Nightmare Moon continued to lay on the ground, Twilight had calmed down slightly, but her breaths still came in short, stuttering sobs. She could barely move from the exhaustion of her spell, but knew that she had to or else she left herself open to anymore would-be do-gooders. She raised herself onto unsteady legs and took in a deep breath. I should have used more discretion with my magic...

Twilight looked up at her with bleary, tear filled eyes, and brought herself to her hooves as well. She looked over at the dying form of Silent Brook, who was hyperventilating as she tried to suck air into her lungs, and swallowed rising bile. She almost killed a pony. If I act now, I can save her.... Images and memories of her final meeting with the earth pony flashed through her mind and she twisted her face in rage. No. I don't care anymore...! Let her die. All that matters now is Nightmare Moon and Moon Beam. The lavender unicorn walked closer to the pony lying in a spreading pool of her own blood and stared down in disgust.

Silent Brook looked up at her, the knife still sticking out of her stomach, and pleaded. "Please... I don't want to die... I'm sorry. I-I'm s-sorry..."

"No. You toyed with my feelings.... I won't save you." Twilight's voice was cold and uncaring, not too dissimilar to Nightmare Moon's.

"B-But... you'll be... just like... her...." Desperation filled her voice, as she felt the warmth continue to drain from her body with each once of blood that poured from her gut.

Twilight's countenance broke for a moment as she realized the implications of what she was doing, but her features hardened once more. She stared into the dying pony's eyes and smiled. "If it means that Nightmare Moon won't hate me...." Her voice softened as she thought of the alicorn's approval, "Then so be it."

Silent Brook coughed, blood splattering to add to the puddle beneath her. "I always knew... that you'd side with that... monster...." She hissed at the unicorn. "If Celestia were here..., she would...." her final words were lost as the life faded from her.

"But she isn't," Twilight said sadly, "nor will she likely ever be anymore...." Twilight turned away and left the body cold and alone on the cobbled ground and trotted up to the sleeping form of Moon Beam. She smiled warmly and levitated the foal onto her back, kissing her below her horn. "At least I have you two...."

Nightmare Moon walked over to the unicorn, her eyes never leaving the filly on her back. "You healed her, yes?"

Twilight flinched and turned to see Nightmare Moon only feet away. "Umm..., Yes. It's not the best healing, but I've learned a few spells from the Canterlot nurses...."

"Thank you." Twilight stared at the alicorn in surprise. She had never given any kind of thanks since she had met her. "Do not become accustomed to receiving such praise. I am only displaying my gratitude since Moon Beam is... dear to me."

Twilight smiled and turned to the foal once more. "I'm glad to help, My Queen. I'll do... anything... for you and Moon Beam." She looked towards the corpse of Silent Brook and drew in a deep breath of air.

Nightmare Moon beamed and walked over to the body. "I want you to incinerate it. As your final act of loyalty, you will dispose of this traitor completely." She eyed the unicorn, looking for any signs of hesitation and was ecstatic at how quickly she responded. Twilight placed herself beside Nightmare Moon and gazed upon the pony lying in her own blood then, with a flash of her horn, set her ablaze, burning away any traces of affection towards Silent Brook along with her body.

Twilight sighed heavily then sagged her head. I never thought I'd use my magic to harm another pony.... All that matters now, however, is that they never turn me away.... As long as I have Moon Beam and Nightmare Moon.... Twilight was startled from her internal monologue by a soft yawn and movement on her back. She spun her head and came face to face with the large, adorable eyes of Moon Beam.

"Auntie Twilight!" The little unicorn tossed her fore-legs around Twilight's neck and embraced her in a crushing hug. "Have you been crying? Your face is all wet!"

Twilight's somber mood faded as the beacon of joy that is Moon Beam smothered her with affection. "I was, but I'm all better now that you're awake." She nuzzled the foal before letting her hop down onto the ground. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Huh? Why would I not be okay? I'm invincible! Nothing can ever beat me! Right Mommy Moon?!"

The alicorn nodded weakly then moved to enter the castle. She lit her horn, but whenever she applied any magic onto the doors, her power fizzed out and wouldn't respond. She tried over and over with each attempt proving less and less effective until, with a shout of frustration, she kicked the doors open, slamming them against the inner walls. "I shall retire to my chambers.... I require rest. Moon Beam, come with me. Twilight, go find Captain Horizon and take her to the infirmary. I'm not sure where Moon Beam took her but she is within the castle walls."

Twilight bowed and began her search for the pegasus guard. She trotted across the cobbled ground, her hooves clopping noisily as she avoided the rubble and corpses lining the northern section of the wall. The stench of blood and death was slowly starting to fill the air as the gore from the multitudes of bodies sat exposed to the open air. Twilight fought the urge to retch and moved faster, attempting to cross the field of death as quickly as possible while keeping her eyes peeled for the enchanted form of Cloudy. She could not see any sign of the pegasus in this area and thus continued her search around the western side of the castle. She glanced up and took notice of a flock of carrion buzzards flying over something just around the next corner of the castle and gasped.

With a quick burst of speed, Twilight launched herself into a gallop and tore around the corner to find Cloudy unconscious on the ground with vultures beginning to close in. She flashed her horn and, with a sudden gust of magical wind, scattered the scavenging birds. Cloudy stirred from the disturbance and looked about with clouded vision. She took notice of the lavender unicorn and let out a sharp breath. "Come to finish me off, pet of Celestia? I knew you were not to be trusted..." She dropped her head to the ground once more, resigning herself to whatever the unicorn had planned for her. "Just.... Is Moon Beam... alive?"

Twilight smiled at the mare, and levitated her off the ground. "Don't worry. I'm not going to kill you. Nightmare Moon sent me to take you to the infirmary." Twilight heard an almost inaudible sigh of relief as the pegasus was gently set upon her back. "Moon Beam is fine as well. They are going to their room to sleep."

Cloudy grinned as she slowly began to lose consciousness one more time. "Tell Moon Beam, thank you..." Twilight shifted her weight gently so as not to jar the pegasus and began the trek back to the castle.

Nightmare Moon awoke to the sound of a terrified scream beside her. She opened her eyes to find Twilight Sparkle hyperventilating and clutched her chest, tears streaking her face. The lavender mare sobbed heavily and hung her head in shame as she noticed the annoyed glare that Nightmare Moon was giving her. "I'm s-sorry..., I just.... The dream was so.... Please, don't hate me...."

The Moon Queen frowned at the distraught Twilight. She had been like this for the past two nights since the battle. It was beginning to wear on the alicorn's nerves. Moon Beam yawned then jumped in surprise when she saw Twilight. "Oh no! Auntie Twilight! Did you have another bad dream?" The filly snuggled up closer to the unicorn to provide comfort to her by proximity. "Don't you worry! The all powerful Moon Beam will protect you from those horrible dreams! I'll be all 'Grr! Moon Beam SMASH!' and then those mean old dreams will run away cause you don't mess with Auntie Twilight!" The filly giggled and nuzzled the recovering mare.

Twilight smiled weakly at the foals ramblings. She had promised the same thing every time that Twilight's night terrors startled her awake. She truly appreciated Moon Beam's sentiments and love, but those alone wouldn't end her suffering. Her smile faded as she recalled the most recent invasion of her mind. She didn't want to remember it, but the images forced themselves into her mind causing her to relive each and every moment of it whenever she closed her eyes...

Twilight walked through a tunnel of pitch blackness being led only by a light that could be seen just on the edge of her vision. She shivered as a gust of icy wind blew through the corridor, kicking up unseen dust and whipping her mane. Unholy noises echoed through the darkness, sounds of screaming and deep guttural growls filled the air. She shuddered as something hot breezed past her neck, but when she turned to see what had touched her, only black nothingness answered. She panicked and spun around, racing for the far off light. She could hear sharp talons scraping along the floor behind her along with laughter. Very familiar laughter.

She quickened her pace, straining herself against her typical boundaries. The laughter grew louder. She knew who that voice belonged to, but she couldn't concentrate enough to place the name. She was too terrified. The scraping began to sound faster and in longer, drawn-out strides as if the creature had suddenly gotten much larger. She continued to push herself towards the safety that the light seemed to promise, but it was still a distance away.

The creature was getting closer.

Twilight glanced behind her and her eyes caught with another pair of bright turquoise. She gasped and, in her recklessness, tripped over her own hooves. In seconds the monster was upon her, but when Twilight looked up at it, the form was completely wrong. The moment it caught her, the blackness exploded into white light. The body did not match any of the sounds she had heard. Atop her stood the bleeding body of Silent Brook.

Twilight screamed and, with a burst of magic, sent the earth pony flying against the ceiling of the tunnel. A sickening crunch echoed through the hall as Brook's body smashed into the ceiling and fell to the floor with a resounding thud. Twilight got back on her hooves and tried to run away, but found that she couldn't move. Silent Brook's eyes had her glued to the spot she had stood upon. The earth pony brought herself to her feet, bones snapping and popping as she righted herself on broken limbs, and slowly crawled her way over to the lavender mare.

"You killed me...!" Silent Brook laughed, as she drew nearer. "You are a murderer... just like... that monster...!"

Twilight clenched her eyes shut. "No! I was only protecting them!"

"You chose a monster... over a pony...!" Twilight spun around as she heard a new voice appear behind her. A second lime pony had materialized while her eyes were shut.

"You broke my heart! Why...? Why would I choose you over them?!"

"You always had a choice.... You could have saved us...!" Another had appeared to Twilight's right and spoke in unison with the other two. "You could have prevented... us from dying...!" A fourth mimic took form to Twilight's left and began to laugh along with the other three.

"Stop! I'm not a murderer...!"

A flash of light blinded Twilight and, when she recovered, two more Brooks had completed the circle around her. The six ponies closed in and pounced on her, slamming their hooves against her body as they laughed. "You didn't have to burn our body...! You could have saved us...! You are a monster...! Murderer...! Whore...! Slave...!" They chanted the last three words over and over as they continued to pound away at Twilight's bruised and beaten form.

Tears streamed down Twilight's face as she curled up to prevent any damage to her face. She could feel bones breaking under the force of the blows and soon blood began to pour from small lacerations from their hooves. She cried in pain as a hoof cracked down hard against her fore-leg, snapping the bone beneath her knee. Then, in an instant, Twilight's magic flared to life. Her eyes shot open and glowed white hot as her horn began to glow. A pulse of energy threw the six doppelgangers off her body and sent waves of fire tearing around her body. She screamed in pain and anger as her broken limbs moved and agitated the injuries, but she took no notice after the first wave of agony. When she looked at the burning bodies of the Silent Brooks, she saw her six friends in Ponyville. Rarity, Apple Jack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Spike were all slumped against the walls screaming as their flesh was burnt away from their bodies. They all chanted the same words over and over again.

"Murderer...! Whore...! Slave...!"

Twilight tried to end her spell, but she had lost control of her magic. The flames ran rampant through the halls and continued to sear the life out of her six friends. Tears pooled in the corners of her eyes as she could only sit and watch them all die. One by one. Until a hoof touched her shoulder. She remember a similar touch from when she was a filly and she spun around instinctively to find the source of the comfort. Behind her stood Nightmare Moon, smiling proudly at her as if she had just won an award in some popular contest.

"Good job, my pet..."

Twilight opened her eyes once more, fresh tears streaming down her face as she took in the area around her. Nightmare Moon was no longer present in the room, but Moon Beam still snuggled affectionately against her. She shuddered as she recalled visions of the dream and laid her head down next to the filly's. She knew what was causing the dreams, but didn't know how to dispel them. "I'm not a murderer...." she muttered as she began to drift off into terror filled dreams once again.

Moon Beam stirred slightly from the movement caused by Twilight as she found a comfortable position to sleep in. "Auntie Twilight?" The purple unicorn opened her eyes and smiled warmly at the unicorn filly. "Are you okay? Did you do something bad?"

Twilight blanched at the foal's words. She didn't know how to explain what had happened to the small unicorn without hurting her innocence. She knew how, whenever something bad would happen to the filly form of Moon Beam, she would shift personalities and forget all experiences that happened while changed, but she also knew that that kept the filly's innocence mostly intact. "I...." She choked on a sob that had found its way into her throat. "I did.... I hurt somepony really bad..., but they hurt me too.... I guess I'm just scared of myself...."

Moon Beam frowned and kissed Twilight on the head just as the lavender unicorn does for her. "It's okay, Auntie Twilight. Mommy Moon and I still love you!" She beamed and snuggled up closer to the mare. "Mommy Moon doesn't show it but she really likes you. And I like you too! You're the nicest Auntie I've ever had. It's too bad Brookie isn't here anymore. I'm sure she likes you too!"

Twilight froze, her expression dropping into depression once again. Her body grew cold as memories of Silent Brook's confession tore through her brain. She fought back tears once more and put on a brave face for the filly, despite her inner turmoil. "Yeah..., she probably would...." Twilight nuzzled the filly and curled up around her once again. "Let's try and go back to sleep. It's still bed time for you."

"Okay, Auntie Twilight. Good night."

"Good night, Moon Beam."

The filly kissed Twilight on the forehead once more before snuggling up close to the unicorn's stomach. "I love you, Auntie Twilight...." She said as she quickly drifted off back to sleep.

Twilight breathed deeply and closed her eyes. "I love you too, Moon Beam...." She, too, began to fall into slumber.

All lights were off in the town of Ponyville save for the tree house library where a purple dragon met with five mares of varying colors. They spoke quietly even though no noise could escape the walls of the tree.

"Alright girls. Tomorrow night, we're gonna go in there an' get Twilight out. Do y'all know what ya gotta do?" The orange earth pony asked, her cowpony hat tilted up out of her face.

The group all nodded. "Uhm.... Do you think... that, uh..., we'll all be... okay? I mean..., isn't this... dangerous?" Fluttershy asked, the fear obvious in her voice.

Rainbow Dash swooped down from her perch on the upper level of the library. "Duh! Of course we'll be alright! There's no way our plan can go wrong! All of the guards will be too tired to stop us since they are still recovering from that battle and the same goes for Nightmare Moon! There's no way she wouldn't have gotten out of that fight without being some kind of tired."

"Now, Rainbow Dash. Don't go getting overconfident. Something can always go wrong, darling, but it is good to be optimistic. We will perform our jobs as quickly and as safely as we can. Now, if you don't mind, could we go over this one more time? I simply cannot allow anypony to forget their roles." Rarity glanced about the group and watched their faces. They all silently agreed.

"All right then. Rarity and I will be the ones to go in an' get Twilight out. Rarity cause she already knows some of the castle from goin' there and me cause I can handle any guards that might try an' get in our way." Apple Jack looked over to Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. "You two will be keeping a look out from the outside. If anything happens, y'all have ta be tha ones to cause a distraction as y'all are much more difficult ta catch than Fluttershy or Spike here. Fluttershy and Spike will stay at the wagon for when we make out getaway. It's yer job to make sure nopony keeps us from being able to leave as soon as we get Twilight. Everypony understand?" They nodded their agreement once more as Apple Jack stood up to stretch her legs. "I reckon it'd be good for y'all to go an' get some rest. We got ourselves a big day ahead an' we can't be riskin' our lives and be tired at tha’ same time. Now head on home, Ah'll stay here an' watch over Spike. And girls.... Be careful on yer way home. Y'all hear that one mare dis'peared a few nights ago."

"Let us not speak of that now, darling."

The purple dragon smiled but shook his head. "No, I didn't hear about that, but I'm sure it's safe AJ. You go on ahead and go home too. I'm sure your family would be worried if you weren't at home when they woke up. Besides, I'll be fine here by myself. I am a man after all."

The five mares chuckled and turned to leave the library, all saying their good-byes to the baby dragon. "Take care, Spike. Try not to stay up too late." Fluttershy called out before closing the door behind her.

Spike waved back at them until they disappeared from view then sprinted up the stairs to hop into bed. He picked up a picture from his bedside and gazed at it lovingly. The picture depicted Princess Celestia standing over a filly Twilight Sparkle and the newly born Spike as she smiled at them. It was taken the day after Twilight was accepted to be Princess Celestia's personal protege and Twilight had given it to him a year ago for his birthday. He sighed and stroked it as he curled up, clutching the picture to his stomach. "Don't you worry, Twilight.... We're finally coming to save you...."

Author's Notes: Yay being sick! Just totally ruins any plans you may have! I guess, on a brighter note, I didn't have to go in to work so it kinda works out in my favor. Oh well, here's Ch. 13 just like I promised! And it didn't even kill me! High score! Hope you enjoy, but I must be getting to the sleepz. I don't want to be sick tomorrow... Peppy out!

Also, a shout out to one of my readers, Janushyde (in the form of a silly line by an adorable filly)! Thanks for the giggles!

Editor's Notes: Personal shout-out to Tonto the Trotter. Can you find it. I'll give ya' a hint. It's near the end and you have to be familiar with his assassins side story.