The Spark to Light a Candle

Chapters

Chapter 2
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Epilogue
Chapter 1
Chapter 3

Chapter 2

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Chapter 4

"You're really, totally, completely, cray-zee," said Pinkie Pie in an exaggerated whisper.

"I'm not crazy," said Twilight somewhat absently as she peered through the dead branches and down into a small clearing at the base of the hill. In the center of the clearing a yellow pegasus was grazing on mushrooms. She was thinner than the Fluttershy Twilight knew, and the ever-present moonlight clearly showed her matted, dreadlocked mane. Her coat was grungy and grimy, and all in all she looked more like a wild animal than a civilized, intelligent pony. But it was unmistakably Fluttershy. "We need Fluttershy if we're going to defeat Nightmare Moon. I managed to find the right thing to say to you. I think I can find something to say to Fluttershy too."

"I hope so," said Pinkie Pie.

Twilight and Pinkie crept backwards out of the bush to where the others were waiting. All thirteen of Pinkie Pie's rebels, plus Luna and Dale were there.

"All right. Everybody got the plan down?"

"Eyup," said big Mac. "Ya'll are goin' down thar to get that crazy critter-wrangler to join this here rebellion. Yer goin' to go in by yerself first so as not to scare her any. If any critters attack, ya'll want us to deal with 'em, but we ain't supposed to hurt 'em any, an' as usual the unicorns cain't use magic t' do it. I think Pinkie Pie is right, ya'll are plumb crazy. But we're willin' to try it."

"Thank you," said Luna, looking around at the gathered ponies. She hadn't intended to end up part of a larger rebellion, she knew that Twilight had planned for them to just recruit the other Elements of Harmony, but she was already realizing how very helpful these other ponies could prove to be. "Thank you all."

"We wouldn't be doing this if we didn't know Fluttershy's creatures won't chase us very far if we run," chimed in ex-mayor Marie Mare. "We've had accidental run-ins with them before."

"Just don't be too quick to retreat if things get tough. I don't want anypony hurt, but we really need Fluttershy," said Twilight.

There were nods of agreement all around. These ponies were the bravest and toughest, the ones who'd survived and stuck with their small rebellion for all this time. Luna couldn't help but smile at them; they'd come through a great deal, and they were still willing to go through even more.

"Let's go!" said Pinkie Pie.

"Quietly, remember," whispered Twilight, with a hint of exasperation. She was already wondering how the pink and energetic mare had managed to run anything that required not being heard or seen for so long and expected that she'd wonder for a long time.

"Right," whispered Pinkie. She started tip-hoofing from tree to tree, and the others followed in her wake.

They managed somehow to read the edge of the clearing without alerting Fluttershy to their presence. Twilight stepped clear of the bushes and cleared her throat.

Fluttershy whirled around to face her, and her eyes went wide with terror.

"It's okay Fluttershy," said Twilight. "I'm a friend."

She didn't get any farther, because Fluttershy instantly spun around and bolted from the clearing. "Horseapples," muttered Twilight, and ran after her. The others broke free from hiding and followed.

"Ouch!" Something small and hard hit Luna on the head. She heard the chattering scolding of a squirrel, and there was a chorus of pained cries all around her as a hail of acorns came from the trees above.

"Run faster!" said Pinkie Pie. They dashed on, and eventually the hail of nuts ceased. Ahead was another clearing, and Luna caught a glimpse of yellow. Fluttershy was there.

"Please listen, Fluttershy!" cried Twilight. "This is important!"

Fluttershy backed away from Twilight several steps, fixing her with a terrified stare as she spoke, barely above a whisper. "Go away! Please!"

Twilight took one step forward, opening her mouth to entreat Fluttershy to listen, but that was apparently one step too far for the yellow pegasus. Fluttershy reared, spun on her hoof, and sprinted off again, dashing among the trees. Twilight muttered another curse and resumed the chase.

Luna took to the air, trying to see where Fluttershy was headed from above. Suddenly a cloud of birds came whirring up from the forest canopy. She found herself being pecked, clawed, and harassed by a dozen, including several large black crows whose powerful beaks could do her real damage. She dodged and wove through the air, but moving away from one attack often just put her in the path of another, and even the largest birds were much more maneuverable than she was. Cries from below indicated that the ground-bound ponies were being attacked as well, but so many birds were swarming in the open air above the forest that Luna was forced to the ground with them. She and the others ran frantically, more concerned with fleeing the attacking avians than with following Fluttershy.

After what seemed like an eternity of chaos, the birds finally slackened their attack, and as the ponies once more broke into a clearing in the forest the birds vanished back among the trees. Everypony was scratched and bleeding, though there seemed to be no serious injuries. Without being asked, Luna once again took to the air, scanning the forest below for a glimpse of yellow and pink. For a stomach-sinking minute she saw nothing at all, then, in the distance, a flash of color. It was just within the forest, near the fringes where Everfree bordered on a swamp.

"That way," she called out, and pointed.

"Let's go!" said Twilight, and the ponies below broke into a run once again.

This time they didn't even catch sight of their quarry before encountering resistance. And it was much more formidable than squirrels or birds. Their only warning was a rustle in the underbrush and a low growl, and suddenly there were wolves and other larger creatures everywhere. A manticore led the charge, its mouth open wide in a deafening roar, fangs dripping.

Twilight faltered, and the running ponies behind her slowed, but then Pinkie Pie shouted "Charge!" and Big Macintosh took the lead. He slammed into the manticore with an audible thud, and to Twilight's shock he bowled the larger creature completely off its feet. It let out a startled yelp.

The ponies formed a wedge by instinct, driving through the gap left by the manticore and pushing the wolves aside as they thundered past. Twilight rammed her shoulder into a wolf nearly as big as she was, not realizing what she was doing until the creature was already stumbling away and falling behind. Terror washed back over her as the analytical part of her mind automatically listed off half a dozen ways that shoulder-checking a wolf could have—should have!—gone horribly, messily wrong, and it sent her heart racing faster than any run ever had, but she wasn't going to stop now.

Behind them the scattered, bruised predators were getting to their feet and re-grouping, but the ponies were running flat out now, and none of their attackers seemed eager to continue the conflict. They were soon left behind.

Luna continued to fly overhead, directing the running ponies towards the occasionally glimpsed flash of yellow. Fluttershy was clear of the forest now, and Luna saw her take wing, then land on a hummock just inside the swamp.

Soon Twilight and the others broke free of the forest. They skidded to a halt at the edge of the swamp. "Fluttershy!" called out Twilight. "Will you please listen to us? We're trying to stop Nightmare Moon, and make this whole world a better place for ponies and for other creatures. But we need your help. Please, Fluttershy..."

Fluttershy glared at Twilight across the stretch of muddy water that lay between them. "Leave me alone!" she said, managing much more volume than she had previously.

"But Fluttershy..." Twilight stopped, and her eyes went wide. Behind Fluttershy a huge triangular head covered in pus-yellow scales had risen from the swamp. "F-Fluttershy! Watch out!" A second head rose next to it, then a third, and a fourth. All the ponies were staring up in horror as the hydra loomed over the tiny yellow pony. It stepped out of the water, its enormous feet landing on either side of the frail pegasus.

"Fluttershy! It's a hydra! Run!"

But Fluttershy simply stood where she was. Her eyes narrowed as she spread her hooves and dug them into the dirt, looking straight at Twilight, who took a half-step back. "Leave me...”

"ALONE!"

Twilight quailed at the combined power of that gaze and shout, falling back onto her hindquarters. Then the hydra lowered all four heads, hiding her view of the pegasus they had come seeking. Four mouths opened, showing four sets of formidable fangs, and the hydra roared. And then, stepping carefully over Fluttershy, it started forward.

"Run!" yelled Luna, and nobody below needed any further encouragement. Ditzy Doo took to the air beside Luna, while the others galloped back the way they'd come. They darted in between the tree trunks, and Luna hoped that the dense forest would stop the hydra, but it didn't even hesitate, it just plowed into the dead trees with a thunderous crash. Branches splintered, smaller trees toppled, and the hydra didn't even seem to notice any of it.

"Horseapples! Keep running, everypony," she called out. She looked back at the hydra. It wasn't all that fast, but it was going in a straight line, just plowing through everything in its path. The ponies were weaving and dodging among the trees and undergrowth. The hydra was going to catch up. If she could use her magic she could stop it easily, but that would alert Nightmare Moon. What am I going to do? Ditzy bobbed irregularly through the air next to her, and the two other pegasi in the group were airborne now too, but the rest of the ponies were earthbound. How could they escape? She looked around frantically for some idea. They she saw what had once been a huge open meadow a little ways off. Surely without having to dodge and weave through brush and trees the ponies would be able to outdistance their pursuer?

She swooped lower, calling out, "This way!" and led the ponies in the direction of the meadow. They galloped after her, with Twilight Sparkle panting heavily and bringing up the rear. Luna very soon broke out into the meadow with the others just behind her. They raced across the mushroom-laden field where once rich green grass had grown and, moments later, the hydra broke through the last of the trees and joined them. It roared with all four heads and to Luna's dismay it was still gaining on the running ponies.

The hydra lowered one of its heads, curling that neck like a snake to allow it to strike, and that's when Luna saw Twilight. Tiring rapidly, the purple unicorn had lagged far behind the rest of the herd.

"No!" The shout was ragged, hurled automatically out of Luna's mouth; the only thing she could possibly do in time. She was too far away to race a hydra's strike and win! She might as well have been still on the moon for all the help she would be able to give Twilight. There was simply no way! For the third time in her life, Luna knew the despair of complete helplessness; it felt like the bottom had dropped out of her stomach, and like her heart had simultaneously shot up into her throat.

But she tried. She raced toward Twilight on powerful wingbeats, straining every muscle. She cried out Twilight's name at the top of her lungs as the Hydra's head shot forward. Twilight stumbled when she heard it, falling face-first into the ground. The hydra plowed open-mouthed into the dirt scant feet in front of her, and Luna's heart leapt with renewed hope. Sometimes fate smiles on a pony who tries. She gritted her teeth and folded her wings, arrowing down towards the hydra. She zipped brazenly in front of its heads, banking and twisting, weaving back and forth in mid-air to try to confuse and distract it. For a moment it worked; the hydra halted, and two of the heads knocked into each other. As Luna exalted in her moment of triumph, a third shot out and hit her with stunning force. She cried out as she tumbled from the sky. When she lifted her head, she saw the head that had downed her looming over her, mouth gaping, sharp fangs glinting in the moonlight.

Then a pair of powerful hooves lashed out and slammed into the hydra, striking it directly on its nose. It shrieked, and the other three heads shrieked as well. A second head dipped down menacingly, and once again the pony standing over Luna lashed out with strength and speed, bucking the hydra's head so hard this time that there was an audible crunch of breaking bone.

This time it didn't shriek so much as wail, the heads all thrown back to keen at the sky. And then, amazingly, miraculously, it had had enough. It turned and retreated the way it had come. One of the uninjured heads peered back hungrily at them, but apparently it was out-voted by the other heads, for it swiftly vanished behind the trees and soon Luna couldn't even hear its footfalls.

She looked up to find Big Macintosh standing over her, looking down with an expression of concern.

"Are you all right, ma'am?"

Luna got shakily to her feet. She felt like one big bruise, but nothing seemed to be broken. "I think so, yes. Alicorns are tough. Although apparently you are tougher." She smiled at him, and somewhat to her surprise he blushed.

"T'weren't nothin', ma'am," he said, and ducked his head.

"Wow! That was super-scary!" said Pinkie Pie, bouncing over.

"You can say that again," said Twilight. She shuddered.

"Wow! That was super-scary!"

Luna giggled, a little hysterically; she was still feeling the shaky adrenaline aftermath of the fight. "So what now?"

Twilight sighed. "I guess we try to figure out a plan B. Because talking to Fluttershy definitely isn't working."

"Fluttershy takes 'never talk to strangers' to heart," said Pinkie Pie cheerfully.

"That is probably the real problem. Back in my world Fluttershy and I are friends, but when I first met her she wouldn't talk to me there either. It took her seeing Spike..." Twilight trailed off. Spike here was dead. A pang of homesickness went through her. She missed Spike already. She missed the sun. She missed her friends! She shook her head, trying to shake off the sadness. "Well... anyway, this Fluttershy doesn't know me at all. But if we could get somepony that she knows to talk to her--"

"She knows Dashie! You want to rescue her anyway, right?"

"Right! That's right! That's a very good idea. I should have remembered that Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash grew up together. I'm sure Rainbow Dash would be able to talk to her!"

"We should go back to home base," said Pinkie Pie. "It's getting late. We can plot plotting plotty plots to procure penned up ponies tomorrow."

Twilight looked at the moon, still nearly overhead, where it had been all this time. As far as she could tell it was fixed directly over Canterlot. "How can you tell how late it is?"

"By the stars, silly."

Twilight facehoofed. "Right. Of course. I should have realized. I think it's definitely time to rest, I can't think straight."

"We all could use some rest," said Luna.

"Follow the leader!" exclaimed Pinke Pie, and she bounced off into the woods, a trail of defeated but still hopeful ponies walking behind her.

Back at the ruined castle the ponies settled in for the night, though Twilight found herself wondering what you called the sleeping period when it was night all the time. Calling it "night" seemed very imprecise. She curled up under a tattered blanket, shivering just a bit. It was colder than it should be during a summer night. Though now that she thought about it, it was much warmer than it should be after a year with no sunlight to warm the land.

"It's cold," she said to Luna who was trying to get comfortable next to her, "but it's not frozen solid. Without any sunlight, shouldn't it be much colder?"

"Well you know the world is flat, right?"

Dale's head popped up from Luna's other side. "It's flat?! I thought it was a sphere!"

Luna giggled. "If it were a sphere, would not the horizon be curved? And ponies would fall off of it!"

"Actually," said Twilight, looking thoughtful, "if it were a big enough sphere you wouldn't see the curve."

"True. But what of the falling off?"

"Well, obviously gravity would pull towards the center, rather than pulling down. Then you'd stick on even if you were on the bottom. Except really there would be no bottom... That's a fascinating idea, really! I should work out the math..."

"You were explaining about the cold?" said Dale to Luna.

"Oh, right," said Twilight, looking sheepish.

"Well, when the sun is not overhead, 'tis passing underneath. It does still warm the world from below. So it should only be a little bit colder than a normal night. But for summer it does seem rather cool. It feels more like late autumn. We should ask the ponies here what the weather has been like this year. I really do not know what the effects of long-term night would be. I... did not think very much about consequences, back when I was, uh, you know."

Twilight nodded. "Well, you were hurting and just wanted to lash out. I think everypony has done that at some point, and it doesn't usually involve thinking anything through." She yawned. "But for now I think it's time for everypony to sleep."

"So we are headed to Manehattan?" Luna asked.

"Yep!" said Pinkie Pie. "Canterlot is closer, but doing the magic right under Black Snooty's nose is probably a bad idea. So Manehattan is the next place big enough to hide your spell. And who knows, Dashie might be right there!"

"I wish I'd taken the time to locate her before we left," said Twilight. "If she's in some other city this is going to take forever!"

Pinkie, Luna, Twilight and Dale were making their way to the edge of the forest. The others had stayed behind, since they weren't needed for the scrying spell and hopefully wouldn't be needed for Rainbow Dash's rescue either. Pinkie had insisted on coming along, though, and Twilight hadn't been able to say no.

"I had wanted to ask," said Luna as they walked through the woods, "about the temperature. What has the weather been like since Nightmare Moon's return?"

"I'll answer you that if you'll tell me your story." She looked around and in a conspiratorial whisper added, "I know who you are, but how come you haven't got a goatee?"

"What is it with you and goatees?" asked Twilight in exasperation.

"Duh! Everybody knows goatees are eeeeeeeeevil."

Twilight gave Pinkie Pie a flat, skeptical stare. Then she sighed. "Right. Of course. Evil."

"So tell me your story, and I'll tell you the story of how I got my cutie mark!"

Luna chuckled. "I have actually heard that story already, Pinkie. You were going to tell me about the weather, remember?"

"Aw, but that's boooring!"

"It might be important."

"Oh. Okay then! Boring stuff is all right if it's important. Surviving is what matters. And beating Black Snooty. So I'll tell you about the weather. But promise you'll tell me why you're not evil anymore, okay?"

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," said Luna, having spent enough time around the Pinkie Pie from her world to know the proper form.

"Okie-dokie!" said Pinkie Pie with a gleeful bounce, as if it were perfectly normal for cross-dimensional immortal princesses to know how to Pinkie-Pie-Swear. Maybe it was. "Weather! Right! Well it was pretty normal last summer. Other than being dark all the time, but you know about that. It was just like you'd expect from summer nights though. Warm, sometimes some rain, one good thunderstorm before the pegasus ponies mostly got jailed or killed in the Ponyville rebellion. Then we started getting wild weather from the forest, but it still wasn't anything too weird. But when the leaves were supposed to turn for fall, they were all dead already, because there wasn't any sun. And it didn't get cold, it stayed pretty much just the same. It got a little bit colder during winter, but there was no snow at all. Which I guess was a good thing since there was nopony around to wrap up winter, so it would have just sat there. When spring came it didn't get any warmer, it stayed just a little bit cold. And when summer came, or should have come I guess, it actually got colder. It's been slowly getting colder all summer long, in fact."

Luna frowned. "That is not good. I can understand the seasons getting disrupted, but it should not be getting colder like that. The sun should still be warming the world from beneath. Without the influence of magic to change the seasons it ought to just stay about the same. It should not get colder."

"What... what do you think could be causing it?" Twilight looked as worried as Luna felt. Luna suspect that as intelligent as Twilight was, she already suspected the likely cause of the increasing chill.

"I can't say for certain, but... the sun might be growing weaker."

"And that means Celestia is growing weaker as well."

"Yes."

"And if it keeps on... then what?"

"Then the world freezes solid. Which I never wanted, but this Nightmare Moon has changed a great deal over the last year. I know a lot about how she thinks, but I do not know everything anymore. She hates Celestia, I know that much, so she may well be the cause of this as well. Or it may be a natural result of Celestia's banishment, I don't know. Living on the moon was lonely, but it did not take much magic to keep me alive. The sun is a lot more hostile to pony life... staying alive may be draining Celestia's magic."

"One more reason to defeat Nightmare Moon and set Celestia free then," chimed in Dale.

"Yessiree!" said Pinkie, her renewed cheer still completely undampened. "But now that we've talked about the weather, tell me your story!"

"Why don't I tell you?" said Dale. "Luna has told it to me many times. She's probably tired of telling it." He smiled at Luna, and she could feel his supportive warmth through their bond. She nearly always cried when talking about the experiences she had gone through. She wasn't ashamed to cry in front of Pinkie Pie, but it was an emotionally draining experience, telling that tale, and she would be just as happy to let Dale tell it for her.

Pinkie Pie was apparently just as happy too, for she nodded with enthusiasm and fell in next to Dale, bouncing by his side as the four ponies proceeded on a path that would lead them eventually to the vast metropolis of Manehattan.

That left Luna and Twilight together almost alone, with Dale and Pinkie Pie thoroughly distracted. Luna glanced over at Twilight, the purple mare looking pensive in the ever-present moonlight. "Bit for your thoughts?"

Twilight shrugged. "Just thinking about everything we've been through. So many adventures in such a short time, my friends and I."

"I wish I could have been there for more of them," said Luna. "But it took me a while to be ready to face other ponies, after being alone so long, and then starting things off by... well, starting things off on the wrong hoof, to say the least."

"It's okay. I've enjoyed the time I've spent with you," said Twilight. "You're a good friend."

"Thank you." A good friend, thought Luna. Something I never really had before. I never let ponies get too close to me. There were so many reasons why books were safer. And there was always Celestia, there when I needed her. Until I wanted something she knew better than to give me, and suddenly I had cut myself off from her, and I was alone. Maybe if I had had just one friend back then things would have been different. But I avoided friends after...

"Bit for your thoughts this time?" asked Twilight. "You look sad."

Luna heaved a heavy sigh. "Yes. I was remembering."

"Remembering Nightmare Moon?"

"No. I was remembering before. One of the things that probably led to Nightmare Moon in the end, though at the time I never would have suspected. All I knew then was how hurt I was, and how alone. If Celestia had not been there for me I might have... I donot know. Gone mad, perhaps, although in a different way than Nightmare Moon's madness."

"I... I'm afraid you've lost me, Luna. You're not talking about the fight you had with Celestia when you first became Nightmare Moon, are you?"

"No. I'm talking about the origin of the royals. Which happened many hundred years before that."

"The origin of the royals?" Twilight looked utterly confused. Luna caught herself thinking that she was cute when she was confused.

"Yes. Have you ever wondered why Prince Blueblood calls himself Celestia's nephew, when she only has one sister and no brothers?"

"I... er... I assumed it was some sort of formality, or an adoption. Do you mean that he... and you... uh..."

Luna smiled. Her memories were sad, but Twilight's reaction was amusingly adorable. "He is my many-times-great-grandson."

"Oh. I see."

"You see some of it, at least. But not all. I was so young then. I had not even taken up my full power. A mere filly of two hundred and fifty years." She chuckled. "Of course that sounds old to most ponies. And if I had had a different upbringing I am certain I would have been mature enough by then, but I was raised by Celestia. She loved me. She loved me very much. And since she would never grow too old to care for me, she saw no reason to hurry me into adulthood and responsibility. She took care of everything for me, saw to my every need, and showered me with love and affection. It was wonderful, to have more than two centuries of being a beloved child, but it also meant that I never had any reason to grow up. So I did not. But of course physically I was a grown mare. And predictably that fact was eventually noticed by a stallion.

"I have always been introverted. Even before ponies discovered books I still spent much of my time studying alone. It is just that in those days I studied the world directly. I flew in search of plants and animals, and watched their life cycles, and learned. I once followed and observed a family of wolves for twelve generations. Wolves have complex lives, and I learned much from them. But one day, as I observed the growth of a young tree and considered what I might learn if I could watch it for its entire lifespan, I encountered a stallion.

"He said he was a scholar of nature too. I knew nothing of lying in those days. Plants and animals do not lie. He said many things, and I still do not know exactly how he knew so much about me. My sister, also more innocent then than she is now, may well have told him, all unsuspecting. But however he knew, he had just the right words to soothe and charm a wild creature such as myself. It was only later that I learned that he cared nothing for me. He wanted the power that would come with being wedded to one of the ruling princesses. That was all I was to him, a way to power. He was the center of his own universe, and there was no room for any other light there, certainly not for such brilliant lights as love or friendship.

"But I did not know that, not then. I loved him. Or I thought I did. I am still not sure. It may have just been infatuation. He was handsome, and witty, and he showered me with attention, praise, and gifts. And, well, eventually things progressed as they are wont to do between stallion and mare, and I found myself pregnant.

"That was when I found out what sort of stallion he really was. He did not want the foal. He wanted marriage, and a throne at my side, but children were of no interest to him. He actually tried to make me... to make me get rid of her." Luna was walking more slowly now, her attention turned inward. "I wanted the foal, and wouldn't even consider any other option. So we fought. We argued and debated and screamed, more viciously than any of my later arguments with Celestia. And finally he lost his temper completely and told me how he really felt about me, how he had only been using me to get power.

"So that was the end of that. Celestia stepped in and made him vanish. I never knew what she did with him; for all I know she turned him into a frog. I certainly never saw him again. In time, I bore a beautiful little filly. She had my eyes.... but she had her father's coat. And every time I looked at her I hated her just a little, for being part of him. I've never been wise, but I was wise enough to know that a filly should not have to grow up with a mother who hates her. Celestia found a couple who could not have foals, who wanted her very much. They raised her. I very seldom saw her at all. I was too hurt. But she grew up, and had children, whose children had children, and Celestia always took special care of them. All the nobles in the kingdom now are descended from that little filly, but the line of Prince Blueblood is direct, oldest child to oldest child." A faint smile flitted across Luna's face. "And I can not stand that smarmy, selfish cad. He takes after his ancestor far too much. Some days I want to turn him into a frog myself! But Celestia puts up with him, and with the others that have been like him. She told me that... during my banishment they were all she had of me, so she cared for that family as if they really were her direct nieces and nephews, and not a hundred times removed."

Luna trailed off, then shook herself before picking the main thread of her tale back up. "But that old hurt is a large part of why I never had any friends. I never let anyone get close to me, after that. Perhaps if I had had a friend I might not have become Nightmare Moon. Celestia was my only confidant, so when I disowned her I was left with nothing but my own anger. A friend might have made all the difference." Luna heaved another deep sigh. "Here Dale was trying to spare me from telling old, sad stories, and I have gone and told one anyway."

"I'm sorry," said Twilight. "I didn't mean to pry into your personal life."

"No, it is all right." Luna smiled at her. "I don't mind telling you about it. You are my best friend. And anyway it is such an old story. That all happened many hundreds of years before my banishment, so I have had time to heal. Nightmare Moon is a bit more of a recent wound... and sometimes the thought of confronting her here terrifies me, if I am being honest. But I have to do it. I-- just have to."

"Well, with any luck at all we'll gather all the Elements before she even knows we're here, and you won't have to do anything but hold her off for a few minutes while we summon their power."

"Yes... I hope so."

Chapter 5

"Foals, all of them," muttered the black alicorn. Her guards were once again dragging away a petitioner who had annoyed her. The petitioners, guards, and servants had worn a clear path through the frost that now thickly adorned the throne room. Traceries of white crawled up the walls and a fuzzy blanket of tiny crystals covered the floor. Ice, pure and pristine, the perfect form of order, met her eyes almost everywhere she looked now. Everywhere except that path from the door to her throne. She frowned at the expanse of clear stone. She would rather have the frost. Perhaps she should forbid them to come here and speak to her at all.

But then who would worship and flatter her? Who would bring word of how much her subjects loved her eternal night? What was the point of all she'd done to grasp power if she never saw her subjects? She might as well be back on the moon. No! She'd fought hard to gain this power!

Her mind went back to those early battles. The strange unicorn that had tried to use the Elements of Harmony against her had been the first to oppose her, but there had been others as well. They were all dead now. Dead or enslaved... as all who dared stand against her should be!

For a moment she could taste the magic of that first death spell, and hear the thud of the unicorn mare's body hitting the floor. She had never killed before that moment.

The alicorn pushed the memory aside. The sentimental, childish part of her that had once been named Luna had cringed away from killing, with thoughts about such things as the value of life, wrong, and right, and justice. But Nightmare Moon was above all those. She had long since rid herself of all but the merest wisps of that weak foal Luna. Wrong was whatever displeased her. Right was whatever pleased her the most. The only justice was the justice she dispensed, the justice where those who pleased her were rewarded and those who failed were punished, which was exactly as it should be. And as for those who rebelled against her... death was what such stupid and flawed creatures deserved! But ponies were all stupid, all flawed, and with each passing day she despised them more. Messy, demanding, emotional creatures. Ice was so much better than any living thing. Her magic caressed a tendril of frost, once again tracing its curls and branches.

Perhaps she could make servants of ice.

Yes. Yes! Servants of ice. She was already working to weaken the sun, her sister's sun that she hated so much. And the weaker the sun grew, the stronger the ice would become. Someday perhaps all the flawed, stupid, messy ponies would be dead and frozen, and she would be served by perfect, pristine, elegant creatures of ice. She imagined that world, and she smiled.

Her horn began to glow. "Time to do battle once more, my dear sister. You have held out admirably for such a weakling, but now tormenting and draining you is more than just a hobby. It's my new goal in life."

She threw back her head and laughed.

"Here we are."

They had reached the fringes of Manehattan as the "daytime" stars were sinking and true night was arriving. The city was an unsettling mixture of normal pony life and stark reminders of the harsh reality of Nightmare Moon's rule. They had passed through the suburbs, where some houses glowed with light as ponies prepared for bed, and the occasional happy shout of a child still at play could be heard. But many houses, as many as one in three, were dark and deserted, and none of them had lawns or gardens anymore. Most showed some attempt to clear away the dead plants and put other things, statuary and sand gardens and beds of gravel, in their place. But many of the still occupied homes had the sad, rotten remnants of grass and flowers still moldering in their yards, a testament to crushed spirits who could no longer care enough to try and make their surroundings pleasant.

They had passed swiftly through the residential suburbs and into a commercial area, where Pinkie Pie led them straight to a deserted warehouse.

"The rebel base! Nopony ever comes here anymore, so it's safe. And we're surrounded by enough unicorns that you can do your magic now. Though a big enough spell might still get noticed by sompony."

"Scrying isn't a very powerful spell," said Twilight, looking around the dark room. She lit the tip of her horn, feeling a kind of relief to be able to use ordinary magic again. She hadn't realized how much she depended on it until she'd had to do without. "Now I just need something to scry in. We should have brought a bowl or something."

"How about a bucket?" Pinkie Pie dashed off, and returned bearing a battered tin bucket. The building turned out to still have running water in a grungy little bathroom next to the receiving office, so soon the bucket was filled and the four ponies were gathered around it.

"Should I cast the spell, or do you want to?" asked Twilight, looking at Luna.

"You go ahead. You know Rainbow Dash better than I do."

Twilight nodded. Her horn glowed as she constructed the spell. A moment later the image of a rainbow-haired blue pony had appeared in the bucket. She was standing in a stall, head down, looking listless. Twilight's heart lurched to see her like that. And with the harness off the full extent of her mutilation was clear. Broad scars ran down her sides, and there was no remnant of her wings at all. Her mane and tail were limp, the bright colors seeming to mock the horrors that Rainbow Dash had endured.

"Poor Dashie," said Pinkie, her voice thick with unshed tears. "Poor, poor Dashie."

"At least we can set her free," said Twilight grimly. "Now let's see where she is." The spell zoomed out, their point of view passing through a wall so that they could see the stable where Dash was being held captive. Then it pulled back further, letting them view an urban commercial district. Then further, and they could see towering buildings, and then a slice of ocean. A moment later the Pony of Liberty came into view, brightly lit and glowing against the dark ocean. "She's here then, in Manehattan."

"I am surprised they have not pulled the statue down," said Luna. "She stands for tolerance, love, and liberty. Not really things that this Nightmare Moon seems to value. Although... I suppose she may not know that. I learned it while reading a book on the history of the griffon kingdom. One of their greatest artisans made her as a gift to Equestria, to symbolize the friendship between the two nations. I wonder how much time Nightmare Moon spends with books?"

"I heard that she spends almost all her time just sitting in her throne room, being creepy and brooding. And that half the time if you get in to see her she'll just have you thrown in a dungeon," said Pinkie Pie.

"That sounds about right. Brooding is all I did on the moon. Living with Celestia I quickly got back into the habit of reading and learning, and now I have friends as well, but without anypony to encourage her to change, the old habits from so long on the moon are probably still with her. And she has all her own crimes to brood on now, as well as her hatred for everypony else. She's probably more miserable now than I ever was. And misery breeds more hatred."

Twilight dismissed the spell, leaving the bucket showing nothing but the reflection of the ceiling above. She took her saddlebags from her back and set them on the floor. After a moment of rummaging she came up with a sheaf of papers. Luna was momentarily amused to see that the one on top was a checklist of Elements and ponies. An overly-complete list, since the first entry was "Twilight Sparkle – Magic." Below that "Pinkie Pie – Laughter" was checked off as well. Twilight shuffled that one to the bottom of the pile, revealing a page of closely-written notes. "So now we need to make plans. I've read a lot about tyrants and oppressive government, but Pinkie, you've been living here, you can probably tell me a great deal. The books said," she glanced down at her notes, "that one of the almost universal conditions in a tyranny is that every subject or citizen has to have official paperwork of some kind. It said that sometimes the ruling tyrant will settle for making certain classes of citizens identify themselves, there was a bit about one of the zebra nations and their treatment of specific zebra clans... But anyway, I've seen ponies wearing those moon badges, does every pony have to wear one?"

Pinkie blinked at Twilight. "Badges? Badges?! We don't need no stinking-" she stopped abruptly. "Wait! You're right! Everypony does wear a moon badge. Though they're not all the same."

"Well, we're going to need some badges then, if we're to move around without getting caught. I'd hoped we could just go straight to the rescue, but I don't want to botch this. So we're probably going to have to spend some time in study and research. If there are different kinds of badges they probably mean different things. Ranks, maybe. If we can get our hooves on a high-ranking badge we might be able to walk right in and set Rainbow Dash free."

"Good idea," said Luna. "At least the study and research. I am not sure about ordering Rainbow free. Maybe with a disguise... we do not want to let Nightmare Moon get any hint at all of who we are and what we are up to. She may not know about the Elements of Harmony, but if she notices we are setting her slaves free she may take steps to stop us. And if we confront her before we've gathered all six elements... well, I should be able to fight her to a standstill, I have said that. But a lot of bystanders might get hurt in the process, and a standstill is not what we want, we want a decisive victory." Luna wasn't going to mention her own fears and doubts; she couldn't bear to lay more on Twilight's shoulders.

"Right. The first order of business then is to find out more about the badges. Time for some more scrying, I think."

Dale, Luna, and Pinkie started setting up a sort of indoor camp while Twilight once again cast her scrying spell and started looking for the information they would need.

"How does my illusion look?" Luna looked back at herself. Her wings were invisible, and she was wearing an illusory gown that rippled with rainbow swirls of color, which covered her cutie mark completely.

"You look very elegant," said Twilight. "Good enough to make Rarity jealous." For some reason Twilight Sparkle was blushing, but Luna didn't get the chance to think about exactly why that might be before Pinkie cut in.

"Do me next! Do me! Do me!" said Pinkie Pie, with her usual boundless enthusiasm. Luna smiled and cast a second illusion spell. This one was much simpler, it merely hid Pinkie's cutie mark, replacing it with a cluster of flowers.

Twilight's cutie mark was disguised as well, and Dale had one added to his blank flank. He looked back at the compass rose that Luna had chosen. "Any reason for that particular design?"

"You look like a royal. And Twilight tells me that quite a few of them have... what was the phrase?"

"Sucked up to Nightmare Moon," said Twilight with an expression of disgust. "And fallen over each other to kiss her flank. Though I shouldn't have been surprised, given the only royal I know, Blueblood, is definitely one of those thriving under Nightmare Moon's rule. She seems to encourage some ponies to lord it over other ponies, just so long as everybody bows to her."

Luna sighed. "I suppose I should feel relieved that I can hardly imagine behaving like that. But in any case, the compass rose is so Dale and I will seem like a high class couple, just the sort of pony who would hire a carriage for no particular reason, and I in particular shall play the sort of pony who would be shallow enough to insist that the carriage or the pony pulling it match her outfit." Luna grinned. "We know they do not have a rainbow carriage, so they shall be forced to produce their only rainbow pony. Then we just hijack the carriage and set Rainbow Dash free. Easy as pie!"

"Pie is actually kind of hard," said Pinkie with a frown. "At least if you want the crust to be any good. Though pie filling is really easy!" Her frown changed to a broad grin. "And delicious! I like to just eat it without the rest of the pie sometimes! I really miss pie. When Black Snooty is all gone I am going to make every kind of pie and cake and cupcake there is in celebration, and have the biggest party ever!"

"I am looking forward to it, Pinkie." Luna smiled gently at the pink pony. She was very glad that Pinkie seemed so lightly touched by the hardships she'd endured. Pinkie had begun to lose hope, but having that hope again had been all she had needed to bounce back to nearly her old self. If anything she was stronger for the challenges she'd faced. Luna suspected that Rainbow Dash might have a harder time of it, but there was nothing they could do about that but rescue her as soon as possible.

"Well... let's go," said Twilight, apparently mirroring Luna's train of thought.

They set out through the city streets. The half abandoned commercial district where they began was nearly silent, but as they approached the heart of the city the light and sound grew, until they were surrounded by bustling ponies of every color and description. All of them carried a crescent moon badge of some kind. Most wore simple laminated cards on cords around their necks, but some had jeweled badges, or beautifully embroidered badges sewn to their clothing. Luna's illusions included badges for all four rebels. They would hold up to examination by any but the most skilled of unicorn mages. As this was Manehattan and not Canterlot, Luna wasn't very worried. There were unicorns enough here, but the best had always lived in the royal city of unicorns, where all the best schools of magic and the most prestigious magical societies were.

They reached a street where nearly all the shops were shuttered, closed for lack of business or, more likely, because the proprietors had done something to catch the attention of Nightmare Moon's Night Guard. The quartet had already passed several of the intimidating guardsponies. They were obviously picked from the strongest colts in Equestria, huge draft ponies wearing black enameled armor. Most were earth ponies; Twilight Sparkle's scrying had revealed that Nightmare Moon kept the Black Corps of unicorns and the pegasus Shadowbolts close to her, sending them out in overwhelming numbers to utterly crush any signs of organized resistance they could find. Pinkie's rebels had been raided by them twice, both times cutting their numbers massively. That was how a force that had once been made of much of the population of Ponyville had been reduced to only a dozen ponies.

It had made Luna's heart race, to walk past those armored ponies. Some part of her was certain that they were going to see through her illusions and arrest them all on the spot. Only Dale's silent mental reassurances had kept her expression calm. She had no idea how Pinkie Pie and Twilight were managing.

But now they had reached the first stop. "Here's where we wait," said Twilight. The street was no grungy back alleyway, which the carriage driver would be suspicious about, but it was utterly deserted. The rebel quartet needed there to be no witnesses to what would happen here.

Twilight and Pinkie Pie stopped there, sitting on the curb and chatting, trying to look innocent; just two friends who'd happened to meet and stop to talk. Luna and Dale continued onward and soon reached the stable. Luna had to work hard to keep an expression of disgust off her face as she watched a carriage drive out of the building. A number of nearby kingdoms had gone through unfortunate periods of slavery. Equestria hadn't; Celestia would never have put up with such a thing and her influence was part of the reason that slavery was less of a problem in the modern world. Obviously, though, some ponies were all too eager to rake in the bits wrung involuntarily from the hard use of others.

Still, she wasn't here to abolish slavery. She was here to rescue Rainbow Dash. With Nightmare Moon defeated and Celestia back on her throne, the slavery problem would take care of itself.

Dale held the door for her as she walked inside. The front room was half guardroom and half office. She ignored the two uniformed Night Guard and approached the earth pony who sat at a desk just inside the room. He was dressed in gold-trimmed black as well, but his neatly pressed outfit wasn't so much a uniform as it was the livery of a high class servant. On a bench behind him half a dozen young ponies dressed in plainer versions of the same livery sat and fidgeted in the way of bored young colts everywhere.

"May I help you?"

Luna put her nose up in the air and spoke down to the servant in the haughtiest tone she could manage. "I require a carriage immediately."

"Yes ma'am. It will be twenty bits."

Luna dropped a bag of bits on the desk. They clanked just as they should. It took everything she had not to hold her breath as the clerk took them. If he had a touch-stone to test them for illusion it would not go well. Their scrying hadn't caught him using one, but that didn't mean he might not have one, and if something made him suspicious... but no, he simply dropped the illusory bits into his cash box.

"Thank you. I'll have your coach prepared right away."

"Not just any coach, young stallion," said Luna, her nose still in the air as she tried to do her best impression of the snottiest royal unicorn mare she could remember. "I have particular requirements. I must have a coach and pony as magnificent as my gown. I insist upon transportation that is stylish."

The clerk looked at the rainbow swirled dress. His eyes went just a little bit wild. Luna could almost see him thinking that he didn't know anything about style or how to match a coach or a pony to a gown. And she suspected that the consequences for upsetting a customer, when the customers tended to be favored subjects of Nightmare Moon, might be dire. "Uh..."

"Perhaps you could let us look at the coaches and ponies available?" broke in Dale.

The clerk's expression of relief was almost comical. "Yes, of course, right this way."

The office led into a huge barn of a room, where several black and silver carriages were parked in a line, waiting to go out the huge double door to one side. Beyond them, at the back of the room, were the stalls where the unfortunate pony slaves were penned. They were not prison cells; in fact, they looked to have been adapted directly from cow stalls. The building had no doubt actually been a barn before being converted to its present use. Cities did sometimes have a few quasi-farms near their hearts, sometimes dairy farms providing fresh milk to the residents, or sometimes working donkeys who did much of the hard labor that some ponies found beneath them.

The stalls might as well have been cells, though, for all the chance of escape they afforded. Luna noticed a glow of magic as she walked through the door into the room; a similar glow hung over the large double doors. Even if a pony slipped their bridle and got out of their stall, they wouldn't be leaving: the magic would keep them trapped inside. No doubt harsh punishments awaited those who made such a futile attempt.

She had to work hard to keep sympathy and sorrow from showing on her face. Dale was an immense help, projecting a gentle reminder of what they were here for and how important it was into her mind. That thought was enough to make her expression hard and serious again, which would pass well enough for the necessary hauteur. She swept her gaze across the carriages, and frowned at the clerk. "These will do, I suppose. Black, at least, does not clash. But I really must insist on something a bit more showy. Let me see the ponies."

"Of course ma'am." The clerk led her, with Dale trailing after, past the coaches and to the row of stalls. It was actually a double row of stalls, which a second row back to back with the one facing her. A corridor led around the end of the row to the other side, but she immediately made out the pony she was looking for on this side, several stalls down.

She pointed. "That one. That's the one I want."

"The blue one, ma'am?"

"Yes. With the rainbow mane. It will match my dress beautifully."

Rainbow Dash was standing with her head down and her eyes closed. When the clerk went in and led her out, she followed him with a broken, dazed docility that made Luna want to weep. She had to look away while the clerk harnessed her friend to the carriage. One of the young liveried ponies came out and held the door open for Luna and Dale, who climbed in. It was an immense relief to Luna to not have to look at the scarred, listless form of her friend anymore. If they hadn't been mere minutes away from setting her free,she might have been tempted to abandon the plan, attack the clerk, and let her go right there on the spot. As it was, she had to keep herself occupied with other thoughts. Attack and defense spells filed across her mind's eye in an expanding tree of possible needs and scenarios, as she and Celestia had practiced. A corner of her attention noted the sound of the driver shutting the door and climbing into his seat.

The driver called back, slightly muffled, "Where to?"

Luna gave him the address of a house just on the other side of Twilight's ambush so that his route would be certain to pass by it. He flicked the reins and Dash started forward at a slow, tired amble.

"This one's a little bit slow, ma'am. If you're in a hurry I can make her go faster."

"No need for that, I am in no hurry at all," said Luna, cringing at the idea of the driver whipping Rainbow to greater speed.

"A slow ride is a much more comfortable one," said Dale, loudly enough for the driver to hear. He gave Luna a small, reassuring smile. With the door closed and the driver unable to see, Luna dared to smile back. The coach rattled its way along without any further conversation. That was just as well; the closer they got to the ambush point, the more nervous Luna grew. Twilight had practiced the knockout spell several times on Dale and Pinkie, who'd both volunteered to be guinea pigs. But what if something went wrong with the spell this time? What if a guard came along just then? What if something else went horribly wrong?

Just as she started to work herself up into a panic, Dale silently soothed her once more. He projected reassurance and calm, that sank slowly into her, and gradually her stomach stopped clenching in fear.

:I don't know what I would do without you,: she said to him through their mental link.

:You'd manage,: was his warm response. :You were doing fine when we were chasing Flutterhsy and fighting all those creatures.:

:That is different. Battle is... different. Dealing with ponies, especially in the heart of such a crowd of them, that is harder. Some random pony could walk by at any moment and do anything at all. They are so unpredictable! I am much more used to books, or even battles, than all these ponies.:

:True enough, I suppose. But the odds are on our side, and Twilight has planned this all out rather meticulously. It should go off without a hitch. It'll be going off in just a moment, in fact. Look:

Luna obliged, glancing out through a gap in the curtains. She recognized the corner of the street they'd left Pinkie and Twilight on, and watched the sidewalk pivot slowly as the carriage made the turn. She caught a glimpse of the two mares in ambush, still sitting, apparently ignoring the carriage as it rattled towards them. Twilight was still looking away, even, when her horn started to glow, and Luna spared a fleeting thought to admire the unicorn's finesse. When Twilight finally turned directly to the driver to finish the spell, the colt slumped over instantly, painlessly, and with absolutely no fuss. He would stay out for several hours, or until somepony woke him.

Rainbow apparently didn't even notice. She kept plodding along until Pinkie Pie landed directly in front of her, startling the rainbow-maned pegasus out of her stupor. Immediately, she craned her neck back to look at the driver, which is when she saw Luna and Dale scrambling out of the carriage. Her attention was grabbed next by her harness suddenly beginning to glow; when she looked down, she saw the buckles of her harness unfastening themselves. When she looked back up, she saw Twilight's horn glowing with a matching hue. As all the pieces slotted into place in Rainbow's mind, the alarm in her eyes began to fade.

When the four rescuers gathered in front of Rainbow, she still hadn't moved. Her eyes had faded back to half-lidded hopelessness, and she stared at the other ponies' hooves.

"Let's go, go, go!" said Pinkie.

"You're free now, come on," said Twilight.

"No," said Rainbow Dash flatly. "I'm not going anywhere."

Chapter 6

"No. I'm not going anywhere."

The other four ponies gaped at Rainbow Dash.

"What?" said Twilight.

"Are you all deaf? I said I'm not going. Put the harness back on me and I'll walk back to the stable."

"You're crazy!" burst out Pinkie Pie, with her usual tact.

"No, I'm not crazy. So I'm notcoming with you."

"But Rainbow, we need you," said Twilight pleadingly.

"Yeah, right. You don't need a crippled failure. And even if you did, I still wouldn't be joining whatever stupid rebellion you have planned this time."

"We do need you. Without you we haven't got a chance of defeating Nightmare Moon."

"Did you get hit on the head? Are you mistaking me for another pony? Or are you just stupid? You don't need me, and I don't care if you do. Get it through your heads, I'm not coming with you!"

"But Dashie, why?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"Why? Why? You were there when 'why' happened, Pinkie, the first stupid time around!" The anger in Rainbow's voice collapsed into bitterness as she continued. "I've already given more than I had to give. If I go with you and fight again, what'll they take this time? Are they gonna cut off my back legs so I have to drag myself everywhere? Maybe they'll take out my eyes! At least then I wouldn't have to look at the sky anymore!" The renewed anger in Rainbow's voice quickly died back to cold, bitter embers again as she stared at the cobblestones under her hooves. "They'll probably just kill me this time. Which would almost be a relief, but I'm not so tired of living yet that I want to join you and your crazy rebels. You haven't got any chance of accomplishing anything except getting yourselves all maimed and killed. I've been there, done that, and I'm not doing it again! Now put me back in that harness and let me go back to what little life I have left!"

"Oh Dashie... it's not like that this time."

"It's not? Have you got Celestia stashed away somewhere then? Because I don't see any sunlight yet."

"We do not have Celestia," said Luna, breaking in. "But we do have me." She dropped her illusion, revealing her wings, and spread them slightly. "I am an alicorn too. And we have stronger magics even than that. Which is why we need you, Rainbow. There is a way to defeat Nightmare Moon, a way that has worked in the past, on other worlds, but we cannot do it without you."

Rainbow Dash stared at Luna. For a moment a touch of wonder and hope crossed her face, but as Luna finished speaking her eyes narrowed again. "There is no way that some big, awesome magic needs me. My answer is still no! How many times do I have to tell you crazy ponies that? No! I've lost my wings! Fighting Nightmare Moon cost me the sky! I have nothing left to give!"

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence in the wake of Rainbow's tirade. What does a pony say in response to such things? How could they ask somepony who had given so much to give even more? But then Twilight had a scrap of memory float through her head, and with it came a flicker of hope. She took a deep breath and said, "What if you could get your wings back?"

"Don't say that!" Rainbow leapt up to stand nose-to-nose with Twilight; she was practically vibrating with anger. "Don't you dare say that! Nothing can give me my wings back!"

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't have strong evidence it might be true," said Twilight sternly. She leaned back and away from Dash, but held her ground. "The magic that we need you for, the Elements of Harmony, has restored ponies before. We were all bruised and battered, and more than that, one of my friends had lost her tail; but after we used the Elements all our scrapes and scratches were healed, and the tail had been restored as if it had never been lost." Rainbow opened her mouth to speak, but Twilight pushed on. "I won't make you any false promises. A tail isn't the same as a pair of wings. But it's a chance, and a real one. This isn't some kind of story where everything ends happily ever after, but it's also not a hopeless endeavor. Luna is a match for Nightmare Moon all by herself. With you and the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony with us we have a real, solid chance to beat Nightmare Moon permanently and completely. So please reconsider, Rainbow. We're not crazy, we really do need you. Please."

Rainbow stared at Twilight with intense, narrowed eyes for a long time. "If you have something that great, why aren't you saying 'it's sure to work' and 'we can't possibly fail'?"

"Because nothing is sure. Something can always go wrong. But this is something that has worked, and can work. All we need is the right group of ponies, and that group includes you."

"Me. Rainbow Dash. The cripple."

Twilight opened her mouth to insist that Rainbow was not a cripple, but she managed to finish her second thoughts before the words came out of her mouth. Instead, she just nodded and gave a simple "Yes."

"And I'll get my wings back if I join you."

"Probably, yes."

"Okay. I'm in."

Pinkie Pie bounced up and down and cheered. The other ponies exchanged grins. Rainbow Dash, though, held up a hoof. "If."

Pinkie stopped cheering.

"If?" asked Twilight, feeling suddenly unaccountably nervous. She had the horrible feeling that all her plans were about to go right out the window.

"If you rescue the rest of the ponies in the slave stable."

"What? You are crazy!" said Pinkie Pie. "They'll be free once we defeat Nightmare Moon, that is way more important!"

"I'm not leaving without them."

"But..." started Twilight.

"No. That's my condition for joining your dumb rebellion and risking everything. You want me, you free my friends."

My friends. Twilight heard those words, saw the determination on Rainbow's face, and suddenly her heart lifted. Her plans had definitely just gone out the window. Rescuing more than a dozen ponies was going to complicate things immensely, but even so, Twilight felt an enormous weight of worry disappear from the back of her mind as she looked at the pony they had come to rescue. Wings or no wings, the pony that stood before her was still Rainbow Dash; she was still the ponyfication of Loyalty.

She was still the pony who was Twilight's friend.

A broad grin spread across Twilight's face. "We'll do it."

"Twilight..." Luna looked worried. "...is this a good idea?"

Twilight laughed. "Maybe not. But it's worth doing."

"Time to plan." Back at the "rebel base" Twilight floated a pencil over a fresh sheet of paper while Luna, Dale, and Pinkie Pie looked at her expectantly. Rainbow Dash had refused to come with them, even temporarily, without her friends. Luna and Dale had gotten back into the carriage, loudly slamming the door closed just as Twilight released the driver from her sleep spell. He had awoken with a start and immediately glanced around himself fearfully, thoroughly convinced that he had somehow dozed off.

Rainbow had promised that she'd let the other enslaved ponies know that rescue was coming, so they would be ready. Twilight just had to come up with some way to get a dozen ponies out of a guarded stable, without letting Nightmare Moon know who had done it.

"This is not going to be easy," she said. The expectant faces of the other three, all obviously certain she could come up with yet another brilliant plan, made her stomach twist. "I... I really don't know what to do! Even if we somehow lure away the guards, clerk, and drivers, when they come back they'll notice all the ponies are gone, and rescue by rebels is the obvious conclusion!"

Pinkie Pie frowned. Luna's brow furrowed as she thought. "We have to somehow make them think something else has happened to them. Re-direct them in a different direction. What if... hmm... I cannot make an illusion that would last more than a day or two, otherwise I would suggest we put illusory bodies in the stalls, make them think something had killed them all."

Twilight thought about that. "Yes, having Nightmare Moon think they're dead would be great. But if we can't leave bodies behind..." She thought some more. Then her face lit. "Of course! I know exactly what we need to do. We just need to work out the details. Except..." she frowned again. "I know you're good at illusions Luna, but just how good? Can you do sight, scent, sound, and touch at the same time, across a whole building?"

Luna considered. Purely visual illusions were easy. Sounds weren't too hard either. Touch was trickier, doing the illusory coins that could be felt earlier had been the hardest part of their plan, magically speaking. Adding scent, and making it cover an entire building... "I suppose it depends on what the illusion is of. If I have to fill a building with individual ponies that move and talk and can be felt, I could not do it without drawing on the moon's power, which is of course a Bad Idea, but if it were something simpler I might be able to."

"It is fairly simple. I need to light something on fire."

"Ooo, fire!" said Pinkie Pie, with an unexpected glint in her eye and enthusiasm in her voice. "I can set things on fire for you!"

"Uh... thank you Pinkie, but I don't need real fire. Or rather I don't need real fire right away; I suppose you could set a fire for me later on for this plan. But Luna... can you make a fire that's really convincing? It would need to feel hot and smell right."

"Heat is much easier than doing solid tactile illusions. Fire is fairly easy visually and aurally as well. The scent will be the most difficult, but... yes, I think I can do it."

"Good. Here's the plan then."

The other three gathered close as Twilight explained how they were going to rescue Rainbow Dash's friends.

"Ready Luna?" whispered Twilight from where they both crouched in the dingy alley behind the slave stable. It was dark, of course--it was always dark. The eternal night was wearing more and more on Twilight with each passing--well, not with each passing day, but... whatever passed for such here. Her mind knew that dawn wasn't coming, but her body and soul kept hoping for a relief that never appeared. She was heartily sick of night already, and she knew that even Luna felt the same. She couldn't imagine how the ponies that had lived with it for more than a year were coping. But perhaps they weren't, really. The lighted streets of the city were strangely manic, pretending to a never-ending brightness and energy as if it were a Summer Sun's Night that never stopped. It did ebb at times; nopony could party forever, not even Pinkie Pie. Not even a depressed subject of Nightmare Moon pretending desperately that they were happy and all was well.

Now was one of those ebb times. If night and day had had any meaning, it would have been the small hours before the dawn, but of course no dawn was coming. Not yet.

"Ready," replied Luna.

"Pinkie?"

"Ready."

"Dale?"

"Ready, but I hope I won't be needed."

"I hope so too." Half to herself Twilight added, "Maybe we are crazy."

"Probably," replied Luna quietly, with the ghost of a smile. "But we are doing this anyway." Her horn began to glow. This would be her show most of all, so she obeyed her own cue to begin. The other ponies' parts would come once her illusion was well underway.

Her fire started small. The first flicker of flame that licked up from a pile of straw sitting against the wall the barn shared with the office was hardly bigger than a candle's flame. It was easier to build a small illusion and then push it outward, and it would look more natural that way. It looked like fire. It sounded like fire, though at first the crackle was small. It smelled like fire. And it radiated heat like fire, though the heat was as unreal as everything else. If it hadn't been, the false fire would soon have started real fires as it grew.

She built it rapidly from there. There could be no chance of an attempt to put it out! It appeared to consume the haystack entirely. It climbed the wall. It crept rapidly across the wooden floor and leapt eagerly onto the carriages.

The enslaved ponies inside saw it and many shifted nervously from hoof to hoof, but they said nothing. Dale had passed a telepathic message to Rainbow Dash, and she had quietly passed it to her neighbors, so they all knew that the fire wasn't real, no matter how it looked. Or sounded. Or smelled.

Eventually the ponies in the office noticed, but only when the fire licked around the door between office and stable proper, and by then it was too late: the interior of the barn was an inferno. Any pony who tried to go in was pushed back by the intense heat.

In the alley Luna's horn was glowing brightly, and her eyes were shut firmly in concentration. Twilight spared a moment's thought to admire Luna's poise; she was all too aware of the ridiculous scrunched-up faces she made when performing serious magic. Her thoughts were interrupted when Luna began adding the screams of tortured ponies to the crackle of the fire—that was Twilight's cue to start in on her own work. Her horn glowed as well, and a spark of intense magic traced an arch in the wall before her. She shoved and the cut out interior of the arch fell inside. Pinkie swept in immediately and began untying ponies with practiced ease. The illusory fire licked over them all, but there was no heat with it here.

Soon a stream of ponies was going out the newly cut door, past Twilight, and down the alley. Pinkie led them, tip-hoofing quietly, while Dale watched down a side alley for any sign that the guardsponies were trying to circle the building. As the strongest of the little group his job would be to fight them off long enough for Twilight or Luna to bring magic to bear, but that would be... less than ideal.

Fortunately, they got just enough luck to keep their plan intact. The guards, clerk, and drivers were rushing around in a disorganized mess. There was plenty of shouting, angry orders and panicked wailing alike, but nopony could make himself understood over the roar of the flames. A pair of guardsponies tried several times to reach the inside of the barn, but the flames were spreading into the office itself and they soon gave up, retreating to the street to watch. One of the guards finally raced off, presumably to summon firefighters. The other, with the clerk and drivers, stood around looking baffled and helpless. A few of the drivers tried to get in through the huge double doors, but Luna's firey illusion engulfed those doors as well. Nopony had any reason to check the back of the building. There were no doors there.

Pony after pony slipped out through the hole cut in the wall and followed Pinkie Pie towards the relative safety of the "rebel base." Twilight counted them: Nine out. Twelve total. Three to go! Almost thereohmy Celestia it's--

"Applejack?"

It was, and she paused, giving Twilight a quizzical look that she knew so well. "Do ah know you?"

"Yes. Well, no. Wait..." Twilight shook herself. "No time to talk now, follow the others. I'll explain later."

Applejack nodded slowly and moved quietly down the alley after the others, shooting Twilight a sidelong glance as she went. Behind her came a yellow pegasus with a flaming orange mane and tail, and then Rainbow Dash close on her heels. Dale peeled off from his watch to fall in behind the column, to make up the rearguard. He might be needed if they were spotted. They would have to cross several major streets, though most of their route would be by back alleys and deserted ways where shops and houses were all abandoned to decay.

"That's everyone!" whispered Twilight to Luna.

"Right," muttered Luna. Her horn grew brighter still, and Twilight's glowed once more as well. Luna kept up the illusion of spreading flames, but she and Twilight both were now starting real ones. They had decided to pass on Pinkie Pie's offer and use magical fire instead. Magical fire that burned hotter and brighter than anything natural possibly could. The flames spread even faster than the illusion had, and soon the roaring inferno engulfing the building was very real, enough so that the casting pair had to retreat down the alley as the flames reached the back wall of the stable.

The fire would leave a magical residue that any unicorn could read, of course, but in doing so it would mask the residue of Luna's illusions. Nightmare Moon and her guards would know that the stable had been burned down by magic that had reduced everything to a fine, floury ash, and that there were no longer any slaves. They would also 'know' that there was nopony in Equestria save Nightmare Moon herself who was capable of convincingly faking the fire to cover for an escape, so they would be left with only one possible conclusion: it would look like an attack. A clumsy failure of an attack that had missed its real targets, and caught the innocent slave ponies instead. Nightmare Moon was used to Pinkie Pie's raids, she knew there were rebels out there. It would be a simple matter of a moment's egoism for Nightmare Moon to assign the bungled attack to the forces that she already knew and loathed.

"I was very convinced of my superiority to all other ponies when I was Nightmare Moon," Luna had told Twilight. "This Nightmare should be even more so. She will hopefully be eager to see stupidity, rather than cleverness, here. Though I do not know for sure. I had some... paranoid tendencies. She will see a plot against her here no matter what we do. But at least if this works she shall be thinking of the wrong sort of plot, looking in the wrong direction. 'Tis a better plan than anything I can think of, at least."

Now it looked as though they were going to get away with it. The magical fire had taken root over the entire building. Out on the main road the firefighters had arrived, with their pumping truck and hoses, but they were merely spraying down the neighboring buildings to keep the fire from spreading. They were all experienced enough to know that the fire in the stable had passed well beyond their control.

Luna finally let go of the last of her illusion, including the sounds of screaming ponies. Now there was only the crackle and roar of real flames. And with no chance of setting the whole city on fire, there was no reason for her and Twilight to stay and watch their handiwork. They quickly followed in the wake of the others, moving through the darkness, away from the warm, hungry glow that would eat every last scrap of evidence for them.

They walked calmly through the city, resisting the urge to gallop and catch up with the others. Running would only attract unwanted attention. For the first few blocks, at least, all eyes were on the glow and roar of the burning stable. Nopony noticed them trotting casually across a broad thoroughfare, as nopony had noticed the column of rescued ponies following that same path a few minutes before.

A second crossing, further from the fire, was more nerve-wracking, but once again they manged to slip across the major road without drawing any undue attention. At last the pair reached the warehouse, still apparently abandoned from the outside.

Thankfully, inside the warehouse all twelve of the rescued ponies, plus Dale and Pinkie Pie, proved to be safe and sound. They were loosely gathered around a little glow of light, provided by a slate-blue unicorn stallion that Twilight vaguely remembered seeing around Ponyville.

"Twilight! Luna!" Pinkie bounced up to them. "You made it back!"

"You didn't have any trouble leading the others back here?" asked Twilight.

"Nope!"

"That's good." Twilight scanned the ponies they'd rescued. Her eyes fell on Rainbow Dash, who was lying down a little ways off. A yellow pegasus that Twilight belatedly recognized as Spitfire was lying next to her, and had pillowed her head on Rainbow's flank. They were talking softly and Twilight hesitated to interrupt them. Something about the way the were looking at each other suggested something private and personal--intimate even. Twilight blushed and, for reasons she couldn't quite articulate, glanced at Luna. Then she saw Applejack, standing next to the unicorn providing the light, and she trotted over to greet her.

"Applejack. Hi there."

"Howdy. Ya'll seem to know me, but I can't say I've ever laid eyes on you."

"Well, no you probably haven't. I'm Twilight Sparkle. And I do know you, sort of, but it's kind of complicated. I need to talk to you about it though, because we need you in order to defeat Nightmare Moon."

Applejack gave Twilight a dubious look. "Me? No offense, but that sounds nuttier than a dead squirrel."

Twilight hesitated a moment at the strange metaphor. Why a dead squirrel and not a live one? She shook off the thought and responded. "I know it does sound a little bit out there, but it's true. You see, there's something called the Elements of Harmony, which have defeated Nightmare Moon in the past. They're actually six ponies, each one holding one element. You have one, Rainbow Dash has one, I have one, and Pinkie Pie has one. So we've already got four out of the six. We'll have the other two soon, and then Nightmare Moon won't stand a chance."

"Ah don't have any Element, sugarcube. Ah lost everything ah ever owned, so if ah ever did have somethin' like that it's long gone."

Twilight shook her head. "It's not an object you own, it's something inside you. You've had it probably since you got your cutie mark. It's not something you could lose." Unless you're no longer honest, thought Twilight to herself, and I don't know of any way to be certain of that. But so far the others have all been true to their elements. Surely Applejack is too.

"Well, ah don't know... Ah don't feel like ah'm anythin' special... Ah'm no better than any other pony."

Twilight shook her head again, trying to explain. "It's not that you're better, it's just... something you have. Honestly I don't completely understand the relationship myself. I never felt any different because I have the Element of Magic. But I do. I've used it before, so I know it's there. And Princess Celestia has told me that you have an Element as well." That was true enough, at least. That was more or less all the detail that the Princess had given Twilight and her friends when she was explaining things to them after... after Luna's rescue from the Nightmare. Twilight didn't quite want to get into the discussion that started with her telling Applejack that she'd seen her use her Element as well. Not right this second, anyway.

"The Princess? Do... do ya'll know what happened to her? Nightmare Moon," to Twilight's surprise Applejack turned her head and spat on the floor after speaking the name, "told everypony that the Princess was gone forever, but ah've heard a passel o' rumors about her. Everythin' from her bein' deader 'n a drowned filly to her havin' run off to some other country 'cause she was afraid o' Nightmare Moon."

Twilight hesitated a moment at this second macabre metaphor, but only a moment before jumping to her mentor's defense. "She'd never do that! She's gone because she's been banished to the sun, the way Nightmare Moon was banished to the moon until she escaped. But if we succeed in defeating Nightmare Moon, then Celestia will return, she certainly isn't gone forever." I hope, added Twilight to herself, thinking of the growing cold, the possibly weakened sun.

"Well! That's mighty good to hear." Applejack smiled.

"So are you willing to join us, and fight Nightmare Moon?"

"Ah reckon so. Ah'm not the kind of pony to sit back when there's buckin' to do. And if anypony needs a good flank-buckin' it's Nightmare Moon."

"Great!" Twilight glanced around, seeing that most of the ponies were settling in to sleep. She noticed her saddlebags set against one wall and the thought of how much planning she needed to do passed through her mind. "Thank you for joining us," she said to Applejack. "I really need to study my notes again now though, so I'll talk to you later."

"Sure thing sugarcube."

Twilight crossed the room, settled next to her bags and pulled out a sheaf of notes. She paged through them, crossing off everything that was no longer relevant, circling things that seemed particularly important, and occasionally jotting down a new note. Some time later she dozed off over her notes, as she had many times in her bookish life.

Luna remained wide awake, thanks to the never-ending night and an alicorn's natural need for less sleep. She gazed across the room full of sleeping ponies towards where Twilight lay. The unicorn looked so sweet lying there, her papers beneath her head, her quill beside her, a faint frown of concentration still creasing her brow. It was like a painting, The Scholar After A Long Day, perhaps.

I used to paint, thought Luna. Maybe I should pick it up again. That could be my first piece. The thought made her smile. She picked her way across the room, circling around sleeping ponies, to reach Twilight's side. She felt a strange urge to lie next to Twilight and cuddle up with her. The thought of such warmth and closeness with the beautiful and intelligent mare was wonderful, but also frightening. And what would Twilight think, if she woke to such intimacy? She would no doubt be uncomfortable, or even upset at Luna for taking such a liberty. It wouldn't be right, said Luna to herself with a touch of regret, for... so many reasons. I suppose I could wake her, tell her how I feel, ask her... Luna snorted mentally, ...panic her, addle her wits in the middle of the most dangerous journey she's ever been on, make her uncomfortable to be around me when we need so desperately to be working together. Luna sighed, and sat down a few feet away. We have more important things to worry about, she told herself. Gathering the Elements of Harmony and defeating Nightmare Moon is what we need to concentrate on now. Relationships can wait.

She knew that was partly an excuse, that her own fear of rejection was much of the reason why she didn't want to say anything about her growing feelings towards Twilight. She had seen many romances over her long life, and even gently shepherded a few special ponies through their own fears of rejection, many, many years ago... but she had avoided such entanglements assiduously. The idea of deliberately entering into a relationship after so long was terrifying, and that fear seemed stronger, strangely, than her worries about Nightmare Moon. Still, it was a good excuse, and she was going to stick to it. So she lay down where she was, and tried to go to sleep. But her thoughts kept returning again and again to the mare that lay nearby, and to the dark mare she had once been, and those two fears chased each other around and around in her head until she heard ponies beginning to stir into wakefulness around her, and she gave up on sleep.

Pinkie Pie was one of the first up, and she set about quietly waking the rest. As they had not expected to be rescuing a dozen ponies, there was not enough food to make a proper meal, but what the rescuers has brought was shared out, a few bites for each.

"There's more when we get to the Everfree," Pinkie told the hungry ponies.

"That's just fine, sugarcube," said Applejack to her. "Those no-good bootlickers only ever gave us mushrooms anyhow, I won't miss 'em!"

"Well, we mostly have mushrooms too," said Pinkie with a sad frown.

"Mushrooms in freedom or mushrooms in slavery, I know which one I'd rather eat," said Spitfire. There was a general murmur of assent from the gathered ponies.

"Come on," said Rainbow Dash. "Let's go. The sooner we go, the sooner we get to food, right?"

"Just a moment." That was Twilight, still blinking sleep out of her eyes. "I have one more thing to do before we leave."

"What is that?" asked Luna.

"I need to scry again. We're eventually going to need to know where Rarity is, and if I don't do it now, we'll have to come back here to do it again. I'm pretty sure the mine isn't underneath Manehattan, so that would be a waste of time."

"I am very glad you're doing the planning, that had not even crossed my mind," said Luna ruefully, once again forced to admire Twilight's intelligence and foresight. Not that it takes much forcing...

"Just let me go get a bucket of water. It will only take a minute, and then we can all go."

"We need to go out a few at a time anyway," said Pinkie Pie. "I'll start sending out ponies while you do your stuff."

Twilight nodded and looked around for the bucket.

"Ah saw it over there," said Applejack. "Lemme go fetch it for ya." She trotted across the room and soon had the bucket they'd used before refilled.

Twilight peered into it, her horn glowing. Luna could just glimpse the pale white unicorn against the darkness of the mine. Then the view moved through the dark, seeking an exit. When it came out into the brighter, moonlit night above it zoomed out, and Luna didn't recognize the tiny images from her angle. Twilight, however, smiled.

"She's in the Diamond Dog tunnels, not half a day's walk from Ponyville. That makes things much simpler. We have to stop in the Everfree to pick up Fluttershy, and we may be able to rescue Rarity the same day!"

"What-all is this?" asked Applejack, peering down at the tiny image, now showing the ruins of Ponyville as seen from above.

"Scrying. It's a way to see things with magic."

"An' you can see anything?"

"Well... within limits. I wouldn't want to look in on Nightmare Moon, for example. Now that we're so close to her she might sense it."

"What about normal ponies? Jus'... ordinary folks."

"Yes, I guess I could look for any ordinary pony," said Twilight slowly, fearing where this was going. "Though they have to be somepony I've seen before."

"An' have you seen my sister Applebloom?"

Twilight hesitated, then nodded.

"Then you gotta' look her up for me, see if she's doin' all right. Pinkie tole me that Big Macintosh is alive an' well, but nopony knows what happened to any o' the young 'uns from Ponyville."

"Applejack... I don't know if that's a good idea. Anything might have happened to her. If what I see is bad..."

"Ah can handle it." said Applejack, her eyes narrowing. "Ah can handle anythin'."

Twilight looked at Applejack. A friend, a stranger. The Element of Honesty. Maybe. So much unknown, but that determined stubbornness was the same. It had led the Applejack Twilight knew dangerously close to lying; self-deception was the easiest sort of lie to tell, and this Applejack might well be deceiving herself now.

"Applejack... be completely honest. Don't lie to me, and don't lie to yourself either. If something bad has happened to your sister, can you handle it? Don't tell me it won't hurt you at all if she's been harmed. We'd both know you were lying."

Applejack frowned, opened her mouth to say something angry, then stopped and frowned again, a more thoughtful frown this time. Then she heaved a sigh. "You're right. An' I'd be more than hurt, I'd come all to pieces faster than a month old corpse that's been bucked good n' hard. It'd probably be the last straw that broke me. But now that I know I can see if she's alive, ah have to know. Ah can't go along not knowing any longer, I'd go plumb crazy anyway, like the ponies they put in solitary. Please; ah have to know."

Something in Twilight's heart jerked at Applejack's pleading. Not just because she'd shown still was still honest, though that was part of it, but the sincere need in her friend's voice touched her deeply, twisted her heart and made it impossible for her to say no. Without a word her horn lit again.

The second or so it took the picture to change was agonizing. Twilight thought she might burst from the tension, not knowing if the spell would find Applebloom at all or if it would be unable to locate her, as it had been unable to locate poor Spike.

But then the view of Ponyville vanished, replaced by a familiar yellow filly.

Twilight nearly fell over with relief. Applebloom was alive! She was in a school room, and as Twilight widened the view another sigh of relief escaped her. The room was full of familiar colts and fillies. Some she didn't know, but she saw Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Snips, Snails, and even the obnoxious Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara. All the fillies and colts of Ponyville seemed alive and well.

All the young ponies wore moon badges. The unicorn teaching the class, who had one as well, was writing on the board, and Twilight could read it easily enough. "The benefits of the Kingdom of Night," it read, and the teacher was filling in item one of the list below it. The youngsters were apparently being taught some insultingly obvious propaganda, but that was miles better than the horrible torture or slavery that Twilight had been unable to keep from picturing.

"She's all right," breathed Applejack.

"Yes," said Twilight. "Hoofington, it looks like. A long way from anywhere we'll be, and that means it's safe." Twilight smiled slightly. “She'll be waiting for you when we defeat Nightmare Moon; I can't imagine how happy she'll be to see you. But now, it looks like it's our turn to get out of here."

They were the last two ponies in the room; Luna and Pinkie Pie were hovering just outside the door.

"Right. Let's go get ready to buck some Nightmare flank," said Applejack with grim and yet delighted determination. She grinned at Twilight, and Twilight grinned broadly back.

Author's Note

I thought I'd take a moment to say "thank you" to everybody who's made it this far. It's a lot of words, I'm glad you've stuck with me through them all. We're probably still not quite halfway, so there are a lot more words to come. I know how it all ends though, so I promise I'll stick with it if you will. :)

I also want to thank all those who've commented, followed, and rated. Seeing evidence that people are reading and enjoying my work is what makes posting it worthwhile, after all. Otherwise I might as well just keep it to read myself.

But most of all I need to thank my editor, who also happens to be my husband. There's a reason why this story is better than the other ones I've done. I do think I had a better idea this time around, most of the others were just "Ha, that would be fun!" notions, but my writing has been as good as it is largely because of his tireless efforts, especially on this chapter. It was a little rough when I handed it over to him, but he polished it up nicely.

The next chapter probably won't happen right this instant, I have a hectic few weeks ahead of me, but expect more as soon as I can find some time to write, exciting things are happening in the next chapter. :D

Chapter 7

The black alicorn sat in front of a block of ice. The previous several blocks had been cloudy with impurities, and there had been a great deal of yelling and dispensing of punishments, but this one was satisfactory. Her work earlier had borne fruit; the room was even colder now than it had been. It was cold enough now for ice and snow outside, here high up on the mountain's flank. Soon it would be freezing in the valleys as well. And then... then it would grow colder and colder until the world was as cold as the silvery moon itself, and nothing lived but Nightmare Moon and her ice servants. They would worship her, for she would be their creator, their goddess. Ponies had such difficulty recognizing her greatness! Her new servants would have no such flaws.

"That is the problem with ponies," she said to herself as she regarded the ice. "They called us princesses and let us rule them, but they didn't call us gods or worship us as they should. And my dear sister," the alicorn sneered, "was content with the generous praise they gave her. Their fawning blinded her to their inadequacies. But I see them clearly. More clearly now than ever! They were dumb, pathetic animals that we raised to intelligence, but their animal nature still shows through. They might as well be cows. Or rabbits. They are not worthy to be my servants. But ice... Ahhhhh ice." Her horn glowed and she caressed the block with a cold tendril of magic. "I will make new life. Perfect life. Pristine and mathematical as the ice crystal it springs from. Their only emotion will be their love for me. They will give me the worship I have always deserved, that even my best servants cannot give me, for I will be their creator, their goddess. My subjects call me their queen because I insist on it. They should call me goddess without having to be told! They are too flawed to see my true power. But you..." She stared at the ice with a gaze that was almost tender, like a mother looking at her newborn foal. "You will be everything I ever wanted."

Her horn glowed faintly, and shavings began to fall away from the block. At first flurries of them flew like snow as the alicorn swiftly roughed out the form, then more slowly as she carefully refined it. Hours passed as she worked. The guards changed, but she paid them even less attention than usual; all her thoughts were on her work, her art-- her masterpiece. When the shape finally pleased her, the alicorn polished it, spending hours more caressing it with her magic until it was perfectly smooth. At last she stood back and looked at her creation. It was an earth pony, perfect in every detail, of clear, flawless, crystalline ice.

"A suitable start," she said to it, "but my work has just begun. For now you must wait, my beautiful creation. Wait while I weave the magic that will awaken you,” her voice descended to a quiet purr, “and show you who your true Goddess is. And then at last I will have no more need for these ponies. Then my kingdom of night will be perfect, as it should be."

Moonlight spilled down along the string of walking ponies. Luna looked up at the moon and sighed. She never would have imagined she'd grow sick of moonlight, but it was proving entirely possible. She longed for sunlight, for blue sky and white clouds, for the colors of sunset and sunrise, for anything other than night following night following night. She was starting to long for warmth as well, for the feel of sunlight on her skin and the warmth of a summer breeze. Even though it was technically summer, and the stars shone in their summer places, the air felt like winter was nearly there; it was almost cold enough for frost. Nopony had much in the way of winter gear, so they were all chilled and miserable, and hungry on top of that. Though there were mushrooms everywhere, they didn't dare stop to forage until they reached the cover of the forest, and that was many hours away.

They had left the city in twos and threes several hours ago, and were now in what had once been rich farmland, though there was nothing green growing there anymore. They had come far enough to no longer have to worry about the Night Guard, but though the Shadowbolts did have occasional patrols out into the countryside, those were rare enough to not be worth worrying about. Nightmare Moon was obviously not feeling very threatened by the tiny handful of remaining rebels. She has no reason to be, thought Luna. If it were not for the Elements of Harmony, which she thinks destroyed, and myself, who she does not know exists, we would be no threat at all.

So it was safe enough for the strung-out line to start bunching up and traveling as a group. Twilight came trotting up beside Luna, and they walked side by side in silence for some time. Ahead of them Spitfire and Rainbow Dash were also waking side by side, talking in low voices. Twilight couldn't hear most of it, but it was sprinkled with giggles, and had the sound of something fairly intimate. She had just managed to stop being nosy and tune the two ponies out when Dash's voice started to rise; whatever the discussion had been, it was obviously turning into an argument.

"Don't pull this crap on me again, Spitfire! We've only just gotten out of that hellhole, it's too soon!"

"But Dash, I was only-"

"Only going too fast. Which is funny because I know you're so slow," hissed Dash through bared and gritted teeth. The words came out razor-sharp, and they seemed to cut Spitfire deeply; Twilight was shocked to see the ex-Wonderbolt instantly wilt, tears gathering in her eyes.

"Dash, please..."

Spitfire looked so hurt that Twilight couldn't help but break in, wide-eyed, "Rainbow Dash--! That was a horrible thing to say to a friend!"

Suddenly both ponies in front of her halted, and Twilight found herself fixed in place by the glares of two sets of eyes: one amber gold, one dark pink, and both slitted in anger. "She can say whatever she wants! I am slow, I know it! It's just the truth! And in any case it's none of your business!" Spitfire's bright, firelike hair actually seemed to flicker and glow like flame as she shouted Twilight down; the tears were still glittering in the corners of her eyes.

"Eep!" Twilight backed up a few steps, apologies falling out of her mouth, "Sorry. Sorry!"

Spitfire glared a moment more, then turned back around. She and Rainbow Dash trotted a bit faster, putting several other ponies between themselves and Twilight before slowing down again. Twilight started walking again, and shook her head in bafflement. "What was that all about?"

Luna chuckled sadly at Twilight's plaintive question, "'Twas a lesson even I managed to learn, eventually. Never jump into a lovers' quarrel unless you wish for both ponies' ire."

"But Dash was hurting her feelings. That's not right!"

Luna shook her head. "I suppose 'tis not. But they will have to sort that out for themselves. You cannot fix other ponies' relationships for them, not like that."

"Shouldn't friends try to help their friends with their problems? Dash is a friend, I just want to help her."

"Friends can help, yes... friends must be ready to help. There is a difference, though, between offering help and telling another pony what to do with her life. Believe me Twilight, I know how frustrating it is to watch friends make foolish decisions. I have seen ponies I cared deeply for do things I knew were mistakes many, many times. It is never easy to watch another pony make a mess of her life, but you cannot make their choices for them. You can only be there when they need you."

Twilight nodded, and walked the rest of the way to the forest in thoughtful silence. She caught herself dictating a letter to Princess Celestia in her head, lining out this little lesson, and her heart ached at her inability to complete the familiar ritual. For a moment, she felt as alone as she had ever felt in her life—the unmeasurable distance between herself and her home and friends, the terrible things she had found waiting for her in this place, and the enormity of the task in front of her all crowded in on her consciousness like low, black clouds. She found herself musing darkly on which Celestia she should send it to in any case--her mentor back home, or the trapped, probably weakened, maybe dead princess of this world?

Her head sunk lower and lower with each passing thought, until the gentle brush of long feathers against her side startled her from her dark introspection. It was Luna, giving her a concerned, tentative smile and folding her wing back against her side. Twilight returned the smile and, to her surprise, it was a genuine optimism buoying her head and heart and spreading to the corners of her mouth. She had her—well, she had Luna with her, however far from home she might be, and she had her friends. With my friends, I can manage anything, and although these ponies are sometimes strange, they are still my friends.

Rainbow Dash paused in front of the cave mouth. A few yards away Luna and Twilight stood close together, wearing identical expressions of hope and worry. Pinkie Pie and Dale had taken the rescued ponies back to the ruined castle, but Luna, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash had split off and gone in search of Fluttershy. Now, hopefully, they had found her. And hopefully, Dash would be able to reach her where Twilight had failed.

"Here goes," muttered Dash, who looked more than a little nervous, though she was trying to hide it. She pranced in place for a moment. "Here goes," she repeated, a little louder, and finally stepped forward from the moonlit night and into the deeper darkness of the cave.

She paused again after a few steps, straining to see in the gloom. She could hear something breathing ahead of her, and it sounded like something large. Probably the manticore Luna and Twilight had told her about. She swallowed, then set her expression in an aggressive frown. No big deal, she wasn't afraid of any manticore! She could take it, she was Rainbow Dash!

As her eyes adjusted, shapes slowly emerged from the darkness. She was in a narrow tunnel, but just ahead the cave opened out, and she could see something bulky partially blocking the entrance to the wider area. She crept slowly closer, trying to step softly. Up close—ooh, yeah. Yep. That was a manticore alright.

Definitely a manticore. It was lying halfway across the entrance, and Dash could just make out Fluttershy, nearly covered in squirrels, rabbits, and other small creatures, sleeping a few yards beyond it. She took another step, then froze as the manticore yawned and shifted. For a long moment Dash held perfectly still, but the manticore's eyes stayed shut. She let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and took another step. The manticore's paw was now stretched out across the tunnel; she would have to step over it.

She slowly lifted one hoof over the paw and set it softly on the floor beyond, then another, then the third, and she was clear! She trotted confidently forward, smirking at her own awesomeness, and promptly tripped over something small and fuzzy, landing with a crash in a pile of loose stones.

With a roar the manticore leapt up. Squeaks and squeals sounded as creatures scattered in all directions. Dash yelped and scrambled away from the manticore, but the huge lion-like creature's night vision was far superior to hers, and it easily pounced on her and pinned her to the floor. Panicked animals were still scurrying everywhere around her as she lay on the floor, but her attention was abruptly focused when the looming beast's hot breath washed over her face. Dash squeezed her eyes tightly shut, expecting the next thing she felt to be tearing claws or piercing teeth. Instead, she got something small and not at all sharp thumping repeatedly into her head.

Dash opened her eyes to see a small, pale, furry shape. Angel the bunny was standing over her, kicking her in the forehead.

"Angel?" said Dash, and the bunny paused and looked down at her. Then he kicked her again, for good measure. and scurried off himself. That left Dash alone with the manticore, whose front paws were still pinning her to the floor. Its reeking breath still bathed her face and she wasn't entirely certain why she wasn't dead yet. But since she wasn't, she was hardly going to just lie there. She squirmed, trying to get loose. She got a rear hoof planted on the manticore's side, and it let out a grunt, but then it unsheathed its claws and growled. Dash could suddenly feel each individual razor-sharp point pressing on her skin, and with a little “Eep,” she stopped fighting.

"Dashie?"

The voice was quiet, almost a whisper, but at its sound the manticore's growling instantly changed, and Rainbow Dash realized that the huge creature was purring. And when she craned her head to look in the direction Angel had fled she saw another pale shape in the darkness.

"Fluttershy?"

"It is you! You're alive!" Fluttershy was still nearly whispering, but her trembling, uncertain joy filled the soft words with energy. "I thought that... that... that they had killed you."

She came closer and with nothing more than a gesture directed the manticore to let Rainbow up. Dash righted herself and looked at her friend. Closer, and right side up, she could see that Fluttershy was very different from the mare she remembered. Her coat was rough, coarse and muddy; her cutie mark was almost invisible amid the grime; her mane was a tangled mass of dreadlocks, and she was far too thin; Dash could easily count her ribs.

Fluttershy was regarding Dash as well, and even in the darkness one thing was impossible to miss. "Oh! Your wings! Oh no!" Fluttershy rushed to Dash's side, where she stopped, one hoof outstretched, instinctively drawn to help and yet suddenly aware that no help could possibly be offered.

"Yeah," said Dash, drooping a little at the reminder of all she had lost. "Nightmare Moon had them... well...."

"I'm so sorry!" Suddenly Fluttershy threw her hooves around Dash, hugging her tightly. "I'm so sorry! If I hadn't run away during the battle, If I wasn't such a coward, always afraid of everything--"

"Then they'd just have caught you and cut yours off too," said Dash flatly. "Nobody could have stopped them, we were too badly outnumbered."

"But maybe if--"

Dash cut her off again. "No. You can't blame yourself for what happened to me. It's nobody's fault but Nightmare Moon's, and if I have my way she's going to pay for what she did."

Fluttershy finally stepped back from the hug and looked at Dash's grim expression. Her own eyes narrowed just a bit. "I'm not good at fighting, Dashie, but I'll help you if you want. You're right that she needs to pay. Nopony should hurt others the way she did." Some surprising vehemence had crept into the quiet mare's voice.

"You can help. Maybe. It's probably all just stupid and crazy and we'll all die, but maybe it isn't and we have a chance."

"I... I don't understand."

"I don't think I do either, but there are two ponies you need to talk to. They can explain it better than I can."

"Other... ponies?" Fluttershy looked suddenly terrified. "Strangers?"

Dash looked behind her uncertainly, to where she could see a circle of bright moonlight marking the cave entrance, where Twilight and Luna were waiting. After a moment's pause, she looked back at Fluttershy and shook her head. "No. Not strangers-- friends."

Luna kept catching herself holding her breath as she and Twilight waited for Rainbow Dash to emerge from the cave. When instead they heard a faint clatter and a roar, Luna's heart sank. Something had gone wrong. She took a step forward, and found Twilight moving forward as well, hesitantly. What was happening inside? Should they rush into rescue Dash? What if they only angered and alienated Fluttershy further? Without her their hopes for victory were very slim indeed. They needed her.

The roars ceased and there was a long, tense silence. Luna realized she was holding her breath again, and let it out in a gusty sigh, which made Twilight jump.

"Should we..." began Twilight, then trailed off as something moved at the cave mouth. It was Dash! Or rather, it was Dash's rump. For some reason the blue mare was emerging from the cave rainbow-hued tail first. As she came out, the waiting mares could hear that she was talking steadily, in the low, soothing tones used on a frightened animal.

"They're really nice, you'll see. Come on, they're just outside. It's okay. I'm right here with you."

Behind her, trying to hide her entire body behind her mane, came Fluttershy. Behind Fluttershy, looming protectively over her, came the manticore.

Twilight gulped. Even Luna took a step back. But Dash just kept patiently leading Fluttershy towards them, and despite the massive, lion-like menace Twilight and Luna both managed to hold their ground.

"There," said Dash. "Fluttershy, these are my friends, Twilight and Luna. Let them explain what's going on."

Fluttershy peeked hesitantly around Rainbow Dash. Twilight tried to smile reassuringly at her. As Twilight launched into her explanation of Nightmare Moon, the Elements of Harmony, and how they needed Fluttershy, Luna found herself looking at Dash with something like surprise. Back home she hadn't known Dash very well. They had very little in common and seldom did anything together, unless it was with Twilight and the entire group of Ponyville friends. Luna had seen her being competitive, loud, and egotistic back home. Here, she had seen her burning with hate, driven by anger, and filled with hurt that made her lash out. But now--! Suddenly she was showing another side altogether. A gentler, more considerate side that Luna had never expected. She had wondered what it was that made the loud Rainbow and the painfully shy Fluttershy such friends when they were so different, but perhaps they had something in common after all. Fluttershy's tender heart was open to every creature she came across, while Rainbow Dash obviously reserved her care for only her closest friends, but the gentle sound in Rainbow's voice as she had led Fluttershy from the cave was a sound Luna had heard many times from Fluttershy herself.

But was Fluttershy's kind heart still there in this dark world? Was she still true to her element? She had obviously responded to the injured Dash, but perhaps that was only because of her friendship. She had set a hydra after them, after all. They had pressed her to the limit, obviously, but would the element of kindness have done such a thing? Luna wasn't sure.

Twilight wound up her explanation, paused a moment, then gave Fluttershy her best hopeful smile, "So, will you help us?"

"I... Yes. Yes, I'll help." She was still peeking out from behind her hair, but the answer had come with surprising speed and surety.

Twilight sagged, her hopeful smile turning into a broad grin,"Oh, thank you. Now we just need to rescue Rarity and we'll be ready to bring Nightmare Moon down!"

Fluttershy looked completely dismayed at the idea, but Rainbow Dash nudged her. "You can do it. You can bring your manticore, if you want. He might help us get into the castle at Canterlot."

Twilight smiled. "Yes, or bring your hydra! It could probably knock down the castle walls for us."

"Oh, I couldn't," said Fluttershy, aghast. "What if they got hurt?"

Twilight looked baffled. "But you had the hydra chase us. And it did get hurt, Big Mac kicked it right in the nose.” a beat, "In one of its noses, anyway."

"Yes, and I wish I hadn't. The poor, poor thing. And if they had hurt you ponies that would have been just as bad. I'm so, so sorry, I was just afraid, and my friends wanted to protect me. I shouldn't have let them. They're healing well, but if they had gotten... really hurt, or one of you had, I would have been so sad that I just don't know what I would do."

Luna gave a smile edged in private amusement, "You're a kind pony, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy hid behind her mane again. "Oh, um. Thank you...I just don't like seeing anypony get hurt. Not even Nightmare Moon, except that we have to do something about her, so that all the ponies and creatures can be free and the sun can shine again."

"We're all in it for that exact same reason," said Twilight. It was a declaration, accompanied by a sure and forthright nod.

"Speak for yourself," muttered Rainbow Dash.

Twilight shot her a quelling glance for ruining her moment, but Dash just glared belligerantly in return.

Luna coughed. "We should go meet up with Pinkie and the others and plan Rarity's rescue."

"Yes, we should. Come on everypony. Sunrise could happen tomorrow!" Twilight trotted off perkily. Luna chuckled and followed her, with Dash, Fluttershy, and the still-protective manticore coming along behind.

The trip through the dead forest went swiftly, and soon they had reached the ruined palace. Luna once more held her breath, magic at the ready, as the group crossed the decrepit bridge. It groaned alarmingly under the weight of the manticore, but miraculously remained intact.

Inside, it was almost crowded; there were over two dozen ponies now, resting, eating, and talking together. A ripple of curiosity and alarm ran through them as the manticore followed the mares into the old throne room. Fluttershy, suddenly the focus of all those eyes, squeaked and shuffled quickly backward to interpose the monstrous feline, who started to glare at the assembled ponies. Several of them also squeaked and ducked behind whatever was nearest them.

Twilight sighed, and Luna mentally congratulated her for managing to stop her eyes from rolling. "Everypony, this is Fluttershy. She and the manticore are friends. They're part of the plan to defeat Nightmare Moon."

She got several incredulous glances, and none of the hiding ponies emerged—especially not Fluttershy. The tension continued to grow as ponies and manticore regarded each other. Before Twilight could start haranguing anypony, however, the manticore turned and started broadly grooming Fluttershy's mane with long, ridiculous slurps.

The tension went out of the air like a popped party balloon, and several of the hiding ponies emerged with smiles on their faces. The manticore was purring, and Fluttershy was smiling as well. "Thank goodness," muttered Twilight, which set Luna off to giggling.

"He he he! What are we laughing at?" Pinkie Pie popped up next to Luna as though she had appeared out of the ground.

Luna jumped, but Twilight was more used to Pinkie Pie's antics than the princess. She just turned to Pinkie Pie and smiled. "Pinkie! Get Applejack and Rainbow Dash and anybody else you think we might need. It's time--”Twilight broke into a grin. Even all she had seen in this world couldn't dampen her enthusiasm for this, “--for another planning session!"

"What does tall blue pony want?" The diamond dog's voice was rough, but with a whining tone that set Luna's teeth on edge. Torches bracketed the broad arch that led deeper into the mine, their light flickering off the dog's coarse coat. It stood in the center of the threshold, flanked on either side by massive guard dogs. All three were staring with unfriendly expressions at the lone pony that stood before them.

She planted her hooves firmly and gave the creature a flat, cold look. "I want to free all the ponies here. You're going to let them go, now."

"Pony is joking. Ponies here belong to Pony Queen. Diamond dogs cannot let them go, even if diamond dogs want to! But we do not want to let ponies go, ponies work, ponies get gems for dogs. Ponies stay. You go away."

"I think not." Luna reared up and let out a loud whinny, signaling to the ponies behind her who had thus far stayed out of sight. Suddenly two dozen equines were charging at the entrance to the mines. The two burly guard dogs and their smaller commander immediately retreated, scurrying inside the broad main tunnel, and Luna hurled herself after them with a defiant cry, the other rebels on her heels.

Four shadowy shapes moved in the night. Two of them were ponies, a unicorn and a pegasus, while the other two were smaller, lower to the ground, and much shaggier.

"Okay, we're over the mine now," whispered Twilight.

Fluttershy nodded. "Go dig, little friends," she said to the two badgers that accompanied her. Her whisper was so quiet that Twilight almost couldn't hear it, but the badgers obviously could; they both started tunneling rapidly into the ground.

The ponies waited in the chill darkness while the badgers dug. The little creatures were swift diggers, but they needed to put in a lot of extra work to make a tunnel wide enough for a pony, and it was taking a long time. At last, though, the badgers came back out of the tunnel, and Fluttershy said, "They're through."

"Let's go." Twilight crawled into the tunnel. It wasn't quite high enough for her to walk upright. Fluttershy came behind her, so close Twilight occasionally felt her stepping on her tail. It was pitch dark in the tunnel, and Twilight felt her way forward slowly. Loose dirt and rocks tumbled down on her whenever her horn brushed the low ceiling, and her legs were soon scraped and sore from crawling over the rough tunnel floor. After what seemed like an eternity of groping in the darkness, she emerged into the larger tunnel. Unfortunately, it was still pitch black, and now she couldn't even feel her way along. Cautiously Twilight summoned the smallest possible spark of magic to light the tip of her horn. She'd seen Rarity doing the same while working here, so hopefully the little speck of power would pass unnoticed.

A second spell would also have to pass unnoticed, for in the maze of tunnels that made up the Diamond Dogs' mine there was no way to know where Rarity might be. Twilight had a plan to locate her, though: she had combined the gem-seeking spell that her Rarity had taught her with the scrying spell that had kicked off this whole adventure to make a spell that could lead her to anypony she could scry for. To wit, Rarity. She was proud of the bit of spellcraft, but she was particularly pleased by how satisfyingly fitting it was to find Rarity with her own spell.

As she finished casting the hybrid spell, a sudden tugging on the tip of her horn nearly pulled her off her feet. She grinned; that meant it was working. "Follow me," she whispered to Fluttershy, and trotted off in the direction of the tugging.

Only moments later she nearly walked straight into a wall. She skidded to a stop, her horn still trying to pull her forward through solid rock. "Horseapples." Of course the spell wouldn't show her a path through the tunnels, it was just showing her a direct line to Rarity. Which was better than wandering aimlessly, but not by very much.

"What is it?" Fluttershy's whisper sounded terrified.

"The spell is trying to pull me straight to Rarity through the walls. We'll have to find a way around, I guess."

"Oh."

"It'll work out. It has to. Come on." Leaning against the pull of the spell she set off along the tunnel wall, hoping that she'd be able to find a path through.

"Forward! For Celestia and the Principality!" shouted Luna.

"For Celestia! For Equestria!" yelled Marie Mare who charged forward and head-butted a diamond dog in the chest. The tunnel was a scene of complete chaos. The diamond dogs had retreated just far enough to call reinforcements and set up a defensive line blocking off the tunnel. The ponies had formed a line of their own, and the two forces swayed back and forth, hooves delivering bone-breaking kicks, claws and teeth drawing blood from equine hides, but neither side able to gain any significant ground.

Dale screamed a wordless war cry and charged, Big Macintosh grimly silent at his side. The two huge stallions broke through, tumbling dogs out of the way, but had to halt before they became completely surrounded and cut off, and were soon forced back again.

The ponies had managed to break the line several times but it always reformed, and there were still more diamond dogs running from deeper within the mine all the time. It wouldn't be long before Luna and the rebels were outnumbered. They were already having trouble pushing the diamond dogs back any further, though the tunnel was narrow enough that neither diamond dogs nor ponies could bring their full force to bear at once.

Luna looked up. The ceiling was very high here, perhaps she could shift the odds a bit.

"Pegasi! Take wing!" She suited actions to words and shot into the air. There wasn't as much room as she might have liked, but there was enough to stay above the dogs' heads. One reached a paw up at her and she kicked it viciously. Derpy and two other rebel pegasi whose names Luna hadn't learned took wing beside her, but the five that had come from Manehattan hesitated. Luna saw their eyes going to Rainbow Dash. "Quickly!" she called. "We must press the advantage while we can!"

Four of the five took flight, joining the others in attacking from the air. Spitfire hesitated a moment longer, but Rainbow Dash glared and shouted "Go, you idiot!" at her, and she snapped her wings open and leapt into the air as if stung.

The pegasi swooped down on the dogs, battering at them from above. Some even grabbed rocks from the cavern walls and pelted the enemy with them. The dogs began to fall back and the earth ponies and unicorns cheered and pushed further forward.

Suddenly the lead dog howled, a piercing sound that echoed off the tunnel walls. The battle paused for just a heartbeat as ponies and dogs both jumped at the sound. "Fall back!" called the spindly canine. "Fall back and bring it down!"

The dogs immediately retreated into the cavern, running with greater speed than Luna would have expected from such bulky, awkward-looking creatures. She soared after them, the other pegasi surrounding her. The ground-bound ponies were somewhat slower to follow, but they too chased the retreating dogs.

"Swiftly, go, bring it down!" called the dog again.

"Wait!" Pinkie Pie, who had been in the lead of those running below, skidded to a halt, causing a pile-up of ponies behind her. The gap between them and the dogs opened further, and Luna was about to shout something back about how they should run faster, when Pinkie said, "Twitchy tail! Twitchy tail! He means bring down the tunnel! They're going to collapse it! Run for the entrance!"

Luna back-winged furiously, coming to a halt in mid-air and nearly falling. The other pegasi tried to turn in various ways, but in the confined space of the tunnel none could reverse swiftly. Derpy rebounded off a wall as her attempt to turn around in the tight space failed, and there were several near-collisions between pony and rock or pony and pony before the pegasi got themselves headed back the way they had come.

The earth ponies weren't waiting, and they were wise not to; nopony could save anypony else by waiting if the ceiling above fell on them all.

Even as the ponies ran, and the pegasi raced to catch up with them, a rumbling began, coming from every direction at once and being felt as much as heard. Rocks began to fall; first a few pebbles, but then a deluge that grew ever thicker. It seemed that Pinkie Pie was right, and that the entire length of the tunnel was collapsing around them. The earth ponies and unicorns were nearly to the entrance, but the pegasi had been deeper, and the time needed to turn had slowed them further. As a fist-sized rock bounced painfully off her haunches, Luna realized that they weren't going to make it.

Her horn lit. She hadn't been using magic for fear of attracting Nightmare Moon's notice with even ordinary spells, but she couldn't just let these ponies die. "Pegasi! To me!" Above her she made a huge glowing umbrella of force. The rocks bounced harmlessly off it. Her cry and the sight of such safety drew the others to her, and soon they all hovered as closely as they could. The roar grew louder and the rain was no longer a shower of falling rocks but a solid wall of rubble coming down around them. Luna extended the umbrella into a sphere as the tunnel filled completely with rubble.

Finally the roar ceased, and eight pegasi and one alicorn hovered in a hollow space completely buried in rock and earth.

Luna looked slowly around as the dust settled, absorbing their situation.

"Oh... buck.".

Twilight's hooves were starting to ache. It wasn't so much that she had done a lot of walking; though the tunnels seemed endless, they really hadn't gone that far. It was the way she needed to brace herself against the spell's pull on her horn the whole way along. It had required a lot more physical work than she had expected.

They had gone down far too many dead ends, but the diversion at the mine entrance seemed to be working, for though they'd heard some commotion echoing very faintly down the tunnels they had seen no diamond dogs at all. And now ahead was a dim glow, and the sound of hooves on stone. Twilight the Fluttershy peered around a bend and saw two unicorns, one hitched to a massive cart, the other chipping at the wall with a cracked and worn hoof. One Twilight vaguely recognized from seeing her around Ponyville, she was named named something... something-gate? Twilight couldn't quite remember. But she had no trouble remembering the name of the second unicorn.

"Rarity! We found you!"

Rarity's head came up and she stared at the pair with shocked eyes. "Who are you?"

"I'm Twilight, this is Fluttershy."

"Fluttershy, yes... we've met. But never mind that, the important question is what is going on?"

"We're rescuing you. We need you." Twilight hardly paused for breath before continuing. "We have a plan to defeat Nightmare Moon, but it requires your help. Please, come with us! We have a distraction keeping the diamond dogs busy, but it won't last forever and we need to get out of here fast."

As Twilight had thought, Rarity didn't question why she in particular might be needed. She also, as Twilight had hoped, didn't pause to ask for details about the plan. She just nodded. "I am heartily sick of that tyrant and her rule. Let us go." She turned to the other unicorn, and her horn lit as she started to un-hitch her from the car. "I assume Colgate can come too?" Then she paused. "And... there are others here, six more of us. What of them?"

"Don't be silly," said Colgate. "I'll stay, and so will everypony else—it's too risky to try and spring everypony, and you've done enough for us already. If this plan is any good then when Nightmare Moon is defeated we'll all be set free anyway. And if it's not any good then here is no worse than where anypony with you is likely to end up, am I right?" She looked at Twilight, who looked back, a bit surprised at such ruthless pragmatism.

"Well yes... But the plan really is likely to work. It's something that's worked before, you see. Nightmare Moon was defeated once before, she can be defeated again."

"Good,” the blue unicorn flashed a fierce grin,“Then go, Rarity, and we'll see you when you pick us up for the party after.."

Rarity nodded reluctantly, and stepped towards Twilight. Suddenly, the ground trembled underfoot, and they all heard a distant but still shockingly loud roar. The sound seemed to come from every direction as it echoed down the twisted maze of tunnels.

"Horseapples!" said Colgate. "Your diversion was an attack on the entrance, wasn't it?"

"Uhm, yes?"

"Well that was the sound of your diversion getting buried. Fido had them collapse the tunnel again--he's done it a couple of times before. And now they'll be patrolling outside, trying to round up anypony that escaped the collapse."

Twilight slumped. She didn't want to think about what might have happened to the others. To her friends. To Luna...

All her plans had just gone horribly, horribly wrong.

Author's Note

Hello, my loyal readers. Nope, I'm not dead. Yep, I'm still planning on finishing this story. Nope, I don't know when. Yep, I do know how many more chapters there are. (probably) Nope I'm not going to tell you what's in them. Please remember, I don't respond to guilt trips or threats! They'll happen when they happen. Good things are worth waiting for, right? :D

P.S. Thank you again to Jordanis for editing this for me. His suggestions are a large part of why this is probably my best fanwork.

Chapter 8

There were books and papers strewn around the throne, which was illuminated now by more than merely moonlight. Though the magical spark by which the black alicorn read was a cold light, and it did nothing to warm the bitter chill in the air.

The ice statue stood beside her, a motionless thing of glittering crystal. As yet it did not live. But the spells were nearly ready. "Soon," crooned the alicorn gently. "Soon. I could animate you now, my beauty, if I wanted only a mindless automaton. But I want more. I want what these pitiful creatures of daylight and warmth have never given me. I want you adoration and worship. I want your admiration and respect. I want your love. So you must be more, much more, than a mindless servant. You must be perfect. And soon you will be."

A faint scrape of hoof on stone made the alicorn look up. One of her Night Guard, a senior officer whose name she did not recall, stood just inside the room, head bowed, waiting for her. She smiled. She was finally getting them trained. It was ridiculous how many she'd had to punish before they started to figure out proper behavior.

"You may approach and speak," she said regally.

The burly earth pony walked along the narrow path through the increasingly thick frost that covered everything in the throne room. He reached the throne and bowed once again. "Your Divine Majesty. There is an incident in Manehatten that you may wish to be aware of." He paused and looked up at her for approval. She nodded gracefully and he continued. "One of the new stables where those who unwisely opposed you have been put to work was burned to the ground two nights ago. Your loyal servants all escaped, but the slaves within could not be freed, and all perished. And the fire itself was clearly magical. Several unicorns have confirmed this, and one told me he felt that the unicorns who had done it were of unusual power."

The alicorn's eyes narrowed. "Unicorns of unusual power? Yes, you did well to tell me of this. Now go."

With another bow the Night Guard withdrew.

For the time being her spell was forgotten. There were unicorns of unusual power working against her. Or were they working against her? If they were they must be unusually stupid, to have killed those who should be their allies while allowing her servants to go free. Surely she need not worry about foals who would make such a mistake. They would certainly reveal themselves to her, and be defeated, if they were that inept.

But what if they were not? What if they had gotten the result they intended? What then? What possible reason could some alliance of unicorns have to destroy rebellious slaves, and leave those loyal to her untouched? Could this be some potential ally, making a subtle statement? She neither needed nor wanted allies, but it was possible that this coalition of powerful unicorns felt otherwise.

It might not even be unicorns. There were few of them outside of Equestria, and surely those inside it would know better than to do anything that she didn't directly sanction! But unicorns were not the only creatures that could use magic. Dragons could, though their magic was limited in scope. And there were the kirin, and the kudu... Both lived far from Equestria's borders, but both were very powerful races. And this kind of indirect action would be very typical of kirin in particular. Though kirin who were willing to kill were very rare...

And what if this was related to that sense of beings watching that had come some time ago? What if incomprehensible beings from beyond the stars were here now, working some alien magic to some alien purpose? Would an ordinary Manehatten unicorn know the difference between unicorn magic and that of such beings? Their purposes would be unguessable, and their power might well be very strong.

She would have to be on guard every moment, alert and ready for whatever attack might come. But she would be. She was the goddess of night. By her command the moon reigned eternal over her palace. She could defeat any challenger, even the subtle kirin or the mighty kudu! With her head held confidently high she floated a book once more before her. When the world was truly frozen, and she was served by her perfect creations, she would have no need to worry about attack. There would be none left to challenge her; no other races, no troublesome ponies, only the goddess of night and her flawless servants of ice. And if beings from beyond came to challenge her, she would meet them easily, with her adoring servants at her side. Nothing could threaten her then.

Luna's wings flapped slowly, just enough to keep her aloft. A part of her was aware of the quiet pegasus magic that was enabling her to hover in contravention to gravity and physics, but most of her mind was focused on her current predicament. Surrounded by eight other winged ponies, she hung in the center of a sphere of protective magic. It would have been pitch black had not the sphere itself glowed with a gentle light. That light illuminated the dirt and rock that completely encapsulated the sphere, trapping the ponies within it.

"Sweet Celestia." The voice was awed and panicked at the same time. Luna looked over to see Spitfire hovering beside her, the mare's eyes wide and stunned. "We're trapped."

"Only for a moment," said Luna soothingly. "I shall get us out as soon as I figure out which direction to dig in."

"What about the others?" spoke up another pegasus. There was a murmur of worried agreement.

"Just a moment..." Luna reached out mentally. :Dale?:

:I'm here. Though it was a near thing. I'm still digging out, actually, I was about half buried. Be free in a moment. Though...: He paused, and Luna could tell that he was looking behind him, at the wall of earth and rocks that filled the tunnel. :I'm not sure all of us made it. I was near the end, I'm not a fast runner. But I think somepony was behind me. But I can see that most of them got clear in time. Big Mac is helping to dig me out. We'll all be free in just a moment.:

Luna relayed that to the others. "It looks like they are mostly fine." None of the ponies questioned how she could know this. She wondered, for a moment, what they thought of her. She was an alicorn, when the only alicorns they knew were their near-divine ruler Celestia, and the demonic Nightmare Moon. Did they think of her as a goddess? It seemed unlikely to Luna, who did not feel remotely like a goddess. But they showed no signs of thinking she was like Nightmare Moon either, they seemed to trust her. "'Tis still chaotic out there," she said, "but it looks as though they were clear of the tunnel before it finished collapsing."

"Thank Celestia," breathed Spitfire, and Luna knew she must be thinking of Rainbow Dash.

:I'm going to be one giant bruise,: Dale said to her with a rueful mental tone, :But I'm loose. Now...: Suddenly a shock of awareness ran through him. :Curse it. The dogs must have another entrance, maybe several. There's a group of them coming our way.: He paused, and Luna could feel his dismay. :A big group. A really big group, more than we were fighting in the tunnel. I didn't know there were so many dogs in the whole mine. Luna... I'm not sure what we're going to do. If they corner us up against the blocked tunnel we'll all be captured or killed:

:Damnation. If it were just you, and if it were just capture... but I do not want you killed, and Pinkie, Rainbow, and Applejack are all with you. We need to get them free. You shall need to run for it and leave us.:

:That's what I was thinking. Looks like Pinkie thinks the same, she's already ordered everypony to scatter and run.: Luna could tell, in face, that Dale was running flat out even as they spoke. :Over open ground outside I'm sure we can outrun them, even a slowpoke like me. Though you know if it were only me I'd stay.:

:I know. Protect the other elements, get them out of there. You are still being a distraction, so the plan has not fallen apart completely.:

:As far as we know, anyway,: was Dale's rather pessimistic response. :But hopefully Twilight is having a better time of it.:

:I hope so too.:

Three unicorns and one pegasus stood in a circle, the dark tunnel around them illuminated by a light that hovered at the tip of Twilight Sparkle's horn. "What do we do now?" she said, her brow furrowed with worry. "We have to get out somehow."

"They'll be guarding all the exits, and patrolling outside, and that plain has few hiding places on it." That was Colgate, the pale blue, practically-minded unicorn who was Rarity's companion in servitude.

"If they're patrolling, we have to be able to sneak past them somehow. Or... something."

"Diamond dogs have very excellent hearing, I'm afraid," chimed in Rarity. "They're hard to sneak around. Quite a lot of ponies have tried to escape, and even with the aid of magic they've all been caught so far."

"We have a secret tunnel out..."

"They'll find it and fill it in," said Colgate. "They dig faster than anything. And even if they don't find it, I bet the entrance is probably inside the range of their patrols."

Twilight sighed. "This suddenly got a whole lot harder."

"Most things worth doing are. And defeating Nightmare Moon is worth doing. Don't give up yet."

"Indeed," chimed in Rarity. "We have all thought of escape many times. Your diversion will still be diverting them, for they will be concentrating on their outside patrols, seeking to capture any attackers they can find. We shall have some freedom to plan here, and perhaps we can come up with something. I had nearly given up hope, but the thought of that despicable tyrant gone is quite motivating. Let us see what resources we have."

"Not many. I'm good with magic, but if I use too much power I might draw the notice of Nightmare Moon, and we're not ready to face her yet, we need Luna and the others with us."

"What about you, darling?" Rarity turned to Fluttershy.

"Oh. I can't do very much. I'm just good with animals."

"So. Three unicorns, but no magic. One pegasus, underground, who is good with animals, but no animals." Colgate made a face. "I don't suppose 'good with animals' extends to doing something about diamond dogs?"

"No. Sorry." Fluttershy looked as though she might try to hide behind Twilight again.

Colgate sighed. Twilight wanted to echo it. What were they going to do? She wished she had some paper and a quill so she could write things down. She always thought better when she could make lists. She would list their assets on one side, three unicorns and one pegasus, and their obstacles on the other side. "What exactly do we face here? These patrols, for example. If we can sneak out my tunnel, and we're inside the area they're searching for the others, what will we run into? How many dogs, do you know?"

"They always go around in threes," said Rarity. "At least here inside. But I am fairly certain they do so outside as well."

Twilight considered that. Four ponies against three dogs. Numbers favored the ponies, but the dogs were probably better fighters. They were certainly bigger. "And do they ever go into the forest? If we get that far would we be safe? How fast are they?"

"Slower than a pony, at least over flat, straight ground. They're nimble, but not fast. And they avoid the forest. I've heard them talk about it, they don't like it."

Twilight nodded. "So we could out run them."

"In theory," said Colgate, "and probably over a short course, but..." she looked at Rarity, then down at her own cracked hooves. "But we're not in prime running shape here. And even if we can out run them, we have to get past them, otherwise where will we run to?"

"And getting past will probably mean fighting them." Twilight sighed. "So that's still not a solution. I'm not much of a fighter, especially without magic."

"None of us are fighters, and none of us are strong with magic either," said Rarity. "All the really strong unicorns are imprisoned at Canterlot, not out here."

"How many of you are there here?" asked Twilight, suddenly getting a flicker of an idea. Their resources weren't enough, and the obstacles in front of them were large, but there was one more piece of the equation she hadn't been thinking about, and that was their goals.

"There are six more, so eight of us altogether. Ten counting you two."

"That might be enough to temporarily overwhelm a scouting group then."

"Possibly, yes," said Colgate with a thoughtful frown. "But there are some of us who definitely aren't up for a run all the way to the forest."

"They wouldn't have to be. Our goal, after all, isn't to rescue everypony here tonight. We need myself, Fluttershy, and Rarity to face Nightmare Moon, and then we can free not only everypony here, but everypony in Equestria. That's the real goal. So if there were seven distractions, the three of us might be able to slip by them."

"I see! Yes, that could work. That could work very well indeed!" Colgate grinned.

Rarity smiled as well. "I shall lead the way to our fellows then."

"Yes. And hurry. I don't know how much longer they'll be occupied with Luna and the others."

Rarity nodded, and started down the tunnel with the other three trailing behind.

It took longer than Twilight had hoped before they collected the other six unicorns. Rarity told her that in actuality they were all remarkably close, working different parts of a recently discovered seam of particularly nice gems, but to Twilight it seemed like it took a small eternity to find the rest of Rarity's companions in servitude. She could feel the seconds trickling away, and with who knows what gone horribly wrong with Luna's distraction she wanted to get the three Elements of Harmony out of the mine as soon as possible. She was already realizing that bringing Fluttershy along had been a very bad idea. She ought to have had the pegasus order the badgers to dig, and then immediately fly back to the relative safety of the forest. And what of Luna? Just the thought that she might be dead filled Twilight with unbearable dread. Twilight found herself surprised, in fact, at how much that image twisted her stomach. Though it's only logical, she told herself. Without Luna our chances of besting Nightmare Moon are much slimmer. Getting all of us into the castle, right to the throne room, may well require Luna's magic. But that was just the start of Twilight's worries. If things had gone badly at the front gate what about Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash? Any one of them might have been killed or captured! Twilight felt her stomach knot with guilt. She should have somehow convinced them all to stay behind, and put one of the other ponies in charge of attacking the main entrance. It had all seemed simple and fool-proof when she'd first thought of it, but in retrospect the entire plan seemed to be madness. And was her new plan to get Rarity out any better? What else might she be overlooking?

But at last she had to push her worries aside, for they had reached the last of the six mine workers. Now Twilight stood before three stallions and five mares, all very much the worse for wear, thin and ragged and obviously ill-used. Their eyes were on her with something like hope, and Twilight wished she had a better plan, one that would free them all. But there was no time, and they would just have to do the best they could with what they had.

"Okay," she said, looking at the gathered unicorns, "here's what's going on. Rarity is absolutely vital to a plan to defeat Nightmare Moon. Fluttershy and myself are needed as well," she added, gesturing to the pegasus behind her. "So we three need to get out now, before the dogs give up their patrols and come back inside. Here's the plan I have--"

"Wait," said a light gray stallion with a strong Canterlot accent and a quaver in his voice that mixed outrage with fear in equal parts, "you three are leaving, and the rest of us have to stay is this wretched hole?"

Twilight winced. "Well, we'll all be outside the mines, so some of you might manage to get away, but I need you all to lead the diamond dogs off, so that the three of us can make it to the forest. I really wish I could rescue everypony, but I can't think of a plan that would get us all out, and we have to get us three free in order to beat Nightmare Moon."

A white stallion, who looked as though he might once have been a match for Rarity's perfect grooming before the mines had served him as they had her broke in. His accent made it clear that he too was from Canterlot, but tone wasn't the least bit fearful. "Jet Set, my friend, she is absolutely correct. If there is any chance at all of toppling that tyrant we must take it, even at the cost of our own lives."

"Trust you to go right to the heart of things," Rarity said to him with a warm smile. "Yes. I wish I could take all of you, but Twilight tells me that I am the one needed, and I am forced to agree with Fancypants. Any chance at freeing Equestria is more important than other considerations. So I am with Twilight and her plan all the way."

Twilight felt a warm glow to hear Rarity stand up for her, even though in this world the white unicorn hardly knew her.

"Yes indeed. Now tell us of this plan of yours, my dear," said Fancypants. "I'm sure we'll all do our utmost on Miss Rarity's behalf." He shot Jet Set a stern look and the other unicorn looked away, obviously cowed. Then he turned to Twilight expectantly.

"Okay," said Twilight with renewed determination. "Here's the plan."

"Here is the plan," said Luna to the worried pegasi hovering next to her.

:We're almost to the forest,: Dale reported silently to her even as she spoke. :I have no idea if they'll follow us past that boundary. A few of us have had trouble keeping up, but the dogs have been having some trouble too.: She could sense a sort of fierce excitement to Dale's mental words, and with them came images. When the ponies had scattered Dale had stuck with Pinkie Pie and the other Elements. Big Macintosh was still with them as well and the two stallions were bucking any dogs that caught up with them right in the teeth. It hadn't stopped the dogs, but it had slowed them. The ordinary grunts seemed reluctant, and the leaders had to goad them with curses and threats in order to keep them chasing after the ponies. It wasn't over yet, but it looked like Dale, and more importantly the Elements of Harmony with him, might well make it. Unfortunately the dogs had numbers enough to send some after the fleeing ponies and keep a second force right outside the door, so there was no easy escape for Luna and her trapped fellows.

"The diamond dogs are outside in force, so we are going in, not out. There are so many out there that they have to have pulled every dog they have out of the mines." I hope, she added silently to herself. "The other ponies are already nearly free. Once we're into the tunnels I'm sure we can find one of the other exits that they have been using, and as we're all pegasi once we're into the air they will not have a chance of catching us."

She looked around orienting herself. She couldn't see her goal with her eyes, of course, but her magic could find the way. Maintaining the spell that kept them all safe from being crushed under tons of rock while searching for the tunnel that must lead inward was difficult, and digging was going to be even harder, but she had enough power to do it.

It was risky, of course. Earth tended to muffle magic, and thus Nightmare Moon might still never notice the amount of unicorn energy Luna was pouring forth, but it might be enough power to bleed through, they weren't that deep. The alternative, however, was death, so she could do nothing but work as swiftly as possible. So as soon as she located the uncollapsed portion of the tunnel she immediately released the seeking spell and began a digging spell. She strained, her horn glowing brightly, trying to hold the sphere intact around them while creating a tunnel to it. The fallen rocks she dug through were unstable, and pieces kept falling into the tunnel. In frustration, her horn glowing brighter still, Luna extended the shield that kept them safe into the tunnel she was digging, shoring up the ceiling with pure force. Rocks and earth flew as she dug faster and faster. She was reaching the limit of her power. If she exhausted her personal reservoir of magic without finishing the tunnel out they would be trapped indeed, and doomed as the unstable bubble collapsed around them, burying them in tons of stone and earth.

Just as her worry was turning into certainty that they were all doomed, the tunnel broke through into open space. With a feeling of massive relief Luna said, "Quick, everypony though the tunnel."

Derpy Hooves was the first to swoop down and land on the bottom of the bubble. She ducked and climbed into the narrow tunnel Luna's magic had dug. One by one the others followed her. Spitfire went last, looking hesitant. "If I get stuck I'm going to freak out," she said.

"You will not get stuck, it is wide enough. But hurry, I cannot hold this much longer."

"Right. Okay." Spitfire swallowed, then ducked in as well.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Luna followed. She was a bit taller than the others and nearly had to crawl, but it was just big enough. As soon as she was well clear of the bubble she let the spell holding it go. Instantly there was a roar as it collapsed behind her. Spitfire stopped with a squeak of terror, and Luna bumped into her rump. She had to nudge the mare a bit to get her to move forward again. Her magic was still steadily draining away, since she had to keep the ceiling of the tunnel up. But soon she was out in the open and she could let that go as well. It didn't fall in quite as spectacularly as the bubble had, but it was no longer passable either.

With just enough magic left to summon a tiny spark of light to the tip of her horn, Luna looked around her. Behind was a tumbled slope of debris from the cave in. Ahead a vaulted empty space, leading off into the unknown darkness. And eight pegasi were looking at her, all of them fearful, worried, or nervous. Luna had a moment of panic. Twilight was the one who'd made all the plans. How was she supposed to proceed now, with their plans completely shattered? What was she supposed to do? Then she felt Dale reaching out to her again, even though though she knew he himself was still in danger. :You'll do just fine. Calm down. Think through your options. You're a princess, you can lead a few ponies.:

:I am a princess in name only, I have never lead anything or anyone.:

:Well, perhaps it's time you learned how. We've reached the trees, and it looks like the dogs are even more reluctant to go into the forest than they are to chase bucking ponies. So we're probably safe. We'll need to regroup, hopefully we didn't lose anyone when we scattered. But Pinkie, Rainbow, and Applejack are still with me, so the plan proceeds with only trivial interruptions: She could nearly see him grin as he said that.

:Trivial. Right.:

:Remember. Think over your options, don't panic, and then just do the best you can.:

:Don't panic. Easier said than done. But I shall try.:

"Luna?" asked Spitfire, looking worried.

Luna blinked, and looked once again at the scene before her. Think over my options. I have only one right now, go forward. "Forgive me, I let my mind wander," she said to the fearful, hopeful pony faces turned towards her. "The only way out is further in, for now at least. Let us be off."

"Almost to the tunnel," whispered Twilight. She shot a silent prayer towards Celestia that the tunnel she'd dug in would still be open, undiscovered.

Behind her eight unicorns and one pegasus tip-hooved through the mine. They went in almost complete darkness, only the faintest of glows coming from their horns. Up ahead Twilight heard a faint sound. She stopped and extinguished her horn light, then peered cautiously around the corner. Up ahead was the hastily-dug tunnel they'd entered by. But standing around it, examining it by the glow of a small lamp, were three diamond dogs.

Twilight bit back a curse. She'd hoped to get clear of the mine before having to fight. But there were ten of them, even if one was Fluttershy and the rest were hardly in peak physical condition. They should be able to take three diamond dogs. All they had to do was get past them.

She turned back to the others. "All right, this is it. There are three dogs at the tunnel entrance. We have to get as many of us as possible past them. If we can take them out that's great, but just getting past them is the main goal. Ready?"

Nine faces, showing varying degrees of fear and determination, nodded.

"Then go!" Twilight spun and led the charge, staying silent as she could, though her hooves were loud on the stone. The diamond dogs turned when she was still some distance away. She hit one with a magical shove, and it tumbled off its feet. The other unicorns were right on her heels. Fancypants even pulled level with her, his horn blazing.

Then out of the little tunnel itself came three more dogs. "Bucking Horseapples!" Twilight swore. There was no way they could fight past all six, and there might be more in the tunnel or at the other end. She skidded to a halt, unicorns piling up behind her. "Retreat!" she shouted, making a split-second decision. Running was the only option that didn't end with them all captured.

"I shall give you time," said Fancypants in a calm voice. "Run swiftly."

Rarity, who had turned to run, halted and turned back. "Fancypants! No!"

Colgate shoved her. "Go Rarity! Go! If we don't get you free this all fails, run!"

Twilight reached the halted pair and shouted, "Come on Rarity! Run!"

Rarity gave Fancypants one last glance. His horn was glowing so brightly it was blinding, and he had set himself in the center of the tunnel, facing the diamond dogs, who were all hesitating, squinting against his brilliant light. Then she turned and ran. Twilight, running at her side, saw tears streaming back from her eyes as she ran.

Twilight was almost in tears herself. They had failed to get out, and now the Diamond Dogs knew that the mine slaves were trying to escape. They would be guarding all the exits! The rebellion was going to fail here, with half the Elements trapped in the mine.

The silence in the mine was eerie. Somewhere outside the Diamond Dogs would be regrouping, having chased the fleeing rebels into the forest. Somewhere deeper in the mine slaves must be working, though they were hopefully now short one white unicorn, if Twilight had been successful. But where Luna and the other pegasi were the only sound was the clopping of their own hooves.

Spitfire was walking next to Luna. The others trailed behind, following the feeble glow of Luna's horn. "Do you think we'll find a way out?" she asked Luna in a low voice.

"Yes. We know there are many exits. It's just a matter of time until we find one." Luna tried to sound confident, though she felt anything but. She was choosing passages at random whenever they came to a fork. She had no idea if they would ever find their way out.

Luna looked over at the mare walking beside her. Spitfire looked horribly nervous. She kept glancing up, at the rocks only a few feet above her head. The ceiling was low here, Luna had to duck from time to time to keep her horn from hitting it. And though Spitfire had plenty of room she sometimes ducked too, and shied for no reason.

"Are you well, Spitfire?" asked Luna.

"Yeah. Yeah, just... I don't like it when I can't see the sky. Buildings are okay, though I'd rather be outside, but this..."

Luna nodded. "Yes. But we should be out soon. Meanwhile... talk to me. Tell me about yourself. How did you come to be at the stable?" Luna hoped that if Spitfire talked she would be distracted from her fear. Phobias could cause irrational panic, and having one of the group break down would be a very bad thing in this situation.

"I was in the Ponyville rebellion. We'd gone there to participate in the Summer Sun Celebration, you know. The Wonderbolts, I mean. I was the captain..." She sighed. "It seems like much more than a year ago. The whole world was different then."

"Were you and Rainbow Dash together back then?" Luna regretted the question as soon as she had asked it. It was nosy, and none of her business.

"No. The battle was the first time I laid eyes on her. And she didn't... we didn't... I got to know her after. In the stables, she did everything she could for us all, even though that wasn't very much. That's what made me admire her. That's what made us all admire her. You notice that the rest of us were reluctant to fly. We'd all decided that we wouldn't, when she was there. Because we respect her. But the battle... I didn't come away from that liking her, no." Spitfire's tone was bitter.

"I am sorry Spitfire," said Luna. "I should not have pried. 'Tis none of my business."

"I dunno, it's kind of a relief to talk about it to somepony. I've spent too much time thinking myself in circles about what happened there."

"Well... if you wish to talk, what did happen? I know only that there was a battle, and that Nightmare Moon's forces won."

"Yeah. I didn't see it all. No one pony could, it was complete chaos. At first we were doing all right. The Shadowbolts look flashy, but they're not actually very good. The Wonderbolts are much, much better, and some of the locals weren't half bad too. Her unicorns had a little bit of an edge, but not much of one, and with the skies in our hooves we were whittling away at it pretty good. And Rainbow... she was everywhere. She pulled a sonic rainboom over the battlefield early on. Knocked the Shadowbolts on their sorry tails, and startled the buck out of me, let me tell you. I'd thought that was just a myth. But she did it. She was so fast. I... I wasn't fast enough."

Spitfire fell silent, and her head dropped. It was some time before she continued. "Soarin... He was like the brother I never had. We were very close. And he was right in the thick of it. When Nightmare Moon entered the fighting herself he caught a bolt in the wing. And he'd been really high up. I saw it... I saw it but I wasn't fast enough to catch him. And Rainbow... she was fast enough, she pulled another boom right after that, she still had enough left, she could have done it, but she didn't. She didn't. And he hit the ground hard. Dead, just like that. Gone, and I wasn't fast enough."

Luna hesitantly gave Spitfire a nuzzle. "I am sorry."

"That's life. Lots of ponies bought it in that fight. Lots more have bought it since. I just... I don't know, some days. If I could change just one thing about how that came out, would I save Rainbow's wings, or Soarin's life, you know? Rainbow is something special, but some days I can't help but still hate her for not saving him. And some days I know she hates me for being able to fly when she can't. I don't think we'll ever make it work. There's too much pain between us."

"Spitfire, I..." Luna suddenly stopped, her head going up, her ears pricked. She heard the clatter of hooves in the distance. And since Dale and the others were all accounted for outside, it was either the mine slaves, or...

"Quickly," she said, "This way," and ran in the direction of the sound. The hoofsteps in the distance grew louder, and up ahead Luna saw a spark of light, shining from the tip of a unicorn's horn. A moment more and she could make out the purple coat, the flying indigo mane. It was Twilight!

Luna's heart leapt, though she knew that was irrational. Seeing Twilight here was a bad thing, she was supposed to have escaped during the chaos of the attack on the front gates. But Luna couldn't help but be glad to see her all the same.

The two groups of ponies, pegasi and unicorns, came together. "Twilight!" said Luna.

"Luna! I'm glad to see you. But aren't you supposed to be outside?"

"We got trapped when the diamond dogs collapsed the ceiling on us."

"Where's everyone else?"

"Outside, most of them ran for it in time, but we were deeper in when it happened."

"They're all right then?"

"We haven't been able to do a head count, but most of them made it. The other elements did, at least."

"Thank Celestia."

"But what about you? You're supposed to be out by now."

"We're trapped." Twilight frowned. "Well and truly trapped, and you with us too. When we got a little distance on the group after us, they stopped even trying to catch us, and I'm afraid that probably means they've sealed all the exits."

Luna had to bite back a stream of very impolite words. How were they supposed to get out now?

A noise in the distance made Luna whip her head around.

"Horseapples." Twilight muttered it under her breath. "They're following us after all, just slowly. We've got to get out of here. But now that you're with us..." She turned to one of the unicorns with her. "Colgate. What's the deepest shaft in this mine? Can we get there without going near any of the exits?"

"The... deepest? That'd be the one where they found all those sapphires, I guess. We dug that one really far down before giving up on it. But why do you want to go deeper?"

"I'll explain on the way, but they're catching up fast, we need to get moving."

"Right. That way then." The blue unicorn pointed, and Twilight took the lead, setting off down the passageway back in the direction Luna had come from.

"Twilight..." Luna ran by Twilight's side. She trusted the purple unicorn, but going deeper seemed like complete insanity.

"Stone insulates magic, right?"

"Yes."

"We can't get out by the regular exits, right?"

"Right."

"But we could use magic to make an exit... if we can keep Nightmare Moon from noticing it. So we need to be deep."

"But we'll have to tunnel to the surface, so going deeper will only make us need more magic."

"Not if we use a portal spell."

"But... but Twilight... you have not cast one before. Are you sure it will work?"

"You've cast several now, why would I need to?"

"Oh dear. Twilight, I used up most of my magic saving us from the cave in. Supporting tons of stone takes a great deal of power. I can barely keep my horn alight. And down here there's no moonlight, I cannot replenish myself."

Twilight looked panicked. "What? But... but... No, let me think this through. There has to be a way! I refuse to give up!" Her brow furrowed with thought as she ran. Colgate directed them through several branchings, and the tunnels they chose began to slope noticeably downward. They were committed now, but Luna had to admit that with the exits guarded there were not many other options. The diamond dogs had them outnumbered and outmaneuvered. Only something unlikely would get them out.

"Aha!" Twilight grinned over at Luna. "The horn-touch! I can transfer magic to you! Uhm." Suddenly she blushed. "If you don't mind. I mean it's... uh... personal I know, but this is an emergency and..."

"I do not mind, Twilight. As you say, it is an emergency." Luna was not going to say what she was thinking, which was that she had been secretly hoping for the chance to touch horns with Twilight again since that first time.

"Great! Thank you."

They ran on, galloping through the tunnels in a clatter of hooves, pegasi and unicorns together in one long string of ponies. The faint sounds of pursuit were always behind them, the diamond dogs were in no hurry, they knew they had their quarry trapped, but they weren't going to give up. The tunnel they followed twisted downward, corkscrewing into the earth.

Ahead an irregular wall loomed. Twilight halted her headlong run just short of it. They had reached a dead-end.

"We're here," said Colgate. "This is the deepest part of the mine."

With everyone halted Luna pricked her ears, listening. The sounds of pursuit were very faint. They should have enough time.

"Luna?" said Twilight.

"Yes." Luna stepped close and touched her horn to Twilight's, trying not to be nervous. She felt the touch of Twilight's soul immediately. It was much like that first time. Twilight was still a bright, lively swirl of thoughts and ideas, strong and intelligent. It was wonderful to feel that brilliant soul touch her own. But Twilight was harder now, with a core of grim determination that was much more a part of her than it had been. Her experiences over the past few weeks had changed her.

Luna tried not to feel guilty for that, and concentrated on pulling the magic she would need. She thought, as the power welled up in her, that she could stay like this forever, just her and Twilight, together. Something in the way Twilight's soul touched hers suggested that Twilight too wished to prolong their contact. But it took only a few seconds before she was finished and, reluctantly, lifted her head, breaking the connection. Twilight looked up at her. Luna looked back. They were both slightly flushed, and it was Luna who looked away first, not willing to face what had passed between them.

"Better cast the spell quick," said Twilight. The barks and shouts of the diamond dogs were growing closer. They didn't have much longer. Luna shut her eyes and started. She hoped Twilight was right and they were deep enough. The shield she'd created earlier had been draining, but not that energetic. But portals were "noisy" spells, they had to be. And nothing could hide the flash of power at the other end when they came out. Still, the worst of it would be right here, a flare that absolutely would draw Nightmare Moon's attention if Twilight was wrong.

Her horn blazed to life and she built the spell quickly. Soon the end of the tunnel was ringed in light, and with a rainbow flash the ring became a sheet became a doorway to elsewhere. The other side was Fluttershy's cave. "Quick, go through!" Some of the ponies hesitated, awed and fearful, but Colgate leaped through and the others quickly followed. Soon only Twilight and Luna were left. "Go," said Luna, and Twilight nodded and followed the rest. And then, with her magic once again nearly spent, Luna followed her, and the portal collapsed behind her.

They had done it.

All they had to do was rendezvous with Dale and the others and all six elements would be together! And then... Fear and eagerness warred within Luna at the realization. Then it would be time to face Nightmare Moon and bring an end to her eternal night.

Chapter 9

"Take that, you accursed piece of parchment!" The black alicorn's eyes slitted with rage and a bolt of pure magic shot from her horn to the offending document. It sizzled and burned satisfactorily. The dark mare stood on the dais of her throne room, her chest heaving with anger, the burnt spot before her marking yet another of her failures.

"I will do it," she muttered angrily to herself. "I will." She glared at the scorch mark, then hissed out another curse as she realized that her own rage-driven spell had melted some of her beautiful frost. Her slitted eyes flicked up to where the guards flanking the door were carefully not looking in her direction at all. She glared at them for a while, hoping that one would cough, or twitch, or give her some other excuse to vent her rage on him, but neither did. She snorted in frustration and looked out the window instead. Moonlight streamed down onto the city, as always, and she sighed, relaxing a little bit at the sight of her lovely, eternal night.

"I brought the night that never ends. I have brought a winter that never ends too. I defeated my accursed sister. I can certainly master this spell and bring my perfect servants to life. I know I can. It will simply take time, that is all." She nodded to herself. She was the Queen--no, the Goddess of Night. All would come out according to her desires in the end. It always did.

After some time spent contemplating the moonlight she heard the faintest possible scuff of hoof against stone. She turned her head to see one of her Shadowbolts bowed before her throne. She had bowed so low she was practically prostrate, in fact, with her nose pressed to the freezing floor. The alicorn smiled faintly, her ill temper further eased by this display of proper respect. After waiting long enough to be certain the pegasus mare would be half frozen, she spoke.

"You may rise and report."

"Yes, your Majesty." The pegasus got to her feet, but paused to bow again before continuing. "There was an incident at the diamond dog mines yesterday."

"An incident." The alicorn's eyes narrowed. "What kind of incident?"

The pegasus swallowed. Being the bearer of bad news could be fatal, but somepony had to make the report, and she had gotten the short straw. "There was an attack on the mines, and while a group of ponies distracted the guards by pretending a frontal assault, a smaller group tunneled into the mine and freed the unicorn slaves there."

"And how," hissed the alicorn dangerously, "was this feat, which I was assured could not be done, accomplished?"

"The dogs say it was magic, your Majesty. They'd cornered the unicorns trying to escape in the deepest part of the mine, but then they all simply vanished."

"I see. I would not have thought such pathetically weak unicorns would have had the skill to cast such a spell." Her mind flashed to the stables, and the slave ponies slain by magical fire. Could this be more of the same? But who would kill slaves one day and free them the next? At least this time there were witnesses. Perhaps... "I presume the dogs saw enough of the ponies attacking to identify those responsible?"

"They recognized Pinkie Pie and some of her rebels," said the Shadowbolt.

"Ah." That was almost disappointing. Merely another pathetic rebel attack, albeit a more successful one than most. "Perhaps it's time I wiped out Pinkie's little band once and for all. Was there anything else?"

"Yes your Majesty. The dogs said that the distracting attack was lead by an alicorn."

"What?!" The shadowbolt cringed and flattened herself to the floor again. "Describe her!”

"S-she was shorter than you, your majesty," the pegasus was trembling and stammering now. "Her coat was blue, and her hair lighter blue. But her cutie mark was also a crescent moon."

The black alicorn stepped back in stunned silence. Then she screamed, "WHAT?! No! You lie!"

"P-please, your Majesty, I'm only saying what the dogs said. I'm sure they're wrong. They're stupid animals! Please don't kill me!"

For a moment the black alicorn glared at her and considered doing just that. But that would mean delay while she summoned another servant. So the bolt of power that threw the pegasus mare halfway across the room didn't kill her; it just left her stunned and wailing with pain. "Oh shut up," she said, stalking over to the smaller mare. "Get up, go to the captain. Have her take the Shadowbolts to the mines and find out what really happened!"

"All of them, your Majesty?" said the dazed pegasus.

"Yes all of them, you cretin! I want every single diamond dog questioned. I want every scrap of information anyone can find about this blue alicorn. And I want it by tomorrow! Go now, before I decide to kill you after all. If you're not back with the information by next evening star-set I'll have the whole company whipped!"

"Yes your Majesty, right away, your Majesty. Thank you, your Majesty." The pegasus scurried from her presence with remarkable speed.

The black alicorn returned to her throne and settled on it, her face creased with unaccustomed lines of worry. She was very familiar with the alicorn the dogs had described, but that description was an impossibility. The Princess Luna had died the day Nightmare Moon had thrown that name aside to take a new one, and no living pony had ever set eyes on her to know to counterfeit her appearance. No living pony in Equestria, at least. Her eyes narrowed. "Perhaps it's time for me to check in on my dear sister," she murmured.

"We are gathered here today to celebrate the life of our good friend Marie Mare." Pinkie Pie stood on the dais at one end of the room, with the various rebels and freed slaves looking up at her. Pinkie's mane was as bright and fluffy as ever, but her smile held a hint of a deep, aching sadness. She had spoken words like these far too often over the past year. "There is much to celebrate. She was a kind, capable mayor for many years, and when mean ol' Black Snooty came, she was one of the first to stand up to her. She was also my friend, and a friend to a lot of you. So it's okay if we all cry just a little."

She paused, and Twilight, standing among the gathered ponies, saw the sparkle of tears in Pinkie's eyes. "But we should all smile too, and remember all the good things about her. So please, anyone who wants to come and share happy memories, come up and speak."

Twilight stayed where she was while ponies began to file forward. She was once again reminded of how much of an outsider she was here. It would feel presumptuous for her to try to speak. She had not lived through the past year with these ponies, though just now she felt as though it had been a decade or so since she'd stepped through the portal. She tuned out the eulogies and closed her eyes, letting her head sag wearily. She was so very tired. Her head sagged further, then jerked up as she felt a soft touch on her shoulder.

She glanced over to find Luna standing beside her, while all around ponies scattered, the funeral apparently ended. "When did you last sleep, Twilight?" asked Luna. Twilight blinked at her tiredly for a moment.

"Uhm. In Manehattan?"

"You did not rest before we set out to rescue Rarity?"

"No. I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking of things that might go wrong with our plans. I sat up all night thinking up backup plans in case of any possible emergency." She smiled a bit wryly. "Though of course none of those emergencies were anything like what actually went wrong."

"You did well all the same. I am not sure I could have come up with such a plan. And it seems to have worked. Though..." she hesitated. "I know you need sleep, but we cannot rest now. Pinkie has said, and I agree, that we must move from here. It is no longer safe. There is a camp in the forest where we may make our final plans before setting out for Canterlot."

Twilight nodded. A scout had reported seeing a flight of Shadowbolts over the forest near where Luna's portal from the mine had emerged, though thankfully all the rescued ponies had been well away from it by then. But there was no doubt that Nightmare Moon would have reason to cast suspicious eyes on the Everfree Forest, and the castle was far too close to the portal's entrance for them to stay. They had paused only to honor Marie, who'd been killed when the diamond dogs brought down their tunnels, and to gather what supplies they could before leaving. "I'll be all right," she said. "I've stayed up longer than this before, after all."

Luna chuckled softly. "Yes. Though I am told you made a few somewhat... questionable decisions when last you chose to go without sleep."

Twilight managed a small smile. "Well, yes. Still, I can rest once we've reached the new camp, right?"

"Indeed."

Most of the ponies had left the room by now, and Twilight followed, weary to the bone with a tiredness that was as much spiritual as physical. It was easy enough to put one hoof in front of another. It was harder to think about where those hoofsteps would lead. She knew she ought to be feeling excited and confident. They'd done the impossible and gathered all six Elements in one place. Victory was nearly at hand. She tried to focus on that, but her mind kept circling back to dark things. To the funeral, and Marie's death. To all those who had died. To Spike, who she missed intensely, and to her other self, who had failed, and died, and caused all those other deaths. Including Spike's.

Somehow that thought was enough to bring her to the edge of tears. Even though she knew her Spike was alive and well, waiting for her back home, knowing that this Spike was dead, and that this universe's Twilight had lead to that death, made her want to weep. It didn't make sense, but she felt tears gathering in her eyes as she walked all the same.

The walk to the new camp didn't take very long, but with her mind trapped in thoughts of death and failure it seemed like an eternity to Twilight. She was pathetically grateful when they finally arrived and it was time to gather for one last planning session.

She got her notes from her saddlebag, taking comfort from the rustle of paper in her hooves. With everypony else gathering around beneath a giant mushroom she didn't have time to read through them all one last time as she might have liked, but she did smile a little at the top page, where her checklist of the Elements was now complete. Seeing that made her feel just a bit more hopeful. They had come this far, surely they could win!

Once the six elements and Luna had all gathered around, all eyes turned to Twilight. "So what's the plan?" asked Rainbow Dash

"Now we need to get us six in front of Nightmare Moon."

"So we get to storm the castle!" said Pinkie Pie exuberantly.

Twilight smiled a little. "Yes."

"That will not be easy," said Rarity with a frown.

"Have you been inside the castle since Nightmare Moon took over?" asked Twilight. "I used to live there, but I'm sure she's changed things."

"Yes. My trial, after I was caught aiding badgeless ponies in Canterlot, was there. Though I didn't see Nightmare Moon herself. I think the largest problem is going to be getting in the front gate. They do generally keep the drawbridge down, but there are always at least four guards stationed there, the whole thing is wrapped in a dozen protective spells, and there's also the dragon."

"Dragon!" That was Applejack. "We're goin' ta have ta fight a dragon?"

"Oh no, no, it's not like that!" said Rarity reassuringly. "Why the little thing could hardly hurt a filly, it's just a baby. But the guards use it to send messages instantly to each other with dragon's fire. The captain of the Black Corps will know as soon as we assault the gate, and he can coordinate the defenses. We'll have half the Corps right on top of us before we can get across the drawbridge!"

Twilight had barely heard anything Rarity had said after the words "just a baby". She felt like she'd been hit between the eyes. "Wait... what did this baby dragon look like?"

"He had purple scales and green spines. Quite a handsome little fellow, for a dragon. Though he kept staring at me rather strangely the whole time I was at the gatehouse."

Twilight felt her heart jump. That had to be Spike! He was alive! She tried to gather her scattered wits. They needed to plan. Spike being alive didn't change anything. But it changes everything, whispered some part of her. She shook herself. No, she couldn't let this sidetrack her from the plans they needed to make!

Luna thankfully stepped in. "So. Our challenges are the guards, the protective spells, and the messages that will summon more guards. I think, actually, that none of those will pose much of a problem. Our only goal is to get you six to the throne room. Secrecy will not matter, nor will much else. I believe if I summon my full power I can easily dispel any wards, neutralize any guards, and prevent the dragon from summoning help. Of course the instant I do, Nightmare Moon will know we are there, but within minutes we can be at the throne room, and it will not matter what she knows."

Twilight managed to pull herself together. "Yes," she said. "If you can clear a path for us, we can run straight from the gate to the throne room in only seven minutes." She smiled. "I've, uhm, had reason to run that path as fast as possible a few times when I was a student."

"Then we have our plan," said Luna, sounding satisfied. There was a general murmur of agreement from the others. Looking across their faces, Twilight saw a certain amount of apprehension, but mostly she saw determination. She felt her heart lift to see it. Her friends were with her. They could do this. And Spike might be alive after all. Surely that was a good omen.

As the other ponies settled in to sleep, Twilight found herself still thinking about Spike. Was he happy? Did the guards treat him well? What would he think if he saw her? Did he know that his Twilight Sparkle was dead, or had she simply gone away and never come back?

And what if it wasn't Spike? There were other dragons in the world. There could be some other young purple dragon at the castle. Maybe Spike was still dead after all.

Twilight rolled over restlessly. It was still cold and her blanket was somewhat inadequate, but she was tired enough she should have been able to sleep soundly. It was thoughts of Spike that were keeping her up. No matter how she tried to still her mind, she couldn't keep it from running through dozens of scenarios. Spike chained to the wall in the castle, starving and miserable. Spike lying dead somewhere. Spike waiting home alone for a pony who would never return. Spike crying over her death.

Finally she gave up on sleep for the moment and rose. The blue unicorn stallion standing watch, whose name she couldn't recall, nodded at her but didn't ask questions as she made her way to a spot far enough into the mushroom grove to not wake anypony. She started to pace back and forth. It must be Spike that Rarity had seen. He'd even stared at her, no doubt stunned by her beauty, as the Spike of her own world had been. But maybe it wasn't. Maybe he was still dead. Maybe Rarity had some certain something that appealed to dragons in general. For all Twilight knew it was another dragon, thinking about his dinner as he stared at the gems on Rarity's flank!

She paced faster, her mind racing around and around on the same track. Spike alive. Spike dead. Spike alive. Spike dead. Spike alive. Spike dead. Like some kind of Schrodinger's dragon, she thought, half-crazed, her eyes a little wild.

"Maybe I have to collapse the wave form then!" She stopped pacing and stood, shifting uncertainly, as the idea she hadn't even meant to speak aloud spread through her mind. If she could just know whether Spike was alive or not... Suddenly she knew exactly how Applejack must have felt back in Manehattan. She had to know. But that was crazy! She couldn't just scry here. Even if she had water to scry in, using unicorn magic in the Everfree would get her noticed, possibly caught, and ruin everything.

She started pacing again. Surely there was a solution? Surely she should be able to think of something. If she wasn't anywhere near her friends... and Nightmare Moon had failed to notice short duration magic before, hadn't she? She could cast the spell swiftly, and then teleport away. That would be safe enough, wouldn't it?

Before she even realized she'd decided, she started trotting further from the camp, in the direction of the ruins of Ponyville. When she'd put a fair distance between herself and the camp she teleported ahead. Teleportation, or winking as the art had been called in ancient times, was line of sight. In open space that meant one could go a great distance, but in the forest it was more limited. Still it moved her faster than her hooves alone could have.

Soon she arrived at Ponyville. The fountain at the center still held some brackish water, and though frost rimmed the edges of it, and it was choked with decaying matter and fungal growths, a patch was free of ice and smooth enough to scry in. She cast the by now familiar spell swiftly... but the water stayed empty. Twilight frowned, then smacked herself in the forehead with a hoof. Of course it wasn't going to work; she'd tried to scry Spike before and failed. "I really do need to sleep, I'm not thinking clearly," muttered Twilight. What had Luna said? If a scrying spell didn't find somebody, it meant they were either dead or... or... surrounded by powerful magic, that was it. And Spike was living in Canterlot. Right at the palace itself. Of course he was surrounded by magic. Perhaps Nightmare Moon had even bound him in some kind of spell to force him to serve her...

Twilight's eyes went up, to where she could see Canterlot itself, far off in the distance. The moon was still brilliant overhead, and the light was more than bright enough for her to see the palace clinging the peak above the city.

Spike was at the gatehouse.

Which Twilight could just make out in the distance.

A straight line of sight.

There was a feverish light in Twilight's eyes as she stared at the spot where Spike surely must be. Surely. But perhaps not. He might be dead. And she had to know!

She knew it was insane. Somewhere under the froth of worry and fear, she knew that.

But all she could think of was Spike. Spike dead. Spike alive. Spike dead. Spike alive.

Twilight stood staring across the miles at the tiny speck of the palace gatehouse for a long, long moment.

Then her horn lit and she winked out of existence.

With a flash of magic, Twilight Sparkle appeared on the road in front of the gatehouse. It hadn't really been built for defense; before Nightmare Moon had taken over the simple structure had provided an antechamber before ponies entered the palace proper. It was still structurally the same, and the doors still stood open, almost as if in mockery of Celestia's policy that anypony could gain access at any time, but they were now flanked by a pair of stern, black-armored unicorn guards. More could be seen inside the door, where across the modest chamber a second, closed, pair of doors lead into the palace proper.

The guardsponies' horns glowed, both leveled threateningly at Twilight. She, however, completely ignored them, peering into the chamber beyond, scanning among the ponies for a glimpse of purple and green scales.

She spotted Spike at the exact same time he spotted her. He stood among the guards, seemingly free and unfettered. Twilight had nearly expected to find him chained to a wall, or wearing a magical collar, or bearing some other restraint, but there was no sign of any such. He looked sleek and well-fed as well, and Twilight felt a shock, and then a second shock as she realized how much it had hurt, seeing all her friends so abused. She smiled, a tear starting in her eye, to see Spike looking so well.

Spike continued to stare at her for a long moment. Then he said softly, disbelievingly, "Twilight?"

"Yes, it's me," said Twilight.

One of the unicorns flanking the gate turned to Spike. "You know this mare?" he asked.

Spike nodded, and Twilight was puzzled to see his expression harden into one of grim determination. "Yes," he said, his voice rough with... anger? "I know her. This is the traitor Twilight Sparkle. Arrest her!"

Twilight felt as though the world had dropped out from under her hooves. "W-what?" she stammered, even as the unicorn guards ran to tackle her, their horns flaring with magic. She knew some basic combat spells, she should have been able to fight at least some of them off, but she was so stunned that all she could do was stand there as their magic enveloped her.

She was still staring at Spike as the guards clapped manacles around her hooves and dragged her away.

Luna seldom needed sleep. After all they had done, however, and with the prospect of seeing Nightmare Moon tomorrow, she had felt she needed a full night's worth. Not that "a full night" had any meaning anymore.

So she woke feeling rested and energized, though once more she felt an ache to wake in darkness. How she missed the sun!

She turned to find Twilight, but there was no sign of her. Other ponies were stirring around her, though most still slept. She rose, a flash of concern running through her. Twilight had looked so strung-out and exhausted that Luna had expected to find her still asleep. If she was awake already had something gone wrong?

Pinkie Pie was up, and when Luna approached her she was greeted with a cheer that seemed to indicate no disaster had fallen during the night. "Good morning! Not that it's really morning since there's no sunlight, but there will be sunlight soon, I just know it! Nightmare Snooty is going down!"

Luna smiled at Pinkie's enthusiasm. "Have you seen Twilight yet?"

"Nope. No sign of her."

Luna frowned. "She was already awake when you arose?"

"I guess so." Pinkie frowned too. "That isn't right, is it? She looked so tired, she should still be sawing big ol' logs."

"That was my thought as well."

"I'll go look for her."

"As will I." Ponies were getting up and making breakfast preparations in the moonlight all around, and Luna circled the group three times, meeting Pinkie Pie again several times as she did so, before concluding that Twilight Sparkle wasn't merely unnoticed amid the milling ponies, but actually gone. She felt a whisper of fear that might spill over into a scream of terror at any moment. Twilight couldn't be gone. They needed her, or everything they'd done so far would be in vain.

A pale shape glimpsed out of the corner of her eye was Dale. The big stallion nosed her gently. "It'll be all right. We'll find her," he said.

"I hope so," said Luna.

Pinkie Pie bounded up to her. "Pokey Pierce saw her get up and go out into the woods a little after midnight," said Pinkie.

"Why would she do such a thing?" asked Luna.

"Dunno!"

Luna's wings twitched, and she spent a moment carefully refolding them, trying to cling to her composure. Very well. Twilight had gone off into the forest for some reason. They had to find her. "Can anypony track her?"

"No." Pinkie looked more sober than usual as she shook her head. "Tracking in this mess of mushrooms and dead leaves and rotting things is nearly impossible. That's been good for us, usually but... no."

"I see. Very well."

Luna took a deep breath. She would not panic. She would not panic. So they could not track Twilight physically. They would have to track her magically. And since she still could not simply cast a spell that would run continuously, such as the spell that would trace Twilight's track, she would have to resort to scrying. Again.

"Pinkie... get everypony ready to go. I will go find Twilight. We'll head out to Canterlot as soon as I return."

"Okey dokey lokey!" said Pinkie Pie.

Luna set off at a gallop away from the camp. Best not to cast the spell amid the ponies, lest she attract Nightmare Moon's attention before they were ready. The nearest standing water she could think of was in Ponyville and so, unknowingly, she retraced Twilight Sparkle's steps to the choked fountain at the heart of the town. Dale ran beside her, a reassuring but silent presence.

She felt the faint traces of magic around the still puddle when she arrived, and something about that made her heart sink. If Twilight had come here to scry, what had she been looking for? What could have happened in the night to change all her plans?

Luna cast the scrying spell and peered into the water, hoping for answers.

It remained empty.

Something in her stomach tightened. She tried again. Still, nothing.

A third try, with more power behind it, and Luna thought she saw a brief flicker of something. She gathered all her power to her and cast the spell once more, throwing everything short of the moon itself into it. Her horn blazed with light, and the water glowed with brilliant fury. Twilight was alive and Luna would find her!

Suddenly a scene burst into view at the center of the daylight-bright puddle. It was Twilight, alive! But her hooves were chained together and she was shuffling between a pair of black-clad guards.

Even as Luna's heart leapt in relief she felt something brush against her magic. A touch both familiar and alien at once. Instantly Luna cut off the spell and threw up every kind of shield and hiding spell she could think of.

"Quick, run for the forest!" she cried. Some physical strike might be reaching out at any moment. She thought she might have dropped the spell and shielded herself swiftly enough to keep Nightmare Moon from scrying her in return, but she knew she couldn't prevent her darker self from finding the location she'd cast the spell at, even if she couldn't find the caster. It was time to move, and fast.

They raced through the deserted town and into the forest beyond. Rotten logs broke beneath their hooves, their hearts pounded, their breath came in gasps as they sprinted as fast as they could.

Suddenly behind them there was a thundering boom. Purple-green light flashed as a bolt of magic stabbed down from the star-strewn sky. Luna glanced back, and though she couldn't see it through the trees she suspected that there was now a smoking crater at the heart of Ponyville.

She slowed to a trot, and Dale slowed as well. "Now what?" he asked.

Luna frowned, and that thread of panic returned. Twilight was alive, but Twilight wasn't here. Twilight had made all their plans, and now all those plans had gone right out the window! They couldn't just charge into Canterlot now. They would need time to find Twilight and bring her and the other Elements to wherever Nightmare Moon was. How would they buy that time? Luna might fight off Nightmare Moon herself for a while, but could just a few dozen ponies battle all of her guards long enough? Pinkie's rebels were hardened and experienced, but they made up only about a third of their force. The freed slaves were willing but not as able. They wouldn't stand a chance on their own. What was she supposed to do?

"You'll think of something," said Dale, answering her thought as he sometimes did.

"Will I? Twilight is the one who has planned all this so far. I..."

"You have planned many things in your life."

"But nothing like this. I have planned experiments. I have planned social gatherings. I have never planned a desperate rescue attempt. Every time I have needed to do something truly important, somepony else has planned it. Usually Celestia. Every time except..." She halted, shivering. She had planned Celestia's defeat and her revenge on her own. This horrible world of dark and decay was the direct result of that particular plan.

"You are not her," Dale said softly.

"I know. And yet I was. For so very, very long, I was. I know too well how she thinks, Dale. 'Tis so easy to know what she will do. Yet that does not tell me what I must do now!"

"What would Twilight Sparkle do?"

Luna blinked. Then she smiled just a little. "Make a list, no doubt."

"Then let's go make a list. And you can ask Pinkie Pie as well. She probably knows a good bit by now about desperate attempts."

Luna nodded and increased her pace. Yes, she would ask Pinkie Pie. And she might even make a list as well.

Back at the camp Luna saw that the ponies were ready to leave. She swiftly found Pinkie Pie and explained that Twilight had been captured.

"Oh, cupcakes! That's not good. That's the total and complete in every way opposite of good!"

"Indeed. I do not know how best to proceed, Pinkie. The plan Twilight created for our assault relied on speed. I would occupy Nightmare Moon whilst your ponies helped the elements run to the throne room and destroy her. Yet now we must first find Twilight! She must be within the palace complex, for who else could have captured her? Yet the palace is large, and the catacombs within the mountain larger still! How can we gain the time to locate her? While I might fight Nightmare Moon to a standstill and buy as much time as needed from her, you and your ponies could not hold out against her guards for long."

"Not alone we can't," began Pinkie. She was grinning suddenly. "But if we had a little friend in our corner..."

Luna blinked at her. "A little friend?"

"Yep! And I know just the guy! I've been saving him for a special occasion. I figured someday I could bring him to the palace, when there was nothing left to lose and hay, why not, right? Then you and Twilight changed my plans, and your way was lots better than that! But now, well... we have nothing left to lose, don't we? We get Twilight back and Black Snooty goes poof, or we don't and everything is mushrooms and darkness forever and ever and ever."

"I... uh..." Luna had no idea what Pinkie had just said.

"Come on! I'll show you," said Pinkie.

An hour later they were back at the ruined palace, but they didn't go to the old throne room this time, nor to the chamber of the Elements. Instead Pinkie Pie led the way down to the ravine that lay between the palace and the Everfree forest. There was a narrow path that wound down to the base of it, and there, in the near-pitch blackness, there was a door. "It's super-secret," said Pinkie Pie. "It goes into the basement, but you can't get there from the palace anymore, the stairs fell in a loooong time ago."

Luna nodded. She remembered the basement entrance, though in her day a spell had hidden the door.

Inside it was so dark that Luna had to light the smallest possible spark of magic at the tip of her horn to show the way. Pinkie guided them down a passageway carved from living rock. Behind her came Luna, and Dale and Big Macintosh followed. Pinkie had insisted that both big stallions come along, saying cryptically that they'd be needed.

After several minutes they emerged into a larger space. The dim light didn't show it very clearly, but Luna could just make out a stack of crates in the middle of the room. She followed Pinkie over to them.

Pinkie reached out and caressed one of them with a hoof. "Here we go! Say hello to my little friend! His name is Trinitrotoluene. Trinitrotoluene, meet Luna."

Luna blinked at the boxes, and for a moment the long word Pinkie had used was meaningless. Then she saw the much more familiar letters stamped on the side of each crate and her eyes went wide.

"Is that..."

"It most definitely and indubitably is!" Pinkie's grin was as broad as Luna had ever seen it, and her hoof once more, with loving tenderness, caressed the crate of TNT.

Author's Note

Today's exciting news: the final chapter of this story is written! I just have to run it by my co-author. So this *will* keep coming out until it's all done, no more pauses.

Also, just FYI, I have a Patreon for writing now, so if you'd like things like early access to story chapters and the ability to submit ideas for me to write, check it out.

Chapter 10

“Derpy, go,” whispered Pinkie.

The blonde pegasus nodded solemnly and took to the air, racing ahead of the little band of rebels. In one hoof she held a stick of explosive, in the other a match. She didn't have far to go. While the rest waited amid the buildings that stood nearest the palace, Derpy crossed the last few yards to the palace gate itself. A pair of wary guards stood outside it. They looked at her with narrowed eyes. The gate itself still stood open, though the inner door was closed.

“Halt!” said one unicorn.

Derpy landed on her hind legs, still clutching the TNT and the match.

“What are you...” started one guard.

“Muffins!” said Derpy cheerfully, holding up the stick of dynamite. She struck the match, lit the fuse, and flung the stick as hard as she could. It hit the inner door with a thud and fell to the floor. The guards all gaped at it for a long moment, but before they could do anything else it exploded.

The sound was the signal for Pinkie and the others to charge. Luna took the lead, her horn blazing. The dynamite had cracked the physical doors, but there were spells to crack as well. She swept them aside with ease. There was no need to save her power now, for at last she would be able to draw on the full might of the moon at need.

She clattered through the debris-strewn guardroom, trying to not look too closely at what was there. The dynamite had not just shattered the doors, it had shattered the guards as well.

The other ponies were close on her heels, but as they made their way through into the palace proper one of the guards, blood-spattered and with a mad light in his eyes, rose from the floor and leaped at the little band, horn aglow. With a battle cry, the nearest rebel unicorn met him horn to horn. Luna, glancing back, was a bit shocked to see that it was Jet Set, who'd done nothing but complain and whine the entire time he'd been with them. He wasn't complaining now though. His horn blazed, and his hooves lashed out at the guardspony, but he was still thin and weak, as all the mine unicorns were. He was soon being pushed back.

The rest of the rebels were still running past him, but another unicorn came up beside him and stabbed the guard in the throat with sudden, shocking efficiency. It was Colgate, her horn now stained bright crimson. “Come on, we can't get bogged down here. Keep moving!”

Soon all the rebels were inside. They halted for a moment, looking at the huge reception room, with stairs going up, doors leading to halls, and archways letting out into the frozen gardens.

“Pinkie!” said Luna, taking charge. “The stairs will lead to the throne room. One of the doors over there,” she gestured,” goes down into the catacombs, where Twilight is likely to be held. You go that way. Everyone else, fan out and cause as much chaos as you can. We only need to keep everypony here distracted until we find Twilight and get the elements to the throne room.”

“Right!” Pinkie Pie bounced with a kind of fierce excitement.

“And whatever you do, you five stick together!” said Luna. Then she was off, horn aglow as she dashed towards the distant throne room.

“Okie Dokie!” said Pinkie Pie. “Let's go!” She galloped towards one of the doors, with Fluttershy close at her side. Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash streamed behind, with Spitfire and a few more of the former pegasus slaves trailing after.

Dale and Big Mac, standing with the remaining rebels in the middle of the room, exchanged glances. Dale jerked his head to the left. Big Mac nodded and turned to the right. They each still bore their saddlebags stuffed with explosives. Derpy, grinning a manic grin, the effect only enhanced by the way her eyes wandered independently, swooped down to Dale's side. “Let's go... buck up their muffins, shall we,” Dale asked her with a smile.

Derpy nodded enthusiastically and the pair set off, with a few more rebels in tow, to cause whatever chaos they could.

“Nightmare! I caught the traitor, Twilight Sparkle. The one that caused all this!”

Nightmare Moon’s head snapped up. A killing spell hovered at the tip of her horn, for whoever had dared to interrupt her vitally important work on the ice pony. Then she saw that it was Spike, the little dragon. He was something of a pet project, or perhaps just a pet, and she did not want to throw away the work she had put into him thus far. She stayed her hoof and dismissed the spell’s energies rather than casting it.

“What did you say?”

“Twilight Sparkle! I caught her trying to get into the palace!”

Her eyes narrowed. Two dead mares in one evening? “Have her brought here.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” said Spike, and with a ridiculous little salute he scurried out of the room.

When he returned some time later he was followed by a pair of unicorn guards, who flanked a single unicorn mare. A single, impossible unicorn mare, for she was unmistakably Twilight Sparkle, Celestia's prized student, who had opposed her so valiantly and so stupidly when she'd first returned.

“No,” said Nightmare Moon, madness and rage flashing over her face. “No! You're dead! I killed you myself!”

“Wh-what?” Spike stammered incredulously. “But Nightmare, you told me... you told me she betrayed Celestia, summoned you back, and then ran away. She abandoned Equestria. She... you...”

“Shut up!” said Nightmare Moon. She stalked down from the dais, ignoring the suddenly anguished and confused little dragon who scurried aside just before she would have trampled him. Nose to nose with Twilight, Nightmare Moon snarled at her. “You can't be here! You can't be alive! What is going on?”

Suddenly a distant, muffled explosion sounded. Nightmare Moon's head snapped up. Then she gasped. “That magic! No! It can't be!”

Twilight, who'd been just standing there, dazed, confused, unfocused, suddenly lifted her head. Luna and the others. It must be. They'd come for her. She smiled.

Nightmare Moon turned back to her, her teeth bared in a snarl. “You're going to tell me what is going on. You are impossible. The magic I sense is impossible. The things I've been told, all impossible! Tell me!”

“No,” said Twilight simply.

“Fine. Your cooperation is not required.” Nightmare Moon's mane, a dark cloud shimmering with magic, reached out and wrapped around Twilight, dragging her across the room. In her anger, the alicorn didn't even care that she was marring her beautiful frost; no more than she'd cared about ruining her careful cultivation of Spike. She was far too enraged, and it was better to act on that rage than to face the fear bordering on terror that lurked beneath it.

She flung Twilight down roughly beside the throne and fastened her chains to a ring there (a feature that had been added since she had taken this place from her sister). To the unicorns that had brought Twilight in she barked a quick command. “Go! And find out what is going on!” They instantly obeyed, leaving only the two usual guards flanking the door, and Spike, who still stood in the middle of the room, staring at Twilight in blank shock.

Nightmare Moon glared at him. “Out!”

“But I...”

“OUT!” Her horn lit, and Spike immediately scurried toward the door.

“Now,” said Nightmare Moon, advancing on Twilight with her horn aglow, “You will explain what in Tirek's name is happening!”

Twilight's horn lit in defiance. “No.” she said again, flatly.

“You little...!”

“Pardon my intrusion, but I believe I am the one you should be interrogating.”

Nighmare Moon whipped around, her mouth opening to chastise whoever would dare to interrupt her, but she stopped, gaping, at the sight of Luna standing in the doorway. Luna stood tall and defiant, and though she still felt a flutter of fear in the pit of her stomach, nothing of that showed in her face. Her horn blazed with shimmering magic, sparkles of it hovering around her like the stars on a moonlit night. Her cutie mark too seemed almost to glow, and her coat in contrast was the deep color of the sky just before the first hint of sunrise.

Twilight, looking at her, felt her heart leap. In that moment Luna was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. “Luna!” she cried, her eyes shining.

“Twilight,” said Luna.

“No! You are both dead! DEAD!” thundered Nightmare Moon.

Luna laughed suddenly. “I live. It is you who should be dead. You never should have lived at all. You were a terrible mistake--one that I shall rectify posthaste!” With that she leaped forward, galloping across the room. Nightmare Moon charged to meet her.

They met in the center of the room, horn to horn, with a crash that seemed to reverberate to the very foundations of the castle itself.

Dale trotted down a corridor. The palace was full of such magnificent halls, hung with tapestries or lined in stained glass windows. Quite a few of the windows were shattered where he and his troop had passed. He'd gotten separated from most of the other rebels; the only ones with him now were Derpy Hooves and Pokey Pierce, one of Pinkie's unicorns.

“Muffin,” declared Derpy, in this case probably meaning she was going to scout a bit ahead, for she soared down the long hall, while Dale and Pokey trailed behind.

“Do you know why... uh...” Dale turned to Pokey hesitantly, his curiosity finally overcoming his manners.

“Why she only says muffin?”

“Yes.”

“Nopony knows why muffin specifically, but... I think it's because of what happened during the battle of Ponyville. She lost her daughter. Nopony on either side was targeting foals, but these things happen. She's never been the same since then. I mean, she was always a little odd, her eyes were always like that and she had quite a few other little quirks. But she could talk like anyone else. After she found her daughter though, well... muffin is all I've heard her say since.”

“Oh. I'm sorry.”

Pokey shrugged. “Everypony’s lost somepony, I think. I just hope that your Luna can really beat Nightmare Moon and end all this.”

“She can,” said Dale confidently. Even now he could feel, through the connection, that battle had been joined. There was no fear in Luna any more; she was holding her own. That was all she had to do; just hold her own long enough for Pinkie Pie and the others to find Twilight...

“Muffin!” shouted Derpy in warning, soaring back towards them. Behind her the sound of clattering hooves heralded another squad of guards.

“Time for some kaboom,” said Pokey with a grin. His horn lit and he lofted a stick of TNT from Dale's saddlebags to Derpy.

“Muffin,” she chirped affirmatively, and Pokey's magic flared again as he lit the fuse, even as Derpy was racing towards the oncoming foe, a squad of Black Corps unicorns. She hurled the stick and flapped madly to a halt in mid-air. It landed in the middle of the squad and exploded in the same instant. She'd gotten very good at timing the fuses so that the enemy had no time to throw the stick back.

When the deafening boom faded, the hall was still not silent, for it was now filled with the screams of wounded and dying unicorns. Grimly Dale and Pokey waded in among them. The downed ponies were mostly too shocked and injured to do much magic, and the two stallions made short work of them. They left red hoofprints as they continued down the hall, but the blood soon dried, adding to a knee-high coat of rust they both wore. The little trio had become all too expert at killing the enemy, earth pony Night Guard and unicorn Black Corps alike.

“I wonder why we haven't see any pegasi yet?” mused Pokey as they went.

Dale shrugged. “I'm just as glad. This would be harder if they could come at us from above.”

“Yeah. They're probably away on some mission or other.”

“Probably. I just hope they stay away long enough.”

“Muffin!” came a shout from ahead, and the two stallions broke into a run. Time to fight again.

“This maze is worse than the mines,” said Rarity, her horn lit with a spark of magic. The twisting corridors that lay beneath the palace were only occasionally illuminated by torches. They were also sometimes illuminated by windows cut into the rock, showing that the halls were carved into the mountain itself, running along its slopes for what seemed like miles in every direction. She was leading the way now, with Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Applejack close behind. A little further back, Spitfire and Rainbow Dash walked side by side. Their heads were together in low conversation, the pair in a world of their own, not really paying attention to the other ponies.

“What are we going to do, when this is all over, Dash?” said Spitfire softly.

“What do you mean?”

“I don't know. I just wonder if we really can make things work. With Nightmare Moon gone the world will be a happier place. But it won't undo everything that’s happened.”

Rainbow Dash glanced back for a moment at her scarred sides. “Maybe now isn't the time for this,” said said, sounding somewhat irritated.

“Maybe. But this fighting... it just keeps reminding me of Ponyville. I keep remembering Soarin.”

Rainbow scowled. “Soarin, Soarin, Soarin. Enough of Soarin, Spitfire. Maybe it's time for you to get over him already.”

Spitfire glared at Rainbow. “You don't just 'get over' losing somepony close to you.”

“And just how close was he, Spitfire? He seems to be all you ever think about. Do you think about him when you're banging me, is that how 'close' you were?”

“What?! You know he was like a brother to me, Rainbow! And if I need to get over him, maybe you need to get over your wings already! Earth ponies and unicorns manage just fine without them. You aren't a cripple, and it's not the end of the world that you can't fly!” She was no longer quiet, and she wasn't walking anymore either. She and Rainbow halted in the middle of the hall and shouted at each other, while the other ponies looked on in shock.

“That's easy for you to say!” Tears were in Rainbow Dash's eyes, even while they were narrowed with rage. “You still can--you still have the sky! You don't know what it's like to lose that! You can't know! Nopony can!” She turned suddenly and fled down a side corridor.

“Oh buck,” said Spitfire.

“Oh no! Dashie, come back!” called Fluttershy. But Rainbow was already long gone. Even on foot she was very fast.

“We need her!” Pinkie Pie scowled at Spitfire.

“Buck it. I'll go catch her,” said Spitfire. Her wings blurred into motion and she shot down the side passage, faster than any of the others could run.

“Now what?” said Applejack.

Pinkie Pie sighed. “It won't do any good to find Twilight if we don't have Rainbow Dash. So now we just have to wait, and hope she comes back soon.”

“Uhm. Not to rain on your parade, but ah don't think we'll get that luxury, Pinkie,” said Applejack. “Listen.”

They all fell silent for a moment. In the hall behind them came a faint echoing sound of hoofsteps. A lot of hoofsteps.

“Celestia-bucking strudel!” swore Pinkie in frustration. “More guards! Run!” She galloped down the path that Rainbow Dash had taken earlier, the others close on her heels. As she ran, tears gathered in her eyes and streamed back along her face. They couldn't find Twilight. Rainbow Dash was gone. The plan was falling apart and if it failed they would have no second chances. Nightmare Moon would reign forever.

Author's Note

Mwa ha ha ha ha! Yes, I am evil for ending the chapter there. :trollestia: We're finally getting to the bits that I've been eagerly anticipating since I thought all this up back after season 1. There are three more chapters and an epilogue left, and you are all in for one wild ride, lemme tell you.

P.S. I do have a Patreon now. If you want to support me in writing more like this, consider becoming a patron.

Chapter 11

The center of the throne room was incandescent with magic. Twilight had to squint to make out the two dark forms, one a little larger than the other, that jostled back and forth within it. The guards had all fled the room, unwilling to stay in the face of such overwhelming power. Twilight couldn't see Spike either, and presumed he too had fled. Only she remained, chained to the floor and unable to leave, to watch the two alicorns do battle.

Suddenly the magic flickered and dimmed. Both alicorns stepped back, panting. That they were evenly matched in raw power was hardly a surprise; neither would be able to wear the other down, either, with the moon's near-limitless energy replenishing them both. So it would come down to technique, finesse, and strategy. Simply battering each other with raw power would accomplish nothing.

Luna's eyes flickered away from her opponent to Twilight, who, she suddenly realized, was very obviously not in the dungeons to be found by Pinkie Pie and the others. She had just enough time to send a swift mental message to Dale, :Find Pinkie Pie! Tell her to come to the throne room, Twilight is here!: before Nightmare Moon, also realizing that raw power would get her nowhere, lit her horn again to cast a spell.

A raging ball of flame shot at Luna, and Luna actually laughed. The same spell, the exact same spell, that she had first thought of the very first time she had practiced dueling with Celestia! She drew the cold of the room itself around her and sucked the energy from the fireball before it had even touched her shields, then formed it into a storm of ice darts that she flung back at Nightmare Moon.

Nightmare Moon raised a spherical shield and the darts shattered against it. She laughed. “Ice, little Luna? I will show you what ice can do!” She beat her wings and wind whirled through the chamber, picking up the frost that had coated it. The fragments of ice joined into a flock of winged, coiling ice dragons.

Luna smiled. Showy, but it was still just ice. Her own shield was ready, and it was not a simple physical barrier. It was a layered construct that Celestia had taught her containing many different magics... including elemental power. It was simplicity itself for Luna to activate the fiery layer and direct its energies outward. The dragons began to melt even before they touched the shield, and those that contacted it directly didn't just melt, they sizzled, exploding into steam.

Nightmare Moon snarled as her dragons melted away, but before she could cast another spell Luna activated another part of the shield, one that made it not quite strictly a shield at all. Lightning crackled out from the orb surrounding her, striking Nightmare Moon, who had not expected offensive magic from a shield bubble. She shrieked in rage, her horn blazing with powerful magic, and the room suddenly shook. The whole palace itself, in fact, trembled, windows shattering and decorations falling from the walls.

The floor heaved up, and the marble paving stones and the plainer rock beneath flowed together into a great, hulking shape. The roughly-molded earth elemental looked more or less like a pony, and it reared up and brought both front hooves down to trample Luna. They met her shield in a blinding shower of sparks, but the shield held. The elemental reared again, pounding relentlessly on the barrier. In the background Nightmare Moon, her horn still blazing as her power kept the creature animated, laughed in triumph.

Luna smiled. The shield spell was a cast spell, not an active enchantment. She needed power to activate certain parts of it, but to hold against simple physical force required nothing further of her. She was free to use her magic to form a better counter.

Wind whirled in through the open windows and formed a dust devil in the center of the room. It picked up bits of crumbled stone as it grew and grew. Soon a whirlwind raged there, engulfing the whole chamber. Nightmare Moon was forced to raise shields of her own, diminishing the power she could feed to her creature. The wind, too, tore at it, pulling chunks from it, throwing sand against it and abrading it, gradually tearing it to pieces.

Twilight Sparkle watched this with wide eyes, fascinated by the chance to see what was quite possibly the greatest magical duel Equestria had seen in a thousand years. She had quite sensibly raised a simple shield spell over herself early on. It would not begin to hold against the full force of any of the magic being flung back and forth at the center of the room, but she was all the way at the back, to one side of the throne, and so only had to worry about the fringes of some of the effects.

Her fascination, however, was tempered with fear. That was Luna there. Luna her friend. Luna she stargazed with. Luna who had been by her side through all the horrors of this long night. She was holding her own, but for how long?

Luna herself felt no doubts. Fear had vanished in the instant that battle had been joined. The longer the battle went on, the more confident she became. Nightmare Moon's magic was powerful, but simplistic. The elemental had been a startling touch, but it was still based almost entirely on brute force. There was no finesse in anything she was doing.

Nightmare Moon suddenly dropped the spell keeping the elemental moving, letting it scatter into its component pieces. She snarled at Luna, though Luna couldn't hear if she said anything amid the raging wind. Then, suddenly, she seemed to vanish.

Luna let the storm go, the howling wind fading to silence, the debris falling to the torn floor of the throne room. She looked around, but there was no sign at all of Nightmare Moon.

Spitfire raced through the dim halls beneath the palace. She followed the sound of clattering hooves, though soon she caught a glimpse of a rainbow tail vanishing around a corner ahead. She would have caught up some time ago, but the twisting path Rainbow Dash was following meant she had to repeatedly slow to go around corners without hitting the walls.

Still she was gaining. Two more corners and she was almost on top of Rainbow. “Rainbow Dash! Slow down! Please! Your friends need you!”

“Leave me alone!”

Spitfire gritted her teeth and flew a little bit faster. She felt her feathers clip a wall as she rounded yet another corner and almost lost control, but she didn't slow down; she had to catch Rainbow Dash!

Ahead, moonlight glowed through an archway, and a moment later Spitfire shot out into an open courtyard. She had an instant to take in the scene: the shocked unicorn guard standing in the middle of the open space, the moonlight shining down brilliantly on him, Rainbow Dash throwing herself on him with a shout of rage as her anger and anguish suddenly had a physical target to expend itself on. Then the guard, with panic in his eyes, threw up his head and winked out of existence, carrying Rainbow Dash along with him.

“Buck!” shouted Spitfire. She landed in the center of the courtyard, where the guard had been only an instant before, and scanned the surrounding area. Unicorn teleportation was line of sight, she knew that much; so she should be able to see where they'd gone. But she couldn't immediately see anything. She frowned. They weren't on top of the walls around the courtyard, that was obvious. She could see a few rooftops and some of the palace's towers, so they must have gone to one of those. She took wing again and set out towards the nearest tower. She had to find Rainbow Dash!

“Muffin!” Derpy's war-cry was immediately followed by another boom. Pokey pulled another stick from Dale's pack and floated it to the gray-coated pegasus, but despite the fact that the guards still hadn't rallied enough to mount a coordinated defense against the random assaults of the trio, he was worried. There weren't very many of the little red sticks left in the pack, and there were still an awful lot of guards. The last of the squad they'd faced down in this particular crater-pocked hallway were gone now, though. He and Dale exchanged glances. “What do we do when they're out?” said Pokey.

“We'll just...” Dale suddenly froze, his eyes going unfocused for a moment. He shook himself. “We'll just have to carry on. But we've got a mission now. We need to find Pinkie Pie and the other elements.”

“Okay.” Pokey was a bit confused, but he wasn't going to question Dale. The big earth pony had lead them well so far.

“If we get separated, she needs to know that Twilight Sparkle is in the throne room, so the elements should go there.”

“Right.”

“Hey Derpy!” The wall-eyed pegasus swooped down and landed next to Dale, her head cocked to the side in a questioning gesture. “We have to find Pinkie Pie. Stop scouting for guards and start looking for pink ponies, okay?”

“Muffin,” said Derpy, and she bobbed her head up and down in agreement. Then her head snapped up at the sound of hooves on stones. “Muffin,” she said, this time in a tone that made it a curse word.

“Ah buck,” said Pokey as almost a dozen uniformed ponies spilled into the room. At least these were the ponies of the Night Guard and not unicorns of the Black Corps, but there were an awful lot of them.

“Muffin! Muffin!” This time it was an urgent command, and Derpy held out a hoof to Pokey.

“Right.” He handed her another stick, lighting the fuse as he did.

Derpy rocketed into the air. “Muffin!” she screamed, and threw the stick right in the middle of the guardsponies. Pokey pulled out another, but there were only four more after that, and once they were gone, they were going to be in a lot of trouble.

“Horseapples! Dead end!” Applejack skidded to a halt and spun around. The other four ponies with her nearly piled into her as they halted.

“Quick, back the other way!” cried Pinkie Pie, and they rushed down the hall, back to the last junction. They had to get there before the guards caught up. They'd split up from the few pegasi who'd come with them some time ago, in an attempt to lead the guards away. That had bought them a little time, but not much. Now they reached the junction just as the pursuing Night Guard did.

Applejack instantly spun and bucked one of them right in the face. He went down like any apple bucked from its tree, and about as likely to get up again. Pinkie had her knife in hoof and soon it was as bloody as Applejack's hooves. Rarity had her eyes squeezed tightly shut, but her horn was alight and one of the guards made a strangled noise as Rarity's magic wrapped around his throat. Only Fluttershy didn't join the combat, she just plastered herself to one wall, out of the way of her friends.

In a few minutes the frenzied chaos faded to silence. There had only been four guards. Now they were all down, and none of them would be getting up again. Rarity looked more than a little green as she opened her eyes at last. Applejack and Pinkie Pie weren't as queasy, but neither of them were looking too closely at the still forms either.

“Come on,” said Pinkie. “We've got to find Twilight. And Rainbow. Somehow.” She looked positively deflated, her ears drooping, her normally perky mane and tail bedraggled.

“Buck up sugarcube. We can do it.”

“You've gotten us this far, Darling.”

Fluttershy gave Pinkie a wordless hug.

“Thanks girls.” Pinkie still looked somewhat bedraggled, but she'd perked up a little bit. “You're right! We can. We can find a way out of here. The palace can't go on forever, it just can't! We'll get out in the open, get our bearings, and find Twilight, I know we will. And Spitfire will find Rainbow Dash, and everything will be okay. We're the good guys and this is the kind of story where the good guys win!”

The other three exchanged doubtful glances, but they all followed Pinkie when she bounced cheerfully down the hall all the same. What else were they going to do?

“Buck you, you mother-bucking, Sun-forsaken son of a diamond dog!” Spitfire screamed at the night sky. She wasn't sure if the comment was addressed at Rainbow Dash or at the nameless unicorn who'd winked away with her. Neither one of them were around to hear it, in any case.

She had searched every rooftop, every crenelation, every bit of the palace that was visible from the little courtyard, and every room that was accessible from any of them, and had found no sign whatsoever of Rainbow.

“Okay. Pull yourself together Spitfire. Obviously there's something you missed. Winking is line of sight. Go back and see if there's anywhere else to look. Right.”

She soared back down to the cobble-paved space and put her hooves once more on the exact spot where the unicorn had been standing. She looked around. Still nothing. Then she frowned. He'd been a big colt, his head was well above hers. That might matter. Her wings carried her up into the air, hovering a foot or so off the ground. That was probably about right. She looked around again. The angle hadn't changed much of the view. But then her eyes lit on something she hadn't been able to see at all before.

She stared, a cold chill going through her.

She could see the very tip of the peak of the mountain that stood on the opposite side of the valley from Caterlot, several miles away.

“Oh, buck me,” she whispered.

Luna stared around the suddenly silent throne room. It seemed empty save for her and Twilight, but she knew that Nightmare Moon would not have given up so easily. This was not a retreat; this was a shift in tactics of some kind.

A mocking laugh echoed through the room. “Poor little Luna. Weak, unwanted, pitiful Luna. I killed you once already, you know. I don't know how you're here in the flesh, but I promise you I can kill you again. I am better than you in every way.”

Luna declined to respond to the goading; she just kept scanning the room for the source of the voice.

“Up there!” called Twilight. Luna's eyes snapped to the peak of the arched ceiling, where a puddle of shadow clung to the highest corner. Her eyes narrowed as she considered what form of attack would be best against such a disembodied being.

Before she could implement any of the half-formed plans that sprang to mind, the shadows coalesced, but not into the familiar pony shape of Nightmare Moon. Instead, the blackness formed itself into a great eagle, its wings as wide as a gryphon's, stooping down on Luna.

With only an instant to react, Luna did the only thing she could think of. She too changed her shape, becoming a little gray mouse, low to the ground and too difficult a target for so large an eagle to hit. Nightmare Moon swooped by overhead, flapping furiously as she struggled to not hit the wall. She didn't quite succeed, and Luna giggled, the sound high and squeaky in this tiny form, as the eagle hit the unforgiving stones and dropped to the ground, momentarily stunned.

But that had been only the opening move. Suddenly the eagle changed again, black shadows flowing into a new shape. A black serpent now slithered swiftly across the floor, pursuing the mouse that Luna had become.

Luna shifted again, becoming a blue-gray cat, and raised a clawed paw to strike at the snake before her. The serpent recoiled, and Luna the cat leaped on the serpent, which writhed under her claws. Abruptly her paws passed through the coils as the snake dissolved and re-formed into a larger shape. With a deep bark a jet black hound lunged at her.

Luna hissed and fled, racing across the room with the hound hot on her heels. As she fled she shifted again, her legs growing longer, her body larger, her face changing shape, until she stopped and turned, fangs bared, a snarling gray timber wolf facing down the hound.

The hound skidded to a halt. For a moment the two canines circled, bristling and snapping at each other; but the wolf was much bigger and more powerful. Finally the hound broke off, pulling back and shifting again, swelling upward until a huge black panther stood there.

Well, if we're just going for size... Luna grinned a wolfish grin, then changed too. Now a great, midnight blue dragon loomed over the panther, her head nearly touching the ceiling. She put a clawed hand over the panther, pinning it down. “Now what, Nightmare?” she said. “I can't think of anything that beats a dragon. Unless you want to try shaping an Ursa, but then you wouldn't fit in the room. I'm not sure it's even possible to shape a star bear, anyway; they're not exactly animals.”

The panther snarled defiance, and suddenly Luna’s claws held only smoke. She looked around, but saw no new form. She returned to pony shape and once more scanned the room, looking for a hidden puddle of shadow that must be somewhere.

“You think you've won, don’t you?” said the mocking voice. “You think you can defeat me? Me, Nightmare Moon!? Foals!”

“You are the foal, Nightmare. You are a child's idea of a villain, created by a child who didn't know any better. I've grown up since then.”

“I, the foal? No! I am strong. I have put aside all the foalish notions that held you back for so long. I have power. And you... I know your weakness, Luna. I remember being you. I remember, before I learned that a cold heart cannot be broken.” Laughter filled the room again, and Luna's eyes went wide as she saw the shadow, an inky blot that hovered behind Twilight Sparkle.

“No! Twilight!”

Suddenly Nightmare Moon was there, the tendrils of her mane wrapping around Twilight. “Oh yes. I think I've won, little Luna.” She took a moment to pause for a self-satisfied chuckle before her face fell into a vicious snarl, “If you do not surrender now, I will paint your hide with this… Twilight’s blood.”

Author's Note

This chapter was so much fun to write! And yes, I am evil. Mwa ha ha ha ha, etc. I can hardly wait to post the next one! (Yes, I will be sticking to my once a month schedule. Yes, see above about being evil. But this is so close to being done, guys. Three more months feels like nothing compared to how long the story as a whole has taken me.)

I think the fact that this is a season one fic does kinda show in this chapter. Also showing: the fact that Jordanis is a damn fine editor/co-author.

This story was brought to you mostly by Jordanis, but also in part by the fine folks who support me on Patreon! If you'd like to help me write more stories like this, please consider becoming a patron.

Chapter 12

Pinkie had stopped bouncing some time ago. She was still managing to lift her feet, which was more than could be said for Fluttershy; she was shambling along like a scarcely animate skeleton. Rarity stumbled after her, and only Applejack had any bounce in her step as the four threaded their way through the mountain. They had lost the paved corridors and ended up in a series of natural caverns lined with gigantic crystals, which threw the little spark of light from Rarity's horn into a thousand glimmering fireflies all around them.

They'd wandered for what felt like hours, though it had not been that long. Fluttershy and Rarity were still thin and weak, and so had tired easily. Still, with each corner they turned to find themselves still lost, their hopes faded just that much more. They couldn't even find a way out, let alone find Twilight Sparkle.

As they stepped into yet another crystal chamber, Fluttershy's head suddenly came up. This room was not echoing and silent as the others had been. It was filled with a faint rustling, and high-pitched squeaks, on the very edge of equine hearing, bounced from the polished walls. "A bat colony!" she exclaimed softly, sounding delighted.

"We can't stop here, sugarcube," said Applejack tiredly. "We gotta keep going."

"Oh but you don't understand," said Fluttershy, shrinking away from Applejack and peering at her from behind her mane, but still continuing. "This is important."

"We all know how much you care for animals, darling, but Applejack is right," said Rarity gently.

"Gotta keep our hoofsies moving, Flutters," said Pinkie with a nod.

Fluttershy suddenly tossed her mane and stomped one hoof down firmly the sound ringing in the chamber and causing a flurry of rustles from the bats above to follow it. "No."

The other three stared at her.

"We're not moving on until I talk to one of the bats," said Fluttershy, glaring at the others.

None of them could meet that stare. They all turned away, one by one. The glare turned to a sweet smile, and Fluttershy flapped her wings, rising slowly up to where a cluster of dark-furred bodies hung from the crystals.

Her friends stared, defeated and confused, as she whispered to the bats. Rarity sagged, sinking to her hindquarters, her head hanging heavily. Pinkie frowned worriedly, looking between the hovering pegasus and the terrain ahead of them. They were probably nowhere near the exit, they needed to get moving. Applejack scowled. "Fluttershy, honey, we don't have much time," she started.

Fluttershy ignored her. Suddenly one of the bats gave a chirping call and took wing. Fluttershy clapped her forehooves together in sudden delight. "Follow Mr. Bugeater," she said, her voice still soft but exultant. "He's going to show us the way out."

Rarity's head snapped up and she pulled herself to her feet. Pinkie let out a whoop of delight and bounced a few steps before resuming a less tiring trot. And Applejack said, "Ah’m right sorry I doubted you, sugarcube. Let's move out!"

Dale stepped through a shattered wall and out into an open courtyard. His little group hadn't been the one to blow this up, so presumably Big Mac and whoever might be working with him had been here. There was no sign of other ponies now though—unless one counted the corpses of a few Night Guards.

"All right, Derpy, see if you can spot Pinkie," said Dale.

Derpy saluted silently, then flapped up into the perpetually blackened sky. Clouds formed a patchwork across the stars, and the moon was out from behind them for the moment, sending brilliant light down over the castle. The night was anything but peaceful, however. In the distance an explosion sounded. Dale hoped that meant that Big Mac still had TNT left, and not that the guardsponies were breaking out something nasty. His saddlebags were entirely empty now, so he'd shed them somewhere in the palace behind them.

Above, Derpy hovered in place, turning slowly, scanning the ground below. Dale and Pokey both looked up at her hopefully. She looked for a long time. Her slightly off-kilter eyes worked their way from the courtyards around the palace proper, up the palace itself, and to the mountain beyond. Suddenly she grinned and pointed with one hoof. "Muffin!" Dale followed her gesture, and to his surprise he could see them too, four figures making their way down a winding path from a black cave mouth high on the mountainside. The one in the lead was unmistakably pink from forelock to tailtip: it could be no other but Pinkie Pie.

A cry from above jerked Dale's attention back to Derpy. A dark-uniformed form had streaked across the sky and slammed into her, carrying her in an arc to the ground. There was a sickening thud as Derpy struck hard, the Shadowbolt's hooves slamming her against the unyielding flagstones. Her mismatched eyes dulled, unseeing, as Dale stared in horror.

The Shadowbolt grinned at him. "You’re all bucked now," she said, and began to advance with slow, teasing menace. Dale didn't even have to look up to know she was not alone; the air was alive with the low whirring of pegasus wings.

"Get to Pinkie," he said urgently to Pokey. He could sense a sudden terror from Luna, and knew that things were going wrong in the throne room. "Tell her and the others to head for the throne room as quickly as possible. Wink there if you can."

Pokey lifted a weary head and lit his horn. Dale could see the strain in him as he struggled to cast the spell. He suddenly vanished with a pop, leaving Dale alone.

The Shadowbolt laughed. "I guess your little friend doesn’t have the stomach to stand and fight," she said. "It won't save him. All you rebels are going to die tonight."

Dale was too tired to trade verbal jabs with the Shadowbolt. Instead the huge stallion lunged forward, screaming a wordless war-cry as he flung himself at the sneering pegasus. She yelped and snapped her wings out, jumping for the sky, but he hit her before she could get high enough, and she tumbled down to the ground. He gave her no time to recover, rising and driving straight down on her with both front hooves. She tried to roll aside, but she was just not fast enough on the ground. There was a crunch of breaking bone. She shrieked. Dale could hear the sound of wings growing louder and knew that the others were diving on him, but for the moment, he didn't care. The pegasus under his hooves had killed Derpy, and his rage would not allow him to let her go, whatever the cost might be. He reared up. When his hooves came down again her scream cut off instantly.

Something else struck him a glancing blow to the back of his head. It was glancing only because of how he'd suddenly dropped down, otherwise the force of it might have broken his neck. He didn't look around to see the pegasus that had hit him, or to find out of it had company, he just ran, sprinting for the nearest building. He needed to get under cover if he wanted to have any hope of surviving the next few minutes.

As he ran, he hoped that the others were faring better, but that hope was without much force. Luna was losing her battle, there didn't seem to be very many rebels still on their hooves and fighting, and as he ducked through a ragged hole into the low building beside him, the sky was filling with dark-uniformed forms. Things were going very badly indeed.

Spitfire raced across the valley, a streak of flame-colored light trailing behind her. Her heart was heavy as she flew. Rainbow Dash could be nowhere but atop that opposing peak, and that meant that all was almost certainly lost. Luna couldn't hold out forever. She'd avoided the fighting while she searched, but she'd seen enough to know that the rebels couldn't hold out much longer either. By the time she and Rainbow got back it would probably be all over.

Her pace slowed as she flew. What was the point? The rebellion was finished. They'd put up a good fight, but they'd lost. Nightmare Moon would reign forever. The night would never end. Whatever ponies managed to survive would always be her slaves. The best Spitfire and Rainbow could hope for was a relatively quick death in the fighting when they returned.

The bright streak behind her faded as she slowed. Her heart felt heavy in her chest. She might as well just sink to the ground now and give up. Only a faint wish to see Rainbow once again before she died kept her flying forward.

She angled up, climbing towards the mountain's peak. It was lower than the one that towered above the palace, but it was high enough that she still had to strain a bit to reach it.

Finally she arrived. The rounded, windswept rock was barren save for two bright splashes of color. One was the shape of a dead unicorn guard, his pale teal coat splotched with a bit of red here and there. The other was actually quite a bit lower, trying to climb down the far-too-sheer slope of the mountain's side. It was a bit of the lost daytime sky, a patch of bright blue and prismatic color: Rainbow Dash. She let out a whoop of glee as Spitfire came down to land precariously on the ledge next to her.

"Spitfire! Boy am I glad to see you! Come on, help me down from here so we can go kick some Nightmare flank!"

Spitfire stared at her dully. She wasn’t surprised that Rainbow was pretending their earlier argument had never happened; that was normal. They’d fight, one or the other of them would storm off, and then later they’d both act like nothing had happened. But she was surprised that Rainbow seemed to think Spitfire could be of any use. "It's no good. We're going to lose."

Rainbow blinked, looking confused. "Hey, don't say that! We can still win. You've just got to get me back over to the palace, that's all."

Spitfire sat down on the ledge. "There's no use. We won't get there in time."

Rainbow scowled. "Look, I am bucking sorry that you're going to have to carry me. I would just love to be able to fly there myself, but I can't. I need you to help me, so let's get going!"

Spitfire shook her head wordlessly.

Rainbow bristled, her whole body practically vibrating. "So just because I'm a bucking cripple, we're going to lose, is that it?"

Spitfire looked away, unable to bear her rage. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"I'll bucking make you sorry! I can still fight! I can still do this!" There were tears in her eyes now. "Don't you tell me you're sorry, you've still got your bucking wings, so bucking carry me already!"

Spitfire turned and snapped at Rainbow, frustration and despair finally flashing over into anger. "Everything isn't always about you, Rainbow! Yes I have my wings, but it doesn't matter. They're not good enough! I'm not fast enough! Carrying you is going to exhaust me. It was hard enough getting here. By the time I fly us both back it will be too late. I can't do it, okay?"

Rainbow took a step away from Spitfire, her hooves coming dangerously close to the edge of the narrow strip of rock they stood on. "What?" she said, softly, stunned.

"I can't do it. You're right. Everything you've ever said about me is right. I'm too slow. I'm a failure, and Nightmare Moon is going to win because of me." There were tears in her eyes too, and she looked away from Rainbow again, her head sank in shame.

"Spitfire..." Rainbow trailed off, her face twisted with conflicting emotions. She reached out towards Spitfire, then let her hoof drop.

"I'm sorry."

There was a long silence. The wind moaned around them, chill and damp. Spitfire shivered. She didn't normally feel the cold, but it was well below freezing here. The cold seemed to have settled into her heart, into her very soul. She shivered again, the last of her warmth vanishing with the last of her hope.

A warm presence suddenly pressed against her side. Rainbow Dash bent her head and nuzzled her cheek. "I'm the one who should be saying sorry," she said with uncharacteristic softness. "You're not a failure, Spitfire. You're the best pony I know. And you're not slow. You got here in hardly any time at all."

Spitfire turned her head away from the caress. "That's not true."

"It is true. I'm sorry I've called you slow. I'm sorry I made you doubt yourself. I've been hurting, but that's no excuse for me to hurt you. I'm really sorry." She nuzzled at Spitfire's ear, and Spitfire sighed and gave in, leaning a bit into it.

"It's still over, Rainbow. I'm not fast enough to carry you and get back to the palace in any kind of reasonable time. Everypony else will be dead by the time I get there."

"There's a way to do it," said Rainbow. "After a sonic rainbooom there's so much magic and momentum that you could carry three or four of me without slowing."

"I can't do the rainboom," said Spitfire incredulously. "I'm too slow."

Rainbow snorted and stomped her hoof. "No you're not," she said sharply. "You're every bit as fast as I ever was. I only said you were slow because I'm an idiot and was trying to hurt your feelings, which was stupid of me and I already said I was sorry."

"Rainbow... I can't. I just can't do it. Please..."

"Please what? Please let you give up on yourself, and on your friends, and on my friends, and Luna, and Twilight, and every creature in the world? No. I'm not giving up and neither are you. You can do it!"

"I can't! I'll have to carry you while trying to get up enough speed for the rainboom. I can't do that! You're the only one who ever did it, and you can't do it now!" Spitfire clapped a hoof over her mouth as soon as she said that. "I..."

Rainbow cut her off. "Yeah, I know, I lost my wings. I noticed. But Spitfire," Dash took a deep breath, "you're my wings now. I need you. I need you to believe in yourself. I need you to believe you can do this."

"But carrying you..."

"Look, we can make it easier, okay? You have to get really high—as high as you can—and power into a dive. My extra weight won't slow you down then. Heck, if anything it'll help!" Rainbow reached forward and took Spitfire’s face between her hooves, forcing her to look Dash in the eyes. "You can do this, Spitfire. I said you’re my wings. My wings have carried me through the rainboom before. They can do it now. I trust them." She slid one hoof down Spitfire’s neck and back across her folded wings. "I love you, Spitfire," she said softly.

Spitfire looked back into her eyes, still bright with tears. Tears had gathered in Dash’s eyes as well, and Spitfire felt a lump in her throat. She also felt the chill falling away from her heart. "You really mean that?" said Spitfire.

"I really do."

Spitfire took a deep breath and rose to her hind legs. "All right then." She narrowed her eyes, and a kind of spark flared in them for a moment. "Let's do this."

She picked up Rainbow Dash, her wings snapping open as she did so, and stepped off the cliff and out into space. For an instant they fell together, then Spitfire pulled out of the dive and they flew.

Spitfire beat her wings hard, straining upwards. She started to circle, flying around the narrowing peak. Soon she passed it and its crimson-and-teal adornment, and was climbing into the cloud-strewn sky. The wind picked up. She turned into it, riding it, using it to gain more height. Rainbow Dash's weight seemed to grow the higher they got. She had put both forelegs around Spitfire's neck, helping to hold herself on, but Spitfire was still the one doing all the work. Her wings began to burn. Her lungs burned too. The air was growing thinner.

She fought on, climbing higher and higher. Soon the scatter of clouds that had partly hidden the stars were below her and the sky above was bitterly cold, the stars diamond-clear. They twinkled less, this high.

She was gasping for breath, every muscle straining, her wings in agony, and finally she had to stop. She had reached the highest she could fly with her burden, she could go no higher. "Okay," she gasped, trying to catch her breath as she stretched out her wings, gliding along for just a moment. "Are we high enough?"

"Yeah."

Spitfire looked at Rainbow Dash, their faces so close together. "I'm still not sure I can do this," she said.

"I am," said Rainbow Dash. Then she twisted her head and kissed Spitfire with brief, fervent passion. When she broke off she flashed Spitfire a cocky grin that Spitfire hadn't seen on her face in what seemed like an eternity. "My wings are the best in all of Equestria. So come on; I'm ready to fly."

Spitfire couldn't come up with anything to say in response, but she felt a spark of hope flicker a little bit brighter. She set her face in an expression of determination, took one last deep breath, and dove.

Author's Note

Eee he he he! I can't decide if this is my favorite chapter, or if the next chapter is my favorite chapter. We're reaching the moments that I originally thought up clear back after Season One, that were the reason why I decided to write this story.

This story was brought to you mostly by my awesome co-author Jordanis, but also in part by the fine folks who support me on Patreon! If you'd like to help me write more stories like this, please consider becoming a patron.

Chapter 13

Luna stared in horror at the scene before her. Nightmare Moon stood behind Twilight with dark, star-specked tendrils of her mane curling around the unicorn. Twilight's horn was still glowing, keeping the shield bubble around her alive, but the strain was already showing on her face as the Nightmare tightened her magical grip.

"Release her!" demanded Luna, hoping she had hidden her fear.

Nightmare Moon laughed. "I think not." With one swift motion the misty tentacles of her hair crushed Twilight’s shield, which vanished even as it shattered, leaving Twilight exposed, vulnerable, and utterly burnt out, her horn tip actually slightly blackened from the backlash.

Luna's heart was in her throat. She took a step forward, her horn glowing. She had no idea what spell she could cast, but she had to do something.

"Ah, ah, ah!" The tendrils of Nightmare Moon's mane were wrapped around Twilight directly, and they tightened as Luna moved. "One more step and I'll wring her little neck."

Luna halted, trembling.

"That's better." Nightmare Moon sneered at her. Her mane wrapped around Twilight's throat, and Twilight let out a little choked sound as Nightmare Moon squeezed. "Now, release your magic."

Luna's horn blinked out.

"Very good," gloated Nightmare Moon. Her tail curled around and stroked Twilight's cheek. Luna could hear Twilight breathing; she was gasping, struggling for each breath. The sound seemed to reach somewhere deep within her, kindling a fear as strong as any she'd ever felt. The image of Twilight dead was the worst thing that Luna could imagine.

"Now, my dear little princess, you will kneel at my hooves. You will let me bind your magic, and you will answer all my questions about who you really are and how you have come here."

Luna hesitated. Part of her wanted to surrender. Most of her, in fact, wanted to do anything at all to prevent harm from coming to Twilight. Yet despite being half-choked, Twilight herself was shaking her head frantically. Twilight did not want her to give in. They had come so far, come so close, she couldn't possibly give up now. Twilight's life was not worth the lives of all the ponies in this world. They would die if Luna surrendered and Nightmare Moon won.

Or would they?

"Come now, I am not a patient mare. Surrender!"

"If I do, how do I know you won't merely kill her anyway?" asked Luna.

Nightmare Moon slackened her grip just a little bit, letting Twilight breathe. "I have no reason to harm her. She is only a unicorn. It's you that I want."

"No, don't do it!" said Twilight.

"Silence when your betters are speaking," snapped Nightmare Moon, and a tendril of her magic wrapped itself around Twilight's muzzle, holding it shut. Twilight glared at her and tried to cast a spell, but the magic sparkled and fizzled uselessly from her singed horn, making her wince in pain. What magic her struggle hadn't used the backlash had burned out of her; she had none left. Even if she'd had enough to do something, it would probably hurt too much to cast.

"It is all right, Twilight," said Luna. "Everything is going to be just fine." She felt a strange sense of calm settling over her. She needed to save Twilight, because it was Twilight who was necessary to their plan to defeat Nightmare Moon. Luna had already done her part by delaying and distracting the dark alicorn.

Yet there was more than that. She needed to save Twilight because she loved her. It was that simple, and that simple admission seemed to bring the whole universe into sharp focus. Love and friendship were different faces of the same coin. They were different halves of the same magic. The deep magic of Equestria, the harmony that made Celestia what she was and that Luna had somehow never been able to get a handle on, was built on love and friendship. That was why she'd never fully grasped it: she had always kept her heart apart. She had never fully trusted another pony, not even her sister.

But she trusted Twilight. She trusted her magnificent intellect. She trusted her skill with magic. She trusted her to be there, when Luna needed her. She could trust Twilight with her heart, and she could trust Twilight to save Equestria if she surrendered. All might seem to be lost, yet all could never be lost so long as ponies held to friendship and love.

All that flowed through her in a brief moment, an instant when it seemed like the universe itself was singing in her heart. Every part of it—even the moon that still spoke to Nightmare—told her that now she understood at last.

Twilight, frustration and fear twisting her gut as she watched Luna prepare to surrender, let out a sudden gasp as silvery moonlight blossomed around the blue alicorn. Nightmare Moon gasped too, and tightened her grip on Twilight's throat.

"Cease this at once or she dies!"

"Of course," said Luna, and her voice was gentle—serene. The light faded, and Twilight's eyes went wide in shock. Luna's mane and tail were no longer simply light blue hair that hung from her dock and poll like any pony's. They lifted and flowed on some invisible breeze, like Celestia's. They were darker than her sister's, layered with the deep colors of the evening sky, blue and indigo and purple. They were speckled with stars, like Nightmare Moon's, but the stars were far more beautiful, far more real somehow; as if Twilight could see straight into the fires at each one’s heart. She was taller too, perhaps as tall as Nightmare Moon herself, and her horn had lengthened as well.

"What trickery is this?" hissed Nightmare Moon.

"No trickery," said Luna. "Only truth,” she regarded the Nightmare solemnly, “and friendship.”

"Friendship?” growled Nightmare, “Nonsense! A nothing! A lie silly ponies tell themselves so they can pretend they are not alone! Have you forgotten what I hold here?" She lifted Twilight and shook her, making the unicorn whimper and clutch futilely at the strands around her throat. The chain that still connected her to the dais rattled and clanked with each shake.

"I could never forget that you hold that which is most precious to me," said Luna. She bowed her head. "I surrender to you willingly. I will swear whatever oath you require to accept your bindings, once Twilight is safe."

"Swear on the moon. She is listening."

"So she is," said Luna, her head still lowered, but a strange smile on her face. "I swear, on the moon and her maria, on her bright side and her dark side, on her dusty regolith and her cold heart, that I will surrender and allow myself to be bound, if you let the unicorn Twilight Sparkle go unharmed."

Nightmare Moon dropped Twilight. "I could almost believe that you truly are Luna. How do you know that oath?"

"I will not answer you, nor be bound by you, until Twilight is safe. Release her chains as well," said Luna.

With a wordless contempt, Nightmare Moon tossed her head, her horn sparking, and the chains fell from Twilight's hooves.

"Luna..." said Twilight, trying to come up with something useful to say.

"Do not worry, Twilight. Trust in the magic of friendship."

Twilight nodded.

A soft sound near the doors caught Twilight's attention, and she looked over to see Spike straightening from where he'd curled in a protective crouch beneath a small pile of rubble. He looked terrible, his face streaked with dust that tears had washed muddy tracks through. He looked at her and spoke, his voice tiny, vulnerable, as it echoed in the huge chamber. "Twilight? I... I'm so sorry. She lied. I didn't know she'd lied..."

"Spike, it's okay," said Twilight wearily.

"No, I rather think it is not."

Twilight's head snapped around to stare at Nightmare Moon. A length of magical chain already coiled around the surrendered Princess Luna. Now the Nightmare's horn glowed and her magic scooped Spike up into the air.

"I have promised to let you go, but I made no promises about him," she snarled.

"No! Put him down!" cried Twilight, her ears pinned back as sudden despair filled her.

Nightmare Moon threw her head back and laughed. "You ponies! You are so endlessly naïve. I am going to crush your every stupid little hope and dream, starting right-"

She broke off as a shockwave slammed into the throne room. For an instant the sky was filled with vivid color: every possible shade of yellow and orange twisted together in a brilliant arc of fire that washed over the palace, accompanied by a booming like thunder. When the blast front had passed, Twilight saw a glimmering ember, small and far away, but growing steadily, headed directly towards her.

Fluttershy's bats had led the quartet out of the crystal caverns in no time at all. After passing briefly through a paved corridor, they emerged high up on the mountain's slopes, above and behind the palace itself. "Yay! We're almost there!" said Pinkie, managing a bit of a bounce as she exited the cave.

Applejack surveyed the stairs that led down the mountainside. There were a lot of them, zig-zagging back and forth for quite some distance until they reached the palace gardens below. She sighed. "I dunno about 'almost', but I will admit I'm right glad ta' be out o' all them caves an' such."

"Yes, it is a delight to have some fresh air, such as it is," said Rarity. "For which we all owe Fluttershy a great deal."

"Oh, it's nothing," said Fluttershy, hiding behind her tangled mane.

"We still don't have Twilight, though," said Pinkie with a scowl. "Or Rainbow."

"Well, she ain't here on the mountain, so we might as well get a move on down them stairs." Applejack sighed again, but set off briskly enough, with the others following behind. Sounds of occasional combat floated up to them. It was no longer punctuated with explosions; the TNT seemed to have finally run out. Nevertheless, the fact that the rebels were still putting up a fight was a fairly hopeful sign to the four—even if everything else about the plan seemed to be continuously going wrong.

Both Rarity and Fluttershy were barely able to keep their feet at this point, so the pace was slow. They'd only gotten about half way down, when the scene below changed for the worse. The air was suddenly alive with dark-uniformed pegasi. The Shadowbolts had arrived.

All four ponies froze in place on the stair, not wanting to attract the attention of the horde of enemy pegasi.

"Aw horseapples," whispered Applejack. "What the hay are we supposed to do now?"

"I haven't the faintest," said Rarity, with a resigned sigh. "I am beginning to fear that—eep!" She jumped as Pokey Pierce appeared on the stairs behind her.

"You all need to get to the throne room right now," he said urgently.

"What? Are you crazy?" said Pinkie. "We might maybe sneak the rest of the way down the stairs, but then we'd have to sneak across open grass to the back door of the palace, and sneak up the stairs, and sneak in the door! There's no way we can do all that sneaking without getting seen. Believe me, I know sneaking!"

"I know. But Dale said that Twilight Sparkle was there. And he said you have to get there as soon as you can. I think..." He paused, glancing over and gauging the distance. "I've got the spell down now, I think I can wink there carrying one of you. I'm not sure I can do it four times, but I'll try."

"I can wink too," spoke up Rarity. "I am not terribly expert at it, I've barely winked since school." She smiled then, a little bitterly, and said, "I have carried my dear departed Opal a few times, however, and I think that just now Fluttershy and I together weigh no more than Opal and I did then. I can carry her."

Pokey relaxed a bit. "I can do it if I only have to make two trips."

"Then what are we waiting for, darling? After you." Rarity gave him an elegant nod. Pokey smiled at her, blushing just a bit, then turned to Pinkie. His horn glowed. He strained and it brightened, gaining a second corona. Then, with a soft bang, he and Pinkie vanished from the downward stairway and appeared at the top of the one that led to the back door of the palace.

Rarity took a moment longer to gather her magic, but she too made the trip, with Fluttershy beside her. She staggered when she arrived, nearly going to her knees. Her smile was triumphant despite her weakness, though. It had taken every ounce of magic she had, but she'd done it.

Pokey looked exhausted, but he vanished from the top of the stairs and reappeared next to Applejack. Then they too were atop the stairs. Pokey collapsed completely, lying prostrated on the stone, his horn smoking slightly. "I will never move again," he mumbled.

"Maybe you'd better—here come some Shadowbolts," said Pinkie.

Applejack hadn't wasted any time, she'd already opened the door. "Servant's hall here, looks like. Let's hustle, we gotta find the throne room and Twilight, quick!"

She darted inside. Pinkie followed. Rarity and Fluttershy, however, moved more slowly. Rarity in particular was barely on her feet. A dark form swooped through the air towards the stumbling unicorn. Applejack started to shout a useless warning.

Suddenly there was a deep, booming sound and a wave of shimmering fire flashed across the sky. It tumbled the Shadowbolts from the air, grounding many and scattering the rest far and wide.

"That was a rainboom!" said Rarity in delight. Her already dreadful mane was now completely blown askew, but she could not even bring herself to care.

"Dashie!" said Pinkie, bouncing with glee.

"Well if Rainbow Dash is on 'er way, we'd better hustle ourselves!" said Applejack. "Here, I'll lend ya a hoof," she said to Rarity, and the next thing Rarity knew she was lying across Applejack's back as the strong farm mare cantered down the hallway.

Pinkie grabbed Fluttershy similarly and ran after her. "We're coming, Twilight!" she shouted gleefully. "We're coming to take down Black Snooty forever!"

Twilight's heart leaped in her chest. In front of her she saw the swiftly growing ember that had to be Spitfire and Rainbow Dash. And now, behind her, she heard the faint echo of a voice that was surely Pinkie's, along with the sound of hoofsteps echoing off the stone walls. Her friends were coming for her.

Her friends that had been with her through so much darkness and pain. Her friends that had fought, and suffered, and somehow stayed true to everything they were, even in the worst of times. Her friends that she had known and loved not merely for one single festival day, but for weeks of toil and hardship.

The spark that shone in her eyes was stronger than ever before, as was the magic that began to pour into her. Even as Spitfire, carrying Rainbow Dash and trailing a long arc of literal flames behind her crashed through the window and into the throne room, even as Applejack with Rarity, and Pinkie Pie with Fluttershy came running out from a little door tucked behind the throne, and even as Nightmare Moon looked around in confusion and disbelief, Twilight's eyes began to glow, the magic of harmony filling her to the brim.

"What?! No, this cannot be!" screamed Nightmare Moon. "That magic cannot be! I destroyed the Elements!"

"No you didn't," said Twilight. She was rising into the air. She closed her eyes, not needing to see to know that her friends were being drawn to her, rising around her. "You destroyed a few pieces of rock. The real Elements of Harmony cannot be destroyed, not as long as laughter, loyalty, honesty, kindness, generosity, and friendship still exist in the hearts of ponies."

"No!" cried Nightmare Moon, but she had no time to say anything else, for Twilight opened her eyes, and the light blazing out from them was one with the rainbow that curled around all six ponies and shot out at the Nightmare, wiping her darkness away.

Epilogue

"Woo hoo!" Rainbow Dash looped in a delighted spiral through the air above the throne. Spitfire danced with her, the two of them swooping and circling around each other. Rainbows and flames trailed behind them, drawing a double helix of light as they circled upwards together. Twilight laughed in delight to see it. Her friend, restored as she had hoped, was a wonderful sight. The other Elements looked better as well, tangled dreadlocks restored to smooth manes, gaunt sides returned to plumpness, cracked hooves smoothed and polished.

"It's so pretty!" said Fluttershy.

"It's a sight for sore eyes," said Pinkie Pie, staring up at Rainbow and Spitfire.

"Oh." Fluttershy ducked her head and smiled. "Yes! But I mean the necklaces. Look, yours has your cutie mark on it."

"Ooh! Wowie Zowie! It does!" Pinkie grinned and bounced in place. The five of them wore their elements, and Twlight felt the gentle weight of Magic's crown on her head. Everything looked just as it had one year ago, on that other world.

Or almost everything. Twilight could see no sign of any second Luna. It seemed that Nightmare Moon has spoken true when she'd said she'd killed her former self. The Luna she knew, her mane flowing and full of stars, smiled at her from across the chamber. Despite that pang of sorrow, for a moment Twilight could believe everything would be all right.

"I can't believe yer crazy plan worked, Twilight, but you were right, we really do represent the elements of harmony!"

"Indeed you do"

At that moment, a brilliant light shone over the hills of the east, visible through the ruined windows of Canterlot; the sun rose over Equestria for the first time in nearly a year. Everypony averted their gloom-adjusted eyes from the sun's new glare, but Twilight found that she could stare right at it after only a moment's adjustment, and her heart dropped a fraction—this sun was certainly dimmer and weaker than the one back home.

A glowing sphere detached itself from the sun and drifted through the window before them. Twilight's heart was doing gymnastics now—she recognized the returning Celestia even though she had only seen it once before, but the sphere moved agonizingly slowly and its brightness flickered. Twilight's automatic elation at Celestia's presence warred with her worry.

When Celestia flashed into being, Twilight's worry won. The alicorn's mane and tail hung straight downward, and her cheeks were deeply sunken. In fact across the princess' whole body slimness had given way to gauntness and visible bones; Twilight could count her not-quite-mentor's ribs in stark relief under the skin. While everypony else remained with their heads down in reverence, Twilight surged forward with a worried cry, “Princess Celestia!”

“Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student! I knew you could do it.”

She doesn't know... Sweet stars, she doesn't know I'm not her Twilight. Now, finally, Twilight's heart sank like a stone and splashed into the pit of her stomach. Shocked, she halted just shy of the alicorn and looked at her with wide eyes that were beginning to water.

Celestia watched with growing concern. She had lowered her head, anticipating and welcoming her treasured pupil's embrace, but it had never come. Instead, the filly stood rooted to the floor, staring at her in a tightly controlled panic. She put together a gentle smile for her student and asked, “Twilight, dear, what's wrong?”

Tears rolled down Twilight's cheeks. She wanted to say that nothing was. She wanted to simply hug her mentor and have everything be alright. But instead slowly, reluctantly, she took a breath and began to explain.

Twilight wished she could look away, wished she didn't have to see what her words did to her princess. She couldn't, though. She couldn't cower away and deliver this news, so she watched Celestia's frozen, stony face as she was told that her precious student and beloved sister were dead.

It was only when the tears clouded Twilight's eyes that she finally hung her head, murmuring apologies between quiet sobs—for her own self, for her fallen self, for having failed Luna, for having failed to stop Nightmare Moon, for having not come sooner, and for having not listened when she was sent off to Ponyville. Her litany was cut short by the familiar feeling of the princess' neck across her own in a comforting embrace.

“Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student...” The voice was still strong, motherly, smooth and unhitched, but Twilight felt the drops of a single tear from each of Celestia's cheeks. “...you have done so well.”

The thin, wan sunlight that streamed over Equestria was brutally honest, despite its weakness. It revealed what Nightmare Moon's night had attempted to conceal: that the land was dead. Neat, square, green patches marked the places where magic raised food for the privileged, but they were few and far between. Most of what Twilight could see from the highest balcony in Celestia's Palace was black, sickly, and rotting. Many of the mushrooms, too, were now dying, slumping into putrid piles beneath the thin sunlight.

"It's so..." Twilight shook her head, unable to even find a word for the horrors daylight had revealed.

"I know," said Luna gently, sadly.

"I will miss the ponies here, but I'll be glad to go home," said Twilight.

Luna nodded slowly. Then she inhaled deeply and said, almost shocked at her own daring, but knowing that it must be said. "I will miss you greatly. I have come to... to love you, over these weeks."

Twilight's breath caught for a moment at the word love, but then she registered what else Luna had said. "You're not coming back?"

"Not right away. This world needs me."

Twilight looked out at the ruined world below her and nodded. Some part of her was still processing "love" in rather stunned delight paired with intense dismay at the idea of losing such a thing as love in the moment of finding it, but the more rational bits knew that Luna was right. The task of restoring what the long night had destroyed was dismayingly large. Celestia could not be left to do it alone. "Will you be able to fix things?" asked Twilight, still staring at the bleak landscape.

"I think so. It will be difficult, but I will not be alone. The ponies here will aid me, my sister here will aid me, and there are allies I can call upon. The kirin, I believe will help. Perhaps even the Kudu. And there are things that alicorns can do to combine earth pony and unicorn magic that will have great effect. So yes, I think the Equestria of this world can be restored."

"That's good." Twilight dared to look away from the view and glance at Luna. She looked so strong, standing there with her hair gently waving on the intangible cosmic wind. Yet she also looked so sad. "I... I could stay and help."

Luna shook her head, staring out into the thin daylight rather than meet her eyes. "No, Twilight. One unicorn, however strong, will make little difference to the effort here. I have seen how this world has worn on you. I have seen how much you miss my sister, how much you miss our Equestria. You should return."

Twilight swallowed, then softly said, "But I'll also miss you. I think I love you too."

Luna looked at her then, and sorrow and love both shone in that gaze. "Oh Twilight... I am glad. I am very glad indeed to hear it. Yet this world needs me desperately. And you desperately need rest, and home, and the solace of familiar things."

"I guess. But still... Don't you need those things too?"

Luna sighed softly, a small, regretful smile on her lips. "Rest, home and solace would not go amiss, no. Yet I am a princess, and an alicorn, and I have a duty that I cannot forsake. I shall take great solace in mending my own past wrongs here... and in the thought of you when all is done. We shall not be parted forever, Twilight my love." Luna smiled warmly, and Twilight found her heart suddenly beating faster. "I will return when my task here is completed." She took a step closer to Twilight, her head bending slightly.

Twilight stepped closer too, tilting her head up to the tall alicorn. Their muzzles met in a kiss that was brief, but sweet and without any hint of hesitation.

"I'll cast the portal to send you home now," said Luna when they at last broke apart.

Twilight simply nodded.

Luna's horn glowed with brilliant, silvery light that grew until it was almost unbearable to look at. Then the portal appeared, the arching rainbow shimmer Twilight remembered from what seemed like a lifetime ago. She stepped towards it, then stopped, looking back.

"Look for me in a year and a day," said Luna. "And until then, be well."

Twilight groped for how to reply, looking for the words that would somehow express the tangled emotions she felt. Finally she said, "You be well too. Just... don't be late."

Then she stepped through the portal, into the undimmed sunlight of Equestria, and was home once more.

Author's Note

And that's it! After way too many years, it's finally all done! Thanks again to the wonderful Jordanis, who is essentially my co-author on this one. Without his help this would have been a much weaker story. (And would have a lot more comma errors, too.)

I suspect this may have set a record of some kind, I'm not sure how many season one fics are still running. Not that it's a record I should be proud of, this could have been finished long ago. But life kept happening, and at least it's done at last. Hopefully it will have been worth the wait.

I certainly like it, but I'm a little biased!

The final chapters of this story were made possible in part by my lovely patrons on Patreon. If you'd like to support me in writing more stories like this (I have several epic ideas I'd like to work on, now that this is done!) consider becoming a patron today.

Chapter 1 Author's Note

This is a sequel to my Valdemar crossover story, In the Eye of the Storm, but it contains no canon Valdemaran characters, so I haven't marked it as a crossover. You don't need to have read In the Eye of the Storm to understand everything here, the story should be fairly self-explanatory. And hopefully also enjoyable. (The only relic of the previous story is that Luna has ended up with a close platonic friend, Dale, with whom she shares a special bond. Dale will be tagging along in this story, but has only a minor role to play, it's mostly about Luna and Twilight.)

Chapter 1

"'Tis better to light a candle, than to curse the darkness."

"...Make some friends!"

Twilight Sparkle frowned at the scroll. Friends? Celestia was ignoring her well-researched warning and was ordering her to make friends? She shook her head. It was nonsense. She needed to research! She needed to prepare! She had better things to do than make friends. She had better things to do than make sure the Celebration was perfect, for that matter. The Ponyville ponies were no doubt quite competent. They could handle things. She had research to do.

"...The night will last forever!"

When Nightmare Moon had escaped into the unnatural night, Twilight turned and dashed from the room. She knew what to do! She wasn't sure if she would succeed, but her research had paid off, and she knew what she needed, and where to find it. Her eyes were narrowed in determination as she galloped through the dark night towards the Everfree Forest, where the Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters lay. She would find the Elements of Harmony and use them to defeat Nightmare Moon. She had to!

Twilight Sparkle staggered up to the castle. She was exhausted, bruised from falling off a crumbling cliff and bleeding from where a manticore had clawed her before she could fight her way past it. Twigs were caught in her hair and dozens of scratches criss-crossed her coat from battling living trees that had reached out to stop her. Her mane was drenched, she had nearly drowned trying to ford a raging river. And her magic was already half drained, for she'd had to teleport across a chasm that had once been bridged. The chasm had been wide, and it had taken more out of her than it should have. But she had made it.

"No! No!" Nightmare Moon's voice was full of fear. But the spark faded and nothing else happened.

"But... where's the sixth element?"

Nightmare Moon laughed and crushed the stones before Twilight Sparkle's horrified eyes. "You little foal! Thinking you could defeat me! Now you will never see your princess, or your sun. The night will last forever!" Despair filled Twilight's heart. She had failed.

Twilight Sparkle woke in a panic, panting hard. She was filled with a deep, horrible feeling that everything had gone wrong somehow. The details faded even as she tried to grasp them; she knew that she had been dreaming, a terrible nightmare, but she could remember nothing except a sense of failure. She had failed to do... something, but she couldn't think what, or what else had happened. She shook her head and tried to blink the sleep from her eyes. It was just a dream.

The sun was shining. She had once again stayed up late to look at the stars with Luna, so it was already nearly noon. And if it was nearly noon, the book store would definitely be open! That thought energized her. She yawned and gently prodded Spike awake. "Spike! Spike! Wake up!"

The little dragon snorted and jerked upright. "I'm up! I'm up!"

Twilight Sparkle giggled. "Good! Today's the day my new books should be arriving! I'm so excited!"

Spike yawned widely. "Only you could be so excited about books," he said.

"Four new history books, three books of natural history, and a new spellbook are definitely worth being excited over!" Twilight bounced just a bit. "I especially can't wait to try out the new spells. I've mastered all the out-and-out spells I have in my current books, and I'm not quite good enough yet to be crafting really complicated spells from theory. But the more spells I learn and practice, the better I'll get."

"You sound like Rainbow Dash, wanting to be the best."

Twilight giggled. "Oh Spike! I want to get better at magic, but I don't want to be the best magician in Equestria. That's Princess Celestia, and I could never match her!"

"Oh, right."

"Come on, let's go!"

Twlight lifted Spike up onto her back with her magic, then cantered down the stairs headlong, making Spike cling desperately to her mane. She flew out the door, closing it behind her with magic without even slowing, and galloped through town towards the book store.

Mr. Quill, the bookseller, had the books waiting at the counter when Twilight galloped in. "Hello there missy! I knew you'd be in today, your books are right here."

"Thank you!" Twilight's horn glowed as she picked up the books and loaded them into her saddlebags. She read off the titles as she floated each book into place. "Supernaturals Volume Two: Even More Super, Beasts of Legend and Lore, The Almanac of Magical Plants, Great Unicorns of History, I can't wait to read them all! Ooo, and On Portals: Spells for Windows and Doors... I wish I'd had that one last month, it would have come in handy."

Once all the books were loaded in, Twilight floated a handful of bits over to Mr. Quill. "Thank you," she said again, and trotted off to the library with Spike still clinging to her back. The only reason she didn't gallop flat out was the weight of the books. She was so excited! Which one to read first?

When he got back she found Luna and Dale were up, making breakfast. "Hello," she said, greeting the princess and her white earth pony companion. Luna visited Twilight often; they both loved stargazing and astronomy, and Luna had bored a polite Celestia to tears with chatter about the stars nearly as often as Twilight had visited the same fate on her friends, before the two had met and discovered somepony they could share their hobby with. And where Luna went, Dale was never far behind. Dale had come from another world with four of his friends. They'd come by accident and had wanted to return home as quickly as possible. Twilight and Luna had both worked to help them get home again, but Luna and Dale had become very close friends, and there was something Twilight still didn't fully understand, some kind of magical bond between them that meant they couldn't be separated for anything. So when Luna had decided that she couldn't go with him to his world, Dale had remained with her. Twilight had asked once if they were in love, but they had both laughed (and had gone on chuckling for quite a while afterwards. Twilight had felt rather put out, it had seemed like a reasonable enough question!) and said that no, this was different.

"It's a lot like love, we care about each other a great deal. But the bond itself is something else entirely," Dale had said. "It's not something you think, or something you feel, it works on a deeper level, the level where you don't think, you just are."

Twilight hadn't completely understood, but she was a bit more cautious about investigating mysterious things after the whole incident with the Pinkie Sense and the hydra. What she did know was that these days wherever you found Luna, you'd find Dale trailing after her like a loyal ghost. With his all-white coloration, pale blue eyes, and lack of cutie mark, "ghost" was a pretty good description of him. You could lose him in a snowbank and never find him again!

"Want a daisy sandwich?" asked Dale. "We picked up some croissants, so they're extra gourmet this morning."

"Sure. Thank you."

"Did you get any gemstones?" asked Spike eagerly.

Luna giggled. "I did. Just some turquoise, but I know you like it."

She floated a few chunks of stone over to Spike, who started stuffing them eagerly into his mouth. "Mmph! Thmphks!"

Twilight dropped her saddlebags on her desk. She wanted to start reading right away, but her rumbling stomach told her she'd better have a croissant first.

"So, you have some new books?" asked Luna as Twilight munched on her sandwich.

"Yes! Have you read any of these yet?" Twilight Sparkle floated the books out onto the table. Luna loved to read, and devoured books rapidly, but of course there were a thousand years' worth of books for her to catch up on, so she hadn't read most of Twilight Sparkle's collection.

"I have read The Complete History of Equestria; it is a bit overwrought, I think. And not very accurate about myself and my sister, I have to say. None of the others look familiar though."

"How about this one?" Twilight lifted the spellbook.

"No. Though I am, of course, very familiar with portal magic. Especially after last month! There is nothing like teaching somebody else to polish up your own skills."

"I can guess what a 'door' is, but what does it mean by 'windows'?"

"A window is another name for a scrying spell. It's when you look elsewhere, rather than traveling elsewhere."

"I see." Twilight took another bite of her sandwich.

"Would you like to try one? We could see if I could look at our friends in Valdemar and see how they are doing."

"I like that idea."

"Why don't you read the book, and I'll clean up here. Once you've read about it, maybe I'll show you how to cast the spell, and you can try it out."

"Sounds good!" Twilight opened the book, holding it up so she wouldn't drop bits of sandwich into it as she ate. It took her a long time to finish the sandwich; she kept forgetting it was there, the spellbook engrossed her so thoroughly.

"Ready for some spellcasting?" Luna trotted back into the kitchen, Dale following behind her as always.

Twilight looked up from the book. "Sure! Should we go into the main room?"

"It's easiest to scry in a bowl of water, so let's stay here." Luna's magic opened a cupboard and floated a large mixing bowl out. She filled it and set it on the floor. They both stood over it. "I'll start with a local scrying spell. We can look in on Spike out in the next room, just to get started."

Twilight nodded, watching intently. She'd just read about how this worked, but seeing it in action would tell her a lot. Luna's horn glowed, and a second, shimmering glow started on the surface of the bowl, then cleared away, and now the bowl was a window, looking down into the next room, where Spike, rather than putting away books as he was supposed to be, was curled up napping.

Luna and Twilight giggled.

"Now why don't you try it? Go for somewhere a little further away."

"How about the throne room in Canterlot?"

"Good idea." Luna smiled. "Remember it's considered very rude to scry on anywhere private, but the throne room is a public place, so it's not a problem."

Twilight nodded. She concentrated, running the spell over in her mind, applying her will to it. She loved doing this; the orderly patterns of spells were so satisfying, and exercising her special talent was wonderful.

Moments later the bowl's surface was showing the throne room. "I did it!" said Twilight happily. She peered at the scene in the bowl. Celestia was sitting on her throne, speaking to a pair of petitioners. Twilight realized that the scene was silent. "Scrying doesn't carry sound?"

"No. Not in and of itself, at least. You can combine it with a distance listening spell, if you like, but you should probably master the scrying spell itself first."

"It seems like I have it down pretty well," said Twilight with a smile.

"Very true," said Luna, and she smiled back. She could see why her sister had chosen Twilight as her special student. "But we wanted to look all the way to Valdemar. Inter-dimensional scrying is a little bit harder. Would you like to start with something nearby?"

"How can another dimension be nearby?"

"Are you familiar with the branching worlds theory?"

"Oh of course!" Twilight face-hoofed. "A dimension that only recently branched off of this one would be 'nearby' in dimensional terms."

"Exactly."

"So I'd be looking for a world that's like this one, but not quite the same. Hmm." Twilight pondered. Then she had an idea. The half-remembered dream where she'd done something wrong. What if she tried to see that? She was curious if it would work. And she was also curious about what exactly she'd messed up in the dream. It probably wouldn't work at all, but then again the dimensional possibilities were theoretically endless, and one where the dream was true ought to exist. "Right." Her horn glowed again. This time the glow grew brighter as Twilight cast the spell. It was almost the exact same spell as ordinary scrying, but it was taking a lot more power. She strained, the glow brightening further. Then the water once more shimmered and cleared, and she could see a scene in it.

It was dark, so for a few moments Twilight couldn't quite make out the details. She was definitely looking down at the library tree, but something was wrong. With a gasp she realized that the tree was burned. She could see right through the blackened branches into the scorched remains of the library itself. Books, some still relatively intact, some half-burnt, lay strewn around. Many of them showed the effects of the ruined ceiling, their pages were crumpled and warped with rain.

Luna was gaping at the bowl as well. "What universe did you reach for?" she asked in a stunned voice.

"I... I had a dream last night that I'd done something wrong. I was curious what; I couldn't remember. So I thought the dream must be true somewhere. But I was expecting... I don't know, I was expecting to see myself go out in public with socks on my horn or something like that, the usual sort of 'I did it all wrong' dream. Not this! What in the world could I have done to cause this?!"

"I don't know"

"Maybe I just... tipped over a candle. And... and... no, that makes no sense, why wouldn't some pony have cleaned it up by now? Those books have obviously been lying there a really long time. And where is Spike?"

"You can change the focus of the spell to a broader view fairly easily, just picture it pulling back."

Twilight nodded and zoomed back until she could see most of Ponyville. Her heart sank. The town seemed to be completely deserted. A few buildings were burnt, or fallen down, though most seemed intact, just empty. And the gardens were rotting, as though... She stopped as a horrible thought shot through her. As though the pegasus ponies had scheduled too many cloudy days, as she'd seen happen once. Only this was worse than that. Much, much worse. As though they hadn't seen the sun all year. "I think I know what I might have done," whispered Twilight.

She moved the spell's focus again, zooming over the forest towards Canterlot. Soon she and Luna were both staring at the throne room. It was the same room they'd viewed only minutes before, but now it was not Princess Celestia that sat there. Instead a mare as black as night, with a flowing mane containing the night sky itself, lounged on the throne. Nightmare Moon reigned over Equestria, and beyond the windows was the blackness of a night that never ended.

Chapter 3

It was dark in the throne room.

It was usually dark in the throne room. A beam of moonlight streamed through a single skylight, from the moon which hung directly overhead. It illuminated the throne, but all else was pitch black.

The mare who lounged on that throne did occasionally provide a light for her subjects, but she often preferred to keep them in the dark. Their fumbling was amusing, which was more than she could say for the sight of their faces. They were graceless things, full of tawdry emotions. They showed mostly fear of her punishments and greed for her rewards, and both emotions bored her to tears.

Moonlight shimmered over her jet black coat, and glimmered brightly on her crescent moon cutie mark. It fell into the starry expanse of her mane without a trace, but gleamed softly on her polished ebon horn, and gently caressed the velvet black of her feathered wings.

She never grew bored of the moonlight.

It was cold in the throne room. The ebon mare's breath was as chill as the moon itself, but her guards exhaled plumes of cloud as they stood flanking the door, awaiting her command.

The chill had grown deep enough that a faint tracery of frost was beginning to form on the stones of the palace. The alicorn seated on the throne regarded the frost with something like fascination. The branching, delicate, infinitely varied tracery was beautiful. She sent a spark of magic, cold and pale, threading along the curls and whorls of frost that adorned the floor of the throne room. It was so much cleaner and purer than anything else she knew. Ice was very close to perfection, she decided. Water was purified by freezing, after all. And its crystalline lattice was every bit as convoluted as anything living, but without all the messy complications of life. Ice was simple.

"Your Majesty!" A servant dashed into the throne room, stepping on the tracery of frost that the alicorn had been examining. Her eyes narrowed.

"Guards! This peon interrupts my meditations! Have him killed."

"But... but... your majesty! I have important news!"

"No news is so important that it can't be delivered in an orderly fashion, you pitiful excuse for a lower life-form. Guards?"

"Your Majesty," said the unicorn guards in unison. Their horns glowed, and they dragged the unfortunate servant away.

"This is really creepy," said Twilight.

Luna couldn't help but agree. Ponyville seemed to be utterly deserted. A few of the houses were burnt out shells, but most were simply empty. Moonlight cast strange shadows over the deserted town, and things seemed to move when nopony was looking at them. The air was chill, though it wasn't really the cold breeze that made the trio of ponies shiver. It felt like late autumn, not late summer, and the occasional gusts seemed as though they should have stirred up rustling piles of fallen leaves, but there were no leaves, only rotting, slimy remnants covered in mushrooms that grew on everything with sickly enthusiasm.

"Let us be going," said Luna.

"Lets."

They trotted quickly through the town. When they reached the bridge leading towards Sweet Apple Acres all three of them let out sighs of relief. But though it wasn't quite as spooky as the abandoned husk of Ponyville, the vast expanse of rotting apple trees wasn't exactly cheerful. The barn was still standing, but it was obviously deserted as well. The little group continued past it, and eventually reached the borders of the Everfree Forest.

That was nearly as creepy as the town had been. The rotting trees overhung the path, which was choked with dead branches and molding leaf slime. Mushrooms had been everywhere, but here they were gigantic, some taller even than Luna. A few glowed faintly, sprinkling the ground with patches of unwholesome green light. The trio found themselves walking so close together their flanks brushed. Luna hoped that Twilight couldn't see her blushing.

They had been in the forest less than an hour when from nowhere a voice shouted, "Halt!"

All three of them froze in place. Four ponies stepped out from hiding places on either side of the path. They all were armed, with hoof axes or knives in their teeth. And nearly straight in front of them a fifth emerged, with a knife sheathed on one foreleg. Candy-pink with a magenta mane and tail, all three of them knew her well.

"Pinkie Pie!" exclaimed Twilight.

"Intruders!" said Pinkie Pie. "Why have you come to the Everfree Forest?"

"We came looking for you," said Twilight. "Pinkie-"

"You're minions of Nighmare Moon, seeking to crush the rebellion!"

"What? No! Just the opposite! We're fighting against her!"

One of the flanking ponies, looking fierce, growled, "You've come here with that cutie mark and expect us to think you're not with Nightmare Moon?" He pointed at Luna, whose eyes went wide before quickly darting over to look at Twilight in mute panic. It had never crossed her mind to even consider her cutie mark's similarity to Nightmare Moon's. Twilight, though, simply made an exasperated noise at the accusing pony.

"That's ridiculous! Luna has had her cutie mark much longer than Nightmare Moon has been around! I mean seriously! How many ponies are there who have some kind of lunar cutie mark? My own father has one, and he definitely isn't her servant. Surely you know good ponies who have moons on their flanks?"

The warlike ponies surrounding them exchanged uncertain glances, and Luna continued to stare at Twilight. Clearly she had already thought of this. It was a little embarrassing, but the rigorous research and preparation were two of the things that Luna... really liked about Twilight. She shut down that train of thought and quickly fixed her eyes forward before she could start blushing..

Pinkie Pie cleared her throat. "We will take you to our leader to be judged!"

"Look, Pinkie... we came to talk to you."

"We will take you to our leader," said Pinkie implacably. Luna shivered; Pinkie hadn't smiled even once this entire time. That wasn't the Pinkie that she knew. Maybe this wouldn't work. Maybe... maybe the laughter had gone out of her entirely.

The other ponies fell in around them, and Pinkie led the way deeper into the forest. It wasn't until they reached the gorge, crossed by a decrepit bridge, and Luna saw the crumbling walls beyond, that she realized what their destination was. They were headed for the ruins of the old palace. She was prepared to use her magic to float everypony without wings to safely if the bridge fell, but though it creaked alarmingly beneath her hooves, it held for the whole party to cross.

On the far side Pinkie led the way into the palace itself. They went across the grand entrance chamber, where the Elements of Harmony had once rested, through several hallways, and up a flight of stairs to the old throne room. It looked only slightly changed from when Luna had been there as Nightmare Moon the year before. The difference was that now it showed signs of occupation. A half dozen ponies greeted them as they arrived. Some of them looked vaguely familiar to Luna, ponies she had seen around Ponyville. There was an unmistakable huge red stallion, Applejack's brother Big Macintosh. And the tan mare... wasn't that the mayor of Ponyville? Luna caught a glimpse of a scroll cutie mark as the mare rose. Yes, it was her.

"How was the raid, Pinkie?" asked the mayor. Then she stopped and stared at Luna, Twilight and Dale. "And who are these ponies?"

"Trespassers!" said Pinkie in that same implacable voice.

The mayor sighed. "I see."

"And possible servants of Nightmare Moon. See?" She pointed at Luna's cutie mark. Then she pointed at Dale, who didn't have a cutie mark. Then she pointed at Twilight as well.

"Pinkie..."

"I brought them to see our leader."

"Oh Pinkie." The mayor sighed again.

"You're the leader?" asked Twilight Sparkle.

The mayor smiled, a faint, long-suffering sort of smile. "No," she replied. "Pinkie is."

"Surprise," said Pinkie flatly.

All three of them gaped at Pinkie Pie. "What?" said Twilight, looking completely confused. "No, wait. I shouldn't be surprised. You are definitely still Pinkie Pie." Luna wondered if that was a hopeful sign. Pinkie seemed to still be a little crazy, but her chaotic nature wasn't what they needed, they needed her laughter.

"I certainly couldn't be any other pony," said Pinkie Pie. Her voice was no longer hard and implacable, and she even had a hint of a smile, but it was a grim sort of thing, not the easy smile that Twilight and Luna knew so well. "So. What is your business here?"

"Like I already told you twice, we came looking for you."

"I don't know you. The only ponies who would be looking for me are the minions of Nightmare Moon, who want to kill me."

"We are not servants of Nightmare Moon!" Twilight's voice showed her frustration.

"No wait..." Pinkie peered at Twilight. "I do know you! You're the mare who knew Black Snooty!"

Twilight blinked. Of course. In this world she hadn't become Pinkie Pie's friend, but she had still been there when Nightmare Moon appeared at the Summer Sun Celebration. "Well, I am and I'm not. You see, we come from a different version of this world. I'm not the Twilight Sparkle you saw. I'm pretty sure Nightmare Moon killed her."

Pinkie tilted her head to the side and blinked at her, and Twilight could almost see the wheels spinning in her mind. "A different version," she said softly.

"We've come here to defeat Nightmare Moon, and we have a way to do it. But we need you." Twilight plunged into her explanation. "You see there are six things, called the Elements of Harmony, that can defeat her. And those six elements are embodied in six ponies. I'm one of them, the Element of Magic. And you're one too. You're the Element of Laughter. If we can get the six ponies together and attack Nightmare Moon, she'll be destroyed easily. As long as you can still laugh..."

Pinkie's expression snapped in an instant from thoughtful to enraged. "As long as I can still laugh? Over the last year I've seen my home destroyed, most of my friends killed, and everything I ever loved ruined! You can't even throw a party anymore because there's no food! I haven't had a cupcake since the rebellion in Ponyville! We eat mushrooms until we're ready to turn into mushrooms we're so full of mushrooms and the only time we get any other food is when we steal it from Nightmare Moon's minions, and doing that means you might die just so you can have real food and not even a cupcake! I try my very hardest to keep smiling, Twilight, I do. I know my little ponies need hope and smiles to keep going. But there are limits! Everything is awful and horrible and just keeps getting worse the longer we go on. And I'm supposed to still be laughing!?"

Pinkie stood glaring at Twilight and panting slightly. Twilight flinched back from her gaze. Was their quest going to fail just like that? No more laughter? How could Pinkie Pie possibly stop laughing? She was the one who had taught Twilight how powerful laughter was in even the darkest of circumstances! And then suddenly Twilight knew exactly what to say. "Pinkie... in the other world I come from, you taught me something about laughing. You sang me a song about it. It goes 'When I was a little filly and the sun was going do-own," Twilight hesitated, not quite remembering the next line.

All the anger disappeared suddenly from Pinkie's face, replaced by a faraway look as she picked up the thread where Twilight hesitated, "The darkness and the shadows, they would always make me fro-own." Her voice was no more than a whisper.

"Yes!" said Twilight, and kept singing, Pinkie joining in now.

"I'd hide under my pillow, from what I thought I saw.

"But Granny Pie said that wasn't the way to deal with fears at all.

"She said, Pinkie you gotta stand up tall,

"Learn to face your fears.

"You'll see they can't hurt you,

"Just laugh to make them disappear.

By now both mares were singing in full voice, with every other pony in the room staring at them. Twilight laughed and just kept singing. "So giggle at the ghostly!

"Guffaw at the grossly!

"Crack up at the creepy!

"Whoop it up with the weepy!

"Chortle at the kooky!

"Snortle at the spooky!

"And tell that big dumb scary face to take a hike and leave you alone and if he thinks he can scare you then he's got another think coming and the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna... Laugh!"

Twilight had to drop out at the end, she could never remember how that last bit went, but Pinkie was still singing strong, and when she finished she broke into delighted peals of laughter.

"Oh Twilight! Now I understand! You really do know another me from another place, don't you? And, and—oh! Everything makes sense now! I always knew that the world was supposed to be full of sunshine and laughter, and cupcakes with frosting on them and streamers and balloons, and that mean old Black Snooty wasn't supposed to be here! This whole world has gone wrong, and I thought that meant that I had gone wrong, because how can I be the only one all full of bubbles and happy and laughter, when the rest of the world isn't? So I stopped laughing because what was the point, if I was wrong and the whole world was supposed to be darkness and mushrooms and ponies getting killed? But it's not that at all! I was right, and everything is meant to be good, only it went bad. In your world you took laughter and magic and everything nice and you beat Nightmare Moon right away, didn't you?"

"Yes," said Twilight, suddenly feeling very confused. But then she was used to feeling confused around Pinkie Pie, so that was actually heartening. This was the friend she knew!

"So I've been living in the world where everybody has goatees all along! I should have known. Or no, wait, not the goatees, otherwise you'd be Black Snooty, or Celestia would be or something. But whatever! Don't you see?! This means that everything I always knew was right really was, and if you're here that means that it's going to be right again! So I'm in! I'm with you! I'll go and laugh right in that mean, mean, meanypants Nightmare Moon's face, even if it gets me splatted across half the palace!" She paused and then said more soberly, "Which I guess it might. You don't change the story from grim-dark to happy-fluffy in just one page. But... that's okay. We have a chance now, so I'm going to take it!"

"Pinkie... I didn't understand half of that. But I'm glad you're with us. Thank you."

"If Pinkie is with you, we're with you too," said the Mayor.

"You are?" asked Twilight, suddenly confused. "But..."

"We've followed her this far, and she's kept us alive and free, when most of our friends are dead or enslaved, or have gone over to Nightmare Moon's side. We'll follow her wherever she goes, even to go laugh in Nightmare Moon's face."

"Aww, thank you Marie. You all don't have to go though. I don't want to drag you into danger for no reason. We don't need an army, do we?"

She looked at Twilight Sparkle, who frowned and looked at Luna.

"We did not plan on having an army," said Luna, "but we might be able to use one. Though I am not sure a dozen ponies counts as an army." She surveyed the room. "Then again, we were planning on going ahead with just eight."

Twilight nodded. "The rest of you might come in handy, but you won't need to go laugh in Nightmare Moon's face, for that we need the other four Elements of Harmony. You might be able to help us find and rescue them though."

"Let's have a council of war then!" said Pinkie Pie. "Marie, get Big Mac and Ditzy Doo. And fetch some mushrooms so everypony can eat. Maybe it's not a proper party, but we have a reason to celebrate now."

"Actually..." that was Dale, breaking in. Luna knew, the moment he spoke, what he was going to say. It might be foolish, but she wasn't going to stop him. "We brought some food. We'd be happy to share. And it's the sort of thing that might be good enough for a proper party, or closer to it than you've had in a while."

Pinkie's whole face lit up. "Really? Really and truly, a party?"

"Really. We don't have any balloons, and we didn't bring any cupcakes, but we have a little fresh fruit, lots of dried fruit, lots of grain, and even some muffins."

"Muffins!" shouted a voice, and a gray pegasus mare shot across the room to land with her nose practically touching Dale's. Her eyes were intently focused on his as she asked, "Muffins?"

Dale smiled. He recognized Ditzy, though he hadn't known the mailmare very well back in Ponyville. But everybody who knew Ditzy knew how she felt about muffins. "Yes, we have muffins. I think enough for a muffin for everypony."

"Muffins!" shouted Ditzy, her eyes wandering off in different directions, but her expression otherwise almost pathetically hopeful.

"I call that a party!" said Pinkie Pie.

"Then let us party," said Luna with a grin. Her horn lit and she started to lift Dale's saddlebags off his back.

"NO MAGIC!" shouted Pinkie Pie, so loud Luna felt her ears ringing. She instantly stopped, dropping the saddlebags back down.

"Sorry," said Luna, looking chagrined. "I should have realized. I can sense magic from a great distance, of course Nightmare Moon can too. And with nopony out here except outlaws, of course she would notice any magic at all."

Pinkie Pie nodded. "Yeah. No magic, unless we're in a city where the authorized unicorns around us can hide us."

"I shall remember that."

Pinkie looked at Luna with a serious intensity that was doubly unsettling coming from the pink party pony. "You're Black Snooty, aren't you," she asked quietly.

"Uhm." Luna tried to formulate a response.

"That's okay, I know you're good. You're the one without a goatee. And I won't tell! I can keep a secret forever. Now, let's get to that party!"

Luna smiled in relief. "Right."

They unpacked the food that Dale had brought, and distributed all the perishables that the trio had meant to eat over the first few days. The dried fruit and grain, meant to last them the next two weeks, would be gone in only a few days, among so many ponies, but none of them objected. Pinkie's rebels had been living on mushrooms for months, the newcomers could certainly survive on the same diet, so keeping the better food for themselves was too selfish to even contemplate.

Soon everypony there was chewing happily. Pinkie produced a few strands of colored paper from somewhere and hung streamers. Then she led the gathered ponies in an enthusiastic sing-along. It was acappella, nopony had saved any instruments, but the ponies seemed cheered by it all the same.

Eventually the party began to wind down. Ponies started seeing out their beds, though "bed" was perhaps too generous a term for the piles of rags and ragged, battered mattresses tucked along the walls of the room. There were more beds than ponies to fill them, a mute testament to past losses. But Twilight and Pinkie Pie were both still awake, sitting together at one edge of the room, and talking quietly.

"Tell me about what happened here. I haven't been able to look into the past, only the present. And I first looked just a couple of weeks ago. I know that the 'me' from this world failed in her quest, and almost certainly was killed. I know that Nightmare Moon rules here. I know the ponies I need to gather together are still alive. But that's about all I know."

"Well, you know about when Black Snooty appeared at the Celebration, then. After that for about a week nothing happened. Then she turned up again, this time with pegasus guards, like Celestia's, with her. She said she was the Queen, and everypony needed to bow to her. Nopony liked that very much, and there was some grumbling and shouting about it, but the guards went out and dragged out all the ponies who complained and killed them. That kind of shut everypony up.

"She basically bullied us all into saying we'd do what she said. That lasted for all of three days, I think, before Rainbow Dash came back from Cloudsdale." Pinkie Pie smiled sadly. "She was there when mean old Black Snooty came here, and got to here by the time Black Snooty reached there, so she didn't see any of those speeches. Good thing, I think, or she'd have been killed right away. I don't know if you know her?"

"I do. In fact she's another one of the elements I'm here to gather."

"Then she isn't dead?"

"No. She's... she's not doing very well, but she's still alive."

"That's really peachy keen! I'm so glad. We never knew what happened to her. She started saying that it was wrong to just let Nightmare Moon rule, that she was evil, that we were Celestia's subjects, and that we should fight. She got pretty much the whole town of Ponyville all worked up. Her and Applejack, they were the ringleaders. I was with them, and the ponies you see here, and a good part of the town. The ones that weren't either ran off and hid, or they ran to Canterlot. Which of course brought Nightmare Moon and her guards right here. She came with pegaus and unicorn ponies, lots of them. There was a huge battle right in town, and for a little bit it looked like we might even win, but then old Black Snooty started throwing around really powerful magic. And that was that. When we knew it was all lost most of us ran for it, but Rainbow Dash and Applejack weren't having any of that. They said they'd hold off the guards as long as they could, so everypony else could make it to the forest and hide. And that was the last time I saw either of them.

"Most of the ponies who made it here to the forest were all full up to here with fighting, so they went off to try and live in other cities and towns, and pretend to be good little ponies for Nightmare Moon. But some stayed. And I thought to myself, 'self, even if we can't have a real rebellion, we can still do something.' So that's what we've been doing. Something, but not much. We steal food, we burn down guard posts, and do whatever other things my little brain can think up to do to cause chaos for Black Snooty and her Snooty guard. But sometimes a pony gets fed up and leaves, and sometimes one gets killed, and so we get smaller and smaller. I didn't know what else to do! I didn't want to join the meanypants brigade, but I didn't want to sit on my tail. I worried myself into a worrywart! And I started getting kind of crazy-sad, but not like I used to. I used to get a little bit crazy-sad, thinking my friends didn't really like me. But... I can't ever think that anymore. The first time you see a friend die for you, you know they're not just pretending to be your friend. But crazy-sad-grim isn't any fun either."

Pinkie had grown progressively quieter and looked progressively more downcast as she spoke, staring at the stones in front of her feet and missing the tears that were welling up in Twilight's eyes. But then all the sorrow evaporated from her face, swept into some secret place deep inside, and she grinned at Twilight. "Just plain crazy is okay! Maybe now I'll try crazy-mad. Because Black Snooty does make me mad! Really mad! So mad I just want to shoot steam out my ears sometimes!"

Twilight surprised herself by choking out a giggle. The image was so silly, even if everything behind it was so serious. "She makes me pretty mad too. But we're going to stop her, no matter what it takes."

Pinkie Pie sat up straight, assuming a slightly exaggerated air of being all business. "So what other ponies do you need? You said six. So there's me, and you, and Dashie, that leaves three."

"Applejack is one."

"Yay, she's alive too!"

"And Rarity."

"Rarity! She was one of the ones who left to try and live somewhere else. Will she join us?"

"She may have tried, but she failed to be a good enough subject of the Kingdom of Night, because she's working as a slave in a gem mine now."

"That's good. Well. It's not good that she's a slave, but it's good that she's not on Black Snooty's side!"

"Yeah. And the last pony we need is Fluttershy."

Pinkie's ears fell and her eyes went wide as saucers.

"Oh, cupcakes."