1055 AD, November 14th

“DIIEE!!”

The Wisp Knight swung its sword in an overhead arc and smashed the spot where Zecora had been.

“Ungh!” Zecora rolled off to the side, one foreleg wrapped tightly around the sprout – roots and all – and the clay pot. She looked up with wide eyes as the Wisp Knight shrieked angrily and dug its claws into the dirt again.

“No, you don’t!”

Mid-pounce, the Wisp Knight was tackled out of the air by a rush of dark blue feathers and potent magic. Luna and the knight rolled across the dirt, punching, bucking, and grunting, and the residents of Ponyville that had paused to watch the Fracture panicked and fled.

“Luna!” Celestia shrilled and rushed to her sister’s aid. “Go!” She shouted as she went by Zecora. “Take the mixture and get out of here!”

Nodding, Zecora scrambled to her hooves and carried her precious cargo to safety. Spike ran to her side to help.

“Guards – assist the princess!” Aldo cried as he drew a concealed dagger from a strap hidden beneath his right wing.

He, along with the griffon guards and Virtue, made after the princesses while Blueblood squealed in terror and danced in the same spot as if he had just seen a particularly irate mouse.

“Oh no! Oh my! Oh me! What mockery is this that I must constantly be plagued by unfortunate events?! Protect me, common mare!”

“Wha-?” Sunset’s cheeks puffed out as she was embraced in an iron-like grip. “Hrk! L-let go, you simple-minded product of aristocratic incest!”

Gilda rolled her eyes in disgust and flew off to join the fray. “Dweebs…”

A yell of pain fled Luna’s lips as the Wisp Knight struck her across the face hard enough to fracture her orbital bone and knock out several teeth. The creature was on top of her, pinning her into the dirt as it tried to get enough leverage to swing its sword. Luna kept one foreleg wrapped around the sword-arm, her entire body quivering from the effort of keeping it still, and her horn spluttered as she tried to teleport.

The knight was so close to her and its strange nature was interfering with her magic; she could feel herself start to disassemble only to snap back into place with a very nauseating twist of her insides.

Fortunately, Celestia was there; the older sibling grabbed the Wisp Knight by a jagged crevice in the back of its breastplate and pulled it off, threw it against the dirt, and blasted it with a spell of fire.

The knight ignored the flames and kicked with its remaining leg, literally disconnecting it at the thigh so it could reach. Celestia choked as the boot cracked several ribs and sent her bouncing against the ground like a stone skipping across water. With another ground-shaking bellow, the knight reattached its leg and rolled onto its belly, flames licking at the black armor, only to howl once more when several weapons drew sparks.

“The sword!” One of the griffons – Luigi – cawed in warning and thrust the point of his spear at the tear in the knight’s helmet. “Watch for the sword!”

The Wisp Knight roared and hissed at them; it kept struggling to stand, as if unaware of its handicap, and fell over each time, but the frenzied flails that dug grooves and sent up sprays of soil and pebbles kept everyone at bay. Sometimes the hand or the arm disconnected on a shadowy limb and came close to inflicting a lethal wound.

“DIE! DIE!” The Wisp Knight yowled in a tormented voice that was undoubtedly feminine and might have even been melodious if it wasn’t stretched to a hysterical crack and half-buried beneath a distorted, guttural growl. “DIE! DIIEE!!”

Luna helped her sister back up and the two attempted to join back in, but were forced to spread their wings and hop several yards back when the knight pushed itself off the ground to lunge for them.

It slammed back into the dirt, but then its upper body tore free to continue after them.

“Move!” Celestia gasped and shoved her sister out of the way before the knight could-

SKLUTCH

“EYAAAGHH!”

“Oh… Faust…” Blueblood coat turned a sickly shade of green and his stomach churned.

“Ooh, jeez…” Even Sunset had to wince and swallow thickly as the Wisp Knight pressed the claws of its left gauntlet together to form a sharp point that pierced Celestia’s chest in a spray of hot crimson.

“Argh… Gyah…” Celestia bit back another yowl of pain as she grabbed the knight’s arm, though she could still feel it shift about, scratching against ribs that hadn’t even fully healed yet. “Wh-why is it… always m-my sister… a-and me that g-gets th-this hurt?!”

The Wisp Knight had no answer – well, no articulate answer – and raised its sword to deliver a final blow that was intercepted by a blast of frost magic freezing the arm, weapon and all, in a block of steaming ice.

“Remove thy hand from my sister!” Luna roared with eyes glowing white moonlight as she flew towards the creature, a spiralling frigid wind trailing behind her. “Or prepare to suf-”

CRACK

The Wisp Knight shattered the ice on her skull and dropped her to the ground like a bag of potatoes.

“Ow…”

The knight shifted the plates on its armor as if it was flexing and the remainder of the ice broke off. Weapon free, it tried to attack again, but Celestia charged her body with magic, and her blood and innards became superheated, and made the gauntlet inside her melt and buckle. Some of her blood dripped into the newly formed holes and the Wisp Knight howled and jerked backwards, away from the source of its pain.

“Hey, asshole!”

The knight’s helmet twisted in place with a burst of smoke to the insult and received the thick end of a large stick; Gilda’s momentum was such that she flew straight past the knight after its hit, and the Wisp Knight’s helmet spun round and round like a wagon wheel.

It didn’t seem to appreciate that.

Even with its head still having a ways to go before losing momentum, the knight’s floating torso swung its sword-arm sideways to produce an unexpected blast of compressed air that sent the griffons and Virtue tumbling backwards with grunts and cries of pain. While they were incapacitated, the other arm detached on a tendril of smoke, reaching out until glowing hot, melted fingers ensnared Gilda’s hind leg, despite her erratic flying.

The heat scorched her fur and burned her flesh; she couldn’t stop a squawk of pain, but closed her beak firmly before any more could get out, and swatted at the limb with her stick. The metal hand was unyielding and she went for the smoke, but her makeshift weapon simply passed through.

“Cheating! Cheater!”

The shadowy limb started reeling her in just as the helmet finally stopped rotating, conveniently fixating on her. A chill ruffled her feathers as the full ire and malice pouring out from that tear in its face struck her.

“Oh yeah? Try this on for size!”

Gilda clenched her empty claw into a fist and drew on her inner power. A dark golden aura crept up the limb and wavered as more and more energy was put into it.

Growling, eyes beaming with a yellow glow, Gilda pushed out to the knight and splayed open her talons. “Percorso di pietra – vieni fuori!”

The knight shrieked out and pulled harder. “DIE! DIE! D-”

The ground beneath it lurched upwards, the very earth bending to the force of Gilda’s magic; rocks and pebbles shot up with enough energy to dent and leave marks on the Wisp Knight’s armor, and the soil rose like a powerful geyser, carrying the knight up in the air with a roar of enraged surprise.

Gilda shook off its grip as the knight’s upper body dragged the lower part along with it. She ignored the burns on her leg and smirked savagely as she watched her summoned geyser of dirt push it into the air, flailing and roaring.

“Eat it, punk!”

Below, Celestia clenched her teeth against the waves of agony that resonated from the gruesome hole in her chest; her blood cascaded down her chest, staining her fur red and dripping onto the ground with soft hisses and curls of steam.

It hurt – Faust, did it hurt – but she had suffered through worse, and pushed the pain aside with practised ease to yell out to her sister. “Luna!” She coughed up a wad of bloody saliva. “F-freeze as much of it as you can!”

Luna picked herself up off the ground, blinking away blood that ran down her brow and into her eyes. “P-pardon?”

“Freeze it!”

“Sis-”

Celestia didn’t wait and leapt into the air, the strength of her take-off bouncing a few pebbles and tearing out clumps of dirt. Luna swore as she turned in place, looked towards where her sister was flying up to the dirt geyser’s top, and focused on the Wisp Knight that was ineffectively and mindlessly attacking the onrush of soil.

Celestia passed by Gilda, who brought her free claw to her beak and yelled, “Yo, do whatever you’re doing and fast! That’s gonna run out soon!”

‘Soon’ was an understatement – almost immediately after Gilda said that, the geyser she had summoned ran out of power and hundreds of pounds of dirt fell back down.

But by then, Celestia was above the suspended Wisp Knight, and with a flex of her muscles, she rocketed straight down, hooves first.

CRACK

The knight’s breastplate buckled beneath the force and a mighty roar was pulled out of the creature’s maw; it was plummeting back to the ground with the full weight of Celestia pressed against it, and when a blast of frigid wind from below caked its back and arms in thick spires of ice, it couldn’t even move to attack her.

The griffons and ponies were quick to get back to a safe distance as Celestia smashed the knight into the dirt hard enough to leave a huge crater at least a metre deep and more than three metres across. Shards of ice exploded outwards, but fortunately, the majority of them were embedded in the dirt. The few that sliced through Celestia’s flesh were almost immediately reduced to red-tinted water.

“D-DIE-E!” The Wisp Knight’s voice warbled and shook without losing any of its mindless rage, and a sudden eruption of smoke from a large crevice in its breastplate sent Celestia stumbling backwards and out of the crater, choking and wiping at her tear-filled eyes.

It smelled of rust, old blood, and ash.

The burst of smoke continued billowing upwards and the knight’s cries became whines, and it started swatting at the gas, trying to keep it from escaping. Its lower half was completely useless, as was its sword-arm, so only one limb was available; it flailed about desperately, scattering the smoke it was trying to grab.

Luna stepped forwards with a spell at the ready, but Celestia held up her hoof and shook her head. “No…” The older sibling’s face was grim and dark as she watched the once-terrifying creature yell and writhe pathetically. “I think it’s finished.”

“…” Luna grimaced, but let her magic even out.

“DIE… DIE…”

The Wisp Knight’s movements slowed as the smoke started dissipating. Its armor started shuddering and snapping off in portions and bits without the mysterious gas to keep it all together, and without the armor…

“DIE… Die… die…”

The arm that was still trying to hold its existence together fell apart at the elbow and slapped down around the knight’s helmet. It made an attempt at sitting up, growls and whines lowering to strained breaths and grunts.

“… Ah… ah… he… heh heh heh… Hah hah hah hah…”

The laughter was unexpected… and oddly relaxed. Even so, it was frightening to listen to, and several of the onlookers shuddered in disgust.

“F-fr… free… heh heh… free… fr-”

The last of the smoke curled up from the tear in its helmet and was blown away in a stray wind.

The Wisp Knight finally went still with a sound that was too much like an exhale of immeasurable relief.

The griffon guards moved closer after a few moments without any further signs of movement and one of them poked at the armor pieces with his spear. When that drew no reaction, he poked the metal spike into the helmet’s crevice and lifted it out of the crater.

He gave it a shake.

Nothing.

“Definitely dead.” He finally said and shook the helmet off so it fell back down.

Everyone let out an exhale of relief, followed by a single squawk of alarm and the thump of a body hitting the ground as Sunset decided she’d had enough of being held so tightly.

“Gilda!” Aldo sheathed his dagger and rushed over to his daughter. His face fell at the sight of her burnt leg. “Can you move? Do you feel dizzy?”

“Dad, it’s nothing,” Gilda shrugged it off. Truthfully, it hurt like a bitch, but it wasn’t as if it was fatal; she was more upset that her feathers had been blackened and turned brittle. “I’ll just put cold water on it or something.”

“I’m pretty good with healing spells,” Virtue walked up to them. His breathing had yet to even out from the rush of adrenaline, but his heart was quickly returning to its normal pitter-patter. “I can heal it.”

Gilda frowned and shook her head. “I said it’s fine; don’t need any-”

“That would be much appreciated, thank you, Virtue,” Aldo intervened with a scolding look to his daughter that quelled a smarmy rebuke, but not an irritated glare. The Marquees didn’t move away until Gilda stayed still and allowed Virtue to soothe the angry burn on her leg with the soothing glow of healing magic. Satisfied, he walked over to the sisters. “Princesses – how do you fare?”

“We have suffered worse.” Luna swiped away rivulets of blood from her face.

Celestia nursed her breast with one hoof and lightly chuckled. “Not the first time something’s impaled me, but at least this time my heart wasn’t stabbed. How about you? How are your guards and your daughter?”

“My guards are well-trained; they are fine. My hot-heated daughter on the other claw…”

“We wouldn’t have killed the knight so swiftly if it wasn’t for her. She’s a courageous chick, that one.”

“…” Aldo looked over his shoulder and gave a small grin as Gilda was tended to by Virtue. “Yes – in more ways than just one, too,” Before old memories could play through his mind, Aldo turned in the direction of the library. “Ah! Are the…?”

Zecora was slowly lowering the precious pot and cleansing joke sprout to the dirt now that the danger had passed. Spike had run back inside the library to grab a broom and stand guard in front of Zecora, fully intent on protecting the thing that would save his sister/mother figure.

“Y-yeah, we’re cool…” Spike smiled shakily but in a reassuring manner. He let the broom’s handle rest against his shoulder and wiped sweat from his brow. “Th-the mixture…” He looked back, suddenly alarmed. “Is it…?”

Zecora checked the pot and the sprout before looking up and replying with a relieved nod, “It is no worse for wear – thank the stars.”

Celestia relaxed upon hearing that.

She heard various voices and doors opening; those that had scattered upon witnessing the knight were slowly re-emerging, unsure if the situation was safe.

She turned to face the hesitant ponies, smiling, and saying, “It is alright, my little ponies. The threat has been dealt with. You are safe.”

They were reassured by her words and came closer, eyeing the broken form of the knight and muttering beneath their breaths. A few were bold enough to try and touch the pieces, but the griffon guards plus Virtue formed a line around the crater and politely averted such actions. Seeing that it was being dealt with, Celestia directed her attention back to the others in time to see Luna trotting over towards Zecora.

The lunar princess gave Sunset and Blueblood a look as she went by.

“Oh, shut up,” Sunset growled with a flick of her tail. “Maybe I could have helped if this idiot didn’t cling to me like I was his mom’s teat.”

“How dare you push me, you peasant!” Blueblood frantically brushed his coat and suit free of any dirt particles as she got back up, his face a dark grimace of indignation. “And what could I have done? Aunt Luna, you know that my strengths do not lie in the physical-”

Luna cut him off a sharp hiss of annoyance. “I don’t want to hear any of it – that goes for the both of you.”

Blueblood reacted as if she had kicked him, but Sunset just stuck her tongue out and crossed her eyes to make a ‘durrh’ expression. Celestia bit back a laugh as she and Aldo followed her sister.

Zecora was wasting no time.

She said a few words under her breath and picked the lid of the pot up once it had finished twisting open on its own. Her forehoof snatched up the cleansing joke and dumped it into the mixture, and just as quickly as she did that, the lid was back on and twisted tight.

“The sprout has sprung strong and the spots are bright…” Zecora looked up at the approaching alicorns with a relieved smile. “With this, we shall bring our friend back to the light.”

“How does it work?” Luna questioned. “Must it be ingested?”

Zecora shook her head and picked up the pot before standing. “Splash it on her as if it were rain; nothing unique for Nightmare Moon, the method is exactly the same.”

Aldo scratched his chin. “It is that easy?”

“To throw, yes, but beware – there is only enough here for Twilight and Nightmare Moon, and the spirit will sense its power when it draws near, for it is the bane of her existence and perhaps the only thing she fears.”

Zecora looked down at the clay pot. It was warm in her hooves and she was actually a little awestruck at the fact that she was actually holding one of the most sacred concoctions a shaman could create… and she was the one that did it.

“… I will make a second container for Twilight.” She told the sisters, looking back up.

Celestia nodded and then, quite suddenly, stepped forwards to nuzzle the zebra. Zecora froze as the larger equine lowered her head to brush against her neck, but quickly recalled what the gesture meant for ponies, and blushed. She was both embarrassed and honoured to receive such an intimate gesture from one with such esteem amongst her people.

“Thank you for your help, Zecora,” Celestia said with a closed-eyed serene expression. “I don’t what we would have done without you.”

“Th-the honour is mine, princess.” Zecora tried not to think about how nice the princess felt against her fur.

‘Sacred waters, Zecora, you are above such temptations.’

‘I’m really not.’

Fortunately, the nuzzle ended before things could get really awkward; once Zecora had room to breathe, she was able to collect herself.

Luna cleared her throat. “I am just as grateful towards her as you, sister, but now that the mixture has been made, perhaps we should turn our attention to other matters of equal importance?”

Celestia nodded and gestured with a nod of her head to the broken corpse just a few yards away. “The Wisp Knight?”

“Not only that,” Luna sighed, though her frustration wasn’t directed at Celestia. “Marquees Aldo – you informed us of this new enemy that comes from the other side of the Fractures, the ones that attacked Canterlot last night. This Wisp Knight is surely from that same faction, so why does only one arrive in Ponyville, half-broken and completely mad? If they had wanted to invade, then surely they would have brought a larger force?”

“Yes…” Aldo agreed with a thoughtful frown. “I think so, too. But the way the Fracture just appeared seems so random. When we were escaping the city, we saw a few Violaziones. The knights – the smaller ones – were arriving through them, but the anomalies didn’t close so suddenly after just one came through.”

“What do you think happened here?”

“Hmm…”

The marquees turned his head towards the crater, his eyes narrowing as he thought. A few of his guards were chatting with Virtue, most likely discussing what to do with the remnants of the Wisp Knight. Luigi was directing the civilians’ attention elsewhere.

In his peripheral vision, he spotted Sunset and Blueblood arguing, which seemed about right.

“… It is possible that these Fumo Demoni are already mad and broken in their world, and that they are sent here to cause as much chaos as possible before they are ultimately destroyed. Griffons used to do a similar thing with the sick and injured.”

Spike made a face of disgust. “Jeez…”

“Our history is a proud and violent one, young dragon, and we insult ourselves by not acknowledging the more… unsavoury events,” Aldo shook his head after briefly shutting his eyes to let out a sigh. “But I digress… that is one reason for why the knight was sent here.”

“What’s the second?” Celestia asked.

“The second reason is that it was a fluke and nothing more,” Aldo held his claw out to the crater. “Violaziones have been constantly opening and closing in both our countries for almost a year, but up until last night, all that came through were beasts, and they did not seem like the type used for war; they seemed like animals that had wandered through a tear in space by accident. The knights use the anomalies to arrive here, but does that mean they are responsible for every single one that’s occurred from the very start?”

“But what you’re saying…” Celestia started, took a moment to sort out what she wanted to say in her head, and then continued with a confused shrug. “If they weren’t responsible for the Fractures that first opened up, then what caused them to appear in our world in the first place?”

Nobody really had an answer. Aldo and Luna went quiet as they thought while Spike just scratched the scales around his dorsal ridges. Zecora politely excused herself to make the second container for Twilight and Spike eagerly tagged along to assist, happy to be doing something that was a bit more in his field.

Finally, Luna just said, “The only ones who could know are the invaders themselves, but if they are so set on going to war with us, then we shall have to live with not knowing. Instead, let us focus on what we do know, and we know that since they are hostile, we should plan for defending ourselves in case they approach us.”

“They could appear inside the village if they so wished.”

“There’s nothing we can do about that, sister. Let’s just focus on what we can do for the time being.”

“Yes, you’re ri-”

“Guys! Guys!”

The trio turned and tilted their heads up at the shout.

Rainbow Dash landed on the ground hard enough to cause a minor tremor and the rainbow afterimage that followed her descent faded out. She was panting a little and her eyes were wide, but it seemed to be from excitement than fatigue.

“Guys, th-there’s something on the…! You’re not gonna believe who’s…” Suddenly, her eyes narrowed as her brain registered the griffon standing with the princesses. “Uh… hey, what’s up?”

“An invasion of otherworldly forces, the untimely arrival of a homicidal construct of smoke and metal…” Aldo paused and scratched at his head. “Ah, you meant it as a form of greeting, no?”

“What?”

Rainbow Dash looked around and her jaw dropped lower and lower. She went still upon turning around fully and noticing Gilda – who lazily put up her middle claw with a sneer – and made a few inarticulate grunts of puzzlement before turning back again.

“What the f…?” She shook her head with a grunt. “Wh-whatever! There’s something you guys need to see on the TV! You’ll never guess who’s on it!”

“Nightmare Moon?” Celestia guessed.

“Nightmare…! Yeah, it’s her.”

Aldo, Luna, and Celestia exchanged worried looks.

Knock knock knock knock knock

“Okay, okay, I’m coming! I… Oh hi, Rainbow – what’s the emergen-”

“Quick! Quick!”

Caramel fell onto his rear in a tizzy as a blur of colour pushed past him and flew into his living room. He barely had enough time to blink when two alicorns and a griffon also rushed past and went into the living room.

“Uh…?” Caramel rubbed his head and narrowed one eye in bewilderment. “Come in?”

After shutting the door and following his unexpected guests, he found Rainbow Dash fiddling with the dials on his television while the others were seated in front of it.

Caramel worried for the ceiling plaster; his home wasn’t designed with alicorn physiology in mind.

Whatever – a guest was a guest.

“Can I get any of you anything? Oats? Sandwiches?” He looked at the griffon dressed in what seemed to be regal wear, or at least the type of attire he had seen foreign delegates dress in. “… Fish?”

“Pffssshhsh!” Rainbow shushed loudly as she finally clicked into the channel she wanted. “See? It’s her!”

“-interrupt whatever dry, shameful activity you were watching game show contestants perform to bring you an important announcement.”

The image was a little saturated and fuzzy – Caramel was going to buy a new one later that week – but there was no mistaking the abyss-black coat and predatory eyes that faced the camera.

Luna growled in her throat at the sight of the demon and her expression became a dangerous glare.

Celestia felt a poisonous hate brew in her chest and adopted a similar expression, but remained silent as she listened to the ‘Empress’ speak.

“I’m not one for beating around the bush, so I’ll just come out and say it: at 2:14 am, Canterlot was attacked by a force from the other side of the Entropic Fractures that call themselves the Rouge Knights. They were hostile and intent on starting a war with our land.”

Nightmare Moon was sitting in her throne at Canterlot Castle and was doing so in a completely relaxed manner. The casualness of her body language – a so-so wave of the hoof there to emphasize ‘war’ and a very brief glare to the side when somepony off-screen coughed – didn’t quite match with the severity of her words. She might as well have been talking about the weather.

Worst of all, Celestia recognized it – it was exactly what she did when she had to make an announcement that wouldn’t sit well with the public. She would purposely restrict her gestures and expressions to exude infinite patience so that the public wouldn’t freak out as much.

‘But I don’t appear that fake, do I?’

Nightmare Moon continued…

“Shining, are you seeing this?”

“Yeah…” Shining Armor glared at the TV as he entered the room. “I am.”

Cadance stood in the middle of the room, right in front of the television, watching that monster talk. The warrior in Shining Armor was listening to her words about an invasion, but the more equine side of him was more preoccupied with moving forwards to nuzzle his wife.

When she felt his warmth at her side, Cadance sadly turned and stepped closer so she could share some of that heat. The thought of Twilight weighed heavily on both of them, but he was taking it better than her; he channelled that worry into anger and determination.

It was more difficult for her to do that.

The couple embraced and silently watched the television.

“They most assuredly have access to technology capable of manipulating the Fractures to some degree, but their arms consist of weaponry similar to ours: shields, swords, and polearms. The invaders are larger than the average pony, but not indestructible, and they were quickly forced into a retreat when faced with the strength of the Eclipse guard.”

“However, this is by no means the last that Equestria has heard of this new enemy…”

“Hey, check it – it’s Nightmare Moon!”

“No shit?”

The words of the two nearby stallions made it through Suri’s alcohol-induced haze and she slowly came out of her stupor of staring at her empty shot glass. Briefly forgetting which direction was which, Suri stared at the empty stool on her left, the bartender in front, and then finally faced the right way.

The two stallions that had been talking were staring up at the TV hanging from the ceiling; it took Suri several moments to squint hard enough to make out the Empress. She was talking, but most of it went straight over Suri’s clouded head.

“I have no doubt that the Rouge Knights and their leader, a male that calls himself Knight Enforcer Caed, will return; perhaps in greater numbers and with better weaponry. But as I have said before, Equestria will not fall to that which is not even of our universe. I will personally relieve the Knight Enforcer of his head and make sure that the rest of his army will think twice before invading another world. As for the rest of Equestria and its inhabitants… though you may not all be soldiers or warriors, you are far from helpless. Should you find yourselves facing any of these Rouge Knights, then you should be prepared to fight, for they will offer no mercy, to you and your loved ones.”

Suri gave up trying to listen and slurred, “Yo, bar guy – ‘nother one. More… m-more stuff in this thing. Th-this, uh… this stuff!” She held up the shot glass, almost tipping over in the process. “More… Ugh… fucking Coco… the bitch…”

It must have been hot because sweat was pouring down her cheeks.

“I advise you all to arm yourselves in-”

SKSSSHHH

A chorus of groans went up around the living room.

“Oh heavens to betsy…” Braeburn rose from the couch and made his way through the mess of limbs belonging to the young foals seated on the carpet.

He was no blacksmith and the family TV was just about the oldest thing in Appleloosa aside from Ol’ Stallion Jenkins, but he had garnered a bit of reputation for being able to make things work through his ingenious methods.

Braeburn went behind the TV and gave the back a thorough thump with his forehoof.

“Tha’ got it workin’?”

“Naw!” His family replied in unison.

He gave it another hit. “How ‘bout now?”

“Naw!”

Clunk

“Tha’ done did it?”

“Yeah!”

Braeburn nodded in satisfaction and stepped away so he could see the screen.

“-lack of coordination. Now, there is a second announcement I wish to make… and it doesn’t concern the Rouge Knights.”

“Shoot – ya’ll seein’ this?”

Sheriff Silverstar’s query caught the attention of not only his deputies that were seated around the table, but of the cloaked figure sitting at another table behind them.

The cloaked figure looked up, adjusted the top hat resting on their head, and followed the sheriff’s outstretched foreleg to the TV hanging from the ceiling of the saloon. The bartender had gotten a small stepladder so he could reach the dial for the volume.

Nightmare Moon’s voice came clearer and the rest of the saloon’s patrons stopped talking so they could hear.

“I know that Ponyville is housing the escaped bearers of the Elements of Harmony and the former princesses of Equestria, and I just want to say…”

Nightmare Moon gave a fanged smile.

“If you do not surrender yourselves in the next 24 hours… the next time we meet, you will all have a very unpleasant time.”

The patrons shivered despite the Empress being miles away.

“… And with that, this broadcast shall now come to an end. I thank you for your time and patience, and I hope you take my words seriously: Equestria may be at war, but we will survive this, just as we have every with every other threat. Take care… my little ponies…”

The channel switched back to the scheduled show with a burst of static and the cloaked figure quietly rose from their table, deposited a few bits, and made for the saloon’s doors, completely unnoticed by the chattering patrons.

“And we’re clear!”

Nightmare Moon dropped her smile and shooed the camera crew away with a flick of her hoof. “Thank you – that will be all. Haze?” She looked to the side to see her Left Hoof straighten dutifully. “Prepare Canterlot’s defences and establish a 24-hour pegasus delivery service; I want communications with every settlement in Equestria by tomorrow’s eve.”

“Yes, Empress.”

“Where’s my Eclipse Captain?”

“Here!” Ebony briskly trotted in through the open throne room doors, her body language hurried and tense. “What did you need, Empress?”

Nightmare Moon rose to meet her halfway. The camera crew wisely darted out of her path. “Are the guards on alert?”

“Yes.”

“Casualties of the battle?”

“Counted up.”

“And what of our, ah… ‘esteemed’ guest?”

“Waiting in the interrogation room.”

Nightmare Moon grinned darkly. “Excellent.”

It had been a stroke of luck that one of the Rouge Knights was merely rendered unconscious during the fight; Nightmare Moon looked forward to making her talk.

She had a lot of frustrations to work out.

“Another thing, if I may?” Ebony said, slightly hesitant as she held out her forehoof.

Nightmare Moon lit up her horn and took the offered pieces of paper, crowded with scribbles and passages. Even before truly seeing them, she identified the scribbles as spell runes.

A very complicated set of spell runes for a very complex spell.

“Hm?”

“…”

“…”

Well then…

“Ah heh heh…” Nightmare Moon felt her lips curl into a smile as surprise and the foreign feeling of pride filled her. She looked down at her Right Hoof, still chuckling lowly. “Yes… this will most assuredly work for you,” But she had to be sure. “Although, I don’t think it’s quite what you want.”

“No! I mean… no, I do want this, Empress,” Ebony’s eyes reflected Nightmare Moon’s visage and they were filled with steely determination. “I am your loyal follower.”

“… Then there’s much to do with you.”

“So it’s official…” Celestia reached out with telekinesis to turn off the TV. Her expression was grim. “Equestria is at war.”

“After 400 years of peace…” Luna sighed despondently. “What is this world coming to?”

“Sooo…” Rainbow Dash scratched her head awkwardly. “What are we gonna do now?”

“Canterlot will no doubt be securely guarded,” Aldo pointed out. “I doubt any of you will be able to get in without being noticed.”

“Was that a weight joke?” Celestia said dryly and an attempt of a smirk.

“If it makes you feel better, then yes.”

“Hm… Jokes aside, this does make our plan to rescue Twilight more difficult.”

“What was the plan to rescue Egghead?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Both Celestia and Luna exchanged a bashful look before the latter admitted, “We didn’t exactly form a proper one, I’m afraid. We were too preoccupied with getting the mixture that would cleanse her of the demon’s presence to work.”

Rainbow Dash swallowed. “Did you get it?”

Luna nodded with a reassuring grin. “Yes – Zecora is at the library preparing batches for both Nightmare Moon and young Twilight,” The pegasus’ sigh of relief mirrored Luna’s earlier feelings, the sense of a weight being lifted. “We require the mixture to douse both, but we only have one shot at it. If we are to make a plan, it needs to have a one hundred percent success rate, or…”

She didn’t finish the sentence. She didn’t need to.

“But we’ll rescue her soon, right?” Rainbow Dash fretted. It wasn’t usually her style to worry and fret, but this was her friend that was in trouble, and the inability to do anything to help her immediately was unbearable. “‘Cause… ‘cause she was super-messed up when we saw her and I know it’s only been a day, but-”

“Young pegasus…” Aldo said gently. The low baritone of his voice reminded Rainbow Dash of her father, so she trailed off from a sudden pang of nostalgia. “Your concern and loyalty towards your friend is admirable and it’s only natural to want to rescue her immediately. But with the way things are…” He sighed and shook his head. “It would be foolish to march straight into Canterlot simply because we have the mixture prepared; we don’t know what defences Nightmare Moon has set up or where she’s keeping Miss Sparkle.”

“…”

“I think… I think it would be best to take our time formulating a plan of action.”

“But…!” Rainbow Dash fell short of a good argument. It sucked, but if Aldo was anything like her dad, then arguing when she had no good points and tried to get by on plain stubbornness would not work out. She sighed in defeat and hung her head. “I just want to help…”

“And we will, my friend,” Luna reassured, moving closer to place a forehoof on the smaller mare’s shoulder. “It may not be right now… but we will get Twilight back. I promise you this.”

Celestia supported her sister’s words with a sympathetic nod, though inside, she was just as worried and frustrated that they couldn’t immediately rush to Twilight’s aid.

Centuries of ruling a country taught her the importance of patience and knowing when to strike, but it was a practise easier to preach than actually do, especially when the well-being of someone close to you was at risk.

‘Oh, Twilight… my protégé… my dear friend…’

The din of the others’ conversation became muted as she replayed warm and happy memories in her head, her sorrow hidden behind a supportive and serene smile.

‘Just hang on – it may take a while, but we’ll be back for you. I promise.’

And Celestia would see that promise kept, even if it would cost her own life.

Twilight could never see much outside her window.

Even when she pushed her muzzle as far between the iron bars as she could, there wasn’t much to see outside beside some of Canterlot’s architecture, a bit of sky, and, if she was lucky, a passing pegasus, though they never ventured close enough to see her.

Not that she would want them to.

Twilight looked up at the sky forlornly when a mass of grey clouds covered the sun and the rays of light stopped shining down on her cell’s window.

‘I was enjoying it, too…’

Sighing, Twilight pushed off the edge of the windowsill and dropped to the floor, shuddering violently when a shard of crystal peeking out from her right fetlock chipped the floor and sent unpleasant tremors through her bones. It was like someone was tapping a tuning fork against the inside of her skull.

Still, it was better than when she would lie in bed, staring up at the ceiling restlessly as the crystals embedded beneath skin and muscle scratched and tore the sheets. The sounds they made when they rubbed against anything soft would beat away at her head.

Skritch-skritch-skritch

She felt as if she was going insane.

The isolation… the near-constant stream of dark thoughts… the deep pain that echoed in the marrow of her bones… the sight of her own reflection…

‘Girls… are you in Ponyville? I hope you’re all safe. Celestia, Luna… I know you’ll find some way to defeat Nightmare Moon, I just know it.’

Perhaps due to her OCD, Twilight had counted the crystals sticking out from her body and noted their positions… even though the sight of them sickened her.

They were plentiful and large enough that she couldn’t sit or lie down in a few positions without putting pressure on them, and she hated doing that because it would place pressure on her skeleton.

Medically speaking, her skeletal structure should be brittle and weak from the growth of hardened materials, and should have fractured and cracked several times by now.

It hadn’t and she was certain that her bones had somehow become stronger, as if adapting to her mutilation.

She didn’t like that.

‘I’m still trying to figure out what I can do in here, girls…’

Twilight sat down – a position that didn’t disturb her- no, not hers, the crystals – and held up her forelegs so she could watch when, at a simple pull of her magic, black tendrils sparked and crackled across her skin. A menacing light bathed her hooves as her pupils shone a bright red.

‘This is wrong. I shouldn’t be practising dark magic; Celestia told me that hexes are forbidden, that the allure of this type of magic is too strong.’

But she found herself calling on it anyway.

Maybe the presence of the crystals were corrupting her mind or maybe Nightmare Moon had awakened something twisted inside her when she enveloped her very soul and forced her to move and speak, even when the pain was so great…

Maybe she was irreversibly corrupted.

… If that was the case, then how could she be any worse? What could dark magic do that the ‘Empress’ hadn’t already done?

'You won’t make me hurt my friends, you… y-you… b-bitch. Even if you’ve stuck crystals in me, possessed me, and imprisoned me, I’ll… I’ll never forget who my friends and family are. I will never hurt them as long as I live.'

The memories of them pulsed strong in her mind.

It didn’t matter if her other thoughts had taken a dive into the macabre and violent, those thoughts would remain bright and happy as ever, and would help keep her morals and conscience alive, even if her sanity was slowly, slowly fading away.

Twilight wrapped her forelegs and wings around herself – bile rising for a brief moment as she felt something hard and pointy poke into what felt her stomach – and thought back to happier times, the purple and black glow of her horn consuming the light in the room rather than casting it.

‘I can wait. If it takes days… months… years… eventually there’ll be a time for me to strike at you, Nightmare Moon. I can wait.”

For her friends, she would wait…

Author's Notes:

Note 1: "Percorso di pietra", roughly translated into Equestrian, means "Path of Stone - Come Forth". Griffons have a higher success rate when it comes to spells if they vocally announce the sentence and/or stanza that is associated with the spell. Dragons, unicorns, and alicorns do not need to do this, and this discrepancy showcases how magic varies between species.

Gilda actually used the incorrect sentence for this spell; the correct translation would be closer to, "Path of Stone - Rise At My Call". The spell was successful because Gilda was wholly confident in her own abilities and that the spell would work.

The words need not be precise, so long as they convey the caster's confidence.

Note 2: The word 'hex' is synonymous with 'dark magic', though many outside of Equestria use the term interchangeably with 'spell' or 'incantation'.

According to Equestrian lore, hexes are to dark magic what normal spells are to normal magic, though nopony knows who or what declared this so, as it goes back further than even the time of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna's official reign.

Dark magic is not inherently evil, but the allure of the power of the hexes is too much for individuals with weak wills or visions of self-entitlement and grandeur at any cost.