1056 AD, January 13th

“… You’re hardly inconspicuous.”

“There’s not much I can do about that; if you wish to avoid discovery and further casualties, then I suggest you find those that can assist me quickly.”

Anna pressed her lips together and kept limping down the stairs, keeping Amelie in front of her as she used one hand to press against the side of her chest. The small girl kept throwing wide-eyed glances over her shoulder; Vinyl tried waving at first, but the human girl was more fixated on Nightmare Moon, who paid her no mind.

Nightmare Moon had every intention of harming and killing the girl if Anna tried to cross her, but she didn’t think it’d come to that – Anna was genuinely desperate to keep the girl – her child, perhaps? – safe, so she would follow through and lead Nightmare Moon to what she wanted.

A way back home.

Well, Nightmare Moon wanted a lot of things, some of them before she could leave, but those demands she’d save for the humans that could operate the Fractures; Anna said she was a doctor, so it’d be useless to demand that from her – she couldn’t even fix Vinyl if she got injured because it wasn’t like human physiology carried over well to equine physiology.

No, this human was only useful for getting them to where she needed to be.

She looked at Vinyl just to make sure she was still there before looking up at the winding stairs above them.

‘The knights must have discovered the bodies of their fallen by now. I wonder how long it will be before they come back down?’

“Hey, Wolf?”

Nightmare Moon looked back down. “Yes?”

“You okay?”

“Physically and mentally, yes. As for being ‘okay’ considering our circumstances…” Nightmare Moon trailed off and shook her head, deciding to end the train of thought. “How are you faring?”

“Can’t complain,” She shrugged. “S’pose I can, but it’s not like that’ll do anything.”

“If only everypony else could understand that…”

When they finally reached the bottom of the stairwell, Anna lifted her hand, gesturing for her to wait, and carefully opened the door so she could peek out. She waved her hand again a moment later before exiting; Nightmare Moon followed her swiftly in case she decided to try and run.

They were in a much wider space this time – it appeared to be the lobby of the building, for there was a desk to Nightmare Moon’s right and dozens of folding chairs pushed up against the walls; there were a few paintings hung up to make some attempt of liveliness, but they were in such poor condition that it just looked depressing.

“Everyone’s at a shelter nearby,” Anna said, sounding and looking miserable; Nightmare Moon didn’t know how much of that was from her ribs. “I... I’ll take you there, but you can’t hurt anyone else.”

“Well, that depends now, doesn’t it?” Nightmare Moon said with a sarcastic sneer. “So far, violence has been the only way to get what I want with you humans and there is no reason why I should stop now.”

“But-”

“It’s really simple: if they do what I say and don’t attack, then I will stay my hoof. If, however, they deign to cooperate or attempt to harm myself or my companion, then I will act accordingly.”

“There are kids there.”

“Again, do I look like I care?”

A dark look flashed over Anna’s face; the muscles in her neck visibly tensed as she stopped herself from doing something she would undoubtedly regret.

“… Fine.”

She led them to the lobby’s doors and out onto a weathered sidewalk of grimy concrete next to a road riddled with potholes and cracks; they sharply contrasted the maintained roads in Canterlot and were uncomfortably hot to touch.

“Yeesh, it’s stuffy…” Vinyl murmured as she wiped her brow.

Nightmare Moon grunted in agreement – the glaring rays of the twin stars was merciless and she already disliked being outside under Equestria’s solitary sun.

Anna didn’t seem all that bothered by it and looked both ways down the road nervously before gesturing in one direction with her head.

“There are lots of shelters around, but the nearest one – the one where the scribes that work with the Fractures – is just down there.”

Nightmare Moon squinted against the light and saw a squat, bland building that wasn’t as derelict and beaten-down as the ones surrounding them. It looked strong enough to withstand… well, she was going to say one of her magical blasts until she remembered how near-useless magic was in this world.

“No one to guard it?”

Anna shook her head. “Not from the outside. There’ll be Rouge Knights inside, though; they’ll answer if someone knocks on the door.”

“How many?”

“Two, usually. No more than three, but… I don’t think there’ll be that many there; all of them are probably back in the facility, looking for you.”

“Excellent. Then knock and get them to open that door,” Nightmare Moon bent her neck and flexed her wings to work out a few kinks. “After that, well… I’d advise that you get out of the way.”

“Noted.”

“Don’t run too far. Even if you managed to fight through your injury and get away with the child, I might be inclined to harm any of the other young ones within that shelter.”

Anna nodded solemnly.

“Good to see you can follow orders. Keep moving.”

The ground was hot, and Vinyl hissed and grumbled as softly as she could as they walked, her hooves lacking any form of protection; Nightmare Moon’s own metal shoes weren’t very effective in keeping the heat out either, but at least it was something. The two humans were seemingly unaffected, their feet protected by shoes made from… leather.

Vinyl likely didn’t know about leather, or didn’t pay attention to the humans’ feet or she would have undoubtedly made some sort of disgusted comment along the lines of ‘what the friggin’ fuck’?

The use of leather in the humans’ attire suggested they were familiar with tanning animal skin – a process that she previously only knew to be practised by griffons and minotaurs. She randomly wondered whether they used the hides of the grazing beasts that wandered into Equestria through the Fractures.

“Uh, Wolf?” Vinyl whispered, catching her attention. “You have a plan for this shelter thing, right?” Her eyebrows curled inwards over her shades. “Because I’m assuming it has a crap-ton of humans.”

“Well, once Anna gets the door open, then I go in and take out any knights. Stay outside and keep an eye on these two, but if you see things going badly…” Nightmare Moon curled one corner of her lip. “Then I would appreciate some assistance.”

“Cool – got it. You know, it’s not bad to ask for help if you’re fighting an army.”

“My wounded pride says otherwise.”

“Big baby.”

Anna stopped right in front of the door of the bland building with Amelie at her side, one hand tightly clutched in the palm of the older female’s, and swallowed nervously and looked at Nightmare Moon, a single bead of sweat trailing down her brow.

Nightmare Moon made a ‘go on’ gesture with her forehoof before quietly trotting over to stand to the side, as close to the door as she felt comfortable with. Vinyl moved behind her and rolled her shoulders, looking anxious but determined.

Anna turned back to the door, lifted her hand, let it hang, and shakily lowered it.

Nightmare Moon exhaled loudly and waved her forehoof in circles impatiently. ‘Hurry up.’

The human grimaced and reluctantly knocked on the door, a rehearsed knock that Nightmare Moon guessed to be some sort of code.
Not even two seconds after the final thump of her fist did a section of the door slide open, slightly above Anna’s eye level; Nightmare Moon pressed closer against the building and listened as a gravelly voice came through the slot.

“Anna – why th’ hell are you alone? No one come to escort ya and th’ munchkin?”

“They wanted as many people dealing with the threat as they could spare; it wasn’t far for me and Amelie to walk.” Anna lied, hiding her pain with a shaky grin.

“Still no reason to leave you two alone,” The knight – male, by the sounds – said, and a second later, Nightmare Moon heard the definitive noise of heavy bolts being slid out of their fixtures and primed herself to pounce. “So, you heard what th’ threat is, right? Something came through th’ Fracture and th’ Scribes barely managed to sound th’ alarm and lock th’ thing in before it could escape.”

“Oh…” Anna murmured dully, her eyes darting nervously to the side. “I hope they deal with it soon.”

Seconds later, the door gave a shuddering groan as it swung inwards. Nightmare Moon stretched to her full height and unhinged her jaw as a human came through, his head exposed and his face creasing in confusion as Anna grabbed Amelie’s hand and pulled her backwards while covering the child’s eyes with one hand.

The human turned his head in Nightmare Moon’s direction and looked quite surprised in the half-second before she slammed her teeth down on his neck and twisted to the side.

Metallic tang flowed across her taste buds as the human’s head bounced off the doorway and his body spun back into the building from the force of her tearing; a din of screams, shouts, and cries kicked up almost immediately.

Nightmare Moon dashed through the doorway, wincing at the sheer cacophony of noise and only just managed to sidestep a falling blade that sparked against the floor. She stomped down on the blade, snapped it in two, and threw her weight into tackling the attacking human, throwing him into two other humans that weren’t nearly as armored.

Before he could recover, she clamped her teeth down on his foot and dragged him back so she could rear up on her hindlegs and slam her forehooves down; the armor crumpled and she heard several bones cracking, but she stomped three more times just to make sure, all to the tune of screams and shouts.

“Every…” She scowled darkly and stepped off the mangled corpse, flashing her fangs and stretching her wings to their full length. “Everyone be silent!!”

There was no magic to augment her voice, but it rang out across the brightly-lit room regardless, pressing down against the humans like a physical force that eventually stifled their noises to hushed whimpers and panicked breathing.

“You!” Nightmare Moon turned to several humans that were to her left and right and jerked her head. “All of you! Get with the rest of your kind now! Quickly!” When they looked to each other and didn’t move, she snapped her teeth. “If by the count of five you are not in front of me, I will kill someone for each second thereafter! One! Two! Three!”

They almost tripped over one another to obey, and Nightmare Moon cut herself off just as ‘five’ was about to leave her lips.

As she glared and stalked to and fro, culling any notions of rebellion through sheer presence and predatory intimidation, she took in her surroundings and noted that it looked like the interior of one of Canterlot’s emergency shelters – there were shelves, a high ceiling, fluorescent lights, and everything was made from grey cement.

The humans in front of her must have been non-combatants; none of them wore armor or held any weapons. Good – less trouble for her.

Without taking her gaze off the humans that pressed tightly together, shielding their young on some base herding instinct, Nightmare Moon pricked her ears and said in a low voice, “Vinyl – are those two still out there?”

“Yep!” Vinyl chimed back. “Still here.”

“Send them in and then you come stand next to me. Close the door when you do so.”

Several seconds passed before Anna and Amelie passed by on her right to join the crowd; she heard Vinyl grunting in effort and the door swinging shut with a clang before the DJ approached until she was on Nightmare Moon’s left, wiping her brow.

Nodding in satisfaction, Nightmare Moon shifted her stance so she was at her full, towering height. “Which of you are familiar with the technology used to interact with the Entropic Fractures? Step forward.”

There was movement at the back, of someone hastily pushing their way through the crowd; the humans at front eventually caught wind and parted like a zipper coming undone, allowing a male in a white coat with the crest of a golden tree on his shoulder to come through.

He appeared to be an elder judging by the wrinkles on his face and the starch white of his hair, though he moved with fluidity that suggested spryness and energy.

Nightmare Moon stared at him coldly as he stopped a few feet from her, and adjusted his thin-frame glasses. “Who are you?”

“Scribe Eiswhel…” He said, back straight and body language tense. “… You’re… you’re the Empress of the other world, the one the Knight Enforcer told us about.”

“That I am and I wish to go back to my world,” She kept her voice even and quiet as she watched him and the crowd carefully; she didn’t know the layout of the place, or if there was some switch nearby that anyone could flip and alert any of the knights. “Along with any unicorns you have taken.”

Eiswhel swallowed, but kept his face straight. “Not all of them are… with us.”

“So, there are still some that are alive?”

“Y… yes.”

“I see,” She nodded and took a step forward. “Now, here’s what’s going to happen: you’re going to lead us to whatever means you use to create Fractures, you are going to open one leading back to Canterlot city, where you sent your Knight Enforcer, and you are going to release any captive unicorns that are still alive into my custody. If you cooperate fully, then no harm will come to anyone in this room.”

“I’d ask if I have your word, but you don’t seem the type to honour it.”

“As if your opinion of me mattered; kindly keep it to yourself and take me to where you create the Fractures, or would you like the blood of your own kind on your hands instead of mine for a change?”

“No. I’ll come with you,” Eiswhel swallowed with some difficulty. “Just… don’t hurt anyone else.”

“Good choice,” Nightmare Moon stepped to the side and gestured to the door. “Get moving.”

Once he walked by between her and Vinyl, she started walking backwards to keep a cautious eye on the humans; they didn’t seem eager to test her might, but fear and numbers were prime components for a mob. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, this magic-barren world made her weaker than normal and she would just continue to weaken by using magic.

She had her strength, resilience, and accelerated healing, but the restriction placed on her magic was a severe one nonetheless; too much and she would be unable to use it entirely.

For now, she’d try to keep physical confrontations to a minimum.

“Wolf?”

Nightmare Moon looked over her shoulder; Vinyl was holding the door open expectantly. Nodding, she gave the humans one last glare before turning and striding out into the streets.

Eiswhel waited for her tensely.

“I don’t know how you expect to get by undetected,” He said, hair almost glowing in the light of the two suns. “The knights will be searching all over the place and when they radio back to the shelter and no one picks up, they’ll come check.”

“Then be quick about getting us back to our own world,” Nightmare Moon growled. “Let’s go.”

She emphasized her point by gesturing towards the building they came out of, but Eiswhel shook his head. “It’s not there.”

“What?”

“The machinery we use to manufacture the anomalies is in another facility.”

“Hey, I popped out of a portal that was in a room in that building there,” Vinyl said. “So, all the… reality-bending bits and pieces are in there by default, right?”

Eiswhel blinked at her, one eyebrow rising. “Unfortunately, that’s not how these Fractures work. I understand it may be difficult to believe what I’m saying, but the lives of innocent people are at stake – I would not put them in danger by lying. Please.”

Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes, trying to search for any tell-tales; it was difficult when their ears and eyes were so small. “… Very well. I’ll trust that you are no fool. If the means to create the Fractures is not in that building, then take us to the one that is. Is it close by?”

“Not too far.”

“Can you create a Fracture by yourself?”

“I can.”

Nightmare Moon nodded thoughtfully. “… Proceed. If any knights attempt to stop us, then they will be dealt with.”

Eiswhel didn’t seem very upset about that. “Fine. Just so long as no civilians are hurt.”

He began walking across the street. Nightmare Moon and Vinyl followed him.

‘Odd…’ She stared at his back, eyes narrowed. ‘I almost expected greater resistance. The knights would always kill themselves if they were captured rather than cooperate. Perhaps these ‘Scribes’ don’t have the same fervent loyalty…’

“So, I know we’re enemies and crap…” Vinyl began, presumably talking just to fill the uncomfortable silence. Nightmare Moon didn’t think it needed filling, but she’d allow it until they were inside the building and needed to be quiet. “But can I ask you something? Human dude?”

Eiswhel looked over his shoulder with a confused expression. “I… suppose that’s alright,” He turned back forwards with a shrug. “Though it depends on what question you ask.”

“Ah, I’ll leave all the hard questions to Wolf here; I just wanna know some dumb stuff. Like… I dunno. Why is your home such a shitshow?”

Unexpectedly, Eiswhel chortled after a brief silence.

“Well, you’re a blunt one.”

“Yeah,” Vinyl beamed proudly. “People are always getting angry at me for it.”

“I can imagine. The answer to your question is very simple: war.”

“With who?”

“Other humans. We’re not entirely sure why we were fighting though.”

Nightmare Moon’s attention shifted. “How can you not know the purpose of your war? Was it for territory? Currency? Religion?”

“I have no idea what set off our fathers and their fathers, but by the time I was born, it was a fight for survival. Either we perished, or the other side did.”

Vinyl frowned. “Wow, that… that sucks.”

‘How intriguing,’ Nightmare Moon thought. ‘To fight an enemy without knowing the reason. If only I could study these humans under different circumstances; their plight would be extraordinary to record, I’m sure.’

“Your environment seems inhospitable; I don’t suppose this is all due to the unfortunate incident that I partially played a part in by forcibly closing the large Fracture that was once suspended above Canterlot?”

“No, but it didn’t help us in any way, that’s for certain,” Eiswhel snapped with an impressive amount of spite. “Decades of fighting turned the environment stale and infertile, but we were on the path to re-planting and growing our own food. The Obelisk Sector is… was our greatest triumph in agriculture, and your actions destroyed it.”

Nightmare Moon sighed in exasperation. “I had no inkling that your kind even existed when I closed the Fracture. I…” She hissed in disgust. “Why do I need to reaffirm this? Did your Knight Enforcer not tell you how I had no idea, or did he fabricate some fantastic tale that makes him the noble protagonist, completely exempt from blame and able to do no wrong?”

“As a matter of fact, Caed did tell us your side of the story.”

Nightmare Moon blinked, taken aback. “Truly?”

“Yes, although that doesn’t mean we don’t despise you. Ignorance aside, sixty-one lives are gone because of you.”

“Six…? I recall Caed saying ‘fifty-two’.”

“Seven more died from injuries they sustained from the explosion,” Eiswhel’s hands curled into fists. “Two committed suicide.”

Nightmare Moon clenched her jaw.

She saw Vinyl look at her in concern out of the corner of her eye and felt an inexplicable flash of hot anger that she barely tamed lest she give a biting remark that the DJ didn’t deserve. Instead, she chose to add that anger to the ‘human’ category.

Of course she regretted that her actions caused the death of these humans; it wasn’t like she went around slaughtering masses for fun. True, they may not have been her kind, but inadvertently causing the deaths of sixty-one sentient creatures that understood the concept of revenge and family with nothing to gain wasn’t just idiotic… it was… well, it gave Nightmare Moon a feeling like there was lead in her belly.

She blamed Vinyl, she blamed Fancypants, she blamed everypony that she was close with for instilling in her the capacity to feel that dreadful leaden weight.

“You…” Nightmare Moon trailed off; she wanted to say something, to rebuke Eiswhel’s words, but what for? He was completely right in saying that fifty-two – sixty-one, whatever… - of his kind were dead because of her, so why go on about it? She had her reasons for doing so, she didn’t need to defend herself to the enemy. “Pick up the pace – I have a city to get back to.”

They walked in uncomfortable silence for several long moments – during which Nightmare Moon almost tripped over a piece of cracked roadwork because she was so lost in thought – before Vinyl suddenly cleared her throat.

“So… can I still ask you stuff?”

Against all odds, they arrived at the facility without incident.

The outward appearance of the tall building that cast a great shadow over the street they were on didn’t seem to fit its supposed purpose for housing a machine that could tear the fabric of space apart to act as a gateway; its windows were broken and grimy, much like how the rest of the buildings around here appeared – at least it wasn’t gutted by flames that had long since died off like the flower shop behind Nightmare Moon with the shattered pots full of withered vegetation.

“I hope for your sake and your fellow humans’ that this isn’t a ploy.” She growled, turning to glare at Eiswhel.

“I’m well aware,” Eiswhel muttered sourly; it was the first time they had spoken to one another in a little over ten minutes. “Look – it’s a miracle we haven’t come across another living soul so far, but I guarantee you that there are knights in there along with a few other Scribes; they would’ve stayed behind to monitor the Spectrum Shifter. That’s the machine we use to create the Fractures,” He added upon seeing her lost frown. “I doubt we can sneak past, or operate the machine without alerting them.”

“Then they die.” Nightmare Moon stated simply.

“I…” Eiswhel grimaced. “Spare the Scribes, please; they are unarmed.”

“No promises.”

“Wait, are we just gonna walk in?” Vinyl asked. “That… doesn’t sound like a good plan, Wolf. It’s a plan, but it’s not a good one.”

“Technically, we’re going to charge in, but if you have a better idea, please share.”

“Uhh… can’t you, like… morph into a knight and pretend that you’re delivering me as a prisoner? The human dudes like capturing unicorns.”

“I wouldn’t say we ‘like’ to do it.” Eiswhel weakly protested.

“I’d have better luck transforming into a frog; their shapes are strange and alien to me. Perhaps if they weren’t immune to magic, and I could cast a spell to analyse their physiology, but we don’t have that luxury.”

“What about an illusion?”

“Manipulation of the light – it won’t stop anyone from reaching out and feeling my real shape.”

“Invisibility?”

“I can’t replenish magic naturally here, so I’d more than likely just run out.”

“What an abundance of utilities magic has…”

“You stop fishing for weaknesses,” Nightmare Moon flashed her teeth threateningly at Eiswhel, who pondered deeply. “Forget everything we’re saying.”

“Come on – there has to be a way inside that doesn’t involve you going ‘rargh, rargh, I’m the pony that eats dreams and gives zero shits’,” Vinyl scratched at her head and looked at the building. “Hey, in spy movies, they always use ventilation shafts, don’t they? I…” She turned back to Nightmare Moon, her face falling as her head turned up. “Oh, yeah… you’re three times my size or something…”

“Wait…” Nightmare Moon turned to Eiswhel. “Are there ventilation shafts?”

“Yes. Years ago, Caed got stuck in them playing hide and seek with the children,” Eiswhel sighed and shook his head like a disappointed father. “Never listens – just like with Lena’s shield…”

“Vinyl…” Nightmare Moon turned back to her friend and grinned maliciously. “I believe you might just be a genius.”

The DJ looked worried. “Whoa – you’re scaring me, Wolf.”

“Good – hold onto that fear because you’ll need it,” Nightmare Moon turned her grin onto the building. “Here’s what we’re going to do…”

It was a risky plan.

Especially for Vinyl.

But she was just as desperate to get back to Canterlot as Nightmare Moon was, so she was all for playing the role of the helpless unicorn if it got them where they needed to be.

Even so, Nightmare Moon felt a cold lump of worry as she watched Eiswhel walk up to the building’s heavy metal doors with Vinyl trailing behind him, doing her best to look hopeless and pathetic, and press his thumb against a small, grey box with a red LED screen installed next to the door; she heard it beep cheerfully.

Nightmare Moon whisked away to a spot a little ways above the door’s frame and floated there, making sure that she kept her gaseous form as compressed as possible.

Breaking apart into mist was, like her strength and resilience, a natural ability that was less reliant on magic; she guessed that it wouldn’t be as difficult or magically taxing and so far, she was correct – it was like she was misting back in Equestria.

She couldn’t attack, however; she needed a few seconds to regain physicality, so she had to trust that her threat of going back to harm and kill a few civilians would keep Eiswhel in line because if Vinyl got hurt…

She… Nightmare Moon didn’t know exactly what she’d do, but there will be a lot of death and destruction.

‘Someone’s coming.’

‘Looking’ down, Nightmare Moon heard the muffled footsteps from the other side of the door approach and stop before the grey box lit up with a red light again.

“Scribe Eiswhel? What are you doing out here?” A feminine voice filtered through it, jittery with static. “You should be back in one of the shelters.”

“I was already on my way to deliver another unicorn with Knight Paladin Portman when he was called back to deal with the intrusion,” Eiswhel said. “He went off and I decided to bring the unicorn myself; not like I could bring her to one of the shelters.”

His tone was so sure and genuine that Nightmare Moon might have believed him if she was in the female knight’s boots – she begrudgingly admitted to being impressed.

“Really? He just left you alone?” The knight questioned with a tone of disapproval.

“She’s a very frail unicorn; quite weak, really.”

Nightmare Moon was thankful she didn’t have a mouth to snicker with as Vinyl sharply glanced up at the human with a look of great offense.

“He isn’t picking up – as usual – so I’ll have to chew his ass out some other time…” The female sighed. “Alright, let me get the door open.”

She clicked off, and the metal door gave an electronic chime before swing outwards. Eiswhel stepped back and adjusted his glasses while Vinyl lowered her head to look hopeless again.

A knight stepped out, shield across her back and a glinting axe hanging from her side; Nightmare Moon didn’t see straps or a bandolier, so she didn’t know how they were kept in place – it must have been human technology.

‘Equestria could have benefited from a partnership. Alas, we’ll just have to do with whatever technology we loot from their bodies. Perhaps I can take a few items before Vinyl and I leave.’

The knight was deliciously unaware, intent on looking straight ahead instead of up, and Nightmare Moon was tempted to reform and drop down like an oversized spider; she refrained from doing so and continued watching as the knight and Eiswhel exchanged a few words – queries on their well-being mostly – before the female waved them inside.

Nightmare Moon waited until Vinyl went inside before moving from her spot and creeping in before the door shut.

‘Excellent.’

Eiswhel was talking to the human and keeping her attention as they walked down a sterile corridor lit up with fluorescent bulbs; the knight didn’t seem too concerned about watching Vinyl – it all seemed like a routine for her.

‘I wonder how many unicorns have come down this hallway?’

She wondered how many were still alive.

While the trio were walking ahead, Nightmare Moon floated over to the wall, and just like Eiswhel said, there was a grate leading to the ventilation system, small and inconspicuous.

‘Perfect.’

Nightmare Moon wasn’t up for phasing through walls to follow the trio; it was too nauseating and she couldn’t see through walls – she saved it for thin obstructions.

Much like the grates bars.

Quiet as air, Nightmare Moon misted over to the bars and phased-

-bumped into them.

‘Really?’

She pushed a few tendrils of purple mist into the bars, ‘scowling’ in irritation at her lack of intangibility.

‘Hmph – I wouldn’t have been able to go through the walls even if I wanted to it seems.’

Normally, she could just go through solid objects like they were liquid, but the material of this world felt to be many times denser.

An unfortunate drawback, but she had to make do; she seeped into the vent through the gaps and misted in the direction of the two humans and Vinyl. Fortunately, Eiswhel and the knight’s voices carried clearly in the confined space, so at least she wasn’t completely blind on where to go.

“So, what are we going to do about the Knight Enforcer?” The female knight’s voice resonated in the vent, catching Nightmare Moon’s full attention. “He and the others… they’re still stuck in the pony world. I tried asking the other Scribes, but they just gave me the usual, ‘it’s complicated’ shit. You’ve always been honest with me, so I thought…”

Eiswhel paused for a long moment before sighing. “We just have to wait until the threat is dealt with. Whether it be through violence or… or other means.”

“Pfft, what other means?” The knight scoffed. “Violence is the only ‘means’ there is. You know what came through the portal, right? I heard one of the Scribes on the radio: it’s that big black horse with wings and a horn – Blight Noon. Try talking down that thing.”

Nightmare Moon ‘growled’.

Eiswhel briefly looked around as if he heard her. “They respond with violence because it is the only thing we’ve shown them. Perhaps it isn’t entirely implausible that we can talk peacefully.”

“Yeah, right…” The female chuckled humourlessly. “Like that’ll happen.”

Nightmare Moon passed by another grate and saw that they were coming up on a ‘T’ at the end of the corridor. She stayed there long enough to see them turn right – the knight snapped at Vinyl to hurry up – before rushing ahead and taking the first right in the vent passage.

She could hear them directly below her now.

“Why should we talk with them anyway?” The knight murmured after a long stretch of silence. “They killed so many of us and destroyed our future. I don’t care what Mason says; we’re not gonna be able to remake a whole greenhouse like the one in the Obelisk Sector.”

“It was an accident.”

“I know, but it doesn’t mean shit because we still lost people and our only working greenhouse is a pile of ashes. Knight Enforcer Caed said-”

“You can’t just listen to him blindly!”

Nightmare Moon heard their steps falter for a second before picking back up.

“I’m sorry,” Eiswhel murmured softly. “I didn’t mean to yell,” Another long pause. “The Knight… Caed is an incredible leader: he created this Order on his own and led us against the enemy to finally end the war, he created this community so that we might rebuild what was destroyed by our forefathers, and he inspires hope and ambition within everyone. Without him, I don’t think any of us would be here.

“But he is obsessed with the Old Tales; he wants to be the paragon they describe so badly that I fear it blinds him to what we’re doing.”

“What does…? But we’re the good guys!” The female protested. “We’re-”

“Are we?” Eiswhel interjected. “The Old Tales, from what I’ve read, hold no accounts of these heroes capturing living, thinking creatures and killing them while they are incapable of defending themselves.”

Nightmare Moon looked down at them through each grate she passed over, listening intently.

“We’re… He’s…” The female didn’t seem to have an answer for this and let out a frustrated growl. “What the shit? You didn’t do anything to stop him. If it was so wrong, then you would have done… I don’t know. You would have done something, but you didn’t.”

“Because I was angry,” Eiswhel stated calmly. “We all lost someone in that explosion; it was a horrific thing to walk through the streets and sift through the ashes, wondering if you were treading on a loved one, or if they were fortunate enough to be far away enough that they were one of the scorched figures frozen in the streets. At least you had something to bury, to say goodbye to.”

The female was quiet for a few moments. “I’m sorry we couldn’t find anything of him.”

Nightmare Moon passed by a grate and briefly saw Eiswhel bowing his head.

“… I’m still angry, Ren. I’m not sure if I can ever forgive the Empress of the ponies for what happened, but… this isn’t us. What we’re doing is not what the Order stands for.”

“But you…”

“I went along with all of it in the beginning because the wounds were raw; humans act without thinking when they’re upset – there are no exceptions. But now… after looking into the eyes of every unicorn we’ve captured… I just feel tired.”

Their footsteps veered off to the left, and Nightmare Moon took the vent passage on her right; she passed by a message scrawled in red chalk. There was another message below it written in yellow chalk.

‘Sybil? How interesting.’

She decided to ignore it and moved on to another grate ahead to confirm they were still walking below her.

“It’ll all be over soon…” 'Ren' said in a softer tone. “We just need more unicorns and then we can live happily. Think about it: we won’t ever have to worry about food or water or anything. It’ll be paradise.”

She sounded like she was trying to reassure herself as well.

“I can only dream of that for now…” Eiswhel replied with a longing tone. “Ah, we’re almost there it seems.”

The knight turned to face him; Nightmare Moon imagined a look of confusion beneath the helmet. “Yeah, I can… see that.”

There was a ‘T’ ahead of Nightmare Moon; she thought for a second before going right and then taking the first left passage she came across. There was another grate ahead that she whisked over to and looked out of.

If her eyes were still physical, they would have widened.

‘Interesting…’

From her vantage point she could see Eiswhel, the knight, and Vinyl go through another metal door, where they were greeted by another knight standing guard and a human wearing a plain white coat. There were four other humans in white coats in the room, but they were preoccupied with the two mechanical contraptions that took up the entire length of one side of the room.

On the left-most side was something that resembled a giant blender – not a comforting thought – or an observational chamber – still not a comforting thought; the see-through glass looked thick and hard to break. There was a stainless-steel table inside the chamber and nothing else. A rectangular section of the chamber was fitted with a steel handle which must have functioned as a door.

There was a metal cap on top of the chamber that sealed it off, but it also held a number of LED lights and curling wires; the main thing that drew her ‘eye’ was an extraordinarily thick cable that ran from the top of the cap all the way to the second machine.

It was considerably smaller than the first machine, perhaps just a foot or so over the tallest human in the room and slightly taller than her if she was in her physical form; it was almost shaped like a coffin, but the face held a staggering amount of lights and wires. The aspect that really caught her attention – in a morbidly fascinated sort of way – were the mechanical limbs that poked out from the side and curled inwards like a spider seeking to drain its prey dry.

A metal discus was on the floor, large enough to hold a human; it was within the mechanical appendages’ grasp, as if one stood there so that they may be embraced by the sharp limbs.

‘That… actually looks impressively intimidating. I’m sure Vinyl is getting a kick out of seeing it.’

“It’s almost cooled down, Eiswhel.”

Nightmare Moon turned her gaze to the centre of the room, where a female in a white coat was speaking to Eiswhel. Vinyl was being roughly pushed forwards by the female knight and the one that had already been in the room – it took all of Nightmare Moon’s will to not burst through the grate and rend them to pieces.

“What are you talking about?” Eiswhel said.

“We’re going to re-open another Fracture for the Knight Enforcer.” The female said, gesturing with one arm for another Scribe to go over to a mechanical station.

“Right here? Natalia, you know the risks of creating a Fracture in this facility.”

“We’re not going to make one in the other locations when the Empress of the ponies is running amok,” Natalia retorted. “I know it’s risky, but we can’t leave Caed without any support. We’re firing up the Spectrum Shifter and getting him and the others back.”

Nightmare Moon perked up as she watched Natalia walk over to the coffin-shaped machine and start busying herself with the wires and switches.

‘So, that’s the Spectrum Shifter. And they’re going to open up a Fracture right here? What fortune. I still need to find the other unicorns, but as soon as they create a Fracture, then I’ll be able to-’

“Hey, prepare that unicorn for processing.”

Though it was impossible, Nightmare Moon felt her blood run cold.

‘What? No!’

Through the grate, she saw the two knights usher Vinyl towards the machines, who immediately dropped her quiet and hopeless façade to start struggling.

“H-hey, watch the goods! Th’ hell are you guys doing?!”

Eiswhel glanced at the scene in alarm and rushed over to Natalia, brushing past a bewildered Scribe that was carrying some papers.

“Natalia, we have enough power to create one without using another unicorn.”

“So?” The female looked over her shoulder with an uncaring expression. “She’s right here, so we might as well use her.”

“She can go with the others.”

“She’s right here,” Natalia stated firmly, features turning annoyed. “Does it really matter? We either use her now, or wait for, what? A day? Three at the most? We’re already wasting enough food keeping the ones we have alive,” She slapped her hand against the side of the machine, shutting a metal panel she had used to gain access to the inner workings. “Lately, you’ve been acting really weird, Eiswhel…”

She briskly walked off, leaving Eiswhel to stand around helplessly, but Nightmare Moon didn’t care for his distress.

‘What are they doing?’ She thought with a twinge of terror anxiety as Vinyl was pushed towards the chamber, and one of the knights pulled the door open. ‘No! I will not lose her again!!’

Reeling back, Nightmare Moon billowed through the gaps in the grate and willed herself back to physicality, reforming so quickly that by the time she landed on the cold floor, more than half of her was tangible again.

One of the Scribes squawked in alarm when they noticed her and shouted a warning, but Nightmare Moon was already galloping across the room with murder in her eyes; the knights pushing Vinyl looked up in alarm and scrambled to draw their weapons.

They wouldn’t have stood a chance on a good day, and Nightmare Moon was running on boundless rage; she tackled the female knight with such force that she was crushed against the wall with the sound of bones cracking beneath crumpled armor and turned to catch the bite of a mace with her shoulder before headbutting the other knight to the floor and viciously smashing their helm in with a few good stomps.

“Wolf!”

“Get behind me!” Nightmare Moon ordered, stepping forwards and using one wing to shove Vinyl to her rear.

The Scribes were shouting to one another in panic and darting about in a panic, all save for two – Eiswhel and Natalia.

Eiswhel was baring a pained grimace as he looked at the two knights while Natalia…

Natalia just looked enraged.

“God damn you!!” She snarled, clenching her fists as if she was about to run over and physically beat Nightmare Moon.

Pushing the entertaining thought aside, Nightmare Moon inhaled and bellowed over the noise, “All of you remain where you are! Don’t even try to escape because I will hunt you down and tear the flesh from your bones!”

As with the civilians from earlier, the Scribes came to a stop and lessened the amount of noise they made, but Natalia continued seething and glaring.

Nightmare Moon turned on her with a snarl, reminding herself that she was the one that ordered Vinyl to be ‘processed’. Whatever it meant, it couldn’t have been good.

“Do you have a death wish, human?!”

Natalia defiantly met her gaze – Nightmare Moon would have been impressed under any other circumstances. “Do you? Once the knights know you’re here, they’re going to carve you into pieces.”

“Well, it’s a good thing they won’t find out before we’re gone then, is it?” Nightmare Moon flashed a bloody smile. “Now, get with the rest of your kind.”

Natalia glowered darkly.

“Please, Natalia…” Eiswhel stepped forward, reaching out to her reassuringly. “Just do as she asks. We’re not like the knights, we can’t just-”

With a flurry of movement, Natalia drew something from out of her pocket.

Nightmare Moon blinked, wary but puzzled at the strange, L-shaped piece of black metal Natalia held in her hands. “What, is that some sort of weapon?”

“Natalia…” Eiswhel said cautiously, freezing in place with a look of shock. “Those were supposed to be melted down. Where did you get that?”

“I’m not going to let you order us around!” The female snarled, looking down the top of the metal… crossbow? “I’ll plant one right between your eyes!”

Nightmare Moon laughed. “Truly? I have a helmet in case you are blind,” She tapped her right forehoof against it for emphasis. “Or do you believe a bolt will be able to kill me before I can come over there and grind every bone in your body to dust?”

“Caed never gives up or surrenders,” Natalia said with utmost conviction. “And neither will I.”

“Well, would you look at that?” Chuckling again, Nightmare Moon turned to the other Scribes, who were cowering in their boots. “Look at your associate willing to risk her life and yours to follow a fool. Isn’t that-”

BANG

“-just prec…”

Nightmare Moon’s ears were ringing from the blast that left the tip of Natalia’s device smoking and she stared at the human in disbelief before glancing down at herself.

At the wound in her shoulder, barely bigger than a bit coin, that a rivulet of blood leaked out from to pool around her hoof.

The pain came a second later after the observation; an intense but tolerable sting of white-hot intensity that caused her muscles to tremble.

“Well…” She looked back at Natalia, thoroughly unimpressed. “I guess you want to see your associates die, is tha-”

There was a flash of light and another ear-splitting explosion followed by the loss of sight in her right eye and pain like someone had hammered a red-hot stake through the socket; she would have screamed if she hadn’t suddenly forgotten how to.

She heard a familiar sound make another sound that held meaning to her, but in a bout of dizziness, Nightmare Moon crashed to the floor and stared up at the ceiling out of her good eye as colours mixed and greyed out and blended into one another.

She could feel her body working to repair the wound, but whatever had penetrated her orbital bone had lodged itself into her brain, and the shock made it difficult to remain conscious.

Just for a moment, it promised.

‘But I have to kill that human.’ She protested.

Sadly, her brain won out, and she was subjected to oblivion for the second time in her life.

Author's Notes:

Kayd Caed was here

And so was Sybil! ;)