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Nightmare Night and Nyx

by RealityCheck

Chapter 23

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Chapter 23

The throne room emptied of conspirators, pouring out in pursuit of Nyx. They didn't bother with standing a guard; either their task would be done within the hour or it would all be over anyway. The spell-trap would last at least that long. They left the bound and battered Changeling at the foot of the throne, and magically sealed the doors behind them. The enormous double doors sealed with a boom.

Buzz looked up at the Princesses and the Elements. "I'm sorry, your Highnesses," he said. "I tried to fool them, but the lanterns--" he gave a cough and groaned in pain.

"It's all right," Celestia said consolingly. "It was bravely done, all the same."

Twilight looked down at the fallen Changeling in wonderment. "Why.... why did you help us?" she asked.

Buzz looked up at her and was about to speak, when there were two flares of green fire in the immobilized crowd. Two ponies suddenly transformed into Changelings; a mare and a small filly. They galloped to where Buzz lay on the floor. "Daddy!" Flitter cried, flinging herself at the prostrate stallion. Flitter curled up into his neck and sobbed out apologies while Trill nuzzled him and began to fuss and chew at the ropes binding him.

He looked up at Twilight and smiled through his bruises. "Because I'm a father," he said. "I could never watch another parent suffer like that."

"Wait-- they're not trapped!" Applejack exclaimed. "How are they not trapped?"

"Because," Spell Nexus said unhappily from his place by the buffet table, "the trap isn't set for Changelings. It's set for alicorns." He looked about the ballroom at the imprisoned crowd, who were thankfully not as loud in their panic as might be expected. "With some obvious modifications to entrap regular ponies as well. The only reason Nyx escaped was because the spell was designed to exclude her, specifically. Or rather, Nightmare Moon."

"And how do you know about it?" Rainbow Dash demanded. She was floating upside down over the throne, and it was making her cranky.

"It was part of the defenses, back when it was built for Nightmare Moon," Nexus confessed. "a trap built right into the walls of the castle--- uncompleted, but apparently my former assistant was able to get it working all the same." He scowled.

Luna glowered at the former Headmaster. "And it just slipped your mind to tell me about this trap in my castle before I moved in," she said.

"I did!" Nexus protested. "I sent you a memo, along with a recommended list of architectural changes and a summary of the thaumaturgical principles involved."

Luna paused. "A lavender note?" She asked hesitantly. "Clipped to a rather thick manila envelope?"

"Titled 'Thaumaturgical Self-Reinforcing Containment System", Nexus said. "And Consequent Necessary Renovations for Royal Reclamation project 11A-111B..." He gave the Princess a long look. "You didn't read it, did you," he said accusingly.

"We do not care for thy tone, Spell Nexus," Luna snapped. But her cheeks were an obvious shade of red.

Her sister gave her an accusing look of her own. "I believe she did try to read it, Nexus," Celestia said. " I know I found her asleep face down in the folder at least twice."

"Have you tried to read any of these scholars' reports yourself?" Luna said defensively. "They're a panacea for insomnia! I went crosseyed just trying to read the titles! And we get a dozen of them every day!"

"Wait wait, this is good news!" Twilight said, her hooves paddling excitedly in the air. "Spell Nexus, you designed this trap, you can tell us how to escape it!"

Spell Nexus shook his head. "From the outside, maybe," he said. "From the inside? Try to understand, this trap was designed to hold alicorns. The magical power of the pony, whether pegasus, earth pony, or unicorn,  actually feeds into the spell; The stronger the prisoner is, the stronger the cage becomes. And right now we have three alicorns trapped inside... and the elements of harmony, and Sir Shining Armor and Lady Twilight are no slouches in the area of raw power either....and dozens of other ponies besides."

Twilight cast about frantically. "The Changelings are outside! Maybe they can set us free--"

Trill heard this and got to her feet. "Yes! What do I do--we only know our illusion magic, but we'll try-- "

"No, no good, the spell has to be undone by a pony and only by a pony," Nexus said. "The frequency is only attuned to pony magic. And by the time we found the key locii in this castle sized matrix..." he ground his teeth in frustration.

"Please, Spell Nexus," Twilight begged, nearly in tears. "You have to know something that can help us. My little girl is going to die--!"

Ink Spot was trapped hovering in a bubble next to hers. He looked over at her, pain in his eyes. "Oh Twilight, I'm so sorry," he said. "I was assigned to protect you and her, and I've failed you both--"

Twilight looked at him, bewildered. "What-- assigned--?"

"Perdition!" Nexus swore. "If we had just one pony free with a decent sized crystal....."

"Will this do?" Pip said. He trotted up and laid the crystal spike Flitter had stolen at the foot of the dais.

Everypony gaped at him. "Gadzooks, colt," Spell Nexus finally said. "How did you get out??"

Pip pointed back to the bubble that had held him. "I just sort of pushed my way out," he said. "Was a rum go of it at first...."

Nexus groaned and facehoofed. "Of course!" Twilight exclaimed, laughing and clapping her hooves. "The spell uses a pony's own innate magic to imprison them--- but colts and fillies have almost no innate magic! The weaker you are, the weaker the cage is!" Her words were proving true; a quick look around revealed dozens of colts and fillies pushing their way out of the bubbles imprisoning them. The younger they were, the less trouble they had pushing through the magical barrier. Rumble and Dinky were shouldering their way out of a bubble; Spike and Snails were struggling to pull Snips out of another by his forehooves.... while Peewee, alas, was far too magical to escape, and was left fluttering around the inside of his magical cage like a sparrow in a terrarium. Applebloom, Scootaloo, and SweetieBelle had figured out the score and took a running charge at the wall of their own cell, bursting through en masse. Twilight had the strange impression that the spell had been afraid to not let the demolition-gifted trio go...

Twilight turned her attention back to Pip and his pilfered crystal. "Yes, that crystal's perfect, Pip! Where did you get it?"

Flitter spoke up. "I stole it from the ponies in robes," she said. "I was hoping that they couldn't finish what they were doing without it."

"They must have used a substitute," Spell Nexus said. He tapped his chin with a hoof thoughtfully. "I wonder where they found duct tape and a banana at this hour...."

Twilight looked around at the floor, walls and ceiling. "Okay, Pip," she said. "You see all those zig-zaggy lines in the walls and floor?" Pip nodded. "Okay, now look where those orange lines--- not the yellow, and NOT the red, nothing but the orange lines--- where the orange lines connect to the bubble? Take the crystal and stick the point into it right there... no no no, yes, right there-- now twist it around a little bit till it--" There was a flash of light, a zapping noise and a muffled "yeep!" And the bubbles containing the Elements and their escorts disappeared. All of them tumbled to the ground... save for Rainbow Dash, Thunderlane and strangely enough Bruce Mane, who landed with athletic grace.

Twilight knelt next to Pip, who was looking a tad wobbly and a bit frizzed around the edges. "Good work, Pipsqueak," she said.

The colt shook his head, clearing the fizzies out of it. "But why didn't it free the Princesses?"

Twilight took the crystal and ran to Spell Nexus. It took several seconds of twiddling with the crystal, but he was finally free. "The Princesses are the main power source, as well as being the most important captives in the prison, as it were," he said. "We'll have to work our way inward, till enough ponies are freed."

"That will take too long," Celestia said, her voice strained. "By the time we're freed, it will be too late for Nyx. Go, my little ponies, stop them. Save Nyx!"

Twilight looked distraught. "But--"

"No buts, Twilight," Cadence said. She struggled to look down at her sister in law and gave a brave smile. "We'll be fine, I promise." She gave her husband a look. "Darn it, Shining, take your sister and go save my niece or you're sleeping on the couch for a week!" Shining gave her a smile that didn't reach his eyes, and nodded.

Nexus took the large purple crystal and carefully tapped it with the glowing tip of his horn. It shattered into dozens of smaller, symmetric pieces. "Come here, children," he commanded. "You saw what your friend did? Each of you take a piece of crystal, and start setting the other ponies free. Remember, put the tip where the orange lines intersect." The colts and fillies carefully each took a piece of the crystal and ran off. Spell Nexus turned to where Trill and Flitter were tending to an injured Buzz. "Little one, I need you to come with me. You can show me where the first nexus of the spell matrix is... will you help us?"

Flitter started to speak, but at that moment Rumble stepped around the archmage into view. He started and cringed back, alarmed to be so close to three Changelings. Flitter saw the expression on his face and she shrunk back into herself, her face clouded with hurt.

Rumble saw her expression. He knew why, too. And it hurt.

Few who do not have a phobia really understand what it's like. Phobias aren't rational things; they're savage, wild animals inside you, selfish taskmasters that cling to a pony's heart and insides, driving them against their will. You can know, with all your mind and heart, that a fear isn't rational, you can know what caused it, you can know it isn't real and it just doesn't matter. No matter how trivial or silly it seems to an outsider, it can often take as much courage to face a phobia as it takes another mortal to face down a ravening demon barehanded.

Rumble had a phobia, a deep-seated and deep-rooted phobia of Changelings. It was taking as much courage as it took a soldier to charge onto a bomb-shattered and bullet-hailed battlefield for this lone little pegasus just to stand within hoof's reach of them.

He closed his eyes and forced his shaking legs to take another step closer. "I'm sorry, Flitter," he quavered. "I'm so sorry. I can't help being afraid of you. I can't. I know you're a good pony, I know it. But I'm still afraid. I'm sorry, it's not your fault.

"Nyx is in trouble, Flitter. And she's a good pony too. She's a great pony. Special. Awesome." He forced himself to open his eyes. "She's your friend. And I know she wouldn't care you're a Changeling, either. And I know you're her friend too, because nobody who wasn't would have risked so much to try and help her."  He swallowed, and managed to force his knees to stop shaking. "Please, help us. Just a little more."

Slowly Flitter uncurled herself. She looked up at her parents. Buzz nodded. "Go on. Your...your friends need your help." Biting her lip nervously, but her eyes alight with hope, she got to her feet and stood next to the archmage and the pegasus colt. Rumble shivered as her insect wing brushed his side, but he held his ground. "Come then, child," Nexus said. "You'll have to lead us to the crystal array once the way is clear."

Twilight and her friends had wasted no time. The glass doors leading outside had been considered, and rejected; they were laced from top to bottom with forcelines of the spell, and were surely harder than steel--- and would possibly explode in a cloud of deadly shards if they tried to get through. They were gathered at the other end of the chamber, at the center set of double doors, ready to charge to the rescue. The doorjamb glowed with rippling green light; the doors had been locked and magically sealed. Twilight stepped forward, face set, horn glowing. "This won't take a minute," she said. With a surge of magic the spells binding the doors unraveled. She stepped forward to push the doors open.

"Wait," Bruce Mane growled. He stepped past the mare and carefully pressed his ear to the door. "They set guards," he said after a moment, his voice low. "One in front of each door, probably armed--"

"Way-ell," Big Macintosh said, stepping forward. "That ain't no problem for long..." He turned around and reared to buck.

The two hooded conspirators standing just outside the main doors never knew what hit them. There was an earthshaking THOOM, like the sound of God knocking and demanding entrance. The two magically locked doors leapt off their shattered hinges. They fell down, flattening the two ponies to the floor. Big Macintosh stepped through the doorway, casually treading on the doors and eliciting groans from the ponies mashed beneath. He surveyed his work with a smirk beneath his Phantom of the Opera mask. "Eeyup," he said--

And the next instant was yanked back through the doorway by his collar. Multicolored beams of magic slashed from either side and met in a fiery splash where his head had been only a moment before. "And as I was about to say, 'four more guarding the doors on either side,' " Bruce Mane said sarcastically, spitting the farm stallion's collar out. Mac gave him a sheepish grin but said nothing.

The conspirators weren't exactly professionally trained. The next instant two cloaked ponies came running through the door, horns flaring. The first was dropped by a butterfly net handle to the jaw.

The second took an elbow drop from the world's angriest pink and yellow moth. "You MEANIEPANTS!" Fluttershy yelled as she bounced the stallion's unfortunate skull off the marble floor. "That's for Nyx!" She got to her feet and kicked the prone figure. "And that's for scaring all the little foals!" She kicked him again. "And that's for something else I'll think up later!"

"Fluttershy!" Rarity said, shocked. The pink and yellow pegasus paused in mid kick and brushed her mane out of her face. "Oh. You're right.... sorry, Rarity. I'm okay." She gave a weak smile to the fashion pony.

"Eeeyikes," Thunderlane muttered to Caramel. The corner of Caramel's mouth quirked up even as his eyes went wide in shock. "Yeah," he muttered back. "But kinda hot."

More magic lashed the doorway, throwing smoke and sparks. The other two robed ponies were a touch smarter than their counterparts and had not left their posts, preferring to snipe the open doorway from where they were. "These two are mine," Bruce snarled, and stalked across the room, his scalloped cloak flaring behind him.

The two conspirators had been clever enough not to jump into the open doorway like their luckless friends. They hadn't been observant enough to realize that they themselves were standing in front of a second set of doors. Said doors were smaller, but more than stout enough to stop a pony from breaking out.

Normally.

They were firing down the hallway, backs pressed to the doors, when the oaken panel next to their heads exploded in a cloud of splinters. Before either of them could do more than yell in shock, something-- some thing, all webby and wingy and gleaming white fangs and yellow eyes-- reached out through the pony-sized hole, seized the first of them, and dragged him screaming through. There was a brief shriek of terror and the sound of a hoof cracking against a jaw, then ominous silence.

The second guardpony backed away from the half-shattered door, eyes bugged out. He wasn't fast enough. A black-clad figure leaped through the hole straight for him, knocking him flat to the floor and pinning him with its weight. A blurred-fast hoof struck him across the horn,  vibrating it like a tuning fork and removing all notion of casting any more spells. Black webbed wings mantled over him, blotting out the feeble light. "WHERE DID THEY TAKE HER?" the terrible apparition roared at him, striking him again.

The conspirator squealed and held his hooves up. "You can't do this! Royal Guards can't do this!"

"DO I LOOK LIKE A GUARD TO YOU?" the fangs gleamed white in the snarling face. "LAST CHANCE, WHERE DID THEY TAKE NYX?"

The conspirator hadn't been selected for his brains, or his courage. "To the roof, to the roof, they've got the ritual set up on the roof!"

"If you're lying to me--" the yellow eyes narrowed to blazing slits.

"I swear to Celestia--"

"SWEAR TO CELESTIA?? SWEAR TO ***ME!!"*** the demon raged.

"I swear I swear I swear!" the hysterical pony shrieked. "Oh Celestia, oh Luna, oh mommy--"  his eyes crossed and he passed out.

Bruce Mane stood up. "They're on the roof," he said to the ponies clustered in the doorway, who were staring at him in round-eyed amazement. "What?" He looked back at the wreckage behind him. He snorted at them. "A pony kicks down two quarter-ton doors, and I'm the one that amazes you? Really."

Twilight shook her head. "Right. To the roof everypony!" The ragtag group galloped for the stairs.

Applejack hung back and stared at her date, an indescribable expression on her face. He saw her look and half-grinned awkwardly. "...I always wanted to say that kind of stuff," he said. He took off after the others. Applejack stood there a moment, staring after him, her face strangely hot. "Hooee," she murmured, fanning her face with a hoof. "Whole lot more to that feller than what shows on the surface..."


Nyx fled in terror through the castle, the Conspirators close behind. Mostly close behind. A few.

Okay, most of them were just flat out winded.

"Another chase," Zeta moaned, flagging to a halt at the foot of another stairwell. "Chased her down once, oh no, that wasn't good enough--!"

"Oh shut up," Eta panted next to him.

"I make donuts for a living, I'm not built for this!"

"You'd be more built for it if you didn't regularly eat half your inventory," Eta sneered.

"Look who's talking," Zeta snapped, panting. "You sickly little stick-- you've had to stop to rest twice as often as I have---"

"Oh stow it," Eta said. "Come on, this chase is almost over anyway."

"How would you know," the portly Zeta grumbled.

Eta pointed up the stairs. "The little ninny keeps running UPstairs," he grinned. "Those pegasus genes betraying her. She wants to get up high and fly away..."

Zeta grinned as well. ".... but she can't. Too bad Alpha prepared for that," he finished. The two shared a sinister chuckle and began wheezing their way up the stairs after their prey.


Nyx was in terrible trouble and it was only getting worse by the second. The terrible ponies after her were getting closer by the second. Worse, she'd been trying to use her magic the entire way; all the little tricks Uncle Shining had taught her. But they weren't working. Something was blocking her spells! She had no way of knowing it, but the entire castle was thrumming with magic set to capture alicorns; it was more than enough to scramble her tiny magics into uselessness...

She came out of the stairwell at top of one of the palace's many crenellated towers, still littered with lumber and rope from the renovation. It was open to the night sky. There was no stairwell down. She looked back; the first of the robed ponies had appeared in the trap door and was climbing out onto the roof. Panting wildly she raced to the edge and climbed up on the wall.

She was still learning to fly; as it was she could, just barely, manage to flutter up a few feet, or hover for a few seconds. But she could flutter safely to the ground from this height.

She hoped.

The tower roof began to fill with robed ponies. With one last look back, she spread her tiny wings and leaped.

And smacked painfully into a forcefield that shimmered indigo where she splatted against it.

She slid off and fell to the rooftop amidst the mocking laughter of the robed ponies. "Nice try, Nightmare," Sundae Sprinkles said. "But I didn't just put a dome over the palace. I took the precaution of capping off all the towers as well. I didn't feel like chasing a flying filly from rooftop to rooftop all night." Magically animated ropes lashed out and hogtied the dizzy filly, leaving her unable to move a wing or hooftip. A suppressing ring was forced down roughly over her horn, snuffing out her magic. Nyx cried out in fear; she'd never had her magic sense blocked before. For a unicorn it was like being blinded.

Sundae Sprinkles--- Alpha, that was all she could think of him as, a simple name like Sundae Sprinkles sounded too kind and normal to belong to the sneering, glaring stallion looking down at her--- Alpha lifted her in his magic grip. She could see all the castle, lifted up in the air like this. Her breath caught in her throat; was he going to just throw her over the side, let her dash to pieces on the ground far below? "I think I've had enough running up and down staircases," he said. "We'll be taking the shortcut, everyone."

His horn flared. Piles of abandoned construction materials, planks and ropes stacked to one side of the roof by the long-gone construction ponies, animated with a tell-tale glow. Boards and ropes flew to the edge of the tower, lashing themselves together in an arching bridge that stretched out over the castle, reaching out to the main rooftop. Confidently, Alpha strode out on the glowing structure, Nyx in tow like an errant carnival balloon. He looked over his shoulder. "Well, come on," he said. "Just a few more minutes and this will all be done. This is no time to dally!"

Cautiously, Alpha's fellow conspirators followed.


Twilight and her friend's ascent through the castle was anything but swift. The Alphabet Gang's members had strewn obstacles and booby traps in their wake, and the rescuers were having considerable difficulty getting through them all. Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane, thinking like typical pegasi, had tried to dive out a window and shortcut to the roof, but had only splatted painfully against a forcefield. They were all stuck together fighting their way through magically sealed doors, exploding booby traps, tripwires, magically greased floors and anything else the fleeing villains had managed to throw over their shoulders.

If anything, the Palace's decor was taking the worst of the conflict. Applejack and Big Mac were smashing through barricades, magically sealed doors and malevolent animated furniture with hoofblows that splintered solid oak and teak while Shining Armor and Twilight zapped the bejeezus out of everything else. Several of the palace's opulent halls were going to need redecorating. And possibly structural reinforcement.

Every obstacle only increased Twilight's fear for her daughter; every time her fear turned up another notch, she unleashed her magic with a little less care, a little more fury. By the time they reached the top floor of the palace, the brickwork was left glowing with heat in her wake. Shining was beginning to fear his sister was going to level the castle long before she ascended it.

At last they ascended the final stairwell, blasted aside the last magically enhanced door. They galloped out onto the castle rooftop, weapons in hoof, wing and horn, battle cries on their lips....

They were too late.

As soon as they set hoof out on the rooftop, they were driven back by a blast of wind. The Alphabet Conspirators stood together on the roof in a circle. Inside the circle of hooded ponies was a smaller circle of foot high stone obelisks. Inside of these in turn was an enormous diagram, an eye-watering maze of circles and lines that glowed with eldritch light. Twilight recognized it: a dissipation matrix, a spell designed to rip magic apart and disperse it into oblivion.

At the center of this pattern lay Nyx, bound and helpless and crying in terror.

"NYX!" Twilight screamed. She ran forward, heedless of the swirling wall of power that surrounded the Conspirators like the vortex of a tornado. There was a crackle and a flash of light, and she was knocked backwards, barely saved from going over the edge of the roof by Ink Spot. Everyone with wings tried to fly up and over the whirling barricade, only to be blown back by the hurricane-force winds. The rescuers were sent sprawling; the robed ponies within barely felt their robes stir in the breeze.

The leader, Alpha, Sundae Sprinkles, stepped into the circle. He took place in the pattern, opposite the prone and crying filly, and prepared to place the thirteenth obelisk. Twilight could only watch, despairing.

Then without warning, two white and gold streaks fell from the sky, swift as lightning, like the righteous wrath of the gods themselves.

Lightning Blitz and Sundiver had arrived.

It had been a long, rough night for the two bodyguards. They had spent the majority of the evening sneaking furtively about, flying frantically back and forth, trying to find their frustratingly elusive charge. In the end they had resorted to flying up as high as they could over the castle, to try and see if they could catch a glimpse of her anywhere. The only result of their effort was that they smacked against the dome sealing the palace and had become stuck like two bugs in amber, nearly a thousand feet straight up.

They had remained stuck there the entire time. But just when it looked like all was lost, the binding spell sticking them to the inside of the dome finally weakened, and they had flung themselves straight down, determined to deal a world of hurt to the robed ponies threatening their charge.They hit the stones so hard they cracked, and without exchanging a single word, turned and bucked the cult leader square in the face.

All Alpha knew was that one moment he was placing the last obelisk, the next he was facing two very angry-looking royal guards-- and the next his vision had been blotted out by four back hooves. He didn't so much sail out of the circle as rocket out of it, hurtling past his fellow ponies and smacking into the energy vortex surrounding the ritual. There was a massive discharge, lightning bolts arcing everywhere as Sundae Sprinkles twitched and jittered and spasmed like a frog in a Bug Zapper. He fell to the ground, his robe smoking.

The ponies outside the circle cheered and applauded as the two guardsmen rushed to retrieve their charge. Lightning Blitz knelt by Nyx, pulling out his pocketknife. "Hang on, kiddo, we'll have you out in a moment." Sundiver, meanwhile, being just a hair more magic-savvy than his partner, had run to the thirteenth obelisk and was trying to pick it up. He wrapped his hooves around the stone block and heaved to no avail. "It--- it's stuck--" He grunted.

Twilight Sparkle realized what was about to happen. "Don't--!" she shouted. She was a split second too late. The obelisk in Sundiver's hooves lashed out. Lightning danced over the guardsman's armor and leapt to his partner. They both jitterbugged in place for several seconds then slumped to the ground.(1)

Sundae Sprinkles got back to his feet, blood running from his nose. "Don't break the circle!" he shouted frantically. He staggered back in place and used his magic to drag the two unconscious guards out of the circle. He flung them out through the barricade with the others. He took the obelisk in his hooves and turned it a quarter turn to the right. The circuit was finished. "We've done it!" he shouted to the others, joy on his face.

The zigzag glowing lines all over the castle flickered and died. Sundae Sprinkles realized what must have happened. "Hold your ground!" he shouted to the others as the dissipation spell rose in pitch to a roaring whine, and the vortex barricade redoubled its speed. "Nexus has undone the trap--- but he's already too late!"

Ponies poured onto the roof; Spell Nexus, with Flitter and the Cutie Mark Crusaders clustered around his heels; guards in various states of costume and armor.... The princesses teleported in with a flash. A dozen different spells lashed at the vortex, trying to disperse it. But Sundae Sprinkles was right. Noone could get past the vortex now. All anyone could do, even Celestia and Luna, was watch helplessly as the spell unfolded.

Nyx floated in midair over the spell matrix, tears streaking her face, crying for her mother. The ropes had frayed away, and were replaced with glowing chains, manacles binding her to the rooftop by her neck and all four hooves. She could feel the dissipation spell tearing at her, pulling her in every direction at once, her skin, her mane, her eyes, her teeth, her bones, her insides.... magic-- her magic, the tiny internal reserve inherent to an alicorn filly--- pouring out of her and whipping away in the thaumatic wind. She felt like an icicle melting in water. It hurt.

I don't want to not exist.

She could see all the faces of the robed ponies now. Some were impassive. Some were guilty, looking away as she cried and screamed for Twilight...

I don't want to die.

The worst, though, was Sundae Sprinkles. His face was wreathed in joy. Joy, and victory. Like someone who is convinced that he's just saved the world...

I want to live!

...Because she was going to die.

It didn't hurt anymore, the pulling. She floated in midair, her purple mane and tail streaming in the wind, her eyes leaking light, black swirls like smoke rolling off her body and whipping away to nothing. She looked out past the barricade, and saw all the other ponies there watching. They looked so shocked, staring in horror. She saw all her friends, Flitter, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Snips and Snails... some of them were crying. She saw the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony--- it looked like Rainbow Dash and Applejack were yelling something at the robed ponies. They were probably using bad words, too. Fluttershy was hiding her face.

I'm so sorry, I love you all, I don't want to go

Spike was crying too. He was helping Ink Spot hold Twilight back from the deadly barricade. Her

Mother

Was screaming Nyx's name, tears washing down her cheeks, struggling to get out of Ink Spot's hooves, to run to her

Oh Mommy, I love you

She tried to shout it out loud, she thought she did...

But I guess I was never really real after all

She saw Celestia and Luna, staring through the barricade, pain in their eyes, and

something else

A question.  What was that? A tear, a smile? an unspoken question, somehow she could hear it, not with her ears but down in the root of her heart---

Silly thing.... if you aren't real....

then what is it in you that loves so much?

It was all there at the last second. Nyx gasped, the spark of understanding finally lighting in her face....

Then there was a brilliant flash, a vast, white light....

The vortex faded. The Ponies of the Order of the Greek Alphabet all collapsed, exhausted. The runes of the dissipation spell winked out.

And the form of a tiny black alicorn filly fell lifelessly to the stones.

With a cry of anguish, Twilight raced across the rooftop and flung herself on the still little form. Guards fell on the incapacitated ponies of the Order, manacling them and slapping suppressors on anything that had a horn. Sundae Sprinkles didn't care; it was over. At long last their hard work and careful planning had paid off. The kingdom was saved. He looked up to see Princess Celestia standing over him. He beamed up at her in joy through his bloodied face. "It's over, your Majesty," he said. "We've done it. We destroyed Nightmare Moon, once and for all."

The Solar Diarch's face was as impassive as marble. Despite his victory, Sundae Sprinkles felt a chill wash across his soul. There was nothing so cold in the universe as a sun that will not give its warmth.

The Lunar Diarch was not so restrained. "Is that what thou believest thou hast done, fool?" she said scornfully. She pointed at the circle of mourning ponies gathered around Twilight. The victorious grin on Sundae Sprinkle's face withered and died, turned to confusion as he beheld the unmoving form cradled in the weeping unicorn's hooves.

"But...." he said, confused. "But there shouldn't be a body." There was a sudden stillness as all those in earshot, especially those who had been part of his order, realized what he was saying. "There shouldn't be a body," he repeated, confusion turning to dismay, dismay to horror. "She-- she was just a magical construct. A blob of spell-magic animated by Nightmare Moon's evil memory--- She should have evaporated into nothing." He looked around, pleading for someone to confirm what he said. "She was just a construct, that's all, just a magical thing...!"

"A THING?!" Twilight lay down her daughter's body and got to her hooves. The rage and grief on her face were unspeakable. "A THING?! She was a child!" Her horn blazed, her eyes blazed. She stalked toward the horrified conspirator. "She was a little girl, with hopes and dreams and ponies who loved her--"  She stood facing her child's killer, lightning arcing from her eyes and shattering the flagstones at her hooves. "And you MURDERED her, you miserable stupid ignorant COWARD!"

She lunged for him, a handful of frankly terrified guards barely holding her back. She shoved them aside with a telekinetic backhand. "YOU MURDERED MY LITTLE GIRL!! I'LL KILL YOU FOR THAT--!"

An alabaster form stepped between her and her horrified, unresisting target. Celestia spoke; she didn't shout or even raise her voice, yet it echoed among the castle towers like thunder. "Twilight, stop," she said. "Do not do this."

Just barely, Twilight restrained herself. "Why?" she demanded, half mad from grief.

"Because your daughter does not need to see her mother kill somepony," the Princess said.  Twilight stared at her in bewilderment, then looked back to where her daughter lay.

The tiny midnight form twitched, moaned... sat up. "Mommy?" Nyx said faintly.

With a scream of joy Twilight flung herself at her daughter. In the next instant the two of them were dogpiled by their friends--- the Elements, Spike, the entire CMC, even Snips and Snails--- all laughing, crying, and cheering.

Sundae Sprinkles slumped to the floor, overcome. He did not even look up when Princess Celestia turned to look down on him. "You are very very fortunate that alicorns are made of tougher stuff than a common pony," she said. Her voice was like the sun had gone out. "A normal filly would have been killed by having all their magic sucked out like that."

"She was a real child... a real child all along." He bowed his head. "I was... so certain she was just... just an animate spell... just a blot of rogue magic, like a parasprite or a timber wolf..."

"As if it would matter, had she been?" Princess Luna boomed at him. "She lived and felt and loved, matter it not what her form were made of--- and thou wouldest have destroyed her!"

He refused to look up. The magnitude of what he'd done was evident on his face. "Your majesties, I only ask you spare the others-- they trusted my knowledge and experience...." He looked up, shaking with fear. "I take full and sole responsibility for all our actions--"

"And well you should," Luna said, her eyes narrowing. "And the price of your crimes shall be paid in full." Her horn flared with terrible power.

"Don't hurt him, Princess!"

Startled, Celestia and Luna looked over. Nyx had sat up in her mother's embrace and was waving weakly at them. "Don't hurt him, Princess," she repeated. "Please." Her face was suffused with fear.

Fear of what we might do to him, Luna realized.  For all that Sundae Sprinkles had done, the child was frightened of what the Princesses--- what Luna--- might do. Evil is frightening, but justice in wrath is terrifying. She let her magic fade. Perhaps wrath and vengeance were not appropriate here. Not now, not this time.

She shared a glance with her sister; the same thought was in the solar diarch's eyes. Celestia's expression softened, just a little bit. "Very well. He and the others must stand trial for the laws they've broken, but the Court---"

"The Court of the Night and the Day," Luna interjected.

"Will take note of your call for leniency."

Nyx squinted.

"She means they still gotta get punished but they'll go easy on 'em," Spike translated. He glowered at the chained cultists. "Way easier than they deserve, probably."

"Oh."

"For now, I think these conspirators need to be put someplace for safekeeping," Celestia said. "I don't mean to be rude, Sister, but I don't think it would be wise to use the dungeon cells here to lock them up. I'll be teleporting them to the holding cells in Canterlot."

"Agreed," Luna said dryly. "Mayhap after my architects have gone over the plans again to check for any untoward surprises, but for now, Canterlot will suffice."  She stood over Sundae Sprinkles, glowering down at him. "Remember this always, Sundae Sprinkles," she said. "You owe your life to the very one you would have destroyed."

Celestia nodded, "I'll be back in a flash," she said. With a flash of light and a volley of pops, she and the chained ponies vanished.

Twilight cuddled Nyx in her forehooves as if she was afraid the filly would disappear if she let her go. "Are you okay, sweetie? How do you feel?"

Nyx stuck her tongue out. "Like I was a bottle of soda pop someone shook up... and then let all my bubbles out," she said weakly.

Everyone laughed. "That'd be the magic drain," Aunt Cadence said. "That spell sort've fizzed up your magic and then pulled it all out of you."

"All of it?" Nyx asked fearfully.

"Oh don't worry, dear; you just need to build your reserves back up again," Cadence said. "Here, let me give you a little boost." the tip of her horn glowed, and a glowing spark floated out and settled on Nyx's horn. Nyx "mmmm"ed and stretched as the magic flowed into her. It felt like drinking hot soup when you didn't realize how cold and hungry you were, sending warmth to all the nooks and crannies in her body. She sighed.

"Better?" Aunt Cadence asked.

Nyx nodded. "Better."

An orange hoof reached down and noogied her. "Now never do that again!" Scootaloo said.

"Yeah, you scared the muffins outta us!" SweetieBelle said, giving Nyx a hug.

Amidst all the hugs and cheers, Nyx noticed one particular filly holding back. She was standing off to one side, well away from the group, looking at them wistfully. "Flitter!" Nyx called out. "What're you doing way over there? Come over here!" The Changeling filly shook her head. "Oh come on--" Nyx said, beckoning with her hooves.

"I can't be your friend," Flitter said, heartbroken. "I-- I'm a Changeling."

"So?"

"I'm a monster," came the faint reply.

Nyx rolled her eyes. "Hi, maybe we haven't met. I'm Nightmare Moon. Maybe my big brother the dragon can introduce us?"

"Yeah, who cares about that?" another Crusader said. "You're nice! And you helped Nyx!"

"See? You're our friend already, darn it," Applebloom said. "So you might as well git over here."

Flitter took a hesitant step. Then another. All she saw were welcoming faces. Even Rumble, who was still fighting his phobia, stood his ground and gave her a shaky smile. Flitter's face broke into a smile a mile wide, and she galloped over to join the others.

Pinkie Pie was busy hopping around the group with glee. "Oh boy, this is the greatest," she said. "Baddies beaten, good guys together, new friends all over--- you know what this calls for?"

"A party," everyone in earshot said, deadpan.

Pinkie stopped hopping and gave the group a look. "Nah, we already got one of those downstairs. Geez, I was hoping one of you guys might have an idea for a change."

Princess Luna chuckled. "Well, ere we return to the festivities, there are a few matters brought to mind that must needs be attended. Am I right, Sister?"

Celestia reappeared with a soft pop! and a flash of light. "Indeed. But it is your castle-- if you would do the honors?"

Luna nodded. She looked out over the crowd teeming on the rooftop and raised the Canterlot Royal Voice. "Attention, my little ponies! If you would all proceed back inside, there are some few Royal matters that we must need attend to, ere the festivities resume. We will be addressing you all within the hour." With a few murmurs of assent the ponies began filtering back down the stairwell into the palace.

Nyx and Twilight walked together, all but clinging to each other's side. Despite all the pain and fear of the past few hours, neither could stop smiling. Twilight nuzzled Nyx's forelock. "And how are you feeling, Nyx?" she whispered.

Nyx smiled and rested her cheek on her mother's shoulder. "I feel... real."


1)Somewhere in time and space, a drill sergeant was facehoofing.

Next Chapter: Chapter 24 Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 48 Minutes
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