A Witch in Broad Daylight

“I’m not sure how much longer this can last!” Another one of Blueblood’s undead dire rats fell. Only two more and some rubble stood as a barrier now.

Rarity turned to the two ponies who took the dive. Kerfuffle went to work right away, excitedly babbling gibberish to herself as she tore up what machinery remained in the room. At first blush, it might seem like she was doing something productive. But after watching her for a moment, Rarity could tell her real purpose.

“Kerfuffle is making something.” Blueblood glanced back, hopeful.

“Nothing we need, as far as I can tell.” Rarity shook her head. “This is an upgraded part for Fuff N’ Stuff, her robot. She’d been talking about using her last dive for this.”

Rarity sighed. Maybe that’d be slightly useful if they could even find the broken bodies of their robots. She could hardly blame Kerfuffle for this, though. It was a long shot she’d be able to focus her seventh dive on anything in particular.

That left the mercenary, who lay on his back, eyes rapidly twitching.

Yes, she remembered her first time as well. You felt every particle of your being, you witnessed your consciousness transcend beyond the universe and saw the oneness of everything. You transcended, the barriers between you and all the world vanishing, or rather realizing there never were any barriers to begin with.

But a moment later you realized all that was nonsense and you were just having something like a seizure.

The mercenary snapped out of that delusion, eyes popping open before he rushed over to the window. Everypony not preoccupied with fighting watched closely. Intentions were often hard to discern.

He broke the glass, letting a violent gust begin assaulting the room. Then he leaned down and began arranging the broken shards just so. Rarity recognized this. He wasn’t planning an escape but trying to create something.

“They both got distracted,” Rarity concluded. What now?

Before anypony could ask how she knew the difference, a sound even louder than the wind filled the room. It came from above, shaking the ceiling over their heads. They were drilling through the ceiling! Multiple holes, one in the center and four around the edges. The cartel was planning to collapse the floor above them!

“We have to escape through the window!” One pony shouted.

“We’re as good as dead if we do that,” said Rarity. “It leads into a wide-open courtyard where we’d get blasted apart. Then beyond that the forest is a death sentence in this wind.”

“We’re dead if we stay here!”

There was only one hope left, but it wasn’t blindly charging out the window. Rarity stepped up to a terrified Coco, still hiding in the corner. Though it was slightly tempting to just shove Coco’s head into the machine, that wouldn’t work even if Rarity were that desperate.

“Coco,” said Rarity. “Listen to me.”

“I can’t do it Rarity!” Coco shook her head and closed her teary eyes. “I can’t be strong! It’s easy for you to say stuff like this, but I’m the weakest, most pathetic pony here! Hiding in the corner is the best I can do.”

“Don’t you see? That you desperately want to get out of here is only an advantage right now. You’re only problem is that you believe it won’t work. When I first started mad science, I was a hopeless child trying to do an impossible task. I was no better than you. Most of us weren’t! And yet time and time again we still pulled through because that’s the one thing we refused to believe.”

“You had Twilight with you.”

“But I’m not her,” said Rarity. “None of us were. Anypony can make a difference as long as they just happen to be the right pony at the right time. You don’t need to be strong, Coco. You just need to be the right pony.”

Trying to keep her breathing under control, Coco looked to the ceiling, slowly crumbling above them, to the storm raging outside, to their undead rat defenders quickly losing ground. Perhaps she finally realized there was no other option or perhaps Rarity’s words got through to her.

Coco swallowed and nodded. She kept her eyes closed the whole time as Rarity turned on the machine. A whirl of blue and black appeared once more. Coco still didn’t open her eyes, but she did put her head into that portal.

It was programmed to shut off immediately, lasting only one second. To a casual observer, nothing happened, nothing save Coco’s intense reaction to seeing the outer realm.

She staggered back, twitching violently but remaining on her feet. Her eyes were no longer closed, but wide open, as wide as they could be so that Rarity believed with one glance they wouldn’t be closing again anytime soon.

Rarity had to believe it worked!

The hole in the center broke through immediately. The ponies above dropped an explosive device through. Rarity braced herself. This was it!

Coco sprang into action, pouncing on the explosive. She jabbed it once, then lifted it into the air with her teeth, giving it a violent shake. A chunk of it broke off in her mouth and the rest went bouncing harmlessly across the room.

No explosion was triggered. She had disarmed the bomb!

It worked.

“Coco? How are you feeling?” Blueblood asked.

“No.” Coco straightened up and turned to Blueblood with an unblinking intensity. “It’s not Coco. It’s Coco Pummel.”

“That was already your name,” said Blueblood.

“My name, Rarity?!” Coco slapped him hard across the face, though not hard enough to throw him off his feet or even make him flinch. Unfortunately, dives didn’t make you any stronger.

“I’m not Rarity.”

“You’re all Rarity!” Coco pressed her muzzle up against Blueblood. He really should know better than to question her in such a state.

Without further notice, Coco grabbed the shell of the bomb again and ran straight into one of the walls.

“Did it work?” Another pony asked.

“Yes! I’m sure of it!” Rarity exclaimed. Everypony came around to watch Coco. “She has an escape plan!”

Coco pressed herself up against the wall’s side as if trying to force it to move.

“Is she? She gets there’s a wall there, right?” an unfamiliar pony pointed out to the rest.

“There’s no such thing as walls, Rarity!” Coco shouted at the guy before turning and repeatedly smashing her hoof into the wall, letting out a shout each time.

“She’s not making any sense,” he concluded. “What if she just wanted the bomb for something?”

Just then, Kerfuffle dragged the dislodged mechanism of the bomb off to her corner.

“No.” Rarity stood in front of Coco, gesturing to her with both hooves. “It looks like her actions make no sense to us lowly fools but every move is precisely calculated. Coco is affecting chaos, altering variables that are far beyond our ability to perceive, nudging reality until things align perfectly to execute on. What we are witnessing is transcendent genius.”

Rarity pointed to Coco, now running her tongue along the corner of the wall.

Once again, danger became imminent on all sides. The rest of the holes broke through on the ceiling, already beginning to crack. The rats had all been killed in a moment, the last barrier would fall. The group began to huddle together, some eyeing the window once more.

At this, Coco stood and pointed up dramatically.

“Don’t not not not,” Coco stopped to count, “not!”

She sprung into action, throwing the shell of the bomb into one of the holes. A small series of bangs shook the roof, and it distended above them. Yet the shell acted as a keystone, everything else buckling around it but remaining buckled in midair. Even still, it looked as though they had mere seconds, so much as a fly landing on that shell would surely cause the whole thing to come crashing down.

At the same time, Coco yelled and charged forward into the open hallway, towards the ponies now firing upon them. One would think the prior warning meant not to follow her, but Rarity knew not to try and make sense of anything Coco said, it was all far too beyond them. Coco would adjust any plan around whatever they did.

“She has an escape plan! Everypony! Charge!” Rarity called out and ran after Coco.

The rest followed in an unorganized mob, matching Coco’s wild shouts, the few with guns taking their shots whenever they could. The enemy was far more heavily armed, and a hail of bullets and spells came to meet them.

Coco ‘Pummel’ really was their only hope here. It would have been an absolute slaughter were it not for her. She alone could see which enemy was about to hit with a lethal attack and could calculate the bare minimum effort to turn that into a near-miss.

Her primary tactic seemed to be picking up bits of gravel and throwing them with precise aim. She could hardly knock anypony out, but tapping their guns or horns or wings, or occasionally tripping them or hitting their eyes from a weird angle was just always enough. And she always preempted anypony who turned on her by rolling behind some other enemy.

It was the rest who were on offense, their line tackling and stomping the cartel as it advanced. Fire and noise erupted all around them, but Rarity felt nothing.

They soon reached the end of the hall, enemy ponies now behind them. Rarity stopped only briefly to look over the other ponies. Not a single one had been blown to bits despite all that noise. Several were bleeding, yes, but none to a life-threatening extent.

Rarity had lost track of the mercenary who’d taken his first dive. A glimpse of Kerfuffle sneaking off through one of the holes in the floor gave her an idea of where he went. Kerfuffle didn’t care about escaping, but surviving was necessary to achieve her present goals. She knew what she was doing as well and wouldn’t stop until her robot was upgraded. The same would be true for that other pony, wherever he went. They would be fine for the next few hours at least.

Coco led them to the only other window in the basement and opened it up, but didn’t go through immediately, instead digging up the dirt just outside.

“How is this any different from the other window?” One pony shook her head at it. “We can’t go out into the storm, can we? And where are we even going to find shelter? There’s nothing for miles and miles.”

It was a little different, though not necessarily better. This exit would lead out into the forest. They might not get blown to pieces by artillery like they would have escaped into the garden, but this storm threatened to turn the trees into a death sentence.

“Just shut up! You people don’t even exist!” Coco retorted and crawled out the window.

“I know we can’t follow her thinking, but Coco has an idea,” Rarity promised. “She got us through the hall; she’ll get us through this. She glanced through the chaos of the outer realm. There has to be something she can see on this side.”

Death was slightly less imminent, yet at the same time, they had just seen a display of Coco’s abilities. There weren’t any more objections.

Before Coco could get too far ahead, Rarity was the next to crawl after her.

Dash’s group was away from trees, at least. They had moved northwest, into farmland but that was only marginally better. The growing windstorm turned the place into a real dirt devil, pillars of black soil rose and swirled and blanketed the area. If Dash spat in any direction through all that, she wouldn’t see where it landed.

They had enough elite pegasi around to create something of a shelter. Dash wasn’t the only pony who could create wind walls. Only a weak barrier was needed to keep the dirt from blowing in and scouring the lot of them.

But the dust storm worked in their favor as well. Hardly anypony could advance through this. However, there was one obvious exception.

“We probably don’t have too long,” said Spitfire. “There’s no reason to assume Embermoon will be out of commission for very long. She’s going to come after us. Likely before the storm is, definitely before tomorrow, and we don’t have any way of fighting her.”

“More specifically, she’s going to come after me. We can use that.” Dash rubbed her nose with a slight smile. “Never thought I’d end up being the tank.”

“What?”

“You ever played Summoner Knights?”

“That cringey children’s card game?”

“Never mind.” Dash coughed into her hoof. “The point is, I just need to not hide where I’m going this time. Lead her into another trap. Embermoon seems like the overly hot-headed type.”

“And if she’s more like Eclipse than we think?” Spitfire asked. “If she attacks the camp instead?”

“Just keep running. Lead her as far away from here as possible,” said Dash. “It’s not as good as defeating her, but that would still take her out of the action.”

“I can do that much,” Spitfire’s confidence returned to her. “But what is this trap you’re talking about?”

“We’re heading back south again,” said Rainbow Dash. “To Oakenfield. That’s where Sunset Shimmer is going to be. And Sunset can fight Embermoon,”

“Why would she be there again?” Dust asked. Dash hadn’t properly explained that part before due to lack of time.

“She believes there are certain seals that, if broken, will summon Golden Feather,” said Rainbow Dash. “One of those is the Element of Honesty.”

“Which we just woke up.” Dust nodded.

“And I dropped that information before we retreated. She’ll be there, I know it. Embermoon will be back on her feet, chasing me again before long,” said Dash. “If I get down there, we’ll have the chance to take down one of the witches! Somehow.”

Dash hadn’t thought it through entirely, but at this point, everypony just seemed to be okay with that. They knew she’d figure it out somehow.

“I’d rather a fight like this not occur in my city,” Moondancer instead objected.

“I’ll do everything I can to keep it away,” said Rainbow Dash. “You’re the one I want to escort me down there for just that reason. I’ll need you close to Oakenfield.”

“I suppose I can hardly object. I came to you because my city was in grave danger either way,” said Moondancer. “I do know of a secret tunnel leading into the city. It will be guarded, but I’ll be sure to have my double give word for us to pass.”

“Where should I go?” Fluttershy asked. “My aura is too big. Anypony with psychic abilities will know where I am.”

“I know. That’s why you’re going to help Rarity and Sonata,” said Rainbow Dash. “For real this time! I have to believe she found some way to use this hurricane. If there’s ghosts around like I’m hoping, you’d be most useful there.”

Dash looked up at the wind, growing ever stronger. Rarity was one of her smarter allies.

“If Rarity hasn’t already found a way to escape, then make it happen yourself.”

Dust straightened up, rolling her shoulder.

“Cool. Yet another lap back down to Oakenfield. Let’s get this trip over with, boss.”

“No. You’re going with Fluttershy,” said Dash, “and take your four best with you.”

Nopony liked that.

“Is that a good idea?!” Fluttershy and Dust both said it at once, one exasperated and the other annoyed. Yet they stopped to look at one another afterward.

“Yes,” Dash said firmly. “Sunset’s the only one who can fight Embermoon, anyway. We learned that the hard way. All I need is somepony to get me through the storm.”

“Well. I guess if I’m more likely to see action that way.” Dust kept her eyes locked on a nervous Fluttershy. “Just don’t try anything–”

She was about to say ‘spook’ but restrained herself for once, instead glancing sideways at Dash.

“Spitfire, your job is to be ready. When the storm clears, that’s the signal. Make a charge towards Rarity’s castle.” Dash held up a hoof in confidence. “By then, we’ll have the witches taken care of and can attack it from three fronts.

Keeping her head down, bracing against the wind, Rarity advanced with only Coco ahead of her. It would have been easier wading through molasses than pushing through this windstorm, and it wasn’t even at its peak yet.

Every so often, Coco would fall back and nudge a pony, bite an ankle, or move a rock or limb before carrying on. Never directly did Rarity know what any of these slight modifications were for, but they worked. Trees fell nearby. Branches went whizzing overhead. But none ever harmed the herd.

Coco had not blinked once, though how Rarity had no idea. Dirt kept getting in her own eyes, making it impossible to keep them open long. Perhaps Coco just knew where to look to avoid that or had the focus to ignore any pain.

“How much longer are we going to keep this up?” Blueblood had to shout over the heavy winds. “We’re barely getting anywhere!”

He wasn’t wrong. The only reason they hadn’t been overrun at this pace was that the enemy also had to contend with the storm. On a clear day, Rarity could have covered this ground in a short jog though it’d already been over an hour.

There wasn’t any way they’d survive the peak of the storm. Not even a pony on dive could manage that. The dive might even have worn off by the time they truly needed it.

“Coco has to have a plan!” Rarity assured everypony, including herself. “She wouldn’t have taken us out here if she didn’t. We’re already safe from the Cartel thanks to her.”

Rarity could tell this didn’t inspire much hope through the gale, but what choice did they have but to keep going?

“Safe from the Cartel you say?” An unfamiliar voice came from no discernable direction. Everypony stopped, assuming the worst, everypony save Coco seemed above hearing it.

A ghost rose from the ground, not one Rarity had ever seen before. A slightly unhinged mare with dark blue fur and eyes floating in a dark pool, marking her as a phantom, approached the group.

“You know, they may not be able to move through this storm.” The ghost circled around the group effortlessly, unaffected to prove her point. “But ghosts can! It’s almost like that was part of the plan! Hehehe!”

At least Rarity knew for sure where the storm had come from. Crater Cemetery was attacking the Cartel! No time to ruminate on the implications of that, though. Their group was dead in the water against even a single ghost.

The phantom tilted her head and a blade of ice formed around her hoof.

“Coco!” Rarity called out to her. “Now would be a good time to, I don’t know, ‘pummel’ this ghost or something?”

“You don’t even exist!” Coco shot at the ghost, then kept walking.

The phantom watched her only real opponent pass by with utter confusion.

“Yeah, let’s go with that.” The phantom smirked then, ignoring Coco, went for the rest of the group. “Soon, none of you will, either!”

A few icy blasts were all it took. The herd broke rank immediately. A few tried using magic against the ghost but had zero ability to aim. The phantom laughed and moved about freely while the living struggled to keep their footing.

Coco stopped, looked out into the forest, and then screamed louder than Rarity could have guessed possible for the small mare, and she knew Coco had plenty of experience with screaming. It drowned out even the wind for a time and she kept it up without faltering for even a moment.

The phantom flew into the air above Rarity, ice coalescing around her as a heavy lance made of twisted spikes formed about her.

“Goodbye!” The phantom flew down at Rarity, intending to reduce her to a pulp in a single thrust. Given the storm, that Rarity even managed to trip and not fall on her face was impressive. But lying prone she had nowhere to go.

Coco stopped screaming. The lance came within inches of Rarity. Then a streak of lightning flashed, and the phantom went soaring. The ice shattered, falling all around Rarity but none managed to cut.

Standing now where the phantom had just been was a green pegasus rippling with electricity. Rarity recognized this one:

Lightning Dust.

Rarity rubbed her eyes wearily. Really? Lightning Dust was here too now?!

A fable about three lions arguing over which one got to eat the lamb came to mind. How many enemies were going to show up today?

Next came four more pegasi, clearly followers of Dust going by their rough countenance. And then, something much heavier plodded through the forest, spreading ice and smashing branches. A massive pony, no, a massive construct came through the woods.

The armor of Nightmare Moon. And from it emerged Fluttershy!

But Dust made no move against the specter. Rarity truly had no idea what to make of it.

Fluttershy created a dome of ice around the group just as the most violent gust yet began to howl. It was far from perfect, but they had shelter for the moment. Rarity felt the wind through the wall of ice, cold wafting out at her, but compared to what came before it was like being pulled out of quicksand.

The phantom smacked her lips and seized up the reinforcements.

“Our mistress will destroy all of you!” The poltergeist shouted before flying off.

“Tail it, then get back,” Dust ordered one of what Rarity assumed to be her flunkies, who flew off into the storm.

Meanwhile, Rarity had crept to Fluttershy’s side.

“Fluttershy,” Rarity whispered, keeping an eye on Dust, “perhaps you don’t know who that is, but…”

“Lightning Dust?” Fluttershy looked at her and gave the fakest friendly smile Rarity had ever seen from the ghost. “Don’t worry, we’re friends now.”

“Friends?!” Dust stopped as suddenly as though she ran into a wall. “No. I just decided to support Rainbow Dash.”

Rarity watched Dust for whatever the catch or misunderstanding could be.

“Dash managed to…?” Rarity relented with a sigh. “No. I really shouldn’t be surprised.”

“We’re here to extract you,” said Dust.

“I can create a tunnel of ice leading out of the forest,” said Fluttershy. “To somewhere safer. You’ll be protected from the storm.”

Dust started muttering at the suggestion, disappointed at the lack of fighting.

“That certainly sounds like the best plan,” Rarity agreed. “My only problem is Sweetie Belle is somewhere outside in all this mess. I told her to go to Ponyville or baring that Oakenfield.”

Rarity looked to the others for any information they might have.

“We were just down south,” said Dust. “Nopony there said anything about a Sweetie Belle.”

“She can survive a tree falling on her,” Fluttershy reminded Rarity, sensing a sudden spike in tension. “Even if she’s just hiding in the forest, Sweetie Belle would be okay.”

“But she wouldn’t be fine from an attack from Crater Cemetery! Or who knows what else is out there.”

“She might be in Ponyville,” Fluttershy suggested next. “We’re heading there anyway. I need to come pick Sonata back up soon afterward. So I’ll be coming back to search for her in just a little while.”

Rarity considered then nodded. If nothing else, Sunset’s ponies might have information. Even telling Rarity her sister wasn’t there would be something.

Rarity opened her mouth to accept the course of action.

“No!” Coco interrupted, shoving Rarity to the ground. She turned dramatically and began walking back toward the castle. “I’m escaping from the castle. None of you can stop me. You’re never really done escaping a castle…”

“You’re already–” Dust began but Rarity stopped.

“Coco is in a dive state right now,” said Rarity. “She knows something we don’t.”

“Or she’s just crazy!” Dust protested to deaf ears. “You know, that’s literally what on the eight means.”

“What are you thinking coco?” Rarity asked, ignoring the ignorant pony.

“Nothing is escaped, Rarity.” Coco looked up at the ice dome around them. “We have to find a tree or something. Something like a tree?!”

Rarity knew that statement could mean literally anything but lost to the urge to glance over at one of the many trees, much to Coco’s disgust. All Rarity knew was that whatever Coco wanted was not like a tree by any rational train of thought.

Why was it that in a normal state, you knew communications like this was impossible but under a dive you thought you could somehow pull it off despite such a thing never working before? One of many mysteries. Rarity’s theory was that it stemmed more from an attempt to effect chaos than to convey information. Using vibrations rather than words to try to make others do as you wish.

“Why is it always words with you?!” Coco grabbed Rarity’s withers with both hooves and stared at her with those eyes of unblinking intensity. “I can see the other Rarity right now! Don’t you get that? It’s back there!”

“Are you saying you want to go back to the castle?” Rarity asked. “There’s something there? Or near there…?”

Another Rarity? That could mean Sweetie Belle and Saccharine. Rarity dismissed that though, knowing making sense of this was pointless. At best she could follow what Coco did, not her attempts to communicate.

Coco could only let a grunt of frustration and walked up to the barrier of ice, now surrounding them in every direction. She pulled back her hoof and began to ‘pummel’ it.

“She’s going back, and I think she wants me to go with her.” Rarity composed herself and stood by Coco. “Fluttershy, take the rest to safety. There’s… something I need to do here. Though what I don’t know.”

“What? Seriously?” Dust asked. “Pummel here is literally on the eighth and you’re taking her advice despite her not being able to tell you what it is?”

“She’s on the second,” Rarity corrected her. “Second is often the best. And I’ve relied on this power countless times. I won’t reject it now.”

“Rarity, are you sure this is a good idea?” Fluttershy asked. “I know there’s a lot of confusion, but you won’t have any strong fighters with you. How much longer will Coco even be like this?”

That was a good question. They had a few hours at best.

“Five will come,” Coco grunted, finally breaking through the wall, albeit Fluttershy weakened that portion for her just then.

“Five? Then I’ll go.”

Everypony stopped, turning to a smirking Lightning Dust.

“Didn’t you just say…?” Rarity asked.

“I thought I was going to have to break into the castle, anyway. This way I’ll get to do something other than shepherd a bunch of black cats around. I think we can take whoever’s there. You two come with me and then that’ll be five.”

Dust called two of her lackeys to her side. The one she’d sent out returned with a warning that ghosts were ‘pooling’ to the south. That let two pegasi and Fluttershy protect the retreating ponies.

“If that’s the case,” said Fluttershy, “I’ll try to get these ponies to Ponyville as fast as possible and come back.”

“But is that five including you, Coco?” Rarity asked.

Coco already ran screaming into the wind with reckless abandon, refusing to answer. Rarity really shouldn’t have even assumed that statement about five meant anything in particular.

“Oh, I’ll volunteer then.” Blueblood stepped up.

“You?” Rarity raised a brow at him.

“I don’t see anypony else here.”

Though there were a good number of ponies behind him who looked ready to volunteer as well. Rarity looked to Coco for any hint as to what they were supposed to do, but Coco, already fed up with their foolishness had charged ahead, screaming the whole way. She’d be out of sight in a moment.

“Alright, fine. You.” Rarity ran after Coco.

“You know, I kinda like this pony!” Lightning Dust soared to Coco’s side.

With a violent flick of her horn, jagged barbs of glowing red dug into the specter. It let out a scream as it unraveled and then… nothing.

At Eclipse's side, Sonata Dusk, gripped hard by the hair, struggled and whined at the sight of another ghost unraveling. Yet she had been whining for over an hour now and it hadn’t so much as slowed Eclipse from dragging her out here by any degree.

Though they outnumbered her vastly and surrounded her on every side, the other ghosts gave Auntie Eclipse a wide birth after that. Yet the wind didn’t dissipate. It must have been another specter. The ghosts hadn’t put up a very good fight so far. The real opponent was only beginning to arrive.

A flood of black and grey mist had been seeping through the trees this whole time. The wind only blew this fog about when the fog wished it, allowing it to slowly encircle Eclipse. More than the poultry army of a few dozen spooks, this is what surrounded Eclipse.

She allowed it, for now, her whole mission being only to draw this thing’s presence.

As the mist became a tower before her and a wall behind, the grey sections grew more solid and formed sharp teeth. Portions of it stretched out to form into long snouts around the fangs until the tower of mist became a dream-like image of a pack of snarling wolves before her.

“I assume this is the real you,” said Eclipse. She paused before deciding to use the only real card she had against the entity. It’s a real name that it so jealously guarded. “Nightmare Moon?”

The wall turned from wolves to grinning jackals as Nightmare Moon smiled at Eclipse knowing as much. Eclipse couldn’t help but glance at Sonata, whose struggle died down in the face of this threat. It was a little too clear how she could have learned that.

“Too late,” said a voice far more sophisticated than what should have emanated from such a mess. “I am already slipping out of my prison. There is nothing you can learn, nothing you can do to make a difference any longer.”

It was rare for Eclipse to encounter an opponent on her level, yet alone with more raw strength. And yet this was the second time it happened in just a few days.

“And yet here you are.” Eclipse held Sonata, kicking and flailing, up by the scruff. “I’m assuming this is what you’re after? You can take her or kill her however you please, she’s of no use to me.”

The ghosts made no response, ignoring Eclipse’s attempt to probe for information. The shadows completed their encirclement. Eclipse wouldn’t be getting any free intelligence. She’d have to force it out of one of the two.

“If there’s anything you know, any reason I shouldn’t kill you…” Eclipse watched Sonata closely.

“Okay!” Sonata finally folded. “There’s a magic object called the lucky coin! It takes luck from the future and gives it to you in the present. So I had really good luck for a little while but now I’m going to have really bad luck soon! And because I was under mind control, bad luck from that perspective means bad luck for…. Her!”

Sonata pointed to the flood of blackness.

“I wasn’t lying when I said I’d help you defeat her,” Sonata cried some more. “I mean! If you have a shot and I can help… we all agreed, it’d be better for you to win the fight. That’s why I haven’t death-cursed you.”

Eclipse listened to the story with a deep frown. Another lie, perhaps. Only one way to be sure.

“Is that true?” Eclipse asked Nightmare Moon. “Are you unable to kill her for some reason, then? I’m willing to dispatch her myself.”

“Gah!” Sonata flailed once again ineffectual.

Only one way to get a response. Eclipse created more of the red barbs and moved to plunge them into Sonata.

The darkness flowed out like a powerful gust, breaking the two of them up and scattering the barbs aside. Eclipse watched Sonata who did look for an escape route but, finding none, moved back towards Eclipse. It seemed very likely what she said was true. But why?

“It seems you called my bluff.” The mouths smiled again. “Any attempt to destroy Sonata is… in vain. It will only bring calamity down on us both. And I know you prefer predictability over chaos.”

Now they were getting somewhere. What else did Nightmare Moon not want to happen?

“I could keep her contained in stasis, far from here, if only you’ll retreat for now.”

“A stasis she could escape from at any moment. That you could release her from with full knowledge of how useful she is to you, still with your ability to cast the azoth spell.”

“Hmph!” Eclipse held Sonata up even higher. “Then I suppose you leave me with only one choice.”

Eclipse held Sonata dusk between the two. Her horn began to glow, preparing for battle.

“You’re going to be my shield during this fight,” said Eclipse. “Don’t try to resist me! Apparently, she can’t kill you.”

“Well! I!” Sonata considered her options, not liking being a meatless meat-shield but having no other way to be useful in this fight. She sucked it up and closed her eyes.

It hardly meant she was safe, however. Eclipse still had one emergency option in her mind if things went poorly. To ‘precipitate the calamity’ as Nightmare Moon said, force the bad luck storm to occur now, by killing Sonata Dusk. The only reason she didn’t do it now was that Nightmare Moon might not have been telling the truth just then.

The wolf heads spread out in every direction as overly long necks grew to support them. They formed a tangled mess around Eclipse and opened their mouths. Balls of energy of every sort, every element you could blast somepony with, formed within.

Eclipse swung Sonata to the most dangerous position and readied her counterattack. Everything launched at once and a clash of magic consumed the area.