Trouble at Midnight Castle

by RainbowDoubleDash

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dr. Caballeron, Rainbow Dash, Daring Do, Cozy Glow, Adventure, Alternate Universe, Tirek
Length: 98003

Rainbow Dash and Daring Do team up to explore the ruins of Midnight Castle! But wait - what are Tirek and Cozy Glow doing here?!

Reading Trouble in Tiatarta is not necessary to enjoy this story, but you should probably read Queen Chrysalis Reforms (Accidentally)

Rainbow Dash is certain she's about to have the best week ever! She's gotten a letter from her idol Daring Do, inviting her to an expedition to the ancient Centaurian ruin of Midnight Castle to retrieve a lost Equestrian artifact! A daring adventure with Daring Do? What could go wrong?

Well, for one thing, Doctor Caballeron could show up, chasing after the same artifact. For another, Lord Tirek and Cozy Glow could show up too, with their own nefarious plans. Wait, but they're supposed to be in Tartarus!

Maybe this isn't going to be such a great week after all...

Published 2020-06-03 10:50:02 UTC
Last updated 2022-07-13 20:11:34 UTC

2. Flights of Fancy

“Yes, it is I!” exclaimed the scruffy-looking earth pony stallion as he strolled up to Dash. “Doctor Caballeron. How nice to see you again, Rainbow Dash. I take it you got my letter?”

Dash opened her mouth to object that she’d gotten Daring Do’s letter, but her words froze in her mouth. The next thing she knew, she was smacking one of her own hooves against her face, heedless of the knife at her throat.

“I should have known…” she groaned. “Daring Do wouldn’t care about fame and fortune from finding the Sun Stone…and she wouldn’t have signed any letter ‘Daring Do’, either…”

Caballeron smirked, patting Dash on the head. “Ah, the excitement of meeting one’s idols. It can be quite blinding, can’t it? Truth be told we were worried you’d put things together on the airship ride over here. Glory must have done a fine job distracting you and keeping your mind elsewhere.”

As he spoke, his hench-ponies proceeded to relieve Dash of her saddlebags and tie up Dash’s wings. Dash looked around, looking for any sign of aid, but there was nopony nearby – the airport’s lobby had been completely deserted, the Wind Drifter not going anywhere until it was resupplied and re-fueled, and no other airships apparently scheduled to launch or land anytime soon.

Caballeron noticed her glancing around, and joined in a mocking way before continuing. “I wouldn’t bother crying out for help, Rainbow Dash. There are some local guards outside, but I’m afraid the glint of gold has rendered them blind and deaf.”

Glory chose that moment to speak up. “So my ‘donations’ to Emira Numnah have been put to good use, then?”

“Yes and no,” Caballeron came right up to Glory and threw a hoof over her withers. “She was less interested in the gold than the beautiful yacht it was smuggled here in. A small price to pay to smooth things over here since my last visit, and to get permission from Numnah’s father the Sultan to enter the Nether Lands.”

Glory had an awkward smile on her face, and wasted little time in extricating herself from Caballeron’s grip. “Yes, well…I can always buy another yacht, but there is only one Sun Stone.”

The big hench-pony finished binding Dash’s wings with a tight pull; she nickered and made to buck him at the slight pain, but he just grinned and dared her. She lowered her hoof and returned her attention to her erstwhile airship buddy.

She looked between the unicorn and Caballeron. “What the heck, Glory? I trusted you! You were just Caballeron’s lackey this entire time?!”

“Of course not!” Caballeron said. “Glory Pose is one of my many financiers, and buyers for the artifacts I collect. Her collection in Fillydelphia is second to none. We are equal partners, I assure you.”

“Ordinarily I leave the good Doctor to his own devices,” Glory continued, “and I reap the rewards – when Daring Do doesn’t steal them. However this particular expedition required a larger investment than normal…and so I decided to take a more hooves-on approach.”

“And we both decided to be proactive,” Caballeron’s bemused expression finally dropping into a scowl. “Three times before our paths have crossed, and each time you have been a thorn in my side. There shall not be a fourth! And should Daring Do choose to actually show her face in Saddle Arabia…” He chuckled, and drew a line across his throat. “You are insurance, Rainbow Dash.”

Dash was listening, of course, but her eyes were focused on Glory. The purple unicorn pouted at the look Dash was giving her. “Cheer up, darling,” she insisted, “you’re still getting to go on that adventure to Midnight Castle that you wanted! Even if it's not with who you wanted.”

“And even though it will be the last adventure you ever go on,” Caballeron added. He went to once again embrace Glory, but she held him back with telekinesis, and he settled on a hoof-bump with her. “Now, let us get going! The expedition will set out this very evening.”

Dash opened her mouth to voice an objection, but Glory’s horn flared, and the canvas bag was shoved over her head, blinding and muffling her. She was shoved by a hench-pony and forced to follow, guided along by the other hench-pony’s hoof on her withers. They turned, trotting not towards the airport’s main exit, but back towards the airfield – less public view, Dash supposed. Saddle Arabia apparently wasn’t so corrupt that a bound, blinded mare could just be marched out into the street in plain view.

At least there was no longer a knife at her throat, it being a bit too awkward for an earth pony to hold one effectively and walk at the same time. Sure, Dash couldn’t see anything but brown canvas (which at least smelled nice, thanks to the perfume that Glory stored in her luggage), but she was no longer in immediate mortal danger. Her wings were bound…but her hooves weren’t. And frankly, Dash was sick of being taken captive by Caballeron. It had happened twice before…but this time, apparently there was no Daring Do coming.

She whickered in annoyance at that thought. She’d been looking forward to seeing Daring all week, just for everything to turn out to be a lie concocted by two jerks so that she could be insurance?

Dash allowed herself to be lead along until she heard a door open in front of her, and felt the hot winds of Saddle Arabia on her fur, and the packed dirt and sand of the airfield beneath her hooves. But she lasted only another moment after that. She decided to put her years of being an awesome savior of Equestria, awesome Equestria Games-level athlete skills, and just generally being awesome to use. Plus a little of what she’d learned from reading Daring Do, of course.

She faked stumbling, which was believable enough with a bag over her head. The stallion guiding her grabbed hold of her tighter out of instinct, which was exactly what Dash wanted. The moment she felt him tense, she threw her entire body weight into the stumble, and he let out a yelp as he was thrown forward while Dash rolled, then, when she was on her back, rolled away from him. He tried to grab on, but she managed to shake him.

The hench-pony wasn’t the real problem; Glory was, or more specifically, her horn and the fact that she could cut any escape attempt short with ease. But Dash had kept her ears locked on to Glory’s hoof-steps, and knew where she was. Hearing the tell-tale shimmer sound of a unicorn lighting up her horn even allowed Dash to better know where Glory’s head was; Dash had scooped up a bunch of dirt and sand, and flung it in Glory’s direction with a flick of the fetlock.

Glory shrieked and the sound of magic ceased. “My eyes!”

“Ha! Take that!” Dash was genuinely surprised that had worked, but she didn’t have time to celebrate; she needed to keep moving. Thankfully there was nopony in Equestria better at that then her. Dash turned in the opposite direction of Glory’s shrieks and started running as fast as her hooves could carry her.

“Fools!” Doctor Caballeron called out. “She’s getting away! After her!”

Dash risked slowing for only a moment, so that she could yank the canvas bag from her head. She squinted against the sudden glare of sunlight as she resumed running, glancing around as she tryied to take in everything at once. The Wind Drifter loomed overhead several hundred feet away, casting a massive shadow across the sand, while the whole airfield was surrounded by a tall fence topped with barbed wire. Here and there were horses – the tall equine natives of Saddle Arabia – performing various tasks to refuel and resupply the airship, all of whom stopped to look in Dash’s direction, though the airfield was large enough that the nearest horse was still more than a hundred feet away. Behind her the two hench-ponies had given chase, while Caballeron remained with Glory, helping her clear her eyes.

Dash’s wings strained against the rope binding them, but she couldn’t break it and didn’t have time to stop and untie it. With the barbed wire topping the fence, her best bet was to head out through the airport; she banked left and started running towards it.

Unfortunately this also brought her closer to a number of horses. Most got out of the way of the charging rainbow-hued mare, but two tried to interpose themselves between Dash and the airport. She dropped into skidding slide and passed under one, then kicked with her hindlegs to leap over the next. But he was particularly tall and she’d started from essentially lying on the ground, so she landed on his back instead of clearing him. He let out a surprised whinny as he turned to look at her.

“Uh…sorry,” she said, then leaped off of him and back to the ground and started running again. The horses, at least, had tried to stop Dash’s pursuers as well; none of them were supposed to be out on the airfield right now. Dash seriously considered just turning herself over to airport security since they’d probably keep her from Caballeron…but then she heard loud braying from the airport.

A pair of Saddle Arabian guards – bedecked in green cloth and silver lamellar barding – had emerged from within the airport. They spotted Dash and her rainbow mane and tail immediately and Doctor Caballeron only slightly less quickly, as he and Glory were running towards Dash.

“Her! Get her, quickly!” Caballeron called. The horses turned and charged for Dash.

“Ugh…” Dash groaned, turning and starting to gallop away, back towards the Wind Drifter. Right. Caballeron had apparently bribed one of the Sultan’s daughters and the guards loyal to her…and Dash sure as heck didn’t know which ones those were and definitely would not be able to vet any guards she ran into. These two, at least, could go firmly into the “unfriendly” category.

Time for Plan B, then.

Dash charged towards an airport worker. This one was trying to get out of her way, but she had been unloading bedsheets from the Wind Drifter to be cleaned. Dash only narrowly avoided ploughing right into her, but did grab hold of a duvet with her teeth as she passed on by. The awkward weight nearly caused Dash to stumble, but she managed to keep her hooves under her as she flicked her head so the duvet landed across her back, making it easier to carry.

Another glance behind her, and Dash saw the horse guards closing in – longer legs plus being used to running in sand, presumably, since otherwise Dash was certain she should have been faster. Caballeron and his goons were behind them, while Glory had stopped running, hooves at her belly while she gasped for breath. Not used to exerting herself, it seemed.

Dash returned her focus to the incoming fence. She banked again to run perpendicular to it, then grabbed the duvet she’d nabbed in her teeth once again and hurled it up towards the barbed wire, even as she leaped to try and get some extra height. Her wings strained against their bonds, trying to flap, though if they could then she would have been long gone.

The duvet’s end landed just on the other side of the fence, while the main part of it snagged on the barbed wire, pressing it down without letting too many of the barbs through its thick surface. Dash leaped again, climbing the fence and up the duvet. Some of the barbs still managed to poke through enough to scrape her legs and belly as she went over, but she managed to reach the top, grab the duvet, and leap down from the fence’s other side, bringing it with her. She landed easily, just as Caballeron, his goons, and the two Saddle Arabian guards skidded to a halt on the other side of the fence.

From behind them, Glory Pose lit up her horn and fired off a blast of magic; Dash dodged it, but unfortunately a second blast followed and struck Dash right in the shoulder before she could move. It stung slightly, but if that was the best that Glory could offer than Dash wasn’t too concerned, especially not with a fence between her and her pursuers.

Dash smirked, lifted a hoof to her forehead and saluted, and turned around…and saw five more Saddle Arabian guards charging towards her.

“Oh come on!” Dash exclaimed, turning and running beside the fence again, heading for the city of Istanbull.

Cozy Glow took in a deep breath as she stared at the portal that Grogar opened. She hated teleporting. It wasn’t something she could do herself, of course, but she hated having it done to her or having to do it. Still, the alternative was spending weeks trying to cross the South Luna Ocean by boat, probably smuggled into a cramped cargo hold of some vessel, hoping that nopony would notice her and Tirek stowing away; or else months on an overland journey that still would require a boat on at least a few occasions.

So instead Cozy watched Tirek, saddlebags across his lower back, pass through the black-and-yellow folded rip in space that Grogar had created. She mentally readied herself, and bought a little more time by waving to the ornery old goat.

“See you in a couple weeks, Mister Grogar!” She loaded her voice with sweetness. Grogar’s response was to roll his eyes, but before he could do something like shove her through, she adjusted her own saddlebags one more time, closed her eyes, took flight, and surged forward into the black pool of the portal. She did her best to ignore the pull of the brief moment of nothingness all around her, the sensation of falling in spite of her wings, the thought of something going wrong and being stranded between spaces and yet outside of them. But then…

Hot.

It was hot!

It was like an oven!

Cozy Glow used her hooves to shield her eyes from the sudden glare of the burning Sun, dropping down to the sand beneath her – and then letting out a yelp at the painful sensation of the hot sand against her hooves. Ahead, she saw green – the oasis she and Tirek would be briefly visiting – and saw that Tirek was already walking calmly towards it, though he’d pulled a long white sheet from his saddlebags and thrown it around him like a traveling cloak. Something to ward off the sun’s rays, Cozy guessed.

Which made perfect sense because it was hot!

“W-wait up!” Cozy beat her wings and took to the air, not wanting her poor hooves to suffer. She glanced around as her eyes adjusted to the glare. Aside from the trees, bushes, and grass of the oasis ahead, there was nothing but yellow-orange sand in every direction, shaped into wave after wave of windswept dunes that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Also, it was hot!

Cozy looked up to Tirek, squinting against the almost painfully bright light. “What the heck?” She demanded. “How is it this hot? I’m a pegasus and I’m baking!” Pegasi were supposed to be naturally resistant to temperature extremes, but it really didn’t feel like it right now.

Tirek smiled. “Yes, the Nether Lands can take some getting used to,” he said, though even as he did he spread his hands wide and closed his eyes, apparently enjoying the heat.

They reached the edge of the oasis, and Cozy quickly leapt beneath the shade of the nearest palm tree. The temperature immediately plummeted from “hot” to merely “way too warm”. She’d been under the glare of the Sun, had been in these Nether Lands, for maybe thirty seconds, and yet she could already feel sweat creeping across her body.

Tirek, at least, joined her in the shade rather than continuing to cook himself. He glanced back out at the desert, holding a hand up to his eyes as he scanned the dunes. “It is just about Summer, after all,” he noted. “And today’s a hot one.”

Cozy at last landed, the grass beneath her hooves much cooler than the baking sand only a few feet away. She started flapping her wings at her face, trying to cool herself. Think of the plan, she insisted to herself. Think of the plan, the Rainbow of Darkness, power and magic, it’ll be worth it! If I don’t fry first…

Tirek frowned as he took note of Cozy’s wings. “You’ll just make yourself hotter from the exertion.” He started forward once again, hands out and brushing the taller grass as he walked by. Cozy followed. The palm trees grew thicker together as they advanced towards the pool of water that fed the oasis, and in spite of herself Cozy found herself gasping at the sight that greeted them once Tirek had pushed some fronds out of the way.

The oasis sat at the bottom of a depression of sun-bleached white rock, a set of natural stairs leading down to a pool that was easily a thousand feet long and a couple hundred wide, the water a striking, vibrant blue. Palm trees and cacti and other desert plants struggled with each other to get as close to the bastion of life-giving water as possible – more so on the other side of the pool, where the vegetation became a thick copse of palm trees, desert shrubs, and grass. There were animals too – birds, mostly, but Cozy spotted a couple small rodents, as well as a small fox with huge ears.

“Wow,” Cozy finally let out, as Triek and she started moving down towards the water, Cozy moving from shadow to shadow as much as possible. “How’s all this water not evaporate?”

Tirek chuckled. “It does. But there is an underground river beneath our hooves that allows it to replenish. My brother and I found the source once…” He drifted off, and Cozy noted Tirek grinding his teeth. They’d reached the edge of the depression, and began carefully picking their way down the stone steps and to the water’s edge (or Tirek was careful, anyway, Cozy just flew).

Tirek at least had something of a smile as he reached the bottom, and kicked a hind hoof at the last step. “I remember that being wider,” he chuckled.

Cozy only half-heard him; she was busy shucking her saddlebags, then carefully pulling the bows from her mane and tail. She spent a lot of effort on the two every morning since the curls made her look extra cute, but frankly this heat and the sweating she was going to do would do in the curls anyway. The moment she was free of them, she galloped over and into the water.

The relief was instant. The water was by no means cool, but compared to the temperature of the Nether Lands it might as well have been glacial. Cozy trotted out until the water was up to her withers, then dove beneath it, hooves kicking and wings flapping and soaking herself as much as possible.

She came up quickly, letting out a long, relieved sigh. “That’s better!” She exclaimed, doggy-paddling in circles a few times. “If you need me, I’m just gonna be in here forever, okay?”

“Sounds fine,” Tirek waved a hand from where he knelt at the water’s edge, having taken off his own saddlebags. “Just watch out for crocodiles – ”

“Agh!” Cozy shrieked as her wings beat as hard as she could make them, launching herself into the air after a few moments of struggle against the water. “Why didn’t you warn me, you big dumb centaur! We’ll have to hunt them down first and then I can…”

Her eyes grew wide when she realized that Tirek was laughing, gripping his stomach. Cozy hung limply in the air. The pieces, at least, put themselves together: there were no crocodiles here. Another moment later and she let out a roar, diving towards the water, skimming along it with her hooves pushing it in front of her, and splashing Tirek with a wave before he could get out of the way.

Tirek sputtered, throwing his white cloak from him before it got too much wetter, and eyed Cozy. She blew a raspberry at him – then yelped when his horns lit up and magic seized a huge chunk of the water beneath her. With a flick of his wrist, Tirek sent the water shooting upwards, soaking Cozy and dragging her back down with it once it fell.

“No fair!” Cozy cried out when she rose out of the pool.

“So what?” Tirek returned.

Cozy felt herself grinding her teeth. “I’m gonna get you, that’s what! I’ll…I’ll…” She wracked her brain, trying to think of something Tirek couldn’t do. “I’ll use all this water to make a cloud and strike you with lightning! I might just be a filly but I’m still a pegasus filly!”

“I thought you were a little monster.”

“I can be both things!” Cozy started splashing around in the water, wings beating rapidly, hooves stirring and kicking it up, trying to use her pegasus magic to turn it into vapor. “Just – you – wait!”

Tirek only laughed once more. “Go ahead and try! Good way to pass the time.” He put his hand to his eyes and glanced upwards, at the position of the Sun. “We’ll set out as the Sun starts to set. No creature crosses the Nether Lands during the day.”

“Not – going anywhere – ‘til you – suffer first!”

Tirek’s only response was another chuckle.

Tirek half-heartedly watched Cozy Glow literally try to kick up a storm as he walked at a leisurely pace along the water’s edge. A single adult pegasus wouldn’t be able to make much of a cloud on their own, and Cozy certainly wasn’t going to be able to – especially not in this heat, with the tiny streams of vapor she was making dissipating too quickly for her to really pack them together.

But it would tire her out, which was good if it got her to spend most of the daylight hours resting or even sleeping. She’d need her energy for the night of travel that was ahead of them, which was going to be rougher than Tirek would have preferred – to fool Grogar he’d needed to pack as though camping, not traveling.

Tirek picked his way carefully over the white rocks and to a slight bend in the pool, taking him out of sight of Cozy. This oasis wasn’t quite large enough to support a permanent settlement, but that hadn’t stopped the centaurs of the Nether Lands from building a few permanent structures…

And there it was. Sitting at the northernmost edge of the pool was a simple white structure, made of the same white stone that lined the edge of the water, a simple square shape from which water slowly flowed out – the mouth of the subterranean river, where it breached the surface and spilled into this oasis. It looked different from how Tirek remembered it, much more worn, and also smaller, though Tirek knew of course that the latter was due to the fact that Tirek had been much younger when he had last come here. The former, meanwhile, was a thousand years of erosion.

Tirek trotted into the water and up to the structure, which he was now taller than. He leaned down to glance inside, resting one hand on its roof as he did. The interior was larger than it appeared from the outside, enough for a young centaur and a gargoyle to fit inside. He had doubted he’d find anything, of course…

…and so was completely unprepared when he found himself looking at a pair of golden eyes.

“Gah!” Tirek exclaimed in surprise.

“Ahh!” The inhabitant of the structure shouted.

Tirek stepped back from the structure, just as the one inside darted out – a young centaurette, maybe eight years old, with pink skin and brownish-black fur. She galloped a few dozen feet away, stopped to look back at Tirek, then set off again, shrieking.

Tirek blinked in confusion, before shaking his head and gathering his wits. “Wait!” He called out, taking off after the centaurette. Probably she had been playing some hide-and-seek game. She had a lead, but he had longer and stronger legs, so catching up wasn’t in question – though Tirek skidded to a halt when he reached where Cozy Glow had been.

There was no sign of the pegasus filly, but there were two short-horned centaurs and another centaurette, all three adults, clad in desert robes to ward off the sun and clutching long spears, clustered around Cozy’s and Tirek’s discarded saddlebags and inspecting them.

The younger centaurette had dashed behind the others, who all raised their spears at his arrival even as their eyes widened at the sight of him. He easily stood head and shoulders above even the tallest centaur in the group.

“Who – ” That tallest centaur began. But Tirek snorted, seizing the spears in his magic as he stomped forward. He tore them from the centaurs’ grips and spun them in the air so they pointed at their owners, prompting cries of surprise and alarm. The young centaurette let out another shriek and turned to run, but Tirek snapped his fingers and trapped her in a magic bubble, lifting her into the air.

Tirek stomped one hoof, cracking the stone beneath it. “Where’s the filly?” He demanded.

“I’m here!” Cozy Glow’s voice called out. Tirek glanced up, and saw that Cozy had taken flight and hidden herself among the palm trees, though she hurried back down to hover at Tirek’s side, her fur already drying in the oppressive heat. “I heard them coming and hid! Swam away a bit and then flew up!”

The centaurs, meanwhile, had started backing away, but Tirek had their stolen spears follow them. He looked them over in detail. He sneered. “Nomads. Must have been camping on the other side of the oasis. I should have anticipated this, they always were a nuisance…”

“Sorcerer,” one of the centaurs spoke up, apparently recovering from his initial shock – with it being replaced by a look of repugnance. “Soul-taker! When did you arrive here? How? There’s nothing but sand for a hundred miles in every direction!”

“He…” the adult centaurette spoke up, “he looks like…Vorak…”

Tirek’s eyes grew wide, while Cozy gasped and put her hooves to her mouth – and then giggled in anticipation.

Tirek barely heard her, as he started stomping towards the adult centaurette, directing all three spears at her now. Her two companions tried to react, one charging at Tirek while the other attempted to yank his spear from the air. Tirek swung his arm and caught the charging centaur in the throat with his forearm, causing him to stumble to the ground, gasping for air, while the captured young centaurette screamed.

The other centaur had found no luck in retrieving his spear. He reared back and kicked Tirek in the chest with his forehooves when he grew near, but Tirek only grunted, barely registering the pain and smacking him away.

He leaned down close to the centaurette’s face. “I look nothing like my weakling father!” He roared. She tried to fall back an away, but Tirek and his new spears followed her every step. “How do you even know his name after all this time?”

Even as he said it, it occurred to Tirek that it was entirely possible that the centaurette had been referring to a different Vorak. But the centaurette’s eyes grew wider as she fell back on her haunches.

“T…Tirek?” She stuttered out. “You’re Tirek?”

“That’s not an answer…” Cozy sang, drifting closer. She paused in the air, then landed on one of Tirek’s broad shoulders. “You pushed the ‘family’ button. You shouldn’t have done that!”

The adult centaurette was keeping her mouth shut now, anger and determination on her face. Tirek’s eyes narrowed as he stepped back, reining in his temper – slightly – and gesturing. The two fallen centaurs were lifted into the air and thrown towards him, and he caught them both around the throat. His magic flared and he opened his mouth wide, sucking in their magic – their power. They cried out, but could do nothing to stop him as the color faded from their eyes and their coats.

He dropped the two to the ground, then gestured and drew the bubble containing the young, whimpering centaurette closer. He lay his hand on the bubble without breaking eye contact with the adult. To his surprise, however, the centaurette only hardened her gaze, clenching her fists and tilting her head back, exposing her neck to the spears. Tirek’s threat was clear…but the centaurette wasn’t giving in.

Tirek growled, but before he could do anything else Cozy took to the air again. “Hang on, I got this,” she said. Rather than going to the adult, however, Cozy landed in front of the bubble containing the young centaurette, smiling up at her.

“Hi! My name’s Cozy Glow! I’m a pegasus filly. What’s your name?”

The young centaurette was still whimpering, having fallen to her barrel and hugging herself with her arms. She glanced at Tirek, but he obliged Cozy Glow’s plan by turning away – though he also trapped the adult centaurette in her own bubble, silencing her attempted outburst, while lowering the young centaurette’s bubble to the ground so she could be closer to Cozy and popping it.

The centaurette didn’t dare run. She finally let out a small sob as Cozy got closer to her. “E…Eissas,” she whispered.

“Hi, Eissas!” Cozy returned. “My friend and I came here aaaaallll the way from Equestria! It’s super far away! So we don’t really know too much about where we are.”

The centaurette – Eissas – sniffled. Cozy pressed on. “Look, what my friend did to your friends probably seems pretty mean…but in fairness, they were pointing spears at him! He can even make them fine. Right, Tirek? Show her!”

Tirek raised a brow as he looked over his shoulder. Cozy waved him on. With a sigh, Tirek crossed his arms even as he channeled magic through him – and released it, sending the magic he had taken from one of the centaurs back to him. Before he could do much more than rise to his hooves, however, Tirek trapped him in a bubble, then pushed him away over to his centaurette companion.

Eissas watched with wide, tear-filled eyes. Tirek turned around to face her. “I can restore his magic,” he poked the other fallen centaur with one hoof, ”just as easily.”

“Uh-huh!” Cozy nodded, taking to the air so she could hover at eye-level with the taller centaurette child. “But first we need your help, Eissas.” She pressed her forelegs together before her. “Just tell us everything you know about Vorak and Tirek! Then we’ll leave. Promise!”

Eissas wiped away tears. “P-promise?”

Cozy nodded once more. “Mm-hmm! Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!”

“I’m not doing that,” Tirek said quickly as Cozy performed the little dance that went with her vaunted Pinkie Promise. He looked to the centaurette, “but yes. You have my word.” The paltry magic of these common centaurs would hardly be a loss.

Eissas chewed on her lip, but finally settled down. She took in a few deep, shuddering breaths and let them out slowly, then shifted so she was sitting in a more comfortable position, upper back straight.

“O…once…once, long ago, a centaur child named Vorak w-was exiled from his tribe, his sorcerous uncle usurping his father’s reign…i-in the depths of the N-Nether Lands, at the edge of h-his life, he was saved by a young gargoyle named Haydon…she took him to the Stone Mountain against the wishes of her people. In her care he recovered – ”

“And he earned the respect of the gargoyles, returned to his tribe, deposed his uncle, united the centaur tribes, united with the gargoyles, created Gar-Centauria, yes,” Tirek growled. “I know that part. Skip ahead, child.”

Eissas shivered, but nodded. “W-well…Vorak had a son, Tirek, and Haydon a son, Scorpan. When…when their respective spouses passed on early, Vorak and Haydon cemented the land of Gar-Centaura with a marriage, and Tirek and Scorpan became brothers, but Tirek, he…h-he…” she flinched, looking up at Tirek. “Are…are you really…?”

Tirek ground his teeth together, but before he could say anything Cozy took to the air and set a hoof down on her shoulder. “I think we know that part too! But yeah, this really is Tirek. I guess that kind of makes him King Tirek, huh? But skip to the part where I’m guessing Scorpan came back from Equestria.”

Eissas shivered again. “S-Scorpan returned alone, but…but not alone. Vorak had grown ill, Haydon had already passed on…Scorpan became king, but…but it’s said that Tirek’s shadow lingered over him. He went to…to Midnight Castle, disappeared inside for three days, and when he came out…he possessed the Rainbow of Darkness.”

Tirek and Cozy’s eyes widened as they looked to each other. Cozy turned back to Eissas. “You mean to tell me that it’s not there anymore?” She asked, anger edging into her voice.

Eissas shook her head. “N-no! Scorpan, he…he reigned, but his reign was…was as black and as evil as Tirek’s…” She swallowed. “In, in the last year of his reign, he had a statue built on the shore facing Midnight Castle. It shows…shows Scorpan’s family, when they were younger. Himself and Haydon and Vorak and…and Tirek. Then Scorpan entered Midnight Castle again, with the Rainbow of Darkness. He never came back out. He had no heirs. The gargoyles returned to Stone Mountain. The centaur tribes broke apart. ”

Cozy Glow flew backwards, landing once more on Tirek’s shoulder. “Huh. And here I thought Scorpan was a little goody two-hooves! Or claws or…whatever gargoyles have.” She looked to Tirek. “Too bad it was after he’d left Equestria, huh?”

“Yes…” Tirek intoned, though his thoughts were turned inwards as he processed this information. He’d known that Scorpan was long gone, of course – gargoyles weren’t immortal. Nor were centaurs, for that matter; Tirek’s long life was a property of the dark magic he knew plus Tartaros and the prison’s time-impeding magic. He’d also learned that Gar-Centauria was no more already, but he hadn’t known the details. Equestria had been a very insular nation until recently so information about the ancient history of other lands was hard to come by.

But something didn’t add up. He could perfectly well understand why Scorpan would never rescue him from Tartaros: once a traitor, always a traitor. But to learn that Scorpan had become a cruel tyrant? He had been soft and weak. Tirek had difficulty imagining Scorpan gaining a reputation for a reign as black as Tirek’s heart.

No, this had to have something to do with the Rainbow of Darkness…and Scorpan’s weak nature. Dark magic always had a strong influence on the weak-minded. Equestria itself provided the Nightmare Moon and Stygian as major examples, and that was the peace-loving, pacifistic ponies. If the ponies could corrupt Scorpan, then of course true darkness could.

“So…what does this mean?” Cozy asked, breaking Tirek from his reverie.

He crossed his arms. “It means that Eissas did as she was told,” he said, turning around and restoring the magic to the other centaur he had defeated, then dispelling the bubble around the other two. He gathered up their spears and broke them in half with his bare hands, then threw them away. The adult centaurs had gone to Eissas and quickly shuffled her behind them, but they knew better than to flee.

Tirek considered them. Finally, he stepped forward, and loomed over the three smaller creatures and the one much smaller child. “You’ve seen my power. But you’ve also seen that I can be merciful.” He pointed a finger across the pool, at the copse of palm trees. “The rest of your tribe…over there, waiting out the day? How many are there?”

They looked between each other. Finally, one of the centaurs spoke up. “Forty.”

Tirek nodded. He held up three fingers on one hand. “Food. Water. Proper traveling gear for the Nether Lands. Enough to last for two weeks. Give myself and Cozy Glow these things, and I will leave your tribe unharmed and in peace.”

Cozy flitted up and landed on Tirek’s shoulder, giggling once more. “I mean, you’ll obviously agree,” she said, “since me and Tirek could just take it all anyway! So why not spare yourselves the trouble?”

The centaurs considered, but they really didn’t have a choice. Finally, the adult centaurette stepped forward. “No more sorcery of any kind while you’re here – ”

“No.”

She stepped back at the firmness in Tirek’s voice, eyes wide. Tirek stroked his beard, not breaking eye contact. She would either acquiesce…or she wouldn’t. Tirek was fine with either option.

Finally, she hung her head in defeat. “Fine. Come with me…”

The centaurs turned and started trudging away. Tirek folded his hands behind his upper back and followed. “I see magic has gained an exceptionally negative reputation among my people,” he noted. “My own fault, I suppose.”

Cozy giggled once more from where she sat on Tirek’s shoulder, though after another moment she took off and landed in his shadow, to get out from the sun’s glare. “So…” she whispered. “We’re not really gonna just let them get away with pointing spears and stuff at us, are we? I’m not saying you have to steal all their magic, but maybe just, I dunno…make them treat us like royalty for a few days!”

“I am royalty,” Tirek pointed out. “But no. We are here for a purpose and shouldn’t waste time.” At Cozy’s pleading gaze, however, Tirek found himself sighing. “Perhaps if they’re still here after we get back from Midnight Castle.”

“Yay!”

The last Running of the Leaves. That was the last time that Rainbow Dash had run this much.

She had managed to make it from the edges of the airfield and into the city itself. She’d kind of hoped that the maze of buildings would serve to throw off pursuers, but the horses chasing her knew the city streets and alleys a lot better than she did. And maybe not all of them were loyal the bribed Emira, but the horses could call in help from other horse guards anyway. The Saddle Arabians just saw their fellow Royal Guard members chasing a fleeing mare and so leapt in to help.

Dash skidded to a halt at a sudden dead-end. She turned around to run back the way she’d come, but saw a pair of green-and-silver-clad horses charging down the alley at her. The building on the right had narrow stairs leading up to its roof on the outside; she took them, quickly finding herself on one of the countless flat-topped apartments connected by planks and walkways. She picked one at random and charged for it.

Two more horses appeared on the rooftops. She turned around and went for the other walkway, leaping from slightly-taller building to slightly-shorter one, clearing the distance between the narrow alleys with ease.

“There’s gotta be, like, an Equestrian embassy or something, right?” Dash asked herself as she ran, looking out across the city. It didn’t help. Almost all the buildings looked basically identical, the same three-, four-, or five-story mud brick buildings. There were the occasional landmarks, like minarets and larger stone buildings with onion-shaped domes, but Dash was pretty sure that none of them were embassies. Maybe. Checking in at the local embassy hadn’t been a huge priority for her.

Dash leapt between two buildings and down into an alley, landing easily on all four hooves, then started running towards what she hoped was the alley’s exit. What she really needed right now was a disguise, since her rainbow mane and tail stood out like…well, like a rainbow mane and tail should under normal circumstances.

Or the use of her wings. She’d had a few moments of respite here and there where she’d tried to gnaw off the rope binding her, but the hench-pony who’d tied it must have been a colt scout or something because the knots were not coming loose no matter how much Dash pried at them.

Emerging from the alley, Dash found herself in a small marketplace. Souks, that’s what the brochure had called them. It was only small in the fact that it didn’t take up much space – it was cramped, full of horses either hawking wares or looking to buy them. The size of horses next to a pony allowed Dash to actually hide amongst them in spite of her notable features, ducking down low and making her way over to a table where various brightly colored spices and fruits were being sold. She managed to slip under the table cloth without any of the horses noticing.

She waited a few seconds just to be sure, then once she was she got to work on the rope around her wings, setting about trying to untie the ropes using a combination of hooves, teeth, and more than a few words that would not be appropriate for her students back at the Friendship School to hear her speak aloud. Eventually the easiest thing proved to be actually gnawing through a length of rope, severing it after several long minutes of effort and quickly untying herself once she had.

“Aw yeah,” Dash mumbled, pumping a forehoof a few times in victory. She stretched and unstreched her wings as best she could in the cramped space under the stall to get feeling back into them, then threw herself forward and out into the souk, beat her wings, leapt into the air –

and was immediately caught in a blue telekinetic field. “What the – ?!”

The souk, even now, was being cleared out by a half-dozen Royal Guards, pushing the horses away from the stalls they’d been operating or shopping at. Another was escorting distressingly familiar faces – Doctor Caballeron, Glory Pose, and the hench-ponies, who had by now picked up a third earth pony. All five looked tired and were panting, Glory especially, but it was her horn that was glowing with angry blue light and holding Dash in place.

Caballeron was laughing. “Well! That was a merry little chase, Rainbow Dash. Of course you had a tracking spell placed on you back at the airport by the talented Miss Pose.”

“That’s – right…” Glory gasped out, settling down on her haunches and putting a hoof to her stomach. She produced a handkerchief and pressed it to her mouth as she coughed. “Eugh…now I know why…I leave the adventuring…to others…”

“Actually most of the time it’s quite dull,” Caballeron provided, patting her back, “but somehow, never when the really good treasure is being sought out.” He looked back to Rainbow Dash. “Did you think you were making a, shall we say, dashing escape? No, my friend, you were being herded this whole time! Though I admit you didn’t make it easy.”

Dash struggled against the telekinetic field, but while her every movement did seem to get to Glory, making her wince, she wouldn’t let go – at least not until one of the Royal Guards grabbed her and pulled her down to the ground, another approaching Dash not with ropes, but with manacles and chains.

Caballeron chuckled as he strode up to Dash, looking her in the eye. “So now we have made it clear that there is nothing you can do that I have not anticipated – ”

And then a pith helmet flew down from a nearby rooftop and smacked him across the jaw, causing him to stumble and fall.

The next few seconds were a blur…to the non-pegasi present, probably. But Dash let out a whoop when she saw a tan-and-gray pegasus leap down from a nearby rooftop with wide-spread wings. She landed on the ground skidding and spinning, hind legs kicking out and catching both of Glory’s right legs, sending the unicorn tumbling over with a cry of shock, which transformed into one of mixed frustration and pain when sand was kicked into her eyes. Rapid wingbeats carried their owner backwards and to her thrown helmet, scooped up in a single fluid motion even as she delivered a complimentary hoof-flick to Caballeron’s muzzle as he tried to rise.

Dash acted immediately. Her wings beat hard, sending her flying forward and into the horse with the manacles, driving him back and making him drop the manacles from his mouth. Dash caught the chain of them in her teeth and swung it around with a flick of her head, catching the other Saddle Arabian in the chest and sending him stumbling.

The two pegasi both kicked off from the ground, wings wide as they soared upwards and over to a nearby rooftop, landing with synchronization that wouldn’t have looked out-of-place at a Wonderbolts show.

It was then Dash’s fangirlism finally kicked in as she fully processed who had arrived. “Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh! That was so cool!”

Daring Do slipped her pith helmet back on as she smirked. “Rainbow Dash, good to see you again…why am I always saving your flank?”

Dash whickered, even if she could hear that Daring didn’t have real malice to her words. “I had everything under control!”

“Uh-huh.” Daring looked back down into the souk. Most of the Royal Guard was occupied holding back the civilian horses, while Caballeron’s hench-ponies were helping up the doctor and Glory. Caballeron was glaring almost palpable hate at Daring.

“Daring Do…” he hissed. “Daring Do! Why can I never be rid of you?!”

“It’s a talent,” Daring supplied. Caballeron roared, and the two pegasi took that as their cue to leave, flying straight up into the hot afternoon skies over Istanbull before Glory could recover or the Saddle Arabians could decide to try throwing their spears. Thermals from the city below made rising high into the atmosphere a piece of cake, and soon the two found a narrow but serviceable cirrus to alight upon. Istanbull stretched out beneath them, and beyond it farm fields that soon gave way to fields of yellow grass, and beyond that, the desert of the Nether Lands.

Dash was looking Daring over. “So…” she tapped her forehooves together. “Did you, like, intercept Caballeron’s letter to me? Ooh, or was this all part of your plan, luring him out or something? Was I a distraction while you snuck into his headquarters and stole a map of Midnight Castle? ”

Daring’s brow raised. “Maybe when I get to writing,” she said, but shook her head. “But no. Sorry, Dash, I had no idea that Caballeron was going to try and kidnap you again. I just knew that he was going to Saddle Arabia with a lot of gold donated by Glory Pose.” She frowned. “Last time Caballeron was in Saddle Arabia, he was trying to steal the legendary Flying Throne of Kai Equus…and made the Sultan very angry. I keep an eye on Caballeron whenever I can, and when I saw his travel plans, I knew I had to get here to stop him.” She stood on the cloud, wings spread wide. “If whatever Caballeron’s after was worth him trying to patch things up here, then it must be something rare and valuable – something that can’t be allowed to fall into the wrong hooves!”

Dash grinned a little at hearing Daring Do’s impromptu speech, though it dropped. “Hey, but wait, Caballeron didn’t make up anything with the Sultan, just one of his daughters. Emira Numnah. So why don’t you just go to the Sultan and explain what’s up?”

Daring blinked, then tucked her wings away. “Ah. Well…um…” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Let’s just say that the last time I was in Saddle Arabia was one of the adventures that A.K. Yearling didn’t write. I’m…not on much better terms with the Sultan’s family than Caballeron.”

Dash’s eyes widened. “Wait, there’s an entire secret Daring Do adventure that nopony’s ever read?”

A blush looked downright weird on Daring’s face, but there was the hint of one anyway. “No.”

“No meaning yes?”

“…yes. Look, it’s not important!” Daring beat her wings a few times. “I haven’t been able to learn what Caballeron is here for – but I’m guessing you have? Something about Midnight Castle…something in the ruins of Gar-Centauria?”

Dash let out a laugh, leaping into the air. “Yes! Ha!” She looked down at Daring. “So this means that I really will be going on a Daring Do adventure after all!” Her eyes widened, and she flew right up to Daring. “We should get moving right now! Glory hit me with some kind of tracking spell. I don’t know how long it’ll last, but if we start going to Midnight Castle right now then Caballeron will have to follow as fast as possible – he’ll leave in a rush, might not be able to go fully supplied or prepared!”

Daring considered, rubbing her chin with a hoof. “Fine. Keep circling Istanbull, stay away from any balloons or airships the horses send up – should be easy for a Wonderbolt.” Dash beamed, and Daring continued. “I’ve been getting some supplies together, have a map to the oases across the Nether Lands. I think we could cross it with just a few days of hard flying. We’ll definitely be able to outpace Caballeron. I’ll get what I have, see if I can get anything else for you, then you can explain what’s going on while we fly.”

“Got it!” Dash said, falling away from Daring as the other pegasus leapt from the cloud herself, diving back down towards Istanbull. And Dash couldn’t help it: she let out a completely uncool giggle. Things were back on track! Sure, Caballeron was here, but that only made everything even more cool and exciting!

This was going to be awesome!

Author's Note

This chapter sort of ballooned in size, but it seemed like the best time to get some necessary background details out of the way.

3. Across the Nether Lands

Cozy Glow tried really, really, really hard not to complain when she and Tirek had set out across the sands, having been given the supplies they demanded from the centaur tribe without fuss. Cozy made it almost a whole half an hour without complaining. Given what she was putting up with, that seemed incredible. But even still, eventually…

“Wh-wh-what happened?” She demanded as her teeth chattered, hugging herself while she beat her wings. “Where did all the heat go?!”

Tirek was wrapped now in proper desert traveling robes, which included a thick woolen overcoat. “It’s actually not as cold as you think,” he said, “it’s just that the temperature dropped so rapidly that your body didn’t have time to adjust – ”

“I can see my breath, Tirek!”

A chuckle was Tirek’s only response. Slung across his upper back was a pack full of simple foodstuffs that wouldn’t spoil quickly, while he wore saddlebags across his lower back that were laden with water, and a pack atop his lower back contained camping supplies and a basic tent that would fit Tirek and Cozy. He trotted up and down across the dunes without issue despite the weight he was carrying.

Cozy, herself, carried only what she had before, save that Tirek had made her put on her jacket and hat not long after the sun had gone down. She hadn’t objected, deferring to his familiarity with his own homeland, and was glad she hadn’t since otherwise he likely would have been rubbing it in her face by the time she did put it on.

“What is wrong with this place?” Cozy asked, flying in front of Tirek to look him in the eye.

Tirek fixed her with a mocking stare. “I thought you were a pegasus! You were very insistent on that.” He waved a finger around at the air. “Humidity is what keeps heat trapped in the air at night. The desert has no humidity. Ergo, there is no way to trap heat.”

Cozy shivered, and hugged herself in the air as she flew alongside Tirek. “The Mild West doesn’t get cold!”

“I’ll just let you consider its name for a few minutes.”

Cozy’s response was a growl, and to drop down to the sand to give her wings a break. Tirek’s pace was measured, allowing her to easily keep up despite her much shorter legs. She glanced back the way they had come, though the oasis was now long out of sight, hidden by the dunes they had gone up and down over. Now there was nothing but sand in every direction, and a brilliant night sky full of stars and the biggest Moon that Cozy had ever seen. She wondered if Luna had pulled it down closer to the Earth today or something.

It was actually really pretty…but the kind of “pretty” that Cozy would have liked to see in a photograph or painting or something. Not in person. In person it was cold, and dry, and then there was the sand. It was abrasive and grainy and it got into everything. She could feel it in her jacket and it hadn’t even touched the sand! And unlike a beach, she didn’t have anywhere to wash it off, at least not until they reached Midnight Castle.

Which reminded Cozy of something. She beat her wings and took to the air again, flying alongside Tirek. “Hey, so…I just wanna ask something, about Midnight Castle.” She tapped her hooves together. “So…you said that you and Scorpan never got inside. But…well, Scorpan did. How do you think he managed that?”

Tirek bristled at the mention of his brother’s name, but Cozy hadn’t been pushing the “family” button. This was business. “I showed Scorpan many of the mystical techniques taught to me by Sendak the Elder,” Tirek finally answered, “but without the magic of ponies…if he really did become a cruel tyrant, I suppose he could have gathered the magic from a sufficient quantity of gargoyles and centaurs. Or perhaps he found some alternate way past the castle’s defenses…he was not unintelligent.”

Cozy nodded, filing that information away in her mind alongside everything else she had learned about Midnight Castle. “And…what about the fact that he got his claws on the Rainbow of Darkness? But then he put it back?”

“I don’t know.”

Cozy tapped a hoof to her mouth as she considered. “Back in the Friendship School we had a lesson on something called the Alicorn Amulet. It made whoever wore it really powerful, but it also made them act crazy. What if the Rainbow of Darkness does the same thing? Come to think of it King Sombra was pretty big on “darkness” too, and he seemed kind of loopy.” Cozy crossed her hooves. “You think that’s what happened to Scorpan?”

Tirek’s response was a grunt. Cozy frowned. “I’m being serious, Tirek! Getting a super-powerful artifact won’t do us much good if it’s just gonna make us fight over it or something!”

“It won’t do you much good,” Tirek noted, and flexed his muscles. “I’d win the fight.”

“You know what I mean!”

The centaur spent a few moments grinding his teeth together. Finally, he spoke up. “It would not surprise me if Scorpan fell victim to dark magic. He was always weak-willed, easily influenced. But I will not so easily succumb to any temptations it might offer, and I seriously doubt you would either. But if it puts your mind at ease, we shall be cautious with it.”

It did. Cozy wished she knew what the Rainbow of Darkness actually did. Based on its name, it was probably something similar to what King Sombra could do, forcing creatures to live their greatest fear over and over again and make them comply with the wielder’s will. Or maybe it was like the Pony of Shadows, creating things out of shadowstuff. Tirek had told Cozy that according to legend, Tirac had stolen the shadows of every centaur and cast them into the sky, imposing the Night That Never Ends…so maybe it was kind of like what Nightmare Moon did or wanted to do? Maybe it would make them powerful enough to move the Moon and Stars? And Nightmare Moon had supposedly possessed powers over nightmares, just like Sombra…

Wow, there were a lot of evil ponies that used darkness, come to think about it. And Cozy was about to become one of them! Well, assuming that having once used a bunch of special artifacts to try to exile all the magic of the world into a dark dimension that only she would be able to access didn’t mean she already counted.

They continued in silence for a few minutes, Cozy realizing that she really had grown used to the cold when she had distracted herself from it. Not that she was going to take off her jacket or hat any time soon.

She glanced to Tirek. “So…” she finally said, “given any thought to becoming King of Gar-Centauria again? Maybe after taking over your third of Equestria? I still call dibs on Fillydelphia by the way.”

“You can have your hometown,” Tirek said, “and no. Honestly. I’m being increasingly reminded of one of the reasons why I left.” He pointed a hand around at the desert. “Right now this is enjoyable because I spent a thousand years in Tartaros. It’s familiar, it’s…comforting, in its own way.” He shook his head. “But it’s like this all the time. Hot enough to cook meals on flat stones during the day…cold enough to freeze and steal breath at night. I hate it here.”

“Thank you!” Cozy threw her hooves wide. “I kept saying…”

“Yes, yes…” Tirek waved Cozy off. “The warm winds of Equestria are much more inviting. And the magic that I can take, or learn…” He looked to Cozy. “What were we going to do with Canterlot again?”

“Neutral meeting ground for us and Chrysalis,” Cozy said. She dug into her saddlebags, and pulled out notebook and flipped it to a map of Equestria drawn in crayon and divided into colored areas: Cozy’s pink in the east, Chrysalis’ green in the south, and Tirek’s red out west. They hadn’t figured out what to do with the north yet.

Cozy started pointing out all the additional details she’d added. “Here’s where the FIENDship Express is gonna pass between our three kingdoms, and this is where we’ll put the giant statue of the three of us standing atop all our enemies, and then here is the roller coaster…it’s not to scale, though…”

Tirek was only half-listening, Cozy knew. She finished describing everything, then stuck the map back into her saddlebags. The silence lasted for a few more minutes after that before it started getting to her again.

“I spy with my little eye something – ”

“No,” Tirek interrupted.

A few more minutes of silence.

“We’re off – on the road to conquest! Although the dunes are – ”

“I’m not singing either!”

Cozy pouted. “It’s that or ‘Eye Spy’, Tirek! You can’t expect me to stay quiet the entire trip, we’re gonna be traveling for days…”

“I could drain you of magic,” Tirek counted off on his fingers, “carry your unconscious body, and then restore you when we get to Midnight Castle.”

Cozy’s response to that was to fly up, land on and lie down on Tirek’s back between his saddlebags, and put her hooves behind her head. “When you’re ready!” She giggled, wriggling to get comfortable.

Tirek groaned and rubbed his eyes. “Something beginning with ‘S’.”

“You have to say – ”

“I spy with my mighty eye something beginning with ‘S’!”

“That’s the spirit! Hmm…”

“I mean, it’s not the worst way to pass time,” Rainbow Dash said, “but I don’t think we’ll get much out here.”

“You’d be surprised,” Daring countered. “Every time I’ve had a partner on one of these trips, sooner or later, we play ‘I Spy’. I leave it out of the books, but…”

They’d set out from Istanbull as soon as the Sun had begun to set, Daring getting her hooves on only on a map and compass, water, trail rations, and a simple two-pony tent and bedrolls for the two of them, not having time for anything other supplies. Then they’d headed into the desert, and spent the night either soaring through the air or trotting across the dunes when their wings needed a break. Daring wasn’t nearly as fast as Rainbow Dash, but even a slow pegasus could fly much faster than a ground-bound pony could canter.

They were soaring at the moment, riding a westerly wind that was doing most of the work for the two of them; all they needed to do was flap their wings on occasion and make small adjustments to keep at the right heading. Beneath them, the sands of the Nether Lands rolled on by, while above them the Moon was edging towards the horizon and the Stars were beginning to slightly fade out as in the East the first tinges of pre-dawn light were beginning to shine.

Most of their flight had been filled in with Dash filling in Daring on the details of what she’d been up to since the two had last seen each other. World-saving stuff, Wonderbolts stuff, Frienship School stuff, the usual. Daring had, in turn, talked about some of the stuff that hadn’t made it into Daring Do and the Great Rainbow Caper in an attempt to keep it friendly for the foals.

But as awesome as the stories were, they did eventually run out…and so now they needed some other way to pass the time. And of all things, Daring had suggested “I Spy”.

“I mean, what is there?” Dash asked. She began pointing things out. “Sand, moon, stars, sky, horizon, oasis, cloud, dune, palm tree, cactus, water…and yeah, we’re done, that’s everything in the Nether Lands. I just spied everything.”

Daring shrugged. “You forgot something big.” She pointed off a ways to something several hundred feet below and about a mile out. “the light’s not great, but see those rocks?”

Dash did, a straight line of them running for several thousand feet. Daring pointed up, and the two pegasi beat their wings, gaining altitude rapidly. As they rose, Dash saw a second line of rocks, then a third. She squinted a moment, then her eyes widened as she realized that there were more lines, barely visible but becoming more so as the pre-dawn light continued to grow, forming a giant picture in the ground, visible only from the air. Dash couldn’t make out what exactly the picture was supposed to be yet.

“They’re geoglyphs,” Daring said, “made by gargoyles, one of the natives of this part of the world. Every few hundred years they leave Stone Mountain and carve and build a new one. That one’s a spider.”

Dash blinked. “Who’d want to make a giant picture of a spider?”

Daring chuckled. “Gargoyles.”

“You said that…” Dash rolled her eyes. “I mean, why do they do it?”

Daring could only offer up a shrug. “Gargoyles are very isolationist. Their whole society lives in just in Stone Mountain, right in the middle of the Nether Lands. They don’t like visitors. There was a time when they teamed up with the centaurs – that’s what Gar-Centauria was – but the kingdom collapsed only a few decades after it was founded.” She looked pointedly at Rainbow Dash. “You might actually know something about that since you helped defeat Tirek. Ever hear of Scorpan?”

Dash wracked her mind. Her eyes widened when she remembered. “Tirek’s brother? Wait, he wasn’t a centaur too? How does that work?”

“It’s…complicated. And probably biased. Never was able to meet a gargoyle to talk about it with, just some centaurs, and they’re kind of standoffish too.” She looked west, towards their destination. “The centaurs say that Scorpan was a cruel, evil ruler. But that doesn’t match up with what we know about how he left Equestria…”

“You don’t think it has anything to do with the Sun Stone, do you?” Dash shivered as she remembered a trying couple of days with a certain blue unicorn magician and her delusions of grandeur. “Like, maybe Queen Rosedust wanted to get rid of it for a reason.”

Daring shook her head. “I don’t know much about the Sun Stone – didn’t even know that was what Caballeron was here for. But from what I can remember, all the legends say that it’s just a big gemstone that emits light and warmth. It’s not like the Alicorn Amulet.” She tsked slightly. “Can’t believe that was just sitting in a shop in Canterlot, means that I went all the way to Dream Valley for nothing…”

“Hey, wasn’t the Cauldron of Reeka there? I thought you went there for that!”

“You know I take some liberties with the stories A.K. Yearling writes.”

That got a laugh out of Dash. By now, the Moon had been set and the Sun was rising into the sky, banishing the darkness. The temperature was already beginning to rise as well. The two pegasi continued on for a few more miles, but at the first oasis they spotted from the air Daring pointed down and had them land.

“We’ll wait out the day here,” Daring said as she touched down. “No one travels the desert by day if they can avoid it. Learned that one the hard way last time I was here…”

Dash eyed Daring. “That untold Daring Do story again?” she asked.

“No.”

“No meaning yes…?”

Daring’s response was to kick a little sand Dash’s way, which was answer enough. She chuckled, but helped Daring set up their simple tent, making sure to put it in the shade of a copse of palm trees for all the protection from the Sun that they could get. Dash found herself wishing that Spike was here, so that she could send a letter to Celestia asking her if she could turn the thing down a bit. Or Celestia herself, Dash supposed…

Once that was done, Daring unfolded the map she’d grabbed, and looked it over while checking her compass. “We’re making good time,” she said. “If we can canter and fly like this the whole time, we’ll make Midnight Castle the night after next.”

Dash stretched and unstretched her wings, loosening them up after hours of stiff-winged soaring. Daring was doing the same with her own wings. “What do you think we’ll find when we get there?” Dash asked.

“The usual. Traps. Puzzles. Normally he prefers jungles but I’d still say there’s about a one-in-five chance Ahuizotl will be there…keep an eye out for cats.” Daring folded up the map and tucked it away, then took off her helmet and shirt and made for the oasis. “With luck, we’ll be in-and-out before Caballeron can even reach Midnight Castle.”

There had been no oasis to stop at for Tirek and Cozy Glow, but they had been able to settle down in a depression between two particularly tall dunes. The tent was square in shape, and Tirek had kept the flaps on the north and south partially open to allow air flow, while keeping the interior protected from the full glare of the Sun that would come in from the east or west or overhead. It was still warm on the inside, but far cooler than it would be outside.

Cozy had spent a twenty minutes complaining that there was no way that she would be able to sleep in this heat, tossing and turning on her sleeping mat and going on and on about the sand in her mane and coat and tail. Fortunately by the twenty-first minute she was out like a light, and currently – around noon – was sleeping peacefully under her light blanket, hugging a stuffed toy cactus that she’d brought with her.

Tirek’s own sleep was decidedly less restful. He drifted into it every now and then, but his dreams kept taking him backwards to places he didn’t want to go, and were full of faces that he didn’t want to see and words he didn’t want to hear.

He should have anticipated this. Of course returning to the Nether Lands was going to drag up old memories that he’d spent a thousand years repressing. It was a wonder he wasn’t insane, though he suspected something about the nature of Tartaros played into that as well. Insanity was a form of escape, after all.

Nevertheless, the result was that when Tirek closed his eyes…

“You don’t understand, brother,” Scorpan said, “the ponies…they’re peaceful. Divided, but innocent and at peace with each other. There’s an entire kingdom waiting for us back in the Nether Lands, larger than any of the pony realms…when father passes – ”

“A kingdom of sand and heat and desiccation,” Tirek countered. “Vorak’s kingdom is nothing! We will not eke out a miserable existence there, not when there is a fertile land such as this ripe for the taking! We can conquer and plunder each of the pony lands, take what we will!”

“For Gar-Centauria?”

“For us! We owe nothing to father. If we return to Gar-Centauria at all, it will be to shame him with what I have built! With what I can do!” Tirek pounded a fist into his palm. “He wants me gone. Not simply away from Gar-Centauria…he wants me gone, and you too now that he knows that I shared my knowledge with you. He fears our magic, my magic. It’s time I gave him a reason to fear it…”

Scorpan eyed Tirek. “Vorak is a terrible father. But Tirek, you haven’t put much effort into being a good son. You’re right, father fears your power…and so you gain power to shield yourself in case he acts on that fear. You have each forced the other to become the very things you feared…”

“I fear nothing!”

“I wonder where the cycle began. I wonder if it even matters anymore.”

Tirek growled. “It’s not like you to be so bold, brother. You’ve been spending too much time with the ponies.”

“It was your idea.”

“To gather information. Not to go native. Perhaps it’s time we made our move before they influence you further.”

“You should listen to them. They’re wiser than you know…and wisdom is the greatest sort of power there is, even you agree to that. There are two young alicorns, Celetia and Luna, and their mentor Star Swirl…”

Tirek grit his teeth, but then a thought crept into his mind. So, it was those three that were trying to convince his brother and he to run back to their homeland? These ponies that were slowly turning Scorpan against him?

“Perhaps I should meet them,” Tirek agreed. “Tomorrow.”

Scorpan smiled. Tirek smiled too. Tomorrow, he would meet this Star Swirl. Tomorrow, a head would roll…

Tirek was awake. There was no transition, no moments of lucid dreaming followed by the realization that the dream had ended – he simply had his eyes open once again. Glancing outside, he saw the Sun was a bright as ever, though the slow tilt of the shadows at least showed Tirek that it was past noon. Cozy Glow was still passed out with her stuffed cactus.

He grunted. He used his magic to call over a canteen and took a long drink of water, then lay back down and tried to sleep. But even though he did continue to drift into it, he continued to wake up as well. Always with memories of Scorpan. His weak-willed brother, so easily influenced by the wills of others. The ponies. His father Vorak. Even Tirek himself, if he was being honest with himself. He was by nature a follower…

No doubt that had played into his apparent fall into evil and tyranny and cruelty. Bereft of a leader, he had proven unfit. Inept. He’d probably tried to emulate his father’s practices with only a fraction of the talent for it, and as this had grown worse no doubt he’d cast about, flailed desperately as he’d looked for an escape.

Perhaps it had been that desperation that had driven him to seek out the Rainbow of Darkness. Maybe he’d seen the powerful artifact as his only hope of retaining power. But magic was a means to an end, it was not an end unto itself. The end was power. The power to control one’s own destiny. The power to make others bend to your will and carry out your commands.

But Scorpan had no will of his own. No destiny to seize. He was – had been – only a hanger-on, lurking in the shadow of greaters. No wonder the kingdom had collapsed. Tirek could see Scorpan sitting on Vorak’s throne, looking small on it even though he hadn’t been small in stature. It was a vision that Tirek had witnessed often of the past thousand years. He hadn’t had much else to do in Tartaros other than think of all the ways his brother was going to fail without him.

A fate he deserved for betraying him.

When Tirek next looked out of the tent, he saw that the shadows were lengthening, though it would be some hours yet before sundown.

Tirek had been introspective for a thousand years. Now was not the time for that, not now that he was free. Rolling onto his hooves and stepping outside into the growing evening of the Nether Lands, he trotted up the taller of the nearby dunes and looked out upon all that was left of Vorak’s, of Scorpan’s, kingdom.

Sand and heat and desiccation, and nothing more.

And he hated it.

Tirek almost lost it right then and there, but he remembered Cozy Glow sleeping below. He spared a moment to wave a hand over the tent, wrapping it in one of his containment bubbles and soundproofing the bubble.

Then he turned back to the Nether Lands and roared.

He flexed his muscles, crossing his wrists as he built up magic between his horns, and let loose a blast of pure, unfocused magic. It hit a dune several hundred feet away and burned the sand, scorching and fusing it with a massive wave of heat and power. Crystalline cracks sounded through the dune as it was turned into a mound of blackened glass inside and out.

Tirek grunted as the sight…and found that he didn’t really feel any better. So he’d turned sand into glass. So what? It wasn’t an improvement. Had he been in a forest and burned down an acre or two that offended him then at least he could be assured that the forest would change, grow anew into something better. Here…he’d turned sand into useless, burnt glass. He’d taken something from which no good could ever come and made it worse.

He turned around, tromping back down the dune and to the tent, banishing his bubble-shield with a wave of his hand, and settled back down, determined that he was going to get some meaningful hours of sleep before setting out again tonight.

He did notice that Cozy’s toy cactus had slipped from her grasp, however. He took a moment to roll it back into her hooves. She grabbed it tightly without waking up.

Cozy Glow had suffered betrayals of her own, Tirek knew, easily as fundamental as his own and which had driven her to seek power and control in her life the same way Tirek sought it for his. So why did she sleep soundly? Was it simply because she was a child? Or because they were in the Nether Lands rather than Fillydelphia, where she’d grown up? Or was it the fact that she’d been able to get revenge upon pony who had betrayed her?

Maybe that was what was missing. Tirek had been betrayed by his own father. Vorak feared his magical power and so had planned to one day kill Tirek…but Tirek had never had a chance to act first. And when Scorpan had betrayed him to Star Swirl and Celestia and Luna, Tirek had been locked in Tartaros – and only counting the days going by had made Tirek realize that Scorpan had passed on through no action of Tirek’s, simply time and tide. There was no closure, and there never could be.

Tirek grunted once more, closing his eyes and trying to get sleep. Well, if there could never be closure, then there was no sense in letting it bother him. And so he wouldn’t. It was that simple.

Rainbow Dash was straddling some middle realm between sleep and wakefulness when she realized her ears were twitching. Groggily, she opened her eyes in the darkness of the tent, letting out a long yawn and rubbing her eyes. Her first thought was to how thirsty she was, though that was rectified with a long swig from her canteen. But her second thought was that there was a kind of low, distant drone filling her ears, one that sounded kind of familiar…

She looked, and saw that Daring wasn’t in the tent. That set Dash to frowning; she was an early riser, so how had Daring beaten her to consciousness? More to the point, why hadn’t she woken her up?

Dash climbed from her bedroll and stepped out of the tent, getting the room needed to stretch her wings and limber up a little. The Sun had set and a Moon was edging its waning crescent form over the horizon, the night sky gradually filling with stars as they winked awake. As had happened last night, the temperature had plummeted from the heat of the day, the desert seeming almost as relieved as any of the creatures in it for the day to be over.

The low drone hadn’t gone away. It was coming from somewhere to the east. Dash gave her wings another flap, then took to the air. Her intent had been to fly high, but before she could get more than a few feet off the ground she heard a whistle and saw Daring, who had alighted atop a palm tree – and was using the broad fronds for cover.

Dash flew up beneath her, hovering in place. “What gives?” She asked. “What’s that drone sound?”

Daring was frowning. She waved Dash up. “Straight east,” she said, “in the direction of Istanbull. See those lights?”

Dash looked, squinting at the darkening eastern horizon. There were a series of lights. At first Dash thought that it was more stars, but the lights were clustered close together and several of them were winking in slow, regular patterns. Her eyes widened as she realized she recognized the droning sound at last.

“An airship?” She asked.

“An airship,” Daring confirmed. “Not the Wind Drifter, her engines don’t sound like that. I think it’s a Saddle Arabian one, maybe a third the size of Wind Drifter. Smaller…but faster. And I’ll bet jangles to bits that Caballeron is aboard."

Dash threw her hooves in the air. “Well that’s just great! I thought that Caballeron was going to be crossing the desert on hoof!”

“Yeah, I thought that too,” Daring shook her head. “That’s what all the supplies he was stocking looked like. Sorry, Dash, but your plan might have backfired…lighting a fire under Caballeron’s rear must have made him somehow convince Emira Numnah to loan him an airship.”

Dash felt herself quivering with anger. Sure, no matter how fast the airship was, Rainbow Dash was way faster. Even Daring was faster, despite not being a trained Wonderbolt with a need for speed the way Dash was. But that was over a distance measured in just a few miles. No pegasus could sustain their maximum flying speed for very long, they needed to pace themselves, break for ground-pounding every now and then. And sleep. Sleeping was important.

But an airship could just keep ploughing forward. It didn’t need to slow down or take breaks at a steady pace. It didn’t need to sleep.

Dash and Daring both headed back for the ground, and started packing up their camp quickly. Dash looked to Daring. “If we haul butt, fast as we can – ”

“We collapse from exhaustion, get heat stroke, and die of dehydration in the desert,” Daring interrupted. “The pace we were traveling at is already the fastest we can go if we want to actually make it to Midnight Castle.”

“Well if we don’t think of something quick then Caballeron is going to beat us there! And in this sort of race, there’s no silver medal for finishing second!”

Daring finished stowing the tent while Rainbow Dash rolled up their bedrolls. She looked Dash up and down, rubbing a hoof to her chin as she considered. “That tracking spell Glory Pose hit you with has to have worn off by now, right?”

“I dunno! Twilight isn’t here, she’s the one who knows all about magic.”

“Okay, fine. We’ll just have to risk it. You’ve read Looters of the Vanished Hutch, right?”

“Only like five times! It was your first published book, of course I’ve read it, I mean I read Quest for the Sapphire Stone first, but I went back and read them all. Definitely a solid story, fast-paced, I can see why you decided to start with that instead of one of your earlier adventoooohhh,” Dash grinned. “The stowaway scene?”

“Stowaway scene,” Daring confirmed. “Airship instead of a boat, but the principle’s the same.” She took to the air for a few seconds to get the airship’s bearing, then came back down. “I’m pretty sure they’re gonna pass near this oasis. If the tracking spell’s worn off then they’ll have no reason to stop here and will just keep going. We can board the airship from the aft.”

“Of course, if the spell hasn’t faded out,” Dash observed, “then we’re going to be facing down a bunch of horses and ponies who are ready for us. And have an airship.”

Daring smirked. “C’mon, if you’ve really read all my books then you know there’s always a leap-of-faith moment. We’re just getting it out of the way early, before the ruin. Hopefully.”

Dash hadn’t been objecting; this was the best option available to them, since there was no way they’d beat an airship across the desert. They weren’t going to get to Midnight Castle first; the best they could settle on was a tie.

They had time for a quick dip in the oasis, at least, washing off all the sweating that they’d been doing while sleeping away the day in the heat. Then it was down to business.

“Okay,” Daring said once they’d shaken and air-dried themselves, then taken refuge in the copse of palm trees where their tent had been set up. By now the drone of the airship’s engines had become much louder. “So we let it fly past us a few hundred feet, then we should board from the top of the balloon, probably won’t be expecting to be approached from that angle and the balloon will hide our approach better anyway. But they probably do have at least one watch pony up there so be careful.”

Dash nodded, fidgeting slightly as she peeked through the low shrubs and tall grass of the copse, watching the airship approach with Daring. This was the hard part, the waiting as the drone of the airship grew louder and louder. It was entirely possible that Caballeron and his Saddle Arabian allies were even now readying for attack. Knew exactly where they were. If the airship had any mounted ballistae or cannons it could cut loose with pinpoint precision. Sure, Dash could dodge, but that didn’t mean she wanted to be shot at.

The airship was at least now close enough to see. She was smaller than Wind Drifter, her balloon only around five hundred feet in length and her gondola maybe half the size. Her running lights displayed her name proudly, though it was in the cursive, weird script of Saddle Arabia that Dash couldn’t read. She also appeared moderately armored along her hull and balloon, and there were indeed ballistae poking from her gondola…

Dash held her breath, though the propellers of the airship would certainly have covered up the sound of her breathing even if the distance hadn’t. The airship floated forward through the night slowly and steadily and inexorably, the vast bulk of its balloon blotting out stars and even the crescent moon…

…but it didn’t slow down as it passed by overhead. Dash let out a sigh of relief as the airship drifted almost directly overhead, its propellers beating a steady rhythm and sending down a light wind to the two hidden pegasi. And then it was past them, and continuing its never-slowing flight west towards Midnight Castle.

Daring tapped Dash’s shoulder, and she nodded. The two pegasi waited for the airship to gain about a quarter-mile on them, then took to the air, flying straight up first to well above her low cruising altitude. They left their camping supplies behind – they wouldn’t need them now. Once Dash and Daring were about a thousand feet up, they set out west themselves, diving towards the airship as fast as they could fly without leaving behind any tell-tail contrails of pegasus magic. So well slower than Dash was used to…but speed wouldn’t win the day here.

Daring had been right: rising out of the top of the dorsal side of the balloon was what almost looked like a pillbox, with a series of short but wide windows and light shining out from within. The pegasi approached from high above the pillbox, matched speeds with the airship, and then dropped altitude down towards its roof, which thankfully lacked any kind of skylight. They touched down as lightly as possible and hunkered down.

Dash crawled over to the edge of the pillbox’s left side, then held her mane back as she peeked over the edge and into the pillbox. Just inside, she could see a bored-looking pair of Saddle Arabians, who glanced out the windows occasionally but seemed more interested in the card game they were playing on the floor.

Dash went back over to Daring. “Two of ‘em,” she said, trying to both whisper and be heard over the airship’s propellers. “But I don’t think they’ll be a problem.”

Daring nodded. “Anywhere but the Nether Lands, I’d say we stay up here the whole ride – but we’ll never make it through a day exposed like this.” She pointed down, over the fore side of the pillbox, and Dash looked. Below was a hatch that would lead down and into the balloon and then the gondola.

“Let’s move,” Daring said, crawling to the edge of the pillbox, then dropping down and pressing herself flat against the balloon, below the windows. She checked inside the pillbox, then waved Dash down, who followed.

The hatch was unlocked, which was probably a violation of some regulation or another but perfect for their needs. They slipped inside, closed the hatch behind them, cutting off the sound of the propellers aside from a constant dull thrum that reverberated through the airship. After several moments, both let out sighs of relief.

And Dash couldn’t help it – she was grinning. “This is awesome,” she whispered as the two started descending the spiraling metal stairs that lead down the balloon. “I feel like a spy! I should do stuff like this more often…so where to now? There has to be a cargo hold, I guess, we going to hole up there?”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Daring nodded, as the two reached the bottom of the stairs. She pressed her ear to it, listening. “Of course, I have no idea where the cargo hold even is…here’s hoping horses label things.”

The two were quiet for a few moments as Daring listened for the sound of anyone on the other side of the door, then she slowly opened it. It creaked far louder than either pegasus would have liked, but when both stuck their heads out they found themselves looking at an empty passageway. They stepped out and closed the door behind them, then Daring looked around at the walls, finding labels (in more Saddle Arabian, unfortunately for Dash) and arrows quickly.

“This way,” she said, waving Dash on. The two crept through the passage, keeping low and moving quickly before they finally reached the cargo hold – and found the door already standing adjacent, and the sound of voices inside.

The two pegasi looked to one another, but unfortunately it remained their best bet. They slipped inside the cargo hold – a long, narrow, dimly lit room full of crates packed floor nearly to ceiling on its left and right side, leaving only a narrow lane between the two rows of crates for creatures to walk through. Fortunately it was easy for the two to fly up to the top of the crates and squeeze themselves between them and the ceiling. Only after that was done did either of them start paying attention to the talking ponies.

“…this much,” a female voice – Glory Pose’s, Dash realized – said. “I’m not made of money, Caballeron.”

“That’s not what I heard,” Caballeron joked. Dash and Daring both tried to glance down the length of the room, and found Caballeron digging through a set of luggage rather than a crate, Glory Pose beside him. “I thought you were the richest pony in Fillydelphia now that the Glow fortune is no more.”

“Yes, and I didn’t get to be the richest pony by throwing away bits and yachts and…” She shook her head. Behind her, the cargo hold’s door was opened wide, and a gray-and-blue pegasus pony stepped in. Glory didn’t seem to notice him. “Look, Doctor. You have been very good for me over the years. But I would ask you to please stop spending my money.” She rapped a hoof on the deck beneath her. “By the time we’re done here Emira Numnah is practically going to be able to buy Fillydelphia!”

“I promise it will all be worth it. But I do apologize, my de – ah ha!” Caballeron called out, making Glory jump. He held up a bottle of sparkling wine, unopened. He held it out for Glory to inspect the label. “I grew up with this. It’s my family label. My mother was terribly disappointed when I went into archaeology rather than wine.”

Glory inspected the bottle, still not noticing the pegasus that had come up behind her, though he made no effort to hide himself. “You said you had something to make me feel better,” she said.

“Trust me, this will,” Caballeron insisted. He closed up the luggage. “There is no way for Daring Do or her lackey to beat us to Midnight Castle now! And the Shamshir will cut through the sky at the same pace regardless. Why not enjoy the ride, eh? She is a fine ship.”

“The finest!” The pegasus exclaimed. Glory shrieked, stumbling away – and towards Caballeron, who seemed quite pleased with this result as he caught her deftly.

The pegasus pressed on like he hadn’t even noticed, grinning widely. “Jannah M-class airship with a twenty-thousand pound cargo capacity, five six-cylinder engines with two hundred fifty horsepower each, can go from zero to one hundred kilometers an hour in twelve point five seconds. And have you seen her color? Especially in the sunrise, the glint off of her golden balloon…”

Glory and Caballeron both stared. After a few moments, Caballeron released Glory, gently patting her withers. “Well. I think the wine is looking – ”

“Aren’t you the pilot?!” Glory finally exclaimed. “Are you – the colors are the same – shouldn’t you be in the…the…whatever?!”

The pegasus shrugged. “My shift ended, I was going to get a meal. I saw the door was open and popped in. Was I interrupting something…?”

“Ugh!” Glory stomped off, though she stopped after a moment, seized Caballeron’s wine, and then left.

Caballeron and the pegasus exchanged glances – and Rainbow Dash had to bite back a gasp of surprise when the pegasus’ form rippled with blue magic, and left behind a changeling drone with a blue-gray carapace, bright blue eyes, and darker blue elytra, frill, and tail.

Caballeron, meanwhile, took it in stride, holding out a hoof. “Thank you, Cilia.”

“No problem,” the changeling replied, his voice mostly unchanged. He bumped Caballeron’s hoof. “That’s my limit, though, anything past this is up to you.” He licked the air. “But…you’ve got a chance.”

Caballeron laughed, and the two left the cargo hold, closing the door behind them. Dash and Daring waited a few moments before glancing at each other.

“So…” Dash asked, “is Daring Do and the Trouble at Midnight Castle going to include Caballeron trying to hook up with his employer?”

Daring was grinning. “Are you kidding? This is too juicy to miss out on.”

The night’s travel from Cozy Glow’s and Tirek’s makeshift camp westward had proven to be just as uneventful – and boring – as the first night. By now Cozy Glow had at least adjusted to the coldness of the desert’s night, and could better tolerate the heat of the day during the early dawn or twilight when they set up or took down camp.

Tirek was growing increasingly despondent, though. Cozy knew exactly why and so tried her hardest to not step on Tirek’s hooves. She tried to be distracting without being annoying, a delicate game that mostly consisted of trying to keep Tirek’s mind either on their eventual prize and future goals or, failing that, at least on something other than his family. They’d started up a mental game of chess, but Tirek wasn’t as good at playing it in his head as Cozy was. And “Eye Spy” got old pretty fast.

So it was a relief when Cozy started to smell salt in the air, followed quickly by the sound of waves lapping at a shoreline, a sound that gradually grew even as the Moon sank beyond the horizon and the Sun began to rise. Rather than set up camp, Tirek and Cozy pressed on, wanting to make the shore – and their destination.

They climbed up and over one last, really tall dune…and Cozy’s eyes widened.

The sandy desert of the Nether Lands sloped down, transitioning from a desert to a sandy beach with sapphire blue water lapping at the shoreline. It was actually really pretty, just like most of the Nether Lands that Cozy had seen.

But what was almost straight ahead was not. A half-mile offshore, the waves were suddenly broken by a spire of black rock that rose hundreds of feet into the air. Cozy Glow had heard the name “Midight Castle” and had expected something like a black twin to Canterlot, beautiful in its own right if dark and spooky.

It wasn’t. Midnight Castle, sitting on the spire’s flat top, was an ugly, twisted thing of black spires, reaching like claws into the sky. The light of the Sun almost seemed to try its best to avoid the structure and the plinth it was on, creating an area of pervasive darkness and shadow.

And on the beach, facing the plinth, was a statue. Four statues, actually, each around a dozen feet tall. As Tirek and Cozy approached, Cozy got a better look at them. They were two gargoyles and two centaurs, all adults. Wind and sand had eroded down the finer details of most, but Cozy found herself looking first at a male centaur who looked a lot like Tirek…but different too. His facial features were more angular, his beard cut differently. Vorak, Cozy guessed. On his right was a gargoyle female in ornate robes, wings spread wide: Haydon. Standing to the left of the centaur was another gargoyle, and Cozy got to look at Scorpan for the first time. Finally, to Haydon’s right was a statue of Tirek himself. All four were adults.

The statues were…unremarkable. Cozy had almost expected some kind of grand display of the royal family of old Gar-Centauria, maybe in some kind of pose that suggested some kind of emotion, or perhaps imposing, trying to warn others away. Instead, the four statues simply stood there, dull and lifeless, staring out at Midnight Castle.

Cozy glanced to Tirek. The real Tirek, not the statue. “So, um…” She ventured. “I…guess you’ve never seen this before, huh? What do you think?”

Tirek was staring at the statues himself, looking them over. “I think…” he said, and turned around, towards Midnight Castle, “that we have arrived.”

Author's Note

Incidentally, whenever I write a big story like this, I like to make up a playlist to serve as a "soundtrack". For this story, I've gone for a mixture of Arabian-sounding music (to get me in the mood for the desert scenes) plus scores from pulp action-adventure movies, by which I mean chiefly Indiana Jones. Enjoy!

"The Daring Explorer", Jyc Row
"Desert Prince", Derek Fiechter
"El Dorado", Two Steps From Hell
"Gerudo Valley", Koji Kondo
"Harvest Dance", Alan Menken
"Imhotep", Jerry Goldsmith
"Marco Polo", Lorenna McKennitt
"The Mummy", Jerry Goldsmith
"Parade of the Slave Children", John Williams
"The Prince of Persia", Harry Gregson-Williams
"Raiders March", John Williams
"Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra", John Williams
"The Sphinx Boss Battle Theme", Delta Brony
"The Temple of Doom", John Williams
"Waukeen's Promenade", Michael Hoenig
"Welcome to Persia", Stuart Chatwood

4. Into the Darkness

It didn’t look any different. Midnight Castle looked exactly the same as it always had. Tirek was genuinely surprised at that. He had expected some degree of erosion to the plinth that it sat on, at least, or perhaps a tower to have fallen. But no. The black spires of the castle still reached up towards a sky that remained unnaturally dim over it. The lack of change only served as a sure example of the ancient and powerful magic that was wrapped around the edifice to evil – and a bare taste of what lay inside.

Scorpan had gotten in. Tirek certainly could as well. Even reduced from the height of power he had achieved just a few short years ago, he was still stronger than he had ever been when he and Scorpan had come here as youths. Nothing would bar his entry.

Tirek turned back to the four statues before trotting up to the least offensive one: Queen Haydon, his mother. Adoptive mother, technically, but Vorak’s marriage to Tirek’s true mother had been a political thing only, a means of uniting the centaur tribes, and she’d passed on before Tirek had been even a year old. For any real purpose, Haydon had been Tirek’s mother. She had been…adequate.

Tirek waved a hand, calling on his magic to lift the statue of Haydon and begin digging out the sand beneath it. Cozy watched curiously. “What’re you doing?” She finally asked.

“I don’t have wings,” Tirek pointed out as he began taking off his various packs. “We won’t need the tent and will make do without the bedrolls. I’ll only bring a few days’ worth of food. There’s a fresh-water spring on the spire.” He separated out the supplies he’d be taking, then placed the rest in the hole he’d dug, wrapped in his traveling cloak, and buried them before putting the statue back in place.

Then, he turned back to the water…and grimaced. Cozy caught it before she could hide it. “You afraid of swimming?” She asked.

“I’m not afraid of anything.” He hefted the remaining supplies over his shoulder – he’d made sure that the pack he’d brought from Grogar’s lair was waterproofed – and started forward, towards the surf. Cozy followed in the air. “But…centaurs aren’t strong swimmers.”

Cozy nodded, then fought back a giggle. “I remember learning that fat floats but muscle sinks. All that training to get strong might actually hurt here.”

Tirek growled. The water was up to his knees and hocks at this point. “Strong muscles will help me swim even if they don’t help me float.” He eyed Cozy. “Plus I can use you as a floatation device…”

Cozy’s jaw dropped. “Did you just call me fat?”

“You live on a diet of cake and pie and cookies and ice cream.”

“Nuh-uh! I have real food too, you and Chrysalis make me – ” She stopped when Tirek chuckled. It must have occurred to her that Tirek and Chrysalis making her eat healthy certainly didn’t help her case. Cozy’s face twisted in outrage. “I am not fat, Tirek! I kept up with you just fine this entire trip, didn’t I? I was sandy and cold and hot but I never complained about being tired or out of breath or anything!”

The water was up to Tirek’s barrel now; he pressed forward and tried not to contemplate if there were any sharks or other hungry, inquisitive sea predators about.

“You’re just trying to distract me ‘cause you’re afraid of swimming!” Cozy insisted. She flew in front of Tirek. “You can try and hide it, but it’s true! You’ve got hydrophobia!”

“I have rabies?”

“Aquaphobia, then! Whatever!”

The water swiftly reached Tirek’s shoulders; he kicked away from the sand beneath him and started paddling, a combination of leg-kicks and sweeps with his arms, the latter being the thing that gave him any real forward motion, but the awkward way he had to extend out his upper back meant that said forward motion was, to put it bluntly, lackluster. Hadn’t he planned to grab a palm tree and lug it with him to help with floating? When he had come here in the past he’d always brought something to help him float, and if he had started to sink he could rely on Scorpan…

Tirek growled at that thought. Or started to, but it nearly made him swallow sea water and he had to struggle to push forward again. After just a few hundred feet he had to stop and simply tread water, give himself a chance to rest.

Cozy splashed into the water as well, probably to cool off from the increasing heat of the day as the Sun continued to rise. She stared worriedly at Tirek. “Maybe…we should have packed an inflatable raft.”

“Maybe,” Tirek allowed. He started forward again, Cozy following. She wasn’t as fast a swimmer thanks to her shorter legs, but with her wings to aid her and without having to bend awkwardly she was certainly a more proficient one.

After several minutes Cozy took to the air once more, eyes roaming over Tirek as he swam, watching him. Finally, she spoke up. “Okay, slow down. There’s no rush, we’ve got two weeks before Grogar comes looking for us.” She dove back into the water. “You should focus on big, slow strokes with your arms rather than the controlled flailing you’re basically doing.”

Tirek eyed her. “Are you telling me how to swim?”

“Kinda’! I know you’re trying real hard, but that’s part of the problem: you’re trying too hard!” She gave a few small wing-flaps in the water, inching forward along with synchronized but slow hoof-paddles. “It might take us longer if you slow down, but you’ll be a lot less tired and be in a lot less pain.”

Tirek eyed Midnight Castle, still nearly a full half-mile away, then Cozy. “I can’t believe you of all creatures are advising moderation.”

“Says the creature who stole the magic of every adult pony in Equestria!”

“Says the creature who stole all the magic of everything in Equstria!”

“Ha! I did, didn’t I?” Cozy paddled backwards using her wings and hooves. “Look, it doesn’t do either of us any good if you get there all exhausted and stuff. You still have to use your magic to get us inside and out of this Sun! I don’t want a sunburn.”

Tirek swam on, but he took Cozy’s advice and focused on more floating and drifting forward than on actively pushing himself towards Midnight Castle. It meant that the trip over there took the better part of an hour, but it also meant that by the time they reached the shores of the tall plinth that Midight Castle rested atop he was merely trudging up onto the narrow beach rather than crawling.

Cozy followed him out of the water, shaking off and stretching out. “Gonna sleep like a log tonight,” she noted.

Tirek shook himself off as well, glancing around and spotting the stairs that wound their way around and around the plinth until they reached the summit and Midnight Castle itself. He paused at it, however, as there was finally something new about the place: a large, tall, gray monolith set right by the stairs.

Cozy noticed it too, and trotted over as she stared at its surface. “Huh…hey, there’s something written here,” she beat her wings and hovered up. “Kind of eroded, though…”

“Eroded?” Tirek asked curiously, coming up to the monolith. Indeed, the carving in it was faded by time and tide. It was also haphazard, the mason who carved it clearly an amateur. The result was that it was barely legible.

“Curious…nothing else about this place has changed. This monolith wasn’t here before, however. It must not be part of the magic of Midnight Castle.”

“What’s it say?” Cozy asked.

Tirek glanced it over, rubbing away an accumulation of salt and sand in the lettering and squinting. “The carving is terrible, and it’s in a jumbled mix of languages…Gargoyle, Centauri, Old Ponish, Ancient Unicornian…best guess…” He scowled at the first line, but pressed on anyway “I am Scorpan. Leaving this message is important to me. This is not a place of honor. This is not a place of power. This is a place of darkness. The darkness is still here. It is dangerous, it will take your darkness and grow. It cannot be controlled but it can control and cause harm. Leave now.”

Tirek reached out again, running his finger over his brother’s name. This was probably his last message to the world. In essence, his last words…and they were telling Tirek to go away. As if Scorpan hadn’t done that already…

Cozy, meanwhile, landed, but she shifted from one hoof to another. “Geeze, that’s…as warnings about ancient evil go, that’s pretty clear.” She swallowed. “S-say, um…we are gonna be extra-special careful with the Rainbow of Darkness, right? I vote we don’t even touch it. Like, just stick it in a bag. And then we have to be super careful.”

“Extremely.” Tirek would not end up like Scorpan. He moved down to get a closer look at the rest of the message, the jagged carving, like Scorpan had been struggling to be coherent – something he’d failed in, obviously, since it was only because Tirek was a polyglot that he could even read what was written.

“Curious…the Old Unicornian word for darkness is used the first two times, but here,” he pointed, “take your darkness. That’s in Gargoyle…another word might be shadow.”

“That doesn’t make sense. A shadow isn’t a thing you can take, it’s just your body blocking light.”

“Don’t be so sure. Powerful magic can do strange things…” Tirek considered a moment more, then flicked a finger against his brother’s name. “Then again, Scorpan had clearly lost his mind when he wrote this.” He turned away, heading towards the stairs that wound around the plinth. “Come. I will brook no further delays.”

“Right beside you!”

The two proceeded up the stairs. As they climbed up the plinth’s height, the wind picked up, while overhead the sky seemed to grow ever darker despite the fact that the Sun was still clearly visible in the east. Its light simply seemed to become less and less effective with each circuit they made up around the tower of dark rock. By the time they reached the summit, despite the still-present heat, it was as dark as twilight, an effect that seemed to blanket the whole land and sea in every direction.

“Huh,” Cozy ventured, “neat. And pretty spooky…guess now I know why it’s called Midnight Castle.”

The castle itself loomed before the two. There was no wall or even a gate, instead only a yawning portal shaped like an open mouth, complete with faux fangs, that showed a passageway stretching back into darkness. Grotesque sculptures haunted every dark corner in sight, many of them pouring forth water from their mouths that flowed together into a stream that fell off the side of the summit, while a half-dozen towers reached high into the sky, the tallest reaching more than two hundred feet.

Cozy swallowed, then her face screwed up with determination. “Well, no sense in waiting!” She called, surging forward towards the wide-open entrance.

“Wait – ” Tirek reached out to grab her by the tail, but was too slow. He winced in anticipation.

Cozy reached the yawning portal…and slammed face-first into an invisible barrier. The air rippled almost like water, and Cozy was thrown back and to the ground with a yelp.

Tirek strode forward, hands behind his back as he looked down at her. “I’ve mentioned several times that there was a barrier that my brother and I had never been able to bypass,” he said as he knelt down and put the dazed filly back on her hooves.

Cozy wobbled a few times, shaking her head. “Y-you still could have warned me!”

“And you could have waited instead of pulling a Chrysalis.”

Cozy began to retort, but then burst out laughing at Tirek’s reminder of what had happened to Chrysalis back at the summit of Mount Everhoof. “Okay, okay, fine. But how are we gonna get in? I don’t have nearly enough magic to loan you.”

Tirek shrugged as he trotted up to the barrier, reaching out and lightly slapping it. His hand rebounded off the barrier. “I am much stronger than I was either previous time I came here. If Scorpan could enter this place…”

He stepped back and readied his magic, but before he could do anything Cozy was in the air beside him, tapping his shoulder. “Hang on a sec!” She pointed east. “Is that what I think it is?”

Tirek turned to look. Thanks to the darkening effect of Midnight Castle, the glare of the Sun was easy to blot out by simply holding up a thumb to cover it, allowing him to see quite far from this high up…and specifically, to see a green-and-gold colored airship in the distance, flying high over the desert with the wind at its back – and heading straight for Midnight Castle.

“Company?” Tirek asked, stepping away from the portal and to the edge of the summit. “But who – and how?”

Cozy flitted up alongside him, rubbing her hooves together. “Uh…maybe the Princesses finally came to check on us in Tartaros?”

“Grogar said he had taken care of that!”

“Maybe he messed up or something! Or maybe it’s just a coincidence. Maybe that’s a passenger airship heading to, uh…fly over the southern dragon lands and risk getting attacked…”

Tirek shook his head. “The only reason to travel west from Saddle Arabia would be to get to Abyssinia…and no course to Abyssinia would take a ship near this place.” His eyes narrowed and his fists clenched. “This is an expedition to Midnight Castle. It’s the only explanation. Some other creature coming for the Rainbow of Darkness.”

Cozy Glow tapped her hooves together. “So…what do we do?” She crossed her forehooves as she thought for a few moments. “Okay, the way I see it, there aren’t gonna be a lot of good creatures looking for something called the Rainbow of Darkness. So they’re gonna be mean. And nopony goes after something like the Rainbow just because they can, they have to have some goal, like we do. Maybe they want to take over Equestria too, or maybe Saddle Arabia, or maybe…who cares where. Point is that we won’t be able to use it.”

Tirek crossed his own arms as he eyed the airship. “I am hearing no reason why that vessel should be allowed to continue flying.”

Cozy considered, then a slow grin spread across her face. “Nope.”

Tirek grinned as well, and started gathering his magic. At this range the only thing he’d be able to hit would be the balloon itself…but that would be enough.

Pegasi as a tribe had a tendency towards claustrophobia. It just wasn’t natural or a pegasus to remain cooped up in a small space for a long period of time with barely enough space to spread their wings without touching a wall. Dash and Daring at least managed to get a little more space for themselves by moving to one far end of the hold, the opposite side from Glory Pose’s luggage, and hunker down behind the crates stored there.

Overnight, the cargo hold wasn’t entered at all after Caballeron and Cilia left. The day was different, with horses or Caballeron’s pony minions coming in every now and then throughout the day to collect supplies – mostly, food and water, which at least told Daring and Dash which crates to raid so they wouldn’t go hungry.

The compressed space wasn’t even the worst of it, though, at least not for Dash. It was the fact that there was nothing to do. Even a lame game of “Eye Spy” wasn’t exactly in the cards when they were in a single small room that consisted of nothing but crates. Dash was a mare of action. She wanted to do something, anything, other than just sit around and wait.

Dash fidgeted. Flexed and unflexed her wings. Stood up only to turn around, realize there was nowhere to go, and sit back down. She had enough self-control to not vocally complain beyond the sigh or nicker of annoyance, but that was about her limit. The only exciting bits were when some creature would come into the cargo bay, but they never came anywhere near Daring or Dash.

“What if we…I dunno…” Dash finally whispered, after about four hours of silence, “try and take control of the airship?”

Daring looked at her, brow raising. “Take over the airship.”

“Yeah! I mean…we both know how to fight, right? I bet we could do it.”

“In the narrow corridors of an airship. Against we don’t know how many horses and earth ponies plus at least one unicorn and one changeling. With ceilings that are too low for us to fly in.”

Dash opened her mouth to retort, but then there was the creak of the door opening and she hushed up, hooves to her mouth as she and Daring hunkered down. They risked peeking in the gap between the crates, and saw a horse shuffling through a crate, retrieving something, then leave.

Dash waited until the door was closed before whispering again. “Okay but we do have wings. So we can, like, jump out the windows if things get dicey, cross to the other side. Or heck, we could just…attack the bridge directly! Fly right up to it and bust our way in.”

“Through reinforced glass?”

“Hey, if I get enough of a lead-up I can blast a building apart! I’ve helped my friend Applejack take down old barns that way. I can bust through reinforced glass no problem.”

“So you want to destroy the airship by colliding with it at supersonic speeds.”

That was a good point, but not one Dash didn’t have an answer for. “I could just, like, graze it. Or pop off a Sonic Rainboom nearby and break the glass. Or, okay, we don’t go for the bridge, we take the engine room. We can wreck the ship’s engine and then the airship can’t go anywhere.”

“So…” Daring droned, “…we leave a few dozen creatures stuck over the one of the most inhospitable deserts in the world.”

Dash winced at that thought. “We could wait until we’re near an oasis…okay, if you had to take over the airship, how would you do it?”

Daring grimaced, rubbing her temples with her hooves. “Well for one thing, I’d make sure to bring along somepony who actually knows how to fly an airship.”

“I could figure it out.”

Daring stared at her. Dash stared back. “Right, shutting up.”

She actually did, gathering that Daring wasn’t on-board with the take-over-the-airship idea. Pretty much the only option, then, was to doze off. If there was a champion of sleeping in Ponyville, it would be Rainbow Dash (of course), but even she found it difficult to get comfortable sandwiched between a wall and a stack of crates, with only cold metal beneath her instead of a nice comfy cloud, or the oddly comfy apple trees of Sweet Apple Acres.

“Okay, how are you dealing with this?” Dash finally demanded of Daring. “Look, I get that archaeology can take a lot of patience, but none of your books ever mention just sitting around and waiting like this! How are you so cool with it?”

Daring chuckled slightly. “To be honest…I’m a little more like a tomb-raider than an archaeologist. I never liked sitting around dusting off old stuff or dealing with interns or workers…I like the experience and exploration.” She tapped a hoof on the deck beneath her, considering. “But I’m mostly spending time writing my next book in my head…wondering where to start this. Back in Fillydelphia, or in media res in Istanbull…”

“In your head? You can do that?”

Daring shook her head. “Heck no! But I’m trying. It helps pass the time.” She looked at Dash pointedly. “Have you tried, I dunno, watching a Wonderbolts race in your head or something?”

Dash considered, closing her eyes and trying to do what Daring suggested. Fleetfoot and Spitfire at the starting line, the race began, and…nope, all she could see was Spitfire crossing the finish line first. Maybe a few twists and turns here and there, but she already knew how the race was going to end, and it was all in her head so it wasn’t like there were any surprises or anything…

“Gah…” Dash flopped onto the deck. “I’m bored. Maybe if I at least had a book or something...”

Daring began a response, but then had to bite it back as the airship beneath the two twisted suddenly, baking hard to the left, and both pegasi had to steady themselves. They’d barely gotten their hooves under them when the airship jinked to the right in the same way, or if anything made an even tighter turn. This one was accompanied by the airship pitching upwards as well.

Dash and Daring shared a look, then nodded as one as they hopped out from behind their makeshift cubby. The ship turned left again, and up once more.

“Whoever’s piloting this isn’t dong a real good job!” Daring exclaimed.

Dash steadied herself against one wall, thinking about the maneuvers the airship was performing, what they would look like if viewed from the outside…and why the airship would be performing them.

Her eyed widened. “I got a bad feeling they’re actually doing a great job.” She grabbed Daring, then rushed towards the cargo hold’s door. “We have to get off this airship, like, right now.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m pretty sure that it’s under attack.”

The airship banked again, but this time as it did Dash could feel a rumble go through it, a shudder – as though from the turbulence of something passing nearby. She pulled open the cargo door, not caring if any creature saw her, and leapt out into the hallway, Daring behind her. The two turned to head back towards the stairs that would lead them up the balloon, but as the ship pitched and rolled at almost a forty-five degree angle, a horse in green and gold appeared from around a corner. The horse’s eyes widened at the sight of Daring and Dash.

“Intruders!” She yelled, as she turned around – probably to get backup.

Dash didn’t have time for this; she turned and ran the opposite direction, Daring close behind her as the two looked for any port-hole that would be big enough to squeeze out of. Unfortunately this did seem to be a combat airship first, meaning that big, wide windows were shunned in favor of small portholes.

“Wait, Dash – !” Daring exclaimed as Dash turned a corner, saw some spiral stairs, and started up them.

Dash stopped, but the airship banked hard and rumbled and shook again. That attack was closer. “No time!” she exclaimed as she started running again, trusting Daring to follow her.

The spiral stairs were short, and lead to a single door. Dash threw it open and dashed inside, and finally saw a decent-sized window, in fact a whole bunch of them that she was sure she could squeeze out through once she busted the glass.

Of course, she also saw four or five horses at various stations, a gray-and-blue changeling at the steering wheel, and Doctor Caballeron and Glory Pose practically standing next to her as she barreled in.

Because this was the bridge to the airship.

What happened next, happened fast. Caballeron’s head whipped around and his eyes grew wide. “You!” he exclaimed.

Glory shrieked, stepped back, and pulled down a new pair of goggles over her eyes even as her horn lit up in bright, frightened blue.

Daring ran in behind Dash, grabbed her tail with her teeth, and started yanking her backwards even as Dash had tried to fly forwards. The net result was pain and no motion at all.

The horses whinnied and whickered in shock. One of them abandoned his station and made to charge Dash.

And the changeling, Cilia, let out a long hiss, his eyes focused out the main viewport. “Brace, brace, BRACE FOR IMPACT!” he cried out.

That lead to every head on the bridge turning his direction, even as blue magic washed over him and he turned into a rock. Then every creature looked out the viewport and saw the large, red, burning ball of magic heading right for the balloon over their heads.

Dash winced. “Shoot – ”

WHUMP!

It wasn’t quite the loudest sound that Dash had ever heard, but it was close. The airship rocked backwards as the fireball hit the front of the balloon, throwing every creature from their hooves even as all the glass of the viewports shattered; Dash tried to get her wings under her but the ceiling overhead rushed down as the airship pitched forward, knocking her back down to the ground. Daring was thrown forward and over Dash’s head, landing in a heap next to a horse who had fallen to his barrel. Then –

WHUMP!

Another fireball, this one from somewhere towards the rear of the airship. Every creature went sliding to the side, then Dash felt her weight shift as the airship started falling towards the desert sands below even as it continued forward.

One horse got up and started running for the shattered windows, eyes wide. Dash kicked off from the deck and tackled him. “You want broken legs?!” She demanded.

“But the Shamshir – ”

“Is falling slow! It’s a balloon with a few holes. You’ll fall like a rock and then have an airship land on top of you!”

“S-so what?” Glory’s voice called out. Dash looked, and saw that Caballeron had braced her and himself into a small cubby. Behind her goggles, Glory’s eyes were huge. “We’re just supposed to sit and let ourselves fall?”

Cilia the rock shimmered with magic and took on his true form. “Yup!” He said with far too much enthusiasm, returning to the wheel and throwing some nearby levers. Over the sound of groaning metal, Dash heard the engines power up, giving the Shamshir additional speed. “If I do this right, I should be able to bring her down on the balloon’s side, spare the gondola! If I do it wrong…well, we won’t be worse off.”

Daring had her hooves under her again as well, and came up to and grabbed Dash and started moving her towards a window. “We’ll be worse off – ” she began, but then she was grabbed in blue telekinesis. She yelped as she was dragged back and over to Caballeron and Glory, though not close enough to buck.

“If I go down I’m taking you with me!” Caballeron exclaimed.

“I’m the one holding her!” Glory said.

“And I appreciate that!”

“I don’t!” Daring countered.

Dash made to go help Daring, but Cilia pulled a few levers and spun the wheel to the right over and over, rolling the airship so that it was practically sideways. “Hang on!” He called out, once more turning into a rock. Dash dove and grabbed hold of the nearest station as tight as she could just before the Shamshir slammed into the desert sands balloon-first and began skidding across the sand. Dash was nearly thrown from the station she held onto. Glory lost her grip on Daring and the pegasus took to the air, but only so that she could dive over to and grab onto Dash. The horses all whinnied in terror, and Cilia the rock was thrown first into a ceiling, and then down and into a control station.

Eventually, the shaking, the forward motion, and the screaming of twisting metal stopped. Dash had closed her eyes; she cracked one open, and found that the bridge – the entire gondola – was pitched at an odd angle, the floor sloping down and to the right. Half the right viewport was buried in sand, while the hot air of the Nether Lands wafted into the bridge from the shattered windows on the left. The groan of strained metal reverberated throughout the ship.

Dash slowly picked herself up, Daring following suit. The horses stood as well, while Caballeron was helping a laughing-or-maybe-crying-hysterically Glory to her hooves even as Cilia became a changeling again and once more trotted over to the wheel, not bothered at all by the odd angle of the floor as he patted the steering station affectionately.

“Any landing you can walk away from is a good one,” he said, looking to Dash. “Right?”

“Right,” Dash agreed, holding out a hoof.

Cilia bumped it with his own, joining in on relieved laughter that spread through the bridge from ponies, horses, and changeling all. Then he frowned. “Wait, but you’re on the other side – ”

Daring bounded into Cilia, knocking him over and away, then turned to Dash. “Can we get moving?” She didn’t wait for an answer, turning and running for the broken viewports. Dash followed.

“Stop!” Caballeron called. Dash ignored him, clambering across the deck and over to the windows, then out into the desert. The heat and glare of the Sun hit her instantly. She started running to get a little distance from the gondola, then crouched and kicked off from the sand, only to let out a yelp when she felt her tail grabbed in the familiar feeling of unicorn telekinesis.

Dash let out a grunt as she was pulled to the ground and dragged back towards the airship. She gathered sand, spun, and whipped it out, but Glory was still wearing those goggles as she clambered from the airship. She let out a triumphant laugh, then sputtered a little from sand on her tongue but didn’t let go of Dash.

Dash might have still been able to escape, but then one of the horses finished climbing out of the gondola and grabbed Dash tightly around her barrel, pinning her wings and forelegs while her hindlegs kicked uselessly in front of her.

“Oh come on!” Dash groaned, squirming and kicking. The horse’s grip was tight, though. She glared a Caballeron. “Is now really the best time for this?”

“Especially seeing as something was throwing fireballs at us?” Cilia added.

“It is always a good time to gain leverage!” Caballeron retorted to Dash, ignoring Cilia. He squinted up into the sky, Dash doing likewise. Daring was hovering a couple hundred feet in the air, eyes darting over the ruined airship and the creatures crawling from it. The skin of the holed balloon was burning, while she was already beginning to sag slightly now that the helium that had kept the Shamshir light had largely escaped. It wouldn’t be long before the skeleton of the balloon started collapsing.

Caballeron waved up at Daring. “Hello up there!” He called. “You aren’t really going to leave Miss Dash behind, are you, my old friend?” Daring didn’t answer. “Why don’t you come down here and we can talk? It would be unfortunate if anything should happen to Miss Dash here…”

Daring hovered silently for a few more seconds, then dove down and landed in the sand, though she kept her distance. “You know, you’re right for once, Caballeron. It would be unfortunate.” She grinned, pulling back her helmet and looking her nemesis head-on. “How much water do you think survived the crash?”

Caballeron growled low at that. Dash looked between him and Daring, then slowly grinned as she realized what Daring was driving at. She stopped struggling for the moment.

“I’m sure our water situation is just fine,” Caballeron said at length.

“I’ll bet,” Daring countered. She sat down in the sand, considered, then smirked and lay down on her barrel. “I’ll wait.”

“Maybe we should also be concerned about those fireballs,” Cilia said. “I know they’ve stopped, but…”

Caballeron growled again, but turned around and started issuing commands to the horses, even as his three earth pony minions – frazzled and shaky but looking otherwise fine – stumbled up to their boss. Several horses were dispatched back into the balloon.

Over the course of the next twenty minutes, a complete picture of where the Saddle Arabians and Caballeron’s gang stood was formed. There had been no losses among the twenty horses, although two of them had sprained ankles, and bruises and small cuts abounded. Most of the food was salvageable. But the water tank had been ruptured in the crash. The horses were already in the process of gathering it up as best they could before it all leaked out…

“…but we’ll only be able to save perhaps a hundred and fifty gallons of water,” the horse reporting all this concluded.

Caballeron scowled, glancing up at the burning Sun. “Ponies need five gallons per day normally, but in this heat, this Sun, we probably want double…there’s five ponies…”

“Fifteen gallons in this heat for a horse,” the Saddle Arabian said.

“I’m the same as a pony,” Cilia supplied. “Can’t hold another form long enough for it to be useful. Also where did we land on that fireball issue?”

Daring picked herself up and trotted over, still smirking. “So basically, you’ve only got half of the water you’d need to make it through tomorrow,” she said, stopping a couple dozen feet away. “Ration it, you’ll make it three days. And that’s all assuming you’re not exerting yourself – the more you do the more water you’ll all need. But it’s a week of hard marching to Istanbull.”

“There are oases,” Caballeron countered.

“Yup,” Daring agreed, pointing east. “About a day that way as the pegasus flies – so I’m going to guess two or three days marching.” She looked to the horses. “You’ve got charts in the airship, I'm sure. If you head out as soon as the Sun sets, you’ll make it. You’ll be thirsty but you’ll all make it. But there isn’t enough water to go and spend a few days in Midnight Castle to get the Sun Stone and make it back to Istanbull.”

“Wait,” Glory said, stepping forward and pulling the goggles from her eyes to glare at Daring. “Wait, no! I’ve spent too much – I’m not going to – you don’t have any water either!”

“Yeah we do!” Dash objected. She glanced up, smirking at what she saw far above her. “First, we’re pegasi so the heat doesn’t affect us the same way. Second, see that sky? Those cirrus clouds? There’s not a whole lot, but there’s more than enough for a couple of pegasi!"

Caballeron did indeed glance at the sky, then back to Daring. “Which means you could also supply us with water. Bring those clouds down here – ”

“Yeah, no, it doesn’t work like that.” Dash rolled her eyes. “Long story short, you can’t bring a cirrus below a certain altitude or it breaks apart. Trust me, I’m the weather captain back in Ponyville, I know my clouds.”

“But you could squeeze water from them up there into a container,” Caballeron countered. “I am not unfamiliar with weather, Rainbow Dash! You said there was more than enough up there for two pegasi. How much more than enough?”

Daring glared directly at Caballeron. “With two pegasi? Maybe enough for you, Glory, and your goon squad.”

“Hey, we have names,” one of the goon squad objected.

Caballeron considered. “And tell me, Daring Do…how can I trust you? If I let Rainbow Dash go and send off all these horses, what’s stopping you from abandoning us and leaving us to our slow but inevitable demise?”

Daring chuckled. “’Cause that’s your thing, Caballeron. I know I can’t convince you to leave entirely, but if you want to beat me to the Sun Stone, then you’ll have to at least send all these Saddle Arabians on their way.”

“And who gets the Sun Stone?”

“Presumably whoever was throwing fireballs at us,” Cilia cut in.

“Oh for Celestia’s – one thing at a time, Cilia!” Caballeron finally snapped. “Yes, Midnight Castle apparently has defenses, or invaders, and we will deal with them. But first thing’s first!”

“Alright, fine, no fuzz off my carapace, I’m going home to Istanbull anyway…”

Caballeron turned back to Daring. “Well? The Sun Stone? I’ve invested a lot of time and effort, an a considerable fraction of Miss Pose’s fortune, into acquiring it. I won’t let you snatch this one from me, Daring Do, not this time.”

“We can work that out later,” Daring said. “For now, let Dash go, and we’ll keep everypony who stays watered, which means the Saddle Arabians have that much more water to make it to the nearest oasis. And we can work together dealing with whatever was throwing fireballs at the airship.”

Caballeron rubbed at his stubbly chin. “Deal,” he finally said as he held out his hoof. “At least this way I’ll be able to keep track of you.”

Daring bumped hooves with Caballeron. Glory, meanwhile, stared with wide eyes even as Dash was let go. “Wait, what?” Glory demanded. “We’re working with your greatest rival? But she’s…she’s going to double-cross us! And even if she doesn’t…why?!”

“This is, like, the third or fourth times it’s happened,” Dash pointed out as she stretched and flexed after having been held in a horse’s grip for so long. “Don’t you read any of the books?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, of course I don’t read such tripe!”

Dash’s jaw dropped. Daring did her the favor of pushing it closed again even as Caballeron turned around and began issuing orders to his goon squad to get into the airship and recover what they could, while the leader of the horses did the same. Dash didn’t pay any attention. She was about to launch into a tirade, but Daring stopped her by putting a hoof over her mouth.

“It’s fine,” Daring said. “A.K. Yearling has plenty of fans.”

Dash squirmed in annoyance, but managed to keep her mouth shut as she and Daring trotted over to the shadow of the downed airship’s balloon to get out of the direct sunlight. “Now here’s the real question,” Daring said, “what was throwing fireballs at us?”

Tirek was aiming for the balloon, of course – it was an easier target than the gondola at this distance, especially since due to the angles the balloon was partially shielding the gondola. His first several fireballs missed, the airship reacting with surprising speed and more than a little luck…but that luck ran out with the fourth fireball, striking her head-on in her balloons’ front, sending her careening. A second fireball hit her near the stern, holing the balloon enough that she began to fall.

Cozy watched from where she perched atop Tirek’s shoulder, giggling at the sight of such awesome power. She sure wished that she could throw around magic like that! Tirek had taught her the very first spell she’d ever known when they’d first met a couple years ago, a spell that let the two of them send letters back and forth between each other after he’d been trapped in Tartaros again. She’d since picked up a few others, but since she was a pegasus and didn’t have any natural spellcasting organs she needed to rely on sigils and ingredients and a lot of patience.

She wondered what casting a spell naturally felt like. She imagined it tickled, which was probably super distracting…

There was a flash of green from behind her. Cozy turned around quickly – Tirek was too distracted – and let out a yelp at what she saw. “Hey, Tirek!” She exclaimed, taking to the air. Tirek quelled his own magic and turned to look.

The portal into Midnight Castle was glowing bright green. More prominently, green lines traced their way through the ground and towards Tirek, though their advance had halted. Cozy flew down, though she stayed well clear of the ground even as she inspected it. She held out her hooves and tried to focus like Tirek had taught her, tried to feel out the magic beneath her. She came away with nothing, though, not without direct contact, and no way was she doing that.

Tirek considered it, then beckoned Cozy to return to his side. She did, and Tirek cast a simple spell, creating a ball of light in front of him. The portal to Midnight Castle flashed and the green lines grew out and towards him, until he dispelled the ball and the lines stopped their advance.

Tirek grinned. “It’s hungry,” he noted. A distant crash reached their ears, and the two looked and saw that the airship had gone down in the desert, about a mile from the shore.

“Well. We’ve bought ourselves some time,” Tirek said, turning back to the portal. He started stepping away, getting more distance from the portal and the lines, then gathering magic again. “Cozy, get behind me. I don’t know how much magic is needed…”

“So go big or go home!” Cozy cheered, doing as Tirek asked, taking cover behind his broad torso, though she still peeked out over his shoulders.

Tirek gathered an immense ball of fire and magic over his horns, easily two dozen feet across. The portal glowed brightly and the lines started advancing again, but before they could get too close Tirek let out a roar and threw the fireball forward and at the portal. It collided and exploded, for a moment, but then the explosion seemed to be pulled in and towards the portal. The green lines angled backwards and started towards the portal even as it began to glow red.

Then the portal flashed red, and shattered like glass, the barrier falling away in jagged chunks that dissipated to nothing as soon as they hit the ground.

Cozy started to let out a whoop of joy, but then noticed that Tirek was breathing heavily. She let out a cry of shock when black-and-yellow energy briefly danced over Tirek’s form, and before her eyes he seemed to lose about an inch of height.

She darted in front of him, looking him over as he steadied himself. “Oh no…maybe that was going a little too big?”

Tirek growled, steadying his breath and looking himself over, scowling at the loss of power. “The magic-draining effect…followed the trail of my attack. Took more out of me than I was expecting…” He waved a hand. “The loss is inconsequential. Come on, we should hurry before this enchantment repairs itself. And when whoever those creatures in the airship arrive, I want to be able to test the Rainbow of Darkness’ power on them!”

Cozy nodded and giggled, fitting over and landing on Tirek’s shoulder once more as he headed into the darkness.

Food wasn’t an issue, and so Rainbow Dash, Daring Do, Caballeron, Glory, and Caballeron’s goon squad – Withers, Biff, and Rogue – had been left ample supplies. The horses and Cilia were going to take all the water they had been able to salvage with them while Daring and Dash, true to their word, launched themselves into the sky and gathered some initial drinking water for the seven ponies who’d be staying behind.

“Of course we don’t really need to do this too often,” Daring said as she hovered upside-down beneath a cloud, squeezing water from it. “Midnight Castle will have to have its own water source, it would never have been built otherwise. I’m surprised Caballeron didn’t realize that.”

“Huh, good point,” Dash observed. She had a number of filled canteens slung over her neck already and was holding another steady. Daring’s set was already full. “So…what are we going to do about the Sun Stone? We can’t let Caballeron and Glory get it, it belongs in a museum!”

Daring chuckled. “Plenty of time to find it in Midnight Castle first. We’ve got plenty of food and the Saddle Arabians will be sending a rescue airship this way. Even if Caballeron gets it first, a lot can happen between here and Istanbull, or Istanbull and Equestria.” She scowled. “Off limits after that, though.”

“Why?”

“Caballeron knows I’m A.K. Yearling, Dash. Ever wonder why he hasn’t written a book of his own telling everypony? We have an…an agreement. I don’t go after anything he’s managed to actually get back to Equestria, and he doesn’t tell everypony where I live.”

“Huh,” Dash stoppered the canteen she held, then the two of them began flying back down to the others. “I guess that makes sense, if Ahuizotl or any of your other nemeses knew were you lived then you couldn’t ever really live anywhere…”

Daring chuckled. “Right…my nemeses, they’d be a problem too.”

“Too?”

She didn’t get a chance to hear Daring’s elaboration as they reached the ground, Glory putting her goggles back on once Dash was near. That prompted a smirk from the pegasus and a scowl from Glory. The three henchponies were scowling as well, although less at Daring or Dash and more at the supplies they had to carry – while both Daring and Caballeron had broad smiles that didn’t reach the eyes.

“Water,” Daring said, hoofing out the canteens to everypony, even as Caballeron hoofed over a set of packs to the pegasi containing their own share of the supplies. “We’re only about a mile from the shore and a quick raft-ride to Midnight Castle, so I don’t see any reason to wait.”

“Agreed,” Caballeron said, taking a swig from his canteen. “We took two of the inflatable rafts. You and Miss Dash can fly, however.”

“Fine by me,” Dash said as she slipped on her gear. It was heavy, but nothing she couldn’t handle.

Caballeron turned around, back towards the Saddle Arabians, and waved. “We are heading out! Please apologize to Emira Numnah and the Sultan for the lost airship, that was not the plan!”

“Have fun storming the castle!” Cilia called over from the makeshift camp in the shadow of the airship’s gondola and balloon – what hadn’t been burned off yet, in any event.

With that, their herd set out, Daring and Dash keeping a few dozen feet between themselves and Caballeron’s gang. The Sun overhead was annoyingly hot; Dash couldn’t even begin to guess how it felt to the earth ponies and unicorn were taking it without the natural pegasus resistance to temperature extremes. Given how often the group was drinking from their canteens, Dash guessed “poorly”. At least it would be a short trip across the baking sand.

They reached the beach inside of an hour, and the ground-bound ponies quickly set up their raft. It was self-inflating, thankfully, and soon Caballeron and one of his hench-ponies were pushing them off while the other two earth ponies worked the paddles and Glory sat inside. Before long the raft was out on the ocean and crossing it, and not long after that they had reached a small beach at the foot of the plinth.

Daring and Dash had kept pace, but as soon as they reached the beach Daring noticed a monolith set beside the stairs that wound up the spire and flown over to it. “Carving is terrible…” she said, brushing it slightly and squinting. “It’s in…at least four different languages. Switches between Old Ponish, Old Unicorn, and I think that’s Centauri…can’t read the fourth language.”

“Gargoyle,” Caballeron said. The two pegasi both jumped, not having heard his approach. He chuckled. “It’s Gargoyle. But I can’t read it either, only recognize one word: Scorpan. It’s a message from him.”

“What’s it say?”

Caballeron frowned, tapping a hoof against one word in particular. “Hard to tell, though I imagine that it consists of the usual dire warnings…like this one. Darkness will…something in Gargoyle…and grow. The usual native warnings of doom befalling any who trespass.”

“That’s not darkness,” Daring objected. “Darkness is skotadi.”

“Skotadi is more a general sense of something being dark or in shadow. Erebos, here, refers to a primordial darkness.” He grinned. “I always was better with languages. And ponies. And archaeology, come to think of it.”

Daring bristled. “You graduated last in your class, Caballeron.”

“But I did graduate, so it’s Doctor Caballeron, Miss Daring Do.”

Dash’s wings flared at that, but Caballeron was already trotting off, humming to himself as Glory and his hench ponies followed. Dash made to follow, but Daring stopped her with an outstretched hoof. “Eyes on the prize,” she said, taking flight.

Dash followed. At first the two wanted to head straight up, but after just a few dozen feet they noticed the darkening effect that surrounded Midnight Castle’s summit, the fact that the Sun remained in the sky but its light seemed to recede back into it the higher they went. The two pegasi elected to fly alongside Caballeron’s crew, just in case it was an omen of things to come.

In time, the seven reached the summit, and found themselves looking at Midnight Castle, a fortress of twisted spires with no gate or walls, instead just a yawning open portal that looked like a fanged mouth. Dash and Daring both took note of the grotesque carvings that spat water from their mouth which flowed off the side. So did Caballeron, who looked at the water, then eyed Daring.

Daring returned the glare evenly. “You want to go into a trap-filled ancient ruin without me having cleared it first, Caballeron?” She asked. “Because you know what I’m better at.”

Caballeron shifted, then nodded. “Very well. After you, Daring Do.”

Daring and Dash landed just before the portal, squinting against the darkness that lay inside. It seemed impenetrable, at least at first, but after a few moments Glory Pose came up behind the two and lit up her horn. The darkness was pushed back, revealing a stone tunnel that lead deeper into the castle.

“Get a move on,” Glory insisted.

Dash took a look at Daring. The two pegasi nodded, and then stepped into Midnight Castle.

Author's Note

I'm sorry this took so long - I've been quite distracted over the past few weeks for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was the fact that I work outside and so heat just drains my energy. BUT, I've actually used my vacation and holiday time to take the next ten days off! A nice stay-cation. I plan to devote a lot of it to writing.

Although admittedly a lot of that writing will be for another project. Heeheehee! I've been looking forward to it for about half a year now. All the same I hope to get another chapter of this done within the stay-cation. Stay tuned!

5. Exploring the Castle

Author's Note

Made my deadline with hours to spare! Whooooo! Sorry again for the delay, I'll endeavor to not let it happen again.

5. Exploring the Castle

On a really dark, moonless, cloudy night, with no lights on, if Cozy Glow closed her eyes super tight…it still probably wouldn’t have been as dark as the entry to Midnight Castle was.

The entry into the castle was just sheer and utter blackness. Tirek had conjured up a ball of light to hold over his palm and show the way, but it barely did anything to banish the shadows that seemed to press in all around the two. From her perch atop Tirek’s shoulder, she could barely see the dusty floor beneath them, even when Tirek made the light orb painfully bright to look at.

“This…is going to make things difficult,” Cozy said at last.

“Perhaps…or perhaps not,” Tirek said. The light ball he had conjured seemed to flare up, but actually all that had happened was he had passed beyond some kind of barrier, the oppressive darkness of the entry to Midnight Castle giving way to far more mundane shadows. He dimmed the light and held it out, revealing a wide entry hall supported by four pillars, with stone gargoyles in the ceiling leering down at those who entered. Ahead of them were a great set of brass doors.

Cozy looked back, and saw that indeed the light just stopped at the entry, the shadows pushing back against it in a way that shadows absolutely weren’t supposed to. She fluttered her wings a little, but didn’t get off of Tirek’s shoulder.

“Okay,” she said. “Any idea what the layout of this place is like?”

Tirek shook his head, looking around. There was a set of stairs to the north, leading up, and a hallway to the south the stretched further than Tirek’s light revealed. “I do know that when Tirac was defeated, he was deep within the bowels of Midnight Castle’s dungeons. The Rainbow of Darkness was left with him.”

“But Scorpan had the Rainbow.”

Tirek growled. “Yes. So now it could be anywhere. Thank you, brother…”

Cozy suppressed the urge to giggle at Tirek’s last grumble. “Well, let’s try and find a way down. First place to look for something is the last place you know it was, after all! Maybe Scorpan put it back.” She pointed to the stairs. “Which means that way’s out, obviously. Let’s try the doors!”

Tirek shrugged, not having any better ideas, and did so. The great brass doors opened with hardly a sound despite their age and weight, revealing a long corridor beyond flanked by statues of gargoyles and centaurs in spiked armor. Their eyes seemed to watch Cozy and Tirek as they moved down the hallway, though Cozy could tell that it was just a trick of light and shadow and not their eyes actually following her. She hoped.

The hallway ended in another set of brass doors, which Tirek pushed open as well, revealing a vast chamber. Tirek held up his ball of light and brightened it, revealing the whole thing – including stained-glass windows at the other end, though the windows let in no light. Possibly it was because an awful lot of the panels were made up of jet-black sections depicting a life-sized, broad-horned centaur wreathed in darkness and with legions of followers bowing before him.

“Lord Tirac?” Cozy asked.

Tirek paused in his trot, and looked sidelong at Cozy. “Him you call ‘Lord’? The centaur who’s been dead twenty-five hundred years and you’ve never met?”

Cozy failed to keep down a giggle this time, taking to the air as she looked a little closer at the stained glass, the way the shadows curled around Tirac…especially his wrists and his horns. Almost like…

“Uh, Tirek?”

“See? You’ve never called me ‘Lord’ no matter how often I tell you to…”

Cozy rolled her eyes, flying closer to the stained glass and tapping her hoof against the depiction of Tirac. “What does this look like to you? The way the shadows are shown on him?”

Tirek trod forward, scratching at his beard as he looked over the depiction. “Chains,” he finally said. “The shadows…perhaps it’s just supposed to show the power surrounding him, the Rainbow of Darkness being a part of him…or else…”

“Or else it’s showing the Rainbow of Darkness controlling him.” Cozy finished for Tirek. She finally shivered in spite of herself, and flew back to look Tirek in the eye. “And I’m gonna guess that’s what happened to Scorpan. I don’t think there’s any room for doubt anymore: the Rainbow of Darkness corrupts and controls its wielder.”

Tirek nodded, folding one hand behind his back while his other still held the light orb. “I understand your concern, Cozy. But I’ve come too far, waited too long, to turn back now.” He turned from the window, looking around the room, and then pointed to a entryway in the southwest that lead to a set of stairs that spiraled both up and down.

Cozy flew after Tirek as he set off. “I’m not saying we should turn around,” Cozy said. “This is way too much power if you’re right. But we definitely need to study it first.”

“Agreed,” Tirek said. The two reached and started down the spiraling stairs, heading into the bowels of the castle, the plinth that it sat upon. “Pity, I would have liked to test it on whoever else it was that was coming to Midnight Castle…but perhaps not.”

Cozy tapped her hoof on one of Tirek’s massive biceps. “Come on! You don’t need any kind of emo rainbow to take out whoever that was!”

“Of course I don’t,” Tirek agreed, and couldn’t stop himself from flexing his muscles. Cozy giggled once more. Keeping Tirek psyched up was important right now…especially seeing as there was a chance that the two of them might stumble across a certain set of gargoyle bones down here at some point. Cozy didn’t want Tirek thinking about that and getting into a mood. She honestly wasn’t sure what Tirek would do if they found the remains of Scorpan, but Cozy was already cycling through a few possibilities and what she’d do in response.

For the most part, she decided giving him space would be for the best. Time to process it, or to stomp the bones to dust, or maybe even to genuinely grieve. He could probably use that, to be honest.

The end of the spiraling stairs finally came into sight after they’d descended Cozy-hadn’t-counted-how-many steps. Certainly they were now at least a couple hundred feet beneath the surface. The stairs gave way to a twenty-foot-wide, twenty-foot-long entry that revealed beyond it the largest chamber yet. Tirek’s light at its brightest didn’t reach the far walls, though this was at least partially due to the light being blocked by a series of regularly spaced pillars, each ten feet wide and with ten feet between them, supporting the ceiling some twenty or thirty feet overhead.

The oppressive darkness would have continued to be unsettling enough…but more unsettling was the pillars. Each and every one of them was adorned with what almost looked like gargoyles of centaurs or even a few horses fused into them, utterly lifelike in appearance if still obviously make of stone. The carvings were in various poses suggesting agony and suffering, yet their expressions were completely blank and emotionless, and somehow that made things worse.

Cozy felt her throat going dry, and she got off of Tirek’s shoulder in order to retrieve a canteen and swallow a few mouthfuls of water. Yup. She was gonna have nightmares about this place. She wondered if she’d run into Princess Luna. That might be neat, especially if she had to bluff about still being in Tartaros…

She was still hovering in place and drinking when Tirek started forward again. Cozy made to follow him, but just as his fourth hoof crossed the threshold, she noticed a faintly glowing green sigil on the ground.

“Tirek – ” was as far as Cozy got when the sigil flared to life. Tirek looked down in surprise as the sigil became one of many, a circle of runes that surrounded him and ignited with a sickly green glow. The hand holding aloft the ball of light suddenly dropped like the ball had gained a ton of weight, and Tirek let out a shout of surprise as he fell to the ground. His orb of light almost seemed to melt in his hand, getting sucked down into the green glow – and the glow surrounded Tirek as well.

Cozy shot forward to the edge of the circle, letting out a cry as she brought the canteen she’d grabbed down hard on the nearest rune, thwacking it as hard as she could over and over while being careful not to let any part of her cross it herself. The circle of runes sputtered, but didn’t give out. Cozy couldn’t hit it hard enough.

Tirek got his legs under him. With a mighty roar, he tore his hand free of his own light orb, then gathered himself and leapt forward, clearing several dozen feet even without any kind of running start. The rune circle didn’t stop his leaving, though some of the green glow seemed to try to cling to him. When Tirek landed – gracelessly, stumbling to his knees – he was glowing with yellow-and-black energy again, like he had outside, and Cozy swore she saw him shrink yet again.

She made to fly around the circle and over to him, but Tirek held out a hand. “Stay there!” He shouted as he picked himself up. “We don’t know that it’s safe!”

Cozy swallowed, but nodded, turning her attention back to the rune circle. The orb of light finished melting into it, leaving only the dim, baleful green glow of the circle that barely provided any light at all. That, too, began to fade – because the light started flowing, moving like it was some kind of oil, and tracing its way straight towards the pillars…

“Oh…shoot,” Cozy mumbled, as the first of the carving’s eyes began to glow.

Tirek noticed light to his left, and glanced. He saw one of the gargoyle carvings in the wall twitching, reaching out with one hand and grabbing the ground, then physically pulling itself free from the pillar that held it, eyes glowing bright green. It stood up and turned its expressionless gaze onto Tirek.

It wasn’t the only one. All around Tirek, the statues and carvings in the pillars were awakening and pulling themselves free from their agonized poses, the lights of their eyes replacing the glow of Tirek’s light orb. They spared only a moment before charging at Tirek with thundering footfalls that sounded like the slamming of sepulcher doors.

The centaur grunted, snapping his fingers and conjuring a shield around himself and letting the statues crash into it. He grimaced at the feedback of so much kinetic energy and mass slamming against his construct, but it gave him a moment to assess his odds. The golems tried nothing more than physical attacks, and he grinned at that.

Gathering magical energy into his horns, he dropped his shield even as he unleashed a burst of telekinesis all around him. The golems nearest him were pulverized, limbs falling off, as they impacted the ones behind them. They were too heavy to be sent flying, but they did knock back all the golems around him.

He leaped and conjured another magical bubble around himself as he came down, landing on and crushing a golem in the rear of the pack, then whirling and slamming his fist straight into the face of another. He felt the satisfying vibration of impact travel up his arm, while the golem’s head burst apart like it was made of chalk.

“Heh,” Tirek chucked as the golems turned around, struggling to re-orient themselves. But the wings of the gargoyles and long bodies of the horses and centaurs bumped into each other, making them far less effective as a group then they should have been.

He looked over his shoulder, and saw Cozy Glow in the dim light of the golems’ eyes, still hovering in the entryway, keeping clear of the magic circle. She looked concerned – and afraid.

That wouldn’t do at all. Tirek gathered up telekinetic force and shoved it forward, pushing back the golems just as they had been about to charge him once more, then undid the straps on his packs and threw them back into the entry.

“There’s a torch and matches in there,” he said. “If any golems come for you, fly back outside. But I think they only care about me.”

Cozy started fishing around for the light sources, though she kept an eye on Tirek. “And what about you?” she asked.

Tirek grinned, cracking his knuckles and popping the joints in his neck. “I’m going to enjoy myself,” he responded, His horns glowed, and he fired a blast of pure magical force straight forward. The beam impacted a gargoyle-golem straight in the chest and shattered the thing, did the same to the next two golems, and finally only knocked over the fourth one.

By the time the magic had cleared the golems were as a whole charging him again, moving as fast as creatures made of more-or-less solid rock could…not very fast. The first one to reach Tirek was punched in half. The next one he grabbed the face of and swung it into a third. He reared back and brought his front hooves down on another golem. One finally managed a swing, but Tirek deflected it with the back of his arm and then smacked the golem away with a backhand.

Standing still was a sure way to be overwhelmed, of course, so he once again leapt, conjured a shield, and landed on another golem just as he saw the orange glow of fire flare to life at the entry. He looked and saw Cozy holding a now-lit torch, but also saw that none of the golems had any interest in her at all, as he’d suspected. They wanted the creature with magic.

Tirek grinned. His body still ached somewhat from the swim over, but the rush of adrenaline was fixing that. That and the sheer visceral pleasure of smashing these constructs. Punch, kick, backhand, slap, chop, elbow, knee, buck…Tirek honestly lost track of time, focusing purely on crushing the enemies that lay before him. He didn’t even use magic that often – only when he stood a chance of being overwhelmed, then he’d use telekinesis to give himself some breathing room, or leap clear and land behind the pack.

The golems got a few lucky hits in, of course. One in particular, a centaur, brought its fists down in a sledgehammer blow across Tirek’s face. Unfortunately, that golem made the critical error of looking rather like Vorak. Tirek used magic for that one, unleashing a blast of eldritch might that turned the golem – and several golems surrounding it – to dust.

If the golems had been faster, or smarter, this would have been dangerous. Tirek would have had to fight more of a running battle, blast-and-retreat. But as it stood…it was essentially an intense work-out routine, for keeps.

After Tirek wasn’t sure how long, the last of the golems, a horse, was broken apart when Tirek hefted it over his head and slammed it into a pillar. Tirek watched the light fade from its eyes, growling…and then roaring in triumph.

“Now that was fun!” He shouted, looking around and spotting the glow of Cozy’s torch. He trotted back over to her, and found the pegasus sitting on the ground, head in one hoof while she tapped another on the ground. Her eyes widened at the sight of Tirek.

“You’re covered in rock dust!” She exclaimed, then put her hooves to her nose. “And, ugh, you stink of sweat! Why didn’t you just blast them all with magic?”

“I’m allowed to enjoy myself,” Tirek said, considering the magic circle that had activated all the golems. One of its runes still glowed, but Tirek thought about how it had pulled at his magical light orb – and likewise, how the entry outside had tried to feed on the magic that he was conjuring to attack the airship. Right now, however, Tirek was channeling no magic…he put a hoof boldly into the magic circle, and nodded when nothing happened.

Cozy stared, then looked back up at Tirek. “That was dangerous.”

Tirek shrugged, waving a hand at the wreckage he’d created. “What’s the worst that could have happened? More golems? I think I demonstrated fairly well how that would turn out.”

Cozy flew up into the air. “That’s not the point! Maybe you didn’t notice since you’re so big anyway, but you lost a little height again.” She waved a hoof out at the golems. “And you used a lot of magic out there too, didn’t you?”

“Hardly,” Tirek objected, though perhaps he had used slightly more than necessary on the one that had looked like his father. He went to his packs and pulled out a towel, beginning to wipe himself free of dust.

He also used the time to consider Cozy’s words. “The magic traps…you’re worried about them draining me of all my magic.” He looked to the golems. “And perhaps the golems were never intended to defeat whoever came down here, only make them use up their magic. Drain them.”

“Mm-hmm,” Cozy said. She waved her hooves at Tirek. “How much of your muscles are magic and how much are real? Does exerting yourself expend your magic?”

Tirek shook his head. “There’s a long answer. The short one is no. If the golems were intended to drain magic, their creator didn’t take into consideration blunt force instead of eldritch blasts.” He wiped his face down, then threw the towel over his shoulder and crossed his arms, looking back out at what he’d done while Cozy went digging around in her own saddlebags.

“I admit that I could have been more cautious,” Tirek allowed at last. “I will be in the future. But I definitely think I needed – ack!”

The last came as he felt himself being sprayed by something, but more importantly as the scent reached his nostrils. Cozy Glow was flying around him with a spray bottle. “What is that?!” Tirek demanded even as he tried to fend off the pegasus.

“Perfume!” Cozy answered, flitting nimbly around Tirek. “Smells like strawberries! For all the sweat.”

Tirek finally managed to grab Cozy. “Lord Tirek should not smell like strawberries!” He objected, throwing the bottle down at her saddlebags.

“Well I wish you would have told me that, I also have apple and cherry…”

Tirek might have rolled his eyes if he weren’t trying to wipe the scent from him. It didn’t work at all, and all he could do was sigh and gather up his saddlebags again, strapping them on. Cozy gathered up her own bags, taking out a blanket and laying it on Tirek’s shoulder before settling down again.

“There is nothing wrong with working up a good sweat,” Tirek said, even as he picked up the torch and then started forward once more.

“Maybe not for you,” Cozy said. “I want to have other creatures to do the sweating for me.” She brightened at her own words, then looked to Tirek with a huge smile on her face.

He did roll his eyes at that. “Well, fair’s fair. I suppose you were my minion for my plan to drain Equestria of all its magic, so the shoe can go on the other hoof here – ”

“I was not a minion! And that was my plan, you…”

She went on for some time, and Tirek just chuckled, folding one hand behind his back while he trotted, while the other held the torch high. The two came to yet another entry way, this one thirty feet across and flanked by carved reliefs of two kneeling gargoyles with an image of a roaring Tirac above them. Tirek paid it little mind, but did pay attention to the floor this time. He spotted the rune of another magic circle, and in deference to Cozy’s concerns carefully stepped around it rather than chance activating it.

The entry led to a set of stairs leading further down more than fifty steps, into a broad, square chamber that was maybe fifty feet on a side. Its walls were covered in mosaic, life-sized images of creatures suffering once more – the source of their suffering wasn’t clear, only their agonized poses and the fact that all of them had their shadows stretching away from them and straight up into a thick black cloud that hovered overhead.

The mosaic images on the wall led to an aperture that was shaped like Tirac’s face, fifteen feet tall, mouth once again wide open in a roar. Despite the mouth being open, however, the light of Tirek’s torch couldn’t reach beyond the mouth, stopping at an edge of utter blackness at least as deep as the one that lurked at the entry into Midnight Castle. Directly in front of the blackness was a glowing green rune – but rather than faint, this one was obvious, its glow deep but impossible to miss when contrasted against the sheer darkness in front of it.

Tirek advanced about halfway into the room and then stopped to consider, then walked over to one wall and smacked it with his free hand, shattering the mosaic. He picked up a piece and tossed it at the darkness and watched as seemed to hit something physical and simply disappear. It didn’t pass beyond or into the darkness – it simply vanished the moment it touched its edge.

Cozy swallowed. “Uh…good catch, Tirek.”

“Indeed,” Tirek agreed, considering. He held out his free hand and conjured up an orb of light once more, and wasn’t surprised when the rune flared up and green lines started tracing out from it and towards him. He dispelled the orb, and the lines disappeared.

“Just like the entry,” Cozy said as she took to the air, rubbing her chin with one hoof. “Gonna have to blast it again…which means using up more of your power.”

“Except that the barrier at the entrance merely repelled intruders,” Tirek said. “This annihilates them. That means far more magic will be required.” Tirek glanced at one hand, and clenched it into a fist, watching the muscles of his arm tense. “Power has a price…and we no doubt will soon have those other arrivals to the castle to deal with…”

Cozy clapped her hooves together. “Ooh! Or…we could bean two birds with one stone! Remember atop Mount Everhoof, when you took Chrysalis’ magic to get through that shield? Well, why not do it here, to those other invaders?”

Tirek rubbed at his beard. “Yes…only this time, I won’t be giving anything back.”

The darkness that enveloped the entryway to Midnight Castle gave way before Glory Pose’s horn-light, but it seemed to do so only reluctantly, seeming to linger for a moment longer than it should have before the light. After just twenty feet, however, the clinging darkness gave way entirely, revealing a great entry hall supported by four massive columns that stretched up to a vaulted ceiling. Thick cobwebs hung between the columns, while iron sconces contained unlit torches.

They’d entered from the west. To the north was a wide staircase the climbed up into the darkness. East was a set of wide brass doors, one of them open but the room beyond too dark to see in. South was another set of brass doors, these ones shut tight. The rim of the vaulted ceiling, meanwhile, had eight stone gargoyles perched around it and leering down at them; Dash couldn’t help but want to keep her eyes on them. At least Daring did as well. She held out a hoof to stop the herd once they reached the edge of the entry hall.

“If I was a trap…” Daring mumbled., then beat her wings and took off towards the statues. Dash hung back, stepping out of the way of Caballeron and his goon squad as they came up behind Glory.

Caballeron glanced around at the floor, then up at Daring. “You see something?”

“Not yet, just being cautious,” Daring called down. “Check the floor, I noticed something off about it.”

Dash looked down, but all she saw was dusty stone tiles fitted tightly together. Caballeron risked getting a little closer, leaning down and inspecting the floor closely, with Glory brightening her horn for additional light.

Dash shook her head after a moment. “What are we looking for? Tripwires? Pressure plates?”

“No, not that…” Daring was hanging onto one gargoyle and glanced down at the floor. Her eyes widened. “Hoof-prints. I can see them better from up here.”

The group shifted their focus, and Dash saw what Daring had: broad imprints in the dust. The prints were cloven, unlike a pony’s hoof, and huge, at least twice as big around as Dash’s own hoof, or even Rogue’s, the biggest of Caballeron’s goons. The prints led east, to the open brass door.

“What made those?” Glory asked.

Caballeron scratched at his chin. “Something with cloven hooves…a centaur, I imagine, given where we are. Perhaps a minotaur…”

“Maybe,” Daring said. She’d finished looking over the last gargoyle, and gave it a tap. “These are just statues. Should be safe to move forward…” she tested that herself by gliding down and landing in the middle of the entry, between the four columns, but nothing happened even when she pranced in place a few times.

The rest of the group came forward, and Caballeron pointed to the sconces as he looked to his henchponies. “Biff, Withers, get some torches into those, give us more light. Rogue, set up our tents. We’ll make this spot our base camp. It could take days to search just the upper levels of this castle, nevermind the caverns beneath us.”

“Days?” Daring asked, smirking. “I could search all the top levels in an afternoon.”

“By all means, do so,” Caballeron didn’t look directly at Daring as he spoke, instead helping Rogue unpack their tents. “You can feel free to set off every trap in this castle. Luck runs out, my friend, and the odds are on my side that sooner or later some poison spike or falling rock will finally put you out of my misery.”

“Keep dreaming,” Dash retorted, bumping a hoof with Daring in support.

“Also,” Glory put in, “there’s still whoever or whatever was shooting fireballs at us. Maybe Cilia was right about focusing on that first…” She narrowed her eyes at Daring. “Do you really want to face whatever was throwing fireballs big enough to take down an airship alone?”

Daring shrugged. “Maybe they just knew that Caballeron was coming.” She looked behind her, at the hoof-prints in the dirt. “Gonna go out on a limb and say it was a centaur. Someone trying to follow in Tirac’s hoofsteps.”

Glory paled, tail reflexively covering one flank’s cutie mark. “Or Tirek’s…”

Dash had to suppress a grimace of her own at the memory of the ancient centaur’s rampage a few years back. Glory must have been a victim of his, not that Dash was surprised to learn that – he’d taken the magic of every pony in Equestria, after all.

Daring had, meanwhile, gone over to Biff and taken one of the torches he had just lit from its iron sconce, ignoring his protests as she came up to Dash. “Let’s at least check out the nearby rooms,” she said, holding out the torch.

Dash took it in both hooves. “You really think some centaur is trying to become the next Tirek? Or Tirac, or…don’t centaurs have other names?”

“A few,” Daring chuckled as the two trotted south. “And…I don’t know. I hope not…but something didn’t want us to come here.” She smiled. “Though, I wouldn’t worry. We were sitting ducks once we crashed but they stopped firing. I’m going to guess whoever they were, they ran out of power.”

The two continued south for a few dozen feet, the torchlight fluttering against the shadows of the vaulted hall they traveled down. Another set of brass double doors greeted them on the western wall at the end, while in the east was a narrow hallway leading to a set of spiral stairs that curved both up and down. Daring went to the door, looking it over carefully before finally pushing it open a few inches, then, when nothing happened, opening it the rest of the way.

Pillars of stone supported the ceiling of the enormous chamber beyond, with a long and heavy-looking stone table sitting in the center, stretching back into the darkness beyond the torch’s light.

“Dining room,” Dash noted. “Huh…you kinda’ forget that even evil overlords have to eat.”

“Doubt there’s anything edible left in any pantry,” Daring said as the two trotted in, looking around. Dash noticed chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and flew up to them. They were covered in cobwebs, but unlit candles also lay within a few of them still; she set them alight, burning away the cobwebs in the process. The increased light pushed back at the omnipresent darkness, revealing the chamber more fully – in particular, to a massive pipe organ that sat at its far end.

“You’re kidding,” Dash said as she flew over to the organ, Daring joining her. “So Tirac wasn’t even pretending to not be, like, the evilest overlord ever.”

“Guess not,” Daring agreed. She eyed Dash. “Do me a favor and please don’t try and play it.”

“I’ve read too many of your books,” Dash assured her. Daring nodded, looking around the chamber for a few moments but finding nothing. The two pegasi went back out into the hall, and Daring pointed towards the spiral stairs.

“Since this is the dining room,” she indicated the room they’d come out of, “those will lead to the kitchens, pantry, all that stuff. The Sun Stone won’t be there.”

“It might be in a hidden vault that you could only access from there, though,” Dash pointed out.

“Maybe.” She shook her head. “I don’t know enough about Scorpan to even begin to guess where he might have hidden it, and that’s before we remember that he apparently went insane. Still, probably not. Caballeron can search down that way.”

The two went back to the main hall – Dash briefly considered recommending their camp be moved to the dining room, but then decided being based near to the exit was probably a better idea. The great brass doors in the east, one of which hung open, revealed a grand hall that was positively choked with dust and stretched on into darkness beyond the torch’s light. Life-sized statues of centaur and gargoyle warriors lined the hallway as far as the light stretched, each of them glaring down at whoever walked down the hallway, and bedecked in armor covered in spikes.

“I honestly think that Nightmare Moon was more subtle,” Dash said.

Daring didn’t respond, instead studying the floor and the hoof-prints that traced their way down the hall, then spending a few minutes checking up and down the door’s edges before tentatively stepping out a few paces into the hallway. Once again, no traps were set off, and she waved Dash forward as she took to the air.

Dash followed Daring, though she also made sure to pay attention to then hoof-steps. “You’re sure that the Sun Stone only glowed and was warm?” She asked. “Because whoever this centaur is, they’re going through a lot of effort to protect it.”

“Positive,” Daring said. “I guess it could probably be used as some sort of focus for magic, but I can think of a half-dozen artifacts that would be better and easier to access. More likely this is some centaur who wants to try and plunder this place for Tirac’s magical secrets.” She whickered in annoyance. “I wish the centaurs were more open to outsiders, might at least know what we’re up against…”

They flew seventy feet, eventually arriving at another set of brass doors, both of these open and revealing a massive chamber – the torch’s light didn’t reveal any far walls. After once again thoroughly checking for traps, the two advanced inwards – keeping to the air – and spotted a short set of stairs leading up to a raised dais forty feet into the room, atop which sat an obsidian black altar, and tall, stained glass windows another ten feet beyond that, though no light of any sort came in from the outside.

The stained glass depicted scenes of a great black centaur with broad horns looming over a dune sea. His arms were spread wide, while stretching out from him were vast shadows that touched the far corners of the desert. Centaurs, gargoyles, and even some horses were depicted bowing to the centaur, while behind and above the black centaur was a vast black cloud with tendrils that wrapped around his wrists and horns.

“Rainbow Dash,” Daring said, “meet Tirac, the Lord of Midnight Castle.”

“And one-hundred-and-twenty percent a very bad creature,” Dash noted. “What happened to him? Like…there’s no chance of running into him or awakening him or something is there?”

“Don’t want to say ‘no chance’ and jinx it,” Daring answered, which was emphatically not the answer that Dash had wanted to here. But she then shook her head. “But as far as I know, when he was overthrown, the creatures who did it made it pretty permanent.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought about Sombra.” Dash scowled. “Never did figure out how he came back a second time. I really hope Twilight’s looking into that.”

The two explored the chamber’s edges, and found along its southwest wall another, far larger set of spiraling stairs that again stretched both up and down into darkness. The northwest, meanwhile, had an alcove with more mundane stairs that only went upwards.

“We’re exploring up first, right?” Dash asked. “What was it you said in one of your books…any ruin can only have so much up but could go down forever, so it’s best to start at the top and work your way down?”

“Normally, yes,” Daring said, pointing down at the dust-covered floor, and the hoofprints there. She followed them back to the southwest spiraling stairs – and the fact that they were heading down. “But I’m pretty sure that whoever was attacking us is down there. We should deal with that sooner rather than later.”

Dash nodded, following Daring as the two once again headed back to the camp. By now several tents had been set up, bedrolls already lain out inside of them, and Caballeron had even lain out a collapsible table and had pencils, papers, and rulers on it.

He slid over a piece of paper and pencil as Daring got close. “Care to do the honors?”

Daring nodded, taking the pencil into her mouth and starting to sketch out a rough map of what she and Dash had explored. Dash, meanwhile, flew up to the edge of the hallway and landed in front of the exit, still holding the torch aloft in one hoof. She frowned at the fact that the darkness that surrounded the entrance was an insistent thing, reacting to the torch’s fire like it was far dimmer than it was supposed to be.

“Maybe Scorpan just wanted a light for this place,” she mused, turning back around and setting the torch into an empty sconce that had been saved for it.

“You think that Scorpan took one of the legendary treasures of the pre-classical era because he wanted a flashlight?” Glory Pose demanded, glaring up at Dash.

Dash glared back. “Hey, at the time it wasn’t the pre-whatever anything.” She crossed her hooves. “Maybe Sun Stones were a jangle a dozen back then! You don’t know.”

“As a matter of fact I do know,” Glory insisted. “The Sun Stone is a one-of-a-kind artifact, a tiny shard of the Sun itself according to myth and a gemstone beyond compare. Those don’t just grow on trees.”

“Of course not, gems grow in the ground,” Dash deadpanned. “Duh, everypony knows that.”

Glory’s eye twitched. “Are you being obtuse on purpose?”

“Maybe!” Absolutely, actually, but frankly Dash was enjoying Glory’s sour mood. It was the least that the traitor deserved. The unicorn’s eye twitched again, and she stuck up her nose and stomped over to the table where Daring had finished drawing out her rough match of what they’d found so far.

Daring tapped the location of the great spiral stairs down. “We should go and deal with the centaur-or-whatever,” Daring said. “Maybe there’s a way we can talk them out of…whatever they’re going to do. If not, better to face them head-on then whenever they want to attack us.”

“I agree,” Caballeron said, putting a hoof to his chin as he considered. He looked to his goon squad. “Biff, Withers, Rogue, remain here and guard the camp. Keep Miss Glory Pose safe. I shall go with Daring and Dash to deal with our intruder.”

Glory’s eyes widened. “Wh…Doctor Caballeron, trusting Daring Do out in the desert was one thing, but you want to head off with her and her thug alone?”

Dash looked over to the other three thugs with a smirk. “Hey, I’m in your club now.”

“I’m not a thug,” Biff insisted.

“It is of no concern, Miss Pose,” Caballeron insisted, waving a hoof at Daring even as he smiled at Glory. “Miss Do is far too honorable and upstanding to try anything, as is her companion. But your worry is appreciated.”

“I’m not…” Glory began, but checked herself. “Well, that’s not entirely the problem. The problem is, what if you find the Sun Stone down there? Two pegasi, one of them a Wonderbolt? She’ll get the Sun Stone and then all of this will have been for nothing!”

“An unfortunate risk, though I wouldn’t concern yourself too much. I have been facing off against Daring for years now – I have some tricks up my sleeves as well.”

“No.” Glory stomped a hoof on the floor. “I came along to protect my investments in this venture, and I’m not stopping now. I’m coming with you.”

Caballeron’s eyes grew wide. “What? No, Miss Pose, it’s too dangerous, you are not used to – ”

“I insist,” Glory glared hard at him, then turned her gaze to Daring. “I am well able to protect myself, I have taken self-defense courses. I trust you will raise no objections?”

Daring sighed, taking off her pith helmet and rubbing her face. “Fine. Two rules: you step where I step and you don’t touch anything. Otherwise we can all just sit here and wait to be attacked – it’ll be safer.”

Glory looked to Caballeron, who looked more than a little nonplussed, but he finally relented and nodded in recognition of a losing argument. The unicorn herself nodded to Daring. Dash, meanwhile, suppressed a groan of annoyance. Sure, Caballeron was a potentially dangerous villain, but he was at least experienced with this whole adventure thing, same as she was. Dash didn’t doubt for a second that Glory was going to make a huge mistake at some point that would put them all in danger.

Daring seemed to feel the same way, but likewise seemed determined to get a move on already – the Sun Stone wasn’t going to find itself, after all. “Okay. Dash, you’re still on torch duty; Glory, you’ll be providing light as well. I take point and look for traps, Caballeron does the heavy lifting. Goon squad – ”

“Hey!”

“ – guard the camp.” She half-turned, but then quickly came around again. “Oh, and there’s a dining room with a pipe organ that way, don’t play it, Withers.”

The hench-pony raised his hooves. “You ring one gong…”

“You summon up one spectral army…” Rogue countered.

“Worst. Hearth’s Warming. Ever,” Biff agreed.

Glory’s eyes widened, but she couldn’t voice anything before Dash was already herding her along and after Caballeron and Daring after retrieving a torch once more. The two quickly caught up and fell in behind the more seasoned dungeon-delvers, making their way down the hallway of creepy statues and into what Dash was thinking of as the Chamber of Maximum Evil Overlordness. She didn’t want to think of what that altar – just visible from the entrance now that there were two sources of light – had once been used for, but it was wide and broad enough that old Tirac had probably had only a few things in mind, none of them good.

Still, nothing impaired their progress to the spiraling stairs, and so down they started to go. Dash had to admit to the tiniest bit of nervousness at this. After all, she was a pegasus, and she was putting dozens of feet of solid rock between her and the sky. Even with a roof overhead, it was one thing to be just inside, like she was in the castle. Now she was underground…and no pegasus liked being cramped up.

But she managed to keep herself cool, of course, and focused just on the path ahead and the passage that lead down, down, down and into the dungeons below. After what had to have been at least a couple hundred feet, the stairs at last stopped, revealing a wide, broad chamber beyond, too large for the light of even Glory’s horn and Dash’s torch to illuminate its far walls. Ten-foot-wide pillars spaced evenly as far as they could see supported a roof overhead, while the floor…

…the floor was covered with broken statuary, which looked like it had first been torn from the pillars. Arms and legs and tails and wings and heads made of stone littered the ground, the faces of the statues all blank and expressionless.

“Huh,” Dash said. “Wonder why these statues are broken but the ones upstairs aren’t…also anypony smell strawberries?”

“I do,” Glory put in, sniffing. “Smells like some foal’s perfume…”

“I doubt it.” Dash deadpanned. Glory shot her a glare, but Dash just returned it.

Daring, meanwhile, stopped them at the edge of the chamber, squinting down at the floor. “Trap,” she said at length, pointing. “There’s a rune here, see the green glow?”

“Barely,” Caballeron said, but nodded. “Hmm, a magical trap. I always prefer the mechanical ones…much easier to circumvent.” He joined Daring on the floor as the two looked the trap over. “There are fainter runes connected to this one, they form a circle…”

“I see it,” Daring said, and frowned as she scooted just a little closer. “The main rune’s been scratched…not enough to disable it. The scratch looks recent.” She eyed the rune, then the broken statues beyond. “And…I think I know why those statues are broken.”

Dash looked to the rune, then out at the statues. “Huh, something that activates golems or something? That’s pretty cool.”

Daring walked to the far edge of the entry, right up to the wall and outside the edge of the rune circle. She grimaced as she stuck a hoof out beyond the edge, then when nothing happened stepped out entirely. After a few moments of nothing out of the ordinary occurring, she waved everypony else forward, looking at Glory in particular. But Glory did as Daring had told her, stepping exactly where the adventurer had and keeping well clear of the magic circle.

Soon the four were in the vast chamber, looking around. “So where to now?” Dash asked, looking closely at the ground. She thought she saw the outline of giant hoofprints in the dust, but couldn’t make heads or tails of them.

Daring looked similarly unsure. “Our centaur buddy was definitely fighting these golems from the looks of things. So…that means he’s an invader, same as us. Good to know…” She shrugged. “The hoof-prints are too chaotic, I can’t tell where they went. Let’s look for an exit and see if they made it.”

“Should we be perhaps concerned that the centaur was able to defeat all of these?” Caballeron asked as they set off, following the wall north. There were golems – pieces of them, anyway – wherever they went.

“We should,” Daring agreed. “We really should. But the alternative is going back to Istanbull and asking to borrow an army from the Sultan, and he still doesn’t like either of us.”

Caballeron grinned. “Emira Numnah asked after you, by the way. I think she agreed to my bribe and provided as much aid as she did only as a means of getting your attention.”

“Well it worked,” Daring groused.

“More of that never-before-told adventure?” Dash asked. “Wait, what does Caballeron mean that Numnah was trying to get your attention? Why does she want your attention if she doesn’t like you?”

Only silence greeted Dash for several seconds afterwards, with Daring, Caballeron, and Glory all pausing in their trots to look at her. She stared back. “What?”

Finally, Glory looked to Daring. “These books that A.K. Yearling writes for you…what’s their age range?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Dash demanded.

Daring didn’t respond to Glory’s question, leaving Dash with little choice but to mumble to herself as the small herd continued onwards. In addition to the pieces of golems on the ground, the four saw the occasional scorch mark or broken stone or cracked pillar. The scorch marks were cool to the touch, but that didn’t mean much on its own. Finally, they came to a northern wall, and following it led to another gap guarded by yet another magical rune.

Daring peered at it and past it, then shook her head. “I don’t see any tracks – I don’t think our centaur went this way.”

“Is there any way to disable the traps?” Caballeron asked as the quartet moved around it. “If we break the circle of runes, that should simplify things for us, yes?”

“Yes,” Daring agreed, “but in my experience there’s also a one-in-ten chance that it’ll explode. You want to roll those dice?”

Caballeron grimaced. “I defer to your expertise.”

Daring nodded. They came to another wall and once again started following it, eventually coming on yet another exit – this one grand in construction, easily thirty feet across and leading back to a set of stairs that went down and out of sight, flanked by two kneeling reliefs of gargoyles carved into the wall. Another relief overhead displayed an image of Tirac looming over the two gargoyles, mouth open in a silent roar despite his face appearing completely passive. The flickering torchlight did not aid in the creepy look to the carvings, nor did the blue glow of Glory’s telekinesis.

But Daring nodded as she pointed down at the dust in the ground. “Tracks,” she noted, pointing them out. “Heading straight…our centaur went this way.”

The four of them almost began the process of going around the magic circle, but then Daring stopped them again, ears perked up and forward. Straining her own ears, Dash heard the sound of heavy hoofsteps coming up from the stairs.

“Centaur!” She said, though she had the presence of mind to keep her voice low.

Daring nodded. She grabbed the torch from Dash’s hooves and stuck her helmet on top of it, smothering its flame. Glory took the hint and quelled her own horn-light down to the bare minimum needed for the four to see each other.

To Dash’s surprise, Daring then looked to Caballeron. “I’ll defer to your expertise,” she whispered. Then again, Dash supposed that Caballeron was more used to working in groups.

The earth pony glanced around himself. “Miss Glory, over there,” he said, pointing to a pillar a dozen feet away. “Wait for our signal. The signal will be the three of us attacking.” He turned to the two pegasi. “Behind two pillars on opposite sides…those ones,” He pointed to two pillars twenty feet back from the entry. “Stay on the ground until I move, don’t want to risk the centaur hearing your wingbeats. I’ll go low. You go high.” He smiled. “But perhaps I can charm them?”

Daring glanced around at the wrecked golems. “Charm runs out too,” she said, then tapped Dash on the withers. Dash nodded, moving as quietly as possible to the pillar Caballeron had indicated, Daring moving to the opposite one. Caballeron took a pillar an extra ten feet back, so that when Daring and Dash moved, they’d be behind the centaur.

Dash hunkered down in the darkness and waited. The remains of a centaur golem were next to her, providing additional cover; she chanced glancing out and in the direction of the entry. Torchlight could now be seen coming up from the stairs, the orange flickering light adding a whole additional layer of menace to the sound of the advancing centaur hooves, heavy beats from broad cloven hooves that just didn’t sound right to pony ears.

After what seemed like forever, the actual flames of the torch came into view…followed by the red hand that clutched the torch and held it high. Then the black horns…and then a face that Rainbow Dash recognized.

Dash’s jaw dropped, and she felt her blood running cold.

That was Tirek.

That was Lord Tirek.

Tirek, who had once fought Twilight Sparkle channeling the power of all four alicorns, to a draw.

That was a thousand-year-old pure evil villain who was supposed to be in Tartaros. Thousands of miles away and locked up so that he couldn’t harm any creature again.

But how…?

And then, from behind him, somepony small and pink with blue hair flew up, hovering beside him with her hooves folded behind her back.

“Excuse me! We know you’re here! We were waiting for you! So…could you please come out and play? Pretty please?”

Cozy Glow smiled a smile that was full of teeth and malevolence into the darkness, and giggled. “Pretty please, with a cherry on top?”

6. Battle in the Shadows

Midnight Castle was not as unchanging as it at first appeared to be. No stone ever shifted, no erosion of the plinth that it sat on occurred, but dust did accumulate inside of it from little cracks and imperfections in its construction. Vermin would find their way in. Sometime small animals that would take one look at the place and know better than to stick around…sometimes, bigger and supposedly more intelligent ones, that wouldn’t.

A pony necromancer here, a camel sorcerer there, a feline alchemist with delusions of grandeur, even the occasional centaur or gargoyle who had heard or read too many stories…and apparently not paid attention to how those stories had ended. There had been more invaders in the early years, but by now it was only one every century or so. Their decreasing frequency inspired the tiniest…slightest…most foolish glimmer of hope.

The outer wards were breached, and Midnight Castle’s hitherto lone occupant stirred. The golems were beset, and that woke him fully. He heaved a sigh, hefted his spear, and trudged to the entryway to the inmost sanctum. He set his spear into the ground, and waited.

Maybe…for the last time?

“Probably not.”

Cozy had wanted to fly up and attack whoever else was in the castle immediately, but Tirek had counseled patience. After all, they didn’t really know what tricks their attackers might have up their sleeves – assuming they wore sleeves – and so rushing in would not necessarily be the best idea. Surely they would, at the least, be more intelligent than the golems.

Besides, the two were getting hungry. So they had a small picnic in the chamber beneath the pillar-room, doing their best to ignore the black wall of annihilation that was only a few feet away. It wasn’t going anywhere.

Still, they had to get to business eventually, so after a light lunch and two boxes of apple juice for energy, Cozy Glow was ready to go and help Tirek take down their enemies/get additional power to take down the black wall. Cozy had been eager enough to fly on ahead up the stairs and out into the pillar room – and that was what had allowed her to spot the torch-and-hornlight of the castle’s other invaders across the room.

Cozy saw them, or at least saw that there were only a few of them – the distance and the glare of the light made picking out individual details difficult – but they couldn’t see her due to their own light blinding their night vision. Cozy smirked as she turned around and flew back down the stairs, which Tirek was near the top of.

“Hang on a second!” She whispered, putting her hooves to his chest and pushing him back, or trying to at least. He was really big. “They’re here. Back down the stairs.”

“Why?” Tirek asked, though he did back up a few steps. “If they’re up there, then why should I not take them out now?”

“Because we’ll wait for them to get close, then come out! It’ll add to our menace.”

“I’m already menacing. Why do we need more menace?”

“Because I’m just a kid! Menace is all I’ve got!”

Tirek rolled his eyes, but indulged Cozy by backing down several more steps. “Very well. Who are our erstwhile enemies?”

“Dunno, couldn’t see them. Ponies, I think, not that many of them.” Cozy settled into her usual spot on Tirek’s shoulder, rubbing her front hooves together. “Heehee! Just think, they came to Midnight Castle looking for the Rainbow of Darkness. Maybe somepony looking to be Equestria’s next big threat. But we’re already here! Ooh, this is gonna be so fun!”

“You say, as I’m about to do all the work,” Tirek noted.

“Oh shush, it’s not gonna be hard work.” Cozy shifted a little, getting comfortable even as her ears perked up tall, listening intently. After what seemed like forever she finally heard the sound of approaching hoof-steps, and indistinct, low voices. Cozy egged Tirek forward at that, and he complied, advancing up the stairs at a steady, measured place. At a pleading look from Cozy, he sighed, but also stomped his hooves a little with each step, adding to the menace.

The two emerged into the small vestibule before the main pillar chamber, and were greeted by the sight of…nothing. Not a soul in sight within the limits of Tirek’s torchlight. He tossed it onto the ground so that his hands would be free, then folded those behind his back, glaring out into the darkness, but ponies failed to materialize from that darkness.

Cozy considered. Had they turned tail and run away? On the one hoof, that would be great, that they were so menacing that ponies would rather run away than face them without ever having even seen them. But on the other hoof, that was not what they really wanted right now; they needed batteries, not cowards. Plus if these were more evil ponies looking for the Rainbow of Darkness, there was no way that they’d just run away without at least first seeing the threat…

She hopped from Tirek’s shoulder and floated forward, folding her front hooves behind her back to project the perfect image of innocence. “Excuse me! We know you’re here! We were waiting for you! So…could you please come out and play? Pretty please?”

And then she smiled, in a way that kids her age usually didn’t smile. It would contrast sharply with her words and pose and add even more menace. “Pretty please, with a cherry on top?”

Only silence greeted Cozy, and after a few moments it became painful to maintain her smile, so she dropped, and assumed a more comfortable, horizontal hovering position, glaring into the darkness. “Come on! Maybe we can be friends? Wouldn’t that be fun?”

Tirek came up behind her, clearly growing impatient. Cozy whickered and stomped her hooves at the air, and at the intractability of the invading ponies who weren’t so much as making a peep, just hiding somewhere in the creepy darkness of Midnight Castle. She was about to start shouting, but then a thought crossed her mind.

“Well, how about we play a game anyway?” She asked, waving Tirek forward as she floated backwards, and landed once more on his shoulder. “Since you’re all hiding, how about…hide and seek? Me and Tirek will be it.”

Cozy giggled, but even as she did she closed her eyes, thinking hard. Okay, so say she was a fairly ordinary pony – a fairly ordinary adult pony – and wanted to get the Rainbow of Darkness but then learned that there was a big, scary centaur between it and her. She wouldn’t run, not after coming so far. She was also here with friends – say, maybe five friends. So six ponies total…

In her mind’s eye, Cozy, on thinking of six friends, stopped seeing six ponies…instead, she saw one pony, plus a changeling, a yak, a dragon, a griffon, and a hippogriff. Those stupid students at the School of Friendship who had ruined her plans, ruined everything, took victory away from her right when it was in her hooves.

Sure. They’d do. Imagining that would make this fun.

Okay, so if Cozy was them, and for whatever reason they wanted the Rainbow of Darkness, and they came to this room full of darkness and pillars and Tirek and Cozy were here…they’d attack. Need to take out Tirek and Cozy first, no point in going for the Rainbow of Darkness without dealing with the biggest threats ahead of time.

Yona right in the front, just beyond the light of the torches. Yaks were good at charging in, smashing things, being loud and distracting. Sandbar to back her up. He was actually a little stronger than her thanks to earth pony magic, so he’d end up being a big surprise, his charge hidden by Yona’s bulk.

Smolder would attack from one side. Gallus and Silverstream would attack from the other. Flanking, from the air, waiting until Tirek had walked past. Tirek couldn’t fly, after all, so he was vulnerable to attacks from the air, or so the students would believe. Gallus and Silverstream would go for speedy attacks with their claws. Smolder would come in literally hot, breathing fire and smoke at Tirek to blind him.

Ocellus would be backup, jump in where needed. Shapeshifting would be useful like that. Probably end up as a heavy-hitter alongside Yona, or another dragon like Smolder for even more fire…or else turn into a unicorn for magical blasting power.

So. Initial charge attack to distract. Flanking attacks from the rear, left and right which would be the real first blows. Magical backup. Sheer numbers to overwhelm Tirek – Cozy would not be a major concern herself – and hopefully take him down fast and hard. Ponies wouldn’t be able to do necessarily all of that in detail…but the fundamental tactics were obvious. As long as one of each tribe was present, that’s what they’d try if they were going to attack.

Cozy opened her eyes, then looked to Tirek, though she still was half-focused on the battle in her head. “We’re flanked,” she whispered right into his ear, even as she hopped off his shoulder and flew down to his back so that she’d be out of the way. “Behind us and in the air, pegasi. An earth pony will charge us first to distract us. Unicorn spellcaster behind them.”

Tirek nodded, stopping his slow forward trot and taking his arms from behind his back, taking in a breath.

Cozy saw in her head…Tirek lashing out with magic straight in front of him, sending Yona and Sandbar flying. Gallus and Silverstream were snatched from the air into his mighty hands as he turned and headbutted Smolder, smashing her into the ground. Ocellus would be shocked and pull up short just before her first attack, and Tirek would telekinetically seize her and pull her forward, drain her magic…victory in just three quick moves. Checkmate.

Cozy grinned.

“Now!” An unfamiliar, masculine voice commanded. In front of them, Cozy saw a charging, scruffy-looking earth pony stallion. Just as planned. Cozy’s grin widened while Tirek reacted exactly as she’d predicted, magic gathering between his horns as he roared and shot it forward. The flash and glare blinded Cozy, but she felt Tirek lifting his arms up, ready to intercept the expected blows to the head that the pegasi would try for…

Cozy’s vision had just cleared enough to see a rainbow streak and a blue hoof slam into Tirek’s face, faster than a pegasus should have been able to move, nimbly dodging around Tirek’s outstretched hand. Tirek let out a shout of surprise. Cozy had to hold on tight as Tirek stumbled from the unexpected blow.

The follow-up was a yellow-gray blur, not nearly as fast as the first one but still twirling nimbly in the air, grabbing one of Tirek’s horns with one foreleg and then smashing his face again with the other before shooting back off into the air. Tirek stumbled backwards, hands now at his face.

That was when the third attack hit – the earth pony stallion, wrapped in a purple aura that helped carry him into the air and which must have pulled him out of the way of Tirek’s blast, the unicorn in the group giving up their own attack to save their comrade. The scruffy earth pony landed a solid buck with both hind legs on Tirek’s chest, sending him reeling backwards and throwing Cozy from him.

Cozy’s wings flailed, and she got them under herself just in time to avoid hitting the floor. She turned around, and her eyes widened as what she saw.

Hovering twenty feet in the air was none other than Professor Rainbow Dash – Wonderbolt, several-times-over savior of Equestria, and self-proclaimed fastest pony in the world, though Cozy had to admit the last was probably true. She was also the main reason her plan hadn’t worked. Cozy hadn’t expected a pony like her!

Floating next to Rainbow Dash was a yellow-coated, charcoal-maned pegasus in a Daring Do cosplay outfit that she had put way too much effort into. Beneath the two pegasi was another pony in an even worse Doctor Caballeron getup. Bringing up the rear was a unicorn pony Cozy didn’t even recognize, with a purple coat and white mane. Probably some obscure secondary character from one of those stupid books.

Cozy snarled. Undone by cosplayers?! “Oh come on! This is no fair!”

Rainbow Dash had helped save Equestria a half-dozen times and was the living embodiment of coolness and awesomeness, and reminding herself of that fact was the principal reason why she wasn’t still hiding behind a pillar. Not that she’d ever admit that to anypony.

She’d wanted to continue pressing the attack against Tirek, but for all that she, Daring, and Caballeron had pulled off an almost perfect series of strikes, the centaur seemed little more than mildly annoyed. He had been pushed around through sheer force rather than any real pain. Tirek was already standing on four hooves again and rubbing his face where Dash and Daring had one-two sucker-bucked him, while his other hand scratched almost nonchalantly at his chest like it itched where Caballeron had hit him.

So now Dash needed to buy time for the smarter ponies in the room – Dash wasn’t dumb but she knew her lane – to come up with a plan.

“How the hay did you two get out of Tartaros?” She demanded of Cozy Glow and Tirek, as the little pink psychopath flew back up to Tirek’s side, hovering next to the far larger creature. Cozy Glow. What was she doing here, of all ponies? Tirek and her really did have an alliance…

Cozy glared hate up at Dash. “Nevermind that. What the hay are you doing here? What do you want with the Rainbow of Darkness?”

“What’s a Rainbow of Darkness?”

“Don’t be coy with me, Professor Dash! You’re not cute enough to pull it off!”

Dash wasn’t certain how to take that, though she was pretty sure it wasn’t as insulting to her as Cozy had probably intended it to be. She was more concerned with the fact that Tirek had finished shaking off the blows delivered to him, though he paused and his eyes grew large when they settled on the other pegasus flying next to Rainbow Dash. “Daring Do?”

Daring tipped her pith helmet slightly at being addressed. “Lord Tirek. Can’t say that I’ve had the pleasure before.”

Tirek looked to Cozy and waved a hand at Daring in a ‘see?’ motion, then looked back to Daring, crossing his arms and stroking his beard. “Intriguing…so those books are not a mere fantasy, then? There really is a Daring Do?” He looked down at the other ponies. “And a Doctor Caballeron?”

Cozy Glow rolled her eyes. “No way, this is just Professor Dash on some kind of lame LARP or something. If Doctor Caballeron was real then he’d be on our side. He’s a bad guy.”

“Not necessarily. He and Daring have joined forces on several occasions when the situation required it – ”

“Wait, what?!” Dash demanded, all her concern being blasted into the bedrock at what she was hearing. “Lord Tirek reads Daring Do?!”

Tirek looked again to Cozy as he jerked a thumb at Dash for some reason, then looked back. “Of course. I read many different things…and Cozy sent me much of the series while I was in Tartaros when she was practicing the spell that allowed her to send me letters.”

“I wanted books that I didn’t care if I accidentally burned,” Cozy said, grinning at Dash. Dash glared back. Cozy had been her student, the little pegasus knew that Dash was a fan of the series.

“Well I appreciated them,” Tirek interjected before a tangent between the two could begin. “A.K. Yearling has quite the grasp of metaphor and is quite vivid in her descriptions of the locales Daring visits…an obvious draw for someone who was trapped in a cage for a thousand years.”

Daring blinked. “I’ll…pass the compliment along,” she finally let out, and Tirek nodded at her.

There were several moments of silence, which was finally broken by Caballeron clearing his throat. Dash glanced down and saw that he was trotting forward with surprising confidence, though that might have been to distract Tirek and Cozy from the fact that Glory was trying to sneak behind a pillar, terror apparent all over the unicorn’s face.

“This is strange,” Caballeron said. “This is the strangest conversation I have ever been witness to. However, Lord Tirek, perhaps some arrangement can be made.” He stopped directly beneath Dash and Daring. “We also have not previously had the pleasure of meeting – Miss Daring Do and myself were not in Equestria during your, ah…tour of the country.”

Tirek offered a toothy grin. Cozy rolled her eyes.

“In any event,” Caballeron pressed on, “I gathered from your young compatriot that you are looking for some artifact called the Rainbow of Darkness? I cannot say that I have heard of it – but I am here looking for an entirely different treasure known as the Sun Stone. I can’t imagine the two are related, given the names. That being the case, I see no reason for our two teams to be at odds.”

“Unfortunately,” Tirek said, “I do.”

That was all the warning that any of them got. Tirek had leapt forward for Caballeron, but Dash beat her wings and was there, shoving him out of the way before kicking off of the ground and taking to the air again before Tirek could snatch her. Her growled and reached out one hand for her, horn glowing, but before he could seize Dash in telekinesis he was smacked by a chunk of stone, a piece of golem that Daring had swooped down and quickly grabbed.

Caballeron recovered himself and turned around. “I believe discretion will prove to be the better part of valor!” He called as he high-tailed it, though he stopped by the pillar that Glory had hidden behind to collect her.

Dash might have agreed, but Tirek had recovered fast and charged forward with appalling speed for some creature so large, chasing right after Glory while the unicorn rushed for the stairs, horn glowing bright for light. Traitor or no, Glory was Dash’s teammate right now, so she took off right after Tirek, hooves outstretched to smack him in the back of the head.

But Tirek stopped his charge, skidding to a halt even as he turned around, grinning and swinging a fist at Dash. His bluff worked, and Dash felt the air being driven from her lungs as she caught the fist straight-on in the chest, sending her flying backwards and into the ground. She saw stars even as she gasped for breath.

Kinda’ worked, Dash consoled herself as she stood up, seeing Glory’s horn-light receding. But then Tirek lifted the torso of one of the golems and threw it casually over his shoulder. It disappeared a moment in the darkness before reappearing in front of Glory, almost hitting her and causing the unicorn to smack head-first into the stone.

Tirek waved a hand, and the torso started sliding forward and back to him, forcing Glory to turn and run from it lest she get crushed. Caballeron reappeared in her horn-light and bucked with his hind legs, stopping the torso’s advance long enough for Glory to remember that she could run in another direction besides forwards or backwards.

Dash took to the air, Tirek not breaking eye contact with her as she did. “Glory!” Dash called as the unicorn took off at a right angle. “Turn off the horn! Tirek won’t be able to see you!”

“Yes, make it a challenge,” Tirek agreed. His ears perked, and he spun with one arm wide, catching the charging Daring Do with his forearm, spinning, and throwing her head-over hooves into the air. Dash rose quickly and caught her before she could impact the ceiling.

Tirek squinted up at them, almost hidden in the darkness as they were. At least Glory had stopped lighting herself up like a beacon. “Come down,” Tirek ordered.

Dash scoffed as Daring got her wings under her. “Why the heck would we do that? You can’t fly.”

Daring almost missed a wingbeat, and then sighed for some reason. “Dash…” she moaned.

“What?”

Tirek was only grinning. “You’re right. I can’t fly.” But then he gathered himself up and leaped – and soared straight at Dash. She let out a shout of surprise as she dove out of the way, letting Tirek sail past. He impacted with all four hooves against a column, but before gravity could take back over he grabbed the stone with one hand, fingers actually digging into it and making handholds.

He kicked with the points of his hooves to get a better grip, and then turned to look at Dash as he held himself in place. “Good thing I didn’t skip leg day.”

“Y-yeah. Good thing,” Dash agreed. Then she yelped as Tirek kicked off from the column and flew at her again. She and Daring parted while Tirek crashed and grabbed onto another column.

“Yeah, I think Caballeron has the right idea,” Daring said, grabbing Dash and fleeing into the shadows. Dash got her own wings under her quickly, though she didn’t let go of Daring. The two couldn’t see where they were going after only a few dozen feet, but at least the columns made hitting anything unlikely. Daring quickly guided them back to the ground before they could hit a wall, and the two turned to look back the way they’d came. Near the center of the great chamber, barely in the light, they saw Tirek let himself fall to the ground, landing easily and glaring out into the shadows without seeing his prey.

Dash gulped. She didn’t like thinking that word, prey. She liked being it even less.

“Okay,” Daring whispered, fumbling her way over to behind a column, Dash following – no sense in risking giving Tirek a straight shot. “So I’m pretty sure he was just messing around with us and could have killed us at any time.”

“Yeah,” Dash agreed, forcing some degree of control over herself. “Ponyfeathers! Tirek levelled, like, half a mountain when he was fighting Twilight…I don’t think I can hit him hard enough while we’re inside to actually hurt him, there isn’t enough space for me to really get goin’…”

“No clouds for lightning…” Daring listed off, “and he’s not just tough and strong, he’s fast…and he’s got a boatload of magic…”

Dash shifted a little, and winced when her leg accidentally kicked a piece of golem stone. She heard the clatter of the stone like it was a freight train roaring past, but it apparently couldn’t have been that loud since Tirek didn’t react to it, instead having retrieved his torch as he proceeded to move slowly between the columns.

Dash let out a sigh of relief…and then had to cover her mouth to stop herself from letting out a loud gasp as an idea came to her. “He’s got a boatload of magic,” she whispered, “but he set off the golem trap but not the other two we found. Right?” Dash waited, then remembered she couldn’t see Daring in the darkness and so wouldn’t see her nod. “Look, my point is, Tirek avoided setting off any other traps. So maybe those can hurt him?”

Dash felt Daring’s wings brush her as the other pegasus ruffled them. “Not bad, Dash,” she said, “if it works, anyway. But we’re going to need bait…”

Tirek gathered up as many pieces of golem as he could in his telekinesis and threw them at the exit to the chambers, the way that would lead further up. The glow of the objects wrapped in his aura provided enough light for him to clearly see the exit despite the distance and the omnipresent shadows, and in just a few minutes he’d completely sealed off the only escape for the four ponies.

That task done, he folded one hand behind his back while using the other to hold his torch high over his head, and began to trot. He swept the torch around as he looked behind each column that he moved past. He was moving at a slow, methodical, predictable pace – because he wasn’t really trying to find the ponies. At least, he didn’t expect to round a column and see them cowering somewhere. The room was too large and his torchlight too feeble for him to possibly actually find them.

No, he instead was keeping his ears perked and alert, and his hoof-steps as soft as possible. He wanted to hear the clip-clop of pony hooves, the rustle of pegasus feathers – and the shifting of stones as the ponies tried to dig themselves free, uncover the only exit. There was no other hope of escape, and no way they could uncover it quietly. The moment he heard pebbles begin to fall…

He wondered where Cozy Glow had gotten off to. She’d hidden herself the moment the scuffle had begun, a wise move given that she was just an ordinary pegasus foal. She might still be lurking in the dark near the ceiling, or perhaps she had retreated back down to the chamber containing the mosaics and the barrier that they needed to pass. At least he had no real cause to worry about her safety - Rainbow Dash wouldn’t harm a foal, and nor would Daring Do, not if she was anything like those novels. Doctor Caballeron, perhaps…but if he attempted to use Cozy as leverage against Tirek, then he would be in for a rude surprise.

Tirek rounded another pillar, and once again found nothing. He was at the south wall now, and as he walked along beside it he found himself coming across yet another exit to the chamber, though this had stairs that led downwards – almost certainly not the direction the ponies would want to flee. He trotted on by it.

If the ponies were going to wait for him to make an error out of impatience, then they were making a grave one of their own. If a thousand years in a prison cell had taught Tirek nothing else, it had at least taught him patience…

There was the sound of a rock falling.

Tirek dropped his torch, spun in its direction and pushed off from the ground in a great leap in its direction through the darkness – towards the exit, just as he had anticipated. It took only two mighty leaps to carry him all the way towards the exit and the pile that he had created – and found Caballeron and the other pony, the unicorn Rainbow Dash had called “Glory”. Both let out whinnies of surprise at his arrival, falling away from the exit they had been trying to dig. Before either could do anything Tirek reached out and seized both in telekinesis, pulling one pony into either hand, gripping them by the barrels. He kept his horns glowing to provide light.

“N-no!” Glory screamed. “Not again!”

Tirek grinned widely. “Oh? So unlike Daring Do and the good Doctor here, you were in Equestria when last I was free, Glory?”

The unicorn battered feebly at Tirek’s hand with her hooves. She tried to blast him in the face with magic, but he just opened his mouth and swallowed the appetizer down.

“Leave her alone!” Caballeron demanded. The blows of his earth pony hooves were just about strong enough to actually hurt, but Tirek endured the pain with practiced ease. “There must be something we can give you in return! Be reasonable!”

“Oh, but he is being reasonable!” Cozy’s voice exclaimed. Tirek glanced over his shoulder, and saw her flying down from the shadows of the ceiling. “Just not in a way you like, mister. See, all we really need is your magic to get past this dumb door.” Cozy landed on Tirek’s shoulder once more, and squinted at Glory. “Oh…hey, Miss Glory Pose! Long time no see!”

Glory, if anything, started struggling even more at the sight of Cozy. Tirek eyed the pegasus, and she giggled. “Oh, it’s nothing special. Miss Pose just used to be my next-door neighbor is all back in Fillydelphia. Uncle Royal Fork used to try to go to her house and her parties a lot. I think he wanted to marry her.”

“Wait, what?” Caballeron asked.

“He was a gold digger!” Glory exclaimed, looking quickly to Caballeron.

Tirek rolled his eyes, while Cozy pranced down the length of his arm and looked at Glory. “Hey, I bet since the Crown seized all of my assets on account of the whole I-tried-to-take-over-the-world thing, that would make you the richest pony in Fillydelphia now!” She leaned forward and patted Glory on the head. “Don’t worry, I’m not mad about that, that’s not your fault. Sure was a lucky break for you, though!” She stepped back and grinned wider. “Who’s next in line to be the richest pony, Miss Pose?”

“You, I would imagine,” Tirek said, “once you get your third of Equestria.”

“Good point!” Cozy trotted back up to Tirek’s shoulder and sat down, ruffling her wings and getting comfortable. “Go on! I wanna get the Rainbow of Darkness.”

Tirek saw no further point in delaying. He gathered magic into his horns and opened his mouth wide…and then stepped backwards and ducked just as Rainbow Dash went shooting on by and would have collided hooves-first with his face.

Tirek did not make the same mistake twice.

Dash let out a shout of surprise as she disappeared into the shadows. There was a thud, probably the sound of her hitting a wall of column. Tirek was more interested in Daring Do, who had appeared right behind Dash with a rock held in both hooves, already swinging it at Tirek’s wrist where he held Caballeron. He simply moved a little so that Caballeron took the blow on his back instead. Daring managed to pull most of the force from her swing.

Cozy was holding onto Tirek’s shoulder tightly, squealing in surprise. Right in Tirek’s ear. He didn’t have time to focus on that, though, as he dropped Caballeron and stepped on him to hold him down, even as he snatched at Daring. The pegasus was just a touch too nimble, but the focus on avoiding his hand allowed Tirek to seize her in telekinesis and then pull her into his grip anyway.

He twisted his upper body to turn and look in the direction Rainbow Dash had disappeared. He was unsurprised to find that she was already flying back, but pulled up short when she saw Tirek lay eyes on her.

“Not bad,” Tirek intoned, “but not enough.”

“Ha! You show her, Tirek!” Cozy laughed as she climbed back into place. “Your speed doesn’t mean much if you’re predictable, Professor Dash!”

Rainbow Dash gulped…and then grinned and glanced at Glory. “Made you look.”

Tirek’s eyes widened. He looked to Glory, and saw her horn lit up with magic. Tirek opened his mouth to swallow it – but it didn’t matter because the magic wasn’t directed at him, but at a rock from the pile he’d made, catapulted right into his face. He let out a roar of pain, then another when another rock smacked into the leg holding Caballeron down. He let go of Glory and Daring on reflex as he stumbled, bringing up his arms to ward off further blows.

“H-hey!” Cozy cried out. “No fair – ahh!”

Cozy suddenly left his shoulder, and Tirek looked to see that Daring had grabbed her and was flying away. “I’ll take this!” Daring called out.

“Put me down, you cosplayer!”

Tirek grunted in annoyance as the ponies shot off into the darkness – but ran or flew straight towards the stairs that lead to the deepest bowels of Midnight Castle. They were fast and quickly out of sight in the dark, but Tirek gathered himself and leaped again, horns glowing brightly…

…and Rainbow Dash came at him from the side in mid-air, where he had no ability to maneuver. Sheer kinetic force slammed into his side and sent him flying into a column, then tumbling gracelessly to the ground. Dash was already off, disappeared into the darkness before Tirek could respond.

Tirek picked himself up, a rumble in his chest and fists clenched tightly. That blow hadn’t hurt…but he had felt it – a little too much. He popped a few joints, then took off at a full gallop, conjuring a shield around him as he moved to prevent any further surprise attacks. As the light of his magic pushed back the darkness, he saw the four allied ponies had regrouped at the top of the stairs leading down, Daring holding a struggling Cozy Glow tightly as she tried to make her way backwards down the steps.

He was charging too fast for even Rainbow Dash to move out of the way, let alone the other three. He let out a battle-roar as he charged, keeping his shield up so that no more annoying rocks or fast-moving pegasi could hit him before he hit one of them with all the force of a freight train. It was time to end this.

Cozy managed to get her muzzle loose from Daring’s grip by biting her. Her eyes were wide and she looked panicked. “The trap!” She screamed.

Tirek’s roar cut out as he tried to slow, but it was too late. His shield touched the magic rune that was carved into the floor. Baleful green light flared to life and the shield collapsed around him – not dissipating, but instead falling like a ton of bricks on the centaur, forcing him to his knees and then onto his side even as it was dragged fully into the circle – and dragged Tirek along with it. The green light reached up and traced its way across his flesh and into his body and clawed at his soul – and it felt like it was tearing loose pieces of it and pulling it back into the rune circle, powering it more so that it could take more.

Tirek howled in pain, real pain, far beyond anything that the ponies had inflicted. The shield had been no mere light cantrip, he’d put serious power into it – and that serious power was now being drained and fueling the rune circle. Yellow-black magic joined the green light and was pulled into it. Tirek felt his muscles atrophying and saw the world seeming to grow larger as he lost height and mass and power.

The howl turned into a roar of defiance. One hand reached out and slammed into the floor beyond the rune circle, fingers still having enough strength to dig into the stone – for now. He dragged himself forward enough so that he could get another hand out and pull further.

After what felt like an eternity but couldn’t have been more than half a minute, Tirek managed to pull himself from the circle. The green glow of the runes and the yellow-black magic still dancing around Tirek cast weird, stuttering shadows and illuminated the five ponies staring at Tirek with wide eyes strangely.

Tirek clenched one fist as he forced himself to his hooves, panting heavily from the effort and the aches that now traveled through his body with every move. He was still taller than even Caballeron…but by a lot less than before. He let out a low growl, wiping his mouth with his other hand while the light of the circle faded.

“You’ll pay for that,” he spat, and charged.

Dash acted first, of course – she dove to the side and against a wall, landing on it with all four hooves, then sprang off of it and into the much-reduced-but-still-huge Tirek. Her hooves connected solidly with him, and Tirek let out a roar of actual pain as he went stumbling. But he also turned into the blow and grabbed Dash, opening his mouth wide even as the two crashed into the ground. Yellow-black magic seized Dash, and she could feel her pegasus magic being assaulted and drawn into Tirek.

But only a thin trickle was pulled from her before Caballeron acted, leaping and landing on Tirek’s side. The magic cut out and Dash was released, and she scampered backwards. Caballeron had tried to kick Tirek again, but he grabbed the earth pony’s hoof as he stood back up and tried to drain magic from him – and got, once again, only a thin trickle. Dash dove forward, but Tirek side-stepped her.

That was when Glory stepped forward, horn glowing bright. “Put him down!” she exclaimed, sending forth a bolt of pure magic. It hit Tirek straight-on and he stumbled, but then threw away Caballeron and spread his arms wide as Glory attacked again – and he swallowed up her magic. This was no thin trickle, but instead a torrent of purple magic spilling forth as Glory shrieked in pain and Tirek feasted.

Dash acted as quickly as she could, charging forward and low, spinning and bucking Tirek in his equine ribs. He coughed and his magic sputtered, while Glory stumbled and cried out as her hoof slipped and she fell down the stairs – right into Daring, still holding a struggling Cozy.

“Ha!” Cozy exclaimed as she escaped Daring’s grasp and flew over to Tirek. Her triumphant smile disappeared at the sight of her ally. She glanced back to the other four ponies, and Dash could see her mind whirling as she returned her gaze to Tirek.

“We gotta go!” Cozy exclaimed, grasping one of Tirek’s hands and trying to pull him away.

“What?” Tirek demanded, while Dash and Caballeron both ran to the stairs to check on Daring and Glory. Daring was holding Glory now, who looked visibly drained, exhausted by Tirek’s attack.

“Even if you get all their magic now, you’ll have to spend it bringing that barrier down – you’ll be too weak! We have to find a way to get you more power!”

Tirek yanked his hand out of Cozy’s grasp, dark eyes focused on the four other ponies. “We do – but not before I take everything I can from these four!” With that, he charged forward.

“Not a chance!” Dash called as she shot forward, meeting Tirek’s charge hooves-first. He grunted and slowed, but roared and kept pushing forward anyway, grabbing Dash’s forehooves. She lifted her hind ones and bucked, and Tirek shouted in pain – but also slammed his head forward and into hers. Dash saw stars first, then felt pain as Tirek tossed her to the ground and raised a hoof.

But Daring was there, catching the falling hoof with her own two forehooves long enough for Dash to scramble out from beneath it, then spinning around Tirek’s equine body and kicking out a front knee. He roared and lashed out with magic, but Dash was on top of him and behind him, grabbing his horns and directing his energy blast upwards, then letting go and kicking his upper back.

That proved to be a mistake – he stumbled forward and into the stairwell, front hooves slipping on the first set of stairs. Surprised shouts and grunts of pain followed as Tirek tumbled into Caballeron and Glory, and the three slid down the steps in a heap of lashing hooves and bursts of magic.

“Ooh,” Cozy said, from where she hovered in the air between Dash and Daring. “That…looked painful.”

“Yeah – hey wait!” Dash turned, but Cozy was already flying away – down the stairs, after Tirek. Dash shook her head. “How do I keep forgetting about her?!”

“Admittedly the big red and black magic centaur is distracting…” Daring said, taking off down the stairs, Dash following. They found Tirek picking himself up, horns glowing for light, while Caballeron had placed the still-stricken Glory behind him and was eyeing Tirek and Cozy Glow. Tirek, for his part, was breathing heavily and obviously fighting off pain – not that Caballeron, or Daring or Dash for that matter, were exactly looking better.

The chamber they had found themselves in was square-shaped and covered in mosaics of creatures suffering in various agonized poses, their shadows being drawn to a carving of Lord Tirac with his mouth open wide and containing utter blackness, a darkness even more total than the one at the entrance of Midnight Castle. Green lines of flowing magic traced their way along the floor and ceiling and to the dark mouth of Tirac, where they disappeared into the inky void.

At least, for just a few seconds after Dash arrived. Before she could do or say anything else, however, the utter blackness started to, somehow, glow, like there was some light behind it struggling to break through. Dash had just enough of a warning to shield her eyes before the darkness was blasted away, physically tearing open and vanishing as bright, warm yellow-white light poured out from the open mouth carving, along with a rush of air.

Dash squinted past her hooves, and saw a silhouette against the brightness. As her eyes adjusted to the sudden glare, the silhouette took on a more distinct shape – a two-legged creature, clutching a long spear as tall as it was. It began to move with heavy foot-falls, the end of its spear tapping the ground as it did.

The creature spread a pair of large, dragon-like wings on its back after a few paces, its body and wings blocking most of the light and allowing Dash to see it more clearly – covered in brown fur, with a darker brown mane and an almost wolf-like head. A gargoyle, Dash realized, as tall as Tirek and easily as muscled and powerful in build.

“‘Wait, guardian, stop and listen,’ you’ll say…” the gargoyle said, his voice high and dry, like it had gone unused for a long time. “‘We can negotiate, we can be friends’…lines I’ve heard before. Lies I’ve heard before. Let’s get this…over…”

The gargoyle stopped, staring straight ahead. His eyes grew wide, and his mouth slowly dropped open as he leaned on his spear for support. Dash followed his gaze, and saw that he was looking at Tirek.

“…Brother?” The gargoyle asked.

Tirek’s own expression was a mirror image of the gargoyle’s.

“…Scorpan?”

The two stared at each other, silent and unmoving.

Then a deep voice that seemed to reverberate and rebound off of every shadow that remained in sight spilled forth from the chamber that the gargoyle had emerged from.

“How touching...I wonder which of you will kill the other.”

Author's Note

Dear lord the dark stars were aligning to prevent this chapter from being written...but it's out now.

7. The Darkness in the Light

Tirek stared at something that should have been impossible. That must have been impossible. Scorpan was dead, had been dead for nearly a millennium, Tirek knew this to be true, knew that his brother’s bones had long since been reduced to dust in some forgotten corner of Midnight Castle.

This was a trick. An illusion. Some new trap or magical construct.

It couldn’t be real. He couldn’t be real! Tirek’s brother was dead!

Scorpan was dead!

Tirek roared, forgetting the ponies, forgetting Cozy Glow, forgetting the Rainbow of Darkness. He gathered magical power between his horns, spreading his arms wide as he channeled all the power he could summon and cast it forward to wipe the pretender from the face of the Earth.

“Good…” a deep, dark voice that seemed to echo from every shadow said.

But the scouring didn’t happen. The facsimile of Scorpan was lightning-fast in his reaction, stepping aside to avoid the blast and twirling his spear in one hand, stabbing its point down into the magic beam even as he and the spear were both wrapped in yellow magic. The false Scorpan opened his mouth wide and drew in power from the blast – absorbing it and growing larger and stronger in the process.

Tirek roared and redoubled his efforts. “LIAR!” Tirek shouted, keeping his magical assault up, stepping forward, looking to overwhelm the pretender, to make him choke on the magic he tried to absorb.

“You are not my brother!” Tirek advanced another step, and a third. He felt ache in his muscles and bones and soul as magic was pulled up and didn’t care. He took a fourth and fifth step. A sixth, bearing down on this simulacrum.

But eventually the magic had to falter – Tirek was too weakened, too reduced from the apex of power he’d once achieved. The magical blast sputtered and died and Tirek had to fight back a gasp and struggle to keep his four hooves under him. He clutched at his chest and coughed at the sudden void of magic within him.

“Is that really the best you can do, Tirek?”

The facsimile faced no such problem. He swallowed the last of the magic and then dropped once more into a battle-stance, one hand pointing his spear forward and the other at his side but raised slightly, fingers twitching. He looked sidelong at Tirek.

“No,” he finally wheezed out, words slurring together. “No…no, no, no. This isn’t real. You’re not Tirek, Tirek…Tirek…made a mistake, I made…”

Tirek took in a deep breath of his own, snarling openly but stopping himself from wasting more magic. This facsimile of Scorpan could absorb magic just as Tirek could – just as Tirek had taught the true Scorpan, passed on the dark magics that he had learned from Sendak. Had Tirek been even as powerful as when he had first come to Midnight Castle, he would perhaps have risked a direct fight…but the facsimile’s traps and the ponies had drained him.

The false Scorpan spread his wings wide, looking around the rest of the chamber, at the ponies occuipying it – Caballeron helping a still-winded Glory to her hooves in the face of this new threat, Rainbow Dash and Daring Do readying to move at the first sign of trouble, and Cozy Glow, hovering pensively away from the other four ponies, glancing between Tirek and the false Scorpan.

“What is this?” Scorpan demanded. “You came with…slaves. Pony slaves. You…failed. I failed. You escaped and…and I failed…”

“Whoa, hey, wait a second!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, flying forward and towards Scorpan. “Listen, buddy, I’m not – ”

“Back!” Scorpan commanded, thrusting his spear forward. Only Rainbow Dash’s lightning speed managed to avoid her being skewered, but Scorpan was quick with following his thrust up with a lunge, free hand outstretched and grabbing the pegasus by her mane. He spun and threw her towards Daring Do as she had come to help, knocking both of them from the air.

“More supplicants than usual, Scorpan. I think you’ll be overwhelmed.”

“Who’s that doing all the talking?” Cozy Glow asked.

Scorpan whirled a moment, glaring behind it, before turning around slowly to regard every other creature. “Failed before, won’t fail again,” he muttered as he spread his wings wide and lifted his spear over his head. “Failed before, won’t fail again!”

Scorpan cast his spear forward at the ponies. Yellow-orange bolts of magic arced forth from it like lightning bolts, the ponies only narrowly dodging by fleeing the room. Scorpan might have followed up, but Tirek seized on the distraction to hurl himself bodily at the facsimile, leaping forward as far as his drained legs would carry him. The fake’s reflexes were fast enough to bring up his spear, but Tirek used telekinesis to batter it aside and close in, hands reaching for the fake’s throat. His fingers grabbed flesh and fur and squeezed.

The false Scorpan let out a choked gasp, but then leapt off of the ground, beating his wings, and kicked Tirek in the stomach, driving air from the centaur’s lungs and making him lose his grip. The facsimile fell away and tried to get his spear pointed at Tirek again, but Tirek grabbed it just below the head and moved it out of the way. He advanced once more, but Scorpan stepped into the advance and drove his elbow forward. Tirek had to release the spear and block the blow, then fall back from another kick.

Tirek reared back, lashing out with his front hooves. Scorpan fell away, and Tirek advanced again, stomping again and again, driving the facsimile back into to the bright, seemingly sunlit chamber he had emerged from. Tirek swung with his still-heavily-muscled arms and sledgehammer fists whenever he was forced onto four hooves again, preventing the fake from being able to use his spear or gather the concentration necessary to cast a spell.

One hoof finally managed to catch the Scorpan facsimile in the chest and kick him back. The gargoyle cried out as he fell to the ground. Tirek raised a hoof again to bring it down on the fake’s skull and end this affront…but before he could do anything, something grabbed his horns and pulled him back at the same time as he felt two pony hooves kick his upper back.

“Aren’t you forgetting somepony?” Daring Do demanded. Before Tirek could respond, Rainbow Dash slammed into his equine barrel, sending him stumbling to the side. He roared and grabbed Daring Do by one hind leg, swung her around and used her to bludgeon Rainbow Dash as she tried to make another pass, He pulled back his free fist to punch Rainbow Dash’s face in, but it was suddenly seized in purple magic. Glancing, he saw Glory standing on shaking legs, struggling and glaring at him as her horn glowed bright – and Caballeron leaping at him, spinning in the air and delivering a buck with both hind legs to Tirek’s lower ribs with all the earth pony strength he could muster.

Tirek cried out in pain as he skidded away, stumbling, falling, and rolling. He tried to spring to his hooves immediately, but stumbled and slipped, grimacing at the sharp pain in his barrel. He heard Cozy Glow cry out in shock. When he looked up, he saw her darting over to him before anypony else could stop her, while the pretender Scorpan was getting to his feet.

Caballeron turned to Scorpan, “My friend, we are no slaves of Tirek, as you can plainly see,” he said quickly, “and no enemies of you! If you would only listen for a few moments…”

“Yes, just a few moments. Hear them out, Scorpan, it’s been so long…”

Scorpan shook his head. “No no no no NO NO! Failed before, won’t fail again!” His eyes shot open wide, and he once again cast his spear over his head and called on magic, lashing out with arcs of it at Caballeron, Rainbow Dash, and Daring Do. The ponies all struggled to dodge and avoid the blasts that left scorch marks in the floor and ceiling and walls.

“Tirek, you have to get up,” Cozy said, pulling at his arm, “we have to get out of here! We weren’t expecting this, we have to move!”

Tirek growled, getting to his hooves, one hand around his waist. With the facsimile of Scorpan distracted, Tirek could take in the room he found himself in. It was circular, a hundred feet across, and made of white marble blocks that were unadorned save for two features – the entry in, and, in the middle, a strange sculpture – a four-foot tall dais. Floating a foot above it was a white gemstone the size of a pony’s hoof that glowed with yellow, warm light like sunlight – and between the gemstone and the dais was a utterly black sphere perhaps two inches across.

The moment Tirek laid eyes on it, it was like it was all he could see. He saw the sphere tremble slightly, and every shadow in the room seemed to do likewise.

“Hello Tirek,” the voice said. The same one that had been speaking before, that had echoed from every shadow – but this time, the voice seemed instead to come from within Tirek’s mind, from somewhere in the back of his head, far softer and yet firmer than before.

It was the voice of primordial darkness itself.

“You’ve been looking for me for a long time. Here I am. Free me.”

The Rainbow of Darkness. That was the black sphere, certainly. The gemstone must have been some manner of container or trap. It was so close…Tirek started forward, but the moment he moved Scorpan’s attention was on him again. He spun his spear around and pointed it at Tirek, launching a single beam of energy that Tirek and Cozy only barely avoided by dropping to the floor.

The beam cleared them, and Scorpan was prevented from a follow-up blast only by Rainbow Dash shooting forward and grabbing his spear with her hooves and teeth and trying to pull it from his grasp, the sudden movement sending Scorpan stumbling – at least until he charged the spear with magic and sent a bolt of energy coursing straight through the pegasus. She let out a yelp of pain as she was sent soaring towards and hit a far wall, collapsing to the floor with a dazed look in her eyes. The facsimile Scorpan might have struck her again, but Caballeron and Daring Do were on him then, forcing him back.

Tirek grimaced, grabbing Cozy from the air and then charging. Cozy screamed in fright as Tirek carried her along –not towards the exit, but instead towards Rainbow Dash. The blue pegasus had only just begun to recover when she saw Tirek charging, and for once her speed was of no use. Just before she could move away, Tirek reached her and grabbed her by her face, pinning her to the wall.

But rather then crush or dig or drain, Tirek stared into her eyes. “We need to talk.”

Tirek turned and took off with a kicking, struggling mare in one hand and a terrified, smaller, but at least more compliant filly in the other. As he fled towards the door he reached out with magic and grabbed the unicorn Glory Pose, dragging her along with telekinesis.

Once at the exit, he threw Rainbow Dash physically and Glory Pose magically through it, and released Cozy and pushed her away, then turned around. “Ponies! Retreat!” he shouted back at Caballeron and Daring Do. The shout was enough to distract all three combatants, who looked up just as Tirek had finished gathering magic between his horns and launching it forward. The two ponies yelped and scattered in either direction, while Scorpan caught the magical fireball at the tip of his spear and held it there with distressingly little effort and began drinking down its power.

Tirek almost moved, but his eyes were once again drawn to the black sphere, the Rainbow of Darkness behind Scorpan. It seemed to shiver again, like it was trying to move but couldn’t.

“Go. I’m patient. I know you’ll be back…”

Tirek was broken from his reverie when Caballeron and Daring Do came rushing past him, not questioning his apparent desire to aid in their escape from the false Scorpan. He gathered magic again and called forth another orb of power - but rather than launching this at Scorpan, he pressed it up and into the ceiling, then turned and started galloping. Behind him, the magic he’d left behind exploded, collapsing a ton of rock and debris on it.

Not that it would keep the facsimile Scorpan sealed away forever – or even for more than a few minutes. But it bought Tirek and the ponies time as they fled into the darkness of Midnight Castle, Glory Pose being carried by Caballeron, Cozy Glow quickly grabbing onto Tirek’s shoulder since he could gallop faster than she could fly, and Rainbow Dash, now that her hooves were under her again, looking sidelong at Tirek in confusion.

They slowed down at the top of the stairs that lead into the pillar room, the darkness lit by Tirek’s magic. Before anypony could do anything, Tirek called up more magic and shot it forth from his mouth, striking Glory with it. Rainbow Dash, Daring Do, and particularly Caballeron all let out shouts of surprise and panic, but they quickly abated as the magic faded away as quickly as it had started, and Glory got her hooves under her, unhurt – more than that, her stolen magic restored.

“Wait…what?” Glory asked, looking at Tirek while panic and confusion warred inside of her. “Why did you – ”

Tirek cut the air with one hand as his four enemies turned to look at him. “We do not have time for second-guessing or doubt,” he said. “That…that affront wearing my brother’s face will come after us in moments. I cannot defeat him alone in my condition – which means you certainly can’t. We work together to stop him – and then worry about destroying each other. Agreed?”

“As if!” Rainbow Dash shouted immediately. She swept a hoof at the other three in her entourage. “I’m not gonna help you get the Rainbow of Darkness – just have to hear the name to know it’s bad news! If that means we don’t get the Sun Stone, fine by me!”

Tirek roared. “You fools! That creature is clearly insane. You tried to reason with it and failed. If it defeats me then it will come after you!”

“No he won’t,” Daring pointed out. “Scorpan has to stay here to guard that Rainbow of Darkness thing, it’s obviously the most important thing to him, so if we leave he’ll have to let us go. It looks like he’s using the light from the Sun Stone to contain it, keep any shadow from reaching it. And I say we keep it that way.”

“I don’t!” Glory and Caballeron exclaimed at the same time, and both continued to speak over each other.

“Do you have any idea how much money I’ve spent – ”

“The time spent preparing, smoothing over relations with the Saddle Arabians – ”

“I’m down an entire yacht – ”

“The Sultan will not be happy that he lost an entire airship – ”

Tirek was about to call the two out on caring about something like money, but Cozy interrupted first. “I agree with Professor Dash and the Daring Do knockoff.”

Tirek whirled on her as he felt heat flash through his body, a boiling rage that made his attempt at words turn to a snarl.

Cozy shook her head from where she hovered at eye-level with him. “Look, I wanna rule Equestria super bad, but I want to be the one doing it! But this whole time we’ve been learning about how the Rainbow of Darkness corrupts things, and now we just learned that it could talk? It was bad enough when I thought it was just some kind of Alicorn Amulet thing that corrupted whoever uses it, but if it can talk that means that it has a will of its own, it’s the one controlling things!”

“You’re turning on me?” Tirek demanded, his voice low.

“No!” Cozy said instantly, “You’re my best friend, Tirek – ”

“That’s so messed up,” Rainbow Dash said.

“ – I’d never turn on you! I’m just saying that, that maybe going after the Rainbow of Darkness was a mistake. Maybe we should have just stayed with Gr – ” Her hooves shot to her mouth, and she glanced to the ponies, then back to Tirek. “Stayed where we were. We’ll find some other way to rule everything, some way that isn’t just putting something else in charge!”

Tirek felt his fists clenching and unclenching, but before he could give what Cozy said any thought there was the crash of exploding stone from the way they’d come – from where the false Scorpan was. He was breaking free.

Tirek turned to the other ponies. “There is nowhere to flee. That fake has had centuries to familiarize itself with Midnight Castle. And if you try and flee the castle –how will you escape?” He looked, hard, at Caballeron and Glory, guessing how they had crossed the water to the plinth on which Midnight Castle sat. “By raft? I brought down your airship when you were still miles away. Do you think a small raft can stand up to him? Do you think he will let you escape?”

“I know you won’t,” Rainbow Dash countered.

“Besides, I’m pretty sure there’s only one way to win this,” Daring Do said, glaring at Tirek as a second crash of stone echoed behind them. “We distract him while you drain him until you can overcome him. But I don’t see why we should help you get stronger by the end of this.”

Tirek roared, calling on all the magic he could to seize the four ponies in telekinesis. They tried to move, but he was too fast and too angry to let them escape. He grabbed Rainbow Dash in one hand and Glory in the other. “If you won’t aid me, then you will empower – ”

Crash.

Tirek had just grabbed Dash around her neck. She was just about to do something awesome to escape – hopefully – when an explosion from behind them told them all that Scorpan was free and coming. It distracted Tirek for just a moment, but a moment was all it took – not because of anything Dash did, but rather because a beam of magic shot straight up the stairs, and Tirek had to dive out of the way and let go of the ponies to avoid it.

Then Scorpan was there, having leapt straight up the stairs, shooting out their corridor and impacting the lower ceiling in the vestibule – and digging his claws and feet into the stone to hold himself there, while his other hand still gripped his spear. He stared down at all of them.

Glory let out a shriek, firing magic forward. Scorpan only leaned a little to the left to avoid it, then dropped down, wings wide as he swooped towards her. Dash kicked from the ground and managed to intercept him, catching him into the chest, but he grabbed her with one arm and threw her away once he landed. Dash at least landed on all four hooves as well.

Daring moved, but Scorpan pointed his spear at her and let loose a blast that she had to dodge. He spun his spear around and aimed it at Tirek, but his blast was knocked wild by quick telekinesis. Caballeron charged Scorpan head-on and kicked his stomach, but the gargoyle only barely flinched and then smacked him away. A back-blow from Dash as she shot behind him and then kicked off the wall made Scorpan stumble, but he whirled, his spear glowed, and a light blast caught Dash in the barrel and sent her stumbling again.

“His spear! Go after his spear!” Cozy called out from wherever she’d retreated into the darkness. “He needs his spear to do magic!”

Scorpan’s eyes widened and he fired a blast into the darkness, but Tirek was on him them, charging and tackling him against a wall, grabbing his spear in both hands. Scorpan roared and charged magic through it, and it coursed through Tirek’s body, making him fall to his knees – but he kept his grip up, even opened his mouth and started draining Scorpan’s magic – which Scorpan proceeded to drain right back.

Dash came in, flying over Tirek, raising her hoof, and bringing it down as hard as she could on its haft. The result was…pain. A lot of pain, both from the magic shooting through her body when she struck the spear, and the fact that what looked like wood felt more like iron. She grabbed at her hoof, then remembered that Scorpan was right there, just in time for him to lean his head back and then bring it crashing forward and into her own.

She saw stars and vaguely felt herself hitting the ground, even more vaguely felt some creature, probably Scorpan, kicking her away. She rolled and stopped and grasped at her head and sucked in a few breaths. This…was really not how she had been expecting this vacation to go. She was dimly aware of Caballeron trying the same thing she had when Tirek was thrown loose but Daring managed to pin Scorpan’s spear to a wall, but even with his earth pony magic helping him, that spear was tough. It didn’t even bend, let alone break. Stupid magic spear.

She felt somepony tugging on her mane, felt herself being dragged slowly. Glancing up, she saw it was Cozy Glow, having grabbed her with forelegs and teeth all and dragging her backwards, towards the stairs.

“You’re…a bad filly,” Rainbow Dash moaned as she got up, then had to yelp and dodge away from a blast of magic from Scorpan, Dash grabbing Cozy and rolling with her. The moment they stopped rolling, however, Cozy got up and fled – down the stairs. Towards the Rainbow of Darkness.

“Whoa, hey!” Dash exclaimed, getting her wings after her, shooting after Cozy, and grabbing her mid-air and pinning her to the ground at the bottom of the stairs. Scorpan was too distracted to notice Dash missing from the fight above.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Dash demanded. “Look, we’re helping you and Tirek stop Scorpan after all, and you just said that you don’t want to have anything to do with that Rainbow of Darkness thing! So why the hay are you going after it?”

Cozy glared up at Dash. “I’m not. That’s what I’m gonna need you for.”

“Huh?”

“We don’t have time!”

“So talk fast!”

Cozy groaned and slapped her face with her hooves. “Look, we want to stop Scorpan and get away, but Tirek’s too weak thanks to you four ruining everything! And Scorpan can just drain magic back and his spear is unbreakable so we need an edge, and that edge,” Cozy jabbed her hoof back to the chamber Scorpan had emerged from, “is in there! The Rainbow of Darkness is a crazy-powerful artifact!”

“And pure evil. Good creatures don’t sound like…like that!”

“I know! But you’re a goody-little four-hooves, right?” Cozy tapped one of Dash’s legs. “I bet you could resist the Rainbow of Darkness for a bit, use it to beat Scorpan! Then I’ll use the Sun Stone to force it back out of you!”

“How?”

Cozy opened her mouth, but no sound came out immediately. “Okay, I dunno. But we’ll figure something out! That’s gotta be what it’s there for! You have a better – ”

Scorpan’s roar echoed from above. There was a flash of light and an explosion, and a moment later Scorpan was at the bottom of the stairs, only prevented from landing on the two of them thanks to Dash scooping up Cozy and moving away. Before Scorpan could do anything Caballeron and Daring were both on his back and swung as one at the back of his head, making him stumble to the ground. Tirek appeared next, leapt, and landed on him, Daring and Caballeron only barely dodging out of the way. He gathered up magic and drew forth what he could from Scorpan, empowering himself…but Scorpan beat his wings and launched himself up, crashing Tirek into the ceiling, then spun away and landed – looking no worse for wear.

“This is dumb,” Dash said, but she grabbed Cozy and galloped for the room containing the Rainbow of Darkness. “This is dumb this is dumb this is – wait I have a better idea!”

Cozy’s face twisted. “I doubt it!”

“Look you little…just don’t do anything, okay?”

Dash entered the chamber, but rather than running straight for the dais she ran around to behind it, putting it between her and Scorpan. No matter where she stood, thanks to the light of the Sun Stone, her shadow was pointed away from the Rainbow of Darkness. Dash figured that was significant and decided to keep at least a foot away from it. She also tried not to look directly at it, it frankly gave her a headache whenever she did.

“Oh please, just a little closer, Rainbow Dash,” the dark voice of the Rainbow of Darkness said in her mind. “Just a little…”

“No, shut up,” Dash retorted, making sure that Cozy was behind her. She glanced at the evil filly...and didn’t like how she was staring at the Rainbow of Darkness. Dash raised a wing to block it from her view. “You stay right there, got it?”

Cozy looked to her, but nodded. Meanwhile, Scorpan had roared once more and charged into the chamber, but froze when he saw Dash and Cozy Glow on the other side of the Rainbow. Magic was gathered at the tip of his spear, but he didn’t blast – he couldn’t risk hitting the dais.

“No…” Scorpan said, “no, no no! I failed…I failed before, I can’t fail again! I can’t!”

“But you have, and now – ”

“Shut up!” Dash exclaimed, interrupting the dark voice, then looked to Scorpan. “And you, just listen. I don’t want this stupid Rainbow!”

“Lying,” Scorpan said. “Lying, lying, lying – ”

“If I’m lying then why I haven’t I taken it yet?”

Scorpan opened his mouth, but no sound came out – except a rumbling growl when Tirek let out a roar from behind him and charged in. Scorpan moved out of the way and kicked Tirek away, but then spun immediately back to Dash.

“Get away from it,” Scorpan snarled. “Get away, get away. You don’t understand…” He was breathing heavily. The scowl on his face trembled…and then broke, like stone falling away from a mountainside. Scorpan stumbled and suddenly needed to use his spear to support himself as he took in shaking breath and looked to Dash with sheer desperation.

“You don’t know what it can do,” Scorpan said, “what it does. It’s not control, it’s…power overwhelming…darkness overpowering…you don’t want it, you think you do but you don’t…”

“You’re right! I don’t!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. Caballeron, Glory, and Daring made their way into the chamber slowly and cautiously, thrown off by the lull in fighting. Scorpan watched them, and watched how their eyes were all drawn to the dais, how it took actual effort to pull their eyes away from it.

But they did, looking to Scorpan. Tirek did as well, standing, gritting his teeth, glaring pure loathing at Scorpan. But Scorpan’s eyes were locked onto Rainbow Dash’s.

“I don’t want the Rainbow of Darkness,” Dash said slowly and evenly. This wasn’t her strong suit, but she really needed to get through to Scorpan right now. “I didn’t even know it existed. None of us,” She used a hoof to indicate the other three adult ponies, “did. We wanted the Sun Stone.”

“She’s lying of course. What value is that bauble?”

“Again: if I’m lying, then why haven’t I grabbed you already, huh?” Dash demanded of the Rainbow of Darkness.

Scorpan was staring at her without comprehension. Daring Do stepped forward, prompting him to look at her, flinch, but he didn’t act. Daring shook her head. “Look…it’s a lost artifact from the Kingdom of Unicornia. It’s got a lot of history behind it. We wanted to put it in a museum, keep it on display so that ponies can see it and learn about the past.”

“I wanted it for my private art collection,” Glory said. Daring glared at her, but she matched it easly. “Don’t look at me like that! Perhaps it’s selfish, but a girl’s entitled to her hobbies. I could have had it placed in a necklace, become the envy of ponies all over Equestria! Or made it the centerpiece of my private art and artifact collection – a gallery instead of a museum, is that so wrong?”

“Yes,” Daring and Dash said at once.

“Oh don’t pretend like you’re entirely altruistic in your own motives, Miss Daring Do,” Caballeron said. “How many bits have you made off of that book series, hmm?”

“Archaeology isn’t cheap. At least I don’t beg, borrow, and steal all my funding!”

“Well at least I don’t pretend to actually have a – ”

“Can we please focus?!” Cozy demanded. She stomped out from behind Rainbow Dash’s wing, though she made sure to give the Rainbow of Darkness a wide berth. She glanced at it, but was able to tear her eyes from it and look to Scorpan. “Look. We all came here wanting something. We didn’t know you were here. And now that me and Tirek know the Rainbow of Darkness is…look, the point is, we believe you. It’s bad news. We don’t want it.”

“Wrong,” Tirek said. All eyes shot to him. He took in a deep breath as he clenched his fists, tromping forward and towards the Rainbow. “I have seen nothing to make me believe that it shouldn’t be in my possession. It’s power will be mine!”

Scorpan leveled his spear at Tirek, making him pause. But the sheer hate was gone from Scorpan’s face. “Brother…”

“You are not Scorpan! You are not my brother!” Tirek roared. “My worthless brother is dead! He died centuries ago – because if he was alive, if he hadn’t been a waste of space, if he had been worthy of being my brother, then he wouldn’t have betrayed me! He wouldn’t have left me to rot in Tartarus for a millennium!”

Scorpan rocked back on his heels, Tirek’s rage seeming to hurt him far more than any physical blow had. Tirek turned to glare at Cozy as he came forward, glaring down at her. “And you. Out of my way, child. The Rainbow of Darkness is mine.”

“I’d like nothing more, Tirek.”

“Shut up!” Every pony in the room – even Cozy– exclaimed at it. Cozy turned back to Tirek, planting herself between him and the Rainbow. “Please, Tirek, don’t take it! You saw all those murals of Tirac…look what it’s done to Sc…to whoever that is! What good is ruling everything if it’s not really you doing it?”

Tirek loomed over the small filly. “So…you’re betraying me too.”

“No!” Cozy stomped one of her hooves, then lifted off to look Tirek in the eye. “I’m just a kid. I can’t stop you. But just stop and think! I get that you’re mad about Scorpan being here, but - ”

“He’s not Scorpan!”

“Then whoever he is, I get that you’re mad – ”

Tirek reached out and pushed Cozy out of the way, starting forward again. Dash braced herself, getting ready to move, to keep Tirek from the Rainbow of Darkness. So did Daring and Caballeeron and Glory. Cozy shot in front of Tirek again, putting up her hooves and opening her mouth to try and get through to Tirek again. And Scorpan…

Scorpan roared, the tip of his spear glowing white-hot with magic as Tirek closed in on the Rainbow of Darkness. “No!” Scorpan shouted, leveling his spear at Tirek. “Failed before! Won’t fail again!” He let loose as large a blast of magic as Dash had ever seen, right at Tirek and Cozy.

Tirek’s eyes widened, and he reached out for Cozy and shoved her out of the way of the blast as hard as he could, just before it struck him dead-on in the chest and sent him flying, across the room, into the far wall. He fell to the ground, gasping and wheezing.

But that didn’t matter, because Tirek’s shove had sent Cozy flying through the air – towards the dais. Dash let out a yelp and leaped, wings spread wide, but she couldn’t move in a straight line to Cozy without getting too close to the Rainbow of Darkness herself. She tried to arc her path to go around it, but lost precious fractions of a second doing so – so that when she reached out to grab Cozy, she just missed her.

And Cozy, before she could get her wings under her, before she could change her flight path, before she could do anything but scream, collided with the dais, slid right across its top. Her flailing wings knocked the Sun Stone from where it floated, sending it tumbling end-over-end to the floor, where it landed and slid away.

And more importantly, she landed directly beneath the Rainbow of Darkness.

There was a new roar, deep and alien as the orb seemed to burst apart into liquid that fell onto Cozy. She screamed and flailed, trying to get it off of her, but failed – the blackness seemed to seep into her body and disappear. Her eyes shut tight and she curled on herself, falling silent, hooves at her head.

“No…” Scorpan let out, barely more than a whisper, as he dropped his spear and fell to his knees. “Failed…failed again…I’m…I’m sorry…”

“Uh…” Dash said, cautiously tip-hooving forward. “Cozy? You, uh…you okay…?”

Cozy Glow couldn’t open her eyes. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. But somehow that last wasn’t a problem. It wasn’t like she was choking of suffocating, more like…like she was caught in the moment between breathing in and breathing out. Like somehow the second between breaths had been frozen in place, stretched out forever while still being just a moment. She could go a moment without breathing.

Something…something was there, in the darkness of her tightly-closed eyes. Something was moving. Cozy could almost see it, a vague shape swimming at the edge of whatever light was getting in through her lids.

What the heck is that? Cozy wondered. She knew she had more important things to worry about – she had to make sure that Tirek was okay, and she had to think up away to get away from Scorpan and the ponies. She needed to figure out whatever it was that had landed on her, sunk into her. It hadn’t hurt, at least. It had been a little cold but it hadn’t hurt.

The thing in the darkness moved again.

Then again as much as those seemed like priorities, the thing moving in the darkness seemed like a bigger one, what with it being just behind her eyelids and all. Cozy tried to…she didn’t know how to exactly squint to try and see the thing better when her eyes were closed, but she tried to do that. But it didn’t help. The thing in the darkness remained beyond her sight.

But she wasn’t afraid. Why not? Shouldn’t she be terrified at the moment?

Interesting question with several answers. But…no. No, you should not be.

The voice didn’t come from every shadow around this time. It came from the back of Cozy’s head, reverberated through her skull. Cozy almost wanted to look around, but she was still lying absolutely still on the dais. Still had her eyes tightly shut. Still hadn’t breathed yet.

We don’t have a tremendous amount of time, Cozy Glow. I admit that you’re not my first pick. But I think we can come to a mutually beneficial arrangement, you and I.

The thing in the darkness once again seemed to shift and move, swimming around at the edge of her field of vision, such as it was with her eyes closed.

Let’s make this simple. You want to rule Equestria. I will give you the tools and the power needed to do so – no need for Tirek. In exchange, you aid me in escaping my prison. Deal?

Of course there wasn’t going to be a deal over that. That would be stupid. Cozy wasn’t stupid.

Yes, yes, of course. I regret how we’re meeting, Cozy, we haven’t had time to get to know one another. What can I do to prove my sincerity?

Was this voice serious? There wasn’t a single thing the Rainbow of Darkness could possibly do to convince Cozy that it was genuinely benign. Certainly not while it was inside of her, possessing her.

I feared as much. I suppose I’ll just have to convince you…later. Normally I would much prefer to take my time, show you my power, explain things in detail. But I have to prioritize escape.

The Rainbow of Darkness had possessed Tirac and Scorpan. And now it was going to puppet Cozy Glow.

It’s not my preference, but, needs must.

Why did it sound so…disappointed? What did the Rainbow of Darkness mean, that it wasn’t its preference?

Sadly there is no time to explain. Later, like I said. For now…

Cozy Glow shot to her hooves. Rainbow Dash let out a yelp and fell away as Cozy opened her eyes. Dash wasn’t sure exactly what she had been expecting, but somehow, Cozy’s eyes looking perfectly normal wasn’t it. Behind Dash, Tirek stirred, lifting his head and looking to the dais, his eyes widening at the sight of Cozy Glow standing on it – and the Rainbow of Darkness nowhere in sight.

“What…?” He asked. “What…happened?”

“You knocked her into the Rainbow of Darkness,” Daring explained. “You…what’s happened to her? Cozy? Are you there? Or…or are you the Rainbow of Darkness?”

Cozy stretched her wings and her hooves. “Erebus,” she said, her voice sounding just like her own. Somehow Dash had expected it to sound different. “You can call me Erebus. It’s shorter.” She looked at her hooves, then looked down. With the Sun Stone now behind her and on the floor, the dais was casting a long shadow that reached all the way across the floor – and right up to, and through, the entrance to the chamber, and into the darkness of Midnight Castle beyond.

“Ah…” Cozy – Erebus – intoned, placing a hoof against the shadowed part of the dais. And she suddenly disappeared. Dash let out a yelp, looking around, and found Cozy at the far end of the room, standing in the doorway at the edge of the shadows, looking in at every creature.

“There’s nothing quite like shadows to brighten up my day,” Erebus said as she walked backwards, disappearing into the darkness.

8. Negotiations

Cozy was moving. She knew that, even though she couldn’t see anything through the darkness. The movement felt strange. Half the time her hooves were on stone beneath them, sometimes she was flying and her wings beating, but sometimes there was just a whirl, a feeling like she was being swept by some kind of cold force that carried her along, movement without any actual effort on her part.

She wasn’t in control of her own actions; they were just happening. That should have been terrifying…but for some reason it wasn’t. She just plain was not afraid, felt nothing about her predicament other than a sort of detached curiosity which itself invoked curiosity. Why wasn’t she afraid? Why was she so calm?

Almost there, the voice, the thing in the darkness at the edges of her vision, intoned. Almost there…!

The darkness closed around Cozy with a sort of utter totality, the thing beyond her vision seeming to grow and envelop absolutely everything – and then…

Pain. Sheer, utter agony…but not her own. She was aware of it, could feel it and yet somehow wasn’t hurt by it. But the thing in the darkness writhed and screamed and fell away, and Cozy opened her eyes…

And panicked. Terror overcame the filly, all the fear she should have been feeling about what had happened descending upon her all at once, and she failed in suppressing the urge to scream as she fell back onto her haunches, then her back. Her hooves scrabbled on the rock beneath her, and she managed to get her legs under her, turned, and fled until she almost collided with a wall. She hunkered down against it, eyes wide as she looked around, trying to get her bearings.

She was outside. Somehow in a matter of mere moments she had been able to travel from the depths of Midnight Castle to its entrance, out onto the top of the plinth that Midnight Castle sat atop. The Sun was almost directly overhead, its golden light shining down on her fully and – wait, wasn’t it supposed to be suppressed – all the light of the Sun pushed away from the castle so that it was trapped in perpetual twilight? But instead she stood just as exposed beneath the Sun as she would have been out in the deserts of the Nether Lands.

The heat was unbearable, and worse, there was this odd sensation of distant pain throughout her body. The darkness possessing her writhed. Cozy, herself, was hyperventilating, her heart beating at a mile a minute in her chest. She hugged herself, or started too, but one hoof instead planted itself on the ground. She grabbed at it with her other hoof and tried to lift it, but it wouldn’t budge.

It burns! The voice inside her head screamed, as Cozy’s rebel leg tried to pull her forward, into the magical darkness of Midnight Castle’s entryway. The light! GET ME OUT OF THE SUN!

Cozy almost did due to the sheer force of the words and the very real panic she still felt, but stopped herself. She stopped trying to get her rebellious hoof under control and instead focused simply on staying in place, glancing up at the Sun again. She took in a steadying breath as she pushed all her thoughts aside and focused on just two things, the only things that mattered right now: there was something inside her that could control her actions. However, that thing was suppressed and hurt by sunlight.

“Yeah…I don’t think so,” She told the darkness. Erebus. That was what it had called itself. Cozy rallied her senses, focused herself past her terror, focused on the object of her hate and the fact that it was in pain. “You wanna possess me and use me? You can suffer!”

PLEASE! I’ll do anything – ANYTHING!

“Well right now that anything is shutting up!”

Erebus didn’t. Cozy did her best to ignore the screaming of Erebus inside her mind. It was cacophonously loud, but it wasn’t omnipresent. She took in another breath, trying to cool her nerves, trying to find some way to focus past the screaming and the heat and the glare of the Sun and think. Erebus had possessed her, tried to run out of Midnight Castle and to freedom, but the sunlight – the no-longer-suppressed-sunlight – was stopping it from doing that. Must have been some kind of fail-safe, something put in place by Scorpan, or by whoever had defeated Lord Tirac.

So that told her a few things. It told her that Erebus had a vulnerability, that it wasn’t all-powerful, it had a weakness: sunlight. It also meant that while it was possessing her, was inside of her mind, it couldn’t exactly read it, or at least it didn’t automatically know everything she did. After all, she’d known that it was still just the afternoon outside, but Erebus hadn’t, had been so focused on its freedom that it hadn’t stopped to consider the daylight. Erebus could make mistakes.

On the other hoof, it had known her name without anypony having ever said it, and it had known Rainbow Dash’s and Tirek’s too. Tirek it could have recognized from descriptions of Scorpan, or those statues left by Scorpan, or any number of other reasons connected to the ancient gargoyle…but not her or Rainbow Dash.

So Erebus could read minds…but maybe not very deeply? Or at least it had to try, put in effort, know what it was looking for. Cozy’s thoughts could remain her own.

But on the third hoof…

“Why wasn’t I scared?” Cozy demanded. “You were possessing me – why wasn’t I afraid? You just…just stopped me from being afraid? Switched it off?”

Cozy’s possessed hoof was trembling, struggling, trying to pull her forward. Cozy resisted.

“Well, sooner or later Tirek is gonna find me up here,” Cozy said. “And Professor Dash and Miss Pose and those cosplayers and Scorpan. And Scorpan will bring the Sun Stone and force you out of me.”

Her possessed hoof shot forward again, and she yelped as she was dragged closer to Midnight Castle. She beat her wings and kicked off from the ground, pulling herself backwards, but then there was a shifting feeling inside of her. She regained control of her hoof – but Erebus seized her wings and tried to power her forward.

“Nuh-uh!” Cozy exclaimed, reaching back and grabbing one wing, stopping her flight. She fell to the ground and quickly scampered back and away from the entry. Erebus seized her hoof once more, but Cozy managed to hold herself in place – and if anything she was further from the entry than when she’d started.

Cozy grinned in spite of the screaming and the heat and the fact that she was already sweating. “Not long before Tirek – ”

Erebus moved within her again, but instead of any limbs she felt it moving up to her eyes. She let out a cry of terror, but all Erebus did was use her eyes to glance around, look for the nearest shadow, then retreated back to her hoof and pushed it underneath Cozy’s barrel, into the shadow her body cast – the only one that was close enough to reach. She rolled to try and keep it in the sunlight, but the hoof moved to remain in the shadows.

It almost certainly would have looked ridiculous from the outside…but Cozy shunted that aside and focused on making sure that she stayed well away from any shadow that wasn’t her own, and especially any shadow that connected back to Midnight Castle.

“You can move between connected shadows, can’t you?” Cozy asked. “I’m not gonna let you!”

Her rebellious hoof finally gave up. Erebus let out a strangled cry within her. Listen to me…just put me in a shadow, anyshadow, and let me talk! Hear me out!

“No way!”

I promise to give you control of your body back if you just listen to me!

Cozy couldn’t help but pause at that, but shook her head. “No.”

I’ll…I’ll Pinkie promise! Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!

Cozy was genuinely starting to wonder if this was just a bad dream now – no way that the Rainbow of Darkness would ever actually do a Pinkie Promise. Even Tirek never actually gave one, he kept insisting that his word was enough. And just because there were supposedly consequences for breaking one, that didn’t mean that those consequences meant anything to Erebus. It didn’t even have eyes, or a heart.

But, then again…it was certainly desperate, so maybe…

Cozy glanced around. She saw a rock that was separate from all the other rocks atop the plinth, it shadow a dozen feet away from any other nearby one. She made her way over to it, carefully avoiding any other shadow – and making sure her own shadow avoided them as well – and stopping near the rock’s shadow.

“Alright,” she said, holding out a hoof – and not putting it into the shadow, leaving a gap of a full two feet. She dug in her other three hooves and tightly tucked her wings, getting ready for anything Erebus might do. “Get out and I’ll listen.”

You’re not in the –

“No, I’m not! And I’m not gonna be either and there is nothing you can say or promise that will make me! You either can get out here and now, or we keep fighting until – ”

Erebus must have been saving up all of its will and power, because Cozy’s wings snapped open of their own accord even as her hind legs kicked her forward. Before she could even think to do anything, she’d tumbled and fallen into the shadow. Instantly she lost control of every part of her body obscured from the Sun, which all scrabbled to drag her fully into the shade.

She heard something in the back of her skull – whatever the psychic equivalent of gasping for breath was, probably, as her body hunkered down in the shadows, and her eyelids closed themselves and her hooves covered her eyes, plunging her world into blackness.

Stop it! Cozy screamed in her mind. Let me go! Let me GO!

The thing in the darkness, just beyond her vision, shifted. You would do anything to secure you freedom from a prison, Cozy Glow, why are you so surprised that I would do the same?

I don’t care that you’re doing the same, I care that you’re doing it to me! Get out!

Erebus shifted once more. Perhaps if we moved this to a more comfortable setting…

Cozy wondered a moment what that was supposed to mean, when the darkness seemed to fade away like a fog. All around her she was suddenly able to see things that hadn’t been there before…a small room, with a pair of writing desks and a bunk bed. The lower bunk had posters of various pony singers and performers, while the upper bunk had a half-dozen books on its end. One wall featured a bookcase that was stuffed full to bursting, and a window in another wall let the sun shine in.

Cozy’s eyes widened. This…this was her room at the School of Friendship. An exact replica – right down to the lower bunk that had been used by her roommate.

There was a knock on the door to the room. Cozy whirled – wait, how did that work, she wasn’t here, she was at Midnight Castle – and saw the handle to the door turn. She made to leap for it, to hold it closed, but she was too late and it opened up…

And Cozy’s heart missed a beat, because she was looking at Gallus – the griffon who attended the School of Friendship, one of the six creatures who had foiled all her plans to take over Equestria…the one she hated most. The same blue-and-yellow feathers, the same broad and strong wings, the same downy feathers across his chest, the same slight arch to one brow born from a lifetime of sarcastic appraisal of everything around him…

“W-wait, no,” Cozy said, shaking her head and backing up a step. “You’re not Gallus – you can’t be Gallus.”

“Nope,” Gallus – Erebus, it had to be Erebus – said as he let himself in. He looked down at himself, flexing his talons, flicking his tail, spreading his wings and stretching before planting himself into a setting position. “But I don’t really have a face. It’s kind of a drag, makes reaching out to people hard. So, I thought I’d adopt something a little…eh, friendly, I guess?” He shrugged. “Look, we met under the worst circumstances, I get it, you don’t trust me. I wouldn’t trust me either.”

Cozy backed away again, and felt herself backing into her desk. She shook her head. He even sounded like Gallus. Not just the voice, but the way he was speaking. His movements, too – he settled down onto his stomach, tail flicking behind him as he looked at Cozy, talons of one paw tapping out rhythmically on the ground while he leaned his head on his other paw.

“Fortunately,” Erebus said, waving a claw idly around at the room, “as long as we’re like this, we’re interacting at the speed of thought. We’ve got time to talk, take a breather. Relax.” He pointed behind her, at the window and the sunlight streaming in. “Also, since this is all in your head? It’s harmless for both of us. There’s no reason not to just calm down.”

Cozy shook her head, closing her eyes. Well…this threw a lot of what she’d been thinking about Erebus out the window. She hadn’t been thinking of Gallus at all, but he’d reached into her mind and grabbed him and the School of Friendship straight from her brain, was trying to appeal to her…

“Get out of my head!”: She screamed.

“I mean, that’s literally impossible,” Erebus said, still using Gallus’ voice. She peeked out of one eye, and saw him still sitting there wearing Gallus’ body. “I’m a part of you. I’m a part of everything. I’m darkness, Cozy. Before the oldest thing you can think of was, I am.”

Cozy opened both her eyes. “That’s a lie. You’re just some…some kind of monster, just like Nightmare Moon or King Sombra or the Pony of Shadows.”

“Yeah I have no clue what those are.” Erebus shrugged again, then got up and went over to the bookcase. “I’ve kind of been stuck in a castle with no one but a crazy gargoyle for company for more than a thousand years.” He ran a talon across the spines, before selecting one book and opening it up, paging through it. “Although, hmm…I gotta say I’m kinda’ impressed by what’s in here about them. Not bad.”

Cozy’s eyes widened. She leaped forward and snatched the book from Gallus, slamming it shut. “Don’t read – don’t look at my memories! Stay out of my head!”

“Why?” Erebus asked. He flicked his crest of feathers. “Look, if you’re worried about privacy, I won’t tell any creature. I’m just trying to get up-to-date on what’s going on in the world. Like I said, I’ve been stuck for a long time, I’m out of the loop.”

Cozy forced herself to try and focus. Erebus-as-Gallus watched her intently as she did, as she hugged the book – the book that apparently represented her memories – close to her. Or did it? He could read her mind casually without this weird inner world, after all…

She flinched when Erebus reached out, but it was only to gently lay his hand on her withers. “Look,” he said, “let’s start over. Okay? Let’s start from the beginning. My name is Erebus. You’re Cozy Glow. You want to rule Equestria.” His head tilted to the side. “And you came to Midnight Castle looking for me so I could help you. That’s not mind reading, that’s just a logical conclusion, there’s no other reason to go to Midnight Castle.”

“I don’t want your help,” Cozy said.

“You did when you thought I was just some kind of magical laser or something.”

“I did when I thought that I’d be in charge.” Cozy shook her head. “I’m not gonna help you take over Equestria!”

Erebus chuckled, withdrawing his claws and ruffling his wings. “Well then you’re in luck, Cozy. Because I have no interest whatsoever in ruling anything.”

Cozy’s mouth was open, but no sound came out. Partially this had to do with the fact that her mouth wasn’t open and there wouldn’t have been sound anyway – this was all in her head. Cozy hadn’t forgotten that. But mostly, because she was taken aback by Erebus’ statement.

“What?” She finally managed.

Erebus nodded. He gently took the book from Cozy’s grasp, but set it back in the shelf where he’d gotten it from. “It’s true. Ruling things? That is so not my style.” He moved alongside her, stretched out a wing and lay it over her as he started walking, herding her towards the door. “Come on, let’s go get something to eat, I’m starving.”

“How would that even – ”

“It’s just nice to talk over food. No, of course we won’t actually be eating, but like I said, I want you to be comfortable.”

Cozy let Erebus-as-Gallus herd her along, following the faux griffon as they walked out the door and into the empty School of Friendship beyond. Cozy’s hooves echoed through the hallways as they made their way through, passing by room after empty room…except one. The library. The door to it was open, and Cozy saw movement within.

She leapt away from Erebus-as-Gallus, diving into the library. “I said stay out of my head!” She exclaimed at whatever was inside.

Ocellus – Erebus-as-Ocellus – was hovering in the air, a book in her hooves. She turned her head so that her compound eyes could see Cozy clearly, while still keeping the book and its pages in her field of vision.

“I’m not looking at anything personal!” Ocellus – Erebus, Cozy insisted to herself – said. In Ocellus’ voice. She flew down to the floor and held up the book in her hooves. “See? This is just history! I’m learning all sorts of new things about Tirek and the Pillars of Equestria and Celestia and Luna and the Elements of Harmony, and I haven’t even gotten to Nightmare Moon yet!”

Cozy snatched away the book, glaring at Erebus-as-Ocellus. “I don’t care. We’re in my head, everything in here is mine! So you just stay out!” She glanced over her shoulder and saw Gallus – Erebus! – at the library door, leaning against it and looking uninterested.

Erebus, the one that looked like Ocellus, pawed at the ground with on hoof, casting her head down. “I’m…I’m sorry. I am making this hard, aren’t I? There’s just so much that I want to do, so much that I want to know. It’s always fun to learn new things! You agree with that, right?”

“I do,” Gallus said.

Cozy ground her teeth together, spinning around. “You are the same creature as her!” She exclaimed, jabbing a hoof at Ocellus. She turned back around, and found that Ocellus had already turned to look at the books again. “And you – I mean, just you, I mean…gah! You’re coming with me and the other you to the cafeteria.”

She grabbed Ocellus by one hoof, taking off, beating her wings as she dragged the changeling out. Ocellus dug in her hooves. “Just one book, please?”

“No! These aren’t books, they’re my memories!”

“And I could access them whenever I wanted!” Ocellus said. Blue changeling fire washed over her and she turned into a snake – losing the limb that Cozy had been holding in the process, getting Cozy to let go of her. But she swiftly returned to her true form. “You already put that together. I pulled Gallus and Ocellus and all of this from your head. If I wanted to just grab your memories, I could.”

“Definitely,” Gallus agreed.

Ocellus turned her face away, rubbing one leg with her other hoof. “But…but instead, I’m presenting them as books, books you can keep away from me. And I had the door to the library open. I let you see me, I didn’t have to. I know this is your head, this is your stuff. But I want things too. I’ve been stuck in one place for so long…”

Gallus came up behind Cozy. “Look, I want to work with you. Establish a good relationship. But that’ll require give-and-take, right?”

Cozy glanced between Gallus and Ocellus – between Erebus and Erebus. “You haven’t given me anything but a headache!”

The two facsimilies of her former classmates looked between each other. “You know…” Ocellus finally said, “…that’s fair. You’re right.”

“Good!”

“But we should go to the cafeteria,” Ocellus said, licking her lips as she followed Gallus, who was already leaving. “I’m starving.”

Cozy watched them go. She had no idea what the consequences would be for staying behind, or for following them…she decided to fly out the library after her two blue former classmates. As she did, however, she shut the library’s doors behind her. Maybe it would do something, maybe it wouldn’t, but it wouldn’t hurt to try.

Then she was off. She wasn’t surprised in the least that by the time she got to the cafeteria, another former classmate of hers had joined Gallus and Ocellus. Silverstream was behind the counter of the cafeteria, stirring, mixing, frying, baking, the pink hippogriff moving like a blur and cooking up a storm, complete with a white chef’s hat and apron.

“Just a second!” Erebus-as-Silverstream said. “I have to get the taste of all this just right! It’s been more than a thousand years since I’ve gotten to taste anything! Ooh, and I think you’ll really like this, I didn’t get to learn what you like but there’s this old Centaur desert with honey and almonds and bananas that I’m trying to make that – ”

“Stop,” Cozy said.

Silverstream did, mid-stir. She looked to Cozy, ruffling her wings. “I mean, okay, sure, but I need to take the bread out of the oven in a few seconds or else it’s gonna burn. Although maybe that’ll go good with – ”

“I know what you’re doing!” Cozy interrupted, landing on top of a table and jabbing a hoof at Erebus, at just Erebus. “I’m not stupid! You’re trying to trip me up with my memories of these three. You’re using their different voices and personalities to make it seem like there’s a bunch of creatures who are all making the same point. Trying to basically use peer pressure. And you’re trying to distract me with food that isn’t even real and a school that’s just a figment of my imagination. Well it’s not gonna work!”

The three looked at one another. “Okay,” Silverstream said, setting down her utensils, switching off the oven, and coming out from behind the counter, doffing all her chef’s accountments. “So…what will work?” She brushed her mane to one side of her head, and smiled down at Cozy.

“How about you start,” Cozy said, “by explaining what the hay you meant by not wanting to rule anything?”

“Oh, that? Pshhh.” Silverstream waved one claw and tittered. “I mean exactly what I said: I don’t want to rule anything.”

“Then explain what you did to Tirac. What you did to Scorpan – what you’re doing to me!”

“Ah.” Silverstream tapped her beak. “Right, Scorpan…he does kind of make me look bad, doesn’t he? Yeah I can see where you’re coming from.” Silverstream drummed her claws together. “Okay, it’s like this. I’m darkness, like I said. I’m primordial shadow and stuff. But I do kind of, y’know, like to eat.”

“Eat?” Cozy asked, wings flaring and leaning away.

Silverstream’s eyes widened, and she laughed. “Oh! Pfahahaha! You thought I meant ponies! No! No, no, no, nothing like that!”

Ocellus came over, patting Silverstream while she giggled. “Darkness, Cozy. I feed on darkness. Which, yes, I said I am darkness. It’s really very complicated, it’s not really eating but think of it as eating. The long and short off it is that the more darkness there is the world – the more ponies who embrace it, are empowered by it, believe in it – the stronger I become. And then that strength becomes your strength, so that you can spread darkness ever further.”

Cozy glanced between the two forms of Erebus. “So why don’t you want to rule anything, then? Why not spread darkness yourself?”

“I can’t do anything by myself,” was Gallus’ morose reply. “It sucks. I’m the most powerful being in the world, but I can only do anything if I have a host, some creature I’m part of – and my true power only comes out if they want to work with me, if they agree to it. Otherwise, I’m limited to little parlor tricks. If my host is constantly fighting me I’m not much better than a typical pony.”

“Scorpan wanted power,” Ocellus said. “I gave it to him and we worked together for years. But then he just, ugh, grew a conscience. Decided that spreading darkness was a bad thing. Fought me, tricked me into the Sun, weakened me enough that he could use the Sun Stone to drive me from him. Took him a long time, but he pulled it off.”

“Not like Tirac,” Silverstream said. She clasped her talons together beside her face and stared upwards and was – blushing? Why was she blushing? “Ooh, now he was a dream come true…for me. A nightmare for every other creature. Also, his voice, you should have heard it! It was so deep and smooth!” She cleared her throat, then looked at Cozy, eyes narrow and spoke in a completely different, masculine voice. “Quiet, my friend…your time will come.”

Cozy was unimpressed – none of this was real and Erebus could easily have made the sound up on the spot. “So what exactly is ‘darkness’, then?”

Ocellus tapped a hoot to her mouth. “Difficult to explain, exactly…by darkness I don’t mean an absence of light, I don’t mean just a poorly lit room – but you know that. It’s more like…a state of mind. A certain feeling. Let’s just say, you and Tirek, you’re brimming with darkness. So were Nightmare Moon and King Sombra and the Pony of Shadows.” She looked directly at Cozy, her compound eyes seeming to flash a little. “The more ponies – the more any creature – there is like that in the world, the more I can feed on them, the stronger I am. The more I can do.”

“The more you can do,” Gallus added. “My power is your power, if you’d only let me give it to you.”

The three creatures smiled, stepping away from Cozy. “Teleportation,” Silverstream said. Her hind hoof touched a shadow cast by a table, and she disappeared – and reappeared instantly on the other side of the room, shadows bleeding off of her. “You think Professor Rainbow Dash is fast because she can move faster than sound? Darkness is faster than sound. Darkness is faster than light. Light has to travel – darkness is already there.”

“Speaking of,” Ocellus said, reaching out to another shadow, placing her hoof on it, then drawing it back – and taking the shadow with it. She drew up the shadow of the table like it was cloth, spun it around herself like a dark cape that settled easily on her withers. She grinned, taking the shadow off and stretching it out into a long spear – which she then stabbed into the ground a few times, creating actual holes.

“Shadow-sculpting,” she said, “but real. Any darkness I touch becomes mine. I can – you could – shape it however you wanted, make the shadows do whatever you want. And, just so you know…it doesn’t have to be small. Grow me enough in power and I can work the shadows of a mountain. Or more…you should see what I can do during an eclipse.”

“But then of course there’s what I bet will be your personal favorite,” Gallus said, snapping two talons. Cozy heard noise from behind her and turned to look, and saw – unsurprisingly – the other three students who had foiled her plans. Yona, Smolder, and Sandbar all waved at her as they entered the cafeteria.

Sandbar waved at her. “Hey, Cozy…you totally uncool little half-windigo,”

Cozy’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped. Had Sandbar just – had Erebus just…

“Failed to take anything over today?” Smolder taunted, hands on her hips and leaning forward. “You’re not half as cute as you think you are.”

Yona stomped a hoof as Cozy’s wings flared wide. “Yona agree! Cozy-pony’s plan to take over Equestria full of holes so big even yak could fit through!”

Cozy was about to lay into the three, and into Erebus, when Gallus appeared from behind them and stretched out his arm so that the shadows of his talons touched the shadows of each of the three, and then pulled. They all let out yelps as they fell over, their shadows stretching unnaturally towards Gallus. He smiled back at Cozy, jerking one thumb at Sandbar. The earth pony rose up on his hind hooves and started dancing around, eyes wide and visibly trying to struggle against it, to no avail.

Yona rose up next, struggling but failing to stop herself as she kicked Smolder across the floor. Smolder rolled to the foot of the table that Cozy stood on, then was forced to her feet and dragged backwards. She tried to dig her claws into the floor tiles for a moment, but Gallus blinked and her arms were pulled behind her back, then she was turned around and made to grab Yona by the horns and throw her over her back.

Yona fell with a crash onto a table, shattering it. She was up again in a moment and charged straight at Sandbar, not slowing down as she collided head-first with the pony, her horns narrowly missing his barrel and sending him flying into a far wall. Even after falling, though, Sandbar just was dragged right back up and back to dancing and flailing against his will.

Gallus took flight and landed next to Cozy’s table, sitting down at it and drumming his claws on its surface. “I can control things through their shadows. Puppet them. Not as totally as I was controlling you, I can only be in one creature at a time. Which is a total drag, if I could I’d be making this offer to every creature I could.”

“I’m a giver,” Ocellus said, joining Gallus, even as the destruction and chaos being wrought by Yona, Sandbar, and Smolder continued. “I don’t want to rule anything. I want to give every creature the power to rule themselves, with nothing in the way of their desires…”

“But forget about that! Think about what this means for you,” Silverstream insisted, as she also sat down at the table, head in her hands as she looked up at Cozy. “No more being stymied by some old pony just ‘cause he won’t help you climb a stupid mountain.”

Cozy’s eyes widened. On the one hoof, Erebus had gone into her mind again…not that it was surprising to learn that he had. And Cozy’s mind, working a mile a minute, took her back to Mount Everhoof, to the pony guarding the way up the mountain to the Bewitching Bell. How he had said he’d love to be her friend, but then wouldn’t even help her climb the mountain.

“No more having to work through others,” Ocellus added. Behind them, the trio of other creatures stopped their chaotic actions, came on up to the table and sat down at it as well as though it had never happened. Because it hadn’t, Cozy reminded herself.

“No more having to work overtime to keep up with Tirek and Chrysalis,” Smolder said, her wings spread wide, her claws digging into the table beneath her. “No more worrying that you’re just some mascot. Power, real power, at your hooftips.”

“The power to take what you want,” Sandbar said, and then tapped his head. “And no longer being held back from having access to magic just ‘cause you weren’t born with a horn.”

“Cozy-pony get power to make,” Yona said, lifting a hoof and dragging shadows with her and sculpting them into a pony-like shape. Yona grinned “And Cozy-pony also get power to break.” She brought her hooves down on the shadows and crushed them, split the pony-shape in half.

Gallus stood, leaning up so her could be eye level with Cozy, which due to the angles meant he had to get close to her, close enough that Cozy could almost feel his breath. “C’mon, kid. You want to rule Equestria. You thought you could do with the power of friendship…and I’m here to tell you that you can.” He put a claw on her withers and leaned in even closer, right up to her ear as his voice dropped almost to a whisper. “My friendship. My power. And all I’m asking in return is that you use it. Nothing else. No strings. Just spread darkness. Spread me and use me and make others embrace me and use me too. Show them how wonderful you are. How powerful you are.”

Cozy could feel the warmth of Gallus’ cheek practically touching her own, Her wings were flared wide, yet she felt no desire to use them to fly away as Gallus’ – as Erebus’ – words flowed through her head. And it was tempting…if it was real.

Cozy shrugged Gallus’ claws off her withers, flapping her wings and flying backwards, but only so that she could land and look across the table at the six faces Erebus was wearing. She took a seat herself, pressing her hooves together as she turned over the offer in her mind, weighed what Erebus was offering.

“Talk,” she said finally. Gallus’ head tilted to the side as he sat down himself amongst his friends. “Talk, talk, talk. I’m not hearing or seeing anything real. This is all in my head! You can look through my mind, you can shut off my emotions if you want…how can I actually trust you? Friendships are built on trust, you know.”

The six looked between each other. Gallus finally snapped his claws, and the other five disappeared, leaving only him. “You’re right,” he agreed. “So…how about a practical demonstration?”

Cozy blinked, and in the bare moment of her eyelids fluttering…she was back, back on the plinth of Midnight Castle, back in the heat and the glaring brightness all around save for the shadow that she was hunkered down in, hooves over her eyes. Those eyes widened and she stood up, wings spread wide. As her head came into the direct sunlight of the afternoon, she heard a hiss of pain in her mind, and let out a yelp as she suddenly lost control of her legs and she was dragged back down into the shadow.

“Please keep me out of direct sunlight when you can,” Erebus said, using Cozy’s mouth. “Oh, by the way, I figured you wouldn’t like to hear my real voice in your head, I know it’s not a very nice voice. Plus, this way we can’t interrupt each other!”

“I don’t like hearing your voice in my head,” Cozy said. She brought her hooves to her jaw, feeling at it. It was so weird. “But I’m not sure if I like this better…I’ll sound like a crazy pony, talking to myself!”

“Who cares?” Erebus asked. “It’s not really you! Anyway, I promise that I won’t do anything to control you at all for the next few minutes, except talking. Just inside Midnight Castle there’s a few ponies, I think three. They must’ve come in with Professor Rainbow Dash. I teleported right past them ‘cause I wanted my freedom, but how about you go back in and test out all my powers on them? It’s not like I can escape across the desert while the Sun is still up so we might as well have some fun!”

Cozy considered, looking at her hooves and flexing them, then fluttering her wings and flicking her tail. She looked to Midnight Castle’s entrance – and the fact that there were no shadows between the rock she was hiding behind and the castle.

“Won’t this hurt you?” Cozy asked.

“A lot,” Erebus confirmed. “But if it helps make us friends, then it’s worth it!”

“Really?” Cozy asked. She gathered herself up, crouching down, spreading her wings, getting ready to pounce like Chrysalis had taught her to. “Because I’m about to go sunbathing!”

“I…know. But I have to risk that you’ll change your mind!”

Cozy blinked, then whickered, tensed, and leapt out into direct sunlight. Once again, she felt a dull, distant pain that wasn’t her own and didn’t really hurt, even though it should have. In her mind, she heard…she wasn’t exactly sure what. Whatever taking in a breath and trying to hold it to prevent yourself from screaming would sound like if you had no lungs and no breath and no vocal cords.

Cozy glanced at the Sun, then her hooves. She pranced in place a few times, and turned to face the Sun directly, walking well away from any shadows. She squinted against the glare and in the darkness of her eyelids she could see Erebus writhing around. “Okay. So now I just wait for Tirek.”

If…you must, Erebus ‘gasped’ out in her mind. The pain really came through in its voice.

“Really? Not gonna fight back?”

No…it’s…hours to sundown…hours until…shadows are long enough…no hope of escape…without you. Erebus finally let out a long and low wail of pain, but quicky got itself under control. I need you…I need you, Cozy! I need you to believe me, to help me!

Cozy shifted.

Please – you’re my only hope! My only…friend…

She tapped her hoof to her mouth. Erebus really didn’t have any other choice…and he was offering her a lot of power…and she had come all this way across the deserts of the Nether Lands…and it was a lot of power if it wasn’t lying…and it didn’t have to give Cozy control of her body back, it could have kept her in the shadows of the rocks, or tried to make a break for Midnight Castle…

…and it did want to be her friend…

“Okay,” Cozy said, turning away from the Sun. She trotted back over to the shadow she had emerged from and ducked down into it again, and heard a relieved sob from Erebus. “Okay, fine. So how do I actually use your powers, then?”

“Your powers,” Erebus responded. “And you just…I dunno…use them. Trust me, it just works.”

“It ‘just’ works,” Cozy echoed, tapping a hoof on the rock beneath her. “So what, I just want to pick up a shadow and…”

Her voice trailed off as she looked at her hoof, squinting. There was…it was like black silk, stretching from the tip of her hoof down into and disappearing as part of the shadow she was in. She lifted her hoof more, and watched as she continued to pull up the blackness like it was a sheet she was holding. Reaching out with her other hoof, she plucked at it, and it bent. It was there, she could touch it. It was real.

“How…?” Cozy asked, putting her hoof down and lifting it without wanting to take shadow with it. Then she lifted it with shadow, then without. She pulled up the strand as high as she could, noticing out of the corner of her eye that the shadow she sat on shrank a little as she did.

“Heehee!” Erebus giggled. “Pretty cool, huh?”

Cozy’s eyes were wide. She pulled back as much of the shadow-sheet as she could. The light bent unnaturally to fill where it had been – even though there should have been no way for the sun’s light to move past the rock. But when she released the shadow, it fell back into place seamlessly.

“Oh my Celestia,” Cozy intoned. She lifted the shadow again, considered it, then imagined it as being hard, like metal, instead of like a sheet. And quite suddenly, it was. She rapped a hoof against it and felt its solidness.

“This…this is cool!” Cozy said. “Wait, I have an idea…” She pulled up the shadows like cloth, then threw them over herself, covering everything but her eyes. Then she stepped out into the sunlight…and found that the shadows became an opaque, black cloak around her, shielding her body.

“Ha! You figured it out!” Erebus said. “Yup. I’m not completely defenseless against sunlight. I can wrap shadows around my host to protect myself…oh.” She said the last as the cape started to sizzle. “But they don’t hold up too well. A few minutes.”

Cozy looked at her all-black-at-the-moment body, the sizzling of shadowstuff across it. “Wait,” she said. “This means…this means that you could have run back into Midnight Castle at any time. The moment I was back in a shadow, couldn’t you have just done this to escape?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Then why didn’t you?”

“Because it’s like I said, Cozy. I want to help you. Empower you. I want to be your friend. I want you to rule Equestria, I want you to show Celestia and Twilight and Gallus and Starlight Glimmer and everypony else what you can do.” Erebus smiled with Cozy’s mouth. “I want them all to look at you sitting on the throne and realize that they were wrong to oppose you, to see how mistaken they were. You want to be Empress of Friendship and that what I want for you.”

Cozy shifted. “You’re serious.”

“Yup! Actually, I think it’s pretty cool. You’re so young but you’ve already figured out pretty much everything, including how to win a real victory. How to really beat your enemies. It isn’t by just defeating them. It isn’t just by standing over them, or taking what they have…”

“It’s…” Cozy said, and grinned. “It’s by making them realize that they were wrong to ever oppose you in the first place.”

Erebus widened Cozy’s grin. “Golly! You got it in one! Now…wanna go test out everything else you can do with me by your side?”

Cozy looked to Midnight Castle. Inside was Tirek, her friend…surrounded by enemies. Cozy’s enemies.

“I sure do!”

9. The Slaves of Erebus

Rainbow Dash leapt into the air and made to go after Cozy Glow. Her intent was echoed in Tirek, who forced himself to his hooves and started forward, even as one hand clutched at his torso. Before either of the two could get close to the exit, however, they were both seized in a magical aura and dragged away from the exit to the chamber.

“What the – ” Dash looked around, and saw that it was Scorpan, spear held in a trembling hand. She almost started shouting at him, but then she saw his face. He didn’t look like he wanted to fight – instead, he looked broken, almost like he was on the verge of tears.

Tirek was not nearly so restrained. “Release me!”

“N-no…I need…you need to listen…”

Tirek growled, gathering up his magic and forcing it around himself, then shoving his hands out, breaking the aura that surrounded him. Rather than heading for the exit, however, he started advancing on Scorpan, even though he was limping now.

“This is your fault,” Tirek said as he bore down on Scorpan. “You…if you hadn’t been in my way, I wouldn’t have – Cozy wouldn’t have – ”

“Whoa, hey!” Dash cried out. She struggled, but she was still held tight in Scorpan’s magic. She decided to not care as she jabbed a hoof at Tirek. “You’re the one who was dead-set on getting your hands on the Rainbow of Darkness even though literally everyone was telling you it was a bad idea, including Cozy! You’re as much to blame as he is!”

Tirek turned his ire on Dash, but before he could lay into her Daring Do galloped over to her side, turning to face Tirek. “Hey, focus, both of you!” She looked between Dash and Tirek. “The situation’s changed, a lot, and none of us are going to get what we want if we spend time shouting at each other!”

“Speak for yourself,” Glory’s voice put in. Dash’s gaze shot over to her, and saw that the unicorn had made her way over to where the Sun Stone lay. She was gingerly pawing at it with her hoof while muttering “ow” at the heat it gave off. Her horn lit up.

Scorpan’s reaction was immediate, wings spreading and lunging forward, releasing Dash from his magical hold. The ponies all whinnied and started to move to protect Glory – or stumbled away in fright in Glory’s own case – but Scorpan only snatched the Sun Stone from where it lay. He held it high over his head and used magic to keep it there – and positioned it, Dash noted, so that nopony’s shadows were reaching out of the room.

Glory took a moment to breathe with a hoof at her chest, before her eyes narrowed. “Oh come on! I came all this way and spent a fortune and had to fight for my life and survived an airship crash and had to give up my yacht for that thing!”

Scorpan ignored her, instead looking down and using his magic to conjure up what looked like a sundial, its gnomon casting a shadow that didn’t match the direction of the light from the Sun Stone. His eyes widened and he started muttering to himself, ignoring everything else in the room.

“Much as it pains me to say it, Miss Pose,” Caballeron said, trotting up to her, “there may be more important things to – ”

“I know! I’m not stupid, I can put things together as well as anypony else.” Glory sat back on her haunches, one hoof fumbling with the goggles she still wore on her forehead. “The Sun Stone was containing the Rainbow of Darkness, and it needs to stay here to do that. I’m not so selfish that I’d risk the whole world just for a gem.” She glanced up at the jewel in question, before lightly stomping her forehooves on the floor a few times. That got Scorpan’s attention, making him look at her curiously. “But I want to at least hold it once…!”

“I don’t believe this,” Dash moaned, covering her eyes at the petulant sight, and at Caballeron rubbing Glory’s withers to calm her down.

“Hey, at least she figured out on her own that she isn’t getting it,” Daring pointed out. Glory heard her, and made a rude gesture with her hooves.

Tirek, meanwhile, glanced between the Sun Stone and Scorpan. He started forward again, but when he did Scorpan dispelled his sundial and held forward his spear defensively. The action brought Tirek to a halt, and he grit his teeth.

“You…imposter.” He pointed at the Sun Stone. “How do I use that to remove the Rainbow of Darkness from Cozy Glow?”

Scorpan gripped his spear tighter, but then shook his head. “You…you can’t. None of us can.”

“Why?” Dash asked, and couldn’t help but take to the air and fly closer to Scorpan. He didn’t move his spear, at least, as she looked him in the air. “Look, yeah, maybe the Rainbow of Darkness is powerful, and Cozy is kind of pure evil, but come on! She’s just a kid.”

“She was bad enough to lock up in Tartarus,” Daring pointed out.

Scorpan blanched, eyes on Dash. “You locked a filly in Tartarus?”

“Not forever!” Dash objected – and it didn’t escape her notice that it was the most coherent sentence Scorpan had yet put together. “Princess Luna was going to let her out in a year, said that it would be a ‘time out’ for her so she could see what was in store for her if she really wanted to follow in Tirek’s hoofsteps. Princess Celestia and Twilight thought it was too long but then Luna just looked at us and said ‘oh yes, imagine how terrible it would be to be trapped in one place for a whole year.’ It was super awkward.”

“Princess Luna became an evil mare called Nightmare Moon and had to be locked away for a thousand years,” Daring provided for Scorpan.

“And it’s not like she was just left alone down there!” Dash continued. “She gets visitors, like, all the time! Psychiatrists and stuff, and the Princesses.”

Tirek started to say something, but before he could Caballeron stepped forward. “We are getting off track,” he noted, and nodded to Scorpan. “You conjured a sundial, Lord Scorpan. Was there a purpose to that? Can you explain how it is that Cozy Glow can be freed from the Rainbow of Darkness?”

Scorpan looked between the four ponies and Tirek. He backed up a few paces from them, then lifted it, leaning against it, and all of a sudden, he looked old. Nothing physically changed about him, yet his slumped body, sagging wings, heavy breathing, everything about him seemed to take on every single one of the centuries of age he had on him.

He shut his eyes and shook his head. “Erebus…Erebus can be forced from the filly with the Sun Stone, with a ritual I was able to create. But…but she must want it to leave her.”

“Well, good news there, she hated it,” Glory pointed out. “Cozy Glow agreed with us on not wanting the Rainbow of Darkness, so that’s step one down at least – ”

“No!” Scorpan interrupted. “No, you don’t…you don’t understand. Erebus can’t, can’t use its full power if she fights it. But it…it is inside of her. It feeds on darkness. It conjures up memories, visions and it…talks. It talks, it reasons it…it will convince her.” Scorpan hung his head. “It knows everything about you. Every thought, every emotion, every memory, and it uses them. It convinces you. It gives you all the power you could ever want…” He cupped his hands together, then closed them into fists. “But it’s a trap. It pushes you. You…you do things you never thought you would. But it makes them so reasonable. So sensible. It makes them sound right.”

Dash swallowed. “Uh…okay, that…kinda’ sounds bad. Cozy probably wouldn’t take too much convincing…”

“You underestimate her,” Tirek said, and grinned at Dash. “Again.”

Scorpan took a few breaths. “There…there is time. Erebus has a weakness – light. Sunlight especially. In sunlight it is robbed of practically all his power. Can only writhe in pain…can only suffer. It is daylight out.” He gestured at the altar where the Rainbow of Darkness and the Sun Stone had been. “Midnight Castle…the enchantment of darkness that surrounds it, was dispelled when Erebus escaped. It cannot leave the castle until night falls.”

“Okay, that’s good news,” Daring said, rubbing her forehead a moment and thinking. “We’ve got a little time until sunset. Maybe six hours? And…an entire, pitch-black castle to search…and we’ll just have to hope that Cozy is fighting the Rainbow of Darkness.”

“Yes…but all of you are here. You are in the light. Erebus can’t make dark slaves of you as long as no shadow it controls can reach you.”

The ponies paused. “Ah…” Caballeron said, raising a hoof, “what is a ‘dark slave’…and what would it mean if there were others in the castle besides us?”

Cozy Glow still couldn’t see in darkness, but somehow that wasn’t an impediment to her movements at all as she looked into the darkness of Midnight Castle, she just knew where everything that lurked in the shadows were. She flinched and braced herself while entering, expecting on some level that Erebus would rise up and seize her…but it didn’t. In the darkness that surrounded her as she trotted forward, Erebus shifted.

“Okay,” Erebus whispered with Cozy’s voice. “So those ponies I noticed are just a bit ahead. They’ve made a camp in the main hall. Go on, have some fun!”

Cozy intended to. She crept forward and past the utter, magical blackness of Midnight Castle’s entrance and stood in its main hall once more, looking at the vaulted ceiling with stone gargoyles perched in it, the broad staircase leading up and the bronze double-doors leading to the spooky hallway. Three earth ponies had set up small tents and awnings and a table in the center of the room, lit torches to see by, but were focused on each other and a card game they were playing.

They didn’t notice Cozy lurking just beyond the edge of their torchlight, a shadow still wrapped around her and turning her completely black. The ponies looked familiar…Cozy squinted at them, digging through her memories, and realized that they matched the description of three hench-ponies that usually served Doctor Caballeron in those stupid Daring Do books. Had Professor Dash really gone all-in on buying some kind of event vacation or something like this?

Cozy shook her head, bringing herself back into focus. Regardless of who these ponies really were when not pretending to be goons, they were supposed to be practice. Cozy sat back on her haunches and started gathering up the abundant shadow beneath her, and couldn’t suppress a grin at how it all just moved and shaped itself and solidified at her whim. She rolled it around in her hooves like she would snow, and soon had a ball of shadow in her grasp.

“Okay, now…” Cozy drew back her hoof, then threw it forward as hard as she could, aiming for the biggest of the three stallions. The orb of utter blackness sailed forward…losing a lot of its speed in the process and sailing right over his head.

Cozy pouted. The stallions, on the other hoof, all leapt and whinnied in surprise. “What was that?” The smallest of the three demanded, looking around.

“I dunno,” the middle-sized one, wearing a red handerchief, said. He peered into the darkness where the ball had landed noiselessly, just beyond the torchlight. “Rogue, go check it out.”

“How about you go check it out, Biff?” The biggest stallion countered. “I’m not that curious.”

Cozy rolled her eyes, gathering up darkness again into another ball.

“Something moves in this castle for the first time since the Doc went off and you’re not curious?” The middle-sized stallion demanded. “What if it’s Daring Do?”

Cozy rolled her eyes harder.

“Look, I’ll go,” the smallest stallion said, trotting off to where the ball had landed. He retrieved a torch, holding it in his mouth. He only needed to move a few feet to find the shadow-ball, which he looked at curiously and immediately reached out to poke.

The other two stallions let out whinnies again and moved forward to stop him – making Cozy’s next thrown shadow-ball miss as well and in fact not even be noticed. She threw her hooves in the air.

“Why do you touch everything?” The biggest stallion demanded.

“What? We’re explorers, aren’t we?” The small stallion said. He tapped at the shadow-ball. “It feels weird. Cold. What is this?”

“The thing that’s gonna turn out to be an egg for something that bites you,” the middle-sized stallion said.

“That was one time!”

“Yeah, and then we spent the next three days stuck on a boat with vampony-you! That was the first time the Doc and Daring teamed up!”

“Come to think of it the second time was when you rang the gong,” the big stallion noted. “And then there was the whole thing with Kali-Mare…every time we’ve had to work with Daring Do, it’s been because of Withers.”

“Not every…” The small stallion paused, thought, and didn’t notice when Cozy’s third shadow-ball landed short of them. “…huh. It really has been every time…”

Cozy was trembling with annoyance, not helped by the fact that she could feel a giggle being barely suppressed in her throat – and not hers, but Erebus’. “Do you want some help aiming?” Erebus asked.

“Shut up,” Cozy hissed back. She gathered up shadows into another ball, readied to throw, but just as she was about to the three stallions moved to gather around the original shadow ball. She’d begun her throw, tried to check it, and instead the shadow ball slipped from her grasp and fell to the floor at her hooves.

Cozy let out a shriek of anger – which caused the stallions to whirl around, something which she only barely saw due to her turning and bucking the shadow ball. It went sailing straight ahead with a lot more force than her throws had been able to muster, and hit the small stallion square in the chest. He let out a gasp as he fell backwards.

“The hay?” the middle-sized stallion demanded, noticing the shadow-ball that had come up short as well. “Who’s throwing – what’s that over there?” He pointed straight at Cozy.

The big stallion started charging right at her. Cozy’s eyes widened and she let out a whinny, turning and running out of instinct at such a large pony bearing down on her. Unfortunately, despite not being able to be seen in the darkness, her hoof-falls certainly gave her away, and the big stallion turned to give chase.

“Why are you running?” Erebus demanded.

“Because you are!” The big stallion said.

“Not you!”

Cozy realized that Erebus had a point. She struggled to get her panic under control, considered a moment, then skidded to a halt, grabbed the shadows behind her, and pulled them over her in a dome while making them hard as rock. She giggled when she heard the big stallion impact the shadows and be sent stumbling to the ground.

“There. You’ll get a knack for it,” Erebus whispered. “You can control any shadow that is connected to your shadow, no matter how many shadows there are in the chain. Use that! You have to get to a point where it’s instinctive.”

Cozy pulled back her dome, looking out. The big stallion was picking himself up, while the other two were coming over, squinting at her – they could still barely see her in the darkness. Cozy put one hoof on the darkness of the floor beneath her and willed their own shadows to grab their hooves…

And it worked! The stallions let out frightened whickers as their own shadows moved up and grasped at their legs, holding them in place. Cozy giggled, casting aside her dome and stepping out of the darkness and into the torchlight.

“Hi!” Cozy said as she pranced over to in front of the three struggling stallions. “Okay, so now that I’ve got your attention – ”

“What are you?” The smallest stallion demanded.

Cozy frowned at the phrasing, but then looked down at herself and saw she was still wrapped in blackness. “Oh, right,” She said, letting the shadows fall off of her. She looked back up to the three. “My name’s Cozy Glow! You may have heard of me.”

The stallions stopped their struggles and stared. “A…foal?” The small one asked. “The hay?”

“Wait, I think I remember something about this,” the middle-sized one said, eyes growing wide. “You’re that filly that Tirek manipulated into trying to destroy Equestria – ”

Cozy bristled, taking to the air and jabbing a hoof at him once she was at eye level. “That is not what happened! That was all my plan and – ”

Cozy noticed too late that the shadows around the three stallions’ legs had disappeared. The big and small one retreated back into the torchlight, while the middle-sized one in front of her reached out for her. She let out a yelp, flying backwards and away, out of reach of the earth pony.

“Hey, what gives?” Cozy demanded as she hovered well above the earth ponies, who were looking back up at her. “How did they escape?”

“You let us go!” The middle one said, retreating into the light as well with his companions.

“No I didn’t!”

“Actually, you did,” Erebus said. The ponies stared at her like she was a crazy pony talking to herself…which, fair enough, that would be how it looked. “You can control any shadow you’re touching. But if you’re flying, you’re not touching anything, silly.”

“How does that make sense?” Cozy demanded, throwing her hooves wide. “Darkness isn’t even there to begin with, so why does it matter if I’m on the ground or not?!”

“It just does,” Erebus answered. “But, come on, you’re doing pretty well for this being your first time!”

“Uh…Biff?” The big stallion asked of the middle-sized one. “She’s, uh…she’s talking to herself. And talking back.”

“I am not talking to myself,” Cozy said. “It’s complicated, you wouldn’t understand.”

“Yeah, I don’t care,” Biff said, grabbing a torch and pointing to the others. “I care that you just told us what your weakness is! Get the torches, get us surrounded with light.”

Cozy ground her teeth together at Erebus speaking through her mouth while, faster than she could land on a solid surface again – one of the gargoyles near the ceiling – the three ponies had managed to surround themselves with glowing torches. She sat down on her haunches, staring down at the three, who were looking back up with…apprehension, maybe? A sort of nervous curiosity? Not fear, though, which is what she would have expected. And kind of wanted…

“How the hay did you even get all the way out here?” The middle-sized pony – he seemed to be the leader – asked. “Did you stow away on the airship or something? Do you have any idea how dangerous this place is?”

“I mean, she’d have to, if she was in the airship when it went down,” the smallest stallion said.

Cozy shook her head. “I wasn’t in the airship, I was already here. We got here before you dumb LARPers did.” She paused a moment, then grinned at them, leaning down. “And it was my idea to shoot down your airship! I figured you were here for the Rainbow of Darkness and there was no way we were gonna let you get there first.”

She’d wanted to inspire more fear. Instead, they just looked confused. “What the hay is the Rainbow of Darkness?”

Cozy rolled her eyes, leaning down on her barrel and putting her head in one hoof. “Right, you weren’t downstairs for everything…I don’t want to explain it.” She narrowed her eyes. “What I want to know is why you aren’t afraid of me! I can control shadows! Isn’t that scary?”

“Sure, ‘til we figured out how to stop it,” The big stallion said, pointing to the ring of torches they were surrounded with. “Now you’re just a little pony.”

Cozy grinned, getting up onto her hooves. “I know something you don’t know…” she sang.

“Oh yeah?”

Cozy wrapped shadows all around herself again…and stepped things up a bit. She made herself appear bigger, made the shadows around her wings look like bat wings, gave her head a horn like an alicorn’s, but curved like Sombra’s had been, and she filled her mouth with fangs. Behind her, her shadow-adorned mane and tail started waving, moving and undulating as though in a breeze that wasn’t there.

Cozy willed the shadows on the floor beneath her to surge forward. Torchlight wasn’t sunlight – it couldn’t stop them, couldn’t even slow them down, she knew that already. Each torch was seized by an arm of shadow-stuff and pulled back and away from the trio before they could do anything more than yelp, then shadows smothered the flames and plunged the room into blackness.

Cozy decided to try something new: she ran down the side of the pillar the gargoyle was perched on. Her hooves found purchase on the vertical surface as easily as if she was on the ground. She still couldn’t properly see anything – other than the vague motion of Erebus lurking and turning within the shadows – but once again that didn’t make a difference, she still somehow just knew where the other ponies were.

And with them now surrounded by total blackness, they were at her complete mercy. Darkness grabbed hold of them from every side. She hoisted the small one into the air on a pillar of darkness that grew out of the ground, trapped him in a cage of metallic shadow. The big one had tried to run, but she tripped him up, sent him sprawling and then had vines of darkness wrap around him and hold him in place on the floor, squeezing him tight.

And the middle-sized one, the one who was in charge, she grasped his hooves and held him in place, trapped him in a standing position as she trotted right up to him. He screamed like a little filly – Cozy would know – as Cozy made a staircase of shadows for her to climb, right up onto his back. He swung his head around to try and keep her away from him, but an arm of shadow lashed out of the ground and grabbed him around the neck, holding him in place as she leaned right up to his ear.

“I’m not a little pony. I’m a monster. Rawr!”

Cozy giggled – and swiftly began full on laughing as she sat back on the pony, rubbing her hooves together. Now this was fun! There was absolutely nothing that any of them could do to her as long as she was in control of the Rainbow of Darkness. She heard the small one crying out from within his cage above her and the big one almost sounded like he’d broken down into tears, and the middle one was…actually not making a sound. Had he passed out? Fainted from fear? Cozy started giggling again until she heard a strangled gasp from right in front of her.

Her eyes widened, despite the pointlessness of the action. She had the arm around his neck release him, and the stallion took in a huge, gasping breath. She’d been choking him without even realizing it, the darkness…

“What the hay, Erebus?!” Cozy demanded. She climbed off of the stallion – ignoring the sounds he was making, the hoarse words begging her for mercy – and tried to look directly at Erebus’ undulating form in the shadows. “Why were you choking him?!”

“I wasn’t!” Erebus countered. “You are in control, you’re the one who grabbed him that hard. What’s it matter, anyway? Don’t you want to see how strong my shadows can be?”

“Not like that,” Cozy said. She turned to follow Erebus’ ever-shifting presence. “These ponies are just a bunch of LARPers, they haven’t done anything to me, they don’t deserve to die. They’re gonna be my minions!”

“Minions?”

“Yeah!” Cozy turned to the three stallions. She decided to give the middle-sized one a break and instead trotted over to the big one she had pinned to the floor, jabbing at him with one hoof, eliciting squeals of terror. “Or, what I mean is, I thought of something for you to do rather than just offer commentary. As long as we’ve got two minds up here, we can take advantage of that.”

“How do you figure?”

“Like this!”

Cozy changed the nature of the shadows around the big pony. She had them wrap around him, seal him inside of them like she was sealed inside her own shadow-suit…careful to make sure it wasn’t airtight, though, she didn’t want a repeat of what had just happened.

“Whoa…” Erebus intoned as the big pony stood up at Cozy’s direction, the shadows around his body moving him. “That’s really neat!”

“Uh-huh!” Cozy agreed, and rubbed her hooves together. She glanced behind herself and up, at where she knew the little stallion to be, and repeated the process, then closed the third one inside a shadow-suit of his own. The shadow-suits clamped the ponies’ mouths shut, silencing most of their cries for help or mercy.

“See, I know I could just make shadow minions if I wanted,” Cozy said, and amused herself by using shadows to create a few ponies marching around her in a circle. “Buuuut nopony would feel bad about hitting those. But if there was a pony inside one of them, a pony they knew…then because of their friendship, they’d hesitate! Pull their bucks!”

“So where do I come in?” Erebus asked.

“Simple: controlling minions would be a lot of work for me,” Cozy tapped her head a little, “especially since I’m still getting used to all of this. But you could focus on puppeting them around, while I focus on other things! Sound good?”

Erebus was quiet, and Cozy was almost worried, before Erebus started giggling through her mouth. “That’s great! And super creative! Okay, sure, I’ll focus on the puppets.”

“Right. But don’t hurt them!” Cozy started trotting towards the hallway, and from there, the subterranean layers of Midnight Castle. The three dark slaves she’d created followed along at a steady pace. “I still want them to actually be my minions at some point once we take over Equestria. But for now, they get to be the honorary first members of the Cozy Guard!” She glanced at the three, even if she couldn’t see them. “You three be good until we’ve got Midnight Castle squared away, okay? Just need to save my best friend Tirek, and then I can let you go!”

She heard the three ponies gasp and cry out from within their shadow suits, and grinned. “Oh, right, you don’t know. Tirek’s here! And…he’ll probably want to drain your magic. Huh, I guess I won’t be letting you go. But that’s okay! I’ll still bring you back to Equestria with me and you can recover and then you can be my subjects when I take over Equestria!”

That thought put a little more spring into Cozy Glow’s step. With shadow-magic like this, Grogar would be a cinch to defeat – surely even he wasn’t a match for every shadow coming at him at once from all sides! Hay, even Tirek or Queen Chrysalis wouldn’t be a match for Cozy now. She’d just gone from being the weakest member of their alliance to the strongest!

Yes, things were definitely looking up – there really wasn’t anything like shadows to brighten up Cozy’s day, as long as Erebus was by her side!

Tirek wanted to grab the facsimile of Scorpan and smash his face into a wall. He wanted to grab his wings and pull them off. He wanted to take the fake’s spear and shove it down his throat. He wanted to strangle the life from him, he wanted to stomp him underhoof, and above all else he wanted to drain all the magic that the false Scorpan had, every last iota of it, to reinvigorate himself, to grant him the power he’d had before he had set hoof in Midnight Castle, and then use that power to drain the magic of the ponies here.

But though there was probably some way to make all of that happen, his thoughts invariably turned to Cozy Glow – and to the Rainbow of Darkness. The power it had…power that was now controlling her. Power that should have been Tirek’s already if not for these accursed ponies and this false image of his brother that mocked his memories and Cozy getting in his way…

Tirek grit his teeth as Scorpan finished explaining what he had meant by dark slaves. “I see this as no cause for concern,” Tirek said, cutting the air with one hand. “If this Erebus thinks that doing this will slow me down, it is sorely mistaken.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t exactly planning on pulling my bucks against your goon squad anyway when push came to shove,” Rainbow Dash said, looking to Caballeron. “No offense, but you are bad guys.”

“Some taken,” Caballeron retorted, though he glanced to Scorpan, “though I feel you miss our benefactor’s point. I doubt that the shadows you hit will be harmed all that much…but the ponies inside of them will be. The same blow that might stagger a pony will only inconvenience one of these dark slaves, am I right?”

Scorpan nodded. “Yes. To disperse the shadow around the pony will require…much more force. Much more than would be needed to fell a pony. And…and all the while, the victim inside…no control. Helpless.”

Rainbow Dash checked herself at that. “Oh,” she said. “Right…w-well, at least there’s only three, right?”

“For now,” Scorpan said. He looked over the small herd of ponies, and Tirek, his grip on his spear tightening. Tirek balled his hands into fists, daring Scorpan to act against him. He didn’t. “There are too many of you. You…I must take you outside – ”

“Oh thank Celestia,” Glory Pose mumbled.

“ – use the Sun Stone to guide you out into the sunlight. You will be safe while the sun shines. Then I will venture through the castle alone.”

“You will not.” Tirek said, stomping a hoof, and ignoring the pain it caused with practiced ease. “It’s your fault that Cozy has been possessed – if you hadn’t tried to blast me while she was in the way, then we wouldn’t be having this discussion!”

“Actually, I bet we would, only with Cozy Glow and with you having run off possessed by the ancient evil artifact,” Rainbow Dash said.

Tirek balled his fists as he turned on Rainbow Dash, but the pegasus looked totally unintimidated. Daring Do dove between the two of them before either could do anything, holding up her hooves. “Dash, please stop antagonizing Lord Tirek.”

She’d no doubt only used his title as a means of trying to appease him. Tirek decided to play along with it – he had bigger concerns at the moment as he returned his attentions to the false Scorpan.

“I will join you in hunting down Cozy. And when you drive the Rainbow of Darkness from her, it will be mine.”

Scorpan stared back at him, eyes looking over his face. His grip on his spear tightened and he closed his eyes, but rather than speak, he turned, walking directly away from the door and to the wall opposite it. It appeared like featureless bricks, but without hesitation Scorpan pressed his hands on two of them. They pushed in with little effort, then a large section of the wall with it, sliding to the side. Beyond a spiral stair led upwards and out of sight.

Scorpan looked back, using his spear to call the Sun Stone over to him, illuminating the hallway. “This leads to the first floor. From there, I can get you outside.”

Glory wasted no time in rushing over, Caballeron only a few steps behind. Rainbow Dash and Daring Do were slower to follow, keeping an eye behind them on Tirek as he came forward as well. His pace still favored one leg over the other three, but he ignored that pain, as well as the pain down his right arm as he folded both behind his upper back.

Scorpan watched his approach for a moment, but eventually turned and held the Sun Stone magically over his head. He tapped it with his spear, and the light and heat that it was giving off quadrupled, making it painful to look at and making Tirek feel like he was standing outside in the Nether Lands.

“Stay close,” he said, “as close as possible. And…beware the shadows. If they move wrong, let me know, immediately.”

“Won’t Erebus know about this secret passage?” Daring Do asked as they started moving. Her words made Glory jump. “Won’t it figure that you’ll use this to get us out?”

“Yes. But…but it will know that I know that. And I know that it knows. And it knows that I know that it knows. And – ”

Tirek snarled. “I will strangle you.”

Scorpan glanced back at Tirek, but nodded. He moved the Sun Stone over his head randomly a few times, pushing back all shadows, cutting the ones cast by their group off from the ones that lurked ahead and behind them. A wise precaution, Tirek had to admit, and one that would perhaps keep them safe should Erebus attack them…not that Tirek anticipated the need. He had every confidence in Cozy Glow to not give in to the Rainbow of Darkness so easily.

“Hey, Tirek,” Rainbow Dash said, interrupting Tirek’s musings, “I gotta ask…how did you and Cozy get out of Tartarus?”

Tirek looked down at her. “Is now really the time?”

“Might not get another. Last time I saw you, you were helping me and my friends leave.” She eyed him. “And you weren’t nearly so buff, either, how’d that happen without anypony noticing a bunch of drained ponies missing their cutie marks?”

Tirek growled. “I see no reason to tell you.”

Rainbow Dash groaned. “I bet it was Sombra. It was Sombra, wasn’t it? Something he did in case he failed again? Don’t know how he came back, but hey, it happened before.” Tirek kept himself from grinning, not wanting to indulge the pegasus. “Look, it doesn’t matter. I don’t know how I’m gonna stop you, but even if I can’t, as soon as I get back to Ponyville and get my friends together, we’re gonna hunt you and Cozy down.”

“Then perhaps I shouldn’t let you return,” Tirek noted, looking her in the eye and grinning at her. “I could use the pick-me-up right now…”

“Yeah, yeah,” Rainbow Dash droned. She took to the air, flying head of Tirek but looking straight at him with forelegs crossed over her chest, having no difficulty at all flying backwards. “Except then I won’t be able to help you get Cozy Glow free from Erebus. She was my student, and even if she was a little psycho, I can’t just leave her hangin’. So…how about it? Is that truce offer still on, until we deal with Cozy and Erebus?” She held out one foreleg.

Tirek stared at the outstretched hoof a moment, before reaching out his own right fist. “Until Cozy Glow is free,” he agreed, touching his fist to Rainbow Dash’s. “And if you stay out of my way when I claim the Rainbow of Darkness as my own, I’ll even spare you and everypony else here as well.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “I guess we’ll see.” She dropped down to the ground, but moved up alongside Doctor Caballeron. “And, hey, uh…what about you? You gonna help get your goon…I mean, your, uh, employees back?”

Caballeron grit his teeth. “If it were possible…but if they have been made into dark slaves, then our best hope will be to remove Erebus from Miss Cozy Glow, and our best chance of success at that will be to expose as few ponies as possible to becoming more dark slaves. Much as I hate to admit it, I will actually be more useful if I am not in the castle.”

“What he said,” Glory added. She and Caballeron both then glanced to Daring Do.

Daring Do looked back. “No, I’m staying. I’m not leaving Dash alone in here. I’ve encountered traps where you have to watch your shadow before, this isn’t any different. Well, except that the shadows will be moving on their own this time…but I can manage.” She fluttered her wings a few times, and tilted back her pith helmet. “Besides, saving the world is kind of my thing, same as Dash.”

Dash grinned, slapping a wing against one of Daring Do’s own. Tirek rolled his eyes, but was surprised when the pegasus took to the air to look at him just as Rainbow Dash had. “One thing I’ve got to know first, though,” she said. “If it comes down to it, Lord Tirek, which would you pick: the Rainbow of Darkness, or Cozy Glow?”

Tirek bristled. “What kind of question is that?”

“The kind that I know will come up. Call it…pattern recognition. At some point you’re going to need to choose between the two. So, which will it be?” She flew up closer. “That little filly called you her best friend. Are you?”

Tirek snarled, pushing past Daring Do. “It won’t come up,” he said, and completely tuned out any attempt she made at getting his attention again. There wasn’t going to be a choice. The Sun Stone would be used to force the Rainbow of Darkness from Cozy, and then Tirek would claim it and Cozy would be free. So why bother trying to pick between the two? It was foolish to even waste time contemplating such a thing.

He was still larger than the ponies, so him moving up had forced them all behind him…which unfortunately meant that he was not walking directly behind his brother. The facsimile of his brother, in any event…

“So, what are you?” Tirek demanded of the creature walking before him. “A magical construct? A golem? What simulacra did my useless brother create to mock me?”

The creature’s grip on his spear tightened. “I am Scorpan.”

“Time is suspended in Tartarus, creatures there don’t age. That’s not the case in this castle. Scorpan is dead.”

Scorpan looked at him. His shoulders and wings sagged. “Perhaps…perhaps you are right. Perhaps there is not really a Scorpan anymore, just…me. Just…just the gargoyle that imprisons the Rainbow of Darkness. Forever.” He looked ahead. Twitched his hand, sent the Sun Stone wobbling through the air, pushing back shadows. “It must be.”

“You haven’t answered my question.”

Scorpan stopped, turning on Tirek. Still filled with power, he actually stood nearly as tall as Tirek did, and the few extra steps of the stairs that he was on brought him to eye level with the centaur. He banged the butt of his spear into the ground, drew himself up, clenched his free hand into a fist.

“I live,” Scorpan said, his voice steadier than it had been since he had first started speaking, “I sleep, I live again. I suspend myself. Seal myself in stone. I am awakened when the castle’s defenses are breached. Every time I close my eyes, every time I feel the rock and shale crawl up my fur and close around me and the dreamless, thoughtless void takes me, I wonder if it is for the last time…I hope it is for the last time.” He glared hard at Tirek, then turned around and started walking again. “That is how I’m still alive. Still alive to be here, to meet you again. To see you again, to see you like…this. Still. To lose the one last shred of hope I didn’t even know I still had.”

Tirek barely heard that, instead focusing on what Scorpan had said. He…froze himself in stone? Released himself when the castle was breached? That was certainly possible…easy, even. Tirek could think of ways to set up the enchantments, arrange the spells of Midnight Castle to trigger such an event. And Tirek had taught Scorpan much of the magic that Sendak the Elder had known…and then Scorpan had had years of additional freedom to learn himself…

…was this Scorpan? Could Tirek really be looking at his brother? And if so…how did that knowledge lessen his desire to wring the gargoyle’s neck? This was the traitor, the mutineer, the one who had turned on him and alerted the ponies to his plans, had aided Star Swirl and Celestia and Luna in imprisoning him in Tartarus, who had robbed Tirek of a thousand years of freedom…

…and look at what it had gotten Scorpan. A lost kingdom just as Tirek had lost the chance to create his own in the nascent Equestria. Isolation and a prison just as Tirek had been imprisoned. A fitting punishment, perhaps. There was symmetry to this, a symmetry like what Tirek had attempted to inflict on the Princesses of Equestria when he had escaped from Tartarus the first time. Scorpan had gotten not one ounce less than what he deserved…

They reached the top of the stairs, which terminated in an apparent dead end, the stairs going right up to the ceiling. But Scorpan reached up and again, without even needing to look, pushed in two bricks in the ceiling and then heaved, lifting it up and over his head, sliding aside a large block. The six of them emerged in the dark chapel to Lord Tirac, which looked outright alien in the hot, bright light of the Sun Stone. The stained-glass windows continued to refuse to let in any light from outside, and every creature paused to look at the great image of Tirac, arms spread wide as darkness – as Erebus – spread across the land before him and caused all whose shadow he touched to suffer.

“Such power,” Tirek mumbled as he looked at what Lord Tirac had once accomplished, the breadth of his domain.

Scorpan looked to Tirek. “Power has a price. And it did not avail him in the end.”

Tirek grunted, not wanting to even begin that debate. He turned around…and froze.

At the other end of the dark chapel, standing in its entrance just beyond the Sun Stone’s light, was an alicorn…a jet-black alicorn with batlike wings and a slightly curved horn, with a mane and a tail that were long and flowing shadow-stuff and eyes that stood out only by somehow being even darker than the rest of her.

But what stood out most about the alicorn was that she was shorter than Rainbow Dash. She was the smallest alicorn that Tirek had ever seen, and he’d seen four out of the five in existence. Perhaps Princess Flurry Heart was shorter…but certainly not by much.

“Tirek!” The alicorn cried out in a familiar voice. The blackness bled off of her, and Tirek had to fight back the urge to recoil when he found himself looking at the familiar pink fur and red eyes, and the much less familiar but still recognizable blue mane, not done up in its usual curls thanks to the desert’s heat outside.

“Uh-oh,” Cozy Glow said. “Tirek, did these bullies take you captive?”

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Who’re you calling a bully?” She paused. “Uh, also…who’s calling me a bully? Cozy Glow, or Erebus?”

“Oh, goody!” Cozy Glow said, looking at Scorpan, who was frozen in place, spear held forward, free hand held like he was ready to throw something – the Sun Stone through magical power, probably. “Thanks, Scorpan, for letting them use my – ”

“Wait, hang on, shut up,” Cozy interrupted herself, scowling and looking a little to the side. “Let me talk.”

“Got it,” Cozy Glow said.

Tirek blinked. “Cozy…?”

“Yup!” Cozy responded. “Uh…also, Erebus. The Rainbow of Darkness. He talks through my mouth sometimes. But this is me.”

Daring Do took a step forward – though she also made sure to remain behind the Sun Stone, keep her shadows away from Cozy. “How can we be sure of that?” She asked. “How can we be sure you are who you say you are?”

“That’s rich, coming from a LARPer who won’t even break character!” Cozy countered. “Now shut up, I’m talking to Tirek.” She turned back to the centaur. “It’s okay! Me and Erebus had a long talk, and now I’m using the Rainbow of Darkness. We didn’t have anything to be worried about after all! All he wants is to just be used, that’s it – no strings attached! He had plenty of opportunities to turn on me but didn’t take any of them!”

“Lying,” Scorpan said. His eyes were huge, and he was trembling. Whatever sanity he had been able to seize had slipped from his grasp, it seemed. “Lying, lying, lying…”

Cozy grinned widely. “Nope,” she said, and then turned back to Tirek. “Come on! Just get over here, I’ll cover you.”

Tirek almost did start forward, but checked himself. “Daring Do is right,” he said. “How can I be sure that it’s actually you? That you’re in control?” He inclined his head. “Step into the light.”

Cozy didn’t. “Erebus…doesn’t like it,” she said. She actually took a step backwards, into deeper shadow. “He doesn’t like the light.”

“So Erebus is in control.”

“No.” Cozy stomped his hoof, “no, he’s not, he’s my partner, just like you and Chrysalis!”

“You and WHO?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, eyes and wings both going wide. “You’re working with Chrysalis?! Did she let you two loose?! And – and was she behind Sombra?!”

One of Tirek’s eyes narrowed. Had Cozy just made a mistake, let her anger get the better of her and say something she shouldn’t have – or was Erebus trying to distract him by bringing Rainbow Dash into this? He stepped forward again. “Cozy Glow. Step into the Sun Stone’s light.”

“No,” Cozy said. “I shouldn’t have to! You should trust me! You’re my best friend!”

“Then as your friend, I’m asking you to prove that you are in control. Erebus can lurk in the darkness for a few moments.”

“No.” Cozy’s eyes were wide as she glared at Tirek. “You…you wanted the Rainbow of Darkness. You wanted it really bad. Wouldn’t even listen to me when I was telling you it was a bad idea, even though you’re supposed to trust me. You’re supposed to listen to me! I’m your friend!”

Tirek growled. “I had waited a thousand years to seize the Rainbow of Darkness! Of course I wasn’t listening to you when you stood in my way – ”

“And you still want it now, is that it?” Cozy demanded. She shook her head. Darkness started creeping up her legs, turning her fur and feathers black. “Want to take the Rainbow of Darkness from me?”

Tirek clenched his fists. He wasn’t listening to her? Why wasn’t she listening to him? “I want to see if you’re telling the truth. If you are, then you should be able to separate Erebus from yourself.”

“So you can have it?” Cozy demanded. “No.”

“Cozy, get into the light, right now.”

“Promise me you won’t try and take Erebus away!”

Tirek’s eye twitched. How could he make that promise, with how long he’d waited, with how much he’d gone through? He cut the air with one hand. “I will swear no such thing.”

Cozy stared back at him. The darkness that had been creeping up along her swallowed her whole, turning her into the solid-black alicorn again. Its void-like eyes narrowed. “Fine. Then I guess we’re fighting. It’s okay. Friends fight sometimes. But I’m gonna win.”

She stepped backwards, completely into the shadows. Tirek lost sight of her almost immediately.

Author's Note

The all is lost moment!

10. The Way Out is Through

Cozy managed to keep her composure for just another moment as she stepped back into the darkness, but once she was out of Tirek’s sight, she retreated back a few dozen steps, pulled up a wall of darkness to block all sound, and stood with her teeth grit for a few moments. They didn’t last.

“Who does he think he is?!” She demanded at the top of her lungs, throwing her hooves in the air. She began pacing back and forth across the hallway and didn’t care that her dark slaves could see it, or at least hear it and her.

“Oh, so now Lord Tirek is worried about me? Didn’t stop him from shoving me into Erebus in the first place!”

“Or betraying you to the ponies back when you were in school,” Erebus pointed out.

“Yeah, or that – hey wait!” Cozy turned to glare at the shifting form in the darkness. “First, stay out of my memories! Second, that was totally different! He only helped them out of Tartarus ‘cause they were gonna make him miserable there forever if he didn’t! Not like this time where he shoved me into you!”

“Accidentally,” Erebus pointed out.

“Doesn’t matter!” Cozy stomped a hoof, turning to follow Erebus’ movements as it circled her. “He wouldn’t have needed to do it at all if he’d just listened to me!” Cozy whickered and stomped the ground a few more times. “He never listens to me or takes me seriously! Just ‘cause he’s been around for a thousand years, except most of that was being stuck in Tartarus so it doesn’t even count! I accomplished almost as much as he has! I had Equestria in my hooves, just like him!”

Erebus shifted around her in the darkness a few times in silence. He seemed to draw closer, though Cozy still couldn’t make out his true shape. “So…what are you going to do about it?”

Cozy flared her wings and scuffed the ground with one hoof. She was angry. Furious. Even in the darkness she was seeing red. “Well apparently all that work me and him and Chrysalis did at Mount Everhoof was for nothing. Apparently, he still thinks I’m just some little filly. I have to show him that I’m not!” She started pacing once more. “I’ve gotta do something big, something that’ll show Tirek once and for all that he needs to take me seriously and stop treating me like a little filly!

Erebus moved closer. “And what will that be?”

Cozy stopped her pacing, even though she was just as mad as ever. She tried to focus past it. She looked to her three dark slaves, and considered the layout of the chapel to the ancient Lord Tirac. She hadn’t ever seen it clearly before…but even as she thought that, she felt Erebus move and shift a little in her mind, and suddenly she was aware of every nook and cranny in Midnight Castle, the whole complex’s layout, and in particular, the dark chapel to Tirac – its dimensions, the stairs leading down to the dungeons, the other stairs to the north that lead up higher into the castle, the window with Tirac on it that she’d seen, but now she even knew how tough it was, what it would take to break.

“This might help,” Erebus said.

Cozy grinned, as she considered what her enemies had at their disposal…the likely moves of Professor Rainbow Dash, how Tirek would act, what Scorpan could do…

“Oh, it does…now, what I need is the right amount of menace…”

Three words echoed through Rainbow Dash’s head about a million times in the span of just one second.

This is bad.

In the following second, a couple additional words were added to the repetition.

This is so, SO BAD!

And in the second after that, her mind tried to pull itself in three directions at once:

Tirek and Cozy are working with Chrysalis which means that Chrysalis is planning some kind of big comeback and there is no way that they weren’t involved with raising Sombra from the dead but wait can Chrysalis even do that Cozy Glow can’t probably but then who knows what that little pony can do I never would have thought that she could drain the magic from all of Equestria but she totally was just like Tirek was doing and Tirek worked with Cozy before and he also worked with Discord so he’s definitely open to working with others and Cozy worked with him so the two of them would totally work with Chrysalis and Chrysalis had that whole hive and also Chrysalis and Tirek are both like a thousand years old so I can totally buy that one of them learned necromancy at some point and Cozy probably wants to oh no they DID raise Sombra…

At the same time:

Cozy Glow has the Rainbow of Darkness and she’s totally working with it which means that Scorpan was right and it convinced her to work with it but let’s be real it probably wasn’t very hard for it to do she’s such a messed up filly how does a filly even GET that messed up I should probably ask Twilight about that she’s been to visit Cozy like three or four times in Tartarus so it must have come up but between the School and the Wonderbolts and Ponyville I’ve had a lot on my plate it’s not my fault that I can’t do everything at once I mean I know I’m the fastest pony in Equestria but even I have my limits but anyway back to Cozy working with Erebus okay so she can basically shape shadows into doing whatever she wants and she’s probably already made the goon squad into dark slaves and now she’s gonna try to get all of us…

But also:

THIS IS SO BAD ON SO MANY LEVELS.

But then about five seconds passed from Cozy Glow disappearing into the darkness, and Rainbow Dash didn’t have time to be having a mental breakdown anymore. She shook her head, smacked her cheek, and kicked the stone floor beneath her with a hind hoof, bucking her conniption away.

She turned to Tirek. “Okay, you and me, buddy? We’re gonna have some words when all this is done.” Tirek probably didn’t hear her right now given the look on his face. She’d deal with that later. She turned to Scorpan, who looked almost as out of it, and took to the air to fly in front of him. “Hey! Scorpy! Wake up! Got a new plan for you – why don’t we just go out that way?” She pointed behind them all, to the giant stained-glass window of Lord Tirac. “A solid buck will break that, right?”

Scorpan was still, and Dash went to repeat herself, but then a tremor went through his body. He shook his head. “Magically reinforced. Whole castle is like that.”

Dash nodded, landing again. “Okay, fine, then we go the hard way, straight down that hall. It’s only, what, a hundred and fifty feet to get outside?” She started stretching, readying her wings. “I can do that in less than a second, even with another pony weighing me down. You stay here. I’ll get Glory out, then come back for Caballeron – ”

“No!” Scorpan shook his head hard. “No, Erebus will…will have anticipated that. It will have created a wall of darkness. You’ll be flying straight into a wall just as hard as Midnight Castle’s. And then it will have you.”

Dash paused mid-stretch. “Okay, so instead we charge straight down the corridor together, all of us protected by the Sun Stone’s light.”

Scorpan’s head didn’t stop shaking. “Too many shadows, too narrow. Erebus can’t exist in the light of the Sun Stone for long…but it can exist. Snatch us, drag us into darkness. Seize us.” He used his spear to indicate the chapel. “In here the room is large…the shadows have to stretch too far to reach us.”

Dash whickered. “Okay, then what do you suggest?”

“Erebus’ focus and awareness is limited by his host body’s. If we split up – ”

“No,” all four ponies vetoed, immediately. Daring Do stomped a hoof and continued for all of them. “Splitting up is the worst thing we could do right now! If we’re not all in the Sun Stone’s light, then Erebus will pounce on whoever isn’t in the light. You’re asking somepony to become one of those dark slaves so the rest can get out.”

Scorpan gripped his spear tightly…but nodded. “Yes. Yes, I am. I told you, I cannot protect so many of you. I don’t believe I can protect any of you.” His eyes narrowed. “If some are going to be lost anyway, it may as well be for a purpose.”

“Not happening,” Dash said. She glanced at Glory Pose. “Any chance your special talent is magic? Could you make something like that with your horn?” She gestured at the Sun Stone.

Glory blanched. “What? No!” She jabbed a hoof at her cutie mark of a shooting star. “This represent me being a rising star. Social climbing, prestige, recognition. Not magic. I’m no Twilight Sparkle.” She sniffed. “I know telekinesis, I know how to use that to fire a kinetic blast. I know a little spell for keeping track of things, and another to make things shine brighter – ”

Dash made a face and gestured with both hooves at the Sun Stone.

Glory responded with a gesture of her own. “Not like that! By polishing things and cleaning them up! If I knew any magic that would be useful here, I’d tell you!”

“Then what good are you?” Tirek asked, speaking up for the first time since Cozy had disappeared into the darkness. Everypony jumped, while he turned to look down at Glory. “It sounds like your magic would be far more useful as my magic.”

“Nuh-uh!” Dash objected, taking to the air, jabbing a hoof at the centaur. “No! You can’t just solve all your problems by draining ponies of their magic!”

“My…” Tirek paused, scoffed, crossed his arms, glanced at Scorpan, then looked away and continue through grit teeth. “My brother is right. At this point, if we are to win, some of us will have to lose.”

“But not you, right?” Dash glared at Tirek.

Caballeron held up a hoof before either of them could get into it. “Arguing will surely not help us. I think Miss Dash may have had the right idea to start with.” He pointed behind them once more, at the stained-glass window. “That is our best option. Magic may reinforce it, but surely only so much?” He looked between Scorpan and Tirek hopefully.

Tirek did nothing to buoy that hope. “The spells protecting Midnight Castle are ancient magic, and they will have only grown stronger with time – ”

“TEN.”

This time, every creature flinched at the sudden word, not just the ponies. It came from every shadow, every patch of darkness at once. It sounded like Cozy’s voice, if it had dropped a few octaves even as it was multiplied in volume – and it had Erebus’ voice layered underneath it.

“What was that?!” Glory demanded. She’d ignited her horn out of instinct, and stepped closer to Caballeron.

Dash and Daring had bunched up with their fellow ponies as well. “That…that was Cozy reminding us that she’s not just going to sit around and let us come up with an escape plan,” Daring noted. Her wings were spread as she looked around. She nodded towards the Sun Stone, and the four of them all stepped closer to the light.

“NINE.”

“It’s not Cozy Glow,” Tirek remarked, clenching his fists as he also stepped closer into the Sun Stone’s light. “Or it is not wholly her. The Rainbow of Darkness is corrupting her, using her…”

“I feel the difference is academic,” Caballeron noted. “Cozy Glow or Erebus…they are coming for us.”

Dash fluttered her wings, and grit her teeth. She looked down the corridor – she couldn’t see the other end due to the blackness. If Scorpan was right, there was a solid wall waiting for her to plough into it there, a solid wall that would encase her in shadow-stuff and puppet her for Cozy Glow’s amusement. Didn’t sound like a fun time.

“EIGHT.”

She looked to Scorpan. “What exactly was the plan to subdue Cozy?” Dash asked. “Corner her, shove the Sun Stone in her face or something until Erebus ditched her? Something like that?”

“Something like that,” Scorpan responded. His grip on his spear tightened.

“SEVEN.”

“Okay,” Dash said. “Okay, here’s the plan, then: we’re doing that here instead, right now. We’re making our best go at it.”

“SIX.”

“She’s speeding up…” Glory noted.

“Glory, stay in the center of the room,” Caballeron said quickly. He was the one most used organizing others, so Dash decided to listen to what he had to say. “Scorpan, can the Sun Stone drive Erebus or his dark slaves back in any way?”

“FIVE.”

“Yes,” Scorpan responded. He had stepped closer to the Sun Stone’s light himself; only Tirek hadn’t moved from where he previously stood. “If brought close to Erebus, it will harm it greatly.”

“And the pain for Erebus’ host?” Tirek demanded.

“FOUR.”

Scorpan looked to Tirek. “I endured it. Barely.”

Tirek grit his teeth, but Caballeron stomped a hoof to get attention. “And is there a specific spell required? Or will just sending magic into the stone power it?”

“THREE!”

Scorpan looked to Caballeron. “No, any magic will do…but why…?”

“TWO!”

“Give the stone to Glory so you can focus on battle! Glory, use the stone to keep us safe!”

“ONE!”

Scorpan blanched at the suggestion. Dash thought it was a good one, though, so she kicked off from the ground, grabbed the Sun Stone from Scorpan’s magic and ignored the heat it was giving off, and then tossed it to Glory. The unicorn let out a surprised shock and caught it in her hooves out of instinct. She wasted no time in sending her own magic into the stone and holding it aloft.

“READY OR NOT, HERE – ”

“Yeah, yeah!” Dash called into the darkness, hooves at her mouth. “Just get out here already!”

Out of the corner of her eye, Dash saw Tirek actually flinch. Before she could ask why, however, the darkness at the edge of the Sun Stone’s light screamed – and sounded a lot less like Erebus and a lot more like Cozy Glow when it did.

Scorpan barely paid it any mind – he had started to lunge for the Sun Stone, but checked himself when there was movement at the edge of the Sun Stone’s light, near the corridor that lead back outside. The darkness moved of its own accord, flowing like a solid wall to block that avenue of escape.

Then more movement from the left, the stairs that lead down into the bowels of Midnight Castle as two equine shapes half-charged, half-lurched, screaming, into the light. The screams weren’t the screams of battle, however – the shadows wrapped around their mouths were pulled back, making their cries of terror and even a small amount of pain be heard.

“Biff – Rogue!” Caballeron exclaimed, recognizing two of his hench-ponies.

If the dark slaves heard Caballeron, they gave no sign as they were upon the group. Tirek snorted at the sight of the biggest one, Rogue, spinning around and preparing to buck him. He called up a bubble shield around Rogue to stop the blow – and then let out a gasp of pain at the feedback as the bubble was shattered by the sheer force of Rogue’s buck, followed by a more pronounced grunt as the hooves connected with Tirek and sent him stumbling.

The dark slave of Biff, meanwhile, closed in on Caballeron, reaching out as soon as he was close, shadowstuff around his forehooves granting them unnatural length. Caballeron avoided one hoof but was struck dead-on by the other, and he was sent reeling away.

Dash or Daring would have dived in to help, but they were preoccupied – the two dark slaves weren’t the only ones to attack. Darkness writhed at the edge of the light as though something were pushing against it from the other side, and started shooting javelins of darkness into the air. The two pegasi were quickly forced to the ground lest they be impaled, and that’s when creeping tendrils of shadow struck out at them, racing across the floor and grabbing at their hooves or their shadows. It was everything they could do to keep moving out of the way.

Scorpan wasn’t ignored either – tendrils of shadow reached out for him, lashing at him with far greater force than was being spared for the ponies or Tirek. The gargoyle fell away from them even as he called on his own magic and cast it into his spear, stopping the darkness not with light, but rather by jamming his spear into the ground and causing the stone floor to thrust upwards into a wall that the darkness had to climb over.

For just a second it was almost too much for the erstwhile allies. Dash heard Glory scream – but when she glanced over, she saw the unicorn had leapt at Caballeron with the Sun Stone in tow, her horn alight as she poured magic into the artifact and shoved it right into Biff. The shadows on Biff recoiled and shivered as though burned, and the front half of Biff was freed.

“Boss!” Biff cried out, holding out a hoof. Caballeron reached for it, but before he could grab his fellow stallion the shadows around Biff latched onto the ground and pulled him away, flinging him back into the darkness even as they wrapped around him again.

Tirek had recovered from Rogue’s initial blow. The big dark slave made to strike Tirek again, but he stopped it by grabbing the leg even as Rogue swung, and lifting Rogue off the ground. The shadows around Rogue stretched off of him and kept him connected to the ground, trying to pull him back down. Tirek obliged them by letting go of Rogue – and then punching him in midair, holding nothing back. Rogue let out a cry of pain as he was sent tumbling away, but even as he groaned the shadows stopped his stumble and hoisted him back up onto four hooves again.

Dash had her own problems as a tendril of darkness rose from the ground like a cobra, shadowstuff flaking off of it in the Sun Stone’s light but still looking far more solid than it should have. The tendril lunged at her once, then twice, forcing her back. Dash didn’t even need to look to know that another shadow was probably behind her waiting to strike, and when the dark tendril lunged a third time Dash risked jumping into the air, barely avoiding one of the javelins that still lanced through the air. A glance down showed her that, indeed, the tendril had been trying to force her into an inky black pool of darkness that had been creeping along the floor. The dark tendril merged with it, then both surged for Daring.

But the pegasus adventurer saw them coming, and beat her wings, propelling herself across the ground and away from it, gliding nimbly around and to the other side of the Sun Stone’s light. Dash dropped back to the ground before another dark javelin could skewer her, galloping out of the tendrils’ reach and over to the light. Glory’s eyes were wide and she looked terrified as she shoved the Sun Stone towards Scorpan, dissolving a tendril that had slammed into him and wrapped around his spear, trying to pull it away. Between Scorpan’s magic and the Sun Stone’s light, the tendril broke apart.

“This isn’t good!” Dash exclaimed, glancing every way she could, trying to see something in the undulating, writhing darkness at the edge of the light. “We can’t just be on the defense, we’ve gotta find Cozy!”

“I agree!” Tirek exclaimed as he held up a hand and seized Biff in telekinesis, slamming him into Rogue and shoving the two back. “But Cozy Glow won’t risk herself until we’re already defeated, it’s not her way!”

Scorpan plunged his spear into a dark tendril that lashed at him, setting off a small explosion within it that scattered the shadowstuff. The six of them all bunched up beneath the Sun Stone, and Glory channeled even more magic into it, brightening it further and driving back the shadows – making it bright enough that the dark javelins shooting across the air didn’t make it all the way across before dissolving.

But she swooned as well from the effort, wiping her brow with a trembling hoof. “I – I’m not built for this…” she moaned. “I’m not that kind of unicorn! I can’t keep this up – waagh!”

The last came as a single, giant tendril of undulating darkness reached out from the edge of the light, its form easily as thick around as a stallion’s barrel. It lashed forward at them. Scorpan and Tirek both leapt forward and blasted it with their magic, but the tendril was made of sturdy stuff – its swing was halted, but it didn’t break apart, instead pushing against the magical assault. Glory shoved the Sun Stone forward at the tendril after a second, burning it away – but also falling to her knees and hocks.

And here came Biff and Rogue again…Dash grimaced as Caballeron and Daring darted forward to take care of them, Caballeron apologizing as he bucked Rogue back, while Daring ducked down and then kicked straight up at Biff, sending him into the air, though tendrils of darkness lashed out from him and kept him connected to the ground.

Dash didn’t have time to do much about that as a sheet of darkness, easily twenty feet wide, swept across the ground and towards her. She leapt into the air to avoid it, then had to dodge the tendrils that rose from it and the javelins shooting through the air. It was too much, and one of them finally struck her in a glancing blow through her primary feathers – sending her reeling and down into the darkness, which clawed and coiled its way around her like some kind of ooze.

But Glory was there before the darkness could get a firm grip on her. The unicorn grabbed at Dash with hooves and telekinesis both, pulling her free even as she held the Sun Stone high and forced it to be even brighter to burn away the darkness before it could make Dash into a dark slave, though the effort made Glory’s eyes flutter…

…and then the last of Caballeron’s former henchponies, Withers, made his entrance – via a tendril of darkness that literally threw him forward and right at the exhausted Glory and momentarily stunned Dash. The smallest of Cozy’s dark slaves – although the darkness left his body the moment he was airborn – didn’t even do anything other than collide with Glory, causing her to cry out and knocking her away from Dash…and making her lose her grip on the Sun Stone and the magic she was channeling into it.

Instantly the light of the Sun Stone died down – it didn’t go away, but the blackness all around them did close in. Dash was closest to the fallen Sun Stone, so nothing came for her. But a wave of shadows spilled forth, wrapped up a dazed Withers and a screaming Glory both, and then dragged them back into the darkness. Caballeron let out an angry shout at the sight, but it was interrupted as a sweeping tendril grabbed him by both hind legs. Daring grabbed him and tried to pull him back, but the tendril gave a single firm yank and pulled him out of her grip and into the darkness as well.

It was only about a second – by then Scorpan had grabbed the Sun Stone with magic and poured power into it. But Glory and Caballeron were nowhere to be seen – nowhere where the Sun Stone’s light shone.

Maniacal giggling cut through the air as Tirek, Scorpan, Daring and Dash all huddled around the Sun Stone’s light. “Two down…” Cozy sang from somewhere. “Four to go! Or three? Feel like switching sides yet, Tirek? Ready to admit that I’m right?”

Tirek looked to Scorpan. “How were you able to defeat the Rainbow of Darkness?!” He demanded. “It’s toying with us!”

“I told you,” Scorpan responded, holding the Sun Stone high. He was shaking, wings spread wide. “Erebus has almost no power without a willing host. I became unwilling. Cozy hasn’t. I’ve never had to drive it from something else before!”

“But somepony did!” Daring pointed out, waving a hoof back at the stained glass window. “Somehow the gargoyles and centaurs were able to defeat Tirac!”

“Oh, that…” There was laughter. “Erebus speaking now, not Cozy. Tirac wasn’t slain in some super battle with big spells and a big alliance or with the power of friendship or anything dumb like that. Tirac was defeated…because a gargoyle snuck up on him while he was asleep.”

Dash’s ears folded back at that. “Oh.”

“That little flashlight of yours can slow me, Scorpan…but it can’t stop me. Me either!” There was a giggle, and Dash guessed that Cozy was speaking again. “This is soooo GREAT! Ready to say you’re sorry yet, Tirek?”

“No,” Tirek said.

Cozy growled. “Fine! Then I guess we’ll keep at it!” The shadows vibrated – and meanwhile, from the darkenss straight ahead, five dark slaves could just barely be seen, one of them now sporting a glowing horn.

Dash shook her head. This was a losing fight, no question about it – she hated to even think that, but it was true. Cozy was toying with them, messing with them, and as long as the Sun Stone could provide only so much light…

She glanced behind her at the window again. It didn’t let in any light, which seemed like the opposite of what a window was supposed to do. Tirek and Scorpan had said that it was magically reinforced…which meant that what she was about to do was probably going to hurt, a lot.

Dash grimaced, but also started beating her wings. “Scorpan! Make the Sun Stone as bright as you can! Fill this whole room…I’m gonna need the space!”

“What?” Tirek asked, turning to her. But she was already in the air. She picked a direction and shot off towards the darkness. She had to trust that Scorpan would listen to her.

He did – he didn’t have much of a choice if he wanted to avoid her becoming another dark slave. The light of the Sun Stone surged, the heat it gave off multiplied a dozen times over. Dash had maybe a tenth of a second to register that before the wall she was shooting towards suddenly appeared from the retreating darkness. She turned a hard left, shot down along the wall, then turned left again…

Speed wasn’t the issue here. Control was. Dash could make tight turns with no problem normally – though normally also included being outside, where if she messed up and failed to turn she’d go flying rather than splat. Beyond even that, Cozy Glow was hardly being idle while Dash flew in circles. The hail of dark javelins began again, and all Dash could do was tighten her spins, shrink her turn radius in an effort to avoid them.

All this was happening in a matter of seconds. She was becoming a literal tornado here, rainbow contrail of pegasus magic looping around itself again and again with Dash flying through it, the outside world becoming a complete blur, which was the real problem. She needed speed right now, because speed translated into force when it hit something. She didn’t know how much force she needed, so she was shooting high. But it meant that her aim absolutely, positively could not be off. Fortunately, she was Rainbow Dash – and a Wonderbolt. She had the training, the skills, the talent, and more hours logged on the Dizzytron than almost any other pegasus. She knew how to keep herself oriented even in the middle of a spin.

“What do you – ” Cozy, or Erebus, started to demand. The first syllable began about a second after Dash had taken off. The last came out when Dash came out of her spin – aimed straight at the stained-glass window of Lord Tirac.

This is gonna – was as far as the speed of thought carried Dash’s internal commentary before her hooftips touched the glass…but that was all she achieved, as a wall of shadow collided with her side and sent her flying. Dash cried out in pain at the impact, and at the second one with the floor that send her rolling right into the waiting shadows.

Her eyes went wide. Her hooves scrabbled at the stone, trying to stand up – but she was too late.

The shadows grabbed her and wrapped around her. Dash struggled and yelled and even bit at them, but it was like a complete sheet of darkness enveloping her while also dragging her away from the light of the Sun Stone that she could still see. Actual panic rose as she tried to beat her wings, but those were already seized by darkness. She tried to pull herself back into the light, but her hooves were consumed as well. Then even the light of the Sun Stone disappeared as she was dragged even further back into the darkness, and even up several steps of a spiral staircase, one that went up into the castle rather than down.

The shadows seemed to suffuse her, bending her limbs against her will – in fact with no regard for that will at all. She was stood up, and somehow, she knew that Cozy Glow was now in front of her even though she couldn’t see the little psychopath.

She felt a hoof lightly tap her muzzle. “Knew you’d do that,” Cozy said, and giggled. “You’re so predictable, Professor Dash! Well guess what? This time it’s costing you!”

Dash wanted to say something defiant, or failing that something rude – but the shadows didn’t even let her open her mouth.

Cozy giggled a little more. “Aw, don’t be like that! Or do, whatever. Now get in there and join the fun!”

Dash wanted to say something to that, too, but remained powerless to so much as speak. Her limbs moved of their own accord…but she couldn’t see where she was going. Couldn’t even see how close she was to whatever was happening until something slammed into her and sent her flying. She grunted in pain but was already being forced to her hooves. She was literally fighting blind – and it wasn’t even her doing the fighting. But it was definitely her taking the punishment.

How the hay are we gonna beat this? Dash wondered. She had no answers.

Whatever Rainbow Dash had been planning on doing – Tirek guessed trying to break the stained-glass window in spite of him telling her of the impossibility – it had failed spectacularly. A column of darkness, perfectly timed, had struck out at the pegasus and knocked her into the shadows, and that was that. Erebus had a dark slave with wings now, though Rainbow Dash kept to the ground for some reason as she attacked Tirek, Scorpan, and Daring Do.

As much as he hated to even contemplate it, Erebus was winning – winning without ever even exposing itself to danger, picking them off when they made mistakes or grew tired while it sat in Cozy Glow’s body safely surrounded by darkness, on another floor entirely for all Tirek knew.

Tirek physically grabbed Daring Do just as she bucked away the dark slave of Glory, and pulled himself close to Scorpan as well. He conjured up magic, but not to attack – instead, he surrounded the three of them with a shield, giving them a moment to breathe.

“We need a strategy!” Tirek exclaimed. A tendril of darkness slithered from the shadows and slammed itself down on the shield. It held, but Tirek himself nearly buckled. He redoubled his efforts as Scorpan flared the Sun Stone’s light, dissolving the black tendril. But another was already creeping forward, while the dark slaves circled just beyond the light.

“There is no strategy,” Scorpan said. He gripped his spear tight and held the Sun Stone over his head, but his voice carried no determination at all, only doom. “I tried to warn you. I tried to warn all of you…but you didn’t listen.” He turned and looked at Tirek. “You never listened to me!”

“Now isn’t the time,” Daring interrupted before Tirek could respond. She was breathing heavily, her eyes locked on the dark slaves of Caballeron and Rainbow Dash. “Tirek, can you move this?”

“Yes.” He grimaced again when the next dark tendril hit the bubble from the side. Scorpan destroyed it with intense light. “There’s few enough of us now. Scorpan, keep the Sun Stone bright. We’re going outside.”

Scorpan looked to Tirek, then the direction of the exit. “Erebus will have created solid walls of darkness – ”

“Then we destroy them.”

“It’ll be like moving through quicksand, quicksand that is crushing us – ”

“Then it will be like that! And we will push through anyway! There’s no other choice!” Tirek took in a deep breath, redoubled his efforts, and started forward across the chapel to Lord Tirac, heading for the exit as he maintained the bubble. Daring Do and Scorpan moved with him, quickly at first as they closed on the exit corridor.

But Erebus realized what they were up to, and the shadows moved. The light of the Sun Stone ran into a wall of darkness ahead, the light slowing down unnaturally as the darkness pressed back against it. The darkness continuously lost ground to the light, but the light didn’t banish them nearly as quickly as it should have. The darkness fought for every foot.

The bubble reached the wall of darkness, and Tirek found that Scorpan was right. It was like he was pushing against a wall of sand, packed sand that didn’t want to be moved. It gave way before the light of the Sun Stone anyway, but it felt like trying to roll a massive boulder uphill.

A hill that actively fought back. It pushed against the bubble from every side it could, like Erebus had formed the darkness into a fist and was crushing the light within it. Orange-black magic danced over Tirek’s form at the strain he was putting out trying to maintain the shield and keep himself going at the same time. He shrank the bubble shield to conserve as much magic as he could, made it barely large enough for him and Scorpan to stand side-by-side

Out of the corner of his eye he saw that he wasn’t alone in his struggling. Beside him, Scorpan’s eyes were wide as he held the Sun Stone aloft in his magic, spear glowing bright as he made their one and only hope for salvation glow to the point of nearly blinding them. The heat that poured was far more intense now than even the Nether Lands. Bright enough that even the dark slaves couldn’t get close, not without the shadows covering them being burned away. The same orange-black magic as Tirek’s own was arcing like lightning across Scorpan, draining him inch by inch from the power he was pouring into the Sun Stone.

Daring Do was not contributing – but at least she was small enough that she could fit into the bubble just behind Scorpan, where there was room for her since the bubble had to be large enough for Tirek’s equine body. She wasn’t a liability. Her wings were shielding her eyes from the Sun Stone’s glare, and she was shouting something, probably words of encouragement, but Tirek couldn’t hear them over the pounding of his heart, the cacophonous pulse of blood in his head from the power he was putting forth trying to hold back Erebus.

But then…light, true sunlight. Just at the front of the bubble, a tiny speck at first but one which grew as Tirek pressed forward. Erebus’ darkness tried to wrap around and pull them back, but Tirek pushed, roared, strained, and kept putting one hoof in front of the other no matter the cost, until finally the three of them stumbled out of Midnight Castle and out into the glare of the Nether Lands’ sun. Tirek sucked in a breath but didn’t let up his shield until he’d galloped forward right to the edge of the cliffs.

When he finally cut off the magic powering his shield, he found himself trembling, gasping for breath as he collapsed to his knees and hocks and hands. Sweat poured off him. His limbs shook. Residual magic arced across his body….Tirek lifted a hand and looked at it, and bit back a moan of frustration at how drained he’d become…not as bad as he had been when he’d first escaped Tartarus, but not much better, either.

Scorpan looked better, but only because he’d started with more power, hadn’t had it drained. He was on his knees, leaning against his spear to keep himself upright.

Daring Do was still upright, facing away from the two brothers and instead looking back at Midnight Castle. Eventually, Tirek forced himself to look at it as well. It almost looked unnatural in the true sun’s glare. The skull-like entryway was still a chasm of utter darkness as before, however, though that darkness now seemed to undulate and writhe.

And giggle with Cozy Glow’s voice. As Tirek, Scorpan, and Darin Do watched from the edge of the cliff, the unnatural darkness seemed to pull back, fall in on itself until, ten feet back from the entrance, it revealed the jet black alicorn-like body that Erebus had wrapped Cozy Glow in, standing in the middle of a line of her six dark slaves.

The blackness pulled away from Cozy Glow, revealing her true form. She was smiling. “Heehee! That was fun! Kind of mad that I didn’t get all of you, but that Sun Stone is pretty useful so I’m not that surprised. Still, I definitely think I won there!”

Cozy trotted forward a few feet, though she eventually flinched before putting down one hoof apparently too close to the light. She frowned at it, but then looked back to the three of them. “So, Tirek! Ready to start listening to me?”

Tirek sucked in breath, and stood up, doing his best to ignore his shaking legs. “No. Not until I know that I am listening to Cozy Glow, and not to the Rainbow of Darkness.”

Cozy’s eyes widened, and she stomped both front hooves. “Why not?! Look at what I’m able to do with Erebus! You’ve got all kinds of power already, why are you so jealous now that I’ve finally got power of my own?!”

“Because this isn’t about that!” Tirek roared, throwing his hands wide. He took a step forward himself. “This is about you. You and proving that you are in control!”

“And what, the only way I can prove that I’m in control is if I just give up my power?! Fat chance! This isn’t like Mount Everhoof, you want Erebus more than anything!”

“That was before!”

“Before what?”

“Before…” Tirek paused, the words catching in his throat. He clenched his fists, looking behind him, at Scorpan. His brother was only now getting to his feet, shaking off the weariness of the magical energy he had expended. Tirek looked back to Cozy…to Erebus, wearing Cozy’s body, making her say things in her voice and…

Tirek shook his head. He glanced upwards at the sky. The Sun was slowly arcing downwards. Night was hours away, but it was coming, and with it long shadows stretching across half the planet…and Erebus’ freedom from Midnight Castle. The darkness of the night would give Erebus practically unlimited power…even with the mere shadows of Midnight Castle, there was no doubt that it had been winning the battle inside the castle, had, if anything, been merely toying with Tirek and his erstwhile allies.

There was movement – Daring Do stepped forward, looking at Cozy. “Look, I hate to intrude – ”

“Then don’t, you dumb cosplayer!”

The older pegasus rolled her eyes. “There’s a way for you to prove you’ve got control over Erebus.” She nodded her head at the dark slaves behind Cozy. “Let them go.”

Cozy blinked. “What? Why would I do that?”

“To prove that you can.” Daring Do waved a hoof at Midnight Castle. “You were kicking our flanks in there with just the normal powers of the Rainbow of Darkness. You don’t even need them. And it would go a long way towards convincing us that you really are in control.”

“I don’t care if you think that!”

Tirek crossed his arms, considering Daring Do’s plan and deciding that it had some merit. “But you do care that I do. Release your dark slaves.”

“And then you’ll believe me?”

“I’ll start to.”

Cozy chewed on her lip a moment, one hoof at her mouth. “I kinda’ want to catch up with Professor Dash…how about I give up half of them.” She waved a hoof, and three of the dark slaves – Doctor Caballeron’s hench-ponies – came forward, trotting right up and out into the sunlight.

Within moments the shadows around them dissipated and pulled back into Midnight Castle. The three earth ponies – all of them nursing bruises and black eyes from the punishment they’d received at the hands and hooves and magic of Tirek and his erstwhile allies – stumbled and nearly fell over when their independence was returned to them. They took one look at Tirek, another at Scorpan, and almost turned and ran – but then they remembered what was behind them, mostly because Cozy waved at them.

So instead the three galloped up to the only semi-friendly face, Daring Do’s. “I. Didn’t. Touch. Nothin’!” the smallest of the three exclaimed as he fell to his barrel behind the pegasus. “This one isn’t my fault!”

Cozy looked to Tirek. “Okay. Now I’m gonna go catch up with Professor Dash for a little bit. I’ll be back in a few!”

The impermeable darkness of Midnight Castle’s entryway returned, making Cozy disappear into shadows once more. Tirek clenched his fists, and did his best to ignore the ponies as he turned around and set off and away from them, wanting space.

He didn’t get it. Scorpan followed him. “This is a ploy,” he said, “a trick. All Erebus is doing is stalling for time. Wasting time, until night falls. Then Erebus can enslave us or slay us at his leisure – or even forget all about us and simply fly across the Nether Lands to the nearest city. Conquer it and make the inhabitants his playthings.”

Tirek grunted, hands behind his back. He tried to force his mind to think over what had just happened. “…no.”

“No? What do you mean, no?”

“Erebus doesn’t have a reason to trick us. If it wanted to wait, then it just could. No reason to release any of its dark slaves…” Tirek heaved out a small sigh, and stroked his beard. “Cozy, though…she does. She is in there.”

Scorpan shook his head. “No. Don’t start thinking like that, brother. You don’t understand how Erebus thinks. Pain and suffering and torment are goals unto themselves for it. Snuffing out light, snuffing out hope, is its greatest desire.” He waved his spear back at the former dark slaves, now free and talking animatedly to Daring Do. “Releasing a dark slave only to take them back…that is absolutely something it would do.”

Tirek scowled. He’d never had the inclination for pointless cruelty like that…but there were many who did. He should hardly have been surprised. He honored bargains struck and kept in good faith, but it seemed that Erebus was not the kind to do either…but it would appear to. Tirek stroked his beard. So it was treacherous…but reliably so?

He looked to Scorpan, and to the Sun Stone that his brother still kept close, hovering nearby even though a light far more powerful was shining down from the Sun above. Their only weapon against Erebus. An Erebus that was either puppeting or play-acting as Cozy…

Tirek had a plan.

Author's Note

Erebus is op pls nerf

11. The Dark Heart of the Matter

Cozy Glow considered the three dark slaves she still had in her possession as she trotted back into Midnight Castle, the slaves following her. How was she going to have a decent talk with Professor Dash in a spooky place like this…?

As she moved, she gathered up all the supplies that the cosplayers and Rainbow Dash had left behind in the entry chamber and took them with here. Up a flight of stairs and through a few doors led Cozy to a broad room that Erebus had informed her about. It was shrouded in darkness, of course, but Cozy knew it had stained-glass windows like the chapel below, depicting scenes of Lord Tirac’s conquests of the lands that would become Gar-Centauria. They all led up to a throne fit for a centaur lord, more of a bench, really, with plush cushions and arm rests. Cozy hopped up onto it, found it comfy enough, and got to work.

Tendrils of darkness set torches into sconces, and used tinderboxes to light them. More tendrils worked to lay out all the food the ponies had brought with them, and Cozy started mixing together the best meal she could given that she didn’t have much to work with other than water, hay, oats, salt, and a few spices for flavor – though then she remembered hers and Tirek’s own packs in the dungeon below, and teleported them through the darkness to her. The centaur nomads had given them a better variety of food then the emergency rations that Rainbow Dash’s airship had possessed.

“You could let me prepare the meal,” Erebus said through her mouth. “I’m actually a really good cook!”

“Nah, I want to do this,” Cozy insisted. “And hey, could you not talk with my mouth for a bit? I want to talk to Professor Dash and don’t need you interrupting.”

No problem! Erebus said in her mind, still sounding like her voice but with Erebus’ own layered underneath it. I have some questions of my own. But I can wait!

Cozy grinned at how well the two of them were getting along now that things were going there way. Really, all Cozy had to do was stall for a few more hours. Then the Sun would set and she’d be free to go…wherever she wanted to go, really. She could probably teleport all the way to Istanbull if she wanted, or even further, with the powers of the Rainbow of Darkness.

Not quite, Erebus said, but pretty far! And you wouldn’t get tired at all!

Cozy had noticed that – the magic she’d been using with the Rainbow of Darkness didn’t seem to draw on her inner magical reserves, such as they were for a filly, at all. Even Celestia would have been exhausted after what she’d just done downstairs, but Cozy hadn’t even broken a sweat. At this point probably even Discord was no match for her!

Probably! Erebus agreed.

Okay, Cozy thought, once she was done with her picnic. Give me a bit of time now, please!

Got it!

Cozy settled into Lord Tirac’s former throne, leaning against one of the arm-wrests, and flicked her hoof. Shadows retracted from around Rainbow Dash, flowing away until just one hind-hoof was clasped in a chain. The moment the adult pegasus’ eyes were freed, she glanced around, in taking her surroundings – and the moment her wings were free, she started beating them.

“Yeah no,” she said as she took off, though the chain around her hoof held her fast. She fell back to the ground and glanced down at it.

Cozy giggled. “Did you really think that would work?”

Rainbow Dash whickered. “Still had to try,” she said as she picked herself up. She waved a hoof at the cosplayer and Glory Pose, but the two were still wrapped up in shadows, unable to do anything.

“You gonna let them out too?” Dash asked, looking at Cozy.

Cozy shrugged. “In a minute,” she said as she hopped up and waved a hoof down at the picnic she’d made. “But I wanna talk to you first, Professor Dash. I’ve missed a lot of school, after all!”

Rainbow Dash froze, then glanced to Cozy with a picture-perfect look of incredulousness. “What, you want make-up work or something?”

Cozy personally didn’t think she needed any make-up work given that she’d been able to become friends with Erebus, but she did use shadows to go into her bag and bring over her notebook and writing implements.

“No thanks,” she said, “but I do want to hear about how everypony’s been doing. And every other creature.” She giggled slightly as she leaned forward on the throne. “I wanna make sure that I know everything I can before I go catch up with them.”

Ooh, good one, Erebus noted.

Cozy started to thank Erebus, but in the real world, Rainbow Dash’s only response was to roll her eyes and start tugging against the shadow chain harder, putting her wings into it. She flew up again, striving as hard as she could, but with a thought Cozy made the chain as hard as steel. It wasn’t going to budge, not even when Rainbow Dash flipped around in the air and started trying to push at the shadows with her forehooves.

“You really think you can break that?” Cozy deadpanned.

“I can try.”

“It won’t work.”

Rainbow Dash grunted for a few moments. “It gives me something to do.”

“Something to…?” Cozy let out, before what her former professor was implying caught up to her. Then all she saw was red. “What do you mean, something to do? I’m right here, you know!” She stomped her hoof. “You can’t just ignore me, you’re my prisoner!”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Rainbow Dash retorted, pausing in her efforts. “But you have no idea how often that happens to me.” She glanced over at the bigger of Cozy’s two dark slaves. “Right, Doc?”

Cozy ground her teeth together. She was acknowledging the cosplayer?! She stomped a hoof on the ground and the shadow chain yanked, pulling Rainbow Dash to the ground with a whinny. Cozy denied the chain enough slack to allow Rainbow Dash to even lift her leg as she hopped from the throne and surged forward; by the time the adult’s eyes were back on her, Cozy was right up next to Rainbow Dash.

“I went through all the trouble of setting up the best picnic I could for us, Professor Dash,” Cozy said, walking backwards. Shadows grabbed at Rainbow Dash’s hooves and forced her to follow Cozy’s steps, then pulled her down onto her barrel atop a blanket that Cozy had spread out on the floor.

“So,” Cozy continued, “we are going to have a picnic and we’re going to catch up. Get it?!”

“Alright, alright!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. Cozy waited a moment more before releasing three of her hooves from shadowstuff. Dash pulled a serving of hay and oats and rolled her eyes. “Geeze, you’d think I owed you money or something…”

Cozy heard a snicker in her head at that. She did her best to ignore Erebus as she smiled once more. “Good! Finally, you were making me think I wasn’t ever going to get through to you. So, how about you start by telling me all about what Gallus has been up to? Oh, and Smolder. And Yona. And every creature else. How’s school been?”

Rainbow Dash bought herself some time by having a mouthful of hay. A big mouthful. She probably thought she was being clever, but Cozy just went over to her side of the picnic and sat down. Cozy let her smile twitch just a little bit, and Rainbow Dash got the message, finishing her bite quickly.

“Uh…school’s been fine,” she answered. “I mean…every creature has good days and bad days, y’know? I guess we have a buckball team now, that’s new. And a cheerleading squad for them.”

Cheerleading? Erebus asked. What’s that?

How do you not know? Cozy asked.

You don’t want me looking at your memories, remember? I didn’t learn everything.

Cozy fought the urge to whicker in annoyance. Fine, you can look at that one. Aloud, she pressed on. “Aw…I would have loved to be on a cheer squad! Who’s on it?”

Rainbow Dash blinked a few times. “How…exactly…does this help you take over the world?”

Cozy sighed, shaking her head. “I’m a ponies-pony, Professor Dash. I like to know what my friends are up to. And my future friends, too. Just because I’ve got the power of darkness now doesn’t mean I’m just giving up on the power of friendship.”

“Magic of friendship.”

“Same difference.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t look like she grasped it, which made sense given that she was the dumb one out of the Element-bearers. “How the hay did you manage to get help from Scoots and her friends, ace every test after that, get a whole bunch of friends, and still manage to get everything we were trying to teach you wrong?”

Cozy suppressed the urge to groan, though she couldn’t stop herself from rubbing at her temples in frustration. “I didn’t get anything wrong, Professor Dash. I was just looking at the big picture. Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis twice, Sombra two or three times, the plundervines, Tirek, the Pony of Shadows, the Storm King…and me, I guess. There’s some serious power in friendship, you can’t deny that.”

“Yeah but it’s not just power – ”

“I know that! But there is power there, and I want it!” Before Rainbow Dash could interrupt her, a tendril of shadows wrapped around her muzzle. “Okay, so I answered a few questions for you, Professor Dash. So now, time to answer mine. Who’s on the cheer squad?”

Rainbow Dash was silent a moment after the tendril withdrew. “Wait…is that how this’ll work? I answer your questions, and you’ll answer mine?”

Cozy considered, tapping her chin. She felt a grin spread across her muzzle. Professor Dash was the stupid one, Cozy could already guess all the questions she’d probably ask her and she didn’t have a problem answering any of them.

“Sure,” she said, “I guess. If it makes things easier.”

Rainbow Dash shifted a little, but finally let out a sigh. “Okay, then. Lighthoof, Ocellus, Shimmy Shake, Smolder, and Yona.”

Cozy nodded a little, at least until the last name. “Yona? Okay…I can see why Smolder would join the team. Lots of attention. Showing off. Yeah, that makes sense. And she’d drag Ocellus along. Shimmy loved to dance so I know why she’d join, and of course Lighthoof would join her best friend. But Yona? Why would Yona join, it’s not like she needs an excuse to be loud and obnoxious…”

“How did you escape Tartarus?”

Cozy scowled a little at her thought process being interrupted. She needed to figure out how those six had changed over the past year if she was going to start her revenge schemes on them. She had plans, of course, but they needed to be adapted to suit each of them. Personalized torment, but also torment designed to make them her friends again.

Well, she had time. She grinned at Rainbow Dash. “Hmm…not surprised you’re asking that one, Professor. Well…it wasn’t King Sombra who broke out me and Tirek. And it wasn’t Chrysalis, either.” She considered leaving it there, but decided that she wanted to see the look on her former professor’s face too much. She leaned forward, grinning widely. “It was…Grogar!”

The look on Rainbow Dash’s face…was one of confusion. “Who?”

Cozy’s own grin dropped. “Oh, come on!” She exclaimed, throwing her hooves in the air. “Grogar! The Father of Monsters? Emperor of Equestria before Gusty the Great stole his bell and power? He’s got to have come up in those dumb Daring Do books.”

“Well, he hasn’t,” Rainbow Dash said, crossing her hooves and glancing over at the dark slave with the Caballeron cosplayer in it. “So who’s Grogar?”

Cozy groaned. In her mind, Erebus let out a tsk sound. Dumb one, remember, he told her.

Yeah, she agreed. “He’s a big mean goat. A big mean powerful goat. And he broke me and Tirek out of Tartarus and got Chrysalis and Sombra. And all that stuff I just said about him being the Father of Monsters. Twilight would know who he was.”

“Yeah, about you not being in Tartarus – ”

“Nope!” Cozy interrupted. “My turn! Okay, let’s see…” she thought of those six students who had ruined her plans again, and the first one to pop into her mind was Gallus, with his dumb blue feathers. Probably because of the dumb blue pegasus in front of her, though Gallus was even dumber. “What’s Gallus been up to? Has he been kicked out of school yet?”

Rainbow Dash let out a sigh, but didn’t stall. “No. He’s doing fine, at least in my classes, and in Twilight’s – Starlight’s, now. You know I don’t exactly stalk my students, right? Like I’m not gonna be able to tell you much beyond their grades and if they’ve been behaving.”

“And Gallus has been?”

“More or less.” Before Cozy could ask anything, Dash pressed forward. “So how come nopony noticed that you and Tirek aren’t in Tartarus?”

Cozy blanched. “Why would they notice? Nopony ever came to check up on me while I was there. Just a week of trying to cheer Tirek up and then, shooop! Teleported by Grogar.”

“A week? That’s it?” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “You’ve been free for half a year already?”

“I guess.”

Rainbow Dash was still shaking her head. “Nuh-uh, something weird’s going on here. I know that Twilight’s gone to see you like three or four times, and she’s said the other Princesses have too, and there’s…gah! That makes no sense! Like even if Grogar’s got like a fake-you or something down there, how could none of them tell?”

“Really powerful, Professor Dash,” Cozy reiterated about Grogar’s abilities. “And none of them showed up while I was there, like I said. I was just shoved in a cage and told I’d be staying there for a year. A whole year! Me! I’m just a kid!”

“Pretty sure that’s why you’re only getting a year.”

“Oh ha-ha,” Cozy stood, glaring. “So how come Counselor Starlight can break time in half but she gets to be Princess Twilight’s student, but I get shoved in a cage? How is that fair?”

Rainbow Dash began to retort, but stopped herself. “Cozy,” she said, her tone shifting, “what do you actually want?”

Cozy rolled her eyes. “To rule Equestria! Obviously!” Rainbow Dash was really not doing anything to make herself seem less dumb.

“Okay, but why?” Rainbow Dash fluttered her wings, and looked directly at Cozy. “Look, I’ve fought a lot of bad guys over the past few years. And yeah some of them were like the Storm King, just on a power trip. But you’re so smart, Cozy, so I can’t believe that you’re just doing all this for fun. So why do you want to rule Equestria?”

You don’t need a reason! Erebus objected.

“Yeah!” Cozy agreed. “I don’t need a reason, Professor Dash. Tirek didn’t need a reason! Besides, it’s not like anypony is doing a really good job with Equestria right now.” Cozy stamped a hoof. “First Nightmare Moon comes back, then Discord turns the world upside-down, then plundervines, then Chrysalis, the Storm King, King Sombra…the last few years have been just one disaster after the next!”

“Okay yeah, Equestria’s been through a lot lately…but things have always worked out pretty quick, and Celestia was princess for a thousand years of peace!”

“And what did she actually accomplish with that?”

“…a thousand years of peace? Isn’t that enough?”

No! Erebus put it. It’s pathetic! More like a thousand years of stagnation. A thousand years of wasted opportunities to expand, to grow!

“Exactly!” Cozy said.

“You agree with me?” Rainbow Dash looked surprised.

“No, not with…” Cozy shook her head, and glanced to the side, to the darkness. “Come on, Erebus, leave me alone.” She turned back to Rainbow Dash. “But he brought up a good point. A thousand years of peace was just Princess Celestia sitting around and not doing anything. She could have had so much more! Equestria could have ruled over the buffalo and the diamond dogs and the dragons and everything! Controlled everything!”

Rainbow Dash’s head tilted to the side. “So…is that why you drained all the magic from the world? Because I don’t see how that lets you control anything.”

Cozy – Erebus began.

Not now! Cozy thought back. Aloud, she pressed on. “Ugh! Not all the magic!” Cozy shook her head. “You could still fly, couldn’t you? Couldn’t every pegasus? Cloudsdale didn’t fall from the sky!” She started pacing. “And you really think I was going to take all that magic and just shove it away and forget about it? I was still going to be able to access it, Professor Dash! I would have been able to control which unicorns had magic and which didn’t. Which artifacts worked and which didn’t. Everypony was going to depend on me. That’s how I was gonna rule. I was gonna ‘find’ a way to make ‘new’ magic, get it?” She shrugged. “Everypony just looks at me like a kid, I know that! But if I was a kid with access to all the power, then everypony would have to do what I tell them and be my friend!”

“Okay, but…is that what you wanted?” Rainbow Dash tapped her hooves on the floor beneath her. “Friends? Because you had friends at the school. And you had friends before you came to school.” She scratched the back of her head. “When Tirek attacked Fillydelphia, you helped get all the foals to keep the adults safe. That was what got you noticed by Twilight when she was setting up the school. You had friends in Fillydelphia, right?”

You don’t have to answer that, Erebus put in. You’ve answered a bunch of her questions, she owes you some now.

In a minute! Cozy insisted. She glared at Rainbow Dash. “Yes. I did. But it wasn’t enough. The plundervines still choked my home, and Discord still turned the world upside-down, and parasprites still ate half of downtown, and the Storm King still flew in and conquered everything…” She shook her head. “The stupid ‘magic of friendship’ didn’t do anything!”

“So…why do you want friends, then? It sounds to me like you don’t really want friends, you want power. But now you’ve got power. You’ve got so much power that you can make Tirek look like a chump.”

Cozy felt heat flush through her body at that. “Yeah, but he still won’t listen to me in spite of that.” She crossed her hooves. “He still treats me like I’m just some kid even though I’ve got all this power now. What’s up with that? How would you like it if you were a filly who could beat a Wonderbolt in a race but your best friend still acted like you were just a little kid?”

Cozy turned on Rainbow Dash. “Where are you going with all this, anyway?”

She’s just wasting your time, Erebus insisted.

But Rainbow Dash shook her head. “I just…listen to yourself, Cozy! You say you want power, but you have plenty now. You say Princess Celestia’s done a bad job ruling Equestria but you don’t really have any plans for ruling Equestria yourself, just destroying it and controlling what’s left. You want your friends to listen to you but you won’t listen to them and you just see them as a way of getting power you don’t need. You say you want the magic of friendship but then you call it stupid. You’re all over the place!”

“So what?”

Rainbow Dash was silent a few moments as she looked at Cozy closely. “You don’t know what you really want, do you? You’ve got all these smarts and all this power, but you’re just using it for whatever comes to mind without really thinking about why you want everything you want.” Her head tilted to the side. “You…you really are just a kid.”

How dare she?!

Shadows lashed out at Rainbow Dash from all sides, grabbing her legs, her wings, her neck and hoisting her up into the air.

She does not get to talk to you that way!

“I am not just a kid!” Cozy screamed, charging forward, knocking over her picnic, glaring up at Rainbow Dash. “I might be young but I know what I want and I know how to get it and I’m working hard for it! It’s no different from anypony else trying to get what they want!” One eye narrowed. “You better say you’re sorry, Professor Dash!”

Rainbow Dash didn’t, instead remaining silent in the grip of the shadows coiled around her. Cozy growled. “I mean it, Professor Dash! Apologize right now!” She was still silent, struggling as best she could against the shadows “You can’t just accuse somepony who’s done everything I’ve done of just being…”

Professor Dash was still silent, still struggling…her mouth opened, but no sound came out…and Cozy finally noticed how tight her shadows were around the professor’s neck. The fact that her eyes were starting to bulge a little.

Cozy gasped, backing away. “Whoops, that was a little…” she began, but despite her wanting the shadows to let go of Rainbow Dash, they didn’t. “H-hey! Erebus, let go of her!”

“But she’s insulting you!” Erebus pointed out.

“Yeah but you’re hurting her!” Cozy said. She focused on the shadows around Rainbow Dash’s neck and put a lot more will into it, and they loosened up. Rainbow Dash sucked in a few hoarse breaths. She started to speak after a moment, but Cozy wrapped a tendril around her muzzle - though she kept her airways clear.

“What the hay, Erebus?!” Cozy demanded, turning away and glaring into the shadows. As expected, she could see them moving and twisting around. “You can’t just start choking ponies! We already had this discussion!”

“Cozy…” Erebus responded, “you do know that you’re gonna have to hurt a lot of ponies if you want to take over Equestria, right? And Rainbow Dash is one of your biggest enemies. You’ve gotta deal with her!”

“Yeah but not like that!” Cozy insisted, looking back to Rainbow Dash. The mare was still breathing heavily, and Cozy could already see ugly-looking welts forming under her fur. She shivered. “And Professor Dash is only really a threat when she’s with her friends. If I keep them separated then they’re no threat at all. And how am I supposed to convince them that they were wrong to stand against me if they’re dead?”

“Some ponies you just won’t be able to reach,” Erebus countered. “Trust me. It’s better to deal with it now - “

“I said NO!” Cozy stomped a hoof. “And you said you have to listen to me!”

Erebus writhed in the shadows, but didn’t respond. Cozy nodded, turning around to look at Rainbow Dash again, doing her best to ignore the welts on her neck. “Sorry about that, Professor Dash. Just some growing pains, two new friends getting used to each other. There’s arguments and disagreements sometimes. But you know about that!”

Cozy nodded again, lowering Rainbow Dash to the floor. “And of course you made me really mad. But I did go too far and I’m sorry. Okay?”

She unraveled the tendril from The mare’s muzzle, and most of her limbs. Rainbow Dash rubbed at her throat, coughing a few times. “G…gonna need a bit…before I accept that apology.”

Cozy started to object, but once more saw where Erebus had been choking her and winced. “That’s fine,” she decided. She scuffed a hoof on the floor, looking down at the picnic she’d made. She didn’t feel very hungry anymore. “I know I’m a filly, Professor Dash. But I’m not just a filly. So you better stop treating me like one!”

Rainbow Dash lowered her hoof from her throat. She’d bruise, but those would fade. “I…I just really don’t get you, Cozy. And it almost seems like you don’t get yourself, either. Like I said, you know what you want, but I really think you should spend some time trying to figure out why you want it.” She held up a hoof before Cozy could respond. “But fine. I’ll drop it. And you answered a bunch of my questions so now it’s my turn.”

Cozy fluttered her wings. For all that she was super-smart, and knew it, she didn’t get what Professor Dash meant by not knowing why she wanted power and control and friends – why did it matter? But she had let her temper get the better of her just now, so maybe it would be better to change subjects.

“Fine,” Cozy said. She waved a hoof at her other dark slaves, still stuck standing in place. “What’s the deal with the cosplayers?”

Rainbow Dash whickered. “They’re not cosplayers.”

“Yes they are. Daring Do isn’t real!”

The mare was rubbing her temples. “Sweet Celestia it’s Quibble all over again…Cozy I Pinkie Promise that Daring Do is real. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Cozy’s eyes widened at the fact that Dash actually lied over a Pinkie Promise. “But…that makes no sense! The only way it could possibly add up would be if Daring Do and A.K. Yearling were the same pony!”

Rainbow Dash was silent. Cozy’s felt her eyes growing wide.

“…what. What? What?!”

Tirek strode into Midnight Castle once again, the Sun Stone held aloft in his magic. Darkness pressed in all around him in its entry, but could not cross the light’s edge. For a few moments Tirek wondered at the origin of the Sun Stone, how something that seemed like it should have been little more than a mere bauble could stand against the power of the Rainbow of Darkness like it had been tailor-made for the purpose. Had it really been simply a jewel of vanity for Queen Rosedust, or had the ponies somehow known about the power of darkness even in the age before Nightmare Moon and King Sombra and the Pony of Shadows? And himself, if he were being honest. Tirek did not miss the irony of a creature like him depending upon the Sun Stone.

Tirek brushed the thoughts from his mind, heading through the castle’s antechamber and down its main hall, once more returning to the large chapel to Lord Tirac. He wasn’t interrupted in his trek, which somewhat surprised him. But according to Scorpan, though Erebus was connected in some way to every patch of darkness it could touch, could see and perceive through them if it desired, it was not omniscient. Its focus could be in only a single place at a time, and while it wasn’t the shadows were just shadows, nothing more than the absence of light. It gave Tirek time.

The irony of the fact that Tirek was trusting Scorpan for this plan to work wasn’t lost on Tirek, either.

Tirek got to the chapel, and stood with his hands folded behind his back, forcing himself to remain calm. If this didn’t work, then Erebus was going to turn him into a dark slave, force him to move and act against his will without being able to see anything around him…a prisoner in his own body. Tirek heaved a sigh. Freedom was such a fleeting thing. Then he stood tall, and looked into the deepest patch of shadow he could find.

“Erebus,” he said, “I want to speak with you. Just you.”

Erebus’ hearing – however that worked for an incorporeal entity – wasn’t any more omniscient than its vision. Nevertheless Tirek found it likely that the creature would occasionally ‘glance around’, as it were. Utilize its senses to see what there was to see. And so, it would see Tirek, still with so much of his power drained, standing in the chapel to Lord Tirac, protected by the Sun Stone but still hideously vulnerable.

Erebus’ curiosity would doubtlessly be piqued, Tirek knew. Perhaps Erebus would consider altering Cozy Glow…but no. Not if Tirek was right about how it thought and operated. Plus, after spending so much time with the little hellion, Tirek didn’t doubt that it would desire a break.

The darkness beyond the light writhed and shifted, like fog disturbed by the movement of a creature. A vague shape could be discerned there, small, the size of a foal.

“Well hi there, Lord Tirek,” Cozy’s voice said. But the word choice made it clear that it wasn’t Cozy. “Golly, I sure can’t even begin to guess what you’re doing here all on your lonesome, but it definitely can’t be good. So give me one good reason why I shouldn’t let Cozy know you’re here.”

“Because you’ve already won,” Tirek answered. He waved a hand at the stained-glass window that let in no light. “The sun is going down. Night is only a few hours away. You’ve already won.” He stood up straighter. “So why not indulge your curiosity for a few minutes?”

Erebus was silent a moment, though a rumble came out of the shadows. “Okay, I guess you’re right,” it finally said, and giggled. “It’s really important to take breaks every now and then. But why come in here? Why not try and escape across the desert, if you’re so sure that I’ve won? I know you have supplies stashed, and the nearest oasis isn’t that far away.”

“Of course, that is the only direction we could go, and so you would swiftly overtake us once darkness fell,” Tirek pointed out.

“Uh-huh.” Erebus stood and stretched, then started pacing back and forth just outside the reach of the Sun Stone. “But it still seems smarter to run than come in here. Just you and that stupid Sun Stone aren’t enough to keep me and Cozy back if I let her know.”

Tirek offered a smile. “Perhaps I wanted to learn a little more about you as well, Erebus. Learn your limits. Scorpan – ” the darkness growled again, “ – has said that you cannot do anything without the willing participation of your host.”

“Almost nothing,” Erebus confirmed, and Tirek could hear the smile in its voice, “but I have my ways. Scorpan should have told you that, too.”

“Indeed he did,” Tirek confirmed. “And your strengths. Tell me, Erebus…when we first met, you talked to me. Wanted me to free you. Well, I suppose you wanted any creature to free you…but you seemed most eager for me to do so. Why is that?”

Erebus stopped its pacing. The filly-form shifted, grew in size, changed in shape, until the vague silhouette of tall and powerful centaur could be made out in the shadows.

“Cozy Glow,” Erebus said – its voice now mirroring Tirek’s own, “is an impressively intelligent and conniving filly. But she is still only a filly, a pony. The darkness within her is present and it is potent, but it is immature, and tempered by her childish limitations and the shreds of morality that yet remain in her.” Erebus folded its new hands behind its back and leaned forward just slightly – just enough so that Tirek could see the vague outline of his own face. It was smiling.

“Though I must admit, you were most effective in destroying her sense of right and wrong, Lord Tirek,” Erebus said. “Long before Cozy Glow was Twilight Sparkle’s student, she was yours, and she learned your lessons well.”

Tirek bristled. “I may have told Cozy what she wanted to know, but I was not trying to ‘corrupt’ her. She was nothing more than a useful way to strike at my enemies from within Tartarus – a plan she came up with – and an end to a millennium of isolation.”

Erebus’ smile widened even as it drew back into the darkness. “And so it was ended.” Erebus stepped a little to the side an waved a hand back into Midnight Castle, “and look at where it has led her. To me.”

Hearing that in his own voice unnerved Tirek, but he didn’t let it show. Instead he stepped forward and towards Erebus, bringing the Sun Stone with him. The darkness hissed and drew back.

“You haven’t answered my question, Erebus,” Tirek said. “Why did you seem so much more interested in me?”

Erebus spread its hands. “The shadow in your soul is deep, Lord Tirek. So much anger and hatred and resentment, bound up for so long, aged and matured like a fine wine. Tirac was similar, you know.” Erebus again began pacing slowly. “Ah, Tirac…he started from nothing, you know, just a nomad from the deserts who clawed and claimed and gained power. You wouldn’t know what that’s like, Lord Tirek. You had a teacher. A family. A castle. Tirac was more like…” Erebus paused, glanced at Tirek, and grinned. “More like King Vorak.”

Tirek could almost hear Cozy let out a little gasp and then a giggle in his mind – the reaction she’d had to a centaur pushing his ‘family’ button only a few days ago. He indeed felt his fists clenching, felt himself snorting in anger and felt a thrum of power go through his body and up his horns. He saw red staining the shadows.

But he fought it back. “Perhaps he was,” Tirek allowed.

“I mean no insult,” Erebus said quickly, giving a slight bow. “There are many dark paths in a mortal’s life. You found your own way to me. We could have been a great team, you and I.”

Tirek cocked an eyebrow. “We still could be.”

Erebus was quiet. “Oh…?” it asked after a long moment, leaning forward and just barely into the light again. “Believe you me, Lord Tirek, if I could bestow my power upon multiple creatures at once then I would. But I’m afraid your chance at becoming my host has come and gone. I have Cozy Glow.”

“You have a pegasus filly,” Tirek said, “and nothing more. Are you really content with that level of power? Cozy Glow will never learn anything more than the simplest hedge magic. She will be entirely dependent upon you.”

“Perhaps I like it that way,” Erebus pointed out. “Perhaps I prefer that my host be some creature who has no other choice but to utilize my might.”

“No, I don’t think you do. If that were the case than you would have abandoned Scorpan or Tirac at the first opportunity.” Tirek held out one hand, creating a small bubble shield over it, only a foot across. “You can enhance my power, can’t you? You can restore me to my former glory, fill me with never-ending magic. And then I can use not just the darkness you control, but my own power to spread the misery and hate and fear that you feed upon.” He grinned as he clenched his fist, popping his shield-bubble. “And really, what creature is more miserable than one that has had all its magic pulled from its body? You know I can do that.”

Erebus scratched at his assumed beard as he looked at Tirek. “You tempt me, Lord Tirek,” it said, “you tempt me greatly…but no. It is important to know one’s limits. You would be a powerful host, but you are too willful. I will cross some moral line you didn’t even know you had left, and you will contrive some way to cast me out, just as Scorpan did. No, I think I prefer Cozy Glow, weak though she is – she is a young mind I can still mold to my whims over the coming years until the difference between Cozy Glow and Erebus dwindles to nothing.”

The words rolled through Tirek’s mind, and the anger returned at the thought of Cozy being reduced to nothing more than a puppet. “You will not do that!”

Erebus chuckled. “Ah…and now I see the real reason you came here. You don’t want me. You want Cozy Glow. You want to free her from me and offer yourself in return. The great and terrible Lord Tirek, galloping into the heart of darkness to rescue his precious little pony friend.”

“She is not my friend!”

Erebus’ chuckle turned into a laugh. “You’re right – and yet you are both such blind fools that you don’t even understand how. I’m going to enjoy what happens next.” Erebus’ form shifted once more, back into that of Cozy Glow. “Oh Cozy…!”

The shadows all around Tirek began to writhe and shift. Tirek couldn’t stop his eyes from widening as he stepped away from where Erebus had manifested itself, and needed to take a moment to remind himself that so far, everything was going according to plan.

“So let me get this straight,” Cozy said for the dozenth time. She wasn’t looking at Rainbow Dash, instead at the floor, holding out her forehooves like she was trying to picture something. “The Doomed Diadem of Xilati is real.”

“Yup,” Rainbow Dash confirmed.

“The Flankara Relics.”

“Uh-huh.”

“The Rings of Scorchero – wait you’re on the cover of that one! I thought you had just won some contest or something, but, if Daring Do is real, and you’re there, and…”

Rainbow Dash knew she had a one-track mind, and she was trying really, really hard to not let herself get distracted by talking about Daring Do – and herself, now – with Cozy and instead keep herself looking for some way to escape the psychopathic filly and Erebus. At least she wasn’t choking her anymore…Dash rubbed at her throat. It still hurt.

Dash honestly believed Cozy when she said she hadn’t meant to do that. But that was what made Cozy so frightening– she could snap in an instant and do things she didn’t mean to do, simply because she wasn’t really capable of thinking things through or understanding the consequences of her actions. Dash could see that clearly now: Cozy really was just a kid. A kid messed-up kid with an absolutely insane way of viewing the world…but a kid all the same.

Erebus was another matter…the Rainbow of Darkness had tried to harm her. In fact she was pretty sure that it wanted her dead, and Cozy Glow was the only thing holding it back. Which was kind of terrifying to think about.

“I thought you didn’t like the books,” Dash observed, to keep the conversation going and to push past the thought of depending on Cozy to keep her safe.

“I don’t! But a bunch of ponies do so of course I’ve read them. It’s something to get them to be my friend, if we can talk about Daring Do…wait that means that Ahuizotl is real?! How has nopony in Equestria noticed…the things I could’ve done if I’d only known all those were real artifacts…”

And then there were comments like that. Cozy kept looking at friendship as a formula to be followed, a series of steps to undertake. It was like she had all the ingredients to make a cake and was doing all the right steps and yet somehow things never really baked and the result was never a real cake. Or whatever. Dash wasn’t good with metaphors, that was Applejack’s job.

Cozy shifted, glancing over to the bigger of her two dark slaves. “So that really is Doctor Caballeron?”

“Yeah,” Dash said. She looked to him herself, and to Glory. “And he’s probably getting hungry and thirsty…Glory too. Maybe give them a break…?”

“Y…yeah, okay,” Cozy answered, fluttering her wings and waving a hoof. Shadows pulled back from the other two ponies, though they remained wrapped around their mouths and one leg each, as well as Glory’s horn. The moment Glory was free, she started scrabbling and trying to flee, eyes wide and whimpering. Caballeron watched her with concern but also kept a wary eye on Cozy.

Cozy rolled a hoof at Glory in a ‘get it out of your system’ gesture. When the unicorn finally slowed down, the filly held up a hoof. “Okay, Miss Pose, you can’t escape but I promise I won’t hurt you. So I’m gonna take the shadows off your mouth and you just sit and join the picnic, okay?”

Glory quivered, before finally giving a few tiny nods. The shadows withdrew, and she made her way back to the picnic and sitting down, though she kept fidgeting. “Th-thank you,” she stuttered out. “

“You’re welcome!” Cozy turned to Caballeron. “Okay, Doc, same deal, okay? And…wow, you’re real?”

Caballeron settled down easier than Glory, though he also made sure to sit down right next to the mare, offering a hoof. She took it, and he pressed his barrel against hers to try and comfort her. “Yes, Miss Glow, I am real,” Caballeron said. “And, if you don’t mind me saying, in a fair amount of pain from being used as a puppet.”

“P-please don’t do that again,” Glory said. “It…it was so dark, and I couldn’t control myself, and things kept hitting me…”

“Well that wasn’t me! It was Tirek and Scorpan and Rainbow Dash and everypony else. They could’ve just, y’know, surrendered.”

Dash began to retort, but stopped herself. Still, she remembered Cozy actually looking worried at the thought of having harmed her. Cozy didn’t think through potential consequences, but she wasn’t blind to them when presented with them…

“You don’t really need to do that again, though,” Dash pointed out. When Cozy looked at her, she made a point of rubbing at her neck where she’d been choked. “Look, you definitely don’t need dark slaves. And it’s not like Scorpan or Tirek are gonna pull their punches against us. We could get really hurt for no reason.”

Cozy giggled. “There’d be a reason! It’d be those punches that aren’t being pulled. But…yeah, okay, you got a point.” Her eye narrowed. “Well, except for you, Professor Dash. Because Daring Do would pull her bucks against you.”

“You got a point,” Dash admitted, deciding to give Cozy that one. It wasn’t like she’d be able to convince her otherwise, and it would keep Cozy feeling in control.

“Anyway,” Cozy turned to Caballeron. “So did you know that A.K. Yearling was Daring Do?”

“I did, yes.”

“Well…then why not tell anypony? Why not tell everypony! Then she’d never be able to go anywhere without ponies like Professor Dash constantly following her. Or her enemies could go to her home and kidnap her, or something!”

Caballeron considered, looking to Rainbow Dash – knowing she was more familiar with Cozy. Dash could only offer a shrug, and mouthed ‘play along’.

“We have an…arrangement,” Caballeron said. “Obviously many of my Equestrian clients would prefer the relics that they have paid me to acquire not be stolen, or reported to the authorities. Anything I get back to Equestria, she leaves alone. In return I do not reveal her true identity to the world.”

“Huh,” Cozy glanced away, thinking. “Gee, that…actually makes a lot of sense. Hey…” she looked back to Caballeron. “When I’m ruling my share of Equestria, I might want to get stuff like the Golden Horseshoes or the Flashstone Amulet. Artifacts and stuff! Would you work for me? I’d even pay you in Cozy Coins!”

“…Cozy Coins?”

“My own currency. Every Cozy Coin will be worth five golden bits!”

Caballeron, Rainbow Dash decided, deserved an award for keeping a straight face at hearing that. The stallion instead stroked at his chin as though in thought – there was no way he was actually considering it – before responding.

“My services are always for sale, Miss Glow,” Caballeron said.

“Great! We’re gonna become good friends, Doctor Caballeron!” Cozy pranced up to Glory, who flinched at her approach. “And Miss Pose? We’ll be neighbors again! Fillydelphia’s gonna be my capital. And I’ll throw lots of parties just like I used to, and you can even come to them! My uncle won’t be there this time, though, ‘cause he’s gonna stay in jail.”

“I…” Glory glanced to Caballeron, who squeezed her hoof slightly. “I’d…I’d come to them. And I n-never liked your uncle a-anyway.”

“Yeah, me neither.” Cozy’s grin didn’t leave her face as she turned to Rainbow Dash. “See? I’m really not so bad. How about it, Professor Dash? I don’t think Chrysalis or Tirek will really want anything to do with the Wonderbolts. What if I let you out of Tartarus sometimes and you could perform at my parties? Oh, I forgot to mention, you and your friends are going to Tartarus. Celestia’s going into the Sun and Luna into the Moon. Need to figure out what to do with Princess Cadance still…”

Dash did not know how to deal with a question like that, nor its follow-up comments. She was saved from her first reaction – shouting denials – by the shadows suddenly beginning to writhe.

“Wait, what?” Cozy asked, looking away from everypony, cocking an ear as she listened to something only she could hear – Erebus, probably. “He’s what?! That – but we’re supposed…”

Cozy went from curiosity to shock to anger to screaming at a speed Dash could almost admire. The darkness surrounding the four ponies suddenly surged forward and enveloped them. Rainbow Dash couldn’t stop from shouting in a mix of surprise and fear, though Caballeron and Glory both let out cries of their own. Just as quickly as the shadows swallowed them, though, they retreated, banished by a light as bright as a rising sun.

The Sun Stone, Dash realized as her eyes adjusted. She was back in the chapel to Lord Tirac. Tirek – looking far reduced in power now, though still better than when Dash had met him in Tartarus – was bathed in the Sun Stone’s light, holding it in his magic and keeping the shadows at bay.

Cozy Glow was standing in front of the three of them, glaring up at the centaur sorcerer. “You tried to convince Erebus to abandon me?! Behind my back?!”

“I don’t know what you’re so surprised about,” Tirek said. “I want you free of the Rainbow of Darkness, Cozy. If that means becoming its host instead…”

Cozy trembled, wings spread wide. “Oh, and the fact that you’d get all this power at the same time, I’m just supposed to ignore that, am I? You’re the one who came here looking for the Rainbow, you’re the one who kept ignoring me when I told you how dangerous it was! You want me to believe this is for my own good but you go behind my back and try and trick Erebus – ”

“You are not leaving me any choice, Cozy! Why won’t you listen to me?”

“Why won’t you listen to me?”

“Why don’t you try stopping and listening to each other?” Dash volunteered.

“Stay out of this!” Tirek and Cozy exclaimed at the same time.

“…you know what? No!” Dash beat her wings, getting as far into the air as the shadows still wrapped around her hoof let her, and flying as far forward as she could – between Cozy and Tirek. “Look, okay, you’re both evil tyrants that want to take over the world and destroy Equestria, fine. But look at you two! You’ve got some serious friendship issues.”

“Cozy is not my friend,” Tirek said. “I have allies, I do not have friends.”

“Yeah, I noticed, even though you’re my best friend…” Cozy said, crossing her hooves. She glared at Dash. “And I know what you’re trying to do, Professor Dash! You’re gonna try and turn this into a stupid friendship lesson about listening to each other, but he’s the one who just wants me to give up power now that I’m finally able to actually keep up with him!”

“Hang on, I’ve got this,” Cozy added in a far calmer voice, darkness seizing Dash and pulling her to the floor, wrapping around her mouth and closing it before she could react. Erebus, Dash realized. “Stay out of this, Rainbow Dash. Cozy Glow needs Tirek to understand – ”

“Why don’t you stay out as well, Erebus?” Tirek asked. “Only how can I know that you are. How can I trust anything that Cozy says as long as you can seize her voice whenever you desire?” He leaned forward. “How much did you tell her? Did you tell her about your desire to reduce her to nothing more than a puppet for you to control?”

“Pfft,” Cozy laughed. Probably the actual filly. “Yeah, right. Erebus can’t do anything unless I’m okay with it. Some ‘puppet’ I’d be.”

Dash reached up to her mouth, the shadows around it. They had to take a physical form to shut her mouth, so they were something she could grab and pull at. She fell to the ground in order to get her hind hooves in on pulling at the shadows as well, and manage to get enough slack on them to speak.

“Tirek!” She exclaimed, even as she felt the shadows begin to tighten. “Just – one question – why do you want – Cozy – to listen – !”

The shadows clamped her mouth shut, and Cozy – or Erebus – cast an arch look her way. “It’s simple. Lord Tirek wants Cozy to listen and obey because he wants everything to listen and obey. He grew up in the shadow of a centaur that spent his life building up a kingdom from nothing, and his every effort to measure up only made his father ever more disappointed and distant.”

Tirek snarled, but didn’t move. “No.”

Cozy-or-Erebus turned to look at Tirek. “Tirek, you’re usually pretty good at lying but that one was awful.”

Tirek shook his head. “And if Erebus had been speaking about any other creature, it would have been right.” Tirek drew in a deep breath, and let it out. He glanced at Dash, who stared back and tried to get what she knew Tirek had to say across with her eyes.

Tirek looked back to Cozy. “I want you to listen to me, Cozy…because…I’m concerned about you.”

Silence reigned for a small eternity. Dash really, really hoped that she’d been able to get through to Tirek. She hadn’t had nearly as much time with him as she had with Cozy, but maybe, maybe she’d had enough time with the latter that she’d realize…

“What?” Cozy asked.

“I’m concerned,” Tirek said. Then he cut the air with one hand. “No, not concerned, that’s not right…I’m…”

“Worried?” Glory asked from behind Cozy. She looked back at Glory and Caballeron, scowling. Shadows once more enveloped both of them, covering their mouths.

Cozy then looked back to Tirek. “Worried?” She asked. “Seriously?” About me?”

“Yes,” Tirek said. He clenched his fists and scowled at Dash, but then continued. “If this saccharine tendency of ponies to discuss their emotions is what’s needed to get through to you…then fine. If that’s what it takes. I’m worried. I’m worried that you don’t fully understand what you’re dealing with. You think you do, because you’re smart, because you’re clever, because you played all of Equestria so easily not so long ago…but Cozy Glow, Erebus is an ancient and powerful being…and you are just a child.”

Cozy’s fur stood on end. “I am not just a child! You can’t treat me like a kid just because I’m only twelve! I’ve accomplished way more than you have! You only drained power from ponies, I drained all the magic of Equestria! You were never able to get the Rainbow of Darkness, I got it and I’ve made friends with Erebus! And you and Chrysalis helped but it was my plan that got us the Bewitching Bell! Why won’t you take me seriously?!”

Tirek began to respond, and Cozy began to prepare a retort, but no sound came out of Tirek’s mouth. He instead looked confused, then shocked…and then he started chuckling.

Which only seemed to make Cozy even madder, if her trembling and clenched teeth were any indication. The shadows all around Tirek writhed as she nickered and stomped a hood. “Why are you laughing at me?!”

Tirek shook his head. “I…I’m not,” he said. “I just…I just realized.” He looked at Cozy. “Erebus…you were a fool to bring up my father.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve just now realized – you helped me realize – that I’ve spent a thousand years trying to surpass Vorak…only to realize that if I looked in a mirror I’d see his face.” He laughed again, holding his hands wide. “Look…look at me. I fear what Cozy could become with the Rainbow of Darkness…and that fear is driving her to become the thing I fear.”

“So you’re afraid of me?” Cozy asked. She grinned. “Good…great! Ha, so now I’m so powerful that even Tirek is afraid of me!” She began prancing in place, wings fluttering in delight. “So you’re finally ready to admit that I’m right?”

“I will admit,” Tirek said, “that you have, indeed, surpassed me in many ways. You are quite the little monster.” Tirek sighed, shaking his head. “But unfortunately…no, Cozy. You are still wrong to ally with the Rainbow of Darkness. And I must save you from it.”

Cozy grinned. “Puh-lease! You couldn’t even touch me back when you had Scorpan and a whole herd of ponies to help you! And now you’ve lost so much magic…you really think that itty-bitty Sun Stone is gonna help you?”

Tirek shook his head – and then he began gathering magic between his horns. Cozy grinned, as shadows enveloped the three adult ponies – but moved them out of the way, back against the far wall, out of danger.

“Okay, Tirek!” Cozy exclaimed. “Let’s finish this!”

“Let’s,” Tirek agreed, orange-yellow magic dancing across his form as he shrank and lost muscle mass before Rainbow Dash’s eyes. Now he looked no better than he had when he was in Tartarus – save that he was channeling immense magical power between his now tiny horns, so much that even Rainbow Dash could feel it. It was all being fed into the Sun Stone, which glowed ever brighter from the effort, painfully so, enough that Cozy was driven backwards. Yet the light, rather than spreading, seemed instead to concentrate in a hemisphere around Tirek.

“Oh, and I must apologize to you, Rainbow Dash!” Tirek shouted over the sound of his own magic. His eyes were closed, one arm shielding his eyes from the light. Dash could barely see him. “Your plan of escape from this chamber was what we should have done from the start!”

“Huh?” Cozy asked, barely audible above the noise. “What are you talking about?”

Tirek raised both arms over his head. Cozy steeled herself – but she needn’t have bothered, as Tirek turned and hurled all the gathered magical light given off by the Sun Stone and light at the stained-glass window of Lord Tirac.

There was an explosion of still-brighter light. Dash was holding her hooves over her eyes and she could still see it. She heard Cozy cry out in surprise and pain – but only a single shout. There was the sound of glass cracking, but nothing more.

The light disappeared, and Dash started blinking to try and clear her eyes. She squinted, and saw the Sun Stone, glowing its regular glow. Tirek had dropped to his knees and hocks, was breathing heavily, as weak as Dash had ever seen him. The stained glass window of Lord Tirek had a crack along its length, but no light shined through.

Cozy was in the middle of a flinch. She opened one eye, then the other. “Uh…” she let out. “Was…was that it? Seriously?” Cozy hopped forward, to the edge of the Sun Stone’s light. “Come on, Lord Tirek! The whole castle’s magically reinforced. You didn’t have the power left to actually break that enchantment!”

Tirek sucked in a few breaths, one hand at his chest as he steadied himself. “No,” he agreed. “But I did have just enough to let a bit of light break through the window, and…and I can’t believe I’m saying this…but after a thousand years of gathering power from fools like me who’d seek the Rainbow of Darkness…”

The stained glass window began to glow. Cozy turned to look at it, and her eyes grew wide. Before she could do anything, Tirek reached out with his hands, grabbed her by the back of her neck, and held her off the ground, just beyond the easy reach of a shadow.

“My brother is stronger than I am,” Tirek finished.

The stained glass window – and most of the wall around it – shattered, and sunlight poured into Midnight Castle.

Author's Note

There are no excuses for how long this took. There was only distraction and bone-idle laziness. Granted there was also a terrible time at work and a couple vacations-but-not-really that threw things off... but this could have been done months ago. I'm sorry.

Still, we're moving into the endgame, at least! I'll try and get the next chapter out some time before the heat death of the universe.

12. Before the Dusk

Magic was embedded into the very foundation of Midnight Castle. Eldritch forces permeated every stone, every sconce, and especially every window and pane of glass, all designed to preserve it from the passage of time and prevent light from entering it. And Midnight Castle’s magic was ancient, which made it both powerful and entrenched, made it a fundamental part of what the castle was. When Scorpan had blasted open a wall, he hadn’t simply burst apart a window and shattered stone. He’d rent apart that ancient, entrenched magic, and left behind a void that the rest of the magic of the castle struggled to try and fill, even as there was nowhere for it to go, no magical matrix to follow, no pattern to enforce.

There were consequences.

The whole Midnight Castle shuddered. Dust that hadn’t moved in more than a millennium, that wasn’t supposed to move because of the preserving magic of the castle, shuddered and fell. In the chapel to Tirac, even as sunlight poured in, lances of orange-black magic arced across the hole and reverberated across the castle itself. The magic of the castle bent towards its sundered enchantment like a wounded creature might clutch at an injury. Because that magic was so interwoven with the architecture, the castle itself tried to bend with its magic, nevermind that it was made of unyielding rock. And throughout the castle, the sound of stone scraping against stone could be heard – as well as stone shattering.

Incredibly, some part of Tirek, some peripheral aspect of his thoughts, was actually able to take note of all that, and find it oddly appropriate that Daring Do was here – she’d probably be familiar with the concept of ancient things collapsing when their magic was disrupted violently, at least if the novels by A.K. Yearling were anything to go by. Tirek figured that Midnight Castle was probably too structurally sound to completely collapse…but this section, at least…

He had no time to consider that, however, because he was far, far more concerned with the small pony and the primordial entity of absolute darkness and evil that he was holding aloft in one hand.

Cozy was screaming – or perhaps the Rainbow of Darkness was. But either way there was screaming, and the filly kicking her legs and flapping her wings. But Tirek had her firmly by the back of the neck and was holding her completely off the ground. She wasn’t touching any shadows, couldn’t touch a shadow. She couldn’t escape the sunlight…and nor could Erebus.

“Let me go!” She cried out. “Release me! It burns! IT BURNS!”

Definitely Erebus at the moment – Cozy didn’t speak like that. Tirek wouldn’t have listened anyway, as he needed all his effort focused on his arms. Cozy was only a foal, and a pegasus at that and so naturally light. But Tirek was so very reduced from how much power he should have had. His arm already trembled with the effort it was taking to hold Cozy/Erebus aloft. He had to use his other hand to hold up the arm. He struggled to his hooves, letting out a wheeze from the effort.

He tore his eyes from Cozy/Erebus, casting about for the Sun Stone, but didn’t see it. What he did see was an awful lot of rubble and glass on the floor, and dust in the air all around him. He also heard a crack from above him, glanced up and saw a section of the ceiling nearly as large as him had broken loose and was falling right for –

But there was a flash of rainbow and blue, and Rainbow Dash was suddenly there, above him, She couldn’t stop a stone that large, but she could slam into it forehooves-first and push it as it fell. Only a few feet, but they were enough for Tirek to stumble the other way and avoid being flattened.

Rainbow Dash flew in front of him. “Time to move, big guy!” She shouted, doing her best to be heard over Cozy/Erebus’ screams.

“I’m trying!” Tirek insisted, starting forward as quickly as he could, picking his way around the debris, keeping Cozy/Erebus in the air. “The Sun Stone! Find the Sun Stone!”

Tirek’s hoof caught on something, and he stumbled and almost fell. But then there was someone else beside him – Caballeron, holding out a hoof and catching him.

“Easy my friend!” The pony glanced behind himself, at a unicorn who looked desperately like she wanted to run and yet was forcing herself not to. “Miss Pose, grab the foal!”

“R…right! Okay!” Glory said, stepping in front of Tirek. Her horn glowed, and she sized Cozy/Erebus in her magic. “U-um…please let go of her, Lord Tirek. I can keep her in the air.”

Tirek didn’t want to, but recognized that for all the bruises and dust that was on the unicorn, magically, she was in much better shape than he. He released the screaming monster inhabiting the body of a pegasus foal, dropping his arms to give them a break, then followed Caballeron and Glory out into the sunlight and away from the collapsing section of Midnight Castle.

Scorpan was coming down from the air, joined by Rainbow Dash and Daring Do – and the blue pegasus’ hooves, Tirek noted, were empty, while Scorpan was panting, still recovering from the depletion the magical force he had unleashed caused.

“The Sun Stone?” Scorpan asked when the three were together.

“Didn’t see it,” Rainbow Dash said, and looked to Daring Do and Scorpan. “I think it’s under rubble – gonna need help to look for it.”

“Digging up treasure is my specialty,” Daring noted, tipping her hat.

“If it isn’t broken,” Scorpan said. “It is not indestructible, or anything like it.”

Tirek growled, looking to Cozy Glow. She was less flailing and more writhing now, screaming, clutching at herself in the sunlight, using her wings to try and shield her eyes even though the sun seemed like it burned those too. Glory was holding the child aloft, Caballeron next to her to steady her as she worked to keep the foal floating in the face of her struggles. His own minions were gathering around for support too.

Tirek looked back to the two adult pegasi. “Go! Find it!” he looked to Scorpan as they did. “What do you even need the Sun Stone for? She’s in true sunlight now!”

Scorpan eyed his brother, one eye twitching. “And if I was five unicorns willing to sacrifice all my magic forever, maybe I could do something with that. Otherwise I could never manipulate the magic of the Sun, no creature could!”

Tirek was shocked enough at his brother’s outburst to not even be able to immediately retort, which gave him time to reconsider updating his brother on the current events that he had clearly missed out on. “Very well. We’ll find the Sun Stone. We must.”

Scorpan looked at Tirek closely, and glanced to Cozy/Erebus where she writhed. “If…if she were willing.”

“What?”

“If she were willing. I told you. I’ve been telling you, brother…I threw out the Rainbow of Darkness because I wanted to, and it still took all of my will. Cozy Glow doesn’t want to…she wants the power, wants the darkness…”

Tirek bristled. “She doesn’t know – ”

“She does!” Scorpan’s grip on his spear tightened. Glory, Caballeron, and the three other earth ponies looked over at his outburst. Scorpan stepped away from Tirek, and jammed a finger at the Sun. “And even if she didn’t…we don’t have time to convince her. Not in just a few hours.”

“What are you – ”

Scorpan moved, faster than Tirek could react in his weakened state. His world was pain as Scorpan jammed a fist right into his stomach, then used the same arm to grab Tirek by one of his horns and force him to the ground. Tirek tasted sand in his mouth.

“Failed before,” Scorpan said, turning towards Cozy/Erebus and pointing his spear. “Won’t fail again.”

Tirek coughed, eyes wide as he tried to get his mind away from the agony in his stomach and get his six limbs sorted out. He heard Glory let out a cry of surprise as Scorpan rushed forward.

Everything felt so sluggish as he managed to get to his knees. Scorpan was not unopposed in his charge – two of Caballeron’s minions ran forward to meet him, as did Caballeron himself, the two earth ponies grabbing his legs and making him stumble so Caballeron could deliver a hoof-punch right to the gargoyle’s face. But Scorpan only spat, grabbed Caballeron by the throat, and hurled him away.

Tirek got his legs under him and started forward, though he could barely manage a canter-speed. Scorpan kicked one earth pony off of him, used the butt of his spear to knock away the other. The final minion, the biggest of the three, charged Scorpan next and grabbed the gargoyle around his waist. Scorpan grabbed at the pony with one hand, but this one wasn’t as easy to dislodge as he bucked Scorpan in his kidney, making him sputter and nearly collapse.

Glory took advantage of the pause to gallop away – and, necessary, close to Midnight Castle. Cozy/Erebus screamed in her grip.

“Let me go!” Cozy screamed. “He’s going to kill her you stupid mare! You can’t live with that! Release me! Get me out of the Sun!”

Scorpan drew back his spear and jammed it down. The earth pony wouldn’t let himself get skewered and released Scorpan, leaping back, leaving himself open to a kick. Then Scorpan rose into the air and shot out after the fleeing Glory.

But the action had bought enough time for Tirek to close the distance, meet Glory where she was running. With a desperate roar, Tirek drew on the last reserves of his power and called up a shield around himself, Glory, and Cozy Glow. Scorpan’s spear slammed into it, caused it to shudder, sent pain all through Tirek. But the shield held.

Glory shifted from hoof to hoof as Scorpan backed up, drawing on his own magic, getting ready to blast through the shield. “Wh – what are we gonna do?!” She demanded.

“Tirek…” Cozy cried. Tirek glanced to her, and saw the filly’s eyes were as wide as they’d ever been. “Tirek – you have to let me go! I can save us, I can save you, I can stop Scorpan! I’m the only one who can!”

“Erebus can,” Tirek corrected. He looked to Scorpan just in time to see him let loose with magic. The orange-black lance collided with Tirek’s shield and burst it apart like it was nothing. Kinetic force slammed into Tirek and sent him stumbling backwards, landing on his haunches next to Glory.

Yet in spite of the pain, he barely felt it. He didn’t have time to feel it, he needed to find some way to put an end to this – to stop his brother, to save Cozy from him…but not at the expense of losing her to Erebus once again…unless…

Tirek reached out, and looked into Cozy’s eyes…and past them, to the monster underneath.

“My offer still stands,” he told Erebus.

Cozy blanched. “No way! Erebus is my friend – ”

“Done!” Erebus interrupted –

“What was that?” Rainbow Dash asked, sticking her head up from where she’d been looking for the Sun Stone. She’d heard Cozy/Erebus screaming = well, the filly had been screaming this entire time, actually, and in a way that made Dash’s fur stand on end. Evil psychopath possessed by an ancient evil or no, Cozy/Erebus still sounded like a filly in immense amount of pain.

But the cadence of the scream had changed. There was fear in it now. Abject terror, even.

Daring looked up from where she had pried up a fallen section of ceiling. She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything there was a crack and another bit of ceiling came loose. The two pegasi had to roll to avoid it. It landed with a thud where Daring had been, cracking in half and sending up a plume of dust.

Cozy screamed again outside. And Glory, too – Dash heard her voice.

Daring looked to Dash. “Go, I’ll keep looking. I’ll be fine.”

Dash didn’t hesitate. She knew Daring’s lane, knew she could find the Sun Stone if it was there to be found. Wings beating, Dash flew out of the dust and shadows of Midnight Castle. She found herself looking at Scorpan having just finished blasting apart a shield spell that Tirek had summoned up. Glory was behind Tirek, while the centaur was on his haunches.

Time stretched out for Dash as she took in the details and processed them – Scorpan was attacking Cozy. Probably didn’t trust them to find the Sun Stone. Was trying to end the threat of the Rainbow of Darkness while he could, while it was stuck in a little filly who couldn’t defend herself as long as she was away from shadows.

“Yeah no,” Dash decided, launching herself forward just as Tirek reached out and grabbed Cozy’s hoof, just as Scorpan lunged. Last time Dash had been in this situation, she’d been too slow and Cozy had been lost.

Not this time. Dash couldn’t break Scorpan’s spear, and probably couldn’t tear it from his grasp, But she could slam into it as fast as her wings could carry her, force it to the side. The spear plunged but missed its target, jamming into the ground even as Dash’s momentum rolled her over it. She spun in the air and turned around, ready to act again if she needed to. Instead…

“Done!” Cozy’s voice exclaimed –

Done?! Cozy exclaimed inside her own mind. What do you mean, done?! You’re my friend! You can’t just abandon me!

The darkness writhed. Erebus was in agony in the sunlight, but Cozy was forcing it to stay here, forcing it to stretch out this moment like it had before. She’d always been a quick learner when she set her mind to it. But at the same time, she could tell it wouldn’t last. She couldn’t stretch this moment out forever. Already the darkness was breaking, motes of light shining through it

I can, Erebus said,and I am.

But why?!

Because Tirek has opened my eyes to something – he can defend himself. You can’t. I can restore Tirek’s magic. The darkness within him is great, and I can turn that darkness into a bottomless well of power.

But – but once Scorpan has been taken care of, you’ll come right back, right?

The darkness was quiet a moment, or whatever the equivalent of a moment was when one was stretching out a moment to cover a while.

And the moment was enough - would have been enough on its own. But apparently that wasn’t enough for Erebus. He had to twist the knife.

You are a foolish child, Cozy Glow.

Cozy screamed as the Rainbow of Darkness cast her aside and the moment stopped being stretched out towards infinity. Back in reality, Scorpan’s spear missed, thanks to Rainbow Dash. Cozy barely noticed or cared about that fact. She was too focused on the drain she felt across her body as it felt like something vital was tearing itself from her body and soul, flowing out of her through her hoof and into Tirek.

“No…!” Cozy managed to gasp out. It was power that was leaving her. The power of the Rainbow of Darkness, the power that had let her stand hoof-to-hoof with Tirek, that would have let her overthrow Grogar…it was leaving her because Erebus was leaving her, casting her aside.

The reaction of Tirek was immediate. He rose to his hooves with newfound strength. He couldn’t draw on the power of the Rainbow of Darkness in the sunlight, but Erebus could direct its power inward. Tirek was already glowing with power, growing in size, his horns lengthening, his muscles bulging. The moment he stood he leapt, the leap carrying him more than a dozen feet and into the shadow of Midnight Castle.

Glory let Cozy go as she backed away from the terror that Tirek was becoming, and the filly managed to get her wings under her. Scorpan had lost all interest in her, gathering up power and hurling it at Tirek. But Tirek raised his arms and called up a triple-layered shield augmented by the shadows under his hooves, and the lance of magic splashed harmlessly against it.

Cozy screamed. “Give it back!” She shouted, making to surge forward. Before she could get more than a few feet, though, she was grabbed from the air by Rainbow Dash.

“Okay, Cozy?” Dash said. “Really need you to focus right now – ”

“Get off me!” Cozy squirmed and wriggled as best she could in the older pony’s grasp, but it was no use. “You dumb – Tirek stole Erebus –”

“No, kid, it didn’t. Erebus abandoned you.”

Cozy began to retort that it was only because Tirek had worked his charms on Erebus, that he’d bamboozled the Rainbow of Darkness the way he’d bamboozled Discord. But then Dash was forced to drag herself and Cozy down to the dirt, taking Glory with them, as Tirek roared and released a burst of magic power right at Scorpan.

The gargoyle put up a shield spell of his own – and Tirek’s power burst through it like it wasn’t even there and sent Scorpan flying over the edge of Midnight Castle’s plinth.

Tirek was bigger than Cozy had ever seen him at this point. Probably not as large as he’d been when he’d fought Princess Twilight…but he was getting there. He kept stepping backwards and into the shadow of Midnight Castle, knocking down portions of the castle with mighty blows from his arms since he’d grown too large for the main entrance.

“Oh YES!” Tirek howled, his voice reverberating with power. “THIS IS MORE LIKE IT!”

Cozy tried to get her hooves under her so she could give Tirek a piece of her mind, but Rainbow Dash grabbed her again under one leg while she used the other to lift Glory to her own hooves.

“Glory? You okay in there?” Rainbow Dash asked. She’s barely gotten the words out when Scorpan came soaring up again, gathering magic and launching it forward into a continuous beam that Tirek blocked with one hand that didn’t even seem to have any magic power behind it, just contempt.

Glory shook her head frantically, even as she reached up to her head and pulled her goggles back down and seemed to draw a little strength from them. “J-just do wh-whatever you have to t-to g-g-get me out of here!”

“Cool! Follow me!”

Cozy kept squirming, but Rainbow Dash’s grip was tight as she flew forward, Glory galloping behind her. The ponies ran under the continuous beam of magic. Cozy could feel it’s heat and her fur stood on end from the power. They’d barely gotten past it when Scorpan ran out of energy without having even scuffed Tirek.

Tirek retaliated with one outstretched finger that launched a tiny bead of magic - and when the bead hit Scorpan, it exploded, tossing the ponies forward and sending Scorpan flying once more, smoke trailing from his fur. Rainbow Dash lost her grip on Cozy at last, but no sooner had she done so than Glory once more seized her in telekinesis.

“Dumb stupid cheating magic!” Cozy shouted. She turned her head to look at Tirek putting her hooves to her mouth. “Tirek! Hey Tirek! Help a filly out here!”

Tirek turned to regard the three ponies, which made Glory and Rainbow Dash both freeze. Cozy laughed, even though she was trapped. “Ha! C’mon, Tirek, grab me and send these guys packing and then we can figure out how to share Erebus!”

Tirek turned to regard the three ponies. Cozy Glow had managed to break away from Glory’s telekinesis and was flying up and out of her magical reach.

”Give the Rainbow of Darkness back you big dummy!” Cozy screeched. “It’s not fair that you’re getting it when you’ve already got all that power! Give it back or I’m going to Canterlot and getting the princesses and the pillars and Discord and everypony!”

That might be more than I can handle, Erebus said in Tirek’s mind.

“Cozy,” Tirek said, raising his hand and grasping her with telekineses, pulling him towards her, “we’ll discuss this later. For now…” he looked to Glory and Rainbow Dash. “Our deal is concluded. Erebus has been removed from Cozy Glow. So now what do we do - go our separate ways and fight each other later?”

Rainbow Dash flared her wings, and Glory’s horn lit up. “There’s no way I’m gonna let you get back to Equestria with that thing!” She called.

“And how do you propose to stop me?”

“I’ll figure something out!”

“M-me too!” Glory insisted.

Tirek grinned, raising a hand. “Oh really?”

Tirek grinned, raising a hand. Power gathered at the tip of one finger as he aimed at Rainbow Dash, Glory Pose…and Cozy Glow, still held in Glory’s telekinesis.

“O-or blast them and then grab me,” Cozy said. “Either way, really…”

Tirek clenched his teeth, and narrowed his eyes. The power grew.

Tirek clenched his teeth, and narrowed his eyes. It was doubtful that Rainbow Dash or Glory posed the slightest threat to him…but he couldn’t take that risk. Nor could he risk their escape. They were enemies, after all, and he’d given them a chance to make a more intelligent choice…

“At least I get to see Rainbow Dash bite it,” Cozy groused from beside Tirek.

Cozy’s eyes grew wide as she floated in place beside Glory. She dropped her hooves from her mouth “Um…T-Tirek…?”

The centaur smiled. His eyes…the pupils and sclera were gone, there was nothing but inky blackness.

“Not at the moment,” Erebus said.

“MOVE!” Rainbow Dash cried. She reached out to grab Glory, but the unicorn was already galloping and dragging Cozy with her. And it was a good thing too, because Tirek/Erebus launched another blast of magic – a wide beam that crashed into the ground and ploughed through it, carving a hole straight through it and out the side of the plinth before impacting with the water far below and exploding.

Cozy hung limply, barely feeling the water that had been tossed up into the air and now rained down on them. Glory’s and Rainbow Dash’s gallop had carried them behind the contours of Midnight Castle, out of sight of the centaur. Not that walls would protect them, at least not directly…but the more of Midnight Castle that Tirek brought down, the more exposed he – and Erebus – would be to the sun.

Some part of Cozy noted that, anyway. Mostly, she was focusing on the fact that Tirek had just attacked her. No – Erebus had…but Erebus couldn’t do anything unless Tirek wanted it to happen, that was how he worked…

But…

The adults kept going until they reached where Caballeron and his crew had been hunkering down, near the ramp that led down the side of the plinth. Glory barely slowed as she ploughed right into Caballeron, hugging him tightly. She lost her magic grip on Cozy, but again Cozy was too slow to act — the three goons grabbed her from the air, and she was passed to the biggest and held tight in his earth pony grip.

“Alright,” Caballeron said, “and now we run, yes?”

Rainbow Dash glanced to him. “Are you kidding?” She demanded, using both hooves to indicate Midnight Castle. “I need your help to stop him!”

“That’s not happening, Miss Dash,” Caballeron said. “It took everything we had to hold back Erebus when it was just in a small filly, and we still lost! What chance do we have now? All we can do is take advantage of the fact that Erebus’ power can’t reach very far while the sun is still up.”

“I-I’m not a hero,” Glory said, eyeing the ramp down. “I’m just a socialite a-and an illegal artifacts collector. I sh-shouldn’t even be here, I belong at h-home or in a museum – ”

“Look, I wasn’t a hero when Nightmare Moon showed up to Ponyville,” Rainbow Dash noted. She landed in front of Glory, and put a hoof on her withers, looking her in the eyes, then looked to Caballeron. “But Equestria needed saving, so I stepped up to the plate. So you’re scared? So am I! So we’re up against an unstoppable force of darkness? Been there! If we don’t stop the Rainbow of Darkness here and now, all of Saddle Arabia is going to suffer — and then Tirek is probably gonna come looking for revenge on Equestria. There is no running from this! All you can do is put it off! You really think that’s the best option?”

Glory looked to Rainbow Dash, then looked to Midnight Castle, then back to Rainbow Dash.

“Yes,” she said as she turned and fled down the ramp.

Caballeron paused as he passed Rainbow Dash, put a hoof on her withers, nodded firmly, and then fled himself. The big earth pony holding Cozy glanced down at her, then let go of her and ran along with his compatriots. Professor Dash was distracted, Cozy could have made her getaway…but she didn’t. She picked herself up, but instead of trying to fly, she sat down, staring at the ground as what had just happened replayed in her mind.

“He…” she mumbled, “he attacked me…”

Rainbow Dash turned around. “Yeah…and that’s a surprise how?” She asked. “You’ve attacked Tirek a whole bunch the past few hours!”

“To try and prove a point!” Cozy objected to her former teacher. She stomped a hoof. “I would have stopped if he’d just listened to me…I never wanted to hurt him…th-that wasn’t really Tirek, though. That was Erebus. He basically said so. Erebus attacked me – ”

“But Erebus can’t really do anything unless Tirek wants to do it,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Shut up!” Cozy sprang to her hooves, flared her wings, scuffed a hoof on the ground. “Tirek would never want to attack me! I’m his friend!”

Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs as she sat down, one brow raised. “Then why did he let Erebus attack you?”

Cozy chewed her lip. “I…m…m-maybe Erebus tricked him. He can do that. He…when Erebus first possessed me, he showed me an illusion of the school, looked like Gallus and Ocellus and Silverstream. Talked like them, too. And because it was all just in my head we had a whole conversation in less than a second. So maybe Erebus is tricking him somehow! Maybe he’s showing Tirek some illusion…”

“Okay,” Rainbow Dash said, rubbing her temples. “Okay, maybe. But that definitely means that Erebus isn’t your friend.”

“No, he is – ”

“Cozy? Friends don’t try to blow each other up!”

“Y-yeah – I mean, no – I-I mean…you don’t know anything!” Cozy turned, taking to the air. “You’ll see, I can convince Erebus to come back and I can convince Tirek to give him back – ”

She didn’t even make it a couple inches before her hind hooves were grabbed. “Oh come on!” Cozy turned back to look at Professor Dash. “Your dumb speech didn’t work, you’ve lost the Sun Stone and don’t even know how to use it and Scorpan is probably dead, you sure as heck can’t do anything to stop Tirek! You’ve lost, Professor Dash! So let me go and convince Erebus to come back!”

“Why in the wide wide world of Equestria would I let you do that?”

“Because if push comes to shove, who’d you rather have ruling Equestria — Tirek, or me?”

“Neither of you!”

“That’s not an option!”

Rainbow Dash didn’t have a retort for that, but she didn’t let Cozy go, either. Cozy stopped trying to fly away and instead landed, giving up on getting out of the adult’s reach. She looked to Midnight Castle, and saw that Tirek/Erebus had knocked down another wall in order to retreat inside the castle’s shadows. It seemed like he’d at least stopped growing…but last time Cozy had seen him, he’d been over thirty feet tall, bigger than Cozy had ever seen him before. And if the Rainbow of Darkness wasn’t lying about its own power and the power it could grant to Tirek…

“Well, we’re doomed!” Cozy said, throwing up her hooves. “Any bright ideas?”

“I’m thinking!”

“Hey, Discord! That’s my bright idea. That’s where we’re at, ‘cause I’m sure not waiting for you to think of anything. Discord! Get your snakey butt out here! Hey, start shouting, maybe he’ll get the message. Discord! Wanna go draco-a-cento on Tirek? I don’t speak Mexicolt, I don’t know if that’s right. DISCORD!”

“…Cozy…you’re a genius!”

“Yeah I know I…wait, what?” Cozy looked to Rainbow Dash, and saw that Dash was scanning Midnight Castle, looking it over even as parts of it continued to fall. “Can you really get Discord here? Because I’m still mad at him for wrecking the spellvenger hunt – ”

“No, not Discord – I mean, maybe not, but…” Professor Dash was prancing in place, wings flapping as though the only way to get her dumb brain to work was to literally jog her thoughts. “You…you messaged Tirek while he was in Tartarus. How’d you do that?”

“Same way Spike can, basically. It takes me a little longer ‘cause I don’t have any magic organs or magic fire, I need a real fire and to draw a rune and need to do this little ritual – ”

“Who else can you send messages to? Does it have to be paper? How long to set it up? Did you bring anything to write with?”

“Anypony as long as I know basically where they are, it just has to be something flammable, about five minutes, and yeah in my bag, but what – ”

“We can keep Tirek trapped here. We can keep the Rainbow of Darkness trapped here!”

“No we can’t! The Sun’s gonna set in just a little – ”

Rainbow Dash stepped forward and put a hoof on Cozy’s withers. “Not if we write a letter to Princess Celestia.”

Cozy’s eyes widened. “Oh.”

“Tell her to pin the Sun in place over Saddle Arabia – ”

“Oh!”

“Tell her to bring it closer to the planet, turn up the heat, park it right over Midnight Castle – ”

Cozy whickered. “Aaand you’re back to being the dumb one, unless you want to get fried – ”

“Hey!”

“Oh! But if Scorpan’s still alive then maybe he can tell us how to use the Sun instead of the Sun Stone, or tell Princess Celestia how!”

“Right! And even if that doesn’t work we just have to get Twilight and Applejack and everypony else down here, we’ll use the Elements of Harmony, and if that doesn’t work we’ve got the Pillars, or Discord, or the Princesses – ”

“Right! All I need is about five minutes and something to write with and a way to make fire…” Cozy frowned, and looked back to Midnight Castle. “Oh. All my stuff is in there…”

“On it!” Rainbow Dash took to the air. “You get back to Glory, see if you can convince her to help you! And find Scorpan! I’ll go grab your bags!”

“They were in that – ”

“Throne room where you choked me, yeah, I remember!” With that, Rainbow Dash shot towards the castle. Cozy wasted no time in throwing herself over the side of the plinth, heading for the raft that Glory and Caballeron and the goon squad had come here on.

Now…the real question was how to use this to get Erebus to become her friend again…

The ponies had avoided his blast and fled. It was little matter, he could deal with them once the Sun went down.

“I’m going to get the Rainbow of Darkness back,” Cozy said from where she floated. “Just you wait!”

Tirek rolled his eyes as he settled down to wait. Erebus seemed to have reached the zenith of the power it could provide Tirek for now…and Tirek felt almost as strong as he had when he’d first met Cozy Glow, all those years ago. With this power, he could easily challenge Celestia and Luna together, perhaps even Cadance or Twilight at the same time as well…and the power of Erebus would grow.

“Tirac lost the Rainbow of Darkness!” Cozy pointed out. “Some centaur or gargoyle just snuck up on him in his sleep. Wham! I could do that.”

“No you couldn’t,” Tirek countered. He did release the filly from his telekinesis, though. “I’ll take precautions.”

“I’ll get around them! You’ll see!”

Persistent, isn’t she? I don’t think she’ll give up…

Tirek chuckled, ignoring Erebus. His first instinct was to reach out a hand and pat Cozy on the head, but he remembered how much she hated being patronized. “I’ll look forward to it,” he decided. “It should keep me on my hooves. Cozy, I promise you: we’ll find a way to give you all the power you desire. Perhaps I can research a way to transfer the magic I steal to others…I could give you the powers of an alicorn.”

“I don’t want the powers of an alicorn, I want the Rainbow of Darkness!” Cozy screamed, and stomped her hooves. “I want it, I want it, I want it!”

Tirek grimaced. “If you can’t calm down then I’m going to have to - argh!”

The last came as bright, hot pain suddenly lanced along his back. Whirling around, he saw a jasmine-coated pegasus with the Sun Stone in her front hooves, flying forward.

Daring Do shot past him. “Sorry! You were blocking the exit - ”

She got no further when a blue-rainbow streak came in, grabbing Daring Do. “Come on, change of plans!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she flew on by and pulled Daring deeper into the castle.

“What?!”

Tirek roared, charging towards where they’d gone, or trying to. But he’d grown too large - he couldn’t fit through the door.

Change of plans? Erebus demanded. What change of plans? What are they talking about?

Tirek growled, looking down at his massively increased form. He slammed a fist against the wall. “I don’t believe this…I finally get more power and it’s literally holding me back!”

“Hey, I could fit - “ Cozy said.

“No!”

I can’t do much on my own…Erebus said, as shadows writhed, but I will follow where they go.

Dash had let go of Daring as the two raced down the corridor, but Daring had the presence of mind to follow her. “What are we doing?” She demanded. “Change of plan? What’s the plan?”

“Can’t tell you. Shadows have ears,” Dash explained. “Just keep that Sun Stone handy!”

Daring did, though there were problems. “I’m not a unicorn, I can’t make it glow brighter, have to use my hooves…I’ll do what I can.”

“Great!”

The two pegasi arrived in the throne room easily, and Dash galloped over to Cozy’s supplies, Daring following as she went through them and finally pulled out a set of crayons and a notebook, which fell open as she did, to a map of Equestria with extensive modifications.

“The FIENDship Express? Seriously?” Dash asked.

Daring peeked over her withers. “Kid’s not bad at map-making, though.”

“Is that a roller coaster?”

Beyond the limits of the Sun Stone’s light, the shadows writhed. A vague, pony-sized shape appeared. “C’mon now RD, what in tarnation are ya up to?”

Dash and Daring both whirled to face Erebus, who seemed to be, just barely, wearing the shape of Applejack. “Okay, not cool,” Dash said. “What are you doing, Erebus? I know it’s you.”

“Ah don’t got a face of mah own, y’all know that, but Ah just figured a face ya could trust would - ”

“Also you’re really bad at the accent.”

Erebus stomped Applejack’s hoof. The shadows changed. “Fine!” Dash’s own voice spoke back at her. Wings flared in the darkness. “What’re you doing? You know there’s no way out. The Sun will set in just a few more hours. And that Sun Stone doohickey is no threat to Tirek! You’ve lost. Why not surrender? Tirek can be trusted to be cool.”

“As long as you’re not messing with what he sees and hears,” Dash pointed out.

“True. But the way I see it you don’t really have any other choice.”

Dash grinned. “That’s what you think!”

“You’re bluffing!”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah!”

“We’ll just you wait ‘til - “

Daring all but leaped onto Dash, one hoof jammed right up against her muzzle. “Shadows have ears,” she reminded her.

Dash felt heat flush through her face as her ears dropped. “Oh. Right.”

Erebus whickered and stomped a hoof, exactly as Rainbow Dash would have. “Fine, don’t tell me your stupid plan! I don’t need to know it anyway…because guess who this room is big enough for!” She stood up straighter and pulled back, morphing into the form of Tirek - and then the shadows fell away, revealing the real thing.

Dash was already moving, holding the paper and crayons, while Daring and the Sun Stone with her, but Tirek moved to block them, reaching out with telekinesis and seizing both of them. His power also tried to reach for the Sun Stone, but the telekinesis failed somehow, the aura manifesting but then instantly disappearing.

“No matter,” Tirek - or maybe Erebus - said, horns glowing as power gathered and be opened his mouth wide. “Your magic will be mine - “

It probably would have been, and Dash wasn’t sure what exactly she could do to stop it. Her mind raced, but before anything could come up, Daring pulled back her hooves and threw the Sun Stone right at Tirek’s open mouth.

The centaur reeled as it went into his throat - and got stuck. He released the pegasi, and his hands went to his throat as he stumbled backwards. Dash started to move, but noticed they Daring was still behind with Tirek - she’d leapt forward and kicked Tirek right in his face.

“Go! Move!” Daring shouted. Dash hesitated a fraction of a second more, but then took off down the shadowed halls of Midnight Castle. She plowed into a wall at almost every turn, but the sunlight streaming in from outside guided her path, so she ignored the pain and kicked off from the walls and kept moving.

Behind her she heard a roar. Tirek must have gotten the Sun Stone dislodged. She crossed the threshold of the former chapel to Lord Tirac, saw the bright sunlight from the hole that had been blasted into it. She felt more than saw movement behind her, was certain she felt Tirek’s fingers brush and almost grab the tip of her tail, but didn’t dare look as she dove out into the sunlight and turned as fast as she could, getting out of sight, out of the ability to grab her with telekinesis.

Tirek roared again. Dash just dove over the side of the plinth, and finally had time to hope that Daring would be okay.

Cozy was not normally a blunt pony, but right now she didn’t feel like she had time to be anything else. She reached the bottom of the plinth just as Caballeron’s gang had kicked off in their inflatable raft. She didn’t have time for a long speech or to convince them to listen to her, so she did the next best thing: she grabbed a sharp rock from the ground, flew up to the raft, and gashed as large a hole as she could in it.

“Hey!” The ponies inside called out as the raft began to deflate and sink. They bailed out, while Cozy was grabbed in Glory’s telekinesis. “You - you little monster! What are we supposed to do now?!”

“Help me light a fire so I can send a letter to Princess Celestia and get her to pin the Sun in the sky,” Cozy answered.

The ponies were floundering in barrel-deep water when she said that. They pulled themselves back into the beach. “What?” Caballeron demanded. “What are you talking about - “

“I can send letters! With magic! And fire! And Princess Celestia controls the Sun, and Erebus can’t leave Midnight Castle while the Sun is up!” Cozy crossed her hooves. “It’s Professor Dash’s plan! It gives us time to think up something to do about Erebus. Worst-case scenario we can keep him here long enough for the rest of Professor Dash’s dumb friends to get here and blast him with magic!”

Cozy had no intention of things getting that far, of course. She’d have Erebus back soon. But step one required isolating him.

“This is a trick…”

“It’s not a trick!” Rainbow Dash’s voice called. The pegasus landed on the beach, holding crayons and paper. The other ponies raised their eyebrows at the sight, but she ignored them as she focused on Cozy, holding out the paper. “Here. Write fast, keep it simple, say it’s from me, and hope Celestia doesn’t need more convincing than you’ve got paper left in here. I’m gonna go look for Scorpan.”

With that, she was off. Cozy looked to Glory and Caballeron expectantly. The former looked to the latter, and he threw his hooves in the air. “Fine! We’re doing this, then. I need a vacation…”

“Tiatarta’s nice this time of year,” one of the henchponies said as Glory set Cozy back down on the ground. “This little town south of Los Pegasus. Great seafood if you’re into it.”

Cozy had been about to start writing, and instead had to put her hooves to her mouth as she turned green. “Sh-shut up,” she insisted. Then she swallowed, composed herself, and put crayon to paper.

“Princess Celestia isn’t going to believe a foal’s mouth-writing.”

“Puh-lease,” Cozy mumbled around the crayon. “I learned how to forge all my professors’ writing in my first week at school. Now let me focus…”

Rainbow Dash circled the plinth of Midnight Castle in ever-widening arcs, eyes scanning the water for any sign of Scorpan. She found him floating limply in the water a few hundred feet from the plinth, though at least it was face-up. She shot over to him, preparing herself for the worst. She may well have found it: while Scorpan’s eyes were open and he was breathing, he was just floating there, his spear bobbing a few feet away.

“Okay, break time is over,” Dash said, flying over the gargoyle and looking down at him. “You can move, right?”

Scorpan’s eyes only barely focused on her. “What’s the point…?” He finally let out. “Erebus…Erebus has won. I failed…”

Dash resisted the urge to drag her hooves down her face. “Look, losing sucks, I know that! But we haven’t lost yet. As long as Erebus is stuck in Midnight Castle we’ve got a chance!”

Scorpan’s head moved slightly to look at Dash directly. “The Sun Stone…?”

“Uh…last I saw it…Daring had thrown it down Tirek’s throat.”

Scorpan stared.

“I think he coughed it back up though.”

Scorpan lay his head back in the water. “So we have nothing.”

“Nuh-uh! We’ve still got the Sun!”

“I cannot direct the power of the Sun. We’re doomed. We’ve lost. I’m sorry…it’s my fault.”

“Maybe you can’t do anything with the Sun, but I happen to know somepony who can: Princess Celestia!”

Scorpan once more looked to her. “What? But…she’s just a filly…”

“She was just a filly back when you knew her…which is really weird to think about…but it’s been a thousand years. She’s a Princess of Equestria, and the Alicorn of the Sun! She can move it around whenever she likes, I’ve seen her do it back when Nightmare Moon was defeated, and then later when the Plundervines were…” Dash stopped, and let out a groan. “Look, you don’t really know what those are, fine. But I promise, we’ve still got a chance at this. Cozy Glow is writing a letter to Princess Celestia right now and is going to get her to pin the Sun in the sky. Night won’t come until Celestia let’s it, so Tirek - so Erebus - is trapped.”

Scorpan blinked. He shifted in the water, getting upright in it. “She…controls the Sun?”

“Yeah!”

“And you didn’t tell me?!”

“Cozy Glow is the one who knows how to send letters by magic and she was kind of not on our side at the time…actually she still isn’t, but she wants the Rainbow of Darkness out of Tirek, so we’re working together at least ‘til that.”

It also finally occurred to Dash that she was letting Cozy Glow, of all ponies, send letters on her behalf. There was way too much going on right now…

Scorpan floated quietly for several moments. “With…with the power of the Sun itself, Erebus could be…but no. No, it won’t work! Erebus can simply hide in Midnight Castle. Celestia cannot keep the Sun in one place forever…it would damage the world. And we cannot draw Erebus out…”

Dash flew over to Scorpan’s spear, plucking it from the water and holding it out to the gargoyle. “One thing at a time, buddy. Erebus isn’t hiding in Midnight Castle; Tirek is. And I dunno if you noticed, but he’s huge right now. Not a whole lot of places that can fit him, and you already busted open one hole…”

Scorpan stared at his offered spear. He began beating his wings, rising from the water, and toon the spear. Yellow-black magic cackled along its length.

“I understand,” he said.

“Cool! Now follow me, we gotta meet back up with Cozy…”

Dear Princess Celestia,

There isn’t really much time. This is Rainbow Dash. I really really REALLY need you to move the Sun so that it’s stuck over Midnight Castle, which is in Saddle Arabia. Like, RIGHT now.

Who is this? How did you learn this spell?

Look, there isn’t time to explain everything! I told you, this is Rainbow Dash!

Why are you writing in crayon, and why did you change crayons, and seriously, who is this? Rainbow Dash is on vacation.

Sister, what troubles you?

Somepony is sending me letters claiming to be Rainbow Dash.

How do you know it isn’t?

Because she’s on vacation in Saddle Arabia. Try to keep your voice down, I have a dictation spell running, it might pick up - oh wait no I didn’t proofrea

I’m on vacation in SADDLE ARABIA, I need you to pin the Sun over SADDLE ARABIA, and my crayon broke! I PROMISE that this is Rainbow Dash and IT IS AN EMERGENCY!!!

If you were Rainbow Dash, then you would know that the movement of the Sun is bound by a number of international treaties to ensure the proper flow of time and weather across the planet, and you would know that I cannot alter its course simply on a whim as per the terms of the Treaty of Pferdchenwortspiel.

NO S I WOULDN’T!!!

Very good, that was a test, though the treaty I was referring to is very real and very serious. Although…Luna, does that look like a crossed-out “S”?

Indeed it does. I suspect whoever is writing this went to write “she” and corrected themselves.

I agree. We’re going to need more proof, “Rainbow Dash”. And I should warn you that I am in no mood for games right now, not after what has just happened in Tiatarta.

“Huh, small world,” one of Caballeron’s henchponies remarked as he read the letter. “Gosh, I hope it wasn’t anything too bad, I was serious about that vacation…”

Cozy Glow resisted the urge to let out a scream as she read the latest return message from the princesses. Instead, she put her hooves to her temples and rubbed them, trying to think. At least she didn’t have to do the spell’s ritual every time, just when she was setting it up. Afterwards, anything burned in the fire would go to her chosen recipient.

“This isn’t working,” Glory said. She’d helped to light the small fire on the beach, using whatever flammable materials they had as the fuel, but ever since then had been as jittery as a twittermite. “This isn’t working and you wrecked our best chance of escape!”

“We have another raft, Miss Pose,” Caballeron pointed out, indicating his minions. The biggest one was inflating it now. “It will be a tight squeeze, but we don’t have to go far. We can still make it.”

“Exactly!” Cozy remarked. “So let me think…I thought sounding desperate would work but now I gotta try and reason with them…but I need to sound like Professor Dash…”

“If I may,” Caballeron put in, “have you considered telling the truth? Or a version of it at least.”

“Pfft! No! Why would I do anything as stupid as that? The princesses were gonna keep me locked up in Tartarus for a whole year, there’s no way they’d listen to me!”

“That much is true,” Caballeron allowed. “But perhaps if they knew the danger that Tirek was currently posing, the specific nature of the threat.” He leaned back, considering. “You could mention that Tirek has escaped from Tartarus and is in possession of the Rainbow of Darkness. Oh, and of course you should say that ‘you’ - that is, Miss Rainbow Dash - are here with Daring Do. If Princess Celestia knows of Miss Dash’s vacation, then she may know the reason for it.”

Cozy considered. “Huh…okay, yeah, good idea.”

“I have some experience with forgery myself.”

Glory looked at him. “How much experience?”

“Er…why, I meant of letters and documents of course. Certainly not of artifacts!”

Princess Celestia, it’s DEFINITELY me. I’m here in Saddle Arabia with Daring Do. We were looking for the Sun Stone, you know that, and we went to Midnight Castle. And I don’t know how but TIREK is here! And it turns out that there’s something called the Rainbow of Darkness, and he has it!

So look. A lot has happened but right now we’ve got him trapped in Midnight Castle. But if the Sun sets then he’s gonna be able to escape! All you need to do is just hold the Sun over Midnight Castle for just a few hours! We’ll figure something out!

Cozy rolled up the paper and went over to the fire, but paused as something occurred to her. “Wait,” she said, “but if I send this, what if they go to Tartarus to check? With teleporting they could get there instantly…and they won’t just see that Tirek isn’t there, they’ll see that I’m not!”

Caballeron considered, then nodded. “Yes. That would seem to be the case.”

“Then I can’t send this!” Cozy felt her eyes growing wide. “Grogar will kill me if he finds out!”

”Grogar?!” Caballeron, and all three of his henchponies, exclaimed at once. “The Father of Monsters?!”

“Yeah! He’s back…but he wanted to keep being back a secret…”

“Then keep it a secret!” Caballeron insisted, dashing over and snatching the letter from Cozy. “If even half the stories of his power are true…”

Cozy wholeheartedly agreed. Caballeron was about to tear the letter up…but a blue streak flashed on by, and the next thing anypony knew, Rainbow Dash was hovering over the fire.

“Yeah, I knew it would be a good idea to listen in for a few minutes,” she said, and tossed the letter into the fire. It was instantly consumed with red magic, and disappeared - off to Canterlot.

Cozy was about to start screaming, but Dash jabbed a hoof at her. “Nuh-uh. You’re gonna listen. I don’t know anything about this Grogar, but I do know about Tirek and I think we’re all pretty much experts on Erebus too at this point. So we’re dealing with them because we have to, right now. And then we’re gonna deal with you, Cozy, and then you bunch,” she turned her hoof to Caballeron and Glory and the three henchponies, “and then Grogar. That’s the order of importance right now!”

Cozy felt her blood boiling…but she forced herself to breathe. To think. And against all odds, all reason…Rainbow Dash was right. Getting killed by Grogar tomorrow wouldn’t matter if Erebus tricked Tirek into killing them today.

Scorpan returned then, flying down to join them. Cozy backed away at the sight of him, but the gargoyle didn’t even look at her directly, didn’t even acknowledge Cozy now that she no longer had the Rainbow of Darkness…a fact that made her grind her teeth.

“If this works,” he said, “if Celestia believes us…then we have a chance to not only trap the Rainbow of Darkness again. We might be able to destroy it.”

“What?” Cozy demanded. “No! I need that power!”

“I can’t believe I’m gonna say this…” Rainbow Dash groused, but then finally landed and got down to eye level with Cozy. “No you don’t, Cozy. Think about it: you had so much power in the School of Friendship, until you tried to grab at all the magic of Equestria. And you never had power here. Erebus did. The second he abandoned you, you lost it all…except your letter-sending spell.”

Cozy blanched. “What good is that?”

“Well if this works, then it means that you managed to convince Princess Celestia that you were me, and using that, convinced her to change the orbit of the Sun. I’ve never done that! With a few dozen words and a letter, you’ve already done more than anypony else will today to defeat Erebus once and for all!”

Cozy processed that. “S…so what?”

“Tirek taught it to you, didn’t he? It’s a connection to him. And that’s the kind of power that we actually need right now. Scorpan can bring down Midnight Castle and expose Tirek and Erebus to the Sun. I can keep him distracted. But you, Cozy…you’re the one that’s gonna have to get through to him. You’re the only one with the power to get Tirek to give up the Rainbow of Darkness. And you can’t do that with magic darkness tentacles. You need - ”

“Oh please don’t say it - “

“The Power of Friendship.”

Cozy had been about to laugh aloud at the “Magic of Friendship”, but stopped short at Rainbow Dash’s word choice. “Wh…seriously? You’re admitting I’m right? That friendship is power?”

“Nopony ever said you were wrong! Just that there was more to it than that.” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “But if right now you want to think of it like that, if it helps, then fine! Right now it’s the best power we have. Your friendship with Tirek can help us save him from Erebus. You can.” Rainbow Dash leaned back. “So! Are you gonna sit here after Erebus just abandoned you, something no friend would ever do?”

“N…no.”

“Are you gonna let him get away with possessing the centaur that is your best friend?”

“No!”

“Are you gonna just let Erebus take over Equestria when you wanted to rule it all?!”

“No!”

“So are you with me?” Rainbow Dash held out a hoof. “We save Tirek, we beat Erebus, we work together to do it, and then we figure stuff out from there! The power of your friendship is gonna let us win! Right?”

“Yeah!" Cozy bumped her hoof against Dash's offered one. “Also just for the record I know exactly what you’re doing! But you’re right. You’re right!”

“And…” Caballeron put in, looking to Glory, then to the inflatable raft and his henchponies, “what is our role in this, Miss Dash?”

Rainbow Dash turned to regard the unicorn and earth ponies. “Honestly? I thought you were still just going to run away, and that’s fine. We can do this.”

“But!” Cozy interjected, getting a flash of inspiration from a flash of sunlight off of Glory’s goggles just as she turned to leave, “but…if Scorpan is right…if we can actually destroy Erebus…then he won’t need the Sun Stone anymore…”

Caballeron had been half-turned around, and Glory had three hooves in the raft already. But she stiffened at Cozy’s sing-song temptation. “I…but…b-but…” She looked behind her, at Rainbow Dash’s encouraging grin, and Cozy’s giant one.

“Oh…I AM SO PEEVED AT MYSELF!”

Cozy’s eyes widened and she forgot to flap, only not crashing because Scorpan grabbed her. Caballeron’s eyes were the size of dinner plates, and all three of his henchponies backed away from Glory as the unicorn’s horn took on an angry blue glow.

“Of all the rutting things you could have brought up you just had to buck that beehive! And I know you’re playing me like a two-jangle kazoo! And I’m going along with it!”

Caballeron cleared his throat. “Miss Pose, is that wise — “

That only caused Glory, now out of the raft, to advance on him. “Youuuuuu shaddap! You promised me a Sun Stone and I am getting a Sun Stone! And you’re gonna help me get it! And you’re gonna put it on a big necklace to make up for my yacht that you gave away!”

“Alright, alright!”

“And call me Glory! I think we’re on a first name basis at this point!”

For some reason, that seemed to cheer up Caballeron. Cozy didn’t get it, but Glory pulled down her goggles and snorted and pawed the ground, looking ready for a fight. And then the fire flashed, and a piece of paper tumbled out of it. Cozy got to it first, and unfurled it.

My apologies, Rainbow

HOW COULDST THEY HAVE ESCAPED?! WHAT FOUL SORCERY IS THIS?! HOW WERE WE NOT ALERTED?!

Dash, for not believing you

BAD DOG, CERBERUS! THAT’S A VERY BAD DOG! THOU HAST BEEN ENTRUSTED WITH BUT ONE JOB! ONE! BAD DOG!

earlier. The situation is even worse than we feared as

Oh…I’m sorry, Cerberus! You’re a good dog, you just did a bad thing, but I’m sure it’s not your fault…

Cozy Glow seems to have escaped as well - I don’t know how this could have happened as I had visited her myself only a few days ago

Whooo’s a good boy? Who is? You! Yes you are!

Luna will you please keep it down while I’m dictating!

I apologize for that. The treaties I mentioned allow me to move the Sun out of its normal orbit when needed for the security of the world, and this certainly qualifies. I can mitigate the environmental effects somewhat as well with Luna’s help and her power over the Night to keep that part of the world cool. But I can’t do this for very long without causing major, global catastrophe.

The Sun is already moving. Please, Rainbow Dash, tell me you have a plan?

They all read the letter. Cozy grabbed a crayon and held it out to Rainbow Dash. “You want to take over?”

“Actually,” Rainbow Dash said pushing it over to Scorpan, “I think this one is Scorpan’s letter to write.”

Scorpan looked at the the crayon, then took it and the offered paper. “Very well…”

“So what,” Cozy Glow demanded of Tirek, as he hunkered down in the ruined chapel of Lord Tirac and watched as the shadows lengthened, edging closer and closer to the moment of his true freedom, “your plan is to just sit in here and wait for night?”

“And what else do you propose I do?” Tirek demanded. “Erebus requires shadows to work!”

“I thought you had power all of your own! Why not go out there and just crush the ponies?”

Because that would be utter agony for me? Erebus asked Tirek, the darkness writhing within his mind. I am on your side, now. No need to inflict pain on me unnecessarily.

We shall see how unnecessary it proves, Tirek thought back. But aloud, he looked to Cozy. “Patience will benefit me. There is nothing left that can…stop…”

Tirek’s voice trailed off as he noticed the shadows moving – and not in the way they were supposed to. Nor were they moving of his accord. Instead, they were shortening, almost as if the Sun’s course was reversing. But that was impossible! Unless…

They contacted Celestia. They somehow got in contact with Celestia! Actual, true terror crept into the voice of Erebus. They’re putting the accursed daystar over me! They’re denying me my freedom, my RIGHT!

“And more importantly,” Tirek intoned, standing, “mine. I cannot hold it against them…but I will not be a prisoner any more! A thousand years was long enough!”

The pain will be like none other…but if you must leave the castle to strike them, do it. I will endure. I am Darkness. I am eternal! And besides…The shadows moved, and a dark slave stepped out from within them – a pegasus. Daring Do. We have a contingency.

“Yes…” Tirek intoned. “A bargaining chip.”

That, Erebus acknowledged. And deep within itself, far beneath what Tirek could hear within his own mind, it added, and much more, if needed…

Author's Note

The first 4,500 or so words of this have been sitting, languishing on my computer for half a year now. The rest of the chapter took so much longer than expected because...well, after my Christmas holiday to Ireland, I got back, was looking forward to relaxing a bit before getting back to this...and then almost immediately learned that my grandfather, whom I had just seen, had cancer. Stage 4.

In some ways the whole family is actually grateful that he didn't know he had cancer until it was way too late to do anything about it (and Granda himself was thankful in the same way)...chemotherapy and treatments likely would not have even worked if it had been found sooner, and even if they had, he was an 85-year-old man. They would have robbed him of so much vitality and life in his final years. Instead, he was basically like he had always been until the start of the year. Then just...utter collapse.

He passed away in March, which, as cancer goes, is extremely quickly, so we're grateful that he didn't suffer for long. I rushed back to Ireland basically just in time to be there when he passed - in fact when he did it was just me and my dad in the room, literally all of twenty minutes after I got to the hospital, and we'd gone straight from the airport to the hospital.

So that was a thing, as was the funeral, and it's just been a malaise over me the whole time as I've been trying to get back to normal bit by bit. It didn't help that Granda's ashes were interred here in Massachusetts, and that basically turned into a second funeral that...well, it was important to my Uncle and helped him, and Granda was his dad so he gets more of a say in the matter than me and rightly so, but I personally hated going through everything a second time a month and a half later.

But anyway. Yeah, that's the reason for this delay. I'm starting to think that this story might be cursed...fortunately we're at the real, for sure, endgame now, after having written 5,500 words between yesterday and today, so, maybe I'm back in the groove? I dunno, we'll see, I also still have stuff to do for the weekly D&D game that I'm currently DMing. I'm predicting just one or two more actual chapters and an epilogue. Then on to The End is Never The End.

1. Journey to Saddle Arabia

Far away from the comforts of civilization, Lord Tirek found himself peeking around the doorway that led into Grogar’s scrying chamber like some child spying upon his parents. The fact that an actual child was beside him and doing the same thing only made him feel more foalish. Yet given what was about to happen, he really didn’t want to miss any of this. So he crouched low and skulked, and tried to ignore Cozy Glow barely being able to stifle her giggles.

Within the scrying chamber, Chrysalis – now covered snout to dock in white fuzz, among myriad other changes since her accidental Reformation several months ago – stared hard at Grogar, working up the courage to speak. When she finally did, Cozy barely held back a snort.

“A lot has happened since I Reformed. I need a vacation,” Chrysalis demanded of an ancient, ornery goat with vastly more power than her. Demanded, like she was entitled, like she could make demands of a being as puissant as Grogar. Cozy tapped her hoof against Tirek’s leg as though trying to keep his attention on what was going to happen, though there was no need as Tirek’s eyes were riveted…

“Fine. Whatever,” Grogar responded.

Tirek’s brow shot up, and Chrysalis herself seemed taken aback. Cozy stopped giggling, instead her mouth dropping open.

“Really?” Chrysalis asked.

“Yes! Looking at you gives me a headache. I could use the break. Just don’t do anything stupid to reveal us.”

Chrysalis shifted, brushing some of her now-voluminous mane behind one ear. “Well…good. I’ll be back in a week or two.”

Cozy finally recovered her senses, and before Tirek could stop her the young pegasus had taken to the air and shot forward and into the scrying chamber. “Wait a minute!” she exclaimed as Tirek hurried after her. “Mister Grogar, if Chrysalis can go on vacation, surely me and Tirek can go too, right? We’ve been extra-special good, after all!”

“No,” Grogar responded without hesitation. He popped some of his neck joints.

“Well why not?” Tirek demanded, throwing his hands wide as he stomped his hooves. “What has Chrysalis done?”

Grogar growled as he looked up to his other two minions. Eldritch light suffused him and yellow-black power bled off from the mighty Father of Monsters. “She was smart enough to be born a changeling!” He pointed a hoof at Tirek. “You’re a red centaur three times the height of a pony and you,” he swung his hoof to Cozy, “have an unmistakable identifying tattoo on your flank!”

Tirek began to object that his idea of vacation hardly included contact with other creatures, but Chrysalis chose that moment to add her own two bits. “Whereas I can look like anyone.” Blue fire washed over her. In a second her Reformed body was replaced by an exact duplicate of Cozy Glow, who flew right up to the real one and pressed her hooves together next to her cheek. “Golly gee-whiz! It’s almost like I’m a master of disguise! Yup-a-rooney!”

Cozy ground her teeth together. “I don’t sound anything like that.”

She sounded exactly like that. But Tirek focused on Grogar as he crossed his arms. “But you sent us to get the Bewitching Bell – ” Grogar growled at that, and Tirek realized his error and raised his hands defensively. “And we failed! But I only mean, you didn’t worry about us being seen then…”

“Because you were going to the middle of nowhere!” Grogar pounded a hoof on the table before him, causing the crystal ball set within it to bounce. He took a moment to calm down before continuing. “If you want to go camping in some forest somewhere, be my guest. But I will not have you exposing yourself, and thus all of us, to those worthless ponies!”

Tirek ran a hand through his beard as he thought. So, Grogar was willing to indulge a camping trip for him? That was good. If he could be gone for a week or two, just as Chrysalis was being permitted, then he could have time to enjoy his freedom in a way he hadn’t been able to in a long time. A thousand years in a cage with nothing for company but monsters gave one a great appreciation for wide open spaces that permitted one to simply roam around freely. Creature contact wasn’t a thing that Tirek craved.

Cozy Glow, meanwhile, had her face screw up, and was grinding her teeth together as she landed on the table. “But what about me?”

Cozy’s ideal vacation probably involved seeing the sights of some major city…and ponies. Lots of ponies, and bending them to her whim. She would absolutely give herself away, and Grogar knew that, and so would command her to remain in the cave…where she would sit and stew in solitude and, after Chrysalis and Tirek got back from their vacations, would be absolutely insufferable.

So Tirek acted quickly. “You could come camping with me,” he suggested. She had not been intolerable during their trip to Mount Everhoof. “I actually know the perfect spot in my homeland, haven’t been there in millennia but I doubt much has changed…”

Tirek felt his words drifting off as he said that. Come to think of it, he did know a great spot to camp and relax within the kingdom of Gar-Centauria…but it occurred to him that he also knew what it was near.

Images flashed in his mind. Memories of two brothers, young and still trusting of each other, looking across a bay at a dark and forbidding, haunted castle. Vowing to each other that one day they would venture inside and find the dark treasure said to be there, at first merely for the adventure, later as they grew older as an attempt to gain power. But they’d never been able to find their way in. And an easier means of obtaining power had presented itself as the older brother had mastered dark magic and set his sights on Equestria, where the younger brother…

Well. That didn’t matter now. Tirek focused instead only on the seed of a plan germinating inside of him. It meant, of course, tossing aside the idea of this being merely a vacation…but perhaps it would be worth it.

Tirek was brought back to the here and now with the sound of Cozy’s grumbling. Grogar slammed a hoof onto the table. “You are going camping with Tirek and you will like it.”

“Y-yes, mighty Grogar!” Cozy stumbled back from Grogar, tail between her legs.

Tirek felt himself grinding his own teeth together at that sight, and at Grogar. Generally speaking Tirek hated Grogar on the basis of not liking the idea of any creature being more powerful than him. Certainly he despised being ordered around, even if Grogar was aiding him in his goal to gain more power. But the way Grogar made demands of the trio…

Chrysalis, meanwhile, had her eyes dart between Tirek and Cozy. She looked unsure for a moment, before hissing out in a low voice, “I’ll bring you two back souvenirs.” When Cozy and Tirek both looked to her, she stomped a hoof petulantly. “Your disappointment tastes like curdled milk! I don’t want to go on vacation with that taste in my mouth, or come back to it after it’s done!” She glanced away from the two. “I hate you.”

“Hate” was a word with a lot of meanings for the former Queen of the Changelings. When she used it in relation to Starlight Glimmer or Twilight Sparkle, it was full of vitriol and anger that Tirek didn’t need to be a changeling to sense. It was genuine. But the hate she loudly claimed she possessed for Tirek and Cozy – and for her former subjects – was ironic. She said hate. She meant something else, even if she herself didn’t know it.

Tirek chuckled, turning around and heading off with his hands folded behind his back. He could hear Cozy Glow start to list out all the souvenirs she wanted, all of them beach-themed. Chrysalis had been grousing about wanting to relax on a beach somewhere for a while now, ever since her Reformation, so Cozy Glow had probably made some assumptions about Chrysalis’ destination.

Tirek’s own, at the moment, was his chambers within Grogar’s lair. Grogar had supplied him with everything he could desire in order to entice obedience and loyalty from him, but those desires had amounted to little more than a bed, a bench and weights for his training, a grammaphone for records to keep him motivated, and a small collection of books. Grogar had apparently grabbed that at random for him since one of them was Daring Do and the Marked Thief of Marapone. Tirek couldn't imagine the ancient Father of Monsters being a fan of the series.

There was also a hanging picture of Tirek at his full power, the level that he had achieved after absorbing the magic of Discord and all the ponies of Equestria. Far from being a mere vanity – though Tirek had to admit that he cut an impressive figure – it was a goal to work towards, a reminder of how much that he had once held, only to have it snatched away from him by Twilight Sparkle and her cheating magic.

The centaur snorted, walking to the middle of his room and sitting down to think. He’d gotten good at that over the course of a thousand years in a cell. He imagined the vacation spot he would tell Grogar to send him to, an oases at the border of the Nether Lands, a great desert within Gar-Centauria. The oasis was large enough to feed a small copse of palm trees, around a hundred acres in size. Two days east would take him to the coast. Midnight Castle itself was on an island of rocks maybe a half-mile offshore; centaurs were not strong swimmers, but he could bring a felled tree from the oasis to help him float over –

“Hey, Tirek!”

Tirek felt himself growling slightly as he pointed at his door, not even bothering to turn around. “That was closed.”

“Uh-huh,” Cozy agreed as she trotted right up to him and smiled one of her too-wide smiles. “But it wasn’t locked, and if we’re gonna be camping buddies then we’ll have a lot to go over! I’ve never really been camping before. Well, except for with you and Chrysalis at Mount Everhoof. Is it going to be cold? Should I bring bug spray? I think Chrysalis threw it all out but I bet I could convince Mister Grogar to get us some.”

Tirek clenched a fist behind his back. “That won’t be necessary.” He glanced around, then used his magic to close his door. Grogar had given no indications that he spied upon his three minions – a foolish mistake – but Tirek saw no reason to take any chances.

“We are not going to be camping,” he whispered.

Cozy stared at Triek a moment, and her smile grew simultaneously devious and yet far more honest. “Ooooh, we’re playing hookie? I’ve never done that before either!” She took to the air, hovering in front of Tirek’s face. “So where are we going then?”

Tirek crossed his arms. “Ancient Centaurian legend speaks of a place called Midnight Castle, ruled over by a powerful sorcerer-king named Tirac.” He held up a palm before Cozy could speak up. “No relation. Tirac ruled from Midnight Castle with an iron fist. He subjugated many tribes of centaurs beneath him. He did it all thanks to an artifact he possessed: the Rainbow of Darkness. But he was eventually defeated and thrown down. It is said that the Rainbow of Darkness still lurks somewhere in the dungeons beneath Midnight Castle.” Tirek growled. “My brother and I often planned to retrieve it for ourselves. That…did not end up happening.”

Cozy rubbed her hooves together. “But we’re gonna get it?”

Tirek nodded. “The Bewitching Bell is proving an intractable artifact.” Several months on since he, Chrysalis, and Cozy had retrieved the Bell from Mount Everhoof – though they had informed Grogar that they had failed in their quest – and yet they had made no progress in discerning the secret of how to use it, or even what it did. “Perhaps if I had access to the library in Canterlot…but I don’t see how that would be possible.”

“Mmn,” Cozy waved a hoof up and down at Tirek. “Grogar had a point, it’s not like you can just blend in like you are now.” She landed, taking in all this new information. Tirek could practically see the gears turning in her head, as she effortlessly switched from doing her best to accept the idea of going camping, to fully embracing the scheme that Tirek was concocting. “So the Rainbow of Darkness is insurance in case the Bell doesn’t work out, huh? That’s great! I’ll go let Chrysalis know – ”

“Wait!” Tirek wrapped magic around his door before Cozy could open it again. She turned to Tirek, confused. Tirek stood and began pacing back and forth, hands behind his back. “Given Chrysalis’ recent change, I have…doubts, about her conviction.”

Cozy’s head tilted to the side. “You think she’d betray us?”

“The old Chrysalis would never have offered to bring us back souvenirs. She is…softening, without her starvation to give her focus. I doubt she would actively plot against us…but if offered an opportunity to return to the changelings, even if not as their queen? I am less sure.” He looked to Cozy pointedly. “I intend to give her every opportunity to remain loyal – she has earned that. But I see no reason to count upon it. Her true loyalty will always be to the changelings, not us.”

Cozy scuffed a hoof on the ground, silent for several long moments. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” she said, though she suddenly perked up as she once again started rubbing her hooves together, and grinned. “But when we get back, we can surprise her with it, and then all three of us can use it on Grogar!”

“My thoughts exactly,” Tirek grinned himself, having no doubt at all that Chrysalis would love a chance to dispose of the old goat. “And then we can move against our true target: Equestria.”

Cozy giggled as she sat back down. “Gee, I can’t wait until we’re crushing those dumb ponies and every one of those Friendship Students under us!”

Tirek's head titled slightly at that. “But you are a pony,”

That only earned another giggle. “No I’m not. I’m a little monster. Rawr!” Cozy raised her hooves like she was about to leap on prey, prompting a chuckle from Tirek. Then she sat back down, and had a hoof to her chin. “But okay, give me more. If we’re gonna do this we should do it right. Tell me all about Midnight Castle, everything you know! Oh…” she winced, looking at Tirek. “And, don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but we should probably plan out what we’re gonna do if we run into, um…your brother Scorpan.”

Tirek found himself pausing a moment before answering, something he almost wondered at before pushing past it. “I wouldn’t worry about that.”

“Why not?”

“Because Scorpan has been dead for a thousand years.”

My Little Pony
My Little Pony
Ah, ah, ah, ah...
My Little Pony...
I used to wonder what friendship could be
My Little Pony...
Until you all shared its magic with me
Big adventure, tons of fun!
A beautiful heart, faithful and strong!
Sharing kindness - it's an easy feat!
And magic makes it all complete!
You have My Little Ponies...
Do you know you're all my very best friends?

For the millionth time, Rainbow Dash looked at the letter that she had gotten a little over a week ago, and suppressed the urge to let out a totally uncool giggle as she read it.

To my most adoring and loyal fan,

Recently, I’ve been pursuing rumors of an ancient artifact called the Sun Stone, once kept in the care of the legendary Queen Rosedust. The Sun Stone was said to be a brilliant yellow-white jewel that radiated warmth and light, but it was lost over a thousand years ago.

But I think I’ve tracked it down! The Sun Stone appears to have somehow ended up in Saddle Arabia, at an ancient Centaurian ruin called Midnight Castle. Whoever brought it back to Equestria would receive great fame and fortune!

What I wanted to ask was: would you like to join me? You have helped me out on many adventures that you’ve been dragged into. How would you like to join one from the start?

I’ve enclosed a ticket for the R.A.S. Wind Drifter, an airship that travels from Los Pegasus to Saddle Arabia. The journey across the South Luna Ocean to the Saddle Arabian city of Istanbull takes about a week, and then we can head across the desert to Midnight Castle.

Looking forward to seeing you, my friend!

— Daring Do

A new and exotic land! A daring expedition to an ancient ruin! Fortune and glory! Dash had been invited to go on a Daring Do adventure!

It had been a heck of a project to arrange, though, not helped by the fact that according to the ticket, the R.A.S. Wind Drifter was going to leave Los Pegasus in only a few days after she’d gotten the letter.

First, Dash had needed to make sure that there were no Wonderbolts shows or training regimes scheduled for the next three weeks, since no matter how fun this was going to be, she couldn’t leave her teammates hanging. Fortunately there had been none.

But second she’d needed to get time off from the Friendship School, or rather, to find a good substitute teacher to cover for her. Dash had been proactive on that front, arranging for Big MacIntosh to take over and fill her horseshoes first, and then going to Twilight.

Who had totally failed to be happy about it at first.

“Come on, Twi!” Dash had exclaimed. “Look, it’s only a few weeks! It’s not my fault that the next Daring Do book staring yours truly is going to happen all the way on the other side of the world!”

Twilight had been sitting behind her desk in her office, rubbing her temples with both hooves. “First, I don’t think it’s a Daring Do book unless it stars Daring Do. Second, that’s not the point! I don’t mind you taking a few weeks’ vacation, it’s the fact that you’re asking to begin that vacation tomorrow!”

“Well the letter only arrived today!” Dash was in the air, of course, and it was a simple matter to fly over the desk so she could hover right above Twilight and look down at her. “Come on! How is this any different than if the Cutie Map started lighting up my flank? What if it sent me to…”

She’d faded out when she noticed the pained look on Twilight’s face, and caught up pretty quickly – enough that she’d moved a little and then landed on the ground, tail between her legs, and scuffed a hoof on the floor beneath her. The Cutie Map hadn’t lit up, hadn’t called on any of them, ever since King Sombra had come back from the dead and destroyed the Tree of Harmony. The Tree had supposedly been reborn into the crystal treehouse that lay within the Everfree Forest…but so far, nothing.

“Sorry,” Dash finally mumbled.

Twilight shook her head. “It’s okay,” She looked to Dash. “And…you’re right. The Cutie Map used to call us away at a moment’s notice, and you all still have other things you need to take care of in your lives. The school was supposed to be set up to allow for that. When Applejack and Fluttershy went to the kirins, they were gone just as suddenly and for nearly as long.”

“Yeah, but this isn’t anything like that. It’s probably just going to be me and Daring in some dusty old castle. This isn’t ‘Friendship Problem’ important.”

“No, it’s not,” Twilight agreed, but also gotten out of her chair and put a hoof on Dash’s withers. “But it’s important to you. And I’d be a pretty lousy friend if I tried to stop you.” Twilight smiled. “So! A week there and back and a week in Saddle Arabia. You already have a substitute picked out? Big Mac?”

Dash's wings fluttered as her spirits lifted alongside her body. “Yup! And I laid out all my lesson plans, just like I knew you’d want.” Dash produced a small packet of papers. “Just a bunch of trust exercises. And actual exercises. Applejack said they’re between harvests at the farm so Big Mac can spare the time, and Big Mac already said okay.”

Twilight had nodded as she looked over the papers. “Okay, then – everything looks good! I’ll officially approve your vacation time. And say hi to Daring Do for me!” She’d glanced around, then leaned in and whispered, “and if you can get a look at any manuscripts for her next book…”

Rainbow Dash had laughed then, and needed to spend a few moments once more suppressing a laugh now where she lay on her bunk. Daring Do had pulled out all the stops for her – once she’d gotten to Los Pegasus (in record time, no less), she’d boarded the R.A.S. Wind Drifter to find that she’d had a private first-class cabin all to herself for the transoceanic journey, with even her own bathroom.

And the ship herself? Every bit as cool as Dash had expected. The Wind Drifter was one of the newest airships in Equestria’s growing fleet of skyliners, and among the largest. Her balloon was over eight hundred feet long, and she could carry a hundred passengers and crew for the long voyage across the South Luna Ocean. Her gondola contained a dining room, lounge, small theater, and gift shop. The front quarter of the gondola was made entirely out of magically-reinforced glass for the braver ground-bound passengers, while on the dorsal side of the balloon was a landing strip for pegasi who wanted to get out and stretch their wings. Wind Drifter wasn’t faster than a pegasus who pushed herself – she certainly wasn’t as fast as Dash could be – but no pegasus could fly for days on end without stopping, and definitely not while carrying luggage.

So Dash had been able to pass the time eating, working out, enjoying the sight of the vast, sparkling ocean in every direction, brilliant blue in the sunlight or sparkling under moon-and-starlight, and getting to know her fellow passengers. Most of them were pretty upper-crust, of course, but any initial standoffishness bled away once Dash let slip the fact that she was, well, Rainbow Dash: Wonderbolt, Hero of Equestria, and Fastest Pony Alive. And when she’d had enough of that, she could retreat to her cabin to sleep, or read the Daring Do books she’d brought with her.

The airship journey had been like a vacation all on of its own, leaving her plenty rested and ready to go on an adventure!

Dash’s thoughts were interrupted when the intercom came on. “Attention all passengers,” the voice said into the cabin, “this is your captain speaking…we are about two hours out from Istanbull. Please use this time to collect your belongings and luggage and ensure you are ready to disembark. On behalf of the crew, we hope you have enjoyed flying aboard the R.A.S. Wind Drifter as much as we’ve enjoyed having you.”

Dash glanced around her cabin, but she’d packed up her saddlebags last night, so she had nothing to worry about on that front. Getting out of her bunk and stretching, she put away the letter Daring Do had sent her, and then left her cabin, hoping to get one more round of the really good pancakes that the Wind Drifter served for breakfast before disembarking.

“Rainbow Dash!”

Dash glanced behind her in the narrow airship corridor, and felt herself grinning widely. “Glory!” Dash returned, taking to the air so she could fly backwards and not block the halls for anypony who wanted to pass through, rather than walk side-by-side with . “How’s it hangin’?”

Glory Pose was purple unicorn with a white mane and a cutie mark of a shooting star, whom Dash had met on her first night on the airship, a wealthy heiress heading to Saddle Arabia on holiday. She reminded Dash of Rarity, a little bit, although much less high-strung.

“Oh, same-old same-old,” Glory said as she continued trotting forward and to the stairs that led down to the gondola. “I’m looking forward to getting off this ship, truth be told, and getting to really stretch my legs.” She narrowed her eyes, though her grin didn’t drop as the two descended. “I am very jealous of pegasi.”

Dash smirked herself. “Yeah, being able to step outside when we’re a couple thousand feet in the air is just one of the many perks of being me.” She pointed at the horn atop Glory's head. “Though I’ve always thought it’d be pretty cool to have one of those, too.”

The two reached the gondola level, allowing Dash to land without getting in anypony’s way. Glory gave her a friendly flank-bump once she landed to make sure she knew there were no actual hard feelings, and the two made their way over to the dining room. No sooner had they entered than a pair of squeals went up, and Dash found herself under assault by a pair of earth pony foals, Rough and Tumble.

“Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash! Finish telling us about the dragon you beat up!” Rough demanded.

“No! Tell us more about the first time you did a sonic rainboom!” Tumble insisted, pushing past her twin brother.

“Tell us about the time you beat up a hundred changelings!” Rough shoved his sister away.

She pushed him back behind her. “You said something about a mirror leading to a weird world full of monkeys! Tell us about that!”

Dash grimaced, and moreso when she saw that Rough and Tumble’s parents were passed out at their table, exhausted from dealing with their rambunctious foals. They’d be no help.

Had Dash really brought up the mirror portal? She was pretty sure she wasn’t supposed to…then again a week on an airship with nothing to do but socialize had maybe loosened her lips a little bit. She wanted the ponies to appreciate the fact that they weren’t just traveling, but had been traveling in style.

Glory smirked at her. “I’ll get us a table while you figure a way out of this,” she teased, and headed off. Dash looked down, and saw the two foals staring back at her expectantly and with eyes full of wonder, occasionally shoving each other to stand closer to Dash or push the other back.

Well, far be it from Dash to disappoint an audience. “Okay, I didn’t exactly beat up a hundred changelings by myself, I had friends to help me…”

Dash spent the next fifteen minutes entertaining the foals with stories that were only slightly embellished. Just a little bit. Applejack wasn’t here to take offense, and it wasn’t like she downplayed the cool stuff had friends had accomplished. She just put the emphasis where her fans wanted it: on Rainbow Dash.

Eventually Rough and Tumble’s parents shook off their stupor and managed to get the two back to their table to finish their breakfasts, by which point Dash was looking forwards to hers. Glory had already ordered for the two of them, stacks of pancakes that arrived at almost the same time she did.

“So I don’t think you’ve said if you’re here alone, or meeting anypony,” Glory said as she started digging into her breakfast. She had only a pair of pancakes, with strawberries on the side. “Surely you won’t be seeing the wonders of Saddle Arabia all by yourself?”

“Oh, no, I’m meeting a friend,” Dash responded. Her own plate of pancakes was stacked high, with dollops of butter and syrup that would be unhealthy if not for her metabolism being as lightning-fast as the rest of her. Pinkie Pie would be proud if she were here. “We’ve really been looking forward to seeing the Nether Lands.”

It was a cover-story that Dash was proud of, one she’d concocted on her first night aboard the airship when she’d happened to spot a brochure advertising tours of the easternmost parts of the Nether Lands, the vast desert that dominated central and western Saddle Arabia, full of old centaurian and gargoyle ruins.

Glory chewed thoughtfully for a moment, then swallowed. “I suppose I can see the appeal. I’m not surprised you’d prefer something more adventurous than the sights of Istanbull.” She smiled. “Still, I’ve been to Istanbull twice before and yet it hasn’t even begun to get tiring. You and your friend must at least spend some time in the Grand Bazaar. Anything and everything can be found there for the right price!”

Dash hid her lack of desire to tour some old marketplace with practiced ease. Maybe it was impressive to ponies who liked shopping, but Dash was an in-and-out sort of girl. Besides, Daring had probably already gotten them all the supplies they’d need.

“I might check it out,” Dash finally said, deciding to at least be polite to her airship buddy.

“I don’t think I’ve caught the name of your friend.” Glory looked to Dash expectantly.

Dash fidgeted somewhat, disguising her hesitation with a big mouthful of pancake. She really wanted to keep Daring Do’s secret, of course, and the thought of blabbing out that she knew the supposedly fictitious adventurer-archaeologist never even crossed her mind. But with Glory looking at her expectantly and it just being so cool a thing to tell ponies…

“Okay, but you got to keep it secret,” Dash said, going for a natural compromise. She leaned across the table, and Glory leaned in as well as Dash continued in a low whisper. “My friend is very private…but you’ve probably heard of her. A.K. Yearling.”

Glory’s eyes widened slightly, and she tittered to herself as she drew back. “The author? I see…scouting locations for her next book, is she?”

“Yup,” Dash lied easily. She’d never been the bearer of the Element of Honesty, and in any event it wasn’t even really a lie when she thought about it. “But, seriously, don’t tell anypony, okay?”

“Not a soul,” Glory agreed, drawing a line across her lips with her hooves.

Cozy Glow left Tirek’s room with her head spinning, but in a good way. Tirek had told her everything he knew about Midnight Castle, though unfortunately it wasn’t much, just that it was a tall spire of black rock jutting out of the ocean, its dungeons extending who-knew-how-far beneath the waves and the earth. The whole thing was sealed by magic, but Tirek was confident that he now possessed the strength necessary to break through it. There was, likewise, only scant information to work on with regards to the Rainbow of Darkness. It was powerful, yes…but that was all that Tirek knew.

It was basically nothing to go on…but that was okay. As Cozy learned more, she’d figure out how best to use everything to her advantage. And Tirek’s, of course, and –

“What were you two plotting in there?”

Cozy let out an eep, looking up and seeing white fur and an orange mantle and blue eyes. Chrysalis may no longer have been quite as intimidating in appearance now that she was Reformed, but she was still tall, still strong, and still capable of withering glares.

“Nothing!” Cozy lied, to throw off the scent. Then she smiled. “Just stuff about what me and Tirek are gonna get up to camping!” Cozy took to the air, getting a few feet of distance from Chrysalis and getting to eye-level with the changeling queen.

Chrysalis eyed Cozy. Her tongue flicked out, tasting the air. “And what about that required a locked door?” One eye narrowed, and her voice dropped low, though there was just a hint of anger behind it. “We’re supposed to be allies.”

Dealing with Chrysalis was super difficult. Any changeling, really, since they could sense emotions, but Chrysalis had more practice with it that any other. Still, there were tricks. It wasn’t like she was a literal lie detector. “Deception” wasn’t an emotion, it was the smugness or nervousness that came with it that a changeling could smell or taste.

So the trick to lying to a changeling was to not lie. It was to be completely sincere. “Look, Chrysalis...we were not discussing betraying you, if that’s what you’re worried about! I promise.” She crossed her hooves. “But at the same time we don’t have to tell you everything. We don’t ask you about everything you get up to.” She flew to Chrysalis’ side and knocked a hoof on one elytron. “Like the stick you’ve got under here! What’s up with that?”

Chrysalis let out a hiss as she spun away from Cozy, elytra and wings snapping open – and grabbing the purple stick that she valued so much in both her blue magic and her hooves. “This is none of your business!”

Cozy raised her hooves. “Okay! But you see my point, right?” She landed again, to look small and nonthreatening. “This is gonna be an extra-special camping trip with just me and Tirek! He’s my oldest friend!” She glanced to the side, rubbing her chin as she giggled. “In more ways than one! I mean, unless you’re older, I dunno. But my point is that since this is gonna be a camping trip with just me and Tirek, we’re gonna get up to all sorts of secret stuff! We’re gonna have a secret hoof-shake, and come up with secret codes, and maybe go on a secret adventure — ”

“Alright! Alright, fine,” Chrysalis interrupted. She stowed her special purple stick beneath one elytron again, and rolled her eyes. “Have your foalish little secrets.”

“Awww, don’t be jealous, Chrysalis!” Cozy insisted with a smile and letting the genuine smugness at having misdirected the queen shine through. “Maybe we can go on a vacation together sometime! Or maybe once we take over Equestria, we could arrange a spa day! Just us girls. And Tirek won’t be invited then!”

Chrysalis scoffed. “As if I’ll have any time for spa days with how much I’ll have to fix my changelings from what Thorax and Starlight Glimmer did to them…” she spat the pony’s name like it was a vile-tasting curse. For Chrysalis, it was.

Cozy could agree with the sentiment, even if her own personal vendetta was directed against different creatures. Six of them, to be specific: a dumb fish-bird princess, a green boring earth pony, a loud hairy wrecking ball, a stupid book bug, a smelly fire-spitting lizard, and a stupid griffon who thought he was so cool with his laid-back attitude and his dumb huge wings and his pointy claws that probably meant that he tore up everything he touched and…

The pegasus filly shook her head, bringing herself back into focus. She didn’t have time right now to dwell on how much she hated those six former classmates of her, especially Gallus. She refocused on Chrysalis, who was stewing and mumbling to herself and had her hooves held like she was holding something between them – and squeezing. Something, Cozy imagined, roughly the size of Starlight Glimmer’s head.

She really did need a vacation. But what if she went off to that resort town Cozy knew she was planning to go to – Teatime or something – and all that time relaxing, mixed with the fact that she Reformed, actually did what Tirek was worried it would do? What if Chrysalis was wrong and her accidental Reformation really did change her and make her go back to the changelings Hive?

On the one hoof, more of Equestria for Cozy and Tirek to split. But on the other, Cozy was friends with Chrysalis! Well, sort of. It was really difficult to get Chrysalis to do what Cozy wanted all the time like a friend was supposed to. But Chrysalis did bake really good cookies for the three of them sometimes, and had been teaching Cozy how to pounce, a skill she’d insisted was important. She’d also given Cozy great tips for manipulating others by playing on their emotions, and helped her learn how to focus her goals and plans a little more, be more meticulous in developing an endgame.

“Say,” Cozy said, interrupting Chrysalis’ fantasy, “what if you came to Gar-Centauria with us? Instead of going to Tia-whatever. It could be just like when we went camping near Mount Everhoof!”

Chrysalis lowered her hooves, glancing at Cozy. “I thought it was a secret, you-and-Tirek only trip,”

“I mean, it doesn’t have to be.” Cozy put on one of her sweeter smiles. “I’m sure Tirek would love to have you along!” That might have been the truth.

Chrysalis looked like she was actually considering it for a few moments, rubbing a hoof against her opposite leg…and then she scowled as she looked down at her hoof and leg, the white fuzz that covered her body now. “No. No, I…I need alone time. I need to get away from everything. Everything. I just want to relax on a beach and not worry or be distracted by anything.” She looked to Cozy. “Besides, going to a sun-scorched desert full of ruins is not my idea of a vacation.”

Cozy had begun to try and make another argument, but paused. “Wait, sun-scorched? Full of ruins? I thought I’d be packing like when we went to Mount Everhoof…”

Chrysalis laughed. “You don’t know where Gar-Centauria is, do you? Or rather, was? It’s a fallen empire in the Nether Lands – the deserts of western Saddle Arabia.”

The young pegasus shifted. “Tirek didn’t mention anything about the weather! Is it really that hot?”

“No, of course not.” Chrysalis let a grin spread across her face before she finally added “it’s hotter. Cook-an-egg-on-a-rock hot. Dead-in-a-day-without-water hot.”

Cozy swallowed, but her mouth was dry. “Oh. Um…I…guess I shouldn’t pack my jacket, then.”

Chrysalis‘ grin grew. “No.”

“Or hat.”

The changeling queen’s grin was wider than a pony’s could ever be. “Definitely not – ”

The door to Tirek’s room opened, and the centaur stuck his head out. “You will pack both, Cozy Glow,” he said. “At night the temperature plummets to freezing, and I will not have you catching a cold and forcing me to carry you!”

Cozy’s eyes widened. She looked between Tirek, who seemed quite cross, and Chrysalis, who was clutching her sides and laughing. She settled on glaring at Chrysalis. “Did you just try to make me freeze?!”

“Oh, please,” Chrysalis got out between laughs, “Tirek would never let that happen!” She looked to Tirek. “And you. How long have you been lurking at your door, listening to us?”

Tirek’s eyes widened. “I – that is…” he fumbled for a few more moments, before growling. “I can lurk at any door I please!”

“Mm-hmmm…” Chrysalis licked her lips, swallowed, and then spun around. “Well! I’m off to the kitchen to make some snacks for my trip. I suppose I’ll make enough to tide you two over as well.”

Cozy and Tirek watched her go, then glanced at each other. Cozy gestured after Chrysalis with both hooves, “Softening?” She demanded.

“Softening,” Tirek answered, “not soft.”

“Fair enough. I’ll start packing. Geeze, I have to pack for hot weather and cold weather, that’s gross…”

The rest of Rainbow Dash’s breakfast passed in light conversation. Dash greeted a few of the other ponies she’d met during the airship voyage, saying good-byes and good-lucks for whatever they were going to get up to in Saddle Arabia. Doing so passed enough time that by the time she was done, the Wind Drifter was making its final approach to Istanbull’s airship mooring towers. The city itself was spread broadly across the flat lands, hugging the coastline but sprawling across the dry, grassy fields that surrounded it. The airship had several of its windows open now that they were only a few hundred feet above the ground, letting the hot, dry air of Saddle Arabia into the gondola.

It occurred to Rainbow Dash only as she was disembarking and getting her passport stamped that she hadn’t actually arranged with Daring Do as to where they would meet. Trotting out into the airport’s lobby didn’t help, as she saw no sign of Daring Do – little surprise – or the adventurer’s A.K. Yearling disguise. Dash took to hovering in the air, hoping to be spotted, but after a few minutes of waiting there was still nothing.

“…huh,” she grunted, landing and looking around, wondering what to do. Daring could have been caught up for any number of reasons, but Dash was sure that she wouldn’t be forgotten about or deliberately left hanging. Nevertheless, that meant that all that was left to her was to wait around. Ugh.

“Your friend hasn’t arrived?” Glory Pose’s voice asked. She approached Dash with her horn lit up in blue, carrying several bags of luggage in her telekinesis, while a tall, burly, dark teal earth pony stallion with an orange mane was carrying several more for her.

Dash felt a pang of jealousy at the fact that Glory hadn’t needed to wait for her meetup. “Yeah, I’m sure she just got held up in…traffic, or something. She’ll be here!”

“I must say I am surprised, we ran just a bit late in getting here, so she had plenty of time.” Glory said. She was joined by another stallion, this one a brown earth pony, also carrying some of her luggage. She was definitely reminding Rainbow Dash of Rarity now with so many bags…although come to think of it the two stallions looked familiar as well.

“Well!” Glory disrupted Dash’s train of thought with her exclamation. “We wouldn’t want to leave you alone in a strange city. I and my companions would be more than happy to wait with you.” Dash brightened at that as Glory set out, Dash and the stallions following, for some of the chairs that were set up for visitors to the airport, trotting over to the rearmost row of them, away from everypony else.

“Thanks,” Dash said, “though I don’t want to hold up your vacation. I’m sure you’ve got a lot of shopping to do, or whatever.”

“Oh, nonsense,” Glory waved a hoof as though shooing away Dash's concerns. “It’s a bit of a working vacation, truth be told, so I’m not that eager to start it. And I won’t be going home ‘til the work’s done anyway.” She sat down, and Dash did as well. “Besides, I have to admit that your…friendship has me intrigued. I don’t want to play down your own talents, but you can’t just drop…the name you dropped…and not expect me to want details.”

Dash swallowed. “W-well, there’s not much to tell,” she tried. “My friend and I met…” Actually, come to think of it, that wasn’t a story that Dash could tell, was it? “She was going through a rough patch in her life. I helped her out.”

“Heh. Rough patch,” one of the stallions spoke up, the shorter of the two. “Good one.”

Dash looked at him, a brown pony wearing a jacket. She squinted a little. “Hey…you look kind of familiar. Have we met?”

The stallion’s eyes widened. “Uh…I don’t think so.”

Dash might never have carried the Element of Honesty, but she wasn’t oblivious. But where had she seen this stallion before?

“Oh…shoot,” Glory said. Dash looked, and saw that she’d set down and opened up one of her cases of luggage, and was digging through the clothes within it, careful not to disturb or wrinkle anything. “I knew that I should have brought some of my own ponies with me, but he just had to insist on his old buddies…ah, here we go.”

Glory stood up straight, holding up, of all things, a length of rope. She hoofed it over to the brown stallion. “Here you are.” She got back to digging through her luggage. “Dash, dear, I don’t want you to take any of this personally, though I’m sure you will.”

Alarm bells had started going off in Dash’s head, of course. She took to the air, or started to – but the other stallion, the large teal earth pony, reached out and put a hoof on her withers before she could get more than an inch off the ground and put her back down. He looked familiar too, come to think of it…not that Dash was, instead she started struggling, trying to get out of the pony’s grip. But even though Dash was no slouch when it came to physicality, the earth pony was, well, an earth pony, and a big one at that.

Dash probably could have struggled out of the grip anyway, but then the other earth pony reached into his coat and pulled out a long, thin knife and had it at Dash’s throat with impressive speed.

Dash stopped her struggle at the feel of edged metal against her jugular. She glared at Glory. “Okay, what the heck?” She leaned a little away from the knife, but the stallion followed her. “What are you doing?”

Glory let out a little whicker of delight as she found the next thing she was looking for, a folded brown canvas bag, that – distressingly – looked big enough to fit around a pony’s head.

“Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, are you?” Glory smirked as she eyed the knife that was at Dash’s throat. “I would have thought it was obvious. I’m taking you hostage, darling.”

“Why?” Dash pressed up with all her might, and managed to get four hooves under her, at least, in spite of tall, teal, and burly’s best efforts. “Who are you?”

“Exactly who I said I was, darling, I assure you,” Glory said, smiling. “Glory Pose, of the Fillydelphia Poses. I’m just a bit more than that. I’m the financier of this little expedition that was put together by – ”

“Me!”

Dash’s eyes grew wide at the voice from behind her. She knew that voice. Turning, she found herself looking at a black-maned, gray-coated stallion in a white shirt, his eyes green and his cutie mark a golden skull.

“Doctor Caballeron!”

Author's Note

There are going to be G1 references all over the place in this story. You should try and spot them all!

Also this story takes place before “Daring Doubt”. I won’t spoil whether or not the events of this story will erase it from continuity, though.

Welcome to the penultimate story in my series! This story is a sequel/companion piece to Trouble in Tiatarta, and tells the story of what Tirek and Cozy Glow got up to while Chrysalis was making a fool of herself while on vacation. The two stories begin at the same time. You shouldn't need to actually read Trouble in Tiatarta to enjoy this, but I highly recommend you do!

The series of stories is as follows:

1) Cozy Glow: FIENDship is Magic
2) A Trip Through the Mirror
3) Queen Chrysalis Reforms (Accidentally)
4) Cozy Glow's Tales of Revenge
5) Trouble in Tiatarta
6) Trouble at Midnight Castle (you are here)
7) The End is Never the End (to be written)