Diplomatic Relations

Chapters

Correspondence
Everything is fine
Negotiations
Wanted
Veil Of Lies
Gears Are Moving
The Best Laid Plans
All Sides Of The Story
United We Stand: Part I

Correspondence

Morning shimmer of the rising sun caught a yawning deep-sea blue alicorn on the way to her chambers in the Canterlot castle. Moments earlier she had woken her sister up and after a heated pillow fight and subduing the alicorn of the Sun she'd been free to go to sleep she deserved for protecting Equestrian citizens from nightmares during the night.

Luna yawned again. She enjoyed, especially after recent events, trudging through the troubled sleep of her subjects as it helped her not to deal with her own. She'd felt isolated since her return but even during the first days there had been somepony by her side. He'd known the solitude of being judged by everypony around him as well. Sharp Biscuit used to be called colt cuddler, gay, abomination and yes, it had affected him despite not showing it too much. His dedication to duty, determination never to fail and bright outlook on life had carried him through the bile and venom of ponies around him. In that he'd been an inspiration even to an alicorn millenia old.

She'd met him the first day she'd gathered the courage to finally go outside of her room and he'd changed her life. She'd expected to slowly slip into the world protected by her sister but having found out there were ponies living for her and hoping for her return every day she'd been able to step out of the shadows and spend hours on end talking with thestrals who had later become the Nightguard. Sharp Biscuit had been the catalyst of that change and he'd been granted the post of her bodyguard in addition to his Royal Guard rank. With the formation of the Nightguard he'd taken his place as their leader, the mirror of the captain of the Royal Guard Shining Armor.

... and now he was dead, killed by somepony considered a hero who had betrayed everything he'd stood for and everything he'd saved before, the bronze changeling, bearer of the Element of Betrayal. They had it coming and both she and her sister should have had him watched more closely but they'd believed him to be a friend after stopping the invasion from the mirror world and saving Equestria from king Sombra... by working for him and betraying him.

Luna smiled bitterly. Her thoughts kept turning to Sharp Biscuit whenever she was alone and she'd never been able to stop her depression from swallowing her. Fortunately that happened less and less as she kept throwing herself into the dreams of her subjects who had to be protected from remembering the atrocities caused by Sombra's army during the second invasion. In the blissful exhaustion after that she'd always dropped off into a sleep resembling unconsciousness. Nothing could stop the minutes between those two that were a living nightmare though. She knew she'd get over it eventually, she knew it was a part of her undying nature but after a thousand years of loneliness and insanity it had been pure joy having somepony to keep the solitude away whenever needed.

Now it was no longer the case.

Luna didn't bother lighting the fireplace in her room or turning the electric lights on. The darkness held no threats for her as her sight surpassed that of batponies and other nocturnal creatures and without even stumbling she found her way to the bed and crumbled on it. She was out before she hit the satin blankets.

The darkness around her felt different this time, familiar but not hers. That didn't make sense though and she attributed her confusion to having a dream after such a long time successfully avoiding it. Unfortunately the first shape appearing from the void surrounding her formed into precisely the pony she'd been expecting.

He looked exactly as he was burned in her memory. Tall, sinewy thestral with the expression of somepony completely satisfied with the world around him and the calculating mind ready to deal with anything said world might present. His yellow eyes, partially overhung by short black mane looked directly into the eyes of the alicorn of the Night.

"It was my fault," Luna broke the silence.

"Don't be silly, your Highness. The call to station a group of elite Nightguards near the rift was what gave you the little time you had to prepare. On top of that I have to admit it was my attempt at protecting queen Chrysalis that helped seal the current peace."

"I should be happy about it but I would gladly hunt changelings again just to see you doing paperwork in your office."

Sharp Biscuit chuckled a little.

"I have to admit I'd love to go on a drinking binge one last time, princess."

"At least I avenged you. The scum is not disgracing Equestria anymore."

"Are you sure?"

Luna felt a chill run up her spine.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not real, I'm just the form your subconscious finds the most useful right now which means you know what I mean."

Her thoughts raced as her bodyguard kept staring at her. All Sombra's troops had disappeared after the dimensional rift had shattered. Everypony expected it had something to do with Sombra's disappearance after conquering the Crystal Empire again but nopony actually knew what had happened that day. She'd studied the details of the dimension linking spell and she knew that nopony from one world could stay in the mirror world without an existing stable rift for more than few hours.

"But he wasn't from the mirror world, right?" Sharp asked, grinning.

"He wasn't from this one either but he landed here permanently. I haven't managed to identify the magic that brought him here."

"It seems like you might need to ask somepony more versed in the art of magic if you want to find out more."

"You think he might still be around? I'm sure he's dead, I cursed him to never sleep again and my alicorn ability is unbreakable."

"Did you see his body?"

"No, but-"

"Did you see his body?"

Luna sighed.

"No, I didn't."

"Got you, your Highness. You shouldn't doubt yourself that much."

"I... you're right. I have responsibilities now, I can't doubt my judgement but neither can I blindly follow it. I have to make sure things are what they seem."

The wicked smile on Sharp's face was completely lost on Luna focusing on her next action.

"I am sure you will do fine, Luna."

"Heh, even when you're gone you're watching over me and Equestria."

"Speaking of which, the real danger is still around."

"What do you mean?"

"The rift has closed but what assurance do we have of it not opening again?"

"Sombra is dead."

"Really? Even with him leading the conquest of Equestria there was somepony else taking care of the logistics on their side. I doubt he could have done all that alone. To make sure Equestria really is safe you need to make sure no rift can be opened again."

"I've been researching dimensional travel with Twilight and we're thinking about erecting magical barriers around the Tree of Harmony to prevent it."

"Short-term travelling spells would work anyway though and mirror Twilight managed to steal the Element of Magic from Canterlot vault itself once before."

"Yes but Void brought it back to us after the second invasion had ended."

"Is he trustworthy? After all, his marefriend was the cause of all that."

"I think so. He's never been one to lie and manipulate others."

"And Scream?"

"She is... the exact opposite."

"Then it wouldn't hurt to make sure Equestria is safe by yourself, right?"

The thoughtful expression on Luna's face turned into one of pure determination.

"That means the Tree of Harmony has to be destroyed. It is the only way to be completely sure but wouldn't disarming the Elements of Harmony put Equestria into more danger?"

"Discord seems to be on our side and while he is unpredictable he is one of the ancient gods and as such he is the most ultimate force in the universe. He is personally on the level of the Elements."

"You want me to put my trust in him, Discord?"

"How useful were the Elements during the invasions? The destruction of the Tree would also render the mirror Elements powerless."

"That's correct," Luna had to admit, "It is the only way I can think of right now. I should ask my sister about it."

"Why?" the agression in Sharp's voice grew, "It's her fault this entire thing happened. Only thanks to her shoving the evil Elements to the mirror world was Sombra able to gain so much power. Who's to say she's not keeping the Elements just in case YOU become trouble again?"

"I see," Luna scowled, "That's true, isn't it?"

"Indeed."

"I have to be the one to set my sister straight if the need arises and I have to be the one to do the things she can't."

"Exactly," Sharp nodded, "You have to supplement her weakness with your strength."

"Thank you."

"I will always be with you, Luna."

With a sharp breath Luna woke up.

The evening was coming but she still had time before having to raise the moon and thanks to the clarity her dream had given her she knew what to do. To be precise she knew who to ask and she wouldn't take silence for an answer. Without bothering to make herself presentable she just focused her energy into her horn and disappeared.

She was expecting resistance but her spell allowed her to slip into this reality unrestricted. On the first look this place looked like a huge mountain with blurry surroundings everywhere around but she knew the heart of this place lay behind the sheet of inky darkness imitating a cave entrance. She didn't hesitate for a second and stepped inside.

No matter how many times she visited here she'd never understand the meaning of piles of bones lying inside a huge well-lit cavern. It didn't help that the entire place looked otherwise as one of the exquisite dwellings of concubines serving some sultan in sandy deserts of Griffon Empire. It also didn't help that her entire body grew hot when she saw the figure lazily standing up from one of the skull piles. That quickly passed though as she noticed the second inhabitant of this place looking at her while levitating a book next to him.

The first pony, a golden alicorn with white, shimmering mane, rose up and smiled at her. Luna could easily spot that the smile was at least partially fake but outside of the current situation tarnishing the other alicorn's name she didn't really have anything against Scream, the alicorn of Lust. On the other hoof, if there ever was a manipulator and a scheming bitch then Scream was one.

The second alicorn's smile was way warmer and the most noticeable thing about him were his eyes, glowing golden orbs sharply contrasting with his completely black exterior only complimented by dark purple wings and tail slowly burning with fire of the same color. Luna smiled back at Void, the alicorn of Death. Contrary to his aspect Void had always been friendly and warm to Luna and even in her current state she didn't want to needlessly anger him.

The two of them were the living example of opposites attracting and one couldn't separate them from each other even with the use of a huge crowbar.

"Scream, I'm here to ask you something," Luna didn't waste time.

"Feel free to do so, you know the rules."

Luna did. Here, in Scream's dimension created by her unparalelled magical power she could focus her power to grant the knowledge of anything to anypony as long as the price was paid... or, of course, if Scream herself wanted to do so.

"I want to know how to destroy the Tree of Harmony, step by step."

Expecting the price to be something drastic, Luna was surprised to hear a simple request for dropping her dream protection from the Wonderbolts for few days. It seemed that the information she wanted to know wasn't as difficult to find as she thought. With the promise finished, Scream's eyes glowed and she began speaking.

"Destroying the Tree is impossible for a non-deity. It is the embodiment of the balance between good and evil of existence and grants absolute power over the evil side of pantheon. Were the darkness to unite though then the possibility of breaking the ancient pact between gods would arise."

"A bit clearer, please," Luna rolled her eyes.

"Pfff, kick a girl for trying," Scream stuck out her tongue, "The Tree can only be destroyed by Discord and Nightmare working together with no Element bearers in the way. May I ask why did you want to know that?"

"Just making sure I know of all weaknesses of Equestria," Luna shrugged, "and your price was more than acceptable. I hope Spitfire enjoys the wet dreams you bring."

"I'm sure she will. Anything else?"

"No, thank you for your help."

"No problemo, kiddo."

Luna snorted and disappeared.

The darkness swirling around Scream's horn would surprise a casual observer but Void knew his marefriend was an avid user of what others would call dark magic.

"So?" the alicorn of Death asked.

"She's a terrible liar. I'm gonna need you to take Discord out of the equation, nopony other than you can even attempt it."

"That is an exhausting deal."

Scream spread her legs.

"Pretty big reward though."

"You are going to come up with something really interesting for this."

"Don't worry, Voidie, I will."

In a burst of black flames Void disappeared, leaving only thoughtful Scream behind.

On the other side of the dream veil, Luna appeared back in her room. Destroying the Tree seemed impossible so she turned back to thinking about barriers and their use to block magic around it. There was one thing bugging her even after all that. If she and Twilight eventually erected the protection spells and restricted the access to anypony from the mirror world there would still be a chance of somepony from here ruining the security.

A certain somepony. This really was something she would have to talk about with her sister.

Sole Regret was a mercenary bar and everypony knew that, at least everypony in a certain line of business involving sharp objects and using them in either effective or threatening way. The patrons here were either strong drinkers who preferred their privacy or weak drinkers who wanted the company of others similar to them to share stories with. None of that meant that they were unfriendly to occasional visitors who would gladly pay for drink to hear something amusing or informative during the evening.

Thanks to that nopony paid attention to a cloaked figure entering the bar outside of some snickers at the pretense of cloak and dagger deals. The figure looked around and its eyes fell on a pony seemingly not belonging here in every aspect but one. The pony was a pegasus whose coat was blinding white, or at least it would look like it were it not for the yellowish light turning it into more creamy hue. He was tall even while sitting, that was more than obvious, and would tower over most earthponies but he wasn't close to being as bulky as them. Those features wouldn't be the ones to set him aside from the other patrons, that honor would fall to his blonde mane, long enough to belong to a high-class mare, and his sapphire blue eyes.

When the cloaked pony looked into those blue eyes he knew he found the right candidate for the job. Everything about the pegasus screamed he was just a model that could be found on any page of a Playcolt magazine aimed at mares but the eyes proved he'd seen more than normal pony would see in a lifetime and that he belonged in this place in heart and spirit. In short, the pegasus could be slightly over thirty, looked to be in his late twenties and inside was, just like any other sword for hire, about three hundred years old.

The cloaked pony approached the pegasus.

"I'm looking for the right pony for a job."

"One bad joke about my mane and a hoofjob and you'll be leaving this place in pieces," said the pegasus in low voice.

The agressive tone made the cloaked pony step away.

"It is just a find and capture mission."

"I want to see who I'm dealing with."

"You are dealing with a reward of ten thousand bits."

Contrary to the pony's expectations that wasn't enough of a sweetener.

"That isn't a price of a search mission. Show your face."

The cloaked pony withdrew his hood, revealing an unremarkable brown earthpony.

"Ten thousand bits in advance, another ten thousand on successful completion."

Even the pegasus had hard time not coughing in shock.

"I hope it is enough to entice you, mister..."

"Icy Gaze and the only reason you know my name is because I'm agreeing to your offer. So, who's the target?"

"At the moment there are two of them but the number might change," the earthpony presented a sealed letter, "The details are inside. The seal on the letter is a talisman that can be used to report your progress to us."

Icy looked at the rolled up parchment and gulped when he saw the seal of the sun. The amount of bits for a mission like this meant that the contract would have been set by either the crown or some noble families and the seal just, heh, sealed the deal. The guy bringing the letter didn't look like a guard of any sort though and Icy Gaze was sure the princesses would send somepony capable of defending himself in case the...

MASSIVE BAG OF GOLD THE GUY HAD JUST PRESENTED.

... attracted the attention of shadier denizens of Canterlot.

Somepony wanted to make it look as if this was a high-class deal, that was the first thought running through Icy's head but the sheer amount of money involved didn't allow him to leave it. The earthpony left the big bag on the table which upon opening revealed it was filled with smaller pouches of bits for easier carrying. For a second Icy hoped he'd been scammed but the gold was as real as it could so he just slipped the piece of brass adorned with solar seal off the letter and unrolled it.

To whoever opens this letter,

Equestria is in danger. Whether you are compelled by your duty to your country or just the gold connected to the service, we thank you for your cooperation in advance. The crown would take the matter into their own hooves but current situation and lack of resources doesn't allow us to intervene directly. On top of that your first targets would know how to spot a guard of any sort looking for them.

Concerning your targets,

Your main mark is a male, pony-resembling changeling of bronze color with sandy blonde mane, grey eyes and a cutie mark of white and black rings interlocked together. He is wanted for assisting in the last military incursion into Equestria and thus for high treason. His strength lies in his mastery of hoof to hoof combat unseen in Equestria and his experience in fighting opponents of all sorts, especially those with polearms and other extended weapons. You should avoid close combat at all costs in case of trying to apprehend this traitor and never fight alone.

He is to be brought to justice at any cost, either captured or dead. In case of finding his whereabouts just send a letter with the target's location using the talisman binding this scroll and a detachment of forces will be sent as assistance. In case the target is already dead, either of natural causes or for any other reason the reward for this mission will be paid in full.

Your secondary mark is a female thestral sporting a black coat, red eyes, and red mane. She used to work in the Nightguard but left right after the second mirror invasion. She is also the main reason for us being unable to send any part of the Guard to look for her as she has very close ties to many of them. When trying to approach her you should be aware of her speed and agility but outside of that she isn't a serious threat in direct engagement.

There is also the possibility of piquing her interest in case you are a stallion of handsome features as one of her weaknesses lies in heavily engaging in party scene and one-night stands.

Her capture is preferrable to her death but do not hesitate in case she offers significant resistance. Both your targets might or might not be working together but finding one should help you in finding the other.

A good place to start your search would be the battlefield around the disappeared rift to the mirror world in the Everfree Forest.

The mission is over the moment both of your main marks are under arrest or proven dead. We keep the right to change any specifics of the mission outside of the reward in special circumstances. In case the contract gets altered and you do not agree with new objectives then the advance payment will remain in your possession.

We wish you the best of luck.

Icy Gaze was bothered at first as to why the courier would choose him over other experienced-looking mercenaries but he had to admit his looks were at least above average which wasn't the best in his line of work but considering the insane reward he got in advance now there was at least one instance of them being useful.

Hiding the bags of bits in his saddlebags he stepped out of Sole Regret. He wasn't bothered about other patrons ganging up on him to steal his payment. There were no real rules about being a mercenary but most of the older mercs had been on the recieving end of the bastard stick at one point in their lives and knew not to make enemies when it wasn't necessary.

Icy has been living in Canterlot for few weeks now while doing odd jobs here and there and looking for a caravan guard position and his apartment was one of the cheapest one could find with one of the most expensive locks and doors protecting its contents. It made little sense to casual observer but when ponies didn't have much of their own they wanted what little they had as safe as possible and the landlord of this building knew that.

Icy could just go and visit the Everfree in the morning but he decided to spend a little more time tomorrow by gathering information. If his targets used to be guards then they had to be known to other guards and now he had the right tool in the solar seal to make them talk. With a bit of politeness, hidden threats, his presence, and maybe a little bribe he might be able to find out something helpful.

With that in mind he just went to bed. Not that he was too tired but soldiers, mercenaries and other exhausting professions knew to rest whenever they could in case that any little mistake caused by fatigue and not being in top shape would cause them to rest forever. There was very little chance of getting information from the guards on duty but there might be a chance of finding out where those guys go after that to unwind...

... and every city had a guard bar, without exception.

So, the changeling guy used to be a unicorn supposedly and that little batpony 'helper' was his marefriend. The evening among guards had proven otherwise uneventful and uninformative and Icy was now on his way, flying above the Everfree Forest and landing where the rift used to be.

There wasn't much of anything now. According to the guards who had been cleaning this place up after the invasion there might still be remains of weapons and small valuables that nopony had picked up. Apparently everything in the possession of enemy soldiers had appeared here after the rift had broken and Icy could still feel his hooves crunch on something not belonging in the forest from time to time.

While he had the necessary skills for outdoor survival he wasn't really used to living in the forest and his eyes weren't trained for looking for small items in the snow. Now, nopony in the Crystal Empire had seen the bronze guy leave the castle but he had not been found inside. Icy Gaze had his experience with magic, generally being shot at him, but his knowledge of its workings was basically limited to - when it makes a big boom, run.

Thus he theorized that if everything had reappeared here, the same might be true for his target. It was an awful guess but the best he had. Now, if the target had indeed teleported here then he'd either have been eaten by some hydra, any other abomination living here, or even the changelings before the peace treaty. If that was the case then there was nothing for Icy to do. If that wasn't the case though then the target would very probably have headed for the closest safe location and the possibility of getting food and shelter. That meant the small town called Ponyville.

Icy sneered into the crispy air. The pony founders of that place had really gone over the top with creativity in naming places but according to rumors they had been earthponies so...

Walking to a road visible even from the trashed battleground he noticed a life-sized statue depicting a batpony holding a spear propped against his wing and having a shield strapped to one of his front legs. Aside from that he didn't look anything special. Curious, Icy Gaze leaned down to read a small plaque on the bottom of the statue.

Sharp Biscuit, The Guardian Of Peace Between Changelings And Ponies.

Apparently, every conflict needed heroes and villains but if this guy was of the first sort then why was his statue here and not adorning some of the Canterlot landmarks? Maybe the real heroes weren't talked about that much and this place only served as a memory for those closest to him. Whatever the case was it had nothing to do with Icy's job so he left towards Ponytown or whatever the name was.

Ponyville, right.

Just like every small town it had its law enforcement that thought it was the top of the world and wouldn't really talk to him until presented with the solar seal upon which the armored ponies almost pissed themselves and began presenting their servile, kissrump attitude.

"So, since you've turned around so eagerly. Did you have any unusual or new visitors after the invasion? Somepony with no explained reason for being here."

"Not that I can think of, sir."

"No seventh cousins of a local resident, random travellers looking for job or anything? Crazy ponies trying to take over the world and starting small?"

"Come to think of it, two of my guys found a unicorn walking through the forest."

"How did he look?"

"Empty would be the best description."

"Physically!"

"Bronze coat, blonde mane, broken horn, no cutie mark, sir."

"Good... what was with the empty part?"

"Well, he didn't talk at all, didn't seem to understand anything anypony told him. He just kept following the closest pony so they dropped him off at local mental asylum. They know how to take care of the braindead ones there."

"Thanks for your cooperation."

"No problem, sir."

"By the way, any batponies around?"

"Don't really know, Ponyville has always been a mostly earthpony town though. There are rumors about pets gone missing from time to time thanks to vampires but usually that's just boulderdash parents spew not to make their foal sad they had to flush a dead pet down the toilet."

"Okay," Icy nodded and left the guardhouse.

So, an unresponsive unicorn of exactly the same color scheme wandering the forest after the invasion had ended here. Well, at least Icy had a place to see now.

"SPIIIIIIKE! Where is the copy of Ancient Canterlot Customs I borrowed last month from royal library?"

The following silence annoyed the small purple alicorn and she stomped the floor of her new library, castle or whatever it was now after being transformed by the Tree of Harmony.

"SPIIIKE, stop sleeping till the afternoon and help me here!"

Still nothing. With Twilight Sparkle finally being a princess of something she would have thought that her closest 'subject' would be close to her at all times but apparently...

"Ehm, right."

Twilight blushed. She'd completely forgotten that Spike was now 'assisting' with a certain research in the lab underneath the library and was 'bound' by his duties...

... and tentacles, lots of tentacles.

A small candle burning seemingly forever on her table turned its flame from orange to dark red and burst out, leaving a letter right in front of Twilight. The candle had been made personally by princess Celestia to serve as a communication device in case of Spike's absence and Twilight was supposed to carry it with her whenever she had to travel. Now it found its use when Twilight needed Spike to take care of other things.

The letter flew up surrounded by purple glow and Twilight unrolled it and began reading.

My most faithful student Twilight Sparkle,

With you being crowned the princess of Friendship and your ascension into the alicorn of Magic I think you are the right one for a special mission vital for the safety of Equestria as a whole.

Fine, I might be overselling it a bit. As you know, queen Chrysalis seems to be mindful of our peace treaty but there still are the changelings that happened to travel through dimensions following Blazing Light under the leadership of his daughter. Normally I wouldn't be worried about them because young Guiding Light seemed a very likable and peaceful individual during the short time she spent with me.

Unfortunately, from what I heard Luna killed Blazing Light which caused the Nightmare changelings to leave our ranks and disappear. Therein lies the problem. According to what Blazing Light said they were created by Nightmare Moon from different dimension and managed to devour an entire world before escaping here from starvation. That means even the remaining ten of them could become a serious threat if left unchecked.

That's where your rank and also your first test comes in. Friendship doesn't always have to mean the close relationship you have with your friends. Right now it also means that your experience might help us in reaching out to Guiding's changelings in good will and start a warm relationship with her hive. The peace treaty affects only queen Chrysalis and her hive and I fear that the animosity Guiding must hold towards us might bite us in the future.

That is not the only reason for my concern. The Nightmare changelings emit a certain type of energy connected to Nightmare Moon that I've been able to feel around the castle for some time now. Supposedly all of them left with Guiding but if there is one among us then it means Guiding must be planning something and it would probably threaten my sister. Unfortunately, their unique nature doesn't allow us to use magic to track them and I don't want to order an open investigation in case panic broke out.

Minding that, I want you to go to a small village called Pine Hills on the other side of the Everfree Forest where Guiding Light and her Nightmares seem to have found home and report to me about the situation there. I will keep an eye out on my sister and protect her from any danger while you do so.

That is all.

Good luck, princess.

There wasn't a single second of doubt in Twilight's mind and she immediately rolled the letter back up. She might need her friends for this test but that could put them in danger. Nightmare changelings, even in low numbers, were supposed to be a devastating force and there was very little the Elements of Harmony would be able to do in case diplomacy failed.

She would have to go alone then.

Packing some food, locating the small town on the map, and planning a route didn't take too long. Packing some books to read on the way and during her stay took even less time and in about an hour she was able to close the library, leave for Ponyville train station, and head towards the closest trade hub from which she would be able to hail a carriage to the town itself.

Ponyville would have to survive without her helpful tips and the wisdom of her books but in the worst case she would just have to use her ability to make lists to get the town running again when she returned.

She would make Guiding Light listen to reason and she would make princess Celestia proud.

Everything is fine

"How is the tea, dear?"

The soft voice could melt the heart even of the coldest tyrant, raise a dead mother to give one final kiss to her filly, and make a statue go volunteer to a homeless shelter. It was also currently aimed at a being considered by most the incarnation of evil. Maybe not evil as such but at least the incarnation of uncaring arrogance and self-centered pleasure that could easily pass for it.

The owner of the voice and subsequently the owner of the heart of anypony listening to it was sitting on a small chair on a hill overlooking Ponyville and holding a cup of the same brown, steaming substance. The sun was shining brightly at her and her guest and their surroundings were gently swaying in a warm breeze. Considering it was the middle of winter the circumstances held a good clue that the pair apparently having a picnic were no normal ponies.

"Just delightful, Fluttershy."

One of the participants wasn't a pony at all. More similar to a patchwork flying snake, the non-pony lowered the cup held in his griffon arm and smacked his lips. His tail ending in a palm picked up the tea kettle and topped his cup off.

In short, Discord and Fluttershy were having a tea party on a high hill while warm summer temporarily took place instead of the coldest winter in living memory and nopony found it even slightly out of place.

"I'm so glad. Days like this-"

Like a broken record the yellow pegasus' voice froze in place and color drained away from all surroundings including her. Discord wasn't the one to get uncomfortable at sudden changes of well... anything and he just kept sipping his tea. With all sound fading completely, everything turned to darkness. After floating wherever Discord was for a brief moment sets of lines began appearing on the invisible ground directly around him. The glowing lines formed concentric circles with symbols writing themselves along them and as they got closer to completion the color began returning to the blackness around.

Expressionless, Discord began cleaning a pair of spectacles appearing in his hand with a towel held in his tail and after blowing on them he put them on. The blackness around slowly turned into space instead of being just a dark sheet and he could see that the place he was now resembled the hill he'd left in absolutely no aspect. The area looked like a temple made of obsidian in the middle of a desert but as a god Discord knew that reality of this place defied normal explanation.

Living shadows kept appearing through the space between pillars serving as borders between the desert and the inside of the black temple and the unending lines kept walking towards a figure sitting on a throne in the middle of the place. The shadows faded when the black alicorn rose up and stepped towards Discord levitating inside the magic circles wearing a tourist outfit and reading a pamphlet titled - A Guide To The Underworld.

"Greetings," Void bowed politely before the god of chaos.

Discord looked into a little screen appearing in front of him and with a button he gave the Land Of The Dead website a shocking one star out of five. Needless to say, he wasn't overly happy to be here. The final sanctuary, the realm of disappearing souls represented the ultimate order, the unescapable truth and thus was in direct opposition to Discord's aspect and the same went for the alicorn in front of him.

"You're playing with fire, alicorn," Discord threw a burning superball at Void and raised an eyebrow when it hissed out after reaching the border of the magic circle. A set of safecracker equipment materialized from Discord's ears and he began knocking on the barrier surrounding him.

"I apologize for the rude invitation but my request is of utmost importance."

"I must admit this binding circle is pretty sturdy. Well," Discord slammed his hand into the barrier and lightning arced from the impact, "done."

"I do not wish to waste your time but I need to keep you away from anything that might be happening in Equestria for short time."

Discord grinned.

"Whatever do you mean, alicorn? I thought you would enjoy a bit more... traffic in this place."

"Death is the ultimate protection from pain and suffering, yet I do not wish it upon anypony earlier than they are due."

Discord split in two and while one of them kept examining the barrier the other one tried to phase through, making the circle shimmer brightly.

"What is preventing you from protecting your little Equestria?"

"I cannot be everywhere and I cannot see the future. There is a role for me to play and there are roles for others."

With a crack the barrier around Discord shattered and the god of chaos broke free.

"I am the ultimate force of the universe, Void. I am chaos, I am unpredictability and thus I am life itself. You thought of yourself as my opposite but in the end you're just one of my creations... in a broad sense and I can unmake you just as easily."

The black alicorn screamed when reality blurred around him but black fire swirling from his wings burned the blurriness away.

Just one attempt and Void was breathing heavily and shaking. He wasn't the one to give up easily but he knew foolish effort when he saw it and while his idea of summoning Discord here, into the place of order, was a logical one he underestimated his power way too much. Still, he had a request to fulfill and he would much rather disappear than fail Scream.

White tethers swirled around Discord and bound him inside the reappeared circle.

"I do not have to imprison you here, I just need to buy enough time."

Discord's hands melted through the tethers and clapped... very slowly and ironically.

"Bra-vo... bra-vo, little creature," one of the hands suddenly wore a shiny wrist watch at which Discord disappointedly looked, "Almost five minutes. You've succeeded, Equestria is safe from my deeds and whatever evil endangered it has been eradicated in the meantime. Congratulations! I'll get the celebration started and you're going to be in charge of CONFETTI!"

Void burped and few paper streamers fell out.

Discord suddenly grew, reappeared in a flash in front of the black alicorn and picked him up by the neck.

"If your heroes fail then there will be much more chaos and fun than with any sort of my intervention," he threw Void on the ground, "What kind of friend would I be though if I didn't give those closest to me a chance?"

"What?" croaked Void, trying to massage his half-crushed windpipe.

"I agree to your request. I will not interfere with anything going on for two weeks and I will just watch. But-" Discord's tail pulled Void back up and slowly dusted him off, "there is a little quid pro quo, tit for tat, you scratch my back, I scratch-"

"I understand. What is your condition?" interrupted Void the infinite stream of nonsense.

"The same goes for you. No matter what you will not interfere with anything as well."

"I agree," Void nodded. It felt too easy but as he learned today he really didn't have any leverage over Discord.

The god of chaos grinned.

"Trust me, in the end you will be sure you made the wrong choice. Oh and one more thing-"

The reality around Void blurred once again but he was too weak to resist Discord's power for the second time.

"- and that is the punishment for your insolence and arrogance. Let me show you how to turn a perfecly fine alicorn into... a TURTLE!"

Void focused to at least weaken the magic affecting him.

"Just kidding," Discord grinned, "Enjoy being a mare."

With echoing laughter the god of chaos disappeared.

Void, sweating to his hooves, shaking and drained, lowered his head to look between his hind legs and groaned.

"Scream is going to have a field day with this."

Well, it could have gone worse.

Luna was tired, at least mentally. She had spent hours rethinking her ideas on how to prevent another invasion but every single time she'd ended with the same result - failure. Of course they could erect protection spells. Of course they could make the area around the tree a deadly wasteland. None of that would help though. Barriers could be stripped, wasteland could be teleported out of. Magic was the problem all the way.

Perhaps she was looking at the problem from the wrong angle. Both times they had been on the defending side so maybe if her Equestria took a proactive approach to the invasion and gave the enemy a showing of force then it might allow them to control the rift and the access to it. No, that still wouldn't work. As long as any strong access point existed then there was the possibility of personal travelling spells working.

Well, today was a bust again then. Luna yawned and decided to try again when she was fresh.

She knew she, of all ponies, shouldn't be afraid of sleep but the depths around her once again felt alien. This time though she knew what it meant.

"Having a nap, princess?" the bowing thestral smiled.

"I really need the rest. With you gone I have to personally oversee a part of Nightguard business, prowl through dreams, and think about the damn Tree of Harmony."

"I take it that you haven't though of anything useful?"

"No. Unless it gets destroyed then nothing will be solved no matter what magic we throw at the problem. We could make the rift ourselves and invade the mirror world first but that would only result in having out rumps kicked, we don't have the military to do that."

"What about Scream's information?"

"You mean releasing Discord and Nightmare? That isn't even an option. Dead world isn't a favorable result."

The anger in her voice made Sharp Biscuit step back. The anger wasn't aimed at him thought.

"Don't blame yourself, Luna. Your efforts aren't in vain and the knowledge about the inner workings of the Tree hints at something else."

"What do you mean?"

"The energy of the Tree doesn't flow only out of it. That could mean that while the Tree allows the Elements to work there's also the possibility of the Elements giving energy to the Tree so it doesn't die."

"I don't think so. The Elements were inactive until Twilight woke them up and the Tree survived just fine."

Sharp hummed a little tune.

"Who was their last user?"

"My sister temporarily bore all six of them."

"Then the possibility is that the Elements were not lost but simply dormant since your sister is still alive. Speaking of which, how is she?"

"How do you not know? You are my subconscious."

"It helps talking about things. I know you feel responsible for her almost dying. Wash the wounds and take a different perspective on things."

"There is hardly any perspective. She got almost mortally wounded by an enemy bearer. She took a month to regain consciousness, an alicorn got wounded THAT severely. I should have done something, I should have been there. My sister never thinks somepony's eradication should be the first choice but there are times she's wrong. I should have destroyed the attacker."

"The important thing is she's recovering. Her state might actually be a good thing."

"How can you say that?"

"That brings us back to the topic of the Tree. If the Elements are nourishing the Tree as well then if you somehow got rid of them then the Tree and the mirror Elements would slowly lose power without releasing the Nightmare."

"Got... rid of them? I thought the Elements chose new bearers as soon as the old ones died."

"It takes time for the bond to appear apparently, at least according to the books you read."

"I can't in good conscience order the death of five fillies and one princess. I mean just thinking that is preposterous."

"I'm just going over the possibilities and you said that Equestria needed somepony to balance the soft approach of your sister. Nopony said anything about killing them anyway, just putting them outside of time should suffice."

"A stasis spell?"

"It could work and they would be safe. Sadly, they would have to be imprisoned for a long time or at least until we made sure the Tree was dead but it sounds better than the other option."

"I'll keep that as an option but I refuse to do it until I know there is no other choice. It is too harsh of a step. There is still enough of Starswirl's research to go through and there might be other way."

"Your subjects must be happy to have you, your Highness."

Luna just smiled bitterly and drifted into deep sleep.

"Pine Hills, princess!" a proud voice rang through the inside of a long-distance carriage.

Twilight groaned and unglued her eyes. Luckly, she was travelling alone as traffic to a backwater town like this consisted more of logs and other raw materials shipping out and complex machines being shipped in. If there ever was a place for changelings to infest, control and quietly feed in then it was a town like this. Not that she was actually expecting to find just a bunch of cocoons and empty houses buuut...

Well, she was expecting that, no reason to lie to herself especially after Ponyville had ended that way during Chrysalis' second attack. On the other hoof, she had had one of the Nightmare changelings spending time with her at home and despite him/her being slightly silly and confused there hadn't been any problems whatsoever. Therein was the problem though - their ability to learn, adapt and their hunting prowess without any combat training.

Twilight shook her head. Sitting and hiding inside a carriage wouldn't help anything so she hoisted her bags and stepped outside into the dangerous world of Pine Hills. The looks of locals trudging through the thin cover of snow around what looked like the town square caught her off guard. Apparently, alicorns weren't really common guests here. The princess scolded herself. While Ponyville was larger than this place it was still a small town but even with her long stay there the locals had been put off by her becoming an alicorn at first as well.

The closest and most official looking building was...

Twilight thanked heavens and headed towards what looked like a town hall on the other side of the square. As she trotted on, trying to ignore the questioning glances of the residents, something caught her eye. At first she thought it was one of the villagers walking his dog but when she focused to look at the prowling creature she noticed it was dark blue, bulky, chitinous and changeling looking. Even with the slight differences between Nightmares and normal changelings Twilight had no problem identifying this one as one of the former kind. Yes, it was wearing a green sweater and a matching hat with a knitted snoflake on top but it was definitely a deadly creature.

In her mind more than in the mind of anypony around apparently.

A Nightmare walking without a disguise among the villagers. Prowling and trying to look inconspicuous but still in plain sight. That could mean two things. Either Guiding Light and her hive had the village in their grasp or there was nothing even slightly wrong going on. So... she had nothing and infinite theories wouldn't prove useful whatsoever.

Her horn and wings were enough of a passcard for Twilight to immediately get the attention of the nearest town hall clerk who immediately showed her to the mayor's office. The mayor looked surprisingly similar to Mayor Mare in Ponyville. Yes, this guy was a stallion. Yes, he was much more muscular and his build hinted he belonged into this frontier town a bit more than somepony softer would. Buuut... the grey mane, faded brown coat, half-forced smile and hidden worried look in his eyes were more than enough of a giveaway that this guy was a civil servant.

"What brings you to this forgotten place, your Highness?" the mayor stood up from the paperwork in front of him and shook Twilight's hoof vigorously.

The greeting wasn't insincere but Twilight felt something was off. The mayor gave her the same look she'd recieved from high royalty right after her coronation. To him she was just a young nuisance to whom he had to be polite but still just a nuisance. A show of dominance was in place.

"Take a guess, dear mayor. I'm here on princess Celestia's orders so... what might be important here of all places for her to send a diplomatic envoy."

Her hard look fell flat as the mayor sat back down behind his desk and propped his chin on his hooves.

"There is nothing surprising about your visit. I've been expecting something of that sort for a while now but, truth be told, I wasn't expecting you in person."

"I am experienced enough to deal with anything that might be happening here," lied Twilight, mostly to herself.

Seeing her blurt out the answer and blush slightly, the mayor took a deep breath.

"I am a simple pony and I didn't mean to insult you. What I really meant was that there is no reason for somepony so high up in the command structure to come here because there in fact isn't anything happening."

"So... no problems with the changelings?"

"Not at all. They just flew in few weeks ago grouped around their queen and asked whether we needed some odd jobs done. This place is pretty much surrounded by the Everfree Forest so we lose ponies from time to time and we agreed. In exchange for their helping hoof all they wanted was a house with roomy cellars and we had that for exactly the same reason. Whenever we need some heightened protection or just help we call on them and they come without complaining. Some of them even come out from time to time to have a drink in the evening in the pub, not their queen though. To be frank, we like to have them here."

"What about the feeding thing?"

"Heh, that one's actually pretty funny. Most of our guys haven't seen a friendly changeling before their coming here and avoided then like a plague. Thanks to princess Celestia's order we didn't have any open hostilities and from what their queen told me our fear of them was enough to keep them fit. When things changed and we began warming up to them they just switched from eating fear to eating love. Yes, it wasn't much at first and some of the villagers out at night fell unconscious but they've always been transported right to their homes without even a bruise from dropping to the ground."

Twilight didn't know what to say. All this seemed too good to be true.

"That's, I guess, good?"

The mayor grinned.

"I appreciate princess Celestia's concern but there really isn't anything sinister going on here. Honestly, there isn't much of anything going on here. We live, we log, we mine, we eat, we get drunk in the evening, that's all."

Princess Celestia wouldn't have sent Twilight on a wild goose chase. There had to be a reason for her visiting here and she was going to find it. It was possible the princess was just overly worried due to the nature of changelings but Twilight wasn't ready to accept it before exhausting all other possibilities.

"Do you mind if I stay here for few days and evaluate the situation myself?"

"Not at all. I will send somepony to prepare a room for you in the tavern and show you around."

"Erm, where is the changeling hive? I would like to talk to Guiding Light."

The mayor shifted nervously in his chair.

"I... wouldn't advise that, at least not right now. There were few guys trying to check out the place to assess any possible danger but after entering they woke up back in their houses and had to sleep through the entire day. The Nightmares don't bother anypony but apparently value their privacy a lot."

"I have to talk to her as an envoy. They are still princess Celestia's subjects technically."

"I'm not saying you should leave. I'm saying you should go easy on them."

"Why are you trying so hard?"

The mayor raised his hooves defensively.

"The young queen told me about her desire to stay hidden from the princesses, especially princess Luna."

"Aaand that didn't bother you at all?"

"No. I found that out later and at the time they caused less trouble than most of ponies travelling through this place. If nopony knew about them, no harm done."

Twilight sighed at the stupidity of Celestia's, and her, subject.

"I don't intend to invade their hive and start blasting them with magic. I just want to talk to her. The reason for her trying to stay hidden is actually the thing I need to sort out to prevent it festering and becoming a problem in the future."

"You know what? I can't stop you, of course, but do me a little favor and visit a guy called Shieldbreaker. He's a guard who moved here shortly after the Nightmares came. It shouldn't take too much of your time and might help you."

"Where does he live?"

The mayor walked out of the office and returned with two clerks. One of them got the order to guide Twilight to Shieldbreaker's house and the other one was going to make sure there was a place for Twilight in the inn. With another hoofshake she left the town hall.

She couldn't shake off the feeling of walking into a trap. Everything felt too easy, too good to be true, but there still was the underlying threat of walking into Guiding's hive and getting 'moved' without her permission. Perhaps this Shieldbreaker pony could help her. A guard from Canterlot should be trained to obey a voice of leadership.

The clerk left her in front of a house similar to the other ones in the village in all aspects. With the afternoon turning into an evening the cold began biting harder than on the road so Twilight knocked on the door.

It was opened by a grey-coated unicorn mare with light blue mane whose matching blue eyes widened when she saw Twilight.

"B-B-Breaky? We've got a visitor!" she took few steps back, not even trying to hide her distress.

A muscular pegasus stallion rushed out of a door inside with a long black stick in his mouth and froze when he spotted Twilight looking into the entry hall from outside.

"P-princess... what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?" he walked up to Twilight and shoved the unicorn behind him with a wing.

"I wish I knew, mister Shieldbreaker. Princess Celestia sent me here to investigate any possible problems with Nightmare changeling hive not respecting the peace treaty between her and queen Chrysalis. When I talked to the mayor he sent me here."

"Why?"

"No idea. When I mentioned that queen Guiding Light isn't bound by the treaty and might cause problems he-"

"The queen wouldn't do that!" the unicorn mare interrupted her heatedly.

"Errrm," Shieldbreaker coughed, "Well... that's that. I think you can drop the act, love."

The pair exchanged glances, the mare's horn glowed and in a shower of green sparks coursing through her coat she turned into a changeling. Nightmares at close range looked very similar to normal changelings with them being a bit bulkier and having a natural tendency to prowl instead of walking, the greenish hue of the black chitin being replaced by a dark blue one.

"What's going on here?" asked Twilight, having pretty good idea.

"My marefriend... last marefriend used to be a guard. She got drafted during the second invasion and died in the battle for Crystal Empire. Then this little creature-"

"HEY!" the Nightmare poked him and in turn Shieldbreaker patted her head.

"-She said she was sent to find out how ponies would react to her presence and kept me company through some night shifts in Canterlot. She wouldn't stop bugging me about my understandably gloomy mood at the time and we got talking. I liked the company and she wanted a free snack-"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE! Well, not all of it."

"-She asked her queen if she could choose her adult transformation. I'm not sure if you know but the Nightmares can only choose one disguise and it is a proof of their maturity. Well, one day she surprised me when she came out of the bathroom looking like I described my fallen marefriend. After talking-"

"And sobbing," the Nightmare snickered.

"-No snack today. As I said - after talking and my subsequent choices considering her disguise I understood what her choice meant and I decided to stay with her longer. When princess Luna killed their king, father, whatever and they left I decided to move here. The poor thing was so lovesick and wouldn't stop sending me letters."

"I'm sorry? I wasn't the one sending the papers so wet they were unreadable."

Shieldbreaker blushed.

"Delivery problem... totally not my fault."

Twilight stopped a giggle from escaping her mouth at the bickering of the pair.

"Hm," she pouted thoughtfully, "I'm glad you aren't a mind-controlled food slave, mister Shieldbreaker-"

"Who says he isn't?" the Nightmare nuzzled his side.

"Shush," the pegasus covered her head with his wing.

"-Back to business. I need to talk to queen Guiding Light."

"I don't think the queen-" began the changeling.

"Let me rephrase that," Twilight was getting annoyed. She was a princess. She was an ambassador and she would prove her worth to her mentor no matter what, "It is either me or a platoon of Canterlot soldiers. I just want to talk, nothing else. I'm positive princess Celestia would be happy to her royal hooves that your hive isn't causing any trouble and actually being more helpful than most other changelings but I just need to make sure of it."

Shieldbreaker sighed.

"Love, could you arrange it? There is no way princess Celestia would mean your queen any harm."

"I guess," Shieldbreaker's marefriend turned from him to Twilight, "I wouldn't expect a warm welcome if I were you. Come back tomorrow then."

"Thank you very much," Twilight nodded and left after exchanging the necessary pleasantries to keep the best impression.

Success.

Whistling, Twilight returned back to the town hall and after getting directions to the inn decided to leave things be for tonight.

In a completely different town but at the same time, a white pegasus was writing a letter, one lamp hanging from the ceiling illuminating the quill in his mouth.

According to my information there is a high chance of both targets hiding in the town of Ponyville. I will continues observing the surroundings to make sure that is the case.

My sources say that a batpony appeared shortly after the invasion and she's currently visiting a local mental institution daily. That coincides with the information of the local guard about a unicorn of the same color cheme as the target found wandering the Everfree Forest.

The report was short and Icy Gaze wasn't expecting anything other than having a drink and going to bed so when his solar talisman burst with flame for the second time shortly after sending the letter he didn't hesitate and opened it.

The traitors are hereby turned into a secondary objective. Keep observing them but do not engage. Once you are sure about their location send a definitive report.

Your primary objective is now the capture of all Element bearers who should be residing in Ponyville. We do not care about what measures you use but under no circumstances are they to be severely hurt.

The new objective will be considered fulfilled when all bearers are restrained in one place. Death or serious injury to any of them will result in your execution.

Icy cursed and rolled the parchment back up. The mission did have the caveat of objectives changing though so he decided ot take things in stride. Finding out information about the Element bearers should be easy because all of them should be well-known to local populace.

A lightbulb lit up above his head, not literally of course.

There was a bearer even he knew about and that one wasn't allowed to find out about her friends missing. Princess Twilight Sparkle had to be taken care of first otherwise she would sic her guards on him and thus endanger the entire mission.

Icy stepped out of the inn to slink through the shadows and observe the Golden Oaks Library, the castle or whatever it was now. To his surprise the entire building was dark and quiet. Expecting some sort of magical protection, he very carefully knocked on the entry door. He could always pretend he'd been looking for some obscure volume.

Nopony answered even his repeated attempts. The caretaker of this place was either gone or in deep sleep, Icy hoped for the second and pulled out a set of lockpicks out of his saddlebag. With a painstaking patience and few attempts at pretending to be drunk and throwing up on the door to discourage ponies walking through the late night the lock clicked and Icy stepped inside.

Not a creak went through the building.

Further sneaking proved that this place was completely empty. After about ten minutes of exploration he came to the conclusion that there would be no problem with lighting a lantern and rummaging through the library.

Nothing.

Aside from one door being completely sealed off the entire building didn't have a single soul inside aside from him and there were no magic wards or protections in place. That meant one thing - he was the only pony with the access to this place then.

Icy grinned.

The young princess was probably gone so if only he could find out for how long then he might be able to use this place as a base and...

His eyes fell on a table inside what looked like a room where somepony might live and probably did. A letter bearing the same seal as the one he'd gotten was the thing that caught his eye and he immediately read it. Afterwards he looked at the map lying on the table.

Apparently the princess living inside wasn't too keen on being tidy in her personal space and according to the map he probably had at least a week left, even in the case the princess arrived there and returned immediately.

So he didn't have to find a cellar somewhere. Now he had his own little castle and a real time limit for catching his targets. The cellar looked sturdy enough.

Negotiations

"How do you feel, sister?"

The joyful flutter in Luna's voice spoke volumes about her relief to finally see Celestia without bandages for the first time in weeks.

"I'm fine, Luna. Stop worryi- oof."

Even the soft touch of Luna hugging her sister was enough to send fire through Celestia's chest. Despite the wound finally closing and doctors saying she was almost at full health even the brush of fur reminded the older princess how close she'd been to death.

"Easy," Celestia softly pushed Luna away and smiled, "I am still a little sore. It seems that the weapon did a bit more damage than a normal dagger should."

"I'm just so haaaaaaappyyyyyy-"

"Gnghghh."

"Oops, sorry," Luna untangled her front legs after hugging her sister thoughtlessly again.

Celestia couldn't keep scowling in pain when she saw the remorseful face of Luna. She knew her sister was overreacting. After all, Celestia had been taking care of royal business from her bed in the castle infirmary and later from the throne room as usual. Still, even she was happy to finally stop looking like an oversized Heart's Warming present and spread her wings.

"Come on, Luna, I'm all right. Actually," Celestia thoughtfully jumped a little on the spot, "I can feel all that lying and sitting going straight to my rump. I think I should start going to the castle gym soon."

"Don't you dare!" Luna looked pleadingly at her sister, "You almost died. No banishment, no imprisonment. You were so close to getting killed and I would have never seen you again so please, just for me, take it easy for a while."

"Luna-"

"Pleeeeeeeease," Luna's look would make a kicked puppy eat its own begging license.

Not knowing whether to smile or sigh the concern of her sister was heartwarming nonetheless.

"Fine, no lifting weights any time soon."

"Hey-"

"Nope, not budging. I need to move around so I don't become an old lady obsessed with cats. Do you want your older sister to start hoarding newspapers?"

With Luna's intake of air stopped by Celestia's hoof in her mouth the solar princess just kissed her sister's forehead.

"Thank you for helping me with Equestria, Luna. You've done a great job and I hope you aren't going to stop just because I am back to full strength."

"Of course not."

"I'm glad that's the case. Our subjects are apparently beginning to see your true nature and like it."

Luna blushed at the praise.

"But now," Celestia looked towards the morning sky, "it is my time to, as they say, shine. Have a peaceful rest, sister."

Hearing that, the lunar princess' mind turned to the inevitable. She nuzzled her sister once again and when Celestia's horn began shining brightly and the shadows of her room moved in accordance with the rising sun Luna set course for her own chambers.

For once she wasn't overly worried about her own dreams. Celestia's full recovery and her positive attitude sparked a joy strong enough to withstand the gloom of Luna's own head. Soon, she would have to talk to her sister about her worries for the safety of Equestria but this wasn't the time ruin an almost perfect day.

She tried to look at things from the brighter side. No matter what she would see her friend again, albeit not in the way she would prefer. A little white lie was preferrable to genuine misery. When she reached her room and fell to the bed she did so with a smile on her face.

This time she didn't surface in complete darkness but when the area became more visible she was sure the previous darkness would be preferrable. She knew this was just a dream but the white, powdery ground littered with craters was what she knew as true insanity.

The moon.

"I am sorry to have brought you here, Luna," said Sharp Biscuit.

Luna would never lose control in front of real Sharp but her subconscious sending her back here had some explaining to do.

"Why? Start explaining immediately or tomorrow evening I'm drinking half of the royal wine cellar."

"This... is an important memory for you. It drives you forward in many ways."

"It drove me insane."

The self-control in Luna's voice was made of pure steel, not to budge under any circumstances.

"Not exactly. That is the reason we're here. I was wondering why the evil Element bearers are so much more powerful than ours are. Do you know the reason?"

Luna's memory kicked in. She was now sure that Scream was on her own side more than anypony else's but fortunately her and Luna's side were currently very close. With that being the case she could almost surely believe the information given by the alicorn of Lust.

"The Elements considered evil aren't too inclined towards working together while ours are based on their synergy. That's why they are easier to use and draw power from but ultimately they are weaker."

"That is an obvious nonsense," Sharp shook his head, "Every Element is the same part of the ancient pact holding the same amount of power. All of them are equal outside of Magic. Why do the evil bearers seem stronger then?"

"They... don't have the same natural inhibitions as our ones and aren't afraid to use violence and force?"

Sharp grinned.

"Getting closer. The Elements shape the world around them but at the same time draw their strength from the bearers they change and, let's face it, ponies are naturally evil. Well, maybe not evil but definitely inclined to work for their own goals instead for the good of everypony. In the end it works as a self-feeding circle."

That was something Luna had to agree to. After all, if that wasn't true then the world wouldn't need heroes and leaders. What was the point of the entire conversation though?

"So you are saying the Elements themselves aren't more powerful but the bearers are?"

"Huh, am I? It definitely wasn't my intention. There are other factors for our Equestria to shake even without the bearers. I was hinting at the time when your sister pushed the evil Elements into the mirror world and stole the good ones for your one. She might have done that to draw strength from the good Elements to banish her own weakness."

"I'm not following you."

"I am saying your sister was weak at one time and that period manifested thousands of years later in your world almost dying. Out of fear she almost caused the deaths and enslavement of every single living being in this world. The invasion might have been orchestrated by Scream but the entire possibility of it happening falls on the shoulders of Celestia."

"Everypony makes mistakes. I tried to drown the world in darkness and she was there to stop me from doing that. She did forgive me and yes, she might not be perfect but she is as close as I can imagine anypony to be."

"I have to disagree. You were just a lonely pony at the time and she didn't even bother looking away from the ones licking her hooves to the one who needed her help the most. I think your being possessed by the Nightmare was more her fault than anypony else's. Had she just given you at least a little attention then none of that might have happened."

"Where are you going with this?"

Sharp's expression turned hard.

"I'm saying that your sister is just an another pony. She is weak and she needs somepony to correct her mistakes in the same way she does that for others. You should be the one."

"I know that. I am helping with-"

"Not enough! You need to gain enough power to counterbalance your sister so she can't just silence you like she did every single time you opposed her. You need to have enough power to prevent her from making mistakes. Equestria should have two rulers but currently it has got only one. You need to stop being just the younger sister and take Equestrian affairs into your own hooves."

"I can't-"

"Then nopony can. Your sister is incapable of protecting Equestria from the mirror world. You have no idea how to do it with magic but you at least have the inner strength to stop foalsitting your subjects and have them grow stronger. You could order increased military presence. You could be the iron hoof able to unite the world just like Sombra did and then you wouldn't have to be afraid of anything."

"I will not become a tyrant and end up like the shadow king."

"Did it sound like I said that? My mistake then. Your sister is here to make sure that doesn't happen but YOU need to make sure the exact opposite doesn't happen as well. Up until now you've been just a figurehead. I'm sorry to be so blunt but while I respect you personally you've always been Luna, never a princess."

Biting her lip, Luna looked around to finally understand the reason for her being brought here. This place was a monument of her failure and weakness. This place would haunt her forever but it would stay a reminder to drive her forward.

"I accept my responsibility. I will rule alongside my sister and I will make sure Equestria is safe."

"And if somepony stands in the way?" Sharp grinned.

"They will fall."

The surface of the moon disappeared.

In broad sense the Element bearers were well-known figures. They had attended a fair amount of official events and their pictures spanned the part of Canterlot castle accessible by casual visitors. Despite that, they still had their privacy and while almost everypony knew they lived in this average town their locations were still something Icy Gaze had to find.

His morning had been spent by watching the local asylum and he was beginning to doubt that his original target was there. The batpony was the right one though with her crippled wings, black and red color scheme and almost invisible cutie mark. The real deal had come with his close examination as he'd only found out that the girl was only working there. At least Icy had the location of one of his marks and if the batpony's schedule was the same as before then he now had hours to look around for the Bearers.

Now, where would be a good place to look? The town hall would surely have information about such high profile citizens but asking there would put somepony on his trail after they began disappearing. That would be something he'd have to deal with later as well. When one or two Bearers would disappear then the others would surely go into hiding. That mean he should start with gathering information about all of them first.

Icy needed a place for normal ponies to gather at and exchange gossip. Usually such place would be a tavern or a bar but none of them would be open at this time of day. To plan his next steps he decided to just wander around a bit. After a while he noticed a flower vendor looking at him, trying to whistle innocently when he turned his head. Mares often reacted to him like that, especially the single ones.

Smiling confidently he trotted towards the flower stand.

"Good morning, milady. Are you selling anything appetizing as well as decorative?"

The posh accent worked its charm and the mare almost fainted on the spot.

"I-I, so handsome... hnnghh. Selling food, pretty flowers..."

Considering he might have broken her, Icy steadied the wavering vendor with his hooves.

"I'm thinking about something light for breakfast and surely somepony with vast knowledge such as yourself would be able to help."

The demented giggling of the earthpony mare slowly began annoying the pegasus but he was sort of experienced in that department. When he gave her enough time by watching the products to gather her liquifying brain she finally spoke coherently.

"I have something special from my northern cousin," she nodded at blue flowers Icy had never seen before, "Blue roses grown in Stalliongrad. They are a bit pricy but they are considered a delicacy anywhere in Equestria."

"I'll take five."

"Oghhngm? T-That'll b-b-be ninety bits, sir."

Icy pulled out a small pouch which, as he knew from recounting his advance payment, held hundred bits.

"A hundred, keep the change and buy yourself something nice. If you can find something to fit your beauty."

When the mare began foaming at the mouth Icy knew he overshot a bit. He should give her a chance for paying him back. After all he didn't want her to begin spreading rumors about him so he had to look at least a bit normal.

"By the way," Icy sniffed the minty smelling, blue flower, "Where could a tourist like me find about local landmarks?"

"There's a tourist guide at the town hall-"

"I mean from ponies living here. They probably know way more then some pamphlet could tell me."

"You could ask around at the Sugarcube Corner. There are always some ponies there. It's a bakery where one of the Elements of Harmony works. That could be interesting for a tourist, right?"

"I will forever be in your debt, milady," Icy bowed to the blush-crimson vendor and bit off the petals of one of the flowers. He would never say it to the mare's face but the plants were definitely what one would call an acquired taste. Any normal pony would call it garbage. Still, he wasn't about to throw up so he munched up the rest and went in the direction the mare had shown him.

Despite his looks, Icy Gaze had a talent for being inconspicuous. It wasn't really cutie mark worthy but it was something he was able to learn through years of working in the Griffon Empire. After all, if a pony could seem right in his place among griffons then there really wasn't any higher peak of that skill.

A colorful building decorated to look like a sweet pastry appeared after a short walk. Theoretically anything could appear after a short walk in town of this size, especially because Icy was used to massive cities like Manehattan and the city states like Crystal Empire or the griffon ones. The smell hanging around the place proved that this baker was one specializing in sweet treats rather than ninety kinds of bread. Wincing, Icy remembered some of the more boring bakeries in more boring places.

His walking inside was once again followed by gasps from mares sitting at the tables and the burning stares of their male companions. Trying to feign interest, he looked around and trotted towards the counter where a pink earthpony with poofy mane of slightly darker color was serving the only customer currently being considered a queue.

"Hello, mister visitor," the pink mare greeted him cheerfully, completely failing to show the symptoms any other mare would present when faced with Icy Gaze, "I haven't seen you here before and I can't afford to throw a party for everypony passing through so have this as greetings."

The energetic monologue ended with her presenting a slice of cake on a platter in her hooves to Icy.

"Eh, thank you, miss," for once it was the pegasus who looked taken aback.

"Pinkie Pie, baker extraordinaire, Element of Laughter, your new best friend!" she grinned.

"An Element bearer, you say?"

"Yep! The Element of Laughter in the flesh," she poked herself few times.

"Interesting. Do you know about other Bearers? A simple tourist like me would love to know the sights of this quaint town and I think the famous Bearers constitute as such. Could you enlighten me?"

"Okie dokie. There's silly old me. I live here with the Cakes, they own this place and I help them take care of their foals and serve the customers from time to time. I also plan parties for anypony in the town."

"You seem like a lively pony," Icy nodded to her when she spread her hooves and smiled widely. The pony certainly seemed a bit strange. Perhaps she was an avid club visitor and still had some of the usual drugs in her bloodstream?

"Lively? You should see Rainbow Dash when somepony touches her hooves. She could put lightning to shame with how fast she can go. Oh right, she's an Element too, that's what you wanted to know. She lives in her cloud house on the northern outskirts of Ponyville and usually spends the time re-reading Daring Do books in this frosty weather."

"A bookworm?"

"What? No! She would kick you if she heard you say that. No, if you want a bookworm then you have to go see Twilight. She lives in the huge library. Well, castle now. She's out of town for the time being though so you can't go and see her."

"Oh," Icy faked a disappointed look.

"Awww, don't be sad. If you need somepony to comfort you then Fluttershy is the right pony. She is the Element of Kindness and lives near the Everfree Forest, just off the east road leading out of Ponyville."

"Whoa, isn't it dangerous? Is she some kind of warrior?"

"Flutters? No way! She lives there with her animals who take care of minor nuisances and nothing serious ever comes out of the Forest these days. She nourishes and heals the little critters when needed and in turn they help her."

Icy made a mental note to buy some small things and flowers with heavy scents to cover his tracks in case he had to visit the place.

"Rarity is the next Element. Oooh, oooh, she would love to see you!"

"Huh, why?"

"You sound like somepony from Canterlot," warning bells began tolling in Icy's head when Pinke spoke. This pony might seem like a chatty idiot but she was taking every detail about him in. Still, the Canterlot society speech pattern played into his hooves well enough, "Rarity loves all that hobnobbing and royalty. She would also love to make a tuxedo or something for somepony of your type."

"My type?" Icy narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah, you're a noble right?"

"A lower class. No recognizable family."

"Sorry to hear that. Still, Rares would love to see you at the Carousel Boutique. You should visit her soon otherwise she's going to sulk all day thinking I haven't made a good impression of her for you."

Icy remembered seeing a building that sort of looked like the weird name Pinke said.

"The last Element is Applejack. She lives outside of town in the giant apple orchards. You can't get lost though. The only road going that way leads straight to her family's home."

"Eh. I wouldn't want to bother her with her family around," said Icy, meaning every word.

"Oh don't be scared. AJ is a bit too straightforward but Big Mac, her brother, is a great guy if you get to know him. Little Apple Bloom is a bit reckless sometimes but she loves visitors who can tell her stories about the world. Last pony living there is Granny Smith. A little tip - if she starts talking about her being in Canterlot just keep nodding and get ready for a long haul."

Too easy. Simply too easy.

"Thank you very much, young lady. I'll go and take care of this cake before the frosting melts," Icy bowed.

"Oh silly Canterlotian! You eat the cake, not take care of it."

"Haha, yeah. Silly me," Icy turned away and rolled his eyes. Still, free food was free food. Even with him being fairly rich right now he wasn't one to refuse an offer like that.

Who would be the best target? Pinkie lived with other ponies who would immediately raise an alarm if she'd gone missing and the same went for Applejack. Princess Twilight was out of town so she would have to be the last one and he would have to prepare a trap for her. Rainbow Dash was a name known even to him and it was tied to a mare of intense physical abilities. Rarity, as a dressmaker, was bound to get many visits from other ponies. The most obvious choice was Fluttershy then. Living out of town just with her small critters she presented the best target to at least measure the power of the Bearers.

Icy left Sugarcube Corner decided to sleep through the day to be fresh and rested for tonight's observation and, if luck was on his side, the capture of one of his targets.

The library square was more or less deserted and Icy was grateful for that. With everypony at their jobs there were no unpleasant witnesses to him accessing the mini castle and there was no chance of mistaking him for an assistant librarian and wanting to borrow something. His presence had to stay hidden though and the less he moved around the more likely his secrecy would be. He hadn't been awake for more than five hours but his body was trained to the strange rhytm of life and accepted the order to go to sleep in just few minutes.

Icy Gaze got ready to go outside again around midnight. Better time to hunt somepony would be closer to morning but in this particular case where animals would be involved that approach could fail. Both ponies and animals used to their daily routine usually spent the day doing whatever they did and went to bed at the same time. That was of course not true for wild animals but Icy suspected that somepony taking care of wounded creatures would have house pets and such critters around her.

As directed, Icy took the eastern road out of Ponyville and kept an eye out for any presence of buildings and ponies between the cheery 'You are now leaving Ponyville, the friendliest town in Equestria' banner and much less joyous panorama of twisted trees and impenetrable darkness of the Everfree. Even at night the stars were shining brightly illuminating a silouhette of a small cottage with garden of much greater size surrounding it from three sides.

Icy pulled out the mixture he'd prepared in advance for tonight's attempt. At first the general idea had been just to observe but now that he knew the place was completely dark and quiet he decided that wasting time and risking the princess returning before him finishing his mission would be pointless. The mixture was a scent bomb. Easy to make, cheap, and completely devastating. The glass vial surrounded by cloth only needed to be thrown on the ground and the overpowering smell would put the nose of any creature out of comission for few days.

Of course, if he accidentally bit through it while picking the lock on the door he would probably throw up his breakfast along with his stomach and most of his insides.

Even somepony of his experience and confidence was shaking to the tips of his hooves while exploring the keyhole in the starlight. Fortunately, it seemed that his previous assessment of the situation had been correct and nopony was awake at this time.

*Click*

Hiding the lockpicks and ready to immediately throw the scent bomb, he pushed the door open. Thankfully, the hinges didn't emit a sound causing Icy to send a silent prayer to whatever deity was listening. Before opening the door wide he melded into the shadows one more time and pulled out something most ponies had never even heard about. On first glance the two tubes were socks made of steel mesh just like some lighter chain armors of guards everywhere but there was one small difference. The pads around hooves were made from a soft silk providing exactly the same amount of protection as a wet paper towel but making Icy's hoofsteps on the wooden floor of the cottage almost noiseless.

Finally prepared, he snuck through the ground floor, spotting nopony even remotely resembling a pony. He was anxious about going up the stairs as it would allow somepony knowing about his trespass to cut his head clean off but that was the only remaining way and he couldn't stop a deep breath escaping his mouth when nothing of that sort happened. The upper floor was more an attic than anything else but it hosted what he'd been looking for, a yellow pegasus mare with pink mane... hugging a white bunny tightly in her sleep.

Looking around gave Icy the general idea that the room was filled with cages and any quick movement would result in dozens of birds and other critters bursting out in a cacophony of noise. The problem lay in the fact that waking up one animal would immediately wake everything else up. Once again he thanked the stars for the chatty earthpony's description of Fluttershy's surroundings that allowed him to think of his escape plan beforehoof. He just had to execute it properly.

Pulling out a cloth and a bottle of ether, he knew the scent would make something wake up soon so he didn't bother with overdoing the dosage. In the worst case Fluttershy would spend more than few hours unconscious. He threw the cloth over his target's face, hoped it would work fast enough and pressed it against her muzzle right after jumping the entire distance from the stairs to the bed with the help of his wings. The burst of air immediately sent everything into overdrive. Chippering noises, squeaking and even growling from the shadows made Icy bite his lip as he hoisted the unconscious pegasus on his back. For a second he thought he might have bitten through the vial he was holding but nothing of that sort happened and he didn't bother with concealing his presence further as he jumped down the stairs.

Don't bite down! Don't bite down! Don't bite down!

Something swiped at his hind legs, leaving a red mark but not cutting tendons. It took all Icy's self control not to bite down at the shock and pain but the self-preservation instinct prevailed. He was sure now he had only seconds before dying to whatever was getting ready to pounce at him.

Turning around, he didn't even bother aiming when he spat out the vial into his hoof and hurled it at the dark shadow that instinctively caught it with its mouth. With no time to celebrate the painful screeching and gurgling noises behind him he ran straight towards Ponyville with his cargo. The lingering cloud of nasal death should spread around the cottage and prevent anything from following and tracking him. In about a day, here in fresh air, the smell would disperse and nopony investigating the kidnapping would be any wiser.

Morning left Twilight itching to immediately go and visit Shieldbreaker but she was sure rushing things was the worst idea a wannabe friend, or a diplomatic ally, could have so she mustered all her self-control to just waste the day away by thinking, walking around and observing the life of the village. No too surprisingly, it was a dull one.

Pine Hills might have looked like nothing wrapped in nowhere but in truth it was the first outpost of civilization where weary travellers could take a break after passing through the Everfree Forest on their way from the mainland. Still, stories of caravan guards at the inn about fighting hydras and pony militia groups hiding in the Forest were as useless to Twilight as they were overexaggerated. Only one thing was reassuring and that was the lack of tales about changeling agression. It seemed that queen Chrysalis was true to her part of the bargain at least.

The day slowly rolled over and when the influx of ponies at the inn signalled the work day was done Twilight stopped reading one of the books she'd brought with her and left to do what needed to be done.

This time her knocking on Shieldbreaker's door didn't cause his marefriend to swallow her tongue and after short exchange of affection she guided Twilight to the commonest of common houses. With a weak blue shimmer the door clicked. Twilight grinned as her head obediently pulled out the details of the security spell. It was simple but effective. It wouldn't have stopped her, of course, but any casual visitor would find it impossible to break in.

Spells like these were uncommon in Ponyville where everypony knew everypony and thievery was a myth more than a social problem but in big cities there were unicorns capable of creating scrolls holding magical charge selling these spells to earthponies for one-time use whenever and wherever. Twilight had wanted to delve into the secrets of delayed spells and scrolls but with her being connected to the greatest source of magical power in the world she still had enough trouble manipulating the force within herself.

The inside of the house was as common as the outside with the exception of notable lack of furniture but the important was what lay hidden in the cellars beneath it.

Twilight gasped when she saw that the cellar was just an entrance to a cavern system lit by weakly shimmering globs of blue goo. Breaky's marefriend didn't even stutter and led Twilight through the complex of intersections with absolute certainty, something Twilight was quickly losing because finding her way out would be downright impossible.

In the end, right as she entered a more decorated cave with chiseled walls made to look like a catacomb room instead of a natural formation, she was sure the caverns spanned the area underneath the entire village. Twilight's horn felt her magic slowly drain away without her order and be sapped into sets of blue crystals, no... blue goo shaped into crystals, on the walls that began glowing with stolen magic to illuminate the place.

Her worry disappeared with the knowledge that this wasn't some prison designed to hold mages but just a clever design decision by the Nightmare changelings. Her worries returned immediately when she saw a changeling queen walking slowly towards her. Sapphire blue eyes, dark blue chitin, mane, belly plate of lighter shade of the same color and the bronze streaks running through the belly armor were an indisputable proof that this was the young Nightmare queen, Guiding Light.

She wasn't happy to see Twilight... at all.

The purple alicorn bowed politely.

"Uh, greetings. I was sent here by princess Celestia to find out how your hive is doing," said Twilight and immediately filed that greeting as possibly the dumbest thing said by a diplomat, ever.

Fortunately for her, Guiding Light was no politican either.

"We're doing pretty fine and nopony has complained yet. Why are you really here?"

"The princess is worried you might not adhere to the peace treaty between changelings, Chrysalis' changelings and ponies."

"What are the details?"

"Eeerm... mainly that changelings don't eat ponies without an arrangement and in turn ponies don't hunt changelings?"

"Done. Anything else?"

Even to the dumbest of the mentally gone it would have been obvious that Guiding wasn't exactly thrilled by the visit even after the main concern was sorted out.

"Well, I have to report to the princess how things are going and I already have the mayor's surprisingly good side of the story. Care to share yours?"

"There isn't anything to say. When your Nightmare Moon-"

"Princess Luna."

"Whatever. When I found out she sentenced my dad to death I ordered all Nightmares to leave their temporary homes and follow me. Aside from the one in the Crystal Empire each one did. I didn't have a plan aside from getting as far from the corrupted alicorn as possible before she decided to enslave us again."

"Princess Luna would never do that."

"You obviously have no idea about the darkness inside her."

"I was there when we defeated Nightmare Moon using the Elements. She is just a normal pony, well... an alicorn. She isn't some evil monster and she's stood by and protected Equestria from all evil... unlike your traitor father."

As soon as the heated words left Twilight's mouth everything froze. The gentle buzzing sound permeating the air everywhere any sort of changelings gathered stopped immediately with the sharp intake of breath of Guiding Light.

"What did you say?" the young queen hissed.

"I said Luna had nothing to do with Blazing Light betraying us and switching sides to help Sombra succeed during the second invasion!" Twilight had to stand tall for the princesses. She had to show the queen reason and bring her to reality. She had to...

...dodge immediately as Guiding leapt at her and swung her front legs, leaving few strands of Twilight's mane floating in the air. The queen had sharp blades on the inner sides of her legs that slid out and would have decapitated the alicorn had she not avoided the blow.

Thoughtlessly, Twilight tapped into her magic reserves and sent a bolt of force to fling Guiding away. She had to roll away this time as the spell failed to even stagger the changeling. Right, Blazing Light had a distinct ability to steal magic and his offspring inherited the strange trait at least to a certain extent.

There wasn't time to remember the Nightmare that had spent time at her library assisting her in experiments as a flurry of wild swipes left Twilight bruised and lacerated but still with enough focus to teleport behind the queen and stomp heavily down at her back.

The failure was obvious in seconds as Guiding's hind legs bucked up and sent Twilight flying. The alicorn of Magic realized that contesting Guiding's physical abilites was completely out of her realm of possibility. Still, Twilight was sure that while Guiding knew a little about magic there was no way the princess of Friendship would lose that way.

The problem was, as she quickly realized, that any complex magic was impossible to cast when the enemy was significantly faster and able to sense her presence even after teleportation. That meant Twilight had only one way out and that was overwhelming Guiding's magic resistance with sheer power.

Twilight had no time to estimate the correct flow of magic and began firing barrage after barrage towards the cloud of dust rising around Guiding. Through her vision slowly blurring by sweat dripping from her forehead she noticed the cloud wasn't moving.

That was when a sharp stab of pain ran through her horn as something hit her right at its base. Dazed and with the cave around her swaying, Twilight realized something was holding her legs and there was a hoof pressing against her horn. Dread washed over her as her eyes revealed she was being held by other Nightmares.

Guiding Light slowly stood back up and stumbled towards Twilight, swaying and spitting green blood out of her mouth. She looked at the Nightmare ready to snap Twilight's horn in two.

Twilight's mind raced but the only conclusion was that she would lose her magic, everything that made her who she was. She would be useless to princess Celestia. She would never again be good enough for her friends and she would have to find a new occupation. Perhaps princess Celestia would be kind enough to let her run the library in Ponyville? Perhaps she might go and work at Canterlot airship loading docks...

When Guiding Light saw the tears flowing freely from Twilight's eyes she nodded. There was no reason for changelings to communicate with words when they were this close.

"I really want to silence you forever for spitting your lies, alicorn," growled Guiding, "but all that would bring would be war and our inevitable demise so... consider yourself lucky. We don't mean anypony any harm. We don't mean to start spreading as we know what it leads to. In the case our bloodline continues it will be with the consent of the ponies around us. Your solar princess has nothing to fear from us. As for the other one..."

She let the concern unanswered and her horn glowed, sapping more of Twilight's strength.

Darkness overwhelmed the purple princess.

The phoenix feather on princess Celestia's desk burned brightly and a letter formed from the flames. Bearing a star seal belonging to Twilight, Celestia didn't hesitate and unrolled it.

Dear princess Celestia,

My meeting with queen Guiding Light didn't work exactly as I expected but I'm sure she isn't doing anything suspicious in Pine Hills. The villagers like the Nightmares and, honestly, the place is more peaceful than any of the ones where changelings tried to settle before. I think there is no reason for me staying here further unless there is something else you want to know.

Is there anything else?

Twilight Sparkle, your faithful student.

Celestia flashed a smile. During the short time Guiding Light had spent observing Canterlot official business by her side she'd proven herself to be capable and a strange combination of peaceful and deadly. The princess was glad she hadn't misjudged the young queen.

Levitating a quill herself, she summoned a blank piece of parchment as well.

My dearest pupil,

I wish you would stay in Pine Hills for few more days to observe the daily life of changelings around ponies. I still feel a presence similar to her hive in the castle and I know that their ability to strike fear into the hearts of ponies can pierce even through the strongest defenses. I would hide and investigate but I cannot afford any panic in Canterlot, especially this soon after my recovery. Even if I tried then Luna would probably drown in the paperwork.

I know your position there might put you in danger in case Guiding Light is lying but I feel there is more you can do to forge warm relationship between her and us even with the... misunderstanding.

Celestia, your fellow princess.

The little joke at the end was supposed to lift Twilight's spirit and Celestia was sure it would work, at least a bit. It should also motivate Twilight that no matter what the difficulty in dealing with somepony she had she should never leave a matter unattended without examining it from all sides.

Celestia's wings cracked as she spread them inside her room. The night outside was beautiful and she fancied a little exercise before going to bed. Walking out on the balcony, she buffeted the snow away and leapt into the air.

Just one lap around the castle and then she would be off to bed.

She knew something wasn't right when the ground in the depths below her began wobbling. Celestia had never suffered from vertigo, could her recovering body consider her flying a danger?

One of her wings froze for a second before moving again but she was able to stop herself from falling. Cold sweat began running down her sides. She had to get back to her room, that place was safe, protected by wards. Celestia's legs went numb as her brain suddenly began sending messages about what would happen if she were to plummet to the ground suddenly.

With wings moving slightly out of sync she was still able to go halfway back before feeling the touch of magic around her. She wasn't a coward, she was an excellent aerial acrobat. There was nothing to fear even at this height. Just realizing that was enough for an alicorn of her power to recognize a fear spell in effect and break it.

Before she could wipe the sweat off her forehead her world shut down mid-flight.

Wanted

"Your Highness!"

The frantic knocking on the door of Luna's room broke through her trance and she left the dream of somepony currently trying to run away from a giant horseshoe chasing him.

"Your Highness!"

Luna shook her head. What could be so important for the guards to bother her while she was doing her nighttime duty, especially with her sister finally able to rule Equestria again? Yawning, she raised herself from the bed, stretched and opened the door, revealing a shaking guard.

"What is going on?"

"It's princess Celestia. She's been attacked!"

"WHAT?!"

"Somepony shot her down with magic while she was flying around the castle."

Damn her! Luna had asked her to take things easy for a while. She should have known Celestia wouldn't listen, she never did. She never respected Luna's opinion. Sharp had been right and Luna should have ordered her sister to be tied up and guarded.

"Are you sure it was an attack? She has just recovered from a nearly mortal wound."

"We aren't hundred percent sure. The Royal Guards on duty saw some unusual activity in the sky and unicorns outside said they could feel a huge charge of magic building up."

Luna was too tired for this. Interrupting her dreamwalking ability was risky every single time but today she felt as if she had just finished running a marathon. Right now there were only two important things.

"Is anypony following the culprit?"

The guard shook his head.

"The only trace the unicorns had simply disappeared several seconds after the attack, after the presence of magic we presume to be the attack."

A feral growl from the lunar princess caused the guard to reconsider his vocation and for a second he wished to be anywhere else. With the look on Luna's face even the bottom of a volcano would be preferrable.

"I want everypony who was even in the area rounded up and questioned. Now, how is my sister?"

She wouldn't eat him. That was something the nervous guard had to keep repeating to himself.

"Princess Celestia isn't too hurt physically. Her alicorn regeneration dealt with the damage caused by her fall very quickly but the unicorn doctors say she is being kept inside her own head by some sort of magic. They have no idea how to wake her up."

Luna breathed out. That... wasn't too bad, considering what might have happened. If the problem was a powerful spell then there had to be a counterspell and Canterlot library was home to the biggest assortment of secret magical texts in Equestria. On top of that, Luna was the most experienced magic user in the world.

Dismissing the guard, Luna forced herself despite her exhaustion to pull an all-nighter and went to the library.

The real problem was that whoever had attacked her sister had possessed enough power to break through an alicorn's defenses. That also meant she would have to be on her guard at all times. There was a huge difference between her and her sister. The moment Luna would feel a strong presence near her would be the moment all her power would be unleashed to eradicate it. There was time for talking in peace and this wasn't it.

Her mind focused on one thing.

Who could be strong enough to successfully attack an alicorn, even by surprise? From the top to the bottom the possibilites were deities which meant Discord or somepony bearing the Elements and other alicorns. There was also the small chance of some anti-government organizations hiring a group of unicorns capable of pulling off some sort of tactical spell strike. No, that couldn't be the case. Something of such scale would leave enough magic hanging in the air for the unicorn guards to work with, same with any sort of high magical charge meaning the spell used was a complex one but not requiring too much power. That left open only the possibility of there being a single attacker who was a superb mage.

Luna arrived at the library and began looking through magical tomes for one focused on suspended animation, forced sleep and mind suppression.

Discord would be the first suspect then but his magic was something even he had difficulty of controlling fully. Had he attacked her sister then there would be enough clues everywhere around... possibly a part of the castle turning to jelly and whipped cream.

So... Element bearers. According to the witnesses there had been only one Bearer from the mirror world capable of seriously harming an alicorn and that one had been killed by Blazing Light. Her talk with Void after the invasion when he'd brought the Element of Magic back left her with the information that the other mirror Bearers had no reason or desire to continue and had been only forced to work with Sombra.

Void himself was out of question. Yes, he had a good reason to hate Celestia but he'd never acted on it. On top of that, Luna had to admit, if Void wanted her sister dead then she wouldn't have been able to stop him. His power was... irresistible. No, it couldn't have been him and the best clue was that Celestia was still alive. He might have been living with the most powerful magic user alive but his alicorn power inhibited Void from using complex magic in a way similar to her sister.

Now for the best mage in the world herself, Scream. She would be the prime suspect had it not been for the fact that all her desire to kill Celestia had been set aside by Void's release from Tartarus. Scream definitely wasn't a friend but in the same way, with Void finally back by her side, she had no real reason to be an enemy.

Luna flicked the pages of a book that dealt with exactly the symptoms the guard had described. The counterspell was easy enough and well explained. Luna could easily just return to the infirmary and release her sister.

The lunar princess yawned and slumped to the ground.

"You're looking for the too obvious solutions, your Highness," said Sharp Biscuit in an academic voice.

"Hey, send me back! I have to help my sister."

"All in due time. I am not holding you here, by the way. It was your mistake to go on for so long and fall asleep right as your goal was within reach."

"Fine. Still, every time I've been here you had something for me so I suspect you have an ulterior motive for bringing me here."

Sharp smiled.

"Indeed. I honestly agree with your assumption that this wasn't an attack from the mirror world but you forgot about two other alicorns."

Luna masked her chuckle as a snort.

"Cadance? No, that's just impossible. Not only is her power incomparable to ours but there is no possible reason she would have for attacking my sister."

"An alicorn of love living so close to the Crystal Heart having no power?" Sharp burst out laughing, "Silly Luna... Cadance might be the most powerful alicorn currently living in Equestria. Still, I agree with there being no real reason for her involving herself in this. Unfortunately, I wasn't talking about her being the real threat."

"You can't mean... Twilight Sparkle? No, just no. She loves my sister over anything."

"Love can turn sour very fast. Remember the time you princesses gave her your power to fight Tirek? That might have been a taste of power that tipped the scales."

"Twilight was never interested in power."

"Really?" Sharp facehoofed, "All that studying. All that hunting for ancient knowledge in your old castle and you still say that? She is the Element of Magic that got a sniff of alicorn power. The last thing she needs is to somehow steal a bit of Discord's chaos magic and she would become a god."

"You really believe she could... attack her mentor?"

"Celestia was attacked by somepony able to use very complex magic and yet she is still alive. An alicorn who knew their body would also know that a fall from that height wouldn't hurt even an unconscious one. Who is the youngest alicorn who might unconsciously be avert to hurting Celestia?"

"Twilight," Luna hung her head.

"Don't look like that. I am not saying she did it, I'm just saying she looks like the most likely suspect. There's also the possibility of her not being herself."

"What do you mean?"

"As you know, your sister sent her to see the Nightmare changeling queen who has... issues with you. She might feel it would be a good idea to take revenge for your deeds against her father by targeting your family."

"I need to call her back to Canterlot but Celestia didn't tell me where exactly Guiding's hive was."

"She might not come willingly anyway so writing to her might prove a mistake. Send the guards to find her. Wanted posters might be enough for her to notice and come back."

"Wouldn't it send the wrong message about her?"

"Not really. It's not like those would be Dead or Alive posters," Sharp grinned, "Just something along the lines of lost - come home, little lamb."

"That sounds like a good idea. Thank you for helping me this way."

"Any time, Luna," Sharp bowed.

Luna blinked. Why was she in the library again? Oh right, the search for a remedy for Celestia. There was nothing in this section so she decided to take a rest and try again when she wasn't so tired. After all, her sister wasn't in any immediate danger and was guarded by Canterlot Guard elite.

The lunar princess desperately needed sleep.

For Icy Gaze the day, or more likely the evening, started in a very similar way. Unlike the princess he was fresh as a daisy even after his last night's efforts and he jumped out of the bed as he heard the knocking on the library door downstairs. It sent a clear message that whoever the knocker was he didn't want to intrude but also wasn't going to walk away.

As much as the pegasus considered himself to be a hardened veteran he didn't consider himself being a killer. Still, if somepony had seen him carrying an unconscious Element bearer last night then he might have to fight his way out of the library. Hiding a thin lance, his weapon of choice, under his wing he trotted downstairs.

*Knock knock knock*

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming," he tried to sound as annoyed as possible at somepony bothering him when this place was obviously closed.

"Knock knock"

Apparently him reassuring the...

...guards outside caused them to resume knocking faster.

"This place is closed. Reshelving day- oh hello, officers!" Icy smiled innocently.

"Who are you?" the leading guard said bluntly.

"Frosty Stare, temporary assistant librarian. I take care of this place while the princess is away."

"Do you know where she went?"

"Eeerm," Icy put up his best impression of a nervous bookworm, sharply contrasting with his physique, "She left few days ago for some village called Pine Hills, no idea why."

"Thank you for the information, citizen. In the case she comes back tell her she is to immediately return to Canterlot. Or better yet, tell the guards to escort her."

"I'll be sure to do so, sir," Icy smiled, having no intention to visit the local guard post again.

Whether his charisma worked its magic with the guards or they just didn't want to bother with him anymore Icy wasn't going to question his luck. The armored ponies left him alone to think about the situation. The guards looking for the princess could mean two things - either his employer was dissatisfied with his performance and had other agents doing similar work or the guard orders were to protect the princess and the disappearance of the Bearer was now publicly known, at least to the right sort of public.

Nevermind that. The evening was coming and while Icy was averse to rushing things the guards were a sign that something was up and it was threatening either his reward or the success of his mission. That meant tonight he would have to take care of another bearer. The only pony remaining an easy or easier target was Rainbow Dash.

From reading the newspapers about Equestria Games Icy knew she was some sort of athlete excelling in aerial acrobatics. Trying to remember as much about her as possible, Icy made himself a late, very late, breakfast. Rainbow was slim and from the pictures in papers she didn't look overly muscular. All he could think of would be guesswork from scraps of information relayed by unreliable reporters but he had nothing to go on. His target didn't look like a bodybuilder which meant precisely nothing but at least it made sure Icy would win in contest of raw strength without a doubt. Unfortunately, such contest was something a pegasus could easily avoid and turn it into a chase. Now, Icy Gaze was sure he would win a stamina race and his large wings might give him an edge in long-distance flight but if the target managed to avoid getting caught immediately then she would get away with high probability and then everything would be over.

He cursed the orders not to harm the Bearers in any way. If only he could just clip her wing the entire thing would be so easy. Speaking of which, he should check on Fluttershy. Her random escape would also mean the end of his mission and setting guards on his back. Damn, her starving might also pose a problem later.

While buttering more sandwiches Icy got an idea he should try out. There was no reason for him being the bad guy here, right? The Elements should be in close relation with the crown so he just might have the right tools to distract them.

Humming thoughtfully, he opened the door to the cellar where Fluttershy was currently tied up.

"Mmmph mf!" the yellow pegasus began struggling as soon as the light from the hall penetrated the darkness of the storage cellar.

After walking down the entry stairs her captor turned the lights on.

"Shhh. I'm not gonna hurt you," Icy said in a matter-of-fact voice, "Now, once I untie the gag you aren't going to scream, right?"

"Mmmrpf!"

"I'll take that as yes. First of all, it might not be so obvious but I'm here to help," he presented the solar seal amulet, "Recognize this, girl?"

Fluttershy nodded after inspecting the item for a while. Seeing her stop struggling, Icy untied the gag and Fluttershy's front legs.

"Here, you must be hungry," he pushed the plate of food to the yellow pegasus.

"What is going on?" asked Fluttershy slightly more aggressively than Icy would expect.

"I'm not exactly sure but I was hired to keep you and the other Element bearers safe. The guards are looking for you for some reason. They left when I told them princess Twilight wasn't here, saying I should 'escort' her to the local prison as soon as I saw her."

"What? Why?"

"I have no idea, I just have to gather all of you and not let anypony hurt you."

"Alright, let's say I believe you. Who are you?"

"Frosty Stare, a free agent. Read this!" Icy pulled out the second letter from whoever his employer was, "I'll be killed if any of you get hurt."

The despair in his voice was enough for the soft-hearted Fluttershy to nod and for Icy to congratulate himself for a job well done.

"Can you untie me completely then?"

"Sorry, no can do. In all honesty, I don't trust you to trust me. I can leave the light on when I leave and bring you a book or something."

"Thanks, I guess. Can you bring me some fairy tales? I need to refresh my repertoire so I can tell them to my animals from memory."

"Sure thing. By the way, can you tell me something that would help me get to Rainbow Dash?"

"Why don't you just tell her what you told me?"

"What would you do if I just walked up to you and told you to follow me and get tied up in some cellar."

"If you put it like that..."

"Exactly."

"I'm sure if you explain she'll just-"

"I'll explain the situation to her when she's tied up here. Sorry but I'm not getting executed by having to accidentally harm one of you while chasing."

"Well, if there's no other way..."

Icy left and rummaged through the foal section of the library for anything about animals. Fortunately, happy little critters were the focus of most of them and he picked two books up and returned to his captive. Binding her front legs again but leaving her ungagged so she could at least turn the pages, Icy left the library.

This time he didn't have any solution or advantage. All the physical stats were in his favor outside of speed which meant he wasn't allowed to fail in his first strike. Planning every step an amateur might take in fighting him, Icy Gaze walked through Ponyville night. His desire to avoid flying in this frosty weather proved the right choice as on one of the street lights he spotted a poster with a picture.

Wanted, dead or alive:

Twilight Sparkle

For: Murder attempt aimed at princess Celestia.

"Holy balls!" Icy couldn't stop himself from cursing.

Something was going on and whoever hired him knew it would happen, making Icy Gaze responsible for ensuring the positive outcome of things.

That didn't sound right. Icy tore the poster off and rolled it up into his saddlebag. This thing actually might give him the leverage to get the first strike tonight. If he could suppose the guards had arrived this evening then not many ponies around would know about this yet.

Grinning, he now had just the right thing to catch Rainbow Dash off guard to strike the first blow.

Still, something about the entire thing smelled wrong. Mercenaries were very unlikely to get hired by the law abiding citizens so the second possibility was that Icy had been hired to make sure the Bearers don't get the protection they might need.

For a merc, though, the dilemma was nonexistent. He was doing what he was being paid for, no matter the end result. Yes, it was one of the aspects of his job he wasn't completely comfortable with but it was an important one.

The lights in the sky above him announced to everypony that the cloud house of Rainbow Dash was currently occupied and the owner was fully awake. For once this didn't present a problem.

*Knock knock*

"What's going on at this crazy hour?" a voice from behind the door asked.

"A personal message from princess Celestia to Rainbow Dash," Icy imitated a stern Royal Guard voice.

The door clicked and a blue face with rainbow mane peeked out...

"What does the prince-"

...just to get punched with the force of a sledgehammer.

Icy had to internally praise the mare for not getting knocked out but there was no time to stand there astounded so he jumped on her and pushed her to the ground. Before he could say anything he already had to shrug off few kicks to his sides. Thankfully, the blue pegasus mare was not in the position to pull a good blow off.

"Stop," Icy shifted his weight to Rainbow's windpipe, "struggling!"

Rainbow groaned and headbutted him weakly.

"I'm really from the princess. Stop messing around for one second and I'll prove it."

The movements from underneath him slowed down.

"Good," Icy was much bigger than Rainbow so his sitting on her was still enough of an obstacle and he pulled out the wanted poster, "Now THIS is what I'm here to prevent."

Rainbow's eyes went wide as she read the piece of paper.

"What's that?" she groaned.

"I have no idea," Icy pulled out the solar amulet and showed it to RD, "I've been hired by the princess personally to keep you and the other Bearers safe. Now, I'll slowly stand up and you will pack your things and follow me. Fluttershy is already at my place reading some fairy tales and told me where to find you. Understood?"

Rainbow nodded and Icy pulled his weight off her.

"I'll stay here. Grab only the important stuff because we have to go fast. The guards are already roaming through Ponyville."

With another nod the blue pegasus turned her back at Icy who grinned. Knocking somepony out from behind without seriously injuring them was infinitely easier than doing so against their will. With one blow to the back of her neck, Rainbow Dash was out like a light.

Turning all lights off, Icy closed the door and with another pegasus on his back flew through the sleet back to the library. These young and naive fillies were almost too easy to trick.

Twilight spent most of her day in Pine Hills by walking around. She wasn't worried about being randomly attacked by Guiding's changelings unless she tried to get back into the hive. What she was worried about was the letter she'd recieved from her mentor. She was smart enough to gather that the reason for her staying here wasn't just to find out about Guiding but to stay out of possible danger.

Still, the only thing that meant was that her mentor didn't believe in her and was right to do so. The only thing Twilight's 'diplomacy' achieved was insulting a changeling queen and making her even less friendly to Equestrian royalty than she'd been before.

The evening came and she was no closer to formulating her next step than in the morning. After her brush with Guiding Light she'd woken up back at the inn meaning the queen wasn't keen on having guards set on her. Threats wouldn't result in anything though and she wasn't sure what her current objective was anyway.

Perhaps she could try to undo the damage she'd caused? Blazing Light used to be a hero whom nopony knew aside from the princesses. His breaking the mirror Crystal Heart had stopped the first invasion and he'd been the sole reason for the princesses taking warm stance towards his daughter and her hive. Twilight had insulted that memory in the heat of the moment. Blazing's betrayal had been something completely unexpected and...

...mostly unexplained. Just like the ending of the second invasion that Twilight had spent hiding and trying to find a way to break the rift in the Everfree Forest.

If she looked at the events from a different angle then it just might have been possible that Blazing hadn't betrayed anypony. He might have known Sombra's goal all along and had played things just right to get close to him to stop him in the only place possible...

...and Luna had killed him for it.

Breathing heavily, Twilight let the book she was holding drop on the table. That would coincide with two things - his marefriend leaving the guard and disappearing into thin air and his daughter doing the same. The ones closest to him had refused to think of him badly no matter what.

Twilight had no real evidence to support that claim but it would nicely round up things that still remained a mystery after the invasion.

Leaving the inn, she headed to Shieldbreaker's house. His marefriend had helped her gain an audience once already and might be willing to let Twilight apologize.

The door opened, leaving surprised Shieldbreaker to wonder at another Twilight's visit.

"What is it, princess?"

"Is your Nightmare around? Errm, what's her name?"

"She's still thinking about it. They didn't really have names in their old world so I think Guiding Light is the only one who has got it," Shieldbreaker looked behind him "Honey, can you come here?"

The changeling came out of the kitchen wearing an apron. Twilight wanted to ask about changeling cooking but she was supposed to make friends, not enemies.

"What's up?" asked the Nightmare, "Oh, hello, princess!"

"Ehh, can you ask your queen to let me see her again? I made a huge mistake last time."

"Yeeeeah... you did," she nodded, "I think I can talk to the queen again but-"

"I want to apologize. What I said might or might not have been true but no side has enough hard arguments. Me badmouthing her dad was just a slander."

The Nightmare smiled.

"Okay, I'll help."

"That easy?"

"Yep. The first time Breaky saw me disguised as his passed marefriend he pummeled me really bad and I didn't understand what I did wrong. It took me a while of him not talking to me and even refusing the order to let me follow him around but I did so anyway without telling anypony-"

"I was really mad... memories are strange things," Shieldbreaker mumbled.

"-then I got attacked by some ponies who weren't exactly friendly to changelings in general. Nopony aside from the princesses and the guys who caught us on the train knew about us being in Canterlot at the time. I could have defended myself easily but I was afraid it would tarnish our reputation so I didn't."

"I couldn't just let them kick her to death."

"Why are you telling me this?" asked Twilight.

"Huh? No real reason. It's just that misunderstandings happen and the important thing is to solve them at least partially, not to avoid them."

Twilight had rarely found herself in a situation where magic or her friends couldn't help but sometimes she just had to put herself on the line. Sometimes she just had to start again while having nothing and try and try and try. She was a princess now...

...and all that meant was she was just a filly who had been chosen by a bunch of ancient jewels to do their bidding. Working on magic and knowledge had always been her way and now she was realizing that she had forgotten to work on herself.

Perseverance was the key and so was patience.

Twilight thanked the couple and returned to the inn. She would stay here as long as necessary and she would prove her worth as a pony, not as a Bearer. With renewed vigor she went to bed.

Veil Of Lies

"You cannot do that, princess," objected some wannabe important noble, one of many now gathered in the Canterlot castle throne room.

Sharp Biscuit growled.

Luna had been seeing him even while awake since last morning but was secretly glad that was the case. With the situation escalating she needed guidance on the fly, not delay incoming problems until next day. Yes, it was beginning to gnaw on her that her sanity might be wavering. Yes, it would mean immediate unrest if somepony else found out. Still, until everything was solved she appreciated the help she was getting.

"And what exactly is preventing us from doing so?" Luna asked.

"Equestrian law, your Highness. According to -"

Luna ignored the rest of the coordinates of the paragraph the pony was referring to.

"-In case something was to happen to princess Celestia then the council of high nobility would temporarily take over Equestrian affairs."

The princess of the Night was ready for this. She'd been worried about this since the attack but it was here sooner than expected. The worms in front of her wanted power. None of them had bothered to visit her sister in the infirmary wing or wished her good luck. All of them just wanted a piece of cake that was Canterlot.

"That law has already been amended, dear whoever-you-are. Now it falls to us to protect our subjects in case of emergency."

"You cannot do that!"

Sharp circled around the annoying noble.

This time without the correct title, my princess. This snake should burn.

Dark mist swirled around the pony who was levitated up by his neck.

"WE, THINE RIGHTFUL RULER, HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. OUR SISTER REWROTE THE LAW, YOU PATHETIC POWER-HUNGRY MONGREL."

The other nobles froze when they heard the Canterlot voice and then broke into hushed whispers as their spokespony got released from Luna's magical grip and slammed to the ground.

The double door to the throne room opened and a group of Nightguards walked to the princess.

"We have found a witness, princess. He is currently waiting for full interrogation down in the dungeons."

"Did he say anything?"

"Yes," the batpony guard just nodded and looked around at the gathered nobility.

Luna scowled.

"Wait for us outside," she turned back to the gathered ponies after the Nightguards left, "You ingrates! Our sister isn't even badly hurt and the vultures are already circling. Soon, though, we will wring the information from whoever saw the incident and once we know which one of you is behind this then we will make sure both you and your whole bloodline swing."

Enveloped in Luna's magic once again, the spokespony got thrown out of the throne room and the princess followed. To everypony inside the slamming shut of the door sounded like the swish of a guillotine.

Ignoring the groaning pony on the floor, Luna nodded at her guards.

"So?"

"He said he saw somepony flying above princess Celestia, somepony with both horn and wings."

Sharp, walking by Luna's side, sighed.

I was afraid of that. Either Twilight is mind-controlled by Guiding Light or she overpowered the queen, learned the power the Nightmare changelings possess and wants to use it to gain the power of all alicorns again.

"Any details?"

"No, he stopped talking when we arrived. The pony in question is a member of the Royal Guard."

"Both branches of the Guard are supposed to work together. I will interrogate him personally and possibly give him a little lesson regarding that subject."

The batponies grinned as one. They were law-abiding and dutiful guards but even for them being treated like lower class was difficult to deal with again and again.

"Wait outside," ordered Luna when the guards unlocked the cell door.

Uh oh, I smell trouble.

Luna couldn't begin talking to thin air in front of the guards so she just hummed, stepped inside and closed the door.

The white pegasus in front of her had been locked here for his own safety so he wasn't chained up or restrained in any way. He definitely didn't look dangerous, at least to an alicorn like Luna. Of course to a normal pony he would probably be a distinct threat with his physical condition and combat training but to her he might as well have been a little foal.

There was nothing even remotely wrong according to Luna's senses. Could Sharp have been wrong?

"What did you see, young guard? Any little piece of information is valuable."

The pegasus looked up from sitting on the cell bench and his eyes went wide.

BE CAREFUL!

Luna's senses suddenly saw it. The look in the guard's eyes, at least the shadow behind it. It was the feeling she knew, the one she would carry with her to the end of her life. It was Nightmare, THE Nightmare. Not some little changeling led by Guiding Light but the god itself.

Did the guard stand up?

Did he lunge at Luna?

Luna blinked.

The cell reeked of dark energy... and blood. Breathing raggedly, the lunar princess backed to the door and kicked it, her eyes never leaving the strewn tatters of flesh in some instances baked to the stone of the walls which were the only things remaining from the guard.

Upon her second kick the door opened and she jumped outside. One of the Royal Guards looked into the cell and couldn't hold the contents of his stomach in.

You can't trust them.

"Seize them!" Luna pointed at the Royal Guard responsible for keeping their 'friend' safe.

Fortunately, her Nightguards were loyal to the ends of Equestria and didn't hesitate to knock the gold-armored ponies out.

My elite will never betray you, princess. Too bad the same cannot be said for your sister's troops.

"Put these two into a cell. They might not be in league with the other one but we cannot risk anything."

The batponies nodded.

"What is going on, your Highness?"

An alicorn with the power of Nightmare. May heavens protect us.

"It is as I feared. Princess Twilight Sparkle attacked my sister to gain her power and set that Royal Guard as a trap for me. Somehow she is connected to the Nightmarish power that once possessed me. Order a search for her and anypony who might be helping her, general public should help so go deal with the newspapers."

The traitor guards.

"In addition to that, the Nightguard is to assume full command over the Royal Guard. If any of my sister's troops have problem with it then they are free to take a paid vacation, I have no need for those who would hesitate to protect Equestrian order."

We need to prevent the possibility of your guards being attacked in the streets. The nobles have their own armed forces and we don't know how deep the Royal Guard corruption goes.

The Nightguards saluted and left to fulfill Luna's orders.

What about the Element bearers? If the Nightmare is possessing Twilight then they might not want to use their power to defeat her.

"Then it is my duty to take the Elements myself and do what they and my sister did for me. I will try to cleanse the corruption from Twilight and if it proves impossible then she will be banished."

Kill her.

"If necessary. She will not touch my sister again."

Luna walked through the castle to her room, ignoring the angry voices spreading in its halls. There will be those trying to stop her. The same ponies would spread rumors about her and it might put those loyal to her in danger.

Even so long after her return, Luna had very small amount of allies. The only thing that meant, though, was that she treasured them more for it and would go far to protect them.

On the balcony of her room she gathered her magic power.

Shadows descended on Canterlot, cast by black clouds melding together to cover the city. The overcast sky should give the Nightguards an advantage over anypony trying to attack them in the gloom.

Luna chuckled to herself.

"The night will last... until my sister gets better and Twilight burns for her treachery."

Icy Gaze eyed his two captives. He had gone overboard with forcefully capturing Rainbow Dash and it had taken her until the evening to wake up. His situation now became dangerous. Suddenly, there were two ponies who could help each other get out but for some reason the cellar door was incredibly sturdy, almost similar to the one door he hadn't been able to open yet. His best bet, though, was to keep his captives uncertain about his goal. Yes, the more he went over his current situation the more uncertain he was himself but then every time his mind returned to the other half of his reward.

He was slightly worried. Something had happened this morning in Canterlot and the black clouds had been visible throughout the entire day, keeping Icy thinking it was somehow connected to his mission. It wasn't a big deal though. The best thing he could do now to ensure his success was talking to his captives.

Unlocking the cellar door, he looked down before walking inside just in case the ponies were trying to ambush him. Shockingly, they weren't although Rainbow Dash was staring daggers at him. Icy balanced the plate with sandwiches in his mouth and walked downstairs.

"I hope the sandwiches are enough, I'm not good at cooking."

"MHMMAHRF!"

"Fluttershy, did you explain things to your friend?"

"Well, I don't know too much so..."

Icy sighed. He'd hoped Fluttershy would soften her friend up for him but apparently that wasn't the case. Untying Rainbow's gag, he had to retract his legs quickly as she bit at them. He scratched his head.

"Yeah, sorry about knocking you out but I couldn't risk anything."

"Wait till I get out of these ropes. I'll show you the meaning of pain!" ranted Rainbow.

Icy facehoofed. They weren't skilled. They weren't aware of their situation. They were just fillies who had no idea about their limits. Still, all that meant they were easy to manipulate.

"Alright, I'm sure you trust me even less than when I knocked on your door last night. The thing is I don't care. I'm supposed to keep you out of harm's way and I'm gonna do it whether you like it or not."

"You call this safe? My eyes are still threatening to fall out of my head."

"You have a reputation of being stubb- tough. I couldn't afford to pull punches. Perhaps I was wrong?" Icy ended on a thoughtful note supposed to take a stab at Rainbow's confidence.

"Erm, well... you were right. I would have totally kicked your flank otherwise."

"I thought so," Icy grinned and turned to Fluttershy, "Can you please tell your friend what I told you? To be honest, I don't know much more anyway and I have to think of a way to get the others here."

Fluttershy nodded and looked at Rainbow's face caked with dried blood.

"Could-could you bring me some bandages and wet cloth?"

"Yeah, there's a first aid kit upstairs. By the way, if you didn't believe me before take a look at this," Icy showed Fluttershy the wanted poster.

"That can't be true!" the yellow pegasus gasped.

"I doubt it is," said Icy reassuringly, "Still, the guards have already posted these all over Ponyville. If you want to think about how to help your Bearer friend then wait until everypony else is here. Princess Twilight is in the village called Pine Hills and will probably be ambushed when she returns. Try to think of a way for us to prevent that. She might be just money for me but she is your friend."

"How can we know we can trust you?" asked Rainbow, a bit too aggressively considering her being bound and lying on the floor.

"You can't but take it like this - if I wanted you dead you couldn't have stopped me. If I wanted ransom I wouldn't have to get all of you because I don't get bonus for bulk sale. If that isn't enough you'd soon find out that the posters are real because I'm sure EVERYPONY in this little town now knows about them and so will the next Bearer I bring here."

Fluttershy looked uncertain but her hesitation was enough to infect Rainbow Dash and undermine her desire to get out of the cellar as soon as possible. With their thoughtful looks in his back, Icy left the food down there, brought the first aid kit and sat down at the kitchen table to eat his dinner and consider his next step.

There was only one bearer left who wasn't accompanied by ponies and that was Rarity. Getting her should be fairly simple if what Pinkie Pie had told him was correct. The real problem lay in the fact that her disappearance would undoubtedly get noticed quickly and might make the capture of the last two impossible. Unfortunately, the same was true for capturing any of the others.

Fine then, what if he got lucky and the best case scenario in which nopony noticed Rarity was missing followed?

Applejack might be possible to capture because she was a farm worker, right? Icy had never even bothered understanding the workings of such place because deep down he was a city foal despite spending most of his adult life in fortresses and deserts. Still, she had to go milk cows and feed them or something and ponies usually did those things alone... probably... possibly... maybe.

Pinke Pie had to be the last target. Living in the middle of Ponyville and surrounded by other ponies, her disappearance would set guards to swarm the streets even more than right now.

Truth be told, Icy didn't really have a choice... or did he?

He grinned deviously and ran back up to where the living room with some clothes was. Rummaging through princess Twilight's possessions, he was looking for a piece of clothing that looked as posh as possible and just might fit him. It wasn't as stupid idea as it might look on first glance. Twilight Sparkle, while a mare, was also an alicorn and thus taller and slightly heavier built than normal ponies. Still, her wardrobe was way too small for somepony of Icy's size.

He re-thought his plan quickly and stopped looking for a jacket or something similar because there was no chance of anything fitting over his muscular chest would be found in Twilight's room. Instead, his eyes located a different target - an amazingly well-decorated dress that just might, in the right frame of mind, fit him in case he was a stallion who... preferred the intimate company of other stallions. After all, Icy Gaze's features would be more commonly described as beautiful rather than handsome.

Stuffing the dress inside his saddlebag, he tried to remember every single detail about Canterlot nobility he'd heard in low-tier taverns, the only places he knew from the city.

There was one more thing he wanted to know so he took a little detour through the town. Evening or not, he should get to Carousel Boutique before closing time. The situation in Ponyville was calm enough. There were ponies strutting everywhere around despite there being at least one wanted poster every two streets. The important thing was that the posters were aimed only at princess Twilight, not at her friends which made Icy think he wasn't working for whoever had orchestrated all of this.

Normally, he wouldn't bother trying to think about his employer but this mission was different from usual - protect shipment of X from point A to point B, kill all Cs trying to stop you. His targets were vital for security of Equestria and, if rumors were to be believed, the entire world which meant that his gathering them might bring forth a threat that would make all his money useless. Icy had travelled through a rather large part of the world and knew about dragons, three-headed dogs, monsters about which the doomsayers ranted. Things like those had had an effect on a growing pegasus and had added their weight to his current state of mind.

Carousel Boutique came to view and with it his third target's silouhette in the yellow light coming out of the window. Steadying his nerves and ignoring the 'closed' sign, Icy knocked on the door.

"Come back in the morning, please, I'm done for today," called a singsong voice from the inside.

"Erm, sorry to bother you, miss Rarity, but I am in desperate need of an alteration. I can pay handsomely for your effort."

The hoofsteps from the inside came closer and Icy puffed up his chest, putting up an expression of somepony normally confident beyond belief but currently having to meekly accept the help of somepony else. His looks were the most important asset right now.

"I'm afraid I can't help you right-whoa!"

Icy, stomping his hooves nervously in the snow, patted himself mentally.

"Come in, come in! Erm, mister..." continued Rarity.

Yes, she was still young and had yet to reach the bloom mares of his age presented but still the white unicorn with purple mane and sky-blue eyes made him look her up and down.

"Frosty Stare, I'm sorry to bother you this late but your reputation precedes you," Icy bowed politely, "I would trust no store in Canterlot, not after their failure with this."

He pulled out Twilight's dress and immediately noticed he might have made a mistake when Rarity narrowed her eyes.

"Where did you get this?" she backed few steps away.

Icy should have known somepony with such a good eye for design would recognize her friend's dress... possibly one she had made herself. How to get out of this?

Somepony with such a good eye for design... would also go livid if she found out about a fake being sold elsewhere.

"A design shop in Canterlot offered me this but messed up the measurements and it ended up too small for my size."

"This is... for you?" Rarity's suspicious gaze turned into one of sheer disappointment.

"Yes. I personally don't think it would suit me but my coltfriend loves the decor and colo- palette."

The unicorn was a professional though and her instincts prevailed. All that remained was to make her turn her back to Icy.

"Nonono, I'm sure the scheme would compliment your astonishingly shiny coat and long mane well enough."

"So you think you can fix it?"

"Fix it? No," said Rarity and Icy sighed, "This is way too small for you but I can make you a new one. How long will you be staying here in Ponyville?"

Should he sound posh or humble?

"This quaint town charmed me, I must admit. Living in Canterlot is sometimes so tiring with all the galas and garden parties."

"You're a noble?" asked Rarity in disbelief.

"A third son of one which means I'm entitled to getting some property someday but I earn my living as a mercenary. I've recently returned from the Griffon Empire and I want to rest for few weeks," lied Icy his ass off while Rarity was measuring him.

"Few weeks? What about your... coltfriend?"

"He knows about my life but he still has to decide whether we're going to be a thing. In the unfortunate case of him being unable to deal with me leaving for long periods of time then I'll have to... I don't know."

"There's plenty of mares- oops, sorry." said Rarity, spending far too much time around Icy's hindquarters.

"I think I made the wrong first impression. I, let's say, swing both ways. No need to caution your words around me."

The hopeful gasp from Rarity and the stopping of clicking of the tape measure made Icy carefully look back. The unicorn mare was staring at his body, completely ignoring his face, and mumbling to herself while giggling softly. To her, the possibilities of a stallion willing to model a completely new style of fashion was akin to going to heaven.

Soon after, with a quick buck of his hind legs, Icy shut the dressmaker down.

With Rarity hoisted on his back, the mercenary left Carousel Boutique.

"Hey, mister Canterlotian!" a cheery voice interrupted his way home.

"HYAGH!"

"What'cha doing?" the pink earthpony responsible for his success up until now was bouncing around him.

"Uhm, well," Icy was at a loss. Even his head wasn't quick enough to explain why he had an unconscious pony on his back.

"You've visited Rarity, I see," Pinkie smiled and nudged Icy conspiratorially, "Owwwww, she's sleeping. Had an evening out together?"

"No no no, nothing like that. She... she's just tired herself out while measuring me up for a new suit at my place-"

"Riiiiight," Pinkie's smile turned wider.

"I didn't want to bother her this late but she wouldn't take no for an answer."

"Mhm," the pink pony began bouncing away and winked at him, "Don't tire her out too much next time."

"Celestia's mercy..." muttered Icy when she was out of view.

He was incredibly lucky this time. Hopefully, the remaining two bearers wouldn't be too difficult.

Icy grinned to the night. Nothing was easy and if it looked that way then he was overlooking something.

The ex-guard nibbled on his cereal. Yesterday, his changeling marefriend had failed to negotiate an audience with Guiding Light and he'd had to turn princess Twilight away at the door.

Shieldbreaker's breakfast remained uneaten.

His eyes went over the main article the title of which didn't make sense, it couldn't make sense.

A hostile takeover by Twilight Sparkle

There wasn't any concrete evidence in the article but the general gist was that princess Celestia had been attacked few days ago by the purple princess temporarily living in the town inn. The timeframe of the crime was off though. Princess Twilight had been in Pine Hills at the time of the attack. Granted, Shieldbreaker had very little knowledge of magic and Twilight's prowess was sort of a myth connected to her being the Element of Magic but he was very doubtful she could have done it.

"Honey?" he called out to his marefriend.

"Yes?" she poked her head through the door.

"Is it possible to teleport from here to Canterlot?"

"Erm," she turned her head from side to side, "You're talking to me, right? There isn't any mage around here, laughing at me while invisible, is there?"

"Well, I though you changelings knew about magic and stuff."

"Maybe changelings from your world but our abilities aren't exactly magic as you ponies understand it. The firstborn is the only one of us who knows at least little magic."

"Firstborn?"

"Queen Guiding Light. She was born of the first clutch Blazing Light was forced to create by Nightmare Moon. The rest of us are from different hatchings over the years."

"Oh," Shieldbreaker blushed.

"Hmm?"

"You mean that if we... I mean the two of us... somewhere down the line... decided to..."

"You're thinking about a foal?"

"I know we've been together only for a while. It just surfaced and I realized I've never talked about it with... you know who."

"Heh, I know about it even less than you. I grew up, I ate ponies, that was all. I have no clue how the entire thing works. Why don't we just keep experimenting?" the changeling stuck out her tongue, "What was the teleport thing, by the way?"

"I think something is going on in Canterlot. Read this," Shieldbreaker gestured towards the wallpaper and let his marefriend read it in peace. It took her a while with Breaky scratching her behind the ears.

"Do you think she did it and ran away?" she asked after finishing reading the article.

"No way," Shieldbreaker shook his head, "I've known the filly for over five years as she kept studying under the princess and it's simply impossible... or at least highly improbable. The timeframe is off anyway. Unless she teleported to Canterlot from here and back then somepony is trying to frame her. Still, it wouldn't hurt asking your queen about magic, right?"

"I'll go right away. Do you want me to get anything on the way back?"

"We're running out of milk."

"Okay. Good luck watching over the logging camps, Breaky."

"Thanks, honey."

With a kiss being demanded from him, Shieldbreaker gave his marefriend more than just breakfast.

Underneath Pine Hills, Guiding Light's mind was suddenly filled with a surprising question. The remaining Nightmare changelings weren't too keen on using the hive mind for communication unless absolutely necessary. That little aversion remained from the times when tapping into the vast reserve of predators roaming the world had meant revealing oneself to the darkness seeping from Nightmare Moon herself. The more practical reason in this world was the energy drain it meant for both the sender and the recipient of the message.

The sender in question was on the way to the catacombs being remade by the few Nightmares not working with the villagers. Any strain of changelings was heavily resistant to aging as long as the love, or fear, kept coming so Guiding wasn't bothered with the slow pace of making this place a home.

As for the question regarding long-range teleportation... it was possible, probably. Guiding wasn't a mage despite using a dimensional travelling spell repeatedly. That spell itself had been modified to be usable by somepony with almost no magic capabilities at all, namely her father. Guiding's short time of studying magic in her world hadn't given her anything to answer the question in any definite way. Still, from what she knew the teleportation of such scale would either require a stable point of power, such as a portal with entrances on both sides, or an insane amount of power, such as the Element of Magic might possess.

Guiding sighed. Mulling over it gave her the result that such a feat was possible but improbable.

"It's even worse than Breaky thought, Guiding," the Nightmare tore Guiding away from exploring her memory.

"Start from the beginning. I don't really have a clue what you're talking about aside from some obscure question about magic limits."

Breaker's marefriend presented a newspaper and a poster with Twilight's face on it.

"Two guards are in the town, spreading these all around the place."

"I see."

Contrary to the changeling in front of her, Guiding skimmed through the article fast enough. All of the smaller Nightmares in the hall held their breath while their queen was lost in thought. A mental command rang through the hive network to call the right Nightmare back to the hive.

"Good job informing me about this," Guiding nodded, "You can go home. I'll deal with it."

She was left alone in the the room lit by blue crystals glowing dimly from sapping her magic. The drones were hard at work, chiseling the walls of other caverns to make them look presentable. Guiding wasn't too keen on making her kind spread as she had seen the devastation brought by Nightmare changelings with her own eyes but she still wanted some sort of future and if this place was to become the main hive then it couldn't look as if a bunch of savages lived here.

Not even an hour was enough for the changeling in question to come at its queen's call.

"You're the one princess Twilight took to study under her for a while."

The Nightmare drone's mind returned to the days of infinite list-checking and days spent by reading.

There was no need to even nod.

"I don't want to do this to you but I need you to disguise yourself as her."

The drone nodded, it knew what the order meant. Disguising herself as the princess would leave her incapable of changing into anypony else. That in itself wouldn't be a huge problem as the villagers were warming up to the Nightmares more and more but deep down all of them wanted to pair up with somepony and it would have to find a pony interested in the princess or its changeling form.

In contrast to normal changelings, it didn't change in a burst of green flames but just with green sparks coursing through its chitin slowly turning into purple fur. Wings grew, horn lengthened and with some additional alteration and tips from Guiding the final form was solid enough to make anypony sure that in front of them stood the alicorn of Magic, at least anypony not used to seeing her too close.

"Find the two guards and lead them here. We'll prepare an ambush and find out what's going on," ordered Guiding.

Fake Twilight left the hive with Guiding taking part of her mind as an observer. The job of the other Nightmares was to return underground to overpower the guards without the need for violence or forced sleep.

It was easy. The two guards, a unicorn and a batpony, almost jumped when they saw their target walking around them, oblivious to their presence. They jumped literally when Twilight got close but she avoided them thanks to the hunter instincts and combat experience the Nightmares had in abundance. Using the drag of larger wings and the energy reserve overflowing with the growing affection of the villagers, the disguised changeling was able to slip through every attempt at catching her and successfully led the two guards to an abandoned house and through the cellar to the cave system.

Staying always almost within their reach, the pair hunting Twilight was too focused on her to recognize the danger of Guiding stunning both of them shortly with two blasts from her horn. The magic was weak but the momentary lack of concentration was just the thing the Nightmares lying in ambush needed to immobilize the armored ponies just with their weight.

With the guards sitting on the ground, surrounded by changelings flashing their fangs menacingly, Guiding took her place by fake Twilight's side and their attention shifted to both of them. When the alicorn's coat sparked with green and the disguise was dropped the guards growled, a look of understanding in their eyes.

"So it was you!" snarled the batpony, "Princess Luna was right all along."

"Concerning what?" asked Guiding, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't try to deny it!" spat the other guard out, "Your changeling impersonated princess Twilight and attacked princess Celestia!"

Guiding grinned.

"I have no quarrel with the solar princess and neither does any of my Nightmares have the power to harm her. I hate to break it to you, guys, but you goofed up. The fake Twilight you hunted used her disguise for the first time today and that was just to get both of you here before you found the real princess and made a big mistake."

"Say what you want," snorted the unicorn, "There's no reason to trust you, changeling."

Guiding wrapped her mouth around the unicorn's horn and watched him begin to shake and pray silently. She knew he'd keep waking up hearing the scraping of her teeth dragging over it in his head for days to come.

"Don't tempt me," when her lips left the horn she snapped her mouth and both guards froze, "Now, let's start again. What happened in Canterlot to make you come here? I don't care if you believe I have nothing to do with it or not but you will tell me everything. I have enough time to get it out of you."

Having their hind legs glued to the floor with green goo, the guards still had enough freedom to make themselves comfortable as all Nightmares apart from fake Twilight, Guiding herself and one other left.

The unicorn started the story.

"Princess Celestia finally recovered from wounds sustained before the second invasion and was released from the infirmary. Later that day she was attacked by somepony who the only witness identified as an alicorn. Unicorn guards investigating the event found trace amounts of aura left behind by your kind from which princess Luna deduced princess Twilight was under your control and attacked her sister."

"Hmmmmm," Guiding's mind raced and didn't like the results, "Princess Twilight was here in Pine Hills that evening. Even if she was able to teleport back to Canterlot then she wouldn't have had enough power to just take princess Celestia down."

The unicorn kept glaring daggers at her but the batpony shifted uncomfortably.

"Erm," the thestral raised his hoof, "If what you're saying is true then who could do it?"

"You can't seriously believe her!" the unicorn facehoofed.

"You... you don't know the rest," the other guard bit his lips, "The witness was later interrogated by princess Luna who said he'd attacked her. He was a Royal Guard and the entire thing was the reason for princess Luna's giving the leadership over the Guard to us."

"Was?" asked the unicorn.

"Yes... was. He's dead now. Princess Luna killed him in self-defense... or so she claimed. The unicorns later felt the same... thing in the cell as they had during princess Celestia's investigation. The dead guard was assumed to have been under the influence of Nightmare changelings as well. Some sort of a sleeper agent to put princess Luna in danger."

"So why are you playing her game?" the unicorn pointed at Guiding who was slowly grinding her teeth and scowling more and more.

"You haven't seen the cell, mate. I've been there when princess Luna defended Canterlot during the second invasion and I know what kind of magic she used. I've seen heads explode and lightning scatter her enemies but the... mess she made in the cell was something else."

"You think you know the repertoire of the best magic user in Equestria?" the unicorn snorted.

"No... I just know that the teeth marks on the body didn't belong to anything I've ever seen. It was as if a bear or something with mouth full of sharp teeth ripped chunks of flesh out of him while he was still alive... the few seconds he was alive after princess Luna entered the cell."

"How do you how long he was alive?"

"She was inside not even a minute and that time was mostly... him screaming."

"Enough," Guiding said calmly, or at least pretending to be calm, "Tell me, did the body have black marks on it with rotten flesh around? As if-"

The batpony leaned away from her, eyes wide.

"-that part of the body has been dead for few days?" he finished her question.

Guiding Light screamed.

Gears Are Moving

The official business was over for the day and the usual influx of tradesponies and recently more and more angry nobles faded. For the only princess currently capable of serving her country the official and unofficial duties were far from over though. Luna was tired way more than when Sharp first had begun appearing. At least he'd been spending every waking hour by her side recently.

The princess knew why she was completely exhausted. Having to protect the dreams and minds of her subjects during the night and dealing with all requests concerning law changes and governing the land was taking its toll even on an alicorn. There was still time before the sundown so Luna was left sitting on the throne without the energy to even walk back to her room. She could rest for about an hour or so, then raise the moon and begin her dreamwalking. Resting her head against the padding of the throne, Luna's body softened and her breathing slowed.

"Your Highness!"

Why did everything beginning with somepony yelling at her mean bad things? Couldn't somepony just shout at her to finally get a surprise serving of cake?

You'll be able to rest as long as you want when all this is over, Luna.

"Erm, princess Luna?"

The polite coughing made her slowly leave the clouds of haze in her head. When was all this going to stop? Was this some kind of ironic punishment for cursing the damned unicorn traitor, some cruel joke of fate?

With a resigned sigh at the entire world going against her, Luna opened her eyes just to see a duo of Nightguards standing at attention.

"Yes, my little thestrals?"

"We bring bad news. A group of Nightguards was attacked about two hours ago. All of them are currently in the infirmary. Their condition is stable but will not be able to return to active duty for at least three weeks."

"That long? Who attacked them?"

"A group of drunk citizens. They were angry because the clouds over Canterlot made some of them unable to work in their greenhouses or something. To be honest, the entire thing is sort of breaking the morale of the city."

There will be weak-willed troublemakers in any crisis. The important thing is not to give in. Some crazy farmers can go plow themselves, heh.

Luna had to agree. The guards were doing their jobs and were being punished for it by the citizens they were supposed to protect. As much as Luna would love at the moment to give the attackers the taste of lawless Canterlot shrouded in darkness she couldn't just seek revenge, that wouldn't help matters in any way.

"Captain," Luna assumed royal stance, "Relay this order! From now on the Nightguard is authorized to use deadly force against any armed attackers. It is, of course, preferrable not to do that but they will not face a trial for doing so."

It was difficult to tell whether the batpony was relieved or terrified but Luna had no doubt he was loyal and would do as he was told.

"Dismissed, captain!" she ended the audience and was left alone in the throne room.

The chances of her falling asleep again were pretty slim and she had to raise the moon soon anyway. She could do it on the way to her chambers and just with a flick of her horn the sun gradually ended its rule over the day and the moon assumed its rightful position. Throughout Canterlot, street lamps flicked to life.

Luna entered her room and almost crumbled on the bed before noticing there was a letter with her sister's seal on it. She rubbed her eyes. On second glance the seal was hers. Cursing the lack of rest, she unrolled the parchment.

I write to report progress on finding the unicorn and batpony traitors. Choking Darkness is currently working in the Ponyville Mental Asylum as a receptionist and an assistant and has recently bought a house here. The ownership of the house is partially hers and partially her husband Blazing Light's.

I haven't seen anypony resembling a bronze changeling but the unicorn Choking Darkness lives with spots exactly the same color scheme and according to the guards at the castle Blazing used to present himself as a unicorn during his short stay at the castle.

Their address is: Three Seasons street 19.

P.S.: Mayor Mare will do ANYTHING for money.

P.P.S.: Still working on the Bearers. Two remain.

Luna smiled. The smile was full of satisfaction and completely empty of joy. She had no reason to punish the runaway Nightguard but her helping the traitor was putting her slowly beyond help. Tomorrow she would send her elite to capture Blazing Light. Luna didn't want him dead... right now. He had to be captured because his ability to cheat death was uncanny. Still, there would be nothing to save him once Luna could restrain him and finally end his threat to Equestria personally.

The princess glanced at the parchment again in confusion. What was the thing about the Bearers?

Princess, you are hardly standing.

"I have to stay strong for my sister," Luna dropped the letter on the table and turned to imaginary Sharp.

I have a proposition. Why don't you take a night off, just for today.

"I can't. There are things lurking in the shadows that wait for me dropping my protection from ponies."

How likely are they to be waiting day after day? Especially because you haven't missed a night since your return.

"I'm not sure I can risk it."

Sharp yawned and smiled when Luna mirrored it.

Take it like this - a night of rest will allow you to protect them further. Just one night should keep you going, right? I might help with the relaxation anyway.

"Oh?" Luna raised her eyebrows.

Well, you know. When you play with yourself it's mostly in your head... I'm in your head. You sort of liked me, him.

"You know what? One night won't hurt, right?"

Good, Luna. Now just relax and let me make you feel good.

Luna spread herself on the bed and let the imaginary stallion take his place above her.

Good... open your body and your mind for me. All this will blow over soon.

Icy Gaze relaxed. He'd been able to finish the first part of his mission and regarded he deserved a little break. Of course, it wouldn't be him if even his free time wasn't dedicated to work.

Sipping a cup of hot cocoa in some half-forgotten cafe, he flirted aimlessly with the waitress. It was pretty obvious to the slightly chubby mare that her gorgeous customer was just making smalltalk which involved a steady stream of compliments but she didn't mind. Neither did Icy when she swayed her hips just a little too visibly whenever she refilled his drink.

What might have surprised the waitress would have been the fact that Icy wasn't lying at any point. He'd had his share of mares as the status of a lance for hire, his abundance of stories from lands far away and, most importantly, his looks and fairly young age had sparked interest in ponies from all levels of society. Cheap whorses, expensive ones, barmaids used to the company of farmers and even noblemares intending on 'slumming' a little had been his companions at one point in time or other. He'd felt the muscular flesh of soldier mares and the silky coats of high society but deep in heart Icy preferred the down-to-earth mares, the ones with tight muscles from hard day's work covered with jiggly flubber from solid village food in large servings.

Yes, he might have overdone it with the 'eyes sparkling like the rarest gems on princess Celestia's crown' but in his defense it wasn't the eyes he was looking at at the time. All that was a dance between somepony looking for a pleasant scenery to watch while thinking and an another pony desperately hoping to get something she wasn't used to from local colt population.

All in all, in the end Icy didn't have to pay as much for his entire stay as he'd expected and left a generous tip. Words were a currency as much as gold was in certain situations.

Filled with energy from the overdose of sweets, Icy decided to spend the afternoon in a more productive fashion. Let's just say that he suddenly found an interest in the daily rhytm of farmyard work and wanted to see a guide without bothering him or her to be exact.

Finding the orange filly in question took some time as after about an hour of freezing his rump off in the orchard Icy realized that, no matter what, there weren't any greenhouses too far away from the Apple family barn and the apple trees were heavy only with snow. Yes, Icy didn't know apples didn't grow in winter. As somepony used to being able to buy them whenever and wherever he couldn't be sure that there wasn't some kind of snow apple, right?

His cold and wet hooves disagreed with him as he trudged through the enormous orchards trying to find his way around after getting lost and wandering randomly. He didn't know whether to be happy or annoyed when he finally found the road leading from Ponyville to Sweet Apple Acres after darkness had already fallen.

Icy knew that the longer he waited the higher the chance of other Bearers finding out about the disappearance of three of them was but today he just wanted to observe and find about the schedule of Applejack in order to pick her off while alone. There had to be some helpers on the farm and the last thing Icy wanted was to have to fight some hoes armed with ponies, ehm... the other way around.

The problem was that there wasn't a good vantage point anywhere around. Actually, there were quite a few of them but all revolved around him being a grizzly bear immune to frost. Evaluating all possibilities, Icy was forced to take a risk. Muddling his hoofsteps left behind in the snow by swishing his tail, he walked towards the huge barn where presumably farm animals were being kept.

Cursing the inevitable crunching, Icy thanked whatever deity was watching out for him when he got inside without being spotted. Thinking back, all his steps hadn't been too risky as most of the solitary bearers had been averse to going outside and the same was true right now. Why would a family leave house in the middle of winter outside of the necessity of taking care of the animals.

That, of course, meant...

The barn door behind him creaked once again.

...that somepony would have to feed the animals periodically.

Jumping behind the closest bale of hay, Icy regretted not carrying his lance with him.

The hoofsteps passed his hiding place and through a hole between the stacks he saw an orange coat. Patience was a virtue in a situation like this but his target being literally few steps away from him was too good to pass up. Still, he kept listening. Timing his steps to coincide with hers and not reveal him, Icy stopped hiding and almost breathing as he approached the eartpony who was busy talking to the animals she was feeding.

"AJ, you forgot the special mix Granny Smith prepared for the pigs. You know, the one laced with special cider to keep them warm," yelled a voice from outside, causing Icy to freeze.

Unfortunately, also causing Applejack to turn around.

Lie? Attack? Run?

"Sorry to bother you, miss, but I got lost in the snow and when I saw your barn I-"

"Right," Applejack turned back to her pigs and nodded at Icy to come closer.

He didn't realize his mistake, not until her hind legs hit him in the chest with the force of a sledgehammer.

"I talked to Pinke, mister 'Canterlotian'," said AJ over Icy's groaning and coughing, "I also tried to visit Fluttershy cause Winona caught a cold. And... one might be surprised... I actually enjoy visiting Rainbow Dash from time to time to mess around."

Icy rolled aside as a stomp raised a cloud of dust where he'd been lying a split-second earlier.

"Where are my friends?" another stomp.

"Safe," Icy ignored the pain in his ribs and jumped back on all four legs. He was hoping to either enrage Applejack to make her more vulnerable or to calm her down to lie his way out of this.

"Really?" AJ hesitated.

"Yes," he took a step backwards, "It has something to do with the wanted posters. I was supposed to gather all of you to keep you safe from whatever is happening."

"And what is that?"

"I... don't know, sorry," Icy waved his front legs, a gesture that might put him in danger but also presenting he wasn't a threat.

"Do you know I'm the Element of Honesty?" AJ suddenly grinned and an another blow sent Icy flying through the air.

"Good job, Mac," Applejack waved at a red earthpony of almost Icy's height but massively bulkier than the pegasus.

"Element of Honesty my ass!" growled Icy Gaze, standing again, "You little bitch covered his closing in by talking."

"Hey, I didn't say a single lie. GET HIM, Mac!"

They were civillians, that was their mistake.

Even with what felt like a broken ribcage Icy was able to avoid the blows of the behemoth called Big Mac. The problem lay in the mare who was attempting to bind him with a rope. Backing away, Icy accidentally kicked a rake, at least accidentally at first. When he turned his head for a brief second Big Mac charged immediatelly and stopped abruptly when the rake, kicked under his hooved, slapped him straight in the face in a classic comedic fashion. The crunch and the stallion's disoriented slam into the ground was less funny though.

Jump, grab the rake, break the handle by hitting the concussed stallion right where the spine connects with the skull - all those were supposed to knock Big Mac out but even after the attack that griffons invented to kill basically anything that moves he was still alive and groaning. Icy jumped on his back with the cast iron part of the rake in his hooves.

"Now, girl," he turned to Applejack, "You're the Element of Honesty or whatever so listen carefully. I'm not supposed to hurt you or your bearer friends. I will be executed if something happens to you. In other words, I need to keep you safe. BUUUT... that doesn't, in ANY way, relate to this guy. So you can either come with me or I will jam this into his throat and then take you by force."

Icy wasn't lying. Well, he wasn't telling the complete truth but the words leaving his mouth could pass any sort of scrutiny.

"What are you gonna do with me?" asked AJ, still swinging her rope.

"Bring you to your friends, that's all."

Once again, absolute truth.

Applejack's eyes darted from Icy to Mac, then she hung her head and dropped the rope.

"Good," Icy punched Big Mac to keep him dazed a while longer, "You head her, big guy, and you heard me. Don't try to follow me or rat me out. I know where you live and I can easily change at least one part of that sentence."

Picking the rope himself, Icy ordered:

"Lie down, girl. Legs in the air."

Growling AJ did so, ready to kick at any moment in the case she had misread the pegasus but he didn't try to force himself on her or anything. In fact, AJ didn't feel anything unpleasant while he was busy tying her legs together. The only thing she could deduce was that her captor was very good with knots.

"Everything okay up there?" Icy asked after he'd hoisted her on his back, "I don't have a gag on me but don't make this more difficult than it's been already."

Creeping through the shadows, Icy left the barn with another one of his targets secured. Just one more and then the easy part of his mission would be over. With his last target actually being slightly friendly towards him, it should be easy to lure Pinkie out and capture her. After that, though, he would have to think of a way to take out an alicorn archmage who might or might not be ready for him without seriously harming her.

"Think of the money, Icy. Think of the money."

"What?" AJ heard him mumbling.

"I'm pretty sure princess Twilight is going to kill me."

Twilight opened her eyes and yawned.

Yesterday had been weird, another day spent by walking around the town and watching ponies and occasional Nightmares do whatever they did. At least that had been the case until Shieldbreaker had almost tackled her in the middle of the street and escorted her to his house.

The explanation had been short, consisting mostly of a sweating stallion shoving a piece of parchment in her face. After that, when she had asked for it, Shieldbreaker had brought her her belongings from the tavern. With him being at work, Twilight had spent another day by reading and for once it hadn't been a satisfying one.

When her mind realized that Twilight let out a relieved sigh. She was in Shieldbreaker's bed. According to the sun it was around noon. Her host was nowhere to be found and there was rustling around her bed caused by five changelings looking straight at her. Lovely.

"YAAAAH!"

The reflexive burst of magic knocked over almost all furniture in the room but, most importantly, didn't make the Nightmares even flinch.

"SHIELDBREAKER!" Twilight screamed.

The stallion in question rushed inside and looked straight at the princess.

"Is anything wrong?"

Twilight waved her hoof at the circle of changelings around her bed. When Shieldbreaker just shrugged, not understanding, she waved her hoof again.

"Erm, this? You know... five Nightmare changelings watching me sleep?"

"Oh, sorry, your Highness. Queen Guiding wants a word with you."

"I gathered that," hissed Twilight, ice seeping from every word, "My question is why somepony, an ex-guard, would allow this to happen in such a way that might make his ex-employer suffer A HEART ATTACK?"

Shieldbreaker looked as if she'd stabbed him in the chest.

"I-I'm sorry, princess, but I talked to the two guards before they, ehm, got captured and I wanted queen Guiding to help me with protecting you in case the pair was just serving as a distraction."

"You allowed the changeling WHO ATTACKED ME to send her minions and watch me in my sleep? What sort of guard are you? I'm sure all princesses can breathe easily now that you're gone from Canter-"

It would have been a good chewing-up had not at that precise point one of the changelings transformed into the familiar form of Breaky's marefriend and punched the princess with the strength of a trained boxer.

"You have insulted my queen and my coltfriend, girl," the Nightmare growled, "and I won't let you continue with that nonsense. Queen Guiding wouldn't have hurt you... seriously and if she wanted your purple hide then she could have had it the day you visited her."

"I," Twilight stopped to apply her famous trait - logic, "am sorry. Don't take me wrong, anypony would be mad at you, Shieldbreaker, because what you did showed you're loyal to more than one side but your marefriend is right. Guiding Light could have had me brought to her at any point."

The silence in the room continued.

"So," Twilight broke it first, "are these guys going to watch me the entire day or is there more to it?"

"The Queen wants to see you. We have captured the two guards snooping around and she thinks you need to hear what's going on."

"Okay. Do I have to wear a disguise or something?"

"No. We have watched the town since yesterday and there haven't been any suspicious movements or anything. You are free to move around, at least until more guards show up."

"Let's go. Well, give me ten minutes to make myself presentable. After all, we can't have a diplomatic visit marred by me smelling bad."

Everypony and everychangeling, or whatever the term would be if anypony used it, left Twilight alone.

There was one more thing bothering her. Somepony might have already reported her stay here to the authorities after seeing the wanted posters. The problem dissipated quite quickly when she didn't see a single piece of parchment posted anywhere around. Visibly escorted only by two changelings, Twilight found out that they had torn down the few posters the guards had managed to put up before getting captured.

When Twilight and her escort reached the abandoned house belonging to the Nightmares and finally arrived at the main cavern where she had fought Guiding some three days earlier Twilight got nervous again, the queen's stare was less than friendly.

"Your Highness!" a duo of relieved voices yelled.

"Oh, you two," Twilight smiled at the nervous pair. She had seen them before here and there. Yes, they were just random guards but at the moment they were also familiar faces, "What's going on?"

The guards went over the things that had happened in Canterlot and Guiding chipped in from time to time with corrections regarding the assumptions of her involvement.

"You wouldn't have called me here if you didn't have an idea about what's going on," Twilight turned to Guiding.

"If the story of these guys is true then I think we're in deep trouble. By 'we' I mean every living being in this world. Unfortunately, you won't believe me if I tell you so you have to see for yourself. I tried to warn you and Celestia during my stay in Canterlot and nopony believed me."

"TELL ME!"

"There is only one of my changelings missing in this town and that one resides still with princess Cadance. There is no way he'd be able to overpower princess Celestia anyway. The assumption I'm behind the attack is basically nonsense because I don't have that kind of power. Yet, the mark of our kind was found in every place an attack has occured and that force stems from one being, Nightmare Moon."

"That can't be right! I've seen the Nightmare banished TWICE!"

"Yeah, twice... and that seems okay to you? Think before answering!"

"She can return?"

"Of course, you can't kill a god. The only thing you can do is either purify or kill its host which is what I suppose you saw."

"So you think the Nightmare possessed somepony again."

"Not just somepony. It is easier for it to possess somepony with darkness inside already and who is in a vulnerable emotional state. Trust me, I have studied our most dangerous enemy. I think it is controlling your dear princess Luna."

"I doubt it," objected Twilight, "Princess Luna is strong and has gotten over ponies initially hating her after her return."

"Has anything made her act up? Like... you know... killing my father," the sentence ended in a hiss.

"She killed many of Sombra's servants during the invasion. Blazing Light was just one of them," Twilight raised her hooves in defense, "Yes, he was responsible for the success of the invasion, not even you can deny it. I'm toying with the idea there might have been more to it though. Still, nothing points at Luna being the host now."

Guiding's cold stare melted when Twilight continued.

"I need your help. I want to find out what's going on in Canterlot-"

"It's obvious," Guiding interrupted.

"It is not. There is no proof, only a ton of assumptions. I need to get to Canterlot without being captured on the way."

"WE CAN HELP!" the captured guards blurted out, "You can pretend to be our prisoner and nopony will bother you, your Highness."

The questioning gazes of three ponies stopped like a three pairs of floodlights aimed at Guiding's face. The queen sighed.

"I'm coming as well. If I'm right then you're going to need my knowledge of Nightmare Moon's real power. Get a good night's rest, princess. I will keep the guards here tonight. Any questions?"

"We leave in the morning?"

"Yes."

Hello, Discord.

"It's been a while," the god of chaos, currently eating a book and feeding some of Fluttershy's pets, responded to the sourceless, hissing voice.

The age of our rule is coming again. The Elements will not stop us this time.

"That sounds fun," mumbled Discord non-commitally.

The power of the Tree will be gone soon.

"Mhm."

I thought you'd be happier at having a chance to wreak unbridled chaos again.

"I would, my dear associate, but there is a promise binding me more than the Elements."

You, keeping a promise? Don't make me laugh.

"I think you remember the alicorn of Death. He might be terrible at magic but his power is deadly even to us. He is the one who isn't allowed to act while I'm not doing so as well."

I see. What if he was out of the question?

"Then, of course, there would be nothing stopping me from joining forces with you."

Discord didn't need ears to know the voice chuckled to itself before leaving. When he'd been summoned by Void it had been easy to break the bindings because Void was awful at magic, his alicorn power devouring it, but Discord was more than aware that if the alicorn wanted him dead then even the god of chaos would have had hard time resisting him in his own realm.

But, as things went, Discord now had friends in this world and what kind of friend would he be if he didn't give them a chance, right?

Summoning a mug of cider, he grinned.

"Even gods can die. The smart ones just know how to avoid it, my dear. Not pissing off the death incarnate in his house might be a good start."

The Best Laid Plans

Trudging through the night, Icy Gaze was beginning to hate everything in his life, starting with the earthpony on his back. Applejack's attempts at finding out things about him weren't the problem, the idea that questions on the level of newborn foals could work on him was.

"Were you-"

"NO! I wasn't hired by Luna, Celestia, Photo Finish, Blueblood or whoever Derpy is," growled Icy, "A stranger in the pub gave me a ton of bits to gather all of you in one place and find some traitor remaining in Equestria after the second invasion."

"Where do you come from?"

"What?" Icy shook his head at Applejack's sudden change of direction.

"Just curious. Where do you come from? I have never met anypony whose pay rates were 'a ton of bits'."

"I'm just a mercenary, nothing more. Ponies pay me to do their dirty work, I do it. I come from a small town in northern Equestria, Stalliongrad territory. Haven't been there for over ten years though. I doubt anypony even remembers me."

"You don't seem bothered by it."

"I'm not. I hated living where everypony knew everypony so I ran away with a caravan when I was sixteen. Luckily for them, I was pretty used to hard work and managed to fend for myself when bandits attacked it. After we killed them I took my fair share of bits and some of their weapons to find my niche. After we arrived at Stalliongrad the caravan leader put a good word for me and I was set for my next job. Working as a caravan guard led to mercenary soon after. Truth be told, all that changed was me getting more varied contracts."

"Whoa. That's mighty early in life to go down the bloody path. When I was younger I got my cutie mark by-"

"I, in all honesty, don't care," Icy cut her off, "You're just one of many targets I've had over the years."

"Element of Honesty, remember?" chuckled AJ.

"Fine, you are one of the more interesting targets."

"Come on, work with me here. What about your cutie mark? I suppose a golden chestplate would mean your destiny in Royal Guard. You know, protecting the weak and such."

"Heroes go hungry, girl," Icy's tone changed from uninterested to downright chilling, "and poor ponies can't pay. For me the damn tattoo on my backside means only that I'm hard to get rid of."

"So... no guard tradition in the family or anything?"

"Chat's over. We're close to the library and I can't waste my breath talking if I have to carry your fat rump."

"Element of-"

"Shut up!"

"Heh heh..."

The door to the library opened, revealing a dimly lit hall with a chair in the middle of it. Icy knew he'd turned all lamps off and a chill ran up his spine. Still, nothing felt out of place aside from the gloomy lighting. As with every one of his victims, Icy brought Applejack down to the cellar. The heartfelt greetings of other Bearers towards Applejack sort of warmed him up. He knew all of them were Element bearers but he hadn't expected them to be such a tight group of friends.

"I'll go make something to eat," Icy just mumbled, feeling like an ignored maid.

The second the door lock clicked, the pegasus heard a quiet scraping noise. He knew the noise. It was the sound of steel passing by a soft surface. No matter what explanation might have occured otherwise, steel was bad news in every possible case. Turning around, he saw a familar pink earthpony. Icy realized this was the first time she wasn't smiling.

"Oh hey, miss Pie-"

"What do you really want with my friends, mister Canterlotian?"

"I have to keep them safe."

"I SAW RARITY'S BRUISED FACE, LIAR!"

"That doesn't matter since you're here. Thank you for not releasing them by the way-"

"I didn't want them to see this," Pinkie's poofy mane went flat and she smiled again. The smile was something Icy would remember for the rest of his life and at the moment he wasn't sure how long that would be.

Icy had never felt this shaky when facing a unarmed civillian before. His experience prevailed though and he jumped forward to tackle the pink mare. His mistake became apparent the second she scored a deep slash over his chest with suddenly appearing kitchen knife. Icy screamed. Coupled with the pain of chipped ribs from fighting Big Mac the burning in his body was making his vision blur.

Pinkie disappeared. A pink hoof grazed Icy's vision and he jumped backwards just to avoid his throat being cut. Punching behind him, he lost balance as he failed to hit anypony. Icy screamed again as fire spread through his chest for the second time. This time he didn't bother aiming and just spun around, hitting Pinkie's face with full force.

She just shrugged the blow off and, still bearing the maniacal smile, bit the side of his neck.

She didn't hit an artery...

She's not normal...

This isn't a capture anymore...

Screw the money, the employer won't reach me in the Griffon Empire...

All that ran through Icy's head when he abandoned his mission, clutched the knife still in his chest and stabbed upwards at charging Pinkie. He didn't miss.

The earthpony fell to the ground, leaving just a groaning and wincing pegasus. The knife had gone through the heart but Icy was watching the body rise up and lunge at him. His reaction wasn't a planned counterattack. He just screamed like a little filly and the left hook connected with his assailant's head.

Whimpering and clutching his head, Icy fell down on his rump as his legs failed him. The pony in front of him pulled out the knife from her chest and growled.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Icy broke down but couldn't move a muscle.

He didn't have to. Pinkie's flat mane poofed up again, her coat seemed once again a lighter shade of pink and the wound on her chest closed.

Trailing blood all over the library, Icy grabbed a length rope, bound the slowly awakening earthpony and threw her down the stairs to the cellar.

"Rude!" called a cheery voice at him when he turned away.

"Nonononononono!"

Icy slammed the door when he saw completely free Pinkie looking at him from the cellar. With shaky hooves he locked the door just in time to-

*Knock knock knock*

Icy felt the soft vibrations through the key in his hooves.

He slumped down on the floor and cried in the growing pool of his blood.

His mission was almost over. He could wait with writing a report. For now he just prayed to anypony listening for divine protection.

The sun rose on the horizon and princess Luna, still hazy from a night full of rest, stopped the flow of magic. It had been years since her last genuine rest and it might take her body a while to adjust. Still, she felt stronger than ever before and ready to tackle the world.

There was a letter lying on her desk. Had the mercenary finally pinpointed the traitor with some accuracy? The previous reports had made her send Nightguards to monitor the situation in Ponyville but they hadn't sent any confirmation yet.

I don't know what you're trying to pull off but one of the Bearers WAS IMMUNE TO DAMAGE! No matter what I did she just kept going and going and going...

Whatever. All of them aside from princess Twilight are currently being held in the Ponyville library and you should send somepony to retrieve them before the princess returns. I don't know how long I'll be able to hold the monsters here.

If you don't send anypony within three days I'm leaving and you can keep your money. You can also clean up the mess yourself when the alicorn of Magic finds out somepony tried to capture her friends.

P.S.: The traitor is still observing his routine.

Luna dropped the scroll, her brows furrowed.

Little head not working as intended?

The amused chuckle behind her made her legs wobble. The experience from yesterday when somepony-

Took you both physically and mentally, girl? I thought you should be reminded of the feeling.

"Sharp?"

Your little guard? You were really eating all that stuff up right until the end.

"Whaa?" Luna shook her head. It was getting harder to think straight.

I thought you would remember your roommate. Well, I've been waiting for this a while but you made it toooooo easy.

"..."

You still don't know? My my, I must have screwed you really hard last night. Perhaps I should have eased up on the tentacles.

"I don't remember," Luna's body shivered as something carressed her entire mind, "Mhmmmmmmm."

Think of it as a dream... or possibly a nightmare.

Luna's mind cleared only to witness the frozen wastes of the moon again around her.

"YOU!" she screamed and burned away the black mist swirling around her.

Heh... and here I though I should be more pleasant to my favourite toy.

The mist returned, surrounding Luna's face and a pair of cyan eyes with slit irises opened right in front of hers.

"How?"

Luna's magic saved her once again, teleporting her from the grip of black shadows.

Remember the poor unicorn you killed in cold blood? Sentencing an innocent being to death in the worst, most torturous, way imaginable... All that bile, spite and desire for revenge was too delicious to pass up. It almost makes me smile that you were completely wrong the entire time.

"HE KILLED MY BEST FRIEND!" Luna couldn't control herself as the memory of Sharp Biscuit being impaled by flying weapons surfaced.

Goooood... you remember. Feel that rage flow through you, right on the surface and know, deep down, that all this is your fault.

"No. NO. NO!"

Oh yes. Your sister will die in front of you. Your petty alicorn friends will wither from the inside as their heads turn against them. All your subjects will prefer to end their lives by themselves when their warm beds fail to protect them from monsters in the dark and YOU will watch.

Luna's magic failed and the semi-real shadowy tendrils at last entered her body.

Sweet nightmares.

The new form solidifed and from a cloud of black mist a new alicorn stepped out. The tall, black form of a graceful mare took her first step into the world yet again. With bluish steel helmet and a breastplate still allowing her ethereal mane of the same color pass, Nightmare Moon was back and she had some unfinished business.

"Hmmm, let's take care of the pesky Elements first," her horn glowed with power unimaginable and...

... the magic stopped.

I am not as desperate and half-insane from loneliness like last time, demon, and I will not let you touch my friends.

Nightmare Moon just scratched her head and grinned. Luna was much more amusing than expected.

"For now, girl, for now. Still, you don't control this body anymore and I have other ways of making problems disappear."

Feeling Luna struggle inside her, Nightmare Moon picked up a quill and began writing a letter, careful to make Luna see every word.

Your service to the crown is admirable, mister Icy Gaze.

You might be wondering how I know your name... don't. My power spans the entire world but you are on my good side so I will change your mission objectives yet again.

Kill the captive Bearers immediately and you will not have to deal with Twilight Sparkle. Your reward will arrive as soon as you're done. Trust me, I will know.

If, by any chance, you still harbor desire to leave Equestria... let's just say that I reward my allies as much as I punish those who betray me.

I can find you anywhere.

"See, Luna? Keep trying though, your fruitless efforts are worth watching."

The lunar seal on the letter changed into a bright sun and the rolled-up parchment disappeared.

"But where are my manners, princess... I promised I'd break an alicorn for you and I know just who to begin with."

You. Will. Not. Touch. My. Sister.

"Your sister? I will leave her for last. There is this little troublemaker called Void I have to take care of first."

What? Void? Why?

"You might be temporarily stopping me from killing the Bearers, the stupid mercenary might run away but there's always the Tree of Harmony and I just need Discord to help me break it. Unfortunately, the annoying pest somehow bound my fellow god not to act. See, Luna? If just one little thing goes my way then I win. If I just wait for you to weaken then I also win. Keep struggling, Luna... it feels soooo good."

The charging of magic wasn't stopped this time and Nightmare Moon disappeared from Luna's room.

The place in question was a fortress when its owner didn't want to be disturbed but the power of a deity was enough to break through the defenses and the possessed alicorn appeared between piles of skulls spread over the floor of a large cavern.

Contrary to the gravity of the situation, the golden alicorn lounging on one of the piles just yawned.

"Have you done something with your mane, Luna?" Scream snickered, "It looks like shit."

"How droll," Nightmare Moon parodied Scream's tone, "I'm surprised the two brain cells not devoted to controlling your crotch were able to come up with it."

The golden alicorn chuckled and stood up to her full height which was still slightly overshadowed by Nightmare Moon's. Still, from the cracking of her wings and the swaying of her platinum mane it was obvious that the most experienced magic user in the world had her secrets.

"Oooh, I'm shaking already," Nightmare Moon watched the show, "What sort of alicorn doesn't have magical mane? You must be the black sheep of the family."

"You have no idea," whispered Scream.

Scream's horn cast shadows over the cavern, devouring any possible illumination and leaving only the golden star in the middle of complete darkness. The black pattern on Scream's coat became a river of ink separating shining armor plates and the white mane now resembled spider silk spreading into the darkness. What was now standing in front of Nightmare Moon resembled a golden changeling queen rather than an alicorn.

The display of power didn't impress the Nightmare.

"Touching," she rolled her eyes and the black mist signalling the use of her power launched tentacles straight at Scream, "Too bad you have no sense of design-THE BUCK WAS THAT?!"

The last words came from a charred heap resembling half princess Luna and half Nightmare Moon.

The Nightmare had to shift gears now. Being hit by a set of purple beams suddenly appearing around Scream, focusing into one spot and burning the deity's face had in one hit almost made her release control of Luna.

Black mist clouded the spot and began evaporating again under the onslaught of Scream's magic. This time the beams didn't penetrate the protection and Nightmare Moon stood up reformed, shielding her face with one wing. Underestimating the alicorn of Lust had almost been a fatal mistake. There still was a gap in power though, an exploitable one.

Hundreds of Nightmare's tentacles started forming and kept stabbing straight at Scream who suddenly had to shift from focusing her power on one spot to protecting herself from numerous threats. Here, in the heart of Scream's power, she would be strong enough to go even if the duel was a contest of force but one mind eventually wasn't able to guard the golden alicorn from constant attacks from all sides.

In the end, Scream ended up with all her limbs spread and bound by dark tendrils.

"And I thought Luna was strong," one tendril wrapped itself around Scream's horn, "but this... this I can use."

A golden spark was released, accompanied by Scream's groan and travelled through the darkness as if it was some kind of tube.

"So much power. You could have ruled these weaklings. Too bad it's too la-"

The spark exploded, yellow light evaporating all shadows and leaving just struggling Luna with smoke once again boiling around her.

"You want to drain my power?" Scream coughed, sweat dripping from her, "Doesn't matter where it is, it still is mine."

Despite Luna's resistance, Nightmare Moon reformed again.

"I tried to be nice, to make a servant out of you to lure Void out but I guess you'll just have to live up to your name!"

The tentacles were more solid this time and Scream wasn't able to pierce through them before they shattered the joints in her legs.

"Where is Void?" growled Nightmare Moon at the bleeding alicorn.

"Look up your buttcrack, bitch."

"Could have been better," the Nightmare said coldly and rammed more of the half-real tentacles inside Scream's head.

The mist passed through Scream, harmless at least to the body. Nightmare Moon could still feel the pain from Scream's onslaught and just ripped the desired memories from Scream's brain, not caring about the damage. Seeing Luna's previous visit to this place, she realized how Void knew about Discord's possible involvement. Finally the tentacles retreated and the Nightmare disappeared.

Scream twitched. Scream grinned.

She had hoped this sitation would never happen but she was also a realist, or a very cautious pessimist, and knew she would very probably lose. She had expected to die though and the development allowed her to pass on one more warning. With a weak glow of her horn she focused on one particular memory, the memory of a bronze changeling responsible for Luna's fall.

Celestia might protect ponies with all her might. Celestia might despise Scream but in the end both of them were set on protecting their subjects, no matter their different species. With the glow of Scream's horn fading, she sent the memory to the leader of her most beloved species.

"I hope Chryssie isn't taking a bath - glorb... globt?"

The final coherent thought faded and the drooling alicorn just sat there, staring blankly at nothing.

Nightmare Moon had to return to Canterlot to recuperate. The archmage had hurt her more than she had expected anypony to but in the end she still had the necessary information.

"Hey, Luna," Nightmare Moon snickered, "Aren't you going to thank me for ruining Scream? You've never been a fan of her."

Heh. Seems to me you underestimated her. Somepony will stop you even if I can't.

"There is nopony left, dear Luna. The most powerful magic user is a mindless blob of flesh now. Your Nightguards are under my control thanks to our little nighttime adventure. Your sister is out of the way and Cadance can't leave the Crystal Empire otherwise she would lose the power provided by Crystal Heart without which she is just a low-tier unicorn. The Elements are still present but unable to act and when my servant kills the Bearers it will be over."

There are other alicorns.

"The truly powerful ones are gone. Only Void remains and he is already hiding from me. Easy prey."

The darkness enveloping Nightmare Moon turned from smoke to almost solid entity, signalling to the god its powers were returning after being decimated by Scream. Recovering fully would take time or sacrifices and neither was currently an option. Time was against Nightmare Moon as with every passing moment Void might find out about her intrusion to Scream's dimension and disappear again. On top of that, Luna was still proving an effective obstruction in forcing her body to devour mortals to regain strength.

Nevertheless, the situation was still a stuggle between mortals and a deity. As long as Nightmare Moon was able to avoid the direct use of power of the Elements she should be fine. Keeping that in mind, she recalled the path to the underworld ripped out of Scream's head and lit her horn up once again.

This place was different. Whereas the entrance to Scream's realm was on the top of a mountain, metaphorically, with crisp air filling the lungs of any visitor the feeling here was one of lingering dryness. The desert spread in all directions and the 'sand' under Nightmare Moon's hooves was less little rocks and more just ash devoid of all life.

All in all, even with the area sapping Nightmare's power she felt here at home as it reminded her prison on the moon. Cursing the Elements for forcing her into the barren place, she entered the obsidian temple in front of her.

A pair of yellow eyes watched her every step through the black structure from the throne in the middle of it.

"I am sorry for your loss, Luna," the blackfire alicorn stepped down from the throne and bowed deeply before Nightmare Moon.

"I'll be sure to relay her the message once you're lying broken in front of-"

The impact raised clouds of ash around the temple and with a screech the Nightmare was forcefully turned back into a cloud of shadows, clearly separated from Luna.

"I was not talking to you," said Void calmly.

Thank you.

Luna's thought was audible as if she had said it.

"I am still mad at you though. You have caused my friend and his marefriend a lot of trouble. I wish you had not acted so recklessly."

I lost the only pony who has cared for me since my return. I would do it again. I WILL do it again and I will make sure-

"-he slowly melts in acid," Luna's voice merged together with Nightmare Moon's.

Void just shook his head.

"So young, so stubborn. You, of all ponies, should know the value of forgiveness, Luna."

"Enough with the fake sympathy," the shadows enveloped Luna again and Nightmare Moon stood there, staring coldly at Void, "Three alicorns down, time to deal with you."

"Three?" Void raised an eyebrow.

"Oh my my. I would have though Scream's, heh, screaming would reach even this place."

Making one's opponent reckless with rage was a strategy the Nightmare had to resort to after taking Void's first blow. With all magical protection stripped from Scream's dimension, it was easy to transmit an image of a slumped golden heap, blood caking Scream's legs.

Void closed his eyes and bit his lips.

"You know why I could not have saved you, right? You understand. It might take centuries for you to recover but I will be the first thing you see when you open your eyes again. Just like you waited for me."

Black tentacles aimed at him burned away in purple flames when they got too close. Nightmare Moon just grinned and went for the same attack from all sides that had penetrated Scream's defense. A shrill yell pierced the air as everything around Void began burning and the power of true death spread through the tentacles back to their source.

"I'll show you the meaning of fear!" roared Nightmare Moon and her tentacles turned to blades slashing at the other alicorn.

"Fear? There is no fear here in the final sanctuary. There is only peace. Celestia and Luna might protect the living but I protect the dead from horrors like you."

The black tentacles shattered when they hit blue see-through ponies in full armor suddenly appearing everywhere around Void.

"What is this magic? Nothing in Luna's head said you were able to use magic!"

"I cannot, at least not too much, but in the same way I protect my subjects they willingly protect me," Void pointed at Nightmare Moon, "Puny god... look upon the true face of death and know that your end comes soon."

The spectral cavalry charged and broke when struck by thick, dark tendrils of power. More and more came, eventually sucked into black holes, choked by smoke and ripped into pieces by the tentacles. All that was just to occupy the deity while Void gathered his power. True death was the end of all things, the inevitability unavoidable by anything, and the second blast hit Nightmare Moon and obliterated the ghosts around her.

In complete panic, the deity disappeared using the last remains of its power.

Void knew he couldn't follow her. It was possible to use his power to its full extent here but doing so in the real world would wipe out all life in a huge part of Equestria. The deity would probably be stronger than him anyway there and following it might make Discord dishonor his promise. Weakening the Nightmare had been the best thing he could have done and there was something more important on his mind.

The world could go fornicate itself, there was an alicorn who needed his help.

The halls of Canterlot castle were empty.

"It seems that nopony likes being in Canterlot under Luna's rule," chuckled Guiding Light.

"Oh shush! We'll be in the infirmary wing soon and princess Celestia will know what to do," said Twilight and the two guards accompanying them hummed in agreement.

"Let's hope she's still alive then."

The four of them kept creeping through the castle but even after a grueling and expensive express trip from Pine Hills back home they were brimming with nervous energy and twitched whenever they heard anything behind a closed door. The sterile smell of the halls around them proved they were getting closer to their destination.

A clink of metal from behind a corner made all of them stop breathing. Guiding Light, the one most used to sneaking, peeked into the hall.

One of the doors was being guarded by two Nightguards. Guiding put a hoof to her lips and focused. Minutes passed without anything happening but eventually the sound of metal hitting the floor rang through the empty halls. Guiding Light, sweating, nodded to her companions and when they cleared the corner they saw the two guards lying on the floor and snoring.

The room wasn't locked and Twilight, followed by the others, opened the door without a problem and closed it behind them. Lying on the hospital bed was princess Celestia.

"Princess?" Twilight shook the patient, "Princess!"

"Wait," whispered Guiding and focused once again. Delving into the minds of ponies was a changeling specialty and Guiding's kind was well versed in all kinds of forced sleep whether through magical or chemical means.

A little blue spark jumped from Guiding's horn to Celestia's and the princess took a sharp breath.

"Princess Celestia!" exclaimed Twilight, even her hushed tones unable to hide the joy from seeing her mentor.

"Twilight," Celestia smiled and looked around, "Oh?"

Guiding Light bowed slightly and the two guards almost kissed the floor.

"What happened to you, princess?" asked Twilight.

"I'm not sure. Somepony hit me with a fear spell while I was flying around the castle and then I woke up here."

"The guards are spreading posters saying I did it!"

"Well, did you?"

A kicked puppy wouldn't even begin to understand how Twilight made that face.

"Just teasing you, Twilight," continued Celestia, "Come here."

Princess Celestia wrapped her hooves around her student.

"I was so scared..." Twilight shivered in the embrace.

"I'm all right. I can't move much but I'll be fine in few days."

The door slammed open and a trio of Nightguards barged in.

"She's here. Get her!"

There wasn't enough space for more of them to move inside comfortably but Twilight heard many sets of hoofsteps outside of the room.

"Lower your weapons!" ordered Celestia.

The unicorn by Twilight's side looked at his chest with wide eyes before dropping to the floor, spear impaled deep inside him.

"LOWER YOUR WEAPONS!" Celestia ordered regally again.

Fortunately, Guiding Light's changeling armor diverted the blow aimed at the only friendly batpony in the room.

"They have no free will just like we did, 'princess' Twilight! We need to get out."

Golden light spread from Celestia's horn and everypony hostile froze.

"Listen to me, Twilight," Celestia groaned under the strain of the spell, "I won't be able to hold them for long. You have to run-"

"But-"

"No buts! If whoever is behind this wanted me dead then I would have been already. I'm happy you visited me here and I can't go with you but you won't achieve anything by staying here."

"But-"

"Twilight! The last thing I want to live through is losing another one of my students due to my failure. GO!"

Gritting her teeth, Twilight opened a window, spread her wings and without another comment jumped out of it. Guiding Light and the only loyal Nightguard followed her a second after.

The trio didn't want to traverse the night sky as the hostile Nightguards would have no problem spotting them and they landed at the castle entrance. The golden light faded when their hooves touched the ground. Princess Celestia had closed the window of her room prior to stopping the spell and the lights were beginning to bloom throughout the castle as more and more ponies woke up to the thundering of Nightguards looking for Twilight.

The runaways weren't alone.

The stones of the path leading from castle to Canterlot itself cracked when shadows shifted and an armored alicorn stepped out of them. The armor was one Twilight hoped never to see again. She though she would never see it again. All that was necessary for Twilight to quietly whimper was the glimpse of blue steel chestplate and helmet glistening in the moonlight.

The armored form took a step forward and, shadows melting, revealed the face of princess Luna.

"Twilight Sparkle..." she said coldly.

"Princess Luna. What's going on with your guards? Why did they try to kill me?"

"You are hereby arrested for attacking my sister. Surrender peacefully and I will ensure you a fair trial!"

"I didn't do anything! I wasn't even in Canterlot at the time," yelled Twilight desperately.

"Enough of the charade, Nightmare Moon," growled Guiding.

Shadows swirled around Luna and she grew, turning her angry face into an amused one Twilight had seen four years ago.

"What are you?" Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes at Guiding.

"Run," hissed Guiding sideways at Twilight.

"I won't!" the glow of Twilight's horn made shadows dance and a barrage of bolts of force hit the unmoving Nightmare Moon.

Every impact made a small crater in the black veil suddenly protecting the enemy and she staggered back, gritting her sharp teeth.

"I WILL destroy you here!" Twilight sent out another barrage, forcing Nightmare Moon to back away more.

A spear scored a shallow scratch on Twilight's side and she noticed the black shadows circling above them. Those weren't some unreal signs of the Nightmare's power but real Nightguards armed to the teeth.

The problem was that Twilight definitely didn't have the stamina to run away from a trained guard.

"Teleport away to some safe place and think of a way to solve this," said Guiding, watching the swaying Nightmare Moon. It didn't make sense to her why they were still alive when faced with a god but she was happy anyway.

"My library! I can't teleport all of us that far while under attack though."

Guiding sighed and in a shower of green sparks turned into a normal Nightmare changeling.

"Good thing you don't have to, right?" she grinned nervously.

"What's going on?" Twilight let out a burst of energy concussing the Nightguards behind her while the only friendly one took flight straight into the middle of the ones approaching from the sky.

"I'm the firstborn's body double. My transformation is her and I'm here to make sure her suspicions were correct."

"How could she just send you to your death? She knew Nightmare Moon was behind this."

"She didn't know. All she had were suspicions and guesses, you yourself said it, and I think you got one thing wrong, princess."

"What?" Twilight shielded the friendly Nightguard from the first attackers.

"She didn't send me here, I volunteered. A good leader doesn't have to ask her subjects to sacrifice for her, they will do it by themselves. Guiding Light got us out of the devoured world. Without her we would have died there and this is the least I can do for her. Now stop wasting your magic on the guard and GET OUT OF HERE!"

Fake Guiding pounced at the first Nightguard that touched the ground and tore his throat out. The hostile ones were slower than normal guards, moving with the inevitability of a sleepwalker, and the difference was helping in the fight above them.

Twilight focused her power. She didn't want to be just somepony to protect. She wanted to help and end things here. She knew that was impossible. Her attacks had worked against Nightmare Moon but the guards were too much.

There was still hope then. If she was capable of hurting Nightmare Moon for whatever reason then with enough preparation she might be able to fight her head on...

...if she left two friends to whatever fate awaited them here.

Her concentration on the spell almost failed when she saw the Nightguard finally falter and get torn to pieces by his brethren. Her courage disappeared when she saw fake Guiding impaled by Nightare Moon's tentacles.

No plan.

No though.

She just didn't want to die.

The spell was finished.

All Sides Of The Story

Yesterday had been exhausting.

So early after her reawakening, Nightmare Moon had overestimated her abilities severely. The castle staff didn't know what to do so they continued their duties as if everything was normal. To them it actually was. Princess Celestia was still being guarded in the infirmary wing. Princess Luna was still the temporary ruler of Equestria. Princess Twilight was still on the run from the law.

The castle was closed for business though. The Nightmare was being forced by the existence of Elements of Harmony to act via a host and yesterday had almost made Luna die. She had a fairly good idea why Void wasn't going after her because their fight in this world would result in her certain loss but also the end of life itself. Thanks to knowing the extent of his power now she was sure the alicorn of Death would not interfere with her plans. Her attacking him had been an almost fatal mistake.

The alliance with Discord was out of the question then, no big deal. The important thing now was to regain strength and take out the Element bearers. The Nightmare could still feel the power of the Elements and knew the stupid mercenary didn't do his job. Still, she knew where the Bearers were and if she could use a stasis spell to put them outside of time and take out the alicorn of Magic then there would be nopony capable of stopping her.

First things first though. Even gods needed their breakfast.

Thanks to Luna's dream protection being gone the Nightmare had been able to recover some strength overnight but she needed something more. Everypony was afraid of something and that was a feast to the god. Nightmare Moon let her her power flow through the minds of ponies in Canterlot and relished the feeling of every worry, every bit of paranoia and every little insecurity. It took very little encouragment to make those grow stronger and stronger, completely overtake the minds of ponies and break them into edible chunks.

It might kill some of them but there would be many more eventually. The world will belong to the Nightmare again-

"Still alive and kicking, I see," mumbled Nightmare Moon when something repelled her scouting presence in the mind of ponies.

As long as the smallest part of me keeps breathing I will stand in your way, beast.

"You do realize all this is your fault, right? You brough this on them just because Blazing Light got captured by Sombra after saving your sister. You didn't bother even for a second to find out the truth and kept following your revenge even after the invasion."

I...

"Don't take me wrong. I am THANKING you, little girl. You have no idea how much more difficult everything would have been if you weren't the host. Now stop pretending you're something more than a bloodthirsty murderer and I will keep a little bit of your mind around until I find Sharp's killer and flay him alive. I will even give you the honor of ripping out his still beating heart. Don't deny you wouldn't enjoy that."

No! I have to at least talk to him now. I was wrong! WRONG! WRONG!

"He did kill him though. Right in front of you," Nightmare Moon grinned when she felt Luna's emotions change again. No matter how Luna presented herself she was still a very emotional being and thus easy to manipulate.

I... I will not let you devour my subjects. It is the only thing I can do... I won't fail them anymore.

The second attempt at making Canterlot ponies go insane en masse failed.

Nightmare Moon growled. So many obstacles were in her way. Void was insignificant, Scream was insignificant, Luna was insignificant, Twilight was even less of an problem but all of them just kept slowing her.

A deep breath was in order.

She would win, eventually. That was inevitable. The only threat remaining were the still living Element bearers who might unite under Twilight Sparkle. How could she have forgotten that?

The power of Twilight herself was nothing. Nightmare Moon just had to get to Ponyville as fast as possible. Using Luna's vast magical knowledge she created a circle of power that would take time to charge but would also allow her to relocate into Ponyville without wasting too much of her hosts strength.

Time wasn't on her side but there was still the small possibility of the mercenary slitting the fillies' throats and ending all threat to Nightmare Moon forever.

The world around Twilight was barely visible through her tears. She sat down, hugged her knees and just aimlessly rocked back and forth.

"I left them there... I left them there," she kept mumbling.

"Twily?" the voice wasn't familiar, it was so deeply ingraved in Twilight's head that familiar wouldn't do it justice.

Twilight sniffed.

"Shiny?" she rubbed her eyes.

She wasn't in her library. She was currently sitting in the snow and there were four ponies watching her. Correction - two unicorns, one batpony and a changeling queen, not Chrysalis though.

None of that mattered right now though.

"SHINYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" Twilight rushed to her brother and began sobbing into his coat.

"What's wrong, Twily? I heard... things," Shining Armor hugged Twilight. No matter the rumors about her there was no way he wouldn't be there for his sister when she needed him.

"Nightmare Moon possessed princess Luna. Princess Celestia is still in Canterlot. We fought her but I had to run away. They tore him to pieces..."

It didn't make much sense but what little it did was ominous.

"Who, Twily?"

Shining grabbed Twilight's shoulders and made her look at him. The panic in her eyes was something he'd seen in guards after their first fight to the death before. Mostly after the changeling invasion of Canterlot and then after Sombra's incursions. That look made him certain that nothing the news said about her was true.

Twilight gathered herself slightly.

"Princess Celestia sent me to negotiate peace with Guiding Light's swarm. When I found out what happened we came back to Canterlot with Guiding's body double and two guards originally sent to arrest me. All of them are dead... they die- sacrificed themselves so I could run away from the castle."

"Twily..."

"Help, BBBFF."

"I don't know what to do, Twily. You've dealt with Nightmare Moon before."

Twilight stopped. She wasn't the terrified unicorn she'd been when she met Nightmare Moon for the first time. Her body was shaking, she was sweating but the lingering warmth of her brother brought her mind out of the depths of darkness and self-pity.

"Elements of Harmony. We need to gather my friends."

The four figures around her exchanged glances.

"Twily... I don't know how to say it."

"No... no no no no no no no no."

"All your friends disappeared recently. Nopony knows where they are."

The wet streams on Twilight's face were back and no amount of hugging would stop them.

"Enough of this," said calm but firm voice and an amethyst colored aura of magic yanked at Twilight's head, turning it to look into the changeling queen's eyes of the same color.

"Shadowstep-" Shining Armor began.

"Leave us."

"No. She's my sist-"

Shadowstep didn't look away from Twilight.

"Cross! Keep the prince company in your tent."

A green outline of an invisible horn shimmered on the batpony's head as he somehow levitated struggling Shining Armor up and left with him. Twilight was left there with the white unicorn curiously resembling Rarity and Shadowstep.

"Nightmare Moon has a powerful host, right?" Shadowstep asked in a voice that had to be obeyed.

Twilight nodded.

"What do you think, Starlight?" Shadowstep shortly nodded to the unicorn mare standing by her side.

"Awww, is the mighty military brain out of ideas?" sneered Starlight.

Shadowstep ignored her.

"As you MIGHT or might not remember, some of us aren't old, senile changelings," Starlight frowned when Shadowstep kept ignoring her stabs, "It is possible to either kill Nightmare's host or purify it. To do so it's necessary to restrain the host and limit Nightmare's power. Fortunately, after getting my rump kicked by Cromach I spent a lot of time devising a countermeasure."

"Erm..." Twilight coughed, not understanding much that was being said.

"One of our... friends used to be a host for the Nightmare and we had no choice but to kill him," Shadowstep explained, "He was a griffon though and he didn't have any natural magic or special abilities. The current host is a very powerful alicorn but the same principles should apply."

"Whoa there, commander," Starlight objected, "I suggest we do NOT try that. My following suggestion is that we move out of Equestria. I mean... I think the northern wastelands might look amazing during this time of year. I could go on draining love of polar bears for a while... until the Nightmare gets bored."

"Cross!" called Shadowstep, "You listening?"

The batpony's purple-maned head poked out of his tent.

"Erm, commander... for once I have to agree with Starlight. Trying to stop the Nightmare's host without enough time to prepare, an army and preferrably the Elements sound like a suicide."

"You don't remember what happened last time?" Shadowstep's steel expression allowed a little... grin?

"No, commander. I fainted after losing most of my blood. It sort of makes me averse to doing it again. Polar bears or not, let's move to the Crystal Empire. I heard they have a love machine there."

"Not happening."

"Alright, let's go south. I hate deserts but if we go far enough we might get to the other pole. No god would look for us there."

"We're helping. That's an order."

Cross just sighed and saluted.

"Yes, commander."

"YOU'RE KIDDING-"

"Shut up, Starlight," Cross stopped her.

The unicorn mare huffed angrily and began bashing her head into a wooden table.

Twilight finally had time to look around.

She was in a small camp with four tents. The table currently being attacked by Starlight was situated right next to a fire pit in the middle of the camp clearing.

Cross approached Shadowstep, his head hung low.

"Are you really set on doing this, commander?"

"Do you intend to disobey me, sargeant Cross?"

"My life is yours."

"It isn't."

"Now I know you're lying," Cross grinned.

"You know me... crazy, unpredictable tactician," Shadowstep smiled warmly.

"Let me just do something first. I have an apology to make."

"You're off-duty tonight. I'll make Starlight stand on watch once in my life even if I have to burn down her tent and shackle her to the table."

Cross ran away into the darkness surrounding the camp accompanied by slow thumping coming from the table.

"I hate to break it to you but I think you won't see him again," Starlight snickered.

"Then we are truly and utterly boned. Your tent, now!"

Without explanation, Shadowstep disappeared into the only ornately decorated tent in the camp. Starlight just sighed.

"Why don't you, I don't know, pull your brother out of Cross' tent and take him off our hooves. Adults are going to work."

The disgust in every Starlight's word was almost tangible.

"Pfff... Element of Worthlessness," she mumbled before zipping up the tent flaps.

Twilight would be mad if Starlight wasn't just mirroring what was in her head.

Icy Gaze wasn't too handy with a mop because cleaning up after the job had usually been somepony else's problem. Still, it was necessary to wipe his blood from the entrance hall in case he had to leave quickly and without a trace so he was currently trying to do what needed to be done. Yes, he should have done it yesterday but he hadn't been able to do more than write a report, have a shower and fall asleep. He had woken up after a night full of nightmares about zombies going after his throat and with heavy eyelids he'd decided to get rid of his worries by work, as usual.

The dried blood took a while to clean up because he'd managed to spread it all over the library during last night. Bandaging his wounds took less time as it was something he was more than used to doing. At the moment he was sitting at the desk in Twilight's room and staring at the wall.

He should bring the fillies downstairs some food but he couldn't bring himself to do so. Monsters were one thing. A pony couldn't pass through any larger forest in Equestria without eventually meeting hydras, wyrms, phoenixes or the occasional changeling. Magic was something else as well. Griffons and non-unicorns in certain line of business had methods of dealing with magic users but an enemy who could disappear instantly, shrugged off a stab through the heart as if it was nothing and didn't rely on concentration of magic was something else.

In short, Icy was afraid of opening the cellar door again even to just shove a plate of sandwiches inside. The problem was that the Bearers might be gone already, at least the possibility was there. Every breath was steadier than the last as Icy's mind worked. Fire was useful in many circumstances concerning supernatural beings and might work here, plus he still had the remains of his ether bottle.

Blue flames burst out of the solar seal on the table in front of him, leaving a letter behind. Icy read it. He read it again. He read the short letter for the third time.

"Kill five little fillies?" he mumbled, "And they know about me..."

He drummed his hooves on the table. Funnily enough, he was calmer now. The direct threat against him was way more... normal than whatever the crazy Bearer was.

"Think! Think! Think!"

He would have to disappear, that was certain. The only question that remained was whether he had the guts to kill the Bearers or not. He was still young, most mercenaries were. It was a 'profession' that wasn't kind to slow ponies. Come to think of it, Icy had never seen a hired blade older than forty five. Future didn't really worry him. One of the first things he'd learned was never to make friends and never to plan ahead. A merc would work until he died and everypony knew it. There were exceptions to that rule but those were very, very rare.

His employer knew about his past in the Griffon Empire but Icy was sure his own knowledge about the conflicts of this world was superior. The untapped possibilities of the southern land of zebras suddenly called out to him. There was always some warlord or a nation in need of protection there.

No...

He couldn't kill the little girls but now he didn't have to stay around them anymore. Even after paying Mayor Mare for the information and all other expenses he still had most of the advance payment and the second ten thousand was way too risky to get.

His things were prepared to be immediately packed and after not even five minutes he was taking the stairs down to the entrance hall, ready to disappear from Equestria.

"Going somewhere?"

A wingless batpony mare was standing between him and the door. He knew her. Not personally, of course, but he'd followed her quite often during his stay in Ponyville. Her red mane, now dishevelled and sweaty, her charcoal black coat and her red eyes with slit pupils staring at him with a mixture of pure hatred and thirst for blood proved that his original target knew about his attempts at finding her in this town.

Choking Darkness jingled the set of lockpicks in her mouth.

"You're not the only one who can use these."

Icy Gaze was in no mood to waste time and both of his original targets were to be captured OR killed. Revealing the lance hidden under his large wing, Icy took a step forward.

"I'm leaving. I was supposed to find you and Blazing Light and tell my employer where you were. You should sort out your problems first before wasting time here. I'm sure somepony is on the way to get you."

"YOU RUINED OUR ONLY CHANCE AT BEING TOGETHER!"

Icy's world shattered as the batpony's high-pitched screech ripped through his eardrums.

Choking didn't care anymore. Blaze was under Chrysalis' protection at the moment, the Nightguards were swarming through Ponyville and Luna would inevitably follow them and find her. Right now she just wanted to murder the pony responsible for all this and saw the opportunity. She pounced at the stunned pegasus.

Icy's reactions were quick enough to dodge Choking's charge but his size didn't allow him to turn when she slipped past and punched his side, right where one of the bandaged wounds was revealing his weak point. The batpony was fast but not too much faster than him. She was in a different world concerning the contest of agility though.

With a swing of his wing he jumped backwards to create some distance and get his lance ready.

"Stop! The letter with my mission objectives stated you were preferrably to be found alive. I captured the Element bearers and they are in the cellar behind me. If you free them you will undoubtedly get some good points with whoever wants you."

"Oh?" Choking raised an eyebrow and slowly walked towards Icy, eyes locked on the promise of freedom.

The pegasus realized his mistake right as sharp pain spread from his side.

Choking jumped away from him, revealing a set of blades attached to her front horseshoes that slid back when she touched the floor.

"Like I care," Choking blurred as she twirled around him again.

She was much smaller than Icy and a swipe of his wing threw her off balance, allowing him to take a wild stab with his lance. Choking, still wobbling, wasn't able to dodge and the thin steel weapon pierced her shoulder.

"Okay, now listen to me, girl-" began Icy.

The memory of being attacked by crazy Pinkie Pie returned as Choking pushed herself forward, forcing the lance clean through, buried her fangs into his neck, cut a part of his wing off with one horseshoe blade and buried the other one in his chest again.

"No, you listen to me, pretty face" Choking twisted the blade inside him, "You have no idea what Blaze has been through and if I can't protect him then I can at least avenge him! I might not be able to reach Luna but I can slit your throat no problem."

"Luna?" Icy Gaze groaned, red lights pulsating before his eyes, "I... I think Celestia hired me. The talisman... in my bag."

Ignoring the blood from multiple sources pooling on the floor, Choking slit Icy's bag open with one hoof, straddled his chest and pulled out an ornate piece of metal on a chain. It bore the seal of the moon which Choking easily recognized from her days in the Nightguard.

"You mean THIS?" she pushed the item into Icy's face.

"I... I... but... it looked different. It used to be the solar seal of Celestia."

The lights in the hall flickered and died down. A glowing blue circle formed, bringing with it the form of a black alicorn in steel armor adorned with the same moon that was on the amulet.

Choking had been only a recruit when Nightmare Moon was defeated but she'd seen pictures. Being the daughter of leaders of the Cult of Luna, she knew the shadowy presence rather quickly taking shape in front of her. Wincing at the pain, she ripped out the lance from her shoulder and started running.

"Have fun with your employer, pretty face," she grinned sadistically as she cleared the library entrance.

Icy was in a bad shape but there was one thing on his mind - he didn't want to be here. Everything had gone pear-shaped in minutes and he was able to only grab his weapon and a little gold before the shape in the summoning circle became unpleasantly solid.

Outside, he almost ran into Choking who was standing still. The library square was full of armed Nightguards looking straight at them.

United We Stand: Part I

The hive network belonging to the small swarm of changelings in Pine Hills rang with an order. All Nightmare changelings were to assemble in the main hall. Guiding Light knew she didn't have to do anything else. Her changelings would obey her without complaining.

Recieving the final thoughts of her body double over such long distance had been grueling but the message had confirmed her worst fears. Her following night had been spent by preparing a portal to Ponyville. She had to basically reinvent a teleportation spell from the only piece of magic she knew, the dimension jumping spell, but using the magical ornaments to stabilize energy was fairly simple for her as queen-grade changelings worked as batteries capable of holding massive amount of energy.

She had enough to make the spell work and only thing remaining was to infuse her power into the magic circle which meant she only needed time. Resting after a night full of activity, she waited for her changelings to assemble.

Her seven remaining changelings.

She had to admit that the force was almost nothing in comparison to Nightmare Moon. Still, creatures immune to mind control and manipulation might have value in facing her.

Feeling her energy flow into the circle beginning to glow, she doze off. When she woke up everypony was already present. They hadn't woken up their queen early because they knew whatever she had called them for had to be important but same went for her sleep.

"Which ones of you have a partner here among the villagers?" asked Guiding. She could have scanned the minds of her kind but there was no reason to waste energy.

Two changelings stepped forward.

"You will stay here and live your lives as long as possible. You will also tell the mayor why the rest of us left. There is no need to warn them though. If we fail then there will be nothing they'll be able to do."

"I want to go as well," Shieldbreaker's mate objected, "I know Breaky wouldn't want anything to happen to his princess."

"No. I promised you life and while it might be short you will enjoy your time here. You can help me by giving me the energy drained from your partners."

"Of course," both changelings nodded and aimed their horns at their queen.

Guiding Light felt her power grow.

"That should be enough for the teleportation," she said after a while and the two exhausted changelings left the cavern.

"We're the only ones who know how Nightmare's mind control works. I really doubt she'll be there alone. There's also the possibility of her not following Twilight Sparkle to Ponyville and still being in Canterlot. If that's the case we might have time to organize some sort of defense. However... we all know that the Nightmare is a shifty god and doesn't like to keep things hanging so we might also arrive too late and in a trap. That means that as soon as the smoke clears we attack anypony even remotely hostile. Stay together, cover each other's backs. We're fighting for the chance at having... foals one day."

Not a single word was said by any of her subjects. All of them knew what the outcome of their failure would be. The blue circle glowed and left the cavern completely empty.

Nightmare Moon finally materialized in the Ponyville library. The transfer took time thanks to her immense power flowing through the magic circle in Canterlot but she got there just in time to see a badly wounded white pegasus run out of the building.

She snickered and took a deep breath.

The mercenary was unimportant now. He'd done his job and brought the Bearers to this place. Perhaps she might give him little time to enjoy his money, fill his head with images of herself feasting on the Bearers and watch him torture himself to death.

Even gods had hobbies.

Just behind the door. Nightmare Moon's horn glowed. Correction - just behind where the door had been a second ago.

With power still overflowing from her horn, she aimed it at the five bound and gasping fillies trying to stand up under the stairs. Grinning like a maniac, Nightmare Moon released the energy.

The lightning melted her horseshoes and she coughed up blood.

"Lunaaaaa..." she growled.

I told you... I won't let you... harm... my subjects.

"I can feel you fading, alicorn. Alright, I will play your game for now. I will undoubtedly be hungry later anyway."

Nightmare's horn flashed again and time in the cellar stopped. With the Bearers in stasis the remaining Element of Magic would be drastically weakened and the Tree of Harmony will eventually die even without Discord's intervention.

Nightmare Moon won. There was nothing that could stop her anymore. So...

...time to play.

Perhaps she could show Luna some gratitude by killing the batpony she'd been so set on finding. The one her controlled Nightguards were currently playing with in the library square.

Walking out of the building, she smiled widely at the sight of Nightguards attacking Icy Gaze and Choking Darkness in pairs. There were dozens of guards and Nightmare was feasting on the fear growing in the defending duo as they realized the hopelessness of their efforts.

The tensing of the air in the village was possible to sense only by unicorns and those very attuned even to small changes in their surroundings. With Luna's knowledge, Nightmare was able to identify a binding spell being prepared in the distance.

"Ha ha ha ha, a trap? Come at me, petty creatures! Come and face your inevitable end."

After all, with the Elements gone there was no magic strong enough to stop her.

"Miss Starlight?" Twilight was standing in front of a tent with talismans hanging all over it, "Can I help you with anything concerning the spell? I remember some books about the subject."

"Go away, you noisy, useless hack. You get lucky once by being randomly chosen by a magical artefact and you think you're the center of the universe," was the reponse she got.

"Oh... okay."

Twilight wasn't feeling herself. First of all, her confidence was gone. The encounter with death had shaken her and she couldn't shake off the fear of the same thing happening to her. Deep down she was happy Starlight didn't need her help, that way she could just sit here, on the snowy bench in the middle of the camp, and stare into the distance.

Starlight was right, she couldn't help but feel. Now, alone, Twilight knew she hadn't been able to save anypony. Perhaps it really was true... perhaps she just got lucky she'd been at the right place at the right time. Without her friends... who was she? Princess of Friendship? Yeah, right.

"Thinking about your next step?" a voice she now knew belonged to Shadowstep asked.

"Not really," sighed Twilight, her ears low.

"Why?"

"What can I do? Last time I tried to sort things out three ponies died. My friends are Celestia-knows-where and Nightmare Moon is on the loose."

"I've been in the army for about seven hundred years. Do you have an idea what it is like? I have seen those closest to me die over and over again. At a certain point... you stop taking it in. The key is not to stop caring though. I felt the way you're feeling now every single time I had to send one of my subordinates to their death. You know what the upper brass of changeling army kept telling me?"

"What?"

"You're just a gear in the machine. Do your part, do what little you can and you will maximize your chances. I got angry and climbed through the ranks, gaining followers. Eventually I deserted with my entire platoon, the goal being to create a small hive somewhere, take control of few griffon villages and just live. Funnily enough, none of our leaders cared or possibly even noticed. In those times there were millions of changelings roaming the entire world and we were just a drop in the ocean."

"Why are you telling me this? You were able to single-hoofedly get into a leadership position but I was just chosen by the Elements. I wasn't even that great at magic. I read tons of books but I wasn't even able to teleport further than I could see before I got the Element."

Shadowstep smiled... very grimly.

"Yeah... I was great. A revered tactician, iron-hooved general beloved by all her soldiers. Then I made a mistake and led about three hundred changelings into a trap. Griffons found about us, deserters, and wanted easy prey instead having to fight the bulk of changeling forces. They lured us into a trap with the only way out being endless stretch of desert. I got baited and outsmarted, causing the death of most of my changelings. That was the easy part. The hard one was watching them waste away one by one in the desert, each one giving me the last remains of their energy just so I could go on and lead the rest. Not even the last one was mad at me when he died. All that because I thought I knew better than anyone else. It was... an experience."

"I don't know what I would have done..." Twilight just whispered.

"Noone or nopony, as you would say, knows until it happens. I was saved by a dragon sorcerer. Well, saved is a strong word because he just wanted someone to experiment on to find out how changeling ability to store energy worked. The key thing is that I lived and I, let's say, acquired Cross in that event. Suddenly I had one... creature with me who relied on me to tell him what to do. I stole most of the dragon's research and we left."

"He didn't go after you?"

"He was dead at the time, long story. I got some maps and led us through the desert back to civilization. Over next few hundred years Starlight and Six joined us."

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"Because it took me centuries to realize one thing - the army leaders were right. I was just a gear and if I did my job none of that would have happened. Everyone has their role, no matter how small it is. I failed in doing mine. In short, mistakes happen. You just have to learn from them and the lesson here for you is pretty simple."

"I still don't understand."

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Get up your rump and get ready. Starlight might do the spell correctly but the Nightmare might be strong enough to break it. None of us can tell what's going to happen so you just have to be in your best shape when it happens. You really are weak an inexperienced compared to us but that's no excuse. Starlight had over two hundred years to practice magic and she was a born prodigy on top of it. She might have become the Element of Magic herself but she didn't. You did and... after all the time spent thinking surrounded by sand on all sides... I believe in fate."

"Perhaps I should just give her the crown..."

"Trust me. When you're her age you'll be way more powerful and probably insane as well. You know... power corrupts and such."

Twilight laughed and her head cleared up a bit. In that short moment of concentration she felt a chilling presence from Ponyville.

"Nightmare Moon is here," she grit her teeth.

Shadowstep sighed.

"I know what I have to do," Twilight spread her wings.

There was one thing she could do. Maybe she couldn't fight Nightmare Moon directly but at least she might be able to slow her down to let Starlight finish the spell. It might and it might not weaken Nightmare enough to let her fight her but she had to try.

Bursting upwards, she left a little crater in the snow.

It was easy to follow the trail of power to her library. The square was filled with batponies attacking a strange group of mixed origins. Twilight recognized Guiding Light, shooting bursts of energy at laughing Nightmare Moon, dispersing the projectiles easily using a black barrier she remembered from the castle. The group fighting the Nightguards were Guiding's changelings, valiant but slowly being overwhelmed. One of the remaining two was Choking Darkness whom she'd met when Guiding first arrived in Canterlot. The last one was a heavily wounded pegasus who was still able to hold his own against two batponies. From the looks of it, Nightmare Moon was just messing around and the situation could change any second.

Twilight, still unnoticed, focused her magic in peace and let out a beam of purple energy straight at Nightmare Moon...

...who just chuckled as it hit her shield.

"Finally... all the important pieces are here."

Twilight realized her mistake when a black tentacle tore her down from the sky at lightning speed. Her own shield cracked as she hit the ground.

Nightmare Moon seemed taller somehow now. Black mist bubbled around her and her tendrils of smoke thickened.

"Now to deal with the little pests," Nightmare laughed and the appendages darted to every single target in the vicinity.

Twilight wasn't going to let anypony else die.

Calling upon the power of the Element of Magic, she focused everything into pulling every friendly pony to her and creating a bubble strong enough to protect them.

The Element failed. The power she usually wielded wasn't there for some reason and the tentacles continued unhindered straight at them.

Choking Darkness jumped in front of the group. It was a reflex. Deep down she was a guard and she'd been trained to protect even the young princess with her body. She wasn't alone. Guiding Light was there as well, unwilling to let his father's marefriend get hurt. Her second thought belonged to the princess who had helped her changelings find at least a temporary place to live.

Both of them knew how pointless their effort was the second Twilight's barrier shattered and they were the first bodies in the way.

A sonic boom and an inferno of flames directly in front of them made them shield their eyes.

"That's impossible..." Choking sniffed.

The reddish-golden flames resembling phoenix feathers burned away the black mist and Nightmare Moon screamed in pain. There was a pony shielding both Guiding and Choking from...

...anything. That was the only thing their minds now could understand. The visage in front of them would protect them from anything bad.

"GET YOUR FILTHY TENTACLES OFFA MY FAMILY!" the apparition growled.