“While I still agree with your plan, Twilight, I cannot help but feel some trepidation. We could, quite literally, be walking into the belly of the beast.”

“Did you have to pick that particular phrase, Jack?” Twilight sighed, giving him a look. “I know, you're right. If it were just for curiosity's sake, I'd be glad to let you argue me out of it. But I'm starting to understand the rules of this place, I think... and my intuition tells me that we'll find something that we need in the throne room.”

“I am without better alternatives.” The human allowed the unicorn to lead the way, his hand clenched on the haft of the borrowed longsword.

Evading the patrolling Many that were stalking the halls and corridors wasn't an easy task, but Twilight knew the castle like the back of her hoof from years spent wandering around while growing up, and that knowledge was proving supremely useful; what would have been dangerous, if not outright deadly, encounters were avoided thanks to her knowing just where a particular side passage or cul-de-sac to hide in could be found.

But as they closed in on the throne room, a bizarre thing happened. As if they had crossed some border known only to the Many, the pair found themselves alone in the halls, navigating the dimly-lit, slime-splattered halls completely unimpeded. “I do not like this,” Jack murmured. “The creatures would not neglect to secure an area so close to what must be an important place.”

“And anyone who could get this close without being stopped by all those walking horrors out there would probably rate an elevated response....” Twilight's ears picked up on a distant, muffled sound; she turned to look, and froze. “...oh... my... Celestia.”

Whatever this new creature was, it was half as tall again as- and bore only the most superficial resemblance to- the stallion it must have once been, looking far more like some fleshy, muscular hellhound. Broad hooves, bedecked with claws made of exposed bone, thudded against the marble floor; a vestigial tail, seemingly left as an afterthought, twitched randomly. What was less a head than an eyeless, gaping maw lined with wicked fangs rose and snuffled at the air.

But it was what Jack and Twilight spotted as the creature turned that halted them in their tracks. On the left side of its broad, distended neck, stretched across the skin like a hideous tattoo, was the face of the pony it once had been- frozen in an eternal, soundless scream.

The enraged bellow that the creature gave as it sensed their presence was enough to break them out of their reverie; even at the distance between it and them, the noise was almost deafening. The echoes of its roar hadn't even faded when it launched itself towards them at a terrifyingly-fast run.

“Twilight! Get ready to run!” Jack unslung the spear from over his shoulder and set himself to throw it like a javelin. After only a few seconds of waiting for the creature to close into optimal range, the samurai let fly with every ounce of his strength; the weapon soared through the air, the spearhead glinting in the dim light as it twirled.

Jack's aim was true. The spear drilled through the side of the creature's neck and sank deep, at least half of the shaft disappearing beneath its skin as the weapon's tip tore its way through the monster's chest and into its abdomen.

The creature didn't even flinch, let alone slow.

“You've got to be kidding me!” Twilight shouted, falling in behind Jack as he burst into a sprint away from the approaching monster, which galloped after them with the spear jutting from its shoulder like the lance of an exceptionally grotesque jouster.

“Twilight! That pillar, there... when we reach it, we must split up. Tandem attacks. Keep the creature unbalanced!”

“Yeah, we're not gonna be able to out-muscle it... so we out-maneuver it!”

The splitting up was executed perfectly; keeping the creature off-balance was considerably harder to pull off. It was far more nimble than it seemed, strong enough to where glancing blows from its mutated hooves tore chunks from the marble pillars and floors, and absolutely relentless. Jack's longsword cut clean, deep wounds across its flesh, and Twilight pelted it with fist-sized pieces of stone with enough speed to cause miniature sonic booms, but still the creature raged.

On one attack, Jack moved at just the wrong moment, and took a glancing blow to the head from one of the monster's forehooves that was enough to send him sprawling. The creature was quick to capitalize, rearing up with another deafening roar, ready to drive those enormous hooves down on the human's vulnerable form.

Time seemed to slow down for Twilight. Nothing nearby was nearly adequate enough to serve as a weapon strong enough to halt the attack, and of all the tricks she knew, there was nothing that wouldn't risk Jack still being hurt- or worse.

So with an inward shudder, Twilight traded one principle for another. She would have to end a life to save one.

Magic swelled around her horn as she combined three basic arcane forms that had served her so well during this adventure- pure physical force, the shield spell, and directional impulse- and then amplified them to a level she had never tried before. And, as the creature's hooves began to crash down towards the samurai's unprotected back, she let loose.

A teardrop-shaped blast of energy nearly as large as Twilight's head shot forth and slammed into the side of the creature like a spectral freight train, literally taking it off of its hooves and blasting it away from the downed human. A half-second later- as the attack had already carried the monster a good twenty feet down the hall- the shield spell dissipated, and the pure physical force it held within was unleashed with enough force to literally blow the massive mutant in half.

As what remained of the creature fell to the floor, in pieces of various sizes and states of liquefaction, Twilight rushed over to help Jack up onto his feet. The samurai- sporting a welt and a thin cut on his left temple- rose unsteadily, looked at the mess that had once been their attacker, and then turned towards the unicorn, who was staring forlornly at the carnage. “Are you alright?” he asked quietly.

She knew he didn't mean physically. “I- I will be. I'll deal with it... somehow. In the meantime, we've got somewhere to be, and we do not want to wait for another of those things to show up.”

He gave her a nod and a comforting pat on the neck, then collected his sword before taking place at her side as she headed towards their destination- the grand, intricately-carved doors of the throne room.

Pitch-blackness met them beyond. Twilight lit her horn, but the illumination spell barely reached halfway across the grand chamber; aside from the complete lack of light, though, everything seemed normal, besides the windows having been completely painted or covered over by some dark substance. Still, the pair exercised due caution as they advanced along the long, patterned carpet that drew a red line through the center of the room.

They had made it thirty feet from the doors when a voice spoke- a voice that froze Twilight in her tracks.

“It's been such a long time since you've come to visit me, my faithful student.”

Every torch, candle and lantern in the room lit as one, blinding the samurai and the unicorn for a moment. What they saw when their eyes recovered made Twilight gasp in horror- at the far end of the throne room, on the stone platform where the Princesses' thrones would rest, stretched a pillar of discolored flesh from floor to ceiling. Tendrils anchored it on both ends; the ones on the ceiling stretched across most of the length of the room, looking very much like a series of veins.

“Pr....” Twilight could barely bring herself to speak. “Princess.. C- Celestia?”

The front of the disgusting pillar peeled open like a rotten fruit being skinned by an unseen knife. Within sat the Princess of the Sun, Celestia... or, rather, the front half of her; everything past her ribcage had been replaced with a long, fleshy tendril that lay coiled within the pillar beneath her. Slowly, the alicorn's eyes opened and focused on the two figures before her. “Who else did you expect, my little pony?” she asked quietly, with the ghost of a smile on her lips.

“This... this can't be.” Twilight's eyes were wide, her body shivering in a mix of fear and revulsion. “They... they can't have gotten you, Princess. Not you.”

“Oh, my dear Twilight Sparkle. Have you still not come to terms with events?” The tendril lowered the Princess onto the ground, and she advanced towards them, her front half trotting as if normal while the tendril slithered behind her like the tail of a snake. “You speak as though some great tragedy has befallen me.”

Jack stepped between Twilight and the advancing alicorn, sword at the ready. “Come no closer, creature!” he commanded. “Twilight, run! I will cover your-”

Movement occurred, far too fast for the unicorn to track; within the space of an eyeblink, one of the tendrils from the ceiling had lowered and wrapped itself around Jack tightly, binding him from neck to knees. The sword tumbled from his hand as he struggled fruitlessly to free himself; Celestia gave him a curious look as she continued to approach. “My dear Twilight, is this a human?” she asked, as though she were inquiring about an unexpected guest for tea. “The Many remember humans. How they created the Machine Mother, and unwittingly set her loose on themselves. My most faithful student, you really must be careful of the company you keep.”

“Jack!” Twilight's horn lit up brightly. “Let him go! You're not really the Princess!”

“No?” Celestia blinked in surprise. “Hmm... well, in the strictest manner, I suppose you could say I'm not. Truly, I am a part of something more, now. Something greater.”

“You're a monster!”

“Oh, Twilight.” Celestia tsked softly. “I had hoped that, once we finally got to speak, you would approach this subject with a more open mind. At least listen, and understand what it is all ponies could become....” Her eyes closed for a moment, and when they opened again they had gone completely white. A cacaphony of voices spilled forth from her mouth. “What is a drop of rain, compared to a storm? What is a thought... compared to a mind? Our unity is full of wonder, which your tiny individualism... cannot even conceive.”

“This... this isn't unity! This is slavery! This is a violation of the sanctity of the mind! A crime against the very soul!”

“It is a shedding of the shackles of loneliness and desolation, Twilight Sparkle. An end to misunderstandings, to strife, to lost knowledge. I would think that, of all ponies, you would understand this.” The unicorn, too overcome by revulsion and terror to move, watched as the alicorn raised a hoof to her chin. “The Many are everything we ponies have wished to be, my faithful student. They are the bridge that can carry us to the apex of harmony.”

(-)

“You know, I'm still not sure how we got from the third floor to the basement again.” Rarity let out a sigh. “And remind me again how you convinced me to crawl through a dingy air duct?”

“Think it had something t' do with gettin' chased by a security-guard pony what had a nightstick in place of a foreleg.”

“...right.” The ponies went silent for a moment as they belly-crawled through the ventilation system. “Hm. Looks like this might come loose!” Rarity's horn flared, and the grating in front of her shuddered, then broke away from the wall; with a little difficulty, she pulled herself through the opening, then helped Applejack do the same. “Glad to be out of there!” the unicorn declared.

“Can't argue that.” The cowpony adjusted her hat and looked around. “Okay, looks like we got only one way to go from here,” she commented, looking around; the vent had dropped them off in what looked like a storage area, next to a strange, trash-strewn open room with a wide doorway on each side.

“Then let's be on our way.”

The ponies had gotten halfway through the room when a bell of some kind sounded off. In front of them, a heavy steel shutter rolled down to seal off the exit; before they could even think to retreat, another one closed off the way they'd come in. The ceiling lights cut out, replaced by a pair of red emergency lights. “What in tarnation-!” Applejack exclaimed.

That all-too-familiar voice sounded out over speakers neither pony could see. “Ten. Nine. Eight.”

Steam began pouring through small vents in the ceiling, and there was a low rumbling coming through the floor. “What's going on? What is this?!” Rarity gasped.

“I dunno, but it can't be good! Force open th' door!”

“Seven. Six. Five.”

“It's not budging!” Rarity's horn was glowing brightly.

“Consarn it!” Applejack's hooves slammed against the shutter, putting in a pair of small dents but otherwise having no effect.

“Four. Three. Two.”

“C'mon! C'mon! I dun wanna die like this!”

“Applejack, I'm so sorry...!”

“One.”

There was a brief moment of absolute silence... and then the lights came back on, the steam shut off, and the shutters rattled their way back into the ceiling. “Thank you for participating in this fire drill. If it was a real fire, you'd be dead by now.”

“You... you have got to be....” Rarity shivered, staring at the open doorway before them.

“This place is really messin' with our heads.” Applejack grimaced. “Let's... jus' walk it off, Rare.”

The area they found themselves in did not lend itself well to psychological recovery. A small lobby of some sorts with a pair of elevators greeted the two mares; a thick smear of blood led along the floor to the right-side elevator, the doors of which were coated with it in a way that suggested something had been violently caught between them. Applejack only managed to approach a few feet closer to it before something that sounded far too much like movement inside for her comfort forced a retreat. “Don't think we'll be usin' those,” she murmured.

“Agreed.” Rarity forced herself to look away. “This door here is locked, but that set will open... I suppose that's our way forward.”

Yet another pitch-black hallway, lined by locked doors that seemed to lead to individual patient suites, awaited them. The pair had walked only a few dozen feet along it when a sensation of cold passed over both of them; the flashlight dimmed and flickered for a moment, and that ghostly voice echoed through the halls again.

“.gnireffus rieht fo seohce tub gnihton gnivael ...yletelpmoc seinop emos demialc soahC ehT”

The flickering of Rarity's flashlight stopped, and she glanced up ahead... and stopped. “What... what is that?” she whispered.

“It's....” Applejack dared to move ahead a little. “It's... a shadow. A shadow of a pony.”

“But there's nopony casting it!”

“Yeah, I kin see that!”

Rarity moved up next to Applejack. “Oh, sweet Celestia, there's more of them....”

The hallway was literally lined with sourceless shadows, standing silently before them, swaying gently back and forth; no matter which way Rarity moved or turned her flashlight, the shadows seemed to face it. “How... how do these things even exist?” the unicorn breathed.

“I dunno.” Despite her common sense screaming at her to hold back, Applejack approached one of the shadows, slowly raising a forehoof to touch it. The instant she made contact, there was a strange static-like noise, and the earth pony jerked away with a hiss of pain. “What happened? AJ, are you alright?!” Rarity asked.

“It's... it's cold.” Applejack shook her hoof, grimacing. “Bitter cold. Like... there's no kinda warmth in it at all.”

“Best we avoid them, then....” It was a slow walk along the hall, the ponies giving every shadow as much of a berth as they could, until the corridor took two right turns and led into a large communal shower. The shadows showed no sign of wishing to follow, and Applejack was more than happy to slam the door shut on them. “Horrors every which way we turn, I swear,” she murmured.

“I still can't wrap my head around the idea that this actually happened somewhere.” Rarity shook her head. “Thank Luna's lucky stars that it wasn't our home.”

“Can't help but wonder what th' others are goin' through. If it's half as bad as this... hoo boy.”

Rarity followed her friend through the shower, towards the far exit door. “We have to just trust in them to be strong.”

ding-dong

“We here at Ponyville Hospital would just like to take a moment of your time to inform you....”

Both mares glanced around for a moment, then shrugged and turned back towards the exit.

“...there is something behind you.”

“Gwarrrghhh....”

Seemingly out of nowhere, one of the doctor corpses had appeared in the middle of the shower. It lumbered towards the pair, snarling deeply; fighting panic, Rarity fumbled at the doorknob for a moment before getting the door open and rushing through. Applejack was right behind, and she kicked the door closed behind her. The creature, apparently lacking the mental capacity to operate doorknobs, moaned piteously and pounded at the door with its forehooves.

Applejack glared up at the ceiling. “Seriously? Seriously?! Yer gonna start pullin' that kinda stuff on us now? Th' 'fire drill' weren't foalish enough?”

“Applejack!” Rarity's voice was a frightened hiss. “This place does not need a critique!”

“I... augh.” The earth pony shook her head to clear it. “Sorry, Rare. Here I'm tellin' ya to not let this place get in yer head, then I'm lettin' it happen t' me.”

“I shan't begrudge you that. But, as you said... let's just walk it off.”

The creature trapped in the shower room groaned again and thumped at the door; Applejack delivered a kick to the door's other side. “Yer input ain't requested!” she snorted.

The next few minutes found the ponies untouched, much to their surprise, though that didn't keep them from nearly jumping at every sound and shadow, real or imagined. Eventually, though, they came to what was probably the last place in the hospital either pony wanted to see. “Morgue,” Rarity said quietly, reading the sign over the imposing double-doors.

“Yeah, that's a big pile of 'no',” Applejack said, approaching a different set of doors. “I don't care where these lead,” she said, reaching out to open them, “but it can't be any worse than-”

fwooom

The doors Applejack was about to open vanished, leaving behind only a blank wall. Everything around them went blurry, and sound was distorted, as though they were suffering from a shared concussion. “What... what is this?!” Rarity shouted.

“I dunno! But we ain't goin' in that morgue!” She led the unicorn back towards the last set of doors they'd come through... which disappeared the moment they got close. “Aw, c'mon!” the earth pony yelled.

Both mares turned towards the doors to the morgue, which slowly opened as if to welcome them inside. Slowly, the pair walked through, finding themselves in a long, darkened room lined on one side with small metal doors; at the far end was an examination table underneath a bright, flickering light. Something appeared to be laid on it. With a shared reluctant glance, the ponies approached the table.

clack-clack-clack-clack tsssh-tsssh-tsssh-tsssh

One by one, the doors to the left shot open, some of them disgorging their contents onto the ground- jet-black body bags, each with a label marked with a red “X”. Whatever it was Rarity yelped in response was lost to the storm of sound distortion around them, but she pulled herself together enough to keep up with Applejack, who was determinedly marching towards the table, her face set in a stubborn glare.

Just as the pair reached their destination, and Applejack was about to raise a hoof to snatch the object- now identifiable as a clipboard with a thick wad of papers attached- the shadowy filly appeared before them, seated on the table, seeming to gaze right through them. There was a pulse of light, and a number of disjointed images and sensations shot through the minds of the two mares- a critically ill young filly rushed into the hospital, doctors working on her frantically, and then spreading panic and violence around the hospital.

“!eugalP soahC a fo oreZ tenitaP emoceb d'I taht nwonk evah t'ndluoc I !ltuaf ym t'nsaw tI”

There was a sensation of falling, hitting water and sinking, and then blackness.

(-)

“Scootaloo? Talk to me, kiddo.” Indy stared at the blank wall in front of him. “What do you mean 'it won't let us go'? What can we do to get out?”

The ghostly filly's voice seemed to be getting more faint with every second. “The orphanage keeps everyone it remembers. That's how it kept me. The door doesn't exist for you anymore because the building doesn't want it to.”

“Scoots, we can't stay here!” Dash exclaimed.

“I know! Gimme a minute... hang on.” There was a pause, and for a moment the pair thought they'd lost contact with Scootaloo entirely. “There's a cage, downstairs, where a lot of orphans and some of the less-dangerous patients were put when they got somepony important angry. If you go in there, you might be able to trick the orphanage into thinking that's what happened to you... and it'll remember you differently. As somepony who was here before the fire.”

Dash raised her ears. “And then it'll let us out?”

“Not exactly. If it remembers you differently... then the building will be different for you. I tried it once or twice to escape, but... I couldn't manage.”

“Hang on. What do you mean, it'll be 'different' for us?”

“The orphanage remembers the times before the fire, but... it's like a really old memory. Lots of things are unclear and hazy. But if you're lucky, the building will think you're just a couple more patients that were locked up for misbehaving, and you can trick it into forgetting you.”

Indy pulled his hat off for a moment to rub at his forehead. “How? Just go out the front door?”

“That never works. The same thing happened to me that just happened to you... I think the building doesn't believe patients or orphans could just leave that easy. But there might be another way- the staff tower.”

“The place that looks like it burned up in the fire?”

“It's still intact in the orphanage's memories- which means that you can trick the building into thinking you jumped out the high window at the top of the tower. That... happened a couple of times, even after the staff started clipping the pegasi's wings.” That got a mixed expression of horror and disgust from Dash. “But that'll mean the staff is there, too, and they won't be very gentle with patients who wandered out of where they're supposed to be. If I hadn't been dead when I tried, I sure would've ended up that way.”

“So that means we get one shot, I guess.” Dash sighed, scraping a hoof against the wall. “And we'll have to be really careful.”

“I'll wait for you guys outside. Good luck....” The filly's voice faded away completely. Dash stared upwards for a moment, then turned her eyes towards Indy; her face was set in an expression of grim determination. “So,” she said. “We've got a goal, and a risky way to make it happen. But we've got no idea what's between it and us, and we don't get a second chance. So....” She grinned. “Heads up, eyes open, and ready to improvise at the drop of your hat. Is that the plan?”

He couldn't help but return the grin. “Mare, you're speaking my language.”

The cage hadn't gotten any less imposing since the last time the pair had seen it. Still, with the alternative well in mind, there was no hesitation on getting inside. “Ready?” Indy asked, one hand on the cage door, ready to close it.

Dash nodded. “As I'll ever be.”

The door swung close with a deep, shuddering creak.

There was a deep, drawn-out noise, as though some titanic creature were taking in a deep breath after almost drowning. Both pony and human gritted their teeth as they felt reality warp around them, a sensation like being pulled through a steel grate at hypersonic speeds. The fact that the ordeal was over in only a few seconds was no comfort to either of them. “...okay, I don't like this ride anymore, I wanna go home,” Dash murmured.

“I hear you on that. Just need to find the exit.” Carefully, Indy pushed the cage door open again, and the pair stepped out to have a look around. Everything seemed different now- the shadows that stretched across the room seemed nebulous, fluctuating, as if the light itself had gotten inebriated and couldn't manage a straight line. Where near-silence had reigned before, now a strange, barely-heard bedlam of strange noises echoed all around them; enraged shouts, quiet weeping and the screams of children weaved their way around the two, leaving them still and silent for a moment. “I'm gonna have some really fun nightmares once this is all over,” the human murmured.

“You're planning on sleeping? Never again for me.” Dash shook her head.

Unlike its relatively more normal twin, this version of the building wasn't considerate enough to be half-empty; as soon as the duo had made their way back to the first floor, they found themselves dodging what had to be one of the staff members... or, rather, some bizarre representation of one. It was little more than a walking impression of the form of a pony- matte-black, faceless, and flickering slightly as though it weren't entirely sure of what shape it should be. But there was no mistaking the aura of malevolence around it, a feeling of barely-restrained hostility just waiting for a target to foolishly make itself known.

It wasn't alone, either. No less than three other staff members just like it patrolled the rooms and hallways between the pair and their destination, including one between the pair and where they needed to go- the now-restored metal stairs leading into the staff tower. This particular creature's circuit kept it close enough to where getting by undetected was going to be an issue. “I'll go by first,” Dash whispered. “Should be able to fly right past him. Wait until he's halfway past, then make a break for it... if he hears you, I'll try to distract him.”

“Just... don't do anything to get yourself killed.”

“I won't if you won't.” She gave him a brief smile before turning her attention back towards the staff member. Just as it passed the point she'd described to him, she flapped her way across the hall and over the staircase; her passage hardly made a whisper of sound. She peeked out from an open office close to the long stairway that led to the tower proper, watching him intently.

His approach was flawless, perfectly timed. If it hadn't been for a splotch of slimy mold on the second step, he might have made it through free and clear- but the slaps of skin against metal as his hands struck the banisters to save himself from a fall caught the staff member's ears. Indy wasn't quite out of sight when the shadowy form spun around, and slowly it approached the stairs.

Unable to get into the office without being seen, Indy could only stuff himself into a shallow cul-de-sac and wait. He heard the creature's slow hoofsteps clomp up each step, every one bringing it closer to the point where it couldn't possibly miss spotting him.

Then something clacked across the floor in the office, drawing the creature's attention. It stormed into the small room, legs spread apart in a fighting stance... only to find a single piece of stone from the ceiling lying on the floor in front of it. After a moment, it visibly calmed down, turned and stalked its way out of the room, back towards its post.

Dash carefully let out the breath she'd been holding, but waited until she heard the creature finish descending the stairs before she relaxed her legs from holding her up against the corner of the ceiling above the door. Carefully she flapped her way down to the floor, made sure that the staff member was back on his patrol route, then gestured for Indy to come out; he did so, following her to a safe spot before kneeling down and giving her a playful tap to the jaw with his fist. “I owe you big-time for that save,” he told her.

“Yeah, no problem.” Dash let out a quiet sigh of relief. “Indy, we need to get you a set of wings.”

“Hell, you find 'em in my size, I'll buy 'em.”

Some more careful advancement brought the pair to what had to be the interior of the staff tower- a tall, wooden structure with a staircase that wound its way upwards, connected to walkways that led into what were probably staff quarters. Some of them were still occupied, but the staff members who were still in their rooms seemed content to stand and stare off into space, so it wasn't difficult to get past them. Fortunately it didn't seem that they felt a need to patrol their own living quarters, so it was a fairly quick and uneventful trip upwards to the top of the tower.

The tower's apex, however, apparently saw fit to be more challenging. The window Scootaloo had spoken of was there, wide and tall enough for a pony and human to fit through together, but it was what sat between it and the pair that made them pause- a long, low table, lined with chairs, many of which were filled by staff members sitting stock-still at attention. Around them stalked another, smaller form; this one was clearly a unicorn mare, smaller than the others but radiating almost-palpable waves of pure hate. Baleful yellow dots of light glared forth from her otherwise-featureless face, and over one of her shoulders, surrounded by a pale-gray magical field, was a long, thick dressage whip with a sturdy handle. The faintest sound of an endlessly drawn-out scream echoed all around her.

Indy put his back against a wall in the deepest shadow he could get to, followed closely by Dash. “Is that who I think it is?” she asked in a low voice.

The human nodded slowly. “Most likely, yeah. Say hello to Matron Sharphoof.”

(-)

“Trixie! Calm down!” Fluttershy raised a hoof to fend off the enraged unicorn. “We were running for our lives! This was the only safe place!”

“It won't be safe for long if the Taken bring down those lanterns!”

“Quit shouting at each other! It's not helping anything!” Pinkie pushed Trixie back a bit. “Look, it's simple, girls. When you've got unwanted guests at your party, you put a bright light on 'em, and they get annoyed and go away!”

Fluttershy blinked. “Does that actually work?”

“I dunno! I've never had unwanted guests at any of my parties!”

Trixie spared the earth pony a withering glance before sighing. “Nonetheless, that is exactly what we must do. Come, we must drive them off before they forge a path to the cottage!”

The unicorn levitated a flare gun and a small pack of flares to her side, then flung the door open and dashed through, followed closely by Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. The three ponies could easily see dark shapes shifting just past the edge of the pool of light that the lanterns cast. Trixie immediately loaded a flare into her gun. “Drown in the light, wretched creatures!” she shouted, taking aim and firing; the flare shot towards the group of Taken in a brilliant jet of red flame, landing in the midst of them and burning a couple away almost instantly. The others- and now the group could see how many there were, at least three dozen- scattered in an attempt to stay clear of the circle of harsh light it cast.

The mares were not content to leave things at that. As Trixie reloaded her flare gun, Pinkie pulled one of her flares out from inside her mane, tugged off the cap with her teeth and then threw the flare towards the nearest group of Taken, forcing them to further displace; Fluttershy took to the air, shining her flashlight down on some of the stragglers to keep them occupied.

“Now start picking them off! And stay near the flares!” Trixie's horn began to glow, and she focused that light into a coherent beam that stabbed through the darkness as effectively as any flashlight; Pinkie was quick to join in with her lantern, and Fluttershy circled overhead, evading thrown axes and knives and lending her weaker light to help burn down any Taken that one of the other mares was focusing on.

The trio had eliminated at least half of their opposition when there was a deep, reverberating snarl from further down the clearing. The remaining Taken immediately backed off, retreating out of sight, as what had to be the biggest of them yet stepped into view. “Luna's teats!” Trixie swore.

The other two mares were too shocked to even register the unicorn's blasphemy. “Big Mac?!” they gasped in unison.

Applejack's older brother- or the thing that had once been him- pawed a hoof at the ground, snorting and snarling. Clenched in his teeth was the handle of an enormous scythe, its wicked edge coated in dried blood; the no-doubt considerable weight of the tool seemed meaningless to the brawny stallion. Without any sort of preamble, the farmhoof charged forward, neck twisting back and forth as he swung his weapon in wide arcs.

“Get as much light on him as you can! Burn him down!” Trixie aimed her flare gun and fired; the stallion was too large a target to miss, and the flare practically exploded on impact- but Mac simply ignored the light burning at his wreath of shadows, stampeding towards the mares with single-minded determination. Pinkie yanked a second flare from her mane and dropped it in front of her, then brought her light up directly into his eyes; that got his attention, and he shifted his mad sprint to head directly for her.

It was impossible to tell which was faster- his swing of that terrible scythe, or her nimble hop that carried her just over the blade. Undeterred, Mac spun around- insanely quickly for a pony of his size- and brought the scythe around again at neck level in a cut aimed to behead the pink mare, only to just barely miss as she tucked herself into a roll. All the while, the bright light from the burning flare tore away at the living shadows that wrapped the stallion's form. “Girls, can we get more light on him? I can't keep this up for long!” Pinkie panted.

Trixie's horn flared even more brightly than before, and a beam of blinding white light focused on Mac like a sunbeam through a magnifying glass, searing away the layer of darkness that covered him. That served only to get his attention, and with a feral snarl, he charged the unprepared unicorn; her panicked leap sideways didn't quite bring her to safety, as the razor edge of the weapon drew a red line across her side, and his broad chest slammed into her, sending her rolling across the grass and her flare gun tumbling into the darkness.

“Trixie!” Pinkie ignited her last flare and hurled it at Big Mac, hitting him directly in the muzzle. The burst of light was just enough to drive him back a bit, and the earth pony capitalized on the reprieve, pulling Trixie onto her back and galloping as fast as she could towards the cottage. “Fluttershy!” she called out. “Back towards the lanterns! Maybe he won't follow!”

But the fight against the Taken had brought the trio quite some distance away from the safety of the light, and with Trixie on her back, Pinkie was struggling to get up to speed. Big Mac, however, was under no such load, and seeing the opportunity for two easy kills, he charged once more. Pinkie pushed herself as hard as she could, but even if she dropped the unicorn- which she wouldn't- there was just no way she'd make it before that scythe got to her.

Then there was a blur of yellow just above and ahead of her. “Pinkie! Down, now!”

She dove just as Fluttershy pulled the trigger of Trixie's flare gun. The blazing-red projectile left a streak across the ponies' vision as it shot forward, far too fast for the rushing stallion to even hope to dodge; the flare struck him directly between his shadow-covered eyes and exploded, lighting the area up as bright as day for a moment. A horrible shriek came from Big Mac's throat as he stumbled and fell, the scythe crashing to the ground behind him.

Trixie was already back on her hooves, though unsteady. “Finish him off!” she shouted, lowering her head to point her horn directly at the downed stallion. A veritable spotlight shone forth, catching Big Mac in its center as he struggled to get back up; a second later, Pinkie brought her lantern up as well, pressing both forehooves to it and combining its light with Trixie's. The wreath of shadows that protected Big Mac finally gave out, and with a harsh scream he fell back to the grass, fading away after a moment.

Pinkie dropped back to all fours and looked towards the unicorn. “Trixie! You're hurt!”

“It'll be fine.” Her clenched teeth and soft hiss of pain with every intake of breath showed that the wound was bothering her, but she could at least walk without too much trouble. “Where are the other Taken?”

“I.. I think they ran off.” Fluttershy landed next to the injured mare. “Trixie, you're bleeding. We need to get that wound taken care of.”

“There's no time for that, we....” Trixie's voice trailed off as she encountered Fluttershy's determined gaze. “...fine. You're right. Trixie cannot fight the Taken if she is suffering from an infection and blood loss.”

“Good. Come on, let's get back inside.” Fluttershy and Pinkie took position on either side of the injured mare to help support her, and helped her back inside the cottage. Apparently Trixie had been adding to Fluttershy's already-considerable medical stockpile and knew a somewhat-effective healing spell, so it wasn't difficult to get her wound cleaned, stitched up and healed to the point where re-opening it wasn't a pressing concern. The unicorn took a moment to lie down on the overstuffed couch. “Trixie... thanks you both,” she murmured. “She apologizes for the outburst before. This is her only place of safety; to see it attacked....”

“It's okay, Trixie.” Fluttershy sat down next to her and gently stroked her mane; the unicorn looked set to protest for a moment, but then simply sighed and laid her head down. “We're sorry we led the Taken here. We just didn't know what else to do.”

“You need not apologize. This is your home, after all, is it not? And as the sailor ponies say, 'Any port in a storm'.” After a few moments, Trixie stood again, slowly, and looked out the window at the horizon; the once-dark skies had turned a hazy gray with the approach of dawn. “The sun will rise soon. Come, let us replace the downed lanterns, and then get some rest. I suspect we will have a busy day.”

Pinkie let loose a huge yawn. “Well, okay, I could go for some shut-eye. But what have you got planned?”

Trixie's expression went cold. “Perhaps, with your help, Trixie can finally confront Lyra and put an end to this.”

(-)

“I'm afraid that I cannot give you a choice in this matter, Twilight.” Celestia gazed sadly upon her student, who was wrapped neck-to-tail in fleshy tendrils, while a crystal restraint ring set on her horn kept her magic contained. “Your vast knowledge and potential are simply too valuable to the Many for us to let you leave. The same goes for your friend here.” She gave Jack a glance; the human had ceased struggling and simply glared at her silently. “You'll see, my faithful student. Once you've become part of the Many, you'll understand.”

The Princess's gentle smile didn't waver from Twlight's half-panicked, half-furious stare. It did leave her face, however, when a good portion of the alicorn's head vanished in a small but violent explosion of black magic. As the majestic white-coated body fell twitching to the floor, Twilight and Jack looked up towards the back of the room. “It... it can't be....” the unicorn gasped.

“Twilight Sparkle!” Princess Luna glided to a landing in front of them; with a brief glow of her horn, more black magic severed the tendrils holding them in place, and they tumbled to the ground. “I know not what madness has drawn you to return here, but you must leave now!”

Jack immediately retrieved his sword, but Twilight was frozen in place, staring at the mutated corpse that had been her mentor. “How... how could you....” she whimpered.

“Twilight, that is not Celestia. It is merely a disgusting avatar, of sorts. She resides within the Many now.” With a deft movement of her hoof, the Princess of the Night yanked the restraint ring from Twilight's horn. “No doubt they are growing a new body for her as we speak; they have done so enough times before. We must escape here as quickly as we can- you and I are far too tempting targets for the Many to allow to leave!” She turned towards Jack. “Human, are you uninjured? Will you be able to keep up?”

He nodded. “I will. Thank you.”

“Save your thanks for when I have led you from this place... if even I can.” She stormed through the various halls with both Twilight and Jack barely able to keep pace. “Count your lucky stars, Twilight Sparkle, for they are numerous. Had I not been alerted to your presence and been able to follow your trail without detection, you would no doubt have been 'inducted' into the Many by now. What could possibly have persuaded you to come to Canterlot, let alone wander into the very heart of the hive?!”

“It's- it's complicated, Princess. But I... I had to know what happened here.”

“Well, I certainly hope your curiosity has been satisfied.” Luna's tone was scathing, and Twilight's ears lowered. “You endanger far more than just yourself here! All that has been keeping the Many from accessing Celestia's full potential is the seal I placed between her and the sun- your considerable power is not so easy to contain! Have you any idea how far the Many could spread beyond Canterlot were they to claim you in their ranks?!”

“Princess, I'm sorry! But it wasn't like we just came to go sightseeing!” Twilight gazed down at the floor; next to her, Jack spoke up. “She speaks the truth, Princess. Our arrival here was... far from intended.”

Luna stared at him for a moment, then nodded. “Well. So long as you understand the gravity of the situation. Reprimands will serve little purpose.” She looked the samurai over. “What is your name, human?”

“They call me Jack.”

“Indeed. Well, Jack, it seems the tales I have heard of your kind's prowess at martial pursuits are not mere fantasy, if the swath of destruction you laid for me to follow is any indication. I must thank you for helping to protect Twilight Sparkle.”

Jack smiled and bowed his head. “It is my way to defend those in danger. Princess, may I ask where it is you take us?”

“The nearest exit. I intend to see you both away from this city forthwith.” The alicorn flung a set of doors open with her magic and led the pair through- only to stop short a moment later as misshapen forms stormed into the next hallway. “Blast! They mean to surround us. Prepare for battle!”

Twilight stumbled to a stop beside the Princess, but Jack only increased his pace; with a swift series of movements, the first three creatures found themselves headless or limbless, and the human was already on his way back before the other creatures could stop him. “Impressively done!” Luna exclaimed.

“We don't want to keep it up!” Twilight shouted. “They've got numbers!”

Jack flicked some unidentifiable goop from his blade. “She is right. Princess, we must break through their lines before we are overwhelmed. Which way must we go?”

“There.” She pointed towards a narrow hall with a hoof. “I will take the fore; Jack, watch my blind sides. Twilight, protect the rear.”

With that, she furrowed her brow in concentration, and her horn glowed; an enormous, double-bladed glave materialized before her, ebony and black steel with midnight-blue wrappings. “For Equestria!” she roared, charging ahead.

The ferocity with which she attacked stunned Twilight. She had known, in a purely literary sense, that the Moon Princess had once led armies against Equestria's foes in the days before the nation had found true peace, but to see the sheer skill and relentlessness Luna was capable of floored the unicorn- not so much, though, to keep her from covering their escape. It wasn't terribly difficult to set up shield barricades and “tripwire” force spells to hold and force back their pursuers while Luna and Jack maintained the forward push... and by the number of dead and wounded Many that Twilight was passing, they were doing an exceptional job.

Luna's voice cut through the almost Zen-like state Twilight had entered through focusing on the job at hoof. “Twilight Sparkle! We are changing course; be ready to barricade a door!”

She didn't question the why of it, but simply took stock of the situation, set up a trio of shields to temporarily block the new hallway they were traveling through, and then- once she saw that they'd ended up in a small conference room- shut and sealed the doors with as much magic as she could spare. Heavy thuds immediately began to sound from the other side, but the seal held strong. Twilight turned. “Why did we....”

Luna was already tearing apart a tapestry to serve as a bandage for a deep, bleeding cut that Jack had suffered along his side; the human was crouched, eyes closed tightly in obvious pain, though he made no sound as Luna cleaned and wrapped the wound. “Oh my....” Twilight had been about to utter her typical “Oh my Celestia” exclamation, but after what she had seen in the throne room, she simply let it go unfinished. “What happened?”

“I was foalish.” Luna's expression was a mix of anger and regret. “Jack protected me. Twilight, my magic is highly unsuitable for healing... can you mend this wound enough for him to continue?”

“Yeah, I've had to do this before.” Twilight focused her magic on the human; with her greater familiarity with the flow of his life-energy, healing him went more smoothly than it had previously, and it didn't take her long to close the wound and repair it enough for him to move unhindered, though he kept the makeshift bandage on as a precaution.

“Thank you, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna bowed her head to the human. “And thank you, Jack. I am in your debt.”

Jack bowed his head as well. “Not at all, Princess. We are comrades in arms here, and I protect those who fight by my side.”

She gave him a brief but honest smile at that before turning towards the door. “Twilight, how long will your shield hold?”

“Not very long.” She reflexively winced as something large slammed against it. “We'd better be moving.”

“Indeed. Resume our previous formation. They are bringing significant reinforcements and we need to be on our way.”

The trio moved out, thankfully making good time and distance before Twilight sensed her shield finally being overwhelmed. “Princess,” she said. “How have you been keeping the Many from spreading?”

“A shield spell I learned from your brother, adjusted to seal in any who have been compromised by those damnable worms. So long as I live and remain uncorrupted, they cannot leave Canterlot.”

“And you've been fighting them all by yourself?”

“Not entirely.” Luna hesitated a moment. “I have an... ally, of sorts. One who is wise in the ways of these creatures, who was instrumental in helping to keep the Many contained. She has helped me reclaim key parts of the city since then.”

“Really? Is there any chance we could meet her?”

The Princess gave Twilight an uncomfortable glance. “That would prove... difficult,” she said. “And it is my aim to evacuate you from this city, not to provide a tour.”

Their progress was mercifully uninterrupted for quite some time, and eventually the trio found their way outside of the castle into Canterlot proper. Twilight let out a quiet cry of despair at what she saw- unlike most of the inside of the castle, the city itself was an absolute mess, with many of the buildings showing signs of battle damage or disrepair. Entire blocks were little more than standing rubble, crushed or blown apart by some monumental force. But Jack noticed something as he ran. “There are no bodies,” he said quietly.

“The Many reclaim them for 'biological materials'.” The grimace on her face was telling. “I can do nothing for the fallen. It is the living I must protect.”

It was still some distance from the upper district to the edge of the city, and even Jack's endurance was beginning to flag, let alone Twilight's, so Luna selected a relatively intact building- “Chez Veneto”, judging by the dilapidated sign over the entrance- forced the door open and led them inside. “Oh my gosh,” Twlight murmured. “I remember this place. Mom and Dad brought me and Shining Armor here for my tenth birthday. They... they had the best gnocchi di ricotta....”

Luna gave her an unreadable glance, then went further back into the restaurant to secure it. Jack made his way to the unicorn as she wiped down a chair with an old napkin and took a seat. “Twilight....” he said quietly.

“I know, I know. Not real. It's just....” She sighed. “You told me about your home, Jack. How once you found your way back to it in your future, only to find it little more than ruins. That's how I feel right now.”

He nodded solemnly. “It is not easy to see that this could have happened to the place in which you felt the most secure.”

“That's it, precisely.” She scuffed a hoof along the thick layer of dust on the table, then wiped herself clean. “I can't believe any of this happened. I don't want to. Yet....”

“If only disbelief were sufficient to undo what became of this place.” Luna's expression was stern, but her voice held a trace of sympathy. “All that we have is the here-and-now, Twilight Sparkle. We cannot allow ourselves to become distracted from that.”

“I know, Princess. I'm sorry.” Twilight stared down at the table for a moment before glancing back up. “...you know, I just realized something.”

“What is it?”

“You two... speak a lot alike.”

Luna and Jack both blinked, then looked at each other. “Is that so?” the alicorn murmured. “I... had not noticed.”

“Nor had I,” responded the human.

Somehow, despite everything, Twilight managed a giggle.

(-)

“...I don't know what's worse. The nightmare I was having, or the one I'm waking up into.”

Applejack put down the thick bundle of papers she was reading and trotted over to her friend. “How ya feelin', Rare?” she asked.

“Like five miles of prairie after a buffalo stampede. Is that a suitably folksy metaphor?”

“Not bad. I'll have ya in a bandana and chewin' a piece of straw yet.” The cowpony snickered as Rarity made a face at her. “So....” the unicorn said, looking around at the dingy but well-lit room she'd awoken in. “How long have you been awake?”

“Ain't sure. Fifteen minutes, twenty on th' outside. Ya looked tuckered out, though, so I letcha get a bit more shuteye.”

“I wish I could say I felt well-rested, but I appreciate it nonetheless.” She got to her hooves. “What is that you were reading?”

“Patient files. I think these're the ones we saw on that table in the morgue; they were here when I woke up. I ain't no doctor, but I think I understand enough to figger out jes' what happened here.”

“Do tell.” The two mares walked back to the table Applejack had left the papers on. “And how did we end up here, anyway?”

“Dunno. Woke up in here same as you. Door was jes' closin' when I got up, but weren't nopony there when I opened it.”

“Strange.” Rarity levitated the various forms and notes her friend had been reading. “Can you give me an overview while I look these over?”

“Sure.” The earth pony leaned up on the table with both forelegs. “If'n I'm proper comparin' these notes with that weird vision I saw in th' morgue-”

“You saw it too?”

“Yep. Anyway. If I'm doin' mah thinkin' right, our little ghost filly's what started this all off. Y'remember when Discord got loose?”

“Remember? I still can't say the word 'boulder' without shivering.” As if in emphasis, her body shook slightly.

“Mmyeah, I know whatcha mean. Well, I'm thinkin' maybe th' Elements here didn't do a perfect job of sealin' him back up. This here little filly- they covered up 'er name for some reason- came into th' hospital after bein' found in the Royal Gardens half inna coma. Docs couldn't figger out what was wrong with 'er. All sorts of tests, most of 'em I never even heard of and half of 'em I can't even pronounce. They kept 'er here under observation while tryin' to keep 'er stable.”

“And, let me guess... this is when all the insanity started showing up?”

“Right in one. The crazy was jes' about in full swing when they finally got a specialist t' show up. Diagnosis was somethin' they called 'transmissible self-amplifyin' chaotic thaumatic kin-tamination'.” She struggled to get out the terminology she'd spent a few minutes memorizing. “Some feller helpfully translated that mouthful to... 'chaos plague'.”

“It's been a while since my magic classes....” Rarity found the relevant page and read it over. “...oh my Celestia. I don't like the theory I'm forming here.”

“I really want it t' be diff'rent than mine. Poor filly wandered near Discord's statue in th' Garden, took in way too much leakin' chaos energy or whatever, and it started actin' like a sickness and kin-taminatin' everypony else?”

“I couldn't put it more succinctly myself.” Rarity let the pages fall to the table again. “That poor filly. She couldn't have known. Nopony could have known.”

“An' by th' time they knew what they were dealin' with... it was too late.” Applejack lowered her head and pulled her hat off. “Nothin' but a sad accident caused alla this.”

Rarity let out a long sigh. “Well. Now we understand what happened here. What do we do next?”

“I'm thinkin' that little filly is th' key. We find her, we find our way out.”

“I... have no better ideas. Do we have any leads on where she is?”

“Them notes have a room number. 31-B in th' Intensive Care Unit.”

“Then that gives us a destination.” Rarity picked up the flashlight. “Let's get our hooves moving.”

The room they'd been left in turned out to be a small storage closet in the basement. Fortunately, there was a set of stairs close by that brought them up to the first floor, and a direction sign pointed them towards the ICU. “Well, finally, we have a little luck on our side,” Rarity said.

“Let's hope y' didn't just jinx it.”

Despite Rarity's declaration, their luck held for a little while longer, as the pair crossed through a variety of offices, hallways, examination rooms and patient bedrooms. Then they reached a wide waiting room with a heavily barricaded main entrance; once they'd reached the middle of the room, the doors they'd come through slammed shut. “Aw, crud, here we go again,” Applejack muttered.

But the expected attack didn't come from either of the two unblocked doors- but instead from the overhead windows, which rained glass down on the floor as they shattered. A pair of shapes dropped down, seemingly heedless of the height of their fall or the broken glass that waited for them at the bottom; the moment they landed, they reared up, each letting out a hideous shriek that sounded like a radio being dropped in a bathtub. Rarity brought her flashlight up, and froze at the sight.

The bizarre creatures resembled nothing so much as fleshy stick figures made in the crude image of a pony. Where a head should have been was nothing but a gaping vertical maw lined with crooked, rotting teeth; forehooves that were little more than gleaming bone blades waved wildly, and a sickening parody of a tail flicked wildly behind.

As if offended at being caught in the light, the creatures charged, continuing their ear-rending screeching as they leapt towards the ponies. Applejack was just able to duck one, but Rarity- still caught in a state of stunned revulsion- was hit head-on by the other; her flashlight went spinning across the floor as she lost her arcanokinetic “grip” on it, casting crazy shadows as it went. Rarity let out a cry of terror as the monster began lashing its forelegs at her, drawing thin cuts across her alabaster hide.

“Rare!” Applejack rushed forward, spun and lashed out with both hind legs, bucking the creature off of her friend and sending it flying across the room and into the far wall; its impact left a spiderweb of cracks in the plaster. But Applejack spent a moment too long making sure it wouldn't get back up, and its partner was able to leap on her back, pummeling her as she struggled to throw it off. “Get offa mah back, ya freak!” she shouted.

“Applejack! Hold still!” As difficult as it was, the earth pony managed to plant her hooves and duck her head down- and barely more than a second later, a chair slammed into the creature almost too quickly to see, nearly folding the monster's body in half around it with the force of the impact. Creature and chair both tumbled along the room before hitting the barricaded door, cracking a good number of the wooden planks that made it up.

“Whoa Nellie.” Applejack took a few seconds to check herself over for any serious injuries; finding none, she turned her attention to Rarity, who was just standing up, the glow fading from her horn. “Hang on there, Rare,” she said. “Lemme give ya a once-over.”

A cursory examination showed a fair number of small cuts along Rarity's sides and neck, only a couple deep enough to draw blood; those had already stopped bleeding. “Well, y'aint gonna win a beauty contest at th' moment, Rare, but y' oughta be okay.”

“I shant complain; it could have been worse. That... thing was aiming for my eyes.” The unicorn looked Applejack over. “What about you? Are you hurt?”

“Couple'a scratches and mebbe a bruise. Nothin' like what happened in the Dome. I'll be okay.”

“Good.” Rarity took in a deep breath and let out a soft sigh as she spared a glance towards the creatures they'd just fought. “Those things....” she murmured. “They just... they shouldn't be.”

“Nightmare Moon and Discord are kinda lookin' like a trot through the park compared t' this,” Applejack agreed. “But we're close now, Rarity. We're so close I kin jes' about feel it. And I ain't gonna quit no matter what horrors this place wants t' throw at us. You with me?”

“You had better believe it.”

“Then grab that light, and les' go.”

Rarity's magical field enveloped the flashlight; fortunately it had taken no damage from being dropped. The unicorn brought it up to light their path, and the pair continued on.

This time, however, their opposition were not content to let them gain much ground uncontested. Skittering, snarling and howling echoed down a long corridor of closed-off examination rooms. “Aw, jeez, we stirred up th' hive!” Applejack gasped.

“You aren't kidding!” Rarity glanced around. “There, that office. Quickly!”

The thick wooden door slammed shut just after the two mares passed through; Rarity seized a chair with her magic and jammed it beneath the knob. “Help me move that bookshelf!” she said. “It's too heavy to lift with my magic alone.”

Even with her considerable strength and Rarity's levitation, Applejack had difficulty getting the exceptionally heavy oaken bookcase against the door. Once it was in place, though, it did a credible job of withstanding the violent impacts from the far side of the door as the creatures attempted to batter it down. “How long d'ya think that'll last?” Applejack wondered.

“Not long enough for my tastes. Let's keep moving.”

The two ponies had a couple of close encounters with stray creatures- including another of the night-watchponies, which took two chairs, a vase and a desk to finally put out of action- but no heavy pursuit materialized. Finally, the mares emerged into the reception area of the ICU. “At last!” Rarity exclaimed. “Come on, AJ, we've finally made it to-”

fwooom

The entryway doors disappeared, as did the way they'd come in, leaving them trapped in the large reception room. Once more everything was hazy and indistinct, and the sounds around them were muffled, though it was easy enough to hear a multitude of snarls. At least twenty of the freakish stick-figure creatures seemed to fade into existence along the edges of the room, running towards the ponies full-tilt; the pair went back-to-back, instinctively going into a defensive stance despite knowing how poor the odds of survival were. Whatever final words they had for each other were lost in the howling of the approaching creatures closing in, the ones in the lead just closing in on jumping range....

“.potS....”

A shockwave burst out from the center of the room, passing by the two ponies like a gentle breeze but blasting the creatures back with the force of an explosion. Applejack and Rarity blinked, looked around, and then turned back towards each other; standing between them was the ghostly filly, her sightless gaze staring out at the creatures she'd just flattened like so many weeds in a tornado.

“!em dnif emoC !yrruH .won uoy tcetorp ot em rof hguone esolc er'uoY”

Everything returned to normal in a snap. The creatures and the filly were gone, but the chairs and other furniture still showed the results of the strange blast that had come from the unexpected savior. The doors had returned as well, and the ones leading into the ICU proper were wide open. “Let's go!” Rarity called out, making a mad rush for the door; Applejack had to gallop in order to catch up with her.

A faint beeping echoed down the dimly-lit hall of the intensive care unit. Both ponies slowed, hooves clacking on tile, intently following the noise- which seemed to be coming from the only lit room in the place. Carefully, the pair crept up to the door, and Applejack pushed it open to peek inside. “I think we found 'er,” she said quietly.

The two mares carefully entered the patient suite and closed the door behind them. A bright wall lamp shone down on the lone bed, which was surrounded by a small number of dead flowers and deflated balloons; atop the bed, hooked up to more than half a dozen various machines and devices, lay a small earth pony filly with a pink coat and a gray-violet mane, marked with a white streak through its length. Her chest rose and fell with the movement of one of the machines, but she gave no signs of life otherwise. Rarity's eyes widened as a spark of recognition ran through her. “Oh my Celestia....” she breathed.

Applejack turned to her. “What is it?”

“This filly... I know who she is.” The unicorn's horn lit up just slightly, and the dusty blanket that half-covered the unmoving form slid down to uncover a cutie mark of an intricate crown.

“...it's Diamond Tiara.”

(-)

“Oh, jeez. I guess this place has some really bad memories of that mare.” Dash stared at the jet-black form stalking across the room. “What's the plan, Indy?”

“I don't see wings on any of them. You get through that window and I'll work something out for getting past them.”

She fixed him with a flat stare. “You mean, I abandon you here with those things and run off? Nuh-uh. You oughta know better.”

“Dash-”

“No, Indy. I don't run away when my friends need help.”

He matched her stare for a moment before lowering his eyes. “Damn it, you're too much like me for my own comfort.”

“Yeah, quit sweet-talking me and think.” She couldn't help but grin, just a little.

“Fine, fine....” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Job one is to get them all away from the table, because there's no way I'll be able to sneak by without at least a few of them spotting me. Job two is to break that window so we can get through it instead of bouncing off the glass. And job three is to not become a pancake on the ground.”

“Right, that'll be my department. I can't really fly well with your weight, but I should be able to manage a soft landing, no problem.”

“I'll settle for that. Now, how to get them away from the table....”

“I can make a racket, get them to chase me.” Dash flexed her wings to take off, but Indy's hand on her back stopped her. “Nuh-uh,” he told her. “I want them curious, not hostile. The more of an element of surprise we can maintain, the better.”

The pegasus sighed. “Not how I usually do things, buuuuuut....” She spared the shadowy creatures a glance. “...in this case I don't mind making an exception.”

“Attagirl.” Indy gave the room a detailed lookover. “Up in the eaves,” he said, inclining his head towards them. “Should be dark enough to keep them from seeing you... assuming light is how they see, but anyway. Grab a few pieces of rock or whatever you can use and start tossing them as distractions.”

“Gotcha. And what are you going to do?”

“That table's the key- I can use it like a runway. I'll find a position where I can hide but still be able to make a run for it. You see me do that, you chuck the heaviest thing you've got at that window, and I'll make like a battering ram. Then you come catch me before I hit the ground.”

“That's cutting it pretty close, isn't it?”

“What, you think you can't catch up to a doddering old man who's got a mere three-story head start?”

She met his smirk with a determined grin. “Ohhh, you just wait and see, big guy.”

She skulked along the walls until she'd found enough pieces of plaster, small rocks and other detritus for her purposes, then carefully flew up to the highest support beam she could find that would give her a good view of the table and settled in, checking to make sure that she was as cloaked in darkness as possible; her bright cyan coat would be an asset in open daytime sky, but would make her stand out like a sore hoof here with even a single bit of direct light. That task done, she pulled a jagged piece of heavy wood from beneath her wing, where she'd tucked all of her ammunition, and set herself to throw as soon as she could see that Indy was in position.

This proved to be the most difficult part, as she quickly learned that- when he wanted to- the human could be pretty stealthy. It was only a bit of stray light making its way across his hat that cued her in on his position, and after that she had to carefully watch the shadows to keep track of him.

It was a long few minutes before he waved a hand to signal that he was ready for her to act. Dash immediately let loose with the piece of debris; it hit the hard wooden floor with a satisfying crack.

The impact had the desired effect. Several of the staff members immediately vacated their chairs and went to investigate; the rest of them, as well as the unicorn mare, were seemingly oblivious. Encouraged, Dash used a couple more pieces of junk to lure away the searching creatures, drawing them towards a far corner. Once they seemed to be suitably occupied and out of the way, Dash began the same process with the other group, this time getting the Matron's attention as well. Finally, the area was clear enough for Indy to move to the nearer end of the table and set himself. Letting out a near-silent whoop of victory, Dash took the largest, heaviest piece of debris she'd managed to find and hurled it with all her might at the window; the thick rock smacked into the glass hard, leaving a spiderweb of cracks.

Unfortunately, the unmistakable sound also caught the Matron's attention, a fact which Indy didn't catch as he jumped onto the table and began a full-out run towards the window. Her horn flared, and one of the chairs lifted up and flew towards the human; at the last second he saw it coming, barely able to turn himself so that the object crashed into his back. The chair shattered on impact, sending Indy tumbling off of the table barely halfway to his destination.

“Indy!” Dash's cry echoed through the rafters, alerting the rest of the staff but leaving them searching for its source. She ignored them as she launched herself from the support beam, curving around to strike at the unicorn from behind as she began to round the table to chase after the human.

Somehow, despite the pegasus's swift and near-silent attack, the Matron sensed her approach, and ducked aside just in time; that ever-present dressage whip slapped against Dash's right side, barely hard enough to feel an impact- and yet it sent a bone-numbing jolt through her body, causing her to spin out of control and crash onto the table, cracking the thick wood. Dash lay still for a moment, groaning and disoriented, as the unicorn jumped onto the table, causing small cracks to form through it despite her unremarkable weight. With what sounded like the snarl of a demon, that whip came up again-

crash

-and then went flying into the shadows, as the Matron was literally taken off of her hooves by the chair Indy swung at her. Even as she was still tumbling along the floor along with various pieces of the chair, Indy clambered onto the table. “Dash, we need to vacate, now!” he shouted.

The mare tried to stand, only to have her right legs collapse under her. “My legs! My wing! I can't feel them!”

Immediately he spun around and knelt down, presenting his back to her. “Get on!”

It took her a few precious seconds to pull herself up onto his back and hook her left foreleg over his shoulder; during which the staff members had come running and were attempting to surround them. As soon as Dash was securely on his back, Indy took off in a run, just barely avoiding a pair of staff members leaping at him. He fought back the pain from his legs and the shoulder where he'd caught the impact of the Matron's throw chair, keeping his eyes on that spiderweb of cracks in the window, pumping his arms for all the extra speed he could get from the movement.

He could hear hooves on the table right behind him as he jumped.

bang

With the sound and volume of a cannon firing, the window shattered, sending countless shards of glass flying through the air. Fighting the instinct to flail wildly, Indy spread his arms and legs wide; he felt Dash hook her forelegs over his shoulders and her hindlegs against his sides- the right side feeling much weaker than the left- and heard the foomp of her wings snapping out against the onrushing air. The ground was not taking its time approaching them, though, and it was starting to look like the pegasus wasn't going to be able to level out in time. “Dash! Drop me!” he shouted. “Save yourself!”

“Buck that!” The pony let out a groan as she braked as hard as she could; a few feathers were torn free from her wings by the force of the air flowing past them. Forty feet remained between them and the ground; thirty, twenty, ten, five....

And then, at barely two feet above the ground, Dash finally leveled out her flight... for six seconds, before her still-numbed wing gave out completely and sent her and Indy rolling along the ground of the courtyard just outside the orphanage.

The pegasus fought to clear stars from her eyes as she tried to stand, only to find her right side still not quite ready to support her weight. “Dangit....” she murmured. “Ugh. Indy? Indy, talk to me!”

“As soon as I find a part of me that doesn't hurt.” The human managed to roll over and half-crawl, half-walk towards the mare. “You alright?” he asked, once he'd reached her.

“Gonna need a couple of minutes. I'm getting feeling back in my right side, but pretty much all of that feeling is pain.” She managed to sit up, her right foreleg held slightly off the ground, and looked up at Indy. And then she did the last thing he expected.

She laughed.

Her laughter was so overpowering, in fact, that she sent herself falling back over; her yelp of pain only slightly interrupted her expression of mirth. “What's so funny?!” Indy demanded.

“I can't....” Dash had to stop to breathe, only to break out in giggles again. “I can't believe... you....” Another pause for breath. “You hit her... with a chair!”

“Hey!” The human's expression was hurt, and he raised his hands defensively. “She did it first!”

That only got the mare laughing even harder, and Indy was just starting to join in when a deep groaning sound came from the building. As the pair watched, a blinding white light exploded from it, forcing them both to shield their eyes; when their sight recovered, the orphanage was mostly gone, with only a burned-out husk remaining. Everything around them seemed to have returned to normal, as well. “I think we did it,” Dash said quietly, finally able to stand again. “We escaped the building's memories.”

“Yeah.” Indy stood as well. “Now what?”

“Now I finish getting you guys out of here.” Scootaloo's voice came from further down the courtyard, where a double-gate with a ridiculously oversized padlock blocked the exit. Just beyond that was the filly's spectral form. “Let me just open the way....” After a moment, the padlock popped open and fell away, and the gate swung open with the loud creaks of hinges that hadn't seen oil in a long time. With as much speed as their abused bodies could muster, Dash and Indy left the orphanage grounds and stepped onto the dark, empty road leading away from it. “I'm so glad you made it,” Scootaloo said. “I was afraid I'd gotten out of there just to leave two others inside.”

“Nah, kiddo, we know what we're doing.” Dash winked, before sparing the ruins a glance over her shoulder. “...though I'll admit we did cut it kinda close,” she added.

“Still, couldn't have done it without you, Scootaloo.” Indy knelt down to pat the ghostly filly on the shoulder, only to have his hand go right through her; he stared at it for a moment before shaking his head. “So... what happens to you now?”

“Now... I get to move on.” The face in that glowing miasma of light turned to look back at the gutted building. “Maybe... maybe eventually the building will forget the others, let them go too. I don't know. But I would never send anypony in there to make sure.”

“Time heals all wounds. I guess we just have to trust in that.” Indy gave the filly a smile. “It's not your worry anymore, though. You've got other places to be.”

“Hey, Scoots?” Dash was uncharacteristically quiet. “Wherever you're going... you be careful, huh?”

“Pssh. They're gonna know it when I get there.” That ghostly face seemed to smile even as it faded from sight. “Thanks again, both of you. Goodbye!”

Her farewell seemed to echo around them for a few moments more, and then all was quiet. Slowly, Indy stood and turned to walk down the road; after a few steps, he realized that Dash wasn't following him, and he turned. The pegasus sat in front of the gate, staring at the building. “Dash?” he asked quietly.

“Indy....” He could tell she was crying, though trying to hide it. “Do... do you think she's still there?” She pointed an unsteady hoof at the building. “You know... in the place where this actually happened.”

“I don't know, Dash.” He went to her side and knelt down beside her. “But I've got to believe that somehow, at some time, she found her way out.”

“Y... yeah.” She sniffled. “I've... I've gotta believe that, too.”

He nodded, patting her neck gently. “C'mon. We need to find the others.”

She nodded and stood, and took position next to the human as they silently made their down the road.

(-)

Somehow, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie found this version of Ponyville even more creepy than the half-finished one they'd encountered earlier. Something about the shadows that every tree and building cast in the mid-afternoon light seemed menacing, as though they were simply waiting for the chance to send more Taken at the trio. Fortunately enough, they crossed the town without incident, and made their way to a nice two-story cottage towards the northern outskirts; “Lyra & Bon-Bon” was painted on both sides of the mailbox at the edge of the walk. “Huh,” Pinkie murmured.

Fluttershy glanced back at her. “What is it?”

“Well, when you reach the lair of the evil mastermind, there's supposed to be insane cackling and thunder and stuff. Not chirping birds and a gentle spring wind! I mean, seriously, can you even call this a lair? Evil mastermind lairs don't have hanging flower pots and louvered window shutters!”

Trixie was staring blankly at the pink pony. “...what the deuce are you on about?!”

“It's....” Fluttershy sighed. “Never mind her, Trixie. We're here... what do we do next?”

“We go inside, of course.” The unicorn adjusted her saddlebags, in which she had stuffed and strapped every last manner of light-making device she had at her disposal. “And then we find Lyra, and we do what we have to do to stop this.”

With that, Trixie marched up the stairs onto the porch and pushed the door open. Pinkie and Fluttershy quickly followed suit, the pegasus giving a quick look around outside before ducking her head inside.

Inside the house seemed absolutely ordinary, if somewhat dusty and darkened by drawn curtains. “Nopony home,” Pinkie murmured.

“She's here. Check upstairs.” Trixie made her way up the staircase, pulling a flashlight from her saddlebag and flicking it on; the other two mares readied their lights as well. The second floor was almost pitch-black without their illumination, which cast stark shadows across the darkened walls. “Which room would she be in?” Fluttershy asked. “All the doors look the same.”

“Room-to-room search. And be careful.”

The ponies split up, each approaching one of the seven doors on the floor. A slow and careful opening of each door revealed a closet, a bathroom, a sitting room laden with sheet music, and an empty bedroom... and the fifth door opened into absolute darkness that not even Pinkie Pie's light could penetrate. “Yikes,” the earth pony murmured. “It's like... if the dark had a closet that it was afraid to look inside because the inside of the closet was too dark, it'd be just like this.”

“Move aside.” Trixie pushed Pinkie out of the way and peeked inside. “This must be it,” she declared, magically yanking a flare from her saddlebags and throwing it inside; it barely made it ten feet from the door before it was seemingly swallowed by the darkness. “Th- that's not good,” Fluttershy whimpered.

Trixie lit another flare and levitated it above her head. “Stay close,” she ordered. “Somepony prop that door open. And keep your lights ready.”

Pinkie yanked a spare flare from Trixie's pack and wedged it under the door, then fell in alongside the other two ponies as they advanced. The brilliant red light from Trixie's lit flare did absolutely nothing to light the inside of the room; it was as if, aside from the door, there wasn't even anything inside the room to light- as if the entirety of it was a featureless void across which they somehow walked.

Suddenly, a strange staccato noise echoed around them. At first Fluttershy and Pinkie thought it might have been another weapon like the ones Indy had used- but it was too quiet and muffled. “Wait a second,” Pinkie whispered. “That's a typewriter!”

The typing stopped for just a moment. When it resumed, every typebar that struck sounded like an explosion going off, sending shockwaves that seemed to blast through the three ponies like a chill wind in a meadow. All three mares froze in mid-trot as concepts, words, sentences blazed themselves into their minds, unbidden and unstoppable.

“The trio froze. The writer knew why they were there; she had been waiting for this for what seemed like forever. She could only spare a moment to wish they had come before the loss of her beloved, but at this moment- the penultimate moment before her possible victory- she could afford no recriminations. But there was precious little time to explain things, and the Dark Presence would no doubt do everything it could to keep her from contacting them directly... but it couldn't stop her from using the power she'd been given to explain in other ways.

And so, she typed.”

Things began to form out of the darkness, coalescing out of pure creative thought- streets, flowers, lantern poles, homes, even dirt and rocks and grass. But they somehow seemed to waver even as the ponies looked at them, as if they couldn't quite hold up to scrutiny. “What the hay is this?!” Trixie demanded.

“I... I think it's Lyra doing this,” Fluttershy replied. “I don't know how, but... she's writing us a world.”

Everything shifted around them, bringing them to the front yard of Lyra's home again- though this version of her home was also flickering, and the front doors were covered with the same kind of dark, flowing shadows that surrounded the Taken. “Blast!” Trixie growled. “Burn that darkness away!”

“We have guests!” Pinkie chirped. Fluttershy turned and saw several Taken galloping towards them, each armed with a dangerous-looking cutting implement. “You!” Trixie said, holding the flare out towards her. “Work on dispelling those shadows! Pink one, you're with Trixie! Burn down those Taken!”

Fluttershy took the flare in her fetlock and held it up to the door, watching anxiously as the shadows surrounding it squealed and twisted; behind her, Trixie had just pulled her flaregun free from her saddlebags and was taking aim, while Pinkie galloped off to the right in order to flank the group. As soon as Trixie fired, Pinkie moved in, bathing the closest Taken who were trying to avoid the flare in the bright light of her lantern; caught between the two with little room to run, several of the Taken went down quickly before the flare burned itself out.

“Good! Good! Come around and start on the other side of the group.” Trixie pulled out another flare and began to load it into the gun. “I want to give no quarter to these blasted... oh my Celestia.”

The flare and flaregun dropped to the ground; Trixie's eyes widened in fear, fixated on the space past what remained of the group of Taken... which was receiving considerable reinforcements. At least thirty more of the shadowy creatures were storming towards the house, howling and snarling, the weapons carried by each glinting in the fading red light coming from Fluttershy's flare.

“Flutters!” Panic tinged Pinkie's voice. “I think we'd really like to get inside now!”

“I can't make this go any faster!” the pegasus called back.

“Then maybe we all can!” Pinkie snagged the flaregun in her mouth and pushed Trixie in a half-circle with her forehooves, then slapped one against the unicorn's flank to get her to move. “Giddyap!” the earth pony shouted through her teeth, taking off in close pursuit. “Fluttershy! Throw that flare behind us!”

She did so, the glowing red stick tracing glaring lines in the air before landing on the sidewalk leading towards the porch; it formed an effective enough barrier for the crowd of Taken for the time being- but it was already two-thirds burned away and beginning to dim. “Trixie, we need as much light as you can put out, right on this door!” Pinkie exclaimed.

The unicorn seemed shell-shocked for a moment, then shook her head to break herself out of it. “R... right!” she answered, lowering her head and gritting her teeth; her horn flared brightly, focusing its light into a tight beam that ate away at the wall of shadows covering the door.

“Fluttershy! Here.” Pinkie gave the pegasus the flaregun and fished out a couple of emergency flares from Trixie's bags for her. “Free party favors for the partycrashers!”

Fluttershy struggled to load one of the flares into the gun while Pinkie brought her light to bear on the door next to Trixie's; the wood began to groan underneath the faint screeching that the shadows gave off as they resisted the glare. Finally, the yellow mare got a flare loaded and aimed it out towards the crowd of Taken, who were pressing ever closer around the almost-extinguished flare on the front yard.

pop-fwoooosh

Fluttershy had to blink away the afterimage of the flare, but the snarling of shadow-wreathed ponies told her that her aim was sufficient. But as she regained her sight and worked on getting another flare into the gun, a deep rumbling sound echoed from the darkness beyond; something charged into view, large and shaggy and exceptionally angry. “Um... g- girls?!” Fluttershy squeaked. “We have a problem!”

“Yes, foal, Trixie is well aware that there are a lot of Taken, you'll just have to... oh, Faust on a wagon!” Now the unicorn could see the enormous buffalo charging towards them, intent on trampling anything in his way; black shadows licked at him like flames, masking everything but his gleaming white horns.

“Get back from the door and cover your eyes!” In desperation, Fluttershy raised one foreleg to shield her eyes, leveled the flaregun at the door, and fired.

The flare exploded, bathing the three mares in heat and sparks and throwing their shadows across the assembly of Taken; with a horrid squeal, the shadows finally gave way, and Pinkie kicked the doors open. “Go!” she yelped, hearing deep thwacks and yells as the buffalo plowed through the Taken.

All three ponies leapt through the door, and Trixie slammed it shut with her magic. They lay there on the floor, panting for breath, waiting to see the thin wooden door turned into a cloud of splinters by the nigh-unstoppable buffalo.

It was nearly a minute later when, after listening to nothing but their own fearful breaths and the thudding of their hearts, they realized that nothing was coming through. But an entirely unexpected sound made them all jump and yelp before turning towards the inside of the house.

“Don't worry. They're no longer part of the story. You're safe in here, for now.”

Trixie's eyes narrowed at the new arrival. “Lyra!”

“Trixie... calm down. I need to explain things and I don't have a lot of time.” The mint-green unicorn trotted towards the stairs; given nothing else to do, the other three followed behind, heading towards the same room that had been pitch-black the last time they had seen it. Now, though, it was nothing more than a simple home office, with a typewriter and a large stack of paper on the desk.

“You were right, Trixie. I altered that spell you taught me. I used it in ways I shouldn't have, and I came into contact with something not of this Equestria. Something malevolent. But I wasn't simply compromised by it.” She took a seat at the desk, propping herself up and letting her hindlegs hang over the edge. “It had plans to do something like this anyway, through somepony else. Somepony who wouldn't stand a chance against it, who'd give it everything it wanted and doom our entire world. I gave it myself instead.”

“But... why?” Fluttershy stared at Lyra. “Why would you do that? Why not just tell the Princesses?”

“Tell the Princesses? Admit to them that I broke enough of the Codex Magica's primary rules to warrant life imprisonment?” Lyra snorted. “They'd have me exiled and thrown into some dungeon where they exiled me to before I got far enough in my story for them not to believe it. And then what?”

Trixie glared at her. “And so instead you work hoof-in-boot with whatever it is you called forth. You are the one responsible for all the death and suffering that's come from it!”

“I have been working against it! Trixie, if it hadn't been for me nudging the story, putting in loopholes and escape avenues, you would've been one of the first Taken! The Dark Presence wants your power and knowledge, and I've been doing everything I can to keep you out of its clutches!”

“Why should Trixie believe that? If you have that much control, you should've been able to alert the Princesses, or call in help, or something-”

“It's not that simple! Writing like this is give-and-take. Anything that doesn't make sense in a horror story, the Dark Presence rejects. It just fades from the pages as though I never typed it. But if I write the story so that it's believable, so that there's risk of failure and loss, I can twist the narrative to favor some ponies.”

The blue unicorn's face was a mask of anger. “And disfavor others. Like Big Macintosh. Like Daisy and Roseluck. Like Zecora.”

“Like the mare I love!” Lyra was just as furious now, but tears were streaming down her cheeks. “All to keep you three alive long enough to reach the cottage, and then here. I gave Bon-Bon to the Dark Presence to earn that. Don't you dare talk to me like I just threw those lives away!”

Trixie stepped back, her anger fading away. “I... that is....”

“Girls. Please.” Fluttershy raised a hoof. “Lyra, I'm terribly sorry for your loss and what's happened to you. But you brought us here for something... we need to know what.”

The unicorn wiped away her tears with a foreleg. “...you're right. I've been keeping track, sort of, of what I've been giving the Dark Presence. And I think I've built up enough flexibility in the narrative to give one of you a way out.”

“...a... a way out?” Trixie's ears twitched. “Out of this? Out of the story?”

“Yes. Only one, though, and even that might be difficult. But one pony will be enough to get help while I keep the Dark Presence at bay.”

“Well, then it's obvious who it should-”

The window at the far end of the office shattered, showering the four ponies with sharp slivers of glass. Dozens of dark shapes swarmed through, filling the small room with horrible screeching and cawing. “Crows!” Trixie shouted. “Protect your eyes! And put light on them!”

In the confusion, Fluttershy dropped the flaregun she'd been keeping tucked beneath her wing; it clattered away from her, lost in the flapping wings and flying feathers of the invading corvids. She could feel sharp talons and beaks scratch against her hide, trying to dig deep, and it was only the sheer mass of the birds that kept any one of them from being able to score a truly damaging blow.

A regular handheld flare ignited, and the crows screamed in protest; the ponies could hear a good number of them simply burn away on the spot, turning to ash and feathers before they even hit the floor. But the bright light wasn't enough to bring their numbers down to a manageable level, nor was the brilliant but unaimed light of Pinkie's lantern.

“Blast this noise- I can't concentrate enough to form my light spell!” Trixie complained, using a foreleg to alternate between shielding her eyes and swatting at the birds, while she magically sifted through her saddlebags. More and more crows seemed to be landing on them, pulling on them, and in her irritation she didn't notice at first that she was being pulled backwards- but realization struck her when her hooves began skidding across the floor. “What the...?!” she exclaimed. “Blasted pests! Somepony! HELP!”

By the time she got the cry out, a good two dozen birds were literally dragging her towards the window, despite her digging all four hooves into the floorboard. “Trixie!” Fluttershy shouted. “Hang on, I'm coming!”

But the crows were forming an almost literal wall of feather and talons between her and the unicorn, making it nearly impossible to make any progress. Fluttershy watched helplessly as the birds pulled Trixie to the window and began to force her through it.

“No you don't!” Pinkie seemed to appear out of nowhere to tackle Trixie away from the window, scattering the crows that had been dragging her; the avians seemed to take great exception to that and began to focus their attack on the earth pony, who resolutely covered Trixie with her own form to protect her. “Fluttershy!” Pinkie called out. “Here! Chase them out!”

Another flare, this one unlit, came rolling along the floor. Several of the crows surrounded it, attempting to carry it off, but before they could manage the feat Fluttershy dove in on the tool. As quickly as she could, she tore off the cap while keeping the flare close to her chest to prevent the birds from tearing it out of her hooves; it burned at her hide as it ignited, and she bit back a scream of pain as she held it away from her. It was enough to get the birds away from her, and she took the opportunity to scramble to her hooves and dive towards where Pinkie Pie was still covering Trixie.

Half of the birds burst into ash at the pegasus's approach, and the rest scattered, scrambling towards the window in a mad flight towards escape. Fluttershy chased after them, waving the flare around, until finally the last of the crows had fled the room. “Oh my goodness,” she panted. “That was insane. Pinkie? Pinkie, are you....”

Her voice failed her as she saw her friend struggling to get to her hooves. Numerous cuts and perforations crisscrossed her hide, and more than a little of her blood had been spilled; her pink coat was streaked red in places, and a crimson line had traced its way down her face from a deep cut on her right ear. Yet her worried gaze was on the unicorn she'd tackled. “Trixie? Are you okay?” she asked.

“I... um... rather, Trixie is unharmed. Though a bit sore.” The magician slowly rolled over to her hooves and looked up at Pinkie- and gasped. “Sweet Celestia!” she yelped, immediately flinging things out of her saddlebags. “Sit down, mare!” she ordered the earth pony. “Trixie keeps medical supplies on her.”

As Pinkie sat, Trixie found and opened a small first-aid kit. She spared Lyra a harsh glance as she set about tending the pink pony's wounds. “And you sat there the whole time,” she said in a low voice. “Those Celestia-damned crows could have carried us all off and you didn't lift a hoof to help!”

“I told you what the rules are!” Lyra shouted back. “Me lifting one hoof to interfere could have obliterated all the narrative flexibility I've built up! Why do you think those birds attacked now? The Dark Presence knows what I'm doing; obviously it wanted to disrupt it.”

“It almost did.” Fluttershy glanced out the window. “It nearly got Trixie.”

“Yes, well.” Trixie had cleaned out the worst of Pinkie's wounds and applied salve. “ 'Nearly' is far enough from 'did' for Trixie's case. If there had been-” She glanced over to Fluttershy. “You're wounded as well? What happened?”

“I had to keep the crows off of the flare while I lit it.” Fluttershy watched with a mix of discomfort and bemusement as she, for once, was the target of medical fussing; Trixie levitated a small tube of burn ointment onto the pegasus's fortunately-minor wound. “Thank you, Trixie,” she murmured after the unicorn had finished.

“Yes, well. Trixie cannot leave others unfit to fend off the Taken. Besides... she owes you this much.” The blue mare repacked her kit and stowed it back into her saddlebags. While she collected up the rest of her belongings, Pinkie trotted up to her friend. “Flutters, if Trixie is leaving, how are you and I going to get the hay out of here?” she asked.

“I... I'm not sure, Pinkie.” Fluttershy frowned in thought. “We could ask Lyra if she can give us any help. Or at least a lead on where to go. Or-”

“Or you can stop talking for a moment and let Trixie speak.” The unicorn marched up to Lyra's desk, fixing her eyes on the green mare's own. “Lyra. You've talked a lot about narrative balance, give-and-take. Is there a way that two ponies could be given a way out instead of one?”

“Two? It would take an exceptional sacrifice, Trixie.” Lyra glanced at her typewriter. “Who is it you plan on taking with you?”

“Neither.” Pinkie and Fluttershy both blinked at Trixie's declaration. “Lyra, the sacrifice Trixie will make is giving up her chance to leave this Celestia-forsaken place. Is that enough to tip the scales and allow for these two mares to be freed?”

“That... I....” Lyra blinked in shock, then turned towards her typewriter. “I can find out,” she declared, as her horn lit up and the keys began to move. Fluttershy turned towards the blue mare, her eyes wide. “Trixie, you can't do this!” the pegasus exclaimed. “You've been here so long, done so much-”

“And that is exactly the line of logic Trixie is following here.” Trixie's magenta eyes flicked between the pegasus and earth pony. “You two wouldn't last three nights here on your own. Trixie has much more experience surviving against the Taken, avoiding and defeating them. And besides....” She glanced over at Lyra, who was staring intently at the typewriter as her magic worked the keys. “If the Princesses would not believe Lyra, why would they believe a known charlatan and fake? Trixie's reputation is not the best amongst ponies... she would gain escape, yes, but it would only be a manner of time before Lyra ran out of tricks and this Dark Presence forced her into giving this story an unhappy ending for everypony.”

“That can't be the whole reason, Trixie,” Pinkie countered.

The unicorn seemed set to object, but sighed. “No. Trixie wants to finish this fight; she has seen and done too much to run away now. If there were the two of you, there could be others- others to help Trixie... and Lyra... fight off the Taken, and perhaps defeat the Dark Presence from within. But those others will need help and supplies.”

“And that's where you'll be?” Fluttershy asked.

Trixie nodded. “If- until- the two of you can get help somehow, yes. But whatever it takes, you must end this. This Dark Presence would shroud the world in its darkness if allowed... if you must sacrifice us to stop it, do not hesitate.” She stared down at the floor for a moment, then looked back up, her gaze resolute. “Trixie... I... would rather go to my grave an unknown victor than live forever knowing that this damnable entity beat me.”

Fluttershy nodded silently- then leaned forward and pulled Trixie into a gentle embrace. “Thank you for everything,” she told the unicorn, who looked singularly uncomfortable but made no effort to pull away.

Trixie was about to speak when a bright flash of light came from Lyra's desk; the three ponies turned to look, and discovered a single lit candle had appeared, set in an ornate brass holder with two hoofholds. From one of them dangled a small silver charm in the shape of a harp. “There,” Lyra murmured, looking as though she'd just undergone some intense physical trial. “That candle is your guide. The charm will point you towards your way out, and the light of the flame will repel any Taken, no matter how strong. But it will only burn for four hours, so go now!”

“Lyra, we....” Pinkie began, but the green unicorn raised a hoof. “No time,” she replied. “And... I know. We'll manage somehow. Just don't forget us.”

Trixie ushered them out of the room and shut the door- and in an eyeblink, Pinkie and Fluttershy found themselves back in Lyra's normal home, facing the doorway of a now normally-lit- and completely empty- home office, with a desk and dusty typewriter. “Th- they're gone....” Pinkie whispered.

“No... not really.” Fluttershy let out a quiet sigh. “They're... somewhere. Inside the story. But we're not, and if we want to keep it that way, we had better get moving.”

“Yeah, you're right.” Pinkie fell quiet for a short while as the pair left the house; the hanging charm on the candle holder rose up slightly, as if some invisible force were pulling ever-so-gently on it, and Fluttershy let it lead her away from Lyra and Bon-Bon's house and out of Ponyville proper. “ 'Shy?” the earth pony said after a moment.

“Yes, Pinkie?”

“How come I feel like I'm running away? I mean... even if this wasn't actually real, I still feel like I should be going back and helping them.”

The pegasus mused over her words for a moment. “How can I put this... try to imagine every life as a story, Pinkie. Sometimes we'll come into someone else's story for a while, and then leave again. We can't always be there for the happy ending, but... if we help them along the way, isn't that something good, too?”

“Huh. Yeah, I guess....” Pinkie's brow furrowed in thought. “It's like when I send out birthday cakes for other ponies' parties. I can't be there to make the party super-special, but I'm doing a part to help.”

“Exactly.” Fluttershy smiled slightly before gazing up at the moonlit sky. “I hope wherever that Lyra and Trixie are, they found their happy ending.”

(-)

“Be on your guard.” Luna's eyes scanned the horizon even as she galloped. “Celestia knows this city as well as I, and she may have anticipated our escape route. We may encounter resistance.”

“Where exactly are we going, anyway?” Twilight asked.

“There are a series of gemstone mines beneath this part of the city. I believe them to be unpatrolled by the Many, as they have been prone towards collapses. With some luck, we will reach the edge of my shield unimpeded, and I will be able to open an avenue of escape for you. Then you must find your way out through the old mining tunnels leading to the base of the mountain-”

A horrible crashing noise interrupted the lunar princess, and she stopped short as a dark, wide shadow loomed across the street ahead. A moment later, a six-story building slammed into the ground ahead of them; the impact took alicorn, unicorn and human off of their hooves and feet, and sent a couple of already-damaged buildings collapsing into complete rubble. Luna was the first to stand again, and her eyes narrowed at the sight before her. “Celestia.”

The former Princess of the Sun alighted on top of the sideways building, her body whole and undamaged. “Sister, must I remind you how rude it is of you to attempt to kill me?” she called out. “This marks, what... the seventh time? And then to steal away two promising future members of the Many! I simply can't let this breach of manners go unanswered, Luna.”

Luna lowered her head, pawing at the ground as her horn flared. “Quickly, both of you,” she hissed. “When I charge, go through the building as quickly as you can! I will join you on the other side when I am able.”

Neither Jack nor Twilight even had the chance to reply before the Princess of the Moon galloped forward, letting loose a stream of dark magic that obliterated a section of the fallen building- but Celestia had already vanished from sight. The pair were quick to move as Luna had told them, though, running straight for the building and entering through the broken window of a fourth-story apartment.

Making their way through a sideways, still-collapsing building was not an easy task, and if it were not for their specific skillsets, the unicorn and the human would likely have been pancaked at least twice by collapsing rooms or staircases- but with Twilight shoring up parts of the building with her magic long enough to get by them, and Jack able to leap over or through sections too far gone to walk across- or simply gone, completely- they managed to get through to the far side within about fifteen minutes, clambering out through a bathroom window on the third floor. “Okay, we're out,” Twilight panted, brushing some plaster dust from her forehead. “I wonder how Luna is-”

She was interrupted by a dark blur slamming into the street barely two hundred feet in front of her; the impact opened a crater in the cobblestone and almost sent the pair sprawling. “Luna!” Twilight cried out, making to gallop towards the fallen alicorn- only to be grabbed by Jack and hauled behind a particularly large piece of rubble. He made a motion for silence and peered over the edge of the jagged piece of masonry.

Celestia had just landed next to the two-foot-deep hole that her sister had created. “Oh, my poor Luna,” she said. “That it had to come to this... I blame myself, really. So many mistakes were made when this all began. But now... now I can make amends for them, and show you the wonder you have been foalishly denying yourself.” She raised her head. “But first, I must find my faithful student and her friend....”

crrrrack-thooooom

The flesh-avatar of the former Sun Goddess barely had time to turn her head before a field of purple energy, larger than her and as solid as steel, slammed into her almost before the sonic boom it had created. The magical shield wall drove Celestia across the street and into the side of a two-story bank, which almost folded in half under the force of the impact; the spell dissipated, and the alicorn fell to the ground for a moment, struggling to regain her hooves with a look of pure fury on her face. “Twilight Sp-”

A sphere of destructive energy the size of a carriage slammed into her side and detonated. The bank collapsed, burying whatever remained of Celestia under tons of rock, wood and steel.

Even before the building had finished falling, Twilight was rushing towards the fallen Moon Goddess- but Jack was already ahead of her, leaping into the impact crater. After a moment, he simply hefted Luna over his shoulders and carried her out of the hole. “I do not trust that attack to have finished her off!” he shouted. “Where do we go?”

“Th... that way.” Luna weakly raised a hoof towards the west. “A small bakery... there is a tunnel from its basement.”

Part of the bank exploded. Celestia, now covered in dirt and missing a hind leg and a good part of her ribcage, pulled herself free of the wreckage. “You are not going to escape so easily-”

shhhnk

The longsword Jack had taken from the castle armory- thrown with all the skill that more than two decades of intensive training could provide- drove itself home between the alicorn's eyes. The already-mutilated body stiffened, then fell back into the rubble. Jack once more pulled Luna onto his shoulders. “Come, quickly,” he told Twilight, even as he broke into a run. “No doubt the Many will follow, and soon. We must be gone from this place before then.”

The samurai could still manage a good pace, even with the half-unconscious alicorn weighing him down, and in a few minutes they'd found the still-standing bakery. As Luna had said, a hastily-dug tunnel led away from the basement, with small alchemical lights providing pools of green illumination in the darkness. It seemed like a few miles of tunnel passed them by before letting out into a much larger series of caverns. Luna had recovered enough to walk on her on, and she led them through the abandoned mines, following landmarks that Jack and Twilight couldn't identify, and eventually they came to a large cave neatly bisected by a translucent, shadowy midnight-blue wall. “Is this your shield, Princess?” Twilight asked.

“Indeed.” The alicorn walked up to the wall and pressed her horn against it; a small hole opened in it, just large enough for Jack to step through without ducking. “Now be off. And... thank you both.”

The human and unicorn stepped through, and the hole sealed; Twilight turned back towards Luna. “Princess, I... I wish there was more we could do to help you,” she said quietly.

“I appreciate your sentiment, Twilight. But this war is mine to fight, and I would wish it on no other.”

Jack nodded, placing a hand against the shield. “Then I wish you luck, Princess Luna. Thank you for all you have done to help us.”

Luna laid a hoof on the other side of the barrier and gave the human a wistful smile. “Protect Twilight Sparkle with all the ferocity and skill you have already shown, my good human. That is all the thanks I could ask for.”

With that, the lunar Goddess turned and galloped off the way they'd come, leaving Twilight and Jack alone on the far side of her shield spell. Her voice echoed as she ran, talking to someone unseen. “Yes, I have seen them out of the city. ...no, it is much better that they leave. I would not... no. Of this I am certain, SHODAN.”

Once all trace of Luna had gone, Twilight lowered her head for a moment, then turned away. “Come on, Jack,” she said quietly. “The faster we get moving, the faster we can put an end to this.”

The samurai nodded wordlessly, and was quick to follow her through the cavern.

(-)

“In a weird way, this kinda makes sense.” Applejack tugged off her hat as she looked at the comatose filly before her. “Filthy Rich would spend every bit he had if'n his daughter was sick. Woulda had every last medical test 'n machine 'n expert in reach workin' t' make her better.”

“And entirely inadvertently, he ended up instead keeping her alive long enough for the chaos plague to manifest. Of all the horrible things to happen... this has to be the most horrible one.” There was no drama in Rarity's voice, only sadness.

“Can't argue that. But now... whadda we do?”

“I....” The unicorn paused for a moment, looking over the machines, before her expression fell into a place somewhere between shock and horror. “Oh sweet Celestia. Can I be right? I don't want to be right. Not on this.”

“On what? Tell me what'cher thinkin', Rare.”

“Think about it, Applejack. Why is this one room still ordinary? Why has nothing around her been altered? Why haven't any of those horrible creatures attacked her, when they've obviously had no restraint with anypony else?” Rarity gently placed a hoof on Tiara's side. “That chaos plague is keeping her alive. It's preserving her. And I can only think of one reason for that.”

“B'cause....” The earth pony's eyes went wide. “B'cause... it needs 'er alive?”

“Right in one. Whatever it needs from her- be it her innate magic, or her life force, or something I couldn't begin to imagine- it needs her alive to get it.”

“An'... what do we do? Do we pull the plug on' er, Rarity? Do we murder a defenseless lil' filly what never did nothin' t' deserve this?!”

“Applejack...!”

The farm pony raised a hoof. “I'm sorry,” she sighed. “Not yellin' at you. I jes... I don't wanna do this, Rare! I don't wanna go t' mah grave knowin' I killed a defenseless foal, even if this ain't real!”

“AJ, if you have any alternative, no matter how outlandish or impossible, I will most definitely hear it out!”

Applejack opened her mouth to respond- and froze, her ears tilting back towards the door. “Y'hear that?” she whispered.

“No, I-”

crash

The unmistakable sound of a door being broken down in the distance- not nearly far enough away for the comfort of either pony. “Oh dear Goddesses,” Rarity breathed. “Applejack, the time for discussion is over. If we want to end this....”

The lighting dimmed. There, standing on the bed next to Diamond Tiara's form, was the ghostly filly that had been shadowing them the entire time; she looked at Tiara's form with an expression of sadness.

“.siht xif reve nac ew yaw on s'erehT .kcab efil ym evah reven nac I”

She jumped down off of the bed, gave both mares an unreadable look for a moment, then pointed a hoof towards the cords that powered the various machines by Tiara's bed.

“.ydaer m'I .em oT .siht ot dne na tup ot evah uoY”

She vanished with a flicker of the light. Faint howling and screeching could be heard through the door, coming from the corridor outside. “Applejack...?” Rarity half-whispered.

Applejack glanced between the bed and the door, then nodded. “Yeah.”

Rarity's horn lit up. The plugs that powered the devices by the bed glowed, then yanked free of the wall; silence descended on the room like something physical, making both mares lower their ears. Diamond Tiara's form twitched a few times, a soft gurgling noise coming from her throat around the tube that had been forced down it.

And then she went still.

The ghostly filly appeared on the bed again, facing the body for a moment, then began to turn; as she did so, her form changed, regaining color and form, until it was a pale translucent copy of the very foal they'd just watched die. She gave the two mares a sad but heartfelt smile.

“...thank you.”

In an instant, she was gone. All was silent; the sound from the onrushing creatures in the corridor had ceased. Applejack nudged the door open and peeked outside. “...sweet Goddesses,” she murmured. “Rare... look.”

The unicorn edged her head over Applejack's and looked out into the corridor. Dozens of the creatures were sprawled out in the hallway, looking like they'd been struck down in the act of rushing towards the small room. Not a single one of them so much as twiched. “Does... does that mean this is over?” she wondered.

The sound of an electric arc from inside the room caught their attention. The light over the bed flickered, then popped, spraying sparks all over the place; several landed on the bed, and a few set the blanket alight, causing small flames that quickly spread across the fabric and the bed, then across the wall. Far faster than should have been possible, the fire engulfed a quarter of the room and looked intent on spreading to the rest.

“Ain't over by a longshot!” Applejack cried out. “Time t' scram!”

The fire was already licking at their hooves as they galloped down the hallway. Signs leading towards the main entrance gave the pair guidance- and the flames spreading along the walls made the signs easy enough to read. Overheated water pipes exploded, blasting holes in the drywall and showering the mares with chunks of building material.

“This way! Left! Left!”

“Rare, watch your flanks, them flames're catchin' up!”

“Stop! That ceiling's going to collapse!”

“This way! I think we're getting' closer!”

Half of the main reception area was already aflame when the two ponies made it inside. Flames were making their way towards the entryway doors, almost as if seeking to cut off their escape, but with a desperate burst of speed the mares just made it out ahead of them- only to hear the entire ceiling collapse down just behind them. Panic sped their hoofsteps away from the building until they'd gotten a good distance away. “Oh, my....” Rarity panted, looking back at the building.

The entirety of the hospital had caught fire. Enormous flames reached up into the darkened skies, and now and then a section of the building collapsed, sending up clouds of embers that gleamed like stars as they fell, only to burn away.

“I can't... I can't believe we... got outta there.” Applejack was practically struggling for breath, pressing a hoof to her chest; after she managed to recover, she looked over to Rarity, only to see tears streaming from the unicorn's eyes. “Rare? You okay, girl?”

“No....” The seamstress lowered her head. “I feel terrible, Applejack. What if that had been Sweetie Belle in that hospital bed? Even knowing this isn't real, I couldn't have pulled those plugs. But I did that to Diamond Tiara. What does that say about me as a pony?”

“It says that yer not perfect and y' love yer family. I ain't gonna say I coulda done any better if'n it were Apple Bloom there.” Applejack glanced back at the burning building. “But what else could we do fer 'er, Rare?”

“I....” Rarity closed her eyes for a moment. “I can't think of anything. I just wish....” Her voice trailed off, and the cowpony put a comforting hoof on her neck. “Yeah, sugarcube, so do I,” she murmured. “So do I.”

The unicorn heaved a deep sigh and shook her head. “Well. There's no sense in us standing here and feeling badly. I, for one, want to find the others.”

“Yeah, good thinkin'. Let's see where this path leads.”

The path led down to a wide road, one side of which wandered off into complete darkness, and the other lit by an overhanging light which also illuminated a set of train tracks. The two mares stood next to them for a moment, looking around. “I wonder where we should go now,” Applejack said.

“Hmmm...” One of Rarity's ears pricked. “Shh! I hear voices!”

(-)

“Shh. I hear voices.” Indy ducked down behind a bush, staring down the train tracks he and Dash had found leading away from the orphanage. Bereft of other landmarks or destinations, the pair had begun following them. “Dash, we need some aerial recon.”

“Can do.” She took to the air as quietly as she could manage, disappearing into the night sky. After a moment, he heard excited chattering. “Indy!” he heard Dash call out. “C'mere!”

He did so- and was immensely relieved to see Applejack and Rarity standing at a railroad crossing. He was also surprised when Rarity rushed up to him and literally jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly. “Oh, Indy, you don't know how relieved I am to see you as well!” she exclaimed.

“Jeez, Rarity, go easy on him!” Dash chided. “He and I both got pretty roughed up on the way here.” She paused a moment, spotting the thin cuts the unicorn sported on her hide. “But it looks like we're not the only ones.”

“Yeah, Rare an' I didn't exactly go unscathed, neither.” Applejack waited for Rarity to finally unhook herself from the human before beckoning him to kneel down for a gentler, but no less heartfelt, hug. “But boy howdy, y'all, I hope ya didn't have to go though anythin' half as scary as what we did.”

“That's what I was going to tell you two.” Indy rubbed the back of his neck. “We really need to compare notes at some point... but not right now. 'Getting the hell out of here' is pretty much glued to the top of my priority list.”

“Think that goes fer all'a us.” Applejack turned. “Since you two came from that direction, looks like we oughta head off the other way.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Dash took to the air again, hovering over her friends as they began to make their way along the tracks.

(-)

“Sheesh. Finally out of those woods! Even I was getting tired of humming 'Giggle At the Ghosties' to myself.”

“You weren't the only one....”

Pinkie blinked and turned her head. “Huh?”

“Um... look! Over there.” Fluttershy pointed. “Are those train tracks?”

“Yeah! And someone's on them!” The earth pony squinted. “I see four, one's got a flashlight... holy smokes! C'mon, 'Shy!”

She zipped ahead, leaving Fluttershy to rush after her. The pegasus was just about to call out after her when she made her way around a bush- and found Pinkie rushing up to a small group. When she realized who they were, she galloped up to them as fast as she could. “Oh, thank goodness we found you!” she exclaimed, hugging each of her friends in turn. “But... where are Twilight and Jack?”

“Dunno, sugarcube, we ain't run into 'em yet. Though at the rate we're goin', seems likely we're gonna soon.” Applejack looked her and Pinkie over. “Whoa, Nellie. Looks like you two went through th' wringer too.”

“Yeah, things got a little rough.” Pinkie hopped around her friends, heedless of her injuries. “But we came out okay! We laughed, we cried, we learned a little about ourselves and the world!”

“Well, yeah, that's great, Pinks.” Dash grinned. “Just glad to see you guys again. Now we just gotta pick up Twi and Jack and we can get down to business.”

“But I bet that'll be next to impossible.” The group turned as Twilight followed her words up to the group, with Jack close behind; the unicorn was grinning. “Or maybe not!”

It was a practical ponypile as the six mares pulled each other into a collective embrace; next to them, Jack and Indy clapsed hands. “Can't tell you how glad I am to see you,” the archaeologist said.

“Likewise,” the samurai agreed. “I am beyond relieved to see that you have all made it through your trials. I can only pray they were not as... harrowing as ours.”

“Just by looking at you guys I can tell the answer to that- they probably were.”

Jack was about to respond to that when they were interrupted by a small cough; they looked over to see the ponies looking up at them expectantly. “...what?” Indy asked after a moment.

“Don't tell me you two aren't going to join in on an authentic Equestrian clusterhug,” Twilight responded.

“Yeah, they're the best!” Pinkie giggled.

Indy and Jack exchanged a glance. “Ordinarily, I would defer,” the samurai said. “But after all that has just happened....” With that, he shrugged, and carefully made his way into the multicolored pile of ponies, who were entirely happy to surround him.

Indy stared for a moment, and then shrugged. “Yeah, why not.”

The ponies could only laugh as he too found himself enveloped by forelegs in, what he would have to admit was, an altogether relaxing embrace.

(-)

“Y'know, if I was going to have to call this a contest for 'creepiest story', we'd have a four-way tie. Easy.” Dash shuddered, grimacing to herself after digesting the tale Pinkie and Fluttershy had related. “I thought Indy and I had it bad. Canterlot infested with brain-eating worms? Some crazy demon of darkness trying to rewrite everything as a horror novel? A hospital overrun with chaos?”

“It's enough for a lifetime of nightmares.” Rarity shook her head. “I feel so terrible for you dears. I'd wanted to believe that you'd all somehow gotten off lighter than Applejack and I did... I see you'd had no such luck.” She looked over at the purple unicorn trotting next to her. “And to be forced to fight your own mentor, Twilight... to even see her corrupted as she was! I cannot believe that was easy for you.”

Twilight took a long breath and let it out slowly. “I'm okay with it,” she answered. “It was what I had to do. I'm not going to let it get to me, or I might as well just give up now, because this place is going to keep forcing us to make those kinds of decisions until we stop it.”

Indy nodded. “You're right. Speaking of....” He glanced around. “I'm hoping we get somewhere soon. I'm getting a little tired of walking.”

“Yeah, you'd think that with these train tracks here, we'd have spotted a train by now,” Dash complained.

“Or at the very least, another crossing,” Rarity agreed. “Instead, naught but tracks for at least five miles.”

“At least it's only been tracks instead of horrible monsters,” Fluttershy replied quietly.

“ 'Shy's got a point.” Applejack turned to look over her shoulder. “Can't shake this feelin' we're bein' tailed, m'self.”

“Nor can I.” Jack folded his arms over his chest, also looking behind them.

“We'd best start moving faster, then.” Twilight increased her pace, with the others keeping close behind.

Another two or three miles of walking brought the group to the end of the line- a depot of sorts, which had apparently been built next to a large mining project. Secondary rails led into the enormous mineshaft, and a number of mine carts had been left on them, empty of ore or stone. “Do we really have to go back underground?” Dash whined.

“I'd rather not if we don't have to,” Twilight answered. “Check the buildings, maybe there's something inside that's useful.”

Most of the sheds and trailers that dotted the site were empty. Applejack happened upon a lucky find, however. “Indy! Jack!” she called out through an open window. “I found yer weapons!”

The humans rushed into the trailer to find the earth pony standing next to a table; on it was Jack's katana and Indy's handgun. “Ohhhh, yes,” the archaeologist murmured, slipping his weapon back into its holster while Jack sheathed his sword. “Feeling much better now.”

Jack chuckled. “Even though we fared well without our customary weapons... I am glad to have my sword back.”

“Don't suppose I blame ya fellers,” Applejack said with a grin. She was going to say more, but a shout from outside interrupted her. “Guys! Come out here, quick!” Pinkie yelled.

The others rushed back out to see Pinkie staring back the way they'd come, while two of her legs twitched and her tail curled up. “What is it?” Twilight demanded.

“Pinkie Sense!” the earth pony managed to stammer out. “Doozie!”

“You don't think we actually were being followed...?” Rarity wondered.

crack

A window just behind the group shattered. Indy and Jack immediately ducked down behind cover, and the ponies followed suit quickly. “Are... are we being shot at?!” Dash exclaimed.

“It seems so, but who...?” Twilight leaned out to look towards the direction the shot had come from. “This... this can't be,” she said, ducking her head back. “Indy, take a look, tell me what you see.”

The archaeologist risked a quick glance. Dozens of figures swarmed through the short hills that lined the tracks the group had followed; one had lit a torch and was waving it about, shouting something that they were too far away to hear. Red and black garb clothed the figure, and a curved blade was at its side. “Oh, you've got to be kidding me,” Indy groaned.

Jack took a quick peek as well. “Other humans, here?”

“Worse. Thugs.”

Rarity snorted. “Well, I'm sure we can handle a few ruffians-”

“No, I mean members of the Thuggee cult. Fanatics. Willing to kill and die, and they're not exactly pleasant when doing the former.”

“Oh. That's, um... bad.” Fluttershy shrunk in on herself.

“Yer darn tootin' it's bad,” Applejack said. “There's gotta be at least fifty of them guys up there, and at least some of 'em got guns. We can't fight that many!”

“You're right.” Twilight's horn flared, and a thin wall of purple magic formed from their position to the mine's entrance. “Everyone! Into the mine carts!”

“Mine carts?!” Indy shook his head. “No way! Not after what happened the last time-”

thwack

A rifle shot blasted a hole through the storage bin Indy was leaning against, mere inches from his face; the human spared a glance at it, then turned to Twilight. “Mine carts it is!”

As quickly as they could, the group ran to the carts closest to the mine entrance, and piled in- one human and three ponies to a cart. With bursts of magic from Twilight and Rarity, the carts squealed their way down the track and into the mine.