True night was beginning to fade, the moon slowly gaining the sun's properties to banish the cold and strengthen the crops of Equestria, as the five free Elements gathered, this time in Sugarcube Corner, the residence of Pinkie Pie. The gingerbread house shaped confectionery shop was just about to open for the new 'day' as each of the four guests walked in through the front door. A plump blue mare with a pink mane and tail poofy enough to rival Pinkie Pie's greeted them at the sound of the door chime. "Oh, hello girls. Pinkie Pie is up in her room. You go right on ahead, she's waiting for you."

"Mornin' Mrs. Cake. 'Ah wanna say thank you fer lettin' us come in so early. It mighty kind o' ya." Apple Jack said as the others nodded their greetings and continued up the stairs behind the counter.

"Oh, it's no problem at all dearie. Just make sure to keep whatever you girls are doing to a low volume okay? I don't want to disturb any customers we may get." Mrs. Cake smiled at her and waved as she began her ascent of the stairs leading to the second floor of the shop and the bedrooms.

"Don't y'all worry 'bout a thing Mrs. Cake. We'll be so quiet y'all won't even know we're here." With a tilt of her hat and a warm smile, Apple Jack turned and finished her climb, disappearing from the shop-owner's view. She quickly made her way to the door at the end of the short hall and walked in, closing the door behind her. She was instantly greeted by a tight hug from a flying stream of pink that began to cut off her air supply. "Pinkie!" She coughed and pried the pink earth ponies legs off of herself. "Y'all almost strangled me there. 'Ah know we don't meet a lot, but shucks, y'all could at least not crush us to death whenever ya see us."

Pinkie Pie merely giggled and hopped away, scooping up a small green alligator onto her back and sitting down between Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. The five friends looked at each other, filled with new found hope after being informed by Rarity that their friend was still alive and, if they were lucky, very savable. Now all they needed was a plan. "I say we just bust in there, buck Nightmare Moon in the face, and get out with Twilight as fast as we can!" Rainbow Dash had stood up and was miming her words.

Rarity sighed and shook her head. "Rainbow, dear, if we did that she'd catch us without any problem. She was very powerful when we fought her and now she's had time to fully recover from being imprisoned. Plus, my friend has told me that she's begun recruiting guards." The white unicorn batted her eyes. "I honestly do not see why anypony would want to serve her. I don't even want to consider how many ponies she's... killed since her return." She shuddered and swallowed a knot in her throat.

"Oh oh I know! We can throw her a party! Everypony loooooves parties and I'm the best there is at throwing parties. I bet if we went in there decorated and threw her the BIIIGGEST party she's ever seen, I'd think that even that mean old black snooty would want to give Twilight back to us! I mean, honestly, how can anypony say no to-" Pinkie was silenced by Apple Jack's hoof to her mouth, which she continued to try and talk around but only managed to spew out muffled mumbles.

"Woah, hold on there Sugarcube. Ah mean no offense, but ah reckon Nightmare Moon ain't one to enjoy a party let alone have any kinda decorations being set up in her castle. Besides, mah brother, Big Macintosh, said that there's a war brewin'. Some o' Celestia's royal guards came by the farm tha other day to try an' recruit him. We should wait until after the fight to sneak in an' get her."

"Oh...! Oh my, a war? I don't want anypony to die.... Uhm..., maybe we should go try and talk to her? We might be able to, uhmm..., convince her to stop...." Fluttershy smiled weakly, hiding behind her mane.

"Yeah, right! There's no way Nightmare Moon will ever listen to us. We're the Elements of Harmony, remember? The one thing to ever defeat her? She won't even let us get close enough to talk to her before she kills us!"

"Settle down now, Rainbow. We need t' wait until after this battle that's cookin'. The guards are all probably on edge and we wouldn't want to be caught due to carelessness. After the clash we'll sneak in there and get out with Twilight before they even notice she's missin'."

The group nodded their agreement and began to file out of the room, Pinkie in the lead as she guided them to the main floor of the bakery. When they arrived in the lobby of the confectionery shop, Mrs. Cake greeted them once more. "Done with the meeting already? How would you girls like some fresh cupcakes? Mr. Cake and I just finished baking them."

"That's mighty fine o' ya, Mrs. Cake. We was just about to head on over to the library to check on Spike so ah'm sure he'd love some."

"Ooooo yeah! Spike has been so sad lately so maybe we could throw him a party to make him happy! We can have cake and streamers and play some pin the tail on the pony and drink some punch! Oh oh and we can tell him all about our-" Pinkie's torrent of words was once again quelled by Apple Jack's hoof in her mouth, only this time the orange earth pony was looking about to make sure nopony heard the pink pony's last sentence.

"Shhh...! You have to be quiet about that. I'm sure nopony likes Nightmare Moon, but you never know who'd snitch just to get on her good side. Ya hear?" Pinkie nodded and smiled.

"I promise! Cross my heart, hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye!" She motioned out her swear and finished it off by poking herself in her closed eye with a hoof. Apple Jack merely chuckled and shook her head.

The five of them took the cupcakes they had been offered and headed over to the library. The streets of Ponyville were still lightly populated considering how early it was. Most of the ponies were still snug in bed with nary a worry as they dreamt away. The group moved swiftly across the ground illuminated by the soft glow of the moon. They had no reason to hurry other than to escape the chill air of early morning. The giant tree that housed the library loomed above them as they approached it's front door and, with a knock, they waited for Spike to answer. After a few moments, the door opened to reveal a groggy purple and green dragon rubbing his eyes, a sign that they had just awakened him.

"What's going on you guys? It's still early...." He yawned widely and stretched, then sniffed the air, smelling something delicious, "Ooooh... Are those cupcakes I smell?"

Pinkie Pie burst through the doorway and jumped around the room. "Yessiree Bob! Mrs. Cake gave them to us so we thought we'd come by here and share them with you since we just know you loooooove her cupcakes! It also gives us time to tell you our plan!"

By the time she had finished her sentence, the rest of the group had entered the tree house and made themselves comfortable. "Plan? What plan? Are we finally going to go get Twilight back!?"

Rarity levitated the box of cupcakes onto the table in the center of the library and began passing them out, two for each pony and Spike. "Not yet, dear." Spike's excitement turned south at those words. "We do, however, know that we shall be acting soon. I believe Apple Jack can tell you more." Spike focused on the orange earth pony and listened intently as she went over what they were waiting for and how they were to act on their strategy.

Moon Beam crouched in the shadows of the obelisk, watching as the ever increasing number of guards ponies drilled in the central courtyard. They had been steadily streaming in to serve Nightmare Moon under promises of their families' safety and were now almost a thousand strong. The central area of the castle was vast, but they would soon need to move their training to an area outside the castle grounds where their numbers could be held without issue. All this the filly paid no heed to, however, as she was focused on one thing, the bat-winged mare pacing through the rows and rows of ponies swinging their weapons in practiced maneuvers. Cloudy Horizon made her way past the sweating, hard-working mass and emerged out the rear of the bodies before turning slightly and heading back towards the front. She stopped and scolded a few recruits on their improper use of a sword or to shove a pony to the ground due to their lack of proper battle stance, but she quickly arrived at the front of the herd once more.

That's when Moon Beam made her move. The filly sprang into the air in a powerful leap before landing and galloping across the newly planted grass. She set her eyes in determination and, with a quick burst of speed, dove at the unsuspecting mare "Attaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!" She cried as she plowed into Cloudy, tackling her to the earth.

The pegasus gasped as the impact nearly knocked the air out of her lungs then turned to glare at the foal that had blind-sided her, but stopped when she saw the mischievous grin on the filly's face. Her eyes widened in shock as the filly raised her hooves. "No. You wouldn't da-"

Cloudy didn't have a chance to finish her sentence as Moon Beam had brought her hooves down to the pegasus' sides and began to furiously tickle her. "Tickle attack!!"

The pegasus steeled her face, fighting the urge to laugh as her sides began to stitch up from the pent up emotion. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, but she held firm and simply glared at the filly atop her. Thus was her downfall. Moon Beam's face was scrunched up in dire concentration as she worked her hooves across the mare's sides, her little tongue sticking out only to make her already silly face uncontrollably adorable. Cloudy's countenance broke and she found herself unable to hold in the raging laughter she had bottled up with a high pitched and very feminine squeal, the pegasus burst out laughing and writhed in the grass, squirming to get her assailant off of her.

"Say uncle! Say uncle!" The filly cried out as she intensified her assault, moving her hooves up to just under the pegasus' fore-legs.

Cloudy's laughter intensified as the filly had found her most sensitive spots for torture and flailed about comically on the ground. "I G-GIVE!! UNCLE!!!" She yelled in between aching breaths for air.

"Yay! I have defeated the stuffy pony!" Moon Beam abruptly halted her tickling and jumped off the mare, prancing about her in glee. "I knew I could make you smile!"

Cloudy quickly stood up, blushing fiercely and composed herself, replacing her smile with the stone cold look she was known for. Despite her best efforts, however, a faint smirk could be seen at the edges of her mouth. "Yes, yes. Now would you please leave us be. We must train and you are impeding our progress."

"Awwww. C'mon! Come and play with me~!" She frowned and put on the cutest, most irresistible puppy-eyes she could give, but the mare was unfazed.

A few snickers sounded from the group behind them and Cloudy immediately turned to stare down whoever was making any noise that wasn't the sound of metal slicing through the air. "If I hear another chuckle or chortle out of anypony! I will double your work efforts for the next week! Understood!?" The entire force of ponies doubled their efforts immediately, not wishing to train any harder then they already were. "As for you, Moon Beam. You should go find somepony else to play with you. I am far too busy to deal with a foal."

The filly frowned once more and turned away, heading back towards the doors to the castle. "Brookie would play with me if I wanted her to...." She mumbled half-heartedly under her breath as she walked away. "Well, I guess I should go find her since Mommy Moon and Auntie Twilight are busy 'making plans' in the bedroom. I wonder where she could be...?" The foal's mood shifted instantly and she once more began her light hop as she passed through the halls of the castle, keeping a watchful eye out for the head maid. As she turned a corner, a hint of green caught her eye and she sprinted off towards the color. "Broooookieeeee~!"

The pony in front of her turned her head and smiled at the incoming ball of navy as it hurdled towards her. In a flash of blue and lime, the two ponies collided and skid across the floor, laughing brightly with each other. "Hello, Moon Beam. How are you today?"

The filly smiled and hugged the earth pony. "I'm doing great! I got Cloudy to laugh! You should have seen it, it was sooooo funny!"

"Great job, Moon! It's about time that pony got that stick out of her-" The mare caught herself before she finished her sentence and changed topics quickly. "So, why aren't you with Twilight or Queen Moon?"

"Oh. Mommy Moon told me to go and play 'cause she said that her and Twilight needed to 'make plans' or something. I asked if I could help but they said it was for big ponies only so here I am!" She didn't breathe once during the whole explanation and just continued to smile the whole time despite Silent Brook's expression of dawning understanding.

"And they are very right," she said with a slight blush, remember her own 'planning' she had done with the lavender unicorn. "Very well, then. What do you want to play first?"

The filly pondered for a moment, one of her hooves on her chin as she thought of what she wanted to do. After only moments, an idea popped into her head. "Let's play tag! We can get some of the other ponies to play with us too!"

Silent Brook merely nodded her approval and smiled. "Okay! Let's go find us some players!" The two cheered then trotted off down the halls in search of more participants.

Nightmare Moon tore herself from the enticing coziness of her bed and walked out to the balcony overlooking the outlying lands and absorbed the warmth of the enchanted moon into her skin. Her army was growing larger by the night as more and more ponies showed up to fight for her in return for the guaranteed safety of their families. She had once more returned to her full power after the resurrection and now her castle was complete. The town was slowly being built around her and, given a few months, ponies could begin to move into the houses being built and companies could lease the offices and various shops that would be built. Everything was going smoothly.

Everything except for the looming threat of the Celestial guards.

She still hadn't a clue as to where they could be hiding or even how they were hiding a force as large as she believed they were so well. She was also quite sure that for every pony that joined her cause, two more joined her enemy's. War was coming to her rule. She could taste the tension and emotions on the air. Anger and fear soaked the winds as both her guards and the hidden guards of Celestia continued their preparations. It was only a matter of time before they struck and she wasn't going to just sit by and let them attack unfettered.

Nightmare Moon had taken the efforts to gather as many powerful unicorns to her side as possible. She could remember how the five unicorns had sealed away her magic making her utterly useless in a battle and she would not let that happen again. Over the past few days, Nightmare Moon herself had been teaching the unicorns to channel their magic in an anti magic dispell so they could free her magic for whatever combat had to be done. It was tiring, as the unicorns were slow learners, but they were slowly starting to get the hang of it. She had a total of ten new unicorn magi that would assist her in battle. It wasn't as many as she would have hoped, but enough to keep her in the battle.

Twilight walked up next to her and looked up at the alicorn with tired eyes. "Thinking about the upcoming battle, My Queen?"

The alicorn nodded and continued to stare off into the distance. "You know, I've always thought of the night sky as a calming tool to help me get to sleep, or to help me stay awake on nights I wish to star gaze." She gauged the black mare's reaction and only found a stoic expression. "Do you think they'll actually attack? Will they actually try and kill you?" She gulped heavily at the thought of Nightmare Moon dying. She didn't like being imprisoned, but she would never wish death on anypony, not even Nightmare Moon.

"Those foals will attack. I have no doubt of that. They will very likely throw their entire force at me in order to topple me, but I'll stand victoriously after all this is over."

Twilight sat on her haunches and stared at the floor. I sure hope it never comes to that. I don't want anypony else to die.... It's just so... horrific. Ponies shouldn't ever kill each other. It goes against our very nature, yet, here we are, on the brink of war. She sighed then remembered a question she's had since her first night under Nightmare Moon's control. I wonder if she'll tell me how she blocked the Elements yet? No, probably not. She'd just think I was trying to get together with the rest of the girls to thwart her. But, maybe she will?

Nightmare Moon noticed Twilight's concentration and focused on the quiet unicorn. "What are you thinking of? Do not hide your thoughts from your Queen."

Twilight jumped a little at the edge in Nightmare Moon's voice and quickly recollected her thoughts. "Oh! I'm sorry, You Majesty. I was just admiring the night sky that you created." Twilight mentally face-hoofed and sighed dejectedly. I'll ask next time. Stupid brain making me act like an idiot.... The lavender unicorn missed the look of pride that crossed the alicorn's face and turned back into the room, leaving Nightmare Moon to her own thoughts once more out on the balcony.

Author's Notes: Chapter 10! Weeeee! The epic battle of awesomeness is coming soon! As is the revealing of who the spy is along with who's been letting the assassins in. Also there will be secrets told in the coming chapters as well! Just about to reach the climax of the story so be prepared for the awesomeness of the next few chapters. Also, as a side note, I'll be throwing in a Christmas special on , yup, you guessed it, Christmas! (Ermmm Hearth's Warming day) So be on the look out for that! Enjoy and have a good night!

Editor's Notes: Dr.Jekyll here. Fan-buckin'-tastic chapter, Peppy.