Crossed Lines

Chapters

1 Spike the Messenger
2 The Bat Whisperer
3 An Old Enemy
4 Ripe for Conquest
5 Cadence Falls
6 Celestia's Dilemma
7 Rainbooms Rock!
8 Luna's Nightmare
9 The Dragon Alliance
10 Showdown
11 Now We Fix Everything

1 Spike the Messenger

“Twilight! Twilight!” shouted Spike as he ran to find his mistress, claws skidding around the bends in the corridors. He approached two guards standing outside the throne room. One of them turned to confront the speeding dragon and began to point his polearm, but his more experienced colleague pulled him by his shoulder, causing him to turn and see the look in his senior’s eyes which radiated a clear message, “NO!”

In the moment of indecision experienced by the rookie guard, Spike had slalomed around him and was already blazing a trail down the corridor. Well, probably not ‘blazing’ as Rainbow Dash would use the word, but still pretty fast for a baby dragon.

While the Castle of Friendship didn’t usually have much of a presence of guards, protocol dictated that during the forthcoming Royal visit of Princess Ember, additional precautions would have to be taken. Twilight had raised the issue with Celestia saying that the whole ethos of her role as Princess of Friendship was based upon trust and that Ember wouldn’t do anything to betray that trust. However, Celestia explained that the extra security didn’t show mistrust but was instead a method of ensuring that if anything unrelated did happen during the visit, it would be easy to exonerate the guests rather than cause unnecessary friction, so she had reluctantly agreed. As a consequence, new guards had arrived and been posted to protect the most sensitive locations in the castle.

Rounding another corner, Spike slowed down as he approached Twilight’s private chambers, partly because there were more guards, but mostly because he was exhausted. He hadn’t run that fast since … well, since forever, actually.

“Hello Spike” greeted one of the guards cordially as the other looked on and smiled, “The Princess is changing clothes at the moment in readiness for the arrival of Princess Ember. I’ll knock if you like …”
“No time” puffed the wheezing dragon, thrusting the door wide and charging in.
Twilight Sparkle turned in mid-change looking utterly startled, eyes wide, jaw dropped and momentarily unable to speak.
“Twi!” he panted, “You’ve got to come see!”
“Um, Spike” said Twilight, finally finding her voice, “I can’t really move at the moment. This dress is half on and kinda round my hindlegs. It's a priceless Royal heirloom, but it was clearly designed for somepony smaller than me and look - it doesn't even have holes for my wings! I don’t think I’d better try and move anywhere just for a moment …”

“No time!” spluttered Spike “Can’t you teleport?”
“What? Where?” she asked, looking puzzled, “And why?”
“Bats, Twi” he got out, “Twilight, we’ve got bats …”
“Yes Spike, that happens in castles” she giggled.
“Not in the sealed room where we store the Crystal Mirror!”
Twilight looked surprised for a fraction of a second before the gears in her head could be seen starting to move and within a few seconds were spinning at high velocity.
“The portal to Canterlot High School?”
“That’s the one” confirmed Spike.
“Bats?”
“Come on and let me show you!” he urged.
“But we’ve got Princess Ember arriving within the hour …”
“It’s a sealed room, Twi, with guards” he reasoned, picking up on her innate curiosity, “Let’s just look see if the system you rigged with Princess Celestia’s book is still working as it should. I sure wouldn’t like to see anything coming through that could damage the machine.”

Twilight wrestled with what she had been told, but a nagging doubt persisted, pointing to the possibility of an undefined error buried somewhere deep within her calculations. Surely, she had she used the sum of the squares of the separation between the points along three spatial dimensions, or had she perhaps instead summed the differences? She couldn’t be sure in hindsight. The setup would have looked broadly the same and it could possibly still have worked, but …

Mind racing, she kicked off the priceless museum piece of a dress in a manner that would have made Rarity swoon onto her fainting couch and placed Spike on her back, flying out of the doors to her chambers and off down the corridors. Flying in the corridors was something that Luna had taught her back at Canterlot Castle, and something of a bone of contention between the Royal Sisters, as Celestia being the larger had not been able to accomplish the feat since she was a filly. Once when discussing it, Luna had memorably described her sister as ‘portly’ by accident, but the event would not be forgotten by those who had been there, neither would Celestia’s furious reaction. Late on some evenings when Luna and Twilight had been together at formal functions, the midnight Princess would invent some lame reason to be called away and excuse both herself and Twilight to fly through the corridors for the sheer joy it brought them. This had also become a tradition within the Castle of Friendship and had helped cement an already close bond between the two.

Now Twilight was running tight on time. All she needed was for Ember to arrive early and she would be completely caught off her guard, but she trusted Spike totally, and if he was worried, she knew she should be too. Spike in his turn had come to trust Twilight’s flying, having improved dramatically since her first faltering if not downright disastrous attempts following her coronation a few years ago. He hung on tightly as she turned corners by rolling over onto one wingtip that barely brushed the floor while the other pointed vertically up to the ceiling. It was just as well that Spike trusted her so completely with his safety.

The lilac Princess and her passenger were racing towards the two guards protecting the sealed room. They both stared with eyes wide as the Princess appeared to fly straight at them with a very focused look on her face, throwing them into a quandary as to how they should react. Fortunately that decision was taken away from them when the Princess came to an abrupt halt in mid-air and backwinged as she extended her legs gracefully to take her weight once more.
“Good morning, Sirs” she said nonchalantly as they were still regaining their composure, “I should like a quick look around inside please.”

One of the guards rattled the single key that looked lost on his oversized key ring and slid it into the lock, opening it for his Princess with due deference. She thanked them as she always did every guard for executing their duties, before walking in and lighting her horn dimly. Everything seemed quiet, then Spike stretched forward onto her neck and pointed.
“Over there, Twi” he whispered, “See them, roosting on the ceiling?”
“Yes Spike” she replied, ”Yes I do.”
She turned the light of her horn up a little more and studied the scene before her. There were most definitely bats, but her prime interest was for that of the portal. It all looked just as she had designed and built it. A quick check confirmed she had based its design on the correct assumptions and she shed a sigh of relief.

“I think we could use Fluttershy’s help here, Spike.”
Spike scratched his head and looked vaguely perplexed.
“So she can talk to them and find out how they got here, of course.”
“Of course” repeated Spike.
“Tell me” she asked, “They were here when you came in this morning, right?”
“Er, no. I saw them come through. Well, actually, I heard them first; us dragons have hearing that’s much more sensitive than yours. Then I saw them fly in.”
“So they came through from CHS in the daytime? But, they’re nocturnal …”
“Shall we go take a look?” suggested Spike hopefully, “Maybe our friends will be there and can help us?”
“No. No time, but I still think Fluttershy can help us out here. You and I are needed to welcome Princess Ember.”
Sadly, the two friends cast a reluctant eye over the room and its contents. The prospect of rushing around trying to catch the bats and getting covered in bat guano just before the Royal visit wasn’t appealing to either of them, so they left. Animals are Fluttershy’s thing recalled Twilight following some painful memories from her first Winter Wrap Up.

As she closed the door behind her, Twilight stopped and explained to the guards that they could expect a visitor later on, so that her shy friend wouldn’t be intimidated with a lot of questions from the imposing looking guards that might just be enough to send her running back home again. Then she turned to her number one assistant with a glint in her eye, “Want me to drop you off somewhere, Spike? That is of course if you’re up for another ride …”
The baby dragon smiled and nodded, happily allowing himself to be levitated into position onto her back once more and holding on tight before they took off again.

2 The Bat Whisperer

Twilight was eager to maintain good relations with Princess Ember, and Spike as her Ambassador for the Dragon Lands was an essential part of the Royal visit. They both rushed to get changed and appeared like magic at the head of the reception committee with only a few minutes to spare before the town hall clock struck the hour. Around them, a large crowd had gathered in expectation, hoping for a view of the Princess from the Dragon Lands.

Right on time, Princess Ember flew in with a small entourage to the accompaniment of a fanfare from the Royal trumpeters, landing at the start of a red carpet as Princess Twilight with Ambassador Spike half a step behind came forward to greet them. The crowd watched as the two Princesses exchanged pleasantries and then walked back down the carpet towards the Castle of Friendship with their ambassadors and other members of their welcome party following behind led by Spike.

Fluttershy had received word that she was needed in the castle, but hadn’t been able to leave her critters straightaway; an injured humming bird had needed some attention, closely followed by a stream of demands from a jealous white bunny. When she had turned up, it was to be confronted by a jostling sea of ponies, that looked just a little too intimidating to get through, so she held back and fretted nervously. She had watched as Twilight glided serenely down the red carpet, secretly wondering how she could look so composed in front of so many pairs of eyes. Once she and Ember had disappeared with her guests into the castle, the crowd had begun to dissipate in small groups all buzzing with happy chatter. Fluttershy took the thinning crowds as her cue and rose to her hooves, threading her way between ponies on her way towards the main door.

“Um, excuse me” she said quietly to the guards on the door, “I … um hope you don’t mind, but …”
“Oh, hi Fluttershy” replied one of the guards, “Expected you sooner. Please go right in.”
As she was walking past, he faced her again and said, “Oh, and by the way, thank you for fixing up my daughter’s tortoise, it’s getting along fine now.”
“Oh I’m so pleased” beamed Fluttershy, ”He had just eaten something that disagreed with him.”
“She’s a bit new to keeping pets. She never showed any interest before, but when Rainbow Dash got herself a tortoise, she just had to …”
“Ahem!” barked the other guard.
“Sir!” he responded, snapping back to attention.
“Oh, I’m so sorry” apologised Fluttershy, “It’s all my fault, you see …”
“I believe you are expected inside, Miss” interjected the senior of the two guards.
“Oh … yes … right away …” stammered Fluttershy as she crept self-consciously inside, still cringing as she looked back over her shoulder to see that her friendly guard was not going to get into any more trouble.

Once she was safely out of the way, she made her way cautiously to the room holding the Crystal Mirror. There were two more guards to talk to; an imposing looking earth pony and his noticeably smaller unicorn colleague. After her last encounter she felt unsure of herself and lifted a forehoof off the ground in a submissive gesture while summoning the courage to look up at the guards and introduce herself.
“Hello Fluttershy” greeted the earth pony guard innocently.
“Oh no” she whimpered, lowering her face to the floor and covering it with both forehooves, “I don’t want to get you into trouble too!”

The two guards looked at each other and then back to the primrose pegasus who was clearly disturbed about something.
“What’s the problem Fluttershy?” he asked.
“Oh … it’s … just that” she began hesitantly, “I know you shouldn’t talk to anypony when you’re on duty and I don’t want to get you into trouble too.”
“Let me guess” he grimaced, “You’ve met the new Staff Sergeant on the door outside?”
“Why yes” she replied, ”How did you know?”
“Just a hunch” he replied dismissively, “Come on, let’s get you in there.”
“Oh, thank you” she said, flashing him her large blue eyes and disarming smile.

The unicorn guard rattled his solitary key and reached forward opening the door into the darkened room.
“Ummm” she said, “Could you make a little light in here please?
“Certainly, Miss” he replied and instantly his horn lit, flooding the room with a bright light that caused a stirring above them.
Fluttershy gasped. She knew there would be bats. She had only wanted a little illumination so as not to frighten them. Now it was too late.
Handfuls of bats shivered where they hung as they awoke in shock and then started dropping off the ceiling and flitting around the room, their numbers increasing by the second.

A cloud of whirling bats was enough for the guard who promptly ran out of the door, leaving Fluttershy not only in the darkened room but also bombarded by the indignant shouts of the bats as they took to the air in shock; all of which were fighting for attention and all of which she could understand, even the ruder comments.

“Quiet!” she shouted, then adding as an afterthought “If you wouldn’t mind, please ...”
Startled that a pony could speak bat they all suddenly went quiet and gradually returned to their roosts on the ceiling. One stayed behind and landed on Fluttershy’s forehoof where it shivered gently.
“It’s alright, little one” she cooed softly, “I’m sorry you were disturbed by that nasty bright light ...”

Just then the door cracked open and an apologetic male voice enquired, “Are you alright, Miss?”
In the background, she could just make out a male snigger; clearly the earth pony guard expressing his opinions of his colleague’s lack of resolve.
“Don’t make any light please” she asked politely, ”They’ve mostly gone back to sleep again, so please don’t wake them.”
The guard said nothing, but his relief was tangible.
“I don’t need any light in here now, thank you. I’ll let myself out when I’m ready.”
“But it’s completely dark in here.”
“That’s not a problem now, thank you” she replied enigmatically.
He slipped out, thankful that he hadn’t been called upon to stay. In a dark room. Full of bats. Urghh! His training hadn’t prepared him for this.
“Now” said Fluttershy to the bat resting on her forehoof, “Tell me your story, little one.”

Ten minutes later the latch on the door began to lift and the unicorn guard turned to help open the door as the rather shaken looking yellow pegasus emerged slowly. The guard looked at her and cried out in surprise that caused his partner to spin round, weapon ready.
“Miss ..” he started, but just stared and didn’t complete his sentence.
The figure that emerged looked kind of like the primrose pegasus they had shown in, but was different; seriously different. The pointed furry ears, the staring red eyes, the unkempt mane, the fangs and those wings … But mostly what struck him was the tension clearly built up within her body that looked like it would take very little prompting to break free, but a whole lot more to subdue.

She stared through the guard’s eyes with more assertiveness than he could have imagined, freezing him to the spot. His earth pony colleague was more experienced and raised his weapon “Miss, what have you done with Fluttershy?”
She switched her attention to him, then cast a glance to his weapon which she dismissed with disdain and then stared deep into his eyes, before seeming to regain control of herself and uncoiling the tension within her, relaxing visibly in front of them.
They both stared at her, wide eyed in incomprehension.
“Oh sorry” she said, “That happens sometimes.”
Not getting a response, she added, “Keep a close eye on this room, it’s not safe. I’ve got to find Twilight and warn her!”

With that, she unfurled her batlike yellow wings and took off down the corridor leaving the guards looking after her, then at each other, dazed.
“I think it might be a good idea to lock that door” said the earth pony, his voice shaking.
“Yes … good idea” repeated his fellow guard nervously, forehoof trembling visibly as he fumbled for the oversize keyring on his belt.

3 An Old Enemy

Flutterbat flew down the corridors with speed and precision so unlike the demure animal lover that was her normal form, hissing vengefully at anypony who happened to be in her path. Most cowered at the sight; others froze and she simply flitted past them with grace and agility.

Approaching the throne room, she slowed abruptly, hovering just in front of the startled guards, eyes still red and scary.
“I need to see Twilight Sparkle” she demanded “Is she in there?”
“The Princess is engaged in a sensitive meeting with the leader of a foreign land …” announced one of the guards, eyeing her with intense suspicion.
“Yes, I know, Princess Ember” she completed impatiently, “This is an emergency!”
“I’m not sure that …” he began.

Flutterbat stared him in the eye and hissed menacingly, “I said I need to see Twilight Sparkle, and I meant right now!”
“Who are you?” he queried reaching for his weapon.
“I’m Fluttershy” she confirmed.
“What, the Bearer of the Element of Kindness?”
“Yes – Oh, get out of my way!” she demanded and flittered over them to reach the door handle and barge in.
The guards may not have met Fluttershy before, but knew of her, knew she was a primrose pegasus, and that she was very shy. As this pony ticked at least some of the boxes, the guards had sufficient doubt in their minds that she may have been who she said she was, so chose not to attack her as they would anypony they didn’t know trying the same stunt.

As she thrust her way into the room, she saw Twilight, Spike and a few advisers sat round a table with Princess Ember and other dragon emissaries engaged in what was probably a very good natured discussion, but had stopped abruptly upon the interruption.

“Fluttershy” greeted Twilight, “You know Princess Ember. Would you like me to introduce you to her party?”
“No time” retorted Flutterbat, adding as an afterthought, “Sorry.”
“What’s the matter?”
“Twilight” she said, turning them both away from the ponies and dragons around the table, “You have to shut down the Crystal Mirror, and do it right now!”
“What?” asked Twilight nervously.
“Something’s gone wrong and it’s opened a portal to somewhere that it really shouldn’t have.”

“Princess, you must excuse me” she said quickly turning back, “Something’s cropped up that needs my immediate attention, I do apologise and will be back as soon as I can. Spike – you’re in charge!”
“Right!” agreed Spike, happily stepping up as requested.
“Hey Fluttershy!” called Ember, throwing her friend a cheeky wink, “Love the new look!”

Flutterbat flew on ahead to the door and turned to see Twilight trying unsuccessfully to keep up.
“Oh confound this dress” she cried in frustration as it hobbled any hope she had of running or flying.
“Fluttershy, rip this darned thing off me would you please?”
The primrose pony looked at the dress, tilted her head to one side and then launched forward, sinking her extended fangs in to get a hold.
“Easy!” cried Twilight, “Watch those teeth!”
Then Flutterbat pulled her head back and ripped a large hole in the ornate dress, clawing at the remains with her forehooves until it was off.
As the members of the meeting stared to watch in horrified silence, Ember turned around in her chair and commented, “Well, I didn’t know it was going to be that kind of party!”
This broke the awkwardness of the moment and soon both mares had taken to the air and were out of the door, shredded remains of a particularly fine royal dress dumped in a heap on the floor.

The guards stood back as the strange primrose pony and a now naked Princess sped past them and down the corridor.
“Didn’t the Princess have clothes on when she went in?” asked one guard to the other.
“Yeah” replied his colleague nonchalantly, “This sort of thing happens sometimes when there’s a party at Canterlot.
“Oh” came the reply, “Don’t suppose we ever get invites to that kind of party?”
“Not a chance” snorted his colleague, “Not a chance.”

As the two friends sped down the corridors, Twilight’s mind began to race. What could be wrong with the Crystal Mirror, why was Fluttershy now Flutterbat and why was she so agitated?
She felt a pit begin to open in her stomach; first Spike and now Fluttershy, both times to do with the mirror.

Soon they arrived at the room guarded by an imposing looking earth pony and a more diminutive unicorn. Both were stood to attention, but something about them radiated apprehension.
“Good morning, Sirs” said Twilight, “Please would you let us in?”
The unicorn moved forward as he had been bidden and rattled his lonely key once again, opening the door for the two intense looking ponies.

Twilight was going to light her horn to see, but as soon as she entered the room she found it bathed in an ethereal blue light and moved forward cautiously, her friend close behind.
“I’ll close the door Twilight, just to keep the bats in.”
“Now what was it you needed to tell me Fluttershy, and why is the room blue?”
“These bats, Twilight; they’re from a world of endless night, ruled over by …”
“Me!” came a familiar voice from the end of the room. Both friends looked in the same direction and saw a swirling blue mist within which they could just about make out a pony with jet black fur and wings wearing light blue accessories of a livery collar and a helm …
“Nightmare Moon!” gasped Twilight.
The black figure cackled evilly, “Oh, I see you remember me.”
“We defeated you!” glowered Twilight, “What are you doing here?”

The sinister looking alicorn advanced from the protective screen of her blue mist with slow deliberate steps. She knew she had time on her side and was prepared to gloat, especially with the thought of having found somewhere new to conquer.
“I remember you too, although I would hardly say you defeated me. You teleported past me and escaped into this portal before I could follow you, you and your little assistant. I have had that portal watched constantly since, just waiting for it to open once again so I could follow you and track you down.”
“But that portal was opened by a magic spell and was closed when we left! It didn’t even lead here for pony’s sake – you couldn’t have followed us!”
“Well isn’t this awkward?” commented Nightmare Moon, “For you!”
“Your magic won’t work here, I’m not scared of you” said Twilight.
“Then explain the magic wall sconces lit by my aura.”
Twilight blanched. Nightmare Moon was right.

“You won’t be able to get back to your own timeline” observed Twilight, “You’ll be stuck here, away from your kingdom of eternal night.”
“I think not. This apparatus of yours is clearly the source of your interdimensional travel and so I will be able to master it, with or without your help, given time. And I am immortal - I literally have all the time in the world.”
Twilight knew this was true. She also knew that she couldn’t risk sending Nightmare Moon to the only destination that she knew the portal opened out to because that world had no Equestrian magic with which to defend itself. No, she had to keep her away from the Crystal Mirror, and maybe even break it to ensure the safety of her friends at Canterlot High even if that meant keeping Nightmare Moon in Equestria forever.

But how had this even happened in the first place?

While Nightmare Moon continued indulging herself in her egocentric monologue, Twilight racked her brains. Then she hit on something she had not considered before, namely that when the sirens had appeared at Canterlot High, Sunset Shimmer had contacted them by Equestritext and in response she had then rigged the Crystal Mirror using Celestia’s book to provide a constantly open portal between their two worlds. Fine, as far as it went, but every thirty moons, the portal opened by itself using a different magic. This meant that while there were two links emanating from within the mirror in the castle, the portal at Canterlot High could only handle one, and the other link had probably searched through time and space to find something to latch on to. Since they had used Star Swirl’s magic to get to Nightmare Moon’s world once before, it would have left an indelible signature, a beacon for this lost link to attach to!

As the thought crossed her mind, her face dropped visibly, and Nightmare Moon suddenly thought that something she had said had struck home to terrify the lilac Princess, allowing herself a victorious cackle. In fact, it wasn’t anything Nightmare Moon had said, but it was something that she herself had overlooked, and now it seemed that all of Equestria was going to have to pay!

4 Ripe for Conquest

“So” crowed the malevolent black alicorn, “Shall we discuss how I am going to take over my new kingdom?”
“You won’t get away with it, Nightmare Moon!” growled Twilight, bracing her hooves defiantly and boresighting her horn straight at her enemy.

“Oh please” dismissed the evil mare contemptuously, “Your puny magic stands as nothing next to mine. I rule an entire kingdom by fear because of the magic under my control. You honestly have no idea what I could do to you. Or your friend. If you attack me, you had better pray that you finish me with your first shot. If you fail, then I could choose to grant your friend here immortality and subject her to an eternal damnation of unending pain and watch her suffer any time I get bored. Oh, and as a special treat, I could invite you to watch as well.”

Flutterbat hissed dangerously by Twilight’s side, displaying none of the timorousness of her alter-ego. If there was to be a fight, Twilight had one ally in the room.
“GO ON!” screamed the black alicorn defiantly, “DO IT! I dare you!”

Twilight needed the Elements of Harmony. She needed Celestia and Luna. Above all, she needed a plan. All she had was anger, with the kindest pony she knew offered in sacrifice if she failed.
Twilight deflated. Broken. Out of options.
Nightmare Moon laughed pitilessly.
“I knew you would see it my way” she gloated.

“Now tell me the power structure of this world and do not try to trick me!”
Twilight bowed her head. She knew she had no choice and wept involuntary tears of angry impotence as she outlined the ruling quadrature of her beautiful and peaceful land that she was betraying with every word.

Nightmare Moon listened intently, mentally drawing up plans for how best to execute her audacious coup d’état. In her world, the only opposition had been her sister. Their battle had been close, too close for comfort as she recalled, and even then she had only prevailed by not fighting fair. In this world she would have to tackle not one but four adversaries. However, one was in front of her and totally subservient, at least for now.

The weak link would be Cadence, she reasoned. Nightmare Moon had never known her in her own world, but she was clearly a second ranking alicorn; she hadn’t even got any control over sun or moon or anything important, just love magic. Love magic – that’s not even worthy of a royal status!
She was probably some weak, vacuous, simpering doe-eyed pin-up, as shallow as she was vain, but an alicorn nonetheless and she would have power even if she wasn’t using it or even aware of it. She would be a great place to start.

“Very well” said Nightmare Moon as she drained the last information she wanted from the trapped and desperately self-loathing Princess of Friendship before her, “You have given me what I need to know. Now, what to do with the pair of you?”
Twilight couldn’t even bring herself to lift her head following her betrayal, but felt a comforting hug as a feathered primrose wing drew her close.
“It’s OK, Twilight” came a soft voice, “You couldn’t do anything else.”

“My guards are waiting at the portal in my world. I will send you to their tender care so I know I can call on you when I need a bargaining chip, or a sacrifice. Into the portal with you!”

Nightmare Moon rose, her stature radiating supreme confidence as she gestured them to the Crystal Mirror that shimmered in front of them.
“Well, go on then!” she demanded.

Twilight looked up with hate in her eyes before stepping through closely followed by Fluttershy, who didn’t want to be stuck in a room, any room, with Nightmare Moon on her own and nudged forward eagerly – even a land of eternal night would be better than that.

They stepped out blinking into the bright sunshine of a late morning outside an imposing redbrick building. Above them, unseen in the bright morning light a rainbow coloured twisted double helix shone briefly and then dissipated.

It took Twilight only an instant to recognise that they had been directed along to the other portal emanating from the mirror, but that did not mean they were safe; just facing different challenges. Quickly recovering from her mild disorientation, she straightened up and smoothed down her familiar purple skirt and light blue top, whereas Fluttershy was on all fours in a green skirt with a white top looking distinctly out of place.
“Fluttershy, you’re not a pony in this world; you’re a human! You’ve got to stand on your hindlegs; here let me help …”
The pink haired teenager grimaced, clinging uncertainly to Twilight for support as she braved the new sensation, but felt very odd indeed.
“Oh, I don’t think I like this very much” she whimpered, “Can’t I go back to being a pony?”
“No. No you can’t. You mustn’t draw attention to yourself. There’s already another Fluttershy in this world and it’s going to be a little awkward if you get mistaken for each other.”
“Or meet each other” she added, pulling an apprehensive face.

As she clung on for dear life, Fluttershy suddenly commented “Where are my hooves? What are these?”
“Those are hands. It’s what everyone has here.”
Fluttershy giggled, “You said everyone, not everypony … That’s a funny word!”

“Hey Twilight!” came a familiar male voice, “You’re back! It’s great to see you again!”
Twilight turned and saw a teenage boy in blue jeans with a black jacket and blue hair.
“Heeyyy Flash” she replied nervously, “Can I introduce you to my friend Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy ducked behind Twilight as Flash replied, “You’ve been gone way too long. You know she and her friends all hang with us when they can.”
“Ohhh yes, of course” she replied.
“I’m scared Twilight” came a tiny voice from behind her.
“Hey, wait a minute” noted Flash, “Aren’t you supposed to be on the field trip today?”

“Well, that’s something we need to talk about actually …” replied Twilight, “You see, this isn’t your Fluttershy; she’s straight from Equestria and hasn’t set hoof here before.”
“Oh, so there’s two Fluttershys now then?”
“Got it in one. We’re going to head for Pinkie’s pad, so people don’t get freaked out by seeing double Fluttershys. But, and this is really important, Flash – we need to see all of you as soon as we can, OK. I know this sounds a cliché, but the fate of your world is at stake.”
“Er, right Twilight” he said, taken aback, “D’you have a key?”
“Um, not actually.”
“Here, take mine. I’ll rustle the gang together as soon as they get back and I’ll see you at Pinkie’s.”
“Thanks Flash” she smiled gratefully and leaned forward to give him a peck on the cheek.
“Hey, now that I like” he said, “Maybe the fate of the world should be at stake more often?”
“Don’t even go there, Flash” she warned, “It happens all too often, trust me!”

As the day drew on, Ember became curious as to why her hostess had failed to return, her surprise being reflected by obvious rising angst from Spike.
“I think we should send a search party” suggested Spike, stroking his neck as a reflex action reflecting his concern, “You know, just in case she’s gotten lost in the castle …”
“Her own castle?” replied Ember dryly.
Spike stroked his neck again and giggled nervously.
“Come on Spike, let’s go see what’s happened to her” said Ember, rising from the table.
“What about the others?” asked Spike.
“Oh, I don’t think we need worry that they’ll get lost” she replied, then looked at him mischievously, “Unless you think we should tie them to their chairs, just to make sure?”
Spike chuckled with genuine mirth and happily followed Ember.

“I see you haven’t got your wings yet” Ember observed.
Spike looked down sadly, waiting for some cheap jibe about his young years. Instead, he was pleasantly surprised when Ember knelt down and gestured him onto her back, rushing to take up the opportunity.
“Just like old times” she said, recalling their adventure together during the gauntlet of fire, “Dragon Lord Spike!”
For the third time that day Spike found himself flying through the corridors of the Castle of Friendship. As much as he loved Twilight, she wasn’t a dragon and there was some undefinable quality about the close bond with a creature of his own species, especially a dragon like Ember. He was prepared to make one exception to this rule, most notably that if Rarity had wings again he would be with her in a heartbeat. “Mmmmm, Rarity” he mused to himself.
“Say again?” asked Ember aware that her passenger had said something but not sure what.
“Um, great dexterity” he floundered.
“Uh, huh” she replied, a slight grin forming on her face. She knew how he felt about the pony dressmaker.

Under Spike’s direction, they pulled up by two guards; an earth pony and his smaller unicorn colleague, both getting somewhat overwhelmed by the day’s events.
“Hi guys” greeted Spike, “Uh, can you remember how long ago it was that Princess Twilight and Fluttershy left the room?”
“They haven’t” replied the earth pony.
“What, you mean they’re still in there?” asked Ember, “That was, like, this morning already.”
“Yes, your Majesty.”
“I think you had better let us in then” she insisted moving forward assertively, “They could be in trouble.”
The guards looked at each other then unlocked the door for them. The day was rapidly descending from weird into totally unexplained.

Spike led the way into the dark room, glad of his nightdragon vision that showed him a clear view of the room.
“S’funny” he said, “No bats.”
He leaned back out through the door to talk to the guards.
“Has anypony been in there to clear the bats out?”
“Nopony or any other creature has been in since Princess Twilight and her yellow bat friend went in there.”

While they were talking, a wisp of blue smoke slipped out behind them unseen and headed off down the corridor.

5 Cadence Falls

The two dragons and both guards were puzzled. The only possible option was that Twilight and Fluttershy had transported through the portal, but why would they go to Canterlot High during a Royal visit and not come back? Something was wrong. They all knew it, but none of them could put their claw or their hoof on it.

Following an extensive search of the room, they left and closed the door again.
“I think I know Twilight well enough to recognise this is out of character for her” said Ember, “I smell trouble. Spike, I think I should like to stick around for a few days, just in case. That OK with you?”
“Fine with me Princess ...”
“Hey, cut out the Princess thing would you. It was you who retrieved the Bloodstone Sceptre and by rights that makes you the Dragon Lord, so let’s cut out the titles, at least when we’re alone, OK?”
“OK … Ember” agreed Spike, his heart bursting with pride.
“That’s better. You have no idea how wearing hearing that title was becoming!” she smiled, then her face took on a much darker look, “Spike, we’ve got to get Twilight’s friends together – the Element Bearers, can you do that?”
“I’ll need a lift back ...”
“Come on then …”
Not for the first time that day, the two guards were left alone to exchange apprehensive glances with each other. What was going on behind that door?

“So, in short” said Ember addressing the table that now included the four remaining Element Bearers, “I think something strange has happened to Princess Twilight and Fluttershy. I don’t know what’s going on, but I would like to extend whatever support I can from the Dragon Lands.”
She looked around the faces staring up attentively at her, “I know there are certain cultural differences between dragons and ponies, but I can assure you that if you need any hardened and committed fighters, then the dragons will be there.”
“Well, I can say honestly” said Applejack, “That we’re grateful for your support.”
“Yeah, specially if it comes to a fight!” agreed Rainbow.
“And I’ve got some dragon food recipes I’m super-eager to try out” chipped in Pinkie.
“We also have some very well stocked gem mines” added Rarity, “Should you want the occasional treat.”

“Well that settles it then” confirmed Ember, “I would appreciate if you keep me informed when Princess Twilight returns, or anything happens that needs a dragon’s not so delicate touch, if you know what I mean?”

The blue wispy smoke curled its way sinuously around the rooms inside the Crystal Castle, careful to stay out of obvious sight. It worked its way through the servants quarters, formal reception rooms and then on to the larger private apartments. She drifted around until she saw an imposing set of double doors bearing a light blue heart shape motif.
“How nice of the Princess of Love to advertise where she will be at her most vulnerable” she cackled to herself.

The doors were shut and although she may have been able to slip underneath, she stayed up where she was on the ceiling and observed with interest. Suddenly a high pitched sound broke the dull hubbub that had underpinned the routine activities in the castle. Her ears pricked up. The sound was familiar – she couldn’t be so lucky, surely?”
Next thing, a delicate looking pink alicorn mare could be seen rushing along the corridor and bursting through the doors. With the doors open, the noise got louder and became unmistakable - a foal! The Princess must have a foal! Twilight had missed that little fact out of their discussion and she could guess why! This would be too easy …

The blue smoke slid through the closing doors and into what looked like a nursery. In front of her, she saw the mare pick up a pink foal and give it some tender rubs. “Oh how sweet” she grimaced.

The evening was warm and mild despite the northerly latitude and the sun was settling at the end of another tranquil day. The last rays of orange sunlight shot with horizontal precision into the room, casting large shadows from the furniture as the mare continued to bottle feed her foal.

In the shadow of a wardrobe, the blue smoke began to coalesce, bright eyes and gleaming teeth contrasting against the prevailing deep shadow.

Cadence froze.

She felt another presence in the room, and it wasn’t friendly. Some intruder had somehow got in and was watching her. She was feeding Flurry Heart and was completely exposed. A shudder ran through her body and her fur stood on end as the shiver ran past. She was in trouble and she knew it.

Perhaps she was going to be attacked.

Raped.

Whatever indignity she would be forced to accept or act of brutalism she would have to endure, her foal must not be allowed to witness it. Her mind flashed through the terrible options awaiting her and resolved that whatever happened to her, she wouldn’t make a sound to disturb her foal, even if that meant …

She laid Flurry Heart gently down into her cot and quickly settled her to sleep for what may be the last time, giving her one final kiss on her forehead. She knew her every action was being scrutinised and felt ripple after ripple of shivers run through her. Whatever was going to happen was going to happen very shortly.

She knew she had to defend herself. She had to defend her foal, but there were no weapons of any kind nearby; it was a nursery, for Aunt Celestia’s sake, nopony kept weapons in a nursery!

Whether she could defend herself or not, she knew she had to face the intruder. A pit opened up in her stomach as she rose slowly and turned to the direction from which she felt she was being observed, praying that she was wrong and it was just an overactive imagination.

Deep down, she knew it wasn’t.

“What do you want?” she asked, doing her best to keep her voice from trembling.

“What a touching scene” hissed the figure emerging from the shadows.
“Luna?” gasped Cadence, recognising the pony’s distinctively elegant outline, “This isn’t funny! You scared me to death!”
The uninvited visitor moved further forward into the dying light, the light blue of her livery collar and her helm contrasting sharply against her jet black fur.
Cadence gasped and stepped back in fear, keeping herself between the intruder and her foal.
“I am not Luna” hissed the stranger.
“You’re … no … you can’t be ...” stammered Cadence, eyes wide in fear. She knew now who was in the room with her.

Nightmare Moon started to circle slowly, trying to get a better view of the crib, but with each step Cadence shadowed her to block her view.
“What do you want?” she demanded, sounding a lot braver than she felt.
Nightmare Moon laughed.
“Equestria” she answered, “And you are going to help me get it.”
“Never!” challenged Cadence, bracing her legs and pointing her horn threateningly, just like Twilight had done that very morning.

“Princess of Love” sneered Nightmare Moon, outflanking Cadence once more to get a view of her peacefully resting foal, “You have no chance against me. If you cooperate, I promise to be easy on you.”
“NEVER!” screamed Cadence as a light blue glow emanated from her horn and formed a beam of purest magical energy. The full frightening power of a protective mother alicorn shot forward, crackling as it ripped apart the very air between them, flying straight towards the evil mare who had dared to intrude so threateningly into her foal's nursery. Just as quickly the magical energy died as it hit a forcefield Nightmare Moon had cast around herself, dissipating around it harmlessly.

Cadence stared disbelievingly and stopped her stream of magic, running around to block the view of her foal again before the insane apparition could retaliate.
“I warned you” said Nightmare Moon with quiet menace, “You are no match for me.”
A light blue aura levitated the gently sleeping form from her cot, but it hadn't emanated from her mother. In desperation, Cadence fired another volley of magic at her attacker, but it still didn’t work, so she kicked and lashed out against the forcefield with her forehooves, watching powerlessly as her foal was being taken away from her.
“No! Take me instead!” she begged, “Please, take me instead!”

Nightmare Moon cackled insanely.

“I … I’ll do anything!” she pleaded, humbled into submission.

“Yes. I know you will.”

Half an hour later when Shining Armor arrived at the nursery, it was empty.

6 Celestia's Dilemma

The two friends stopped talking as a key snicked into the lock and then they heard someone push on the door from the other side. A rush of warm early-evening air surged lazily through the apartment as the door opened and a hoard of teenagers spilled in.
“Hi, Twilight and Fluttershy!” came a squeaky and excited voice, “I’m so super-duper happy you’re here!”
“We got pizza!” shouted a male voice cheerfully.
“Oh darling, we’ve got so much to catch up on …” came a much more sophisticated and cultured voice.

“It’s great to see all of you again too” smiled Twilight, looking out over a group of teenagers she felt privileged to call friends. She bounced off the bed and stood up to greet them all, but before she threw herself into a group hug, she spoke up, “Guys, I’d like you to meet Fluttershy - the Fluttershy from my world.”
There was a faint “Eeeep!” sound from the back of the crowd, and she could guess in an instant who that was.
“Come on out now” she coaxed, “Fluttershy, I’d like you to meet Fluttershy!”
The two near identical teenagers moved forward with trepidation, each wanting as much as the other to run away, but met in the middle, principally because of the air of joyous expectation surrounding them.
“Um, Twilight” asked one of them nervously, “We’re not going to explode or anything are we? You know, because we’re the same and everything?”
“No, I think you’re quite safe” replied Twilight reassuringly.
Each of the two girls extended a tentative hand towards the other and one delicately took the other.
“We didn’t explode” said one as she turned their first contact into a hug before the others all joined in.

As soon as the hug began to dissipate, the Fluttershys found themselves to be the centres of attention as everyone wanted to know what is was like to meet yourself for the first time, how it felt not being a pony anymore, and all the other excited questions. One girl didn’t join the crush, but walked over to Twilight instead.
“Hey, Princess” she greeted, as Twilight turned away briefly from the sight of the Fluttershys getting on so well.
“Sunset!” she exclaimed, rushing forward to give her a big hug, “How lovely to see you again!”
“Yeah, it’s been some time since the Battle of the Bands.”
“How’s the guitar playing?” exclaimed Twilight, punching the air with excitement, “You really rocked!”

“Hey, the pizza isn’t getting any warmer you know!” piped up Pinkie having opened the large array of cardboard boxes.
“Oooh, what is that?” asked one of the Fluttershys, “It smells nice and I’ve just realised I’m feeling a little hungry. Can I get a hayburger anywhere?”
“No silly” interjected Pinkie, handing over a slice of pizza on a paper plate, “This is what we eat here.”
“Oh, thank you” said Fluttershy leaning her face down to eat it off the plate.
“Uh, Sugarcube” came a slightly concerned voice, “You … er … use yer hands …”
“Oh, sorry” apologised the demure ex-pony, blushing a deep crimson as she saw how the others were eating theirs.

“So, what’s this all about then Twi?” asked the stetson wearing blonde, making herself comfortable on top of a chest of drawers.
Twilight explained about the portal now going off in different directions and how Equestria’s old enemy had found it and used it to her advantage.
“So, let’s see if I got this right then” drawled the cowgirl, “There’s some psychopathic monster on the loose and she wants to take over Equestria and she could easily come here by accident and ever so slightly destroy our world too?”
“That’s about it” agreed Twilight gloomily.
“Well, no one can say your visits are ever dull!”
“Oh, and I brought this too” said Twilight, showing the crown, “By accident …”
“Uuggghh!” exclaimed Sunset, “I’m not going near that again …”
“Glad to hear it” chipped in Rainbow, “Cause the last thing we need is two psycho nutjobs running wild … oh, no offense Sunset …”
“None taken” replied their flame haired friend with a wry smile on her face, such accusations having become quite commonplace.

There was a brief lull as plates were refilled with more pizza and a few muted comments were exchanged.
“Wait a minute, I think I’m on to something” chimed in Rarity, sshhing the room, “When you told us about how you beat Tirek, you mentioned something about being the vessel for all the alicorn magic in Equestria, if I recall?”
“Yes, that’s right” conceded Twilight.
“Because magic couldn’t be destroyed” continued Rarity.
“So the sirens’ magic must still be here!” realised Applejack, the penny dropping.
“YES!” exclaimed Twilight, “Very old Equestrian magic. Firstly, it shouldn’t be here, but since it is, if I could find a way of capturing it, I could take it back to Equestria and use it on Nightmare Moon! But, I would need something magical to collect it in and carry it through the portal …”

“Ahem!” interrupted Applejack, her eyes pointing to the crown on the bed in front of them.

The blue smoke weaved its way around the flickering torches lining the darkened corridors of Canterlot Castle. It was night and there was very little activity in the castle; just routine patrols by the guards and the occasional cleaner. The dancing shadows played tricks on the eyes of anypony who was still up at this hour, causing them to see whatever they wanted, or feared.

Nightmare Moon knew how dangerous an adversary Celestia was. She had tangled with her in her own world and knew the threat she posed in a fair combat. Cadence had been easy, as she had expected and now she was going to exploit that weak minded alicorn in tackling Celestia; not by force but by skulduggery.

It was foalishly easy to drift around the castle and find her goal; all she had to do was follow the concentrations of guards. Before long, she saw what she wanted. Celestia was as vain as Cadence in displaying her cutie mark on the doors to her chambers. She suppressed a cackle; they really had no idea about keeping themselves secure and that would cost them their kingdom. They may as well have rolled out a carpet and handed her a key!

The blue smoke slid across the ceiling and down the wall, sliding between the doors and into Celestia’s chambers. They were spacious and opulently appointed, once again reflecting her vanity, Nightmare Moon assessed. There were reception rooms, a personal library and a bathroom with a massive sunken bath. Nightmare Moon decided she would be claiming this as her own, subject to a few changes to the decor of course …

There weren’t many rooms left now that she hadn’t explored. She slipped under the door of the next one and heard the sound of gentle snoring. Perfect!

She floated over to the drapes that hung from the ceiling to the floor, covering the large windows and the exit onto Celestia’s personal balcony and rematerialised into her solid equine form completely unnoticed by the room’s only other occupant.

Nightmare Moon lit her horn and pointed it through the opening where one of the windows had been left open a crack, just enough to allow in some fresh air. She cast a spell and then turned her attention to sliding back past the drapes, into the bed chamber.

The lights flashed on and Celestia gasped, shooting up, bolt upright, the pupils in her shocked eyes shrinking rapidly in the unaccustomed brightness.
“Good evening, Celestia” purred the uninvited guest.
“If this is another one of your pranks Luna, I have to say it is in very poor taste!” chastised the white mare.
“Your sister is quite the prankster, then?” enquired the visitor.
“Who … who are you?” asked Celestia, beginning to feel a strong sense of discomfort.

“In my world, I banished you to the moon.”
“No … you can’t be …”
“Yes, Celestia” the voice gloated, “I am Nightmare Moon.”
“I defeated you before and I shall defeat you again” said the Sun Princess levelly, climbing out of bed and surveying her adversary.
“You may have prevailed over the Nightmare Moon in your own world, but I am more powerful than she was” crowed the jet black alicorn.

Celestia walked slowly to confront her enemy until they were facing each other horn to horn, yet neither adopted an aggressive stance and their wings remained furled. To an outside observer, it was like they were talking about the weather.
“Why are you here?”
“To claim Equestria for myself.”
“And what makes you think I would be likely to simply hand it to you, or do you intend to fight for it?”
“We could fight if you wanted, but you would lose.”
“You are arrogant and unhinged enough to actually be her” Celestia scowled.
“I shall take those as compliments” hissed Nightmare Moon, “Now go open the drapes and the doors behind them.”
“And if I refuse?”
“Then you will lose something very precious to you.”
Celestia eyed her adversary evenly. She was too confident not to have something on her, so she complied, sliding the drapes to each side as directed and lifting the latch, opening the doors. She looked into the night and gasped, stepping back in horror.

“Do you like what you see?” asked Nightmare Moon, “Let’s bring it closer, shall we?”
Her light blue aura drew in an object that had been levitated outside, leading it in like pulling on a thread. A pink pony with wide, scared eyes was bound to a chair, but also attached to the chair by two very solid looking arms was a crossbow, obviously under some tension, pointing directly at the victim’s heart. The crossbow was loaded with what looked like a dagger, but one that was glowing a sickly green irrespective of the prevailing moonlight.

“That” said Nightmare Moon, “Is a magic dagger. It is under extreme tension and ready to be fired right through the heart of your niece. It is only being restrained by a magic spell that I am performing right now. If I stop, the dagger fires. If you attack me, the dagger fires. Now, I believe that she is an immortal alicorn which is why I have gone to so much trouble to source an enchanted dagger that will kill her; not cleanly of course, but slowly and painfully. Can you see it glow, ready to claim her life? I trust you are impressed with my thoroughness, Celestia?”

“You’re evil” replied the Sun Princess.
Nightmare Moon leaned forward and ripped off the tape that covered Cadence’s mouth causing her to yelp slightly.
“Don’t do what she says!” begged the pink mare, “She’s going to take over Equestria! Don’t worry about me, just save Flurry Heart!”

Nightmare Moon said nothing, but looked enquiringly at Celestia who returned an icy glare.
“Well, well, well” she sneered, “It’s decision time. I do indeed hold the young alicorn Princess and will torture her horribly if her mother does not do as I demand. Now the same goes for you, Celestia. You give me control of Equestria or that dagger runs straight through your niece’s heart. I don’t actually want to hurt her, of course, but if you do not do as I say, then her blood will be on your hooves. After that, we will progress on to torturing the alicorn foal. Can you imagine the depths of my depravity? WELL, CAN YOU?”
“You have no soul” whispered Celestia menacingly.
“Perhaps not” replied Nightmare Moon, “But that’s not important to your decision, now is it? Come along Celestia, tic, toc, tic, toc!”

“Don’t do it Aunt Celestia! I am not worth more than the whole of Equestria!”
Celestia looked into the eyes of her niece. She could read fear in them, but also courage, a strong courage that more than backed up her brave words. She was quite prepared to die to keep Equestria out of Nightmare Moon’s evil hooves. But threatening to torture little Flurry Heart was an obscene tactic. She was more than just a foal; she was a royal heir and would one day grow to power the Crystal Heart and protect the Crystal Empire. Losing her would eventually cause the Crystal Empire to fall, and with that, the collapse of Equestria from the north.

Celestia drew herself up to her full height and stared solidly into Nightmare Moon’s eyes with a firmness of resolve that shook the evil mare, although she wasn’t prepared to show it.

Cadence braced herself, her heart racing, waiting for the stabbing pain that would end her life. She knew Celestia had to sacrifice her, she had no other choice. She just prayed that her foal could be saved from this evil tyrant.

“Tic, toc, tic, toc!”

7 Rainbooms Rock!

Applejack finished swinging her legs off the chest of drawers she was sat on and crossed them as if to further her concentration.
“So if the sirens’ magic hasn’t gone, then where is it now?” she asked.
“The only tangible remains of their presence would be their gem pendants” explored Twilight, “You remember, they were bright red?”
“Oh, such a divine colour” swooned Rarity, “Somewhere between ruby and cherry with a hint of garnet. Ooooh!”
“Enough with the fashion already” interrupted Applejack.
“I shall ignore that comment under the circumstances” retorted Rarity, tossing her head so that her hair cascaded with a well-practiced flourish.

After a theatrical pause, she continued, gushing with renewed enthusiasm, “But they really were so utterly beautiful that I simply couldn’t allow the little pieces to be thrown away. So I kept them ….”
All around the room, mouths dropped open in shock as if she had just kicked a puppy.
“Only for colour matching purposes …” she simpered, the condemnation in the room evident.
“Well done Rarity!” cheered Twilight, breaking the awkward silence, “This could be just what we need!”
Shocked silence turned into an approving murmur as she could see heads nodding in approval. Rarity shot Twilight a silent “thank you” and went on to bask in her unexpected triumph.
“So where are these pieces, Rarity?”
“Back at mine, darling” she gushed.

“OK” said Applejack, “With you so far, but how’re you gonna get what’s in them broken stones into that there crown?”
“Oh I have an idea” chimed in Sunset, “Remember how the counterspell had to be delivered through music? Well, I’d take a guess that these respond to music too.”
“So what do we do” asked Rainbow, “Sing to them?”
“Well, unless there’s any better ideas – yes!” agreed Twilight, “How quickly can you arrange a band session?”
“Gimme an hour tops and we’ll be ready to go” said Rainbow.
“Rarity, how long will it take you to collect the gemstone shards?”
“Well darling, it depends if some handsome young man with a rather attractive black sports car would care to give me a lift across town …” replied Rarity, turning to bat her eyelids seductively at Flash, who immediately went bright red.
“Great idea, if that’s OK with you Flash” agreed Twilight.

By the time the band had arrived at the practice studio just a little over half an hour later, it was already dark.
“Right” said Twilight, “This is going to be a little different from usual. We’re going to be doing a spell casting, so we set everything up in a circle to focus the energy into the centre.”
“We didn’t do that when we totally whooped their sorry butts during the Battle of the Bands!” observed Rainbow.
“That’s because we were all lined up facing the sirens” explained Twilight, “This is different; we’re directing the magical energy onto a few small objects, so we all need to focus our power.”
“You mean we’ll have to play so well that we pony up?” asked Fluttershy, “Oh, I do hope I’m up to it…”
“You will be, Sugarcube” assured the stetson wearing cowgirl, “Now Twilight; you just tell us where you want this stuff.”

Twilight got Pinkie to hold the end of a piece of string in the centre of the room and then walked round, keeping the string taut as she chalked a perfect circle on the floor.
“Well, I’ll be …” observed Applejack wryly, watching Twilight’s improvisation at work.
Once the circle was drawn, Twilight made an assessment of the sun’s angle for the time of day and deduced the position of north, directing that the drumkit be placed there, and then marking off seven positions around the circle for the various band members with the amps in between.

The result was not exactly a layout that any of them had seen before. Even if it looked odd, everyone present had supreme faith in Twilight as she directed ‘a place for everything and everything in its place.’

Once they had completed the sound check, Rainbow slung her guitar strap over her shoulder and turned to Twilight, “So, what song we gonna play?” adding under her breath, “Make it Awesome as I Wanna Be, make it Awesome as I Wanna Be …”
“I think we should do all of them that were performed that day, and do them in order” replied Twilight, “Because that is how the power built up in the gems in the first place.”
She knelt down in the middle of the circle and placed the glistening shards next to her crown, then stood back to doublecheck that everything was in its proper place.

She cast her eyes around her friends, all looking eager with their instruments ready.
“I just want to say thank you” she said, “To all of you. Now let’s rock this joint!”
Pinkie picked up straight away, hitting her sticks together and calling out “one, two!”, cueing the vocalists to start the band off with “Shake Your Tail”.

In no time, all the friends had ponied up and were obviously enjoying themselves immensely for the sheer joy of playing together. No costumes to get sabotaged, no spotlights victimising the tambourine player, and above all, no sirens. They were good. They were tight.

By the time Rainbow got into her shredding guitar solo for “Awesome as I Wanna Be”, Twilight could see that the lustrous red shards had melted and were migrating into her crown. It was working!
She caught Sunset’s eye and nodded to the centre so she could see it too. Sunset smiled broadly and gave a thumbs up sign as they prepared to sing her memorable tour de force “I’ve Got the Music in Me” and belted it out with a passion and belief that she hadn’t felt since the Battle of the Bands.

The last of the little red pools of magic disappeared, absorbed into their new home just before the end of the song, and although all the band members were playing their hearts out, one by one they all gently drifted back to the floor, their ears and tails receding and wings melting away. They all noticed it; the feeling of normalness that they usually transcended when they played together. When the song ended, they looked around at each other, saying nothing. Then Fluttershy threw her hands up to cover her face, dropping her tambourine as she ran off to find somewhere quiet.

“Did you know that was going to happen, Sugarcube?”
Twilight looked down sadly, unable to meet her friend’s gaze.
“The magic that made you pony up came from Equestria, came from this crown. It’s taken back what belongs to it.
“But our beautiful ears and those lavish tails …” whined Rarity, “You mean, we’ll never get to see them again?”
“That magic only came in to your world by accident. If the crown had never come here in the first place you would have never experienced ponying up at all.”
“And those nasty sirens wouldn’t have had any Equestrian magic to make themselves powerful either” chipped in Pinkie.

Twilight sat down on the floor and put her hands to her face, sobbing softly, “I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry, but it has to be this way. Your world should never have had this magic in the first place …”
“Well, if anyone’s to blame, it’s me” said Sunset, “I stole the crown and brought it here.”
“Yeah” confirmed Rainbow with a glint in her eye, “And it’s been a blast. She-demon, sirens, like how awesome was that! If you hadn’t, can you imagine how boring the last year would have been?”
Sunset was relieved that none of her friends harboured any anger, and even Fluttershy came back to give her a hug.

“Thanks you guys” she smiled as one by one her friends drew together and joined a group hug.
Twilight stayed sat where she was, staring at the crown before her. She now had to find a way of releasing its power to defeat Nightmare Moon; there was little in her mind to celebrate yet.

Applejack looked down at the one band member who wasn’t joining in, but was sat morosely on the floor. Gently, she peeled herself away from her friends and walked over, leaning down and extending a hand. “Now, you know I’m not much of one for reading an’ all, but I remember seeing a quote, went something like this - don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened. Sounds like that fits us all right about now. Come on up Twilight, it ain’t a proper hug without you.”

8 Luna's Nightmare

Luna stood on the large expanse of the Royal balcony, feeling a gentle breeze run across her feathers.

She stared out across both the land and the sky that she loved, drawing a last drop of comfort, whilst simultaneously saying farewell to everything she knew. Her stillness belied the fact that her ears were very finely honed waiting for the arrival of only one pony.

Luna had never seen the moon with an alicorn’s head upon it as it had been for a thousand years, only ever pictures in books. Now it bore three alicorn heads upon its face.

Only two ponies other than her had the power to banish another pony off this world, and only one had a fixation about the moon. It was clear that Nightmare Moon had returned and vanquished three alicorns. She was the fourth, and Equestria’s last line of defence. Her evil alter-ego must have grown in power to have despatched the other alicorns so quickly; her moon had not been so despoiled only last night. Now, it looked ugly, bearing horrific scars of those she loved and respected.

She had donned her black battle armour; an ironic acknowledgement of the evil mare she knew she would be facing at some time in the next hours. Time would henceforth no longer be measured in days, for there would be none.

She reflected on what lay ahead. It was clear that if she lost, a fourth alicorn head would be added to the moon, and Nightmare Moon would reign unopposed, forever, just as in her former twisted ambitions. She stood still, feeling a gentle breeze run across her feathers, waiting.

A whoosh broke her reverie and she spun round as four hooves clapped down at the opposite end of the balcony.
“Good evening Princess Luna” scoffed the black mare, furling her wings. “I haven’t seen that armour for a long time.”
Luna stood facing her enemy, not rising to the bait.

“I stopped by for a friendly little chat, Luna. I trust you have been admiring my handiwork?”
Luna stared fixedly at her enemy.
“Oh, the strong and silent type, I see. Interesting; your sister wasn’t nearly strong enough, what makes you think you’ll fare any better against me? “
“You would never have beaten her in a fair fight” observed Luna, “I am on my guard for trickery.”
Nightmare Moon stepped forward, closing the distance between them while Luna held her ground steadfastly.
“Trickery? Oh no, I intend to defeat you in combat, “You forget, I know you inside out. I know your weapons, your tactics …” her eyes glinted evilly in the moonlight, “… Your every weakness.”

“You have become soft, Luna. Your peaceful little kingdom has not fought a campaign in hundreds of years. You have lost your edge. I, on the other hoof have spent hundreds of years perfecting my skills. You are no longer in my league.”
“I am prepared to give you one chance, Luna. Side with me. Rule alongside me. You know it’s what you always wanted …”

In response, Luna drew a pair of swords and moved forwards, hoofstep at a time. The weapons glinted in the moonlight, complementing their innate light green glow. She held them perfectly still, poised, her steely gaze boring into Nightmare Moon’s skull with a look of pure hatred.

“Magical swords?” the evil mare observed, ”Not taking any chances, I see.”
“I will kill you” hissed the Princess of the Night.
“I do not have a weapon drawn, Luna. That would hardly be fair, now would it?”
Luna held back and the two alicorns began to circle each other. She knew Nightmare Moon would have a plan and she wanted to know what she was facing before she was goaded into a precipitant attack that may have been her plan all along.

Something about her adversary was worrying Luna; she was too confident, and seemed underprepared for combat.

Suddenly, Luna was jumped from behind and whirled round into a crouching position to see who her attacker was. There were two more Nightmare Moons bearing down on her!

With the agility of a ninja, she brought her swords to bear; one on each of her attackers, striking blood with one as she reeled away across the balcony to regain her footing. Luna felt the warm fur of the other attacker against her own fur and threw her over her neck, driving a sword straight down into her chest once she had hit the ground, just as the first attacker returned.

The fallen attacker kicked her legs and struggled feebly to pull the sword from herself, but its magic sapped her power, and her life. Luna only had one sword left, but was confident that would be all she needed to finish the alicorn advancing towards her.

In the background she heard that maniacal cackling and knew now why the original Nightmare Moon had not appeared ready for combat; she had clones to do it for her!

The injured attacker drew a pair of swords and rushed forward swinging them with deadly intent. Luna reacted faster and brought her sword down with lethal precision once more; this time pulling her sword sharply out of the fallen body. Quickly she ran back to retrieve her other sword and saw in her peripheral vision two more Nightmare Moons coming to attack her.

If Nightmare Moon could keep generating more and more copies of herself, there could only be one ending to this unequal combat. Despite the hopelessness of her odds, she fought on, earning cuts and bruises across her body and when the first opportunity presented, she ran over to the original Nightmare Moon who had done her best to get under her skin when they first met. The black alicorn simply smiled as she turned into a wisp of blue smoke and leached away.

Two more Nightmare Moons appeared and the fight continued; a fight that Luna couldn’t afford to lose, but could never hope to win.

By the time she had beaten five attackers, she had become worn down and failed to react fast enough when the pommel of a sword hit her hard across the back of her head and she went down, dazed, only to feel a sharp point of steel pushing into her throat as she panted heavily, regaining her wits.

She stared up angrily at the sneering black coated assailant that held a sword, a glowing green sword, hard into her throat. It was obvious that the merest touch would push it into her windpipe, where its magic would begin to drain her life away. Still she stayed resolute, showing no fear, only a seething resentment.

“Impressive” acknowledged the original Nightmare Moon coalescing from a cloud of blue smoke to one side, “But I told you I would beat you in combat.”
Luna could not respond.
“So, should I impale you on your own magic sword?” she gloated.
“No”, she answered herself, “I think a fourth alicorn head on the moon would be much more pleasing. After all, I can only kill you once, but I can banish you forever.”

Luna winced, knowing she had failed. She had let down all the ponies in Equestria and now they would all suffer as a result. Hers would be the fourth head on the moon along with Celestia, Cadence and Twilight, Equestria’s ruling quadrature sealed in a trinket illuminating the perpetual night sky, pointing to the disappearing memory of happier times.
Nightmare Moon continued her rambling monologue “... Where you can stay forever alongside your sister, step-niece and her foal!”

Luna’s eyes suddenly flashed in hope. Nightmare Moon hadn’t mentioned capturing Twilight!

There was still a chance!

9 The Dragon Alliance

It was late, very late.

Canterlot High School looked even more imposing than usual in the dark, and Flash had turned his car so that its headlights illuminated the plinth out front of the school where the portal lay.
“So sorry you’ve got to go, darling” said Rarity giving Twilight a hug, “Do give our love to Spikey Wikey.”
All the friends gathered round, each wishing Twilight and Fluttershy a fond farewell in their turn, after which they gave their human friends a cheery wave goodbye and turned to face the plinth.
“I liked it here” whispered Fluttershy as her friend led them into the portal.

Twilight stepped hesitantly into a completely dark room, her eyes still seeing spangles from Flash’s headlights. She lit her horn and looked around; everything appeared to be as it should, but the bats had gone. That was a bonus; she wasn’t keen on them, but presumably they could fly through between portals as they chose. Fluttershy, now a little disorientated in becoming a pony once more stepped unsteadily through the portal and Twilight caught her lest she fall.

“Strange day” said the earth pony guard to his smaller unicorn colleague.
“One of the stranger I can recall” he concurred.
“If not the strangest”
Suddenly there was a knocking on the door and both guards froze.
“Did you hear that?” asked the earth pony, “Now, it could have been my ears playing tricks …”
The knock rang out again, echoing each way down the corridor.
“Do you think I should …” asked the unicorn, warily.
“Yeah. Just so as we know we both imagined it.”

The unicorn fumbled with his key and had only just turned it in the lock when the door sprang open and two ponies ran out, each taking to the air as soon as they were out the door.
“Thank you, Sirs” called back the Princess, as she always did, even though she was by now some way along the corridor.
“So” said the earth pony, “The room was empty?”
“Yes” agreed the unicorn, “I checked it.”
“And Princess Twilight Sparkle and her pegasus friend just came out of it?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know about you old friend, but I think I should be looking for a career change.”
“Shall I lock it up again?” asked the unicorn.
“Don’t ask me” chuckled his colleague with a derisive snort, “I don’t work here anymore.”

Both friends flew down the corridor together and then parted ways, Fluttershy heading for the exit while Twilight powered on towards Spike’s room, coming to an abrupt stop just outside his door. She knocked, but did not wait for an answer before forcing her way in.
“Spike, Spike!” she called.
The lights were off, so she lit her horn and trotted over to him, shaking him gently.
“Wha … wha’s happening?” he mumbled sleepily.
“Spike, wake up” urged Twilight rocking him from his slumber.
“Twilight?” he asked.
“Yes Spike, yes it’s me!”
“Where have you been, Twi?”
“Long story. Quick version: Nightmare Moon is on her way to taking over Equestria. We’ve got to stop her!”
“What?” queried Spike, “Nightmare Moon’s long gone. That’s how we got Princess Luna back, remember?”
“We need to rustle up our friends fast” said Twilight, then adding as an afterthought, “Anything important happen since I’ve been away?
“The dragons are still here, that’s about it. Ember decided to stay when you went missing.”
“Good for her!” cheered Twilight, “Right, get on my back Spike, we’re going flying!”

Twilight tore round the castle and stopped off at Ember’s room, waking her and telling her the news of impending invasion.
“… And when Nightmare Moon plunges Equestria into eternal night, that’s going to affect the whole planet!” explained Twilight.
“We have legends in Dragonlore about such events, but that was before we learned that ponies raised the sun. Well, the dragons are ready if you want some muscle; just tell us where to aim them.”
“We need to go through the details” said Twilight, “But not somewhere she can easily find us. Can you come with me to Fluttershy’s Cottage? She’s rounding up the other Element Bearers right now.”
“Hey, lead the way.”
Spike was unsure whether to climb onto Twilight or Ember because he hadn’t been asked and didn’t want to create a diplomatic incident, especially as he was the Ambassador to the Dragon Lands. Sensing his dilemma, Ember caught his eye and winked, lowering herself so he could get on. He smiled and gratefully accepted the lift, hanging on tight as they launched themselves from the VIP guest’s balcony.

As they flew through the still night air, Spike looked up and leaned forward in astonishment.
“Ember, look at the moon!”
Twilight caught the comment and looked up too, gasping in horror. The moon now had the silhouettes of four alicorn heads looking down on them. She knew exactly what this meant and felt a shudder run down her back.
“What’s it mean?” asked Ember.
“No more sun” she replied, “Ever.”

When they arrived, Fluttershy had managed to round up four of the Element Bearers and was just waiting for Rarity whom she had left complaining bitterly about not having enough time to apply the appropriate level of makeup to achieve even a basic evening look.
Fluttershy made all her guests tea and then Rarity arrived, bemoaning her appearance, although to everypony present, and especially one smitten baby dragon, she looked sensational.

“Firstly thank you to Fluttershy for hosting this gathering at short notice and to Princess Ember for coming in her capacity not only as our friend, but also as Dragon Lord” began Twilight as she went on to explain what had happened to her and Fluttershy as well as the ominous sign in the sky.
“As I am the last alicorn left in Equestria and the only one who can raise the sun or rescue the Princesses from the moon, I am acutely aware that Nightmare Moon will be focusing her energy in coming after me now. I literally have a very high price on my head which means I can’t go back to my castle as it’s the first place she will come looking for me.”

Silence.

“Right, last time we defeated Nightmare Moon it was with the Elements of Harmony. However, I’m not sure if they’re strong enough this time given that they’re helping to heal the Tree of Harmony right now. Ember; my human friends and I fought sirens in their world and I have just managed to capture as much of their magic as I could in my crown. What I was wondering is that since sirens are more closely related to dragons than ponies; perhaps their magic might be more effective if you were to wield it rather than me?”
“Why certainly Twilight” said Ember, turning the crown over in her claws and examining it in detail, “I think we should be able to do something with that. Meantime, I’ll send word back to the Dragon Lands that we could use a little help and get the numbers up for you.”
“Thanks Ember, I knew we could count on you.”

Twilight looked around the room. The animals had all pressed themselves respectfully against the wall, giving as much room as possible for the six ponies and two dragons who sat in the middle of the ramshackle gathering; Equestria’s last hope. It seemed so unreal; such a momentous act of rebellion being orchestrated from the home that more than any other epitomised kindness. Yet, safe places to meet were going to be few and far between and the stakes of being discovered, too high.

“Ember” she asked, “How quickly can you get organised?”
“With your permission, Princess?” replied the blue dragon.
Twilight smiled and nodded.
Ember picked up the crown and lowered it carefully onto her head. The instant it touched, it became drawn to her and stuck fast as if magnetised. Ember gasped as little flashes appeared and started to circle around her, building in size and speed. Every creature in the room recoiled in shock and pushed back further against the walls, all except for Twilight who looked on wearing an enigmatic smile, unsurprised to see her friend engulfed in magic. The ball of energy that encircled Ember grew brighter and raised off the floor before spikes of light shot out in all directions in one blinding flash.

Once everyone in the room had recovered from the shock and their eyes begun to recover, they all saw Ember before them in pretty much the same pose as when they had last seen her, only now she was glowing light blue all over. She removed the crown and handed it back to Twilight.
“Yours, I believe?”
“Thank you Ember” said Twilight, restoring it to the rightful place on her own head, “We’ve got to get to the Tree of Harmony now and recover the Elements. What about you?”
“I’m done” replied the glowing dragon, “That magic has got a real kick to it. When it flowed from the crown into me, it was like I could tap in to the feelings of every animal on the planet, especially the negative feelings.”
Ember smiled, continuing, “… And some dragons do tend to carry slightly more negative emotion than most, strike that, all other creatures, so I have summoned them already. They’re on their way as we speak. If it’s one thing they don’t want to be late for, it’s a good fight!”
“Great!” cried Twilight, “Then come with us to the Tree of Harmony. I don’t know how long we’ve got, but frankly I think we’re stronger together.
“Lead the way, Princess!”

Flying down from Canterlot, a sinister black shape suddenly saw something she had not been expecting – a bright flash somewhere near the Castle of Friendship. She cackled to herself.

So, the last Princess was back, was she?

This was going far more easily than she had dared hope.

10 Showdown

“Right girls” said Twilight commandingly, “There’s eight of us and four of us have wings. Everypony grab a passenger, there’s no time to lose!”
She nudged Spike towards Fluttershy, whom she knew was the weakest flier and in return received a look of silent gratitude from the primrose pony. She looked around and noticed that Rainbow had made a beeline for Applejack; so there was something behind the rumours, the thought of their not-so-secret romance cracking the merest smile on her face.
As she happened to be stood next to Pinkie Pie, they buddied up without question, leaving Ember to carry Rarity who gratefully accepted, complementing her ride on her beautiful new look; ‘glowing topaz’, she christened it. Only Rarity could think of fashion in a time of crisis thought Twilight.

The unusual party took off and aimed for the secluded grotto, a slight sense of unreality pervading the urgency of their mission, Pinkie giggling enthusiastically as she felt the wind across her face.

Behind them, a sinister dark shape sped her approach towards Ponyville looking for a showdown.

The friends scudded over the Everfree, that somehow managed to look even more unforgiving than usual in the pervading darkness. Fluttershy braved a peek down, then quickly snapped her gaze back up as her mind started to fantasise about the horrible monsters down below waiting to gobble her up. Spike heard her pitiful whimpering and reached forward, stroking her neck reassuringly, and the primrose pegasus turned to give him a grateful smile.

Soon they saw the familiar gorge and Twilight led her irregular party in a downward banking turn to touch down in front of the ghostly white glow emanating from the grotto.
All the passengers dismounted, Ember looking visibly impressed with the magical aura she could see emanating from the Tree of Harmony, but when she tried to follow her ponyfriends closer, found her path magically impeded.
“Hey, Twilight”, she called, “Oddest thing. I don’t seem to be able to follow; it’s like some magical force is stopping me.”
Twilight turned and looked. Ember’s light blue glow had turned deep red, and the more she tried to push against it, the more angry the colour became.
“The two magics aren’t compatible” she observed, “That red colour is what we saw when the sirens used this power to control others. Don’t try and get any closer; I’m not sure what might happen.”
“OK” called back Ember, “I’ll stand guard while you … do whatever pony thing it is you need to do.”

The ponyfriends entered the grotto and each made their peace with the Tree of Harmony in their own way, requesting its help. The tree acknowledged graciously and glowed brighter as it released the Elements, each drawn ethereally back to its rightful Bearer.

Back in Ponyville, scared animals were running in all directions as a dark figure stood contemptuously beside the burning remains of Fluttershy’s cottage. She had traced the magic she had felt earlier to this point and enquired as to what the animals had known, but none had answered her. In retaliation, she had drawn down a bolt of evil magic and shattered the building in an instant, a bright burning fire now the only testimony to the animal sanctuary it had once served as.

Not far away, another flash of light showed her clearly where her quarry had gone, so she took to the air, ridding herself of the panicked screams from the newly dispossessed animals below. The trail was hot, and she was on it!

Ember thought she saw something from the corner of her eye. She stared back, focusing hard. Yes, there it was again. Silhouettes, shapes of all sizes swirling around, all drawn towards her.
“We got your summoning” said a gruff voice.
“Heard there was a fight, and we didn’t want to be late” said another, to an approving chorus of dragon voices.

Twilight emerged serenely from the grotto, bathed in white light and accompanied by her friends.
“Ponies?” called one dragon in disgust, “I thought you promised us a fight, not a pushover!”
“Right, listen up!” commanded the blue dragon, “We face a common enemy who’s going to switch off daytime for ever. That means, nothing grows, we all get cold and we all die, got it? The ponies are the only ones who can stop this happening, so we’re working together on this. No dragon is to harm anypony - got that? Except for one …”

A chill fell across the gathering as they all felt the presence of something evil. They looked up and all around were multiple copies of Nightmare Moon; some hovering, some circling around in the sky, others advancing on hoof.
“Oh, that one!” growled one of the dragons.
“Got it in one!” confirmed Ember, “Now attack!”

Dogfights broke out in the air and close quarters combat prevailed on the ground, dragons and ponies fighting side by side against the unending tide of Nightmare Moons.

Standing on the edge of the bluff overlooking the scene was one Nightmare Moon not deigning to get involved in the fight herself, but simply watching and cackling to herself. She glowed blue in the darkness as her magic reached out to control her clones. It didn’t matter to her how many clones were lost; the numbers were overwhelming and she knew, just as she had with her defeat of Princess Luna that she would win by grinding down her opposition, her last remaining opposition.

More dragons arrived, pitching in to the fight with an eagerness that quite disturbed the ponies, but were quite happy to accept, secure in the knowledge that more friends working together had to be a good thing, especially against Nightmare Moon.

The clattering of swords and screams of falling clones and dragons mixed together in an insane cacophony, rising up to greet her ears. How she enjoyed watching the last barrier to her future omnipotence being ground into the dirt!

“Ember!” shouted Twilight when she saw a space in the fighting, “This isn’t working! She just keeps making more, no matter how many she loses!”
“There!” called Ember, “High on the bluff! A blue glow!”
“That must be the real one!” growled Twilight, “We have to take her down. Together!”

Twilight focused and suddenly her eyes lit up brilliant white as she rose above the clamour, her friends drawn magically to her side, each protected by the white glow of a forcefield. Ember rose by her side, her blue glow shining ever brighter, matching the intensity of the white glow from the Element Bearers.

From her vantage point, Nightmare Moon saw the white and blue glowing lights start to form and coalesce together, rising up towards her and felt a sickening lurch inside.
“No!” she screamed, “This cannot be! I have defeated you!”
She stepped back feeling an entirely new sensation - fear!

The white and blue magical auras merged together into one gently throbbing ball of energy, trails of white and blue flashing around in pairs, weaving their magic together, getting bigger, faster.

Nightmare Moon’s eyes grew wide and her mouth hung open as her hooves remained rooted to the spot, unable to move.

Then it struck, with a whistling sound that physically burned a hole in the air as it sped towards her. She quickly cut contact with her clones that all vanished in mid fight and redirected her power to her horn in a final desperate act of self-preservation. It was too late; the white and blue magics that had now fused together hit her magic head on, thrusting her evil magic back inside her horn, back inside her head, back into her soul.

It was quiet.

It was dark.

A chorus of groans echoed from the dragons who were disappointed that the fight was over so quickly.

Up on the bluff, a group of dragon and ponyfriends stared down at the comatose body of Nightmare Moon.

No-one spoke.

11 Now We Fix Everything

“What shall we do with her, Twilight?” asked Ember staring at the sleek black body laying stunned on the ground in front of them, “I’m guessing you run her through with some kind of magic weapon so she can’t threaten you again?”
“No” replied Twilight, causing Ember to look up at her in surprise, “She doesn’t belong here. She belongs back in her own time.”
“But, that’s so unfair on everypony in her world” protested Rainbow.
“We have to accept that there’s probably an infinite number of universes with an infinite number of Nightmare Moons. We can’t meddle in each one. For all we know, we could be stopping a group of brave friends getting together in spite of their differences to defeat her using the power of friendship.”
“Well, when you put it like that, darling …” said Rarity.
“So, we take her back to the portal then?” asked Fluttershy.
“Yes” agreed Twilight, “Yes we do.”
“I swear, I’ll never understand you ponies” said Ember shaking her head, but not completely able to hide a smile of admiration from her ponyfriends.

A diminutive unicorn guard and his larger earth pony colleague had both developed a twitch as the day had turned to night, and were eager to be relieved of their duty. A scraping sound accompanied by an incessant grumbling drew their attention and they both stared agape along the corridor. What they turned to see was Princess Twilight and Princess Ember leading a very sulky red dragon with a yellow crest and oversized teeth, who in turn was carrying a jet black alicorn across his back.
“Told you this job’s getting too much for me, whispered the earth pony. I swear I saw the tooth fairy half an hour ago and now I’m imagining I can see Nightmare Moon riding on a dragon …”
“Don’t worry” comforted his friend, “It gets to us all eventually.”

“Good evening, Sirs” chirped Twilight, “Would you let us into this room please?”
The unicorn complied while his earth pony colleague stood to attention, eyes on the entourage that seemed to be growing out on the corridor with every passing minute, imagining each one performing different circus acts; juggling, unicycling, tumbling …

The lights in the room flickered into life and Twilight fumbled with the apparatus surrounding the Crystal Mirror, making occasional, ”Ah-ha!” and “Oh-ho!” sounds as she wielded her forehooves with disproportionate dexterity. Finally she stopped and stood back.
“Right, I’ve rigged it to point into Nightmare Moon’s world. “I’ll just make a quick last check, because I really don’t want our friends at Canterlot High suddenly finding this turn up on their doorstep.”
With that, she peered her head into the Crystal Mirror and withdrew it again quickly.

“Yep! All good to go” she said cheerfully, ”Now Garble, would you please return our unwanted guest through the mirror?”
“What?” he sulked, affronted, “You don’t expect me to take orders from a puny pony, do you?”
“I do” commanded Ember, “And if I were you, I’d do it before she wakes up.”
Grumbling, he picked up Nightmare Moon by all four of her hooves and aligned himself carefully on the floor; a little bit to the left, a little bit forward, then when he was satisfied, swung her bodily, pitching her straight through the centre of the mirror.
“Um” said Twilight, “That’s not quite what I had in mind, but I do have to concede it was a good shot.”
“Yeah” he grumbled under his breath, “And you’d better not forget I could do that to any of you ponies.”
“GARBLE!” chastised Ember.

Deftly, Twilight pulled out one solitary resistor from the circuit that drove the Crystal Mirror and turned to give everyone present a wide smile.
“That’s the last we’ll see of that timeline” she cheered triumphantly, “I’ve corrected the paradox that drove the binary transit realignments.”
“The what now?” asked Applejack, scratching her head.
“She means, she’s stopped the portal going anywhere it shouldn’t” chimed Pinkie.
A collective “ohhh” of understanding rose from everyone, as puzzled looks melted into comprehension. All except for Garble, who still just looked lost and wore an expression that said he wouldn’t understand, no matter how much it was explained to him.

“Now what?” asked Fluttershy.
“Now we fix everything” replied Pinkie, bouncing on the spot.
“What was that all about?” asked Twilight, “Is your Pinkie Sense playing up again?”
“Oh nothing” beamed the pink pony cheerfully.
“Just Pinkie being Pinkie” dismissed Applejack with a gentle laugh.

Twilight stood on the castle’s balcony focusing on the silhouettes in the moon, a magenta glow around her horn. Behind her, her friends all stood gathered round wearing their respective Elements, focusing with her.

A glow appeared around the moon and then a sparkly trail followed a gently arcing trajectory down towards where they stood, waiting. The trail ended in front of them at a point where a soft glow began to form, pulsing as if it were coming to life. With a little more concentration, there was a flash of light and there in front of them stood Princess Luna.
“Twilight Sparkle!” she exclaimed, looking around quickly, “Nightmare Moon …?”
“Is gone” reassured Twilight, “Equestria is safe once more.”
Twilight watched as a tear formed in Luna’s eye and rushed forward to give her a hug.
“I’ve missed you, Luna” she whispered.

Next to come back was Flurry Heart, giggling contentedly, as if oblivious to the role she had innocently played in the near downfall of Equestria. Luna could see she was the only one on the balcony not playing an active role in returning her fellow Princesses, so stood back and nursed the foal until she could be reunited with her mother.

Twilight and her friends focused again, the task seeming to get easier with practice and next another flash announced the arrival of Cadence, looking around anxiously for her foal. Suddenly seeing her, safe in Luna’s embrace, she burst into tears of happiness and took her place at the back alongside the Midnight Princess, who passed her foal to her for the most grateful of reunions.

They all waited, focusing on the last silhouette left on the moon. Eventually it blinked and a shower of magical sparkles transported the Sun Princess back to Equestria.
“Twilight Sparkle” she spoke softly, “You prevailed against Nightmare Moon, and not for the first time.”
“It wasn’t just me, Princess” corrected Twilight, ”I couldn’t have done it without my friends.”
Celestia cast her eyes over the Mane Six, whose Elements were now shutting down one by one, like fireflies. She also noticed Princes Ember and bowed appreciatively, the dragon Princess responding in kind.

“I sense a joint effort here and thank you all” she acknowledged graciously.

“Um, Princess” asked Spike, “I know it’s probably not too important right now, but it’s been a very long night …”
Luna strode forward and stood next to her sister.
”Princess Ember” said Celestia, ”I should like, if you are willing, to show you something that would have been lost to us all were it not for your help.”

Ember moved forward to stand by the two Royal Sisters and watched as Luna pointed her horn up to the moon, a moon now purged of the silhouettes of alicorn heads and laid it to rest below the horizon. Celestia shot Ember a sideways glance, catching her eye and breaking out into a smile before focusing her own energy towards the horizon. The sky started to lighten and she turned to her honoured guest.

“Thank you, Princess Ember.”

“Thank you, Princess Celestia” she replied as the first rays of the morning sun reflected from her startling red eyes and she began to feel warmth on her scales once more.