Eventide

In a flash of light, the daytime alicorn appeared in the room between the nighttime one and her student. Facing her little sister, she asked, “Luna, what’s wrong?” And, before Princess Luna could answer her, she found herself caught in a dark-purple aura, which threatened to strangle her.

The aura turned the daytime princess away from her sister and toward her attacker, then levitated her high into the air and thrust her against a nearby wall.

The nighttime alicorn, seeing her older sister in danger, turned from her visitors to the daytime alicorn and, reaching for her older sister with a forelimb, said, “Sister, no.”

At that point, Princess Celestia focused on her sister and said, “L-luna, g-go g-get M-moon D-dancer. H-h-hurry.”

The nighttime princess hesitated for only a second before nodding to her sister, then disappeared from the room.

In the recesses of her mind, Twilight asked the tantabus, “Tell me, really, why do you want to do this to us?”

The tantabus answered, “Look, and see for yourself.”

Not really trusting anything the nightmare would likely show her, still the spirit of the purple alicorn looked through the eyes of her body, at the daytime alicorn, and saw the writhing, slimy red vines reaching out from her hooves and her horn.

The tantabus then said, “Now do you see? The reason why there is no more magic in friendship is because of your mentor, Princess Celestia. If I can kill her, then half of the problem is solved.”

Twilight couldn’t turn away from what the tantabus was showing her, her beloved mentor which the nightmare was trying to pass off as a monstrosity. And, while the tantabus released adrenaline into his host's body, and tried to connect the release to the image he was generating, Twilight was having a very different reaction. Instead of fear, she felt fury at the nightmare spirit trying to portray her mentor that way. Turning to the tantabus, she said, "Really? I know that you've been lying to me all this time. Do you seriously think I'll believe any image you show me?"

The tantabus responded, "What do you think? You were weak and stupid enough to let me take you over. And, what makes you think I wouldn't be truthful to you now? And, besides, weren't you the one that was questioning your beliefs when you couldn't get your wings to work?"

Twilight didn't need the reminder at that point. She knew what she had done wrong. She answered calmly, "Yes, I did question my beliefs then. And, I know I was wrong to do so." Then, louder and with a little more force to her voice, she continued, "But, you told me you were a messenger between me and the princesses. You showed me that vision of the two of them telling me that Luna couldn't find the link between friendship and magic. If I'd known then what I know now about you, I would never have listened to you."

The tantabus cackled, then said, "Yeah, like that matters to me now. What matters is that I control you, and that means I control magic. And, once I get rid of you and your friends, including the princesses, there will be no more ponies to invade my home." And he cackled some more.

Presently, Twilight said, "You realize that what you call home was once the home of ponies, right? The Castle of the Two Sisters?"

The tantabus answered, "That was a thousand years ago. After Princess Luna was banished to the moon, your daytime princess and the other ponies that lived in the castle abandoned it; and we tantabi took it over. So, that 'Castle of the Two Sisters' no longer belongs to you. It belongs to us tantabi."

Twilight scoffed, then said, "Yeah, as you're so fond of saying, we shall see about that."

The tantabus said nothing in response, just went back to torturing the white alicorn.

In a house that was falling into disrepair, a butter-colored unicorn mare with mane and tail of slightly-yellowish-red, each with a strip of two shades of purple, and a cutie mark of a crescent moon and three four-point starbursts, adjusted her glasses as she read, or tried to read, through a book about some kind of magic, or maybe it was about animals. At the moment it didn’t matter that much to her.

Since that day a year ago, she’d always remembered with fury that party she’d thrown, feeling betrayed that her closest friend, Twilight Sparkle, had moved away instead of attending the little festival with her. But, for some reason, probably because it was the anniversary of the event, that evening, the memory had come even stronger than ever. And, with it, her feelings of betrayal and anger over somepony she’d thought was her friend. And, so strong was that memory that she was having trouble focusing on anything else, really. And, that’s why she was reading, to try to get that memory out of her mind.

How long she’d sat there at her desk, trying to push that memory away so she could get her mind on her book, she couldn’t tell. All she knew was suddenly there was a knock at her front door. Well, she wasn’t able to focus anyway, so she might as well go see who’s knocking.

She passed a mirror and noticed a few strands of her mane had escaped from where she’d tied it. On the other hoof, her dark-gray sweater, which she’d taken to wearing to keep her warm over the past year, remained about as comfortable as it had always been. And, while she couldn’t say it was the best thing she had to wear, it still fit her mood.

While she was thus looking in the mirror, again she heard knocking at her front door. So, pulling her attention away from the mirror, she ambled into the hallway to the door, then used her magic to open it. Before she could get a good look at her visitor, she grumbled, “Yeah, what is it?”

The voice that answered, “Are you Moon Dancer?” had an authoritative tone to it. And, it sounded familiar to the unicorn mare, although she couldn’t understand why. Not until she turned to the doorway and saw who was there. Then, when she realized who she’d grumbled to, she took a step back in surprise and said, “Oh, Princess Luna, I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was you.”

Moon Dancer continued to back into the hallway as the nighttime princess lowered her head and entered through the door, then closed it behind her with her magic. She then raised her head again and said, “We hope we are not disturbing thee.”

Moon Dancer, as soon as she saw that Princess Luna was no longer approaching her, stopped in her place and answered, “Oh, no, Princess, uh, of course not. Uh, please, will you come in?”

The nighttime alicorn snickered a little as she answered, “We are already in.”

The butter-colored unicorn chuckled nervously before saying, “Oh, yeah, that’s right.” She then cleared her throat and asked, “So, what can I do for you?”

Suddenly taking a very serious tone, Princess Luna answered, “Thou art needed at the castle. Thy friend, Twilight Sparkle, is in trouble.”

Moon Dancer scoffed, then looked down and said, “Some friend she is. She probably deserves what she’s getting.”

The navy-blue alicorn lowered her head to her target’s level before saying, “Nay, Moon Dancer, not this kind of trouble.”

The unicorn mare groaned and asked, “So, what’s she gotten herself into this time?”

The nighttime princess settled into a sphinx-style position before sighing and saying, “She’s been possessed by an evil spirit, and calls herself Nightmare Mage.” She watched Moon Dancer’s face start to soften from anger to fear, then continued, “When we were possessed by a similar spirit, we became Nightmare Moon. We had no friends to come to our rescue, and not even our sister could help us. So, she had to exile us to the moon for a thousand years. Then, when we came back, at our old home, Twilight Sparkle, your friend, came and freed us from our possession. We fear that, if we cannot get your help, Twilight Sparkle, who calls herself Nightmare Mage, will have to be exiled from Equestria as we were, perhaps to the moon, perhaps some other planet, but certainly for a thousand years. We need thy help. Wilt thou come with us and free thy friend?”

Moon Dancer opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t find the words. The mare that had abandoned her instead of coming to her party needed her help?

The butter-colored mare turned away from her visitor, not knowing what to make of the emotions that were flowing through her. As much as she wanted Twilight to suffer for what she’d done, what Princess Luna had described to her was not what she had in mind. But, at the same time, how could she set aside her feelings of betrayal and abandonment and come to Twilight’s rescue? Was it even possible?

With a front hoof, Princess Luna reached out to her, then said, “We know not how much time is left. Twilight Sparkle is no longer qualified to bear the element of magic, so that right must fall to another. We hope that thou wilt accept that right. Nightmare Mage has threatened to kill our sister and us, and we know not but that our sister is now dead. We, our sister, and all of Equestria, need thy help.”

Of all the declarations she might have expected to hear, being needed wasn’t one of them. And, it was coming from Princess Luna. But, it involved Twilight, who she had begun to see as an enemy. Could she, should she, take the reigns of an enemy, even if it meant serving the two princesses?

Then, Princess Luna rose and said, “The reason why Twilight couldn’t come to thy party was because we needed her help, and she chose to stay there to learn more about friendship. As we said before, we were possessed by an evil spirit; and, if it had not been for Twilight and her friends there in Ponyville, we would still be Nightmare Moon. And, if that had been the case, all of Equestria would be in eternal night right now. And, that would have included thee. We would not have permitted thy party. But, we are here now, Princess Luna and not Nightmare Moon, requesting that thou come and rescue thy friend, who hast done thee, and all of Equestria, a great service. Wilt thou come with us to the castle?”

This was a possibility that had never occurred to Moon Dancer. All this time, she’d felt betrayed, abandoned, by one she’d considered to be her best friend, up until then. Now, on this night, on this anniversary of that party that she now realized Twilight couldn’t attend, Moon Dancer learned that the purple unicorn, the purple alicorn, was a friend after all, and not an enemy.

This time, when she turned to her visitor, tears were leaking from the trembling eyes of the butter-colored unicorn. She opened her mouth again, but still couldn’t find the words, couldn’t even find her voice. So, she swallowed hard and cleared her throat before making another attempt. This time, she was able to squeak out, “She’s a friend?”

Princess Luna simply nodded.

Moon Dancer felt as though her house, her world, were crumbling around her, ready to collapse on and crush her. All she thought she knew about Twilight Sparkle had proven to be wrong. And, Princess Luna was her witness.

The butter-colored mare collapsed into a canine-style position, looked down at the ground, and started whimpering. All that time she’d spent being angry with Twilight Sparkle, and the purple unicorn-turned-alicorn didn’t deserve any of it. In fact, Twilight had proven to be more of a friend than Moon Dancer could’ve imagined.

Again Princess Luna asked, “Wilt thou come?”

The melting, trembling mare that was Moon Dancer slowly looked up at Princess Luna, and said nothing, just slowly and shakily nodded once.

The nighttime alicorn nodded in return, then said, “Then we shall take thee there.” And, with that, she used her magic to open the door behind her, then backed out of the small house. She then used her magic to pick up the weeping unicorn and move her onto her back. Then, after using her magic to close the door again, the nighttime princess closed her eyes and focused. In a dim flash of light, the unicorn and the alicorn were back at the castle.

In the mean time, back in the throne room, Princess Celestia asked her former student, “Princess Twilight, what happened to you?”

The purple alicorn tightened her magical grip on her mentor’s throat and said, “Not Twilight, remember? My name is Nightmare Mage!”

Applejack approached the bearer of magic and said, “Alright, Nightmare Mage.” Then, putting a front hoof on her friend’s shoulder, she plead, “But, please, let Princess Celestia go. We don’t know what came over you, we don’t know what happened to you, but we do know this ain’t you. You’re our friend; and if we’ve neglected you in any way, please, forgive us.”

With slow, unnatural smoothness, Twilight turned her head to the orange earth mare. Twitching erratically, she said, “Neglected. Neglected!” The purple alicorn then released her hold on the white one before using her magic on the earth mare, raising her high above the ground by her throat, and saying, “My only problem with you is that you still exist, and you refuse to leave me alone, you stupid mud horse. Laughter is dead. I control magic. And now, I will do away with honesty.”

It was at that moment that Princess Luna appeared with Moon Dancer on her back.

The first thing the nighttime alicorn saw as she looked around was her sister unsteadily rising to her hooves and struggling to breath again. When she approached her big sister, the white alicorn mouthed the words, “The elements. Get the elements.”

Instantly understanding, again Princess Luna, after carefully moving her rider from her back, nodded again, then disappeared from the room, taking the bearer of generosity with her.

With her little sister once again out of harm’s way, Princess Celestia proceeded to use her magic to wrestle the orange earth mare from the magical grasp of her former student.

When Princess Luna and Rarity appeared inside the Ponyville library, Rarity assumed that the magic of the alicorns of day and night must be more powerful than that of Twilight, who hadn’t lived as long as they had.

The nighttime alicorn looked around and saw the body of the pink party pony first. Centering her attention on the cadaver, she ambled to it, flared out her wings, and said, “Oh, Pinkie, no.”

As Rarity proceeded to search for the small chest containing the elemental regalia, she said, “Pinkie was Twilight’s second victim. She killed Lyra first.”

This news snapped the navy-blue princess from her grief over the fate of the bearer of the element of laughter, at least long enough for her to include one of Twilight’s friends from school. Looking past the white unicorn and seeing the body of the pale-green one, she said, “This is far worse than we had suspected. We know not if Twilight can be salvaged now.”

Rarity turned to the nighttime alicorn and said, “Princess Luna, if we are to save Equestria from this monster that has possessed Twilight, then we must get to work and find the elements as soon as possible.”

The navy-blue alicorn shook herself out before saying, “Thou art correct, Rarity. We can grieve for Twilight and those she killed when we have freed her from the nightmare that possesseth her.”

At this point, Rarity paused long enough to look at the nighttime alicorn and say, “I understand how you feel. Pinkie was a friend of mine long before Twilight moved here to Ponyville, long before the six of us freed you from being Nightmare Moon. It’s … hard for us, all of us, to understand how Twilight could’ve allowed this to happen, how she’d could’ve done what she did. As one of her closest friends, I, for one, being a unicorn like Twilight was, wish I could’ve seen this coming. Maybe I did, and I ignored the signs. I don’t blame you for what happened, I blame myself.”

Princess Luna approached the white unicorn and said, “We know not who is to blame, but we know that it is neither thee nor us.”

Rarity stomped a front hoof on the floor and demanded, “Well, if it isn’t me, then who is to blame, huh?” She then dropped into a canine-style position; put a hoof to her mouth, the one she’d stomped on the floor; and, sorrowfully and more quietly, asked, “Who is?”

The nighttime princess had taken a step back at first, surprised by the white unicorn’s outburst. Then, after Rarity settled down, she approached her and, resting a front hoof on her back, said, “We know not. But, we have no time for that matter right now. We must find the elements, and then we can use them to stop Twilight before she can hurt anypony else.”

It took a moment for Rarity to get a hold of her emotions again. And, when she did, she rose to all fours again and said, “You’re right, Princess Luna. None of us can afford to find or hold blame while a friend of ours is in trouble. We shall free her first.” She then approached a display case with the elemental decorations inside it and, pointing to it, said, “Ever since Princess Celestia gave her the elements, Twilight kept them in here so they'd be safe.”

Princess Luna used her magic to remove the protective cover, then test the necklaces and tiara. When she was satisfied, she grasped the symbolic regalia with her magic, then closed her eyes and bowed her head. One second later, her horn started to glow and sparkle, and a second after that she disappeared along with Rarity and the elemental regalia.

Back in the throne room of the castle, Princess Celestia had managed to free Applejack from Nightmare Mage’s grasp and sent Rainbow Dash to fetch Cheese Sandwich from a nearby room.

The grateful orange earth mare, once free, had informed the daytime alicorn of her former student’s desire for a sign of the connection between magic and friendship.

It was during the time of Princess Celestia’s speech to her student that Princess Luna and Rarity reappeared.

Princess Celestia was saying, “Haven’t you had enough signs of friendship being magic? You freed my sister from her curse. Wasn’t that enough? You and your friends defeated Discord using the magic of friendship, and Fluttershy later reformed him. Isn’t that enough of a sign? And, what about driving out the changelings? Surely that was a sign of friendship being magic. And then, there are your wings, which you couldn’t have gotten if you hadn’t understood the magic of friendship better than my former mentor, Starswirl the Bearded, did.”

At this point, Nightmare Mage screamed out, “Silence, you glorified mutt! Discord was weak! Starswirl was weak! The changelings, are they ever weak! All of you are weaklings compared to me!”

Even though she was present, and every pony in the room knew it, still it was a surprise to them when they heard Princess Luna say, “Thou wouldest like us to think so, wouldest thou not?” And, as the attention of all the ponies in the room turned to the nighttime princess, she continued, “The truth of the matter is that the tantabus is the weak one. The only way a tantabus can gain control of somepony is to make him or her believe he or she is weak and stupid, is that not so? And, once a pony believes such a lie, and lowers his or her defenses, then the tantabus can take over with no opposition. We know because we were controlled by a tantabus. If we’d had friends who cared for us as much as thine care for thee, Twilight, we would not have had to spend a thousand years on the moon. But, what is past is past. Thou hast friends, dear Twilight; and they are here to help thee.”

It was at this time that Rainbow Dash and Cheese Sandwich entered the throne room and approached the nighttime alicorn, along with Moon Dancer and Rarity.

In the mean time, Nightmare Mage cackled and said, “Oh, really? Aren’t you forgetting something? Without me, Twilight has no voice and no tongue. If you get rid of me, Twilight will never speak again. And, what about laughter, and magic?”

At that point, Cheese Sandwich took a few steps toward Nightmare Mage and said, “I came here because my Cheesy sense had told me there was a party that needed saving. I later learned … that Pinkie had died, … and I was going to carry on the element of laughter since she couldn’t. And, for her sake, I will gladly do that. This is the party I was meant to save.”

Moon Dancer ambled up next to the dark-orange stallion and said, “Princess Luna explained to me that it's because of you, Twilight, that Equestria still has both night and day. And, that is more important than the party I threw. Thanks to you, Twilight, I can still throw a party, any party I want; and I still have the chance to make friends. I’d thought, because you hadn’t come to the party I threw, that we were no longer friends. But, now I know that you … are the best friend I could ever have. Thank you, Twilight, thank you.”

One thing that hadn’t occurred to the tantabus was the possibility that the elements of harmony could be passed on to others. But, as much of a surprise as that was, still, he spoke out and said, “It matters not. I still hold magic in my grasp, and you’ll have to take it from me by force if you really want it.”

Now, Princess Celestia approached the possessed Twilight and said, “Sadly, Twilight no longer qualifies to bear an element of harmony. But, I know her. If she could give the element up willingly, then she would. But, she cannot. So, if it must be by force, then so it shall be.” She then turned to her sister and asked, “Luna, will you come and restrain Nightmare Mage?”

Suddenly, the tantabus realized what a foolish mistake he’d made. How many times had he been told, never to march into the middle of enemy territory and declare war. And, that’s precisely what he’d done.

Backing away from the two alicorns, Nightmare Mage stammered, “W-wait, y-you don’t understand. Th-this isn’t how it w-was supposed to happen. I-I-I’d made these plans so c-carefully, and I was s-supposed to w-win.” Then, the tantabus cried out, “Why couldn’t I destroy you?”

As Princess Luna used her magic to levitate and immobilize Nightmare Mage, Princess Luna answered, “Thou understandest not the magic of friendship. If thou hadst, thou wouldst not have even wanted to kill us, nor our sister.”

Princess Celestia then approached the tantabus-possessed Twilight Sparkle and touched her head with her horn. Then, after a spark seemed to leap from Nightmare Mage to Princess Celestia’s horn, the white alicorn backed away from her, then turned to her sister and nodded for her to set Nightmare Mage on her hooves again. As the white princess approached Moon Dancer, she turned to Nightmare Mage and said, “Now, Twilight, since you want a sign of the magic of friendship, let this be it.” And, she touched her horn to Moon Dancer’s head.

The butter-colored unicorn closed her eyes and bowed slightly to receive the right to bare the element of magic, then opened her eyes again once she had received that right. Afterwards, as she and Cheese Sandwich were joined by Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Applejack, forming a circle, she looked at her friend and said, “For your sake, Twilight, and the gift you gave me, th-the gift you gave all of Equestria, I now give you this gift.” And, her eyes started to glow white.

Cheese Sandwich looked upward and said, smiling, “Pinkie Pie, I do this for you.” And, as he focused on the purple alicorn again, his eyes started to glow white.

Rarity took a few steps until she was a little ahead of the first stallion element bearer and said, “I’m sorry that I couldn’t be there for you when you needed me the most. But, I’m here for you now.” And, her eyes started to glow white.

Rainbow Dash took a few steps until she was next to the new bearer of the element of magic, then said, “Twilight, you may not be an element bearer anymore; but I want you to know, if you ever need me again, just call for me, and I’ll be there.” And, her eyes started to glow white.

Applejack took the steps that brought her up next to the rainbow-haired pegasa, then said, “Twilight, Ah know it weren’t you that tried to kill me. It were the tantabus. So, Ah forgive y’all.” And, her eyes started to glow white.

Last of all, Fluttershy walked up next to Applejack, opposite Rainbow Dash, and said, “If my last act of kindness to you is to free you from this tantabus, then, Twilight, that’s what I’ll do.” And, her eyes started to glow white.

The six rose into the air; and the light of their coats formed a rainbow that shone above them, arched, and lowered, descending onto a fear-paralyzed Nightmare Mage.

Suddenly unable to control the purple alicorn’s body, the tantabus cried out, “No! I was winning!” And, as the rainbow finally fell on him, he repeated the words, “I WAS WINNING!” Then, baptized in the colors of the six friends, suddenly the tantabus found itself separated from the body of his host.

Princess Celestia approached the black will-o-wisp, which was now stripped of the pony body, and said, “Now, tantabus, return to the Everfree forest, and bother the element bearers no more. But, know this: The bearers of the elements of harmony, from this time and forever, have full rights to visit the library of the Castle of the Two Sisters whenever they want it.”

The tantabus stayed only long enough to puff out in a weak explosion, then flew off through the nearest window.

Once the new team of element bearers was settled on the floor again, Applejack approached the purple alicorn and, putting a front hoof on the shoulder she could reach, asked, “So, Twilight, do y’all have the sign yeh was a’lookin’ fer?”

It took a moment for Twilight to assess all the damage that had been done to her body by the tantabus, and see how much of her body she could control. Then, she used her magic to search for a quill and something to write on.

Princess Luna took action immediately, providing the purple alicorn with the writing equipment she was looking for.

After accepting the quill and parchment from the nighttime princess with a grateful nod, the purple alicorn spent a few minutes writing on the parchment with the pen. When she was finished, she returned the equipment to Princess Luna, then turned one hundred eighty degrees and started ambling toward the exit of the throne room.

Princess Celestia turned to her sister and asked, “What did Twilight write?”

The nighttime alicorn read the letter silently to herself, providing Twilight with enough time to leave the room, before handing the parchment to her older sister.

At first, the daytime princess read the letter silently to herself, as her little sister had done. Then, after prodding from the element bearers, she read aloud:

Dear Princess Celestia:

Over the past week, I’ve learned that it’s never a wise move to question what I know to be true. After the ease with which I flew when I first got my wings, I was struggling with it so much the day afterwards, I started to question why I was given them. "If there really is magic in friendship," I had wondered to myself, "why, after being able to use these wings so easily the first day, must it be so difficult for me to use them now?" I think that was my mistake, asking such a question.

The tantabus must’ve seen his opportunity to strike, seeing me question my beliefs the way I did.

A week ago, I got what I thought was a visit from you and your sister, Luna, who told me that, after running experiments with magic and experiments with friendship, had been unable to find a connection between the two. After all my experiences, what I heard didn’t make sense, and I knew it couldn’t be true. But, in the vision, you seemed so certain. I should’ve known then that it wasn’t really you two. But, I’d never had experience with a tantabus before; and you'd never given me reason to question you. So, I didn’t question the vision.

Then, the tantabus supported that first lie with more of them, saying that he was going to be the messenger between you and me while you searched for the missing connection. I should’ve known that supposed messenger was lying to me, because none of what he’d said made any sense, not after all I knew about friendship and magic. And, the more he said to me, the less it made sense.

Then, he took over my body and destroyed my larynx and tongue so I wouldn’t be able to speak; and he said he’d speak for me. He was the one that killed Lyra and Pinkie Pie, but it was in my body. If I hadn’t questioned what I knew was right, then I wouldn’t have gotten so deeply into this mess, and had to be bailed out by everypony.

Again, I thank you for what you did; and I’m sorry for what I did, what I allowed to happen. I don’t know if I can ever make up for my errors in judgment, but I do know I can’t stay here in Canterlot, nor will I be returning to Ponyville. I know I will never have my voice again, but I suppose I deserve that for all I did, all I allowed to happen.

Moon Dancer, thank you for coming to my rescue. I’m glad you were able to see past me abandoning you, and were able to come and help me out. Please remember my example, and never question what you know to be true. And, please take care of my other friends, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity, as well as your new friend, Cheese Sandwich.

And, speaking of Cheese Sandwich, I know that Pinkie Pie forgives me, and I’m glad she could find you so that you could take over for her. She’s proven as much of a friend to you as she was to me. I won’t be there to attend her funeral, nor the funeral of my friend Lyra; but I won’t forget the effect they had on my life.

Rarity, Applejack, the fault for what happened lies with me, not you. I’m the one that questioned what I know is true. I’m the one that allowed myself to become possessed by that lying tantabus. And, I’m the one that will leave and never return. I cannot forgive you, either of you, because neither of you ever lost my trust.

So, this is the lesson I learned through this whole ordeal. I just wish it hadn’t come at such a cost. Please, my friends, don’t come searching for me. I will leave, never to return. I betrayed you, so if anypony needs forgiving, it’s me.

Faithful student of Princess Celestia, former bearer of the element of magic, fallen alicorn princess,

Twilight Sparkle

After that, Princess Celestia released the letter from her magic, allowing it to fall onto the floor.

For a few moments the group of eight ponies stood or sat there in the throne room. The ordeal was over. And, soon would come the time for cleanup.