The moon shone over the town as the stench of death hung in the air. On the ground, several ponies were gathering the corpses of fallen friends, relatives and neighbours.

But while the residents worked, six ponies stood by, keeping a vigilant watch on their fellows. It was thanks to them that the attack was thwarted, and the perpetrators defeated.

"Do you think those monsters will be back?" asked Fluttershy. She looked around as she spoke, as if expecting something to leap at her from the shadows.

"I doubt they'd come back, Fluttershy." replied Rainbow Dash. "Not after the beating we gave them."

Fluttershy seemed to relax at this, but she continued looking behind her. Meanwhile, Rarity took a handkerchief out of her saddlebag and wrapped it around her nose.

"Oh, dear me!" she whined. "The stench is just ghastly!" She paused for a moment. "But that doesn't mean I don't care about what those beastly creatures did to our poor little town."

"You don't have to explain yourself to us." said Twilight. She sighed. "I just hope Princess Celestia is all right."

Rarity hugged her friend. "She'll be fine, darling. She's a tough one, is Princess Celestia."

"But you saw what those ... ANIMALS ... did to her!" cried Twilight. "Her magic was useless against them!"

Rarity nodded. "Yes. I can't explain that." She said. "But thankfully the Elements of Harmony were able to defeat them."

"What I want to know is..." said Rainbow, "... what the hay happened to their bodies? They just ... vanished!"

"I can't explain that either, Rainbow Dash." Rarity sighed. "There are a lot of questions needing answered."

They stood in silence as the clean up continued around them. Across the square, ponies were laying flowers at a memorial stone. Ponies would come and read the inscription across the top, before dissolving into tears.

The inscription was simple, and appeared to have been hastily chiselled into the smooth stone.

Twilight sighed and turned away from the scene before her eyes. She looked towards the hospital, which was swarming with the Princess' Royal Guards.

"Rarity's right, Twilight." said Applejack, wrapping a hoof around her. "The Princess will get through this."

Twilight pulled away. "I need to see her." she said, and ran towards the hospital. The others quickly followed.

The guards heard the fast approaching hooves and immediately went into a defensive formation, creating a wall of spears.

"I am Twilight Sparkle, and I demand to see the Princess!" yelled Twilight as she skidded to a halt in front of the building. The guards lowered their weapons and one of them approached her.

"I'm sorry, but nopony is allowed to see the Princess." He took off his helmet. "Not even you, Twiley."

"Shining Armour!" Twilight hugged her brother. "Please, I need to speak to her."

Shining Armour sighed. "OK, Twiley. Since you and your friends defeated those ... things ... I'll see what I can do. Wait here." He put his helmet back on and entered the hospital.

"If anypony can get us in there, it's him." Twilight smiled.

"That may be true, Twilight." said Applejack. "But who's to say the Princess is even awake? You saw how much blood she lost when that bear-like thing bit her."

Twilight nodded slightly. "The doctors will have done their job by now." She said hopefully. "Regardless of how she is, I just want to see her."

The hospital door opened and Shining Armour walked out. He approached Twilight and the others.

"The Princess is awake." he said, prompting a squeal of delight from the six friends. "However, she only wants to see you, Twilight." He turned to the others. "I'm sure you understand."

"Oh, of course we do, Shining." Replied Rarity.

"Go on then, Twi. Git in there." Said Applejack, nudging Twilight with her hoof.

"Follow me, Twiley." Shining Armour said. "But I must warn that you won't like what you're about to see."

"I'll be the judge of that." Twilight replied, as she followed her brother through the guards and into the hospital.

***

The hoofsteps of the two ponies was the only sound that could be heard in the empty hall. Guards saluted Shining Armour as he and Twilight passed by, a look of worry on the purple mare's face.

They came to a room at the far end of the hall. Shining Armour went to open it, before he stopped and looked at his sister.

"Remember, Twilight. The Princess will be in a bad way. Prepare yourself." he said matter of factly.

Twilight nodded. Using his magic, Shining Armour opened the door and the two ponies entered. A curtain in the middle of the room hid the bed, and the pony who occupied it.

"Your Highness," he said, "here is my sister, Twilight Sparkle. As per your instructions, she is here alone."

"Thank you, Shining Armour." replied Princess Celestia, her voice raspy and slow. "Please wait outside, I would like to speak to Twilight in private."

"As you command, Princess." Shining bowed and put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Remember, be prepared." he whispered, and left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Princess?" Twilight asked warily.

"Yes, Twilight?" replied Celestia, her form still hidden by the curtain.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you like this." Twilight said, her voice quivering with emotion. "But I just wanted to see you."

A white glow surrounded the curtain, which then shot over to the side of the room, causing Twilight to gasp and duck.

"I wanted to see you too, Twilight." Said Celestia. "But not like this." her voice broke as she spoke.

Twilight looked up from the floor and gasped. Celestia's mane lay limp against her sides, her coat was splattered with blood, and she was wrapped in a silver blanket. Her horn had been re-attached, evidenced by the bandages around her head.

"I-I-I don't know what to say." stammered Twilight, as she nervously approached the broken Princess.

"You don't have to say anything, my dear student." replied Celestia, the faintest trace of a smile appearing on her face. "My wounds are grave, but they will heal."

Twilight smiled. "That's good to know." She said. "But how did you end up like this? I thought you were immortal."

"I don't know what kind of magic that creature was using," Celestia said, "but all I do know is that I have never come across anything like it before. That is why my attack failed."

Twilight's smile faded.

"I am normally able to absorb magic, and direct it back against my foe," Celestia continued, "but this was different. The creature was using the power of winter itself to assault me. Not even a unicorn is capable of that." She lowered her head, fighting the urge to weep.

"So that's why you were damaged." Twilight mused.

"Yes."

"But what about the other one? The one that turned into a bear?"

"Shape-shifting is also something ponies cannot comprehend." Celestia replied. "The ancient Canterlot texts are full of stories about ponies who tried, only to die in the most horrific ways."

Twilight grimaced.

"Whatever those creatures were, they came from a world where the laws of magic are very different to those here in Equestria." Celestia said flatly.

"What I still don't understand is how your attacks failed, yet the Elements of Harmony worked." Twilight said, scratching her head.

"Since I am in control of the sun, my magic is based on that. I can only assume that a similar school of magic exists in their world."

"I get it now." Said Twilight. "They were able to defend themselves against your magic because they've experienced something similar, but the Elements of Harmony worked because nothing like them exists where they come from."

"That's the general theory, anyway." Celestia smiled.

"But what if they come back?" Twilight said bluntly. "Now that they've seen what the Elements can do, they'll be able to defend themselves against them."

Celestia sighed and looked at the ceiling.

"I was hoping you wouldn't ask me that." she said glumly.

"Why?" Twilight was confused.

"Prior to their arrival, I sensed a strange magical anomaly coming from the Everfree Forest. I believe that's where they arrived. Therefore, it would be fairly simple for somepony to go back there and trace the origin of the spell they used to get here, and then duplicate it."

Twilight gasped. "What are you saying, Princess?"

Celestia looked Twilight in the eyes.

"I'm saying that we can follow them back to their world."

Twilight's face fell.

"But why? Why would you want to go to their world?!" she shouted.

"Because," Celestia said calmly, "if we went to their world, we could experience for ourselves the magic they use, and thus..."

Twilight interrupted her. "... work on a way to defend ourselves against it."

"Exactly." Celestia smiled. "However, I am in no condition to travel." She slowly stood up, her legs trembling under the strain. "Twilight, I must ask you and your friends to do this. For me. For Equestria."

Twilight straightened herself up and looked Celestia in the eyes.

"Tell me where they arrived, and we'll do the rest." she said.

***

Twilight slowly exited the hospital, a nervous expression on her face. Her five friends were lying in a patch of shade across the road. As Twilight approached, Pinkie Pie saw her coming.

"Look! Twilight's back!" she said excitedly.

"Ugh, finally!" groaned Rainbow Dash.

Twilight approached her friends. They saw the look on her face and developed nervous looks of their own.

"What? What is it?" asked Applejack. "The Princess, she ain't d-"

"No, Princess Celestia is fine." Twilight said, cutting her off. "I need to talk to you all in private. Let's go back to the library."

The others nodded.

"What's going on, darling?" asked Rarity.

Twilight paused before letting out a deep sigh.

"Princess Celestia has a mission for us." she said.

"Sounds good to me." said Rainbow Dash.

Twilight laughed nervously.

"You probably won't be saying that once I've told you what the Princess wants us to do..."