Step. Drag. Step.

She tried to focus on what was real through the regular waves of agony ripping through her body. Gray dust as far as the eye could see, an endless sea of stars beyond. Just for a moment, she could lose herself in them for the thousand-thousandth time.

Step. Drag. Step.

White-hot pain flared up each of her legs, nerves bent to focus into her mind - where her consciousness rested. She yearned to look up, to see that tiny blue orb that was her home. Equestria. Her sister.

Step. Drag. Step.

She could not. Her body would not obey her commands. It had not for uncounted years of isolation. Another will guided her unresponsive flesh, forced her mangled limbs to move - damaged for her torturer's own amusement. The monster did not feel pain, she knew.

Step. Drag. Step.

This motion was a break from monotonous pain and torment. An interlude into what had become most of her existence. Still, no matter what the monster's plans were, it seems she would not concede a break in torture.

Step. Drag. Step.

Princess Luna focused. Her identity returned to her by small degrees, hidden under the waves of pain her body was inflicting on her. The Nightmare's body. She grimly noted that the Enemy had held it nearly as long as herself.

The pain flaring through her legs, the rents left in her barrel, the twist of her spine, the torn hooves. Each contributed to a cacophony of pain that pushed at her mind.

The Nightmare thought that Luna was broken. A carefully maintained illusion. The shuddering remnants of her focus felt some satisfaction at that, she had enough left of herself to hide what she had to. To protect Celestia and all of her ponies.

Step. Drag. Step.

Luna was uncertain as to what the Nightmare was doing but recognized its intent. It wouldn't matter in the end. Nothing would stop Luna from doing what had to be done.

The Princess of the Night carefully hoarded her will, tucked away over thousands of years, precious drops of her mind preserved for when the time came. The other Luna called to her from the realm of dreams, she could feel the mourning of her other self, who so desperately wanted to preserve the Luna of the Body. A fruitless exercise. There was so little of her left, only scraps and used shreds. The simple core of her will: Protect Celestia. Protect Equestria.

It was all she knew.

Step. Drag. Step.

The Nightmare ripped chunks of the Moon from the ground below, creating vast stone blocks, stacking them into recognizable shapes. Magic carved great furrows in the ground in careful arrangements.

It wouldn't matter in the end. Nothing would. It was almost over. Then, she could be at peace.

In the dark vaults of her own mind, hidden from all observation, tucked away with last shreds of hidden knowledge, Princess Luna allowed herself to feel one brief moment of pleasure.

It would all be over soon.

Step. Drag. Step.

Step. Drag. Step.

Night Light rubbed a hoof along his face, staring at the coffee machine that stubbornly refused to go faster than exactly four drops per millennium. He had wanted to get a new one for years. But, of course, he had always put it off. The Break Room at the Royal Observatory was not an extravagant affair, but it had three separate coffee machines. The other two worked just fine, but this was the one Night Light had used for years, and something about its ancient, whirring machinery produced the best coffee in the entire complex. So, despite its age and recalcitrance to provide the black nectar that powered astronomers, Night Light stood and stared while it slowly filled his mug.

A long few minutes passed, and at last, the cup was almost brimming. Perfect.

Levitating the coffee, he steps away from the counter and makes for the door, his mind already looking to the various forms waiting on his desk. He was nearly done for the night, and then he could go and do something fun for one - the sky was perfect for observing tonight.

Right when Night Light reached the door, the clack of hurried hoofsteps in the hall broke through his haze, but he did not react in time. The door slammed open and smacked right into the steaming cup of coffee, sending it and his mug to the ground with a shatter, and Night reeling back a few steps. He recognized Stellar Orb at once, the thestral was an intern, and now the full focus of Night's ire. "Stellar! I swear to the Moon, if you don't -"

Stellar cut over him, the young thestral's voice high and a bit shaky, "Night! Sir! You have to come look - the Moon! Somethings on the Moon! Apoapsis sent me to get you!"

That brought Night up short - Apoapsis was a veteran of the Observatory, and Stellar was clearly startled by something. "What is it?" He demanded after another second, already starting to move for the main observation room. It wasn't a long walk, and Stellar's stumbling words failed to explain anything sufficiently.

Night Light stormed into the massive room, the large circular observatory's roof parted enough for the Lunaris VI Telescope to peer into the stars - but tonight, its massive power was aimed at the Moon. Sat in the Orb Cradle was a head-sized purple ball, almost translucent and glowing slightly, magic gently fed into it as its focus was turned to the magnifying lenses to enhance the immense powers of an Astronomy-Class Observation Orb - one of just three - to the stars. The room had a dozen more people than it should, each crowded around one of the long work tables, shouting over each other. Excitement, anticipation, and fear.

He sped up a little, pushing into the small crowd. "What's going on!?" He demands, "Come on - part! What's got..." He trailed off once he got to the desk, and could see the large-print magical photographs, ripped straight from the orb and telescope behind them.

Night Light almost forgot to breathe. The top picture was focused on the Moon, a space between four craters - the Hisparides Gap, his mind helpfully provided. He had seen it a hundred times before now, and it never changed. Now? The captured image shows a large circle etched into the ground, perhaps a dozen miles wide, with a vague central shape. The chatter around him died down mostly, and he can hear someone trying to explain to him, but Night flipped to the next picture. A castle had been built, the layout vaguely familiar, a sprawling citadel rather than something for mere show, with curtain walls, roads, small utility buildings, even the bricks, cobbles, and roof tiles had been recreated out of gray rock. Beyond the walls, he could see the vaguely formed outlines of city streets branching forth, a few foundations laid down. In the castle courtyard was a deep shadow, not one of the buildings. Night's heart began to beat faster.

He flipped to the next picture.

Slitted eyes met him from the motionless photo, but still a thrill of fear went through him. A pony stood there - an alicorn, but it could not be further from Princess Celestia and Cadance in appearance. Its wings were twisted and broken, he could see chunks had been ripped from its sides, and one of its visible legs was twisted. The vibrant colors produced by the astronomy orb showed him that it was dark blue, almost black, and it wore a silvery crown that seemed made of moonlight. Its mane was flowing ethereally, reflecting darkness from between the stars. Its horn was long, each curve of it captured. Every feather, every tuft of fur, every bit of dust clinging, the glint off of its razor-sharp teeth, mouth twisted into a grin. The harsh, feline-like eyes of sickly teal, every detail of the iris visible, the light curving of its eyebrows in its wicked smile.

It was staring right at the telescope when the image was taken.

Night Light stared for a long time, the conversation picking back up around him. Finally, someone bumping him lightly pulled him from his thoughts and he gathered himself, "Call the Castle!" He raised his voice above the others, "Get a message to Princess Celestia, now! Tell her we photographed an alicorn on the Moon!"

A few people broke off to listen to him, but Night Light found his gaze turned back to the picture, almost against his will.

The slitted eyes peered into his very soul, and he felt icy fear run down his back.

Soft Breeze stared at the door of the cottage. Today was another day of school in Ponyville, and it was harder than she could bring herself to admit to even get out of the door.

She closed her eyes, and let the sounds of the house wash over her - and there were plenty. It was amazing, to her, how many more there were compared to a cloud house. She could hear some of the beams creaking with the morning warm breeze after last night's chill. There were pipes, too, and they actually creaked slightly in the walls while her mother did dishes in the other room. The wood made every step far louder than it should be, she had startled herself getting up the past two days. Then there were the mirrors. She didn't know why people who lived on the ground were obsessed with them, but her mother had one by the door, one in both bathrooms, and another in their bedroom.

Soft Breeze - no, Fluttershy, did not like mirrors. They were an extreme rarity in Cloudsdale, and seeing herself was something that invited too many of her own self-destructive thoughts. Dash would probably -

Fluttershy forced that line of thought aside. She wasn't Dash's friend anymore, they would probably never see each other again. No, in Ponyville she had no friends. She was strange she knew, to the ground ponies of Ponyville. An outlier. Basic Psychology at the Hurricane Academy of Military Strategy let her identify that it was the natural way of ponies to scrutinize those not within the psychological herd.

That didn't make it hurt any less, though.

Fluttershy brought more of Soft Breeze to herself and stiffened her back, letting her expression even and her posture became more sure - practical parade rest, but she knew that any hall monitor at HAMS would have told her to straighten her neck more. She tucked her wings against herself, held loosely against her, and ready for use. The absence of even practice wing blades was a sensation keenly missed.

Fluttershy made for the door at last and stepped outside, shutting it behind her.

The house her parents had bought was at the edges of town, practically within the Everfree all things considered. A wide two-story with a large fenced yard. There were two distinct sides of the yard, in Fluttershy's opinion - the Dark and the Safe side. To one edge of their property were loose whitewoods that led straight to Ponyville, light things with little undergrowth and a stream running through it. The other, however, was right against the Everfree. There were massive dark trees with shadowed leaves only a few feet from their fence, with clinging bushes and plants at the base of every tree. Just being near it felt unnatural, out of harmony with everything else with its wild, untamed depths.

Still, this was supposed to be home now. Supposed. The sounds out here were utterly alien, too - something she still found impossible to adjust to. In Cloudsdale you could hear the vast winds buffeting the city, even if its design kept the worst of it out of the streets. There was the bustle of its many pegasi citizens, the beating of wings and the clanking of items on their person. If you listened you could hear the City Legion doing rounds or making their presence known. There was always the distant sound of thunder, a low rumbling that was everpresent during day hours that could lightly rumble your chest if you flew high enough. The memory of that sensation, its lack, could bring tears to her eyes some nights.

The Cottage was assailed by a completely different palette of sound. Trees and leaves in the wind - which itself was weak here, barely able to be noticed. The sound of birds and animals was near-constant, chirping and scuffling or growling or running. The sound of running water was odd, too. Cloudsdale had no rivers, no plants, and no animals.

Fluttershy marched down the path leading away from her home, and then she kicked off the ground and soared - the light tug of wind against her face and eyes a comforting familiarity as she pushed herself above the tree line and into the skies.

Ponyville stretched out before her, and it was another alien place.

It wasn't made of clouds, for one - and no cloud structures hung above it. There was little order to its winding, circular streets that meandered around and left large green places between collections of houses and stores. Cloudsdale was on a grid separated by ringing walls leading to the citadel. Ponyville did not have a central citadel or walls, it had a town hall and a library made out of a giant tree. The streets were paved here, at least they were mostly paved. They were filled with odd people, a disparate collection in a full rainbow of colorations and shapes and sizes. Most of them weren't fit to even elementary standards, although plenty were hardy farm folk or laborers who would pass with flying colors. She supposed earth ponies would have it easier either way.

Fluttershy did her best to ignore the part of her mind that identified that Ponyville would be helpless against even a basic assault, its layout provided few choke points and the terrain around it had few natural barriers aside from the stream - which shouldn't even be counted. That same part helpfully provided that even basic earthworks or more permanent palisade, or even a half-wall of stone, could help avert another Timberwolf Tragedy. She knew that if she were put in charge of its defenses she would have a great deal of work to do, trenches to put the earth ponies to use, but against airborne attack -

Fluttershy forced those thoughts aside and purposefully did not think of her years as Soft Breeze, one of the Hurricane Academy's most hopeful officer candidates. She was not that pony anymore.

The gentle winds over Ponyville were easy to ply as she gently curved her path toward the 'Schoolhouse.' That was another oddity.

It was small, which was to be expected. Two stories only by the chance of its previous purpose being a church of the Solar Cult. The first floor was of rugged and dependable stone, although aged and with cracks in its surface. The second floor was of a dark rosy wood, and at its rear rose a small tower that contained a little bell that the teachers would ring to announce the end of recess.

There were exactly forty-seven students in its halls. A handful were Fluttershy's age, but most were younger. There was no carefully measured and regulated grade system. The basic, required, classes were surprisingly limited to Reading, Mathematics, and History. Students advanced through grade levels at their own paces, at least in theory. An intelligent student might breeze through their material and simply be pushed up to the next band of students with a new set of assignments. The teachers handled classes only briefly, homerooms, and then the gathered students would split into assignments based on their grade level - with the three teachers spreading their time between all of them.

It was chaotic and strange, but apparently not atypical for small Earth Pony towns where apprenticeships had been the main means of education until recently. It had become a requirement when the recent growth of the town had forced it upon them - and it showed in the way there were far, far more younger students than those of Fluttershy's age.

She was the only pegasus.

Fluttershy had to gather herself, circling the school once - hesitation and weakness burning a hole in her heart at the idea of another day of isolation. Of teasing. Bullying. It was not as aggressive as in Cloudsdale, but at least she had Dash -

She forced those thoughts down, smothering them. Angling downward, she began a swift descent to the dirt path in front of the schoolyard door, landing lightly and at once setting to get inside, where the teachers prevented anything rude.

Fluttershy was not so fortunate. A pair of ponies cut their way in front of her.

Soft Breeze weighed the pair, hooves coming to a quick stop - centering her balance, steadying her stance. Her wings loosened at her side, joints unfurling just enough to be ready. Two earth ponies. She knew them, unfortunately. Spoiled Rich and Junebug. Spoiled was the daughter of one of the town's merchants, and relatively lithe for an earth pony - but natural magic would make up for any apparent lack of muscle. Pale pink fur, magenta mane, blue eyes. She had a talent for mathematics and was quick for a groundie, but she disliked sports. Cutie Mark was a diamond ring, indicating her talent for making jewelry, evidenced by her promised apprenticeship to Trilliant Ring in town. Junebug was more stocky and strong, daughter of grain farmers from further outside of town. No academic talents but powerful in plant magic, not useful in combat. Cutie Mark a simple flower wreath, making her particular talent with them. Dark yellow coat, creamy orange mane, green eyes.

"Trying to run past us, Fluttershy?" Spoiled led the engagement, both of them walking to within a few feet of Soft Breeze - standing directly in her path to reach the doors, and close enough to try and grab her. "You know Miss Pepper said you should try to make friends," Her tone was snide and taunting. "Why don't we play a game together, down by the stream? Come on."

They were older then her by three years, although in the same class as her - not for long if Soft Breeze had anything to say about it. Despite the prompting for what would undoubtedly be a forced soaking, she did not move.

"Didn't you hear her?" Junebug says, voice mocking, "Or are you as dumb as you are shy." Then, the stocky farmer's daughter stepped closer.

Soft Breeze had yet to be attacked in Ponyville, but it was inevitable. She knew how to handle bullies like this. She had to fight back for a few moments and either flee or give in before it got too involved. Monitors were fine with scuffles, not fights.

She moved when Junebug's right forehood raised to step forward.

Soft Breeze shifted, forcing magic into her wings and the air about her - for a brief moment there was static as energy guided her movement. A basic strike, simple - easy to block. Her wing shot forward, wind and force coalescing at its edge as she side-stepped, crouched, and brought it against the side of one of Junebug's weight-bearing legs. A simple dodge, a telegraphed attack. Then, she would leap back and -

There was a hard crack and impact against Soft's wing, and then Junebug was falling over, clutching at her leg with another hoof - and she was screaming.

Soft Breeze froze as every pony in hearing looked at once, Spoiled's eyes widening as she took steps back. Junebug's foreleg was lightly bent at the knee. Dislocated, Soft's mind provided in a fast, analytical assessment. Fracturing, perhaps. Move in and execute a joint lock on her functioning foreleg and -

Fluttershy forced herself to back up, fear and shame boiling up in her belly. Oh, Celestia, she hurt her! No, no! Her breaths came in faster as panic set in, the front door of the schoolhouse banging open as Miss Pepper ran out.

She ran. Turning, Fluttershy leapt into the air with force, wings giving a hard beat as she accelerated up. Away from the screaming. Away from what she had just done.

Away from everything, and toward the Everfree Forest.

Author's Note

A shorter chapter than I have done in the past, but I wanted to get it out and resume this. I know it's been awhile, but if anyone is still around and reading then I hope you like it!