72

Princess Luna was glued on the sight. That monstrous sight. That pony thing in front of her. The cloaked pony sank out of view, a sneer floating around in the magical smoke. Her horn lit again, and the smoke shrank back. It revealed the guard who accompanied her. He was knocked out hard, his body lying senseless. His eyes, she remembered, were rimmed with a fierce boldness. Now, they just hid submissively, afraid to show its fierceness again. Luna could feel the fierce eyes trailing into a dream, the images still indistinct to him. As the smoke around her spread around Canterlot, she felt many more eyes fade to their own dreams. The magic in the smoke darkened; it taunted of its power. The distress of the very first guard, Celestia's shriek, and the eyes of the "sick" pony gripped Luna. A surge of energy concentrated on her forehead. The grip of her own feelings lost her. Luna knew who the pony was now. She knows where she came from. She heard of it; everyone dealt with it. Every pony in Equestria had their nightmare form into the same thing. The Flames. The unknown. With task and task again, she attempted to soothe their fears, to guide them into controlling it. Then she was forced to come back to the same ponies. Her forehead started to hurt of the electrifying pain. She wobbled to her legs, seeing the smoke materialize to the pony it used to be. Unlike the first image, the pony seemed to keep red irises with her hooves and tail trailing with a smoke wisp behind.

"I'm excited to see you like this, Luna," said the pony, grinning. "You made a little hiccup here and there, but you now you're JUST like the shadow of your sister! Again. Just like what Nightmare Moon said, right?"

It was beginning to feel a little hard trying to see or stay up, but Luna was pretty sure she saw little fangs in the pony's mouth. The smoke was drawing in closer. . .

Luna's voice was failing.

". . .Thou know not of thy own spoken words. . . ."

The evil pony strode further forward. Luna, determined to stay conscious, dug her hooves in the ground. Her magic was yearning for an escape, a release from her horn. She tried to picture the sick pony here instead of the thing in front of her. The pony was warning her of herself. She was in dire need of help, but her sickness controlled her before she could do anything else. At last, the magic backed down in her horn, making the pain more bearable for Luna. Her eyes met its gaze.

"Pony, stand down. That sickness that becometh of thee is dangerous for every pony."

The evil pony seemed to ponder for a moment. Its malicious attitude was replaced with what only showed unmistakable conviction.

"No, Luna. I know what I'm saying. I chose to do this. You, your sister, and every alicorn in Equestria must not rule anymore. No pony can really understand that yet. Just trust me. Trust The Flames."

She chose to do this. Luna stopped herself. No, she didn't, she thought. The pony stood directly in front of her now, the smoke seem to barely lick around her, almost engulfing her whole body. Luna saw the pony's little fangs fully revealed as she smiled wide. Luna closed her eyes, letting her magic creep silently to her guard that previously collapsed into the unconscious. The sick pony became less real as her magic traveled and wedged open a little piece in the guard's dreamy atmosphere. A transparent, weak fragment of herself cascaded down the dream moon to flow down to the guard, gaping at her majestic entrance.

"Greetings, sleeping pony."

"Princess! I. . .uh. . .I'm supposed to be protecting you. What happened?"

"An imminent danger has quickly come. Be ready with the event of your waking, because tis' the night you help save the country!"

The guard swiftly nodded, when more magic leaked from her horn to her dream-self horn. Every soft surface faded away into the pitch black, and she opened her eyes to see the sick pony gaze sternly at the her being swallowed up by the smoke. In the thickened smoke, she saw a stallion hobble to his hooves.

Light blue magic tore through Luna's horn; the energy engulfed the surroundings with exploding force. The sick pony was wrenched back and tossed away from the power, skidding on her side from her fall. The princess, glowing with a shimmering aura, soared high, and circled once above her guard companion before softly landing back down.

Her horn shined more, circling the sick pony in a barrier of magic. It took a moment to figure out its situation. Standing with a radiating confidence that wasn't just from her alone, Luna's voice boomed with the old familiarity of the royal Canterlot voice.

"REMOVE OF THYSELF FROM THY SICKLY VICTIM AND SURRENDER TO YOUR PRINCESS, OR THOU SHALL SUFFER IN THE HOOVES OF. . . LUNA!"

The magical barrier around the pony was reinforced with a short horn flick, and Luna motioned the guard to follow her signal. Its eyes brewed a deeper red, the face shadowing a thin cover of mock fear. With a grin and a quick nod, Princess Luna and her companion galloped forward, holding feelings of certainty that victory was within their hooves.

The morning that followed was awakened with the sunrise. Sunlit warmth was lathered over the beautiful greens in Ponyville. Ponies rose from their confining beds and started their day's work. Princess Twilight Sparkle prompted the start of her own day by the sweat of her own hooves pounding off the dirt while her magic gripped the bookmarked page of a fresh new book.

Her wings arched wide as she pushed herself off the ground. The drifting clouds were at almost eye-level; alarm sparked inside of her as she remembered that clouds were solid. She weaved downwards as one huge-looking gray puff passed silently over her. With the wind mercilessly whipping her mane, she wondered if such a rushed exit was necessary for this. Besides, what would be so important if Princess Celestia wouldn't show up herself with her sister?

The time whipped by like the merciless flowing of her mane hitting her muzzle. Soon, the regal tops of the Canterlot castle stood out from the clouds. Each pathway of its streets focused into sharpness as her wings altered its movements to land safely on her hooves. With a gallop and a missing book later, the castle gates swung open with a thundering echo. Three tea-sipping princesses spun their heads in mild surprise to the heavily exhausted alicorn at the edge of the hall.

"Princesses! . . Whew, Princess Celestia. . . Luna. . . Cadence. . . Just wait a second here. . ."

"Take your time," said Celestia gently.

"I. . . .Okay, I'm fine now. I apologize for such an entrance, but princesses, what is so important for ALL of you to be here?"

"I'm afraid a situation has gone too far for it to be ignored. The Flames has nearly succeeded in their most recent attack. Their greatest weapon ended up being an innocent earth pony who has some kind of dangerous disease, and Luna was the only pony who was successful into containing it."

"But I don't understand. How did a sick pony make you look so bruised up like that, let alone affect all of Canterlot?"

Celestia watched behind her as Luna telekinetically brought forward a pulsing orb of blue energy, containing a single pony swimming around in unconsciously in an odd calmness.

"That's why we're ALL here."