Chapter 8: Returning to the Front Lines

Volume 1: Rise
Arc I: Purge
Chapter 8: Returning to the Front Lines
Perspective: Miles

Well, this certainly changes things. I did not expect some mystical being from my race's distant past to just drop a cryptic prophecy like a bombshell on top of my head.

I slowly emerge from the surface of the water, looking around and finding a small land mass near the west edge of the atoll, and focus on that land as I start swimming.

It takes little more than three minutes before I'm ashore on the small piece of land, using my magic to dry myself off and looking toward Vanhoover Island a half kilometer off. Without my sword, my magic is much stronger than before, so it stands to reason my earth manipulation should get me there without another dunk in the water; as enjoyable as it is, I still have to get back to Ponyville.

If a mythical being tells me that Nightmare Moon is going to lead me to another sword shard - the fact she even knew about the sword in the first place surprised the hell out of me and let me know just how serious the matter at hand was - then I'm not going to be the kind of guy who ignores advice just for the hell of it. I might have become the tiniest bit cold and cynical because of my time in Topaz Falls, but that doesn't mean I'll blatantly disregard anything I'm told just because I don't trust the person - or being - who's telling me.

That said, I channel my magic into the ground, and feel the earth under me pulse once, then twice, letting me know my connection to the earth is stable. I will my magic to push the earth up, and the earth quickly rises up under me, faster than I had intended. Before I can fully regain my bearings, I'm more than two hundred meters in the air, and quickly rising.

I ebb the flow of my magic and redirect my magic so that it pushes me forward, and the mainland proper shoots toward me at fifty meters a second. Barely five or six seconds later, I step off the makeshift bridge and onto Vanhoover Island once more, then turn around and use my magic to undo the changes. The earth forming the makeshift bridge begins to crack and split, until it all crumbles and falls into the water below in large chunks.

I turn around and try to remember where on the island I'm at, and when my memory does not serve up an answer, I use the earth to propel myself upward, stopping a kilometer into the air and looking around. I can faintly see to the southeast, on the far edge of my vision, the densely populated city of Saddlem. That means I'm about fifty or sixty kilometers from the edge of the Whitetail Woods, which puts me at about one hundred and ten kilometers from Ponyville. I have a lot of ground to cover, and I don't know how long I have, but I'm going to go on the safe side and get to Ponyville as fast as possible. Unfortunately, I can only run about forty or fifty kilometers before I need to stop and put nutrients in my gullet, so I'll need to stop in Boineigh, up to the north, along the way.

That in mind, I begin running directly east, intending on cruising along the border between Equestria and the neighboring country of Griffonstone.

Perspective: Blake, Ponyville Present Time

I am sitting at a large round table situated outside the local breakfast cafe. Naruto sits in the large chair to my left, Galen on my right, and James is on the opposite side of the table. Upon our arrival, we waved off the waiter by telling him we were waiting on others to arrive. That isn't a lie either; Twilight sent us to be here so we could all talk about how best to deal with Nightmare Moon.

Naruto waves down Twilight as she approaches, and she locks onto the table and walks over to us, her friends taking seats beside her. As they take their seats, the waiter once more comes out of the woodwork. Two more follow suit, due to the volume of customers, each taking their own. The first approaches me and pulls a small notepad and quill out of the crook of the small waiters' outfit he wears as he begins to ask what I wish to have for breakfast.

"I'll take a daisy and tulip sandwich and a glass of orange juice, please." The stallion nods as he goes to take Applejack's order. In short time, the orders are taken, and the three stallions return inside the restaurant to have the chefs prepare our meals. As we wait, I start the conversation we intended to have here off. "Okay, so now that we're all here, I need to ask you an important question. Did Twilight explain the purpose of the Elements of Harmony to the five of you?"

All the mares nod quickly. "Good, that makes things easier. Alright, since we all know what purpose the Elements of Harmony serve, here's the tough question: what do we do now that Nightmare Moon has fled? I'd like James to start us off, since he has the most experience with her."

James flinches at the sudden attention redirection to him, shying away before slowly clearing his throat. "Well... when we fought with her, she escaped after putting the girls under some sort of illusion that scared them away. We had to get rid of those, and we weren't ready to fight her again until a couple weeks later. When next we... fought her, she was intent on killing us, but I cleansed her by protecting her after Celestia escaped and tried to kill her herself."

"Thank you, James... Galen, can-"

"Wait... I'm not done, Blake." I nod and allow him to continue speaking. "A few months later, I was in the forest, gathering plants for an antidote to some sort of poison the residents of Ponyville contracted, and while I was there, I visited the castle. I expected it to be quiet and old, like it was when Naruto and the others rescued Twilight earlier. What I didn't expect was for Nightmare Moon to still be waiting for me." The mares' eyes comically widen and Naruto spits out the water he had just taken a drink of. "The thing is, she had been cleansed of the corruption, but she was an entirely separate entity from Luna." I nod along, understanding, but Naruto and the mares all look askew at him.

Naruto begins to ask a question that's bound to become heated, but Galen stops him and gestures him to sit back down with a hand. "Here, let me. This is what I've gathered from asking residents in and around Ponyville and reviewing the information I've heard." Galen stands up and takes a small object out of his pocket, a pyramid-shaped rough figure with buttons and switches, about five inches high. He presses a few of the buttons in what seems to everyone except Galen a random order, then touches his free hand to his head and sets the pyramid object down. A beam shoots up into the air from the vertex on top, and widens to show a small hologram projection. He moves around and reaches his hand inside, pressing ans swiping at the hologram until it comes to a stop on a picture of Luna. "This is Princess Luna. Over one thousand years ago, she ruled Equestria, which was then much smaller than it is now, alongside her sister, the mare you all know as Celestia. At some point, she became resentful of her sister's adoration by their subjects because they played and made through their daily lives in the daytime, while they all slept through and shunned the nighttime. Luna saw this as a slight against her authority, and thus began to change.

"The changes were gradual, a little attitude toward a particularly nasty subject in night court or a slight change in her manestyle at night when she needed to make a public appearance, and she started conserving power, but no one knew for what. Eventually the changes became more noticeable; she would walk into her sister's evening meal looking tired and disheveled, as if she had spent her sister's day up, unable to sleep, or she would forego her royal jewelry and horseshoes in favor of something more commanding and intimidating.

"At one point one thousand years ago yesterday, this plot came to a head. Luna waited until after her evening meal with Celestia concluded, then amassed the power she had been saving, such that the power changed her and altered her psychological state, such that the mare was transformed into an unrecognizable mirror of darkness to all but her own sister, a form the legends call Nightmare Moon.

"In the twilight of that day, the two sisters fought what would seem like an eternal battle, but the older sister recognized the power her younger sister had amassed, and, realizing she would be defeated, turned to her only remaining option. Thus, she unsealed and bound the Elements of Harmony to herself and unleashed them upon Luna in a final desperate assault, successfully sealing Nightmare Moon, along with her own sister, on the surface of the moon. The seal was broken precisely twenty-four hours ago, upon the morning twilight of the longest day of the thousandth year, at the climax of the Summer Sun Celebration, when three stars from key constellations in the night sky aligned perfectly, reflecting their light upon the moon and allowing Nightmare Moon to gather the energy to break the seal."

Galen starts pressing buttons inside the hologram again, and continues manipulating the digital projection until he allows it to stop on a picture of Luna as a filly. "Celestia was still trapped in the sun at the time, and thus unavailable to support her country in its time of need. Thus, the mares that sit at this table today gathered upon a tale of Nightmare Moon from the past, and set out to search for the fabled Elements of Harmony. They took them to the residence of Nightmare Moon, inside the old Castle of the Two Sisters in what is now the Everfree Forest, and united them to banish Nightmare Moon's power and corruption, releasing Luna from her torment and reversing the effects of time on her into the form you see here."

He presses a few more buttons, and the hologram powers down, the beam of conical light disappearing into the vertex, then takes the object and places it back into his pocket. "Now, according to my friends here, that point is where our own experiences with her diverge. So here and now, we need to figure out the best plan to deal with Nightmare Moon."

Galen then sits back down and allows James to continue his explanation. "Now, from what I remember..."

Perspective: Miles, Boineigh, Northern Equestria

I sit up from the massage and give the masseuse twenty bits for his efforts. "Thank you. Now, I wish I could stay a little longer, but I have a lot of ground to cover and little time to do it, so I have to take my leave. I might come back in the future."

"Of course, sir. Have a good day."

"Thank you." I gather the remainder of my items and leave quickly, exiting the building and moving to the outskirts of town. From there, I channel my magic and burrow underground and into a small cavern I had previously found. I sit down and think for a few minutes about my future expenses before getting up, collecting the items I've stored in this cavern, and using my magic to bring myself back up to the surface.

I start running as fast as I can, moving quickly through the underbrush and trees until arriving in a small pre-made clearing. I use my magic to raise the earth around me and get a vantage point to view the area around me. I break through the canopy quickly and settle down in an area about two hundred meters above the canopy.

I push my magic to my eyes, enhancing my vision momentarily and allowing me to see much farther out. About thirty kilometers out is Ponyville, and ten kilometers to the north, on its left side, is Canterlot, defying gravity in all its flamboyant beauty. It should take me about an hour to get to Ponyville from here.

That in mind, I turn around and stop for a quick breakfast before heading out.

Perspective: Blake, Central Ponyville, 55 Minutes Later

"...now why would we do that, sugarcube?" Applejack looks entirely confused as Galen and Naruto explain the best plan that we've been able to come up with. "Ain't she going to try to come straight after Twilight?"

"That's what we're counting on. Nightmare Moon thinks she's defeated, crippled or outright killed most of us, Twilight included. If we can lure her into a trap in Canterlot, we can blind her while Naruto and I subdue her. We both have more than our fair share of experience with ambushes and the like. Besides, I'm not really hearing any other good ideas."

"But... why can't we try to save her the way I did?" James is clearly upset about the current turn of events.

Galen turns to him, sighing into his hand. "James, you have to realize that this isn't the Equestria you're familiar with. You and Blake, as well as Miles, were sent back in time. Didn't you stop to think that our being here changed things? Were the four of us here, doing exactly this, in the timeline you come from?" James timidly shakes his head no. "Then it's highly unlikely that anything's going to stay the same. Our being here has altered everything you two and Miles were familiar with. Not only that, I'm pretty sure Blake comes from a timeline where Nightmare Moon was already defeated, so like myself and Naruto, this is entirely new to him. The only reason he's taking it so well is because like us, he comes from a world where his original occupation is a job where literally anything can happen, and usually does, so he's not entirely unprepared for things like this. In fact, of the five of us, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one where this was already my native timeline. I traveled to this planet from a distant galaxy and met you guys here. Everyone else here was brought back into this timeline by supernatural means. But we still take care of our own, so I'll see what we can do, James." His expression brightens, but Galen holds up a hand to stop him before he can say anything. "That's not a guarantee, though. Don't forget you're not in the Equestria you know. Anything can happen."

Twilight and the others gather the tableware from around us and pile it up in one corner for the waiters to pick up, while a mare comes up and drops the bill in front of us. I check the bill and leave the desired amount of bits, plus a fifteen bit tip, before I and the others get up and push our chairs in. "Well, if I'm not mistaken, that concludes our business here-"

"...guys... guys? Where are you?" A semi-familiar voice cuts Twilight off, floating in from a distance. We all look around for the source of the voice, and Naruto points out a figure slowly taking shape as it runs toward us. Halfway to the square, the figure resolves into Miles, running toward us. He looks slightly winded. "...glad I made it. What did I miss?" Naruto and Galen groan in frustration and I just settle for shaking my head.

"Well, guys, it looks like we have some more explaining to do..."

Author's Note

Yeah, I know this is coming a day late, and I'm sorry for that, but I just have one thing to say: writer's block doesn't hit me often, but when it does, it hits hard. I ended up blacking out on ideas until sometime this morning. But now the chapter is done, so don't forget to tell me what you think about it! In the meantime, I need to get working on Chapter 9, so I'll see you guys later!

Also, I'm still looking into video editors and filmmakers for those "teaser trailers" for future Arcs, so I need you guys to contact me if you want to help out.