1055 AD, November 10th

“The Resurrection spell (as seen above) is a simple spell, but it is still vastly more difficult to learn and master than many spells in other schools and sub-schools of magic. Giving a corpse the energy to move about is not foal’s play and Mana Exhaustion is a very real threat. I advise any would-be necromancers to start on something small – an insect or even a small rodent, if you are feeling confident.

“To effectively cast the spell, follow the guideline above this text, and keep a few nutritious drinks nearby to replenish your magic reserves. Refer to pg. 46 if you are having difficulty remembering the fundamental-”

“Ebony.”

“Hn?” Ebony perked up behind her desk and rubbed at her eyes, strained from reading with only a nearby candle providing light. “Empress, I… Wh-what did you need?”

“It’s done.”

“What’s done?”

“The means to close the Entropic Fractures.”

Ebony rubbed at her eyes again and looked at the calendar on the wall. “That was… fast.”

“Indeed. I want…” Nightmare Moon’s mental link weakened for a moment, like she had been distracted. “I want you to come to the lab with several guards and the rest of the Praetorian Guard. We’re going to transfer the Orxoni to Ground Zero and set everything up there.”

“We’re really going to close the Fracture?”

“I believe we are.”

“Okay…” Excitement welling in her chest, Ebony stumbled as she closed her book, tripped over her chair, and rushed out of her office, startling a nearby guard. “I won’t be long; give me a few minutes at the most.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

“… so I just swooped in and slashed at it with my primary blades,” Fade gave a casual shrug. “No biggie, yeah?” He shot the two mares before him a charming smile. “Anyway, what are you two lovely ladies up to later on?”

The two mares – one pink-coated and one golden-coated – looked at each other with varied expressions before the golden one said, “Sorry, sir, but… I don’t really swing that way.”

“… Not even a little?”

“Sorry.”

Not to be dissuaded, Fade turned to the pink one and grinned. “How about-”

“Sir, I’m a stallion.”

“… Wow, I’m off my game today,” Clearing a lump of embarrassment in his throat, Fade thought fast and decided to try and do Haze a solid. “Hey, so you know the Left Hoof of Nightmare Moon, yeah? He’s single and I wouldn’t be a bro if I didn’t help him out in-”

“Fade!”

“Whoops, gotta take this,” He gave a short wave before turning to trot off in the other direction. “I owe you one, Ebs; that conversation was starting to get awkward.”

“What? Never mind – you need to come to the lab ASAP.”

“Why’s that?”

“We’re delivering the Orxoni to Ground Zero.”

“Seriously? They got a way to close it up?”

“The Empress thinks so.”

“Well, shit,” Fade gave an elated chuckle as he flapped his wings and started flying through the castle’s corridors. “Science is badass!”

With practised ease, Miasma pushed her way through the crowd of ponies, picked one of the two brawling ponies at random, and pulled them off the other with one hoof before unceremoniously dispensing them onto the ground.

“What happened?” She demanded with a tired sigh.

“I was jes’ minding me own business and then this fucker gobs me!” The stallion still lying on the ground spat with a bloody nose.

“He raped my cousin!” The stallion Miasma had pulled off retorted, shooting back to his feet and pawing at the ground furiously. His helmet had fallen at some point and his mane fell in front of his eyes messily. “Asshole deserves to get his face beaten in!”

With several former Royal Guards in the Eclipse ranks, something like this happened from time to time. Personally, Miasma would have just let the two duke it out, but there were rules that had to be followed.

Ebony wasn’t there, but she wasn’t going to disrespect her friend by going behind her back and letting this play out.

“Who started it?” She directed the question to the crowd, knowing she couldn’t rely on the opinion of the two brawlers.

“Uh, I think the… Was it the unicorn?”

“… just talking and then the guy runs up and…”

“It was the pegasus, ma’am!”

“The pegasus.”

“Yeah, definitely.”

“Alright…” Miasma turned to face the fuming pegasus. “One hundred wing-ups by the mud pit and could somepony aim that hose at him?”

The pegasus cursed under his breath, but reluctantly obeyed. He shot a death glare over his shoulder as he made his way towards a large depression in the dirt near the training ring, filled with a thick layer of mud several inches deep.

“Bloody ‘ell…” The unicorn stood back up, nursing his muzzle. “Same thing every day.”

“Try not to be seen by any more former Royal Guards, will you?” Miasma said dryly. “I can’t be around to save you all the time.”

It was a slight against him and he picked it up. As Miasma turned, she heard several onlookers stifle their laughter and the unicorn mutter something along the lines of ‘feckless hamsters’.

Fortunately, there was no rule saying nopony couldn’t express their feelings about another so long as it didn’t interfere with their jobs.

“Miasma.”

“Ebony?” Wondering if the captain had somehow seen the entire exchange, Miasma briefly looked around the courtyard before replying, “Is there something wrong?”

“No, something’s going right,” Excitement made Ebony’s mental connection twitch and bob. “The Empress just contacted me; the Orxoni’s finished and we’re moving it to Ground Zero. I need you here, at the lab.”

It was good news and it made Miasma happy to hear that, but her expression remained unchanged. “Do we need to bring some guards?”

“We’ll need maybe four pegasi, three unicorns, and four earth ponies. There’s already Eclipse stationed at Ground Zero, so that should be enough.”

“Okay, I’m heading there now.”

“See you soon.”

The loss of a phantom pressure against Miasma’s frontal lobe signified Ebony’s departure and the mare quickly set out to gather the troops.

“Veil, we’re moving the Orxoni to Ground Zero.”

“S’pose I have to go get a chariot, huh?”

“If you don’t mind.”

“Sure – I wasn’t doing anything important anyway.”

Veil turned and promptly left, leaving Blueblood to trail off in the midst of his complaint and stare in shock and indignation.

“Oh, you brutish…! As Princess Platinum once said, ‘Remove thy hooves from mine body and go defile thyself with a dragon’s claw’!”

“Haze, the Empress-” Ebony turned the corner and spotted Haze coming from the opposite direction, a quizzical look on his face. “Oh, you’re already…” She paused and shook her head. “You’re already here.”

“I was on my way to greet the griffon delegate,” He replied. “What did you need?”

Ebony jerked her head towards the lab’s door, ignoring the guard on watch who seemed very nervous standing between the two of them. “The Empress contacted me. The Orxoni’s finished.”

“Truly?” Haze’s eyes lit up. “Why, that is wondrous news.”

Turning towards the lab door, Ebony knocked against it while simultaneously sending her thoughts. “Empress, Haze and I are here; the others should arrive shortly.”

“Excellent – step away from the door.”

“We’ll be…”

She exchanged confused glances with Haze and saw him mutter, “Step away from the…?”

It became apparent what Nightmare Moon meant a second later when the door blew outwards with enough force to come free of its hinges and flatten the poor guard standing watch. Ebony and Haze were, fortunately, spared, though they were understandably startled.

Nightmare Moon stepped through, paused to kick the door off the dazed guard, and started breaking apart the door’s frame with well-placed punches and bucks.

“Um…” Ebony blinked a few times to try and compose herself. “Why did…?”

“The door is too small,” Nightmare Moon answered amidst the demolition job. “I’ve been meaning to do some renovations here anyway,” Plaster crumbled to the floor as she started on the walls. “Twilight, Sunset – bring it on through.”

Somepony gave an exaggerated moan of displeasure from within the lab while another tiredly said, ‘one, two, three’!

Ebony’s eyes widened and she cautiously moved backwards as Twilight and Sunset hefted their load through the hole Nightmare Moon made.

On its own, the Orxoni could have fit through the door. However, a large metal pedestal had been added to its bottom with two rectangular spires jutting up on either side of the mirror’s frame.

Wiring, coils, and other bits and pieces of tech were hooked up from the pedestal to the mirror’s frame. Notably, the pedestal had three empty receptacles; two in the spires and one in the bottom, just beneath where the Orxoni had been fitted in.

All in all, it was the most intimidating piece of equipment Ebony had ever seen.

“Yeah, nopony help us or anything!” Sunset snapped when they crossed the threshold of the door. “It’s not like we stayed up the entire night building it from scratch.”

“Well, we didn’t actually build it from scratch,” Twilight grunted out, exertion heavy on every word. “The design and the mechanics were already there; we just needed to alter a few things and stabilize the Orxoni so it didn’t create a feedback when it-”

“Semantics!”

“Ugh, they’ve been doing that since we started…” Nightmare Moon said under her breath. “Ebony, Haze – I want you two to levitate the vessel onto my back and help balance it, then we’ll make our way outside. Ah, and just in time…” She gave a curt nod of greeting when the rest of the Praetorian Guard arrived. “You three stay here and help Sunset and Twilight gather up the rest of the equipment. I trust you have a means of transportation set up, Veil?”

“Yeah, they’re out in the front garden. So what happened to that guy? Also – probably should’ve been my first question – why is there a hole in the wall?”

“An opportunity for renovation presented itself.”

Veil shrugged. “Fair enough.”

Sunset and Twilight stumbled back into the lab – the latter bemoaning the improper treatment of the workplace – to direct Miasma, Fade, and Veil into what to grab while Ebony and Haze performed the task of levitating the Orxoni.

Even with somepony helping, the weight was considerable, and the way some wires jostled about as the Orxoni was lifted did nothing to calm Ebony’s nerves.

“Empress…” She started with a worried grimace. “Are you sure you can lift this?”

“Of course I can!” Nightmare Moon said with an offended edge in her tone. “It’s not a matter of lifting but a matter of balance.” With that, she crouched and spread out her wings.

‘Well, she did beat Celestia in single combat; I shouldn’t doubt her.’

“Oof!”

For one chilling moment, Nightmare Moon’s knees buckled, and Ebony almost reached out to pull the Orxoni back into the air. But with a determined growl and a snort, Nightmare Moon braced herself and stood. The Orxoni swayed to the right, but Haze was there to apply some magical pressure to stabilize it.

“Damn, boss – you’ve got serious back muscles!” Fade trotted out from the labs, a box of plastic tubes and copper held tight against his body with one wing. “You could probably carry that and all of us, yeah?”

“Try to rest on me and I will literally eat you.”

“Mysteries that will never be solved, yeah? Hey, sis! That looks like something that will save me from leaving you as an only child.”

“Heaven forbid that should happen…”

“I don’t care if they’re free; you’re not old enough to drink.”

“Well, what’s griffon years in pony years?”

“If I remember correctly, then you would be even further from the drinking age.”

“What? Ponies age slower than us?” Gilda’s frown deepened as she held up one hand and counted off her talons. “No, wait… ponies age… faster?”

Unfortunately, her father did not have time to answer as they arrived at the castle’s front gates, and the sight of Nightmare Moon balancing some bizarre piece of metal and crystal on her back was far more interesting.

“Whoa, something’s going down.”

The guards kept close to Gilda and her father’s side as they ventured into the castle’s front garden, watching with intrigue as Equestria’s current ruler meandered out from the castle and across the grass, where a black and silver chariot awaited. Several other ponies accompanied her, two of them using magic to balance the thing on her back and a bunch more others trailing behind with other assorted equipment.

As they got closer, Gilda realized that one of the ponies was none other than Princess Twilight Sparkle, a mare she knew as the most recently-crowned princess and vaguely recalled to be one of Rainbow Dash’s ‘friends’.

“Empress?” Her father questioned once they were within earshot. “Is this a bad time?”

“Far from it,” Nightmare Moon smiled that creepy-ass smile as the unicorns levitated the mirror-thing off her back and onto the chariot. “As it turns out, we’ve had something of a breakthrough,” She gestured towards the mirror. “The Resonator – this is what shall close the Entropic Fractures.”

Gilda gave her a strange look. “It’s a mirror.”

“A very insightful observation,” Nightmare Moon retorted with much dull sarcasm. “But appearances can be deceiving…” She paused to give a low chuckle in her throat, as if remembering something humorous. “And the power this vessel is capable of far exceeds its garish appearance.”

Gilda did not like the gleam in the unnatural pony’s eyes when she said that.

“That is… surprising, Empress,” Her father said. “I didn’t expect your forces to work so quickly.”

A tanned unicorn mare with a red-yellow mess of a mane gave a derisive snort as she snatched a box of wires from some Eclipse guard and put them in the chariot.

“Well, when death threats are used as a motivator, then-”

Nightmare Moon twisted her neck to stare coldly at the mare, the action sudden enough to make Gilda jump – just a little bit, she wasn’t scared! – in surprise.

The unicorn wisely trailed off and continued with her packing.

“I apologize that our scheduled meeting will have to be postponed,” Nightmare Moon said without actually sounding sorry. In a way, it was better than the officials that her father talked to back at home, who tried to sound sincere. “But the safety of my country is of the utmost importance. I’m sure you understand.”

Her father nodded. “I do. If it’s not too much trouble, may we accompany you to see this event transpire?”

“If you wish to do so,” Nightmare Moon momentarily looked behind her to check up on things. Twilight and the mare with bacon hair – heh, heh, bacon hair – were arguing over something, a pegasus guard was cheering them on – “whoo, cat fight!” – and somepony else was trying to stop the giant timber wolf from peeing on the chariot. “We’re setting up directly beneath the Fracture however, so I must ask you stay behind in the safe zone.”

The Empress left to set everypony straight and Gilda turned to her father, excited. “Sweet! Are we seriously going to see it up close?”

“I’m curious as to whether her plan will work,” Her father replied softly. “If it does, then she holds the key to stopping these Violaziones in our home.”

“What?” Gilda scowled and protested, “We’re gonna get help from Fangface over there? That’s lame.”

“Sometimes we have to do things that are ‘lame’ for the greater good,” He replied. “The sooner you learn that, Gilda-”

“Yeah, yeah – sooner, the better,” She grumbled with a roll of her eyes. “Had no idea that becoming a spokesgriffon for your country meant having to keep quiet about how you feel.”

She expected him to argue, so it came as a shock when her father gave a sad frown and a weary sigh.

“It’s just how it is, Gilda…”

The Eclipse stationed at Ground Zero – aptly known as ‘those that drew the short straw’ – had their tense but uneventful patrols loudly interrupted when the Empress, her Praetorian Guard, and several lower-ranking Eclipse members arrived with a chariot full of precious cargo.

Within minutes, Ebony had directed the confused guards to their new jobs: creating a distraction-free area to set up the Resonator.
News spread fast about their activity and drew a large number of Canterlot’s populace; from the high-society wine-tasters to the downtown party-goers, ponies arrived in droves to watch from behind the road blocks and sky-patrolling pegasi guards, their curiosity overcoming their fear of the anomaly that hung miles high in the sky.

Many were astonished to see Twilight Sparkle flittering about as she helped set up the machine directly beneath the Fracture.

The majority of them were happy to see somepony familiar and while they were confused as to why a bearer of the Elements would be helping her enemy, they had the mind to reserve judgement until they had more information.

A far cry from those who denounced her as a traitor.

“Weather conditions are optimal,” Twilight announced and checked off in a notebook she held with telekinesis. “Sunset – how’s the generator?”

“Just about…” From behind the Resonator, Sunset opened up a metal panel and fitted several glowing crystals into their receptacles. Once the last one was in, she shut the panel and yelled, “Crystal slots have been filled!”

Another check and Twilight turned to catch Miasma dragging along a lengthy black cord as thick as a hose with a plug as big as her hoof.

“That goes into the left spire; the second to last socket. Not the first one, the second to last,” Receiving a grunt of confirmation, she turned again and shouted, “No no! That’s the 8-metre wire; we need the 8.5 metre wire.”

“Science is bullshit!”

“Remember: 8.5. Okay, okay, um… Spike, I need... I mean, Veil, I need that storm cloud! And tell those pegasi we need clearer skies! Sunlight is imperative!”

Twilight’s search for any more wrongdoings ceased once she spotted Nightmare Moon in the sky, coming back from the castle.

‘Which can only mean she has the Elements…’

She kept her expression neutral as her captor landed.

In what was no doubt a ploy to add insult to injury, Nightmare Moon had brought the Elements in the same chest that used to store them, before Discord had broken free from his stone prison.

Twilight’s scowl only made Nightmare Moon grin mockingly.

“I have what you asked for.”

Her corona of magic rotated the golden container and tilted its lid open, revealing their precious contents.

‘Of course she’d pick Magic, Loyalty, and Kindness…’

Even so, it was good to be in the presence of the Elements. Twilight felt some of her worry vanish as her eyes hungrily absorbed the sight of the two necklaces and tiara, their power such that it could be felt even without being in contact with their rightful bearers.

“Good…” Twilight blinked hard out of her daze and gestured towards the Resonator. “Just put them in any of the receptacles; it doesn’t matter which ones go where.”

Nightmare Moon made her way over to the machine in a few strides of her long legs. Knowing the delicacy and importance of slotting the Elements in, both Sunset and Twilight joined the Empress, watching and waiting with baited breath.

“Don’t put them in too slowly!”

“Or too quickly!”

“Make sure your magic isn’t touching any of the other sockets!”

“Is that armor conductive?”

“Is there any dust in the receptacles?”

“Be silent!”

Nightmare Moon snorted in irritation as she fished the Element of Kindness out from the chest, a grimace of utmost disgust crossing her face as she did.

Slowly – but not too slowly – she pried the Element from its necklace and levitated it towards the Resonator’s right spire. The receptacle on the spire’s side, facing the Orxoni, received the powerful artefact without complications and gave a cheery click as hidden mechanisms, sensitive to magic, locked the Element in place.

“Whoa…”

Aldo glanced towards his chick. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, no worries,” Gilda played it off with a shrug of one shoulder. “Just a little cold. Don’t sweat it.”

Being important foreigners, they were granted a close view of the ponies setting everything up – right by the road blocks. The griffon guards stood at their side, wary of the crowd’s restless murmuring.

Gilda frowned uncertainly as she watched Nightmare Moon fit the Element of Loyalty into the left spire.

Another shudder rippled through her as it did.

“Kinda expected her to just… combust or something when she touched the Elements.” Fade muttered as he watched Nightmare Moon fit the Element of Magic into the receptacle just underneath the Orxoni.

“She looks like she just swallowed a cup of mud though,” Veil pushed a dark grey storm cloud past him. “Could you possibly move? If this goes off early, then Sparkle Ass down there’s going to throw a fit.”

Fade flapped his wings and ascended so Veil could continue pushing the cloud until it was directly above the Resonator.

“So just between you and me, how much you wanna bet that this thing blows up and turns us into cabbages or something?”

“Truly, your confidence is inspiring,” Veil retorted with a blank stare as Fade looped back beside her. “You really think this will go wrong?”

“Well… not really. All that science crap goes over my head, but I think the boss knows what she’s doing, yeah?”

“I think so, too, but I’d really rather be as far from it as possible,” She glanced down and shook her head in disbelief at Ebony and Haze, who were standing right next to the Empress. “Seriously, those two are something else.”

“They’re sort of kiss-asses, aren’t they?” Fade said with a small amount of guilt. “Like, they’re super-cool and I’ll beat the shit out of anypony who says otherwise, but way too much brown on their noses, yeah?”

“They’ve always been like that though,” Veil shrugged. “I didn’t think much of the Eclipse when I first joined. They were just ponies that I could tolerate being around.”

“And now we’re all your best friends, yeah?”

Fade wrapped his foreleg around her neck and pulled her in for a hug before she could protest. Pressed up against him, Veil could only sigh and glower at nothing in particular.

“Sad, isn’t it?”

Twilight frowned as she looked back and forth between the Resonator and her completed check list. “Is it working?”

Sunset trotted around to the back of the machine, examined the sockets and wiring, scratched her head, and then delivered a solid kick to the metal panel that protected the crystals.

Vmmmmm

The Elements lit up in their slots as the stored magic within the crystals were conducted through a maze of wiring and into the spires that housed them.

“Did you just kick it?!” Twilight shrilled in disbelief once Sunset appeared around the machine, looking quite smug.

“Why not? It works on pretty much everything else back in the human world.”

“This is a highly sensitive piece of equipment with numerous components of a volatile magical nature stored within a shell of conductive metal that-”

“It doesn’t matter how she got it working!” Nightmare Moon’s retort cut her off. The large alicorn waved her hoof at Veil. “Release the lightning!”

Veil quickly gave the storm cloud a strong buck and those nearest had to look away at the bright flash that followed.

The smell of ozone was strong once the flash died down. The lightning bolt had been attracted to the metal spires of the Resonator and the tremendous energy sparked and jumped about visibly along the metal surface.

Already, the unicorns in the area could feel a tingle in the base of their horns. Those in the crowd shifted uneasily and one female griffon tapped her talons against the ground.

“It’s all coming together…” Nightmare Moon muttered with an exhale of anticipation. “Begin phase one.”

Even Twilight and Sunset, who had been more or less forced into completing this project, were awed by the sight of their combined efforts stirring to life. It was the most ambitious project they’d undertaken yet and both were eager to see it succeed.

For the safety of Equestria in Twilight’s case.

For her own in Sunset’s case.

The two trotted over to the Resonator, shooed away any stray Eclipse until they were a safe enough distance away, and started fine tuning the machine.

“Setting the magic to a linear beam.” Twilight twisted several knobs.

“Activating Orxoni.” Sunset pulled on a lever.

VMMMMMMM

Electricity gathered at the points of the spires and zapped the Orxoni’s frame. White light spread across the mirror’s surface like water; it was completely covered within seconds and looked more like the Fracture that hanged above it.

“It’s stabilized,” Twilight nodded at Nightmare Moon. “We’re ready.”

“Then let’s seal this Fracture.”

Nightmare Moon stepped forwards and opened a metal panel just beneath the Element of Magic. Inside was a switch that seemed unusually plain for the weight of the purpose it carried.

None of those who worked on it were much for extravagance.

With one last look to the two mares standing at the Resonator’s sides, Nightmare Moon reached for the switch…

“… forty-four… forty-five… forty-six… forty-”

Applejack’s efforts to prevent her muscles from atrophying from the lack of daily labour they were so used to came to a halt when a bright light cast dark shadows against the walls.

“What the hay?”

Forgoing her push-ups, she dashed over to the window and looked through the bars. Her jaw dropped.

A beam of white light pulsed upwards from somewhere in Canterlot to meet the Entropic Fracture. The anomaly flickered like a dying light bulb and the level of discomfort that came with looking directly at it ranged from ‘annoying’ to ‘stinging’ with every flash.

As sunny a day as it was, the intensity of the beam’s light seemed potent enough to make everything else appear dim and their colours unsaturated.

It was as if Celestia had created another sun right in Canterlot.

The dissonant drone of the beam rattled everypony’s eardrums and it was near impossible to look directly at the Resonator.

Fortunately, it didn’t last long.

Rather suddenly and just as jarringly as when the Resonator emitted that powerful beam of concentrated magic, the drone and the blinding light receded.

Eyes were uncovered and immediately went to the Resonator, which pulsed with sheens of pink, red, and magenta that rippled across it like oil on water.

Folding the wing used to shield herself, Nightmare Moon cautiously stepped back as the Elements glowed with a soothing – at least to anypony that wasn’t her – light. They weren’t in contact with their bearers, but she could feel their magic brushing against her in gentle waves.

‘Don’t you dare activate. Don’t you dare!’

The Elements pulsed for several tension-filled seconds…

… and then they went dim.

“…”

Satisfied that the machine wasn’t going to explode, everypony oriented their gazes skyward.

The sky was clear, both of clouds… and the Entropic Fracture.

“… Fuck yeah!!”

Fade whooped and tackled his sibling in a powerful bear hug, laughing jovially.

Miasma responded with a rare smile and returned the affection with a gentle squeeze.

And with that, the cheers started.

Naturally, the Praetorian Guard were the first to start, but then the rest of the Eclipse started, who were soon followed by the dozens of Canterlot’s denizens that had gathered to watch.

Twilight beamed so hard it hurt her cheeks and started bouncing up and down whilst turning in a circle, shouting, “Yes yes yes yes!”

Sunset laughed deliriously and collapsed onto the ground, muttering something about ‘victory coffee’.

Nightmare Moon – after realizing that she wasn’t being turned to stone or sent to the moon’s surface – grinned toothily as she looked up at the blue sky. Pride and the sweet sense of accomplishment swelled up in her chest as she turned towards the cheering crowd.

“The anomaly has been dealt with!” She shouted, using magic to enhance her voice. “Equestria shall not fall to the invaders! It will live on!”

Perhaps they were celebrating the closing of the Fracture more than they were celebrating Nightmare Moon herself, but that didn’t matter to her.

For this accomplishment was only possible because of her and her forces. Such an occasion would be recorded in Equestria’s history, ensuring that she had left her mark and would not fade into anonymity.

She would be remembered.

Nightmare Moon looked out into the ecstatic faces of the crowd, soaking in their cries…

… and spotted a familiar face.

“… Vinyl?”

“Gilda!”

“I’m fine…” The cheering was murder on Gilda’s ears and it took all her restraint to not lash out at the guards who were only trying to help her up. “I just…” She paused, one hand pressed against her throbbing head, and realized she didn’t know what had happened. “I dunno. Did… the Violazione close?”

“It did,” Her father smiled weakly through his worry, briefly looking up at the sky. “It was… quite spectacular. But you fell. How are you feeling?”

“Queasy…” It sucked that she needed assistance to stand, but she was willing to let it slide. She felt like shit. “I’ll get over it.”

“You must certainly will not ‘get over it’; you’re going straight to the hospital.”

Gilda hated hospitals, but any thoughts on protesting vanished when a sharp spike of pain lanced through her skull.

“Yeah, sure. If it gets me away from these loud-ass ponies…”

Applejack stared in astonishment at the now-clear skies.

Slowly, a genuine and proud smile spread across her face.

“Knew you could do it, sugarcube…”

-ERROR-

SURVEY INCOMPLETE DUE TO UNEXPECTED SPATIAL ANOMALY

FILING REPORT…

SENDING…

MISSION COMPLETED – RETURNING TO HOME BASE…

Author's Notes:

Note 1: The Resonator - Nightmare Moon would like to claim that such a device was built within the span of a single day by her, Sunset, and Twilight only, but the reality is far less impressive.

Celestia was the one who manufactured the pedestal that the Orxoni fits into during her dabblings and forays into dark magic and is, in fact, what allowed her to create the duplicate that now resides in the Crystal Empire. To Nightmare Moon's credit, the repurposing of the device to close Entropic Fractures was done by her, Sunset, and Twilight, and it was completed in twenty-one hours, whereas Celestia took six years to build the pedestal.

The Resonator possesses a great and terrible power which can only be kept in check with the Elements of Harmony. What manner of chaos could be wrought if such artefacts weren't utilized?

Note 2: Armor of Nightmare Moon - the armor is highly resilient to physical damage and extreme temperatures; the fact that Nightmare Moon rarely removes it suggests that it is in no way uncomfortable for her to wear, or perhaps she feels vulnerable without it.

The metallic appearance of the protective gear hides the fact that is also comprised of magic, minerals only found in Zebrica, and, most disturbingly, traces of bone, presumably Luna's.

The method for the creation of this armor is better left unknown.