“Phantom Moon, drive faster! We’re going to lose it at this speed!” the female teenager yelled in frustration at the dark blue male in the driver’s seat.
“I’m driving as fast as I can Mystic, any faster and we’ll attract unwanted attention and then we’ll really lose it!” Phantom Moon replied calmly. He glanced over to his friend and student, Mystic Shadow, who sat in the passenger seat of his car. She was a dark purple female with magenta hair that had black strands in it. She glared back at him.
“I don’t care! That thing killed my sister! I am not letting it get away, now that we have it on the run!” Mystic snapped. Phantom Moon rolled his eyes as he pressed his foot down harder on the gas. Mystic’s eyes closed in concentration.
“… Left, now right, now stop. It’s here.” She growled as Phantom Moon followed her instructions, coming to a stop in front of Canterlot High School. They both stepped out of the car and looked around quietly for a second before Mystic’s eyes locked onto something, and she ran after it. Whatever she was chasing let out a hiss as it ran away from Mystic, and into the giant horse statue in front of the school, disappearing. Mystic skidded to a halt in front of the statue and looked it over.
“There’s something here.” She stated simply. “It feels strange, like a weird portal or something.”
“I’d say you’re right. We should head back home and figure out what to do from here.” Phantom replied.
“Excuse me?! That thing murdered my sister, we are so close to catching it, and you want to turn around and go home?! No! I don’t think so!” Mystic yelled. “You can go home, I’m going after it,” and with that, she charged head first into the statue’s base, disappearing through the portal.
It was a few seconds before Mystic Shadow let out a groan, her eyes slowly opening and looking around the room.
“What in the world just happened?” she grumbled as she rubbed her head with her hoof. Wait, what? She moved her arm in front of her, except, it wasn’t an arm, it was a dark purple furry leg. Her golden yellow eyes widened as she looked back at a mirror behind her just as a dark blue horse with dragon like wings and a broken horn came flying forth from it with a yell. He groaned as he opened his eyes and looked at her.
“Mystic?” he asked quietly.
“Phantom?” she asked in return as she shakily stood on all four legs. “You’re a horse, I’m a horse! Why are we horses?!” She yelled, starting to panic. Phantom carefully walked over and glared.
“This, is why I said we should go home,” he growled as he grabbed her face in his front hooves, “but since we’re already here, there is no time to panic. From what I am sensing this portal won’t be open forever, maybe three days if we’re lucky. Now concentrate. Where did the creature go?”
Mystic looked up at him and slowly closed her eyes, focusing on the energy signature of the creature. Her eyes suddenly opened though as voices could be heard coming from the next room. Phantom Moon glared and growled.
“Later then. Let’s get out of here,” he grumbled as the door opened, and other horses stepped in, wearing armor.
“What are you two doing here? Where did you come from?” they demanded.
“No where! We were just leaving!” Mystic yelped as she quickly started to run as fast as her shaky legs would carry her. She followed Phantom out the other exit to the room and darted down the hall.
“Keep up!” Phantom called as he made a quick left turn. Mystic whimpered to herself as she followed her mentor, her ears moving to listen to the sound of the guards behind them. She followed Phantom into a large hall with stairs leading to what was hopefully the exit. She ran down the stairs, glancing back as the guards appeared at the top of the stairs. She let out a panicked yell as she turned forward, only to find Phantom Moon gone.
“Damn it all!” she yelled to herself as she charged forward through the doors and out into the cold night air. She shivered as the road ahead led straight into a town. She started turning as quickly and as often as she could, hoping to lose the guards behind her. After several minutes the noises faded, but she refused to stop, just in case. She kept running, till she stumbled upon the town square.
Mystic Shadow coughed as she struggled to catch her breath and slow her pounding heartbeat. She shook as she sat back on her haunches next to the fountain.
“I hate it when he’s right,” she grumbled quietly to herself as she looked down at her reflection in the water. There was a horn protruding from her forehead. She tapped it curiously with her hoof. She took a few moments to analyze herself in this new form. Her ears fell as she closed her eyes.
“I’m sorry, I failed you again,” she muttered quietly to no one in particular. Suddenly, she found herself being tackled and pinned to the ground.
“Who are you?” a female’s voice demanded. Mystic’s eyes opened and she looked up at the dark blue unicorn above her. She had an even darker blue mane with pastel yellow stands through it, and a familiar set of golden yellow eyes. Mystic looked up at her confused.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me changeling, who are you!” she demanded again, her nose pushing against Mystic’s.
“Mystic Shadow, who are you?” Mystic asked, her brain trying to figure out why those eyes seemed familiar, it couldn’t be what she thought after all.
“No you’re not! My sister is dead. Why are you impersonating her?!” The other mare snarled. Mystic’s eyes widened.
“Moonlight? Moonlight Shade?” She questioned, her voice shaking. “But it can’t be, that creature killed you a year ago! How are you alive?”
“Oh no, no, no, you have it all wrong. My twin is the one who was killed one year ago. Your tricks won’t work on me changeling.”
“N-no! I’m not a changeling, I swear! Moonlight it’s me, Mystic, honest! Please let me explain!”
Moonlight glared at Mystic, her nose pressed firmly against hers.
“Fine, you have two minutes. But I’m not letting you up,” she snapped. Mystic sighed with relief as she looked up at Moonlight.
“I-it happened a year ago.” Mystic started “We were, or are, twins. We were inseparable until a year ago when some creature snuck into our home and killed you. I have been hunting it ever since to avenge you, and I was so close to catching it tonight, but it jumped through a portal to this place. Obviously I followed it and I ended up here as a horse, slash unicorn thing.”
Moonlight studied Mystic’s face before slowly letting the other unicorn up onto her hooves.
“That sounds far-fetched to me. I don’t know how you figured out my story or why you flipped it around, but I’m not about to let you run around and cause trouble,” Moonlight stated.
“It’s not a story, it’s what happened!” Mystic protested. “Look I can’t sit here and argue, that creature is still out there and is bound to hurt more people!”
“We can’t let this thing hurt other ponies, and if you aren’t lying there are two of them now in Equestria, no thanks to you” Moonlight muttered as she sat down and looked at Mystic. Mystic paused and soon nodded in agreement as she slowly stood and walked over.
“Ponies, right. I can find it, there’s no way it can hide from me,” Mystic said as she closed her eyes. “I believe it is heading to the south east, towards someplace near a river.”
“Near a river? There’s a town down that way by the name of Clydesdale. It might be headed there.”
“Then that is where I’m headed.”
“Where we’re headed.” Moonlight corrected as she stood and started off out of the town square, using her magic to pull Mystic along. “You have no idea where anything is or how anything works. You need me, so I am going with you. You are not leaving my sight either way, Changeling. We’ll catch the first train to Clydesdale tomorrow. So in the mean time we’ll be staying at my house.”
Mystic smiled and nodded as she started to follow after her twin. She didn’t know how or why she was here, but she wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
It was about midday the following day by the time they arrived in Clydesdale. The two ponies stepped off the train and started to head into town.
“Are you sure this is where they are, Changeling?” Moonlight asked. Mystic rolled her eyes and sighed.
“For the umpteenth thousandth time, I am not a changeling, and yes, I am positive this is where they are. No doubt about it.” She replied as she looked about the town. “We need to find a library to see what we can find about them. One must know their enemy if they are to defeat it after all. Now, where is the library?”
“The library is just down the road here. I can take you there if you want. I was on my way there myself.” A pastel blue pony offered as she walked by with her eyes closed. Beside her walked a black Labrador. The two ponies began to follow after the mare. She smiled towards them as she continued to walk.
“I’m Dreamweaver. I haven’t heard your voices before. Are you new in town?” She asked.
“Yes. We’re looking for a pair of invisible creatures that can affect the physical world. It has killed ponies.” Moonlight stated bluntly. Mystic glared at her sister before turning towards the mare whose smile had faded.
“Oh dear. That sounds like a dark creature indeed. I would be very careful around those creatures. If I may suggest, use some pure salt.” Dreamweaver offered as the canine let out a small bark. “It seems like we’re here already. I wish you two the best of luck.”
“Thank you Dreamweaver.” Mystic called as she trotted into the library. Moonlight followed her inside quietly.
Moonlight sighed as she started down the aisles, grabbing books off the shelves with her magic, and setting them down on one of the tables. She sat down and began to look through the pages of the books with Mystic, both of them engrossed in their research. After several hours Mystic let her head hit the table.
“Ugh! None of these books are telling us anything! What are we supposed to do?! Those things are going to hurt a lot of ponies if we don’t stop them!” Mystic quietly exclaimed.
“I know!” Moonlight hissed. “What do you want me to do about it? Pull the answer out of my-”
“Do you mind if I snap a photo of you two?” a voice behind them asked. The two turned around to a sepia toned pegasus holding a camera around her neck.
“Why?” Mystic asks curiously.
“I’m just taking some instant pictures for a change of pace from my usual work,” the pegasus answered. “I’m Flashback. I run a photography studio in town. So, do you mind if I take a quick picture? You can have the result, free of charge.”
“I don’t see the harm in that.” Moonlight stated as Mystic moved closer. Both gave a small smile and waited for the flash. Their smiles faded though as a shiver ran up both of their spines, and then the flash happened. Mystic quickly turned around but the feeling faded. Flashback smiled as the picture came out and she shook it till the image appeared. She set it down on the table between the two mares. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at it. There was a blurry shape in the background between the two ponies.
“Huh. There must be a smudge on my lens.” Flashback stated as she started to clean it. Mystic and Moonlight gazed at the image and looked at each other. It wasn’t a smudge. They could clearly make out the figure of another disfigured pony in the background between them. They looked at each other a swallowed hard.
“Well they found us,” Mystic muttered quietly. Moonlight quietly nodded. Flashback smiled as she waved to another pony across the way. The cream colored unicorn grinned as she trotted over to them.
“Hey Flashback. Having fun with that camera?” she asked.
“I am, thanks for giving it to me, Inkblot. I think there’s a smudge on it though,” Flashback responded, motioning to the picture. Inkblot looked curiously.
“Nope. No smudge. You caught a ghost pony on film, though it looks more like a Daemon to me,” Inkblot stated simply and smiled at Mystic and Moonlight. “I certainly hope it isn’t after you two. You two seem nice, and Daemons are really a nasty bunch. They hunt ponies for sport after all.”
The two ponies looked at each other then back at Inkblot.
“How does one stop a Daemon?” Mystic asked cautiously.
“Salt. Pure Salt. You throw it at them and it weakens and burns them so they can be destroyed by a strong magical spell.” She stated simply. “Everypony knows you use pure salt against dark creatures.”
Mystic Shadow and Moonlight Shade turned to each other and smiled.
“That’s got to be it!” They squealed in unison as they hugged each other. Moonlight soon stopped though and pulled away, brushing herself off.
“We better go. Thank you girls for helping us. We’ll get out of your manes now.” Moonlight offered before tugging Mystic out of the library.
“We have roughly a few hours before those creatures come after us for sure, they won’t attack without being ready. We need to be ready. The one in the photo was clearly gathering information since it didn’t attack us there,” Mystic stated as they walked down the streets of Clydesdale. “They are going to strike where they can do the most amount of damage. I’m going to guess the center of town. Moonlight we’re going to need salt, lots of salt. Can you run to the store and get some?”
“And leave you by yourself, Changeling? I don’t think so,” Moonlight argued.
“We don’t have time for this. Moonlight please, trust me. I will meet you in the town’s square, and we’ll prepare for tonight okay?” Mystic pleaded, her golden yellow eyes gazing into the same pair on her twin. Moonlight looked at her and sighed as she closed her eyes.
“Alright. Don’t make me regret it,” she muttered as she slowly turned around and galloped off towards the stores.
The moon was beginning to rise when Moonlight walked into the town’s square. Mystic was there as promised and the two quickly got to work spreading two saddlebags worth of salt around the town’s square. They were just finishing up when a loud hiss was heard and the salt behind them kicked up in a strong gust of wind.
“Moonlight I hope you’re ready because we’re out of time!” Mystic exclaimed, her head whipping around to face both of the Daemons
“Well, you’re alive after all, how cute. Thank you so much for bringing my counterpart to help me ensure both of your deaths,” the Daemon hissed as he and his counterpart descended from the rooftops onto the ground below. They growled at the two ponies as they discovered they were surrounded by a ring of salt around the town square. The Daemons glanced at each other and nodded as they quickly charged the two ponies. The two ponies glared as they charged their individual Daemons. Moonlight suddenly stopped, her horn quickly glowing as she shot a bolt of bright yellow energy towards her Daemon. The Daemon was hit square in the chest and was sent tumbling across the ground through the salt circle. He screamed in agony as the salt burned his skin. He snarled as he quickly got back up and charged again, this time too fast for Moonlight to react. He slammed forth sending her across the square. Mystic wasn’t doing much better. Her horn was glowing with magical energies but her spells don’t seem to be doing much damage to the Daemon. She glanced over to Moonlight who was now pinned to the ground by the Daemon. Mystic looked at her Daemon as he stared her down, uninjured. She closed her eyes as he began to move towards her. She took a deep breath as her horn relit with magic. A small breeze began to pick up, quickly growing stronger with every passing second, until the salt around them began to lift into the air. The Daemons growled and hissed as the salt begins to make contact and burn their skin. They howled in pain as the winds continue to increase, a cyclone of salt enveloping them. Moonlight stared in awe as Mystic strained to continue the spell.
“Any time would be good, Moonlight!” Mystic called to her twin. Moonlight nodded as she lowered her horn, it also relighting with magic. After a few seconds a blast of energy shot forth, hitting her Daemon square in the chest. He let out a blood curdling scream as his body began to crumble away into dust. Mystic’s Daemon looked on in horror as his counterpart was destroyed.
“I will not allow it to end this way!” He screamed as he burst through the salt storm and charged Mystic, aiming its razor sharp horn straight for her heart. Mystic opened her eyes, her magic letting go of the salt as she quickly scrambled to move out of the way and throw up a shield to defend herself. She would be too slow though. This was it, after all this time, is this how it would end? Failing to protect the one she had cared about most yet again? Her eyes closed and tears of agony filled them, when a blood curdling scream was heard and then nothing. Mystic stood frozen in place for a moment before finally daring to open her eyes. She was still in the town square that was covered in salt. The Daemons were gone. In front of her was Moonlight, lying on the ground breathing heavily.
“Moonlight? What happened?” She asked shakily as her knees gave in and she fell to the ground. Moonlight’s left haunch had been pierced and was bleeding.
“A quick teleportation spell, and a hastened sloppy version of the disintegration spell,” she muttered shakily as she smiled back at her. “I'm surprised it worked. Don’t worry about me. It’s just a flesh wound. It’ll heal, Mystic.”
“You didn’t call me a Changeling,” Mystic commented as she rested her head on her twin’s back.
The two mares stayed there till the sun began to rise over the horizon a few moments later. The two smiled as Mystic slowly helped Moonlight up to get her to the nearest infirmary.
“So this is where you ran off to,” a familiar male voice called. Mystic stopped and looked towards the alleyway from which it had come, and out stepped Phantom Moon. He smiled at the two of them.
“I knew you could do it,” he chuckled with a cocky grin as he walked over to her. Behind him followed a tall white winged unicorn with a multicolored mane and tail that flowed in a nonpresent wind . She walked over and looked down at the two sisters.
“Princess Celestia! What are you doing here?” Moonlight exclaimed as she quickly kneeled before her.
“There was a large amount of magic expelled from Clydesdale and I worried for the sake of my little ponies. I see you two seemed to have handled the situation on your own,” the Princess replied. The two sisters nodded giving weak sheepish smiles. Princess Celestia looked towards Mystic Shadow.
“Your friend has told me quite the story. You two came through my mirror?” she asked.
“Yes, Princess. Phantom Moon and I came through the portal after the Daemon.” Mystic responded as she looked back at Moonlight Shade. “But I think I’ll only return home for a little bit before coming back here, if that’s alright.”
“Oh? And why is that?”
“Because, I found what I lost a year ago, and I don’t want to lose it again. I want my twin back, my other half, and I have her here. Please Princess, let me come back to Equestria.” Mystic begged.
“Moonlight Shade, what do you think about this?” Princess Celestia asked. Moonlight looked over to Mystic and gave a smile to her.
“I want my twin back too, my missing half has magically returned,” she sniffled as she wrapped a hoof around her. Mystic smiled and hugged her back. Princess Celestia smiled and nodded. Phantom Moon rolled his eyes and grinned.
“Fine be that way. Leave me all by myself back home,” he teased as he walked over and nudged Mystic. “You still need to come back and talk to your folks about being gone for the next two and a half years.”
Mystic nodded as she looked up at them.
“I will, and thank you,” she said softly.
Mystic Shadow smiled as she got off the train in Clydesdale and walked over to Moonlight Shade who was waiting for her.
“I can’t believe you’re making me move to Clydesdale,” Moonlight complained playfully.
“Making you? It was your idea! Besides, there are secrets here I can feel it,” Mystic laughed as they headed off into town to their new home.
“So what did you tell them anyway? Your parents, or is it our parents? I don’t know. What’d you say?” Moonlight asked.
“I told them I would be studying overseas just like I wanted to for the next two and a half years. I’ll go back when it opens for three days again before coming back here,” Mystic explained. Moonlight nodded and nudged her playfully with a grin.
“I’m glad you’re staying. I’m, sorry for giving you such a hard time before. After you died I just, couldn’t believe that you were alive,” Moonlight sighed as she leaned against her twin.
“Apology accepted,” Mystic chuckled as she nuzzled her affectionately. “Come on, let’s go home.”
