Tragedy was horrified. This was her last performance in The Night Kingdom. She would be leaving as soon as the play was over, a few minutes earlier if she was lucky. She had planned her rout, paid a moose to take her as far as Luna Bay and had saved up enough bits to take a boat home to Vanhoover, she hoped. But all her planning, all her hopes and dreams seemed to crack when she looked into the audience and saw the big wolf female who had saved her and then abandoned her.

But this was not the time to think about it. She had a part to play, a very important part, a part that would draw suspicion if she missed her cue. She pulled the pointed magicians hat a little lower over her face and walked onto the stage. Stepping carefully over the food and cups that had been thrown at her co-stars a few moments earlier, she stepped to her mark and began.

"I've come on behalf of the high mages to help solve the problem of the nightmare mist, I wish to speak to your leaders so we might help end this problem together."

A simple set of lines that she had spoken on and off stage a hundred times before, but with the importance of this showing and the familiar face in the audience she worried her voice would fail her. Luckily it did not.

Tug, the troupe director and storyteller for this play, spoke from the left side of the stage.

"The sorceress arrived at The Crystal Gate and was allowed to enter, as she was alone and seemed genuinely concerned with solving the problem. When the army from the south arrived at The Dour Gate, it was a much different story."

Tragedy silently moved to the right side of the stage as the two painted moose cows pushed their caged co-star a step forward.

"We have come on behalf of Equestria. We don't know what it is you're doing on the beyond these mountains, but it must stop. You may generate as much fog as you like, but we will not allow you to pollute the dreams of Equestrian citizens." shouted the actress in the cage in a mockingly slow voice of believed superiority.

While Tragedy hated to see ponies portrayed this way, she knew it was what the crowd wanted. Heroes were played strong and confident but never arrogant and villains were always played up so it was easy to boo them. She wondered if it it was the same in Equestria.

Tug continued. "While the army gathered at the gate after being refused entrance, the sorceress was able to make her way through the fog to Brass Tower, and meet with the leaders of the three groups. they had many discussions on how to stop the fog and nightmares."

a new background was pushed behind the right side of the stage depicting a city shrouded in deep fog with small buildings a gleaming tower, all barely visible. Tragedy was now joined by three of the young actors from before, their costumes representing the leaders of the Pegusi, Deer and Diamond Dogs. Being slightly older, Tragedy stood a bit taller than all of them even without her pointed hat. the four of them began to pantomime speaking, the young thestral simply repeating watermelon over and over again.

"After three days of studying the heart of darkness, the sorceress thought of a spell that might be able to stop the effects of the heart. The spell was not particularly powerful and would need to be repeated once every few months, but the fog and nightmares would stop."

The pantomime of the four actors continued but now Tragedy added a few animated gestures and the four of them nodded their heads in agreement. At the same time on the left side of the stage the three cows were joined by several other young moose with matching white paint and golden armor. They all wore helmets with the appearance of unicorn horns.

"At The Dour Gate the unicorn army had grown in size and frustration. They also developed a spell to stop the nightmares, but with no research into the cause it would need to be very powerful and be extremely dangerous."

This was one of the more difficult parts of the play and the three actors accompanying Tragedy made their way off the stage. She went to stand near the middle of the stage and set her hooves in wire lassos that would be invisible to the audience.

The old wolf spoke with incredible intensity as he told the next part of the story.

"In Brass Tower the sorceress cast her spell. While it would not have been a permanent fix it did work. The fog began to slowly clear from the area just as she thought it would. At the same time an army of unicorns also cast their spell, not aimed at the heart, but the fog."

"No one knows exactly what happened in the fog that day, but wizards and magicians have suggested that the spell cast into the fog traveled to it's source, breaking the spell cast by the sorceress and super charging the heart. From Brass Tower a wave of energy spread across the land, turning the fog a thick black color. Anyone in the fog fell into a deep sleep, while those outside like the unicorn army were thrown miles away by the force of the wave."

The moose in the cage was pushed offstage with a shove while the other moose actors dove after her, dramatically shouting as they did. This left only Tragedy and Tug on the stage.

"It would be many years before anyone figured out what happened that day, for when the residents woke up the next day the fog had disappeared. The Heart of Darkness had been locked in a containment spell more powerful than anyone had ever seen. but this spell came at a great cost. the sorceress had also disappeared, leaving only her cloak and hat. She had put all of her magic and the very fabric of her being into the spell. She had sacrificed herself to end the cursed heart's reign of terror."

As Tragedy removed her hat and cloak the audience gasped. Few of them had ever actually seen a unicorn before. two actors behind the curtain began to pull the wires. Tragedy kept her hooves planted giving the visual that she was being pulled off stage by some invisible force.

Her part finished, Tragedy crept into her small trailer. she needed to change costumes for her next scene, but only made it as far as the mirror. thoughts of the upcoming scene and the wolf in the audience brought back memories. She remembered the filly who was so happy to have gotten her cutie mark at an audition for a play. Little Tragic Tale, with the frowning tragedy mask for a mark had been very confused. She lived a happy life in Vanhoover, Her parents loved her and now she would be playing Nightmare Moon in the cities Hearth's Warming pageant. So why did her cutie mark seem so unhappy.

She could almost laugh about how innocent the filly had been. That innocence hadn't helped her. It hadn't saved her from the wolves who attacked the pageant. It hadn't stopped them from stealing her away from her family for "insulting the night princess". It had all but faded away after being chained to a boat for two years using her magic as a light for raiders. In that time Tragic Tale had become simply Tragedy

When she had cried the pack leader had laughed and made her drink salt water. She couldn't even remember what her voice used to sound like. When something had gone wrong he had hit her. things went wrong a lot more often near the end. In the end he had gotten so angry he smashed her horn with a rock against the side of the boat. she had blacked out from the pain.

She had woken up from being splashed with water. she had expected the pack leader, but instead she was staring at a big female who had never bothered to talk to her before.

"Mok has gone to meet the sky mother", the wolf had said. "I don't know where dead ponies go, but if you ever mention my name to ANYONE, i'll send you there too.

Tragedy had still been dazed from the rock, and didn't understand what was happening. "Wh... What are you going to do to me?" she whimpered.

"Nothing" the wolf had replied. "Your horn is broken. you magic is gone. you're no use to me"

And with that she had walked away. Tragedy hadn't even been sure where they were.

That had been more than a year ago. now she sat in a trailer, staring at the mirror. The happy filly that should have stared back had been replaced with a young mare who hated herself. A sharp splintered horn that had never healed correctly, no control of magic, a voice like sandpaper. If she made it home would they even want her back?

That thought was the final straw. her emotions hit her in a wave that crushed everything else. she cried and wailed and didn't care if they could hear it from the stage. she was so lost in her own world that she didn't notice her co-star behind her until she was locked in a deep hug.

"It's OK, it's OK," the white moose cow repeated with all the compassion of a mother. "It's your last show and then you'll be going home. There's a few minutes until we need to be on stage. you cry it out and then we can get you in costume."

If she weren't crying so hard Tragedy could have laughed at the irony of the situation, the last character she would play in The Night Kingdom was the same character she was sent here for playing.

Author's Note

Whoo. this chapter was tough. actually attempting to write emotion AND writing in past perfect tense.

anyway, this marks the penultimate (second to last) chapter.
And the next chapter features Luna, Celestia and Discord.

As always, comments, concerns, questions, critiques and innuendo are always appreciated.