Hope and joy. Those were the feelings that now coursed through Twilight as she gazed up to the pristine white alicorn before her. Princess Celestia, the leader of her both her and her people, was awake once more. Whatever the Tantabus had done to her, clearly it had been overcome, and that her mentor was simply too strong-willed to be taken by it. These were the thoughts that now surged through the young unicorn's mind, and as she drew closer and closer to the older mare, she could not help but smile.

"I...I thought we'd lost you! I thought I'd lost you! But...here you are!"

Celestia smiled.

"Yes, my student. I have returned. You needn't fear the Tantabus any longer."

Twilight grinned even wider, then looked over her shoulder, seeing the stunned faces of the other three mares.

"You see? I told you everything would be fine, and it is!"

Applejack nodded slowly.

"Yeah, ah...ah wouldn't have believed it, but...there she is!"

Pinkie too seemed taken aback.

"Yeah...she's here alright."

Then, she suddenly looked a little disappointed, leaning over and whispering to her cousin.

"Kind of anti-climactic if you ask me."

As for Aurora, she eyed the newly-arrived alicorn with suspicion, narrowing her eyes and taking a few cautious steps forward. Twilight, not really caring at this point what her escort was up to, turned instead to her teacher yet again, still smiling as widely as ever.

"Oh, Celestia! I've missed you so much!"

The Princess nodded, closing her eyes for the moment.

"Yes, Twilight. And I have missed you. Your quest to vanquish that terrible foe was admirable...but misguided."

Here, Twilight's smile faltered.

"Princess?"

Celestia slowly opened her eyes.

"You needn't go out of your way to face such a monstrous creature, Twilight."

For a second, Twilight lowered her head.

"I...I just..."

But Celestia raised a hoof.

"Don't worry yourself over it. Now..."

She reached that same hoof out, offering it to her student.

"...come to me, dear Twilight."

The young unicorn smiled once more, taking a few steps closer. Then, as she did this, Aurora narrowed her eyes further. She couldn't quit put her hoof on what it was, but there was something about all of this that clearly concerned her, far more than all the other mares, if their expressions were anything to go by. Then, as Twilight drew closer, Celestia's smile changed, becoming less calm and motherly, and instead becoming almost a smile of victory. Instincts kicked in, and Aurora spread out her wings and gave an almighty flap, launching herself forward. And she was just in time too, for Celestia's eyes began to glow bright purple, much to Twilight's confusion. Then, just as the alicorn began to lunge forward, the unicorn was pushed out of the way by the arrival of Aurora, who swept in the nick of time.

"Aurora?!" Twilight exclaimed.

But Aurora wasn't looking at her, and was instead assuming an attack position, her hooves planted firmly in the ground and her wings spread out, all while glaring at Celestia. As for Applejack and Pinkie, their jaws dropped at this sight.

"Okay...what?!" Pinkie asked.

Celestia turned her attention to the cyan mare now standing before her, and started to, to the shock and confusion of all of them, growl. Twilight, naturally, was more than a little concerned by this.

"P...Princess?"

But Rainbow shook her head.

"That's not Celestia!"

To the horror of Twilight and her companions, the Captain soon proved to be right, as the alicorn before them quickly took on a dramatic and unexpected change. There were convulsions all along her body, almost as if something was inside and trying to break its way out. Her eyes rolled back up into her skull, giving a dead and lifeless look to her. Then, in a move that caused gasps from many of the mares there, something started to emerge from the alicorn's mouth. A sort of magical mist, dark blue and purple in its colouring, forcing its way out, and as it did so, the bright white body of Celestia started to almost melt away, like a costume slipping off its wearer's body.

"Wha...what is this?!" Applejack called out.

The transformation was soon complete, and it was as if "Celestia" was wholesale turning inside-out, which was naturally a sight that caused some measure of disgust for those watching. At the end of it all, what now stood before them was no alicorn, no any other kind of pony, though it seemed to bear the shape of one. Like a tall and imposing unicorn, it stood, with no eyes or any visible face whatsoever. If they had to say, it was as if it was made of magic, similar in look to Queen Moon's mane, though with far more noticeable purple in its outline. Shrinking back from this sight, Twilight gazed in terror at this being.

"It...it's the Tantabus!"

Immediately, the creature of myth turned to Twilight, taking a menacing step forward and continuing that growling it had been making earlier. Everypony started backing away, with Applejack in particular looking to Twilight for explanation.

"But...ah thought it couldn't come ta that real world?!"

As before, Twilight shook her head.

"I don't know! The legend only said that..."

Slowly, realisation crossed her face.

"...that it would only emerge after growing strong enough!"

Aurora looked over her shoulder to her.

"What? What is it?!"

Twilight stepped back in fear.

"It's Celestia! That's why the Tantabus went after her first! She's an alicorn! Taking power from her was all it needed!"

Aurora grunted to that.

"Ugh! Wonderful!"

She scraped her hoof along the ground, snorting aggressively before starting to charge forward.

"Alright, monster! Time to taste my hoof!"

With that, she launched herself from the ground, spinning around in mid-air before giving an almighty kick at her foe. Unfortunately, owing to the Tantabus' nature as a purely magical entity, this attack only resulted in Aurora passing straight through it. Before the pegasus could respond to this properly, she veered off just in time to avoid striking the stone wall of the cavern behind her enemy.

"What the...?!"

Twilight pointed to her, calling out while the Tantabus was still focused on her now-failed assailant.

"It's magic! You can't hurt it!"

Of course, Aurora wasn't taking any of that, and moved to assume an attack position once more.

"Like Tartarus I can't hurt it!"

Again, she lunged, and again, she merely passed through the beast. On and on she did this, with the Tantabus moving slowly, if at all. The other mares watched fearfully, but never once stepped closer, worried more than ever of what this thing would do to them. In the end, and after countless attempts, Aurora landed back down again, panting furiously.

"This...this thing is just...argh!"

Fortunately, she had landed close to where Twilight was, and the latter rushed to her side.

"Aurora! We have to get out of here!"

But the pegasus shook her head.

"No! I am a Captain of the Night Guard! This creature has entered our territory, and I will face it!"

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, only to be halted when, to the surprise of all of them, the Tantabus, at last, started to move. For a brief moment, it was as if it lost its pony-like shape, becoming much more like the cloud Twilight had seen in the book previously. It swept forward, becoming almost like a violent storm, growing closer and closer to the undefended mares. Twilight's eyes widened, and her breathing was heavy, and as she saw her enemy drawing ever nearer, she acted out of pure desperation.

"GET AWAY!!!"

She shot a bolt of bright magic from her horn, which immediately struck the cloud head-on. This, surprisingly, seemed to have an effect, as the Tantabus halted its advance, swirling around after having been struck, even so far as to let out a primal and ear-piercing scream, which was a naturally unpleasant sound to the ponies near it. In this moment, Twilight regained her composure, turning to Aurora.

"We have to run!"

The pegasus seemed hesitant, but, after seeing the Tantabus start to re-form itself, she let out an annoyed grunt, giving Twilight a short nod. That was all the permission Twilight needed, and she started to run off back towards the tunnel they'd come from, with Aurora, Applejack and Pinkie close behind her. Unfortunately, it was too little too late, as the Tantabus had quite literally puled itself back together, shooting forward and, in a move that was faster than anything the ponies could do, blocked the way to the tunnel.

"Oh no!" Twilight exclaimed.

The mythic beast swirled around again, trying to take on yet another shape. This time, it was as if it was becoming two massive pony legs, which reared up as if to stomp on some unsuspecting bug. Most of the mares cowered at this, but Twilight, seeing the ethereal hooves coming down, lit up her horn yet again. Before the Tantabus could strike them, a bright pink magical dome appeared out of nowhere, shielding the ponies within from the beast outside. The Tantabus, frustrated by this, screeched yet again, before starting to pound away at the barrier. On and on it pummelled, until, inevitably, Twilight's defences started to show cracks.

"Come on, Twi!" Applejack called.

But it was no use, as the clear exhaustion of resisting this thing was taking its toll on the young unicorn. As further cracks appeared on the dome, a single tear fell down Twilight's cheek.

"Spike...forgive me."

The Tantabus reared up, ready to deliver what was undoubtedly going to be a killing blow. But then, to the shock of all of them, the blow didn't come. Instead, the Tantabus was struck from the side by a ray of magic, light blue in its colour and easily more powerful than what Twilight had been able to muster against it. The mares all watched as their enemy was slammed into the nearest cave wall, constantly lashed by this new magic until, eventually, the blast stopped. Again, they turned in unison, and their eyes widened. For now, gracefully hovering down from the hole in the cave's ceiling, was a very familiar face. A dark alicorn, who landed in the very centre of the chamber, eyeing the fallen creature with a sense of amusement.

"Well now...what do we have here?"