Night Terrors

Chapters

Change of Scenery
Night and the City
Queen's Gambit
Night's Black Agents
Everypony Wants to Rule the World
Dark Spectrum
Prologue: Non-Stop

Change of Scenery

Roaring down the thickly-crowded streets of Canterlot with impressive speed, a massive Royal Carriage progressed toward the Palace. After all, where else would such an official vehicle be going? Word on the street was that the remaining Elements of Harmony were being brought in from Ponyville to meet with the Princess herself after the Second Lunar Rebellion.

But in the metal beast's shadow, a much more ordinary taxi-carriage followed, before breaking away to pull into the entry to Canterlot General Hospital. Unusually, it bypassed the main doorway, driving around the side to stop next to an out-of-the-way fire exit. One of the solid metal doors swung open, and to the beckoning of a nurse, four overdressed figures rushed inside as the taxi-carriage sped off. They were led to a service elevator and, after it took them up a few floors, into a corner room. A white unicorn lay on the bed inside, his sister standing over him; with the rapid removal of hoodies, scarves and other concealing outerwear, the Mane 5 were reunited.

"It's good to see you all again," welcomed Twilight. Fluttershy looked over Shining Armor, awake but in weak condition, then Twilight herself, unable to avoid noticing her scar.

"How are you both doing?"

"Oh, a cracked rib or two, maybe a fracture, nothing too bad," the stallion answered. "Worst thing is they're saying I overcharged my magic. Nothing to do about that but give it time, right, Twi?"

She smiled at him reassuringly, although her conviction was a bit lacking.

"Everypony, I hate to interrupt," the nurse interrupted, "but we really do need to go."

With brief farewells to the Captain, the girls followed her back to the elevator. Only this time, as they entered, she pressed a key into the firepony's control and twisted it downward, in a way it normally wasn't supposed to go. The car descended, but did not stop when they reached G; in fact, it kept right on going for another second before coming to a stop. As the doors opened, the Mane 5 were stunned to find Princess Celestia on the other side.

"Come with me, ladies."

They entered a rough stonework tunnel, sporadically adorned with crystal. This caused the light from magic-based torches to cascade through the entire passageway.

"This tunnel was built shortly after Canterlot became the capital of Equestria. If the palace were ever under siege, it would give them easy access to food and medical supplies, as well as an escape route. But for now, it is the safest way to get you inside the palace walls without being seen."

The door and the nurse (if she even was a nurse) vanished behind them. Trekking on solemnly, they followed every twist and turn of the path.

"Princess Celestia?" Rarity ventured. "I don't mean to be rude, but is there a particular reason for all this subterfuge?"

"I'm afraid so. Equestria has been plagued by a string of terrorist attacks, and the Elements of Harmony would make obvious targets."

Fluttershy gulped, almost stumbling across a crystal spike."Targets?"

"But Princess," Twilight reasoned, only to be cut off as Celestia stopped in front of her. She turned around to face her faithful student, with a concerned look in her eye.

"I have a lot of news to share with you when we get to the palace, and none of it is good."

Indeed... And as Applejack brought up the rear of the group, her shadow suddenly dropped several sizes.

A metal door's slam breaking the monotonous machinery whir, Charger entered H.Q. 2.0. The rough-cut industrial vibe of the Shadowbolts' new home certainly agreed with him, although he mourned the loss of starry nights and plenty of flying space. But before he got too bogged-down in those unfortunate details, he reminded himself (and everypony else in earshot) of another of the benefits of relocation.

"Cider call!" he hollered, drawing the rest of the group's attention as he dropped a six-pack on the long wooden crate they now called the chow table. In the next room, Nightshade swung herself out of her hammock, putting down a book as she got the attention of headphone-wearing Starry Skies. On their way in, Starry flung open a closet door, revealing Blueball Blitz with her tongue to an exposed lightbulb filament.

"Forget cider, I've got the good stuff right here!"

But she joined them all the same. And from the ceiling dropped Stratus, who had been doing pull-ups on an exposed girder.

"How many Guards did you let on your tail to get that?" he demanded with annoyance.

"Only a cute one, on the way out of the store. Had to play hard to get, but she didn't mind..."

"Chill out, Stratus," Nightshade intervened. "It's been far too long since we shared drinks, now that the Officers' Club is a pile of ash. Now we just need..."

"I got her," Starry finished. Going out the door Charger had just come in, she leapt off the catwalk, took to her wings and swooped under it. The next level down was a bit of a maze, with passageways and rooms opening up into each other thanks to corrosion in the metal walls. Navigating through stacks of assorted cargo, abandoned to the ages like the rest of the facility, she followed the sound of metal-on-metal collisions until she came to a sort of opening. Dim ambient light effused in from outside, enhanced by a dangling lightbulb or two.

"Hai!"

The kiai was accompanied by a fast but well-controlled slash, as the katana bisected a vertical pipe. Letting her left hoof off the hilt, Rainbow Dash came back down on all four hooves and started to recover her breath.

"Hey, Charger made a cider run, and Nightshade figured it was about time we shared a round."

Dash did not respond, only panting for a few seconds, then walking over to the wall her sheath was leaned against and returning the weapon to it.

"She's right... It has been too long."

Slinging the sheath onto her back, Dash approached her teammate and they retraced the path back 'home'. Having returned, they found two open bottles waiting, along with the rest of the Shadowbolts.

"Can't put that blade down, Dash?" Nightshade wondered.

"Hey, this bad boy saved me from being turned into fried pegasus. Excuse me for being a bit attached."

With chuckles all around, Nightshade raised her cider to toast.

"To old times, and the brothers and sisters who brought us through them!"

"To old times," they echoed, and knocked back their bottles. But as they set them back down, one by one, a mass of deep-blue gas crept through a bulkhead, then materialized into a large silhouette. It then shrank down to their size, and the gas swept back into the mane of Princess Luna.

"Do not drown yourselves in merriment just yet, friends. Before we pay tribute to the past, we must think of the future."

"You have news for us, Princess Luna?" asked Nightshade.

"Indeed, we have been more successful than I had anticipated. See for yourself."

A newspaper materialized on the table, headline clearly declaring "Defense Minister Resigns!" While the average reader would've noted the accompanying photographs as a visual record of said Minister's failings, the Shadowbolts regarded it more like a scrapbook, each smiling with silent pride at their individual moments of glory across the past few months.

"Yeah, they fired the Defense Minister. Guy was past his prime anyway, if you ask me. What does it do for us?" Charger wondered aloud.

"They are already starting to doubt and blame each other," Luna monologued. "Equestrians cling to Celestia like foals to their mother, and she is more than happy to play that role for 'her little ponies'. She gives them happiness and security, and in return they give her absolute, unquestioned authority."

"Tyranny masked behind benevolence," Starry volunteered, showing off the eloquence gifted to her by a Cloudsdale Academy education.

"Exactly. Our aim is to shatter this facade, spoil the bait my dear sister uses to entrap the complacent. When they see that she can no longer provide them with their security blanket, they will be ripped from the comforts of ignorance and begin to question their fearless leader. Unrest will grow like wildfire, too fast and too widespread for the military to contain, and soon Celestia will be pulled from the throne."

"And we get some sweet revenge in the process," added Rainbow Dash. "But how do we keep this from going to weeping and gnashing of teeth?"

"We will swoop in when my sister is at her weakest, fill the void left in her place and offer ponies a stake in their own future. Disillusioned with Celestia, hopefully they will be more receptive to our ideas than before."

"And if they aren't?" Nightshade had to ask.

"Then we disappear once more, and rule the world of shadows instead of that of light. I cannot speak for you, but the downfall of sister dearest will be satisfaction enough for me." The ice in her voice certainly made the declaration convincing. "If nothing else, we will have liberated them from their oppressor and, as my apprentice mentioned, taken our revenge on those who have wronged us. But let us cross that bridge when we reach it."

Without objection to this plan, a silence came over the room, and it was up to Blueball to raise her bottle and put an end to it. "You heard the Princess! To crossing bridges!" The rest murmured back their echo of the toast with varying degrees of enthusiasm, but all took another drink of cider much more eagerly.

"Speaking of old friends," Luna mentioned to Rainbow Dash as she emptied her bottle, "some of yours have just arrived in Canterlot."

"They're not..."

"I'm afraid so, a Royal Carriage brought them in this morning. Obviously, Celestia believes they will be safer here."

"Ha!" Dash threw her head back wildly. "I guess Ponyville is the definition of a soft target. Should I deal with them for good this time?" She pulled a combat knife from her belt and held it up, with obvious implications.

"No, that would betray our presence. Up to now our hoof in events has been hidden, our attacks seemingly random. Killing them would smack of targeted revenge..." How disappointing. "However, we still ought to acknowledge their arrival, in our own way. So there is your next assignment: show them exactly how safe they aren't."

Celestia, the Mane 5 and their guard escorts stepped into another hidden elevator at the end of the tunnel, which took them up into the palace itself. Stepping out into a white stone hallway, they jumped forward as a suit of armor slid back into place behind them, concealing the passageway. The hall looked almost untouched by the incursion, wiped clean of bloodstains and magic-bolt scorch marks. But further down, they could see a large wooden board, covering a section of the wall, and most could either remember or deduce that that was where the Hall of History had once been. The escorts peeled off as the group entered the throne room.

"Our victory over Nightmare Moon came at a very high price," Celestia said. "Not just in lives lost, but in your loss of a dear friend. We had hoped such sacrifice would bring us peace, a time to rest, to mourn, and to rebuild." Several new guards spilled in, magically lowering the blinds and darkening the room. One of them came to Celestia's side, projecting images into the air with his horn.

"It appears those hopes were in vain. Like I told you, Equestria has been plagued by terrorist attacks in the past few weeks. What I did not tell you is that there is something much more sinister behind these attacks." The unicorn showed them a familiar picture, of pegasi work-teams lifting a train car out of the Manehatten River by tow-cables. "You remember the crash of the Trans-Equestrian High-Speed Railway?"

"Yes, Mayor Mare was on that car when it went into the river," Twilight replied somberly.

"Go to the next one," Celestia instructed. The image became much lower-quality, showing the bridge the train had been crossing at the time. It took the girls a second to make it out, but they came to recognize the Mayor's body dangling from the bridge, neck caught in a paracord noose. Gasps of shock and horror all around. "I put a D-Notice on this image as soon as I saw it. We believe the train wreck was a cover for them to assassinate Mayor Mare."

"But why?" begged Twilight. "It's so elaborate, so gruesome... why put in all the extra effort just to kill Mayor Mare?"

"That's part of the reason I brought you here. I believe this was meant to be a kind of threat to Ponyville, and you by extension. Next image, please." This one was again recognizable, an elevated shot of Canterlot Square in chaos in the wake of Penstroke's death. "Only days later, my press secretary, Penstroke, was shot in the middle of a conference, in broad daylight."

"A threat against you?" Rarity ventured.

"Yes. But these are just the two most recent events, in a string of bombings, thefts and assassinations, all done with incredible precision and skill."

"You don't mean...?" asked Applejack.

"Yes. And it fits with the threat Nightmare Moon made, just before she escaped. I think she's convinced her followers to carry out these attacks as some kind of revenge scheme."

"But how do we stop her?" Twilight asked panickedly as the lights came up. Celestia hardly seemed to acknowledge her, staring out upon Canterlot with fearful concern.

"The problem with these attacks is that they come completely by surprise. We have no way to predict when or where the next strike will be; even our contacts in the Canterlot underground are in the dark."

"Probably because they're underground!" Pinkie remarked cutely, to nopony's amusement.

"That would mean Nightmare Moon's followers are completely self-reliant," Twilight extrapolated. "Whatever they need, they steal or scavenge."

Rarity's business sense perked up, desperate to contribute something useful. "But logistics like that ought to devastate their efficiency, like trying to trying to sew with a dull needle. No matter how good you are, you still need the right tools to do the job."

This, in turn, kicked the ball into Applejack's court, drawing from her experience building and fixing things on the farm. "But if ya don't have the right tools, you use whatcha do have, um, impervise! Maybe that's what they're doin'!"

"It's entirely possible," concluded Twilight, pausing as she realized something frightful. "But if they can get these kind of results with improvised tools and weapons... these aren't just any old hoof soldiers."

"I suspected as much," Celestia cut in. "Once or twice, we were able to get visual descriptions of the terrorists from ponies who survived their attacks. I didn't think it was enough to prove anything, but with what you just said... It can't be anypony else."

Twilight finished the thought with a moderately-scornful declaration. "The Shadowbolts!"

The conversation hadn't gone much further from there, vivid (and painful) personal experience clouding the minds of Celestia and the Mane 5. With a stern warning to be careful and vigilant, she had them led to their accommodations in the palace. After quickly unpacking their spartan complement of luggage, the mares were suddenly and violently seized upon by the vicious claws of utter boredom. They mulled about a bit, trying to remain obedient, good little fillies, but that act did not last more than 15 minutes. Besides, spirits definitely needed to be raised. With some discreet teleportation, and Rarity's gentle application of feminine wiles to the one guard they came across, they breached the outer wall and hit the streets of Canterlot.

"It must be nice to be home, Twilight," Fluttershy said.

"Oh, my home was always the palace," she evaded, hoping to avoid the subject of her pre-Ponyville social life (or lack thereof). But then the smell hit her: a warm, vibrant aroma, rich with fond memories and nostalgia. It was a smell Twilight simply could not resist. "But there is one place I really did miss!" She suddenly took off at full gallop, barely giving the others a chance to catch up.

"Where we goin' in such a hurry, sugarcube?"

"The Grindhouse!" Twilight exclaimed nigh-giddily. "Best coffee in all of Canterlot!" The traffic of Mane Street forced her to slow back down to a walk, but did nothing to dampen her enthusiasm. Weaving around slower-moving pedestrians, she rounded a corner onto a less-crowded street. "This was always one of my favorite places to study!"

"You told us, dear," Rarity chimed in, "when you brought us here the night after the Grand Galloping Gala. Several times, in fact."

"Oh, I guess I did," Twilight replied sheepishly. "I wonder if the Grind family still runs..."

But unbeknownst to any of them, they were not the only ponies interested in the Grindhouse. As they approached, a pair of eyes set upon them. These eyes were connected to a hoof, which was clasping a remote. By way of the brain, the eyes told the hoof to squeeze, and squeeze it did upon the button on the remote.

A nightmarish roar erupted from the building, a split-second behind a blast of fire and shattered glass. The shockwave threw Twilight backwards into her friends, who barely had time to stop before they were knocked down as well. As they stumbled back up to their hooves, they found the street in front of them had evolved into a scrapyard of flaming debris and scorch marks, along with a dead body or two.

And with a malicious grin and flash of color, the eyes disappeared into the dark undergrowth of the concrete jungle.

Night and the City

The evening light played through stained glass, painting the stone floor of Celestia's personal quarters with a patchwork of colors. The small square she sat in was dark blue, which dulled the pink shades in Twilight's mane. The two were locked in embrace, quiet except for the younger one's sobbing and occasional incoherent speech.

"They were... so close... every time... if only I hadn't..."

"Shh, shh..." This is exactly what they wanted, Celestia knew. The Shadowbolts were exploiting Rainbow Dash's knowledge, and they had predicted exactly where Twilight would go when she reached Canterlot. The lead investigator with the Royal Guard theorized that it was an assassination attempt gone fortunately awry, but the way Celestia saw it, there was no fortune to the thing: Twilight was frightened and emotionally crippled. But that brought her back to reality; this was her apprentice, Faust, the closest thing she had to a daughter, and she needed her.

Celestia wept.

"Do not worry, my faithful student. This will not stand."

Chatter was to be expected at a press conference, but even more so this time around. The event had been called that morning, sending press agencies scrambling to scrounge up reporters . This was absolutely unprecedented for Celestia; thus, everypony in the palace was swapping gossip and theories as to what could be the cause. But then the Princess herself burst into the antechamber with steely resolve, ready to remove all doubt.

"I realize this event was announced suddenly, and many of you no doubt have questions. However, as you are well aware, these are difficult times for all of Equestria, Canterlot especially."

Her voice was cold, but with just poignant enough to convey sincerity.

"Which is why I am telling you this myself, and why no questions will be taken today. We have recently endured yet another terrorist attack, on a prominent local business and an innocent Canterlot family. This will not stand. I will not allow the citizens of this great city to live in fear of cowards who stand against every tenet of the Harmony we cherish."

She took a quiet breath, composing herself.

"Effective immediately, I am instituting a curfew within the city of Canterlot. Nopony without official business will be allowed on the streets between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.. In addition, I have deployed the Royal Guard to patrol Canterlot and its suburbs at all hours, to protect its citizens from those who would do them harm."

Normally, this would've elicited shock and strong words of protest, even from the more subdued of the reporters present. But this was no ordinary press conference, and Celestia's forcefully stern look, combined with the just-barely-there twinkle of light in the corner of her eye, kept them quiet and in their seats.

"These measures are only temporary, and will be rescinded as soon as those responsible for these heinous acts have been brought to justice."

The glimmer in her eye disappeared, replaced by all the more force in her voice.

"Equestria has not faced a threat like this before. But I promise to you, I will ensure it never will again."

"Premature detonation? Ha, premature my flank!" Charger laughed. "Like one of my bombs would go off prematurely!"

Blueball adopted a elderly, masculine voice, full of huff and bluster. "A Charger bomb is never late, nor is it early. It explodes precisely when it means to!" This impression sent Charger into convulsions. "You mean when I mean to," Rainbow Dash retorted. "Give the trigger mare some credit!"

Starry, who was partaking in some light reading in her hammock, commented across the room, "A shame, really, that we had to blow up a perfectly good coffee shop just for scare tactics."

"Come on, Starry, you cased the joint once, that's not enough to fall in love with it," Charger replied with annoyance. "It had a quaint, rustic charm to it, not that you'd know" she shot back pithily. "I can't speak for the coffee, but the tea was certainly above-par."

Princess Luna, examining a file of blueprints with Nightshade, turned to them. "All a matter of return on investment, my dear." She set a newspaper down on the table, fresh with headlines from Celestia's recent press conference. "And this investment is paying dividends!"

"Now that you mentioned it, why didn't we just kill 'em?" Stratus asked as he put down a large barbell. "If we'd set off the bomb a few seconds later..."

"Oh, Stratus," Luna interrupted maternally, "you are a good soldier and a better Shadowbolt, but subtlety isn't one of your strong points. No, no, killing them would've made them martyrs, and that wouldn't do at all." Her voice gained an icy kind of contempt. "Instead, we've made these seemingly 'random' attacks very real and very personal for them. Their fear must be absolutely crippling."

Nightshade approached, and gestured to the newspaper. "And just as we hoped, Celestia is being reactionary. Curfews, increased guard presence, she's got two hooves over the edge of a slippery slope. All she needs now is a little push in the wrong direction."

"So how are we going to do that?" Charger asked.

"Leave that to me," Luna replied. "I have one last trick up my sleeve, one I've been saving for just the right occasion to use. That occasion happens to be now."

"Ooh, ooh, are we gonna make Sunbutt disappear? Or no, even better, I wanna saw the pink one in half!"

"Blueball, I am afraid this brand of 'trick' is quite a bit darker than the word implies. But it is one I must do alone. Stay here, rest, and be ready for our next operation." Luna left the room and made for the metal walkway outside, but then she doubled back. "Actually, Rainbow Dash, would you mind joining me? I'm going to need a large amount of raw magic for this to work, and I think you could help with that." Her apprentice eagerly jumped up and followed her out.

A kind of sanctum was waiting for them two floors down, a large, bulb-lit room made of the same rusted metal as the rest of the structure, but completely empty. As the Princess bolted the door shut behind them, Dash also noticed that the walls were still intact, forming a sealed environment.

"So you just need me to stir up the raw magic for you?"

"Yes, I'm afraid the more... interesting parts of this process require my innate magical experience. If you're ready, shall we begin?"

"Let's do it!"

With a flicker of magic, Luna extinguished the sole light bulb, bringing total darkness to the room. As soon as her eyes had adjusted, Rainbow Dash begin to circle her mentor, ever-growing in speed. Soon she was crackling with polychromatic energy as the speed magic manifested, and as the flight path became muscle memory to her, she risked a glance to the center of her orbit to see Luna had taken on the form of Nightmare Moon. Her starlight mane spread out, seeping into the very air, and white magical energy spiraled about her horn, forming a corona at its tip. Jagged bolts of light shot out to connect it to the blurry circle of color Rainbow Dash had become; they flickered in and out of existence, but soon became solid as Luna began an incantation.

"Night so black and darkness deep, see they've no rest as they sleep!"

Fed with raw magic, the corona grew in diameter, and the tendrils connecting it to its source seemed to sprout roots, pulling every ounce of power available. Dash's speed was mind-numbing; had she even tried to think about controlling her flight path or velocity, she would've surely crashed. At this speed, her only option was to feel it.

"Vengeance of a thousand years, fill their every dream with fear!"

And at that moment, the corona exploded in a blast of light, swallowing the room. Before Rainbow Dash could tell what was going on, the momentum was sucked right out of her, and she stumbled to the ground as the haze faded. Princess Luna had been restored to her usual form, but her mane seemed to have grown extensions. No, wait, that wasn't her mane... Above the Princess floated an ethereal cloud of night, shuddering amorphously.

"And that, my loyal apprentice," Luna sighed with exhaustion, but tinging her voice with vicious delight, "is how you create a Tantabus."

It was Canterlot, Twilight was sure of that, but not the city as her waking self would recognize it. No, the buildings were a little bit taller, the streets a little bit more crowded, the sounds a little bit louder. It was Canterlot all right, but Canterlot as a young filly would've seen it. Magical. Excitement lurking around every corner, hundreds of new faces walking down the street...

Until there weren't.

To Twilight's bewilderment, the streets suddenly emptied of any and all signs of life. The streets were lined with empty storefronts, which seemed somehow drained of color, and the big city had become a very scary place. But as Twilight tried to move closer to investigate, she unexpectedly doubled over in pain. It was her back right leg, where she had been stabbed. She had tried every trick, every medical spell she could dig up to make the limp go away. But in the end, it had come down to a simple background illusion to make it appear her gait was unaffected. And now that illusion was gone and the wound was reopening, seeping blood on the pavement as every ounce of pain returned.

Twilight cried out in pain, scrabbling at the ground with her other hooves to find purchase, but somehow she couldn't lift herself up. She did, however, get a glimpse down the road to see the silent, slow-motion explosion of a storefront. It was frighteningly familiar, but the memories were blasted off of her mind when the next store nearer went the same way. The cascade effect continued toward her, and Twilight struggled furiously to get clear of what she could tell was coming. But with a crippling flank injury and unresponsive magic, she realized there was no way to safety. All she could do was watch and wait, as each shop was blown into fragments, one by one.

Until something caught her eye, a bolt of darkness racing overhead. It was like a forerunner to the blasts, matching their pace, but just a few yards ahead at any given time. As it passed over, a faint but menacing cackle of laughter filled Twilight's ears. But by the time she recognized it, a wave of flame and glass shards washed over her.

She awoke with a panicked start, barely even feeling her cold sweat.

Surveying Canterlot watchfully, Princess Celestia retreated from the palace balcony into the comfort of her private quarters. Another sunrise done perfectly, she congratulated herself, then practically dropped onto her mattress in exhaustion. Of course she couldn't just go back to bed, there was work to be done, but a few moments rest would do no harm.

But then the ambient light in her room suddenly went dim.

Getting up and returning to her balcony, Celestia saw a massive black sphere blocking the sun, leaving only an eclipse ring of light. No, not this again... Her first assumption was that it was the moon, but that theory was dashed when the sphere seemed to explode. As the debris approached the city, though, she could see if was not rock; in fact, it seemed alive. She could barely pick out individual outlines in the horde of insectoid, chitin-black monsters on its way.

"Guards, guards! We are under attack!"

But no guards came. In fact, none of Canterlot responded as long tendrils of flying changelings streaked down from the sphere. They overran building upon building like ants, approaching the palace at frightening speed. As skyscrapers were overcome by insects, they began to fall shortly after, some imploding, others toppling onto their neighbors. The city was being laid to waste.

Realizing she was the only hope of defense, Celestia tried to fire a blast of solar energy at the swarm, but her magic would not respond to her mental summons. She looked down, and saw changelings were already scuttling up the wall toward her balcony, but as she tried to turn in place and retreat, the platform collapsed beneath her. Caught totally by surprise, she had no time to take to the air before plummeting into the waiting horde of black monsters.

"No, NO!"

But Celestia's pleas were for naught, as exoskeletal claws dragged her into a sea of darkness, and she felt hundreds of tiny fangs digging in across her body.

Until she catapulted awake, practically in tears.

"Re-verb... Reverb... Hey, Reverb!"

The unicorn snapped to alertness; it was like she had been woken up, but she was most definitely not awake. She realized she was in a stark-white void, absent of anything except herself, of course, and that one other... Who was that?... No, no, can't be her. "Nightshade?"

"You got it, sister!"

"What are you doing here? What am I doing here? Where is here anyway?"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down. We're sharing a dream, Reverb, thanks to Princess Luna."

"Princess Luna? You're still with her?"

"You bet, still fighting the good fight, giving Sunbutt the what-for!"

"Wow... Is Stratus still with you? I never got to thank him for saving me when they invaded Blacklight."

"I'll pass it on, how are things with you?"

Reverb rubbed her neck sheepishly. "Oh, you know, still stuck in the old job search. Think I got out clean after things went to Tartarus, though, nopony's been asking questions or anything."

"Good, good... Hey, reason I'm here is I've got a question for you."

"Shoot."

"Remember that high-frequency sonic lance you were working on just before the attack?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Princess Luna wanted to know if you ever made a prototype of the thing."

"Yeah, I remember putting it through the tests that day, in fact. Just managed to run back to the lab and save it before we had to evacuate."

"Perfect, I'll tell her. You probably ought to dust it off, just FYI. Don't worry, I'll be in touch."

"...Isn't that right, dear? There's no one in Equestria who means more to you..."

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was cut off by the opening of the hospital room door as she whispered sweet little lies into the ear of a sleeping Shining Armor. It was Princess Celestia, looking somewhat disheveled, but determined all the same. "Princess Cadence," she greeted with regal courtesy, "I must speak with your fiance."

Cadence just barely had time to whisper "Awake" into his ear before turning to regard her. "Ah, Princess Celestia. Such a... joy to see you again. Isn't that right, dear?"

Shining Armor was suddenly awake, rolling over in his bed to face them. "Oh yes, yes! Good morning, Princess Celestia. You'll forgive me if I don't salute..."

The Sun Princess let a brief smile slip through, before closing the door and circling the bed slowly. "What have the doctors said about your condition?"

"They say I'm doing well, but that it just takes time to recover from what I went through. Why, what's up?"

"The changelings. I'm afraid this recent string of attacks has distracted us from their approach. Based on the path they've been carving through our outposts in the Badlands, they have to be targeting Canterlot."

"Is Queen Chrysalis with them?" Cadence spoke up, earning a puzzled look from Celestia. "Well, if they are without their Queen, changelings are little more than stupid insects, following their base instincts. But if Chrysalis is at their helm..." She paused for effect. "A swarm of that size would be a force to be reckoned with."

"Given they are shapeshifters, it's difficult to tell, even with our best intelligence ponies working on it. But either way, the Defense Ministry recommends a full perimeter shield of Canterlot as the best countermeasure."

"Which is where I come in," Shining Armor answered, "or at least, where I'm supposed to come in. The nurse said it's still a matter of weeks before I'm cleared to return to active duty, and even then I'm supposed to take it slow with my magic." Celestia was dismayed, but Cadence suddenly became very perky, putting a reassuring hoof on his shoulder.

"Oh, come now, dear, I'm sure you'll be in perfect condition by then! Have some confidence! You're not Captain of the Royal Guard for nothing, after all..."

A twinge of sick green crept into his eyes, and at once he changed his tune, vehemently agreeing with her. This perturbed Celestia, but she trusted him enough to believe his assurances. "Very well then. I will keep you informed as events progress. Good day, both of you." And with that, she left the room. Now alone once again, Cadence crept back to Shining Armor's ear, caressing him with her hoof.

"Yes, dear, it's so awfully important you be able to shield the city when the changelings arrive. Why, Princess Celestia would be simply devastated if you failed! But I, my sweet young stallion, would be ever so grateful if you were to do exactly that."

She smiled, then licked her lips with a prehensile tongue.

"Fail for me, dearest."

Queen's Gambit

Charger and Starry strolled along a rusted metal gantry, stepping lightly for fear of anything giving way beneath their hooves. Each pace echoed quietly about the twilit area, until they stopped at a metal support column. Rather than stay standing in one place for too long, both took to their wings, as Charger scanned up and down the column. He settled on a particular point, flew up to it, and removed a green fabric strap from his rucksack.

"So this is the last one?" Starry asked.

"Yeah, last piece of the puzzle," he replied, looping the strap around the column and cinching it tight, before pulling out several packs of explosives and attaching them by velcro to the strap. When all of them were in place, a few rounds of duct tape around the outside sealed the deal. "Oh, this'll be beautiful, Starry. Put the Canterlot Tower job to shame, I promise you that!"

"If you actually get to set it off," she reminded him. "Now come on, the Princess had that other job for us to do back at base, and..."

"Heya, who'sis down there? This part of the city's off limits, ya hooligans!" A new voice echoed down the corridor, accompanied by an approaching beam of light. Startled, Starry and Charger both hid behind the column, hoping to avoid a confrontation. "It's no use hidin', I saw you foals! What're ya messin with this time? Poison joke, crystal smooze, that newfangled gak...?" He rambled on incoherently, in old-timer dialect.

"He probably saw us," Starry muttered under her breath, trying to be discrete. "I know, I know..." Charger replied with the same tone, fishing about in his saddlebag, until he pulled out a metal spike. The spike itself was flat like a knife, and opposite the business end was a cylinder no more than an inch or so long.

"Really? Do we have to go that route?" she hissed.

"Standing order; no witnesses," he replied in a very firm, unemotional voice. Charger peaked around the column, then, as soon as the flashlight was aimed in another direction, hurled the spike down toward the gantryway. It spun cleanly through the air before embedding itself in the raised platform, and on contact, the cap of the metal cylinder lit up red.

"Whatta...?"

Before the confused security guard could bend down an examine the device, it exploded with a dull thud. Very little flash, even less bang, but more than enough shrapnel to inflict fatal wounds. Charger left cover and quickly flew down to where the guard lay dying most ungracefully, then yanked the blade out of the floor and used it to slit his throat. Rolling the body off the walkway to one side, then throwing the knife in the other, he hovered upward on his wings, before stomping down and causing that entire section of floor to give out and collapse. As the metal clattered loudly in the darkness below, he flitted over to the stable platform and started walking back to base.

"What an unfortunate accident."

Starry was close behind, but not without a wince and grimace of disgust.

The palace was abuzz with activity, as bureaucrats, aides de camp and pencil-pushers rushed about trying to accomplish all manner of this-and-that. Celestia had recently retasked many civil servants, entire ministries even, to assist with the security of Canterlot. If you worked for the Crown, in all likelihood you were either hunting for the Shadowbolts or trying to predict the next move of the changeling horde. A smaller group of unicorns, however, had a more specific assignment, which Celestia herself was briefing them on as they moved away from the throne room. At the head of them, and at the Princess's right hoof, was Twilight.

"But what is a tantabus?"

"An eldritch creature that can only be created by the most powerful, black-hearted magicians. It lives in the dreamscape, and travels into the minds of ponies as they sleep, filling their dreams with terror."

"I never read about any creature in Equestria like..."

"You wouldn't have," Celestia interrupted. "A tantabus has not been seen in Equestria for at least two millennia. I thought they were gone forever, so many years ago I had all records of them sealed in a secure archive in the Royal Library. Stories like those serve no purpose but to stir up fear." She stopped and turned to the group.

"That archive is where you all will be going next; you must use its knowledge to devise a way to defeat this creature. I assembled you because you are the most magically talented unicorns Equestria has to offer. This tantabus was no doubt created by Nightmare Moon herself, and thus is more powerful than any in recorded history. There is little even I can do to combat it..."

"We won't let you down, Princess Celestia," Twilight replied with resolve. As she led her fellow scholars toward the library, Applejack in turn led Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie towards Celestia. "How can we help, Princess?"

Celestia turned to her with a weary look in her eyes. "By staying safe within the palace. Right now, I am hoping against hope that the Element of Loyalty will choose a new bearer, but even if it does, all six of you must be present to use the Elements of Harmony against the Shadowbolts. I cannot put your lives at risk again; the city is simply too dangerous."

Ordinarily Applejack would've protested vehemently, but the Princess's arresting gaze kept her silent. She was, however, more than willing to glare back defiantly, and maintained this glare as she turned and led the others back to their quarters. "Ah can't stand just sittin' on the sidelines..."

But as soon as she was gone, another mare approached Celestia at rapid pace. It was Fortitude, one of her strategic attaches; she wiped away loose locks of her long black mane as she came to a stop. "Princess Celestia! You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, Fortitude." She turned and started walking back to her throne room, and her attache obediently followed. "I wanted to discuss some... changes to our strategic plan." They reached the large wooden door, which Celestia opened magically, then closed with equal speed once both were inside. Now they were in private. "Obviously, we face a two-fold threat. But one threat is immediate, while the other we can anticipate. And we have no desire to face both simultaneously."

"Yes, yes, Princess, I actually just wanted to talk to you about that..." Fortitude advanced rapidly, obviously enthused, but a shush from Celestia held her back.

"At the same time, I worry I am moving too hastily, being too reckless in my efforts to capture the Shadowbolts. Ever since you were assigned to me, Fortitude, you have been a trustworthy adviser, wise beyond your years." She turned her head toward the balcony, looking out on Canterlot. "What is your opinion on the issue?"

"I completely agree, we need to stamp out the Shadowbolts before the changelings arrive." Her enthusiasm took the princess aback, who was expecting her aide to be a bit more pensive. "Once we root them out, no one will question whether what we're doing was necessary. The results will speak for themselves!"

"I assume you already have our next move planned, then?"

"Yes, Princess; I recommend we undertake a city-wide sweep using the Royal Guard! We'll move hard and fast, leaving no home or business in Canterlot unsearched. The rebels won't have time to react, and unless they've found a way to live inside the walls, there will be nowhere for them to hide."

This was even more surprising. "City-wide? Every home and business in Canterlot? Fortitude, I respect your thinking, but this is..."

"Unprecedented? Yes, your majesty, but with all due respect, so are these attacks. A state of emergency has been declared, you have the power. All we need is one bold, swift move to put an end to the Shadowbolts, once and for all!"

Celestia's eyes turned back to her view of Canterlot. Looking down a major thoroughfare, she could see ground zero of the Grindhouse blast. Pylons supporting caution tape still protruded into the street, framed by the burnt-out husk of the building. "Yes, I see. The time for being reactionary has come and gone. If we are to protect the citizens of Equestria from these terrorists, we must take the fight to them." She returned to face her adviser with a steel-cut glare. "I authorize your proposal, Fortitude. Tell the acting Captain of the Guard to commence the search immediately."

"Yes, your Majesty."

Bowing quickly before turning to leave, Fortitude wiped the sweat from her brow and mentally breathed a sigh of relief. She had been worried that growing personal stress would affect her mental clarity and ability to advise the Princess, especially given the events of the past few nights. But these nightmares of hers weren't about to stop her from doing her job!

Stratus gently let down the large, rectangular package he had been balancing across his back, then laid it on its side and opened it. A mint-blue mare at his side then pulled from it a styrofoam block of the same approximate size, and splitting it in two, removed a large, laser-esque device from inside. The main piece of its body was a rectangular metal box, but attached to it was a long glass tube, with a stack of plate-like focusing dishes at the far end. Nearer the body, it was encircled by many smaller glass tubes, held in place by a skeleton metal cylindrical casing.

"A high-frequency sonic lance!" the mare announced with pride. "The only one in existence, as far as intel led me to believe."

Nightshade smiled. "Thanks, Reverb, you really came through for us."

Having set down the lance, Reverb grinned and put a foreleg around Stratus. If one looked just hard enough in just the right places, one could detect the slight formation of a smile on his lips as he looked back to her. "Oh yeah, anything for you guys!"

The entire team had gathered around, looking at their new toy as it was unboxed in their home-away-from-home. "So... what does it do?" Rainbow Dash asked. Nightshade gestured to Reverb to answer.

"Well, the technical details are a bit complicated, but in the end, it shoots an intense blast of high-frequency soundwaves. Trigger's back here, and the sound comes out the other end."

"Another gun, charming..." Starry replied sardonically. "What are we going to do with this one?"

To answer, Luna stepped to the center of the room. "Open the ears of Canterlot, my dear. An opportunity has presented itself, and Reverb's creation puts us in an ideal position to take advantage of it..." Starry nodded, masking her annoyance; how predictably cryptic. "We shall need a tripod to mount it on; Charger, that can be..."

"Hey guys! News flash!" The Princess was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Blueball Blitz, who had burst through the door fast enough to knock it off its rusted hinges.

"What's up, Blueball?" responded Nightshade.

"Well, first of all, remember that big, ugly bubble shield we punched through when we first came here? Yeah, it's back up. Ponies are already complaining that the pink-purple tint is ruining the local aesthetic."

"Any idea why?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"According to my friends in the M.O.D.," Charger replied, "there's been an uptick in chatter about changelings. None of them are high enough clearance to know the whole story, but rumor has it an invasion force is on the way."

"Is that your opportunity, Princess?"

"Precisely," she replied with a vicious grin.

"Ooh, but that's not the best part! The Royal Guard is out on the streets; you should see what they're doing!"

boomboomboom "Royal Guard! Open up!"

The mare on the other side of the door unlocked it and began to open, only to have it shoved violently the rest of the way by the unexpected visitor. He (and two others just like him) barged into the front room, scanning everything in sight before fanning out to search the rest of the house. It was a smooth, practiced routine, executed unflinchingly and without apology.

"What is this?" the mare cried in shock, soon to be joined by her husband, who had been in the bedroom when he heard the initial ruckus. He reached out a hoof to block the path of the leading Guard. "You've got no right to..."

But the Guard only sidestepped around him, before producing a piece of paper with fine cursive print and a large royal seal. "The Princess has authorized a city-wide search of Canterlot, in the interest of national security." Yes, he could've tried to be more civil about the matter, but any amicability had been exhausted by the time he finished searching the second block of his squad's assigned area.

"National security my hoof! If you don't..."

"Clear, sir. Nothing of interest." Before there was the opportunity for a punch to be thrown, the two other Guards returned to the front room. The one who had not spoken nodded in turn. "In that case, that will be all. Good day to you both." The trio turned in place and left the domicile as quickly as they had arrived.

"The nerve!" declared the mare, while her husband resisted the temptation to swear at the departing guests.

And this scene was reenacted very many times that day, albeit with occasionally varied results; there were a record number of drug busts, along with the occasional illegal weapon or illicit spellbook. But this success was at the expense of every homeowner and businessmare in Canterlot, not to mention the toll exacted on the Guards in carrying out such a sweeping operation. And their greatest prize still eluded them; not one trace had been found of the Shadowbolts in all of Canterlot.

"Don't go out alone, Applejack," they said. "It's too dangerous on the streets," they said. Whelp, she reckoned, they could go polish her horseshoes, because here she was. Applejack strolled down some numbered street, taking in the atmosphere of Canterlot. The palace had become as much a prison as a fortress for her, and though she was by no means claustrophobic, she simply couldn't abide by such an enclosed environment. No Apple was meant to live like that.

She continued her stroll, taking a gander into some of the shops she passed; far too high-end for her tastes (and means), but quaint in a way Rarity would better appreciate. But just as she was about to cross the street, she noticed that two blocks ahead, the city seemed to just stop. Not just become less congested or dense, but actually stop, as in the pavement seemed to drop off into oblivion. Applejack's curiosity was piqued, and she traversed the next two blocks with far greater focus and purpose.

"Well I'll be..."

The road hit a dead-end, becoming sidewalk, and the Ponyvillian realized that her eyes were not playing tricks on her; just ten to twenty hooves away, the city did simply drop off into oblivion. Granted, there was a large, intricately-woven metal fence in between her and there, that she poked her head over to see a dizzying drop into a gorge below. If Applejack listened closely, she could just hear the whitewater roaring through the chasm, but she quickly looked up from the vertigo-inducing view; as an Earth pony, she had no head for heights like that. Taking stock of the situation, she reminded herself that the city was in fact perched on the side of a mountain; this balcony-turned-boardwalk must've been the far edge of that perch.

Applejack instead looked to the horizon, through the pink-purple tint of a familiar magical shield, to see the river snake off into lush farmland. But that farmland swiftly became the dry and yellow sand of the Badlands. All the same, it was a majestic view. "Maybe you cityfolk are good for somethin' after all..."

ping! It was an odd, reverberating sound, almost like an electronic sound effect. Applejack looked to the source, somewhere up on the force field, and spotted a blob of chitin black attached to it that she was fairly certain had not been there before. Then two light-blue orbs opened up on the blob, darting about in every direction. Just between and below them, a maw of twin white fangs opened up, and the blob sprouted two insectoid wings.

Somewhere in the general vicinity, an observing mare screamed. But Applejack was already gone, fairly certain about what the thing was, and even more certain that somepony needed to be warned about it.

Using Nightshade's lateral momentum against her, Rainbow Dash laid flat against the floor, then brought up her back legs, kicking her opponent away as she tried to pounce. Nightshade pulled up from the throw with her wings, circling back as Dash got back on her hooves.

"You never did explain how you survived Celestia's death beam way back when!"

Dash leapt into the air and charged, but Nightshade nimbly dove around her, sneaking in a quick gut punch as they passed.

"Would you believe me if I told you it was an accident?"

Doubling back faster than expected, Dash tackled Nightshade in midair and took her to the ground, pinning her on her back.

"Not a chance."

But a quick swing of Nightshade's back legs took Rainbow's out from under her, leaving them both grappling for the pin. Eventually Nightshade came out on top, left hoof on Dash's throat: her right came down with resounding impact on the metal floor, simulating a lethal finishing strike. But then she dismounted and helped her opponent to her hooves.

"An accident? Really?"

"Yep," Rainbow Dash panted, but with a forming smirk of pride. "I was stuck between the force of the Rainboom and the death beam, and even with the sword I knew I couldn't hold out forever. So I tried to ghost out of it."

"Ghost?"

"It's using speed magic to turn invisible and intangible at the same time. Y'know, like a ghost? Luna taught it to me as a trick for making quick escapes."

"I follow," Nightshade replied, with the same wariness she always had when discussing voodoo speed magic.

"So I got out of the way, and the Rainboom's force and Celestia's beam canceled each other out! I thought I could sneak back around, hit her from behind before the dust settled. But since the sword is immune to magic, including speed magic, it turned out I couldn't take it with me." Dash's tone started to slow. "When I turned around to figure out what had happened, I saw the sword, then you guys, then them. You all thought I was..."

She stopped, drawing a few breaths and mustering her courage, as a long-repressed moment of doubt finally came to the surface. "I froze up, Shade. I knew if I came back, we would start fighting again, and I wasn't sure how much we could take, then Luna started ranting, and, and I didn't know what to do, so... I didn't do anything." Then Nightshade hugged her, in spite of how sore they both were.

"Hey, that was a hard day for all of us, you especially. No one would blame you for not wanting to restart that battle. And the Shadowbolts lived to fight another day..." They kept hugging for a few seconds, before dropping and continuing on their way out of the makeshift arena. But just as they were about to leave, Princess Luna rounded the corner of the doorway.

"Ah, Nightshade, Rainbow Dash! I presume you both have been keeping each other sharp."

"Yes, Princess Luna," Nightshade replied.

"Excellent. Actually, Rainbow Dash, if I could trouble you for just a few minutes more?"

"Of course, Princess! I'll catch up with you later, Shade."

Nightshade nodded and continued on her way, but she couldn't shake the concerned look she always got when Luna and Dash had their little "sessions".

"So what do you need? Juice for another tantabus?"

"Nothing so exciting, apprentice. Quite the opposite, in fact." This puzzled Rainbow Dash, but she said nothing as Luna shut the door and switched off some of the rudimentary electric lighting. "The past few weeks have been a rush, have they not? We've been so busy setting pieces into place, from one to another, right under the nose of sister dearest."

She was preaching to the choir; yes, they had been a rush, but that was exactly how Dash liked it. Never a dull moment, always looking forward. "Yeah, it's been pretty crazy. So?"

"So," Luna replied chidingly, "the climax of this drama is fast approaching, we must all be at our best. I thought perhaps some meditation was in order, to help us both recharge."

Of course. Dash had never truly bought into the more yoga-esque elements of Luna's training, but did see their value at moments like these. Ritualistically, she sat back and spread her wings; the Princess assumed a similar position facing her, and her gaseous mane spread out across the floor, tinting the remaining light a deep twilit blue.

"Calm yourself, breathe deeply. Free your mind of worry. Do not think, allow yourself to feel."

This one felt even better than before. Slowly, the strength flowed into her, revitalizing every sinew of muscle. Dash felt every emotion amplified, her pride in the Shadowbolts, her loyalty to the Princess and their cause, her hatred for the tyrant Celestia. Any conflict or doubt in her heart vanished, leaving only absolute certainty and confidence. Eyes still closed, her lips formed a victorious grin.

Watching with pleasure, Luna replicated the expression, as dark, navy-tinted cracks of energy spread out around her apprentice's eyes.

"Their number has grown exponentially in the past hour since Ms. Applejack reported the first one, but intel says this is only the spearhead of their full invasion force."

"Thank you, keep me informed." Princess Celestia dismissed the guard, but continued to watch the growing black mass at the edge of the city. Standing next to her on the balcony was Princess Cadence, whose attention seemed more focused on the growing crowd at the castle gates. They were a loud and unpleasant lot, hoisting signs adorned with various inflammatory slogans, though one or two bore a claw-and-paw insignia. It did not take Celestia long to deduce its origins.

"They take their imagery from Discord, of all creatures..."

"No doubt angered by yesterday's Guard sweep, simply here to rabble-rouse and provoke," Cadence replied with uncanny calm. "Would you like me to disperse them?"

"No, no, responding with force will only add fuel to the fire. Their protest will run its course; we have other concerns."

"Quite. I think I'll go provide my dear fiance some... motivation."

Cadence departed back into the castle, leaving Celestia alone. She pondered the situation for a moment, before noticing Rarity on her suite balcony the next tower over. Taking to her wings, the Princess swooped up to her, touching down before the startled Element of Generosity.

"Oh my, Princess Celestia! What an... unexpected honor..."

"No need for formalities, Rarity, I am glad of the company."

"I wish I could provide a more appealing view," Rarity offered apologetically.

"Yes, it is a troubling sight. Invaders at the very gates of Canterlot, and unrest amongst its citizens in the meantime. And even then, our most feared enemies are still hidden from view." This was followed by a pause, as they both surveyed the city with apprehension.

"I might be able to help you with that."

The third voice from behind caught them both by surprise, spinning about to see Starry Skies emerge from the shadows of Rarity's darkened suite.

"You!" Rarity accused. "How did you get in here?"

"I'm a Shadowbolt, dear, it wasn't terribly difficult. My whole squad could be in here if we wanted to be."

A burst of light from Celestia's horn illuminated the rest of the room, then faded as she saw that there were no other surprise guests. "Why are you here?"

"You could say I've had a change of heart. Princess Luna didn't expect the changeling invasion either, and I don't think we stand any better chance of victory in this situation than you do."

"I'm not convinced." Celestia's voice was firm and hostile, but only elicited a pained sigh from Starry.

"Rarity, remember in the tower, how I told you mares like you and I were above senseless violence?"

"Yes, well I..."

"Well I can't take it anymore. The bombings, the assassinations, it's not what I signed up for! I'm through with spilling innocent blood."

"And therefore..." Celestia prompted.

"Therefore, in return for amnesty, or at the very least a reduced sentence when this is all over, I'm willing to lead you to where the Shadowbolts are hiding. You asked me why I was here; the answer is I'm here to defect."

Night's Black Agents

Changelings continued to swarm upon the force field, a black infection spreading along the translucent-blue orb. Guards were stationed along the boardwalk to monitor them, but this show of force did little to assuage the fears of Canterlot. And, as a hypothetical listener familiar with the guttural language of the changelings could tell you, the horde knew it.

sniffsniff So much food, every kind... I can smell it even through this slagging barrier!

Sooo hungryyy... gottahaveitgottahaveitgottahaveitgotttaeatNOW! *ping*

Save your effort, crackshell! The Queen will see to the barrier, then you can have your feast.

What, aren't you hungry too, O Aged One?

Slag it, of course I'm hungry! But this isn't just another meal. I remember when the horsekind drove us from this land, from its plentiful feeding grounds into the barren, dank caves we've called home for Chrysalis knows how many cycles!

Hsss, spare us the history lesson, Aged One.

Do you smell that spice in the air, youngling? That subtle but irresistable tang; you've experienced it, but when was the last time you tasted it? That's fear, youngling. I've waited to taste that wonderful aroma in the hearts of horsekind since before you were hatched. It does not disappoint.

Yes, the horde knew it.

At Starry's insistence, a Guard strike team had been hastily assembled, and she led them, Princess Celestia and Rarity towards the Canterlot Square exit of the palace. Though he was certainly not the first to do so, the highest-ranking Guard in the party questioned the sagacity of the Princess herself accompanying them.

"As I've mentioned before," Starry replied, "if I'm to lead you to the Shadowbolts' hideout, exactly who do you expect to find there? Nopony else in Equestria can protect me from Nightmare Moon's wrath. She has to come."

"Princess Celestia, are you sure..." Rarity questioned.

"This is the only lead we have on the Shadowbolts, Rarity. If that's what it takes to flush them out, it's a risk I'm willing to take."

And so they proceeded, outside and down the steps of Canterlot Square. To the group's surprise, Starry did not take to the air, but instead led them across the street, into the lobby of an apartment complex. The lead guard was about to show his badge to the concierge, but she waved him off, rolling her eyes.

"Lemme guess, a matter of national security? Go right ahead."

"The Shadowbolts are hiding in an apartment building?" asked Rarity, underwhelmed.

"No," Starry replied with irritation. "But this is the closest way to get in." She led them through a maze of hallways before reaching an unassuming maintenance closet. Jimmying the handle in just the right way, she then opened the door, flicked on the lights and went inside. As the others crowded around the doorway, surprised at the apparent dead end, Starry opened up a hidden panel in the floor and crawled in. They waited to see if she'd resurface.

"Are you coming, or what?"

One by one, they followed her down, until the Princess herself dropped into the hatchway. It was predictably dark and damp, with pipes of assorted sizes running along the concrete walls, and magic-based lighting at sporadic intervals in either direction. Starry was already moving again, with Rarity catching up and the guard party close behind, surrounding Celestia.

"The undercity," the Princess remarked quietly. "I should've known."

"The undercity? Princess Celestia went into the undercity?" Twilight exclaimed at the messenger guard. She and her research team had been looking into a more permanent way to neutralize the tantabus when he interrupted them with the news.

"She was insistent, Miss Sparkle. I mean, they both were; Starry Skies wanted the Princess' personal protection from Nightmare Moon, and the Princess wanted the chance to apprehend the Shadowbolts. She told me she was aware of the risk but was willing to take it, and to inform you of her progress."

"So Princess Celestia, Rarity and a hooffull of guards are following a Shadowbolt we have no reason to trust into the depths of the undercity?!"

"Um, Miss Sparkle?" Van Allen Belt, a Manehattenite unicorn from the research team, spoke up. "What is this undercity you're talking about?"

The question forced Twilight to pause, which allowed her to take a breath and regain her composure. She turned to the table they had been working around and magically created a three-dimensional model of Canterlot. "The city of Canterlot is built on the side of Mount Equus, actually on one of its steepest slopes. The original village was constructed on a small plateau, but today, more than 90% of the city lies on a massive platform grafted to the side of the mountain. "

The model zoomed in, cutting out the spires of the palace and indeed most of the city proper, focusing instead on what was beneath it. "It's an unsung marvel of Renaissance-era engineering. Beneath that porcelain bowl lies an intricate network of support structures that hold up all of Canterlot, as well as the infrastructure for the entire city's utilities. Water, sewage, gas, everything."

"So the Shadowbolts are living down there?" Van Allen Belt asked.

"If Starry Skies is to be believed, yes. A number of ministries use the undercity for storage space, and there's a network of maintenance passageways that allow access to the entire structure. With the right preparations, living down there is entirely possible."

"But there would be security at all the main access points," the guard cut in, "and the regular maintenance inspection teams would flush them out eventually."

"Well actually, they barely ever send inspection teams down anymore." A new party had joined the conversation; Blue Moon, a unicorn mare, retired professor of magic and Canterlot native, also part of the research team. "My husband works for the Canterlot Department of the Undercity, he said they've been in chaos ever since the department chairstallion died in that train wreck."

"Train wreck?" Twilight repeated, growing anxious.

"Yes, it was the, uh, Trans-Equestrian High-Speed Railway, I think."

A horrid idea that had been trying to fit itself together finally clicked in Twilight's mind. "Mayor Mare was a diversion..."

"I'm sorry?"

Twilight magically projected a Canterlot Inquirer front page from the day after the wreck, showing a grainy amateur photo of the Mayor hanging from a bridge where her car went over the edge. "Mayor Mare was the Mayor of Ponyville at the time, we thought she was the Shadowbolts' target when they derailed the train." She was rapid-firing her words and nearly tearing up. "That was just what they wanted us to think, so we wouldn't notice they had also killed the Chairstallion of the Department of the Undercity. So while the Department was without a leader, they could use the undercity as a base." Only then did she stop to compose herself and take a breath.

"But if they're in the undercity," the guard realized, "they could use the access ports to get inside Fort Canterlot!"

Staying focused on the situation at hoof averted an emotionally unpleasant moment for Twilight, if only for the time being. "Could they be getting equipment from there?"

"It's the largest Royal Guard armory in Equestria. Specialized equipment, advanced weapons, explosives..."

"The Princess has no idea what she might be walking into." Everypony in the room exchanged nervous looks. "Get as many guards as you can spare and send them after her group," Twilight ordered the guard, then looked at the rest of the research group. "The tantabus can wait, we can help too! Come with me!"

They streamed out of the library and through the halls of the palace, until they hit street level. But the group of determined unicorns got no further.

On an elevated balcony elsewhere in the palace, Shining Armor strained to hold up his massive shield around Canterlot. Bags had formed under his eyes, and his teeth were clenched, nearly grinding against each other. From behind, he could hear Cadence approaching. Thank goodness. She was the one thing that had got him through this crisis.

"How are you, dearest? Keeping up that big, sturdy force field of yours?"

"Mmmhmm, these changelings keep coming, but I could hold off a swarm twice this size with you at my side."

"Oh, could you? Well there's the thing, dear. Remember what I told you in the hospital so long ago?"

"I remember..."

"Well the time has come, my dear. I know you're working so hard to keep this city safe, but you would do anything for me, wouldn't you?"

"Yes... anything..."

"Well, right now the one thing I need for you to do for me, my dear Shining Armor, is fail. Let that shield come down and let all those starving little changelings in."

Shining Armor paused, nearly flinching behind his dead expression. Even the trance could not smooth over the conflict between what had been asked of him and his almost primal commitment to duty. Behind him, a shimmer of green magic ran over his bride-to-be, as she shed her false form.

"Do it for me, dearest."

"...Yes, dear."

And at that moment, the magic fueling Canterlot's last line of defense abruptly vanished, falling away in a matter of seconds. Then a dense black horde descended upon the city, its queen flying out to join it.

Crouching down as she squeezed through a tight passageway, Celestia found Starry Skies waiting on the other side, in front of a closed metal bulkhead door. The Princess stepped toward her, allowing Rarity and their guard escort space to follow.

"Is this...?"

"This is it. What you're looking for is on the other side of this door."

One of the guards moved between them, his fellows close behind. "Princess, we should go in first. If there are hostiles on the other side..."

"Of course." In light of the risks she was taking despite their objections, Celestia thought, it was a small concession to make. The guard team then stacked up on the bulkhead, their leader giving a nonverbal countdown before throwing down the lever and ripping the door open. The stallion behind him charged inside, short sword drawn, and the rest of the team swiftly streamed in behind. The mares followed, only to find an empty room.

"Clear!" Putting away his sword, one of the guards started scanning the room, picking up the broken remains of a cider bottle. "Somepony's definitely been here, but it looks like they've moved on." Several pairs of eyes fell on Starry, who only stared back, as surprised as any of them.

"Oh, you mustn't blame Starry. This was where we were living when she betrayed us." Nightmare Moon stepped in from out of nowhere, the room's bulbs noticeably dimming in her presence. "Our cause's first traitor. Congratulations, Miss Skies. When I'm finished, I'm sure you'll be our last," she threatened icily.

"No!" Celestia boomed in response. "Your reign of terror ends now!"

"Oh Celestia, always so quick with your threats," Nightmare Moon chided. "I remember fighting you to a standstill last we met. You think the Element of Generosity and four pesky guards will give you some advantage?"

"No lone villain can triumph over ponies united in harmony!"

"Lone villain? Call me a villain if you must, sister dearest, but as I'm sure has been said before, Shadowbolts are never alone."
Immediately behind Nightmare Moon, Charger came from out of the same nowhere she had been hiding behind, in full Shadowbolt flight suit. "Invisibility shields, gotta love 'em!" he chuckled.

"Your backup is one pegasus?" the lead guard asked mockingly.

"Actually, make that two." In a sudden burst of magic, Starry was teleported to Nightmare Moon's side, smirking. "Starry?" Rarity asked, shocked. "What are you doing?"

"Why, betraying you, Rarity! Did you really not see this coming?"

"Blinded by her zeal," Nightmare Moon interjected, eyeing Celestia mockingly. "Now, as fun as this reunion has been, you must excuse us." Suddenly, Charger produced a detonator in his hoof, grinning dangerously. "We have some pest control to take care of."

What happened next was something of a blur. Four muffled blasts rang out in tight sequence, as Nightmare Moon and the Shadowbolts vanished. The next thing Rarity knew, one of the guards had thrown himself at Celestia, and a massive unseen force threw her to the floor. She barely had time to register the impact before her head hit metal and she blacked out.

Hell had descended upon Canterlot as changelings freely swarmed the streets. Terrorizing the populace wasn't necessary for them to feed, but the raw fear it stirred up turned a simple meal into an emotional feast, which only drove the horde to be even more vicious.

"We changelings live for the thrill of the chase," Queen Chrysalis whispered to Shining Armor, still firmly entranced and under her spell. "After all, a dead pony feels nothing, and a wounded one only feels pain. But a pony that knows it's being hunted down? Oh, the adrenaline is simply divine! Of course, it's only a matter of time before it wears off and we have to cocoon them... But if you could experience that taste the way we do, you would be just as ruthless in your pursuit of it."

She knew he could barely understand her, much less reply, but enjoyed the chance to gloat regardless, especially as she continued to absorb the power of his love. But then Chrysalis noticed a familiar lavender unicorn on the street below, in a group of unicorns she remembered to be some kind of think tank. Alarmed, she voiced a series of insectoid clicks and whistles, signalling a few nearby drones to attend to her.

"That unicorn down there, the purple one, she could be... bothersome. Deal with her."

The three changelings swarmed down, surrounding the group before they had a chance to react. The drones approached with a vicious look in their eyes, but as Twilight readied her magic to defend herself, the ground beneath her gave way, swallowing both changelings and unicorns. Some of the others were able to leap to safety in time, but as Twilight made to jump to solid ground, she found her hooves swiping at air. But then another hoof caught hers, hauling her back up and onto the street, where she found it to be Applejack's; Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were close behind.

"What's goin' on, sugarcube? How'd they get through? And how are we gonna beat 'em?"

"I don't know, I don't know, and I definitely don't know!" Twilight replied panickedly, as she turned back to levitate Van Allen Belt out of the sinkhole. "Princess Celestia went into the undercity to chase the Shadowbolts, she might not even know the changelings have broken through."

"Help!" A cry rang out from below, in a voice Twilight didn't recognize from her think tank. She looked down to see a battered Royal Guard trying to pull himself free of the rubble. "Please, Princess Celestia and Rarity are trapped down here!"

"Rarity?" Applejack replied with alarm. But suddenly, four shadows shot out of the chasm, landing down the street and catching the girls' attention. It was difficult to make out any details of their dark forms, but they could tell one of them was holding a large, dangerous-looking device while the other set up a tripod mount for it. As they assembled the two, three more ponies appeared, one instantly recognizable by her stature and ethereal night-blue mane. "Nightmare Moon!"

It was at this point that Chrysalis made herself known, leaving her balcony to hover above the ponies. "Nightmare Moon? I was expecting the Princess herself to meet me, not the Equestrian boogiemare. Get them!" Changelings streamed through the air beneath her, rushing the assembled Shadowbolts. But Nightshade took her place behind the controls of their new weapon, firing a beam of concentrated high-frequency sound waves at the horde. The shrill staccato drove the girls to their knees, and smote the changelings from the sky; a few seconds later it ended, and the insects fell to the street, most definitely dead.

"Aargh!" Chrysalis cried out, in a rage. "My children!"

"Did you truly think nopony saw you coming, Chrysalis?" Nightmare Moon called out. "You thought yourself so well-hidden, but you forgot: a changeling in pony form still dreams like a changeling. And your dreams belong to me."

Enraged, Chrysalis fired a concentrated blast of magic at her foe, only for Rainbow Dash to bat it away with her sword. "You want her, Princess?"

"She's all yours, dear."

Grinning sadistically, Dash pulled down her flight goggles and charged skyward. But her first slashing attack had no effect, blocked by Chryslis' chitin exoskeleton. She slashed again from the other side, to similar effect. Chrysalis then snapped forward, fangs agape, forcing Dash to draw back. As this was going on, Twilight quickly levitated herself and her friends down the pit, then started pulling away debris. "We have to get to the Princess, she's the only one who can stop Nightmare Moon!"

But Fluttershy was still slackjawed. "It was her. She's still alive..."

Twilight didn't skip a beat, too focused on the task at hand, and partially because she didn't want to confront the fact herself. "There were always rumors... never found a body... Celestia wasn't convinced..."

Applejack spoke up, "Twilight, if Rainbow Dash is still alive, maybe there's a chance..."

"If she's still alive, she'll be just as fanatical and dangerous as we remember." There was no emotion in the words; one could tell that their battle had wounded her more than just physically. "Now come on, we need to help Celestia and Rarity."

Rainbow Dash had been forced on the defensive by Chrysalis' use of magic, dodging and deflecting an endless salvo of bolts and beams. Closing in to attack would shorten her reaction time, giving her foe the chance for a free shot; when Dash experienced that firsthoof, the blast had almost knocked her out of the sky. After evading a burst of green fire, she decided to change tactics. Dash revved her wings, then launched into a high-speed serpentine, passing directly under the changeling queen. She moved nearly too fast for Chrysalis to follow, much less land a hit. Turning, she found only empty airspace behind her.

"What? Where have you gone?"

Her answer came hard and fast: Dash had made a very tight upward loop just behind Chrysalis, and was now on her way down, forelegs locked in front of her. She punched into Chrysalis from above, tackling her into the street below. The impact put a small crater in the concrete with the changeling splayed out inside, shaken and stunned. But when she tried to get up, the point of a blade pressed against her neck. She found Rainbow Dash at its hilt, looking back toward Nightmare Moon. "Do it."

Dash looked back to Chrysalis vengefully, with a night-blue tint flashing across her eyes. "Feed on this." And with a single, powerful stroke, she rammed her blade up through her foe's jugular. A shocked expression was frozen on the corpse's face as she collapsed, and Dash pulled the katana free.

The loss of their matriarch was felt throughout the swarm, and every changeling still alive at that moment turned and charged toward Canterlot Square.

Between Twilight's telekinetic magic and Applejack's sheer strength, they were able to dig through the debris with unexpected speed. Upon heaving up a large concrete slab, Twilight found Rarity lying beneath, on the edge of consciousness; Fluttershy quickly scooped her out.

"Rarity? Rarity, can you hear me?"

"...Fluttershy... dear, what, what happened?" Fluttershy started to set her down, but she was having difficulty even standing on her own.

"It was the Shadowbolts," Twilight answered. "They set off a bomb and dropped a section of the undercity on top of you."

"Oh, my..." Rarity was starting to come to. "Princess Celestia was with us! Have you found her?"

"Do you remember where she was?"' Twilight asked urgently. Rarity took a second to look at both the space she had been lying in and the rest of the area, then looked down, poking the ground with her hoof. "I think she was right here..."

"Stand back..." In a telekinetic fury, Twilight pulled apart every piece of debris in sight, tunneling downward. Within a few seconds, she once again saw white beneath the rubble, and stopped. Fluttershy was the first one down, trying to help the Princess to her hooves. Recovering much more quickly, Celestia leapt up to stand level with the others.

"Twilight, what's going on?"

"The force field is down, Princess, and the changelings have invaded!"

"And Nightmare Moon, and the Shadowbolts?"

"They're up there as well, actually fighting off the invasion. They had some kind of sonic weapon with them."

"Of course..." Fear shot through Celestia's eyes. "Equestria faced war with the changelings long ago, before Luna was banished. Back then, the army was far less... scrupulous toward prisoners of war."

"Yes...?" Twilight knew she wouldn't like what came next.

"We discovered that changelings were weak to powerful soundwaves; just a high-frequency blast would be enough to kill them. I had the project scrapped on the grounds of cruelty, but if Luna found out... This isn't an invasion, it's a massacre."

"So, between the changelings and the Shadowbolts, we're siding with the changelings?" asked Applejack, confused,

"They may not be the lesser of two evils, but if the Shadowbolts have a sonic weapon, they're the weaker of the two." Suddenly, Celestia's horn lit up, and Rarity found herself glowing for a moment, feeling very much reinvigorated. "We have to get back up there, is everypony ready?" Without waiting for a reply, she levitated them all upward, toward the mouth of the chasm.

As the Mane 5 rose, they could feel the ground reverberating in rapid, rhythmic shockwaves. As their hooves hit the street, they found the source: the Shadowbolts' sonic cannon, at full blast as Nightshade fired in every direction. A stream of sound echoed down four different streets, sending incoming changelings straight to the concrete. Any one that got through was shortly dispatched by Stratus, Blueball and Charger. But it was only a matter of time before the changelings ran out of reserves, and the hooffull still standing knew it was time to cut their losses and run for it. An eerie quiet fell upon the streets of Canterlot, leading ponies to emerge from hiding.

"Citizens of Canterlot!" Nightmare Moon enunciated, "the changeling menace is ended! My Shadowbolts and I have laid waste to those with the gall to invade this city." Almost to punctuate the point, Rainbow Dash flew back towards the group, dropping Chrysalis' corpse in front of them. "Look around! We have done in barely a minute what Celestia could not do in weeks of knowing about this threat. And we have done it without breaking down your doors and invading your homes."

By this time Celestia and the Mane 5 had reached the street, attracting some attention, but Nightmare Moon still held the floor. "You have lost so much freedom in the name of 'security', but do you feel secure? Do not let Celestia take your precious liberty, ponies, take it back! Can't you see her for the tyrant she is? All she cares about is power."

"Do not listen to her lies!" Celestia called out, but Nightmare Moon was quick to cut her off.

"Lies, Celestia? You've been lying about me for a thousand years! Making me out to be a monster, when in reality all I did was stand up to you so long ago! Look at me, citizens!" Nightmare Moon's mane swirled around her, then with a burst of light vanished, revealing Princess Luna.

"I am no monster! I am Princess Luna, and I have come because there must be change. The time has come for Equestria to realize its destiny as a mighty, democratic nation. The power of government shall be put back in your hooves, for you to vote and represent each other. And I shall use the power of the Elements of Harmony to defeat the menaces of war, famine, and poverty. Ponies, I am offering you a stake in utopia!"

"No!" Celestia fired back. "Do not be led astray, my little ponies! Nightmare Moon is a radical and a terrorist! She does not care for you at all; she only wants to use you to have her revenge on me."

But this time, Rainbow Dash was the one to speak up. "Is anypony else tired of being Celestia's little pony?" But just her voice was enough to get the crowd murmuring, as some started to recognize her in her Shadowbolt suit. One pony even had the guts to call out, "Rainbow Dash? I thought you were dead?"

"Killed by Nightmare Moon?" she answered. "Just another one of Celestia's lies! Princess Luna told me the truth about her." She jabbed an accusing hoof in Princess Celestia's direction. "She's corrupt, and she'll do anything to hold onto her power, even betray her own sister! She doesn't deserve to rule!" This sent a far stronger ripple of murmurs through the crowd; there was no way around the fact that Celestia had lied about Rainbow Dash, which gave even more credence to the rest of her accusations.

"Citizens, everything I have told you today is the truth," Princess Luna took over again. "The New Lunar Republic will be a nation of freedom and prosperity, where government will be of the ponies, by the ponies and for the ponies. For thousands of years, a tyrant has stood above you. But a better day has come, so I ask you: who will stand with me?"

And for a moment, the world was still and silent, as each citizen of Canterlot had to decide what they wanted tomorrow to look like.

Everypony Wants to Rule the World

Facing a serious decision between two sides, anypony would tell you they examine every factor carefully and impartially before making their choice. But the truth is that beyond any sort of critical thinking, they have a subconscious bias in one direction on the other, simply based on word association. A single phrase, maybe an image, so strongly connected to a pony or cause that they cannot mentally divorce the two, and that phrase or image will forever influence their view of them. This is why first impressions are so important; they usually decide that association in the minds of both parties.

Some ponies associated Princess Celestia with "wisdom" or "experience", given she had been ruling Equestria since well before they were born. For Nightmare Moon, they had "villain" or even "terrorist".

Conversely, some ponies associated that name with "utopia".

There were a few tense, silent moments, before one unicorn stepped out and crossed the battle line. She turned to stand beside the Shadowbolts, then told the others calmly, "No more tyranny."

Another followed, this one a pegasus somewhat older than his predecessor. He said nothing, but smiled at Nightshade, whose eyes had been locked on him since he stepped out of the crowd. She smiled back and nodded, as her eye seemed to shimmer with moisture. But that moment was all she allowed herself.

Now the crowd was starting to shift, as more and more ponies came forward to join the New Lunar Republic. Celestia (and those still loyal to her) could only watch in shock as friends, even family stepped across the line, to be warmly received by their Princess of the Night. In the end, the opposing camps stood equal, the population of Canterlot split in two.

"No..." Celestia had expected some dissidents, but not half of Canterlot to turn on her. The sight was wounding, and in response she lashed out in the only way she could think of. "Guards, arrest them!" But no sooner had she finished the phrase, she saw some of her own guards walking across the no-pony's-land. Each approached Nightmare Moon, then stood firmly, pounding their right hoof to their chest in the salute of the Lunar Guard. She returned the gesture with pride.

"Betrayed... by my own guards?"

"They were never yours in the first place, sister. They are the surviving Lunar Guard, hiding in plain sight until this day. Even more are scattered across Equestria, sharing my vision in every city, waiting for my call."

"It does not matter. However many ponies you may draw to your side, I will end this rebellion now!"

"Oh yes? To coin the phrase, you and what army?" It was a point well made; between Nightmare Moon's original insurrection, the changeling invasion and this recent division, Canterlot's Royal Guard was beginning to look a small force indeed.

"Her and me!" This voice was an unexpected one; Shining Armor had made his way to the frontline and stood beside his sister, weakened but resolute. "I, and every pony standing with me, will always defend Equestria against traitors like you." Emboldened, the Elements stood firmly beside him.

"Haven't we been though this already?" Rainbow Dash wondered aloud. "You couldn't beat us then, and you can't beat us now!" But what she couldn't see was that far from them, in the ruins of Canterlot Tower, a bolt of light punched out of the debris. It arced over the city like a firework, before exploding into six distinctly colored fragments, which rained to the street below.

"The Elements of Harmony!" Twilight cried in surprise. The Element of Magic had landed on her head, and each of her friends had been bestowed with their respective necklaces. But she looked back to see Rainbow Dash, while equally awestruck, no longer bore the Element of Loyalty. Instead, that pendant had made its way to her brother's neck, to his great surprise. "The Element of Loyalty has chosen a new bearer!" Celestia observed.

Rainbow Dash looked to Nightmare Moon for guidance: all the ponies in the world couldn't give them a fighting chance against the Elements. "I had hoped this would not come to pass," she told her apprentice, "but I did plan for the possibility. This battle is not yet lost, but the war will not be won today."

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight called out, "Look! The Elements themselves declare your betrayal!" She was launching into what Dash had once mockingly referred to as a "Twilight Sparkle speech". "Turn away from the path of darkness..." Blah blah, friendship is magic, yadda yadda... But as the crowd was focused on Twilight's speech, Nightmare Moon quickly began teleporting her followers away one by one, each pony disappearing in a flash of blue light.

"I need you to lead them, Nightshade. Use the castle as shelter and start rebuilding it. We'll be there as soon as possible," she whispered to Nightshade, now that the last Republican was safely gone.

"Yes, Princess Luna."

Seeing that her student's oratory was falling on deaf ears, Celestia stepped forward and held her back with one hoof. "Nightmare Moon! Shadowbolts! I find you guilty of crimes without number and villainy without end. The Elements shall mete out justice as they see fit." She stepped back, and each Element began to glow and crackle with power.

"Charger, it's time," Nightmare Moon replied calmly. He nodded back without emotion, reached to his belt, and quickly triggered his last detonator. Just as the newly-formed Elements of Harmony began to charge their final sanction, the ground leapt up beneath their feet, and the entire city shuddered.

"Coal Dust! Hey, Coal Dust, come quick!"

Lucky Strike was a mare that enjoyed routine. She thrived on the predictability of life as an undercity inspector, even if the pay was lousy. The entire complex was very sturdy and well-made (even if it didn't always look that way), so when she and her partner went down on their four-day 'tours', she could tell almost like clockwork how it would go. They would tour one section of the undercity, being sure every essential this, that, and the other thing were properly in place (they always were), then spend the night in one of the rest shelters. The next day, they would go to a new section and repeat the process until their tour was complete.

The body of a missing inspector kind of got in the way of that routine.

"Sweet Celestia..." Coal Dust, a former mine worker who was very at-home this deep below the surface (in a way Lucky Strike wasn't entirely comfortable with), was close behind. He trained his headlamp on the body, along with the large section of metal catwalk that had pinned it to the floor. "You think...?" They both looked up, into a darkness their lights could barely penetrate, and could barely make out a gantryway that did indeed have a large section missing.

"An accident?" Lucky speculated, already trying to flip the piece of metal off the dead inspector. "I remember he was assigned to the upper sections... maybe it gave way beneath him?"

"Then why did it end up on top of him?" Coal pulled the body clear, allowing Lucky to drop the metal sheet, then examined the inspector. "And look at these wounds. That's shrapnel... and his throat's been slit! He was murdered!"

"Nonononononono this is not happening!" But before Lucky got the chance to hyperventilate, a massive blast of fire and light went off overhead. Even as it passed the floor beneath her hooves continued to shake, throwing her off-balance. But she was more concerned with the clank and clatter of loose metal above, some of it already tumbling down to their level.

"Lucky, run!" Suddenly, Coal Dust shoved her away from him, but when she looked back she could only see a massive steel girder where her partner must've been.

Various ponies screamed in fright as the ground itself began to shift, becoming an ever-steeper grade toward the city's outer edge. It settled maybe a second later, but that did not stop the panic. Several carriages, abandoned in the invasion, began to roll, picking up speed as they careened down empty streets before ramming and toppling over the protective fence. Startled, their concentration broken, the Elements lost power.

"What have you done, Luna?!" Celestia accused.

"High-yield explosives stolen from your armory, placed strategically around the undercity," replied Charger. He held up the detonator. "Sort of a last-resort gambit; in case of Elements of Harmony, press here."

"But that would..." The consequences dawned on Twilight. "No! You couldn't possibly!"

"Give me blueprints, nitro and time, I can bring anything down," he bragged. "Including this city," Nightmare Moon added threateningly, before teleporting Charger away with the other Shadowbolts, Rainbow Dash being the one exception. Almost in response, the city began to shift again, thought not half as drastically as it had the first time. But the entire loyalist camp was shaken, still trying to wrap their heads around destruction of such magnitude. Even the Princess herself was finding it difficult to maintain composure.

"Looks like this is the fall of Canterlot!" Rainbow Dash taunted from above. "So who means more to you, Sunbutt? Us... or them?" Celestia turned to see the hundreds of frightened ponies in her faction, looking to her for guidance (at least, those who had not already fled in panic). Quick-thinking Twilight stepped toward her, hopeful against hope. "Princess, if you want to lead the evacuation, we can..."

"No." Looking up, the unicorn saw blood in her teacher's eyes, narrowed scornfully, which was unprecedented in the unicorn's memory. On balance, it frightened her even more than the situation itself. "My mercy, my indecision, my weakness allowed this to happen. I must put an end to this war, permanently."

"But Princess..."

A spark of anger shot through Celestia, unrestrainable. "Go, Twilight! Get these ponies to the caves, then round up anypony else still in the city!"

Twilight knew there was no point in arguing, nor the time; she looked at the others, and they spread out in front of the crowd. She then teleported to the other side, and together the team began herding the crowd in the direction of Mount Equus. As they left, Celestia turned back to Nightmare Moon, who had been quietly speaking with her apprentice.

"Hear me, Nightmare Moon!" she screamed. "You and your followers have been a blight upon Equestria, and caused more suffering and death than has been seen since the Time of Discord! I was a fool not to destroy you at the first opportunity. Now I correct that mistake!"

"Promises, promises..." Dash commented wryly, pacing through the air above her mentor. Though she refused to reply directly, Celestia's temper only rose.

"Canterlot may fall today, but never again shall you terrorize Equestria!" And with that she charged, cloaked in a swirling blaze of solar energy. Nightmare Moon, who had been otherwise expressionless, allowed herself a momentary smirk before collapsing into mist and dissipating. Rainbow Dash took to the sky, easily avoiding the attack. Celestia pounded the empty street, then came to a stop and redirected herself upward in pursuit. But it was all too easy for Dash to dart away, weaving between buildings and in and out of sight.

"Don't waste time on my apprentice, sister! I'm the one you want!" Nightmare Moon called out from below, stealing Celestia's attention; she turned about and loosed a volley of magical bolts, which exploded brilliantly against their target's energy shield. When the dust cleared, Nightmare Moon had vanished again.

"Yoohoo! Over here!" This catcall and a quick telekinetic grab were all that saved the Princess from an incoming dagger, as Rainbow Dash took center stage in the fight once more. Celestia hurled blast after fiery blast of magic, but her opponent was literally flying circles around her, and was just too fast to hit. With a scream of rage, she loosed a radial burst of power which knocked Dash away and gave her a window of opportunity. But as she moved in to attack, a force from beneath rammed into her, and she was flipped upside-down as Nightmare Moon drove her toward the concrete.

With a blast of magic, Twilight Sparkle blew open the front gate of the palace, beckoning the crowd to enter. Even with their shared urgency, a group of that size could only move so quickly. Fluttershy even had to dive in on occasion to rescue a stumbling pony from being trampled. They ran up the staircase only to be bottlenecked at the main doors. And those who made it inside found themselves at a standstill: Twilight had only a vague idea of where the entrance to the cave system was, definitely not enough to lead the herd by. But soon a young mare approached, who Twilight recognized as Celestia's adviser, Fortitude.

"What's going on?"

"The undercity is about to collapse, we need to get these ponies into the caves!"

"And the Princess?"

"She's fighting Nightmare Moon and Rainbow Dash. But I don't know how to get to the access tunnel, can you help us?"

"I know the way, come on!"

Fortitude took the lead, guiding the crowd downstairs and into the palace sub-basement. Weaving through a few corridors, she forced open a heavy wooden door, revealing a rocky, torch-lit tunnel. Twilight and the ponies right behind her kept moving as she stayed back to hold one of the doors open; Shining Armor grabbed the other. They kept waving ponies through, urging them onward, until they met Pinkie Pie and Rarity at the tail of the group.

"What happened to Applejack? And Fluttershy?" Shining Armor asked.

"They went to survey the rest of the city, round up anypony else they could find," Rarity replied. "I left a trail fo-" She was cut off by an unearthly shriek from down the tunnel, followed by cries of panic and fear. Exchanging worried looks, the four of them started to push through the crowd, Shining Armor in the lead.

The Princess of the Night pulled up at the last moment, hurling Celestia into the pavement with all the force she could muster. But she was back on her hooves more quickly than expected, surprising Nightmare Moon with a concentrated beam of pure heat, which shunted her out of the sky. She barely had time to throw up a shield before the same beam washed over her again, this time exponentially stronger.

"No mercy from the Elements this time, Nightmare Moon! For your treason, I sentence you to death!" Celestia screamed, unrelenting in her attack.

"The judgement of a tyrant means nothing to me!"

But Celestia was so focused on keeping Nightmare Moon pinned down, she barely had a chance to notice Rainbow Dash's incoming dive-bomb. In fact, by the time she could redirect her beam, Dash already had her sword drawn, cutting right through it as she charged. The blinding glare meant Celestia never saw the blade coming, until it made contact with her horn, disorienting her. Dash followed up with a spinning kick, knocking her foe back and giving her time to disappear back into the skyline. But Celestia could still see Nightmare Moon as she recovered, and she hastily fired off another burst of magic; it only whiffed through vapor before punching into the side of a building further down the road. The entire city shook as the structure came down.

"Tsk tsk, Celestia. And I thought I was supposed to be the one destroying Canterlot."

The voice came from nowhere in particular, but Celestia fired another blast where she thought the source was. "Show yourself!"

The only answer was the growing crumble of concrete, which gave Celestia enough warning to dodge away as another building toppled onto the street. The dust cloud it kicked up cast an eerie twilight on the area, darkening what sunlight could get through the Canterlot skyline. Aggression tempered by uncertainty, she circled in place, hooves spread wide in a tense defensive posture. She knew the next attack could come from any side, and still shooting at anything that moved, she told herself the next one would definitely be her hated foe.

"Princess Cadence! Please stop!" Twilight cried, blocking another violet bolt of energy.

"Nonono, you're not her! You only look like her!" the disheveled alicorn raved in reply. "Your tricks don't work on me, you Faust-damned BUGS!" As Shining Armor and the others reached the front of the crowd, they found Twilight holding up a force-field to separate them all from the Princess of Love.

"Cadence! Twilight, what's happening?"

"This is the real Cadence, Shiny; Queen Chrysalis must've trapped her down here in order to take her place!"

"Her! Where is she? Where is your queen, vermin?! She doesn't get to just steal my life and leave me here to rot! Do you hear me, drones?!"

"She thinks we're all changeling imposters," Fortitude observed.

"But we're not! Cadence, listen to me, it's me, Twilight! Don't you remember me?"

"No, no, that's just what they'd say, that's just what they'd want me to think! But I'm not that easy! You don't fool me, not-Twilight!"

"Cadence, please! It's me!" Shining Armor pressed himself against Twilight's shield, trying to be as close to his lover as possible. "You're the mare I love, Cadence, please, please come back to me."

Cadence stared for a little while, dumbstruck; she almost seemed calm. But that was before she lashed out with a furious barrage of haphazard magical attacks. "NO! How dare you use him against me! Nothing is beneath you hive-spawned bastards, is it? Well you'll have to go lower than that, do you hear me, because you'll never break me! Never!"

Shining Armor turned to his sister with a broken look in his eye. "There's no telling how long she's been down here, or just what Chrysalis has done to her," she offered, hoping knowledge would be some consolation.

"What can we do for her?"

Twilight thought for a moment, as Cadence continued to pound against the indigo force-field. "...We need to keep moving. For now the best I can think of is a sleep spell. Once Princess Celestia has dealt with Nightmare Moon, we can all work on helping Cadence recover."

All Shining Armor could do was look at his hooves, crippled by a blend of heartbreak and frustrating helplessness. "Do it." In the meantime, Cadence had relented to catch her breath. Twilight took this opportunity to drop the shield and seize her with magic.

"It will take time, Cadence is very powerful and very upset..."

But before Twilight could even get started, another pony charged out of the crowd, turned and bucked the Princess of Love clean in the jaw, knocking her out. "That's an earth pony sleep spell for ya," Applejack commented dryly. Shining Armor had to restrain himself from a kneejerk reaction to somepony attacking his fiance, knowing that in the end it was probably necessary.

"Applejack!" Twilight noticed with surprise. "What are... I mean did you and Fluttershy find anypony else?"

"Yeah, we caught a few stragglers, brought 'em all down here like you said. Twi, there's gotta be more of 'em out there, I just know it! We have to..." A solemn, admonishing look from Twilight cut her off.

"Canterlot could fall at any moment. It would be impossible to save everypony."

"...When I heard all the ruckus I came up front to see what was goin' on."

The cogs started turning again in Twilight's mind. She quickly drafted two stallions from the group to carry Princess Cadence, then turned to Fortitude. "If you keep going down these tunnels, what is there?"

"I'm pretty sure it lets out at the ruins of Old Canterlot."

"Perfect. I need you to lead these ponies and keep going; we'll meet you there when the battle is over."

"But what about you?"

Twilight pointed to the gem-embossed tiara she still wore. "We've got to help the Princess." She gathered the other Elements, and together they charged back through the cave system and toward the city they hoped was still there.

"Looking for me?"

Rainbow Dash seemed to materialize immediately behind Celestia, who instinctively whirled around and shot a blast of magic at her as soon as she was in sight. Dash casually batted it away with her sword.

"Do not take me for a fool, Rainbow Dash. You are nothing but a distraction, so your mistress can strike me in the back." To accentuate the point, she put up a force field around herself, covering every angle outside her line of sight. Dash only shrugged, unimpressed. "If you say so, Sunbutt."

But then an idea crossed Celestia's mind, something born of all her anger and desperation. She telekinetically seized Rainbow Dash, holding her aloft and immobile with all her magical strength. Dash struggled fiercely to break loose, but Celestia held tight, refusing to give even an inch of freedom. "Nightmare Moon!" she shouted to the empty streets. "Come out and give yourself up!"

"Or what?" the empty streets replied.

"Your apprentice dies, this time in earnest!" Canterlot shuddered once again.

"Ooh, Celestia's gotten gutsy!" Dash mocked. "Just like Twilight, big on threats but not on follow-through."

Celestia released her grip on the Lunar Apprentice's head just long enough to throw a punishing right hook into it. "Do you think I'm bluffing?" But Dash only laughed as she looked back, blood starting to trickle down her mouth. "Yeah."

Furious and frustrated, the Princess turned to Rainbow Dash's katana, slowly and forcefully prying her hoof loose from it. She picked it up, balanced it in her hoof, then leveled the point squarely at her opponent's chest. "One chance, Nightmare Moon!" The tip began to press into Rainbow Dash's flight suit, about to draw blood...

"You called?"

Nightmare Moon suddenly appeared behind Celestia, a gaunt, spectral figure.

"Give yourself up and I'll spare her life," she replied, turning around but keeping the sword keenly aimed.

"My apprentice was right, this is unlike you, sister dearest. Even I can't remember the last time you had blood on your hooves. Would you really do it? Take a young mare's life?"

"I wouldn't bet on it," Rainbow Dash enthused smugly. Though she was obviously infuriated, Celestia remained stoic. "If you want a war, war you shall have, Nightmare Moon. And this is the consequence." She brought her hoof forward, the drawback in preparation for a killing blow. But before she had the chance to follow through, her own shadow leapt up and ensnared her, thorny vines of darkness digging into her foreleg. "Ahh!"

Nightmare Moon began to cackle maniacally, before vanishing (though her laughter did not stop). "Gullible as always, sister." She rose up beside her, the shadowy tendrils that now bound Celestia completely trailing back into her ethereal blue mane. "All your sturm and fury, outmatched by a simple illusion." The dark regent forced her sister's hoof to the ground before pulling the sword free of her grip, then setting it carefully down. A shock of magic sent Celestia into spasms of pain, forcing her to release Rainbow Dash.

"All too easy!... Ooh, sorry, were you gonna say that?"

Nightmare Moon smirked knowingly in reply before turning to Celestia. She said nothing; instead, even more waves of dark magic rushed into the Princess, crackling like electricity. She screamed desperately as every part of her body was overwhelmed with excruciating pain. When the tendrils rescinded, it was all she could do to keep standing.

"....D-d-d-do your worst."

And after circling the downed monarch to stand on either side of her, that's exactly what they did.

Rainbow Dash opened up with a vengeful right uppercut, which Nightmare Moon followed with a brutal hammer-strike to the back of Celestia's head. She jerked back up instinctively, opening herself to a spinning kick to the breastplate from Dash. She tried to let off a blast of magic to defend herself, but it went wild as Nightmare Moon bucked her from the side. Meanwhile, Dash scooped up a broken piece of pipe from the street, then swung it hard into her enemy's face two times, in a forehoof-backhoof combo. She tossed the improvised weapon to her Princess, who caught it magically before striking Celestia's left foreleg. She buckled and collapsed under the pain, until an aerial stomp from Rainbow Dash drove her even deeper into the ground.

Nightmare Moon quickly set up the follow-up, lifting Celestia magically, but only long enough for Dash to fly up, loop backwards and dropkick her into a concrete wall. But she spent hardly a second on the ground, as Nightmare Moon yanked her back telekinetically on a reverse course, this time directly into an incoming punch from Rainbow Dash. Equestria's monarch skidded across the pavement before coming to a stop, lying motionless.

Walking over calmly, Dash picked up her katana, flicking it through the air several times to shake the dust off. She turned to Celestia, only to watch her vanish in a flare of violet. "We have company," Nightmare Moon observed, looking up the street. Maybe a block away, Twilight Sparkle was knelt over Celestia, the rest of the Mane 6 at her side. "...You monsters!" she screamed, but was cut off by the rising grind of rending metal. Canterlot began to dip even further, so that even to stand upright was a challenge.

(Atmosphere music)

"What do we do?" asked Rainbow Dash, concerned and just a bit afraid; she remembered wielding an Element of Harmony, and had no desire to be on the receiving end of its power.

"We stand our ground."

"What?!"

"Rainbow Dash, everything I have taught you, all our training and meditation, has been to prepare you for something more."

"Wait... what do you mean?"

"We have only one chance to stand against the Elements. My loyal apprentice, do you trust me?"

"...Of course, Princess Luna."

"Then calm yourself, and open your mind."

Rainbow Dash paused for a moment, wary, but then sat obediently, laying down her sword. A sphere of magical energy formed around them, as Luna slowly began to chant. "Power of night, power of flight. Power of night, power of flight. Power of night, power of flight, that stand and fight the wicked sun..."

Stepping forward, side by side, the Elements of Harmony focused themselves and began to charge their magic.

"Power of night, power of flight. Power of night, power of flight. Power of night, power of flight, defy the light and be as one." Luna repeated this creed, slowly growing in speed and intensity. Dash could feel the magic suffusing the air itself, restoring her, fueling her strength. Even inside her mind, her emotion and drive had become unrestrainable. Though she could not see it, her sword was slowly turning in place, hilt toward her like a bridge between the two of them.

Each of the Mane 6 started to glow with light, as they rose into the air and began to drift together.

The sphere had become enveloped in absolute darkness. The only sense Rainbow Dash knew was Luna's voice, still repeating the chant. "Powerofnightpowerofflightpowerofnightpowerofflight..." That is, until the magic literally surged into her body. She could tell she was changing, but any shock or fear was overwhelmed by adrenaline and new-found strength in her every muscle. But then an intense pain shot through her head, and the sheer sensory overload caused her to black out.

Six separate beams of energy combined into a single, devastating blast, the full power of the Elements of Harmony hurling toward the dark orb. Upon impact, there was a blinding explosion of intertwined light and shadow.

Dark Spectrum

"...Princess?" Rainbow Dash found herself in something of a void, surrounded by white nothing. At least, until she saw Princess Luna approaching calmly on some invisible plane. But she was in her ordinary form, not Nightmare Moon's. "What is this, Princess Luna? Are we dead? Did we lose?"

"Not at all. I have simply linked our minds within the psychic realm; this is something of a dream, you might say."

"But weren't the Elements about to attack? We don't have time to..."

"Shhh. We are linked telepathically, Rainbow Dash. Even if it doesn't feel like it, this is all happening at the speed of thought."

Rainbow Dash looked around, puzzled. "...But why?"

"I have a gift for you, and I need to prepare you to receive it so that you can use it when we are finished here."

"What gift?"

Luna started to pace, circling Dash. "The reappearance of the Elements of Harmony changed this war, and not just forcing us to bring down Canterlot. As you well know, even at full power, I could not hope to resist them. Accursed charms..."

"Five damn necklaces and a tiara, and they have more sway over ponykind than we've ever had."

"Oh, they're more than that. I believe there is some kind of guiding force behind each Element, maybe even sentience. That is how they choose their bearers, among other things. But Celestia has always held favor with these entities, and they are no more morally superior to us than she is. But that is another topic."

"Yeah, what do the Elements have to do with this gift of yours?"

"My gift may be our last hope of resisting them. Obviously I cannot fight them, and I doubt you would fare much better on your own. But I have seen your potential, Rainbow Dash. You can use your speed to tap into a massive amount of raw magic. If that power were compounded with that of the Princess of the Night..."

When it clicked for Dash, she became very worried. "No, you don't mean...?"

"It is the only hope, my loyal apprentice. If you wielded my power in tandem with your own, you might be able to hold your own against the Elements, even defeat them."

"But what about you?"

"I am an old mare, Rainbow Dash, and Celestia knows me too well. It is time for me to step back and lead the Republic with my mind, not my body."

"But..." This was less out of an actual concern on Dash's part, more an anxiety-driven stall tactic.

"The change is already happening. My power courses through your veins, channeled through your sword. But remember, I trained you, I prepared you for this, and I have every confidence in you, Rainbow Dash. Now you are the Defender of the New Lunar Republic..."

Her words echoed and faded, as the Princess seemed to drift away in space. Then everything went black, and the next thing Dash knew, she was picking herself up from a Canterlot street.

When Twilight felt comfortable opening her eyes, she saw a tall, dark mare standing where the sphere had been. No... how could she? But as she regained focus, she could see that this alicorn was not Nightmare Moon. No, this mare's coat was night-blue, and she wore no armor. And while her mane had the same ethereal quality, it was not like a starlit sky, but rather six familiar stripes of darkened color.

"...Rainbow Dash?"

"Uh oh..." she replied, in a voice a bit deeper and far more menacing. "Looks like somepony needs to learn some new tricks..."

"Rainbow Dash, Nightmare Moon - they've fused!" Shining Armor exclaimed.

"The Elements might have taken out Nightmare Moon, and they might've taken out Rainbow Dash, but together? No sell." She spoke with a malicious twist on Dash's cockiness and acerbic wit.

"Again!" screamed Celestia, still embracing the former of her fight-or-flight instincts. "The Elements will not fail us now!"

"Oh, dear Sun Queen... They already have," a small but familiar voice replied, stepping around Rainbow Dash. It was Princess Luna, but in her meekest form; her mane had lost its ethereal quality, and she was barely any taller than an average pony. But the weight and sheer contempt of her words had not been lost in her transformation.

"Luna..." The reappearance of this old form shocked the Princess, staying her vengeful hoof if only for a moment. But it was Fluttershy, who had been scared silent by most of these events, who found her voice instead.

"Rainbow Dash, look at yourself! She's turned you into a new Nightmare Moon!

Dash seemed to pause at this, examining her alicorn body, including a newfound horn. But her reply was in a tone more power-drunk than introspective. "She really has..." With a wicked grin, she leaned back, then threw her head forward, launching a powerful blast of energy that sent her opponents diving for cover.

"She's gone mad," Twilight declared as she stood back up. "But even the Elements can't stop her!" replied Rarity, "What can we do?"

"Wear her down," Celestia answered, the attack having shocked her back to her senses. "Then the Elements of Harmony can finish them both off."

"On it!" Shining Armor loosed a volley of energy bolts, but with lightning speed Rainbow Dash reflected each one off her sword. Rarity followed up with a telekinetic attack, launching loose bricks and cobblestones, but each one was quickly shot down, then another blast of magic hit Rarity herself.

"Is that the best you've got?" Rainbow Dash goaded. "She's right, this isn't working," Twilight told the others, only for Applejack to tap her on the shoulder. "Give me some momentum, Twi; I want a whack at her."

Suddenly, the orange earth pony surged out toward her foe, surrounded by a glow of velvet magic. Forelegs outstretched, she looked ready to make a tackle and end this fight hoof-to-hoof. Which was all well and good, except that Rainbow Dash now had telekinetic powers of her own; she quite easily brought Applejack to a stop and held her in midair, frozen in place.

"Really? You want to go hoof-to-hoof against Nightmare Dash?" Her hoof slammed Applejack into the ground, then she picked her up, swung her overhead and drove her back down to the pavement. Then she suddenly clutched onto her prey and leapt skyward, flying up before doing a quick somersault and hurling Applejack down toward the other Elements. She smacked hard against the concrete, flopping end over end like a ragdoll until she came to a stop, where Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie ran to her side.

"Run out of tricks yet, Twilight?" Shining Armor ran across the street to the Princess, narrowly dodging a bullet of energy as he left cover. "She's too strong, too fast. And if she goes on the offensive, we're done for."

"Agreed." Using the last of her magical strength, Celestia did her best to heal Applejack's wounds and help her back to her hooves. Soon, all six of them were gathered around her. "It has to be now. We have to use the Elements before one of you goes down for good." Twilight nodded at her, then looked at the others. The Elements began to glow, and once again the six of them floated upward, drawing Rainbow Dash and Luna's attention.

"About time!"

"Keep your guard up, Rainbow Dash..."

Telekinetically twirling her katana, Dash leveled it in front of her, tip keen toward her foes. A strategy formed in her mind, and as a polychromatic spiral of energy launched into the air, she revved her wings and watched it arc down toward her. It was an all-too-familiar meeting of blast versus blade. Or at least it seemed to be.

"Let's dance, sunlovers."

Less than a second from impact, Dash suddenly thrust her katana back into its sheath, and darted up and away from the approaching magical beam. Rather than confront the Elements head-on, this time her aim appeared to be to outrun them. In the long and storied history of Equestria, it was an approach that, while attempted often, had never been known to work. But then again, Equestria had never seen speed like Rainbow Dash's.

Both Celestia and Luna watched in shock as the beam adjusted its trajectory, curving skyward to follow its quarry. "It's impossible," Celestia whispered, "nopony could ever..."

"She's daring enough to try," Luna quietly answered. "And it appears that she's succeeding."

Indeed, a midnight-blue comet shot through the skies above Canterlot, its faded rainbow trail just out of reach of the coursing energy beam that followed. Rainbow Dash snaked about, never losing an ounce of speed, but her pursuer gave no ground either. Now that she knew it would work, though, she was ready to really make her move. Pulling upward into a dizzying spiral climb, she dove backwards in a tight vertical loop. Her path now went straight down, and trusting that the beam was still right on her tail, she threw everything she had into this final stretch.

Fighting G-forces that would have crippled an average pegasus, Dash let instinct take over as she felt the lunar magic coursing through her. All that was left now was to aim. With precise cloud-diving maneuvers, she steered herself straight toward the most obvious target to be seen: a glowing orb of light, containing six of her seven enemies. The trail left behind by their attack, as dangerous as a live wire, prevented direct impact, but if she could just get close enough...

There was next to nopony left to observe this comet streaking down toward Canterlot, leaving a brilliant rainbow trail in its wake. But both Princesses bore witness to it, and both reacted in horror. Realizing the danger she was in, Celestia braced herself and attempted to create a protective force-field, but with her magic as weak as it was, each attempt sparked out after barely a moment's existence. Luna, on the other hoof, realized the possibility that her student was going to try a kamikaze attack; one of the Lunar Guard's maxims was "Go down fighting." But all either of them could do was watch as the Lunar Apprentice cascaded ever closer to the ground, the power of Harmony nipping at her hooves.

Time seemed to freeze as she hit the pavement, striking right between Celestia and the Elements. But the details of Rainbow Dash herself had already begun to fade away, into a murky, alicorn-shaped cloud of smoke. When her forehooves made contact, they almost seemed to pass through the stonework, as the gas seeped through its cracks and crevices. In barely a split-second the entirety of her gaseous body had passed through, leaving only a few stray tendrils of smoke behind. And that was all that was left for the beam when it impacted shortly after, releasing all its power in a massive explosion that rocked what was left of Canterlot.

Fortitude nearly lost her hoofing as the shockwave hit, rattling the cave she was leading the survivors of Canterlot through. Dust flew everywhere, and the ponies carrying Princess Cadence were barely able to maintain their grip on her.

"What was that...?" asked Van Allen Belt.

As she regained composure, Fortitude thought for a moment before answering somberly, "Canterlot has fallen." There was an assortment of gasps, cries and other expressions of shock, among those who still held onto hope that their city could be saved. But Fortitude knew they didn't have time to mourn.

"Come on, everypony, we have to keep going! We aren't out of the woods yet."

"Nightshade! Nightshade!"

Blueball Blitz raced over the Everfree, panic in her voice. As she touched down in the clearing where Luna had teleported her followers, Nightshade flew over to meet her. "Blueball, where have you been?"

"You have to listen, it's so... Who's that?" she asked innocently, pointing toward a familiar older pegasus Nightshade had been talking to before she arrived.

"That's my father," Nightshade replied quietly. "It's a long story. But what's going on?"

"Well I kinda sorta maybe requisitioned Charger's binoculars from the equipment cache, then went back toward Canterlot to see how the fight was going..."

Nightshade sighed; "requisitioning" was Lunar Guard slang for borrowing first and asking permission later. It was a habit of Blueball's that they seemed to have no hope of breaking. "And...?"

"There was a huge explosion! I think they used the Elements on Dash!"

"Oh Faust..." Nightshade swore under her breath. "Charger!"

Upon hearing his name, Charger fluttered over, regretfully abandoning the attention of some very grateful young mares. "What's up?"

"First of all, Blueball has your binoculars." He swiped them from Blueball's hoof, as she put on her biggest "forgive me" smile. "Second, she says Celestia might have been able to use the Elements on the Princess and Rainbow Dash."

"Bloody hell..." he hissed, stamping at the ground.

"I thought the plan was to drop Canterlot out from under them before they could?" It wasn't an accusation, but there was still a note of anger in her voice.

"It wouldn't have been an immediate collapse," he explained, as more and more Republicans began to gather around them. "Not with a structure that size. The undercity had redundancies upon redundancies to keep the city stable; with what we had, I was able to take out enough of them to ensure a collapse. The others would fail under the resulting strain."

"After how long?"

Charger quickly did some mental math. "...An hour, tops."

"What's going on?" somepony in the crowd asked, and others echoed. "Where's the Princess?" Nightshade fluttered up above them, getting their attention.

"Everypony, Princess Luna and Rainbow Dash stayed behind to hold off Celestia's forces. We don't know how the battle is going, but we know they are both very capable warriors. The three of us have fought alongside them personally."

"But what about us?" asked another pony.

"...We have our work cut out for us. On the other side of that grove of trees is the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters; the plan right now is to use it as our base. Now the castle has seen better days, but that's where we come in. The Princess wants us to start rebuilding it until she comes back. We're going to need all hooves on deck, unicorn, earth pony and pegasus, but Princess Luna is counting on us! Are you with me, Republicans?"

Rallying around their newfound nationalism, a great shout to the affirmative rose from the crowd.

"And remember: the night is young!"

"The night is young!" they all echoed back, and started toward the grove. As the other Shadowbolts lead them along the familiar path, Nightshade hung back, to be sure nopony was left behind. But as she followed them toward the castle, she took a long look back over the Everfree, in the direction of Canterlot.

"Come on, Dash, make it out of there! You just have to!"

Luna was the first to recover from the explosion, having been the farthest away from its epicenter. Unable to gain sure hoofing as the city began to shift again, she took to her wings, watching the far edge of Canterlot dip deeper and deeper toward oblivion. But then she remembered what it was that had knocked her out, and began to shout fearfully. "Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!"

It was a few painful seconds before she received her reply. Smoke began to seep out of the pavement, slowly but surely coalescing into the powerful form of her apprentice. "Phew..." Rainbow Dash replied as she regained solidity, "how did I do, Princess?"

"Oh, my loyal apprentice, you were incredible. Using our powers in tandem to outmatch the Elements of Harmony... Exactly as I had intended."

To the sound of straining metal, Canterlot began to list again, leading Dash to take to her wings as well. "So we won?"

"See for yourself." Luna pointed up the slope, to where the Elements were lying, knocked unconscious. Celestia was in a similar state, leaning against a retaining wall that protected her from sliding any further.

"Alright! So they're done, Canterlot's going down... time to bug out?"

"One thing first..." With simple telekinesis, Luna reached out and pulled the Elements of Harmony from their incapacitated bearers.

"The Elements...But what good will they do us?"

"For one, they'll be out of Celestia's hooves. But I have my own use for them, which I will explain in due time. But you're right: it's time we rejoined our followers."

The two flew away from the doomed city, as Dash created a magical portal to the Everfree.

"Applejack! Applejack, please, wake up!"

Twilight's words were the second thing Applejack noticed as she came to, the first being the pavement she had a very good view of at the moment. The third was the hoof hanging onto hers, which looking up revealed to be Twilight's. The two of them formed the end of a six-pony chain, with Shining Armor at the top, clinging for dear life to a retaining wall. Fluttershy was just beneath, flapping her wings as hard as she could to try and help him. Then came Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Twilight, with her at the very end. She realized that Canterlot was very nearly sideways; the city was hanging on by threads.

"Can't... hold... much..." Shining Armor strained.

"Hang on, big fella!" Applejack shouted up to him. With a powerful jab at the street she was pressed against the side of, she pulled out a stone or two, creating a hoofhold. Hanging tight to it, she carefully let go of Twilight, then repeated the process with her other hoof. "Where's the Princess?"

"I'm up here!" Celestia called down from above, perched on another retaining wall across a gap from Shining Armor. She carefully stood up, then started toward the gap, hoping to leap over and help them. But no sooner had she begun her running start, the wall beneath her gave way, and she fell straight through. "Princess!"

Reacting on kneejerk, she spread her wings, which helped her recover into steady flight. "We have to get out of here before the city falls into the gorge! Twilight, my magic is exhausted, can you teleport us?"

"Not all at once... I might be able to open a portal, send us through one by one. Hang on..."

Gritting her teeth, Twilight summoned all the magic she had left, and focused on the ruins of Old Canterlot. It took a few sparks and misfires, but eventually she was able to open a violet whirlpool of energy beneath the group, which opened up to a grassy, rock-strewn field. "Go, Applejack!" she cried, as metal audibly twisted and sheared above them. With a deep breath for courage, Applejack let go of her hoofholds and fell through the portal, vanishing with an ethereal rippling sound.

"Don't worry, I can keep it open from the other side!" With that bit of reassurance, Twilight let herself drop down after Applejack, and after putting on a "hope for the best" smile, Pinkie followed. But Rarity was more hesitant, and with good reason: the portal had started to flicker, as if its magic was wearing out.

"Oh dear, I don't think I can..." she stuttered, "What if it doesn't hoOOOLLLD?!" That was the moment Fluttershy shook her loose, forcing her to confront her fears head-on. "We better hurry," Fluttershy told the other two, before letting go and flying down into the portal.

"Now you, Shining Armor!" Celestia shouted, over the roar of entire buildings pulling loose of their foundations and sliding over the edge. He started to object, refusing to leave his Princess behind, but then he remembered that she had wings; she didn't need the portal to escape. He, on the other hoof...

"Yes, Ma'am!"

There was a great cheer at the Castle when somepony cried out that the Princess had returned. It was followed by a long round of hoof-stamping, and another cheer as Luna and Rainbow Dash flew overhead (though some ponies had difficulty identifying which was which). They touched down in the castle's open-air foyer, which was just large enough for everypony to gather in. A joyous chant of "Luna! Luna!" broke out, as Nightshade and the Shadowbolts rushed to their ruler's side.

"Princess Luna, we've started work on rebuilding," Nightshade reported. She too was a bit flustered by the changes the two had undergone, but quickly put it in the back of her mind. "It will take a while, but we'll get it done."

"Excellent, Nightshade, excellent." But Luna quickly turned her attention to her new subjects. "It is good to be among you all once again."

"Princess," a mare called out, "what happened to you? And to Rainbow Dash?"

And with that, she shared with them the story of their epic battle against Celestia and the Elements, letting Rainbow Dash tell it as well in places, much to the delight of the foals among the group. She explained how combining their powers enabled her apprentice to stand against the Elements of Harmony, then how she was able to defeat Celestia and the Elements with their own attack.

"But what about the Elements?" another pony asked. "Can't they just use them again? And attack us instead of Rainbow Dash?"

"You mean these?" Luna suddenly produced the six trinkets from under her wings, to another loud cheer. "We need never fear them again."

When the uproar had quieted, another mare worked up the courage to ask, "What about Canterlot? You said the city was collapsing... Was it destroyed?"

"I am afraid it was," Luna replied somberly. "Though it was our enemy's stronghold, I realize that Canterlot was your home. And I am truly sorry for your loss." She allowed a few moments of silence, to recognize the grief many of them felt.

"But I would ask you to look to the future: we will build new homes, here in the Everfree. Nature will provide for us while we build our new Republic. All around Equestria, coalitions loyal to our cause have formed and grown. There are entire cities that have pledged their support. They will assist us as we build our new capital. Now, I will not deny that these next few months will be difficult. We are indeed starting completely anew, and meanwhile we face an enemy determined to wipe out the ideals we stand for. But I assure you, the hardship necessary to lay the groundwork for the New Lunar Republic will leave a worthy legacy. A free and prosperous nation, for us, for our children, and for all posterity to come. And it will all begin here, in this place I now christen, Republic City!"

The quiet that followed was broken soon after by a single cheer of "For Republic City!" It was then echoed, once, twice, and so on until the entire group had joined in.

Shining Armor tumbled gracelessly onto a grassy plain, the gravity shift of going through the portal making him slightly nauseous. As soon as he regained his bearings, he climbed back to his hooves, joining the Mane 5. But then he noticed the portal sparking and spluttering, shrinking quickly before fading out of existence.

"No! No! Princess!" Twilight cried out, trying to restart the portal but to no avail. She started to panic, teary-eyed, until her brother wrapped his foreleg around her.

"Twilight, she'll be alright! She just has to fly out..."

"...Yeah, yeah, you're right. I'm sure she'll come flying out any second now." Twilight proceeded to gallop to the edge of the plateau Old Canterlot was built on, the others in tow, until they could all see around Mount Equus, to the city of Canterlot dangling from the other side. "Come on, Princess, come on..."

"Twilight?" came an echoing reply from the mountain itself, or rather from a cave mouth in the side of it. That was where they saw Fortitude emerge, followed closely by the flock she had shepherded safely away from Canterlot. They streamed out of the cave rapidly, letting the others behind them out of the cavern, including the two stallions carrying Princess Cadence.

"Fortitude!" Shining Armor called out. "How is she?"

"Fine, I think, she still hasn't woken up yet. Hopefully she... oh my."

Fortitude, along with many others from the group she had been leading, noticed the horrific spectacle that was Canterlot as it clung to the edge of Mount Equus. Both she and Shining Armor ran to join Twilight as it shifted even further off its precipice.

"I can't believe it, it's actually happening... Celestia preserve us... Wait, Twilight, where is Princess Celestia?"

Twilight could only look back at the Princess' advisor and nod solemnly toward the city.

"She's still...? Oh my Faust..."

"She was supposed to fly out," Shining Armor stammered. "I don't know what..."

"Oh no!"

Various ponies cried out at once, pointing at Canterlot, as they watched it break free of its last moorings. With a painful grind of metal against stone, the massive structure slid down the mountainside. Cries of anguish and despair arose as the citizens of Canterlot watched their glorious home fall. But then, a solitary white bolt shot out of the doomed city, up into the air, and flew toward them. As it grew closer, its details revealed it to be Princess Celestia, clutching in both hooves a terrified young earth pony, who she set down carefully on the plateau before practically falling to earth herself.

"Canterlot has one more survivor."

"So it really is you?" Nightshade asked. She and Rainbow Dash had taken leave of Republic City for someplace more private, namely a quiet walk in the Everfree.

"Yeah... I know I look different, and I definitely feel different, but it still feels like me. If that makes sense at all."

"I think I get it..." But suddenly Nightshade turned and leapt onto Dash, hugging her tight. "But don't you try to pull a 'lone hero' stunt like that ever again, do you hear me? Once was enough."

Dash nuzzled her back, in spite of the newfound height difference. "You got it, Shade. Wingponies." They held that embrace for a few seconds, before Dash gently set Nightshade down, and they started back toward the castle. Upon arrival, they found Princess Luna supervising the construction work; with unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies working together, putting up log cabins for shelter was a relatively easy task.

"Ah, there you two are! I was just looking for you."

"Just out for a walk, Princess," Nightshade offered.

"Come with me, I have something to show you. And these capable ponies seem to have the job well in hoof."

Leaving the construction team to their work, Luna led them into the castle, collecting the other four Shadowbolts along the way. She took the group through a winding maze of crumbling stone passageways, into a kind of sanctum deep within the castle, lit only by her magic. Inside, she gathered them into a circle, then produced the Elements of Harmony.

"You all know that Rainbow Dash and I recovered the Elements of Harmony from the fall of Canterlot. What I have not told you is why we went out of our way to do so."

"I don't suppose they'd work for us like they would for those other ponies?" Starry asked.

"I'm afraid not. But there is something they can do for us. Long ago, when I was researching the Elements and studying their power, I came upon a theory that there was a guiding force behind each one, a personality even."

"So the Elements are... alive?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"In a sense. As you see them now, they are only bits of jewelry. But obviously they are much more than simple tools, for anypony to use against anypony else. For example, how do they choose their bearers? Or decide what punishment to mete out? Why did they banish me to the Moon, but turn Discord to stone?"

"These personalities," Nightshade ventured. "They're the ones who are really in control. We get to them, we control the Elements!"

"The theory believed them to be immensely powerful beings, inhabiting the psychic plane, well outside the reach of ponykind. But these gems are their "tethers", if you will, which connect them to the physical realm."

"Princess, respectfully," Stratus spoke up, "that is an interesting theory, but what do we do with it?"

"Practical as ever, Stratus." Luna picked up the Elements and began to arrange them telekinetically, in a careful hexagon pattern on the floor. "That interesting theory was based on a pre-Equestrian ritual ceremony that predates even myself and my sister. Its name roughly translates to "Communion". According to the archaeologists I appointed to the project, the ancients believed that one could use the Elements themselves to communicate with the beings guiding them. I'm sure you can imagine the implications of us resurrecting such a ceremony?"

"We could talk them into helping us!" Charger began. "And use the Elements ourselves!"

"Or at the very least, persuade them to stop assisting our enemies," Luna answered. "As I told Rainbow Dash before, Celestia has always held favor with these entities, most likely because she was the leading force in using them to defeat Discord. But were they to hear my side of the story..."

"Princess, I should be the one to talk to them!" volunteered Rainbow Dash. "I'm a convert myself; nopony could be more persuasive than me!"

"No, my loyal apprentice, I suspect they may be a bit cross with you for outmatching them in Canterlot; these beings are not at all used to losing. I will be the one to enter into the Communion ritual. Committing my mind to it will not deprive us of my power as well, now that it is in your hooves, Rainbow Dash."

But this time Nightshade spoke up, alarmed. "But Princess, we need your leadership here! To help us defeat Celestia!"

"You do not give yourself enough credit, Nightshade. Your training and experience has prepared you well; I am confident you will make an excellent commander in my absence."

The young Shadowbolt was hesitant, but knew her Princess spoke the truth, both about the Elements and her. "I won't let you down, Princess."

"I know you won't, my dear. And do not worry: I will stay around long enough to help our forces regroup and organize before I begin this task." She turned to the rest of the Shadowbolts. "I will keep you all informed as our stratagem advances. But now, I think I should make one last speech to our supporters before we settle down for the night, and I would have all six of you at my side."

As the first transport airships appeared on the evening horizon, sent from Whinneapolis to evacuate the survivors of Canterlot, Celestia gathered the Elements around her, separate from the rest of the group.

"I suppose you've realized by now that we have lost the Elemental gems."

"Do you know what happened to them?" Twilight asked. "Did they fall off while we were unconscious?"

"I doubt it. More likely, my sister recovered before we did, and stole them before returning to their hideout."

"We have to get them back!" exclaimed Shining Armor. "They're our only hope against Nightmare Moon's forces!"

"I'm afraid that will not be an easy task. While Nightmare Moon may not be able to use the Elements against us, she knows them well, as well as how important they are to us. Wherever she is keeping them, it will be incredibly well-protected."

"So what are we to do in the meantime?" asked Rarity.

"First things first, we need to regroup with friendly forces. Now that Canterlot is destroyed, we will need to establish a new headquarters for the government and military, as well as help all these ponies find new homes."

"What about Nightmare Moon?" Fluttershy asked.

"I suspect the changeling invasion forced her to play her hoof earlier than she intended. She and her followers were operating out of Canterlot as well, so they will also need to regroup. But I fear her insurrection was not limited to a single city; after we destroyed Camp Blacklight, her rogue Guard probably dispersed throughout Equestria. Obviously they were able to penetrate the Royal Guard, and there were reports of growing sympathizer cells in Manehatten, Fillydelphia, Cloudsdale especially."

Twilight pieced together a logical conclusion. "But that would mean... an Equestrian Civil War!" Celestia only nodded in reply, before looking to the approaching airships.

"The transports are almost here; I want to talk to these ponies before we leave."

As night fell on Republic City, Princess Luna and her Shadowbolts flew up to the top of the main gate, where everypony could see them. The carpenters returned from their work in the Everfree to the front lawn, and those helping restore the castle gathered in the foyer. When she could see they were all together, Luna began to speak.

"Citizens of the New Lunar Republic, today you have proven yourself. You proved the strength of your character by leaving behind that tyrant, Celestia, and joining me in the creation of this new democracy. And you have proven the strength of your willpower in the progress you have already made. Even in the wake of all the trials you faced in Canterlot, I have seen you work tirelessly to build a new home."

Celestia called together all of Canterlot's survivors into a large group around her, as she stood against the backdrop of Old Canterlot.

"Everypony... I will not mince words, today has been traumatic. It has been a day of immeasurable loss, loss of life, loss of home, and loss of Harmony. It is only right that we mourn... But mourning must not be all we do. Today has passed, but tomorrow is to come, and I promise you tomorrow will be a brighter day. These ships will take you to Whinneapolis, and from there we will do whatever is necessary to help you find someplace to live."

"The great work you have done must not be in vain. I will need the help of each and every one of you to secure the future of the New Lunar Republic. As you know, we face a powerful enemy, who will not rest until she has stamped out the very ideals we champion! She would keep all of Equestria under her iron hoof, but we will not let her! We defy her tyranny! Remember: the night is young!" This familiar rallying cry was echoed throughout the camp.

"Even now, Celestia thinks we are just another petty rebellion, to be put down, then forgotten about by history." Luna's words rang with personal conviction. "But we are nothing petty! We are proud, we are strong! We are the New Lunar Republic! And we promise you this, Celestia:

"But hope is not all I would ask you to kindle. Let today's losses spark a fire inside you, burning with indignity, with outrage at the evil that has been done to us! The Harmony we have cherished for generations has been attacked! Equestria's greatest city has been laid waste!" Tears in her eyes, Celestia pointed down to the foot of Mount Equus, where what was left of Canterlot lay in ruins, nearly upside down as a consequence of its violent descent.

"Look down there, at what they did to your homes! That was my home too! I stand beside each of you in your grief, and I would hope in your righteous anger as well. But I swear, on all that I hold sacred, these rebels, these terrorists will not go unopposed! Nightmare Moon will not triumph, and her rebellion will be put to an end! She has brought Equestria into its darkest hour, but I promise you, dawn is coming! She may have won today, but hear this, Nightmare Moon:

This war has only just begun!"

Prologue: Non-Stop

"Passengers, just wanna let you know we are about an hour out of Manehatten, and looks like a smooth trip all the way there. But as you can see out your nearest window, the weather is not going to be so cooperative, so might wanna keep your umbrellas hoofy. That's all for now, but we'll keep you posted, and once again, thanks for joining us on the inaugural journey of the Trans-Equestrian High-Speed Railway."

Looking outside, Mayor Mare could only agree with the conductor; the pouring rain showed no signs of letting up. Every bolt of lightning lit up a small cloud of white droplets around it before reflecting off the river, creating an even larger, longer streak of light. Visually impressive as it might have been, it would be much less pleasant when she finally had to step out of the train. Though of course, she thought to herself, she was lucky to be on the train in the first place. The TEHSR didn't even pass through Ponyville; she only got her ticket for this trip due to Celestia's profuse sense of guilt for all the trouble the Elements of Harmony seemed to bring with them.

Mayor Mare couldn't see it, but a half-dozen black-and-purple shadows were descending on the train, matching its incredible speed.

"Mares and gentlecolts, this is the conductor, we've just been conta-"

The intercom suddenly went dead. This drew the attention of all passengers aboard, whose ears were further aroused by two shortly-ensuing, massive claps of thunder. The main overhead lighting followed the way of the intercom, leading to a brief moment of panicked darkness until the magic-based emergency lights kicked in and bathed the floor in red.

Mayor Mare couldn't hear it, but under those two thunderclaps, two shaped charges of plastic explosives had been detonated, ripping her train car loose of its fellows in front and back.

Now concerns were starting to be raised. Two stewardesses chattered with each other nervously about what protocol said to do in a situation like this. A bureaucrat sitting across the aisle from the Mayor began to loudly voice his dissatisfaction with the train system. She herself was just frankly puzzled, trying to figure out what in Equestria was going on.

Mayor Mare couldn't feel it, but the car was beginning to slow down. But more importantly, nor could she feel the sudden but subtle jolt of hooves touching down on its now-exposed rear platform. And amidst the confusion, nopony noticed the back door cracking open, or the clink-clink-clink of metal bouncing along the floor. At least, not until it erupted with a mighty blast of light and sound, as though the storms outside had been suddenly let in.

The figure on the back raced inside, a long coil of thin cord in hoof, practically ripping off the back door as he returned. Below the flashing windows, another of the shadows flew along the train car's left side, pasting a line of charges onto its underbelly. Seconds later, they detonated, throwing the car off its tracks.

Inside, Mayor Mare was just regaining her faculties when she felt a sudden, violent jump beneath her hooves, and the entire world spun into chaos. Though she couldn't focus or understand any of it, she could tell that they were falling, at least until something ripped her backward, out of her seat and down (or rather up) the aisle.

Mayor Mare couldn't see it, but she had been pulled free of the doomed train car, through the open rear door. She couldn't hear it, but the screams of her fellow passengers howled just above the roar of the storm, for the split-second before it hit the river's surface and began to sink. She couldn't feel it, but what had saved her from their fate had been a long strand of military-grade paracord, tethered to the bridge above and suspending her well above the torrent.

Because that paracord had been looped and tightened around her neck, snapping it as it dragged her from the falling car. Mayor Mare had survived the train crash, only to die by hanging.

"So in conclusion, all bodies have been accounted for, and we are still investigating the cause of this tragic, if unusual, accident. Now then, we are ready to field a few ques..."

The ordered crowd of journalist burst up in a roar of attention-seeking hooves and voices, each looking to be the one to trap the press secretary in the web of perceived lies and half-truths. Above the throng, one of them was able to stand out and be chosen; the others quieted down and waited for the next opportunity.

"So one car was disconnected from the rest of the train and thrown into the river, while the others went completely untouched. Was this a targeted attack?"

"The Royal Investigative Service has been contacted, but we are not prepared to definitively answer that question."

The uproar resumed, and the process repeated itself.

"So all the bodies recovered were confirmed to be drowning victims?"

"Well... yes, we can confirm that almost all the victims died because of drowning."

However brief it was, Penstroke's faltering had betrayed him, and as he shifted his notes about nervously in his hooves, he knew everypony screaming at him had the same question in mind: "Almost?" Sensing a moment of weakness, the photographers joined in the commotion as every camera in Canterlot Square had its crosshairs aimed at the press secretary.

But far behind and above any of them, another far more traditional set of crosshairs landed on the same pony. These were the crosshairs of a telescopic hunting scope, and on the roof of an apartment complex opposite the Square, they were all that separated the press secretary from the eye of his assassin.

"We've heard reports that the Mayor of Ponyville..."

She tuned out the ambient noise, focusing only on the pony in her sights.

As the crosshairs landed just below his forehead, her breath came to a controlled pause.

Bringing the tip of her right hoof smoothly back, she felt nothing as the action triggered, and a hoof-long metal shaft was launched from the weapon. The projectile cut through the space between them remorselessly, losing no speed as it began to drop. Too focused on regaining the press' attention and his own composure, Penstroke never even had the chance to see it coming.

The tear of paper as a hole clean as a bullet's (not that bullets of that caliber existed in Equestria, mind you) was ripped into the notes.

A short splash of blood as the bolt instantaneously caused and sealed a traumatic wound.

An inappropriately ordinary "thud" as the immediate world fell silent.

Well, I say "fell silent", I mean "took a quiet moment to register what had just happened, then erupted into pandemonium." Bodies threw themselves on top of the press secretary's, mares in the crowd screamed in the rather cliche fashion, and armored guards whirled around with swords drawn, trying to hide their own confusion.

And all the while Nightshade watched on, chuckling quietly at the chaos as she began to break down her crossbow. Folding the bow's hinged arms into the rest of the body, she removed the scope and set the weapon into a form-fitting cavity in the cushiony foam that filled its hardback case. Taking one last look at the Square, she placed the scope in its own opening in the case, closed and fastened it shut, and left her perch. With a light flutter of her wings, she descended into the building's enclosed courtyard.

"Lightning to Air Base. It's done, on the exfil." A voice came back on her magitech earpiece. "Lightning, this is Air Base, solid copy. Nice work." She pressed through a glass door into the apartment building, strolled confidently into a maintenance closet, and disappeared.

With a few solid smacks against his desk, Leatherneck attempted to perform percussive maintenance on his small radio, to no avail.

"Blasted thing still won't play!"

"Ease up, it's probably an incoming sandstorm blocking the signal," replied his squadmate, Watchful Eye, who was filling up his canteen. In spite of the adequate air conditioning, something about working at a desert outpost made him near-constantly thirsty. Maybe it was the fact that there was unless you were on post at the top of the watchtower (which he was about to be), there was nothing to see outside but sand, sand, and more sand. Maybe it was that the only interruption to their daily sun-baking was the occasional possibility of being overrun by a massive windstorm of that same sand, which made the sun-baking far preferable. Maybe it was something else entirely, but either way it made him thirsty.

"Yeah, look outside, it's gettin' darker already. Gotta be a storm blockin' out the sun," Leatherneck agreed, spinning in his chair.

"I'm headed up to the hotbox to relieve Dusty, maybe get a fix on how big this mother is."

"Gotcha, I'll let him know you're on your way."

As Watchful pulled a bandana up over his muzzle and went outside to begin the long stairwell-climb up, Leatherneck grabbed hold of a walkie-talkie.

"Dusty, the Eyeball is comin' up early for you, you lucky bastard. Seen anything interesting yet?"

No reply.

"Hey Dusty, comms check, you readin' me up there?"

Still nothing but white noise. Leatherneck was starting to become concerned. He turned around in his chair to see that yes, Watchful Eye was still there.

"Eyeball, take a new radio up with you, Dusty's has gone dead."

Watchful Eye just stood there, grinning at him in an oddly menacing fashion. Which was odd, because nopony in the Royal Guards had ever known Watchful Eye to be the menacing kind. Somewhat aloof, sure, but also generally harmless. Even odder was seeing him spit green goop out of his mouth, which nopony had ever known him to do. Unfortunately, Leatherneck would not be able to report his buddy's newfound quirks, as that green goop had pinned him to his chair, and somehow made its way over his face. While being both green and goopy, it also appeared to be soporific, as he found himself inexplicably nodding off, in spite of the panic he should've felt. Yeah, yeah, little sleep would be nice...

Nightly check-ins from Royal Guard Outpost W-3 ended that evening, and would not resume for a very long time.