We were quiet after that, it was a lot to absorb, dawn was just beginning to peek over the hills, I understood now why it had reformed so quickly, any single pony would’ve barely been enough to keep it from dissipating if even that… but nopony but Luna and Celestia themselves are entirely sure how long Celestia has been around. Even just counting the millennium that she’s ruled Equestria though… No leader is able to make perfect decisions, even one as benevolent as my mentor, every leader bears the weight of difficult choices made in dire times, of wars fought, lives lost, things that they simply can’t forgive themselves for, it’s a weight that I’m slowly becoming aware of now. Celestia still regrets Luna’s banishment, still blames herself for not being able to free her sister, instead condemning her to a thousand-year imprisonment, and that’s just the tip, few ponies ever stop to think that she has been the one who has always ruled us, every decision, blessed or reviled, came from her, and she bore all of it with grace and dignity. Now however… the curse that I had brought into existence was feeding off of the regret’s and blames she held in her heart. I didn’t know what to say, how to apologize for what I’d done.

I opened my mouth but as always my mentor knew what I was going to say, she placed a single hoof on my shoulder and smiled, “No Twilight, this is not your fault, I have shouldered too much blame, in all my centuries of bearing the crown I became adept at forgiving others, after all I would live on long after they were dust, but it became more and more difficult to forgive myself. If I had been stronger I would not have weakened as I have, if anything I must thank you, it is in teaching you that I rediscovered what it meant to be young again. Seeing you with your friends, handling the good and terrible times forgiving and loving each other, I remembered what it was like to be free of all the weight I carry, you gave me back Luna and for that I can never repay you, however I must try, here and now, to buy you and the others time to fight back.”

I nodded, willing myself to learn from my teacher once again, to learn this last lesson she so desperately was trying to teach me, to forgive myself. I let the sorrow come, the grief and the blame for what I had done, then accepted that the mistake had occurred and reached past it. I opened my eyes with a defiant glare and nodded again, seeing the look in my eyes Celestia gave the first genuine grin she’d worn since she arrived, “That’s my girl Twilight, you always were a quick study, now go to the Apple Farm, it’s the furthest from the Corner so it should have the least affect, be swift and take this.” Celestia bow her head slightly and levitated the Crown of Equestria from her mane and placed it in my saddlebag before levitating that onto my back, I was speechless.

“It will do me no good down there” she said, smirking playfully at my expression, “Don’t lose heart, Luna is even now working from the outside to find a way to help you, as it is she is maintaining the barrier from without as I cast it from within. She will find a way, I know she will, trust my sister as you trust me Twilight.”

“Yes Princess, I will.” I say, holding back tears as she pushes the door open, outside I can see a strange distortion high in the sky, the edge of the barrier probably, the strangest thing, however, is the weather.

It was snowing.

I snuck a peak back at my calendar hanging in the Library, sure enough there was no mark on it for snow, the weather patrol wasn’t due to bring in the first snowfall for another two weeks at least.

“Princess what…?” I started as she trotted out into the cold.

“It’s the curse, it has expanded about as quickly as I anticipated; once I locked it within Ponyville it woke, it has seized control of many of the elements, be wary, it will wield it’s power against you, I will do my best to mitigate it’s power,” she stated imperiously as she oriented herself, “I’m going to Sugarcube Corner, I don’t know how long I will be able to hold it but you must find the sixth Element, or else I can make no assurances…” she paused, more words were on her lips though her expression was unreadable.

“Princess…”

“Be safe Twilight… If I had ever had a daughter… I would have wanted her to be just like you.”

With those words Celestia rode the wind towards the center of town, quickly disappearing into the misty expanse beyond the Library, they were the last words I heard my Princess say, I pray now that they won’t be the last words I’ll ever hear her say. I remember that there were tears in my eyes as she vanished; I wish I could have said something then.

+=+

The going was going to be slow, I grabbed my scarf and earmuffs from the coatrack, Spike came back down with a hard look on his face that didn’t quite fit the features of a baby dragon. I knew he’d heard everything, dragons had sharp ears.

“Twilight… what do we do about Sweetie Belle?” he asked, I’d been thinking the same thing.

“I’ll make my way to Sweet Apple Acres and make sure it’s safe, if it is we’ll come back to get you and Sweetie Belle…” I hesitated for a moment, “Spike, keep her safe, I won’t be able to look Rarity in the eye ever again if something happens to her.”

Immediately Spike stood up straighter, “Don’t worry Twilight, she’s safe here, I may be a baby but I’m still a dragon.”

I nodded, giving him a small smile, “You’re right, ok I’ll be back as soon as I can get some help, and hopefully everything will be fine at the Acres.”

Spike nodded judiciously, he knew the importance of the task he’d been given even if I knew he wanted to come with me. I reflected again on how lucky I was to have him; his loyalty to me never wavered. After giving Spike his instructions I turned and made the first steps out the door. It was freezing, I was no weather pony but even I knew it must’ve happened far too quickly, mist hung thick over the ground from what must have been a rapid drop in temperature, ice was already coating the branches and thick gobbets of snow were falling from the sky to coat the ground.

I started at a canter, even though it would tire me out I needed to keep my blood moving or else the cold would wear me out even faster than the exertion. From my library I knew it was more than a mile to the Apple family farm, it never seemed that far to me before but then, I reflected, I had never had to trudge there through near-whiteout conditions. I began trudging through Ponyville after I decided the best route would be to cut past town hall and take the southern road. I briefly considered taking the roundabout route that would put me past Fluttershy’s, but in these conditions I decided I’d probably veer off by accident and end up in the Everfree since I had no idea how far the barrier extended, I cursed my lack of orientation as I sloughed through what was quickly becoming two hoof-deep snow. The wind was howling abominably, I could barely hear myself think, I blame that largely for what happened next.

I saw a shape in the thick mists ahead of me, another pony, I knew I must be near the town hall by now but I couldn’t be sure until I found it.

“Hey! Am I near the town hall? I can’t see much out here!” I called through the snow, the howling of the wind and the mists distorted my voice somewhat but I saw the pony move so I assumed he or she must have heard me. Somewhat relieved I pushed forward, the howling seemed to be getting louder.

“Are you alright? What are you doing out here?” I called, the pony didn’t answer; it just kept slogging through the snow towards me.

A nameless fear started to crawl up my haunches as it approached, rather than moving forward I began to backpedal, “W-who are you? Answer me!” I nearly shouted as it was getting closer, powering through the thick snow with a force I couldn’t manage on my best day without magic.

“G-get away,” I yelled, my voice was falling into an almost pitiful pitch, it was an apparition, I knew it was, but who? Pinkie in her horrible dress? That parody of Rainbow Dash, held together by scar tissue and medical staples? I was just beginning to turn and gallop away at full pelt, the snow be damned, when I heard…

“Miz Twa’light?”

My heart gave a heaving sigh of relief, I knew that voice.

“Oh… Oh Celestia, Big Macintosh you scared me to death,” I said softly as I turned back toward him, the familiar calm that seemed to hang around him cooling my jangled nerves.

“Ah’m awful sorry Miz Twa’light, I could bar’ly hear yew over tha’ howlin’ so I reckon’d I’d jus’ move on over ta where we could each other proper like.” He explained in his slow drawling way, his speech was oddly hypnotic like that.

I shivered before realizing we were still standing in the freezing tundra that Ponyville’s main square had become. “Mac, we should get somewhere inside, I needed to ask you something,” I said loudly, trying to make myself heard over the din. Big Macintosh just nodded phlegmatically and turned about.

“Foller me then Miz Twa’light, I’ll get us over ta the town hall then,” He said, heaving forward his powerful workhorse form cleaving through the snowdrifts like they were clouds. I reflected a bit as we walked that the snow was probably a lot less densely packed than the soil he was used to tilling, it must not be that different. Despite the conditions and the terrible event occurring around us I found a flush rising my cheeks as I contented myself with following the clear path he left and watching the muscles in his back strain as he tore through the heavy drifts that had given me so much trouble, it was really a sight.

I seem to have gotten off topic, where was I?

The town hall, yes, we made it there in short order, though from the time it did take I realized I had actually been off course by quite a bit. I gave silent thanks that I’d run into Mac when I did or I might’ve ended up at Sugarcube Corner by accident, I didn’t want to be any nearer to that place that I had to be.

“Mac, what were you doing all alone out in that weather?” I asked once we’d made it inside and I’d shaken the snow from my mane.

“Ah could ask ye the same Miz Twa’light, ah was jus’ out runnin’ some errands fer Granny Smith when the snow started comin’ down sumthin fierce. Ah reckon’d ah’d jus’ grab pick up the carrots from Carrot Top afore it got any worse then ‘ead home, but by the time ah got out’o Carrot Top’s house everythin’ wuz white. Tha’s when ah saw ye sloggin through the snow so ah went ta see if ya’ll were ok.” He answered, I knew he was too polite to ask directly what I was doing; country manners were a curious thing.

“Sorry Mac, I was actually on my way to the Apple Farm, something has happened, it’s causing this weather, you remember what happened to us? Your sister, Rarity, Fluttershy and I?”

He nodded; a slight tensing was the only sign that the subject meant any more to him than anything else. I explained as best I could to him, I knew that the magic side of it wouldn’t mean anything to him, even less than it would to Applejack, Big Macintosh was truly a salt-of-the-earth type of pony. Still he understood the premise.

“So what yer sayin’ is tha’ somethin’ bad’s come of the thing’s what were done in that basement, and now it’s spreadin’ all across Ponyville?” He shook his head, dislodging another gobbet of snow, “Ah knew no good would come’o that place, Applejack hasn’t been the same since she got back, Applebloom’s been takin’ it pretty hard seein’ her sister tha way she is now.”

I nodded, “Sweetie Belle is having a hard time too, Rarity’s been going missing lately, at first I just thought it was stress but…”

Big Macintosh just nodded, “Ah get what yer at Miz Twa’light, Ah’ve known Miz Rarity as long as anypony, she ain’t the type ta leave ‘er kin hanging in the cold, I reckoned it was somethin more than jus’ runnin’ off.”

I smiled at that, Big Macintosh didn’t even consider that Rarity might be running off and abandoning her sister, it hadn’t even crossed his mind; he had simply assumed it was something else. It was a facet of his nature I’d always found endearing. As I felt the familiar flush rise to my face I looked down and a sudden chill wind suddenly swept through that made me cringe, when I opened my eyes I looked up…

Mac was gone.

There had been no sinister shadows, no hooves on the ground, he was simply there one minute and gone the next. I felt a primal panic rise in my heart I looked around but the light had chosen that moment to dim as what little sun there had been fell behind a thick cloud, the result was a shift from a semi-acceptable dim lighting to almost pitch black.

“M-mac?” I called out tentatively; something told me there wouldn’t be an answer. Remembering the oppressive darkness of that phantom castle I felt panic start to surge up again, I knew giving in to it would be a mistake so I did what I had done before, I focused and called up a spell of light, letting radiance pour softly from my horn. At a glance I knew something was wrong, I hadn’t had a good look inside the town hall when Mac and I had come in from the cold but I was sure it hadn’t been in this bad of a condition. The floorboards were dusty and stained, the curtains were tattered, the paint on the walls was peeling, and the smell reminded me of a long-abandoned building. I once said in the end it would be the smells that I would remember; the town hall, by some sadistic trick, smelled like that castle.

I refused to let fear take me over, I quietly made my way over to the door but it was boarded up from the inside, same with the windows once I’d pulled back the curtains, I briefly considered just ripping off the planks. Very briefly in fact. Just thinking of the how much noise that would cause made me cringe again, this time from fear of what might hear me. No, I thought, there must be a way out, or at the very least a quieter means of leaving than ripping nailed-in boards out of the wall. Besides, if I was here then there was every chance Big Macintosh was here too and I wasn’t going to abandon the only pony I’d seen since Celestia left.

I chose a door at random and tried the knob, the door creaked open in a way that made me shudder, I knew logically that it wasn’t loud enough to attract notice but that didn’t stop me from begrudging every stray noise. The room was empty except for a grungy desk that had been shoved in the corner at some point, on the desk though was a piece of paper, though it was as old as anything else she’d seen and equally dust-covered. After a quick scan of the room I slipped in and quietly closed the door behind me, glaring at the creaking hinges, and tip-hoofed over to the desk, the paper had something written on it, but it was in a shaky hoof.

This makes five times in two weeks that I’ve been taken. I don’t know where I am, it looks a little like the town hall but I’ve never seen it so dilapidated. I knew I shouldn’t be surprised, after what I saw in that place though… maybe all of Equestria is like this here. I wonder sometimes if I should tell them, my friends, I always come back but what if I don’t one day? Who will take care of Sweetie Belle? I think I’ll tell Twilight after I return this time. If I return this time. It’s getting cold, I can see snow falling outside the window.

If anypony reads this please know that I did what I could, I did as she told me and I think I helped, whatever the case is I won’t fail again, not like I did in that place, I’ll never fail my friends like that again.

I stared at the short message and it was Rarity’s writing without a doubt; she must’ve been either tired or terrified for the writing to be as shaken as it was. I felt tears of shame well in my eyes but I bit them back. She had been being taken here all this time and she never said a word, worse than that though was the fact that I hadn’t noticed. Whatever she was doing she was determined not to drag us into it, but who could she have been talking about I wondered, Luna? Or maybe even Celestia? It wouldn’t have been the first time the princess had needed something done quietly.

The creak of the door split my concentration; I looked up to see it ajar. I stood frozen, staring at the open portal for a moment before a hopeful word slipped past my lips.

“Mac?”

I immediately cursed myself for my stupidity and ducked behind the desk, peeking underneath it at the doorway. I saw two hooves that, although they were very large, were most definitely not Mac’s step into the room. I could hear the sound of harsh labored breathing coming from the pony that had entered, I couldn’t see above its knees from where I was hidden though. It had a graying unhealthy color to its coat that reminded me of gray slate and its hooves were rough and cracked in places. It moved further into the room, its horrible breathing noises becoming louder. I started shaking, my hooves clamped to my mouth to stifle the sounds of my own breath, I felt like a foal hiding from a nightmare, except it was real and I knew somehow beyond a doubt that it would hurt me if I let it, the closer it got the more violence seemed to leak off of it.

As it approached the desk I could see the lines of scars that criss-crossed it’s flesh, they were thin and exact, slicing along muscle and bone. The pain would have been unreal, I knew that for a fact, Rarity had inflicted similar wounds on me back in the castle. Painful but not fatal, at least not until a few hundred of them had been etched into your skin and the blood loss kicked in. I shook and I could feel new tears of terror start to well as it came closer, I could smell it now, the stink of its unwashed coat and its broken breathing. I prepared to bolt as it approached the desk, knowing that I didn’t stand much chance of outrunning such a massive specimen I still prepared to throw every spell in my meager arsenal of defenses at it when the sound of rapid hoofsteps sounded outside of the room, I heard a loud snort as it oriented towards the noise, the rotted planks creak and splintered as its powerful legs sent it after its new prey. I didn’t breathe, I didn’t move, I just laid there curled up as tears silently poured down my face. After convincing myself it wasn’t going to return I breathed again, taking my sore hooves away from my mouth. I pulled myself out from under the table in a haze of nervous energy, the adrenaline that had been surging through me now leaving my muscles slack and worn, I turned…

Shlick

I felt a small sharp pain in my chest; I blinked a few times in disbelief at the smiling pony in front of me before turning my gaze down to the long and immaculately sharpened blade that had slid several inches into my chest. My breath burned as I looked back up into her dancing and laughter-filled blue eyes.

“Sleep time silly-filly, it’s time to wake up!” she said cheerfully. The last thing I remember was the burning pain of the blade grazing past my ribs on its way out and the dull thudding impact of hitting the floorboards, and a light kiss grazing my cheek the way my mother used to when she tucked me in.