1056 AD, January 11th

“So there you have it…” Celestia took a breath and picked up her cup of tea. “The Rouge Knights wish to move to our world because they are dying, and they require magic to fuel their machine,” She took a sip; tasty as always but it was lost on her at the moment. “I am sorry to say that now we have two enemies to watch out for.”

Silence reigned after her lengthy explanation, broken only the soft sounds of porcelain and silverware clinking and Luna moving about as she cleaned the mess she had caused in the kitchen.

Mayor Mare, Virtue, Spike, and Zecora were seated around the library’s round table, quietly turning over Celestia’s recount in their heads.

Mayor Mare was first to break the silence. “Princess, do you think they will come here again?”

“Caed avoided Ponyville because he knew we weren’t allied with Nightmare Moon, but now?” Celestia shook her head slowly. “I’m not so sure. His people apparently don’t have much time left, so he may target us once the clock ticks down.”

“We need defense,” Virtue stated, firmly placing his hooves down on the table. His tea shook in its cup. “More than what we have now. A wall won’t hold them off, especially if they can just jump over it.”

“We have little else besides a wall though,” Mayor Mare said. “You, the rest of the guards, and the griffons have been training the townsfolk for months now, right? How’s that coming along?”

“Better than expected, but…” Virtue shook his head, frowning. “They’ve still a long way to go.”

“Some progress is better than none.”

“I agree,” Celestia nodded, turning to the stallion. “Give me the run-down. How are we looking?”

“… Not counting me, the other guards, and the griffons, we have about thirty-six able-bodied ponies. Twenty earth ponies, eleven pegasi, and five unicorns.”

“Only five?” Mayor Mare questioned.

“We have to be strict on unicorns, mayor; only a few among your town actually have the capacity to cast magic in battle without us worrying that they’ll panic and zap us accidentally,” He rubbed at his head with a wince. “Still sore from that last drill…”

“Perhaps fewer unicorns is best,” Celestia said grimly. “I do not wish for our own to be used as fuel should they be captured in battle.”

“Yeah…” Virtue shuddered and reached up to touch his horn with a shiver. “So bottom line is our numbers are nothing to scoff at, but I’m still having doubts of putting any of the recruits out in a fight. Especially Shimmer – I’m half-certain she’ll just teleport out the moment things go pear-shaped.”

Celestia knew that was likely – her former student wasn’t one to put herself in harm’s way for others – but it still triggered a strong impulse within her to hear somepony speak negatively of Sunset. She couldn’t just ignore those wonderful years they spent together, when Sunset thought of Celestia like a second mother.

But Virtue couldn’t have known of those years, so she couldn’t get upset at him.

“What of the other unicorns?” She asked instead. “How are they coming along?”

“Basic offensive spells,” Virtue answered. “Three have discovered their affinity already: Rarity, Lyra Heartstrings, and Amethyst Star. Minuette’s… she still needs help, but she’s coming along. Rarity’s turning out to be the most promising of them; her magic reserves aren’t too great, but she’s got spectacular finesse and can draw out complex spells in her head just like that,” He flicked his tail for emphasis. “She’s pretty driven.”

Celestia frowned. “Not too driven, I hope?”

Virtue shrugged. “Sorry, princess; I haven’t checked up on her too closely.”

“Oh! I’ll do it!” Spike’s small arm shot up and waved about excitedly. “Is it alright if I go see Rarity, princess?”

“You really don’t have to ask, Spike,” Celestia chuckled. “Go along if you wish.”

Spike quickly downed the rest of his drink, said goodbye, and raced out of the library, leaving a small dust cloud in his wake.

It was pretty cute.

“Princess…” Virtue began once the front door has swung shut. “I don’t mean to sound like a broken record… but we really need a plan for dealing with Nightmare Moon. It’s been months and we’re still just – with all due respect – ‘sitting on it’. We have the thing that will weaken her and purify Twilight, and Mirage has already proven to be capable of getting in close enough to either.”

“The purification mixture Nightmare Moon can sense,” Zecora said. “From a fair distance away, too; she will surely go on the defense.”

“How far are we talking? Maybe if we’re fast enough-”

“She will sense it; through metal and clay, magic and stone. Even if it is not in sight, the qandisa will know that something is not right. I do not know for certain at what distance she will grow wary, so our plan must be as solid as can be. We will not get a second chance with her, of this I am sure.”

Virtue frowned and blew air through his nostrils in frustration. “Yeah, alright… but what about Twilight?”

“We still don’t know how her connection to Nightmare Moon works…” Celestia sighed. “Mirage says that even Twilight doesn’t know all the facts, only that she feels a strange ‘pull’ from time to time. She thinks it might be Nightmare Moon checking up on her with magic. If that’s correct, then purifying Twilight might immediately alert her to what’s going on.”

“So we need a plan that will save Twilight and also hit Nightmare Moon with the Cleansing Joke stuff. Preferably at the same time…” Virtue grimaced. “That’s… gonna be tough. There’re guards around both of them 24/7. I guess… Hmm…”

Mayor Mare pressed her hoof against her chin thoughtfully. “… Ah! Why don’t we use Mirage? He can get in and out of the castle without any trouble, can’t he?”

“He’s only one changeling…” Celestia replied. “I have faith in him, but I can only see him getting the mixture to Twilight. According to Zecora, Nightmare Moon will sense if it’s on his body, and his cover will be blown.”

“Well, we’re only really holding back on attacking because of Twilight, so if we can get her safely out, then we can directly attack Nightmare Moon.”

“A good point.” Celestia nodded, briefly turning and offering a greeting when Luna strolled out of the kitchen and sat down beside her.

“Are we talking of Nightmare Moon?” Luna asked. “Should we not be more worried about the Rouge Knight Order?”

“We really can’t do much against an enemy that can appear anywhere,” She replied. “And Equestria is very… divided at the moment. Some ponies are throwing their bits in with Nightmare Moon because – and I really don’t like saying this – despite everything she’s done, she is fighting back against the Rouge Knights and she’s the one that has the means to close the Fractures.

“If we can just concentrate on defeating Nightmare Moon, we can unite Equestria again while also obtaining the Resonator. From there, we can turn our focus back onto the humans.”

“Yes… you are right.”

“Mayor Mare suggests that we should get the mixture to Twilight first using Mirage, so that as soon as she’s safe, we can launch an assault against Nightmare Moon.”

“That makes sense,” Luna nodded. “But we’ll need some way for those two to successfully get out of the castle; you already know Twilight’s guarded at every moment of the day.”

“Not every moment,” Celestia countered. “She isn’t accompanied when she goes to the bathroom, or at least the guards don’t go in, they just wait outside.”

“Is there a specific bathroom she uses or can she go anywhere?” Virtue asked, pressing his forehooves together and resting his chin on them.

“Ninth floor.”

“Mm… bit of a ‘leg-break’ fall there, but maybe Mirage can fly her out?”

“We should ask him that. Where is he anyway?” Luna questioned, glancing around. “He needs to be here for this discussion if he’s going to play such a large role.”

“I set him loose on the unsuspecting population after he gave his report earlier today,” Celestia said with a small grin. “The last I saw of him, he was chasing somepony… Thunderlane, I believe.”

“I’ll go look for him,” Virtue rose to his feet and walked over to the door. “If there’s one great thing about how he never shuts up, it’s that you can find him quickly.”

“Well, while he’s looking for Mirage…” Luna began as the door clicked shut again. “Perhaps we should start discussing a plan of attack?”

Celestia sighed and took another sip of her tea. “I must admit… I’ve been dreading this talk. It’s going to be a nightmare no matter how you look at it: we have finite resources, few experienced fighters… and I’m not too keen on the thought of sending them out to fight in the first place.”

Luna nodded sympathetically, a deep frown of worry crossing her face. “Yes. I would rather that we shoulder this fight ourselves, but Nightmare Moon is a powerful foe and she will not be alone. The last time we tried to fight her outnumbered, we were nearly defeated.”

“And I doubt I could get another opportunity to use my Sun Strike. She knows I can do it, so she’ll avoid anywhere that’s in direct sunlight,” The elder sibling sighed again. “Still…”

Mayor Mare cleared her throat. “Princesses, if I may? We all chose to fight alongside you. We all know how dangerous Nightmare Moon is, but if it means saving our home, then we’ll face her down, you can be sure of that.”

“Your courage is commendable, but there must be a way that will avoid unnecessary bloodshed.”

“Perhaps if Discord was free of his prison, it might tip the odds in our favour a smidgen.” Zecora suggested.

“By more than that…” Luna rested her forelegs on the table and leaned her weight on them. Her brow scrunched in thought. “But we would need the Elements of Harmony to free him. Three are kept in the Resonator, but not even Twilight knows where the others are kept.”

“Let’s keep thinking of ideas about the plan of action then…” Celestia said, idly tapping one hoof against the rim of her cup. “We already know that the mixtures are our trump card and all we need to do is splash them on Twilight and Nightmare Moon. Zecora, the mixture will kill Nightmare Moon, won’t it?”

“If enough of it connects and perhaps if she ingests, then yes.”

“Excellent. So, let’s see what we can brainstorm on how to get it on her…”

Spike knew that Rarity trained with the other unicorns from 5 am till 4 pm at the park. She had been doing so for a little over two months now, but he hadn’t seen her there; the last members of the Royal Guard were pretty strict about non-combatants staying away from their training zone when it was in use. The unicorns could get distracted and accidentally shoot someone.

Spike’s scales made him practically invulnerable and even his underbelly was pretty tough against magic, but he still stayed away out of respect, and kept his visits to Rarity for when she was done with training and back at the boutique.

Though, admittedly, he hadn’t popped in for a while, now that he thought about it…

‘Well, Rarity’s perfectly capable of taking care of herself,’ Spike thought as Carousel Boutique loomed into view when he turned a corner. ‘I’m sure she doesn’t need me checking in all the time. The others do that as well, so… yeah.’

He padded up to the door and gave it a push, entering the shop with a jingle of the bell nailed into the door’s frame.

‘But I’m sure she won’t mind a visit from her favourite little dragon in all of…’

“…?” Spike paused and looked around the boutique. There was a notable lack of… purchasable clothing. “Rarity?! Rarity, you in here?!”

A sound came from upstairs – like something had fallen – and then came a series of light taps that went over his head and over to the stairs leading to the upper floor. He heard the same taps again, louder this time, and a pair of white hooves came into view.

“Oh, Spikey dear! I didn’t hear you come in,” Rarity flashed him an amiable smile and hurried down the last few steps before trotting over. “And how’s my favourite dragon in all of Equestria doing?”

‘Heh, heh – knew it.’

“Eh, same ol’, same ol’,” He shrugged coolly as he met her halfway, joining his claws behind his head and giving a nod to their surroundings. “So what’s up with all the space? You doing some spring-cleaning?”

“Oh… not quite,” Rarity glanced at the space around them and made a flicking gesture with her hoof. “Just moving a few things out of the way for now. With all that’s been going on, nopony’s really in the mood to buy dresses and… well, I haven’t really had much time to create new pieces. Or been in the right mood, really.”

“Right mood??” Spike frowned in concern and tilted his head to get a better look at her, his arms lowering back to his sides. “Hey, are you tired? You’ve got dark stuff beneath your eyes, and this time I’m ninety percent sure it isn’t eyeliner.”

“Hm, is it that noticeable?” Rarity made a face of distaste as she rubbed at the area beneath her eyes. Theatrically, she inhaled and raised one hoof to the heavens. “Yes, I’m afraid what you see is true, Spikey-Wikey – the evidence of not enough sleep!” She lowered her hoof with a soft titter. “Ah, but it’s no big worry; just a slight amount of restlessness that everypony gets at least once in their lives, no?”

Spike’s frown deepened. It wasn’t like Rarity to not make much of a fuss about how she looked. Usually, if he had said that, she would have gasped in genuine horror and pulled a make-up kit out of nowhere to correct the imperfection.

And it wasn’t just the sleep circles; her coat and mane seemed a bit… duller than usual. He had thought the same thing a few weeks ago when he last visited her, but hadn’t paid it much mind.

“Darling, all that frowning will cause early wrinkles,” She lightly teased before turning and heading towards the kitchen. “Now, seeing as you’re here, why not join me for some tea? I have that special brand you so enjoy.”

“I had some before I came here, so I’m good,” He replied, following her into the kitchen and taking a seat at the table. He watched her bustle about, now a little worried. “You know, I actually thought I’d come by and check up on you… er, you know? See how you’re doing and stuff?”

“I’m doing quite well, as you can see,” Rarity briefly turned to give another smile before returning to the tea she was boiling. “But you don’t seem very convinced.”

“Well…” Spike awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. “Virtue just mentioned that you were doing really well and Celestia just wondered if maybe… you were pushing yourself a little too hard?”

Rarity didn’t answer immediately. There was a quiet splosh as she poured milk into her cup and then levitated a spoon to stir it in. “And she sent you to check up on me?”

“No, I wanted to come on my own.”

“Well…” Rarity placed the spoon in the sink and trotted on over to the table, her cup floating next to her in a blue aura. “I appreciate you and the princess’ concern, but I really am fine. If I’m pushing myself, then it’s for a good cause, isn’t it? There aren’t many unicorns that have volunteered, so we all have to make up for numbers with strength.”

“I guess…” Spike nodded uncertainly. He waited until she was seated before adding, “But I mean… you’re not sleeping well if you have dark circles, and I know how much you hate getting one of your ‘designer’s block’. And, to be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you push your dresses off to the side, not even when ponies haven’t been coming into your store.”

“… It is a bit frustrating to look at a piece of paper and not being able to draw out a design…” Rarity admitted, though she didn’t seem too upset about it. She took a sip and then said, “But it made me realize that all the time I usually spend creating can be put to better use. Namely, honing my magic.”

“Don’t you have training for that?”

“There is always room for improvement and I need as much of that as I can obtain!” Rarity put her steaming cup down and looked straight into his eyes as she tapped her horn. “Spike, darling, you see this on my head?”

Spike made a puzzled face. “Uh, yeah? Your horn.”

“Correct, and none of our friends here has one,” She lowered her hoof and smiled – it looked more tired than the last one. “Spikey, aside from Twilight, I’m the only one in our circle that can cast magic, and with… with Twilight not being here… it falls to me to be capable enough with magic to protect you all. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, even you, Spikey – you are all strong in your own way, but there are things magic can do that can only be countered by more magic, nothing involving physical strength or willpower. I have to be strong enough to counter that. Do you understand where I’m coming from?”

“Yeah…” Spike nodded, brow furrowed. “Yeah, I do… but still, it-”

“And I cannot afford to slack off now…” Rarity cut him off, apparently without even realizing he had started talking. “Especially not when I have just discovered my affinity. Rejuvenation, Spikey! Can you believe it? Now I can mend flesh instead of just fabrics. I’m told that it’s a rare affinity to have and very important, as you can guess.”

“Rarity?”

“Virtue tells me that my connection with my Element – Generosity – means that my healing spells are significantly more potent; the potential within me is greater if I'm-”

“Rarity.”

He reached out and touched her foreleg, the one that was resting on the table. She gave a start, looked down at their joined limbs, and back up at him questioningly.

“I’m really worried about you. Especially now,” He said, distress evident in his expression. Rarity’s words just made the weight in his belly grow heavier and colder. “It really sounds like you’re gonna… I dunno, work yourself to exhaustion?”

Rarity scoffed amusedly and patted his claw. “Darling, I know my limits.”

“I don’t think you do.”

She drew back, reassuring smile falling in shock.

“I know I’m still young and stuff, but I got this feeling that you’re not gonna take it easy. I know you want to help Twilight… so do I… like, a lot. Heck, I’d probably go charging into Canterlot by myself if I thought there was even a teeny-tiny chance that I could save Twilight, but we both know that’s not gonna happen,” Drawing his hand back, he rubbed at his arm awkwardly, glancing off to the side. “I guess what I’m trying to say is… don’t push yourself until you get hurt because that won’t help anyone. Just… take a break, you know?”

“…” Rarity pulled her leg back in to her chest and thoughtfully stared into her tea. “Oh, Spike, I… You don’t understand, I’m… I can’t… Oh dear…” She gave a long sigh and rubbed at her face. “Am I really so bad that it’s caused you so much worry?”

“I grew up with Twilight; I can sort of recognize when someone’s about to go on some sleepless crusade,” He shrugged, sympathetic. “But if it makes you feel better, I think you look even more beautiful without your make-up and stuff.”

Rarity laughed gently, taking her hooves away from her face. “You know just the right thing to say to cheer me up, don’t you? Alright. Alright, I’ll take it easy – I promise.”

Spike let out a sigh of relief. “Okay, good.”

“I appreciate you coming out to talk to me, Spike. I guess I really needed it, but didn’t think that I did. It’s… hard to talk to your friends sometimes…” She shook her head, suddenly frowning in concern. “Oh dear, I hope it’s not too much of a burden to listen to me, is it? You are very mature for your age, but you’re still quite young.”

“Nah, it’s no biggie,” Spike waved off her worry with a casual shrug. “Spike’s got it all under wraps.”

“As you say,” Rarity tittered before pushing her chair back. “Now, I’m sure you must be in the mood for some biscuits at the very least?”

“Errr… Yeah, I could go for some, definitely. You got any of those big ones with the chocolate chips and peanuts?”

“I believe I do…” Rarity searched around in her pantry for several moments before returning with a packet of cookies. “Tee hee – it truly seems as though I only buy these for you, Spikey dear.”

Spike flushed in embarrassment, but he played it off with another shrug, his mouth already wetting at the sight of the packet as it was placed on the table. “Twilight bought these all the time when I was still super-little; they were her favourites,” He sliced open the packet with one claw and took out a cookie, the fragrance reminding him of early hatchling days. “She hasn’t eaten them in a long time though. I guess she just grew out of them…”

Twilight levitated another chocolate-peanut cookie over and snapped her jaws down on it with more force than necessary. The poor snack didn’t do anything wrong; it was just an unfortunate victim of Twilight’s rage and irritation.

She munched what was in her mouth slowly, letting her emotions play across her face as she watched Nightmare Moon pace about her- no, not her, Celestia’s room, mainly addressing Ebony and Haze, but also directing a remark or question towards Twilight, who answered in the smallest amount of words possible with the greatest amount of hate possible.

Hate was a strong emotion and previously unfamiliar to Twilight, but this time spent beneath Nightmare Moon’s hoof gave her ample opportunity to understand it.

Twilight’s muscles tensed – shifting the crystals tearing through them – and quickly chomped the remainder of the cookie before fishing out another one from the packet floating next to her.

“You can tell the Royal Court that they can have their meetings when Equestria isn’t at war,” Nightmare Moon snapped, then suddenly stopped in place and levelled her forehoof at Haze. “No, you know what? Tell them that if they insist on having my presence at a meeting that I’ve already refused to be at, then they’re free to come and complain to me. Personally.”

Haze nodded stoically. “I’ll be sure to relay your message.”

Nightmare Moon resumed her pacing, restless and annoyed. “We cannot remain idle and on the defensive forever; sooner or later, we have to strike back at the Rouge Knights. Preferably, in a way that actually hurts them because it’s clear that culling their troops is doing very little in the long run.”

“I don’t really see what we can do…” Ebony said. An air freshener in the cutout of a pine tree dangled from her neck. “They can just show up almost instantly and vanish just as quickly. We can’t predict where they might show up either,” She paused and turned to Twilight, red eyes shining. “Can we?”

Twilight munched on a cookie and ignored her.

“Well? Do you know or not?”

Crunch crunch crunch

Nightmare Moon stopped pacing again and glared coldly at Twilight.

“No, we can’t.” Twilight said sharply as an unwelcome pressure started building in the back of her head.

“There you have it, Captain.” Nightmare Moon turned away and the pressure left as well.

‘Thank Faust…’

“I would like nothing more than to have the means to predict where they will show up so that I can march through the Fracture he opened and tear his head from his shoulders,” Nightmare Moon chuckled darkly. “Let’s see what his ‘righteousness’ does for him then, hm?”

Twilight grumbled beneath her breath. She wasn’t interested in hearing Nightmare Moon growl and bare her teeth at nothing again; it hurt to walk around too much, and she could feel her mood getting lower and lower as time went on.

“Look, is this all you called us here for?” Twilight sighed. “To tell us about things we already know? If that’s the case, then I’d rather go back into the lab.”

Ebony’s tail swished in annoyance and the lich glared at her, a look made all the more intimidating by her ghastly, black eyes. “You…!”

“Oh, am I boring you? My apologies,” Nightmare Moon sneered – her attempt at a smile, albeit a fake one – as she walked over and lowered her head so she was eye-level with the smaller mare. “I would have thought that any amount of exercise would do you some good.”

Her lips split apart and her pupils shrunk to tiny pricks.

“Although, I imagine those crystals must put you in some amount of discomfort, don’t they?”

A few months ago, Twilight would have flinched, recoiled, but she was jaded to the ‘Empress’ crazed expressions. By now, it was just a foal pulling a scary face, and she had long grown accustomed to those in no small part to her big brother.

“… Anyway…” Nightmare Moon pulled away and turned on her hooves, seemingly disappointed that she hadn’t drawn a reaction. She headed over to her- Celestia’s desk and idly shuffled some documents. “There’s something you don’t know, Twilight. I was going to bring it up before you interrupted me.”

Twilight dared to roll her eyes, and levitated another cookie to her lips. “Don’t keep me in suspense, I guess…”

“I wouldn’t dream of it considering that it involves your precious brother and his wife.”

The cookie hung in mid-air.

Nightmare Moon turned her head far enough to regard her with one draconic, slightly amused. “Hm, so there is some of that old Element bearer alive in there.”

Twilight ignored the remark and cautiously asked, “What are you talking about?”

Nightmare Moon turned around fully, the amusement falling from her face and replaced with the cold rage she seemed to perpetually exist in.

“Communications with the Crystal Empire have always been unreliable. Their location combined with the turbulent weather that surrounds their home makes it near impossible for letters to be delivered by mailpony; they have to use the trains, and those have a tight schedule. Even so, it’s been a week, and the last train scheduled to stop at the Crystal Empire hasn’t returned when it should have.”

“Shining Armor…” Twilight swallowed with some difficulty, a cold lump of lead settling in her belly. “Cadance…”

“Perhaps I shouldn’t assume the worst…” Nightmare Moon murmured, making her way over to the corner of Celestia’s room. “But I’m not a very optimistic mare.”

“The Crystal Empire is certainly far away from most outside assistance, save for the yaks…” Haze said. “But the Rouge Knights haven’t gone anywhere near it ever since this all began.”

“Maybe they just haven’t heard of it until now?” Ebony suggested.

Nightmare Moon approached a tall object with a heavy blanket draped over it and magically pulled it off. Instantly, Philomena shrieked and flapped her wings furiously from inside her enchanted cage, spitting out fire and shedding feathers that burned up in the air.

“Whatever has happened, I intend to find out,” She touched the cage’s door and lit up her horn. Philomena attacked the cage’s fire-resistant bars furiously, trying to stretch her legs through the gaps far enough to claw out the alicorn’s eyes. “The Crystal Empire is rich with the purest crystals in all of Equestria, and the Resonator goes through those like you wouldn’t believe,” She paused, then briefly looked at them with a shrug. “Also, I suppose we should help them or… something.”

Twilight scoffed in disgust. “Is it that strange to you? Helping others out without expecting anything in return?”

“Twilight, I am currently defending my kingdom from vengeful humans, volatile animals, and rabid suits of animated armor, and I am going to send help to your insipid brother and sister. But by all means, continue whining and splitting hairs on what’s morally just; I’m certain to listen this time.”

Nightmare Moon pulled the door open and exhaled a thick cloud of frost that blew Philomena against the cage, snuffing her flames out long enough for Nightmare Moon to replace the food bowl and close the cage up again.

“Or you can shut up and be thankful that I even bother with these things.”

“…” Twilight closed her mouth, but refused to spare a shred of gratitude.

“Who are you going to send, Empress?” Ebony asked.

“I would go myself, but that would just leave Canterlot open to assault…” Nightmare Moon trotted back over, casting a meaningful glance at Ebony. “So I am sending you, my Captain.”

Ebony seemed surprised. “Me?”

“You will travel to Crystal Empire with a platoon of guards to determine what exactly is happening and to assist in any way that you can. I have already given the word to have a specially prepared airship to transport you there: Fancypants and I have overseen the construction; it is small, fast, and will hold against the frozen tundra’s erratic weather reliably.”

“I… Okay, I-I won’t let you down, Empress,” Ebony nodded determinedly and saluted. “Will I be choosing the platoon myself or do you have recommendations?”

“Choose at your leisure, but have a list brought to me by night’s end. I ask that you leave Haze and Veil: I will need them here.”

“Understood.”

“Your mission starts at 8 am tomorrow, so go and prepare quickly,” Nightmare Moon gave a flick of her hoof. “Dismissed.”

“W-wait!” Twilight stepped forwards, the packet of cookies falling next to her, forgotten. “I want to go with them. I have to!”

“No, you don’t,” Nightmare Moon retorted coldly, flicking her hoof again so that Ebony would take the hint. The lich saluted one more time and made for the door. “You will remain here where you can be useful.”

“They’re my family!” Twilight cried, worry and rage churning inside her. “I have to see if they’re-”

Be quiet.

As if a dam had materialized in her throat, Twilight’s words were blocked and forced back down. Her eyes widened as the ice-cold pressure in the back of her head washed over her mind and prevented her from speaking, no matter how hard she coughed and grabbed at her neck.

“Let’s ignore the fact that you can’t venture to a place like the Crystal Empire because the cold would most likely freeze the crystals in your body until your bones turned brittle and fragile enough that your ribs would break merely from trying to breathe…”

Nightmare Moon moved closer and lowered her head, just like earlier.

However, unlike earlier, Twilight flinched and recoiled, still gasping and choking, struggling to her words out – vomit them out if she had to.

“Why in Equestria would I let you far enough away that you can resist my influence and have a chance of escaping to your friends and telling them everything?”

Twilight grimaced. ‘I already have, you… abomination!’

“You like to test the length of your leash…” Nightmare Moon nodded. “I can respect that. Really, I can. Without trying, how can we know, hm? But that respect won’t sway me into allowing you such leeway, so listen very closely…”

Do not speak of what has transpired in this room to anyone.

Twilight grunted in misery, feeling the slimy order lodge itself into her brain.

“Have I made myself clear?”

“…!”

Answer.

“Yes!” To Twilight’s revulsion, a part of her trembled in ecstasy, all too happy to follow out Nightmare Moon’s commands.

She despised that part, wanted to reach in and wrench it out.

Nightmare Moon nodded, sneering. “Good.”

Twilight fell to the floor, rubbing her throat even though it wasn’t sore. “Damn you…” She sniffed, swiftly wiping away a stray tear. “Damn you to… to Tartarus!”

“Been there, done that,” Nightmare Moon shrugged in a so-so manner. “And I’m not talking about the moon. Haze?”

The stallion blinked, indifferent to Twilight’s plight. “Yes, Empress?”

“There was something else you wished to discuss, wasn’t there?” Nightmare Moon rolled her shoulders with a sigh. “Make it quick, would you? I promised Vinyl I’d meet her later on and I’d rather not have to postpone.”

“Of course,” Haze nodded in understanding as Twilight got back up, savagely wiping at her eyes and snorting in frustration as a stub of a crystal on her fetlock drew a pale line across her brow. “It’s to do with a rather interesting report from one of our scouts…”

Author's Notes:

Note 1: Airship - a marvel of engineering and magic - officially known as 'magitech' - the airship is a transportation vessel that utilizes propellors, enchanted crystals, and steam to achieve flight. They come in many shapes and sizes, and are manufactured by Aero Vistas, a company owned by Fancypants.

The first airship was manufactured in 1025 AD by Suavebritches, Fancypants' great grandfather, and was called the Soaring Dolphin, after its unusual shape. It was also the first airship to travel to every settlement in Equestria in one continuous flight, and currently resides in Canterlot's Museum of History. However, due to the recent reappearance of the Crystal Empire, its claim to have travelled to every settlement is being called into question.

Currently, all legally manufactured airships are stationed in Canterlot, and are popular for taking ponies on voyages around the city. The smallest and more streamlined vessels - so small that only three ponies are permitted to ride it - are also used in airship races that are held once every year, starting in 1050 AD. The Quartz Crown, Fancypants' personal airship, has won each race in a five-win streak and is expected to win for the sixth time this upcoming July.

Note 2: Fancypants is one of my favourite characters, and I am saddened that he returns from a whole bunch of chapters as a mere mention. Sorry, old chap, but just you wait...