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World of Ponycraft

by Capn_Chryssalid

Chapter 11: Chapter Eleven

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- - -
(11)
- - -

She called me Amber. It was my color, you see.

I took the name as my own. Night Sky was not my egg-mother, my brood-mother, but she had birthed me, literally, as part of her initiation into the Canterlot Academy for Gifted Unicorns. I never did learn just how my egg ended up there, among ponykind, set to be used as some sort of test. Most unicorns failed it and were evaluated based on their efforts. A small few were successful, earning themselves companions in the process. Regardless of how, fate and the sands of time had brought me to her. Instinct compelled me to be loyal to my new broodmother, my master, and so I took the name "Amber" and I followed Night Sky.

The Visions...

Those came later.

- - -

- - - (11) - - -

Twilight felt it right away: this "Vision of the Nightmare" was different from the others. She had seen things through other's eyes before. Luna's. Enigma's. Princess Celestia's. This time, the vision was sharper, clearer, more solid... and she experienced it from a third pony perspective. It was as if she was watching through time, still herself, but an invisible and intangible witness to the past.

She saw Luna and the other Elements of Harmony as they passed into the Halls of Origination. The Lunar Princess was so similar yet so different in this past life; it was eerie. Her coat was a dark indigo, as if halfway to black from normal, and her mane and tail were a shade darker, but were still solid and deep sky blue. Her appearance was regal, and she had to be as tall as Celestia herself, but there was none of the Sun Princess's warmth of presence or personality breaking through Luna's determined expression. The dark armor she wore produced a trail of magical hardfrost in its wake: like a breath of warm air visible on a cold day. Her hooves left faint crackles on the floor behind.

She looked... Powerful. Determined. Implacable.

The same could not be said for the Elements of Harmony who followed her. The six ponies were looking around in dismay, confusion and awe. Twilight immediately noticed, again, the parallels between these ancient friends and her own. Whether it was coincidence or not, the Elements had picked the same basic arrangement of bearers... or hosts: two unicorns, two pegasi, two earth ponies. They had even picked the same sort of bearer. Maybe they always did.

Featherfrost's analog was Rainbow Dash, in Loyalty. The Shadowbolt was older than Rainbow, and much more reserved, but they both had an almost palpable aura of confidence and reliability - the sense that when push came to shove, there would be no one better to have by your side. She kept close to Enigma, constantly on the look out for danger. Perhaps it was a life filled with combat instead of competition, but the ancient pegasus had Dash's natural jumpiness and enthusiasm, but morphed into a sort of hardened edginess.

Sunflower (Twilight wondered if the name was hereditary or a coincidence) was Fluttershy's analog, and like the present-day Element of Kindness, she looked terrified of their surroundings. The chamber they were within, part of this so called "Hall of Origination" was vast beyond any pony's normal sense of scale. The steps of a stone stairway leading upwards had to be jumped. Flanking statues with non-pony features (to Twilight, living in the present, they resembled the Azerothean "humans" who now visited Equestria) towered nearly to the vault's massive ceiling. Strange shafts of light fell from above, despite there being no actual connection to the heavens above. Buttressed lanterns and strange constructions glowed with a soft, eternal light.

It was no surprise that somepony with Fluttershy's temperament would be scared. Any sane pony would at least be apprehensive, being in such an alien place. Sunflower pushed forward, keeping close to the talkative white stallion named Luster. This was Rarity's analog, and Twilight found it a bit strange that both unicorns were the only males in the group. Enigma, at least, looked nothing like her... but with his magnolia-white coat Luster did resemble Rarity in some ways. He was well groomed to hoof, with a witty and charming sort of atmosphere. He was almost princely; Rarity probably would have gotten along well with him, were he not a thousand years her senior. His cerise-pink hair was almost Pinkie-like, though, and made him seem a bit effeminate.

He was chatting animatedly with Sunflower, keeping the timid pegasus's spirits up.

Twilight watched, fascinated, as Black Pepper - Applejack's precursor - trotted away from her sister Happy Days to whisper something to Enigma. She was clearly concerned about where they were headed, or possibly what was behind them. Twilight hadn't seen much of the two earth ponies yet, but Black Pepper seemed fairly humorless. There was also something exotic about her, dark colors aside. Most earth ponies were colorful, and dark coat colors were more commonly expressed among unicorn populations. Happy Days, Pinkie Pie's light hearted, light-colored precursor, zipped up to flank Sunflower, teasing her about something. The easily and often flustered pegasus blushed brightly and even flew a few inches off the floor for a time.

Enigma, Twilight paid personal attention to. He was... her precursor, her analog, her direct predecessor. From what she had learned, he had played a very important part in executing Luna's banishment to the Moon. Yet, here, he followed Luna. Before, in another vision, he had acted on her behalf in Celestia's court. He had grown to stallion-hood in Luna's castle, among the monks there. He was even interned there. He and Luna seemed... close.

He was also a rather different sort of pony than Twilight believed herself to be. She had seen him praise Featherfrost in Celestia's court, but he didn't seem to act very warmly towards any of his friends in the Elements of Harmony. He led them, and perhaps the others took strength and heart in that leadership, but when they had chatted or joked before, he never laughed or joined in. He didn't appear to be particularly friendly, and he didn't try to be. Yet, was he really supposed to represent Magic as Friendship? Or... she had heard him speak of Order and Balance. Enigma did seem to exemplify those virtues.

She was both the Element of Magic, and of Friendship as Magic.

He was... something else.

Was that why, under these Elements of Harmony, Luna had been banished, while in the present - or a year ago rather - she had merely been purified? There was little justification to it, and she knew it was an unfair comparison to make, but Twilight couldn't help but wonder if it was all somehow connected. They were all Elements of Harmony, but all so different: the same basic virtues, born by different individuals with different ideas and different approaches.

Approaching a great vaulted door, etched with geometric symbols and ancient hieroglyphics, Luna paused. The Princess's horn glowed, but met some resistance as she tried to will the passage open. A winged scarab set into a massive, fifty ton slab of stone over the doorway glowed red. Luna glanced up at it and stamped a hoof in vexation. She clearly recognized what she was seeing. Twilight guessed it was basically a "do not enter" sign. Huge crystal windows to the sides of the door, covered with glowing bronze and brass, could have possibly provided some other means through, but they looked magically imbued. Twilight got the feeling, even as a disembodied watcher from the future, that they were security wards built long before ponykind.

Enigma joined Luna, and at his direction, the other Elements of Harmony used the same sort of spell from before to trick the door open. The scarab went from a solid red to a blinking red... and finally it turned a soft blue. The rectangular, stone door hissed, releasing a cloud of dust accumulated over millennia, and then retracted up into the doorway ceiling. Luna galloped forward, seeing something, her eyes wide with impossible-to-contain excitement.

Twilight's ghost-like presence followed the Princess.

In this new chamber, built still to Titan scale, was a raised platform with two sunken areas to the sides. Glowing sigils hung suspended in the air, and a bright - holy - light suffused in from the inward slanting sections of the ceiling above. Luna was already flying towards the center platform, her previously stern demeanor having melted away into a filly-like squeal of joy. For a moment, it sounded less like Luna was an immortal goddess and more like Apple Bloom reuniting with her family after Big Mac and Applejack came back from that family reunion the town over.

She threw her hooves and forearms around the neck of a strange creature: it resembled the Tol'vir in the other visions, with a catlike lower body, humanoid torso and arms, and a masked head. This creature, however, was huge. Luna herself was dwarfed by the size of it, her whole body just a little longer than one of the creature's arms. It also seemed to be made of living stone, like black granite and onyx, broken up at the joints with red quartz. Strange stone wings protruded from its back, and it wore pieces of gold and green armor as if that barding was just a part of its stony hide.

A golden ram-like mask, with forward curving horns, almost entirely covered what seemed to be a hideous, black, crocodile-like face. The strange creature-construct stood in the center of the circular platform, and faltered slightly in surprise at Luna's affectionate embrace. A stone hand came up to gingerly touch the alicorn on the back, but then fell away.

"Anhuur!" Luna finally exclaimed, providing what had to be a name. "It's been so long! You're the same! You didn't change at all!"

"Of course not," the construct replied, with some hesitation. "...Luna."

Anhuur's head tilted, in a very pony-like fashion.

"You were told never to return here," he reminded her, and gently pushed her away. "Your body is soft. I... I can see the Old Gods' curse in you. Flesh must not be permitted to walk the Halls of Origination. The Word of the Titans is Law."

"Anhuur..." Luna landed on her hooves and stared up at him, sounding hurt by the rejection. "You know me."

"Rajh's Dictate was that only both Sisters would be considered for entry in an emergency," the ancient Tol'vir watcher continued, unmoved by the alicorn's distress.

Luna tried to argue. "I-"

"You have used the Elements of Virtue to subvert the defensive mechanisms of this facility," Anhuur continued, pointing at her accusingly. "You have opened the doors and left this place vulnerable, and now you threaten to reintroduce the Curse of Flesh. Your kind was banished from this place for a reason, Luna!"

"I tried to wait for Celestia!" Luna yelled up at him. "I tried! But there is no. more. time!" She said each word with indignant emphasis. "Have you seen what is becoming of Uldum, Anhuur? I can't wait for her any longer!"

"NO." The temple construct's voice boomed, reverberating through the chamber. "As is my function, I have judged you, Luna. I have seen inside your heart. You are tainted by the Curse of Flesh and the whispers of Old Gods. Unlike so many other facilities, this Holy Place is still clean of corruption and I will keep it that way."

Green eyes blazed beneath his golden ram-helm.

"As Temple Guardian, I, Anhuur, can not permit you entry!"

"Anhuur, please," Luna pleaded, rearing up to touch a hoof to the finger pointed at her. "You must let me through. Don't you remember when we were created? You were there with the others when I first learned to raise the sun and moon. You..." Her voice slipped, as the stone being lifted his hand away from her touch. "You're like a brother to me..."

The temple guardian's eyes, green ingots under a gold helm, darkened briefly.

"These Halls are no longer your home," Anhuur finally said, his voice a thunderous rumble. "Return to the world of Flesh. There is no place for you here."

"You don't mean that. You don't." Luna told him - or maybe told herself. Turning from grief-stricken to incensed, she stared defiantly up at the ancient being. "This is my home! This is where I belong! I have every right to be here! The power within is my birthright!"

"Let me pass, Anhuur!" she yelled, taking a step towards the onyx guardian. "For the Love of the Titans, let me pass!"

A golden spear appeared in the Temple Guardian's right hand.

"NO," he boomed. "These Halls must not be disturbed. Not even by you."

Luna's face contorted with rage, a dark energy flowing from slit, green eyes, wet with tears.

"Then I will force my way through!" she snarled.

- - -

"Do you understand now?" The juvenile dragon was shaking, lowering herself back onto her four legs. Twilight emerged from the Vision heady, almost overpowered by how vivid it had been compared to the others.

She wasn't the only one, either. Everypony, from Applejack to Rarity had seen what Twilight had seen; experienced it. These "Visions of the Nightmare" weren't just hallucinations. It was hard to believe, but this young dragon, Amber, massing less than a wet Pinkie Pie, was the source of the haunting fragments in time. Despite a more animalistic posture that came with a growing dragon's leaner, longer form, the grief and sadness on the bronze drake's face reminded Twilight of Spike, back when she had asked him to stay behind at the Royal Guard camp.

"It was me. All along, it was... me..." She leveled the accusation at Fluttershy in particular, holding a grudge for the kindness the pegasus had shown her. "Not just your visions, either. I was the one who turned Night Sky, my... my friend... into Voidhorn. I'm responsible for the Twilight Cult being here!"

Rarity shook her head, recovering from the powerful time-lost vision. "I don't see how..."

"I admit that was pretty freaky," Dash agreed. "But giving someone daydreams isn't exactly the end of the world."

"You two don't understand," Amber told them, and stared at the one unicorn who hadn't spoken. "I think you do, though."

"What happened?" Twilight asked, though she already had her suspicions. "Tell us everything."

Standing guard over the dragon, the aged Diamond Dog geomancer, Rex, had made certain it didn't try any tricks. He was involved, too, as a third party, and while he knew some of the tale he clearly was at least a little curious to know the rest. How had the Rustpaw ended up enslaved, alongside so many abducted ponies? How had the Twilight Cult wormed it's way into Equestria? Why were they in Everfree, at Luna's old castle?

Amber craned her neck to the side, inquisitively. "I told you: it was me. Me and Night Sky." Sniffing, she forced away a pained expression on her reptilian face. "Ten years ago, Night Sky graduated from the Royal Academy for Gifted Unicorns at the top of her class. She wanted to teach and lecture, and remained as one of the faculty. She loved research and history... we both did..."

The young dragon lowered her eyes. "We traveled and studied, learning the varied mythologies and histories of Equestria, from the Zebra to the Buffalo to the Griffins and Diamond Dogs. Astronomy, legend, magic. We even sought out dragons for hidden knowledge. She returned to Canterlot to teach a few classes and present her findings, and then we were back on the road. It was... exciting: a wonderful time in our lives! The Princess even sent us to help towns and meet foreigners."

"But," Amber snorted a bit of sand and fire. "It was a few years ago, on a trip to the Griffin Tribes. I don't know why, or what triggered it, but... but I did something. We had a vision of the past. Neither of us paid much attention to it at the time. We both thought it was just a vivid dream. Night Sky was investigating a legend that you would know as the Mare in the Moon. Almost all evidence of her was destroyed in Equestria, but only among ponykind."

"Maybe... it was the artifacts we collected or the legends we heard?" the dragon wondered, shaking her head. "The visions grew stronger. More detailed. Longer. More intense. Night Sky became convinced that Nightmare Moon was real, and that proving it would be the triumph of her career. That it would get her into the history books. Driven... by me... she returned to Canterlot three years ago, and presented her case before the Academy."

Twilight shook her head, knowing what was next. "They didn't believe her."

"She was..." Amber paused, weighing her words. "Night Sky was laughed out of her department, discredited... and her artifacts and research were seized by Royal Guards. I was only then starting to realize what I was: that I was somehow responsible for the visions we were seeing, that I could somehow see through the veil of time. I didn't know that I was one of Nozdormu's children. To this day I can't imagine how my egg ended up in pony hands."

The young dragon crushed her eyes closed. "I drove her mad. By the time I learned to control it, it was too late. Night Sky was obsessed with proving she was right... and then, a year ago, you... the Elements of Harmony... you defeated the returned Nightmare Moon. Night Sky was vindicated."

It should have been the end of the story, but -

"Princess Celestia even sent a letter of apology when she returned some of the research. I believe she tried to explain why things had been conducted the way they were: why the truth had been covered up long enough for Luna to come back. She wanted to try and make amends." Amber shook her head again, gritting a row of sharp teeth. "It was too late. It was all too late. Whatever was in that letter... whatever platitudes or reason Celestia tried to get across... it didn't work. Night Sky flew into a rage. Her life was ruined and she refused to go back to Canterlot."

"I don't think she was Night Sky anymore by then. The Visions... and the terrible artifacts she unearthed..." Amber trailed off for a moment. "She left. Called herself Voidhorn. She wants to bring back Nightmare Moon."

"Nightmare Moon already came back," Rainbow Dash jumped in, hoofing her chest proudly. "We took care of her! Totally kicked her flank!"

"Besides," Applejack added, "Princess Luna's back; ain't that enough?"

"It isn't," Amber gravely replied. "Luna herself isn't Nightmare Moon. It isn't Princess Luna that Night Sky wants to bring back. She wants the power within her, but driven mad by grief and the whispers of Old Gods. That is why the Twilight Cult agreed to help us. Night Sky was already assembling a group to turn Luna into Nightmare Moon. The promise of Everlasting Night, of a literal Hour of Twilight..."

"That is what this is all about. That is why the cult is here. They passed on secret and dark magic to Night Sky... and I was there. I was there and even after I knew how to control my powers, even after the terrible things the cult did..." Amber looked back down, ashamed. "I did nothing. ...I even helped."

"Do you see now? Do you understand?" the little dragon hissed. "So go on. Don't you have a leatherworker in your party? I'm sure you can make something out of my - hey!"

"Stop," Fluttershy ordered, staring hard at the bronze drake. She leaned in. "Ponies are dead. Not just ponies... if you were involved, and you want to pay for what you've done, then you need to work for it."

"That's right." Twilight also stepped forward. "We aren't going to hurt you, but we are going to ask you to help make this situation right. So stop asking for the easy way out."

"Asking for death is the easy way out?" Amber inquired, and looked away, ashamed. "What a joke... but..." She tilted her head slightly, fighting the thought. "But... fine. I'll help. But I won't fight Night Sky. I can't. Even after all this, even though I know she has to be stopped, she's still... precious to me."

"How exactly does this Voidhorn expect to bring back Nightmare Moon?" Rarity inquired curiously. "And what's to stop us from using the Elements of Harmony like we did before?"

Amber nodded at the reasonable question.

"First, I must give you the final Vision," she explained. "When you know the truth about what happened a thousand years ago, then you will be ready. Night Sky is conducting a ritual within the Observatory using artifacts precious to both Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon. Luna herself won't even be present, making it impossible for the Elements of Harmony themselves to interfere..."

- - -

The Vault of Lights

Anraphet stood motionless and inactive, and in neat rows along a vast network of alcoves at the construct's feet, a thousand stone ponies stood at attention. They were unicorns and earth ponies and pegasi, missing only the breath of life to animate their stone and iron bodies. Beneath the Vault of Lights, within the buried Chambers of Animation, the pony race had first been born: one of several Titan created seed races. Neither living nor dead, they were potential-life, missing the spark that would never be given: not since ponykind had been expelled from the Halls of Origination over ten thousand years ago.

Cosmic light still flowed through ancient Titan machinery, bathing the Vault of Lights in a gentle if artificial glow. Strange plates shifted underhoof, just beneath a transparent layer of glass that made up much of the floor. In the portals below, a thousand more tiny shapes could barely be seen, waiting still as statues, abandoned. It was a sight none of the then-Elements of Harmony could have imagined.

Even Enigma was in awe.

Only she - only Luna - remained focused on the task ahead. Approaching silent Anraphet, the caretaker of the Vault, the Moon Princess tried not to let her apprehension show. Temple Guardian Anhuur was beaten, though alive, in his chamber. He had forbidden entrance. She had been forced to make her way past him, and with the Elements of Harmony by her side, she had done what needed to be done. That didn't mean it failed to weight heavily on her heart.

These Halls were her home. They were the only place she had ever considered home. Anhuur had once been her brother, created by the Titans to protect and serve. The pain it caused her to see him fall, by her order - by her magic and by her hooves - was almost more than she could bear. But bear it she would. For Equestria. For her ponies. For a cause she knew to be right.

Anraphet was a humanoid construct, built in the image of a Vanir. Impossible coils of precious gems merged into his meteoric body and the most ancient and potent of magics gave him life, when he chose to have it. Ruby red eyes opened, shaking off the dust of ten thousand years and leaving it to trail down his etched face like dry tears.

"Potential contaminants detected," his monotone voice announced.

"Anraphet," Luna quickly spoke, and she used her wings to indicate the Elements of Harmony were to stay behind her. "It is I. Luna. Recognize and confirm access to the Seats of the Keepers."

"Contamination detected," Anraphet repeated, and a beam shot from his forehead to scan over the seven ponies, starting with the ebon mare who led them. Red light washed over them and then retreated.

"Confirm access to the Seats of the Keepers," Luna said again, trying to sound more confident than she felt. "I must speak with Ammunae, Setesh, Isiset and Rajh. Admit me at once."

The great construct paused, processing the request. Anraphet not like Anhuur. He was similarly oath-bound, but his function was not to determine the worth of those who entered, but to confirm their threat to the function of the facility and to carry out the will of the Four Keepers above who could not leave their Seats of Power. Luna did not want to fight the Caretaker, but would if she had to. After what she had done to Anhuur, there was no going back. Not physically. Not emotionally. She had to keep going forward. It was the only way to justify what she had done.

"You are permitted entry," Anraphet finally declared, a great stone hand rising to indicate a caveat. "You alone. Luna. Are permitted entry."

"Princess," Enigma warned, clearly concerned by their group being split.

"We can't let you go alone!" Featherfrost, the Element of Loyalty, started to spread her wings. Bits of ice were already collecting around her. "We stick together or not at all!"

"These Keepers you mentioned must know we had to force our way in," Black Pepper observed, stating her mind as usual. "If it were me, I wouldn't let that go unpunished."

"This is the only way to avoid a fight," Luna interrupted before any of the others could try and talk her out of it. Turning so they couldn't see her face, masked by her black obsidium helm, she took a deep breath. "If I am to be punished, then so be it. But I will make my case."

"Isn't there anything we can do to help?" Sunflower asked, frightened by the overwhelming sights and presence of the Titan structures around her but determined to do what she could anyway.

"Princess!" Happy Days called out. "You will go with our prayers!"

Only Luster remained silent, his ears flat until they almost disappeared beneath is pink mane. He turned, slowly, to star back the way they came. "Enigma," he warned. "We aren't alone, my friend."

"Contamination detected!" Anraphet announced, this time as his whole body began to move. A flowing cape of dust fell from his back and shoulders and formerly crossed arms. "Unauthorized life forms have entered the complex! Commencing extermination protocols!"

"No!" Luna spun around, pointing a hoof at the Elements of Harmony. "You must leave the Vault of Lights! All of you! Wait for me in the Maker's Rise." Her voice was almost frantic. " Make sure no Silithid enter this place! Do you understand?!"

"We will do as asked," Enigma answered for the rest. "Everypony. Back!"

Anraphet was already powering up, and with him, the sanitation protocols in the room.

The Elements of Harmony took off in a gallop, heading back the way they came. Luna watched them go just long enough to see Enigma glance back, a worried look on his face. Then she also made a hasty exit in the opposite direction. She knew all too well that Anraphet would activate his Omega Protocols even with "friendly" organics in the Vault of Lights. He was the Caretaker. Even if the race of stone ponies he was built to care for would never be given the gift of life.

A small circular platform waited for her within Anraphet's antechambers. Pressing a hoof to the elaborate bronze disk, it began to spin and activate. A flash of light engulfed her, and teleported her directly to the Seat of the Keepers in the upper chambers of the Halls. All accomplished unicorns were capable of some personal teleportation, but Titans' point to point teleporters... it had been a long time since she had felt that old magic.

She rematerialized next to the central lift. A bronze console nearby indicated it was still inactive, and had been since the Exile. It was in the middle of an intersection of four chambers, the Four Seats of the Keepers, that lay in the cardinal points of the compass. To the north: the Seat of Radiance, bathed in the light of the sun and framed by gold and dark iron. To the south: the Seat of Life, not bathed in light, but giving it off through brilliant green plantlife that covered the walls. To the East: the Seat of Destruction, as deep as the night sky, illuminated only slightly by pinpricks of starlight and the purple glow of a dark throne. To the West: the Seat of Magic, alive with bright blue and vibrant violet hues, ever shifting, flaunting, always conscious of its own power.

Luna headed first to Setesh.

He was her old friend; her old mentor. His power was her power. He would help her. She knew it!

Setesh, as ever, sat on his throne. There was no life to his Seat of Power, and no ornaments save those originally installed into the structures around him. Void Creatures - beings of primal darkness, from the uncorrupted depths of the nether not claimed by the Burning Legion - milled around, watching Luna's approach with hollow star-like eyes. Void worms, flying eel-like creatures that fed on magic, tried to approach her. Luna ignored them.

Setesh himself was a humanoid construct, like all Keepers. He was built with the face of a Jackal God. Knowing time was rapidly running short, Luna approached his throne directly, lowering her head with a respectful bow.

"Great Setesh, Construct of Destruction!" She greeted him.

"Luna. Our child," Setesh replied in a deep, distant voice.

"You know why I have come, do you not?" she inquired, trying not to sound too hasty, but hoping to get things moving in a timely fashion.

"I know of Anhuur. I know of the trickery used to enter this place." He didn't sound mad, however. "I know of what transpires in sacred Uldum."

"The creatures that would overwhelm Uldum would take this place and undo the Titan's work!" Luna argued, looking up at him with a determined expression. "They would threaten Equestria as well. Please, Great Setesh, lend me your power. Lend me your aid!"

The stone being chuckled mirthlessly. "Though built and sworn to defend this place, even the Titans works may - with time - be consumed by the void. Chaos is the natural Order. If you wish greater access to this power, I shall grant it."

"However..." he held up an onyx hand. "As with all things, there is a price to be paid. The powers of chaos and destruction do not bend to the weak of heart. It will feed on your rage. It will feed on your fear. Master it. Or be mastered."

Luna bowed her head again, and felt the power unlock within her. She had always been close to Setesh. Her dominion was primarily the darkness and the night. Even Elune sat within a cradle of the twisting nether. Divine power coursed through her, augmenting the gifts given to her ages ago. Gasping, she felt her tail and mane twitch... and daring a look, she saw stars glittering brightly within a mist-like tail. There was no time - no point - dwelling on it, or any other physical changes she would need to endure.

"Thank you, Great Setesh!" She bowed again, and excused herself, heading west. Ammunae.

Ammunae would not be so easily convinced to bolster his gifts.

The Ram Headed Construct was in the vault opposite Setesh, wreathed in a vibrant green glow. The image of a tree was superimposed in the crystal plume behind his throne, and his chamber was thick with plant and insect life. Bloodpetal Lasher plants turned flower-like heads in her direction as she approached, their whip-like thorny arms flailing excitedly at she taste of new life. Seed pods, living spores and hungry vines danced and consumed and died. Among the jungle, dryad nymphs cavorted, caring to the alien gardens.

"Great Ammunae!" Luna greeted, lifting a hoof and bowing respectfully. "Construct of Life!"

"Luna," Ammunae's voice was melodic, but uncaring.

"Please, Great Ammunae, grant me your boon!" Luna, like before, dared to look up at the seated construct. As a child, she had never spent much time with this Keeper. Ammunae, like Rajh, were more closely aligned with Celestia.

"The land above suffers," she began." Life is-"

"Life. Continues." The Ram headed construct appeared disinterested. "You have come to plead that the Silithid be destroyed. Like those afflicted by the Curse of Flesh, they are tainted by the Old Gods. In that respect, no one life form can be weighed against another. I see no break in the cycle of life that warrants activation of Uldum's Origination mechanisms. I have received no orders from Algalon or Loken."

"They will overrun this complex!" Luna argued, frowning at the stubborn Keeper.

"If they do so, it will be because you opened the door for them. Luna." Ammunae rested his head against his fist. "Begone from my seat, child. If your race ceases to be, then another will take its place, and another after that. So long as there is life, all will be reclaimed in time."

"Great Ammunae, you must-"

"I was created to ensure life exists, not to shepard your particular brand of it at the expense of another," the Construct of Life closed his eyes; a flagrant dismissal. "Begone."

"Begone!" One of the dryads chimed in, perhaps just because she liked the word.

Another of the half-elf, half-fawns giggled. "Begone!"

"Begone!"

"Begone!"

"But..." Luna tried again, in vain. "But Great Ammunae... without your power, without your blessing, I can not Re-originate Uldum!"

"No." Ammunae, finally, sounded vaguely amused. "But you can destroy it."

Stunned by the outright rejection, and jeered at by the dryads - and even the flailing, angry plantlife, Luna retreated, ashamed. Descending the stairs that let up to the Seat of Life, her head spun. She had expected to have to work a bit to convince Ammunae and Rajh, but not to be dismissed out of hand. She had enough of Ammunae's original blessing within her to still pass the activation key within the Re-origination chamber, but she would be unable to give life where Setesh's power took it. Yet, she couldn't go back. Not now.

'How... how could he reject me like that?' Luna's head hurt to think of it, and she shook her head furiously. 'Just like Anhuur... rejecting me... forsaking me...!'

She stamped a hoof, growing angry.

'How could they? But...! But! It doesn't matter!' Turning to the south vault, Luna broke into a trot. 'Uldum is mostly desert anyway, isn't it? Who cares if I turn a desert into a bigger desert? Who needs Ammunae anyway? I'll do this without him!'

Mighty Isiset, unlike her brothers, was not an animal-headed god. She was built to resemble a fair Vanir, though as Luna saw her now, the Princess could sense a strange coldness to the construct-woman's face. Isiset, like Setesh, had been one of the Keepers Luna had been close to, millennia ago. She was the Construct of Magic and Keeper of the Arcane, her throne frames and bathed in an ethereal blue glow. Star shards and arcane anomalies populated the vault around her Seat of Power, like a living constellation set not against the night background, but against an ever-flowing nebula.

"Great Isiset!" Luna greeted, eyebrows turning up as she noticed the Construct paying no attention to her. "Great Isiset! Construct of Magic!"

Still no response.

"It is I..." the Princess tilted her head in confusion. "Great Isiset? It's me... Luna...?"

"Oh. Yes. Luna." The female construct finally replied, albeit distantly. Luna noticed she was staring at one of the mirrored arcane anomalies. "I remember you. Child."

"Do you... um... you know why I've come?" Luna asked, demurring slightly. This wasn't the reception she'd expected. Why was this Keeper so, well, spaced out?

"Something about those hideous creatures overrunning the lower levels?" Isiset guessed, smiling contentedly at her magical reflection. "I expect Anhuur and Anraphet will deal with it. Why don't you and Celestia go help?"

Luna was, frankly, speechless.

"Great Isiset... is... is something wrong?" she ventured to ask.

"I don't think so," Isiset mused, still enraptured by her own image and the magic she had conjured. She lifted a hand and waved Luna off. "Go bother one of the others, if you don't have anything serious. I'm... busy..."

"I - I do." Luna shook her head, vigorously. "I mean, great Isiset, I must have your boon; your power. I need to unlock the Re-origination mechanisms, to-"

"To deal with these disgusting Silithid or whatever, yes?" The Construct of Magic didn't seem to appreciate the intrusion, mostly because it was a pest problem. "Fine. Fine. You're leaking Setesh's impure energy into my vault, anyway, so anything to have you on your way."

"I am?" Luna staggered, caught by a sudden flood of arcane power. Her head swam and she dizzily fought to keep on her feet. The room became bright - too bright - and her eyes burned.

"What's... happening... to me?" She hissed crushing her eyes closed and gingerly touching her eyelids with a hoof. She tried to open her eyes again, but the room was blinding. She had to stumble around in darkness.

"A side effect of my gift. Of my power. I merely made you a bit more beautiful, little Luna." Isiset gave a small noblewoman's laugh at the pained pony's antics. "The power of the Arcane is so trying, don't you know? Like peering into the Infinite. Norgannon himself once told me that. It is a duty and a delight..." Isiset's voice took on a dreamy, lustful tone. "Such a delight..."

"I... will use it well," Luna struggled to say, her eyes and face still burning. "Great Isiset."

Blindly groping and stumbling away from the bright Seat of Magic, Luna slowly experimented with opening her eyes again. Her eyes felt different. Her vision was much sharper than before, especially in the dark, and her body... her body had darkened even more! Her coat was now as dark as a starless night sky! What had Isiset's power done to her?

Conjuring a reflective surface, a simple mirror, Princess Luna saw her face -

And gasped. Her eyes! Her eyes were a burning, frightful green, and her pupil was so narrow and slit that one would mistake it for a cat's! These weren't her eyes! Even the eyelashes and eyeshadow were an ethereal purple. What had happened?

'Where are my eyes? My blue eyes? Where is my face?' Luna felt a surge of panic and fear race through her, her breath starting to come in ragged gasps. Still dazed, she dropped the mirror, and it shattered into countless magical shards. Armored hooves moved of their own accord, her body gradually taking her to the final Seat of Power.

Rajh.

He stood within the chamber known as the Seat of Radiance, bathed in the light of a hundred mirrored and projected suns. Tight beams shot down from notches in the ceiling with burning intensity. The heat was unbearable, even halfway up the steps, and it was all Luna could do to squint and bear the light, even focused as it was into the floor. The whole room seemed to glow with red and orange, the walls heated to unbearable temperatures like a reflection of the molten core of the world itself.

Rajh, hawk headed Construct of the Sun, stood among it all, apart from the Sun-Touched servants who bowed from their ranks along the far walls. They were bound elementals of fire; the only beings who would bear Rajh's radiance for any length of time. No: actually, that wasn't accurate. There was one other being who had bathed in Rajh's power without fear.

But... Celestia wasn't here now.

"Luna," Rajh's voice was resonant and commanding. There was no warmth to it. Rajh was incapable of warmth. Only blazing heat. "You dare to enter here?"

"I-" She tried to say, shielding her face from the light. The great sun disk above Rajh's throne released a flare, and the blast of heat caused the Lunar Princess to break out in a sweat.

"Anhuur forbade you enter these Halls," the Construct lectured, thundering forward with heavy footfalls. "Yet, rather than heed his wisdom, you beat him nearly to death. You used trickery to enter this place, violence to force your way through, and now you use deceit and guile to seduce power from the other Keepers! You, Child, are befouled by more than just the Curse of Flesh."

"Great Rajh," she pleaded, still shielding her eyes. "Please listen to me. I had to.. I didn't want... I didn't..."

"You are not the Luna I knew," his voice boomed. "You are not a Luna who will have Elune's Blessing. Foul creature. I should burn you down to your bones."

Luna took a sharp breath through clenched teeth. Rajh's heat - his very presence - was murderously intense and overbearing. She tried to think of what to say to this Construct. He had never been fond of her. The only creature, the only pony, Rajh had ever shown affection for was Celestia. And Celestia wasn't here.

THIS. This was why both sister were needed to re-enter the Halls of Origination. Anhuur, that big idiot, he would have listened to Celestia. If they had both been there, he would have listened to them and given them a chance to prove that they deserved to be allowed back in, if only briefly. Celestia wouldn't have resorted to violence.

And - and Rajh and Ammunae liked Celestia. They would have listened to her. They would have given her power. Then, together, both sisters... sun and moon... could have saved Uldum and Equestria. But Celestia wasn't here. Celestia wasn't here! She wasn't!

"I... I'm sorry..." Luna felt the tears running down her cheeks, but still she glared up at the radiant Construct of the Sun, a scowl on her face. "I'm sorry, but I am going to activate the Re-origination Device. I will purge Uldum of the Silithid! I will protect Equestria! With or without you, Rajh! So give me your blessing or get out of my way!!"

The hawk headed Keeper tilted back slightly, either confused - or maybe a little impressed - by the little Princess's declaration. A darkness passed briefly over his hooded eyes. A hand slowly raised, as if to unleash the power of the sun itself, but then Rajh turned and returned to his Seat. The sun disk above him churned and spat fire.

"The chamber is open to you. Do as you wish," he consented. "But it will not be with my blessing."

Knowing she wouldn't be getting anything more, Luna turned to leave.

"For what it's worth... I do wish things hadn't turned out this way," she added, not looking back.

"Yes," Rajh answered, mysteriously.

Returning to the central lift, she stood in the middle of it and waited. The huge circular platform, partly physical, mostly tangible magic given form, was still inactive. Pausing at the teleporter nest to the lift, Luna took a few moments to collect herself and control her emotions. There was no point crying. There was no good to be gained from regrets. She knew what she had to do.

In the uppermost section of the great pyramid was the control room for the Re-origination Protocols. This was the Titan term for Azeroth's "reset" button. At the most powerful, it was fully capable of rendering the entire planet down to component molecules, and resetting it back into a lifeless husk. With the power of Ammunae and Rajh unlocked, it would also be able to re-seed the planet using the last set of Titan variables. Together with Algalon and the Ulduar Facility, it would be able to either reset the plant from scratch or call down a Titan to oversee any changes prior to bringing the planet back to life.

Luna did not need nearly that much from it. What she needed was the controls to reinforce the Sun Wall around Uldum and Equestria. She could then re-originate only part of the local landmass. The Silithid... the treacherous Obsidian Tol'vir...! They would all be destroyed! It was the only way. Nearly every living thing to the west of the Halls of Origination would be undone.

"I have the gifts of Setesh and Isiset," Luna told herself, using her magic to activate the control disks. There were no windows in the relatively small vault, yet she could begin to perceive the world through the arcane machinery. It felt... right. She was a creation of the Titans, herself, after all. It felt right!

"I... I have to..."

Not wanting to think more about it than she already had, she activated the Device.

Immediately, it latched onto her mind for directions. One by one, it confirmed the blessings she had received: some recently, some eons ago. Rajh. Setesh. Ammunae. Isiset. It accepted all four and gave Luna access, but...

But something wasn't right. No. Not like it should have been.

It sensed that the blessings were unequal. Luna felt the Titan machinery readily, almost greedily, grasp onto Setesh's power of Destruction and Isiset's power of Magic. The first two phases of the device were almost fully powered; quite more than enough to re-originate Uldum itself. The other phases, however: of Creation and Life, were deemed deficient. Luna tried to think of a way to compensate for this, but it was all happening too fast. The machine read her thoughts, not her second thoughts, and executed them.

Luna felt something leaver her body - some power - and fell forward, hitting her head against the controls...

...

It was hours later when she awoke.

Groaning not just form the blow to the head, but from the energy drain of using the Titan Device, the Moon Princess was slow to get back on her hooves. The room was dark, but she saw everything perfectly. She hadn't turned back. Her coat was still pitch black like tar, and though she didn't have a mirror, she suspected her face was still changed as well. Her mane and tail were also still ethereal. Working the kinks out of her wings, she gathered herself together and used the teleporter to return to the lower levels closest to the Maker's Rise.

Even as she materialized, Luna was met by the sound of sobs. They were an unfamiliar sound; was somepony hurt? He or she didn't sound like anyone Luna knew. Hurrying, she cantered to a gallop and then took to the air, flying towards the voice. Wings flapping, she rounded a corner towards Anhuur's chambers and the Vault of Prophecy. She immediately saw the beaten form of the massive construct, still laying on his side, as still as if he were dead. There was more than that expected sight however.

There were a few fallen Qiraji, perhaps two or three. It was hard to tell exactly, since they were missing part or most of their body. Scattered here and there were empty robes and discarded regalia, with no trace of an owner in sight. Like Anhuur, however, that wasn't the source of the sound.

Luna landed, slowing to a shocked trot at the sight of her sister.

"Celestia," she whispered, blinking in surprise. The white alicorn was cradling a sphere in her hooves, tears running down her face in silent despair. Her pink mane and tail were flat with grief, cascading down her sides and along the stone floor like running water.

Sunflower was next to her, the shy pegasus standing and looking distantly upwards.

"Celestia?" Luna asked again, getting no response. "Sister?" Her voice was soft, though. It was possible her sister just hadn't heard -

It was then that Luna finally realized the source of the sobs. It wasn't Celestia either. Further back, past her, Luna recognized Enigma. The unicorn stallion was also pawing at another of the orbs. His silver mane was matted with sweat and exhaustion and his eyes were overflowing with tears. The indomitable archmage, the prodigy Nemo had brought to her court so long ago: he was the source of the grief-stricken sounds? Getting closer, Luna noticed him holding what looked like cloth: black and purple, with bits of armor attached. Shadowbolt colors.

Not too far away,

The orbs -

Luna took a frightened step backwards in realization. Desperate to be proven wrong, she turned to Celestia. Her sister. It couldn't be. She couldn't have...!

"Celestia!" Luna all but yelled. "What happened? Celestia! Answer me!" She saw her sister stare at her with violet eyes rimmed by red. "Celestia. What happened."

"Oh. Luna..." her sister's voice was pained. So much so that Luna recoiled at the sound of it. "What have you done? What have you become?"

"That isn't an answer!" Luna snapped back, growing defensive and angry. "I saved Equestria is what! I saved Uldum! I saved this place! Our legacy! I -" She turned desperately to Enigma - faithful, loyal, dependable Enigma - and trotted quickly over to him.

"Enigma, please, I need you. You must tell me, did the re-origination work?" She prodded him with a hoof, but he simply sat there, cradling the orb and discarded uniform. "Enigma!" She tried again, and then lowered her head to try and snap him out of it with her proximity. "Enigma, please..."

The unicorn archmage rolled his head back slightly, finally noticing her. Luna couldn't believe how broken he looked. Not once, not since he had come to the Lunar Court as a young colt, had he looked so defeated. He blinked a few times, slowly recognizing her.

"Enigma," Luna pressed. She had to know. "The Silithid. The Qiraji. Did we win?"

"We... we held them... at the Maker's Rise," he finally said, and bowed down to nuzzle the orb in his hooves. "Featherfrost..." he whispered. "She... she dissolved. They all just... dissolved. Turned to steam and ash..."

"No." Luna gasped, backing away from him. "No. No that isn't... it wasn't supposed to..."

"The Silithid are all gone," Celestia spoke up, seizing Luna's attention. The alicorn was standing now, though she kept an eye on the orb near her hooves. She finally tore her eyes away from the now abandoned Element of Harmony to direct her disappointment and ire at her younger sister.

"All gone," she repeated. "And... so is every Tol'vir settlement I passed over on my way here. I didn't see a single plant or animal. Luna... everything is gone. So yes, you won."

"No." Luna denied it, shaking her head slowly. "NO!" She said again, pointing at her sister. "You were late! You were always late! This is your fault! And you're lying! You're. Lying."

Turning around and around, momentarily lost, Luna tried to approach Enigma again.

"Please tell me the truth, Enigma," she all bug begged. "I didn't-"

She saw the orb again, and the mark on it, and bolted.

Rushing towards the entrance, she passed a stricken Happy Days and Black Pepper. A part of her was glad that the two sisters were still alive, but she kept going. She had to see, with her own eyes. Out the entrance to the forbidden Halls and up the excavated antechambers into the light, Luna winced. So bright! Even at night! When had her pale moon become so bright?

Her hoof clacked on something hard, and she glanced down: it was a piece of barding.

It wasn't alone, either. There were pieces of emptied uniforms and armor strewn around the entryway, down the steps towards the Halls, and among the pillared temple grounds outside. Mixed among the discarded equipment were the occasional purple robe, of the sort worn by Qiraji command castes. There was no sign of life. Even the plants were gone.

All that was left was the wind and the sand...

"N- Night Guard!" Luna cried out to the empty pavilion. "Night Guard! Come to me!"

She accidentally stepped on an empty helmet and reared, tears streaming down her face.

"No. No! Night Guard! Attend to your Princess!" Luna demanded, spinning around and raising her voice. "Anypony! To me! TO ME! My Night Guard, we have won! The enemy are destroyed! Come out!"

Only the wind answered.

"Reveal yourselves!!" She howled, dark arcane power erupting from her wings. "I command it! I AM YOUR PRINCESS! Reveal yourselves! You aren't dead! I didn't..." Collapsing forward, she could only stare at all the empty uniforms. "I didn't..."

Losing her balance, the Moon Princess fell onto her side with a dull thump.

"Oh. Oh Elune..." she gasped, looking up to the moon. Her Moon. To the ever silent goddess she had been created to be avatar to. "What have I done?"

- - -

"Princess, my sincere apologies." Marrs Orange was standing before a gilded silver door, flanked by two of his hoof-picked new Night Guard. Despite only being sworn into Luna's service the other day, like all Guardponies, he took his oaths seriously.

"But Lady Luna has requested that she not be disturbed," he explained, warily taking note of the Royal Guards that stood alert to Celestia's left and right side. "She also told me specifically that 'this includes my sister.' I am sorry, Princess."

Celestia's heart secretly fell a fraction in her chest, knowing that Luna didn't want to see her, but she steadfastly refused to let that bit of emotion show. What was happening now went beyond misunderstandings and squabbles between siblings. Luna was in pain. In danger. Celestia could feel it. She more than felt it: she knew it.

"Marrs," she addressed him by name, sounding conciliatory. "I appreciate your sense of duty and loyalty, but you can not stop me from entering that room."

"Nonetheless," the Earth pony replied, his expression carved from stone. "I have been given my orders, Highness."

"I see." Celestia raised her head high, and vanished in a burst of light.

She didn't teleport far - only into the adjacent room. There was a sound of voices, the clacking of armored hooves, and a rush and scuffle as Guardponies tried to either reach or stop others from reaching the silver Lunar doorway. Celestia ignored it for the time being, as she approached the sleeping form of her dear sister.

Luna was in bed, resting during the day as was her natural cycle, but her sleep was clearly not sound. She thrashed even as Celestia watched, and the blankets and pillows that should have adorned her bedding were tossed to the floor or hurled across the room. The smaller alicorn shivered, curling into a ball as her form wavered, black inky-darkness trying to congeal and color her iris-violet coat. Starry night pooled and stained her matted mane and tail, trying to find spiritual purchase.

Celestia approached, but was forced back as a black energy reacted to her presence with a spray of hostile sparks. Crackles of residual lightning and the smell of ozone permeated the room, shredding delicate cloth and causing a pillow to split open.

"Princess!" Marrs' voice called out, and the prodigal Orange family heir galloped up to Celestia's side. He ignored the regal white alicorn and rushed towards the clearly stricken Luna. He, too, ran into the crackling field of magic and stopped short, recoiling with a burned right hoof.

"What is this? Magic?" he spat the word. "Who would dare?"

He quickly turned, motioning the other Guards back. The two Night Guards and two of Celestia's own Royal ponies were worriedly looking in and weighing whether to go inside. No doubt they would have rushed right in already, but the Night Guards didn't want to let the Royals inside, and the Royals didn't want to leave the side of their Princess. The result was something of a stalemate, with only Marrs able to force his way through by virtue of rank.

"This is Luna's magic," Celestia explained, watching on with mixed vexation and concern. "She is at war with herself. A dark force wishes to corrupt her. "

Marrs's altered, cat-like eyes narrowed, but the Guardpony focused his attention on his stricken Princess. "I... don't understand. If there is foul magic involved, we must summon Warders and Astromancers! And Medical unicorns!"

"No," Celestia countermanded, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. "I have already taken measures to deal with this. Luna's... inner conflict... can not be resolved by you or me."

The newly installed Master of Hooves for the night Guard nickered and pawed the floor anxiously.

"Then what are we to do?" he asked, frustrated by his inability to assist.

"We must wait," Celestia answered, hiding her face behind her flowing aurora mane. "And hope."

- - -

Alone.

Princess Luna sat, alone, on her throne in Everfree. This night, as every night, was as still as the grave. The hermetic monks of Everfree avoided her out of fear. Her Night Guard were gone. Every last one had died in Uldum. What few stragglers remained in Equestria - the elderly and the wounded - Luna dismissed. She couldn't bare to see them. Not when all she could remember was a sand strewn plaza of empty uniforms. Not when she could imagine the faces of her loyal guards as her own power disintegrated them alongside the enemy.

Had they cursed her, then, as they died?

Luna hoped they had. She was cursed.

Alone.

Every night, she sat alone on her throne and looked to the Moon for answers. Elune, never the most talkative of deities, was silent even to the most desperate of entreaties. Luna knew why. She had been abandoned. Forsaken. The physical Moon heeded her, but the spirit of the Moon wanted nothing to do with her anymore.

Neither, it seemed, did Luna's own sister. Celestia had spent a short time in Uldum, to help get the ecosystem going again with Ammunae and Rajh, and then she had returned to Canterlot. Luna couldn't bear to speak with her, and the feeling seemed to be mutual. Even Enigma had left. Luna had asked him to stay, to be the one pony she could rely on, but he mourned for Featherfrost and left on a trip "to inspect the reinforced Sun Wall." He never returned.

Alone.

Nopony cared. Nopony noticed. Not just her: no one seemed to notice her Night Guard were gone. They had done their job so well, making the nights safe, that ponies had forgotten about them. Even with the custodians of the nightfall gone, no pony seemed to notice or even care. They just went about their carefree lives. They were forgotten.

Celestia had made sure no pony ever learned of what happened in Uldum. Those few Tol'vir who survived by virtue of being near the coast or far from the Halls of Origination could never know, though Luna privately suspected that many had hints as to what occurred. The Silithid were gone; every trace of them burned away and returned to the earth. What happened outside Equestria and Uldum with respect to the War of the Shifting Sands, Luna didn't know. The Sun Wall permitted no exchange of information.

For all she knew, the whole of the rest of the world could be overrun.

But... Equestria was safe. The Nights were safe. Even if no pony knew.

No pony cared.

Luna had discarded her armor, but her body was still changed. She knew how monstrous she looked now: with an oil-black coat, demonic slit eyes, and a mane and tail that looked like pieces ripped from the twisting nether. If any pony knew what the Burning Legion was, she knew they would place her among them. She was no Princess anymore. She had become... something else.

Something - a voice told her - that no pony would ever love again.

It was during one of years worth of lonely nights when a small shape entered through an open window. Luna thought it a bat, at first, but the leathery wings belonged to a tiny dragon. A black dragon! If her guards had been here, they would no doubt have rushed to defend her or to apprehend the little creature. Neltharion's brood had become nothing but trouble over the last couple thousand years.

The little dragon fly over, and held up a scrap of parchment in its front claws. Curious, and hardly caring even if the drakeling did attack or cause mischief, Luna telekinetically took the paper. Message sent, the little dragon sped for the window and disappeared into the darkness. Luna examined the letter for a moment, and unwound the black string it had been sealed with. She had always been very curious, and a note was more interesting than anything that had happened in, well, years.

Unraveling it, Luna read over what was written.

And frowned.

Dropping it at her hooves, before it curled back up, one phrase could be seen. Four simple words:

DON'T LET THEM FORGET


- - -

"Don't let them forget," Voidhorn repeated. The Four terrible words were still written in that scrap of paper; still barely legible even after a thousand years. Written by Deathwing's own hand. Or claw. "Don't let them forget."

So Nightmare Moon had been born.

So Voidhorn... had been born.

"I won't let them forget. Not Nightmare Moon. And not me!" She laughed quietly to herself as she carefully positioned the slightly torn and damaged piece of parchment. It had taken years of scouring the Castle grounds, of unearthing the Vault below, of stealing and bartering with foreign races... but the artifacts assembled were potent.

The note. Bits of armor. Scraps of Featherfrost's uniform, taken from a museum in Cloudsdale. Pieces of Enigma's burial shroud. A dark crystal with residual essence gathered from both Nightmare Moon's banishment and Luna's "restoration." Meteoric iron. Personal effects: beads from a broken abacus, given to Luna before written memory, an Icon of Norgannon, a Tear of Elune, a Qiraji scepter of power, taken as spoils of war, the eye of an Obsidian Destroyer that had been at the Battle before the Halls and that had seen the destruction firsthand. Precious Titan recordings: ancient disks that Luna herself had once treasured and hidden away. And, perhaps the most precious of all...

A gift... from Cho'gall and the main branch of the Twilight's Hammer.

An Eye of C'thun! Still living, still malignant, still dreaming in madness. Voidhorn tried not to stare too deeply into the lidless eye that floated in the center of her precious collection. C'thun's body was broken and crushed among the collapsed Temple of Ahn'Qiraj, but that which was not alive could never truly die. The evil of the Old Gods was a part of the world entire; it could not be stopped. It could only be vainly and futilely held at bay, like an exorable and unstoppable tide.

"This eye..." Voidhorn mused, carefully placing her hoof over the lidless, pulsating monstrosity that stared into infinity. "This eye sees into you, 'Princess Luna.' I see into you. Remember what you were. Remember what you are!"

"Remember," the insane unicorn whispered. "Don't let them forget us. Plunge this world into deepest darkness, and never... let them forget..."

- - -

"Inc!"

Dash's warning came the moment the doors to the Observatory Proper opened. "Inc" - on other words: INCOMING! A veritable wave of degraded cultponies charged into the gap. Gibbering and chanting, they ran right into an Avenger's shield, a thunderclap, and a circle of consecrated ground. Twilight quickly unleashed the fury of the frozen north, adding a Blizzard to the mix.

The small swarm of cultists fell after only a few seconds.

"OH!" Pinkie bounce-stomped in frustration, her new voodoo mask covering her face. "Shammy aoe sucks! I didn't even get a single Fire Nova off!"

"This isn't a competition for dps," Rarity reminded her as she walked by. "Regardless of what certain ponies think."

"You only say that because you aren't running Recount," Pinkie Pie protested.

"You'll never out-dps me!" Dash declared with a half-giggle, half crazy-laugh. "Even with that creepy new helm of yours."

"Creepy?" Pinkie cocked her head and turned on Fluttershy, the druid leaning away with an eep. The new shaman helm that Pinkie had gotten from Gull's Cache looked like something out of Zecora's hut. In fact, it probably was some old Zebra artifact.

"I'm not scary looking, am I?" Pinkie asked, looming over the shy pegasus.

It didn't help that the voodoo mask looked like a horrific Tiki, with crazy black white and red stripes and a grimacing face with slanted eyes highlighted in red. It wasn't even really a helm. It was just a mask crudely strapped to Pinkie's head. Fluttershy, as expected, shied away from the hyperactive pink pony.

"Um... it's... okay..." she squeaked, "Maybe a little scary. Maybe. ...sorry."

"But I like it!" Pinkie whined, and sighed, relaxing her shoulders. "Alright. If that's how you guys feel."

Spinning furiously around, the party pony stopped, and the mask was off.

Or so it seemed. Tapping a hoof to something solid, but invisible, right in front of Pinkie's face, she giggled. "Invisible!"

"Yeah, I hide my cloak, too," Dash admitted, before anypony could ask: why, how, or wtf?

Twilight raised a hoof anyway, to at least try and ask -

"You hide your cloak?" Rarity inquired, giving the small vestment-wings on her robe a tasteful sashay. "Whatever for?"

"It gets in the way of making a good rainbow behind me," Dash explained, and wiggled her rear and tail for emphasis. "It's my trademark!"

"Ah hate ta interrupt, but we got more o' these fellas coming ta say hello," Applejack warned, intercepting the four gibbering cultistponies with a thunderclap.

"More of them?" Twilight asked with a frown, already summoning up another Blizzard.

"Oh! It's a gauntlet!" Pinkie enthused. "That means we need to keep going forward!"

"Unbelievers have breached the Observatory!" A voice called out. "Slay them! Bring me their heads as a sacrifice to the Master! Prove your dedication!"

"Great." The Arcane unicorn groaned. "Okay everypony! You heard her. Forward!"

Like Pinkie had said, it was a gauntlet. Every so often, a small wave of cultists would gather up and charge them. They were collectively weak, but along the way up the flights of stairs they would also be attacked by elite cultists. Like the ones they had fought before, these were tougher than the average pony and augmented by the dark powers they worshipped.

Yet again, the group's identify spells proved their worth, though it was also fairly easy to pick out which of the elite enemies were melee types and which were spellcasters just by look. Dash and Applejack were quick to pick up the Twilight Brutes who charged into melee with bladed weights on their legs and hooves. As befitting the name, these were hulking oversized earth ponies and diamond dogs driven into a furious rage, very much like a slightly more powerful version of the Twilight Zealots the Elements had encountered before.

New to the mix were "Twilight Nightmenders" - these unicorns and other races in black and purple robes kept back, spamming healing spells and opening dark void zones in the floor. One of these nearly killed Dash after the pegasus, distracted, remained in it for a few too many seconds. A flash heal by Rarity and a paladin-bubble kept the pegasus up long enough for her to scoot out of the void zone.

"Dashie! Hey! Don't stand in the fissures!" Pinkie Pie warned, totally after the fact. "Black stuff is bad!"

"Yeah, I know!" Dash yelled back over her shoulder while shield-slamming a frothing cultpony. "Don't stand in fire; you fail at raiding!" Unleashing a Seal of Truth on the mob, she knocked him aside, a broken tooth bouncing off her shield. "Gimme a break here!"

"The devout shall be given eternal life within the Embrace of the Master!" Voidhorn's voice continued to cry out, whipping her remaining followers into a frenzy. "Your brothers and sisters sacrificed themselves to defend this place! Do not fail them! Do not fail the Master! Or your suffering shall know no limits!"

"Keep going!" Twilight ordered, "Rarity! Pinkie! Blue triangle!"

The Nightmender cursed as her aoe-heal was interrupted, and then further stymied by a mind flay. Switching schools to drop another shadow fissure, targeting Applejack, she was knocked off her hooves by a combined barrage of arcane bolts and furious elemental lightning. Without her magical support, the diamond dog Brute that had accompanied the madpony eventually fell to concentrated fire. The weaker cultponies weren't even targeted by aoe: they were mostly a distraction as long as Applejack and Dash kept them beating on solid plate.

Luckily the stairwells leading up the Observatory were wide enough to allow for the fighting. It wasn't much of a choke point, though there were occasional line of sight problems with spells. This was Twilight's first trip up to the top of the Observatory via this route, but her friends all recognized it. They had used these same stairs back on their first adventure together.

They were close to the end!

At the same time, Twilight also noticed that the cultists had done some redecorating. There were empty cages and broken boxes lying around along with dark braziers that glowed with magical violet fire. As the group ascended, facing one wave of enemies after another with no time to stop and rest (or drink to replenish mana) Twilight felt a dark presence emanating from above, growing closer and closer with every step they took. But they had to keep going. They had to stop Voidhorn!

Not just to save Princess Luna; but to save Equestria and themselves. The madness that was the Twilight Cult in Equestria had to be stopped here, in Everfree. If Amber was to be believed, than the whole local movement had been organized and coordinated by Voidhorn.

She had met Highdiver and turned him.

She had encouraged the insane Catnip.

She had corrupted Gull and enslaved the Rustpaw.

She had approved the ransacking and defiling of Unicorn Catacombs in Everfree.

She had made pacts with Cho'gall and the foreign Twilight Hammer Cult.

It was time to put a stop to her.

Pushing up through the final flight of steps, Twilight Sparkle unleashed a series of arcane blasts to knock out the last of the non-elite cultponies. There were two more elite enemies up top: a pair of unicorns standing next to a floating crystal. Purple energy was flowing from their horns into the floating stone, and Twilight's spell identified them as "Dark Summoners."

Before her eyes, another four insane cultponies appeared out of thin air!

"Skull!" Twilight yelled, already making the targets. "Then X!"

While Pinkie Pie and Rarity switched targets, Twilight focused on helping Rainbow Dash finish off the last Nightmender. She then tried to target the Summoners up on the top of the stairs, but once again, line of sight was causing problems. Almost all her spells required a clear line of fire. Rushing past, she had to settle for being fairly close to the determined cultpony summoner as she blasted her. After a minimal beating, the two cultists cursed and ended their channeled summoning spell for reinforcements.

"Argh!" One of the Summoners, the male, snarled, trying to repel a certain apple bucking warrior. "You're after my Cabalist bracers of the Landslide, aren't you?! Well YOU CAN'T HAVE THEM!!"

"You idiot!" The female Summoner yelled back, withering under Pinkie Pie's elemental assault. "No one cares about those lame green bracers you found!"

"You're both idiots!" Twilight interrupted before the male could object. "Give up and we won't hurt you!"

"Never!" Both male and female cultponies howled. For her audacity in interrpting an argument the pair had probably had a dozen times before, they both targeted Twilight Sparkle with a life-draining channel spell. The arcane mage whinnied, covering her face to try and ward off the green beams, but even as her life force started to be torn away, Fluttershy's spot-on healing shot through Twilight's body, healing the damage being done.

"Resto Druid!" The female Summoner yelled. "Do something about her, would you already?"

"Why don't you!" the male Summoner yelled back. "Why are you always telling me what to do? Stallions don't like mares who yell at them all the time!"

"Like I need... relationship advice from you..." The female Summoner started to falter, switching her life drain to Fluttershy. It was helping to keep her up and fighting, but couldn't keep up with Pinkie Pie and Twilight's dps.

"You... idiot..." she finished, finally collapsing.

"Candy Corn!" The male Summoner snarled, enraging even as his health rapidly started to fall.

Twilight gritted her teeth, suspecting there was no way they could finish this last pony off without killing him. She hated having to resort to violence, even after all she had seen the cultists capable of. Why couldn't any of them even try and see what sort of evil ponies they had become? Why did they have to fight to the death like this? Why had they given themselves over to evil powers?

Why -

Why was Pinkie Pie so far back?!

"Pinkie Pie!" Twilight yelled, raising her voice. "Pinkie! PAT! PAT INCOMING!"

"What?" The formerly masked party pony spun around, noticing several figures headed her way. She had moved out a fair distance from the two summoners to safely drop her totems and start casting. Since the stairs had line of sight problems, this means going slightly down the hall towards the Observatory Proper. It had been empty before, but now a series of shadows were getting longer as they approached.

"EEP!" She quickly bounced away, closer to where everpony was fighting -

Forgetting that her totems were still on the ground, one of them shooting fire and the others providing passive magical buffs. The patrol rounded the corner, noticed the pulsing quartet of totems, and immediately aggroed.

"Ha!" One of them, a human of all things, immediately started casting a spell. Another, a blood elf, threw her hand forward and unleashed a chain lightning that caught five of the mane six, doing more damage with every strike as it bounced from target to target. The chain blast jumped from Pinkie Pie, to Applejack, to Rainbow Dash, to Twilight, to Rarity. The shadow-discipline priest gave a strangled cry and collapsed, her perfect mane and tail frazzled beyond repair.

"Rarity!" Fluttershy cried, having just barely escaped the deadly attack. She stopped healing to battle-rez with Rebirth -

Meanwhile, a third patroller, a massive bull-headed Tauren, roared and charged in with two huge swords in each meaty hand. The fourth member of the group, a lanky undead in black, ragged robes, threw down a smoke bomb and disappeared.

"Oh no! A Rogue!" Dash yelled, dropping a new consecration. "I hate Forsaken Rogues!!!"

The undead backstabber shadow-stepped right into Dash's consecration, breaking his stealth, but not preventing him from unleashing an enhanced Sinister Strike into the paladin. The pegasus immediately whirled to engage the new threat, tagging him with a holy seal. The entire rest of the fight, meanwhile, had already devolved into a disorganized and insane melee.

The Tauren cultist bounced from his initial charge target - Pinkie Pie - to the group healer, Fluttershy. The easily frightened pegasus was interrupted part way into casting her Rebirth spell on Rarity, and, acting on instinct, started to run away from the huge fighter's roaring face and swinging blades. Dash continued to fight with the rogue, jumping and flying to get some distance as she unleashed a quick exorcism and turn evil. The rogue, hit by the latter, turned to flee -

Only for the Seals on him to break the fear a moment later.

"Oh man!" Dash cursed and started to fly around in mad circles. "YAAAAAA!!"

"Con-SARN-it!" Applejack cried over the din, trying to get some control of the situation. "You, Udders for brains!" She quickly taunted, using one of her preferred insults. "You fight like a cow!"

"RRAGH! Taurens are not COWS!!" The bull-man roared, forgetting all about the fleeing Fluttershy to pound on the warrior.

There was a loud crack, as the crystal that this fight had - at first - revolved around shattered. Twilight lost sight of the second Summoner they had been fighting, but it seemed that Dots and some incidental dps had taken him out. She tried to think who or what to mark, when the Blood Elf in the back used another massive chain lightning.

This time, it "only" bounced across four targets, since Fluttershy was too far away, from Pinkie Pie to Dash to Twilight to Applejack. This wasn't really a good thing, since combined with the damage she was already taking from the enraged Tauren cultist, she now had to soak up a blast of lightning that got stronger the more ponies it hit. Fluttershy, still flying and unsure what the heck to do, did her best to cast a few heals Applejack's way.

"Save me Grounding Totem!"

"Ah... nuts..." Applejack went down -

"YAAAA!! I'm Poisoned! Get this rogue off me!!!"

"Everypony, we have to -" Twilight gasped as she saw the Tauren, having finished with Applejack, turn back to his original target. Fluttershy's eyes grew huge as the insane cultist loomed over her like a muscle-bound mountain of horns and hair.

"Eee!" she squeaked.

With a frustrated, frightened cry, Twilight quickly unleashed the biggest blast she could manage, momentarily knocking the brute off his hooves. If only she had somehow managed to one shot him, but the Tauren was an elite even among the cultist elite. He rolled and bounced back onto his feet, switching targets again. Twilight backed away, murmuring a spell that had trouble forming. Moments from reaching her, however, the bull-man became entangled in thorny roots.

"I won't let you hurt anyone else!" Fluttershy declared, already trying to desperately cast a heal -

Only for Pinkie Pie to jump away from her Grounding Totem as it absorbed a single chain lightning blast and vaporized. A heal got her back on her hooves, but then the human next to the blood elf finished his lengthy cast and transformed into some kind of... elemental! It wasn't like Pinkie Pie's totem either. It was thinner and wreathed in fire with jagged shards of stone within.

With a leap, the Elemental Monstrosity jumped at the weakened Shaman to finish her off -

"WAAAAAIIITTTT!" Pinkie Pie yelled.

And, amazingly, the burning monster did just that, stopping just short of striking her.

"You..." Pinkie took off her invisible voodoo mask and replaced it with a pair of Groucho glasses. "You wouldn't hit a pony with glasses on, would you?"

Twilight face-hooved. Apparently, yes, he would. And did.

"Pinkie, too?! No! I don't wanna die! I'm too cool to die!"

Dash gave the rogue chasing her a good kick, landed between Fluttershy and Twilight, and glanced between the last two of her friends. They still had a battle rez, and if they somehow survived, then they could -

The four mobs loomed over them: the Tauren cracking his knuckles, the blood elf laughing haughtily, the transformed human burning like a living fire, and the undead rogue scraping his poisoned knives together...

"Um. Um." Fluttershy cowered behind Dash. Twilight didn't blame her. That did look to be the best place to be at the moment. Not like it would help much.

Not knowing what else to do, knowing she couldn't just run - they'd just chase her down, wouldn't they? She quickly polymorphed the annoying green eyed blood elf cultist. The prissy woman stopped laughing as she turned into a sheep, her 'oh hohoho' becoming a 'ba-baaab-baaaa!?'

"Alright! Let's do it!!" Dash roared, as they closed in, unleashing one last Avenger's Shield -

- - -

The world became an opaque, lusterless gray.

"This is unbelievable," a disembodied voice growled from nearby. "We're dead! I hate dying!"

"Ya'll ain't the only one ta get killed this time," Applejack's spirit-form corrected the paladin.

"We're GHOSTS?!!" Twilight suddenly blurted out, as 2 plus 2 became 4. She looked down at her hooves and saw that they were indistinct, semi-transparent versions of what they had been in life. Like the rest of the world, they had been turned a shade of gray.

"Yeah. We're dead," Dash replied, sounding miffed but not panicked. "This may come as a surprise, but I've been killed a few times."

"Gee, what a surprise," Applejack commented dryly.

"Well you don't sound surprised!" Dash barked, quickly calming back down. She was sitting next to her body and glaring at the patrol of mobs that had just killed them. The idiots had rushed back off, not even bothering to collect the fallen.

"Oh dear." Fluttershy was also standing over her body, her face scrunched up as she fought back tears. "Oh. Oh. I don't like being dead." She sniffled and lowered her head between her hooves. "Just tell me when its all over."

"It'll be over when Pinkie uses her reincarnate and rezzes us," Dash said with a huff. "Where is she anyway? And where's Rarity? They didn't release to the graveyard, did they?" She shook her head sadly in growing despair. "Please. Please tell me they're not trying to run back to their bodies all the way from there!"

"Ah can't even remember the way we came, ta be honest."

"Oh calm down," Rarity announced as she returned from the room ahead. "I was merely having a look around."

"So where's the pink faceroller?" Rainbow Dash grumbled.

"Look at me, I'm SLIMER!" Pinkie Pie floated by, somehow throwing ghost-goo at the paladin. Dash ducked her head to the side, easily avoiding it.

"You idiot! Didn't you learn anything about resetting your totems?!" Dash was quickly back on her hooves as she grabbed at the elusive flying party pony. "Don't just fly around! Reincarnate already!"

"Awww!" Pinkie's ghost gave a moue face. "But flying is fun! Being dead is kinda fun! Oh! Oh! After this, do you guys wanna go haunt somepony? I wanna get into a radio and start playing creepy music and then pop up out of the bathtub!"

"Pinkie Pie, dear, this is rather serious," Rarity explained, waving an irate Rainbow Dash down. "You know what happens if we remain dead for too long, don't you?"

"...yeah..." the Shaman admitted, her ghost-form slumping along with her mood. "I know."

"Then you also know you really must resurrect us as quickly as possible," Rarity continued. "Our bodies won't be left where they are for long. By the cultists here or by nature."

"Yeah. I know," Pinkie repeated. "Okay! Okay! I'm going!"

"Thank you very much, Pinkie Pie," the regal spirit of Rarity told her friend with a gentle smile. "But, dear, not to be rude or overly critical, but you simply have to be more careful of where you drop your totems."

"That's right!" Dash chimed in. "I can't believe we got this far just to wipe on trash! You owe me a repair bill!"

Sighing at all the rebukes, Pinkie Pie settled down near her body and used her shamanistic Reincarnation. Returning to her body, partly healed, she was able to slip off and start casting Ancestral Spirit - the shaman resurrection spell - on Fluttershy. It would bind the spirit back into the body, and heal it enough to get it back on its feet.

"I can't believe how calm you guys are," Twilight observed, and corrected herself: "Relatively calm anyway. I mean, we died. We actually died!"

"Yeah," Dash groaned. "It sucks."

"Ah heard about this sort of thing," Applejack explained, shrugging her shoulders. "Part'a the path of being ah warrior, Thunderbew called it. Yer probably gonna die a lot, he said."

"I guessed we were going to wipe when I saw Pinkie Pie put on those glasses," Rainbow Dash also elaborated, finally, on more than just how much she hated dying in the first place. "She knew it too. That was why she picked a safe spot to get killed."

"What?" Twilight shook her head in disbelief. "Really?"

"Pinkie Pie dropped a grounding totem and ran to a spot where she wouldn't be noticed if she Reincarnated," Dash calmly explained. "She isn't as loopy as she acts. Even I know that. When I saw her 'pick a spot' I knew we were going to die, but that we had wipe recovery. So its not the end of the world. But that doesn't mean she doesn't owe us for the screw up!"

"That's... I didn't even notice..." Twilight admitted, impressed with her friends' class knowledge and foresight. "Either way, let's not dwell on who made what mistakes, okay Rainbow? That goes for everypony here. I'm sure Pinkie feels worse than anypony about what happened."

Dash snorted in annoyance, but otherwise agreed. "Yeah, okay."

"You know," Rarity said in the silence that followed. "This reminds me of back in Ponyville. When we all died that first time."

"Oh? That time?" Dash asked. "I was in the air, so I didn't get hit. Or the achievement."

"Ah was on the farm, but got resurrected later," Applejack bore a small smile. "Still, ah don't remember much'a it myself."

"I don't either," Twilight turned to Fluttershy, but she was in the process of being resurrected. Already partly returned to her body, the ghostly pegasus shook her head.

"I had a vision... or maybe a dream?" The fashionista mulled that over for a moment before concluding, "I suppose you could call it either one. I saw... a being of light. It was like a living gemstone, and it hummed and sang to me."

"A living gemstone?" Applejack inquired, not sure what to make of such a claim.

"Yes. But it... it's hard to describe exactly." Rarity reached up to twirl some of her ghostly hair around a hoof. "It was beautiful and perfect, and parts of it moved, revolving and rotating like a wheel. But it was made of gems and pure light."

She gestured to her left. "And Celestia was there, sitting by its side. And Luna was on the other side."

"The Princesses, too?" Twilight asked. "At least they make more sense being in a vision, since they were the ones who resurrected Ponyville after Deathwing's attack."

"I thought so too, but I know what I saw." Rarity smiled and shrugged. "Well, I didn't see any of it, so to speak, but you understand my meaning. Anyhow, I remember hearing Princess Celestia's voice, and she said, 'Where there is light.' And then Princess Luna said 'there is also shadow.' A moment passed, and I felt a tingle in my body. They then said, one and then the other: 'bask in the warmth of my glow' and then 'take shelter beneath my wings.'"

"It was about that time that I realized I was dead. That Ponyville had been attacked." Rarity's smile faded, and her expression became more grim. "And... and the only thing I could think about was Sweetie Belle. Was she safe? Were the Princesses and this other being, were they speaking to her, too? I wanted to help them. I wanted to make sure Sweetie Belle and the others were safe. I tried to tell them that I wanted to help, but I couldn't talk. Not like we're doing now."

Noticing that Fluttershy and Pinkie were now resurrecting her and dash, Rarity finished her story:

"And then I heard a soft chime. Like wind chimes, but distant and... and for some reason I felt like I needed to cry." The refined unicorn took a second to stand with dignity over her body. "When I came back, I saw the Princesses and so many others who had been taken outside their burning homes to be resurrected. I still heard the chime, and it felt like magic... but different. I learned how to become a priest a few days later from a night elf who had come to assist Equestria after the attack."

She vanished in a burst of light, and Rainbow Dash followed a second later. Both mares returned to their physical bodies and retreated out of sight to where Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were both already working on their next rez. Pragmatically, they had resurrected the other two divine magic using ponies who also had resurrection spells: as a paladin, Dash could call back the fallen out of combat, and so could Rarity as a priest. Only Applejack and Twilight didn't have similar abilities.

Said apple farmer gave her only remaining company a sympathetic look. "As interestin' as this is, Twi, let's not end up here too often, ahlright?"

"We won't," Twilight promised, expression growing serious.

- - -

The mighty tauren laughed as he recalled the battle. "Oh, that was great! Did you see the look on the faces of those little ponies? Especially that little druid one? Oh, Earthmother, that was sweet! I got two of them, so dibs on most of the reward."

"I believe it was I who caused the most damage," the thin blood elf admonished her fellow cultist. "You would be wise to remember that, you big oaf."

"You should've let me eat them," the undead rogue muttered, though with only a partly intact lower jaw the gaunt humanoid's voice came out with a wet gurgle. "I've heard they're quite delicious with a little mushroom sauce and some rosemary."

"You mean rosemary the herb, or Rosemary the woman you killed like 3 weeks ago in Tanaris?" the human in the group, returned to a mortal shell, gave a disgusted grimace. His undead companion's sick grin answered that question.

"Bad enough you have to be all 'I'm a cannibal' undead all the time, do you have to eat rancid meat, too?" The man rolled his eyes. "You're just being disgusting for its own sake."

"Rancid meat is delicious. You've never tried it."

"I don't have to eat rancid people-meat to know its disgusting!"

"Regardless, eating horse is also quite improper," the blood elf lectured, wagging a delicate finger at the undead rogue. "It is a sign of low breeding."

"I don't think 'low breeding' matters much in my case," the Former-Forsaken replied, wiping some thick, slimy drool from his partly missing jaw. "And Equestrian ponies aren't horses. They're supposed to taste much sweeter."

"Would you eat a Tauren, then?" she inquired, crossing her arms.

"Of course!" the undead replied. "Mmm. Tauren. A little lean for my tastes, but..."

"Now that's disgusting," the bull tauren in the group remarked.

"You three just need to broaden your culinary horizons," the rogue admonished his fellow, non-undead, cultist companions.

"My horizon is broad enough as it is," the human noted.

"How on the name of Yogg'saron did you get Ascended anyway?" The tauren wondered, cleaning one of his runeblades.

"I have friends in high places. My friend's cousin is on the Ascended Council in the Bastion. Um. Ignacious, I think?"

"Great, nepotism," the tauren groaned. "I realize this is a world ending cult, and I'm alright with that, but corruption in the ranks, too?"

"Oh, quit complaining," the pretty green-eyed elf Elementalist waved him off dismissively. "You have no idea how much better this outfit is than Sunstrider's mess of an operation back in Outland. Leaving those pack of scavengers was the best move I..."

The four rounded the corner to retrieve the fallen ponies.

And, as they did, the blood elf's dulcet tones turned into a loud: "Baaa!"

The other three spared only a moment to realize their pretty companion had been polymorphed into a sheep before identifying the culprits. It was the damn ponies from before! They were alive! Unleashing a savage roar, the group's mighty tauren warrior took a thundering step forward to enter the fray and crack some pony skulls -

Only to trip and fall flat on his face as a thorny mass of roots erupted out of the floor to entangle his hooves! "What the?! Roots again!!"

Part way into vanishing, the undead rogue was hit by an apple of all things, smearing bright red juice all over his face. Sputtering and snarling, the undead was then hit by a burst of Fairie Fire, making it impossible to stealth at all. Wiping the applesauce from his desiccated face, the rogue's eyes widened as he saw two rather irate ponies in plate heading right for him.

"What the hell?" The remaining human member of the Cultist Elite Guard quickly started his Ascended Transformation spell. A wind shear and then a counterspell tried to interrupt, but this particular magic couldn't be so easily disrupted. It was a long cast, but there was nothing they could do to prevent it. The evil man chuckled darkly as he thought of all the things he'd do to these ponies that he hadn't had the chance to before. Starting with the annoying pink mare and the unicorn that had tried to interfere with his spellwork!

"Don't just stand there transforming!" The rogue yelled as he tried to fend off the warrior and paladin that were beating on him, now with the combined power of a mage, shaman and shadow priest as backup. He was not geared to take a beating like this, and even being a rogue, there was only so much dodging and deflecting he could do.

"Transforming is what I'm supposed to do!" the human yelled back. "All my magic is keyed to my elemental form!"

"Argh! No!" The undead rogue garbled as he started to go down. "I never did... get to eat.. a pony..."

"DAMN THESE ROOTS!" The enraged tauren brute finally broke free, tearing through the thorns to get in melee range of the annoying pony warrior. The one that had called him an udder-for-brains last time. "I'll cut you into pieces! AGAIN!"

"If you can move, get the druid!" the still-transforming Ascended human cultist yelled. "The druid!"

"I got her last time!" The tauren yelled back, already trading blows with the blonde maned pony. The raindow colored paladin was already slipping behind to attack the tauren from the rear.

"Fine! Old Gods! I'll do it myself!" With a blast of heat, the former human transformed into an Elemental Monstrosity. Flesh and skin burned away, replaced with bladed shards of stone within a fiery maelstrom. He immediately started rushing towards the little pink-maned druid healer.

Only for more roots to rise up and, despite the flames, entangle him, too!

"What? Fireproof roots?" The Elemental ex-human started trying to tear through them with burning hands. "This is why everyone hates druids!"

"Um. Everyone does not hate druids," a timid voice spoke up, mildly correcting him.

"Hehe!" The bubbly pink caster of the group started charging a lightning bolt between her hooves. "Let's see how you like it, you big flaming meanie!"

"Aaaaa- damnit!"

By the time the polymorph broke, the transformed human was already down, though Applejack and Dash were still whittling away at the tauren mountain of muscle and steel. The tenacious bull-man was not one to fall easily. Casting another ridiculously fast chain lightning the moment she got free, the blood elf could only curse as it was deftly redirected into a well placed Grounding Totem.

"You know, not only did you kill me, but you've burned and ruined my hair," a soft voice whispered in the blood elf's ear. Her body shook, and a shadowy presence rushed into her mind, taking control. "I don't think I can forgive that."

Against her own desperate impulses, the mind controlled elf shakily pointed her fingers at the tauren brute, and unleashed another elemental blast: a dark mockery of Pinkie's shamanistic spell, using the corrupted, enslaved elemental powers of the Twilight Cult. The massive warrior bull shook and steamed for a moment before falling like a felled tree.

A second later, and a mind controlled blood elf exited the building via the nearest window.

"NOOO!! POOONNNIEESSS!!"

Unfortunately, not being an engineer, she lacked the all-important parachute-cloak feature.

- - -

"Did somepony just jump out of a window?" Captain Morning Star narrowed his eyes at the free-falling blood elf cultist. "Ah. No. Not some pony then. It appears your friends have reached the upper level of the Observatory."

"I toldya Twilight and the others would make it!"

Turning his head, the Royal Guard captain regarded the little dragon perched on his back. "How did you talk me into letting you on my back again?"

"I... asked nicely?" Spike suggested with a disarming grin. "Nevermind that!" he patted the Guardpony unicorn on the back of his helmet. "You guys need to find another way inside to help!"

Captain Morning Star frowned a bit at that. He had... somewhat conflicting orders from the Princess herself. Momentarily considering how, and if, to explain any of that, he paused instead as the ground beneath his feet started to shift and rumble. Nimbly jumping back, already erecting a pair of magical shields to protect himself and the dragon on his back, the Captain barked a quick order to the guards nearby.

"That digging..." Spike muttered, his grip on the Captain's mane growing a bit tighter, and not simply to keep from falling off. "It can't be!"

The swirling mound of earth raised up briefly and then sunk right down, forming a perfectly circular pit. Morning Star recognized it immediately as not simply physical digging, but magical geomancy. That was not a common form of magic among ponykind. In fact, the most well known - some would say notorious - geomancers in Equestria were...

"Diamond Dogs!" One of the Guard yelled a warning, and formed up to surround the hole.

A moment passed, and one of the expected culprits emerged, one meaty paw in the air and the other holding a talisman tied to the dog's neck. Gradually, the elderly Diamond Dog released that, too, raising both hands in a sign of non-aggression. He was followed by, of all things, another dragon... or a sort different than the young specimen on the Captain's back.

Close behind the strange pair, others emerged, many wounded or otherwise in need of medical care: ponies and more dogs, some supporting one another as they struggled to walk up the incline that led to the surface. Confused by the presence of so many of the dogs, the Royal Guards turned to their Captain for orders.

"Take the wounded to the base for triage!" Morning Star commanded, approaching the juvenile dragon and the elderly Geomancer. "You two! Stay where you are."

The elderly Diamond Dog lowered his arms, but didn't otherwise move.

The dragon shrunk back, but also tucked its - her - wings in. "Sir," she spoke, revealing a youthful female voice. "I have a message from Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony."

"Oh?" the Captain cracked a smile. "Go ahead."

"Her group is moving to stop N- to stop Voidhorn and the ritual atop the Obsevatory," the bronze drake explained, briefly closing her eyes. "Please catch up when you can and secure the area behind them, but do not otherwise interfere. This is a job they have to do alone."

Morning Star's smile faded, but he nodded, understanding. "I see. Those were our orders anyway."

"My pack means you no harm," the elderly Diamond Dog spoke up, his Equestrian clear though just a bit crude. "We will only stay long enough to see our injustices avenged."

"They're all okay, aren't they?" Spike asked, directing the question at the two new arrivals.

"If you mean the Elements of Harmony," the other dragon replied. "Then yes. They are alive at the moment." She craned her neck slightly to get a better look at him. "You must be Spike. ...Twilight's Assistant."

"That's me." He seemed a bit unsure how to talk to or with the other dragon. "Twilight mentioned me?"

"Yes," The bronze dragon answered, somewhat evasively. "Let us not waste time. You wish to see her, don't you? To help your friends?"

"I..." Spike only wavered for a second. He jumped off Captain Morning Star's back. "I do!"

"Then come. I will show you the way." The slightly older female dragon headed back to the hole in the ground that led into the caves below. Spike, rightly, didn't think to try and jump on her back. He hurried on two legs while she prowled on four.

"There is something you can do which may..." she mused. "Prove timely."

Next Chapter: Chapter Twelve Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 12 Minutes
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