1056 AD, January 13th

Nightmare Moon taking off so suddenly wasn’t unsettling.

It was terrifying.

The weight of leadership crashed down on Ebony’s shoulders as the Empress flew out of range of Calling, and she had a brief fit of panic before clenching her jaw and squashing that panic altogether.

She had done it once in the Crystal Empire and she could do it again.

‘Otherwise I’m probably going to get stepped on.’

As if in response, a giant leg crashed down onto the road she was on; it was several hundred yards away and sent out tremors strong enough to make her stumble.

‘Yep.’

Ebony shouted orders to the Eclipse soldiers around here – Faust knew if they could even hear her – and ran further back along the road, wincing and gagging as the dust from the cracked roadwork overtook her; it was hard to see, but she couldn’t stop – the behemoth only needed to take two or three unpredicted steps for it to be upon them.

Faust, was this what it was like to be an insect? To look up and see some horrifically huge creature lumbering about, so large that its apathetic stride could result in being crushed without it paying the least bit of mind?

Ebony vowed to be more empathic towards insects once this was over.

She shouted another order, coughed on the particles that eagerly coated her throat, and ducked around the corner of a building; she was joined by five other ponies – she had no idea where the sixth one went, but she couldn’t afford to worry about them just yet.

She pressed her forehoof against her temple. “Fade, how are you coming along with the lightning?”

“Trying to land another hit,” He replied with a mental link that was taught like a stretched rubber band. “Street light’s a pretty small target, yeah?”

“It’s wonky as all hell,” Lightning Dust chimed in. “That lightning took a lot out of it, but now it’s all wobbly and moving around randomly – hardest thing you can fight is somepony that doesn’t know what they’re doing.”

From outside of the mental talk, the behemoth shrieked, and Ebony clenched her teeth as her head rung. “… Can any of you land a hit? I can’t… No unicorn down here can get a clean shot.”

“We’ll try, but…” Lightning Dust cut herself off, though she responded almost immediately again, an edge in her tone. “You guys got knights down there – they’re moving in on you.”

“What? Which direction?”

“Uh, wes- no, I mean east!”

Ebony’s sense of direction was muddled by the thick clouds of dust choking the streets, but several seconds of jerking her head in every direction eventually drew her gaze to flickers of movements on the other side of the street.

From around the corner of a shop, came towering, armored bipeds.

Ebony grimaced, her chest tightening with anxiety; she used her magic to draw her sword out from its scabbard. ‘Damn.’

She heard the scrape of metal from behind; the Eclipse with her were following her lead and drawing their weapons as well. They may have been next to useless against the rampaging behemoth, but they all knew that beneath all that armor, humans bled like them.

Even so, Ebony wished Nightmare Moon was here.

The humans were moving towards them, so Ebony ordered what troops she had to fall into a more defensive formation; it wasn’t much considering their low numbers, but it was better than just standing on their own.

The humans – five in number – marched across the road, the red of their armor almost completely covered by the layers of dust sticking to it; the lead knight in front of the group had their shield up to block incoming debris, but quickly lowered it into a more defensive position when they were but a few yards away from them.

“You!!”

Ebony flinched at the – female – enraged voice that she just knew was referring to her; she was even pointing the tip of her blade directly at Ebony, excluding everypony else.

“I didn’t think I’d get to meet you again, but it seems luck is on my side.” The female knight lowered her sword and swiped it to the side – some sort of duelling salute?

Whatever it was, the rest of the humans responded by setting up behind her, prepared to fight, just like them.

Another of the behemoth’s shrieks shook the air.

‘Faust, how are we supposed to deal with them with this giant thing walking around behind…?!’ Ebony swallowed, and took a deep breath. ‘No, no – focus.’

“I… I don’t know who you are, but lay down your arms and surrender!” Ebony cried – her soldiers were watching her, she couldn’t afford to appear unsure. “I am Captain Ebony of the Eclipse Guard and the Right-”

“I know who you are!” The female knight cut her off with an aggressive wave of her arm. “You drove your sword through my throat last we met!”

“Wh… what?”

“Surprised?” She chuckled nefariously. “It’ll take more than that to keep any of us down.”

Ebony shook her head in disbelief. It couldn’t be true, could it? That female knight she killed all those months ago, what was her name? Knight… Knight Paladin Esther? Ebony remembered how her sword had punctured her flesh, the sound it made; it couldn’t be the same person standing right in front of her…

“B-but I saw your body!” Ebony retorted. “You were dead!”

“I intend to correct that mistake…” Esther growled. “You… I don’t know what’s happened to you to make your eyes glow like that, but I don’t care about that. No matter what you are or what you’ve done, I’ll find a way to drag you back through the Fracture and slit your throat myself!”

‘Oh my…’

Though she was reeling and deeply disturbed at how these knights could seemingly come back from the dead, she couldn’t afford to stand there and ponder on it; Esther and her knights were advancing, and she needed to respond immediately.

Five humans against eight Eclipse – they had the numbers advantage, but the humans were strong and determined; this wasn’t going to be an easy battle, especially with that damn behemoth roaming around.

Ebony started by calling her guards into formation. “Unicorns – at the back! Everypony else in the front lines! Remember: they’re vulnerable to electricity!”

It was close: the humans already had a head-start, and by the time Ebony and her troops shuffled into a passable formation, they were upon them.

Unsurprisingly, Esther went for her.

Ebony blocked a fast swipe with the flat of her blade and tried for a thrust, but Esther deflected it with her shield. The human retaliated with a series of powerful slashes that forced Ebony to back up, away from her platoon; they had their hooves full with the rest of the knights – no help there.

Ebony parried one of Esther’s swipes and drove the blade beneath the shield with her telekinesis; it clashed with Esther’s belly and drove her a few steps back, and followed it up with a Spark Shot spell.

Judging by how Esther froze and convulsed with a pained cry, it seemed that her armor hadn’t gotten any more insulated.

Ebony tried the spell again, but her concentration broke when a strong tremor made her stumble.

“What…?”

She looked over her shoulder in time to see one of the behemoth bug’s building-sized legs crash down on the road she was on. The bug was so close that she could see the streams of blood dripping down its carapace.

A phantom pressure settled behind her eyes. “Ebony, are you okay? I can’t see you.”

Veil.

“I’m fine!” Ebony turned back around. “I’m-”

“Agh!”

Esther lunged forwards and lashed out with her shield. Ebony tried to block it, but the bulk of the shield and the knight’s strength was more than her blade could handle; she staggered, and couldn’t react as Esther’s sword cut through air and into her side.

At first, the feeling of metal splitting her side and knocking against her ribs was just a cold and otherworldly sensation; it wasn’t until her mind caught up with what had happened did the pain come – hot and intense.

She gave a short scream before her mind sharpened and she cast a Kinetic Impact spell on instinct.

Esther was flung backwards, her sword slipping free of torn muscle and skin, the tip shining with red. She rolled with her momentum easily and came up back onto her feet.

Ebony gritted her teeth as the pain resonated through her; it was bearable and she would be healing soon, but every movement caused it to flare up – it was going to hamper her seriously in this battle.

“Ebony, what’s going on?”

“Veil, I can’t…!” She huffed in frustration. “I can’t talk right now; I need to concentrate!”

A flash of blue lit up her vision, and the behemoth responded with a shriek that lingered on a pitch which brought tears to her eyes.

“How…?!” Ebony narrowed her eyes as she pushed all background noise to the side and focused solely on Esther. “This is insane! Nopony can fight like this!”

“I’ve fought through worse,” Esther growled, even as she swayed from another strong tremor. “If you and your troops are hindered by this, then the Knight Enforcer’s plan was a success. Your forces are distracted with the creature and unable to focus entirely on us!”

“Your Knight Enforcer planned this?” Ebony’s side flared as she gestured to the chaos around them. “Do you know how many ponies could be dying? How many could be injured? I’m sorry for what happened to your kind, but for Faust’s sake, we didn’t know about you!”

“It doesn’t matter!!”

Esther screamed furiously and charged at her.

Ebony backpedalled – she put her sword up to defend against a powerful blow that almost broke her telekinetic hold.

Esther continued attacking, her sword-arm a blur of motion.

“I knew most of those people that died!” She cried with a vicious downward slash. “They were my friends! Some were like family to me! You think an apology makes up for all of that?!”

Ebony tilted her sword sideways and locked blades with Esther with a burst of sparks and a loud clang.

“N-no!” She shouted back. “I don’t!”

Her eyes flicked to the side; she saw her troops fighting against the other knights, holding and standing their ground, but clearly struggling.
Rage burst to life within her, and she pushed against Esther with all her might; she glared deep into the eyes visible through the slit of the knight’s helm.

“But that doesn’t mean you and your Knight Enforcer can do this and think it’s justified!”

She forced her opponent’s blade to the side and ended the lock; she took a step back with her sword held in a stance that could more easily parry a strike.

“We’re trying to save ourselves…” Esther replied, and lifted her shield to cover her torso. “Even if you didn’t mean to harm us, you still landed a bleeding wound on us; our time is even shorter because of you.”

“What are you talking about?”

Esther didn’t answer; she sprinted forwards with her sword raised.

Ebony dodged to the side as the blade whistled past her and let off a Spark Shot spell; Esther groaned in pain, but fought through the spasms to parry one of Ebony’s thrusts and bash her in the face with her shield.

Ebony felt something in her nose give way; she ignored the pain and blocked a counter-slash as blood streamed down over her lips.

“This is the only way we can survive!” Esther cried, her tone gaining an edge of frustration as Ebony blocked another slash. “The fate of our people rests on the Rouge Knight Order’s shoulders – we cannot fail!”

“And what does attacking us and kidnapping unicorns have to do with that?!” Ebony replied with a deep grimace; the blow from the shield made her feel groggy, and she blinked furiously to keep her vision clear. “You haven’t explained anything – maybe we can help you!”

She didn’t think the Empress would be up for that, but it was worth a shot.

“You can help by laying down your weapon!” Esther growled, lashing out with her sword for emphasis.

Ebony blocked the swipe, her own frustration rising.

This was going nowhere – she thought she could try reasoning with the knight, but she seemed to have no intention of stopping and listening. She wished she had more information about these knights and their motives.

This ran deeper than just mere ‘vengeance’.

Esther slammed her sword against Ebony’s; the force was enough to make her teeth vibrate. She tried to force it off to the side, but Esther adjusted her grip to keep it steady, and slowly began using her weight to push forwards.

“Caed does what he must to ensure that we survive!” Esther growled. “Whatever he does, his intentions are always righteous!”

Ebony grunted in exertion as her blade shook violently; her magic was beginning to falter, and the bloodstained edge of Esther’s blade began inching closer.

“Is your ‘Empress’ any different?!”

Ebony’s eyes widened. She stared at the chocolate brown eyes visible through the human’s helm.

“We’ve studied your kind – before and after you caused the explosion in our world – and Nightmare Moon can hardly be hailed as a ‘hero’. We know that she overthrew the original leaders and we know of her ruthlessness. Can you deny it?”

Ebony recalled the way Nightmare Moon used those three fillies to force the Element bearers to do her bidding.

She recalled her treatment of the princesses.

She recalled the way Nightmare Moon’s eyes seemed to always light up at the prospect of violence.

Esther pushed harder; the blade came closer.

“Caed cares deeply for those he promised to lead and protect! Each one of us trusts him wholly and will lay their lives down for him! Can you say the same for your Empress?”

She remembered Veil spilling her doubts and fears to her.

“I-I…”

Ebony clenched her teeth and narrowed her eyes as she squashed any rising doubts.

“No! I can’t!”

Ebony twisted to the side and let her sword drop; Esther’s blade crashed into her shoulder, but at the same time Ebony thrust her sword upwards with as much force as she could muster and electrified it with a spell.

Her sword’s thick blade punctured the armor on Esther’s shield-arm, and the human howled in pain, viciously yanking her weapon back and severing a few of Ebony’s tendons.

Faust, it hurt, but her lichdom and her anger kept her from passing out.

“You’re right…” Ebony hissed as her right foreleg trembled. “Nightmare Moon isn’t ‘good’ or benevolent. She can be scary and violent. But you know what?” She swallowed hard, coldly glaring at her opponent. “Good or evil – anypony can see that you need to be stopped!”

Esther’s left arm was limp as a noodle; she could see blood seeping from the puncture wound, and the human was breathing heavily. Rage and hate radiated from the slit in the knight’s helm.

“I can’t say that everypony will follow her so loyally, but I know that I will!” Ebony continued with only a brief glance to her shoulder; the wound was uglier than she imagined. “So, don’t even try comparing Caed and Nightmare Moon because at the end of the day, Nightmare Moon isn’t the one kidnapping and killing – you all are!”

Ebony stomped her good leg – it was a mistake, as she almost collapsed from the pain, and only barely saved face.

“Nngh! You’re… I’m through trying to reason: there’s a giant monster destroying my home, and I’m not wasting any more time talking!”

The sky above her rumbled again, as if in response. The immense bulk of the behemoth’s carapace shifted in the distance, sending up another cloud of dust; the streets would be difficult to traverse if it started raining.

No time to worry about that, though.

Esther chuckled darkly as she let her shield fall from her weak fingers and pointed her sword at Ebony. “I can agree with you on that at least. No more messing around.”

“You’re the one with the limp arm.”

Esther chuckled again. “As if I haven’t fought without one before. I advise that you don’t hold back because of it: it’ll be the last thing that you…” She suddenly went quiet and tilted her head to the side. “… What?”

Ebony blinked. “What?” Esther said nothing and just stared at her. “Why are you just standing there?”

She was half-expecting the human to rush her down when Esther finally jerked like she had just been shocked. Ebony flinched as the knight’s voice rose sharply.

“What do you mean ‘we’ve lost contact’?!” Esther cried, seemingly at herself. “Knight Enforcer, what is…?!”

‘Why is she calling for…? Wait, she’s done this before…’ Ebony realized.

She recalled the first invasion, where she had first addressed Esther and the human would perform an odd gesture – she would touch her helmet before replying. Nightmare Moon was suspicious of some form of communication.

It appears she was correct.

She didn’t know if it was telepathy or what, but Knight Enforcer Caed was communicating with Esther somehow…

And she didn’t like whatever he had to say.

“What?!” Esther cried again, her body language shifting from enraged to anxious and tense. “Oh god, Caed, don’t tell me that…” She was silent for a second before swearing loudly. “No, no! If she’s in our world and we’ve lost contact with home base, then…!”

''In their world’?’

Ebony figured it out quickly, and her cold heart would have jumped if it could.

‘Nightmare Moon…’

Ebony knew that the knights came through Entropic Fractures; she hadn’t seen any around, but the Empress must have found one when she went downtown to stop the other division of Rouge Knights.

But to go through by herself?

Nightmare Moon was powerful, but to go into uncharted territory like that? Who knew what sort of opposition could have been in the humans’ world?

And to have lost contact… did that mean the Empress was trapped? That the humans were? Neither was a very comforting thought.

Esther jerked her head back up, as if just remembering that Ebony was still there and within earshot. She straightened and started to advance like a rabid predator.

“You damn horses…” She snarled in such a low tone that Ebony barely heard her. “If one hair is touched on any of the children’s heads…” She suddenly exploded into a dead sprint, her limp arm flapping behind her. “I’ll make you wish for death!”

‘Been there, done that, and all the stronger for it.’

Ebony felt proud of that rebuke, and wished that she had said it before she was forced to bring her blade up to block one of Esther’s vicious swipes.

She needed to concentrate on what she could control instead of what she couldn’t, so she spared a brief thought towards Nightmare Moon and hoped that the Empress was well and that she wasn’t in over her head.

~

The knight’s tower shield smashed into Nightmare Moon’s face a third time.

Physical shields were useless to ponies; their physiology meant that, unless they were a unicorn, they couldn’t effectively use both it and a weapon, and unicorns were more reliant on magical barriers anyway.

The knights and their shields gave them an advantage over regular ponies, but Nightmare Moon was no regular pony, and could easily break through their guard with her strength.

This knight? Not so much.

The tower shield smashed into her face a fourth time.

“You petulant…!” Nightmare Moon snorted blood from her nostrils and struck the elbow of the knight’s sword arm as it arced towards her with the shoulder of her wing. She tried charging forwards, but the hulking knight shifted his shield to block it.

She strained and pushed against him, gradually gaining ground, but he was a lot heavier and stronger than any of the fodder knights she’d previously gone up against.

As if to prove her point, the knight anchored himself into the floor and pushed her back with a rumbling growl of exertion. He tried swinging as soon as she was off, but Nightmare Moon dodged to the side and grabbed his sword with her teeth; they struggled for a second, and his blade slit her cheek, but she managed to yank it from his grasp and spit it off to the side.

He responded by bashing her a fifth time.

‘Oh, this is getting annoying.’

Before he could act again, she spun and delivered a well-placed buck with her hind legs. The knight staggered back several feet with two small dents in his shield’s face; Nightmare Moon continued her assault with a quick blast of ice that coated the wall of metal, and kicked it again.

The shield began to buckle inwards.

Suddenly, with a rumbling roar, the knight charged forwards, clocking her a sixth time and-

Oh wow – he was pushing her all the way across the room.

Admirable strength, really.

Nightmare Moon pushed back and dug in her hooves, but the human had enough momentum and weight that she was unable to stop herself from being crushed up against a metal wall. A few of her ribs cracked and put some pressure on her lungs – it was harder to draw in the air needed to make an effective push.

She could probably get out with a spell, but it was very hard to concentrate with a 300-something pound creature repeatedly bashing a big metal object against her horn.

‘Damn it! I just need some leverage and then I can-’

“YO, DROP THE BASS!!”

As a high-pitched ringing filled her head, Nightmare Moon was hit by a sense of nostalgia – oh, how many times she had thrown threats at the DJ when she amplified her voice as Nightmare Moon crossed by her station…

The knight had it worse; Vinyl had, at some point, clambered up onto his back and shouted directly into his helm, and now he was yelling in pain while reeling backwards. Vinyl was thrown from his shoulder, but he also dropped his shield to clutch at the sides of his helmet, unpleasant retching noises bouncing from within his armor.

Seizing her chance, Nightmare Moon lunged forwards and knocked the knight onto his back; she kept him pinned with her weight as she bent down, stretched open her mouth, and exhaled a freezing mist that filtered in through the eyehole of the knight’s helm.

Credit where it was due – the knight still struggled fiercely until his lungs were caked with frost from the inside out, and he could no longer draw in breath. Once his movements slowed and fully subsided, Nightmare Moon got off his chest and took a breath.

“Wolf!”

“Vin-”

A warm and fuzzy body pressed against her side with a joyous laugh.

Nightmare Moon froze.

Before the urge to wiggle her leg overcame her, Vinyl let go and looked up at her with a happy grin that was accentuated by her naked eyes.

“Holy shit, I can’t believe you actually got here in time! I didn’t think you’d…” She shook her head, dismissing whatever she had been about to say. “Ah, who friggin’ cares – you came through that Fracture like one of those whiny superheroes in the comic books. Except cooler. And more violent.”

Nightmare Moon was distracted by the dark red blood that caked the fur around Vinyl’s muzzle. It made her insides turn uncomfortably. “You’re hurt,” Her forehoof moved almost on its own accord to touch the blood, but she put it back down on the floor firmly. “What happened?”

Vinyl brushed it off – of course she did, it was clearly a minor injury, nothing worth fretting over – and said, “Ran into the big guy you just offed; hurt like shit, but that’s it. You?”

“Nothing new.” Nightmare Moon felt a surge of relief go through her as she idly pressed a forehoof against her side and pushed her ribs back into place.

It was remarkable how much tension left her body now that she had confirmed that Vinyl was – for the time being at least – safe. She really didn’t know what she’d have done if she came through the Fracture and-

‘The Fracture!’

Nightmare Moon turned and spat out a curse. “It’s gone.”

“What?”

“The Fracture is no longer there.”

Vinyl looked around the room, her dismay evident on her face. “Aw… aw, fuck – that sucks.”

And it wasn’t just the Fracture that was gone.

There had been others in the room when Nightmare Moon arrived; more humans, ones that weren’t in armor. They had panicked upon seeing her, and she recalled one of them screaming about closing the Fracture. She had been too busy fighting with the knight to notice, but that was exactly what they had done, and then fled the room while they were at it.

This room that held a staggering amount of machinery.

This room that she and Vinyl were alone in.

Nightmare Moon grimaced. “This is it. This is the base of the Rouge Knights,” She looked around again and spotted a thick metal door on the far side of the room. On the top of its bolted frame was a warning light that silently flashed red. “Hmph – I suppose the element of surprise is out of the question.”

Vinyl nodded, her gaze going over the room. “Right? I don’t think- oh, hey – you found my shades!”

Nightmare Moon had forgotten that she even brought them through the portal in the first place.

She made her way over to one of the many machines while Vinyl retrieved her shades and cast a scrutinizing eye over the columns of buttons and screens.

‘Ugh, I’d have better luck building another Resonator from scrap metal than figuring out what these buttons do,’ She scowled in displeasure, but lifted her forehoof to push a few buttons anyway. ‘Hm… it seems to be inert. They must have powered it down before they left.’

Turning her gaze back towards the door, Nightmare Moon growled in her throat and flexed her wings.

“It seems as though we’re trapped here.” She said aloud.

“Shit,” Vinyl cursed, trotting back over with her shades covering her eyes. “Hey, Wolf, is Octy alright? You got to her in time, right?”

“Yes.”

The DJ sagged in relief, her breath coming out in a whoosh. “She’s safe?”

“More than we currently are,” Nightmare Moon looked around the room once more, intrigued by the unfamiliar technology that surrounded them. “Although, this is not without a silver lining: this is the opportune time to gather information about the humans,” She bared her teeth in a dark grin. “The Knight Enforcer shall regret attacking Canterlot a second time.”

“Assuming we can get back to Equestria…” Vinyl murmured. Her body language spoke of anxiety. “I mean… we’re in another world. This is some friggin’ Professor When shit right here and we don’t have a fancy telephone to teleport us everywhere.”

“What?”

“Jeez, I can barely figure out Octy’s new TV let alone any of this crap.”

“Then it’s fortunate that we have a base full of humans to help us out, isn’t it?”

Vinyl frowned. “I don’t think they’re gonna help us if we say ‘please’.”

“Oh, come now,” Nightmare Moon chuckled. “You know how persuasive I can be.”

Vinyl smirked at her and laughed as well. “True that. Okay, yeah, I trust you, but we’re still up shit’s creek without a paddle; do you have a plan or are you just gonna make it up as you go?”

“First, we need to get out of this room,” Nightmare Moon gestured towards the door. It was one of the sturdiest-looking doors she had ever seen and the metal walls didn’t look much more breakable either. “After that, we find a human and make them talk. If they can operate the technology to open a Fracture, then all the better.”

She turned to look at Vinyl.

“Stay close to me and hide should we encounter more knights.”

Vinyl frowned at her. “‘Hide’?”

Nightmare Moon looked back at the motionless knight; the frost on his helmet was beginning to melt. “Very well – you can help, but only if it doesn’t put you in immediate danger. This isn’t a bar brawl where the worst you might get is a glass bottle to the face, and I don’t… I’d rather you not die.”

“Awww, love you, too.”

Nightmare Moon didn’t dignify that with an answer. She trotted straight up to the metal door and gave it an experimental buck with her hind hooves.

It didn’t even budge.

She couldn’t see herself tearing this down with brute strength alone; it felt as if it was a foot thick. It appeared to be made from steel, but looked more like iron. Perhaps it was a type of metal indigenous to the human world.

“Can you teleport through it?” Vinyl asked, coming up beside her.

“I don’t know what’s on the other side,” Nightmare Moon rammed her shoulder into the door and winced. “Ngh… I might put us halfway through a wall or a machine.”

Vinyl scratched her head, her brow sinking as she thought.

Nightmare Moon already had a plan, though.

Pressing the tip of her horn against the door’s frame, she cast an ice spell that caused frost to creep along the frame and squeeze into the gaps. She watched the frost thicken and harden until eventually she heard a feather-soft groan of metal bending and twisting.

“Hey, I saw that in a movie once!”

“Vinyl, I am trying to concentrate.”

“Sorry.”

She had faith that this would be the key to escaping the room, but… then what? This was unfamiliar territory – very unfamiliar. She and Vinyl were a universe apart from Equestria, so even the environment would be a mystery. Whatever was beyond that door would have to be dealt with on the fly.

In the past, that sort of ‘unknown’ element might have excited her, but ‘Past Nightmare Moon’ didn’t have somepony that she cared for enough to worry about.

Vinyl was going to be a distraction to her, no doubt about that… but she had to make it work. She put way too much at stake to just let her…

The metal groaned again, much louder this time, and Nightmare Moon stopped casting to give the door another kick. The edges buckled inwards as splinters of ice fell to the floor – perfect.

“Stand back,” She ordered Vinyl. “Preferably behind some cover.”

The DJ nodded and hurried off to crouch behind a table.

Nightmare Moon resumed kicking away at the ridiculously tough door. She felt each impact right down to her teeth, but she was gradually making headway, even if the din she made was just reinforcing how ‘out of the window’ any notions of stealth were going.

CLANG

CLANG

The wall around the door strained and screamed before one final kick knocked the obstruction down with another ear-rattling clang. Nightmare Moon grunted and shook her head free of the ringing as she turned to poke her head through the open doorway.

A corridor just as sterile and dull as the room she was in – she had expected something more.

Although, not too far down the right, light was streaming in through what appeared to be a window…

“Vinyl?”

“Yup!” Vinyl emerged from behind the table and jogged over to her side, snorting and wriggling her nose. “Ugh… don’t suppose you can spare some healing?”

“I am not adept with healing spells, unfortunately,” Nightmare Moon looked down the other way, frowning at the lack of activity, before moving towards the window. “You must grin and bear it for the time being.”

“Eh, not my first busted nose…”

“Hmph – I expected opposition,” Nightmare Moon stopped by the window, looked out, and waited for her vision to adjust to the light. “They must have sounded an… alarm…”

Awestruck, she heard Vinyl gasp beside her. “Whoa…”

It was… hardly a pleasant sight, but at the same time… there was a sort of macabre beauty to it all.

When ponies thought of Canterlot, they imagined spires and buildings of white marble and dazzling gold. If they thought of Ponyville, they might imagine homely and rustic houses with a backdrop of rolling hills and vibrant greenery. If they thought of Manehattan, then they’d think of tall, imposing skyscrapers and diverse cultures and arts.

When she looked out at the city beyond the window, Nightmare Moon immediately thought of ruins, the ageing remains of a once proud civilization.

Buildings and houses – like what one might see in Manehattan – reached towards an empty skyline, their faces charred and broken with only a scant few splotches of colour that were either paint or graffiti. Between the buildings were the cracked, sun-baked streets where Nightmare Moon saw flickers of movement. They were too high up and far off to make out any vivid details, but they were walking upright.

And through the gaps of two tall buildings, Nightmare Moon could see an expanse of barren wasteland, completely devoid of greenery or anything of interest save for hundreds of small craters and husks of twisted wreckage.

“Wolf!” Vinyl cried, pushing her muzzle up against the glass. “Look at the sky!”

Nightmare Moon did and felt the sting of sunlight beaming at her from two different sources.

“They have two suns…”

She didn’t know what that meant, but one sun was enough for her, thank you very much.

“This is where they live?” Vinyl muttered with a frown. “Looks like a crap-hole.”

“Indeed.”

“Might make a good cover album, though.”

Nightmare Moon grunted, though she wasn’t really paying attention to what Vinyl was saying.

Seeing this got her thinking: did the humans evolve in such an inhospitable place, or did they make it this way? A natural disaster could explain the weathered structures and roadwork, but not the wasteland. The ground looked scorched, but if the humans outside could walk around, then could the two suns be at fault? The humans had access to advanced technology, and such advancement often led to war and infighting.

This had her curious.

Nightmare Moon pricked her ears as she heard footsteps bouncing down the corridor.

However, her curiosity would have to wait…

She turned right and stepped forwards, ushering Vinyl behind her with one wing while igniting her horn.

A trio of knights rounded the corner at the end of the hall, two with regular swords and shields and one toting a greatsword.

‘That one goes first.’

The greatsword-wielder stomped into some sort of stance with his sword extended and blitzed forwards with such speed that Nightmare Moon barely got a barrier up in time; it felt like a train had smashed against it.

He pirouetted to the side, slipping past her barrier with a downwards slash that she barely dodged away from. Nightmare Moon cast off a ball of frost that he side-stepped before jumping back between the gap left by his two associates.

Glancing at the floor, Nightmare Moon ignited her horn and stomped her forehooves, sending out a creeping web of ice that blanketed the metal floor; the knights were going too fast to stop and flailed as their feet slid out from beneath them and they fell flat on their rears. The greatsword knight jumped at the wall, kicked off it to sail over their heads, and bring his weapon down before Nightmare Moon could capitalize.

She stepped back, watched as the sword sparked against the floor, and stomped down on the flat edge; the knight tried pulling back but her strength surpassed his, and he was forced to leave it behind as she lunged at his neck with snapping teeth.

She flicked her hoof back to send the sword sliding behind her and heard Vinyl cry, ‘got it!’ before charging after the unarmed human, forcing him onto the sheet of ice.

He was more sure-footed than his associates, however, and still managed to avoid her bone-crushing bites while skirting the ice, and when she put too much momentum into one lunge, he pirouetted to the side again, wrapped both arms around her neck and twisted his body in such a way that her own body weight caused her to crash to the floor.

The next thing she felt were two swords piercing her side as the other two knights recovered and capitalized; with a pained snarl, she thrashed and twisted to get back on her hooves, lashing out at the two while the unarmed human used her head as a springboard to get behind her.

“Vinyl, watch out!!”

She scrambled for purchase on her own sheet of ice – how embarrassing – and cast Kinetic Impact spells to send the two knights sliding away so she had enough room to spread her wings and hover above the ice to pursue the more agile human, swords in her side be damned.

She was greeted by the sight of the DJ running circles around the human, kicking his large sword all over while her bone-white horn pulsed with bright and vivid colours in a nauseating pattern; the human had his hand over his eyes and grunted as he unsuccessfully tried to grab her.

Nightmare Moon dove at him, and he must have heard the flap of her wings because he tried to dodge again, but she was too fast and clipped him hard enough to knock him on his back. She landed, hooves scraping against the floor as she doubled back and pounced before he could get back up. Her teeth sliced into his jugular and ripped out a chunk of flesh.

Spitting at the potent taste of iron, she stepped over the twitching body and went for the remaining knights. She had punted them straight off the ice, but solid footing didn’t help them much when they had no enhanced strength or speed to be wary of and one was without their sword.

It took Nightmare Moon less than a minute to kill them both.

Once the threat was dealt with, Nightmare Moon checked to see if Vinyl was still there and unharmed – the DJ trotted towards her after skirting around the puddle forming beneath the greatsword-knight – before finally turning her attention to the sword buried in her side.

She lit up her horn… and sighed in annoyance a moment later. “Right – anything from their world is almost impossible to manipulate with magic.”

“Holy crap…” Vinyl blinked in repulsed awe, still panting slightly from her earlier run. “That’s… I mean, that’s right in there.”

“Yes, my ribs can attest to that,” Nightmare Moon grumbled and stretched her foreleg in front of her. “Nngh! Would you do me a favour and pull it out?”

Vinyl blinked. “Just… pull it out?”

“With your teeth.”

“I… guess I can do that,” The DJ nodded, glanced over her shoulder for any danger, and stepped forwards to bite down on the sword’s grip. “Reggy?”

“Yes.”

A primal noise tore from Nightmare Moon’s throat as the sword was pulled out, the edges slicing through muscle and skin that had already healed around it. Vinyl plonked onto her rump, glasses askew as she stared down at the sword staining the floor; there was wonder in her eyes as she looked back up.

“Dude, you’re hardcore.”

“It’s nothing,” It really was, but Nightmare Moon still flexed proudly; the praise was all the sweeter coming from a friend – who knew? “Now, we should get moving before more show up,” She nodded her head down the corridor. “I suggest we head in the direction they came from.”

“Okay, I’m down for that.”

They fell alongside each other as they walked. Nightmare Moon had no way of knowing if this was the right direction, but it had to lead somewhere; they couldn’t just wait around for more of the knights to find them while Canterlot was still in danger. There had to be a way to get back home.

“So, how do you do that?” Vinyl suddenly asked.

“Do what?” Nightmare Moon asked, cautiously approaching a ‘T’ intersection.

“I mean, I think I’m pretty friggin’ tough, but if I had a sword in my guts, I’d be cursing up a storm and rolling around in pain; how do you ignore that?”

She looked both ways at the intersection for danger before choosing to go left. “It’s not difficult – I feel the pain, but if I let it consume me, then my opponent will win. With that in mind, it becomes easier to fight through it,” She paused for a moment before looking down at Vinyl. “At least, that’s how I’ve always experienced it. I don’t know how Celestia or Luna handle it; perhaps it’s just a trait of alicorn physiology.”

“Must be nice being able to just regen through everything.” Vinyl murmured, prodding at her nose with a wince.

“It is, actually.”

“And all those times I took those hits when you were Star Secret…”

Nightmare Moon smirked. “What, should I have shared in the punishment you frequently brought upon yourself?”

“That’s what friends are for!”

“To serve as meat shields? Then let me find some rope and tie you to my back.”

“Har har.”

They passed a few notices and posters, but they were jus that: posters and notices with no critical information. The most informative thing she saw was that one of the rooms was sealed off until further notice due to 'equipment damage caused by an EMP'.

It was a full minute of walking before they came upon a door and something familiar.

“Three?” Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes at the number painted next to the door in black. “Does this mean we’re on the third floor? Or does this lead to it?”

Vinyl shrugged. “Only one way to find out.”

Nightmare Moon nodded and turned the door handle before pushing inwards. She stepped out onto a metal platform with two sets of stairs leading up and down; a railing in front of her blocked off a long fall.

“A stairwell, huh?” Vinyl muttered as she trotted onto the platform. “So, I guess we’re on the second fl-”

Heavy clanging filled the narrow space as a lot of feet pounded up towards them.

Nightmare Moon grimaced as she looked at her surroundings; there was very little room for her to manoeuvre and by the sounds of the clanging, there were a lot more knights than just the three they encountered. She could back up and fight them in the corridor, but…

Thinking quickly, she closed the door behind them and grabbed Vinyl with her magic before pushing up against the wall near the stairs that led up. “Hold still and be quiet – you won’t be able to see for a moment.”

Vinyl nodded once as Nightmare Moon ignited her horn and washed them both down with magic that let light pass through them.

Darkness – actual darkness, not just the type when she blinked – made her blind to the world, but Nightmare Moon could still hear the knights jog up, closer and closer until the platform they were on trembled beneath heavy boots; the humans were so close that she could hear their measured breaths.

The door was pulled open and the humans went through, one by one; there was a squeak of boot against floor as the last of them suddenly stopped and doubled back, panting lightly as they lingered…

Nightmare Moon’s left eye twitched as the base of her horn began to throb.

Finally, the human grunted and ran to catch up with their squad, slamming the door shut behind them.

Nightmare Moon waited a few more seconds before cutting the spell off; her vision returned and the intensity of the throbbing lessened.

“Ugh…”

Vinyl laughed in relief. “Stallion, that was tense, huh? Hey… you alright?”

“Nothing major…” Nightmare Moon grunted. “Come on – we should hurry before they return.”

As with most stairs, it was difficult for Nightmare Moon to traverse; they were too small and narrow, and it wasn’t long before she damned them all to Tartarus and just used her wings to fly down alongside the DJ, who had a much easier time.

“Can’t you just keep us invisible all the time?” Vinyl asked.

“We can’t see with that spell active and this world… it’s devoid of magic; it’s taxing me, and a spell like that would drain me too much,” She hated weakness, but she felt more comfortable admitting it in Vinyl’s company. “Any other obscuring spells won’t suffice – we’re moving around too much.”

“Yeah, I felt the strain too when I was blinding that sword-guy back there,” Vinyl sighed. “Faust – we’re on a time limit, aren’t we, Wolf? Find a way back before our magic runs out. I mean, you’ve got strength and crap, but I’ll just be dead weight.”

“More or less.”

“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“I could swing you around like a club if it makes you feel better.”

“Real class act, Wolf.”

Personally, Nightmare Moon felt that swinging Vinyl around would make an effective bludgeoning weapon, but she would have to cast a spell to protect her from the trauma; if the situation became desperate enough than she would seriously consider it.

Probably better not to say that out loud.

Another platform soon came into view and Nightmare Moon landed on it before signalling for Vinyl to wait. She pushed the door of the first floor open and poked her head through, looking both ways to scan for any more humans; there weren’t, and they quietly entered the hallway.

“Now where do we go?” Vinyl asked.

Nightmare Moon grimaced. “Let me think for a second…”

The hallways looked the same and she couldn’t read any of the posters and papers pinned to the walls; they had different symbols, which told Nightmare Moon nothing besides that the humans had different languages and dialect. The only thing she could think of was to go in the direction the knights were coming from, as much as risk as that put her and Vinyl in.

She considered breaking a nearby window and flying outside, but what would that accomplish? They’d still have to figure out where to go from there – if they couldn’t navigate a single building, then they wouldn’t fare any better in a city.

Ugh, this was frustrating!

What they really needed was a guide or a picturesque map that could help them-

“-with you? I have to get you out of here.”

Nightmare Moon blinked and turned her head to look down the right corridor, where a knight had just walked out of a room alongside another human – one adorned with a white coat and plain, black leggings.

Like the ones back in that room.

The knight glanced in her direction, looked at their compatriot, and then quickly jerked back to stare at her again; the sudden action caused the other human to look at her as well, and her exposed face went chalk-white.

Nightmare Moon grinned toothily. “How fortuitous.”

“God, did those guys really miss you?!” The knight cried, reaching for their weapon and moving in front of the female. “Get out of here now before it-”

Another spike of pain went through her head when she teleported down the corridor, but it was worth it to get the surprise attack on the knight; they didn’t even get their sword out of its scabbard before Nightmare Moon body-checked them into the wall and crumpled their helm with a savage kick of her hind legs.

The female human gasped and tried to run back into the room, but Nightmare Moon bit down on her loose ponytail and pulled her down to the floor.

“Hello there,” She greeted pleasantly, spitting out a clump of brunette hair as she towered over the groaning human. “I am Empress Nightmare Moon and I require your assistance.”

The human peered up at her, panting heavily and too frightened to get up.

“The Fractures that your kind manipulate… I need one that can transport me and my friend back to our own world,” Nightmare Moon made sure to show off her teeth as she smiled. “Surely you can assist us in that matter considering how fond you all are of invading and kidnapping my subjects?”

The human blinked, pupils small and twitching…

And then a wad of saliva struck Nightmare Moon’s eye.

“… I see.”

She lifted one hoof and pressed down on the human’s chest with enough force to create a sound like celery snapping. Nightmare Moon inhaled and exhaled through her nostrils as she listened to the human scream and used the tip of her wing to wipe away the insult.

Oh, she was deliciously enraged right now…

She heard footsteps and folded her wing to see Vinyl approaching her, body language subdued and cautious.

“Wolf?” She queried softly. “You okay?”

“Of course,” Nightmare Moon nodded, gaining some enjoyment from feeling her hostage squirm in agony beneath her hoof. “Although, it seems our ‘associate’ is being rather uncooperative – I may have to use more… ‘persuasive’ methods,” She paused and then added, “Steel yourself if it comes to that – it may be unavoidable.”

“I… I don’t…” The human gasped, weakly pushing at Nightmare Moon’s unyielding leg. “I don’t know anything about the Fractures. I’m… I’m a doctor, not a scientist.”

Nightmare Moon scowled coldly. “Then what good are you to me?”

“A-Anna?”

The airy whisper was followed by a shocked gasp; Nightmare Moon turned her head to the source of the noise and saw a smaller version of the humans standing near the doorway of the room the other two came out from.

A small, pitiful thing – female, by the looks of it – with dirty blonde hair, pale skin, and freckles – her eyes were big and full of fear.

‘Offspring?’

Nightmare Moon cocked her head and one of her eyebrows. “Well, hello, young one…”

“No!” ‘Anna’ struggled even harder beneath her, a very prominent tinge of terror in her voice. “Amelie – get back inside and close the door!”

Amelie remained rooted to the floor, her attention completely centred on the alicorn.

“Oh? You know her?” Nightmare Moon chuckled – she had found the right leverage. “One of your patients?” She removed her hoof and took a step towards the girl, who whimpered and backed up. “Or something closer?”

“Stop!” Anna cried, clutching her chest as she got on her knees and snagged Nightmare Moon’s hind leg, her actions reeking of desperation. “She’s just a child!”

“So were some of the unicorns that your kind took.” Nightmare Moon answered darkly.

Anna flinched and shut her eyes. “I… I know, but… I don’t agree with what the Knight Enforcer is doing! I… I’m just trying to keep my patients alive!”

Vinyl shuffled in one spot, looking at the human anxiously.

“You’re no…” Anna sniffled, her voice hardening. “You’re no better than them if you hurt Amelie.”

Nightmare Moon couldn’t help it – she laughed, loudly.

“Hah hah hah hah! What, is that supposed to make me reconsider?” She turned her head to sneer at the human. “If I was some hopelessly optimistic hero, then it might, but unfortunately for you, I’m nothing like that.”

She shook the human’s grip off with a jerk of her leg.

“I once threatened to harm the children of my enemies, my own kind to get what I wanted and I had every intention of doing so if they didn’t cooperate. I shackled two of my most powerful enemies by subduing their magic and I converted one of their own to my side against their will. I’m not a hero. I’m not even a good pony.”

Nightmare Moon turned back to the shivering girl and ignited her horn.

“So, I hope that your plan of getting me to leave this child alone isn’t by appealing to my better nature.”

“W-wait, please! Please, just wait!” The human grabbed at her leg again. “Please, I… I’m telling the truth: I don’t know anything to do with Fractures…”

Nightmare Moon waited.

“But… but I know people who do… Please, leave Amelie alone and I’ll take you to them…”

Nightmare Moon looked down at the human – ignoring Vinyl’s queasy look that made her stomach cold like ice – with a small smirk.

“Then by all means, lead the way, Anna.”

Author's Notes:

Note 1: Obscuring Veil - a spell from the Illusion school that manipulates the light around the caster, as well as anypony near them, to render them invisible to the naked eye.

This was one of the many spells developed by Starswirl the Bearded and it is the originator of all other spells tailored to manipulating light to become obscured from view, whether it be direct or indirect. This spell is the only one of its type that can make a target completely invisible; there is no flicker of light, no ripple in the air, and no other visual distortion that may give the target away.

However, this 'complete' invisibility comes at a cost: because the spell also makes the eyes invisible, the target - if alive and capable of sight - is rendered blind for the duration of the spell. Another drawback is that the spell is taxing to maintain for long periods of time.

Edit: Corrected a misnaming.