Forgotten History of the Moon

by Wolfoftimber

Rating: teen
Tags: Romance, Princess Luna, Original Character, Adventure, Discord, Princess Celestia, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe
Length: 16026

*Undergone substantial revision.* History is written by the victor. What if the last battle between Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon wasn't quite as clean cut as the history books tell?

*Undergone substantial revision.*

History is written by the victor. What if the last battle between Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon wasn't quite as clean cut as the history books tell? Could Luna have had a reason to turn on Celestia? Why was the Castle of the Two Sisters left behind with all its knowledge left intact, and seemingly in working order? Why do almost all ponies have an instinctive fear of the Everfree Forest? Twilight and her friends might just uncover more than they ever bargained for.

Published 2014-05-17 20:50:03 UTC
Last updated 2015-05-09 23:47:31 UTC

Memories of the Moon

Her mane shifted slightly as the breeze cut through her hut, tickling one of her ears to make it flick. Teal eyes glanced over to the window, narrowing slightly as she found it to still be closed and locked tight. Taking a deep breath she stepped away from her work and moved to where her cloak hung beside the door. Gripping the thick cloth in her teeth she swung the garment over her shoulder and shook lightly to have it fall into place. Tugging the hood over her head she trotted briskly to her front door and paused only long enough to make sure that it shut behind her.

Again the wind gusted past her as she began to move through the darkened landscape that surrounded her home. A small frown creased her lips as her pace increased down the direction the breeze directed her towards. A tangle vine reached for her hoof, but she sidestepped it with a practiced ease from her many walks through her adopted homeland. Glancing upward she looked at the sliver of the moon that was just barely visible in the pre-dawn sky. A small chill went down her back as she realized that the forest had gone unnaturally silent.

“Are you certain about this? The timing seems…risky.”

She stopped in her tracks as she heard the voice through the thick underbrush, crouching low in a defensive posture. Inching forward she peered through the foliage and spotted the source, or at least possible source, of the voice. Her head tilted as she could just barely make out the three figures that walked unhurriedly beneath the large trees. Concentrating for a moment her eyes began to glow faintly yellow and the darkened world began to illuminate for her. Their garb was like her own, a simple hooded travel cloak, that obscured their faces from casual view.

“We may have waited to long already.” The largest of the ponies spoke. “If something doesn’t happen soon…” There was a heavy sigh from the male voice as he shook his head. “Well, I don’t think we can afford to wait any longer.”

“I don’t see why we can’t just take Canterlot and be done with it.” Complained the mare within the group. “She has to remember once she sees us.”

“Yeah, and if she doesn’t, we get our tails hooved to us like a bunch of foals.” The second male voice responded. “I don’t mind taking my licks if it’s for a good reason, but a meaningless fight is, well, meaningless.”

“You’re a regular poet.” The mare shook her head. “You know that?”

“Stow it.” The large pony paused at the edge of the forest line. “You know your assignments?”

“I should be going with you.” The second stallion stepped forward. “If something goes wrong.”

“That’s exactly the reason you can’t go with him dummy.” The mare snipped curtly, though a trace of fear could be heard in her voice. “We’ll do our part Sir. You just make sure you stay out from under her hooves. I don’t want to have to explain to everypony back home that you got stomped by that hor…”

“That’s enough.” The lead pony turned just enough that the faint light of the moon glinted off his eyes causing a flash of green. “If she gets me, somepony else will take up what needs to be done.” His voice softened as he turned away from his travel companions. “All the same, I expect to see the both of you again soon.”

“I still don’t like it.” The smaller stallion jabbed out a hoof at the bigger pony. “But I’ll hold down things here.”

“Thank you.” The first pony reached out and bumped his hoof against his friend’s. “I’ll see you soon. There’s a lot of work to be done, let’s get moving.”

In the brush, the observer watched as the mare shucked off her cloak and spread her wings before taking off to the sky. The smaller male pony glowed brightly for a moment before vanishing in a burst of white light. Yellow eyes watched, carefully tracking the only remaining pony expecting a flashy exit as well, but he simply started walking slowly down the dirt path. Back stepping along her original path to avoid detection she let the light fade from her eyes and stood in silent contemplation for a few moments. “A blast from the past, or so it seems to me.” Teal eyes stared into the darkness of the forest to the regions even she was hesitant to go. “At last on the move, the forgotten denizens of Everfree.”

00000

“Good morning sister.” Celestia greeted as she heard the flapping of wings out on her balcony. “Join me for breakfast?”

Luna yawned as she stepped into her sister’s room. “Sounds wonderful. I don’t suppose you have…” She smiled as she caught the scent of her favorite chamomile mint tea. “That smells divine.”

Celestia’s horn glowed as she lifted the pot and poured her sibling a cup. “How was your evening?”

Luna yawned again as she sipped the warm drink. “It was a bit different.” Her brow furrowed a tiny bit. “Some of the dreams I visited were troubled, many of them actually.”

Celestia raised a piece of toast to her mouth and took a bite. “You suspect trouble?”

“I…can’t say for certain.” Luna shook her head and took a piece of toast for herself. “The dreams were so similar. I don’t ever recall seeing so many dreams with the same underlying theme.”

The white-coated pony paused in mid-chew. “Similar how?”

“It wasn’t a portent.” Luna shook her head as she saw the knowing look on her counterpart’s face. “Starswirl trained me well in those, this was more like a remembrance, a memory, something long forgotten.” Turning her gaze toward the window she missed the concerned expression on Celestia’s face. “At the same time, I can’t say that is nothing. Seeing the same vision in the dreams in so many minds surely has some significance, but I’m not sure what it means.” Closing her eyes she sipped at her tea again. “Clarity sometimes comes in my own dreams, I will try to discern it’s meaning after a good day’s rest.”

“That sounds like a good idea.” Celestia pushed a plate of daisy flowers towards Luna. “With the Summer Sun Celebration being held tomorrow we don’t need any unpleasant surprises.”

“Agreed.” Luna took a few of the offered flowers and chewed thoughtfully. “Thank you for the meal sister.”

Celestia watched as her younger sister moved towards the door. “Luna? What was it you saw in those dreams?” Her expression became more sullen as she observed Luna’s wings droop.

“I saw myself…as…as the Nightmare.”

“Luna…”

The dark coated pony shook her head. “I will not walk that path again my sister. Do not fear that reoccurrence. I will not allow myself to cause that kind of pain to our ponies ever again.” Looking back over her shoulder she smiled, though with a hint of worry visible. “Never again. I promise.”

“I don’t doubt that.” Celestia returned the smile. “Good night, little sister.”

Luna chuckled. “Good day, big sister.”

The elder pony sat in silence as the door opened and shut, leaving her alone to her thoughts. “I thought I’d never have to experience this feeling again.” She whispered quietly to herself as she gazed at the reflection in her teacup.

00000

Twilight trotted down the center of the road looking over the various decorations that hung between the houses. “I’m not sure that we have enough banners. I want this to go well, it’s Princess Luna’s first Summer Sun Celebration since her return.”

“More…banners.” Spike looked up from where he added the latest addendum to his list. “I’ll ask Pinkie Pie to see if we have anymore. If anypony will have banners in reserve it’s her.” Glancing skyward he caught sight of a familiar, pale, blue mare. “Oh! And Rainbow Dash said she saw some weird clouds over the Everfree Forest, but she doesn’t think there should be any concern for tomorrow.”

“That’s good.” Twilight’s horn glowed as she levitated Spike onto her back, quickening her pace ever so slightly. “We don’t need any unexpected rain.” Her brow furrowed a little bit. “So strange that the Everfree Forest is the one place in all of Equestria where the weather ponies seem to have no control at all.”

“It’s the Everfree.” Spike shrugged. “When has it ever done anything like the rest of Equestria.”

“Fair point.” Twilight agreed. “Though that kind of adds to what I was saying too.” Shaking her head she looked forward again. “But, we can look into that another day. What’s next?”

“Check in with Rarity for the costumes and Applejack for the catering.” The dragon licked his lips. “I hope Apple Fritter made her specialty.”

“I’m sure AJ has all hooves hard at work.” Twilight chuckled as she turned the corner for Carousel Boutique. “What...exactly do we need costumes for though? The changing of Sun and Moon Ceremony doesn’t require any special garments, and my part in this certainly doesn’t either.” When silence answered, she turned her attention over her shoulder to see a confused dragon staring back at her. “Right…” She sighed as her head dropped forward.

“I’m sorry Twilight.” Spike leaned over to try and better see his long time friend, recognizing the less than happy expression. “I thought she had already spoken to you about the costumes.”

“Its ok Spike. We all know how excited Rarity gets with her clothing for special events.” Twilight responded as kindly as she could muster.
Jumping down off the pony’s back Spike jogged ahead of Twilight and began to run backwards so he could face her. “Why don’t I go see Rarity and you go check out the food over at Sweet Apple Acres? We’ll get more done at once.”

Twilight paused and looked at Spike knowingly. The fact that the dragon’s blush only grew beneath her gaze confirmed her thoughts. Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly. “All right, just don’t fill up on Rarity’s spare gems or you won’t be able to enjoy the Apple family’s cooking.”

With a smile the hatchling saluted. “Yes ma’am!” Turning around Spike broke into a light run. “I’ll meet you back at the center podium after!”

Twilight watched her charge until he was out of sight before turning towards her own destination. She couldn’t tell him, but she worried about him and his crush on Rarity. After seeing the effect that the fashion pony had on Spike even when he’d been transformed by his greed she’d looked into the possibility of the two ever being together. The research had not proven fruitful. The calls of nearby ponies pulled her from her thoughts as she waved a quick reply. “Other tasks closer at hoof.” She reminded herself quietly as she spread her wings and took a running start.

The take off was far from graceful, but it was considerably better off than her first attempts some weeks ago before Rainbow Dash had given her some lessons. Once she cleared the rooftop of Ponyville Twilight closed her eyes, forcing herself to feel the winds around her the way Rainbow Dash had taught her. Compared to her usual method of constant self-analysis, it was more of a challenge than she was comfortable admitting. Within a few moments she felt her flight level out and wings fell into a steady rhythm allowing her a much smoother transit. Opening her eyes once again she looked over the streets of Ponyville below her.

Though the festival was tomorrow, the town was already alive with excitement. Some was from the residents who lived in Ponyville, preparing for the big events, but much was from the tourists as well. Her smile returned as she saw the distinctive looks of different areas all coming together in a central location. “Manehatten, Las Pegasus, Broncton, Appleoosa, even a few from the Crystal Empire.” Tilting her wings she circled slowly around the town. “It seems that word of Princess Luna’s part in this year’s celebration has drawn quite a crowd.” There was a loud bang, followed by distinctive squeal, in the distance as several balloons made their way skyward. “I should probably talk with Pinkie just to make sure we don’t have a repeat of Nightmare Night though.” Twilight mumbled as her expression sobered a bit.

Turning back to her original course she headed for the red barns at the edge of Ponyville. “First things first though.” As she rounded about she paused, goose-pimples making her mane stiffen slightly. Keeping her wing beats steady she hovered in place, looking for the source of her sudden unease, but couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. “Discord?” Twilight called cautiously. “Is that you? I’m not in the mood if this is one of your jokes.” With the distant chatter of the ponies below her the only answer Twilight shrugged and resumed her flight. Only after she was a good distance away did the cloaked pony step out from the shadow of the shop awning, green eyes tracking her until the treeline hid her away.

Deciding to err on the side of caution Twilight made her landing along the dirt road leading up to the main farmhouse and walked the rest of the way. “Hello? Anypony home?”

“Hi Twilight!”

The purple mare jumped back as a tiny streak of yellow and red zipped out the door past her towards the orchard. “Apple Bloom?”

“Bye Twilight!”

The princess stared after the younger mare for a moment wondering what the rush was for before sticking her head into the ajar door.

“Applejack?” She called cautiously.

The orange farm pony jumped and spun about like her hoof had been caught in the apple bushel. “Twilight! Um, I mean, Princess Twilight! What are you doing here?”

Leaning to look past her friend Twilight took in the sight of multiple pots, pans, and other cooking equipment running full tilt. “Everything all right Applejack?”

“Course it is!” Applejack’s face scrunched up and her eyes began to focus on anything but the pony in front of her. “Why wouldn’t it be? Why even ask such a question?”

Twilight leveled a stare at the now sweating earth pony. “You do know as the Element of Honesty, you are absolutely terrible at lying, right?”

Applejack’s head hung forward as she sighed. “I’m sorry Twilight. I don’t know what happened. This morning the orchard went all haywire for some reason.”

“Haywire?”

Moving over to the window Applejack pointed at the nearest trees. “Yeah, weirdest thing I ever did see. Some of the trees are dropping apples so green you can’t even eat them, while the ones right next to ‘em are dropping fruit that’s gone rotten. A couple of the Zap Apple trees even bloomed for a few minutes before they vanished like a puff of smoke.”

“I take that’s why Apple Bloom just went running off?” Twilight looked over the odd scenery. “Has Granny Smith ever seen something like this?”

“I don’t know.” Applejack rushed back over to the stove as one of the pots started to bubble over. “Granny won’t be back until late tonight from visiting family. I sent Apple Bloom to help Big Macintosh and the others to collect as much good fruit as they could before whatever is going on here wrecks the whole crop, but that left me a bit stranded here with the cooking for the festival.”

“Do you have recipe books?”

Applejack turned to see Twilight had tied an old apron around herself and was looking through the items cooking on the stove top. “Yeah, why?”

“As long as I have some directions to follow, I can’t imagine that cooking is that much different than potion making.” Twilight’s horn glowed as she lifted a couple of measuring utensils. “How can I help?”

“Well, I ain’t about to look a gift pony in the mouth.” Applejack opened a cabinet and pulled out an old, tattered cookbook with Granny Smith’s cutie mark emblazoned on it. “I’ll start on the pie filling, you start on the crust. Let’s get to it.”

00000

Mrs. Cake looked up as the door to her shop open and triggered the little bell chime. “Good morning. Welcome to Sugar Cube Corner!” She greeted warmly, though her smile faltered a bit as she saw the cloaked and hooded pony that entered. “How can I help you?” Her tension seemed to increase as the large form moved silently over the wooden floorboards. Unconsciously, her eyes drifted to the twins in their pen behind the counter.

The pony stopped a few steps from the counter and looked over the choices without speaking for a few moments. “How much for the peppermints?”

The mare startled at the voice. “Two for a bit.” Mrs. Cake replied as she focused on the stallion yet again. It wasn’t the size of the pony that made her nervous, Big Macintosh still had a few inches on him it looked like by her estimate, but there was something about him that set off warning bells in her mind. When he stepped forward to place the coin on the counter top she was surprised again that he almost immediately stepped back to give her space. Taking the coin she turned to reach for the glass container filled with peppermint candies, turning her back to the twins and her customer. As she lifted the lid there was a flash from inside the playpen and she felt a quickening of her pulse. “Pumpkin!”

Spinning on her hoof she spotted the second flash as Pumpkin Cake and Pound Cake teleported back into existence right over the mystery pony’s head. Mrs. Cake stared as Pound continued to fly overhead, but Pumpkin dropped toward the hooded figure. Without looking up the pony leaned back and caught the falling foal by the edge of her diaper as she attempted to pass him. In a seamless move he gently flipped the little filly back up into a sitting position and caught her on his head, accidentally shaking his hood back in the process.

Pumpkin Cake giggled as she sat surrounded by a wash of grass green mane atop the brown earth pony’s head. “Again!” She clapped her front hooves together as she smiled. Looking over her shoulder she watched as Pound settled gently on the large pony’s back behind her. “Uppy! Again!” She frowned as Pound remained still and looked at her blankly.

“Come on little one.” The pony stepped forward again and leaned his head forward, letting the foal used his snout as a slide to deposit her onto the counter top before Mrs. Cake. Bucking slightly he popped Pound up on to his head and repeated the action to leave the two twins laughing on the counter. “Looks like you gave your poor mom a bit of a fright there.”

The cupcake marked mare stared for the briefest moment at the now hoodless pony. She still had a sense of unease about her, but it was far less than it had been a moment ago and seemed to be fading as she watch him make faces at her foals. “Sorry about that. Her magic is still a bit unpredictable.”

“No harm done.” The green manned pony nodded slightly as he watched Mrs. Cake return her children to their playpen. His brown eyes closed and a chagrined smile turned his lips for a moment. “I remember the feeling.”

“What was that dear?” Mrs. Cake turned again to face her customer as she missed his whispered comment.

“Nothing at all.” He dismissed with a shake of his head. “The peppermints?”

“Oh! Right.” Grabbing up a serving scoop she prepared to drop them into a small bag.

“Actually, I’d like to try them now please.”

Mrs. Cake shrugged and laid the candies out on a piece of wax paper on the countertop. She almost laughed at how he flicked the sweets into his mouth, vaguely reminding her of Pinkie Pie for a moment. “You don’t look pleased. To strong?” She questioned as she watched his expression change.

“Just the opposite.” He crunched down on the candies and swallowed. “Got anything stronger? About three, no, I had two of them, so, about six times stronger?”

The blue pony blinked a few times. “That much peppermint oil will burn out your taste buds.” When he didn’t respond she considered the old adage of the customer being right. “We don’t have anything like that on hoof, but we could do a custom order I suppose.”

“That’d be great. Tomorrow possibly?”

Mrs. Cake nodded. “And what name should I put on the order?”

“Blackbriar.” The pony turned. “Payment on pickup?”

“Sure. We’ll have it ready a little before lunch time tomorrow.” Mrs. Cake spoke around the quill in her mouth as she wrote down the order. “Anything else?”

“No, thank you.”

As the stallion turned toward the exit Mrs. Cake heard the soft clip clop of hooves on the wooden floor. It prompted her to wonder if she had imagined the silence before when Blackbriar had entered. The door was just started to close when another flash of light came from the playpen. “Pumpkin!”

Blackbriar smirked at the frustrated yell of the mother as he pulled up his hood again. He spared the quickest glance back over his shoulder to see the small Pegasus hovering outside the door and holding up his sister by her diaper.

“Bye uppy!” Pumpkin waved with the kind of warm smile that only foals are capable of.

He turned away again and continued on with an unaltered pace, though his frown slowly returned as he increased his distance from Sugar Cube Corner. Before long he found himself standing before the stage that would serve as the center ground of the Summer Sun Celebration festivities. Although it was only partially setup, the two main totems were already erected. The sun totem only received a passing sneer from the pony and he quickly turned his eyes away from the sight favoring the moon totem instead. Sitting back gently he continued to observe the statue, seemingly oblivious to the ponies working around him, with his expression hidden under his hood.

Had anypony been near enough to him, they might have heard a faint humming coming from the visitor. Little by little the insistence of the humming increased, driven and focused with intent. As it continued to increase the pony began to sway lightly in his seat, seemingly in trance as the words began to utter forth quietly. “Rise now, from thy thousand years of forgotten memory. Retake what was stolen from thee. Eclipse the sun, graceful light of Moon. Retake thine kingdom, the time comes soon. Return to us Princess of Night, Princess of Stars, She who dared embrace the Mare in the Moon and survived the scars.” Beneath the dark brown hood, eyes bright and glowing green suddenly flared to light. “Return!”

OOOOO

Applejack wasn’t sure what had happened. One moment she and Twilight had been talking and preparing baked goods for the festival, the next moment Twilight was screaming in pain as though her very horn were being ripped from her head. Ducking under a wildly flying, glowing, spoon the farm pony made her way to her friend’s side. “Twilight!” Applejack tried to support the purple pony’s head, if only to protect her as she thrashed about on the kitchen floor.

Tears streamed down the young princess’ face as she ground her teeth. She tried to force her jaw to unclench to no avail. The wave of magic that had passed over her had been so concentrated with intent it overloaded her sense. She could taste Applejack’s voice calling to her. She could see the scents of the pies floating about her head, heard the sensation of the rough wooden floor against her coat and skin. Nothing made sense after that spell had passed over her.

“Twilight?” Applejack’s voice was quiet as Twilight went still in her forelegs. Only scant minutes had passed, though it seemed like far longer to the orange pony as she sat helpless to do anything for her friend.

“AJ!” Big Macintosh burst through the door and paused only long enough to see both mares with tear streaked faces, ignoring completely the utter chaos of the cooking paraphernalia embedded in the walls of the kitchen.

“I…I don’t know what happened.” Applejack looked up at her brother. “I don’t know how to help her. I think…we should get to the hospital.”

“Nope.” Big Macintosh shook his head. “Won’t do any good.” He lightly touched Twilight’s horn with his hoof. “Worst part’s over. She just has to rest now.” His eyes remained on Twilight Sparkle, giving him an excuse to ignore the silent questions his sister directed towards him. “Help me move her to the couch.”

OOOOO

Celestia slumped against the wall, what was left of it, as she regained her senses. She’d detected the spell as it was coming toward her, but it hit so fast that she hadn’t been able to deflect it completely. “Luna…” Forcing herself back to her hooves she made her way unsteadily through the corridors towards her sister’s quarters. With each step her strength returned a bit more, physically at least. The alicorn’s heart grew more pained as she moved forward, for the destruction of the castle grew worse as she neared her destination.

“You!” Charging her voice with magic she invoked the Canterlot Royal Voice and drew the attention of the nearby guards rushing to investigate the explosion. “Seal the area immediately. Nopony in or out, including Royal Guards ponies. I will see to this matter personally.”

The guards exchanged worried glances and seemed ready to balk at the orders, but training won out as they bowed their heads. “As you command Princess Celestia.”

The pastel manned pony didn’t wait to see them to their task, instead pushing on toward her sister’s location. She paused before the wreckage that had once been the Luna’s bedroom door, taking a deep breath to steel herself before crossing that threshold. It was not enough.

“You!”

Celestia recoiled as if she had been physically struck. The single syllable dripped with venom, light teal eyes filled with such anger that the elder Princess felt her own eyes began to water. Closing her eyes to block the image away she readied her spell.

“Don’t you dare!”

“Sleep, little sister.” Celestia’s horn glowed with a searing yellow light before striking the smaller pony’s pale blue body. The sound of a foal sized body collapsing to the floor made Celestia cringe. Forcing herself to open her eyes she crossed the room, making her pass through the magical burn marks that all to closely resembled the silhouette of one of Equestria’s most notable villains. Laying down she cradled the tiny pony at the epicenter of the blast between her forelegs. Silent tears trickled down her cheeks as she laid her head atop Luna’s. “You were always terrible at reading portents.”

The knock on the door drew Celestia from her trouble thoughts as she turned to face the distraught looking Royal Guard. “What time is it?”

“A-about an hour past when…when Moon rise should have been.”

Celestia nodded absently, it had felt like only moments to her but it must have been much longer. “I’ll see to it.” Flicking her head she dismissed the unicorn. “Speak nothing of what you’ve seen here.” She waited until she could no longer sense the guard and then lowered the Sun without moving from her position. Moments later the moon rose high into the sky with practiced ease. “I need your help.”

From the edge of the shadow and moonlight a serpentine pattern extended. “I warned you about this you know.”

“I don’t want to hear it. Not right now.” Celestia whispered tiredly. “I’ve barely gotten her back, I can’t lose her again.”

“You had the version of her you wanted.” Sighed the shadow as it began to take more solid form. “You never really had her back. You should probably just come clean to her.”

“Would you accept what I had to say? Even after all this time?”

Yellow eyes with red pupils appeared from the shadow form. “Well, no, but then again I’m rather far from what most ponies consider sane.” A snaggle-tooth grin appeared as color filled the shadow little bits at a time. “Oh! But the possibilities of what could happen after being betrayed twice!”

“What do you mean Discord?” Celestia demanded.

“Memory spells, spells of the mind in general, are a tricky thing princess.” Discord lifted off the ground and floated over the two sisters. “You saw how quickly Twilight and her friends over threw my personality charms. Now some mystery pony has obliterated my memory spell on the dear little moon pony.”

“You know who did this.” Celestia’s eyes widened. “You must tell me!”

“And miss out on the fun to come?” Discord tisked. “Really Celestia, it’s like you don’t know me at all.”

Celestia turned her head away, knowing she had no leverage over the draconequis this time. “What do you want?”
“That’s the beauty of it Celestia.” Discord touched a clawed finger to Luna’s horn and released a bit of chaos magic. “I already have all I want. I’m simply going to sit back and watch.” Taking his claw away he began to fade from sight. “The counter spell won’t last long now that the foundation spell has been shattered. Enjoy the coming days Princess.” All that remained of Discord was his eyes and his smile. “I know I will.”

With a small popping sound the last traces of the spirit of chaos vanished, leaving Celestia as alone as she had been almost a thousand years ago to the day. “I’m so sorry little sister.” Closing her eyes she held the slumbering, foal sized pony and began to cry softly. "I'm so very, very, sorry."

Thoughts Left on the Battlefield

“Hold that line! If that contagion spreads all of Equestria is done for!”

There was a rough jerking under his shoulder as a grimy hoof hauled him up off the ground. “What…” He looked up at the tall, white, earth pony. “Who…”

“On your hooves soldier! Knights of the Solar Empire don’t lay down on the job! Especially when we have civilians on the wrong side of that barrier that still need our help!” The stallion barked orders as he turned and helped another nearby earth pony in golden armor to her hooves. “Move your flanks blast it!”

“Pegasi! Focus your spell craft toward the Princess! Allow her to be the focus of the barrier’s form!”

His head swung quickly, his vision swimming as it did so, to seek out the source of the new voice. “Star…swirl? But, it can’t…” The gray coated mage had lost his signature hat somewhere on the battlefield, but his pink beard was a giveaway to who he was. “How?”

“Stormchasers! Keep that those shards from falling on our land locked allies! If they get corrupted we’re done for!”

He knew that voice, he’d eaten with that stallion in the Great Hall only days before. “Lieutenant Firefly? But why is he giving orders? Where are the commanding officers?”

“Look out!”

Fear raced along his spine as the warning reached his ears. His eyes just barely caught sight of the small, black, crystalline shard before it embedded itself into his flesh right between the eyes. The pain was like nothing he’d felt before, like nothing that should come from such a small piece of shrapnel.

“Sun Princess save us…”

He tried to turn, but had great difficulty in doing so. Thoughts of poisons, of brain damage, entered his mind for a moment. Then the tinkling of glass was heard as he tried to step forward. “No…” He watched, helpless, as the crystal coat grew and expanded over him like a second skin. “No, please…” Seconds later, the world went dark and only deep, basso, voice was left to his senses.

“My…slave…”

OOOOO

“No…no…no!”

“Twilight!” Applejack raced into the room as the scream cut through the Apple Family farmhouse. “Wake up Twilight. It’s just a dream!” She placed her hooves on the purple pony’s shoulders and shook her with enough force to facilitate the removal from the dream.

Tear soaked eyes opened slowly. “Applejack? What…where?”

“Easy sugarcube.” Applejack stepped back and let her friend sit up in bed. “You’re still at Sweet Apple Acres. Been here since you had that episode yesterday.”

Looking around groggily Twilight took in the surroundings of Applejack’s room. The fact that she was in AJ’s bed while a chair was just at the side of the bed made her frown slightly. Applebloom, still asleep in her sleeping bag, was next to the chair. “You’ve been watching over me?”

“’Course we were. You’re our friend Twilight.” Applejack nodded as she passed over a glass of water. “I wanted to take you to the hospital, but Big Macintosh would let me.”

Twilight sipped the water slowly, pausing as Applejack started to laugh nervously. “What’s so funny?”

“Well, you see…” Applejack looked away. “He wouldn’t let anypony take you off the farm, including the Royal Guards that came looking for you.”

Twilight blinked at this for several seconds. “How in Equestria did he manage to stop Royal Guards?”

“Darndest thing I’ve ever seen.” Applejack took back the water glass and placed it on the nearby nightstand. “I mean, Big Mac got into a few scraps when he was a foal, but he’s never really fought anypony before. He’s surprisingly good at it.” She started to rub her hooves together anxiously. “He didn’t exactly beat the stuffing out of them but, he knocked one of their helmets off… and then stepped on it… which shattered it.”

Twilight blinked at this in surprise. “Those are enchanted to be nearly impossible to scuff, let alone really damage.”

“Yeah, that’s what one of the guards mentioned.” Applejack shifted about nervously. “You think you could maybe get the guards to stop when they come back with reinforcements? I’d really appreciate it Twilight, Seein’ as you’re a princess and all.”

Twilight laughed. “My first official order as Princess, prevent my friends from being arrested by Royal Guards.” Her laughter faded as she considered what she knew now. “Why didn’t he let me go to the hospital though?”

“No idea.” Applejack hopped up into her chair. “He just said, the worst was over and then carried you up here.” She sighed as Twilight’s frown deepened. “Any idea on what happened? Seemed like you were having all kinds of bad dreams afterwards too because of it.”

“I don’t know.” Twilight shimmied herself to the edge of the bed and slowly climbed down. “It hurt, a lot. I remember that much. I don’t remember any dreams, but I guess its possible the spell could have done something like that.” When she didn’t feel any remaining traces of weakness in her legs she moved over to the window and looked over the farmland beyond. “Wait a moment…” Her eyes darted to the different trees that were in view. “You said that the trees on the farm were acting strange, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

Sitting back on her haunches she rubbed her chin with her hoof. “The spell that I got hit with was very strange. Really powerful, but, it was raw. Like somepony gathered up a ton of magic and stored it for one massive burst. The same way that unicorn foals try too hard when they first start learning magic.”

“So…” Applejack’s eyebrows furrowed. “Somepony stole magic from the farm, to use against you?”

“I don’t know, its only one possible idea right now.” Twilight’s head jerked up. “Wait! You said I’ve been asleep since yesterday! The ceremony!”

“Easy Twilight.” Applejack hopped off her chair. “Princess Celestia put the ceremony on hold when she heard about the attack you suffered.” The earth pony put up a foreleg defensively as she watched Twilight’s eyes widen and her pupils constricted. The quickly fraying mane was also unnerving. “Uh, Twilight? That’s a right creepy smile makin’ it’s way onto your face right now Twilight.” She shielded her eyes as a burst of light filled the room, along with Twilight’s cry of frustration, and then Applejack stood alone at the window. Her eyes half-lidded as a look of annoyance overtook her expression. “Guess I better go get the others.”

Applebloom sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes as the quiet click of the door woke her. “Where’d everypony go?”

OOOOO

Spike blinked quickly as the light intensity of the room suddenly shot up. “I’ve never been so happy to be seeing spots before in my life!” He raced across the Golden Oak Library’s main room and launched himself into a full on hug as the purple pony got her balance back. “You ok now Twilight?”

“I think so.” Twilight hugged Spike in return, smiling happily as she felt the familiar scratch of his scales against her. “I assume you’ve been helping Princess Celestia since you weren’t at Sweet Apple Acres?”

“He has.”

Twilight spun quickly, her wings flaring out in shock as she did so. “Princess Celestia! I…Why are you…I thought…”

“Easy Twilight.” Celestia chuckled. “I thought it would raise less suspicion if I stayed here under the pretense of visiting you rather than waiting at the farm or in the Ponyville Inn.”

“That…” Twilight paused. “Why is there a need to limit suspicion?” Looking around the library she noticed another oddity as well. “And where is Princess Luna? Shouldn’t she be here for the ceremony?”

Celestia took a deep breath sat down on the floor, inviting Twilight to do the same with a nod. “This is not to leave this room, that includes you as well Spike, do you understand?”

The younger occupants of the room swallowed loudly, but Twilight spoke first. “I…I don’t understand. It’s not like you to keep secrets.”

Celestia averted her gaze for a moment. “Actually, one of the sad lessons I have to teach you now that you’re a Princess, is that I keep a great many secrets Twilight.” She waited for several seconds as her student stared at her slack-jawed. “Being Princess mean doing what is right for all your subjects, sometimes that means…keeping the scarier things hidden away. The reason Equestria is able to maintain such happy and relatively carefree lives…”

Twilight jerked as realization hit. “All those times when you wouldn’t reply to my letters. You were dealing with something…something that must have been awful.”

“You begin to understand.” Celestia nodded. “It is not well known even in the Royal Guard ranks, let alone all the other ponies, but the attack that effected you also effected Princess Luna and myself.”

“Cadance!” Twilight jumped to her hooves quickly. “If the three of us…”

“It is why Luna is not here.” Celestia raised a hoof to placate Twilight. “It would look strange if I were to go, but given the history of the Summer Sun Celebration for the last thousand years it is, understandable, if Luna should not appear.”

Sadness crept into Twilight’s voice as she sat down again. “Right, the defeat of Nightmare Moon.” Her brow furrowed. “It’s a fair distance from Ponyville to Canterlot, and if the spell made it all the way to the Crystal Empire…” She glanced toward her mentor. “It would make more sense if it was cast from a centralized point to effect the three locations, but I think it was something else.”

Celestia nodded. “You are more sensitive to magic than even I due to your place as the bearer of the Element of Magic, but I believe the same as you do. The spell was cast here in Ponyville.”
Spike grit his fangs and his claws scratched audibly as he clenched his fists. “Then, does that mean, what I think it means?”

Celestia frowned as she watched Twilight tremble in her seated position. “It might. As the closest alicorn to the cast location, somepony might have targeted that attack at you, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“But…why?” Twilight murmured quietly.

Celestia was quiet as well for a time. “I don’t know. I wish I did my faithful student. You are the newest of the alicorn Princesses, the newest to your powers and abilities, it maybe that somepony wishes to take advantage of that.”

“The way Queen Chrysalis tried to used Shiny, Shining Armor’s, moment of weakness from the barrier to capitalize on attacking Canterlot Castle.” She looked up to her longest known friend and mentor. “What do we do now?”

“I’ll have a cohort of Royal Guards assigned to you from my most trusted ponies, they will keep you safe.”

“No.” Twilight shook her head, smiling slightly as she saw the look of surprise on Celestia’s face. “Who ever this pony is, the magic only targeted alicorns, it didn’t harm anypony else. Adding guards won’t protect me, and it would only raise suspicion if I suddenly had armored guardians all around me right?” She widened her smile, with a bit of effort. “It’s not like I haven’t been in danger before, I just am a Princess now, and Princesses have to hide the scary things in Equestria.”

Celestia showed nothing for several minutes on her expression. There were the barest hints of tears in the smaller pony’s eyes. “I knew you would make a fine Princess, even stronger than I dared hope.” Leaning in she gently brushed her cheek against Twilight’s to try and comfort her.

Taking a deep breath Twilight stood and roughly wiped her tears away before they could fall, it wouldn’t do to break down after such compliment from her teacher. “So, we have a Summer Sun Celebration to prepare for. Spike! Where do we stand on our list of things to do?”

“Twilight, you can’t just…” The dragon stopped as he saw the barely contained fear in Twilight’s eyes. “Right, nothing like a good list to make sense of everything.”

“I should see to things on my side of the preparations.” Celestia rose slowly. “Unless you would like me to remain?”

“I…I would, but you can’t.” Twilight shook her head. “We both have things to do, things the others need to see us doing.”

Celestia nodded, though there was a hint of sadness in the motion. With a nod in thanks to Spike for opening the door she made her way out to the streets of Ponyville. She smiled to a few ponies who waved as she passed by, though the motion felt hollow as she walked.

“Bravo Tia. A splendid performance.”

The pastel-maned pony managed to not jerk her head at the voice, but her eyes darted angrily toward the source. If not for the fact that Twilight’s mailbox was grinning at her she would have thought she imagined it. “I am in no mood for your games Discord. Leave at once.”

“Save your threats my dear Celestia, I’m going.” The snaggletoothed smile faded slowly. “The games have only just begun after all.”

OOOOO

“Let me see if I understand this.” Rarity lowered her glasses as she sidestepped from her mannequin. “Somepony may have tried to…to kill Twilight, and she wishes to act as if nothing happened?”

Spike nodded slowly. “I don’t like this plan.”

“I ain’t a fan of it either.” Applejack sat down haughtily. “But I can’t rightly say it’s the wrong call either.”

“How can you say that?” Rainbow Dash zipped down and put herself nose to nose with the earth pony. “Twilight is one of our closest friends and you’re ok with putting her in danger?”

“I didn’t say that at all!” Applejack pushed her face forward and match the anger in Rainbow’s voice with her own. “But her strategy is the same as when you deal with any predator. It’s big, mean, and hits hard. You make yourself prey, you get…you get eaten.” She turned her head away. “If you can fool’em into thinking you aren’t paying attention, sometimes you get some good licks in before they get you.”

“That sounds like a very risky plan.” Fluttershy whispered quietly from where she sat with Angel. “Whenever I have to go some where scary…”

“Everywhere for you right?” Rainbow Dash chuckled, at least until the others stared her down.

“I am usually scared.” Fluttershy admitted. “But that makes me more alert too, sometimes I see things that other ponies might miss. Maybe it’s the same for Twilight.”

“I think you’re all forgetting the most important part in all this.” Pinkie Pie bounced away as Rarity took back some ribbon she was playing with. “Twilight doesn’t have to worry about somepony attacking her again.” She came to a stop at the center of the room. “Cause whoever it is they’re going to have to deal with us first!”

Spike smiled as he saw knowing looks exchanged between the ponies. He’d known he couldn’t keep this a secret, but he was relieved that everything he’d learned along with Twilight about friendship had proven correct. There was no way her best friends would let her face this alone. “But, we still have no idea who attacked, where the attack came from, or when the next one might…”

Pinkie began waving her hoof excitedly. “Ooh! Ooh! Pick me! Pick me!”

“We’re not in school Pinkie Pie.” Applejack sighed.

“I felt it before!” Six sets of eyes turned toward the pink mare with confusion evident. “I didn’t know what it was obviously, cause it was so different than anything else I’d ever felt, but it was definitely something that was bad, and when bad things are about to happy you know how I get…”

Rainbow Dash floated over and placed a hoof over the other pony’s mouth. “Get to the point Pinkie.”

“It was like a super, mega, colossal, twitchy-McTwitch-a-thon!”

Spike snapped his claws. “The Pinkie Sense!”

“You can actually detect stuff like that?” Applejack inquired skeptically.

Pinkie bobbled her head excitedly in the affirmative. “Duh! Can’t everypony?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Not usually, no.” She looked away nervously. “You’re, kind of special in that regard Pinkie.”

“Cool!”

Applejack tipped her hat back a bit and looked up at the ceiling. “Maybe we can catch whoever this pony is if we have some warning.” She glanced over to Rarity. “You’re the only true magic user after Twilight, any way to stop something like that you reckon?”

Rarity lifted a hoof apprehensively. “I…I truthfully have no idea.” She backpedaled as she got an eyebrow waggle from Applejack. “Darling, I may be a unicorn but that doesn’t mean I had the aptitude to enter Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. I know the basic conventions that every unicorn knows to get through their daily life, and most of those are just variations on levitation of objects.”

“Which is why you’ll need a pony much more versed in spell craft if you want to actually catch this mysterious somepony.”

Spike’s tail stiffened as he heard the familiar voice and his eyes shot toward the source. “Twilight! How did you?” He stopped as he realized the obvious solution. “Right, teleportation spell.”

Descending the stairs calmly Twilight tried to keep her unhappy expression on her face, but it soon gave way to a gentle smile. “I knew I’d find you all here.”

“Its not their fault Twilight!” Spike ran up to his long time friend. “I couldn’t keep this a secret when…” His words were cut off as he was grabbed up in a strong hug from the purple mare.

“I knew as soon as you said you were going to check on the costumes again.” Twilight chuckled. “Celestia probably knew you wouldn’t keep it a secret too even as she gave that order.”

“Don’t rightly like how you tried to keep us in the dark on this one.” Applejack stood up. “Watching the first go around of this was bad enough, a second time where something worse could happen though? That’s a mighty big lie to keep to yourself Twilight.”

“I know, I’m sorry.” Twilight bowed her head. “I just, I guess I’ve kind of gotten used to rushing headlong into things. Putting myself in harms way instead of you guys is…”

“Traitorous.” Remarked Rainbow Dash.

“Mean.” Replied Fluttershy.

“Selfish.” Stated Rarity.

“Totally not ok!” Yelled Pinkie Pie.

Twilight flinched as each spoke simultaneously, differed words with one voice. “I’ve already apologized, so I won’t cheapen it by saying it again.” A mischievous grin grew on her face. “So what do you all say to trying to catch this unknown somepony?” With the exception of Fluttershy’s nervous expression, all the others smirked and nodded in agreement.

“I assume you have a plan sugarcube?”

00000

Mrs. Cake looked up as the door creaked open slowly and jingled the chime above the door. “Hello! Welcome to…” Her voice dropped away as she saw the familiar travel robe of the strange pony she’d met yesterday. It almost did not seem to be the same individual. Her skin began to crawl as she watched him limp across the wooden floor, his steps heavy as he favored one of his rear legs and refused to even place one of his forehooves on the ground. “Are you alright Blackbriar?”

“An unfortunate miscalculation.” The pony’s voice issued from the dark confines of his hood, his face completely hidden. “Didn’t realize how close a lightening rod was, I’ll be fine in a few days. Thank you for asking though. Is my order ready?”

Mrs. Cake nodded as she took a few steps back and swallowed down the bile that rose at the back of her throat. She hadn’t noticed it at first, due to the distance between them, but when he spoke the smell that came along with his words assaulted her senses. “Seems like you should be in Ponyville Hospital rather than a candy shop dear. Let me get some of the nurse ponies…”

“No!” Blackbriar’s voice rose. “No, I’ll be fine, I promise you. Please just let me take my order and I’ll be on my way.”

“Well, if you’re sure.” Hesitantly Mrs. Cake turned her back to the near crippled pony. “It’s a bit of a strange special order so the price is a bit higher.” Grabbing the large satchel of candy she turned about just in time to see a leather pouch fly through the air and land on the display counter with a heavy clink. “That sound like far too much.”

“I’m aware of how expensive peppermint oil can be.” Blackbriar turned his head away to reset his hood from his throwing of the coin purse. “If you wouldn’t mind, could you simply slide the satchel across the floor? I’m afraid I’ve reopened an old injury, I know I smell rather terrible right now and it’s a bit embarrassing.”

Mrs. Cake started to do as requested, but stopped in mid motion. “Is that why you asked for mints that are so strong? To hide the smell?” She frowned as the hidden head dipped in shame.

“Something like that, yes.”

The blue mare steeled herself against the smell and walked towards the injured pony. “I’ve dealt with my kitchen smelling like the Great Baked Bads incident for a week. After roasted earthworms in my oven I’m not bothered by such things, and you shouldn’t be either.” Settling the satchel on Blackbriar’s back she tried to look unfazed as the darkened hood turned toward her, but inside she suddenly felt terrified.

“I…did not expect such a reaction.” Blackbriar spoke quietly as he watched the mare back away slowly. “Thank you.” His cowl concealed gaze shifted towards the door behind the display case. “The little one is about to try his luck flying down the stairs. I don’t believe his wings are strong enough for that distance yet.”

Like any mother, Mrs. Cake turned quickly toward the door and was already in a run at the mention of her foals being in harms way. Throwing open the door she saw her little pegasus just as he started to tumble from the air. “Pound Cake!” There was a flash of light, followed quickly by the sound of infant laughter as Mrs. Cake felt Pound and Pumpkin land on her back. A sigh of relief passed her lips as she went to face her customer. “How…”

Pumpkin Cake stood on her mother’s back and looked around the empty room quizzically. “’Uppy?”

00000

Down the street from Sugar Cube Corner a figure paused in the shadow between two buildings long enough to reach into his satchel and select three of the candies contained within. The sweets disappeared into the hooded recess and the sounds of violent crunching filled the air shortly after. “So much planning, so much work, ruined by the one thing we refused to acknowledge.”

Pushing away from the building he’d been leaning on Blackbriar strode down the street again, limp barely detectable. “Maybe all is not lost.” Another peppermint was plucked from the satchel as he walked, his attention turned in the direction of distant Canterlot and then to Carousel Boutique. “Perhaps we did wait too long.” Tucking the candy into the pocket of his cheek he let this candy dissolve slowly.

Taking care not to get too close he found a shadowed spot to sit and stare at the clothing store. “What role will you play, oh new princess? Do you have a hoof on the fate of Her little ponies?” He spoke quietly to himself, completely ignored by the other ponies that walked the cobblestone ways of Ponyville. “And how do I need to remove you to change that fate?” Closing his eyes he began to hum softly. “Mare of the Moon, please light the way.”

00000

Celestia jumped as Luna gasped and bolted upright in her bed. “Luna? Are you alright little sister?”

The blue-coated mare looked around the room in a daze for several seconds before her focus returned. “I…I believe so.” She raised a hoof to her forehead and massaged it gently. “I cannot seem to remember. What transpired that makes my head hurt so?”

Shaking her head Celestia walked closer to where Luna sat, levitating a glass of water toward her sister as she did so. “In truth, I am not completely certain either. I was hoping you might remember something so that we could figure it out together.”

Nodding, Luna accepted the glass and sipped slowly. She studied her reflection in the water as she set the glass down, noting her paler coat color and her shoulder length, light blue mane. “I cannot say I remember much, but it must have been magic of a very powerful nature to revert my appearance so.” Her gaze looked over her unaltered form. “It has been a long time since I last saw this face. The visage of the Royal Luna so often in the mirror.” Sighing she turned her attention to her sister. “A shame that we both must hide what we truly are.”

Celestia bowed her head in agreement. “Such is the life of the Royal Sisters.” Her muscles seemed to relax as her body shimmered. Where once stood a tall pony with flowing, pastel, mane, a smaller pony with white coat and solid pink mane appeared. “It is nice to let things down from time to time though.” Hopping up onto the bed she faced her sister. “So you do not recall anything?”

“Visions and fleeting glimpses.” Luna looked out the window. “Anger that bordered on hatred most of all, but also pain, loss, death, blame, pride, joy, relief, and so many more.” Shaking her head again she turned away from her sister.

A frown creased Celestia’s lips as she silently watched Luna try to order her thoughts. “I almost regret sensing the strangeness in time, the barrier I put up shielded me from the worst of it, but as a result I have very little to try and follow up on.”

Luna’s eyes squeezed tightly shut. “It was akin to when I go walking the dreams of our subjects. I can feel the general temperament of their mind when I am near even without fully entering the dreamscape, allowing me to intercede only when truly needed rather than barge into a peaceful or enjoyable dream.” Gritting her teeth in concentration she focused further on those feelings. “There were words…in the background…underlying the emotions…so many emotions…like dreams…I was unable…to see…to reach.”

Celestia’s ears perked as Luna began to hum, and only seconds later before her eyes went wide. “Luna! Stop!”

The Moon Princess startled and nearly fell over as her sibling’s voice cut into her thoughts. “Sister? Why did you stop me?” Her demand for an answer full and thick in her tone. “We nearly had our answer!”

“I heard that tune just before the attack.” Celestia replied softly. “I felt the magic behind it which triggered my shield spell. It might be that the tune is part of the attack, I did not want you to trigger it again.”

“Oh.” The fight quickly went out of the younger princess. “I am…sorry I yelled.

Celestia smiled with an understanding nod. “At least we now know it was not imagined.” Looking to a nearby clock Celestia rose from her spot beside her sister. “There is some time yet before nightfall. Perhaps I should raise the Moon as well tonight? It would give you more time to recover your strength.”

Luna’s words died in her throat as she watched the illusion spell cloak Celestia’s body, transforming her again into the beloved princess all of Equestria knew. At the same moment she felt little shards of ice grip at her heart, an unease growing inside her. “No, I don’t believe that will be necessary. I will raise the Moon dear sister.”

“Very well.” Celestia bowed her head as she turned to leave the room. “Get a bit more rest before then at least?”

“Of course.” Luna agreed quickly. “Enjoy the rest of the day sister.”

As the door closed behind her Celestia’s smile faded. “If you even suspect my sister is unwell you are to notify me immediately.” She did not turn to face either of the guards that stood outside of Luna’s bedchamber to make sure they understood the whispered command, instead walking off briskly away toward another part of the castle.

Within her room, Luna rose from her bed and made her way over to her mirror. She stared at her reflection for several long minutes. “Princess of Night, Princess of Stars…” The little filly all but fell over herself as she tried to get away from the mirror, only by force of will managing to keep from screaming in fright. She sat there, unmoving, well away from the mirror’s reflections. It no longer mattered. The image of three faces staring back at her was locked to her vision. Her own current form, with her Princess Form to the left and the Night Mare to her right hung heavy in her mind’s eye. “No, no.” Her horn glowed with silver-white light and the mirror shattered. “No!”

The guards rushed the door as the sound of broken glass filled the near silent room. The two stallions exchanged worried glances as they found a lump of covers at the center of the bed, trembling uncontrollably. One nodded toward the door, silently ordering the other to go find Princess Celestia. The crackle of energy around the bed made it well known that a defensive spell was in place, preventing him from going to the Princess’ aid. All he could do was listen to the scared murmurings of a filly hiding beneath her blankets.

“I will not become her. I will not become her. I will not become her. I must not become Night Mare Moon. I will not become her. I will not…”

Battlefield Alliance - Part One

Battlefield Alliance - Part One

“Away from her!”

The mare in golden armor had just barely regained her footing before she had fallen once again into the dirt. It was not physical injury that had undone her this time, but one of the mind. She could do nothing as her brother-in-arms had succumbed to the dark crystal magic, watching as his body had been encased in the living gem skin. Eyes, green and lifeless, had turned to her and frozen her soul. The feeling of tears running down her face barely registered as the darkened hoof reached out for her. Her enlistment into the army of corrupted ponies was not to be however.

White light and golden flame swathed across the field, yet somehow none but the single crystal pony was touched. The armored mare stared at the scant pile of ash the magical heat had left behind. The tears came faster now as the remaining cinders were all that was left of her partner of nearly two decades. Her best friend…

“You will have time to mourn him later.”

The mare looked up into the resolute expression of her leader. “Princess…” Her pink mane was dirty and scorched. Silver blood leaked slowly from a cut in her cheek and dribbled slowly down her neck. “Tower Shield…”

“Was one of our finest soldiers.” The Princess replied, firmly tempered respect in her voice. “What would he have you do in this situation?”

The mare bit her lip hard enough that red blood welled in her mouth. “He’d have me…” She wanted revenge. She hated the Unicorn King that would see himself an Emperor. She would spear his heart with Tower Shield’s own…

The Princess nodded as she watched the smaller mare’s breathing hitch, then slowly change to a calm rhythm. “You have your answer?”

“He never carried a lance, always a shield. He’d have me do my duty to the Solar Empire.” Dusting off her golden armor she stood, stronger now some how. “He’d have me get as many of the free crystal ponies to safety as I can.”

“Then make us both proud.”

“For Tower Shield!” She bellowed as she raced headlong into the nearest battle. “For the Princess!” Spinning in mid step she grabbed up a discarded shield and smashed it into the nearest corrupted pony, shattering him instantly. “For the Solar Empire!”

“They fight well for you Princess.”

The Princess did not turn as she felt a bandage pressed against her cheek. “They do not fight for me Starswirl.” She pulled away from her oldest friend as he tried to clean the blood from her white coat. “They fight for each other. As it should be.”

The wizard pony looked over the battlegrounds. “There are still many acres to go before we reach the heart of the Crystal Empire.” He grimaced. “No pun intended for once.” Pausing for only a moment he unleashed a spell to vaporize a group of attackers that were getting a bit to close for comfort. “Princess…”

“I see it as well.” Spreading her wings she allowed her magic to blast outward in all directions, shattering the opposing forces as if they were nothing. “I knew it once the barrier fell. Even if all my little ponies were to restore themselves as…” Her voice dropped away as she realized she did not even know the name of the pony she had just sent off into battle.

“Flower Chaser.”

The alicorn turned her head to face her advisor, clearly dismayed, before she turned away again. “How pitiful of a ruler am I that a pony with a name such as that must be in the armed forces.” Shaking her head she started to walk deeper into the battle. “Sound the retreat Starswirl. I will provide the time to allow as many as possible to escape. I will deal with the Shadow King alone.”

Starswirl galloped before the monarch and slapped her roughly across the face with his hoof. “If you expect your subjects to run while you wade deeper into danger, then you truly are a pitiful Princess!”

“I am no more special than they!” Her voice rose to deafening levels. “I will not see them die in vain!”

“Then fight for them!” Starswirl grinned knowingly. “As they fight for you! As it should be!” He laughed out loud as he was pulled into a tight hug.

“I expect you to survive this, you crazy old fool.”

“Earth pony heart, like a pegasi fly, take a unicorn horn to the eye if I lie!” He laughed again as the Princess rolled her eyes. “Knights of the Solar Empire! Rally around the Princess!” Like a pony possessed he raced along side his leader into the thick of the fight, laugher growing ever more maniacal as he fired spell after spell. “Have at thee you sons of griffons!”

00000

“Do we really need to do all of this so early?” Spike yawned as he lay half-asleep on Twilight’s back. “I mean the festival doesn’t even start until…”

“Sunrise Spike.” Twilight spared a quick disapproving glance at her assistant. “Which means we need to be prepared before hoof.” She rolled her eyes as a sleepily grumbled agreement was made.

“Twilight!”

The pony looked up as a blur of rainbow coloring zipped its way toward her. “How are weather preparations going?”

“Nothing but sun and fun in our forecast.” Rainbow Dash saluted playfully as she came to a hover alongside her friend. “But there were some weird looking clouds over on the edge of the Everfree Forest. I don’t think they’ll interfere, but I’ve never seen clouds like those before so I’ll keep and eye on them just to be safe.”

“Thanks Rainbow.” Twilight bowed her head as Rainbow again saluted and raced back up into the early morning clouds that remained to be cleared away. “Pinkie Pie?”

“Hi Twilight!” Pinkie dropped from the roof of a nearby building, using the banner that trailed behind her to stop herself, just before she hit the ground. “How’d you know I was there?”

“I think I might be starting to get my own version of a Pinkie-sense.” Twilight chuckled. “Are we ok for all the decorations?”

“We’re better than ok!” Pinkie beamed. “I pulled out all the stops and used ever bit of party know how I have. They’ll be talking about this festival for years to come.”

“Sounds great.” Twilight glanced to Spike again as he let out a rather loud snore. “That on the other hoof…”

Pinkie Pie giggled as she watched the dragon roll over. “Well, he is a baby dragon after all.”

“True.” The clip-clopping of hooves on cobblestone drew Twilight’s attention as an odd shape made its way towards them in the pre-dawn light of the moon. “Oh, morning Applejack.”

“Morning Twilight, Pinkie.” The farm pony slowed to a stop. “I brought the Apple stand so we’d have a bit more space to sell all the pastries and what not I’ve been cooking up. Makes them a might easier to transport too.”

“That’s a great idea.” Twilight turned to trot towards the center of town. “We’ll set it up with the concession areas that were started yesterday. Just a bit more towards the front so everypony will see that first.”

Applejack shook her head, but smiled. “Seems a bit like a trick to me, but I’d be lying if I said that a few extra sales wouldn’t be good for Sweet Apple Acres.” Her ears perked as she caught the sounds of singing off in the distance. “Sounds like Fluttershy is on her way too.”

The chorus of birds a few minutes later proved the prediction to be correct as Fluttershy floated down beside the group. “Good morning everypony.” She giggled softly a few of the birds settled on her mane and back. “My little friends are ready to give a wonderful performance for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Where would you like us to set up Twilight?”

The princess bucked slightly to bounce Spike awake. “Did the bird stand get set up yesterday?”

“I think so.” Spike rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “I asked a few of the construction ponies working on the stage to place it close by.” He sighed as Twilight raised an eyebrow at him. “I’ll go make sure…”

“I’ll go with you Spike.” Fluttershy fell into step with the dragon as they walked off together. “The cardinal and the blue jay have been picky about where they get to sit the last few days.”

“Any idea where…” Applejack was quickly cut off as they rounded the next corner.

“There you are!” Rarity raced over with her tape measure and fabric shears floating close behind. “We need to do your final fitting for your outfit Twilight!”

“Hasn’t anypony ever told you not to run with scissors?” Pinkie grabbed the shears out of the air and laid them down on Applejack’s stand. “Somepony could get hurt.”

“And I already told you that I’m not going to be wearing a costume for my part in the ceremony.” Twilight stretched out her wings. “I’m finally starting to feel like I’m getting the hang of these things and you want me to ruin my balance with a super frilly dress?” Her voice lowered. “Besides, depending on how today goes you wouldn’t want me to ruin one of your outfits would you?”

“Oh dear, you’re absolutely right.” Rarity tucked her tools back into her saddlebags, completely missing the not quite surpressed snickers of Pinkie Pie and Applejack. “What was I thinking?”

Twilight started to respond, but stopped as she felt a slight tug-like sensation at the back of her neck. Turning toward the feeling she observed Celestia just beginning to descend from the sky. “Princess Celestia? Is everything all right?”

“I’m afraid not my faithful student.” Celestia touched down gently. “It would seem the after effects of our shared experience have trouble Princess Luna far more than you or I.”

“Oh no!” Pinkie Pie hopped atop Twilight, making the purple pony frown and glare, in effort to get closer to Celestia. “Is Princess Luna ok?”

“I think she will be, but she will not be able to join us today.” Celestia shook her head.

“We could always postpone…” Suggested Twilight.

“The towns ponies would realize that something was amiss.” Celestia leaned down as her voice went softer. “And it would force us to reveal that even Princesses are vulnerable to magical attacks.”

“But,” Applejack tipped her hat back out of her eyes as she murmured her thoughts. “Didn’t we already sort of know that after Cadance’s wedding in Canterlot? I mean, plenty of ponies saw Chrysalis defeated…ow!” The farm pony stumbled as a pink hind leg kicked her in the side.

“You are way to honest for your own good sometimes.” Pinkie Pie whispered with a hint of anger. She glanced toward Celestia, relieved she didn’t seem to hear Applejack’s musings. “Do you know how much her feelings would be hurt if you reminded her of that?”

“I…” Applejack frowned, something about Pinkie’s reasoning was off to her but she couldn’t quite nail it down. “I guess I didn’t think of it that way.” She whispered softly.

“I know.” Pinkie smiled. “That’s why I gave you that gentle reminder.”

“That was gentle?” Applejack rubbed at her side. “Maybe I should hire you to help buck apples come harvest time.”

“Sure! I accept apple pies and a fritters as payment.”

The farm pony’s mouth opened, then closed as she decided to let this conversation go no further. “I’m going to go set up the stand.”

“And I have banners to hang!” Pinkie Pie bounced off for one of the, slightly less, decorated areas of Ponyville. “See you later Twilight!”

“You have very good friends.” Celestia walked along side her student, now peer in part too, toward the center of Ponyville where the celebration would begin. “I take it they know?”

A nervous chuckle was all Twilight was able to respond with at first. “You know how protective Spike can get. Both you and he know how I sometimes overlook the dangers to myself when trying out new things.” She looked up at her teacher. “Are you angry they know?”

“I allowed you to remain in Ponyville to research the magic of friendship.” Celestia looked up at the podiums for the Sun and Moon in the distance. “How can I be angry that your closest friends are standing at your side?”

“Still, I’m relieved to hear that.” Twilight let go of the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. Looking around cautiously she lowered her voice. “Did you bring them?”

“They are in a chest being watched over by some of my Royal Guards who should arrive shortly.” Celestia looked around as a few ponies began to leave their homes and populate the streets of Ponyville. “You really believe they will attack again?”

“They?” Twilight questioned, catching the momentary clench of Celestia’s jaw as she did so. “I…I hadn’t even considered the possibility of multiple ponies. I’d been operating on the idea that it was only one spell caster since the intent was so…” She paused, her brow furrowing in thought. “Except, it wasn’t all that focused…”

“Perhaps we should continue this at another time.” Celestia cleared her throat as a small gather of ponies made their way toward the two Princesses. “Our little ponies arrive.”

Twilight’s head tilted slightly as she heard the words, and for the first time considered Celestia’s stature. “Yes, of course.”

00000

Blackbriar ground his teeth as he remained in the shadows at the outermost edge of the ceremony. The pressure on his molars redoubled as the younger princess shot through the sky and ignited it in a blaze of pinkish-purple light. “Its almost saddening, they are all so enamored with them. I could drop this concealment spell and I would still likely get no attention from any other pony here right now.” He muttered under his breath as he watched Twilight Sparkle roundabout to make her way back to the stage. Though hidden by his hood, his expression grew more sullen with each second. As she touched down beside her mentor Blackbriar gave up the last bit of hope he’d been holding on to.

Turning away he began to make his way down the almost empty streets of Ponyville. “What do we do now?” His head hung low as he walked. “How do I proceed? What the hay am I supposed to do now?” His muscles tensed as he continued on and anger began to creep into his voice. “What in Tartarus are we supposed to do now?” At the outermost edge of Ponyville he paused long enough to lash out a hoof at a nearby building wall, causing a flare of green magic to pass into the stone and mortar structure which blew it to smithereens. Staring at the mess for several seconds he sighed before turning to run down the road away from Ponyville.

00000

Pinkie Pie shot into the air as her mane poofed and her tail began to move in zigzag patterns. “Super, mega, collosal, twitchy-McTwitch-a-thon!” As she landed she spun and lifted one hoof, pointing like a tracking dog, toward the source of the disturbance. “Twilight! He’s over there!”

“Spike!” Twilight yelled over her shoulder as she began to charge in the direction Pinkie had shown. She didn’t wait for an answer, knowing he’d get his part of the plan completed. “Time to go girls!”

“Twilight? What is…” Celestia looked around in confusion.

“Over here!” Rainbow Dash called out as she dove down from her sweep of the town. “He’s all covered up with a cloak but I’m on him!”

“Don’t try to face him alone!” Twilight looked to her left to see Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie catching up to her. “I’ll explain everything later Princess Celestia!” Side-by-side with her friends she made her way through Ponyville. “Fluttershy?”

“Went ahead to help Rainbow.” Applejack caught up easily with Twilight. “Shouldn’t you be up there?”

“If he’s as strong as I think he is we need to do this together.” Twilight replied as she looked to see Fluttershy pointing them in a new direction, toward the Everfree Forest. “He’s trying to run.”

“Or lead us into a trap.” Rarity remarked sardonically. “And I don’t mean to be a bother, but it would seem that Princess Celestia’s guards have joined in on our little party.”

Groaning, Twilight forced her legs to move faster. “I don’t think that will end well, we need to get to him first.”

00000

The thunder of hooves and flap of wing beats behind him drew a disinterested look towards the Royal Guards from Blackbriar. “I’ve no time to deal with fodder.” Frowning he weighed his options as he got closer to the edge of the Everfree Forest. “Sorry, guess your times are going to come up a little early.”

Inhaling slowly, his eyes began to glow green under his hood. “Soil brown, grass of green, powerful roots from depths unseen, ensnare my pursuers, keep them from me, as there is no time to deal with each pony.” Slamming his hoof down on the ground a wave of green energy rippled along the stone and dirt walkway. In but a few moments cracks began to form and long, green vines began to emerge between them and struck towards the approaching armored guards with incredible speed.

00000

“Twilight!” Fluttershy screamed. “The guard ponies need help!”

Skidding to a stop as she clear Ponyville city limits, Twilight Sparkle stared at the armored ponies that were on one of the adjacent paths in the distance. Grasses and roots of various sizes and thickness had bound the guards immobilizing them, but that wasn’t the biggest problem. Those that still had free hooves were trying to claw at their throats as the bindings wound tighter. “No!” Vanishing in a burst of light she reappeared at the center of the chaos and curled in as she gathered her magic. With horn aglow she released the most powerful shield spell she knew.

Rarity shield her eyes as the magic shredded through the vines but left the guards unharmed. “Applejack, recall what I said about the difference between myself and Twilight?”

“Yep.” Applejack nodded.

“The gap is far larger than it used to be.” Rarity whispered quietly.

Twilight landed, stumbling as she did so, and looked to the nearest guard. “Everypony ok?”

“We…we will be fine Princess.” The pony nodded. “It will take us a moment to recover and then…”

“No, stand down.” Twilight ordered. “Whoever this pony is, he’s not holding back.”

“But Princess…”

“I am Princess Twilight Sparkle.” Pulling herself to her full height the purple pony locked eyes with the guard. “Barer of the Element of Magic, Sister of Prince Shining Armor, Sister-in-law to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and student of Princess Celestia. I am ordering you and your stallions to stand down. Do you understand?”

The unicorn stumbled backward from the force of her words and her stare. “Yes, Princess Twilight.”

“Come on girls.” Twilight turned and resumed her pursuit. “Stay close in case he uses any other spells like that.”

00000

“Rainbow Dash!”

The blue pony looked back as she heard her name. “Fluttershy! Where are the others?”

“They had to stop to help the guards.” Fluttershy strained to catch up with the faster pegasi. “He tried to…”

Rainbow Dash growled as she saw the tears start to form in Fluttershy’s eyes. “First Twilight, now other innocent ponies. That’s it, I’m taking him down.”

“Rainbow wait!”

Ignoring her friend’s cry Rainbow Dash folded her wings and went into a freefall dive. “You hurt my friend, and now you’re attacking other ponies!” Unfurling her wings she used he momentum to slingshot herself into the small opening that lead deeper into the untamed forest landscape to close the gap with the racing pony. “You weren’t going to get away from me in any case, but now you’re not getting away without a few bruises too!”

Moving closer she attempted to strike the cloaked escapee, only to be sorely disappointed when he spun and blocked her attack with his own hoof. She faltered, cradeling her hoof slightly, as she considered what she had just learned. “He’s got to be at least as strong as AJ.” When the hood turned toward her, a single glowing green eye making her blood chill.

“Stones below learn to fly, strike the Pegasus from the sky.”

Rainbow Dash’s ears perked as the trembling of the ground below them began to grow stronger. “Whoa!” Rolling in mid flight she barely managed to evade the first stone that shot from the earth towards her wing. “What the hay is this?” Flapping quickly she climbed higher as more stones pulled themselves free of the ground, the faint glow of magic around them as they hurtled toward her. Despite the multitude of projectiles Rainbow Dash easily avoided every single one. “Ha! Missed me!”

“Rainbow Dash! Look out!”

The Pegasus turned her head as Fluttershy called out to her and her heart sank a little as she watched the stones arc into a return trajectory. Had she free and open skies this would not have been a problem, but in the cramped overgrowth of the forest it was far worse. “Aw come on! That’s not fair!” Rolling with the wind she ducked the return salvo of rocks, only to find a fresh batch of stones rushing up from the ground to meet her. “Not today buddy!” Folding her wings tight she shot through the oncoming barrage, protecting her head with her forelegs as she did so, taking the hits straight on knowing she couldn’t avoid both sides. Clearing the attack she spread her wings again and zeroed her sights on the escaping pony. “Come back here!”

Thoughts of pursuit fell away as the scream reached Rainbow Dash’s ears. Her irises constricted to pinpoints as she recognized the voice. “Fluttershy!” Veering off from her target Rainbow flapped her wings for all they were worth to get back to her friend who had fallen further behind. “Hang on!”

Fluttershy groaned as another rock hit her in the side. Without the level of speed that Rainbow Dash had, never mind the agility, the yellow Pegasus was a sitting duck for the magically fueled stones. A particularly large stone struck at the joint of her right wing causing her to lose the rhythm of her flaps. Fear over took her as she tumbled end over end towards the dirt, screaming as she tried again to right herself in flight. She could see Rainbow Dash getting nearer; giving her a moment of relief knowing her friend would have someway out of this. Then the world exploded into bright light, followed quickly by darkness.

“SHY!” Rainbow Dash watched helplessly, still to far away, as the rock stuck Flutershy in the back of the head. Droplets of blood seemed to trail in slow motion from the wound into the air as the unconscious pony rag dolled to the ground below. The edges of Rainbow Dash’s vision blurred and everything seemed to slow down.

Twilight flinched as multicolored wind stuck her with far more force than she ever remembered a rainboom being able to produce. “Everyone! Close together now!” Her horn exploded in a burst of magical light that surrounded the remaining ponies and warped time and space around them.

Rarity collapsed, groaning as she did so, as the teleportation bubble popped. “Oh…I never liked teleporting spells. I think I’m going to be…” Horror filled her eyes as she took in the sight of Rainbow Dash standing guard over Fluttershy’s limp body.

Applejack stood rigid for several seconds as she took in the sight of blood on Rainbow Dash’s blue fur. The farm pony’s teeth clenched as she saw the far larger volume of blood slowly seeping into the soil beneath Fluttershy’s pink mane. “Head wound! If she’s awake, keep her that way!” Her voice harsh as her hooves began to carry her to her fallen friend.

Twilight’s eyes darted to the airborne projectiles and began to prepare a counter spell to halt their attack, but before she could do so the aura died away. She watched in confusion as the stones dropped lifelessly back to the ground. “Don’t move Fluttershy! We don’t want to make the injury worse.” Her order stopped Rarity before she could activate her levitation spell. “Rarity, I need you to hold her still while I cast the healing spell. Still as you expect your models to be while you do alterations level finesse.”

The unicorn swallowed visibly, but nodded all the same as her magic began to glow around Fluttershy. “I understand darling.”

Kneeling down Twilight closed her eyes and opened her senses. “Injury new, bones broken in two, to original form mend, to heal a hurt friend.”

Pinkie, her mane straight and dull, watched nervously as Twilight’s magic moved slowly from horn to the injured Pegasus. Her attention turned to see Rainbow Dash also looking on worriedly, to the point of ignoring her own injuries. Silently moving away from the group she cast her gaze around the forest and quickly found a few plants that caught her attention. With far more calm than most ponies would give her credit for she picked the herbs and moved to Rainbow Dash’s side. “Sit down.”

“I’m fine Pinkie, I don’t…”

“Sit. Down. Rainbow. Dash.”

The aerial ace turned ready to yell, but stopped as she saw the barely held back tears of the pink mare. With a grunt of dissatisfaction Rainbow sat down. “What is that stuff?”

“Helps keep wounds clean.” Pinkie replied softly. “Used to use it a lot on the rock farm when I’d cut my hooves or nose.”

Rainbow didn’t turn, but her eyes studied the earth pony as she worked. “You ok?” Rainbow prided herself on her title as Loyalty’s Bearer, but Pinkie Pie valued friendship in a way that even she couldn’t compare to.

It was tiny, especially by Pinkie Pie standards, but Pinkie did smile slightly. “You’re the one who’s bleeding.” Laying a few of the larger leaves against Rainbow Dash’s wounds her expression saddened again as the blue mare flinched. “What was it that made the rocks start to move on their own?”

Magenta eyes flitted towards the stones, part worry and part accusation, before she spoke. “It won’t start them up again right?” Rainbow Dash sighed as Pinkie Pie nodded, though she did wonder how the earth pony could be so sure. “Something about rocks learning to fly and Pegasus falling from the sky.”

“When we popped in you were standing over Fluttershy.” Applejack joined the other two, unable to do anything for Fluttershy or her magical healers at the moment. “The stones dropped when we showed up. I thought it was Twilight’s doing at first but...” Sitting beside them Applejack’s expression turned pensive. “Could it be that since neither one of y’all were in the air the spell was done?”

Rainbow Dash looked back at Fluttershy. “Maybe.” The yellow of her coat looked brighter and her breathing looked ok as far Rainbow could tell, but she still hadn’t moved. “He’s getting away.”

“Dash…” Pinkie started to speak as her friend stood up quickly and popped herself up into the air. She could hear the growl in Rainbow’s tone that meant only one of two possible outcomes.

“Twilight, do everything you can for Fluttershy ok?” Satisfied that her hovering didn’t seem to be reactivating the spell on the stones Rainbow started to turn in the direction they’d last seen the robed pony. “I’m going after the jerk that did that to her.” She knew it was a rotten trick, since Twilight couldn’t break her concentration to respond, but it really wouldn’t have made much difference. As she reared back to get her start Rainbow saw her rival step up beside her.

“I expect my trying to get you to wait would be rather useless.” Applejack’s tone was calm, but firm, as she endured Rainbow Dash’s glare. “Just like your trying to go it alone would be rather useless.”

“Heh.” Rainbow couldn’t keep the little scoff from escaping as she understood Applejack’s intentions. “Just try to keep up.”

Pinkie Pie stood slowly as she watched Rainbow Dash and Applejack race off into the forest. She looked back at Twilight still hard at work, the telltale frown on her face that she did not agree with Rainbow’s choice. Lifting her hoof she tapped the ground three times slowly, a second later she too raced off after the departed ponies.

00000

“Damn, blast, blight and scortch.” Blackbriar muttered as he raced along the quickly darkening trail. Pausing he glanced about for ideas on where to go, where to head next. “Can’t go home, can’t let them follow me back there.” Something flashed in his peripheral vision, making him turn in time to see a set of glowing, yellow, eyes in the forest undergrowth. “You?” Taking a step towards the eyes caused them to vanish as quickly as they had appeared, but he hadn’t expected their owner to actually stop to talk to him.

“Applejack? You found his trail yet?”

“No! You have anything from up there?”

“Tch.” The sound was a mixture of annoyance and defeat as he treaded into the brush and away from the meager trail. Trading speed for stealth he moved along the direction the eyes had shown, doing his best to leave as much of the landscape undisturbed as he could to make his pursuers’ search more difficult. Slowly and surly he continued on until he saw the light begin to increase in the direction he was heading.

Finding a suitable hiding spot in a nearby bush he crouched low and narrowed his eyes at the source of the light. After a few moments of thought he closed his eyes and mentally retraced his steps, attempting to determine his location. His grin grew quickly as he realized where he was being directed. “Perfect. It will end where it should have the first time.”

00000

“He’s just one pony!” Rainbow Dash yelled in exasperation. “It shouldn’t be that hard to find a single pony!”

“Because yelling sure isn’t going to alert him to where we are.” Applejack snapped back, though a bit quieter. “Don’t you know anything about flushing critters out of the tall grass?” Spying a rather large knothole in a tree she crouched and moved toward it. “For example…” Once close enough she started to stand upright again and attempted to peer inside. Her scream echoed through the forest as something suddenly popped towards her from within.

“Well that’s not a very nice way to say hello.” Pinkie Pie frowned as she climbed out of the knothole. “And here I though it would be a good way to lighten the mood.”

“Pinkie Pie? How in the hay did you get in there?” Applejack pointed towards the tree accusingly. “How did you get ahead of us to hide in the first place even?”

The pink earth pony shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. Maybe I ran past you a while back?”

“You? Ran past us?” Rainbow Dash tone all but dripped with disbelieving disapproval as she floated back down from her search above the canopy. “I don’t think so.”

“Anyway.” Applejack stepped between Pinkie and Rainbow before the two could get into some kind of nonsensical argument. “Did you see the guy in the robe anywhere?”

Pinkie shook he head. “But, if I were him, I’d totally go try and find a hiding spot in the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters and hope that the ponies following me missed me.”

Rainbow Dash blinked a few time and exchanged a glance with Applejack. “That’s actually a pretty smart plan. Remember all those secret passages?”

Applejack shivered, despite herself, at the memory. “How could I forget?” Pointing in the general direction of the castle she continued. “Ain’t to far from here if I remember correctly.” No sooner had the words left her mouth before Rainbow had already started off while the two earth ponies hung back a bit. “Pinkie Pie? You doing ok?” She motioned to Pinkie’s mane. “It’s a bit back to normal but…”

Pinkie nodded. “Just worried about Fluttershy.” Her expression brightened and her mane poofed up again. “But now I’ll have the perfect reason to throw a ‘Get Well Soon’ party for her.”

Applejack chuckled at the speed with which Pinkie could turn her fears around. “I think she’d like the idea.” Tactfully, she left out that the Pegasus mare would also likely hate the idea of being the center of all that attention. “Come on, before Rainbow does something rash.”

Rainbow Dash circled the castle from above a few times while she waited for her slower companions to catch up. “This place really is in bad shape, even with the little bit of repair Twilight has been trying to get done.” Peering through the overly large windows, or holes in the roof where available, she could see no trace of any recent activity. “If he is here he’s good at hiding.” At the sound of hooves near the bridge she looped back around and landed beside her friends. “Didn’t see anything from up high, I think we’re going to have to do this the hard way.”

Nodding the three mares spread out and began to search, activating the few levers and switches they had found on previous visits along the way to search harder to reach areas. “You guys remember the first time we were here?” Pinkie Pie asked as she pulled a trick candelabra.

“Of course, our first real adventure together.” Applejack nodded as she checked a trapdoor. “Why?”

“Just feels kind of familiar is all.” Pinkie trotted away from another empty stairwell. “Rushing off into the dark and scary Everfree Forest.”

“Chasing down an evil pony.” Rainbow Dash crawled back out from the hidden shelter behind a bookcase. “Though I don’t think this guy is in the same league as Nightmare Moon.”

“You mean Princess Luna.” Applejack frowned. “She was actually a good pony under all that darkness.”

“Yeah, but we didn’t know that at the time.” Rainbow defended. “She was one of the most legendary villains of all Equestrian history! Almost every threat I heard growing up about being a bad little filly ended in ‘Nightmare Moon is going to get you’.”

Pinkie giggled at the way Rainbow Dash tried to make her voice deep and threatening at the last part. “Exactly, a pony who everypony thought was really super evil, turned out to be one of our most important protectors.”

Applejack paused as she heard the unspoken thought in Pinkie’s words. “You can’t honestly think this mystery pony might be…”

“We were wrong about Nightmare Moon.” Pinkie shrugged defensively.

“He hurt Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash’s voice went cold. “Nopony who does that is a good pony.” With one last look around Rainbow started for the upper floors. “Come on. Still a ton of hiding spots to check.”

“Too many to check them all.” Applejack fell into step behind Rainbow Dash. “And who knows how many we don’t know about.” Her eyes shifted as she noticed Pinkie tapping at the ground, but didn’t think much of it. “Maybe we should go back and get the others. Make sure Fluttershy is…oomph!” A blue hoof to the mouth silenced her quickly.

“I hear something.” Rainbow Dash whispered. “There.”

“The old throne room.” Pinkie Pie whispered.

Applejack pushed Rainbow’s hoof away. “Resting place for the Elements of Harmony before they got re-forged during our fight with Nightmare Moon.”

Sneaking up quietly, Rainbow Dash peaked around the corner and saw the hood figure sitting at the base of the ancient pedestal. “Show time.” She whispered as her wing began to spread. “Back me up?” She grinned as she glanced back at the two earth ponies who nodded to her.

The hood lifted as the three mares raced around the corner towards him. “Here we go.”