The mirror had barely finished rippling from their departure when it suddenly shifted into life once more. As the waves of black light emanating from the tall glass portal grew longer and more frequent until a shape finally appeared within its tenebrous depths. Something was running toward it from the other side. The Princess' hopes soared as the being neared their world, but then immediately skipped a beat as it drew close enough to see clearly.

She had initially hoped that it would be Twilight or Luna returning to Equestria victorious. As it neared the mirror, however, it became clear that the creature was running upon two legs, with a large object clutched in its left hand. What she initially took to be Sir Torrent soon closed the distance enough that its features came into sight, crushing any hopes she had held onto of seeing her student or her sister again.

Orange skin and a skull covered in bony spikes, the beast was charging headlong toward the portal with a studded club dragging against the ground beside it. The other ponies jumped back as they realized what was coming toward them; the one with the multicolored mane jumping in front of the rest of the group the sword that Twilight' monster had given her clutched between her teeth.

The Princess was till helpless within her chalk-outlined prison, powerless to stop the beast or close the portal until Twilight returned or an hour transpired. And with only a few minutes having gone by since the trio's departure, neither solution seemed likely to occur in time. She had struggled against the bindings for a few moments before coming to terms with the fact that she could not hope to contend with the power of an entire plane binding her.

Now though, with this new danger looming just beyond the veil of the mirror, she once again attempted to throw her own significant power against the invisible walls of her prison. That monster will NOT keep me from putting an end to this! Her horn surged with pale golden energy as she plunged her strength into a massive bolt of raw power. The energy erupted with such force that the very air around her head rippled as if attempting to get out of the spell's way. She barely even noticed as the power left her body, being replaced almost immediately by the energies that the containment ritual were giving off.

For a moment her hopes raised as the ball of brilliant gold light collided with the side of hr prison. It remained in place, drilling itself into the now-visible wall, spinning as it tried desperately to break through. Her spirit began to shift as the orb began to dwindle to nothingness as it spun slower and shower against the shadowy barrier. Finally, upon coming to a complete stop, it vanished into nothingness, along with the Princess' latest hope of escape.

She was helpless, unable to act as the monstrosity came closer and closer to the mirror. At the last moment she lunged out with her mind and body, attempting once more to tear down the wall that separated her from her duties as Equesria's guardian. It was, of course, no more successful than her previous tries had been. Try as she might, even her strength could not over come the power being given off by an entire, near-sentient dimension. And so, she was left to watch helplessly as the monster finally reached the mirror, fixed its gaze on the wielders of the Harmony, pause... and fall forward into their world with a loud crash.

The creature began to crawl, unfazed by the fact that its tumble had completely shattered several of its front teeth, strewing their ivory ruins across the floor of the library's basement. It was moving as fast as it could away from the mirror, dragging its unresponsive legs behind it as it clawed forward on its oversized arms. It's club had been forgotten during the its fall.

As it grew closer to the ponies huddled near the stairs a flash of black and purple light shone forth from the mirror. The beast squealed as the skin along its shoulders suddenly began to boil. It's very blood seemed to be on fire just below the surface of its leathery orange hide. A moment later, Rainbow Dash made her move, swinging her head to one side and bringing the devilishly curved blade she held between her teeth around in a wide arc. Giving up on the possibility of escape as the little pegasus swung haphazardly at its chest, the creature attempted to stand and face its original attacker back at the mirror.

Whatever had been hunting it had finally begun to close on the portal as well, coming to the very edge of their world in time to let loose another blast of dim, violet lightning. This one collided with the beast's face, sending him staggering back to the floor. He reached blindly for his club as he clenched one mighty hand over his newly-singed eyes, coming within inches of gripping its handle before a third bolt reduced his right hand to cinder.

The being beyond the mirror sent one final charge through the portal, its body completely obscured as the energy caused the shadows to twist and writhe across the surface of the looking glass. The creature still seemed intent on surviving the onslaught, though little would save it once its hunter crossed into Equestria as well.

I cannot allow that! The first monster had seemed bad enough, but now that it was clear that that one was merely the prey of a far more powerful entity, the Princess' priorities switched. The hunter would likely take little satisfaction in its kill if there was a room full of other targets just waiting to be taken down.

She flung herself against the barrier just as the monster crossed through the mirror. This time, to her shock, the barrier fell apart the moment she touched it; shattering without the slightest bit of resistance. She landed hard on her hooves, skidding to a stop in front of a very confused looking group of Twilight's friends. One of them stammered out her glorious name as the Princess of the Sun suddenly appeared, seemingly from thin air, before them. She would explain to them what had transpired later, once they were out of danger and Twilight was safe beside her once more. For now though, she had an intruder to drive back into its tenebrous home.

It was almost fully through the portal when she chose to make her stand. The monstrosity was like nothing she had ever seen before. Like something out of a nightmare. It seemed to be one with the shadowy mists leaking from the mirror. A forest of writhing tendrils of black fog extended from a six-limbed creature at its center, most of its body concealed by a veil of shadows that seemed to draw in the darkness of the already dimly-lit basement. No face was visible, just a seemingly endless storm of black mist billowing off the frame of its relatively small figure; blowing back toward the mirror as if it were being repealed by the light eliminating from Celestia's majestic form.

She raised herself up to her full height, hoping to strike a bit of fear into this new opponent; her wings spread wide as golden energy surged through her horn. Instead it merely caused the creature to retort with its own form of intimidation. Its front pair of limbs melded into the cloud of black fog that my up its head. Its body body shifted in size and proportion until, for a fleeting moment, it appeared to take on the exact shape of the Princess. The fog even seemed to solidify just enough to take on a form vaguely similar to that of Celestia's face. Then, in the blink of an eye, it was back to its previous appearance as it pulled free of the mirror entirely.

The Princess did not wait to see what it would do next. A binding cone of sunlight shot forth from her horn, reducing the hurricane of billowing fog to an insignificant cloud resting just above the creature's shoulders. It's forward-most limbs, crossed in a defensive position, faded to nothingness as the spell collided with them, their attempt to block the sunlight's advance proving to be a useless gesture.

The monstrosity let out a scream as the Princess pressed her attack. It's tendrils moved frantically to cover its progressively-deteriorating body; enveloping it core in their dark embrace. That availed it little protection against the solar onslaught that Celestia continued to unleash upon it. The beast was small, nearly a foot shorter than the Princess once all the mist was cleared away, but there was an undeniably massive amount of power stored within its relatively tiny form. It was not until the Princess moved in for the kill, however, that it chose to demonstrate said power.

As the Solar Princess approached her target the mirror began to pulse with more of its unholy darkness. The cracks running through the walls started to seep as shadowy mist and fluorescent green light flowed out. Celestia was unperturbed; she meant to end this before it had a chance to get entirely out of hand. "Crawl back into your world this instant, beast! This is your one and only warning. If you attempt to push any further into my kingdom I WILL have no choice but to destroy you where you lay. Now go!" She took another step forward... and immediately regretted the decision.

A sound only comparable to that of a hundred-thousand rusted nails being dragged across a pane of glass burst forth from the creature, freezing the Princess in her place. For the first time in centuries, Celestia felt the cold grip of fear for her own well-being crawl up her spine. She was unable to move once more; the monster's cry numbing her senses and deadening her nerves. Then she noticed the cracks. The minute tears in the very fabric of her world were suddenly growing with a speed the Knight had assured her was impossible. Damn him... May he be lost in there forever for what he's done to this world. For what he's done to Twilight! Tartarus take whatever is left of his wretched soul!

Her curses went unheard, though she was not entirely certain whether she had spoken them at all. The screech of the abyssal monster was drowning out the entire world around her; words and thoughts all came out silent and meaningless. Suddenly the pulsing darkness coming off the mirror began to increase in size, sending vast waves of shadow across the entire room. They passed over the ponies gathered within it harmlessly enough, but each one that struck the monster lying on the basement floor restored a bit more of its foggy visage.

After just a few moments the creature was back on all fours once more, though it two front appendages did not seem to be able to grow back. The storm of darkness that made up its head reignited, surging with infrequent waves of violet lightning. It began to approach the Princess, the screech suddenly fading into what could almost have passed as speech had Celestia been conscious enough to attempt to interpret it. As it were here mind had drifted elsewhere in a desperate attempt to maintain her sanity in the face of such a maddening din.

Her senses returned just in time as one of the ponies who had remained on the stairs threw itself against her side. The little orange earth pony tackled her out of the way just as a tangled pillar of the creature's tendrils smashed down upon the place she had been standing. When the Princess looked up it became clear that the twisted arms themselves had come directly through the ceiling, traveling through the shadows themselves.

"Princess, ya gotta snap outta it!" The little earth pony was trying to help her back up. She was strong, there was no denying that, though her physical aspect of it was only half of what Celestia was taking notice of. This one had charged head-long into the darkness to save her, displaying an amount of courage which bordered on insanity. She suddenly realized just how little she knew of Twilight's friends beyond what she had read in her student's letters. She was quickly becoming fully aware of just how powerful of a team they must make when united.

"Thank you, Applejack. I can take this from here. I need you to get your friends out of here. Can you do that? Make sure they all escape the library safely." She looked back at the creature by the mirror. Rainbow Dash had dove in to distract it and was doing an excellent job of weaving in and out of the grip of its shadowy tentacles. Soon though, the monster would catch on to her flight pattern and rip her to shreds. "This is too dangerous for any of you. Wait for me outside the library. Keep hoping for the best, but prepare the town for the worst. I don't know what else might be moving toward that mirror."

"...Ya sure ya can take 'em, yer Highness?"

Celestia nodded confidently. No words were needed here. The decision had already been made up in her mind. Nothing was about to change it.

"Right... Well alright! DASH! That's enough!" She turned to the others, quickly filling the void of leadership that Twilight had left. "Pinkie, Fluttershy, y'all need ta go round up as many ah the guards as ya can. Get Twi's brother too, if ya can find 'im. Rarity, y'all are gonna stand guard with me and Spike outside the library while Dash gathers up some extra air support."

The four ponies and the little dragon responded as if they had rehearsed it all. The pink earth pony even took a moment to salute Applejack before bouncing up the stairs, a particularly serious expression masking her typically happy face in a thoroughly troubling way. Rainbow Dash was the last to leave, lifting the orange earth pony off the floor as she sped toward the stairs. "Good luck, Princess," the little pegasus called back, encouragingly, as she carried the earth pony upstairs with her.

Celestia forced her attention back to the creature struggling to untangle its tentacles on the opposite side of the room. The little pegasus had managed to thoroughly disorient the beast with her speed, but now that the distraction was gone the monster was able to focus on the Princess once more. It unraveled its tendrils and began to slowly make its way toward Celestia's corner of the room.

"You had your chance..." Her horn began to glow with all the glory of the coming dawn, golden lightning crackling across its surface as she prepared to strike the creature with the same power she had attempted to use against her prison mere minutes ago. The force of such a blast might destroy the room, but being so deep underground she was certain those outside would be safe.

The mirror would survive the blast as well; its power was the Abyss itself and there would be no way to extinguish its existence while that connection remained intact. The thought sickened her. No matter how great her power might be there was still no way for her to rid this place of the portal's evil. Still though... at least it will leave Twilight a door to escape that awful realm through.

The blinding light projecting from her horn as the bolt grew in size reduced the creature to a cowering lump on the floor. It's misty aura began to fade once more, its tendrils shrinking into its back as the illumination intensified. Still it struggled to defend itself, wrapping its tentacles into a barrier in front of it even as the began to deteriorate.

A pointless gesture. You won't survive this... This is for Twilight and for what ever is happening beyond that damned mirror...

The creature let out another scream as the Princess lowered her head to take aim. With its power diminished, this one came without the maddening screech of the Void behind it. Even without it, though, the noise was still more than enough to shake the foundations of the library.

"PPPPRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!"

Her eyes narrowed.

"NNNNNNNNNNNSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!?!?"

The lightning climbed to the apex of her horn, gathering into the ball of sunlight growing at its pointed tip.

"EEEEHHHHEHHHHHHHHHHEEEHHHHHHHH!!!"

She fired.

"SSSSSSSsssssss...." The cry guttered out as the bolt hit its mark. Flying in a drilling motion its punched through the fading barrier of tendrils with little trouble, barely loosing an ounce of its momentum. It impacted on the beast's side as the creature desperately attempted to turn and flee, driving it back into the wall next to the mirror. The explosion was delayed, giving the shot time to apply physical force to its target before unleashing its devastating magical payload.

It was delayed, but inevitable.

In the few seconds that transpired between the bolt's release and its eventual detonation, several things suddenly came to Celestia's attention. One was the realization that the blast would destroy her if she did not act quickly to prevent that. To that end, she extended a shielding spell across her portion of the room, erecting a bulwark which would have rivaled the one which had been containing her such a short time ago. The second issue was one which she was nearly able to convince herself was not true. It had come to the forefront of her mind in that moment that, though the beast had been quick to attack the orange creature which now lay dead in the middle of the room, it had actually been she who initiated this particular battle. It was entirely possible that the monster had reacted entirely in defense, rather than outright aggression.

The final realization was far more troubling to her already-stress-riddled mind. It gnawed at her, keeping her from ignoring its existence and causing those seconds prior to the spell's culmination to drag on for what seemed like hours. She did not want to see it, she even attempted to convince herself she hadn't seen it. It was impossible. Yet no amount of reason or common sense could fully rid her mind of the image.

As the creature had turned to run from the bolt, its hind legs came into full view for the first time since it entered her world. They were not unlike her own, though considerably shorter. The claws of swirling mist protruding from their base seemed oddly out of place, but they were not what drew her eye. What did was significantly higher up, emblazoned upon the beast's hip.

A six pointed star shown out like a pale violet beacon. Its proportions were uneven and skewed in an unsymmetrical style, with a border outlined by a far darker purple glow. Around it, in between several of the star's arms, burned five tiny white symbols, each in the shape of some unintelligible rune of foreign design.

Then it was gone, lost within a torrent a yellow light, white flames, and agony-drenched screams. The monster disappeared into the miniature supernova as the room as quickly engulfed in the explosion. The heat was immeasurable, but lasted for only a few seconds before the burning out entirely.

The blast left the room barren and singed. The stone of the walls, floor, and ceiling were scorched black, hiding the majority of the abyssal cracks which continued to spread across them. The air became dry and arid, making it uncomfortable to take in more that a few quick, shallow breaths at a time. The heat distorted the air and set a thick haze about the entire room, creating a carpet of shimmering mirages across the flame-ravaged floor.

She didn't wait for the dust to settle or the room to cool, there was barely even enough time for her to fully dispel the barrier before she charged toward the wall the beast had been propelled into. The sheer heat in the air and the dryness it brought with it made breathing a struggle, but there was no time to think about that. The mirror still stood, though only in a technical manner. Several inches of the wall it had been hanging on had crumbled away, yet it remains bound to the spot it had been in when the portal had first been opened.

The Princess galloped to the spot just beside the floating looking glass, brushing through the gathering shadows which were slowly beginning to seep through the cracks once more. There, covered by a thin veil of black mist, she found her beloved student.

"Twilight..." Surprise echoed in the Princess' voice, though she had been fully aware that this would be the sight she'd likely find. The itself word was half an acknowledgment of this prior knowledge, and half a prayer that she might somehow be mistaken. Moreover though, it was an apology. "Oh Twilight... Please..."

The little unicorn lay upon her side with her legs sprawled, her mouth agape, and no sign of breath or pulse to be found. Her body seemed essentially unscathed apart from a massive patch of blacked flesh on the side that had absorbed the impact of the bolt. Scorched and cracked, the burn looked as though it may have continued all the way through to the other side.

She would have done anything if it meant sparing her precious Twilight from Death's cold, merciless embrace; yet there was no rational course of action which she could turn to. The burn mark itself was the only thing that kept the Princess from breaking down and attempting something desperate right then and there. While horrible to look upon, something about that grisly testament to the power of the Solar Princess gave her pause.

Before her eyes, the black mist that seemed to be drifting out of Twilight's very coat gathered near the edged of the burn. With each new wave of shadowy energy, the scar faded more and more from sight. The process was slow, agonizingly so for Celestia, but she dared not to interfere with it in any way.

Nearly minutes had gone by when the little unicorn began to shudder and cough, her breath returning to her at last. The wound was still about the size of a grapefruit, but the shadows were mending it diligently. Another half an hour and it would be like nothing had even happened. That was what the Princess hoped, at least. Only time would for sure.

A few minutes passed as Twilight continued to cough and twitch. As her strength returned to her and the shadows faded to nothingness, leaving before the burn could be completely erased. They had stopped its spread, reduced its size, and even turned it to a scar rather than a weeping, bubbling, wound. Yet without the Void to draw power from, their usefulness had run its course. They had restored Twilight to a point where she could survive, given the proper care was provided. Beyond that, there was little else they could do. A few foggy wisps remained, clinging to her mane, her tail, and the corners of her eyes. And even those would only stay with her until sunlight fell upon her once more.

Her eyes fluttered open as she returned to consciousness; the Princess could scarcely imagine what must have gone through her mind as those first glimpses of the scorched room came into focus. There would be confusion, that much was certain, and fear was sure to follow. To that end, Celestia knew it was her duty to ensure that someone be there for her. She would need to be there for her student. She would need to be the lantern which led her from the darkness. Whether that darkness be the Abyss or the one which she herself had brought upon the poor little unicorn.

She laid down softly next to her fallen student, her left wing extending to cover her wounded body. "Twilight, its alright. I'm here. Your safe now." Tears pierced the edges of the Princess' eyes as the lie worked its way from her mouth. Yes Twilight. I'll keep you safe. I'd never do anything to harm you. I'm certain I just found you like this. Surely I'd never be the one who would burn you to ashes just as you thought you'd reached safety! She cursed herself for not being able to see through the Void's illusion from the very beginning. This was all her fault. Nothing would convince her otherwise.

It was four hours until sunset. The stress of the day's proceedings had already taken their toll on the Princess' guilt-ridden mind. And a burdened mind can be a terrifying place.

The little pony shifted beneath her wing. "P...Princess?"

"Yes Twilight. Its me. I'm here."

"Where..... Where am... What happened?"

"It's not important, Twilight."

It's not important.

"All that matters is that your here."

With me...

"That your alright."

You're not dead...

"Nothing's going to hurt you now."

Im done hurting you for now...

"You don't have to worry."

You'll never be safe...

"I'll keep you safe."

From me?

Author's Note

The majority of this chapter was written during BronyCon in a lovely little place called Quills & Sofas. Ironically, it was devoid of both those things, but it was full of a bunch of great writers from the fandom who I both respect and strive to be as compelling as. Writing while surrounded by them, I think a little of my own minor inferiority complex may have shown through in this chapter when writing Celestia's thoughts. As such, my apologies if it gets a little grating at times.

As for the slightly depressing note it ends in... I guess I just needed something to break up all the high spirits and all the con-related fun (Fun!? FUN!!!).

Enjoy!