“There lies a kingdom twixt dusk and dawn
Where songs sung in darkness serve as light
And every sweet dream that takes form,
Comforts its subjects throughout the night.”
“A sparkling river flows through its sky,
An astral trail to the Nocturnal Throne
Where glorious, serene, sits the Queen on High,
A stalwart ruler, strong and solid as stone.
“And wanderers through this night time kingdom,
On recounting travails will oft remark
That the subjects sing of the wit and wisdom
Of this happy realm’s beloved Monarch.”
“But envious things with thoughts of mischief
Soon assailed the Queen’s high estate
And left the subjects with nought but grief
At the loss of their beloved potentate.
“And travellers now to this sad domain
Hear no sweet songs round that empty throne,
And few of them return—all the timid remain—
For only the courageous can escape back home.”
“Now a shadow across moons long past,
She waits for the stars to set her free
From between two worlds with these four words:
'Night Walk with Me'.”
Twilight frowned. This was not what she had expected. Sure, she hadn't expected a foal's fairytale, all light and fluffy about two royal sisters. She had, however, been hoping for something a bit more substantial and authoritative than this.
Slowly, she looked up from the pages and sighed heavily. Behind her, through a large window that took up the entire wall, Twilight could see the moon in the starry night sky.
The ponies out there would be having bad dreams.
Twilight had ruled out the Mara. The dream powers of those demons weren’t related to the phases of the moon. So it had to be something else, a force that was dependent on the lunar phases.
“Something here’s related to the Nightmare Plague, I know there is,” said Twilight sternly, as she flipped through the pages carefully. “All these books point to some incident that happened one grand gross years ago, but what?” She sighed, as she slumped on top of the open pages of the book. “Why is everything so vague? It’s just all mythology. No history, no scientific literature.”
“Well, maybe they're not myths,” pointed out Spike. “Maybe they're facts.”
“Oh come on,” said Twilight with roll of her eyes. “That's like saying Her Majesty really raises the sun every morning.” She knew better than that; Spike knew better than that.
There was a cough from nearby and then a sudden flash of light as flames erupted nearby.
“Spike!” screamed Twilight with a bit more volume than she'd intended. She winced at her own voice, as she looked around her, the hairs of her mane practically standing on end. There didn't seem to be anypony around, so that was a relief. “Spike,” she said quietly, “watch what you're doing. You could have set one of these books alight.”
The small purple dragon thumped a fist against his chest, as he coughed. “Sorry, Twilight,” he apologised with smoky breath, as he bent down to the pick up a scroll.
“Oh, it's a letter from Her Majesty!”
“Want me to read it for you?”
“Please,” responded Twilight, as her purple magic grouped all her borrowed books together.
“Okay, then,” said Spike, before he cleared his throat. “My dearest, most faithful student Twilight,” he began, as he followed Twilight through the library. “Thank you for confiding your concerns with me. You know that I value your diligence and that I trust you completely…”
Twilight smiled, as she put a book back onto the shelf. Sure, the librarian could do that, but she was a responsible mare.
“…but you simply must take a break from your research,” continued Spike. “I think the pressure of your thesis may be getting to you.”
“Wait, what?” spluttered Twilight, dropping a book out of her magical grasp.
“It simply won't do for a young pony to spend so much time studying,” continued Spike. “The brightest stars burn out quickest, as I'm sure you know.”
Well, Twilight had to admit, that was true. She picked up the dropped book quickly, thankful that the two of them seemed to be the only ones in that part of the Royal Library.
“Now I know you like to make yourself feel useful, so I've come up with a new task for you. I'd like you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Solstice Jubilee in this year's location: Ponyville. And, I have an even more essential task for you to complete: make some friends!”
Twilight couldn't believe what she had just heard. “That's absurd!” she exclaimed. “I have plenty of friends.” Sure, she could count them on one hoof, but that was plenty!
“So, you're not going?”
“Of course I will,” snapped Twilight. After all, she was not one to disobey a direct order from the Queen, even if it had been phrased as more of a suggestion. “It's just…” She sighed, as she noticed the look Spike gave her. “Didn't Her Majesty even read my letter? Ponies all over Equestria are having nightmares. No pony is getting a good night’s sleep.”
“And don't you think some pony else would have noticed?” asked Spike curiously. “There's probably a government department that monitors this sort of thing. I'm sure they're all over it.”
The unicorn shook her head. “I think I'll go see Her Majesty in person,” announced Twilight. “I’m sure I can help…”
“After she told you to forget about it?” asked Spike.
Twilight turned and was about to chide him, when she noticed the expression on his face. She recognised that look, combined with the sound of what Spike didn't say. “Oh, all right, Spike,” she called out after him. “I'll go to Ponyville and I suppose I could try to make some new friends.”
“That's good to hear,” said Spike. “Who knows, maybe the ponies of Ponyville will have something interesting to talk about.”
Twilight doubted it. With a name like Ponyville, Twilight wouldn't have been surprised if the residents were staunchly anti-Monarchist and potentially communist—Ponyville: founded by the ponies for the ponies.
“Now that I think about it, doesn't Canterlot University have a campus in Ponyville?” asked Twilight.
“Uh, I don't think that's…”
“Yes, the botanical campus!” exclaimed Twilight suddenly. “They do some cutting edge research into the magical plants that grow in the nearby Everfree Forest. They’re all night blooming plants. I could study the amount of Cosmic Mana radiation they absorbed…”
“Oh brother!” sighed Spike.
This was going to be a long, painful trip.
Well, at least Twilight would make some new friends.
“Those mares are crazy,” said Twilight, as she cantered through the streets away from Ponyville Town Hall. “I can’t believe Her Majesty would even consider holding the Summer Solstice Jubilee here. Since coming here, I’ve been stuffed like a bell pepper, smashed into, coiffed to within an inch of my life and nearly mauled by a bear.”
Spike looked back, as he held on tight to Twilight. “Aren’t you being a bit harsh on them, Twilight?” he asked her. “Don’t forget, not every pony’s getting a good night’s sleep.”
“Well, I suppose,” sighed Twilight dejectedly, her pace slowing as she thought of the terrified screams she’d heard the night before. She had to admit that Spike did have a valid point. “But all of them? The nightmares don’t affect every pony.” She sighed again. “Well, okay, I guess I shouldn’t really hold it against them.”
Twilight had a sneaking suspicion there was a smug, satisfied smile on Spike’s face. She couldn’t hold it against him, though; wouldn’t she do the same thing? Besides, after much thought, she realised Spike was right.
“What I wouldn’t give for a nice soak in a hot bath,” exclaimed Twilight. She smiled. “Yeah, a book and a good soak.”
“A book?” exclaimed Spike.
Twilight smiled. Yes, a good book. She’d go to the campus library. Already, she knew exactly what book she needed: Egremont Russet’s On the Varieties of Plants in the Everfree Forest.
“Uh, how’s about we see what the town library has to offer?” asked Spike quickly.
“Please Spike,” scoffed Twilight with an equine snort, “I’ve more important things to read.” She sighed. “It might not sound like it, but I need Egremont Russet’s book to determine which plants I need to study.”
Maybe she was grasping at straws, but Twilight was sure the night blooming plants of Everfree Forest would help provide some clues. She’d able to read the levels of both fundamental magic particles: cosmic and earth. If that wasn’t a lead, she didn’t know what was.
“But… uh… don’t you need to check out what the town is like?” asked Spike quickly. “See what the townsfolk are thinking? You know, for security reasons. You did want to go over…”
“Surprise!”
The explosion that accompanied the shout had nearly stopped Twilight’s heart. Now it thumped to the primal beat of the song of fight and flight. She would have run away as well, but it was as if some prankster had whipped the bones out of her legs.
“Welcome to Ponyville!” exclaimed a bubbly pink earth pony, as she bounced into Twilight’s vision.
“S-so much glitter,” gasped Spike faintly from where he’d hit the ground, a good five metres away from Twilight.
“W-w— Sorry, what was that?” shouted Twilight over the ringing in her ears.
“…so I thought since I know every pony in Ponyville, you must be new here and that means you must not have any friends…” continued the bubbly earth pony.
There was something familiar about this pony. Twilight couldn’t quite put her hoof on it, but she recognised this pink burst of energy. If only she wasn’t so distracted by the glitter. How’d it get underneath that part of her body, anyway? If she hadn’t needed a bath before, she definitely needed one now.
“You’re that pony I met outside the train station,” said Twilight.
“Yes, that’s what I was saying,” said the earth pony with a nod of her head. “So, I saw you but I didn't recognise you at all, which in a town this small must mean you're new here. Which means that you don't have any friends here yet, so that made me very sad, so I thought… 'Hey, Pinkie Pie, you can take a break from overseeing the Jubilee preparations to throw this pony a Welcome Party…”
Oh that figured. Twilight should have known this earth pony was a part of the Ponyville Jubilee Committee. She probably knew those other ponies. What were their names again? Apple Mac, Rainbow Flash, Charity and Fluttershee? No, that couldn't be it. Rainbow Flash was a stallion's name, surely?
“No, silly,” chuckled Pinkie Pie. “It's Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy.”
Twilight frowned. Had she said those thoughts aloud? Whatever, it didn't matter. She slowly rose back onto her hooves. “Well, thank you for the thought, but I'd rather not,” she said. “I've a bit of work to get done.”
“Oh don't be silly, you don't want to go straight back to work just yet,” protested Pinkie Pie, as she turned Twilight around. “You're Her Majesty's protégé aren't you? Doesn't that mean you should also learn about cakes? Her Majesty is a cake connoisseur. If you're going to be Her student, you'll have to be just as knowledgeable about cakes as Her Majesty, and what better place to learn about cakes than at a party!”
“Wait, how did you…?” began Twilight.
“Come on!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie, as she dragged Twilight towards a building that looked as if it'd been lifted straight out of the tale of Hans and Gretel. “Let's not keep every pony waiting.”
“Well, looks like Pinkie managed to save our collective plots.”
“I don't know. This don't feel right,” said Applejack, as she walked out of the alleyway, her gaze focused on the pink earth pony dragging away the Canterlot unicorn. “That's Her Majesty's personal student. If she ever finds out…”
Rainbow Dash laughed. “Don't worry about it,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “She won't find out. Pinkie'll exhaust Twilight Snarkle in ten seconds flat; and before you know it—Summer Solstice Jubilee, then bye-bye Miss Snarklepants.” She still couldn't quite forgive the unicorn for saying she wasn't Wonderbolt material.
“Well, you know how I feel about lying,” drawled Applejack, as she trotted quickly towards a large tree that grew in the middle of the village. “'T ain't right lying to her.” She yawned loudly, triggering off a yawn from the polychromatic-maned Pegasus pony beside her. “Besides, she might be of some help. Epona knows we could sure as heck use it.”
The tree they approached had a door and windows set into its trunk. Above, in the canopy, a balcony stuck out of the greenery. It was a literal treehouse, a house carved into the plant without harming it one bit.
A blue and white tape barred the entrance. The word, Gendarmerie, repeated itself across its length.
“So, any luck, Rarity?” asked Applejack.
The white unicorn mare turned to face her approaching friends. “I'm afraid not, darlings,” she sighed with a shake of her head. “Constable Crabtree hasn't found anything and I must admit, I haven't dug anything up myself.”
First it had been Moondancer and now Sunset Shimmer. That was two ponies missing, vanished in the middle of the night.
Applejack sighed exasperatedly. She always felt Cousin Crabtree was a bit misplaced, more prone to breaking down into tears than enforcing the law. If Rarity had become a detective instead of a fashion designer, she could have easily run rings around Constable Crabtree.
“It's the most terrible thing,” said Rarity irritably. “Ponyville is such a peaceful little town and then some pony has to go kidnapping innocent ponies.”
Rainbow Dash peered into the library through a window. She remembered finding the place like that the day before, when she was… Never mind what she doing near the library. Regardless, she found it like that, the books bent backwards, pages torn and some pony's blood on the floor.
“If only I knew the meaning of that message,” said Rarity with a stomp of her hoof. “It's obviously got some arcane meaning, but I haven't the foggiest what. Thaumaturgy was never a strong subject of mine.”
“What was it again?” wondered Applejack.
How could Rainbow Dash forget it?
Someone had scrawled an arcane circle on the floor in red. It encircled a small mound of dirt, on which sat a single page with words written on it in muddy red.
“I think it was,” began Rarity, “'Night Walk with Me'.”
Author's Note
The poem at the beginning is a homage to Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher and the last stanza is specifically a homage to David Lynch's Twin Peaks.
It was, apparently, Ponyville tradition to stay up all night—or to be more precise, all twilight—on the eve of the summer solstice. Twilight was used to all night studying sessions anyway, so a twilight without sleep was nothing new.
Unfortunately, no opportunity arose for her to express that amusing witticism; the pony in front of her wouldn’t let her get a word in edgewise.
“Did you know, Ponyville was one of the earliest dominions to be founded by a common family?” continued the Mayor, a blue-coated unicorn with a golden mane. He held a glass Carlsbad in his golden telekinetic grasp, which he used more for gesturing rather than its ability to hold a drink.
Twilight had long since drained her glass Carlsbad dry. The spout still clenched between her teeth offered no more liquid. She wondered whether she could excuse herself to get another drink, and lose the Mayor in the process.
“Hey, Twi-Twi!”
Her Carlsbad failed to break when it struck the floor. Maybe it wasn’t made out of glass, after all.
“W-where on earth did you come from?” exclaimed Twilight in utter shock.
“Well, my parents worked a coal mine in Ponysylvania…” began Pinkie Pie.
Twilight shook her head. “No, no, no!” she protested. She’d only just managed to escape one boring monologue; she was not going to get ensnared in another. “I meant,” she began, only to trail off. “You know what? Never mind. You just surprised me, that’s all.”
The pink earth pony giggled, as if Twilight had made a mildly amusing joke. “Speaking of surprises, it’s piñata time,” said Pinkie breathlessly. “As the guest of honour, you get first buck.”
Didn’t she mean…? No, Twilight chided herself for forgetting where she was. This was Ponyville, a town founded by earth ponies. They couldn’t levitate bats, so it was only natural for ponies to buck a piñata rather than swing a bat at one.
“Besides, I’m sure you’d want any excuse to get away from Mayor McBoringPants,” added Pinkie.
“Hey, I’m still here!”
“But…” began Twilight.
“Come on, it’ll be fun!” exclaimed Pinkie, as she nudged Twilight away.
Well, at least the Mayor could no longer talk her ears off, so that was a plus. She’d give it a go. After all, what could possibly go wrong?
“My Pinkie Sense must be acting up, 'cause I really did not see that coming,” said Pinkie, as she surveyed the carnage: the floor was strewn with displaced snacks, punch and it glittered with shattered glass. “Strange. Guess I bought a defective piñata.”
“I-I'm sorry,” apologised Twilight. “I didn't mean to.”
Despite kicking the piñata, she had failed to break it. She’d succeeded in snapping the rope though. “I didn't think it would do that,” she protested. “I-Is she all right? She’s not unconscious is she? I should go get a doctor.”
“No, don’t be silly, Twi-Twi, you’re a guest!” protested Pinkie, as she brought out a mop from seemingly nowhere and began to mop up.
“Certainly, it won’t do for such an important guest from Canterlot to go traipsing around Ponyville at this time of the night,” agreed Rarity.
“Twilight,” interjected Pinkie.
“Yes?”
“No, I meant there’s no night tonight,” said Pinkie as a grin spread across her muzzle like an oil slick. “It’s just you.”
Twilight would have laughed at that joke, but she was more irritated that some pony else had beat her to the punch. “Yeah, funny,” she said dryly.
“Don’t you worry none about Rainbow Dash, sugarcube,” said Applejack as she brushed the Pegasus mare’s mane aside. “She’s been through worse than that.” She whistled. “Sweet Epona, that’s gonna be one heck of a shiner right there!”
Suddenly, Pinkie shuddered. “Uh, excuse me,” she said, before darting away. She reappeared moments later to replace the record on the phonograph with another, before she carefully orientated the phonograph’s horn.
The new record played something. Twilight was vaguely aware it was music, possibly a polka, but every time she tried to listen to its melody, she found herself getting distracted by the melody itself, as if every bar of music was a new tune coming from a completely new direction.
“What in tarnation did you do that for?” snapped Applejack angrily, as Pinkie returned.
“Do what?”
“The…” began Applejack, only to sigh angrily. She dragged Pinkie to the side, before continuing in a hushed tone.
A groan from nearby alerted the assembled ponies that Rainbow Dash was coming to. Twilight sighed in relief.
“G-get off me!” spluttered Dash all of a sudden, before she bucked violently. “Ge…” she began, only to cut herself short suddenly. “Uh, w-what’s…?” She laughed nervously.
“You alright there, Dashie?” asked Pinkie curiously.
“Y-Yeah, I’m fine?” responded the Pegasus pony. “Urgh, what’s that racket?”
“I must agree with Rainbow Dash here,” said Rarity haughtily. “This record you’ve got is absolutely dreadful. Would you mind taking it off, please?”
“Wait, what?” cried Twilight.
All ponies turned to face the unicorn from Canterlot.
Twilight looked up and turned to face the ponies of the Jubilee Committee. If looks could kill, there wouldn’t have been any pony left alive.
“Uh oh,” said Pinkie suddenly, the hairs of her tail standing on end.
“Spike here’s been telling me something interesting about what’s going on here,” said Twilight, as she moved away from the small purple dragon. She smiled; it was not a happy smile. “You know what he said to me?”
Pinkie cried out. “Okay, I admit it!” she yelled. “I put the hot sauce in your first cup of punch!”
“Pinkie, how could you?”
“No, not that!” yelled Twilight with a stomp of her hoof. “Remember how I asked how safe Ponyville was? You all said it was safe as safe could be. Well, care to explain to me why you all left out the recent spate of unicorn kidnappings?”
“Ms Sparkle, I assure you that your dragon is quite mistaken,” protested the Mayor, as he quickly trotted up to Twilight. “Ponyville is a peaceful place, the most egalitarian of all the Pony Dominions.”
“And why would Fluttershy lie about something like that?” protested Spike.
All eyes turned towards the Pegasus mare.
Fluttershy shrank under the gaze. “I’m sorry,” she apologised. “It’s just I got to talking to Spike and… well… I was worried some pony would try and kidnap him.”
“Hey, where’d you think you’re going?” called out Rainbow Dash, before she flew past Twilight in polychromatic flash and landed in the doorway, wings spread out.
Twilight glared daggers at the Pegasus mare. “I’m going to warn Her Majesty about this and you can’t stop me,” she said sternly. “It’s my duty as a subject of the Crown, and it should have been your duty too.”
“Well, I…” began Rainbow Dash, her ears and wings lowering as she struggled to find a response.
“Rainbow Dash, don’t let her out of this building,” ordered the Mayor.
“Wait, we’re the kidnappers now?” exclaimed Pinkie suddenly.
“No, of course not!” protested the Mayor.
“But it sure looks like we are,” pointed out Pinkie. “We’re holding some pony against her will. Isn’t that kidnapping?”
“Pinkie, we’re not kidnappers!”
Suddenly, a bright flash of light blinded all of them. It was there, then gone in a flash. Those ponies who’d been looking at the source staggered blindly for a while and bumped into anything and everything. The luckier ponies merely blinked the spots out of their eyes, before they looked around them with bewildered expressions.
“Hey, where’d she go?”
Twilight quickly trotted away from the bakery, through the crowded Ponyville streets. Here, she could hopefully blend in with the crowd and make her way to Ponyville Town Hall. There was no precise way of knowing where Her Majesty would be, but Twilight reasoned that the Town Hall was as good as any place to find her.
She regretted leaving Spike behind, but her magic just wasn’t powerful enough to teleport herself and a small baby dragon. “He can look after himself,” she murmured to herself. “I’m sure of it.” Besides, she was sure Her Majesty would lend her a few Royal Guards to storm the bakery and save him if need be.
Twilight sighed despondently. Why did the universe feel like it had to do this? Between the wave of nightmares plaguing ponies across Equestria and now the kidnappings, it felt as if the universe was intent on drowning her in problems.
Perhaps, this was a test set by Her Majesty. Twilight smiled. Well, if it was, she’d pass it. She wasn’t going to let the Queen down, not when Her Majesty had done so much for her.
Suddenly, Twilight noticed how deserted the streets were. Had she taken a wrong turn? This didn’t look like some seedy back alley and besides, she didn’t think a country village like Ponyville would have any of those. Then again, Ponvyille was more of a town than a village.
Twilight startled violently; she barely managed to stifle a scream. Ponyville had to stop scaring her like that. “Sweet Epona, where’d you come from?” she exclaimed.
A Pegasus pony was standing in front of her. His coat was dark grey and his wings were leathery like that of a bat. Wasn’t it a bit early for Nightmare Night?
There was no point in telling him that.
“If you excuse me, I…” she began.
With surprising speed, the Pegasus pony leapt at Twilight and knocked her to the ground. Before Twilight could use her magic, a wet cloth pressed against her muzzle. She tried desperately to break free, but she couldn’t draw enough cosmic mana from her surroundings and all physical struggle only made her inhale the fumes more deeply.
Vaguely, Twilight remembered that she’d made the chemical once in her chemistry class. It hadn’t been deliberate, but… No, she couldn’t think about that. She had to break free from the Nightmare Night reject. She had to fight her eyelids, as they slowly drooped close. She had to fight gravity as it pulled her gently down to the ground.
She had to fight the darkness of sleep, but by then it was too late.
They found her pinned down to the ground by several heavy set stallions.
“Oh my!” exclaimed Fluttershy. “Is that…? I hope they were gentle with her.”
Applejack sighed heavily. She walked up cautiously to the Royal Guards, to the stallion wearing the brown police uniform. “Cousin… I mean, Constable Crabtree,” she said to the red earth pony. “Let me guess, Rainbow Dash tried to fly past the Royal Guard?” She glanced down at Rainbow Dash and noticed that each wing was pinned down by a hoof.
“This is bullshit!” swore Rainbow Dash angrily. “I’m telling you, the Mayor sent me!”
“And we keep telling you, that’s irrelevant,” responded one of the Royal Guards.
“Officers, I assure you, Rainbow Dash is no threat to her Majesty,” said Constable Crabtree in his most placating tone of voice. “Trust me on this. I’ve been Ponyville’s Constable for three years now and she hasn’t been any trouble.”
Well, except for that one time she did a Sonic Rainboom that shattered every window in Ponvyille, but Applejack didn’t think mentioning that would help. “She’s certainly never been arrested before in her entire life,” she said instead.
“Just let me go, already!” shouted Rainbow Dash angrily. “Where’s the Mayor? He’ll vouch for me.”
The silence that followed made Applejack turn around. “Now where in tarnation did he get to?” she exclaimed angrily. “Rarity, I thought he was following you.” She watched as both Rarity and Spike turned round.
Applejack stomped a hoof down angrily on the ground. She’d always suspected this year’s Solstice Jubilee would be stressful, but she hadn’t imagined it would ever be this bad. It was worse than last year’s Running of the Leaves.
“Sergeant Notepage!” exclaimed Spike suddenly.
“Oh, hi Spike!” greeted one of the guards with a big grin on his face. “What brings you here?”
“Did Twilight run past by any chance?” asked Spike.
The guard, almost indistinguishable from the others—she had no idea how Spike recognised him—shook his head. “I’m afraid not, Spike,” he responded. “Haven’t seen her since she left for Ponyville this morning.”
“Oh no, oh no!” cried Spike, his claws to his mouth. “She’s been kidnapped, hasn’t she?” His voice wavered, his eyes quivering as if his muscles were on the verge of failing to hold back tears.
“What? No, of course not!” protested Rarity with a nervous laugh.
“Yeah, I’m sure Twilight’s fine,” said Pinkie dismissively. “She’s the main character; nothing can harm her.”
“Wait, what?”
“I said she’s got the main characteristics of a survivor,” repeated Pinkie without any hesitation. “Any kidnappers come her way, I’m sure she’d fight right back.”
Spike was sure that wasn’t what Pinkie had said, but he couldn’t really argue, especially not with the great big grin on her face. He sniffed. “You think so?” he asked her.
“I know so!”
Applejack wasn’t sure how Pinkie could know; she’d barely met the unicorn. She sighed. “I’m sure she can’t have gotten far,” she said. “If we split up, we’ll find her soon, I’m sure of it.”
Twilight wasn’t sure how she got here. All she knew was that she was seated on a low black Ottoman, or couch as ponies usually called them, in a room with velvet curtains on every wall. The floor, she couldn’t help but notice was an iron grille, the bars set close enough that she could safely walk over it without fear of her hoof getting caught.
Seated on another couch near her—a large statue of Discord behind him—was a small foal. No, not a foal, Twilight realised, but a foal-sized stallion with a horn and wings and a greying mane.
The red stallion smiled at her. He’d been smiling at her for an uncomfortable amount of time. Glaciers had probably formed, scoured the earth and melted in the time he’d been smiling at her.
“Do you know who I am?” asked the stallion curiously.
Twilight wanted to ask the stallion where they were, but found herself unable to form any words. She tried desperately, but it was as if her muzzle was sewn shut. Instead, she found herself shaking her head against her will.
“I am the alicorn,” responded the red stallion, as he folded his wings around his body. “Where I’m from, my hooves are so far away from me and there’s always frost in the air.”
A shudder ran through Twilight’s body.
“That dress you like is going to come back in style,” continued the alicorn. “The first time you see it, it won’t be the real thing. Only the second time, but both times, it’ll still be real sharp.” His laughter sounded like the whistling wind.
What was the alicorn talking about? Twilight wanted to shout at him, ask him to make some Epona-damned sense, but she couldn’t. It was as if she were experiencing this through some pony else’s eyes and ears.
“Know this: the angel and the devil are one and the same,” continued the alicorn. “When you know these things to be true, we shall meet again.”
Then a mare began speaking and she said:
“Now a shadow across moons long past,
She waits for the stars to set her free
From between two worlds with these four words:
‘Night Walk with Me’.”
Twilight woke with a startle.
“…more protection,” finished a voice. “I mean, even just the one guard.”
A laugh followed afterwards. “Hey, she put up enough of a struggle by herself,” said the second voice. “Just be thankful it was so easy.”
She tasted iron and her mouth felt furry, as if she’d tried to eat a squirrel. What had happened to her? If only those jerks with the jackhammer would stop trying to drill a hole through her head, she’d be able to focus.
“Yeah, too easy,” said the first voice.
“Ah, stop worrying,” said the second. “You think any pony would have noticed? Besides, we’re going by air. No tracks.” There was a laugh. “And no pony’s fool enough to follow us through or over the Everfree.”
Twilight tried to focus her vision. If she could just get the room to stay still, she might be able to see where she was.
Four wooden walls and no window. The wall in front of her was very narrow; a door took up the vast majority of its surface. The swaying was an inherent property of the room.
Slowly, as ions flowed through the channels in her neurons, Twilight realised she was in a carriage. Whatever had happened, some pony had put her in a carriage and… She felt something on her muzzle and around her legs.
She tried to get up. Her legs wouldn’t let her. Twilight down or sideways, wherever her legs were. She was having difficulties trying to figure out where her limbs were.
Panic slowly crystallised the thoughts in her mind.
Some pony had tied her legs together and also her muzzle. She’d been kidnapped. Who could have done such a thing and why?
“I wish we could do the ceremony back in Ponyville,” whined the first voice. “The forest creeps me out.”
“Hey, if the Hierophant says we have to do it in those ruins, then we have to do it there,” said the second voice.
The two ponies. Where were they? Twilight swivelled her ears round in an attempt to lock in on the voices. Were they…? That was right, she’d met some weird Pegasus stallion in an alley; he’d been dressed up for Nightmare Night. Twilight remembered the harsh smell of chloroform against her muzzle, then darkness.
Wait a minute, did that pony say what she thought he’d said? No, she must have misheard. Her Majesty was the Hierophant. To be specific, Her Majesty was titled: Celestia the Great, by the Grace of Epona, Queen of the United Kingdom of Equestria, Southern Crystal March and the Pony Dominions, Hierophant, Defender of the Faith. Twilight had been dragged to so many formal events, the Queen’s full title had been burned into her memory and she was sure there was definitely a Hierophant in that title.
“For the love of Luna, would you two just shut up!” snapped a disturbingly familiar voice. “The Hierophant’s magic can only work so much in protecting us. If you continue jabbering away like that, the creatures down there will notice us.”
There was no mistaking that voice. Twilight would recognise it anywhere. She had, after all, been listening to it for what had felt like an eternity back at Sugarcube Corner.
It was the Mayor of Ponyville and he was in league with the kidnappers.
