The rain had stopped. Aurora cried at the loss of the soothing salty rain. When she looked up it wasn't black anymore. She was flying high above the field where she had been before the pain had hit her. It was so beautiful to fly. The world looked like a quilt below. She envied the pegasi who got to see this everyday. No pony could be seen for miles. There was only her floating free of her pains and fears. She looked down and realized that she had thought to soon. Down below were five ponies. She could also see some hiding in the shrubs watching the five ponies in the clearing. A magical shield was guarding three of the ponies while one laughed and one tried to destroy the shield. A voice next to her startled Aurora away from the figures far below. "I had hoped that the curse would never have activated. It would have been better for every pony."

Next to Aurora was a gray mare with white spots covering her body. She had a black mane with a blue streak and ice blue eyes. There was something very familiar about the mare. Aurora simply couldn't put her hoof on it. The pony gestured sadly back towards the ponies. Aurora looked back down at the ponies and gasped. She saw them with a new clarity and realized that they were not just random ponies. It was Twilight and Luna! Twilight was keeping a shield wall up while a colt she didn't know was laying down exhausted. The mare next to him was non other than herself. Aurora looked down at herself and realized that her body wasn't moving and she couldn't tell if she was breathing. The worst was yet to come still, for outside the shield was an old pony with a black hood pulled back to show his face, but what was terrible about the scene was that standing next to him was Nightmare Moon.

Aurora cried out at the sight of her mentor in a state of such evil. She turned to the grey pony in outrage. "Stop this! This cannot be real!" Aurora started to cry as the face of the mare looked sympathetic instead of outraged. Aurora would have preferred it if she had been mad at her. The fact that she had looked sympathetic simply proved that it wasn't of her doing. That meant that it was real.

The mare looked deep into Aurora's eyes. "A choice must be made. You cannot save them all and save yourself. You must leave one or the other behind." Aurora clenched her jaw. "Then I will sacrifice myself to save them all. I have to save them all. You cannot make me choose!" The grey mare's eyes flared a bright red. "Do you have any idea what will happen if you don't save yourself?! You will destroy all of Equestria! You have to find a way to keep the curse at bay before it consumes you! You're lucky it hasn't already!"

Aurora stepped back at the onslaught only to step into open space. Aurora fell screaming as the ground rushed towards her. Above her she could still feel the red eyes on her and hear, "You can only save one or the other!" She hit her still form on the ground and took in what felt like the first breath ever.

Twilight began to cry at the position she was in. Luna was once again Nightmare moon, Starswirled the Bearded was evil, the colt who had helped her was out for the count, and Aurora had been hit by the same magic that had turned Luna. A terrible thought occurred to Twilight. What if the same thing was happening to Aurora? She spun around to see Aurora gasp in a breath and sit bolt upright. Aurora took one look at the situation and zapped both Twilight and the colt. Twilight screamed only to find herself outside Zecora's hut.

Aurora looked at the old pony with determination. She didn't care what the grey pony said. She would save all those who were dear to her. Even if it meant sacrificing herself. "Turn Luna back!"

To her cry of outrage the old pony just chuckled. "You are a very feisty one miss. Who would have thought that the curse would be on a pure white pony. Fate can be so funny nowadays. And what makes you think I'll turn Nightmare Moon back to that pitiful state she was in. This one suits her much better." Without warning Aurora charged at the old pony. The old pony merely sidestepped and continued to chuckle. "Yes. Let your hate for me grow and bloom. Let the curse take hold of you." A voice behind Aurora made her gasp. It was Nightmare Moon. "Aurora... RUN!!" The old pony frowned and hit Nightmare Moon with another blast of the black magic. Her words still echoed in Aurora's head as tears ran down her face. "No I won't leave you!" Nightmare moon turned to her and shot her with a teleportation spell. Both Aurora and the old pony were screaming as Aurora disappeared only to reappear at Zecora's hut.

Zecora looked at the sobbing form of Aurora. "To despair you must not bow, for if you are to fight back you must act now. Twilight, there is something you retrieve to stop Auroras dark sight. A patch of white which just might hold back her dark sight."

Twilight just stared blankly at Zecora. "Zecora what do you mean by dark sight? And what patch of white?"

For the first time since the library, the colt spoke. "She is cursed Twilight. I'm guessing the patch of white is the eye patch Zecora gave her. If we can get it on Aurora we can possibly stop the curse from spreading from her eye."

Twilight eyes hardened as her blood started to rise. "How do we know we can trust YOU! YOU'RE one of THEM!" She started to advance on the colt slowly and menacingly as the colt backed up in shock of the onslaught. Twilight had no idea what she would have done if Aurora hadn't started sobbing and crying out almost breaking her heart. Twilight sighed and regained the composure that a princess must have and turned back to the colt. "I am deeply sorry for my actions and if you believe that the eye patch will help I will gladly help in any way I can.

The colt nodded and silently sighed in relief. He then laid out his plan to get the eye patch and not be killed in the process. By this time the dark ponies would have certainly taken over Ponyville so first they needed a distraction. Something that the dark ponies couldn't resist. Then they would need to teleport in and out as quickly as possible before they were discovered. Simple as that. Twilight looked at the colt thinking that it may turn out more complex than they would expect but decided not to voice her opinions. They would go and retrieve the eye patch tomorrow and be back before lunch. Hopefully. Maybe.

The colt was on lookout from the library door as Twilight searched for the eye patch and continued to keep the magical invisibility shield going. Why were they in an invisibility shield? To put is simply, the plan had been anything but simple. The distraction had only brought everyone's attention to the caster, Twilight. After that they had tried teleporting only to find that there had been a spell blocking any teleportation spells. The colt had tried disguises but hadn't even made it past the first guard without being recognized. Twilight's coat was unfortunately noticeable. The guard was now sleeping contently locked in a convenient broom closet they had found. Twilight had then decided to put up an invisible barrier up around them and to sneak into town. So far that plan had worked and if they could get the eye patch it would all be worth it. Then a thought occurred to him. "Why was this so easy? This shouldn't have been this easy!" Panic started to build up and he spun around only to be zapped by a bolt of magic that sent him sprawling. As he lost consciousness he realized exactly why it was so easy and now he couldn't do a thing about it.

Twilight almost laughed out loud and held the eye patch above her head triumphantly. She rushed out to find that the colt was gone. The invisibility shield allowed them to see each other but no one else. Or at least it should. Twilight swung around to find herself facing a dark pony. All thoughts about the colt vanished as she turned tail and ran. If she had looked back she might have seen him being dragged away but the only thing she could think about was getting the eye patch to Aurora as quickly as possible. As soon as she was out of Ponyville she could teleport. No sooner had she teleported than an old pony who had been watching all of what had happened stepped out of the shadows and laughed at how simple it was to trick these ponies.

Author's Note

Sorry this took so long but I've been busy and it's hard to write every day. Hope you enjoy!