work on finances would sour anyone's mood.

"Dang it!" she growled at no one in particular, the tired mare slumping in her seat and laying her chin on the table, glaring at the papers to the left of her head. "This year just ain't addin' up!"

He grabbed a dessert plate he'd set out ahead of time, when he realized she was skipping a full dinner in favor of getting the farm's paperwork sorted out, and plopped the last caramel apple they had from dinner down on it. At the very least, she'd probably appreciate dessert after getting little more than a sandwich.

Big Mac stepped up next to his sister, setting the plate with the caramel apple down next to her head, the caramel still nice and hot, filling her nostrils with a delicious candied scent that tantalized her tastebuds with the memory of one of her favorite after-dinner treats.

"Still not findin' ways to save what we managed t'keep, huh?" he asked in that usual slow, methodical tone, standing tall and gazing down at her.

She sighed in frustration, lifting her head and nodding to him, glaring daggers at the papers as if they offended her very being. She may have had to learn more advanced mathematics to figure out taxes and the farm's expenses, but that didn't mean she was great at it. Still, she was sure that even if she was a master mathematician or Twilight Sparkle, there still wouldn't be anything she could do aside from working especially hard to make up for the lost finances.

She picked up the apple and took a big bite out of it, letting her tongue roll over the sweet and tart treat while slowly chewing it up. She had a certain appreciation for caramel apples, especially freshly-made ones like this, the delicious melted caramel making such a simple thing her favorite dessert treat.

"Mmm....! Thanks, Big Mac. For th' apple, I mean," she said, smiling a little just from the small satisfaction the caramel apple gave her. "But no, ah haven't. This last year's been downright brutal n' harsh on us."

"Don't I know it. I was hopin' maybe you'd see somethin' ah didn't, but I guess I was wrong."

She huffed and let her eyes slide shut for a moment, running a hoof through her mane and pulling her hat off in the process, setting it aside on the table. "Yeah...we've never been in this much trouble before."

"Eeyup...hm," he mused, looking away in thought for a moment. "Ya know, ya got that friend o' yers, Twilight Sparkle. Why not ask her if there's anything the Princesses can do?"

AJ quickly shook her head, sitting up a bit straighter. "Nah, that's a bit much. Twi's mah friend and all, but she's kinda goin' through a rough patch. I don't wanna trouble 'er."

"Ya sure? I'd think she'd be more than willin' t'help out a friend, 'specially when it comes to the well-bein' of our farm."

AJ sat there for a moment, her hooves twiddling the wooden stick the caramel apple was speared on, turning it around in front of herself before taking a bite of it. She glanced over to her brother as he took a seat next to her, the light creak of the chair next to her the only sound in the otherwise silent house aside from her chewing.

Granny Smith and Apple Bloom were asleep upstairs, the quiet chirp of the crickets outside easily heard coming through their open windows, the magic-based cooling system left off tonight since it was so nice outside, given it was the beginning of Summer, or close enough to it.

She stared down at the papers for a minute, then slouched in her seat and shook her head. "That don't sound, well...desperate, t'you?"

Big Mac tilted his head a bit, turning in his seat to face her better. "Whatcha mean?"

"Well, runnin' to the Princess, askin' Twilight ta use her connections to royalty...that don't sound kinda wrong of me to ask her to do?" AJ asked, frowning a little at the thought of it.

The big stallion shrugged a little and gave her a nudge with a hoof. "Last I checked lil' sis, that's kinda the point of havin' ponies you can rely on, because ya can count on 'em to help ya when it really matters."

She picked up one of the papers and did some quick calculations in her head, some part of her hoping that maybe five minutes earlier she was just magically incompetent and couldn't figure something out because of it. Maybe if that were the case, an answer would be much easier for her to find now, but alas, everything still came out the same. They were just far too deep in the red.

"....I just don't like the thought of abusing her friendship like that, is all," she muttered, stamping the paper back down on the table with a sigh. "Feels so wrong."

He rolled his eyes and smirked a little. "Explain the situation to 'er, sis. I'm sure she'll understand, so will the rest o' yer friends!"

She just stayed quiet and nodded a little. "Yeah, they would...really embarrassing to run to mah friends because th' farm's goin' under otherwise."

"Well, there's always the other option of makin' a deal with Razor Witty."

Applejack froze at that thought, before a menacing scowl replaced her previously relaxed features. Her entire body was tense just from the mention of him, the very thought of him making her feel dirty all over.

She looked over to her brother, sitting scarily still in her seat, like she was preparing to make a move. "You saw that contract he tried to get me to sign, right?"

Big Mac nodded once. "Eeyup."

She leaned over and threw a foreleg around her brother's withers, pulling him closer and holding up her other forehoof, as if she were about to take a swing. "Then ya understand why I will geld you if you ever seriously suggest that I make a deal with that low-down, snobby, snake-in-the-grass stallion?"

He smirked and nodded once more. "Eeyup!"

She grinned and patted his cheek with that striking hoof. "Glad ta hear it! Ugh, what time is it...?" she said cheerily, releasing her brother and settling back in her seat again, forehooves rubbing over her tired eyes. "Kinda lost track o' time."

"Gettin' close to eleven, sis. You alright?"

She snorted and shook her head. "No...no, not really."

She was scared. She didn't want to admit it, but she very much was. The farm had never been in so much trouble before, and she could honestly say that there wasn't much she could've done to prevent the current predicament outside of having the ability to see the future!

He stared over at her for a moment, then smiled and got up from his seat, stepping around behind hers and pulling her away from the table, causing her to jolt in surprise from the unexpected feeling of being moved backwards. He said nothing as he moved to embrace her from one side, a single large foreleg wrapping around her withers to give her a firm hug.

"Hey. It's gonna be alright, sis. We're Apples, we always pull through!"

She wasn't used to this kind of affection from her family, unless you counted Apple Bloom. Being the big sister and pseudo-Mother figure to a young filly could be rewarding, she'd found.

She put her forelegs around her brother and hugged him in return, nodding a little. "Yeah, I know. Don't worry, ah ain't givin' up that easily!"

"That's mah sis. Now then," he said, letting her go and patting her on her wither, nodding towards the kitchen door. "Head on into the kitchen. Ah got a plate set aside for ya, just gotta heat it up. Get some food in ya, get away from all this paperwork, and git yerself a good night's rest. No point in lingerin' around here."

"Well, I can help ya with the dishes, if ya like-"

He held up a hoof and shook his head. "No need fer that! You been drivin' yerself up a wall with all this and with the harvest. Just go get some rest, ya deserve it."

She glanced back to the table, then nodded to him and stood up, heading to the kitchen. No matter how she looked at it, the result was the same: they were in trouble. She didn't know what she'd have to do to save the farm, but she was sure that she'd work herself to a bloody mess before she'd ever give up!

Big Mac glanced back to the table and gave the papers a once-over, his own calculations written alongside his sister's. They'd both gotten the same answers separately. He just shook his head and tucked the papers away in the folder that'd been set aside for them, wishing he could just toss them into a volcano and have all their financial problems disappear in the process. Oh, if only life were that easy.

He tossed the folder on his back and grabbed the plate with the half-eaten caramel apple in his mouth, heading off into the kitchen after his sister, returning to cleaning the dishes while she enjoyed a very late dinner. The issue with the farm made both of them remain quiet, the two ponies feeling morose instead of talkative.

They headed to bed with little more than a 'good night', Applejack's night plagued by the terrifying prospect of losing her land, and ultimately, her farm. It was her livelihood, a symbol of everything she'd worked for all her life. It had belonged to her late parents, it was an heirloom all its own...they couldn't lose their farm. They just couldn't!

She didn't get much restful sleep that night.

Chapter 5 - Shadows and Suspicions (final)

Chapter 5 - Shadows and Suspicions

written by Fire Soul

This was all wrong.

Strider quickly took a few steps back to brace against a tree as three Shadows moved towards him. They were being oddly cautious after he put down five others, and they were moving to surround him as much as possible.

The moment they were spread out enough for his tastes, he lunged for the one on his right, flared wings flapping hard to propel him towards his target. He twisted to avoid a tendril launched at him, and dug his hoofblade deep into the creature, tearing upwards and burning a large section of the Shadow away as the blade sliced through it.

He watched the Shadow roar and crumble from the flames, then directed his attention to the other two. A quick conjuration in his head brought flames to his free hoof, and he threw the ball of fire at one of them while rushing the other. One went down, the other followed with a clean cut across what probably counted as the Shadow's head.

He took a moment to take a few deep breaths to steady himself, stepping towards the lure he'd set off. The black ball of magic pulsated and let off waves of arcane energy, rich with the spirit of its creator, Princess Luna.

This was completely out-of-character for Wild Shadows. All of his previous experience said so! Shadows were slow, aimless creatures until a pony, gryphon or what-have-you gets close. Then they zone in and try to consume them and make another Shadow. They never worked together, they never formed tactics!

He braced himself as the underbrush began to rustle again, the familiar whisperings and hisses of Shadows getting louder as they all got closer. He turned to face them, only to hear more coming from behind him. His ears swiveled to track the ones behind him while he readied his weapon for the ones closest to him.

More sounds could be heard, on his right and on his left. A minor feeling of panic rushed through him when he realized that he was surrounded now, and he rapidly began to think about how he could even things out.

The answer came in a quick conjuration of a ball of fire. Instead of throwing it, he held on to it and aimed it to his right, spewing flames at the underbrush and setting the greenery and a few trees ablaze. He hoped this would be done fast enough to make dousing the flames out a small issue.

He quickly repeated the action on his left side, just in time to see six Shadows rushing towards him from his front. Another eight were coming from behind, just seconds later. A series of tendrils reached out for him, and he firmly beat his wings to one side, dodging to his left just inches from getting cut up and ensnared by one of them. A quick swing of his hoofblade deflected another one.

He took a brief instant to gauge those coming from behind him. They were moving fast, far too fast for what was normal. He had to adjust. A few more firm flaps of his wings brought him near one of the walls of fire he'd created, his free hoof quickly forming another ball of flame for him to use. He pulled more from the untamed wilderness around him. More energy, more magic, more power! The lure was too close to his targets, but he had to risk it.

Trying to put as much distance between the lure and the impending explosion, he tossed the ball in an upward arc. It landed directly behind the first six Shadows, the flames erupting outwards in an explosion that vaporized all of them...along with the lure.

"Dammit!" he barked as he ducked and dove to the side, away from a tendril aiming for his head.

He was starting to feel the strain. His body was running hot already, and small aches were welling up in his limbs from his magic use. Even though he was surrounded by a vast wealth of naturally occurring magical energies, there was always some part of the caster that went with the spell itself, and his body wasn't responding well to it.

He quickly took stock of the new batch of Shadows coming his way. Twelve more? It hadn't-oh. Right, he was using the flames to funnel the ones from the sides into one opening or the other.

A quick glance to the other 'entrance' to his semi-open area confirmed that they were out to surround him. They were being more cautious now, far as he could tell, trying to keep their distance as they circled around him more.

He readied his hoofblade and steadied himself, then lunged at the first twelve, dodging and weaving between swipes of tendrils and small dark magic bursts.

He ran on his hindlegs while using his wings to make small adjustments and quickly move around his opponents, but even then, there were too many for him to dodge around. A sharp slice across his left foreleg began to spread through his limb, his charge briefly disrupted by a Shadow he hadn't fully accounted for. Just as quickly as the burn began to course through him however, something deep inside of him canceled it out.

Two more slicing sensations prompted him to move and move quick, two more tendrils cutting across his side and his cheek, the last one having been aimed for the center of his head. He rushed into them and cut clean through two of them, then lunged for three more, hacking away until there was nothing left of them but a dissipating puddle of darkness on the ground.

He turned and readied himself again, taking a few steps back to give himself some room. He'd gauged their apparent maximum range, but they were still too unpredictable...he had to drag this out. He had to learn at least a little more.

Zecora felt the blood rushing to her head, but that failed to become a concern. This was a daily sensation for her, all a part of her meditation. A calm mind, and a calm body...balanced atop a fairly narrow wooden stick. One could only wonder how she managed the likely acrobatic feat to get herself in that position so high off of the ground, but that was her secret.

Her concentration was broken only when she felt something abnormal outside of her home. She had become so attuned to Everfree Forest, living within it all this time, feeling out the dense woods and finding so many new ingredients that one could not find back in the Zebra Nations naturally, most of the things she worked with now had to be imported for a rather high price back in her homeland, most of them being natural luxuries for their cost.

Of course, being a Druid helped in these matters, something she kept quiet about even to her friends in Ponyville. She had no doubt that she would never get another moment's peace if Twilight ever came back and discovered the kind of nature magic she could perform. Her secrets weren't meant for common pony ears.

Yet, she could feel it being used a minor distance away. She could feel the shift in the air from a large explosion, and the pain of plant life as their lives were rapidly snuffed out by an all-consuming flame.

Someone was burning her forest. With arcane magic, no less!

'A Battlecaster, perhaps? No, the concentrations of magic I've been feeling are far too weak for such a warrior,' she thought to herself while folding her body to one side quickly, flipping up off of her staff and quickly grabbing it in her hoof as she landed on her hindlegs. 'Equestrian Rune Magic then...likely a servant of the crown. I suppose whoever it is should be confronted!'

She set her staff against the wall carefully and grabbed her cloak, slipping it over herself and securing it around her neck. She could feel foreign energy in that same direction, quickly being snuffed out, and rushed out of her home.

'Regardless of their reasons, they are burning my forest!'

He lunged at the final Shadow and ducked a swipe at his head with another tendril, having adjusted to their fairly clumsy methods of attack by now. Sure, they had really far reach, but they seemed incapable of attacking with more than one tendril at a time. Lucky for him: if they'd been able to spawn even three at a time, he'd have been forced to run, and running to Ponyville with Shadows chasing him simply wasn't an option!

Before he could truly relax though, he turned his attention to the burning underbrush and trees on either side of the small field. The crackle of the flames had died down somewhat, but regardless, the destructive nature of the fire was still spreading. If he had taken much longer, it would've become uncontrollable. Sadly, it'd been a necessary risk, as far as he was concerned.

The smell of burnt wood and charred greenery filled the air, giving it a semi-sweet tinge marred by the burning sensation of the smoke itself. He sheathed his hoofblade and rushed around to the sides of the spreading flames while uttering incantations in his head, his wings spreading and lashing in strong slicing arcs that sent arcane winds through the trees and underbrush, cutting them up and blowing the flammable refuse away.

It took time and no small amount of effort on his part, but he'd managed to create a barren area around the flames so they couldn't spread any further, or at least, he hoped they wouldn't. Sometimes, wind could be fickle and unpredictable.

With the fires taken care of to the best of his current ability, he quickly took stock of his surroundings before taking the time to check his injuries. The cut he'd taken on his left foreleg didn't look so bad, he was bleeding some, but not an alarming amount.

No, the burning pain he felt in his side was far more concerning. He liked to think himself a rather hardy pony, especially compared to the lifestyle he used to lead, and he could deal with a significant amount of pain and suffering before caving, but that wound felt deeper than he was comfortable with.

Sure enough, he could tell at a glance that the cut to his side was far more serious than the other two. The attack had cleaved straight through his armor as if it were rice paper, the damage to his armor being clean and shaped almost exactly like the tendril that had struck him. Beneath the damage to his uniform, there was a significant pouring of blood, and he resisted the reflexive urge to place his hoof over the wound.

He had no potions, and even if he did, it'd been far too long already, the potion would have a minimal effect. He needed to get back to Ponyville quickly and get himself patched up, before the blood loss became serious. Survival 101: treat wounds as quickly as possible. Being caught in untamed wilderness with an untreated injury is asking for it!

He gave a cursory glance to the cut on his right hindleg, barely even noticing it compared to the other two. The cut was shallow and barely bleeding at all. If anything, it almost looked like it was starting to heal up already. He shifted his weight a bit to make sure nothing important had been hit without him noticing during his adrenal rush, then did the same for his left foreleg. They were both fine. He sighed in relief.

He evaluated the small clearing carefully, and headed in the same direction he'd come from. However, the familiar sound of hooves clopping over grass and dirt reflexively made him brace and shift into a combat stance.

He prepared himself for it being anything from a pony to some other variant of Shadow, but he was surprised to find a zebra running at him through the trees. He couldn't fully make out her face from under her hood, but the stripes all over her body were a dead give-away, along with the way she moved.

He pushed himself up onto his hindlegs and prepared to fight as she skidded to a halt mere hooflengths away from him, doing the same herself. A sharp pain made him wince in discomfort, his side throbbing in protest. He did the best he could to ignore it.

She seemed to take notice of his pain, and lowered her guard just a little, looking him over from beneath her hood. He'd definitely been in a fight. With what she wasn't entirely sure of yet, but there was a lingering feeling of wrongness about the entire area. Something that clashed with how the rest of the forest as a whole felt.

When she saw the burning trees in the background past him though, she glared back at him. "You intrude and destroy this home of mine? That is not fine."

"I...what? Wait, you're a Zebrican native?"

"What would bring you to that conclusion? You may perhaps be suffering from confusion."

He shook his head and relaxed a little, motioning to her with a hoof. "Only Zebrican Shamans speak in rhyme like that. Keeps your minds sharp if I recall, and it forces you to think ahead about the things you say to others."

She went silent for a moment or two, then nodded once, relaxing just slightly. "A sharp mind is a proud title to bear, much like the prestige behind the armor you wear."

"No arguments to the contrary there!" he said, at least a little proud of his on-the-spot rhyming. He motioned to the fires while dropping down to all fours again. "I did what I could to stop the fire from spreading. I assume you live in this forest? Not many people I can think of that'd want to do that, aside from a Zebrican. Or a Changeling."

She slitted her gaze and looked him over once more, then stepped back and dropped to all fours as well. "I cast off my shackles of tradition. Now why have you set fire to my home, Vesari?"

He fumbled with his words for a moment, the sudden shift of her speech pattern ever-so-slightly jarring, but moreso he was alarmed by the fact that she realized he was a Vesari. He quickly shook his head and forced a smile.

"I'm sorry, I think you're mistaken. I'm just a Moori, a Night Guard! Royal Messenger, to be specific."

"Then what are you doing in this forest? Setting fire to it? You were sent here to investigate something important, and you got into a fight, judging by those wounds. Such a task does not suit a Royal Messenger."

He looked down to his left foreleg, then shrugged. "Eh, just a territorial manticore-"

"I sense no manticore within half a mile of this clearing, and I feel a foreign magical energy lingering here. Negative, offensive to my senses. You are lying," she said, stepping closer to him and pulling her hood down, looking him in the eyes sternly. "And you are trying to avoid explaining why a Royal Messenger is conducting an investigation within the Everfree. Alone, and a mere Moori, or so you say," she stated, leaning in towards him more. "Try again. Unless you expect me to believe a mere Moori pegasus could take on a manticore on his own?"

"My training is quite extensive, you know." he muttered, but he was well aware this mare saw right through him. Any normal individual might actually buy 'manticore attack', but she'd gotten a sense of the forest. He was fairly sure it'd be impossible to really hide what happened. "...Have you seen anything odd in the forest, lately?"

"You are evading my question again."

"I can't give you any details! You think I'd do this because it's fun? I'm here on orders! I've already royally screwed up just by letting myself be seen by you! If it were any other place like Canterlot, I'd have knocked you out and taken you to an associate to have your memory of the last few hours wiped." he stated firmly, wincing a little as the pain in his side flared up.

She leaned to his bad side and took a look at the wound there, shaking her head. "That seems serious. Come with me," she said, turning and motioning for him to follow. "I can treat you at my tree hut. Then, you can explain yourself. If you try to do as you said, not that it would work," she stated simply, pulling her hood back up. "I will kill you."

He had started to walk along with her, but he froze in place for a moment at that. Her body language was...strange. Normally ponies gave off signs, subtle signs of muscle tension when threatening someone's life. A peaceful lifestyle made it difficult for one to threaten to take the life of another without having at least some subconscious reservations. It repulsed the modern Equestrian.

She had no such reservations, as far as he could tell. Either that, or she was a very, very good actor. He sensed no fear from her either however, so he didn't much want to press his luck. Something about her casual confidence in herself intimidated him, like there was something just under the surface that he couldn't make out.

"Alright," he said finally, the pain in his side flaring up with every step, forcing him to limp a little with his left hindleg. "Do you happen to know what time it is?"

As they walked away, a single Shadow behind a tree watched them closely, a wide smile appearing on a near-featureless visage. It waited until they'd both completely left the area, then began calling more Shadows to itself in silence, all of them swarming over it and giving it further shape, becoming one with it.

Soon, a tall alicorn-sized Shadow stood among the dense foliage, its entire body writhing and molding itself into the shape of a pony proper, shrinking and compacting itself until it was only the size of a little filly. Its fur was black as the night, draconic eyes shining with a sense of mischief tempered by a kind of curiosity only a child could display.

"What a pair of interesting ponies!"

Almost noon. She couldn't believe Spike had managed to delay her for that long! Well, okay, that wasn't really accurate. It was more like going two days without a shower had kind of made her forget just how relaxing a shower could be, and she'd lingered a little too long. She couldn't help but be a bit embarrassed by that; taking forever in the tub was Spike's thing!

Not that she really faulted him for it or anything. She remembered how long it used to take her to clean under his scales when he was a baby, that was one of the first things she'd taught him how to do so she didn't have to spend hours scrubbing away! Dragons don't sweat because they have scales, PSH! They just sweat under the scales!

Ugh, she was getting distracted. Upset too, couldn't forget upset, and over nothing at that! She had to remember to keep her guard up within the Everfree Forest, something that should've come as naturally as breathing to her by now with her visits to Zecora long before staying at Canterlot for a year, but her mind felt so dulled and lazy....

Strange sounds could be heard all around her, but she paid them no mind. She remembered Zecora's advice, that as long as she remained wary and on the path, she would be unlikely to run into trouble. Unlikely, but not impossible...which was where the 'wary' part came in.

Guh, she was really scatterbrained right now. She was thinking in circles!

Who could blame her though? Not like she didn't just have some sort of fever dream...nightmare...THING! She wasn't even sure of what to call it anymore. It had felt so real....

She paused as a deep sense of fear sent chills through her body, from the tip of her tail to the tip of her horn. She let out a quivering breath and kept on going down the path, ignoring the feeling that she was being watched after a quick look around herself.

The constant aches and pains didn't help any, either. She felt so worn-down all the time without having to do anything, she could've sworn that her body was just taunting her alongside all of her other issues. She couldn't down aspirin like candy every day, so as far as she was aware, she just had to deal with it.

With her mind going every which-way, it seemed to take a lot less time than usual to reach Zecora's hut. Strange, she didn't think she was walking that fast.

"Maybe I should be scatter-brained more often....!" she muttered to herself, peering through the front window as she approached.

She was surprised to see someone else inside of the hut, looking directly at her through the window for the briefest of moments. She spotted Zecora rummaging through something at the end of her bed, and lightly knocked on the front door to get her attention.

The zebra stood up and glanced over to the stallion for a moment as he tried to get up, muttering something to him while waving a hoof at him before walking towards the door. When it opened, Zecora seemed wary for just a moment until she realized who it was. Her face lit up with a delighted smile and she stepped aside.

"Twilight Sparkle, so nice to see! Please, join us within my tree."

She didn't hesitate, especially since she didn't recognize the stallion sitting on a small stool next to Zecora's alchemy table. She saw his limbs wrapped in bloodied bandages, a welling concern pushing her curiosity aside.

"Oh, wow, are you alright?"

Before he could answer, Zecora spoke up for him. "He is fine, fine as can be! He stumbled across an irate manticore you see."

Twilight quickly looked him over, and winced at the patch of blood soaking the bandage on his side. "That looks really bad. Then again, most guards can't take on a manticore alone without a weapon. Even then it's pretty dangerous, or so my brother says."

He chuckled a little and shrugged. "Well, I was just fast, is all. Plus, hoofblades are a standard part of the uniform."

"Fortunate he was, that I was near," Zecora said, closing the door and walking over towards him, sliding an empty bottle off the table and into her hoof. "Despite his injuries, he showed no fear."

"Should've seen 'er!" he said, motioning to Zecora with a small grin. "Loud flashy sounds and some loud alchemical explosions, and suddenly the manticore's running scared!"

Zecora eyed him with her back turned to Twilight, just glancing at him sharply out of the corner of her eye, before turning to walk to her cauldron to fill the bottle with the mixture she'd been cooking up.

She didn't like lying to her friends like this, but she'd become accustomed to it. Clearly, so had this stallion, judging by how smoothly the lies rolled off his tongue. He made it that much easier for her.

"Indeed, simple methods can bring them down, all to save a Royal Messenger, scouting for the crown."

Twilight tilted her head a little at that. "A Royal Messenger in the Everfree? That's strange."

"Hah! That's what she said," Strider muttered, nodding in Zecora's direction as the zebra returned to place the bottle down next to him on her alchemy table. "But, yeah, it's kinda strange. I'm one of the faster fliers, Royal Messenger and whatnot, so Princess Luna asked me to do this since some other scouts have reported strange sightings out here."

That caught Twilight's attention, the lavender mare perking up a little. "Strange sightings? Like what?"

He hummed a little in thought, looking her over closely before recognition dawned in his eyes. "You're Princess Celestia's student, right? I suppose I can talk about it with you. Not like Zecora isn't already aware."

"Indeed, it's difficult to go on a gathering spree with dangerous Shadows stalking the Everfree," Zecora said, taking a seat at her dining table, closer to the entrance of her hut. "Please, come join me, my lavender friend! It's been far too long; our friendship is on the mend!"

She had to admit, it'd been a long time since she'd really spent time talking with Zecora, so at first her friend's rhyming confused her. It took just a moment longer than usual for her words to register, but when they did, she happily took a seat across from her zebra friend.

"Sooo...strange creatures? Shadows? What do they look like?"

"Well, they usually look a little like ponies," he tried to explain, silently endeavoring to give as few intimate details as possible. "But they're pony-sized black blobs, pitch-black in color, with beady white eyes. They tend to mindlessly go after people once they've been spotted, and try to engulf their prey with their own bodies to consume them. Kind of like acidic slimes."

"Wait, they're native to Equestria?"

"Well, no. Sometimes they get gryphons, minotaurs and zebras too, really they can crop up just about anywhere. For some reason though, they tend to stay away from more populated areas. They usually flock to less tame environments, like the Everfree Forest. You know, places where nature isn't regulated."

She pondered on that for a moment. "I've...nngh," she tried to say, only to try to work a dull ache out of her neck. "I've never heard of them before."

Zecora took a quick note of her friend's pain, and walked over to her table to grab a single small vial, and a larger potion bottle, working to ladle some of the brewed painkilling potion into both of them.

He shrugged a little and stood up from his seat, grabbing one of the pieces of armor he'd set on the floor beside where he'd been sitting so he could get to work fastening the armor to his foreleg. "That's not surprising. I mean, you're not really a monster hunter or a member of the Royal Guard, so you've probably never had much of a reason to learn about Chaos Spawn-class monsters or beasts."

Twilight moved to take a seat at Zecora's dining table, hmph'ing. "Are you questioning my scholarly pursuits?" she asked, looking over his armor for a moment before glancing back up at him. "I'll have you know I've managed to read more than three-fourths of the books in the castle's library!"

"Heh!" he chuckled, working another legging onto his other foreleg, before sitting down again and slipping the leggings onto his hindlegs next. "My point still stands. You didn't know what a Shadow was."

"I could've found out...." she muttered, rolling her eyes.

He stood up and started working on getting the rest of his armor on, frowning a little. "Hey, didn't mean to offend. Was just saying, is all," he muttered, slipping his helmet on, then working to try to get the main sections of his armor on. "Anyways, I'm here visiting Rainbow Dash, and I'm running a little late as it is, I think. I need to be heading back."

Twilight nodded a little, watching as he struggled a bit with his equipment. "In your condition? You sure that's a good idea?"

Her horn lit up and her magic took hold of his armor when reaching for a particular strap made him wince and hover a hoof over the wound on his side, his conscious knowledge of the rather open state of his injury conflicting with the instinctual desire to hold it in a primal attempt of checking and covering the gash up. He seemed confused for a moment before standing up again and standing up straight, waiting until she was done to relax and test the straps out.

"Well...thank you, Lady Sparkle! Didn't know you knew the intricacies of guard armor."

"My brother taught me how, and I helped him put his armor on back when he was just a recruit. Your armor's not all that different," she said, waving it off. "Like I said though, you're sure heading back alone is a good idea?"

Zecora walked over to her dining table and sat across from Twilight while he headed for the door. "A staunching salve to block bleeding pain will get him to Ponyville, right as rain."

He gave a quick nod to both of them. "Thank you for the assistance, miss Zecora. Lady Sparkle, it was nice meeting you! I should get going so I can get fixed up."

"Does Rainbow know you're out here?" Twilight asked suddenly, eyeing him closely. Something about him was off....

He froze for a moment, then shook his head quickly. "No, and I'd rather keep it that way, but I suppose she'll notice the bandages...oh well."

She leaned against the table with her weight resting on one foreleg. "Why wouldn't you want her to know?"

"Well, I just don't want to worry her, is all! You wouldn't want to worry your friends over nothing either, right?"

"I'd hardly call manticore injuries 'nothing'."

"I suppose, but to some soldiers it just comes with the job. It's not much of anything to me, not very different from gryphon claws, though the wounds tend to strike deeper when they land."

She narrowed her eyes for a moment, then shrugged it off. "I suppose. I'm sorry, I never asked your name? That was rude of me."

He turned more to face her and waved it off. "No worries! Name's Wind Strider. As I said before, very nice to meet you, Lady Sparkle! I hope to see you in Ponyville."

He blinked as Zecora stepped up next to him, holding out a bag containing the potion bottle she'd filled. She pulled the drawstring around the opening of it to close it up, then tied it around one of the straps on the side of his armor.

"Take this potion once every night, so your body will rest despite the manticore's slight."

He smiled a little at that and patted the potion resting against his side once, then left with a quiet click of the door sliding shut.

Zecora seemed to visibly relax now that he was gone, the mature zebra walking over to her seat again and slipping onto it. She glanced to Twilight, then smiled wide, motioning over to her friend. "Now that we have time, let us make this reunion sublime!"

Twilight, however, seemed lost in thought, her gaze locked on the door. If there was one thing Twilight was always bad at, it was hiding her emotions, and she was visibly getting more and more irritated. Eventually she stood up from her seat and paced a little back and forth, much to Zecora's mix of amusement and concern.

"What troubles you, my lavender friend? Tell me what has caused this pacing trend."

She was silent for a moment longer, then thrusted her hoof towards the door. "Why would he lie?"

"Hm?"

"He's lying about why he was here. Or maybe his job, I'm not sure!"

Zecora motioned for her to continue, her hoof idly rolling the small vial she had back and forth under her hoof.

"See, that armor he was wearing, it was way too heavy to be the armor of a Royal Messenger. Messenger armor's thinner and made of a much lighter and more expensive alloy that allows more high-end enchantments to make long-distance flight more streamlined," she explained, walking back over to the table and taking a seat once again. "That armor was thick-plated, like guard armor. It was meant to be taken into a fight, but not by someone that needs to maintain long periods of flight."

Zecora simply nodded to her again, smiling a little more. She was glad Twilight was piecing this together herself. She didn't like keeping potentially important secrets.

Twilight was on a roll now, her mind rapidly running through everything he'd previously said to her, that analytical nature of hers picking every little statement apart as much as possible. It didn't take her long.

"He seems a bit too muscled all over to be a messenger as well. Generally, messengers only train their wings while leaving their bodies lean and smaller than the average member of the guard. They become more streamlined than that. Not to mention I'm shocked that he got caught off-guard by a manticore and only came out of it with minimal injuries...no, he has to be lying!"

Zecora was almost grinning when Twilight finally looked in her direction again. She placed a forehoof on her own forehead, then smoothly ran it down her snout to her lips, breathing out softly onto it before making a motion as if tossing something gently aside.

Twilight recognized that gesture from many visits in the past. It was a simple motion, symbolic of casting off her verbal restrictions, her cultural requirements for her method of speech. It was only done for situations of great importance, where clear communication is paramount, or in the presence of close friends that you wish to relax with.

"Quite perceptive, though I don't think you would notice such things unless you were looking for discrepancies, for some reason," she said, then bowed her head. "I must apologize, but I knew the entire time that he was lying. I am, however, sure he could lie far better if he were not caught by surprise," she said, giggling quietly. "When I came across him, he tried that manticore lie on me as well. Needless to say, I saw right through it."

"Oh...well, why didn't you say anything?" she asked, brow furrowing in irritation.

"Because fortunately for him, I have great respect for the Princesses," she said, sighing a little. "And I am fairly certain he was being truthful when he said that his orders came from one of them directly."

"He said that?"

"Not exactly, but it is a fair assumption. One does not refuse to give details due to 'secrets of the crown' without saying far more than you intend," she mused. "But I believe he encountered something else besides a manticore. Likely many somethings."

She thought on that for a moment, before something occurred to her. "You mean those Shadows he mentioned, right?"

The zebra nodded once quickly, standing up to retrieve a couple polished wooden cups and a sealed bottle of water, uncorking it and pouring them both something to drink. "His injuries were likely due to their supposed 'odd behavior'. I have encountered them before, and I have never seen Shadows attack in a way that could leave such strange, clean cuts."

"So I was right then....I hate it when ponies lie to me like that! I'm Princess Celestia's student, why wouldn't anyone trust me with royal business?!" she half-shouted, banging a hoof on the table.

Zecora jolted a little at that, then looked to Twilight oddly. "You seem quite tense, my friend. Not just because of him. I saw you wince in pain when you rolled your neck. Here," she said, rolling the small vial over to Twilight while getting up from her seat. "A painkilling potion, in a smaller dose. It should take care of the problem."

She got up from her seat and went to retrieve her kettle and a few tea leaves, working to stuff them into a tea ball Twilight had given her a while back. "Now, just a small swig should do, so-"

She turned around just in time to see Twilight finish downing the entire vial. Her mouth hung open in surprise, while Twilight simply sat there, frozen as her eyes met Zecora's. She almost instantly knew she'd messed up, if Zecora's expression was any indication.

"Oh dear," Zecora muttered, walking over as Twilight nervously set the vial down. "You should perhaps lay down. Things, for you, are about to get profound!"

Twilight rolled her forehooves over each other anxiously. "I-I'll be okay, right?!"

"Very much so! You're about to be high as a little filly's kite, is all."

Chapter 6 - Gathering (final)

Chapter 6 - Gathering

written by Fire Soul

Pinkie Pie quickly shuffled and adjusted various baked goods currently on sale on the display cases of Sugarcube Corner, her hyperactive tendencies letting her shift from being inside of the store baking, to being outside selling some of her party favors to ponies that needed things like balloons and streamers and what-have-you. Contrary to popular belief, she was not the only party pony in Ponyville, she didn't throw all of the parties in her town. She was the party pony everypony came to to get all of their stuff for their parties though, so she knew just about everypony in Ponyville, ever since she had moved there.

She was busy with another project as well, however. A picnic basket was being filled here and there as time passed over the course of the morning, her working to fill it with various types of cupcakes of all different flavors, a few pies of the same variety....she was going for 'the works' with this outing! The whole time, she was humming a tune to herself, the song seeming to work with some unknown rhythm, multiple higher tempos in the song coinciding with one of the baking ovens dinging and letting her know that whatever was baking at the moment was done. However, she seemed to know when they were going to be done before they dinged, most likely because of that little tune of hers.

"Ooh, this is going to be so neato! Rainbow Dash is going to be so excited and so is Mister Mysterious-Pony-I-Haven't-Met-Yet-Except-For-When-He-Came-Into-The-Store." she said, grinning happily to herself as 11:30am rolled around, right on the time she had set all of her work for.

She began to get ready for the end of her morning shift, only having a part-time shift today. But then, after packing the last batch of blueberry cupcakes and closing the picnic basket's top, she gasped loudly. "Oh no! I forgot about all the drinks! Hmm...." she said, seeming to really sweat it while her gaze went this way and that, her zipping all around the inside of Sugarcube Corner, as if looking for something.

When she found the other picnic basket she owned, she grabbed it and began overpacking it with all sorts of drinks, from some of the most popular brands of soda to Fluttershy's favorite juiceboxes to sip from. Of course, she couldn't forget AJ's favorite cider and Rarity's iced tea. She and Twilight both seemed to love soda though, so she held off on packing any bottled water.

"Alright....invitations?" she said to herself, grabbing the edge of her Basket Hat and tossing it atop her head. "Check!" she said, shaking her head this way and that so she could hear the envelopes rustling against one another.

She tossed one of her picnic baskets onto her back, half of it resting atop her haunches so that it was less likely to fall off, her having plenty of practice carrying things on her back when she wasn't carrying something small enough to fit in her packs. She'd made plenty of plus-sized deliveries on her own, she certainly had the strength and the energy to manage that the majority of the day. Still, she wanted to make the most of her half-day off, and she had a new pony friend for all of her friends to meet up with! He was special to Rainbow Dash too, so that made introducing him to everypony properly even more important.

"Wait....what does he like to drink? Hmm...." she hummed to herself noisily, her tongue sticking out of her closed lips while she pushed on her chin and rubbed at it in thought, face scrunching up in a comedic fashion.

Eventually Pinkie just shrugged it off. "I'm sure he likes one of the drinks I'm bringing with me! Right Gummy?" she asked, turning towards the green party gator standing halfway up and down the staircase leading to the second floor of Sugarcube Corner, which acted as Pinkie Pie's apartment alongside the Cakes.

Gummy's blank, large eyes were all that greeted her, but she knew better. She knew that behind that placid facade, Gummy was one of the smartest little alligators around! She rushed over and picked up Gummy, sitting the adorable toothless alligator atop her poofy-maned head and waiting for the Cakes to take over for her. As soon as they did, she marked down her clock-out time on their schedule sheet clipboard behind the counter and rushed out the door, grinning from ear to ear.

"Be back later tonight Mr. And Mrs. Caaaake!" she called out as she took off.

Rarity's day was turning out to be the same as any other, her horn aglow as she worked all manner of sewing tools, her attention divided as it always was. Most ponies, their work suffered doing such a thing, but not Rarity. No, Rarity thrived in the face of such adverse conditions, seeming to work faster and with even further delight the more she added to her workload.

At least, that was how it usually seemed to be, as long as she was the one in charge of her workload. Lately, the orders had been coming in non-stop, and it was driving her up a wall. She was rushing left and right, in and out, up and down throughout her boutique.

'Oh, the gold silk, why is it always the gold silk?!'

Her horn lit up constantly while various things were pulled off of shelves, even a hoof-sized thimble, a reminder of how she used to do her earliest works without her magic, before she wound up going to school specifically to train and specialize in telekinetic magic spells. Her crowning achievement that sealed her success at the end of her years in those classes was levitating her entire class with minor effort on her part.

That brief second of reminiscing was tossed aside by the fashionista in favor of making an even bigger mess by throwing most of the other materials off of the shelf until she found the large rolled-up sheets of emergency gold silk. Those rolls were from a high-class store in Canterlot, and they both felt and looked magnificent, very shiny, almost as if they were glowing, and that was enough for Rarity to be content with what she had to use to get the job done.

She almost felt capable of getting lost in her work, if not for the whiny, snooty, thoroughly aggravating voice of a spoiled brat of a young filly nearby, watching and scrutinizing every aspect of Rarity's work.

"No! I said I wanted diamonds as the buttons down the front! Not the back!" Diamond Tiara shouted. "What kind of designer are you? Geez, my personal designer back in Canterlot does better than you, no wonder you can't afford employees, you must be poor because you suck at this stuff!"

Rarity gritted her teeth inside of her closed mouth, eyeing the young girl's Father, who was just sitting off to the side writing some things down onto a scroll, the back of the sheet letting her know that he was writing her total payment for services rendered before she was even finished! She would have none of that, she'd been burned by such things before.

She gently set her silks and sewing needles aside for the moment, trotting over to him and clearing her thoughts, she knew she was on edge from Diamond Tiara's horrid, incessant rambling, bitching and whining about the specifics of her dress, so she needed to calm down.

"Excuse me sir, but I would ask that you only write out a payment for your daughter's dress once I'm finished with it completely," she said, putting on her best smile for the rich pony. "We have not even discussed the final price yet, since your daughter is not done choosing the materials she wishes to use."

He seemed unimpressed with Rarity's rather professional approach to this job, only stopping his rapid scribbling of the equivalent to a check to give her a look of what could only be described as disdain.

"Now miss Rarity, I am a busy pony and I have plenty of things to deal with today. I'm sure that if I pay you now, you will simply finish the dress to my daughter's specifications, yes?" he asked, not bothering to give Rarity a chance to answer, almost stuffing the paper in her open mouth to stop her from speaking.

Rarity blinked at the rather rude shove of the paper with so....so many zeroes written onto it. Oh, so many zeroes. She wouldn't normally be dissuaded, and even now the money didn't faze her thought process, but she also knew that there was no reasoning with a ridiculously rich pony like him. He was one of those customers, she knew the type, believing throwing around massive pouches full of bits can buy anything, including her dignity.

She sighed and accepted the paper from him for now, levitating it with her horn and sending it into the back room, where she'd deal with it. "Yes, of course sir....though, I wish to speak with you tomorrow about the cost, if we manage to finish the dress by tomorrow."

He let out an exasperated sigh and nodded to her. "Very well, miss Rarity! Tomorrow then." he said, turning to leave.

"Wait, Daddy! Where are you going?!" Diamond Tiara called out to him, the distress on her features transferring into an anxious shuffling of her hooves on the floor.

The expression on Diamond's face put a dark smile on Rarity's. With all of the grief the little filly had given her for the past three hours or so, she deserved to suffer a little in return!

"W-we haven't finished the work on my dress today! Aren't you-"

He held up a hoof and spoke up loudly and clearly. ""Honey, I paid for the rest of the work on the dress, now I have to get back to work! You know how busy I am."

The sudden, shrill whine that filled the boutique made her magic twitch violently, the needle lacing through a section that it wasn't meant to go through on the dress. She quickly undid the string on the end of the needle and pulled it back out very carefully, looking between the filly and her Father out of the corner of her eye. She knew where this was going.

"But Daaaaaadddddyyyyyyyyy~!!! WHY?! You always have to work when I want to spend time with you!" she whined with a half-screaming volume, stomping her hooves, forelegs and hindlegs in a shuffling motion from left to right to emphasize how upset she really was, a proper tantrum for a spoiled brat like her.

There it was...now Rarity just felt bad. It wasn't in her nature to wish such family squabbles upon any foal, even one as terribly ulcer-inducing as Diamond Tiara had proven to be thus far, and on top of that their back-and-forth in her boutique was making her start to feel a bit awkward. She shouldn't be seeing this, heck she shouldn't be hearing this, but then a spoiled brat and a Father who raised a self-centered young filly like her, well....she couldn't think it feasible to expect either of them to think too far beyond the fraction of the world that actually did revolve around them.

"I'm sorry honey, but I really do have to go. Do enjoy making your new dress, okay?" he stated dismissively, pulling a pocket watch from his vest and checking the time.

With that, and some ignored protests from Diamond Tiara, he stepped outside of the boutique and left Diamond Tiara behind with Rarity....which upset Rarity on the inside, to some extent. She didn't like the thought of having to deal with Diamond Tiara on her own.

Celestia must have felt pity for her today, thankfully, because no sooner had Tiara started to snap had her friend Silver Spoon came into the boutique. "Hey DT, your Dad just left. Where's he going?"

Silver clearly didn't notice the reddening of Diamond's face, or the angry stomps of her hooves. When the sudden furious shout rang out through the boutique, Silver Spoon jumped back in surprise.

"Th-that...old moron!" she growled out, gritting her teeth in frustration.

Rarity didn't much approve of it. "Young lady, I must ask you to not speak of your Father like that! You should be thankful for everything he does for you."

If looks could melt your face, Rarity's would surely be puddling on the floor right now, judging by how furious DT's glare was. She recoiled slightly at the genuine hurt in the young filly's eyes, a pang in her chest making her stay silent.

"Shut up, you old lady!" she snapped at Rarity, stamping her left forehoof against the floor. "The only reason I wanted a new dress is because Daddy said he would come with and help me design it! I don't know why I believed him...." she said, her voice becoming meek, pained and sad.

There was silence from her for a brief moment, and Rarity was prepared to speak up, but much to her surprise Diamond Tiara seemed to recover very suddenly. She knew a mask when she saw it though.

"Come on, Silver Spoon!" she said, walking past her friend. "Let's get out of this blank-flank lame-o hangout. I don't want to be here when those boring Cutie Mark Crusaders come back and try to pity me for having such an unattentive Daddy!" she said in a thoroughly mocking tone towards the end of her sentence.

Silver paused for a moment in confusion before quickly turning and catching up to her friend. They both turned towards each other, giving their customary hoof-shake and 'catch-phrase' to one another. "Bump! Bump! Sugar lump rump!" Rarity heard them both say, before giggling incessantly and heading for the door.

Rarity quickly raised a hoof as they began to leave, despite neither of them even looking in her direction. "W-wait, young filly! What about your dress?"

Diamond scoffed and shot her a baleful look from over her shoulder. "Oh, just....put something together that will fit me, I don't care," she said, her features softening into a full-face frown for a brief second. "Daddy won't pay any attention to it anyways...." she muttered, opening the door and heading outside.

Rarity scowled and ran a hoof over the front of her face. "Customers are always right Rarity, you are a proper lady, you do not want to make a plushie of Diamond Tiara just so you can set it on fire and then drown it in the nearest lake....!"

She wanted to believe she was telling herself the truth, but...then she remembered some of the things that the young filly had said. She couldn't bring herself to be mad at her, whenever she recalled those depressing words. If she was being honest, she felt bad for Diamond Tiara; feeling ignored, whether you were actually being ignored or not, could really mess up a child.

Rarity took a short break, getting herself a glass of water in the kitchen while trying to decide on what to do with the check Mr. Rich had given her. She picked it up in her magic and looked it over more closely, her eyes bugging out a little as she carefully counted exactly how many zeroes were written down. She sighed and placed it into a small box she used to keep track of all of her payment papers, kind of like a makeshift filing cabinet.

"Ooohh, what should I do with this job, Opal....?" she muttered, looking to her cat for some kind of response. All she got was the sight of her pretty kitty licking her paw. "Hmph, you could at least pretend to give a buck."

She glanced over to the ponnequin currently holding Diamond Tiara's dress, unsure of what to do with it. She had been given free rein on what to do to it, so...hrm.

She blinked as something from earlier just registered in her mind. "Wait....did those two say that they have....sugary-sweet rumps? My goodness, what are their parents teaching them?" she pondered, thinking back to Diamond's source of frustration. "Or...not teaching them, perhaps."

"Raaaarity?? Are you in here?"

She'd recognize that voice anywhere, and she quickly peeked her head in from the kitchen to stop the rambunctious mare from hunting all through the boutique for her. Who knew how badly Pinkie might mess everything up?!

"Well, hello there, Pinkie Pie! What can I...uh, why are you wearing your invitation hat again?" she asked, walking over towards her friend while setting her water aside.

Pinkie Pie just giggled and turned sideways, letting Rarity get a look at the picnic baskets that were mounted on her back, or at least, one of them. The other one was in Pinkie's mouth, and as a mockery of all laws of physics, refused to cough up all of the treats it had hidden away as Pinkie bounced up and down in her endless excitement.

"Well, there's a new pony in town, and he's a friend of Rainbow Dash's but we're not supposed to know about that yet! So I'm throwing a Close Friends of Rainbow Dash Only party at Starlight Hill, outside of Sweet Apple Acres for all of us. You wanna come?" she asked, utterly unfazed by the alligator crawling out of her 'hat' and sliding down over her snout, giving Rarity that endless stare he was so well-known for.

Rarity looked ecstatic, but for all the wrong reasons. "A secret friend of Rainbow Dash's? Now THAT sounds scandalous....count me in!" she said in an all-too-giddy tone, rushing upstairs to look through her dresses for one that would suit the occasion.

It took her very little time to get her things, close the boutique and get going with Pinkie Pie. She needed a break from the crud she'd been taking all day!

Time had become a remarkable thing to Twilight, in the past hour or however long it'd been. It was always just ticking by, and yet, if they didn't age time would just be an illusion...whoa. Was that why Celestia never seemed to court with anyone? Because she existed outside of the concept of time, thus they were beneath her in that regard? She had to tell someone about her crazy revelation!

"Hey, Zecora...did I ever tell you that you look reeeeaaally nifty? All stripe-y and mohawk-y...."

Or not. Now Zecora was the remarkable thing caught in her sights. Well, until her gaze wandered towards the wall across the room, her eyes suddenly locked with the empty eye-holes of a tribal mask.

"I'll bet that took you a really long time to make," she muttered, her hoof waving lazily in the direction of the mask. "S' a lotta' work ta do by hoof!"

Zecora had to practice a whole lot of self-restraint to stop herself from laughing, making this one of the longer hours of her life. She continued to stir her cauldron, the bubbling contents going from yellow to white to clear as she continued to add and mix ingredients together. She had to be careful with the taste-testing, for fear of over-estimating or under-estimating the potency of the potion, and if she under-estimated...well, she'd probably be rolling around on the floor talking with Twilight about all the pretty colors or something.

"Zecoraaaa~...why aren't you talking to me?" Twilight whined out with a small pout, which was quickly followed by an odd giggle-snort. "I sound like a brat." She tried to put a hoof over her mouth, but it did little to silence her endless amusement with that statement.

Zecora sighed and smiled a little, it was admittedly funny, but goading her into talking more could wind up causing some very funny and potentially troublesome shenanigans on Twilight's part. She filled up several vials that acted as a detox medication for an overdose of the painkiller medicine she'd given Twilight, approaching her with it.

"This potion, you must drink. Otherwise, I'll raise quite a stink!" she said while helping Twilight to sit up on the edge of her bed.

Twilight found something amusing about what Zecora said. "Heh, stink..." she muttered, reaching out and booping Zecora's nose. "Stinky!"

The zebra snorted in amusement and pushed her hoof away, holding the vial out to her. "Just drink the potion, you silly mare."

"Yeah, I gotta drink this or you'll get all stinky," she mumbled, taking the vial and looking it over for a moment before shrugging. "We don't want that, bottoms up!"

She threw her head back while pursing her lips around the opening of the vial, quaffing the entirety of the potion and setting the empty container aside, licking her lips at the flavor.

"Huh. Tastes like-"

That was as far as she got before the world went hazy and a sudden sharp pain rocketed through her skull. It made her vision blur and her head spin like a carnival ride, and she could vaguely feel Zecora's hooves grabbing hold of her withers to keep her steady.

"OH!! Oh, sweet Mother of Celestia, h'OH wow!" she shouted, her eyes wide as colors danced in the corners of her vision and pain coursed through her head with every beat of her heart.

"A painkiller overdose is no small issue. It had to be resolved quickly, for your safety." she explained simply enough, continuing to hold Twilight straight while she recovered.

Twilight winced and held a hoof to both sides of her head, sitting up in the bed. "Feels like someone tap-danced on my skull...."

"I have no doubt. That potion was specifically designed to detoxify a person's body of the painkiller I gave you. It can be very unpleasant when dealing with overdoses, but it's effective!"

She could feel the soreness returning, slowly but surely, and she rolled her withers to help alleviate and adjust to it at least a little. "I guess so. Thanks...wait," she said, glancing out of one of the windows. "How long have I been here?"

"For a few hours, you have stayed here. You are late to make your way home, I fear," she said, chuckling a little and motioning to her door. "Your pack, it has been set aside."

Twilight got up from the bed quickly once Zecora let her go, but she had to sit back down for a moment as her head spun from the rush of blood. A thought came to her when she felt the soreness flare up, and she looked to her friend curiously.

"Do you think you could maybe fill some smaller vials with that painkilling potion? I'm pretty sure I've learned my lesson after this."

Zecora looked her friend over once with a guarded smile. "I do not wish to be vindictive, but this potion can be quite addictive," she said, looking Twilight in the eyes for a moment longer before relenting. "But if you truly wish to take that risk, I will make them to give your body a fix."

She smiled and bowed her head to Zecora, heading towards the door. "Thanks Zecora, I really appreciate it!"

She watched Twilight go with a vague feeling of apprehension. She glanced over to the vials and bottles she'd filled with what had been left over of her previous batch of the painkiller, unsure if she should keep her word on this matter...but eventually, after re-evaluating her faith in Twilight's willpower, she picked up some empty vials and went to work measuring out and filling them with a standard dose.

Chapter 7 - Gathering (OLD)

Chapter 7 - Gathering

written by Fire Soul

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were up to their usual shenanigans from the break of dawn, most of the town marketplace still startled by the loud crash in the middle of it. An error in judgment had resulted in Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, who were riding in the red cart attached to the back of Scootaloo's namesake vehicle, to go vaulting head-first over Scootaloo, who only faceplanted into the side of a market stall. Both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle managed to land in a heap on Applejack's unattended stall. They both groaned while Scootaloo stumbled over towards them, all three of them dazed and incoherent as Apple Bloom took a step forward off of the top of the stall and fell limply atop of Scoot, making them both grunt and fall over each other. Apple Bloom's grunt was muffled though, an apple partially bitten into when she first landed, wedged into her mouth and blocking anything she tried to say.

"Oh wow....Scootaloo, did you hit a box of TNT or something....?" Sweetie Belle whimpered out, reaching up and rubbing her nose, a sharp pain running through her snout when she gave it a little testing poke. Yup, she came pretty close to breaking it, if she didn't actually already do it. "Oooww....!" she whimpered out, her teeth clenching and brow furrowing while a hissing breath was drawn in through those pearly whites. Suddenly, she noticed a light snickering coming from Scootaloo....and she was visibly infuriated. "What's so funny?! I think my nose is broken!" she half-shouted at her small-winged friend.

Scootaloo just kept laughing, eventually opening her mouth wide in a somewhat raucous laughter that had Sweetie Belle's cheeks lighting up in embarrassment. It didn't help that Apple Bloom was laughing as well, though muffled still by that apple wedged in her mouth. "No no Sweets, it's not tha-hah!-that....!" she said, her eyes clenching shut after she finished speaking, mouth pressing closed firmly to try to stifle herself, but Scootaloo much like her idol Rainbow Dash, lacked the willpower to control herself in the presence of something so funny. "You-you've got a safety apple on your horn!" she said slightly louder than last she spoke, finally breaking down alongside Apple Bloom.

Sweetie Belle's eyes widened and she reached up to touch her hoof to her horn, finding something wet coating it. That was when she started to notice the coldness surrounding a good majority of its length, and then some of the juice dripped down in front of her eyes. "Eeeww! Hey, that's not funny, Scoot!" she snarled at her friend, her horn glowing and slowly easing the apple off of itself, the speared fruit plopping down onto the cobblestone road messily. Sweetie looked over to Apple Bloom after that and giggled some herself, wincing slightly as the slight shaking of the laugh made the pain in her snout flare up. "Nnf....! M-maybe we should help Apple Bloom out, Scootaloo."

Sweetie Belle's predicament had been pretty funny, but Apple Bloom's situation was downright hilarious! That apple had wedged itself in so perfectly that she couldn't open her mouth up far enough to pull it out, and it was far enough in that she couldn't get her hooves on it well enough to tug it out. Apple Bloom mrph'ed and grunted muffledly, eventually sitting down and grunting in frustration, her glaring at Sweetie Belle when she started to laugh. She could only blush and lower her head when Scootaloo started laughing anew at the sight of her as well, Apple Bloom just sitting silently, not wanting to give them more laughter fuel by trying to talk to them.

Eventually, Scootaloo calmed down enough along with Sweetie Belle, who was trying her best to get a grip on that apple with her magic, but she had no real skill with doing that sort of thing, and it was stuck in Apple Bloom's mouth GOOD. Scoot hrm'ed and walked up next to Sweetie Belle, who let out a worn breath and hung her head, the magic lighting up her horn dissipating just as suddenly. "Ugh, I can't get it out! Any ideas, Scoot?" she asked, looking to the Pegasus pony curiously. Scootaloo sighed and rubbed the back of her head. "Well, yeah...." she muttered, but Sweetie Belle spoke up suddenly after that. "Hey, how come you're not hurt?! You crashed into the side of a stall!"

Scootaloo just grinned at her Unicorn friend. "I'm not hurt because I'm AWESOME like that. Now then!" she said, looking around at the crowd they'd managed to grab the attention of. Most of them had dispersed enough to make Scootaloo vaguely comfortable with doing what she had in mind. It was the only method she could think of at this point, without going to get AJ and a crowbar that is. She looked to Sweetie Belle, then back to Apple Bloom, who just quirked a brow and tilted her head expectantly, waiting to see what she had in mind....but then, Apple Bloom's eyes went wide when Scoot started drawing in closer, her lips getting closer.

Scoot wasn't exactly happy with this idea all that much, but Apple Bloom's mouth was open enough. It only counted as kissing if the lips kiss, right? Right. She swallowed hard and bared her teeth, carefully placing her forehooves on Apple Bloom's shoulders, teeth biting semi-deep halfway into the apple, head turned sideways so that she could get as good a grip on it as possible, and slowly began to tug at it. She blushed a crimson red when she saw Sweetie Belle moving to sit only a foot away from the two, staring hard at them both so that she could perhaps catch Scootaloo mistakenly grazing Apple Bloom's lips with her own. Sure enough, she did when she turned her head a little to try and get a better grip and twist the apple out of Apple Bloom's mouth, the tactic succeeding, but not before her lips touched her friend's.

She quickly spat out the apple while their Earth Pony friend groaned and flapped her jaws a few times, rubbing her jaw this way and that to work the ache out of it while Sweetie Belle grinned and trotted around both of them. "AB and Scoot-a-loo, sittin' in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" she chanted in a sing-song tone, Scoot's blush intensifying. "Shut up, Sweetie Belle!" she shouted at her friend, the Unicorn filly continuing on while AB's cheeks began to light up as well, her jaw too sore to really say anything. "First comes love...." she said, grinning as Apple Bloom stood up from her sitting position and glared at her menacingly. "Be quiet Sweetie Belle, ah'm warnin' ya!" she mumbled more quietly than she would've preferred, her jaw throbbing from doing so.

"Then comes marriage...." she muttered, her eyes closed and her trot starting to look just as smug as the expression on her face. Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were fuming, Scoot's wings extending as she lowered to the ground and took aim at Sweetie Belle, AB doing much of the same. "Then comes the baby in the baby carriage!" she spoke in finality, stopping in place and laughing heartily. "THAT'S IT!" Scootaloo cried out, her and AB pouncing on Sweetie Belle and quickly starting to fight, the three of them kicking up dust as they became a mass of swinging hooves and legs, flat teeth biting and tugging at one another while a multitude of yelling voices rose up from them, barely able to make sense of what they were trying to say to each other.

Finally, Applejack had made her way into the marketplace. She had woken up late thanks to fretting and researching various economic laws, possible ways out, and no matter which way she looked at it, she was up a creek without a paddle. She could have applied for a loan, maybe even a business loan, but that wasn't a guaranteed way out of this predicament. No, she knew of ONE truly guaranteed way out of this, even a way to be set for the rest of her life and able to take care of her family for years, but....that was a disgusting option. She had barely gotten to sleep when Big Macintosh had grabbed her by her mane and dragged his exhausted sister into her room to make sure she went to sleep at that point, since he was the one that woke up that early every day, giving her some time to rouse herself and wake herself up, AJ far from being a morning pony.

She was definitely plenty awake when she spotted her trusty stall, partially broken with the produce she'd stocked on it during her first trip into the market around ten minutes ago. It would have been a longer trip, but she was antsy and anxious from the current monetary issues the farm had, so she was rushing back and forth. She broke out into a gallop however, when she spotted the trio duking it out with one another, with some wooden planks broken off of the stall and mashed apples cluttering the ground around the brawling young fillies. "WHAT in tarnation is goin' on here?!" she could be heard shouting at them from only a few feet away.

The fight was over very suddenly, it becoming clear that Scootaloo and AB were playing co-op against Sweetie Belle during this bout. Apple Bloom had produced a rope from one of her packs during the scuffle and hogtied Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo was rubbing a mushy apple all over the Unicorn's cheek. At the same time though, with Sweetie Belle almost completely helpless on her back, her horn was glowing and an apple was levitating within her grasp, smacking against Scoot's forehead hard over and over with an audible wet 'splup!' sound. Needless to say, the whole scene was exactly what you'd expect from the Crusaders.

Applejack was far from amused. On the contrary, all of her current issues had boiled over into the aggravation she was feeling more and more as she looked upon her semi-ruined stall, and the produce lost to their haphazard control when riding around together. "Why is mah stall destroyed, girls?" she asked in a surprisingly calm tone, though the expression on her face betrayed that tame voice. "How exactly did y'all manage t'do this?"

Apple Bloom cowered a little, looking into her sister's eyes and away again, lightly tapping her left forehoof against the ground timidly, nervously. She always lost her bravado when her sister gave her such an angry stare like she was doing now, though it was directed at all three of them equally. AJ glared at Scootaloo, who put her mushy apple she was rubbing into Sweetie Belle's cheek off to the side, while Sweetie Belle's horn stopped glowing and the squished apple she was using was tossed aside. "W-well, ah was just....ah mean, we were just ridin' down the street when somepony wheeled their cart out in front of us," she explained, pausing to give the knot she'd tied in the rope around Sweetie Belle's legs a few tugs, tugging it loose and setting her friend free. "We didn't mean to!"

Scootaloo spoke up quickly after AB, stepping into Applejack's line of sight. "It was my fault! I'm really sorry, Applejack," she apologized with a genuine, worried and apologetic expression, the brown pegasus hanging her head some while AJ looked between the three of them. She eventually looked back to her banged-up stall, sighing and quietly facehoofing, lightly running the back of her curled right forehoof down the bridge of her nose, fwipping her lower lip as she dropped it down to the ground again with a stamping force. "It's....it's alright, girls...." she said, letting out a heavy sighing breath and hanging her head. "Can't do nothin' 'bout an honest mistake. Y'all are tellin' the truth, right?" she asked them, eyeing each of them as they vigorously nodded their head.

Golden Harvest, one of Applejack's best businesspony partners, walked over from her own carrot-themed stall full of some of Applejack's grown produce, oddly enough. For reasons of variety so that she didn't 'put all her apples in one basket' so to speak, Sweet Apple Acres grew all different sorts of fruits and vegetables, only keeping apples as their main crop of choice. The tactic saved them a multitude of times in the past, it often being the reason they didn't go completely under. "Oh, Applejack, it really was an accident. I saw the whole thing," she said, placing a forehoof on AJ's shoulder. "Somepony walked a cart in front of Scootaloo while she was looking back at Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, she didn't see it until it was too late."

AJ averted her gaze from the Crusaders to listen to her friend for a moment, a small sigh escaping her and her features softening up after Harvest was done talking, Applejack nodding to her and smiling while waving to her as she turned and went back to her own stall. "Ah'm sorry 'bout that girls. I've just been all kinds o' stressed out lately, an'-....ah well, nevermind that," she said, waving off the discussion with a hoof and putting on a smile, the tell-tale sign of exhaustion forming some big, heavy-looking bags underneath AJ's eyes, something Apple Bloom had become keen at noticing. "Aw, don't worry 'bout it sis, we understand. Right gals?" Apple Bloom asked, looking to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, who both just 'mmmhmm'd and nodded in agreement.

Applejack smiled to that and was about to send them to take care of this problem, or at least get someone that could take care of it quickly, when who else but Rarity would show up, with Pinkie Pie bounding in her hopping way right on by, with her Basket Hat on full display and picnic baskets bouncing up and down on her back and beneath her mouth. "Oh, hel-LO there girls, Applejack!" Rarity said in her usual overt flair, the Crusaders smiling and Sweetie Belle grinning at the sight of her sister. Pinkie Pie didn't even stop to say hello, her just continuing along at her steady yet casual pace, hopping up and down, constantly moving forward. Applejack noticed this, and quirked a brow. "What's got Pinkie Pie in such a rush?"

Rarity giggled a little at the prospect of being able to break this news to Applejack herself, it was such a potentially deviant thing to discover! However, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were there, and they would likely blab all about this exciting situation with Rainbow Dash if she dared to say anything where they could eavesdrop. "Oh! W-well, Pinkie Pie is VERY excited about a spur-of-the-moment get-together idea that she had for us, and you just know how much she loves to throw parties for her bestest friends. Not to mention how FUN they are~!" she said with an almost musical flourish towards the end.

Applejack quietly adjusted her Stetson atop her head, finding it slumping at an odd angle on her head, partially blocking out her line of sight in her right eye. "Dagnabbit, gotta git th' string on this thing fixed," she grumbled to herself under her breath, recalling the elastic string she had attached to her hat a while back so that it didn't go flying from an errant breeze. "Well, ah'd love a break, Rarity, but....well, actually...." she said, gazing over at Apple Bloom and her friends, a smile creeping across her lips. "Apple Bloom, girls, can ah talk to y'all over here?" she asked, motioning them to follow while looking over to Rarity. "Ah'll just be a minute, a'right?" she asked, and Rarity just nodded to her, only vaguely curious about what the Crusaders had to do with this predicament. "Oh! Well, sure, take however long you need, darling!"

Apple Bloom and her friends seemed confused as they stepped aside with Applejack, though AJ had motioned Apple Bloom to step away to talk with her one-on-one for a moment. "Whatcha suppose they're talking about?" Scootaloo idly pondered, looking over to Sweetie Belle, curious whether or not the Unicorn knew something she didn't. "Well....Applejack does look really tired lately. She's got those baggies under her eyes that my sister says a proper lady should always make sure she never gets," she said, humming a little. Scootaloo just shrugged. "Well, apparently it has something to do with all of us, I can't think of any other reason AJ would need you and I to come along."

Apple Bloom seemed confused, and a tad bit worried, looking back to her friends and then to AJ, when her sister took a seat and lowered down to talk more face-to-face instead of looming over her. "A'right, lil' sis, ah'm trustin' ya with this, 'cuz ah'm....well, ah'm exhausted," she said, her ears flattening somewhat as she said it. She did NOT like admitting her weakness, even if it was justified, the stubborn pony that she was. "Ah could really use this break....with that said, ah got a job fer you an' yer Crusader pals," she said with a wider smile, trying to brighten up despite her drastically tired expression. "Y'see, ah can't leave the stall unattended, an' it needs to get fixed up real quick-like. So, there're two things ah wan'cha t'do. First thing, is to go tell yer big brother what happened so he can grab his tools and git started repairin' the stand," she explained, her tone warm, but firm at the same time, looking straight into her little sister's eyes. "Now Apple Bloom, y'all already know how t'work the stand, ah taught'cha how t'sell products....if ah leave ya in Golden Harvest's care, can ya teach yer friends how to help ya sell apples?"

Apple Bloom was taken completely by surprise, not just by being given the task of tending the apple stand, but also because her sister was being....well, she was being truthful about her physical condition! "....Who're you, and what'cha done with mah big sister?" she asked, her eyes wide and her voice monotone, as if she were in shock. She snapped out of it a moment later, grinning wide. "Really, sis?! Yer really really REALLY gonna trust me t'do this?! Aw, this is awesome, Applejack! Ah promise ah'll do mah best, ah'll sell lots of apples! Ah'll-" she started to rant and rave in her excitement, the little filly practically vibrating along the ground, she was hopping around so rapidly. "Apple Bloom, Apple Bloom! Calm down, sugarcube!" AJ called out to her, the younger filly going still, but shuffling in place a bit with a wide grin on her lips.

Applejack was having second thoughts, but a break from all of her concerns, even if it meant leaving Apple Bloom in charge for a little while, was far too tempting for her tired mind to say no to. "AB, ah gotta hear it from you....can ah trust ya t'do this right? Can I? Please tell me yer gonna do this right. No funny business, no foolin' 'round with th' customers? No sneakin' apples into passersby's saddlebags?" she said, taking on an accusatory tone right at the end there. Apple Bloom shrunk a little at the almost desperate tone in her sister's voice, but her happy mood could not be suppressed for more than a moment. "You got it sis! Ah'll do ya proud an' sell plenty of apples, the right way!" she stated enthusiastically, her grin never fading. Applejack nodded to her and looked to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, walking over to them both and sitting down to talk to both of them about the same thing, both of them agreeing to help Apple Bloom just the same.

Rarity was confused at what she both overheard and saw occurring between her friend and the easily excited youth that seemed to almost be employed by AJ by the time the Stetson-clad Earth Pony approached her once more, seemingly ready to go. Before they left though, Rarity's eyes bulged when she heard what Applejack asked of Golden Harvest, walking alongside Rarity and keeping almost perfect pace with her. "You left the Cutie Mark Crusaders in charge of your stall?!"

She just shrugged and shook her head. "Apple Bloom knows what she's s'posed t'do, ah taught 'er last time she wanted t' help me, how she should handle things," she explained, smiling a bit. "Been 'round two years since we went n' gave that a try, but ah'm sure she can do just fine with 'er friends helpin' 'er out. Anyways....let's git goin' to that party!" she said, Rarity smiling and nodding a couple of times. "Of course, Applejack! But....you look absolutely exhausted darling. Are you sure you don't want to just rest instead?" Rarity asked, looking over AJ's face closely.

Applejack just leaned away from her friend's close examination, shaking her head. "Ah'm FINE, Rarity. Okay? Don'cha start gettin' all concerned about me," she said with some slight frustration, shaking her head. "Big Mac said the same thing, talkin' 'bout me bein' all on-edge n' whatnot, but I know ah'm just fine! Just....y'know, workin' hard lately, busy Applebuck Season this time."

They continued to talk back and forth, passing information to each other about their given businesses. Though, Applejack found herself tuning Rarity out every time she started to go on a tirade about fashion and modern trends. Just the same, Rarity repeatedly tuned Applejack out every time she brought up the number of apples she collected, and whenever she started to talk about her new favorite tree, Bloombundt. The only thing they both got equally enthusiastic about, was when they brought up their income and conversation about the ponies they did business with. Where Applejack did lots of unseen trade and sales with ponies in and around Ponyville, not to mention less celebrity-ish ponies that bought a lot of her apples, to stock and supplement their own supplies for their own businesses in the bigger cities. Rarity on the other hoof, she had more personal work to do for customers like Sapphire Shores, DJ Pon-3, and multitudes of other well-known ponies. Throughout the entire conversation though, Applejack couldn't help but think that perhaps Rarity could help her out. But no, that just seemed far too desperate in her mind, so she kept her mouth shut on such matters. She was NOT desperate!

Fluttershy was busy the entire morning, a bag of bird feed stowed away in her saddlebags, while a bunch of carrots were packed away in the other saddlebag, balancing out the weight she had on her back. With a soft grunt, she stopped short of a bunch of burrows belonging to some rabbits that decided to live close to Fluttershy's home, away from the Everfree Forest, which they moved away from. They met her as she approached, a large carrot being set down in front of each of their burrows. "There you go, little bunnies. You have a very big family, but I have plenty here for each of you," she said in her usual, calm and sweet way, her naturally gentle voice accompanied by a warm and loving smile, everything that made the animals love Fluttershy unconditionally.

After setting most of the carrots out, Angel Bunny approached Fluttershy after eating his morning carrot, his little pink nose wiggling and his discerning eyes looking over the many bunnies that moved close by. Just when Fluttershy was about to move on to the birds she spotted another bunny, one with a more pink-tinted body of fur, Angel Bunny blushing hotly when she touched noses with him in an adorable little bunny-kiss, their little noses wiggling against each other. "Oh, my! Angel Bunny, you never told me that you had a mate...." she said, her close animal friend quickly pulling away and stamping his foot soundly against the ground. He didn't lash out, he just behaved as grumpily as he always did around Fluttershy, her just figuring that was his way of trying to show respect and also to seem 'grown up'. It was endearing.

The pink-furred rabbit giggled, little paws covering her mouth when Angel moved away from her with such embarrassment. She quietly moved up behind him and let out a little squeak, half-pouncing on him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders, squeezing him there in a hug, making him slouch and his face twist into an angry expression, him glaring in Fluttershy's direction. Fluttershy just giggled quietly and covered her mouth with her hoof while doing so. "Why are you looking at me like that, Angel? It's not my fault~," she said in a sing-song tone, waving goodbye to him. "I'll go and feed the birds now. Have fun, Angel!" she said, Angel squeaking out some choice words in a language that only her animals could understand while Fluttershy began walking away. However, halfway to the tree her birds gathered at for musical practice, Fluttershy felt a long foot beating lightly against her ankle.

"Oh! Yes, Angel? Was there something else you wanted?" she asked, watching as he eagerly pointed at the cottage, hopping up and down a few times and motioning to having some kind of invisible object on his back. When Fluttershy just gave a look of confusion, he got on all fours and hopped high off the ground, up and down, smiling wide until he looked akin to a certain pink pony, but still Fluttershy didn't get it. He smacked his paw against his face and drug it down over his nose and his lips, grumbling and hopping up in front of her face, bopping her on the nose and pointing insistently towards the cottage. "Well....okay Angel Bunny, but I've only been out here for a few minutes. Who could have shown up at home while I was out?" she mused, putting her bag of bird feed down so that she didn't have to carry it back to the cottage. Angel Bunny just rolled his eyes at the question that she asked, him pondering on whether or not Pinkie would wind up startling his owner. Of course, before he could follow, pink arms grabbed him and spun him around, his eyes going wide when he felt his mate giving him a more long-lasting smooch. His eyes looked left, then right, scanning what he could see. Then, seeing no one around, he just smiled blissfully and dropped his grumpy exterior, resting his paws on his mate's sides and pressing in towards her, deepening the kiss she'd started.

She trotted up towards the cottage slightly faster when she heard the familiar voice of Pinkie Pie talking to somepony, though who she'd be talking to Fluttershy had no idea. Of course, when she got close enough to make out exactly what she was saying, it all became plenty clear. "I don't know where she is Gummy! She must be taking care of her animals or something, she's always busy like that," Pinkie said, blinking and quirking a brow at her gator. "Huh? Whatcha mean, she's coming? Why would she....oh! Hi there, Fluttershy!" she called out, waving to her as she stepped around her cottage from behind it.

Fluttershy walked up to Pinkie casually, calm as ever and relaxed, smiling happily at the sight of her friend. "Hello there Pinkie Pie! It's nice to see you....what can I do for you?" she asked with that same happy and cheerful tone. Pinkie just grinned and pointed at her Basket Hat. "Oh, you're having another party?" she asked, and Gummy jumped off of the top of Pinkie's head over to hers, his toothless mouth chomping down on the back of Fluttershy's neck, then down along her mane in cute nomming bites, eventually stopping at her ankles, gumming at one, then the other, then her hindlegs, lather rinse repeat. "Wow! Gummy isn't normally this energetic at this time of day. Must be all the sun he's been getting this morning. Anyways Fluttershy, you gonna come to my party? It's gonna be great, we get to meet a new friend, and have lots of drinks and food and we get to meet Rainbow Dash's new coltfriend that we're not supposed to know about and she and he have been really secretive about!“ she said, grinning and hopping up and down with clear excitement.

Fluttershy was taken aback by what Pinkie Pie just said. Rainbow Dash had a coltfriend, and she hadn't told anypony? That was surprising....normally Rainbow Dash was so ready to proudly tell anypony that would listen. "I wonder why Rainbow Dash would hide something like having a coltfriend from us....how did you find out, Pinkie Pie?“ she asked, raising a hoof that had Gummy attached to it, pointing idly at the pink pony. "Oh, I have my own custom Pinkie Pie ways! But, if you really wanna know....“ she said, leaning in close and almost touching noses with Fluttershy, looking her in the eyes. "I teased him about buying her Rainbow Cupcakes!“ she said suddenly, after a fairly long moment of silence, giggling and backing away. "Come on Gummy! We have to get going so we can set everything up and fetch Rainbow Dash and her coltfriend!“

Gummy complied rather quickly, waddling with small twists of his body, hopping up onto Pinkie's head once more just before the pink pony took off, leaving a confused Fluttershy standing there alone. "But....where do we-“ she started to ask, only to have Pinkie appear behind her, Fluttershy swearing she saw Pinkie go over the crest of the hill. "Easy! We meet up at Starlight Hill. Where did you THINK we were going, you silly filly?“ she asked with a grin, hopping past Fluttershy for a second time, and after a few seconds of looking around, she was sure that Pinkie had really left this time. Fluttershy just let out a breath and shook her head, going to finish her chores before meeting up with everypony. Of course, she idly wondered where Angel Bunny had disappeared to, but she didn't want to let her mind dwell on it. His mate seemed very sweet and friendly, and that was all that mattered to Fluttershy, when it came to her animal friends and their happiness.

Rainbow Dash waited with a slight impatience on a cloud right next to their chosen meeting location, forelegs crossed in front of her, hanging off of the edge of the cloud she was laying on along with her head, hanging low and decorated with the most bored expression the pegasus pony could come up with. "Where is he....?“ she muttered lazily, rolling over onto her back and examining the cloud layout, mostly focusing on a batch of clouds that had gathered together and started to become a more dark color. "Huh, that's odd,“ she mused, standing up and spreading her wings, getting ready to take off and deal with the oddity.

Wind Strider was late, but he was good at having excellent timing, as he proved when he called out to Rainbow Dash while streaking towards her from behind. "Hello there, beautiful!“ he called out to her, drawing the eyes and attentions of a few passersby, making Rainbow Dash seize up for a moment and blush. Ditzy Doo had happened to be passing by, and she laughed a little at Dash's reaction, making the rainbow-maned pegasus glare in her direction. "Don't you have some letters to deliver?“ she said in a huffy, semi-upset tone, Ditzy Doo just waving and flying back down and away from the pair, Strider having reached Rainbow within the time it took for her to recompose herself.

He just grinned when she bapped him upside his head lightly. "WHY did you do that?! You knew I'd react that way, didn't you?“ she asked, smirking at him and shaking her head, fluttering lazily back and away from him, her eyes shifting this way and that slowly, discreetly, her wanting to make sure nopony was around to watch them. Finding them alone for the moment, Rainbow Dash smiled and flapped close to him again, wrapping her forelegs around his neck to hug him good and tight, nuzzling her cheek against his as well, a hot blush forming on her entire face.

Strider was surprised at the sudden show of affection, but he certainly wasn't avoiding it. He leaned in against that hug, their life-long experience as pegasi causing them both to flap their wings in a way that let them press together more firmly and brace against one another in that hug, his forearms wrapping around the back of her neck in return. They stayed that way for a good minute, Strider easing out of that hug first, him staying quiet while gazing into her eyes. Finally, he chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, ruffling that long flowing black mane of his, smiling a little more widely. "S-so, what brought that on?“

Rainbow Dash was still blushing hard enough to cook an egg with her face, but still she shrugged her shoulders, looking away and scratching one of her cheeks with the tip of her hoof. "Well, you said that I should....you know, be less shy around you, so I just....kinda....went for it,“ she said, taking a moment to look around more intently once more, still seeing nopony around. "At least nopony caught us....“ she said in that subdued tone of voice yet again, Strider just chuckling and touching his hoof to her shoulder. "Heh, relax Rainbow Dash! It's no big deal.“ he said, but he'd almost completely forgotten about the wound to his leg....the one that had gotten a fairly creative leaf bandage and herbal medication applied to it. Though, to Zecora's credit, the fairly bloody cut didn't hurt hardly at all anymore.

Rainbow Dash noticed almost immediately when he reached for her with his foreleg. How couldn't she? It was directly to the right of her eyes from where he was reaching for her from. "Whoa....what happened?“ she asked, grasping his foreleg and holding it outstretched when he tried to recoil, him forced to let her look over it for a couple seconds before she let his leg go, him clearing his throat and thinking quickly for a moment. "Well, you remember that....that thing, I had to do earlier? Well, you see, Princess Luna, she wanted me to investigate the Everfree Forest. I'd really rather not divulge exactly what she wanted me to look for, so please don't ask.“

She tilted her head and flew away for a minute, grabbing a few clouds and squishing them together so that she and Strider could sit together on it, pushing the packed-together clouds back over in front of her coltfriend. She tucked her wings in after landing gently atop the plus-sized cloud, gently patting the space next to her, smiling at the dark-blue pony hovering in front of her with a puzzled, curious expression. "Alright, then why don't you tell me how you got hurt? That's a pretty big bandage....and what kind of bandage is that?" she asked, letting his foreleg go after giving it a closer examination, brief as it may have been.

Strider was getting a familiar feeling from these questions. That feeling of dread that made his mind boil and his stomach churn. All of these lies meant nothing good on his end. "Oh, I uh....stumbled across Twilight in the Everfree Forest, I think she was going to visit Zecora, and she brought me with because she thought that my wound looked worse than it actually was. Zecora put some medicine on it and wrapped it up, that's all!" he said, hoping he had his story straight as he could afford to have it. Then again, he was already losing track of what he'd already told Twilight to get the lavender Unicorn off of his case. However, with the look in Twilight's eyes, he could only assume that he hadn't eluded her inquisitive nature, and that concerned him greatly.

For Rainbow Dash though, this all seemed to be plenty to satisfy her curiosity, not that it mattered, since a shout from a familiar pink pony down below called them both to attention. "Heeeeeeey~! Rainbow Dash, Colt-I-Don't-Knoooooow~!" she shouted out to them in a more sing-song voice, waving up at them with a hoof. When they took too long to respond, she hrmph'ed and smirked, narrowing her eyes. "Don't make me get my Pinkie-Copter!" she said in a mock-threatening tone. "I'd hate to catch you two in the act!"

Rainbow Dash leaned over the edge of the cloud that she and Strider were sitting on, waving down to Pinkie Pie in return. She was blushing again, very intensely, even Pinkie could make it out. "Wh-what?! We're not-I'm....erm, don't worry, we'll be right down!" she said, sitting up and looking back over to Strider. "Doesn't look like we're getting privacy 'til later, huh?" she asked, and Strider just nodded his head. "Sounds about right, I seem to be running into a lot of ponies you know today." he said, spreading his wings alongside Rainbow and making his way down to Pinkie, landing almost perfectly in time with his fellow pegasus.

Pinkie Pie grinned when they both came down to meet her, the earth pony staying standing with her Basket Hat still adorning her head, having Gummy sitting inside of it, his beady eyes glancing and staring into Strider's own. Strider just stared at the alligator for a few moments, barely even noticing Pinkie beginning to talk. "So this day is turning out great! I have a surprise for both of you!" she said, hopping up and down. It was then that Strider took notice to the picnic baskets that Pinkie was carrying around, Rainbow Dash apparently noticing the same. "Uh, what's with all the....oh. You've got a party planned, don't you?" Rainbow asked, smirking and eyeing her prankster friend knowingly.

"Yup! You're such a smart pony, how'd you guess?" she asked in her usual tone. Oh, how Rainbow Dash knew that it was near-impossible to figure out whether or not Pinkie Pie was being sarcastic, or genuine, and this was easily one of the impossible moments with her. "Yyyeah....well, where's this party happening?" Rainbow asked, and Pinkie just pointed in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. "We're all meeting up at Starlight Hill! Be sure to come by soon, everything's almost ready!"

Strider exchanged a look with Rainbow Dash, then looked to Pinkie Pie, smiling. "Can I assume I'm invited as well, erm....Pinkie Pie, right?" he asked, holding a hoof out to the party pony in offer, Pinkie responding in kind with a bro-hoof of sorts. "Yup, name's Pinkie Pie! Nice to see you again," she said, grinning and turning to head to the place she'd be setting up her little picnic party. "Don't be late! The girls are looking forward to meeting you, Mystery Pony!" she said while rushing away from them to leave them alone. But then, she came back just as suddenly as she'd left them standing there looking at each other in confusion. "Oh, by the way, have either of you seen Twilight? I checked the library, but Spike said she ran off to the Everfree Forest, I was wondering if she came back yet."

Strider held up a hoof, smiling. "Oh, I spotted her while heading out of the Everfree Forest earlier, she was just visiting her friend Zecora. She should be back in a while, they were very chatty with one another," he explained, Pinkie turning away from them after he finished. "Okie-dokie-lokie! I'll find 'er, don't worry! You two just head on up to Starlight Hill after I leave, the picnic should be all set up by the time you get there." With that, Pinkie went bounding away, leaving Strider and Rainbow looking at each other curiously, both of them shrugging their shoulders. Rainbow laughed shortly after and shook her head a few times, a blush staining her cheeks. "I guess you were right....she knows!"

Strider just smirked and shrugged at the prospect. "Well, it's a perfect time to come clean, isn't it? I'm tired of hiding it from everypony anyways," he said, flapping his wings a couple of times before tucking them in and relaxing. "So.....shall we go?"

Twilight continued down the path, grumbling something to herself, feeling the fatigue from the headache, all of the walking making her blood pump more intensely, and in doing so it made her headache worse. Eventually she stopped and took her third breather, sitting down against the base of a tree next to the main path. "Ugh, this was a bad idea....I'm gonna be sick by the time I get back, I should've eaten breakfast too!" she said, chastising herself. "But then, if I had taken the time, I would've caught that Wind Strider pony hanging around here, I don't even HEAR a Manticore anywhere near this area!"

"Can you help me, please....?" an ethereal voice asked, Twilight perking her head up and looking around. "Who's there?!"

Chapter 8 - Enter My Web (OLD)

Chapter 8 - Enter My Web....

written by Fire Soul

Twilight's eyes darted around the area, trying to get a bead on the source of the voice she had just heard. The sound of it alone made her very fidgety, jumpy, and not being able to see the source of a voice that seemed to come from all around her only made her more concerned. "Where are you? Why don't you come out and talk to me?" she asked in as calm a voice as possible. That didn't change the speed of her racing heart though, the intense dread she was feeling now, alone and unfocused, currently stuck in a very 'lacking' mentality....oh, thinking about THAT wasn't making this any better, crud!

Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat, suddenly wishing very, very much that she'd somehow delayed Wind Strider heading back into town. Did he run into this as well, whatever this was? "W-well, what do you want with me?" she called out again, trying to break the silence that surrounded her now, anything to make the forest around her seem less foreboding. She felt plenty alert now, all of her senses sharp as a razor's edge, her fear forcing her to break through her depression and her anger to focus more on self-preservation, a far more motivating reason to raise her awareness than 'I should do something'.

Silence once again surrounded her, aside from a rustling in the bushes nearby, Twilight unsure if the sound was from the wind, or from something moving through the underbrush. The quiet, the lack of a response, upset her further, her driving her fear away for a moment by calling out in her frustration. "Answer me, damn it!" she shouted out at nothing in particular, desperate for an answer. She spun around, her eyes wide, when something behind her finally responded.

"I want you," a feminine voice said to her, Twilight looking left, then right, then down when she realized that the voice was very young, almost sounding like a filly of the CMC's ages. She wasn't ready for those eyes, though. Those shiny, vertically slitted draconic eyes, the same she'd seen in her reflection. She didn't look away though, she was equally afraid of not keeping an eye on this....this pitch-black-furred foal, this foal that made her far beyond uneasy just being this close to her. Twilight was only standing maybe five steps away from the young filly, the little foal appearing from just around a tree behind the one she had decided to rest against. "I want to be with you."

Though she was scared, she was also oddly curious. Did this thing know her, somehow? Her tail twitched with the terror-addled excitement she felt, the first kind of curiosity-driven excitement she'd felt since before her breakdown, that tri-colored tail sweeping left and right over her flanks. "O-okay....erm, who are you, then....?" she asked, her voice shaky and unsure, her imagination going a mile a minute. Would this thing kill her, or attack her? Would it simply be nice to her, or would it do nothing at all?

The black-bodied foal, clearly female, eyes only blinking once at the question Twilight asked. "I am like you," she said, giggling an ethereal laugh, one that made Twilight jump, startled at how all-encompassing it sounded, the little laugh coming from all around her, just like the foal's voice seemed to before she appeared where Twilight could see her. The little filly never turned her gaze from Twilight's face, staring at her with a creepy eagerness. "I am what you want to be. Don't you want to be like me, Twilight Sparkle?"

Hearing her name made Twilight swallow another lump in her throat, her mouth suddenly feeling dry, her eyes dilating and her heart redoubling its beat rate. "How do you know my name? What's YOUR name?!" Twilight asked in a clear panic, her terrified eyes staying locked on the little foal as she slunk along the ground, her hooves staying pressed to the ground, as if she were skating without any actual skates. "I said that I am you, Sister...." she said in a wispy voice, her sliding motions suddenly jolting her forward and up, her legs becoming long and spindly, utterly out of proportion from the rest of her tiny body. She was eye-level with Twilight, the lavender Unicorn locked in place out of utter and absolute fear. "Please stay with me, Sister....give yourself to me!!"

Twilight's eyes dilated when the little foal's mouth opened, and then distended, becoming larger and larger before her very eyes. All she could see were teeth, rows upon rows of gnashing, spinning, undulating teeth attached to inky blackness, ready to gore her into small pieces and swallow her comparatively fleshy body. In her terror, her magic almost kicked in all on its own, the initial blast making the mouth closing in around her bulge out further and away from her, the snap of energy after making her blink back ten feet away from the monstrosity.

She didn't have time to relax or ask questions. "Please, Sister, I want your help....!" the little foal begged in her wispy voice once more, her mouth closing to normal once more as she slid along the ground towards Twilight once more. The lavender Unicorn turned and bolted down the pathway, barely acknowledging the burn in her very out-of-shape body in favor of survival and nothing but.

"SOMEPONY HELP ME!!!!"

To say that Strider was surprised at the spread waiting for them once they had arrived was an understatement. Food was laid out, a lot of it being sweets and baked goods of all varieties, including some of Rainbow Dash's favorites. Muffins, pies, a few personal cakes and more, he couldn't even apply a known name to most of the things he saw. His gaze fell on Rainbow Dash, who was sitting next to him, him pointing his left forehoof at an odd, round creme-like treat with a red center that wasn't made of cream. "Uh....what is this thing?"

"It's my own special design! The outside is a boiled creme, and the middle is a plum. Kind of like a rice ball!" Pinkie said with her usual enthusiasm. "Go on, give it a try!" she said, holding the plate full of them out to Strider, him looking at them closely. They were shaped like a big wafer, and he was seriously wondering about the construction of this confection, but nonetheless, he tilted his head down and went after one with his teeth. "WAIT!"

He almost jumped from the rather startling shout from the pink mare, his eyes going wide and him backing off from the offered plate. Pinkie looked at him sternly. "Haven't you ever tried one of these before? Sheesh, so uncultured...." she said in a flat tone....then giggled and patted his slightly drooped head, making him blink in confusion. "I'm just messin' with ya, ya silly billy! But seriously, these things take a lot of precision, so you gotta eat the whole thing all at once, the whole thing in your mouth, don't bite into it."

He tilted his head, looking down at them, singling one out in his eyes. "Why's that?" he asked, and Pinkie just grinned as Rainbow Dash grabbed one and showed him how to eat them. "You'll see!" she said in her usual cheery tone. Strider just watched as Dash's cheeks bulged around the flat treat, taking it into her mouth in one massive gulp, chewing and breaking it down, a look of bliss crossing her features and making her wings flit in delight. Strider didn't need much more encouragement than that, gingerly taking one of the plum-cored treats between his lips, lifting it up and tilting his head back, pulling it into his mouth with his tongue.

The first thing he noticed was the squishyness of the yellow-ish gold part of the snack outside of the plum core. He thought that she had baked it throughout, and while it was nice and warm, the moment he bit into it, the treat was akin to pudding skin. What greeted his tastebuds once it was broken through was a massive burst of gooey creme goodness that almost instantly painted a smile on his face. He chewed and chewed and chewed, biting through the plum part that was missing its pit, that flavor mixing with the creme and creating a lingering flavor mix that he was apprehensive in removing from his palate.

Eventually though, he swallowed his blissful payload down, the aftertaste making him run his tongue over the inside of his mouth constantly for a while longer while he spoke up, his eyes wide in happy shock, his lips contorted with deep joy for this treat. "You were placed upon this world to create physical embodiments of happiness, Pinkie Pie. Like those things. Would you like to marry me? I'm totally available, please say ye-oof!" he said, laughing some after Rainbow Dash gave him a playful shove. "Heeeeey hey hey hey, I'm not sharin' you buddy! Deal with it!" she said, laughing a bit along side Pinkie Pie. "Oh, Rainbow Dash, you got yourself a funny one, way to go!"

Strider just chuckled and went to snacking on a Rainbow Cupcake or two, looking around the area, gazing over the expanse of Sweet Apple Acres only a yard away from Starlight Hill. He looked to Applejack a moment later, still chewing a piece of cupcake. "So, miss....erm, Applejack, right? Do you run that place all by yourself?" he asked with a hint of awe, as if he already thought that she managed to do it herself. Applejack was in the middle of taking a drink of her cider, non-alcoholic of course. She set her glass down a second or two later, her weary appearance not lost on Strider's keen eyes. "Oh, well, lately ah been workin' overtime, moreso'n usual ah mean. But, ah'm not th' only one workin' there. Ah got my big brother an' mah lil' sis t'help me out."

Strider nodded to that, swallowing his cupcake piece down, setting the plate he'd put it on down so he could talk for a bit. "I see! Why do you look so tired then, if you don't mind me asking?" Applejack grumbled and looked away. "J-just a rough Applebuck Season, that's all! Nothin' to it really, it happens sometimes," she explained to him, the orange-furred pony examining some of the available food before settling on a slice of apple pie. Holding it up with a hoof, she took a large bite out of it and closed her eyes, her body seeming to shrink in on itself somewhat while she let a blissful murr escape her. Swallowing it down, she licked her lips clean. "Ferget HIM, marry me, Pinkie!"

Pinkie Pie just laughed at Applejack and shook her head. "Wow, I'm popular today! But then I'm always popular at parties. Especially surprise parties!" she said, her tongue hanging out of the corner of her closed mouth, her brows furrowed in thought. "I wonder why that is? I know I'm one really cutie-patootie Pinkie Pie, but I didn't think all of my friends were attracted to me!"

Everypony just laughed at that and continued with their meals, the conversation going this way and that between them all, Strider learning plenty about each of them, even Fluttershy, who was hesitant to talk about herself in the first place. Pinkie had left the group at least three times looking for Twilight, but with increasing worry, she couldn't find the lavender Unicorn. "Excuse me, mister Wind Strider?" Pinkie asked him, interrupting his conversation with Rainbow Dash, the two of them talking about some good times back in Flight School. "You said you saw her at Zecora's, why isn't she back yet?"

Strider shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly, I don't know why she's not back yet. She was only visiting with Zecora," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "Also, uh, just call me Strider, or Wind Strider, not 'mister' or anything. I get enough of that back in Canterlot," he said, Pinkie nodding a little. "Okay! Well, maybe Twilight's just hanging out with Zecora right now....I'll go get 'er!" Pinkie said, starting to hop away. Rarity stood up from her luxurious red couch she brought along, holding a hoof out to Pinkie. "Pinkie Pie, are you sure you'll be okay going alone? I can go with you if you like." The others save for Strider nodded in agreement as well, but Pinkie held up a hoof. "No no, that's okay girls, I'm only going to get Twilight! It shouldn't take me long."

With that, Pinkie Pie left them all behind, the five ponies going back to enjoying all of the treats Pinkie had put together. Rarity was still curious though, and now she had a real chance to sit down and dig into the juicy pile of gossip that presented itself before her! "So, Wind Strider....such a strong and stalwart name. Who are your parents, or is that a more personal sort of subject?" Rarity asked him, laying down across her couch once more.

Strider smiled more and ate another of those creme things, taking his time chewing it while Rarity spoke, only sending it to the pit of his stomach once she finished her question. "Oh, my parents were commoners that got rich through hard work. Erm....have you heard of Sturdy Stiles and Savory Saint?" he asked her, Rarity just shaking her head. "No, I'm afraid I haven't. Do you know if they've ever ordered anything from my shop? I do all kinds of clothes these days!"

He shook his head once more. "No, I don't really talk to them very often, I mostly live by myself, save for when I'm on assignment with other members of the Royal Guard," he explained, licking his lips clean and turning his gaze down to the plate that had those creme treats on them. If one were watching, one might be able to see his body visibly slump at the realization that there were no more of them, much to his intense dismay. "Ooh, I see~! Well! Now for the question I just know we ALL want to ask...." Rarity said, clopping her forehooves together excitedly. "Eee, howdidyoutwomeet?! I never would've expected Rainbow Dash to find a coltfriend before me, but here you are, and a Royal Guardspony at that! I just HAVE to know."

Rainbow Dash hung her head and her face turned purple from her blush, it was so intense, the red contrasting with her blue fur. Strider was blushing as well, but not as badly, a bit more open about the subject. "W-well, uhm....Rainbow Dash? Is it okay?" he asked his fairly quiet marefriend, the sky-blue pegasus nodding a couple of times. Rarity could be heard squee'ing. "Yeeee, she's so cute when she gets embarrassed!"

Rainbow Dash glared at the fashionista and growled. "Don't make me come over there and shut ya up by force," she growled out under her breath, her gaze never moving away from Rarity's eyes. Rarity only covered her mouth with a hoof, her muffled laughs seeming to grate and aggravate the blush that Rainbow Dash could only recognize as an overpowering disease at the moment. Rainbow Dash shifted her glare away from Rarity and towards the ground, mumbling something under her breath. "SO not cool...."

Strider could only laugh at the exchange, shaking his head a little and leaning over towards her, his cheek pressing against the side of her neck, making her glare disappear and an embarrassed grimace replace it. She knew what he would've wanted to say to her if they had some privacy, and she was glad that his sappy words were reserved for such a situation, since it would only make things worse in front of her friends. Fluttershy let out a barely audible 'aww' at the show of affection, and Rarity's eyes got big. She was SUCH a sucker for this sort of thing!

"Well, anyways, when we first started dating...."

Wind Strider flew high above the grasslands below, long flowing fields of wheat passed beneath him, the Royal Messenger taking a liesurely pace with the package he had stowed away in his saddlebags. It wasn't a high-priority delivery, but he was sure the pony awaiting it would consider it to be of the utmost importance for her weekly tasks. This wasn't the first time he had to make such deliveries during the less active times of the year, the heat of Summer and all the new Summertime jobs cutting into the crime rate in just about all of the cities and towns in Equestria. It was his main job, outside of standing guard when messages and deliveries to and from the palace for the Royal Pony Sisters.

He could see Ponyville in the distance, and in maybe ten minutes he would be touching down in the hometown of the Elements of Harmony for his first time! He couldn't help but be a bit excited by such a thing, mainly because he might get a chance to visit with an old friend. Of course, if he remembered Rainbow Dash's personality well enough, she was probably milking what could possibly be a celebrity-like status for all it was worth....but, he quickly cast that thought aside in favor of believing in the possibility that she was the same friendly, good-natured Rainbow Dash she always was behind that lively, prideful demeanor.

He touched down in the middle of the main pathway through town, where most visiting Pegasi touched down because of all the space they had to land. He wasn't exactly sure where the library was, even after getting a good look at Ponyville from the air, so he walked down the street to the nearest business: the Sofa & Quill Store, which he soon found out was NOTORIOUS for being all out of quills to draw in ponies in need of quills just so they can try to convince more customers to get some new furniture. Apparently it was a semi-successful, semi-unethical business ploy.

Getting the location of the library from the young colt working the front counter in place of the older male, Strider flew a few feet above the ground, not entering 'airspace' and staying in the 'Pegasus Lane', as most referred to the area above the streets that most Pegasi stayed in so that anypony could speak up and talk to them without having to yell. He had his armor on, and a trio of adorable young fillies likely in kindergarten still stopped him to have a chat with him. He landed near Sugarcube Corner to talk with them for a bit, the young fillies apparently enchanted by his very unique armor.

"So, what are your names, anyways? My name's Wind Strider," he explained, his wings tucked in now that he was sitting down, the filly with the red mane going to get something to snack on from inside Sugarcube Corner. The orange pegasus spoke up first, her grinning wide. "I'm Scootaloo, this is Sweetie Belle, and our earth pony friend is Apple Bloom!" she said with such adorable enthusiasm, him able to feel her bright eyes locking in on his armor. "Wind Strider's such an awesome name! Almost as awesome as Rainbow Dash."

Wind Strider blinked a few times, clearing his throat and looking around nervously. "O-oh, you know Rainbow Dash?" he asked, much to Scootaloo's delight. "You know I do! She's gonna teach me how to fly. She's so cool, being able to do things like the Sonic Rainboom and the Buccaneer Blaze, and-and-" she said, starting to become background noise to Strider, who was looking to the other Crusaders for assistance in this matter. This matter, of course, being getting Scootaloo to come back to reality and out of her fanfilly mindset.

Apple Bloom came back outside of Sugarcube Corner, a bag of tasty cupcake-like snacks in tow. She turned her attention to Scootaloo, who was dominating the conversation now with her Rainbow Dash-based rant, and shook her head in disdain. "Ugh, here she goes again....hey! HEY!" she said, shouting towards the end while clopping her hooves hard against the ground in front of the small-winged pegasus, making Scoots blink a few times and snap her attention to her friends. "Huh? What? Oh...." she said, looking up at Wind Strider, who was rubbing the top of his head. "So you're a fan I'm guessing, right? Well, do you know where she is?"

Scootaloo nodded vigorously to his question, her little wings flapping so quickly that they actually made a buzzing sound akin to a small motor. 'Is that why she's called Scootaloo....? Huh,' he pondered silently to himself, waiting for her to calm down enough to talk to him straight. By the time she actually did, a number of people had started to stare at them, drawing a vague blush to his cheeks. Not enough to be visible through his coat of fur, but he could certainly feel it. The Crusaders seemed utterly fine, however, with such attention; he figured it must be an acquired tolerance.

The Crusaders went their own way together, something about being Cutie Mark Crusaders....Pinata Detonators? He thought that was what he heard after their small conversation drifted towards young Apple Bloom's upcoming birthday. The last thing he heard the three talking about involved a cannon, makeshift helmets, pinatas, and what he could only assume were really, really poor attempts at martial arts in mid-air to break said pinatas. He wasn't sure if he should notify the Ponyville Fire Department about what they had in mind....nah. That would be so bogus for him to do, restricting their young adventurous ways....

Making his trip short when it came to the library, he stepped inside and spoke with the citizen that had volunteered for the job of being a Librarian, in place of Twilight Sparkle while she was back in Canterlot with her studies. He was a young pony, slightly younger than Strider was, but he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders, what with how quickly he took to putting the books that Strider had brought away. They were books from the Royal Library that were being transferred and copied for distribution to libraries all over Equestria. These were books unseen by the average citizen's eyes, and the Librarian made a point give each of them a once-over as he began to leave, having gotten all the proper paperwork and registrations stowed away.

He took off once more after leaving the library again, leaving the colt to his new reading while scanning the skies for the cloud home the Librarian mentioned. He thought it might be harder, but apparently Rainbow Dash was the only pony in Ponyville, or the only Pegasus in Ponyville perhaps, that could afford, wanted, or needed to live in a cloud home. That was the only conclusion he could come to, judging by the remarkable design it had! It was HUGE for one pony!

A slightly saddening thought occurred to him as he flew in the direction of that house-in-the-sky. His legs slumped a bit as he wondered, with a house that big....was she really living alone in there? Maybe this was a bad idea, would she even remember him? "Eugh, what if she has one of those really mean coltfriends that wants to pummel me just for being another stallion on her doorstep....?" he muttered to himself in thought, idly tapping his chin with a hoof. "Or she might not even be into stallions, she could be yet another mare that's into other mares. Hmmmh....I dunno."

In the midst of his own personal debate, complete with himself on the left side, himself on the right side, and himself as the narrator for each side of himself in said debate, he didn't notice the speedy streak of rainbow colors rushing through the sky some distance away, heading in the direction of the cloud home as well. It was no surprise to him that the faint rainbow trail both led to the same cloud home he was flying towards, and belonged to the only rainbow-maned pegasus in Ponyville. Seeing nopony accompanying her at the moment, he tossed his worries aside and sped up his approach.

Rainbow Dash stood at the front 'door' to her home, pushing the clouds aside and walking in, shifting what she'd squished out of her way back over the entrance, smoothing the cloud out like a sheet of wrinkled paper under her hooves until it looked like a marshmallow door once more. She flexed her wings outward a couple of times, twisting and flapping them in various directions until an audible pop emanated from the base of them, twice in succession. She sighed out and groaned soon after, the burn of backed-up blood vessels being allowed to flow freely once more making her wings go limp for a good minute, them hanging down at her sides. "Oh-ho yeah....! Now, bath-time-" she began to say with a subdued delight. That is, until she heard someone tap at her cloud door, making a fluffing sound with the misty mass of water vapor. Had to be another pegasus, if the cloud was behaving like it had some kind of solidity to it. "-or not. Who is it?"

She waited for a moment, her ears perking at the distinctly male voice on the other side. "Royal Guard, ma'am. Is this the residence of Rainbow Dash?" the voice called out, making her cringe a bit. 'Oh no....this is about that crash-landing I made in the market the other day, it has to be! They want to sue me or arrest me or something!' she said to herself in her head. Nervously, she pushed the cloud door aside, squishing it once more, grinning nervously at the armored pegasus standing before her.

Strider hid his uncertainty behind a curtain of professionalism, standing at attention once she opened her door. "Greetings! I'm here on business from the castle," he said with as straight of a face as he could, given the rather unsteady grin Rainbow Dash had going. He wasn't entirely sure what had her riled up though. She on the other hand looked around for a moment, then looked back to him. "Sooooo....how many bits do I have to pay this time to make this lawsuit go away?" she asked, heh'ing and lightly, nervously tapping her hoof against the cloud she was standing on.

He blinked a few times and rubbed the back of his head, letting that professional presentation of himself fade after hearing that. "Uh....what? Lawsuit? What for?" he asked, leaning in and peering into her house, past her. She hrm'ed and cleared her throat. "So....you're not here to deliver a court date or anything?" she asked him with her hoof outheld to him. He shook his head quickly. "N....no, I'm not here for anything of the sort. Actually, may I come inside?"

His request confused the rainbow-maned pegasus, but she didn't question it, instead inviting him in by stepping aside and motioning her hoof in a gesture that told him it was okay, a sweeping motion with her foreleg in a semi-wide arc. "Sure, c'mon in then!" she said quickly as he began to step forward. He knew that she had no idea who he was, but he was moreso wondering if she'd remember him once she saw him sans his armor.

He let himself take a moment to look around inside the main hall that led into the rest of Rainbow's house upon stepping inside, looking over several pictures of various members of the Wonderbolts, a subconscious smile curling his lips upward when he realized that many of the Wonderbolts paraphernalia that decorated the main hall had Spitfire prominently featured. "Still think that Spitfire's the best Wonderbolt, I'm guessing?" he asked her, turning to face her while she closed her door up once again, getting an eyeful of blue-furred flank.

Rainbow Dash was caught off-guard by him, looking back just in time to see where his eyes were locked on, making her blush and turn to face him quickly. "....Uh, yeah. Please stop looking at me like that," she said, her wings loosening and extending a little, Dash suddenly realizing the fact that she'd just let a stranger into her home without asking for credentials of any sort. She wouldn't have been thinking that way if he hadn't looked at her like that though, and the way he said what he said....like he knew her. The word 'stalker' appeared in front of her mind's eye, setting her on edge.

He chuckled a little and tilted his head. "Why? You certainly didn't mind me doing it back in Flight School," he said, causing Rainbow Dash to lift her head up in confusion, leaning back a bit. "Huh? Flight School? I don't know yo-" she started to say....but then, she blinked a couple of times and looked over his body quickly. "-oh. Right. All you Royal Guard ponies look the same."

He grinned and flapped his wings a couple of times, uttering something under his breath that Rainbow Dash couldn't quite make out. His silvery armor shimmered and loosened around his chest as well as his head, his fur almost seeming to dull and turn off-white until he shrugged the armor on his torso off. His fur rapidly shifted to a darker blue color, his mane elongating from the uniform length and style, all of it haphazardly laying over one side of his neck and down the back of his head when he removed his helmet as well. He set his armor on his back for now, standing tall and returning his attention to Rainbow Dash, who was still quite confused.

She looked him over carefully, eyeing his long mane and his face, looking for any signs of familiarity, anything that would spark some kind of memory in her, but nothing jumped out. She examined his Cutie Mark next, the bright image of the moon with a silhouette of a mare's head etched into it with stars barely visible around it. The mark was topped off with a Honeysuckle plant growing up from under the moon, surrounding it on either side with its flowers sprouting open on both the left and right of that celestial orb. She blinked and looked back to him. "Nnnot recallin' anything," she said, making him facehoof. "Strider. Wind Strider." She oh'ed and grinned almost instantly, her look of understanding almost lighting up the room, she seemed so pleased with herself. "Hah, right! Blank-Flank Strider!"

Strider sighed and rolled his eyes, that old nickname seemed to follow him wherever he ran into old friends and enemies from Flight School. He just shook his head and tried his best to change the subject, or at least deflect the focus off of himself. "Yup, that's me! Been a few years. Whatcha been up to? Aside from winning renowned contests like the Best Young Flyer's Competition, of course."

Soon, they both found a cloud outside to relax on and just chat, reminiscing and laughing about some of the better times back in Flight School. Rain bow Dash however, always tried her best to avoid talking about herself, especially what she did with herself after running away from Flight School. Strider did his best to remain insistent though, constantly bringing it up in the middle of more entertaining conversation. She always brushed the question off with one of her own, in the usual cool and collected Rainbow Dash fashion, never missing a beat.

All of this happened around half a year after the Grand Galloping Gala, it being a time when Strider wasn't fully engrossed in his training to serve Princess Luna directly alongside three other new and old Royal Guard recruits. It wasn't long before he began to use that time to visit Rainbow Dash every week, stopping in to hang out....but one day, he asked something that would alter his stays and short visits from then on.

Strider flew into Ponyville and picked up some lunch, the time close to the afternoon. He knew that like clockwork, Rainbow Dash was most likely to be taking her usual break from her daily workout and training. It was a shame that she hadn't managed to do another Sonic Rainboom yet, but while they had been hanging out so much this past half a year, he had seen her somehow get faster and stronger than she already was. She was like a magic racing vehicle, like those ones he'd seen being developed in Manehattan for that up-and-coming racing sport that didn't rely purely on the wings of Pegasi.

He landed on a cloud and took a quick look around, spotting her not too far away lounging on a cloud that was just her size, shaped and reformed to be the softest recliner anypony had ever felt. No furniture of any kind compared to the comfort of a cloud. "Hey there, Dash!" he called out as he flew over, grabbing a small cloud on his way over and landing on it a few feet away from hers. "Takin' your break right on time, I see."

She opened one eye and lazily waved a foreleg at him, hoof motioning him over until he settled into his own cloud. "Yup! Gotta rest and get a snack, or I'll wind up getting exhausted way too fast," she explained, rolling over and standing up. "You mind gettin' me a couple apples?" she asked him, bending her forelegs while straightening her hindlegs, lowering her upper body only inches from the cloud before pushing back up, doing a couple of push-ups while flexing and tucking her wings in over and over in long, tense flexes. She had begun to feel a bit stiff from the lactic acid building in her muscles from her workout, so she needed to stretch her muscles out again to keep the blood flowing effectively. Otherwise, she would HURT tomorrow.

Strider nodded and held off on asking his questions for the time being, figuring it might be better for him to catch her off-guard. So, he flew down to the main marketplace after stopping in at Rainbow Dash's home to stow his armor away, the dark-blue pegasus coming back with three apples in a small pouch tied to his right hoof. He landed near where she was flying straight up into the air, then making a U-turn and flying rapidly down at the ground, the exercise one of control. She was trying to maintain an even flight speed with a speedometer she had tied to her midsection, a loud beep going off every time she started to fly faster than the time she had set as the standard minutes earlier. This was difficult because going down and up, she had to fight against gravity the whole time, both slowing her descent and beating her wings to speed up while flying straight up.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash!" he shouted out to her when she neared the end of her little exercise. "C'mon, I've got your lunch....aren't you supposed to take the time to rest until one o' clock?" he asked, undoing the tie on the pouch and setting it down. Normally, it should have fallen through the cloud, but he had purchased an enchanted pouch that he kept in his saddlebags in case he had to carry something smaller, like apples. The pouch fell and landed with a light puff of cloud vapors all around it, the pouch enchanted to treat clouds the same way as the bodies of Pegasi: pseudo-solid ground.

Rainbow Dash grabbed her cloud this time and smooshed it into the one Strider was sitting on, the guardspony already grabbing the third apple he'd bought and rested it on one of his hooves, biting into it. "Thanks Strider! I wanted to get this control exercise done before I really took a full-on break, otherwise I would've gotten the apples myself," she explained, biting into one of her two apples and chewing thoughtfully, looking out over the sea of clouds that occupied the sky. "So, what've you got planned for your visit today?"

Strider took another bite of his apple, flexing his wings and popping the joint that bent his wings to adjust his trajectory during flight. He flapped them a few times and settled them against his sides once more, looking over to her. "Well....I thought that maybe later, after I'm done checking in with the Mayor to get an update sheet, we could maybe....meet up above Trotsam Street and grab some dinner....?" he asked, finishing off his apple and setting the apple core inside of his pouch, clearing his throat a bit. "Maybe go see a movie too?"

Rainbow Dash almost choked on the chunk of apple she had in her mouth the moment he talked about seeing a movie too, her looking away and around for a moment, making sure nopony else was around. She eventually focused on him once more, a blush staining her cheeks, bright enough to be seen just barely under her thin fur. "Uh, Strider, not to make this weird or anything, but....are you asking me out on a date? I mean normally you just spend a day with me, then you head back to Canterlot the next day, so...."

He just nodded his head when she began to trail off, making her eyes go wide, her hooves fidgeting against the cloud some. "Uh, wow, alright, uhm....I, uh...." she struggled, stumbling over words that came and went from her mouth as quickly as she readied herself to say them. She didn't know how to respond to such a suggestion! Strider hung his head a little, his brows furrowing into a look of rejection. "I'm guessing the apprehension's a 'no', right?"

Rainbow Dash shook her head quickly and cleared her throat. "No! No no no, I just....I dunno what I'm s'posed to say, I mean nopony has ever asked me out since I moved here after I ran away from Flight School. This'll actually be the third date I've ever been on, and the third co-uh....stallion, I've ever gone out with." Strider perked up almost instantly at that news, a smile spreading from ear to ear on his youthful visage. "Really?! Wow, I really didn't think you'd say yes! Well, I have a place in mind, so....meet you back at your place at six?"

With the time set, they went their separate ways and kept to themselves. Rainbow Dash was on cloud nine, having never been asked out by anypony in several years, while Strider was pumped from the fact that she agreed to go out with him. He didn't often have much luck with mares, he was far too old-fashioned. This was something he kept in mind throughout the day, because his mannerisms were fine, but Rainbow Dash seemed far too cool to be treated like a Princess constantly.

"....After that, we kept on dating, hooking up whenever I had a chance to stop in! I've tried to make as much time as I can, but lately I haven't been able to find enough time....but, I've got an entire week to myself this time around, so hey," he said with a wide grin. "No complaints here!"

Rarity aww'ed at the two of them, currently lazing over one arm of her sofa while listening to them talk. Applejack didn't seem to be all there, though she did have a faint smile after noticing the shy smile Rainbow Dash was trying to hide. Fluttershy, true to her name, shyly fluttered over and landed light as a feather next to her almost life-long friend, placing a hoof on her back. "Oh, I'm so happy for you, Rainbow Dash! You must be so ecstatic...."

Rainbow Dash lifted her head back up and looked around at her friends, smiling and clearing her throat, trying to break the tension she felt with all of them focusing on her. Normally she would welcome such attention, but at the moment she just wanted to disappear. This whole situation made her feel like such a....filly, a silly filly at that. She was embarrassed, being in the spotlight right then and there, as if she were being scrutinized by her own friends. She looked to Fluttershy with the most genuine smile she could muster, having plenty of practice doing so by trying to look as cool as possible no matter what the situation. "Yeah, of course I am, Fluttershy! Why wouldn't I be? Strider's a cool pony."

The guardspony smiled at that and looked around, only to meet Rarity's eyes and gigantic grin. "So how long?" she asked him, having left her sofa to get in close to speak to him with some semblance of privacy. "How long have you tried to work up the nerve to ask her out? Come now, I just HAVE to know!" she asked, stepping to one side and looking down at his Cutie Mark. "By the way, what caused you to get your Cutie Mark? It's a very unique one."

He blinked at the mini-barrage of questions from the very inquisitive fashionista, rubbing the back of his head and hesitating with his answer to her first question. He quickly welcomed her second one wholeheartedly, that was a far less embarrassing topic. "Well, actually I didn't get my Cutie Mark until after I joined the Royal Guard and started working closely under Aolimnus, the Commander of Princess Luna's personal guard-" he started to explain, but a resounding, blood-curdling scream quickly interrupted him.

Pinkie trotted carefree as ever down the path through Everfree, heading for Zecora's in hopes of running into Twilight on the way. After all, it had been a while, and she'd been at Zecora's hut for quite some time if she hadn't left by now. She had made the lavender Unicorn's favorite snacks, she wasn't going to let them go to waste! She stopped when she heard the rapid clop of hooves galloping against the hard dirt.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Pinkie Pie heard someone scream, her carefree demeanor leaving in favor of her being far more alert, and very worried. She had a funny feeling in her gut, and that never meant anything good. She started to run down the path, but the sight of Twilight coming around the bend made her stop in her tracks. "Twilight?!" she called out, trying to figure out what exactly had her friend so panicked.

Pinkie's eyes went wide and her mouth hung open in terror when she noticed the dark, shadow-like pony running behind her bookworm friend. She was a large pony, no longer the little foal Twilight had encountered earlier, and several black tendrils were extending from its body, trying to grab at Twilight while they ran down the path. One tendril grabbed Twilight's leg, but a quick snap of magical energy had Twilight teleporting forward and only a few feet away from Pinkie.

Twilight didn't wait for Pinkie to snap out of it, she grabbed her friend in a telekinetic bubble of energy and carried her, her lungs and legs burning from the constant exertion, but her panicked mind didn't dare register the fact that her body couldn't take much more of this. She would die if she bothered to pay attention to how cramped, how worn, and how exhausted her muscles were. Pinkie snapped to attention a few seconds after being trapped in the bubble, Twilight setting her down once she started trying to run as well. She was afflicted with the same sense of panic just from gazing at the terrifying creature, and both ponies were rushing back towards Ponyville as fast as they could. Their blood-curdling screams of terror could be heard by most everyone in proximity of that main entrance to the Everfree Forest, including their friends sitting at the picnic that had been put together.

Chapter 9 - Little Sister (OLD)

Chapter 9 - ....Little Sister

written by Fire Soul

Strider didn't know Twilight or Pinkie Pie very well, but even he could put together the fact that both of them being in Everfree, and a duet of screams filling the air likely belonged to the only two ponies that were in a dangerous location near Ponyville. He was in the air lightning-fast, his tired muscles making sure he knew that he wasn't in the best shape for whatever was about to happen. Were they being attacked by a Manticore, or a Hydra? That could have been troublesome, even fatal, especially since he didn't have his armor!

Rainbow Dash was faster than her coltfriend by far, in the air and far ahead of him, rushing towards the screams. Rarity and Applejack looked to each other for a moment, not really sure what was going on, but it had their friends at attention. That was enough reason for them to rush off after Rainbow and Strider. Fluttershy would normally have hesitated, and even as she gave pursuit to her friends, she was muttering 'ohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodness....!' for a few moments under her breath, unsure of what was happening. The screams had her thoroughly worried, enough to forego her concerns and just GO.

"Twilight?!" Rainbow Dash called out, several other ponies from town rushing towards the source of the screams, and they were only getting closer. She was starting to make out words too, panicked pleas and demands. Twilight and Pinkie Pie were telling someone to stay away from them, but who? There was a distinct lack of roaring or anything loud as well, And surely Twilight wouldn't be so utterly terrified by a Cockatrice. Rainbow Dash hadn't a clue.

Strider felt the blood run from his face the closer he got to the entrance of Everfree Forest. He recognized the dark energy he felt, like a pressure that only he could feel out of all of them, pressing on his very soul. He couldn't see the looks of anxiety some of the Unicorns on the ground, however; he wasn't the only one that could feel something odd in the air. No, he was more worried about the fact that whatever this was, he didn't have the power to contend with such power on his own, and he had no way of contacting Commander Nocturnus or any other Royal Guard ponies with the abilities he had. He was mostly on his own with what was likely a very volatile situation, and he knew it.

Twilight and Pinkie were running for their lives, and they both knew that if they dared hesitate even for a moment, they would be caught, and what would happen next only Twilight could grasp the true horror of. She had seen the infinite void that dwelled within that pony's vile maw. She continuously grabbed Pinkie and blinked forward with bursts of magic, the dark twisted pony's words beginning to echo in her mind the more she spoke. "I can help you Sister, please don't run away from me!" the shadow pony called out to Twilight with a genuinely sad-sounding tone of voice. Neither of the fleeing ponies would have any of it, though.

They both rushed out of the entrance with the shadow pony right behind them, a sense of relief washing over them once the sunlight hit their bodies. That didn't stop them from running, but they felt much safer. Twilight was horrified to find a crowd growing outside of the entrance, looking back at her pursuer and gritting her teeth. Summoning up an immense amount of courage, her horn lit up and her magic surrounded the seemingly startled creature, her black hooves being lifted from the ground. Soon she was suspended in place, her eyes wide for only a moment until she figured out what was going on. She laughed.

"Really sister, is this the best you can do?" she asked, her own horn lighting up with a black-tainted light, barely noticeable against her already dark body. Pinkie had given herself much more distance between herself and the twisted pony, but the moment Twilight's flimsy magical stasis field crumbled beneath a mini-explosion of dark magic, she started to step back. There was no smile on her face, she didn't dare try to laugh such an imposing presence away. She had felt fear she thought herself incapable of feeling until now, and she had felt it the moment she gazed upon this pony, making such brief eye contact with her....but it was enough.

Twilight fell back on her dock when her hold was so easily powered out of, shaking her head a few times to clear her vision. That was when she noticed the dark pony only a few steps away from her, the creature that had initially presented itself as a foal now the size of Princess Celestia and Luna, it even had both a horn AND wings. "Y-you're an Alicorn....?" she stuttered, forelegs semi-frantically pressing against the ground as she tried to back away. She only succeeded on falling backwards and slumping over onto her side.

The dark Alicorn laughed a hearty laugh and stepped closer until her forelegs were on each side of Twilight's body, looming over her with a menacing grin, baring razor-sharp teeth. "Oh, sister, I am SO many things, believe you me. So are you!" she said in a surprisingly cheery tone, a foreleg tapping Twilight's side. "After all, YOU haven't been very happy lately, have you sister? It must be dreadful, being something you can't understand. Am I right?" she asked her with such glee that Twilight could only take her words as little more than mockery....save for the fact that she was right. Very right.

A moment of silence hung between them, both looking into each other's eyes expectantly, but this was far from a lover's moment. No, Twilight's mind was stuck, terrified and alone in her stand-off against this creature. Would she be eaten? She couldn't tell, one moment it was chasing her down, the next moment it was striking up conversation with her! Despite the indignant anger welling up within her, she was afraid to move, her mind trying to grasp at what this....THING might do to her if she tried to get away. She was definitely something other than a pony, that much she was certain of. The magical aura she felt from the creature looming over her wasn't that of normal pony magic, it....it tasted different to her, the magic strong enough to actually leave a bitter flavor on her tongue. She could only describe it as pure hate manifesting itself.

The dark Alicorn lowered her head some and looked over Twilight's body, her smile fading the more she looked the lavender Unicorn up and down. "Hmm....but perhaps it hasn't taken hold entirely yet. You still resist what you truly are deep down. I suppose you need-" she began to say, but a hard impact in her side accompanied by a loud battle cry cut her off and sent her flying across the ground, tumbling a few times and settling on her left side. Rainbow Dash stood a few feet away from the stunned Alicorn, wings spread and her body hunkered down, ready to tackle her again if need be. "Twilight! You okay back there?" she called out to her friend, not turning her gaze away from her friend's assailant.

Applejack and Rarity were running as fast as they could, but Strider and Rainbow Dash had the speed advantage in the air, Strider landing moments after Rainbow Dash, right next to Twilight. He quickly gave Twilight a once-over, kneeling down to get a better look. "Are you alright?" he asked with a certain amount of urgency, his eyes darting from her head to her hindlegs, then back up to her face....where a hoof slammed into the side of his face, making him stumble back and sidewayd some. "Augh! What the hell was-"

"YOU! You were hiding HER from me, weren't you?!" Twilight yelled at him, Strider's eyes snapping open and locking in on the Unicorn stomping towards him with a certain fury in her eyes. "I knew I couldn't trust you, I knew there was something bad about you! I should've called you on it, you almost got me killed!" she shouted at him, her eyes slitted and nose touching his, pushing his head back with some force. He began to push back, but his attention diverted to the true problem at hoof when he heard a shrill cry of pain from the direction of the shadow Alicorn.

Twilight was too busy verbally berating Strider to notice that Rainbow Dash, being the headstrong pony that she was, had charged in in an attempt to take on the creature assailing her friends. However, a well-placed shot left a deep gash across Rainbow Dash's chest, making her wings flap irregularly and lose altitude, until she fell on wobbly legs a ways away, closer to Strider and Twilight now, after she backed herself away, surprised by the range the shadow pony had. She cringed and groaned through clenched teeth, pressing a forehoof to the cut, her body hunching up a little in pain. "Gaaah, damn it, it burns....!" she growled out, looking down to the wound and back to the now standing Alicorn a ways away from the three. Rarity and Applejack showed up moments after Rainbow received her injury, both of them standing in a line alongside their friends, AJ offering to help Rainbow, who simply refused. That injury was nothing after all....though it felt like it was on fire.

Twilight got to her hooves with a little of Rarity's help, and immediately shoved Strider again. "You didn't ANSWER me!" she growled out at him. "What did you do in there?!" she demanded from him, stamping a hoof against the ground. Strider just winced and stepped forward, away from her menacing gaze. "All the others were mindless drones. Why is it that you can speak?" he calmly asked the imposing figure before him, keeping a good ten feet of distance between himself and her.

The dark Alicorn stood up straighter and dusted herself off, her irritation with being taken by surprise fading away just as quickly as it had risen up from within her. "Why can I speak? Because I am no mindless drone, no 'stolen pony' to do with as I please," she said simply, standing with a sense of poise and confidence. "You're the one that destroyed my minions, called them to yourself just to slay them....tell me, are all Royal Guards trained in Runic Magic as weak as you are? You were so winded, after all....I feared that you would collapse, and then I would have to EAT you alive...." she said casually, a grin crossing her wicked visage, razor-sharp teeth bared while her tongue ran over them, her eyes focused on him with a predatorial hunger. "You are such an amusing specimen after all, such potential. I would hate to waste it."

He clenched his teeth while he tried to evaluate his current position in this whole matter. There was a crowd, and unless he could find some way to get them to clear out, somepony could wind up dead. On the other hoof, if he didn't fight right this moment or somehow stall her further, there was a good possibility that more than just a few ponies would be ensnared in her vile grasp. He knew for certain that he didn't stand any real chance of actually defeating her....he could feel the overwhelming malice emanating from her. Not to mention he was still exhausted from his earlier scuffle.

So what could he do? He was an ant before an elephant in this situation, even if he weren't tired. In the midst of his thoughts, he didn't notice Twilight approaching him and standing at his side. "You're going to fight her? I want to know why she's after me first," she muttered to him, glaring at him. "What do you know?" she asked, but he shook his head. "I don't know what she wants with you, Twilight. I really don't, I swear."

"Yeah, I'm sure I can take your word for that," she said in a sarcastic tone, turning her gaze to the shadow Alicorn a way away. "So what're you going to do without your armor? As if that'd make a difference...." she muttered, but Strider shook his head. "If I had my armor and I could get her into the Everfree Forest again it actually would, but that's not an option. Can you get everypony away from here? They'll get caught up in the fight if they stay here."

Twilight looked at him with no small amount of disbelief. He had guts at least....that or youthful bravado that was about to get him killed. She was too angry at him to realize that some part of her hoped that would be the end result, all because he kept secrets from her. "You have a lot of explaining to do," she muttered and turned away. "I'll try to help you when we get everypony out of here. Just....do whatever it is you're going to do to supposedly keep us safe!"

He snorted and lowered his head, grinding a forehoof against the ground. "I'll be fine, but....make sure you take care of Rainbow Dash too. She's got a cut on her chest, it's like an infection. Disinfect it fast, or she could die," he told her quickly, stepping forward. Twilight's eyes bulged and she looked back at him with a snap of her head. "WHAT?! Why didn't you-" she tried to say, but he was already disregarding her and charging forward.

His mind was alight with thought, anything to avoid the thought of the potential death he was charging straight into. But the smirk on the dark Alicorn's lips told him that she was more amused than offended by his willingness to fight her head-on. He quickly tried to think of a spell he knew that would get him through this with some semblance of offensive and defensive effectiveness....but the only thing he could think of was the most risky spell he had outside of his Accelerator spell. His wings spread and he cringed as a thin tendril drew blood and left a black outline on the wound, a sure sign of the same kind of infection that Rainbow Dash was struggling to fight against, the burning sensation only getting more and more debilitating over time. His, however, began to fade, and eventually, the black outline disappeared, leaving only a gash behind.

The black Alicorn looked surprised, but then she grinned. "Oh-ho, you know Shadow Magic! Aren't you just the little all-rounder! No wonder your Runic Magic is weak, you've been spread thin. Tsk, not very smart," she muttered, two more tendrils lashing out and slicing into his forelegs, making them buckle under the pain, him crying out briefly and sharply. He gritted his teeth and rose up again, only to find her standing over him, looming over his comparatively smaller form. To say that he felt fear was an understatement. His wings spread and beat hard as a series of tendrils rose up from out of her back and came down, him just barely dodging each one as they rained down only inches from his body, hindlegs kicking him backwards in hard lunges to get some distance while his wings carried him just a foot above the ground when he wasn't running backwards.

Strider took a breath and looked around. The crowd had begun to disperse on its own, him shouting out to them. "Someone get a letter to the castle!!!" he shouted as loud as he could, Pinkie Pie snapping to attention as the crowd ran away around her. "Twilight! Wh-where's Spike?! I c-can go get him an-and-" she struggled to say, the poor trembling party pony looking to her friend desperately, wanting to get away, but wanting to help as well. Twilight called out to her quickly. "Tell him to send Princess Celestia a letter to get more of the Royal Guard over here, it's an emergency! GO!!" Twilight shouted over the slowly panicking crowd, her horn alight as she tended to the wound on Rainbow Dash's chest, the tainted infection slowly disappearing, fading away from the wound.

He swallowed hard and looked back to the Alicorn, who had her forelegs crossed over each other, her smug smile and regal poise making him swallow the lump in his throat. He had the spell prepared in his mind....it was time to make this happen. He looked back and noticed that Twilight had finished cleaning the taint from Dash's wound, the rainbow-maned pegasus sighing in relief as the burning pain subsided rapidly. "Twilight! Can you cover me with a shield spell?" he called out to the lavender Unicorn, her turning to him and nodding, her horn lighting up with a bright, powerful aura. She felt funny, somehow angry....but blissful. Like she was enjoying this. She didn't question it for the time being, there were more important things to focus on, but she made sure to remember how she felt at this very moment.

Pinkie Pie ran off with the dispersing crowd, rushing towards the library and slamming the door open, panting for breath from how hard she had sprinted, almost matching Rainbow Dash in speed. "Spike!!" she called out, running in and looking around, twirling a few times to take in the entirety of the circular-shaped library. "SPIKE!!!" she cried out louder. She heard noise from the bathroom, and a flush of a toilet. The party pony breathed a sigh of relief when he stepped out, rubbing his head and blushing lightly. "What?! Can't a dragon use the bathroom?!"

Pinkie Pie shook her head quickly and fwumped down on the floor, gasping for breath, now that she could calm down a little. "Sp-Spike, you've gotta get a letter to Princess Celestia, now! There's big trouble near Everfree Forest, we need the Royal Guard! That Wind Strider guard pony is in trouble, and Twilight's helping him and I don't know where Applejack and Rarity are and-"

"Pinkie?! Are you okay, sugarcube?!" came a familiar voice from the doorway to the library. Applejack ran over to her, along with Rarity, who already had a letter written and ready. "Spike, send this right away!" Rarity said to the little, confused dragon, Spike grabbing it and lighting it up with his green flames, the leftover smoke drifting out the doorway and quickly heading for Canterlot through teleportation once it was in the open air.

Princess Celestia was standing in the throne room with her sister, a forlorn expression on her visage. She couldn't stop thinking about Twilight, even now. She kept thinking back to that look on her face, those glowing eyes, and that intense magical aura, how full of fury it was, how unbridled her anger was. It sent a shiver through Celestia's body, a chill at the thought of what that could have been caused by, outside of the pressures of her studies. Luna woke her sister from her daydreaming, Celestia apparently not having paid attention to what Luna was trying to say to her. "Sister? Art thou there? Equestria to Celestia~!" she said, trying to sound as cheery as she could, since they were alone save for the Royal Guards standing at the doors leading in and out of the throne room.

Celestia's head jerked upward and she looked around, soon gazing at Luna with a weak smile. "Oh....wh-what were you saying, dear sister?" she asked in that same regal, elegant and charismatic way she always spoke, or so it seemed to most ponies. Luna was far from fooled, however. "Celestia, thou cannot fool thy sister....ugh," she said, clearing her throat. "I mean, you know that you cannot fool me so easily. Sorry, I am still getting used to this modern form of speech."

The Sun Regent sighed and nodded a little, lowering her head once more. "I'm sorry, dear sister. I was thinking of Twilight once again," she muttered, lightly rubbing the side of her head with the flat of one of her forehooves. "It's just, I practically raised her! To see her break down so completely, right before my eyes....it....!" she said quietly, shaking her head. "I'm sorry. I know, I'm being-"

"-Motherly? Yes, you are, Celestia," Luna said, smiling and cutting her off, reaching over to hug the Sun Goddess around her neck. "Like you said, you practically raised her. I cannot blame you if you feel responsible....but I can tell you that you should not. You could not have prevented what happened, she would have reached her limit eventually. Even I can tell that that is simply the kind of pony she is," she muttered, gently letting her saddened sister go. "I have no doubt that you know that too."

Celestia could only nod. "I just....wish I could have done something more," she muttered under her breath, while Luna sighed and threw her forelegs up in frustration. "Celestia, please! You cannot stop what you cannot control! You can only guide such things in certain directions, and hope that the course you have plotted is followed. Life is not meant to be perfect!" she said with a certain amount of desperation, settling down and sighing. "You are only one pony-"

"-And I am the one pony that watches out for Twilight whenever I possibly can. I should have seen it coming, there is no excuse....hm?" Celestia stated with finality in her voice, just as a letter appeared from a billow of smoke. Her horn lit up and began to open it quickly. "Our first letter from Twilight since she returned to Ponyville! I hope-...." she said with utter delight, her eyes lighting up as if a filly in a candy store, stocking up on her favorite treat. But, as she read the letter, Luna could almost see the blood drain from her already pristinely white-furred face.

Celestia's horn died down and she almost leapt out of her seat, charging out of the throne room and forcing the large doors of said room open on her own. "Celestia! WAIT!! What in the world...." Luna called out to her, quickly picking up the letter and giving it a rapid look-through. Her reaction was much the same, though she didn't rush out of the castle like her sister did. Instead, she rushed to the guards watching the throne room from outside, the two both looking at each other in confusion thanks to Celestia's sudden burst of activity.

Luna approached them quickly. "Find Commander Aolimnus in the Barracks, have him and his squad sent over to Ponyville, immediately! Aolimnus, do you understand?!" she said quickly, her eyes wide with urgency. The guard took in her orders and bowed his head immediately after. "As you wish, Princess!" he said, both of the guards running off with her down the hallway out of the throne room, breaking left down another hallway while Luna chased after Celestia. "Sister, stop!!"

"I have to buy time....just time...." he whispered to himself, the thoroughly injured Strider wincing with every flap of his wings. His muscles faltered and he stumbled down onto his hindlegs, then slumped into a sitting position. His body was covered in cuts, large and small, there wasn't much of his body left that was unmarred. She was having fun with him, and he knew it. It was what he wanted, so despite the burning pain coursing through every inch of his form, he continued to pretend to stand against her.

"C'mon Strider, you've got to buy time....!" he muttered to himself, his wings spreading once more and letting him hover up off of his hindlegs, his limbs feeling wobbly. His normally pristine blue coat was marred with streaks of red all over, the larger cuts letting his blood flow free from his veins. He felt far more tired than he should, no doubt from the pain and blood loss thus far, on top of his own exertions to evade most of the attacks made against him. Twilight's barriers helped somewhat in deflecting the dark Alicorn's seemingly effortless strikes, but time and again they buckled like sheets of glass under the repeated assault of those stabbing and slicing tendrils.

He felt the wind leave his lungs in a forced huff as his side was impacted, a plank of wood from a barrel he'd been sent flying through earlier slamming into his side while he was lost in thought, trying to concoct some sort of plan, anything that would buy him more time than just 'standing there and taking it'. Every hit sapped him of his strength, and he struggled back to his feet only to catch another whack of that plank across the side of his head. Blood seeped from a re-opened cut on his cheek, him catching sight of the tendril holding onto the piece of wood that he'd been bludgeoned with.

She grinned at him from afar, taking a few steps forward and tossing the plank aside. "You're a hardy one! I simply MUST wonder where you get all of that willpower from. Everypony else has left, save for you, Twilight, and that other weakling pegasus up in the sky...." she said, gazing up in Rainbow Dash's direction. "I wonder where she went....?" she mused idly to herself, turning her head this way and that to see if she could perhaps make another pony squirm under her wrath. It had been such a long time since she'd been allowed to have such fun, she wanted to get all that she could out of it.

Strider dropped her words to the back of his mind in favor of the opening the overconfident shadow Alicorn had given him....but it seemed far too obvious. Still, he couldn't risk just letting it pass him by, and if he waited any longer for another one, he might not have the strength to take it! He gritted his teeth and spread his wings, lifting off of the ground and rocketing forward, hindlegs kicking him off for an added boost of speed. He'd rapidly chanted the words for the only spell he knew he had the strength to use here, outside of the untamed magicks of the Everfree Forest, a warmth spreading through his left foreleg the closer he came to finishing it.

She didn't return her gaze and her focus to Strider until he was too close for her to react in time. His body lit up with runes all over, three circles appearing, one on his forehead, one on his chest, and one on his stomach, the lines of runes all over his body shimmering and looking as if they were pulled into those circles, creating three large dots of energy that rushed to that left foreleg and lit it up with a bright, white light. "PARING SHIELD, EXIST!!!" he called out just as he extended his leg out to his left, keeping it straight while starting a swing across in front of himself just as he began to reach the dark Alicorn.

Twilight's focus was gone. She didn't even think of trying to keep him covered any longer. Not only was she exhausted, but she was dumbstruck at the sight before her. A shield big enough to cover the entire front of Strider's body and then some appeared on his command, without his armor! She didn't know much about the Royal Guard's uses for their armor, but she assumed that they were all imbued with magic, since all Royal Guards were colored the same, but he was wearing nothing! Her disbelief was furthered by the fact that he was a pegasus and not a Unicorn, but she felt magic, she CLEARLY felt magic emanating from him. Not normal magic either, but magic that fed on the pony's soul, the most dangerous kind of magic.

The sickening CRACK that filled the air was heard even by Rainbow Dash, who was sitting on a large cloud, listing lazily over the makeshift battlefield, her peeking over the edge just as Strider called out his final incantation. Her eyes bulged as that shield appeared and his arm swung around, slamming the edge of it into the side of the Alicorn's head, the oscillating magic that made up the shield seeming to jolt towards the point of impact faster than the blink of an eye, intensifying the impact to make it even more brutal than it already was. The brutalized shadow pony stumbled back and to her left, dazed and in pain, her shriek of agony an unearthly groan. She lacked the mental faculties to make sense of what just happened enough to properly voice just how badly that hurt her, her head wobbling left and right as if her neck were a wet noodle.

Strider veered to his right with the swing and spun twice, leaning back and beating his wings as hard as he could, his muscles threatening to buckle under the strain of trying to stop his momentum, inertia working against him. He dug his hindhooves into the ground to help, and that was enough to stop him, and with a few more hard beats of his wings, he turned and started at her again, his shield held in front of himself in case she had the awareness to strike within that short amount of time. Sure enough, two tendrils erupted from the side he was approaching, but he was ready. He angled his round ethereal shield, and when they attempted to spear through his barrier, the oscillating magic did the work for him and deflected them up and to his right, away from his body.

Black blood dripped from the Alicorn's mouth and vaporized upon impact with the ground, her right eye closed, the 'bone' around it having been caved in by Strider's hard hit on her head. She turned her head just in time to see the agile pony spinning in the air, his momentum keeping him moving towards her, and before she could turn to face him the flat of his shield impacted into her side. That was when she fully understood the way this shield worked; it had its own punch. The force of impact alone wasn't enough to send her flying, but a sudden impulse of his very soul into the shield made that oscillating magical power sustaining the shield emanate outward in a punching wave of kinetic energy.

The force of the magic sent her shadowy body flying through the air, not in a high arc, but a low arc that made her tumble and roll over the ground in ways that no doubt battered her body in ways that only vaguely made up for the wounds that plagued Strider's. He, on the other hoof, was done, twirling on one hindleg while his shield dissipated, that final burst of energy taking it out of him and fatiguing him beyond being able to keep himself in fighting condition. He had energy left, yes....but his body was beyond protesting and was now punishing him for pushing himself so hard. The wounds and the expended energy made him feel sick, and he barely managed to keep himself upright enough to slump into a sitting position and cough up some blood.

Rainbow Dash dismounted from her cloud, but she didn't have time to reach Strider before a violent scream of fury erupted from the direction he'd knocked his adversary. A surge of darkness hurtled towards him like a black cloud of pure malevolence intent on his demise, and he barely had time to recite his incantations and get his shield up once more in a panic before eight powerful, thick tendrils, razor-sharp, stabbed at him and pushed him back. His hindlegs strained and his wings flapped in a panic, his eyes wide as she appeared from the black mists in front of him. "You INSOLENT little worm! How DARE YOU!!!"

He didn't even see the three smaller tendrils coming around from both sides, one slicing straight through the bone of his left wing and snapping it in half, making him cry out in pain, the other two stabbing into his back and making him arch forward somewhat. He was just barely managing to survive now, his shield crackling and bending back towards him. With a final, desperate dig into his deepest reserves, he pushed against the shield and his hindlegs slid back, just enough for him to yank his shield leg away from the shield itself, only to slam forward as if punching it, the flat of his forehoof pushing it forward once more. He poured himself into it in a struggle to maintain it, but it was no use. His focus was broken and he didn't have nearly enough left to stand against her onslaught. He knew this was over the moment she gave another hard push towards him.

His eyes were filled with horror when she shattered his shield. Everything seemed to go in slow-motion for him, his foreleg outstretched as the very magic he'd poured into his barrier turned on him, as was the nature of such a strong spell. His body didn't have time to react as the magic ripped through the bones in his extended foreleg first, the oscillating nature of the magic shield causing it to twist his leg until the bones were pushed beyond their breaking point. First, his hoof twisted and twisted, then snapped at the joint. Then another crack, and another, the bones snapping and splintering in five different places until his arm was a horrifying, twisted mass of utter agony. It didn't stop there though.

The magic continued to wreak havoc, pushing him back through the air and pressing against his ribs, twisting them as well. First left, then right, then left again....then finally, a wrench to the right and his ribs, every single one, snapped and splintered apart, bone fragments being pushed back and into his lungs. The force of it all finally passed through his torso and through his back, sending him flying in the same way he'd sent his opponent flying, his body soaring just above the ground, only to fall down and tumble like a ragdoll, the sickening crunch of his broken bones breaking even more sounding off, much to Rainbow Dash's terror. It all happened in less than five seconds, but to him, the pain felt like an eternity's worth.

He came to a stop headfirst into the side of a nearby building, or rather, a building over a hundred feet away from where he was before things went horribly wrong for him. He was barely conscious and the pain was surging through his body, not to mention the concussion he no doubt had from his rather sudden, forced stop. He turned his head a little and winced, a sharp pain in his neck making him wonder if that had broken on him as well, his eyes gazing down and spotting part of the bone in his leg jutting out at the joint, straight through his skin. The pain in his chest made rolling onto his back a painstaking process, but he managed it, keeping his broken leg as still as possible.

He could barely think. The pain was so overwhelming that he couldn't even scream, and he silently begged for either death or to fall unconscious, either one....but he got neither. A sudden stomp of a hoof on his chest broke his silence, and he screamed for all he was worth, blood erupting from his mouth and drooling down his cheeks from the corners of his lips. "AAAGGH!! AAAHH-AAAGHSTOPSTOPPLEASESTOOOOP!!!" he pleaded, a vice suddenly surrounding his throat and lifting him off the ground, the force of gravity alone sending a fresh wave of pain through his body. "Suh-sompony....hhheelp....me....!" he barely managed to whimper out, his body sagging limply, his will to fight gone under a sea of agony and brutal defeat.

Tears ran down his cheeks while he stared into her piercing, yellow eyes, the one he'd damaged already repaired, which only cemented his defeat in his mind even further. He hadn't done anything noteworthy to her, she wasn't even limping from the impact to her side, she showed no signs of pain in the slightest. Blood dripped from his lips and down over the thick tentacle encircling his neck while she looked him over, laughing at the sight of him. "Oh-ho, my! I didn't expect that! To use such a dangerous spell, just to get the chance to harm me so....you ARE a gutsy one! I was right, you're worth keeping around for later!" she said with a jovial smile....but then she yanked him almost nose-to-nose with her, glaring into his eyes, the injured pegasus sharply crying out in pain. "You will make a lovely slave. SO entertaining."

He barely heard her taunting words, his lips moving with silent pleas for her to spare his life, for somepony to save him, for ANYTHING to happen that would make the pain stop. She smirked and reached up with a hoof and decked him across his cheek, making him stop and barely acknowledge her as she spoke. "What's your name?" she said with a smile, her voice ringing with happiness. He cringed and swallowed hard. "Suh....Strider...." he managed to choke out in her grasp, the shards of bone in his lungs and the blood clogging his throat making it hard to get any air, let alone her tentacle choking the life out of him. She grinned and giggled to herself. "Well-met....I have no name other than a number, but you may call me your Nightmare....just as your dear Princess Luna did, once."

His eyes slowly began to close, and she chose that time to toss him down to the ground. He let out another cry of pain when he landed, his broken leg slamming limply against the ground. He could feel his ribs shift as his body moved, and the blood pooled from his mouth now that he was laying sideways, as if draining from his throat. He coughed a few times as the world around him darkened....and soon, he was out, blissfully out cold and unable to feel the havoc wrought upon his body.

With her rather entertaining detour taken care of, she walked away from Strider's unconscious body and began approaching both Twilight and Rainbow Dash, the two standing next to each other, stone-still at the sight of the infinitely more intimidating creature approaching them. She was no longer a pony in their eyes. She was a monster that would tear them apart in seconds if they dared to make a move. The closer she got, however, the more Twilight realized that the monstrous dark Alicorn was staring directly at her, as if Rainbow Dash didn't even exist.

Twilight leaned back and looked up at the Nightmare, horrified of what she might do, but she merely leaned in and muttered something into the lavender Unicorn's ear, smiling the whole time. "If you wish to understand yourself once more....find me, deep in Everfree Forest. You know the location, dear sister...." she muttered to her, Rainbow Dash standing off to the side, wanting to do something, anything, but the most she could do was strike a half-hearted, barely threatening pose, as if she were about to pounce upon the Nightmare.

The dark Alicorn scoffed at Rainbow's meager attempt at bravado and turned away from them both, walking towards the Everfree Forest once more and melting down into the ground, a black shadow swiftly moving across the ground towards the treeline. In an instant, she was gone, and they were left alone once more. Twilight slumped down, her legs unwilling to move, she had never felt so scared in her entire life. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, rushed to Strider's side, calling out as loud as she could for somepony to come and help.

Chapter 10 - Simmer (OLD)

[Author's Note: I know these are really getting posted in late increments, but I've been working on something else to get myself out of the monetary GRAVE I'm gonna be buried in soon if I don't do something about it. I promise I'm still working on these, they're actually a relief to get a chance to work on and leave the other stuff behind, but that's the problem: I can't leave the other stuff behind and out of my mind. I'll try to speed it up on getting these done, though. Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a cupcake in my eye.]

Chapter 10 - Simmer

written by Fire Soul

Nurse Redheart had seen many injuries in her time. Broken legs, torn muscles from over-exertion on more than one occasion with Big Macintosh and Caramel Apple, but for the most part Ponyville was such a peaceful, quiet rural town that she rarely wound up in the Surgery Room. Within moments, all of that changed, and by the time the patient had arrived in the hospital, what she'd heard ahead of time had her trembling. She wouldn't believe it until she saw it, but....a completely broken ribcage? Not just a rib or two but each rib, shattered?

Hours went by, a large portion of the hospital's Unicorn staff being called in within that time. She had stayed for all of it alongside Nurse Tenderheart, retrieving surgical tools as rapidly as she could when they were requested, each Unicorn doctor pouring all of their magic and their focus into the brutalized body before them. Needles were placed carefully into Strider's veins and sedative pumped into his bloodstream on a slow drip, keeping him thoroughly under for it all while several of the specialized surgeons guided the other Unicorn doctors assisting them. Shards of his skeleton were removed and traced, the larger parts removed while they cleared his shredded lungs of bone matter.

At the same time, another surgeon was on the other side of Strider's body, tending to his severed wing. It had been broken initially, but the harsh, high-velocity tumble he'd taken tore the muscle, deep tissue and flesh that was keeping it connected. The Unicorn's magic held the wing steady, a red string being lifted up and brought over, the surgeon Unicorn carefully placing one end of the string between the broken part of the wing, and then he carefully wrapped it around the area in a tight spiral, until the entire break was covered by the thin strand. A surge of magic imbued the string with a more sturdy bracing, and almost seemed to solidify the string around the bone, acting as a cast beneath the skin. Satisfied with his work, he took a breath and brought the sutures over along with a healing gel, rubbing the entire area with it, and then getting to work on the muscles and skin.

The same process with the enchanted string was done for his ribs and his leg, though those two sections of his body took far, far longer to work on, especially his ribs. Several lines were led into his broken bones, both in his shattered ribcage and into the thicker, more sturdy bones of his leg, each break being dealt with in the same way that his wing was treated. As a final treatment over ten hours later, a line of a red-colored medication, the same as the strings used to wrap his bones internally, replaced the line of sedative that was keeping him under.

By the time surgery was finished, visitation hours were over. However, when he awoke, he found himself surrounded by familiar faces. Too many for it to be a hallucination. He briefly wondered if maybe he was dead and this was just some sort of afterlife and he'd earned some amount of happiness....but one attempt to move made it clear that he wasn't dead. No, he was very very much alive. Laying on his left side, he lifted his head with a weak, pained groan, his blurry vision clearing the more he woke up. He felt like he'd been drugged, and upon noticing the cast and splint wrapped around his left foreleg, he knew why.

The taste of copper plagued his tongue despite the oral rinsing he'd been given while he was out. By the time he'd managed to lift his head and look around, he saw three other ponies around him, all members of the Royal Guard....Luna's personal Royal Guard. He blinked his eyes to clear his vision better, his entire body feeling wracked with stiffness and soreness in equal amounts. He caught the Unicorn's attention first, the mare's voice ringing in his ears like sledgehammers being slammed through his skull.

"Hee....looks like he woke up!" Valkyre said with a smile, her cheery demeanor betrayed by the clear expression of worry and concern that adorned her.

"Uuuhh, not so loud...." Strider groaned out weakly, Valkyre's voice like a sledgehammer upside his head, accompanied by the tinier nails being pounded in that was each beep of the EKG machine keeping track of his heart rate.

The familiar face of his superiors filled the youthful warrior's vision, his eyes turning up, then down, sweeping over Commander Aolimnus, Lieutenant Colonel Aegis, and Major Valkyre, the three ponies in his life that came the closest to being his family.

Valkyre frowned and looked particularly concerned, prompting Strider to feel a pang of guilt for making his friend seem so concerned. "Hey....don't worry Valkyre. You should see the other pony."

"Cut the crap, Strider," Aolimnus said with a stern tone to his voice, Valkyre's smile fading as she stepped aside, the stoic and silent Aegis stepping aside with her to let Aolimnus stand before Strider to steal the injured pegasi's focus. "What were you thinking, you damn fool? What on Goddess's green Earth happened to screw your training mission up so bad that you wound up going hoof-to-hoof with the Nightmare?!" the Commander said quietly, but with a powerful intensity. The message was clear.

Strider swallowed hard and nodded his head to the older pegasus. He wasn't nervous or concerned, truth be told he knew that Aolimnus' rank would do little to actually cause him a problem because of the position they both shared, but he didn't like the thought of upsetting any of his friends like this, and Aolimnus looked TRULY upset about what happened to him. "....I apologize, sir."

Strider let a pained groan escape him as he slowly tried to sit up, but several modifications to his bed seemed to be almost completely restricting his movements. He couldn't even flap his wings, both of them splinted and forcibly extended out semi-fully, his shattered left foreleg wrapped in an enchanted cast internally and a normal cast and splint combination on the outside. He hated casts, they made him feel so disgusting when that cast finally came off in the future....his leg was going to smell so very, very RANK when that happened. It was an odd thing for him to be thinking about in his current condition, but pain did funny things to a pony's mind in high enough doses....that and he had quite a bit of morphine pumping through his veins.

While Strider took stock of his current situation, bound to his bed as he was and unlikely to be going anywhere anytime soon, Valkyre and Aegis stayed off to the side, not having much of anything to say....especially Aegis, given the fact that he rarely ever had anything to say no matter what the situation. Valkyre simply didn't want to get in Aolimnus' way at the moment, he could be genuinely scary when upset.

Upset was exactly what Aolimnus was becoming more and more of, as well. The longer it took for Strider to speak up, the more it pushed the older pegasi's buttons. "Strider, I would like a report right now?" he struggled to say as calmly as he could. Nothing about this encounter with the Nightmare called for being casual, and all of his years of experience told him that they needed to act fast and get done anything that needed to be done as soon as possible.

Strider's attention returned to Aolimnus, his smile missing as he began to piece his words together as best he could, his aching head making it remarkably hard to think. He reached up to rub at his head with a wince, every little move he made creating a fresh wave of throbbing inside of his skull. "Nnnn....sorry, sir. I found ample time to enter Everfree Forest and lure out the Wild Shadows populating the area. All went according to plan until Twilight Sparkle intercepted me on my way back....she saw something, no doubt about that," he explained, his eyes twitching, almost shutting for a moment from a heavy pounding pain that welled up in his head. "Ssshhhheee was asking far too many questions to simply be inquisitive about me as a guardspony."

Aolimnus spoke with a more authoratative tone now, befitting somepony in a position of command. His stern voice filled the room when he spoke. "Did she explicitly say that she saw what you were doing in the forest?"

Strider give a small shake of his head. "No, no she didn't. For whatever reason, she seemed intent on keeping me occupied just as I was leaving Everfree Forest. She seemed very suspicious of me. One other thing, sir...." he said, his eyes dulling a bit as a yawn left his lips. The medication was making him feel glazed over, and more than a little high at the moment, but he kept his mind in the present as best he could. "A Zebra named Zecora lives in Everfree Forest....given what's happened, we should evacuate her from her house in there. She knows about my Runic Magic, said she could feel the beacon I brought with me. I think she's a Druid."

"Oh, no....not a Druid," Valkyre grumbled, the young Unicorn hanging her head a bit. She rubbed the side of her head, an annoyed look upon her face. "You serious, Strider? That's gonna be a big issue. Druids don't take kindly to being 'evicted' from their forests."

Aegis let out a small huff of a sigh through his nose, but still he said nothing, his stoic demeanor holding fast compared to everypony else in the room.

"I know....and she didn't seem to like me at all after she found out what I had with me." Strider said, clenching his teeth as a fresh throb of pain echoed through his head and neck, then his chest, renewing his headache and the dulled ache from his ribs. "Nnf....it's stashed at Rainbow Dash's house with my armor, by the way. She knows where I keep my things."

Valkyre shrugged and sighed, looking to Aegis and Aolimnus for a moment before speaking up. "I would suggest that we go and get this 'Zecora' then....she can walk through the forest itself just fine, she is a Druid for that forest. But she cannot control Wild Shadows, and the longer she stays in there, the more likely she is to be found."

Aegis just nodding and heading for the door, the powerful-looking stallion followed by Valkyre rather quickly. "The Princess will be here later for a full debriefing, I'm sure you know why," Aolimnus said, following suit and heading for the door.

Strider just grinned. "Hey Aegis!" he struggled to half-shout, causing some burning pain in his chest.

The big Earth Pony turned his head and peeked his head into the room, his expression remaining, save for a more curious look in his eyes.

"Your Paring Shield sucks a gigantic one. HARD."

"WHY was he in the Everfree Forest?!" Twilight shouted, rubbing the sides of her head in frustration.

Princess Celestia sighed and facehoofed, shaking her head in slight frustration. "Twilight, please, calm down." Celestia demanded in a firmer voice.

Her soothing tones did nothing to make the lavender Unicorn back down. "No! You know something, he knows something, and I want to know why that....THING was chasing me!" she shouted at her teacher, anger and frustration in equally large amounts all too apparent in Twilight's voice and even her body language.

All of her friends save for one were sitting outside of the library, having been instructed by Celestia to give her some time with Twilight. Pinkie still seemed rather shaken from the whole experience, a single gaze into the dark creature's eyes bringing back memories of horror and sadness that she had buried for such a long time....she wasn't prepared to deal with them. The only pony not there was Applejack, who had been sent home by Rarity and Rainbow Dash, both of them easily able to tell the fact that their friend was utterly exhausted, and didn't need to deal with this sort of issue; they had it under control, as close as one could come to control given the circumstances, anyways.

Celestia's jaw tightened within her closed mouth, looking to Twilight with no small amount of uncertainty. Twilight and Rainbow Dash had told her everything, and to say that she was concerned was putting it lightly. Twilight, however, looked like she was ready to snap and break a few legs to get a straight answer out of somepony.

Celestia sighed and relaxed, nodding her head. "....Wind Strider is one of four personal guards protecting my little sister, Luna," she said, looking directly at Twilight while she spoke, her large and regal form being displayed in her usual standing pose she always seemed to strike, as if it were a natural way for her to stand. "He is also a practitioner of a very old, very strong and very dangerous form of magic. Many Royal Guards, including the other three protecting my sister are trained extensively in its safe use, and great measures are taken to make sure the civilian populace doesn't learn of its existence."

Twilight only nodded to Celestia, just trying to take it all in, recalling the events from earlier. It was a shocker to everypony there, what occured when Strider decided to take action, much to his consequence. True, she only nodded, but inside a maelstrom of emotions and questions began to surface. She was unsure what to start with, but she knew herself well enough by now to know that if she allowed herself to dwell on the emotions, she'd only get angry, and that would get her nowhere. She wanted answers now, she wanted information, she wanted to KNOW for the first time in months!

"....He used magic that consumes the caster's soul. I could feel that, it was like a part of him was being manipulated, and when his shield disappeared, that part of him stopped existing," Twilight muttered, staring at the floor and shifting her gaze this way and that, as if looking at some kind of invisible graph or chart. "How could I have missed the use of such magic all around me? How long has this been going on, Princess, why did you never-"

"Because it wasn't something I wished to impose upon you, Twilight. You have always had enough to focus on with your extensive studies, I felt you didn't need to know about such a thing." Celestia stated calmly, but firmly, sensing that her precious student was still upset about what had happened back in Canterlot.

It was her eyes. They once again held the spark, the THIRST for knowledge that drew her to the intelligent, powerful young filly in the first place. If she hadn't caused Spike to spontaneously transform along with everypony else in that examination room, she likely would have continued on her walk through the castle. Celestia's only question now was....why did she have such a drive back?

Twilight furrowed her brow, staring into Celestia's gaze for a long moment, causing the Sun Goddess to become somewhat unsettled. "That's a lie....you didn't tell me about this for another reason. It has something to do with that mare that chased me. Doesn't it?" she asked in an elevated tone, standing up and taking a tentative step towards her teacher.

Celestia's heart sank almost instantly when Twilight put two and two together so quickly. She kept her expression as straight as she could manage, given how surprised she'd been by her student's revelation. She shouldn't have been surprised to begin with, Twilight was HER student and a very smart pony to begin with, but the potential consequences Twilight might suffer if she knew....no. "Twilight, knowing this would only harm you. Please....let it go."

Twilight's left eye twitched in a sudden burst of irritation, her feelings on this matter not dying down in the least. She stared at Celestia for what felt like a long time despite being only a few seconds, hoping that her teacher would simply tell her....but Celestia stared her down in return, forcing her hoof. "Will you PLEASE give me something to work with here?! Why was she so focused on me?"

Celestia could only shake her head to this. "No. I'm sorry, but this is simply too important."

"And WHY NOT?! I wanna know why! You've never kept a secret like this from me Princess, and even now after you've been caught, you won't tell me what's going on. What do you expect me to do, just drop it because YOU say I should?" Twilight half-shouted, her eyes slitted and staring her teacher down like daggers.

The Princess was shaken, but her resolve in this matter was unchanged. Still, Celestia could tell that she wasn't going to simply stop Twilight by asking her to....perhaps she could open up about the dangers of learning about this? "Twilight, if I tell you, I could be putting you in a lot of danger. As your....your teacher, I cannot bear the thought of being one of the reasons any harm comes to you or anypony else! I wish I could tell you and put you at ease but I can't, so please, stop asking about this and just...." she said with a certain amount of desperation in her tone....yet, she couldn't bring herself to ask Twilight to forget about this. That would only further her student's need to know.

She was no fool. She knew that no matter what she said, Twilight would never give up on finding an answer. She didn't bother looking up, the gaze that her beloved student was giving her was one of betrayal, anger, and even hate. Perhaps hate was a strong word for it, but Twilight certainly detested her at this very moment, that much she knew, as much as any of Twilight's friends likely knew, since they were listening in through an open window next to the front door. "....Twilight, please, just give me time. I can't tell you about this right now, it is too dangerous."

The lavender Unicorn felt little pity for Celestia's current emotional state. No, she didn't even notice it, but she was only concerned about herself, and given how much she'd had to deal with recently, she wasn't in the mood to just stand down and let Celestia walk away from this without giving her SOMETHING. "....She said she had answers, Princess."

Celestia's blood ran cold. The words hit her like a sack of bricks. "You wouldn't."

"Yes I would," Twilight said calmly, stoically even, as if the look of horror on Celestia's face didn't faze her in the least. "You of all ponies should know just how far I'm willing to go to get the answers I want."

Celestia's concerned gaze turned to one that very, very few ponies ever saw from her: rage. She stood and stalked up to Twilight, bringing herself nose-to-nose with her student. "After all I've done for you, night after night giving you counsel on your studies, watching over you, taking you in as my personal student, this is what I get in return?!"

Even Twilight felt the least bit intimidated, but she calmed herself knowing that Celestia was one of the most self-controlled ponies in Equestria. She wouldn't harm a fly unless it were absolutely necessary. "Yes, because you always taught me to strive to learn all that I can!"

Celestia ground her pristine teeth, leaning away from the lavender Unicorn and furrowing her brow. "I also taught you how to respect other ponies! You've trusted me your entire life, why won't you just trust me now?!"

Twilight clenched her teeth and stepped forward, glaring right into Celestia's eyes. "Because you're not giving me an answer!"

"I GAVE you an answer, I told you that it could doom you!"

"And it's not enough for me!! WHY would it doom me?!"

Pinkie Pie was the first to make herself known, the door to the library being shoved open and her rushing in-between the two arguing ponies. "Oh no! Wait, Twilight, y-you don't mean any of this, neither of you do!" she said, trying her best to shove herself between the Princess and one of her best friends. "We've always been friends here! The Princess must have a good reason for keeping it a secret, right?"

Celestia wasn't budging though, and Pinkie's words only served to make Twilight even more upset. "There's no reason good enough to hide this from me!" she hissed out from between tense lips. "Nothing's been the same ever since I came back....!"

Rarity and Fluttershy quickly entered, followed up by Rainbow Dash, who looked just as concerned as any of the others in the room as Twilight's expression turned from one of anger to one of desperation. "All I've been doing since I've come back is....is try to figure myself out again! I used to know myself so well, used to be confident and-and thoughtful, but now....!" Twilight tried her best to explain while her eyes watered and tears began to build, sitting down and staring down at her own forehooves.

Celestia's anger subsided as she listened, her concern returning as tears began to run down her faithful student's cheeks. "Twilight....?" she asked in a quiet, almost motherly tone, taking a step forward, Fluttershy stepping closer while Pinkie stepped a little to the side so Celestia could move in closer as well.

"The psychiatrist said that I'm depressed, but I shouldn't be so....s-so....!" she struggled to say once more, looking around herself, all of her friends save for the exhausted and currently resting Applejack surrounding her.

They were standing and sitting there, Celestia included, just waiting and listening, the lavender Unicorn able to see the calm reassurance in their eyes, a little sniffle heard as Rainbow Dash stepped around to her left and wrapped a foreleg around the back of her neck from the side.

She was silent for a moment, all of them were, but finally she spoke up, swallowing the sobs she just wanted to let herself wallow in on the floor. "E-every time somepony asks me to go out and do something, I try to smile and make sure that you all enjoy yourselves, but it's such a chore to do because I'm just not having fun anymore....!" she said, gritting her teeth and stamping her hoof against the floor. "I haven't picked up and genuinely enjoyed a single book in months, even!!"

Celestia just listened, the expression on her face almost unreadable, a steady gaze being trained on Twilight while she opened up to them all. "I hate going out, it's a conscious effort to get anything done-" she continued on, her voice breaking and a single sob leaving her while she hung her head. "-and all I can do is just lay around and hate everything and I don't know why....!"

Pinkie Pie was silently crying while wrapping her forelegs around Twilight's neck from the front and a little off to the side. Rainbow Dash, despite always being a bit hesitant with affection, couldn't stand to see the despair her friend was in. Fluttershy was already in tears, covering her own muzzle with her forehooves. Rarity was just....taking it all in, her glistening eyes betraying a surprisingly stoic outward expression. Inwardly, she wished there was something, anything she could do to take all of this pain away from one of her dearest friends.

"I can barely even stand being around anypony, I just keep having you all over because I keep trying to believe that it'll get better and this will all go away, but....it's been so long already, I just can't stand it!" she tried her best to say clearly through sudden bouts of sobbing, uncontrollable crying and the frustration that only made it all worse. "I just want to be me again!!!"

Celestia wanted to talk. She wanted to tell all, all of what she knew, what she assumed, and all of what she was already guessing at. She knew, though, that it would destroy her. She was NOT ready for this. Not yet.

With a heavy heart, Celestia retracted the hoof she'd unconsciously reached towards her student with, stood, and turned to walk towards the door, her head hung in anguish. "I....I-I'm SO sorry, Twilight...." she said, just barely audible over the sound of her student crying her eyes out.

Twilight's eyes snapped up and she reached out towards Celestia, her eyes wide with fear. "No, please! Please, you have to know what's happening to me, you have to tell me something!!" She was too late, however; Celestia was gone.

Twilight stared, that wide-eyed gaze turning into a sad, crushed expression while her outstretched foreleg faltered and slumped down to the floor. Just as suddenly though, she slammed her hoof at the ground in frustration and anger, three times, as hard as she possibly could. She wanted to strike something, and the grain of the wood beneath her hooves seemed as good a target as any. "DAMN IT!! Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs before her rage broke into sadness once more, the defeated Unicorn slumping down to the floor and letting the sobs, the tears, letting all of it flow freely. She had little choice....it was all she was able to do about her situation, as of late.

It wasn't just the fact that she still didn't have the answers she needed to be freed of her current condition. It wasn't just the fact that despite her friends being right there, wishing there were some way they could take her burden upon themselves, it made little difference to her and she felt nothing from such a show of care and affection. It was the fact that after all these years, all her time spent with Princess Celestia, when she truly needs her to be a beacon of hope....Celestia's flame had gone out for her, leaving her to fend for herself in her own darkness.

Celestia stepped away from the library, one of her personal guards instantly at her side, a pegasus with a lantern in his maw, leading her to her chariot. He looked up to Celestia, very concerned when he began to see tears running down her pristine face. He stayed quiet for now, however, following along as Celestia rushed for her chariot.

Spike, however, looked very upset, and very worried just the same. He was sitting on the back of the chariot, in the way of Celestia and her guard, the pegasus putting his lantern down on the chariot and looking between Spike and Celestia, bowing to them a moment later. "Might I assume I should leave you two alone, Your Majesty?"

Celestia nodded, sniffling and wiping one of her eyes to clear her vision once more. "Yes Honorius....thank you," she said as he turned and walked away, towards the library once more, but he only stayed out of earshot, not wanting to eavesdrop....or at least, not seem like he was eavesdropping. Celestia turned her more clear and slightly more calm gaze to Spike, who looked very pensive. "What is it, Spike?"

The little dragon's eyes were glistening as he looked up to the Princess, hopping down from the end of the chariot. "Is there anything I can do, Princess? I've watched her these past couple months, and she's at her wit's end. She doesn't want to admit it but she is!" he said, his little arms trembling with a mix of anger, and his struggle to hold his own feelings back.

All these years Twilight was there for him, tending to his needs while he grew up, being fed, taught and all of it made him feel like he had a big sister, possibly even a Mother, despite him being a dragon. Now, when she needs help the most....he was just as lost as she was.

His eyes were giving the Sun Goddess a silent plea for help, and that only made the turmoil within Celestia's heart wrench at her more. "I can't tell you anything, Spike....this is something that only time can be the salve for. If there were a way for me to help I would do it in a heartbeat, but I just....!" she said, her eyes darting left and right, struggling to find a way to put it that would make sense, but she could think of nothing. "....I just can't!"

Spike stood there for a moment or two, just staring up at her, some part of him wishing that she would cave at least a little bit....but, he got nothing. He rubbed at his eyes and sniffled once, stepping past her. "Th-then I have to go, Princess....Twilight needs me just as much as she needs all of her friends."

That single sentence hit her hard, and her entire body trembled under the weight of her own sadness. Could she still consider herself somepony that actually mattered to Twilight? Was she still a friend, a teacher, a damn near surrogate Mother? She felt like none of these things at the moment....all she felt like was somepony that refused to help a friend in dire need. As Honorius approached, she stepped up onto the chariot, facing away from him.

"Are you ready to go back now, Your Ma-" Honorius began to ask, but he was cut off when Celestia held up a hoof.

She didn't want to look at him, but he knew what a simple gesture like that meant, the same gesture when asking crowds to be silent so she could speak. "Strider is your friend, is he not? You should stay and visit him."

"But Your Majesty, it is late and I should-"

"Honorius! Please...." she said, her entire body visibly trembling before his eyes. His step faltered as he made for the right side of the chariot, taking a step back. "I will be fine....just go visit your friend. I'm sure you know what happened."

He stood there for a moment, the pegasus surprised at just how distraught Celestia seemed to be. But he would respect her wishes, giving her an unnecessary, formal bow, one she couldn't even see. "As you wish, Your Majesty....be safe."

With that, Celestia firmly stamped her hoof at the floor of the chariot, and the pegasi pulling it took off, sailing through Luna's night sky, using the stars and the memory of the trails they had flown countless times in the past to find their way back to Canterlot through the darkness. The ride for Celestia, however, was an inner battle. With every passing second, she had to fight the urge to break down and begin crying her heart out within full view of her loyal subjects, despite it only being two of them.

She stayed almost stock-still the entire ride back to the castle, barely acknowledging the landing until one of the pegasi notified her that they had arrived. She was lost in thought, her lungs stiff and barely allowing her to draw breath, fearing that allowing herself to take a full breath would bring with it a torrent of sobs that many in the castle would hear.

She made her was briskly down the halls, thankful that it was nighttime and that very few ponies were up and about at this time, save for some of Luna's division of the Royal Guard. Finally, her room was in sight, her waving off the awaiting ponies that wished to have some last-minute guidance from her on some legal and political issues that were so far gone from her mind at the moment, she couldn't even remember half of what had been brought to her attention earlier that day.

With her room secure, the doors locked, the guards sent away and her privacy secured, her horn lit up and her magic ripped the crown off of her head, the jewel-encrusted accessory clattering across the floor with the rest of her more ornate accessories, Celestia's fury releasing itself at her whim. She could only think of how helpless she was....a Sun Goddess with no light to shine the way for her now-errant student.

Her crying eventually lulled her to a fitful sleep, constantly broken by nightmares of what could be, or what she might have caused had she said anything. This wass merely another lesson in her eternal life, one that she hated most of all: sometimes the correct choice, the choice that will save the lives of many a good pony, is the most difficult and, at the time, the most painful choice to make. One thought continued to make her feel worse and worse about her decision, however.

"....Th-there's nothing I can do to stop any of this....!"

Chapter 11 - Boil (OLD)

Chapter 11 - Boil

written by Fire Soul

Luna stood before the hospital's doors, her guards already inside. She felt a pang of guilt as the details of the 'incident' ran through her mind once more. It was meant to only be a training exercise, one that she had even put Aegis through in Everfree Forest, albeit with much more secrecy, but even with Strider being caught using Runic Magic, there was no way to anticipate the Nightmare....or was there?

Her mind wandered to Celestia's prized student while she stepped inside of the waiting lounge, one of the nurses immediately giving her special treatment and her undivided attention. "Princess Luna! May I assume you are here for one 'Wind Strider'?"

Sadly, her thoughts on the matter of Twilight Sparkle's involvement in all of this would have to wait, it seemed, at least for a short while longer. Strider would likely have some answers, though other concerns for him weighed on her conscience as well. This job mattered a lot to him, more than his own life judging by his recent actions. But if his injuries were truly as severe as they said....

She nodded her head to the nurse, a young paint horse stallion, a brown-maned male with a coat of white fur with brown markings in random patterns over that coat. Most ponies were solid colors, and it was uncommon but not rare to find various species of ponies all over the world, even in a small country town like Ponyville.

"Yes, we wish to-erm....I wish to see Wind Strider. He is one of the Royal Guard you see, and there is an urgent matter I must speak to him about," she said with a vague smile. The stallion nurse looked nervous in her presence, so she did her best to calm him. "Wouldst thou take us to him?"

The nurse nodded to her and quickly turned away, motioning for the Princess to come with him. "He's just down this hall, Princess."

Luna stepped up next to the colt nurse and smiled, walking with him instead of simply following him. "You may call us Luna."

That seemed to put the nurse a little more at ease, much to Luna's delight. Perhaps her sister's lessons in modern equality etiquette were worth the trouble! After all, looking down at her subjects was never something that sat well with Luna, or the fact that many of them believed she would be that way just for being the 'Princess of the Night'. She was no snob, and much like her sister, her personality was far from aristocratic! She simply liked to give....a proper presentation of herself, as much as possible.

That need for 'proper presentation' seemed to leave her though, when she saw just how injured Strider truly was. She approached with a look of concern, guilt even, as she gazed upon the cast and splint combination on his leg, and his wing most of all. The deep-rooted fear that his greatest asset out of his entire body may have been lost or permanently crippled, and the look on her face twisted into a look of pain when she heard him rouse from his slumber, awoken by the sound of her accessory-clad hooves against the tiled floor.

As his vision cleared, he yawned and looked up, into the eyes of the Princess that he had been tasked with protecting above all else, a sleepy smile rising up on the corners of his lips. "Good evening, Your Majesty....is it still evening, actually?" he asked, looking around, unfortunately stuck laying on his side when his broken leg wasn't stuck in Unicorn suspension to allow him to shift about and get some movement in some of his other limbs.

Luna gave a weak smile and sighed, gazing out of the hospital window. It was indeed nighttime, quite late actually, and yet her sister insisted they stay until everything had been sorted out. That included the issues with Twilight that Celestia heard about from her letter, and for Luna, that especially included one of her most promising members of her personal guard.

She shook her head. "Nay, not evening," she said, looking back to him. "Not quite."

He quirked a brow and turned his head a little, eyes doing most of the gazing for him, lest he cause yet another sharp pain in his shattered chest from an errant tug on a muscle or tendon connected to the upper area of his ribcage. "Huh? But I thought-" he said, sounding a little more awake now. Then he got what she meant. "Oh."

She had tried to hold back her smile, but Strider's jokester personality always seemed to bring her out of her royal shell when in his presence. "Indeed, 'tis nighttime. Thou should be more accurate!"

He just weakly chuckled and gave a small grin, closing his eyes. "Well! Either I'm just not paying attention and slacking off, or the concussion's messesesesing wid' me brain t'ing'ies!" he said to her, purposely mucking up his speech at that end to emphasize his retort.

Luna's feelings of guilt and concern were lost beneath a veil of laughter. He was always such a silly pony in the most appropriate of times, and he knew it. Of course, his eyes had been locked on the expressions evident upon Luna's face once he'd woken up, and he didn't like what he saw. So, he aimed to fix that, and much to his delight he succeeded....well, until she began speaking again.

"Thou art very silly, Strider....but, we came to discuss other things," she said, frowning and stepping forward, looking him over for a moment. "Art thou alright, first of all? No malfections?"

He shook his head a little. "No, nothing of the sort, just a lot of broken bones. Aegis's Paring Shield spell backlashed on me is all aside from all of these cuts I have under these bandages," he said, his eyes turning downward, gazing upon just how much of a partial mummy he looked like at the moment. "No need for concern Princess, I'll be back on my hooves in no time!"

Luna wasn't convinced with just how well he actually was doing at the moment. She gave him a stern look and sighed. "Strider, thou must know that thy injuries-" she began to say.

"You're doing it again, Your Majesty."

"-Ugh! You know that your injuries will result in you having to do a physical evaluation in front of a council of your peers," she said, looking away while walking over and examining his chart. "I fear the worst, given what has happened to your leg and wing."

His eyes went wide in fear. He hadn't thought about that! He turned his head as far as he could to look to her, trying his best to sound calm while he spoke. "Wait, Your Majesty! You know better than anypony else that if I have enough time, I could be back in peak physical condition in time to prove that I can still perform as your personal guard!"

"I know that just as well as Valkyre and the others do, which is why it is not my decision, nor is it theirs," she said, frowning. "You will be evaluated for your physical prowess before the standard Council. After that...." she said, looking to the door as somepony knocked on it. "Hm? Come in."

The door opened soon after she spoke, the familiar guise of a pegasus Royal Guard entering the room. "Hey there Strider," he said, looking to Luna and bowing a moment after. "Your Majesty."

Strider knew who it was almost immediately, judging by the Cutie Mark he had: two spears crossed over an image of the Sun. "Honorius! Good to see you."

The guardspony looked between his good friend and Princess Luna, and cleared his throat. "Am I interrupting anything, Your Majesty? I would hate to intrude."

Luna simply shook her head. "No, nothing of immediate importance. Strider, we will finish our conversation tomorrow, after you have been transferred to the castle's hospital."

Strider turned his gaze up to Luna and smiled, nodding slowly to her. "Very well, Princess. Uh, Honorius," he said, looking to his friend. "Would you give us just one moment, please? I have to talk to the Princess about something important. To me, anyways."

Luna stopped and turned, a curious look on her face. Honorius was curious as well, but he didn't make a fuss about it, it probably wasn't his business to begin with. "Sure thing. Talk to you in a bit," he said, turning and heading for the door. He bowed to Luna once more before he left. "Your Majesty."

With that, Honorius was outside and out of earshot, the door closed and their privacy secured. Strider looked to Luna with concern. "Princess....how much time will I have to prepare myself? I won't be in any kind of physical condition to pull this off if I go right back into service after the cast is removed from my wing and my leg."

Luna frowned and thought on that for a moment, tapping the floor with the tip of her hoof. "Well, normally you have two weeks to be ready to present yourself to the Council once you're deemed well enough to go back into service...."

He cringed at that. He didn't need to do the math to know that he'd never be adequately prepared, nor would his leg have fully recovered enough by then for him to do any amount of fancy hoofwork. Not to mention his wing, having one wing's muscles weaker than the other could make flight and aerial acrobatics and other strenuous activities with one's wings very, very difficult if not impossible. Two weeks was NOT enough time for him and he knew it.

Luna saw the flow of expressions that ran across his face as he thought through that tidbit of information, and it instilled even more concern and even guilt upon her. He was one of the most noble and skilled personal guards she had ever chosen. Despite his age, he had proven vigilant, obedient, self-sacrificing and dedicated to her security, even at the cost of his own. He even made her laugh with normally lame jokes, but he always seemed to know just what to say to lighten up some of the most tense situations....she didn't want to think of him losing his position because of a lack of adequate time.

"....I cannot make them overlook your injuries, Strider," she said, smiling a little. "But, if my sister will help me and back me, I believe I can convince the Council to give you one month instead of two weeks to get yourself back into proper physical condition."

Inwardly he was jumping for joy, and the wide grin on his face gave all of it away. "Thank you for this, Princess! I promise, I won't let you down."

"I know you won't. I have seen you almost every night in the training grounds, on my way to the Royal Library. Sometimes I wonder when you actually get sleep," she said, smiling a little while looking out the window. "Still...."

Strider blinked and looked to her curiously, Luna taking a deep breath and letting it out. "I'm very sorry for letting this happen to you, Strider," she said, her guilty expression making the injured pony frown. "I should have taken this into consideration. You are the first pony that has been sent to the Everfree Forest to suppress the population of the Wild Shadows since I returned, I should have seen the possibility that she would have been waiting for....well, I don't know what she was waiting for, really...."

He just let her speak for the time being, staying silent and listening to it all. Her tone of voice rang with sincerity from what he could tell, and it tore at him. He didn't like seeing her unhappy for any reason whatsoever. "You know, Princess....this was still the best outcome," he said, chuckling weakly. "Me getting my sorry butt kicked is better than a bunch of Royal Guardsponies getting slaughtered and possibly only serving to upset the Nightmare further, right? Besides, she seemed very intent on Twilight....I don't know why she backed off."

Luna smiled only a little, Strider's logic ringing true and sound to her after a moment of consideration. He was one of the most skilled practitioners of Runic Magic, and one of, if not THE fastest Pegasi in the Royal Guard. If he suffered these kinds of injuries on his own, it would have been likely that less well-trained guards would have only gotten in the way or killed, either-or. "I suppose you are right....still, I should have known better. As for Twilight, my sister is tending to that matter as we speak. I pray she does nothing rash."

Strider could only nod to that and then yawn, a sleepy smile crossing his lips. "Well Princess, I know I'm a night owl, but I should probably try to get some rest....after talking with Honorius for a bit," he said. "He's probably dying to hear details of how badly I got beaten down."

She laughed and nodded to him, the Moon Goddess turning and heading for the door, the magic in her horn opening it up with ease. "Remember, tomorrow you will be transferred to the castle's hospital," she said, ducking out into the hallway. "Honorius? You may speak with Strider now. We are finished here."

As Luna stepped past Honorius, fully clad in his Royal Guard armor, he nodded once to her. "Very well, Your Majesty," he said stoically, walking into the room and closing the door behind himself. He looked over Strider's wounds once more and smirked, stepping towards him and sitting down next to the bed. "So....how'd the whole thing go down?"

"Hah! I totally called it!"

The next day, a lot of work near the site of the incident had been cancelled, most ponies fearing to even go anywhere near the edge of the Everfree Forest. Those that were there feared the Nightmare. Those that heard about the Nightmare from their friends feared her even moreso, unsure of where they actually WOULD be safe from her. Their imaginations ran wild, and soon stories of a horrific beast the size of a building came from the encounter with a shadow creature the size of an Alicorn.

Not to mention the tales surrounding the brave Royal Guardspony that stood up to the mighty creature of massive size and power, capable of toppling the most sturdy of buildings and crushing ponies under a single hoof! He flew circles around the great beast and inflicted grievous wounds, holding his own against such unfathomable might....but his noble heart caused him to take a powerful, crushing blow in defense of all of Ponyville! That is, of course, the only way a true HERO could be defeated by such a wicked creature.

It annoyed Strider to no end to be taken to by the nurses for his 'bravery'. He only did what he had to do, and he certainly didn't fight anything the size of a damn HOUSE. Oh, how he hated the rumor mill. He wanted to find the section that overexaggerated and glorified the truth, drop a tactical Magic Missile bombardment on it, and wipe it from existence!

Almost all of this overexaggeration was lost on Twilight and the others. Twilight especially, the Unicorn mostly keeping to herself, not having said a single word to anypony, despite the main room of the library being full of her friends. Even the mailmare, Derpy, seemed concerned, and she only saw the look on Twilight's face through her window while stopping in to drop off mail, at least, mail that didn't come directly out of Spike's fire-spewing gullet.

"Is Twilight okay....?" the gray-colored mailmare asked, looking to Rainbow Dash....and Spike at the same time, or so it seemed with those eyes of hers.

Spike just shook his head, and Derpy blinked. She was about to say that she asked Rainbow Dash that, but she was used to this sort of thing happening. Rainbow Dash had grabbed Derpy's attention now though, the normally rambunctious weather pony a big lump of sadness in her....discerning gaze.

"Rainbow Dash, what's wrong?" Derpy asked in her usual manner, that innocent and naive tone of voice that fit her so very well. However, very few in the current vicinity of the muffin-brained mare were feeling a very talkative mood, so Derpy was left standing there in silence for a few moments.

Pinkie Pie was the first to break the silence. "Sorry Derpy, some really crazy stuff happened yesterday, so uh....we're all kinda not ourselves today," she said, the party pony suddenly grinning as a thought occurred to her, leading Derpy back out of the library. "But DON'T you worry your silly little head off about it! We'll be back to normal in no time. We always are!"

The derpy-eyed pegasus smiled at that and nodded, taking off into the air. "That's good! I'd feel bad if I left my friends feeling all sad and down, you know."

Pinkie just waved goodbye while she continued on with her rounds, the pink pony's smile fading only a little as she turned and stepped back inside, closing the door behind herself. Her eyes were on Rainbow Dash now, who really did look far more worse for wear than a single argument would cause. The others seemed to notice it too, but before they could say anything, Pinkie was already all over her about it.

"You know Dashie, I'm starting to think that Derpy's eyes see things we don't at first. IS there something wrong with you? 'Cuz we're right here, y'know!" Pinkie said in as cheerful a tone as she could, grinning a little bit.

The rainbow-maned pegasus had mostly hung her head all morning, her eyes glossy and her gaze towards the ground, appearing entirely lost in thought. Nopony had noticed because, well, most of them looked the same way, though the others were taking turns checking up on Twilight, who refused to come down from her room.

Rainbow Dash looked away from Pinkie, not wanting to risk meeting her friend's gaze, nervously rubbing along the side of her right foreleg with her left hoof. "W-well, yeah, I'm okay, I....I guess I am, I mean...."

Now all of them had their eyes trained on Rainbow Dash. Even Spike knew something was up, this was FAR from their usual Rainbow Dash. Where her confidence and pride usually were, now only an insecure posture and a fearful expression took up space on and within their friend.

"Darling....what IS the matter? Is it Twilight?" Rarity asked, pointing a hoof up towards where Twilight's sleeping area/bedroom was.

Rainbow just sulked and shook her head. "No....no, it's not Twilight, girls....though I'm worried about her too, seriously."

Applejack yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Well, what's the problem then, sugarcube? What's eatin' ya? Y'look like me when one o' mah apple trees starts dyin'."

Pinkie suddenly interjected when Rainbow Dash was going to say something, appearing behind her with a foreleg slung around the back of Dash's neck. "Yeah! C'mon, spill those beans!" she said, grinning wide and giving Rainbow Dash a small one-legged hug. "What else are friends for?"

Rainbow Dash quirked a brow at her friend's rather sudden mood shift, her own mopey mood off-set by Pinkie's cheerful demeanor. "Wow, you bounced back from being chased down by a homicidal maniac pony."

Pinkie Pie stopped for a moment, hrm'ing....then she shrugged. "Meeeh! So some loony-toony pony chased me through the woods. I'm fine! Besides, I have all you gals here to watch out for me. Especially you Dashie!"

Rainbow Dash chuckled a little and sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "Nah, I just....kinda dove right in there, you know how I am...."

Applejack quirked a brow. "Okay, now ah KNOW it's somethin' serious that's buggin' ya RD. Ah ain't never known you t' miss a chance t' brag, an' that right there was practically settin' th' STAGE for ya!" Applejack said in a playful tone, stepping around the table and placing a hoof on Rainbow Dash's other shoulder. "So c'mon now....you can talk to us."

"Well...."

"You sure ya wanna go through with this, Dashie?" Pinkie asked, hopping along next to the comparatively depressed pegasus next to her.

Rainbow Dash shrugged a little and sighed. "If I don't say something now, who knows when I'll get another chance? I'm definitely not gonna do this by MAIL, that's just plain cowardly."

"Yeah, he probably doesn't deserve that either, it's not like he's done anything BAD-bad," Pinkie said to her, still hopping along with a wide smile.

Rainbow Dash looked to her friend and frowned. "WHY are you so happy right now?! Our friend is suffering and I'm....well, I'm not feeling too hot either, y'know?!"

Pinkie was already moving forward in mid-hop, but with Rainbow Dash's sudden snap at her, her eyes shot open and she just sort of fluttered straight down to the ground instead of continuing on ahead. She turned to her and shook her head. "Everypony's being all mopey-wopey and it's just not how Pinkie rolls, okay? Besides, you're gonna want some happy faces around when this is all said and done."

"I-I know, but....you almost seem like you're HAPPY this is happening, Pinkie...." she said, the pegasus slumping a little where she stood before starting on ahead again.

Pinkie's mouth went agape for a moment and she gasped. "Oh, how dare you, Dashie! I would never be happy about something like this, I mean, this is one of the worst things that could happen to somepony, and he's all injured and stuff too, it's like adding insult to injury literally!" she said in her usual fashion, suddenly popping up next to Rainbow Dash on the opposite side. "I just don't want you to not have somepony to be all happy-faced for you after it's over, because if I'm all frowny-faced like you are now, then you'll just stay that way, and nopony wants a sad Dashie."

They both entered the hospital, Pinkie's little rant drawing some glances their way, only making Rainbow Dash shrink in on herself even moreso. "Not really helping with the whole 'insult to injury' remark, Pinkie...."

As they made their way down the hallway, just outside of Strider's room, Pinkie gave a quick 'sorry' and backed away from the entrance. "Uh, I'll....just be waiting in the lounge, okay Dashie?"

The cyan pegasus could only nod, lost in thought and her own nerves as she stepped into Strider's room.

To say that she was shocked at the sight before her was an understatement. She knew that he'd taken some very severe injuries, but to be bound to the bed as he was, or at least, he may as well have been. His condition only made her feel even more guilty about what she wanted to discuss with him.

His eyes blinked open from a morphine-induced nap, focusing his gaze on the pegasus and smiling almost instantly. "Dashie! You came to visit....s'nice to see ya," he said, waving his one good leg at her. "I'd give you a hug, but I think that'd just break my ribs again...."

She knew he sounded sleepy, but she approached regardless, a more pensive look on her face. That drew his attention more than anything. "Hey....what's wrong, Dash?"

She took a deep breath and let it out a second later, closing her eyes. "....You used magic. How did you use magic, Strider?"

He looked to her seriously suddenly, frowning. "I'm sorry Rainbow Dash....I can't tell you about that. That has something to do with....well, it's all about the security of Equestria."

She was silent for a long moment, looking like she was in pain. Strider looked to her with a growing worry as he waited, but finally he broke the silence in the air. "Rainbow Dash, what's going on? Does that really bother you that I-"

"YES, it bothers me, Strider!" she said, hanging her head a little and wiping her eyes. When she realized that they were beginning to get watery, she blinked a few times and looked away. "Bucking dammit, I promised myself....!"

"Wait, what-I-....I-I'm so sorry Rainbow Dash, but I told you that before...." he said in a concerned tone, frowning more. "I didn't know it bothered you so much."

"It's not just that, it's....quite a few things, actually. And, they've....they've kinda gotten to be deal-breakers for me," she said, nervously rubbing one of her forelegs with the hoof of the other, looking away from him for a moment and towards the floor, letting the awkward silence in the room last for a moment before speaking up again. "I've got some things I've gotta get out there....like how I don't really think this is gonna keep working for us....? Heh."

He looked at the fearful smile she tried to put on, what she was afraid of from him he didn't know, but what it sounded like she was saying....that hurt almost as much as his wing did at the moment. "You mean you want to....break up....?"

His tone was subdued and sad, and the way he looked at her with those big, dark-red eyes of his only made her wince when she tried to look at him with a more confident gaze. All she could manage was to choke it out, swallowing hard afterwards. "Yeah....I guess I am."

He looked past her, to one of his nurses, who had listened to some of that exchange, her eyes wide when her gaze met his. She quickly cringed and looked away, turning to leave. "I-I'll just be back in....well just call when you're done talking!" she said in as cheery a tone as she could manage, feeling very awkward for even hearing a bit of their little talk.

He looked back to Rainbow Dash and took in a shaky breath. "Why now? I mean....we've been together for some time now."

"Strider, please just let me talk, okay? I just....I've gotta get all of this out."

He went silent immediately, having plenty to say in his own defense, but she seemed far more wracked with fear than he did. So, he just nodded and waited, his brow furrowed in both a confused and sad expression.

"Okay....okay," she said, taking a few deep breaths to steady herself, already hearing her voice beginning to crack, which was the last thing she wanted him to hear. "....You're never around Strider. I see you maybe once a month if I'm lucky, and you only stay for a couple days, even though Canterlot's really not that far away."

He nodded to her, just closing his eyes and listening to her. He already knew that it was over, now she just needed to vent to him. She was upset with him and didn't know how to just say that and be done with it....so he laid there and let her vent.

"You-you write letters and act like nothing's wrong, and when you visit you do the same, I've been trying to tell you something and I've been upset, a-and....!" she said with increasing agitation, a couple of stray tears running down her cheeks. "Sometimes you think I'm just being SHY! Do you know how mad that-....no, not the point. That's my fault, I know, I should've said something!"

He sighed and opened his eyes, putting on the most convincing smile he could. "Rainbow Dash....if you're not happy, then we should just break up and be done with it. No reason for you to feel bound to me if I'm not around enough for you....okay?"

"I know....I know, I just....I'm mad and I'm sorry at the same time and I'm not good with this kinda stuff, and you know that, so....I'm just sorry it bothers me so much, because you're a cool guy and you were always a good friend, and I hate to do this to you....!" she said faster and faster, feeling more and more outside of her comfort zone by the second.

She had everything rehearsed to say to him, but just one look into his eyes had disarmed her and made her look upon herself in all of this. But before she could get very far with any of it, Strider lifted his good leg and smiled more, his lips parted only slightly to let a shaky breath enter and leave his very pained lungs. "Look, let's just say it's over and admit that it's my fault....I'm too into my job, I never spent enough time with you, and I'm sorry. Okay?"

"Yeah....yeah, I think....yeah," she said, sniffling and wiping some tears away with her hoof. "That works for me."

He just nodded, ignoring the growing pain in his chest from his lungs quivering with his desperate attempt to keep a steady voice. It was quaking though, his tone wavering some while he tried to speak. "Alright....you should always worry about making yourself happy instead of being miserable for somepony else anyways, Dash. I'm really sorry for putting you through this...."

She just frowned and nodded a little, turning away and staring at the ground. "I think I should....y'know, go now."

"Yeah, that might be for the best," he said, trying to laugh a little bit, but that just made the pain in his chest worse. "They turned the drip off for an hour and....well, I need to get back to sleep, hopefully."

She just nodded and silently made a beeline for the door, waving to him without looking back.

"See ya 'round, Dash!" he called out as loud as his lungs and crushed ribcage would allow in their current state. But she was already gone, fast as ever.

He laid there for a minute, reflecting on what had just transpired, as if he couldn't really believe it....but there it was. "Yeah....g-go and be....real bucking happy, DAMN I-NNFG!" he half-shouted, a sharp pain in his chest cutting him off. He hissed a few breaths in and out of clenched teeth, laying his head limply against his pillow, crying in silence while his tears soaked into his pillow.

Chapter 12 - Stir (OLD)

(Author's Note: I'm going on vacation on the 29th, and I really wanted to get this out there before then. If I can somehow focus long enough to get Chapter 13 out there before I leave, I'll do my best, and if not, I'll try to get it done over the vacation. Sorry for being so late with the updates!)

Chapter 12 - Stir

written by Fire Soul

"Yer not seriously thinkin' of goin' after that thing, are ya Twi?"

"And why wouldn't I? I can't depend on Celestia to tell me what the buck's going on," Twilight said with an obvious frustration in her tone. She grumbled something to herself that none of them could hear her say while she had her mouth both full of stuff, and buried in her saddlebags. "She doesn't wanna tell me, I'll get that-that....THING to tell me herself!"

She exaggerated her words with a stomp of her forehoof against the floor, busying away with things up in the loft area of the library where she and Spike slept, books slipping out of their proper slots on the wall and floating up to where she was as time went on. Spike was ordered, not even asked but ordered to start bringing her some canned foods, a small pot and the magic-powered heating stand she bought a while back 'just in case of a power outage', her need for precaution and proper organization denying her the luxury of just being able to say 'nah, don't need it'.

Spike, however, refused to do as he was told. Much like Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, AJ and Pinkie Pie, he was feeling utterly against Twilight's plan. It had been a month since that whole fiasco, Rainbow Dash still feeling the waves of guilt from dumping Strider like she did, but she knew that it had to be done. Pinkie had been there for her through all of it, and had recently convinced the down-in-the-dumps pegasus to do some pranks with her. They had even managed to devise a prank to play on Fluttershy that wouldn't make her cry or anything! It was a total success, which managed to bring Rainbow Dash around to hanging with her friends more instead of just doing her job and going home.

Of course, Pinkie Pie wouldn't tell Rainbow Dash that Fluttershy was in on the prank, making it a secret double-cross prank of awesomeness that Rainbow Dash would never find out about. So technically, it was a prank played on Rainbow Dash that Pinkie pretended to play on Fluttershy WITH Fluttershy as well as with Rainbow Dash to get her out of her rut, but hey, whatever works! Pinkie certainly wasn't complaining, she finally had her best prank buddy back, and maybe she could even get Fluttershy to open up to the world of messing with ponies....nah. That'd never happen.

Now all of their attention was on Twilight, who had a look akin to a predator determined to catch its prey. Anypony that knew her well enough could tell that she wasn't thinking very clearly. Then again, anypony that was present when the Nightmare attacked would be able to tell the exact same thing if they knew what she planned on doing.

Applejack was broken away from the group though, sitting at the top of the staircase leading up to the loft, talking directly with Twilight while the others were waiting downstairs. Rarity's horn was aglow and locked in on Twilight's saddlebags, having already come up with, as she put it, the 'absolutely FABULOUS plan' of using her gift for honing in on things to keep track of Twilight's belongings, as a way of making sure she couldn't teleport away from them and escape as easily.

Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, figured she could just dart around Ponyville and find Twilight running for the Everfree Forest in ten seconds flat. As always.

AJ just shook her head at her friend's stubbornness on this issue, even more stubborn than she ever was herself. "Twi, y'all know darn good n' well that whatever that thing is, it ain't worth riskin' yer life goin' after it just 'cuz it says it has somethin' ya want!"

"But how do you know she's lying?"

"How do YOU know she's not?"

Twilight could only sigh in frustration. "I'll be fine! She could've killed me before if she really wanted to, but she didn't! Plus I have so many more questions than 'what's wrong with me'!" she said with a sense of urgency, stuffing some canned foods she'd levitated in from the kitchen while she was talking to Applejack. "When she was fighting with that jerk Wind Strider, she punched straight through every single barrier I put up to try to defend him, as if they were glass. Yet that dinky little shield he had attached to his foreleg held up like it was made of titanium!"

"HEY!" Rainbow Dash shouted suddenly, flying up to the loft, hovering next to the two of them. "Y'know all you've been able to do since you've been like this is talk bad about other ponies when you're outside, and sulk around when you're indoors. You're not exactly Mare of the Year!"

"Oh yeah, this coming from the mare that dumped a cripple the day after he regained consciousness," she stated flatly, eyeing the equally guilty and angry-looking pegasus with an irritated expression. "Don't you even try to give me a lecture on decency right now."

Rainbow Dash growled and ground her teeth a little, glaring at the lavender Unicorn. "Okay, I've heard enough about that. How many times is somepony gonna bring it up?!" she asked, throwing her forehooves up in the air while turning around, looking at all of them.

Rarity seemed especially shy of meeting Rainbow's gaze, the fashionista finding it near-impossible to stop herself from trying to get every juicy detail of the issues Rainbow Dash had with the whole affair out of her, much to the speedster's guilt and irritation. She was sick of everypony talking about it, heck, most of the female hospital staff were giving her dirty looks on the way out! As if they saw the whole picture or something....

Twilight just looked away and shook her head. It had been a month since that had gone down, and a small patrol of Pegasus and Unicorn Royal Guards were still in Ponyville. They patrolled the perimeter of the Everfree Forest day and night, the Night Guards sent for the nighttime shifts switching places with Celestia's Royal Guards every night and morning after. She silently prayed for them to leave, but clearly they weren't going anywhere, so she had to find a way around them on her own, since her friends were trying so very hard to stop her from going anywhere.

"Anypony else wanna bring it up too? Huh?! I mean why not, it's only the most annoying thing you can make me think of!" Rainbow Dash continued, glaring at her friend, who was just looking away from her the whole time. "Well Twilight? Got anything to say to me? I mean Strider was already a total jerk for not treating me like garbage while I dumped him. He could've been upset or mad or something, maybe yelled at me, but no! He had to patronize me and treat me like a little whiny fo-"

"I'm SORRY, Rainbow Dash. Damn it!" she said, shaking her head firmly. "I'm tired of this! Every time I try to talk with somepony it blows up in my face, I never used to be such a....a, uh-"

"A bitch?"

"YES! Thank you, Rainbow. Also screw you Rainbow."

"Any time!"

With that, even Twilight couldn't help but laugh a little at their exchange, Rainbow Dash following suit as the lavender Unicorn began to laugh more and more heartily. Pinkie Pie was the next to join the two, followed by Rarity and Applejack. Soon, even the concerned and meek Fluttershy was laughing along with Spike, who was standing next to Twilight at this point, the library filled with the laughter of their friendship, despite being caused by a blatant insult.

None of them cared, however. It had been forever since the lot of them, Spike included, laughed as friends rather than individuals concerned about Twilight's condition. For the first time in quite some time, they were all smiling together rather than discussing who would be spending time at the library for the day.

All too soon, however, the laughter came to an end with stray giggles here and there between the lot of them, the silence blanketing the library for a moment as they looked between one another. Nopony in that library wanted to end this long overdue moment between them all, the laughter acting like an instant salve for a lot of growing problems they were all beginning to have just from having to orbit around Twilight out of deep concern for her well-being.

For each of them, it was nice to be reassured that they were all friends still, not obligations.

Applejack was the first to break the silence, the smiling farm pony throwing a foreleg around Twilight's neck after moving to sit next to her, giving the comparatively flimsy Unicorn a firm squeeze of a hug.

"Now THAT'S somethin' ah ain't seen in ages, a genuine first-class smile on ya!" she said, looking to Twilight.

Twilight heh'ed and shook her head, smiling more. She knew that Applejack was right, and this moment was the first time she'd actually laughed at such a thing rather than getting the urge to walk up and smack the living hell out of Rainbow Dash for calling her a bitch. It felt good, like taking a shower after months of going without, basking in her own stink, the stench of her imbalance and the anger and hate she couldn't do anything about. She felt clean, for that single moment and then some.

Somehow, she felt good in the company of her friends again, as if the unseen presence in her mind had relinquished its grip on her, allowing her to be herself once more. She relished the long-unfelt sensation deep down in her very soul.

"Thanks....all of you," Twilight said, looking to her packed things and picking them up with her magic, setting them in a pile off in the corner. "I guess I can't talk you all into letting me go, can I?"

They all just shook their heads.

"Alright then. I guess I'm just not going," she said, sighing a little. "We have to find out eventually, you know. With or without Princess Celestia's assistance."

"We know, Twilight," Fluttershy said suddenly, stepping towards her downtrodden friend. "We just don't think it's a good idea right now. We don't know what that thing is. Plus, she's really....scary," she said, frowning and shrinking back a little. "I know I'm not ready....!"

"Yeah!" Pinkie sounded off, hopping happily over to Fluttershy, standing next to her with a huge grin. "Nopony's ready to deal with the big scary dark thing unless they're goin' in there with big ol' smiles on their faces, and we've all been WAYYY too pouty lately!"

Pinkie glared at all of them for a moment, the pink pony dashing between them while grabbing the corners of their mouths and comedically forcing smiles to form on all of their faces. She returned to her spot next to Fluttershy with all of her friends grinning much like she did all the time. Almost painfully so, since none of them could ever willingly emulate Pinkie's gigantic grin, let alone having their mouths stretched in such a way.

Spike flapped his jaw open and closed a few times, rubbing at one side of his mouth with his hand, fingers pressing against his jaw muscle to try to directly massage the soreness out of it. "Nnh! W-well Pinkie, I don't think that'll be a problem anymore, do you? I mean it almost feels better in here. Kind of like the air's cleaner or something."

Pinkie gasped and went wide-eyed, looking to Rarity in disbelief, much akin to how she reacted to any big surprise that might end in some sort of party.

"Are you kidding?! Our smiley-muscles are all worn out and out of shape and stuff! We all need to start smiling more every single day, all day long!"

With that, Pinkie produced some pamphlets seemingly out of nowhere except from behind the air behind her, the rest of their visit at Twilight's library mostly all about 'learning how to smile like a professional', as Pinkie Pie put it. It all added up to the lot of them having another small laughing fit, which Pinkie oddly took seriously, slapping grades on all of their chests based on the quality of their laughs and smiles. Rarity was the only one genuinely bothered by this, since she had a big black 'A' on her chest now, in permanent marker.

Twilight saw them all off with a final promise that evening, the sun just setting as they all said their goodbyes and goodnights. Twilight promised them all that she wouldn't pursue that dark 'thing' that had attacked her and Pinkie in the forest, a solemn promise made in a moment of sincerity and loyalty to her concerned friends. Unfortunately, this didn't last for long.

Like an addict relapsing, Twilight soon fell back into her previous mindset after little more than a week, the simple fact of this alone enough to royally anger her far worse than any amount of lies or stubbornness ever could. On top of that, she felt a drive to find the creature, her words and her visage echoing in Twilight's mind. At night, her sleep would be akin to a pony being thrown about on their bed against their will, she thrashed so much. The simple images of the daytime turned into horrid, vivid images of herself being consumed, sometimes from her first-person perspective, and other times with her simply floating there and watching her struggling body be eaten alive and pulled into the darkness below.

The last straw had been reached when she heard her voice once more in the middle of the day. It had been three days since she'd allowed herself to actually lay down and rest, though this hadn't deterred Spike from sleeping in since Twilight didn't seem to care much about his sleeping habits as of late. As she sat there, eyelids heavy and her attention focused on yet another book she'd read probably a hundred times over with all the time she spent in her precious library, heavy-set hoofsteps were heard behind her. The moment she asked, she felt a cold breath on her ear and the husky whisper of the dark creature's voice.

She spun around and saw a shadow jump away from her, the unnatural ink-blot of a dark spot moving impossibly fast through the air and splattering itself soundlessly on a wall near a bookcase. What came out wasn't the massive creature that seemed so intent on her before, but instead it looked like a normal pony, a Unicorn, who was struggling with all of her might to get free. Her struggles were akin to a worm, twisting and writhing this way and that, the mare looking as if she were trying to get her hooves free of some unseen grip beyond the black veil she had sprouted from.

As Twilight approached, her features became unmistakable. The tri-colored mane, the almost pitch-black fur with a tinge of purple....she looked a lot like a much smaller Luna, but with Twilight's mane in a darker variation of shades of black and purple as well. Though thoroughly scared, this pony looked in distress, her sharp red-colored eyes darting this way and that, trying to look for anything that could possibly aid in her escape, but the more she struggled, the more it seemed to be futile. Twilight moved towards her, her eyes wide with fear and a silent hope that she might be able to rescue this pony from the consuming darkness half of her body seemed trapped in.

"D-don't worry, I'm....I'm here! I can try to m-maybe get you free! Just uh, just let me find something for you to grab on to!" Twilight said, scanning her library for anything that could be of use.

She looked to her plus-sized saddlebags, a recent purchase so that she could carry more books and various other things around with her, something with increased durability to maintain the heavier weight of excess things packed within them. She grabbed it quickly with her magic just as the other femme began to utter something under her breath as she squirmed, the darkness seeming to tug and pull at her the more she struggled.

Twilight's magic enveloped her new saddlebags, adrenaline driving her sleepiness away in favor of saving this unusual mare that had appeared from the tell-tale darkness of the creature that had been after her this whole time. She floated her saddlebags over in front of the mare's face, who had only grunted and struggled on her own thus far, seemingly unwilling or unable to call out for any help.

"G-grab on! Grab the bag, use your teeth!" she called out to the mare, floating one end of her bag over within the mare's reach.

Her eyes were clenched shut however, and she didn't seem to be listening to anything at all. She just kept squirming, wriggling and struggling about trying to wrench herself free of the vile grip imposed upon her. When Twilight called out a second time and she didn't answer, Twilight tossed the saddlebags aside and stepped closer, trying to use her magic directly on the mare instead.

Even her magic didn't seem to work, and her own panic was beginning to conflict with her desire to save whoever this pony was. The darkness trying to pull her back in was scary enough to her, let alone some kind of unknown mare breaking free within her library! Ultimately, however, her need to help other ponies overruled her fears.

As if pouncing on the wall itself, her forelegs pushed under the mare's arms and then lower, gripping her tight in a bear hug, or at least what Twilight could manage of a bear hug, while her hindlegs planted themselves on the wall and pushed with all their might. She pulled and tugged as hard as she possibly could, but the darkness wouldn't relent.

She didn't think there was reason to give up until she felt the mare's forelegs parting and her hooves gripping at the lavender Unicorn's face, cheeks being squished inward as she was yanked up into the air, dangling by the pain-inducing strength of the mare's impossibly strong grip. The unknown mare's eyes shot open only inches in front of Twilight's own, the pitch-black darkness beyond them enough to strike the fear of death into Twilight, but her voice was caught and frozen in her throat.

"SET US FREE, SISTER!"

Twilight trembled and shook her head as best she could, a frantic shaking in a feeble attempt to shake the mare's grip free. The mare's back arched in a way that would break the spine of any normal pony, lifting Twilight even higher into the air. Black blood oozed from her dark, endless eye sockets just as it spewed from her screaming lips, causing Twilight's struggling to become even more frenetic. Yet, she could not close her eyes, could not bring herself to look away, the mare's demonic gaze searing into her and pitting her in an internal struggle between being frozen in the icy grip of fear, and wanting to run in absolute horror.

"SET ME FREE SISTER! Such sights we wish to share with you....!"

Time felt as if it stopped for all of an instant. Within that moment, Twilight saw, smelled and felt some of the most horrifying things she had ever had the unfortunate chance of seeing in her lifetime thanks to this plague upon her mind. She saw a pony being sawed in half with barbed wire, another gutted with a kitchen knife, snake-like chains penetrating and eviscerating fleeing citizens, to recall of few. The smell of rotting flesh wafted over her nostrils as the twisted thing she thought was a struggling pony spoke to her, the mingling scent of burning flesh and fur adding to the stomach-churning menagerie of images and moving snippets of horror and death that assaulted her at her very core. Soon, it all overwhelmed the tired and worn-down Unicorn, drawing out the most intense feeling of panic she'd ever felt in her life, even worse than being chased by a Hydra. Her eyes snapped shut and her body recoiled with a firm jerk, trying to wrench herself out of the evil mare's grip as hard as she could.

Spike startled awake when a blood-curdling scream echoed through the library and around it, Twilight managing to push those hooves off of her to let her slump to the floor. The mild pain of impact did nothing to stop her adrenaline and her full-on panic from scraping and pushing at the floor to move her away and to get her back on her feet. Spike got up just in time to see Twilight running full-sprint out of the library, the little dragon rapidly waking up for fear of his closest friend being truly and completely terrified by something he couldn't see. He ran downstairs and out the door, calling out to her, unable to see or hear the entity still stuck to the wall.

"FREE US!!!"

Twilight kept running until she could no longer hear its screams, her heart pounding and her breathing borderline hyperventilation as she charged through the entrance to Rarity's Boutique. Rarity jumped while in the middle of putting together a new dress order. She spun around to find her friend, out of breath and with wild, wide and terror-stricken eyes, the currently panicked Unicorn looking this way and that, as if searching for something.

"Twilight, what in the world is-"

"Bathroom....!" Twilight whimpered out to her, holding a forehoof over her stomach.

Rarity didn't ask, instead she motioned for her to follow while rushing over to her bathroom in the back. Twilight rushed off after her and practically rammed her way inside, sitting down in front of the toilet while Rarity's magic grabbed hold of her mane to keep it out of the way.

Spike entered the boutique just in time to hear the familiar wretching sound of a vomiting pony, the wretching noise over and over almost making him sick to his stomach as well while he followed it to the source. When he saw Twilight and Rarity standing there, Rarity's consoling hoof gently rubbing up and down Twilight's back while the trembling and thoroughly shaken Unicorn coughed up what little she'd eaten over the course of the previous night and today.

Rarity looked back to Spike in silence, both of them exchanging silent words with motions of their lips, Rarity's brow furrowing just as Spike's did. Neither of them had a clue what was going on, and it was only when Twilight was finally done expelling her meal and dry-heaving afterwards that they realized she was also crying. Her body slumped against the rim of the toilet seat, laying flat with her head turned sideways, her sickness smeared over her lips, something that Rarity rapidly took care of with a wipe of magically-held tissue and a careful lift of her friend's head.

Twilight's legs felt like jelly and her entire body trembled under the exertion of forcing herself onto her hooves, exhausted for more than one reason, the most recent being heaving hard enough to be heard by Rarity's neighbors. Rarity braced Twilight on one side, letting her weakened friend lean on her as she guided her over to the dining table set up in the back room just next to her kitchen.

Twilight slumped down on the fancy cushion, one of several that Rarity liked to use as chairs for her dining room, they went well with the rest of the room, a sort of uniformity to it all that made it dazzle even without Rarity's preference for making things sparkle. Twilight was barely focused on anything of the sort however. Rather, Twilight's sobs had Spike crying as well, Rarity looking between both of them before pulling them both into a hug, the lavender Unicorn's wailing sobs only heightening.

She knew that Twilight hadn't been sleeping recently and it had her plenty concerned, but whatever had caused this, Twilight was going to need time to gather her strength. So all Rarity could do was quietly console both her and her extremely worried assistant, Spike. Her forehooves gently petted and caresses up and down their backs and sides, a soft touch from a familiar companion for both of them.

"Ssshh....you're okay now Twilight, you're with me," Rarity said in a soft, soothing tone, her gaze turning to Spike. "What in the name of all things fabulous in this world happened?!"

"I-I don't know! I was taking a nap 'cuz I'd been staying up with Twilight most of the night, an-and out of nuh-nowhere, she-sh-she-" Spike said, sniffling and hiccuping a little as he struggled against his own tears. "She just screamed the most horrible scream!"

Rarity just looked to him, frowning and hugging them both closer together, Twilight's trembling letting up a little from the warmth of being surrounded on both sides by her friends. One thing popped into her mind though, and she struggled to regain control of her vocal cords long enough between her sobs to get the question out.

"Suh-Spike, did you....see, anypony," she said, letting out a sudden sharp breath before taking a heavy one back in. "....C-coming out of-of the wall....?"

His eyes went wide and he cringed, shaking his head. "No. No, I-I didn't see anything, there was nopony else in there," he said, his own voice sounding shaky and on the verge of crying. "Twilight, wh-what's happening to you?"

She practically collapsed upon hearing that, her body slumping and her head thudding down onto the table. "I knew it!" she whimpered out, covering her face with her forelegs. "She's in my head!"

Rarity blinked a few times and leaned in, gently patting the back of her neck with her hoof. "Twilight, dear, what-"

"That THING is in my head! I-I can't stop thinking about her, she keeps popping into my head during the day," she said, sitting up a little, her trembling body shaking even more as she tried to speak through her sobs and tears. "And when I sleep, sh-she's there too, but it's worse, a-and-and-"

Twilight was rapidly becoming frantic. Her head lowered and she curled in on herself, hugging her head between her forelegs, as if the memory itself inflicted horrors upon her already fragile and utterly fragmented mind.

Spike jumped up and hugged around Twilight's neck, hopping up on her back to do so, a few quiet sobs coming from him as well. "T-Twilight, just calm down! I'm right here, we're right here for you, okay?!" he said, desperate to grab her attention.

Twilight was lost to her own mind though, her self-torture something her thought processes wouldn't let her escape on her own. It took Rarity shaking her from her rambling to herself as to what she'd been forced to witness to get her to snap to attention in the real world. She looked into Rarity's eyes, her own wide with fear while her friend's were big as saucers, filled with tears and concern for Twilight's well-being.

Spike was crying as well, he could barely handle seeing Twilight in the current state she was in. He'd seen her go on binges before, but staying up three nights in a row without any real reason? That was odd. Hearing her scream as if an axe murderer had just stormed into the library with her in his sights? That sent chills up his spine. He NEVER wanted to hear something like that in his life ever again, not by Twilight. Not by the pony he considered his family, it horrified him to see her so panicked, to be in such a blind run from her own home!

Soon, Rarity had heard of some of the horrid things Twilight had been through in her dreams, and in her mind in the middle of the day, and it only made her hold her crying friend closer. Rarity sent Spike to get the others to come over as quickly as he could, her magic flipping the sign on the front window of her store from Open to Closed. She didn't want any more customers today. Her creative mind had been soured by what she had just heard, like a balloon having the air forced out of it.

Twilight was a mess by the time the others showed up, all of them practically shattering the moment they saw Twilight's desperate eyes, a silent plea for help from them, any help they could possibly give her. Pinkie was the first to rush up and hug both her and Rarity nice and tight, unable to bear seeing Twilight in such a sorry state.

They all stood around her while she had a good, long cry with all of them embracing her, their presence slowly easing her mind and calming the already plenty exhausted pony down. As she began to slow her tears and silence her sobbing fit, she looked between all of them, the silence in the room filled with the tension of the very thing that they all knew they were all thinking about.

"I-I have to go and see her."

"We know, Twilight," Rarity said solemnly, hanging her head. "We just don't like it. At all."

"Which is why we're goin' with ya," Applejack said sternly but calmly. "Ain't no talkin' us outta it neither."

"B-but she could kill you, all of you!" Twilight said, her entire form trembling. "I-if she killed any of you, I w-would never forgive....!"

"Twilight, she won't lay a hoof on us," Rainbow Dash said with her usual confidence. "I can fly circles around that pansy, and you can get us outta there with your teleporting magic and stuff! It's no biggie," she said, suddenly pointing at the lavender Unicorn and furrowing her brow. "But quite frankly I don't care if it DOES kill me! You're not goin' in there without us!"

"Y-yes! I would never forgive myself if something happened to you because I was too afraid to go into the Everfree Forest with you. Even if it's so....dark...." Fluttershy said, her voice and her entire form trembling a little towards the end of her sentence.

"Psh! So we're goin' after that crazy demon pony thing! We're not goin' today, right?" Pinkie asked suddenly, pointing to Twilight. "Just look at her! She's more exhausted than me after a month-long sugar high!"

Pinkie wasn't very far off from the truth. As if the vomiting wasn't enough to put Twilight into a dampened state of spirit, she had been awake for three days straight, only daring to nod off for brief moments before the vile creature's voice would startle her back into the waking world. On top of all of that, all of the sitting around in the same position, not sleeping, it was making her physically exhausted. She needed to just lay down and relax, but she was so tense from fearing the possibility of accidentally falling asleep by laying down and relaxing that she just gritted her teeth and dealt with it. Well, she dealt with it with some help from some of Zecora's painkilling elixirs.

Zecora had been forced to move into a home within Ponyville along with all of her belongings courtesy of royal orders handed down from Luna's personal guards themselves, who were greeted with the same reaction that Wind Strider got: a whole lot of disdain. She could feel the residual sensation of Rune Magic on and in each of them, but when they spoke of the Nightmare dwelling within Everfree Forest, she reluctantly agreed to leave her precious home, full of healing herbs and salves, behind.

However, there was on one condition that Princess Celestia had to promise to Zecora face-to-face, on her honor: Princess Celestia would have to supply Zecora with the herbs that she used to make her potions and salves in lieu of the Everfree Forest being cut off for her until this problem was somehow resolved. With little other choice based on the morals of the matter, Celestia agreed. She didn't like the thought of forcing Zecora out of her home in the first place, but she was more worried about keeping her subjects, her ponies alive moreso than being politically or morally appropriate for the situation.

"We're really gonna g-go out there tomorrow....?" Twilight asked, lifting her head up and turning towards her friends, hanging her head.

"Yer darn tootin' we are! Ah got a right mind t'show 'er the flat o' mah hooves fer messin' with yer head like this!" Applejack said, walking over and patting Twilight on the back. "Nopony messes with a friend o' mine like this."

Twilight could only look at the lot of them, Spike currently standing beside her and looking up to her with a smile, his eyes still glossy with tears only recently shed for her plight. She pulled him into a one-forelegged hug, smiling a meek and tired smile while the others came closer as well.

"Thank you so much, everypony. Really....thank you," she said, looking down to Spike and nuzzling the top of his head. "Especially you, Spike."

"Well then, ah think ah'm gonna head back to Sweet Apple Acres. See y'all t'mor-"

"NO!"

The sudden outburst made them all jump, Spike included. Twilight's eyes were wide and a sudden look of terror overtook her. "Please, please don't go!" she said quickly, looking to all of them. "C-can't you all stay? I really, really don't want to be left alone right now!"

They all looked at one another, understanding filling each of them. Rarity was the first to speak up though, a moment of brilliance hatching the best plan for all parties involved, given the circumstances. Pinkie caught on almost immediately when she noticed the look on Rarity's face, the party pony jumping up with excitement.

"SLUMBER PARTY!"

With that, they all quickly made a point of getting all of their daily chores either set on the backburner or finished in record time. Applejack had to make a run back to Sweet Apple Acres to let Big Mac and Granny Smith know what was going on, and Fluttershy had to go and feed her animals for the day with some assistance on Rainbow Dash's part. When all was said and done, Pinkie came back from a lightning-fast trip to Sugarcube Corner to retrieve some snacks, candies and various baked goods from her 'secret stash', more than enough to hold them all over for the rest of the waning day and coming night.

A single explosion of confetti, random presents and glitter from Pinkie Pie's Party Cannon signaled the beginning of a party that Twilight slept almost completely through in Rarity's Boutique. She was far too exhausted to join in on the festivities, gossip and idle banter, nor did she have much to talk to any of them about, she'd been a shut-in for quite some time now, even more than usual. No, instead she opted to pass out like she'd just been shot with a tranquilizer, the comforting sensation of being surrounded by all of her most dear friends acting like a barrier that even that vile monstrosity couldn't get to her through.

From sunset into the morning, Twilight slept like a baby for the first time in three horrible, nightmare-ridden days.

Chapter 13 - Burn Part 1 (OLD)

Chapter 13 - Burn (Part 1)

written by Fire Soul

Twilight looked so, so much more rested after a very, very long night's sleep, her friends staying by her side through it all until morning.

The lavender Unicorn was the first to wake out of all of them, her dreary and well-rested eyes blinking open only to see that Spike, Rarity and Applejack were settled in around her, all of them seeming to be sharing a comfortable and plush mattress, no doubt from Rarity's storage.

It wasn't until Twilight stepped off the side of it in her still-sleepy stupor and fell to the floor with a resounding thud that she realized they were in Rarity's bed, and not on the floor.

They all awoke with an assortment of grumbles and utterances of various forms of gibberish, the five that weren't currently faceplanted on the floor looking between one another in confusion until they all settled their eyes on Twilight.

With Twilight's rump in the air, head mashed into the wooden floor and legs kicking impotently in the air behind her to try and right herself, Pinkie Pie couldn't help but fall into a raucous laughter at the cost of her friend's dignity. Soon the others joined in on the laughter, and it was only when Twilight managed to get herself flopped over onto her side and back up on her feet that she rubbed her face to try and soothe the pain away from the initial impact.

"How'd I end up in this bed....?" Twilight asked with a pained groan.

Rarity's dainty laugh stopped rather quickly as a yawn overtook her. It proved contagious, and soon they were all yawning in much the same way, the six ponies all getting up out of their respected sleeping spots and stretching themselves out. Rarity once more tried to speak, now that her own body wasn't rebelling against her need to answer Twilight's question.

"WELL, darling, first you nodded off while we were all conversing with one another. Then you started to doze off once again while we were having a pillow fight!"

"Yeah, it was kinda funny watching you just fall over from taking a pillow to the face like that!" Spike chimed in, the green spines atop his head just barely visible from over the end of the bed.

"Ah-HEM! One must never interrupt a lady, Spike!" Rarity said, chastising the blushing dragon.

"Basically Twi', we saw ya were mighty tired, so Rarity loaded ya on Rainbow's back an' we put ya to bed," Applejack said, since Rarity felt it more imperative to scold Spike than finish what she had to say. "Plus, there wasn't much room, so ya had to share the bed."

"Yes, well, my bedroom WAS built to my preferences," Rarity said, examining her mane for a moment and frowning. "Excuse me, but I have a fashion emergency I simply MUST take care of!"

Clearly Rarity had slept on the wrong side, because her mane had managed to both curl up even more than it already did, as well as flattening out halfway through one-half of it. As Rarity went to work on her hair, Twilight observed with no small amount of awe.

For Twilight, her usual morning routine involved some brushing to straighten out her mane and tail after a good night's rest or no rest at all, in her case most of the time. Combine that with breakfast followed by a thorough brushing of her teeth and she was set.

Rarity, however, seemed to turn such a simple wake-up activity into the most vain of chores, the fashionista using her magic to produce three brushes of varying sizes and three different levels of thickness for the bristles in each brush. Each of the brushes went straight along her mane in rows, each brush following the other in a perfect and constant straight pattern, forcing every little knot and unwanted loose or split end to cooperate and fall into place as she desired it.

Considering what other options they all had instead of watching and waiting for Rarity to finish doing her hair, they all headed downstairs and into her kitchen. Twilight snapped out of her focus on her friend, her own mind apparently a very odd thing when she's only just woken up if she took such an interest in coiffure maintenance, her legs moving as if of their own accord as the concept of coffee rung in her mind.

Normally she avoided the stuff, never truly feeling a need for it; enthusiasm was her caffeine. This morning was different though, considering she'd slept for so very long after such a long time forcing herself to go without, even without the aid of her lost enthusiasm for what used to be a daily, rigorous, enticing activity for her. Such a long sleep only made her entire being crave more of it, not truly feeling rested as she should. Of course, she'd fix that with time and some black water.

Yet, even if she felt awake, her body certainly didn't feel up to very much at the moment. She felt sore and exhausted, the stress on her legs from staying tense and awake for days on end, never receiving the relaxing and soothing rest that sleep provided. Her everything ached, when she took time to take notice, her back and her neck having heavy, dull aches in them that screamed for some of the spa treatment that Rarity had talked her into a long while back.

Oh, how sad for her, that she would have to take the last dose of Zecora's special tonic she had become so accustomed to. It was far more convenient and was easy for her to get compared to a session at the spa. Not to mention it was all she had time for. It only bothered her that it was her last dose before she had to wait around another month before she could get another bottle of her medicine.

Unknown to Zecora however, Twilight had already taken some of her medicine as well as several chemistry kits and figured out the combination of herbs and medicinal concoctions needed to create the tonics. This excursion into the forest contained more than one purpose for Twilight, though amidst her enjoyment of the relief the medicine brought, she had forgotten to take heed of just how alluring the tonic can be.

She failed to realize just how far she had bypassed caution in favor of satisfaction.

Her smile had everypony confused, including the party pony talking to her at the moment. Her goofy smile combined with her dull and half-lidded eyes had Pinkie Pie's questions coming on with an incessant demand that Twilight's focus couldn't ignore for much longer.

"Twiliiiight! Hey Twilight, you there? C'mon, whaddaya want for breakfast?" Pinkie Pie began to half-shout to her.

Twilight shook her head a few times and blinked her grogginess away as much as she could, Pinkie's enthusiasm giving her a bit more awareness towards the physical rather than the mental.

"Mmmncoffee...."

Pinkie blinked a few times, then looked at her friend quizzically. "Coffee? Well okay! I thought you didn't drink that stuff?"

"Coffeeeeee...."

"Okie-dokie-lokie! One coffee comin' up!" Pinkie said, hopping away and into Rarity's kitchen.

The smell of coffee being brewed was impossible to miss alongside various other scents, all mingling with one another as they filled the living area they were all waiting in. Though Rarity was still doing her hair and Pinkie was busy cooking a few different dishes, there was an odd tension between Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy and Twilight. Despite the overall agreement they all had, each of them aside from Twilight looked very pensive regarding this decision, a choice made both under malevolent duress as well as equally vile temptation.

"So...."

"Yyyup."

"Mmmhmm...."

While Twilight wasn't much in the way of reading the thoughts of others from their behavior alone, she knew her friends well enough to realize that, even in her somewhat distracted state, that their tones as they spoke were intentionally riddled with concern. She looked to each of them with a scan of her eyes, their faces saying it all.

"Something wrong?" Twilight asked, already predicting the general answer she'd get: a question.

"....Are you absolutely-" Fluttershy began.

"-SURE that I want to do this? Yes," Twilight said quickly. "I'm very sure."

A sudden clatter of various pots and pans from the kitchen made them all jolt and look in the direction of the intruding noise, but otherwise, Twilight was undeterred. She let her gaze wander between the three of them until Rarity came down the stairs, her hoofsteps like a sledgehammer in a room quiet enough for the occupants to hear a pin drop.

"Darling, I did perhaps state first and foremost amongst all of us that this idea is both a last resort and likely our only option given your circumstances, but even I must ask such a tedious question. Do you truly think this is a wise thing to do?" Rarity said with a hint of caution in her voice, her words all carefully chosen and picked out. Rehearsed, one might even say.

"If I ever want to sleep without you all around me every night or day that I stay in bed late or-or maybe if I don't want to take a nap and feel like somepony's trying to kill me, then yes!" Twilight half-shouted, looking between each of them.

The desperation in Twilight's voice hit them all with the same sense of urgency they had the night before, when their friend lacked the well-rested demeanor and composure she had now. Applejack looked to the others, all of them still looking somewhat unsure of what they considered to be a wild gambit for one of Twilight's plans. It was only when Pinkie Pie came into the living area with her back loaded with random plates of food.

"Breakfast is served~!" Pinkie Pie said in a very sing-song tone, her voice peppered with the same joy as always. "Oh, and um, I agree with Twilight."

Much, like the other four, Twilight snapped her attention to her friend as well.

"You do?!" Twilight asked with no small amount of surprise.

"Well DUH!" Pinkie retorted, as if such an answer were an obvious thing.

"But why in tarnation would'ja-"

A sudden mashing of a cupcake in Applejack's mouth shut her up. Where the cupcake came from was unknown, considering Rarity rarely carried any baked goods beyond bread in her kitchen for fear of giving in to the temptation of such confectionary delights, but Applejack kept chewing regardless.

"-Because somepony has to! Plus, if we don't help her, what kind of friends are we? I'll tell ya what kind!" she said while setting their dishes down in front of them all. "The super meanie kind that think they know how Twilight feels and think she's being all irrational when it really is the only choice!"

"B-but....!"

All of their gazes turned to Fluttershy, the only one that hadn't really said anything for or against the whole thing. The shy pony's gaze faltered only slightly, as if all the world were gazing upon her and awaiting her statement.

"Well I don't know a lot about magic, but....w-well, if she can mess with your head when you're in Ponyville, and she's normally in Everfree Forest at the old castle, doesn't that mean that the closer we get, the worse things she could do to you?"

Fluttershy's question weighed heavily on Twilight, the pony meant to think of all scenarios, the one that hadn't considered such a possibility. Was distance really a factor? The entire time she'd attempted to make sense of it, wandering closer to the Everfree Forest and testing the range, it had all been the same, no changes had been noted in the Nightmare's very jolting appearance.

She had not, however, tested actually entering the Everfree Forest itself. She couldn't, the guards wouldn't let her! If she'd attempted to sneak past them and back and had gotten caught, she likely wouldn't have gotten another chance, she had thought all of that out, and the odds were against her in that regard. Still, it mattered little to her.

"That's possibly true. I still have to take that chance. She wants me there, and I don't think she wants me dead."

"But what if this is all just some big fancy trick o' hers?" AJ asked, cutting in. "Maybe we should talk to Princess Ce-"

"NO!" Twilight shouted, stamping a hoof hard into the floor, harder than most of them thought she could, hard enough to make the ground vibrate beneath their hooves.

They all stared at her for a moment, transfixed on the sudden physical feat that simple stomp flaunted. The only pony any of them knew that had that kind of strength was Big Macintosh, and possibly Applejack on a good day. Even Twilight seemed startled by the sudden burst of strength, but she just as quickly shook it off, finding the possibility of being turned away after coming so close to getting her friends to agree to go into the forest with her something she simply couldn't allow.

"Look, I just can't stand here and do nothing anymore, okay? I'm sorry, but I have to do this," she said, looking to all of them, one after the other. "This is very important to me, and she said she has answers to my questions. Princess Celestia turned her back on me, so I want to get some answers from somepony that's actually willing to give them to me."

They all looked between one another once more, an insecurity over the whole situation apparent between each of them. Rainbow Dash, however, was the first to speak up just before Twilight was about to say something herself.

"Well I'm in!" the rainbow-maned pegasus blurted out. "I'm not gonna stay in Ponyville and idle around flapping my wings while Twilight's off risking her life!"

They all looked to Rainbow Dash with a bit of surprise, Twilight included.

"WE are the Elements of Harmony! Nightmare Moon couldn't handle us, who's to say this thing can take us on? I say we get our Elements together and we do this!" Rainbow Dash said with a big grin.

Pinkie Pie grinned and hopped over to Rainbow Dash, pulling Twilight over as well and hugging them both, one in each of her forelegs. "Dashie's right! Twilight would do this for any of us, so we gotta do this for her, no matter what!"

They all sighed and the tension in the room itself seemed to lighten up. Spike, who had opted to stay out of this conversation due to not being an Element of Harmony, returned from the kitchen with a bowl of gems that Rarity had given him permission to eat since she had a bit of a surplus going on. Pinkie Pie spotted him and waved him over.

"Right Spike?" Pinkie Pie asked him.

"Uh....whah?" he asked, his mouth stuffed with crunched-up rubies.

"We should help Twilight, right?"

"Oh," he said, swallowing his food after chewing a little more. "Yup, definitely! Do you have any idea how creepy it is to be the one sleeping at the end of her bed, peek over the end of it and see her sitting up with her eyes wide open? Her creepy face in the dark is my new nightmare fuel."

"Hey, I didn't do that too often!"

"No, the rest of the time I'm trying to sleep and you're trotting around downstairs talking to yourself while hovering a book next to your head that you're not even reading!"

"Well, excuse me for being terrorized by a monster."

"Yeah, I know, I get it. I didn't see the thing, but I think I'm glad I didn't," Spike said, shrinking in a little on himself and jamming a few more rubies into his mouth for comfort, frowning. "Tho creepeeh."

"Well, it's settled then," Rarity said with a clear indication of finality. "We shall prepare at once!....Well, we shall prepare after our meals, that is."

With that, they all dug in much in the way Spike already was, with Twilight being the one to finish first. That was a given, she was the one most eager to leave. With her extra time however, she decided that it would be a good idea to take off before everypony else to get a few things taken care of.

The highest priority on her list was, of course, to go get another list. A list of ingredients to be precise, hidden away along with the single dose of the potion she finished off in the process of retrieving her secret piece of parchment. She grabbed her saddlebags and tucked the paper away in a small pocket built into the inside of the left saddlebag, along with a thin stack of papers, all of them vivid images of the kinds of plants she was going to be looking for.

Of course, explaining why she would need such plants and herbs to her friends was something she had to really sit down and think through, no small feat given how sleep-deprived she'd been when she came up with her airtight answer for all of them. The explanation was simple: they were for a potion she found in one of the books she borrowed from Zecora to block out the minds of others, a potential last-resort if it became necessary. If they bothered to ask why it's considered a last resort? 'It dulls your mind and makes you really light-headed.'

She wasn't exactly lying, nor did she care. She was telling the truth about what the medicine did to her. She just wasn't bothering to tell them that it was actually a painkilling potion instead of an actual potion to block out an intruding mind. Some part of her found her willingness to go to such lengths to get these plants so much as to lie to her friends by way of omission disconcerting, but this issue was buried as rapidly as it appeared in her mind by a torrent of desire for her own supply of her new favorite medicine.

Along with her list, she had packed various other things prematurely, food and a First Aid Kit, along with a few more now that her friends were coming with. Spike had stayed with Rarity to help her get her things ready since she herself had already gotten all of her packing done a while ago before her friends talked her out of it the first time. This gave her enough time to double-check her list to make sure she had all of her requirements written down. All of her 'special ingredients'.

Satisfied, she began to get everything bound to her form in preparation for their little stealthy excursion, but a knock on her door interrupted her train of thought, working her magic on a strap going under her torso for her saddlebags. Her magic opened the door from a distance, too busy working at her saddlebags to give appropriate courtesies and be there to meet her guest face-to-face. She figured on it being one of her friends coming to retrieve her so they could get ready to head out to the forest.

Instead, Spike had shown up, little small barely-noticeable crumbs of red ruby littering the areas around his mouth, something he was in the process of trying to fix with that bizarrely long tongue of his. In the end, the motherly behavior Twilight sometimes displayed when it came to her Number One Assistant culminated in a washrag being brought over through her magical grasp and wiping his face clean with it herself.

"You really must've chowed down on those rubies, Pinkie made really big breakfasts for all of us and you had a pretty big bowl of those things yourself," Twilight said, smiling and patting his head afterwards. "There, all clean."

Spike looked up to Twilight with his usual expression of irritation, he didn't like being babied by her, but that irritation faded when he noticed a loose strap on her saddlebags that she'd failed to tie down properly around herself, on the underside of her body as usual, where he usually had to do it. He took care of it quickly, and was rewarded by a silent 'thank you' in the form of a one-legged hug from the lavender Unicorn he'd basically been taking care of since she was a young filly and vice-versa.

"Twilight....uh," Spike stuttered a little, taking a moment to form the words in his head before saying anything else. "You know that you're like a big sister to me, right?"

The determined Unicorn stopped for a moment, looking to him with a serious expression, unsure of what to say in response to that. After a few seconds, she simply nodded to him.

"Well, I know now. Why didn't you ever-"

"Then, please!"

The sudden outburst that interrupted her surprised her as much as the sudden latching on of the small dragon grabbing hold of one of her forelegs in a vice-like grip. Though, Spike had the decency to watch it with his claws at least. Despite his size, she was still a fleshy Unicorn with tender and soft skin and he was still a little baby dragon with tiny claws that could leave some semi-deep cuts if he tried hard enough.

"Please don't do this Twilight! All of this stuff that's been happening, th-the Princess must have some kind of explanation for why she wouldn't say anything to you about it! Maybe it's best if you don't know!" he said rapidly, frantically, the desperation evident in his tone.

She cringed and shook her head.

"I'm so, so sorry Spike, but I have to. I can't live like this, haunted by nightmares of things I've never even imagined, constantly paranoid of every little sound and shadow out of the corner of my eye or on the edge of my hearing," she said with an increasing elevation in her voice. She dropped down and laid down in front of him, forehooves pulling him in for a hug. "I'm so sorry."

All was silent between the two of them while Spike was pulled in under Twilight's head and a little to the side, her forelegs curled around him to keep him close. His arms had wrapped around her neck at the base, both of them holding each other close for a decent amount of time. Twilight knew she had to go, but Spike didn't seem to want to let her. Eventually though, the little dragon spoke up again, breaking the dead silence that had taken over the library.

"One day, and then I send a letter to Celestia."

Twilight sat up quickly and looked down at him in surprise. "What?! One day, that's-that's how long it took....last time...."

Spike nodded, his arms crossed over his chest. "The last time you went to that old castle. Yeah, I remember," he said, glaring up at her. "You get one day, and that's it. Then Celestia finds out. I don't care what you say."

"You know that's not fair, Spike. But...." Twilight said, sighing and hanging her head. "I suppose that's for the best. Just one day, then you can tell the Princess whatever you want."

"Including the fact that you won't let me stay up past ten at night? By the way, totally doing that tonight too."

"Sorry Spike, but threats of being a brat aren't going to keep me in the library," she said with a small giggle, nudging him with her hoof. "Even if it IS very tempting."

The little nudge made him stumble back a little, a small smile finally breaking the glare and the scowl Spike had going on the whole time they were speaking to one another. He looked up at her with that small, almost adorable smile, but it quickly faded away when the reality of her leaving for that dangerous forest hit him once again.

Twilight leaned down and planted a kiss on his forehead. "Get some rest now so you can stay up late enough to get that letter out to Princess Celestia....you little brat," she said in a teasing tone. "I'll be back soon."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Yeah, 'soon' as in 'sometime tomorrow or the day after maybe', if you come back at all!" he said, frowning and slumping down onto the floor. "The Princess is gonna chew me out for letting you do this so bad...."

"Spike, you couldn't stop me even if you REALLY tried," Twilight said flatly. "So don't even try to think the Princess will blame you."

"I just-I....ugh, I wish there was something I could do!" he said, clenching his teeth. "Somepony's screwing with your head and you're all I've really had other than the Princess since the day I was born! H-how would you feel if you thought your brother was running into certain death and you had no way of stopping him?!"

Twilight already knew the answer to that question, and it only made her feel worse for Spike. "I'm really, really sorry Spike, but like I said, I have to do this. I don't see many other options, I really don't...."

There was silence between them once more, both looking to one another, desperation and fear in Spike's eyes, while sadness and regret reflected in Twilight's. Without saying a word, Spike walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her left foreleg and hugged her tight, Twilight curling her other foreleg around his back in a small and comforting hug.

"....Just come back, okay?"

"I promise I'll come back, Spike. I swear I will."

It pained her to make such a promise to him, mainly because of the fact that she couldn't be sure if she could keep such a promise. Whatever this pony, or THING was, it wanted her and her specifically. It even called her its sister! Not to mention it said it had answers for her, answers regarding the anger and the constant internal quarrel with herself that she always seemed to be losing, given enough time. She wanted to keep her promise, but at the same time, she just had to know for certain whether or not this thing could truly explain it all to her.

Chapter 13 - Burn Part 2 (OLD)

Chapter 13 - Burn (Part 2)

written by Fire Soul

After sating Spike as best she could with such hollow promises, she and her friends headed for a spot near the Everfree Forest where Rainbow Dash, during several days of training, had discovered the patrols had a weak link, a slacker that liked to take his time moseying along the treeline, as if the creature he was supposed to be keeping an eye out for wasn't anything he couldn't handle. They were always the first to die in the horror movies, so she had no doubt that if the Nightmare were to attack, he would wind up first screaming like a little foal, and then getting gobbled up as if consumed by a vacuum.

Twilight had initially believed that it would take a teleportation spell used on her friends one-by-one to get them into the Everfree, but Rainbow Dash was correct, disturbingly so in Twilight's eyes. Young ponies and foals would be all the more curious about what's so important inside of the forest that it would require constant twenty-four-hour patrols, so a gap like this could allow even the most aloof little filly or young colt to get inside. When the Princess came looking for her after this thanks to Spike's need to watch out for her, she would have to have a talk with her about the patrol duties of at least one of the Royal Guards.

Once they were all deep enough into the forest, Twilight was the first of the group to speak up. Given the situation they were in and how often they tended to lean towards Twilight for leadership, the fact that she was asking them to keep their eyes peeled for specific types of plants didn't strike any of them as being odd save for Fluttershy, who had spent the most time out of all of them with Twilight during her return to Ponyville. It wasn't until Twilight asked for Sootheroot that Fluttershy finally spoke up about the whole thing, despite Twilight explaining what the potion ingredients were for.

"U-uhm, Twilight?" the meek pony stuttered a little. "Just, how does this potion work?"

"I already told you Fluttershy, it-"

"Well yes, I know that, but-" she started to say, noticing that the others were listening in as well, Rainbow Dash currently having one of the roots in her hooves. "Well, it's just that, I give little pieces of Sootheroot to my animals when they get hurt as a pain medication substitute. Why does this potion need something like that in it?"

'Damn you for having that kind of random knowledge!' Twilight cursed in her head, but she had prepared for such questions. Just....not this one in particular. It only took her a mere moment to come up with an appropriate response though.

"W-well, this potion really messes with your head, and Sootheroot isn't very effective on us ponies compared to animals because we're normally much bigger than the animals you give the Sootheroot to, right?" she both stated and asked Fluttershy, trying to steer the conversation in a more favorable direction for her, a more convincing one.

"Well yes, I usually crush the root up and give it to my smaller animals. For animals as big as Mr. Bear though, I usually have to buy actual drugs for if he ever gets badly injured."

"Well, there you go! This potion requires a lot of Sootheroot because we're much bigger than little mice and owls and such, because it really messes with your head to block out external influences, and more than likely will give you a really bad headache."

"Oh! Oh my, I hope we don't wind up having to do something like that then, forcing you to rely on that potion I mean," Fluttershy said, thinking for a moment before looking around at some of the trees. "Just a second Twilight!"

Rainbow Dash dropped the Sootheroot she'd found and dug up into one of Twilight's saddlebags, within one of six pouches set inside of that saddlebag to separate all the ingredients for the potions she intended to make whether she 'needed' them or not. Fluttershy flew over to a tree that had a hollow hole in the middle of it, and very lightly tapped her hoof against it.

"Excuse me? Is anyone awake in there?" she asked quietly in that calm and reassuring tone. A small chipmunk stuck his head out, seeming as if he knew Fluttershy, chittering at her rapidly for a few seconds.

"Oh, hello mister Munk! I need your help, you see, my friend is making potions and....what? The zebra? Oh, I'm sorry, I know she was always very nice to all of you, but the forest has gotten very dangerous for us ponies and she-what? Oh! No no, she's okay, she just had to move to Ponyville outside of the forest, where I live. You remember, right?"

Twilight just watched and listened with wonder as her friend, speaking perfectly good Equestrian, held an actual conversation with a small chipmunk. That was just chittering at her and making all sorts of wild motions with his tiny paws and feet, pantomiming various events likely social in nature, judging by how much Fluttershy was giggling at some of the stories. Eventually though, Fluttershy got their conversation back on track.

"Hee! Miss Badger is so silly sometimes, you can't find a mate in Everfree Forest without scent marks....uhm, b-but we got distracted, it's been a while since I've seen you after your leg injury. But my friend, she needs lots of Sootheroot, that medicine you said looked like it tasted nasty and was nothing but wood, but tasted really sweet and made the pain go away when you chewed on it? Do you know where any more of it is?"

Fluttershy's conversation with the chipmunk had, unbeknownst to Twilight and Applejack (who had decided to watch the spectacle with a certain level of interest as well), attracted the attention of several other friendly forest creatures that spent their time in the Everfree instead of either in random trees and locations in Ponyville, or at Fluttershy's cottage. Many of them came over and started talking up a storm in their own special animal language, a language that Fluttershy seemed to understand perfectly despite all of it being nothing but chitters, chirps, croaks and screeches of varying degrees, not to mention the hisses that had Twilight taking ten steps away from the snakes that had slithered over to join the gathering.

When all was said and done, most of the animals dispersed to go and do what most animals spent their entire day doing, the snakes seeming to follow some kind of unwritten, or rather unknown, rule regarding such gatherings, and went in a direction as opposite the direction most of the other animals went as possible, so as to give their prey a decent chance. Of course, they likely didn't want to fall under the spell of Fluttershy's Stare.

The chipmunk hopped onto Fluttershy's back, then skittered up her mane and up onto her head, pointing to the East. Fluttershy smiled and nodded a little before turning back to Twilight and Applejack.

"They all said there's a lot over in that direction, you just have to dig really deep! Applejack, would you like to come and help me with it?"

"U-uh....heh, well, sure thing," the farmer pony said somewhat hesitantly. "Y'all sure these lil' critters know what they're talkin' about? Ah mean they just LOVE raidin' mah farm, th' rabbits do, anyways."

"Oh yes, I'm very sure! My animal friends have never lied to me, because they know they can trust me. I would never do anything to hurt them, and I would never let anypony else hurt them!"

AJ sighed and nodded a little. "Well, just gimme a moment 'til one o' the others comes back, so Twi's not stuck here-" she said, only to notice Rarity coming back. "Perfect timin'! Rarity, ah'm goin' with Fluttershy t'git some o' that Sootheroot, can ya stay with Twi 'til ah git back?"

"I'm right here y'know, you can stop acting like you're babysitting me." Twilight said in a flat tone.

"Heh, sorry Twi, just don't want somethin' happenin' to ya while none of us are nearby t'help ya out."

Rarity had returned with a bunch of Softweeds, a name betraying the gentle beige color of the flowers themselves, her critical nature towards making things look beautiful causing Rarity to weave the flowers as best she could into a wonderful bouquet, tied together with a beige ribbon that Rarity had stowed away along with a varied assortment of colored ribbons in her saddlebags.

"Of course Applejack dear, please, go right ahead! We'll be just fine until everypony is back here, right Twilight?"

"Of course!" Twilight chimed in.

"A'right then. Lead the way, Fluttershy!" Applejack exclaimed, heading off with her friend and their chipmunk guide.

With that minor bullet dodged, Twilight took the moment to look around herself, finding a few of the herbs with the help of Rarity's gem-finding spell, modified to help them both in locating some of the mushrooms that were components of the potion as well.

"Well I must say, at least this time our trip through the Everfree Forest isn't as ghastly as when Nightmare Moon stalked us through it! She was such a terrifying menace, I mean do you recall what she did to that poor River Serpent?" Rarity stated with her usual flourish, since there was little else for the two to do outside of waiting for the others to come back with their total amount of the potion ingredients.

Twilight simply nodded while rubbing the side of her head, a sudden sharp pang of pain striking her directly in the sides of her head, right at her temples. She cringed and clenched her teeth, rubbing one side with a hoof while looking around. She felt as if her vision were being toyed with, split in half even.

As she closed her eyes, she felt as if her right eye had detached itself from her, as if it were no longer there. When she opened them, however, she was seeing two different things, and the sudden twinge of pain came back as her mind attempted to process an impossible image that was being forced upon her. Her right eye was viewing herself and Rarity from up in a tree to their right, while her left eye was still seeing just fine!

She closed her left eye and looked through the mystery view, and that was when she heard it in her mind.

'Good morning, sister!'

"AAH!" she suddenly shrieked, closing both of her eyes and blinking in a wild panic as the familiarity of that voice rang true in her mind.

She turned her head this way and that, trying to spot the one spying on her, but when she finally managed to close her right eye and look around with her left, she realized that no matter how much she searched, the source of the voice could not be found. She experimented after taking a breath and making Rarity jump in sudden shock at her behavior, closing her left eye and looking through the familiar voice's sight, slowly turning her head and adjusting her 'aim' until she was facing it directly. She then switched to her left eye and looked at it, and while she felt a presence, she couldn't see it either.

Soon, Twilight could feel similar presences all around them, her one good working eye looking this way and that, Rarity's rising concerns about whatever was going on being ignored in favor of finding just where the danger was coming from this time, and whether or not this was it for her or her friends, though she dreaded that line of thinking. A knot suddenly twisted tighter in her stomach as she switched to her right eye once more, and found herself looking directly at her back, no more than a foot away from herself.

Twilight spun around and wrapped herself and Rarity in a spell, teleporting backwards away from the source of her thoroughly screwed-up vision, already switching back to her left eye to try to spot the source once more....but nopony was there. She could feel a lingering presence, however.

'Oh sister, this is funny! I wish I could play this game with your friends, too. They seem entertaining!'

"Don't you dare touch them!"

'Oh relaaax, I'm not going to hurt them! They're on their way back right now anyways, I gave them some incentive to hurry up, no worries.'

"...What did you do?!"

"TWILIGHT!!!" Rarity screamed at her, finally shaking the Unicorn out of what seemed more like one-half of a conversation. "My goodness, WHAT is wrong with you?!"

"She right here, she's watching us! I-I think she's been watching us ever since we got this deep into the forest!"

Rarity's eyes went wide, stepping up close to Twilight and grabbing hold of her face, looking directly into her eyes. Her left eye was fine, it was the same color it usually was, but the other eye, the right eye distinctly looked draconic in nature, the coloring an exact match for Nightmare Moon. Rarity prayed that she was wrong, but her own keen eye for the features of anypony she takes interest in was far from wrong, she was sure of it.

"Oh, Celestia....Twilight," she said nervously, her horn glowing and levitating a small mirror from her pack. "Look at your eye!"

It only took a moment for the lavender Unicorn to take notice of the physical change, a horrified expression overcoming her. She reared up on her hindlegs and clenched her eyes shut, covering her ears with her hooves, a terrified and equally angered scream rising up from her normally calm self.

"STOP IT!" she screamed at nopony in particular. "Get out of my head, stop messing with my body, stop messing with ME!"

'Oh, but sis-'

"NO! Damn it, I said stop messing with me!"

She dropped down on all four hooves again, her knees about ready to buckle under her as the familiar sensation of helplessness began to pummel her psyche. She stood her ground though, even as she felt the anger beginning to seethe not only from herself, but at exactly the same time, she felt a fury rising up from the voice speaking to her within her own mind. A thought occurred to her in that moment, and it only served to give her a focus for her anger. Anger that felt more like her own, now.

"You! You're the reason I've been so messed up in the head lately!" Twilight stated accusingly.

'Aww, not entirely! Your frustration just gave me a way in, that's all.'

"But you're in Everfree Forest, you're nowhere near Canterlot! How could you possibly-"

'You'll find out when you get here~!' the Nightmare said in a sing-song tone, her giggling echoing in Twilight's mind.

"Fine. Just get out of my head, now!" Twilight demanded, gritting her teeth a little.

'Okay, okay, FIIINE. Jeez, such a temper. Mother really should've put that attitude of yours in check, she always did so when I got upset.'

"Huh? Who?"

'As I said~!'

"AARGH!" Twilight cried out in utter frustration, turning and bucking a tree with all of her might, causing the entire thing from trunk to the tips of its highest branches to shake and rattle about violently. "That little bitch!"

"Whoa, now! Tarnation, Twi'!" AJ could suddenly be heard saying, clearly in a mix of surprise and disbelief. "Ah ain't never bucked a tree that hard. Ah don't think I even CAN buck a tree that hard!"

Twilight blinked a few times and looked over to her friends, just before feeling a plethora of leaves cascade down over her back. She looked up at the blanket of foliage falling down around her, her mouth hung open in surprise and disbelief at the realization that only one thing could have caused that.

"Wh-but, how would I have....?" she stuttered, sitting down and looking down at her forehooves, holding the flat of them up towards her face. She saw nothing. "Wait. Waitwaitwait, she keeps calling me 'sister'. So...."

Twilight's horn erupted with her usual bright glow and powerful aura of magic, but the magic wasn't something she was aiming at any part of her surroundings, though her likely un-diagnosed OCD did force her to take a moment to push all of the cluttered leaves off of herself with a magical wind, surrounding the base of the tree with them so that when they began to decompose, they would return their nourishment to the soil instead of just scattering it around, not to mention all of the little bugs she likely disrupted the lives of in doing what she considered to be an impossible feat of brute strength that she simply wasn't capable of. Normally.

No, instead she turned the magic upon herself, delving into her body with her own consciousness as her tether to reality while she just took a look at herself. It was an advanced spell, but she had used it several times to try to figure out whether or not she was sick or injured in a way that she couldn't actually feel until it was too late, once again likely a symptom of OCD or just her obsession with keeping everything in working order. This time however, as she examined her body inside and out, she found no trace of any bracing of stimulating magicks in any part of herself.

Nor did she find any trace of the Nightmare.

"That doesn't make any sense!" she suddenly blurted out, her eyes fluttering open.

All of her friends were standing around her now, looking to her with no small amount of concern. She scanned over them for a moment, blinking in confusion and rubbing the back of her head.

"Uh....what, what's wrong?" she muttered, blinking a few more times.

"Are you sure you're okay, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked, her back loaded with a pile of Sootheroot that three squirrels were keeping from falling all over the place.

As Fluttershy moved to put the Sootheroot in Twilight's saddlebags, the unicorn smiled. "Well yes, but that's what confuses me. That Nightmare pony just spoke to me in my head, but there's no trace of a telepathic connection, and magic almost always leaves a kind of presence behind. But I couldn't find anything."

"That is rather odd," Rarity chimed in, tapping her chin with a hoof. "I don't claim to know as much as you do about magic, Twilight, but I remember learning about that sort of thing at school."

"They teach that sort of stuff outside of the School for Gifted Unicorns?"

"Why, yes! Even I know how to examine myself in such a way, I do it every morning as a part of keeping myself looking absolutely fabulous!" Rarity said with no small amount of pride and flourish in her tone.

Twilight giggled a little at that and just shrugged the matter off as something that would be answered once she reached the old castle. For now, she checked her saddlebag that contained all the ingredients for her 'special potions', counting everything while her friends very patiently waited and kept an eye out for any looming danger, Nightmare-oriented or wise. When Twilight had finished, she smiled and nodded to nopony in particular.

"Yup, this is everything I need, though I have one Sootheroot more than necessary."

"Oh! Did I mis-count? I'm sorry."

"No no, it's okay Fluttershy!" Twilight quickly said, putting the very reserved and kind pony more at ease.

With her friend at ease, at least, as at ease Fluttershy could ever be in a place like the Everfree Forest, she began to lead them in deeper, her hooves feeling heavier thanks to the dread she felt in her mind, the worry that something massive was coming her way, something she wasn't ready for. True, she had faith in the stability of her friends, the other ponies like herself, the Elements of Harmony, but....would that really be enough to keep any of them safe?

The walk itself seemed to take forever, and further confusion became abundant when they realized that they were upon the very rope bridge they'd crossed the first time without having to cross even a small stream. This confusion welled up from the fact that they had to cross what equated to a very shallow river occupied by a River Serpent the last time they'd made their way to the old castle.

Twilight's eyes locked upon the ancient structure the closer they drew to it, scanning the shadows for any sort of surprise waiting for them. But, they found it utterly effortless to step inside of the main area. Upon entering, however, Twilight found her eyes locking on doorways, scanning them for any surprises.

She barely noticed the fact that her gaze seemed to be guided by someone else's thoughts.

Her friends followed in silence, each of them keeping their eyes out while Twilight seemed to be drawn further and further inside of the castle, like she knew the way without even looking at a map of the place. Fluttershy was the first one to rouse suspicion, though mostly out of fear.

"U-uhm, Twilight?"

"Huh? Yeah-I mean, what's wrong?"

Fluttershy fidgeted a little. "You look, um, distracted...."

"I do? I just....I dunno, I feel like this is the right way."

"Ya sure 'bout that? We never went this way the last time we came here," Applejack added. "Why do ya think this is the right way?"

"I'm not really sure, it sort of feels like I'm being guided somewhere. I think. It's hard to explain. It's like it's me making the choice, but something in the back of my mind is plotting the course and making me think I'm the one making the decision to go this way or that. I think she's guilding us to her," Twilight said, pointing to a nearby arched doorway that had long since lost the door, which had crumbled into chunks of stone at their hooves. "This way."

"Y'know, at the risk of sounding like I'm some kinda scaredy-cat or something," Rainbow chimed in, looking towards the looming darkness dwelling beyond the next archway, and the stairs that led downwards. "Maaaybe this would be a good time to decide whether or not we should really keep going? I mean she's toying with Twilight's head, even if she has answers, is this really a good idea? Just sayin'."

Rainbow Dash's vote of insecurity didn't falter Twilight's hoofsteps in the least, her friends following single-file down the staircase that soon went into a downward spiral, the temperature rapidly dropping the lower and lower they got into the castle's bowels. Step after step the only light around the lot of them was Rarity's and Twilight's horn casting an illuminating glow that warded off their inability to see their hooves in front of their faces, let alone each other.

As they reached the bottom, Twilight levitated five necklaces out of one of her saddlebags, turning to her friends and hovering their respectful pieces of legendary jewelry close to them.

"I thought we might want these as a precaution."

"Aww, yeah! I dunno how exactly these things work, but I feel more secure already!" Rainbow Dash said with her usual confidence.

The others accompanied that, the tension in the group seeming to fade away as they put their necklaces on and Twilight slipped her crown on. She felt odd the moment it settled around her head, a brief sensation of being cleansed before feeling a biting pain in her mind. She didn't mention it however, and simply pressed on, resisting the urge to rub the side of her head in a vain attempt to wipe away the throbbing headache that seemed to be building in her skull.

By the time they walked into what they assumed was a wall at first, Twilight's skull felt as if her brain were doing gymnastics within its confines. She huffed out a breath of hot air that billowed out like smoke in the chilling cold that permeated the room, a quiet and pained groan finally escaping her when she turned her gaze up towards the wall before them.

When they all gazed upon it, they saw several inscriptions that failed to match any language they knew, save for Twilight. She recognized ancient scripture when she saw it, or rather, some mysterious part of her that didn't exist until that very moment did.

"Says....o-ow....!" she tried to tell them, but she found herself falling to her knees under the stress of the pain she was experiencing. "Says 'Within lies her hubris. Turn away if you still can.' Oh by Celestia, my head....!"

While she had translated the single sentence near the top of the wall, her headache didn't kick into overdrive until she attempted to understand the seemingly magical incantation down below that, a spell that appeared to be carved into the massive stone wall itself.

"You alright sugarcube?" Applejack asked while approaching the downed Unicorn.

She was cut short, however, as a bright line of magic from Twilight's horn connected with her necklace, the jewelry glowing a bright and powerful orange hue. The same thing happened with the others, each of them in turn panicking a little as Twilight's voice flooded their minds.

"Twilight?! What's going on?" Pinkie called out to her.

Twilight answered her with thoughts, her mind sending a plethora of desperate pleas for the pain to stop, for her life to return to normal, and even that she sort of wished she could have a dandelion sandwich right about now, she hadn't eaten anything decent since yesterday after all. Her thoughts seemed unhinged, collapsing in on themselves, and soon they all felt the effects too.

Twilight was slowly backing up, back on her hooves now that the pain had receded somewhat. The only thing was that she couldn't see anything. Everything was pitch-black and no matter how many times she blinked, this feeling of something blocking out her vision wouldn't go away.

"Girls....?!"

"Nngh!" Rarity groaned, rubbing the side of her head. "We should get out of here! Something's very wrong! Very-....Twilight, your eyes again!"

"I can't see!!" Twilight said with no small amount of fear.

Rarity could see it plain as day: Twilight's eyes had changed drastically. Though the color was the same as usual, the pupils had reverted to slits, draconic in nature and reminiscent of Nightmare Moon in every way. She trembled at the sight even as Twilight stepped further back behind them. They turned to her just as she began to turn her head this way and that, her ears perking up and alert.

"She's here! She's here, she's right here, she's next to me!"

"Twilight, no one's standin' next to ya. Just relax-"

"NO!"

Twilight jumped like Fluttershy getting surprised by a leaf, turning her back to the gigantic stone door that seemed to have started all of this. She seemed to be panicking more and more with every passing moment, her breathing more rapid and desperate as her gaze shifted left and right. She almost seemed like she was somewhere else, her friend's voices falling on deaf ears.

"How can you all not hear her?! She's breathing so hard, it sounds like she's all around us! It-"

She turned suddenly when she felt a presence behind herself, her eyes going wide and her gaze turning upwards. She barely heard the shrieks of her friends as she gazed into those eyes. The eyes that only she could see. The eyes consuming her and pulling her in, forcing all of her senses to shut down and the world around her to fade into nothingness. Soon, she was alone. Gone.

'Welcome to my Hell, dear sister.'

"I-it's a door....! Nngh....AAAHH-!"

And then, she felt herself falling. All things were gone, and there was only nothingness.

"What just happened?!" Rainbow called out to all of them, her body lowering close to the floor and her hooves digging in as much as they possibly could. "Twiliiight! Where are you?!"

The room felt as if it had been consumed by a hurricane. Whipping winds tore through the room in all directions, sending their manes flailing helplessly through the air and their screams being rended through the wind itself.

They couldn't hear Twilight anymore, hell they could barely even see her. Rarity flared her magic up and looked to all of them, motioning them to follow her as she moved closer and closer to where she saw Twilight last. The room seemed to almost be eating the light the moment it came into existence, the darkness in front of them feeling more alive than anything else, as if something were waiting for them mere hoofsteps ahead.

When they saw Twilight standing there, her head turned up and her mouth open wide in a silent scream, their blood ran more cold than the air around them.

Her eyes were wide and oozing a black fluid, living black tendrils erupting from her wide open mouth. A blanket of darkness surrounded her, imbuing a feeling of nausea in all of them, and a manic desperation in Rarity. She didn't know whether or not it was due to her being a Unicorn or not, but she felt....crazy. Desperate to get away from whatever this was.

Yet, it didn't feel like it was her own mind behaving in such a way. She felt exactly how Twilight described feeling moments earlier.

Rainbow Dash didn't give her much time to think about it, however. She rushed forward when she saw Twilight in the state she was in as well, both of her forehooves gripping around Twilight chest and neck from behind, trying to pull her away. She soon fell prey to her loyalty, however.

In moments, Rainbow's body went still, frozen in the middle of tugging on Twilight's stone-still body. Her gaze shifted this way and that, looking confused and lost.

"Wait....whuh....?"

Rarity could only watch with Applejack alongside her as Rainbow's normally stalwart gaze turned to one of abstract horror the moment she looked up at the exact same angle Twilight had her head turned up at. The moment it happened, Dash's necklace began to pulsate and let out a bright glow, the light dimming and brightening over and over again like some kind of heartbeat.

Applejack could almost feel the beat in her chest, like a dull thud alongside her own heartbeat, the odd sensation synchronizing with her own in a very short amount of time. She looked to Fluttershy, who had backed up with eyes wide in fear of the whole situation, but Pinkie Pie was already there beside her, wrapping her forehooves around the terrified Element of Kindness to comfort her.

"C'mon Fluttershy, we gotta get over to AJ and Rarity!"

"Ooooohhhh, this is so scaryyy....!" Fluttershy whimpered to Pinkie Pie, down on her knees partially and trembling.

Fluttershy clenched her eyes shut while standing up more. She stepped forward steadily with Pinkie Pie's guidance, only opening her eyes when she felt Rarity's hoof resting on her other shoulder. She smiled a weak smile as Rarity's body heat could be felt covering her entire right side, Pinkie Pie's to her left.

She felt far more secure with her friends on both sides of her, Applejack taking up a position next to Rarity, the four remaining friends looking upon Rainbow Dash and Twilight now, confused and unsure as to what they should actually do about what was going on. The maelstrom winds seemed to be emanating from around Twilight, causing the already icy-cold air of the room to become even moreso.

"Wh-what should we do?!" Fluttershy shouted out as loud as she could to her friends.

"Ah don't think we got much choice but t' follow Rainbow's example! Whatever's happ'nin', they need us!" Applejack responded.

As the farm pony stepped forward, so did Rarity and Pinkie. Fluttershy was grounded in her fear though, her eyes locked on the dark tendrils that seemed to be trying to break free of whatever unseen grip had them restrained within Twilight's wide-open, silent, screaming mouth. Pinkie stepped in front of her and locked her happy, bright eyes with Fluttershy's.

"C'mon Fluttershy! Gimme a big, loud laugh!"

"What?!"

"Laugh!!" Pinkie shouted to her, grinning.

Pinkie's very random giggling made Fluttershy stare at her in bewilderment, the party pony just keeping it up until she was falling over and rolling over onto her back with laughter. Despite not knowing WHY she was laughing so much, Fluttershy couldn't help but laugh along with her, feeling happier simply by witnessing her friend busting a gut for no logical reason.

Pinkie got to her hooves once Fluttershy began to laugh along with her, the pink pony still laughing while leaning in to talk to her, AJ and Rarity watching the both of them with no small amount of confusion as well.

"Alright, you're ready, young grasshopper!" Pinkie said to her with a mock-gruff voice, giggling more afterwards. "Let's get in there and get our friends back!!"

With that, Pinkie stepped away from Fluttershy and turned away, leaping head-long into Twilight and Rainbow Dash, wrapping her forelegs around the both of them until she too succumbed to whatever had struck such fear into the two of them, though she was frozen in a fit of laughter by the time her necklace began to pulsate in time with Twilight's tiara and Rainbow's necklace.

As Pinkie's laughter echoed into nothingness within their minds, both Rarity and Applejack swallowed their looming fears and surrounded Fluttershy.

"Let's go then!" AJ shouted to their timid friend.

"O-okay....!"

They all stepped closer, with minor resistance from the scared Fluttershy. All at once, they laid a single forehoof on each of their friends, save for Twilight. Rarity was the first to follow both Rainbow Dash and Twilight's gaze, and in that single moment, that brief instant, she saw what had horrified them both before they went still.

She saw the un-ending eternity in the Nightmare's eyes, her upper body protruding from the wall, looming over all of them, her heavy breathing deafening her ears as if she were somehow breathing directly into both of her ears.

"Oh by Celestia, what have we gotten ourselves into....?"

As her senses faded and she fell into unending darkness, she could feel the warmth of her friends nearby. She didn't know exactly where they were, but they were somewhere in the deep, stark black. Soon, she became intensely dizzy, and felt her fears and her hesitations fading away and making room for blissful unconsciousness.

And then, like the others, she was gone, fallen prey to the same spell that had taken her friends into the darkness.

Twilight could feel something writhing all around her in the nothingness that was the absolute silence that suppressed all of her senses. There wasn't even darkness, there was just nothingness, nothing to comprehend. It was an odd sensation, a sensation that was causing her to panic.

Then, all at once, the world re-asserted itself in a flurry of motion, walls coming into view from the ether, the inky darkness becoming something she could actually see rather than only attempt to imagine being all around her. She could feel her eyes, her skin, the chilling cold of the air, and the smell of the stagnant stench of blood and death.

Of course, the only reason she knew she was smelling rotting corpses was due to the fact that when the world came into focus around her, she was looming over a pony whose eyes had been ripped out, and his fur and flesh had partially rotted on his skull.

She fumbled and stumbled back, her voice caught in her throat as the acrid air became all the more intense the more she became aware. She saw the full extent of the dead pony's features, a lab coat ripped in half along with his entire body, blood staining the ground in a massive, dry red spot.

She took a moment to look around while covering her nose as best she could with a foreleg, and she saw the true extent of the horror all around her.

She was in a long, extensive hallway, the ceiling illuminated by bright white lights fueled by a line of magic runes running down the hall between them. On each side of her, large glass windows held the bodies of naked ponies and dead researchers, some of them only skeletal remains while some others looked to be in early stages of decomposition.

"Don't be so afraid."

She turned around on a dime, jumping back and almost tripping her hindleg over the corpse she was trying to back away from. Standing there before her was the little filly that had presented herself the first time, the filly she'd seen when she had gazed upon the forest and heard the foal's cry.

"Hello, Twilight Sparkle. I was called Moonlight Star."

"Oh....uh....yeah," Twilight numbly muttered, turning her gaze left and right, then back to the small Unicorn filly. "Where am I?"

She was sitting behind the corpse, the smell of the room not even remotely fazing the little one, her dark coat of fur and her sparkling mane giving her an appearance akin to a very young Luna. Moonlight simply smiled and shrugged.

"You're inside your own mind. Can't you tell?"

"I'm not sure what I should believe right now. Me being here is scientifically impossible if I were still moving around in my physical body, so I guess being within my own mind makes sense...." Twilight idly mused to herself.

"She's been waiting for this moment. I can explain things on the way down, if you like," the little foal said, walking past Twilight and down the hall. "This way."

'Twilight!'

She looked back at the massive door looming behind her, the voice of Applejack ringing true in her ears.

"Don't mind that. Your friends most definitely do not need to be burdened with this truth."

'Twilight, wh-where are you? Why is it so dark out here....?!'

"Fluttershy?" Twilight called out.

She suddenly felt like several eyes were on her, peering at her right through the walls. She couldn't make them out unfortunately, all she could see was the decaying death all around her.

"Come along, Twilight. You want your answers, correct?"

"Why is Fluttershy here?"

"Your friends were concerned, and your Elements drew them to you. You are here, thus, when they tried to set you free, they were drawn in instead."

Twilight reluctantly stepped forward, her eyes gazing back the entire time until she felt the ground give way slightly beneath her. When she snapped her head forward, she expected to see some kind of nightmarish drop into a permanent oblivion, her heart jumping up into her throat just before her hoof touched ground again. Then she noticed it was just a step down deeper into the hall.

"But....wait, why did the Elements leave me in here? Why wouldn't they pull me out of here instead?"

"Because you are weak, and thus so are they. Do you know of your birthright? Do you know why you are so conflicted and angry lately?"

"How would you know about what I'm going through?"

"I am a part of her. I serve her willingly because she would erase my existence otherwise."

"Well....why should I trust you then?"

"Because you have little choice. You make her wait too long, she will get upset, and she will come to you very, very unhappy."

"That really doesn't fill me with confidence."

"Good. It shouldn't. You should be afraid."

A single shiver at the cold, dead look in the young foal's eyes gave way to a silent trek over dead bodies, old skeletons and rotting corpses, the terror evident in their equally long-dead eyes. She could still hear the voices of her friends, but the further down she went, the more faint they became.

Soon their voices were like whispers in the still and stagnant air of the hall, several corners taken and turns made until finally, they reached a very large door at the end. Twilight couldn't make it out at first, but when she realized she couldn't read the language it was written in in her mind, the words re-shaped and shifted on the very door they were etched.

"Project 427: Immortal?"

"That is her number. You will know everything once you go inside. She wants you to know, you deserve to know after all. You are our sister!"

That was the first time, in that single moment, that she saw the little Unicorn filly smile, but her eyes, her gaze, everything about her made Twilight think that she was particularly sick. She stepped closer to the little filly, the young one shrinking back away from her when she reached out to see if she could touch her.

"You, uh....you look like you're sick. Are you okay?"

"Don't you DARE touch me!" the filly growled out at her.

Twilight recoiled and looked to her in surprise, blinking and looking up as the door behind her began to creak open, lit up with a similar, black and inky magic akin to the magic emanating from Moonlight Star's horn.

"I don't want your help, I will never want your help! You have to pay for being related to the one that caused me to be sealed away in this pit!"

"WHAT?! I don't-"

"You'll understand when you enter...."

The sudden venom in the filly's voice made Twilight back up a little, the anger apparent on her face, a stark contrast to the initial fear she displayed towards Twilight's touch. She turned when the door opened fully and ran inside, a full-on sprint to get away from Twilight's presence. She disappeared into the darkness of the room, making Twilight stand up and shudder a little as she stepped forward.

The first time she knew something was wrong was the moment she stepped into the room and she heard a sound akin to pressing one's ear to another's chest to listen to their breathing. It grated at her sanity and made her wonder if she was even going anywhere the further she walked forward. Rubble riddled the floor and bodies were everywhere, but every single one felt as if it were watching her, homing in on her and keeping an eye on every single motion she made.

By the time she found herself able to see, despite the pitch-black darkness around her, she was trembling with a foreign fear. The whole time, she became more and more paranoid of her surroundings, feeling as if the hoofsteps she heard were the very corpses she had seen previously, her imagination venturing to a dark, scary place. She didn't dare look behind herself for fear of seeing dead bodies following her in a line, eager to consume her flesh to restore what they have lost.

"....Hmm, maybe a new one, so lonely here...."

Twilight's gaze locked forward when she heard someone speak, and it definitely wasn't the little filly she heard before. Or at least, she didn't think it was. In truth, it was her, but she was in the distance, facing away from Twilight, her breathing rapidly accelerating as her horn lit up. Seconds later, Twilight could hear the raging cry of a foal, a high-pitched whine that made her lower her ears in a vain attempt to shut out the loud screech that surrounded her and filled the air.

"No! Why must they always cry, why would Mother ever want such a thing?! No wonder she left us here...." the filly muttered, her horn glowing once again.

Twilight was filled with horror as the morbid and disturbing sound of an even more high-pitched gagging and crying flooded her ears, tears running down her cheeks as the foal's cries became weak gurgles, and then stopped entirely.

"By Celestia, what did you just DO?!" Twilight asked in a half-shout, her mouth open wide in clear, undeniable horror, the lavender Unicorn disturbed down to her very core.

The little filly perked her ears up and turned her head a little, getting to her hooves and turning sideways while looking in Twilight's direction. She smiled a vicious, yet familiar smile.

"Oh hel-LO, sister! I merely tried to make a new friend, but it came out wrong. So I killed it," she said all too casually, giggling a little afterwards. "Welcome to my humble abode."

Twilight knew that voice all too well, and she knew those black, endless eyes.

"Wh-....Nightmare?"

"Who else did you expect?" the filly asked, an inky blackness pulsating from her horn.

Soon, the dark magic emanating from her horn engulfed her entire body and surrounded her with an inky, pulsating blackness that seemed to shift and move of its own accord. It twisted and pulled closer to her body until it sunk all over her form and covered her in what looked like a pitch-black, self-shaping skin.

The darkness pulsated and throbbed, pushing outward until Twilight was no longer looking down, but up, into the dread-inducing gaze of the Nightmare as she and her friends knew her thus far. Her trembling knees felt like putty as the Nightmare leaned in and almost touched horns with her, causing her to reflexively step back.

"Oh, don't be frightened, sister! How about you ask me a question, like the one you wished that witch Celestia to answer, but she so intensely refused?" she said, grinning and turning away from her.

Twilight gulped. "A-alright...." she muttered, feeling very vulnerable standing before such a powerful creature without the comfort of her friends. "What's been wrong with me?"

"Oh, that's plenty simple! You're like me."

"What do you mean?"

The Nightmare grinned. "YOU are a descendant, like myself. A descendant of a legacy, though you probably know that," she said, turning away and walking towards a pedestal she was facing before. "You do know that, right?"

Her deadpan voice and her statement had Twilight thoroughly confused. A descendant? What did that mean? Regardless, she could only shake her head, her gaze shifting to the pedestal the Nightmare seemed obsessed with, spying the dimly pulsating, glowing ball atop it.

"I see! Mother always was very secretive. You know, kind of like how she never once let me leave this facility! Did she ever mention me?"

"Why would I know your Mother? Who....IS your Mother?"

The Nightmare could only laugh for a long moment, wiping her eyes clear of non-existent tears afterwards.

"Ohh-ho, if you don't know that, I'm sure not telling you! Seems you weren't told anything, no wonder you were stupid enough to come here!" the dark creature said, smiling happily and almost trotting around her pedestal, looking as giddy as a little filly at a candy store.

"What?! What are you talking about, you said you would have answers!"

"Well yes, I would have had answers, but since you do not know the magic required to defend yourself....well, let's just say it's going to be fun turning you into a mindless husk that doesn't even know how to feed herself let alone escape from me!"

Twilight recoiled in fear as her horn lit up, a sharp shriek emanating from her as the dark magic in the Nightmare's horn jolted out and formed a black tendril that rose up and extended, first as a billowing cloud of black smoke, then as a solid, razor-sharp snake-like tentacle that was pointed directly at the vulnerable Unicorn.

"I look forward to hearing her weep when she finds out that I'm all that's left of her bloodline."

Twilight launched bolt after bolt of magical missiles at her adversary, each hitting and failing to hurt her even slightly, not even an errant twitch or sting making the Nightmare relent. Twilight felt nothing but fear as the imposing filly-turned-mare stepped closer until she was more than within striking distance.

Twilight turned to run, but the Nightmare was infinitely faster. Darkness locked Twilight in place, the very floor beneath her wrapping around her hooves and holding her fast, forcing her to watch as that tendril lunged at her and stabbed directly between her eyes.

Chapter 13 - Burn Part 3 (OLD)

Chapter 13 - Burn (Part 3)

written by Fire Soul

In that single instant, she believed she was dead. But instead, she only felt emotions as her own memories were forced upon her, and then they were rapidly plucked away the moment they ended.

She couldn't fully comprehend what was happening to her. In one moment, she was standing in Canterlot talking to her brother as a little filly, and in another moment she was in Ponyville chatting with her friends over a tasty lunch. Mmm....daffodils and a side of sunflower seeds and corn.

They kept whipping by rapid-fire, and just as quickly they kept ceasing to exist within her own mind. She wasn't sure what was going on, but it felt like she was jumping from happy moment to happy moment. She couldn't even remember how she'd gotten there, or why she was running through random memories. It felt nice though. Maybe if she just let them happen....

'Tw...l.gh...!'

"Huhn? Whuzzuh?" she mumbled drowsily, her words echoing in the air around where she believed she was watching her own memories from.

'Twi...ht!'

The voice echoed in her mind once more, a familiar tone that she had only heard once before. Where had she heard it from? She couldn't make it out....

'Twilight!'

That time, the voice echoed all around her, an intense, loud sound that shattered the spell locking her away within the bliss of her memories. She opened her eyes and felt the tendril that had, surprisingly painlessly, burrowed into her mind. Her horn flared up and she teleported away, out of the Nightmare's grasp in a brief moment of focus, the sound of the voice feeling as if it had empowered her.

Then she realized that she was here, in the room, in the stink and the horrid presence of the creature whom she believed was actually about to kill her. She quickly pressed a hoof to her forehead, feeling around the spot she'd stabbed into her at....yet, there was nothing. No blood, no hole in her head, no nothing!

"What in the world just-"

"Get down, Twilight!"

That voice again! She turned and looked right at a dark bolt of energy heading right for her, the arcing energy rushing through the air in spastic patterns. It was all she could do to hit the deck just before a mighty thunder-clap hit with all the resounding deafening force of a tidal wave.

The Nightmare was sent sprawling, her magic deactivated under the surprise assault. She roared out in defiance of the electricity coursing through her body, but it was no use: she couldn't move. The dark energy had control of her, though it was temporary.

Twilight could barely force herself to look away as a dark tendril wrapped around the Nightmare's neck from behind her and whipped her around in the air, a distinct snapping sound heard before she was released, sending her flailing limply through the air and against a wall, unseen beyond the darkness.

Twilight almost jumped out of her skin the moment she felt a hoof on her side. She whipped her gaze over to the source and looked up into the eyes of....Princess Luna?

"Wh-wha-why are you here?!" she shouted suddenly.

"No time for that, get out of here!"

"Where do I-"

"Back the way you came! Go!" Luna shouted to her, stepping around in front of her.

Twilight got to her hooves quickly, looking back to the now-open path, fully devoid of the bodies and skeletons that plagued her psyche on the way down. Then again, she felt more mentally fortified now, as if fear didn't exist here. It was an odd sensation, as if she were both herself, and somepony else.

"Wh-what about you?"

Luna turned suddenly and touched her horn to Twilight's, darkness emanating from her horn and flowing into Twilight's own. The lavender Unicorn gasped and clenched her eyes shut along with her teeth. She felt a rush, a rush that was both damn good and ecstasy-ridden, but it was also very overwhelming.

She both felt, saw, and suddenly KNEW memories that weren't her own. A flood of knowledge implanted itself alongside her normal patterns of thought, integrating themselves into what would normally be her standard ways of performing Unicorn magic. By the time it was over, she felt something akin to an orgasm rushing through her, one that seemed to keep bursting within her, debilitating her movement.

Luna stepped back and took a breath, a very pleasure-ridden breath and had both of them blushing. She quickly recovered from it however, and lifted a forehoof up.

"N-now get out of here! Find the others and find a way out of her maze!"

With that, Luna slammed her hoof into Twilight's chest, and the world rushed past her. She only had a brief second to realize that she was soaring backwards down the very hall she had come down, guided perfectly down the twisting and turning center of the hallway by whatever magic Luna had performed to get her moving.

She felt an impact against her back, and the world around her went black. By the time she came to, she saw herself. Standing over her.

"....Uh?"

Luna turned to face the Nightmare again, but she was clearly feeling the effects of fusing her mind with Twilight. Her heart was racing and her mind was muddled under the intensity of the release it brought her. Her body wished to lay down and rest, but she knew that she wasn't truly in her body. Aside from that, laying down would mean the death of her.

"Hello to you too, Mother," she spat at her, stepping into the very dim, vague light. "I wonder if that counts as incest, what you just did."

"I did not have much choice if I wished to keep her safe from a psychopath like you!"

"How harsh! Are you still angry about falling prey to me? You were the pony stupid enough to hug me after I ripped a researcher in half right in front of you."

Luna took a breath and locked her gaze with the Nightmare's, both of them readying their similar magicks against one another. Luna's pristine figure began to become enshrouded with darkness, her physique disappearing under the same magic the Nightmare was using.

"You turned me into Nightmare Moon and tried to kill Celestia by stealing my power!"

"Oh yes, I did, one of my more glorious moments."

"What happened to you, Star? What did they DO to you that would drive you to all of this?" Luna asked, the dark magic hiding the fact that she was crying under the surface.

That was the only time Luna had ever seen genuine rage on the Nightmare's face. She stamped her forehooves against the ground, tendrils rising up from the darkness around her, five of them looming mere feet away from her, all of them shifting around in motion with the Nightmare's steps.

"You let them experiment on me!!"

"I never-"

"Don't you lie to me, you sick twisted BITCH!!!" the Nightmare roared at her.

The Nightmare was the first to make a move. Thoroughly enraged, the Nightmare lashed out with all five of her readied tentacles, the razor-sharp weapons rushing directly at Luna and around her, wanting to give her little chance of getting out of the way.

Luna was far from a fool. The Nightmare made a wild lunge for her general location, but by the time they reached her, she was of the same consistency as the darkness around her, melding into the shadows. She shifted around the room in absolute silence, circling around the Nightmare's position, her eyes locked on the demonic mare.

Unfortunately, she wasn't paying attention to the fact that the Nightmare had a trap ready for her.

She felt the presence ahead of her movements far too late, and drifted directly into a tendril that grabbed her by her throat and tore her out of her shroud. She tumbled across the floor and rolled to her feet, ignoring the sensation of her windpipe being stuck shut in favor of staying alive.

The moment Luna has walked right into her trap, the Nightmare knew where she was, and lashed out with three of her five available skewering tendrils. They arced up into the air, twisting and surging around one another, forming a single combined force that Luna fired three balls of dark energy at.

Each blast caused an explosion that ripped one tendril, then another, then another apart, leaving her a cloud of billowing black smoke to use as impromptu cover. The Nightmare dove into it just the same.

They were both shuffling through it, slowly stepping and doing their best to silence their movements. When both spotted one another's horns, or rather, felt the magic so close to them, they charged and locked horns. Luna was at the disadvantage due to her smaller stature, but she held her ground, not daring to give an inch for fear of giving her the confidence needed to put this situation to its most beneficial use.

"I-rrgh!-swear to you that I had no part in whatever they did to you, Moonlight!" Luna pleaded, straining to resist the strength of the other.

"Oh but didn't you-nnh!-Mother? You locked me away in a cell and came to visit meeee-aagh....!" the Nightmare strained to say, Luna's sudden burst of strength making her ease back slightly. "You could've taken me out of here."

"No I couldn't have, we couldn't be sure if you were-"

"DANGEROUS?!" she bellowed, clenching her teeth and pushing back even harder, the strain on their horns borderlining the point of becoming agonizing. "Well, I-*huff*-guess you have your answer now, don't you?"

"I was pregnant, Moonlight, it was too dangerous for me to visit you, I wanted to show you your-rrgh!-your little sister after she was born!"

"All the more reason for me to want everything regarding her dead. That little witch and her disgusting little virmin are all part of the reason they got away with what they did....but I made them pay. Oh yes, I so very much made them pay, especially that foalfiddling Senior Scientist who was in charge in your stead!"

Luna could barely register the struggle they were having, her body and her mind locked, focused on the horrific realization that, in her absence, her daughter had been....

"You let them do it! It was an advanced research facility, you knew what they would do to the daughter of a GODDESS the moment they believed they could get away with it!" she cried out to Luna, pushing hard in a fit of anguish and hate.

Luna's spirit was broken. In a single fell swoop, she felt her body giving way beneath her. The Nightmare took the opportunity and pressed her advantage once again, and Luna's legs almost gave out beneath her. With her head knocked downward, the Nightmare reared up on her hindlegs and slammed her forehooves down as hard as she could on the back of Luna's head, sending her nose crashing down into the floor.

The distinct crack of cartilage and bone giving way could be heard, blood leaking from the Princess's nostrils. She cried out in pain and rolled onto her side, looking up to her daughter with tears pouring from her eyes.

"I am....SO sorry, Moonlight....!" she choked out, slowly getting to her hooves once more. "What could I possibly do to make this better? Is there any way I can stop this?"

The Nightmare looked into her Mother's eyes, swallowing back the sobs and the tears as the memories flooded her and made her feel the unwanted, intimate touch of another pony all over her body. She stepped back as the memory of the sensation, the entire experience, traumatized her all over again. She forced it out of her mind and glared at Luna with a grim determination.

"No. There's nothing you can do. Don't ever talk to me like I'm your daughter ever again," she said, her gaze unwavering. "I'm going to crush you. But first I'm going to crush everything you hold dear. Every last pony, Gryphon, Zebra, hell even Celestia's precious pet Phoenix is going to be my BITCH....!"

Luna could feel the familiar chill running up her spine. The same sensation she had the last time she looked into those hate-filled, furious and sad eyes. It had ended with her becoming Nightmare Moon, albeit by surprise.

"I'm going to beat you over and over again into an inch of your infinite life for the rest of eternity, like a daily exercise regimen. Then I'm going to bind you to a post in the hottest, most barren desert I can find, and make you watch as I rip your sister's throat out again, and again, and again, and again no matter how many times the immortal cunt regenerates! She'll be begging me to forgive her for locking me in here!"

She could feel herself backpedaling away from her daughter, but no matter how much she did, the larger mare simply stepped towards her. The acid in every word she said made Luna's heart ache, never before had she heard such unbridled, overwhelming hate for herself, her sister, or anypony for that matter. Once again....she found herself terrified in her daughter's presence.

"....But not here. Not now. I will gladly settle for Twilight, though....she will be the beginning of it all."

Luna's fear became her fuel, and in a massive explosion of magic, she stood her ground.

"You shall not go near her! My guards are on the way-"

"Is THAT who is setting my forest on fire and cutting the trees down in the process of defending themselves? Let me guess. Strider's colleagues?"

"Wh-how-?"

"He told me his name after I removed my hoof from his crushed torso."

An almost primal roar erupted from the Princess of the Night, and with her emotions fueling her already innately poweful magic, she unleashed a rapid barrage of explosive magic bullets at her, each one detonating against or all around her, concussing the Nightmare and knocking her further and further away.

"There is no apology in the world that could ever adequately beg for forgiveness for what happened to you when I was not there-"

A whip-like tendril lashed out through the plume of black smoke left behind by the explosions from Luna's horn, wrapping around the Nightmare's throat and yanking her with neck-snapping force through it, back towards the source of the magical weapon.

"-But I refuse to allow your hate to destroy a world that has done nothing to hurt you!"

They were mere feet apart, Luna's anger abated by the mere sound of her voice. She sounded as if she were in pain, and even after all this time, Luna could barely bring herself to lash out at her daughter seriously.

"The sins of the past, Mother! You will pay, THEY will pay, every living creature in Equestria will pay for YOUR hubris!!"

She wanted to throw her. To bash her skull against the non-existent wall, but a fight here would serve little purpose if they could match one another in strength, skill and speed. Even if she didn't want to admit it, she was afraid of her daughter. She had so much more control over The Void, far more than what Luna had access to. The Nightmare seemed to pick up on this.

"What's wrong, Mother? You're trembling...."

Her mocking tone didn't stop Luna from looking down at herself, finally noticing her trembling legs and her wings, firmly tucked in and out of harm's way. She tried to present herself with more confidence, but the damage to her image was done: the Nightmare had called her out on what she was really feeling.

"Oh, Mother, don't worry. I won't kill you here!" the dark pony said, breaking free of Luna's grip with a simple burst of a spell. "This place is my mind and Twilight's. It would be an unglorious end if I simply turned you into a vegetable. No, I'm going to enjoy making you suffer....!"

The Nightmare laughed as Luna backed away, becoming pinned against a wall while her focus failed and her magic dispelled from around the Nightmare's neck. The dark creature cricked her neck a bit and continued to smile her wicked, smug, sadistic smile.

"In fact, maybe you should return to your body and get moving! We both know what your next move's going to be. Go erect your barrier with your precious sister's assistance to keep me out. It will make it all the sweeter when I get past it and prove just how helpless you both really are!"

Her confidence had a profound effect on Luna's morale. The battle was over before it truly had a chance to start: Luna had no time and very little energy to waste on contending with the one creature in the world she legitimately feared more than anything else in her life. The Nightmare matched her and perhaps even went far beyond her power at this point, The Void's power amplified exponentially by her uncontrolled rage and sadness and hate.

Luna could think of no other choice at the moment but to flee.

She clenched her eyes shut and imagined Canterlot. Saw herself sitting there and screamed in her head the desire to return. Her magic responded in kind. With her wings spread and with one mighty jump and flap of her wings, she rocketed up into the air and through the imposed ceiling that wasn't truly there.

Soon, her world turned to darkness, and she felt the calming embrace of another pony against her side. That however didn't stop her from freaking out.

While she was within the Nightmare's mind, she had braced her mental faculties and forced her fears deep, deep into her subconscious where it couldn't get to her. But the Nightmare had begun to manipulate that and chip away at her psyche with words and intense scare tactics. It worked wonderfully against her.

Luna screamed a blood-curdling scream, the likes of which Celestia wasn't prepared for. Her eyes flew open with a wild and frantic gaze, her head swivelling this way and that and her gaze shifting around rapidly, searching her bedroom.

"LUNA!" Celestia shouted at her, the Magisters invited into her chambers quickly examining Luna's mind and body. "Luna, calm down, look at-"

"She was there! Oh by the heavens above she was right in front of me she was touching me she-she broke my defensesdownohGodsohGodsohGODS what did I create?!"

"Sister, please, look at me! Look at me, right now!" Celestia demanded..

Luna didn't seem to be listening, her terror deeply impacting her ability to think straight. Celestia was growing desperate the more Luna struggled against her grasp, and finally she let her younger sister go just so she could grasp her head by her cheeks and force her sister to look into her eyes.

"LUNA! Listen to me, damn it all!!"

The Princess of the Night was clearly absolutely terrified, all of her barriers shattered either by her own innate fears of possibly becoming Nightmare Moon again, or by her long-imprisoned daughter's presence, jarring confidence and hate-ridden words. But, when Celestia had managed to focus her attention, she visibly softened and slowly began to realize where she was. It didn't change the fact that she was two seconds away from tripling the patrols of the Night Guard.

"She is not here. You are in Canterlot Castle, with me. That's all. She cannot hurt you here, especially while you are under my supervision. Do you understand?" Celestia said, holding her face still to keep their eyes locked.

Luna simply nodded, at first. But when Celestia let her go and she finally let out the held-in breath she'd been containing since she was first grabbed in such a way, she quickly ran through the things the Nightmare had said to her.

"Sister, she....I finally know what happened to her," Luna said, her body slumping. "It is all my fault....!"

"What? What do you mean?"

"I always thought that she must have done what she did but I never....th-those filthy bastards forced experiments on her, and one of the researchers raped her....!" Luna choked out, the tears running down her cheeks freely.

Celestia said nothing, though her face said it all. The Magisters looked to them both curiously, but Celestia motioned to them all, then pointed to the door. They left just as Celestia embraced her sibling in a firm and comforting embrace, Luna's sobs heard up and down the halls even after the door was closed behind them.

After a short few minutes, far too short of time for both Celestia and Luna, the two separated with the pastel-maned Princess retrieving a towel to help dry her younger sister's tears as best she could. She looked visibly shaken by the news as well, but if it fazed her as much as it fazed Luna, Celestia wasn't showing it.

"Luna....are you prepared to go through with this?"

"....I-I don't have much of a choice, do I Tia?"

"If there were any other way, I would make any sacrifices necessary to-"

"No," Luna quickly interjected. "Even if it was her choice to do the things she did, I still hold the most accountability, Tia. You warned me so many times....!"

"Luna, no matter how immortal we may be, we're still mortal in mind and soul. You can't blame yourself for what happened to her, you were struck with grief and you trusted your colleagues! How could you have known-"

"You knew. You knew there was a good chance it would happen. If you knew, why did I not become aware of it until it was too late?"

Celestia could only hold her tongue upon that obvious point. Luna, sharp as ever, was good at pointing out exactly what mattered most.

"....As I thought," Luna said, visibly shrinking in on herself. "Let us go. Ponyville awaits, and we must both be ready."

Luna was the first to leave, dejected by her own words and by Celestia's inability to convince her otherwise. Celestia sat there, her gaze focused on the carpeted floor of her sister's chambers, an uncharacteristic frown marring her normally beautiful visage.

"I wish that you could believe that being in love and happy could cause you to overlook something so obvious...." she whispered to herself.

Celestia followed mere moments later, the two moving in silence together save for working to prepare the Rune Magic-inclined Royal and Night Guards to keep on alert. Along with that, they made sure to ready a few of those specially trained guards to come with them on a fleet of chariots to Ponyville, an entourage of fifty strong all congregated around their Princesses.

Twilight got to her hooves after scooting out from under herself, the mere thought of doing so boggling her mind. She tried to say something to herself, but the look-alike seemed busy talking to someone else. When she got up and turned around, she could clearly make out Applejack and Rarity both standing side-by-side. They looked vexed by one another's presence. In an instant, she had an idea of what this was, and when she realized that, the library formed around them.

It was a perfect replica, an uncanny physical representation of her library. Her home, from the exact moment when Applejack and Rarity had wound up being stuck with her through the storm all night during her very first sleepover. The detail was impeccable, detail that she hadn't even consciously taken in during the whole experience!

She didn't dwell on it however. She recalled what Princess Luna had said to her, not to mention what she'd done, something Twilight hoped could get resolved between them with a single sentence and little more. It still sent shudders up and down her spine to think that some might consider Luna her 'first'....eugh. Somehow, it just seemed creepy! At the very least it was tactless and horrendously inappropriate given the circumstances.

Then again, even Twilight could feel the change in the flow of magic inside of her body, and she could sense the innate knowledge needed to put it to use, drastically different from standard Unicorn magic. She closed her eyes and channeled some of what felt like very wild, uncontrollable energy, and despite its nature it submitted to her will. She couldn't tell if it was dumb luck or actual skill and mental fortitude on her part, but she thought of a shape, and the black magical energy bursting forth from her horn began to take the shape of a vase.

Of course, it was a vase hanging on her horn like when Applejack throws a ringer in a game of Horseshoes, so she quickly stopped that and walked towards the door leading out of her library.

Clearly Luna had given her this for a reason, abused the Life-Bond Ritual to impart knowledge somehow in the moment when their minds became one and that....intense ecstasy threatened to knock her out. You just don't take a virgin by surprise like that! Still, given what Luna used it for, she was willing to believe that her virginity was intact and they hadn't done anything like that at all. It was just Luna giving her knowledge and power. Nothing more.

That didn't answer the question of why Luna gave her such power in such a hurry, but she wasn't complaining outside of the methods used to give such power to her. Argh, she couldn't get that little factoid out of her head!

"That did not happen. It was just a spell, Twilight. MOVING ON." she grumbled to herself.

The first thought that rang true to her upon putting her previous line of thinking on the backburner was Fluttershy. She'd heard her friend's voice even while she was beyond that large stone door. Of course, she'd also been walking all this time in a mostly aimless direction. By the time she looked around, she was somehow standing on a lone hill on Applejack's farm.

Apparently the whole Luna marriage ritual thingy from more ancient times got to her worse than she realized. Wandering was definitely not something she did. Of course, she didn't normally waste time on pointless things either, but look at her now!

Right. Fluttershy.

She was by now fully aware of where she was. The randomness, the ability to go anywhere her heart desired in an instant in ways that made absolutely no sense....yep. Definitely inside of her own mind. She just had to focus on her friend's voice, the memory of it first, then the real voice calling out to her. In an instant, she was surrounded by hundreds of thousands of depictions of Fluttershy, each one saying her name in a drastically or slightly different way. The sudden shift from absolute dead silence to thousands of Fluttershy voices almost blew her eardrums out.

She rapidly made them go away, adjusting her thoughts and instead just doing it the hard way: focusing on the concept of her friend's mind being connected to her own. She wasn't entirely sure if that was truly the case, but Fluttershy did call out to her, and she could only do that if she were actually in here. Or if she knew magic, but that was an obvious 'no'.

"Hey Twilight, where ya at?! It's gettin' kind of creepy lookin' for you through all of your old memories of me!"

That would count double for an anti-egghead like Rainbow Dash.

In an instant, she had the feeling she wanted to talk with her friend, and moments later, they were standing in front of one another. Rainbow Dash could only jump in surprise as the distant image of Twilight sitting alone on a hilltop rapidly approached her, and stopped mere feet in front of the rainbow-maned pegasus.

"WHOA! Don't do that, sheesh!"

Twilight recoiled a little both from her friend's outburst and from the fact that she only saw Rainbow Dash's face upon opening her eyes. She took a quick look around now that they were sitting together on the hill, but saw no one else.

"You're alone? Didn't everyone come in? I mean if you and Fluttershy are here...."

"Yeah, I think we did anyways," she said, shrugging. "Keeps feelin' like I have some kind of weight on my back."

"Huh. Well, I only sort of know what's going on, but....I'm sorry," she said, rubbing the back of her head. "The Nightmare tried to kill me. Apparently before Luna showed up, I had no way of defending myself."

"Whoa-wait, Luna? As in Princess Luna? What's she got to do with this?"

"I'm not entirely sure yet, but I have a feeling I know who I need to talk to to know what's going on. Or what was going on, anyways," Twilight said, smirking. "I feel like me again, you know? I can-I can focus, and I don't feel down in the dumps or worn out for no good reason, and I want to read again! I want to study!"

Rainbow Dash could only stare at her friend with no small amount of confusion.

"You, uh....you sure the Nightmare didn't tell you something?"

"More like the Princess gave me something! This new magic is invigorating, I feel like I could take on the world right now!"

"Waitwaitwait, new magic? Is that what this is right now? Something you did?"

"No, this is the Nightmare's doing. Princess Luna gave me the knowledge to use this just before she forced me away from what I can only assume is a fight going on right now between her and the Nightmare."

Twilight yelped as she was suddenly grabbed by her friend in both of her forehooves, the pegasus hovering in front of her and a little above, up in the air.

"You left Princess Luna alone with that psychotic freak? What's wrong with you?!"

"It's not like I would have if she gave me any other choice!" Twilight responded just as loudly, batting Rainbow's hooves away from her head. "She sort of hit me out of nowhere with her hoof, and next thing I knew, I was blacking out and I woke up in the middle of an old memory."

Rainbow Dash hrm'ed and looked around, into the never-ending darkness that made up the rest of Twilight's mind, along with a plethora of memories that Twilight left in her wake on the way to the hilltop. She shrugged.

"I suppose she knows what she's doing then. Never figured the Princesses to be fighting types, either of 'em," Rainbow mused. "So what do we do now? How do we get outta here?"

"I feel like I've already figured it out, I just have to locate them and then I can get us safely out of here together."

With this in mind, Rainbow Dash and Twilight began to work together, at first with Rainbow Dash being completely quiet, much to her chagrin. Over time and combined with a lot of silence, however, Rainbow Dash tried a different tactic: she began to call out to them while Twilight continued to try to summon them with her thoughts.

This new tactic served them both well. They tried for Fluttershy first, and combined with Rainbow Dash's boisterous vocals, they managed to grab her attention and thus managed to locate her now that her conscious mind was focusing on trying to find them as well. The same method was soon performed on Rarity, Applejack, and finally Pinkie Pie.

By the time they got to her though, Pinkie Pie was in the middle of talking to two iterations of Twilight, both speaking to two different ponies in seperate memories. Whether Pinkie was aware of this or not, or whether or not Pinkie knew neither of them was the real Twilight, they will likely never know.

Twilight began to focus her thoughts once again, but this time she focused on something entirely different than just hunting for her friends. Now, she began to ponder on the nature of her surroundings. She had a hunch that the key to getting out of her own mind had everything to do with the proper train of thought.

She knew she had the method down, but the only problem she foresaw was figuring out how to take her friends with her. If she messed this up....well, she was fairly unsure what would happen, but having her friends stuck in her head would be a bad thing considering where they were at the moment outside of it.

A door. That was the answer. It was harder to do, and it took what felt like hours, but when she opened her eyes, there was a door floating in front of their little hill. Pinkie managed to make it even more difficult by getting immensely bored and talking incessantly, but at least there was a way out now.

"Okay, this should work. I think," Twilight muttered, rubbing the side of her head. "Kinda hurt though."

"Ah don't think it's so safe t'be jumpin' through magick-y doors on a 'maybe', Twi."

"All things considered, I don't think we have much cho-...well! What is that?" Rarity chimed in.

They all turned their gazes to where Rarity was looking, though Twilight was the only one that seemed to fully grasp what was happening.

Beyond the darkness that was already there, in the far-off distance, her memories were disappearing. One by one they were fading to black, or rather, the darkness was consuming them itself. She backed up towards the door with nerve-struck steps.

"Into the door."

A tendril loomed over them, making itself stand out from the rest of the blackness surrounding them. She barely had a barrier up in time to stop it from lunging down at them. Soon more appeared from the encroaching inky darkness threatening to eat them whole, and Twilight was visibly straining under blow after bone-shattering blow.

"This is our cue to LEAVE, girls!!" Twilight growled out through gritted teeth.

They didn't need much more provocation. Twilight stood her ground while they rushed through, first Rarity and Applejack, then Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and finally Rainbow Dash. Twilight's shield collapsed the moment she made a move for her exit. She barely managed to dive through and avoid getting impaled!

The second she passed through, she fell once again. The sensation slowly left her as she hit terminal velocity, or at least it felt the same. She was compelled to close her eyes and just let everything fade out despite her circumstances. The only reason she didn't panic was because she recognized the sensation from when she had been pulled in to begin with.

The moment she closed her eyes, she felt something shift inside of her. She felt hard ground beneath her hooves, and a distinct weight on her back. Before she could regain full control of herself though, she collapsed to the floor with a lazing Pinkie Pie on top of her. This, however, didn't distract her from the maelstrom swirling around them, and Pinkie seemed fully aware of it as well.

They quickly helped Twilight get to her hooves, the Unicorn all too aware of what was all around her. This wind wasn't natural, and it reeked of anger. It was arcane in nature.

"Quick, back up the staircase! We've gotta get away from here as fast as we can!"

They didn't question it. Rarity led the way up the stairs with Twilight following behind all of them, their horns illuminating their way until the first rays of moonlight struck them from the large, busted open glass windows along the side of the hallway they found themselves in. The conditions above-ground, however, didn't fill them with confidence.

Now, the air itself seemed to be seething with the overbearing sound of some kind of massive creature breathing. Everywhere they looked, the world around them seemed to pulse with an unseen figure's breath. Everywhere around them, there was darkness seething and coursing over the walls, almost making it look as if the darkness were a physical, palpable presence.

"Quick, out of the castle! Hurry!" Twilight shouted, running alongside her friends.

They all ran as fast as they could, their charge interrupted, but not impeded, by a sudden crash all around them. It wasn't just a crash, though: it sounded like a roar that began low and rapidly became a high-pitched screech that threatened to make their eardrums detonate in a burst of blood. It rattled their heads to the point that they could barely keep their eyes open to see, but it became more tolerable the closer they got to the entrance of the castle. That was when they were brought to a halt.

Standing outside of the entrance were large, black masses of inky darkness that throbbed and formed into twisted, rotten bodies of ponies that had been consumed in the past. Their empty eyes locked on the group, and all at once they charged, their maws gaping open to show hundreds of rows of teeth in an unfathomable endless vortex beyond.

Twilight's fear turned to anger as one of them reached out for Applejack and grabbed her by her throat. The farm pony proved her excessive strength by wrenching herself free in time to buck the offending creature right in its razor-sharp tooth-ridden maw, though she moreso swung one of her hindlegs against its jaw as she spun around rather than bucking it straight on and possibly losing her hoof.

"What are these things?!" AJ shouted out. "Felt like ah bucked a giant blob o' tar!"

AJ's attack only kept the creature away from her for so long, the others quickly approaching the others. Twilight immediately formed a shield between them and the dark creatures, the shield growing outward from her horn and engulfing her and her friends, forcing the consumed and controlled dark ponies away from AJ and her friends.

They acted as if they were zombies, bashing and bucking and slicing at her shield, but they were infinitely weaker than the Nightmare that attacked her in her head. The rapid-fire attacks were doing a number on her, and she was having trouble moving forward. It was all she could do to brace herself mentally against the constant onslaught of ten separate shadows striking her barrier, as well as standing her ground.

The others didn't know what to do! Twilight was the only one that knew any spells that could actually be useful, though Rarity was doing her best to distract them from within the safety of Twilight's shield by bashing them with small and large rocks behind them and on each side. It only served to make one or two of them lazily turn and look around before redirecting their renewed anger on the barrier restricting them from their prey.

As minutes passed, Twilight's shield got smaller and smaller, the lavender Unicorn looking winded and dizzy. She felt her legs give out beneath her and she laid down and rested her head against the cobblestone floor of the castle's dilapated entrance, groaning quietly as a wave of nausea washed over her. She didn't know how much longer she could maintain the protection, the magic was still new to her and fairly overwhelming.

"Uuuhh....wai-wait, girls, Luna....urp!" she said, covering her mouth with her hoof while trying to open her eyes, despite her dizziness. "Guh, Princess Luna said that-that her guards were on their way! We should....c-call out for them...."

Twilight was silenced the moment all ten of them hit her shield all at the same time, a familiar voice ringing true in the air all around them. Twilight snapped to attention when she heard the Nightmare's voice all around herself.

"You will never get away from me!!" the Nightmare's voice growled out at them.

She forced herself to her hooves, stumbling left and right, a synchronized attack from all ten of the shadows knocking her backwards, the Unicorn stumbling onto her hindlegs and then flopping hard onto her back, knocking the wind out of her.

Fluttershy and Rarity rushed to Twilight's side, the nauseated Unicorn rolling onto her side and covering her mouth for fear of throwing up all over herself. She coughed a few times and rolled to her front slowly, clenching her teeth and closing her eyes again as they struck her again.

"They were behaving randomly before. Did the Nightmare do this?" Rarity muttered while trying to help Twilight relax by petting down her mane again and again.

"She controls all of them, she's in every part of the Everfree Forest. I can feel her all around her, she's even right beneath us....!" Twilight panted out.

"SOMEPONY HELP UUUUUSSSS!!!" Pinkie suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs.

Her voice emanated far, far out of the entrance of the castle, though Twilight's barrier obscured their ability to see beyond the shadows attacking them. They all began to get closer together as the space within the bubble-shaped shield began to become a premium commodity.

"Valkyre, with me!"

Aside from Twilight, they all looked around, startled by the unfamiliar voice. They all jumped when a sound akin to an explosion ended with one of the shadows bursting into flame and sizzling into a black cloud that dissipated of its own volition. They looked past them, only to see an Earth Pony charging in their direction. He had a large saddlebag on his back, both sides of it loaded to the brim with unidentified goods.

"Hey, he's got a bunch of those shield things like Strider used!"

Rainbow Dash was right: the pony approaching them had what looked like four of the same exact shields that Strider had used against the Nightmare in the fight on the outskirts of Ponyville. They watched as the massive pony jumped up and each of the four shields shifted under each of his hooves, his landing punctuated by the shields launching him into the air, flipping backwards as he soared. He was at least ten feet in the air, but he retained control over every flip and turn of his body, landing just in front of Twilight's shield, where the executed shadows were previously.

Another two guards rushed in, one wielding a massive double-ended blade in the magic emanating from her horn. The blade itself was arcing electricity, and runes rippled with an eldritch red glow. It almost seemed to bend of its own volition, but when the guard charging with it readied it to attack, it snapped into place and solidified entirely as a blade of tempered steel.

The next attack was by the older-looking pegasus guard next to the mare charging with the heavy double blade, his wings seeming as if they were on fire. With both wings fully extended, he turned to one side and lashed forward with one wing, a wave of fire emanating from it in an arc, taking out two more shadows. The other wing did the same, leaving only four of the vile creatures behind.

The Earth Pony quickly reduced that number to three. His control over what should have been classified as a defensive tool was astounding. He rushed one of them and blocked all of its attacks, finding an opening in mere seconds and forcing his way past the tendril it attempted to use to protect itself, his other hoof coming around and cleaving it in half with a sudden impulse of magic to increase the size of the shield.

The unicorn guard managed the same result with a single swipe of her massive blade, but she was clearly into overkill. She twirled and spun the blade around herself, dicing the shadow up into little pieces before it burst into black smoke like the others. Every movement and swing of her blade was a fluid, fast-paced motion, though much of it was her flourishing her attacks.

They all made short work of what remained, only to find more were on their way. They seemed undaunted forever, and Twilight legitimately believed that they had fought their way all the way to the castle. The unicorn guard's blade softened and split into two, both dual blades floating at her sides, pointed forward while she turned away from those trapped in the shield.

The older pegasus guard turned to face them, however, paying no mind to the shadows encroaching on their position.

"Elements of Harmony, we've been sent by Princess Luna to escort you out of here!" he said to them clearly and loudly.

"Who are you?!"

"I am Aolimnus Blaze, and I am Princess Luna's Wisdom and Intelligence!" the old pegasus said happily.

"You can call me Valkyre Lance! I am Princess Luna's Skill!" the unicorn chimed in.

"Aegis Bulwark. I am her Majesty's Might." the Earth Pony spoke with all the deepness and calmness of Big Mac, yet at the same time, he sounded firm and reassuring.

"You must also know Wind Strider. Though he is out of commission at the moment," Aolimnus said, turning away from them, his wings turning ablaze. "I have full confidence that he will make a full recovery and rejoin us as Princess Luna's Speed and Agility!"

"We act when she cannot," Valkyre said, grinning as one of her blades launched forward and impaled a shadow, then ripped it in half with a mighty swing up into the air. "We shall guard you with our lives until we are safely back in Ponyville!"

Twilight let out a sigh of relief, her shield falling apart around her and her head finally getting a chance to rest and recover. She laid her head down on the hard cobblestone floor and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to calm her nauseated stomach.

"Miss Sparkle, I must object to taking a nap in the middle of this forest-wide scrying spell!" Aolimnus shouted over the whistling, whipping winds all around them. "We can only remain stationary for so long, otherwise the Nightmare will unite her forces and even we won't be able to keep them away from you."

"Where did she get so many Wild Shadows from?" Twilight called out to Aolimnus.

He repeated his attack from before, except instead of waves of fire, he made one massive blast by flapping both of his wings forward in the process of lifting himself into the air. Five Wild Shadows burst into flame as the burst of fire coursed over them and the trees, illuminating the area outside of the castle's entrance. He was careful to keep the flames away from the rope bridge in the distance, Valkyre and Aegis moving forward and securing a path to it.

"Ponies 'go missing' all the time in the forests around Equestria, ma'am!" Aolimnus responded while walking around the group to stand next to Twilight's prone form. "We'll be in the same boat if we don't get moving soon."

"Yeah, let's get movin' Twilight! We gotta get back to Ponyville and make sure everypony's safe from the Nightmare, don't we?" Rainbow Dash said to her, currently in the air above the prone pony.

"Just need a moment, hang on....uuuggh," she groaned out, fluttering her eyes open. "New magic is directly linked to my body, every hit they gave my shield felt like I was....rrph!-f-felt like waves of dizziness, made me....REALLY nauseous."

"Well, I hope you'll be ready to run in five!"

"Five what?"

"Five minutes, I'm guessin' that's about how long we have 'til we start getting overrun, and I don't plan on losing Valkyre or Aegis over a little nausea," he stated, looking over the group. "Now we're gonna move at a steady, brisk pace. Stay within the circle we'll retain around all six of you, and don't break away for anything. Clear?"

They all nodded to him just before he spun around and readied his wings again. It seemed to be his preferred way of attacking the mindless husks coming after them.

"Exist!"

His wings were set ablaze once more, and with a simple flap of them, they fanned their flames over the two that had snuck up behind him. He fluttered his wings and put out what remained of the apparently harmless flames, small embers flicking up from his feathers as he settled them against his sides.

It only took a few more minutes for Twilight to steady herself, and the moment she was up and ready, they clustered close together, the Elements rushing out with Aolimnus bringing up the rear. Aegis was being assaulted by three of them, but his martial prowess allowed him to block and counter each one in rapid succession. His shields required him to be very close to the problem, but getting in that close allowed him to prove just how brutal he was in comparison.

Valkyre wasn't faring much better. She, however, had a weapon, and an entirely different way of fighting. She was standing on the rope bridge with Wild Shadows coming at her from each side of the crossing. Her blades were gone in favor of rune-covered ball bearings that she used like bullets. A secondary spell kept a steady flow of electricity flowing through each one, all eight ball bearings connected through that electrical power.

She spun them around and lashed out with them, avoiding cutting down the rope bridge and instead punching right through each one of them. Each time she did, a new connection from the ball bearings to her targets. When she had them all, she surrounded them with each of the rune-covered orbs and closed her eyes.

Her horn lit up like a beacon, and in turn the runes flared up and the electric current went haywire, each of the shadows spasming for a few brief seconds before bursting into black smoke and disappearing. The ball bearings pulled back together and melded together, the runes spreading over the metal as it coursed as if a liquid, and reformed into a single, double-ended blade that she mounted on her back, at the ready once again.

"Bridge is secure," she said just as Aegis passed by, Rarity and the others filing across quickly. "Aolimnus, we moving out?"

"Yup, form a perimeter around the Elements. You know the drill."

"We get to play some more? I kind of wish the little witch would throw something more challenging at us."

"I can help...." Twilight interrupted once they were on the other side.

Aolimnus turned his attention back to her. "How so? Princess Celestia said that you don't have any combat experience, nor any combat magic."

"I've been watching how they fight. I think I can emulate it effectively enough."

"You think, or your know?"

She stared at him for a few moments, thinking on that.

"....I'm sure of it."

"Hrm....well, we're more than capable of keeping all of you safe," he said, all of them breaking out into a full gallop. "Just focus on protecting your friends if we miss something, we'll take care of the rest!"

With that statement, outside of commands issued by Aolimnus to keep the three of them at perfect synchronization with one another, the group stayed silent. Twilight and the others were staying quiet only because they feared the possibility of interrupting them in the midst of their current task, not to mention they were all mostly focusing on their surroundings and preparing themselves to break if some of the Wild Shadows got too close to them, screw what the three guards told them!

The further they went, the more opposition they faced, but despite facing up to fifty of them, Valkyre and Aegis stood their ground, the two keeping a constant forward pace despite having to cleave their way through enemy after enemy. Valkyre was soon forced to split her blade in two once more, taking out three or four of them with every strike of either weapon.

Aegis had an entirely different strategy. His natural strength let him use his Paring Shields as battering rams, bashing straight through the opposition and slicing them in pieces after knocking them back.

Aegis and Valkyre worked together to cover one another, constantly keeping one another safe while carving a path forward. On more than one occasion, tendrils came their way, and every time Aegis jumped in the way and deflected the attack, or Valkyre reformed one blade into a large barrier that did much of the same if Aegis couldn't. They were in perfect harmony with one another, like one mind in two bodies.

This wasn't to say that Aolimnus wasn't doing a good job, he was in fact holding his own without the help of either of them. Bringing up the rear, he was keeping the ones they didn't get because they were too far away at a constant distance. His wings were spraying fire behind him, the flames licking at the trees and burning the shrubbery along with the shadows that moved fast enough to pose a threat. Fortunately, the fires went out whenever he willed them to, mercifully granting the forest a future rather than making it the next dazzling wildfire in Equestria.

Eventually, they had to stop about five hours outside of Ponyville, all of them winded and exhausted from the constant galloping pace they had kept through the night into the morning.

"Valkyre, establish a perimeter. We break in ten, no sleeping!"

"Yeah, sure thing Aolimnus."

Valkyre's horn fired up and a large, see-through white shield formed around the group, first as a single beam of dim light rising up in the air, then as a dome-shaped bubble that wrapped around them and secured them outside of the scrying spell that had been all around them the entire time they ran.

Twilight took some deep, panting breaths alongside Fluttershy and Rarity, them being the only ponies that were the non-athletic types. Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie had no problem with keeping such a pace, though even they were slightly winded, Pinkie most of all out of the three of them. All things considered, she was the most plush, but she was still particularly strong and had plenty of stamina with or without all of her sugar intake.

"Heh! An' here I thought our Twilight was the only pony that had that kinda skill!" AJ said to Valkyre, holding out a hoof. "Might know mah name already, but I'm Applejack. Valkyre, right?"

The guard grinned and embedded her blades in the ground next to herself, standing at the edge of her shield with her horn connected to the barrier by way of her magic prowess.

"Yeah, my name's Valkyre. Valkyre Lance, Trottingham-born!"

"I thought you had a Trottingham accent! They have such divine fur care products, and you carry yourself with such refinement," Rarity said, reaching up to flick her mane after catching her breath. "Perhaps you could show us what you all look like without your armor?"

Aegis silently approached all of them and removed his saddlebags along with his helmet, and Valkyre did much of the same with her helmet. Aolimnus came over to sit with them, all three of them beginning to remove their armor. Once they set their equipment aside, their fur and their manes began to change back to a more natural color for each of them, Valkyre being the first since she seemed eager to chat and get to know all of them more personally.

Her mane was the first to shift to its original color of dark blue, the filly's mane being particularly long when it wasn't being altered by the enchantments inherent to every Royal Guard's armor. Her mane hung down slightly over her right side, ending about halfway down her torso. As her fur began to shift back to its normal of gray, the marks of battle she retained began to show as well. On her face, there was a deep and surprisingly well cared-for scar running from her forehead just above her eye, all the way down over her eye and her cheek, stopping short of her jawline.

The scar that really caught Rarity's attention, however, was the one on her neck. Directly over her esophagus, there was a long horizontal scar where she'd suffered what was no doubt a very brutal and potentially deadly slashing.

"My goodness darling, what happened to your neck?!"

Valkyre blinked a few times and reached up to rub over her neck with a hoof. "Oh, this? It's nothing, just a Gryphon bandit that managed to get in my blind spot while I didn't have any back-up. I had to walk to a guard post while holding the wound closed with my magic AND carrying the bound Gryphon as well."

"Oh! My....what happened after that?" Fluttershy spoke up suddenly.

"Not much. I managed to stay calm and keep most of my blood inside and secured a path for air to get in and out, so getting slashed like that wasn't all that life-threatening. If I weren't a Unicorn, I probably wouldn't be talking to you right now."

Aegis let the lot of them talk, spending his time retrieving water and some energy bars from his saddlebags. He probably brought far more than they actually needed, but he had been told to prepare to be out for an extensive amount of time, and the Magisters wanted to test a new kind of energy bar that could actually 'recharge' a Unicorn's magic instead of a Unicorn requiring rest to recover their magical power.

He brought several bottles of water over to all of the young ladies, and offered each of them something to snack on. They all gladly accepted, though Valkyre seemed far more hungry than she was thirsty. Not a minute after she finished off one of the energy bars she'd been given, her shield and her horn both pulsed with renewed life.

"Whoa!! Hey, these things actually work! I feel awesome!" she shouted out to Aegis.

"Duly noted." Aegis said, taking out a notepad and writing something down in it before tucking it away.

Rainbow Dash looked over Aegis with a bit of surprise, AJ doing much of the same. The Earth Pony, as big and beefy as he was, had a single tattoo covering one whole side of his face, though it only showed now that he had his armor off. His mane was a rich brown color, and his fur was dark green, though he seemed to keep his mane short and out of the way.

"How 'bout you, pardner?" AJ said, patting Aegis on the shoulder. "What's with that there fancy tattoo?"

"Marking of my tribe. I was born and raised in the Zebra Nations," he said, never removing his gaze from his notepad. "I am an acting member of the Royal Phalanx, and I grew up learning ways to defend my tribe from warring neighbor tribes and distant enemies. We were a peace-loving tribe however, and our Chieftain disapproved of me turning my defensive martial form into an offensive form of combat. Thus, I was forced to leave and never come back."

"Well....what about yer family? An' all these scars?"

"Dead. My tribe was destroyed five years ago. I am one of the few surviving carriers of the bloodline. I harbor no ill will to our destroyers. They were only doing what comes naturally to creatures forced to fight for their necessities. Food, water, safety and security," he said, then he held up a foreleg. "All the scars on my body are combat injuries and training marks."

"Even with Princess Celestia's more recent changes to foreign aid policies, the Zebra Nations is still struggling to keep the tribes at peace with one another?"

"They have been fighting, warring and killing one another for decades. Them getting what they need to just survive won't stop them from wanting more so that they can live comfortably."

Aegis's stoic and nonplussed tone of voice seemed to be somewhat unnerving for everyone but the other guards and Twilight, the lavender Unicorn looking at his outlook with the same objectivity that he held towards it.

"I suppose that makes sense. Habits are a hard thing to break, especially in a society where the oldest members are the ones that make most of the big decisions. Most younger members of tribal societies wind up going to war over conflicts they have nothing to do with, in such situations."

They all jumped to attention as a loud slashing noise was heard just outside of the shield Valkyre was maintaining. The guards quickly settled down and Valkyre braced herself as another hit came in and rattled her mind. Aolimnus dove out of the shield and flew up into the air, spotting five other shadows converging on their position.

With his wings soon flapping rapid-fire, the wind began to come under his control instead of under the Nightmare's control, the maelstrom turning into an isolated whirlwind all around the barrier, the whipping and spinning winds uprooting the Wild Shadows and eviscerating them into nothingness.

Valkyre thanked him as he re-entered the bubble, the older pegasus keeping a vigilant guard to the left, right and the rear position from where they were resting at. He wasn't taking any chances with the lives of the Elements of Harmony.

"How 'bout yo-oh, wow," Rainbow Dash said, staring at Aolimnus for a few seconds. "What the heck happened to you?!"

Aolimnus had good reason for staying so on-guard. It was in his experience that when you relaxed on the battlefield, you did so at your own peril, thus he didn't look away from where they had come from, keeping an eye out for any combatants coming their way.

Just the same though, his body was riddled with the signs of combat, scars covering a good majority of his body. His biggest scars were on his face in the form of what looked like a big cat's claw marks across both of his brown eyes and his nose, as well as an almost body-length scar running from his cutie mark up his right side, stopping just short of reaching his chest. Less serious ones could hardly be noticed on his back, being 'cat-scratch' scars that covered his back almost entirely, contrasting with his rich, brown fur and his pitch-black mane.

"Lots of combat experience serving Her Majesty, Princess Celestia," he said in response to Rainbow Dash's inquiry, smiling a little. "Got into hoof-to-claw combat with some feral lions during a visit to the Zebra Nations. They almost killed me, too."

"Yikes. The worst we've dealt with is a Hydra. Well, unless you count Nightmare Moon," Rainbow said, heh'ing a little. "Guess she'd be worse than any lion."

"Depends on the situation. She's deadly when she attacks headlong or when she tries to sneak up on your or trick you. A lion's entirely different," he said, never turning away from his post. "A lion sneaks up on you, never making a single sound. When it's close enough it lunges and tries to catch you. If it does, it digs inch-long teeth into your back, then it goes for your neck while sinking claws shaped like hooks into your body to keep you in place. The only reason I survived the attack was because of my magic. I certainly couldn't get away from those claws. It was dumb luck those teeth didn't snap my spine in half."

They all stared at him, their eyes wide with surprise. Valkyre simply laughed and shook her head.

"You know how to freak out the inexperienced, Blaze."

"Heh, what can I say? Fear's a damn good motivator! Kinda like how these things'll eat ya alive if you don't just let 'em consume you after they get their tendrils wrapped around you. They stab and impale you until you can't move anymore, and then they eat you before the life leaves your body."

Twilight shuddered. "You're making that up."

Aegis walked over, stoic as ever, and gave Twilight one of the energy bars. "No he's not."

Twilight looked at Aegis nervously, then looked to the offered energy bar. He offered the others one, and only Rarity rejected the snack. They all bit into their food, the distinct flavor of strawberries, apples and several indiscernable tastes made them all smile. It was a simple pleasure, but sometimes the simple things were the things that were going to make you smile the most, given the currently dire circumstances.

"Hey, these aren't half-bad! What's in 'em? I'll bet I could make 'em into cupcakes!" Pinkie said suddenly, her cheerful demeanor a stark contrast to conditions outside of the shield.

"Tell ya in a minute, Valkyre we've got incoming!!" Aolimnus shouted over all of them, dropping to the ground and grabbing his armor.

The older pegasus' words hit the unicorn just before an explosion impacted the area of the shield that was in the direction they had just come from. Valkyre held fast, but she visibly cringed and grit her teeth, her shield's luster fading a little. Aegis rushed over to brace her when she relaxed and tried to right herself, far more dizzy than she realized. Though she was too late to catch herself, Aegis wasn't, the bulky Earth Pony catching the dwarfed Unicorn with a single foreleg, as if bracing a foal's weight.

Valkyre repaid the favor by multitasking her magic, rapidly attaching her armor around herself as well as Aegis's armor, all three of them quickly back in their enchanted gear, very close to being indistinguishable from one another within a few seconds.

"We've got something big coming up the path behind us!"

Heavy vibrations emanating through the ground in rippling waves had all of them on edge, save for Aolimnus and Aegis. Aolimnus could barely make it out, but it easily beat the height of the tallest tree in the Everfree Forest, he couldn't even make out the head of it! Aegis was simply a brick wall: if he was feeling anything, he certainly wasn't showing it. Valkyre was tense and on alert, her weapon at the ready and the shield brighter and seeming far more tangible compared to before.

Twilight and the others weren't sure what to do. The whole situation had them frazzled, they weren't trained to handle such combat scenarios. Fluttershy in particular was cowering behind Applejack, almost backed up to the very edge of Valkyre's barrier. For that matter, she was cowering behind them all, with Pinkie standing next to her to try to comfort her. Twilight looked to her friends, their insecurity evident, then to the guards that had taken up position in front of them to keep them safe.

She wasn't going to stand idle for this one.

Despite her determination, however, she needed a plan, and Aolimnus readily supplied such a necessity for her and her friends, as well as the two other guards.

"Twilight, when the shield drops, you and your friends rush to the left, off the path. Aegis, Valkyre, we break right. You can put a barrier up again, right Twilight?"

Twilight looked to her friends, then back to Aolimnus. "Yes, we'll be fine."

"Good! I'd hate to fail Luna so badly that I wind up letting the lot of you get killed," he said, chuckling a little. "Two minutes, ladies! Don't go too far."

The mass moved towards them faster and faster, the vibrations hitting all of them and causing Fluttershy to become even more scared than she already was. Rarity went over to try to help her terrified friend, though they were all trembling. Sure, they had fought against Nightmare Moon in the past, but she had never been like this!

The closer the tidal wave of darkness got to them, the more determined Twilight became, her fear becoming her motivation. She could only think of how her friends must feel, all of them being in this situation because of her own problems. Her horn began to light up as she prepared her magic, but a barrier wasn't the only thing she had in mind.

"Let's do this!" Valkyre shouted to the lot of them.

Valkyre's barrier was keeping the whistling winds of the Nightmare's influence from grating at them, and as long as they were within the shield, what they were doing or saying couldn't be heard or seen. Twilight knew that this was going to be a jarring moment, something that none of them were ready for, but it had to be done.

"Girls, no matter what, stay close to me!" she quickly said to all of them.

They could only nod, and Fluttershy, whether out of fear or out of her own determination to survive, stood up and stuck close to Rarity, the five Elements crowding around their unifying Element of Magic.

"Three. Two. One...." Aolimnus sounded off to them, the whipping winds around them drowned out by the shield surrounding them. "Break!!"

The moment the barrier dropped, it was as if all hell had broken loose around them. They only thought to stay close to Twilight, and Twilight could only think of getting out of the way before they were all crushed beneath the encroaching darkness that loomed over them.

It worked. The massive but mindless creature missing both the Elements and the guards escorting them. All three of the guards went to work attacking and attracting the massive shadow's attention, their spells tearing into it from one side, causing it to turn its back on Twilight and the others.

Twilight was the first to realize that they were still in trouble, however.

"You will never escape from me!" the Nightmare's voice shouted out to them from one side. "Even if you leave my forest, I will hunt you down and crush your very soul, sister!"

They looked all around, and on every side of them, they were surrounded by masses of Wild Shadows. They were all rushing towards the group, causing all of them to huddle together with Twilight in the middle of them all. They all put up a tough front, but it was easy to tell that they were all terrified. All of them except Twilight.

The second Twilight realized they could really die here, the second she felt like she was no longer safe, her magic went to work. Feeding off of her emotions and her panic, she felt a massive surge of energy being drawn up from within her. Her horn glowed an unholy black light, akin to the same kind of shadows the creatures around them were made of, save for the white outline that separated it from the darkness and the inky shadows around them.

"G-get down, girls!!" Twilight screamed as fast as she could.

They all looked at her with wide eyes, then hit the dirt just as all hell broke loose around them.

Chapter 13 - Burn Part 4 (OLD)

Chapter 13 - Burn (Part 4)

written by Fire Soul

All Twilight could feel was the rush of the magic coursing through her veins, far more potent than any magic she had ever used before. It was culminating into a single spot within her horn, a raging ball of energy that threatened to go out of control if she didn't do something with it. The moment her friends got out of the way, she did the only thing she could think of: she let it out.

A dark wave coursed outward from her, cascading over her friends and then her enemies. Her friends felt nothing, aside from a light tingle, whereas her opponents, the imposing shadows all around them, were too mindless to get out of the way. The wave of magic ran over them, and their bodies were cleaved in half almost all at once.

The magic wasn't done, however. As if responding to her fears as well as a need she had to protect those around her, more of the same dark magic from her horn began to spread over her body and envelop her. It felt like cold water slowly creeping over her skin, coursing through and over her coat of fur. Regardless, she felt an overwhelming sense of calm, despite knowing she should be afraid of what was happening to her.

Soon it was at her neck, and she barely noticed her friends trying to 'help' her, Rarity's magic grating at her side trying to tear the gunk off of her. If they were panicking, she wasn't surprised. They couldn't stop it however, the magic would not be impeded.

She closed her eyes just as her entire body was engulfed from the tip of her tail to the very last lock of hair on her head. First she felt a chill, then a rush of heat that cascaded over her like a wave, engulfing her face, then her neck, then her torso and finally her tail. Then everything snapped back into place.

She heard the whistling winds all around them, the wind that threatened to whisk them away if they dared to jump. Her friends had backed away from her, her new image causing terror to course through their veins.

"Twilight....?!" Fluttershy barely called out to her over the noise.

White spots appeared on Fluttershy's form, small white dots that shifted position after a few seconds to different points on her body, if they didn't disappear entirely. She looked to her friends and blinked a few times; they all had the dots. They looked like stars, blinking in and out of existence. What did they represent, what were they? She didn't have time to answer that, her friends looked genuinely afraid of her for some reason.

She quickly retrieved the mirror Rarity had brought along, reaching out with her more powerful, lengthy reach to remove it from her friend's saddlebag to take a look at herself. What she saw surprised her, she looked just like the things that had been chasing her! Rather, she moreso looked just like the Nightmare, with the pitch-black and overbearing presence and imposing, glowing yellow eyes, utterly devoid of pupils to indicate where she was looking.

Her magic seemed different however, the first big difference being the fact that all of her magic was colored a dark lavender shade as compared to the usual black they'd become accustomed to within a mere few hours.

"Girls, I'm okay! Luna gave this to me, I just don't really know how to use it!"

"Seriously?! Yer usin' magic ya don't know a bit about?!" AJ shouted at her.

They were all visibly upset at such a revelation, but Twilight wasn't going to be deterred. Unfortunately, things were happening to her that even she couldn't explain, let alone understand. Soon she felt an intense compulsion to move, one hoof moving forward, then another and another, her friends following as she broke out into a full-on gallop.

"Whoa! H-hey, what the-"

She didn't have a chance to finish her sentence before she bent her legs and jumped up into and through the air, soaring up above the treeline with a startled shriek.

"What is happeniiiiaaAAAHHH?!"

She felt like she was disconnected from everything that was happening around her, yet she could still feel the wind whipping past her as she went up, forward, and then began to fall back towards the ground once again, the fear of height combining with the terror of the impending, intense pain that would be caused by her legs shattering when she impacted with the ground. The pain never came however, even as she landed with a heavy thud. She barely felt the landing, her knees bending with it and her body striking a battle pose in front of the massive inky black creature the three escorts were fighting with.

"It's me! I swear it's me don't attah....attah-tack....whoa."

Twilight's head spun even as she felt her pulse quickening and noticed the others glaring at her incredulously. She shook her head hard and blinked a few times, adrenaline lacing into her veins and forcing a feeling of urgency upon her. Moments later, the large creature lashed out at her, making an attempt to crush her in one single motion.

Twilight proved to be too fast, her body shifting to the right and sliding across the ground rather than running. The ground cracked and caved inward beneath the creature's powerful downward swing.

She could feel her mind altering, an unknown anger welling up, all of it directing itself at the monster attacking her. The other three guards looked to one another, then quickly ran away from the fight, letting Twilight face it on her own. She looked to them running away and couldn't help but think terribly of them for running from the fight.

'What kind of bodyguards are they?!'

She couldn't help but notice the anger that was building in her wasn't her own, it was making itself too obvious, not even attempting to be subtle like the anger that built itself slowly within her before. She tried to fight it, but it had an iron grip on her, and whoever or whatever was controlling her movements had her moving with the skill of a truly adept warrior.

The monster swung in a wide arc, the loud and deafening crack of several trees being knocked down and snapped like twigs sounding off just before she jumped high in the air. Three bolts of magic missiles launched suddenly from her horn and detonated on impact with their target, creating three craters in the side of the monster's body.

They filled in quickly even as the creature took another swing at her, a second massive tendril coming out of its body and spearing straight at her. She reached in front of herself with a hoof, everything slowing down for her even as her body moved on its own. She pushed down on the very tip of the spearing tendril just before it impaled her, lifting herself up in the process.

She closed her eyes when a wave of disorientation made her stomach churn, but even now her emotions continued to go beyond anything she'd felt before. She felt rage the likes of which hadn't come over her even with the silent anger that had eaten away at her sensibilities for the past months ever since her initial outburst in Canterlot Castle! It wasn't just a rage, it was directed at the creature she was standing on top of.

It was akin to a murderous intent, the bright spots on the creature's body being targetted and fired at with powerful bolts of magic when she opened her eyes again. Now she wasn't just being forced to attack it, she wanted to attack it, to tear into it and flat-out destroy it! The need to do so drove her forward and controlled her movements, the magic shifting with her now and enhancing every single motion she made.

She ran up the creature's tendril while it was still a solid pillar jutting out of one side of it, leaping up and coming down on a bright spot atop its head. It felt impossibly good to cause a massive cracking sound with a single impact of her hoof, the monster's head caving in and the creature flailing around in pain. Its flailing threw Twilight a ways down the path they'd been traveling down, the unicorn landing hard on her back with a bone-crunching thud.

She felt the wind leave her lungs in a garbled grunt of agony, only to gasp it back in and cause even more pain to rush through her chest. She rolled over onto her belly, the pain a dull throb that went away in mere seconds compared to what she knew it should've been. Her spine should've been shattered, her head should've been cracked open! But no, she could barely feel any of it.

Now she was almost feeling an ecstasy from every hit she landed, relishing in every sign of pain the creature let out, every bellow and screech and sudden writhing from a particularly hard hit on some part of its body....but at some point, she realized that something was very, very wrong. She could feel the murderous intent she had for this monster, and despite realizing how much this disturbed her, feeling this compulsive urge, she couldn't escape how much she wanted to follow through on these vile urges!

Even though this thing would have likely killed her if she backed off, she couldn't help but both want to tear it to pieces, and also regret feeling the want, no, the need to kill it. Even as she rushed at it, bashing her way through the tendril it swung at her, only to make her own from her horn to wrap around the creature and lift its massive weight high up into the air, she couldn't help but laugh, astounded at the kind of power she had.

"This is-hah!-this is absolutely amazing!"

Twilight's cries of amazement accompanied a bone-rattling quake that emanated all through their area of the Everfree Forest as she slammed the giant monster back onto the ground as hard as she could, the vibrations sending a violent thrill up and down every fiber of her being. She did it again and again, her laughter and the intense thrill she was deriving from every pained howl she heard becoming louder and louder until her laughter was raucous and terrifying for her friends, far behind her.

"I can't believe this! I have to remember to thank Luna next time I see her, wow!!" she shouted.

She whipped her head to one side after lifting the dazed and stunned monster into the air again, making a circular motion back, then to her right, and around her front and to her left again, the tendril she had wrapped around it following her motions as she willed them. She spun the monster faster and faster up in the air, then after she'd reached an almost blinding speed she let go, and the creature was sent flying through the air and towards the middle of the Everfree Forest where it had come from.

Her friends stood next to the guards, all of them watching in astonishment as Twilight made easy work of such a massive creature.

Twilight trotted over to her friends with all the giddiness of a young schoolfilly that just found out the most popular colt in school has a crush on her, all smiles despite what should've been a massive draw of magic from her.

"Did you all see that?! Oh wow, I just threw it and it went flying and it felt like absolutely nothing! I mean wow, if this is because of what Luna did it needs to happen more-no wait that'd be all kinds of awkward," she said rapidly, her eyes wild and even manic. "Oh no, what if things stay awkward forever?! She might hate me! This'll drive me nuts, what if this magic is too much for me and I do something-"

She continued on and on, rambling away about all manner of things. By the time she finished, she had curled up into a ball on the ground, hugging her tail, petting it as if it were some kind of cat that could soothe her nerves.

"This is bad. Something's wrong I'm not normally like this my heart is racing as fast as my thoughts I feel like I'm overloading or something-"

Once again, her rambling continued, and the guards rushed over to her. They had been warned, and Valkyre had come prepared. The tip of her horn lit up with a bright light, and she touched it to the side of Twilight's head.

"Shh....sleep, young filly...."

Valkyre's words weren't as necessary as some would likely think, but regardless, the Sleep spell did its job and, with Twilight taken by surprise, she hadn't prepared her currently manic mind from resisting it.

Her words slowed and her eyes rapidly closed, her body swaying as if utterly inebriated until she was out cold on the dirt path. Just as she'd fallen asleep and been hoisted up onto Aegis's back, a loud and terrifying roar came out of the forest on every side of them except in the direction they were headed.

Wasting no more time, they all silently continued at a full gallop now, the edge of the forest barely in sight through the inky darkness that seemed to be enveloping every inch of the Everfree.

Aolimnus took point as he usually did on such an important mission, his wings flexed outward, but bent at the joint between the primary and secondary bones. Fast, rapid swings of his wings caused the flames surrounding them to lash out like blades of fire, carving death into the shadows that came at them from the sides, a few making it to the path before being cut down and dissipated into nothingness.

Valkyre brought up the rear while keeping the Element Bearers and Aegis between herself and Aolimnus. Her shapeshifting metal took the shape of three blades without any sort of mouth-grip or grip in general to be used. They were constantly spinning like buzzsaws, their enchantment making them especially effective against the Nightmare's shadows that assaulted them on all sides when they could reach her.

She kept those weapons behind herself and on her left and right side, each spinning blade lashing out and carving a path through any monster stupid enough to move within her extensive reach.

"How much farther?!" she shouted behind them all.

"I can see Ponyville at the end of the path, just a little longer!"

Aolimnus took a quick look back at everyone, making a quick headcount to assure himself that, at this point in their mission, everypony was still accounted for, especially the unconscious and helpless Twilight Sparkle.

The Element Bearers seemed to be going strong still, so did Valkyre and Aegis. Fine by him, no heavy or labored breathing, nothing beyond a few scrapes and scratches from the earlier encounter with that huge behemoth before Twilight interfered with remarkable skill, she definitely didn't seem like the kind of pony that'd have it in her to fight with that kind of agility! Still he wasn't complaining.

He looked ahead just as the sound of Valkyre's blades slicing through the viscous, goo-like body of yet another shadow sounded off, its pained ethereal wail sounding off as its liquefied body faded into black smoke and disappeared upon being dispatched. What he saw brought a bright smile to his face.

That smile faded when he looked back, only to see the forest disappearing behind them. It wasn't like the sight of the sun disappearing beyond the horizon and masking the land in the darkness of nighttime. No, this was like an absolute absence of light, as if the darkness that was a living thing already attacking them had suddenly decided to stop playing around, instead consuming the forest in hopes of catching them as well.

He tore his gaze away from the encroaching black wall mere feet behind Valkyre, the unicorn looking back as well, then looking forward with no small amount of worry evident in her eyes.

"The Princesses are waiting for us! Ten seconds, come on, put your all into it!!"

Every single pony there seemed to be affected in the same fashion upon hearing that, their hooves bashing at the dirt road, sounding like a thunder moving through the forest as they all dug their hooves in with each step and threw themselves forward with all the strength they could muster in their four legs.

Pitch-black darkness seemed to be forming all around them as they neared the edge of the forest.

Five seconds.

Valkyre could hear voices behind her. They were urging her to join them. Some were begging for somepony to end their suffering. She ran harder, her blades hovering closer to her, directly over her back.

Two seconds.

Celestia and Luna stood there, Luna stepping back, her eyes wide with terror as the dark wall consuming the forest in its horrifying fury came towards them, just beyond the forest's edge. Celestia screamed for them to hurry along with the very large contingent of Day and Night Guards, yet none of them moved a step further beyond the invisible line Celestia seemed to stand firm at.

One second.

The shadows loomed over them, the visages of ponies reaching out from the wall of darkness, their hooves scraping at the armor covering Valkyre's back, the terrified unicorn slicing their legs off with her blades while continuing to charge forward.

Mere hoof-lengths from Celestia and the very edge of the forest, she could feel her hooves leaving the ground, some unseen force making a wild grab at her. She tried to use her magic to fight it off, but it was a futile effort.

Thankfully, Celestia came to her aid, with the rest of her group already having run past the Princess. With Luna trying her best to appear steadfast like her sister, Valkyre felt Celestia's magic all around her, snuffing out the cold, foreboding grasp that had been on her mere microseconds before. Her inertia aided in Celestia's magic wrenching her out of that invisible, dark grasp and launching her through the air, past Celestia and beyond in a wild tumble in mid-air.

She braced herself, ready to receive a few bad bumps, bruises and scrapes upon hitting the ground, but instead she was surprised to feel large, powerful legs engulfing her and the sound of metal clanging against metal.

Aegis had made the save at the cost of dropping Twilight unceremoniously to the ground just before catching her The large and powerful earth pony reared up on his hindlegs to reach out and catch her as if she were an oversized hoofball.

Valkyre gasped and clenched her teeth to resist the very, very strong temptation to cry out in pain the moment Aegis set her down on her hooves once more, the shaken mare lifting her left hindleg up off the ground while hopping up and down on her one good hindleg a couple times.

"RRNHbuckin' hell....!"

Her words left her through clenched teeth, grinding those pearly whites together while Aegis stepped around to her left side, sitting down and examining her hoof, giving it all of his attention despite the loud roars of anger that were echoing through the air to his right.

There, just at the back edge of her hoof, was a large black mark, looking like a blackened burn that was slowly spreading over her hoof from that singular spot. As it spread further, Valkyre seemed to be in more and more pain. She did manage to spot the wound, however, and Aegis made sure to tell her about it too.

"Needs purification, hoof's tainted."

Aegis whistled to a Night Guard nearby, the unicorn rushing over to them. He worked quick, his magic reaching out to the taint and slowly wiping it away, the pain just as slowly dulling the more the taint was eaten away at until it was completely gone.

When the taint was gone, only the edge of Valkyre's hoof had a blistered burning look to it. She still couldn't stand on it all that well, but the pain was at least tolerable for her.

She quickly thanked the unicorn, the stallion nodding to her in silence and walking away, back in formation with the rest of his squad.

Aegis smiled ever-so-slightly as she turned her attention to him, the younger mare smiling brightly.

"Thanks for catching me, stud! Always such a gentlecolt, you are...."

The big earth pony just rolled his eyes with a light blush staining his cheeks, the pair turning their attention to the Princesses just like most everypony else around them.

Luna was doing her best to stand tall like Celestia, but every fiber of her being was trembling. Perhaps her sister couldn't feel it, but she was one with the Void. The fact that the wall of darkness was a pure, raw mass of Void Magic terrified her. It was a clear demonstration of the kind of mastery her daughter had managed to attain over such a massive source of magical power.

It wouldn't have scared her as much if it weren't for the fact that her daughter had managed to gain power far beyond her own prowess.

"How dare you! Give my sister back!"

Celestia simply glared at the wall of darkness, the massive multitude of eyes all trained on her while a massive number of tendrils lashed out from the dark mass before the Princesses and all of the guards that held the line alongside both of them.

However, that line was as far as those tendrils got, the razor-sharp appendages being knocked away by an invisible barrier that refused to fall under such pressure. Again and again the Nightmare lashed out at it, her roars of frustration and fury sounding off as she unloaded on the shield that had been erected.

Her efforts were in vain, however. No matter how hard she tried, no matter how angry she became, her very impressive show of Void Magic couldn't penetrate the invisible shield. The sound of ethereal metal slashing at an arcane barrier sounded off again and again, accompanied by a crescendo of almost deafening, intense screams and roars from thousands upon thousands of different voices; the eyes in the darkness weren't just for show.

All of the glowing eyes turned their gaze on Celestia, like a gigantic jury, casting judgement upon her. She only glared at them in turn, standing tall and proud despite her horribly trembling sister that had moved back a little in the presence of such a multitude of piercing gazes.

"Give her back to me, Celestia! You have no right, she deserves to know, she deserves to DIE!!"

"You have no right to that decision! But I assure you, she will know. She will know all about you, how far you've fallen, and the taint you've left on the very existence of Equestria!"

The Nightmare took form from the massive black wall, the front half of her body appearing from the middle of the barrier. It stretched out and moved up to the barrier, its nose inches from Celestia's, the shield the only thing between them.

They stared one another down, the Nightmare sneering at Celestia after a few seconds ticked by in eerie silence.

"Leave it to a politician to only talk about her own side of the story....! Very well, if this is how you wish to play...."

Celestia blinked when the Nightmare shifted her gaze away, finally taking notice of the dark-furred pony off to Celestia's left, trying to make herself smaller and smaller while still appearing as confident as she could manage.

She was failing horribly. Even worse, a crowd of ponies that weren't the Royal Guard or the Night Guard had gathered and were watching, and whispers were welling up that Luna couldn't quite make out, but out of the corner of her eye she could see a lot of them looking directly at her.

"Oh, does our presence scare you, Princess Luna?"

She spat the words out at Luna, her voice filled with the vitriol that both Princesses and their guards had come to expect. The sudden shock of her own name made her jump a little, a very brief and nearly silent gasp leaving her as the Nightmare's hooves slammed against the barrier, her face pressing against it, her gaze locked on the trembling Princess.

She struggled to avoid eye contact with her, looking anywhere but her face, but her lack of a solid, physical body let her move every which way she wanted. Her head shifted this way and that in almost impossible ways, repeatedly locking her gaze with Luna's until the Princess couldn't handle the fear her eyes imbued in their victims.

A fearful whimper welled up in her throat and she stumbled back onto her rump, her eyes clenched shut and her head hung in shame.

"I-I'm sor-"

"SHUT UP, you little whore!"

The roar of the Nightmare's voice made her shrink back, but she soon wasn't alone against her own daughter's verbal assault. Aolimnus moved in front of her, while Aegis and Valkyre moved to stand at both of her sides.

"Night Guard, stand as one!"

The sudden shock of Aolimnus's commanding tone reminded her of somepony, in particular it reminded her of Strider's usual bravado. To say the least, it surprised her to find the older and more serious of her personal guard breaking rank.

Her eyes shot open the moment he finished calling out his command, the Princess of the Night looking from him to the two to each side of her, a feeling of warmth filling her as she was braced on each side by them and eased to her hooves once more.

It shocked her to her very core when the Night Guard took up a line in front of her, then creating a uniform line behind that one, then another and another until she was completely surrounded on all sides, front and back included.

Their armor rang out as they all stood at attention as one entity, their voices ringing out as Aolimnus's wings extended along with one of his forehooves being thrust up into the air.

"We stand as one unit, one entity, one family! We guard the helpless as the sentries of the night. For the glory of Princess Luna! For the glory of Equestria!"

Aolimnus didn't notice the smile that had appeared on Luna's lips, his attention instead had turned to Princess Celestia.

The pastel-maned alicorn listened to the words the Night Guard so proudly spoke very carefully, and almost immediately caught on. She knew what he was doing. She wasted no time in mimicking his motions. The very same motions made by the commanding officer at the end of a group's time in training, ordering them to speak their pledge as one voice.

Her voice rang out with all the conviction that every guardspony and citizen of Equestria could expect from her, eyes filled with fire as the order poured forth from her heightened voice.

"Sun Guard, stand as one with your brothers-in-arms!"

Now that was a name she hadn't used in ages to refer to the Royal Guard. A thousand years, to be more exact. When Nightmare Moon had been banished and the small civil war between the Night Guard that stood beside Nightmare Moon and the Sun Guard that remained loyal to Celestia, she had disbanded the Night Guard and allowed those that wished to remain members of the Royal Guard to join her side. When all was said and done, her Sun Guard had become the new, all-encompassing Royal Guard.

Perhaps it was time to bring that name back to define her own section of the Royal Guard. She doubted that Luna would object, after this show of military might and loyalty.

"We stand as one unit, one entity, one family! We embrace the light and secure peace for the righteous, and we crush the wicked. For the glory of Princess Celestia! For the glory of Equestria!"

Once they had finished speaking, both Celestia and Luna, having recovered from her moment of weakness thanks to her loyal guards, both spoke in unison.

"Thus, the Royal Guard has|hath spoken!"

Luna fell silent, letting Celestia continue from there.

A few tears ran down her cheeks as she closed her eyes and just smiled, feeling the warmth of her personal guard's presence very close to her. They had saved her in that single moment of weakness. She was so close....so close to simply breaking down and begging for her forgiveness for what had happened due to her negligence.

How had she not seen it? Why had it happened? If she had simply trusted her daughter, or taken her to the moon to test her magical skills....but no, she was so interested in evolving Equestria's scientific and magical studies, she simply couldn't resist the urge to practice cloning by way of a mix of magic and scientific genetic manipulation.

She opened her eyes and gazed at her daughter, the Nightmare now focused on Celestia, who had stepped between Aolimnus and the dark creature trying to stare the steely-eyed pegasus down, her own gaze stern and unwavering.

Luna could only cry on the inside, an unstoppable, growing wave of despair inside of her making her feel sick to her stomach.

"You may not wish to believe it Nightmare, but we weep for you. I for one can't fathom the hate that you feel for us. For me. For my sister," she said, her head hung low. "I don't claim to know what happened to you....but I will say that I am truly sorry that it has hurt you so."

The Nightmare laughed, quietly at first, but slowly her echoing voice rivaled the Royal Canterlot Voice, her head thrown back while her disfigured, dark body slowly shifted back into a more normal shape. She just kept on laughing, her roaring glee causing many of the crowd behind the Royal Guard to tremble. She sounded so happy, yet at the same time, so very, very vindictive.

"Are you actually asking me for forgiveness?!"

Celestia kept her gaze locked on the Nightmare's, a deep breath drawn in before she continued. Her tone was unwavering even as she prepared to speak words that were very harsh, especially for her. She knew, however, that this was no time for showing Nightmare any kindness. This confrontation needed to end, now.

"No. I would never ask for your forgiveness for anything. On the contrary, all efforts will be made to put a stop to you, starting with denying you access to every single town, village, city and castle in Equestria!"

The Nightmare giggled wickedly and pouted out her lower lip at the Sun Goddess.

"Aww, but whyyyy? I promise not to kill too many more ponies in the process of building an army that can completely destroy everything you hold dear!" she cooed out to Celestia. "Then again, I would never forgive you for what you did to me, and I will never forgive that little whore over there-" she said, glaring over at Luna for a moment before returning her gaze to Celestia once more. "-for what she allowed those bastards to do to me, so why should I ever expect either of you to forgive me for causing your precious ponies harm?!"

Her tone was innocent and mocking at first, but by the time she was done speaking, her toothy grin flashed her razor-sharp, rotten teeth at the Goddess standing in front of her. Her words were venomous and filled with spite and hate, the Nightmare's gaze easily getting across her intent: she wanted to make them both hurt deep down as much as she possibly could.

Celestia's left eye twitched, her anger barely restrained enough to only be a powder keg.

"You should forgive us because you were one of my little ponies, and all of my subjects are like family to me! Not to mention that everything we did was for your benefit and to be sure that all of our subjects were safe just as much as we wished for you to be safe!"

Celestia could only frown and shake her head, the sadness on her face apparent as the Nightmare's gaze narrowed and she inched her face closer to the shield, wanting to hear Celestia clearly.

The Sun Goddess opened her eyes, a reinvigorated fire in them. Her anger had doubled as she thought of all the things the Nightmare had done.

She contemplated on the ponies whose families had suddenly been torn apart by the disappearance of a Father or Mother, a young filly or colt disappearing after wandering off with their friends during a game of Hide and Seek....every muscle in her body was trembling with the urge to unleash all of her wrath on the Nightmare that very moment.

She settled for lashing out at her in the same way she seemed to be tearing into Luna.

"However, we could never be related to anypony that could hate as you do. You are no family of ours," she hissed through clenched teeth. "Rather, an old saying comes to mind when I look upon you. A rabid dog is worthy of two things: pity, and a swift death."

The Nightmare glowered at Celestia, a threatening silence welling up between them. To the untrained eye, the Nightmare looked as if it wished to kill them right then and there. When she gazed in Luna's direction only to find that the darker alicorn was looking away from her, head hung low with an expression that made the word 'shame' come to the Nightmare's mind, a hint of something else entirely became all too evident to Celestia in the dark creature's eyes.

She saw pain. Genuine, deep emotional pain.

The Nightmare tensed up, her fury faltering for a few short seconds in favor of making the emotional pain she felt more obvious to the more astute ponies that had the guts to look at the Nightmare's face.

This didn't last, however. The dark faux-pony reared back, teeth gritted together while her forehooves slammed against the shield, the sound of a solid object crashing into an ethereal one echoing throughout the area. She roared a bone-chilling, blood-curdling roar that sounded half like a scream, and half like a scream from a beast of Tartarus itself.

Twilight awoke with a start, gasping and shifting her blurry gaze this way and that. The last thing she remembered was being confused by a flurry of emotions, then....well, nothingness. She started talking to somepony, but then she fell asleep?

Her attention didn't stay on herself for long. She looked to the source of all the screaming and saw a massive sheet of black, with a familiar dark alicorn coming out of the middle of it, or relatively close to the middle.

Her gaze turned around behind her, staring at her friends, who just stood there wide-eyed and utterly unsure of what they should do in this sort of situation.

By the time they had gotten past the barrier, Rarity and Fluttershy were exhausted, and Twilight had been out cold. Without the egghead of the group to really try to rally them, they deferred to Celestia's wisdom and power in this situation. They were used to using the Elements of Harmony to one-shot big bad villains of absolute evil and discord, and even then....

Well, Discord and Nightmare Moon had never made attempts on their lives, not out-right, anyways. Nor were they as legitimately terrifying as the Nightmare.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight shouted while stumbling to her hooves.

Applejack stepped over to her and placed her side against her friend's, bracing the bookworm's weight.

"Whoa there Twi! Now, just calm down, sugarcube....!"

The lavender unicorn felt like her eyes were rolling around in her head, the world still appearing to be blurry and shaky to her. She didn't feel like she was swaying around that much, but judging by how firmly Applejack was holding on to her, she was clearly contributing to how much the world was spinning.

"Buh-but....Princess is bein' 'tacked....!" she whined woozily.

She couldn't keep her gaze locked on her idol, the mare she looked up to, but what she could see told her that she was only mere inches from the dark monstrosity that had chased them through the forest.

"Twi, th' Princesses have everythin' under control. Now ah dunno what happened to ya in that there forest, but after ya wrecked that big monster thing, ya really started losin' it. That was when that Valkyre guardspony knocked ya out with a spell," she explained, patting Twilight on the back of her withers. "Now jus' take a seat an' rest yer head, yer really swayin' about, an' it's got me worried 'bout'cha, sugarcube."

Even in her dazed state, Twilight could sense Applejack's very stern gaze looking at her, practically screaming 'do as I say or I'll make ya'. She had no intention of disobeying, though this was mostly because they had been talking for around a minute and there had only been silence outside of their little conversation.

In the meantime, Celestia and the Nightmare had stared each other down, neither pony wavering in their gaze, but they were both clearly very, very upset. It couldn't be seen by anypony else, but with such close proximity, Celestia could see the tears trickling down from the Nightmare's eyes.

That threw her a little. Why would the Nightmare be crying? Her eyes narrowed to slits, unwilling to show any kind of weakness, unwilling to even think of asking her the reason behind her tears. She had her very educated assumptions, after all. Perhaps the immature alicorn did still care, perhaps such a harsh statement really did bother her.

Whatever the reason(s) behind it, the Nightmare grimly backed away from Celestia, her eyes wandering to her Mother for a brief moment, as if she were hoping that the Night Princess would meet her gaze. Luna, out of fear, still refused to look her own daughter in the eye.

The Nightmare took in a shaky breath and spread her wings, flapping them twice, the feathers aligning enough for her to be comfortable once more.

"I will find a way in, Celestia," she sneered, the words filled with hate. "When I do, you will hear naught but your precious little ponies screaming for you to help them, and the moment you do, I will strike. I will strike again and again, and I will break you. I will break ALL of you!"

She finalized her statement by sweeping a pointing hoof over the entire crowd of Royal Guardsponies before her and the crowd of fearful civilians behind them. A couple of young foals could be heard crying in their parent's hooves, all of the young ponies visibly shaken by the terrible creature threatening all of them.

"See you soon, dear Princesses.....!"

The Nightmare's tone was acidic and filled with hatred as her body sunk backwards into the wall of darkness once more. The dark wall itself shuddered and the numerous eyes glowing within it faded away, the darkness turning moreso into a liquid and splashing down against the ground and rushing out against the barrier like a small tidal wave.

When all was said and done, the water-like darkness bubbled and sank into the ground, disappearing as quickly as it seemed to be able to conjure itself up. This did not set Celestia at ease though. Instead, she stood stalwart along with the rest of her guard, the entirety of Ponyville utterly silent after that little incident, nopony being willing to do so much as take a single step until they were assured that it would not invoke the monster's wrath or break some unwritten rule of such a situation.

Silent seconds ticked by. Five. Ten. When some ponies began to shift, uncomfortable with the silence, Princess Celestia let out a deep breath and turned to face her subjects, her voice soft and gentle despite currently being as powerful as the Royal Canterlot Voice.

"EVERYPONY, CONTINUE THE EVACUATION."

The crowd of ponies didn't need to be told twice. Both the Royal Guard and the civilians quickly broke away, every guard pairing up with one or two other ponies, assuming them together, offering the same assistance they had been up to much earlier, before they had to prepare for a potential assault on Ponyville.

When everyone was off, busy packing and being loaded up into the nearby airships, the area near the Everfree Forest was deathly quiet. While the others remained crowded around Twilight to try to help her through the rather lengthy bout of dizziness and tiredness she was experiencing at the moment.

It was an odd sensation, similar to magic fatigue. She felt tired and exhausted, but at the same time, there were moments where she managed to focus enough to the point that she felt completely awake and fine, only to suddenly experience vertigo all over again the moment her concentration wavered from trying to put one hoof in front of the other.

Fluttershy was the first to leave Twilight's side oddly enough, the Element-bearers having noticed a mention of an evacuation.

She rushed over to Celestia's side as well as Luna's, the two royal mares clearly distraught, if Luna's tears were any evidence to this fact. Aegis, Valkyre and Aolimnus were standing on the other side of Luna, while Celestia was tended to by her own personal guards. Shining Armor was distinctly missing from the roster however, having been sent to assist in keeping the civilians calm and collected while making their ways home, and then onto the airships with their most valued belongings.

"W-we must thank each of thee, for th-thy loyalty in such a dangerous moment," she said, letting out a shaky breath. A moment passed before she spoke up again, looking directly at Aolimnus. "Thy quick thinking allowed us to save face. That means more than thou can imagine."

He nodded his head solemnly, a faint smile on his lips.

"When I saw the look on your face, I was reminded of how upset it would've made Wind Strider. Then I realized what he would have done, and decided to go through with it," he said, chuckling quietly. "Feels a bit less energetic without him here."

"Hah, yeah! He's ridiculously dedicated, isn't he?" Valkyre chimed in. "So cute~!"

Luna could only giggle weakly at that. It was all too true, given how many times Strider had put his reputation and even his job on the line in favor of 'helping' her.

"Indeed, even going so far as to purposely weaken himself to lure the Nightmare out. Truly half-zebra." Aegis said, which was far more than most ever expect him to say.

"Tha's right! Can't tell if it was foolish or a feat o' strong self-control."

Luna sighed and nodded her head slowly. "Yes. I will be returning his strength to him when he has adequately recovered from his injuries. To do so now would be very unwise."

"Um, e-excuse me...."

Luna turned her head, an almost inaudible voice coming to her attention. Most would never have noticed such a near-silent tone, but Luna's hearing was better than most. She noticed the quiet and patient little pegasus before her guards did.

The three guards turned their attention to the timid canary yellow pegasus they'd been escorting minutes earlier along with the rest, Fluttershy's posture one of fear and apprehension, they noticed, when they all, including Luna, turned their gaze upon her. Only Luna broke the silence.

"Yes, young Element Bearer? What may we do for thee?"

Fluttershy eep'ed and ducked back at Luna's slightly elevated tone of voice. Though she didn't know it, she should have been thankful that Strider was so dutiful towards assisting Luna in whatever way he could, along with the three around her at the moment as well: they had worked the Royal Canterlot Voice out of her system, and boldly corrected her every single time she used it when an arrogant noble or ridiculous petitioner at Night Court asked for something deceitful or blatantly selfish or harmful to ponies 'of lesser stature'. The end result was a much more approachable Night Princess.

Of course, their hearing had paid the price for quite a while, but what could you do?

The timid pegasus took a moment in silence, Luna's expectant eyes gazing upon her casually, almost relaxed even despite what had just happened. Fluttershy slowly worked herself up to her hooves again, one foreleg nervously rubbing at the other while her gaze faltered and fell towards the ground.

"Well I-I was just wondering, if um....well, that is, if you don't mind...."

"Yes? Please, thou must speak up, we cannot quite hear thee."

"Well what I mean to say is, um....would the animals be...."

Once again, Fluttershy's voice trailed off into nothingness, or rather, it became so inaudible that it may as well have been nothingness. Luna's hearing was good but not that good!

She cleared her throat and took a tentative step forward, causing Fluttershy to squeak and lower down a little, as if she was afraid. The reaction made Luna frown, the Night Princess drawing the wrong conclusion from her reaction. She said nothing in regards to it, however.

"We are sorry, but we cannot hear thee. What art thou trying to say, timid one?"

"Wh-what will happen to all of my little animals?! Can I bring them with us on the airships?" Fluttershy said as quickly as she could, looking away from the Princess again.

"I have already looked into tending to that issue, my little pony, among many others."

The sudden chime of Celestia's voice, surprisingly enough, soothed Fluttershy rather than sending her into a shivering fit from the surprise of it all.

The regal mare had been busy issuing orders to the messengers and higher-ranking Lieutenants and squad leaders of the pegasi Sun Guards. The moment she found herself left alone, however, she quickly turned her attention to her sister and the Elements of Harmony, all of which save for Fluttershy seemed busy trying to assist Twilight in walking. They were failing miserably.

Celestia returned her gaze to a very hopeful little pegasus standing before both her and Luna now, smiling in kind to Celestia's almost constant mask of serenity that Luna seemed partially capable of mimicking at the moment.

"S-so, then, I get to take all of my little animals with me?"

"But of course! My sister and I would never consider leaving thy little friends to fend for themselves. Such a thing is necessary within the Everfree Forest, not within our lands!"

Celestia very quietly giggled, as if such a notion were simply silly to suggest in front of her. Truthfully, it was: she cared for all of her subjects, from the most misguided pony to the smallest bug.

"We have added some expansions to the Royal Gardens, Fluttershy," Celestia said, smiling even brighter. "We knew something like this would happen from the moment the Nightmare awoke. There is more than enough space for your entire animal care facility, which is exactly what has been set up in the Royal Gardens! I'm sure many of the animals already there will appreciate your therapeutic touch."

Fluttershy's eyes lit up with excitement. "R-really?! Oh my, that's just....!" she stuttered, fluttering up a few feet off of the ground, grinning wide. "I-I just don't know what to say!"

"It is no trouble at all, dear Fluttershy. It was a planned expansion that we decided to put priority upon, for thy arrival."

She looked to Luna and nodded for a moment, silence reigning once more....until Fluttershy suddenly perked up, the smile disappearing from her face. "O-oh my, I better go and start packing! I have so many little animals and critters to guide to the airships! Oh dear, so much to do, I hope Mr. Bear won't make too much of a fuss, he's so stubborn about not leaving his home this time of year because it's close to his hibernation time, and-and-"

Celestia had stepped forward while Fluttershy was turning away to head off to her home, a hoof being placed on the smaller pony's withers. Fluttershy almost instantly snapped her wings against her back, the unpredicted touch startling her as it usually would. Celestia couldn't help but giggle a little at the reaction, it was rather funny.

"Do not worry my little pony. Several of the royal animal caretakers are here, and have been sent to your home to help gather up the animals. You don't have to worry."

Fluttershy gasped and leapt into the air, a reaction very uncharacteristic of her. Of course, no one had ever tried to interact with her animals en-masse without her around before, either.

"Nonono that's not good! I take care of lots of trauma cases! A lot of the animals that stay with me are cases of neglect and abuse, they're very distrusting of any ponies that I don't know personally! Oh, this is bad, very very bad, um, I have to go! Ohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodness....!"

With Rainbow Dash bracing Twilight and helping her move one hoof carefully after the other, the lavender pony had her eyes closed and entirely relied upon her friend to guide her to where Fluttershy was just moments ago. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were walking ahead of the others, and Rarity had overhear most of what was being spoken of between the Princesses and Fluttershy, and her own concerns were coming to the forefront of her thoughts.

After they all were standing there in front of Luna and Celestia, they all bowed save for Twilight, who knew that if she even dared to try to bow, she'd wind up launching herself face-first into the ground, and then upon trying to stand up, she'd likely wind up somersaulting forward and bowling into one or both of the Princesses.

Instead, Twilight carefully took a few steps forward, only to sway and hold a hoof to the side of her head, clenching her eyes shut. Luna knew exactly what she was going through, the Night Princess swiftly darting forward and placing her forehooves on Twilight's withers, standing directly in front of her.

The Princess's firm grip made Twilight flutter her eyes open and gaze into Luna's in the process. The memories hit her harshly and suddenly, like a sack of bricks to the crotch. In particular, memories involving her horn touching Luna's. Intentionally.

Twilight blanched and cringed as that singular memory took the stage in her head. She couldn't help her face turning as red as Applejack's namesake, reflexively leaning her head away from Luna's.

Luna looked at Twilight quizzically, until it suddenly clicked in her mind as well. She calmly cleared her throat, hoping to steer the conversation in an entirely different direction than the one Twilight would inevitably go for, if she were given the chance. Luna placed a hoof on Twilight's shoulder, looking the young mare in the eyes.

"We have a lot to discuss Twilight, but such matters are things that thy friends should not have to bear the weight of. We shall speak in Canterlot. All shall be explained there."

"Uh, whuh-why-" Twilight stuttered, trying to collect herself as best she could.

Luna sighed and reached out with a hoof, a small current of dark energy, similar to the Nightmare's but with a kind of glimmer, like small stars flickering from within it. It jumped from her hoof to Twilight's horn with a jolt, and Twilight jumped with a startled squeak.

Twilight blinked a few times, an almost instantaneous change occurring within her mind, her vision and her equilibrium returning to normal in a matter of seconds. That change alone almost made her feel dizzy as well, but it was like the dizziness was forced out of her mind all at once rather than it taking to the forefront and twisting her vision around.

"W-what did you just do?"

Twilight stood up straighter and looked to her two friends, both Applejack and Rarity stepping away from her with small looks of concern. Ultimately though, they let her be.

She looked to her friends, all of them lingering around her, save for Fluttershy. Twilight smiled at them all to give them more reassurance.

"Don't worry girls, I'm alright now. I just felt so exhausted before, I think I overdid it in the forest. It felt like I had so much power, I thought I had plenty of magic to burn. Plus I felt so strong and irrational, like I could do anything...."

"'Tis the nature of thy new reservoir of magic."

They all turned around when Luna's voice sounded off, drawing their rapt attention even as Celestia stepped up behind her, moving to stand next to Luna on her right side.

"Indeed. You have an immense level of control over magic, my student. We both have no doubt that you feel that way because you are naturally gifted."

"Not ta' mention yer the Element of Magic!"

They shifted their attention to Applejack, who just shrugged.

"Just sayin', it makes the most sense, don't it?"

She steps forward, looking to both of the Princesses with a concerned frown.

"Not to sound ungrateful or nothin' Princesses, but....with us all basically abandonin' Ponyville, what's gonna happen to Sweet Apple Acres? How will the Apple Family make their money?"

Celestia could only smile at the inquiry, whereas the others stepped forward with similar concerns.

"Yeah, what about Mr. and Mrs. Cake's bakery?"

"Not to mention my boutique! I couldn't possibly leave any of my designs here, everything in that store is my life's work!"

Celestia quickly held up a hoof, her serene smile quickly taking its rightful place on her muzzle, giving her the usual radiance that had mares and stallions alike bending at the knee for her, usually for more than one reason, though nopony would say so.

"Please, you will not have to give up anything, my little ponies! Rarity," Celestia said, nodding to the fashionista. "I have had a second studio crafted for you, courtesy of my personal dressmakers. You will have everything you need to continue practicing your craft in your free time. As an unintentional bonus, Hoity Toity and a good friend of Luna and I wish to speak with you. Working out of the castle is something worthy of gossip amongst the Canterlot elite, after all. Perhaps you have heard of a stallion named Fancy Pants?"

Rarity's mouth went agape and stayed that way, the pupils of her eyes mere pinpricks for the moment. She finally spoke up after Applejack waved a foreleg up and down in front of her face, in some small attempt to snap the white-furred mare out of it.

"He....how does he know my name?!?!"

"Oh, you would be surprised! Actually, he didn't know until Hoity Toity told him, though Hoity Toity wouldn't have known if he didn't regularly work with my dressmakers. He remembered you from the fashion show you put on a year or so ago," Celestia said, a sudden knowing smirk altering that otherwise soothing smile. "The good one and the bad one."

Rarity was practically trembling before all of them. Every inch of her body was vibrating with restrained joy, the classy mare utterly dumbstruck from this sudden news. She turned away from the Princesses and began walking in the general direction of Carousel Boutique, though she swayed this way and that as she went, and her body tipped this way and that, like a ship in a stormy sea.

"I will talk to you on the ship, girls. Have to go do the thing, at my place-packing, yes, ha ha, that's it, lots of packing....!!"

Luna looked to Aegis and motioned him over.

"Sir Bulwark, please go and assist miss Rarity with her things. She no doubt has quite a bit to carry. Gather some other guards to assist, if you must. Try to get it all done in a single trip."

Celestia turned her gaze to Applejack next. She knew what was going through their minds, and it was all too true: she could not just give them a second apple orchard to work at, such a thing would be impossible by constraints of time and the natural flow of nature. She couldn't make even a single acre of apple trees spontaneously grow, let alone the massive amount Sweet Apple Acres has. Not to mention all the other crops they grow and ship out that they're much less known for.

"Applejack, as you well know, it is impossible even for my sister and I to give you grounds as fertile as the ground upon which Sweet Apple Acres stands for you to operate a second farm with, nor would it be within our power to make all the trees and other plants needed grow within such a short time."

The farmpony simply nodded her head, looking rather crestfallen. That could only mean one thing, and if her family couldn't work, she didn't have a clue how they were going to even begin to pay off all of their debts!

"Therefore, all expenses normally incurred by the operation of Sweet Apple Acres will be suspended until the day that it is safe for the Apple Family to return to their work upon the farm. I have added the care of every plant and crop on the farm to the training regimen of the guards that will be stationed here in Ponyville after the evacuation, so your trees and other crops will be well cared for until you are ready to return, and they will be harvested annually to avoid a shortage of Apple Family products on the market in Canterlot. None of your business contacts will suffer any losses either."

Applejack's eyes were wide as saucers, her surprise barely contained. She hadn't forgotten her manners, however, and bowed to the Princesses in thanks.

"Wow, y'all can do that? I-I mean, thanks, Yer Majesty! Why, ah never would'a expected somethin' like this!"

Luna smiled wide. "Keep in mind, fair Applejack, that this does not mean that you will be acquiring any sort of free income. If you wish to find a job to change this, we actually have several positions in the castle that could use an extra hoof here and there. The Royal Gardens, for example, could use a second gardener, and given your skill at tending to your farm, we have no doubt you could handle general garden care with little difficulty."

Applejack bowed her head to Luna, smiling wide. "Sounds just fine t'me, Yer Majesty!"

The farm mare turned to her friends and tipped her Stetson to them, nodding her head in the process. She would have preferred to stick around, but much like Rarity and Fluttershy, she had a lot to tend to before she'd be ready to board any of those airships and head out to Canterlot.

Perhaps it hadn't sunk in yet, but she was aware that her family was a country family being forced to move, at least temporarily, to a fairly sizeable city. This was going to be a very trying transition for Big Macintosh and Granny Smith.

Then there was Apple Bloom, she hadn't a clue what they were going to do about her teaching! Applejack stopped just short of taking off running, looking back to Celestia and Luna after she said goodbye to her friends.

"Uh, Princesses? Ah just got one last question."

Celestia turned her attention away from a soldier that had rushed over to give the Sun Princess a quick update on the evacuation. "Yes? Please, go ahead."

"What about schoolin' fer mah little sis, Apple Bloom an' her friends? Ah don't claim to be all knowledgeable or nothin' when it comes to this sort of thing, but wouldn't it be hard on 'em to have 'em continue their schoolin' without their teacher, Cheerilee?"

Celestia grinned wide. "Oh, that is being taken care of, I do assure you. It's actually a part of a very ambitious project that we are able to make full use of, thanks to this complete evacuation of Ponyville. This relocation of Ponyville's entire population is actually the very reason that this project has become economically feasible as well as beneficial," she said, looking over to Luna with a warm smile. "Leave it to my sister to find the perfect way to make the most of an otherwise troublesome situation."

Luna couldn't help but blush at the compliment.

"Truly, t'was a simple idea, once we realized just how small the middle class population is in Canterlot. 'Tis very inappropriate for the capital of Equestria."

Applejack didn't quite follow what they meant, but she just shrugged, nodding to the whole thing.

"Well, ah don't rightly know what ya mean with all that, but if ya say it's bein' taken care of, ah trust ya Princesses! Gotta go git mah family ready to go now," she said, waving once again to her friends before taking off in a gallop towards the farm. "Later girls!"

Pinkie hopped over to the Princesses after she and the others waved goodbye to Applejack in return, the gleeful party pony still bouncing up and down, Luna's eyes following her while Celestia just kept her gaze in Pinkie's general direction, hoping she would calm down. Oh, how futile it was to hope for such a thing.

"So does this mean you've both planned for everything?! Even for Sugarcube Corner? 'Cuz Mr. and Mrs. Cake really need to run their own business, and if they didn't we wouldn't get any more of their wonderful cakes and cookies and brownies and pies and croissants and-"

"Yes, we have indeed, my little pony," Celestia said, resting a hoof atop Pinkie's head, easing her down to the ground and keeping the energetic pony there. "Your employers have a new, state-of-the-art bakery waiting for them when they get to Canterlot, along the main street of the new project being worked on. They will be receiving the deed to it upon their arrival."

Pinkie was practically vibrating with excitement, looking as if she were about to rocket away into the sky from her overabundance of joy upon hearing this news.

So of course, Pinkie did indeed rocket into the sky, complete with fireworks explosions dissipating away from her, as if they burst out of her mane. Though Celestia had the best poker face in Equestria, even she was baffled on the inside with Pinkie's antics. Now she could truly appreciate Twilight's utter confusion and curiosity in her letters.

When she landed once again, Pinkie was rambling away her ideas on what they would do to throw the bestest of parties to celebrate their arrival in a new home, even if it's only a temporary one. By the time Pinkie Pie slowed down, Luna's mouth was open in astonishment at this wild mare's level of energy. Surely, she was on some kind of medication?

"-and then I'll live there with them and work for them still and I won't have to have some kind of boring job like at the rock farm or-"

"Actually, Pinkie Pie, I have a request."

Pinkie froze mid-rant and looked over to Princess Celestia, though she only stayed still for a brief moment before smiling wide and dashing over in front of her.

"Well, whatcha need, Princess?"

Her smile was infectious, as was her glee. Both Celestia and Luna, standing side-by-side, felt as if they'd been caught in some kind of feel-good spell just by having Pinkie flash a smile at them, the Royal Sisters both giggling quietly for a moment before Celestia spoke up once again.

"It would be preferable if you lived at the castle, with the rest of the Elements. While living there, I would like it if a pony so experienced with baking various sweets be the pony that bakes the desserts for my sister and I after every meal," she said, a quiet and wistful sigh leaving her. "Recently, the dessert chef that had been on the kitchen staff for fifty years passed away, and we are in need of a new, skilled dessert chef to at least temporarily take his place. Bless his heart, he made the most absolutely amazing cake....!"

"That he did, sister. That. He. Did."

Both Princesses sighed, a far-off look in their eyes as they both faded off into a world of cakes and pies and other baked confections that they had indulged in to their heart's content on more than one occasion since Luna's return. Much like Celestia, Luna had fallen in love with the marvel that was cake, and then, oh, then she discovered so many different types of PIES....! Pumpkin pie by far had become her favorite.

Pinkie Pie surprisingly had become rather still, her eyes wide for a moment as she gasped very similarly to how she'd gasped when Twilight showed up the very first time in Ponyville.

"Yuh-you want me to cook for the castle? ME?! That's....that's just so super splendiferous! That's-that's wondertastic!! Of course I'll do it! Ooh, I hafta go tell the Cakes what's going on! See ya later girls!"

Pinkie Pie was gone before anypony could say anything else, the party pony taking off like a bullet down the path towards Sugarcube Corner.

Rainbow Dash fluttered up into the air, the Element of Loyalty the last one to take off besides Twilight. Before she left to get some of her things together, she asked basically the only questions that really mattered to her.

"Can I assume that I'm gonna be working at the castle too?"

"You don't have to, but it would be preferred. You, as well as the rest of the Elements, will be needed at the castle almost every day to prepare for what may come in the near future," Celestia explained quickly. "Of course, I doubt you would turn down the task of keeping the clouds above Canterlot Castle clear at all times, yes?"

"Wow, just the castle? That's way less work than keeping Ponyville's skies uniform from day to day! Count me in."

With that, Rainbow Dash was gone in a sudden burst of speed, the cyan pegasus rocketing through the skies towards her cloud home.

The only one left was Twilight, and she looked much better now. That single jolt of Void Magic from Luna seemed to do more than Twilight thought it initially would, her mind clearing and a lot of the dizziness disappearing from her vision, though she still felt somewhat drowsy.

"Princess Celestia, Luna, why uh....well, I don't have all that much to pack and take with me, since all the books I have at the moment belong to the Ponyville library. Maybe on the way to the library, you could both explain to me what exactly's going on?"

With a simple nod from Celestia and Luna, the trio rather lethargically made their way through town, where a large bustle of activity was flowing to and fro from every building. Guards and citizens were making their way in and out of the buildings carrying all sorts of belongings, bags and suitcases with them.

"To put it simply Twilight, we are making the most of this otherwise unfortunate situation."

Twilight watched as a blushing guard was pursued by a drunken Berry Punch as they stepped out of her doorway, a surprising amount of wine, beer and liquor being carried in various cases. She was very clearly hitting on the poor guard mare something fierce. That and she was drunk. Yes, very drunk. Of course, the possibility of her passing out on the way to Canterlot and waking up in her new, temporary home would probably be an experience that Berry Punch was all too used to, minus the lack of a random bedmate. Then again, perhaps her drunken antics with the guard....

"Twilight? Are you alright?"

She snapped to attention and shook her head firmly, trying to get rid of the slowness in her mind. She felt so airheaded and unattentive for some reason. It was probably because she was feeling drowsy, but with all the bizarre things that have happened over the course of the last night and the current day....

"Oh! Princess, what time of day is it right now?"

"It's about two in the afternoon if I'm tracking the time accurately. Why do you ask, Twilight?"

"Oh, wow. No wonder I'm spacing out, I haven't gotten any sleep since the night before last!" she muttered loud enough to be heard by both the Princesses. "I'm sorry Princesses. I'm listening this time! Can you please explain what's going on again?"

Twilight's magic pushed her library door open, only for her and the Royal Sisters to be surprised by the sight of several tubs of eaten ice cream laying all over the main floor of the library. Vanilla, strawberry, mixed, chocolate, even some Rocky Road could be seen sitting on the main table, next to the kitchen door, they were pretty much everywhere!

And in the middle of it all was a very sick-looking Spike with his tongue hanging halfway out of his mouth, facing the door and reaching out for Twilight, a garbage bucket sitting next to him with something unsavory slightly spattered over one edge of it.

"Twiliiiiight....I did something really stupid, I think....!" he groaned out weakly.

The lavender mare just looked around, her mouth hanging open after she took count of just how many tubs of ice cream he'd gone through. Then she blatantly facehoofed as the Princesses entered and just stared at the mess and the suddenly vomiting little dragon on the floor.

"Oh, Spike...." Twilight groaned, shaking her head and getting to work cleaning up the mess.

The wind on the top deck of the airship was rather powerful, as Spike found out when going from the captain's cabin to the lower deck, where Twilight was currently resting. He still felt sick to his stomach, but he took solace in the fact that it was because he almost literally stuffed his gut with a LOT of ice cream over the course of twenty-four hours, not because he had the beginnings of some sort of long-lasting sickness.

Ponies were moving this way and that through the halls, some complaining about the fact that it had been over an hour and they were still on the ship, and others were still very crestfallen regarding leaving Ponyville for who knew how long. Others still were lingering by the ends of the halls, near the sides of the ship, marveling at being so high up in the air on such a sophisticated piece of mechanical genius.

Celestia had gotten very busy the day after she'd been spoken to so desperately by Twilight. It felt bad, in a way, to find out that her mentor had refused to tell her anything about the Nightmare. Just because she knew Twilight well enough to predict that the unicorn would look to her friends for guidance, didn't mean she couldn't have found a better way to handle the situation.

It was honestly hard for Twilight to believe that Celestia predicted things happening the way they did. Anything could've altered the outcome, one of her friends could have encouraged her and that would've been it. Hay, she could've just said 'buck it' and rushed into the forest to go after the Nightmare immediately in a fit of anger!

Yet, all Celestia had said to that was 'But that isn't how it happened, is it?'

No matter how much Celestia's wisdom astounded her, no matter how much her mentor seemed like she could see the future or read ponies as if they were all open books, she knew Twilight as if she had known Twilight her entire life, rather than knowing her for Twilight's entire life, which didn't make sense because Twilight was as mortal as the next pony.

Then there was the news about the 'expansion' they were making to Canterlot. Twilight had quite the skilled, analytical mind, and the moment she'd been told that the expansion was running under the castle, down the side of the mountain, then down a cable car to the bottom, she'd tried to gain a mental rough estimate of just how many ponies could fit into such an expansion.

Then Luna began to explain how the property values and decor were deliberately crafted to appeal more to the middle class rather than the nobles that already had Canterlot overrun with their 'private sub-culture', as Luna so delicately put it.

Both Luna and Celestia approved of this plan since Canterlot was the capital of Equestria, and it just wouldn't do to have the capital of Equestria consisting of the minority class almost exclusively, when high-production cities and towns like Ponyville, Manehattan and Fillydelphia consisted mostly of the middle class, hard-working ponies that were the very reason the nobles were so rich in the first place.

Many, many nobles voiced their opposition to this plan, but ultimately, the number of ponies that both understood and agreed with the viewpoint of the Royal Sisters outweighed the braying and neighing of fearful, money-grubbing nobles.

Thus, the Canterlot Commons Project was put into motion, and made great strides in construction in a mere three days. That had been the purpose of Celestia buying such a small amount of time alongside the Princesses using the time to prepare the Royal Guard to move out and occupy Ponyville, to set up a solid defense between the Nightmare's base of operations and the capital of Equestria.

Twilight was a little dubious at learning that Celestia had literally put a halt on construction in Manehattan, Las Pegasus and Fillydelphia in order to call all the construction companies from those big cities in to get to work on building the massive expansion that was Canterlot Commons. That meant that there were a lot of different construction companies being forced to work very close together, possibly even being forced to work on the same properties by combining their work forces to get certain larger jobs done.

This had her worried. After all, could the integrity of the buildings and structure braces holding the massive expansion firmly in place against the side of the mountain really be of optimal quality with all these construction companies potentially being at each other's throats? She really hoped that there was somepony on-task keeping all the different construction companies working well together with minimal conflict.

At least, Twilight would've been worried about all of this if she wasn't in the process of taking a nap. It wasn't exactly full-on sleep, but it did help her recover a little of what she lost out on trekking through the Everfree Forest.

She had retired to a room that Celestia and Luna had given her, which oddly enough was the same room that Luna and Celestia had been in on the way to Ponyville, not that it was a very extensive trip. Ponyville was only a few hours away after all, the room was more for rich ponies that used the airship for lengthy trips around Equestria and possibly beyond.

Spike entered her room slowly, the sound of ponies talking non-stop outside of the room filling the room very briefly until Spike shut the door again, the soundproofing in the walls giving them peace and silence once more.

Spike waddled over to the bed and climbed up onto it with a groan, looking over Twilight's uncovered form with a somber expression. So much had happened to her, and he felt so useless through it all, even now. From what he understood, it was a good thing he'd alerted Celestia of what was going on as soon as Twilight left rather than the day after, otherwise all of his friends as well as every citizen of Ponyville might very well be dead at the moment.

The thought chilled him to the bone. The only thing that stopped the Nightmare, whatever she was, from following Twilight and the others into Ponyville was the powers of the Princesses combined, casting a barrier over the town that forced the Nightmare to stay out, somehow. If they hadn't been there....

He looked upon his sleeping caretaker with further appreciation for her presence, though she seemed to be asleep. That didn't stop him from eagerly throwing himself into a hug that wrapped his arms around her neck, pulling in close to curl up against her as best he could.

Tears were running down his cheeks when a quiet sob roused Twilight from her meager slumber, the sleep-deprived mare looking to him with puffy red and vaguely bloodshot eyes. He wasn't the only one that had been shedding some tears.

"Spike? Wh-what's-" she began to say, only to realize that he was crying openly, with his face buried against the side of Twilight's neck.

She hugged him in return as best she could, her sleepiness forgotten in lieu of having a very upset dragon grabbing hold of her.

Before she got a chance to ask however, Spike spoke up again.

"You're what's wrong!" he half-shouted, opening his tear-filled eyes and looking into hers. "Y-you almost died!"

She looked to him with some surprise as he held her tighter, the sounds of his despair making her begin to cry all over again, though not nearly as much as he was. She couldn't handle hearing the little dragon so upset, it was like when she was a little filly and bullies had him crying his heart out and she couldn't do anything but hold him.

The only difference now was that there were no bullies, just Twilight and the consequences of her actions. So she held him. She held him and just let him bawl and cry against her, but he just didn't seem to have an end to his sorrow.

"Wh-when you and the others left it was like Nightmare Moon all over again, but she wasn't like whatever this thing is! It....it tormented you! I'd never seen you like that before, and I was so worried and I felt so useless because I couldn't....I couldn't do a-any....!"

She had no idea where this was coming from. If he was really so upset because of what she and her friends had to go and do-well, no, technically they didn't have to go. Spike had even pleaded for her not to go....and now that little fact was bugging her. Something about that moment was eating at her now, but she couldn't pinpoint it.

Spike pulled away from her a little, his eyes staring down at the bed, his shoulders slumping as he let go of her. He clenched his eyes shut as tight as he balled up his fists, his sharp teeth flashing in an angry growl.

"My parents abandoned me! Celestia told me everything before we first went to Ponyville, during the Summer Sun Celebration. Th-the-*hic*-the last unhatched egg in an abandoned nest. Just....just left there, because they didn't want me!!" he shouted furiously, the tears pouring from his eyes.

All of his anger left him suddenly, his legs giving out. The baby dragon flopped down onto his butt, bouncing once slightly on the large bed, his sad eyes looking up into Twilight's equally saddened and tearful gaze.

"Y-you weren't even supposed to succeed at that test they gave you. To use magic to force me to hatch a week early," he said, sniffling and curling his knees in towards himself, wrapping his arms around them. "But you did! You did something that was supposed to be impossible for a unicorn your age. So Celestia gave me to you to teach you responsibility."

He was trembling now, and something in the back of Twilight's mind was screaming at her, but she wasn't listening. She subconsciously reached out for him with a hoof, gently wiping the tears away from one of his cheeks, just listening to him, hanging on every word.

"You-*snf*-you fed me, you played with me, you even used your allowance to buy me toys and gems and take me to fairs and Celestia knows what else that I haven't mentioned!" he said, laying his forehead down against his knees.

"You even kept me around when other ponies made fun of you for spending all your time with me instead of running around with other ponies your age. You made raising me right a priority right next to your studies, you even gave me tutoring so I could learn everything you learned. You were always there, you never abandoned me! Not even once!"

He looked up into Twilight's eyes again, a faint smile on that sad face of his, the tears beginning to come down all over again as that smile disappeared. He began sobbing hard, just barely choking back his sorrow long enough to speak up once again.

"My p-parents abandoned me and left me for dead....! Now I h-have a new family, an-and the most awesome Mother I could've asked for," he said, whimpering and looking into Twilight's eyes. "I don't wanna lose my Mom all over again! Not now....!"

He finally lost what little composure he had left, breaking down into a fresh torrent of crying that tore Twilight apart on the inside.

She didn't realize she'd been holding her breath in, Spike's tearful confession making her feel an ache in her chest, a deep ache the likes of which only a loved one could inflict upon her. Her own tears began flowing as if the dam had shattered within her, this sudden revelation making her feel a myriad of joy and sadness in equal amounts.

She reached for him and gently pulled him closer to herself, the little dragon easing into her grasp until his back was resting against her chest, his head just under her chin. Her forelegs rested over his lap, hugging him tight against herself.

"I'm so sorry Spike! *snf* I would have found another way if I'd known, I swear I would have, I am SO sorry I put you through this....!"

He furiously shook his head, looking up at her with a small frown.

"N-no, it's okay! I just-if-if you ever had to face her again, a-and I didn't tell you how I really felt about you, I'd....!"

She tilted her head to one side of his and nuzzled his cheek with her own, a warm smile on her lips, the tears finally slowing down enough for a faint feeling of joy to warm her, now that what Spike had said really had a chance to sink in.

"Shh....it's alright, Spike. I wish you had told me a long time ago, but I'm glad you told me now. Just forget about all of that. I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. I promise."

She had often thought on this subject when she had a lot of free time to ponder on such issues. He had said she was like a big sister to him before, which was somewhat sensible, she supposed. After all, Princess Celestia had always been watching out for her and, by association, she was often looking out for Spike as well.

But when she thought further beyond that, she realized that the way Spike truly felt right now, the reason for his sadness and his fear of her potential death when pitted against this dark horror that called her its sister....she understood completely. She took care of him. She tended to his needs. Hay, she even learned how to change his diaper when she'd only been out of diapers for a few years herself!

It made her smile. 'Mother'. She liked the thought of being such an important figure to him.

Spike turned in her grip and faced her, throwing his arms around her neck as far as he could to hug her tight, his entire front pressing against her neck and chest, the little dragon getting as close to her as he could.

"I l-love you, Mom."

She could've sworn her heart was doing backflips against her lungs, because the air caught in her chest and refused to come out as anything but a startled and gleeful whimper.

"I love you too, Spike....!"

The door to their room suddenly flew open, a bleary-eyed Celestia standing in the doorway.

The day that they had restored Nightmare Moon to Celestia's long-lost sister, Twilight's belief that the Princess could never lose her composure had been shattered, the sight of her crying even a little bit rather jarring for the lavender mare. Now, she and Spike both watched as Celestia marched almost angrily towards them, her large form looming over them both upon the equally large bed.

Twilight gasped in surprise as she noticed the tears that had stained the fur on the Princess's cheeks. What she had mistaken for pure anger from a distance was actually moreso sadness in Celestia's gaze.

The alicorn suddenly dropped down next to them both, wrapping her long forelegs around both of them and hugging them close, Spike being pinned between the two mares.

"Twilight. Spike....I owe you both a grand apology for the suffering I've put you both through. I must also apologize, but I overheard your conversation from the other side of the door, it was cracked open when I arrived."

Twilight was about to say something, but Celestia gently placed a hoof on her lips as well as on Spike's, the dragon seeming far more confused by the Princess's actions now than anything else.

"Twilight, you had begged me to tell you what was going on, why you were feeling the way you were feeling and who or what the Nightmare was. Indeed, I could have told you without any problems. However...."

Her ears flattened against her skull and her eyes slid shut. She felt unwilling and unworthy of looking either of them in the eyes.

"It was Luna's idea, but I went along with it. I am just as guilty. We needed to have control over when the Nightmare made her move, and we needed to buy time to set this expansion of Canterlot into motion. Thus, I said nothing, but I did make it seem as if there was something very important, perhaps even dangerous and bad for my reputation that I was keeping secret from you. At least, that was the intent. While I do not agree with many of my sister's methods, I cannot deny that this was the method most likely to have the best outcome....but in the process, I threw you to the wolves, so to speak."

Celestia frowned and hung her head, level with Twilight now as she looked into her student's eyes. Silently, she pleaded for some form of forgiveness, some kind of interruption from Twilight that would make it all better, make it all go away.

Twilight leaned her head away, utterly surprised at what she was hearing. She understood why, even accepted it, but she couldn't deny that she felt betrayed, even used. Her mouth hung open in partial shock at what she was hearing, while Spike between them glared at the Princess with obvious fury.

"I had complete faith in your abilities Twilight but please believe me when I say that it hurt so very much to do such a thing to you! Even if I agreed with this plan of action, I felt disgusted with myself for going through with it, I was inconsolable for hours after I returned to Canterlot," she said, her voice wavering. She released both Twilight and Spike, backing up and bowing her head to them both. "I am begging for your forgiveness, Twilight!"

She looked to Spike next, her tearful eyes meeting the dragon's furious glare.

"I am begging for your forgiveness as well Spike, though I know I do not deserve it from either of you," she said, looking to him with a shake of her head. "I had no idea you felt so strongly about Twilight, I didn't....that isn't what matters. What matters is that this has tortured both of you, and if you are upset with my sister and I, I fully understand."

Twilight looked to her in surprise, but Spike had far more than silence to give to the Princess. So very much more.

"How dare you," he muttered, glaring at the much larger pony. "How dare you come in here and act like there's any kind of justification for your actions, for your intentions, even!"

Twilight gasped. "Spike-!"

"NO!" he shouted, shutting her up. He glared at Celestia while pointing at the lavender mare behind himself. "She almost died because of you! Because you thought manipulating her into going after that thing would result in 'the best outcome'!" he said mockingly, attempting an intentionally bad imitation of her voice. "Oh, look at me! I'm Princess Celestia! I send ponies I care about to certain doom so they can deal with problems that are likely my fault to begin with-'"

"I KNOW! Damn it all I know, Spike!" the Princess suddenly roared out, the solar wind that constantly caused her mane to flow around suddenly intensifying, her mane splitting and waving in random directions as she came nose-to-nose with Spike. Tears were streaming down her face, twisting her normally serene, radiant visage into a sight of fury and sadness combined.

"I sent her to what would have been guaranteed death by keeping my mouth shut! I made Luna keep watch over their exchange despite the fact that my sister is so terrified of the Nightmare that her very presence reduces her to a trembling mess that will probably need therapy for millennia after this is all over!"

The scowl and anger in Celestia's voice faded as she sat up, her head hanging low and her eyes shifting between Spike and Twilight, finally settling on the bed, finding some of the stitching so very interesting all of a sudden, or so it seemed. All that was left was a load of remorse and self-loathing that ate away at her in that moment like a fast-acting cancer.

It was Celestia's greatest weakness, being a politician with a heart that punished her for decisions like the one she made for her student.

"I failed you, I failed Twilight, I failed my sister....!" she growled out, clenching her eyes shut, holding her head in her forehooves. "I have failed you all and I deserve whatever you all wish upon me, but I cannot help but ask for your forgiveness because I am not perfect!" she said, looking Twilight in the eyes, one of her own hidden behind her mane. "I'm not perfect, my student....! I make mistakes. I let ponies down....and I am sorry. I will remain sorry for what I have done until you decide that I am worthy of your forgiveness," she said, looking to Spike suddenly. "Both of you."

All three stayed there, like statues in perpetual stasis. Twilight was the first to make a move, reaching for Spike and resting a hoof on his shoulder. The little dragon had his arms crossed over his chest, his resolve diminished after that sudden tirade from Princess Celestia, though it was a meaningful and heartfelt plea from a mare that, for all intents and purposes, could have just said 'I order you both to forgive me', and then exiled them if they refused. Surely, she meant everything she just said.

Twilight urged Spike to turn around, and when he met her gaze, his anger faded. She was smiling at him, a knowing smile that said everything that needed to be said without her uttering a single word.

Twilight stood up from where she'd been laying, Spike approaching the Princess suddenly. The Princess looked between Spike and Twilight, waiting for them both to let her have it, verbally or otherwise.

She was utterly surprised when she felt Spike wrapping his little arms around one of her legs, hugging her tight around what he could reach of her. Twilight was standing next to him, looking up at the taller alicorn with that same smile.

The lavender unicorn reared up onto her hindlegs and pressed her forehooves against the Princess's chest, the bigger alicorn easily bracing Twilight's comparatively meager weight.

"Why didn't you just tell me?"

Celestia tried her best to smile, every inch of her body trembling, fearful of Twilight despising her for what she'd done to the poor unicorn. She didn't deserve any of what she'd been through. It only made Celestia hate herself more than she already did right now.

"The Nightmare, she....she was in your head, Twilight," Celestia said, frowning and looking away. "We could not risk her learning what we had planned by having you know as well," she said, taking a deep and shaky breath. "I wanted to tell you. How I wanted to tell you! I could barely handle seeing you in such a desperate state, begging for an answer that could stop all the suffering you had been going through, but I just couldn't and I knew it....!"

Twilight frowned and just listened as the Princess covered her mouth with the side of her hoof, closing her eyes and sniffling loudly. That seemed to be all she needed to partially recover the composure she'd lost under Spike's verbal assault, a deep breath drawn in again before she let it out once more.

"That was why I took the first chance I had to rush out of the library. If you had begged me to tell you one more time, I-!" She stopped for a moment and closed her eyes, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I don't think I would have stayed quiet."

"She spent an entire day lamenting her decision to go along with my plan."

They all suddenly looked to the open doorway only to find Luna standing there, the shorter Princess smoothly approaching the bed the three were sitting on.

Celestia smiled weakly. "Luna. Good afternoon. I expected you to be taking a nap at this time. Your sleep schedule has been thrown off for long enough thanks to all of this."

Luna smiled a little and nodded to Celestia. "Worry not for us, dear sister. This has been more trying on thou and the ponies that thou holds dearest above all else, than it has been on us," she said, then sighed and shook her head. "I mean, me, do not worry about me! I am still trying to adjust to that, so very annoying...."

Twilight laughed quietly at that, just shaking her head and looking from Celestia to Luna and back. "I forgive you. Both of you."

Both Royal Sisters stared at Twilight incredulously for a moment, Spike doing much of the same, but he sighed and ran his right hand over the spines on the top of his head.

"I forgive both of you as well....but I'm still not very happy with either of you."

Celestia sighed and nodded her head. "That's far more than I ever hoped for. Thank you both...."

"No. I am the one that deserves all of the blame. I did not spend time searching for a different solution, I simply went with the one that would allow us almost complete control over the confrontation with little regard for who would suffer as long as nopony got hurt too badly," Luna said, stepping forward. "If you must blame anypony for the trials you have been put through, you should lay it all on me."

Celestia stepped down from the bed. "No. I chose to go along with your plan, that was my decision. I am just as much at fault as you are, Lulu."

Luna sighed deeply. She couldn't refute that, not in the least. She looked to Twilight and Spike after a brief staring contest with Celestia that the larger alicorn clearly won, the Night Princess sitting next to the bed and bowing her head to both Twilight and Spike.

"Please. If you harbor any ill will towards my sister because of this, do keep this in mind: she only very reluctantly agreed to go along with my plan after coming up with no less than twenty-three other plans that did not include you or your friends at all, plans that I refuted due to the risk they posed to both of us or a good majority of our Royal Guard and possibly many other innocent ponies as well," she explained, sitting up straight again, her expression unreadable. "She acted in the best interests of Equestria as a whole. Please keep that in mind."

Twilight could only giggle a little, feeling quite a bit better after being awoken by a very upset little dragon. "As I said....I forgive both of you."

"Same here," Spike said, smirking. "Just try not to do it again?"

"I cannot promise that."

Spike looked at Luna with a frown, unamused and rather unhappy at such a statement, but he said nothing.

Luna looked to Twilight after a moment of silence. "Twilight. Take the next few days to recover. You deserve it after what you've been through. In one week's time, if you feel ready by then, come and speak to me in my chambers after the sun goes down. Then and only then, will we have much to discuss."

She stood up along with Celestia, the Sun Princess looking somewhat crestfallen at having to leave so soon, or at least, it felt rather early to her. Luna swiftly moved along towards the door, her magic grasping it entirely.

"For now, get some rest. The airships are not going anywhere, so rest for as long as you feel you need to, then depart. The guards will escort you into Canterlot at that point."

Luna left before Celestia, her magic still holding the door until she realized that Celestia hadn't followed her. She didn't stop and wait, however, the Night Princess just continuing along down the hall, some ponies bowing to her as she went, though some didn't notice her, too busy with maintenance and cleaning to look around. Royal vessels didn't take care of themselves, after all.

Celestia stood there, looking into Twilight's eyes, a somber expression on her face. They both just stayed where they were, Twilight laying there next to Spike on the bed, and Celestia standing near the doorway, unwilling to take the final few steps through it. She felt like there was more she wanted to say, needed to say, but she couldn't put her feelings into words. Thousands upon thousands of years spent analyzing and understanding herself, how she felt, how she thought....and she hadn't a clue how to put what she felt at that moment into words.

Finally, Celestia rushed towards the bed and pulled Twilight towards the edge with her magic, the unicorn barely having time to gasp before she felt Celestia's large frame pressing against her, forelegs hugging her tight around her chest and neck.

"You may forgive me, Twilight," Celestia said, sighing shakily. "But I will spend a very long time trying to forgive myself for what I have done to you."

With that, Celestia left Twilight and Spike there in that large room alone, her magic closing the door on her way out.

Twilight was, for the most part, perplexed and surprised by everything that had just happened. Not only had things suddenly become extremely complicated between her and Spike, but up until that last hug from her mentor, she thought that Princess Celestia was for the most part a very professional and practical ruler. She had no idea she meant so much to her.

Spike pulled Twilight from her thoughtfulness by tapping on the side of her head, the unicorn looking to him just in time to see him pointing to the window.

Canterlot was closer than either of they had expected, but it didn't matter to Twilight or Spike: they were both dead tired now that they could relax their minds as much as their bodies.

"I'm gonna lay back down and get some rest, Spike. How about you?"

"I'm all for that....uh," he muttered, looking around the bed. "Where's my bed?"

Twilight laughed a little and pulled him close with her magic, the blanket tugging out from under them both while she wrapped her forelegs around the baby dragon, hugging him tight.

"Your bed's right here." she muttered, snuggling up against his back with a smile. "Mm, you're better than my Smartypants doll any day, 'son'."

She couldn't help but laugh at that little jab, though she did partially mean it. It was still way too weird for her though, thinking of Spike as her own son, let alone being a surrogate Mother to her number one assistant.

"Oh, be quiet, 'Mom'....Twilight?"

She had laid her head down when he spoke up, her eyes closed and her mind already slowing down, she felt so tired all the sudden.

"Hm?"

"Is it alright if I call you Mom?"

Her eyes flew open again, the question rolling around in her head, Spike's voice speaking it over and over and over for her. For some reason, it terrified her and made her feel very odd deep down.

But, more than that, it made her feel....warm. Fuzzy. She smiled and tilted her head down to kiss the top of his head.

"You don't have to if it embarrasses you in front of our friends, but....I think I'd like that. A lot, actually," she said, hugging him tight for a moment. "I'm sure it'll be really weird for both of us for a while, but I'm sure we'll both get used to it."

He smiled and laid his head down this time along with Twilight, both of them closing their eyes and letting out a deep sigh.

"Alright then....Mom. Love you!"

"Heh! Have a good rest, Spike. Love you."

With that warm, fuzzy feeling coursing over both of them, they both quickly began falling asleep, Twilight's mind swimming with new thoughts towards her number one assistant, and confusing feelings regarding her mentor. She anxiously wanted to speak with Celestia again sometime soon, and Luna as well, though for entirely different reasons.

She didn't get very far with those thoughts before the feeling of Spike's overly lukewarm body and the warmth of the covers atop her put her into a deep, and finally very restful sleep, utterly devoid of the Nightmare's intrusions or anypony else's interruptions.

Epilogue (OLD)

Epilogue

written by Fire Soul

The sun's low position in the sky illuminated all of Canterlot in a beautiful, near-sunset light, the sound of construction constant the further Twilight and Spike walked into the new Canterlot Commons area of the capital city.

They were both still astounded at how much the construction workers had managed to get done in a mere three days. They were easily just a little behind one-fourth finished with it when everypony showed up to start moving in, which meant some of the rich nobles gave up parts of their large homes to house 'refugees'.

Now, exactly one week after that day, Canterlot Commons was half finished and every citizen of Ponyville had moved into their own new, but temporary home, fully pre-furnished with some very Canterlot-esque furniture. Well, some of them were pre-furnished.

Those that weren't wound up having their new tenants stopping in and giving tons of business to the Quills & Sofas shop, Twilight's favorite place to go to pick up some sturdy but simple quills. She didn't buy them to collect, like some ponies with nothing better to do with their bits. She hardly ever spent the entire check that she got from Princess Celestia just to pay the bills back at the library anyways....hm.

"Maybe I should start up a collection of some sort...." she mumbled quietly to herself.

"What?"

She jumped, startled by the little dragon on her back. "Nothing, Spike! Nothing at all."

On second thought, that was a terrible idea. She was so obsessive about things, not having every part of any collection she started right away would probably drive her to having an aneurysm. It would truly be embarrassing to have 'Nearly destroyed Equestria due to freaking out about her Pokemon trading card collection' on her otherwise completely clean criminal record.

"Hey, there it is!"

Twilight looked to her right as they came to an intersection, some carriages going this way and that, directed by a traffic-managing pony in the middle of the cobblestone road. She preferred the sidewalk, it was much safer than sharing her walking path with boorish carriage drivers.

Just to the right of where she was, about a block down the street, was a building that currently had very colorful, pink frosting-colored construction going on, the tell-tale design of baked goods on the outside of the building giving it away as the new Sugarcube Corner.

As Twilight approached with Spike sitting on her back, she saw that the words 'Sugarcube' and 'Corner' were only partially completed. Half of each word was finished and painted, with the other half only partially carved out of the wooden blocks the unicorns were working them out of.

Each worker had wood-carving tools held in a magical field, some of them using two at a time, others using three, though a particularly large unicorn seemed to be using seven of them to help all of the workers where he could. Twilight couldn't help but find his magic skill attractive, not to mention how long his horn was....

"Whoa. Where'd that come from?" she mumbled to herself, rubbing her blushing cheek with a hoof.

She shook it off and instead focused on the sudden draft that washed over her and Spike, bringing with it the warming, tantalizing scent of fresh baked goods that could only come from one source.

"Where'd what come from, Twilight?" Spike suddenly asked.

Twilight perked up suddenly. "Oh, nothing! I think it's time we checked out the new Sugarcube Corner, don't you? Pinkie's been really busy in the castle kitchens and has been wanting to know how the Cakes are holding up in their new shop," she said, then licked her lips after taking yet another deep breath. "Not to mention I'm starving!"

Upon setting hoof inside of her favorite snack and baking goods store, Twilight was astounded at what she found: Canterlot nobles, a rather lengthy line of them at that, and the line was still growing behind her, when she finally looked back at the sound of other ponies approaching the front of the store.

She didn't wait any longer to get in line. There were already twenty or so ponies in front of her, she didn't need the five she saw just coming into the store to add to that number. Spike rose to stand on Twilight's back, looking over her head to watch as the Cakes frantically rushed in and out of the kitchen, both of them constantly calling out what they were doing to one another as if they were a two-pony team on the front lines of a war.

They kept going like a well-oiled machine, one staying at the register, only to switch out with the other to give the one rushing around in the back time to rest. Not only that, it allowed them to keep better track of the orders, though it was obvious that they had made a mistake here and there. It was expected, without Pinkie there to assist them they had to pick up the slack, and they had never been this busy in Ponyville.

A good twenty minutes passed before it was Twilight's turn to order, both of the Cakes glad to see her, though not for the same reason she perhaps expected: there were only five ponies behind her, which meant they could slow down a little and take a moment to catch their breaths.

"Oh, hello there, Twilight! Hah, what can we get for you?"

"I'll just have a dozen frosted muffins, Party Pink flavor. How about you, Spike?"

He tapped his chin for a moment, his mouth opening and closing three times in desires that he just as suddenly tossed aside. Then he finally settled on a simple enough decision.

"Can I have a jumbo blueberry muffin with gem frosting? Or aren't those available yet?"

She looked at Mrs. Cake with no small amount of sympathy; the poor mare looked completely exhausted! Mr. Cake didn't seem any better off when he stepped in from the back, thankful for being able to take a breather.

He approached the cash register and took over, quickly taking Twilight's and Spike's order while Mrs. Cake stepped away to talk to the pair for a bit. They had a large stock of pretty much their entire menu at their places on the displays, freshly-baked and ready to be eaten, she could afford to relax.

"So, what's this all about? What caused all these nobleponies to start getting baked goods here? I mean no offense, but this place isn't exactly....well, for them, if you get what I mean."

Mrs. Cake shrugged her shoulders, motioning them to follow her into the back. She went over to a bowl full of batter and got busy stirring it up, quickly adding some fresh blueberries to the remaining batter.

"Well I don't rightly know what they're all doin' here, considering we've only been open a couple of days, but....well, there was the day we first opened."

Spike licked his lips and watched Mrs. Cake begin putting the frosting and some of the gem pieces together, mixing the sharp shards up with the frosting of Pinkie's original design, filled with sweet flavors that even Twilight's extensive knowledge of fancy foods from her years spent next to the Princess couldn't fully place.

"What about the first day you opened?"

Mrs. Cake smiled at Twilight. "Well the Princesses, bless their souls, both came around all of Canterlot Commons as all of our houses got finished and welcomed us! Every shop they were seen at wound up getting tons of business, and that big surge still hasn't stopped for lots of them."

Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes. "Thaaat explains everything. Nobles are so predictable....!"

"What are you saying, Twilight? Surely Canterlot ponies aren't that shallow?"

Twilight just stared at her with a flat look, then pointed at the kitchen door towards the front of the shop.

Spike just sighed and nodded in agreement. "She really does have a point, Mrs. Cake."

"Well, I'll have no badmouthin' those ponies in my shop, alright you two? Hungry ponies are all the same in my mind."

They both just nodded in agreement, neither of them making much of a habit of talking bad about any one group of ponies. Nobles just had a special place in their hearts, though that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Twilight had experienced all of the backstabbing, ulterior motives and the lengths that many nobles will go to achieve such goals when they get the chance.

She still recalled the little 'investigation' she'd done of Prince Blueblood over ten years ago, how many things she'd discovered about him that placed him as an unexpectedly dangerous member of the Canterlot elite to get involved with. Not to mention how much it infuriated her to find out he'd covered up a lot of potentially life-ruining deeds on his part by abusing his supposed relation to Princess Celestia. Yet, when she approached the Princess about it, the Princess told her she would understand when she was older.

Well, she was older now, and she certainly still hated his guts and hated him for all that she knew he'd done! She felt fortunate that he didn't seem to remember Rarity as anything more than yet another mare expecting to bed-and-wed him, though he was entirely wrong in that regard.

While she was wondering how he could forget that an Element-bearer had found him appealing at one point (perhaps he was just that arrogant), until he showed just how horrible of a companion he could be of course, Mrs. Cake tapped her on her shoulder.

"Were you listening, dearie? I said your order should take around five minutes, you two can wait back here or just go out front and wait there, if ya like! Though, I can't promise there's a table open up front, all the ponies out there seem to have the place filled to capacity!"

She took a peek just out of the kitchen door and realized that she had a point: the front area was loaded with ponies both Ponyvillian and Canterlot all sitting down to dig into their baked goods.

She backed up and nodded to Spike. "We'll just wait back here. Nopony out there we know anyways."

That was that, and soon enough Spike had his special jumbo cupcake and Twilight had a baker's dozen (which drove her nuts). Spike stopped her before she got wound up and ate the thirteenth cupcake for her all at once to put an end to the issue, then got to work on his own order.

For a while it was just small talk with the Cakes, talking about how the others were adjusting to life in the castle, especially Pinkie Pie, who took to her task of nightly baking and unexpected random entertainment with such zeal one might think she'd been doing it her entire life....which was basically the truth.

Applejack would have had a lot more free time, but the old gardener she'd been hired to assist always seemed to find new things for her to work on while she was on the clock. Still, being on the clock rather than running her own farm and basically having work to do at all times of the day and late evening gave her five or six hours of extra free time that she still didn't entirely know what to do with.

Recently she and Rainbow Dash had found similar interests in the form of taking rather lengthy naps in the middle of the day and later in the evening because of this.

Speaking of Rainbow Dash, she seemed to be the only one that seemed to be settling in to a job that was the exact same as her job in Ponyville, though this one seemed to have a lot more gruff and stern workers she had to operate alongside. Commander Hurricane in particular seemed to detest her taking naps on the clouds near Princess Celestia's room's balcony, or Princess Luna's tower. That didn't seem to stop her from day to day, however: Rainbow Dash would always be Rainbow Dash.

Twilight had originally been very concerned with Fluttershy, after the fiasco that was the Grand Galloping Gala. From what she understood, many of the animals outright avoided every attempt she made to befriend them, and she....hadn't taken such a blatant rejection on such a grand scale very well. Memories of her face and the words 'You're....going to LOVE MEEE!!!' popped into her mind as the end of that disaster hit her again, causing her to shudder.

Angry Fluttershy is scary, in other words.

It was very relieving for her to go and visit Fluttershy on the third day in the castle, only to find her surrounded by animals, like a scene out of some kind of fairy tale movie. It was cute, and a lot of the animals seemed pleased by her presence, now that they gave her a chance to get to know them.

Fluttershy had explained that it was her other animal friends that had gotten her an in with the animals living in the Royal Gardens. They had hidden from her once again just like before, perhaps because they remembered her outrageous behavior from the last time she'd been to the Royal Gardens, but her other animal friends, in particular a little hummingbird that she had just recently taken in, really began to speak to the others.

By the end of it all, after another bunch of animals had sent her crying alone in the hedge maze by running away from her in blind fear, the bear that had run away from a fairly abusive circus that she had to constantly give massages to came and found her along with a bunch of other birds and smaller creatures. Best of all, they were followed by more, and more, and more until every animal in the Royal Gardens had found her and tried to comfort her.

Clearly they were ashamed of their actions. As far as Fluttershy understood it, most ponies they met considered them nuisances, and they had been trained not to be afraid of ponies, but to leave them be even if they wish to keep the animals around, having had too many ponies complain about the animals dirtying up the gardens in the areas ponies frequented, among other things.

Rarity was the last pony she felt she had to worry about, but she should've visited the fashionista first it seemed. When she first knocked on the door to Rarity's modified suite, she heard noise on the other side, but nopony responded or invited her in on the other side. A second knock, no answer.

Finally, with a firm hoof, she knocked a third time and then just used her magic to open the door since Rarity was clearly there and obviously ignoring her. She found that, upon entering the room, her friend was doing something she had wound up doing a lot when she was younger that she grew out of once she reached her teen years.

Rarity was passed out face-down on her workbench, her horn lit up with magic that was randomly swinging sewing needles and spools and rolls of fabric around in the air with surprising accuracy. When she went to make sure her friend really was asleep, her suspicions were confirmed.

When Twilight was younger, her intense enthusiasm for learning how to use her magic, control it, and develop her skills into something that would make her the most well-known magic-user in Equestria often had her staying up later than she should have at her age, causing her to pass out more often than not on her desk, both back home and in her room in the castle.

Often when she did this, she would be woken up by the Princess, only to find that her magic had automatically and slowly turned the pages in her books and caused her to lose where she was at. It caused her no small amount of trouble in her earlier years of advanced schooling, up until the time when she learned how to control it.

This condition that often crops up in over-stressed unicorns was known by several names, but the most popular one is called 'Z-Casting'. Given how 'catching some Zs' became a fairly popular saying for getting some sleep around the same time this surprisingly commonplace condition became more well-known in the field of medicine, the term 'Z-Casting' became popular simply because of how catchy it was.

For the longest time, many stressed out unicorns blamed magic fatigue on their stress rather than their sleep not really being used to recover the magic they had used up the day before. This was partially true, but not entirely accurate. Furthermore, many unicorns thought ponies were screwing with them, what with how their magic often messed up the things around them in the process of casting spells in their sleep. Still other superstitious ponies often blamed the accidental mischief on ghosts and playful spirits.

It was two years after this condition became a mainstream issue that several very simple cures were discovered, the easiest being adding and removing certain foods and drinks to their diet, though that one was a bit too much of a change for many unicorns.

Instead of that, many more ponies stuck with what was and still is the standard cure for most every unicorn that winds up developing this condition: an herbal remedy derived from a now common flower.

While in the old days the seeds became extremely lucrative to grow and sell thanks to many unicorns keeping small gardens consisting only of that flower, nowadays so many farms grow the flower, now classified as a crop all its own, that almost all unicorns from nobles to commoners simply go to the nearest general store or farm to purchase the leaves of the flower either to eat or boil into rather tasty tea.

Tea is easily the most common of the two choices due to how naturally calming a cup of tea is for anypony: this sickness only appears in unicorns that have become far too over-stressed for their own good, thus, anything that can help them de-stress is going to be the obvious choice.

And somehow, all that history, perhaps only fifty years before their time, and Rarity hadn't a clue what Z-Casting was. Twilight could not facehoof hard enough to fully signify how ridiculous that was to her.

However, after a proper lesson in her condition, Rarity was thankful for having an explanation for sometimes finding a completely messy room upon waking up, but she was also disappointed. For the longest time she believed that she was unique due to having some kind of magical, supernatural sense of fashion that left her clues to give her ideas for some of her best designs while she slept. To discover it happened to a lot of unicorns that worked excessively hard was both flattering (in a way) and very disappointing.

Still, neither Twilight nor Rarity could argue with the results Rarity got from her condition. If she wished to let her magic run wild and leave her a bunch of 'controlled chaos' as she liked to call it so that she can garner some inspiration from the mess, who was Twilight to intrude on Rarity's biggest source of ideas?

With all of her musings, she had almost forgotten where she was supposed to be that night. Luna had been extremely cryptic, which only made Twilight even more curious, but she had waited patiently enough: she wanted answers, and she fully intended on cashing in on Luna's promise.

She had so many questions regarding everything that had happened, but she felt like she was the only one that all this was about that was being left out of the loop. The Nightmare seemed to be so interested in the Princesses as well as herself, but while both Princesses seemed to be able to match her word-for-word, she felt as if she were a blind foal by comparison!

What did she have to do with any of this? She'd never dabbled in anything like the magic she'd experienced over the last month or so, or....well, however long this has been going on, she honestly wasn't sure anymore. Over the last week she'd noticed a lot more activity amongst the Royal Guard as well, along with a lot of whispers amongst them about 'dark creatures' that could only be killed with enchanted weaponry and magic spells.

She didn't want to think of the ponies that Equestria had lost to make those creatures.

"So Twilight, what're we going to see Princess Luna for?"

"We aren't going to see Luna, I am going to see Luna. Rarity told me earlier that she could use your assistance with a recent order from Hoity Toity, so I'm going to leave you with her."

He took a big bite out of the half of his cupcake that was left. "Buh, why?"

"Ugh, Spike, how many times do I have to tell you not to speak with your mouth full?" she groaned. "I need answers for everything that's happened. This stuff about the Nightmare, all of the Wild Shadows we encountered, and the changes that've been going on with my magic."

He swallowed the large amount of cupcake with a firm, almost painful-looking gulp, the way his throat stretched to accomodate the large clump of food being worked down it. Twilight just sighed and shook her head.

"If only you had such eating habits during the times we spent at those boring social events we had to attend with the Princess when we were younger...."

"What?" he asked quirking a brow.

She just waved it off and smiled. "Nothing, Spike."

He just stared at her for a moment, brow quirked and silence dominating the room once more. Eventually he just finished off his cupcake and licked his claws clean, mmm'ing happily.

"Anyways, you're talking about how your magic aura and stuff has all turned a black color, right?"

"Yeah, it's rather disconcerting to know I linked directly to the Nightmare's mind and came out of it with my magic altered," she said, frowning and furrowing her brow in thought. "My magic gets more and more powerful every day, while my focus keeps being more and more inadequate; sometimes I have trouble controlling a simple Telekinesis spell!"

She looked to the muffin that was currently wrapped in the white glow of her magic, the black inky darkness outlining it. She couldn't deny that looking at it brought back rather traumatizing memories of that night in the forest, every shadow in the overwhelming darkness seeming to stalk them and watch their every move.

She visibly shuddered as she took a quick bite out of her muffin, the memory of feeling surrounded at all times making her feel slightly paranoid of her surroundings, even though the kitchen was well-lit and there were a lot of ponies just through the door leading to the front. She hadn't slept with the lights off in her room the entire week, causing Spike to wrap himself in his blankets and move his bed to the balcony every night.

It was easier to sleep under the light of the moon than under the glow of electricity, of course. She often found herself rushing out of rooms that the lights had been turned off in, or getting away from places that were dark and quiet. It was foalish behavior, especially since she'd left her fear of the dark behind when she moved from her home with her parents to her new home with the Princess at the castle.

Suddenly she didn't feel so great, and with that came thoughts of her medicine, with good reason: she hadn't paid attention to the time, nor had she paid much attention to the fact that she hadn't taken any that day. Her trembling could easily be blamed on her lingering fears and memories of the Nightmare stalking them all the way to Ponyville through the forest, but she knew the real reason.

"Spike, I need to go use the bathroom. Meet me outside?"

"Sure thing, uh...." he said, looking around the kitchen to confirm that they were alone. Satisfied, he smiled wide and looked her in the eyes. "Sure thing, Mom."

Twilight felt a new, weird, but no less welcome sensation of warmth that radiated out from her heart to the very corners of her being, a warm smile lifting her spirits until she looked as cheerful as ever. The trembling didn't stop, however, but she knew how to put an end to that, and she was very much looking forward to it.

She leaned over to Spike and planted a small kiss on his forehead, ruffling the spines atop his head with a hoof afterwards.

"Alright then! See you outside, kiddo."

Spike stepped away from the table and headed out of the kitchen while Twilight picked up her saddlebags with her magic and slung them over her back, buckling them around her barrel and adjusting them with a hoof until they settled on her back more comfortably. She left six muffins in the box for Luna and possibly Celestia, placed the box on her back, and then got up and headed for the mare's restroom.

Once inside, she went into the stall and put the toilet seat down along with the seat cover, sitting down on it and reaching into one of her saddlebags for what she so deeply desired at the moment. A bulbous potion filled with a clear, semi-viscous liquid floated into her hooves by way of her magic, and she looked upon it with a quick lick of her lips.

The painkilling potion was by far no longer necessary, save for the occasional headache her experimentation with her new magic gave her, but that wasn't why Twilight continued to take it. The effects the medicine had upon her mind were easily very desirable, it allowed her to completely relax, something she was utterly incapable of on her own.

Of course the potion wasn't very tasty on its own, but she had found that she could simply add some sugar to the mix, saturate the potion with it, and the flavor of the medicine was all but killed by the sugary sweetness.

She uncorked the potion with her teeth, then took a deep swig of it downing a quarter of what was in the bottle. That was her usual amount, but recently she had found that the effects of the medicine weren't as strong as she would have liked. On a whim she took another drink of the potion, leaving only half of it within the glass, then re-corked it and tucked it away within her saddlebag once more.

By the time she found her way out of the bakery, the effects of the potion were in full swing and her half-lidded eyes were glassy. Spike hadn't a clue that Twilight was taking these potions still, as far as he knew she had stopped receiving them from Zecora after the move to Canterlot Commons.

For Twilight's sake, he should have been paying better attention to the fact that she seemed unusually quiet and elated. Spike just figured that she was happy about him calling her his Mother, as she usually was ever since his heartfelt confession to her. Even he seemed much more happy, getting such an important issue off his chest.

It only took around twenty minutes for them to make their way to the castle, the sun having gone down completely by then while the moon smoothly rose up into the beautifully starry night sky.

"Spike, I'm going to be speaking to Luna for probably a very long time tonight, and it's likely going to be very personal. Do you mind heading back to our room on your own?"

Spike shook his head while hopping down from her back. "No prob, Twilight! I'll have all of the books, quills and whatnot cleaned up by the time you come back."

With that, Twilight was left alone save for the two Night Guards that were making their way towards her from the hallway she was intending to walk down anyways. She knew her way around, but as the guards approached her and bowed courteously to her, she knew that somehow, Luna already knew she was here. That, or Luna predicted she'd be here this night, and ordered her guards to keep an eye out.

"We have orders to escort you to the Princess, Lady Sparkle, if you believe you are ready. Do you wish to go now?"

His voice was gentle, smooth, almost a pleasure in and of itself to listen to. On top of that he was of a youthful age, and was fairly handsome, as was the pony he was working alongside. For that matter, most of the Night Guards she'd seen at night were much the same way, with that single older pegasus guard that Luna kept close by being more of an exception than a standard. Did she prefer it this way, or was there some other motive besides having attractive young stallions to surround herself with?

She didn't dwell on it, shaking such a perverted thought process from her mind. It was just like earlier, with the unicorn construction worker, a moment of daydreaming at the possibilities, flashes of images, temptation, hormone-driven urges that she often left unsatisfied until they faded into background noise in her head. Yet, for some reason, for the last week they had begun to hold a certain amount of sway in her more conscious thoughts.

She didn't like it in a certain sense, but at the same time, she couldn't deny her forehooves were getting more exercise than usual close to bedtime. She certainly liked that aspect.

"Yes, I do believe I'd like to speak to Princess Luna right away. Shall we?"

Both guards stood, one of them standing closer to Twilight than the other, the one speaking of course. "As you wish, milady. With us, please."

With that, she found herself keeping her thoughts of aforementioned fantasies in check as both stallions walked on either side of her. She could've sworn they were standing closer to her than was necessary, but she attributed that possibility to her mind (and her hormones) reacting very, very strangely to the recent changes to her magic. Whatever was causing her to become more and more powerful with every passing day was also toying with her emotions, her desires, enhancing them and amplifying things that were normally latent and off to the wayside before.

Her hoofsteps were noisy compared to the nearly absolute silence that permeated a good majority of the castle. Even the Night Guards on either side of her, with their darker gray coats and their somewhat intimidating armor made of a metal she couldn't identify with her eyes only, seemed to move the same way as she, but their hooves made almost no sound. It was very unsettling to say the least.

Thus, it was like a thunderous boom when she heard the gentle hoofsteps of a pony down a ways along the hallway they were walking down.

As Princess Celestia rounded the corner mere hooves away from all of them, the guards stopped and immediately bowed, but Twilight stood there, as if a deer in the glare of a new-age carriage's headlights. Celestia wasn't too far from mimicking her expression.

Twilight was the first to break the silence. "Good evening, Princess!" she said quickly, putting on a smile that was just a little too big for Celestia to fully believe it was genuine.

Things had become strained, though to Twilight it had no reason to be, because she held no ill will towards the Princess. Celestia, however, did not take it as easily on herself as her student would have preferred she did. On the contrary, Celestia almost behaved as if she hated herself.

Twilight couldn't deny that the fact that she'd essentially been used to draw the Nightmare out into a more open, controlled engagement made her angry, infuriated even. However, she was a logical and sensible pony: she also understood why it was necessary, and that necessity was what separated it as an act in the interests of the overall benefit of Equestria instead of just an act of personal betrayal. The Princess had full faith in her abilities and the abilities of her friends, otherwise she would have found another way through this most trying of times, of that Twilight had no doubt, so sure was her faith in her teacher's wisdom and care for the well-being of all of her subjects.

Celestia's mind was on another track entirely when it came to the recent events. She viewed her reliance on the abilities and the mental strength of her student, her surrogate daughter, one of her most trusted advisors as a personal failing of the worst kind. She had held truths at bay in favor of lies, however small they may have been, and sent Twilight, in a time of great need, into the jaws of her enemy. Even then, she had to beg her own sister, who was deathly afraid of facing that enemy alone, to do just that to retrieve and secure the safety of her personal student, to retrieve her gnarled and frayed mind from the very jaws that she had been thrown to.

Then, with her sister, traumatized and trembling in her hooves, she forced her to put such issues aside in order to assist her in securing every major metropolis, city, and every last pony in Equestria from the Nightmare's influence by way of putting massive barriers of pure energy over each of them and moving every last pony from all the outlying villages and smaller, more isolated towns, so that she could better establish defensive perimeters and keep her troop numbers high in all populated areas. This wasn't her first rodeo after all, and neither was it Luna's: they knew military strategy like the backs of their hooves.

Made of raw Void and Purification Magic, these barriers would be impossible for the Nightmare to get past, at least, that was what her studies and calculations told her, both her own and the ones her sister, easily the smarter and more intelligent of the two of them, had worked through. She forced her subjects to uproot their lives and move to strange, new locations that were drastically different from their lives at their true homes, likely putting many jobs and relationships in danger of being strained to a breaking point.

She was disgusted with herself. It was all she thought about over the past week, all of the events set into motion simply due to the Nightmare elevating her activities in several dark and rarely explored, vaguely studied locations of Equestria. Places that the Nightmare seemed to thrive.

Thus, it took a lot of willpower to do what she did next. She smiled.

"Good evening, Twilight."

Both of them stood there in somewhat awkward silence, both of the guards looking at each other as the two normally very friendly and even perhaps somewhat cuddly mares before them tried their hardest to avoid eye contact with each other. This was going down a bad road, and someone had sabotaged the vehicle's brakes.

"How are things lately? I haven't seen you since the trip on the airship."

"Things are....better, I believe," Celestia said, sitting on her haunches. "It is genuinely nice to see you, Twilight."

Celestia looked to both of the guards and bowed her head to them. "Will you excuse us, gentlecolts? I wish to speak with my student."

"But Your Majesty, we must escort Lady Sparkle to Princess Luna."

Celestia giggled. "Surely you can trust me to bring your charge to your Princess safely, yes?"

They looked to one another once again, then simply nodded and bowed to Celestia once more before walking away.

Both mares watched the guards walk away, only breaking the silence between them when the guards disappeared around a corner on the far end of the hallway.

Celestia sighed. "Well, at least they didn't fade into the shadows like some of them enjoy doing."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"You will find out fairly soon, I'm sure," she said, nodding to the lavender mare. "Have you recovered from your ordeals?"

Twilight smiled wide and approached the much larger mare, though she stopped short of nuzzling Celestia, afraid that such forwardness would cause her mentor to become upset.

"Of course I have!" she said as she sat down in front of the Princess. "It's been a week already, a very eventful week at that."

Celestia tilted her head. "Oh?" She stood and motioned for Twilight to follow, walking slowly down the halls. "Do tell."

The soft clip-clop of their hooves against the polished marblestone floor sounded off noisily as they made their way through the castle, Celestia's serene smile back in full force. Regardless of how Celestia may have felt about herself and what she'd done to Twilight and her friends, what she'd put them through, it was always such a wonderful thing to hear her student's voice, especially when it was filled with such cheer.

"Well, nothing eventful regarding myself aside from the changes that've been happening with my magic. Mostly it's all of the shops that've relocated here from Ponyville...." she said with a sly smirk. "Seems they've been getting a lot of business ever since they opened!"

Celestia returned that smug look on Twilight's face with a knowing grin of her own. "Truly? I would not expect such courtesy from the elite of Canterlot, they are simple country ponies after all."

"That's very true! Surely you didn't have anything to do with attracting the image-conscious nobles to the Canterlot Commons area in order to get them all more interested in the quality goods from Ponyville compared to the more mass-produced stuff from Manehattan, New Yoke and Fillydelphia?"

Celestia smirked and innocently looked away. "I am quite certain that I haven't a clue what you're getting at Twilight."

Twilight just giggled at that and shook her head. "Suuuuure you don't, Princess...."

Celestia looked to Twilight once more, and after a few moments, Twilight looked to the Princess once again as well, the silence between them speaking volumes as the two mares smiled at one another.

Celestia's smile didn't last, however. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh through her nostrils, a somber expression overtaking the moment of joy that she and Twilight had shared mere seconds ago.

Twilight took a single small step forward. "Celestia?"

There it was. That tone of voice that made such a personal inquiry towards her that Celestia hadn't heard it in years, not since Twilight had been a much younger filly. The last time she could recall her student calling her by her name rather than her title was over six years ago. She didn't know what question Twilight had, but she could only assume this had the potential to be another tear-filled conversation in the hallways instead of in the privacy of one of the airship's suites.

"If you hadn't manipulated us, sent us after the Nightmare in the way you did, what other options would you have had?"

That was certainly a question Celestia hadn't been expecting. A plea for her to stop perhaps, or maybe an angry question as to why she did what she did now that Twilight had time to really think on what she'd done, but not anything like this.

"....Do you know how many times I have done such things, Twilight?"

"Huh?"

"Do you have any idea how many times I have been put in a position where I have had to send those I dearly care about into danger? How many times I have had to choose Equestria over them? Discord, Luna....now you and your friends, twice already!"

She couldn't bring herself to get angry again. She'd had enough of that anger. She had had enough of it after the hundred years she spent mourning the loss of her beloved sister by way of the Elements of Harmony, but clearly somepony like Twilight still brought about enough fury for her to curse her own name for several nights and days, all while putting on a happy face for the nobility and her more considerate, gentle-hearted subjects from Ponyville.

Twilight moved closer once again, unnoticed by Celestia, who was looking up at the ceiling. The Princess was lost in memories of the times before, the times she'd done similar things....and how much she detested being able to do such horrible things to her subjects, no matter their relation to her.

"I have-have done it so many times, Twilight. So very many times, all because of my title, my station as the figurehead of Equestria's fledgling government. My subjects all believe in me, trust me to do what is in their best interests at all times," she said, letting out a shaky sigh, her eyes glossing over with tears that threatened to fall at a moment's notice. "Thus, I must always choose them over anything I may feel for those that I love....and it is in those moments that I wish to simply throw this tiara into the wind as hard as I can!"

She lifted her tiara from her head with her magic, her angry gaze seeming to threaten the inanimate object itself. Her eyes screamed of contained fury while her outward expression was little more than a slight furrowing of her brow.

Twilight could only think to do one thing, for hearing her teacher, her mentor, her idol and the only pony that knew her better even than her friends did tearing herself down and hating herself? She refused to tolerate such a thing.

Celestia didn't notice how close Twilight had gotten to her until she felt Twilight's form pressing against her own, the lavender mare's forelegs wrapped around Celestia's neck, the smaller unicorn raised up on her hindlegs to even out the size difference between them.

"Wh-wha? Twilight?"

The smaller mare's tears soaked into the fur on Celestia's neck. "I understand, Princess. But please, tell me....what would you have done if you hadn't chosen my friends and I to go in after the Nightmare?"

"I....hadn't given it thought afterwards."

"But you thought about it before, didn't you?! You didn't want to send us in there, right?"

Celestia looked aghast. "Twilight, of course not! I would never-"

"But you had to do it. You had to do something to secure Equestria's safety. It's your decision to make as one of the two Diarchs ruling over Equestria."

She sighed. "Yes....and I hate it."

"Then please, I know you have every right to be upset, but not at yourself! Be upset at the situation you were put in, that you had to do what was best as the ruler of Equestria, but don't consider it a personal shortcoming by having to rely on somepony you trust!" she said, leaning back and letting up on her hug, hooves resting on Celestia's withers while she looked up at the Princess. "I would....I would feel terrible if I ever thought that you felt that you could no longer call on me when you really needed somepony like my friends and I."

Twilight released her and sat back on her haunches, looking up into the surprised face of her mentor, her glossy eyes smiling just as much as her curved-up lips.

Celestia smiled after a moment and let out a good-natured sigh. "Sometimes, I forget you are capable of being much more wise than I often give you credit for, Twilight."

Celestia giggled so quietly as she leaned down and nuzzled Twilight's cheek with her own, both mares continuing with that moment for what felt like several minutes to Twilight, or so she'd hoped on the inside. Hugging Celestia, nuzzling her, hay even just speaking with her, they were all activities that Twilight could never get enough of.

Now? She had the Princess all to herself during her walk to what was a new destination for her: the royal kitchens. They talked about many things, especially the studies Twilight had been working on just before her little explosion when she was still enrolled. Both teacher and student took up a seat closest to the bakers and Celestia clopped her forehooves together, attracting the attention of Ponyville's premiere party pony.

Pinkie hopped up and down next to them, the pink pony reaching up to adjust her floppy baker's hat, her joy at seeing one of her best friends along with the nightly visit from the Princess clear on the massive smile she wore. Even late at night, Pinkie's energetic demeanor didn't diminish until it was time to tuck into bed and recharge, though many would argue that Pinkie could probably go a few days before really needing any actual sleep.

"Howdy-doody Princess Celestia! What'll it be tonight? Slice o' cake, one-and-a-half slices of pie, maybe some of my special Party Top Cupcakes or some banana nut muffins?" Pinkie asked, laughing happily. "I can make it all thanks to the previous chef's notes! I even know how to make the 'Princess's Favorite', whatever that is."

It had taken Pinkie a couple days to figure out how to work the very special ovens the previous baker got very good use out of. Each one was magically enchanted to bake rapidly without burning the ingredients within, something Celestia herself put a lot of her own bits into in order to allow her favorite nighttime snack to be whipped up rapidly and mere moments after she asked for it.

There were limits of course. She couldn't just clap her hooves, tell the baker what she wanted, then have her treat a second or five later. No, instead where she might have to wait a half an hour, she only needs to wait perhaps five minutes for her snack(s) to be ready, piping hot and utterly fresh. The Apple Family could claim to make the best food and baked goods for ponies throughout all Equestria all they wanted: Celestia had a chef and equipment to guarantee fresh baked goods every night!

"I believe I will have a slice of cheesecake tonight. Twilight?"

"Oh, I'll have the same Pinkie, no need to bake anything extra!"

Pinkie grinned and hopped away. "Okie dokie lokie! Be back in a jiffy!"

The rest of the time spent with the Princess was relatively cheerful, especially after Celestia got her usual nighttime snack. If there was one thing Twilight knew for certain, it was that Celestia always....always forgot about her worries, at least for a little bit, when baked goods were on an express route down her gullet. Of course, being around the Princess most of her life, even Twilight could at least partially share Celestia's enthusiasm for baked bliss.

After an hour of conversation, both while eating their cheesecake slices and while walking around some, Twilight managed to recall what had brought her to the castle in the first place. She had just been enjoying her time with Celestia so much, it had completely skipped her mind. In all honesty she didn't mind this, but she was still very curious.

"By the way, Princess....the reason I'm at the castle so late at night?"

"Hmm? Ah yes, I was wondering that myself."

Twilight nodded. "I'm actually here because I need to see Princess Luna. It's been a week, so...."

Celestia's smile faded quickly. "I see...." she muttered, looking away from Twilight as they walked, her gaze locked on the wall next to her, opposite the lavender mare.

Twilight stopped as Celestia stopped. "Princess....?"

The Princess looked to Twilight with a concerned expression, turning to face the smaller mare. "Twilight, promise me something. Please."

"O-of course, anything!"

They both regretted it the moment they both spoke. For Celestia, it was because of nervousness and not wishing to give away too much to Twilight before she got her information from Luna. For Twilight, it was because she didn't wish to upset the Princess, and her more serious demeanor had the unicorn worried.

Celestia nodded, a sad smile on her lips. "No matter what Luna tells you, promise me that nothing will ch-well, no...."

"Huh?"

"No....I would prefer things change, in time," she said, smiling more for a brief moment before nodding again. "No, promise me that you will not be afraid of me, and that you will trust me still. I have never given you reason to distrust me before now, so promise me."

"But, I don't-"

"Please, Twilight. For me."

She looked to the Princess with wide eyes, both mares looking into the eyes of the other, Twilight with surprise and Celestia with a stern, almost pleading gaze. Well, what harm is there in it? Surely whatever Celestia's concerned about isn't that bad.

....Right?

"I-I promise, Princess Celestia. I'll always think of you as the kind and benevolent Princess you've always been to me!"

Celestia visibly twitched at that as she stood up straight once again, but she smiled regardless.

"That is good to know, Twilight. Come, I'll escort you to my sister's suite in the tower near my room."

It only took Twilight a few steps to figure out where that was, and it made her smile.

"She has good taste! My old room has an almost perfect view of the night sky!" she said, grinning. "I used to stargaze for hours through that big window that tower bedroom has built into it....!"

Celestia grinned. "Oh Twilight, didn't I ever tell you, since Luna came back?" she asked, looking ahead. "That tower was initially Luna's room long before you ever moved in there. When I found out you had such a powerful love of the night sky, I figured I should move you in there and you would feel right at home!"

The lavender mare quirked a brow at that, but smirked and 'huh'd at the minor revelation. In all honesty, it didn't surprise her all that much, but it was still rather interesting that she wound up with the same room as the Princess of the Night when she moved into the castle. She would have to talk to Luna about that. Perhaps Luna found her old research paper on magic phobias from her second year of study under Princess Celestia! Neither she nor Spike had any clue where that stupid research paper went, and it drove her up a wall having to write another one from scratch.

Celestia walked past her own room and continued down the hall towards the end, a stairwell leading into a spiral at the end of the hall that went up into the tower. Twilight knew exactly where she was even before they reached the staircase, this area of the castle all too familiar to the young unicorn.

"I can make it from here, Princess. You're probably tired right about now, so I should probably let you get to sleep, right?"

Celestia yawned with a hoof over her mouth, then nodded. "Yes, of course," she said, her half-lidded eyes betraying the regal posture and the lively flow of her mane that was still going. "I will talk to you in the morning, Twilight....if you are awake, that is. Luna may wind up altering your sleep schedule to properly educate you over time, and I fear our schedules may begin to clash. It is necessary if it does come to pass, however."

Celestia's rather serious way of talking over the course of the night had Twilight both confused and concerned, but she knew that if she asked why, Celestia would more than likely deflect, leaving the explanations to Princess Luna instead. Given Luna clearly stated that she would explain everything in front of both of them, she had no doubt that Celestia was doing so in order to get Twilight to take this as seriously as possible. What was the reason for all of this hush-hush seriousness, though?

"Of course, Princess. Still, I hope I don't wind up becoming somepony that's only around at night, we'd never get to enjoy our morning tea together, or talk about my studies or your current political and charity work, and the layout for the most recent addition to Las Pegasus....I miss doing those things," she muttered, lightly scuffing her hoof against the floor. "....Princess, am I weird for wishing that I could go back to curling up against your side and browsing through your most recent legislatures, laws and treaties to give you my own opinion, like you used to ask me for? Remember, before I first went to Ponyville?"

The Solar Princess smiled wide. "Of course I remember, how could I ever forget? It was always so wonderful to have another bright, sharp-witted young filly, and then young mare, at my side to give me a second point of view that I could trust to be unbiased and completely neutral, not to mention very well thought-out and from a pony with a pure heart that held no secret agendas."

Twilight could only grin and blush at such a compliment from her mentor, nodding along with her statement. "I-I didn't know you thought so highly of my opinions, Princess! It's very nice to know that....thank you."

They both parted ways after Celestia gave her student a small nuzzle. "Be well, and remember your promise, my faithful student."

"I-I will! Goodnight, Princess!"

Twilight turned and began up the stairs once Celestia began to walk away, the Princess's rather serious concern with her meeting with Luna giving Twilight pause to think and consider everything that had happened thus far. The Nightmare, the similarities between this new magic and the Nightmare's, the origin of said magic, the Nightmare calling her its sister....she still couldn't make complete sense of it, though she did have her suspicions about the Nightmare and Princess Luna.

As she approached the top of the tower, she looked up at the new, heavy-looking double doors with a small sense of awe. It was a gigantic purple-tinted door with several solid metal studs in it made of the same metal as the Night Guard armor, with ornate etchings dug out of the mahogany the door itself was made out of. The entire door seemed to be sparkling, the clear image of bright, strong stars shining in the painted wood as if they were actually there before her eyes.

Before she could think to knock on a door of such immaculate quality, an aura of magic engulfed the large brass loops acting as handles on the door, the dark auras pulling them outward, away from the room itself. In the back of her mind, Twilight thought that to be very odd design, but she didn't bring it up. It wasn't all that important anyways.

When the doors opened, Twilight was beyond surprised at what she saw. On the other side of her threshold, operating in dim candlelight,was Princess Luna in all of her moonlit glory. What truly surprised Twilight was what she was busy doing, however: the room was filled with various modern and dated technology! Luna was moving between a series of telescopes of varying sizes, her magic floating an abacus next to her that she was rapidly adjusting with a hoof.

She had clearly used the abacus a lot since she didn't even need to look at it to accurately shift the counters along their wooden tracks, the constant and somehow satisfying click-clack of wood knocking against wood sounding off in constant rhythm. What she was counting Twilight hadn't a clue, but whatever she was studying, it had something to do with the stars, whatever she had under the microscopes on the table nearby, and several books that were laying near each of the stations she'd set up.

Luna looked to Twilight when she turned around, bowing her head to the mare while walking past her to a small table directly next to the entrance to her room, her dark magical aura enveloping the doors to her room and smoothly pushing them shut, the magic-based lock falling into place after Luna gave it a charge.

"Welcome to my laboratory, Twilight," she said, smiling faintly while approaching the lavender mare. "I trust you are doing much better after a week of rest?"

"This is amazing, all the things you're doing in here!" Twilight said, awestruck as she looked up to find an opening in the ceiling, various rings encircling the equally circular opening, in conjunction with the position of the moon, it seemed. "But, wait....I thought this was your room, not your lab?"

"Oh, it is both," Luna said, waving a hoof towards a dark corner of the room, a vague shape resembling a bed residing in the shadows, a large window directly next to it. The window was covered with wooden shutters completely, preventing any light from coming through the opening. "But yes, as I asked, you are doing much better now?"

Twilight looked around for a moment longer before responding, some microscopic organisms under one microscope Luna wasn't using catching her interest. "Oh yes, I'm doing much better! No more nightmares in my sleep, no more dark creatures sprouting from the walls, all of it has stopped."

"No doubt due to what you are now," she muttered, sighing. "Twilight, has your magic been questionable in its behavior recently? A bit difficult to control at times, constantly getting more powerful, those sorts of problems?"

"Well, yes I have, I've even been avoiding using my magic on things that would normally be very simple, like picking up a sandwich, or drinking from a tea cup....why?"

Luna stepped closer to her, causing Twilight to blush slightly. "The transition seems to be going well then, though there seem to be some hiccups occurring."

"U-uh....what transition?"

"Ah....you have not figured it out then. A shame, simply telling you takes all the fun out of situations such as this, but you want answers, and I did promise them," she said, standing and walking over to her telescope, her hoof flicking a few wooden balls on her abacus without her looking at it. "I will tell you all that is pertinent to what is going on, and if you have any questions, you may ask them afterwards."

"Uh, first things first! Why did you-th-that is, why did our....horns, touch?" she asked, fidgeting nervously and looking away, her gaze falling down to the floor. "I know you passed knowledge about that weird magic over to me, but-"

"Why that method?" Luna asked, smirking. "I have been asked that numerous times in the past. The reason is simple: it's the quickest and most guaranteed way for me to transfer my memories to another unicorn."

"You mean, you can do that with any unicorn?"

"No, just those that descend from my own bloodline."

"That must be a very compli-WHAT?!"

It took Twilight a moment to register that last part, but the moment she did a plethora of questions cascaded over her like a very eager tidal wave made of irritation, curiosity and even anger.

Luna, however, seemed a bit surprised at Twilight's reaction. "You mean....Tia didn't tell you?" she asked, looking rather confused. "I would have expected her to have confided such information in you, especially after my return to Equestria."

"Wait, nonononono, whoa. Can we go back to the part where I'm a descendant of yours?!"

Luna nodded to her. "I will explain everything."

Twilight sat down with an audible fwump, frowning. "Please do! Because right now, this sounds like a lot of horseapples."

"Really?" Luna asked her, smirking. "Twilight, you are aware that I am as much a mare as my sister, yes? Why is it hard to believe that I could have given birth to foals in the past?"

"Well it's easy to believe that, but for me to be one of them, th-that's just....why wouldn't the Princess tell me?!"

"Most likely because my existence was turned into an old mare's tale, and after that was overthrown by my return, it simply slipped her mind."

Twilight gave Luna a flat look. "My family lineage as a descendant of her sister could just slip her mind? How?! How could such a thing possibly slip her mind?!"

She was becoming visibly freaked out while her mind began to fray, her thoughts beginning to go every which way while she began to pace back and forth. Luna simply watched as Twilight's mumblings ran rapid-fire from her mouth, the young mare trying to decypher Princess Celestia's reasons for keeping such a thing from her....even though she had very little insight on the true workings of her mentor's thought processes.

"I mean maybe she could just be toying with me, but she's usually a prankster when she's bored and playful, not a deceiver. She might have wanted you to tell me instead of her, but that doesn't make a lot of sense-OH NO!" Twilight shouted suddenly, freezing in place, her pupils turning to pinpricks. "What if she's ashamed of me? What if she doesn't want me as a relative?! Wh-what did I do, I must've done something! Did I miss or-or fail a test? Mess up a friendship report?!"

Luna just tilted her head while watching Twilight walk back and forth in front of her, all semblance of calm completely gone in the normally rational mare. It was difficult not to giggle at Twilight's antics, her concern only serving to make the poor unicorn seem direly stressed out over what seemed like nothing to the Night Princess.

"Honestly, you are taking this news far better than many of your ancestors ever did. By now they'd be asking me-"

"How can you be sure?! I-I mean I've never heard about this, and my parents have never made mention of it! What if you're wrong?"

"Ah, there it is. Yes Twilight, I knew the moment I joined you and the Nightmare within her mind."

"But....but how? Would that kind of detail even show in the family lineage records, or whatever they're called?" Twilight asked, exasperated. "I mean if I'd even checked once, I'd have probably found-"

"-THAT your family line began over six-hundred years ago, and your parents had been instructed to follow the most perfect and convincing lie my sister could construct at this time, that lined up with all related records to the information about your family lineage," she said, quietly giggling. "Celestia can be very good at political subterfuge when she wishes to. Deception is more becoming of me, however."

"Mind you, the lie only would have continued until you were deemed old or sensible enough to handle the truth. Then you either would've been paid off with status, land or bits to go along with the constructed lie, if you didn't already believe the lie. With a mind as keen as yours however, I believe you would have seen between the lines," Luna said with a grin. "Celestia believed the same thing. She was so thankful she didn't have to be so underhooved with you."

"Then...." Twilight mumbled, her eyes wide and a saddened expression overcoming her. She slumped into a sitting position in front of Luna, looking down at the ground. "The only reason she made me her student...."

"Oh, no no, Twilight. That was a lie of omission, not an outright lie. She endeavored to lie to you in the most harmless ways possible about this. She cares for you deeply, more than I've ever seen for many of her past students," Luna said, bowing her head with a genuine, cheerful smile. "You are very powerful, and there is a lot of latent magical prowess within you. Celestia simply wished to help you learn how to limit it, control it."

Twilight stared at the floor for a little longer, mulling over what Luna just told her, memories of her time at the castle and time specifically spent with Celestia flashing by rapid-fire. It didn't take her long to come to the proper conclusion.

"I suppose you're right. Princess Celestia really was always there for me, even when I was a little filly and I woke her up before it was time for the sun to come up so I could begin my studies early," she muttered with a small laugh, sitting up straighter. "She was a magnificent teacher. Why didn't she ever teach me about this magic?"

"Because this magic is my domain, just as it is yours now. She cannot fathom it, much like how you and I cannot fathom Celestia's divine magic," Luna said with a smile, motioning Twilight over with a hoof. "Come, step into the light of my divine duty."

Twilight stood as she was instructed, following a little behind Luna and off to the Princess's left. Luna used her magic to open the glass doors leading to her balcony and walked outside, the full moon still high up in the night sky.

Twilight and Luna took a seat at the balcony, the young mare seeming slightly uncomfortable sitting close to Princess Luna. It wasn't just because of what happened with their horns touching and the 'sensation' sending such a magical pulse through her that....well, that would come up a little later, as far as she was concerned.

It was because she was being so casual about the whole event! Maybe it was just because she was a virgin, but it seemed like a big issue to Twilight!

Of course she could have been feeling uncomfortable because of how the moonlight was making her feel. It was an odd sensation, like a chill that wouldn't go away, even on this Summer night. This high up on a mountain it was expected of the air to be fairly chilly, but somehow she knew it wasn't her surroundings. It was something within her that felt eager to get out, to be used and exposed, and the moonlight was making that urge difficult to resist. Yet, she hadn't a clue how to do so without risking losing control of it.

"This is all my daughter's doing. Not the one you descended from, the Nightmare."

Twilight just blinked and looked to Luna in disbelief, figuring this night couldn't possibly have anything more mind-blowing than 'you're a descendant of a Goddess' to throw at her.

"Long ago, war broke out in Equestria, thanks to some dissident forces within that wished to seize power. My sister and I were forced to battle, but she took a more tactical role. I did as well, but I often waded into the carnage when my assistance could make a substantial difference."

"Then it happened. Several unicorns appeared from the debris I was making my way through, all of them wearing illegal enchantments that amplified their magic to an astonishing degree. They tore my escort apart and then tore into me. Mortals have no chance at killing a Goddess however, no matter how hard they try," she said, then laughed a bitter, sad kind of laugh. "They can make us writhe in pain something horrendous, though!"

"They tore me apart, literally. They were trying to dismember my body and lock my body parts in boxes so I couldn't pull myself together. They got my left hindleg locked away before a volley of magic from a backup unit took them by surprise and blew them to pieces as well."

"Anyway, I had a husband at the time. You would think my husband would have been some sort of General or powerful warrior, come to sweep me off my hooves in a show of brute strength and sheer confident bravado, but I've always respected those with the intellect to keep up with me, at least a little bit," she said, looking over at the intrigued lavender mare next to her. "I do believe that trait runs in the family! Your Mother married your Father because he was smart, if I recall my conversation with them a month ago correctly."

"Why were you talking to my parents?"

"Getting in touch with family, though I told them to keep this fact from your brother as well as you. I did not tell them why, but they complied regardless. If you had found out then, this all would have turned out differently, most likely far worse than things are at the moment."

"In any case, the war....yes, my husband," she muttered, a fond smile appearing on her as she gazed up at the moon. "His name was Book Heart, an odd name to say the least, but he was so very sweet. Well, when he wasn't being the most timid stallion I'd ever met, that is," she said with a happy grin. "He spent so much time with me, as much as he possibly could, always finding obscure books or interesting stories to tell me about. Most would have found such things boring, but he always got so worked up and energetic about them, I could not help but be enthralled!"

"He sounds wonderful....I think even I would've liked him."

"Of that, I have no doubt. Anyways, he and I had a rather....heated dalliance before I headed out for that fight, and it had been three weeks before I had arrived to it. When those mages tore into me....well,"she muttered, looking down from the balcony and tapping her hoof against the ground. "Let's just say that they managed to take a life regardless of whether or not they could take mine."

Twilight wasn't sure how to react to that. For a moment, she thought Luna was referring to the bodyguards she'd mentioned. When the Night Princess looked down to her stomach and ran a hoof over her abdomen however, the unicorn put two and two together.

Before she had a chance to console Luna, the Princess continued. "I was stricken with grief. Heart and I had been trying for over a year to have a foal together," she said, sighing. "Can you imagine how much it would destroy you, to know that you had a child growing within you, only to get that child killed in the midst of a war you already thought was pointless and very stupid?"

"Not only that, my insides, my uterus and some other parts, were damaged irreparably by the attack. Even if we bothered to try, it would be a very long time before I would be able to even chance getting pregnant again."

Luna looked to Twilight and shook her head. "It can take over fifty years, perhaps even longer, for 'non-essential' body parts to fully repair themselves. At the time, I was completely convinced that my dear Heart and I would never have a foal of our own because of it. So I made a very, very bad choice."

Luna turned away from where she was sitting, walking to one side of the balcony and looking down over the edge, eyeing the guards patrolling the gardens below with a lazy gaze. Twilight moved to join her, but Luna held up a hoof to stop her. She pointed down at the guards while her horn lit up with a pitch-black aura, and Twilight looked down as Luna motioned her to the edge again.

Twilight gasped and almost called out, but Luna's magic held her muzzle shut as shadows appeared from the shrubbery, slowly stalking up behind one of the guards. Their hooves made no sound, a second and a third joining in, one behind each of the three guards patrolling the area.

Twilight's eyes went wide as they moved up behind the guards, each shadow moving like a cat hiding in the tall grass, waiting to get close enough before pouncing. They moved in perfect synchronization, all three shadows moving together until they were all directly behind all three guards. All at once, they rose up with forehooves and forelegs held high, sailing through the air....

....And they floated just behind each of the guards, their hooves covering their eyes.

"Guess who?!"

Each shadow burst into a puff of black that seeped into the ground before the guards even managed to spin around, a hoof reaching up on the other side of the guards from underneath the dirt to poke at their sides. Just as quickly, all three shadows' hooves tucked back into the dirt before the three guards could turn their heads and find out who was there.

The final straw came with especially long legs jumping out of the ground, one for each guard, only to knock noisily on their helmets, like a pony knocking on a door. Each leg burst to smoke once again and tucked down into the ground, and each of the three guards looked visibly shaken. Luna was shaking with laughter, but her hoof was held over her muzzle, her horn dying down and the magic holding Twilight's muzzle closed faded away.

Twilight couldn't help but join in the laughter when she saw all three guards running towards each other and talking about what happened. It only served to freak them out even more when the word 'ghost' came up between them. They eventually went back to their rounds, but they were far, far more alert this time, their eyes darting this way and that every once in a while.

Twilight watched Luna head back into her bedroom, following the Princess's lead with light laughter as their accompaniment. "That was so mean, Princess!"

"Hah, I know, but they are doing their jobs far better now, are they not?"

Twilight couldn't deny that, and her laughter continued for a moment, but Luna was already done. She almost looked somber with a smile, sad but happy one could say, or perhaps unreadable. If anything, Luna was reminiscing about times long past, of that Twilight had no doubt.

"I was stricken with grief, upon finding out. It pained me to see my dear husband standing at my bedside, his desires taken from him because of a single ambush. So I endeavored to use magic to make his wishes come true."

"Every immortal being, with some exceptions, has certain domains that they watch over. You of course know this, you are after all an accomplished scholar with a penchant for books, no doubt you know the domains my sister watches over," she said, then grinned. "To keep things simple tonight, I will say that one of my domains is Creation itself. It is what our magic embodies, it is what our magic is derived from."

Luna smirked and looked over at Twilight out of the corner of her eye. "Perhaps you have put it to use more than you realize. There are many kinds of scholars: those that follow based on established rules, laws, formulas and experiments, and there are those that actively go out to try and discover their own truths. They experiment, they come up with applications for old formulas to create new ones, and are generally the ones that lead civilization forward. That is how they make the best use of their creativity, by finding that which already exists using a combination of their knowledge and their desire to manipulate the laws of the world."

Luna walked over to Twilight and placed a hoof on her shoulder, smiling warmly. "My sister has stated that you remind her of myself, a lot. We are very much alike in this regard, but the difference is that I had thousands of years to think, test, experiment and apply my discoveries, to the point that my understanding of the world was beyond even our most intrepid of bookworms. Hay, most ponies thought the world was still flat when I began undertaking a very....questionable experiment."

Luna dropped her raised hoof to the floor and frowned. "I understand why Celestia allowed me to try it, she hoped that upon my attempt I would simply give up and deal with my grief. I do not think she ever believed the device I built would work."

"Given her reservations, I did not tell her that it actually did, not at first. With the assistance of several of my most trusted assistants, we locked ourselves within the massive device itself and performed several tests on the little filly that came out of the whole endeavor. My Little Star, I used to call her....!"

The sound of Luna's words choking off made Twilight keenly aware of the teary-eyed Goddess in the room, instead of her internal attempt to fathom a device that could potentially create life itself. Sure, living creatures made such a feat look simple, just add intercourse, mix in the right time of the month for creatures like ponies that have estrus cycles, and in a while you've got a brand new baby. Doing it without these prerequisites, however....!

"Her prowess with the magic we share was immense, especially with her being a newborn young filly in a body that seemed to be around the age of five. Her mind was pure, new, ready to take in fresh experiences. She cried for my embrace, she laughed at the appropriate stimuli, even ate and digested food properly....it was an absolute success. Within a single year, she learned to speak, walk properly, everything that one would expect of a newborn pony and then some. I could scarcely believe what I had managed. To be honest, it scared me."

"Celestia warned me that I was performing things that could bring ruin down upon myself and my subjects if I was not careful. Yet, she allowed me to continue if I assured her enough that I was being careful, also I promised to not use the device again. I would not dare do such a thing again, doing it once was a terrifying kind of success, one can imagine the possibilities one with ill intent could reach if they learned how to use such a thing."

"The secret was safe, however. Nopony knew of my little Moonlight Star outside of the castle anyways, not even my husband knew about her. Only my closest assistants knew along with my sister, and we both visited her several times in the day. I would have let her out of the device, but it was like a very large laboratory in and of itself, and it contained her immense magical power. Until I taught her proper control, I couldn't risk her going outside and wreaking havoc on Equestria, by accident or otherwise."

"Thus, every day Celestia and I visited her, spoke with her, taught her various things while helping her to learn to control and focus her magic. She was a fast learner, but the sheer amount of magic power she has seems to be unfathomable at this point. Even after a year, she couldn't fully control it, but she was doing very well by that point."

"Two weeks after that one-year anniversary for her, I found myself waking up sick and having odd cravings for very bizarre food combinations. A visit to the doctor gave me news I hadn't been expecting in the least."

Luna blushed a little, and Twilight just smirked and gave the Princess a teasing nudge. "Another 'heated dalliance'? Don't tell me they didn't have protection spells back then, I've done my research!"

The Night Princess couldn't help but laugh a little. "It wasn't that! It's just....well, why bother with protection when you've been led to believe that part of you isn't functioning properly in the first place? Besides, he and I wanted a foal of our own," she said matter-of-factly, then cleared her throat. "But yes, I was pregnant, almost for a whole month actually. I didn't tell Star until she asked what the lump in my belly was."

"Later in the second year, I became incapable of visiting as much both from fatigue due to carrying a very active unborn foal around inside of myself as well as concern for the condition of my 'parts', for lack of a better term. I did not wish to risk a miscarriage due to putting strain on a part of myself that had been put into use before it was truly ready to take the full strain."

"Because of this, there were several days that my little Star had no visits from myself or my sister. After a while, she began to be....distant, during my visits. I couldn't fathom why at the time," she said, frowning and shaking her head. "I should have seen it sooner, she always flinched away from the researchers when we walked the halls of that laboratory after I began staying away two, three days at a time. We would talk, but the shine in her eyes was gone and her smiles were so off, like there was something just beneath them that I could not quite see."

"Finally the time came for me to give birth, and for a whole week I stayed away from the lab. I cannot fathom what they did to her to send her over the edge, nor do I wish to, but as my husband came to see me to my room after I got out of the hospital, the entire castle shook under the force of a vast amount of magic. Given such a powerful pulse could have come from only one source, I quickly dismissed myself from my husband's care and took off alone towards the laboratory."

"I hadn't a clue what had happened, but I felt such a sense of dread, as if something in my life was horribly out of place. No doubt you have felt it as well, the more you have become attuned to this new font of magical power, yes?"

Luna noticed that Twilight seemed enthralled with the story, despite how grim it was. It made sense, it was a story after all, and she soaked up knowledge like a sponge, of that Luna had no doubt.

Twilight nodded in response, lightly tapping her chin with a hoof. "So, these odd mixed feelings I've been getting, they aren't mine?"

"Most likely not. Our magic relies on emotions, and we can be influenced by the emotions of anypony else that has a connection to this magic if we do not know how to block them out. It takes some practice, but you will know how by night's end."

With the story almost over, Luna took up her abacus and a couple pieces of paper, placing them on a clipboard and walking over to the largest telescope she had, her eye pressing to the guard around the smaller lens and peering into the night sky. The click-clack of wooden counters were heard as Luna rapidly worked her way through mathematical equations, her horn lighting up and levitating a quill to the paper to take some notes and make some small sketches.

"When I got there, I opened the door and saw my daughter just....sitting there. In the hall. Dead bodies all around her. One of them had even been torn in half," Luna said, lifting her head away from the telescope. "I was in utter disbelief. My mind jumped to looking for any possibility, any reason why such a thing could possibly happen. Not once did I think to blame my daughter, at the time."

"I approached her and hugged her close. She didn't return it. After a few moments, I felt a sharp pain in my head. I began to feel manic, maddening fury. I could keenly feel every microscopic piece of stone beneath my hooves, and I could hear the panic of ponies far above and beyond my natural hearing. Everything was amplified, including my own emotions....along with hers."

"I realized what was happening the moment I discovered I could feel her as well. Before her corruption could fully take hold, I stumbled back and ran out of the lab as quickly as I could. The safeguards must have been in place and functioning properly, because she did not gave chase and stayed put within the confines of the device."

Luna visibly shuddered and rubbed her hoof over her right foreleg, looking down at the floor. "To make a long story short, I managed to warn Celestia and give her my final wishes before my daughter managed to completely take over my body. My sister used the Elements of Harmony to seal me away in the moon after a very heated battle, then used the information I gave her to seal the device and strengthen the safeguards to last as long as possible."

"The fight with my sister ended with the castle being abandoned due to one of my spells altering the entirety of the Everfree Forest to function under a long-forgotten rule of the natural world in Equestria," she said, motioning out towards the balcony. "Natural Selection is a scientific terms which basically means 'survival of the fittest'. If you are not smarter, stronger, and more adaptable than the others of your species or the predators that may want to eat you, you will be killed off while those worthy of survival will live on to pass along their genes. It is harsh, but always fair."

"That is the penultimate rule that a chaotic, uncontrolled world would operate under. We impose control on our surroundings to gain peace and harmony with every living thing we allow to exist within Equestria."

Luna took a deep breath and closed her eyes, sitting up straighter and stretching her wings out. "That is all there is to that tale. My sister sent my husband away for a month with our daughter to avoid him finding out what truly happened, but he figured it out anyways. The cover story she came up with was just too suspicious to him, given he knew how happy he and I were just before I....well," she muttered, reaching up to wipe a stray tear from under her eye. "You know what happened to me."

Twilight furrowed her brow, a small fire building in her head as she mulled over the story that she'd just heard, her eyes scanning the ground but taking in none of its details. No, she was sorting through every little detail of what she'd heard and kept finding it at odds with what recently-revealed historical documents had listed as the recorded events of a thousand years prior.

"Are you saying that everything that I've been led to believe is historically accurate, including the story about The Mare In The Moon, is wrong?"

"Believe me when I say that we are not proud of this falsification," Luna said, shaking her head. "There is little else we can do, however. If we told the truth, how do you think all of Equestria would react? Such a thing is too great a risk to take, Twilight. Better that my fall from grace be reflected as a lesson worth being taught to young foals than having it strike terror and paranoia into the hearts and minds of our subjects."

Twilight just shook her head and clenched her teeth, sitting down and rubbing her temples with her forehooves. "This is ridiculous! If I didn't know better I'd think both you and Princess Celestia are lying about this," she said, taking a deep breath and blinking her eyes open. "So what is all this supposed to mean? Why didn't Princess Celestia try to kill your daughter?"

"She did....that's where the greatest fear of her comes from."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, quirking a brow. "If your daughter couldn't run away, what stopped the Princess from defeating her?"

Luna shook her head. "Oh, Celestia did indeed defeat her. She just couldn't kill her. As far as my sister told me, she poured everything she could risk of herself into putting my little Star out of her misery. It should have been that simple, light is the dominant power in the universe over the shadows. Light can freely give and take away what the shadows rule over," she said, her horn lighting up and levitating a candle over, unlit. "You see, this candle is shrouded in darkness because there is no light."

Twilight tilted her head a bit, looking down at it before looking up to Luna once more. "Well yes, that's true, but....wait...."

Luna smiled a little and nodded. "You're on the right line of thinking. You see, if you light the candle, the darkness is instantly banished from whatever the light touches. Yet, there is no way for the darkness to take back what it lost, no way for the darkness itself to snuff out the light on its own," she muttered, frowning. "Celestia holds complete control over whether or not I live or die, whereas I could never pose a threat to her no matter how hard I tried. With a single spell, whether by accident or on purpose, she could snuff me out in an instant. This is something that Celestia hated more than anything else about our relationship."

"You mean because you are sisters?"

Luna was quiet for a moment, just staring at Twilight, visibly torn between speaking up on the matter and keeping her mouth shut. Still, she promised truths, and if Twilight was going to be like her, she deserved to know the full truth. She was family after all.

"Celestia and I are not sisters. Not by blood, anyways."

Twilight's jaw almost hit the floor. "Wha....why-you-she....huh?" she squeaked out.

"Celestia and I have never truly been related to one another. We have simply accepted that as a more spiritual truth because we are the only two Goddesses in existence on Earth. There have been others such as Discord and N'tumba, but they have usually wound up at odds with the peace and harmony-loving world we have struggled to build."

"W-who...." Twilight barely muttered, shaking her head and doing her best to put such thoughts on the backburner. She was beginning to feel like 'just accept it' would be her answer to most of the issues she had with what she was being told. Why would the Princess lie? "Who's N'tumba?"

"The God of War. He disappeared a very long time ago, long before the incident with Moonlight Star and my banishment."

"Oh. I see," Twilight muttered numbly, her left eye twitching. "I'm sorry Princess Luna, this is all....really hard to just take in and accept. I mean, what you've told me, it changes the very history of Equestria and completely alters the truth about what happened between you and Princess Celestia! Why would you be happy with being painted as a jealous younger sibling that almost caused a coup against the throne itself?"

Luna could only laugh at that. "Celestia accepted my return with open hooves, did she not? I have proven to our subjects that I have no intention of making such a mistake again. Overcoming such a 'truth' about myself is far easier for all of Equestria to accept than a very dirty secret being locked away for a thousand years in order to cover up my greatest mistake of my very extensive existence."

"That-I-....I suppose I can't argue with that. It just feels wrong to lie to your entire nation, though!"

"I would have to agree with that," Luna said, bowing her head. "I take solace in the fact that the tale woven has become more of a cautionary one, something that young foals should take to heart as a lesson in controlling themselves and never allowing hate and anger to control their actions and thoughts. That was the purpose of the lie, after all, aside from being a cover-up."

Twilight just let out a deep breath and nodded to her, looking out towards the night sky. "This is just so much to take in. First I find out I'm related to a Goddess by blood, then I find out that this thing that's been obsessed with me is yet another relative that wants nothing more than to destroy everything and everyone I hold dear. Then on top of THAT, I find out that the two rulers of Equestria aren't even truly blood relatives and have both been lying to our entire country for a very long time!" she half-shouted, stamping a forehoof against the floor. "I'm sorry, but I just....I don't know how to feel!"

"And that is why we will begin your lesson now. Come," Luna said, walking over to the fireplace located away from the telescopes and papers and tables she had set up, closer to where her bed was in the room. Five cushions were set up in a half-circle in front of the fireplace built into the wall, and Luna laid down on the middle one while her horn lit up and started a fire that began small, but quickly grew and engulfed the three small logs that she'd placed in the fireplace. She patted the cushion next to her on her left, looking over to Twilight. "Lay here with me and relax your body. Then I will teach you how to relax your mind."

Luna bid Twilight goodbye, both of the mares having spent a good hour talking and examining the stars together before Twilight got herself ready to leave. The lesson itself was simple enough, being something close to meditation, but more focused on shutting down and controlling emotions than centering the mind and body. Twilight took to it with ease, no doubt due to her strong will.

Luna's spirits were high after spending such an enjoyable amount of time with a new friend! Celestia had been right, she and Twilight got along as if they'd been friends their entire lives, and Luna wouldn't have wanted it any other way right now. After forcing herself to mentally relive everything that had happened so long ago, she needed something to relieve her of the sorrow that was quickly wrapping itself around her heart and her thoughts, poisoning them and making her feel even more horrible than she already did.

She would begin Twilight's training as gently as she could, but eventually, things would take a turn towards places she so very much wished she would never have to go....but it was unavoidable now.

"I have no doubt that I will beg her forgiveness on more than one occasion over the next few decades, depending on how long this takes....are you still awake, Strider?" she asked, reaching to her neck and pressing her hoof against something metallic there.

It was invisible at first, but when she used her magic to remove it, the choker appeared right before her eyes, a small metal object in the middle of it glowing with arcane magic. She set it down on the table just as a response from it made her smile.

"Of course, your majesty! I am one of your most dedicated servants. Surely you wouldn't expect me to fall asleep on the job just because I am mostly confined to my bed?"

Luna giggled and shook her head, walking over to her abacus and looking through a few more sheets while putting it to use. "Heh, of course we would not expect such from thee, one of my blessed guards!" she said, humming thoughtfully. "The enchantment we hath placed upon that accessory worked perfectly, it seems! Our manner of speech was corrected no matter how we believed we were speaking to Twilight, 'tis magnificent!"

"Not to mention you allowed me to listen in through it. I'm glad that you trust me with the truth, your majesty. I promise that my lips are sealed on the matter though, I'd rather not cause a crisis of faith or something," he said through the choker. "Permission to enter, Princess?"

"Permission granted, Watcher."

She could easily make out the limp in Strider's hoofsteps as he pushed open the door to her room and stepped inside. If he was in pain he didn't show it as he stepped into the light of her room, the electricity left off in favor of the dim glow of candlelight and the moonlight flooding in through the glass and open windows nearby. Luna preferred the more rustic feel compared to the more modern feel most of the castle had these days.

Strider's barrel was wrapped in a metal brace, restricting his movements but still allowing him to walk. The limp was obvious, but his leg was at least healed enough to walk on, the Red String having done its job very efficiently in healing his injuries as best they possibly could in such a comparatively short amount of time. His wings were bound in bandages and nothing more, needing nothing else to assist their healing. As long as Strider didn't remove the bandages and try to fly, his wings would heal just fine over time, a small miracle given how badly one of them had been damaged, the other one merely broken during his unexpected tumble into the side of a building.

The enchantment on the metal brace alleviated the strain of his own weight on his body. Every step he took was lighter than it should've been normally, causing far less pain in his ribs and allowing him to walk around for a set amount of time before he needed to lay down and get the overall weight off of his currently fractured bones.

He sat down near the entrance to the room and bowed his head. "Good evening, Princess Luna."

"A wonderful evening to thee as well, Strider. Please, drop such formalities for tonight, thou art temporarily relieved of duty after all, yes?" she said with a smirk, motioning him to come closer. "So, dost thou accept the new truths revealed to thee?"

"I can understand the reasons for the actions Princess Celestia took," he said, moving to the table to look over some of the notes Luna had taken so far. He organized a few of the papers as he saw fit, based on which notes seemed to fit with each other. "Still, I must also agree with Lady Sparkle, it does feel a little wrong to lie to all of Equestria like this."

Luna laughed. "Only a little?"

"Okay, quite a bit!" he said, looking to the Princess with a smirk. "But no, this discovery still leaves me unimpeded in my duties," he said, turning to face her after tapping the bottom of a stack of papers against the table, straightening them out. "Speaking of my duties...."

Luna pulled her face away from one of her telescopes and abruptly put a sheet of paper she'd been holding with her magic down as well. "Yes, we have been meaning to discuss thy 'duties' with thee as well! We have had time to ponder on the events leading to your rather grievous injury, and some parts of the incident seem quite suspect to us."

Strider simply bowed his head to Luna and smiled. "I will answer any questions that you have for me, your majesty."

Luna frowned a little and sighed. "Very well. First of all, thou asked us for an extensive detailing of our-"

"You're doing it again, Princess."

"Rrrrrrgh!" she growled out in frustration, her magic grabbing the enchanted choker and slipping it around her neck. "As I was saying! You asked for a detailed psychological profile of my daughter prior to her losing herself. At best, the information I gave you was theoretical since none of what I told you was based upon even a single therapy session with her. What purpose did that serve for you?"

"Truthfully it was less useful than I thought it would be. I didn't run into a situation where talking with her would have served any beneficial purpose in my protection of her assault on Lady Sparkle and her friends," he said, then shrugged. "There was only one part that truly helped me when I realized it: she did indeed remain very playful, despite her madness. She was toying with me the entire time she fought me. She could've killed me in an instant if she wished, but she chose not to."

"That was something else that bothered me. Why did you ask me to take away your blessing?"

"I wished to be weaker than I normally am."

Luna quirked a brow at him. "Why would you wish for such a thing?"

"The next time we encounter her, she will most likely underestimate me. That will give me a certain element of surprise that she won't be able to anticipate, or so I hope. You can never be completely assured in the heat of battle."

"Was that the purpose of the injuries you sustained? Why did you antagonize her if you knew you were so outmatched?!"

"As I said, I confirmed that she was still very playful. The fact that she didn't instantly tear into the crowd of ponies that had gathered around the scene at first was a good hint towards that. When she took her time to inflict as much pain upon me as she could, she confirmed my suspicions."

"She could have killed you!"

"She could have. She didn't, and oddly enough, she seems 'interested' in me. An unexpected bonus to the whole thing, it might just make her spare my life again if I stand against her once more."

Luna just glared at him and shook her head after a moment, a saddened frown on her features, her entire body visibly sagging. "Why do you go so far, Strider? If I did not know you better, I would consider your drive to keep me safe utterly fanatical!" she muttered, looking him in the eyes. "I am asking you to stop going as far as you do."

"It is because I am willing to go as far as I do that I am among your chosen few and more, Princess," he said, looking away. "You know I can't stop. I knew what I was doing-"

"If you had put even a little more power into that shield, your own bones would have torn your insides to shreds! Do you hear me, you would have died! Because of some stupid long-term plan to better your chances at safeguarding my life!"

"These injuries were an unintended consequence of entering combat with her! I made a mistake, a miscalculation, but it still worked, better than I even hoped at first," he said, slightly louder than before. He cleared his throat and looked off to the side, away from her, focusing on the stars outside instead. "Regardless, what is done is done. My risk bore fruit, now I merely have to wait to enjoy the end result, however slight it may have increased my chances of keeping you safe."

Luna could only sigh and shake her head, a sad smile appearing on her face suddenly as she stepped over to Strider and placed a hoof on his shoulder. "I am not made of glass, Strider. She cannot strike me down with a single swing of her hoof or a single casting of one of her spells."

"She corrupted you when she was only a year old!"

"She caught me off-guard, I was wide open mentally, spiritually and physically. She had no resistance to get through back then," she said, looking him in the eyes. "You do not have to risk your life like this to secure my safety, Strider. You seem to forget that I am a Goddess, immortal! Yes, she can kill me, but by far it would not be an easy task for her to undertake."

He leaned his head back away from hers, furrowing his brow. "I-I know that!"

"Then why do you act as if you cannot risk her laying a single hoof on me?"

Strider looked away from her and hung his head for a moment, a pensive look overtaking him before he did his best to sit up straight once more. The pain in his chest made that almost impossible.

"I can't risk her having even a slight chance of taking one of our rulers away from us. Equestria needs you."

"Equestria grew just fine under my sister's singular rule for a thousand years."

He looked away from her once more and closed his eyes. "....I stand by my statement. If my life can secure your safety...."

She frowned at him and her hoof fell away from his shoulder, the Princess simply shaking her head at that and closing her eyes. She turned away from him and walked towards her balcony, her wings spreading wide and the moonlight spilling into the room intensifying.

Her horn lit up and the balcony doors flew open, Luna's body turning a darker color and growing in size, small fangs elongating until they grew out of her mouth, her legs growing longer and her mane becoming even more majestic than it was already, the pegasus only able to watch as Princess Luna swiftly changed into the Nightmare Moon figure that struck fear into so many ponies that believed the false history.

Strider knew otherwise, however. He knew many things for that matter that very few others knew, only Luna's other personal guards could claim to know what he knew. For one, this form of hers was a natural embodiment of the Night Princess, it was her at her full strength, a figure of utter beauty and terrible power. He stood up and slowly stepped forward, watching her step into the empowered moonlight shining down onto her balcony.

"Step into the light of the night, Wind Strider, and be judged."

He swallowed hard and slowly walked towards the balcony, the light of the moon bringing a chill to his skin that felt neither cold nor hot, but rather it felt as if the light itself was caressing his body, like the touch of a gentle lover. He couldn't decide whether it was unnerving, or relaxing. Ultimately, the feeling of being wanted that it gave him won out, and a faint smile curved the corners of his mouth up as he stood there, the Princess turning to look down at him. She was smiling as well.

She removed her choker and set it aside. "Thou hast been judged, and the moon has found thee worthy. Thy intentions are pure and thy will is strong and just," she said, gently reaching up and grasping the sides of his head with her hooves, leaning down towards him. "We accept you once more as one of our chosen few."

He could feel his body bracing even as Luna's elongated horn touched his forehead, the magic from it pouring into him and permeating every single fiber of his body. His muscles tensed and pain shot through his damaged leg and his chest, the bones protesting in their own way to the changes that were occurring in his body. His fur began to darken and turn a gray color, his normally dark blue coat of fur shifting to a darker gray color.

He felt a stinging in his eyes and he clenched them shut for the remainder of the transformation, his wings twitching within their bandages as the feathers began to disappear and meld together into a single piece, rows upon rows of feathers disappearing in favor of instead having wing membrane give him a more solid and effective form of flight.

Next he felt his teeth changing within his mouth, fangs forming along with sharper teeth here and there. He was still herbivorous by all means, but he now had another very dangerous weapon in combat: some flesh-rending teeth.

He could feel the muscles in his body become more solid, yet they still maintained their light structure, as was necessary for any creature that flew through the skies, whether in the night or during the day. His body did not bulge with more muscles, rather, he felt as if his body had become more streamlined and his muscles more durable and strong while staying as they were.

Finally he opened his eyes, the initial strain of the powerful moonlight dying down after he blinked a couple of times. He already knew what kind of gift his eyes had been graced with, the ability to see in the dark, but he would test it out some other time.

The final physical change came in the form of the function of his ears. They were altered ever-so-slightly on the inside rather than the outside. He could make a clicking noise with his tongue or with his hooves, and by focusing on the sounds, he could get a mental image of the area around him by way of magically imbued echolocation.

With the changes complete, he blinked his eyes open fully and looked up to Luna, a gleeful grin on his lips. "It's good to be back to my usual self, Princess!"

Luna simply nodded to him, her tall and imposing midnight-colored figure looming over the somewhat shorter stallion, yet he seemed utterly unfazed by this. Soon the moonlight returned to normal, and Luna relaxed her connection to her magical power, slowly shrinking down and losing her own fangs, returning to the somewhat normal-sized pony she usually presented herself as.

"Well then, with that done Strider, we do believe our business is concluded for the night! Thou art dismissed, return to thy quarters and rest, we have kept thee on thy hooves for long enough."

He bowed his head and turned to walk away. "As you wish, your majesty."

"Oh, and Strider?"

He paused in place just short of stepping into the shadows that permeated Luna's room, turning his head to look back at her. "Yes, Princess?"

She had already turned away from him to look up at her night sky, taking in the sight of her majestic night as she often did when she got the chance. "Please do not misunderstand. We are truly grateful for thy dedication to our safety," she said, looking to him as well now. "We simply fear that thou may go too far one day. Please refrain from such self-endangerment in the future unless absolutely necessary. Promise us this."

He stood there for a moment, contemplating such a request. He thought she was being rather protective given this was only his second time doing something so risky, but if she wanted him to promise....

He turned to her and lowered down closer to the ground in something like a bow, the metal brace not allowing him to lower down completely. "I promise that I will do my best to refrain from such dangerous plans in the future."

With that, his body suddenly faded to pitch-black along with the brace he was wearing and his bandages, the batpony sliding back into the shadows behind him and disappearing. "Have a good night, Princess." he said while fading out, soon melding into the shadows and disappearing from the room.

Luna looked back to the night sky with a small smile, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "If only we could believe thou would keep such a promise...." she sighed, stepping back into her room and returning to her calculations.

She had to make the most of whatever time she could find to indulge in one of her favorite hobbies, because Twilight's training was going to take up a lot of her free time from now on.

Chapter 4 - Investigation (final)

Chapter 4 - Investigation

written by Fire Soul

Strider stood outside of the Everfree Forest, the sound of leaves rustling in the breeze accompanying the vaguely noticeable sound of wildlife moving through the underbrush. He'd made sure to approach the forest from a less obvious section, staying a short distance from the main path outside of Ponyville.

He stepped past the treeline, hooves crunching some underbrush as he walked. Just three minutes into the wild growth, he spotted another pony hiding up in a thicker-looking tree, the slight sound of his hooves shifting against the bark warning Strider of his presence.

He smiled and gave a short whistle to the pony in the tree, causing him to jump down from the branch with an almost unheard tap of his hooves against the ground. Strider nodded to him, the much smaller and more slender stallion bowing his head in return.

The clearly younger pegasus stallion was athletically built, yet far more slender than one would ever expect from a member of the guard. He clashed with the surrounding greens and browns, his sky-blue fur and white mane making him stand out compared to Strider's brown fur and pitch-black mane. Dark blue eyes completed the gentle and deceptive look the stallion carried with him, his effeminate figure telling all too false a tale of what Strider knew he was capable of.

The rattle of Shadow's hoofblade drew his attention to it after his landing. He brought it up and examined the straps for a moment before taking the time to tighten them.

"Morning, sir."

Strider glanced around, only to be pointed to a nearby tree by his associate. "Morning, Shadow. You look tired."

The stoic stallion simply shook his head. "Nothing I can't deal with, sir."

Strider had to admit, Shadow's no-nonsense demeanor really clashed with his overall appearance. One would think a pony so brightly colored would have more of a sunny disposition.

"You know you don't have to be so formal with me," he said, walking around the tree and picking up his armor, giving it a quick once-over as well as spotting the enchanted hoofblade and lure that had been provided to him along with his armor. "No one else in the pack talks to me like that."

"Unless we're on assignment," Shadow quickly noted, glancing further into the forest. "Which we are."

"I suppose so. Where are the others?" he asked, slipping his helmet on, then his armored horseshoes, checking them with a small trot before going to pick up the torso of his armor.

Shadow walked over while his superior worked the buckles on his armor loose, enough for him to slip the armor onto himself. The section of the armor covering the back of his neck was secured with Shadow's help, and his assistance made it easy to secure the armor around Strider's body once more. As any guard or soldier knew, putting one's armor on alone could be a real hassle.

"Sharp Eyes and Heavy Load are keeping an eye on Twilight Sparkle from a distance, as per your orders. Red is currently meeting with the Mayor to inform her of the current operation. She has the royal seal." he explained clearly and concisely, standing at full attention once Strider's armor was properly secured on his side.

He nodded a little to that and trotted back and forth a few times to test the straps and buckles before standing up on his hindlegs and taking a few swings at the air to make sure his horseshoes would stay in place. A few flaps of his wings easily lifted him into the air, where he fluttered for a solid minute before coming down and walking around in front of Shadow once more.

"Good. I want you to take up watch just outside of the Everfree near the main entrance, keep an eye out for me. If I'm not out by one this afternoon, assume the worst and report back to Princess Luna immediately."

Shadow stared at him for a moment, his blank expression hiding an uncertainty that he didn't often feel about anything. The world was very black-and-white in his eyes. He looked deeper into the forest again, then back to his superior.

"Are you sure you won't require assistance?"

Strider quickly shook his head and stretched out his wings. "If the worst-case scenario comes to pass, the pack's going to need a new Alpha. That'd be you, obviously," he said while one of his wings popped at the base. "I'll be fine as long as they're simple Shadows and nothing else. You know me."

"Very well, sir," Shadow said, giving a quick salute. "See you in an hour or two."

Shadow made for the main path while Strider worked to get his hoofblade into the correct position on his right foreleg. His mind wandered as he fiddled with the straps and buckles, returning to the moment in Luna's tower that led to a solid week of time for himself. For his entire pack, really.

"You said 'time off'?"

"That would be correct, Princess."

Luna looked up from her papers, staring at him as if he'd suddenly sprouted a second head. "Rainbow Dash, I assume?"

He walked around the lab table with a beaker in his mouth, setting it down next to her. "Yes, your majesty."

"Please don't use my title. Why are you using my title? You should know better than to use my title in the sanctity of my tower."

He shrugged a little. "Can't help it sometimes, what can I say?"

"Yes you can. You are just trying to be manipulative and, oh what was it? Butter me up?"

He walked around the table and across the room to a second one, retrieving a small flask she quickly pointed out to him, her magic busy stabilizing a compound she'd already mixed together. He picked it up and brought it over to the station she was working at, setting it down across from her.

"You know me far too well, and yes, that's the correct terminology!" he said with a cheerful smile.

She thought on the idea for a moment before bothering to refuse him. He didn't make the grade as one of her personal guards because he was handsome, though that was certainly a small bonus for her. He deserved some time to himself, if at all possible.

"I can give you time off, on one condition," she said, setting her instruments down and turning her attention to a sealed chest near her desk, away from her lab equipment. "I have an assignment for you."

He looked to the royal seal on one of the rolled-up parchments that she levitated out of the chest, then back to her. "On top of what I'm doing already?"

"The Shadow Guard do not get vacations. You know this, yet you asked for a vacation anyways."

"...Point taken," he admitted, standing at attention and taking a deep breath. "How may I serve?"

She nodded once and motioned him closer, unrolling an unsealed scroll and setting it down on a clear section of the lab table, her magic turning a burner off so she wouldn't have a spontaneous burst of chemicals all over the both of them.

He walked around the table to stand at the end of it, glancing over the paper from an angle. He read over the top section of the paper, confusion set on his face. "A scouting report?"

"Correct! These are the scouting reports from various branches of the Equestrian military that operate around Ponyville. Ever since the Elements of Harmony were recovered, pegasi scouting parties have been given patrols over the Everfree Forest on a weekly basis," she explained, turning the paper to face him with her hoof, pointing to a specific point. "Things were normal until this exact moment."

He scanned over the upper section of the reports, then gave the part she was pointing to a more detailed read. "Increased activity of Wild Shadows...that's unusual, sure, but what's the significance?"

"Do you recall the incident, with Twilight Sparkle?"

"I do...ah, I see," he said, scanning over the paper again. "The day immediately after. Right here, early morning."

"Indeed," she said, shaking her head a little. "While it is entirely possible that this is merely a coincidence, I cannot dismiss the possibility that these two issues are connected. Twilight Sparkle is a bright, sharp and focused mare, who loves to study and learn. I cannot imagine it was merely the pressures of advanced schooling and tests that made her snap, not even a full steady year of it."

He frowned a little and looked towards one of her open windows, in the direction of Ponyville. "That seems like quite a stretch, especially with her all the way in Canterlot at the time. How could anything from the Everfree influence her?"

"After reading about some of the incidents that have occurred within Ponyville, I would believe just about anything, and I am a millennia-old Goddess!" she said with a small giggle, her magic breaking the royal seal on another rolled-up document, opening it. "In any case, your mission is as follows..."

He focused his attention on her, standing tall and firm in place while watching her turn to walk towards the open balcony next to the stairs that led to the storage area of the tower, where a multitude of alchemical ingredients were stowed away for the Princess's personal use in her tower laboratory. If she wasn't creating, she was delving into the intriguing art of science, and he enjoyed his nights standing guard in her tower if only to watch her work with all the enthusiasm and interest of a mad scientist.

Luna opened her balcony's blinds to let the moonlight shine in, smiling more as the cold rays of her divine charge bathed her in the energies of the Void. She looked back to him and motioned for him to join her.

Strider smiled at the invitation and walked calmly over towards the balcony, taking a seat next to her after she sat down, gazing over the city of Canterlot and the nightlife it seemed to have nowadays. The Red District in particular was very bright and active, despite it being one in the morning. Not surprising, since DJ-P0N3 ran her own club there.

"You are to infiltrate the Everfree Forest at ground level, and force a confrontation with the numerous Wild Shadows that seem to be running more rampant than usual. You will be allowed the assistance of your pack, and you may use their skills as you see fit as long as your activities are not brought to the attention of the public," she explained calmly, glancing over to him. "Destroy any Shadows you encounter with the lure that will be provided, and use that keen mind of yours to glean any intimate details in their behavior from the encounter."

He nodded to her and grinned. "Shadows are easy as can be to me, Luna."

"Indeed, but the sudden increase in their activity speaks to something being outside of the usual behavioral patterns. I fear someone may be attempting to control them. Perhaps even someone using dark magic to control the souls of the dead sealed within the Shadows," she said, frowning a little at the thought of such a vile thing. "Regardless, this increase in activity indicates that the souls of the dead are restless. Put them at ease, Strider."

He snapped a quick salute, nodding once to her with a cocky smile. "As always, you can count on me, Princess!"

She smirked and tapped her chin in mock-thought. "Normally, this task would take little more than a day, but since this is a sensitive situation...I believe that thou shalt be given a full week to carry out thine mission," she said with a small twinkle in her eye, glancing over to him with a bemused expression. "Does that sound like a satisfactory vacation for you?"

"You're aware that if I get injured, there will be questions? Specifically from Rainbow Dash, and probably the rest of her friends as well?"

"More than likely."

"And I'm unable to tell them the truth on the matter?"

"Manticore attack should suffice. You can tell them you had some scouting to take care of, but you must absolutely not go into specifics," she said, glancing over one of the lab documents on the table. "Secrets of the crown, and such."

He pretended to really think about it for all of ten seconds before grinning wide and giving another salute to her. "I accept the assignment, Luna. Your Vesari shall serve!" he stated happily, then tapped his hoof against the tiled floor of the lab area. "By the way, your Equestrian slipped."

"W-I am well aware!" she stated indignantly, her snout wrinkling in irritation.

He held up a hoof to placate her, as if defending himself from her irritation. "Just making sure, your majesty!"

She humph'ed and looked away from him, casually motioning a hoof at him in lazy waving motions. "You leave in the morning. Go and get some sleep so you are awake and rested for your mission. You will be performing this assignment during daytime."

He stood and turned to face her properly, bowing to her. "As you wish, your majesty. I'll be back before you know it!"

She smiled a little at that and looked back to him, nodding once. "I am aware. Ah, and Strider," she said quietly, locking eyes with him with a dead-serious tone. "Come back alive. That is both a request and an order, from your friend and your Princess."

He stared back at her for what seemed like a full minute to him, but in fact were merely a few seconds. He smiled more at that and bowed his head, foreleg crossing over his chest in a more formal bow.

"As the Night commands, so shall I obey."

She rolled her eyes at that and gave him a light shove with a forehoof on his wither. "Oh, just hush and go sleep! I swear, you intentionally talk that way to mock me."

He stood up and grinned once more at her. "As I said, you know me far too well!"

He smiled a little to himself as he finished securing his hoofblade, a quick push of his forelegs lifting him up to stand bipedally on his hindlegs, left forehoof pushing on a small section of the sheath of the hoofblade until a click sounded off, the blade itself extending out rapidly until it was a good seven inches past the hoof it was mounted on, the runes engraved in the metal glowing dimly as he examined them.

He gave a few testing swings to make sure there were no faults with his weapon, flourishing and flapping his wings to take to the air with it before he was sure it was in proper working order. Every swing of his weapon caused the runes to glow a fiery yellow-red, the blade seeming to coat itself in fire as it sliced through the air, only for the fire to dissipate and fizzle away when the blade ceased being swung around.

He landed and pressed the same small section of his hoofblade's sheath, the clicking sound heard again as the blade slid back into its sheath and the opening of the sheath slid shut as well, to avoid the hassle and potentially deadly possibility of a malfunction in the hoofblade's internal construction.

His chestplate was the final piece of his arsenal he wanted to be absolutely sure of. Instead of the large draconic eye and ornate design of the Night Guard, his chestplate instead consisted of a series of engraved lines in the metal that all connected to small circular sections, the entire design taking an X-like design all throughout. All in all, he counted thirty-six of the circles, the 'Spell Shells', that he could use in the event that the natural magicks of the Everfree wouldn't be enough to support him during the inevitable combat.

Satisfied with the status of his arsenal and his armor, he lowered himself down to all fours again and went to pick up the lure for the Shadows, a single black ball of raw spiritual energy, sealed in an engraved glass bottle. It looked like a shadowy alchemical bomb, and Princess Luna had clearly explained that it was meant to be used in exactly the same way: throw the bottle where you wish its contents to scatter, and wait for the Shadows to arrive!

He tied the string around the neck of the bottle to one of his armor straps, then began his trek deeper into the forest, moving towards the main path once he'd gotten far enough away from the main entrance so as to not be so easily spotted by anyone. At least the main path was far easier to walk on compared to working his way through the underbrush, flushing out insects and little scared critters of all sorts!

He gave a quick glance back to Ponyville to make sure no one spotted him and/or took a particular interest in him or his out-of-place armor, then turned back towards the forest and started his trek deeper into the untamed wilderness.

It was time to get to work.

The pitter-patter of small reptilian feet filled the library today. It was one of the few days Spike didn't get sent out to shop, and on top of that, he had the almost daily task of looking after Twilight until one of her friends came around to see how she was doing. Today they all seemed pre-occupied, so it was his job all day instead of just in the mornings.

Right now though, his focus was on breakfast....well, breakfast and getting Twilight to get out of bed instead of trying to sleep the day away like she usually did.

"Y'know Twilight, it's been ages since you've had me re-organize the books and make sure they're all in order....you sure you don't want to do that?" he called out to her.

"Neh...s'fine." she responded half-heartedly from upstairs.

Spike walked over towards the door leading into the kitchen that had been built into the library after he and Twilight had originally been given the place as their home away from home. He grabbed his apron off of the hanger next to the door and slung it around himself, trying to think of something else to goad her into action. Any kind of action.

"Well, what about going to see if Applejack needs any help with harvesting apples? You usually enjoy getting to test out your magic with that sort of thing," he shouted up to her. "I'm sure she'd appreciate the help!"

"No, I'm sure AJ's doing just fine...."

Spike scratched the side of his head after tying his apron off behind his back, hmm'ing for a moment and tapping his claw against the side of his head. "Erm....mmmaybe go visit Zecora? She hasn't seen you since you came back from Canterlot. You two get along pretty well, I'm sure she'd enjoy your company."

"No thanks Spike, I'm just gonna stay here today...." she said, a quiet sigh accompanying her voice afterwards.

He couldn't think of anything else, the little dragon grumbling a little more audibly and slumping his arms at his sides, staring in her direction, unable to see her from downstairs. "How about me shutting up and leaving you alone to wallow in your own misery?" he asked, his voice and expression a mix of annoyance and deadpan frustration.

"....That'd be nice. Some aspirin would be even better."

"URGH! Alright, fine." he growled out while tossing his arms straight up in frustration, throwing the kitchen door open soon after and closing it soundly behind himself.

The sound of him rustling around the kitchen could barely be heard over the throbbing headache she had. It wasn't a fake-out either, she genuinely wanted to stay home today because her head hurt. Though at the same time, she knew a little medicine would likely make it go away. Okay, so maybe she was using it as a cop-out....that didn't change the fact that this headache felt abnormal. It wasn't throbbing in time with her heartbeat, it was aching in time with someone else.

All at once, she groaned and the pain got even worse for a moment, and her ears twitched, hearing a high-pitched sound, not loud, but just very high-pitched. She couldn't figure on the origin of it. It wasn't coming from within the house, it wasn't the tea kettle in the kitchen or anything like that, so where was it coming from? She quietly slipped out from under the covers of her bed and walked over to her window and pressed her ear up against the glass, and it wasn't that either.

Her head spun as she peered out of the window, a hoof rubbing the side of her head in a vain attempt to make the ache and vertigo go away. Rainbow Dash was already doing her morning training regimen, though her usual boisterous and loud nature was lacking this time around. She found that odd, but only in a vague sense, everyone had their off days. At least her knack for noticing the more subtle oddities of everyday life was still intact, despite how she felt right now.

Bon-Bon and Lyra were up and about, both of them trotting along excitedly towards the marketplace. She turned her head to look at her clock on the table near her bed, and found it to be close to opening time for most of the stalls. Perhaps she could go and do a little shopping? No....she felt too heavy. She didn't want to go anywhere.

She hated this, not being able to will herself to go anywhere, her body giving her plenty of physical reasons not to if her mentality couldn't get her down enough. Phantom aches and pains wore her down while her snapped, negative mindset tore apart any ambition or motivation she managed to work up within herself. Everything felt so forced, even things she enjoyed still felt like chores and jobs, thankless and pointless jobs at that!

She was about to turn away from her window, but a sudden pang of fear shook her as that high-pitched sound suddenly picked up. The sound seemed to be drawing her in, forcing her to stare, gazing into her own eyes, glaring into her own reflection. She felt angry, but she also felt afraid. More than afraid, she felt terrified! Her heart began to race as the sound got louder, the world around her fading into the background as the irrational fear consumed her.

She blinked once, and her library was gone. There was nothing but darkness. She lit her horn, and all around her, blood-stained walls and glass windows surrounded her. She looked through one, and dead, eviscerated ponies were scattered all over the self-contained laboratory.

She jolted away from the glass and spun around once, a feeling of panic disorienting her slightly as she tried to take in her surroundings. All along the hall, on the floor and slumped against the walls, dead and decomposed ponies in some sort of uniform were laying in large numbers all around her along the corridor. Dried blood clearly marked the paths they followed to their deaths.

She should have been afraid. She knew that, on some level. Why wasn't she afraid?

She felt almost disconnected as she began to walk, only just starting to notice that she was panting rather heavily. Gasping even. A feeling of alarm began to take her as she stumbled against the side of the corridor, the stairwell leading down to the next level just a few steps away.

No air.

There was no air here. No matter how many breaths she took, she wasn't getting any oxygen! She pushed herself away from the wall and rushed for the stairs, her muscles rapidly beginning to burn as she descended. Something down here was going to save her. It had to!

CAN'T BREATHE

"Suh-Spike...!" she stuttered weakly as her body began to protest and panic, a small part of her clouded mind wondering why Spike would be in a place like this. She staggered on the stairs for a moment, her hoof scraping at the wall before she forced herself further on.

Not going to make it. I'm going to die.

She was going to die here. The thought rang clearly to her as her vision began to fade, her horn sparking and fizzling as her concentration waned. She had to make it to the bottom! She almost tripped over another dead body in her weak rush to make it to the next stairwell.

I don't want to die.Something's wrong here.I DON'T WANT TO DIE!

She just...just a little further, she had to make it! With a determined push, she charged down the corridor with her vision going wobbly and distorted, managing to get just a few steps down the stairwell before her legs gave out and she tumbled down with several sickening cracks, including one to her horn that jolted her entire body with agony.

Laying in a limp and exhausted heap against the floor, with a dead body bracing her head, she felt her senses slowly fade away, one by one. Her body went numb and her attempts to breathe slowed, until she fell terrifyingly still in the darkness.

Not going to die don't want to die THIS IS WRONG I'M NOT HERE I-

"Did you hear me, Twilight?" Spike called out, pushing the door to Twilight's room open while he stepped in. "I said breakfast's re-hey!"

Sitting on her haunches just inches from the window, Twilight was breathing heavily and gasping for air, her gaze locked with the outside. Her motions were heavy and panicked, sounding close to hyperventilation.

He rushed over to her and tried to get in front of her. "Twilight? Hey, Twilight! H-hey c'mon, calm-nnrgh!-down!" he shouted to her while trying to push her back.

She wouldn't budge. He was too small to push her around, and she seemed entirely ignorant of his presence. He ran around behind her and quickly scurried up onto her back, grabbing hold of her mane and pulling it in a desperate attempt to draw her attention.

"Come on, Twilight! What's gotten into you?!"

A startling and sudden relaxation of her entire body almost sent him tumbling off of her, the mare's head hanging down as she took a few deep gasps of air. She wobbled to and fro, feeling intensely dizzy for some reason.

A sense of urgency made her quickly look around the room. Her room. Her bedroom. Not a corridor. She swayed a little as she tried to stand up, only to freeze in place as she glanced at the window again.

Sharp, reptilian eyes in her reflection. A wicked and far-too-wide grin. Long corridors lined with bodies, no oxygen in the air I can't breathe I CAN'T BREATHE-

Her mind rejected it this time, and with a scream, she raised up onto her hindlegs and sent Spike flying off of her, stumbling a few steps backwards before falling onto her back and rolling to her side, curling up in a fetal position.

She moved to cover her head reflexively in fear, but she couldn't look away from the window. Without thinking, she cried out for help.

"SPIKE!!!"

He was up in an instant and at her side. "I-I'm right here! Holy moly..."

She finally glanced away from the window again when she felt tiny claws on her cheek, and she instantly began to cry as she snatched the small dragon up in her forelegs. Her grip was vice-like and desperate, and she buried her face against the side of his neck in her sideways position.

Spike wasn't sure what was going on at first. It wasn't until he swore he felt one of his ribs pop that he realized his face was buried in lavender fur. He wriggled a bit in her grasp and tilted his head up to get his face off of the base of her neck, glancing over when he felt her snout against his neck instead.

The quiet sobbing and the feeling of her entire body trembling in genuine fear made him reach to gently pet over the side of her head. He really wasn't good with these sorts of things, but he couldn't stand hearing her so distressed either.

"Hey, Twilight...c'mon, it's gonna be okay." he stated quietly, but she wasn't pulling away.

Resigned to his fate as a comfort pillow-dragon, he wrapped his small arms around her neck as best he could in his position and hugged her back. They stayed that way in relative silence, aside from Twilight's crying and Spike's soothing words, for several minutes. He didn't know what else to do aside from letting her just get it out of her system.

When she finally seemed to be done, he stepped back a bit and she let him go. He looked her over for a moment and reached down to grab his apron at the bottom, lifting it to wipe the tears and icky mucus from his neck with a small 'blech'.

Twilight managed a weak little brief laugh at that. "Sorry, Spike..."

"Eh, it's fine. Scales wash pretty easy. C'mere," he muttered, stepping closer to her again and wiping her muzzle clean. "There."

She sniffled once and smiled more genuinely at him. "Thanks."

He smirked and shrugged a little. "It was nothin'!" he said while taking his apron off, balling it up and tossing it towards the laundry bin next to the door. "What was that all about?"

She slowly sat herself up, glancing once at the window and fearfully darting her gaze away. "I-I don't know," she muttered, swallowing audibly. "I really don't know!"

"It looked like a panic attack," he said, resting a hand on one of her forelegs. "You were really hyperventilating. I thought you were gonna pass out when I came in!"

She could see the concern on his face and in his eyes. It was the Spike she knew, when no one else was around. That concerned and sensitive little dragon she'd grown up with riding on her back, always there to help her and give her a second perspective on everything. The last thing she wanted to do was worry him.

She lowered her head and nuzzled the side of his head with her cheek, hooking a foreleg around him to give him a small embrace. "I-I'm fine, Spike. Really. But..." she said, biting her lip and motioning over to the window. "Can you see anything in the window? Anything wrong with it?"

He glanced to the window, back to her, then shrugged and walked over to it, hopping up and looking through it. He took a full minute to look around outside through it, Twilight's hooves curling and rubbing together nervously while she watched. She let out a quiet breath of relief when he hopped back down.

"Seems fine to me," he said, turning to her and shrugging a little. "Just the same as it's always been."

She warily walked towards the window, her head turned away from it as if looking at it would harm her in some way. It was reflexive, her intense desire to leave the room and never return. Through the window laid a corridor of bodies, and a slow oxygen-deprived death....!

When she was close enough, she looked through it again, and...nothing. Just Ponyville, her own plain, normal, non-psychotic reflection. Still, she felt like she was being watched again, but no one outside was giving her the time of day. It made sense, it was common courtesy not to look into someone's home if you're just sort of passing by.

She looked up towards the sky, and stopped. There was something right at the edge of the Everfree's treeline. Nervously glancing back down and towards the untamed forest, she spotted it once again. A little pitch-black pony, sitting on top of the forest's canopy, staring right back at her. She couldn't make out any details, but the pang of rising fear in her chest felt all too familiar the longer she stared at whatever it was.

"Hey, Twilight?"

She glanced over at him, having forgotten he was even there, then quickly looked back out of the window. It was gone, a single black hoof disappearing into a sea of green leaves. She had to know what that was.

"I-erm...I'm going out for a while, Spike. I'll be back soon, okay?" she said as she turned to trot towards the door.

"Whoa, hold on!" he said while quickly grabbing her tail and hopping onto her back. "You're just gonna head out after freaking out like that? No way!"

"But-"

"Nuh-uh!" he said while hopping down in front of her, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're still trembling, you look frazzled and you haven't even showered or anything. Since yesterday!"

She blushed and rubbed one foreleg with the other bashfully, saying nothing. She knew she hadn't showered. She just hadn't been able to get the energy up, and she hadn't felt very gross at the time, but now...eugh.

Spike stood resolute. "Look, just take some time to calm down, go take a shower and come downstairs for breakfast. Then you can head out, alright?"

She stared at him for a moment, then quirked a brow. "Since when were you my caretaker?"

He smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "Since you were twelve and you accidentally broke Princess Celestia's porcelain tea kettle from Saddle Arabia. How many more of her kettles did you break trying to fix it before you curled up into a ball and had a panic attack again?"

"Well-"

"And who was the one that had to calm you down before you tried to teleport to Saddle Arabia to find a replacement with a makeshift Array you started burning into the carpeting in her room, which caused you to have a whole 'nother panic attack when you realized what you did?"

"...You win this one."

"Oh, I know. Now then," he said, smiling smugly as he turned and headed out of the room. "See you in a bit!"

She sighed and moved to head into the bathroom, her magic reaching out to get the water running. Then a thought occurred to her: she could just teleport out and he might not notice-

"And no teleporting away!" he shouted out to her from downstairs.

With a resigned sigh, she stepped into the shower and got busy.