A loud thunder roll did its turn over the rustic little town of Ponyville. Many shocked themselves in fear as the sudden burst of lightning and deafening sound did their turn. A storm had broken loose over the little town, a storm that was a lot heavier than each of its residents could ever expected it to become.

Some managed to find their calm in the mysterious storm. Applejack for example was the hard working, honest farmer and cowgirl had done all of her duties and secured everything for the raging storm. She found herself together with her family and sat safely inside the house as they shared stories of long ago. Granny Smith spoke the most as she had done the most in her life. Each of her grandchildren hung on her lips as she spoke about the young days of her life. How she worked her way up to the standards of where their Acres was.

Some would found themselves intrigued by the storm. Pinkie Pie for example was the young and energetic earth pony mare couldn't get enough of all of the flashy lights and sounds that made her snort like a filly. Every time just before a new flash of lightning would appear, she pulled a silly face before her window and held it until the rolling came down. It almost seemed that if she was taking photos of herself in that manner.

Others would found themselves scared to death by the howling winds and rain. Fluttershy for example had laid down on the couch within her cottage as she had the blankets pulled firmly over herself. She shivered as deep as she could as her fears for the storm affected her deeply. All of the little critters that had sought up shelter within her home, tried to comfort the terrified pegasus. Each of them would do something, even if it was in a vague attempt, to lift her mood up and show her that it wasn't all that scary.

Some would found themselves wondering how it could even had happened. Rainbow Dash for example was Ponyville's weathermaster and found herself staring with a set of big magenta colored eyes to the raging storm as countless thoughts raced through her body. The mare shook her head in utter disbelief. She couldn't wrap her head around that what was shown to her. Without a second thought in her mind rushed the daredevil of a pegasus over to the front door of her cloud palace and she opened it.

She found herself in the pouring rain and blinked only up to the skies. "How is this..?" Rainbow spoke up to herself before she made herself ready to just depart into the skies. As her wings unfolded themselves from her sides before she took one leap into the air and she was off. She was back in her element within the skies. Behind her tail she always left a rainbow colored rainbow trail and the mare did her best to not get hit by the lightning of the storm. "They never told me anything about this to happen. They never gave me instructions... Who do they think they are!?" the mare muttered to herself.

Rainbow soared up to the dark clouds and before she knew it, she found herself deep within them. Deep within their dark hollowness. The cyan pegasus turned herself in every direction in the hope to see things that would indicate that where she hoped for. But no matter where she looked, there was nothing to be seen before her.

As a new flash of lightning showed itself, it lit up the dark clouds and Rainbow was able to make up something that resembled a face. A face that she knew all too well, yet was different. "...No way," she spoke to herself before the roaring sounds caused her to lose her concentration. The pegasus dropped herself towards the ground for hundreds of meters before her wings would set her on course once more. But the image she saw was printed on her retina.

Where others got together to share stories, watched the power in awe, hid away from it or inspected it, there was a certain mulberry unicorn mare who was different from all of the others. The mare lived within a hollowed out tree near the middle of the town, a building that both figured as her living space and job. The towns own library and at the helm stood nopony else then Twilight Sparkle. The founder of the elements of harmony in the first time in three generations.

"Storms come and go. So do my studies," she spoke to herself as she levitated a cup of steaming tea. She brought the cup to her lips and blew some of the steam away before she took a gentle sip. "Life is a curious thing. Don't you think, Spike?"

"Huh, what?" a purple scaled, green spiked, baby dragon that had been hatched by the unicorn and been under her care ever since, spoke up as he rose his head out of the basket. The blanket covered most of his head and body. His tired green eyes looked over to his motherly figure and blinked a couple times at the words she spoke. "Come again?"

"Don't you think about it sometimes? I mean, what is the purpose of life? Of our lives?" Twilight spoke as she set her cup back on the oaken table before her. "I wish Rarity was here... She always had that philosophical look on the world. A look that even opened my eyes once, remember?"

Spike let out a small groan at the first set of words that were spoken. But as soon as the name of Rarity had fallen in his ears he fixed his attention upon Twilight with a bit of a tilted head. "Is this about that time she showed you there was more than just your studies? You know, that you actually need rest?" he spoke in a questioning tone as he secretly began to fear an eruption of her.

Twilight gave a simple nod at first as she closed her eyes for a little bit. It was true, she had been sitting with her studies for ever so long. But on one day when it was just Rarity and herself. It was the white coated, sapphire blue rimmed unicorn that spoke about her past and her point of view in life. It was through that heartbreaking conversation, the young and studious unicorn opened her eyes on a new perspective. A perspective that did conflict a lot with that of her own but one she loved just as much.

"Where is Rarity actually? I haven't seen her in her home for ages now," the baby dragon spoke up after a couple minutes of silence and thoughts.

Twilight shocked up out of her way of thoughts and she rested her eyes upon the baby dragon. "I wish I knew Spike, I wish I knew," she replied while a deep sigh left her body through her nose. Spike nodded to her words and crawled back upon himself in his basket.

"I just hope, she will be alright," he spoke as his eyes fell shut in order to just fall asleep and to be carried away into the realm ruled by his own mind.

Little did all of them know that the changes which had happened to the once so small and friendly unicorn. And the adventure that was knocking on their doors, if not rolling on their doorsteps. Every soul fears something over the course of their lives and it are those fears that some play with like the sick devils they are.

As the rainbow was flowing freely around the six founders of the mythical elements of harmony and headed towards the being that wanted eternal darkness. She simply stood still in utter surprise as the horror was witnessed. "How is this possible!" she asked out loud to them all. But a worded reply she never got. Instead she was treated with the rainbows themselves. The colors swirled like a tornado around the dark being and allowed it to be dissolved by its wonderful lights.

The six little ponies kept their eyes closed as their necklaces and tiara did the job. The job of vanquishing the evil and darkness that had been shrouding and living within the heart of the young princess of the night for far over a millennium of time. With one last screech for help that came from the being who named itself Nightmare Moon was destroyed and the swirling rainbows expanded on themselves.

A wonderful white light did its turn through the ruins that was once a mighty castle deep within the mysterious Everfree Forest. A light that was as bright as the sun yet harmonious as the moon. A light that in and of itself would have been enough to heal the wounds created by the gears of time.

Whilst the light faded away from the ruined building it became apparent that the bodies of the six new bearers of Harmony were knocked out unconscious for a bit of time. But on the spot where the being of hatred stood then laid a mare. A blue coated mare what the horn of a unicorn and the wings of a pegasus. The mythical sister and second alicorn had returned from her long lasted torment. She was the mare they all heard from in myths and legends, the younger sister of the princess of the sun named Luna.

Each of the young mares slowly crawled back up on their hooves and started to celebrate their victory in their own manner. But it lasted shortly as there was another being that teleported itself into the room of the ruin.

All seven of the mares watched in anxiety to who, or what, the being would reveal itself as. Seven sets of eyes all kept their gaze firmly on the growing sphere of light as the young mulberry unicorn carefully allowed her magic to be flowing through her body and horn. She was ready to strike again if that would be needed.

Out of the sphere emerged a set of white feathered wings. A coloring that was even more pure than the coat of the white coated unicorn of the group. Upon the revelation of the wings it was the mulberry mare who held her charge. All of the magic that was flowing through her body released itself in a calm manner as her eyes teared from happiness and slightly in relief.

It wasn't late after that the sphere erupted out in millions of sparkles and the truth of what the being was, was revealed. It was nopony else then the princess of the sun herself, princess Celestia of Equestria. Her multi colored mane waved ever so majestically in its always waving pattern and the young, tiara wearing unicorn couldn't resist herself anymore. She ran up to her teacher and hugged her the best she could.

Everypony was overjoyed at their victory and as crème de la crème it was the younger sister who accepted the friendship of her sister once again. They would rule over the land as they were meant to be all those years ago. Celestia would take the day whereas Luna would control the night once more.

But the desperate calls for help from Nightmare Moon didn't go unnoticed. For forces of unspeakable capabilities heeded her calls and rushed their way over to the ruin. They slithered through the shadows while they left traces of a black tar like substance behind them. A substance that was nothing more than shadows in its liquid form.

The beings of darkness kept themselves strictly to the shadows as they entered the ruin when the ponies were knocked out. The less they gave away from themselves, the better it would be for the living souls. It were nothing more than steaming shadows which hid among the real ones as shapes of eyes gently formed themselves. The eyes looked over each of the ponies that laid on the ground with great care. But when they all began to wake up it also served as their wake up call. The clouds of shadows merged themselves with another realm. A realm where darkness ruled every single inch of it. A realm where no light could be seen. A realm that stood parallel against the one with light. The void of nothingness it was called by the few brave unicorns that were ever given a look into it.

Yet even in the realm of nothing there still was something to be seen. The very aura of every being in the room was actually visible. Each of the ponies had an aura around them which the clouds were able to see just that. Their eyes went passed their former ruler and took a look over all the other ponies that were present. They seemed to have shown interest in one of the two unicorn and talked a bit against one another in an unknown tongue.

The clouds kept their eyes going for some time more before they left. They simply left the old ruin as a whole and slithered back the way they came. Through the shadows back to a place deep within the forest. A place where they would be hiding until the time was ripe. The time when the next queen would be able to stand up.

Two years had passed after the events in the ruin. Two long years made their passage through time as the white coated unicorn opened her eyes once again. The bags under her eyes were clearly visible after she had removed her eye covers. Both of her forelegs made their way over to her face and she rubbed her eyes a bit under a gentle moan of discomfort.

For nearly a year and a half she had been suffering nightmare after nightmare. Dreams of unimaginable cruelty haunted through her mind. Factories of death and friends turned into murderers were just some of them and she couldn't believe it. But the worst of all where the dreams in which her friends just abandoned her like some old foals toy that was broken.

The mare was always more than happy when the sun played through the curtains of her bedroom as it vanquished the horrible dreams. It's gentle rays teased her to get out of bed every morning. But despite the nightmares and lack of sleep from time to time, she still managed to be the beauty that was Rarity.

A fashion designer in mind and soul. Yet aside from that she also happened to be a little philosopher. She always had a different look on that others considered normal. Her vision was unique to the world but kept to herself for most of the time. Only her friends and her family heard the wise words she spoke every now and then. It would happen rarely that she shared her ideology with others outside of the group.

Rarity managed to hoist herself out of bed and some bones on her hind legs cracked themselves back into their respectable places. She left her magnificent yet slightly curved bedroom and walked down the white wallpapered hallway to the bathroom. She wanted to take a good shower to wake up the best she could.

As the warm waters of the shower made their contact with the body of the unicorn and she released both a small moan as well as shiver of joy as a smile formed itself on her face. The waters would wake her up as the soap cleaned her gorgeous body from even the tiniest bit of filth. With great elegance came a clean body was something she always said to herself.

Eventually left Rarity the bathroom under the sounds of a gentle hum. The door was left open so the steam could make its exit into the building itself. Her sapphire blue eyes irradiated their warm and inviting look as she walked down the staircase of the boutique. Her mane and tail were wrapped up in a bundle of towels as she wanted to let them dry in a natural manner. Her horn was still free and it charged itself with the light blue magical aura as all the letters and newspaper were picked up from the doormat. They were brought to the eyes of the mare who turned to her right.

Rarity entered the living part of the multifunctional building while her eyes went over all the letters she had received. Most of them happened to be invoices or orders for dresses that she had to make or materials she had to pay for. It was something she was able to judge by the types of envelopes. There then was the usual newspaper that came during the weekends but even below that there was one letter left. The last letter of the stack was the one that got most of her attention.

The mare rose an eyebrow up in silence before she placed the mysterious letter on the table which stood before the sofa in the living room. Even though her curiosity was greatly sparked, she managed to put herself off of it for the time being. The letter was addressed to her personally and written in a writing she remembered from her younger days. Days that went by ever so long ago.

The unicorn sat down on the sofa as her eyes looked at all of the invoices and orders she had received for the weeks, if not months to come. By some of the received orders she released a gentle chuckle for the fact they were quite the unique ones she had ever gotten. Ones that broke the original standards of things and went their own way. The mare always loved it when such opportunities made their way to her.

With the passage of time she worked her way through the pile of letters and even her weekend newspaper. Outside of the normal articles there wasn't really something shocking to read in it. With a gentle charge of her horn had she removed all of the unnecessary papers from the table and the orders and invoices got brought over to the working area.

Her warm and friendly eyes laid themselves on the unopened letter. A deep sigh left through her nose before she took it and walked up to her bedroom once again. If it truly contained that what she thought it would, it could change the course of her life in more than one way.

It was impossible for Rarity to keep her eyes off of the letter. The more she looked at the white envelope, the more the thoughts soared through her mind and questions raised themselves. Questions to which the content inside gave answers on. Or so she hoped.

As Rarity re-entered her bedroom and with her horn still charged in order to open up the curtain all the way. She walked up to the window sill. The young mare then did something she found herself doing more and more often with the progression of time. She allowed her bum to take place on the sill as her hind legs crossed themselves a bit. The humming of her horn became a bit more intense as both the towels around her head and mane removed themselves. They simply glided off of her wonderful body and down to the ground. Eventually to heap up upon the other. The towel around her tail still remained there as it was blocked by her legs to make the drop.

The unicorn made herself decently comfortable on the sill of the circular window and placed her head against the wall as she closed her eyes. With doubts in her mind she opened the envelope and took out the actual letter that was inside. After about a good minute of just fearing what might be written down on it. The unicorn opened her eyes anxiously and they began to make their way over the wonderfully written down words. Words that could be written down by nopony else but him.

My dearest Rarity,

As first and foremost, allow me to say sorry for what happened ever so long ago. Things didn't really turned themselves out as we both wanted to be. Unfortunate events struck us time after time and eventually, we grew apart from each other. Which is quite the shame actually. For even after all this time, I still do have feelings for you. I can only hope that you are having them for me as well.

I would like to meet you on the thousand second Summer Sun celebration in the old castle in the Everfree. It would mean a lot to me if you came and visit me. Even if it is just to see your face again after such a long time.

With the kindest of regards,

Emerald Masquerade

Her eyes couldn't believe it. No matter how many times she read the letter over, it was just unbelievable for the unicorn. She didn't spoke a word to Emerald since their separation in high school. But it also rose suspicion in the mare. Something told her not everything was what it seemed. Why would he search up me now, instead of years ago? I am well known in Equestria, if the rumors have to be believed, she thought to herself before another deep sigh made its way through her nose.

The sapphire blue eyes separated their ways from the letter and fell on the street the boutique stood on. The ponies that came by didn't even look at the mare behind the window as they were too busy with their own things and needs. A faint smile came to her face as she saw the life what went on down on the lane.

But then there was something that came to her mind and she read the letter once again. Thousand second Summer Sun Celebration, but, that's today! the unicorn thought and almost instantly she removed herself from the sill and made her way over to the walk-in closets. The towel around her tail was finally given the opportunity to drop itself and that it did with grace.

Luckily she was a unicorn who had mastered that arts of levitation over the years and with her memory she didn't even had to go into the closet to get the attire she wanted. Her horn still shone in its aura as her mane started to do itself in a more formal manner and a pinkish dress showed itself before her eyes from the walk-in closet.

With a smile on her face she placed the dress around her body. A dress that happened to be a tight fit and was to be completed with a set of matching gloves for her forelegs and shoes for her hind hooves. A hat in the same coloring got placed on her head and she turned herself around. The mare posed a little bit in the mirror as her horn discharged itself after the door of her closet had closed themselves under their signature thuds.

Rarity was finally ready for her meeting with her long lost friend and one of the very few love interests within her busy but humble existence, Emerald Masquerade.

While the sun stood on its mid noon position and shone its light freely over the loved land of Equestria. Not a single cloud made its way over the bright blue skies. The sun was ever so warm and pleasant that it could be felt deep within the Everfree Forest. On the path the unicorn was venturing on she looked up to the skies with a smile and tipped her hat a bit more to back to fully enjoy the light. The woods themselves were normally hostile and dangerous but on a day like it was it had a certain and unknown charm to itself. Her pacing as a gentle trot but the haste in it was possible to be noticed. She wanted to meet him again but the questions never left her mind.

Rarity moved her head up to the roof of leaves and branches as the birds sang their songs within her ears. A choir of the best vocalists of the woods gave of an astonishing performance as she went by. Her head lowered itself again as she focused herself on the road head and tipped her hat back.

But the deeper she came into the forest, the more she began to realize why it was called Everfree Forest. For deep within there laid secrets dug deep beneath the soils. Secrets that would even indulge fear in the most bravest of hearts. The unicorn knew from stories that were told by Twilight that the woods once housed a tower where the most powerful unicorn of his time lived, Starswirl the Bearded.

A studious stallion much like Twilight herself, he had set is tower in the woods to record its curious weather activity. An activity that wasn't controlled by the pegasi and no matter what they tried, they never were able control it. The stallion become a unicorn of myths and legends through his searches and discoveries. But the woods never gave its secrets away.

Everything within them was free. Free from the help of ponies like Rarity. Life had found a way to preserve itself on its own. And that was the reason why the wild woods close to the rustic little town of Ponyville was called the Everfree Forest.

Rarity tried her best not to think about the unknown factors of the forest and simply continued on her way as she came across a cross-road. On the signs were two locations written down, one would lead her to the nearby woods of White Tails. A place that was known for its fog which appeared to be moving like tails of white hair. The other road would lead her to the ruin of the castle. The mare allowed her eyes some time to look over the signs before it began to push through her mind that she had to hurry to her destination.

The young mare went down the road which led her over to the old ruin. A road she had wandered one time before. Two years ago she and her friends made their way over there for the first time in their quest to find the elements and stop Nightmare Moon. It brought back many memories of forgotten times. Times that were different than the ones she lived in afterward. A smile came to her face as she trotted down the road.

Eventually it fell in her view. The broken down leftovers of the once so mighty castle. A castle that once was a home for the royal sisters. Before the massive battle between the sun and the moon waged through it. Then it was left over the gears of time to consume what remained of it. One of the main towers fell in her eyes as the broken stained glass of the main room was to be spotted soon after it.

Rarity allowed herself a gentle sigh of nostalgia before she continued to trot further into it. She got more and more determined to meet with Emerald and she wouldn't back down from it. The fashion designer had passed the point of no return. Literally and figuratively.

The mare stood once again in the very room where once the elements of harmony were housed and she had a look around the room. She hoped to find him sooner or later. But then she realized that just her appearance and hoofsteps wouldn't be enough to make him come to her, she called his name a couple times while she took off her hat with the help of her magic.

The first calls weren't answered in any form and she sat down on the steps which led over to an elevated level of the room. Rarity placed her forelegs before her eyes as gentle streams of tears made their way down. Tears of sadness were the kind which steamed down her face. She thought they could meet each other but the possibilities of what happened could only be two things. Either she was too late and he had left already. Or it was just a sick trick played by somepony.

What was unknown to the unicorn had to be the fact that the exits of the room had sealed themselves off with silent flames of shadow. Shadows that blocked her escape, shadows which forced her to stay in the particular room. It wasn't long after it that the humming of power could be heard going through the room.

Rarity looked up in curiosity of what came under the sounds of a couple sniffles while she wiped away the tears of sadness. Within her eyes she gained a look of mystery as she stared at the portal that was forming itself in the room. A portal that created itself in midair and appeared to be a swirling tornado on a horizontal side.

Fear was the very first thing which rose up within her body and she crawled back up even more against the steps. Rarity looked over to her sides, towards the doorways of the room. But all she saw where the raging flames of shadow. "Trapped like a mice," she whispered to herself before her attention turned itself over to the portal.

There were two streams of a black tar like substance which got spewed out onto the floor of the room. Rarity shivered in a disgusted manner at the scene that happened before her eyes and she closed them. The mare didn't even wanted to know what was going to happen to her, or the substance. But had she kept them open it became known that the tar morphed itself into stallion like shapes. Shapes of a stallion that would remind her to Fancy Pants himself. Their appearance was friendly despite their mysterious origin. Their eyes looked like gems, so bright in coloring. Once they were fully formed and had a good hold on the ground, the both released a gentle moan into the air. A moan which made the young unicorn crawl up even further away from them.

But it also was through the moan that she opened her eyes and looked at them. Rarity was hit by utmost surprise for what she caught within them. Two perfectly shaped stallions that made their way over to her in a gentle pacing while streams of shadows left their bodies like a trail of smoke or fog. Rarity only crawled back the more she realized that they were coming for her instead of having a look around. The dressed unicorn reached the back wall and managed to stand up on all four of her hooves again and her eyes fell upon the stallions.

The thought to use her magic against them did occur in her mind multiple times. But the beings didn't do anything against her yet. In her ladylike mind she didn't had a valid reason to blindly charge them. The mare simply closed her eyes firmly and waited for the inevitable.

"Miss, Rarity, we presume," one of the stallions spoke in a kind gentlecolt's voice. A voice that was sweet enough to make the terrified mare stop her shivering. With the greatest of care in the world she opened her eyes under a gentle nod. "We, have been following you around for some time now and we both wish to make you an offer. An offer a lady of your capabilities simply can not refuse."

"W-Where is this all about..? W-Who are you two to begin with it and where is my beloved Emerald?" Rarity managed to speak up in a somewhat clearer voice to the both of them. Her eyes kept switching themselves between the stallions as the other opened its mouth to speak.

"We are afraid that mister Masquerade was unable to make the acquaintance he had purposed in the letter send to you. But as the offer goes. We would like to have you as our queen. Think about it, it is a job so much better than that what you have now. And above all," the speaker began to gain a deep grin on his face before it continued on with its words, "you will receive subjects that won't drop you like a brick." he spoke as his sapphire eyes never left the face of the unicorn.

"W-What are you talking about. M-Me a q-queen? I find, I find that hard to believe to be honest. And how do you mean, that won't drop me?" Rarity replied in utter confusion as she stared at the two stallions and blinked while she shook her head. She truly didn't had a clue just where the two were talking about.

"Your friends will eventually leave you for somepony much better than you. They will drop you like you are nothing more to them then a box of rocks, miss," the other stallion spoke in its unusual kind voice given the situation. His eyes looked like emeralds and the mare had to do her best to not get lost in them, for she always loved the color the gem had.

But Rarity wasn't the craziest of unicorns either. She had the feeling something was wrong with them. A feeling that got more and more confirmed the more she carefully stared at them and the portal they appeared. Her mind had forgotten about Emerald for the time being. She wanted, or better said, she had to find a way out of the situation she found herself in. "I, I don't wish to offend either of the fine stallions. But I know more than well that my friends will never just ditch me because I am who I am." Rarity dared to speak against the two. "And besides, I know them for two years now, if not longer. Never did they show me a sign of hostility. Of course there was the occasional exchange of words with Rainbow and Applejack. But that is no reason for them to just dump either me or them, now is it?"

The words spoken by the unicorn angered the two black stallion deeply but they never showed her any sign of their anger. "Are you sure about that lady? Because lately there have been some rumoring around of meetings between the five of them," the emerald eyed stallion spoke as he paced a little around in a nonchalant manner before her.

"And, how do you know that if I may ask? You two haven't been spying on us now have you?" Rarity spoke up with a risen eyebrow.

"We know it simply because it is truth lady," the sapphire eyed stallion spoke in a bit of a saddened voice. "Friends always leave you in the far end. Whether you like it or not, they just do. But we, we shall never leave your side."

"I still find it terribly hard to believe to be honest. We are simply inseparable. We have been through the thickest of life with one another and even though we share our differences, we still help each other out when needed." Rarity replied to the stallions while she tried to keep herself as down to earth as possible.

"Though keep in mind lady Rarity, that without you, our very existence would be just, meaningless," the emerald eyed stallion spoke. "It is your generosity, that will save us."

"No! My friends, they need me," the unicorn spoke as she shook her head deeply against the spoken words. "And how, how do you mean... Am, am I some sort of savior?"

"You could sorta say that yes," the sapphire eyes stallion spoke before the emerald eyed one took over again.

"But do they truly need you? Are you sure they wouldn't just reject your gifts when somepony else comes along then? Somepony with a bit less attitude, perhaps?" he spoke in a persuading tone. The tone was powerful enough to make the unicorn think about the words in a deep consideration. She began to remember her ever lasting nightmares of her friends separating with her.

Dreams of sheer horror did their turn before her eyes once again. "N-No... They wouldn't," she whispered inaudible to herself as well as to the both of them.

The unicorn found herself standing in the working area of her boutique with a questioning gaze in her eyes as the words of Twilight echoed within her mind. "No thanks Rarity," the mulberry mare spoke as she shivered from a set of perfectly made saddlebags. Everything the studious unicorn could dream about was simply present within it yet she was horrified by it.

"But I made it just for you..." Rarity spoke in a confused tone. Within her mind she simply didn't understood just why one of her best friends would rejected such a wonderful gift. They always had accepted them from her in times before. "Could, could you at least tell me what... Twilight?"

The unicorn had simply left the room and Rarity blinked a couple times before she set the saddle bags back to the ground. She removed her glasses from her nose and gently rubbed her eyes. "Could it be that, that your skill starts to lack Rary?" she mumbled in herself as she walked up to the front door of the building. "No, the stitch lines were perfect, the color matches everything... Why wouldn't..."

And as she came on the street she saw a sight that no matter how many times she saw it in her dreams, tore her heart into two pieces. All five of her friends stood around a nerdy looking pony as Twilight wore a new set of saddlebags. A horrible made set of saddlebags and the name of Twilite on it. The unicorn actually appeared to be in love with the bags as she spoke her words. "Maybelle, you're so generous! I don't know what we'd do without you," she spoke in a genuine happy tone.

Deep within her heart could Rarity feel the knife that stabbed through it in a vicious manner. She wanted to puke at the sight and turn her head away. But forces greater than her own blocked her from doing so. "She, she didn't even spell your name right, Twily," the white coated unicorn mumbled to herself as she blinked a couple times in the attempt that her eyes were lying to her.

"That's so awesome!" Rainbow spoke up as her only reaction to the saddlebags. Pinkie Pie hopped around the group as her usual happy self as Fluttershy and Applejack simply watched over the events as they unfolded themselves with a happy smile on their faces. Rarity just stood by on a distance and was just unable to move herself. She had gained a defeated look in her eyes and a tear made its way down her cheeks before it hit the ground. She couldn't believe the events that happened before her very own eyes.

As soon as the tear made contact with the ground, everything around the unicorn slowly turned itself in a vortex of pure darkness, fog and lightning flashes as she desperately spoke her words against the images of her friends. "Please, let me help... Don't forget about me, please!"

But none of them would listen to her. Rainbow simply flew away as Twilight looked at her with a leaning look before she parted their ways in silence. The helpless unicorn could feel the warm knife piercing itself through her body once again. And once again it struck her right in her heart before her eyes turned themselves over to the three remaining ponies.

"We don't need anything from you, Rarity!" Pinkie yelled before she disappeared within the vortex.

"And we never will!" Applejack yelled at her turn. And then she was just off. Off to do her own things and she also disappeared within the vortex. Out of her sight.

"Yeah," was the only thing spoken by her dearest friend, Fluttershy. The unicorn and the pegasus had been through a lot together and it all ended with such a simple little word. The yellow coated pegasus took off from the ground and she also disappeared within the vortex of shadows. Rarity was then alone, her eyes made their way through the vortex as more and more tears slowly started to stream down her face. Tears that came forth of a sadness she had never suffered before. The loss of ponies dear to her.

The three final nails of her coffin got hammered into the wood under three large bangs. Where as the knife did three more stabs through her heart. It was by then that her heart was nothing more but a leaking pool of sadness.

She shocked out of the dream that took place within her mind for mere minutes, but was in reality just a few seconds. Her sapphire blue eyes fell upon the two stallions of the shadow and she reached for her chest. Rarity tried to feel if she was actually wounded but there was nothing to be found except the emotional scarring. Her eyes then moved themselves up to the two black stallions with a set of tears which streamed down her cheeks. "They wouldn't forget me, would they?" she questioned not only to herself, but also to them. The poor unicorn was in a complete state of doubt. Nothing in her own mind added up against each other anymore as the two stallion made great use of the opportunity that had been opening itself before them.

"Stay with us and your kindness would never be taken for granted," the sapphire eyed stallion spoke.

"You would never be forgotten," the emerald eyed one added as out of the portal a small stream of smoke emerged. A stream that headed straight towards the poor unicorn and the very tip of it was covered in magic. Rarity was too blinded to see the incoming stream as she kept blinking to herself and her mind wondered off to many things.

But then she felt the contact that was made. The magic of the stream clashed against her horn. "Never?" she spoke softly. "I just want to help..." The stream circled itself down the magical extender that was given to her by birth and more streams of shadows swirled around her body. It all tried to gain a hold on the poor and powerless unicorn.

"And you will help," the emerald eyed stallion spoke up once again. "More than you ever dreamed."

The shadows managed to get a hold of the humble unicorn and they slowly covered her within their misty selves. The barrier became so thick that the stallions were unable to see her no matter which realm they would go into. The sounds of clothing being ripped to pieces took its turn through their ears as some flashes showed it.

The first one showed an elongated body, the second flash a much larger horn, the third and final one revealed a mane that was only known by the princesses of the land. The stallions looked at each other for a moment before they returned their attention over to the thick fog once again. It was the emerald eyed one which dared to open its mouth and it spoke in a curious yet cautious tone. "Rarity?"

But the reply he got was everything but what they expected. Deep within the foggy smoke, there was a set of eyes which rushed forward into their direction. A set of eyes that looked like the eyes of a cat with blue irises which opened and thus revealed themselves to the world. But the eyes had something different about them, for they had sparkles in them. Sparkles that looked like the gems from the cutie mark of Rarity. The eyelashes were undoubtedly those from the unicorn tailor But when the being within the fog spoke up, it released a tone nopony ever wanted to hear. A tone that was meant to indulge fear in even the bravest of hearts. A tone that was colder than stone, yet as refined as the most proper lady. And then came the words it desired to speak.

"Rarity, is dead..."

The two stallions that had carefully been watching over the unicorn her transformation, heard the words and they almost froze up in fear. Their plan had worked and their queen had returned. When the two of them regained their ability to move again, they were unsure of what they needed to do and looked at the eyes in the clouds of shadow just before going over to one another. "Bow," the mare within the cloud simply spoke in a demanding tone.

"What?" the emerald eyed stallion spoke up before he turned back over to the shadows.

"Bow before your queen!" the entity shouted directly at them. The two stallions simply obeyed the words almost right away and lowered themselves through their forelegs. "Good, very good," she spoke up before a deep exhale was being made through her nostrils. "Now do tell me, where have you been stationed all this time? But above all, what are your names?"

The emerald eyed stallion looked up towards the unicorn and slowly made a blinking motion. He could feel the powers traveling through her body. The powers of the tailor mixed with those of the dark mistress of old, a dangerous combination to be messing with. And that was exactly what they didn't want to do. "The name, is Shadowfright your highness," he spoke up before lowering his head once again.

"Shadowfright…you said? Precarious little name you're carrying there, but it shall do enough. And how about you?" The entity then focused its attention to the stallion with the sapphire eyes. A much broader stallion then the other and was obviously trained for true face to face combat.

"Name's Shadowblood, my queen," he replied with a respectful tone towards the entity before he dared to raise up from the bow. The full mass of his muscular body was revealed and the being was truly surprised from their names. The eyes showed that at least.

"Curious…most curious," she mumbled to herself before her thoughts drifted off into places where neither of the two stallions had been through. The memories of Rarity's past all came towards the entity but it seemed like events from distant times ago.

"If, if I may ask, how do we call our queen?" Shadowfright asked after he also had raised up from the bow and looked at her with his emerald gems for eyes.

That question took her out of the flow of thoughts before they could wrap themselves around the entity's still beating and she turned her catlike irises over to him. "The very name you shall address me as, will be nothing more but a morphing of the previous Nightmare. So you can call me, Nightmare Rarity."

Once she spoke her name, the name she would be carrying until the end of time there was a roar of thunder that erupted above the old castle in the Everfree. A roar that rolled on for a good ten seconds before it became silent again. Not a single creature nor pony dared to make a noise of any kind. That was with the exception of Nightmare Rarity as her deep exhaling was the only thing to be heard within the ancient room.

The room were Nightmare Moon had once fallen housed the very birthplace for the next entity in the line of nightmares. And it was nopony else then the very element of generosity. With one of them corrupted, the other five would be facing a difficult task in using them. But that would be a trouble for later. A lot later.

"Rally the troops, now." Nightmare Rarity spoke up after the silence had become too much for her. She wanted action and knew just what to do.

"To where are we going my queen?" Shadowfright asked her with a curious and slightly nervous look on his face.

The entity within the fog looked over to the stallions before a grin appeared within the substance. "To a place far away from here. My former home is unable to carry out the duties nor does it provide a hiding spot for what I've become. No, the nearby woods of White Tails shall be good enough. Safe during the day and trouble during the night. Trouble caused by you two and the other men. The land shall know just what kind of powers are flowing through my body."

"And then…you'll cause eternal night over the land, right? Just, just as you promised." Shadowblood spoke up in a cautious manner towards her.

Nightmare Rarity looked over to him with a dead serious look as she started to dig within her mind to find that promise made. But there was the problem with the plan. For the two stallions wanted to use Rarity's body as a vessel for the true queen of darkness, Nightmare Moon herself. However, instead of letting her become the dominant force within the body, Rarity happened to have been a lot stronger.

What truly happened to the once ivory coated unicorn was the fact that she had never died. It was still the Rarity everypony knew and loved that spoke the words. But it was her very soul that was tainted with the spirit of Moon. That was what caused her to change in her misty form. Because the body wasn't fully developed yet to the new circumstances.

It was true that the two stallions had seen flashes of the changes that were made but those were what they were, flashes. The real transformation would take a lot more time. But that didn't bother the unicorn at all. With the mind mixed of both herself and Moon, it was a truly dangerous combination. Yet the luckiest thing of it all had to be the sheer fact that Moon wouldn't be able to control her body at all.

All the actions, all the words, would all come directly from Rarity herself, no matter how twisted she would get in form and speech. The kind and hardworking element of generosity had died in a way, to make place for the tyrannical overlord that was her Nightmare persona. Turmoil would shudder the land, but first things first.

"We, shall see about that." Nightmare Rarity replied to the two of them. And it were those words that caused the two stallions to get suspicion on her. But they would play along for the time being. If she wouldn't keep her promises, the blades of fury would slit her throat and they would kill her in cold blood. And then the search would start all over again. Trying to find that one pony suitable for the job of fulfilling the promise made by Moon before she was sent to the moon itself.

"Now go you two. We have a long hike to go."

"As you wish, my queen." Shadowfright replied to her before the two of them turned themselves around and made their departure. They left the mixed and still mixing entity where she was and the eyes looked all over the place as the memories of the two beings came back. The destruction of Moon herself.

"You'll never take over my body completely…I can assure you that." Nightmare Rarity mumbled to herself before the mist started to move away. She was more than ready to leave the old castle behind and find her new home somewhere in the ancient woods. For the once so wonderful Carousel Boutique was located right inside of the town of Ponyville. A town for which she had gotten a growing hate. It wasn't something the entity could explain why, but it was just there.

Returning to that town wouldn't be the wisest of ideas in her eyes. While it was true that her friends and family lived there, the being was not allowed to think about them for reasons unknown. Every time she tried, it was either locked, crushed or her attention was placed on something else.

Both Shadowfright and –blood found themselves walking through the broken down hallways as they shared the same strain of thoughts in their mind. But it was the much broader Shadowblood who spoke up first and broke the uneasy silence. "You sure she was the right choice?"

"I'm sure Blood. Have faith in me for once. It didn't took the princes of the night a day either to become our first queen." Fright replied with his deep sounding voice.

"You can have a point there all you want, but that still doesn't take away that if she doesn't cause the eternal night for us, she's going down." Blood then spoke up with before he released a deep huff. "She'll make the promise true or perish."

Those words caused Fright to look up at his companion and he made a motion that would have raised an eyebrow. "Now I remember why she put you in charge of the dungeon." he then said in a chuckling tone before fixing his attention back to the task ahead.

When the two of them entered the courtyard of the castle, they released a howl into the air that could only be made if a timberwolf and manticore roared together. One that was unique to the land but also terrifying to listen at.

And from out of the shadows they all came. All as clouds of shadow they appeared before them. Entities without physical structure or face. Creatures that could float everywhere in plain sight and still be hidden. They left their warm and comfortable homes of the shadows themselves to listen to the words that were spoken by Fright and Blood.

"Today my brothers and sisters, today we mark the day that a new queen of our kind has risen up to her potential. A unicorn shall be leading us into the promise made ever so long ago! Eternal night shall fall for the land whenever we go. However, we can not stay here. We are going to move to the woods of White Tails. The time, is ripe. The time, has come. The land, shall shudder under our might. The might of the Nightmare Forces!"

And then all sorts of beastly roars and cheers were being made by the clouds of shadow before they wanted to make their departure and follow the lead of the queen. Both Fright and Blood smirked like the devils they were. They only needed Rarity -or Nightmare Rarity- to the point where she had caused the eternal night. And after that, they would 'take over' the throne from her.

Yet sadly for the two of them had Nightmare Rarity's entity been listening and even watching over the clouds from a location high above them. She had caught every single word that was spoken and her mind made the quick connection that they were conspiring against her. A case in which she was either right, or dead wrong. Either way, the being would make sure that she would stay on top of the board and keep the title of queen Nightmare Rarity.

With a huff she turned herself around and hovered away into the darkness of the castle, wanting to lead the forces to the place of destination. The place that she would be calling home from then onward. Many things had still to be set straight in her mind and body, but with enough time those things would become clear as crystal. The land had never seen a kind of evil that was that glamorous and polite, but neither as insane and tyrannical.

The days slowly had been crawling by and the ivory coated unicorn had never made her return to the peaceful little town. And that fact alone worried a lot of the ponies that lived inside of it. They started to think that something terrible had happened to her or even worse. Normally there would be at least one pony that knew where she was, or had gone too. But not even within her own family they knew where she had been.

Desperation of a mother, father, sister and five of her friends had caused them to go to town's square in order to speak with the very mayor of it. The eight ponies were walking in a quick pace through the streets as the clouds above their heads were gloomy and threatening to erupt in a rainstorm any second.

"Come quickly now, these skies aren't looking good at all." Magnum, the father of Rarity who was a white coated, brown maned, tailed and mustached unicorn stallion spoke up as he held the door of the building open for them all.

What followed was a parade of Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Sweetie Belle and his beloved wife, Pearl. Once they all had entered, he did the same and joined the company inside.

"Where to now honey?" the purple maned, pinkish coated unicorn mare asked the only stallion of the company.

"I think…we best head over to the waiting area until we are called. I'll do the talking to get us in there Pearl." Magnum replied as he stroked the cheek of his beloved wife.

"Oh you and your silver tongue," she spoke up before he received a quick kiss on the cheek. "Good luck."

"Thanks." And then he was off to the desk of a clerk.

The other ponies were guided over by Pearl and all of them took calmly place on a couple of the benches. "Eh Rainbow, yah think it's gonna rain today?" Applejack asked after she had turned herself around and just looked outside of the window.

"Can't say…they never said to me to clear the skies or that these clouds would be there. Suppose we best prepare for a wet coat." the rainbow maned pegasus replied with a playful smirk.

"Ah suppose yar right on that. But, Rares not saying where she's gone to, left for days on end…kinda suspicious don't you think?"

"Applejack," Pearl spoke up. "I have raised my daughter as best as I could. However, her mind is easily confused. Perhaps she thinks she has told it to somepony." It was something that was rather true. Because of all of the business Rarity had in her life caused her mind to become a strainer and she had to write down most of her things to done and having done.

"Ah didn't mean to offend any of you'll, just sharing mah thoughts on the matter." Applejack spoke in her defense. But then she decided to keep her mouth shut on the matter before it would be any worse.

"I just hope…that she's okay." Fluttershy spoke up in her timed and shy voice. The best of friends she was with the unicorn for a couple of reasons. Even though they were completely different, they still had many similarities between one another. And that was something that couldn't be said from Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.

Twilight on the other end allowed a deep sigh to leave her nostrils as she thought about the near endless possibilities of what could have happened and what actually had happened. Thoughts that were unspeakable for her as the little sister was also there.

Sweetie Belle, the white coated, pinkish white maned unicorn filly, snuggled up against her mother as she closed her eyes to get some rest. For day in and out, she had been thinking about her big sister. Hoping and praying to the princesses that she would be alright no matter what. But it came with the price of a true lack of sleep and for a filly that did as much as she did, it was trouble ahead.

A silence on the subject was being made while the casual chats kept going. None of them wanted to speak about what could have happened, as it were all loose thoughts. But then Magnum made his return to the group. "She can see us, right now."

Taken by surprise of the speed, all of the ponies rose up from their seating and followed the stallion. He brought them over to the office of the mayor of the town. But with all of them in there, it became quite crowed. It was something they could deal with though.

The company found themselves in an oaken wooded room with the mayor sitting behind her desk and her forelegs crossed over one another. Behind her and a bit too the left stood a grandfather clock that was still ticking and even gave the time on accurately. Much to everyponies surprise. The mayor herself, looked over the eight ponies and signaled them to speak on the matter.

"So basically," the mayor started after the story had been done. "What you want me to do, is to organize an entire search party because of one pony who left, without a note, just because you might think she's gone missing?"

"That's…about it, yes." Twilight replied in all of her honesty.

Those words caused the face of the mayor to go sour for a little bit. The earth pony mare removed the glasses from her nose and laid them before her on the desk. "Don't get me wrong here, but I'm afraid I can't organize a search party for her. She hadn't been kidnapped or anything the like. She just left. I'm sorry, but in my authority I can't do anything else to help you. Just remain calm for the coming days and await her return. She has to come back eventually."

The answer that was given to them, was nearly the complete opposite from that what ponies originally had hoped to be hearing. But with words of the mayor were final and they just had to take it for what they were. Unfair it might have been but everything has its limits.

Sweetie Belle had taken her refuge on her mother's back and had been looking and listening the whole time. The disappointment dripped from her face before she just dropped herself on the back. She then simply hung there before a deep sigh was left through her mouth.

Of course it was hurting to see for the mayor mare as well, but she couldn't do anything else. And so the company of eight ponies left the room for what it was and they separated their ways into two groups. Pearl, Magnum and Sweetie returned back to their home, whereas the other five mares would go to the Golden Oak library to discuss further matters.

They spoke their thanks and goodbye's to one another before the went their separate ways. The family remained in silence up until the door of their house was closed behind them. Then the arguments broke loose about what they possibly could be doing.

Meanwhile in the library itself was a similar kind of conversation was going on. Each of the five friends had been seated in the living part of the library and they all spoke about the facts as they knew them. "But does anypony know something from the day she left? Who had seen her as last?" Twilight spoke up as she wanted to have a clear state in her mind. "Who?"

Everypony shook their head to the question that was asked with the exception of Fluttershy. The timed and shy pegasus spoke up about their last meeting. "It…it was about a week or two ago, we had our weekly spa trip and we just did what we always do. Nothing…strange, really," she spoke up towards all of the other mares.

The words themselves caused the ponies to release thoughtful moans and groans. "Oh, oh, oh!" Pinkie Pie suddenly spoke up. "Maybe she's in one of those major cities like Manehatten, she has always dreamed of going there, right?"

Twilight was caught a bit off guard by the words and grinded them through her own mind and experiences with Rarity. Only to come to the shocking conclusion that Pinkie was right. "Now that you are saying it… I think, I think that we indeed better wait for her return. Just a few more days and then we start our own search party."

While the words of Twilight were a hard hit for them all, they had to agree with them because of the facts they had not even the slightest of clue to where Rarity could possibly be. In a major city, in a wood relaxing, or buried in a ditch after some creature had attacked her. Loose speculation was all the confirmation they had.

They couldn't even go into the boutique itself to look for clues as the only key was always in Rarity's possession and teleporting inside would be seen a breaking in. Let alone the fact of just what kind of magical defenses the unicorn had put on over the years. It was a tough package for the five friends but the cards laid open for them. Yet they weren't favorable to say the least. "Ah think you're right Twi. Suppose it's better to wait just a bit longer before pulling on the bells as they are." Applejack said before she placed her signature hat back on her head. "If you'll excuse me, the farm need me."

"I think it is better for us all to leave." Rainbow said as she also made her preparations. And so they went, one by one they left the Golden Oak library for what it was. Twilight was left alone in her home and allowed a deep sigh to leave her. Her mind was troubled, her body aching, her soul tainted. Where in the world, could that unicorn possibly be?

Questions, theories and plots all went through her mind faster than anything else as the mulberry unicorn had taken her position back upon the couch and just laid on it with her belly facing up. She had been wanting to read and let her mind drift off of from the matter, but it was simply impossible. Rarity meant a lot in her life, in all of their lives and just putting her aside was something unthinkable and unheard from. Though times it were for her as well as her friends. Time would tell when the unicorn of generosity would make her return into the town.

The mare closed her eyes and soon enough fell asleep. Her mind had exhausted herself because of almost everything that went through it. Uncertainty was the abyss she stood for and it had to be crossed one way or the other.

The many clouds of shadow had left their home in Everfree and were already on the march towards White Tails under the command of Nightmare Rarity but both Fright and Blood had so their own agenda. The two stallions shook off their physical form and became clouds themselves. They than simply merged within the group and in a convoy of darkness they went after their queen.

At the head of the entire convoy was the queen herself, leading her forces through trunks and branches. Because they didn't travel over the known roads. Instead they traveled through the vegetation of the forest to keep a low profile. Even though there were no others walking on the paths in Everfree, the creatures it housed never dared to attack them.

Fear had filled their brave little souls and they rather stayed away from the clouds of shadow. Mostly for the fact that they could morph themselves into copies of the predators the forest was rich. Fight of flight, often resulted in flight. Something that all of the forces could understand.

Day turned into night and night into day when the passed the border of Everfree and White Tails. Muttering among the forces had been heard but both Fright and Blood spoke of calm. Time had to be given to their new queen before the plan was set into motion. Nightmare Rarity had different plans on that but she decided to play dumb for the time being. That gave her an advantage to a degree unknown.

As they walked deeper and deeper into the woods had a thick fog been crawling up to them and it reminded not only the queen, but every other nightmare force as well, as tails waving in the wind. "What do you know…that's how the name came to origin." Fright whispered to himself as he looked over the scenery in his cloud form.

It was true that the clouds had no visual eyes to look around but they could still see the world as it was. Unique beings they were and the perfect troops for almost any situation. A thing that would come in rather helpful when the time would be there for them to shine. But as they kept walking, there was a blue aura that went in the shape of a horn. Almost as if it was being charged with magic.

Some of the forces looked up with baffled motions but the queen herself had no idea just what was going on with her magic. It appeared to be tugging her to something if not somewhere. Without any word mentioned she made a sharp turn to the right and then went straight again. "What in the devil's name do we get now?!" she spoke up to herself while trying to figure out where she went. But with the thickness of the fog, that was harder then it looked.

"Where are we going now Fright?" Shadowblood spoke up to his partner as they almost blindly followed the queen. With their direction unknown, who knew just where they would end. They could enter into a trap set up by Celestia for all they knew.

Yet little did they knew was that the place the entity was heading towards, was something none could have ever dreamed about. The very place where all hell would break loose. The very place that would become the base operation for Nightmare Rarity and the place where probably the greatest and worst discovery would have been made.

Hovering and floating through the trees and ground, Nightmare Rarity eventually came to a wide open spot. One that was just clear. But when her eyes went up, they caught the ceiling of fog. "A…chamber..?" she questioned herself before following her horn again. With the magic acting like receiver she went over all of the open field. All of the forces that had followed her simply waited at the side lines as they looked at that what was going to happen.

They had no clue, but it looked rather funny to see their queen go up and down like that. But to some it was crazy talk. Yet none dared to speak a word against her and her actions. "This is most unusual," the being mumbled to itself as it came to a standstill by one particular area. The magical pull was a lot stronger at one part of the fogless chamber.

But just to be absolutely sure of her business and the queen continued to walk around a bit. None of the forces had even an idea what she was doing. Fright and Blood muttered something against one another while all the other clouds simply kept watching. Lines were drawn within the soil and out of them, there was a square that came.

Nightmare Rarity realized it was a structure under the soil that called her and the magical aura became even more powerful than it already was. Both of the clouds that were muttering on and against the other fell in silence when they heard the glass being torn to nothing but dirt.

What they caught was the shrouded entity who had picked up a large bit of grass, dirk and whatever else there was and through it off to the side, inside of the fog and the bark of a tree could be heard snapping. Some of the clouds had to make way as the top of the tree came dangerously close to their location.

"What is it that you kept hidden before me?" Nightmare Rarity mumbled to herself as she looked down the gaping hole. Yet what she caught within her eyes, was something she could have never even dreamed about. A stone entrance with a thick looking door that was literally in the middle of nowhere and calling for her.

It was something that she couldn't have dreamed about. But it also was something similar. For the ivory coated Rarity had found her cutie mark by being guided with her magic towards a single rock filled with gems. Perhaps it was a, considerable sick, way of history repeating itself.

Wanting to find out just what laid behind the doorway had the aura become even more intense before it shot powerful beam right at it. Stone started to fly around as dust came forth. But the entity that was Nightmare Rarity remained in her position. Pieces of debris flew through the fog that was her and landed on a couple hooves before the clouds of the nightmare forces.

When the dust cleared up and the rain of stone stopped, the entrance into the mysterious building became clearly visible for her. Satisfied with the hole created she turned herself around and spoke to all of her forces at once. "Each and every single one of you shall remain here, I think I might have hit a gold mine here."

After the words were spoken was it Shadowfright who rushed forward and he dared to reply with words of his own. "You sure my queen? Many things could be hidden within there that could easily end your life."

A deep sigh left through the mouth of the entity with a growl. "I said, you'll wait here! What part you don't understand of it!? Go back to them now! If trouble arises, you'll hear it soon enough."

Defeated by her words would the cloud of shadows return back to its original post and the creature turned itself back to the hole. With water that entered her mouth and the magic only becoming stronger, she started to make the descent into the gaping hole.

Shadowblood on the other end, simply shook himself from side to side before he spoke up. "You know Fright…I start to doubt about this queen, truly doubting."

"And would you as well shut that mouth of yours! I kinda got enough crap on my head if you don't mind alright." Fright returned in a snarl before he dropped himself to the ground and remained in silence.

Some of the forces that had been standing and hovering next to them heard the words of course but gave them little to know attention. They only lived to serve their queen of darkness and at the moment, that being had made her departure into the underground building.

Inch by inch she floated closer towards the door. Inch by inch she felt the air intake becoming more and more powerful. With the aura still around her horn shining ever so proudly, it would act like a torch for her to see in the darkness.

"This better be worth it you stupid horn." Nightmare Rarity spoke up to herself as she crawled passed the entrance. When she had passed the stone archway, there was the feeling of it closing in behind her. But the way she came, would become her exit as there was nothing that would fall or roll before it.

"Suppose that's lucky for the day," she spoke up to herself before the eyes were turned back into the distance. And what they saw was something that was thought to be lost throughout the ages. Shelves high and rich spread themselves before the entity and it was clear just what had been found by her. "Unbelievable…" For she stood in one of the lost libraries of nopony else then the strongest and wisest unicorn of his time, Starswirl the Bearded.

An entire library that had been hidden under the ground, but why would it have been doing? What caused the stallion to be so afraid to seal it off for the world? Curiosity struck the unicorn and she went over a couple of the books.

All of them were tomes for spells that were unlike anything else she could have ever expected. Tomes of decay, darkness and death she found all just standing there. The infamous library of the dark arts, was what she had discovered. But it wasn't the tomes she looked at, that were something for her. For all of those tomes were used by the very first Nightmare and the unicorn king that was named Sombra.

Yet she couldn't resist it to look through the books. The eyes carefully went over each of the pages as she read the tomes of the mind. Only to quickly figure out they weren't for her liking. Too loud, too flashy and too unpredictable. She wanted something else. Something more subtle, equally as dangerous and perfect for a unicorn as she once was.

Seconds turned into minutes who on their turn became hours as she spend all of that time inside of the revealed library. But her magic hadn't given up the location if there wasn't anything of true value for her there. So she placed most of the books back where they belonged and continued on with her path down the main hall.

With her aura that lit up the areas next to her rather brightly, it was only when Nightmare Rarity had reached the back wall of the place, that she found something of her true interest. For against the back wall, on a desk that hadn't been moved in ages, there were a couple of scrolls sealed with the ancient celestial sign and above all, a gem that stood under a glass bell.

And it was that gem alone, that had triggered the magic in the horn. It called for her, wanted to merge with her. "So very soon," the queen mumbled to herself as she melted the glass. Once all of it was just a liquid and hot mess, the gem remained unharmed and was being levitated before the face of the foggy entity.

Even though it had been days to no end, the merging and transformation still hadn't been fulfilled completely. Or they had been but she preferred her more spectral manner of traveling. It was truly impossible to tell from her thanks to the way she behaved. Everything about herself was kept hidden for the most part. All that was truly known was the fact she never liked to being reminded to her life as it was before the transformation.

Sometimes at night there were forces that heard her moaning softly in pleasure for whatever reason. None spoke about it as every force thought they were both normal for her and that all of them knew it. But the fact was that not every single force knew it and it was best kept that way.

When she looked over to the gem itself, Nightmare Rarity's interest grew only more and more towards it. It was shaped in the exact same one she wore as her cutie mark. A picture perfect gem in her eyes yet there was something else with it. For every time it came close to the horn, she felt herself stronger. Almost as if that little gem, one that was as high as her eye and wide as her pupil with iris, was an amplifier of her magical powers.

It was something she had never even heard about before and possibly for the best of reasons there were. And then the whole gem just disappeared within the fog that was her. Gone for the eyes to witness. But then that she had taken it and her eyes looked all over the back wall to see if there were any defense mechanisms activated by it.

Nightmare Rarity turned herself even around to witness anything. But there simply was nothing. Much to her own relief. "Right then," she said to herself and turned back over to the mysterious looking scrolls. With the celestial sign upon them, they were marked as truly dangerous but why they were just laying on the desk was something as a riddle for the entity.

With her magic she picked up one of the scrolls and broke it the seal without any honor. She rolled out the scroll from top to bottom and started to read more and more from it. Information beyond her wildest dreams was being processed within her brain and slowly came the lips of the entity forward.

Lips that were of a dark grayish to black coloring and they curled themselves up into a teeth revealing smirk of utter madness and malevolence. Whatever it was she was reading, she apparently liked it. A lot.

"She'll come back Spike, trust me on that fact." Twilight said as the moon stood high in the skies. Her body could be found covered up by the blankets of her bed as her one opened eye looked over to the baby dragon in the basket.

"Yeah, that's what you said to me all day. But who knows what happened to her. You can't just sit here and do nothing!" Spike then groaned in return. The little purple scaled dragon was still trying to make himself comfortable within the basket as the blankets got thrown into the air before just covering the thing completely.

"That's the problem Spike, I have said it to you when they left the library, we don't know where she is, we don't know just where to search for her. She could be in the Frozen North from all we know." Twilight then replied before she turned herself over to the window. With magic collected itself around her horn and the curtain was moved aside.

What fell into the room was the wonderful light of the full moon and the other eye opened itself as well. Just before it would be rubbed with a hoof and a yawn ended the motions of the mare. She wanted to help to find her lost friend more than anything, but there was just so little information known about her location. That was the key lead that she needed. If that would have been known to her, she wouldn't be sitting in her library, doubting and waiting.

No, Twilight would be outside, sleeping under the starry night with Spike close to her. Alongside the road that would lead them to their destination. But she had nothing, and that chewed on her more than anything.

"Can't you send a letter to Shining Armor with the question if he had seen anything? I mean…she isn't that hard to notice. Especially there." Spike softly spoke up as he hid away from the invading moonlight. A slight grumble left him as he wanted to sleep, but obviously it was Twilight who had other plans when it came to it.

"I could do it of course, but that only adds more pressure to the duties my brother already has. Not to mention, the crystal guards are quite different then the celestial and lunar."

The head of the baby dragon popped out of the blanket mess he had wrapped himself in and he looked over to the bed of Twilight. "You mean…they're made out of crystal, like the celestial is pegasus and the lunar batpony?" Spike said with a tilted head towards her.

Twilight allowed herself a single giggle to leave before she turned her head back over to Spike. With a graceful motion flew her mane through the air before it came to standstill again and a much more worried look grew below her muzzle. "I wish it was that easy Spike, but the problem is, that there are just so little guards there. Shining might be prince and captain of the Crystalline Guard, but their numbers are few. None roam the Empire's pavements and those few that are, are within the walls of the palace. Meaning that a guard spotting her, is almost nonexistent."

Even though the clock had gone well past midnight, even though the sleep was almost getting the better of the two of them, Spike still heard every single word that was spoken by Twilight and his own suspicion only grew more towards her. Of course it were the most radical of thoughts and most of them were unheard from, but he loved her more than anything in the wide world. With a deep sigh, Spike knew he had to ask Twilight the unaskable question.

"You…" Twilight looked up from the word and raised one of her own eyebrows to listen to the rest. "You aren't holding anything back for me…are you?" The high word was out and all Spike could do was pray on the fact that Twilight took it a lot lighter than he could have imagined. But the chances were slim and he knew that all to well.

Taken by a complete surprise from the question asked to her, Twilight gently closed her eyes before she shook her head a couple of times from side to side. Surely she must have lost something in the transition. Had he really called her a morpher of the truth? He was doubting her trust even after it was her who hatched him from the egg to begin with.

Deeply offended by the words of mistrust did Twilight sigh deeply through her nostrils and she opened her eyes to look at him. But the look that was given to the dragon was everything but a friendly or motherly one. It was one of disappointment.

Spike looked into the violet eyes of the mulberry unicorn and read the emotion like an open book. And then there was the feeling of being more then stupid that rose up within him. He had mistrusted his motherly figure, the only pony that truly cared for him as a mother. "I…I shouldn't have asked it," he spoke up in a tone that was filled with nothing but regret.

Twilight's ears twitched as they caught the words spoken but decided quickly to not go in against them. What happened had happened and there wasn't anything that could be changed on it. Though the question was remained unanswered. And if there was one thing she had a growing dislike on, it was that. Against her will had the mulberry unicorn opened her mouth to speak the words on her mind. Her answer to the unspeakable question.

"No Spike," she started with a unintentional tone of disappointment. "I'm not holding back on anything. If there was anything, no matter how small, on finding her, I would have told you right away. But there is, nothing. It's like…staring into the void if reality and expecting to see…to see why we are here as we are."

The baby dragon listened with the greatest of care to the rather difficult to understand words for him and released a sigh of his own. With a nod towards her, he dropped himself back into the basket to get his much needed sleep. It was something that the two of them needed deeply to set their minds and spirits straight again.

"Goodnight Spike." Twilight spoke up softly before the energy of her horn disappeared and the curtain fell back. The light of the moon was let out of the room which shrouded itself in darkness once more. The body of the unicorn gently returned back to the mattress and the pillow before the eyes were closed. She was off into the realm of the dreams faster than originally thought.

But one other entity, had its hoofs full with the task that was given before it. It didn't sleep for the night but was doing something else. Something that was a bit more active which was reading.

Because back in the library of the darker arts in magic was the entity that called itself Nightmare Rarity still busy. Scroll after scroll was being opened and read. The tomes they held within them were stored from the paper in another place. Each one of the horrible things ended up in the mind of the being. Stored there for usage later on in time.

Yet as the eyes went over the things, there was one thing that they all had in common and it was almost impossible not to notice. Under the light of the magical aura, there was one word that made its constant return on the paper scrolls. And that words was nothing else but fear.

The scrolls contained spells on how to control the very things ponies were afraid of and how to use them effectively against them. Where Nightmare Moon was all up in the face and king Sombra more working in the shadows, these spells were the perfect mixture of the two kinds. Hidden deep enough to remain a mystery, in the face enough to be effective. Almost like the entity itself. Those were the kind of powers she had been looking for to master. And the gem that was found next to them would become a greater value to Nightmare Rarity then she would have ever thought it to be.

"Perfection shall be achieved," she mumbled to herself before erupting out in a maniacal laughter. But it couldn't be helped to notice that the spells were easier to understand than originally thought. The transition from going to mind to action was something that was a true lot easier than any other spell.

When Rarity was still her ivory coated self were her abilities in magic mostly just centered itself around the power of levitation. It was her strongest spell outside of some magical bolts that were known to each unicorn. She had tried to learn more spells of course over the course of time, but it didn't matter to her at all. All of the tomes she tried to get inside of her head were rejected almost right away.

It was never that she saw the mighty arcane symbols before her eyes and the words whispering in her ears. But when the entity removed the scroll from before its very face were the eyes seen in their fullest of glories and within them they sparked. All of the symbols from the tomes in the magical arts. Floating around like little stars to each outer corner of the eye.

It would be there where they would nestle themselves until the end of time or her existence. Whichever came first for the being. It was a rare and unique sight to behold as not many creatures had the symbols of the spells within their very eyes. Not even one of the three royals had it. Yet an easy explanation could be given for it. Neither of the three were learning the tomes at the rate Nightmare Rarity was doing.

Though as the scrolls were being read was the information being stored within her brain yet there happened to be a third thing that was happening at that very moment in time. A fire. A fire was starting to rage inside of the tainted heart of the entity. A fire that was unspeakable for most ponies in the land of friendship and harmony.

Because it would be the fires that she was feeling at that moment in time that would defy the entity's existence and purpose in life itself. It would be the drive force for the actions to come done by her hooves and horn. The spells of fear, needed a host to thrive on. And there was without a doubt no better fear, then the fear that raged through the heart of the entity.

The lies used by the two shadow stallions named Fright and Blood were still present deep within the body. The fear of the five friends leaving her like dirt was still present within. And it would be from the deepest parts of that fear, that the magic would draw its power.

Fear that was being used to spread even more fear over corners of the wind, something that hasn't been seen for the ages. Not even Nightmare Moon could have come up with the idea if she tried. Her mind was too much lurking towards the power side of the darkened magic. Sombra would have used mostly tyranny and deception to get his way with his disloyal subjects back when he ruled.

No, what she had created, what Rarity had become, was a true new breed of evil.

Way back on the outside and laying against the walls of the fogyish chamber, the clouds of shadow all had taken the opportunity to just lay down for the time being. Vastly asleep to regain their strengths was much needed and outside of the singular cloud that stood on watch, everything was even more silent than a graveyard.

Not even the treacherous Shadowfright and Shadowblood were awake to discuss the events as they were for their queen. Vastly asleep in a world without dreams they found themselves. A world that was as empty as they were. A void of shadow and nothing else. A saddening place it was indeed.

Yet it worst part was, it was the place they were born. From deep within the void of darkness, the time from twilight til dusk was there they were pulled away from a thousand years by Moon to become her servants. A duty that carried on as long as a Nightmare was still alive.

Their duties being to protect the one in charge as the plans were being forged. Nothing more than foot soldiers were what they were. However, during the banishment of Moon, the two in particular developed a mind of their own which was used to forge the plan for Rarity's trap. But it wouldn't be enough for them. They wanted to arise and become the kings of the nightmare forces.

Back inside of the library had the entity of Nightmare Rarity placed her eyes over the final scroll and she turned herself around. With grace she flew and hovered back to the entrance of the place. Her head was filled spells, her mind as sharp as a knife and her mood crazy enough, she started the ascent back up.

The only cloud that was still awake saw her coming and nodded towards her in a respectful manner. Though Nightmare Rarity looked at all of her sleeping forces and grumbled deeply to herself. "Wake them up," she muttered to the guard.

And on the command that was given to it would the cloud release a roar that turned into a screech. A sound filled with the purest of agony of any creature was more than enough to get all of the clouds back in the air. Confused of why they were woken up so brutally did all of them gaze over to the cloud that was the being before the connections were being made.

Still not truly sure of the times, none spoke up towards or against her as they caught the starry sprinkles in the corners of her eyes and the magical aura. And it were those eyes, that moved themselves from right to left in a slow manner. Looking at each and every one of the clouds in a manner of utmost displeasense. "I shall not make a comment on the fact that you all but one, were sleeping for the time I have been down here. But that's a matter to be discussed later. For now, there are greater things on the move and we have to adjust our course and heading."

"And here I thought she had no idea of where she wanted to go to in the first place." Blood spoke up with a near silent chuckle to his partner.

"Will you just shut up?" Fright whispered to him before the attention was focused back on the entity. "I'm trying to listen to what she's muttering."

"Fine, fine, fine." Blood replied to him before the attention was set back on her.

The eyes of the entity never left any of her forces out of them as she continued to speak her words. A speech of power was being produced by her mind and said by her tongue. "With the discovery of this place, hidden right here, there are changes that are going to be made within the plan that was being forged inside of my mind. Instead of continuing the trek more towards the civilized world, we shall set up our base right here. Right here in this very chamber of fog. It shall become your home, my home even. And it shall be from here, where we shall operate to accomplish our goals against the so called wonderful land of Equestria. The soil shall turmoil wherever you step, hearts will freeze at the sights. Any…questions?"

Questions there were without a doubt from the clouds but none of them even dared to speak against her for the fact that her very eyes send down an ice cold shiver down their spines. And then it moved into the very essence of their creation. So they did the only thing that they could truly do, and that was erupting out in a loud cheer of numerous animalistic sounds to praise their new queen for what she was.

Yet there were also some who stayed dominant in the silence. Sunken deep into their simplistic thoughts. Rarity was not Moon, that was clear as glass for them. The iron hoof with which she ruled was no more. It hadn't been for a thousand years even. Some dared to doubt the facts as they were. But none had seen the entity in the fullest of power yet.

None had seen the abilities she was capable of. Though the same thing went for Rarity against the forces. She had no idea of what they were capable of, or even what they had done to her. Oblivious to the sheer facts as they were, the entity that was Nightmare Rarity smirked through her own cloud of fog before her eyes turned themselves over to the skies above. The roof of the fogyish room was something that was of major concern to her.

Though that was a problem for later because of the fact that the order needed to be restored. Times to see how she would challenge the land with her new powers would come sooner or later. And the time to make the beings who she once considered to be her friends, was something that both strengthened her and weakened her at the same time. Her mind clashed at any moment when she thought about them.

Troubled and clouded, that was it at the moment for her. Almost like the fog she found herself in. Troubling the travels to be made and clouding the vision of the eyes. "Yes…fog," she softly mumbled against herself before the eyes lowered themselves again. Once more they went all over the place to witness the army of shadowy clouds before her. But she was looking for two in particular. Two who were responsible for the deeds done against her ivory coated self.

"Shadowfright and Shadowblood. I need you two before me, right now," the entity spoke up as the difficulty was there to spot them clearly through the masses. Both of the clouds were taken by a complete surprise at their mentioning and looked to her in a confused manner. It was, as confused as a sphere of steaming shadow could look.

Impossible that she had heard of our plans, right? Every path we walked had been covered. I swear to you Blood, if you mean the end of me, you're going down with me, Fright through to himself as the two orbs hovered towards their queen.

"My queen," the both of them spoke at the same time as they made a slight bowing motion with their round shaped bodies. Then it was Fright who decided to take the word further and ask. "Why did you call for us two specifically?" His tone was a careful one, one used to pry the information loose from the subject before them. Even if it was their leader.

"The reason of which why I called the two of you before me, is the fact that you two showed me something else. Intelligence. You two can handle yourselves in a fight alone I presume." Nightmare Rarity spoke up against the two of them. Daring words were spoken out of the mouth of a being unspeakable. Yet the two of them could only nod towards them.

She happened to be right as they could stand themselves when surrounded and would fight back until they were mortally wounded before retreating. "That's…correct, your nightness." Blood spoke up in response to her words. It was not in favor of Fright though as he had promised himself to take the words and speak against her.

But since they were with the two of them, it was only fair to share the speaking burden. At least that was the thinking in his mind. "We're, flattered, by your words my queen. Shall we, take our leave?"

"No," the entity simply spoke to them as the eyes rested each upon one cloud before her.

Oh no…this is it, Fright thought as he considered his days to be just over. It was impossible for him to even comprehend just how on earth Blood managed to keep himself so calm under the situation. They could face their extinction from the word and he just remained as calm as ever. Blood had either made peace with his life a long time ago, or he didn't understood the severeness of the situation as it hung above their head.

Two anvils that were ready to be cut by a blast of magic hung above their heads. But what and why she had truly called them before her, was something completely different. And something they could have never even thought about.

"The two of you, shall raise in the ranks. You two become the commanders of my reign. Standing directly below me when it comes down to orders. Don't make me regret the choice in the two of you," the entity spoke towards them in an honorable tone. Until she reached the final part after which it was just sinister.

The two clouds of shadow made a bowing motion towards the queen before the levitated themselves back into the mass of cloud and shadow. Neither of them could truly believe the words that were spoken against them. They stood in command of all the forces that remained. They could, if they wanted, kill her in her sleep and continue on with their own diabolical plans. Unlimited access was that what was given to the two of them.

Content with the words that were spoken, the two of them made a smirking emotion behind their spherical existence and the entity of the unicorn turned herself back around to look over the entrance of the library.

Countless thoughts moved themselves through her mind as she just stared at the gaping hole. Thoughts about how it could be reformed into the fortress she had come up with. Because she was keeping herself to her promise. It would be that patch of land that would be transformed into her domain. A place hidden in the forest covered by the thick fog that was natural to the place. It almost seemed to be too perfect.

But as she kept looking there was something in her mind that made her snicker. There were spells that she could use. Spells that had aided her on more than one point in time. But it were also spells she was afraid of to be seen using in the public view. For she happened to be a mistress of the gemastic arts. The art of the gem or gem magic in the common tongue. Not only could she find the most precious of stones in the ground like a metal detector but she could also summon them.

And it was the very summoning spell that was something of true interest of her. Because that would mean, she would be able to raise a fortress made out of the strongest material she had in her possession. And that material would be nothing else but pure crystal. It was a plan that was just too beautiful to let it lay left. It would be the way she did it. The way to build a safe haven for herself and her forces of shadow. Their base of operations was one step closer to becoming a frightening reality.

The entity turned itself around and looked over the wall of fog and the very ceiling. The dimensions were being drawn inside of the mind together with the sheer looks of it. The blueprints being made up on the spot, everything was worked out in the finest of details.

"What do you think she's doing?" Blood spoke up in a faint whisper to the actions that were clearly visible.

Fright could only guess to the whirlwind of events that was going through that skull of hers as he shook his body in a manner of not knowing. "I truly am having not even the slightest of clues here really." he then spoke up in all of his honesty. Something that was rare to come by to begin with.

"Then we best pray we can strike before it is truly too late."

"You think I don't know that!? But we can't do it here, not in front of the rest. We need to have a moment with her alone after everything is being established. …Or have you forgotten about Moon already? Luna was as weak as possible. She couldn't even defeat her own sister for bloods sake!" Fright snarled in a whisper.

Blood on the other end, despite being slow and considerable dumb, always had an eye for history in any shape. Written and unwritten, if it had happened, he wanted to know. "Of course I hadn't forgotten about that! And to fill in on that void in that brain of yours, Luna only lost from Celestia because of the fact no soul in this realm or ours knows exactly how powerful she is!"

And then the whispering argument broke loose between the two. Words were snarled to one another in a low tone that the entity couldn't hear it, and their fellow clouds of shadow wouldn't even look around. From the words, it sounded like bits of Nightmare Moon's lust for power had moved over into one of the two newly assigned commanders.

But without a warning of any kind had the magical aura of Nightmare Rarity become much more intense as its bright blue light shone like the sun. The nightmare forces in the first row all hissed like a changeling towards it as they did their best to hide from it in all of their might. It was a desperate attempt though, for the light was so powerful, it almost shone right through them.

Both Fright and Blood dared to look into her direction and tried to discover just what caused her power output to have changed into that much all of the sudden. For never, ever, had Rarity herself managed to do it. A stronger mixture of the essence of Moon and the already known magical powers from her, combined? But that's, that shouldn't be possible, Fright thought to himself before he turned himself back into the darkness again.

Nightmare Rarity on the other end looked differently as she continued on with her magical powers and the light became only brighter and brighter. It caused her troops to retreat back into the fog and natural darkness of the night that had been caring over the woods for times to no end. With the sheer power that was surging through her, she would raise herself up to the being she always secretly had desired to be.

With her heart tangled in the tentacles of her personal worst fear were her spells that fed from it like leeches from blood. But where blood would eventually run out, the entity of Rarity -or as she preferred to be called: Nightmare Rarity- was stuck in a vicious circle. She couldn't forget the fact that her friends wanted to leave her like dirt. That were the embers that always would ignite the fires. The very fires from which her devilish powers would feed from with great pleasure.

Not until she had given each of them their reckoning would be time for a new fear to take its place and thus become the dominant fear that would drive her down the path of her own madness. As the light kept shining were the forces retreating and the forest remained calm had Nightmare Rarity decided to speak her words in a tone of utmost sinister. A tone of malice and hatred but also one of a sickening joy. "And then, the nightmares come."

As the night crawled by for the residents of Ponyville were none even aware of that what was going on in the woods of White Tails. And it was in the home located next to the lake that the young Sweetie Belle allowed her emerald green eyes to be seen by the world. With a yawn she rose up from her pillow and started to rub through her eyes. "Another day…ugh," she groaned to herself.

Where she normally always was happy to wake up, the last night had been a bit troublesome for her. Especially when it came down to the matter of her family. After they had separated their way, Magnum was insisting on going out there to find his daughter and her sister. But Pearl kept her hoof strong in the ground by saying they had to wait.

Sweetie knew half about the danger of the situation. Her innocent mind was what saved her from most of the troubles that laid on the outside world. Though it probably more often than not got her and her friends into it for whatever reasoning. It was all in the hunt for their cutie marks. The only thing she was truly looking forward too.

The young filly left her bed with another yawn that was louder then she had thought it would be and giggled softly in response while a light crimson red blush started to occupy her cheeks. She moved from her bed over to the window and pushed the blankets aside. And it was then that the always magical sight was revealed to her.

With the morning rays of the sun running into her room, Sweetie giggled softly as she rested her head on the sill and just watched to the world outside. The light shining through the gaps of the trees and the reflection in the water. And at the small dock he could be found, fishing as almost every free day he had, her own father.

Though that wasn't where her mind was working on or busy with. She wanted to snuggle in the hold of Rarity just so badly. It was something, that she truly missed. While it was true that the two had troubles with one another more often than not, it were the precious times they spend together in true harmony that she loved most. And the ivory coated unicorn mare always cherished them with her heart.

"Where have you gone to sis?" she questioned herself aloud before the head was removed from the sill. It was a question that had been weighing in her mind for days by then. Everypony knew that she was gone, yet nopony could possibly tell her where she had gone too. Not even the mayor of her hometown was able to tell or say even the slightest. "Somepony just can't vanish…from the face of the lands like that, or can it?"

It was a rather troublesome question that she asked herself and one she rather didn't had the answer on to begin with. Though as much as she wanted to have her sister back, the thoughts had to have placed back. For she had said to her friends that they would be doing some more crusading for their cutie marks.

A considerable useful waste of their time. Trouble was something that always laid ahead for the three of them but they always managed to overcome it. Either it be on their own or through some external help. It didn't matter to Sweetie Belle what they would be doing, as long as it took the thoughts off of her little and innocent mind. A mind that was oddly enough making peace with the decision to keep on waiting.

The day crawled by like any other and for some it was a relief, to others it was a hellish torture. Spike the dragon found himself wandering through the streets as he had taken a day off to collect his very thought on everything. Mostly the past night and the words spoken during the previous day. In his own mind he couldn't believe it.

Through street and lane he walked without aim to his legs. Wandering like a zombie he just walked until his legs gave in. It was an endurance test in both the physical degree as well as the mental. Though he considered it more of a torture given by forces higher than the royals, the first dragons. Hatched and raised in the care of a pony, had made him forgot most of the dragonic manners, but the ones who ruled over them all, he had never forgotten.

Down on his luck and simply unable to come up with anything else he could do, Spike let the decision fall to go to the place his crush lived. The very building he wasn't truly excited for to see, but had too if he wanted to find anything on the matter. The very home of Rarity, the famous Carousel Boutique.

So with the afternoon sun in his back, the baby dragon made his way over to the street it was located on. No words were spoken nor where there any thoughts that ravaged his mind. Almost like a husk or shell he walked in a consistent pace. The many ponies he passed all looked up in a strange and curious manner towards him as they wondered what in the name of the princesses could have happened to him.

Yet where many wondered, none asked.

When Spike did eventually looked up at the building was the gesture of Sweetie Belle that could be seen and he shook his head a couple times. The dragon wasn't sure if he had seen it correctly or anything but gambled it on being right. "Hey Sweetie," the baby dragon spoke up when he was in hearing distance.

The young, white coated, pinkish and white maned filly turned herself around and looked at the dragon with a smile. "Hey Spike," she spoke up with her usual happy toned voice. "What brings you here today?"

"I think the same question can be asked to you." Spike then replied as he stood still next to her. Before the filly could make any reply did the eyes of the dragon went up the building that had been gathering dust for the first time in ages.

"I was just…looking." Sweetie replied as innocent as she possibly could. "But what about you?"

As soon as the filly spoke up again, the dragon turned his attention back to her and listened to her words. While they calmed him to a degree, he really didn't want to answer the question for her. But as any good gentlecolt, he had to. "Just wandering, trying to get the matter out of my head. I'm going crazy without her, you know."

"Tis hard not to think about it, but I go with the others. We have to wait for her." the filly said before she made a couple blinks with her eyes and focused her attention on him for as best as she could. "You can't make peace, can you?"

Spike shook his head from side to side at the spoken words and closed his eyes under an exhale. "No I can't. It keeps chewing on me no matter what I do. I know she's out there, but…but I can't get to her."

"Tis hard for us all Spike…truly. But, we can't give up or go on a search for her."

"Yeah, that's what the mayor and Twilight also spoke," the dragon added in a slightly annoyed manner and started to make his departure. He wanted to be alone with his thoughts. "See you later Sweetie." And then he was just off.

The little unicorn tilted her head to a side at the entire scene and simply watched him go his way. It was only when he was far away from her, that the words rolled out of the mouth of the young filly. "I…suppose we'll see each other later." Unsure and uncertain of what had happened, Sweetie blinked a couple more times before she turned herself around. The day was coming to a closure and she didn't wanted to miss dinner at all.

It was an most unusual meeting between the two of them and one that would be forgotten rather quickly through the gears of time. Yet as she made her departure from the place, the young unicorn turned herself around one last time to witness the building in most of its old glory. A deep sigh left through her nose as she remembered most of the good times the two had with one another. And then it was back, back to the house at the lake, back to her beloved parents.

With the hours that passed by had Spike found himself comfortable within the living room of the library and on his chest laid a book where he had been reading out the time before. Yet as time passed, the words grew weary on him. They tired him and he had fallen deeply asleep inside of the chair.

Twilight herself was still working in her study area with the glasses on her nose and the candles burning brightly. But outside of the occasional mumble there was nothing else that left her. Which on their own turn left Spike to sleep undisturbed.

At least so it appeared. For within the mind of the little baby dragon, it was a whirlwind. All of the read words and events of the day came rushing back to him like cannonballs that were being fired. Mumbling in his sleep, he started to turn and twist around as the visions of his mind came and went.

Yet there was one that stood out above all others. The love of his life who smiled upon him like nothing had happened to her. The dragon wanted to run over to her and hug her ever so tightly and just cry at her return. But that packed out a whole lot differently.

For when he wanted to move himself further towards her, his legs suddenly froze and there was a lightning flash that blinded him. One that went straight for the ivory white unicorn.

A yell. A scream of agony was heard before the silence fell.

It was only when the light cleared up again that Spike was able to see what happened. The world around him had become darker in appearance, foggier even. But he didn't care about that, he wanted to see nopony but, her. And he got his wish granted, in a truly horribly manner.

Because where the ivory coated unicorn stood, stood a mare easily the size of Celestia herself. He couldn't make out the rest of this, thing, as the magic had collected itself around the horn, but also something on top of the horn. A gem. It, it almost was like a beacon among the darkness. A beacon of hope for those lost.

He wanted to say something against the being, asking it where Rarity went. Because it was not possible that the being, was his crush. Yet the creature never even looked over the baby dragon. Instead it turned itself around and calmly walked away like nothing happened. With his legs still frozen, Spike could only watch how the light of the magic continued to travel through the darkened world he had entered.

From time to time he meant to see a set of blue, cat like eyes among the darkness but that was all. And then he spoke the single name with all of the might in his body. A might that caused him to breath his signature green fire from the mouth as long as the name kept rolling. The name of nopony else then, "Rarity!"

Huffs, puffs, growls and groans all left the mist that was the sheer entity of the being that called itself Nightmare Rarity. The magical aura was even more powerful than ever as before her as the ground was slitting open like it was nothing for her. All of the nightmare forces that were present to witness the events happening, were all just shocked to see how much more power was flowing through her.

They knew that the ivory coated unicorn had her touch for gem hunting but that what the entity was doing was something on an whole other level. Their eyeless spherical faces just looked over their queen as a set of forelegs could be clearly seen. Two fine lined legs had placed themselves firm against the ground while the clouds and fog of the entity swirled passed them, embracing them even. Yet where most had expected to see a pure black set of legs, they got something else before their hooves. As the legs of Nightmare Rarity were more a mixture of black and white, a very, very deep gray was the coloring that they had gotten. And if her legs alone had that coloring and wonderful fine looks, what would the rest of her body look like?

It was a question that each of the nightmare forces asked themselves in the silence of the moment. Another calm before the storm one might say that it happened to be. And that was hitting the nail right on the head. Because as the clouded entity stood there, the charge only before more intense after the ground had split open. There was only one more thing that needed to be done, one last thing before the hellish job would have been completed for her. The final straws had to be placed there and then.

And thus, with an angry growl in her voice, had the entity moved its head up towards the skies before it released a mighty, timberwolf like roar into the skies above. Each of the forces that were looking at her from a major distance, held even their breath in as the tremors returned into the ground. The earth started to shake once again as out of the hole itself, was something that started to rise.

More and more darkness rose out of the ground as she seemed to be pleased more and more. And more and more completion was there. For the wall that rose out of the ground was one that was made out of a material called dark crystal. A gem with the same characteristics as normal crystals, except it being as hard as diamonds and black of natural coloring. Nopony knew just what created them but they knew all too well they were a favorite of the dark unicorn king named Sombra.

When the wall was finally high enough and shaped into place had the magical aura disappeared from the clouded entity as the panting continued. The legs of the entity never did set a step in another direction as they were still firmly placed against the ground itself. She wasn't going anywhere and her pants just confirmed the thoughts. It was nearly impossible to think that she possessed such magical abilities in order to have created what she had. Each and every single nightmare force was literally dumbstruck by the sheer ability she had.

Though they all knew just what caused her to be so powerful, or so they thought. Because many theories did their turn around them, but none were right. She hadn't gained a boost in her abilities after the change, nor did she learn a spell to make herself stronger when it comes to the matter. The truth of her power laid in an object that she took from the library. An object that was the size of her iris.

With the magical charges gone and the legs retreating back into the cloud of fog, the entity that was Nightmare Rarity looked over to her creation. The very place she would be calling home from there on out. A wondrous sight to behold within the eerie forest of White Tails. Her eyes looked over the clear courtyard and she started to grin like a madmare.

For what she had done, truly had done, was the creation of a domain that was entirely build out of the dark crystals. A fortress one might even say. A place that was easily defensible for her liking and it shared some of her elegance when it came to flair. The eyes traveled all over the place to witness the beauty.

From the barracks for the forces, to the special forges to create the weapons and armor for her army. Then she looked over the high walls and their spikey merlons to be intimidating for any soul who as much thought of coming closer. Even as remarkable as those features on themselves were, it was on the back wall that possibly the three most important doors were being placed.

Three doors that led to three possible dooms. With the grin only becoming bigger and bigger, the entity looked up towards the only tower that the place had. A tower that had a view to high over the grounds, one that shone in the sun and casting its black light back to the forest, causing a nightfall effect on the fog. And on top of the tower there would be place for her. Her very own bedroom, was located on top of the tower. "Just need a dragon and the fairy tale is complete," the entity chuckled to herself before her eyes went down once again.

They fell on the courtyard and there was something that felt missing. Something that should have been there all of the time but hadn't shown its head towards her. Though she couldn't place it what exactly it happened to be.

She knew that her nightmare forces alone could have a heck of a punch, that wasn't the doubt in the case as it was the detection that worried her. Through the thick fog it would be near impossible to witness just who or what was going through them. Yet perhaps even more important was her own personal guard. If it came to the point where she laid under fires and needed more protection, her personal guards could take care of it.

Calmly the entity started to hover around in silence. Gently she allowed her mind to be filled with thoughts of how she would establish her personal guardians. Would she just pick some of them and name them? Or would she do something much more, mind controlling? Questions that had to be answered over time itself. For the matters were of importance indeed, yet she wanted to try something else out.

Nightmare Rarity wanted to test out her newly gained spells in order to see just how powerful, they truly happened to be. To see how far she could drive a pony to the edge of insanity and beyond. The full strength of her powers would be something that she would show against four unwilling volunteers. Her mind had made the plan up already, all she needed were some of the unlucky bastards.

As she kept hovering, her visible eyes scanned each and every cloud she passed. None them were looking all to strong or bright but by four of them, she simply spoke one word. "You." And that was it.

Both Fright and Blood had no idea just what she was even planning to do with those clouds. All they knew was that they could become commanders as well. "This is not looking good Fright…" Shadowblood dared to speak up after the queen had passed them without a word.

"I know this isn't the most ideal situation to be in, but we simply have to wait in her orders to see just what she is actually planning. Perhaps they'll just be killed off or something. You know Moon loved to do that, right?" Fright replied in a faint whisper to his partner in crime.

The other orb nodded with a deep sigh. "A bit too much for my liking, tell you that."

Than the queen herself hovered back into the middle of the courtyard and started to speak her own words on the matter. "Those four who I have pointed out, I want to have before me as the stallions they can be. For you four, will be send on a special mission."

All of the forces were taken by the greatest of surprises as the four clouds carefully morphed into stallions the size of Fancy Pants with half the muscles of Big Macintosh. Four excellent subjects she had chosen for the test that laid ahead of them. Slowly and carefully they all four moved before their queen and lined up.

Their empty eyes all looked at her with a gaze of wonder, what could she have been planned out for each of them. Scouting mission? Intelligence reconnaissance? They didn't know for certain and perhaps wouldn't have guessed it either. For the plan that she had for them was something that was cruel to say the least. Something so evil, that ever shadow under her command would have been waken up and witness the true power she possessed.

"You four should consider yourself lucky, because you're the first beings to taste my newly gained powers. That's right, you're going to be my experimental subjects for this. Don't worry though, it won't hurt as much as you think," the entity spoke before she erupted out in a terrifying and dark chuckle. The magical aura returned in the clouded being and continued to charge itself up to heights that were once again unseen. Sparks of lightning even left the light before they curled back into it. Violent lightning strikes that would only be the messengers for that what has to come.

"This is not good Fright…" Shadowblood whispered to the other.

Fright simply shook his orb before he returned the words in a whisper. "That it isn't indeed. If she gets the result she wants, things are going to be looking a whole lot bleaker for us if we want to take over. Perhaps even ruining the possibility of doing it at all. We need to play this smart, but we can't interfere…"

"So the plan is?"

"Simple, there isn't any."

"How in the name of shadows can you say that?" Blood replied angry. "Years of our existence we have worked on this plan, to get her where she is. And overthrow her to become the kings ourselves!"

Though Fright was tired of the words that were spoken and instead of giving him a reply in words, the orb just headbutted him to silence. "Don't you think I know that? Remember, backstabber, it was through me that you could become a co-ruler of the nightmare forces. If I hadn't dragged you out of your pit, it could have been you who stood there!" the orb spoke in a whispering snarl.

Clearly he wasn't happy with the sheer manner in which Blood spoke to him and he needed to know his place. Long was assumed they stood equal to one another, but it was in fact Fright who was the mastermind behind the whole operation.

Blood was still recovering from the headbutt and groaned gently towards him before a hiss was released. "I'll remember that for the next time…" His tone was just filled with the purest of venom, hatred and diabolical insanity. With another growl he just turned back to the show that was being presented before them.

Fright on the other end just witnessed the play with a different set of eyes. He knew what she was going to attempt, or so he thought. Because there wasn't a thing in the world at that moment that could prepare either of the scheming stallions to just what she was planning out. What kind of powers were racing through her veins and perhaps above all, there was nothing that could predict the fate of his brethren.

What could the orb of shadow do outside of just witnessing the events as they played out before him. Of course he could interfere all he wanted, all of them could if they desired, but that meant they had to face the fury of the queen. And that was never a mild punishment what so ever. Ruthless and merciless they were. Punishments designed to make sure they would remember their place the next time they wanted to interfere.

True that those were out of the time that Moon still reigned over them, but with Rarity in charge, not much of that would have been changed. Fright simply looked over the stallions as they stood there completely still. They were simply waiting for that what could come their way. He knew for certain, that their little plan was something that could be flushed down the toilet. For the sights as they looked like, were just somber. "It's over," he whispered quietly to himself.

And then the moment of truth was there. With the magical charge in the maximum of available powers, the hum almost sounded like a roar of thunder that ravaged through the skies. Lightning lashes made their departure from the aura before they returned back into it. The sheer power that she was irradiating was something all of the nightmare forces could be careful of, those who tried to oppose her, could receive such a blast.

"The power of the mind, is wonderful thing. Yet its destruction, can help me out in more than one way," the entity mumbled to herself before it happened. All of the stored energy was released under a roar of pure power. Four lashes of lightning traveled in a second over to the four unfortunate stallions. Of course they wanted to run away from the light but if they did, they would truly anger their queen and she would accuse them for deeds against her crown. So instead, they tried their best to remain in that one spot.

And they it hit them. Each of the bolts had made contact with the forehead of each stallion. They were immobilized almost immediately. All of their muscles went into lock and the only thing that moved were the pieces of cloud and fog from their mane and tail. For the rest, nothing at all. The lashes of blue lightning created an interesting play of light on the ground as they cast the shadows of the shadows on the wall, revealing something rather unique.

For what played out on the walls were each of the nightmare forces in shapes and forms unknown to any living creature. Horrified disfigured bodies that could only exist in the dreams of a foal. As the eyes of the queen looked at the four subject with a stare of insanity, these figures could be seen in the corner of her eyes. Intimidated, frightful, merciless, those were the best words to describe their looks. And that was what gave her an idea. A horrible one that was, but one nonetheless.

Howls of agony left the stallions the more lightning entered into their brains. They never got the required amount of it, instead she had given them an overdose beyond the believes of any mortal and immortal creature. The lightning they took to the head and to be more precise, the brain itself, changes where happening at a rate it never should have.

Yet the entity that was Nightmare Rarity didn't care about their howls as she wanted to know just how powerful she could be. If they had died during the process, she wouldn't care less. Yet there was little that could actually have prepared herself on the matter she had actually created. For the circumstances the shadow stallions were in, could be the base for new life.

"This is, this is insanity at its finest." Shadowfright whispered as he looked over the games before him. "The powers she's putting out, on four at once for the first time." Countless ideas and thoughts raced through his mind. He wanted to know more about it, so he could use it against her. With care he started to hover a bit more forward in order to get a much better look at the games.

Blood on the other end remained in the position as he was still trying to get his head back around the matter. The headbutt hadn't done him good at all as his brain still laid in scrambles. So silence was his best partner in order not to spill out any important information about their deeds.

While it was true that other forces knew the two were up to something, it was never quite certain just what they were working on. None of the forces even truly cared just what they were planning. They had a collective mind to a degree, but were still individual enough to think for themselves and act on their own.

"Fascinating." Fright whispered to himself when he had managed to hover at the first row and looked over to the pain each of them was in. Yet they were still standing on their hooves. A remarkable sight that would be written inside of their memories for as long as they lived. That was one of the very few things that was just a certainty. The sounds, the sights, both of them would be printed on their retina.

While the lashes continued to do their work did each of the stallions disappear into an orb of blue magic. Locked away from the world outside it was uncertain just what was going to happen to them. It wasn't something she had truly the desire off of doing but for her feeling it felt like she had to do it. The power she was putting out against them was too high and she could feel that in her ghost like body. Though that never stopped her from not continuing her deeds. Even she was uncertain just what might happen when all of the charge is finally gone up in smoke.

Just how well would the experiment have gone once they were finished? How well would their behavior be? And possibly above all, how insane would they have become after lashes of lightning cast right into their brains? There was still much to learn for the young queen. A queen whose very body hadn't even been seen by any of her subjects she ruled over. Mysteries piled themselves up around her but so did they do in the quite town of Ponyville.

For it was within the famous Golden Oak library that Twilight herself was working her behind off once again. With all of her scientific equipment ready, she was willing to a rather daring experiment to tear through the time and space continuum in order to look into other universes. A daring undertaking that had Spike worried for months. But every single time had Twilight said that she had the situation under control as it were. A fact that he first had to see in order to believe it.

Mostly because she could persuade him rather easily with her motherly charms for him. A fact he loved and hated so much about her. Nonetheless, when the experiment was going to a start was the baby dragon peacefully asleep in his basket in the bedroom. His innocent little mind was completely unaware of the situation in the basement which was much to the relief of Twilight.

The mulberry coated unicorn allowed her horn to charge itself up with her magical powers and aimed it towards a generator. "This has to work, too much of my time has been wasted on this. Come on, come on," she mumbled to herself while the sounds continued to face. The humming of her magic and the device as the blast was released were deafening.

Shocks were being send through the house and caused the basket of the dragon to gently move up and down. But he didn't wake up for whatever reason. His snoring continued like nothing had happened and he just turned himself back around.

But downstairs, with the beam still hitting the generator, the Tesla coil like devices started to launch lightning at one another. Sweat broke out on Twilight's face as she continue to push out the power. She would succeed upon her little quest, no matter what. Moans and groans left her body and soul until the beam from her horn just stopped.

Without a warning or anything she had ran out of her magical reserves. The smoke that came from the horn was as black as tar. The unicorn didn't even dared to touch it as it felt hot whenever her hoof came close to it. "That was…different," she mumbled before blowing up to her horn in order to call it down.

The coils themselves were still transmitting the lightning to one another in a loud, almost singing manner. Once the ears of the unicorn caught the play of sounds had she turned her head around to witness the sheer size of the apparatus. A device that was bolted on a steel plate which housed both of the coils, the countless wires that were hooked up to her scientifically readers and the generators. An enormous device just to have a peek into a universe different then hers. Not even princess Celestia knew that she was executing the experiment. So it resulted in Twilight sailing a blind ship into a storm.

The lightning covered both of the coils from top to bottom as the mare was taken by the play of lights and dared to take a step or two closer towards the device. "It's…wonderful," she whispered to herself. Even though it wasn't even close to her goal, she did manage to create something of beauty. Something that even she could consider, a true beauty.

But then there were the voices that started to echo. Voices that spoke in haunting tones and tunes against her. Languages unknown to any soul in the world. What did they wanted from her? Where did they spoke from? Fear started to rise inside of her body and mind as the unicorn tried to find the original place of the sounds. And that happened to be, the space between the lightning flashes.

"No…way." Twilight softly mumbled against herself. She couldn't believe it, but the facts where there. The flashes of lightning were conducting with another universe, but didn't create any hole into it. Nonetheless, it was a breakthrough.

Sadly it wasn't one that could have been lived for long. As the voices became more and more eerie and haunting, the whispers came so close that it sounded as if somepony actually was talking right next to her. And that was becoming a bit too much of the good stuff in her eyes.

She had to close the experiment in order to make the voices go away. It was a rough decision but it had to be done and she knew it. Still uncertain what the voices spoke, she pulled the plug out of the generator and the flashes of lightning almost stopped right away. Something that relieved her a lot more than she originally had thought.

With the shivers still going down her spine had the mulberry unicorn dropped her body into a chair and closed her eyes. Her head was hung backwards in order to clear her brain from anything unnecessary as she rethought the events that happened. The voices and tones still echoed through her mind as if they would be haunting her. But the words they spoke weren't in any language she was aware of that existed.

No, it was more of a mixture between multiple languages combined mixed with something else. A factor that was unknown to even a mare like herself. "Goodness me, what, what could they have tried to tell me to begin with? But how…did I hear them right next to me? I was supposed to just make a window to look…" Then her eyes sprung open as she looked terrified towards the ceiling of the library. "But what if I accidentally opened that window?" she said to herself as everything started to make sense.

The unicorn jumped out of her chair and galloped over to the desk with all of her calculations. "There has to be a mistake that speaks about the monocular levels. There must be something that became penetrable instead of having to be rock solid. Urgh, there has to be!" Twilight muttered to herself and about herself as she went over all the calculations she had made three times. Seconds turned into minutes and she still didn't had her desired answer.

Each of her made predicament and calculation was correct to the eighth decimal. But then it hit her, then she discovered the mistake that she had made. "You stupid mare that you are!" the unicorn almost yelled against herself before she planted her face against the hard wood of the desk. "How could you have missed that fact!? Never go to the eighth decimal, but go to the tenth. It's the most impossible thing we're talking about here and you still…ugh. Back to the drawing board…"

And so said, so done. Twilight plopped back into her chair as she started to make the new calculations for the next test. A test in which she would make sure the window remained closed no matter what. Though the voices and whispers she could never get out of her mind. It felt like if they were warning her to not continue on the madness. To stop it while she still had the time to do that.

Whether she would actually do it had to be a question answered through the gears of time itself.

With the moon still standing high in the skies above the town did the unicorn gave up on the matter for the night and went to bed. She needed her sleep at the moment more than anything and felt herself in heaven once she dropped herself on the mattress. Exhausted beyond belief would the mare have fallen asleep almost right away without having placed the blankets over her body. There was a moan that left her body before it turned into a snore. A snore loud enough to make the baby dragon turn and wiggle himself around in the basket due to the annoyance levels that were being created.

As the sun had raised once again over the magical lands, the apple farm just outside of the quiet and sleepy little town was in the need to hurry up. The farming season had fallen upon it and in each of the near thousand trees the Apple family had, were at least a few dozen ripe apples ready to be plucked and transported. But the days were short and light wasn't easy to come by unless there was a unicorn with them or something. But with the family being earth ponies, they called in the help of a pony who might held the answer for them.

Applejack herself stood on a hill to a large blade of grass in her mouth. Her green eyes kept looking to the morning skies in the hope to find that one thing she needed. Her, literally, big brother was already working on hauling the carts filled with apples from the previous day to the barn for storage. "Where's she?" the cowgirl mumbled to herself before she spat the blade of grass out of her mouth and wanted to give up.

But then there was a rainbow that appeared above her and soon followed a trail of wind that rushed passed her. The blonde maned mare had to keep her hat tightly against her head, otherwise it would have been send flying through the air. "That in tarnation!? Rainbow!" she yelled to the mysterious events. Although they weren't as mysterious as she thought they would be, as there was only one pegasus who was able to make them. And that was nopony else but Rainbow Dash.

The agile pegasus mare chuckled in her signature cocky tone before landing just on front of Applejack. "Sorry I'm late, woke up a bit too late, but, what's the plan?"

"The plan is," the cowgirl started after having fixed her hat, "that we harvest as much apples as we possibly can. Apple Bloom had drilled up Scootaloo as well to join, but Sweetie can't come for some reasons Ah've heard."

The cyan coated, rainbow maned pegasus nodded to the words as she understood them. "Sounds easy enough, but Sweet's still in on that matter with Rarity. Heard from Twilight that she can't have peace with it, much like Spike," she answered just before they started to walk through the morning sun lit trees.

"Fell hard on us all Dash, ya know that better than any. But she'll come back. Rares isn't that stubborn or weak. That trick on the diamond dogs, was golden. She can blabber herself out of it if she needs." Applejack replied before a silence fell between the two. They didn't wanted to admit to one another, but they hadn't been able to have placed the disappearance of the unicorn either. Making Sweetie Belle not the only one.

But due to their posture of being two of the toughest mares around, they couldn't tell anypony. "Hey Applejack, how about a good sports competition? Who can farm the most apples until the sun goes down?"

Those words, were caught up by the two fillies that were walking towards them. One being the little sister of Applejack and the other the energetic little pegasus. "They aren't really going to…are they?" Apple Bloom asked aloud. But not loud enough to let the mares hear it.

"I don't hope so." The purple maned pegasus filly replied as she could only predict where it would come to.

Applejack on the other end simply gave the magenta rimmed pegasus a shady look that was followed up by a grin. "Ya really want to challenge me on mah own land? Ya want to battle this on mah own turf? You got guts Dash," she spoke up towards her, thinking it was just a little game of hers.

"Oh no AJ, I'm serious here. You and me, most apples when the sun sets. You in, or out?"

And on that moment knew the fillies that they had to retreat. Because when those two were at it, everything was pulled out of the closet to win.

"Tis a deal Dash, but the apples can't be broken and need to look perfectly. Yah think ya can handle that with that speed of yours?" the cowgirl teased with another grin before she fixed her hat.

"You bet yah!" the pegasus returned before she spat in her hoof. The cowgirl did the same and they bumped the together. "It's on."

And so it happened that the two of them were off to deal with the bet set up by the other. Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo all searched up a nice little place to watch the events for the coming hours. Neither of the three dared to place bets on any of them, but they had to admit that it was something fun to watch. Two physically strong mares that were going at one another. "Ah hate to admit, but Dash made a mistake. She knows the Acres as well as the back of her ponytail."

"Which one?" Scootaloo asked as she turned around to look at the stallion.

The gentle giant released a single chuckle through his mouth before he spoke his reply for her. "Both."

That was something that was hard to believed for her. So her eyes looked back to her friend who only nodded to confirm his words. "Dash…is in big trouble."

"Told ya." Apple Bloom chuckled before she leaned further against the fence to truly enjoy the orange and cyan show. "Only advantage Dash has, is her speed."

"Ah'm not placing mah bits on either. For in the end, they'll just collapse like two or three seasons before." Big mac replied as he placed both of his forelegs on the fence and leaned on it from behind.

Back in the domain of the entity had the lightning had stopped and the smoke was still coming from the clouds of shadow. What truly had happened inside of the spheres was unknown to any being that was present. All they knew for certain was the fact that it was something terribly bad. Something that never should have seen the light of day or the darkness of night.

Each of the spheres started to crack down from the top like an egg. The fault lines continued to travel down and all of the forces did steps back or disappeared inside of the shadows as a whole. Even Blood was more willing to return back into the shadows than to remain present. Though it was nearly impossible because of Fright who never left his position. Even though they had their argument before, he wouldn't let him be destroyed or anything like it.

The cracks became bigger and bigger while the sheer fright for the results rose in all of the forces. But the entity hovered a couple of steps back before she just started to look over the spheres once again. And then it happened. Each of them broke and exploded. First into sparkles but those quickly turned into the black tar like substance that was liquid shadow and there they stood. Standing still as if they were waiting for orders.

The four stallions who received the blow, lived a torn apart world. A world where the thin line between mind and reality didn't exist anymore and their worst fears were their preys. The entity that was Nightmare Rarity looked each of the stallions in the eyes and could see the changes they had gone through. For the first one being the obvious one, the fact they actually had eyes.

But that was only the first problem of many.

For these stallions about half a time bigger then both Fright and Blood were when they encountered the insecure little unicorn. Their mane waved as if they were standing inside of a storm but there wasn't any wind that blew at that time. For their tails there was the same principle. Unbelievable as they already happened to be, one of them started to bare his teeth towards the queen. A mouth that was filled with sharp and jagged teeth and fangs ready to tear flesh of the very bones.

All over their bodies could the pack of muscles be found. They were just, one hunk muscle, teeth and eyes. These weren't the shadow stallions as Rarity remembered, they were something different. Something that was perhaps a lot better than she could have ever imagined them to be. The changes made to them were probably a one in a million shot for certain. Yet there was something she wanted to try. Something that came almost natural towards her when she saw them.

"Sit," she spoke in a demanding tone. And then the tension rose whether or not they would follow her command. Not only for Nightmare Rarity but also for both Fright and Blood. If those beings would obey her, it would be over. If they didn't, there would be a chance for their plan.

Seconds passed as the tension was to cut and she repeated the order, but louder and even more demanding. "Sit!" she snarled to them. But once again there was no true reaction from them. Her eyes started to look even sterner at each of them as her breathing calmed itself down.

"Come on…come on." Fright whispered to himself as he wanted to see her fail to gain dominance over them. Blood on the other end, had hovered next to the other remaining orb of shadow and didn't speak at all. He was more skeptical on the matter that was played out before him.

Though against their will, against their own intuition, all four of them started to lower themselves on their behinds. Each of the changed stallions eventually sat down as the mare had ordered them to. And words couldn't express how happy she was with that. "This…this pleases your queen more than you four can think." Nightmare Rarity spoke to each of them. She had just discovered, her personal guards by creating them through the unknown.

She didn't saw them anymore like true shadow stallions, instead she viewed them as dogs that could do her bidding. They had become her lapdogs and she loved it. But deep inside the psychic of each of the stallions had they lived on the ultimate edge of her powers. The sheer power of the beam they were hit with, caused them to morph into the appropriate circumstances. And as it was her who controlled that terrible pain, they would simply listen to her in order to never feel it again.

In her words it was nothing else but, "perfection." In the eyes of both Shadowfright and Blood, ultimate disaster. "The guards of the queen, the savage shadow stallions," the entity that was Nightmare Rarity whispered to them before she erupted out in a dark laughter.

Time had passed by a week since the entity that was Nightmare Rarity managed to make her home in the lovely woods of White Tails. And in that week there had been a lot of changes when it came down to the forest. Mostly all of its natural wildlife had left the area that was flooded with the fog for unknown reasons.

It was interesting to say the least and those poor souls who tried to walk through the thick fog would only be punished for their deeds. Some managed to find their way back with a broken mind, speaking about horrors that lived within the fog. But there were also some who never returned. And it was about those cases that the rumors started to do their turn. Rumors about them being eaten or simply devoured by the creatures that the survivors happened to have seen. But all of them, couldn't be further away from the real truth behind the terror that had taken over the woods.

With White Tails being an important route to travel from north to south, it was always considered a lot more safer than traveling through Everfree. But with the rumors coming to the inns that stood by all of the major roads and entrances leading into the forest, that safety soon turned into a risk. A risk worth taken by some, whereas others preferred to travel either through the much more feared Everfree or walking around the woods.

That mostly happened before of one simple explanation, the fog covered all of the roads that were known to travel over. Some were literally trapped in either one of the lands regions and didn't dare to travel further. As the authorities didn't do anything because of a simple thought. To them it looked like a normal fog and that the ponies who had gone mildly insane that had been seeing their own imagination as each story was different.

They left as quickly as they came, always with the excuse of 'having other business to attend to.' If they only had experienced it for themselves just what laid inside that horrible fog that White Tails woods were known for. While the authorities didn't even mention the horrors, bars and taverns knew all about it. It was a gossip circulation that kept going and going no matter what. There was a core of truth, a horrible truth.

For days on end had the green coated, blue maned earth pony stallion who lived under the name of Astral Chrome been walking towards his destination. A town south of Ponyville he had set out to in order to visit some of his relatives. The stallion was a bit of a dreamer, always with his head in the skies and wondering what laid beyond. He had taken his own refuge at the inn of that was stationed at the north side of White Tails which was right next to its main entrance road.

Almost like every other morning, the stallion woke up under a loud yawn that left from his mouth and his forelegs stretched themselves in order to let the muscles do their work again. His violet rimmed eyes were revealed to the world after the eyelids had removed themselves. He was slow in the morning for certain, taking his own pace and time to get everything done what was needed.

"Another day, another hike to do." he spoke up to himself before he left the bed. Astral hollowed his back a bit as he walked over to the bathroom and every single bone in his spine was just sore. It was a sharp pain he had gotten from the rather uncomfortable bed he had spent the night in. "Ohhh, let's just hope I reach Ponyville today." Astral mumbled to himself before he disappeared in the bathroom.

The outside world itself was slowly waking up as well. The sun was starting to rise once more whereas all of the critters of Everfree woke up in their own manner and pace. The skies turned from black and dark blue into a mixture of pink and red. To some those colors meant a warning, to others it simply was just a pretty sight to behold.

Inside of the inn were all of the ponies that were there as guests beginning on their breakfast before planning their activities for the day. The inn-keeper herself was a pegasus mare who had been through her times was carefully looking over the guests as she stood behind the bar. With her back behind on the wall and herself standing in a bipedal pose with a leg set against the wall and her forelegs crossed. Her cerise red eyes looked over to every soul that was present, but never spoke a single word to them.

Yet she listened to all of the conversations that were going on. With a careful ear she listened, not giving herself too much attention. The barkeeper himself received all of that actually. As he was the first employee the guests would encounter.

Times were good for the inn, but the rumors did caught up with her and they worried many of her guests. Though they could understand the reasoning of the guests, as they had experience with the rumors first hoof. The mare closed her eyes and gently hung her head on the chest as she thought back. Back to that horrible day where the rumors became a reality. An event that happened not even four days ago.

The night had fallen upon the land and it was already passed midnight as most of the guests were already up and to their beds as some others remained downstairs in order to continue or finish their last drink. It was a profitable night as a thunderstorm passed over them. The flashes of lightning illuminated the night skies every so often before the thunder rolled through the same skies.

The pegasus mare had taken over the bar for the remaining hour it would be open and was finishing up the last things she had to do. But there was nothing in the world that could possibly prepare her for that, what came out of the woods. As the rain kept ticking against the windows of the inn and the thunder rolled. The gray coated mare had just gone in a conversation with one of her most respected guests.

"So, I take it you are still on trek around the woods?" she asked the stallion with a teasing grin.

"Aye, still trying to figure out about these rumors, they are young but that's when they are the best to be believed. Events fresh meaning rumors haven't deluded yet. But so far still nothing I'm afraid," the stallion replied before he took a swig of his drink.

"Tis a shame indeed. Heard about them ponies going crazy, yesterday the southern inn at this very road got a visit from a survivor."

"What!? And you didn't told me?"

"Well, you were out all day and I only received the news per letter after you went to bed. Besides, how did you wanted to travel, through Everfree, around or through that hideous fog itself?"

That caused the stallion to fall silent and took another swig. "Suppose you're right on it," he mumbled after the mug was set down again. "Either way, what do you think of all it?"

"What is there to say? It seems like we're going to become the next ghost town. Or ghost forest in this case…"

Before either of the two could make a reply to the words spoken, the door of the inn was opened and in its opening, accompanied by a flash of lightning, stood a terrified stallion. "Help me!" he shouted before he collapsed upon himself. The mare and stallion at the bar rushed over to him as fast as they could and started up the procedure to help him.

Yet all of their attempts were useless. As the problems weren't in any physical condition, even though the stallion screamed murder and fire at the fact his leg was injured. "What on earth are we getting now? The rumors..?" the innkeeper spoke up towards the guest.

"What else could it be?" he answered her in all of his honesty. There was nothing else that could have explained it better than the rumors of the horrors from the woods.

The two of them wanted to continue with their investigation but the beating of the tormented stallion's heart just stopped. The pegasus felt that and she went directly to his chest in order to feel if it was true. "No, no, no," she spoke up as the other stallion looked over to her with a worried look on his face.

"It's over, isn't it?"

All she could do, was to give a nod to it. There was literally nothing that the two of them could possibly even do for the stallion. "Death by fear… Only one being is able to do that. Let's, let's call in the higher authority and see what they make up from it," he said to her as he wanted to walk back to the bar.

But it was a forehoof of the inn-keeper that met up with his body and he was turned back around in order to face her. "No."

The eyes of the mare opened themselves up once more as she looked to the guests again. There was a new one who had taken its place upon the bar and was eating a slice of bread while the eyes were looking at a map that laid before him. "Planning a trip sir?" the pegasus mare asked as she dropped her body back to the ground and walked up to him in a calm pacing.

Astral looked up a bit confused at the words and let his azure blue eyes to fall upon the mare before the slice of bread was laid back on the plate. "Actually, yes. I am planning for a trip. One that is taking me to a little town south of Ponyville."

"Ponyville you say? Means you have to cross the woods of White Tails," she replied to him in a calm voice and crossed her forelegs over the bar. "Have you considered taking an alternative route because of those nasty rumors that do their turn."

"I am quite familiar with the rumors miss. But it is what it says, rumors. All those ponies who have gone crazy are nothing more but a mere coincidence because of the fact that the power of words, is a powerful one." the stallion simply stated as he looked over her. "My route shall remain scheduled as it is. Meaning that I follow the main path through the fog and reach the south end by the young evening if I keep my pacing."

"That is with the fog calculated in I may hope, because the last thing I recommend is sleeping inside of that hellhole," the mare replied calmly to him. She was genuinely worried about him and she had all of the reasons to be as she had seen the impossible. The experience she had gone through was rather left unspoken for the obvious reasons.

"Milady, I have taken that into account yes. This fog, will dissolve itself over time. It is nothing more but low hanging clouds that came from the weather factories up in Cloudsdale," the green coated earth pony stallion replied calmly to her. But then there was a yawn that escaped his mouth and he shook his head a couple of times. "Excuse me for that."

Both the barkeeper and the inn-keeper released a quiet chuckle to the words before the glasses were cleaned again. "I'm warning you one last time lad, turn back around and walk around the forest. All that awaits you inside of it is nothing but your worst fears. The routes through Everfree and the edging mountain are safer than going through the lions den."

Astral on the other end, he simply didn't believe in her words. He found them superstitious to say the least about it. She might have been the owner of the place but that never meant that he could just pick whatever she throw at him in words. "No miss, you listen to me. I have had enough of all of these rumors, sayings and legends. There is nothing in that fog that can cause such things. I suppose I can place the blame on you for dropping the clouds on it."

That angered the pegasus mare perhaps more than he would have liked. For she was born and raised in the city of pride, worked there until she bought the inn for herself and if there was one thing she couldn't stand, it were defilers of her respect. The barkeeper did a little step back and stopped where he was working on. "You sir, have made a great mistake," he said towards Astral.

"What do you mean?" the earth pony replied before he finally looked over to the mare. The sheer anger that was flowing through her body and he released a gulp. "Hehehe," was all that he could bring out before a massive gulp left his body.

And almost right after that, that his pelt was taken by the mare and she dragged him almost over the bar. Their foreheads met up with one another as the clouds of steam was puffed out of the mare her nostrils. "You can do a lot with a pegasus and nothing happens to you. But dent their pride or insult their city, bones will be broken no matter what. You want to travel through that dreaded forest, fine by me. You can die and rot there for all I care! But know this when your final breath is taken, the pegasus race nor I had to do anything with it. Am I clear?"

Astral could only nod to her words. It was almost right away apparent that she was stronger than he was and picking a fight was the last thing he needed. "As crystal," he said to her in a frightened tone.

The mare released him from his hold and pointed to the door of the inn. "Out, now. Get your stuff and just disappear out of my eyes." And as fast as lightning he started to do what him was told. Astral was scared for her and almost all of the inn knew that right away when they saw him crawling away.

It took the stallion a mere minute before he had completely left the place and had closed the door behind him. "You meant your words, didn't you?" the barkeeper spoke up to her.

The mare herself simply gave a nod as she returned back to her place against the backwall. "Oh yes I meant them. Dent a pegasi her pride, and nasty stuff is going to happen."

"Don't you think it might have been a bit too harsh, especially after what you have seen back there." he spoke to her. Some of the guests had turned themselves in order to witness what had happened of course but they slowly returned back to their own duties as the show was over for them.

"Oh trust me, I might have been hard, but that's the best teacher," the mare replied as her cerise eyes looked upon him.

"But, you could have send him to his death!"

"And here's the memo for the day, I don't care. Now if you will excuse me, I'll be off to my office." The mare wasn't happy at all and just walked away from the bar as a whole. She left for her office but the barkeeper himself knew that he had to let the matter sink in.

A deep sigh of disappointment was released through hose mouth as he set the glass back on the wooden bar. The shaking motion of his head all spoke the words for him and he was literally on the point of giving up the hope for her. If it wasn't for the fact that those kind of events happened nearly every single week. But the time with Astral was a lot different and he knew that. "May the royals watch over your back," the stallion mumbled before he continued on with his job.

Meanwhile in the office, the inn-keeper simply sat in her chair and she looked over her belongings. The room itself was a rather simply looking one. On the walls hung the pictures and newspaper bits about her triumphs as a flyer before she fell from her grace. Her breathing was calm as she looked at the globe that was set below a glass table top and her eyes fell upon the woods of White Tails.

The mare her head suddenly dropped itself down towards the top of her desk and a groan was left through her mouth before the words followed with a grumble. "Another one bites the dust."

Astral himself simply started to walk towards the woods after he was kicked out of the inn and looked upon him map while walking. "Should be a rather easy going if you ask me. Stay on the path, don't get lost," the stallion mumbled to himself as he continued to follow the path down.

It wasn't all much later after he left the inn that he encountered the first trees of the woods. The map was lowered from before his eyes and folded back up before it was being placed inside of his saddlebags. "So this, is White Tails now hm?" It didn't look that threatening to him as the fog still behaved like the name suggested. But that little underestimation would eventually cost him his head.

The nature of the forest was still ever so peaceful as he remembered himself but there was only notable and major difference to be spotted already. And that was the lack of sounds that originated from the place. No birds, no critters, no nothing. Everything was just silent as the night.

It was a minor thing and one that wasn't noticed almost right away by the stallion's ears as he was mesmerized by the sheer beauty of the forest. Being a student for almost the entire year never gave him that much opportunity to go out and visit the places he wanted to. But he was on a vacation by then and would pass through the dangerous fog. Little did he knew, that it would be a one way trip.

The green coated stallion gave himself a nod and then proceeded to follow the path through the woods. How thick could that fog possibly be? he chuckled to himself in thought. And that was the last time anypony has seen anything from him. His blue haired tail that slowly disappeared into the unnatural woods of White Tails. Against all of the rumors and words had the stallion named Astral Chrome still dared to enter the tormenting woods. A terrible price would have to be paid for his departure and the price itself would be his life or sanity.

Seconds turned into minutes as the stallion's hopes became less and less for a clearing. The sheer density of the fog was something that he had never experienced before in his life. Curious to what could have caused it were the words of the pegasus that continued to ramble themselves through his mind with every step he took.

Even though they were a threat spoken to him, he had to give her admittance at one point. The fog wasn't created by the pegasus race. A fact that became an eerie reality the more Astral stared at the almost magical current that could be seen inside of the fog every so often.

It was something he hadn't seen before and possibly didn't even wanted to look after as a whole on the case. His eyes tried to keep him on the right path but his guts pointed him to another direction. And that was the direction he had come from. For he wanted to do nothing more but to just return and get another route for his hike.

The fog gave him an unpleasant feeling as if he was being watched by beings invisible through both the fog and eye. Beings that shouldn't have been there but inside of his mind. And that, was what worried him the most.

His pacing was cranked up a bit and he started to run gently while his eyes tried to follow the path wherever it went too. But the fright and fears become a reality soon enough for the stallion. He didn't wanted to believe it at first and kept going with his stubborn little mind like it was an everyday job or something the like.

While his visibility was almost zero and the darkened trees almost looking exactly the like from one another, it was impossible to tell if he was making progress, backtracked or just walked in circles. Hopes for being on time at the other side of the forest before nightfall became slimmer and slimmer as the stallions just kept walking, if not galloping.

He never wanted to admit it to himself but he was lost. Lost in the nature of the forest he thought to have known so well. Astral just gave it up. There was nothing he could do anymore to save his hide. The road was lost and the shimmers in the fog kept looking at him as if they were preying on him. Everything was just a major mess and he knew it.

The blue maned stallion took his refuge against a tree and removed the saddlebags from his body. He placed them gently against the tree bark before he laid his own body against it with a deep sigh. His eyes looked up into the skies but only caught that never ending fog. It was something that troubled him more than anything he had encountered so far. He was lost in the woods of rumors.

Though when desperation struck, one starts to believe a whole lot easier. And Astral Chrome was no exception to that rule whether he wanted or not. But the losing of the road was only the first part in a chain of events that were called upon him. For the rumors of the woods slowly became a dangerous reality.

All of his worst possible fears came to him in a sneaking manner. They were hidden among the trees that were the furthest away from him. The stallion couldn't believe it at first and blinked a couple of times. Gone.

Each and every one of the figures was just gone, as if they went up in smoke itself. It gave him a good jumpscare but that was about it really. It was only after he had taken something out of his saddlebags to consume that a yelp of fright was released from his mouth.

For all of the figures had returned and were looking at him with their gaping eyes. "T-This is impossible! You're…you're all dead!" he spoke up to them and shook his head with a set of closed eyes.

When Astral opened them up once again, he could see that the figures were gone once more. "This…this is madness. She, was right about it. This forest is cursed," the stallion mumbled to himself before he took a bite out of his bread and dropped his head against the bark. The eyes closed themselves once more as felt his appetite just flowing away like that.

A deep sigh was released through his mouth as the situation was hopeless. He had nothing he could do except to lose the battle he was fighting, to give in against the fears of failing those who had passed before him.

The stallion could hear hoofsteps and they caused both of the ears to twitch slightly but his eyes never opened themselves. "Come and get me." Astral spoke up in a weakened voice. Time was lost for his senses and he had not even a clue just what had happened to him. But it had been hours since he even moved his legs to take another step. Hours that felt like seconds.

"Claim your reward, monster of White Tails, grant me a final sight before I lose my mind."

But what he got in return weren't words spoken by any being. Instead he could see a bright blue light that shone through his closed eyelids and feared the worst. With all of the strength that was residing inside of is body, the stallion tried to open up the eyes in order to see what was going after him, but the mind had other plans. For the lids remained shut as the horrible animalistic howls, growls and screeches were being made.

The sounds of a battle being fought right before him and he was too scared to even look. Precisely as planned. But that light that was shone through his eyelids also filled him with something he never had felt before. A hope, a hope that was purer than any other hope he had ever gotten into his life. It felt so good for his soul, but in his mind he knew it was only trouble.

Time kept crawling by like it has done since its very dawn. The days turned to nights and the lives of the ponies that lived and thrived in the land simply continued like nothing had ever happened. But in their thought they knew that they had to be looking someplace else. That the disappearance of the famous unicorn tailor wasn't something out of unforeseen events but instead perhaps a play made by her.

And it were those kind of rumors that devastated not only the five friends but also the parents of the mare. For they knew that the words spoken were simply lies said to keep the fires calm. The eyes of most of the peaceful towns folk turned itself over to the more bigger cities like Manehatten, Fillydelphia and above all, Los Pegasus.

There were even words going around of the fact that she was just on a long holiday that hadn't been announced by her. But that bubble was quickly busted because of the fact that both Pearl and Magnum, her loving parents knew that their sweet daughter would never do such a thing without first informing them or her friends on the matter. She simply didn't do that, she had a business to run that needed to make a profit in order to keep existing.

It didn't add up for the both of them and as they sat together on the sofa one evening in their house near the lake, the two of them couldn't change their subject of conversation. "Rary wouldn't do such a thing, would she?" the pinkish coated mare asked as her head found itself on the chest of the stallion. He was stroking through her untangled mane and she caught the sigh he gave. That usually meant something bad was coming her way and the unicorn braced herself for it.

"There…is of course a first for everything honey, I mean, your parents weren't that happy when they discovered we were in love, but it caused you to sneak out of the house for the first time." he calmly replied to her as the stroking was never interrupted.

"Hey, keep our lovelife out of this Maggy, this is your daughter we are talking about."

"I know, I know, but I am just saying that, history can repeat itself."

That caused the mare to turn her head upwards to meet the blue eyes of her husband with a questioning look in hers. "You mean, Rary is seeing somepony as well? But, that doesn't make her leave for that long, does it?" Pearl carefully asked as she feared the answer. For the thoughts that raced through her own mind were everything but pleasant to know.

Magnum on the other end, gave her a well meant chuckle as he kept stroking through the mane but eventually placed his foreleg on the shoulder of his loving wife. "The chances are there if you ask me. But, how about we drop the subject for the night? More time to bicker around it tomorrow."

"Bicker? Weren't we just discussing?" the mare replied with a giggle in her tone

"Hmhmhm, alright, you have your way." The stallion carefully planted his lips upon the head of his wife who erupted out in another gentle giggle while a faint blush appeared on her face.

The two of them kept snuggling on the sofa as the matter was put to rest in their words. But in their mind they were busy with it almost all of the time. Whether they knew it or not that was difficult to tell actually. Much like another pony in the quiet town and a baby dragon who lived at the library.

"But what if we..?"

"No."

"And if..?"

"No!"

"Come on Twilight! There must be something that we can do to help out Rarity, or to find her even! Hey, can't you sniff out her aura with that magic of yours?" the purple scaled, green spiked baby dragon spoke up as he kept going behind the mulberry unicorn in her study room.

For almost the entire evening he had been pestering her with the ideas that were forged into complete and utter madness of his little mind. Ideas that could help them for certain, but also put their own lives at stake because of the risks. And eventually, the bucket was full for the unicorn. She dropped her body in a chair that stood near the desk and she turned her head around in order to look at him. "True that every unicorn has its own magical aura and hum to it, it is not simple to prefer and my radius doesn't even cover half of Ponyville. I doubt even princess Celestia is able to pull off a spell of that magnitude." Twilight replied to him as she was getting tired of his words.

"But, what if you three w-"

Yet before he could even continue that sentence had the unicorn interrupted him once again. "No," she spoke up in a raised voice before her eyes fell shut and her emotions calmed down. "No Spike, as much I also want to, there is nothing we can do except to wait out and pray the storm goes down so the search continues."

"But," the dragon started, "nopony is doing anything to find her!"

"That's not true! Ponies are working around the clock to find her in other parts of the land, now go to sleep. You'll be needing it." Twilight calmly spoke up to him before she turned herself towards the desk.

With a grumble in his undertone had the dragon left the study and went almost straight over to the bedroom where he dropped himself in the basket and curled up into a ball. He had a hard time understanding the manner of thinking many others had over the situation as his mind was still young. With a tear that left from his right eye, he fell asleep while thinking about the love of his life and the chances that were there.

Though it was only hours later, far after the clock had hit midnight that the mare herself quietly entered the bedroom and looked upon the moonlight indulged room. Outside of the ordinary there was one thing that she caught outside of it.

With carefully placed steps she moved over to the basket that the dragon had called home ever since he was hatched and the mare took the blanket in her mouth. With one swift motion was it placed back over the body of Spike who only released a soft moan. The unicorn looked over him as she spoke the words that were stuck in her throat. "I, I wish I had the answers on your questions little Spike, but I just don't." Her tone was soft, close to crying herself even. Words that came directly from her heart and were the honest truth about the matter.

Twilight's head met with her pillow before she looked outside of her window, to the land of Equestria and the many mysteries it housed. But in her mind she only thought about the well-being of her friend. Nothing more and nothing less. The violet colored rims were closed off from the world and the mare drifted away into lands unknown.

When the blue light before his eyelids faded away again and the sounds fell into nothing but the silence of the forest, Astral Chrome cared to open up one of his eyes. And what he caught in it, was a blurry white background with a grayish blop in the middle of it. "Don't be afraid, you'll be safe," a feminine voice gently spoke up to him. A voice that came out of the direction of the mysterious blop.

The stallion was both baffled and speechless on the matter as it played out before him. He had no idea who this pony was and why it helped him out of his situation. Yet what was the most interesting part of it all, was that the voice itself that was calming his thoughts down from almost everything that had tormented him. And almost naturally, he opened up his other eye to get a better view on the savior, but also to stand up and walk with her.

For the creature calmly signaled him to follow her. Astral had not a single clue where he was going to be bright but anyplace would be better than the hole he got into. Or so he thought. Because the woods of White Tails had a lot more to them then they gave away.

In calm and silence did the two ponies walk through the forest. The eyes of the stallion couldn't help it but to notice two things on the whole matter that laid before them. The first one being the more obvious one, her size. This being was almost as tall as Celestia herself, but on the flanks there were no cutie marks to be found. Such a wonderful looking mare, and no mark? he thought to himself before it was dropped out of his mind again and he looked over to the second finding. That being the whole fact that the fog bend around her as she walked.

It was a curious feature but he didn't even dare to speak against her in case he would offend her. And with each step they took, they came closer towards their headed destination, the dreaded domain of the entity that was nopony else but Nightmare Rarity.

He was just amazed by the fact that such a structure could even be build inside of the forest, especially one that was filled with as much rumor as it was. The mare simply brought him over to the courtyard of the place and calmly signaled him to wait there as she turned herself back around.

"Wait! Can, can I at least know your name?" Astral spoke up towards the mare. But she never gave him any response to it. Her legs started to carry her away to places far away as she gently disappeared inside of the fog once more. Just as mysterious as she came, she had disappeared again. "This…is unusual." he mumbled to himself before the stallion turned himself back around and made the big mistake to take a step forward.

For only a mere second after his hoof had touched the ground once again, four blops of shadow jumped out of the ground and forced him to the ground. Astral had nothing he could fight back with and just let the events happen as they came. The last thing he felt before losing his consciousness was the hit that his belly made to the ground below him.

Hours had passed before the green coated stallion started to moan and groan. The hit that knocked him out had taken a lot more of his time then he originally had thought it would have. If he could have thought about it all in the first place. For his brain was pounding against the skull and with the eyes still closed firmly, Astral rose up against a wall that felt like bars and just held his head a couple of seconds who turned into a minute.

"Owha, what on earth was that all good for?" the stallion muttered to himself while the pain eased itself. More and more he could feel the world as it was around him. And it was everything but pleasant. For the ground was cold as stone and his back was set against what appeared to be steel bars or something the like. His ears caught more and more of the surrounding and the quite moans and groans of other ponies drilled itself into his skull.

Everything combined caused the stallion to open his eyes widely. Where he thought to meet a bright light, he only met a faint torch that was enough to cast light upon the situation. Astral found himself in a prison, but unlike any he had ever seen before in his life. "P-Prisoner?" he mumbled out quietly to himself. It was nearly impossible to describe the feelings that raced through him.

But then he thought back, back to those sounds he had heard and looked around him. A cell that was big enough to hold five stallions on the ground he was dumped in but he was all alone in it. Surrounded by bars from three sides as the remaining wall, ceiling and floor were nothing but this dark coloring. It wasn't the structure like stone but more like crystal or something the like.

It all seemed to be impossible already for him yet then he looked over the floor of the cell and the cells he could look at through the bars. And each of them gave off the same horrible sight. Ponies, mares and stallions the like, all curled up and shivering in fear, some appearing to be braindead as they simply leaned against the bars of walls without any motion.

"I'm in the asylum!" Astral whispered loudly to himself. He didn't even made an attempt to speak with the other captives as he was just thought about the fact of saving his own skin and judging their looks, they were gone for a long time.

His eye started to peel around the place a bit more with only one thought in mind. The very thing he hungered the most for. "I need, I need to get out of here!" But that little plan of him, would be a bit harder to truly execute then he thought because she was willing to continue the cause of destruction. She was coming his way and wherever she went, there was no escape.

Some of the captives knew the time that was upon them and already started to make their retreat into the shadows of their cell. Hiding for her and her demonic minions. The only safety they had and would ever have.

Days had Astral spent inside of his cell. Days he hadn't even seen the sunlight and slept under the moans and groans of those in the cells directly next to him. Their whispers of words that were filled with both insanity and fear had worn him down greater than the stallion could have ever imagined. His very own lines of sanity and insanity became thinner and thinner by the day, if not hour. But the case he was in wasn't as severe as some of the others were in.

His looks had turned into that of a complete wreck as he hadn't showered or got a good night's rest in days. It was mostly because of those same moans and groans that he couldn't keep his head straight and sleep in at night. And that all just led back to his own insecurity. There was nothing he could do to even improve his situation. Sure he was looking for an escape route, but that was impossible for the earth pony to find unless he could chew through the diamonds or something the like. Escaping just wasn't an option.

And even if it was, even if he managed to get out of his cell, he had to find a way out of the fortress and that meant not getting caught by those black stallions who worked him to the ground the first time. And as cream on the pie, he still had to walk back through the woods of White Tails. Maneuver his body back through that dreaded forest of utter insanity. Which on its own turn meant that he had to encounter that being that brought him there in first place and face his fears.

All things considered and thought about deeply, there wasn't any way in which the stallion could have escaped and actually made progress with it. The situation in his eyes was just hopeless and he had thrown the towel in the ring for the plan. Whoever wanted him there, had the price. Whatever would happen to him would be something of a question rather left unanswered in his mind.

But every time he felt that the warmth of the sun disappearing from the crystals and the cold of night setting in, he managed to keep some track of day and night. But dates, hours and minutes were shattered for his weakened mind. Astral Chrome found himself leaning against one of the barred sidewalls and quietly hummed some tunes to himself. They were small pieces from songs he used to listen to in his time off. A thought that made him chuckle for whatever reason.

The calming tunes kept going through the dungeon he was in and some of the hopelessly lost ponies listened to him. They listened with both ears perked for nothing but him as he continued on with his eyes closed. Between all of their misery that was placed upon them without real cause, it was good for them all to have at least something to keep them alive.

"N-Not bad," was one of the many words that were spoken to him while his tunes kept going. Astral didn't appear to be hearing any of their voices as he mostly hummed the songs in order to keep his own mind as straight as possible. Even though the odds to keep that happening were about impossible to say the least.

Out of all of the dozen prisoners had none of them even as much as dared to start to sing a song but when he came to one particular song, a song of the ancient times that was taught at most schools. And there was one unicorn stallion who couldn't hold himself anymore.

Defeated by his own fears, constantly shivering and looking over his back had this particular unicorn always laid down on the ground and never spoke even a word. Yet as soon as the first tunes of the song entered his ears, he ever so gently removed the forelegs from his head which then rose up. His dull, gray colored eyes simply looked at the back of Astral as his ears realized where the soothing sounds came from.

And before any of the other prisoners could say or do anything had the unicorn started to hum along. His tunes were the first time ever since Astral got captured that somepony else was joining the sounds. It was a hopeful moment in a time where no hope was shown to the world.

Each of the locked up ponies, for as long as song was hummed by the two of them, forgot all of their troubles and secretly enjoyed the moment. Their fears had fallen into the abyss of darkness were they came from and on their minds, they quietly tried to sing along. The entire prison fell in an unnatural but hopeful silence as all the eyes of the captive ponies were focused upon either Astral or the unicorn.

For the first time ever since they were caught and brought down into the hellhole they ended up with and it seemed to be like a little paradise that it had turned into. Their minds felt they were being healed and their conditions cured. It was something that almost felt like it was too good to be true.

And that it sadly happened to be, for when the song ended and Astral continued on his own again while the unicorn kept himself quiet once more. His head lowered itself towards the ground and his forelegs were placed upon it while the eyes were closed off from the world.

For it almost was in a single millisecond that wonderful and harmonious atmosphere was again replaced by the hard reality of the situation. Something that was truly unbelievable for the mind of the green coated stallion. Yet on the other end, when he opened his eyes and revealed the dulled out rims they had, he could understand almost right away just why it happened.

Hope had gone in the invisible gust of wind. Being carried away to those who needed it more than they did because for them it was the end of the line. At least that was the stallion's thinking. His humming gently came to a stop and the less sound he produced, the more prisoners hide themselves into the darkest part of their cells.

The stallion himself knew why they scurried away and he knew that all too well. For the guards were coming down to them to either have some sickening fun with the mentally broken or to carry them away to the door at the end of the hallway. He had no idea just what laid behind it but he knew it was bad as the screams of agony where about the only thing that left the place.

Nothing that got in there would have left without having screamed the lungs out of the body. And for what, he had not even the slightest of clues and rather didn't found out either. But one could only jump away of the dance so many times and each time the guards came down and his chances got less and less.

There wasn't any pattern in their manner of working either. They literally picked random so he couldn't predict when it could be his turn. Some had gone for three times in two days, while others went never. Perhaps it was because of the facts of who they happened to be before they were mentally worn. Because the names and the pasts of all of co-captives was something that remained firmly hidden from Astral Chrome. He knew nothing about them but they knew nothing about him. A thing that was perhaps for the better going of life.

Two sets of hoofsteps appeared to be coming down from the spiraling staircase. From his cell had the blue maned stallion quite the view upon the structure and quickly figured out that it either went straight up into the tower he saw for seconds, or that they were placed under the surface of the earth. Nothing was certain until he had seen the reality.

Though one of those realities was the fact that the guards all looked like stallions. But these were black of color, had smoking or clouded manes and tails. But the worst part had to be their eyes, for they were nonexistent. None of the guards he had ever seen coming down into the place had eyes.

That was with the exception of one. There was one guards who was broader and much more muscular than the others in appearance. One that terrified most of the captives and frightened the stallion himself. For his sapphire eyes went passed ponies like searchlights. They weren't just sapphire blue in color as they were the actual gem stuffed inside of his eye sockets. Perhaps even more terrifying was the very fact that they could actually move to give him real eyes, except it were gems.

It shuddered the stallion every time he thought about it and before he even knew it, he was looking at them again. For that same shadow stallion stood at the bottom of the staircase and huffed loudly towards the ponies that were behind the bars before he walked further in and passed some cells.

It was only than that the second set of hooves made it downstairs and the stallion was still carefully moving not to look over to the sapphire eyed shadow, laid his eyes upon the other being. Who was revealed to be more slender build stallion and looked more like a regular stallion. With the exception of his eyes. As they were emeralds crammed into the socket.

When the eyes of the second dark stallion opened themselves up and revealed their glory to the world, Astral got a shock that raced through his entire body. A shock that caused him to jump back even further against the bars of his cell and reach for his heart in order to calm it down.

The wanted words never left his mouth but his mind just yelled them like there was no tomorrow. The second stallion walked over to the sapphire eyed one and they both gave a nod. But as the nod was given, Astral caught a signaling motion from another pony who called him into the darkness. As he was the only pony that was still out in the light. "She's coming," was faintly whispered to him,

"Whose coming?" Astral asked the pony, but the silence between them had fallen greatly. For a third, much heavier sounding, set of hooves made their way down the staircase. The terrified stallion had no idea just what was awaiting him when the third individual revealed itself towards them.

All of the prisoners apparently know what was coming their way and they had the best of reasons to be truly terrified. As the master of the horrible experiments was coming down to conduct a new one. On any who suited the matter.

The green coated stallion gulped loudly but found the courage to remain in his position as he wanted to see that what came in the fullest of glories before him. He could only pray that it wouldn't be as bad as his mind made him believe. But little did he knew that all of his believes and hopes were standing at the point of being shattered like a hoofclap.

For at the bottom of the stairs appeared a being whose size was matched by only Celestia herself. A slender body that could have been given off by the goddess and a coat that was as gray as the world was. The mane of this being, of this mare, were purple of color and had a white streaking going through them. They were styled in such a manner that it covered the right side of her face almost completely and then he saw it. That almost never ending horn.

A horn of a unicorn but lacking of the pegasus wings. This mare, that creature was a normal pony who possibly had created the hell for each of them. A mare whose body was a gift from the world above in the skies, whose sapphire blue and green eyes sparkled a little bit in their corners while the black cat like slits of pupils caught everything that was going on in the dungeon.

But last but not least, there was the cutie mark. Three gems that looked like stars stood in their triangular pattern with numerous other sparkles around it. A view worth killing for, was the only thing that went into the mind of the stallion. And that was where the others tried to warn him for. But she couldn't be the cause of it all, or could she?

Astral was simply mesmerized by the sheer beauty of the unicorn. Her coat so perfectly looking, her mane so perfectly styled, it almost felt like he had fallen in love with her. But that very feeling suddenly felt just wrong to deep into his guts. For the aura she irradiated and the overall pose she stood in, all it made certain that she was the conjuncture of it all. She was in charge of every single event that was going on there. And yet, he remembered her looks.

Then he realized it and scurried back into the shadows as well. She was the same pony who brought him there in the first place. She was directly responsible for his very capture. Oh no, no, no, no, no, the blue maned stallion thought deeply by himself as their eyes lost contact with one another. He was sailing in the deep at that moment and she was taking another step into the place.

Each hoof that was set back on the ground just roared with power. She was certain of her business and even her steps showed that to those in the cells. They could try to defeat her without a question as the bars weren't protected by any magical forcefields or things the likes. But none of them even dared for the forces that they would receive in return as their plan would be executed.

Fear took him over as he didn't wanted to have the least bit to do with her and he just kept going further and further against the wall in the back of his cell. He turned his entire head away from her and closed his eyes with a force unseen before. The prayers were softly whispered for good luck to help and guide him through the dark times, but those prayers were almost good for nothing.

For the mysterious unicorn herself simply took another step and then another one before the souls in the cells realized she was walking towards them. But at which cell she would stop was the question they all had in their twisted mind for the matter. She could be stopping at anypony's cell and they all knew that. Yet it was Astral who was fearing the worst of the worst. For in all of his time that he sat there as a prisoner, he had never seen the unicorn. And since he was possibly the only pony who hadn't gone through that door, his time could very well be there.

It was a thought that frightened him to his very soul. Such a beauty to look at and being such a rotten devil on the inside was the earliest conclusion drawn out of her. Prayers were lost as he could feel her mixed eyes of blue and green staring at him. A pair of eyes that didn't just went over his body but just pierced right through it. For they were looking straight into his soul and that burned like mad in his chest.

The eyes of this devious unicorn on the other end actually kept themselves focused upon the stallion for a good minute before her head turned itself towards the other prisoners and a deep huff was released from the body. For all she saw was just the empty cells as it's guests all had scurried away into the darkness of them. All in the faint attempt of trying to escape her. Yet there was little that could escape her.

In silence she turned her head back towards Astral and kept gazing upon his body. She could feel the sheer mental torment that he had gone through and it was that which caused her to grin like a devil. The eerie silence that had fallen inside the dungeon was nearly unbearable to withstand. All that could be heard was the soft breathing of the shadows and the unicorn herself. For the rest it was as silent as a graveyard.

Fears and horrors plagued them all as Astral got visions of a world long forgotten and his fears once more came after him. Unable to scream or move, he could only kick his legs to the ground and that was what he did. The hindlegs of his body started to kick as if they were running and every so often they were revealed in the light of the cell.

The unicorn herself was very content with that progression and she dared to open up her mouth. What left were the words spoken in an ominous tone that was filled with darkness, but also this high level of ladyness. A polite, warm tone mixed with sinister and dark deeds. "Bring him to the chamber," she spoke up and then removed herself from the cell.

Both of the shadow stallions nodded to the demand given and it was the emerald eyed stallion who opened the door. Then the sapphire eyed stallion almost rushed in and before Astral could even knew what was going on, he was dragged into the light. His eyes heavily blinking from what had happened, he dropped his head to the back and caught the sight.

For the sapphire eyed stallion was dragging him by one of his hooves. Uncertain of what would happen, he could only let it happen and pray that it would be over quickly. But that would make things a little bit too easy.

Astral was brought to the end of the hallway and went through the ominous door that was closed most of the time. He could only imagine the horrible torture devices that they had come up with in order to restrain the prisoners.

The green coated stallion was placed upon a table and could feel that his hooves were bring strapped against it. He held his eyes closed as he didn't wanted to see what hung above him. His muscles were sent into overdrive as he wanted to keep his eyes firmly shut instead of opening them like his heart told him.

Once the strapping was done, the stallion appeared to have left the room but the heavy and powerful steps of the unicorn entered the place before the door was closed with a loud bang. A bang that was loud enough to make Astral jump up a bit on the table top but his eyes were still firmly closed. And that sound alone was more than enough to get him to whisper his final words. "How could I have been so stupid? Why didn't I just listen to her and took the routes around the place? This place, is going to be my tomb for certain…" With his mind tortured by the fog and the time in the prison, there was little he could do for himself in order to save himself.

The words he spoke were of true gibberish but inside of his mind it made all perfect sense. That was as much sense as he could possibly make into his situation. The world that he could fainted in an out of his ears but he got a major reality check at one moment in time. A check that was done by the devilish unicorn herself.

For she flipped the table from its horizontal position into a near straight vertical one. And that movement alone was powerful enough for his heart to take over and open the eyes he was given. His dulled out rims caught the hoof that was set back on the ground before he found himself staring right inside of her blue eyes. A sight that frightened him even more as the shivers started to travel all over his body.

Almost as soon as the two made eye contact with one another did the unicorn started to speak words. But with Astral's hearing ability fading in and out every so often, he could only hear some of the words that were spoken against him. And those tiny fragments weren't enough for him to make anything out of them.

But then he dares to ask a question of his own. A question to which he wanted the answer on ever since he was brought into the hell. "W-Why did you, brought me here?" Astral managed to say through all the mental stress and aching of his body.

Before he was granted an answer did his eyes began to look around the room and found one of the worst things possible. For inside of the chamber they were in, there was absolutely nothing else to be found that could indicate him about what she did to the poor ponies. With the fear concealing itself around him, the stallion returned his looks back to her and time almost froze for him.

For as he looked at her face, his eyes caught the base of the horn. They simply started to follow it up and up until the tip was met. And then he caught it for the first time. That mysterious item on the very tip of the magical horn. A gem. A gem that was almost like those of her cutie mark except in the dimensions they lived in.

Time returned back to its normal speed as he looked her back in the eyes as her mouth started to move. Oddly enough didn't fail his hearing him one bit. "It wasn't myself directly who brought you in here. It were some of my pets, forces of mine who have taken the likes of me to gain the trust of ponies like yourself and guided them over to here. To a degree dear, you're responsible for your own doom," the mare calmly replied to him before she took a couple steps back from him. Because for that what came next she needed to have the space.

The words that were spoken against him hit Astral like a train against a wall. She actually rubbed the mistake even further into his face and the feelings of regret became only bigger as the seconds passed by.

The horn of the unicorn started to coat itself in the light blue magical aura. His eyes caught it coming up from the base and just watched it traveling over the entire length of the horn, but also noticed it indulging the gem on top. The hums of the charge became almost static to him as some strands of hair started to rise. "W-Who are you..?" Astral dared to ask. It was the question of questions but he wanted to know the name of his attacker.

The reasons of why a mare of her size and caliber was doing something as horrible as he was experiencing at that time left him cold. He wanted a name and nothing more. The charging of the unicorn her magic simply kept going as she did hear the question and chuckled quietly to herself. "I suppose, for a last request I can tell you," the unicorn spoke up to him as she walked up once more to him.

Her head was almost in perfect position as it met up with his ear and she started to whisper her venomous words right inside of it. She spoke to him in that same tone as before but the words had a much deeper impact upon his mind and soul. "The name I live under is a name you have heard countless times through the shadows. A name that was banished for over a thousand years mixed with that of generosity. I am, Nightmare Rarity. And you, you should fear me."

Those words, that name, spoken in that tone, all caused the stallion to shudder from his ear down. All of it seemed to be just so impossible to him. He knew that Rarity was the element of generosity but he had never even seen her alive. Not to mention the fact that she called herself Nightmare, only added more fuel to the fires of confusion in his mind. Astral was getting more and more weakened in his mind while the unicorn returned back to her original spot.

There was nothing that he could do in order to save his skin. With the information known to him there was only one last thing that he could do and that was to accept the horrible fate that came to him. His end to the life as he knew it. Perhaps we would die by her horn which would be something like a gift from the heavens above. Though in the worst case scenario he would become like the ponies in the other cells. Braindead and always frightened by things that weren't there. It wasn't a fate he was happy to meet or to see anywhere else outside. He had to stretch time, no matter the cost and figure out what she was planning to do, with him.

"W-What are you, g-going to do, with, m-me?" Astral managed to bring forth towards Nightmare Rarity. Who on her own turn rose an eyebrow to him. It was a question that surprised her with every new victim she had a personal 'chat' with. A question of wanting the unknown, to learn the horrible truth behind the deeds to come. Something that interested her more than anything in the world.

And it also was a question she was more than happy to answer for him. Because knowing the horrible truth was better than spewing a wonderful lie. Her mouth itself up against and the words left her mouth once more. "There isn't all too much that is going to happen to you. But you will never be able to live your life as you are used to it. For that time, after this wonderful spell has done its job, is over and you shall become just like them. Damned to the pits of Tartarus to rot for eternity while looking over your shoulder every second and see that what you fear the most." Again was her tone calm, but filled with sinister intentions in the undertone.

Astral couldn't believe the spoken words as she wanted to make him like those in the other cells. The feeling of him knowing too much rose up inside of him and he allowed his head to rest upon the table top as his breathing became more intense. He was waiting for the killing blast to hit him as his chest was shown in the fullest of glories.

"Hit me than… Come on and hit me. Just do it already!" It was just one of the many pleads that he made as she took her sweet time in order to actually fire up the stored spell. Of course Nightmare Rarity was more than ready to fire the blast if she wanted, but she wanted to make him feel the despair and hopelessness that fueled her heart. All the orders shouted, the pleads made to hit him with the charge, were all left unanswered.

It caused the look in her eyes to change from calm to visually angry. Because the fuel in her heart, was carried through her blood and send throughout her entire body. Each vein carried the deadly fuel inside of it and that was more than enough to make it happen. Her eyes looked upon his head as he had closed his and gave it up completely.

"What is there, too still lose for…me?" Astral questioned himself.

"There is always something to lose!" Nightmare Rarity shouted towards him.

Though that shout was more than enough for the stallion to shock up and look her right back in the eyes. He started to pant deeply as that shout was about the last thing he had expected from her but quickly turned his gaze over to the tip of the horn. Only to realize that the moment was too late. Whatever she was planning to do with him, it was becoming a severe reality for him. All that he could do, was to keep himself strong in his mentally deluded state of mind and soul.

The blue magic that had been collecting itself around her horn was released in the fullest of glories. A massive flash if lightning was released from the horn and zapped its way right over to the stallion's head. And the moment the flash met his skull, the screams of pure agony did their turn through the room. The pain was simply unbearable for him and he started to cry out for his family and friends back home. But no matter what he did, nothing relived that hellish pain that was aching through his body. Astral Chrome closed his eyes as he wanted to get out of the contraption but never found the way of doing it. So instead he could only take it like the stallion he was.

Nightmare Rarity on the other end, she was grinning like a devil as she kept releasing the charge into the mind of the poor stallion. But what truly happened was that the spell she performed was one of the many she had learned into the old library. A spell that would break a pony from reality, literally.

For what the spell did was something that many thought to have been just impossible to do. A spell powerful enough to make the pony it was cast on live in an alternative dimension. It was known that when somepony didn't had enough sleep that the lines between the mind and the reality became fainter and fainter as more time progressed.

What she had managed to cast was a spell that had the same effect. Except for the fact that it could be done by perfectly healthy ponies and it didn't just slowly tore it down, it obliterated it. The fine line between the mind and the real world was shattered which was causing the two to mix together and become a pulp unseen before.

Sadly enough, that wasn't all of it. For she also added the same spell to the mix that caused the fog to turn so spooky, the spell that caused the fears to come to life. And with the mind unable to separate fact from fiction, all of it would seem like honest facts. That was exactly what had happened to all the other ponies in the dungeon and Astral Chrome was just another addition to the subjects it had been tested upon.

For a few minutes she kept casting the deadly and dangerous spell before all of the energy was lost in the air. In the eyes of Astral, his worst possible fears started to come for him from behind the unicorn and he could feel them stroking his cheek before he lost his conscience and went into shock.

The unicorn simply nodded to the events and she opened the door with another charge of magic. She took a couple of steps out of it and looked over to the sapphire and emerald eyed shadow stallions. "Commander Fright and Blood, make sure that our little guest is ready to travel back the way he came. He knows what he needs to do once he is inside that inn again. The message given would be clear enough if I think so myself."

The two stallions nodded to the words that were spoken and they walked back into the chamber whereas the mare started to head back over to the staircase and disappeared from the dungeon by going up. She was done with her testing for the day and the supplemental message she wanted to spread was given to him through that spell as well. The nightmarish unicorn continued to walk up the stairs as she sunk deep into her thoughts of madness.

It was only after she had descend another set of steps that the mare entered her throne room and took place upon her selfmade throne of dark crystal. It's style having an odd resemblance to that of Sombra's and Celestia's. In the faintly lit room she looked at the banner that was slightly modified from the ancient unicorn flag to suit her liking. With only two torches that lit up the room couldn't the light even reach the throne but it did reach the wall to show the banner in a faint manner.

Once she had taken her position back upon the throne as a whole began the unicorn to mumble to herself. Plans were forged inside of her head and by herself as well as the results of various tests being compared to one another. One of the perhaps most striking results that she found was the simple fact that if she placed more power into her fear indulging spell, the indoctrination time would be a lot less but also painful.

When done in quantities as it had been done inside the fog, it would slow her progression down to get her targets but it would be nearly untraceable back to her. It was something that only an evil genius could possibly predict and come up with. Yet Nightmare Rarity was neither. For she was a deadly beauty and the world needed to know that. The rumors were a good start to kick everything off, but over time she would be more feared that Nightmare Moon herself.

Both of the commanders had untied the stallion from the contraption and dragged him out of the dungeon. Astral Chrome was brought over to the frontgate of the place and just thrown to the world outside like a piece of garbage or a broken toy. No value for pony life did those shadow creatures had whatsoever. Though when the stallion was dropped, there was a small magical orb that came to his assistance. An orb with an unknown origin and in his mentally shattered state of mine, he was just glad that nothing would attack him.

After minutes of having laid down on the ground had the stallion managed to stand back upon all four of his legs and he just had no idea what had happened to him. But he knew that his fears would be lurking around every corner. Something inside of his guts told him that.

Yet then he spotted the dancing orb and tilted his head towards it. "Oh, hello there," he carefully brought out towards it. The orb on the other end didn't gave a response to it and started to dart into the woods. Something that Astral also started to do and the plan came together. He was being lured away from the place with his shattered mind and instructions clear as crystal.

Back inside of the inn that stood at the north end of the woods was the pegasus mare looking how the evening progressed and noticed the last rays of sunlight disappearing behind the hills. The darkness had taken over and the night had begun for them all. "Another night, another problem," she mumbled up to herself as she once again leaned against the wall. With her forelegs crossed over one another she just looked over the guests.

The barkeeper came standing next to her and gave her a faint smile as he caught those little words of her. "Personally I would word it differently, but it would come down to the same problem. You really think something bad is going to happen tonight?"

"After what I did to that respectless earth pony? I have been waiting all that time for his return really. All that time I have kept my eyes on that single door to fly open and see him standing before me, begging for forgiveness," she spoke up to him. Her anger and hatred still hadn't laid down form him and she had of course all of her reasons to do so. But the barkeeper had to admit, she held the grudge a little bit too long in his eyes.

Nonetheless had the evening itself walked like smooth silk and closing time was just around the corner. "Would you lock the door for the night? Everypony is inside and this wind is getting on my nerves," the barkeeper spoke up to the mare.

The inn-keeper gave a simple nod in response to it and walked over to the door. She had to agree with him as the night had turned spooky and she wasn't liking it one bit at all. Something was still giving her the shivers that something terrible had to happen that night but she couldn't place her thoughts on what.

But the reality of the situation was getting closer and closer. The pegasus mare didn't lock the door to start with. Instead she opened it because she heard a faint sound that came from the other side, a sound of terrified breathing.

With the fear running through her veins, the pegasus opened the door and was almost attacked by a green and blue blop. Two forelegs were locked around her neck as her face was brought over with her screaming for her life. "Get away from me, you freak!" the mare screamed against the thing that had her and struggled to get loose.

"You can't run away from your fear," was suddenly spoken in a voice she knew all too well. "She'll come around to strike it in the hearts of every living pony. She isn't out for anything that can be paid with, she simply is going to be…" Even though the voice was well known, there was still that ever so haunting undertone into it. A tone that was filled with fear and fright of almost every living create.

And then the hold was lost as the head of the mysterious pony thudded against the doorway, knocking it out. It was only than the the mare was given her first look at the pony and she gasped for air. With a couple small steps, she spoke the only word that she could even come up with in absolute fright. "You!" In the opening of the door he had fallen and laid nopony else than the mentally tormented Astral Chrome. Much to the scare of the inn-keeper herself.

Two months had passed ever since the unfortunate stallion that was named Astral Chrome had fallen victim to possibly the worst pony that somepony would ever come across. But thanks to his mental conditions it only allowed him to speak the warning that was given off by the queen herself. The rest of his words slowly turned into nothing but utter gibberish. Uncertain of that what they could possibly be doing for the poor stallion had the inn owner made the decision to let him be transported to the only place where she knew they could help him to the best of their abilities. And that place was nowhere else than Canterlot itself.

The majestic and royal city on top and along side of the beautiful mountain was a sight that many loved and just as many had tried to destroy it in the past. Creatures like the elusive and dangerous changelings had been spotted, the ancient unicorn king named Sombra once tried to siege the city. The god of chaos and disharmony himself tried it even twice. But the only one who actually managed to almost succeed upon the dangerous act had to be the previous Nightmare. The remains of what kind of hatred was flowing through the body of the princess of the night,

It was Nightmare Moon who had almost managed to taken over, twice as well. But on her last attempt she was stopped by the elements of harmony. The very elements in which she resided for part of her soul. The city had seen and suffered great loses off itself but it always managed to become the beauty of Equestria no matter what. It was home to the most socially high placed ponies and even the home of the princesses themselves. Both princess Celestia and Luna resided inside of the castle that was build almost hanging off of the side of the mountain.

And it would be that very same castle where the first and only known survivor of the vicious White Tail attacks would be brought. For a doctor was almost galloping through the hallways, the labcoat waving in his wake as the panting became only deeper and deeper. The stallion didn't care for any ponies who might have been in the way whatsoever as all he cared for was to get his words out by the royals themselves.

Whether they would be pleased with his interruption, would be something to worry about later. For his findings and his patient could give a lot more insight in the fact of just what was going on in the woods of White Tails itself.

Panting for his dear life had the stallion galloped into the throne room where both of the royals happened to be present and discussing things of long ago. Their mood was something happy, nostalgic even as they spoke about times they were just fillies themselves. Yet it was Luna who first turned her eyes away in order to witness the ages doctor. In her one visible eye she caught an old stallion with squared glasses and a labcoat. What she had to do in the situation, was absolutely unknown to her at the time being.

Would she get mad? Would she scold him away for interrupting like the way he did? Or would she simply remain calm and ask for the situation. Even after her return to the throne as she was, her entire personality had suffered at the hooves of her nightmarish incarnation and it showed the fractures it created. Her soul had never fully returned to a state none of the current living ponies had seen with the exception of one, her older sister.

Luna allowed herself a deep breath before her words were released in a calm tone. Something that even surprised Celestia as they both had taken their relaxing position upon the royal throne. "If we, I'm sorry, if I may ask, what is the meaning of this rude walk-in into throne room?" she asked. But the doctor could hear a sense of curiosity in her voice. It wasn't all too much but the signs were obviously there. And that was something that worried him a lot as he had to reply against the both of them.

It was a once in a lifetime event and he knew the doctor knew he couldn't give himself any form of error. He scrapped his throat with a hoof and started to pace a little bit up and down in the room. Celestia simply kept an eye on him as she knew that the words would come to him once the time was right. Patience was and always would be a virtue in the mind of the elder sister as she was one of the few in the land who could say that she had waited more than anypony to see somepony dear to her, return back home.

The both of them irradiated a certain calm over the aged stallion, whose heart was literally beating inside of the same throat. "We," the stallion started as he turned his head over to the both of them. And both royals focused their one visible eye back on him with a stern but justifying look. "Well, I, was given a patient back in the asylum to take care of. But after first and original diagnosis my first thought was that this particular pony had gone mad. But when I searched through his backstory, there wasn't any lead that could have driven him to it. Not to mention these constant fright attacks. But perhaps the biggest lead might be the only words he is actually capable to speak, you can't run away from your fear. And last but not least, he was found near the woods of White Tails. Your highness', I think we might actually have...a confirming truth to the horrible gossip."

The royals were listening to his story almost with open mouths as neither of them could even believe the words he spoke towards them. They too had heard the rumors of the woods but shoved it off as common folklore. But with the evidence given right in their laps, they couldn't deny it and possibly didn't even wanted to deny it.

Action was the first thing that came into the mind of Celestia as she knew almost exactly what she wanted to do. "Doctor, bring me, and my sister if she wants to, to your patient. We want to see and hear the things for ourselves. We want to hear those words exactly, out of his mouth. Do you object if I go straight away?"

The aged doctor was taken by a major surprise from the made proposal and couldn't do anything else than to give a nod to the most powerful magical being in the land. He started to lead the way for Celestia as Luna, rather stayed behind to at least have one of the two in control of the castle. The two of them disappeared out of the door and Luna released a deep sigh through her nostrils before she also left the throne.

But her direction would be someplace else. A place where she could be deep inside of her thoughts alone and think about her deeds of madness from times long gone. Times that still haunted her like ghosts. Nightmares that would wake her up from her slumber.

And the only place she would be able to do that was the private garden she kept somewhere in the castle. Her place of total serenity and peace.

A heavy metal door screeched open and in the opening stood nopony else but princess Celestia. For a month and a half had she been visiting the broken Astral Chrome daily to check upon his condition. A condition that only became worse with each day. For his own safety had been placed under heavy doses of sleeping medication and set in a straight jacket for his own safety. Yet the conditions he was in were far from perfect. For the asylum was dirty and rotten like the most of them yet the staff was top notch for some reason. It had been two months since his assault and ever since he was taken under care of the princess herself, nothing seemed to be working. Yet that didn't mean they didn't knew what was wrong with his mind.

For they did found something terrible when they were analyzing his earth pony brain for effects of magic. It was a truly far fetched idea that a unicorn would do something like that to an earth pony, but once the tests were done, there was no doubt about it. And it was a fact that greatly concerned Celestia herself.

The royal had a small and rather one way conversation with the broken stallion before she left the cell again with a sigh. The door got closed behind her by nopony else than the doctor and she shook her head to him. "There is possibly nothing we can do for him. He can't speak anything else but the warning and lives in a world basically made of his own fears. Any...results, from the lab tests on what this magic might be?" she spoke up to the doctor as her one magenta red irised eye looked over him with a gaze of sorrow and pity for him.

The doctor shook his head to her words, quietly speaking his own reply. "It's, untestable without going crazy yourself. Even with the doses taken from blood inside the skull, my ponies are still suffering delusions of fright."

"I see." Celestia spoke up as the two started to walk down the hallways of the mental asylum. "So there is no hope of making a full on study to this kind of magic. Meaning we can't trace it… So all we have, is the warning he keeps speaking." The princess wanted to speak her words further but she was interrupted by a hellish scream that went through marrow and bone with ease.

The doctor turned his head around to look at the closed door and shut his eyes for a moment. He knew more than well that the source of the hellish yell was in fact nopony else but Astral who had another delusional attack on his mind.

"We just have to see and wait until the big revelation of this she pony he keeps speaking about," the princess continued after the screams had died down or they got out of range. The doctor opened his eyes again and simply gave her a nod to the words. Even in his scientific mind it was possibly the best thing that they could do. Even if it meant they would be waiting for their doom.

Two whole months had passed by with ease and the nightmarish unicorn hadn't been sitting still on her throne either. For the mare herself had been testing her magical abilities to limits unseen before. Every single soul that had entered the dungeon received the same kind of therapy without resistance, only to discover that the effects would be stronger nearly every single week. True mental torture was what they all suffered for her, but the worst part of it all, was the fact that she loved doing it.

Nightmare Rarity found that her powers were good enough to release an attack that involved multiple ponies simply because of the force she was able to push out if she wanted. It made her feel eerily good about being in control of so much power that coursed through her veins and one day, after she was done with her 'experiments' would the queen found herself standing on the balcony of her tower. Her cat like eyes watched the sun set and the moon rise over the enchanted fog of White Tails.

She was oddly calm for the troubles that had been made. Her entire posture just stood still and not a single fiber moved itself. But a little bit behind her, hidden on the inside of the queen her chamber, stood the two commanders as if they were waiting to hear the relieving words from her mouth. Both Fright and Blood waited almost in silence to that what came out of her mouth. Little did they knew just what she had planned inside of her devilish mind. What kind of terror she desired to release over the land to make her presence truly known to all the equines in the land. What terror she could strike directly into the hearts, of the princesses, her 'friends' and her 'family'.

While the moon kept on crawling into the skies had the eyes of Nightmare Rarity closed themselves just before a deep sigh was released through her nostrils. With the wind that was blowing at a gentle breeze were both her mane and tail simply waving along to her right side which created quite the serene scene. But it was everything but.

"They have been the thorn in my side and the pain in the neck for times longer than I can even remember. Those wretched mares simply dumped me for somepony better. Well I'll show them all, that when you burn your flanks, you have to sit on the blisters," the mare mumbled to herself but spoke loud enough to let the words be heard by her commanders. "I shall topple you all in fright, live with the dreams I have lived for so long and enjoy, watching you crumble to dust."

And without a warning she simply turned herself around in order to walk back into her chambers. Without a sound she passed the two shadow stallions and closed the door behind her before her still gorgeous looking body dropped itself on a crystalline, with velvet cushioned sofa.

From her position had the two stallions walked up to her though they never spoke a word to her. Mostly because of the fact that they thought she was already having the solution upon the matter. They could only wish that she did that already. "Ponyville, shall, burn." Nightmare Rarity spoke in a sinister tone towards the two of them just before an ominous grin was also given to them.

Yet inside of that same little town that had become almost the prime target for the new Nightmare, inside of the Golden Oak Library to be exact was Twilight pacing gently up and down her study room as the thoughts kept grinding themselves through her head. Thoughts about Rarity and how she had been the past two months to begin with. But with so little news of the ivory white unicorn, there was nothing else she could do than to give up on the matter.

Twilight Sparkle gave simply up on one of her best friends in the land. It was a heartbreaking moment for her as it was among the worst that she could possibly do. Yet when looking through the facts as they were, it all pointed out that that was the best she could do. A sigh could be heard through the room as the mulberry coated unicorn walked over to the window and simply crossed her forelegs into the sill, only to rest her head on top of it.

Her eyes kept looking upon the wonderful moon above for a few seconds as the thoughts kept on going inside of her mind. A mind that eventually would come to a standstill as the eyes were being closed. And from the corner of the closed eyes were two tiny tears formed which started to travel down her face under a soft sob.

Just about the worst possible thing had happened for the unicorn and all she could do in the moment was just cry for her friend and pray silently that she would come back one day. She didn't care whether it could be in the far future or the next minute, she just didn't care.

The studious unicorn gave herself the time to weep about her friend who had gone without a single trace before her eyes opened themselves again. The violet rims were accompanied by a reddish coloring as they had fallen victim to her own tears. Tears which she wiped from her face and simply left the study room for that what it was in order to go to bed. Twilight wanted to get some much needed rest.

When she walked into the bedroom itself had the darkness taken it over but her bed was clearly seen in the moonlight. One last sniffle was being made by the mulberry unicorn before she dropped her body below the blankets and simply closed her eyes again and started to listen. Listen to the natural sounds of the room, the tree's leaves rustling in the wind, the soft snoring of her little baby dragon in the basket, the bones inside of her body snapping gently as she kicked her hind legs.

All sounds just satisfied her as they were how they were supposed to be and before she knew it, Twilight Sparkle had made the step over into the dream realm.

In the two months of time that had passed had everypony slowly given up the hope on the fact that Rarity would ever return to the little town. For nopony believed in the facts that she even would return because she had just vanished from the surface of the land. Nopony had seen her nor could possibly even knew just where the hell she could have been. All options were looked over time and time again before the final verdict came in. One that devastated friend and enemy the like. And that was declare her passed away from life.

The following morning woke Twilight up as every other day and she started to pack some of her gear in order to go on an expedition set out by the princess herself. With the information gotten from the broken Astral had Celestia been wanting to send her most prized pupil out to White Tails in an attempt to find just what was going there.

It was a letter that the mulberry unicorn got during her breakfast and needed some time in order to actually truly understand what the royal wanted from her. The letter itself ended with a warning that if she went too far into the woods, escape would be near impossible.

The message was an ominous one but still one that the unicorn needed to heed. Whether she wanted it or not. So after her breakfast had been eaten and the gear packed would she simply have left the library alone in order to figure out just was going on in the woods.

She left her assistant in the building and even in charge of it during her absence. But the baby dragon simply had the desire to just take a walk around town to clear his mind on matters he had himself. While the both of them walked right into the sunrise, their mindsets were totally different but their feelings were the same.

After her hike had the unicorn managed to reach the woods of White Tails and she was busy setting up her tent as she intended to at least spend one night in the place. The distance between Ponyville and the woods was simply too great in order to do what she wanted to do in just one day.

So with everything nice and tidy as she desired it to be did Twilight turn her head over to the fog covered woods where she simply started to stare over. It was difficult for her to even understand, let alone comprehend, that those woods could cause such fright attacks within anypony. As the sights that she saw were mesmerizing, but never frightening in her eyes. However, just looking at the wonderful formation of the fog wouldn't be able to help her out whatsoever. She needed to do pretty much the unthinkable in the matter and that was the fact of going right into it.

The unicorn did a couple of steps forward in order to get a better view on the small landroad that she had chosen to travel down into the woods. "So this is where all the rumors about you started, isn't it?" she mumbled to herself as her head lowered itself and the eyes kept themselves focused upon the tree tops.

With a deep and confident sigh that left through her mouth had Twilight Sparkle made the decision to just go for it and enter the place. Step by step she was brought closer towards the treeline before she was consumed by it. All that was left to be seen from her was her tail before that also disappeared into the fog. She was, on her own inside of the place of horrors.

"Well...this isn't all to bad," the mare spoke up to herself as she kept following the road as closely as she could. "Just some rather thick fog that's all." And it was thick without a doubt. For just a couple of hooves she could see in front of her and then there was just that massive white wall. A wall that stretched itself all the way around her, closing her in like it was some kind of trap set out for her.

Yet she couldn't help it but to see figures moving through the white wall. Figures that looked like nopony else other then Rarity herself, but all she caught truly were of course the mane. "R-Rarity!? Rarity!" the unicorn shouted out to the figure as the urge to leave the path did came to her. But her mind said that she shouldn't leave the path.

And then the elusive mare was gone. Gone just as mysteriously as she came. Twilight tried to see the purple mane time and time again, but she never caught them again inside of her fields of view. Something that was a true shame for herself. She was that close to finding her friend again and she blew it.

But little did she know that the Rarity she happened to be seeing was a being named a false shepherd that had morphed itself into Rarity's previous form of life. A being simply made to lurk unsuspecting ponies right where the queen desired them to be, the same kind of creature who got Astral when he had given up. Twilight shook her head a couple of times before she called out for the unicorn one last time and awaited eagerly for a response of any kind. One that would never come sadly enough.

It was yet another defeat for the marvelous element of magic and she closed her eyes for a moment in order to regain her thoughts. Seconds turned into minutes as she kept on standing inside of the fog and that did it's work beautiful as always. Because one of Twilight's biggest frights was about to become a shocking reality. If not a terrible one.

In the moment that the unicorn had her eyes closed, she could hear the very hoofsteps of a pony she knew all too well. The powerful steps made by somepony a couple times bigger than her and had carried her through most of her life. "P-Princess?" Twilight dared to speak up just before the sounds of the hooves stopped.

The mulberry unicorn turned herself around and opened her eyes to look at the sight as it laid out before before her. Within the fog, the pointy branches of the trees could be seen, but before her stood the imposing royal figure with the wings spread out. Her only visible eye was something that struck terror into Twilight's to begin with. An eye that was wasn't filled with any form of anger or disgust, but with complete disappointment for something she hadn't even the slightest idea of. "W-What happened princess?" the mare managed to speak before she released a deep gulp.

Celestia simply kept looking at her pupil with that disappointed and sorrowful look before she shook her head. "You have failed me, Twilight Sparkle. You have failed me on aspects I have lost so many students on. I thought that you, of all the ponies in the land, would be capable of fulfilling the task I had given upon you. But it seems my feelings were wrong. I'm sorry to announce this to you Twilight, but you're no longer my student."

Each of those words hit the heart of Twilight like a sledgehammer looking for something to destroy. Each word was powerful enough to shatter a piece of her heart and the tears sprung right into the unicorn her eyes. She had failed the one pony she had looked up more than her own parents and brother. There was nothing she could do except to do that what she never did. And that was to just run away from her troubles. Galloping like the wind before it would be too late.

And with the tears running down her cheeks, the silent sobbing was something that evoked a lot of powerful emotions inside of the mare. Emotions she had never felt before or at least not in a long time. And that was the feeling of nothing else but pure and utter shame. Twilight felt herself ashamed for her pathetic acts of what...what had she done wrong?

It was a simple thought that caused her to come to a standstill near her camp. The princess never told her just what in the name of the land she had ever done wrong and that caused her to become more and more curious. The unicorn cleared her tears from her face and had one look over the fog covered woods as a whole and the ropes were tied together.

"Impossible," she spoke up. "Completely impossible!" The more she actually placed her mind behind the matter, the more she realized that she had fallen victim to the terrors of White Tails. "Oh goodness me, this is...this is not good." Twilight said to herself as she charged up her horn in order to scan her body for any potential interference from other magical sources.

Seconds of scanning slowly turned themselves over into mere minutes as the mare waited for the results of the results from the test. But being as impatient as she was had Twilight summoned an arcane chart of a near incomplete test and looked over it with the greatest set of eyes. Because something on that very chart was not how it was supposed to be. Something on it, was actually right off of it. "Everything is normal, except the brain activity! It, it looks like it was in a sleeping state but I was clearly awake wasn't I? This...this data has to go to the princesses right away."

Yet the time had progressed into the night and the best that Twilight could do at the moment was to look for an inn or something and write her letter to the princess with her findings. As much as she wanted to investigate the place more, she had nothing in her magical arsenal that would actually be able to just protect her from the state of mind.

Back in Ponyville laid Spike on the couch with a book before his eyes. A small story that had sparked his imagination in order to sail to worlds as he imagined them. It was a welcome change of pace from the facts as they had played out before him. Because he did something in the absence of Twilight he would have never thought about doing whatsoever. Letting things go.

And more specifically: Rarity.

Spike had traveled to the nearest lake that laid by Ponyville and simply stared over the calming waters for what seemed to be like hours. Hours of just thinking about the unicorn he fell in love with once he had seen her for the first time. His fingers formed themselves into a fist and he started to whisper inside of it. Words of love and futures that would never come were spoken inside of it and the tears had grown below his very eyes. And then the moment was just there.

The wind picked up from behind him, carrying the waters away from the beach and Spike give a last kiss inside of the fist. "Goodbye, my beauty queen," he whispered to himself before the fist was opened. And in the palm of his purple hand burned a small fire filled with his words and memories of the ivory white unicorn.

Spike closed his eyes for a moment before he simply let go of the flame, for it to be carried with the wind to places far away and perhaps better times in the future. He had officially let go of his beloved crush in the dragonian style. Something he never had desired to do, not at his age.

It was rough for him without a doubt but the facts as they were presented for him were harder to deny. It was without a doubt the best thing he could have done for her. But there was one memory that he would always cherish inside of his mind. One memory of the mare that was never allowed to be released inside of the little flame. And that was nothing else but the moment he first saw her during the preparation for the summer sun celebration.

The book was laid aside and the baby dragon just started to walk over to the bathroom in order to prepare himself to go to bed. Whether it would be a good night's rest or a night filled with nothing but nightmares he couldn't and wouldn't dare to tell himself.

All he could do was to lay inside of his basket and curl up before closing the eyes. Which was exactly what he did. If there was any way to make a difference on the matter as it had played out, he would have taken it without a doubt. But the situation as it was and nothing could be changed. A fact that he knew that all too well.

Twilight had found herself an inn she could stay for the night and found herself in one of the few private rooms while writing a letter to the princess with the arcane chart of her brains activity. She hoped that it would reveal some kind of explanation to what was going on deep inside of the woods of White Tails and its mysterious source.

Her violet rimmed eyes looked over the letter one last time before she rolled it up with a deep exhale and just send it away towards the royal herself. All that she could do from that moment onward was to just stay put and return to the library at first light of the new day. The mulberry unicorn laid her head on the pillow as her body could be found on the mattress and soon enough, she too had gone back to the realm of dreams.

The natural sounds of the inn slowly died down the more the evening passed and the night entered until there was nothing but silence. A pleasant silence for Twilight but one that also haunted her to her very soul for some reason. As it was because of the silence, that she was brought back to the moment she thought to have seen Rarity. It would be a moment she would never speak about with Spike unless it would be really needed.

Twilight kept on sleeping for the rest of the night while the time outside simply kept on going forward.

In the castle of Canterlot was Celestia reading the letter over and over as her eyes also kept looking at the chart that was provided. She had never seen such magical powers in any matter she was involved with. It was even something new for her and that always meant the worst of things. The princess of the sun had not a single clue what she could possibly do with the situation except to run a few more tests on the shattered mind of Astral. To see what his condition was. Yet she feared the worst if such load of magic would be given to the delicate brain by an outside source.

"You caught me between two fires of hell, my faithful student. There is little that I know and can possibly do in this case when it comes down to it." Celestia mumbled to herself as she stood up and just started to walk through her chambers with a frown on her face. Countless thoughts ran through her mind, but none could filed as a spark of brilliance.

She needed some fresh air in order to clean her mind on the matter and perhaps get a couple of new insights on how everything worked. Thus she did the only thing her mind could think off and she spread her wings in order to take off for a long flight over the land and its mighty cities.

As the celestial princess soared over the woods of Everfree, from the balcony of her tower had Nightmare Rarity almost a front row seat at the play of light in the skies and she grinned towards it like a devil. "Oh how easy it is going to be to just blast you out of the skies right now and take your place. But I shall contain myself Celestia, just for you and this once," she spoke in a sickening giggle before the head was shaken a couple of times. The power that was surging through the body of the Nightmare was something she could barely contain herself but she just loved it with every single fiber of her body.

The queen turned herself around and left the balcony for what it was and she started to make the descend from the tower. She had a place to go where she hoped to find the right tools for the job that would be at hoof. With a calm pacing she stepped down the staircase before she found herself right inside of her throne room.

Her cat like eyes looked over the darkened room to the very place just behind the throne. Towards the banner of the ancient unicorns. Nightmare Rarity simply stepped towards it before her horn charged itself up and levitated the thing up to reveal a doorway. A doorway that would be leading her straight into the mythical library of Starswirl the Bearded. The very place she had learned how to use and control her powers originally within.

Of course it was a huge gamble for her to see if there would be anything useful for anything could be stored inside of that place. The queen could be sitting on a ticking time bomb and not even realizing the terrible facts as they were laid out before her. But not that it truly was a problem for her to begin with. As she was more interest in the what other books about fear there possibly would be hidden inside of the walls.

Yet most importantly for her was just how she would be giving Ponyville the fright of its entire existence. How would she announce her presence to the wretched little town without physically showing herself. That, was the question she wanted to have answered in every possibly way.

"None of you disturb me unless the prisoners are getting away, am I clear?" she spoke over to Fright and Blood who stood at the end of the staircase. The two of them nodded to her words and then simply disappeared once again into the shadows. They would just slither away like snakes and go on with their daily duties while they didn't question just what she was going to do inside of the place.

Both of the shadow stallions had turned themselves over into the clouds of shadow and were simply hovering through the courtyard of the dark crystal domain where they kept an eye on all the other events that were going on. Yet they couldn't help it but to fall back inside of their own scheming nature to throw over their current queen and become kings themselves. Though with the powers she had gotten, that would prove to be much more of a problem so they could only drop their thoughts and do as they were told.

Fright kept a close eye almost every other force that was hidden inside the shadows created by the walls of the domain before his 'eyes' turned themselves up towards the skies. More specifically, towards the very moon. A grin formed itself on his face as it was just this gap in his fibers. "A thousand years on top of there and not being able to succeed. Yet here you are, among us. My queen," where the words that the force mumbled to himself before his eyes lowered themselves and he turned himself back around.

Only to see the four savages to come right at him with a hungry look in their eyes.

"So, Astral Chrome," the doctor spoke up to the immobilized stallion with a worried look upon his face. "I do suppose that that is all for today." The stallion turned himself around and left the cell in which the stallion was placed in and the door fell shut behind him. Astral was left once again alone inside of his cell where he would simply do what he had done for the past months. which actually happened to be nothing.

Yet the doctor on the other end had his mind filled with troubles. It didn't matter what he tried to do to the poor soul, but there was nothing that seemed to even make a dent in the metal plate that was placed over his skull. Not a normal world seemed to be leaving his mouth besides the warning and the good doctor was getting sick and tired of it.

Grumbles of anger left the mouth in whispers as he walked passed the cells of other inmates but he never gave them any eye. Astral Chrome was his pride, his very own Moby Dick to a certain degree. The doctor would do almost everything in order to make sure that the stallion would be placed on the right path but just nothing worked. It already had led him to a mental breakdown but the cracks only seemed to have grown over time, instead of healed up.

The doctor walked through the hallways and back to his office in the dark asylum. With the lights turned off as they were out for the night had the stallion and staff only the moon and stars as their light sources. Something that did create both a wonderful and utterly uncomfortable play of lights in the cells and windows. Yet the stallion didn't seem to be noticing them.

He heard the groans of other inmates as well as their screams for both help and insanity but not even those were heard. He cared little for them all at the moment he was in. He had struck a dead end and he knew that all too well. But was too thick to admit it.

The stallion entered his office and first took a good look around under some rather discouraging words. "I just hope she didn't change anything." His eyes went all over the wooden walled and floored room. Over the couple of dossier cabinets filled with the files of his many patients and diagnostics. Than it was up to some prizes that stood on the the top accompanied by some more personal belongings.

Yet the thing that he was most looking forth to happened to be his desk. Despite it being a major mess did the doctor always seem to have managed to get his way around and find that what he needed. Even though the cleaning lady had been at work in his office, everything still seemed to be in the order as he left it for his two hour during appointment with the broken Astral.

The stallion dropped himself in his chair with a loud moan after he had dropped the files on his desk like trash. The forelegs were brought over to his eyes were in order to just rub them. Another groan was released by his mouth before the hooves were brought over to the desk and he just fixed his position back behind the desk. "What am I going to have to do to make him..?" he questioned himself while he rolled up the sleeves of his labcoat.

There was only one candle that acted as the source of light inside of the room and it was one that was magically enhanced. It would never lose power, it wouldn't even burn out. An everlasting candle was among one of the best things he had ever come across and to that very day still made great use from.

Seconds turned into minutes as those turned into about a set of forty five before there was a knock on his open door. "Doctor?" a feminine sounding voice echoed through his ears. That little word alone caused him to peel his eyes away from the documents and over his brown framed glasses.

In his eyes he caught a nurse he knew rather well. Perhaps a little bit too well even but that was up for debate. The files were were dropped down to the desk and the glasses removed from his eyes while he leaned back into the chair. "Something the matter, nurse Vision?" he replied in his deep tone. It wasn't the worlds best thing for him to be interrupted the way he was. Stronger, it annoyed him more than anything known in the world.

"Please doctor, call me Mythic. But to answer the question you asked, I was simply wondering if everything is alright with you."

The stallion tilted his head to the left side while he leaned a bit more forth in the chair. "Are you accusing me that I'm going mad myself, nurse? Because if that is what you are thinking inside of that mind of yours, I highly suggest to rethink it."

The nurse on the other end simply shrugged it off with a giggle while she leaned against the side of the doorway and shook her head. "I'm suggesting everything but. I'm not accusing you from anything else besides a hard worker. But don't work too hard on your patient. I have seen you wearing off."

"That's because I can't get through to him. I have tried everything in my might to crack him open and see what his brain looks like. But I just can't get through that first layer," the doctor replied calmly. Yet despite his calm tone there was the sheer bitterness of his failures that weighed down on him. Something the nurse could see almost clearly. "Anyway, continue on with your round would you? I'll be doing a couple more things here and then I'm off to home."

Even though she could only pray he spoke the truth, the nurse knew all too well that he would do pretty much the opposing from what he said. "If you say so doctor," she replied in a truly calm voice before she turned herself around and left him to continue working. The doctor himself turned his eyes over to the raging little flame of the candle and found himself caught by it's motions. Motions that were caught by one particular other stallion in the whole asylum.

For behind the steel door and resting against the wall while being inside a straight jacket had Astral Chrome tried to get some sleep. Though he couldn't help himself but to smell something. The stallion couldn't place just what it happened to be or where it did came from. The dulled out, almost gray looking rims of the stallion revealed themselves to the world and he started to look around in his cell.

The scents became stronger with almost every single turn he made and in the corner of his eyes he caught it. The lights flickering like, like flames almost. Astral managed to turn his head over to the side and noticed that the lights came from under the door. That could only mean one thing in his mind.

Astral Chrome pushed himself further and further up against the wall as he simply feared for his life. The lights and scent were getting closer and closer to him while the screams of his fellow inmates pierced through the airs. There wasn't any doubt, they were being burned alive and there was no hope for him. Nopony would come for him, he would be left behind as if nothing had ever happened.

A tear slowly began to stream down his cheeks just before the plumes of the thick black smoke entered his cell and the two far corners erupted out in actual flames. Screams couldn't be left from his mouth as it felt that it was taped off. All he could do was shiver and feel the heat of the situation he was in. His life was over and he knew it. The broken down stallion would be nothing more but a pile of burned meat. In his eyes could the reflection of the raging flames being seen. Even though the walls were made out of the finest stone, it burned like an inferno.

Yet it was in the smoke that he managed to see something. As if it was forming something inside of it. Astral shook his head as he knew just who would be coming out of it and simply refused to watch over the reigning chaos. But with his life on the line, not looking at the fires was something easier said then done.

Thus he forced his eyes to look back at the fires and the smoke only to see her. The nightmarish queen herself, the very pony who had tortured him for so long had managed to come into his cell and she would be giving the final blow.

"She's coming," he whispered to himself at first. Yet as the second passed by did that little whisper got repeated time and time again up to the point he was shouting it out. All while the smoking figure looked over him with the most sickening delight and grin upon her face.

"She's coming!" the stallion then screamed on the top of his lungs. After which he erupted out in the most insane sounding laughter that he had ever given to anypony and even any being. A laughter that started out as this eerie, near silent one before it even louder than the crackling fires.

And it was during that laughter of utter insanity that the door was flung open. Or better said: blown of completely off of its hinges and a column of fire just raced into the cell. It was something that caused the stallion to scream in fear already, but the final blow still had to come. It wouldn't be something pretty at all.

Because as his eyes looked over to the image of the nightmarish queen could the horror be seen. She had transformed her mouth into an enormous jaw which stood wide open and was even smoking more of the black plumes to suffocate the poor stallion. Sadly enough for him it wasn't the only thing that was planned out for him.

For the last thing that he would see in his life was the queen walking up to him while the jaw closed itself it in order to form a sickening grin across her lips. The gem on top of her horn was placed in his neck and even went through the skin like an injection needle. Then he felt it from the spot where the gem it started to travel all over his body. That feeling of utter immobilization. Almost as if he became nothing else but cold stone itself.

"Quick! Get the doctor, we need him here, now!" one of the nurses yelled as another stallion left the cell to carry out the command. "Come on, come on, come on," the unicorn nurse muttered as she tried everything within her might to get a heart operational again. "Don't you dare to die on me!" Next to her laid an injection needle with a fluid that was supposed to calm him down. But it seemed like it had given him the eternal rest instead.

"Make way, make way!" the doctor spoke up before he managed to enter the cell that held the broken Astral Chrome. His eyes looked through the glasses to the terrible scene of the stallion laying near lifeless against the wall and could only ask just one question. "What happened here?"

The stallion who had gone to get him explained the events that they had heard before they rushed inside and the doctor nodded understandable to them. He gently removed the glasses from his nose and gave off the words he rather didn't spoke. "And so it seems, that mister Chrome has passed away because of his own fears. Nurse, there's nothing we can do for him anymore except to pray that he has gone to a place better."

All of the ponies held a minute of silence for the passed away pony before the doctor as much as dared to look out the barred window. And what he saw, was not something he liked. For a massive storm front seemed to have left Everfree or perhaps even White Tails and was slowly drifting towards Ponyville. But it wasn't a matter to which he could focus his attention on. He had his own reports to write and funeral to be held. "Let's...let's follow the procedures shall we?" the doctor spoke up after he had laid his eyes back upon the deceased pony.

Rainbow Dash was among the first, if not the first to have entered the clouds that hovered above the little town. She was of course taken by the utmost surprise that something of that size had managed to come over the quiet town. Her wings had set everything on everything in order to just get rid off the clouds, but instead she found herself almost in the midst of it.

While she was deep inside of the clouds were whispers of fright heard in her ears as all it took was one flash of lightning to startle her. While the clouds lit up from the lights which caused them to give the cyan coated pegasus a sight she rather didn't see. A sight that was the face of the elusive queen of fear inside the clouds and made out of them.

Rainbow gained the feeling of the fact that she shouldn't be there under any given circumstances and just took her leave. There was something inside of that pack of clouds that ever everything but good for her. So the powerful wings started to soar themselves down to the ground where she could only watch as the storm kept on rolling in the wind. Or by itself as there was little to no wind up there.

"It's gonna be a lot of explaining to them," the pegasus muttered to herself once she stood safely on the ground and had her eyes turned over to the clouds with a shady look. The mare simply couldn't believe that she was unable to move the clouds away from the town. But that wasn't the worst feeling she had. Shame was of course a high price to pay without a doubt but it was the feeling of both fright and a faint recognition that haunted her mind.

And inside of that same mind was the image she had seen inside of the cloud. That massive head and the holes for eyes, suddenly made a click to somepony she knew rather well. The mare got a shock through her body that caused her to shiver like mad for a second or two. Her eyes closed themselves and when they opened, they were staring at the ground as she spoke her words in a whisper. "Impossible, that that, that that was Rarity."

It seemed to be rather unbelievable, but the facts were there. For Rainbow had seen the face of the nightmarish queen. A queen that actually stood by the edge of the Everfree forest. Her and her commanders were looking over the clouds traveling as they lit up every so often from a lightning flash. The mare started to chuckle to herself as she kept on looking with a sickening wonder in her eyes. "They can bet on their lives that tonight's just the start. Once they bled to their deaths, we'll tear Canterlot apart!" Nightmare Rarity spoke up to herself but loud enough for the shadow stallions to hear it.

"Heh, that rhymes." Blood replied in a whispering chuckle just before the rumbles of the thunder could be heard in their ears.

"It's gonna start!" Fright spoke up in an utmost delight. And he had all of the reasons to be happy, because their plan had been in the make for months by then. A plan that was just filled with everything that the queen could think of in order to get her so much wanted revenge on the foals that just left her.

Twilight in the Golden Oak library simply watched over the skies with a sigh before she turned herself away from the window. Something was deeply troubling her mind as she had not even the slightest of clues how and what she could be doing on that evening. The storm had taken her out of her concentration and the sheer will to continue on with her work wasn't present anymore.

Spike had already gone to bed and it seemed to be like that that was the best that the mulberry unicorn could do as well. She allowed herself a yawn before she walked up the stairs. Her heading was set straight for the bedroom to get some of her much needed and beloved sleep. "It's just a little thunderstorm Twily, no need to worry," the mare mumbled as she dropped her body in the bed and turned around for a bit.

Yet that particular thunderstorm was everything but little. While the rumbles started to increase, it were the flashes of lightning that got multiplied at an exponential rate. It was about to happen. The energy that was stored inside of the cloud would be released over the entire town. Nightmare Rarity, Shadowfright and Shadowblood were looking from their location as the first bolt actually went down. One that was soon followed up by another and then another one.

It took seconds for the bolts to form and be released over the town. Though the flashes themselves were the true focus of the attention. As they weren't the usual white coloring of electricity. Instead they had a vague hint of blue to them. A blue color that was produced whenever the unicorn herself released her fear indulging magic right into the skull of a pony.

That was pretty much the entire plan. The lightning carried the magic down to the ground where it would travel all over the town before it would its own way straight into the heads of literally every single resident. Mass hysteria was something that would develop itself over the course of the next few days inside of the town for certain. As fears and horrors would become a deadly reality for all of the residents. Much to the delight of the queen.

But it would be a slow process, much like the fog itself. It was actually the plan of Blood to place some form of delay on the magic before it would actually make ponies live in their very own alternative universe. That way it was made almost certain that the storm wouldn't be associated with the attack. At least not until all hell had broken loose inside of the town.

The three kept on watching on watching the show of lightning as a couple of the residents actually joined them from the comforts of their houses. One of them happened to be nopony else but Rainbow Dash. She had returned to her cloud palace and was looking over the storm with that same shady look. The lightning and thunder were only part of the whole. She was waiting for something else entirely as well. For the rain that always would come, was that what she was expecting.

"Can't have a storm without rain, now can you?" the mare spoke up to herself as she stood before the window with her wings spread. She tucked them against her body had not that much of an effect as they would spring open by the first sign of thunder behind her anyway. It was a natural reaction for the pegasus race. And one that took true mastery of the wings to prevent from happening. A level of self control that Rainbow lacked. It wasn't something she was truly ashamed of as even Spitfire from the Wonderbolts didn't had it. Only a very select few pegasi had such control over their body and wings throughout history.

Lightning and thunder followed each other up like Tartarus had come over to the grounds above. Spike managed to sleep through it thanks to whatever reason. Though Twilight was woken up by it and she found herself looking at the lightning from her study room with a set of interested eyes. Something inside of the violent weather had gotten her attention.

Her violet eyes simply looked over the places where the curving bolts emerged and where they traveled towards. But it didn't seem to be following any pattern she had learned from Rainbow. That little fact alone proved that it wasn't like any thunderstorm created up in Cloudsdale. Thus making it a rogue storm that came from no place of Everfree. And those kind of storms happened to be a lot more dangerous as they traveled all by themselves. There could be a hurricane simply waiting to be released for all she knew.

"This is not good," the mulberry coated mare mumbled to herself as she took her eyes off of the skies and simply laid them on the insides of her study room. The mare looked over all of her belongings in the light created by the flashes and the shadows they created, actually formed demonic like beasts for split seconds.

It was a little something that caught the mare off guard and she shook her head a couple of time. "Well that's something new." Twilight replied to the lights with a giggle before she allowed herself to fall in the chair and leaned a little bit backward before the forelegs were placed right behind her head.

The minutes passed by before the storm of just lightning and thunder started to dissolve into the vast nothingness it once originated from. And at the first signs from it had the three beings of nightmares simply made a turnaround and returned to the dark crystal domain in the woods of White Tails.

Nightmare Rarity, Shadowfright and Shadowblood were all three as silent as the night as they didn't want to give away their position. The two shadow stallion already morphed back into the clouded shape and started to hover ahead of their queen. A queen who on her own merged within the shadows by submerging herself within them. After which she simply slithered across the ground. It almost looked like a dark snake that was passing by if it would be seen by any eyes of a normal pony.

The trio of shadows traveled through the woods of Everfree towards the fog covered woods that were their domain and none of them had any trouble actually finding their way home. Because it only took them a few minutes of both slithering and floating to reach the front gate of the domain. A gate that always stood open in case some new test subjects had dared to make a wander into the lovely woods.

Once the three of them had reached the courtyard of the place, the two clouds of shadow merged back into their stallion shaped size as the queen herself had to reemerge from the depths she had traveled into. The mare merged back into the physical world a bit differently than anypony would have expected.

For first did her forelegs set themselves out of the shadow and unto the dark crystal before the rest of her body simply followed until she stood safe and sound upon the ground. A substance was dripping off of her body and it caused her to shudder before a roar was released into the air. the substance itself seemed to be having the abilities of black tar without the fact that it was boiling hot. It just streamed slowly from her body like it was some sort of slime, yet it didn't seem to be leaving any kind of trail behind it.

The substance was simply known as a little something that was called nothing else but liquid shadow by her and the nightmare forces. Something that was a side effect caused every single time she allowed her slender body to be submerged into the depths that is the shadows. The roar itself died down after the last bits of the slime had made it to the ground and with a growl in her tone she gave her eyes a shady look over the surface of the domain.

Everything seemed to be in order and thus the queen straightened herself a bit again before she walked towards the tower in order to get a goodnight's sleep. For days she had been running without any form of sleep to make sure that her plan would be simply perfect and with the delay set on the magic, there was time. Little did she knew, that another dark force also happened to be lurking around the foot of the fog. A force that was literally dying to meet her.

The nightmarish queen simply laid down on her velvet cushioned sofa as her hoof went through the mane of one of her four savaged shadow stallions that laid before her like a dog. The creature made a couple of satisfied noises as she kept petting him. It almost seemed to be like the pure definition of relaxation for the queen herself. She had all of the time that the world could possibly offer to her and she was accompanied by her 'pets'.

While the one laid before the sofa had the other three taken their places as her guard in the shadows close by her bed. They were actually hidden inside the wall itself, watching over every single inch of the room if there would be any kind of threat coming their or their queen's way. The ultimate personal guard for the nightmarish queen was that what they were. And she loved every single second of it.

Yet with the time passing by like every other day, she needed her sleep and the grind of days wasn't really helping her to stay awake any longer. A long yawn left through the mouth of the unicorn just before she stopped petting and stood up.

The stop caused the savaged stallion to look up to her before he made some room for her to move. And what happened next was the very fact that the unicorn dropped herself on the literally queen sized, posted bed without a care in the world. Everything was going according to plan and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep with the blankets half over her body.

The eyes of the one physical savaged stallion looked over to the bed and carefully walked closer in order to cover his queen fully in the blankets. Once he had done that, he too submerged himself into the shadows to join his three brethren into the endless watch.

The soft snoring of the queen filled the area and the four savages simply continued to look over the darkened room as well as the blanket covered body of the unicorn. Their sharp eyes were looking over literally every single inch of her but they could feel that something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong but they didn't see the hows, the what's and the why's.

For the dark force that had been tailing around by the foot of the forest was rushing itself as a dark cloud towards the domain. The fog didn't do it anything whatsoever and even the false shepherds looked at the cloud with raised eyebrows. Trouble it was for certain, but there was nothing they could do against it. Nor any other other force inside of the domain for that matter.

Once the black cloud had reached the entrance of the place, it continued to shoot itself forward and made a straight turn up into the skies. Shadowfright was the one who stood on watch and noticed how it climbed against the tower with the greatest of ease. Yet he had not even a single clue of that what it possibly could be. None of the forces could have actually known it as it was just, cloud.

"...Can it be that that was the cloud which was used to grew the storm with?" Fright mumbled into himself before he shook his head a few times. He both believed and disbelieved the facts as they were given to him. While the possibility was there that it indeed happened to the cloud they used, something else inside of him told him it was everything but. He was frozen and simply couldn't move another step into any direction. Not a single idea of what he could possibly do came up to him while his eyes simply kept on watching the racing cloud.

A cloud that eventually stood on the balcony and managed to push it's way through the small openings of the doors and windows. Thus gaining access right into the room of the queen. And that action triggered the four savages to jump out of the shadows and assume an attacking stance against him. Their growls were loud and intimidating but did nothing to the cloud while an all too familiar face revealed itself. The face of a stallion who was just as old as the original Nightmare. A face that Rarity had seen once before and didn't had the desire for to witness it for a second time.

The face inside of the cloud simply looked over the savages with a face of utter disinterest and turned itself over to the bed in which the queen laid peacefully and deeply asleep. "Ahhh, there she is," a deep, male sounding voice spoke with a small echo in the tone. "Time for you to wake up. And to do it, right now."

Almost as if he spoke a command over her it happened. The mare that laid under the blanket moaned and groaned a little bit before the eyes were opened and the disorientation began. "W-What in the name..?" she spoke up under a yawn before the body was raised up on the bed itself and she caught something, unusual, to say the least, in her eyes.

For the scenery as it had laid out before her, she caught the four savages surrounding a cloud of darkness with a face inside of it. It was something that made her quickly to realize that she could be dreaming, but there was one thing she could differentiate better than anypony in the domain. And that was judging whether something was real life, or a dream. Though from the feelings it was definitely real life.

Still half asleep, the unicorn looked over the face inside of the cloud a little bit better and the realization just rushed through her. She knew exactly who it was and didn't even dare to believe what she saw. "That's just impossible. You, you were dead!"

"Speak my name, child. And we shall discuss the reasoning of why I'm here."

Nightmare Rarity blinked a couple of times with her eyes before the head was given a rather violent shake in order to get everything straight in the upper chambers. "King...Sombra," she eventually spoke up as one of her forehooves brought itself over to the side of her head. "How, and why. Why shouldn't I just rip you to shreds right here and now? You failed twice, third time's the charm they say but I don't intent to make that happen."

"Let's just skip the formalities and go straight down to business shall we?" Sombra replied in a chuckle as he made the dare to move himself just a little bit closer towards the queen her face. Something that the savages didn't appreciate at all. "I want to strike an alliance between the two of us so we can take over the Crystal Empire and rule over it as a king, and queen."

The words that were spoken were tempting for certain for the nightmarish queen. Even before her transformation she had always loved the looks of the empire and ruling over it would certainly give her advantages unseen before. Though there was only one small problem with the entire plan. He was a ghost of yesterday. A spectral being that couldn't be chased by her dogish guards. It certainly placed him in the higher position and the unicorn knew that all too well, even though she was still half sleepdrunk herself.

"Your words have sparked my interest for certain, king. However, I'm afraid that I have to be telling you that I am going to decline your offer on the sheer basis that I'm not interested in an alliance between the two of us."

Those very words literally crushed all of the dreams and hopes that the ancient unicorn king had to regain his land. But it wouldn't be something that he let go unpunished. Because right after she spoke her words, the two of them emerged themselves into a heated argument filled with hatred towards one another. They both knew exactly what was at stake and Sombra even seemed to be knowing just who the queen used to be.

Arguments of reasons why it would be the best for the two of them to join up with one another were spoken by Sombra, while Nightmare Rarity simply crushed them with words of her own. Everything he said towards her, was returned almost instantly and vice versa. The two simply weren't able to come to terms that would satisfy both parties. The heat walked up so much even, that the unicorn was getting more then enough of his pathetic little games and almost released the order to tear him to nothing but shreds.

Her mouth was standing open for a mere second as she glanced into the eyes of the landless king before the realization was made in her mind. He was a ghost of yesterday. Attacking him would most likely just ending up with two of the four savages pouncing into her after their jump.

With the mouth closed again was a deep sigh released by Sombra through his nostrils and small plumes of dark smoke left them. "So this is where our talking has been leading up? You're a pathetic little queen, Nightmare Rarity. Nothing but a hoax waiting to die out and be buried under a pile of nothing." Sombra replied to her.

Yet his words were something that almost completely fell into the wrong gullet for the mare. She opened her own mouth again in order to speak the words she desired. "Do you want to know, just how I got the nickname, the Queen of Fear?" she hissed as her horn charged itself up. If there was one thing she knew that would even hit the spectral ghost, it would be her magic as she knew that every being had fear for something, or somepony.

While the charge was being released from her horn did the king saw it too late to avoid it and thus got the full load of it. The moans and groans of the cloud were made before he turned himself back over to face the nightmarish queen. "What have you done, witch?!" he snarled out towards her before her skin started to boil like it was put into a pot of boiling water. "W-What are you, doing!?" The scene alone made him take a couple steps back as his eyes never seemed to be tearing themselves away from her.

Her skin continued to boil before the pimples of skin just erupted out with blood. And there where the skin used to be could the purple scales of his biggest fear be seen. "No! He's, he's supposed to be dead!" the ancient king shouted just before the true revelation was made to him. A revelation that would make sure, he would get away from her land.

Without a warning but with a roar of a dragon turned the queen into a purple scaled, green spiked dragon that kept growing in size until it had reached the ceiling with it's back. His worst fear was looking him straight in the eyes for mere seconds. And then the jaw of the creature opened itself to reveal thousands of sharp, serrated fangs that were just ready to consume him on the very spot. But to make matters even worse was Sombra also given a look to deep inside of the dragon's throat and noticed the light of a green fire traveling through it.

That could only mean just one mere thing to him and the cloud just made sure it got out of the way before the green fires of hell itself were released. He needed to get out as the heat became him too much of the good stuff and just slithered back to the balcony. A balcony off of which he launched himself like a rocket.

Back on the bedroom had the queen never moved a single muscle as she smirked towards his departure. "And good riddance to you," she almost spoke with glee once he was truly gone. "You four, keep watch in physical form and make sure he doesn't return to finish the, job, shall we say." The nightmarish unicorn then dropped her head back on the pillow in order to fall asleep again for the second time that night.

At the foot of the woods, the very place where Sombra had landed, he looked over to the forest with a feeling of disgust in his mouth but he had found himself in a unique position. he knew exactly who the queen happened to be. Something that his mortal enemies didn't. He knew the fight between them wasn't over yet, Sombra would see himself as the victor over the queen of fear herself, but in order to do that he needed aid. His eyes tore themselves away from the woods and focused themselves upon the castle against the mountain in the far distance. "The royals of Equestria..."

The defeated unicorn king recovered from his frights and fears of the one dragon who had managed to beat him while hovering before the woods of White Tails. His eyes looked over fog covered terrain while a stare of death that could be found deep within them. He had grown a desire in the last few minutes to just watch her utter annihilation for rather obvious reasons. Yet there was nothing that he could do because he was nothing more but a spectral. But the burning passion in his darkened heart roared like the fires of the sun.

Anger raced through all his veins while the desires followed it everywhere. Yet he couldn't just go about and make bold decisions. Because that would probably have ended up in his defeat once more. There was of course the plan to head on charge her and try to manipulate the forces below the queen to only obey him. It was a plan that required timing and that wasn't something he had standing on his side. A growl of insanity and anger was left through the hovering entity that Sombra was. He didn't just pace up and down on his legs though, instead he floated close to the ground while doing so.

It drove him even further over the edge of insanity then he already had been and it wouldn't do the stallion good. Growls and whispers of hatred all left the mouth of the once so powerful king. Whispers that spoke of plans rather left unknown to other ears. Yet there was one that caused him to just stand still and look over the forest with slits of eyes. Something inside of him had been triggered. Something that made him think with a lot more care.

"Yes..." Sombra softly whispered to himself before a massive and rather ominous looking grin formed itself below the muzzle. "Crystal." It was as if all of the sudden a bulb of light went on inside of his mind and the fallen set his spectral hooves on the ground for the first time since his escape.

His smoking eyes continued to look over the woods with a grin before he repeated that one little word again in an even deeper sounding tone. "Crrrystals." It was just clear to him right there and then. One massive assault against the queen of fear was probably all he could do. Her home had been made out of the same stuff as his and he could manipulate that. So what withheld him from doing the same act again?

A barrier was what stopped him. The white barrier of fog. The sheer amounts of magic that he felt surging through it were on levels he would have expected from one of the three princesses. Not from a unicorn who simply had grown in size. "Bah! This isn't going to be working!" Sombra suddenly shouted to himself as he took his eyes away from the fog and laid them upon the one place, he never had expected himself to end up. A place he had gazed over before, just after the events.

"No," he whispered into the thin air as his eyes were locked upon the only castle he could see. The castle of Canterlot, the very place where his enemies resided. It was a place in which he couldn't just walk in like any other pony, they would capture the king right on his hooves even in his seemingly harmless spectral form. Yet he had something that they obviously didn't have.

"None of them had come to here before… None of them, know just what terrorizes these woods," the king spoke up in his deep tone before the eyes blinked and he saw the window of opportunity within it. He knew exactly who, why and what was going on in the woods. He could be the key that the royals would have needed into the assault. If they were planning any to begin with.

Yet that triggered another thought inside of his mind. They didn't respond all to kindly when he had conquered the Crystal Empire. That led to his original defeat and thus he had to lock himself away for years and centuries. And on the day of his return had one baby dragon prevented him from becoming the almighty king once again.

Both of those defeats weighed heavy on his mind and the more he thought about them, the more Sombra came to the realization that it would be foolish to go to them. "Knocking at their door, makes me look like a dog with its legs hanging. Making it look like I admit defeat! But there is one thing, I shall never admit...and that thing, is, my, own, defeat," the unicorn king roared into the air before a powerful sprout of magic was released into the nightly skies as a powerful blast of black lightning.

It was something that certainly cleared out the mind of the stallion before he started to wheeze deeply to himself. The powers of his magic, had drained the spectral form even more than it originally should have been doing. "Let, them, rot." Sombra spoke up through the wheezing of his nostrils. "Let...let them burn in the fires of Tartarus!"

Sombra wouldn't even consider it anymore. He wouldn't even decide if he was going to the castle to purpose his plan and kept on wheezing while his spectral legs tightened their muscles in the legs a bit more. His smoking eyes were nothing but slits as he looked over to the castle with one last, deadly look. "I'm not, going to admit, my own, defeat. Not against the princess of the sun, moon, and her above all…"

The ancient unicorn king turned himself around to face the woods of White Tails one last time and opened his eyes a bit further. "You can have all the fun you like, queen of fear, but we will meet again in Tartarus, trust me on that one." After his words had the king turned himself into the general direction of the Crystal Empire and the Frozen North.

Yet as he stuck his nose into that direction there was an odd wind had set for him. A freezing cold one that hurt his nose even in the current state of his being. That could only mean one thing to him, a wind where even ghosts of yesterday got cold from, meant that it was the frostbiting wind of the North. "Empress of Love, we shall meet again. Maybe not this century, but the next I am certain. You will wake up screaming, wishing you left the empire in my hooves, under my rule. Because, when I'm done with you..." And then he was gone. Sombra had just vanished with the winds of the North just like that.

He had returned to the realm of the spirits to continue planning for his grand scheme of all. The one scheme that would make sure that the Empire, would be his and his alone once again. And one that would be the end, for the empress of love.

Though did he wise about not going to the royals of Equestria to share his findings? It left him literally cold. Sombra didn't care for it one bit and he had all of the rights to do so. Yet the calm that usually could be sensed before the storm, was about to reach its highest point.

For it always was the darkest before the dawn. And in the east dared the first rays of the morning sun to look over the hills and tease many sleeping ponies to wake up. A new day had come and it would be that day, many things would be told, revealed and heard about.

As the sun rose itself further and further unto the skies was the night gently transformed into the day and in the castle of Canterlot stood Celestia herself on the solar altar. The last bits of her magic faded away as she had pulled the sun up from its slumber and her one visible eye was simply looking over the golden orb with delight. Her magenta red rim almost shined in the light that took its hold over the land and it was something she was truly happy about.

Ever since she had left Astral Chrome in the asylum and had heard the words of her most faithful student was the princess caught by a force invisible and felt just unbeatable. There was a force out there that was greater than anything that currently lived in the land and didn't share any similarities to her older rivals. It was a depressing thought for the almighty white coated alicorn but there wasn't anything that she could do against it.

Sure she could send herself and her armies towards White Tails but that would end in an all out war. While waiting too long could give the force powers beyond her believes and comprehension. The princess of the day stood before a difficult to cross crossroad as all the ways led her to different outcomes and thus different futures. Some good, some bad. Yet the outcome was deluded by the fog that covered the dreaded woods.

Celestia needed to give her thoughts some rest and she turned herself around to watch the castle she had called home for so long. She knew that Luna was still awake and that they had to discuss the matter by breakfast because they were running out of time. At least so it felt for for the elder sister.

The alicorn of the sun removed herself from the altar and she started to walk into the direction of the castle again. But each step felt like it was another second of a ticking time bomb and there was not a single clue of how much time there would be left. "I can only hope that you are having some good news for me today, doctor," the mare whispered to herself before she disappeared into the walls of her home.

It didn't took her as long as she would have thought to reach the wonderfully looking throne room where Luna had already taken her place to have her dinner. Even to the present day it was odd for the celestial guards to witness Luna eating a full dinner in the morning. Of course they knew that she had pretty much the revered sleeping pattern from what they had, but it still was a curious sight.

Once Celestia had entered the room did all of the guards assume their position and remained into it as she sat down on the table with Luna. Her singular visible eye looked over the breakfast and dinner and she allowed herself a small giggle. It was even funny to her to that very day.

Yet on the opposing side was Luna already eagerly eating. A sign that she had been busy the past night with something. "I hope you don't mind that I have already started dining, sister." Luna spoke up with a gentle giggle after she had swallowed what was in her mouth.

"I don't mind it sister, it seems like you have been rather active last night. Do tell me then, how many guards did it took before you were overwhelmed?" Celestia replied in a teasing manner as she spread butter over a toasted slice of bread.

That question caught Luna by surprise as she shook her head a little bit. "I, I don't know what you mean sister. I just took a flight over the land, that's all," the younger sister pleaded in her defense before she took her cup of wine and brought it over to her lips.

"Riiight." Celestia simply replied with a giggle before she took a bite out of the sugar covered toast.

"It's true Tia!" Luna spoke with a little raise in her voice after the cup was set on the table. But she knew it was a lost cause. She had all the powers in the world that she could have ever desired, but there always was boss above boss. And that boss, was nopony else then her sister. "Okay...twenty," she whispered softly before continuing the dine.

That number alone was something that was of interest of Celestia and she actually rose her eyebrow it as if she didn't believe it at first hearing. "Well, well, well, that's quite the number don't you think?" the mare replied in her usual kind tone and Luna simply gave a nod. A nod that spoke about the fact of it not being good enough for her liking.

The two alicorns kept on eating until their tummies were full and they could both go either peacefully to bed or spend the day awake. And just after they had stood up, one rather familiar character rushed itself into the throne room. Luna caught the figure in full view as she was heading towards that same door. Celestia on the other end, she turned herself around to witness that what was coming as she caught the panting.

"Do you...know this pony, sister?" Luna dared to ask as she also had turned herself around to watch the figure. A stallion with a lab coat that was literally out of breath stood right in between the two most powerful alicorns of the land. The princess of the moon had a difficult time to identify the pony herself, but the revelations to be made, would be earth shattering.

"I do know him, sister, you even met him once remember? Doctor, if you please tell me why you have arrived here in such a hurry?" the elder sister replied to the both of them but in her heart she was fearing the worst of the worst to happen. Luna on the other end didn't fully understood what her sister meant before she started to dig deep inside of her own memory.

"It's...it's mister Chrome. He...he," the stallion started to ramble.

"Wait...A-Astral, Chrome?" Luna suddenly questioned with a confused look on her face. She knew exactly who the pony was.

"Y-Yes, him!"

"Well, speak what happened to him, have you managed to get him to talk again?" Celestia questioned the good doctor. But as soon as she spoke the words, the body language indicated that she wouldn't be liking what came next out of his mouth.

"He...well, he died. He died when one of the nurses injected him with a calming syringe but, it may have worked a bit too well. She, she did everything by the books thought! Right syringe, right handling, right amount, she, she isn't to blame for it all. But, once we examined the body, it became known to us, that his eyes were filled with fright. That, was what killed him. A-Almost as if, he lived in another dimension with his mind."

And that whole explanation of the night was something that caused both of the alicorns to look over to one another with the same shocked expression readable upon their faces. Neither of the two could even believe that such a thing could have happened. There were many manners for a pony to leave life for certain, but by fright itself? That was a new one.

The doctor feared what they would be doing to him now that the reality of the situation had been right to light and he could only pray on the fact that they would be merciful upon him. Celestia would, but the question was, if Luna would be.

Celestia simply released a deep sigh through her nose before she shook her head and looked over to him again. "Go doctor. You did what you could. My sister and myself need to talk to each other about the matter in private."

And there goes my day of sleep, thanks Tia, Luna spoke in her mind as she watched the stallion walking away. The doctor had one last look over the stern face of the lunar princess before he made his leave. "So, am I correct if I say you are willing to go down there again?" Luna questioned to her sister once the stallion was truly gone.

The elder alicorn simply gave a nod to the words and she was the first one to make the step. The step towards possibly the course of the land's entire future. And it felt to her that yet another heavy burden had fallen upon her. It was in silence, that Luna started to walk next to her sister as a support for that what has to come.

"Tia..." Luna started as the two royals stood before a place in the castle that was everything but often used. A magical door that would lead them right into the vault of items too dangerous to see the light of day. "Just how do you plan on attacking this, this fog of inside of White Tails. I mean, that is obviously what is driving them all insane from what you told and showed me."

"While it is true that the fog drives them crazy, what happened to the souls we don't see anymore after they went in?" Celestia asked her horn glowed in the golden magical aura. "Who is responsible for such acts?" The beam was released from the horn and unto the door which allowed it to open as a magical portal.

A portal that would lead them straight into the depths of the Canterlot mines. To a place that was sealed by the ages. Nothing could get in or out unless it possessed the magic of a princess. "So you're saying, somepony is creating it?" Luna replied with a tilted head. It wasn't something she had truly expected but almost immediately could point her hoof to a few characters that could be to blame for it all.

Yet she couldn't be more wrong in her life.

Both of the royals stepped through the portal and the darkness of the mines was something that caught the both of them by surprise. For the portal closed itself almost right away after they had stepped through. Yet with a flick of their horns had both of the royals allowed the torches inside of the place to be lit up.

And what was revealed to their eyes were the deadly wonders hidden from eyes to see. Items used by previous dark figures to take over the land or places. Wonders that were used by Celestia and Luna herself. And not to mention almost every single book that Starswirl himself deemed to be too dangerous. Yet the attention of Luna was caught by something that was surrounded by the torches. Something she didn't had expected to see on a place like there.

Something she thought that was long gone by the gears of time. "Impossible," she whispered to herself before parting with Celestia and the mare of the moon simply walked up to a mannequin with an armor set.

But not just any armor set was played upon the mannequin. It was a set that she knew all too well. Perhaps even a little bit too well. The fires of the forges that created it appeared in her eyes for just a split second before one name was whispered. The name of her alter ego. "Nightmare Moon."

The armor of nopony else then the creature of darkness herself could be found on the mannequin and it worried Luna to degrees unknown. Yet on a quick and closer inspection, it wasn't any replica or something, it was the real deal. For the dents, scratches and repair marks were all clearly visible to her.

"This shouldn't be here, it should have been broken and send to all four wind corners of the land," the mare mumbled angry to herself before the ears perked up at a sound. The sound of her sister calling her to come. There wasn't anything she could do than to heed the calling unless she wanted an angry Celestia. "We shall meet again," the alicorn of the night whispered to the armor set before she followed the voice of her sister.

She met up with Celestia who started to speak her words of worry. "We need to return the elements of harmony to Twilight and her friends in case something does go deeply wrong. If they need them, they have them right with them instead of having to wait for us."

"A smart approach sister, I do have to admit that from you, but it seems like you are forgetting one single fact. Rarity is still missing, remember." Luna replied as she found that little hole in the plan of her elder sister.

Another sigh left through the mouth of Celestia as she gave off a nod with her head. "While that is more than true, I simply can't leave the elements here. Perhaps, they would believe me if I said she would be with them in spirit."

That was something that caught Luna of guard as a whole. Her sister was prepared to lie against five of the most important ponies in the whole land? "T-Tia, w-what are you proposing here!? Y-You are out of your mind if you say that!"

"You and I, haven't sensed the essence of Rarity since the day she was lost, remember!" Celestia returned in a snarl towards Luna. "Nopony knows what happened to her, she has just vanished from the surface of the land to heavens high know where."

That outburst alone made Luna take a couple of steps back before she shook her head. She couldn't believe the facts as they were played out before her. She couldn't believe that Celestia, her own flesh and blood, was willing to do such a horrible deed.

Little did she knew, or they even, that the real terror still had to struck them.

For when the two alicorn reached the place where the elements were stored safely, Celestia charged up her horn once again and opened another door. Under the rumbling sounds of stone being moved and even crushed, the walls just split themselves open and forth came the glass cabinet with the mythical and mystical elements of harmony. And another shock went through both of their bodies, making them literally frozen on the spot.

Both of the alicorns just couldn't believe what they witnessed with their own eyes. Five elements that were intact and bright flowing from their jewel. While the sixth wasn't glowing anymore. It had turned into just a dark gem that was frightful to even look at. "G-Generosity… R-Rarity..." Luna spoke up as she looked at the darkened necklace and couldn't believe her eyes.

"And that marks, Equestria's darkest day." Celestia spoke up after she did a couple of steps back in utter disbelief to the events played out before her. if she looked closer upon the necklace, sparks of dark magic sprouted from it, touching the metal of it before disappearing. "How could we...have been so blind..?"

It took neither of them a long time to just figure out what on earth had happened to the once so beautiful tailor from Ponyville. All of the puzzle pieces slowly fell on their place but it also brought one devastating revelation with itself up to their minds. "S-So Rarity became, the creature that haunts, White Tails? But, how?" Luna dared to question as she had not even the slightest of clue how it happened. All she knew what that it happened.

Celestia looked even more stunned towards the elements as in her mind, the revelation was made as first. "I, I wish I knew sister dear. But, this is the worst of the worst."

That caused Luna to look over to her sister with a deeply worried expression. Celestia didn't back down for much, but the way she spoke the words were something that caught her attention. It almost sounded like she was back to the decisive moment where she got banned to the moon. "W-What, how, how do you mean?"

"They're all just, useless now."

"Pardon?"

"The elements are useless. There is nothing that can be done with them. Somehow, something had managed to cripple the most powerful force in the land with the clap of a hoof. Something that we both haven't seen before or have forgotten in the gears of time itself." Celestia explained carefully as the disbelief of it all still was readable upon her face.

"I...I can't, I won't!" Luna almost shouted to the elements but the reality of the situation was there given fair and square. The element of generosity was corrupted and finding a new one wouldn't be all too easy because of the fact that Rarity was still alive. Corrupted for certain, but she was alive and kicking.

"You have to accept the facts as they are presented for us, Luna." Celestia replied as she tried to calm her little sister down. But the facts were too great for even their minds. Five necklaces and one tiara of ultimate power from the thing ponies represent were transformed into nothing more but some kind of fancy wear for a rich mare or something the like.

Neither of the princesses wanted to believe the situation but Celestia was the first one to actually accept it. Yet even though she accepted it, she still just couldn't believe it in her heart. It felt wrong on all the levels to her. Over the course of her time, nothing had been able to cripple the elements and now, now they were. The two princesses were faced with a situation of a magnitude that was unknown to them. And that something in and of itself.

There wasn't much use for the elements to even remove them out of their cases. It was unknown whether the lightning sparks that were released from the necklace of generosity could actually in fact other being but if that would be the case and either Luna or Celestia touched it, all hell was truly going to be there. "Luna, could, could you leave me alone here for a bit. I'm going to clean up a bit here." Celestia then spoke.

Uncertain of what her sister meant but not wanting to figure it out, Luna simply heeded the call and she made her departure. She calmly walked back to the portal's archway but not before having looked at the armor set of Nightmare Moon.

"We shall meet again soon enough," the alicorn of the moon whispered to herself just before she gave the helmet a stroke and felt the massive dent in it. A dent that was created by a force of long ago. "So very soon indeed."

But then she made her departure from the vault. Her horn charged itself up as she closed the gap between herself and the massive stone archway. With one simply flick of her horn was the portal opened and she simply walked back through it as if nothing happened. Once her magical charge had been vanished, the portal closed upon itself. And that sound was enough to warn Celestia back in the vault that Luna was truly gone.

She had fought to keep something back for the longest of times, but now that she was all alone, she could safely allow herself to let it just go. And that was exactly what she did. The mighty alicorn of the sun closed her eyes and below the visible one there was a small watery line that appeared. A line that traveled away from it, over the cheek and down to the chin before it fell over to the ground. It was in the moment that the tear and the stone made contact with one another, a small rainbow was being created with it.

"I'm sorry Rarity, I'm so sorry," she whispered to herself before the horn managed to charge itself up with magic. The glass cabinet of the elements was pushed back into its place while the stones slid back into their respectable and original locations. And then it was her turn to just leave the vault and start praying to the heavens high that everything would become alright in the end. But a feeling in her guts spoke that that wouldn't become the case at all.

Back inside of the castle itself was Luna walking down the sun filled hallways towards her wing of the castle. Perhaps the only place in the land where the night would be lasting forever. Time and time again had the sisters argued about the facts but eventually came to an agreement for it. Much to Luna's own personal delight. It was a quick thought that came to her mind as she saw how the transition was made from day to night at the end of the hallway.

Though the more she walked in her wing and headed towards her chambers, there was something that kept on bugging her. Something inside of her mind caused her to look at the events differently. Almost as if she recalled them as a faint memory that had lost a lot of bits and pieces. Something that went back to the times she rather didn't even thought about.

Luna opened the door to her very own chambers where she would simply drop herself on the bed in order to gain so much needed sleep for the day. "How can you sleep with that sun always burning in your eyes, Tia?" the younger sister mumbled to herself as she had closed the doors again and had her face buried in the pillow.

Even though she was a tired as she possibly could be, there still was the feeling ahead of her that was caused by the faint memory. Something deep inside of her mind and brain just kept on hammering on the facts as they were and that little moment in time from ever so long ago.

Seconds turned into minutes and those became a set of two hours before Luna's eyes sprung open and a spark could be seen in the blackness of the pupils. "Oh no, no, no, no,no!" she mumbled to herself before the mare left the bed as a whole and dropped herself in the chair before her desk.

A piece of paper and a quill were being brought before her and she simply started to write down the facts as she remembered them from both the tailor and a self from ages ago. Once that was done, everything the two didn't had in common was scratched through until two words remained. Two words that stood by both Rarity and the older self. "N-No...it, it can't be! You, you were destroyed by the elements of harmony!"

And then it hit her like tongue against a clock to bang it. She knew, or thought she knew, exactly who had managed to get a hold on the unicorn and thus corrupt her. "Impossible that it was you, you were only an aid to my mind. How could you have...taken over a… Oh goodness me." Luna simply fell silent before she leaned back in her chair.

It was widely known to the ponies of the land that Luna of course once was the ever so feared Nightmare Moon. But she got both banished and cleansed from her 'evil' counterpart. Many thought that the sheer entity of Moon was destroyed but that didn't seem to be the case whatsoever. It appeared to have waited in her eyes, waited for the right pony to come and become her. Use her as a vessel to carry on her duties. "This is not good..." Luna spoke up as then the choice was given to her. She could either go to her sister and tell her findings, or simply wait a bit longer until the true confirmation had come to them.

And that would be nothing more but a spotting of the creature that had taken over White Tails woods. It wouldn't and wasn't something many ponies wanted to do and that was something Luna caught immediately after the thought itself had popped up in her mind. Yet she needed to be doing something because they were running out of time.

Who knew how many were in the army if this elusive pony that had used Rarity as a vessel. Who knew just how ready they were to wage war over the lands and cause both havoc and trouble for every soul that lived there. But the reality of the situation was that the royals were already running out of time.

Even stronger, they were already out of time. Because the death of Astral Chrome meant that there weren't any other survivors from any assault in White Tails so they had no idea what the menace looked like. But his death also called the storm. And the magic that the storm carried, stood on the point of revealing itself to the ponies in Ponyville.

Deep inside of the woods of White Tails, after having continued her sleep that was rudely interrupted by the defeated unicorn king had Nightmare Rarity woken up a bit later than she originally had wanted. A grumble left her mouth as she rose her body from the bed and set the hooves on the floor. Her mane and tail looked like an absolute mess as she wanted to do something about it.

And the only thing she knew on how to deal with it, was to take a long, steaming shower for an hour. And that was thus exactly what she did. The streams of water worked like a true refresher for her body and mind.

Both of her commanders on the other end, they had been up for hours and as per usual it was Shadowblood who watched over to the ponies in the dungeon. The mentally ill shadow stallion looked over the prisoners with usual crazed stare to further intensify the fear they had pulsing through them. Nopony even dared to speak against him as the muscles looked like he could literally snap a pony in half if he wanted.

Shadowfright simply floated around the courtyard of the domain, looking if everything was going to schedule in his eyes. But the day was quiet. Not much actually happened during it. Not even the false shepherds that guarded the woods had something to say. It felt everything but good inside of the cloud's mind. Almost as if it was too good to be true. But he couldn't predict or say anything about the matter there and then, because the kind of days they had, had made their presence known in the past. Calm days in which nothing happened.

Which was a major relief in the eyes of the unicorn queen. For she could take it easy and just enjoy the day for what it was. Something that mostly meant her toying with the subjects that were caught instead of doing actual experiments upon them. As sickening as it was, she loved seeing the frightened looks upon the helpless faces. A little something that both of the commanders also seemed to be enjoying with her.

Yet as the day continued on like it always had been doing, the nightmarish queen found herself inside of her chambers, waiting for something special. Dinner was about to be served and after it, possibly one of the most crowning of achievements was about to start for her.

The mare laid once again on the sofa while a small table was set in front of her. On the staircase she heard the the hoofsteps of a being coming up and the waters already filled themselves up inside of her mouth. On the menu would be something she had loved ever since the transformation had been completed and actually looked forward to it.

In the opening appeared a stallion who was carrying a sealed plate and set it upon the table with a bow. And without a word he also left again. Leaving the queen behind to enjoy the prepared meal. The scents that were filling the room caused her to moan softly to herself. For she smelled the scent of freshly and finely prepared meat. The flesh of animals caught in the woods of Everfree always was just so tender and that made for some delicious dishes in her eyes.

Once the dinner was over and the moon stood high in the skies when the nightmarish unicorn found that it was time to grow her seeds. The mare could be found in the early evening and on the balcony of the domain while both of her commanders stood in the courtyard of the place. The horn of the nightmarish unicorn charged itself up and the blue aura covered both the horn and the gem. For a few seconds she kept on building the power before eventually just releasing it into the air.

One powerful blue beam was shot into the air and most of the nightmare forces looked up towards it. The beam kept on going and going before it eventually exploded into many different sparks that traveled over the skies. It was the starting signal for everything to come. Her plan would be advancing over to the next stage of it and a massive grin of delight formed itself upon her face. She had patiently waited for the moment and it would be finally there.

"And, here, we, go," the unicorn silently whispered to herself as she looked over to ever going sparks of blue before they disappeared out of existence.

Hours came and went for the pink coated earth pony as she had helped out in the bakery of the Cake family. But just helping them out there wasn't the only thing she did though, for in between everything she managed to take care of the two foals that the owners of the sweetstore had as if was the most normal day in the world. All of that energy inside her body kept her highly alert and before either of the two could do something dangerous, she was right there to make sure nothing went wrong.

Both of the Cakes found her a true marvel every single day for nopony in the face of the land could as much tip to the energy of Pinkie Pie herself. Nopony even wanted to have that much energy soaring through their body though. Either way was it something that helped the mare going with her duties and every day came to a good end because of just that.

Yet on one particular evening had Pinkie found herself literally exhausted from just about everything. If she had to believe her feelings, she had never worked so hard in the bakery as that she did that day and both of the Cakes knew she needed her rest. It was Mrs. Cake who was the first to actually walk to the mare who still stood in the bakery, watching the ovens. "Pinkie," she started with a concerned look in her eyes. "Maybe you should take a rest and get some sleep for the night."

Those words caused the mare to turn herself around with a confused gaze in her eyes, almost as if she didn't understood a single word from what was told to her. It took the pink coated mare a few second to get back to the place where she belonged before giving a nod to Mrs. Cake. "You, you might be right. Goodnight," she spoke up while still confused of just why they said it.

Pinkie had lived by the two of them for years and to a certain extent, the Cakes had been witnessing her not only as they employee or even the pony who rented their entire attic, she became so much more for them. Almost like the grown up daughter that they never had. They cared for the mare with their heart and soul, they had only the best forth with her and that was exactly what happened.

The pink maned earth pony mare turned herself around before she released a small yawn and left the kitchen as whole. Something that caused the Cakes to sigh in utmost relief as it mean no more accidents were waiting to happen. Slow and steady did Pinkie walked through the sweetstore itself and finally went up to the first floor.

As she walked over the darkened hallway to get to the attic stairs, her ears started to twitch softly as they caught a sound in one of the rooms. A peaceful one that was going over everything she could imagine at that moment. Curious but knowing in the back of her head, Pinkie walked up to a door that was slightly open and placed her ear against the opening.

Out of the room it came, the sounds of two foals laying peacefully asleep in their bed. Two foals that made Pinkie shed a small tear of delight every single time she thought back about the happy memories. The events that they shared, were unmatched for the earth pony. Except maybe by those of her friends and true family. A small smile formed itself below the muzzle of the mare as she softly whispered the words that were on her mind. "Goodnight you two, and be nice against one another."

Only then she would continue over to the stairs that would be leading her to the attic of the building. The place that was for her and her alone.

The candles were one by one lit again as Pinkie needed some light for herself in order to see just where she was going. Another yawn managed to sneak its way past her lips and she felt just how heavy the eyelids actually were. She was tired unlike any other day and she felt it the moment her body gently powered down. Her mind had calmed down for the night and the eyes looked weary.

"…No, no story tonight." Pinkie yawned to herself before she carefully changed into a pajama with matching little hat. Gummy appeared from below the blankets and he walked up to the mare with his tail swaying from side to side. Eventually just rubbing himself against the mare. Who on her own turn gave the little green alligator a pat on the head and a nuzzle upon the nose. "You have to make way, I'll be joining you soon." Pinkie whispered to him before she went on and blew out all of the candles.

Shrouded by nothing but darkness could the mare still manage to find a way through it and she dropped carefully down on the bed. She started to snuggle up against the warm and soft blankets while Gummy found his way up to her chest. There he would stay and fall peacefully asleep against her.

Though where her pet went almost peacefully, Pinkie herself seemed to start having trouble with getting into sleep. She couldn't place her hoof on the matter but something wasn't right. Yet in a matter that seemed hours -but in fact where just minutes- had even Pinkie Pie fallen asleep. The only sounds that filled the attic of Sugarcube Corner, were the winds on the world outside traveling past the building, and the gentle snoring of the mare herself. A mare whose mane had gone flat the deeper she fell into her sleep.

"Pinkie? Pinkie? Can you come down here as soon as possible please? Something has been delivered for you." Those were the very first words the mare heard as she woke up from her sleep. Taken completely off guard by them, it was impossible to tell just who spoke them. For either one of the Cakes seemed likely at that moment. But the light cerulean rimmed eyes opened themselves again, they were greeted by the wallpaper and the mare almost jumped straight out of bed.

"Huh?!" she spoke up to herself before giving a shake with her head. Something that caused the little ball at the end of her hat to land right against her forehead. "Well that was weird." Pinkie said before she gave a small shrug and then just went on to do her daily routine. But in the back of her head she never forgot the words that were spoken by the Cakes. Something was waiting for her which perhaps was a surprise or an order she had been waiting on for such a long time.

Despite not having the will to wait, she had to brush her teeth, wash herself a little bit and inflate her mane and tail again. The two things almost blew themselves up like a balloon and showcased the mare as she was always known. With a final giggle and smile given to the mirror, Pinkie Pie started to hop out of the little bathroom and down the stairs.

But where she didn't have a care in the world, Gummy seemed to have had different plans for the time of the day. For the tranquil, little, toothless alligator managed to crawl out from under the bed and looked over to the exact same mirror where the mare had been standing. Only he caught something perhaps a little bit more disturbing. For he could swear to have seen an image of a dark mare into it.

Yet then the most impossible thing seemed to have happened right before his eyes. The entire mirror just cracked itself. No force, no nothing. Yet it still cracked. The mouth of the alligator fell open as he couldn't believe a second of what he saw. Not to mention, one broken mirror meant seven years of bad luck. He needed to get to Pinkie, fast.

When one speaks or wishes upon the devil, it is usually said that the creature shall appear. And in Gummy's case, it was more than true. For the cloppering of Pinkie hooves upon the stairs could be heard and soon enough, the mare herself appeared back in the attic. "Hihi, can't forget you when there is something special going on Gummy," she spoke up hyperly excited on just what the delivered thing was going to be for her.

Yet before she picked him up did the creature manage to point over to the broken mirror. At first his strange and utterly odd leg signals were something that Pinkie didn't understand one bit. It was only after he had assumed the position of the hunting dog, that the head of the mare turned itself over to the small washing area.

The sight came into the blue rimmed eyes of the earth pony and she could only gasp to herself. Because she couldn't believe the things that she saw. The mirror cracked and broken were rather unsettling for her to say the least. Though it was property of the Cakes and they needed to know what happened. Even if she didn't know how.

With a gulp that was clearly audible managed Pinkie to take her attention away from the mirror and lowered her head a bit. That way the gator could climb off of the bed and straight into her mane where he would be making his home for the day. "Oh this is not good," the pink coated mare whispered to herself before turning herself around.

And instead of hoping down the stairs like she did before, she simply walked down from it. Her head was somewhere different and that was something that could cause some interesting moments. Yet everything remained rather calm around the earth pony. Much to her own relief. But the biggest obstacle still had to come in the shape of the Cakes themselves. Their reactions, was the thing she feared the most.

"Uhm, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, I…how do I say this..?" the pink maned mare started to speak up after she had joined the four of them at the breakfast table in the kitchen. It seemed odd to have it right next to where everything was being baked, but it was how they ran their shop and nopony complained about it.

"Just say it Pinkie, you know you can tell us everything right?" Mrs. Cake replied to the words before she took a bite out of her toast.

"Well, okay. The mirror in my room, broke itself this morning. I, I don't know who did it, or how, because when I left it, it was still in one piece and when I got Gummy, it was just broken." Pinkie confessed against the Cakes. Who on their own turn looked first a bit shady to the earth pony before cracking a smile.

"Our little Pumpkin might have caused it, he did release a small charge of magic when the diapers were being changed. Luckily nopony got hurt, unlike the last time." Mr. Cake replied before the both of his eyes turned from left to right. Those words, those exact words, caused the pink mare to sigh in relief as a weight fell off of her shoulders. She wasn't held responsible for it in any way, but still decided to pay half of the price for a new mirror.

"Which then leaves us at the big delivery for you, Pinkie. Here you go dear." Mrs. Cake spoke up as she passed the mare a sealed letter. A letter that was rather dusty and some sand and gravel fell off of it as it was given to her. A set of curious eyes were given to it as the inspection began on the outside. And almost immediately the mare started to shake on her seating.

"But that's, but that's impossible. This, this can't be from them!" the mare spoke up as she dropped the letter on the table and removed her hooves from it like it contained a plague of some kind.

Confused by the words she spoke, but of the Cakes looked at her with a questioning gaze as the foals spoke up some gibberish. "W-What is impossible Pinkie?" Mr. Cake asked her while he was deeply concerned about it.

Pinkie's head on the other end just lowered itself down before the eyes closed themselves. "And it was going to be such a fantastic day," she spoke up softly to herself. The mare knew she had to gather the courage that was still somewhere inside of her body. A courage to face the facts as they were and read the content of that cursed letter. "It's, it's my father's hoofwriting."

Those words alone caused both of the Cakes to gasp. Pinkie had told them that her father was a stern stallion who did have his heart on the right place but almost never showed it. A hard and honest worker who mostly kept everything to himself. And if he wrote directly to Pinkie Pie, the Cakes could only guess just what he wanted from her.

"If, if he asks about bi-" Mr. Cake began before almost receiving a slap from his wife. "Okay, okay."

There was nothing that could be done, the thing was delivered and it was up to Pinkie to decide just what was going to be done with it. Of course she could just send it back to them, or burn it in the fires of the fireplace. But that chewing feeling of it being something important was still greatly inside of her body.

Uncertain of what to truly do, her hoof managed to take a knife that was laying on the table. The head of the mare rose itself back up as she looked straight into the eyes of both of the Cakes. "When, was this delivered?"

"Uhm, it, it arrived this morning. Not even half an hour old I say." Mr. Cake replied as his wife could only nod. And in response, Pinkie released a deep sigh before she opened the letter with the clean knife.

The content was removed and it consisted out of just one letter. A letter that was written literally from top to bottom in the same hoofwriting. Without a word spoken to anypony present, Pinkie read through the whole thing and the further she went, the more unbelievable the story became. "No, they, they can't do this to me," the mare mumbled to herself as the letter was flung over the table.

They knew it wasn't their duty but they couldn't help themselves. Both of the Cakes scanned the letter for anything that could be of a rather great importance of what happened to Pinkie. Because in their ears they heard the deflation of the mane. And whenever something like that happened, it was bad news for everypony.

The three of them had looked over the letter and came to a rather horrifying conclusion. While Pinkie knew everything, the Cakes only knew bits and pieces but had figured it out. The mare needed to go back to the rockfarm where she had grown up. The hows and whys were unknown to the bakers but from the tone of the letter she needed to come home fast.

It was a literal slap in the face for each of them without a doubt. As much as it was true that Pinkie loved to visit the place, she never truly belonged there anymore after she had gained her cutie mark. Yet it seemed like the chains of the past weren't as easily undone as it was thought.

There was only one thing that Pinkie could be doing on that particular moment and it was something that devastated her a whole lot more then that it did the Cakes, which was saying her goodbyes to them. It was uncertain whether or not she would actually return to the place or live the rest of her existence upon that farm that had been in her family for ages.

In order to keep things a little bit civil, they did first finished up their breakfast before planning the route for the saddened earth pony. Mrs. Cake couldn't help herself but to continue to stroke the flattened made of the mare. She felt sorry for her, truly and utterly sorry. As the moments drew nearer had the mood turned into that of a funeral and the foals felt it clearly.

For they started to cry and both Pinkie and Mr. Cake tried to comfort them. Encouraging words were spoken by each of them, but it was the pink coated mare who eventually also fell out in tears.

She didn't wanted to go, but she had to. "I, I will miss you all just so much." she whispered as a tight hug was given to the two ponies who had taken care for her for so long.

"Never forget Pinkie." Mr. Cake whispered as his wife simply cried upon the shoulder of the mare. As much as she didn't wanted to go, she had to and they knew it. "It, it will be alright."

"I can only, hope that." Pinkie replied softly before she broke the hug and sighed deeply. "I, I'm going to pack my bags okay?" And in response gave the Cakes her a nod.

The minutes past by like they were nothing before Pinkie finally was ready to hit the train. With the day still in the early morning, she managed to get on one of the first trains that would be going into the general direction she needed to be.

One last but massive hug was given to the mare by the Cakes before they heard the rumbles in the skies. A thunderstorm had come moving in, almost as if it wanted to add to the already sad mood. "Go, go now or you miss the train." Mrs. Cake whispered softly before Pinkie broke the hug.

With a nod given to the family, the pink mare sighed deeply while she took her bags. "Goodbye," was the only thing she spoke before entering the train. And not a moment too soon, for after she entered, the doors were closed and the machine came to life. And then it went on its way, leaving the station to bring the pink coated mare back to the home she was born.

The Cakes started to weep upon the station while Pinkie sat in a private compartment and looked out of the window. The rain falling against it like mad and the lashes of lightning here and there seemed like a signal of bad news. But the more she stared out in the distance, the more she noticed the faces of each of her friends upon the window itself. Flashes of them smiling and laughing were seen for the fraction of a second.

Friends who she didn't even say goodbye to personally.

Eventually she stood there, at the entrance of the rockfarm and looked over with a saddened look. Nothing had changed over the time she had been gone as everything was kept just the same with one massive exception. It had aged with time itself and not for the better. A sigh was released through the mouth before Pinkie made the descend down the path and towards the house where her family lived. The courage was nowhere to be found and having Gummy for support wasn't there either.

The little gator was left in Ponyville, left in the care of the Cakes so that they at least had some memory of Pinkie that wasn't going to be old. A thing she started to regret the closer she came to the door. Though it were her ears that perked themselves up as the wind brought an all too familiar sound with it. The sound of pickaxes hacking in against cold stone.

All the feelings of her first few years rushed back to her and gulped as she stood before the door. Her head lowered itself and caused some of her mane to fall before her left eyes. Trembling was the hoof brought up to the front door and gave a few knocks upon it. The sounds seemed to travel through her marrow and bone as she felt her fate being sealed more and more.

When the door was finally opened, she caught brown coated stallion in her eyes and the moment was there and then. She found the courage to raise her head back up but closed her eyes along the way. It was only after she had come to the stallion's eye height that the eyes opened themselves.

And what they revealed were two cerulean blue rimmed eyes with a watery line as if she was going to erupt into tears. But her eyes looked straight into the stern, yellow rims of her father. He looked like he hadn't aged a single day and it was something that bared the mare even more concern. Without a word spoken he pointed over to a pickaxe that stood against the side of the house.

The signal that was given was one that the mare knew all too well and never had forgotten in her life. Though as much as she had tried, it never left her. In response gave Pinkie a simple nod as her eyes asked him if he could take care of her luggage. Even though the eyes remained rather unchanged, the answer was given to her. A faint smile cracked its way upon her lips before she picked up the pickaxe and went around the house.

Only to find her beloved younger sisters, Inky and Blinky. Even though they had aged for years, the looks remained unchanged from their filly time. It almost seemed like Pinkie had never gone away from home at all. Something that came to a much needed relief. "Hey you two!" Pinkie spoke up happily to see at least her beloved sisters again, but the happiness was gone soon enough as neither of the mares as much as even glared over to her. She removed the strand of flattened mane out of her eye and placed it behind her ear before the smile dropped itself once again.

It seemed that they were a bit too busy working and the pink coated mare actually shrugged it off as it wasn't something new. Even in her younger days, the two could be completely deaf to spoken words that weren't about danger. So the only thing she could be doing was done again. And that was nothing else then farming rocks.

But in order to do that, she needed to splice some first. And that was exactly where the pickaxe came in quite helpful. And despite of years of having worked in a sweetshop, Pinkie didn't forget the techniques that were used by her family. Yet as soon as the hack was being made by her, the reason of why she left the place became apparent almost immediately.

It was everything but a life for her.

Minutes turned into days which turned into weeks. For weeks on end Pinkie had been farming the rocks she was ordered to from her father. Yet every single day seemed like there wouldn't be coming an end to it. She didn't like it, she wanted to go back to Ponyville, back to her beloved friends and job. But instead, she was stuck there. Despite her stern father, the sister actually started to speak with one another again.

Having lived through Pinkie's departure, she became almost an alien to both Inky and Blinky. Something that wasn't a considerable good thing though. Mostly because of the fact that the other two Pie sisters were having trust issues with her. Despite the fact they never showed it to their pink coated sibling, it hung almost in the air when they were around one another.

But Pinkie herself, she was completely oblivious to the atmosphere that was hanging around the place as she had her own issues to sort out. Issues that may or not have been a bit more bigger in dilemma. But it wasn't the right time to think about them, one wrong cut on a rock, meant the difference between farming and unfarmable. And an unfarmable rock was about the last thing Pinkie wanted to present to her father, even after all the weeks that had gone by.

Hours went by and the sun was eventually traded back in for the moon and stars. The day had been like every other day for Pinkie and the last thing she wanted was to talk about it to any of her siblings or parents. Because they all knew just how tough the job actually was. But Pinkie herself, went to bed early.

Just before she stepped into the bed had her eyes a look through the window to the world outside. To the bright and beautiful world she once walked around on but she was reduced to the cage that was her home. It caused her to sigh deeply before the transition was made into a yawn. A deep yawn that was the signal for her to turn around and fall asleep upon the bed. Not even the blankets were placed over herself as the physical exhaustion managed to catch up with her again.

Everything seemed to be going fine in the first few hours of her being asleep, but the mare bared a rather dark secret with her. One that haunted her each and every night behind her closed eyelids. The desire to just end the life, of the very pony who brought her back into the hellhole that was the rockfarm. She had the actual and sickening desire to kill nopony else then her father. And the night she was having didn't seem to be any kind of exception to the rule.

For the in the middle of the night woke the earth pony mare up covered in sweat and panted deeply on her bed. She couldn't believe what she had seen in her dream. The very moment in which she stabbed her father with a knife to end the torture she was suffering. "N-No, I can't do it! I can't and I won't!" Pinkie whispered to herself as she held her head with both of her forehooves and shivered deeply from the frights that she had.

Everything before her eyes turned to nothing but black the more she forced her eyes closed. Little did she knew, that those motions were the exact same ones used to open up the door to her much more insane side. A side which her friends had only to witness once when she wanted to throw a party, but they couldn't come. That insanity beyond belief was returning and it did that in full force. "But I…can." Pinkie then spoke up in a much, much more sinister tone.

Without thought or word did she left the bed and turned herself over to the window another time. Her shrunken blue rimmed eyes looked over to the full moon that was visible from it and grinned like a devil. The insanity was flowing through her body and that meant that she was capable of doing anything and everything. Including ending the nightmare she had been living for weeks. "I think it is time I go and have a little talk with my beloved father." Pinkie spoke up before she let out a sickening giggle.

Yet the giggle wasn't enough to wake up the other two ponies with whom she shared the room. Both Inky and Blinky laid still peacefully asleep in their bed as Pinkie moved herself out of the room and entered the hallway. The door to their bedroom was closed as quietly as she could do it and the eye started to dark through the darkness.

Not much could be made out of it all, with the exception of the door that led to her parent's bedroom as well as the staircase that went down to the floor below. "Might be needing something, pointy." Pinkie whispered to herself before she started to walk over to the staircase. The plans of insanity itself were being forged deep inside of the mare her twisted mind. All logic and reason, for as much as Pinkie had that begin with, where crushed and shattered into nothing bit bits and pieces scattered across the brain.

It was only her insane side that was still a whole piece and that was something that the earth pony could live with. As an entire new personality had taken home in the body of Pinkie and not to mention her being fully aware of her actions. Which made it an all the more dangerous combination to have.

When the pink coated mare finally stood in the living room of the building, she noticed a couple of pickaxes that were standing in the corner. Their hefty weight and the sharp tips would definitely be a massive force to be reckoned with, but they would be too messy if she wanted to bash in the skull or chest of her father. Still, she walked over to them and picked on up. Raised on her hindlegs had Pinkie tested the thing out a couple of times as if she was actually considering bringing it along.

It would be been a rather sick irony if that was the how her father would have gotten to his end, bashed in by one of his own pickaxes but it also would make things a lot more obvious for others to figure out. And that was about the last thing that the earth pony wanted to happen to her. So the pickaxe was laid back against the others and she turned herself around.

The glare in her eyes irradiated the inanity alone as she meant to saw a face in the window where the moonlight shown through. "H-Hello?" she softly whispered to the sight before it was being shrugged off. Though she could swear that she saw the face of a dark coated mare with cat like irises. Perhaps she was going crazy, perhaps her own insanity had a much deeper effect upon her then she could have ever imagined. Perhaps she was even hallucinating already. All likely theories but each shrugged off as they didn't mean anything to help her.

The mare went over to the kitchen in the hope to find the very thing that she needed in order to bring the tyrant of a brown coated stallion down. Even though he was her own father, she felt like him as a massive slave driver. And the only want to end the torment she was suffering, was to end the life of the one that caused it.

So in the kitchen, Pinkie slowly opened all of the drawers until she found the thing she was looking for. In the drawer with all the cutlery, she found the thing she was looking for. A long, slender and sharp knife. Slowly she picked it up with her hoof and looked at the blade along with a grin that could send the shivers down the spine of any pony. The end of her torment is pretty near, she could almost smell the fresh air again.

But the price that needed to be paid, was one larger then she could have ever imagined in her entire life. She had never taken the life of somepony before, always wanting to them happy and now, now she stood at the brink of killing somepony she knew and loved.

It didn't feel right to her, it never had felt right to her. But the insanity that was flowing through her body caused everything to become blur. The lines of reality and madness were no more or crossed one another. She was off of the world with her mind while the body remained. There wasn't anything that could be done outside of a few powerful wheezes above the sink as if she wanted to puke out.

All manners of caging the insane side of the mare again were blocked and locked back up. Something she wasn't powerful enough to do, not with the events as they were played out before her. And it was that madness, that would be costing her a lot more than it was dear to her. For with a powerful turn, Pinkie looked back into the living room with the grin as she whispered her words. "Oh father dear, soon you will have nothing left to fear."

It would have been with those words that the pink coated earth pony mare would venture on towards the stairs and climb them up again. With the knife in her hoof and walking on her hindlegs and another strand of mane had fallen before her left eye. In the light of the moon that fell into the window on the other side of the hallway, she almost looked like a demon that came up the stairs. As if the ghost of the house had possessed Pinkie Pie herself did the blue rimmed eyes almost gave off their light as she never removed the grin from her face.

With quiet steps she walked over to the door that would be leading over to the bedroom of her parents and she opened it ever so carefully. The opening itself was just enough for her to slid through and then it was closed once again. There she then stood, in the room of her parents with the target locked in her eyes. The salvation was just so close but for a moment she could physically taste the blood and metal in her mouth.

Something that caused her to shudder slightly on her spot, but the plan would be continued no matter what would happen to her. But she wasn't all without reasoning of course. Despite the madness that was flowing through her sadistic mind, Pinkie first made the way over to her mother. A mare who had always been there for her in every time of her life. The rising light of her life, she was often called.

Gentle strokes through the mare her mane were being made by Pinkie before a kiss upon the forehead was given. "Forgive me mother, and thank you for everything," she whispered to the mare before backing away from her again. It would have been there and then that Pinkie looked at the moonlight that fell through the curtain of the room, and release a deep sigh.

There was no way back for her, with all the power in her body and soul she couldn't stop what would be happening next. One side screamed that she should have stopped while the other screamed back by saying it needed to be done. And sadly enough for her, the other screamer won.

With the same careful steps made over the floor had Pinkie walked over to the side of her sleeping father and rose the knife already to cut the stallion wide open if she needed to. Silence was her biggest ally at the moment as she used every last tiny bit of it to her advantage.

The gentle snoring of the stallion entered her ears and it somehow managed to fuel her anger even more and further. With the blade still raised over her head, one massive thrust downward would have been more than enough to make an end to the life of the stallion. And that was pretty much where she was aiming for. "Night night, father." Pinkie whispered in a tone that was just so sinister and cold, water vapor actually left her mouth before her foreleg thrust itself downward. Downward to the body of the stallion that had taken care of her since the moment she was born.

There was a shock that went through her body the very moment the knife made contact with the flesh of the stallion. A shock that caused everything before her eyes to become nothing but white of coloring. All the sounds, all the screams became fainter and fainter until there was nothing. Nothing but a constant beeping of something that didn't seem to be her heart.

The eyes of Pinkie Pie opened themselves violently and she was almost blinded by a massive white light. Something seemed to be out of place. and the sights that fell in her eyes confirmed it. The earth pony released a massive screech from her lungs as she was truly terrified by the thing that she saw before her.

For Pinkie laid in a bed but not one that was her own and she seemed to be hooked up against some sort of magical device. Yet perhaps the worst part of it all had to be the fact that her friends laid in the same room. Friends that were fully asleep and hooked up to those devices as well.

"W-What is going on here?!" Pinkie managed to ask as she had gathered the guts to do so. "S-Somepony help me!" Never in her life had she been so terrified as that she was then and knew only the royals could be standing by her aid if it was something bad. Which from the looks of it, seemed to be that way.

In the cottage nearing the edge of the Everfree forest was one yellow coated and pink maned pegasus still fluttering through the air as she was humming to herself. With the eyes closed and going towards the setting of the sun it looked like the usually shy mare didn't had a single care in the whole wide world. Something that was considerable unusual, but not many actually questioned her for it.

The humming simply continued up to the point to where the mare herself landed on one of the treetops and for the first time that warm evening were her eyes opened again. What was revealed were the blue and green eyes gazing off into the distance. The strand of mane was placed behind the ear as they looked towards the wonderful sunset over the forest. In the trees themselves sat nopony else then Ponyville's own animal caretaker: Fluttershy.

She looked and stared as the skies got redder and redder with a faint smile upon her face. The wind that was blowing in a peaceful manner was something that caused her almost become one with the nature she was around. It almost made her forget that she was a pony to a certain extend. The mare her connection to the greener side of nature always had been a mighty one and one that shouldn't be fooled around with.

From time to time she felt herself more like a plant than a pony. Others would have declared her crazy right on the spot and they wouldn't be blamed. Though it was the connection to her friends that she didn't just left the place and traveled further into the woods to become one with the vegetation. Perhaps her personality also played a part into it.

Nevertheless was Fluttershy still looking at the magnificent sunset and a relaxed sigh left through her mouth. Everything seemed to be so peaceful, so serene and just so perfect. It was the best way to end a long day of taking care of everything upon her property. Some said that her work wasn't even considered a real one, but the mare herself never looked up from it and just left it where it was. For her job might have been the most important one there ever had been.

Her connection with nature was truly unmatched by every single pony in the land, or at least in the areas of both Ponyville and Canterlot. Her mixed eyes of blue and green kept on gazing to how the fiery ball kept on lowering itself until everything was just dark. The darkness had once again covered the lands as she knew and loved them. It was something that gave the chilling winds of the Frozen North to make their entry into the usual warmer states of the land. It was no exception that time either. For seconds after the sun had set could Fluttershy feel the shiver down her spine.

Though she wasn't just there to witness the setting of the sun. There was another thing that she wanted to see in the complete darkness of the land. Because with no lights to interfere with the scenes below was the game that was about to be played something even more enchanting that way. Patiently did the mare wait for it to happen. Her wings spread themselves gently and gave a couple of flutters to move the cold air away from her as the tail swayed from side to side.

In the far distance she heard the natural callings of many creatures and critters of the woods. Creatures and critters that had been living on their own since the dawning hour of the forest. Everfree was always what it was, forever free of everything the ponies stood for. A fact that both amazed and terrified the entire species.

Yet the time to think about it wasn't there as the game was about to begin. In the far distance did Fluttershy hear the trembling of the ground and knew it wouldn't be long anymore. "This is it," she whispered to herself as she looked into the direction where the moon would be risen from. That what she was about to see next was something that went over all of her expectations.

All of the sudden there was a cobalt blue tailed comet started to travel over the skies. The only light in the heavens for a good minute before the stars themselves were being turned on like somepony flicked a switch with them. Constellations and distant stars are made their appearance again before being realigned into their proper position. All the images that the stars themselves created were revealed to the pegasus but the big finale still had to come. And that was something she never had expected.

For in the corner of her eyes she caught something shining brightly, something shining in the colors that couldn't be described in any manner of actual speaking. With the main event starting had Fluttershy turned her head over to the invading spot and witnessed one of the Equestria's most beautiful things. That being the rise of the moon itself.

Gracefully it made its way over the night skies without a hitch or problem. A massive rock that was thought to be the prison of the infamous dark mare for centuries, but it was more than a prison in the eyes of Fluttershy. It was a reminder of the fact that there were always two sides to the same story. For where the sun gave light during the day to give the way, the moon did the same but in its own manner. It was a little mindset that seemed to have fascinated her more then anything. Not to mention the fact she was closely attached to the feelings of ponies. And nopony's feelings were stronger then those from the mare once in the moon.

With the moon that kept crawling up and up into the skies, it wouldn't have been long before Fluttershy was actually indulged into the rather magnificent light that the orb of rock irradiated. She loved it so much that she gave herself the time to bath in it and released a soft but satisfied moan.

Only then did her eyes dart over the skies in an attempt to find that cobalt blue comet that she saw before. For the comet wasn't just any type of comet they would usually see in the skies. For it was an artificial one, carrying somepony who had been misjudged through the ages. "Princess Luna, where art thou?" the pink maned pegasus softly whispered as she seemed to have lost all the tracks of the mighty princess.

It was something that caused her to sigh deeply. As the disappearance of the mare also brought another thing to her mind, Rarity. The ivory white unicorn was one of her best friends she could have ever had, the disappearance and the lack of searching to her were eating the pegasus up from the inside out. But there wasn't anything she could be doing against it. Her lack of courage was something that was to blame for it, though she never blamed herself for the events as they had happened.

"I do not know where you are, but I do hope that you are safe out there Rarity, may we cross paths one day again." Fluttershy whispered before her wings started to flutter even more. Something that resulted in the mare getting airborne and she flew down with the tree trunk. After a couple seconds of slight she managed to land back upon her hooves and giggled softly as she saw a set of flowers that weren't usually seen.

Her eyes were looking at a couple of the few flowers that would glow in the light of the moon. Most flowers and plants worked by bathing in sunlight, but some did it by bathing in the moon's powerful light. Unique to the world of plants as they were a true sight to behold. Not to mention that they also guided the mare back to the edge of the forest. Guiders light were the flowers usually called but their real name was a lot more simpler: lunar flower.

When Fluttershy left the woods for what they were as the sounds that were being created and the light cast over it by the moon and stars was something that both intrigued her and frightened her. In doubt she stood there for a couple of seconds before just retreating back to her cottage. The day was long done and the following one she would be having an even busies day for herself.

So with the door of the cottage falling shut behind her did the yellow coated pegasus look over the room she was in and gave a small nod to herself. With most of the critters present already sleeping, she blew out the candles one by one. Afterwards she would be tiptoeing on her hooves through the place and up the staircase to her own room.

A room in which her bed was almost calling her name. Shrouded in darkness and only using the moonlight to help her out a bit, the mare managed to crawl into her bed and snuggle up against the blankets before her eyes were closed. Though for a minute or two did the ears continued to twitch around as they listened to every sound that could be heard among the darkness.

But all she caught was the snoring of some sleeping animals including her pet bunny Angel. The pegasus was more than content with the sounds that she heard left and right of her, that she herself even fell asleep in a deep, deep sleep. Her near silent snoring was among one of the weakest sounds in the cottage, but also one of the most peaceful.

When the rays of the sun itself cast themselves through the curtains and unto the still sleeping face of Fluttershy, the mare woke up with a loud yawn as she rose up from the pillow. While the mane was literally going into every direction, her forelegs stretched themselves a little bit and the bones were snapped back into their respectable places. The eyes were opened and the hooves were brought into them to remove any of the annoying sleeping sand that could be within them.

Even though the day looked like a beauty already, waking up always had a fair bit of trouble for the pegasus. And the only manner to make sure that it wouldn't become a problem for her was to take a long and hot shower before doing anything else. It seemed painful in her eyes that she placed herself before the animals, but there had been times it went wrong with their feeding just because she hadn't woken up properly.

So after a couple smacks of her mouth were the blankets removed from the body and a breeze of cool air started to travel over her belly and hindlegs. A shiver that almost yelled 'good morning' to her was send down the spine and caused her wings to spring open. "E-Every, single, time." Fluttershy muttered to herself before she left the bed and tucked the almost golden feathered wings back against her body.

The yellow coated pegasus left the room for what it was and calmly walked over to the bathroom where she started on her daily routine. First were the teeth brushed before the place was prepared for the shower. A couple of towels were placed upon the ground while another one was placed in hoofdistance from the curtain. Everything was set for herself. But there was this hunching feeling that her mane reached a place it shouldn't have been, or that there was something walking upon it.

Uncertain to what it actually was had the pegasus turned herself around and was treated with the scare for her life. For the moment she had turned herself around, a secondary face could be seen just staring over her shoulder for a fraction of a second.

With a set of wide eyes did the mare look over to the mirror and couldn't believe a single thing of what she just had seen. It seemed like it was just impossible, yet she swore on the fact that she had seen it. "Am, am I…going crazy?" she whispered softly to herself as she had not even the slightest of clues anymore. Perhaps she was losing her mind faster than she could have ever imagined. "…Or was it, a dream?"

The theory didn't seem to be all too far fetched since she had just woken up. Either way and whatever it happened to be, the pegasus tried to recall the face of the being in the mirror. She knew it was hinting towards Rarity herself, but the looks didn't quite matched up together. Perhaps it was Rarity, perhaps it wasn't. The pegasus couldn't truly judge on the fact of just what it was.

And in the early morning it happened to be something that caused her mind to go into overdrive and cause a headache for the mare. Fluttershy wanted to continue upon the train of thought but managed to set it out of her head as she closed the shower curtain behind her. For the moment it was just her and her alone.

The warm waters were leaving the head and she felt herself just so good as they hit her body. That stream of hot, steaming water was just the thing that she was needing that early in the morning. It managed to not only wake her body, but also to clear her mind. Resulting in the horrifying image in the mirror, to almost be forgotten. It was stored somewhere in the back of her head, in a place where nopony could reach it and even she had trouble getting to it. Perhaps, that was only a good thing.

Seconds turned into minutes and after having spent more than half an hour under the shower, Fluttershy had washed her body almost completely and was busy getting the last remains of the shampoo out of her mane. A mane that was perfect in pretty much all the ways for her, with the exception of when it was wet. From time to time she could curse the sheer length and thus volume it carried with it, but it was something that made her, her.

Eventually the curtain was opened again and Fluttershy herself stepped into a steam filled bathroom. It was something that caused her to giggle softly before she started to dry herself off the best she could. Only then she would be hoisting herself into her bathrobe and leave the room for the little mess that it happened to be.

Usually she would be helping the creatures around her place to find their food and she wanted to it that day as well, but something deep inside of her spoke that they should be doing it on their own. And for once had the pegasus actually agreed upon that matter. Thus letting all of the creatures search their own food. It was a good thing that most of them originated and hailed from the woods of Everfree.

Even though Fluttershy was always feeding them, they had never forgotten on the manner of how to get their own food. Which was something that calmed the mare down by a whole lot in more than one way. With the silence that had fallen over the cottage as all of the critters were on the hunt, the mare herself walked downstairs in order to make some breakfast for herself.

Yet when she came downstairs was the entire living room indulged into nothing more but sunlight and the plays of light that were being made by it was something truly marvelous. It was something that caused an enormous smile to form itself upon the face of Fluttershy before she giggled softly at it. Scenes and games were being played out by the dancing light of the morning sun.

Though much attention to it wasn't given as the always bossy Angel knocked against one of the forelegs of the mare. Something that resulted in her breaking away from the play and down to the bunny himself. "Oh Angel, you know I won't be forgetting you when it comes down to breakfast right? I'll get started on it right away," she spoke up before entering the kitchen and heard her own tummy rumble. It was a sound that caused the bunny to snicker to himself as he fell upon his back with tears of joy in the eyes. "Don't laugh!"

Some time had been passing by before Fluttershy could be found on a place that seemed to be rather familiar to her. Stronger even, it was a plot of grass where she always could be found if she wanted to snuggle with the animals or overall just wanted to have a quiet day. And that day happened to be one of them. With a bear, a deer, a bunny family and some birds all laying around her, the pegasus herself was bathing in the warm sunlight.

For her, that was what life was all about, living in harmony and enjoying that what you have in common. And which animal -outside of the obvious ones- didn't like to lay in the sun and do nothing? It was common ground and every soul present just relaxed for the time being. Although the attire of Fluttershy had changed from her bathrobe into just nothing anymore. The day seemed perfect without a single cloud in the air and the animals were calm as well.

It was the type of day that she wouldn't be getting much in a year of her work, but when the opportunity was given to her, she took it with both of her hooves. Most of her friends applaud her for the ability of even being able to do it, but she never too much credit for the deeds and events that she had done. To her it felt like a second nature which was something almost every pony accepted from her.

Even though she and her animal friends laid calmly in the sun, the bear himself couldn't help himself any longer and fell deeply asleep. Something that resulted in a few massive snores at first before Fluttershy opened her mouth again. "Uhm, Mr. Bear, would you be so kind to, lower your volume, please?" she asked in her kindest and most polite tone. Her eyes had opened themselves and they looked upside down to the creature with a faint smile.

The bear himself woke up from the sudden talk to him and looked back at her with a sleepy look before he nodded. "Thank you." Fluttershy replied with a squee. And then the bear just crashed back to earth. He literally had no energy to do anything else on that warm sunny day then baking under it. Not that he complained one bit about it though.

Where usually the storm would rage inside her head with the very thoughts on the manner of just how every single critter would be making it, that hurricane of thoughts had reduced itself into nothing more but a gentle breeze as the head turned itself back towards the sun with closed eyes. Just the warmth that it was giving off was something that she seemed to be enjoying more than anything. The high summer time was truly something marvelous for her as everything could be taken a lot more calmly and with a little bit more of a laid-back attitude.

But the cherry upon the cake had to be the wonderful fact that Angel suddenly crawled upon the belly of Fluttershy and carefully made himself comfortable right there. He curled up on top of the mare her belly and gave a soft yawn before falling peacefully asleep. A thing which the pegasus herself would be doing herself as well.

Minutes turned into a good set of hours as the weather never seemed to have changed whatsoever and all of the critters and animals laid calmly and peacefully asleep. Nothing seemed to have been able to go wrong that particular day. That was until something happened. And it was something that went through the marrow and bone of Fluttershy herself. For out of nowhere there was the screech of a critter brought her back out of her sleep and sit upright in the grass.

With a worried expression she looked into the very direction out of which the cry came from and saw that it was the place of her horrors…Everfree itself. "Oh no, no, no, no," she whispered to herself as the sounds continued to indulge themselves in her ears. Almost drilling themselves right into her skull. The cries for help became unbearable but before the mare could even do anything, the screeching stopped and a powerful and intimidating hiss started to leave from the forest.

A hiss that didn't seem to be of changeling origin and thus managed to send a stone cold shiver down the mare her spine. "A-And I was having such a great day." Fluttershy whispered to herself before she stood up from her spot. Having completely forgotten about Angel, the bunny was not only flipped off of her belly, but also did three barrel rolls before ending up face flat into the grass below.

A little angered by the events did he manage to get his head free again and looked to the mare. He wanted to kick her leg for the deed though the opportunity was never given to him as she was already galloping away. But his motions were still being made in order to kick her.

Thus the only thing that could have happened was the fact that Angel kicked nothing but empty air and landed flat on his back. Something which caused the bear to chuckle to himself. The bunny got back up to show the bear his fist and mutter something along the lines of 'shut up.' Not that it helped all that much to begin with sadly enough.

Having turned her pace from a trot into a gallop, Fluttershy was making her way through the trees to go to the location of just where she heard the cry for help and the terrifying hiss. She was scared to death for certain but it wouldn't stop her in order to save an innocent animal. Her will was truly stronger than her fears when it eventually came down on it. But whether or not that was a good thing, needed to be discovered.

Darker and darker had the atmosphere seemed to have become the more she ventured into the woods of Everfree. Panting deeply to herself but still going into the strong to the location, Fluttershy was determined to find the helpless critter. Over the years she had gained some knowledge of the woods and knew that it was scattered with small openings of just grass. No trees or anything the like, just pain grass. If the creature would have gotten the critter, it would have been on one of those spots.

At least that was what she hoped in order to get an answer to her questions. Eventually the galloping came to a hold as she panted almost for her life. Never had she expected that she would be running that far into the woods in order to find the spot where she needed to be. But she had found it, it was the very place of just where she needed to be. A small opening in the dense forest roof.

The scene seemed almost magical as a column of sunlight went straight down, illuminating the scene of the crime. But what fell into the eyes of Fluttershy wasn't something that she could even remotely have expected. For the scene seemed to be haunted, as of a dark spirit suddenly had taken possession unto the place.

With trembling legs of her own fears and frights, the pegasus dared to inch forward on her own. Knowing that there wasn't any back up, she started to realize just how stupid the plan of her was but it didn't took away of the urge of the situation. She needed to save the creature for as much as she could. Even it meant risking her own life and limbs.

Inching closer and closer, the mare gulped a little bit before she dared to speak up her words. "H-Hello, can, can you hear me?" she squeaked up towards the bottom of the light column. But even after a few seconds of waiting there was not a single sound and the mare started to fear for the worst possible thing to have happened.

Her nightmares became true as she dared to look down and thus discovered the horrifying truth behind the matter. In her blue and green rimmed eyes she caught the horrible sight of a full grown mother rabbit with her neck snapped. It was more than enough to make Fluttershy cry a couple of silent tears. She kept all life sacred and understood how nature worked in the woods.

But from the body was nothing eaten, nothing cut off. The only logical conclusion was that it wasn't killed for food, but for something much more brutal. "C-Changelings d-don't kill before extracting emotions…n-nor do they hiss, l-like that." Fluttershy explained herself as she didn't wanted to see the facts under her own eyes. She couldn't see them that way but leaving the scene like that wasn't an option either.

No, the reason this rabbit was killed off, was because of one sickening reason that she dared to speak aloud to the column of sunlight. "Sport..." It made her sick to the degree of almost wanting to puke her stomach empty. Never in her life had she understood the reasoning behind hunting for sport and perhaps, she never would. Yet as much as it fueled her sadness, so did it fuel her anger and she looked around.

Her eyes went around and round in order to see anything through the barrier of leaves that seemed to be like the killer. But the longer she stared, the more the woods seemed to be nothing but the same. It seemed to be impossible but no matter in which direction she turned herself did every part just looked the same.

Gone was the anger in her eyes and gone was the sadness, but they had been making place for something else. Something that was considerable more frightening, the feeling of being utterly lost. It didn't matter to where she looked, everything seemed to be the exact same when it came down to it. "N-No! This, this isn't happening… This is not happening!" the pegasus explained before she just darted off.

Without having looked to just where she had ran off to, Fluttershy started to gallop once again in order to escape the fate that she otherwise would be been suffering on that spot. Little did she knew, that she was walking out of the frying pan and into the fires themselves.

For the direction she ran into wasn't towards her cottage, instead it was going deeper into the woods. In her haste to escape the haunted place had she turned herself the wrong way around and thus ended up racing for her dear life straight to the heart of Everfree. Straight into a place where no many ponies have even dared to venture nor explore. A place where a mysterious tribe of ponies lived as they had done thousands of years. Unchanged and savaged, reasoning was not an option with the creatures Fluttershy would encounter next.

For she would be running into the last meeting of her life.

Galloping over rock and under branch kept the mare her eyes closed every so often to make sure she wasn't running in circles again. Her feelings of heading were fairly much nonexistent at that point. It felt to her like she was literally going all over the place. Left to right, up and down, inside out even. Nothing made sense of where she was going.

That was until she entered a place she should have stayed away. The calming sunlight once again could be felt upon her coat and with the eyes closed did the pink maned mare came to a standstill. Shivering from head to tail didn't the pegasus originally dare to open her eyes. For her ears caught something much, much more terrifying. For they caught a slighting over rock like a snake. Only the snake she heard had to be the size of a pony. There was only one type of pony she had ever heard of had such an ability treat.

And it wasn't something she was happy about. For they were supposed to be a myth, a legend to make sure that nopony would travel too far into Everfree. But on that moment were all the myths and legends reduced to nothing more but simple shambles of a concealed truth. A truth that never should have been discovered in the first place.

The slithering sounds of a heavy body seemed to be coming closer and closer to her, all the way up to the point she felt the cold breath going down her neck and the tickles of a wet something upon her cheek. She yelped on the spot but seemed to be frozen with her muscles. Terrified for her life, Fluttershy could only hope that it was a bad dream. A dream to which she would be waking up from preferred sooner than later.

While the cold breath slowly moved away again did the slithering also seem to be making its gap between her. But that didn't mean she was safe. For at least three more bodies could be heard moving over a rock like surface as well as the grass and twigs below. She wanted to open her eyes so badly, but knew the legends all too well. Instead, she managed to shiver some words out. "Y-You are t-them, r-right? T-The creatures of, of Everfree?"

The words were out and all of the slithering stopped abruptly. With the exception of one. One of the creatures seemed to be turning itself around and closing in the distance between Fluttershy and itself. It was an action that made the mare help again as she tried to keep her wings under control and thus not to have them spread in terror.

"I can sssmell you fear, little one," a taunting and low pitched feminine voice spoke up just before Fluttershy felt the cold breath down her neck again. "You mussst be utterly terrified sssince you have sssearched usss out. The only quessstion is going to be…why?" The words were ended with a hiss of a strange satisfaction that went from right to left in her neck. Almost as if the creature itself, or at least the head of it, traveled that way.

"I, I didn't do it on purpose! I, I was looking at a recently killed mother rabbit when I lost my way! I had no intention of f-finding you at all!" the pegasus yelped out in her own defense as she couldn't hold her wings anymore. The fears and frights for the unbearable truth had become too much for her.

What sadly enough happened was that both of her wings sprung open with full force. Yet it was her left wing that managed to actually hit something. That very something made the mare her believes shatter like it was nothing. For it hit something that wasn't made out of fur and hide though. No, that what her wing managed to hit was something that was made out of scales like a fish or a reptile. "Oh no…" Fluttershy softly mumbled to herself as she released a gulp.

"Wasss that an attack?!" the voice returned to her angry. "You dare to attack one of usss?! You ssshall pay for your crime!" Before the pegasus could even react to what was going on, she felt a crushing weight being placed upon her back that forced her down. To her it felt like something had punched her right on the spinal cord and thus forced her down. Yet with her head falling down unto the grass, the pink maned mare finally opened up her eyes in response. At first she saw nothing because of the immense dose of light that she saw. Yet slowly her eyes adjusted to it.

Not that it is kept the creatures waiting though. For one of them slithered back up in front of her and in her eyes, all it seemed to be was just this massive black blob of darkness. "SSSaying you weren't looking for usss, but then releasssing an attack without mercy," the creature in front of her spoke.

Though slowly but surely did the eyes if the mare managed to readjust themselves to the levels of light that were in the area and the truth came finally to light. Because on front of her stood the creature that was the work of the inner circles of Tartarus itself. "No, no, no, no, this can't be true!" Fluttershy spoke up as she thought that her own eyes were actually lying to her. Everything she saw all added up to nothing but fuel for her nightmares. The mare started to wish even harder upon the fact that it was all a dream that she was suffering.

But sadly enough for her, it was not a dream. What she had encountered was the reality as bareboned as it ever would have gotten. In her ears she caught once again how the slithering towards her had been made before she felt the stone cold, scaly hoof upon her forehead which pushed it slightly up. "Can't believe your own eyesss now, can you? Hmhmhmha, many can't upon firssst sight. Mossstly becaussse they can't tell their tale anymore. But what do you think, we are?" the feminine voice spoke up in a haunting tone. One that managed to get even more shivers down the spine of Fluttershy.

"It, it wasn't an attack, my wings a-aren't that solid, I didn't mean to," the pegasus pleaded almost for her life as she heard another being slithering closer up to her as well.

But the voice and tone in which it spoke, seemed to be that of a stallion. "SSShe didn't asssk for a plead, ssshe asssked for a calling of namesss! Anssswer her!" His tone was brutal and rough and it alone seemed to be breaking the bones of Fluttershy. Luckily had the other one removed the hoof off of her forehead and started to hiss and wheeze against the male speaker.

That was the moment where Fluttershy dared to open her eyes again and have the best possibly look at the creatures she was up against.

And that what she saw was everything but pretty. For the thick, green scaled, snake like tail that started out small before going onward and upwards, ended up in the scaled upper body of a pony, complete with forelegs and all. Yet perhaps the biggest unusual change had to be the mane. For instead of hair, the creature with the mare like body build had snakes for it. That was more than enough to determine the fact of just what they were. "G-Gor…Gorgonies." Fluttershy whispered as she opened both of her eyes and tried to stand up.

The other creature slithered back up to the position where he came from as the one Fluttershy had met first turned itself around and looked straight at the ears of the mare. "Very good, your knowledge ssseemsss to be better than expected. Though, forgive my brother, he'sss, ssshall we sssay, thick in the head," she spoke up before the entire body was turned to face Fluttershy.

"I, I answered your question, will, will you let me go now? A, a feathered wing a-against a scale, is not match. W-With all due respect, I, I never could e-even hurt you even if I t-tried," the yellow coated mare pleaded for her life while she spoke her most humblest of apologizes to the, what seemed to be tribe leader. Fluttershy knew one thing about the creatures and that was to never look them straight in the eyes. So she only looked at the gorgony from the chin downward.

"Hmhmhm, if it wasss only that easssy. My brothersss and sssissstersss are hungering for pony ssstone," the gorgony replied to her with a sickening grin clearly visible upon her face.

"W-What?!" was the only thing Fluttershy managed to bring out.

Though before she could be doing anything, it was too late already. The eyes of the gorgony and her own eyes met one another in an instant. Much like the cockatrice ability to stone its enemy that it looked in the eyes, so could a gorgony. Which was exactly what was happening to Fluttershy.

Almost instantly did the magic of the gorgony kind came into play. For the mare felt that her hooves became heavier and heavier with each rapid passing heartbeat. The stoning traveled further up her legs at a rate not even a cockatrice would have been able to cast her into stone. Not to mention all the muscles that she lost one by one in a matter of seconds.

A few minutes ago she was a free mare, the other moment she was almost cast completely in stone. But perhaps the worst of it all, had to be the moment where her head was almost cast into it. Her eyes could still move around like nothing happened. And it was then that she saw the worst possible thing that could have happened.

For a moment had the face of the gorgony changed into that same face she saw earlier that same morning in her own bathroom mirror. But not only that, the body of the serpent like pony spun itself around with a powerful blow. Which resulted in the tail being flung forward and straight for her stone back.

The eyes of the mare went as wide as they were allowed as she screamed on the top of her lungs. But there was nothing that could have stopped it.

With a massive shock did the eyes of Fluttershy open themselves and she started to scream like mad, before erupting out in tears and comforted herself. "It was a dream, it was a dream, it was a dream," she continued to speak to herself. But little did she knew that Pinkie Pie was looking at her from another bed. A bed where she had woken up on ten minutes earlier.

Something wasn't right in the eyes if the party mare, but her own cries for a doctor weren't heard by any. And seeing Fluttershy in the state she was, it seemed to be best to keep her own mouth shut for the time being. The cerulean blue rimmed eyes looked to her right and saw both Twilight and Rainbow laying asleep with sweat traveling down their forehead. While right in front of her laid Applejack who constantly shook her head from side to side.

All day long had the sun been burning on their backs and the land been good to them. Both Applejack and Big Macintosh looked over the setting sun with a smile on their faces as they gazed calmly over the orchard. For the whole of the day had the two been working on the apple trees. Harvesting them as well as maintaining them. It was something that they had been doing since the day they were old enough to walk.

It had been their life ever since and nothing would ever be changing that fact for the both of them. "Sis, we just did a mighty fine job out there," the red coated stallion replied to the cowgirl who flicked her hat calmly backwards. She simply gave a nod in return as her back leaned against the trunk of a tree and the both of his forelegs were placed over the fence.

"E'yup, bucked apples the whole day, sales should be going through the roof tomorrow. Some of them apples looked juicy as could be. Now just hope them fruit bats aren't coming again… 'Member last time they paid us a little visit?" Applejack spoke up as her green rimmed eyes looked towards the setting sun.

"Oh ya don't have to tell me about that. Ah was there first hoof for yar information. Almost a quarter of the Acres just gone in the clap of a hoof." Big Mac replied as he remembered that ungrateful night all those years ago. "Silent night it was, until those vermin came along. It's their time again, Ah feel it in the air and Granny has it in her bones again."

"Well, at least we now have those spells from Twi to protect us a little bit," the cowgirl smirked to her bigger brother after she had turned her head over to his side. The red coated stallion himself looked back at her and nodded softly on his own. "So we should be safe, right?"

"Can't tell for sure, until that thing rises the following morning." He nudged his head into the general direction of the sun and his sister almost immediately understood the silent message. "Shall we go in? Granny's been cooking up again. Not to mention, Ah reckon Apple Bloom is going to have trouble again with the shower."

"Hm? Still not fixed that waterline, Mac?" the cowgirl asked with a questioning gaze in her eyes. It had been a problem that was plaguing the farm for quite the while, something or somepony seemed to be draining their water supply and it made each of the family members everything but happy.

"Working on it, but Ah think it are those Diamond Dogs that are at it again. Need to ask Rarity sooner or later to sniff them out for me. Ever since she got captured by them, her nose seems to be smelling them," the red coated spoke up as he turned himself around and left the fence for what it was.

Applejack on the other end simply removed herself from the tree trunk and landed upon all four of her hooves again. Slowly she turned her body over to the farm house in the distance and took the first few steps. Yet listening to his words, caused her to smirk a little bit. "Ya sure it ain't going to be a date with that drama queen?" she spoke up in a teasing tone. A tone that was almost guaranteed to make Big Mac nervous.

Within seconds had the stallion turned his head around with a bright red blush over his own red coat and an awkward smile. "Maybe~" As much as his sister could tease and pester him, so could he return it fair and square to her.

"Ah'm telling ya, if she comes to live with us at one point, Ah ain't picking her excuses 'bout not working on the farm." Applejack spoke up before they both erupted out in a laughter and Mac wrapped one of his forelegs over the back of his sister.

"Sis, Ah'll make sure she never gets to live with us." Big Mac returned to her before she was pulled in a bit closer for a tight hug. "Besides, Ah already have enough mares Ah need to keep in check 'round here. Granny, Bloom, you."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Applejack countered almost right away after she heard his words. "Are ya implying what Ah think ya're?"

With the semi-serious look that was given to him, Big Macintosh couldn't do much else than to release a well meant snicker to his sister. The look that she gave in her eyes was just something so priceless, that he even had to wipe away a small tear from his eyes. "Ah ain't implying anything here, Jackie. Just telling ya the truth. One stallion and three mares to look after, ain't exactly the easiest job in the world. Especially when one is as stubborn as an honest mule."

And on that moment dropped Applejack's face itself a little bit before she chuckled herself. "Oh, yeah, 'bout that…hehehe. Perhaps Ah am a little bit stubborn, sometimes," she then countered. It didn't matter anymore to her as she had been made black by her bigger brother already. So the only thing she really could do was to just go with it. Not to mention the fact that she knew he didn't mean the words he spoke against her. Sibling rivalry on a smaller scale was it often referred to by others. Especially the friends of Applejack.

"Ah'm starving, ya know what's for dinner by any chance?" Applejack asked as they had almost reached the front porch of the house they both called home for so many years.

But in response to the question, all she received was a shake of his head. "Nope, Ah'm afraid Ah don't know." Then his nose started to do some work as he sniffed the air a couple of times and couldn't truly believe the thing he smelled. "Potatoes? Well that's gonna be interesting."

Applejack shook her head a couple of times as she almost didn't believe the words that he spoke. "P-Potatoes? Now Ah've seen everything," she mumbled to herself before proceeding through the door and into the house. Little did she knew, just what would have been served on their dinner table that very evening.

Time came and went as Applejack leaned against the sill of her bedroom window and sighed a little bit. The skies were filled with the stars and the moon shining brightly there was a faint smile could be found below the muzzle of the mare. She seemed to have been content with her life as it was. And who would disagree with that fact? She had everything her heart would have desired.

The smile was cracked up a little bit further even before she jumped away from the sill and slowly walked over to her bed to get some much needed rest. The following morning would be a busy day for her as well as her little sister. But the next day seemed to be so far away that moment in time.

Applejack then crawled inside her bed and took her hat off of the blanket for a moment and held it in her hooves. That very hat had determined her personality for years already and through time, one usually didn't saw the other without. It had seen its fair share of adventure and every time she thought it was about to fail her, it managed to keep itself together.

Almost as if it was a true wonder hat. Not that the mare complained about it though, for she had so many fond memories thanks to it already but there would be coming just so many more if she wanted. And that was the spirit that the cowgirl had, she wanted to gain more memories, she wanted to do more things. There was a lot that could be said about Applejack but honest and determined were two words that would describe her at best.

The smile still occupied her face as she placed the hat on her nightstand and snuggled in against the blankets and her pillow. She was tired as all ponies could ever be. While her green rimmed eyes closed themselves off from the world, it didn't took her all too long before she was off into the realm of the dreams. Dreams that were created by nopony else then the princess of the night herself. But little did she knew, that there were going to be turn and twists everywhere.

The night came and went fairly much like every other day and without any nasty surprises. Weren't it for the fact that Applejack woke up a bit more tired than she usually would have been. Though it wasn't anything to bow down for. It was the biggest day of the week for her and preparations needed to be made by the lots of them. The cowgirl managed to hoist herself out of bed and calmly left her room in order to make the small journey to the bathroom.

There she would lock the door and start her early morning routine. Everything got done from her teeth to the mane. Applejack almost looked like the role model farmer after she left the bathroom again and glanced out of the only window in the hallway. The darkness still consumed the land and it indicated her that everything was still going on schedule. Not to mention that a splash of cold water to the face seemed to have done some miracles as well. For she felt herself everything but tired anymore.

Yet the time to think about it wasn't there as she made a quick and simple breakfast for herself in the kitchen. One slice of bread with cheese and a glass of apple juice was used to start the day, it had been her morning starter for years and it seem like she would be changing it any time soon.

With every single pony inside of the house and in pretty much the whole of Equestria still being vast asleep was Applejack one of the very few who was wide awake and ready to work. Which began by loading the sacks if apples on the cart for the market that would be starting in an hour or six.

Her hooves managed to carry her over to the barn with a small hop into them. She felt herself truly on top of the world and if she could be taking on both the celestial and lunar guards with nothing but her bare hooves.

And it was something that had showed itself in the speed with which she managed to fill the cart up. Everything seemed to be done as quick as possible, because when the cowgirl was done, she wiped some of the sweat off of her forehead and leaned against the side. Only to look right past the doors of the barn and into a still darkened Equestria.

It was something that caused her to smile and chuckle at the same time. "Well who would have thought! Woohee, never got the job cleared that fast, not with this amount of bags anyway," the mare spoke proudly to herself before bumping her chest with a forehoof. The scene was almost like she gave herself a pat on the back. Yet the massive amount of work that she had moved in apparently such a short amount of time had caused her to run on nothing more but just fumes of her breakfast.

The work moved had made her tired again and with the moon still out, a quick little shuteye didn't seem to be all that harmful in her eyes. Which was pretty much the thing she was going to do. After a small yawn was released had the body of the mare dropped itself in a stack of hay and she curled up into a ball of fur. Only seconds later did the soft snoring of Applejack fill the barn and if the family needed her, she wouldn't be that hard to miss.

Though during her sleep there was the sudden feeling of something being wrong. Something almost fundamentally wrong that caused her to turn and twist in her sleep. It wasn't anything that she normally had when being asleep, but normally she would have been too tired to even more a muscle, let alone think. But that time it was different, something didn't add up for her and it drove her crazy to say the least.

From time to time she shocked up out of her quick sleeps but with the moon still being up even after the fifth time, the mare started to wonder just how long she had actually slept between each of the waking's. And why was there that faint hunt of burned wood in her nose? It couldn't be explained by anything, but it was just there and didn't sat her well.

So in order to get rid of any paranoid ideas or hallucinations did Applejack began on the work that was usually reserved for her brother to be doing. Which happened to be plowing the land. It was a tough job for certain but it at least would keep her busy until the sun would rise once more.

Applejack strapped herself inside of the harness and did use every ounce of muscle power that she had in order to move the plow through the soils. She crawled forth inch by inch while her eyes were more often looking at the stars than the distance she still needed to be going. Perhaps it was a good thing that she did that, for in the moments that she looked up, another thing was being noticed.

"What in all hay's name is going here? Unicorns at it again?" she muttered as she noticed something odd on the skies. Something that made her stop plowing and even step out of the harness. Everything she saw in the heaven high above her, were almost exactly as they were on the moment that she went to bed the other night.

It caused for utter confusion inside of the cowgirl as she started to turn around and look at the different corners of the wind. Applejack was almost certain that she had been standing in the wrong way and thus read the directions wrong. But her feelings of direction were all too perfect. She wasn't standing in any wrong direction or anything but the moon and the stars just hadn't moved in hours to end. "Now what in tarnation's going on here?! Luna been pissed again?" she questioned to herself while going after the available information. But with the moon locked in its position, it also caused the entire feeling of time to have just disappeared from the earth pony.

Perhaps that was why it didn't feel like much time had passed between the naps she made earlier in the barn. Perhaps that was why there was nopony else out there. They all must have thought about the same thing, that the moon was still out and that it was still in the night.

It seemed the most logical answer to her, but the moment she looked away from the moon itself and to the house where the rest of her family was still asleep, two sapphire blue irises revealed themselves among the stars. As if they had always been there, but their light was only visible for the fraction of a second. After it, it was all just dim again.

"This ain't Luna's work, now is it? Luna wouldn't be doing such things, would she? Nah…this, this has to be a trick played by Nightmare Moon or Discord. Ya never know where it goes with that clown." Applejack mumbled to herself in order to give herself some answers to the seemingly impossible questions. "Ah need to warn the others, now."

With those words spoken into the thin air had the cowgirl left the land and plow for what they were. Her green rimmed eyes moved themselves over to the house and gave a powerful nod to herself. Before she even knew it, her hooves were galloping over to the place. All while that scent of something being burned pierced itself deeper into her nose.

A scent that was being excused by something that stood on the stove for far too long and would in fact be, the first thing she wanted to find out once inside.

Her legs carried her over to the kitchen of the house in the darkness and could still smell the burning scent. But the moment she looked on both the stove and inside of the oven, there was nothing that Applejack could see that could possibly be leading to the source. "…What in tarnation?" the mare mumbled to herself before the search continued further on. At least the gas was off in the kitchen so it wasn't Granny Smith who had tried cooking again in the early morning.

Yet it still didn't felt good to her. "Gran? Mac? Bloom? Any of y'all hearing me?" she called out from the kitchen in a raised voice. A voice that would be powerful enough to travel through the ceiling of the building and thus coming over to the room where the other family members were asleep.

In silence from her own had Applejack waited a couple of seconds before she called out to them again. But once more there wasn't nopony who heeded her call. It was starting to scare the earth pony a little bit or perhaps more than she would have liked to admit to what was going on. The silence wasn't something she was used to, or ever would get for that matter.

Yet then she gave her ears the opportunity to do the thing they were really good at, and that was to listen. They just started to listen for even the smallest sound that was being made inside of the house. It was just dead silent in every last little corner of the building. Not even the mice or Winona the dog could be heard. It was in that stone cold silence that Applejack gained a stone cold shiver down her spine. For the situation only looked more and more somber from there on out.

"What's going on here..?" she question to not only herself, but also the house. Yet the only manner of finding the truth to any kind, was to go on an investigation. Whether she liked it or not. Determined to find the proof of what just had happened to not only herself, but her family as well, Applejack needed to inspect the upper levels. In fact, she needed to inspect the rooms that they slept in.

Not something she was looking forward to but it did mean would be having some more confirmation of the events. With a deep sigh had her eyes turned back up again before another nod was given. It needed to be done and she knew it all too well. Whether she liked it or not, it was the only way.

Her hooves brought her up the stairs as Applejack walked almost at the tips of her hooves. As the house was filled with silence, she tried to be as silent as possible as well before probably fighting for her life just to get back out. "For crying aloud, Ah can be in a cheap movie flick for all Ah know," was just one of the few comments whispered to herself before she was finally at the top of the staircase.

The green rimmed eyes looked to both sides and noticed how the only two doors that were actually open. Two doors which happened to be the door leading to her own bedroom and the bathroom. All the others were just closed as if they hadn't even come out of bed yet. It was something that gave the earth pony a bit of a mixture of feelings. At one end she was happy that they still could be inside of their rooms but the other one was a bit more sinister. With the scent of a fire or something burning still drilling itself in her nose, who knew just what she would be finding behind the doors.

All that the cowgirl could be doing was to hope for the best and pray on a miracle to happen for her. One that would be in her favor, that was. With a shake of her head did the mare turn herself over to the room where her beloved grandmother slept and walked quietly over to the door. Not wanting to disturb any privacy that the elder mare always wanted had Applejack first placed her ear against the door and closed her eyes in order to just listen.

Hoping to hear the sound of snoring to come out of there had caused the mare to set the hopes high already. But all of those hopes were being crushed as not even a breeze through the room was to be heard. It truly unsettled the cowgirl and as a final resort before breaking into the room, she decided to look through the keyhole.

As she looked through the hole was the darkness of the room and just a little bit of moonlight could be seen. Though it wasn't enough to determine whether or not Granny Smith was still in the room or not. So the option that she didn't wanted to do, had to be done. Her hoof placed itself on the doorknob and ever so gently started to turn it to the other way. And with a click had the door opened itself. Applejack released a small gulp before she continued to open the thing even further.

What she was presented with was the room of Granny Smith as she had known it for years. A room fairly much unchanged through time itself and the cowgirl took a couple more steps into the room. Her eyes looked all over the place in the vague hope to find her beloved aged grandmother. But in a room of that size, not much bigger than a standard bedroom with one exit, losing somepony inside of it seemed to be impossible. Resulting in Applejack having to come to the conclusion that her grandmother wasn't just gone but had vanished from the face of the land.

With the realization that had hit her, had the mare almost immediately left the room and left the door behind her open before lowering through her hunches. The feeling of vomiting was the one that dominated her stomach but the will was there to keep everything inside. It just didn't add up to her mind whatsoever. Everything she saw, everything she smelled, it just didn't add up in the equation that was going through her head.

But having her grandmother gone was one thing, if even her older brother and younger sister were gone, she would be in the most terrible kind of trouble than she could have ever imagined. But that still left the questions unanswered, and more added to the pile of them. "O-Okay Applejack, gotta keep yarself tough here. Perhaps, perhaps Gran's gone to the market already. Ah mean, the moon still in the skies like that while time goes on…" It was just another excuse to deny the facts to herself though.

With the courage returning to her mind and body, the mare walked over to the room of her bigger brother and repeated the process done before. Only to also having to open that door as the sounds and sights didn't prove anymore. Gently filled the screech of the hinges the haunted atmosphere and had the mare looking up at them. "Definitely some kind of horror flick, great. What's next? Ghosts of previous land owners? Puh, let'm come, Ah be needing some tough words with 'em."

Even though the words were tough, they only concealed the fear that was racing through the earth pony. For the exact same result was given to her once again. Once again she encountered an empty bedroom with not a single trace of the owner. Much like Granny Smith, even Big Macintosh himself had vanished from the face of the land just like that. Though it wasn't something that was truly right in the mind of the cowgirl. "Okay…if there are any ghosts involved in this madness, Ah want a word with y'all, right now!" she almost yelled into the thin air.

Next to fear had also anger been boiling up inside of her. An anger that would be needed to vent through somewhere, somehow. It would taking quite the bit of time before she would be normal again, but there still was that one last room to investigate. So the cowgirl released a couple of deep sighs through her nostrils before she left the room of her brother a lot less angry then she was before.

But that never took away the fears she had. For the final room of the building she needed to check, was the room of her beloved little sister. It was the room that scared her the most to even as much consider to enter, but the mare knew that she had to set aside her fears and tackle the situation head-on, even if she didn't wanted to do such a thing.

After having listened to the door of Apple Bloom's bedroom, Applejack once again heard nothing coming out of it. Which meant that there was only one more option that she could have done before opening the door. And that was to peek through the keyhole again. But every single time she did such a thing, she couldn't help it but to find herself almost being a burglar that was about to break into a place. Inside of her own house.

Privacy was something each of the family members was accustomed to and each of them respected that. So the chance was truly there that that caused some massive issues when thought about it. With another deep sigh that left through her nostrils had Applejack lowered her eyes to the hole and looked straight through it. Hoping to find something, if not anything.

A shimmer of darkness, a mare with a black coat or cloak could be seen standing right before the keyhole. To make matters worse it was Applejack who tried her utmost best to keep her mouth shut as the body of the being lowered itself. Seconds later she stood literally eye to eye with the eye of the creature. Applejack's green rimmed eye was staring right at an sapphire rimmed, cat like eye before it just disappeared into thin air.

Not wanting to waste a second had the mare just bashed through the door and stepped inside to sniff out the intruder. "Where are ya, ya little vermin?! Ah know yar in here somewhere!" she shouted into the room as her eyes became fixated into finding the being that looked straight into her soul. But as per usual that night, there was nothing that she discovered. Nothing, at, all.

The same could even be said for Apple Bloom as not even the little red maned, yellow coated filly laid in her bed. And to that took Applejack her hat off and placed it against her chest as her head dropped itself and she released a deep sigh. "This ain't happening, not to us," the cowgirl whispered to herself just before the eyes had shut themselves. She was almost drowning herself into the sorrow and guilt that had moved up in her heart.

Almost as if she placed all the blame for the entire family's disappearance on nopony but herself. There was nothing she could be doing or could have done though. She continued on with her life while the world around her stopped and its inhabitants vanished into thin air. "Am, am Ah the only one left?" Applejack questioned herself before she left the room of her little sister. With the hat still against her chest, the orange coated, blond maned earth pony walked over to her own bedroom and dropped herself on the bed.

The hat was finally released and it fell upon the blanket as Applejack just closed her eyes. She didn't even wanted to know what was going on anymore. She didn't know what to believe anymore either. Whether or not she was living a dream, or real life. But if it was a dream, why wouldn't she just being woken up? Yet if it was real life, what had truly happened to her family and why, why was she still present.

Only one answer could be found in her mind and it was a truly radical one. One that literally could have declared her crazy almost on the very spot. "Mah element." Applejack spoke in a whisper before she sat up right on her bed. "Mah element of harmony…" It seemed far fetched but given the circumstances of the events as they had happened it made a lot of sense to the cowgirl. That the power of her own element, the harmonic element of honesty had protected her from the purge that caused time to stop and the ponies to cease to exist. A truly insane idea but at the moment it was all that she could think of.

Yet the courage to go to her friends simply wasn't there. For her and especially at the moment, she didn't believe in the magic of friendship anymore. Not with her entire family being somewhere not even she could be understanding. Nothing, literally nothing in her mind had added up to find any logical explanations to the matters. Though the matter wasn't laid to rest yet. As every secret eventually had to surface, even Applejack knew that all too well.

And the secrets she was involved in, needed to be revealed preferably sooner than later. "What in the name of everything…has happened to this town?" the orange coated cowgirl questioned herself before another deep sigh was left through her nostrils.

All of the sudden and out of nowhere did the bells in the clock tower of Ponyville start to chime. But they didn't gave any specifics of time or date. No, the chiming of the clocks were for something much more saddening. For the tune they were playing was the one as they would have been doing during a funeral.

The ears of Applejack perked themselves up at the sound and she rose up from her bed. The silent thought of the tower being operated meant that there still would have been ponies around. Though perhaps the oddest of things had to be the fact that the chiming became louder and louder in her ears. All the way to the point that made it seem, like the tower was standing right next to the house.

The chiming became almost deafening for her and drove her even further over the edge of insanity itself. She started to go crazy and jumped off of her bed. The rhythmic banging of the bells wasn't something the mare was fond off and just wished it stopped. She cursed the words out like only a sailor would be doing as she slammed her door shut in order to escape the infernal sounds.

But just the door wouldn't have been enough. The window in her room needed to be blocked off as well. With a small gallop did Applejack arrive at the window and had her forehooves already curled up around the curtain as she looked outside. The scene that was presented to her was everything but the thing she had hoped for. For the mare saw four tombstones standing at the side of the pathway that was leading up to the house.

Disbelief was the emotion that was first going through her body. Out of everything that she had seen so far and with the clock tower still going, could it have been that she was watching her own funeral? Or at least her own tombstone? Frightened for her life had the mare carefully released the curtains and slowly walked back as if she was facing a manticore. She needed to go down, down to the pathway up to the house and discover just who laid buried on those exact places.

Not much later stood Applejack on the porch of the house with the scent of something having burned entering her nose once again. She didn't wanted to believe what she saw yet the cowgirl did a step forth without her hat. Watery lines had already formed themselves below the eyes of the mare as the distance between her and the stones was being shortened.

Every single step she took felt like she carried a ton of extra weight with her. Every last bit of her became as heavy as it possibly could have been. Unbelievable it was to say the very least. The sadness that she felt as she approached the stones and the chiming of the bells still ringing in her ears. The moment of truth was there and then, she could read each of the stones that were placed along the pathway and instantly knew, that they were tombstones. But the question remained, for whom?

It was a question that had a rather grim answer, even for a mare like Applejack. For each of the stones held the name from one of the family members. Granny Smith was the first, followed up by Big Mac, who on his turn was followed up by Apple Bloom. All three had died at the same date but the cause was never written down upon the stones. It only adding up to the pile of mystery.

"This, this ain't happening! They can't have died, all at the same darn day! It, it is not possible and Ah won't believe it! This, ain't, happening, ya hear me!" Applejack screamed at the top of her lungs, reaching a voice even louder than the clock tower itself. Sadness and anger had taken over her mind again, preventing her to think in any logical manner of speaking and acting. But everything taken into consideration, there still was that fourth tombstone. One whose name wasn't clearly to be read, but it seemed to have at least a bit more explanation on it.

"Ah'll get you for this Dash, only you are so sick to come up this kind of prank, vermin treatment for ya. No longer welcome on the Acres…" Only after those words were spoken did Applejack turn her head over to the remaining tombstone and started to read the texts. "Here lies, something, something, something, who was the last body to be recovered from the raging fire that destroyed the farm formerly known as Sweetie Apple Acres and therefore stopped the Apple Family bloodline in the serene town of Ponyville..? What in tarnation? Ah ain't dead yet and there certainly wasn't any fire, Ah just walked through the place before that bell started to…wait a minute."

The cowgirl began to listen deeply to the sounds around her and made the rather shocking discovery that the chiming of the bell tower had stopped. Total silence was the thing that dominated her nearby area but it was curiosity that filled her. She wanted to know, to whom that last name belonged.

With a couple careful wipes of the dust had the cowgirl managed to dust off the name and at the sheer reading of it, her eyes started to water up and a hoof was placed before her mouth as she gasped. For the very name that stood on the final tombstone, wasn't just any name. No, the name that she read below the dust was nothing else but her own name. "N-No! This, this ain't happening for real! Ah ain't dead! Ah ain't dead!" she shouted towards the skies high above before her eyes turned themselves over to the farm house.

But it only confirmed the story on the stone, for the scent of something having burned suddenly fell right on its place. The green rimmed eyes of the cowgirl looked at a still smoking and burned out Sweet Apple Acres. Everything she once stood for was gone in the breeze of a flame. A flame that didn't only claimed her own life but that of her family as well.

Everything she had been working just so hard for over like that…and she didn't even know. Knowing it was all over, the mare simply turned herself around and started to walk away from the scene. The only words that she spoke up were the once said already.

"Ah ain't dead yet!" Applejack screamed up as she flung all four of her hooves violently from side to side. The blankets of the bed were flung right off of it as both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie looked horrified to the bleak cowgirl. Whatever she had been dreaming about, it must have been equally as bad as the other two.

It had taken Applejack ten minutes to wake up after Fluttershy. Pinkie started to see a pattern in the waking's but with two mares still deeply asleep, it was only a matter of true time to see if she had it by the right end. All she could be doing there and then was to let Applejack come by from her frights.

Something that would be easier said than done. For the cowgirl had turned herself around and dumped her face in the pillow, sobbing as softly to herself as she could. Fluttershy couldn't speak a word because of how terrified she was and Pinkie had not a clue of what she could be doing. All they could be doing was waiting for both Twilight and Rainbow Dash to wake up. If they would be waking up to begin with.

With the sun in her face and a rainbow colored trail behind her was Rainbow Dash soaring through the skies without any care upon her mind in the entire world. Everything she needed to be doing for the day had been done and she was just enjoying the time off in the afternoon. Having both cleared the skies over Ponyville and participated in her daily Wonderbolt training had everything seemed to be going quite literally for the wind.

With the wind in her back and her wings flapping at their top speed before they would enter the procedure for a sonic rainboom was all that Rainbow seemed to be in the skies just this lightning fast rainbow. A rainbow that brought smiles on the faces of everypony who saw it. That was seconds before they gained frowns from the wind she carried with her.

Not that it mattered much to Rainbow as it was just a bit of wind that they had to be dealing with. They could handle a bit of wind, right? She seemed to be flying like a chicken without a head and thus seemed to be going into literally every possible direction, but that wasn't the whole truth. For she had a heading for herself inside of her head.

A heading that literally changed every few minutes but still was one. Eventually had even Dash more than enough of the troubles she had caused to herself and made the decision to fly a bit further north. To a place where only she seemed to be knowing about. A place where ponies weren't exactly allowed to come to begin with.

With a chuckle from her mouth did the daring cyan coated pegasus just made a run for it. Soaring through sky and cloud as if they were nothing as she had gone straight into the direction of the infamous Everfree forest. Ponies on the ground that saw her going, all nodded as if they were glad that the hurricane of wind finally would be coming to a stop. Thus allowing them all to enjoy the warm sunny day.

Time and time again did Rainbow look down to the woods themselves. Cruising at a safe altitude far away from the creatures below were her magenta red rimmed eyes gazing through the goggles. The sights she noticed through the thick vegetation were pretty much the usual events as they went down and about in the forest.

A forest that was feared by many ponies and for many reasons. When Rainbow continued to look, she could see all the dangers of the woods with her own eyes. Timberwolves, manticores, changelings and hydra's were just a few of the nasty creatures that had called the place their home. All of them pretty much the exact opposite of a pony, mostly in the fact that they all ate meat in order to survive.

It was something that caused Rainbow to shudder a bit in the air before her sight turned itself straight ahead again. She wanted to shake off the motions and emotions that had been moving her, because of the simple fact that she could almost taste the meat in her mouth. And it wasn't something pretty to say the least.

Wanting to make a barfing motion but knowing to keep her mouth shut while flying at such speeds as she did, she started to descend towards the ground below. For she had arrived upon the location she wanted to be. A location that most ponies would truly rather avoid than embrace. A location that was a constant reminded of one species that always was much more violent than any of the ponies could have ever thought.

The griffons.

Born in a cult of bloodthirsty creatures, the art of war was something the species loved more than anything. And Rainbow Dash got her first glimpse of that ever since she was in Cloudsdale High. For it was there that she met the griffon who became one of her closest friends for years to come, Gilda. That was of course until they broke their friendship for reasons Dash was still trying to figure out.

In the middle of the field it stood, the last structural reminder of just how amazing the griffon kind happened to be when it came to attack and defend strategies. A tower that went higher than the treeline of Everfree. So high in fact that on truly clear days the other edge of the woods could be seen. Though the age of the tower was something that concerned Rainbow every time she came there to collect her mind.

It was a relic from another era which was build nearly thirteen hundred years ago, three hundred years before Nightmare Moon even made an appearance. Everything that once laid around the tower was the massive fortress operated by the troops of the Griffon Empire that had been reduced to nothing more than just a pile of rubble. Before it was being forgotten through the clusters of time. Yet the lookout tower was the only remaining structure and would be serving eventually as some kind of memorial for both races.

The history behind the thing couldn't bring any more interest to Dash than watching snails race. All that she needed to know about the thing was the fact that it was as old as possible, rather unstable and gave an amazing view on days like she was having. Perfect to make her clear her mind from everything that was bothering it.

Having landed softly on the wood of the top floor from the tower, Rainbow Dash rose herself up on her hindlegs and moved the goggles up from her eyes. A smile formed itself below her muzzle as she allowed herself to lean against one of the brick support columns and just looked. She gave her magenta red rimmed eyes the time of their life in order to catch the sheer beauty of the plains that had been stretching themselves out right before her.

Usually not being a mare who could be bothered with such things, even she had to admit that the vantage points of the tower really were just that. Everything she saw was simply breathtaking. "Now this, this is just awesome." Rainbow whispered softly to herself as the smile only got bigger and eventually ended in a chuckle. Which on its own got again turned into a content sigh.

It seemed odd for a daredevil like her, to gain such an emotion by looking at a hilly side of grassy plains but in one way or the other she did. Ponies often spoke about the fact that even the busiest of minds needed to have a spot to calm down. Whether it was true was unknown but if it was would that tower abandoned by the griffons so long ago be the perfect place for a mare like Rainbow Dash.

It would have been hours and hours later that the cyan coated pegasus stood back in the living room of her cloud palace. With the wings given a final stretch and the moon standing high had the day be called a quits as another intense training with the Wonderbolts was standing at the program for the following day.

In her ears she caught the little propeller of Tank who then came flying downstairs. "Tanky boy!" Rainbow spoke up as her wings tucked themselves against her body. A smile formed itself on both the face of the tortoise as well as the pegasus before the two nuzzled one another. "You been a good boy today?" she spoke in a tone that she only, and only would speak in against an animal. That high pitched, ever so cute sounding tone that didn't fit her personality at all. Pretty much what Applejack had with Winona.

The two of them kept nuzzling for a bit longer before Tank gave the mare a lick on the nose. Something that caused her to giggle softly. "Okay, okay, I'm going to fill your food and water and then it's off to bed. Don't make it late either mister, early rise and shine tomorrow." Rainbow spoke up before the tortoise landed right on her back and she walked over to the kitchen to prepare the last few things.

Tank was given a little treat before Rainbow prepared his food, as well as hers for the next day. Time to be doing that wouldn't have been there and she knew that little fact just all too well.

When the time was there again, everything was done and Rainbow laid curled up under the blankets of her bed and was snoring softly already. But it was the tortoise who was still awake and looked at the mare. The propeller on his back came back to life and he slowly hovered over to the bed before just dropping himself pretty much on the spot he wanted to be. Right in between the hooves of the sideways laying pegasus.

A pegasus who in return softly wrapped the hooves around him. With a content smile he retracted his head back into his home where he would be falling asleep as well in peace. Unaware, that a few minutes later the rain would be starting to tick against the window. Rain that was the first signal of a massive rainstorm coming over them.

Yet when the morning came and the alarm of Rainbow went pretty much through the entire the room, the cyan coated pegasus was literally flung out of her bed. "Wha!" was the only thing she could bring out after her head had raised itself again over the bed. Devastated by the wake up did she turned herself around and rushed over to the bathroom in order to make herself up. Everything was done as she took perhaps one of the quickest and most multitasking showers she had ever taken in her life.

Only to after that and with still a wet mane and tail was her body slid straight into her Wonderbolt trainee outfit. Yet it was only after she had hoisted herself in the suit that her ears turned towards one of the windows. And the things she heard weren't the prettiest of them all. For all she could hear was the rain pouring out of the skies by the gallons. "Oh no…" Rainbow mumbled to herself as it was the only thing she could be thinking about.

Training in the rain was about the heaviest things that Spitfire would be allowing each of the trainee's to go through. Speaking about her, she stood there on the runway among the pouring rain with her admiral's outfit proudly being worn. The sunglasses were nowhere to be found but her sharp eyes looked at each of the just arrived trainee's. "Judging by the fact that each of you can hear, see and feel, I would say we are in for a training in the rain. And you all know what that means, don't we Snowflake?" she spoke up as she walked past each of the members but stopped by a massively muscled white coated pegasus. A pegasus with almost comically little tiny wings that amazed every single pony on the fact that he could fly with them.

"Yeah!" he roared literally in the face of Spitfire. Who on her own turn had to take a step backward and simply blinked a couple of times. She had expected everything to be happening when she approached him, expect for the thing that did happen.

Confused by the yell in her face did she shook her head a couple of time and continued along the line of trainee's. "Head to the bunker, search out your partner and report back to me in five. Move it! I don't have all day." On the command that was given were there nearly a dozen recruits who nodded and saluted to her before they were on their way to find the pony they would be flying with.

Rainbow Dash was of course one of the first to be leaving the scene and headed for the underground bunker. She had been standing in the rain for all of the time and not to mention the fact she had to fly to the academy through that same storm of rain. All of that combined had made her suit to become almost stuck to her body. It felt as if she had been sweating like she would after having done one hundred circles around the place, but they still had to begin their training. One thing was more than certain, it would be a terrible hard day to finish. And what would be she glad when it was finally over.

As she was in the bunker had Rainbow continued to listen to the world above but only caught the rain pouring down on the runway. "This ain't gonna be good," she spoke up softly to herself. But just as she thought it couldn't get any worse, it pretty much slapped her in the face as the roaring of thunder was clearly heard through the skies. "O-Okay, now it's bad."

But time to cower or shiver wasn't there as some of the other recruits had managed to come downstairs. "Dash," was suddenly spoken in the voice she knew all too well. With a sigh did the head of Rainbow turn itself up and looked straight into the eyes of her wing-pony. A wing-pony that was nopony else then Lightning Dust.

It was true that she had been fired from the academy because of her reckless behavior, but Spitfire somewhere saw the potential that the lime green coated pegasus had. Much to Dash her bickering was she shipped right with her. "What is it, Lightning?" the cyan mare muttered.

Ever since the incident couldn't the two go through one door whatsoever and their interactions showed it every single time. While in the air they could work as a team, in the ground they were literally each other's nemesis. It was something that added two worries to the mind of Rainbow. Lightning Dust herself, and the weather outside. Just great, absolutely fantastic, she thought to herself before she repeated the question.

"Drop dead and give me twenty." Lightning replied then with a devilish smirk on her face. And with that, she turned herself back around to finish up her own preparations. Preparations which Rainbow had been doing at home. For Lightning Dust wasn't even completely suited up for the training.

As much as Rainbow wanted to rub those exact words right back in the face of the mare yet the chance never given to her as a set of hooves walked down the metal stairs. A set of hooves that she knew all too well. The mare turned herself over into the direction of the stairs and they saw how the soaked Spitfire walked down to them. But she never came down all the way.

For just about on a quarter of the thing she came to a stop and looked over each of the recruits with a stern look. The vantage point given to her, caused her to smirk just before the rumbles of another thunder strike could be heard clearly. "Listen up buttercups! I'm going to give you all a few minutes to sit in the canteen before we begin. Pray upon your dear life this thunder is going to lay down then. Half an hour is all you got, then I want each and every last of you in formation of the runway, understood?"

"Yes miss!" each of the recruits yelled at her before they gave a salute.

"Good. At ease than." And with those words had Spitfire turned herself back around and walked back up on the stairs, leaving each of them in the bunker.

With each of them gathered up in the canteen where Dash and Dust remained as far away from one another as they possibly could. They didn't feel the need to discuss the tactics for the events to come. They never discussed anything together. In the eyes of all the others, it looked just like the two of them knew what they needed to be doing in the times they were needed. They completed one another in more than one way when they thought about it. The questions were asked time and time again through the ages, but neither of them wanted to answer them to the feather brains.

Yet both of the pegasi started to talk to a couple others in the hope to make the time go any faster. Rainbow had managed to get in a conversation with Thunder Lane who on his own had so his own ideas for the storm. "I don't think she will even let us go in this weather, I mean, the rate of lightning to sound is almost nothing. It's right over our heads. Not sure 'bout you Dash, but I'm not going up there in these conditions. And neither should you and…miss Grumpypants over there." He nudged his head over to Lightning and Dash couldn't do much else then to give him a chuckle.

"I will see if I go up there or not. I can outrun the lightning if I wanna. The only trouble I will be having with it all is indeed miss Grumpypants. Seriously, I can not understand why Spits even gave her to me." Rainbow replied to him as she looked him in the eyes. "Much rather somepony like Snowflake or you. True you aren't as fast, but at least you don't say I can drop dead."

That caused the black coated stallion to chuckle a bit to himself. "I can understand what you mean by that. But trust me, it ain't just you she has the pick on, it's the entire platoon."

"Platoon?" Rainbow repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"E'yup, we all are a platoon together. All the newbies together, came up with that ourselves one day." Thunder returned to her before his eyes lost contact with hers and looked over the runway. In his eyes he caught Spitfire giving some direction to a couple other instructors. Whatever she had planned out for the platoon, it would be bad for them all.

When the time was there to line up, each of the ponies in the group stood in the position and aligned on the runway. "Good, you soaked cups managed to be here on time." Spitfire spoke up as she stood in front of them all, that time with a hat and a raincoat covering her body. "You all are wanting to be Wonderbotls, you all are standing here to become one. But being a Wonderbolt is more than just the fancy shows we give, it also means that you have to fly through hell and back. And guess which weather it is today girls."

Upon hearing those words released each of the recruits gulps of fright with the exception of Rainbow and Lightning. "This storm, shall test each and every one of you to the fullest. Rain, hail, thunder, nowhere is safe in those clouds, everything you have learned will be put to the test."

Some of them already did a couple of steps back and shook their heads. Left and right where the mumbles spoken of not going. And it were the exact same words that Spitfire could understand. She was a bitch first class when she wanted to be but still had some sympathy for the lot. The fire maned mare rolled with her eyes as she gave a soft shake with her head. Only to have those exact same eyes fall back upon the platoon of ponies and speak her next words.

"For those of you who are saying I'm completely heartless against you all, I am not. Because I'm giving you the choice here. You can either go up there or go home! You're all first year students, and I don't expect you to go up there. Usually these tests are for your grand exam in three years. But complete them now, and you don't have to do them anymore. Any volunteers?!"

Her voice was louder than the strikes of thunder the rolled through the air and it caused most of the ponies to take steps back. The only ponies that were still in their places, were both Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust. But only because neither of them wanted to give away an inch of ground. Something that would be coming to them back in triple when the time was there.

Spitfire smirked at the two still standing and gave a nod to the both of them. "Dash, Dust, rain-gear, full outfit, meet back here in ten. The rest of you…go back to the bloody canteen and see where the mares are separated from the fillies."

Back in the depths of the bunker was Rainbow all too happy that she could exchange her soaked gear for something new and dry. The rain-gear was less aerodynamic for certain but it helped out in the weather a lot more. It was a small sacrifice that she made. But Lightning on the other end, she was just happy to be able to go in the air. Though the feud with her partner would still rage on.

The both of them were drying themselves off as quick as they could from their original outfit as Dust opened her mouth again. "You think you're such a hotshot, aren't you? But let me tell you, if those friends of yours didn't interfere with my plans, you would have been my wing-pony. Friends, what do you need with them anyway? Only one other pegasus and that seemed like a total wimp to me."

"Shut up, just hold those teeth of your upon one another, because you don't know them!" Rainbow replied before she dropped the towel. One last shake of her body was being made before she started to hoist her body into the rain-gear.

"Boo, hoo, hoo, listen to yourself, you big foal. You're nothing but a mare living on luck. Always have been! Well news flash big shot, you can drop dead for all I care. Get hit by a thunder strike and plummet back down to the land below. Makes at least some use for those friends of yours."

"You know what, you are a lot of talk, but when it comes down to it..." Rainbow turned herself around and pressed her head right against that of Lightning. The magenta red rimmed eyes seemed to becoming even more redder because of the fires that were raging into them. "You're all just bluffing because one mistake, gets your flanks fired and to never return."

"Ladies, quit your blabbering at once!" the stern voice of Spitfire spoke up through the bunker as she stood again on the stairs. "Two minutes, then I want you in the air." Before either Dash or Dust could even reply to the words was the yellow coated pegasus already on her way up.

The urge to head-butt her wing-pony was there for certain but the act was never done because somewhere had Rainbow still some sort of sympathy for the lime green mare. So instead were the foreheads separated from one another again and the preparations were finished. The goggles were placed before her eyes and Rainbow gave one last look to herself in the mirror.

Happy with the way she looked, she gave herself a small nod. Yet only then she peeked over to Lightning in the mirror. And it was in that fraction of a second that they both looked into the mirror, Rainbow got the scare of her life. For Lightning Dust wasn't the one she knew. Her body had turned into that of a unicorn with a set of eyes that were creeping up to her.

Cat like irises and that haunting blue coloring. It was something she couldn't believe and shook her head rapidly from side to side to side. "You okay?" Lighting asked as she noticed the events.

"Yeah, yes, let's, let's go to the runway." Rainbow replied as she gave her head a little rub before turning over to the staircase. The time to show Spitfire just what the two were worth was there and she wouldn't let her down in any way. Too much she had been risking already to become part of the Wonderbolts and now, now she wanted to continue that fight with every last ember in her heart. The time would be there and they both knew it.

When the two of them arrived at the runway was Spitfire waiting for them at the start and they both galloped over to her to hear the briefing. "Alright ladies, what you are going to be doing is a normal reconnaissance trip. The buoy's should still be in the air. It's not the hardest trip but you need to be watching out for the lightning. Complete the course as quick as you can, am I clear to you?"

Both of the pegasi gave a nod to her who then nodded in return. "Good luck buttercups." And with those words she turned around before she walked away from them. The two of them would be on their own from there on out until the course was completed. Whether it be through one way or the other.

Dash and Dust looked at one another and managed to somehow set their differences aside and simultaneously gave a nod to the other before they faced down the runway. And in sync with one another they started to galloped over the runway with their wings spread out. Battling the wind and rain already had the two managed to come off the ground like it was nothing and made a steep curve to the left in order to start their course.

They soared through the skies with everything they got while keeping the other in the corner of their eyes. There where Dash wanted to fly harder and faster, she wasn't allowed because she then risked losing Dust through the thick and black clouds. It was a massive give and take relationship where the two went through as the circled around the entire floating complex a couple of times to find the first buoy.

With all the other ponies safe bunked down in the canteen, they saw the duo flying by a couple of times and declared them crazy right there on the spot. But it didn't matter just what they thought of them as Dash and Dust had their own agenda to keep up. Which was changed by the fact that Dust nudged Rainbow in the sight and pointed to the very first buoy in the air. The cyan coated mare nodded in return and they were both off towards it.

Meanwhile on the ground was Spitfire keeping a close eye on the two through a set of binoculars. Around her were the other instructors that were just there in order to make certain that the lightning wouldn't come crashing down right on top of them. Yet through the binoculars had Spitfire managed to keep the two of them in check and followed them as they traveled from airborne buoy to buoy. It even came down to the very point that she seemed to be content and even happy with the performances of the two mares.

Vocal directions couldn't be heard at the altitude they were flying on especially with the wind and rain roaring through the ears. Everything they did to communicate was done perfectly by the books. "I haven't seen this kind of flight in years from first grade cadets," she whispered to herself.

Everything seemed to be going pretty much perfect in the skies themselves. Both Dash and Dust evaded the lightning that was thrown at them like it was nothing and managed to find the marks time and time again. The differences set aside and the minds in sync with one another truly did some wonders for the mares. If it wasn't for the bitching attitude of Dust, it would have been a match made in heaven for Rainbow.

Speaking of the heavens, those were as gray as they possibly could have been and it worried the pegasus to no end. Every single second there was something or anything that could be going wrong and they would be forced down to the ground. Something that had already happened without them knowing.

For back on the ground had the wings of Spitfire opened themselves in surprise as she went over and over on the particular spot of where she had seen both of the mares for the last time. "This is impossible, this can't be happening!" she spoke up softly to herself while the eyes continued to look through the binoculars. "I lost… I lost them!" Spitfire yelled aloud before she turned herself over to the other instructors. "You, you and you, go up there and find them. They should be going to the eleventh buoy by now. Hurry up and get them back!"

With a nod given by the appointed ponies did they all spread their wings in order to leave the safety of the runway. But just as they wanted to get out of the way to hit the skies there was something else managed to scatter them all across that same runway. For literally not three hooves behind them was a massive thunder strike happened whose electric discharge was enough to knock the ponies over.

Spitfire hoisted herself off from the concrete runway and shook her head. "Stay on the ground! It's too dangerous to go up there and pray to Celestia for those buttercups." It was about the wisest thing that she could be doing in the situation. Sending more of her ponies up there would only result in more losses. Dash and Dust knew the dangers of the track all too well, but still they went with the plan. "Everypony inside, now!" Spitfire yelled as she glanced one last time to the skies above.

Though she saw nothing. Not even a shimmer of the mares that were racing through it. She took a deep sniff to inhale the air and turned herself slowly around. Without a word she walked back to the main building and straight into the canteen to join the others of the platoon. Though also to perhaps manage to capture a glimpse of the two that were still high in the skies.

Spitfire wasn't quickly afraid when it came down to a training or anything the like but at that moment, after being flung through the air by an electric discharge for the first time in her entire life, she was scared. Her posture and face perhaps didn't gave it away but the eyes screamed as loud as they could.

But where on the ground it was thought to be bad already, high up in the skies it was even worse. For literally every few agonizing seconds after one another had either Rainbow or Lightning to evade another bolt that was being shot down towards the ground. The both of them knew that they couldn't finish the course in the condition they had to be flying in. It was a tough call for Rainbow to make, but it was better if they tried to just get back down to the ground or the runway of the academy.

Dash turned herself over to Dust as one of her hooves pointed down. At first the other mare didn't understood just what was meant with it and shrugged in midair. But after a couple of hoofgestures made by Rainbow and her even pointing to a lightning bolt that traveled through the skies, Dust got the massage.

The lime green coated mare nodded to the purposed offer and would be following Rainbow in the descend. They wanted to get as low as possible, as fast as possible. Though it would be something that was a lot more risky. For as a pegasus plummeted out of the skies, especially during a thunderstorm like they were in, they would becoming the most perfect lightning conductors.

It was a tiny mistake that Rainbow didn't notice and they just did it. Even Lightning Dust herself went down with the cyan mare. For not even she knew that little fact. It would be a price that the both of them needed to be paying.

The two of them were in luck as they rocketed down straight towards the runway of the academy. With the wind howling in her ears could Rainbow only have caught the sounds of a bolt crashing perhaps a little bit too nearby of them and she only increased in speed. For some reason she didn't check behind her if Lightning Dust was okay or possible even there still. All she cared about at the moment was making it down to the ground.

Eventually pulled Rainbow back up in to the skies to drop her terminal velocity and approach the runway in order to make a safe landing. It would be something took her a bit more time but it was better than crashing right into the thing. Soaring through the skies while her velocity lowered itself and one last turn being made in order to make the approach to the runway.

A runway on which she touched down almost perfectly according to the books and gave her wings a couple of last flaps before tucking them against her body. Yet as she had landed upon the massive runway yet in the distance she saw all the other ponies in the platoon rounding up around something. Something that stood close to the edge of the floating rock.

Curiosity was the only thing that started to flow through her body before she heard another strike coming down with a crushing sound. It startled her a little bit, but she still went over to the place of the other ponies. She wanted to know just what happened. Could it have been that another pony tried the course in the storm or had Spitfire fainted from just how they both soared through the skies?

Again without looking where Lightning Dust happened to be walked Rainbow over to the group of ponies and the first set of eyes she looked into, where those of Spitfire and they were everything but happy. "How could you have forgotten your place buttercup! Always, always communicate with your partner no matter what you're planning to do!" she shouted right in the face of Rainbow. The pegasus genuinely had not even a single clue of what was going on.

Spitfire simply huffed in her face before she turned herself around and pushed some of the recruits to the side. Only to reveal the very thing they were looking at to Rainbow herself. With the thing clearly visible in her eyes, she couldn't believe it for one bit. Almost instantly she began to hyperventilate and reach for her mouth and chest. The hoof couldn't make the decision but eventually was placed on the goggles to move them away from the eyes.

It seemed to be just so impossible to what she was looking yet the truth was there as clear as she would ever be getting it. Dash dared to take a step or two forward to have a better look. It was that it rained just as hard as it did, otherwise the tears that she had could be clearly seen inside of her eyes. She was a the brink of crying and for good reason, she had hunted somepony straight into death itself.

For the thing each and every soul out there was watching towards, happened to be the body of Lightning Dust. One of her wings burned to nothing but a crisp as the body itself, was unnatural flat. "N-No," was all Rainbow could say to it at first. "S-She was, she was right behind me, I swear!"

"Well apparently not cadet Dash! Because she is laying here on the runway lifeless, you killed her Rainbow, simple as that!" Spitfire growled towards the cyan mare. A mare who couldn't believe the thing she had done there and then and did the only thing she could be doing in her own eyes.

Carefully she walked over to the edge of the floating rock and gulped. "If, if she dropped to her death because of me, what good to the world am I then? I don't deserve to be a captain of anything. I'm sorry everypony…"

"Don't, you, dare!" Spitfire yelled at her as she rushed over to Rainbow. But she was too late, by the time that she was there in the hope to grab Rainbow, was all she had to be air and looked over the side of the rock. Then she saw Rainbow falling and gaining speed with her forehooves placed against her wings. They couldn't open themselves and with the tail literally between her hindlegs it meant that she had given up on everything. "No!" Spitfire yelled before Rainbow disappeared in the dark clouds and another zap of the lightning could be heard.

Without a warning to anypony were the blankets under which Rainbow laid flung up and the pegasus suddenly sat upright in the bed with her wings spread. She panted like an animal and the only pony who looked at her was Pinkie. Digressing of just why she looked almost right away, Rainbow started to inspect her body left and right to see if everything was still there.

"It was, it was just…a, a nightmare," the cyan coated pegasus mumbled to herself before she chuckled in a stuttering manner to herself and dropped back in the bed. But it did confirm the theory of Pinkie. For Rainbow had woken up ten minutes after Applejack which meant that over another ten, Twilight would be woken up from her nightmare.

While the sun was still standing in the status of the high afternoon, Twilight Sparkle left the Golden Oak library for the thing that it was and started to make her daily round through the town of Ponyville itself. She needed some form of refreshment going through her mind. For hours upon hours had she locked herself deep inside of the basement of the place while working on something that apparently was so secret that not even Spike was allowed to know what it was. Something she had been working for months by that point in time and managed to keep just so secret.

Though as with all the secrets that involved the mulberry unicorn, they would eventually surface by one way or the other and whether she liked it or not. More often than not it was actually her own little assistant who managed to take care of that. Sniffing around her experiments before discovering the notes and scrabbles of writing. Those would eventually be played through to any higher authorities. Whether it have been friends of Twilight or the royals themselves.

A mad scientist was the thing she had been called numerous times because of her experiments. They had all the right to call her that way though she had been doing also a true good deed for Ponyville in the year that she had been living there. It seemed to be a mixed bag about what the folk thought of Twilight. But with her being one of the elements of harmony, and it being magic no less, nopony dared to accuse her in the wide open where she could call upon every last ounce of her powers.

With no clouds in the skies was Twilight simply walking through the streets and lanes of Ponyville with her head sunken in thoughts. From time to time she would be returning to the world of the wake in order to avoid any incoming traffic or to look just where she was. For the rest did those purple rimmed eyes just irradiate that endless stare. A stare that didn't only look to the soul of a pony, but also far through it. Uncomfortable feelings it indeed gave but ponies looked quickly the other way when they saw her approaching.

Not that it meant much to Twilight herself as she was just going about she had set out to do. Her heading seemed to change every so often though. For the busy streets of the town just didn't gave her that freedom to truly topple herself into the realm of her mind. She needed to be going someplace quiet and serene in order to sort the matters out that troubled her.

Thus the only direction she could be going in order to do that, was the hillside. And it wasn't any hillside. In fact, it was the hillside where probably her unicorn nemesis had made her home. "Ugh…I just hope I don't encounter her again." Twilight mumbled to herself before she continued along the path to get to the hills of Ponyville.

Once having arrived upon the site she needed to be had the mulberry unicorn calmly walked along the side of a steep hill and reached the top quicker than she could have expected for her feeling. Yet it was worth it already as everywhere she looked it was the same sight. Not a single pony to be found and the sounds of nature were all quiet. It seemed to be the perfect place for her to think and that was exactly what she was going to be doing.

The eyes of Twilight closed themselves completely shut and she took long breaths in and out while emptying her mind from everything there was. That was with the exception of the matter she needed to solve. A matter that laid a little bit sensitive to her, as she had been researching to for so long already.

Her mind delved itself into a deep trance like state as her body just remained idle on the position. Hunched on her hindlegs, the unicorn just sat there like a statue. A statue that was breathing in and out every so often and deeply. But she wasn't alone in the hills, for an azure coated mare slowly made the approach to Twilight.

Her cornflower blue mane hung off to the side as the eyes of the other mare kept themselves peeled upon the mulberry unicorn. Minute by minute passed by before she stood eye in eye with her beloved nemesis. It was something that caused her to chuckle to herself really. A chuckle that slowly transported itself over to the words of speech. "Well, well, well, look at what Trixie has found here, has Twilight…hey, you even listening to me?" Trixie spoke up before she waved her hoof in front of Twilight.

There wasn't any response she got out of the unicorn and rose an eyebrow to it. "What in the name of..?" Only then she started to frail both of her forelegs as fast as she could before the eyes of Twilight. In the hope to somehow get her to open the things and look at her. To let her witness just how great and powerful Trixie happened to be.

At least that was the desired plan as for no matter what Trixie managed to be doing, it had not a single effect upon Twilight. "Of course I could end you here and now, but where's the fun in doing that now, hm? Hmhmhm, we shall meet again Sparkle, awake hopefully." Trixie smirked before she messed up with the mane of Twilight a bit.

When the mane looked like she wanted to have it, Trixie snickered to herself and then just left the mare alone again. The sun had been setting and that meant that she needed to go home quickly. For not even the hills were usually safe from the predators of Everfree. "Trixie shall see you, again," the mare chuckled to herself before she booped the nose of Twilight and then was just gone. Gone in a plume of smoke as if she had never been there to begin with.

Though it was only after the moon had been raised for almost a quarter over the skies that Twilight woke up from her trance and slowly opened her eyes. A slightly annoyed groan was the first thing to leave her mouth before she dropped her head a little bit. Though it would have been than that she discovered a piece of mane that fell before her right eye. A piece of mane that usually didn't needed to be hanging there.

"…Now what's this?" Twilight mumbled to herself as she inspected the flock of hair a bit better and noticed the shape almost immediately. "Very, very funny Trixie." Twilight mumbled to herself as she got up from her position and turned herself around. The mulberry mare allowed her horn to be coated in the raspberry pink coloring as she conjured a mirror in front of her her and looked through it.

The thing that she saw was just as what she thought it was going to be. Her entire mane had been literally reshaped and given the style Trixie always wore. A style that she personally hated and everypony pretty much knew about it. With an annoyed grumble that left through her mouth had the horn increased itself in the levels of magic just a bit more while her entire head disappeared in an orb of light.

It took only a few seconds before the orb shattered again into nothing but tiny fragments and what was revealed was a much better sight. For the style of Trixie was just gone and replaced with the style that Twilight always wanted to have. Or better said, the style she was used to.

Yet it did help her out to come out there, perhaps she hadn't solved the matter that she wanted to but at least she had been in the outside world for a couple of hours. And that was something that felt truly good to her. Her mind was fresh once again and she seemed to be thinking sharp again.

It would be something that she needed to be putting to the test sooner or later for the night was out and all she wanted to do was to snuggle up in her bed and fall asleep with the starry skies falling through her window.

Which was exactly what happened to her in the end.

The following morning was the sun rising bright and early as Twilight opened her eyes after a -what seemed to be- short night of little sleep. Her body rose itself up from the bed and she released a deep groan. The eyes looked through the room and noticed that Spike didn't happen to be in his basket. It was something that caused the mare to raise an eyebrow and mumble some inaudible gibberish to herself.

Though the time to stay in bed wasn't there anymore as she needed to be out and do her things. For she wanted that her experiment in the basement would be working as she intended it for once. With another yawn she managed to get out of bed and shook her head a few times after her hooves made contact with the floor. It was in the corner of her eyes that she caught something that wasn't there the night before.

Curiosity was the emotion that managed to take a hold of the mare and she slowly approached the desk she most of the time worked on. Because on top of all the scrolls, schematics and books, laid a letter. A letter that was written in the handwriting of Spike and was addressed to her. "What was so important that he had to write it down for me, instead of just telling me it straight to the face?" Twilight mumbled to herself before her head started to pound its way into her skull. She needed to be wide awake if she wanted to truly understand the letter, and at the moment she happened to be everything but that.

"I'll read it after breakfast, first a shower," the mulberry mare spoke up to herself as she released a deep yawn and started to go over to the bathroom. There she would be preparing the tub for a moment of utterly waking up. Not to mention taking a well-earned shower. Because after the waters had been filled into the tub itself took Twilight a deep smell over her coat and the scent that it gave off was everything but something pretty.

She quickly made the discovery that she smelled like a rotten egg or close to it. "Blegh, perhaps that is why he went away." Twilight said to herself as she pressed a hoof against her nose. It was something that caused her to jump into the tub even faster than normal. After a couple minutes of having gotten used to the warm waters, Twilight started to wash herself with both her hooves as well as her magic to reach the hard placed like her entire back.

The warm waters helped to wake her up in a gentle manner and seemed to be doing its job a lot better than cold water. Cold water was fine for her, if she needed to be waking up quickly. But on that day, she could luckily take all of her time.

And taking her time was what she did, for she had been laying inside of the tub for nearly an hour before making the decision to get out of it again. With the waters dripping from every side of her body had Twilight allowed her horn to charge itself up and suddenly could the warmth of the sun be felt reflecting upon her coat.

What she had done was placed a couple of mirrors on strategic points around her body which amplified the light of the sun to such an extent that it would actually be drying her coat and mane. It was an ingenious little system that she had for herself and she loved it. As not a single towel would be used in the crying process. That was of course with the exception for the one used in her mane.

Either way, with the towel wrapped around her mane and tail, Twilight hummed softly to herself as she summoned a slice of bread, a cup of tea and the letter to herself while descending from the stairs down to the magically locked basement. A basement where she truly didn't wanted and needed anymore to be snuffling around. While the slice of bread and the tea were being consumed were the locks of the door undone from themselves and from one another. Only then was the heavy basement door slowly opened for herself.

Twilight walked through the created opening and closed the door again while even locking it up as the letter was placed upon the desk. Her horn discharged itself while her eyes looked over a device she had been working on for just such a long time. Months of her time had been placed into it and she just wanted it to work so badly. Though it was also a massive risk that she carried with her as nopony knew just what she was building down there. Not to mention the fact that whatever it was, it was strict illegal by the orders of princess Celestia herself after she discovered just what her student was working on.

But it never seemed to have stopped the crazed mulberry mare. For she had continued to conduct the experiment in secret. For she knew that she was just so close to fining the tunes and working out the faults. All that she needed was more time and that was just the thing she gave herself. "My little, illegal brainchild." Twilight spoke up with a smirk as she petted the cold exterior of the steel device.

A device that seemed to be like a doorway which was hooked up to a variety of machinery. Machinery all powered by her magical ability and seeming capable of doing all sorts of readings. "Today is going to be the day that I shall manage to get you to work, the way I had designed you all those months ago." Her hoof continued to stroke the device while the grin calmly faded away.

With a quick turn she realized that the letter still laid upon the desk and the priority was to read that before doing anything else. For the risk was there, that Spike could have discovered her plans one way or the other and that the content inside that very letter which seemed to be a threat if she continued.

It seemed a little bit paranoid, but paranoid and Twilight had been holding each other's hooves since she was accepted on the school for the gifted unicorns. And the only manner to discover just what it said was to open it up and read it for herself.

With a confident nod was the letter levitated over to her and opened. With her purple rimmed eyes she started to read through the content and didn't even seem to be blinking one little bit.

It was odd for her, but the letter itself was basically a vacation application. "So…he's gone to Canterlot and pay a visit to the royals. Right then, means I have free game and not him walking before my hooves. Should be a walk in the park than." Twilight spoke up to herself after she had read through the letter multiple times before it was laid aside.

Then she turned herself back around to the device and the gaze in her eyes turned itself over to a stern one. "Which makes it only you, and me." Her horn charged itself up a bit more as all sorts of scrabbled notes were being levitated closer towards her and formed nice little stacks.

She had to run through everything, one last time and see the places she had gone wrong before even attempting to turn the thing on again. Because one mistake not seen could be the end of her existence as she knew it. If not worse.

Minutes had turned themselves into painfully long hours as Twilight had finally plowed through all of her notes and scrabbles while connecting every last bit together in order to get the device up and running. Calculation after calculation had been by her mind up to the point she was getting just utterly sick of them. Yet even with the hours of tinkering she seemed to be getting it the right way. There must have been this one little thing she seemed to be missing.

It was truly just driving her over to the brink of insanity, or far beyond it. She wanted to continue so badly on her brainchild but through some reason she wasn't allowed. Not to mention that there had been a chewing feeling of something not being there the entire time she had been working upon the calculations. Something that was of a rather great importance to her and something she couldn't have been missing whatsoever. Something so small yet seemingly so decisive.

As if the light bulb was being screwed unto her head as the lights suddenly turned themselves on in her brain. Twilight knew almost exactly the thing she needed the most in the moment and even thought she had cracked the formula of what she needed. With a hop in her legs, she walked over to the table and shoved everything aside that wasn't of need to her.

Soon after that she ended up with a black colored notebook and opened it with the help of her magic as a pencil was being levitated over. On an empty page she started to sketch out the situation as it always had been for her and how she wanted it to be. The first drawing had the device turned on with a window that was cracked, while the other had one that was in one piece.

"Time and space aren't fixed you stupid mare! They are in flux! Always on the move and changing with every single second." Twilight explained to herself as the notebook was laid down again and she placed both of her forelegs upon the edge of the table. The legs stretched themselves straight, raising her body over the table as the pencil kept on going. "So if the portal is wanting to be working, I don't need a solid window to look through…I need a flexible one. One that is like…bubblegum, rubber band? No, no, no, bendable clear plastic? Might be good enough, but that still doesn't protect me from the radiation, not to mention if they can see me peeking in."

That was the purpose of the device, to look into the past and future of an alternative universe that always walked parallel to the one she lived in. The changes on the other side of the great unknown where just some of the things that she wanted to discover. In a manner of speaking had Twilight been wanting to invent nothing else but time travel outside of a spell and without physically traveling back through it.

It was already pretty obvious of just why Celestia had forbidden her to conduct the experiment but she was just so close to getting it right. The sheer determination that Twilight had for the project as whole was unmatched by anything. Having not only build the device from scrap but also done the math all by her own with a bit of help from scrolls found in the libraries of both her own and Canterlot, it seemed to be possible.

But seeming to be possible and being impossible were two different things in life. What could happen in theory, doesn't have to work in the real world and vice versa. But it was too much for Twilight to not give up. Everything she had been doing just proved to her that it would work. All that was needed was the stuff the time window was going to be made from, and that was the thing she had almost cracked.

Though it would raise only more questions than answers. If she would be finally able to turn the thing on, would the other side not cause too much troubles for her mind? Would the other side not be able to see her? And what if the other parallel world happened to be nothing but a barren wasteland caused by some kind of time triggered event? All of those questions would arise the moment she had fully worked out the formula she was working on the very moment.

Ponies could have called her truly insane for the very thing she would be attempting. And they would have been backed up by her friends, mentor and other princesses of Equestria. For the fate of the other worlds was something to be remained unknown and uncertain. But Twilight was a mare who rather had the questions of her mind answered in any way of the word, then to be left without any.

A good answer was just perfect but a bad answer still happened to be one. Whether it was actually liked or not by her. Minutes had passed by as she continued to break her mind over the matter of the flexible glass to watch through. Many things had be coming up in her mind, but all of them just didn't cut it as it wouldn't have been granted the same ability to look clearly through it.

Even though she had been going through all the materialized objects in the world, there still was one powerful arcane spell that most likely would be the thing she needed. It wasn't something she came up with fast, as the spell wasn't that often used. It was actually something that came to light the moment she started to think about if the solution could be found in her magical arsenal. Which from the looks of it, it apparently could.

Another hour had been used to carefully construct the formula that was required for the arcane shield to be made as the flux window for the device. Small bottles were eventually being filled with a liquid that should be just enough to create the shield on certain placed. Each of the little bottles was then proceeded over to one of the many glass bubbles that hung on the outside of the doorframe connected to muzzles inside of it.

All rather high-tech stuff for even Twilight but the bells were being filled up to their max. Once that was done had Twilight set each of the little bottles back on the table and released a deep sigh through her mouth. "This is going to be it, the moment of truth and to see who happened to be right on the matter." the mulberry mare softly spoke to herself as she placed the goggled before her eyes.

Her body already being protected with the labcoat, the goggles should be protecting her eyes as her horn charged itself up to heights never seen before to power up the monstrous device. Prayers in the tongue of the ancient unicorns were made by Twilight as the roaring engines came to life again. While she was used to their sounds, it would have been the first time for everything to just come together at once. And the first time to see, if everything had been worth the effort.

Power rushed through the machine as the indicators gave off their measurements as the paper with the, what seemed to be seismic activity, rolled out of the edge of the machine. Trembles and roars of the thing were being made as she had been standing before it so many times that she could almost dream the procedure.

All that was left for her to do was to pull the massive switch on the side and watch the window to be created before her eyes. At least that was the plan she had in mind. For in the world of science, anything could happen. And Twilight knew that fact just all too well. But she either truly determined or utterly stupid, for her hoof started to reach out for that switch.

Before she could even know what was happening, she pulled the switch.

All the liquids that were in the glass bubbles were sprayed through the doorway and caused a massive show of light to emerge. Almost as if she had created a raspberry thunder storm in the doorway, that was how it looked like. Though it wasn't a moment to celebrate for had been standing there for so long, at that exact point. For it was the point where previous tests always seemed to have failed.

Yet she had the feeling that the test she was doing then was different then others. That it would actually succeed upon that what she was hoping to achieve. The mare did a couple of steps back as she heard them once more. Those eerie voices. Voices that seemed to be coming from the other side. Voices that didn't drill themselves through her skull for once but could be picked up as normal conversations.

"It's working, it's working!" Twilight whispered to herself as the white rays of lightning only seemed to becoming more and more intense. Not that it prevented Twilight from opening the darkened pieces of her goggles and thus allowing her true eyes, to look straight into the creation. "It's, it's beautiful," the mare whispered as she couldn't believe what she was.

It made her even forget the many whispers what where going through her mind. It even made her miss something quite obvious. The sheer fact that the lightning itself, created an image of a head. A head of a mare that shouldn't be alive. The head, of the nightmarish entity.

The triumph that she had achieved thus far was something went way past the dreams of Twilight already. But the experiment was long from being over. Everything seemed to be going just as it was needed to be or even better on some other parts. It seemed to be unbelievable, even to a mare like herself. Everything she had been working towards were waiting on that unpredictable lightning.

For that would be the deceive factor in the whole case. Of the lightning managed to calm itself down and form a window shape which then she could know for certain whether or not her time and effort had been a success. But even if it was a fail was the lightshow on which she was treated with something that was worth it already. Never in her life had she seen something that beautiful and she doubted if she would be seeing it again.

The indicators suddenly started to make their sounds and Twilight was brought out of the dream with force. She closed the goggles again and rushed over to the equipment in order to make sure everything was still going alright. But the things that she managed to be reading seemed to be unheard from. "This…this isn't possible! So many particles shouldn't be existing in the same place. Unless, unless… Hahahaha!" Almost she could be starting to dance on the spot weren't it for the sheer fact that a large explosion in the door frame managed to knock her back down on her hooves.

An explosion that didn't had that much force but the shockwave was all the more powerful had occurred. Though it was right after it that the silence had taken over of the basement and Twilight couldn't even hear the whispers in her head anymore. Everything was silent with the exception of the device and the doorway. Only small rumbles of thunder seemed to be leaving it and Twilight gulped.

For her feelings she had managed to be doing it, but she needed confirmation with her eyes and guts. Slowly and with trembling legs did she walk over to the doorway and opened up the goggles again. The sight that fell in her eyes was something she couldn't believe, she just couldn't believe it even though it was right on front of her. "I, I did it… I actually, did it." Twilight whispered to herself before a massive grin came to her face.

For in the door opening itself stood the thing she had been missing since the beginning. The flexible window that could make her look through time and dimensions. It was a true work of beauty for certain. Weren't it with just one problem, the fact that she still needed to be looking right through it in order to confirm the fact whether or not her experiment was a success.

Slowly did Twilight appear by the doorway and gave her eyes the time to look at the various things she could be seeing. And what she saw was something truly unbelievable. Through the still surging magical doorway did she gave her eyes the time to look through the dimensional window. The purple rimmed eyes watered up behind the goggles as months of work had finally come to an end. For she was looking straight into the basement of the building. Yet the time of day and the arrangement were different on the other side. Whether it was future or past was uncertain as it could even have been present for all she knew. Yet out of everything there was one thing that she knew, she had done it.

For minutes Twilight simply kept on watching through the gateway while also keeping her eyes strictly on all the measurements. But from what she could tell, everything was just as good as it could be getting. Though caution was the thing she was watching out the most for.

And then, out of nowhere, the door on the other side opened and the mare was greeted with a version of herself. A version who looked a couple months younger than the one who was conducting the experiment. This is going to be interesting, alternative dimension and me in the past, Twilight thought to herself as she avoided any direct eye contact with her other self. The purple rims never even once laid themselves on the other mare for obvious reasoning. It was better to play the game safe than sorry.

Though from the sounds of it and the whispers spoken by the other side, whatever the other Twilight was to be planning on doing, the chemicals and spells heard weren't the most safest ones either. Only glimpse and pieces were caught in the lab coat wearing unicorn before the realization went through her body.

The version of herself where she was looking, was about to conduct an even more dangerous experiment. One that even she had classified as too dangerous. She wanted to watch, if not warn her even image just so badly but the consequences of doing so could be a true disaster. What if she truly did screw up the timeline, because who was to say it wasn't the actual past she was looking into?

It made the unicorn realize just how much of her own experiment she still needed to discover in order to advance to any next stage that may be following through it. Though she couldn't believe that her even image was actually about to be doing it. The exact specifics of the subject weren't known to the coat wearing mare at the time, as her head filled itself with all sorts of possible outcomes and even intentions.

In her ears she could hear the liquids being mixed together in the bottles and the goggled mare flipped them back down just to be safe and to prevent her eyes from looking directly at her even image. With perhaps risk for her own life she dared to look down and rest her eyes on the back of the other Twilight who was conducting the experiment. But the eyes quickly darted all over the place for everything wrong that she saw.

Though her little darting had the unforeseen side effect. As in fact her even image suddenly looked over to the doorway and straight into the eyes of the real Twilight. With the bottles held in her magic, the mouth of the mare fell open in silence. Not even a second later was the flow of magic interrupted and completely stopped. Thus allowing the bottles of the liquids to fall down to the ground.

The goggled Twilight couldn't do anything then to just stare right back at her even image in that same silence. For the moment seemed both their breathing and their heartbeat to be in perfect sync with one another. But then it just happened, the bottles crashed on the floor of the basement and before either of the two could react was too late. For the deadly chain reaction had been set in motion that would determine the fate of both of their lives.

A massive explosion of a magical fire filled the basement of the even image for not even thirty seconds. But those same thirty seconds, seemed to be like thirty years in the eyes of the goggled mare. Who opened the black lids again in order to watch for anything to be happening. If she could be as much as catching a single glimpse of what had happened in there.

When the fires finally died down was the utter devastation is revealed to Twilight. The entire basement has gone up in nothing but smoke and on the place where her even image stood, a skeleton remained. "She, she didn't even had, the chance." Twilight whispered as she dared to take a step closer to the window and look further.

Though the step did more good then she could have asked. For the force of the explosion had caused the flexible window to be pushed far over its limits. It was meant to hold the flux of time in its place, but not to counter the force of such a powerful blast. And little did Twilight knew, that the window was about to become a doorway.

Cracks and creaks were heard loud and clear in her ears but she didn't gave them any heed. The sirens of the device were wailing through her ears as well but went unheard. All she could think about on that moment was the fact of how hard her even image must have screamed when life was literally blasted out of her. And it was her fault no less.

Yet then it happened, the window became too fragile that it just shattered into both dimensions. Creating a doorway for the mulberry unicorn to enter through. But not only the mare would have been able to come through, so would the deadly vapors of the explosion. It was in the second that she realized that, that the horn charged itself up and made the room become an air lock. But not just her own, also that of her counterpart.

Not a single bit of oxygen would be going in or out through any of the openings. "And so it happens then, doesn't it? A captain going down with his ship? A scientist going down with his greatest experiment?" Twilight questioned herself as she was about to cry. Knowing that her life would be ended soon enough, there wasn't anything she could be doing but pray.

She prayed on the fact that her soul be granted mercy and that her magic would be able to hold the vapors inside after she had passed away. Both were long shots but worth praying for in those final seconds. If she had ever believed in some kind of god other than the princesses of the day and night, there would be the time and place.

The venomous vapor started to enter her nose and mouth with every breath she took, causing her to cough deeply before she collapsed on her side. The immobilization had set in even faster than she had expected and closed her eyes. Twilight would then simply be waiting, waiting for her life to end and her to end in the afterlife she always refused to believe in.

Yet when the eyes of Twilight opened themselves up again, it was just that. Just the eyes being opened and they watched over their situation. She blinked a couple of times slowly before her head turned itself over to one side. The side were Pinkie laid and the unicorn noticed that she seemed to be the only sane out of the bunch. "W-What happened to us, w-where are we, Pinkie?"

Before Pinkie even spoke a word to Twilight had her theory been confirmed once more. Twilight woke up ten minutes after Rainbow. It seemed to be odd that the number ten came back just so often, but it didn't matter, each of them were awake. Which only left the question of just where they happened to be.

"Hey Twi, good to have you back in the land of the wake again." Pinkie spoke up without any of the usual happiness she carried in her tone. "Celestia knows where we ended up, but I think nightmares happened to each of us."

That answer caused Twilight to tilt her head a little bit and look over all the other mares. Each of them just terrified for something. "I see what you mean. But from the looks of it, it looks like we are in Canterlot."

"How do you know?"

"…You don't want to know how many times Shining Armor either ended up here, or carried me here to visit a solider he had beaten to the hospital. Sometimes, he doesn't even know his own strength." Twilight spoke with a chuckle to lighten the mood just a little bit.

Which seemed to be working as Pinkie cracked a gentle smile and a single chuckle. Yet only then she fell right back in her bed while sighing deeply. There wasn't much that Twilight could be doing to lighten the mood other than being right and pray that either Luna or Celestia had and explanation for them.

The purple rimmed eyes of Twilight closed themselves for a moment or two before she released a deep sigh through her nostrils and called upon her magic. The magic itself moved the pillow to the back of the bed so that she could lean against it before her eyes opened up again and started to go over the equipment.

But all that she could see were the heart monitors. Whoever was doing the things to them just wanted to monitor them instead of either helping or hurting them. It was something that even caused some confusion in the mind of Twilight. It was something not even she could have ever expected to happen. Yet it also opened up the other questions that were on her mind.

The hows, the whys, the whats and the whens. All questions she wanted an answer on but from the looks of it, wouldn't be getting one quick. Only after that did her eyes went over the rest of the room and thus over each of her remaining friends. Rainbow, Applejack and Fluttershy all were still shivering for their dear lives as none of them even have the slightest suspicion of what was happening.

"Girls." Twilight spoke up in her normal tone. Though the moment she noticed that that wasn't helping one bit, she raised her tone a bit. "Girls!" Suddenly she had the attention of every single pony that was present in the room. All the eyes were aimed at her and it was there and then that she needed to be showing, just how much of a leader she could be in the situations it was needed most.

"Look, I do not know what happened, but judging from each of your actions just yet and what I have been through, we all have been through a nightmare of some sort. But what it caused us to actually end up here and now, I do not know. I have spoken with Pinkie before, and from the looks of it, we are no longer in Ponyville. We are in Canterlot for as far as I know." Twilight spoke up as her eyes slowly went over each of the mares.

It were words that caused each of the three remaining mares to tilt their heads on the bed before they all assumed the same position Twilight laid in. The pillow against the back so they could sit upright. "But..." Rainbow started. "You got any idea, of what could have happened to us?"

To that Twilight simply shook her head in response. While it technically could have been enough, the mare still found it her place to speak a few words here and there. "No Rainbow, I'm afraid I do not know anything about it. It could be the queen of the changelings, Sombra, or even Nightmare Moon who brought us to sleep."

"If, if I may say something." Pinkie spoke up after Twilight was done talking. Suddenly was the attention aimed to her and all of the ponies noticed just that her mane were as flat as they could be. Meaning whatever it was the pink coated mare had dreamed through, had to be something bad. "Each of you four, woke up ten minutes after the other. At least, for my feeling. Not sure if you can work with it or that it was just a lucky coincidence."

Those words caused Twilight to fall silent and started to ponder in her mind. While all the others just wanted to speak about the things that had happened to them all, they never dared to say a word before Twilight had spoken again. Perhaps it would be a long wait for them, but at the moment they couldn't care less. All they wanted, were answers in some form or another. Though the ones they would be getting, perhaps weren't the best of it all.

In the meantime and back in the dark crystal domain of the nightmarish unicorn, laid Nightmare Rarity comfortable on the velvet cushioned sofa and snickered deeply to herself. She had been watching the dreams of each of the mares literally at the front row seat and everything she saw was just more than perfect. "Oh the joy of toying with their fears hmhmhm. But it isn't enough, they awoke from their nightmares for certain. Perhaps it is time to roll in the second round, or leave it for a third. Third time's the charm, they always say," she spoke up to herself in a sinister tone before a grin got formed.

Without another word stood the darkened unicorn up from the sofa and charged her horn softly. Her body had turned itself into the direction of the balcony and the doors swung open just before she passed through. The cold winds of the Frozen North were about the first thing that she encountered and it gave her a small shudder before she simply stood still.

With the light of the moon falling over the woods of White Tails, it caused the fog to almost dance in every direction she looked. Yet it was the silence that truly dominated the entire area. The silence of the night, with almost every being asleep and the shepherds wandering quietly through the woods. Everything seemed to be so peaceful and calm but in fact it was her, who controlled the gates of nothing but Tartarus itself.

Her cat like irises looked over all the visible land before another grin formed itself below her muzzle. A grin that actually showed her jagged teeth just a little bit. Without a word or command did the four savage shadow stallion come out of the shadows they had been resting in. Each of them shook the liquids off of themselves before they took their place on either side of the mare. Two to her left and two to her right.

If anypony had seen the sight upon the balcony of that cursed tower would the shivers have been going down the spine. For the ever so hungry looks within the eyes of the savages was already more than enough nightmare fuel. But it was the insanity, the sinisterness, the determination and the ominous that could be seen in the eyes of Nightmare Rarity that caused the biggest chill of it all.

Something that only got confirmed the moment her horn charged itself up with more power rapidly and was pointed straight in the skies. Not even two seconds later there was a massive blast of magical energy being shot towards the very moon itself. Much like Celestia had once caused a shadow to be cast upon the rock, so would Rarity. Minus the banishment of her body that was while she also would be taking her time with it.

Back in the room where the five mares laid, they had been talking to one another of just what they could be doing in order to make certain that they would be getting out of there. Plans of utter insanity were discussed all of the place but none of them was just clear as crystal. That was until Twilight hacked through the knot they had been talking themselves in. "Enough is enough. Whoever is doing this, wanted to monitor us, nothing else. I guess it is time to find out just who wanted to do this to us," she said with confidence in her tone.

Not even seconds after she had finished her words did the magical lights in the room came to life which were simulating a warm and pleasant sunrise which seemed a bit sped up. "Oh, hello." Twilight chuckled to herself as she had seen the type of magic before. Yet where she was interested and even intrigued, the others couldn't even understand just what was going through her mind.

While the room was being indulged in the warm and pleasant light had each of them to admit that it did shake off the horrors of their nightmares. As if they had been released from their own mental prison in one way or the other. Little did they knew, just how bad the things actually were.

For the white hospital walls and the beds were revealed to Twilight which meant they were definitely in Canterlot. Yet one another fact was revealed to each of the ponies. That wooden, oaken brown door with the window. How couldn't they have noticed that before? Not even Pinkie knew where it came from. "What in tarnation's that about?" Applejack spoke up as she continued to be looking to the door.

Fluttershy was still wiping away her tears and only released a small yelp while Rainbow was just dumbstruck. "…It's, it's a magical door." Twilight stated almost in disbelief. "The door that you are seeing there, will only become visible the moment the lights are being turned on. It is usually… Oh for goodness sake!"

"What is it Twilight?" Rainbow asked after she had turned her gave back to the mulberry mare. A mare who was holding her head in both of her forehooves and could almost be heard sniffing.

"This, they do that, to make certain, nopony escapes at night." Twilight sniffled. All the others just couldn't believe it. While it was true that they saw the logic behind it but it wasn't as bad as the mare made it sound. That was until she spoke her next piece. "We're not in any hospital, we're in an insane asylum girls. Canterlot Hospital's, private insane asylum."

All of the ponies gasped a bit for air as the revelation caused their courage to be sunken too deep in their hooves. If they truly had ended up in the place Twilight told them they were, nasty and terrible surprises would be waiting for them. "I'm not insane, you hear me!" Twilight cried out as she had raised her head back up and started to wheeze. "I am not insane!"

"Quit it Twi, otherwise they think you are!" Rainbow spoke up in a hiss towards her mulberry friend. It was something that helped to a certain degree. "And please keep quiet, I hear steps coming, in this direction," she added with a whisper in her tone.

All of the mares pointed their ears over into the direction of the doors and heard the steps indeed coming. Twilight managed to wipe her tears away before she took a couple of deep breaths through her mouth and simply started to wait. Wait until the thing they heard, would be coming through that door.

The handle started to move itself and the door was opened up. In the opening stood a pony which none of them had ever expected. It was a gray coated, light gray maned, aged stallion that wore the usual doctor's coat and he gave each of the mares a friendly smile.

Baffled by the revelation could none of them even speak a word to him and he walked in further while revealing his crimson red rimmed eyes to them all. The color combination seemed to be rather odd but then again, they had seen many different color pallets carried by ponies. Though the eyes were a little bit, unsettling, to say the least.

"Good day ladies, it is a good thing that each of you have finally woken out of your, shall we say slumber. Before you ask, yes I am aware that you are having a lot of questions and allow me to answer a couple right here and now," the doctor spoke up before he closed the door behind himself.

"Now, my name is no importance to either five of you. But what is known though, is that you are in a private section of the Canterlot Hospital. This wing, especially this room, is used normally for patients who have undergone some heavy narcotics and been out for the count for days. It was a request of her majesty of the sun herself to have you all transported over."

Those words struck a truly massive confusion by each of the ponies as they looked at one another before they turned back to the doctor. "Perhaps it isn't my place to tell you all what has happened to each of you. They wanted to tell it themselves before any of you would be knowing it. If you please want to excuse me here for a moment, allow me to do a few check-ups and then I shall tell them you're ready."

It was something none of the ponies could be doing anything against. The clipboard was summoned from the inside of his coat as well as a pencil. The board wasn't the biggest and thus could have easily fitted in one of the inside pockets that the coat carried. The standard procedure was being done by each of the ponies. Meaning that he looked at the device they were hooked on before carefully detaching them and looked deep in their eyes.

All just basic check-ups but since he had to do five mares and it took him a little bit longer then actually expected. Though luckily for him were each of them willing to cooperate. Though the silence that followed was something that was just as eerie as it possible could have been. Something only broken by the occasional mumbling of the gray coated stallion.

When he eventually had left them be, everything seemed to be fine in his book and the mares were left alone. It was Twilight who wanted to know the finer details more than anypony else in that room. All of the questions that were racing through her mind, she wanted and needed an answer on. An answer that should be given to her truly sooner than later otherwise she could be classified as insane.

It was only a few minutes after the doctor's departure that the door of the room opened itself again and a dark blue coated alicorn stepped inside. Only to soon be followed up by a much larger, white coated alicorn who closed the door. Both of the princesses of Equestria stood in the same room with the remaining five elements of harmony. The looks they shared on their faces was everything but a good one.

"Oh no, w-what is it princess?" Twilight brought out as she could feel something was wrong. Yet the other ponies kept their mouths together. Knowing what the doctor said, it would be the two of them who would be telling the story. Which was exactly what they did.

Luna moved herself over to the other side of the room where she would be standing against the wall and gave each of them a stern look. A look which the ponies were used to by then. The alicorn of the night still had troubles to adjust herself to the way things were done in the time she was living in, instead of a millennium ago. "Sister if you please," the mare spoke up as she made a small gesture with her hoof to speed up.

Celestia nodded to the words and released a deep sigh through her nostrils. Whatever the news was going to be, it wouldn't be something pretty and they all knew that. "Two weeks ago, each of you were found sleeping in your beds. Two weeks ago, you all were as deep as anypony could have been asleep. But the sleep you all have been going through was everything but natural. Something caused you all to fall asleep. A powerful spell that neither myself nor my sister do have any hold over. Something that ancient and powerful, we couldn't believe it that it was cast upon you."

"So, with all due respect, yar saying we've been asleep for, two weeks?" Applejack spoke up with a raised eyebrow.

Celestia nodded to confirm the words of the mare. "That is exactly what my sister is saying yes. However, that doesn't solve everything. It merely shines upon just one aspect of the puzzle presented before us." Luna replied as she calmly walked over to the middle of the room. "What we need to know, is exactly what you have dreamed about. As tough as it is going to be, we need to know exactly what happened in those."

It was something that rose even more controversy to the mares. The mare of the night asked them, to tell about their dreams. "Hold on a minute here!" Rainbow suddenly said as she began her interruption. Luna turned herself around in response and gave the cyan coated mare the full audience, something she couldn't have ever dreamed of. "Can't you just look into our dreams and morph them to your will? Who's to say you weren't to blame for what we ended up here."

That did it for Luna, as it caused the trigger to be squeezed and the bullet to be flown through the room in the figurative sense. "Milady Dash, you do have a point that I can morph dreams to my own will, yes. Why do you think you hadn't had nightmares in such a long time? But that's not the question. The question is why. Why was I kicked out every single stinking time, I tried to look into your dreams? All I caught was this insane laughter of long ago. So you all need to be telling us exactly, just what happened in those dreams, and well now."

The words caused Rainbow to gulp deeply before Luna turned her attention back away from her and returned to her place on the opposing side of the wall. The time of talk was there, there simply was no other way for them to do it. They had to be telling the royals exactly what they had been dreaming about and tell everything to the fullest of detail.

Which was exactly the thing they did. Both Luna and Celestia listened with the greatest of care to the words that were spoken by each of the mare. They tried to find the things they had in common and just two things seemed to be coming together when comparing each dream together. That they were a fear from each of the mares but also that they saw something for just the fraction of a second. The mysterious head and figure that floated around seemingly everywhere and nowhere.

"Could it be..." Celestia started as she let her own mind crack the facts. "That Nightmare Moon has been returned once more?" It were words that caused Luna to raise an eyebrow to her sister. For everything that it could have been, she had to say the name she had been despising for so long by then.

Out of everypony was it Fluttershy who shook her head in response to those words. "No, it, it couldn't have been her," she spoke up in a gentle whisper. One just loud enough for each of the ponies to hear it. Much to the relief of Luna actually as it meant that her alter ego wasn't the prime subject. "The face…much too refined, hints to it yes, but not her exactly."

"I thank you kindly for your input Fluttershy. But it still doesn't take away that we are dealing here with an ancient form of magic and threat I'm afraid." Celestia spoke up as she spread her wings gently in order to prevent them from going stuff. "But I am also afraid it opens up a new question here."

"And that being?" Pinkie returned as she moved a strand of mane from out of her eyes. It was a question that was well placed and each of the elements looked over to both of the princesses. None of them were certain, just who was going to answer it for them.

Though where most thought it would have been Celestia, it was in fact her younger sister who took the responsibility upon her. Once more she walked to the middle of the room and looked at each of the mares present, including her own sister. "The sheer question of just who else it could possibly be. Discord is stuck in stone, nopony has heard anything from king Sombra after his defeat and the changeling queen roams somewhere on the western forests."

"Maybe…maybe it is a force left undiscovered until now?" Twilight added to the train of thoughts. It happened to be something that seemed unlikely, yet at the same time eerily plausible. A new force to threat the lands of Equestria as they knew and loved it. Information became pretty much the most important weapon that they would be having at the moment and the need to exchange it with one another, was right there. Which was just the thing they would be doing with one another.

The truth indeed happened to be that a new force had taken its grasp in the lands of Equestria. A force that was once hatred had returned and made its home in the body of generosity. A mixture that seemed to be toxic to the core, each corrupting one another and thus creating a monster with a state of mind that was sharp, skilled and ever so deadly. A mind that still stood on the balcony of the dark crystal domain hidden deeply in the elusive woods of White Tails.

For on the golden horizon it appeared slowly and drifting in the wind. An entire city build out of nothing but clouds and always on the move as if it had something to run away from. On the horizon appeared the mighty pegasus city of pride: Cloudsdale. It was a sight that was worth to kill for, especially with the shadows that it cast on the ground. It was still miles away on the horizon but with the rising sun in its back, the largest building of the city cast a shadow that stopped literally at the forehead of the unicorn.

It was a sight that made it all worth to her for standing out there for so long. A sight that she wouldn't forget any time soon either. And the sight for perhaps her next plan of attack. For deep inside of her mind were the plans and schemes being forged to make certain that even the city of pride knew that they shouldn't be as much try to capture her. Wanting to show them that they weren't even safe inside their own city.

Though the plans had to wait as other deeds needed to be done first. With the wind blowing in the way it did, the city would just pass by over the horizon. Floating settlements and especially the city of Cloudsdale weren't even allowed to float over forest area's by law. As the massive shadows they could cast would be a true and massive disruption to the self-sustaining ecosystem the woods had.

The hooves of the nightmarish unicorn walked down the spiraling staircase all the way until she stood once again in the courtyard of the domain and gave her eyes the time to look over it. The savages had returned to the shadows where they thought to have belonged more than anywhere else on that very moment.

Her lips once more curled themselves up to the grin while one of the false shepherds walked past the open entrance of the place. Without a warning given of anything, Nightmare Rarity merged herself with the shadows that surrounded her and started to slither down another staircase. One that would be leading her over to a place she loved to come and toy around with the feeble minds of others, the dungeon itself.

The day wouldn't be any form of exception to make certain that each of the remaining prisoners would become lab rats for her sickening tests. She never stopped testing her magical abilities and just how far she could be going. The storm produced was only of the true damage she could be doing. And the subjects down below in the dungeon, would just be perfect to receive the full mental blow.

Another day, another poor soul who would literally be touched by the worst fears and frights that it ever had. That was the manner in which the unicorn worked, almost sadistic some would say and most would agree. Though there was nothing they could be doing against except to spread the warning about not going into the woods. The only mistake happened to be, that some still dared to enter the haunted places. Only to end up paying a price far higher than they would have ever wanted or had expected.

Back in the hospital of Canterlot was all of the information that was known exchanged between the royals and the mares. Everything was being discussed over and over again up to the point where it almost had not a single point of going further anymore. It didn't matter where they would be going, it all ended up in nothing but a massive dead end. A dead end which truly was a brick wall as high as they eye could see.

Moans and groans left the mouth of Twilight as she tried to find the thing that she had forgotten somehow. There must have been something she didn't saw the first time. One connection that could change literally everything they knew about everything in the situation. But her mind either didn't wanted to admit it what it knew or she genuinely didn't know it, for the towel was thrown in the ring and she leaned as deeply back as she could. "It's hopeless, we will never figure out just what caused us to fall asleep this deeply. You sure it wasn't a joke of somepony, princess?"

"The deeds done against you and the things my sister saw, were not a joke Twilight. The matter should be taken seriously whether you like it or not. And even if this was a joke, somepony really doesn't have a sense of humor." Celestia replied as she was still standing on the exact same spot.

Luna on the other end, was still leaning against the wall and looked over to her sister with a cutting glare. "Pretty much like yourself, you want to say?" she whispered just loud enough so that only Fluttershy could hear it. Who in response released a small giggle and cracked the lunar princess a small smile.

"There is of course…" Applejack started before she shook it off again. "Nah, can't be."

Though whether the cowgirl liked it or not, she had managed to get the interest of everypony in the room. All of the eyes were suddenly aimed right at her and her own started to go from left to right in a nervous manner. "Oh boy." Applejack yelped out before a gulp was released.

Yet it was Celestia who finally took a step forward and looked almost stern into the eyes of the cowgirl. "Applejack, if there is anything you want to tell, please do it now. Any input on the matter might be of great help."

The orange coated mare gulped once again deeply as she formulated the manner of speech in her mind, before exhaling deeply. "Right then, but ya'll ain't gonna be liking it. Ah've been thinking 'bout just what happened to us all, and Ah think it is all connected to one thing. Call it far fetched or a hunch if you like, but Ah think, Rarity's behind it all."

With those words alone caused all the ponies to start mumbling to one another already but Applejack was long from being finished. "If Ah may again!" she huffed out to each of them and gradually the attention was turned back to her. "Thanks. Y'all wanna know proof right? Well, think 'bout it. Rarity's gone missing to Celestia knows where, suddenly the fog in White Tails drives ya crazy and all those strange disappearances. A little convenient ain't it? Ah mean, just look at the facts given here and tell me, it ain't Rares. Want more proof? The face in our dreams, too refined for Moon, and the only mare Ah know that's refined, is Rarity."

"So, Applejack." Luna started as she finally turned herself away from the wall and looked over to the cowgirl with a truly interested gaze in her eyes. "What you are saying is that Rarity is the source of this all? That she somehow is caught up as either the suspect or another victim?"

"Ah ain't saying she's the main subject aloud. Not yet yar highness, but the facts and figures do point in that direction." Applejack returned with a certain confidence in her tone. A confidence none of the other mares could possibly even understand just how or why she could speak in. "Ah'm just saying it here, 'member?"

Celestia was the only one who gave a nod to the words spoken by the cowgirl and released a deep sigh through her nose as she had the idea already that there was something wrong with Rarity. The necklace of generosity had been darkened for all that time, but that fact was never shared to any of them for their own good. If they would have discovered in that way, that it was one of their beloved friends who had taken down the dark path, who was to say just they wouldn't? Rarity was known to be able to persuade ponies into doing her bidding. The thought of doing it to each of the mares in their dreams was one that always stuck to Celestia no matter what.

Though the accusation of Applejack caused an uproar of emotions by each of the ponies. None of them could even believe the fact that it was Rarity who did it, or that she was found guilty of doing so. Yet the more each of them thought about the status of the events as they happened to be, none of them could deny that it all walked in nicely over one another.

Uncertainty was the emotion that filled the hospital room as the sounds died down and only their breathing could be heard. And if there was one thing Luna hated more than anything, it was that cursed emotion. Whether the others liked it or not, she so had her own thoughts on the matter and wouldn't have been afraid to speak them.

"You know, I think that Applejack here is right. Everything she says does make sense when you place it behind everything. The disappearance, the fog and the attacks. I'm sorry but, Rarity is the one behind it all for some reason not even I can figure out. Somehow, she must have gotten the powers to do those things. Perhaps she is possessed by the remains of Sombra. We do not know the reasoning behind it. But what we do know, is the fact that she is the one causing the trouble." Luna spoke up as she had each of her hooves firmly against the ground.

Another uproar was the thing that she had expected from the ponies and was almost exactly the thing she would be getting. For each of the six mares, almost shouted against her that it wasn't possible for Rarity to even consider such a thing. But during all of the sounds, two ponies went into a different conversation with one another. One that couldn't be heard by the ears of the other ponies. For both Luna and Celestia opened up a mental connection to one another.

You know just as well I know that Rarity is behind this all, so why don't you back me up in this sister?! Luna thought in a growling tone as she never missed a single word that was spoken against her. "Look Rainbow, I'm also just going by the words that I have heard and placing everything on a line, it does make sense. I know it is hard to accept for you, for you all actually, but you have to if you want to understand everything that's going on here."

Oh now you have gone too far Luna! We are supposed to keep it all a secret for their own good. If they discover now that Rarity has been corrupted by any sort of force, they want to organize a search party and I am not going to risk the remaining elements, Celestia replied in thought. She was the only royal who actually kept herself quiet as next to the conversation, she was also pondering her mind in order to get some clearance out of it all.

"Enough!" Twilight suddenly yelled in the middle of the argument. Her voice literally rose itself up far above every other voice in the room and slowly the silence took over again. All of the eyes looked to her as the royals broke their mental connection. Everypony wanted to know exactly what it was Twilight thought about and what she had to be saying. "Look at all of you, bickering like chickens without a head on the assuming, on the assuming, that one of our friends became this dark mistress. We have been asleep for two weeks and this is the first thing we are doing?! Bickering like we do?! Are all of you sane in your heads? Maybe we should be placed in the asylum of this place just to make sure, none of us does anything stupid!"

The words that Twilight spoke to every single pony came straight from the heart and were shot like arrows to those of the others. It was painful to listen to for certain but the truth was always a hard thing to accept. Slowly did each of them lower their head in shame, that was with the exception of Luna and Celestia. For the royals themselves simply released a deep sigh. Though where Celestia showed compassion for her beloved pupil, Luna seemed to be caring anything less.

Twilight looked over all of the ponies as a single tear slowly left her eye and streamed over her cheek. "We, we're supposed to be friends who support each other through thick and thin. And not be fighting in the manner as we did. Maybe, maybe we all just need another good night rest. Two weeks asleep is all fine and such, but if you live a nightmare, it becomes everything but."

All of the mares gave a nod to the spoken words of Twilight but none of them even dared to speak against her. Everything that she preached actually hit them right where she wanted it to be. Her goal was achieved, but another one was broken.

For princess Luna had the feeling that none of the ponies took her words seriously, especially after having witnessed just where her words had been leading to. Matters took her mind over again, matters that couldn't be expressed in any manner to the mares as they couldn't understand it for one bit for certain. Luna needed some time for just herself. And that was almost exactly what she did.

Without a single words spoken by her side left the alicorn of the night the room for the trouble that it was and closed the door behind her. Once on the hallway did she shook her head a couple of times in the faint hope to get everything straight again but it didn't help out one bit. That meant that there was only one more way she would possible be getting nay peace in her skull. A way that seemed to be unorthodox to say the least.

Luna started to wander slowly through the building until she had reached the exit, sometimes ponies spoke up against her, but they were ignored all the time by her. Her mind needed to focus on one matter at the time and the matter that she had chosen was one she felt personally afflicted by. Whatever she would have been planning in her mind, it couldn't be done in the hospital.

Minutes later did the alicorn stand out by the entrance of the hospital and she allowed her wing to spread themselves. "There must be proof, of any kind." Luna whispered to herself before she rocketed off into the skies above. The same morning skies in which the nightmarish unicorn watched Cloudsdale travel by on the horizon.

Soaring through the skies like a comet, Luna traveled away from Canterlot and with a massive loop in her flight patterns, she seemed to be heading towards Ponyville. Or to perhaps be a bit more exact, the abandoned building where the unicorn of generosity once lived. She wanted to find the evidence she needed and the only place she could be doing that was right there in Ponyville. Right in the abandoned Carousel Boutique. Questions had been raised from every single side but that place, that very place could be having all the answers she needed. If not, only more questions would arise.

Lighting was the only thing that covered the four walls of the sealed off room as the terrified screams of a stallion were the only sounds to be heard. All of his frights and fears were presented to him in a manner that not even the fog of the woods could have created it. All of it just seemed to be so realistic, all of it seemed to be really there for him. Which managed to scare truly the living daylight out of him.

His soul piercing screams didn't do anything to the attacker though. The attacker herself simply remained in the same battle ready position as she had been standing for a few minutes. With the horn aimed directly at the stallion's head and the blast going right into it, it was the worst kind of torture that any pony could be suffering in the dark crystal domain. The worst part had to be the sheer fact that none of the captives could be knowing when they would be taken for the so called testing of the unicorn her powers.

When the lightning eventually did fade away and the horn discharged itself, the head of Nightmare Rarity arose itself again. Her eyes narrowed themselves down to small gaps as if she was trying to figure out if he was carrying something with him. The smoke left her horn as the gem got gently relocated on top of it. That very gem had to be the thing that was the main source that caused her abilities to have ended up as powerful as they were.

Though the stallion himself couldn't speak a word nor do a deed. He was completely out for the count and had lost all sense of the real world. Which was just about the thing that the unicorn wanted from him. She wanted to know just how much of her energy it took, when conducted straight to the head, before somepony became blacked out from her magic. With a huff she turned herself over to the arcane clock that hung over the door and read the time off of it.

"Not even two whole minutes before the mind enters the unconscious state. Interesting, highly interesting," the nightmarish unicorn mumbled to herself. Then her head turned itself back over to the poor stallion and a smirk formed itself below her muzzle. There would be so many more thing she wanted to do with him, but the time to rest had fallen upon her and him. "We shall proceed another day."

With those words spoken had Nightmare Rarity turned herself around and opened the door of the chamber. On the other side of the door, her most trusted commanders were waiting to bring him back to his cell. "Fright, Blood, I have something special for this particular stallion. Drop him before the inn on either side of the woods with the supplemental message. This is going to be another screamer."

Both of the stallions bowed their heads to the desire of their queen as she walked by. But just as they were about to enter the room, the horn of the mare charged itself up and they both were brought right to her face. "Don't fail me again!" she snarled in a hiss towards them before they were dropped on the ground.

Fright was the first one to rub his skull while Blood still needed to stand up from the drop. Yet the both of them ended up looking to the fact of how the tail of the queen disappeared upon the staircase before it went out of their view. "I'm telling you, if you mess it up one more time, I'm going to put you down." Shadowblood grumbled to him comrade after having gotten up again from the seating.

"Oh you just quit your blabbering and do what has been told to you. If it weren't for your stupidity, we wouldn't have been in this mess you know." Shadowfright replied as he entered the room and looked over the stallion. A massive grin formed itself on his face as he saw the stallion. "Oh this is going to be fun indeed," he spoke in a tone that was filled with venom and a hint of nothing but sadistic joy.

When Blood peeked his head into the room, the eyes of him opened themselves widely and he started to chuckle to himself in a manner only a hyena could have been doing that. Something that caused even Fright to raise an eyebrow to him. "…I think I found a new nickname for you," he whispered softly to the other but it was never caught in the ears.

With the departure from Luna out of the hospital was the deed resting on the shoulders of Celestia to maintain the order in the room where the five mares had been brought to come by again. Though it wouldn't have been easy, especially with a pony like Fluttershy. Celestia had conjured a mattress for herself to lay down on so that she didn't have to stand all the time or lay down on the cold floor. But the moment she had been laying down, it wasn't Twilight who was the first to go to her. Instead it was the pink maned, yellow coated pegasus who took that honor.

With the facts presented as they were and Rarity possibly having taken the path down the road of darkness, it scared Fluttershy even more than being smashed as she was being turned to stone. Almost like a lightning bolt did the mare darted over to Celestia before literally clinging to her side like a foal. A big one that was, but one nonetheless. "S-Sorry," the pegasus whispered as she loosened up the grip against the princess a little bit.

What happened then was something a bit unexpected. For the wing Fluttershy laid against untucked itself before it was being placed over her. "Don't be sorry for it little Fluttershy, we are all afraid of something and we all need somepony to comfort us from time to time." Celestia whispered to her as only a mother could have been able to be doing that. It seemed odd, especially in the eyes of Twilight but it was what it was.

Speaking of Twilight, she gained a small blush on her face as she knew pretty much how it felt like to be under those big, softly feathered wings of the alicorn princess. Shivering deeply against the side of the alicorn in terror had Fluttershy buried her face in both her mane as well as the side of Celestia. Who on her own turn couldn't do much else then to allow a gentle chuckle to her as the nose of the pegasus tickled her side a bit.

"Loved those moments with you, princess." Twilight softly whispered in return as she came back to the there and then with a smile clearly visible upon her face. It was something that caused the others to gently raise an eyebrow, as she did spoke it up perhaps a little bit too loud.

Yet in the time they were awake, each of them had come to terms with the nightmares. They had to admit that they were terrifying to say the least, but it at least was a lot better than actually living through it. But they were what they were, just dreams. The only one who still needed to understand that, was actually Fluttershy. Who seemed to be oddly comfortable under the wind of the alicorn in the eyes of Rainbow.

"If I may speak so for myself here Twilight, I did quite enjoy them as well." Celestia returned in a soft whisper to her most faithful student.

Yet even though everything seemed to have calmed down, none of them could ever the facts out of their heads. None of them could even wrap their heads around the fact that Rarity could have even been remotely able to access their dreams and cause the wave to terror to have fallen upon them. But they were also quite aware that the ivory mare loved to keep a secret or two when it came down to the core.

So who was to say that she hadn't been waiting for months already to get them in the manner she did? Who was to say that she hadn't been dealing with shady figures to gain the knowledge she needed in order to make certain that the events walked as they did? It were just some of the question that were racing through each of the ponies their minds. Though none even dared to ask them.

Which perhaps was a good thing because neither Celestia nor Twilight herself would have the answers to them. Even they could only assume to the facts as they were and from the looks of it, those facts weren't looking pretty to say the least. The more they thought about Rarity, the more grim everything seemed to have become around her. To a great sadness for her friends in response.

They wanted the answers for the deeds just so badly but there wasn't a single thing where they could be pointed it out on. All that they had were speculations and rumors combined with their thoughts and dreams. Madness seemed to have taken them over and they would probably be given their right as well. However, there always was that hint of her innocence. That Rarity hadn't done it out of free will. But that, as well as her deeds, also needed to be proved.

Once again they were left with only the questions and never seemed to be getting the answers. "Princess, may I ask where your sister happened to be off to?" Twilight suddenly spoke up in order to break the silence.

The question in and of itself was something that cause the alicorn to look over to her student with a questioning gaze. The silence on her side remained intact for a few more seconds before it was broken, and the reply was given. "If I only knew where exactly she has been going off to this time. It can be Everfree, it can be here in Canterlot. I just don't know where she has been gone to. Perhaps she's circling the hospital in order to make certain that her head is being emptied from every thought she deems to be 'not worthy' on the matter."

That was an answer that caused the unicorn to gently tilt her head to one side and raise an eyebrow. "I'm, not sure whether I follow you here, your highness," she replied as honest as she could.

A small sigh was released through the nostrils of the white coated alicorn before she thought about a manner to sound her words less complicated to her student. "When a unicorn, or alicorn, reaches a certain level in the arcane arts, that pony can be thought the ability to take thoughts or memories out of its own mind and store them in arcane bottles. It helps to clear out the mind if it is needed but you still contain all the precious memories."

"Then..." Twilight continued softly. "Why haven't you thought me yet?" It was a bold question and she knew that long before she had even asked it. But with her own abilities and strengths in magic was she almost positive she had been gone past the levels that Celestia spoke about.

But every question ever asked, needed to have an answer to it. Yet the one of Twilight was not an exception in the slightest. Though if the answer to it would have been liked by her was a question in and of itself. The princess herself started to chuckle softly which caused the other mares to look at her with a questioning gaze. "Take this from me Twilight, you are far from ready for that kind of spell. Your mind is something pure and unique, no need to work on that now, is there?" the always calm voice of the mare spoke through the room.

Twilight listened to the answer that was given to her and she couldn't even possible understand of just why Celestia would have said something like that. Though going into an argument with her mentor, especially on the time that it happened to be in the situation they were in, it was better that she kept her mouth shut. Which was almost exactly the thing that she did.

A little thing that caused Rainbow to chuckle to herself and Applejack to hum some songs of the past to herself. Songs that reminded her of home. Slowly but surely did all of the ponies listen to the tunes that were hummed by the cowgirl and all of them found some parts that they liked into it. Much to the princess her own surprise, even she found a piece or two.

"And there we go." Shadowfright spoke up with a chuckle in his voice after they had dropped the still unconscious stallion near one of the inns by the forest. "Now we just leg it, everything should be doing its job." Shadowblood gave him a nod as he dropped the stallion to the ground and the both of them gave the inn as well as the body, one last look before they turned back into the woods of White Tails.

Eventually were the two of them just nothing more than two shimmers or dark blobs that could be seen in the fog. Blobs that ended up merging themselves into the darkness of the fog. Which caused them to lose any set of eyes that may or may not have been looking at the two of them.

Through the silent forest did the two of them answer like it was a normal day of the week. They weren't affected by the fog of the woods because it only worked on the minds of ponies and other living creatures. The thing was, that they were everything but living creatures. They were shadows themselves, shadows that could take a physical form and actually wander around if they saw so fit.

Along their way back to the domain, they encountered a few of the infamous false shepherds. The creatures left the two of them alone as she as they had smelled the reeking scent of the shadows on them. Ponies, especially those in terror actually released a scent much different then what the shadows produced.

Fright and Blood indulged themselves into a conversation with one another that seemed to be going all over the place. But on one thing they had to agree, that the queen they had then seemed to be a lot better than the original one. But they never could leave it to speak about plans to take over.

A thing that was a massive mistake for the both of them. They could speak about those plans all they wanted of course but that was inside the walls of the domain. Now they were out in the fog covered woods and literally everything had ears that streamed back to the unicorn herself. A unicorn who became everything but happy as she heard the words that were spoken about her.

"So those two foals still think they can beat me in my own game, don't they?" Nightmare Rarity muttered to herself as she sat upon her throne. The darkness that surrounded her had to be one of the purest out there which made it almost impossible to see her sitting upon the chair. Yet at the foot of the whole thing, the sour savages sat in a manner that royal guards would.

The eyes of the unicorn lowered themselves down to the guard dogs and she grinned deeply to them. "Find them both, and teach them a lesson for me, would you?" she spoke up in a sadistic tone before a howl was given off by one of them. Then they were off, off to make certain that the two shadow stallions wouldn't make the mistake again of taking over while they were under her reign.

Like predators hunting for their prey, they rushed up the stairs to the ground level of the domain before galloping out of the place through the front gate. Nightmare Forces who happened to have seen them going the way they did, couldn't believe the things that they saw in their eyes. Never had they seen the savages so angry and thirsty for something. None of the forces could determine just what it was they were after, but they wanted it badly.

Time came and went before the gray coated doctor knocked upon the door once again and Celestia gently opened it. "Good day doctor, I hope you're having good news for the patients I have taken under my care?" Celestia spoke up in her calming and serene voice towards him. Something that caused all of the other mares to tilt their heads as she wanted to know just what was going to happen to them.

"Yes your highness. I have analyzed every last bit there is and everything seems to be in order. Some off readings when it came down to the fact of the magic in their bodies, but from what you have told me, you might want do what your purposed earlier today," the doctor replied to the words of Celestia. Who on her turn nodded her head and quietly thanked the stallion for all his help.

Though it was Twilight who couldn't keep her curiosity together and simply asked the question that was flowing on her mind. "What was that all about princess?" Upon hearing the question could Rainbow Dash almost crash her hoof through her face as she wanted to scream the answer straight back into Twilight's face. Though somehow she managed to calm herself down. Either that, or she didn't wanted to break in violence in front of the princess of the sun.

"What it means, my faithful student, is that you will be fired from the hospital and brought over to the guest wing in the castle. While also protecting your heads from the magic that still lurks inside of them. Because if you would be falling asleep now, it is uncertain when you would be waking up. It's for your own safety." Celestia replied as all the mares could understand the concern that was given off by her.

Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle and Applejack all left the beds and awaited the instructions of where they needed to be going. Much to the surprise of the princess herself who gave of a gentle chuckle. "You really thought we would be walking over the streets, out in the open where everypony can be seeing you? I'm afraid I can't allow that. Not with the threat on the world outside still out there. Twilight, I am quite certain that you will be known just what is going to happen next, so I ask you to say what I always say."

Twilight gave her mentor a gentle nod before the smirk grew upon her face. For she almost exactly knew what was going to be happening. "Ladies, hold on tight. This might get bumpy." All of the mares looked at one another, before they started to cling to each other and Twilight herself. Celestia released a small chuckle at the scene before her horn charge itself up in the signature golden aura.

"I thank you doctor, for everything and perhaps in time, we meet one another again," the alicorn spoke up to the good stallion with a friendly smile upon her face.

"Oh I do hope that as well your majesty, I do only hope it is under more favorable circumstances." the doctor replied before he started to wave at all of them. "Au revoir." Then it happened, under a massive burst of energy from Celestia were all six of the ponies engulfed in a sea of golden light as the surroundings tore itself to pieces. Shreds of reality were falling around them like pieces of torn apart paper.

Applejack screamed murder and fire as she had not a single clue of what was going on while Twilight rolled with her eyes. Rainbow and Pinkie simply looked their eyes out while the signature puff in the mane could be heard. But where the old world was torn away, in the gaps created appeared a new one.

It took them only seconds in reality, but it felt like minutes until the golden waves of energy seemed to be stopping and they all stood in a space they knew. "Well this is interesting, Canterlot guestroom?" Twilight asked to which Celestia gave only a simple nod in response.

Every so gently did the alicorn stood up again, letting Fluttershy lay carefully on the ground. "This is indeed the guest room yes, but during the teleportation I also protected her mind from the magic that has invaded it. See it as a virus becoming contained by your body. You won't feel a thing, but might become a little bit sleepless. Just a fair warning." The horn of the mare gently charged itself up again and started to levitate the body of Futtershy over to one of the beds.

"But what 'bout her? She's already asleep." Applejack claimed as she watched the body travel by and then looked back to Celestia herself. All the others had to stand by the cowgirl again, as she did ended up having quite the good point for each of them.

Celestia gave the mares a gentle smile before the horn discharged itself and the pegasus had been laid carefully upon the bed. "It's rather simply, I also brought her to sleep. She seemed to be the one who needed it most given how her and Rarity have been so close over the years."

It was an explanation most of the ponies could get behind and rather left go by then to question it. "Though if you will excuse me, I'm afraid I have to be leaving you for the moment. If there is ever anything you require my help with, simply visit me in the throne room or ask the guards that stand on either side of the doorway. May you enjoy the time here in the castle and it's gardens." Celestia said before she turned herself around to make her departure from the four of them.

"Princess wait!" Twilight called up. "Where can we go and where can't we go?" The question was something that had been bobbling on her mind for the moment since she became aware just what Celestia had done to each of them.

"Don't go out of the boundaries of the castle and you should be safe my subjects. Now if you will excuse me." With that had Celestia left them on their own to discuss the matters that were on their minds.

All four of the ponies were a little bit baffled by the fact that the magnitude of the operation did came as far as it indeed had come. Each of them dropped themselves down on a chair or sofa that surrounded the fireplace in the middle of the room. "Ah still don't get it, how Ah could have been alive in that dream. Ah mean, Ah was wandering through the house without an idea and only after Ah found mah own gravestone, the house seemed to have burned down." Applejack spoke up first as she tried to wrap her head around the facts as they were.

"Dreams are a powerful thing Applejack, it is something that you know perhaps even better than I do. But then again, that flexible dimension window seemed to be quite the achievement, even in the dream that I was going through. It's like, every last little attention to detail was truly given to our dreams." Twilight replied to the three of them as she started the fire.

"Not to mention, how Fluttershy encountered those gorgonies, are those even there Twilight?" Pinkie questioned as she wanted to be certain then.

The mulberry unicorn looked over to the pink mare before she gave a nod. "I'm afraid that their race truly exists, or still exists shall we say. Myself and Rarity once went on expedition through the woods in the hope to find them, or at least what was left of their culture. Ran into a bit more trouble than we bargained for, especially Rarity."

Those words alone caught Rainbow to do something she normally didn't. Which was to think deeply. Something just didn't seem to be adding up in her mind and she wanted to know exactly what that happened to be. "Hold on a minute here Twi. You said you and Rarity went out to find the gorgonies? Doesn't that support the theory of Applejack in the least bit?"

Blinks were being made by the three remaining mares as they didn't fully understood the words that were spoken by Rainbow. "I mean, think about it for a second here, the levels of detail placed inside of our nightmares, your meeting the gorgonies with Rarity, it can only me-"

"Quit your babbling Rainbow, it ain't solving anything." Applejack interrupted the rainbow maned pegasus. "Just cause one of the dreams comes over to one another, ain't proving anything," the cowgirl explained before she huffed deeply. "Ah don't wanna be a gamebreaker here, but think 'bout the dream of Pinkie, Twi and mahself here for a moment. None of us ever even spoke about those subject with Rares. So how exactly would have come to know the things we have dreamed about?"

It was a direct slap in the face for Rainbow who crossed her forelegs over one another and huffed deeply towards the cowgirl. "Well you aren't helping much either."

"Cause Ah only speak when Ah'm asked, 'member partner?"

"Element of honesty everypony…kiss my flank." Rainbow muttered quietly to herself.

"Ah heard that."

"Good!"

All the way over in the woods of White Tails were both Shadowfright and Shadowblood walking through the thick fog but didn't seem to be having any problem to either lose one another, or to lose their heading. They were blinded by the fog, not a single form of life could be witnessed up to a couple hoof in front of them. That was something that both caused some concern in their minds but also satisfied them. As it meant to them that the place was still as secure as they always had it.

Yet little did they knew just what was racing their way. Both of the shadow stallions were just chatting with one another had dropped the subject of taking over the domain from the unicorn herself. Yet where they dropped it, the unicorn hadn't. Through the eyes of one of the savages was she following the events on the hooves. Her eyes literally linked to that one of them, she was almost part of the action. "Make sure they won't forget it, who is in charge." Nightmare Rarity spoke up with a sadistic tone in her voice.

In response to the words, the savages released a howl through the air, one that announced their coming before the galloping was pushed even harder. Both of the shadow stallions almost came to a standstill as soon as they caught the sounds in their ears. It seemed to be unreal that those creatures had been send out to get something in the dreaded woods. Whatever it was they were out in, it was close to the both of them. Perhaps even a little bit too close.

"What do you think they have been send out for?" Blood spoke up as he pressed himself against one of the tree trunks. His eyes looked over to Fright with the questioning an uncertain gaze in them. There wasn't much they were afraid of, but the four of them were right on the number one spot.

"How the hell am I supposed to be knowing?! I am not sniffing her flanks all the time!" Fright returned in hisses towards the other stallion as he also took his position against one of the trees. Both of their ears heard it coming in the distance, that insane cloppering of hooves. Hooves that were stomped into the ground as if the hunting season have been opened.

"Don't kill them. I need them whether I like it or not." Nightmare Rarity spoke up as the final command given to her personal guards. Who on their own turns started to bark like a rabid dog to one another and separated in groups of two. The charge was almost there and the prey had been located through the fog.

Both Fright and Blood kept themselves quiet against the trees as the hooves seemed to be disappearing out of the air. Though the time of celebrating wasn't there. For they knew that every last moment, they could actually strike out and walk in their paths. Their hearts, for as much as they had them, were pounding straight in their throats as their breathing animation was almost stopped.

They wanted to merge with the shadows so badly, but that action would be noticed straight away by any force that was in the nearby area. The both of them closed their eyes and kept on waiting for thirty agonizing seconds. It was only after that, that they heard the sounds they didn't wanted to hear.

For each of the savages jumped straight out the bushes behind them and landed in front of either of the shadow stallions. The commanders were surrounded by the beasts and Fright actually dared to open up his eyes and look straight into one of the beast's eyes. "P-Parley?" he asked them in a low tone that was almost inaudible for any creature to be heard.

Yet back all the way in the domain, on her sofa laid the darkened unicorn with the smirk upon her face. "And, teach them the lesson they are required to know," the mare spoke up to the savages through the mental connection. Which in return caused each of the creature to roar like a timberwolf.

The eyes of both Fright and Blood opened themselves widely as the pleaded for their lives but couldn't stop the jumping of the beasts on top of them. Screams of agony started to fill the woods of White Tails, screams that originated out of the two commanders themselves.

Applejack grumbled a little bit after the words Rainbow had spoken as her nightmare was of course still fresh in her mind and the fear that was located behind it was something that she never wanted to experience herself. Though in order to get the accusation of Rarity out of her mind, there had to be coming a new theory around the block which would help to get the train of thought off of her. "But what 'bout that changeling queen? She seen around certain places, but who's to say it was really her? Perhaps she had assumed the form of Rarity and it are actually her changelings, that wander through the woods of White Tails as we speak. Ah mean, those buggers can change into everything, now can't they?"

The mare had a likely theory but it seemed like that the support of Rainbow Dash had fallen already. After the mockery a couple minutes ago, they couldn't be caring less about what the other thought. "It's a likely theory." Twilight replied before she gently rested her eyes on Pinkie. "But just like those legs of her, it is full of holes. I do not think we can actually discover just what is going on, who's to blame and over all, just what we can do, just yet. Well, except making our time here as least dreadful as possible. And with that I mean the both of you. Your screaming and hollering doesn't really help all that much."

"Well excuse me, princess." Rainbow spoke up in a nagging tone before she stood up.

"Where are you going?" Pinkie suddenly spoke up, proving herself to still be wide awake despite her unusual silence.

"Gonna be stretching my wings a little bit here. Yes I will stay in the borders given by Celestia, bla, bla, bla, I am not a filly anymore." Rainbow replied to all the mares before was just gone. Her hooves carried her over to the door and from there, she flew away.

Twilight shook her head a little bit and stood up herself as well. "I don't know about you two, but I'm going to get some shut eye as well. Maybe I can think a bit more clear afterward on this entire mess. Let's face it here girls, we have gone from the frying pan into the fire."

Pinkie and Applejack wished the mulberry unicorn goodnight as they kept on sitting by the fire and ponder their minds in silence. With Rainbow soaring through the skies above the castle, calm had returned to the room given to the five friend. Yet the peace was far to search. It was nowhere to be found actually. Perhaps it was to the sadness from some of them, but at the moment and in their bitterness, they couldn't care.

The unicorn dropped herself upon her bed and turned herself away from the fires, facing the shadows. A deep sigh was the left thing that left through her nostrils before one tiny tear traveled down her cheek. A tear of questions left unanswered and events happened.

Celestia may have said she was going to be doing one thing but she ended up doing another. For the mighty alicorn of the day never actually returned to the throne room. Instead she was wandering through the hallways of the castle without any actual aim to her legs. It caused some of the guards to gain a bit of confusion and suspicion but when they looked into her magenta rimmed eyes, they could actually read the genuine sadness and own confusion inside of them. And that was more than enough for them to back off again.

Though the atmosphere in the castle itself wasn't the one that Celestia was looking for. She needed to get out and get some fresh air as well as a few fresh intakes in her mind when it came down to the matter. A deep sigh was released through her mouth as the gears in her mind were just stopped and the tunes of times long forgotten were remembered. Calm and peace was the thing that she needed at the moment.

And perhaps there happened to be just one place where she would be able to get such a thing for herself. A place wide in the open yet that could be as personal as her bed room. With hurry in her hooves did the alicorn wander through the hallways of the castle until she came to a set of doors. A set of doors that she knew all too well and smiled upon them. The horn allowed itself to be coated in the golden aura as she looked at the very markings of the door itself.

Markings that went back to the time where she was still a filly and her sister a foal. The castle they lived in was ancient and every last bit showed it. Yet despite the age did everything work like a charm and the doors opened without a hitch in their hinges. The sight that was revealed to Celestia was that of the setting sun over the statue garden.

A garden where she came perhaps more often than not if her mind had something that troubled itself more than anything. It was perhaps the place where she could relive history to the best of her abilities without actually going back in time.

And out of all the statues that could be found within the garden, those of great unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies, there was one that stuck out pretty much like a sore thumb. One statue that was actually an ancient enemy of her. A statue that belonged to a mish mash of different creatures in a pose as it wanted to avoid something or block it.

"Discord." Celestia spoke up before she sat down on her hunches before the statue. The statue which held the chaos god rightfully in his place. Allowing him to hear everything that was going on, and sometimes return the words. Though the history between the two of them went much, much deeper than just that. It was a history that ponies didn't need to know, and never would either.

In whispers just barely audible through the winds themselves, Celestia spoke every last little detail against the statue. Everything that she knew with the exception of the element being turned to dark was told against him. All in that vague hope that she somehow would be getting an answer of the maniacal madman.

She out of luck. For the statue himself remained silent for all of the time. Much to the sadness of the princess herself.

It would have been the day after the mares had awoken from their slumbers again and were being brought over to Canterlot to stay, that three little fillies were going to set a few events in motion that had been planned ever since the rumors of the dreaded first surfaced. Three little fillies who actually dared to fight against fate itself in order to have just that little bit of fun for themselves.

Though little did they knew just what was fact and what was fiction. It still didn't matter for the three of them in the least bit. As long as they had their fun, they could be doing literally everything and going pretty much everywhere. But all of their endeavors, all of their troubles could be blamed on one tiny little thing. One thing that drove many older ponies to the brink of going crazy. Because everything they did, was in the name to get their ever so beloved cutie mark.

Something that some couldn't stand out anymore, while others still found it along the lines of cute and whimsical. Except those ponies hadn't seen the sheer destruction that they could be making to a certain place if they were given more than enough time.

It was at first dawn that Sweetie Belle woke up from her slumber and slowly started upon her daily routine of doing everything she needed. The levels of silence were pretty unheard from as both of her parents still laid vastly asleep in their beds. The last thing the little white coated, pinkish maned unicorn wanted to do, was to wake them up from too much noise.

After a few minutes of having been busy in the bathroom had the filly returned to her own room with looks that made her recognizable almost instantly. For the style of mane and tail hadn't changed in pretty much years. Her own style she had adopted pretty much like most ponies in the town. Though it would be then that she made the realization that there were still things she needed to be doing.

Things that were of a major importance and actually had gathered the night before. The young filly dove under her bed before she crawled back out of it with something locked in her teeth. Something that appeared like a canvas sheet with stuff inside of it. Whatever it was, it didn't appear to be heavy in weight for the little filly as she simply yanked it from under the bed.

A gentle spit was given and the fabrics were released from her mouth and the tongue was being stuck out. The taste was something that was up for debate. Sweetie shook her head a little bit before she looked at the canvas sheet again and released a gentle 'hmm'. Thought rambled through her mind as her eyes suddenly started to look upward, almost as if she wanted to see her own horn in one way or the other.

"Should I try it without Twilight being around here?" Sweetie whispered to herself while her eyes gently lowered themselves back down to the canvas. It was an honest question to be asked to herself but being one of Twilight's occasional magical students also brought quite the bit of havoc with it. The filly released a deep sigh as she had not a clue of what she would be doing.

In the meantime and pretty much across town on the lands of Sweet Apple Acres was the red maned, yellow coated filly also more than ready to hit the day. Having done her daily routine she was walking through the living area of the home and she looked at all of the gear and equipment she had with her. Everything was checked one more time before the filly gave a nod to herself.

And then it was up for adventure. The time would be there to do the thing they had been discussing with one another for such a long time by then. There was only massive, massive exception that made certain that the entire operation was concealed in nothing but just utter mystery. Neither Apple Bloom nor Sweetie Belle seemed to be knowing just where on earth they would be going.

They could be hiking to the Frozen North for all they knew, especially with the gear they had packed with them was being judged. Either way, the two and especially Apple Bloom actually trusted Scootaloo for knowing where they would be heading. One last check up on everything would be made by the filly before the saddlebags were placed around her body. Two rather large bags hung off of either side of her and she seemed to be more than ready to hit the road straight into the unknown.

Quietly did the filly leave the house as the early morning sun was still rising on the horizon. The grandmother of them all was still deeply asleep in her room. With Applejack having taken away to Canterlot after she wouldn't wake up from her sleep, it was up to her older brother to take care of the entire apple business. A job perhaps a little bit more than he could chew.

Which was mostly due to the simple fact that the stallion was a quiet and humble giant. His posture intimidating ponies who would be walking by him, his strength nearly unmatched by any other stallion in the land. He was still a force to be reckoned with. Apple Bloom saw her big brother working on the lands as he always had done, hard and honest.

Though the times were a little bit different as each of the family members also had suffered a bit from the nightmares. Except they did wake up every morning but would be haunted by them every single night. They weren't as intense as the ones the elements received, but more than enough to make them sleepy on the job itself. Perhaps the very plan of the pony that caused them.

Either way and with a small yawn in her mouth did Apple Bloom walked past the fence of the Acres and looked over the main road in order to see the filly she was waiting on. The time of meeting was almost there and being late on that day, they couldn't allow themselves.

Apple Bloom herself was in luck as on the horizon could she see it quite clearly. The very shadow of another filly who appeared to have been in a rush. The red maned filly narrowed her eyes to make sure that she saw everything correct. But the mane waving in the wind and the little flutter of the wings while jumps were made in the air, all pointed out to one filly and one filly alone.

"Why hello there Scoots. Had a good night?" Apple Bloom spoke up as the mysterious filly was came closer and closer. Eventually revealing herself as an orange coated, purple maned pegasus filly.

"Depends on your definition of good really, had nightmares again. They have been getting the best of me for two weeks now... How do you live with them?!" Scootaloo returned just before the two would be walking down the road in order to pick up the last member of the group.

They walked past the land of the Acres and the trees that were planted on the other side while Apple Bloom sunk herself into thought. "Ah'll admit that those nightmares do get the best of me. But y'all have to know that they remain just dreams. Just taking a few naps during the day itself, might help you out a lot more then you could possible think."

Those words were something that caused Scootaloo to huff a little bit before her mind started to actually think about it. In the end, the little cowgirl did have a point, even though she didn't wanted to admit it herself. Though the silence they had entered was one that was uncomfortable to say the least.

In order to break that same silence did Apple Bloom ask the question that was bothering on her mind for days. "Hey Scoots, were are we going to anyway? Ah mean, it's an awful lot of gear we have alone."

In response released the pegasus a gentle chuckle as she knew exactly where they would be going. Yet the tone of the chuckle was something that got Apple Bloom already worried. Something just didn't add up to it all and she was getting her suspicion there and then. Almost as if she had regretted asking the question immediately, Apple Bloom looked the other way quickly.

Her eyes caught the scenery for a couple of seconds before they turned back over to the pegasus. Her curiosity was something that always called for adventure and wanting the unknown. And at the moment she wanted to know the unknown more then she wanted just about anything else. "Well? Where are we going?"

Scootaloo turned her head over to the red maned filly and gave her this unsettling grin at first. A grin that caused a small shiver to travel down the spine of Apple Bloom, regretting her question almost immediately. "You really want to know?" Scootaloo asked her with that same grin still clearly visible. It was only then that Apple Bloom started to gulp a little bit as she didn't had a single clue. One part of her wanted to know it, while the other just wanted to make a return to the house of the family and snuggle up in her bed.

Yet in the end she gave a nod to the question that was asked to her. All that was left to be coming, was the answer to the question but whether or not she would be happy about it, was another question. "Oh Bloomy, I have been planning this trip for weeks now and it's finally happening. There were we are heading is the place where it all seemed to have started. We're going to it. White, Tails, Woods."

That name alone caused Apple Bloom to stay dead in her tracks. Out of every possible location that they could have been going, they had to go to that horrid place. She knew the rumors of those woods, she had heard the stories about the dreaded fog that roamed around there. "Are ya crazy?!" she spoke up with a raised voice.

But the words were never returned as Scootaloo simply continued to walk to the house of Sweetie Belle.

A house where the events were a bit less than pleasant to begin with either. For as the two fillies arrived and the location of their trek was revealed, Sweetie's coat became even more white then it normally was. Almost as if she had seen a living ghost in the eyes of the two of them. It scared her to even think about the location they would be going to. It took both enough talking of both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo to get her crazy enough. Crazy enough to join them both on the trek of perhaps a lifetime, or one that would be ending it.

There was a little tiny reason of just why Apple Bloom also started to bribe against Sweetie, trying to persuade her over to join the two. For the earth pony filly owed the pegasus a trip to the woods of White Tails. After having bailed out on the first time, a time that it wasn't even filled with the stuff of nightmares had never left the mind of Scootaloo and considered what they would be doing payback for it.

A sickening payback it was perhaps yes but neither three of them were actually truly aware of just the terror that was housed in those dreaded woods. They didn't saw the danger it would be having for them all. In the end even Sweetie Belle agreed on coming along for the ride. Whether she would be liking it or not.

So with the sun still in the early hours, they started to walk down the ponymade path again in order to reach the woods of White Tails. The woods where a debt would be settled and the camp set up for a night under the starry skies. …If they were in luck.

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle all wore their twin saddlebags packed with equipment and other things they would be needing in order to have a successful and perhaps even cozy night out. Of course had the three of them heard about the rumors that did their turn over the forest, otherwise it didn't made Apple Bloom so scared when the location was revealed. Same happened to Sweetie, who was literally trembling upon all four of her legs when she heard it.

The look of genuine fright was something that filled her eyes back then but as they were walking through the land, the songs did their turn and everything just seemed to be like the mood of a school camp. A school camp that would most likely be going to the inner depths of Tartarus for all they knew but they lived in the there and then while not looking to the future itself. Their little minds even seemed to have been twisting the perhaps horrors that they would be facing, into a sort of little game they would be thinking about. A little challenge of who could be in those woods for the longest of time.

All of those rather idiotic things were being discussed under so laughter and singing of the three of them. Completely unaware of the terrors that laid inside of the fog. Yet they didn't care as they seemed to be having quite the good day in and of itself already. For their wanders lead them off the beaten path, causing them to on the more tourist route and thus see sights that were truly marvelous to witness.

But eventually there it was that came in their field of views. The dreaded woods of White Tails came into their eyes and they knew right away, just why the woods were called that way. For the fog that darted around in the formation of tails waving in the wind, everything just looked so magical at the moment. Everything just looked so perfect at the moment. All of it was quiet, no birds, not rustled from the vegetation, just the wind that blew softly past their little ears.

None of the fillies could believe the fact that something as wonderful as those woods, could be housing such a deadly secret. "Hey." Scootaloo said as she nudged Apple Bloom. "You think they all made it up, just to keep fillies and colts away so they can have all of the beauty for themselves?"

The comment was something that made the other two giggle to themselves before the saddlebags were removed from their backs and the camping side was being made up. Each of the fillies helped one another with setting up the tent and basically transforming the land before the forest into a comfortable and leisurely site. A small campfire pit was made before some logs and stones were rolled in that acted as fire stoppers and a sofa, not to mention the wood for the fire itself.

The best thing of it all had to be the fact that they were genuinely existed about it all. For everything was build up in less than two hours which caused the sun to be standing on the status of high noon. Not that it meant much to the three of them though. For they still had plenty of time to make a trip through the fog of White Tails and see what the fuzz was about.

Though from time to time it was Sweetie who stared into the seemingly endless fog of the woods and just felt that unsettling feeling in her stomach. A feeling that made her just a bit sick, but never showed it to the other two. Instead, she tried to hide it from them by saying some words. "Is it okay with you two if I stay here, guarding the camp and all?"

It seemed like a weak excuse and she had to admit it herself that it actually was one, but it was needed that at least one of them was there in the camp to make sure nopony else would be getting there. Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked at her with a tilted head and confused expression before they finally understood what she meant.

"Yeah, sure."

"Fine by me."

It was a weight off of the filly's chest as she absolutely didn't wanted to enter those woods that were supposedly haunted to the core. Though it were going to be the other two fillies that were going to enter the forest. They talked about the wonders they could be seeing if they looked hard enough, yet it was the little unicorn who dove back in the tent and started to search for a couple of items.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked strangely at her once again as they pretty much had not a clue of what she was doing. Seconds later, the filly popped back out of the tent, carrying two magical flashlights, two compasses and two maps. Each of the fillies got one of everything and she looked proudly to her friends. "Mark the position we are on, on the map and know the direction you need to walk into from your compass. If either of you two gets lost, you know how to walk back, right?"

"Uhm, Sweets..." Scootaloo started as she looked at the items first but then turned her head back up over to the filly. "You certain this is all needed? I mean, we can just go with the rope I brought along, right?"

"And what if a creature cuts it?" Sweetie then replied. That was the reply that caused Apple Bloom to chuckle to herself and got Scootaloo cornered. With a small huff and grumble of acceptance, the two fillies started to look better at their compasses and marked the location of the camping site on the map.

"This should be about it, the mountain's over there, the lake is in that direction, meaning we are right here. Now just hope we don't end up at the opposing side of the forest if we have to run." Scootaloo said after having marked the site of the camp on her map.

"There's were the compasses come in, chicken." Apple Bloom replied with a chuckle. "East by southeast, Ah would say." And with that were the two fillies ready to hit the road and go into the woods of White Tails when they desired and were ready.

Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo stood before the edge of the fog covered woods of White Tails and the both of them were looking at one another with the same expression upon their faces. They knew they were ready for anything and everything. Yet the thing that they didn't knew, was when they were going to be back and what they would be encountering in those very woods. It could have been everything, but it never scared them away.

With a deep exhale made by both of the fillies, they nodded to one another and started to walk over the edge. Right into the terrain of the nightmarish unicorn. Sweetie was the only one who remained at the campsite and waved the two of them goodbye before the fillies were reduced to nothing more but black shadows. Until they were just gone, gone in the thick fog of the woods that seemed to have consumed them whole.

With the two of them gone and literally out of her sight could Sweetie Belle only hope that the two of them wouldn't be working themselves into the troubles they were known for. Either way, whether they would or wouldn't, continue to blindly stare at the fog wasn't going to help her in any way of the word.

Thus the little, white coated unicorn did the only thing she could be doing at the moment and that was to tidy the place up a little before they would return. Songs were hummed to herself as the tail was being used as some sort of broom. It was a little something that worked like a charm, but caused a lot of the filth to be left inside of the hairs in her tail. Not that it mattered all too much to her though.

For pretty close to the campsite was a small stream running where she could wash herself if she wanted. Everything just seemed to be so peaceful and serene out there. Nothing even as much as indicated upon the fact that the horrors they had heard, could have been playing themselves right in the woods behind her. The young Sweetie Belle just couldn't understand it for one bit.

Though it was that mindset that caused the time to actually fly by a lot faster than she originally could have hoped and thought. For the minutes turned themselves over into an hour before she was finally done with her given assignment.

The deep green rimmed eyes looked over the camping site with a big smile below her muzzle. Everything just looked like her sister could have ever wanted it, all of it was just so clean and tidy, for herself she had done a very good job. That was with the little exception of her tail. For all of it was just filled with the filth of what she had been trying to get out.

So the only thing that the little unicorn could be doing was to wash her tail off into the little stream. Which was exactly the thing that she would be doing. Her little legs carried themselves over to the place where she looked at the current and gave a small nod to herself.

In her mind had the currents to be just strong enough to weave themselves through the hairs of her tail and thus loosening up any bit that shouldn't belong in the hairs before it was carried away.

The tail was being lowered into the waters and the body of Sweetie Belle was aimed towards the woods themselves. Her eyes continued to look at the fog as it danced before them. Enchanted she almost appeared to be by the motions that it made by the wind. Something that caused a secondary feeling to actually arise from deep in her body.

Deeper and deeper she started to look into the fog and noticed these small little electronic currents going through it. Currents that were blue of coloring, a blue that she seemed to be knowing a little bit too well perhaps. In her head was the connection almost immediately made as a pounding could be heard in her ears. A pounding that wasn't of hooves against the ground.

No, the pounding that she heard were in fact two smaller pounds nearly at the same time. Almost, almost like that of a heartbeat. Sweetie Belle just couldn't believe it, but she thought to be hearing a heartbeat while she gazed upon the fog.

Yet the oddest part of it all, had to be that she placed that heartbeat by somepony she knew. Somepony whose very own heartbeat she knew perhaps a whole lot better than anypony that lived in the face of the lands. "R-Rarity?!" Sweetie Belle stumbled out before her eyes closed themselves in the confusion.

She couldn't actually believe the events as they were presented to her. The heartbeat of her lost sister could be heard in her ears, while it seemed to have come from the woods themselves. "W-What's going on he- Outch!"

Before the little unicorn could be doing anything else, she was taken out of her trance as something had taken a hold of her tail and yanked it deeper underwater. But in response had the filly jumped into the air and away from the stream. With a comical landing she plopped back in the grass on her belly and behind her she could hear the desperate flopping of a fish on the dry land.

The filly turned herself around in order to see just what it happened to be and looked at it. Without any hesitation, her eyes became as wide as they possible could have ever been and she rushed back over to the fish on the dry land. One of the stream's many inhabitants must have mistaken her tail for something that was food. "Oh, I'm sorry, sorry, sorry." Sweetie spoke up against the fish before she took it on both of her hooves and threw it calmly back into the stream.

With the fish back in the water and her mind having forgotten why she was looking to the woods, Sweetie shrugged a little bit before she returned to the campsite and started to sit down on one of the logs with a comic she had packed. It at least kept her occupied a lot better than having to clean up all the time.

In the meantime and deeply tucked away in the woods had both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo remained close to one another to make certain they wouldn't get lost. The both of them had seen the transition from the trees being nice brown with green to black and pointy. It was a change that neither of them truly liked or actually was waiting on to behold. Though the two of them were always competitive and neither wanted to bail out because they were too scared.

If they only knew they shouldn't have been writing checks they couldn't cash. For the forest was known to break ponies their spirits in one way or the other. And the currents that Sweetie noticed going through the fog, happened to be the magic of the unicorn that became visible for a few seconds. Magic that was going to mess with the other two fillies.

"Ah think we've been around this tree before already Scoots." Apple Bloom spoke up as they walked past a deformed tree. A deformed tree from which the earth pony knew almost certain they had gone by once, if not multiple times. "How far in do ya wanna go anyway?"

"As far as it is needed and no, we haven't gone by this tree already, it's different you see," the pegasus pointed out to the branches.

"Only cause we're at the other side. Ah'm telling ya, we have gone by this before." Apple Bloom returned in a confident tone. Something which caused Scootaloo to sigh in an utterly annoyed tone. "Well if ya are so certain, where are we heading then? Take yar compass would yah."

"Hey! You got one yourself remember, you take yours out," the little pegasus returned with a growl as the two came to a stop near the tree. Apple Bloom returned the huff just as loud as she started to search in her saddlebag for the thing. A few seconds later she had found it and brought it to the middle of them. Yet the very sight they would be seeing, was everything but pretty.

The eyes of both of the fillies went as wide as they could possible become. They both looked at the needle of the thing and neither of them wanted to even believe the things they saw. However, that what they saw was the complete and utter truth on the matter. "Impossible…" Scootaloo whispered to Apple Bloom in a tone of genuine fear.

"Y-Ya said it," the red maned filly replied before she gave a deep gulp.

For in the compass itself were the needles that supposed to be aiming towards the north and the south, didn't exactly do that anymore. Instead went the needle literally all over the place as if the entire magnetic field kept on changing with each possible second. It was something that frightened both of the fillies already, but they still could remember the fact, they had two of the things.

"T-Take yours out, p-please." Apple Bloom begged the pegasus. There was still hope that one of the compasses had gone over to tilt and with just that little bit of the ever so much needed luck, they could be having one working compass.

Scootaloo gave a nod to the filly before she searched in her own saddlebag for the things and carefully took it out. With her hoof coiled up over the glass, it was impossible to judge whether or not it was spinning like mad already. The both of them released a gulp and exchanged some worried expression to one another before Scootaloo closed her eyes, and revealed the glass.

"Oh no," was the only thing that Apple Bloom had to say about the matter. And those words alone caused Scootaloo to lose all of the remaining hope that they still had. Ever so carefully did she open up her eyes and looked over to the compass of her own. Once again, did the needle turn and twist all over the place.

"H-Hey Apple Bloom, w-what if we place the both of them on the ground, m-maybe we are charged with static, you know?" the pegasus yelped out as she truly had not a clue of what she was talking about but it seemed to be working quite the bit. For the logic behind it was something that could be considered good.

The earth pony filly gave a nod in response before they both placed their compasses upon the ground and closed their eyes for a couple of seconds. Each of them whispered their prayers for their very lives as they could only do that in the moment.

Slowly did their eyes both open up again and they both looked at the same sight. A sight that was about to shatter all their believes and dreams literally on the spot. For in their eyes they caught the compasses still turning like mad. They never seemed to be stopping whatsoever. Whether it was caused by their hooves or the ground, they just kept on going like it was nothing.

That was the fact, that indulged just so much fear into both of the fillies, that they first looked at one another with a terrified stare. Only to be followed with one that was looking straight into the fog. Another big mistake that they made.

For in that very fog they began to see the shimmers of the reality they absolutely didn't wanted to do down into. The shimmers of their worst fears were coming to live and walking through the shadows of the trees. Though neither of the fillies even had the ability left to scream or to even talk to the other. All they could be doing, was to look at one another with that begging gave of getting out of there as soon as possible. Which was exactly the thing they did.

The two of them picked up their compasses and then just went off. Off into the direction to which they thought that their camp would be. Whether they were right on the matter or not, didn't matter to them. They just wanted to get the hell out of that horrid place. Especially since the shimmers were actually chasing them. Shimmers that took a more recognizable shape each time they dared to be looking at their backs.

For Apple Bloom noticed how the blob of shadow became her own beloved sister but with a few, mental defective twists to her. For in her mouth she held a blood covered knife and the eyes were just ready to kill the youngest family member. No doubt in the filly's mind existed that she had murdered her bigger bother and grandmother already. It was a sight that caused her to finally scream on the top of her lungs and gave even more gas into her hooves.

It was something that caused Scootaloo to raise an eyebrow before she called out. "Hey! W-Wait for me!" she shouted out before her eyes also made the massive mistake to look back. For her blob turned itself into Rainbow Dash. But this Rainbow Dash, much like Applejack, also seemed to be able to kill. Except there were a few changes as the particular Rainbow looked no longer like a pegasus. Instead she was looking like a creature Scootaloo had only dreamed about in her nightmares. Rainbow Dash had turned into a lycan. A werepony ready to kill and consume her.

Another scream filled the air of White Tails that was being created by the orange coated pegasus who emptied all the air from her lungs. And then she was just off. She gained an even faster speed in her gallop and the both of them were genuinely scared for their lives. They had two homicidal ponies at their tails ready to end their little lives literally in a moment's notice.

The two of them literally set everything on everything to make sure that they would be getting out alive and well. Perhaps just escaping the woods themselves wasn't the only part that was needed to escape them. "S-So that's where they have been! They have been hiding in here, waiting for ponies like us!" Scootaloo managed to speak during their gallop. Apple Bloom found it terrifying that her big sister could even as much as give her such looks, but the more she thought about it, the more it did make sense.

Two whole weeks asleep just didn't cover it for her. "Scoot, no offence, but shut up and Ah hope yar wrong on it!" Apple Bloom replied as they kept on galloping through the vegetation. Neither of them even dared to witness just how far behind the mares would have been, but in their ears they heard the panting of the mentally insane ponies. The chase wasn't over it, and it probably wouldn't for a long time to come.

In the time that all of the events unfolded themselves in the woods had Sweetie Belle continued to be reading through her Power Ponies comics and chuckled a couple times at the adventures that were drawn out. It seemed to be a useful waste of time as the adventures those ponies had, seemed to be like they were living their lives at the fullest.

Though the more calming she thought everything was going to get, the more she could hear the hoofsteps of something coming closer and closer towards the camp. The filly placed the comic aside and she simply rose an eyebrow to the sounds. Her ears tried to determine just where they came from and eventually, she turned herself over to the woods.

There was that innocent yet questioning gaze that fell in her eyes as she didn't truly understood the matter of the thing that was going on. Everything just became odd to her. "What's going on there?" she asked to herself before the two well-known screams entered her ears. "Oh no…"

Before she even knew it did both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo came galloping out of the woods, terrified and as pale as a deceased body. Neither of them even noticed the little unicorn and they simply continued to gallop further away from the woods. That was until they encountered the stream of water.

The both of them just dropped themselves accidentally into it and Sweetie Belle couldn't help it but to laugh to herself at the sight. They ran around like chickens without a head in her eyes, but didn't dare to make the comment to either of them.

The little unicorn eventually also made her way over to the small stream in which the other two fillies sat, shivering for their lives. "So, I take it that it wasn't such of a big success of going in there?" she spoke up in a genuinely interested tone, before the question of questions was answered. "What got you two so spooked?"

Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked to their friend with a gaze as if they could be strangling her on the spot while the water dripped out of their mane. "T-Trust me, you d-don't wanna know," the pegasus brought forth before she crawled out of the stream and offered a helping hoof to the cowgirl.

"S-Sweetie, we're going home. B-Believe us, it's better if we ain't coming back here." Apple Bloom replied after she was hoisted out of the waters and shook her head a couple of times. "Ya, ya don't wanna know, w-what we saw."

The words were something that the little unicorn understood all too well, and if the both of them said they didn't wanted to talk about it and go, something terrible had happened inside of those woods.

For the rest of the day would the fillies be packing their gear and walking back home to the safety that they were used to. Not to mention, the love of their families. The experiences were kept to themselves, as they didn't wanted to scare any adults more than they already happened to be. Perhaps a wise decision but fillies would always remain fillies.

With the sun already lowering did the three crusaders managed to walk back into Ponyville. None of them were happier to see the buildings arise over the hill they were trotting upon. They could actually let the horrors of the woods as both Scootaloo and Apple Bloom saw them right back behind them, while Sweetie could forget that mysterious feelings. But if it only was actually that simple. For even though they could be forgetting it, their minds would never delete the memories.

"Hey girls." Scootaloo spoke up as the three of them stood on top of the hill and admired the little town engulfing itself into the sunset. "I'm going back to the clubhouse for a little bit to set a few things straight. Catch you two tomorrow!" With those words had the orange coated filly just darted away like nothing happened. But the fears of seeing that savaged Rainbow Dash right behind her was something that she never could be forgetting. It was her fuel for the nightmares to come.

"Where did she ran off to?" Sweetie asked to the little earth pony who gave a shrug in response. It became apparent that she didn't wanted to talk about it and it seemed to be better that they wouldn't be doing just that. "Hey, you mind if I walk a bit with you? The roads to the Acres and my home are pretty much the same."

To that did Apple Bloom turn her head over to Sweetie and gave her a small nod. "Yeah, I don't see a problem in that really. Let's go," she spoke up before she started to trot once again.

"Hey! Wait for me!" the young unicorn yelled up as she had lost herself in the sight for a moment or two. A moment or two that cost her a bit of time to catch up with her friend.

When the two fillies eventually did separate their ways did went Apple Bloom straight back to Sweet Apple Acres to be held in the hold of her family. Though she never would tell them just what she saw in the forest. She didn't wanted to make them scared for their lives, especially her grandmother given the age. Not to mention there was the fact that the rumors seemed to be true as it showed one's worst fears and dreams.

That alone was more than enough for Apple Bloom to realize that it wasn't really there. Nonetheless, when she laid in the bed later that evening did the shivers went down her spine as the images returned to her in their fullest of glories. It would become a night in which she would be getting little to no sleep all because of a stupid bet or promise with the pegasus. "Ah hope you'll pay for it as well Scoots," the filly grumbled under her breath as she looked up into the skies and thought to see a figure appearing in the moon.

"What in the hay's name?!" she spoke up before the eyes blinked a couple of times. When she then wanted to see if the thing was still there, it was just gone. Vanished like if the wind itself had carried it away. "Am ah going crazy here?" she questioned herself aloud before leaving the bed. The red maned filly walked up to the window and began to stare even deeper towards the moon. Something about it caused her to be even more frightened than that she already was. "Don't tell me she's coming back, again…"

On that same evening had Sweetie Belle entered her home again and was almost right away greeted by both of her parents who were surprised by the fact that she was back that soon already. The filly explained the trip and what happened to them but left certain things out as she didn't wanted to scare her parents with all the information. Not to mention that not even she knew just where the two had been running from.

The family had their dinner together before Sweetie went back up to her room and unpacked all of the things with a sigh. She had hoped for a calming night under the starry skies, but that didn't seem to be happening anymore. With everything finally being unpacked and stored in placed either temporarily or permanently, the filly herself laid down on her bed while her eyes looked out of the window as well. Something about the whole thing continued to bug her like nothing before.

That very moment that she could hear her sister's heartbeat in the forest had to mean something if not everything. It chewed and chewed upon her mind and wouldn't let itself go no matter what. At a certain point she even considered to have gone crazy because of all the rumors of the forest. But if she heard the heartbeat, did that mean that her biggest fear was actually Rarity?

Questions like that filled the mind of Sweetie Belle more than anything and it caused the gears of her head to be getting stuck perhaps more than once and a while. "It can't be, it just, it just can't be possible," she whispered to herself before another growl left her mouth. At that point in time she seemed to be a lot like her sister when she didn't understood something. A rather comical sight some could have called it but her brain had gone itself into overdrive.

That was until a loud and massive yawn left the mouth of the filly. Time and time again she had been thinking about it all and it had worn her out more than anything else that entire day. "Maybe some sleep will do me good, put it to rest, maybe," were the last words to be mumbled by her. The young unicorn crawled her way into the bed before covering herself into the blankets and snuggled up with her plushie.

The green rimmed eyes of the filly closed themselves off from the world and before she even know it had she departed to the realms of the dreams in the hope to wake up better the next morning.

With the moon high in the skies it was deemed to be time to set the crime. Princess Luna herself had been standing before the abandoned Carousel Boutique for what seemed to be like hours. Ponies often approached her but when they discovered she seemed to be like this massive statue that not even they could interrupt, they simply let her be again. While the lights of the moon were being cast upon both the alicorn and the building, the time for answers to be discovered had fallen upon her.

"Sister, may you see through the crimes I'm about to commit for the sake of our land." Luna spoke up to herself before her hooves came into motion once again. She wanted to have answers whether or not it was actually Rarity who had caused all of their misery in the past few weeks, if not months. In the back of her head she knew it was Rarity but the evidence that the sisters had was silenced before all. They needed to come with other bits to prove their statements.

The horn of the alicorn charged itself up into the cobalt blue aura as she came closer to the door. With a flick of it was the lock opened on itself without a problem before the door opened like a breeze. Luna was granted access into the darkened estate of the fashionista. But only forces higher than herself could protect her from what she would be encountering in there.

Celestia always had to be the one for talking and not much action, Luna was exactly the opposing side of that. She loved to investigate and get into the troubles. Even if it meant that there were higher prices to be paid then she originally had wanted. Not something that was a particular bad thing in her eyes, as it meant that she knew pretty much exactly just what was going on in the lands they both ruled over.

"I sincerely hope, that it isn't you." Luna whispered to herself as she walked into the darkness of the building and closed the door gently behind her. The only light that was actually visible, was that of her horn while the eyes started to go over the main shop area to see if there already was anything that seemed to be unusual.

The troubles that she had caused as her own nightmare persona were still lingering fresh in her mind as she had a thousand years to actually think about them, they might not have been the cause. For the thought of something far more gruesome had come to mind and it caused the lunar princess herself to actually shudder on the spot.

If the force that had managed to transform Luna into Nightmare Moon, who was to say that that same force, hadn't managed to take over Rarity as well? It was that thought that kept the mare in her grasp. A force that seemed to be friendly at first before it toppled its host into an endless pit of misery while it took control over the body. She could truly just pray that it wasn't the thing that had affected Rarity.

As she did a step further inside was the exterior of the building being recalled by her and everything upon that seemed to be more than perfect. That was with the exception of some wear and tear for not being cleaned in such a long time. Outside of that, everything seemed to be more than perfect for the unicorn to just come straight back into it.

But while she was just 'standing' in front of the building, there was also another thing that she was doing. She heard the minds of every single pony that was coming in her nearby area and specifically listened whether or not they knew something about the boutique and the state it was in.

The things she got to hear were pretty much the most unbelievable things there were. Many knew that the owner of the place hadn't been seen in a long time, even that the lights weren't on every night was something the caused them to awake some curiosity. Vanished like the wind, others told in their minds. Thoughts of the past were the words that had entered the mind of the lunar princess who continued to just look around the building from her position. "And yet, you disappeared just like that, my subject. Who or what could have been able to do such a thing without leaving any physical trace? That is of course, unless you happen to be right here and stand here invisible next to me but…"

The silence took over while the horn of the mare increased itself in power before a blast was given off in the form of an orb that went through all of the walls. A massive overflow of light came out of all the windows of the boutique which caused some of the bystanders to actually tilt their head at it. Some couldn't believe the things they saw before they saw the gestalt of Luna herself. Then they knew pretty much instantly just what was actually going on and went on their way again.

"…That's not what it is." Luna grumbled up before she took yet another step into the place and looked further with her eyes. The things on the shelves, the mannequins and the dresses were covered in a layer of dust which meant that they hadn't been moved in a long time. "Not too much, but promising. Nopony has been here to move things around or to actually clean. This is becoming better and better." The sarcastic words of the alicorn only caused herself to release a deep sigh through her nostrils before her head turned over to the back area of the shop.

Almost instinctively she knew what she needed to be doing and with a thorough investigation she wouldn't leave a single room untouched. Instead she would be going systematically through them all. Her hooves brought the mare over to the working area of the boutique and with the light of the horn did her eyes looked into every last possible corner while also going through the books of designs, administration and more personal documents of the unicorn.

The information that she received from them wasn't necessarily something she could use and thus wouldn't have been stored in her mind. With a sigh she turned herself around and shone the light upon some of the unfinished dresses on the mannequins. "Seems like you really wanted to leave in a hurry, now didn't you? But why didn't you leave anything for us to trace…not to mention, these designs are wonderful. You knew your trade very well Rarity, I must admit that to you," the lunar princess whispered to herself before she continued to the second room on the bottom floor.

Which happened to be nothing else then the main shopping area where the investigation continued. Not a single corner was left untouched and all of the items on both display and behind the counter were lifted up just ever so slightly to see what could possibly be hidden beneath them. Though once again she was just out of her luck. None of the items cast another light upon the case. Much to Luna's personal annoyance.

The living room was the thing that was next and her eyes swept themselves over every last inch but once more without luck to be had. Every last bit couldn't help her with anything she was looking for. Everything in the room seemed to be just so normal. It was almost starting to scare the alicorn. "You aren't going to tell me, that you just left out of free will here, now are you lady Rarity?" Luna whispered up to herself before she sat herself down on the sofa for a little bit.

Both of her eyebrows rose themselves up when the realization of just how comfortable the thing actually was, was made to her mind and she released a small chuckle to herself. "Now I understand why you carried that thing with you those times. Really comfortable indeed." It was a much needed relief to the cracking of the enigma that she had gotten herself into without a single doubt. A couple little bounces were made on the thing before the mare rose up once again. There was one last place where she needed to be looking on the ground floor and that was the kitchen. Out of all the places that the entire building had to offer to her, she thought that in the kitchen there would be something that could be helping her in her aid.

With a couple of careful and gentle steps did she pass through the archway that would lead her over to the place and the alicorn looked at everything that was there to be seen. Every last detail she tried to take up into herself. But as with the whole lower floor of the boutique, there was just nothing that seemed to be out of the ordinary for her nor was there anything that she could be using to strengthen the case. It almost seemed to be like she had reached a dead end.

Another grumble left her throat as the head hung itself lower to the ground and the eyes closed themselves a little bit. "It's hopeless Luna, she disappeared with the northern sun, vanished from the face of the land literally without a single trace to be discovered. But that can't be done right? Just leaving like that? What in the name of Equestria happened to you lady Rarity, what caused you to make such a departure from the land that you have always known and loved?"

It was yet another ramble that left through the mouth of the mare and she couldn't stand it for one bit. Everything was turning itself inside out as the paranoia of having something forgotten in one of the earlier rooms was already crawling right up to her. Though she still had the top floor of the building to be needing to look through and it wasn't something that she preferred doing. As it meant that she had had to go through the really private stuff of her subjects.

Though it was different that time, a lot different actually. For it felt like she needed to be doing it in order to make certain that she had every last detail of everything. Somepony had to do the dirty jobs and in the case, it happened to be nopony else but Luna herself. A confident nod was given to herself before she walked up the stairs to the second floor of the building. But little did she knew, just what leads she would be discovering there.

On the hallway of the second floor had the alicorn looked over each of the doors and quickly managed to identify just which one happened to be which. Though if she wanted to find the evidence that she needed in order to find Rarity which meant that not a single room needed to be left untouched. Even if it meant that she had to go through the attic above her. A place she never truly was fond of. "Please, please, please let me find something here that I can use so I don't have to go up there," she whispered to herself before her hooves carried her over to the room of Sweetie Belle.

The door of the room was opened and the light of Luna's horn shone itself in with the lunar might. The eyes of the alicorn began to scan through the room as she walked further inward. At first glance did everything seem to be just nice and tidy as the mare would have wanted it. On second glance had the trouble that the little sister could cause was visible like a sore thumb. Though it wasn't the something that she happened to be looking for. In contrast actually, even the bedroom of Sweetie Belle seemed to be nothing but normal before the eyes of the princess.

She was getting more and more annoyed as there was nothing that she could find and in both the bathroom and the remaining guestroom there wasn't much luck either. It was something that almost seemed to be driving her over the edge of insanity and back again. Mumbles, growls and groans all left her when the guest bedroom door was closed and the eyes focused themselves upon the final two remaining doors. The one of the inspiration room while the other was the master bedroom. "Pray you find something in one of those Luna," the mare whispered to herself as she closed in the distance between herself and the inspiration room itself.

Her hoof was set upon the doorknob and gently turned it around until she heard that signature click of it having opened. Much to her relief, the alicorn carefully stepped into it and looked at the sights that were there to behold.

Within her blue rimmed eyes, she got to see the things of a lifetime. It basically was looking like the working area downstairs but with a whole lot more mass to it. "This is, unbelievable." Luna spoke up in a genuinely impressed whisper to herself before she shook her head again and realized just why she was there. Once more was the investigation continued by her. The light of the horn shone itself into all the possible corners and hole where there could be something hidden, but without much luck.

Disappointed by the fact she still hadn't discovered one bit, her head turned itself over towards the massive walk-in closet that seemed to be connecting both the room she was in, as well as the master bedroom. "Last shot Luna, make it actually count this time." With those words did the alicorn open the door of the closet and once again she was stunned by just how much things the unicorn had in her possession.

Dresses, suits, outfits for recreation, hats, glasses, all of them could be found within the realm of it. It was truly something that she never ever could have expected to be witnessing. "My goodness, how much…how much things you have in here?! And, all of it made by your hooves as well? I don't believe that." Luna whispered to herself as she walked through the closet to the other door that led over to the bedroom of the unicorn herself.

With her hoof she opened the door and then she was given the glance of the bedroom that nopony had seen for their own eyes. All rooms in the building were open for public, but the master bedroom was something kept deeply private. The scents of the unicorn herself entered the nose of the alicorn and it wasn't a scent that she was truly happy with. For it was an old one, one that spoke to her that she hadn't returned in such a long time already.

"This is it…the final stretch." Luna said before she stepped further into the room and began to gaze deeper into it.

The sweep that she made from right to left caused her to be witnessing the windowsills as one of the last things and it was in one of those that her eyebrows rose themselves. For what she sees in her eyes, is something that she never even could have held possible to be true. In her eyes she caught a letter written by somepony for somepony but also a book that seemed to be vaguely hinting towards the diary of the unicorn herself.

There suddenly was this massive feeling of just over-enjoyment in the body of the alicorn as her lips cracked her a genuine smile. Both the letter and the book were being levitated as with a couple of happy steps Luna made her way over to the bed and sat down upon it. Finally had she discovered something that could be helping her in her quest of finding the things out. Little did she knew, just what she had found.

For when her eyes first looked over the letter, it was the invitation of Emerald Masquerade to meet the ivory mare in the old castle during the summer sun celebration. It was something in and of itself that caused questions to rise in the head of Luna. "Why does anypony want to meet up there when such an event is happening? Perhaps a wedding proposal? Best done in the silence of commotion, but the setting of that old thing?"

Something about the letter just didn't add it to the alicorn and no matter how many time she continued to read over it, sense was about the last thing she got out of it. "Vague, complete and utter vague I would call this," the alicorn mumbled up before she shook her head. "But I suppose she knows him better than that I do, I hope." The last words were spoken in a tone of a rather genuine concern that came off of Luna. Who knew just who this figure happened to be, but she had at least one lead she could be following.

Then it was time to commit perhaps the biggest crime done again the ivory coated unicorn thus far. And that was to read through her personal diary. The blue rimmed eyes of Luna looked over to the book as her hoof stroked the outside calmly. All the energy that it gave off was absorbed through that hoof. The alicorn felt all of the possible and different emotions. Emotions that were written straight into the pages of the book. There was not a single doubt any longer, it happened to be the diary of the ivory coated unicorn. The question remained whether or not she had the guts to actually read through it like that.

Though the matter wouldn't have been one of guts or do or dare, it was about finding somepony who had been seemingly lost through time itself. Vanished from the records of history with the clap of a hoof. Something that caused the alicorn to take the book in both of her hooves and she started to look through it. Never she would be reading an entry until the date was above that of the element's their victory over Nightmare Moon. From that moment onward would Luna be reading all of the entries at her own pace.

Page after page was flipped over as the eyes read every last magical written word aloud in her mind. Some of them were pretty meaningless while other openly spoke about different views on each of her friends. Some were good while others were a little bit less friendly. Though one thing she picked up almost straight away and that was the fact that one word simply continued in almost every entry that was being made.

And that word was nothing else but nightmares.

Without a warning given to her could the alicorn almost hear the church bells ring in her head as the connections had been made right in front of her eyes. Everything that she needed to be knowing was presented right in front of her. All of the knowledge, all of the leads, were literally presented to her in just those two paper made items. Luna simply jumped straight of the bed and held the book in her magic as she started to pace up and down into the room. Entry after entry was being read and covered the last six months of the unicorn her life.

Day after day had she been living into the nightmares but never spoke to anypony about it. They would always have been the same, the fact that all of her beloved friends would be leaving her like nothing. It was something heartbreaking to read for Luna, but the more she read into it, the more she could hear the desperation scream for the nightmares to stop. "This…this is everything but good for us all." Luna spoke up as she came to the last entry. It was just the date of a day. A day that was actually the mark of the one thousandth first celebration.

"No, no, no, don't tell me that you actually went towards the castle. E-Everything but." Though the pages that followed were just blank. Nothing after that date of the celebration had been added to the book or removed. There was only one thing that Luna could be doing and that was to just set her wings for the castle in Everfree. If she wanted to know anything, however little, of what happened to Rarity. She needed to go to there and pick up the trail by looking into the past itself.

It didn't happen often that Luna felt herself the way she did but when she was frightened it had a very good reasoning behind it. She, out of every single pony who hadn't gone mad, was one step closer of discovering just what had happened to Rarity before she went missing. The trail would be leading her to the ancient castle, so that was the place she would be going to.

Before she would be leaving the boutique though, the alicorn would have one last glance on both the letter and the diary before they dematerialized out of the world. They were actually teleported over to a small safe in the room of Luna herself back in Canterlot. Nopony could be laying their eyes upon them until she found it was time to do so. Not even her beloved sister Celestia was allowed to see them.

Only after that did she look over to the moon on the outside world and began to gallop back to the front door of the building. Doors that happened to be in her way were opened by her magic before closed again. Even the front door listened to the rule and in the moment that Luna stood in the fresh air were her wings majestically spread and she took off into the air like nothing. The front door of the boutique was closed and locked again while the mare of the night made a sharp turn as her heading changed itself straight towards Everfree. "I will discover just what happened to you, even if it is the last thing I do for you." Luna whispered to herself as she left the town behind her.

The lunar alicorn almost crashed through the circular window that was one of the few remaining pieces from the time that the place was in used and landed straight before the altar of the elements of harmony. Wheezing and panting softly from the speed she had flown with, Luna rose her body back up to its regal height and gave her wings a flap or two before they were being tucked back against her body.

She had arrived at the scene of the crime but there wasn't anything that indicated that something terrible had happened there. In contrast really, everything seemed to be peaceful and calm. Serene some would have called it. Yet the haunting atmosphere that it carried for Luna was something she would have never forgotten. The night that her sister and Nightmare Moon battled it out in the place, was a memory that would always be sticking out in her head like a sore thumb. Whether she liked it or not.

Her eyes looked at the altar itself and a deep sigh was released in response. Once it was the center point of everything that the land stood for, but as time progressed and the elements were discovered in their pony-form had caused that the interest in the thing slowly became less and less. Much to the princesses their own sadness. Yet the time to moan wasn't there, for she needed to be getting her answers preferred sooner than later.

And for the princess there seemed to only one way in which she could be doing that. It was a technique that she had mastered over the course of time and one that Twilight wanted to know ever so badly.

Her horn charged itself up with a tremendous amount of power while the charging sounds became almost deafening. In her mind were the tomes yelled together with the dates of the events in an ancient tongue. From there on outward, Luna could only pray on the fact that she would have a successful cast. The eyes of the lunar princess closed themselves off from the world and the light that came from the horn, almost seemed to be burning like the sun before the blast finally came.

A blast that seemed to be so powerful, that she had blown up the entire castle more than once to say the least. When the voices of two unknown stallions and Rarity spoke up in her ears, the eyes opened themselves quicker than anything.

The blue rimmed eyes began to dart themselves through the room and everything she was looking at was at least a tint of gray. What Luna had actually done was turning time back to the time of Rarity's disappearance and was allowed to not only look, but also walk through the past. Creatures couldn't be seeing her but she saw everything that there was to be witnessed.

And right in front of her, behind the altar, it was happening. The two shadow stallions that stood before Rarity trying to persuade her into becoming their queen. "Impossible." Luna spoke up as she witnessed the events. "You shouldn't be existing anymore, you should have all died after Moon was blasted into oblivion."

The scenes that played themselves out before her almost seemed to be impossible and she quickly got her body moving. Her legs brought her over to the place where she had a bit more of a clear view upon the matter as a whole. And she actually looked straight into Rarity's eyes.

What she saw wasn't the usual happy unicorn who wanted to help everypony. Instead she noticed a scared to death foal who hadn't even one clue of what she needed to be doing. It was the sight that Luna herself only could be fearing. For a strong as Rarity happened to be, so weak she also could be if the tables were drastically turned. And from the looks of it, that was exactly the thing that happened.

A gentle nod was given by the unicorn before the eyes of the lunar princess opened themselves widely. She couldn't believe the fact that Rarity had actually gone into the offer to become the queen of those horrible nightmare forces. Everything that she knew and loved about the mare, suddenly was smashed against the wall and shattered. "No, no, no, no! You can't be doing this Rarity! You couldn't have done this!" she shouted towards her, but the words were never heard except by her own ears.

Out of the portal behind her came the clouds that would be causing the transformation to be happening. Clouds that caused the unicorn to actually become invisible to the naked eye and Luna desperately wanted to know just what was going on. She wanted to see the monster in which the mare was turned into. There was no more doubt to any of it, Rarity was behind everything but how did she looked like? That was the only remaining and unanswered question.

Though the more she actually waits for the revelation, the more the trail of clouds is being drifting towards her horn as well. And it was only when the two made a connection with one another, that a shock of pain rushed through the mighty alicorn. A shock of pain that caused her to break the contact with the past as the corruption was also trying to get back at her again.

With another massive bang and a blinding light, Luna was dropped back in the present time and shook her head heavily. The shimmer of clouds that was still attached to her horn, just floated away before it dissolved itself. "Out of every possible outcome that could have been there on the matter, it had to be that horrible thing." Luna whispered to herself as she turned herself back into the direction of the crashed circular window. "It's impossible that you have returned. You were destroyed by them once and for all. How could you have even survived!"

The more she spoke her words, the louder her tone eventually got up to the point that she was yelling in the Royal Canterlot Voice. A tone so powerful that it caused the walls, ceiling and foundation of the castle to tremble a little bit. But if she only knew just what the monstrous looks of the unicorn were after the transformation, a lot of still to come trouble would have been saved.

Speaking of the nightmarish unicorn, she stood in the open courtyard of her domain while the savages brought back the beaten up Shadowfright and –blood. With her expression standing on everything but friendly were the two being cast before her and she stomped her hoof right into the ground, causing a few cracks to appear.

It was a massive wake up call for the two of them and they dared to look straight into the eyes of the queen herself. "You two, you two think you could take over just like that? Just because my soul is merged with some dumbfounded unicorn, you truly think I wouldn't hold the same powers as before?!" Nightmare Rarity spoke up in a tone that was more hinting towards Moon than anything else. "Well here's a newsflash for you two idiots."

Both Fright and Blood looked up to the mighty mare with a deep gulp as they were bleeding the liquid shadow from their wounds created by the savages. Savages that were still wandering behind the two of them, growling softly as if they were waiting for the command to end their lives.

"You two are not going to be taken over anything. You won't even be thinking about taking over anymore as long as I reign!" the unicorn yelled at the two of them. With the thoughts of it, it seemed to be that she would be casting another spell upon the both of them in order to keep them at bay. But instead she would be doing a whole lot more devilish and perhaps even sadistic.

"If I hear one more thought about either if you taking over while I am still your queen, you'll be having a date with the four behind you within the hour. And next time, you won't be getting off of them that easily."

Without a further word spoken by her had Nightmare Rarity turned herself around and began to walk away while leaving the two commanders literally frightened for their lives. There was one price though, for the savages merged themselves with the shadows and were actually returning to their posts up into the tower of the mare. But they had their lessons learned, that much was certain.

With Luna knowing what happened, the race had begun to end the frightful tyranny of the unicorn over the land. But it wouldn't have been that straight forward. The road would be long, covered in traps and revelations. The clock was ticking and every side could be the victor in the cold war.

Luna shook her head at the revelation that was made before her, out of literally everything that could have possibly happened had the events as they went down in history were among the worst that she could possibly imagine. It were events that not even Celestia herself could be knowing about until further information had been gathered. And the only way to do that was to actually send somepony straight into the fog of White Tails in order to come face to face with the nightmarish unicorn.

It would take a madman in order to do such a thing but Luna thought she would be having the perfect candidate right among her ranks. A pony who would be able to do the job and even tell the tale to her afterward. Content with the idea did the alicorn of the night rose up into the skies and propelled herself forward towards the castle of Canterlot.

Soaring through the night skies were her eyes locked upon the tower that was hers alone to be used as it connected straight to her bedroom. With one gentle touch did the hooves land upon the balcony and the horn charged itself just a little bit while the wings were being tucked against her body. After having done a couple of steps stood the mare back in her own chambers and released a deep sigh. The balcony doors were closed again as she took further steps into the room.

Only to stop at the door that would be leading her to the hallway and opened that door. "Would the fine gentlecolts tell her to come please? I have a mission for her that needs to be as soon as possible," she spoke up towards the two guards that were standing before her room. They both nodded to the words and without one of their own, left their posts in order to find the being Luna asked for.

The alicorn herself then retreated back into the chambers were she plopped down upon her bed and began to look over to the ceilings. Nothing seemed to be true at that moment in time for her and all of it was either a lie or the half-truth. Everything she had read, everything she had witnessed, everything she had listened to even, nothing added up at even one point of the why questions. But perhaps her little informant would be able to shine light upon the case.

An informant who arrived at her chambers not even five minutes later. Luna's eyes looked over to dark gray coated batpony before the words left her with a serious tone. "Over time I have tested you more than once. And every single test was done with great results my whispermare, but the task I'm about to be giving you now, is one that even puts your skills and abilities to the test." Luna turned her attention away from the mare and allowed her gaze to fall upon the world outside. A deep sigh was the thing that she released through her nostrils before the words continued to be spoken and the revelation to be made. "I want that you go to White Tails and get captured. Get as much information as you can and return to me with your mind in one piece. It won't be easy, but I'm having faith in you."

Without any other emotion had Luna turned herself back to the Whispermare and looked her sternly in the eyes. "Make sure nopony discovers who you are, nor that you speak the wrong words. One thing here falling out of alignment and we can all shake it. For this time, the fate of Equestria doesn't hang in the balance of the elements, but whether or not you can master your fears."

It was a task given by a princess and one that couldn't be refused whatsoever. So without a word did the Whispermare nod to the spoken words. Everything was clear to her and she turned herself around in order to execute the orders. "May the stars aid you in your quest." Luna whispered to herself after the batpony had left the room again. "…And Celestia has not find it out, not yet."

The days came and went as normal while the nightmarish unicorn herself sat upon the throne within the domain. With the eyes closed and not a single muscle moving in her body, it almost seemed like that she was nothing else but a massive statue. Yet she was still alive and kicking. Sunken deep into the pool of darkness that consisted out of her powers and frights, she was pondering her mind on more than one occasion to plan the next frightful attack.

For the nightmares that held Ponyville in its grasp for such a long time had been working out yet she never claimed it as her work. Hidden from the crowd was the thing that she wanted to be as it meant that she could be going her way. Fame and fortune through such things weren't the way she dealt with her troubles. For the unicorn was a lot more sinister and clever when it came to it. She would probably have been caught already if not hunted if she had made a public announcement that the terror was her doing.

And that was about the last thing she could be needing. But in her mind were the plans made to attack metropolis' like Los Pegasus and Manehatten. Even the royal city of Canterlot was actually a few times mentioned deep inside of her mind. So much terror she could be causing in such a little amount of time. Though caution was needed to do such a thing. Slow and steady had always won the race for her and it wouldn't be an exception any other way.

So many places where she could be striking her powerful spells of fight first, but there were only a few suitable places. If she wanted, with one powerful attack the entire apocalypse could be unleashed over the lands. But that was something for the eventual master plan, not for a simple attack. Another storm needed to be brewing itself in the skies if she wanted to proceed with her attacks. And that was about the thing she would be doing.

Another massive storm would be created and released over the pegasus capital of Cloudsdale. How, why and when were still needed to be answered, but she had the time to do just that. Or so she thought.

For when she wanted to continue pondering her mind on the skies had both Shadowfright and Shadowblood entered the throne room with news for her. News that usually brought her a sheer enjoyment. "My queen, the next load of test subjects has arrived for you. Nothing out of the ordinary with the exception of a batpony being among their midst." Fright spoke up to her after the two had assumed a deep bow before their queen.

Their wounds were still healing from the vicious attack laid upon them but it did act as a lesson they wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon. For in the days that followed wouldn't neither of the two even dare to think up for themselves, which in return meant only one thing. That they were as tranquil as they would ever be getting. Their sentient mind had been converted itself into a collective one like most of the forces in the domain.

A thing that caused the unicorn a perhaps even greater pleasure than anything combined. As it meant that she had the ability to gain the fullest of control over every last force in her command. All willing to do just one thing, executing the orders of their queen. And that mindset was the thing that made them just so dangerous.

"All of them have been transported over to the dungeon, my liege. All of them are awaiting your arrival with the fear in their eyes." Blood spoke up as his gem eyes kept themselves peeled upon the queen herself. Who on her own turn simple rose one of her forelegs up and waved to them that they needed to get out of the room.

The two of them understood the message luckily and they did the thing that was asked of them. Both Fright and Blood stood up from their bow and made a quick turn around before they would be leaving the throne room and thus her once more. Their hooves could be heard clattering against the crystal steps. The sounds were oddly harmonious and even unison to listen to, which was a thing that the unicorn did in secret.

Only after the two of them had left the stairs and merged with the shadows to let their wounds continue to heal further, did the unicorn open her eyes again.

Yet the sights that were revealed within them were everything but pleasant. Due to the strain she had placed upon her brain had every last blood vessel in her eyes become clearly visible. So next to the blue rims and the blue and green colored eyes themselves there was also the haunting red of every last vessel that was just as clearly to be seen.

It was something that caused the already haunting eyes to become even more demonic in appearance. It also happened to be a thing she didn't have any control over nor had any actual issues with. To a certain degree, she even seemed to be loving it whenever it happened as it caused even more fright to be falling into the eyes of her victims.

Her body slowly rose up from the throne itself before she descended from the steps and charged her horn lightly up. In response to the magical charge would the flames in the torches be lowered until they were nothing more bit a small heap of smoldering ashes. Ashes that were ready to be reignited when needed. Her hooves then gently carried her over on the staircase that would be leading her to the courtyard of her domain.

About the only place where she could be breathing in the fresh air of the woods and feel the feeling of being actually still alive. From time to time she felt herself more becoming like a machine that was running all the time to complete the goals. Not that she seemed to be caring, though Nightmare Rarity did prefer to be a living, breathing being

Either way, her eyes looked up to the sun that stood high in the skies and a smirk caused itself to be formed upon her face. All the plans that were racing through her head made her feel just so deliciously nasty and evil. All the torment that she could be inflicting upon those that were in the dungeon under the domain was truly something mouthwatering.

The head of the mare lowered itself down after a minute or two of just continues staring before it was given a look to the doorway that would be leading her downstairs and thus to the prisoners. A deadly crackle left her throat as she had the plans ready right before her.

None of the prisoners would be escaping her powers that day. Though the interest had been mostly peaked in just one pony. The batpony that seeming was delivered at her door. Never in her time of reign had one of those rare types of ponies even been spotted in the woods. "Maybe they are onto something. Lulu, you are still as stupid as ever. Hmhmhm, I will enjoy breaking your little servant," the unicorn chuckled up to herself.

An observation made rather wisely by the unicorn as the batponies were only seen in the service of the princess of the night. Perhaps even long before the game Luna wanted to play had begun, it had already ended in the advantage of nopony else then the nightmarish unicorn.

Yet at the time there was nothing that happened to be clear and it could be actually anything that laid down there. There was only one way to actually discover just what was going on down there and that was to witness it with her own eyes. A thing she would be doing with more than anything else in that moment.

With a set of heavy sounding hoofsteps had Nightmare Rarity arrived at the cell in which the batpony was placed and the eyes looked calmly into her direction. But with only the back being visible, she could only guess the face. The gray coat and the wings were something already spotted, not to mention the purple haired tail.

In the cell itself was the batpony hopelessly trying to find a way out by digging itself through the dark crystals that made up the entire domain. It was also an action that her to not get as far as she probably would have liked. "Feisty one, now aren't you?" Nightmare Rarity spoke up before another devilish grin formed itself below her muzzle. "Turn yourself around so I can see your face."

Almost on command did the pony stop the hopeless digging and lowered herself back on all four of her legs. The wings were carefully tucked against the body and only after that she allowed herself to turn around. In the eyes of the unicorn fell the face of desperation, a look she had seen countless times over but something about the looks of that mare caused her to become even more interested. Almost as if that mare tried to fool the system as a whole.

The eyes of the unicorn stared back into the deep yellow rimmed eyes of the batpony as a strand of mane fell before one of them. It was something that caused the unicorn to snicker almost immediately. For all of the sudden did the glances went deeper into the eyed and the more the truth of the situation was actually becoming clear as crystal.

"Oh now this is going to be the joke of the century! You got any idea in how much trouble you have gotten yourself here little one? Just how much trouble you got your little princess into, hm? Hahaha! Oh I'm going to enjoy dissecting your brain while you're still alive. You, shall never see the full moon again, I can assure you that right here and now," the unicorn spoke up in a sadistic tone not only as a threat to her, but also to witness if her suspicions actually had been true or not.

The batpony on the other end didn't seem to be getting even the slightest of clues on the matter and began to shiver deeply from the words. A genuine fear filled the eyes but something told the unicorn it was all an act. She couldn't quite put her hoof unto it yet, but who was to say she couldn't be doing it through time itself. "Do, or do you not, work for the royal lunar guard, foal?!" she suddenly spoke up in a raised voice.

The batpony herself shook her head rapidly from side to side in response to the question. "N-No miss, I do not. N-Never did and n-never wanted to either." It was the first time ever that the pony spoke up and her ever so sweet sounding voice seemed to have been unfit for any being in any of the military branches. Though perception was the perfect deception.

"Lair!"

"I'm telling you the truth here! I, I never joined them, I never wanted to join them! I declined every single time they would be asking me to join them. The guard or the army just aren't my thing of living!" The desperate tone of the mare spoke up towards the darkened queen. The purple maned batpony then began to whimper while prayers were being mumbled inaudible for the nightmare.

A nightmare who had been listening deeply to the words and couldn't help it but to chuckle even darker after her mind had processed the received words. "Oh now this is a quite little something now, aren't you?" she spoke up with a sickening grin clearly visible upon her face.

Other prisoners who had dared to look up from their crawled up position and watched with a set of frightful eyes to both the queen as well as the batpony. Something wasn't going to be right and if it didn't, they all would be in the crossfire no matter what. The only thing that they could be doing to prevent the massive pain, was to just crawl back into their little hidey holes and stay away from both the queen and the batpony.

They wanted to live and not die of frights just yet. Though the scurrying motions weren't missed by the unicorn who on her own, glared with her eyes over each and every last one of them. Yet her prey was standing right before her which meant that she needed to find a way to crack the batpony and the manner of doing so had been hidden within the words spoken against her.

"You said that the guard or army were not your thing of living. But what if the thing you do for a living, is espionage eh? Whether they admitted it or not against you, they are at war against me. And in war, information is the most crucial piece." Nightmare Rarity spoke up in a sickening tone. She was actually getting her enjoyment out of it, but the patience had been wearing thin as well upon the batpony.

Usually the ponies would have cracked within the first ten minutes yet the batpony seemed to be made out of a lot more sterner stuff. "Got nothing to say upon that matter, spy? Heh, perhaps I shall leave you here to rot like the rest of them. Or maybe I will conduct a little experiment upon your head first. I haven't decided yet, time will find out just what your disgusted fate is going to be."

With that had the unicorn turned herself away from the batpony to leave her in the cell by the others. Though the batpony herself wasn't stupid either as she had been looking at the shape of the queen her face for all of the time and eventually found a match in her internal database. The heads didn't exactly made a match but close enough for her to speak up a single name out into the air. "Rarity."

In response to that name alone did the queen herself came to a standstill and she turned her head slowly back towards the dark gray coated mare. Not a word was spoken by her though. All she did was to release a massive burst of steam through her nose and a grumble from her throat. Whatever she had done, the mumble of that name alone was more than enough to get the queen angry more than anything else.

The name spoken by the batpony literally fell in the wrong throat hole of the unicorn and after having exhaled the cloud of steam, the mare came up with the worst kind of torture there would be for the batpony. "You lied against me in the first place and now you are having the very guts to say that name right after I turned myself around from you? You're worth nothing to my eyes. I should kill you right here and now. But I won't. Remember what I said about your brain?"

Suddenly it were the eyebrows of the gray coated mare who opened themselves widely as she couldn't believe the words. "N-No! You can't, you can't do this to me! Not to a mare like me! Y-You're a mare as well, d-don't you know any sympathy?!"

A huff of annoyance was the first thing that was released by the unicorn before she tore her eyes away from the mare again and continued to walk towards the staircase. "Sympathy, is a thing that I have never shown to anypony, so why should I be doing it to you?"

"Because, because you're still a good mare deep inside of you. Just touched, by the wrong hooves," the batpony replied to the queen who did came to a stop to listen to the final set of words. Perhaps she had done it. Perhaps she had dented the shield of the mare enough to make a little crack into it.

For Nightmare Rarity did turn herself around and gently hung her head in an almost defeated manner. The feelings of relief were already flowing through the yellow eyed pony as her lips cracked a gentle smile. Though she couldn't be further away from the truth as it happened to be. For every last bit of hope, was meant to be destroyed in that place by her personally. And that time, wouldn't be any acceptation whatsoever.

"Maybe." Nightmare Rarity started as she stood before the cell and closed her eyes for a second or two. "You are right with your words." Then her eyes opened themselves again and they looked straight into those of the batpony herself. The sheer sadistic nature of them was revealed in just one glance and it caused the other mare to actually take a step backwards in both surprise and fear.

Then were the forehooves of the unicorn placed upon the bars with a smirk of utter insanity as she spoke her next words in a sickening tone of joy. "You know what these are deary?"

The question itself was rather unexpected for the purple maned batpony as she struggled a couple of times to make an actual reply to those set of words. Nothing that she could come up with, seemed to be able to help her outside of the most obvious answer that there was. "N-No, I do not know that," she spoke up before her own head hung itself downward and the eyes closed.

She started to fear the answer that was about to come. The mare literally prayed for the best, but expected the worst. In her ears she caught the chuckle of the dark unicorn before the words followed suit. "The wrong hooves!" Only to have them followed up by a massive snicker of insanity as she then turned away and seemed to disappear from the dungeon.

With the words still being drilled inside of her mind, the batpony had not a clue of on how she could be reacting to it, if she even was allowed. "I, I am sorry princess, but I failed you as your whispermare," the batpony spoke up in a soft whisper to herself. "But, she is too strong even by my standards. Face to face…is a horrible thing to be witnessing." Even though she knew that Luna herself couldn't hear the words they still gave her a little bit of comfort.

That was until the two commanders of the nightmarish unicorn literally were out to get her. The door of her cell was being opened and the muscular Shadowblood was the one who managed to not only capture her but also to drag her over to the door at the end of the hallway. "Hey! L-Let me go you brute!" was one of the thing that she shouted to them was trying to kick each of her legs to him.

Sadly enough for her, it didn't seem to be doing that much of a job as every single attempt was just neutralized by his sheer strength. The Whispermare wasn't built for actual fight but for sneak. An ability she had little to nothing on at the moment. Fright on the other end had been standing behind the two of them all of the time and walked forward with a chuckle while he opened the massive wooden door.

The two stallions brought the mare over to the table where all the tortures usually happened and strapped her tightly to it. No amount of force in her body could even get one of the things loose. Trapped like a rat it felt to her and after the two stallions had closed the door again, she was literally just that. But little did she knew, that things were about to get a whole lot worse.

For in front of her was a swirling and massive vortex from which the unicorn merged with the physical realm again and smirked deeply towards the captured pony. One of the forehooves was being placed upon the cheek of the pony and it calmly started to stroke it as if she tried to comfort her. "So that is what you are, now aren't you? A little whispermare. I thought Luna would have learned after the first few attempts, but then again, she's as dumb as box of rocks." Nightmare Rarity almost snickered to her prisoner while the horn charged itself up.

"W-What are you going to do with me, now you know the truth behind it all?" was one of the questions that the Whispermare dared to ask.

"Oh nothing all too bad, just some regular procedures as I do with each of them in here. Except on a magnitude not seen before. You're going back to your little mistress and explain in detail to her, why it is a bad idea to pursue me." After those words were being spoken was the massive charge of the horn being released into the open world. A charge that went straight from the unicorn her horn into the head of the Whispermare.

What followed were screams of complete and utter agony while the entire room lit itself up in the blue coloring of both the magic and the lightning flashes. Pleads for her dear life were being made as well but the nightmarish unicorn listened to none of them.

Both of the commanders on the other end heard the screams as they were about to go onto the stairs and leave for the surface. They looked at one another with almost the same expression upon their faces and nodded gently. Not a word was spoken in between the two of them before they just ascended upon the stairs.

While the screams of pure and utter agony filled the entire dungeon, all of the other ponies who had been curled up in an attempt to actually forget the screams, found themselves surprising caught up within their agony. None of them could actually explain just what it was that caused them to be going towards the bars and actually hoist themselves up from it. But they just did it. Some declared themselves crazy while others though they were being controlled by the unicorn her magic as actual puppets.

But with the magic still indoctrinated in their minds did all of them constantly look over both of their shoulders as they felt something staring at them from the darkness. The eyes and ears never seemed to stop twitching as the fears of the ponies were seen in almost every last corner of the dungeon. Something that wore their minds out even more than they could have expected.

None of the captured ponies knew what was going on behind that door, none of them knew just what kind of sickening experiment the unicorn herself was conducting behind those walls. All that they did know was the fact that it was terribly to be the Whispermare at that moment in time.

Their own lines that separated both mind and reality were blurred out of not shattered and the least that she could be doing, was the same to her. Even though some of the captives had the burning desire to yell, none of them actually had the guts to do so. They were all just too afraid of the consequences that would follow for them all if even one of them did it. Some didn't know just how much more they were able to take before they would literally die from their frights.

A saddening fact where each of the ponies had bound itself to. Though it didn't mean that some of them didn't whisper to one another. Whispers that were faint about the actions that could be happening behind the door and words of courage. For those were the only two things that actually kept the ponies alive more than anything else in the cells.

Some wished for it to be over already while others could only pray on the princesses that they would be released from the hell they had gotten into with their sanity intact. Wishful thinking at its finest, but it was all they had. And even within their eyes, something was better than absolutely nothing.

Yet even among the captives themselves there were still a few of them who didn't wanted to hear the yelling of the mare and thus stayed in the dark corners of their cells. Appearing like nothing but ghosts of a distant past as they laid calmly on the ground with their hooves covering their ears. Even though they looked calm, they were everything but. Their hearts were racing like mad while the eyes looked in every direction every second. Those were the ones that were truly terrified for their lives.

Those were the ponies where everything could be happening with. Those were the group who had been there the longest and against all of the odds had survived test after test from the queen herself. They were simply waiting for their time to come and to actually die of either their fright or of the massive amounts of magic that she would be casting upon them during the tests themselves. But even that was just wishful thinking. As death would be the easiest way out.

Few had managed to keep their sanity so intact that they would be able to survive longer than a week with their mind unbroken. But usually it would take a day or two for a pony to break. With meals shifted throughout the day and not a single clock of light of the sun and moon to indicate what time it was, the captives were left in the dark and lost their track of time itself.

Even for the Whispermare had the torture to end eventually and since the unicorn found it a shame to kill of her beloved subjects in the first run had the lightning of the horn become less and less until it was complete discharged. With a massive grin visible below her muzzle, the unicorn stroked the cheek of the crying Whispermare with a sickening comfort. "You fear a lot of things in life, don't you. But the thing you fear most now is not a thing, is not one of the ponies you have spied upon it. It's the one where you just gave yourself too without any thought that went through your head. The thing you fear the most, is me, correct?"

There was only one thing that the crying batpony could be doing and that was to give her a confirming nod. Out of everything that lived upon the face of the lands and everything she had seen, it was the queen for whom she literally just had thrown herself for that was the frightening to her.

And the response that she got, was something that caused Nightmare Rarity to crack even a deeper smile of insanity. Gently did the unicorn merge herself with the shadows and she left the room to go to the tower that held her chamber. Leaving the sobbing Whispermare right there crying for everything in her life. "I regret everything, I regret everything I've ever done," she whimpered to herself in a repeating session to herself.

Even when the two commanders came back in order to place her back in her cell she continued to repeat it to nopony but herself. After the dark crystal cell door had closed itself again and was locked did the purple maned batpony crawl almost instinctively over to the darkest corner of the cell and curled herself up into nothing but a ball of fur. She already had a broken spirit and it was only the beginning of the end she would be facing.

All the other captives also returned to their original positions in their cells as they began to patiently await when the unicorn would return for yet another session of literal torture.

While all of it was happening, was princess Luna herself gazing upon the stars through her telescope that stood on the balcony of her chambers. She hadn't expected to hear something back soon from her informant and was actually already frightened that the worst of the worst had happened. She knew the force that had taken over Rarity better than anypony as it was her who helped to create it. Still didn't she had not a clue of what the manners of working happened to be of this new force.

Yet she was removed from her very process of thoughts and calm stargazing as a knock upon the door did its turn. It wasn't the usual knock of Celestia nor one of the guards from what she heard. With curiosity did the alicorn turn her head over to the door that was inside her bedroom and charged her horn slightly to open it. "Come in."

The pony that she would be meeting, would be one that would cause all of her feelings to be turned upside down as nopony else then Twilight Sparkle herself, appeared on the balcony. Taken by a genuine surprise from the visit, Luna didn't truly knew how to react to Celestia's prized pupil. "Twilight Sparkle, I, I have to say that this visit is something rather unexpected for me. Is there something I can help you with perhaps?"

Twilight gently shook her head as an initial response before the words left her own mouth. "Nothing really that you could be helping with princess, I just want to get to you know better. See the mare behind the crown, if you catch my drift."

Once again it wasn't something that Luna had actually expected to hear from the mulberry unicorn as she was struck by the second surprise of the evening. Though the third time always happened to be the charm and even in the case of Luna and Twilight, it wouldn't be any exception.

"This certainly is something rather unexpected. You wish to know me how I am in my times off now don't you? Well it is actually a first that somepony is actually interested in that, I can guarantee you that right away. But as you can see, gazing upon the stars that are in the skies, is a much preferred hobby of mine actually. It calm me down from the matters I receive in the dreams of many ponies."

Twilight listened with the greatest of care to the spoken words while she also took the mental notes of them. She wanted to remember them for times that they were possibly needed. "I see your highness, it's actually something I love to be doing as well but it usually doesn't calm me down. It more excites me in a way."

It was a composition of words that caused the lunar princess to crack a chuckle before she gently shook her head with a set of closed eyes. Though when they were opened again was the horror seen in the fullest of glory. For in the corner of her right eye, the eye that caught the moon just barely she could see the shadow of something. A shadow cast as if a massive light had been placed on it and a figurine was placed before that.

Luna instantly became worried and turned her entire head over to the thing for a second, only to realize that it was just the moon she was looking at. The shadow had just disappeared before her eyes. "Are you, alright, princess?" Twilight asked carefully with a tilted head to the lunar mare.

Who on her own turn looked back to the unicorn and gave her a small nod to calm her racing thoughts down. "Yes, yes I am. Just a little bit spooked shall we say. But anyway, you wish to look for a bit through my telescope? Want to see the pillars of creation for yourself?"

Twilight herself gladly took the offer and before Luna even knew it were the violet rimmed eyes of the unicorn already staring down the thing. But she, she never dared to look at the moon from the corner of her eye again.

All the way back inside of the domain of the nightmarish unicorn, she had collected herself, as well as her personal guards, in the courtyard and the gates had opened themselves widely. The only thing that they saw were the massive banks of fog that hung before it yet none of them cared. They were in the need to get out of the walls of the domain and get some fresh air for themselves. Or that was the thing that the queen herself wanted to do the most.

As for the savages, they were just out there for some fresh meat. Any kind of meat that they could be finding within the woods of either White Tails or Everfree. In the dead of night did the nightmarish unicorn and the deadliest forces she had under her go out for a stroll.

The violet rimmed eye looked through the telescope right up into the skies high above Equestria and without any tuning to the thing done, she looked straight up at perhaps the galaxy's most amazing thing. Something that caused her feelings to be stirred like nothing in the world could be doing. Not even the finest print of her favorite book could be doing the effects and the pleasant shiver that she got, from looking up into the skies high above her and seeing those wonderful creations.

"The pillars of creation, even more beautiful than I could have ever thought they would have been. So, majestic, if you excuse me the term. That, is true beauty right there and princess, you have the best seat in the house with it." Twilight spoke up with an excited tone to her voice after she had taken her eyes away from the telescope and gave one last glance over to the skies.

Everything she had seen in her entire life could be summed up with those words and not even the experience from all of that could tip on the fact of just how amazing those cosmic nebulae were. It were also words that caused the lunar princess to blush deeply as she wasn't used to such words from anypony different then her beloved sister. But they weren't unwelcome either, she had to admit that to her. Even though it wasn't done in a verbal manner.

"Why thank you Twilight. And I do have to admit that I indeed have the best seat in the house when it comes to it. Not that I'm complaining about that of course. The pillars always seem to be having that kind of nature to them really. Even when I still glance upon them one day of the week, I find myself magically intrigued by them. Something of about them is just so mysterious." Luna spoke up in a low voice of herself. With her own eyes aimed towards the general direction of the pillars, they almost seemed to be appearing right inside of her eyes. One pillar for each eye.

Twilight released a gentle giggle in response to the words before she released a deep sigh of mixed but positive emotions. Things seemed to be going for the better as everything bad was forgotten just for that small moment in time itself. "I, I don't know what to say to this. I never expected to be seeing something that beautiful, that close to me."

Luna slowly lowered her head back down in order to look the mulberry unicorn into the eyes as the pillars inside of them slowly disappeared. "Well, they are still light years away, I can assure you that. But I do understand the direction you are coming from. Though believe me when I say that certain things aren't learned by studying a dusty old book. No Twilight," the lunar princess spoke up as she gained a much wider smile below her muzzle. "Some things are meant to be seen by your own eyes. Understanding beauty, is one of those things. And those pillars, you find them amazing. Just like me."

Carefully did the ears of the unicorn listen to the words that were spoken against her and there wasn't anything else that she could be doing outside of agreeing with them. Luna actually hit the nails right on their head when it eventually came down to it. And perhaps the strangest part of all, was the fact that she seemed to be happy about it. It wasn't something that Luna herself could have ever predicted to happen, though what happened next was something even more unexpected.

For without a warning or word did Twilight walk up to the alicorn and before the lunar princess could even react were both of the mulberry mare her forelegs placed into the neck and a tight hug was given to her. A hug that tight had not even Luna ever received from anypony. The hug was so emotionally powerful that it cracked a tear or two in the eyes of Luna while returned it by wrapping one of her forelegs over the back of Twilight and bringing her in even closer.

"Thank you princess, thank you for everything you have shown me here. Maybe it may not have been much, but quality over quantity, right?" Twilight whispered before she left a small giggle of her own words.

Luna on the other end was literally speechless of all the happened events and didn't spoke a word. Though the emotions and motions made by her were more than enough for Twilight to realize she was expressing the gratitude of her own.

For a good set of second was the hug between the mares held until it was Luna herself who ever so gently broke it. The hooves of Twilight were released from the mare her back and they lowered themselves unto the ground again. The green bluish rimmed eyes of Luna looked over to the other mare and gave her a simple nod with a genuine smile.

"You're welcome for everything princess," the mulberry mare whispered to the alicorn before she started to make her departure. It was something that caused the princess to look up with a baffled expression upon her face and followed her suit.

"Going already milady Sparkle? What's the hurry if I may ask?"

"As shameful as it is to admit, I'm still a pony who feels herself best comfortable roaming around in the daylight provided by the sun. And if I don't go to bed now, I will never fall asleep for the night and thus end up with a massive headache and grumpy mood tomorrow." Twilight pleaded as her excuse on the matter. By then she had reached the door of the bedroom and looked over to Luna one last time.

"It, I understand, it's fine. Go, go and get your needed sleep. I sometimes forget that ponies like yourself are be needing sleep in order to get through the next day. Goodnight Twilight." Luna spoke up as the smile slowly dropped itself.

"You sure about that princess?"

"Yes, yes I'm sure."

Even though she didn't seem to be trusting it a whole lot, Twilight still believed the alicorn upon her words and the only thing that she could being was to leave the mare alone with her thoughts to ponder. Her departure of the room was something clean and swift. So she was there and so she was gone. Leaving the princess to plop down on her bed and sigh deeply to herself as the eyes closed themselves.

"What to make of this?" she questioned to herself as a single tear gently streamed the way down her cheek.

Though over in the woods of Everfree seemed nothing what it was as the nightmarish unicorn was accompanied with her pups. They were just wandering through the darkened woods without a true goal for their eyes. They almost seemed to be like ghosts who were traveling upon the land of the living. Or at least one of them as the other four really were like dogs. Their journey had caused them to leave the fog covered woods of White Tails and they had been wandering through the woods of Everfree for quite the little while by then.

They had walked past the old castle that had been visited by Luna not a few days ago. When they had arrived upon the place were the savages actually smelled the magic of the mare that was being used. It still lingered in the air for them to catch unto though the trail was already old.

The unicorn however didn't seem to be noticing it one bit and simply ordered her savages to continue roaming with her. Not even the desire to walk into the place and have a look around was something to be found within her systems. All she wanted to do was just to get away from there as quick as she possibly could have gone.

The company had then been walking for close to an hour before they arrived at perhaps their next spot of the trip before they would be going back towards the domain. Under the light of the moon itself, the nightmarish unicorn thought to have seen something shimmering in the distance before them. Not some light made by magic or by ponies. But a reflection of the light was cast from the rock itself.

Curiosity was the thing that had taken her more than anything at the moment as the will to investigate had taken over every single sense of her body. Her pace was being slowed down to a crawl and the savages followed almost suit. Their eyes were looking into every direction to make certain that they wouldn't get ambushed from any side. No matter what could have been done, they always approached everything like it was a massive trap.

It was their habit as it actually was the way that the unicorn herself had designed them to be. even if it was through some rather unforeseen side-effects. The blue rimmed, cat like irises of the nightmarish unicorn herself looked upon the light and took a step closer. "It's, it's a pond, in the middle of the forest?" she whispered to herself as one of the eyebrows rose itself up.

She couldn't actually believe the sights that were seen with her own eyes but still continued to take steps closer. And with each step that was being taken, the revelation was being made more and more. For literally in the middle of the forest of Everfree, without any indication whatsoever, they had stumbled upon one of those mythical ponds she had heard about through time itself.

"Waters that must never be drunk by any creature, for the time would go either forwards or backwards for it." Nightmare Rarity recalled herself. All five of them stepped out of the vegetation as the savages wanted to drink from the waters but after having taken a sniff or two, they turned themselves straight back around. If the scent alone was enough to make them turn away, what could be truly in the waters.

There would be a time to discover that sooner or later, as the nightmarish unicorn herself dared to make the step towards the edge of the pond and closed her eyes. "They are the stuff of legend, pony-tales made up to keep the foals entertained about the mystery of Everfree. Concealing the truth that lies behind it all," she spoke up to herself more as an excuse of the things she thought to be seeing.

Though she opened her eyes again and looked into the waters themselves which caused every last bit of that excuse to be smacked against the wall and shattered into a trillion little pieces. Her argument made against the pool had been busted as it did show something to her. For in the waters of the pond before her she saw two figures. Two figures that both controlled the body. Stronger even, the two figures out of which the entity was build up from.

A bit to her left there was the ivory coated unicorn with her genuine happy smile below the muzzle. While a bit to the right was the horrid face of Nightmare Moon clearly visible in the calm water. The both of them seemed to be in their prime and high days of their lives, something that caused Nightmare Rarity to be even more frightened. It seemed to be rather impossible that something like that, could actually be happening or had happened.

Something about the things she saw into those cursed waters didn't make even one bit of sense. And luckily for her, the distraction to not think about that anymore happened to be literally just behind the trees.

For from the darkened treelines it appeared with a mighty roar. The lion paw smashed itself against the bark of a tree next to it, causing it to shatter while the stinger of the scorpion tail was shot forward. "Oh, hello there," the dark entity spoke up after she had evaded the stinger like it was nothing. A grin formed itself below her muzzle as she looked straight into the eyes of the beast that was so foolish enough to attack her.

"You might have seen me as your late night snick. Well here's something new for you big boy, you're the late night snack of my pets." she spoke up before a step backwards was done. The creature itself of course didn't understand even one bit of the events that were going on, but the moment it saw the teeth of the savaged shadow stallion, the race for survival was on.

"Boys, tonight on the menu is manticore. Do as you please." Nightmare Rarity spoke up before she erupted in a snicker that would make any being uncomfortable of being around her. Though there were the shadow stallions were just shadows that could take a physical form, for her it was literally the other way around. Getting involved into the fight was therefore about the last thing that she wanted. So the wise thing was done by her and she actually retreated back into the shadows to let her savages handle with the massive creature.

The four savages growled a bit like an angered dog towards the mighty creature of Everfree before the screeching howl of the attack was released. The fight was on and only one side was able to actually get out of it alive.

Almost in unison did the savages just jump straight at the manticore and started to tear away pieces of flesh. Which revealed the bone and muscles that laid beneath it. The creature screamed it out in the pain as the tail stung one of them, if not impaled while the claws were used to get two others off of his body. With the one savage stuck in the actual stinger of the beast, the venom that was stored inside of it was pumped straight into the savage. Who in return roared it out in the pain before he tried to bite the entire tail literally into two pieces. The jaw of the muscular stallion opened and closed itself continuously as it tried to get to the tail of the beast.

Though luck wasn't on the side of the manticore itself. For with two of the savages on its foreclaws, one stuck on the stinger, there was still one that needed to be dealt with and it simply paced itself up and down before it with a huff every so often. The manticore couldn't concentrate itself as much as it had opened due to the fact that one of his brethren tried to get a hold of its tail every possible second.

So the only thing that it knew that could be done in order to actually make certain it would stop was a good smash on the head. Which was exactly the thing that was done. For with one powerful lash of the tail towards the ground did the savage hit the rock solid ground and was actually knocked out.

The manticore was the first being in the entire world that managed to actually knock out one of the unicorn's personal guards. A unicorn who had been watching the scene from a safe distance. With her head she tried to make the calculations of the impact that was being received to the skull but not even her mind could be calculating in such big numbers without any form of help from paper.

The other two savages were taken by their necks so that the jaws were a safe distance away from the flesh of the being. Though the first and initial attack of the beings had torn massive holes in the wings and flesh alone. All that basically was left to be done, was to actually end the being there and then. The savage who had been pacing up and down before the manticore had been waiting for a mistake.

One mistake was all that it would be taken in order to finish off one of Equestria's deadliest predators. And it would be doing literally everything to make certain that it would happen.

Agonizing seconds did the two enemies look at one another in the eyes. Not even blinks were granted as it meant a sign of weakness and thus a change for the opposing force to attack. Not something that was wanted by either party.

Yet where the nightmare forces had no eyes to actually look at and thus nothing to blink with, the manticore did. Being alive was the biggest mistake that it ever had in front of the shadows. For it was in the one moment that the blink was being made that the pacing just stopped dead in its tracks and the legs of the savage carried the creature over right to the neck of the manticore.

Without any sign of remorse or mercy were the jagged fangs set into the flesh of the predator who released a gruesome sound in response. The pain that was going through the neck was more than enough to release other two and then it was over. There was nothing that the manticore could be doing in order to prevent its death from happening. Not a single fight would have been worthy to give to the savages to survive. The facts had to be witnesses as they were and in nature it was eat, or be eaten.

In the eyes of the predator had the tables finally been turned. With a loud thumb unto the ground, did the muscular mix of creature fall down to the ground before it took its terminal breath. Died from the wounds right on the spot and the three savages began to eat right away from their prize. The feeding frenzy was more than enough to keep them happy for weeks when it came down to a hunt.

In time did the fourth one even came back to its knowledge before joining the party as well and eating every remaining but on the skeleton until the stomach was full.

Listening was the only thing that the nightmarish unicorn had been doing all that time and in the distance she heard the voices of ponies through the woods. With her pups stuffed on the flesh, there wasn't anything else she was interested in as the legs had been stretched. Not to forget the fact that she wished to remain hidden from the massive crowd.

The mental order was given to each of the savages to merge into the realm of the shadows as well and to make a quick escape from the place. They followed the order instantly and they were actually the first ones to dart away and return to the domain all the way back in White Tails. Nightmare Rarity was actually planning to be doing the same thing but the closer she heard the voices come, the more interest she actually got into them. She was getting more and more curious to see just how they were looking and why they were out there at night.

Something about the ponies that were hidden among the darkness was sparking her attention more and more. She granted herself the best seating in the house for the events to come. For as her clouded formation had the unicorn traveled up against a tree and laid her body lengthwise upon a branch thick enough to hold her weight. If they would be looking up or even in the general direction, they wouldn't be seeing a thing but she could be seeing everything.

Through the vegetation they then came, two stallions dressed like rangers of some sort stepped out of it and they were horrified as they saw the corpse of the freshly killed manticore. "Tis impossible that this thing just died, everything's gone of it already," one of them spoke up as he pointed to the bones. "Could never have been the screams."

"Now don't be so certain about that rookie. This might be your first night out here, but you still have a lot to learn. It's eat, or be eaten in these woods. This things fell victim to a thing with multiple heads. And from the looks of it, as massive appetite. You know a creature with multiple heads that live around here?" the older stallion spoke up as he looked at the rookie with a set of stern eyes.

The eyes of the rookie became as wide as they were allowed and the fear could be read right into them like an open book for the unicorn. "You don't mean that…that there is a hydra on the loose around here?" he spoke up with a frightful tone to his voice. Genuine fear filled him from hoof to head to tail. "I, I never thought, that they were coming this far out of the marshlands."

"You might be surprised by what a creature will be doing when it's hungry, rookie. You will be surprised by that," the older stallion spoke up before he turned his eyes away from the heap of bones and looked to the branch where the invisible Nightmare Rarity laid upon.

Though she happened to be quite the confident mare in her abilities and simply stared right back into his eyes. Something that was causing him to shudder and shiver a little bit in response. "Oh I know quite the bit of what a creature will be doing then." Nightmare Rarity whispered to herself without any form of sound to alert the two of them.

The older stallion turned his head away from the branch and allowed it to fall upon the waters of the pond. And once again had he felt that same shudder and shiver. "Like it wasn't worth enough already. Come on rookie, we have nothing to search here and do anymore. Not with such a pond in the close neighborhood."

It was a set of words that caused the rookie to shake his head a couple of times in response as he didn't seem to be getting just what was being told to him. Out of everything that he had previously heard from the mouth of that stallion, it was that they had to stay as long as possible. While at that peddle of water they would be making a hasty retreat? Something just didn't feel right there and then.

Though the time to ask the questions that were on his mind were granted to the fact that the other pony had already left the scene of the bones and pond. "Uh, hey! Wait for me!" the rookie yelled at the other stallion before he rushed after him. In the ears of Nightmare Rarity did the words echo they exchanged with one another before those became whispers and then they finally disappeared out of her hearing range.

It was also something that caused her to merge with the physical realm once again and grinned like the devil that she was. With her hindlegs laying over one another and the tail right behind that and hung off to the side of the branch, the forelegs were actually crossed over one another and the mane blocked out one of her eyes. "Oh trust me ranger, I do know what a creature does when it's that hungry. And it is everything but pretty," she spoke up to herself before the sickening snicker left her.

A snicker that went through the marrow and bone if somepony that would be happening to be around actually heard. A frightful sound that was everything but comforting. Though she couldn't be laying around on that branch all night. Even though it was oddly comfortable, she needed to return to her own domain in order to entertain some guests she had. "Do you hear the whispermare? The whispermare is near," she spoke up to herself before her body once again merged with the shadows and started upon the final sprint of the race. The sprint straight to her beloved dark crystal domain hidden deep within the fog of White Tails woods.

Once returned inside of the safe walls of the domain stood the unicorn herself in the courtyard and looked upon the three doorways that were the only ones outside of the exit. One by one she was getting her thoughts of them and evaluated her feelings. Though none of them seemed to be doing her any good. Each of the doorways had they own story to tell and it wasn't a pretty one. Even in the dead of night.

Yet there was just one thing that she needed to be doing. Which was to take the middle one in order to get some of her much needed sleep. Her hooves then almost automatically began to carry the body over to the doorway and then straight up the stairs. A massive strand of mane fell before her eyes as she continued to climb up before reaching her very own chambers.

Inside of the room had the unicorn dropped herself right upon the bed and snuggled up against the blankets and pillow before she would finally be going into a deep sleep of her own. A sleep in which even she would still be suffering the nightmares with which the entire scheme began. Nightmares that were the fuel for her powers and abilities. The very bubble of magic in which she was trapped in herself had revealed to her. Only to be forgotten again for the next day.

A day that had the unicorn getting out of her bed earlier than ever and after having combed her purple and white mane, stood in the courtyard once again. A fresh swig of air was taken into her nostrils as all of the smells caused her to exhale deeply. She seemed to be happy that particular morning. Happier than usual that was. It didn't seem to be having any particular reason.

Though the silence in which she stood, was disrupted the moment the Shadowblood came out of the dungeon and went up to her. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed him coming and only expected that trouble would be following him suit. But little did she knew, just the news happened to be that he was going to bring to her. "My queen, the batpony, she has gone crazier than any other soul after the treatment you gave her. She's getting out of control, turning into a vampire!"

"Stick a stake in her heart, then she'll listen," the unicorn returned in a chuckle to herself as her eyes continued to be looking upwards to the skies.

Though the answer he received from her wasn't the one he was actually hoping for. Instead Blood could be doing anything then except laugh. "This is getting out of control my queen. She is becoming unhandleable and next thing you know, the entire dungeon is getting into a riot." His words were spoken in the urgent tone that did made the unicorn listen to them with a set of perked eyes. Almost as if she couldn't believe it herself what he was saying.

"Oh really now commander? Is she becoming that much of trouble, this little whispermare of ours? Then I suppose you know just as well what we need to be doing with her right?" the nightmarish queen spoke up after she finally had even granted him a look from her eyes. The head turned itself over towards him as an even bigger grin formed itself below the muzzle.

To make the party even more complete had the four savages stepped out of the shadows behind the mare with a growl in their approach. Though it was the mere sight of them all that caused the commander to shiver in his own fears. Even though the growls weren't meant towards him, they still seemed to be that way. "Are you proposing, what I think you are, my queen?"

"Tie up the wings and bring her to me. Then we shall handle this once and for all." Nightmare Rarity returned to Shadowblood who made a quick bow before he turned back to the dungeon. "Open the gate! We'll be getting another runner."

On her command was the front gate of the dark crystal domain opened and the first thing that entered was the massive barrier of fog. It almost flooded the place with it before most of it started to sink down to a thick and compressed layer upon the ground. A layer not even half a hoof thick.

Deep within the bowels of the dungeon had Shadowblood returned once more to the cell in which the batpony was being held. A batpony who actually had returned to the ancient roots of her species. She hung upside down against the bars while her wings were wrapped around her body to form some kind of cocoon. "…Right, and how exactly was I going to be doing this again?" the stallion muttered to himself before he scratched the back of his head.

He didn't actually saw another way than to just get in there with her and do it with nothing but brute force that he had in his body. One way or the other he would be getting the batpony and he another day to live. Though in order to get her, he would be having just one shot so it had to go right the first try.

Unknown to him was the fact that the mare had heard the words he spoke against her the moment he came down into the dungeon itself. Yet it would only have been after he had locked himself into the cell with her, that the fun would actually being.

For the moment that was done was Shadowblood almost tackled down to the ground by the crazed batpony. Even though he could repel most of the attack, the force she was expressing on his body seemed to be a whole lot more than he originally had thought. "Ugh, so you're a lot stronger now, ain't ya? Well here's something new for you."

All of the muscles inside of the stallion's body were tensed even further and he managed to get a good hold of one of her forelegs as well as the neck. With his own forehooves placed just right, he managed to roll around and this gain the upper end in the fight. "Sorry missy, but you ain't biting me today," he chuckled to her as the forehoof was used to keep the neck to the ground. An action that was more done to keep himself safe, then any of the others. "Somepony please tie the wings of her and get it done would you?"

One of the guards who had been watching pretty much the whole time, walked into the cell and did the thing that was being asked of him. "Now you be a good batpony, so this might actually work out for you."

Though the only responses that he would be getting out of her were nothing but hisses and growls of hatred. "Help yourself then." Blood was then tabbed on the back with the message that the ropes were tightly secured around the wings and that they wouldn't be doing anywhere.

The light of the sun was the first thing that fell upon the face of the Whispermare in a very long time and she released a deep hiss towards it. She actually wanted to return to the darkness of the dungeon but the access was being blocked. Yet as the head was turned to the side could the nightmarish unicorn being seen in the fullest of glories and almost instantly she just rushes right at her.

Only to be stopped by the savages that all four had taken their position in between the queen and the batpony. "Now you just play along nicely or the game will already be over." Nightmare Rarity spoke up with a sickening grin clearly visible below her muzzle. Whatever she had planned for the batpony, it would be anything but good.

"Gone mad by my powers, is what they say and when I see you here like this, I would say that that is pretty correct." A deep chuckle was given as the eyes continued to investigate the creature from tail to nose in the fullest of detail. "So this is what the batponies become after you lock them up in a vault and show them their worst fears, natural predators that want to suck the very life out of every living being they encounter. Shame I don't need such a being in my ranks."

The batpony herself simply started to walk up and down on a bit of ground as the words were listened to. Though it was only the question if they were actually understood by her mind. It didn't seemed to be giving a much needed care to the unicorn. Hisses and growls were the only things that were released by the Whispermare. Not even a single word of pleading was left from her. She was a tough one, that much had to be admitted by the queen.

"Now then, this is where the fun really begins," the unicorn spoke up as she looked even deeper into the eyes of the batpony. "I'm going to give you a chance to run away from this hellish place. Only catch is that my little pups here, will be chasing you all of the way. Do they get you, it's game over on the spot. Do you manage to walk away, congratulations. Though know this, nopony has ever won the game."

The discouraging words weren't something that kept the Whispermare particularly frightened or anything else for that matter. She understood only one thing out of the words and that was the fact that she was given a chance to get out of there. A chance that she would be taking literally with the both of her hoof and wings of they were given the chance to be freed.

Though the motions made to just start running were already enough for the nightmarish queen to see just where it would be going to. Another massive grin slowly formed itself below her muzzle as she nodded to the batpony. "Go, go now and never return to me!" she shouted to the maddened creature.

It was a set of words that needed to be only said once to her. For almost instantly was the Whispermare gone like the wind and out of the doors of the domain. "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, go." Nightmare Rarity counted to each of her savages and at the 'go', all four of them were just going crazy. The screeching howl was released once again by one of them before the chase was being set. Another hunt was on but this one happened to be one that was to please their queen more than anything.

Rushing through the fog covered woods did the Whispermare try her utmost best in an attempt to find her exit out of the devilish place. Yet every direction that she went into caused her doubts to be raised further and further. Even in her state of madness did the logical side she had still try its utmost best to push through and fulfill the duty that was given by princess Luna. Though little did the ponies in the domain knew, that it was actually all just a play.

She had never gone actually mad as she had actually managed to somehow withstand the massive charges straight into her head, much to her own relief. Though now that she was lost within the fog of White Tails, not even the Whispermare herself knew which way she needed to be going. "Luna give me strength," she spoke up to herself as the wings tried their best to uncurl themselves but it never worked. Not to mention the fact that the knots of the things were on her back which was a place impossible to reach by her own.

It would have been the strength she was be asking for that she would receive. Although not in the manner that she had originally hoped. For one by one they managed to corner the batpony. A batpony whose eyes looked at the four of them and took careful steps back to stay out of their jumping range. Yet they continued to come closer and closer until the mare bumped into a treetrunk. That was the moment when she knew that everything was just lost for her. That was the moment that she knew her life would come to an end. "Whisper, no more," where the last words to ever leave her mouth before the savages attacked her with everything they had.

In the domain itself was Nightmare Rarity actually on the lookout for the savages. Once they had returned, they had a present for her. For the head of the Whispermare was being dropped before her forehooves. It was a thing that caused a sickening grin to appear upon her face as she released a chuckle. "Oh this here, is going to make a very nice example for the two of them," she spoke up just before the head rose itself up to one of the more common clouds of shadow and the command was spoken. "Deliver this to your majesty the princess, Luna of the Moon. I'm sure she will be happy with it, though don't get yourself caught or there will be the devil to pay."

A box was given to the cloud of shadows by nopony else then the very queen herself and she nodded towards the nightmare force. The plan was known and the directions were given. All that was resting to be done was for the message to be delivered and the chaos to be erupted. In the throne room itself made the cloud one last bow to its queen before slithering away from her. Leaving Nightmare Rarity upon the seating with a deep sigh.

"The tides are slowly changing, I can feel it in my bones and spells. The tables are standing at the point of being turned out of my favor. But the message should have them squealing for another set of months if not weeks. More than enough time to make some, rearrangements, in the plans," the unicorn whispered to herself as a strand of mane fell before her right eye.

The strand itself wasn't even removed as the mare left the seating and went up the stairs towards the courtyard again. Some of the nightmare forces that were out there looked over to their queen with a questioning gaze for a few seconds but then continued doing what they had been doing for most of the time already.

In the blue rimmed eyes had the mare caught the gates being closed again and a grin formed itself with her lips. "This, will be my only message to the two of them. They better pray on their lives that they will be getting it straight away. If it is war they want, I shall give them a taste of what I can do." Nightmare Rarity spoke up in a loud enough tone that all the beings around her could hear it. Yet it was the very tone in which she spoke her words that caused the shivers in the fibers of the beings themselves.

Never in their existence had they heard such a mixture of a posh and proper tone actually speaking such sadistic words. Once more she proved herself as the queen of fright in their eyes and they could only hope she would be leaving them alone as soon as possible. Which luckily for them, she actually did. For after she had spoken the words turned the queen herself back over into the tower and ascended upon the stairs.

Having arrived in her chambers once again was the body gently lowered upon the velvet cushioned sofa. When her belly made contact with the fabric and the hindlegs had crossed one another was a loud and content moan slowly released through her mouth. A moan that caused the savages to look strange into her direction just to witness what on earth was going on. The sights they saw were pretty much nothing of true interest for them four and they turned themselves away again.

The remaining visible eye of the unicorn closed itself off from the word and before anypony could even be saying a word to her had she sunken into a light slumber. Even though she appeared to be asleep, the mind was actually recalculating every single option that she had when it came down to a war between her forces and the armies of day and night.

It would have been a war she would be losing quickly in the head on assault. That much was already certain for her. So perhaps the only way that she could actually get rid of both of the armies was perhaps not to fight them head on. Instead she had to flank them at all sides and take small pieces of it at any given time.

The idea was more than fit for her as she loved to be taking her time with fairly much everything there happened to be. It was a sadistic wait she would be given the soldier and generals for certain. Though there also would be some traps set out for her. No doubt that after the message given to them, the royals would be knowing exactly just who happened to be torturing the ponies. Meaning that it was going to be hear who was placed right in the spotlights of everything.

Though there always was that possibility that they wanted to negotiate with her. An option that seemed to be weak for certain but it could give her valuable information as well as time if it ever came that far. Because there and then, the message still needed to be delivered before the doors of the royals and only after that the decision would be made.

Yet it didn't stop her from thinking about the thousand possibilities of after the little box had been dropped before the throne. Though without a warning had the eyes of the unicorn opened themselves again and the cat like irises looked over the entire room with a singular glare. Only to confirm the suspicion that nopony was there and she rose her body up from the sofa with a deep inhale.

Nightmare Rarity removed the strand of mane out of her eye and placed it behind her ear while the head turned itself into the direction of the balcony. It was a much preferred place for the mare to go to and have a rest. It was perhaps even a place where she came more often than any other place inside of the tower, let alone her domain.

When the doors opened themselves did the nightmarish queen appear upon the floor and a deep exhale was released through her mouth while the horn charged itself up ever so gently. While the magic surged itself through the horn as well as the gem, the unicorn looked over the lands in the brought daylight and she gave her imagination the free wings to think of whatever it could actually think about.

In the meantime had the cloud of shadow that was send out to deliver the package to the castle of Canterlot managed to unseen sneak its way up to the gates of the metropolis. With the eyes carefully looking through everything and everpony it met was the illusion to stick with the deepest shadows that it could find. Which was exactly the thing that it did.

For traveling through shadow and shadow had the clouds remained hidden and the package unseen. That was the case until it arrived at the gates of Canterlot castle itself. The security was too uptight, not to forget that the princess of the moon and sun being there at the same time. Wandering in didn't seem to be very good idea but the mailbox on the other end brought an entirely different perspective.

With a crackle in its voice did the clouds travel over to the mailbox of the castle and placed the package right with it. Everything seemed to be just perfect with an address to return it to and all of that nice stuff. Another crackle was released by the nightmare force before it then began to slither its way back to the domain of the queen. A queen who was waiting and imagining the very response they royals would be having about her little package.

All of the five friends were gathered in the throne room of the castle where they actually helped as advisers to the princess in an attempt to actually keep them both happy and busy during the day. Not a job that either Rainbow Dash and Applejack had wanted from their stay but Twilight seemed to be doing a rather good job at it. Even Celestia herself had to admit that fact.

The only pony who was missing from the company was Luna herself. With her days literally shifted around by twelve hours, she most likely would be in bed at the time. Perhaps it was a good thing though as some of the matters that their ears heard were truly brain breaking.

Even the always so hyperactive Pinkie Pie sometimes went literally cross-eyed as she had not a single clue of the events that were going on. But little did each of them knew, just what would be delivered to the all of them.

"Hmhm, it's not easy being a princess, now is it?" Celestia spoke up to the five of them with her soft and soothing tone. In response did all five of them quietly nodded with their head. None of them could have even imagined just how much time and effort there was stuck into keeping the land running.

It was even something that caused nopony else then Twilight to think about the fact, how Celestia had managed it when she took her as her student in. It seemed to be impossible for her, but the alicorn of the day had turned into her second mother. She had helped her to become the mare she was that day yet the land wasn't in total ruins.

Twilight never admitted it openly but she had great respect for the princess no matter what others would be saying about her.

"Mail!" the voice of a still spoke up as the trolley filled with bags of letters and packages rolled in. All five of them looked up towards the cart and their eyes went even wider. None of them even could believe the fact that so much mail had come in.

"F-From how many days is that?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she almost jumped out of her chair.

"Days? This is from this morning!" the courier replied to the cyan coated pegasus before he made a small bow to Celestia. "Your highness."

"Thank you," the princess simply said before gave a nod to him. That very nod was the signal that he was allowed to leave the throne room and thus continue on his own duties.

"T-T-This m-m-morning." Rainbow stuttered as she had fallen on her bum in a flabbergasted position and never seemed to have been able to keep her eyes off of the stack. "T-That can't be right!"

"Oh but it is, my dear Rainbow." Celestia spoke up as she released a giggle and walked down on the steps of the throne. With calm and grace did she went over to the trolley and turned herself around in order to look at the five mares. Her lips curled themselves up into a gentle smile as the horn charged itself up.

"But…how?! That, that's what I'm not getting here!" The pegasus helped herself back up upon her hooves before the head was given a couple of shakes. Her little and feeble mind just couldn't understand one tiny bit from what was shown to her. Though perhaps it was best left unexplained to them all.

Yet the princess wanted to give them a visual demonstration. With her magic she took out of the packages and held it before the five of them. "Most of these packages contain a thankful letter, as well as a treat for my sister and myself to, keep up the good work shall we say," she spoke up as her magic opened the top of the box and the flap actually hid the content for the princess.

Her magic began to search inside of the box for the content and it eventually raised something to a gentle height. A height that still kept the content hidden from the princess but the five mares were given the sight of a lifetime. Whatever it happened to be that they saw, their eyes all went as wide as possible.

It was a mere second afterward had each of them released a near deafening scream of utter terror. The fear of the thing what they saw coming out of that box, was something not even Celestia herself could have ever expected to happen. "Calm down girls, calm down, it's not that bad now is it?"

"N-Not that bad, l-look for, yarself!" Applejack managed to being out of her mouth just before Fluttershy jumped behind her chair in the shivers as if she had seen a ghost.

"Now I know you all are exaggerating a bit much here. There is nothing to be afraid about…" While she spoke her words had Celestia raised the object to a height that even she could see it and was already surprised. Then she turned it around and got the scare of her life as well. For her eyes looked straight into the closed ones of a severed head.

To be a little bit more correct, was it the severed head of a batpony with purple mane. "…A severed head gotten into the mail, right. One doesn't see that every day." the princess of the day quickly mumbled to herself before the head was lowered again in the box and closed off for their eyes. "Wake my sister, she needs to be seeing this right here and right now no matter what. Tell her it's urgent." Celestia spoke up towards one of the guards.

The guard gave the princess a salute before the post was left in order to wake the lunar princess. Though waking her up in the middle of the day could always have some nasty consequences for the waker. It was a price worth to be paid no matter what.

"And could you please calm down! Your screaming isn't exactly helping," the princess huffed to the five of them in an annoyed tone. It did help for them though, as the sounds they all produced did lower themselves until they were all nothing but silent. "Thank the heavens for that."

"W-Who could have p-possibly send it?" Twilight dared to ask after she had gotten more than enough of her guts together to actually do it. "Does, does it say where it's from?"

It was an excellent question asked by Twilight and the princess brought the box closer to herself to read whatever was stamped upon it. The eyes went over pretty much everything before they came to a shocking conclusion. "Impossible," she whispered to herself before a shake with the head was given. "No, no, no, this can't be happening."

"Well, speak up!" Applejack growled in an annoyed tone as she wanted to have clear answered.

"Normally I wouldn't, but this time I side with Applejack, your highness." Twilight added as even more pressure was added upon the princess of the day. Pressure that turned itself into nothing but tension that could eventually break into a million pieces.

That was about the last thing that she wanted to have happened right there. So in order to actually give the mares the answer they were looking for, Celestia released a deep exhale through her mouth and then looked upon each mare with her violet rimmed eyes. "The package, this very package is send from a place that you five all know very well. It originates from Ponyville." Suddenly went all of the eyes of the mares looked at one another in a genuine confused look. None of them could have ever even imagined that such a gruesome 'gift' could have been send from their sunny little town.

"To make it even worse, it's coming out of a recently abandoned building. This very package, comes from the Carousel Boutique." Those words alone were more than enough for the mare to look at one another as they just couldn't believe what was just spoken to them all.

Though it also caused a rather unforeseen side-effect to be taken place in the throne room. As the discussion heated up again. Nopony had forgotten about Rarity even if they wanted and that caused the tension between the five of them. "Ah told y'all, it was Rares who's behind everything! And look at it now, she is sending our princesses such gifts of horror. Ah say that that mare has gone completely insane and she's planning to take over herself!" Applejack spoke up as she removed herself off of the chair and did a couple steps into the throne room.

"Close the doors, nopony else needs to be hearing this." Celestia quickly spoke up to another guard who executed the exact order. Her head turned itself over to Applejack before a shake was given to it. The cowgirl meant her thoughts well but the manner in which she brought them forth was something she still needed to be working on from time to time.

Though the words caused both Twilight and Fluttershy to walk up to her with an angered look in their eyes. The two were on the same wavelength when it came down to thoughts and those thoughts, were worded by Twilight. "And now you've gone too far Applejack! Can you imagine if Rarity takes over?! She has to pass through both Celestia and Luna first, not to mention the entire army before she even can claim herself queen of all. Illogical Applejack, illogical!"

"Well if yar knowing it all so well, why don't y'all just come up with an explanation for this entire mess! Ah even recon if you hadn't come to Ponyville in the first place, we wouldn't have gotten here in the first place." Applejack replied to Twilight as their foreheads were pressed against one another with force applied by both sides. "So beat it, bookworm."

"Applejack! That's not how you are talking to a friend of yours and you know it!" Fluttershy interrupted as Twilight herself had to fight for her tears to be staying inside of her eyes. "You two, need to calm down for a moment!"

"Oh Ah will Fluttershy, long after this little harbinger of bad news is out of mah life!"

"That's enough!" Rainbow Dash shouted before she literally tackled the earth pony to the ground and laid her on her back. "Time to bring you some manners!"

"Rainbow, Rainbow…no!" Celestia spoke up as she wanted to interfere, but the hit was already dealt. The hoof of Rainbow Dash met up with the cheek of Applejack before anypony could be doing anything.

"Don't, you, dare," the cyan pegasus spoke up in a growling hiss towards the princess. Who oddly enough actually did a step back to let the events roll as they would be doing. "You just listen to me, miss Grumpy. Just because we are in this mess, doesn't mean that Twilight is to blame! We can give anypony the blame but it doesn't get us out of it! You understand that right?"

Nopony could even understand just what was going on between the two of them but it did seem like it was working. Though to make matters perhaps even worse, the other princess had arrived in the room. "Am I…interrupting?" the voice of Luna then entered Celestia's ear who looked to her side.

There she saw her little sister standing and just looking over the scene. "Don't ask, just arrived."

"Ah," was the only thing that came out of the mouth of the princess herself.

"Ah heard yah." Applejack replied to Rainbow who then pulled her back up. Before she would be doing anything else, the cowgirl walked over to Twilight and gave her a genuine warm hug as she felt herself sorry for the words. "Ah, Ah shouldn't have said those words Twi."

"It's, it's alright Applejack," the mulberry unicorn replied calmly as one of her hooves traveled its way over to back of the earth pony to keep the hug going. "Thanks."

"So now that is solved, you might want to tell me just what on earth is going on." Luna spoke up as she still didn't had a single clue. Something that was reflected inside of her tired eyes.

"Oh, yes." Celestia spoke up before she began to whisper in her sister's ear. Who on her own turn nodded a couple of times as well as opened her eyes wider slowly. Upon hearing certain words, Luna had only one desire and that was to look in the box itself to see whether it was true or not.

The horn of the younger sister charged itself up and the box was levitated over to her and opened. Her blue rimmed eyes were looking down into it and almost immediately she got the feeling of emptying her stomach in her mouth. The horrific sight in the box, was truly just horrific. "Oh goodness me, this can't be happening," she whispered to herself before the box was placed upon the ground with the lid closed.

"This, this is everything but good girls. However, the truth also needs to be revealed to you all." Luna spoke up as she looked each of the ponies in their eyes. Though it was Celestia who was having the biggest worries with it. Telling Twilight openly that they had lied to her, could she still be trusting them?

"Luna, are you sure?" Celestia whispered in an inaudible tone towards the other mare.

Who on her turn only gave a nod and charged up her horn again. "I have been doing some investigating on my own and came to some rather, interesting conclusions. The head in the box, is indeed from one of my ponies. She was an informant for me, and a very good one at that. Her duty were never given upon paper, they had always been verbal."

"You send an innocent pony straight into her death?!" Rainbow spoke up as it was her turn become a little bit angry. Though in response shook Luna simply her head as if she was saying that her words weren't true.

"Not straight into it, miss Dash. Following the leads I have gotten. I intended to keep them quiet until the time would have been there. Suppose the time is now here to reveal them." Those very words even confused her older sister as it wasn't something they had agreed upon nor something that even she was knowing about.

"And what leads were you exactly following?" the cyan coated pegasus spoke up before she gained the very guts to actually fly up to Luna and press her face into that of hers. One way or the other, she would be getting to know the fine details of everything about it all. Even though she didn't care about what the others would be thinking.

Luna on the other end, simply pushed the pegasus away before she was being held in a levitational field and brought back over to the rest of the group. "These, leads," the princess of the night spoke up before she conjured both the diary and the letter out of her personal safe.

All of the ponies present, including Celestia herself, looked up in a massive surprise to the event as they were being played out. Nopony could have ever predicted that Luna had actually gone to such an extend to find something.

"While you all were laying in the hospital to recover from your dreams, I took the liberty to look around the boutique for a little bit and found these two items. Two common items which held the key to the subject." Luna spoke up before she opened the diary of the ivory mare and began to search some of the entries that interested her the most.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Pinkie suddenly spoke up before she hopped in between the groups of mares. "You said you had been to the boutique, so…it could also have been you who send the package!"

The initial response that Pinkie got for her words was the fact that Luna huffed out a cloud of steam. "You really think I would end the life of one of my personal ponies?! I haven't done that since Nightmare Moon has left my body, thank you very much. Old habits don't wear they say, I'm aware with that one. But that habit was gone in the blink of an eyes. And yes Twilight, it would be illogical if I did such a thing. Now if I may, please?"

Pinkie lowered her head carefully as she returned to the group and Twilight herself released a little but also embarrassed squee in response to the words. Only to finally aim their ears over to the words Luna would be speaking to them all. And each sentence that she would be speaking, would be even more surprising than the previous one.

For nopony had ever heard the unicorn complain about the nightmares she seemed to be having, not to mention given the fact that they had been going on already for such a long time through the mind of their beloved friend. Each of the mares was genuinely shocked as the princess of the night continued to read through the journal.

The fun didn't stop there sadly enough. For when the diary was closed at the last entry was the letter still needed to be read. All of the ponies were already speechless but the biggest smack in their faces still had to be delivered. The paper letter was brought before the eyes of Luna and she started to read the entire thing aloud.

When the final words, when the final name was being spoken, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle and even princess Celestia herself looked at the lunar mare with an open mouth and a shocked confession.

"Emerald, Masquerade, ponies," were the only words that Luna had to add to everything.

All the way over back in Ponyville had none of the three little Cutie Mark Crusaders been able to actually shrug the facts off of themselves as they had seen them in the woods of White Tails. Neither Scootaloo nor Apple Bloom could be sleeping well because of the fact that every time they closed their eyes, they would be seeing those horrible incarnations of both Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

But Sweetie Belle might have been the more curious case of it all as she never had been able to forget the moment that the two hearts were beating in sync just for that little bit of time. All three of them actually laid scattered through the building, Sweetie laid upon a chair while Apple Bloom had taken her position in a beanbag whereas Scootaloo just laid on the floor with her belly.

The silence in the place was something that had never been heard, almost as if they weren't even there to begin with. Which they were to some degree. Their bodies laid within the walls of the building but their minds had been going all over the place. With the eyes wide open, none of the three dared to fall asleep even if they wanted it just so badly.

Their very own fears and frights were there as they had been there since their escape from the dreaded woods. Yet to break the eerie silence, Sweetie Belle was actually the very first one to speak up. "Hey you two," she spoke up before her eyes went over to the other fillies. "You know we are like a couple dozen miles away from White Tails, right? I mean, that's a lot of ground to cover for the both of them no matter what."

It were words that caused the other two fillies to not only raise their heads up from either the beanbag or the floor and looked into the direction of the unicorn. Neither of them even seemed to be understanding a singular word of what was spoken against them. Yet they did cause the two of them to even leave their spots and walk closer towards Sweetie.

Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had their heads tilted to one size as they tried to follow Sweetie Belle but didn't seem to be getting far. Their minds tried, they really tried but with the fears that were still in there seemed that any form of logical thinking had been thrown right out of the window.

It was something that caused the little unicorn to facehoof a little bit before she jumped off of the chair and wrapped both of her forelegs around the necks of her friends. What resulted in a massive hug from all three of the fillies. "What I'm saying is that nothing what you saw back there, ever would even be getting the of coming close to here. We're safe here in Ponyville itself and the surrounding as they will remain inside of the woods themselves. You two following me?"

The other two fillies listened with care towards the words that were spoken before their minds finally seemed to have received the gap through which Sweetie spoke her words. The hug itself was tightened a little bit more as the two fillies closed their eyes forcefully and actually drilled those very same words right into their skulls.

Whatever it was that the two were trying to be doing, it seemed to be working more than well. For when they opened up their eyes again, that bright coloring had returned into them instead of the dulled out one the unicorn had to be looking at for some days. "Hey hey, there are some eyes I have missed!" she spoke up with a happy tone and gave both of her friends a nuzzle.

Though the nuzzle itself didn't seem to be that big of a success by either of the fillies, but they didn't minded it for the moment, as it was the little unicorn who managed to get them out of that circle they were landed in. "Okay, okay, enough of that Sweetie, but thanks." Scootaloo spoke up in a chuckle of her own.

Apple Bloom on the other end, blinked a couple of times with her eyes before she very quickly returned the nuzzle upon the nose of the unicorn. "Thanks Sweets," she then spoke up herself with a smile from ear to ears.

The hug between the three fillies was broken and they all looked upon one another with that same smile clearly visible. They had managed to conquer the fears they had been walking with a set of days and they had to thank one of their friends for it with everything they had. However, for the unicorn filly herself could still hear that heartbeat deep inside of her head. Hidden away in perhaps the deepest and darkest part of it there was, it laid in wait. That rheumatic throbbing of the beat in sync with her own.

It was a little something that she couldn't be explaining to the other two fillies simply because of the fact that she didn't wanted to give them confusion that wasn't even necessary. "Hey girls." Sweetie then spoke up as she turned into a bit more of a serious looking filly, "let's drop anything we still had planned into those woods and never return to them, okay? Just to be sure that, things like these are never going to be happening again?"

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo listened to the words spoken and they couldn't be doing much else than to give a nod in response to it. For none of them -even if they didn't wanted to admit it- wanted to return to that cursed woods. No verbal response was given by either of the filly, but the eyes spoke more than enough to justify just that.

Though without a warning of any kind, the hoof of Sweetie Belle booped the nose of Apple Bloom before she spoke her words. "Tag, you're it!" And after it she galloped like the wind to the door and down the wooden ramps to the field below.

The little cowgirl turned herself over to the pegasus with a grin upon her face. "Ya know what this means, right?" she spoke up as her hoof raised itself.

Yet just before she could actually tag Scootaloo, she had darted aside and chuckle to herself. "Too slow! Come and catch me!" Not a single further word needed to be told towards the earth pony as the chase was set in. The three of them ended up playing in the fields that laid around their clubhouse.

"Emerald Masquerade, it isn't exactly a name I'm familiar with to say the least." Twilight spoke up as she had given her mind the chance to actually think about the matter for once. Every single line that spoken by Luna, whether it came out of the diary or the letter and even after having read through them herself, caused the hammers to be smashing on the red hot metals inside of her head. She was working on a plan of some kind but it would be needing time in order to complete it.

Time they very well couldn't be having upon their side.

"Uhm, Twilight, if, if I may here?" Fluttershy spoke up and was given the word to speak her thoughts. Whatever they could have been. "Thank you, all right then." Her eyes looked over every pony that was present and the stage fright actually knocked louder than ever upon the door of the pegasus but she knew that she couldn't back down whatsoever. All of the eyes were looking at her and she took a deep inhale to make certain that she wouldn't faint.

"Well, go on Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash almost sarcastically spoke up as she wanted the pegasus to just hurry up for once. Though in the case of Fluttershy, it probably wouldn't have been the most wise thing to be doing. "Today please."

Yet the only response she got out of any of them, was a loud shushing. "Okay, okay, geez," the cyan coated pegasus added before she sat down on her bum and crossed both of her forelegs around one another.

"Uhm, what I was about to say, was that I never had Rarity even once mention the name of the pony in the letter. And, she almost tells me everything of her life. Even when she needed to be finding a sport to interact with other ponies. Any of you knew, that she was, or actually still is, a master at fencing?"

"Wow, wow, wow, what did you say there Fluttershy?" Twilight spoke up with a confused glare in her eyes. "Did you just say that Rarity, fenced?"

The yellow coated pegasus gave a nod in return to the words before her eyes turned suddenly into a set with a worried expression. "Is, is that…bad?"

"Not at all! That, that is actually a good thing. Before all of you interrupt me, allow me to picture it here. Rarity doesn't tell us everything as we tell her for a reason. We see her as our most trusted pony as she can keep a secret or two. But Rarity, also needed a trusting pony and I think, she found it in you, Fluttershy." Twilight explained after she had come out of her thoughts.

"A very likely theory Twilight, but that still doesn't explain just why the stallion contacted her on that random day." Celestia replied to her most prized student and gathered the eyes of all the ponies present.

"Because, sister dear, the letter wasn't send by the real stallion. It was a fake but a very well written one. It was enough to lure the unicorn right into their trap. When I arrived at the castle of old, I looked into the past and something took control over her. I couldn't see what it was or how she looked. But something, took her over."

"And why didn't ya tell this to us like, a few minutes ago?" Applejack muttered as she was literally standing on the verge of throwing her hat to the ground and stomp on it just to release the frustration.

"I happen to be having my reasons as you happen to be having your own, Applejack. But that's beside the point, I have told the lot of you everything that I knew about all of the matters going on. Even for me, from here on outward is new information. Information I like to have shared before anypony is ending up doing something stupid. Am I understood?."

All of the mares present in the room nodded to the words that were spoken by Luna before she made a nod in return to them all. "Good."

"Maybe..." Fluttershy then spoke up. And the words that she would be telling next could be the changing course of the entire events that were still going to be played out. "If we can find this stallion, and find the right one that is. Maybe we can lure Rarity out of, wherever she happened to be, and he can convince her to leave whatever it is that changed her, and thus having our friend back. It, it's just an idea here."

"And a brilliant one at that Fluttershy!" Twilight spoke up in happiness as suddenly she saw everything just so clear before her eyes. "Listen up everypony, I know exactly what it is that we need to be doing."

Nightmare Rarity stood upon the balcony of her domain as the eyes looked over the mighty horizon that seemed to be stretching itself for miles and miles. Her eyes were given the true time to look at the sheer beauty of the red and orange coloring as the sun was setting down behind the mountains and hills.

Yet with the wind softly blowing calmly, it caused her purple and white streaked hairs to wave within it like they had always done. Her nostrils opened and closed themselves almost countless times as if she was sniffing the air like a dog who tried to pick up a scent. She knew that the package had been send and delivered. The only question that remained was where the armies were staying.

"You're coming for me at one point or another. But the question itself is just going to be both where and when. And that, is what bothers me more than you think," the entity spoke up to herself as she released a gentle growl before her eyes looked over to the moon who was already raised. It was a thing that caused the mare to have her own questions upon it all.

The sun and moon were both visible within the same skies. That was a sign which meant that something had gone wrong in the house of Canterlot. And the unicorn almost knew exactly just what it happened to be that had set up the scenery. A slow but evil snickering was released through the mouth of the unicorn as her eyes kept themselves aimed towards the moon itself.

"Spooked now, aren't you? Oh but trust me, there is a whole lot more of where that came from my dears. Just, you wait. For in time, nopony can escape the demons that are inside of their head." Nightmare Rarity spoke up as her horn coated itself once again in the magical aura.

The humming and the lights became almost too much to both hear and see as she kept on charging. Lashes of lightning were released from the tip of the gem and made contact with the dark crystal railing before seeming disappearing into nothing. It would only have been a matter of time before the charge itself would have been released before the eyes of the world and another attack would be released.

In the courtyard of the domain had many of the clouds of shadow looked over to the queen upon the balcony as they couldn't fully understand just what was going on. But whatever it was that she was trying to do, it did create for this amazing show of light. A show of light that didn't escape the mind of Shadowfright one bit. For the commander turned himself around and took on his stallion like appearance to watch it with his gem eyes.

"This is impossible," he whispered to himself. With the attack on his life still in his mind and the wounds having fully healed, he began to think again for himself. The sights that he managed to see were something that was rather impossible and literally unbelievable to witness. Never in his life had he seen so much power going through the horn of the unicorn, of any unicorn.

There was however one point in time where the dark alicorn did something pretty similar to that and that was to cover a major settlement in darkness. "Will history repeat itself?" the stallion asked himself aloud but in a whisper to just himself. Something about it all, just didn't seem to be adding up for him.

Yet in the meantime had Shadowblood been keeping himself busy in the dungeon. He slowly emerged as a cloud upon the courtyard and looked over to the balcony of his queen. And he couldn't believe the sights either as something about the raw power output that she did caused him, as well as many others of the nightmare forces to become scared. One wrong motion, one wrong word and they all would be just vaporized from their witty existence.

Silence was the emotion that dominated the inner walls of the domain together with the tension of what was about to happen. None of the nightmare forces even as much dared to interrupt the queen's actions. Not even the always so loyal savages showed themselves. For even they were afraid of her power. A thing that had never ever happened before or after their own transformation.

Then it just happened. In the matter of second it was just done and gone. The massive charge that had been saved was released into the air. In the evening skies did the blue bolt of magic travel across the skies like a mythical comet that came down to the land. Except that the tail of the comet had the same side effect as the storm she had produced weeks ago.

Shortly after the thing had been fired and soared through the skies would Nightmare Rarity's horn have discharged itself completely while the smoke was coming off of it. Though that didn't stop her from grinning and chuckling like the madmare that she happened to be. For the utter insanity that was flowing through her thoughts caused the volume of her to be reaching levels that it echoed through the whole of the woods.

Each of the nightmare forces in the domain looked up in a frightened pose towards that balcony, while the false shepherds in the woods all turned their heads towards the domain after their ears caught the sounds. None of the forces could have even expected just why she was doing that, but all they could guess was the very fact that something that she had done seemed to have gone straight to her will.

Though the sounds themselves just didn't stop at the borders of the forest as they traveled even further to the very inns that stood near the edges. And in one of them had the pegasus mare caught that faint laughter as she was standing outside to get a fresh nose. A laughter that was almost haunting like caused her to be spooked and she turned her attention over to the treeline. "What in the name of the heavens high are we having now?" she whispered to herself.

Nothing in her world had ever prepared her for the sounds she just heard, nothing in her world even remotely resembled the things that she had heard. It seemed impossible but the creeps were crawling up the legs of the mare as she gave off a shudder. "This can't be… This forest, this forest is haunted I tell you," she spoke up just before her body turned itself around in order to go back inside.

She wanted to barricade every last opening in order to make sure that that force wouldn't have been able to get inside. Though little did she knew just what that forces was actually capable of. "Oi, close down everything tighter than ever for the night. Something tells me that something terrible is going to happen this very night," she spoke up to the barkeeper in a whisper.

With the little guests that she still did have, she didn't wanted to throw in the panic by them just yet. The barkeeper himself on the other end, turned himself around and leaned against the top of the wooden bar and looked at his boss with a shady look. "So you heard it too?" he spoke up in a whisper to her.

"How couldn't I? I was outside when that ear piercing sound came through. For goodness sake, how on earth would I have been able to miss it, if even you heard it?" the mare replied as she took a bottle of an alcoholic drink and opened it. Without taking a glass, the bottle was set upon her lips and she took a big swig right out of it.

"You are rather absent ever since that incident with the stallion, remember?" the barkeeper returned to her before he took the bottle straight out of her hooves. "No booze for you tonight. If it indeed is going to be as you say, I need you to be sober. If you're drunk, I can just give you straight to them."

The pegasus looked over to the stallion with a look that was everything but friendly before a deep sigh was released through her nostrils. "Suppose you're right. I'll be in my office if you need me. And don't forget it." Those were the last words to be spoken by her before she disappeared upon a set of stairs and went to one of the upper levels of the inn.

"No ma'am, I won't," the barkeeper whispered almost inaudible before he placed the bottle on the counter and turned himself back around to see the guests. "Right, still got you lot to take care of."

Hours came and went as the time to finally close the things for the night had set in. Never in his life had the stallion felt so much fear as he had done that very evening. Even if the guests didn't wanted to admit it, they were also just terrified of something for that night. Something terrible was bound to happen to them except they hadn't the slightest clue of just what it happened to be. The mood in the ground floor of the inn was tense to say the least. Though that very tension seemed to becoming weaker with every guest who went to bed. A thing that came much to the relief of the barkeeper before he finally found it was time to close everything off for the night.

The mare on the other end had been sitting behind the desk of her office and pondered her head upon the matters that had come to her light. Yet as she looked out of her window and towards the moon was the most incredible sight she had ever seen being revealed and pierced upon her retina.

For the moon itself was covered in a blue light of an object that flew before it. The comet that was fired by the dark unicorn soared past the moon at incredible speeds in space itself. But the play of light that it created was something nopony could have ever expected. None of the ponies in the land would be prepared for the things to come.

As the mare kept on looking towards the hunk of space rock through the window of her office, the stallion looked at it from the last uncovered set of windows on the ground floor. All the doors had been locked and double locked as all the blinds had been placed before the windows both in and outside. Though the magic of the moon covered in the blue aura and the comet soaring before it, had him captured by his imagination. Never had he something seen that beautiful. But the beauty, was about to be turned into a horror.

For just after the comet went past the moon itself was the very shadow that Luna had seen in the corner of her eye as Twilight looked through her telescope upon the surface returned in the fullest of glories. Except that time it was clearly visible from every angle that the eyes would be looking at.

Laying in wait and preparing itself was that what the magic had done after it was fired towards the rock. For weeks it had calmly laid there while preparing itself. Until the command was gotten to reveal itself to the world of the ponies that lived upon the face of the land.

Once again did the shadow image of the unicorn appear itself before them all. That alone was more than enough to cause some genuine frights to be happening by most ponies who witnessed it. Though with the shadow standing upon the moon in that intimidating, sideways pose that looked over the ponies, it would be the deadly snicker that gave every last soul the creeps on it.

Nothing could have prepared them for that laughter that was given to them all and the fear that it spread was something nopony was resistant against.

Not even in Canterlot itself were the ponies free from the laughter. All of the five friends and the two princesses looked upon the moon with horror and couldn't believe what they saw. "T-That's the face!" Fluttershy whimper before she yelped and almost dove right into the tail of Pinkie.

Something that worked even for a little bit. As only the head managed to get itself in the curly and puffed up hairs of the party mare. "That face, ah've never it before." Applejack spoke up as she remembered only having seen the eye of the being. And the eyes was just one of those little things that wasn't revealed.

"Well whatever it is, that snicker I heard when I tried to enter the dreams of you all." Luna spoke up as she kept on looking to the moon. "Whomever this is, I think we found our suspect. And Fluttershy, you were right. It is too refined to be Nightmare Moon."

"Then, who is it princess? Can't you make a suggestion about it? An old enemy of you two maybe?" Twilight questioned to the royals before they both tore their attention away from the window and turned back. Back to the pile of papers and documents that all had been sniffing through in the hope to find the name of the stallion. "Please?"

Where Celestia released a deep sigh before she would continue the search in silence, Luna actually turned her head over to the group as her body was placed sideways. Her eyes looked honest but also worried deeply. Worn out from the reading, they just looked tired and overall not her usual self. But she did took the responsibility of answering Twilight upon her. "That, Twilight Sparkle, is the same thing that happened to me over a thousand years ago. Ladies, what you're looking at, is the possible successor of Nightmare Moon."

All of the ponies gasped for air as none of them even wanted to believe the facts as they were presented before them. None of them even wanted to believe the words. Though countering a princess upon such words would have been everything except a wise thing to be doing. So instead they all turned themselves around and calmly walked back with their thoughts pondering of just how everything came to be. Yet it also acted as a massive flame to find that stallion mentioned.

Where everypony returned to the search of the stallion, it was Twilight herself who dared to look back at the moon and sighed deeply. It was obvious to her already, that the slender body build and the structure of the face could be leading to one pony alone. "Oh Rarity, where have you gotten yourself into? Why, why didn't you spoke with nopony about this? Were you truly, that afraid to tell us?" Those were just some of the question her mind was being plagued with.

Though when the time was there again had Twilight also returned to the duty of finding the stallion whatever it would be taking. Words wanted to be spoken upon the matter for certain, as each of the seven mares felt the 'eyes' piercing right through their souls as if the figure upon the moon was actually looking straight at the seven of them.

It was a feeling that came much to the annoyance of Luna herself who eventually took the measures into her own hooves and closed all of the room's curtains. "I'm getting sick of the being stared at for my mistakes. I don't need her to remind me to that," she growled after her horn then calmed itself down to just a levitation field to keep the documents in that she was reading from.

Though back over at the inn had both the mare and stallion gathered themselves at the window on the ground floor and the pegasus shook her head towards it. "Whatever it is going to be, it is going to be bad news for us all. I can almost guarantee you that," she spoke up in a whisper before a hoof was placed upon his shoulder. "Close it all, then go to bed. We'll be needing our sleep for the night."

The stallion himself gave her a nod before her closed down the hatches as the mare already returned to her own room and bunkered down into her bed. The night would be a tough act to go through for certain but what they didn't knew was that everything done was just for intimidation. As well as to rain the fear indoctrinating magic upon the city of Log Pegasus. Only in the matter of a few days would they be feeling the massive effects of the fears and frights.

Though when the stallion himself also turned to bed, he couldn't shake the sounds and images out of his head. It would be those sounds and images that would be haunting them for the rest of the night. Whether he would be liking it or not, the fuels of nightmares had been given to him.

The stallion turned himself around in bed in the faint hope to get at least some of his shut eye though the chances would be kept to a true minimum for that. A thing that went for the both of them actually.

For when the two closed their eyes and wanted to sleep, all they could be seeing was that haunting shadow of the nightmarish unicorn queen upon the surface of the moon. A sight that rightfully frightened them as well as tons of other ponies around the land. Her presence had been noted by all. Though few could point hooves.

While the images of the nightmarish mare faded from the rock through the gears of time, back in Canterlot had the ponies found some rather interesting leads to just who, why and what when it came down to the stallion. Thanks to careful reading through thousands of documents about every last pony that seemed to be living in the kingdom, they finally seemed to be having three leads that could be bringing them somewhere. The only shameful part was the fact that two of them laid a couple hundred miles away.

"Taking the train to such places is going to be a hell as it take hours to get there hours to find him, not to mention hours to find him!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed when everything was discovered.

Yet it was Twilight herself who laid a comforting hoof upon the shoulder of her friend and gave a gentle smile. "It is true that the distance is enormous Dashie, but keep in mind you have two alicorns and a unicorn right here with you as well," she spoke up as the smile only got bigger and bigger.

"What ya tryin' to say here Twi?" Applejack then spoke up as she didn't seem to be getting all of it. Or at least couldn't wrap her head around it all. "Some explanation would be helpful before anything else is being done."

The mulberry unicorn looked over to her orange coated friend and gave her a single nod as before her head turned itself over to the princesses. Who on their own had been breeding a little plan of their own. "With the locations of the stallion that are known to us, we can not exactly pinpoint where he would be today. That much is certain." Celestia spoke up towards the mare before she looked over to her younger sister.

"However, what we can do is send some of you, if not a group of two, out to some of the locations in the attempt to discover the very place where he could possibly be. So the question here is, who is ready to be teleported to Manehatten, the Crystal Empire and here in Canterlot?"

The decision fell tough upon each of the ponies but eventually were the groups made. Rainbow and Pinkie would be send to Manehatten to search out the stallion, while Twilight and Applejack would be staying in Canterlot. Though it meant that Fluttershy would be on her own. Normally that would have seemed like some big trouble literally laying somewhere in a corner and waiting to happen.

Yet that time she seemed to be perfectly fine with it all. Much to the disbelief of all the other ponies. "Well, you see girls, the Crystal Empire isn't that bad to wander around on your own. Cadance is the princess there, remember? All the ponies are just so friendly and helpful. I'm actually honored to be going to there," the shy, yellow coated pegasus told and explained to her friends.

Friends who couldn't even believe a single word of the thing that were spoken against them. "Yeah right." Rainbow whispered to herself before she shook her head. "Ponies there are just as bad as in Manehatten if you don't look out." Instead of others agreeing with her statement, all she received was a punch to her side given by Applejack as indication she needed to keep her mouth shut. "Alright alright."

"Then so it shall be done. Each of you will be send towards the destination through a powerful teleportation spell. There is however, one backlash to it." Luna spoke up before she walked towards the five of them. All of their eyes gained a sense of curiosity as they didn't fully understood just what was being meant by those words. "You will only have one hour before you are automatically zapped back to Canterlot. And let me address this even more, don't get into trouble. That goes for all of you. We have enough on our heads as it is. Any questions?"

Luna's words couldn't have been more clear for each of them. Finally didn't the princesses talk in riddles and cryptic but just plainly stated the words as they were supposed to be. Something that came much to the relief of both Applejack and Rainbow. Though none of them had their questions and Luna began to charge up her horn to cast the spell upon the first two mares.

"Remember, you will only be having an hour," she repeated to both Applejack and Twilight before the massive charge was released from the horn and they were just gone. Gone in the clap of a hoof and it needed to happen two more times.

Carefully was the spell cast once again but that time upon Fluttershy alone who also was just gone literally in the manner of a second or two. And finally it were both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie who got zapped over to their destination. Something that only left the royals inside of the throne room and a deep sigh of Celestia was the first sound outside of the discharging. "You really thought this was going to be a good idea sister?" the white coated alicorn asked with a genuine look of confusion upon her face.

"If I only knew that sister, if I only knew." Luna simply replied as they eyes were then caught by the rising sun of the next day. "The next hours, shall decide what will happen next for us all."

"Princess! …Dammit." Twilight spoke up to herself after she made the sudden realization that they weren't in the castle anymore but instead were standing in the business district of the city.

"What's the matter Twi?" the cowgirl asked as she noticed the concerned look in the eyes of the unicorn. Even though they could be flying at one another's throat from time to time, the concern for one another still happened to be there. A loving fact it certainly was for Twilight as it meant pretty much the world to her.

The purple rimmed eyes of the mare looked over to the cowgirl while a deep sigh was released through her nostrils. "It, it's just that the castle was protected by that shield remember? And now that we are here outside, who knows whether or not we fall victim to the curse of, her," she spoke up with a worried tone. It was something they had the right to be carried on for certain as nopony even wanted to be captured in the grasps of the unicorn, let alone sleep for two weeks only to suffer the worst nightmare ever.

Applejack on the other end actually cracked a genuine and warm smile before she placed her hoof upon the back of her friend. Something that was meant to be saying that everything would becoming just fine. "Twi, listen to me here for a bit. It was princess Luna who cast that spell upon us right? Ah reckon she was that wise to give us all a personal shield for the time we would be out here. Wouldn't ya agree?"

It were words that hit the unicorn pretty much straight home for certain. Not to mention the fact that they were actually logical when it came down to it. It would have made sense of such an act was actually done, as they were the only lead that the royals would even be having in order to get to the stallion without going personally. "I, I suppose you are right on it though," the unicorn whispered as she also cracked her friend a smile and felt the rays of the morning sun tickling her horn.

"Hey, can we, stand here for just a minute or two?"

"Ah don't see the problem in that partner."

And while the two ponies stood there while the sun slowly crawled further up against the skies and the rays didn't just coat the horn, instead it coated their entire being. Something about the first morning rays of sunlight always did something to a pony that couldn't be truly explained by words or any other thing. But what was known though, was the fact that it made them feel just so good for a couple of seconds.

"Nothing beats the good ol' morning sun if ya ask me," the cowgirl spoke up as she opened her eyes again and looked towards Twilight.

Who on her own turn shared the looks with her friend and smiled. "You got that part right. But let's go, we have a business to find and prepare for disappointment," the unicorn spoke up before she kicked her legs into gears. Applejack chuckled softly as she almost instantly knew what was meant by most of the words, while others caused her to question a little bit.

The cowgirl threw her legs into gear as well and together did the two ponies wander over the sidewalk of the district as the questions just wouldn't leave her mind until they were asked. And while they were looking for the right building where the stallion supposedly worked or had worked, the question was being asked there and then. "Twi, what do you mean with we needed to prepare for disappointment?"

"The lead is from years ago and most ponies tend to change their jobs every so often. So the chance is bigger that he actually left this job of his already, for the sake of getting a new one somewhere else. However, they might be having some good information there though. …Speaking of, here it is." Twilight spoke up as she came down to a standstill by a rather impressive looking building. The mares had to admit that the city had so its certain charm. Yet never would they have expected a building like that to be raising before their eyes.

"Ah should here more often, cause that's a work of beauty right there," the cowgirl chuckled as she took her hat off and looked at the very top of the skyscraper.

"You and me both, you and me both." Twilight replied as she was simply being baffled of the sights that they both saw.

Though the insides of the building, or at least the lobby of the place, looked even better than they could have ever expected. Where the building was a beauty on the outside did the insides happen to be even greater. Not even the castle of Canterlot seemed to be able to tip at the place's beauty.

Though they weren't there for any sightseeing sadly, they were there to find the pony they were looking for. The mares walked up to a reception desk and gave a smile to the stallion with an arcane headset who made a motion with his hoof that they had to wait a little bit.

Notes were written down upon a pieces of paper while the occasional nod was being made. "It shall be done sir, I will give it to Finances and then we'll be going seeing how it goes from there. Bye," the stallion spoke up in a higher pitched voice then the mare had expected to be hearing.

"What?" the stallion spoke up in response to the two oddly looking mares that had gotten in front of him. "Excuse me, where are my manners, how may I help you ladies today?"

"We..." Applejack started before she couldn't form any more words in her mind. Just his unusual tone was more then enough to confuse the cowgirl.

"Are looking for a stallion named Emerald Masquerade. Supposedly he is working here or has worked here." Twilight then finished up. Even though it was strange, she could at least focus on the facts as they were.

The stallion behind the counter rose an eyebrow the moment he heard the name and sunk a little bit in thoughts of his own. "Oh you mean Emmy! I remember him quite well actually. Shame he was fired a couple years ago. Heard that he moved to Manehatten but after that it seemed like he has vanished from the land. Is there anything else I can help you with?" he then spoke up towards the two of them with a smile.

"No, that'll be all." Applejack finally spoke back before a smile managed to be cracked upon her lips. "Thanks for the info though."

"You're welcome," the stallion returned to them just before the mares left him alone again.

When Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were coming back to their knowledge did the two of them stand in an alleyway that seemed to be leading to some kind of bar. The pegasus was already getting her shady ideas of just why somepony would have been going down there, but it was a place that he was spotted a couple of times. Even though it gave her the creeps, she nodded to Pinkie that they needed to be going and fast. The entire atmosphere of Manehatten itself just didn't work for the pegasus for one reason or the other.

The two of them calmly walked down the alleyway until they were standing before the door and the excited Pinkie kept on hoping upon her spot. Something that caused the bouncer outside to lower his shades a little bit and look at the two of them. His grey coat but emerald rimmed eyes, continued to gaze over the two of them before he dared to speak his words. "What is she on?"

It was a more than simply question but the answer to it was something a little bit harder to explain. If not actually impossible to a pony who lived outside of Ponyville. "She isn't on anything, she like that from herself. Now can we please enter, we're looking for somepony."

"Are you the cops?" the bouncer then asked bluntly. The mares had to admit that he was straight to the point and not afraid. Though recalling the words of Luna of not getting into trouble soared through the both of their heads. It would be a promise hard to keep up, but they would be doing it just for the sake of it.

"Right, and that's why I took my hyperactive partner with me? You thick?" Rainbow spoke up in an intimidating voice towards the bounces. "Do I look like a cop to you, does she look like a cop to you?" The cerulean blue hoof was pointed to Pinkie as she laid the emphasis on her words and glanced the gray coated stallion deep in the eyes.

"I suppose not. Walk further please, but no trouble or you get into a whole lot more."

"Heard ya," the pegasus returned before they both entered the bar.

When the two of them entered did they immediately realized that they had come into the straight underworld of Manehatten. For outside of the smell of booze and smoke could they see quite the lot of guns just laying upon the tables like they were nothing. Suddenly did everything began to make sense to the rainbow coated pegasus and she wanted to get out of there straight away.

Though she was leashed to Pinkie who on her own turn had already hopped over to the bar and taken place upon a stool. So the only thing that Rainbow could actually be doing was pretty much the same. Though the fear of all the figures that were looking at her, never left her. The two of them literally stuck out like a sore thumb with the coloring of their coats as both gray and black seemed to be dominating, followed by everything in between.

The bartender looked at the two of them and gave them a smirk. "Lookie here boys, two new buttercups that were entered. Let me guess, wrong turn at the square?"

"Actually it's something else." Pinkie spoke up as she grinned like a little devil and dumped a bag of bits upon the bartop. "I'm looking for information of which I'm certain you can provide for a couple of tourists."

"Right on, I'll be your guide," the barkeeper returned to the mare as he took the bits and hid it below the bar. "You paid the price, so ask away."

"Emerald Masquerade, does that name ring any bells to you?" Pinkie then asked in a dead serious tone. It was a change of character that Rainbow never had expected nor could have expected to come from a pony like Pinkie. She was baffled to say the least, but also lucky as it meant she didn't needed to speak a word. A little something that could be seen as her saving grace.

"Ha! Another debt collector or hitmare send upon him? Wouldn't be the first time that stallion danced with the devil. Though to break the ice with you doll, he hasn't been seen here in six months. Nopony knows where he has gone to. Whispers speak about he moved to the Empire since it has returned. But they are just that, whispers. Can I offer the both of you a drink?"

"What do you think Dash?"

"Suppose it can't harm, as we still are stuck here for some time."

Pinkie grinned then softly just before she spoke up again. "Make it two of the strongest drinks you have. Let's test that liver of yours, Dash."

"Oka-…wait, what?!"

After having rubbed her head softly from the zap had Fluttershy opened her eyes again under a gentle groan before the sights were presented like a beauty towards her eyes. Everything that she was seemed to be like a postcard that she could be sending towards her friends. All of the crystal ponies wandering about and around with their own minds busy with something else, it truly was something she could look at all day.

Not to mention that the buildings shining nice and brightly while the palace was visible over the tops of the houses. Every single doubts, every bit of fear was almost shaken right off of the mare before perhaps the biggest chance had been noticed. Even she was made up out of crystals. Her crystalline form had been taken once again and she giggled softly towards it before she gave her body a spin or two. Giggles of enjoyment were released before the bell tower hit the hour.

And it was the chiming of that very same bell that caused the pegasus to be knocked straight back into the there and then. She needed to find that stallion no matter what. Records had it that he seemed to be living in one of the apartments in the more southern district of the empire. So that was the first place that she would be going.

Minutes past one another calmly as the crystal pegasus walked through the Empire. Her eyes just weren't focused upon getting to the location, but also to the activity that happened to be going around and about. Who knew, maybe she would be walking past him without even knowing if her eyes weren't going into every direction. It was a little something that she said to herself of doing, just as an 'in case that'-event.

It seemed that her luck actually paid off. For after having walked almost fifty minutes, the time to reach the location wasn't there anymore, but she meant see something else. Something else that could be helping her perhaps a whole lot more than she originally could have even thought it would.

For her eyes were looking at a small cafe and in the terrace sat a crystalline stallion with emerald green colored mane. Mane that were in fact actual emeralds given their physical state. Enjoyment was the emotion that suddenly filled the pegasus as she hurried herself over to the place and then calmly walked up to the table the stallion sat behind.

"You mind if I, sit down here for a moment?" Fluttershy asked him in her usual shy tone. Though in response she didn't got any form of words. Instead she received a simple nod that allowed her to do it.

The crystalline, yellow pegasus sat down with a graceful motion and placed her forelegs upon the table. She needed to ask the question of course but perhaps a more formal introduction was more on its place. "The name is Fluttershy, by the way," she carried out softly before she added something she didn't intend to do. "I'm a friend of Rarity."

Yet it seemed to be those unintended added words that caused the stallion to set his cup back on the table and actually raise an eyebrow to her. "I beg your pardon miss, but did you say that you were friends with, Rarity?" The pink maned pegasus could only nod in response as it was the truth. "Now there's a name I haven't heard in years. Tell me, are the rumors true that she just, disappeared?"

"Are you…Emerald Masquerade?" Fluttershy asked in return before she felt something pulling her tail. Instantly knew the pegasus that it was the teleportation spell that was going its job again. "Could, could you meet me here, in a few days again? I'm sorry but, I really need to get going here. Uhm, let's say two days around noon?"

The stallion was taken by a massive surprise as he didn't understood a single word from what she meant about leaving. Though he did gave her a nod about the following meeting.

"Great! See you then!" were the last words of the pegasus before she was teleported back towards Canterlot in a zapping fashion of blue lightning. Which on its own left the stallion upon his chair with a couple blinks and then looking down to the liquids in his cup.

"…Well that was unusual. Though we shall meet again soon enough, Fluttershy."

The blue lightning occupied the throne room for the third and last time in just under a few minutes. Only after the portal had opened itself was the pink maned pegasus dropped out of it and landed straight on her bum with a little bounce. The mare blinked a couple of times as she had not a single clue of what had either happened or where she had been zapped back to.

Something that took her perhaps more than just a few seconds to realize. As Fluttershy looked over the throne room, there wasn't even the breathing of the other ponies that could be heard within her own ears. She needed to relocated herself more than she would have ever thought. Everything inside of her mind had become a mess and the change of location that fast actually caused it to almost become scrambled eggs.

"Fluttershy, please turn around, you're back in Canterlot." Celestia spoke up in her calm tone towards the near aimless pegasus. Yet any initial response they didn't truly managed to have gotten out of the mare. Instead she kept on looking until finally and out of herself, she turned herself over to the royals with a set of blinking eyes. "There you are, took you a little while to make the realization now didn't it?" Celestia chuckled softly to her before she calmly walked up to her.

Fluttershy simply gave a silent nod in return as she didn't truly knew just how to answer upon that question. However, what she did realize, was the fact that Rainbow Dash laid literally wasted upon the ground while holding her tummy. "W-What happened?"

It was a question that caused the mulberry unicorn to sigh a little bit but she didn't answer the question. She didn't found it would have been her place to do such a thing, not with the events as they were turning out to be and have been. But Pinkie Pie on the other end, who laid next to the pegasus to keep an eye on her, giggled as her head peeked up. "Let's say that Dashies liver isn't as strong as I thought it would have been."

"W-What have you, done to her, Pinkie?!" Fluttershy yelled in a low tone before she darted over to the cyan coated mare and simply looked over her. "Don't tell me you have done anything bad to her! You know how sensitive she will get because of that, don't you?"

Pinkie stood up on all four of her legs and nodded towards both of her friends before she would be opening her mouth again to speak. "Let's say that we had a little drinking completion while we were in Manehatten. More, is best left for private ears."

"…And I'm not one of those ears?"

"Didn't want you to be scared to death by them."

"If I may, ladies?" the voice of Celestia spoke up. Her voice caused all of the mares to look up to the alicorn of the day to the best of their abilities. Though to make things a little bit easier for them, the white coated mare spread her wings and gave them a couple powerful flaps before she got airborne. She didn't fly away or anything, only raised up to a higher altitude to look at all five of them below with her calm yet stern eye.

"We'll talk about this later." Fluttershy whispered before her attention became truly fixated upon the alicorn.

"Each of the groups has told me the news in the chase of the stallion. However, without much luck. The leads we had seemed to be wearing slimmer and slimmer. That is, unless you have something good to bring, Fluttershy. Your time in the Crystal Empire, did you found anything? Anything that could be helping us to find this pony?" the concerned voice of the princess echoed through the throne room.

All of the ponies understood the words from the mare more than ever as perhaps the entire fate of Equestria laid in the balance whether or not Fluttershy had discovered anything.

All of the eyes were suddenly looking at her and the pupils of Fluttershy herself literally went from corner to corner before a yelp was released through her mouth. Scared as she was, she had to tell them just what was actually going on in the walls of the Empire. "I, I, I've," she began before closing back up again to formulate the sentences right in her head.

Perhaps it was a good thing that Rainbow Dash wasn't there awake as she normally would have been. For it saved the yellow coated pegasus the yells that she needed to hurry up. She actually took her time a lot more than others while everypony was kept waiting in anticipation. "Okay, here goes."

A sigh in relief was taken from each of the mares but never so loud that Fluttershy could actually hear the sounds that were being created. A little something that also acted hugely in the favor of the pegasus. "I, I have found him, really."

Those words, those words alone were more than enough to get a set of wide eyes from every single pony that was in the room. Nopony could have believed the fact that Fluttershy, the shyest pony they had ever met in their entire lives had actually discovered the biggest lead into the case for the successor of Nightmare Moon. "Unbelievable." Luna whispered as she was the only one to speak the thoughts of everypony present.

"I, I'm certain it's the right stallion although we didn't got the time to truly talk to one another about it before I got…zapped back. Though I did a-arrange a meeting for us to continue the conversation. There." Fluttershy continued to speak up before her stage fright managed to take over again and she released a small yelp before crashing down upon the ground.

Applejack released a gentle chuckle before she walked her way over to her friend and laid a warm hoof over the back. "Ah reckon we all know where we're heading to now, don't we?" she spoke up mostly towards Fluttershy to show her, she wouldn't be alone in the events to come.

Princess Luna took a few steps forward as Celestia landed back down on the ground and tucked her wings against the body with a smile. Though it would have been Luna who would be speaking the words that were on both of the royal sister's minds. "You five, shall indeed be going to the Empire on the first available train. Grab the things that you will think you're needing. Then it's off with you all for Fluttershy has to catch her, date."

A few giggles left and right were released by the mares while Fluttershy herself dared to peek through her mane towards the lunar princess with a gulp. She never intended to actually date the stallion but from the looks of it, she might as well have been.

None of them knew just what they would be discovering within the walls of the Empire itself, none of them even could made the predictions for it. And at one end they didn't wanted to either. They seemed to have wanted to keep everything a secret for what it was as literally everything and anything could still be happening. A fact that they knew just all too well there and then.

They all had packed their stuff into the saddlebags that were given by the royals who also conjured the requested items towards the room they were in. Rainbow Dash finally managed to return to the land of the wake again thanks to Twilight's magic. Which meant that finally the five friends had gone on board the train and simply waited for the massive engine to depart. Something about the whole trip seemed to be in the terms of bad memory, especially for Twilight as the events with the ancient unicorn king were still a little but too fresh in her mind.

Though the others were just happy that they could be visiting the place so far north in Equestria once again. Never could they just go up there and pay it a visit with the group they were. All of their schedules were walking like mad just for that single reason. Even though it was a thing that bummed them out, it was also a little something that they could all more than enough understood.

Each of the mares had made themselves comfortable upon the benches of the cabin and giggled to one another while the memories were released. Times of peril on their own to memories of groups together. None of stayed spared. And luckily for Rainbow Dash, her liver had been fixed by the lunar princess to the best of her ability. Something she was truly more than thankful for.

"Y'alll remember that time we went to Appleloosa? While we carried Bloomberg in the back of it? Now that was a trip to remember." Applejack spoke up before erupted out in a snicker. A snicker that actually managed to hide the whistling steam engine that came back to live to depart.

Yet where most of the ponies were chatting and laughing, Twilight had her forehoof placed against her chin and she looked over to the world outside. The wonderful station of Canterlot was truly a marvelous architectural landmark but her thoughts just didn't seem to be leaving her home. The Golden Oak Library was running without her and she couldn't tell Spike even one bit of the events that were going on.

No doubt on her mind spoke about the fact that he didn't knew what was going on. The images and sounds revealed upon that one night should have been more than enough to literally go even through his thick skull. Nonetheless it still looked like Twilight wasn't actually be able to calm herself down from the hurricane of worries.

Almost as if there was something bad that was going to happen sooner or later with her assistant. She could feel it in the wind towards the station and even in the cabin she meant to have smelled it. Something was about to happen for certain, she just couldn't figure out whether it would be good or bad. Though when Spike would have been involved, it would have most likely been the latter.

That was the sole fact of which the unicorn was the most frightened of out of anything else. For anything in the world that she could lose, that purple scared baby dragon was truly among the last things that she would let go. "I wish Spike was here." Twilight carefully mumbled aloud even unknown to herself.

It was Fluttershy who sat next to her and gently shook her head towards the words before she gave the mulberry unicorn a tight hug. "He's going to be fine Twilight, just you wait. He's a smart little dragon, now isn't he?" she said to her dear friend before her lips curled themselves up into a smile that could prove her more than right.

"You're right Fluttershy." Twilight returned to her before a small nuzzle upon the cheek was given. "He's a smart little dragon indeed. Maybe, I should worrying about home for a bit and about what comes on the track."

"That's the spirit Twi." Applejack replied with a smile of her own before they all felt the train coming finally into motion. Their destination had been set and there wouldn't be a way back until the job itself was actually and finally done. Even if it meant to get the stallion in a manner that seemed to be rather unorthodox. Though they allowed Fluttershy to persuade him over first with her personal charm.

Rolling out of the station and over the switches to be placed upon the right track had the train moved forth at a snail's pace but none of the ponies seemed to be noticing one bit from it. All of them were just doing their own things to occupy the time. The journey was a terribly long one towards the Frozen North so there would be more than enough time to actually bicker about something and someone along the way.

Though when the train did pick up the speed it was supposed to be driving on, it really did manage to pick up the speed it had. For the massive engine caused the whole thing to be thundering down the rails like it was nothing. But perhaps the creepiest thing of all was the fact that the track led the train almost directly past the woods of White Tails. That was a little something that caused the mares for the first time together be able to actually witness the very fog that seemed to be haunting every single pony to no end.

"So that's White Tails, now ain't it?" Applejack asked before Twilight nodded as a confirmation to the thoughts.

"Changed a lot since I was there last time. Before all of this began." Rainbow spoke up as she looked with almost teary eyes towards the saddening scene. It was true that only Twilight seemed to have had the troubles up close but all the others could just feel it there and then.

"Let's, let's get some shuteye, shall we? It's still a long way towards the Empire and we might be needing our sleep." Twilight spoke up and all of the mares actually gave a nod to the words and made themselves comfortable upon their places.

Applejack placed their hat over her eyes and leaned back against her seating as if she laid against a tree with Pinkie Pie falling upon her shoulders. It wasn't something that she minded to happen as she sat in the middle of their bench. Rainbow on the other end choose another option and placed her head against the wall that separated them from the hall of the railway carriage.

Twilight released a small giggle as Fluttershy snuggled up against her as well as their bench. Offence she couldn't be taken into it and instead released a small chuckle before she closed her eyes gently while the train continued to thunder down the track towards the Frozen North.

All five of them soon were peacefully asleep, or so they thought. For little did they knew the fact that the nightmarish impact of the unicorn even went that far as to getting them all on board of the train itself. As unbelievable as it seemed to be, they all caught faint flashes of the unicorn's appearance behind their eyes.

Flashes that were soon to be forgotten like it was actually nothing behind them, but they were in fact powerful enough to cause each of them to shudder and shiver a little bit in the fears and frights of what they saw.

It wasn't anything they would be dealing with on their own and even if they could, wouldn't have been able to actually defeat it. Yet as they all had fallen asleep, faint whispers of inaudible words were released by all of the mares. Whispers that didn't seem to be meaning anything to the naked ear. Yet combined they all formed sentences of hatred once spewed by the unicorn herself.

The best part? None of the mares actually knew what was going on when it happened.

Through the rest of the trip woke each member of the friends up one by one just before the train would actually roll into the station of the Crystal Empire. Having enjoyed their slumber after receiving a rather rough start, the five of them felt as if they could be taking on the world. Which in a sense, they would be doing more and more after their friendship became tighter and tighter.

However, they didn't forget the things that they had seen within their dreams. "Ah don't 'bout you gals, bit Ah've seen her again and again in mah dreams. Not all the way, but the first part, that face of hers…" Applejack spoke up before she gave a shiver of true fright. "Whatever happened to Rares, whatever took control of her, it's not good and it will never be unless we can stop it."

"I get what you are saying here Applejack. Not even I could have prepared myself for the things that I have witnessed just yet behind my eyes. Though the words that she spoke, those sentences about us leaving her, anypony an idea?" Twilight returned to each of them while Fluttershy was the last to actually wake up. She rubbed her eyes carefully before a yawn was released and found herself laying snuggled up against the side of Twilight. "Morning sunshine," was spoken against her in which she only released a squee with a blush.

The yellow coated pegasus scooted back up to her normal sitting position and tried everything to get the blush off of her cheeks. "S-Sorry Twilight." Fluttershy spoke up softly before she turned her attention over to the hallway outside of their personal cabin.

"It's alright Fluttershy, we all have those moments now don't we?" Twilight returned to her with a friendly chuckle and gave her a stroke through the mane. "But, as I was saying, anypony an idea?"

"Didn't Luna read out of the diary that Rares had nightmares just like that?" Rainbow then answered before all of the others looked into her direction as if she had spoken out a curse upon them. "What?! You are not going to tell me I was the only one listening to that part, now are you?"

"Well, uhm, maybe?" Pinkie giggled to herself.

"You never listened," the cyan coated pegasus replied to her with a snarl.

"Hey! That's not true! I heard that she talked about those nightmares as well." Pinkie then pleaded in her own defense on the matter. But Twilight simply placed a hoof before her face and groaned deeply to each of them. "Whoopsies, sorry."

"Thank you Pinkie." Twilight spoke up after her head had raised itself again and the hoof was being lowered. "It doesn't matter who has listened and who hasn't, the important part is that we now know it. Rarity feared us, that we would leave her for somepony better…that's a powerful dream to give somepony, especially with how close we just happen to be with one another. Girls, this is got a whole lot tougher than I originally had anticipated and even could have though."

In response to those words did all of the mares nodded their heads softly as they understood every last word that was spoken by the mulberry unicorn. "Uhm, Twilight, can I ask you something?" Fluttershy then spoke up as she caught the sun setting on the other side of the train.

"Outside of the question you just asked? Sure," the unicorn replied calmly as she turned her attention to the pegasus.

"How long do you think it is going to be, before we are there?" she asked in a genuine concerned tone. "You see, I, I have an appointment with him tomorrow at noon."

It was a fact that caused the mares to fall in shock. None of them had actually expected that it would be packing out in the way it did. The trip towards the Empire surely took a day to begin with. Yet it still depended on where the two would be meeting up and the time they would be. "Fluttershy, no offence but, couldn't you have told us that earlier?!" Twilight spoke up as she felt the gears in her crushing and cracking to get everything back upon one timeline.

"S-S-Sorry," the pegasus whispered before she scooted over to the other side of the bench and hid herself in both her mane and her tail. "I, I thought that the train would be faster to get us there Twilight. I never expected that, that it would be taking this long."

Another massive facehoof was given by the unicorn before a groan of annoyance left her. "Don't. None of you, just don't, okay?" she spoke up as she noted how Pinkie wanted to say something against her. But whatever would be coming out of her mouth would be everything except running in her favor. "Fluttershy, just tell me everything there is needing to be known, alright? After that, we will see how we sort this mess out."

The day gently turned itself over into the night and after a long and tedious conversation were all of the details of the meeting finally known to the unicorn and she managed to actually plan out a little something in her mind. A little something that seemed to be packing out rather well for Fluttershy as it meant that she could still be on time. However, it was the lack of time that worried the unicorn the most of everything. They had been having delays for almost all of the way already and she was genuinely scared that they would be missing perhaps the one opportunity that they had to get their friend back.

Yet the plan was known to the pegasus herself and she snuggled up against the cushions that occupied the benches of the seating. One way or the other would they be getting themselves into a whole lot more trouble than that they perhaps would have wanted and could have handled. But it all was to stop one thing and get another back for it. They had to be doing it no matter what.

With everypony already having fallen asleep in the cabin, Twilight was the only mare who was still up and released a deep sigh through her nostrils before she laid her mind to rest as well. Everything had become just that little bit too much for her liking. Not to mention the sheer fact that that they were still hours away from the Empire. All matters that continued to grind themselves through her head, but she made the wise decision to keep them right out of there and just go to sleep.

Yet in the meantime and in the Golden Oak Library was Spike himself just sitting upon the perfectly made up bed of Twilight Sparkle and released a sigh through his mouth. Days turned into weeks as he had to take care of himself. Everything seemed to be just so quiet with the unicorn gone. And it was just quiet as nothing worked without her magic in the living tree.

Not that it was an actual fact that the baby dragon could be complaining about even if he wanted, but it did turn a bit into a ghost home due to the silence. Days he had waited for anything positive to be heard from both Twilight and her friends but all the letters that he got were as vague as ever when it came down to the princesses. It was something that caused the shivers to travel over his spine.

Even he had seen the image on the moon and heard the laughter inside of his head. It was something that terrified him more in his life then literally anything else he had gone through. For where others couldn't recognize the figure, Spike seemed to be realizing pretty well just who that figure happened to be. He instantly had recognized the figure as nopony else then his beloved crush, Rarity. Yet the time to send a message about it just wasn't there for him.

He couldn't even write the princesses about the things that he had seen and learned because all of the letters that he send, were returned to him straight away without even having been opened. "If that is going to be the manner we're going to play it, I might as well throw myself out there and get some things done." Spike spoke up to himself as he jumped off of the bed and wandered over to his basket.

There was this sudden determination that got inside of his head. He would be going over to the woods of White Tails one way or the other and actually discover just what was going on there first hand. Literally, first hand. Though the planning would be done carefully and he needs to have at least one pony with him that could actually help him in the matter.

The help of a pony who wanted to get Rarity back just as much as he needed was the thing that he required. "Sweetie Belle!" he whispered under his breath before snuggling up against the insides of the basket and placed the blankets over his body. Certain parts of the plan had been made and explained to himself. But there were still so many unknown variables. Variables that he would be getting behind when the time itself would finally be there and perhaps the two of them, stood before the gateway of White Tails.

Back on the train had all of the ponies woken up from their restful night of sleep by the screeching breaks of the machine itself. The speed was reduced to nothing but once again a massive snail's pace and the mares looked outside. Each of them knew what was going on but none spoke up the words. For they had arrived at the Empire and when they looked back to one another, made a sudden realization.

Each of them was in their crystalline form thanks to the shield that was cast around the city to keep the cold weather out. Which caused the lot of them to shine like gems found in the ground of Equestria and could almost be seen through. "This magic, always had me wondered how it was created." Twilight spoke up with a giggle before she looked up one of her hooves and smiled deeply. "But perhaps keep it a mystery for myself."

Slowly did the train manage to dock itself upon the station and Fluttershy was getting it upon her hips. She seemed to have been late already for the meeting with the stallion and that was about one of the last things that she wanted to be. "Twilight, I, I am deeply sorry but, could you carry my luggage to the hotel? I, I really need to get going otherwise I'm too late. Please, please, please?"

"Uhm, Fluttershy? If you didn't spoke so many words, I could have said yes almost straight away. But I'll do that for you. Now go, go and get that stallion. You're our only hope now, Fluttershy. Whether you like it or not" Twilight spoke up before she pointed to the door of the cabin. The pegasus herself released a thankful squee before she darted through the door and towards the first set of doors that could be leading her straight towards the stallion.

Yet back inside of the cabin did Rainbow rose an eyebrow to the words that were spoken towards the mare. "You are our only hope? Really now Twilight? Out of everything you could have said, you went with that?"

"Oh shut it would you? She kinda is when you think about it."

"Suppose you're right."

"Anyway, get your stuff, we still got a little hike towards the hotel." Twilight said before her horn charged itself up and packed both of the saddlebags of Fluttershy and herself. Only then she left the cabin in which they had spend countless hours.

Fluttershy was among of the first few ponies who got off of the train and onto the station. With her eyes looking at the landmarks visible, she quickly realized just where she happened to be in the Empire. It seemed much to her own luck that she happened to be pretty close to the cafe where they had made the appointment with one another. The pegasus released a deep sigh in relief before the sprint was drawn towards the exit of the station and unto the streets.

Once arrived could the pegasus simply looked over everything that there was to be seen. The clear blue skies, the gem carved buildings and not to mention, the crystalline ponies themselves. Yet out of everything that there was to be seen, there was just one place that she happened to be truly interested in. That little place she had visited only once before in her entire life.

Everything was set upon everything as she galloped through the streets of the Empire with everything within her might. Huffs and puffs were being made while the wings fluttered around to give her even more of a speed bonus. Though, she would never be actually be on time for the appointment as the clocks in the Empire rung that noon hour in loudly. The play of bells in and of itself was something amazing to listen to and Fluttershy was actually mesmerized by that.

Her ears perked themselves and twitched softly to each hit made by the bells. Songs known only to the Empire were released within them and every last one of them just sounded so joyful if not straight up amazing. Music of Equestria's greatest composers turned into the music played with church bells. "Simply amazing." Fluttershy whispered to herself after the sounds faded away again and the realization came through to her more and more.

She still needed to find that one little place where they had said that they would be. The only problem was, that Fluttershy was in a time rush. She needed to find it as soon as possible before he would be leaving. She wandered and galloped around to get the sights in her eyes as they were not a mere two days ago.

The yellow crystalline pegasus was about to give it up before she realized something and slowly trotted over to the edge of the street she was on. A deep exhale was being made through her mouth before the eyes opened themselves. And with those green rimmed eyes of her, she looked over the square she stood on and finally, finally caught the thing in her sights that was where she was looking for.

With a massive and cute sounding squee she made her way up to the place and saw the stallion already sitting down on the terrace with a cup of tea. She had arrived and he was still there. Two birds killed in one stone. Though the hardest part still had to come for the mare. Getting him so far as to join the their little band of ponies to take down the unicorn mare.

"Hey Emerald." Fluttershy spoke up as she stood next to the table and looked at him with a smile. The stallion turned his attention over to the mare and smiled in return before he gestured her to sit down upon the chair opposing his. It was something that Fluttershy did with grace and thankfulness before she placed both of her forelegs upon the table and looked at him. "Excuse me the rather lateness of this, but, the train had a few delays. Just got off of it actually."

"It doesn't matter, you're here and that's the very thing that's counting right?" Emerald returned to her before he called a waiter towards them. "Could we have two more tea and some cake of the house? You like apple pie, Fluttershy?" The pegasus herself was a little bit confused and taken by the words that were spoken to her before she managed to hear them right and nodded to him. "Excellent, that will be all then."

The waiter nodded to him before he made his departure again to prepare the order. Yet Emerald still had a couple questions of his own that he wanted to ask her. Some were burning upon his mind while others seemed to be able to wait. "So tell me, Fluttershy, you just arrived by the train, so I don't take it you are going to disappear into thin air again like before?"

It was something that caused the mare to giggle softly to herself as she looked over to emerald haired earth pony stallion. Only to shake her head slowly from side to side. "No disappearing this time. At least not that I am aware of." All of her usual shyness seemed to have gone like snow before the sun while she spoke to him. Though little did he knew, or anypony for that matter, that she was calling upon her courage like literally never before. Every last ounce that she had and could receive was being asked from her body just to make certain that she didn't seem to be so shy or nervous.

"Perhaps, we should be getting to know one another a little bit more, before we take things further from here. You mind if I ask you a few personal questions? Course you may also return them straight back to me." Emerald Masquerade spoke up towards her with a friendly smile.

"Go ahead and ask me what you like." Fluttershy returned to him as she leaned back in her chair to get the nerves a bit further under control. Though she couldn't leave it to look at the crystalline building which was the cafe from time to time. She just wasn't used to the sheer beauty of the place.

"Right then," the stallion began and he almost came to business directly. "Who are you really, and perhaps most important of them all, how did a mare like yourself discover where I am?"

It was a set of questions that took even Fluttershy by a massive surprise. Could it have been that the stallion truly had something to hide from the Manehatten underworld as was spoken to both Rainbow and Pinkie?

"Uhm, well, how, how do I say this…" Fluttershy began to stutter before she couldn't be forming words at all anymore.

"If this is about Rarity getting back to me, tell that wench that I am no longer interested in her. We both knew that things didn't work back then and we both swore upon it that we wouldn't be searching contact with one another, ever again. For all I care, she can sit with her broken heart. I know who you are, element of kindness, but you're not getting to me." Emerald spoke up in a bitter tone towards her as he really wasn't interested in returning to Rarity as her coltfriend.

It were words that were literal smacks in the face for Fluttershy time and time again. She simply couldn't believe that a pony had such anger about Rarity stored into the body. Not to mention the fact that that anger was actually genuine.

"Excuse me for a moment," the voice of the waiter spoke up before he placed both slices of apple pie on the table only to have them followed up by the cups of tea. "May you enjoy it." He made a small bow before them as the two of them gave him a thankful smile.

Yet after the waiter had gone away it was Fluttershy who snapped completely as somepony spoke such words about her most treasured friend in the whole wide world. And if there was one side nopony needed to be seeing from the pegasus, it certainly would have been her snapped side. "Now you listen to me, and you will be listening carefully because the words I'm about to say, either will make or break you as a figure! You got that?"

Even though Emerald didn't wanted to admit it openly, Fluttershy was a rather intimidating mare when all of the wires had been snapped and he was worked into a rather tight corner without being able to get out that quick. So the only thing that he could be doing, was to lean in a little bit and grant her the ability to speak her words. "Say what you need to."

"And that I will!" Fluttershy almost hissed towards him before she would be releasing all of her words towards him. "I don't know if you have noticed, but back in Equestria have a lot of ponies simply gone missing, more have gone insane and I am quite certain that even you heard that insane laughter and saw the figure upon the moon a few days ago. So, stop, whining, against, me."

Even more confusion was the thing that managed to hit the stallion as he indeed saw the image and heard the laughter. "But, but what has to do that with me?! I can't be helping you with such a lunatic on the loose! I'm a bloody accountant who had a bit of a debt in the Manehatten underworld for, 'creative' accounting. What has that thing, to do with it all?!"

"Because that figure, was Rarity!" Fluttershy spoke up as she also had leaned further in towards him. But with the revelation split wide open to him, the mind of the stallion almost went numb.

It took him actually seconds to place each of the words in the right place. Never could have even imagined that such words would be spoken again him. "Okay, okay, if I do believe that, what part do you want me to play within it? You know I am capable of nearly nothing. Unless you want me to mess up the accountancy of a dark mare." Emerald returned to Fluttershy with massive doubts of his own.

"If you want to discover what your part into this is going to be, I suggest you're coming with me to the hotel we stay. And hear us out."

The stallion shook his head a little bit at her words as he found one thing not entirely adding up to everything. "Now hold just a minute here, who are 'we' here?"

"The remaining elements of harmony. But, can we go after this? Been kinda starving." Fluttershy said to him before she took the fork in her hoof and began to eat from the pie with a squee. Yet to Emerald, he had not a clue of where he had gotten himself into, but if the words were true of what she spoke, he was in a big load of trouble.

The stallion took his cup of steaming tea and carefully set it to the lips before a sip was taken out of it. His eyes continued to look over Fluttershy with a thoughtful expression into them before a sigh was released. "Alright…I'm in. If I'm going to die anyway sooner or later, might as well give up this running and live for a bit."

While the night simply faded away into the light of the day was nopony truly sure whether or not it was actually safe outside on the streets. With the events of the moon still fresh in their feeble mind would all of the ponies not even dare to actually come out of their houses until one thing revealed itself. One thing that caused all of the ponies to look up and sigh in utmost relief.

That thing was nothing else then the golden orb that showed itself during the wonderful days. An object that was nothing else but the very sun. Slowly did the streets began to crowd themselves again with the lives of many and all who were going towards their usual meetings and appointments. Something that didn't seem to be minded by all too many ponies.

With the skies that became more and more blue of coloring and not a single cloud that could be seen within them all, everything looked like it found its inner peace again after the events. But if that was only the truth on the matter. For nothing was what it seemed to be and even on that fantastic looking day, the horrors of White Tails were still more than ever present.

Yet in the Golden Oak Library was Spike himself being awoken by the rays of light and groaned deeply in his sleep. He didn't wanted to get out while his systems all kicked slowly into gear. That was going to be a day that would be going down into the history books of perhaps not just himself, but a certain other pony as well.

The eyes opened themselves almost by force and the blankets were kicked off from his body. There were deeds to be done, adventures to be had, words to be exchanged. He had to pay a certain family a visit if he wanted to figure out more about the facts of what happened with his beloved crush. And luckily for the dragon, he knew almost exactly where he could get those answers from.

Before he would be setting a foot in the outside world, he had everything to be packed for the journey in a backpack that was kept a little bit hidden from any visitors that might be coming in. Not that he was expecting any to begin with. He never knew just when Twilight would be returning to the library and thus discover his little plan to actually sneak out of the house and hit the road to adventure and disbelief.

It was a fear that always got carried in the back of his head. A fear that caused him to pack almost without sound and only the thing that were absolutely necessary for the trip he was about to make.

When the time was finally there that he closed the backpack, a smile was being made by his lips and the young dragon turned over to one of the window to look out of it and see the world outside in the glory that it is. A glory which was going further then the eye could reach and a deep inhale was being taken by him to gather the courage for the deeds to be done. The plan was there, all that was left to be discovered, was his companion.

Speaking about that, about an hour later was the dragon wandering over the road that led to the parental house of Rarity. With a bit of luck would all three of the family members that remained still be there. And one of them might have been able to actually help him with the problems he had.

He calmly walked over to the front door and gave a couple knocks upon it before starting to wait. "Magnum dear, could you get it please? I got my hooves full here," the voice of a mare suddenly rang in his ears and originated from inside the house. The thought that at least two of the three were home was something that was a massive relief for Spike.

The dragon turned himself around and looked at the raised sun with a smile, his scales almost seemed to be reflecting the light off of them as the rays themselves caused these little tingles upon them. A little something that just made him smile so much. The day seemed to be perfect, what could possibly be going wrong with it?

When the door was finally opened for Spike, he saw a white coated stallion with a brown mustache looking at him. In the first few seconds the eyes looked stern down upon the baby dragon, but then they turned a little bit more friendly and even gave him a smile. "Spike, what a surprise is this, can we help you with something?"

"If, I may come in please, I want to discuss a couple of things with, all of you." Spike replied to the stallion in a polite manner. Magnum listened to the words and simply gave him a nod before he was allowed inside of the house. The dragon hadn't been there many times but every time he was there, there was always something new to be discovered. Much like Rarity did her entire family held a little secret or two.

Yet it didn't seem to be his place to actually question any of it, which he luckily for them, didn't. He was guided over to the living room where he sat down upon the couch and simply waited for the rest of the family to come. "Sweetie Belle? Could you come downstairs please?" the voice of the mare rang again through the dragons ears.

"Coming mom!" Sweetie yelled from out of her room and before anypony knew it she galloped down the stairs and almost straight into the living room where she came almost to a screeching hold. Out of every pony she had expected to be there, it was the dragon. "Oh, hey Spike."

"Hey Sweetie." Spike replied with a small smile upon his face and the filly took place next to him. Not much after that, both Magnum and his wife entered the living room and sat down as well. The question of drinks was being asked, but none of them actually wanted to have any.

"So Spike, what is it that you wanted to discuss with us." Pearl spoke up as she calmly looked over to the dragon and began to wait for his answer. Suddenly were all of the eyes aimed directly at him. All of the family members looked over to him with the questioning but also the wondering gaze of what he would be saying.

"Well," the dragon started before a deep inhale was being made. "I, want to know more about Rarity. Anything, that could help me to find her again. Even though, I did let her go a long time already, I still need that...closure. If, if you understand what I mean."

Both Magnum and Pearl nodded to his words as they understood each of them with the greatest of both care and respect for him. Though there was only one little problem and it was something addressed by Magnum. "Spike, if we had any leads upon her whereabouts or anything else to begin with, we would have gone out there and look for our little filly ourselves. Who knows what we could have found if we did that. Yet, there's nothing that could even be guiding us over to a place. We got, nothing. Even we, are left in the dark, Spike. All we could do, was to accept the facts as they were presented to us and roll with that."

Suddenly it was Pearl who took over the words after Magnum released a deep sigh when he finished his. "It wasn't something we wanted to do, honestly. But it was the best that we could do. As horrifying as it sounds we, we couldn't do any better really. Our little filly, still out there...cold, alone, and yet here we are."

The more she spoke her words, the harder it became for the mare to keep her tears together. And only when Magnum wrapped a leg around both of her shoulders and pulled her in closer, the tears began to stream over her cheeks. "I, I think it might be best of you leave us be Spike. Sweetie dear, could you let Spike out?"

They both understood the message almost immediately and the stood up to walk back to the hallway. Magnum began to comfort his wife and slowly lost the track of the real world. Something that would be working in the massive advantage of the filly and the baby dragon. For as they stood in the hallway, Sweetie made a couple signals with her hooves for him to come closer with his ears.

Uncertain of the things that she actually wanted, Spike did just what was asked of him and lowered her ears towards her. "White Tails woods, something just keeps chewing on me, that Rarity is there. I need to know it for certain Spike." Sweetie Belle whispered up and in response, the dragon shook his head a couple of times. He couldn't believe it that there was actually a lead to her. Yet on the other side, stood the massive forest of madness.

"Library, this afternoon, bring you camping gear. I need to know the details of this." But those words had perhaps a little bit of a different reaction upon sweetie than that he had originally hoped. For she suddenly saw even whiter than normally.

"Y-You're kidding right?! G-Going back there, a-after Scoots and A-Apple Bloom rushed out? I, I'm not so sure about it Spike." Sweetie whispered in return with a scared tone. Shortly after it had her worried eyes looked over to the direction of the living room where she heard the sniffing of her mother and the comforting of her father. Perhaps she could be giving them all a bit of closure if she actually went. But it would be a massive undertaking of nothing but courage to go back there.

"Think it through Sweetie, I'll be waiting for you until three, after that I'm off to the woods," the baby dragon whispered up to her before he opened the door and let himself out.

While the door closed itself again, Sweetie Belle lowered herself down on her hindlegs and sighed deeply. "Oh the trouble I'll always get myself in," she whispered before her head hung itself low and the thoughts began to rush. Thoughts about whether or not she would be returning to the place one more time.

While Spike was walking down the path again to return to the library, there were the little bits of received information a great help to him in perhaps more then one way. Yet he wasn't unaware of the rumors either, he knew them perhaps better than anypony else. He could have felt it in time that Twilight was getting more and more frightened by the very woods she once loved to study.

And a scared Twilight Sparkle wasn't something that happened often. The thoughts continued to literally grind themselves through his head as he tried to apply every last theory he had. Something that wasn't all too much to begin with either. His head turned itself up to the skies high above. They still had maintained their natural blue coloring and cloudless expression.

It was a little something, but a little something that eased his mind more than perhaps anything else on the matter. For the weather was calm, meaning that he would have some good travel weather with him. It was the companion, he was still worried about. He couldn't be certain that he needed to actually watch over her from time to time, but she was a smart little filly and he could only pray upon the fact that she would actually be going with him.

Minutes of both thinking and wandering through town had Spike finally arrived at the library once again and he vanished inside to look at his gear again. Now that he knew just where he needed to be looking, everything that wasn't of true need was removed from the backpack. Something that made it lighter than before and he had to admit the fact that it felt a lot more pleasant upon his back.

With the final check-ups being completed was the wait on to see whether or not Sweetie Belle would actually be coming with him on the trip and join in the quest to find out what happened to Rarity, or to actually get her back. The fires of passion were raging within his eyes and he wanted to do everything he could.

Which was something that caused his mind to turn itself over into a different state, a state in which it would plan just such a lot. The gears and pistons inside of it began to turn and twist just so much, that everything he seemed to be doing, was illogical. "So that's, how Twilight thinks?" Spike muttered to himself before he took place in a chair with a map of White Tails laid out before him.

His green rimmed eyes looked all over the thing to find out the biggest vantage points but also made another little realization. The trip would be taking him three days. Two days of travel, while one day was left of the hike. Though if he could be lucky, he could have given himself a day and a half. But only if luck wanted to work with him. That it usually didn't though.

But for the rest of the time were the plans being made up, the backpack checked time and time again while the hope of Twilight not returning home, became greater and greater. Of course he wanted her to get home at some point or another but not while he was doing his little trek. Breaking the rules at the finest was the thing that he was busy with whether it was liked or not.

"Desperate times, ask for desperate measures," he mumbled to himself before a deep sigh was released through his nostrils and the eyes closed themselves for a little bit. He had to rethink every single step of the way and prepare himself mentally for the trouble that was still to come. Though there wasn't a force available in the world that could actually prepare him for the dangers that awaited him within the borders of the forest.

Everything he was planning to do could be dubbed as highly insane and for the most part ponies who said that would be right. But with the events as they went down in history, it was just that little spark of utter insanity that was needed from every possible side, to bring it all to a good end. Or so he thought in his mind. With the minutes having crawled by, the map was folded up and he released a deep sigh through his nostrils once again. "So this, this is going to be it then Rarity. Hold on my dear, for I'm coming for you. To rescue you out of your living hell."

The nightmarish unicorn stood once again upon the balcony of the domain as she looked over the land as far as her eyes were allowed to be doing that. Her posture upon the tower was a sight that most of the nightmare forces had gotten used to by then. Yet inside the mind of the unicorn were the plans made for something rather unusual and perhaps even unorthodox. With her history in fencing and every last move still known to her, she was thinking about leaving the more peaceful tactics behind her.

She found that it was time to switch to something a bit more powerful and intimidating to indulge the fear into her test subjects. She needed to have some kind of tool that she could be using, to shut them up without charging up her horn too much. It was an idea born into her own personal madness and something that she seemed to be loving herself. For Nightmare Rarity almost exactly knew the thing that she needed.

Not much later she could be found standing in the courtyard of the domain and had her eyes closed as the horn had charged itself up as if it would be hunting for gems. Some of the nightmare forces looked up and around to see whatever they saw was something that they really were seeing. None of them could actually believe it what she was doing. Yet none of them dared to interfere with the events to be taken place.

Mumbles of words of long forgotten times were whispered by the unicorn herself as she held her eyes firmly shut and the charge of her horn only seemed to be increasing itself in strength. She knew exactly what she was doing and with her magic ready, it was time to execute the plan of attack. The first thing to be done was the fact that the ground cracked and tore itself open before her hooves into a near perfect hole.

Yet it was the content inside of that very hole that was so much more worthy for the unicorn than anything else she had. For out of the hole she summoned tons of gems that ranged literally from amethyst to the toughest diamonds. All of it was taken straight out of the ground before the hole closed itself back up again. The unicorn herself began to smirk as she allowed all of the gems to swirl around her like they were in a vortex of some kind.

A vortex that was actually used to heat them up massively to the point of melting, if not magical bending. That was the thing she needed to create her thing. She needed every last gem to be able to being worked with like it was clay. It took her a minute or two to get all of the gems that she needed that hot.

The sheer amount of heat that was irradiated by the gems was something that nothing could withstand. Even the nightmare forces that stood around her couldn't be standing too long in the physical realm before the feeling of being scorched came to them. Yet the queen herself seemed to be rather unaffected by the things and she guided the gems over to her head.

Right on top of her horn had an orb appeared in which each of the gems disappeared into. The forces could only guess just what it was that she was making for herself. Though some could already guess it by the cutting look in her eyes as they opened themselves again.

A couple agonizing seconds of silence came from the unicorn, moments in which literally anything could happen before she allowed the orb to just being blown up into a thousand little pieces of her own.

Then it was seen by the nightmare forces, the very thing that she had been creating for herself. A massive sword that had the characteristics of both a katana and a cutlass that was embedded with precious stones around the hilt and the hoof guard. A true worth of beauty it seemed to be and not to mention to sheath that it was placed it. Any of the leftover gems were used to create an oddly patterned sword sheath that was placed upon the hips of the unicorn. With a wicked grin she looked over to it before the sword was drawn by her magic and she made a couple of her signature, lightning quick, moves to a couple imaginative targets before her.

She still had the muscle, she then had the weapon. She became three times more dangerous than she already was.

When the clock finally hit three in the afternoon did Spike indeed stood up from his chair and grabbed everything that he thought that he would be needing for the trip. His backpack was placed on his back and a few last checkups in the library were being made to make one hundred percent sure that all was well.

A deep exhale was being made through his mouth before he made the dare to walk out of the door and into the afternoon sun. All of the scents and feels rushed straight into his body where they were processed and the realization of just how mad his plan was, came to him. Though it wasn't anything that caused him to shake his head nor to turn back around.

He was one thing that everypony had to give him credit for, and that was the sheer fact that the little dragon was determined to his cause. He loved the unicorn perhaps more than anything, and would go through Tartarus and back if he had to, just to get back to her. Or, to get her back.

It was a looming thought of the dragon that she was actually dragged into the hellish pits of the underworld from crimes bigger than she could ever be. Locked away in one of the circles without any form of getting out, except him. "Hold tight Rarity, I'm finally coming to get you," he whispered to the skies before the eyes were turned over to the roads ahead and began to walk.

He hadn't even set ten steps from the locked library before that cracked voice echoed through the air which was calling his name. It was a tone and voice he knew all too well yet it still surprised him to hear it there and then. "Don't tell me…" Spike whispered to himself before his body was being turned around and looked over into the direction of where the sounds came from.

Within his eyes he noticed the one thing he had never expected that day to see again. For galloping on the street with a set of matching saddlebags was nopony else then the little unicorn filly. "Sweetie Belle?!" the dragon explained before the two were literally face to face. "W-What are you doing here? You know it's far too dangerous to go there right?" Even though he purposed the offer himself, the doubts had managed to set into his head not long after he had left the house of Rarity's parents.

He could literally just hit himself in the head there and then for his rather stupid actions. For it wasn't something that he actually wanted to drag Sweetie Belle in, yet there she was. "But you said, it yourself," the filly explained to him through her panting. At that moment he knew there wasn't any way that he could be talking himself out of there. Spike had to carry her along with the way. It took his brain a few seconds though, before he recalled the words spoken by her.

"Didn't you said that, you and the other Crusaders, had been there before?" Spike asked her as a manner to avoid her last spoken words with a big arch. In response Sweetie nodded to confirm the questions. "Then," the dragon spoke up before he felt his heart sinking to about his toes. "Consider yourself hired aboard Sweetie. We're going to the woods of White Tails, now."

The unicorn filly released a soft squee of happiness before the two of them began to walk into the direction of the forest. Even though he didn't want it, she could be his guide and lead them back to their original camping site. The place where the chewing feelings of the filly had been awoken. It may not have seemed like much, but literally anything was better than just nothing in that case. He felt he was finally getting somewhere after weeks of declining to search for his beloved crush.

It was also an expedition that hopefully would be having the benefit for the two parties as Sweetie finally could know what had happened to her sister all that time ago. They were completely left in the dark when it came down to the findings of the elements of harmony and the royals. It wasn't something done on a true purpose if lying but more that they couldn't be standing still by the facts of telling them.

They discovered so much on their own and each news flash would become more shocking than the previous one.

The dragon and the filly just left Ponyville behind them and they were calmly walking in the sun of the afternoon. Their eyes were peeled upon the roads that were stretching themselves ahead for miles and miles. The trek was something in which Spike kind of had made a wrong decision in left and right. He knew it was a long time to actually arrive there, but he had mistaking the fact that it would be taking him that long.

Nearly exhausted when they reached the halfway point, the dragon lowered himself in the grass to catch up with his breath and panted softly. "What's the matter Spike?" Sweetie Belle asked when she turned around and saw him sitting there. Though the only response that she got out of him, were a few motions with his hands that he was dead and dead tired of it all. All that he needed, was just a few minutes of rest.

A bottle of water was placed upon the lips of the dragon and was couple of deep swallows were being made. His condition being a little bit out of shape was the main thing that caused him to be that tired. The bottle was closed off again and placed back in a side pocket of the backpack before he attempted to stand up again.

"Careful now." Sweetie spoke up as she saw him balancing on his left leg a bit before the right one was also set back upon the ground. "That was close," she then whispered to herself after a small sigh of relief. "Shall we go again?"

"Yeah, let's do that. We might be getting there before nine if we keep up the pace." Spike returned with a faint smile visible below his nose and the two simply continued along the path down to the woods. Though they would be walking in nothing but actual silence. True that they had a few conversations left and right but those were more of the common things. Neither of them wanted to actually know just what they would actually be finding inside of the those borders.

It was a primal fear that was racing through their hearts, the fear of the unknown that caused them both to be on their guards as the came across the sights of the Everfree. The treeline stretched itself for miles and miles without end. Yet at the very end would the woods of White Tails actually begin. And with that, their terror and quest.

"Pearl honey, have you seen Sweetie somewhere? She seemed to have just taken off without even leaving a note for us." Magnum said as he walked down the stairs of the house. He then proceeded into the living room where Pearl laid comfortably upon the couch, reading through some newspapers after her emotional breakdown about her oldest daughter.

The papers themselves were being lowered before the stallion's eyes and she looked over the frame of her glasses. "I, I haven't seen her actually," she then spoke up as she folded the things up again and removed the glasses from her eyes. Yet as she did that, there was something else that shot in her mind. Something that caused her to carefully hit herself upon the forehead. "Oh, how silly of me, she said she would off to the Acres. Apple Bloom invited both her and Scootaloo for a sleepover."

Magnum walked up to her as she spoke her words and nodded to them with the greatest care in the world. Every last single word was brought over to his mind before a smile formed itself with his lips. "Well that's a good revelation to hear if you ask me," he spoke up before he gave his wife a small kiss upon the forehead and smiled to her. "Shall I make dinner tonight?"

"Oh, hmhmhm, if you like fine sir." Pearl replied with a giggle in her tone before their lips with one another for a soft but loving kiss.

The day itself slowly turned itself over in the evening and after a rather romantic dinner by candlelight, both of the ponies had retreated to their bedroom and laid in bed. There they simply snuggled and cuddled up against one another while stroking carefully through the mane. The setting was set to romantic and they were a little playful with one another for certain. Though in the back of their heads they just couldn't shake away their oldest daughter.

She always seemed to be there, lurking in the backs of their minds and in the faint hope of her finally returning to them was the thing they had hoped in for just so much. But the thoughts were suppressed back into their skulls with every available force they had in their bodies. The last thing that they wanted to actually think about, was Rarity at the moment.

And in order to break the string of thoughts, their lips searched one another up before a deep and loving kiss was being exchanged by the parents. A kiss that was taking it's sweet time before being broken as both of the ponies looked one another into the eyes with a lovable expression.

"Goodnight honey pop." Magnum whispered in one of Pearl's ears before one last small kiss was returned upon her lips. Before the two would be knowing it, they both had fallen asleep and traveled down into a deep slumber that caused the two of them to have some rather pleasant dreams of times long gone.

The two had seen the sun going down behind the hills and they were walking in the light of the moon itself. Hours had they been going down the path and talking the courage needed to one another in order to stay tough for the deeds that were about to be done or needed to happen. While Spike was more determined on finding just what happened to his crush, Sweetie Belle on the other end seemed to be taking it all a bit more slow and careful.

She was the one who remembered the horrors of the woods the best out of the two of them and the looks of that genuine fear inside of both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo their eyes wasn't something she would be joking about and with even if she wanted to be doing it. Every last big of the trip, was calculated into her mind to degrees that she couldn't even think of herself.

"Spike, it's off the path here if we want to go to our place." Sweetie then spoke up as they came across an intersection. An intersection that the fillies had never taken the manner it was meant to be.

"You mean going off if the light paths and into the darkness itself?" the dragon asked her with a genuine look of confusion but also a declaration that she was mad. Though the proof of her not being that, was given to him when the horn of the filly came to life. That emerald green colored aura around it gave of an almost harmonious rhythm to the dragon who then smiled upon it.

"Of course not silly, we still got this. Let's go!" Sweetie then returned to him before they went off of the path and continued their trek to the original place where the Crusaders had set up their camp.

Yet even with the light irradiated by Sweetie Belle, Spike still found himself rather frightened by something that not even he could actually tell what it was. Everywhere he looked, all of it just seemed to be wrong. More and more he just got the feeling that they shouldn't have been there, that they should make a turn around and go back.

It was only one of the mental barriers that the unicorn had set up. It caused a pony to feel uncomfortable which often would get them to leave. But she had forgotten just how strong a pony was who was determined to find something within those woods. But that was where the fog came in rather handy.

In the light of the aura did both the filly and dragon continued to walk at a general pacing towards the original camping site of the three fillies but seem to have kept themselves quite. They knew they were close to the woods as the trail of fog was already starting to build itself up. There wasn't any doubt in either of their mind actually, they were close enough to White Tails that they could actually see the fog building itself up. It would only be a matter of time before the wall would be just almost impenetrable to go through. "Look there." Spike suddenly said when they came to a small bay within the trees. "Could that be it?"

They had been walking through the darkness for so long with the light, that their eyes had actually adapted themselves right to it. A little something that was good for the two of them, as it didn't render them completely blind. Sure they had both the lights from the horn and the moon but that didn't said a whole lot. As those lights did cast a shadow and in the shadows could all of the monsters be hiding themselves from peeking eyes.

It even including the monsters of White Tails itself. And that was just the very thing that caused both the dragon as well as the filly to have the shivers going down their spines. The sudden change from a warm night into a fridge was also clearly felt. Something, if not somepony, didn't wanted to have them there.

Sweetie Belle looked up over to the bay before she gave a small nod to the dragon. "That was it yes, even has the fireplace still. You think you can..?" she asked towards Spike with a set of curious looking eyes.

"Light it on? Of course I can do that." Spike replied to her before he ran over to the place and prepared himself to shoot a flame towards it. The wood that was still piled up got ignited almost instantly and the two sat down by the green fire. They still had to build up their tent but it was a little job that could be done literally in just about a minute or ten. With the light and warmth given to the both of them, they snuggled a little bit up against one another before Sweetie released a soft yawn.

She was dead tired and he knew that fact all too well. He himself wasn't even one of much energy left either. But they had to stay awake just that little bit longer to get at least their sleeping bags out of the bags they carried with them. "Hey Spike?"

"Yes Sweetie?"

"You think we can sleep under the starry skies tonight?" she then asked him with a voice that seemed like she was dreaming a little bit already.

It was a question that hit him rather deep but it meant that he didn't had to do the effort to set up the tent for the two of them. "Yeah, I think we can be doing that yes," the baby dragon replied to her with a smile. And the only thing he got in response, was a small squee from her.

The two of them were exhausted and didn't even wanted to set another step onto any direction. Yet they still managed to get the sleeping bags out and snuggled into them before their eyes closed themselves. They would be leaving the realm of the wake quicker than they would have expected and fell deeply asleep on their spots.

While the flames continued to consume the woods, not a single creature dared to go near it. Everything just maintained its fair amount of distance away from the two of them. That was with the single exception of one little creature who stumbled upon them by accident.

And that creature was actually something that gave a true lot of trouble for the both of them. For the very fact that the creature that had found them was nothing else then a cloud of shadows. A cloud of shadows that stood under the reigning command of Nightmare Rarity herself. It looked calmly over the two beings as the urge to fill their minds with fears and frights was something that came up into it.

Though the plan itself wasn't executed for the simple fact that it wasn't its very place to be doing such a deed. What it did do however, was giving the location and the looks of the filly and baby dragon directly towards the mighty queen for further evaluation.

While the filly and the dragon laid peacefully asleep had the cloud of shadows dared to scoot itself more forward towards them. It had a burning curiosity to know just whom and what they happened to be. As well as judging whether or not they could be forming any potential threat to the woods if not the domain.

It slithered forward like a snake over the ground without an actual aim, but the targets were clear in sight. It would spy upon the two of them a little bit, read their minds if it wanted to and discover the secrets of just why the two of them happened to be there. Without a single sound actually made by it did the force just appear like a pleasant breeze of wind in both of their faces. Something that caused a small smile upon the face of the dragon, as he was the first to be inspected.

Though the conclusion was early drawn that it was a baby dragon who laid there. But perhaps a baby dragon could be of actual usage to the queen. Raise it up like one of her own monsters of destruction. A valuable asset in the war that she would be fighting out soon enough. A soft hiss of satisfaction was gently released through the fibers of shadow before it turned over to the little filly. The attention was almost immediately drawn to her almost as if she was some sort of princess. Humble was how the force felt itself as it almost wanted to kneel before her.

The force itself was actually uncertain of why it did that. It didn't look like the current queen so why would it? Yet there were traces that made it seem like that little white coated unicorn filly was part of the royal 'family' in one way or the other. Nothing was what it seemed in the eyes of the nightmare force and to him, that supposed a massive threat to the domain.

There was actually just one thing that the force could be doing without getting into too much trouble and that was to establish a mental connection with the queen herself to give her the news. Whether or not she would be actually happy with it, was something that needed to be discovered through the gears of time itself.

Yet if it wanted to make the report, it better be doing it fast. Which was exactly what it did. Though the natural interference of the magic filled forest did cause a bit of trouble left and right. A one hundred percent safe mental linked bridge couldn't be formed which meant that the queen was unable to look straight through the cloud's eyes to witness and judge for herself there and then. Instead he would have made a connection that only allowed them to speak to one another.

It still seemed to be better than floating back to the domain and thus risking the chance of the two being actually gone from the place. The risk was too great in the mind of the nightmare force and with pressure of its own was the mental bridge established from his side. All that could be done from there was to wait for the unicorn to accept the so called, call.

A unicorn who in and of herself seemed to be rather busy with perfecting her fencing skills. She practiced against nightmare forces who were in the non-physical state of being, but had assumed the general form of ponies wanting to attack her. She wanted to test her newly made blade to the fullest of extend and seemed to have been training for hours already.

She panted deeply to herself as a strand of sweat slowly traveled down the side of her face, behind her eyes. She was rusty from the skills, but a good set of hours training per day would be doing her miracles. Not to mention prevent her from becoming bored and thus torturing a shadow stallion or two. "Positions, and give me all you got." Nightmare Rarity wheezed out as she held the sword firmly in her magical hold.

The clouds of shadow nodded to her words before they indeed assumed their gotten positions once more and she glared at each of them with a cutting look. Any second then could the attack be released upon her. It was her mind who was rattling on about just about any manner of attacking.

There it then was after only mere seconds after she had announced it that the first cloud dared to charge straight at her but was impaled by the blade sooner than anything. Yet it did leave her defenseless for a moment or two which caused another one to attack her from the side. Only to receive a massive hoof to the muzzle. War was never clean when it came to battle and interference's were always there but she managed to maintain the lady aspect of the job nicely enough.

With her mane done in a ponytail to prevent it from getting stuck in her eyes, the unicorn ripped her blade out of the cloud before she pointed it over to the only remaining clouds with a smirk. "You seriously think, that a miserable foot soldier like yourself, is able to bring down a nightmare, who has torn down dozens of your comrades already? Hmpf, go ahead and try me." Nightmare Rarity spoke in a realistic sounding tone before she glared at the clouds with two haunting eyes.

The only thing that the clouds could be doing was to go into an actual retreat. It didn't wanted to stay there anymore, it wanted to be left alone, almost like a real soldier in battle there and then. With the leaving of the clouds had Nightmare Rarity released a wolfish smirk from her lips as she placed the sword back in the sheath. She had proven her skills once again to herself and without a doubt, would be able to use them in combat if the day would ever arrive.

Though it was just after she had turned herself around to return to the throne room that her mind opened itself up more to receive the 'calls' from her forces scattered across the forest. Including the one who had found Sweetie Belle and Spike. "Go ahead, report to me," the dark queen spoke up before she disappeared into the doorway.

As she calmly walked down the stairs were the descriptions of the both the unicorn and the dragon given to her. "Bah, that dragon just doesn't know when to stop. But perhaps his love for moi, can be used against him. Make sure he doesn't leave the site and guide him through the forest if he enters it at one point or another. Knowing my dear Spikey Wikey, he will most likely just dash in like a knight in shining armor."

While the words came to an end, she had arrived in the throne room and calmly removed the belt to which the sword sheath was connected to. With a faint aura it was levitated into the air before it had to be placed down somewhere before the description of Sweetie Belle was given to her in the fullest of details.

Almost instantly was the sword dropped on the floor with a loud clatter that echoed multiple times through the room as she turned herself away from the throne. The horn had discharged itself almost abruptly as she started to wheeze to herself again. "Say, that, again?!" she almost shouted to the force in question.

A force who dared to repeat the description of the filly in full color.

Rage, anger, disappointment and a nerve breakdown were just some of the things that rushed through the queen her mind the more she processed the words spoken to her. Everything she heard just didn't make any sense to her. Why would her little sister come to the woods, after all that time? Thoughts rushed through her mind as she tried to figure out just what the exact reasoning behind everything.

"Why would they be using just those two, if they want to get to me? The signs are rather obvious in that department. That is, unless they have cloaked themselves invisible and are actually laying in wait for any of you, to come and get them. No, no, no, that's not how they work," the nightmarish unicorn mumbled up to herself as she tried to crack the code.

Her mind worked on levels that went so deep into the webs of conspiracies and plans of mass hysteria that she sometimes missed the complete obvious picture. The picture of the fact that nothing could have been as complicated as she believed that it was. Her mind didn't allow her to see that it was just her little sister and a good friend of hers were trying to find the mare.

Growls and groans were released by the entity as she simply stood there with one foreleg raised up as if she wanted to take a step. The mare knew that she had to be careful there and then not to screw up too much, as the opportunities given to her, were more than golden. She wanted the two of them, intact and alive. Unharmed and untouched. She knew just the way to get them like that as the unicorn's signature grin formed itself below the muzzle as she simply spoke the final words to the nightmare force.

"Give me your position and return to back to me," she spoke up to the creature as she charged up her horn again to pick up the sheath. After those words were spoken and the location given to her, the connection was severed between the two of them.

Back by the filly and the dragon had the cloud of shadow taken one last look upon the two of them before it spoke its own version of a good bye. Somewhere deep inside of their systems were all of the nightmares suddenly brought up to speed not only about the events that had happened. But also to the events as they were about to come. Their collective state of mind caused the information to be flowing freely through each of their brains.

Perhaps a defect in the genetic structure of the creatures but they were of ancient design and the unicorn herself couldn't complain. As they never ever even dared to speak against her again because of how she not allowed but actually hunted down her own two commanders for their deeds and showed the events to every single force.

Terrified they were of her to a certain degree. The same levels of fear they once gave to Nightmare Moon, they then gave to Rarity. Which she loved with pretty much every fiber of her twisted body and mind. One last look was given over the campsite, one last look was given to the green fires still going strong on the cloudless and starry night before the clouds of shadow turned themselves around. Only to disappear forever among the darkness of the woods of White Tails.

The filly and the dragon were left at the peace of the night but none of them would be escaping the fate that was being played out for the both of them. Even if it meant, that things possibly wouldn't be walking out in her favor. Sweetie Belle released a soft sigh as if she was cuddling her most beloved plushy while Spike, Spike just cut down the entire forest with his snoring.

The heavy steps of the queen could be heard coming up the stairs again and most of the nightmare forces thought that she would be going to the courtyard, to drum each of them up. But those few who looked into her direction, simply got a huff of mixed emotions before the unicorn disappeared again off of the face of the place. She had gone through the door that would be leading her to the staircase of her town and ascended upon it.

"Sweetie Belle and Spike, the knight in shining armor and the little helper. Puhlease, don't make me laugh they plan on actually being able to do that. But, I shall help them a little bit with their games by playing with them, instead of against them. Been an awful long time since I've last seen the two of them. Besides, I could always use another pet." Nightmare Rarity chuckled to herself before she entered her chambers.

The eyes looked with an almost stressed expression over her possessions before the unicorn continued to pass through and over to the balcony of the place itself. It became almost a cliche look to see her standing upon the top of that balcony over and over. Though none of the forces could actually complain about it as they didn't design the place. Yet as shameful as it was, their queen was still an actual living being that needed light of the sun.

With her blueish green rimmed, cat like eyes she looked over the entire place covered in the light of the moon itself. A wonderful and rather mysterious sight played itself out before her very eyes. Though the very thing that she needed to find was something a bit smaller. Her eyes scanned the ground like those of a hawk before she finally discovered the thing that she was looking for.

Another grin gently formed itself below her muzzle as she kept on looking over to the area. An area where a small green light constantly seemed to be reflecting itself. "Oh, oh, oh, you two just make this too easy for me, but I love it just so much. Suppose I should be thanking you both here. As you two just made my job, a whole lot easier." Nightmare Rarity mumbled up to herself as she began to charge up her horn.

More and more power collected itself by the horn as her eyes kept themselves firmly upon the green light. The plans that were being created deep inside of her twisted mind were sickening to say the least but it was needed in her own eyes. She needed her sister for something and so did she need Spike. Though only time would be able to actually tell just what her horn was preparing itself form.

The only indication of something that happened was when the blast was being fired. Almost like the biggest cannon on one of the royal airships did the blast got fired into the air before all the sounds died down with it. Nothing even dared to take even a deep breath. All of the creatures of Everfree remained silent and all of the ponies in the inns on either side of White Tails were shocked out of their beds wondering what was going on.

But the two who woke up first were both Sweetie Belle and Spike. They both woke up in the middle of the night, yelping loudly to themselves as they wondered and wanted to know just exactly what was going on. "S-Spike, did you hear that?" Sweetie Belle asked in a frightened tone as she looked over to the dragon.

"I heard that, but whatever it was…it must be something that came from the skies," he returned to her before her eyes began to search through the skies themselves, hoping to find something if not anything to confirm his suspicion.

"How, how do you know that?" the unicorn question as she got out of her sleeping bag and walked over to him with a curious gaze in her eyes. Not to be mistaken with a tired one, as she also wore that one. "Twilight told you something, didn't she?"

The eyes of the dragon where finally lowered back to the very ground before he gave a nod to the unicorn. "Yes she did. Twilight explained to me once that when there were these rocks from outer space, and they enter Equestria, they get vaporized up or bounced right back into space. I think, we just heard rock being bounced back. Can't see anything that seems like a meteorite or anything."

It were words that literally went far too much in the mind of the filly. Out of everything that she heard, she understood virtually nothing of that what he said. "So, we're safe, that's what you're saying?" she repeated to herself aloud. The dragon looked at her and nodded to confirm the thoughts. Sweetie had walked up just far enough to sit down next to the sleeping bag of Spike and didn't seem that she wanted to actually leave his side any time soon.

Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she was still genuine scared of the booming sounds that woke her up. Something about it all just wasn't right in her mind but she couldn't pinpoint what it actually was. She never could have and possibly never would be able to do so.

"H-Hey Spike, uhm…mind if I, we, share, a bag?" Sweetie brought out in a way that didn't seemed to be that embarrassing to her, but caused the eyes of Spike to actually go wide eyed. He couldn't believe the words that she spoke to him just yet. It must have been the abrupt waking up that caused his ears to be still sleeping, or the shockwave of the impact or, or anything.

"What, what did you just say?" Spike asked as he wanted to know whether or not she spoke the words the words he had heard. Though immediately after them he regretted asking his own question. He had heard clearly what she said, she was terrified from the sounds and actually unable to repeat the question. It resulted down into just one thing that could be done and was the thing that was being done.

Spike scooted himself over to one side of his bag as far as he could before Sweetie Belle carefully slid into the opening that was being created. "Thanks," the little unicorn said to him in a whisper before she snuggled up and closed her eyes with a rather loud yawn. Before the count of ten could be made had the filly fallen asleep again in a much more secured area as the dragon would be protecting her.

Though that same dragon turned himself around and thus away from her. Before he closed his own eyes and began to sleep further as well. He couldn't believe that he laid in the same sleeping bag as Sweetie Belle. Though perhaps the biggest surprise was that they both actually fitted on one side of the thing. Luck by bad luck, he could be calling it.

While the two of them were sleeping once again, the actual origin of the boom, the burst of magic, would be doing its job to create the reality where the unicorn herself had thought about. Sooner or later would the revelations be made and the show could begin for real.

A sinister laughter was the thing that the nightmarish unicorn released from the balcony as the horn had gently discharged itself. Smoke actually came off of it as the laughter turned into a simple grin for her. "Tomorrow, mark my words, shall become an interesting day for the both of you," the entity said up to the skies before she turned herself around and walked back inside of the chamber.

While the doors closed themselves behind her, Nightmare Rarity continued to walk over to her bed and released the ponytail out of her mane. A gentle shake or two were given by her and the model in which the mane used to hang in was assumed once again. One of her eyes got actually blocked off by the hair but she paid little to no attention to it. For the unicorn herself allowed her slender body to gradually glided itself over the bed in the chamber.

Once she had been laying completely comfortable for her own feelings was the horn charged up again. The blankets were placed over her body in a calm manner. She needed her sleep just like the two camping before the entrance of the woods in order to regain her strength to complete the deeds of the following day.

Though with the queen nicely tucked away under them did one of the savages actually merged with the physical realm again and dared to lay next to the queen like an actual lapdog. If any other being had done that without her permission, there would only have been one massive punishment for that being. But since it was a savage, her personal guard and actual pets, a small pat over the head was given to it before the entity closed her eyes to get some sleep.

The head of the savage laid almost oddly peacefully upon the belly of the queen before the two of them entered a state of mind that caused them to dream. Dream of the nightmares that plagued their very thoughts day in and out. Nightmares that worked as the actual fuel for Rarity to continue her malice. Sickening it happened to be, but it was how the magic of fear actually worked.

Mumbled were made by the unicorn from ages ago, spoken in a tone that only Rarity herself could be giving. Mumbles that were almost inaudible but spoke about nightmares she had been suffering for months. Even in her current form, she still was forced to live with the thoughts of her friends just leaving her like that. Heartbreaking to say the least, but the perfect fuel for the magic she had carefully mastered as hers and hers alone.

"Princess, it, is a bit of a crazy idea but, what if we use an airship from either of the air-navy?" Twilight Sparkle spoke up as she and princess Luna were wandering through the castle hallways. The two had actually managed to accidentally met up with one another. Though it was all a massive disguise where they were walking through. They were in fact in the very psyche of Luna.

The lunar princess was also the master of dreams and she used that ability to communicate with the mulberry unicorn to find answers that they so desperately needed. They had already discovered that Emerald Masquerade was willing to work with them even though he was kept a bit in the dark when it came to the actual plan. Perhaps their meeting wasn't so accidental after all.

Luna released a deep sigh in response as they continued their gentle walk through the halls. "While the idea seems to be a bit obvious, don't you think that she also thought of that? Most likely she had anti-airship cannons ready to fire. If she doesn't do it herself. This very night, just moments before I merged both our dreams together, there was this loud cannon salvo that originated from the woods. I can only think of her being that much of a showoff."

"But, there must be something that we can be doing, right?" Twilight asked further after she had carefully listened to the words. Desperation wasn't an emotion that she felt often, but when she did it, it had good reasons for it. The loss of a friend was the thing that stood at stake there and she wanted to do everything in her might, to make sure that she would get her friend back, in one piece.

Luna on the other end simply released a simple groan as she wasn't in the mood to continue the conversation. Yet she seemed to be managing her cool pretty well against the studious unicorn. "It's going to be a lost cause anyway, no ships nor cities are even allowed to fly over the Everfree and White Tails. It's a rectangular shape of doom when it comes down to it. Many airships have been lost that way. Rumors even went so far that a hydra bigger than any of them, actually jumped out of the marshlands and used all seven necks to cleave straight through the woods of the vessel, taking it down with crew and all."

That were a set of words that scared Twilight a whole lot more than she originally would have thought they would. She had expected some kind of resistance in the woods that lived a life on their own, but in such a manner as Luna spoke had she never even seen coming with all of her own wisdom. "But, but they are just rumors, right?" the unicorn then asked with a gentle gulp in her voice.

The lunar princess wanted to speak the truth to the mare but also had to cope with a lie to keep her safe. It was a battle between the terrible truth and the wonderful lie. But the world just wasn't as black and white as they had always shown it to the land. Instead it was this massive mixture of gray that kept them all alive.

"No, no they aren't just rumors. I have seen, that very hydra with my own eyes among the wreck deep in the woods of Everfree. I wish they were just rumors, but no ship is allowed to fly over there since that incident." Luna then replied as she emptied her heart and remembered the scene like it was the day before. The terrible smell of burned timber, the rotting stench of the bodies in the water mixed with the already unpleasant smells of the swamp. Not to mention that distinct scent of the hydra itself.

Twilight did a small step to the side in order to give the princess some space though she was getting frightened as well. She had never expected that the rumors were actually the reality of the situation. Their job had become a whole lot more difficult for certain. "I, I'll not tell the girls about this. For all they know, we are still going to walk from the nearest train station to the woods again."

"Means you'll be coming back to Ponyville. Nearest station by those dreaded woods. But Twilight, I think it is better that our conversation is going to be ending here. You need your sleep more than ever and I, have some arrangements to make before everything is going to Tartarus and beyond thanks to everything." Luna said as her horn charged itself up to break the connection of the two dreams.

"I understand princess, good luck." Twilight replied as she braced herself for the rupture to come as Luna ascended into the skies before she disappeared almost completely. "Good luck to us all," the unicorn whispered before she looked out of one of the castle's windows and sighed deeply. The sights looked so peaceful with the small vortexes of pages from books and scrolls. A thing she always saw in her dreams.

"What, did you say to her, sister?" the voice of Celestia pierced through the ears of Luna more than any other sound as she slowly came back to her knowledge. "You haven't told her anything we agreed to not speak about, right?"

Luna on the other end just released a growl towards her older sister before the eyes were opened again and they just looked tired. The glance that she gave the white coated alicorn was something that caused her to become a grumpy old mare. One of her forehooves was brought over to her forehead and began to rub it carefully.

Celestia started to pace up and down on the spot she stood still on and kept on looking to her sister as if Nightmare Moon could be coming back any second. She didn't seem like the kind princess the land had always known her as in that very moment. Instead they would be seeing a tyrant who wouldn't make any exception to send another being to the moon if it had to.

"I kept my mouth shut about this, sisterly dear." Luna replied in a mocking tone as she stood up from the throne and calmly began to walk down the steps of it. "But you remember that no-flight policy over White Tails and Everfree right?"

"How, how could I have forgotten that?" the alicorn of the day spoke up as she gently came to a standstill and her tone filled itself with worries to come and go. Nothing in her mind could have been able to just make her forget the terror of the single day they both had been seeing then. But it wasn't just going to be a bad memory that the younger sister was going to be bringing up. And therefore, almost instantly did the eyes of the princess turn themselves over to Luna with an expression not seen in a long time. "What are you, planning, in that sickened head of yours!" Celestia spewed up as she wanted to know the finer details of her little sister's plans.

"Let's say, that the pride of the air-navy shall be sailing again over the woods. I want to see, if she actually has those kind of spells ready to be blasted right upon an airship and thus make it crash down into the woods."

"And you are willing to just let a captain and crew to die, while you watch from the stern of the Crescent Moon?! I won't allow you to do this Luna. I will let you do a lot, but that is going too far!" Celestia said in response as she only got more and more angrier as more spots were revealed of the plan.

"Almost right, but still missing out the obvious. And try me." Luna returned in a sharp tone before she just walked right past her sister and left the throne room. She then left a Celestia with more questions than answer to take a seating upon the throne and announce the day to begin again.

While the sun rose itself calm and beautiful to the world from the east, both the filly and the dragon woke up almost simultaneously before they looked into one another's eyes. They seemed to have forgotten the fact that they actually shared such a bag with one another and they both released a deep yelp of terror before leaving the thing.

The both of them stuck out their tongues and wiped it as if they were trying to get any dirt or filth off of it that could be caused by giving one another a kiss or something. "We didn't, you know?" Sweetie asked before she spotted the little stream again.

"I don't, think we did." Spike replied to her before the filly darted off again. "Fillies," the baby dragon spoke up before he released a small sigh and watched over her. He saw how Sweetie lowered herself into the stream and began to drink a bit of the waters before she spat it out again.

Of course she never actually drank it but instead she used it to clean her mouth a bit just to be sure that nothing had actually happened between the two of them. Though she was there and the opportunity was taken to wash her face a little bit as well as basically prepare herself for the events to come. Not to mention the fact that Spike began to make some breakfast for the two of them.

It was a simple breakfast that the two consumed together but that didn't matter to them. As they were just having fun like a set of good friends would actually be having and always should have. They shared laughs and memories to one another which may or may not have been a bit embarrassing for the ponies mentioned in them.

They both had their cups of tea and leaned back to watch the cloudless skies above them. Everything seemed to be just a perfect day all around for the two of them. If it weren't for the fact that they still needed to go into the woods. Though it was Sweetie Belle who was the first after a few minutes that lowered her head again from the clouds up high and looked over to Spike, who sat with his back to the woods.

Sooner than anything had she actually looked past him and tilted her head to one side to get something in her view. "Uh, Sweetie? You alright?" the dragon asked after he had turned his head down as well and stared a little bit into the green rimmed eyes of the filly. But a verbal response he didn't seem to be getting. Instead, she just pointed to something behind him that she was actually looking at.

Confusion was the thing that struck the baby dragon more than anything outside of fear. Was she pointing to a creature of the woods that stared at them, as its breakfast? A gulp was released from the purple scaled creature before he calmly dared to turn himself around and witness the scene for himself.

His very own eyes began to dart around to see where the creature of his horrors could be hiding, before the realization came setting in. He wasn't looking for a creature of old that was lurking somewhere to get him. Instead, they were granted some form of access to the woods. For the eyes of both Spike and Sweetie Belle were looking right into a tunnel that had been carved out in the fog.

"That, wasn't there five minutes ago. But saves us a trip to the asylum." Spike mumbled to himself before he turned himself back over to Sweetie Belle and smiled. "You ready to find out what happened to Rarity?"

Even though the scenes already looked spooky for her, the filly nodded as she knew that Spike would be standing on her side at all times. A deep exhale was released through her mouth as she gathered her courage and gave a nod. "Yeah, I'm ready."

Minutes later and the two had been finding themselves hidden deep within the tunnel of fog. With their backpacks and saddlebags strapped around their sides and backs had the two beings wandered calmly through the tunnel that was carved through the fog. Neither of the two knew where exactly it would be leading them but they both knew it would be to the very place where Rarity was held as a captive.

Both Sweetie Belle and Spike had to admit that whomever created the tunnel was expecting them. Which meant that they were extra careful to not go bashing through the sides of the thing. But Spike couldn't resist himself to every so often stick a claw of his through the side and watch the blue coloring shot forward. The little unicorn had not a clue of why exactly he would be doing such a thing, but she imagined it would as some kind of way finder.

Perhaps she didn't even wanted to know it, as the sync heart beating could be heard within her ears once again. They were getting closer and closer to the source of it and the filly could feel it. It was a feeling that made her utmost uncomfortable. Her head quickly turned itself over to her back and saw that the way was still there. If she wanted, she could just leg it and never return.

Or she could face it, and see the thing that her sister had become. It was a tough decision on which she couldn't be giving the answer on just yet. Not yet and it wouldn't be for a long time to come.

"Hey Spike, how much further do you think that it is?" Sweetie Belle eventually asked him as she wanted to know certain things. But her green rimmed eyes kept themselves darting over each of the sides of the tunnel. Even though neither of the two actually witnessed the effects of the fog it usually had on ponies, they both felt themselves really uncomfortable when it came down to it.

Neither of them could explain it but perhaps it was the fog had a stranger effect than the queen could have thought it would be having on them. "I have no idea Sweetie, we could have gone in circles for all I know by now." Spike replied before he got something within his eyes. Something that caused him to run a little bit before coming down to a standstill.

Out of everything he had expected to be seeing that day, the thing that had entered his eyes was not one of them. For he was looking straight at the entrance of the dark crystal made domain of the unicorn. With the only exception being the fact that it seemed to be completely abandoned and lifeless. "Impossible," he whispered to himself just before the unicorn stood next to him.

Sweetie Belle looked over the scene with a pair of wide eyes as she heart the beating of the hearts becoming even more intense and louder. Sounds that echoed like drums in her head that frightened her more than anything. She couldn't go further, she didn't wanted to go further. She wanted her sister oh so badly for certain, but not at the prince she thought she would end up paying for it.

"I, I can't do this. I can't go inside of there, S-Spike, can we go back please? I, I really don't want to be here. This place alone just, gives me the creeps. Okay, thanks, bye!" Even before Spike could even say a word had the unicorn's fight of flight reflection chosen for flight and just darted like an arrow back through the maze of the tunnel.

"W-What?" Spike said to himself as he started to look for the filly. Though only then he realized the very thing that she had been doing to him and sighed deeply. "Great, so it's just going to be me."

His eyes looked up to the immense gateway and a deep sigh was released through his mouth as he kept on standing there for a minute or two. Saying his prayers in silence while looking at the domain of the dark queen herself.

With Sweetie Belle having bailed out on him before they could have even found anything seemed the eyes of Spike to be rather uncertain. He was uncertain whether or not he himself wanted or even should continue through the gate. Something told him, especially in the seconds after the filly's departure, that something within that place was everything but right. But his love made him almost blind.

He wanted to find Rarity just so desperately and he was having the actual chance to be doing it within those very walls. His beloved crush was inside of there, somewhere captured by a force unknown to himself or Sweetie Belle. Though the danger would never had been avoided. "Wish you were still here Sweetie." Spike mumbled to himself as he turned himself around to witness the tunnel of fog.

Not a single cloud had actually moved itself to alter the state of the thing. If he wanted, he could have just started walking and thus would have walked away from everything. He was that close to finding the horrifying answers of everything. But somehow he couldn't leave her alone. Prayers were said and done before he finally turned himself back around and looked over to the open front gate of the domain.

"How could such a structure be hidden from everything?" he mumbled to himself before taking a step closer. And then another one, before finally setting his third and final one. For after his foot then set itself against the ground, he was within the grasp of the domain. The ground began to tremble below his very feet while the magic that contained the fog barrier began to vanish.

Spike quickly turned himself around and noticed the changes as they happened. His eyes had gone wide once again as he wanted to flee but there was nothing to flee towards other than the through the gates. "No, no, no, no!" he called out as he wanted to rush through the dreaded reformatted fog, but then recalled the whispers and rumors. "Turn around, face your fears…find Rarity," the green spiked dragon bravely told to himself before he released a deep exhale through his mouth. It was the only thing that he could be doing in his mind to actually find his beloved pony. Even though he knew it was stupid.

In the meantime and on the other end of the spectrum had Sweetie Belle finally returned to the campsite and she looked with a set of wide eyes as well to the disappearing tunnel of fog. She couldn't believe that she had left Spike there just to let him be judged by the words of fate itself. "No, no, no! This can't be happening, this can't be!" she yelled up to herself as she kicked her legs into gear and blindly charged right into the fog.

Only to pull upon the brakes harder than ever before she was surrounded by the stuff. Deep pants for her dear little life were released over and over again as the filly wanted to do something. But the fog was also starting to get her in its grasp. The heartbeat that she heard within her ears, began to weaken itself until nothing was to be heard. The secondary beat seemed to have died down and the filly shook her head deeply.

She couldn't believe that it was gone and every little fiber of her little body just resisted to believe the facts as they seemed to have played out before her. Her sister who was thought to be alive for such a long time had actually died before she could even manage to visit her. Heartbroken and devastated was the manner how Sweetie felt herself before she took a few steps backwards with tears in her eyes.

The little filly just couldn't and wouldn't let herself believe that her sister had been killed by something or died of some other cause. Nothing in her body wanted to believe that. Urges to just rush straight back into the forest were made even up to the point of her setting a step left and right to do it. Yet the eventual result always remained the same which was that she stayed firmly put upon the ground.

"Spike, I'm so, so sorry that I left you there and then. Please be okay." Sweetie whimpered to herself before she dropped her head and closed her eyes to cry in silence. She wanted to help the baby dragon just so much, but there was nothing that she could be doing to do just that. She had left him over to fate and would never discover just what had happened to her beloved bigger sister.

For minutes she simply stood there while crying her eyes out in silence as the thoughts continued to stream through her head. She could have found closure on Rarity's chapter in her life, even if it meant that it wasn't the greatest of endings.

Yet through the passage of time had the filly looked up again to the fog covered woods and began to take really careful steps backwards from it. The last thing that she would have wanted, was for herself to actually get consumed by it and gone mad herself. She returned to their little campsite and started to pack not only her own things, but his things as well.

The plan that was being made in her head, would have had her to wait for hours to come on the arrival of the dragon before she would return back home and truly, just leave him alone. "There's one more thing I can try." Sweetie whispered to herself as she looked to the skies. With their crystal clear blue skies was the only opportunity that she had to send a beam into the skies that hopefully could be seen by him.

Sweetie herself was rather inexperienced when it came down to magic, but she had learned enough to cast a small beam of her own magic into the air. Hopefully high enough to let Spike know that she was okay. And pray for a return signal.

The filly looked around before she saw a big hill where she could be standing upon and rushed over to it. "Hope this works." Sweetie said to herself before she reached the top. Her body turned itself over to the dreaded woods but never seemed to have been able to look over the tree tops themselves. She took a couple of deep breaths before she rose up on her hindlegs and allowed the horn to collect the magic.

The green coated aura surrounded the horn more than anything while the white coated filly closed her eyes. One wrong motion and the entire spell would be cancelled by her body. The lessons of both Rarity and Twilight were recalled while the horn itself was pointed upon towards the skies high.

With one last and deep exhale did Sweetie Belle release the charge of magic into the skies like a piece of fireworks. Though perhaps the most interesting fact had to be that even in the clear sunlight, it shone as bright as it would at night. The eyes of the young filly opened themselves again as she smiled upon the deed before she looked over the woods again.

She wanted to see the one thing that could confirm that the dragon was still okay. Her green rimmed eyes were looking for the green flame that may or may not be shot into the air by him. Seconds she continued to look as the green magic had turned itself into a flare that gently floated down back to the lands.

In the depths of the forest stood Spike still before the entrance of the place as he heard the shot being fired as a soft thump before his eyes caught the rather mesmerizing sights of the flare. A massive sense of relief was the emotion that filled him as he then knew that she was okay. Yet then came the problem of returning that same signal that he was just that.

His head looked over to the skies where he saw gaps through the fog and smiled. A deep inhale was taken by the baby dragon and within his throat, the green coloring of his flames could be seen coming. It was true that he had a magical breath of fire that could be used to send all sorts of messages with and that time wouldn't be any exception. Though instead of sending a letter with it, he planned on doing something a bit more unexpected.

A column of green fire was sent up from the mouth through the fog and high above the forest. Spike placed almost all of his efforts into the message of fire that he would be sending to her. He could only hope that her eyes would be able to have seen it.

On the hill had Sweetie indeed caught the fires rising for the forest and she felt another big weight falling off of her shoulders. There was just one little troublemaker that caused her to tilt her head to one side. Instead of it just being a shot of flames, the flames actually began to write something high in the skies. Something that caused her to tilt her head to one side.

Her eyes tried to read the letters in the burning flames but it was a little bit harder than she could have expected it to be. Her little mind tried its absolute best to get the words he was saying before the bells chimed loud and clear inside of her head. Suddenly she knew almost exactly what he wrote there and then.

With a smile on her face had she collected her own mind once again to release two more charges almost immediately after one another. It didn't matter who one were or where one was from, when communicating with such indirect speech, two bursts of magic into the air like Sweetie prepared to be doing always meant that the message had come through.

Though it did mean that she left one of her dearest friends on the woods to either go mad or make the discovery of a lifetime. It would be devastating for her to tell it to her parents and even Twilight if she needed to. If, that mare was already home by the time she would have been. But those were worries for later as the magic once again collected itself around the horn of the filly.

A mere minute after the message of the dragon had left the skies, a thing that was a true agonizing minute for the both of them, Sweetie fired both of the bolts of magic from her horn and into the skies. She could only hope that he would have been able to either see or hear them, if not both.

Back in the forest had Spike heard the two little booms and thuds almost directly after one another and smiled towards that skies. "Thank you," he spoke up in a humble sounding tone. A tone that was actually meant for one of the dragon goddesses that supposedly lived in the skies above them. He knew Sweetie got the message and knew that she would be returning home and not waiting for him.

Though he had made peace with just that actually. It seemed completely insane for his mind to even consider such a thing to happen, if not allow it too. He was the boss of his own body by a mixture of both his brain and heart. And not just the brain or the heart, as many ponies lived their lives. Though sometimes that wasn't really showed by him.

"Right then, great big crystal structure in the middle of a haunted forest. ...What could possible go wrong?" he mumbled to himself as he looked over to the gates one more time. Even though the thought of Sweetie leaving in one piece was a thought that calmed him down, he was still anxious to enter through the doorway. Something about the whole place didn't feel right to his very core. So inviting, yet so haunting.

Who ever happened to be living there, would better be having a good reason for capturing Rarity the way it did. For the little dragon himself was getting more and more furious about it. If he only knew just who actually ran the show there and then.

His green rimmed eyes looked back down to the gateway and he released a deep exhale from his mouth. There was only one way in which he could be entering the place and that was through it. But the element of surprise was gone, if not never actually had to begin with. If anything in that place still didn't knew he was standing there, they must have just gotten out of a coma or something.

With the greatest of care in the world did Spike take a step into the domain before another then followed with just as much care to it. Slowly he kicked the both of his legs into the higher gears and began to walk calmly through the courtyard. Even though he showed himself as calm, every last fiber within his body was just pointing towards the obvious. That was actually the very fact that he was frightened as all hell.

The fear for the place and the fear for the unknown was something that did manage to get a massive hold of him. A hold that wasn't released that quickly either. His eyes darted around the place in the faint hope to see some kind of shape that he would be recognizing. But all of it just worked right up against him. There was nothing.

Yet the feeling of being watched managed to crawl its way up from his very soul. Almost as if hundred pairs of eyes just looked at him, haunting him to no end. But every single time that he turned himself around to face any 'attackers', there wasn't anything to be witnessed. Though perhaps the most interesting part of the entire operation had to be the single fact that the walls seemed to be talking to him. Faint whispers of ancient languages were heard as if they had been carried with the wind, through time itself.

"What in the name of..?" Spike whispered to himself as he kept on turning himself around and around in the place while his eyes looked at the walls to make things certain. He couldn't believe it that there were creatures hidden inside of it. It wasn't even the first thought that raced through his mind. The first one actually happened to be a little something along the lines of how long the structure must have been there, to carry such old voices with it. He didn't even realize he was doing just that, as it all happened in his sub consciousness. The only place within his very own mind where he had little to no control over.

His legs suddenly started to carry him over to the a portion of the wall that seemed to be rather unusual to anypony who came across it. The little dragon placed his claw against it before he blinked a couple of times. Dragons always had a strong connection to gems. Spike was one of the rare crystal-devourers who had the connection to the gems quicker than Rarity could possibly be finding them.

His claw began to almost stroke the dark crystal of the wall and felt a massive cold shiver that went down his spine. Something about the certain type of gem that had been incorporated within the structure spooked him. "This isn't possible. Not even, not even Sombra could have made this!" Spike exclaimed as he removed his hand off of the wall and looked at it from all the possible sides. It just didn't make any sense to a dragon like himself, why such a dangerous type of crystal would be used to build something with it.

"Unless..." Without a warning had he turned himself around to face the exit of the domain and shook his head a couple of times. "Oh no, no, no, this isn't happening!" The legs of the dragon carried him over to the exit where he was faced with the fog once again. "Anything, is better than getting poisoned by one of those things!" Spike yelled to himself as he looked all over the place to find some sort of an opening.

The gems that were being used to create the domain, the gems that were actually fueled with the dark magic of the unicorn were deadly to the Devourers. It was about one of the biggest defense mechanism that the domain had against the type of dragons. They would just fly over the place and take one deep sniff before that intoxicated air filled their nostrils. Which then caused them to break their course and look for other things like a crystal mine to get their dinner.

But with Spike still being a baby, the scent of the gems couldn't penetrate his nose yet. Yet he knew more than enough to know that he shouldn't be eating a single gem from the entire place. As he stood before the exit and was looking for a way out, there was something that managed to catch his attention and actually made him turn around slowly.

In his eyes he caused the three doorways that were leading to three distinct places within the domain. But something in his burning heart called out towards the middle one. The one that would be leading him towards the staircase and then up into the tower itself. His green rimmed eyes followed up the structure before they finally stood still at the top of the thing and he released a deep sigh.

"Don't tell me this is going to be as in those old ponytale's right? Princess locked in the tower by a mighty creature, no? Yeah, I thought so," the baby dragon mumbled up to himself as the courage sunk towards his toes. He wanted to have done everything, except going up there into that tower and face whatever laid in wait there.

Though the odd thing was that the longer he stared at the tower's balcony, the more he could actually feel the very essence of the unicorn flowing through the place. And that alone was more than enough to give him the courage back into his heart and just go for it. "Hold on Rarity, I'm coming for you." Spike spoke up in a loud and clear voice before he ran over to the middle doorway.

The doorway that would be leading him to the staircase of the tower. But what he didn't knew was that that the trap had been set and was already closing in upon himself. For as he walked past the archway and disappeared upon the spiraling staircase, the doors of the domain closed themselves with a loud thumb.

A thumb that caused the dragon to keep his head through one of the windows that had a sight over the whole place. "So this is going to be it then hm?" he spoke up to himself as he glared his eyes over to the set of closed doors. Something about it did spark both a flame of insecurity as well as something that could be added to his courage. More determined than ever he was to find the love of his life and safe her from whatever doom she happened to be in.

The more he ventured slowly up the darkened staircase, the more he had to force himself not to watch downward. As the steps happened to be made of a much lighter type of crystal that were also a whole lot more transparent. Resulting in him actually looking straight down to the ground if his eyes even dared to be taken away from the steps before him.

Every so often there was a little window in the structure through which he would be looking if he liked and the sights were always the same. Empty, lifeless, dead. Even when he looked over the treetops of White Tails he still got those three feelings. Not to forget the ever so wonderful fact of that he made the realization of just how vast the woods happened to be. But the stairs, they seemed to be never ending for the dragon and he had to keep going if he wanted to see his crush once more.

He was just getting closer and closer with each step taken, getting closer to finding out whatever happened to the unicorn. Though also to discovering just what it meant to be, to stand somewhere without any actual courage to show for it. For each step that he took up the staircase there was a little bit of courage sank back to his feet before leaving it through the crystals.

The baby dragon almost seemed to be gotten frightened if the looks didn't seem to be lying to somepony that could be watching. That was another thing that caused it to become even more dangerous. As the feeling of being watched by something never seemed to have left him. Many creatures went through his mind with the question of just what it could possibly that was looking at him.

Ghosts? Forces of darkness? The princesses themselves? The changeling queen? Sombra? So many possibilities there were just racing through his mind, but none of them were right. For nopony else then the two commanders of the unicorn, had been looking at him through the shadows and kept a clean eye upon him. Everything needed to be doing alright if the plan was willing to work.

Shamefully for the two of them had the baby dragon so his own agenda to be keeping up with. "Can't return now Spike. You have gotten this far, it's time to finish it," he mumbled softly before picking up the pace with both of his legs trembling in fright. He wanted to be done there just so much. But the stairs, they seemed to be going on forever.

"Just…just how high is this place to begin with?" Spike asked himself as he looked over to the top of the tower and it seemed to be going on for an eternity. That wasn't something that seemed to be right whatsoever. The tower itself didn't seemed to be that high in his books when he looked at it from the outside.

Suddenly there was a massive hit that got through to his mind. Without a warning the thought just jumped straight across his mind of what it could possibly be. Having paid that little bit of attention during the lessons of Twilight and her advanced magical spells, he knew almost exactly just what type of spell he had fallen to. "Oh now that's just clever." Spike whispered to himself before he closed his eyes and took a deep exhale through his mouth.

Then he simply started to go one floor up on the stairs and imagined the door to be standing right in front of him. It was a long shot away from hope, but it literally was about the only thing he could be doing and had if he wanted to reach the actual top of the tower.

With the courage gone and the eyes closed, he was truly a vulnerable target for the two spying commanders. Yet on their own turn didn't seem to be doing anything else then to give their information to their queen. She wanted to deal with him personally instead of giving somepony else that pleasure of doing such a thing. A thing they all had to obey.

Another deep exhale was being done by Spike before he dared to open his eyes again. But in the mere split seconds before his eyes opened up again there was this calm. A calm that could always be witnessed and sensed just before a massive storm would be hitting a place. That exact calm was going through his body.

A calm that replenished his courage back to the heart which was still driving on the fires of love itself. A calm that caused his mind to be doing something that it didn't do very often, and that was to think rationally. There was no turning back from him anymore. He had come that far and it would have been time for him to end it once and for all. The time would be there to reveal just what happened.

As Spike slowly opened his eyes, he could be seen standing before a crystalline door that didn't let go one grain of light. Darker than the darkest night it was before his eyes while they tried to find anything that could be helping him nearby. "Keyhole…key, key, key." Spike mumbled to himself as he noticed the hole. All that was needed to be doing left was to find the actual key that would be fitting upon the lock and therefore open the door like it was nothing.

His eyes looked all over the floor before they found them near a window. The happiness that filled his body was something rather unexpected and he took the thing off of the hook and brought it over to the door. But then it him more than anything at the place. Something just wasn't right.

There were no guards who stopped him, no other ponies he ran across and then there was that fog tunnel. Two things that would made this fortress perfect, but it was the third one that called perhaps the most questions. If something wanted to keep both him and Sweetie out, why would it have ever done it? His mind on the other end didn't seem to be able to think about it as the key itself was inserted through the hole and turned over to the left side.

In his ears he heard the clicks of the lock being unlocked and smiled like never before. Everything was slowly falling to pieces and he opened the door with all the strength that he had. Only to reveal a sight he had never expected when he slid through the gap and allowed the door to be closing in behind him. Locked himself inside the room of the nightmarish queen, with perhaps the most dangerous pony in the land before him.

For when the green rimmed eyes of Spike looked over the room, it wasn't just like any other jail cell he had expected to be seeing. Instead he got a massive bedroom that seemed to be fit a queen alone. Confusion was the thing that struck him more than anything and he still had to turn his head over to the actual bed. "What in the name of the Ancients happened here?" he mumbled to himself before he finally dared to look over to the far left side of the chamber.

Then he noticed it that upon the bed itself laid the ivory coated unicorn mare herself. One of her forelegs had raised her head from the mattress while another was making small little circles upon the blankets. One of her eyes was being covered by her mane as she laid lengthwise on the bed with her hinglegs crossed over one another. Her tail was not just placed on top of it all, but actually was being used to make sure that her private parts remained actually private.

Spike's heart almost went into overdrive when he saw the unicorn just laying like that. That ever so seducing pose would have gotten her any stallion almost instantly. She just had to stare out of that one visible eye so dreamy. Spike's heart couldn't contain itself anymore and he gently walked over to the bed but never actually dared to come up on it. "R-Rarity, is that, you?" he asked her with a nervous voice.

The unicorn didn't give him any change of emotion visible upon her face nor a simply nod. Instead she spoke up in that sensual tone of hers. "Yes I am, my dear Spikey Wikey. But the questions should be this, have you come to save me after all this time?"

Mesmerized and unable to think straight because of her words and tone had Spike nodded to her words before saying his own again. "I have, yes! It, it took me some time as nopony in Ponyville wanted to start searching. They, have all given upon on you there. Nopony wanted to believe that you were still alive. B-But here you are, alive a-and well," the baby dragon managed to speak out against her in the most humblest of tones.

"So it is true then, they really just have forgotten about a mare like myself like that. Shame really, as they would be missing out the obvious when you start to think about it." Rarity replied to him before her lips curled themselves up into a rather unsettling smirk. A smirk that caused all of the alarm bells to go off right inside of Spike's head.

He knew that something was wrong but couldn't place his claw on it. Yet in the moment that he saw that grin, he knew almost exactly just what it was that had been doing wrong. For it wasn't just one thing, it was everything. "Who are you, and what have you done with Rarity!? The real one, wouldn't speak those kind of words, not against me!" the baby dragon spoke up in anger as he formed two fists with the both of his hands and took a step closer.

The threat itself had a little bit of a different outcome at the unicorn herself. For she just flicked her head a little bit backwards before she erupted out in a genuine sounding sicker of, fun. Why would she be laughing at him like that? Why would everything have been doing down the way it did? So many questions he had and that ear piercing laughter didn't help just one bit to get his footing back in the situation.

Nothing made sense to him anymore at the moment. His crush was laughing right at him, for no true reason. But somewhere in his mind he knew that that Rarity wasn't the real one. It just had to be struck to his heart before he could be doing anything again, to make sure he wouldn't be walking around like a massive idiot. A thing perhaps easier said then done.

Yet whether either he or she wanted to actually believe it or not, he still believed strongly in the single fact that the real Rarity was hidden somewhere within the monstrosity in which she turned herself into. Perhaps the time of her capture had made her more bitter than ever. Or there would be something else that was at play in the meantime. A plot even darker than he could have ever predicted was being placed and he, he was the king of the game. If he was taken out there and then the game would have been won by the unicorn.

For the reality of the situation laid perhaps a little bit more sensitive. It was indeed a real Rarity who laid upon the bed in that seductive pose. The only problem happened to be that in the moment when Spike closed his eyes and walked up the stairs, that the unthinkable happened.

As he went up the staircase, he walked straight through a thick pack of deadly, fear indoctrinating fog as it hung all through the forest and it was digging deep into his brain. Images of Rarity were found and used to literally change the nightmarish queen before his very eyes. Where Nightmare Rarity just saw herself as herself, Spike saw her as that once so generous and friendly ivory coated unicorn.

It was the perfect deception in the eyes of the unicorn who began to grin even deeper and a whole lot more unsettling. "Is that now then?" she spoke up in that sensual tone to him after the laughter had died itself down. The one visible sapphire blue rimmed eye looked straight into his own and the shivers of fright just traveled down the spine of the dragon.

"Yeah! You are everypony but Rarity!" Spike returned to her as he got over his fears. Yet he also did another step closer to her.

"Stop, right, there. Or the guards might be coming in and trust me, you don't want to meet them. They are a little bit brainless and attack everything that comes close to me." Rarity said to him as if she tried to save him. It was of course a lie as she wanted to keep him off of her just to make sure the facade wouldn't be broken too soon. She wanted to have her little bit of fun with the mind of the dragon. Fun for her, torture for him.

"Hmpf, fine then. As long as you tell me the truth! What's going on here?" Spike demanded from her as he pointed a finger right to her. But the unicorn herself just released a couple chuckles in response as she continued to look over to him with that smirk.

"You truly are one blind little dragon, now aren't you little Spikey Wikey? Has it never been told to you, that you need to be looking through to the bigger picture of events? Maybe then, you could have realized that you were just another piece in the chess game of kings and queens. Or in this case, queens and princesses."

"No, you can't, you didn't…just said that!" Spike spoke up as he did a couple steps away from her. Not a single fiber in his mind could have believed the words that she just had spoken to him.

"Oh, but I just did little Spikey. You see, Chrysalis isn't involved in this. Quite frankly, this is all my work."

"What?!"

"Get him!"

Without warning from any side did two of the savaged shadow stallions jump out of their hiding places in the room and managed to get a hold of the baby dragon. He was held tightly in their hooves and Spike didn't even dare to look any other way then straight ahead. For the eyeless freaks that they were, were intimidating enough on their own. If he only know just what kind of monster Rarity herself happened to be. For the danger still hadn't past for him. If anything, it had just began.

"Why, why are you doing this Rarity?! What are these things anyway?!" Spike yelled at the mare as he wanted to get the answers from her preferred sooner than later. But as always took the mare her sweet time with getting to the reply for him. She broke the pose she laid in and rolled over to the other side of the bed before she stood up from it with a grin.

Her tail gave itself a slightly revealing flick before her flanks were turned towards him. With a couple steps made in a heart melting pose, she eventually stood before the dragon in a sideways position. Her head had locked itself over to his eyes as the horn charged itself up to make the biggest reveal of his entire lifetime. "Because, little dragon of worthlessness, you all did things to me a long time ago. Things that forced me to change the course of my life. For better or for worse might be discussed, but I call it better. As for what they are, they, are my pets."

"W-What did we do to you then?! You were the one who disappeared from the face of the lands without a trace!" Spike pleaded in the hope that she would come back to her senses a little bit. But the hope truly wasn't there as the horn charged itself up.

The charges that were released would be removing the fog from his head, showing him just how the real Rarity looked there and then. Slowly was the shield shattered into nothing more than just an broken illusion. His green rimmed eyes looked at the nightmarish unicorn and he couldn't believe a single thing of what he saw in them. "No…this is impossible! You can't be her, you can't!"

But Nightmare Rarity simply placed a hoof upon his mouth and shushed him silent. The hoof itself though, was never removed as her one visible eye looked at his. The other one was being blocked by the massive forest of purple and white hair. "I'm going to make you an offer here. An offer that you can't refuse. Do you understand that what I'm saying right here?" the queen spoke up to him.

In response gave Spike her only a silent nod which caused her to grin like the devil she was.

"Attention! Princess on deck!" the voice of a stallion was shouted over the deck of one of the two massive airships that the royals had under their personal control. The princess of the night nodded to the ponies who were standing on deck and they all came at ease.

"What I'm going to be asking of each and every one of you, is something that shall be sailing against the policies made by our laws centuries ago but it has to be done now. Or we will never get the chance again. Captain, if you would please inform the man, I'll be at the helm." Luna spoke up to the sailors first before she turned herself over to the pony who shouted the words in the first place.

"Of course your highness," he simply returned to her before taking a step forward and his eyes looked over every last pony before him. Luna just stepped away and went up to the stairs to get to the helm of the vessel where she simply would be standing until it was time for action.

Action that would determine either her sister right or her right. She just hoped in the fact that it was her who would be pulling the ropes out of the right end there. For the little dream walk with Twilight wasn't forgotten one bit. "Time to put the theories to the test." Luna spoke to herself before her eyes looked over to the skies above her.

The blue rimmed eyes of the lunar princess gazed over the lands below as the ship had gone airborne and the crew had been informed in just what they were about to be doing. Some of them had the urge to argue against both the captain and the princess but the plans was seemed to be one hundred percent safe for them. Even though the crew didn't seem to be trusting it, they continued upon doing their jobs on the massive flagship of the lunar air-navy.

The wonderful vessel soared through the skies high above Canterlot and the ponies upon the ground couldn't be believing the sights that they saw passing by. Something about such a massive airship captured their imagination perhaps more than anything else in their entire lives. Even in the bright light of the sun had the Crescent Moon left a series of honorable shadows upon the ground.

A vessel that was propelled forward by a set of massive engines while it was all attached to a massive balloon like structure. And below all of that was the hull of a three masted, war frigate typed seaworthy vessel. Wars could be waged in both the skies and on the water if Luna wanted to. Though the vessel itself was more used for parades and things the like with all of the decorations it carried.

The time that it went out that day was actually one of the very few times that the ship itself had left the docks in over a millennium. A vessel with a shadow that imposing and so silent gliding through the air that it could only be dwarfed by the literal sister ship it had. The war ready, heavily armed pride of the celestial navy. Luna's vessel was more of a stealth fighter for hit and run tactics while her sister' could protect the entire borders of Equestria with just one full broadside salvo of magical cannon-fire. A thing that was usually just done for ceremonies. Yet it also had a deeper and perhaps more sinister meaning to it.

That the ship was still in use and forces that wanted to oppose Equestria should be getting past those two vessels at first. Usually that would have been more than enough for any force to stop any attack, even thinking about it. An efficient warning system hidden under the words of ceremony.

The eyes of Luna were set to wage a war of her own if she needed to be doing that. She knew the how's, the why's and the when's. It was just that she needed to get the little if's out of the way before she would be doing anything radical in her position. Though in her heart she knew that there was just one way that it could all be ending.

The vessel turned itself to starboard side to float over the cliff and into the canyon Canterlot was built in to continue its journey. The lunar princess took a deep inhale as she allowed all of the scents to be entered in her nose before they were released as a deep exhale. The sailor who stood at the helm, not even five hooves away from the princess, heard the things loud and clear and carefully looked upon her with a worried expression clearly visible upon her face.

"It's nothing sailor, just the fact that I haven't smelled this air in a long time. But it's good air, I give them that." Luna replied just before she cracked him a gentle smile.

The sailor became a little bit relieved from her words but the doubts never seemed to be going away at all. "If you say so admiral," he replied to her before concentrating himself again for the deeds that were going to be done. They all knew the heading and they all know the plan of attack and defend. They could only pray upon their lives that the little scheme that the princess had come up with was something that would be working like a charm, otherwise some wouldn't come back from the trip.

"Admiral, if I may be so bold to speak up, what it is that you want to achieve by going over those woods? I mean, we have always had this strict policy of not flying over them. It, it has to do with the recent events now doesn't it?" the stallion at the helm spoke up without even making eye contact once to the lunar princess.

"You are totally correct, this is all done in response to the recent events and I'm quite aware we weren't allowed to be doing that. But it isn't going to stop me if it means I can safe somepony dear to me. This mission shall determine our approach on everything. But the important part has to be the fact that you need to get her before the woods. Not, over it. That's when the fun begins for everypony." Luna replied almost like a stone cold strategist. And in the moment of time she happened to be just that.

Calm sailing for the vessel was the thing that laid ahead before them. The princess herself on the other end remained calm upon her spot next to the helm. She looked over the lands they went over before her eyes returned to the deck and just looked over the crew-members doing their jobs. Everything seemed to be going just as she had planned it out. It was the only way she had planned it out. But the most dangerous part of the entire operation still had to come. "We're approaching White Tails. Pull on the breaks! Lay her steady in the air and make sure we don't drift over the woods! I don't want more casualties than needed."

Her stone cold but demanding tone was something where not even the captain of the vessel could be doing something again. She was the boss of everything and they only had to obey her orders.. Even though he didn't necessarily like the way she handled things, he hadn't made a name for himself in the navy by disobeying an order given by one of the princess. "Do as she says, prepare the longboat! And pray on your dear little lives," he added on his own as a small group of six stallion in uniform walked down the steps to go below deck and disappeared from the sight of the two of them.

With the sun visible and not a cloud in the skies around them was the bow in the perfect position to make the observation of the events to come. Which was exactly the place where Luna then headed for. She didn't spoke a single word as she was concentrating herself deeper than ever before in order to make certain that no lives would be lost in the upcoming battle. "Pray on the fact that I'm wrong here captain. For if not, there's going to be a heavy price that's going to be paid by all of us," the princess spoke up as she reached the bow of the vessel and noticed just how the captain had actually darted right behind her.

"You sure this is the only way of doing the things you wanted to know? I mean, you could just send an squadron of the Wonderbolts, right?" he replied to her as Luna rose herself up on her hindlegs and placed her fore ones over a wooden beam to get en even better view. It was in that moment that she was among the very first ponies out there, to realize just what had been happening in the woods of White Tails.

For it was just unable to be seen from the ground levels but with the elevation that the vessel had was it clearly visible. The tower of the dark crystal domain was right in sight for the princess. Not even she could believe the facts that her eyes saw. Everything she had been thinking about prior to that that time was just dumped back into a bin in her mind. New plans were needed and fast. If they had such a tower, they would have been warned long before the vessel even docked. "How did I miss that?" she whispered to herself. The tower was clearly in sight of her eyes yet somehow she seemed to have missed it. Somehow there had to be nothing else but a, "perception filter, oh she's good." Luna added softly as she knew what was going on and released a small smirk of admiration rather than horror.

"Ready the longboat! They need to get out now!" the princess of the night spoke up and the captain gave her a salute. But little did he knew was that her voice also went through the decks to the hatches of said longboats.

The six sailors who sat in the smaller vessel tried their utmost best to get their nerves under control but nothing seemed to be just what it was and that was a little fact that worried them all more than anything. They could only hope and rely on princess Luna from that point on. But whether or not that was a good thing to be doing, none of them truly knew.

"So this is going to be it then eh? Live or die in a longboat to find something out. Had hoped for a more, interesting death, if you know what I mean," one of the sailors spoke up and all of the others did understood the position where he came from. They had also seen and heard the unicorn on the moon of course, but they never actually wanted to believe the sheer fact that such a creature lived among their lands.

And then came the call for them. The call that the hatches needed to be opened they would be left out on their fate. The wooden hatches opened themselves up from below the longboat before it plummeted a couple dozen hooves downward to clear itself from the mothership. With the balloon filled with air and the engine running were they on their own from that point on.

The sun shone brightly in their faces as they steered towards the woods of White Tails to discover whether or not Luna's suspicions would be confirmed or denied. None of them wanted to do the job of course but they had to as they were chosen by the alicorn herself. Silence was the emotion that dominated the entire longboat. All of them knew what they needed to be doing and what was expected from them.

Yet that didn't took away that they were frightened for their lives. Looking down over the edge of the longboat and thus straight into the never ending fog. A fog that seemed to be calling them even from up there wasn't that much of a good idea either.

Even at the altitude they were cruising there was just something that seemed to be terribly wrong. Somehow the reach of the fog was higher than anypony could have expected. Though they weren't going mentally insane as those who actually walked among it. Yet it was more than enough to give each of them the living creeps. The mission had become even worse for them all there and then and the real thing still needed to begin.

"Look there, a tower," one of the sailors who had taken his position upfront called out and even pointed towards it. As all the others looked at it and they instantly knew trouble would be hitting them. Yet the only thing that could and should be done was to continue their orders. Slowly was the floating longboat steered towards the tower as the silence overtook everything once more. Silence of the dead, a graveyard made even more noise outside of the burning fires and the occasional creaking of the woods.

And then they all heard it. That signature blast of a cannon that was going to be used to sink an air and naval ship. "Incoming!" was shouted across the longboat. Though they had nothing to defend themselves. They were literally just sitting ducks that would be taken out with just one shot. And the worst part, each of the six stallions knew exactly that. They wouldn't live to sail another day. That little trip over the woods of White Tails would have been their last one.

"Gentleman, it has been my honor!" was shouted across the boat before they all hunkered down and braced for impact. Fear and fright took over as their hearts raced in their chests and throats, everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. But the worst part had to be the fact that they heard the shot coming closer and closer to them. In those final moments before impact, time seemed to have just stopped for each of them while they were still counting down until their own deaths.

But that was something that never seemed to be happening. Something that caught them all by surprise. There was something that just wasn't right. They should have been dead by then. Something seemed like it was protecting them. And then it fell straight in their ears. The deafening blast of the cannon salvo into the longboat. Yet there was something off as the sounds seemed to be not around them but actually further away from them.

One of the sailors dared to open up one of his eyes and the wood it caught was a lot brighter, wider and even sturdier. "What in..?" he mumbled to himself before he rose up and had a better look over his surroundings. With the sights that he got presented within his eyes, it all just seemed to be so unbelievable. He couldn't have ever thought to see the things again. And finally was the princess herself caught in his eyes. Her horn still smoking from a massive spell and all of the puzzle pieces suddenly fell upon their places.

"Oh now this is just too great, isn't it? Boys, you ain't gonna be believing this, but we're still alive! All thanks to the admiral herself!" the stallion spoke up in a tone of genuine joy and relief that the troubles they had been gone through laid finally behind them all.

Luna on the other end had she continued to be looking to the sinking longboat as it was shot out of the skies with just one burst of magic. "Powerful, can't be any of them. Must be the host. This was an interesting observation for certain. But that's all I can say captain," the mare spoke up before she turned her head over to the stallion in uniform.

"Turn her around, I've seen more than enough for now. I need time to think about this." Luna spoke up before her eyes turned themselves back to the woods. "Lots of it."

The captain himself nodded with relief to her words and he turned himself over to the crew. "Lads! We're going home! Bring her about and full speed dead ahead!"

Time kept coming and going as if nothing could be stopping it. The only force where the ponies of the land had not a single word to say over, the power of time itself and everything it stood for. True that it could be altered to ones believes but it always continued to be going just the way that it loves to be. Unchained, uncaptured, unrelented.

And it was that time, that had been going by for a week since Spike had been captured within the domain of the unicorn herself. During that single week was each pony in the land once again treated with the sights and laughter of the nightmarish unicorn herself. Though for that same amount of time they had been explaining the entire situation to Emerald himself and they had been training themselves harder than ever. It would have been their time to shine and they knew it. If there was a way to get Rarity back, they would have to be going straight into the woods of White Tails and sniff her out.

A plan of insanity it perhaps might have been but all of the ponies oddly enough seemed to have been able to be living with. Almost everypony was certain to get Rarity back one way or the other. The only one who seemed to be having doubts on his own, was the only stallion of the company. Time and time again had Twilight found him standing on the balcony of their hotel, pondering his mind while looking to the moon with disbelief.

It was a little something that she understood perhaps more than others of their group. He was a normal stallion with problems in the underworld, a location none of them ever had gone to personally and he wasn't used to suddenly became the savior of the lands. Twilight and her friends being the elements of harmony had caused the mind of the stallion to be crashing left and right.

On one night, the night before they would be leaving back to Ponyville specifically, it was that time again. Something caused the mulberry mare to wake up in the middle of the night and she left her bed with a bit of a still sleeping brain. Yet the cold air of the balcony door that had opened itself was something that woke her up almost right away. The eyes of the unicorn opened themselves a bit wider before they were being rubbed by a foreleg.

"Wazz was zhat?" the voice of Rainbow spoke up as she seemed to be waking up from the cold. Yet before Twilight could even make a reply to it was the pegasus snoring once again like she always did. A little sigh in relief was made by the mulberry unicorn before she finally went to the balcony door and and slipped through it, closing it a bit more behind her.

"Was wondering where you stayed. Seems to be a recurring theme don't you think? Us two standing here below the light of the moon, looking over the Crystal Empire." Emerald chuckled softly to himself before he shook his head with a deep sigh. There was still something that had been questioning him the whole time he had been with the mares. A question that was asked almost every single night and the answer would always have been the same.

"Twilight, if I have to believe your words, then answer me this for once. How could a mare like Rarity turn into something like that monster we be seeing upon the surface of the moon?" The unanswerable question was asked once again to the mare who released a deep sigh to herself as she tried to formulate an answer different than the ones given through the rest of the week.

The eyes of the stallion turned themselves away from the scenery and they focused themselves upon her. Their calm gaze comforted the mare a lot more then she would later would have wanted to admit for certain. "I wish I could have the definitive answer on that one Emerald, I really wish. But I can only assume that, after the elements of harmony purified Luna, that it didn't destroy the essence that formed Nightmare Moon. Somehow, it managed to be seeing itself right inside of Rarity's mind, before it took control of her body and soul. …Or, perhaps even more crazier, the fact that she's still a captive by some unknown force that ravages through the land. Using her image, to remain hidden from the light of everything."

Those words alone caused the stallion to be slightly terrified as a visual shiver traveled down the spine. Something about her words had spooked him more than he would have preferred. "Still…I hope you are wrong on both occasions really. No offence but this, this is just a little bit over my head, if you catch my drift," he replied to her before feeling the warm leg going over his back. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it, it's tough for us all really. We all just can't believe that it is Rarity who's behind all of this. Or we can only assume that it is her." Twilight replied to him with a small smile upon her face. "Come, we need to get some sleep before we catch the train tomorrow." With those words did the stallion release a small exhale through his nose before went with the unicorn back inside.

Hours passed by and in the morning of their departure, every last pony was doing their best to get their things together but Pinkie Pie seemed to be having a little bit of troubles left and right to get everything back in her suitcase. Only with the help of Rainbow Dash and Applejack did they manage to get everything inside of it and they were ready to hit the road for the station of the Empire.

"…Just out of curiosity, but, does it always go like that?" Emerald asked as he and Fluttershy were the last two ponies in the convoy. The yellow coated mare looked at him before she gave a small giggle and a nod.

"Yes it does. But you'll be getting used to it eventually actually."

"How long did it took you then?"

"Oh what was it..?" Yet then she just fell silent from him and turned her looks forwards again. Unsure whether or not he had offended her in any way, Emerald decided it was perhaps better for him to keep shut as well and just walk with the mares towards the station.

With a small walk across the street had the ponies all arrived at the station before they boarded themselves in the train that would be going to Canterlot with making the curve at Ponyville. Their home and stop, but also the last major town before the woods of White Tails divided the land.

All six of the ponies settled themselves down in their private compartment and the chattering began. The subjects were the usual ones about the weather, the train and the station. All of those little things to keep their minds off of the facts about Rarity herself. Though in the back of their heads, they all knew they couldn't just press her back into their minds. Even Emerald Masquerade had to almost constantly think about the mare in question.

Twilight's theory of her being a captive as well by some higher force still caused the shivers to travel down the spine. Though nopony could be truly noticing it as the train started to come to live. Slowly it started to pull them off of the station and unto the open railroad.

The trip in the train was just as the one they had before. It was long and boring to their hearts content. Something about it just didn't even made them care for the view anymore. Mostly because it was the same for about two third of the trip. The only change of scenery would be when the train would be going around the woods of White Tails themselves. That change from open countryside and the occasional town they soared through to the dense fog covered forest did offer a lovely change.

For most of the way were each of the friends just sunken in sleep to prepare themselves for their arrival back in Ponyville itself. Or they were thinking about just how they would be returning Rarity with them. Leaving the mare behind was not an option whatsoever and each of them knew that. They would return with the mare dead or alive. Of course they hoped to be taken her alive. Twilight and Fluttershy were two of the actual few who had made the decision to read through some of their books that they had taken along for the trip and Emerald himself, he simply looked out of the windows to the scene.

It was oddly calmly for him. Just that never ending countryside before they rushed through a town or two. The sights that he saw were peaceful and happy. It was also something that got him to think perhaps more than he originally would have liked in the first place. Thoughts his debt in the Manehatten underworld was going to be paid one way or the other. Perhaps through some massive luck would he have been able to get the mares to actually help him in the deed.

Yet the idea was really far fetched even for him to come up on it. His emerald green rimmed eyes continued to be staring out of the window before his head was gently placed upon it and closed his eyes for the moment. Before the stallion even knew it, he had fallen into a deep sleep with a gentle snore that made the mares giggles a little bit the first time they heard it.

Thundering down the tracks that laid before it had the train caught up with its speed more and more before it was eventually lowered again. The turn to Ponyville was next and going through that with a crashing speed was about the last thing anypony would have liked. So coming in at almost a snail's pace before the train stopped on the station and that final push of the brakes caused the stallion to wake up from his slumber and blink a couple of times.

His eyes readjusted themselves to the sight that they saw and a deep exhale was made through his nostrils. "So, Ponyville, we meet again," he mumbled to himself before the bags were all taken from the luggage compartment and each of the mares left the train slowly. One by one they all appeared on the station itself before they made the decision to go to the Golden Oak Library first before unpacking, if not adding to the packages.

But as the company walked through the town, one pinkish purple coated unicorn mare seemed to be galloping towards them. "Twilight! Twilight!" was called out. And in response did the mulberry unicorn rose an eyebrow as she didn't have a clue just who the pony could have possibly been. It was only after she had given her eyes the time to look better that the realization of Pearl, Rarity's mother, was coming straight for her.

"W-What's the matter? Something wrong?" she questioned Pearl immediately she came to a standstill and looked her deep in the eyes. "Catch your breath, then tell me everything that happened, alright? Girls, you can go to the library, Spike will be there."

"That's the problem!" Pearl suddenly shouted as it caught everypony's attention.

"H-How do you mean that? What happened?" Twilight replied as she became frightened herself.

And then the story was being told. The story that Sweetie Belle and Spike went camping somewhere along the lines of the woods and that Spike never made his return from them. It was a story that caught each of them by a massive surprise. Each of them, except Emerald himself. Who on his own turn, looked into the eyes of Pearl.

"So this has become more than just one rescue mission, it has become two. Listen up everypony! We go to the library, pack our gear and then had to the same location where Sweetie and Spike entered the woods. We can only hope everything is alright with him," the mulberry unicorn spoke up before they all turned themselves over towards the library with determined looks.

Yet the only one who wasn't truly ready for it all, was Emerald Masquerade himself. Him and Pearl continued to exchange the looks with one another before finally the light bulb in the mare her head is turned on. "Impossible that it's you! Emerald?"

The stallion nodded to her words before he released a soft sigh in response and broke the eye contact just for a moment. "The one and only, miss." Emerald then spoke up with a small smile below his muzzle and a blush over his cheeks.

"I could slap you for the pain you caused my daughter back then, but she got over it just like yourself I presume. So it's water under the bridge shall we say. Which then leaves me, with this. Why, are you here and how have you been?" the mother of the ivory coated unicorn spoke up as she wanted to know the more finer details about the life of the stallion.

Where she thought to be getting answers was the opportunity to speak to the concerned mother never given to the stallion as Rainbow Dash herself interfered with the both of them. "Sorry Emerald, Rarity's mom, but chatting can be done later. We're a little in an emergency here, remember?" Suddenly both of their eyes went wide as they realized just why they were being brought over there and nodded to the words of the pegasus. "Thank you." Rainbow then added in an oddly polite tone before she just dragged the stallion along with her.

The only thing that was left for them six to be doing was to get the location from Sweetie Belle and travel down to that exact spot before facing perhaps the greatest menace that the land had ever seen and stood up against. And among them, that one stallion who wouldn't even be having an idea of what would be happening or has already happened. Haste and speed be on their side, not to mention Twilight's teleportation spell. Which was exactly the thing she used to get to the point as fast as she could.

One massive flash of raspberry colored magical aura was given off before the six ponies were teleported upon the grass just outside of the camp where the filly and the dragon had been spending the night under the stars. Each of them began to rub their heads with the feeling of being dizzy and nauseous. Though when a small headcount was being done by Twilight, whose horn was actually still discharging itself, she noticed that one pony was missing. One pony who they needed very, very much.

"Anypony seen Emerald?" she asked to the four of them. All of the eyes suddenly went wide before they started to look around if they could be seeing just where on earth that stallion had been going to. But they were all out of luck. That was until they heard a splashing sound from water and a deep inhale to be taken.

"I'm okay! I'm okay!" the voice of Emerald echoed through the air before all of the mares turned themselves over to the small creek. Which apparently was big enough for a pony to drown in if done right. "No need to, to worry about old me," the stallion chuckled up before he coughed a couple of times and shook his head. Twilight nodded to the words while Fluttershy started to look after him in case something did went wrong. And with that she meant critically wrong.

"That's it, keep coughing until the water is out, then try to speak again." Fluttershy said to him as she patted him on the back a bit harder than usual to get him to cough even more. Which was working like a charm as every last drop of water that had entered the both of his lungs was being removed from it. "Take as long as you need."

Meanwhile had Twilight calmly walked a bit closer to the original campsite and smirked a little bit towards it. She seemed to be happy with the way everything was set up and left. "Girls, we are going to build our camp right here. Just set up the tents and we'll be fine. We're this close, and I need to go in there as soon as possible."

"Don't you mean we, Twilight?" Rainbow corrected her with a sharp tone to her voice before she started to unpack parts of her saddlebags and gave them to Applejack who tried to make cheese out of the whole mess that was going to be the massive tent.

"No Rainbow, I really mean myself for this one time. She has taken something even more dearer to me, than any of you. She didn't just took my assistant, it felt like she took…my son." Twilight replied to each of them after she had turned herself and looked each of the ponies in the eyes one by one. And of them, saw just how much the fires burned in her heart to get the dragon back.

"I, I understand where you're coming from Twi," the cyan coated pegasus mumbled up before she retreated herself into the business that she was supposed to be doing and let the unicorn be for the moment. The unicorn herself simply nodded to Rainbow Dash before she turned herself back around to the fog and carefully charged up the horn before mumbling words to herself. Words spoken in the ancient tongue of the unicorns and nopony even dared to interrupt her again until she spoke to them first.

Minutes simply past into hours before the mulberry unicorn finally turned herself around. The afternoon was late and the sun was already setting. "Listen up, oh, nice work with the tent there." Twilight spoke up as she caught the massive tent in her view and smiled to the builders. "Anyway, with the little daylight that we're having, it's too dangerous to actually go into it right now. So what we will be doing, is that we are going tomorrow morning. At first light, I want every last one of you up and ready to go. The concentration of magic that is hidden within this very fog is higher than I thought it would be. I am able to create a shield that will allow us passage, but we need to stick together."

"And, if we don't?" Emerald asked up as he had not even the slightest of clues just what was exactly going on there and then.

Twilight walked up to him with a deep sigh released through her nostrils before she stood still before him and just spoke the truth. "You'll go mad by your fears and frights. The magic surging through that fog is powerful. Powerful enough to drive every, living, being, insane just by their frights. Not enough to kill them physically. But more than enough to make them go braindead."

"Understood." Emerald whispered before the dinner was being prepared. The mood tried to lighten itself up and Pinkie did her utmost best but it just wasn't any use for it. They all knew the urge of the situation and how they would perhaps be able to make it. The time of jokes and chatter was over. They were beyond the point of no return and each of them, knew that deep in their hearts.

The ponies all laid in the tent and shut their eyes for the upcoming night. But whether or not they would actually be able to sleep was something that each of them had to be witnessing there and then. They hoped but didn't actually expected.

"This, this is odd. This wasn't here yesterday and I don't get any readings from it either. As if it, wants us to come there," the voice of Twilight mumbled into Pinkie's ears as she was woken up by them. Curiosity struck the mare more than anything and she left her stretcher to go and look for Twilight.

Who she found oddly enough, by the fog of the forest together with something else. An opening that seemed to be leading them straight into the pits of the devil. "You're talking about that, aren't you?" the pink coated earth pony spoke up before Twilight gave off a simple nod.

"Yes," she then said and turned herself around. The horn discharged itself as the looks in her eyes only became sterner. "It's not right. No magic in the opening nor the barrier of it. As if it is inviting us to enter. Shall we risk it Pinkie? Going in there and hope we come to the right location?" Twilight spoke up in a tone that was filled with uncertainty. Yet in her mind she had made the decision for a long time already. It was an open invitation that could be turned into a trap instantly, that much she knew for certain.

"Do it Twilight, we have to go. It's better than wandering through that fog by ourselves right? I mean…"

"I heard you Pinkie, I heard you. Rally the girls and the stallion. We're going in." Pinkie Pie gave a nod in response before she did what was asked of her and not even ten minutes later, each of the ponies was wandering through the tunnel carved out in the fog itself.

All of them felt themselves truly uncomfortable but the worst was still to come for each of them. Even though the fog didn't seem to be having an effect upon the six ponies, Fluttershy still felt herself as if they were being watched by somepony, or something perhaps.

Taken by surprise from that already had the yellow coated pegasus made the decision not to say anything about it as it could have been perhaps just something her eyes had mistaken from trees. If she only had listened to her brain, instead of her heart. Yet the biggest surprise came when they reached the dark crystal structure. "W-What's this?" Emerald asked to Twilight with concern coming from almost every single angle of his voice.

"Looks like, this is the end of the line. But the structure looks like it can be used by Sombra himself. So that makes me question…could he behind it all along?" Twilight mumbled up to herself before she turned herself back around to face each of the ponies. All of their faces filled with questions but perhaps more important, was the fact that the tunnel behind them had been closing itself.

The mulberry coated unicorn blinked a couple of times in response to it. She couldn't believe it that it was happening and she turned herself back around to face the structure. "And this is the final station before the trains are being shut down for the night."

All six of the ponies were standing completely baffled before the structure in the woods as they didn't knew what to think any more about it. Not to forget the fact that the walls had been closing in behind them. Which rendered the only way they could be going was none other than forward. They were just getting that much closer to the truth behind the unicorn and everything around it. Finally they would have been able to physically see the biggest picture of it all. They could even ask the unicorn just what happened if she's able to reply.

Some of them had already given up the hope that Rarity would be letting something go, they wouldn't be surprised if she turned out to be some kind of bride to the spirit of Sombra who on his own turn used her for his own sickening ends. If only that were the truth was just that simple.

"Shall we, you know, get in?" Rainbow Dash said as she was really eager to actually find out the truth but also was a little bit cautious with everything. She had the feeling that would be traps along the way without a doubt. She just didn't knew where to look or what to do. Everypony pretty much agreed with her, as the things seemed to be safer on the inside then on the outside.

Twilight and Fluttershy had so their own thoughts about it. "Can't we just, uhm, turn back around and wait in the camp?" the shy voice of the pink maned pegasus spoke up before Applejack and Pinkie Pie looked at her with a rather serious look upon their faces. They couldn't actually believe that she was proposing that, while they were standing literally at the brink of the discovery of a lifetime.

And yet it was Twilight herself who ran past all five of them and charged up her horn to do some readings of the fog itself. Silence was the sound that took over each of them as none of them even actually dared to stand up against Twilight and speak against her when it came down to word and deed. "This is bad, this is very, very bad actually." Twilight mumbled as she continued to point her horn into different directions.

"What is it Twi?" Pinkie asked as she wanted to know the finer details of the set. "It's something bad, isn't it?" All of the other ponies then looked at her with a look as if she was actually serious. The only response they got out of her was a gentle squee before the attention was turned back to the mulberry mare.

"Oh yes it is bad. This is terrible even. I think that, that we're stranded here." Twilight spoke up after she had turned herself around to face the others and discharged her horn. "The pathway we followed to here is basically gone like the wind. Something, somewhere took it away and it is all replaced with the stuff around us. From which I have the feeling that it isn't going to be staying like this either. I'm afraid, we have to go in."

"And ya can't fancy a teleport outta here?" Applejack then spoke up as she seemed to be one of the few ponies who actually had a good idea during that time.

In response did Twilight shook her head. Applejack released a small groan before the unicorn spoke the words. "No, this magic is strong and I do not know what it does. For all I know, it can zap us straight back and scatter us across the woods. And I'm not taking the risk to be split Applejack. Now, move it."

With the command that given to each of them did all of the ponies carefully approach the archway that would be leading them into the domain. Straight into the lair of the mare who had been orchestrating all of it. Twilight herself was the last pony to be entering and before she went, her eyes meant to be seeing something in the fog. She brought herself to a halt in order to look at it better for a second or two before the revelation was made.

"They shot it down, they just, shot it down," she whispered to herself as she looked at the remains of the longboat from the Crescent Moon. Disgusted by the loss of lives would Twilight turn her head away and then just continued to proceed forward. Only to be rejoining herself by the group. "Sorry, something caught my attention, longboat of one of the royal air-ships got shot down and just lays there." Twilight mumbled to Applejack in a whisper. Who on her own turn looked over to Twilight with an expression that she couldn't believe the facts for herself.

"Say what again?" the cowgirl spoke up in returning before she shook her head a little bit. "Actually, keep it to yarself partner. Ah don't wanna know what's going on here to begin with."

"Now that makes two of us," the unicorn replied as she released a small sigh through her nostrils and looked up at the structure once again. Just the outer walls that were clearly visible before they would be going into the three doorways and the tower. "My best guess, up there."

All of the ponies looked up to see the tower just standing there in the fullest of glories as none of them could be believing something like that could even exist inside of the place. It seemed to be like the fuel for nightmares, which was the actual intention of it. Some of the ponies -especially Fluttershy- just prayed on the fact that Twilight would be using her teleportation spell and just got them all out of there and then.

Though the present never went down as one would have liked or would have expected. The situation in which they were was indeed one of those cases where that was fully proved. Slow and gentle steps were made forward while each of the ponies looked their eyes out just at the sheer terror that the structure gave each of them. None of them could believe that Rarity could be in the place. None of them wanted to believe the facts as they were. They just weren't ready for it.

The horn of Twilight charged itself up again and she began to once again do some readings again as they passed the middle of the courtyard. Something had triggered her awareness and she wasn't happy in the least bit. Something was watching them from all the sides as they could possibly have done it. Though before Twilight could be bringing out any sound, the invasion literally happened on top of them.

Howling like the wind and groaning like the dead had the clouds of shadows and the shadow stallions made themselves apparent for each of the ponies. Almost instantly had they began to surround the six of them. Fighting wouldn't be something that would be favorable for them all but they wouldn't go down without trying.

The magic that had collected itself in the horn of the unicorn herself was released against one of the clouds who simply avoided it like it was nothing at all. Though for some reason, after she had fired the blast from her horn, it discharged itself almost automatically. "W-What?! My magic!" Twilight explained as she desperately tried to get her horn charged up again but whatever she tried, it wouldn't help one bit.

The six had been taken by surprise and they formed a circle facing each of the nightmare forces in a split second. Applejack smirked a little bit as her head gently turned itself to the stallion in the middle. "Welcome to our world, mister Masquerade. Time to show, what yar made of. Here they came y'all!" the cowgirl spoke up as she narrowed her eyes a little bit and prepared herself. She prepared herself for the trouble that would be coming next.

Each of the girls did exactly the same and much to everypony's surprise had even Fluttershy readied herself for the upcoming fight. A fight that seemed to be in the favor of the dark creatures. "Twi, what are these things?!" the cyan coated pegasus spoke up as her eyes kept on going from right to left.

"If I only knew Rainbow. Not even I know anything about these things! But here they come!" Then it just happened, the assault on the six of them had begun and was going literally in the fullest of forces. Clouds of shadows were being used to distract the six of them before the shadow stallions tried to get a hold on each of them.

The nightmare forces switched every so often between their shapes to throw even more confusion into the mix. The six ponies wouldn't even been able to hit one of the forces due to their non-physical connection to the world.

"Ah don't think, these things, will be quitting on us, soon." Applejack brought out as she was exhausted from the fighting with the mysterious entities. Everything seemed to be going wrong in her eyes. Yet before she even knew it was she taken by the shadow stallions and dragged over to the side line. There was another group of other shadow stallions who would be holding her in place.

No response ever came to the words of Applejack but the actions were repeated every so often to get a new pony to the side line. Until eventually even Twilight Sparkle herself was being captured and dragged away by the creatures of darkness. No hope, no faith and no luck could be saving them all from the fate that was about to come.

They couldn't help but to think that they would be executed literally upon the spot they were forced to lay down on. A thought that just about as comforting as to discovering who was really in charge of everything.

"I'm starting to think it was a major mistake to come down here." Emerald suddenly spoke up as he gave his eyes the time to look towards each of the mares. "Especially with each of you. But you Fluttershy, you still managed to convince me somehow! You're the worst of them all. Manipulative, that's the thing that you're."

"You said you wanted to live a bit!" the yellow pegasus then spoke up in her defense against him as she recalled the exact words as they were spoken at the cafe.

"And not to forget that you could have left any given second. You're here out of your free will, Emerald. Free will alone. Something inside of you kept on whispering that you should never have left whatsoever. And look at you now, living the life you wanted. …More or less." Twilight replied as she watched how terrible their situation had become.

Though it was Applejack who had to rub the words right back in his face. Being the little hothead with a short fuse that she was, the bomb had gone off in her mind as she released a deep exhale. "Listen you little vermin, Fluttershy isn't manipulative at all. It's her charm that certainly does that trick. But as Twi said, you could have bailed out any second before we got here. But yah didn't, so Ah reckon you better be keeping that mouth of yars shut because when I get loose out of these jokers their hold, it should be me who you should be fearing, am Ah clear?"

"Yes ma'am." Emerald simply replied to the cowgirl before he closed his eyes and released a deep sigh through his nostrils. Nothing in the world could have ever prepared him for the trouble he would have gotten into. Suddenly that debt in Manehatten seemed to be like a golden opportunity in his mind. Instead he was stuck there and pressed against the ground by a couple dozen nightmare forces just like the rest of them.

Yet as they simply laid down there, there suddenly was a laughter that reminded the five elements of one pony and one pony alone. There was only one mare in the known universe that had such a sickening laughter. "Nightmare Moon!" all five of them yelled up in choir as they tried to locate the very origin of the sound.

"This, this ain't happen, is it? She got, she got destroyed when we blasted her!" Applejack spoke up as she looked over to Twilight for much needed answers. But the other ponies, including Emerald, all began to speak their words before the unicorn herself could be answering the question.

"No, no, no, out of every last pony that we could have been facing it has to be her!? We're doomed I'm telling you, doomed!" Rainbow Dash almost cried out as she couldn't believe what her ears had heard.

"I wish I never had gone with the five of you! You're only good for trouble and you know it." Emerald hissed out to the five of them before he turned his eyes back over to the tower of the domain.

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie had both closed their eyes before the tears started to stream down both of their cheeks as neither of them could believe that Moon had made her return without anypony knowing. "Quiet!" Twilight yelled up as she had more than enough of all the doomsday scenarios from the ponies. "Everypony just quiet and let me think for a moment!"

It did have some effect as each of the ponies did grew silent and was either looking towards the mulberry unicorn or the location of just where the sounds came from. "Parts of her, must have survived. Pieces of her essence scattered through…oh no, no, no, no. Don't tell me that that is how it happened, everything but!"

"What is it Twi?" Applejack asked with curiosity but also frightened for her life.

"Nightmare Moon, took over Rarity's body. Forget Sombra, forget Discord, forget Chrysalis, we've never faced something like, we're about to face I'm afraid," the unicorn spoke up in a terrified tone as they both released a gulp. They then looked towards the footing of the tower of the domain. The very place where the others thought to have heard the laughter originated from. "And here, she comes."

In the doorway that would be leading towards the tower itself could the heavy sounds of hooves that landed upon the crystals be heard in the fullest of glories. The sound that made each of them even more nervous than they already were and the courage all sank deep into their own hooves. Nopony could have ever expected that the horror that they would be facing, was coming right for them.

And yet the worst fact of everything had to be that Nightmare Moon had done something to the body of Rarity. She was needed for something that could be ranging from just disrupting the balance between the elements, to things they preferred not to think about. Out of the doorway it appeared with purple flames travelling up the entire legs to the shoulder and waist. Flames that never revealed any bit of the body but did scorch the earth below the hooves.

Already were they starting to fear for their dear little lives as they saw the gem on top of a horn like structure. Bits and pieces were revealed to the ponies and that gem showed each of them that it was attached to a long looking horn. Though the lights of the fires they could make out that the body structure itself was of a made roughly the size of Celestia herself. If not just a little bit bigger for their feelings.

None of the ponies could believe just what was walking in the shadows of the tower. Even though the time was just in the middle of the day, the atmosphere seemed like it had been turned into nothing but the darkness of the night. It was an effect that none of them seemed to have notched even though it had been there since the initial attack of the nightmare forces.

"This can't be…" Fluttershy whispered up as she didn't even dare to take her eyes off of the creature. Something deep inside of her body told her that it was the thing, they had been seeing in their dreams for a long time already.

Though suddenly there was something from in between the fires that were two blobs of darkness that separated themselves from the body without leaving any visual scars or anything. Those two blobs rolled over to the six of them before they turned themselves into the two deadly commanders of the domain, Shadowfright and Shadowblood. The two of them walked up to the group with grins that gave away their teeth and showed them in the fullest of glory to the ponies.

Of course it was something to indulge even more fear into them as well as intimidation. Though all had faced the changelings on their own once, which ended up in them not being too scared for the fangs. What did do the trick though was the fact that they had the gem for their eyes. Actual and whole gems were crammed into the eye sockets. Never had they seen anything the like and could connect the dots to one another even more.

Though when Twilight began to inspect the forces that were holding each of them in their places, the lack of actual eyes finally came through to her mind. "So that means, you two are her right and left hooves," the unicorn whispered to herself as she glared over to the two commanders. Then her attention simply just returned to the figure that was still coming closer to the six of them.

Whomever it was, it did love to take it's very time with the lot of them. Any other pony that wanted to end their lives would have taken the opportunity long ago already. Yet there was one force that knew how to defy time by having spent a thousand years alone on the rock in the skies. Slowly did the pieces of the puzzle fell together for Twilight as she knew just whom it was that walked into their direction. "So we meet again, don't we?" she spoke up inaudible to herself as she decided that she was ready for the big revelation to come. She was ready to see, just who laid behind the shadows.

The two commanders returned to their places in front of the six ponies and assumed a much more regal posture. For the other pony did a step out of the tower's shadow. What was revealed to the ponies, was a leg with a very dark blue to black coat coloring indulged of course in the flames that rushed over the four legs. Then came the chest in that same coloring before the head was finally revealed.

It was in the second that it was standing in the brighter light that everything could to be identified by each of them. It was Fluttershy whose eyes opened themselves wider than anything. "It's you! The one who has been tormenting each of us in our dreams! What have you done with Rarity?! You, you witch!" she yelped out in utter terror.

The more the ponies looked at the face, the more they started to make the realization that it was indeed the mare they had seen upon the moon, and in their dreams. But Applejack still wasn't convinced one bit. She had only seen the set of eyes in her dreams. And those were closed by the mare. Though not for much longer as the words of Fluttershy caused the ears to twitch and they opened themselves in the fullest of glories.

Yet it only was to give Applejack a heart attack. "No! No, no, no, Ah won't believe this witchcraft! You ain't her!" she tried to deny to herself but the eyes were exactly the same as she saw them in her dream. "Ah wasn't dead in that dream! Ah, just wasn't!" Tears already started to crack down from below her eyes as she remembered reading the gravestone again and again.

Out of every pony had Applejack to be the only one who hadn't been able to actually process the nightmare that she had. "Ah ain't dead, and yah know it."

Then the biggest surprise of them all came, as the unicorn herself spoke up in the mixture of tones. One that belonged to Nightmare Moon herself, while the other obvious one they could make up, belonged to nopony else then Rarity herself. "So, so, so, you little fillies and colt finally have figured out the events, hm? But trust me, you haven't even seen half of it yet and I, don't even intend to show you. You're better off dead and food for my pets than anything else after all you have done."

A smirk came to the face of the being as the chuckle was being released kept on going until the eyes of the mare had gone over each of the six ponies that were still forced to the ground. Six ponies who seemed to be unable to be doing anything against the madness that had consumed their once so beloved friend. There wasn't any doubt any more in the minds of the ponies just where Rarity had been used for in the end. Though the being herself seemed to be willing to throw in that extra little bit of turmoil for their minds. "I, am, Rarity!" she spoke up in that twisted voice before she focused her attention upon Emerald specific. "Or better said, Nightmare Rarity." Her words were then followed up by another snicker of madness.

All of the ponies just couldn't believe that their once so beloved tailor had been turned into a monster like that. None of them even could comprehend such a massive fact. One of their best friends, an element of harmony no less, turned away the light of the sun and moon and choose for the darkness of the shadows. It broke the mares their hearts. Each of them felt betrayed by something about her personality.

As if six knives have been made ready and conjured before their chest and then crammed right into it, that was the manner how it felt for the six of them. Though where the mares were heartbroken, Emerald felt himself let down, almost disappointed by her for some reason. "You, you're nothing from the mare as I remember her, Rarity! Oh yes, it's me. Say it, say my name you witch and feel the pain rushing through you again and again!"

"Emerald, no!" shouted Twilight before it was all too late for him. The attention of Nightmare Rarity had then turned itself over to him as she huffed out clouds of steam or darkness with every exhale that she did. Only then was the sheath discovered by the stallion. The very thing the mulberry unicorn herself had found not a mere two minutes before. All of the sudden had his plan to become the hero pressed right back into his hooves where it should have been in the dark unicorn her eyes.

"You have the guts Emerald Masquerade, to come with the five of them and then to command me to do your bidding? You're still the world's biggest idiot. You have your looks with you I give you that much, but that's all I'm giving you. Well, outside one another thing that is." Nightmare Rarity spoke up as she stood there with her legs still flaming like mad and kept her eyes firmly upon the stallion.

The events that happened next were an excellent learning master for Twilight. As the horn of Nightmare Rarity charged itself up within the blue colored aura was the sword taken right out of the sheath and the very tip was set upon the chin of Emerald himself. It then forced the stallion to look actually right up into the eyes of the mentally twisted unicorn. "You wouldn't have the guts to slice my throat, Rarity. Always trying to find the middle way, you were." Emerald taunted her, much to the pain of the mares.

Yet once again it was only Twilight who dared to speak up against him. "Emerald, shut it up before she really kills you! Taunting her, doesn't exactly help any of us."

"'Listen to the librarian' is something I would say, for she usually has it to the good end." Nightmare Rarity smirked to him as she kept the sword firmly in the position. "Though I suppose, that death is the other thing I can give you. All of you, shall find your deaths at my hooves. You broke me, molded me into doing the deeds I have done and now…all six of you presented before me like it's nothing. This day just keeps getting better and better for me."

The unicorn erupted out in an evil snickering of her own while the others didn't have a single clue of what she was talking about. The blade was removed from the stallion's chin while causing only a minor cut to be made before it was sheathed again to her side and the magic discharged itself. The eyes of the dark unicorn opened themselves again as she looked to each of them personally for a few seconds and growled. The expression visible within the eyes was anger and anger alone. Whatever happened, she was pissed off at somepony, if not the whole horde of ponies she was looking at. "All six of you, will find your ends quickly."

The words were spoken without any emotion in the tone and the more Twilight looked over to the mare in silence, the more she could be swearing the fact that she saw the doubt that was rushing through the mare. A doubt that she could be using to her advantage. Almost as if her personality had split itself and not for the better.

All the way in the vault of Canterlot while being hidden deep away under the city and within the mines were the two princesses looking at the elements of harmony with a worried expression. The four remaining necklaces and the tiara were irradiating unknown amounts of power towards one another as if they were clinging to each other's dear life.

Both Luna and Celestia watched over the events as they took place and thought about actually interfering with the events as they were going on. Luna actually turned herself around to grab the armor of Nightmare Moon and wanted to place it all upon her body. Yet the moment her magic surrounded the objects was the same moment when Celestia's magic made it impossible to move any of the objects.

"No Luna, I can't allow you to do that. She's too dangerous to be released by yourself. Remember the last time you became her? Remember Nightmare Night? You almost lost control again and became her again." Celestia spoke up in a truly concerned voice to her sister. The last thing that she wanted to be doing to actually punish her sister again in becoming such a dreaded force for the land. But another option other than waiting they didn't have and they both know that fact.

"Then what it is that you purpose sister? Waiting until they could have been slaughtered by her? You know that a lot of this mess could have been avoided if we had just been honest against them all and just said that Rarity had changed into a dark mare! But no, you wanted to keep your mouth shut against it and the more time you wait, the smaller the possibilities of survival became. And you know it better than I do. So I ask you again, what it is that you purpose?" Luna almost hissed in a venomous tone towards her sister. During the whole ordeal of Nightmare Rarity, it was her who wanted to be out in the fields and actually discover the truth behind the horrors that were going on.

Closer and closer she came to cracking the code but the rather unexpected call of the elements themselves wasn't a thing either of the two had expected. "You have to let me do this sister, otherwise there is not turning back from the inevitable. This, right here and now, is the beginning of the end and you know it. So I do not ask, I do not beg, I demand of you, let me go and let me do this."

Yet the celestial princess on the other end just released a deep sigh as she tried to keep her mind together and with everything that had been doing on. Something about it all didn't seem to be right but she wasn't exactly able to place her mind upon it. The thoughts raced through her mind as plans for the future were already made. A future in which the words of Luna were being ignored and perhaps, that was the biggest mistake of them all. "I deny that demand with every last fiber in my body whether I'm dead or alive Luna. This, isn't, happening. We have to let Twilight and her friends sort this out without our interference."

"Is this how you treat all of your students?! Just let them go on dangerous quests and actually cause them to be killed?! What is it with you Celestia, what is it with you that after a millennium of time, you turned from that once so loving pony who loved the whole land, into a silent dictator who hides behind a…ah, now I'm starting to see it." Luna spoke up as she discharged her horn and looked Celestia even deeper into the eyes. Suddenly had everything become clear for princess of the night and could sum it all up in just one name. "Sunset, Shimmer."

That name alone caused the alicorn of the day to lose a bit of her focus as she shook her head a little bit and then looked back into the eyes of her sister. "What do you mean, with her?" she then asked in a bitter cold tone.

"That's all I needed to know." Luna replied before she planted a kiss upon the nose of her sister and grinned like the little devil that she could be. Without making a further word or sound had she turned herself around and just started to walk away from Celestia. A Celestia who had not a single clue of the things that were going on around her anymore. Everything just went blurry in her vision and she just turned herself around to view the cabinet in which the elements were stored.

"If you only knew Luna," the alicorn whispered to herself as she didn't look to the elements themselves but actually to the glass and the reflections that could be seen within it. And one of them was that of a burned orange coated, fiery maned mare who almost erupted out in tears before she turned herself around and was lost in translation. "I'm so sorry."

"Boys! It's dinner tone!" Nightmare Rarity shouted towards the tower as she seemed to have regained every last bit of insanity that there was inside of her. Every last little piece of doubt was just gone from her mind and it was something that Twilight noticed as well. She needed to come up with a plan before the 'boys' would be appearing before them. Because most likely it would have been them that was standing on the list of dinner.

If there was one little thing that Twilight absolutely didn't wanted on that day, was to end up as food for some kind of mentally twisted servant of the unicorn. "Oh Rarity, how could you have sunk so deep in life," she whispered to herself before the eyes closed themselves for a second or two. She needed to be in a secluded area in order to get everything out of her mind to come up with a plan.

Everything she knew was used to forge the new plan with but the time was running out when she could hear the sounds of four new sets of hooves appearing before them all and the five others gasped in disbelief. There was only one thing that Twilight could be doing and that was to carefully open her own eyes to see what they were seeing.

Ever so carefully were they opened and the mulberry unicorn looked straight up into the eyes of a savage stallion. "Oh no," was the only thing that she could bring out by herself before the normal flight or fight instinct took over. The sheer looks of those hideous beings was something that terrified her more than anything. Yet there was one other thing that shot right back in her mind. One situation that she wanted to know. One thing that she needed to know more than anything else at that moment.

She would have to defy death itself if she wanted to discover it but it be in her mind and she would be getting an answer from her. "What, have you done, with my son?!" Twilight spoke up loud enough that every single pony could be hearing it including the nightmarish unicorn. It were words that caused the entire domain to fall in silence. From the clouds and shadow stallion that held each of them against the ground up to the savages and the commanders.

The head of the nightmarish queen herself turned itself over to Twilight as she still regained that look of hatred in her eyes as well as a bit of confusion. "What, son, are you talking about here Sparkle? From the things that I have gathered you always happened to be this nerdy librarian. You never even had the guts to speak to another stallion, let alone love one. So you might as well cut the act here and now. And consider your last words very, very carefully."

Though the entire time that she spoke her words, it was noticeable that the eyes of the unicorn always made that turn to the left for the mulberry unicorn. Next to her laid Emerald and almost as if they always were tracing off to him instead keeping them fixed upon her. "You know bloody well just who I mean with that you bitch! Where's Spike?!"

All of the sudden had she regained the fullest attention of the unicorn once again. That hateful glare continued to be looking at her as she huffed out another cloud of darkness. "Oh he's gone already. Deader than dead and rotting in the depths of Tartarus! But don't be saddened, you'll be joining him soon enough." Nightmare Rarity spoke up towards Twilight with an unusual honest tone of her voice.

The words and the tone were already more than enough for the mulberry unicorn to start fighting her tears against her. If Spike truly was dead then there perhaps wouldn't have been anything that she could be doing against the unicorn who had caught them. The sheer amounts of sadness that flowed through her body managed to get the upper hand and she just erupted out in tears for a good set of minutes.

Tears that were of a true sadness. The same sadness that Rarity felt when it became known to her, that her friends actually abandoned her because of her attitude. It was something that caused the dark mare to become emotionally troubled herself as well. Even though she had turned herself away from the mares, she still heard the sounds of Twilight. "Bring him, to me," she spoke up a few seconds after Twilight had ceased her crying.

They had to be strong if they wanted to survive the madness they got in. For all they had was one another and that was where they had to be doing it. The command given to get Emerald to her seemed like the best chance they had just yet. "It's time to lure her out. Emerald, try everything that you will be having to get out the real Rarity, the true one. She's still somewhere inside of it, but locked away. This, is your moment to shine." Twilight whispered as the tears still streamed down of her cheeks as she wasn't allowed to dry them off. The stallion gave her a nod as he understood the job and just after she had told him the plan, he was being pulled up and actually released. A thing that caused each of the ponies to be genuinely surprised with it.

"What makes you think I don't just run away?" the stallion asked to her as he carefully approached the nightmarish unicorn.

"They are a lot quicker than you are, so don't even think about it." Nightmare Rarity spoke up before the two were facing one another. The both of them looked into the eyes of the other deeper than ever before and all Emerald saw was indeed a being torn apart by town entities that were fighting to take control of the body.

"Suppose you trained them well," the stallion spoke up with a gentle smile as he tried to break the ice with the troubled being. Though it wasn't without any risks for his own life. If she figured out what he was doing, the plan was just gone through the roof and they would have lost everything.

"Very well indeed."

"But, Rarity, look at yourself for a moment, everything you once were is just gone, reduced to nothing but a pile of ash under your burning legs. But, remember the phoenix we had in our biology class? They always rise back out of the ashes. You, need to be rising out of the ashes sweetie. You, you still love me, don't you? Somewhere deep inside of your body, you still love, me." Emerald spoke up in a genuine sounding tone of wanting to help as well as showing compassion towards the unicorn. Two things that hadn't been shown to her in a very, very long time.

In response were the fires that still waged on the mare her legs actually lowering themselves until they were just nothing anymore. They ended up extinct from the world as a strand of mane fell before the eyes of the mare. What then followed was a gentle sniffing before a near silent cry for help was released by her. Her head actually lowered itself to the point where the two touched one another.

Emerald brought his hoof over to her cheek and gently began to stroke it in the hope to comfort her. To comfort the dark mare who realized just how wrong she had been with her deeds. "It's okay Rary, it's all okay."

The soft sobbing of the dark queen herself was something none of the ponies ever could have expected to happen. None of them even dared to dream about the facts as they were presented right before them. But they were at least getting somewhere. They were getting somewhere where they needed to be and that was something that gave each of them more hope than ever before in their time in the domain.

Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rainbow all sighed in relief to the events as they continued. They believed that he had actually done it. They believed in the very fact that Emerald Masquerade had actually gotten the real Rarity back out of the troubled mind of the beast. And it indeed seemed to be that way from their perspective. Though the things that were going on in the very mind of the dark queen herself, were impossible to actually gather a head around.

"It's all alright Rarity, let your tears just go for now. Cry everything that you want to cry." Emerald spoke up with a small smile visible below his muzzle. His genuine and honest words caused the ears of the unicorn to twitch ever so softly before the sobbing simply continued. Not even he could have ever expected the fact that it would be packing out that way.

And from stroking just her cheek he had wrapped both of his forelegs around the neck of the dark queen who held their foreheads together as if she was clinging to him for her dear life. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Emmy," the unicorn spoke up every now and then through her tears.

"It's alright Rary, we all make mistakes left and right, now don't we?" he spoke up as a response and closed his eyes for a moment. In his mind did the thoughts began to race through him and every wrong he had ever done in his life, suddenly just came back to him and everything could be pinpointed at one point in time. One point where everything went literally to hell for him.

"I should, I should have realized this sooner. You, are the one mare for me. The only one who actually managed to keep me on the straight path and, even if you can't return to your old self…I don't care. Even with these looks, you're still beautiful," the stallion spoke up in a semi truth. In his mind he also wanted to deal the final blow to literally end everything that was going on. To end the reign of the dark queen herself once and for all.

"You, you really think that Emmy?" the mare spoke up as she dared to open her eyes for a bit and stared down into his for a few moments. The stallion himself gave a nod to her as he genuinely meant his words. Yet none could actually deny it, for even in the nightmarish shape that she was, Rarity still looked as beautiful as always.

Though there were two beings who weren't particularly fond of the entire operation and let alone the crying of their queen. Both Fright and Blood had been brewing a plan to separate the two of them and let the merciless queen be the merciless queen. Though they had hoped that the savages would have taken care of him by then already but somehow those beasts remained silent. They only whimpered softly to themselves as if they felt the pain that the unicorn was going through.

"It's now or never, head on charge on him?" Blood asked almost in silence as he prepared himself to literally crash the events as they were going on. Fright didn't reply with words of his own but instead just gave a nod to them. And that nod alone was more than enough for the two commanders to 'save' their queen from the fate that he was going to give to her. A fate that she never would be seeing again ever in her life.

With two roars of powers did they charge at the mare and stallion who only had an eye for each other. They didn't even knew just what was going on around them. The two of them seemed to be like a pair of lovebirds madly in love.

"No, no, no, no!" Twilight yelled up as she realized just what the plan of the two commanders happened to be. She was one of the first to actually see it happen and caused the attention of the other four mares to be placed upon the two shadow stallions. Though none of them could be speaking a single word as they began to pray on the sun and the moon for a good ending of it all.

Both Fright and Blood continued with their charge as they had their aims for at nopony else then Emerald himself. They could almost taste his fears that laid deeply locked away in the mind if not the flesh of his body. With two more beastly roars had the charge happened and all of the mares first went wide eyed before they simply closed their eyes again in order not to watch over the scenes as they would be happening, as well as perhaps their own ending.

Yet the sounds that fell in their ears wasn't the horrible screams of a stallion in need or a queen who regained her power all of the sudden. Instead it was the very sound of something else. The sound of something bouncing off of a brick wall, or, as Twilight would be saying herself. "A magical force field. She, she placed them both…how, when?" The events couldn't be any stranger let alone the scene the mares would be looking at. For the things that they caught in their eyes was something none of them had ever expected to be seeing.

Slowly did the eyes of all the mares captured open themselves again and what they got to see within them had to be one of the most magical moments that they ever would have witnessed in their lives. For they were staring at a magical shield that was both sapphire blue and emerald green of coloring where the two shadow stallions had bounced off from.

Yet it was what was inside the shield that surprised the five of them even more. Not that alone though as both the savages as well as the commanders were just as surprised at the situation they were allowed to witness. For inside of that field were the mare and stallion exchanging a deep and powerful kiss with one another.

A kiss that had sparked the magic inside both of their body to create the shield as it was to truly just leave them alone for the time being. Undisturbed and uninterrupted did they kept on exchanging the kiss fully upon the lips of one another.

Applejack and Rainbow had to gag a little bit before they turned themselves away from the scene as they weren't particularly fond in witnessing it. Pinkie and Fluttershy on the other end had simply looked at the scene with a smile as it was just so beautiful to happen. Though the only one who managed to keep her head by the situation as it was supposed to be, was Twilight herself.

Her horn didn't irradiate any form of light or anything but it was still doing the readings in between the two of them. She wanted to be absolutely certain that whatever was going to happen -or happening even- inside of that shield, wouldn't terrible for either of them. Though the power of the shield was too much for her horn to slid itself in undetected. She needed to charge up her magic if she wanted to penetrate through it and that was just the thing that she couldn't be doing.

So the opportunity was dropped and she also started to look at the scene a little bit more with a curious eye. She never paid attention to the stallion but instead to the mare herself. Treason was still a crime that could be committed and that was the very thing she was afraid of. There always was that lingering thought inside of her mind that Rarity could and would return to the manners she had been doing on for months by then.

"Oh no…" Twilight whispered to herself as she looked in the eyes of the unicorn during the kiss for just the fraction of a second. Though before each of them could be doing anything was the kiss between the two of them broken from the mare her side and the shield allowed itself to be dropped just like that.

"Emmy…"

"Rary…"

The two of them looked into the eyes deeper than ever before and it actually made the stallion forget just why he happened to be there, not to mention he lost track of her horn. A horn who was starting to collect itself with so much magic, that Twilight was thinking Rarity would be setting off some kind of bomb. A bomb of a magnitude that would not just destroy the domain, but evaporate the whole thing within a split second.

"Love..." Nightmare Rarity started in a bitter tone towards him. A tone that got the attention of each of the ponies almost right away and they all looked once again to the mare. "Is such a dreadful bound. Yet so easily severed." Within just mere seconds had the insanity and hatred been flowing back through the eyes of the nightmarish unicorn as the stallion took a step or two back.

"W-What do you mean?! You can't, you couldn't! I, I love you Rarity!" the stallion pleaded for his dear life as even he, finally seemed to be noticing just how much power there was stored inside of her horn.

"You never loved me after high school. You let me there to crack in the gutter for all you cared! Never even a word from you, never a letter. All I had to be doing with were rumors I heard about you in the darkest parts of town. And before you open that pretty mouth of yours, I had figured out a long time what you would be coming to do here. Few here are actually that stupid. Hmpf, those five and then you? Could have meant only one thing." Nightmare Rarity spoke up in a tone that seemed to be dripping with just venom alone.

"No, no you got it wrong! …Oh who am I kidding here." Emerald spoke up before he released a deep sigh through his nostrils. "Go on then, go and end your miserable love life. Just about the best you could be doing for me to begin with. Do it then, dark mistress of all! Do it!" The tears then stood in the eyes of the stallion as he was getting more and more afraid that she would actually be doing it and eradicate him from the land of the living.

"Oh Emerald, I couldn't get rid of you even if I tried. My heart has still too many scars from you and, you know the sad thing about killing a pony? …You can only do it once," the nightmarish unicorn replied to him before her lips curled up to a smirk.

The eyes of the stallion went wider and wider as he couldn't believe what she just had said and what was actually going on. He repeated the word of no over and over against her. But none of them were actually heeded by her whatsoever. Instead he was treated with something that almost everypony within the walls of the domain had received by her. The near lethal dose of fear indoctrinating magic.

Screams of pain and agony were released by the stallion as he wanted it to stop more than anything in his life at the moment in time. The sheer pain that didn't just rush through his body but through every last vein and nerve as well. All of it was used to make him suffer a thousand deaths almost instantly in a thousand different manners. The fear of those thousand deaths made his heart race and race and race.

All of the ponies that were still held down wanted to help him so much. Yet they weren't even allowed to more a single muscle because of the shadow stallions that held them firmly in place. They could only be hoping on the fact that somewhere, she would be showing a bit of mercy. Something which she did that in one way of the word. For when the charge of the unicorn came to a hold, the horn began to smoke as the rest of the magic traveled away over her body as a static discharge.

But Emerald, after having suffered the sheer fright of a thousand terribly deaths, simply dropped to the ground and laid there unconscious. He was still alive, but literally just barely. "Fright, Blood, bring him to the dungeon and the same treatment shall be given to him like all the others. He's actually going to be, my finest prisoner," the mentally twisted unicorn spoke up with a deadly snicker of her own as the two commanders executed the given order.

They both simply just walked up to the body and took it by the legs before they carried it off. While the others simply looked away in fright of their own or simply not wanting to see the events, Twilight dared to keep her eyes open to see just where they would be bringing him.

Though the opportunity was not given as a beastly snarl was released from the unicorn herself. One that drew each of their attention right back at her. "You five, you five even had the guts to be thinking about a manner in which you could beat me, now didn't you? Well the only problem just happens to be that you are, kinda stuck remember?" The utter insanity and the overall monstrous charisma of the unicorn was something that caught them all off guard more than anything else. Yet nothing could prepare them all for the events that were still to come. "Any of you, wanting to speak some words of courage against me? Any of you actually having, the courage to speak those words?"

"Yes." Twilight Sparkle spoke up in a dead serious tone as she looked over to her friend and gave her nothing then a cutting look.

"Then go on, Sparkle." Nightmare Rarity whispered. "I'm dying to hear your words."

"You, just made the biggest mistake of your entire little and pathetic life right here and right now!" Twilight spewed out as she tried to get loose out of the hold that was placed upon her. But she wasn't done with her words yet, far from it even. Instead, she had just so much that she wanted to say against the nightmarish unicorn, that she needed to think just how she would be saying them.

"Spoken by the pony who dropped me like a stone." Rarity replied in a cold tone as she took a couple of steps closer towards the mare with a grin. "You know, you dropping me was just about the best thing that ever happened to me. Makes me think just so much more clearer right now. Including on how to bring each of you personally to an end. But go ahead Sparkle, finish the words of hatred you wanted to speak to me."

Yet none of the mares even could understand one bit of the things that the unicorn spoke about them. They never even recalled that they dropped the friendship with the unicorn. Something like that never actually happened in their books. But perhaps and especially at the time it was better to keep themselves silent until Twilight was done.

Speaking of the mulberry mare, she looked right back in the cat like eyes of the unicorn and the sheer hatred between one another was released and exchanged. "You just called upon yourself the armies of the day and night. Unstoppable when they work together and they will discover a way to get to you, and you'll be put to trial for crimes against ponykind itself. The sentence, lifelong in jail. I shall personally make sure it happens you hear me! For you, are no longer the Rarity we all knew and love to no end. No, you are something much more corrupted like that and I order you, to leave the body!"

Wheezing deeply already as she tried to fight back her own tears, Twilight gave everything that she had in her arsenal of words to dent the thick skull of the unicorn even one little bit. "I name thee, Nightmare Moon! Perish from the body you took over and never return to these lands. You have nothing to search here anymore! Never had and never will. Be gone evil spirit of darkness, find another host on a different planet. …Or get sucked into a black hole for all I care."

The words seemed to be having an effect on the other unicorn. For at the mere mentioning of the force that supposedly had taken over the unicorn did Nightmare Rarity gasp for air as she did a couple steps back before she reached for her heart. The thing that happened next within the body of the unicorn was that she seemed to be driving the dark force right out of her body.

All of the mares patiently and horrifyingly looked over to the scene as they heard bones snapping in places they should have never been and not to forget that the eyes went completely greenish blue. The pupils rolled to the back of her head which then only left those big empty voids of coloring to be stared at. It were those voids that actually scared the living daylight out of Fluttershy and Pinkie who began to scream in fear.

But then it came once more, that sickening sound where everypony had been waiting on to hear. That one sound that gave them a little bit of hope. The very sounds of the dark entity wanting to crawl out of the body of the unicorn. Yet the unicorn herself seemed to be having a set of different plans for the five of them and herself.

For the sounds died down but never did the black goo leave the mouth of the mare. Instead, she cut off the sounds that she made and grinned towards each of the mares before erupting out in a deadly snicker. A snicker that was the same as the one they heard when the figure appeared on the moon and that caused all of the doubts, to be gone. Rarity was never truly taken over by anything, she was still perfectly by her mind. "What have you become?" Twilight dared to ask as she couldn't believe the things that she was witnessing.

"I have become the thing, where Nightmare Moon failed." Nightmare Rarity simply spoke up as she returned to that smirking grin of hers. "And the five of you, should know something. Let the royals call upon their armies. I welcome them with open hooves even before I'll be crushing them. If they wanted to a war with me, they shall be getting it in threefold. But, it requires the five of you to deliver the message loud and clear to the pretty princesses."

"And what makes you think, we will just be doing that for you?! You just murdered your high school crush in cold blood!" Rainbow replied in a stone cold voice before Nightmare Rarity looked upon her with the grin still clearly visible below her muzzle.

"Oh Dashie, that is something rather simply really. Hold them perfectly still!" the mare spoke up and on the command, each of the ponies was held firmly against the ground while the charging sounds of the mare her horn could be heard again. "The five of you, will never forget the message I'm going to give you, not until you have spoken them against the princesses themselves while they give you the fullest of attention."

"But, but, but! If I may here for a moment!" Twilight explained as she tried to postpone the end more than she already had. "What did you mean by, us dropping you like a brick? You never, you never told us that. Nor what you're planning really."

The nightmarish unicorn herself released a deep huff in response to the words of Twilight. She did have a point there for certain but she also knew that telling them her ultimate plans would cause even more commotion. "Simple, I am going to succeed where Moon failed. The land shall never be shrouded in the darkness as she intended it to be. But as I intend it to be."

"And what is that?! Ultimate eclipse or something?!"

"Oh no Sparkle. Think back to your nightmares, the answer lies in them." Nightmare Rarity spoke up just before she released the charge that had been collecting itself within her horn. But in those few milliseconds before the impact, Twilight had it all figured out. All of their dreams combined created the entire picture of the unicorn not to mention, the thing they were suffering from.

"Fears and frights, that's it!" were the last words of the unicorn before she got zapped with the powerful and frightful magic of the dark unicorn.

Each of the mares received the same amount of force from the unicorn and the images they would be witnessing wasn't something to be proud of if not being pretty towards. For when the charge hit their heads, they would all be reliving the very moment in which they broke their friendship with the unicorn herself.

Helpless they all were with the exception of Twilight who had figured everything out. She was prepared for the lies to come and relieved with only a slight headache. The same couldn't be said from the others though. As each of the remaining four ponies relived that day as if it had actually happened. As if that day had actually existed. Though the only reason of just why that spell was so powerful as it was, was only due to the fact that the unicorn believed it was true.

Her element turned from generosity into fear and that was the very thing that fueled her powers. That day, that imaginary day of her friends breaking their friendship with her was the fear that fueled her and due to both Fright and Blood, the day actually seemed to have been the truth of everything. None could believe it but it felt suddenly just so natural to each of them.

Tears were being shed as some called out to Celestia and cursing her name forever as they thought that it was her who had actually deleted the entire day out of their minds. If it only was actually that simple. Yet it also showed just how feeble the mind actually was for the indoctrination techniques of the mare.

As gruesome as it seemed to be, it was something that Twilight seemed to be interested in the facts only because of the wishful thought that she could be beating it. Even though she was the only one who didn't actually believe the lies that they were being told, she still had to admit that it was a powerful piece of magic. And one that nopony should have ever learned by themselves or with the help of a dark force of some kind.

"Feel the pain you all have given me, feel the suffering that caused that pony to become this monster. Feel the hatred that is flowing through my veins and tell those good for nothing alicorns that I'll be waiting for them. I'll be the devourer of their troops, the cannon that takes out their ships. The fear of the night and day. The shadow in between everything. Nowhere is safe and nopony can hide. You five bare witness to the birth of a new power to rule this land from behind the scenes."

And then the charge was simply dissolved into nothing but just static energy again. The nightmarish unicorn released them all from her hold. One by one did the members of the elements lose their consciousness and blacked out on the spot. "Bring them back to their lousy little camp. They'll be knowing what to do from there," the mare spoke up before she turned herself around and just walked away from the ponies without saying any other word or doing any other actions.

Mercy was granted to the five of them, but what cost should they be paying the price for?

Hours seemed to have passed by before the eyelids of Twilight Sparkle began to twitch softly because of a light that was shining down upon them. The mulberry coated unicorn released a soft moan before she turned herself away from the light and felt the soft grass that she was laying in. It was a feeling that caused her to release a deep sigh of happiness and wanted to continue in her sleep. Weren't it for a little voice inside of her head that told her to wake up. Something didn't seem to be right and she needed to actually discover just what on earth it actually was.

The eyes of the unicorn opened themselves wide and far before she turned herself right side up and rose upon all four of her legs. "W-Where are we?" she mumbled to herself as she saw the body shapes of her friends but also took notice that they weren't in the domain anymore. Instead there was the sunlight that shone down proudly upon her face. "Wait a minute here."

Without any doubt readable upon her face had the unicorn turned herself around and there she saw it standing in the fullest of glories. The tent that they had set up to spend the night through. So many emotions were rushing through her mind as she realized just how lucky they all have gotten that they had actually escaped the grasp of the unicorn. At least, she did that. For she wouldn't be having a single clue on just how the others were doing.

But it didn't matter that much for Twilight in the moment of time. She wanted to let them sleep for a little bit longer if they would be needing that. So in the utmost silence did the mare charge up her horn and she once again had access to her magical powers and it felt just so good for her to actually have that ability back to herself. As it was the very thing that made her unique to the world she lived in.

Minutes simply came and went before the others one by one woke up and Twilight told them to sit around the campfire pit. Once they all would have woken up and the things had been packed, the urge of the situation would be explained to them all. Each of them and one by one actually agreed upon the matter and just did what was asked of them.

"Ah can't believe Ah just dropped her like that." Applejack spoke up as she looked to the three other ponies and they all nodded in response. "Ah mean, we should have remembered the things we spoke against her that day right? 'Specially Twi, as she got those new saddlebags."

They were actually blinded and genuinely confused by the words that were spoken against them, by them even, from the magical charge of the unicorn. None could believe that they just had forgotten the state their mind was in. Perhaps they didn't even wanted to remember the horror they gotten themselves in just because of that. It was a fact that was actually quite saddening for the lot of them.

"But…why would we be doing that? I know she has an attitude, but that never was the cause of me wanting to break our friendship." Fluttershy spoke up after she had gathered her courage again and wiped away a few of her tears.

"That's simply because of the fact, we never spoke those words." Twilight suddenly spoke up as she was completely done with everything and joined herself with the group once again.

Though almost instantly she got all weird looks from each of the mares as they couldn't believe the things that were spoken to them. "Explain yourself here Twilight." Rainbow spoke up as she didn't had a clue of what was going on.

"Yeah! Do it Twilight!" Pinkie then simply added before the unicorn released a deep sigh of her own and charged up her horn for something none of them even knew.

"Alright then, but the words I'm going to say may not make much sense to you, as they do to me."

"Beats just sitting here in the dark." Applejack mumbled as she was willing to give it a shot.

"The charge that Rarity gave us all, wasn't something to make us remember something we had forgotten, she implemented an entire new memory at the cost of another. All the events that happened during that day, are sadly destroyed and replaced with the ones you have now. And truth be told, I need to extract that very memory for Celestia herself. It is as Fluttershy said, she had an attitude, but that never was the cause of breaking our friendship with such a wonderful pony. Now, hold still."

Neither Pinkie Pie nor Fluttershy struggled any form of bit against Twilight while Applejack and Rainbow Dash formed the little problem. They didn't wanted to have the mulberry mare messing with their memories. But eventually just allowed her to do it. The very thing that came next was that Twilight's magic was being released upon their minds and as they thought about the events, it would be taking them carefully from the mind.

Following up to the spell, she conjured a small container into existence where the corrupted memories would be placed in. A container that was locked with five magical locks to which only Twilight had the keys from. Even if one of the royals tried it, they wouldn't have been able to open it. "Alright girls, you should be safe again."

"What did yah just do with the lot of us?" Applejack spoke up as she rubbed her head a little bit.

"Simple memory extraction spell. She can play it dirty, but so can I. And that container is to hold them for Celestia to review them. We have been closer to her than anypony else and we have to bring it back to Canterlot as fast as we can."

"But, what about Emerald, Twilight?" Pinkie asked as she wanted to know the finer details. Though in response had the mulberry mare released a deep sigh through her mouth as she had not even the slightest of clues of what she could be doing or how they would have been able to help him within the situation that he was in.

"There's only one thing that we can be doing girls. And that is tell the message to the royals. To go to Canterlot and tell both princess Luna and Celestia that we are at war with a former element of harmony. I'm sorry, but it is the only thing that we can be doing and the only thing that we should be doing."

"And just how do you want to do that smarty pants?" Rainbow huffed out as she crossed her forelegs over one another.

"I still believe that bits and pieces of Rarity have survived the merging. Nightmare Moon hadn't just taken over the body of Rarity like she did with Luna. Instead they seemed to have merged with one another. Two souls that became one at the cost of half of theirs. That's why there are no wings and steamy mane. Oh she's good now that I think of it. Still, even if we manage to get Nightmare Moon out of her, it means we only have half a Rarity as we knew and love her. The only question is, which half we would be getting?"

"So basically, what you're telling here is that…Rarity needs to die?" Rainbow then returned straight back at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Depending on which side of her we get, perhaps. Look, I'm still working things out here even as we speak and not even I have all the answers even if I would have liked them." Twilight replied before she stood up with a deep sigh that left through her nostrils. "All that I know for certain is the fact that somehow, somewhere, both Nightmare Moon and Rarity have merged together instead of taken over. And that means the danger is more imminent than ever. Think what Moon can do with Rarity's mind for warfare. That creative mind of hers, can be used to make plans to capture hundreds and weapons of mass destruction. War is coming, one way or the other. Whether it be big or small, I honestly can not say against any of you. Now move it!"

Each of the mares was literally heartbroken by the words that Twilight spoke to them yet they could always clearly see just where she came from with them. And it were words that frightened them more than anything they could have ever imagined.

Though they did the thing that was asked from them. Each of them took their saddlebags before the massive sprint towards Ponyville would be made by the five of them from which they would be going unto the train to Canterlot. "One way or the other, danger never seems to cease here in the land of harmony." Twilight whispered to herself as she was at the head of the convoy of mares and led them away from the woods with a powerful gallop.

While in Canterlot it seemed that the two royal sisters were still bickering against one another of just what seemed to be the most potential plan of attack against the threat. They were completely oblivious to the fact that the elements were already coming their way with the terrible news they carried with them. Though it was Celestia who looked over to Luna with a stern look clearly visible upon her face before the huff was actually released. "If you speak that name one more time, I will personally make you shut it for the rest of your life."

"Did you forget, I'm still immortal like yourself sister." Luna replied with a sharp tone of her own as the two of them stood before the window and looked at the rising moon and the lowering sun. The both of them were completely coated in the aura of her magical charge as the ancient ritual was done once again. The ritual of the day turning into the night.

"Oh I didn't forget that sister, not one bit. Would be quiet though, maybe a little too." Celestia said before she released a deep sigh and actually gave the conversation a hold to it. She didn't even want to speak further about it whatsoever.

"Seems like I got you check once more. I would choose my next words very carefully if you don't want to be set mate." Luna replied with a small grin before the aura disappeared from her body and she stared at the beginning of a new and beautiful night.

A night in which almost everything could happen. "The calm before the storm approaches. Soon enough the end of everything shall begin." Celestia suddenly spoke up and it were words that caught Luna off guard perhaps more than she ever could have expected.

The lunar alicorn of course wondered what was being meant by them, but the question was never asked.

In the meantime and deep in the domain of the nightmarish unicorn had Nightmare Rarity found herself standing before a place that she only had added just recently to the thing. A place that laid even deeper than the dungeon itself and if the prisoners looked down from their cells, they could be seeing it in the fullest of glories already. Escaping was made literally impossible for them from that moment onward.

Nightmare Rarity simply stood before the door that would be leading to the place and inside she heard the oddly peaceful snoring of a creature many times bigger than her alone. A creature that would have been her new weapon of mass destruction and one that she knew just so well and had the fullest of control over. With great care and silence was the door being opened and she slipped through it before closing it again.

And there it then laid while being chained up around the neck and peacefully asleep. One of the very few pure crystal devourers. A race of dragons that were told to be the most legendary of them because of their ability to not just find gems, but also consume them and use the color to gain elemental powers. Most dangerous and supposedly last of its kind, yet she had one. "Spikey, Wikey," the unicorn spoke up with a sickening grin.

Ever since she managed to get her hooves upon him, she had corrupted the baby dragon and let him grow into the monster that was lurking beneath the domain of the mare. An always hungry and greedy dragon that would only be doing the bidding of her mind. One of the deadliest combination and most valuable assets that unicorn would be having in the upcoming war to be waged.

She walked up closer to the massive dragon and carefully began to stroke one of the massive fangs that stick out from the unicorn would be having against the siege on Canterlot itself. Yet as she stroked his fang were the words in the tongue of the dragon whispered to him. Only seconds before she gave one of the scales of the upper lip a small kiss before her own lips curled up into a sickening and twisted grin.

The train left Ponyville at the designated time and the mares all were to be found in a private cabin once again. Twilight tried to make something out of the troubles that had been happening to each of them as she held the small container of the thoughts before her eyes. Something about it continued to just trouble her mind more than anything. But then when she looked over to her friends, they all had taken the opportunity to fall asleep just for that little bit of time again. With Pinkie Pie having snuggled up against her and Applejack was sitting right across her, leaning against the window with Fluttershy almost on her back. While Rainbow herself just hung against the wooden door of the cabin. Each of them were deeply asleep and Twilight herself released a small sigh of happiness.

It was odd considering the horrible fact that they hadn't come out with Emerald himself. But she knew that he couldn't be saved and especially with the manner that they were brought out of the woods. It only seemed like the business of a madmare to just dart back straight into the forest of terror. "I'm sorry Emerald, but you have to keep strong if she keeps you alive. You're a strong stallion, I have figured that much out about you. I just hope that you have been able to figure it out for yourself." Twilight spoke up as she placed the small container back on the table and discharged her horn almost completely.

The mulberry mare herself needed to have some sleep as well, she was tired and needed to get every last single fact straight before she would be meeting with her mentor. So she snuggled herself up against the couch, Pinkie Pie and the window of the cabin before her eyes were finally giving the closure that they needed.

When the train finally did roll back into the station of Canterlot itself were all five members of the elements actually awaited by a group of royal guards. "Uhm, not that I don't mind the gentlecolts standing here but, you are going to escort us to the castle, aren't you?" Twilight spoke up towards one of them who seemed to be the captain of the group.

"That is correct ma'am, you and your friends need to come with us immediately if you want to stay out of the wrong hooves," he replied in a low tone to her before the others simply gave a nod to it all. Before they could actually argue against themselves or the guards were they off towards the castle in the distance. The castle where everything wasn't what it seemed to be. Never had been.

"Sooo..." Rainbow Dash started against one of the guards with a grin. "You like it that you have to escort the mythical embodiments of the elements of harmony towards her majesties?"

"Ma'am, I would appreciate it if you keep your mouth against me. They told us you were the cheeky one."

"Hey! Who you calling 'cheeky' here?!" Rainbow replied with a small growl before she went silent against the guard and each of them simply erupted out in a giggle against their friend. One that was well meant but never well received. Though with those words spoken and exchanged was the silence between the elements and the guards returned as Twilight nor Rainbow nor any of the others, had anything else that they wanted to speak to the ponies and in silence and convoy they wandered over towards the castle of Canterlot.

"Even with everything you just told me Twilight, we're not going to mindlessly set in the charge against her. Everything that she has done just doesn't enough for us to call out the armies," princess Celestia spoke up before the group of ponies after Twilight had explained just about everything that happened after they left the empire. To say the least, all of the mares were surprised, if not massively discouraged before starting to boil in their anger. "I know it's not the thing that you wished to hear and I can understand that completely actually. But you also have to understand the fact that if we go there with our armies, it is actually what she wants us to be doing," the princess added as her eye carefully went over each of the ponies.

"I, I start to see your point princess." Twilight mumbled up before she left the small container upon one of the tables. While Celestia sat upon the throne was Luna on the other end just wandering through the room. She did listen carefully to the words spoken and the exchanged even if it seemed like she didn't pay attention. Not to mention that she was furious as well about the fact that Celestia didn't wanted to attack. But having seen up close just what Nightmare Rarity's magic was capable of, it was perhaps for the better.

"Still," the alicorn of the night said as she turned her body towards them. "It goes without any form of saying that the very loss of mister Masquerade is a heavy one but also one that isn't actually for nothing. Twilight, the stories you just told made me believe that something isn't as it seemed about the unicorn. And I think you know just as well as I do, that something must have gone wrong at some point or the other." She walked over to the container and looked at it with a couple of odd expressions clearly visible upon her face. "You forced them…into this? Interesting if I may say so. But let me guess, it wasn't my sister who taught you that spell, am I right?"

It was a compliment that made the mulberry mare blush a little bit before she let out a giggle and nodded towards the mare to confirm her words. "Good girl, telling the truth when it needs to be and against the right pony. Either way, if you managed to get the memories of how Rarity implemented them in there, I think that both Celestia and I should be experiencing it for ourselves sooner or later just to witness what has been said and done to get each of you so spooked."

"And allow me to finish with these words," the alicorn of the day spoke up as she looked down upon each of the mares with a calm eye. "You're allowed to return to your homes and live your lives as you see fit for that. But make no mistake my little ponies, the woods of White Tails have become an invisible battleground. Never, ever, wander there as long as she is still out there. When we have a plan of attack ready, we shall give you the call."

"And risk another chance of being knocked out for a week or two?! Not in a million years princess. I don't know about the rest of the girls, but I'm not going to sit back at home and pray I wake up the next morning. I'm staying here and that's final." Twilight countered almost immediately as she remembered the previous events in which they indeed did suffer their nightmares like that.

It weren't words that either of the princesses could be saying something against as the mulberry mare always kept her hoof firmly to the ground. "Alright then, then I suggest you return to the guestroom." Celestia replied before she released a deep sigh through her nostrils and rubbed her head a little bit. Every bit of information and word that was spoken against her caused her to become a little bit more light headed. Luna noticed the sudden changes before she shook her own head lightly before guiding the mares over to the guest room herself. Something that provided just a little bit of little, social, interaction with the ponies.

Yet as they walked through the hallways of the castle with Luna to their side, it still felt like each of them had left somepony important behind there back in the horrible domain. Though perhaps the part that crushed each of their hearts the most had to be the thing that there wasn't anything that they could have done for any of them. Not for Rarity, not for Emerald and not even for Spike.

Twilight sniffled away a tear or two before Luna started to walk next to her and gave her a rather concerned expression. "You alright Twilight? You look like you have taken the hardest hit of them all," she quietly whispered towards the more before getting a simple nod in response.

With courage and the strength was gathered by the pony before the reply was actually spoken by her. "I think, I think I have yes. None of them have lost somepony that seemed to be like a son to them. I know I'm too young to have actual foals of my own but next to growing up with Spike, I also took care for him like a mother. Like any good mother would be having. And I let him go, I let him go into those dreaded woods where she laid in wait for him. Princess, does that, does that does that make me a bad mother?"

At those very words stood Luna suddenly still together with Twilight as she nodded towards the others to continue. The two of them needed to have some time alone and from the looks in the unicorn's eyes, they needed that more than anything right there. While the others continued walking, Luna wrapped both of her forelegs around the neck and back of Twilight to give her a massive hug. Only to have the mulberry mare burst out in even more tears then she already was. "No Twilight, it doesn't make you a bad mother. Far from it, even. But in these times we all do things we regret one point in time or another. I promise you upon the moon itself that Spike will return to you alive and well. I promise you that not as a princess to you, but as one of your dearest friends."

"T-Thank you, Luna."

Days crawled by for the unicorn deep inside of the domain. Days she was simply waiting for any form of reply that could be given by the very royals of Equestria. But something just wasn't right whatsoever. If the royals were going into a blind charge as she had expected them to be going. If the charge would have already happened, then they would have been at war already.

Pondering her mind upon the throne of her domain as the unicorn releases sigh after sigh as she keeps her eyes shut from just about everything that there was around her. There wasn't anything in which she believed anymore at that time. Other than the fact that they were trying to get to her one way or the other. And it was that point that caused her to be doing the actions she had done for the past times against the stallion himself. Locked away in a private cell and hung on chains, he wasn't even given the liberty or opportunity that to just wander around and about in his own cell.

"You are going to tell me, just what it is that those ponies have told to you for their plans." Nightmare Rarity snarled up before she finally opened her eyes again and walked down the steps of the throne. Both Fright and Blood gulped loudly as they heard the queen coming down but they never dared to turn their attention away from the wall in front of them. It was only after she had passed them that they also came back to life and actually walked behind her.

"Your highness, just what is it that you want to achieve by taking more out of him then he has already told you. Nothing in his mind seemed to be looking towards the thing that he knows anything." Fright said to her as they all ascended upon the stairs for the courtyard. Though a response from the mare wasn't something he would be getting anytime soon.

Only when the queen had set herself in the courtyard itself did she turn herself around and huffed deeply towards the two of them. The shadow stallions were still coming up from the stairs and gulped deeply as they looked directly into her eyes. "You two morons never saw the bigger picture of everything now didn't you? He has the information that we're looking for. But the only problem happens to be, that there is a spell that has locked that crucial part of his mind. Twilight's good with magical locks, but I know exactly just how to break them open to my own will and that is exactly what I am going to be doing. For more than a week I have been dying to figure out just what happens over there in Canterlot. Never seen anything here in the woods, never even sensed them."

The more she spoke her words, the more fear could be witnessed in the eyes of the two shadow stallions. The words that she spoke against them in that hateful tone of the unknown, was the thing that frightened them all. If there was one thing that Nightmare Rarity couldn't stand even one bit, had to be the fact that if she didn't know a thing of what was going on. That was one of the times that she was at her most dangerous.

"Of course, your highness, I shouldn't have doubted your mind. Is there, anything else that you require of us two before you descend to him again?" Fright questioned in a humble tone before he made a polite bow before the queen. Blood did the same but he remained actually silent in the hope to avoid her fury.

"Outside of the usual, there isn't anything that I'm needing from you two fools. Continue upon your daily duties and make sure that nothing enters or leaves without me knowing that isn't a nightmare force. Am I clear?" the queen hissed in a venomous tone towards them as her eyes then just focused themselves upon Blood.

Seconds he needed to actually find his courage again before he spoke up against her in his deep tone. "As glass." And with those words had the two of them simply merged themselves as the clouds of shadows and began to just wander through the domain. The unicorn herself released one last huff towards the two of them before she made the descend down towards the dungeon in order to find the pony she had been looking for.

Safely locked away in the room where usually the sickening experiments were to be done had he been stationed and received full charge after full charge directly into his brain. It had caused him to literally lose his mind and thus become deluded and insane. He actually began to live in the other dimension that was created by his fears. Not a single break was granted to the stallion as he was reduced to nothing but a hump of meat with skin on it. Somehow he managed to survive it all, but only because she allowed it.

When the door opened again had the stallion looked up from his position against the wall and moved all four of his legs on the chains a little bit. But as per usual was not a single grain of motion given to him. The chains were just too tight to do anything against them. In his eyes he saw the mob boss he owed perhaps thousands of bits coming in. With a smirk below the hat he wore did he walked further up to Emerald and spoke his words of interest. "I can set you free lad, all you have to do for that, is to give me the information that I want out of the skull of yours. The information that the mares gave to you."

Though the reality of the situation was that Nightmare Rarity simply stood before him and his mind actually turned the images of her being that mob boss. So far was he gone thanks to her magic. Only one subject in her history who was known to have descended that deep into the madness that she could and would create for any living pony. That pony was nopony else then Astral Chrome who was one of the first pony to die of actual fright within the walls of the asylum.

"You gotta kill me before I say anything to you, because I don't know what they have planned. I have been tell you and your clowns that since the beginning. I don't know what it is that they have planned!" Emerald replied as strong as he could. Though the support he was set upon wasn't anything that did him any good. If anything, it made him worse.

"Then you ain't of use for me anymore. Time to pull the plug outta you," the mob boss replied before he turned himself back around and began to walk away from him. The thing that followed was the whaling sounds of the stallion erupting out in tears. The sounds that the unicorn had be waiting for as she knew that she had finally broken him. His mind was shattered into a thousand pieces and send to oblivion itself.

"You can't do this to me! You can't do this to a stallion like me!" were the last words that the nightmarish unicorn heard before she left the room alone and stood in the normal dungeon of the domain.

All of the ponies were looking at her with a frightful expression upon their faces, but none actually dared to crawl back into the shadows of their cells. That was until the unicorn grinned like the devil that she was and spoke her single word. "Boo." And in response to just that had each of the ponies crawled into the deepest and darkest corners of their cells as quickly as possible. They curled themselves up into small balls while they heard the unicorn chuckling to herself and then she seemed to be making her departure from the place. But instead of going back up, she went even further down into the catacombs of the dungeon.

Satisfaction wasn't exactly a thing that was flowing through the unicorn at that moment. She still didn't have any clue of what the remaining elements would be doing or what they had planned for her. All the information she got out of the stallion were things that she already knew. So perhaps it was time to actually cause a bit of action to ravage through the land. "No more shadows, no more tricks, no more nothing. Stone cold action should be drawing them all out of their hiding places right there and then," the queen of nightmare rambled up against herself as she kept on descending from the stairs until she stood at the door of the corrupted Spike.

With one simple flick of her horn did the door open itself and she was allowed to go inside. The dragon himself looked down to her with a confused gaze in his eyes before he assumed a more regal posture. "You'll be doing a fine job to one of the near settlements of the woods. You're going to lay it in the ashes and burn every last pony in there. Destroy their homes, consume their values and remember this, leave none alive." Nightmare Rarity spoke up against the massive crystal devourer who released a loud roar in response.

"Fly Spike, spread your wings and wreak terror in my name!" With those words were the chains around his neck broken and the dragon crawled himself around upon all four of his legs. Only to start walking through the darkness and out of the room. "This shall become the day of the darkened skies." Only after that had the unicorn turned herself back around and left the cell of her biggest pet. She then would have gone back topside in order to watch the events unfold right before her eyes.

The opportunity's that were given to her were some of the most beautiful that she ever seemed to have had and it would be a great calling for the royals attention to focus the unicorn directly and thus stop the planning. That was the only goal, to have the royals come for her unprepared and unarmed. Though the latter seemed to be quite impossible. The mare herself would be standing on top of the tower, upon her balcony even before the sun was blacked out by something massive for a second or two.

The very thing that had blocked the sun, was nothing else but the dragon himself. The settlement had been chosen, the lives had been doomed and the onslaught could begin. "Watch, and learn your highness's. Watch, and learn as your world burns in the flames of hatred," were the final words to be released from the unicorn.

With a massive and loud roar of pure primal power did the savage of a beast turn topside in the lands and spread it's black wings even further before it just jumped into the air and flew away. Another roar with smoke leaving its nostrils was given by it as it flow over the domain. Heading towards the settlement a couple dozen miles away from the woods. A settlement that was literally just the start of a new city. All of the houses were made out of wood and the ponies that lived there were hard working but good folk. The only trouble happened to be that they lived right upon one of Equestria's largest gem-pits.

That was the one thing that caused the beast to set his nose towards it. "Crrrystal," it spoke up before another loud screeching roar was given and the wings were flapped even more. With it's strong tail, hindlegs and wings did the beast looked like a true terror in and of itself. Though the most striking fact was that it had to be the ability to stand actually bipedal that was more terrifying than anything. Even though the arms were short, they could still help the beast to crawl forward. Then there was the elongated neck before it ended in the massive jaw with the sharp and thick fangs. Death from above had never been more true for anypony who gazed its eyes upon the monster.

Inside of the settlement that was simply protected by a few wooden walls that surrounded the whole place were two guards standing in one of the towers and looked over to the beast. Neither of them couldn't believe their eyes and had to blink a couple of times before the realization struck them. Almost immediately the signal was given to the rest of the guards that danger was on the way. The bells started to chime and all of the ponies that were in the streets knew that that only meant one thing.

Fillies and colts were plucked out of the streets and brought into the houses for safekeeping. Nopony cared whether to not they had foals or not, or even if they took the ones from the neighbors into their homes. The community knew one another well enough to trust them with such things and with danger lurking they didn't complain at all.

The guards all saw that every single soul had gone inside in almost a record time but it meant that they were the first and perhaps only line of defense before the massive best would be hitting them. It was a price they had to pay but they would only fight back the moment that the beast itself, would be attacking himself.

For just a moment or two did everything seemed to be going just perfectly. The beast seemed to be flying over instead of diving straight into the settlement to start digging for the pits. "I've never seen a dragon like that, you?" one of the guards asked while the other shook his head to confirm the thoughts. "So this, is going to be interesting." Yet before they could reply to one another had Spike clustered himself against the face of the mountain and tucked his wings back against the body. The black scales combined with the poison green spikes over his entire body was more than enough fuel for the residents to have nightmares for weeks from. If anypony was so brave enough to actually look at the massive beast in the first place.

Yet the thing that happened next was a near deafening roar that came directly from the beast before it dropped itself down into the settlement itself. The wall that was built against the side of the mountain was destroyed in an instant as the dragon turned himself around and the tail actually smashed the second floor of a building. "Hungry…crrrystals!" Spike said in a deep and tone over all of the settlement. Every pair of ears inside of it could be hearing it loud and clearly. Some of the residents already began to say their prayers as they had lost all the hope already. Bandits and raiders they could beat without a problem, but an ancient beast his size seemed to be impossible and most didn't even wanted to take the chance.

Deep inside of the belly of Spike had the fires already started to burn and they were slowly traveling over to the mouth of the beast. Only to be released like a massive flamethrower over the houses. The green fires of Tartarus were more than enough to make certain that everything it touched would be burning until it was leveled with the ground itself and nothing else. The guards in the towers couldn't be doing anything against it. They wanted to do something of course but there was nothing other than leading the evacuation out of the place. It was a desperate gamble but it had to be made. They all knew that and they started to gather their guts to lead the exodus.

"Zu'u zoor zun! Zu'u fin ved dinok!" Spike yelled up towards the villagers before he released another flamethrower like blaze of fire. His wings then spread themselves and he got back up in the air for a moment. Only to be dropping himself back down again and looked literally crashed into one of the houses with his feet.

While the dragon kept himself busy with one part of the settlement and not to forget the guards that were trying to keep him distracted, something inside the mind of the beast continued to bobble him. He was ordered to leave no survivors to make the statement clear to the royals yet it felt like they were getting away from him. Even though he was blasted with magic from all sides of the wall, the crystal devourer still turned himself around and noticed the exodus going on. That sight alone of the ponies getting away from him caused the rage to be flowing more and more than anything in his mind and belly.

The guards knew it was too late in the back of their heads but the hearts just wouldn't believe it and they just continued upon getting the job done. Even if it would be costing them their own lives. For the tail of the beast had already taken out one or two of the guards before he got airborne again and kept on flying higher in the skies. Some of the guards that were helping to get the ponies out of the settlement were already looking up at the shape going higher and higher into the skies.

Though when he blacked out the very sun above the area where the refugees were walking were all of the eyes suddenly looking suddenly at him and they froze right there upon the spot. None of them had ever expected that their lives would be coming to an end in such a manner. None of them even could have imagined that. Stallions, mares, fillies, colts and foals were all frozen in fright that the dragon as he made the descend back down to the ground. With his belly irradiating the green color of his flames, they all knew that there was only one thing to come for them and gently they all accepted it.

None of the citizens would be running away, none of them would even attempt that. They all would be finding their death at the maw of the infernal creature of old. "Ag ko fin toor!" Spike shouted to the participants of the exodus before the fires were released over them.

The screams of agony and pain were all like music to the ears of the beast as he kept on going until every last bit of flesh wasn't just cooked or charred. It had to be disintegrated before he turned back to the settlement in order to finish the rest of his job.

Mere minutes later was the entire job done and everything was destroyed. The monstrous crystal devourer in which Spike was turned had released one last massive roar that could even be heard in Canterlot Castle if he had luck before the plumes of black smoke were released from his mouth to mix with the natural smoke of the burning wood. The signal for the castle couldn't be anymore clearer and he knew that he had done his job perhaps more than well.

Yet among the rubble there was one last guard who actually dared to look at the beast with a couple coughs. Still alive but only barely, he managed to get the full attention of the best. The head of Spike lowered itself towards him before the words were spoken. "You may have crushed and destroyed us all, but you're nothing when it comes down to our species. You have conquered the gem-pits for your own greed dragon, but at the cost of every last pony that lived here. You killed entire families! What do you have to say on that eh?!" the guard spoke up with every last bit of his guts gathered.

Spike released a deep exhale at first before he looked at the wounded guard with an expression of even more greed. "Dir…die," he then said towards the guard as his head retreated itself backwards to the original height and the right leg got stumped right upon him. Not even the breath of his fire was given to the poor soul to come to his end. Instead he had each of his bones and organs crushed by the massive scaled foot of the best. "I am, your worst nightmare."

"Sister, look outside now!" Luna spoke up in a genuinely worried voice as she came from the balcony. After having send the elements back to their chambers to spend the day as they pleased, the alicorn of the night could be found meditating upon the balcony and she, was actually the first one to notice the terror.

"Luna, what is it this time?" Celestia spoke up almost jokingly but something inside of the voice caused even her to be worried about the facts as they were presented towards her. "Another ladybug that managed to sit down upon your nose during your time of?"

"If it only was sister, if it only was." Luna replied as Celestia calmly walked up to her. And together they both stepped onto the balcony. With their mane of essence waving unchanged to the wind, the two princesses looked over a sight that they couldn't believe themselves. For as they both stood at the edge of the balcony had Celestia to blink nearly a couple dozen times before she could actually believe the events as they had been playing out before them both.

"This, this isn't happening for real now is it?" she even asked as a confirmation before the roar of the dragon reached them. That triumphal roar of power alone was more than enough for Celestia to go even wider eyed then she already did. Even with just one of her eyes visible, she knew they were big trouble and the eye showed it from every possible side. "They are supposed to be extinct!"

"You, you mean the dragons? What kind of dragon is it then, as I have never heard something like that before in my life." Luna replied as she managed to tear away her attention from the scene and she looked over to Celestia with a worried expression. "Sis, tell me, what was that?"

"That Luna, was the roar of a Crystal Devourer. A species of dragon that should have gone extinct while you were on the moon. Not by my choice mind you. But they formed a big threat to the Crystal Empire. The only kind of dragon who don't just hoard values but even eat them. Gems, specifically."

And almost as if she knew it went the eyes of Luna wide as possible before she made a sudden realization if not an entire revelation. "Spike! Spike, eats diamonds and gems. Oh, no, no, no, this isn't happening! Tia, tell me that this isn't happening! I promised her! I promised her!"

But the alicorn of the day knew exactly just what it was what Luna was talking about and she closed her eyes for a moment and hung her head low. "Spike, is a crystal devourer, sister. So the chances are likely that, he is the one who wrecked all those poor ponies their houses and set it all ablaze. How could have been so blind to not see it coming?! Especially from a mare like herself!" Celestia mumbled up to herself before she rose her hoof into the air and just stomped the floor below her. "How could we have been so blind?!" she shouted afterward before her body was turned away from the scene and the eye closed itself off from the world.

But where Celestia began to mourn about the losses that were suffered, Luna was having more than enough of literally everything that had happened. First it was the ponies going just crazy, then it was one of her longboats being destroyed, before Twilight and her friends returned without the stallion. She was having more than enough of everything and the end was getting closer and closer for her. "I don't care what you're gonna say Tia, but this time you listen to me and me alone for a change. It is time that we take up our arms and finally bring the fight to her and her alone. Don't even try to stop me." Luna growled before she spread her wings and took off into the skies. Whatever she had planned, Celestia of course couldn't agree with.

Luna was the only one of the two royals sisters who actually would be having some guts to take the fight to her and her alone. Inside of her mind was the plan being forged and even if Celestia didn't wanted to partake into it, it was still going to happen. If Nightmare Rarity could play the game dirty, so would the alicorn of the night. The box of tricks wasn't emptied out yet as there was one massive trick that still needed to have been done.

Though the alicorn of the day was completely immobilized until Luna landed back upon the balcony. Uncertain of just what her sister had done or even where she had gone, Celestia opened her eye once more and she looked towards her sister as if she could cry. Yet the face of Luna didn't show off any emotion whatsoever. Instead she just walked up to her elder sister and moved up to her ear to leave a whisper into it.

The eyes of the alicorn looked up a bit confused before Luna moved herself backwards just a little bit and spread her wings once more. "Say those words against her, those exact words, whenever the dark queen appears before the throne for whatever reason. I won't have it that more lives are being taken into this pointless battle and quest of hers."

"I still don't understand it Luna, what it is that you are going to plan to be doing?! What do you know that I don't know!?" Celestia called out to her younger sister who had made herself airborne. The two of them exchanged a couple of stone colds looks between one another before Luna released a deep sigh through her nostrils and closed her eyes for a moment or two.

"Let's just say that you need to place some more trust into me for once. I'm no longer the loose cannon I was before Tia, no longer that little goofball that snuggled up against you during the stormy days back when we were young. That is what you fail to realize. You fail to realize the fact that I have too grown older, wiser and more powerful. I understand that you want to protect us all, but you have to share that burden with somepony you can trust the most." Luna said to her sister in an honest tone before she took another deep inhale. "I'm going to end the very thing that she has started. A thing that should have been done long ago."

And before Celestia could even reply to those words was the alicorn of the night just gone. She had just taken off back into the skies for whatever reason there might have been. Though just when she thought that she was alone upon the balcony, that ever so recognizable trot of Twilight Sparkle could be heard coming on the balcony. "Princess, w-what is going, what's that fire in the distance?"

"That, my dear and faithful student Twilight..." Celestia spoke up before she turned her head away from the unicorn and towards the ever so much rising column of smoke. "Is the brink of war, we're currently standing on."

As both Celestia and Twilight watched over to the column of smoke that continued to rise from the destroyed settlement, the eyes of the mulberry unicorn turned themselves over into the unbelievable. Never in her entire life had she even imagined that something like that would be witnessed by their, or better said, her eyes. "But, what do you mean with, brink of war, princess?" the unicorn asked with a genuine surprised tone as she tried to keep her attention off of the lives that had been lost in the horrible fight that had happened miles away from them.

Though it was a deep sigh that the alicorn released in response to the words of her faithful student. Words couldn't be spoken for the first set of minutes. The silence was the thing that dominated everything and not even Twilight herself dared to actually disrupt her mentor from it. Respect was given and taken by the two mares but at one point did one of the wings of the white coated alicorn spread itself before it was placed over the back of Twilight.

It was a silent message that she had to come with her mentor back inside. And that was exactly the thing that she did. Without a word, or even a sound did the mulberry unicorn just enter in the throne room while a deep sigh was released. Nothing could have prepared her for the sights she witnessed outside, but nothing could be preparing her for the words that Celestia would speak either.

For the moment when the wing was taken off of the back and the doors to the balcony closed had Celestia walked in front of Twilight and closed her only visible eye with grief for the families and lives lost in the blazing inferno caused by the dragon himself. "Words can't redeem the deeds done. Deeds can't redeem the words spoken. I'm sorry Twilight, but from this moment onward, there is nothing that we can be doing then to do the one thing that is asked of us. We have to bring the very fight over, to her."

The words entered the ears of the unicorn at a velocity that seemed unparalleled by anything in the known universe and it was something that scared the living daylight out of the mare. For those exact words, meant something that Twilight herself had never expected to be coming out of the worth from her ever so beloved mentor. "You, you must be joking here! You can't be serious about this, can you? I, I mean, bringing the fight to her isn't exactly the very thing that I wished you to be doing your highness. But I most object against this. Whether you like it or not, Rarity is still our friend even though she doesn't realize it at the moment."

"My decision, is final, Twilight. Something must be done about the menace of White Tails and if it means extermination of the pest then so it be," the princess of the sun spoke up quickly and in a tone from which the unicorn wasn't used from her. As it actually caused her to take a step or two backwards while the head was shaken from right to left.

"No, no you couldn't, just have spoken those words! I refuse to believe that you called Rarity a pest! She's an element of harmony for crying aloud! You can't just let her die by the sword or horn!"

Though as an initial response did Celestia glared her eyes over to Twilight before they narrowed themselves a little bit. "Then tell me, how you want to fight the being that's split across the souls themselves? Because based on your observations and words, it is indeed a merging of the souls, instead of a hostile take-over."

"I, I'll find a way!" Twilight said to the alicorn as she moved a bit impatient upon her spot. She didn't know whether or not she was actually given the full authority to find a cure of counter attack that didn't mean to kill one of her best friends. "You will believe me Celestia, I will find a way." With those brave set of words did the unicorn turn herself around and began to just walk away. Back to the doors that once let her into the throne room, back to the place she found herself more home than anywhere else in the place. "The library, must have an answer of some kind."

Celestia on the other end turned herself around as well and faced the throne she had been sitting on ever since she was given the crown of Equestria. Something, if not anything, inside of her body suddenly made her look towards it with disgust for it. As if she didn't redeem herself worthy anymore to actually sit upon the thing.

"Maybe, I'm growing indeed to violent my faithful student. Maybe, I lost the touch of love," the princess whispered to herself as she dared to look out of the window again and into the darkness of the smoke from the fires. "My thoughts clouded, my heart clouded. Just like before, the biggest mistake ever made." All of the sudden did the alicorn turn herself around and faced the door while her eyes caught the tail of Twilight cutting off a corner into another hallway. "You'll make a fine princess one day."

"Who?" an all too familiar voice spoke up before the clattering of armor pierced itself into the ears of the alicorn. "Hope you aren't speaking about, you know who."

"No Luna, I didn't do that. And I take it that you are ready for it, that you are actually wanting to be doing such a terribly deed of your own?" Celestia spoke up before she turned herself over to the being in the armor and gained the scare of her life once more. For in her eyes she caught her younger sister wearing the full attire of nopony else then Nightmare Moon herself. "I forbade you to wear it and look at you now!"

"I make my own rules in some cases sister. Just like you do. And in this one, the rules are being set. Just don't forget to tell her, what I have told you. Knowing the devil herself, she'll come to claim the attack, personally. Well, more or less." Luna replied sternly at first before the last few words were spoken in a bit of a softened tone.

"I hope that you are right sister. Because as the things are right now, I am touching the dark here myself." Celestia replied before she did a step or two closer towards her sister and before anything could be done, a thigh hug was exchanged between the two mares. "Stay safe sister."

"Should be saying that about you, Tia." Luna returned with a giggle of her own before the hug was released again from both parties at nearly the same time. "So this is how it's going to end then I suppose?"

Doubts suddenly filled the mind of the alicorn as she was starting to struggle whether or not she should tell her little sister the words of Twilight. But holding any piece of information back at that moment in time seemed to be a downright suicidal mission and it was the realization that came to the mind of the alicorn as well. "No, Twilight is going to try to find a way to make the right side of Rarity survive the splitting. But…I can not tell what will happen elsewhere."

"Look who took honesty upon herself for a change. Still, I'm glad to hear that you gave her the chance to save a friend." Luna spoke up with a gentle smile visible upon her face before she took a few steps backwards. The wings of the lunar alicorn were spread and with one jump got she airborne once more while the horn charged itself up for usage. "Today, we shall start and end the war with the nightmare forces, sister. Today will be the day, that most will return back to normal."

Yet as Celestia wanted to reply to the words spoken had Luna disappeared in an orb of blue light and she knew immediately that a teleportation spell had been used by the younger mare. So the only thing that the celestial alicorn could be doing was to reclaim her position upon the throne where she would be sitting for the coming hours.

Hours that actually crawled by as she had just so much things that went through her mind. Yet only there were also just so many secrets that were left behind for the ponies in question. Though through all of that madness in her mind was the entire atmosphere of the throne room surprisingly and oddly calm. A calm that seemed to be pretty unusual given the circumstances but at one point in time did the eyes of the alicorn open themselves as a new sort of energy was detected with her horn.

A form of energy that was both ancient and new at the same time. And as far as she knew, only one being in the entire face of the lands had been able to give off such power radiations. "And here she comes." Celestia mumbled to herself before she finally got her eyes upon the predator in the shadows. A shimmer of darkness that just laid upon the floor like an actual shadow was revealed to the eyes of the princess herself. A shimmer that turned itself into a pool as something began to climb out of it.

All of the guards in the room took their arms as they had not a single clue of just what it could be that was attacking them but Celestia simply waved them off to calm down. "I have been waiting for a meeting with you in person and here it finally comes."

A tar-black colored set of forelegs were punched out of the pool of darkness that was slowly getting to boil like actual hot tar. And the thing that followed seemed to be going lightning fast. For a figure didn't just rose itself out of it, it actually hurled itself out of the pool and landed just a hoof or two away from it with the hindlegs.

The black tar-like goo was still dripping off of the being was a smirk was given and the pearl white, jagged teeth were revealed in their full glory. Hours had gone by since the attack on the settlement and the meeting that Luna had foretold was about to begin. But one thing still bugged the alicorn, and that was the simple fact of that massive amount of black goo that covered the entity.

Yet she also seemed to be surprised by the actual size as the head rose itself up from its power position to a much more regal height. Then it was finally revealed to her. Finally did the substance drip off of the being and thus revealing who it really was. With a shake of her head and tail stood Nightmare Rarity herself, the queen of fear herself right in the throne room together with Celestia.

The smirk never left her face while the substance itself gently crawled back to the pool of darkness before that closed itself off after having collected all of the bits and pieces. Words weren't exchanged between the two ponies as the dark unicorn simply started to pace up and down before the throne. A thing that did two things for the princess.

The first one being the obvious one, the very fact that she could observe her enemy from almost every last angle there was. But the second was more into the actual advantage of the unicorn, the pacing drove Celestia insane from time to time. It just worked her on her nerves so much to the points where she wanted to shout.

Yet shouting against the unicorn before her was about the last thing that she would have wanted. Anything that could be seen as a sign of weakness could be used by the mare as an exploit against the two royals. And that thing was just about the last thing that she wanted to have happen. "You rang?"

In the meantime and in the library of Canterlot castle itself was Twilight working harder and more eager than ever to get the books that she needed in order to find something that could be helping her to get Rarity back the way she was supposed to be. But not even her four remaining friends wanted to actually help her, as none of them would even be understanding the words that she would be speaking, let alone reading.

So in one way or the other, it was really just her on her own that would be figuring out the things that needed to be done. At one end she could understand just why they had made their decisions as they did. The science behind it all wasn't something that easily discovered let alone discussed.

But that didn't stop the unicorn from not trying. She wanted to know the secrets and perhaps the best of all, she wanted to know exactly how she could be reverting Rarity back without the use of the elements themselves. All that she wanted from that point onward was to get her much beloved friend back.

"Hey Twi, you be needing some help?" the voice of Fluttershy suddenly echoed through the room where the mulberry unicorn was working. The eyes were raised from the books and actually looked over her glasses towards the mare with a smile. Though behind Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie simply hopped on like there hadn't been anything that had happened in the past hours. Ignorance was a bliss and the pink party pony was the prime example of it.

"Actually, I, I could be using some help here." Twilight admitted softly as she lowered the book she was reading from and looked at the two ponies with a gentle smile. "If, if you could sit down and look through the books as well, I would appreciate it."

"No problemo Twi!" Pinkie giggled before she hopped over to one of the chairs and took place on it. While Fluttershy on the other end was a lot more careful with her doings and sayings. After she eventually sat down as well and opened one of the books, the entire language that was written in it caught her by surprise. Nothing in her and Pinkie's life could prepare them for the things they would be seeing there and then.

For the moment they both opened a book, they didn't exactly read through it in the traditional manners. Instead the whole book played out before their very eyes just like a movie. Every last aspect of information played itself out like episodes from a series. It was something that was so overwhelming for the two of them, something that was so powerful, that both Pinkie and Fluttershy closed their books almost at the same time and looked at Twilight for answers.

"The books, they, they moved before my eyes. Everything written inside of it, playing out like…a movie! Awesome!" Pinkie spoke up with her hyper energetic voice while Fluttershy blushed a little bit and pushed the book away from her. Almost as if it was contaminated with some sort of virus or disease.

Twilight on the other end simply released a gentle giggle towards the two of them as she lowered the book of her own once more. "Forgot to tell you girls, all the books in the Canterlot library are like that. It's a unique little feature that they have as it prevents from certain laziness to take over if you don't like reading, but still need the information needed. That, and novels are played out in a nice manner as well."

"That's, that's pretty impressive, but…how did we see it, I mean, we haven't gone through anything, or got zapped with magic."

"Really now Fluttershy?" Twilight spoke up with a small grin below her muzzle. "Remember the doorway you two passed through? That's the beginning of the shield that contains the magic. Been trying to get it around the library for some time now, but any attempt seems to…well, let's not go too deep into that shall we? We have something else to discover and worry about."

With that did the two other mares gave their mulberry coated friend a firm nod of confirmation before they all turned back to their books. Hoping to find at least something that would be helping them to get Rarity back in the shape that she was.

"I did that more or less yes. But let me assume a couple things left and right here. You're the new nightmare in the land, is that correct?" Celestia spoke up as she rose up from her throne and descended down the steps. "Don't even approach her guards, we don't want any, accidents, to happen." Those last words, especially the last three, were spoken right when the mares stood face to face with one another.

Their muzzles could almost touch the other's but the expression given in the eyes already told the lightning between them. Whatever would be coming next out of the mouths of either mare would be anything but friendly and harmless. "Do as she says and you all live to tell the tale." Nightmare Rarity countered in a dead serious tone as the looks were never broken. It was actually the first time that Celestia was given the treatment of the voice and she noticed immediately the mixture of the two beings.

Yet the guards themselves all heeded the words of the princess and the unicorn out of both respect and fear. Everything was better than dying for something that was deemed to be worthless. "Oh so now it's you giving out the orders here hm? Inside of the royal castle itself? You have some guts indeed," the alicorn of the day spoke up towards the nightmare before they started to circle around one another. Even though their faces were never removed out of one another's while their bodies were shifted constantly.

"I'm not demanding anything, just some friendly reminders. You know, the very things that you have forgotten through time itself?" the nightmarish unicorn returned in a sharp tone as the sheath of the blade dangled off of the side of her body.

"I assume that you have managed to get your hooves on a devourer and used it to destroy the settlement?" Celestia then spoke up as she wanted to cut the chit chat and go straight to the chase. Every moment that she continued to speak with the unicorn, more and more lives were in danger as it meant that her influence simply grew. "But something in your eyes counters everything you do…makes one wonder a bit."

"Oh it was my work Celestia. And if you aren't careful, you will be seeing a whole lot more of just that." Nightmare Rarity said as the lips curled themselves up into a wicked smile of utter insanity. A smile to which even Celestia herself was getting the creeps from. Yet she ignored the little fact that the princess of the day spoke about the counter in her eyes.

Even though she was getting more and more terrified by the unicorn did Celestia actually saw it deep in the eyes. She saw the fact that the words of Twilight actually spoke nothing else but the truth. That she was actually split into beings who were merged into one. And it was something that made the unicorn extremely unpredictable and even more dangerous perhaps then Nightmare Moon herself had ever been in her entire existence.

Though still there seemed to be that little gap in the words, that could be used to thrive a needle through. To get to know just what would be happening next. Caution was the thing that she just not advised to herself, but to every last guard in the room as well. The escalation of the situation was something they had to be prepared for. Though if it came to an escalation there and then in the throne room itself, it would be one of an epic proportion.

"You're implying your words as if you want something that we have." Celestia replied to the other mare as they still were circling around one another and kept their foreheads against the other. With their horns locked and seeming ready to duel it out literally horn by horn, the guards were grabbing for their hearts.

But the nightmarish unicorn wasn't stupid either. She had predicted the fact that a being like Celestia herself would actually question the words she spoke. It only meant one thing to her and that was that they were fishing for information. So that was what they would be getting out of her. "Whether you are having it or not doesn't matter to me. All that I care for is that the whole world shivers and burns."

"Burn as in, the fires you just unleashed?"

"Oh Celestia, you have only gotten dumber through the ages now haven't you? Of course not the burning of fires. No foal, the burning of hearts. Crushing the desires, the hope, the friendship."

At the mentioning of just the last word alone did Celestia receive another heart attack as she never had expected the unicorn to say that against her. Out of everything that could be planned from takeover to assassination, the reality of the situation seemed to be much, much more grim than that it ever was before. "You do realize that the power of belief is a lot stronger then the magic that you possess right?"

"Oh trust me princess, I am fully aware of that. Though that brings me to my next point really. Do you know the sheer power of words that are spoken as rumors?" Nightmare Rarity grinned up to the princess of Equestria.

"No, you can't, you couldn't have. I demand to you know Rarity. I demand to know, just what the ultimate plan of yours is!" Celestia suddenly exclaimed in one breeze of words. All of the guards felt the room began to shake as they were spoken and the charging sounds of a horn could be heard.

All of the power that had been stored in the mind of the alicorn was literally standing at the verge of getting out of the horn and blast the unicorn away like she was nothing but an actual pest. But the information she received could only be used as forms of truth spoken by Nightmare Rarity.

Though in the eyes of the unicorn against her, the urge of not only just fighting the alicorn away from her throne so that she could claim it, bit to actually use her magic was stronger than ever. She knew the horn of Celestia was primed for something, but that remained the question of just what it was what she was doing. "I demand to know, your ultimate plan!"

Outside of the castle and on the fields that were used to train both the celestial and lunar guards had both Applejack and Rainbow Dash taken the opportunity to lay every last matter that had been stinging inside of their minds over the past few months to a rest during a game of one on one hoofball. The ball was being kicked across the field as attack after attack was given by the cowgirl to get it into the goal that Rainbow was protecting.

With the sun shining brightly and not a single cloud in the skies, it seemed like the works of a mad person to give a body such intensive exercise. Unless they actually wanted to overheat and fall down to the ground flat. "Ah don't know about you Dash, but Ah reckon, we're down to our neck in trouble," the hatless cowgirl spoke up before she gave the ball a powerful kick with her hindlegs.

Almost as if the thing got launched out of a cannon it soared through the air and the sheer amounts of speed that it gained even surprised Rainbow. Though she didn't wanted to lose from the cowgirl thus actually remained firmly in place at the goal. "Come to mamma," the pegasus whispered to herself as she was ready to catch the thing with her bare hooves.

Though there wouldn't be much in the work that was actually able to help her withstanding the sheer awesome power and speed of the ball. For when the moment was there, Rainbow didn't exactly just took the ball, she was flung backwards by it. And the next thing she knew, she was pushed against the nets of the goal before her face fell flat in the grass and the eyes closed themselves for a couple of seconds.

"Ultimate plan you say now, missy hothead?" Nightmare Rarity grinned towards the celestial alicorn as her eyes looked up to the charged horn. "What would you be saying if I told that there wouldn't be any ultimate plan?"

It were those set of words that caused the alicorn to rethink her entire strategy of everything she knew about the unicorn. It wasn't like Nightmare Moon whatsoever. It wasn't a force that wanted to conquer all by suppressing the three races with an eternal night or anything. "You aren't going to say that, you are planning just what I think you are right?" Celestia spoke up in a dead serious tone. Yet her eyes just gave it away more than anything. They gave it away that she was scared for her life. Scared for the response that could be coming out of the mouth of the unicorn.

A unicorn who on her own turn grinned even more sinister as she witnessed just how the horn of the white coated alicorn discharged itself. "Oh I think you and I both know the answer on that one, don't you agree? But perhaps a more audible demonstration is better for that little and feeble mind of yours Celestia."

"If my mind is anything, it's not feeble, Rarity," the alicorn hissed up as she perked her ears for the words to come. Words that would be pretty much but actually pretty.

"Partner, ya better not be standing in the line of fire of one of my balls like that anymore. Seems to hurt a lot more than it looks like," the voice of Applejack echoed through the mind of Rainbow Dash. The cyan coated pegasus carefully opened up her eyes again as she wanted to know just what happened to her, but the facts were a little bit too obvious for that.

"You don't have any idea." Rainbow spoke in return as she opened her eyes. The first thing she saw though was the extended hoof of Applejack to hoist her back up. "Thanks," she replied as the hooves were placed in one another. And in a second or two was the mare hoisted back upon both of her legs and released a deep sigh.

"Ah reckon we deserved a little break, wanna head to town and see what's going on?"

"Beats sitting here. Let's go."

"No, you couldn't have said that just yet!" Celestia explained as she was the one who bailed out of the horn to horn duel. With the words that were spoken by Nightmare Rarity while she was only getting more and more terrified of her. Most villains wanted to oppose the princesses and throw them over before taking the place.

Nightmare Rarity on the other end wanted to do everything but. "You do know that appearing on the stage a bit too much starts to work against you right? See is as a puppeteer and the puppets. Up to you, to figure out who is going to be who," the nightmarish unicorn said with a grin on her face as she slowly began to fade from the physical world. Her entire body was ready to actually merge itself with the dreaded shadows that laid around her. A realm that she mastered more than anything else and could spread her powers through much easier.

"This isn't the last you have heard from us Rarity! We'll return to you and take the fight back to you," the princess snarled up before her eyes went wide for a fraction of a second. She realized just what she had to be doing for all that time and she had almost forgotten it.

"Oh yes! Before you go, a few words from my sister." In response had Nightmare Rarity actually stopped the process of leaving one world and turned herself back over to Celestia.

With the eyes being one of the very few things that could still be seen clearly. She then gave a haunted look towards the princess as she spoke her words of response. "I'm listening."

Though were Celestia and Nightmare Rarity kept talking to one another as if the fate of Equestria laid within their hooves, Luna on the other end had started up her own plan left and right. The mind of the younger princess was working in literal over hours as she hoped that everything would be going her way. Which it did, more or less. As the teleportation spell that she executed brought her over to the door where the dragon laid behind.

After having burned the settlement, he had returned back to his home where the commanders had chained him up again and in the darkness of the lair. Luna allowed the magic in her horn to give off bits of light and thus illuminated the place a bit more. Though the horrors she would be hearing from the lands above her would only crush her heart even more. Those endless screams of agony and terror were more than enough for her. Up to the point that she thought to have been on the right place but definitely at the wrong time.

It was a price that needed to be paid sadly enough but they could be helping in the trial against the unicorn if it ever came to happen. Her eyes rotated themselves up and she looked up towards the spiraling staircase of the domain. A deep sigh was the thing that was released through her nostrils before the head lowered itself once again and turned itself over to the massive wooden door.

"Everything here is made out of that crystal, yet the doors are made of wood. Suppose it is only better though, as it means that you can actually find them. Would be terrible if you couldn't," the younger princess whispered to herself almost as if she was joking about it in a sense of the word. Yet the events as they were happening weren't a thing to be joking about whatsoever. Out of everything, they were perhaps in the most dangerous battle of their modern age.

With a deep exhale taken by Luna had she charged her horn a little bit more before allowing the door before her to open and she prepared her mind for the spells to come. With the breathing of the dragon becoming louder each inch that the door opened itself further, she knew that she was at the right place.

When the door was fully opened she looked straight at the creature were nightmares were being made from, the corrupted crystal devourer. She couldn't even believe the things that she saw with her own eyes. Everything seemed to be just so impossible and unbelievable.

With a couple careful steps made by her, the door was closed again after she had slid in and kept her eyes firmly peeled upon the best before her. "Oh Spike, what has she done to you boy?" Luna questioned herself as she took a step closer towards the dragon himself. She was armed with spells taught to herself after the entity had been forced out of her body.

Spells that would actually help her in the fight against the corruption that was racing through his body. "I promise you Spike, soon you will be the old one again and you will be reunited with your mother. I never broke a promise, and I won't allow you to be the first one either."

Though the words were caught up by the dragon who opened his eyes and looked over to the princess with an expression of pure hatred. Just the sheer figure of Luna alone was more than enough for him to raise his head and stand tall above her. But any sounds other than a low growl never seemed to be leaving him. Not even a word was granted to her in the tongue of the dragons. "You sense my darkness, don't you? That same darkness that surges through your creator, isn't that right?"

She could be waiting for a response out of him for eternity, as she wouldn't be getting one judging by the looks. All that Luna could be doing, especially at that moment, was to just release the charge of her horn against the dragon and hope the best. Though his corrupting wasn't as far as Rarity's, he still could be putting up a massive fight against her.

One deep exhale was taken by Luna before the charge was released from her horn in a pulsing rhythm. A rhythm that could actually be felt through the whole domain by any living beings but not the nightmare forces for some reason. Those remained oblivious to the fact that Luna herself had actually entered the domain and was trying to help the dragon to revert back to his original form.

Every last bit of darkness was purified within his little body thanks to the magic and as the eyes of the princess continued to keep a watchful eye upon him as he began to shrink more and more. The black scales began to lighten up in their coloring more and more as the plan was working like a charm. Spike was returning back to normal and it was something that caused a major relief by the alicorn.

Although the relief was short lived. As she sensed the faint aura of something dying not even a floor above them. The aura that belonged to Emerald Masquerade had become fainter and fainter. "I'm sorry Emerald, but there isn't anything I can be doing for you and you know it." Luna whispered to herself as she turned her head up to the floor above the dragon's cage. And before she even realized it, there was a tear that was going down her cheek. "No more of this madness, this ends right now. I will make sure, that you won't survive this for one bit."

The head lowered itself down again as the magic kept on pulsing from her horn and Spike kept reverting down to his much more younger and more well-known self. Just as she had promised to Twilight before everything went to dust.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were wandering through the city of Canterlot itself and had just bought themselves a little ice-cream before they could be found sitting on a bench that was placed throughout the metropolis. The two of them were talking with one another about their past adventures and other fond memories of events that had happened. They were just two young mares who were having fun like they should have been.

The chuckles and the giggles that were released by either of them worked almost like a medicine to many other ponies who couldn't help it but to give the two of them a smile as they walked past by them. The wildest stories did their turn as neither of them seemed to be giving anything about just what the crowd around them thought. And even though the guards were patrolling left and right, not even they found it a need to do something about it.

Of course there was one or two ponies that wanted them to shut up or lower down their volume, but they were always pushed back like it was nothing. Which they were to a degree or two.

In the library of Canterlot were Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie been working everything out in utmost silence on the subject that had been given to the three of them. It was more than true that the stuff they were reading through was a lot heavier than any of them could have ever expected. But it was for the greater cause. A fact that actually caused them to read more and more through the books that were presented before them. They wanted to get Rarity back, one way or the other.

Though the path of the future never was an easy one and even in the moments that everything seemed to be going perfect, there were still obstacles to be overcome. And the biggest one that they could have ever found, were the princesses themselves.

"Speak the words of your sister and then we shall see whether or not they will be meaning anything to me." Nightmare Rarity snarled up as she felt the surges of hatred flowing more and more through her body.

"Oh I shall speak them to you, witch of White Tails." Celestia countered as she took a deep inhale and recalled the words spoken by Luna in that whisper one by one. "A duel between you and her shall be taken place in the ancient castle. A duel between the only two Nightmare's in existence. Do you accept, or decline?"

It was something that came completely out of the blue for the nightmarish unicorn and she hovered further up towards Celestia. The haunting expression of her eyes never seemed to have ceased down by anything around her and they stared right down in the eyes of the alicorn. Words wouldn't be needed in order for the reply to be spoken as they eyes screamed it out already.

As the sun was setting itself to call in another night, it would be a night of absolute darkness. Not a single body of the night would be revealing itself in the skies. No moon, no stars, no nothing. Just the sheer darkness of the night could be seen. A fact that would terrify a lot of ponies perhaps to no end, while others would be enjoying it to no end. The stages had been set for the final act of the play to happen. All that was still needed to be doing, was to set the pieces and raise the curtain.

It was in the ancient castle deep within the woods of Everfree itself that the original mare of darkness wandered through the rubble. Her eyes looked over to the last rays of sunlight from the holes in her helmet before the eternal darkness seemed to begin. With no light to guide or be guided with was the horn of the being charged itself up with amounts of magic that were previously unseen. Flames were being summoned into the room that was all too familiar for every member of the elements of harmony.

While the flames one by one were conjured into the reality of the situation was the being who had summoned them was given a first glance to the lights of night. It was a being that was long associated with the feelings of hatred, despair, betrayal and the worst of all, sadism. The hoofshoes that turned themselves over into those haunting long, black coated legs before the armor was shown. All combined was a terrifyingly mesmerizing scene to watch.

"I have finally returned to the mortal planes," she spoke up under a chuckle before the magic around the horn reached to an item to her left side. Where the queen had her blade would the empress have had one of her own. It was being draw before her eyes and simply held in place right there. The cat like eyes simply looked over it and a grin was being made with her lips. The eyes were looking at a rapier that seemed to have been forged over a millennium ago. And even despite its age it still seemed to be razor-sharp and in excellent condition.

Nightmare Moon herself had returned once again in order to fight the current reign of terror that stood under the banner of Nightmare Rarity herself. Though just as with the latest edition of the always so festive Nightmare Night, the Moon that was incarnated there was in fact Luna who had allowed herself to change.

Though the heavy effects were felt almost immediately after the change. Bits and pieces had still been hidden deep inside of her body. With the events happened as they did had Luna felt the crushing force of her alter ego upon her mind. That violent force that wanted to take over her body and gain so the full control. It was an inner struggle that she needed to win by herself before the queen would arrive on her own.

"You will not take over my body this time, Moon." Luna spoke up through the mouth which caused the body itself to erupt out in a snicker.

"And who is to say that, you didn't raise the moon, you didn't open the stars, you gave me a weapon even. So who is it that you want to get out of the way this time? Your sister?" the voice of Nightmare Moon herself asked before she chuckled up again.

"No you fool…your successor."

"What?! There's only one Nightmare, and that is me!"

"Prove it then to her. You're bits and pieces of the same entity, but you have the body of an alicorn at your disposal, she has the body of a unicorn." Luna returned almost calmly to her counterpart yet in a dead serious tone. Only to then add even more of an insult. "Cleave the rapier through her heart and you will destroy that piece of you, but also your successor, making you the supreme ruler but at a weakened state. Though you won't be safe, unless you're in my body. We need one another Moon, you know that just as well as I do. Your successor, doesn't need you."

The words were venom in its purest form but it was a lot better than actually ending up with both Nightmare's joining forces together in order to topple Equestria over into the chaos that Moon had planned out a thousand years ago. With a deep growl that was released out of the mouth of the being was the pact between Luna herself and her alter ego being sealed. The sword of the alicorn had to go through the heart of the other nightmare in order to restore the balance.

"So I suppose the waiting game shall begin right now?" Moon asked before she only gained silence as an answer. Luna seemed to have stumbled into a slumber right in the heart of the being to keep her own balance alive. Too long had both lived in the same body had created the effect that Nightmare Rarity had inside of hers. One asleep while the other was awake, that was how things should have been going.

The blade was sheathed once again and a deep huff was being released while the horn discharged itself completely. Moon simply began to wander through the broken down room as if she hadn't been there in centuries. Everything she looked at, there were memories of the past to be found.

The mane flowed from her head like a mist that continued to just wave itself around and about before the eyes closed themselves for a second or two. There was a change in the wind and she could be feeling it the second it was done. "And so it comes, the new nightmare to rule them all." Moon muttered up with a grin as she moved herself over to the ancient thrones and simply stood in between the two of them.

It was done for a rather specific reason, as it meant that she was neither light or day, but the things in between. The shadows themselves.

The changes in the wind weren't anything that had been done by the pegasi as it was the real opposing side of the coin actually. For the wind was being created by the nightmarish unicorn herself who announced her presence. The wind began to pick up and even howl through the dark castle as if it was meant to actually scare Nightmare Moon.

An attempt that was doomed to fail on multiple occasions actually, but it still didn't stop her from doing such a thing. Though the strength of the winds and the howls being made caused some of the already broken stained glass windows to be broken even further. All while the flames themselves seemed to be actually unaffected by the raging of the force.

"A force of nature has been unleashed upon this place as it did over a thousand years ago. History is doomed to repeat itself but let me tell you one thing, impostor, it is never with the same ponies." Moon replied to the howling winds with some of her own. She wanted to lure and taunt the unicorn actually out of her hiding spots so they could be battling it out face to face.

"But you seem to be forgetting the fact, that the facts of history are written by the victors of the battles. While some just perish like that, others actually become heroes. And cowards, do, survive," the twisted voice of Nightmare Rarity spoke up in response before the winds seemed to be calming themselves down for no real apparent reason.

In the nose of Moon could the scent be smelled, that unique scent that the dark magic gave away from the unicorn. "You're trained well in the dark arts, used them a lot. So I ask you this, why don't you introduce yourself properly before your Empress of Darkness?" After the words had been spoken was a deadly chuckle being released through the room of the castle.

A little something that caused the unicorn to actually descended down at an incredible speed before she separated herself into eight tentacle like streams of wind that rushed through the shadows of the place. There they would be collecting more and more bits and pieces of actual darkness before they would return to the original impact zone where a mare was already shaking herself to take steps into the physical world.

The whole process was just scary to look at from beginning to end. The howls of wolves could be heard ringing in the ears every single time that one of the 'tentacles' managed to get itself somewhere to deliver the bits of shadow upon the unicorn.

Then it finally happened and went accompanied with a powerful roar of pure intimidation that would make both a hydra and a manticore retreat back to their homes she appeared before the original Nightmare. Who on her own turn didn't even seem to be moving an eyebrow up or down at the actions done and seen. Though then had the actual form of the unicorn been witnessed.

A form that best could be described by her as a cloud of shadows. No real contact with the physical world had been made by the being and it was something that Nightmare Moon could actually understand. Would be a shame if it was something that ended actually too soon.

"So that is how my successor looks like? Hmpf, had expected at least a little bit more flair to be added. But I suppose you'll be doing just fine enough." Moon said to the other nightmare as she left the space between the two broken thrones. She began to calmly walk around the other entity in a massive circle. Every last corner was being inspected from bottom to top. "Still, so many questions that are left in my mind just to figure out who you are and what you want. But, what's the fun in that?" Her horn gently coated itself once again in the dark blue aura as she didn't seem to be charging any sort of spell.

Nightmare Rarity on the other end seemed to be genuinely surprised that she had been treated the way she was by the original Nightmare so far. Though when the horn charged up had every bit of her senses been placed on high alert and she knew it was just spacing the time out before the final battle would take place. "I was told, that you wanted to duel me, a battle of the nightmares, as Celestia called it."

"Oh did she now? I can't remember her speaking those words really, but if that is what she desires, she can go up my backside!" Moon returned as she spread her wings to the maximum width as they would be going. "I will never tolerate anything that she would be saying. And I am not turning myself into a mindless slave like all of you have done! You worship a heathen god, yet fail to realize it."

Those words did actually surprise the unicorn a bit more than she could have imagined and even anticipated. She had expected the two of them working under one hat, but from the revelations made, that didn't seem to be the case. "Then, I propose an alliance between us two to finally clear her out of the lands once and for all!" Nightmare Rarity replied with a persuasive and interested tone. If she could make peace or perhaps an alliance with Moon, everything would be falling right into her place.

The only problem happened to be the very fact that Moon was Moon. And she was not that easily convinced. The horn discharged itself completely as the wings were tucked back against her body. The eyes gave the clouds of shadow a dangerously sharp look from their corners as she returned back to a position in front of the mare. "Oh I don't think so, witch. I wouldn't make an alliance with a second row puppeteer for my life. You are not a Nightmare to begin with. You're a scared little foal who wants to have nothing but revenge upon her former friends. Pathetic. You're nothing you hear me, nothing!"

Moon was genuinely angry at the clouds, a genuine anger that nopony should have ever encountered yet those two entities were practically the same. They were build out of the same body, or better said, the same essence. It was flowing through their veins like blood in a normal pony. "You think you are so influential with your powers of fears and fights, while you aren't even planning to throw the fear straight into their hearts by killing the princesses right before their eyes. A mad scientist, is what I call you! 'Nightmare'? Not in a million years for you."

Those very words actually enraged the clouds of shadows as their swirling became only more and more violent up to the point where they almost touched Moon. Yet then the unexpected thing happened as they returned to their center point almost instantly where nopony else then Nightmare Rarity was being formed within the fraction of a second.

Out of the shadows themselves she stepped as her two forelegs went one by one before the rest of the body followed suit. With the strand of mane blocking the view of one of her eyes had she looked over to Moon with the other and the expression given to it was everything but friendly. The sheer expression of hatred were returned to both of the mares as they didn't wanted to show either of them any form of mercy whatsoever.

Though it was a learning curve for Moon as she saw just how much her counterpart looked like one particular pony she once faced. "Well, well, well, lady Rarity herself now isn't it? Gosh how long has it been now hm? The last time we met, you destroyed me with those rainbows of those pathetic elements."

"At least they got the job done and crowned me into the next one. Your forces needed a queen, and they choose me. So, empress, I think the tables have been turned her for quite the little bit now don't you agree upon that matter?" Nightmare Rarity returned sharply just before she noticed the sheath laying against Moon her hip. The sheath of her own blade could be found in the exact same spot so the conversation would eventually result in an massive duel. A duel between the two no matter what would be happening. Just who would be the victor and who the loser would be the question to be asked. But she wouldn't be going down without a fight whatsoever.

Nightmare Rarity and Moon closed the distance between one another more and more much like as she did with Celestia before their foreheads touched each other's. Silence was the manner of speech that took both of the mares over as they just stared right into the eyes of one another. The sheer insanity and malice that they both had for one another could be clearly seen as they didn't granted the other even one bit of room.

With their eyes and horns locked in a manner of mental warfare, they both tried to use their magic to crack through the skull of the other and to plant the seeds of fear. Only problem was that they just cancelled one another out when it came down to that. No matter how hard either of the two tried, the results were always the same.

"You fear many things Moon, things that were only thought to be a myth and legend." Nightmare Rarity hissed as she didn't even blink to her counterpart.

Moon's lips curled themselves up as she gave a small but blink-less nod towards her other self. "Oh you have not a single clue just how much thing there are out there that I actually fear. But there is one thing that you will never know, and it's the one thing you have failed to realize in your time as this supreme ruler."

"And the being?" asked Nightmare Rarity as neither of them still had blinked even though they had been staring to one another for close to five whole minutes. The desire to know the unknown was something that Moon sensed up among the very first things when she had scanned the mare while she was still in her clouded formation.

"Which one, is genuine," the dark alicorn then spoke up under a chuckle of her own as Rarity took a step backwards and blinked. With the contest being over had she simply charged up her horn in order to draw her sword and even Moon took a step or two backwards.

The cutlass and katana hybrid sword was being drawn out to the battlefield and pointed straight towards the ancient Nightmare with a smirk. "The tip of a blade is always frightening to see no matter who you are or where you live. It's a common fear that can be used against you just as much as the others."

The blue eyes of Nightmare Moon looked down the tip of the blade and all the way down to the very hilt that was being suspended in the air by Rarity's magic before once again a contact with the eyes was being made. "Oh yes it's a common fear indeed, but you seem to be forgetting a little thing here when it comes down to it, watch and learn." Without a warning given to the other unicorn did Moon draw her own sword and held the tip of it against that of Rarity's blade.

While the eyes of the unicorn looked down the rapier of her enemy was the fear actually starting to crawl up to her for the first time in a truly long time. "Suppose we aren't as immune for the things we spread as we thought," the unicorn replied as she was ready to enter the duel with her nemesis. "I'll enjoy finishing your pathetic little life, before you revert finally back to that good for nothing princess you are hiding so deep inside of your body."

"I'm going to be so sorry if my blade finally pieces through you, but it will make you just shut up for once. That alone is more than enough payment for me!" Moon replied to her successor as the tips of the blades raised themselves up. Both blades caused the sparks to be flying left and right as the dueling pose was made by both of the mares.

"En garde!" they both shouted to one another. With those words would the battle of the ages begun for the two of them.

Back over in Canterlot itself had Twilight rounded up all of the girls and they were sitting in the guestroom. The mulberry unicorn herself had taken place in one of the many chairs the place was rich while the remaining four all took place among the three couches. With the fireplace blazing already and the sun going down had the time to discuss the plan for the events as they were to come begun.

"With the help of both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, we have been able to look through the books in the Canterlot library to the best of our abilities to separate Rarity from the essence of Nightmare Moon. We can however, only hope that that essence coated itself over the part of Rarity's soul instead of actually became part of it. It's a long shot for every one of us, but it's the only thing we can be doing if we want to help Rarity out of this."

The cyan coated pegasus had taken on a bit more leisurely position upon the couch while she listened to Twilight's words. Something about them caused her to get her own ideas about it all. "You know, the thing I don't get is, why don't we just use the elements of harmony against her? I mean, it worked on Nightmare Moon remember?" Rainbow then spoke up as she leaned deeper into the couch to make herself even comfortable.

"Because, Rainbow Dash," the voice of Celestia suddenly echoed through the room. All of the ponies turned themselves around to witness the white coated alicorn who walked up to them with a sad eye. None could actually think of a reason why she would be sad about anything but that was what her eyes showed. The mare stood still just before the couches and moved herself carefully in between them to give each of them a good look at her.

The time for the princess to play open card was there and she couldn't bare herself anymore to keep the things she knew secret. "The elements are rendered useless. With Rarity corrupted the way she is, not even the elements of harmony would be helping, because they would be missing one of them."

"No offence princess, but, I kinda had figured that part actually." Twilight spoke up in response as all of the ponies suddenly looked at her. "I knew from the moment that Rarity had gone missing that something was wrong with the elements. I couldn't place it back then just what it was, but now that I do, I have been setting everything on everything to get my friend back. She's not too far gone princess, we can still save her."

While the ears of the princess carefully listened to the words that were spoken against her had the sheer intellect of Twilight Sparkle seemed to have amazed her once again. Even though she never told a word, she still knew exactly what was going on. The eye of the mare then moved itself outward to the world around them and noticed the lack of light.

Her example was then followed by Fluttershy who rose both of her eyebrows up and asked the question that would cause all the other ponies to look outside. "Where's the light gone to?"

"The lightness night, the time is there my little ponies. The time for the final act. The battle that will end the war." Celestia spoke up before she slowly gained the eyes of every pony present.

"War?!" Applejack spoke up as she couldn't believe her own ears one bit. "How do ya mean, war?!"

"The war against Rarity. Believe it or not, but at this very moment, they are battling it out with one another."

"Who are, 'they'?" Pinkie then asked the mare as she crawled out of the couch and walked slowly towards the princess. "Y-You don't mean..?"

"Those are exactly who I mean Pinkie." Celestia spoke up directly towards her after which the head was raised up again to look at all five of them. "I can teleport you to the location where they were fighting, but I can't promise it will be a pleasant view. Whenever you are ready, I shall send all of us over to there."

It only took the five friends about ten seconds to look at one another and vote in their minds. And the very answer that they would be giving was a unison one of the highest self. "We shall be going, right now." Twilight spoke up as all of them nodded to the words.

"Very well then." Celestia replied before she charged up her horn and under a loud poof with an explosion of light, they had been teleported away from their room in Canterlot.

With the swords having drawn back to their respectable owners and being ready to duel it out, there was a reason of just why Nightmare Moon showed some bit of mercy, if not compassion towards her unicorn counterpart. For she knew things, the true things, that had happened to the unicorn and it wasn't something pretty to say the least. When the scan was done and the date that had been received in her mind, it was evaluated at a near lightning speed.

Yet the only true conclusion that could have been made out of it was the fact that her essence hadn't just taken over Rarity like it was being done with Luna over a thousand years ago but instead it managed to chew parts of her soul away and actually replaced the bits and pieces that had gone with her own. And that, was the very thing that created the nightmarish entity as she was from that day onward.

Though time to think wasn't there as the first blow was being dealt with the blades. The duel was in a full going and both Nightmares were going at one another to the fullest of force that they can give to one another. Moment after moment there was either an attack from one side or a defensive maneuver. Everything had been done in order just to survive. With the types of blades being used was the force that was applied to the actual blade part had both of them worried in the backs of their heads that they could actually shatter on impact if a strike was dealt too hard or too fanatic.

"You're a good fighter with the blade, Moon, I do give you that." Nightmare Rarity spoke up as she dealt another charge that was simply being blocked by Moon with a grin.

"Let's say I had my time to learn new skills up there," the dark alicorn replied before she broke the attack and went in for a stab in the chest of the unicorn. But once again there was a successful block being made by her.

"This is getting tiring and you know it," the nightmarish unicorn added as she broke the attack on her own and took a step backwards to catch some of her breath. Yet Moon wouldn't be having anything from that. She went straight back into the attacking position not even giving the unicorn a second to catch her much needed breath.

Block after block after block had been done by the unicorn before she finally noticed a small gap in the patterns of Moon and thrust her blade through it. The effect of it were imminent and she had struck the dark alicorn in the side. A massive cut through her hide had been made and it caused her to retreat further than ever before. With the help of her wings she landed back upon the altar of the elements and looked down upon both her wound as well as the other Nightmare.

"You think you're something, now don't you? But I still stick to my original statement, you are nothing when it comes down to the dark powers." Moon yelled to her while the charge of the horn became a bit stronger in order to seal the wound. "Shame this duel can only end one way."

Just after Moon had spoken those set of words had a sudden orb of golden magic simply blinded the two dark entities. The bright lights of the magical aura caused Nightmare Rarity look away from the scene while Moon used her wing to protect herself and witness actually just who was coming to disturb their battle of the ages.

Yet there wasn't anything that could have even prepared the dark empress for the sights that she would be seeing. For out of the orb came the five remaining elements of harmony as well as Celestia herself. The first emotion that went through her mind was the ancient anger that she had built up for the alicorn of the day. That genuine hatred for her was burning faster and wider than anything else she could have been doing with her life. "You nor either of those five foals shall interfere with the battle that's going on between us two. This is a matter of personal satisfaction and debts to be settle. And none of you, are part of that process. Not, yet."

"Nightmare Moon, I should have known that you were behind this all. Still, hope that Luna informed you well enough of the current whereabouts of Generosity before you?" Celestia replied as she avoided the question that wasn't directly asked of her. Instead it was something that was more demanded from each of them.

"You didn't answer my question there Celestia. But I suppose they will be discovering quickly what it means if you cross in between a battle of two Nightmares." Nightmare Moon chuckled up before she jumped down from the altar and prepared herself for another round of fighting against Rarity.

Both of their blades had been slicing through the air and therefore sent two rather unique whooshing sounds through the room. A sound that indulged fear in all five of the ponies who suddenly began to wonder just why were there again. Though the message was clear to Celestia herself as she even gave a small nod towards Moon who had turned her back to her.

The wing of the princess spread itself outward and thus prevented all of the ponies from going further. Her stern looking eye watched over all five of them as she spoke her words on the matter. "Do as she says. None of you even dare to stand further than I do. The last thing we need is more elements falling into the hooves of the Grim Reaper and you all know that."

"But princess, isn't there anything we can do to help the both of them out in this madness? I mean, there must be something right?" Twilight pleaded to the white alicorn as she wanted to help so much and just get her friend back from the icy claws of the essence that had tangled itself up and around her.

"No Twilight, there isn't anything we can do that won't interfere with their duel. Except you preparing the spell to cancel the entity that shares the soul of Rarity. Other than that, we are only bound to watch this from the distance we are standing now."

It were hard words for each of the ponies that stood there yet they could understand them with every last fiber of their body. It would be stupid to just run in and battle it out with the two of them. None of them -with the questionable exception of Twilight- would have been strong enough to attack either of them alone. Let alone the fact that they were together then.

So all of the eyes were starting to look over to the two Nightmares while Rarity returned the looks to each of them. Her stone cold eyes managed to send a shiver down the spine of each of them and they wanted to go home even more. Yet there where they were concerned about the mare, that same mare couldn't even give a single thing about the six of them. She didn't even gave a single thing about the presence of Celestia either. All she cared for was the fact that Moon would fall before her.

"Once I'm finished with you Moon, it will be the five of them that have to believe to my blade." Nightmare Rarity hissed up in a bitter tone before another clash of their blade had been made.

"Oh really now? And how do you plan to do that, from beyond the grave?" Moon replied to her with a smirk as she broke the lock the blades had come into and thrust hers forth once more. The surprise attack was something that had each of them gasp, but Rarity just jumped out of the way before she was getting hurt from it. "Lucky escape. I will promise you the next one, will be massive hit."

The five mares looked over the battle with horrified expression every single time they heard those cursed blade coming together with a crushing sound. None of them could have believed that the fate of a friend and the land even, laid in the balance of such a simple action. Yet the mares were bitter enemies of one another and as much as they didn't want either of them to live anymore upon the face of the lands, they still managed to keep it both fair and honest.

It almost seemed like they were actually holding themselves upon the dueling code written in official guidebooks. Which was something that caught the attention of Twilight as she prepared the spell that would hopefully manage to save Rarity from her certain doom. Fluttershy turned herself away almost every single time that the swords made a clash with one another while Rainbow and Applejack simply looked with a set of big eyes.

The cowgirl and the wonderbolt trainee never had been the biggest of fans of the unicorn and it was something that was widely known by every single pony they came across, but they still felt bad for the events as they had been doing down for her. Never in their lives had they expected things would be escalated so deeply around her. It was almost heartbreaking to watch her getting more and more exhausted while Nightmare Moon kept on dealing blow after blow without showing mercy.

Pinkie Pie herself was helping Twilight with the preparations for the spell as it seemed to be a lot better that way. As the mulberry unicorn was showing signs of emotional damage from the fight. Even though they had turned their heads away from it all, the sounds that they heard were still unbelievable. Almost as if they had once again entered one of those infamous bad dreams. The only problem was that it was the actual reality of the situation and not something their minds had made up or they got indoctrinated.

"You ready Twi? It seem like it can be over any minute now." Pinkie said in a soft and sorrowful tone as she gazed into the eyes of the unicorn with a worried expression. Though Twilight herself needed to keep herself both cool and tough in front of all of the ponies. So with a single nod was the okay signal given and the horn of the mare began to charge itself up.

Having read the tome of the spell over and over it was about the best shot that they had in the operation to get their beloved friend back and everything seemed to be going just their way. "All that needs to be done, is a little bit of charging. After that, we can only see what's going to happen. And, thank you Pinkie, for everything." Twilight replied to her in a humble sounding tone at the end before a hug was given between the two of them.

Their cheeks nuzzled one another carefully as they both released a small giggle. The princess of the sun slowly looked down to her side as she wanted to know just what was going on between the two of them. Though at the sight presented, she couldn't do anything but to crack a smile. Yet that same smile was gone in five seconds after she had turned herself back around to see the two clashing mares.

There was sadly enough one massive thing that stood in the way for the elements their victory and the reunion with Rarity. That was a little secret that only Moon knew. A secret that couldn't be dared to be spoken in the open and as she had her back once again facing each of the mares, there was the time to hack through the knots that had been made the entire time. The final decision had to be made in the life of Rarity, and it wouldn't be a pretty one for certain.

All of the thoughts of Nightmare Moon were actually steered by Luna herself deep inside of the body. But the fact there was one thing that seemed to be impossible for the lunar alicorn. One thing that she couldn't do even if she wanted. It was the very fact that she had to take a life. Luna was faced with the terrible decision to either let Nightmare Rarity live and continue on her reign of terror, or to end the life of the once so generous and gorgeous looking unicorn once and for all.

It wasn't any type of decision one would love to make and even for a mare who could be so cold and calculating, it was still heartbreaking. Yet the fact still remained and that was one that was truly stone cold, it had to happen if they wanted to save Equestria.

There was a tiny moment in the eyes of Moon herself that caused her to lose focus for just the fraction of a second before they were being fueled by determination to end the life of the unicorn once and for all. It would be an event that none of the ponies would have ever expected to happen.

Clash after clash and strike after strike was being made by the two ponies before the final blow could finally be delivered. Rarity was truly exhausted as there wasn't any puff inside of her body that could help her continue the fight. Yet she was being the stubborn mare that she was still caused her to actually make one last charge. "Right where I want to have you." Moon whispered to herself as she prepared her rapier for the final blow.

All of the ponies on the sidelines noticed the changes that happened in the positioning of Nightmare Moon and they all knew just what would be happening. It was a revelation that caused each of them to stand just frozen upon the ground with their eyes wide open. None of them wanted to believe the things that would be happening within the upcoming seconds.

Not even Celestia herself was able to do anything against it. Not even a word was being spoken by her in an attempt to stop the incoming charge. Everything just came to a screeching hold the moment the entire change in posture had been made.

With each of them frozen in fear had Nightmare Moon turned her eyes one last time over to the six of them. Only then they turned back towards the incoming mare. It was then or never. The hit had to be made if the lands wanted to continue to live on. Every last fiber deep within her body fought against moving the blade towards the unicorn. But the sheer power that Luna expressed upon the dark alicorn seemed to be next to nothing.

What happened then was that the blade was thrust forward once again and Nightmare Rarity noticed it too late as she then ran into the rapier with her chest. The unicorn eventually came to a stop as her chest hit the actual hoofguard of the blade and the tip of it stuck out of her back. Her entire body began to shake as she felt the life being drained right out of her. All of the black tar-like substances left her body like she was bleeding dry.

Though there was only one more thing that the alicorn could be doing and that was to show her the truth of the situation. The truth behind the lies she had been following almost blindly since the day she was formed by the nightmare forces. Moon carefully brought her horn over Rarity's and they touched for just a single second. That very second on the outside world seemed to be lasting a lifetime for the two of them.

For in that moment were the lies in which Rarity had been living in, broken as if they were nothing and the actual truth was being revealed to her. The history as it actually went down in the books, the very moment where the stallions tricked her into becoming the queen of the nightmare forces and she became the dreaded Nightmare.

It all seemed to be just so unbelievable for the unicorn, every last aspect of the truth caused her to tear up even more through the pain that was flowing through her body. Only after their horns lost contact with one another did Rarity dare to look up into the eyes of Moon and noticed they weren't the same.

The normal catlike eyes of the dark mare had reverted back into the friendly looking eyes of Luna who gave her a single nod as a silent response. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, for everything." Rarity managed to say before her legs lost all of their strength. She dropped down to the ground with a plof on the stone floor. It was in that moment that Moon removed her left foreleg out of one of her shoes and closed the eyes of the unicorn before giving one last stroke over the cheek.

The deed was done and the queen had passed away but at the price that was to be paid. It wasn't something noteworthy of heroic at all. Nightmare Moon would go down in the history books as she always had been gone in them. Yet nopony would truly know just what made her to pull the decision as not even Celestia was allowed to know that secret.

Moon's head carefully turned itself over to the six ponies who were thawing themselves from their position and gently moved bits and pieces of their bodies. Yet before one of them could even speak words out against her had she vanished into nothing but thin air. Gone from the scene of the crime while leaving the body there to be put to rest by them six.

From which five looked over to the largest mare in the room with glares that could kill her on the spot as well.

"You, promised!" Twilight shouted out as she discharged her horn almost instantly after realizing that Rarity had passed away and Moon had escaped. "You promised me to help in retrieving the soul as it was! But no, instead you just let her being killed! What sort of a monster are you, princess?" Words couldn't describe the mood for the five friends, nor could be described for the princess herself. None of them ever even could have expected that such a thing was going to be happening. Every single second seemed like that it was going according to plan but the last minute change was what struck them all.

"Don't you dare to speak in such a tone against me, Twilight Sparkle! Not even I could foresee that something like this would be happening. Nothing in whole wide world could have prepared me for the devastating blow that was given to us today!" Celestia pleaded for herself as she placed her hoof before Twilight.

Yet where the princess and the student seemed to be bickering a long end away, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Applejack carefully appeared by the body of the recently deceased unicorn with tears in all of their eyes. None of them wanted to believe that Rarity had turned into such a monster before she died. None of them could believe it actually.

"Would you all be quiet, now!" Fluttershy suddenly yelled at the princess and the student as if Rarity herself would have called them in the moment. And the two indeed stopped their argument together before they closed their eyes and the tears were being shed. All of the ponies, including princess Celestia had to let their tears go for a moment or two. For that day they didn't only lose an amazing tailor and element of harmony, but they also lost somepony's daughter and truly a one of a kind friend.

It that was the thing that struck them the most of everything. Perhaps it didn't needed to end in the way it did but it was the only one that saw seen fit for. As saddening as it was, it was the truth of the situation.

The death of the queen was felt hard all throughout the wood of White Tails, for every last being that stood under her control got the signal that nothing was what it seemed anymore. With the queen dead was their existences useless to continue. They couldn't return back to the original Nightmare as they had betrayed her. So there was only one thing that the forces could have done. Which was to vanish from history like they never had existed in the first place.

All over the woods of White Tails did the forces of the queen vanish from the lands. False shepherds, clouds of shadow, shadow stallions and even the savages, all just vanished like grains of sand in the wind. The domain that one moment was full of life was suddenly empty with only the prisoners to run the thing.

The magical fog that once tormented the woods was lifted a minute after the last force had disappeared through a couple of powerful zaps.

"And so it came to be, that through everything combined we all share the burden of the loss of a great friend upon our shoulders. A friend who will be missed for who she was, and not who she had become." Twilight Sparkle spoke softly to herself as her quill ran over the parchment with the help of her raspberry colored magical aura. Her eyes darted off to the side where they saw Spike laying in his basket where he belonged and a single chuckle left the mare. Only to then return back to the letter she was writing.

"Perhaps injustice had been done against our friend, perhaps not. We shall never be knowing it for sure. All that I can say though, is that Rarity will never be forgotten. For few were like her, and even less would be. Farewell."

Rarity had passed away by the blade of nopony else then Nightmare Moon herself, that much was known to the land. It was something that could be seen as a devastating blow to the entire nation of Equestria as well as neighboring countries. For it meant that nopony in the land was actually safe from the malice of the dark alicorn. While they could have been right, it was still better than to live in the constant fear that Nightmare Rarity could be attacking somepony anywhere and anytime. The necessary thing had been done, whether or it not it was appreciated or not by the citizens.

But after the death of the unicorn had the land actually divided itself up in multiple parts surrounding the subject. One part was actually happy that the mysterious queen of fright was gone and that the woods of White Tails as well as the land were safe once more thanks to the actions done. Another part and actually the majority of the land mourned about the death of Rarity herself.

It was never revealed by the princesses nor her friends that Rarity had actually been turned into the nightmarish appearance she carried to her death day. Perhaps it was a secret better kept just among the ponies for who it was meant to be. That sadly enough also included the family of the once so graceful ivory coated mare.

Explanation after explanation was given to the family in the hope that they would ever understand that if Rarity continued to live her life the way she did there would only have been more trouble and chaos would have been there. Which happened to have been just about the last thing either of the royals wanted. The binding of the two souls together was something that killed the innocence of the unicorn a long time ago and that her death was the only way to truly end it.

A heartbreaking fact for the family it indeed happened to be but if the royals said that there was no other way it could have been done, none dared to protest against it.

A funeral was given for the unicorn just as she would have wanted it. Everypony appeared in their most beautiful outfits but the mood on the site was everything but joyfully. For in the coffin laid the body of the friend who had gone. It was truly heartbreaking for all of them. Friends and family alike shed their tears as the tales did their turn. Eventually she was slowly lowered into the ground and each of the ponies present gave their last goodbye's to Rarity. Only then was the funeral itself over and the dark chapter in each of their history could be closed with a tear instead of a smile.

Though it would have been a couple days later that the group of friends would be having collected themselves upon the balcony of the Golden Oak Library. Each of them sat upon the hunches and gazed over to the infinite stars. Though there was one little gap in between Twilight and Applejack. For in between them didn't lay Spike, he was actually napping in his basket after having turned back by Luna. Instead there was another pony who had claimed the spot. A pony who had taken the role of the element of generosity upon herself out of honor. A pony who actually was deemed to be worthy to be the element and -more or less- kept a family tradition.

For in between Applejack and Twilight sat nopony else then the younger sister of Rarity. The little Sweetie Belle had the necklace of generosity around her neck and looked over to the other mares before her eyes also turned up to the skies. A sky that was as clear as it could be with not a single clue visible in the air.

All the stars shined brightly and powerful, almost like the state of the elements. That among the darkness that was cast over them was a light could be found. But the more the ponies watched to the skies, the more they started to wipe away their tears of sadness as they remembered their favorite moments with the ivory unicorn. They didn't wanted to remember her as the queen of fright she portrayed herself to be but as the wonderful and generous friend she was to all.

Though the sniffing was caught by a set of white ears that stood in the door opening of the library. Ears that turned and twitched softly in response before the words left the mouth. Words that were spoken in a tone and tongue all too familiar to each of the ponies. "Well, what's the reason for this sadness if I may ask? Did somepony die?" was asked in that refined and ladylike tone without anypony actually knowing where it truly came from, until they perked their ears.

All of the ponies then turned themselves over to the doorway and saw the impossible just standing there. None of them could believe their eyes for what they saw. None wanted to to believe it actually yet the proof was right there. "Sis!" Sweetie Belle almost yelled as tears of happiness filled her eyes up.

She happened to be quite right on the matter for in the doorway stood an ivory white coated, purple maned and sapphire blue rimmed unicorn. "Sweetie dear," the mare spoke up just before Sweetie had ran up to her and wrapped both of her forelegs around the neck. One of the unicorn's forelegs wrapped itself around the back of the filly and a sisterly hug was given to the both of them.

"Rarity?!" all of the other mares exclaimed pretty much at the same time as none of them could even believe the things that they were seeing. It seemed to be just so impossible to them that unicorn just stood there but she did and she was alive. It had to be, without a single doubt the happiest moment in their lives.

"Though, what happened to yar mane, that, white streak into it. Latest fashion?" Applejack carefully spoke up as she noticed the ivory white streak of mane running through the purple hairs.

"Well Applejack, is it a crime if I change my style every now and then? Besides, you have to admit that it look just marvelous." Rarity replied before she nuzzled upon the nose of Sweetie with her signature warm smile.

"Hey sis, I think this is yours." Sweetie spoke up softly before she gently managed to charge up her horn in the green aura. With a raised eyebrow did Rarity look up to the charge and before she knew it was the necklace of generosity back around her neck. As it originally was intended to be. Even though the power once more surged through her, it didn't matter to the unicorn at the moment. For what mattered to her was the fact that Sweetie successfully managed to perform a levitation spell.

Speaking of those spells in general, it was the same spell used by the purple maned mare to bring them back over to the group without much of a hassle. Once she had settled herself in the right position was Sweetie kept close to the chest of the mare, whose head turned over to look at the five remaining mare.

Five remaining mares who couldn't believe what they saw and were still wiping away their tears. "So, any of you willing to tell me just what happened that causes you all to be so sad, or is this one of those moments it is better left untold?" Rarity spoke up with a chuckle as she carefully laid a hoof over Twilight's shoulders.

"Trust me Rarity, we'll tell you one day. Sooner or later." Twilight returned to her in a calm manner before they all looked back over to the stars. The stars that seemed to be shining even brighter now that the group was complete once again, as it always should have been.

"Just for this one time, I allowed you to use this spell Luna. This, one, time." Celestia spoke up against her sister as they were both engaged in a duel of chess. "Next time they will all be asking for that favor and that is a thing I will not be having."

"I heard you sister, I heard you. Besides, you know just as well as I that Sweetie Belle isn't capable to stay the element of generosity. Perhaps at a later age, but not at the age she is." Luna replied with a foalish grin clearly visible upon her face.

"I suppose you are having a point there sister of mine." Celestia returned before a deep sigh left through her mouth and tore her eyes away from the game for just a little bit.

"Check, mate." Luna added in a bit of a seductive voice before she placed her hoof against the king of Celestia, before she toppled him over on the board.