The Warden: Part 3, Dream of the Warden

When the darkness reformed, Luna and the Warden found themselves inside the cavernous lab underneath his home.

It looked practically unchanged at first glance, but Luna did notice a few new pieces of equipment here and there among the rows of machines. It was a little difficult to tell in certain spots, though. Not all the lights were on, meaning that only certain areas of the space were illuminated.

One such area was the platform where Casemate first donned his armor, where two mechanical suits stood side by side. One was a bit smaller than Casemate’s, in addition to looking lighter and sleeker, having more curving edges than the sharper, bulkier suit that he wore. Luna guessed that this was potentially Edelweiss’ own armor.

Beside this sleek armor, a much smaller, filly sized suit of armor stood as well, and a pair of hind legs belonging to a foal stuck out from under it. Luna already knew that it was Barbette, laying on the floor and working on her own armor. It was a bit odd for a foal to have enough technical knowledge to perform work on something so advanced, but knowing who her father was, the princess was not surprised.

In the center of the chamber, the Gatekeeper loomed, illuminated and towering to the rock ceiling high above, as always.

At the base of this tower of metal and cables, Luna saw Edelweiss, or rather her rear half. The white mare was head first in an unbolted hatchway leading somewhere into the bowels of the immense machine, clanging and clanking sounds indicating that she was also at work.

All told, it wasn’t a terribly stressful scene. Actually, it was kind of peaceful.

But in the back of her mind, dread dominated Luna’s thoughts.

This was it…

This was going to be the moment that she had been dreading all night.

Despite the haziness infecting her memories of her time spent as Nightmare Moon, this moment in particular had more clarity than most…

The more she looked around the space, the more details came flooding back, only confirming that this was going to be the climax.

It was like Nightmare Moon wanted Luna to remember…

…

Luna exhaled shakily, breathing through her mouth as she struggled to regulate her breathing.

Despite her recently realized purpose in helping the Warden find his way through his tumultuous feelings, fear was still looming ominously over her.

She had enough determination to follow through, but not enough to remain free of her dread and guilt.

It didn’t help that the Warden’s own dread was deafening.

It was impossible to ignore, and Luna turned her head to look at him. He stood a few paces off, his ear drooped low and his sad gaze darting between his wife and his daughter. His breathing was silent but deep, not unlike Luna’s.

With how stoic he usually was, these indications of fear and grief stood out prominently. But it did no justice to the sheer degree of emotion he was feeling within.

As Luna attuned herself to his emotions, she became aware of the full extent of his internal suffering…

Like her, he felt an immense dread gnawing away at his insides. Of course, the anger was still present, but it was without direction, just as before. Instead of his anger, the mixture of sadness, grief, heartbreak, and love was the most striking part now.

It was such a contrast to how angry and bitter he was earlier on.

Still, there was an undertone of resolve written in his expression, showing that even now, he was not willing to back down. His mouth was drawn into a tight frown, his brow remained lowered, and his stance remained upright and strong.

Luna also felt determined. As the Warden said before, he needed to see this through, in order to make one of the most important decisions of his life, and Luna was the only one who could help him do so.

Both of them were feeling the awful weight of dread, fear, and heartache at what would happen here, but they were not going to back down.

Luna exhaled slowly, closing her eyes and keeping her emotions from spilling over.

There was truly no turning back now. All she can do now is watch, standing alongside the Warden…

The sound of machinery coming to life echoed through the chamber, causing Luna’s heart to jolt as she looked upwards towards the source of the noise.

Up in the rocky roof, a set of metal doors that she had never noticed before slid open with a hum, revealing the trees growing on the surface. Beyond the branches and pine needles, the dark night sky filled in the gaps. The moon, full and bright, sat squarely overhead, sending a moonbeam shining into the dimly illuminated space below.

As soon as the door opened, the familiar howl of Casemate’s armor in flight echoed through the chamber. Edelweiss visibly paused, before shuffling her way out of the hatchway in the Gatekeeper, and Barbette slid out from under her armor, spitting out a tool that she had been holding in her mouth.

As the howl of the jets grew louder, Luna’s heart beat faster.

It wasn’t going to be long now…

Then, as the howl reached a crescendo, Casemate came into sight.

He gradually let himself down through the door, his suit’s wings extended wide. Small jets of green flame shot from the various slots cut into them, and his two glass visors glowed bright in the darkness, creating an electric green aura before him. The metal armor shimmered and shone in the pale moonlight, casting a shadow clearly visible between him and the floor.

Under the context of what was about to happen, the image of him as he descended caused Luna to shiver.

It was a sight that evoked several feelings. Those who didn’t have any knowledge of what was going to occur would have perhaps thought that he looked majestic, imposing, or even beautiful with his armor reflecting the moon's light as he floated towards the floor like some mighty, metal clad deity.

But for Luna, it only served as a reminder that the climax was moments away.

As he came to a soft landing upon the platform where the other armored suits stood, both Barbette and Edelweiss watched with a mixture of worry and relief while the doors in the ceiling began to close.

Now on firm footing, Casemate’s engines spooled down, his wings folded, and his armor began to peel apart on its own, folding and splitting down along his underside, revealing his body. With perfect coordination, Casemate removed each of his legs in sequence as the armor folded away, before ducking slightly as the armor’s own legs lengthened, allowing him to simply step out from under it right as the last of the moonlight was choked out by the shutting doors.

As he stepped out, Luna exhaled fearfully. When was Nightmare Moon going to strike?

As he stepped out of the darkness into a more illuminated area, Casemate’s facial expression became visible. His piercing green eyes showed both concern and resolve, as did his frown. He didn’t say anything right away, either. He was clearly worried.

But as Barbette ran up to him with a relieved smile, the corners of his mouth curled upwards as well. The sight of his daughter coming to greet him seemed to partially soothe his inner unrest.

“Dad, you’re okay!” The young filly gushed, jumping up to hug his neck.

“I am.” Casemate replied gently, putting a foreleg around her and squeezing her close. “It’ll all be fine, Barb…”

Edelweiss strode up next, wearing a smile that, for Luna, was clearly veiling a massive amount of concern.

It was understandable. After all, she had no way of knowing what her husband would have encountered in this unnaturally long night.

Barbette let go of her father, dropping down to the floor and letting her mother approach him, watching all the while.

Edelweiss and Casemate both looked at each other for a moment, before exhaling almost simultaneously and embracing. After a few seconds of hugging and taking comfort in the sensation of holding each other, they shared a kiss that lasted a few seconds.

“Thank the sun you’re safe, Casey…” Edelweiss murmured softly, pulling back from the kiss. “What happened?”

Casemate looked directly into his love’s eyes, his expression reverting from love and relief back to concern.

“It is Princess Luna.” He replied, causing Luna’s ears to perk up. “I don’t fully understand how, but she has become some sort of vengeful deity of the night. She wants to bring eternal night to the world out of a need for revenge.”

“Revenge against Celestia?” Edelweiss sighed, evoking a nod from her husband.

“Princess Celestia blames herself, as she should.” Casemate answered. “I actually managed to speak with her, and she told me on no uncertain terms that it was her own fault.”

Edelweiss blinked.

“She… Spoke willingly to you?” She asked, surprised.

“She did. She was prickly at first, but once I let her know that I would hunt Luna down if she didn’t step up and banish her, Celestia dropped her pride.”

Edelweiss inhaled deeply, glancing downwards as she processed it all.

“You threatened to kill Luna, didn’t you?” She asked, looking disturbed.

Casemate gave a silent groan.

“Edel… If all other options fail, what choice do I have? If it comes down to either eternal night for all or the death of one, you know which I must choose.”

“I know, Casey. I know.” Edelweiss said, shaking her head and looking saddened. “I don’t want Barbette to grow up in a world without the sun, but…”

As her voice died away momentarily, Luna listened on, feeling ashamed that Nightmare Moon had forced such a situation upon innocent ponies.

“I just hate that it might come to destroying Luna, after all she did for us…”

Casemate nodded slightly, looking more solemn than before.

“That is why I have given Celestia until tomorrow morning to find her and banish her. What Luna did for us means a lot to me, too. She helped me get away from my father, and she enabled me to find both you and my purpose.”

Edelweiss lifted her gaze, and slowly, a fond look crept across her face.

“I know it was difficult to not just hunt her down right then and there, Casey.” She murmured. “But you did the right thing. Even if Celestia fails and you have to step in, you still made the choice to give a second chance to her and Luna.”

Casemate looked at his wife with an expression of slight shame, his brows lifting a bit and his ear drooping.

“I don’t want to disappoint you again, Edel.” He said softly. “That’s why.”

“Oh, Casey…” She sighed, shaking her head and drawing him into an embrace. “Forgiving others is for yourself, not for my sake. But you are doing much better than before, and that’s one reason why I love you more than anything.”

Casemate sighed unsteadily, leaning into the embrace and kissing Edelweiss on her forehead.

“I love you too, Edel… I just want you and Barb to be happy with how I am…”

“I am!” Barbette chimed in, lunging into the hug, causing both her parents to stagger a bit.

“Woah- Glad to hear it.” Casemate said, using a foreleg to pull the filly in. “I’m doing something right…”

Luna’s heart felt like it was melting away. The warmth from this exchange between the three of them was almost overpoweringly sweet. Seeing how grateful Edelweiss was for Casemate’s show of mercy was very much relieving for Luna. It was also heartwarming to see just how much both Edelweiss and Barbette loved Casemate, as well as how hard he was trying to strike a proper balance between his duties as Warden and his responsibilities as a father and husband.

But it wasn’t heartwarming enough to overshadow the awful dread eating away at her.

In fact, this was likely the last time they would all be together.

Luna’s heart wrenched upon this realization.

She was watching the final minutes of this family, and the Warden was, too.

When Luna gave him a glance, she could see a shining, shimmering trail leading from his eye down his face.

He was crying.

The stoic, hardened, traumatized pony stallion could no longer hide his anguish.

This time, Luna could not hold back her tears, and she wiped her eyes as she shared in his grief.

As Casemate, Edelweiss, and Barbette let go of each other, Luna actually felt weak in the knees as she suppressed the urge to speak up, to tell them to not loosen the embrace, knowing that it was their last.

Meanwhile, Casemate spoke.

“Right. What about the Gatekeeper? Is it in running shape?”

“Almost.” Edelweiss replied. “There’s a few switches to tighten and the shielding needs to be bolted back over the access hatch, but it should be-”

At that moment, an alarm began ringing loudly within the cavernous space, echoing as a series of red lights illuminated the chamber, causing everypony to flinch and look all around, including Luna and the Warden.

Then, the voice belonging to ARTIS shouted out, contrasting with its previously calming and gentle tone, conveying a sense of real urgency.

“ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! INTRUDING MAGICAL ENTITY DETECTED!”

Luna felt her heart jumpstart into overdrive, putting a deep, sickening sensation into her stomach.

This was it.

Barbette looked all around fearfully, her ears pinned as Edelweiss also swung her head from side to side, trying desperately to make out what ARTIS was warning them about.

But Luna knew that Edelweiss and Barbette were not looking in the right spot, as did the Warden.

Luna quickly glanced at the Warden, who was looking upwards with his ear down, and his eyes wide.

The princess followed his gaze, up to the two doors in the ceiling.

Luna saw it.

A dark cloud of mist steadily squeezing through the gap between the doors, obscured by the darkness near the roof.

It was her.

Meanwhile, the family below were in a state of alarm and confusion.

“ARTIS, countermeasures, now!” Casemate barked, his voice conveying a sense of suppressed fear and command as he also kept his head on a swivel, unable to see the inky cloud seeping in.

“Insufficient power, master Casemate!” ARTIS replied, much to the apparent shock of the three. “The reactor needs to be turned on!”

Casemate froze in place for a second or two, before looking at Edelweiss and Barbette, who were gazing at him with uncertainty.

Once their eyes met, it was as if all his uncertainty had been demolished by the need to protect his family. His eyes narrowed, and he spoke with a presence that could challenge the Royal Canterlot Voice.

“Get in your armor!” He commanded, pointing to the platform about twenty feet off with the three suits. “I’ll turn on the reactor!”

Edelweiss’ ears dropped and her eyes widened in fear.

“But the shield hatch is off!” She protested, gesturing to the unbolted access hatch leading into the depths of the Gatekeeper. “The radiation-”

“Get in your armor!” Casemate repeated, cutting her off. “They will shield you and her, I won’t get an overdose if I’m quick. Go!”

Luna looked back up to where Nightmare was entering, she was still slowly but steadily seeping in, at least halfway in now.

Edelweiss wrapped a foreleg around Barbette, and began running towards the platform. Casemate bolted off towards the Gatekeeper’s control panel nearby, reaching it within a second. When he got there, he began pressing buttons and gave a vocal command.

“ARTIS! Emergency startup, bypass shielding safeguard! Initiate air purge of chamber!”

“Acknowledged, ninety seconds to startup completion; initiating air purge.”

Right as the various screens around the chamber began to count down from ninety, the top doors began to open up, and Luna felt her heart drop.

Casemate had ordered an air purge, likely to blow out any contaminated air from the chamber once the radioactive energy from within the capacium reactor escaped via the opened hatch.

But in doing so, he had opened the top doors. In a cruel twist, he had made Nightmare Moon’s entry immediate, instead of delaying her a few more critical seconds.

As soon as the doors reopened, the dark, swirling mist darted in, and Luna realized with a violent chill that this was where everything fell apart.

Edelweiss and Barbette were mere feet from their awaiting suits of armor, but the cloud of dark, malicious energy was wickedly quick. It landed before the mother and her daughter in a blink of an eye, and began to swirl like a maelstrom of darkness, blocking their path to their only hope of protection. They both cried out in surprise and fear as they slid to a stop, and Edelweiss pulled her daughter back behind her, doing what she could to keep her safe.

Casemate twirled around, right as a malicious peal of laughter echoed throughout the cavern.

Luna felt her legs tremble as the familiar, haunting sound fell upon her ears. She began to draw in sharp, silent breaths as the full realization that she was finally rewatching her single most traumatizing moment of her fifteen hundred years of life set in.

But Luna could not avert her gaze from the unfolding tragedy. Neither could the Warden, by the look of things. In her periphery, Luna could see him standing stock still, looking on in muted horror and grief.

The cloud of darkness cleared shortly afterwards, revealing a dark, slim, and frighteningly beautiful figure standing in the dim red lights, clad in dark metal adornments, with flashing sharp teeth curled into an evil grin, and two turquoise eyes glowing terrifyingly, each with a long, slitted pupil running vertically down the iris.

Edelweiss lunged back, pushing Barbette further away as she did so. At the same time, Casemate’s eyes widened to a degree that Luna had never seen. For a split moment, there was a look of pure, unfiltered, raw fear etched into his features.

“Eighty Seconds.”

Nightmare Moon’s grin merely widened as she saw the looks of terror on their faces. As Edelweiss and Barbette continued to back away, she began to casually follow, her laugh having turned into a low, smoldering chuckle as her eyelids went half closed out of mirth.

Then, after a few short moments of pause, Casemate’s gaze hardened, losing some of the fearfulness and gaining a degree of determination.

“Edel, run!” He cried, vaulting a piece of machinery as he broke into a mad dash towards his wife and daughter.

Hearing his desperate cry and seeing Nightmare following in her steps, Edelweiss realized that she needed to try to get away as quickly as possible. Without a word, she hoisted her daughter up on her back, and ran.

“Seventy seconds.”

A faint hum, and the sounds of the Gatekeeper gradually waking up began to echo around the chamber.

As Edelweiss and Barbette ran, Nightmare Moon unfurled her wings, widened her eyes, and began to give chase. Like some demonic predator, Nightmare followed with an unnatural smoothness and swiftness, her grin still visible the whole time.

But as fast as she was going, Luna knew that she was holding back. Nightmare could move much faster if she wanted.

Nightmare was merely playing with her prey, relishing their fear.

Luna felt sick to her stomach to think that Nightmare was sadistically messing with those innocent ponies.

But as the following seconds passed, Casemate had not been idle. He had been jumping and galloping towards his family all the while, closing the gap.

There was no hesitation, no second thoughts in his actions now. His family was in danger, and he clearly had only one thing in mind: Protect them.

As his wife and daughter continued to run, and as Nightmare continued to pursue them, Casemate looked intently at an eight foot tall console of electronics, as if calculating something.

Then, in a display of athleticism that would have given Applejack a run for her money, Casemate hopped onto a desk, kicked off of a steel pillar, and with a strained grunt, propelled himself up and over the top of the console right as Edelweiss and Barbette dashed past.

He had timed it perfectly. He rolled off of the console, and landed with a thud right in front of Nightmare Moon, planting his hooves and snorting loudly, his head lowered.

Nightmare slid to a halt, her eyes widening as her smile faded, the thrill of the chase likely having died away.

Seeing that Casemate had halted Nightmare, Edelweiss slid to a stop, breathing heavily as Barbette clung onto her back, both staring in fear and worry at what was unfolding.

“Sixty seconds.”

The atmosphere was thick with suspense. Not a word was spoken for a few seconds, the ponies present remaining still as they looked at each other.

After a brief pause, Nightmare Moon finally broke the heavy silence.

“Nice place you have, Casemate.” She said, taking a look around the chamber, before her eyes fell upon Edelweiss and Barbette standing behind him, and her terrifying smile returned. “And such a lovely little family, too…”

Each word spoken by the dark mare fell like knives upon Luna’s ears. It was just as unsettling as having to listen to Nightmare speak directly into her mind, except this time, Nightmare Moon was a part of the sequence, and Luna was unable to rebuke her. The princess was powerless to stop her here.

“Why are you here?” Casemate asked coldly, his voice sending chills up and down Luna's spine. The last time she had heard such intensity from him was when he attacked Canterlot.

Nightmare’s face then showed a bit of anger hiding behind the now fake grin.

“We need to address something you did.”

“Fifty seconds.”

Edelweiss glanced at the countdown on one of the screens, then looked worriedly at the armor standing on the platform. From where they were now, Nightmare was no longer in their way. Luna could tell that she was calculating the risk of making a run for the suits.

In the meantime, Casemate remained steadfast, maintaining his defensive stance.

“Go on.”

“You have a lot of nerve. Encouraging my sister to banish us is already a grievous trespass.” Nightmare hissed angrily. “But presuming that you have any hope of destroying us? We have no intention of letting that go unpunished.”

“Forty seconds.”

Casemate's eyes lost some of their intensity as Nightmare's threat and her reasoning became clear. His stance relaxed slightly, and his ear loosened off of the back of his head, no longer quite pinned.

“Luna,” He said, his tone having softened; “What has happened to-”

“Luna is no longer in control! She has decided to let us become Nightmare Moon!” She interjected sharply, before putting a hoof to her chestpiece in mock understanding. “However, Luna does send her most heartfelt regards, Casemate.”

When Nightmare said this, Luna felt an icy shock course through her veins.

It was true. Luna did let Nightmare Moon take control. That was why Casemate was so bent on taking revenge on her when he first returned…

It also cemented the fact in her mind that although she had no desire for any of the violent deeds that were done that night, she was still to blame.

“Thirty seconds.”

Nightmare continued.

“Enough talk. Time to show you the consequences of defying the rightful ruler-”

Suddenly, Nightmare was cut off by a swift blow to the face!

Nightmare recoiled, putting a hoof to her face as Luna audibly gasped. She knew that while this didn’t hurt Nightmare, it certainly caused her a great deal of bewilderment.

Casemate had struck her!

For an earth pony to have the absolute courage or foolishness to straight up slug a vengeful goddess of the night on the nose was perhaps the last possibility on Nightmare’s mind, and it showed on her face as she withdrew her hoof.

Her eyes were wide, and she looked at Casemate with what was perhaps the most raw expression of disbelief that Luna had ever seen from her darker self.

For at least a full second, there was a shocked silence as the act registered in the minds of those present.

Then, Edelweiss broke into an all out sprint with Barbette still on her back, making for the suits on the platform! All they had to do was run less than thirty feet past the Gatekeeper!

In the blink of an eye, Nightmare’s full, unfiltered rage contorted her usually arrogant face into one of nothing but anger, her mouth twisted into a terrifying snarl as her eyes seemed to burn brighter than ever before.

Luna felt even sicker, knowing that punch by Casemate had snapped Nightmare out of her perceived fun.

Playtime was over.

Nightmare turned into her smoky form in an instant, and manifested right in front of Edelweiss and Barbette, once again blocking their route.

“Twenty seconds.”

The machinery within the Gatekeeper was continuing to wind up, a mechanical whine now becoming more audible as the timer continued to tick down. Nightmare only had seconds to exact her revenge.

Nightmare growled in fury as she began to stride towards the mother and daughter, and her horn was beginning to glow.

Edelweiss slid to a halt, having been given a mere second to react to Nightmare suddenly appearing before her, just beyond the Gatekeeper’s open hatch.

The mare’s and the filly’s eyes opened wide in horror as they saw their only hope for survival be cut off, with nothing between them and what was undeniably their doom.

“GET AWAY FROM THEM!!!”

Casemate’s roar echoed in the chamber as he suddenly jumped in, vaulting high over his wife and daughter, landing squarely between them and Nightmare, directly next to the open hatch.

Nightmare Moon visibly paused, then lunged at him with a wicked growl, propelling herself at him with rage.

Nightmare’s sense of pride and ego would have normally forbade her from lowering herself to throwing hooves, but she was just far too enraged to care at this point.

But Casemate stood there, ready. Firm, unyielding, standing steadfast against the approaching demoness with no armor or weapons. He had nothing but his hooves and his wit, against the manifestation of all Luna’s bitterness and resentment, which might as well have been death incarnate at this very moment.

And yet, he was not backing down. Not flinching, not giving her an inch of ground, planting himself between this monster and those whom he loved.

Things slowed down for Luna as this image became engraved in her mind.

This was Casemate.

Courage, kindness, discipline, determination, protectiveness…

Love…

He was all of these things. At this moment, when he was faced with a hopeless situation, he was at his most pure.

A hero among ponies.

The best.

The Warden.

“Ten seconds.”

Nightmare Moon lashes out with a hoof towards his chest as he simultaneously drives his own hoof towards her face.

Both hit each other, and both grunt in pain.

All the while, the reactor’s whine is approaching a crescendo as it nears activation.

“Nine,”

Nightmare’s eyes are glaring with rage, and she takes a step back, reining herself in. Casemate, sensing an opportunity, swings at her face, lunging forwards.

“Eight,”

Right as Casemate’s hoof is about to make contact, Nightmare allows her form to shift partially into mist, making his hoof pass straight through without harming her.

Casemate’s eyes widen as he realizes that she had outmaneuvered him.

“Seven,”

As Casemate’s weight shifts forwards from the unexpected miss, Nightmare bares her sharpened teeth and returns to her physical form, grimacing in a mixture of smugness and hate, having brought her foreleg down and back in preparation.

Casemate tries to lunge away from Nightmare, but it won’t be enough.

“Six,”

Nightmare gives a guttural cry of hate as she puts everything into bringing her knee into Casemate’s vulnerable side.

She impacts with a sickening smack.

Casemate cries out in pain as he is sent flying back towards his family.

“Five,”

Casemate lands with a heavy, painful thud, rolling like a ragdoll to Edelweiss’ hooves.

“CASEY?!”

She cries out, as Barbette also shouts.

“DAD!?”

Nightmare stands back upright, breathing heavily as she begins to regain control of herself.

“Four,”

Casemate coughs and groans, and a small stream of blood ejects from his mouth onto the stone floor.

That blow had to have broken something.

His wife and daughter look down at him in horror and concern.

Then, Barbette jumps off her mother’s back, and together, she and Edelweiss kneel to Casemate’s side, checking on him, their love for him overriding their fear of Nightmare.

“Three,”

The reactor’s noise reaches a climax, and various pipes and valves around it begin to rumble and shake as it comes to life.

Edelweiss puts her hooves under Casemate’s head, cradling him tenderly, and Barbette places her hooves on his chest, looking like she was about to burst into tears.

Nightmare’s gaze lessens in intensity, and a petty pridefulness shows on her expression as she holds her head high and unfurls her wings in a terrible display.

“Two,”

Casemate’s eyes shoot open, and make contact with his daughter’s, then his wife’s.

Nightmare Moon’s horn begins to glow, and she gives perhaps her most chilling grin yet.

She has them all dead to rights.

“One,”

Casemate eyes the Gatekeeper sitting directly alongside themselves and Nightmare, and most strikingly, the opened hatch between them and her.

Summoning perhaps every scrap of strength he had, Casemate lunges up at both his loved ones, scooping them both up in his mighty forelegs. They all fall a few feet further back, but this time, both Edelweiss and Barbette were underneath him, shielded from whatever would come next.

Nightmare lowers her head, aiming her sparking, charged horn at the three helpless ponies, and utters a single word through her clenched grin.

“Die.”

“Mark.”

Right as Nightmare unleashes a beam of lethal magic at the ponies, the reactor jolts to life, and a strange distortion hangs in the air surrounding them, leaking from the opened hatch.

Luna watched as the beam entered the distorted cone of cosmic energy, and right before her eyes, the linear beam made a sharp, curving, uncontrolled turn directly into the open hatchway.

The capacium reactor, lacking the shielding in this spot, had drawn in Nightmare Moon’s magical attack like a magnet does iron!

All this happened in the blink of an eye, and as soon as the beam impacted the interior of the reactor, tartarus broke loose.

There was the sound of magic impacting metal, and a sudden, deafening screech as some critical component gave out from the damaging blast.

A blinding, bluish light saturated the chamber, and there was a deafening explosion, far louder and more impactful than the first.

Parts and pieces of the machine flew out from the new, gaping hole created by the catastrophic impact. Nightmare cried out in surprise and even a bit of fear as she recoiled away.

Casemate was still holding on to Edelweiss and Barbette, shielding them as best he could. Luna watched as a few chunks of shrapnel cut along and into his body, forming wounds that would create more of the scars that he bore in the present.

But the worst was yet to come.

As the light faded, it became clear that the visible, shimmering distortions in the air created by the radiation had become far, far more intense, being the result of unfiltered, uncontrolled cosmic energy being released from the very core of the machine.

Sparks of what appeared to be electricity arced in the air, and a nasty, almost electronic tearing sound began to hit Luna’s ears.

She watched as small, linear tears began to open and close in the space surrounding the gatekeeper, as if somepony was ripping open reality itself.

The sound of the static-like tearing and ripping made Luna wince as it grew in intensity, and the linear gaps grew longer and wider, opening and closing at random, but seeming to stay open longer as the seconds passed.

They were also beginning to exert some sort of vacuum upon the surrounding area, sucking in papers and small tools at first, before drawing in heavier pieces of equipment as the gaps grew in intensity.

“ALARM! REACTOR CORE BREACHED! EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN INITIATING!”

In a heartbeat, Luna recalled Bastion’s words from before, when he was first explaining the nature of the reactor to Edelweiss. Namely, how the cosmic energy within could tear time and space asunder, and how it would take a few seconds for the reactor to shut down in case of such an emergency.

A few seconds struck Luna as being sufficiently quick back then, but now as she was watching this happen in real time, each second felt like a critical loss.

A tear in space opened up near Nightmare Moon, causing her to jump back with a utterance of fear. Her smoky mane and tail both immediately began to flow towards the open gap, and it was at that moment that Nightmare realized that it was dangerous to stick around.

She planted her hooves, and looked around quickly, obviously fearing for her own well being. Her gaze then went up to the ceiling, and she saw the open doors leading out into the night.

Giving a strained grunt, Nightmare unfurled her wings and flapped upwards, away from the anomalies being created. Although she struggled at first, she managed to break from the forces exerted by the portal, streaking toward the open door, making her escape.

But before she flew out, she shot a final glance down at Casemate, Edelweiss, and Barbette huddled below. Despite the mild fear and shock that was still in her eyes, Nightmare smirked.

Luna could feel her anger flash as she saw this final disparaging act by Nightmare. She was so heartlessly smug… As far as Nightmare was concerned, she felt that the cosmic portals would do the job for her, and that was enough for her to gloat over dooming the family.

As Nightmare escaped out of sight, Luna’s focus went back to the family huddled helplessly on the floor right next to the open reactor, and she felt the strongest sense of hopelessness that she had felt yet.

Wounded and battered, Casemate was clinging desperately to his wife and daughter, surrounded by the tearing gaps all around. The awful static-like ripping sounds were getting more and more intense, and the sight was becoming more unbearable with each passing moment.

“Casey?!?” Edelweiss excaimed, an expression of terror on her face as Barbette began to cry out, clinging as tightly as she could to her mother.

“LOOK AT ME! HOLD ON, OKAY?!” Casemate shouted reassuringly to them, making eye contact and trying his hardest to bury his fear. “JUST A LITTLE LONGER, WE’LL BE OKAY! BARB, LOOK AT ME!”

For a brief moment, Barbette opened her eyes and looked at her father, stopping her screaming in spite of the terrifying portals opening and closing all around.

Edelweiss wrapped a foreleg around his shoulders, looking at him intently as she kept Barbette close with her other foreleg.

And Casemate, he looked at them both, keeping calm, but not able to fully suppress the fear inside.

Luna felt an urge to scream.

It wasn’t going to be okay.

She wanted to dive in and carry them out of danger, she wanted to yell at the reactor to stop it from doing this, she wanted to do anything to just keep what was coming next from happening, and undo what she had allowed to happen all those centuries ago.

But she knew that it was a foregone conclusion.

Then, with an awful sound, a portal opened directly underneath Edelweiss and Barbette, right as another opened right over Casemate.

The vacuums the portals were exerting pulled Casemate up, and Edelweiss along with Barbette were pulled down.

Each pony gave a cry of surprise and fear as they suddenly felt the extreme forces begin to separate them.

Casemate held on to them as best he could, baring his teeth and giving a guttural shout that practically caused Luna’s heart to stop, heavily tainted with sheer desperation, pain, and fear. Edelweiss tried to maintain her grip on him and Barbette, and the filly was clutching onto her mother, also giving out a heartrending cry.

But it was all in vain.

The forces became too much.

Edelweiss’ foreleg slipped out from around Casemate’s shoulders, and this caused the loss of his own grip.

Time slowed agonizingly for Luna, and she watched as Casemate was separated from his loved ones.

Their cries ceased as they were violently yanked into the portals, replaced only by expressions of terror and heartbreak as Casemate looked down at Edelweiss and Barbette and they looked back up at him as the distance increased between them.

Casemate’s legs were stretched out as far as they could towards his loved ones, refusing to give up on trying to reach them, although the point of no return had already been passed.

Edelweiss had her free foreleg reaching up towards him as she began to disappear along with their daughter, trying to at least get one last touch…

In this fraction of a second, Luna’s heart shattered.

In this split second, all hope was lost.

They were no longer going to see each other again.

They would never feel each other again.

They would never be able to hold each other again.

…

As Casemate fell more fully into the portal, there was a nasty crackling sound as the whole scene seemed to fracture and peel away, a barrage of bright colors and sparks enveloping him and the dreamscape surrounding Luna and the Warden.

Then, in less than a second:

Silence.

Casemate landed on the ground with a painful cry, and Luna finally blinked in what had to have been over a minute.

They were no longer in the lab.

Tall, tree-like plants towered high, reaching into a thick layer of clouds in the yellowish sky above. On the ground, strange plants coated the soil.

It only took Luna a moment to realize that this was not Equus.

It was an alien world.

And Casemate was stranded, having been brought there by the portal.

After a second, Casemate shot upright, still bleeding from his back and mouth as he winced, looking all around.

“BARB!”

He cried out, the amount of pain in his voice causing Luna’s eyes to water.

“EDEL!?”

No response. Only echoes.

Casemate fell deathly silent as the echoes died away, along with any hope of finding them.

Luna stood there, tears beginning to flow freely as she inhaled unsteadily, putting a hoof over her mouth.

Casemate began to breathe even more heavily.

He looked down at the ground, noticing the various pieces of machinery and computers that had also been sucked through the portal.

He remained like that for probably ten seconds, staring down, his breathing threatening to go out of control.

He closed his eyes, violently drove a hoof into the soft soil, and slowly drew it towards him, making a rut. His body went tense, every sinew and muscle hardening as his brain finally began to feel the full force of the soul-crushing reality.

But then, Casemate collapsed to the ground, finally bearing the weight of his loss.

He lay on his side, curled up, and shook his head repeatedly, occasionally murmuring two words as he finally broke down, and the sequence finally faded to black.

“Edel… Barb…”

…

This broke Luna.