Okay. Taking stock of the situation. Normally I'd prefer a chalkboard for this sort of thing, or even a whiteboard, but a quick summary would have to do while I waited for the flood of adrenaline to drain out of me.

Celestia's sister was back. That could mean several things, but given that the sun wasn't up and the moon was still high in the sky, I could only assume they were all bad things. Furthermore, if Nightmare Moon was to be believed, she had banished Celestia to the sun. I didn't even have a clue where to start with getting her back.

The ponies of Equestria likely hadn't a clue what was happening either. I could only imagine the pure anarchy breaking out as I sat there nursing my sore side. The tackle one of those constructs had taken me to the floor with had hurt me more than I thought, but at least my ribs didn't feel broken there. I lit my horn up and began to spread my magic over the sore area, gently massaging the muscles and the nerves to help dull it while I thought.

Without sunlight, the crops will die and the planet will get exponentially colder, not to mention the gravitational changes of the sun and moon cycles being disrupted for such a prolonged period of time. Our planet can handle it for a short term as far as our estimates have ever deduced, but we've never desired to test our theories for obvious reasons, so...there was no telling just how bad this could get possibly in just a few days. I can't be the only one who's realized this either, so that's probably adding to the panic....

Then there was the matter of her banishing Celestia. That meant she overpowered my mentor, but how? How strong is she, really? Actually...wait. How strong is she right now, after dealing with Celestia? If she's exhausted she hid it well. She had every opportunity to kill me if she so chose, or even subdue me and...persuade me to serve her. She had no reason not to.

Hmm...too many variables, not enough facts. Prioritize and simplify. I needed to get to the Everfree Castle and secure the Elements of Harmony, which I could only hope I would be able to use against her. I didn't have time to waste. I needed to get my affairs in order and get my guns.

Priority numero uno, however, was making sure Spike was safe and sound. She threatened him, directly and indirectly, and I was going to stomp a mudhole in her face for it even if it was the last thing I ever did, but first I needed to put him to sleep before he figured anything out or got too curious. Oh, who was I kidding, he already figured it out! He was a smart little guy like that.

I gave myself a massage over my side for another minute before moving on to my bad hindleg, the beginnings of trembling beginning to set in now that I was allowing my body to relax. The gentle, warming sensation of my magic working along the muscles and rubbing over my joints made me coo in delight, and I extended my hindleg further until my ankle joint popped. It hurt a little, but from experience I knew I was better off popping it now than later.

With my cigar finished off, stomped out and disposed of, I exited the meeting hall only to run straight into Rainbow Dash, with Applejack running towards us from a distance. I glanced over at Rainbow Dash and quirked a brow at her, but she just gave me a steady, stern glare.

"How'd you know who she was?" she asked me, stepping a bit closer. "Sure were talkin' it up reeeeal nice with her."

Oh, this mare was not even trying to start something with me. I know she wasn't, because ponies are generally smart enough to not start a fight with me based on my reputation alone, and I wanted to believe Rainbow Dash actually had a brain.

"Okay first off, I'm not in the mood right now. Secondly, in case you didn't notice, I didn't exactly get out of there unscathed. Arrogant bitch managed to make me cut the inside of my lip on my teeth. Third," I said, poking at her chest with my hoof. "I didn't see you coming in there to help me, so you don't have any room to judge me even if I were thinking about siding with her. It's called subterfuge. Sorry if you don't 'get it'."

"Don't even! I saw you shmoozin' with her, everypony did! 'Scuse me if I'm a little suspicious, even if you did get your butt kicked."

"Hah, excuse me?" I said, feeling a little indignant about that jab at my fighting prowess. "I've trained with the Royal Guard. I know how to fight. Actually, how would you know how the fight went in there unless you were watching and not doing diddly-squat, hm? Just fluttering outside a window cowering, maybe?"

"Who're you callin' a coward, hornhead?!" she shouted, coming snout-to-snout with me and bearing a rather vicious snarl.

The flaring of her wings garnered an automatic reaction from me, and I got right up in her face in response. I could've backed off, sure, but Twilight Sparkle's no bitch, and she doesn't back down from anyone. Not even an athletic weather manager!

"And now we're at the racial slurs, what else you got in ya, little mare?!" I shouted back at her.

She was really fortunate AJ showed up when she did. I was about two seconds away from burning the fur off her face with a magic missile for that blatant racism.

"Whoa nelly!" I heard Applejack shout as she rushed over towards us. "Y'all two need ta simmer on down there!"

As Applejack tried to get between us, I simply let out a huff and stepped back, shaking it off. Rainbow Dash wasn't worth the trouble at the moment, and as I found out a little while later, she's...not really as bad a pony as some might be able to make her out to be. She just tends to get really heated, and when she gets heated, her brain just sorta turns off. Then she says and does really stupid stuff.

"But she-!" Rainbow tried to say.

Applejack was having none of it. "Ah heard everythin'. Don't gotta repeat it. Just back off, Rainbow," she said, pressing a hoof gently at Rainbow's chest to make her back up. "This ain't no time fer pointin' hooves at anypony."

"Yeah, I don't have time for this either," I quickly interjected, shaking my head. "First things first. Applejack, where's Spike at?"

"What, ya mean that lil' dragon? I ran him on over to Golden Oaks. He said that was where you two were stayin'. Once he stopped cryin', anyways," she said, pulling the rim of her hat further down over her face. "Couldn't calm 'im down, sorry 'bout that. Ain't the best with kids, an' he was scared for his momma somethin' fierce!"

"You didn't leave him there alone, did you?"

"Nah! Mayor showed up shortly after I did. She was lookin' for ya, and I had 'er look after Spike while I headed out to hunt ya down," she said, shrugging a little. "Figured you'd still be here, if you were anywhere in town."

"Alright. Walk with me then, I'll explain what I can," I said, stepping past both of them and heading straight for the library. "You too, Rainbow Dash. I have questions for you too."

I didn't even bother paying Rainbow Dash's indignant snort any mind. I was too focused on Spike and Nightmare Moon.

Given what little I knew at the time, there wasn't much to tell them, aside from Nightmare Moon's amusement at my vague bit of suffering at the hooves of her constructs. That wasn't my reason behind getting them to come with me however.

Applejack was at the center of getting everypony out of the hall along with Rainbow Dash, and they both deserved my respect for that. I had questions about the injured guards we'd both saved, and with Rainbow seeming so flight-centric, I could only hope that she saw which direction Nightmare Moon's creepy smoke cloud had gone. Otherwise, I'd have to go around asking, and that'd take forever.

It was fortunate that Rainbow was feeling a bit more amicable now compared to just a few minutes prior. Guess she had time to cool her head and actually use it for something other than yelling at me and throwing around false accusations. I certainly wasn't complaining.

Fortunately, she'd seen Nightmare Moon slipping away into the Everfree Forest, but beyond that, she could only point in a general direction she saw the smoke floating in. Unfortunately, according to my estimations, she had been heading in the exact direction of the old castle.

Fucking. Fuck!

We arrived at Golden Oaks shortly after that small revelation, one that hadn't failed to impact me in a way that made me rather anxious. My first priority was my son, however. As soon as I was absolutely sure he was safe, I could dedicate my full mental capacity to the tasks ahead of me. Ponies really underestimate how much a single, glaring concern can hamper someone's ability to process information, or even think at their full potential. It's always there, eating away at you, distracting you and clouding your thoughts.

Mayor Mare tried to get my attention as soon as I entered, but I had a singular goal waiting upstairs in our room. I headed right up there, telling her to give me a moment, and slipped away from everyone for a time to get just a moment's peace. I walked over to Spike's little basket and looked him over. I figured he was asleep.

He sat up in his bedding and looked up at me for a moment, eyes glistening with unshed tears. "Y-you okay, Mom...?"

"Aww, honey...of course I'm okay."

"No yer not," he muttered, sniffling a little. "You're standin' funny, and not usin' your bad leg."

Have I ever mentioned just how smart he is? Perceptive too, though he spends all day around me, so perhaps he's had time to figure out my tells. I made a habit of not lying to him whenever possible, but some things I wish he wasn't smart enough to figure out. In all fairness my hindleg wasn't particularly hurting, but it's become a sort of subconscious habit of mine to not stand on it after really stressing it. Seriously, it really hurts when my ankle joint gives out on me, and I don't want to strain it any further than I already do.

"Okay, you're right. I'm not okay. But I will be," I said, moving to lay down next to his basket and nuzzle his cheek with my own. "Remember that time I broke my snout? I was sparring with the Royal Guard, like I usually do?"

He wrapped his small arms around my head and hugged me in response, giving a few weak nods. "Yeah! You sounded funny and hurt a lot."

"Pff-yeah, I did! But I got better, right?"

"Well, yeah..."

I smirked and nudged him with my cheek, making him flop onto his butt in his bedding. "Then I'm totally gonna be fine this time too! Your Mom's tough, remember?"

"Uh-huh! I know." he said, cracking the smallest of smiles as I pushed my snout against his chest and bowled him over onto his back.

Sadly I couldn't tickle him by blowing raspberries against his belly anymore, what with those scales of his, and they'd only get thicker and more solid as he got older. What I could do to him, however....

"GYAAA-hahaheheheheh!!"

The sudden nomming at his belly with my blunt teeth and me snuffling at him had him in hysterics, as it often did. Despite those scales, he could prove to be quite ticklish! My hooves got in on the action by going after his sides, and he flailed at me weakly to try and push me away. Alas, his efforts were in vain!

When I finally stopped, I laid my head over his belly and chest, smiling at him and just relaxing for that moment before sitting up and gently lifting his blankets up and covering him with them.

"Alright, Spike. I've got to take care of some things, but I'd like you to stay here. Take a nap if you want, or read some of the books in the library."

"But I'm not tired!"

I sighed. "I know hun, but I can't take you everywhere with me today," I said, glancing out of one of the windows. "Tonight."

"Aww...." he whined, pouting a little.

"I mean it Spike, you have to stay here in the library. You saw her," I said, frowning at the memory of the mocking alicorn. "You're safer indoors."

He certainly didn't like it, but he at least agreed with me enough to stay put. He wasn't sleepy though, so I brought him downstairs, where a lot more ponies had gathered, much to my surprise. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were still there, and now Pinkie, Rarity, and even Fluttershy had shown up. Numerous other townsfolk I didn't know were flooding the lobby as well, and Mayor Mare was starting to look overwhelmed as she tried to organize all of them.

Welp. That was definitely my sort of thing, so I quickly went downstairs with Spike in tow and began to calm everyone down, giving the large mob some orders while the five mares I'd actually gotten a bit more accustomed to stayed off to the side. I'm not sure why, but they were lingering.

I sent Applejack to check in with the town's farmers and merchants, while Rainbow Dash volunteered to check in with the town's weather pegasi to make sure they all knew what was going on. Fluttershy had apparently already checked on her animals and, aside from all of them being thrown off by it still being dark out, they were all behaving well enough. Pinkie Pie was there because 'everyone else was', and Rarity was checking in because she simply wanted to help with whatever she could.

Lacking any other significant ideas for what Pinkie and Rarity could be doing, I asked them both to go and help organize the other citizens going door-to-door, reassuring the populace as to what was happening and what was being done about the abnormal lack of sun overhead. Fluttershy offered to keep an eye on Spike, after I explained what I'd be up to.

If Mayor Mare had any issues with me taking charge like that, she certainly didn't say anything. I'm sure this wasn't something she was prepared to deal with, and I know how being at the center of that can be really overwhelming.

I quickly learned from her that my two guards were at the hospital, and I rushed over to check in on them. The hospital itself wasn't that far away, but with everyone running around asking questions in the dead of 'night', well...I got stopped a lot. Funny how during a crisis everyone suddenly knows who the Princess's protege is. Then again, most of them might just know me from taking charge in the library. Not like I answered a lot of their questions, I just kinda gave a general synopsis and sent them all out to spread the word.

I had two reasons to check in on them. For one, I needed a weapon I could fall back on if I ran out of bullets. They had hoofblades I could make good use of, and the weaponry and armor of the Royal Guard was infinitely superior to anything the police had in their repertoire...well, when it came to classic weaponry anyways. Secondly, I needed to gather more information before I could put together any kind of solid theory about Nightmare Moon's strength at this point in time.

With the way they were spasming before Applejack picked them up and got them out of there, I also had suspicions as to the nature of that lightning she cast on them.

They held no qualms with letting me in to see them. Despite being temporarily knocked out, they were both conscious and stable. However, that spasming I'd seen earlier hadn't abated, and seemed to be causing them no small amount of pain and discomfort.

A simple quick analysis of their bodies told me everything I needed to know. Hunter's Bolt, a fairly easy-to-cast alternative form of the far more powerful Lightning spell. Specifically designed as a way for unicorns to help hunt animals and criminals down with non-lethal force, it shocks the body with a low-power bolt of electricity, but the magic inherent in the spell lingers in the muscles of the victim. It can be overcome given enough time, but judging by how they were still having trouble controlling their limbs and how they were randomly convulsing, she had to have put plenty of power into it to make sure they stayed out of her way.

I took the time to remove the remnants of the spell from their aching bodies, since the doctors didn't seem to fully understand what they were dealing with. Not surprising, the spell's so old that most ponies don't even remember it exists, outside of the rare Equestrian big-game hunters.

They both visibly relaxed and let their muscles loosen now that they could finally afford to do so. They hadn't even been able to drink water or eat food while under the spell's effects, and I can confirm with one-hundred percent accuracy that they went right for their water cups at their bedsides once they were sure they weren't going to send water flying everywhere.

Once they'd both calmed down and had settled in, I turned to one of them and firmly crossed my right foreleg over my chest, my posture snapping to attention and my head held high. The Royal Guard was heavy on tradition, and what I had in mind was no exception.

A guard's weapon is sacred, made for him, crafted to be wielded by him. The same goes for their armor. To allow another to wield your weapon...some would call it one of the greatest insults, to oneself and to the Royal Guard as a whole. Without proper procedures being shown, a Royal Guard could risk being discharged on the spot for such blatant disrespect to his fellow guardsponies.

"Do you entrust your weapon to me, to be wielded with honor in the service of Equestria and Princess Celestia?" I asked him, never once breaking eye contact. I could not waver in my show of conviction.

He stared at me for a tense moment, judging me, examining me...then slowly eased himself out of his bed. The attending nurses tried to help him, but he wouldn't have any of it. It was impossible to recognize him, in or out of his armor, thanks to the enchantments placed upon them. Regardless, I'd been training with them, sparring with them and exercising with them every week of my life since I became Celestia's student. I was sure he at least recognized me, not because of my status, but because of my familiarity among the guards in the castle.

He looked me over for a moment, then glanced over to his partner, who was now sitting up more in his bed to get a better view of what was going on. The standing guard nodded to him, his wings fluttering and tucking in against his sides.

"Do you bear witness to this?" he asked.

"I do." the other pegasus said.

He turned back to me and, as ceremony would dictate, he stood at attention and composed himself before me.

"My name is Freewind, and I recognize this pony as being worthy of bearing our burden," he stated with intense conviction, glancing over to his hoofblade placed among the other parts of his armor. "My blade is yours until we meet again, Conscript."

I bowed before him and picked up his hoofblade with my magic, floating it over to myself and holding out the foreleg I'd crossed over my chest. I slid the hoofblade sheath over my foreleg, the armored front of it meant to act as a small shield as well as a sheath for the blade hidden inside of it. It wasn't a unicorn hoofblade, but it would do. I tightened and adjusted the straps until it was fit snugly on my leg before setting my hoof down, meeting his stern gaze once more.

He gave me a snappy salute. "Ambulare cum Solis fortitudo."

Walk with the Sun's might. An appropriate saying for the Royal Guard if ever there was one. I did not hesitate to salute him in turn. It was unnecessary if you asked me, but tradition was tradition, and it ran strong in the veins of every Royal Guard, as sure as their blood.

The nurses quickly urged him back into his bed once his legs began to shake from the sheer exhaustion his muscles were feeling, and I took the chance to leave and head out to prepare for dealing with Nightmare Moon. While my theories weren't fully proven, I had enough information to craft a decent hypothesis.

Nightmare Moon was weakened in the process of banishing Celestia.

If she had the kind of power that alicorns have, then what purpose would she have for me? More than that, why didn't she get rid of the guards to send a message? I was powerful, but I could never match the raw might I've read about in books regarding Celestia. Plus, if she was telling the truth, she overpowered Celestia. How powerful must she be?

With a hoofblade secured, I began my trek straight back to the library, stopping ponies as I went. I was going to be heading for the Everfree regardless, but I wanted to be absolutely sure Rainbow was on the money about what she'd seen. Turns out she was.

When I reached the library, Fluttershy was sitting with Spike, reading him a Daring Do book. For how shy she seemed to be, she didn't have any problem keeping him interested. I certainly had no complaints. I simply gave them both a brief greeting and headed straight up to my room, pulling our suitcase out and opening it up.

I took my two pistols out and examined them closely, rapidly going through the procedure of checking the chambers and the barrel for any obstructions or dust before taking the boxes of bullets out. A small cloth pouch I'd brought along for them was quickly filled as I emptied the boxes into it, and I tied it securely around my waist. Ponies sometimes questioned my choice in firearm since there were more advanced guns available, but those modern pistols had a tendency to jam. I stick with revolving chambers because they don't, and the ability to levitate and float things around makes it easy to rapidly reload them.

I had one other gun hidden away, deep under everything else in the suitcase, but it was only meant as a precaution. I didn't think I'd actually have to make use of it, but with Nightmare Moon's appearance...yeah. I should probably bring that along too.

I carefully reached in and cradled a much bigger, higher-caliber revolver from beneath my underwear, along with a single small box of bullets and an even smaller pouch than the one I already had at my side. I poured the revolver bullets into the pouch and tied it to the other one, keeping six of them out to load them into the revolver.

This thing was my game-changer, under normal circumstances. Pistols not doing the trick? Here, try to deal with this monstrosity! Somethin' downright sexy about holding this beast in my hooves...mmm. A photographer could've made money off the poses I struck when I first bought it.

That was when I heard a commotion downstairs. With my more keen sense of hearing, I could hear multiple voices, all of them familiar to me. Why were they all back here? They had jobs to do!

I quickly pulled out my three-holster pleather straps and slipped them around myself, the two holsters for my pistols resting just under my chest, semi-hidden right next to the insides of my forelegs. The holster for my revolver sat at my left side, right next to the pouches my bullets were in.

Heading downstairs, I was greeted with the sight of all of them conversing, with Pinkie absent from the gathered group. I looked them all over in confusion, before walking down the stairs and looking over to Spike.

"Why do you have your guns, Mom?"

Oh, I didn't want to answer that. I really didn't. Still, he was my son, and he deserved an explanation why mommy might not be coming back. I had no illusions about this. If I was wrong, or if Nightmare decided I was no longer entertaining, there was a very real chance I'd be dead by the end of the day. Night. You know what I mean.

"I'm being careful, Spike. You saw her."

"Yeah," he muttered, curling up a little closer to Fluttershy. "She was really scary."

"Mmmhmm. She could also hurt lots of ponies," I said, walking over to him and gently stroking my hoof over his small spines. "So I need to track her down before she gets the chance. Plus, I need to get Celestia back."

I'm sure he wanted to argue about it, no doubt out of his concern for me. Nightmare Moon wasn't the sort of pony you wanted to get angry, especially from a child's perspective. She was the mare of darkness that would gobble you up on Nightmare Night if you didn't appease her with sweet treats!

Heh. I just remembered the time I scared him witless by accident by casting an illusion over myself to resemble how she looked in his little book. I had intended to just confiscate some of his candy, but he screamed loud enough for our neighbors to hear him. Then I spent an hour consoling him, ending in us going out to get ice cream. I still believe he played me like a fiddle after he realized it wasn't actually Nightmare Moon coming to gobble his backside or something...and he was only three!

He relented when he realized just how serious I was. He had no understanding of exactly what I was capable of, but I was his Mother. He knew 'The Look' that all Mothers have. Even my own Mom has it, and despite her betrayal of me in my childhood, I still flinch on the rare occasion she actually has a reason to look at me like that. I swear, it's like feeling a laser burning a hole into you.

The other ponies in the room, however, did not seem affected by my motherly ways.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Alone? As in, you're gonna find and stop the great mighty alicorn that's been sealed in the moon for a thousand years by yourself kind of alone?"

Oh, Rainbow Dash. Ever the skeptic, that one. Not that I blamed her. I mean if I felt like I had the time to wait for assistance from Canterlot, I probably would've. How unfortunate that I was working off the assumption that she was weakened from her confrontation with Celestia. Who knew how quickly she could recover?

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm planning." I said slowly, eyeing all of them as they began to gather around me. "Where's Mayor Mare?"

"Oh, she went back to City Hall," Fluttershy chimed in, slowly standing up and hoofing over the book she had been reading to Spike, so he could keep reading on his own. "She said she had a lot of work to do after what happened."

"I'd imagine. Alright then," I said, looking around at them. "With that out of the way...why are you all here? I thought you were all taking care of things?"

"Oh, that stuff? Well, we were gonna get to work, but..." I heard AJ say.

A loud cannon blast from outside quickly interrupted us, and I reflexively reached for one of my pistols with a hoof and pointed it at the front door, then one of the windows next to it.

"What the F-!" I began to say, before the fact that Spike was nearby froze the word in my throat. "Fffffmmmph-What was that?!"

Rainbow's sudden peal of laughter made me falter for a moment. Rarity and Fluttershy didn't think it was all that funny, both of them backing away at the sight of the gun in my hoof. I didn't fault them for being afraid of it. Guns were dangerous, and with how pure and nice their lives have been out here, they probably never saw one before now.

Applejack came up next to me, pushing my hoof down towards the ground. "Hey now, cool yer horn unicorn! You're more jumpy than Winona in a thunderstorm. I was about ta say, we're here 'cuz Pinkie Pie's got it covered."

I slowly holstered my pistol and stared at all of them in confusion. "How could she possibly be doing everything you all had to do?"

"Sugarcube, when you live in Ponyville, you learn two very important things 'bout Pinkie Pie. First is, she makes a point of makin' sure she knows everypony, and I mean everypony, that ever comes inta town. Second thing is," she said, grinning a little. "Don't ever question the crazy stuff she gets up to. Yer head'll hurt a lot less if ya don't."

It wasn't more than a few moments after that that I heard someone shouting over a megaphone about a 'partysplosion', followed by another cannon blast. I was utterly confused about the cannon still, and I'm pretty sure Applejack noticed.

"Party cannon. Shoots confetti and streamers."

"Party...cannon?"

"Mmmhmm."

"As in, a weapon. That shoots bits of paper."

"And whole parties, if she gets her calculations right."

"You mean party supplies, or...wait. Calculations? That mare does calculations for this stuff? How could she calculate-?"

Applejack sighed in exasperation. "What'd I just tell ya? Don't question it."

"B-but-!" I tried to say, utterly flabbergasted by the very concept of it.

"Darling, perhaps I am more aware of your advanced education than the other ponies in this room," Rarity began to say from off to the side. "So I have to say that this is one problem you will not be able to solve. You really should just let it go."

"Beeeesides, who cares how Pinkie does what she does as long as it isn't hurting anypony?" I heard Rainbow Dash say from up above. She was flying upside-down, as if she were reclining on thin air. "Everypony in Ponyville knows a Pinkie Pie party's the place to be! As soon as everyone hears about it, that's where they'll be, and then the news'll spread to everyone, and that'll be that."

I think I needed another cigar. Shame Spike was around.

Whatever. As long as the work was getting done, I didn't really care how in this case. I didn't get a respite, unfortunately. They were all strangely concerned about me having those guns on my body, and the hoofblade I had on my right foreleg. More than that though, they seemed very worried about me going into that forest.

I heard the usual spiel about the place. The old superstitions, all of which I shrugged off. There were superstitions and there were facts, and I already knew all of the facts. My magic and my weapons would see me through. If either of those guards had been close to my size I probably would've borrowed their armor as well, but alas, all I had was my suit.

"Alright, well...if all that's taken care of, what are all of you doing here instead of going home, or...I dunno, going to Pinkie's party?" I asked.

"Well, I dunno about anyone else, but I came back because Pinkie told me to. Pretty insistent about it too." Rainbow Dash responded, dropping down to the floor once more and taking a seat at the library's reading table.

Rarity and Applejack both nodded in agreement, uttering confirmations that they had also gotten the same instructions from Pinkie Pie. I assumed that they all must've been friends with her in some way, but looking back, it was more likely that they were willing to listen because things were a little tense and confusing at the time.

"I wonder why she would do that?" Fluttershy uttered from off to the side.

"Because Twilypants is gonna do something silly and irresponsible!"

I looked up to the upstairs bedroom door, and there was Pinkie Pie. Just standing there like it's no big thang. I pointed up at her for a moment, then turned to Applejack, my mouth hanging open, lacking the ability to speak on the subject. Applejack just slowly shook her head.

"Don't bother."

If I had something close by to bang my head against, I would've done it.

Rainbow shrugged a little. "I'd say what she's planning is more stupid and idiotic than silly and irresponsible."

"Duh! She was gonna go into the Everfree Forest all on her own!" Pinkie half-shouted, darting down to join the small crowd that we made up. "No way we can let her go in there by herself!"

"Well! I do believe that is a sentiment I can agree with." I heard Rarity say.

"Eeyup!"

"Darn right!"

"I-it would be really bad...if we just let you go by yourself."

Oh, Tartarus no!

"Excuse me? You're all civilians. A farmer, a weather manager, an animal shelter employee, a baker and a fashionista," I said calmly, shaking my head. "Why would any of you be so willing to go into that forest with me?"

"Pff, we can't let our new friend go alone!" Pinkie said with the kind of enthusiasm I'd only come to expect from a child. "If we did, then we would be the irresponsible ones!"

Aaand they all agreed with her. Grand.

"I think it's a bit early to be calling me a friend. All of you barely know me." I said slowly, hoping against all hope that they would back down. They didn't.

"Pff, that doesn't matter! You were a pretty cool gal when I ran into you." Rainbow said, waving it off.

"Ya took time ta have a meal with me an' my family. Yer alright in my book!"

"We still have plans for tea! I would be remiss to let you throw your life away in a scary forest."

Fluttershy fidgeted a little and scuffed her hoof against the floor. "You were...nice. It was nice having you over to my cottage."

"And I still need to make it up to you for scaring you and your kid last night!"

"Alright. Time to take off the kid gloves," I said, stamping a hoof firmly against the floor. "None of you are coming with me."

I began to pace back and forth, shaking my head. "You are all untrained, inexperienced, and above all else, you. Are all. Civilians. It's my duty, among many other duties, to make sure ponies like you stay out of harm's way. You would all just be in the way."

I hated being so blunt with them, since they were just being nice, but their genuine concern was unfounded...or so I thought at the time. I suppose I was only lucky that my bluntness didn't deter them. Thanks to Spike.

"M-Mom, would you really die in there?" he asked from off to the side.

"No honey, of course not," I said, smirking. "You know what I can do."

"But what about when you find Nightmare Moon?"

I didn't know what to say to that. I've never been the type to boast and bluster about myself, especially if I'm going to try to say something that is either a complete lie, or it's something I can't be entirely sure about. This, more than anything else, was something I just couldn't contradict him about. What was I supposed to do? Promise him I'd come back? What then, if I didn't?

"I don't know, Spike. But when I do find her, I'll do everything I can to stop her."

"Yeah, but...but she was stronger n' Celestia," he mumbled, twiddling his clawtips together. "What if she hurts you really bad?"

"Spike..." I muttered, taking a deep breath to steady myself. "This is something I have to do-"

"But you don't gotta do it alone!" he said, pointing to the other mares in the room. "They can help!"

"Spike, I can't..."

"Why not?!"

"Because it's dangerous!"

"All the more reason why you should be letting us come along, wouldn't you agree?" Rarity suddenly chimed in, stepping between both of us. "Surely us escorting you through that dreadful forest would put your son's mind at ease, hmm~?"

Oh, you clever bitch. She managed to save me from explaining to Spike why I needed to do this even if I might die, and at the same time used my son's concern against me to persuade me to let them come along. I didn't know whether to punch her or just slap her. Not that there's much of a difference when it comes to us ponies. Hard hooves and whatnot.

"...Yes," I said, forcing a small smile. "You know what? You're right. An escort is a good idea. So good in fact, I think we're all ready to go right this moment!"

I looked to Spike again and picked him up in my magic, pulling him closer to me. "But first...I need a promise from my little drake that he'll behave himself and stay right here in this library. He can be a good drake, right?"

He knew that tone in my voice. That was the 'don't fuck this up or I'll tan your hide' tone. All Mothers knew it, in some way, shape or form. Little children know not to defy their Mothers when that tone came into play. It was kind of like when you use someone's middle name: they know they fucked up. They just didn't know how much. Yet.

Once I secured a fairly solid promise from him, I set him down and gave him a nuzzle before heading out of the library, with the five mares in tow. This didn't sit well with me, and I certainly didn't need to bring them along just because Spike insisted, but...at the same time, I didn't feel like arguing with them about it again. That was just a waste of time.

I said nothing to them until we reached the edge of the forest, aside from a brief confirmation that Rainbow would be taking us right to where Nightmare Moon entered the forest at. I'm fairly sure they could tell that I was fuming over the current situation, and really I was. They were being annoyingly persistent and suicidal and I hated not being able to dissuade them. Only so much you can do against such stubbornness...aside from maybe using some sleeping spells on them, but that would be abuse of my magic, aaand that's illegal.

Maybe it's strange that I'd be concerned with doing illegal things. Usually I'm not. However, most crimes I commit I endeavor not to leave witnesses or trails they can track me down with. This isn't exactly an extreme crime, but it's still a pretty major one. You don't abuse magic, especially in my position.

I stepped forward and turned to face them all, looking them over for a moment before sighing. "Nothing I can do to talk any of you out of it, huh?"

A chorus of confirmations greeted me, and I just gritted my teeth. Fucking stupid ponies...!

"Fine. If anyone asks, you all followed me into the forest because you were worried about me. Got it?"

"U-uhm...yes." I heard Fluttershy mumble.

"Why? What's the big deal?" Rainbow Dash said from up above, coming down to land alongside the others.

"Because I borrowed this hoofblade from a Royal Guard. If any of you die on my watch, it'd be a stain on his honor as much as it'd be a stain on mine," I explained as simply as I could, re-checking the straps on my hoofblade to make sure they were secure still. "Not to mention the fact that I myself would have failed to protect you! I'm sure you've all got families that care about you, so why are all of you so insistent on coming with me?!"

"'Cuz yer bein' a dang fool fer one," Applejack suddenly chimed in. "What right do you have ta tell us what we can and can't do?"

"I'm Celestia's protege for one."

"Aside from that!" She pointed back towards Ponyville with a hoof, staring straight into my gaze. "Yer leavin' yer kin behind 'cuz ya feel like if ya don't do this, he's gonna suffer a whole lot more, right? Well...family means a lot to us Apples too. Ah'm sure ya get what I mean by that."

I did, after a moment of consideration. I suppose she'd given it as much thought as I did, the moment I got the chance to really sit down and let my brain process what was happening. No sunlight, no crops, no food. No income for her or the entirety of her family worldwide. That'd motivate any farmer into action as long as they had the gumption to step outside what they're used to in hopes of making a difference.

"Plus!" I heard Pinkie shout from behind me, just before a pony-sized weight flopped onto my back, almost making my legs buckle under me. "You've got a really bad attitude. We'll be just fine! You're super-strong, right?"

"Please get off my back," I hissed through gritted teeth, every muscle in my body coiled like a spring. "I almost threw you head-first onto the ground like a sack of potatoes."

She did as I asked, hopping off of me in an instant. "The strongest! Rainbow Dash is the fastest flyer in Equestria too."

The blue pegasus puffed her wings a little, practically basking in the praise as if the sun itself were shining down upon her. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"Fine," I said, shaking my head slowly. "I don't have time to argue with any of you-" moronic, mentally handicapped "-ponies. Come on."

The moment I turned to step into the forest, they all cheered (save for Fluttershy) and trotted ahead of me. I swear to Celestia, if the view back there wasn't so nice, I would've been way more pissed off than I actually was. As it stood, I was just vaguely heated...and nursing a minor ache in my hindleg from when Pinkie hopped on my back. Seriously, that mare has no sense of personal space!

Not that I was complaining or anything. She was cute...in her own way. Sorta chubby in all the right places, that attractive kind of pudge that makes you just wanna wrap your legs around her and give her a big hug, maybe snuggle into her a little. Seriously, chubby mares? So warm....

Soon the dense canopy of the forest enveloped us, and our eyes had to adjust to the overwhelming darkness the forest had been covered in. It wouldn't have been such a problem if the sun were out, but as it stood, the somewhat bright moonlight only illuminated certain parts of the forest, leaving us walking in absolute darkness in a lot of places along the established path, overgrown as it was. If it weren't for Rarity and I being able to light our horns up, the forest would've actually been difficult just to walk through.

The layout of the Everfree Forest is deceptive at first glance. The place itself is teeming with magic, and that makes some ponies believe that the forest restructures itself just to confuse ponies that slowly become more and more lost until the forest consumes them entirely, never to be heard from again. That's not how magic works obviously. The reality is, this place is confusing because it looks so flat when you look at it from overhead, but it really isn't.

Case in point: where we were shortly after entering the forest. It was only about twenty minutes in, but we were curving around a fairly tall hill leading down along the side of a cliff. Judging by how it looked over the edge, this cliffside had gone through a lot of erosion over the years from rainfall. Plus, with the lack of a canopy on one side of us, we had plenty of light to be able to see for the time being.

"...Nobody knows~!" I heard Rainbow Dash say, once I started paying attention to them again. "But they say that ponies that go into this forest...never. Come. Out!"

Seriously, why are they talking like this whole situation is no big deal at all? It was actually getting on my nerves. Then I heard the sound of solid stone and dirt cracking, and I felt the ground under us shift just a little bit.

"Oh, shi-!"

The last thing I saw was a wisp of star-filled darkness floating from the broken cliff face, before I landed side-first on the slanted ground beneath me. I tumbled and rolled faster and faster, and a dazed attempt to halt my momentum led to my bad hindleg giving out and causing me to go head-over-hooves a few times, clonking my head against the ground and screwing up what little sense I had of up from down.

I banged my head several times on the way down, stars and lights flashing before my eyes with every impact while my ears began to ring and completely blank out the sound from my surroundings. It wasn't until I landed flat on my front and began to slide further down the hill. I blindly pawed at the ground with my hooves in hopes of catching on something, but there was nothing but dirt crumbling under me.

Suddenly there was nothing beneath my backside, and I reflexively clung to the ground as my body weight lurched back and down, trying to pull me the rest of the way off. I could feel myself slipping, but with the world spinning before my eyes and my brain utterly muddled by how rattled around it'd gotten, I couldn't even use my magic to teleport back up onto the cliff. I didn't even know exactly where the cliff was!

Before I could fall all the way over, I saw a blurry image of an orange pony in front of me, and powerful hooves snapped down over my own, holding me up while her hindlegs dug into the dirt more.

"Twilight! C'mon, snap out of it, ya gotta...!" I heard someone say, dull and muffled to the point of almost being impossible to hear. "Okay, I just gotta find a way ta..."

The world was still spinning, but judging from how she was staring away from me and what happened next, I think she was looking up at the sky. Just trying to turn my head made me feel nauseous, and I could hear myself groan in cranial agony and confusion.

"Okay sugarcube, ya gotta listen to me here," she said, tightening her grip a little when I slipped just a little bit. "Ya gotta trust me, and let go."

"You fuggin'-" I slurred back at her, gurgling a little as the world began to spin even faster the moment I tried to lift my head. "-serious?"

"You'll be just fine. You just gotta let go," she said, cracking what I believe was a smile. "It's the honest truth. Ya trust me?"

"Nnnoh, not really...!" I hissed out, closing my eyes to alleviate how much my equilibrium was thrown off.

"Gee, thanks," she muttered, her tone flat and unamused. "But you gotta trust me now!"

"No, just lemme..." I mumbled, trying to pull myself up again.

"Whoa!" she suddenly cried out. "Knock it off! You keep that up and we're both goin' over!"

She was right. I could hear the dirt and rock beneath us both giving way just a little bit, the cliffside crumbling under my hindhooves more with every attempt I made to dig them in and push myself back up.

"Listen to me Twilight," I heard Applejack mutter, the seriousness of her tone drawing what little focus I had straight to her. "You fall right now, and you'll be safe. But if you don't let go, we're both goin' down together, an' we'll either be really badly hurt or dead. Trust me, an' you'll be safe."

I'll be the first to admit that I have some serious trust issues, especially when it comes to strangers. Is it really that surprising though? Trust is what gets you blindsided in the kind of unique illegal industry I wound up being a part of, among many others. Trust led to one of my partners taking a bullet to the back of the head while I fought my way out of a shady warehouse with nothing but a pistol and six spare bullets.

Yet, in this moment, just from the tone of her voice...I felt like I could trust her. I clenched my eyes shut and let go of her, and she let me go in turn.

I felt the brief weightlessness of freefall for only a few seconds before two sets of forelegs caught me mid-air, cradling my semi-limp body in their grip. I could barely make out the familiar luxuriously long pink mane of one of them, and the rainbow-colored mane of the other. Huh. Applejack wasn't kidding. She could've said they'd catch me though. Kinda dumb that she didn't.

I soon found myself sitting on solid ground once more, and I immediately began to sway to one side. The others were already down there, and while Rainbow went up to see if Applejack needed some assistance, Fluttershy braced me and began to touch over my forehead and look closely into my eyes. I vaguely heard her ask Rarity to come over and give her some more light, and some distant part of my sensible mind acknowledged that she sounded surprisingly authoritative in that moment.

She checked my eyes and examined my head. I think it was raw luck that I didn't have some solid stone embedded in my skull, or any fractures to speak of. I almost didn't hear her tell me to lay down and close my eyes for a while. It certainly helped. I didn't recall anything about her being a trained nurse....

"Twilight," I heard Applejack say from behind me, her hooves clopping lightly against the dirt as she stepped closer to me. "Us Apples, we pride ourselves on our family and our honesty. You'd best remember that next time you decide ta question whether or not I'm tellin' ya the honest truth."

I just held my head and nodded once. "Duly noted."

It wasn't all that clear how much time had actually passed, but we all stayed in one location for a time until we heard a loud roar from a manticore that was...alarmingly close to where we were at. It quickly shut Rainbow's bragging right up, and despite my woozy condition and Fluttershy checking in on me every few minutes to see how well I could see things, we picked ourselves up and continued moving forward.

She protested when I pulled out my bottle of painkillers and a water bottle I'd procured from the library's kitchen, since there's no telling yet whether or not I had a concussion and medicine like that could potentially do something bad to me, but since I wasn't hearing colors or seeing smells or becoming extremely photosensitive or anything like that, I was decently sure I'd be alright. Besides, my ankle joint was throbbing and so was my head. Some relief was more than welcome.

Then we ran into the manticore. Everything was still flip-floppy in my eyes and I was still having trouble standing up straight, and suddenly there was this huge hulking lion-like beast with a scorpion's tail standing in our way, irate and very unhappy to see any of us.

I tried to tell them all to back down, and Fluttershy at least stayed out of it, but even Rarity had thrown herself into the fray, boldly rushing up and bucking it right in the face. Did they not know what those jaws could do, what that poison in the manticore's stinger could do to them?! That stuff was a paralytic toxin that could shut your lungs and even your heart down in mere minutes!

My magic just wouldn't come to me. All I could do was charge my horn in a threatening display, even as Rainbow began to fly around it and AJ was thrown off of the beast's back. What was Pinkie doing during all of this? No fucking clue, I couldn't see straight!

I also couldn't stand up straight it seemed, because Fluttershy suddenly wasn't there next to me. She'd been trying to grab their attention the entire time things began to unfold with the manticore, but they weren't listening to her. To be fair, she wasn't calling out to them very loudly either, so it's not shocking that they didn't really hear her. At least I knew that my hearing was returning to normal, instead of the fuzzy almost-nothing that it was mere minutes prior.

I could scarcely make out the scene before me, with Rainbow whizzing around the manticore as if it were a mere plaything...but then, she was intercepted by that tail. My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach as the worst possible scenario played itself out in front of me, and the rush of adrenaline was doing wonders to help me focus. I took a tentative step forward and got no further before Fluttershy got between us and the manticore itself.

Then she turned and calmly walked towards it. I wanted to stop her, but I could barely keep myself stable on my hooves, much less charge forward to save the crazy mare. However, she didn't really need saving. In my jumbled head, the fact that she can talk to animals just sorta slipped my mind.

So when I watched her nuzzle the manticore's paw, and it willingly lifted it for her, I was rather surprised. So was everypony else. We watched her yank out what looked like a very large timberwolf tooth from the manticore's paw, and in response it embraced her and began...was that seriously purring? I think I heard purring!

We all walked past, with Rainbow helping me along, but I paused to wait for Fluttershy. Once she was done with the manticore, she walked up next to me and acted as my brace, though I wasn't so bad after what just happened.

I looked over at her and tilted my head a little. "How'd you know that would work?"

"Because I could tell she was in pain," she responded, flashing a bright smile. "Sometimes all it takes is a little kindness, Twilight."

It was a sweet thought, truth be told. The idea that being kind was all that ponies really needed to get along in life. It even made me crack a little smile. If only life had been that simple for me while I was growing up.

We trekked along in amicable silence from that point on, though for how long I wasn't entirely sure. Thus far, my status as their protector on this voyage was in question as far as I was concerned, and my pride had taken a significant hit. Not twenty minutes in and I get a head injury? I was starting to feel better now, the world wasn't spinning like a top anymore, and I could at least use my magic but still.

I hadn't seen Nightmare's presence with the manticore, but it wouldn't have surprised me. It almost seemed too perfect in terms of timing. We're sent over a cliff first, and I know I saw her wispy starry smoke-stuff there just before the ground gave way, and then like ten minutes later we run across a manticore while I'm incapacitated.

What we stumbled across next however? That didn't concern me so much compared to how it was resolved, and it was certainly by no action of my own, once again.