Shattered

Okay, now it's time.

Actually.

Truly.

A day did pass, after all.

You and Moonstone disguised yourselves as members of the Shadow Hooves, and infiltrated their lair to scout.

Soon enough, you got a mental message.

I̵̳̓'̸̼͗m̷̯̊ ̴̏ͅn̷̠̚o̸̗͋w̵̡̿ ̶͈͊į̶̉ṅ̶̩ ̴̅͜t̷̬̅ḫ̸̈́ḙ̸̛ ̴̼̓c̷͖̈́ȅ̴̥l̴̬̚l̴̋͜s̶͔̒.̷̮̔ ̶͈̈́Ľ̴͔o̷̺͝õ̵͉k̸̬̄ ̷͖̋f̴͉̑o̷͕̍r̵͔̊ ̶͚̾a̸͖̕ ̶͉͐l̷̯̓a̶̪̿ř̵͚g̴͓͛ẻ̷͍ ̶͚̊b̴̙͘u̵̥͂z̵̨̑ẓ̶͋-̶̠̽s̸̗͑a̶̬̽w̴͚̓.̷̱͆ ̷̨͗T̴̗̀h̵̞̃e̸̪͛r̵̗̋ȅ̴̯'̴͈̋s̷̩̈ ̴̣͗å̴̟ ̶͍̕s̶̨̄ë̸̱́c̵̳͝r̸̠͠e̴͓̓t̷̗͒ ̶̖̏s̴̡̃t̵͎̽å̴̧i̵̠̿r̵̺̂ẃ̶̢a̴̭͝y̵͎͛ ̴̢̓ḇ̶̒e̸͈͠h̵́ͅḯ̷͕n̵̠̈d̷̬̉ ̸̠̌ḯ̷̠t̶̀͜.̵͉͆

It was Twilight. She sent an undetectable telepathic message.

Good. She's in position.

Moonstone looked over at you. "Did you get a mental message too?"

You nodded.

"So Twilight's in."

You nodded.

"Alright. Let's go."

You and Moonstone went into the lair, finding a large buzz-saw. Behind it was a secret door, hidden in the shadows.

"Here we are." Moonstone muttered.

"Yeah. Let's go." You reply.

You and Moonstone opened the secret door, going down a long, winding staircase.

You eventually got to a dungeon.

"This is where we split up to search for Aurora." Moonstone explained.

An undetectable mental message replied to that.

F̵̢̃i̶̯͛͝f̵̰͌t̵̠͖̅͘ḥ̵̰́͘ ̵̤̟̓c̶̙͠e̷̳͠l̷̟͑͌l̶̻̏ ̸̼͐̓o̸̯̎̏͜n̶͇͎͠ ̶͈́̉t̷̜͓̍h̷̻͇̚ḛ̷̩̆ ̴̰͒ṟ̷̀͆i̸͌̆ͅg̶̘̳͌h̶̘͂̔t̴̰̍͌.̴͙̄

Twilight again.

You and Moonstone nodded.

Sure enough, there was a teenaged unicorn chained up in the fifth cell on the right.

"Hey." Moonstone whispered, using magic to open the cell door.

Aurora flinched. "Father?"

Moonstone removed his hood. "Yeah, it's me." he replied, helping his daughter out of her chains.

Aurora nuzzled her father. "Thank you. Oh, uh, who's she?"

You removed your hood.

"Alright, guess that answered my question." Aurora replied, almost laughing. "It's Pinkie."

You chuckled. "Yep, it's me. We gotta get you to safety."

"Agreed. We can talk about everything else once we get to Ponyville." Moonstone replied.

Meanwhile, you unlocked the cages that held your friends.

"Thanks." Rarity replied, her voice a bit raspy.

"How long were you all in there?" You asked.

"Not too long. Maybe an hour or two." Rainbow Dash replied.

"WHAT????!!!!!" You exclaimed. "AN HOUR????!!!!!"

"Woah, woah, woah, don't panic! We're fine!" Applejack reassured.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course." Rarity replied.

You nod. "Alright."

You heard the sounds of the guards coming down.

"Hide." Aurora ordered.

Everypony hid.

"Hey, who let the prisoners out?" One guard asked.

"I dunno." Another replied.

You and Moonstone used Blood Magic to summon illusions of large white snakes.

"AHHHH! SNAKES!" The first guard shrieked.

The guards fled, and you and Moonstone dissolved the illusions, chuckling.

"Not all blood magic is dark and twisted." Moonstone said to you.

"That's true. Some of it is pretty cute or even funny." You replied.

Moonstone nodded.

But as you all went upstairs, the guards were waiting for you.

"Oh, drat." Moonstone groaned.

"What do we do?" You asked.

"We run for our lives." He replied.

"Good plan."

And with that, the chase began.

That was when Twilight decided to stay behind. "All of you, keep on running. I'll hold them back."

"Are you crazy?!?!" You exclaimed.

"Just go!" Twilight replied.

You shook your head. "No, I'm not leaving you behind."

"You have to, Pinkie! It's the only way to save Equestria."

You were being dragged out forcefully.

But before you were fully dragged out, you saw one of the Shadow Hooves members slit Twilight's throat with a knife of shadows.

You fainted in horror.