The Stars of Nightmare Moon

by Mysterious Stranger

First published 12th of February, 2013

If you stood to lose everything but had the chance to gain even more by betraying your country, would you do it?

When a plan a millennium years in the making begins to unfold, Night Mist is threatened with the prospect of losing everything he's ever had. But if he accepts a deal from a pegasus he met long ago in a place he'd rather forget, he'll gain a higher place in a new world order.

All he has to do is betray his entire country.

(Special thanks to my sister for the cover art and another special thanks to Hunterforce for being my proof-reader/editor.)

Chapter 1: The spider

Deep within the Everfree forest in the dead of the night, far from any path or road, a lone pony drifted through the trees. He moved slowly, partially to avoid tripping over the numerous roots and rocks hidden by the undergrowth, and partially to delay reaching his destination. If any normal observer were to watch the foolish traveler, they would be able to make out very few details in the dim and uncertain light. A pair of golden eyes and a silver mane caught what little moonlight there was, nothing more. However, to one particular observer who was well accustomed to the blinding darkness, it could see that the pony in question was an earth pony, a young stallion with a coat as black as the shadows around him.

The earth pony stopped abruptly from the growing sense of unease one gets from being watched. The observer, waiting to see if its prey would choose fight or flight, paused as well.

"Oh, you really don't know how ironic your timing is," the stallion said aloud. "Here I am at the crossroads of destiny, trying in vain to make a decision, and now you're going to eat me and make it all moot anyway."

The hunter was confused about its intended meal choosing neither fight or flight, but it silently moved in for the kill all the same.

"A giant spider," the pony observed dryly as the hunter revealed itself. "The bane of every mare and exterminator in Equestria. I wonder, would I feel your fangs devouring me, or would your poison take care of that?"

Being nothing more than a creature driven by the desires to hunt and feast, and as a result incapable of replying, the spider lurched forward and pinched the equestrian between two hairy legs and lifted him up off the ground. Once airborne, the stallion's act of being composed and aloof was shattered, leaving a terrified pony in its wake. The earth pony hollered and kicked as the spider began to skitter off to some sinister destination. After a minute or so of traveling deeper into the dense trees in this fashion, his demeanor shifted from horror to frustration.

"I'm such an idiot!" he yelled at no one in particular. "What was I thinking coming here in the middle of night?! Oh wait, that's right, I came here because everything would go straight to Tartarus if I didn't!"

The black stallion let loose an anguished snarl as he uselessly kicked one of the legs pinching his sides in a last feeble bid for freedom.

"I swear, it feels like it would suck no matter what I decided anyway! Heck, even doing nothing would have ended badly! Ever since the whole thing started it's been a bucking death spiral!"

The spider ignored the pony's rant as it maneuvered around the trees. It held no curiosity for what the stallion was talking about, and even if it could understand words, it probably wouldn't have cared anyway. The pony, in turn, stopped mid rant and became gravely silent as he spotted a giant web between two tree trunks coming closer. He wasn't trying to be brave, he had simply given up. There wasn't any point in struggling any more. In truth, it had been his own actions that led this fate. Why resist? He deserved it.

As the spider began wrapping him in it's sticky strands, he bitterly wondered what he could have done differently. If he was perfectly honest with himself, the best choice would have been to end it back when it had first started ten years ago...

As a black colt departed from the doors of the simple wooden structure known as school, he made note of what the other ponies were doing. It had only been a few days ago that he had moved to Ponyville from Trottingham, and he had yet to make any friends. Today however, he was determined that would change. No one had yet reached out to him, so he would have to make the first move. Start up a conversation perhaps, or join a game. He convinced himself that he would think of something. The sooner he blended in the better. No one likes being the new colt on the block, after all.

The black earth pony, waiting to follow the other ponies lead, observed that most of the ponies were already leaving in groups. However, many of the colts were starting to form a crowd for something. Now was his chance! As he moved in to join the group, he saw that two colts stood apart from the rest and were taking turns picking other colts out of the group. One of them had a brown ball with white stitches and two tapered ends beneath his hoof.

One by one the colts joined the ones picking until only the black pony was left. He disliked standing out by being the last one picked, but that was to be expected, since none of them had really noticed him until now.

"You're new," stated the colt with the ball under his hoof as he studied the newcomer. "What's your name?"

"I’m Night Mist," the black colt said formally, trying his best not to pay any attention to all the eyes on him.

"You any good at hoofball, Night Mist?"

"I wouldn't know, I've never played before," Night Mist admitted.

"Do you at least know the rules?" asked the colt with the ball.

"Not really," Night Mist cringed, sensing that things were going badly. The colt with the ball didn't seem too pleased.

"Well, we've already got even teams, so it wouldn't be fair to have you play too," the colt said bluntly.

Night Mist felt the tension of the moment. The others were all watching to see how we would react to being locked out of the game. Rather than saying something he might regret later, Night Mist simply nodded to show his comprehension and started to turn away, wanting to escape from the embarrassing situation as soon as possible.

"I'll teach you how to play," a voice offered out of the blue.

Night Mist glanced back to see who had spoken. A dark red unicorn with a burnt black mane had departed from his team and was approaching him, his bright orange eyes not glancing back even once. As grateful as he was, Night Mist couldn't help but notice that one of the other colts, a brown maned light gray pegasus, suddenly looked conflicted.

"You know what?" the pegasus suddenly announced. "I'm going to help teach the new pony too. Somepony has to make sure Fraz teaches him the right way right?"

The question was left unanswered as he emerged from his former team and trotted over to join Night Mist.

"I'm Sharp Wing, by the way," the blue eyed pegasus informed Night Mist, "And this is Frazzle Spark, but everypony calls him Fraz."

"Nice to meet you both," Night Mist greeted them in turn.

An awkward silence came over the three of them as they paused to watch all the other colts race off to play.

"You know," Sharp Wing said finally, "This might be easier if we had a ball."

"Oh! One sec, I have a ball!" Frazzle Spark announced brightly right before rushing off.

Night Mist tried to think of something to say to Sharp Wing in order to break the ice, but couldn't. Luckily, Frazzle Spark returned shortly, levitating a ball in the faint orange glow of magic.

"You're a Mustangs fan?" Sharp Wing asked with a faint trace of disgust when he saw the logo on Frazzle Spark's ball.

"Yep, are you?" beamed Frazzle Spark with pride.

"The Broncos are way better," Sharp Wing scoffed.

"Meh, the Broncos are okay," Frazzle Spark said with a dismissive shrug.

"So how do I play?" Night Mist asked, sensing the conversation degrading quickly into a fight.

"I think a demonstration would be a good place to start," said Sharp Wing, forgetting about the imminent squabble. "Fraz, throw me the ball."

Frazzle Spark cocked his foreleg back and sent the ball spiraling through the air with ease. After a few passes Sharp Wing handed the ball to Night Mist to try. However, when Night Mist clumsily attempted to toss it back to Frazzle Spark, the ball suddenly jerked to the right and landed in the grass.

"Sorry!" Night Mist winced, half-expecting to be mocked for his failure.

“Don't worry about it. It was probably just the wind,” said Frazzle Spark as he ran to get the ball.

"Wind? What wind?" questioned Sharp Wing. "There wasn't any wind scheduled for today. Nothing but sunny skies all day long."

Abruptly the sky rumbled, and a chilly wind washed over the three colts. Night Mist glanced up and saw that the sky was full of gray clouds and had darkened considerably.

"Sunny skies all day long huh?" he said.

"This wasn't scheduled for today. Somepony is trying to mess with our game," Sharp Wing growled. "I bet its Rainbow Dash."

"Who's Rainbow Dash?" inquired Night Mist.

"She's like the school prankster," Frazzle Spark explained. "Always pulling something."

"Is she a pegasus? It would take a lot more than one to make a storm this big," Night Mist frowned.

Neither of the other two ponies said anything for moment as Night Mist's words sank in. The winds, meanwhile, started to howl and grow stronger.

"Maybe we should go indoors," Frazzle Spark said nervously.

"Screw that. I'm going to go up there and find out who's messing with us," Sharp Wing said with resolve as he unfolded his little gray wings and kicked up off the ground.

Night Mist and Frazzle Spark watched him attempt to fly up into the storm clouds, but the winds were too much for the colt’s little wings. They whipped him to and fro for about a minute before he gave up and glided haphazardly back to the ground. The sound of thunder echoed across the sky, as if mocking the pegasus for even trying.

"We have to get inside. This doesn't look safe. We’ll play some other game like monahpony or something," Frazzle Spark suggested.

"Ugh fine," Sharp Wing relented."I'll go get the ball."

Just as Sharp Wing raced to the ball to try and grab it before it could be blown away, the ball suddenly took off and started circling around the three ponies so fast it was dizzying.

"Um, that's not normal!" Frazzle Spark shouted in panic over the now deafening winds.

Night Mist was about to ask if freak storms were a common occurrence in Ponyville when Sharp Wing reached out to stop the ball, causing it to ricochet off of his hoof and impale itself on Frazzle Spark's horn.

"Oh come on!" Frazzle Spark complained. "That ball cost me seven bi-aaaaaaah!"

The unicorn's protest was cut off as he was sucked into the wind band and started flying around the other two ponies just as the ball had. He screamed for several laps before falling unconscious. Night Mist and Sharp Wing unconsciously pressed together as they watched in horror. Out of the corner of his vision, Night Mist saw Sharp Wing's wings start to quiver.

"Don't unfold your wings!" he warned.

"I'm not trying to! The wind's catching them!" Sharp Wing replied frantically.

Night Mist immediately pressed a hoof against one of Sharp Wing's wings, but the pegasus was betrayed by the other as it snapped out like a switchblade and yanked him into the band of wind for a repeat of Frazzle Spark's performance. Like the unicorn, Sharp Wing went around yelling several times before he too passed out.

Night Mist's mind went white as the storm raged around him. Powerless to do anything else, he squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself for the worst. But instead of being seized by the winds, a sensation that felt like electricity passed through his body, and suddenly all of the wind and noise was gone. Not trusting that it was truly over, Night Mist kept his eyes closed for another minute.

When he opened his eyes again he regretted the action. He was now inside of what appeared to be a giant cavern illuminated by wooden torches attached to the walls. An outcropping of rock jutted out from the rock wall high above Night Mist’s head, not far from the ceiling of the cavern. Although Night Mist was very confused as to how he had arrived in the cavern, he was not so much concerned about his new surroundings as he was the fact he was not alone. Gathered around him was a large crowd of ponies whispering in excited voices, ranging from young to old. As Night Mist stood petrified, a dark blue unicorn stepped forward. He possessed a black mane, green eyes, appeared to be middle aged, and wore a strange medallion around his neck, a black five pointed star constructed out of lines inside of a circle.

"No reason to be afraid, little one, you're among friends. My name is Nightmare Umbra, and on behalf of all of the Stars, I welcome you to our home," the unicorn greeted.

Night Mist glanced around, looking for a familiar face. Sharp Wing and Frazzle Spark were nowhere to be found, nor was anyone else he knew.

"What is this?" Night Mist asked quietly.

"A welcome home party of sorts," Umbra answered. "You've been gone a very long time."

"This isn't my home, I live with my parents in Trotti- er, Ponyville," Night Mist replied, shaken by the events unfolding.

"I'm sorry to have to say this, but the ponies who have been raising you are not your real parents," Umbra said bluntly. "You were born here, but managed to wander away when you were barely old enough to walk."

Night Mist took several moments to process what he was hearing.

"I don't believe you. I think you're lying," he accused when he was finished.

Umbra didn't seem fazed by the insult. Instead, he glanced backwards and nodded. Two ponies stepped forward, a stallion and a mare.

"Sun Binder, my son," the stallion whispered.

"He looks just like you when you were his age," the mare said, her eyes watering.

Night Mist took a cautious step back. The two adult ponies were staring at him as if he was a dream come true, and it was freaking him out. They seemed hesitant to come closer, as if afraid he would disappear.

"I want to go home. To Trottingha- I mean Ponyville," he insisted.

"This is your home," Umbra said gently.

Night Mist felt as if he was about to lose his mind. He was being told things that completely contradicted what he believed about his world, and he wasn't sure what to make of it. So he did the only thing he could think of. He spun around and took off, weaving around and between the legs of many surprised ponies. Cries of alarm filled the air as he galloped down a random tunnel as if all of Tartarus was after him. And as far as Night Mist was concerned, it was.

Chapter 2: The shrine

Night Mist tore down the tunnel as fast as his hooves would take him. Mercifully, torches on the walls provided enough light to avoid crashing, but there were so many twists and turns he knew retracing his path would be impossible. At that moment though, Night Mist was more concerned about losing his pursuers than where he was. He still didn't know how he had arrived in the cavern to begin with, so it didn't really matter how much more lost he got anyway.

No cries or demands were voiced from the ponies behind him, only the pounding of many hooves against the stone floor gave away their presence. As Night Mist rounded a corner he spotted a small crevice low to the ground. Without hesitation he dove inside it, scraping his underside painfully as he did so.

Night Mist shut his eyes and listened hard. The multitude of hooves became very loud as they rounded the corner and then gradually became fainter. The little black colt held his breath, straining to hear any more hooves. Just as his ears picked up the sound of something flapping, four dark green legs landed next to the crevice without any warning.

"If I had known I would be flying after someone, I wouldn't have agreed to be it for tag earlier," panted a young voice from slightly above the legs.

With a grunt, the dark green pegasus flopped onto the ground, and just like that he was suddenly face to face with Night Mist. The pegasus had a long white as snow mane and metallic gray eyes that stared at Night Mist in surprise. Night Mist, in turn, stared at the pegasus in alarm. For several seconds neither of them could speak.

"I've lived here my entire life, and I never knew this crevice was here," the pegasus said finally.

"Please don't tell them I'm here," Night Mist begged.

"Um, okay, sure. Wow. This is just... wow. Not just this crevice, but you... here, in it, and... I- I should probably go get an adult," the pegasus stammered.

"You just said you wouldn't!" protested Night Mist.

"I did?"

Night Mist nodded vigorously.

"Oh, okay then, I guess I won't. Um, can you come out?" requested the pegasus.

Night Mist hesitated. He was rather suspicious of the pegasus, but he didn't seem very threatening. In fact, he seemed to be about the same age as himself. Night Mist crawled out of the crevice and stood up again.

"So... um, Sun Binder wasn't it?" the pegasus said awkwardly.

"Night Mist," Night Mist corrected.

"But didn't your- oh right, I guess you wouldn't know your original name, unless whoever found you gave you the same name like in a freak coincidence or something, haha."

Night Mist said nothing, choosing instead to simply raise a single brow.

"Oh, um, I didn't introduce myself! I'm Eclipse," the pegasus said quickly as he held out a hoof.
Night Mist slowly hooked an ankle around Eclipse's and shook it.

"Can you tell me where I am?" Night Mist asked.

"In a tunnel," Eclipse said matter of factly.

"I meant where am I relative to where I was before I was brought here," Night Mist said dryly.

"Oh, well, in that case, I have no idea."

"Well, what do you know?" Night Mist tried as he risked a glance down the tunnel to make sure the other ponies weren't coming back.

"Well, I know that all the grown ups were talking about how they hoped the eclipse would give them enough power to retrieve you. The actual eclipse involving the sun and moon I mean, not me."

"I can't help but feel I'm missing some context here,” said Night Mist, slightly annoyed at how it clear it was that he had no idea what was going on.

"If we go find one of the older Stars I'm sure they could explain it better than I could," Eclipse hinted.

"Well, my real parents told me not to talk to strangers," Night Mist insisted.

"Oh, umm, I guess I could try to explain it," Eclipse said uncertainly. "It would be easier if I took you to the shrine though."

"A shrine?" Night Mist asked in befuddlement. "What for?"

"For Nightmare Moon," Eclipse said simply.

"Who?"

"You've never heard of Nightmare Moon?"

"No."

"The Mare in the Moon?" Eclipse tried.

"Well of course I've heard of the Mare in the Moon," Night Mist scoffed. "Everypony knows that myth."

"But you haven't heard of Nightmare Moon."

"Still no."

"Okay," Eclipse said uncertainly. "Well, Nightmare Moon and the Mare in the Moon are the same pony."

"And the reason for naming a mythical being and making her a shrine is what exactly?"

"See, this is what I was trying to avoid. It's really hard to explain. Can we just go to the shrine?"

"Lead the way."

Eclipse turned and started to walk down another tunnel. Night Mist followed him in silence as he thought. Truth be told, he hardly cared about myths or shrines, for he was far more concerned about getting home. Night Mist figured that the best course of action would be to find out as much about his new surroundings as possible. Then he could try to find Sharp Wing and Frazzle Spark and plot an escape.

"Here we are," Eclipse announced. "The shrine."

Night Mist glanced up in order to behold a massive set of wooden doors. A symbol was painted over them, a simple black sketch of a five pointed star inside of a circle. Night Mist recognized it as the same symbol Umbra wore as a medallion. Eclipse hooked a hoof through a metal ring on one of the doors and opened it. Night Mist walked inside and glanced around.

On the floor lay a large round red rug that had the same symbol on it that the door had. Arranged in a circle around the rug were lit candles. But what really caught Night Mist's attention was behind the rug. Standing on a stone pedestal was a scary yet elegant statue of a tall pony with both wings and a horn. The pony wore a helm, elaborate horseshoes, and had a very large mane and tail that seemed to seemed to defy gravity. She stood on her back legs with one fore leg pointing straight at the rug, and the other cocked back as if for a kick. Combined with the poor lighting from the candles, the entire thing looked very frightening.

"That is the freakiest statue I have ever seen," Night Mist pronounced in frightened awe.

"Really? I always thought she looked rather nice," quipped Eclipse.

"It looks like she's about about a snatch a pony up and eat him."

"No, no, you're looking at it wrong. She isn't picking something up, she's giving something away. See how her foreleg is pointed at the star symbol on the ground?"

"I'm starting to get the impression that that star symbol is significant to you ponies."

"It's more than just significant. It's the reason the Stars exist," Eclipse explained as he walked over to the rug and stood on it. "This symbol as a whole represents the Dark Storm, which is basically a giant magic thing that lets us summon or relocate ponies. It was given to us by Nightmare Moon almost a thousand years ago. The point at the top of the star represents Nightmare Moon, and the four other points of the star represents the four different parts of the Dark Storm. Each Star, us, can use one of the four parts on their own. Wind, lightning, cloud, and shadow."

"You're telling me that every, um, what did you call yourselves again?"

"Stars."

"You're telling me you think that every Star has a magic power?"

"Pretty much."

"That's stupid."

"What's stupid about it?" Eclipse asked, looking slightly hurt.

"All of it. Your belief that you have powers. Your reverence for an alicorn that doesn't even exist. The fact you apparently live in a cold, damp, cave. You and all the other so called Stars are nothing but a stupid cult!" Night Mist accused.

"That's not true! We know Nightmare Moon is real because she gave our ancestors the Dark Storm!" Eclipse protested.

"Unless you can shoot lightning out of your hooves, I remain doubtful."

Without even the slightest trace of fanfare, Eclipse causally raised a hoof and fired a surge of electrical energy at the cave wall. It took Night Mist a few minutes to find his voice.

"Well, that's... something," he mumbled, thinking he had been a little quick to decide Eclipse was harmless.

In response Eclipse simply shrugged. At that point Night Mist realized that he had a new problem. If all the Stars had abilities beyond normal ponies, escape would be very difficult, if not impossible.

"Okay, so Nightmare Moon is real, and you have magic powers," Night Mist conceded. "I'm a little fuzzy on the legend, but the gist of it is that the mare in the moon became jealous that nopony appreciated the night and refused to lower the moon, prompting Princess Celestia to banish her to the moon right?"

"Sounds about right," Eclipse confirmed.

"So what was the point of giving a bunch of ponies the Dark Storm then?"

"As a backup plan. Nightmare Moon told my, um, our ancestors that she suspected Princess Celestia would banish her to the moon. That's why she gave us the Dark Storm. So that when the time was right we would aid in her escape, allowing her to make night eternal."

"Eternal night? Why would you want to help her do that?!"

Just as Eclipse opened his mouth to answer the door to the shrine opened and Umbra entered the chamber.

"Oh," he said in mild surprise. "So this is where you ran off to. With some help I see," he added as he glared at Eclipse, who smiled weakly. Night Mist took a cautious step back, afraid of what the stallion might do to him.

"You really don't have anything to be afraid of. I'm not mad you ran off. It's an entirely natural reaction to learning so much all it once. If anything its my fault, I should have broken it to you gradually," Umbra assured him.

"I want to go home," Night Mist said, his voice cracking a little.

"I know you do," Umbra said sympathetically, "But your parents have waited so long for the chance to bring you here, and it would be cruel to send you back your adopted parents instead. Why don't you come with me and meet them?"

Night Mist heard how Umbra made it sound like an offer, but it was clear to him that he really had no choice. So he hung his head and obediently followed Umbra out the door.

Chapter 3: The truth

The fact that he wasn't in any physical danger was of little comfort to Night Mist as he followed Umbra down a series of seemingly random tunnels. It was clear to him that these ponies were very familiar with their underground dwelling. It struck Night Mist as an unfair advantage for his kidnappers to have. After all, it wasn’t as if having magical powers didn’t give them an edge already. Despite how bleak his circumstances looked, Night Mist was determined to find a way to tilt the odds in his favor.

"Eclipse told me that you all intend to free Nightmare Moon," Night Mist prompted, hoping to learn something that might help him.

"Oh really?" Umbra said absently.

"Yes really," Night Mist confirmed as he started walking faster to keep up with the longer legged stallion. "He also said that she would make night time eternal. Is that true?"

"Yes, that is true."

"But isn't that wrong?"

Night Mist's words caused the unicorn to stop and glance at him before he resumed walking.

"Wrong how?"

"Well, eternal night would be bad wouldn't it?"

"Different maybe, but not necessarily bad. It will take some getting used when it happens though."

"But not all ponies would want eternal night. I know I wouldn't."

"Did Eclipse tell you what would become of the Stars when Nightmare Moon is freed?"

"I don't think so."

"Well, once Nightmare Moon has made night eternal, the Stars will be raised above all other ponies. We will become the highest class, surpassed by nopony except Nightmare Moon herself."

For a brief moment Night Mist fantasized about being part of this upper class before he asked his next question.

"How come you haven't freed Nightmare Moon already then?"

"We can't. The Dark Storm isn't powerful enough yet. Nightmare Moon was, and is, very smart you see. She realized that if she made us extremely powerful from the beginning, her sister would detect our creation and put an end to it. So she granted us a very small portion of her power, just enough to establish a connection. Whenever Princess Celestia is distracted by moving both sun and moon to create a eclipse, she grants us a little bit more power. The power that she granted us today during the eclipse was just enough to retrieve you from wherever in the world you had gone off to."

"How long before you, um, we are powerful enough to free her?"

"We don't know. We try every time an eclipse occurs, but only time will tell when we have enough. But we've gotten ahead of ourselves. This room right here is where your parents live," Umbra said as he stopped in front of a door. "Why don't you wait inside while I go find them? I imagine they're still looking for you."

Night Mist was barely through the door before Umbra shut it behind him and walked away. Night Mist glanced around and was surprised to find that the room looked rather homely. All of the walls were made of rock, but the room contained ordinary furniture, doors leading to other rooms, and enough torches to make it very well lit. A fireplace was blazing near the back of the room, keeping the bizarre looking living room at a reasonable temperature. From where he was standing, Night Mist could see a kitchen as well. Interestingly enough, the sink had faucets. If the Stars had running water, perhaps there were not as uncivilized as he had previously thought. Night Mist tried to think of way to use water for an escape, but came up with nothing.

Disappointed, he walked back into the living room and stumbled upon a most startling sight. Near the entrance was a picture hanging on the wall. Portrayed within it was an image of a black earth pony foal with a silver mane and golden eyes. As Night Mist stared at it, he wondered if Umbra really had been telling the truth. But no, that was ridiculous. There were plenty of ponies out there in the world. Just because the picture had features like his own did not necessarily mean it was him. A voice in the back of his head pointed out that he never seen pictures of himself as a foal in his home in Ponyville or Trottingham before, but he dismissed the thought. Right now, he needed to focus on escaping.

Night Mist shook his head to clear his thoughts. He needed to think of something while he was alone so he could focus. He started by going over what he knew or what he could infer. From what he could gather the storm that had appeared outside of his school was the Dark Storm. No one had made any mention of Sharp Wing or Frazzle Spark, and they hadn't been brought to the cavern with him, so he could only guess that the Dark Storm really had come just for him.

This fact combined with Eclipse's demonstration led Night Mist to believe that Nightmare Moon was real. Night Mist shuddered as he recalled the statue from the shrine. As much as the idea of Nightmare Moon being real horrified him, he knew he should take her existence into account. What he refused to believe, however, was that he was also a Star. His parents had never hinted that he wasn't really their son, and it seemed more likely to him that he had been kidnapped for some other purpose. Suddenly Night Mist was struck with longing to go home to Ponyville where his parents were. It was his parents that he loved and trusted, not the Stars.

Night Mist pressed his ear to the door he had come through and listened. Once he was sure that no one was close by, he opened the door and slipped out. For lack of a better direction, Night Mist went back the way he had come from. Without any warning, he heard hooves approaching. Employing the same tactic as before, Night Mist ducked into a nearby crevice. The act couldn’t have been committed sooner, for the moment he was concealed a pony came around the corner and positioned herself in front of the door to the living quarters of Night Mist’s alleged parents. Apparently Umbra hadn’t trusted Night Mist to stay put. Night Mist slowly began crawling further back into the crevice, only find that that there was nothing behind him. A glance over his shoulder revealed that the crevice was actually a small tunnel.

As quietly as he could, he turned around and made his way through of the colt sized tunnel and out into a larger one lit by torches on the wall. The sound of hooves reached his ears a second time, forcing Night Mist to quickly dive back into the little tunnel. At this rate, he would never get away. This time however, Night Mist recognized the legs walking by. It was Eclipse. As a plan quickly formed in Night Mist’s mind, he grinned for the first time since entering these horrible caves.

"Hi Eclipse!" he said cheerfully as he popped out of his hiding spot, startling the dark green pegasus.

"Ah! Geez, you surprised me there," replied Eclipse, nearly tripping from fright as he spun around. After quickly recovering he asked, "I thought you were going with Umbra to see your parents?"

"I already did," Night Mist lied. "We talked a little, and then they decided it would be best if I got to know some other ponies and get a feel for this place. I was kind of wondering if you could give me a tour and introduce me to others."

"Oh, um, sure, happy to help. Um, lets see, we don't really have any landmarks except for the shrine, the main cavern, the school, and the throne room. We could start with the throne room I suppose."

"What about the tunnel that leads to the surface?" hinted Night Mist.

"The tunnel that leads to surface?" Eclipse repeated.

"You have one don't you? You can't live down in this cave without ever going up for supplies right?"

"We do, but only adults are allowed to go all the way up to the surface without supervision."

"How come?"

"They don't want us kids to run off and let the rest of the world know we exist. Umbra says if ponies ever found out about us too soon it would be bad."

"It wouldn't hurt to just take a look would it?"

"I suppose I could show you the door to the surface," Eclipse mused.

Night Mist was once again led through a network of of tunnels until he and Eclipse entered a carved out circular room with a stone ramp that led up to two moderately sized wooden doors. The doors were tilted downward, like the doors of a cellar. Inwardly, Night Mist was pleased that it didn't appear to be guarded.

"Say, have you ever been outside of this cave before, Eclipse?" he asked slyly.

"Sure have," Eclipse answered nonchalantly.

Night Mist blinked in surprise.

"You have?"

"That's what I said."

"I thought you said you weren't allowed."

"I'm allowed with supervision. A long time ago kids weren't allowed up at all, but that led to ponies becoming overly sensitive to daylight. And since we don't know how long we'll have to deal with daylight, we're required to visit the surface often enough to prevent our eyes from becoming too weak."

"Oh."

Eclipse opened his mouth to say something else but instead perked his ears up as a quizzical expression came over his face.

"Do you hear something?" he inquired.

Night Mist glanced over his shoulder and rotated his ears forward to listen. He heard the faint sounds of shouting, but couldn't make out any words. But he could guess why they were shouting. Night Mist charged up in the incline and slammed his fore hooves against the doors. They didn't open.

"What are you doing?" Eclipse asked in alarm as Night Mist frantically continued to beat on the doors.

Night Mist saw no point in trying to deceive him.

"I'm leaving," he said quickly as he started shoving against the doors. "I don't care what you, Umbra, or anypony else says. I'm not one of you and my real parents live in Ponyville!"

"Are- are you ever going to come back?"

Caught off guard by the question, Night Mist looked at Eclipse and saw that he was looking at the ground.

"I was kind of hoping we could be friends," the pegasus added softly.

Briefly Night Mist was struck by the urge to invite Eclipse to leave with him. But somehow he doubted Eclipse would accept. He also knew that there wouldn't be any time to convince him, for the shouting from the tunnels was growing closer. Just as several ponies came into view Night Mist threw himself at the door. But instead of meeting resistance, a strange sensation washed over him and he dissolved into a dark cloud-like substance that slipped through the cracks instead. Night Mist only had a blurry perception of his surroundings as he flowed up out of a cave. Then, without trying to, his new form compressed into a solid mass that shifted back into his original body.

As he fell onto his rump Night Mist realized that he was now in a forest. He had little time to reflect on what had just happened, for merely a second after he landed his ears caught the sound of a lock turning and clicking. The frightened little colt wasted no time in jumping to his hooves and bolting off through the trees.

Night Mist didn't once dare to look back as he crashed through thickets and made turns so sharp he nearly fell over. Many times he stumbled over roots and rocks, and his ankles began to hurt from his hooves hitting at odd angles. But eventually his reckless speed betrayed him, and Night Mist tripped over a large rock and tumbled down a steep embankment and landed in a small stream at the bottom of a shadowy ravine. Night Mist groaned out of pain and disappointment as he closed his eyes and waited for the Stars to catch him. But no one did.

Night Mist lifted up his head and peered up the sides of the ravine. He heard no hooves. Saw no ponies. Night Mist scarcely breathed, fully expecting that the slightest movement or sound would bring the Stars down on him in an instant. Night Mist curled himself into a ball and tried not to cry. His body was sore from all that he had done so far, and he was still just as lost as before. For several more minutes his body refused to move, but eventually he worked up the courage to pick himself up and look around.

The tree tops of the forest were very close together, but enough day light shone through for Night Mist to see. Very little light fell to his temporary refuge. The sun had begun to set, lengthening the shadows cast by the trees that balanced on the steep ledges above. Seeing no way back up the steep inclines on either side, he arbitrarily picked a direction and started walking, brushing leaves and burrs out of his mane as he went. Night Mist tried very hard to avoid thinking about the fact that he was hurt in a strange forest with crazed ponies most likely still looking for him, but found it difficult to avoid, alone in the forest.

Against the will of the rest of his being, Night Mist’s mind recalled how he had passed through a locked door by turning into a dark gaseous substance. One of the four powers of a Star Eclipse had listed was something called "cloud". Logically speaking, this was proof that Night Mist was indeed one of them.

Once this thought crossed his mind the ramifications came flooding in. His real parents were Stars. He was adopted. He wasn't normal. He wasn't like other ponies. He was a freak of nature. In vain Night Mist tried to push these thoughts out of his head, but they refused to leave. His mind searched for alternatives but could find none, so he started lying to himself.

"I'm not a Star, and my parents live in Ponyville."

But despite the repeating of this phrase as he walked, Night Mist only become more and more distressed. Eventually he couldn't keep up the self deception and he broke down into sobs. Despite the fear that the noise would summon the Stars, Night Mist couldn't control it. He didn't want to be an evil creation. He didn't want to be adopted. Yet in the midst of all his grief a emotional hardness broke through. There would be no hiding from the truth. He may not like it, he might even hate it, but he had the strange desire to take the truth head on. He was a Star. He wasn't normal. That was the cold, uncaring, truth. Hiding from the truth would be an unforgivable crime.

Suddenly Night Mist felt a warm sensation on each of his sides, causing him to turn his head and look at his flank. An image of a magnifying glass had appeared. Somehow, he knew what it stood for. His special talent was finding the truth. The cutie mark had appeared because he had found the truth about himself. However, Night Mist didn't think the occasion deserved celebration. Instead, he only started to cry harder.

Chapter 4: The gift

After a while Night Mist's crying died down to sniffles. He didn’t want to think anymore. All he wanted was to see his parents again. The ones he knew. Naturally, he would not be able to find them if he didn’t keep moving. So on he walked. After several hours of travel there wasn’t anything on his tired mind except the placement of his hooves on the ground. He didn’t have the mental energy for anything else.

Night Mist was so unaware of his surroundings that he didn't even realize he had traveled out of the forest until he nearly walked into a cottage made of stone and wood. As he went around the corner of the structure to keep walking, he spotted a white stallion in golden armor talking to a tall white mare with a multicolored mane that moved as if there was a breeze, despite the fact there was none.

"The fire destroyed a lot of property," the armored stallion was saying, "but with the proper amount of supplies we should- oh!"

The armored stallion cut himself as he spotted Night Mist. Before Night Mist could think of what he should do, the tall mare turned around and saw him as well.

"Oh my," said the mare in surprise. "Where did you come from, little one?"

Night Mist tried to respond, but found he was too exhausted to speak.

"It looks like he just walked out of the Everfree forest," the stallion observed.

"Is that right? Did you just come out of the forest?" the mare asked with concern.

Night Mist nodded.

"You poor thing," the mare said sympathetically. "Did you get lost?"

Not knowing where to start, Night Mist merely nodded again.

"Do you know where your parents are?"

"Ponyville," Night Mist managed to reply automatically. Right away he realized his response was inaccurate, which caused him to tear up and sniffle again.

"Its okay, little one," the mare said soothingly. "You're safe now. I'll see to it that we get you home alright?"

Night Mist was hesitant to agree. Given all that he had been through, the mare's kindness seemed too good to be true.

"Shall I arrange for some of my troops to take the colt to Ponyville, your majesty?" the stallion offered.

"No, it would best for them to assist with the reconstruction," the mare decided. "I'll take him home myself."

At that point the tall figure and drifting mane slowly reminded him of another pony he had once seen from a distance while on vacation. Then it clicked. The mare in front of him was none other than Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria. For a moment he considered telling her about the Stars, but decided against it. He had no idea how she would react, and Night Mist didn't want to make any more enemies.

"Shall I prepare your chariot for departure then, your highness?" asked the stallion.

"I could just use a quick travel spell," Princess Celestia pointed out.

"Beg your pardon, your majesty, but won't you be raising the moon soon?"

"Oh, that. Yes, I should probably save my energy then," Princess Celestia said disdainfully.
"Chariot it is then."

The stallion saluted and departed at a brisk pace, presumably to prepare the chariot. Princess Celestia glanced down at Night Mist and gave him a reassuring smile. Within moments two pegasi guards swooped in pulling a golden chariot. Both Princess Celestia and Night Mist got on board and the chariot pulled off and soared up into the air. Night Mist silently peered over the edge of the chariot down at the Everfree forest, half expecting something to launch out of it and blow the chariot out of the sky.

"I don't believe I caught your name," Princess Celestia said after a minute or so of silent flying.

"I'm Night Mist. Night Mist Mystery," replied the little black colt, thinking it proper to give the princess his full name.

"Pleasure to meet you, Night Mist. I imagine you’ve been told my name is Princess Celestia, but you can call me Tia alright?”

Night Mist wasn’t sure how to respond to such an informal introduction from royalty, so he said nothing.

“How did you wind up in the Everefree forest?" Princess Celestia prompted, undeterred by Night Mist’s silence.

The question sounded innocent enough, but it made Night Mist wary all the same.

"There was a storm," he said carefully. "It came out of nowhere. It picked me up and dropped me off in the forest. There were two other ponies with me when the storm appeared, but I don't know where they are."

"How strange," Princess Celestia mused. "I've heard that the clouds above the Everfree forest move without pegasi assistance sometimes, but I've never heard of storms abducting ponies and taking them there."

Night Mist had a theory on why those clouds might move on their own, but didn't dare voice it.

"It's lucky that you found me, Night Mist. If this storm of yours is the start of a new threat, it will need to be dealt with swiftly."

Night Mist wasn't sure how to respond to that comment either, so he kept quiet. Before too long the forest below gave way to a village of light tan cottages and other structures. It was Ponyville. From his vantage point Night Mist could see that a large crowd of ponies were gathered in front of the town hall.

"The best part about surprise visits," Princess Celestia remarked with a faint smile, "Is catching everyone off guard and seeing what the place actually looks like ninety nine percent of the time."
As the chariot descended towards the crowd, Night Mist saw that everyone was indeed caught off guard. Sounds of surprise rose from the crowd and many pointed at the chariot, as if there was a remote possibility that it would otherwise go unnoticed.

"Night Mist!" someone in the crowd called out.

Night Mist turned his head and saw that it was Sharp Wing who had voiced his name. Besides him was Frazzle Spark, and they both weaved around and under many legs to reach the chariot.

"Hey! You got yours too!" Frazzle Spark exclaimed.

For a moment Night Mist didn't know what Frazzle Spark was talking about, until he realized that the unicorn was looking at the cutie mark on his flank.

"We all got our cutie marks on the same day!?" Sharp Wing said in disbelief.

Night Mist studied the two colts and saw that, sure enough, each now had a cutie mark on their flanks. Sharp Wing's was a image of two crossed swords, while Frazzle Spark's was a firecracker in mid-explosion. Just as Night Mist opened his mouth to ask how they had discovered their special talents his parents burst through the crowd and embraced him. Or rather, the ponies he had always assumed to be his real parents until recently embraced him. But for a few blissful seconds Night Mist was able to forget this fact and hugged them back with equal passion. Night Mist's "mother" looked up at Princess Celestia with tears in her eyes.

"Thank you so much," she whispered.

"Glad to help," Princess Celestia said courteously. "Night Mist, were these two colts here the ones with you when the storm appeared?"

In response Night Mist simply nodded. Sharp Wing and Frazzle Spark both glanced at Princess Celestia in surprise at their becoming the focus of the alicorn's attention.

"Could you describe what happened for me?" she asked.

"Well," Sharp Wing began. "Fraz and I were teaching Night Mist how to play hoofball when the sky got really dark and the wind got really, um, windy. First the winds picked up Fraz, then me. I think I passed out after that."

"And then you woke up in the Everfree Forest?" Princess Celestia prompted.

"What? No, I woke up in a big rocky, sandy area," Sharp Wing clarified as he pointed a hoof to the south. "Its really far from here, in that direction."

"It had mountains and volcanoes too," Frazzle Spark chimed in.

"So you both woke up in the Bad lands?"

"If that bad lands are that way, then yeah," figured Sharp Wing. "I was falling when I woke up, but I used my wings and landed in a giant crack in the ground."

"I landed in a river," Frazzle Spark said.

"So a storm picks up all three of you, takes two of you all the way to the Bad lands, one of you to the Everfree forest, and all three of you earn your cutie marks as a result." Princess Celestia mused. "How strange. What happened after you landed?"

"Some funny creatures with green heads and pointy ears appeared above the hole and seemed really excited," Sharp Wing continued. "Said something about making delicious paste, but I have no idea what they meant by that."

Princess Celestia's brows raised slightly as if alarmed, but she didn't say anything.

"I was about to ask what they were talking about, but they jumped down into the hole and they had swords and- and-"

Sharp Wing paused for a moment before he was able to keep going.

"And they tried to hit me. But I knocked one of them down and I grabbed its sword with my wing. Next thing I know they were all running away, and I had two swords. Then my cutie mark appeared. After that I just started walking until I met somepony who teleported me home.

"What happened to your swords?" Princess Celestia questioned.

"My mom took them," the light gray colt scowled.

"And you didn't see the storm again?"

"No," Sharp Wing replied, and after a nudge from a mare that must have been his mother added, "Your highness."

"I see. Did you see the storm again, little one?" Princess Celestia asked Frazzle Spark.

Frazzle Spark shook his head. "I got my cutie mark after some dragons started chasing me up a volcano. Then my horn started glowing a whole lot, and the volcano started shooting rocks and stuff at them and... and... it was really cool! Cool as in awesome, not... you know..."

With a faint trace of alarm Night Mist noticed that Frazzle Spark's eyes had lit up during the part about the volcano. The colt seemed a lot more excited about the ordeal than he should have been.

"Describe to me the exact moment you earned your cutie mark," Princess Celestia suddenly requested of Night Mist.

Night Mist studied the alicorn's eyes, trying to discern some sort of clue about what she was thinking. If he told her he was a Star, would she lock him up, or do something worse to him? A slight frown appeared on her face, and Night Mist realized he was taking too long to answer.

"Like I told you earlier, I got lost," he lied. "But once I figured out how to leave to forest, I got my cutie mark."
"That's it?" Princess Celestia asked.

A small portion of Night Mist's mind began yelling at him to tell Princess Celestia what had caused the storm. But the rest of his mind fiercely resisted. What if she did something to him after she found out what he was? How would everyone else react?

"That's it," he said evenly.

Princess Celestia studied him for a minute as Night Mist held her gaze. Apparently satisfied, she looked up again.

"I'll have to arrange for further investigations later," Princess Celestia announced to the crowd as she got into her chariot. "I must return Canterlot to raise the moon. But rest assured that I will find who, or what, is responsible for this."

Night Mist stared at the ceiling of his bedroom from his bed. His "parents" had insisted on taking him home before he could talk to Sharp Wing and Frazzle Spark and sent him to bed immediately after dinner. He was still putting all of the pieces together, but he was pretty sure that all three of them earning their cutie marks on the same day was nothing but a fluke. The Dark Storm had been sent for him, and had simply tossed the other two colts away. The issue that weighed the most on his mind now was the Stars. What if they kidnapped him again? What if they brought Nightmare Moon back to Equestria?

Without any warning a hoof pressed up against his mouth, eliciting a muffled scream from the young colt. Beside the bed stood Nightmare Umbra, his black star medallion hanging inches from Night Mist's face.

"I'm only going to say this once, so you better listen," the dark blue unicorn whispered harshly. "I don't claim to understand why you ran back to your old life instead of fulfilling your destiny, but I can see that you did."

A faint hope took root in Night Mist's terror. Was Umbra saying he wasn't going to take him back?

"Believe me, I would love nothing more than to take you back and open your eyes to the future you're missing," Umbra said as if reading Night Mist's mind. "But thanks to you, Celestia is now aware of the Dark Storm. Having you vanish from Ponyville twice in a row wouldn't help us to avoid detection. So instead I'm here to give you advice and make the most out of the decision you've made. The reason, the only reason, society accepts you is because they think you're normal. They don't know that your destiny is bring back Nightmare Moon. Your adopted parents love you because they don't know. Your friends like you because they don't know. And if you had told Celestia what you are, she would have killed you on the spot. So if you ever tell anyone about the Stars, you will lose everything, understand!?"

Night Mist nodded, eyes wide. He believed every word. Umbra removed his hoof from Night Mist's mouth and smiled coyly. Then, before Night Mist's eyes, Umbra's eyes glowed white. Dark mist began to rise up from the unicorn's body like steam from a boiling pot of water.

"However," the half solid, half gas, stallion added. "If you ever wish to join the Stars... to join your destiny, I've left you a little present under your bed. If I were you I would find a better hiding place for it though, least you have to explain it."

And with that he fully dissolved into a dark cloud that seeped under the door to Night Mist's bedroom. Night Mist sat up in his bed and didn't move for several minutes. Once he was sure Umbra had left, he slipped out of his bed and peeked underneath it. Lying on the floor was a single piece of paper. Night Mist snagged it with his teeth and withdrew to the window so that he could see it in the moonlight.

It was a map. But not just any map. It was a map of the entire Everfree forest. It was divided up by landmarks, rocks of a particular shape or trees that were uncharacteristically large, among other things. In the lower left region of the map was the symbol of the Nightmare Stars. Dotted lines formed a path using the landmarks all the way back to Ponyville, which was at the top of the map. Night Mist stared at it for a while before he frantically took a book out of his bookcase, set the map between the pages and replaced on the shelf. Once the dark deed was complete, he slipped back into bed. No one could ever know about the map. No one could ever know what he was. It wasn't until Night Mist assured himself that his secret was safe that he was able to fall asleep.

Chapter 5: The lie

"I suppose you're all wondering why I've gathered you here," Frazzle Spark said in a completely serious tone. With his hooves pressed together like some sort of mastermind, he would have looked rather mature, if it weren't for the crazy straw sticking out of his orange creme soda.

The dark red unicorn was seated across from his two best friends at a round glass table outside of the only cafe in Ponyville. As was typical of cafes in the evening, the place was packed with ponies who had just got off from work, both inside of the building and outdoors.

"You've been waiting all day to say that haven't you?" Sharp Wing groaned, eliciting an impish grin from Frazzle Spark.

"Are you planning to tell us?" Night Mist asked wryly, "Or are we going to have to torture you for the information?"

"I want to see if you guys can figure it out," Frazzle Spark replied as he crossed his fore legs and leaned back. "And Night Mist, if you don't figure it out before Sharp Wing does, I will be very disappointed in your detective skills."

Night Mist and Sharp Wing exchanged a glance. They both knew that there weren't any birthdays coming up for any of the three gathered at the table, so nothing came to mind right away.

"Does it have anything to do with the upcoming summer sun celebration?" Sharp Wing guessed.

"Nope, try again."

Night Mist watched Frazzle Spark's eyes to see if he could discern what the unicorn was thinking. Frazzle Spark was watching the faces of his two friends, clearly waiting for realization to strike them. But every now and then his orange eyes would flicker downwards towards some area between where Night Mist and Sharp Wing were sitting. Night Mist followed his vision and saw nothing of any significance, save for the image of a magnifying glass on his own flank. Seeing his own cutie mark caused to mentally flinch at the memory of how he had earned it. Back when he had learned the truth about himself.

"Does it have anything to do with cutie marks?" Night Mist tried.

"Kind of, but not really. You're close though."

"I give up," Sharp Wing said in defeat.

"You got any more guesses?" Frazzle Spark asked Night Mist.

"I have no idea," Night Mist admitted, although that wasn’t entirely true. He had a sinking feeling he knew what his friend was getting at, but didn’t want to voice it in case he was wrong.

"Tell us already," Sharp Wing insisted impatiently.

"You guys, its our tenth anniversary."

Sharp Wing made a weird snorting sound.

Tenth anniversary of what?" Night Mist asked, ignoring the pegasus.

"Of the day we all got our cutie marks and became the best of friends!" Frazzle Spark explained as if it should have been obvious.

"Wait, that was ten years ago? Seriously?" Sharp Wing questioned.

"Exactly ten years ago." Frazzle Spark confirmed.

"Wow, that's really something," Night Mist remarked. "Good memory, Fraz."

"It's a gift," Frazzle Spark shrugged as he lifted his soda into the air. "I propose a toast to ten years of friendship, and many more years to come."

Sharp Wing's root beer and Night Mist's ginger ale clinked against the soda and all three of the ponies drank.

"Speaking of cutie marks, have you guys ever wondered if that's a good name for them?" Sharp Wing asked.

"What do you mean?" wondered Night Mist, secretly glad that the topic had moved away from the area concerning the Dark Storm.

"Well, think about it, it doesn't really fit. A cutie mark indicates a pony's talent, but the word cutie doesn't have anything to do with talent. If anything, its too feminine. Cutie is usually a term strictly for mares."

"You could say little animals or foals are cuties," Frazzle Spark pointed out.

"Yeah, but getting your cutie mark is a sign of growing up and not being a foal anymore, and only ponies get cutie marks. I think it's time someone came up with a better name," Sharp Wing figured.

"I'm guessing you think you've come up with a good alternative?" Night Mist asked with a faint trace of amusement.

Sharp Wing held up two hooves and paused dramatically.

"Talent Tattoo."

"That sounds weird," Frazzle Spark said skeptically.

"You only think that because it's new. It's gender neutral and related to talent. It's perfect," Sharp Wing insisted.

"But it's not a tattoo. It’s a natural thing," Frazzle Spark argued. "What about a talent mark?"

"Nah, talent tattoo sounds better. Got the triple tee thing going on."

"To be honest, I don't have any objections to calling cutie marks what they are," Night Mist shrugged. "By itself, the word cutie might sound feminine, but no one really sees the term cutie mark as being that way. Besides, you can't just change a word and expect everypony to go along with it."

"Not if I make a petition," Sharp Wing countered.

"You would seriously start a petition to change a word that's been around longer than Princess Celestia?"

"Would you sign it if I did?"

Neither Night Mist or Frazzle Spark said anything.

"Thanks for your support, guys," Sharp Wing huffed.

"Change of topic, There's actually another reason I wanted to meet," Frazzle Spark revealed. "Its been ten years since we met, ten years since we got our cutie marks, and ten years since the storm. I think if we all put our heads together we could-"

"Fraz," Night Mist interrupted gently, "I thought we agreed to stop trying to figure out what caused the storm."

"I know, but I thought since it's our tenth-"

"Night Mist's right," Sharp Wing chimed in. "Princess Celestia sent a whole bunch of investigators, but they didn't find anything. And that was ten years ago. You need to let it go."

"I thought you of all ponies would understand," Frazzle Spark sullenly said to Night Mist. "You always say that the truth is out there somewhere."

"For crimes, sure. But some things are always going to remain a mystery. It's a part of life, Fraz. But do you know what the upside is?"

"No, what?"

"That you can pick whatever explanation you like."

"You know, outside of the almost killing us part, the storm has only done good for us," Sharp Wing said thoughtfully. "It brought us together, and who knows how long it would have taken for us to earn our cutie marks otherwise?"

After they had exhausted many theories as to what might have happened if the storm had never occurred, the three stallions parted ways. The sun had begun to slip behind the horizon and a cool air settled over ponyville. Night Mist felt miserable as he walked down the dirt streets of Ponyville towards his home. Over the years, mentions of the Dark Storm had started to subside, but it still felt like a fresh wound to him every time he heard it mentioned. It was a reminder that he was the biggest liar in Equestria. Or at least that was how he viewed it in his own mind. In an effort to find something to take his mind off his guilt, Night Mist changed course and headed for the Ponyville Public Library, a large tree with rooms cut out on the inside.

Dust blew into his face as Night Mist walked through the door.

"They really should hire a librarian at some point," he muttered to himself as he began browsing the shelves.

Cobwebs were abundant and many shelves were empty, their contents most likely forgotten in the corners of homes all over Ponyville. But there were still some books left, and one in particular caught Night Mist's attention. It was a book titled, Predictions and Prophecies. Night Mist removed it from the shelf with his teeth, set on on a table, and opened it to a random page.

The Mare in the Moon, myth from olden pony times. A powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria, defeated by the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned in the moon. Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about night time eternal.

Night Mist blinked twice to make sure he wasn't seeing things. But no, it was unmistakable. The Stars were explicitly mentioned in the legend. Evidently they weren't as secret as a society as they thought. It was the same old legend that he had heard as a colt, with the exception of the part about a thousand years. That was new to him. Then Night Mist realized that there was something seriously wrong with the passage.

"On the longest day of the thousandth year... since what?" he wondered aloud. "Since Nightmare Moon was banished? Since the sun was set on a cycle? Doesn't do any good to mention a thousand years without a solid point of reference, I think."

Night Mist searched through the library shelves until he found a history book. He knew that unicorns had been moving the sun and moon in a set pattern longer than a thousand years before Princess Celestia and her sister had been born, so that could be scratched out. Night Mist perused the book and was surprised to find the exact date Nightmare Moon had been defeated.

"The existence of Nightmare Moon is a historical fact, yet the mare in the moon is only a legend?" he whispered to himself in disbelief. "How the hay did no one see the connection for a thousand years?"

Night Mist glanced back at the history book and saw why. According to it, Princess Celestia had killed Nightmare Moon a thousand years ago. Obviously that was incorrect. The logical conclusion to be drawn was that Princess Celestia had lied about her sister's fate. For what purpose, Night Mist couldn't even begin to guess. Idly he wondered how many other "historical facts" Princess Celestia had fed to Equestria. After all, there weren't any other ponies that could challenge the claims of an immortal princess.

Night Mist gave a start as he suddenly realized something. Ten years ago Eclipse had told him that Nightmare Moon had been imprisoned almost a thousand years ago. According to the prophecy, Nightmare Moon would be freed after a thousand years, on the longest day of the year. The longest day of the year was the summer solstice, which was coming soon.

Pure dread began to fill Night Mist as he began to frantically search the library until he found a pencil on the ground between two bookshelves. Once he found a crumpled piece of paper as well, he smoothed out the paper and set both items on a table and did the math using the exact date from the history book. Night Mist felt a knot in his stomach when he finished the equation. With trembling hooves, he did it a second time to make sure. Same thing. Truth had reared its ugly head yet again, and as the numbers wavered in Night Mist's vision, it burned itself into his mind. Nightmare Moon would be coming back on the day after tomorrow, on the Summer Solstice.

Night Mist stared at the paper as panic and indecision took over his mind. Option one, tell someone. But that would require proof, and that couldn't be done without explaining how he knew about the Stars. Option two, pay a visit to the Stars. That was a death wish. It was already dark, and monsters roamed the Everfree Forest at night. Even if he did reach their lair, what would he do after that? Option three, do nothing, and hope everything worked out. But no, once the world knew about the Stars, they would know that he didn't warn them. All three options led to unknown results, but option two could possibly solve the conflict without anyone learning his secret and hating him for it.

Night Mist figured he must be going insane if he was seriously considering option number two, but it seemed to be the least of three evils. All that left was what to do with the book. For a moment he considered destroying or hiding it, but then realized it's existence was a good thing. If someone else found out about the stars helping Nightmare Moon come back, they might solve the problem without connecting it with him. Night Mist set both of the books back where they belonged, ripped the paper to shreds, dropped the pieces into a crack between two bookshelves, and departed from the library. Countless nights of secretly studying the map of the Everfree forest had imprinted it in his mind, so there wasn't any need to go to his home to retrieve it from its hiding place before setting off.

"Howdy Night Mist, what seems to be the trouble?" a voice asked suddenly.

Night Mist glanced up in surprise. Standing on the road in front of him was Applejack, the mare who sold apples at the market. She was hitched to a apple stand on wheels.

"Trouble? What makes you think I'm in trouble?" Night Mist replied a little too quickly.

"Well, Ah thought ya looked a little stressed."

"Oh, that. It's just been a long day, that's all. Nothing a full night's rest can't help," Night Mist assured her as he started to walk past her. "Good night, Applejack."

"Er, isn't yer house the other way?" replied a befuddled Applejack.

"Oh, yes, yes it is. You are absolutely right," said Night Mist as he mentally kicked himself. "My mind is just mush right now, honestly." he added as he made a one eighty and went back towards his home. "I really need to lay down."

Night Mist felt Applejack's eyes suspiciously follow him all the way down the street until he rounded a corner and left her sight.

Chapter 6: The return

As the giant spider finished wrapping up the rest of his body, Night Mist had nothing but regrets. He wondered how everyone would react if they found out what happened to him. Sharp Wing and Frazzle Spark would grieve of course, as would many others. Or they might find out his secret and be glad that he was dead. Would some one else come along and prevent the return of Nightmare Moon, or would Equestria be altered forever? Night Mist's agonized thoughts were interrupted as large mandibles tore through the webbing. Night Mist flinched, and a sensation that felt like electricity passed through his body.

For a moment he thought he had just felt death, until his blurry perception picked up on the fact that he had no legs or body. Instead, there was only a dark gas shifting and flowing around the inside of the cocoon. The spider's mandibles gnawed viciously, searching for something solid in vain. With great concentration, Night Mist willed himself to flow through the opening in the webbing the mandibles had made and drifted out into the forest again. In the same way he had unintentionally changed back ten years ago, Night Mist shifted into pony form again and landed ungracefully on the ground.
The Spider spun about to face the stallion. Night Mist, in turn, found himself paralyzed by fear and unable to get up as a result.

Without any warning the spider shrieked as a freak wind current blew it sideways into a tree. The monstrosity wavered on its legs, but before it could go after him again, another wind struck it from underneath and launched it high above the treetops of the Everfree forest. Night Mist watched in awe as it tumbled down, hit the ground with a sickening crunch, and moved no more. Night Mist listen for a moment, but no sounds came the spider. Then, four purple legs calmly walked into his vision. Night Mist wearily glanced up and beheld that the legs belonged to a purple unicorn with a bright red mane, who looked down at him with a expression of mild interest.

"You must be Sun Binder," she said with a smirk.

"It's Night Mist," the stallion muttered half-heartedly.

"But you're also Sun Binder right?"

"I guess so."

Neither of them said anything for a moment.

"You're welcome, I'm Shooting Star, thanks for asking," the unicorn said sarcastically with a faint trace of a scowl.

"Thanks for saving me. What's your name?" Night Mist said weakly.

"Too little, too late."

"Nice to meet you, too little, too late."

"You can drop the sarcastic cool guy act. I heard you screaming like a filly earlier." She said as her smirk quickly returned.

"To be fair, I thought I was going to die a tragic and pointless death."

"Yeah, whatever, can you get up?" Shooting Star asked without a trace of sympathy.

With much effort, Night Mist rose up to his hooves again.

"I honestly don't see the point of being able to turn to gas if it only lasts for a few seconds," he said bitterly.

"All the cloud types I know can do it for much longer," Shooting Star shrugged. "If I had to guess, Nightmare Moon hasn't been making you stronger like the rest of us because you're not devoted to the cause."

"Then why can I do it at all?"

"You were born with your gift," Shooting Star explained. "It goes from parent to foal, or parents to foal."

With a start, Night Mist remembered that his real parents would be with the Stars. Inwardly he wondered what he would do if he ran into them again.

"So what now?" he asked.

"I imagine I'll have to take you to Eclipse and let him deal with you."

"Eclipse?" Night Mist questioned, "Don't you mean Nightmare Umbra?"

"Umbra isn't the Nightmare anymore. He died a few years ago."

Night Mist blinked in surprise. It seemed almost surreal that the unicorn who had haunted his childhood was truly gone.

"Died? He wasn't even that old, how did he die?"

Shooting Star studied Night Mist as if deciding how much she should tell him.

"Just come with me, and maybe you'll find out," she offered as she turned away with a flick of her tail, not waiting for his response.

Night Mist frowned slightly as she walked away. It had been the plan, of course, to contact the Stars, but now he was wishing he had planned a little further ahead.

"I'll come," he sighed, trotting quickly to catch up with her.

Shooting Star didn't bother to talk to Night Mist any further as she led him the rest of the way to the cave that was home to the Stars. As Shooting Star started walking down the incline into the mouth of the cave, she made a lazy gesture with her hoof. Two doors blew open, revealing torchlight coming from inside. Night Mist continued to follow her in silence as they went through the doors into a familiar circular room, and then down a tunnel. Night Mist honestly had no idea how he was going to stop the Stars. The entire plan had been a stupid idea from the beginning. He shouldn't have come on his own. But there wasn't any turning back now. Night Mist got a weird sense of déjà vu as Shooting Star lead him around many twists and turns.

Finally, Shooting Star opened another set of wooden doors with same lazy gesture as before, politely stepped to one side, and motioned for Night Mist to enter. The room was rectangular in shape, with intricate stone columns lining the sides. The number of torches were sparse, but at the end of the hall Night Mist could see the silhouette of a pony seated on a throne. Night Mist trudged into the room, his head hung low as his mind raced to come up with something to say.

"For the last time, Shooting Star, go easy on my doors," an unfamiliar voice complained. "You really- oh!"

Night Mist glanced up again in surprise and got a much better look at the throne and its occupant. The throne was made of stone, with comfortable looking red cushioning on the seat and back. It was also at the top of a stone slope, positioned so that it was centered in front of a giant etching of the symbol of the Stars. But sitting on the throne itself was a pegasus both familiar, and at the same time, a complete stranger. Eclipse was still a pegasus with a dark green coat and a long pure white mane that cascaded over his neck and shoulders, but that was the only thing he had in common with Night Mist's memories.

In addition to the fact he was now a grown stallion, one difference was that Eclipse had a black medallion hanging around his neck, identical to the one Umbra had. Night Mist figured the medallion must have been one in the same, based on what Shooting Star had told him. But even more curious was that Eclipse also had black patches strapped to the outside of each of his flanks, both large enough to conceal a cutie mark. Indeed, hiding a cutie mark was the only apparent purpose the patches served, although Night Mist couldn't imagine why a pony would do such a thing. But the most foreign part about Eclipse were his eyes. The were still the same metallic gray as before, but now they glowed with a fierce intelligence.

"Eclipse," Night Mist said in awe, saying the first thing to enter his mind.

"Technically it's Nightmare Eclipse now, but yes, that is my name," Eclipse replied, still shocked at Night Mist's return.

"You've certainly changed since I last saw you."

"As have you."

An awkward silence came over the room as Night Mist tried to think of something to say.

"What happened to Umbra?"

"Umbra... died a few years ago," Eclipse said carefully. "An earthquake collapsed a large portion of the caverns. A lot of Stars died with him."

"A cave in? How could he have be killed in a cave in? I thought he was a cloud type like myself."

Eclipse stared at Night Mist for a moment as if trying to think of the best way to explain it to the earth pony.

"Suffocation."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Are... are my parents still here? With the Stars I mean?"

"No. They were among the ones we lost that day," Eclipse said bluntly.

Words failed Night Mist. He hardly knew them, yet at the same time the news still hurt deeply.

"They always hoped you would come back, you know." Eclipse said, a little bit of anger seeping into his tone. "But you never did."

"Don't try to tell me they cared!" Night Mist snarled. "They easily could have paid me a visit without giving away your precious little secrets!"

"What do you mean, they could have visited?!" Eclipse said indignantly, "No one knew where we brought you from, and no one knew where you went after you ran away!"

"That's a lie! Umbra came into my house, so you all knew where I was!"

Night Mist glared at Eclipse, but then realized that the pegasus looked very surprised.

"Umbra... what?"

"He came into my house," Night Mist repeated. "My home. Told me what would happen if I ever told the world about the Stars."

Eclipse was silent as the information sank into his mind.

"That devious old fiend," he finally said softly.

"He never told anyone where I lived?"

"No he did not."

Night Mist sank into a sitting position as the implications churned in his mind. He had always assumed his real parents were too devoted to the cause of the Stars to risk visiting him, but clearly this was not the case. In a sick and twisted sort of way, it was almost convenient that they were dead. Now he wouldn't have to pick between them and his adopted parents, whom he still loved very much.

"This is too much," Night Mist confessed, his voice cracking ever so slightly.

Eclipse rose from his throne and walked towards the broken stallion.

"I'm sorry for what you've gone through, I truly am," the pegasus said sympathetically. "But I have to ask, why did you come back?"

Night Mist was in no state to think clearly, so he simply told Eclipse everything. By the time he finished, Eclipse's face was impassive.

"You've came to stop Nightmare Moon from returning?" he asked coldly.

"Yes," Night Mist cringed, unable to meet Eclipse's gaze.

"You realize that I can't let you do that."

"I know."

"Why would you even try?"

"Because it's wrong."

"Look at me, Night Mist. I want you think about this very carefully. Who decides what's right and wrong anyway?"

"Princess Celestia does I suppose," Night Mist said weakly.

"What gives her that right?"

"She's an alicorn."

"So is Nightmare Moon."

"The majority of Equestria wouldn't want eternal night," Night Mist tried.

"So if everyone but the Stars were to die right now, morality would suddenly shift into our favor? That doesn't make any sense."

"Well, who do you think decides right and wrong?"

"Nightmare Moon."

"That's ridiculous."

"Is it really? Let's be honest here. If you decide it’s wrong for me to free Nightmare Moon, and I lock you away and bury the key, what good does that do you? Maybe morality is decided by who wins. If what you've told me is true, the Stars will win at life in two days. You have a choice few ponies have the privilege of getting, Night Mist. Either join the Stars and move up in the world, or be one of the ponies beneath us. Either way, the life you once had is gone. The world will know about the Stars, and everyone else but the Stars and Nightmare Moon will hate you."

Eclipse’s words felt like a blow to Night Mist as he lowered his gaze to the cold stone floor. The pegasus had thrown his deepest fears right out into the open. Somehow, Night Mist had always known deep down inside that the life he lived wouldn’t last, but he hadn’t wanted to face it. The rejection of his peers was the last thing that he wanted, but it was clear to him now that it was inevitable. Eclipse had been very blunt about the fact he wouldn’t keep Night Mist’s involvement secret. He was forcing him to go in all the way, and why shouldn’t he? There was no neutral position, his silence about the existence of the Stars was already an aid to them. He was already in. So what was holding him back? Why settle for rejection from everyone? Why shouldn’t he grab hold of a new future? Why shouldn’t he take advantage of the opportunity life had given him?

Slowly, Night Mist looked back up at Eclipse with a fierce determination shining in his eyes.

"I'll do it," he decided with complete and utter conviction.

Eclipse leaned back in his throne and let out his breathe, clearly relieved that Night Mist had saw things his way.

"I’m very glad to hear that,” Eclipse admitted. “But now I want to hear you say it."

"But I just did."

"Don't just tell me what you're going to do. Tell me who you are."

"My name is Night Mist."

"And who is that you serve, Night Mist?"

"I serve Nightmare Moon."

"Now say them at the same time."

"My name is Night Mist, and I serve Nightmare Moon."

"Again!"

"My name is Night Mist, and I..." Night Mist faltered as he felt something inside his soul shift. He close his eyes briefly, and when they opened again they glowed with an unnatural white light.

"...am a Star of Nightmare Moon!"

Eclipse smiled down upon the convert as he placed a hoof on Night Mist's shoulder.

"On behalf of the Stars, I, Nightmare Eclipse, welcome your return. Now, I would suggest you get some rest. There's going to be an eclipse tomorrow, and that's not something you want to miss because you overslept."

Chapter 7: The Sun Binder

When Night Mist woke up the next morning, he was alarmed to find that he was behind bars.

"Good morning," Shooting Star said flatly from the other side.

Night Mist couldn't tell if it was really morning or not, because the torches on the stone walls of the room he and Shooting Star stood in looked the same as always.

"Why am I in a cell?" Night Mist asked tiredly, still half-asleep.

"You agreed to sleep in a cell remember? It was the best we could do on short notice. We haven’t had a surprise visitor since, well, never,” Shooting Star reminded him.

"Oh, right," Night Mist said sheepishly as he recalled the events from last night.

A glance at the door to the cell revealed that sure enough, it was wide open.

Night Mist rose, stretched, and drifted out the door.

"Where's Eclipse?" he asked after giving his head a few shakes to wake himself up.

"He's busy with preparations for the eclipse," Shooting Star explained. "He told me to stick with you and make sure you didn't get lost or something, so here I am."

"You sound so excited about the idea," Night Mist remarked dryly.

"Yeah, I'm thrilled," Shooting Star scowled as she levitated up a paper bag and practically threw it at Night Mist. "Here's your breakfast."

"You made me breakfast? That's very kind of you."

"Shut up and eat your bagels."

Not sure whether Shooting Star was annoyed or just amused, Night Mist shrugged and happily took a bite. Today was the first day of his new life, and he wasn't about to let some edgy mare ruin it for him. The thought of his new life painfully reminded Night Mist of his old one, the one where he had just recently celebrated ten years of friendship with Sharp Wing and Frazzle Spark. With effort, Night Mist pushed the guilt inducing thought away. His old life was finished. All he had done was ditch Sharp Wing and Frazzle Spark before they could do the same to him. Same went for everyone else he had ever known besides the Stars. Best to just move on and not think too much about it.

"So um, what exactly do the Stars do when they're not receiving increases in power from Nightmare Moon?" Night Mist questioned after he finished his bagels.

"You really don't know much of anything about the Stars do you?" remarked Shooting Star.

"Considering I've only spent a few hours out of my entire life in their company so far, I think I can hardly be blamed for that."

"So basically you expect me to be the one to tell you everything," she said flatly.

"If you don't mind."

"I do mind. I have better things to do than answer your questions."

"Such as?"

"Such as..." Shooting Star started to say before she caught on. "Oh, aren't you sneaky."

"I'm a detective," Night Mist shrugged. "Tell you what, how about you answer just three of my questions, and I won't bother you with anymore?"

"Somehow I get the impression that three will turn into thirty."

"Considering you're stuck with me, I think its a fair offer. Unless you prefer that I annoy you with questions all day long."

"Fine, ask your three questions," Shooting Star growled.

"Very well. I know that there are four parts of the Dark Storm, but I've only encountered the embodiments of three of them. Cloud, lightning, and just recently, wind. What does the gift of shadow do?"

"Shadows play tricks on your eyes," Shooting Star explained. "Basically, they can make you see whatever they want you to see."

"Interesting. Next question. How do you maintain an entire society within these caverns in secrecy?"

"We don't. When a Star becomes an adult, he or she goes out into the world if they want to. A lot of them do. They gather information for our library and essentially live undercover. Sometimes they get married, and bring their spouses back here for when we all receive power from Nightmare Moon during eclipses. They can't participate in it of course, but they do join in on the parties afterwards."

"I see. Last question. Could you give me a tour? Last time I was here, mine was cut short."

“I’m here to make sure you don't get into trouble, not be a tour guide,” Shooting Star said as her scowl returned.

“Well, I’m perfectly capable of standing here and doing absolutely nothing, if that’s what you prefer. You, me, and a long boring silence,” Night Mist hinted.

And so, for the next several hours Shooting Star escorted Night Mist throughout the underground home of the Stars and introduced him to many ponies. Night Mist couldn't help but compare it to his first day at school in Ponyville ten years ago. Back then, no one had bothered to talk to him, and he had wound up spending a lot of time alone until he met Sharp Wing and Frazzle Spark. The Stars however, made him feel very welcome from the get go. He was openly invited to participate in conversations, and became quite popular with the shadow types due to the fact he was easily startled by illusions that everyone else was desensitized to. Quite a lot of them mistakenly assumed that he was Shooting Star's husband, much to the unicorn's annoyance. After eating lunch with a lot of his new friends, Night Mist joined everyone else in the central cavern, the very same place that he had first been summoned to by the Dark Storm.

As the area began to get crowded, Night Mist spotted Eclipse as the white maned pegasus flew up towards the ceiling of the cavern and seated himself on a rocky outcropping. Eclipse smiled down upon the crowd below as he said three very simple words.

"Let us begin."

With a whoosh, several torches in the cavern were blown out, leaving the area very dim. An orchestra seated in a pit beneath Eclipse's perch started to play ominous yet exhilarating music. Night Mist watched in fascination as the eyes of everyone present began to glow white. Unseen by Night Mist, his own eyes glowed white as well. The music slowly began to go faster as the gifts of Nightmare Moon began to manifest. Lightning crackled around the bodies of about one fourth of the Stars, including Eclipse. Another fourth were enveloped in personal hurricanes while yet another quarter had dark gas rising up from their heads and backs. The last type Night Mist found very interesting. The Shadow types seemed difficult to see clearly. The more Night Mist tried to concentrate on them, the more their appearances seemed to change. The familiar sensation of electricity running through his body struck Night Mist as he felt a foreign presence touch his mind.

Then Night Mist felt the rush of power. It was a tangible sensation, just like the feeling of Nightmare Moon's presence. He felt it flow through his soul, his magic core. Night Mist lost track of time as he remained frozen in a state of bliss and power. Eventually, his mind distantly began telling him that surely the eclipse should have ended by now.

The need for secrecy is over, my Stars. The time you have waited so long for has finally come.

The music stopped playing, but Night Mist hardly noticed. The euphoria that flooded his mind was music enough for him. Lightning, winds, clouds, and shadows began flowing out from the Stars to form a dark storm above their heads.

Night Mist gasped out loud as his perceptions suddenly shifted. Instead of the ponies in front of him, he was now observing someone coming into focus in what appeared to be a blue room behind a purple curtain. With a start, Night Mist realized that he was seeing Princess Celestia. It was then that Night Mist realized the significance of his given name, Sun Binder. The Stars weren't just freeing Nightmare Moon, they were switching her with her sister. Nightmare Moon was being summoned to Equestria, and Princess Celestia was being sent to the moon in her place.

Immediately Night Mist recalled his first encounter with Princess Celestia, shortly after his initial escape from the Stars. She had been kind to him. She had comforted him. And now he was seeing her eyes widen in surprise as a whirlwind of dark energy began to envelop her. Mercifully, she didn't seem to be able to see Night Mist, or any of the other Stars for that matter. Night Mist wasn't sure if he could betray her face to face.

But as Night Mist watched, Princess Celestia's expression changed from shock, to resignation, and then to confidence as she whispered six simple words.

"I'm counting on you, Twilight Sparkle."

And with that, Princess Celestia vanished from the room.

"And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land," proclaimed a voice from out of sight. "The very pony who gives us the Sun and the Moon each and every day! The good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria, Princess Celestia!"

With timing that only could have been planned, the curtain was opened by a white unicorn mare with a styled purple mane. Night Mist recognized her as Rarity, the unicorn who ran a boutique in Ponyville.

"Huh?" Rarity gasped when she saw the empty room.

Night Mist heard several voices from out of sight at once as Rarity walked into the room and announced the obvious.

"She's gone!"

More gasps and incoherent words were heard from beyond the vision's range as dark cloud rose from the ground and began to take form. Night Mist recognized the ability as what he had seen Umbra do ten years, but in reverse. The spell complete, the vision began to fade, but not before Night Mist saw Nightmare Moon's face. A living, breathing replica of the statue in the shrine. Nightmare Moon opened her mouth and began to chuckle right as the vision ended.

Night Mist glanced around, wondering what came next. The music had stopped, the Dark Storm had vanished, and many other ponies seemed just as lost. Then, some random pony began to clop her fore hooves on the ground, and the entire cavern filled with thundering hooves and whoops of delight.

Still up on his perch, Eclipse raised a hoof and sent lighting arcing high over the crowd. The applause didn't stop, so he did it three more times until they calmed down.

"My fellow Stars!" Eclipse began proudly. "Tonight is a night unlike any other! This night we done what past generations have only dreamed of! This night, Nightmare Moon has at last been freed!"

The applause started up again, and Eclipse had to several fire more lightning bolts over their heads to silence them.

"Soon Nightmare Moon will come to our home, and she will reward us for our efforts! No longer will we hide underground! No longer will we be unknown! The world will learn of our existence, and they will serve us! It won't be long before we say goodbye to this cavern, so I think that it's only fitting that we celebrate within it one last time, don't you?"

Several ponies recognized the cue words, and they rushed out of the cavern and came back with food and beverages. The celebration had begun. Night Mist joined the party as many more ponies who weren't Stars were allowed into the central cavern. Everyone was very talkative as the party went on, and there was much speculation on how soon Nightmare Moon would arrive, and what she would say to them when she did. Night Mist was just meandering over to a bar to fetch himself something to drink when it occurred to him that something was off.

He puzzled over the recent events until he realized what it was. Princess Celestia's reaction to being sent to the moon had been odd. Sure, she had seemed surprised at first, but Night Mist thought she had adjusted awfully fast, almost as if she had been expecting to be sent to the moon. Even more curious were the words she had said right before she vanished.

I'm counting on you, Twilight Sparkle.

Night Mist didn't know who this Twilight Sparkle was, but he was starting to think that he should. Why was Princess Celestia counting on her? What could one pony do against the entire might of the Stars?

Night Mist's thoughts were interrupted by his becoming aware that Shooting Star was standing right in front of him.

"You have, like, the most gorgeous golden eyes," she drawled.

For a moment Night Mist was confused by the random compliment, until he saw that she was holding a wine glass.

"Um, okay," he said carefully. "I'll keep that in mind."

It took Night Mist a moment to pick up his train of thought again. Princess Celestia must have thought Twilight Sparkle could do something about her being banished to the moon, otherwise she wouldn't be counting on her. Perhaps Twilight Sparkle was supposed to start something that would-

Shooting Star suddenly nuzzled his face with her own.

"Okay, that's enough of that." Night Mist decided as he turned about and briskly walked away, red faced.

Night Mist just knew he was onto something, but he needed time to focus on it. If Twilight Sparkle was supposed do something about Princess Celestia being banished, she would need something powerful. What was something powerful that could stop or counteract Nightmare Moon's magic? The only thing that was ever known to do such a thing were the Elements of Harmony. The moment the thought crossed his mind, Night Mist stiffened as he realized he had just found the answer.

"Enjoying the festivities, Night Mist?" asked Eclipse as he approached the black stallion.

"Um, actually I think we might be a little premature with the celebrations," Night Mist informed him.

"What? How come?"

"I don't think eternal night is entirely in the bag just yet."

"What do you mean?" Eclipse asked a little nervously. "Nightmare Moon is in Equestria, you saw her yourself."

"If you would allow me to elaborate?"

"But of course."

"Well, you see, I'm a detective by trade, Eclipse. It's always been my nature to pay attention to details, and look for patterns and the like. And I think I'm onto something important. You saw Princess Celestia before we, um, sent her away yes?"

"I did."

"Do you remember what she said right before she vanished? She said, I'm counting on you, Twilight Sparkle. Now, I don't know who this Twilight Sparkle is, but it seems to me that Princess Celestia had great confidence in her. Which got me to think that Nightmare Moon might not have been the only one with a backup plan."

"One pony isn't much of a back up plan, Night Mist. I wouldn't worry about it."

"You're right, I thought that too. One pony would make a lousy back up plan against Nightmare Moon. But Princess Celestia seemed confident that Twilight Sparkle could do something. So I asked myself, what thing, involving one pony or more, could possibly stop Nightmare Moon? Do you remember how Nightmare Moon was defeated in the first place?"

"The Elements of Harmony," Eclipse realized. "You think that this Twilight Sparkle might be one of the next Spirits of Harmony."

Night Mist hadn't quite got that far, but once the words were out of Eclipse's mouth he realized that the Nightmare must have been on the right track.

"According to the legends," Night Mist recalled, "living Spirits of Harmony could wield the Elements of their deceased friends, because friendship transcends death. After they all die, new Spirits of Harmony would appear. But maybe having alicorns as two of the six spirits changed the rules. The next cycle might already be starting."

"That's a pretty big stretch, but its worth looking into," Eclipse decided. "I'm going to need more information before I decide what to do. Find Shooting Star and meet me at the library."

"Find Shooting Star? How come?" Night Mist asked, not eager to meet up with the drunken unicorn again.

"Because I rely on Shooting Star the most and I know I can trust her to get you there," Eclipse said icily. "I know she hasn't exactly been friendly to you, but you need to get over that. Three heads are better than two."

"Actually, she's very friendly after she's had some wine," Night Mist said sheepishly.

"Please tell me you're kidding."

"I'm afraid not."

"Ugh, fine," groaned Eclipse as he face hoofed. "I'll take you myself. Let's go."

Chapter 8: The sixth element

"Well, its no wonder you didn't know the exact date of Nightmare Moon's return," Night Mist remarked as he searched the shelves of the library. "You don't have a copy of Predictions and Prophecies."

Eclipse, who was flying near the higher shelves as he browsed, glanced down at Night Mist.

"I guess it was for the best that we didn't," he shrugged. "If a previous generation had discovered that Nightmare Moon wouldn't come during their lifetime, they wouldn't have bothered to support the cause."

"Lucky us," Night Mist agreed. "We get to reap the rewards our ancestors sowed."

"Ah, here we go," Eclipse said proudly. "I found a book on the Elements of Harmony."

"Really? Where was it?"

"In the "E" section."

"In the "E" section?" Night Mist frowned. "That's not how the Dewey Decimal system works."

"Indeed it’s not,” Eclipse scowled. “I should fire the librarian. Only a crappy library doesn't use the Dewey Decimal system."

"This library is better than Ponyville's. We, um, they don't even have a librarian."

"That's a shame," Eclipse remarked as he flew down with the book so Night Mist could read over his shoulder.

"Let's see..." the white maned pegasus muttered as he leafed through the book. "Oh look, Princess Celestia is the Spirit of Kindness. I wonder which one Nightmare Moon is."

"Let’s worry about that some other time and keep looking," Night Mist urged.

Eclipse skimmed a few more pages before he stopped again. Both stallions read the passage.

There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known. Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said that the last known location of the five Elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now the Everfree Forest.

"How can one become a mystery while the other five remain known?" Eclipse wondered rhetorically.

"The only conceivable way that could happen is intentional suppression of the information," Night Mist figured. "But why would someone do that? Or leave the Elements of Harmony in the Everfree Forest for that matter?"

"It almost feels like a game that somepony set up," Eclipse said thoughtfully. "Like a treasure hunt."

"Or like a trap for ponies looking for the Elements of Harmony," Night Mist said suspiciously. "This is way too easy."

"Well, trap or no, we still have to rule out the possibility. The old castle of the royal pony sisters isn't too far from here. Between the two of us, it shouldn't take long," Eclipse decided as he turned about and motioned for Night Mist to follow him.

The two ponies departed from the library and made for the exit in a quick but dignified manner. Once above ground, paranoia caused professionalism to be sacrificed for speed as the two stallions raced through the Everfree Forest.

"There it is," Eclipse observed as the old stone castle came into sight.

The structure was a sorry sight, with crumbling walls and not much protection against rain. A large central section had openings in the wall where glass windows might have been. But from these openings a light shined painfully bright, spilling its while glow out into the forest. Night Mist and Eclipse exchanged a glance before they charged forward. But even as they did so, they heard a voice from inside.

"You see, Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are united by the... the spark that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element, the Element of Magic!" the voice proclaimed.

The light from the windows grew even brighter as a hum of magical power filled the air. Then the light shrank to a small glow, and Night Mist got a clear look at what was going on. Six mares were standing before Nightmare Moon, who was to the right of them from his point of view. Night Mist recognized five of the mares on the left as fellow residents of Ponyville. Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie. The sixth was a unicorn he didn't recognize. All of them wore golden necklaces except for the unicorn, was wearing a crown. The small glow was coming from the six mares, and it grew brighter again as two crisscrossing beams of rainbow colored light emitted from the mares and shot up into the air, made an arc, and then surged downward and formed a whirlwind of magical energy around Nightmare Moon.

"Noooooooooo!" Nightmare Moon cried as she was hidden from sight by the rainbow colored lights.

Even as lightning crackled around Eclipse's fore leg to make an attack, a shock wave blew out from the castle. Night Mist frantically glanced around for shelter, but before he could find some, the concussive wind struck he and Eclipse both. The two Stars were sent flying back and slammed into something hard, knocking both of them unconscious.

Night Mist woke up with a throbbing head in front of a tree. Wearily he opened his eyes and was alarmed to notice two things. First, it was morning. Morning meant day time, and day time meant not eternal night. The second thing he noticed was Princess Celestia. The white alicorn stood inside the castle, and seemed to be speaking to the six mares. Night Mist was too far away to hear what she was saying. He considering getting closer to eavesdrop, but decided it wasn't worth the risk. Even with his gift, Night Mist knew that he was nowhere near as powerful as Princess Celestia, and the Spirits of Harmony could very likely do to him whatever they had done to Nightmare Moon.

"Keep your head down," Eclipse suddenly whispered harshly from behind a large rock. "They'll see you."

Night Mist got low and better concealed himself behind a fallen tree.

"Did you see Princess Celestia?" he quietly asked Eclipse.

"I did," Eclipse grimaced. "You were right. Those six mares must be the new Spirits of Harmony. I'll bet Twilight Sparkle is one of them."

"Twilight Sparkle must be the lavender unicorn," Night Mist deduced. "I know the other five from Ponyville."

"Friends of yours?"

"More like acquaintances really."

"Can you see Nightmare Moon from where you are?"

"No," said Night Mist as he risked a glance over the fallen tree. "Wait, yes, but she looks different. She... seems to be reconciling with Princess Celestia."

"What? Are you sure?"

"Yes, and Pinkie Pie is crying."

"Is Pinkie Pie the pink one?"

"What do you think?"

"I had to ask."

"Oh, wait, they're leaving now," Night Mist reported as they all departed through a doorway and left his sight. “And now I’ve lost track of them.”

"This is bad," Eclipse muttered. "This wasn't supposed to happen."

"Why did Nightmare Moon come here instead of coming to the cave?" Night Mist wondered.

"I don't know."

"What do we do now?"

"Give me a moment, I'm thinking," Eclipse replied a little angrily. "If Nightmare Moon looks different, it's probably safe to say the the Elements of Harmony did something to her right?"

"Probably."

"Did Nightmare Moon leave willingly or was she resisting?"

"It looked like she went willingly, but I can't be sure."

"She's been defeated by the Elements of Harmony again, but she wasn't sent to the moon this time," Eclipse mused. "We don't have nearly enough information to act properly. We need to learn more."

Abruptly the Nightmare turned to Night Mist.

"You're going back to Ponyville," he ordered. "Came back to the throne room tonight and report your findings."

The command felt like a blow to Night Mist. Just this morning he had decided his old life was finished, and now Eclipse was telling him to walk right back into it.

"But I don't want to go back to Ponyville," he protested. "Can't somepony else do it?"

"You're the most qualified for the assignment," Eclipse reasoned. "For starters, you live in Ponyville, so you already have the perfect cover. Second, you also know five out of the six Spirits of Harmony, so it won't be hard for you to talk to them. Third, you're a detective by trade, so this should be a lot easier for you than anypony else. Need I go on?"

"No, I understand," Night Mist said sullenly. "It's just that... I wasn't expecting..."

"For the citizens of Ponyville to see you as a neighbor and not an enemy?" Eclipse guessed.

"Yes."

Eclipse placed a reassuring hoof on Night Mist's shoulder.

"Look, Night Mist, I'd be lying to you if I said I knew everything will work out," the pegasus said bluntly. "But I can tell you that no matter what happens, you will always have a home with the Stars. A cold, dirty, and dark home maybe, but a home nonetheless."

"Thanks," Night Mist said gratefully, "That really means alot to me."

"I thought it would. Good luck, Night Mist."

Night Mist acknowledged the dismissal with a nod and departed for Ponyville. Before too long he arrived, and was surprised to find that the town was in the middle of a celebration. Large amounts of confetti filled the air and ponies cheered for a golden chariot, in which Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon sat as it was pulled through the streets. Night Mist studied the face of Nightmare Moon. She was smaller now, but she still looked like royalty, and she seemed genuinely happy to be seated next to her sister. Then her head turned. Night Mist was now making eye contact with her, and the dark blue alicorn suddenly looked alarmed. The expression vanished as quickly as it had appeared as the chariot rolled by. Night Mist barely had time to reflect on what had just happened before he heard a voice in his mind.

"Do not give any signs that we art speaking to thee telepathically," the mental voice instructed.

"Nightmare Moon? is that you?" Night Mist thought back as he cheered along with the rest of the crowd.

"Yes, we art Nightmare Moon. Or at least we were. Thou see, we have had a epiphany recently, and we've realized that we've made some grave mistakes. We owe thee an apology, Night Mist."

"What for?"

"For creating the Stars. It was out of petty jealousy that we became Nightmare Moon, and we never should have gotten other ponies involved. But we have, and now we need your help. It isn't fair of us to ask thee to do this, so we will understand if thou refuses."

Night Mist couldn't answer right away, for his mind was a whirlwind of emotions. It seemed that Nightmare Moon no longer wanted eternal night, which meant that the Stars were finished. Instead of having his secret revealed but still having friends, his secret would be revealed and he would most likely end up behind bars.

"I gave up everything to follow you," he thought back.

"We know, and we art truly sorry for what we have done. But now we beg for thy assistance. Wilt thou help us?"

Nightmare Moon's voice was starting to grow fainter, so Night Mist started walking through the crowd after the chariot to keep within range.

"What do you want me to do?"

"We want you to give Eclipse a message from us. Tell him that we want him to disband the Stars."

"Wouldn't it be better if you told him yourself?"

"It would be, but we could not go to him without our sister knowing."

"Are you saying you haven't told Princess Celestia about us? Why on earth wouldn't you tell her that?"

"Our sister has been very kind to us. She has forgiven us for our jealous actions. But despite the vast amount of power we gave the Stars recently, she did not detect you, and is still unaware of your existence."

"So tell her. Then she'll let you go take care of it."

"Thou does not understand. Our sister is very found of her subjects. If she finds out that we've corrupted some, she may take back her forgiveness."

"So you seek to quietly disband the Stars and hope she never finds out?"

"Precisely."

"That is a terrible plan," Night Mist thought with blunt honesty.

"Perhaps... but wilt thou help us all the same? If thou succeeds, no one will ever know, and thou can resume thy old life as normal."

Night Mist was torn. The act of keeping a secret was what had gotten him into this mess in the first place, and now he was being asked to keep another. But the idea of having everything go back to normal and never having to worry about his secret being revealed had a lot of appeal. Night Mist decided It was worth a shot.

"I'll do it. But I highly doubt it will work."

"Thou has our gratitude all the same."

Night Mist felt the presence leave his mind. The conversation was clearly over. Night Mist suddenly noticed that everyone else was starting to bow to Nightmare Moon, and he did it as well just in time to avoid standing out. A few pegasi placed a wreath of of flowers around Nightmare Moon's neck as everyone stood up again to resume the celebrations.

Chapter 9: The master mind

Just as Night Mist turned around to head back to the cave, he came face to face with Frazzle Spark.

"Hey Night Mist!" the dark red unicorn greeted cheerfully. "Princess Celestia has really outdone herself with the sun today hasn't she?"

"Did she really?" grinned Sharp Wing as he approached the two ponies. "Or do we just think its a nice day because we thought we would never see daylight again?"

"Perhaps its actually a ugly day, but we're all too appreciative of it to realize it," Night Mist suggested dryly.

Night Mist mentally kicked himself the second the words left his mouth. Briefly he considered making some excuse to leave so he could deliver the message Nightmare Moon had given him, but decided not to rush it. Eclipse wasn't going to do anything until Night Mist got back anyway, so he had plenty of time.

"Good point," smirked Frazzle Spark. "I should think twice before I decide it’s a beautiful day."

"It’s a crazy day though," Sharp Wing quipped. "I'm still having a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea that Princess Celestia has a sister."

Night Mist inwardly panicked at Sharp Wing's words. It seemed that both Frazzle Spark and Sharp Wing knew a lot about what had happened after Nightmare Moon returned. He would have to careful to avoid talking about things they didn't know, while at the same time pretending to know what they already knew.

"Me too," Frazzle Spark remarked. "Her name was Princess Luna right?"

"No, not Luna. I heard someone say her name was Luma," Sharp Wing corrected.

"Are you sure? I could have sworn it was Luna."

"It's Luma," Night Mist said with false confidence. "I heard someone say it was Luma too."

"Well, if you both heard Luma, I must have heard wrong," Frazzle Spark figured.

"Speaking of new ponies, have either of you met Twilight Sparkle yet?" Night Mist asked.

"I went to the party Pinkie Pie threw in her honor, but I didn't actually see her there, let alone meet her," said Sharp Wing.

"Same, although I did meet Spike, her dragon assistant. We had a nice chat. Apparently he can send mail to Princess Celestia without paying postage. But later I did see Twilight Sparkle herself at the town hall before Nightmare Moon appeared," added Frazzle Spark.

"What exactly happened after Nightmare Moon appeared?" Night Mist questioned. "I had intended to go the the town hall for the summer sun celebration, but I fell asleep."

"Wait, so you missed the whole thing?" Sharp Wing asked incredulously. "No wonder I didn't see you there."

"Here's what happened in a nutshell," Frazzle Spark began. "Rarity opened up the curtain to introduce Princess Celestia, but she wasn't there. Then there was like this little dark cyclone, and boom, there was Nightmare Moon. Then she starts asking everyone if they knew who she was but nopony did, except for Twilight Sparkle."

Night Mist wondered how much Twilight Sparkle knew. Princess Celestia had been counting on Twilight Sparkle, which implied that Princess Celestia had known Nightmare Moon was returning. It was entirely possible that Princess Celestia had written the prophecy predicting the exact date of Nightmare Moon's return. She might even have been the one to suppress the knowledge about the sixth element and put the the elements in the old castle. Why she would do that, Night Mist still wasn't sure. Despite Princess Celestia knowing about the return, Nightmare Moon had said that Princess Celestia knew nothing about the Star's involvement. Did that mean that Twilight Sparkle didn't know either? Night Mist made a mental note to try to talk to this Twilight Sparkle herself later. Wouldn't do any good for the Stars to disappear into the woodwork if Twilight Sparkle already knew about them.

"So then she starts talking about how night time is going to be become eternal, and the mayor tells some guards to seize her," Frazzle Spark continued. "But she strikes them with lightning, and then turns into this cloud-like thing and leaves."

"One of the guards landed on top of me, " Sharp Wing chimed in bitterly. "Took three ponies to get him off. After that, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash just up and left, and absolutely nothing happened for a few hours. Then the sun comes up, they come back with Princess Celestia and Princess Luma, and Pinkie Pie throws this huge party. Also, they were wearing fancy necklaces, except for Twilight Sparkle, who was wearing a crown for some reason."

"Guys, guys, turn around, I want to introduce you to somepony!" A bubbly voice said from right Night Mist.

Night Mist turned and saw that the voice belonged to Pinkie Pie, who was standing next to Twilight Sparkle. The timing couldn't have been better for Night Mist. He now knew what the average pony was supposed to know, and now he had the perfect opportunity to find out how much Twilight Sparkle knew. Surprisingly, neither Pinkie Pie or Twilight Sparkle wearing their Elements of Harmony. Night Mist wondered what they had done with them.

"Twilight, meet Fraz, Sharp Wing, and Night Mist," Pinkie Pie said rapidly as she pointed at each stallion. "Fraz, Sharp Wing, Night Mist, meet Twilight."

"Um, hi," greeted Twilight Sparkle, who seemed thrown by being introduced to three ponies simultaneously. "Nice to-"

"Oh look more ponies you haven't met over there!" Pinkie Pie interrupted as she grabbed Twilight's fore leg and raced off with the hapless unicorn in tow to a group of five ponies.

"Fastest introduction I've ever seen," Sharp Wing remarked.

"Poor Twilight, I think Pinkie Pie intends to introduce her to every single pony in Ponyville," grinned Frazzle Spark.

Night Mist felt slightly cheated that Pinkie Pie had rushed off with Twilight Sparkle before he had a chance to learn what she knew, but decided it was still an informative, if brief, introduction. If Twilight Sparkle was allowing herself to be dragged all over Ponyville, that meant she didn't have anything more urgent to do, such as going after the Stars. The secret was still safe. He could report back to Eclipse.

"Oh, I need to scoot. I got sell-sword stuff to do," Sharp Wing announced.

"You realize that cutting grass with your swords doesn't make you a sell-sword right?" Night Mist asked, not for the first time.

"Technically a sell-sword is a pony who sells the service of his swords, so yes, I am a sell-sword," Sharp Wing replied as he dashed off.

"I've got to run too. I've got real work to do," Frazzle smirked. "See you later."

“See you later,” Night Mist repeated numbly as the unicorn left as well.

Night Mist breathed a sigh of relief. The visit to Ponyville hadn't gone as bad as he expected, and now he was free to leave. Hopefully Eclipse would do as Nightmare Moon had requested, and all of Night Mist's problems would go away. Quite a few ponies were cleaning up the town as Night Mist walked towards the Everfree Forest. Evidently the celebrations were over. Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon must have returned to Canterlot. After stopping for lunch, Night Mist continued his trip until he passed through the tree line into the Everfree forest.

Suddenly an idea struck Night Mist. Earlier Sharp Wing had said that Nightmare Moon departed from the town hall in the form of the cloud. Logically, that meant that Nightmare Moon thought moving about as a cloud was a more effective form of travel than walking or flying. Did that mean he could do the same, since he had the gift of cloud? A faster form of travel was certainly worth looking into. Night Mist took a few steps deeper into the forest, glanced around to make sure no one else was there, and concentrated hard by mentally picturing what he had seen Umbra do ten years ago in his bedroom.

The familiar feeling of electricity passing through his body washed over him, and his vision became blurry as he shifted into a completely gaseous substance. Not quite what Umbra had done. Umbra been able to stay halfway between forms. But Night Mist figured it was his own fault for not being as good at it. Practice made perfect, after all. Night Mist willed himself forward, and zipped off. Due to his blurry perceptions he wasn't able to avoid trees, but he found it was a simple matter to flow around them. As soon as he was able to make out the cave, Night Mist shifted back and hit the ground at a run before stopping at the entrance. Night Mist felt pretty proud as he passed through the wooden doors, until he realized that he still had no idea how to get to the throne room. Then a powerful gust of wind opened the doors behind him and Shooting Star walked inside.

"Oh. It’s you," she said with apparent loathing.

"Why hello, Shooting Star," Night Mist said formally, trying his best not to let his irritation show and ignore the mare's attitude. "Would you be so kind as to direct me to the throne room?"

"Depends. Will Eclipse get mad at me if I don't?"

"Probably."

"Fine. Follow me," she said as she went down a tunnel. "It's not worth making him mad over."

Night Mist felt his annoyance grow as he watched her walk away. He had come here to solve his problems, and he decided right then and there he would solve all of them.

"Okay, that’s it. Stop right there," he ordered.

Shooting Star stiffened, but stopped all the same as she glanced back at him.

"What did you just say to me?"

"I said to stop. I want to settle whatever it is that's between us."

"The hay are you talking about?" Shooting Star questioned as she turned around completely.

"I get that you dislike me. I do. You've made it very clear from the moment I've met you. They only time you were even remotely polite to me was when you were drunk," Night said without raising his voice even a decibel. "I don't know why you don't like me, but I get it. I'm not going to ask you what your deal with me is. I'm not going to ask you to like me. Whatever your problem is, its not mine. But what I am going to ask is that you treat me with the same amount of respect you give all the other Stars, because I am sick of your attitude. Understand?

Shooting Star's face was frozen in shock for a minute. When she finally spoke, her eyes were on the ground.

"For a detective, you're pretty clueless," she muttered.

"That includes insults," Night Mist snapped.

"Are you seriously going to make me spell it for you?"

"Apparently, because you're not making a ounce of se-"

Shooting Star suddenly leaned forward and kissed Night Mist. It lasted only two seconds, but when it was over it was Night Mist's turn to be speechless for a minute.

"Oh," he said finally, and after a moment’s pause said it again. "Oh."

Shooting Star watched him anxiously, clearly waiting for more words.

"I'm... not quite sure how to respond," Night Mist admitted. "and now I've completely forgotten why I... oh, right. Um, I don't want this to end here. I actually can see this working. You and me, I mean."

"Really?"

"Yes, really," Night Mist said with a bit more confidence and a smile. "But um, it's really important that I talk to Eclipse right now. There's been a lot of things going on, and I need to get it all sorted out."

"Well, follow me then," Shooting Star smiled.

The inevitable awkward silence overtook both ponies as they traveled to the throne room, walking much closer to each other than usual. The double doors make a loud whack against the walls as Shooting Star used her gift of wind to open them. Eclipse, who had been sitting on his throne with his head down, glanced up.

"When those doors finally break, I'm going to make you go up to the forest and create some new ones," he said in a completely serious tone.

"Sorry," Shooting Star winced. "Um, Night Mist is here."

"Oh! You're early! Give me your report." Eclipse said eagerly as he got up from his throne.

"You may want to stay seated," Night Mist warned. "It’s going to be a lot to take."

The smile vanished from Eclipse's face as he sat back down.

"Talk," he commanded.

So Night Mist did, and left nothing out. He told Eclipse every detail from the second he saw the chariot up until he left Ponyville. By the time he finished both Eclipse and Shooting Star looked bewildered.

"That can't be true. Not after all that we've done. Right?" Shooting Star asked Eclipse.

Eclipse didn't answer. His eyes were closed in concentration he and appeared to be deep in thought. After what felt like forever, he smiled.

"Well played," he remarked. "You almost had me fooled."

"I wasn't lying," Night Mist insisted as he took a cautious step back.

"Not you," Eclipse scoffed. "You're telling the truth. You told me exactly what you she wanted you to tell me."

"Nightmare Moon?"

No, Princess Celestia."

"I don't understand."

"Think about it. Doesn't it strike you as odd that Nightmare Moon changed her ways so quickly? Remember how quickly she reconciled with her sister after she was defeated by the Elements of Harmony? She didn't change her ways, Night Mist, she's being mind controlled. The Elements of Harmony must have put her completely under her sister's will."

"But she spoke to me," Night Mist pointed out.

"Did she really? Didn't you say it was telepathic? How do you know it wasn't actually Princess Celestia in your head?"

"But that still doesn't make sense," Night Mist argued. "If Princess Celestia has control of Nightmare Moon's mind, then she would know what Nightmare Moon knows, which includes the Stars. But no one has come to the cavern to deal with us."

"The reason for that is very simple, Night Mist. Don't you see? Rather than waste her army or put herself at risk, Princess Celestia is trying to get rid of us without a fight. She's been the mastermind behind everything. The book, the prophecy, the old castle, even the new Spirits of Harmony, its all a part of her game. A game to get rid of the one thing that threatens her rule. Us."

"Holy crap," Shooting Star breathed. "She's been playing us like puppets the entire time."

"That she has," Eclipse smirked. "I've severely underestimated her part in this battle of wits. But not anymore. Now we're going to be the ones pulling the strings. We're going to strike first and finish this once and for all!"

"How?" Night Mist wondered.

"The Spirits of Harmony are the key. Right now they're on Celestia's side. Once she realizes we didn't fall for her trick, she's going to send them after us. So what we're going to do is take care of them first."

"You mean kill them?!" Night Mist gasped.

"What?! No! Holy crap, Night Mist, what on earth could possess you to think I'd do something like that?!" Eclipse said in genuine horror. "It's against the will of Nightmare Moon to kill! Besides, we need the Spirits of Harmony alive in order to force them to undo whatever they did to Nightmare Moon."

"So we're kidnapping them then?" Night Mist questioned, relieved that no blood was going to be shed.

"That we are," Eclipse confirmed as he turned his attention to Shooting Star. "Gather everyone in the central cavern, Shooting Star. We're about to use the Dark Storm six times in a row."

Chapter 10: The first strike

Night Mist stood close to Shooting Star as the central cavern filled up. After doing essentially nothing since Nightmare Moon's defeat, many of the gathered Stars were excited to finally be doing something. Meanwhile, Eclipse stood on his stone perch high above their heads.

"Look alive ponies!" he barked across the cavern. "We're going be doing this six times in a row. One for each Spirit of Harmony. When they arrive, be ready to fight if they resist, but don't cause any more harm than necessary. If you understand what I'm saying, raise a hoof."

As one, the entire crowd lifted up their hooves. Night Mist glanced over his shoulder and saw that the orchestra wasn't present this time. Evidently Eclipse had decided it wasn't necessary. Night Mist paid more attention than last time as dark energy began to fill the cave. Everyone's eyes began to glow white as the physical manifestation of their gifts flowed away from their bodies and began to merge into the Dark Storm. With practiced order, all the ponies began to move around to form a circular clearing in the center of the cavern, revealing a white painting on the ground of the symbol of the Stars. A funnel of dark energy formed above the symbol.

Night Mist had learned earlier that the Stars could only summon or relocate beings that they knew the identities of. Because of this, it had been decided ahead of time that Twilight Sparkle would be the first one summoned. Already Night Mist could see her, still being dragged around Ponyville by Pinkie Pie. Twilight Sparkle looked up at the sky in surprise as the Dark Storm appeared above her, and many nearby ponies pointed at the sky and started shouting. Pinkie Pie was sucked up into the wind funnel forming around Twilight Sparkle and was tossed clear out of Ponyville. It didn't matter where she landed. Soon the Dark Storm would come for her too. With a flash of lightning in both Ponyville and the cavern, Twilight Sparkle appeared before the Stars.

The lavender unicorn glanced around frantically, and Night Mist recalled how he had done the exact same thing ten years ago, looking for a familiar face. Her eyes passed right over him, but that was to be expected. He had been one of many ponies she had met earlier, and only for two seconds.

"Good afternoon, Twilight Sparkle," Eclipse said good naturally as he swooped down into the clearing. "No need for alarm, no one is going to hurt you."

"Who are you?" Twilight Sparkle demanded to know.

"I'm the Nightmare."

"Are... you trying to say that you're my worst nightmare? Because if you are, that's pretty cheesy."

"Ha, cute. I'll explain it to you. See, down here, Nightmare is a title, like lord or prin-"

Eclipse was suddenly cut off as a pink beam of light knocked him backwards. The white maned pegasus landed on the ground and didn't move. For a split second Night Mist thought Twilight Sparkle had killed him, until Eclipse thrust out a hoof without getting up and sent Twilight flying backwards with a powerful burst of lightning. The unicorn hadn't even hit the ground before Eclipse got up and did it a second time. Then she did hit the ground, and remained there twitching in pain as Eclipse strode over to where she lay. The Nightmare's face was livid by the time he reached Twilight and placed a hoof on her throat.

"Not as cute," he growled. "Guess who's about to get her horn sawed off."

"That's a bit excessive, don't you think?" Night Mist said quickly.

Eclipse glared at Night Mist, and the earth pony knew he had just crossed the line.

"Night Mist is right," Shooting Star chimed in, coming to his aid. "We unicorns aren't as dexterous with our hooves and mouths as other ponies. It would be a really crippling if you did that."

Eclipse glanced down at Twilight Sparkle.

"You have a cutie mark for magic," he observed. "If I locked you in a cell, you could just teleport out or something."

"I'll behave," Twilight promised quickly.

"That you will," Eclipse said darkly as he stared down at her, his medallion hanging just a inch away from her face. "Because if you do break out, we'll just bring you back, and then I will cut your horn off after striking every square inch of your body with lightning. Get the idea?"

Twilight Sparkle's ears flattened backwards and she nodded. Eclipse smiled as he motioned for six ponies to escort her out of the central cavern.

"Next on the agenda," Eclipse announced as four of the ponies returned. "Applejack."

The Dark Storm formed again as a view of the Ponyville marketplace appeared. Applejack was behind her apple stand, and was in the middle of haggling with Frazzle Spark over a bag of apples. Both ponies glanced up, and Night Mist saw Frazzle Spark's eyes widen with recognition. He instantly back pedaled away from the stand, yelling at Applejack to get away from him. Then the winds swirled around the orange colored mare and Applejack vanished with a flash of lightning. She looked just as lost as Twilight Sparkle had when she appeared in the cave.

"What in tarnation?!" she swore. "Who are you ponies?"

"Good afternoon, Applejack," Eclipse greeted politely. "I was going to inform you that you won't be harmed, but it might be more accurate to say you won't be harmed if you cooperate. Can you do that for me?"

"Cooperate? Cooperate with what exactly?" Applejack asked fearfully.

"Nothing much. I just want to stick you in a cell for a while. Later I might want you to tell me a little about the Elements of Harmony, and possibly reverse whatever it is you did to Nightmare Moon. But for now I'm just concerned about the cell."

Applejack warily observed the crowd of ponies surrounding her. Night Mist kept his head down to remain undetected.

"Ah reckon I'll cooperate with the first part," she muttered.

"Wonderful. These ponies right here will take you to your cell. We'll talk more later," Eclipse promised as a group of Stars moved in to escort her out of the central cavern.

Night Mist continued to study the floor miserably until she was out of sight. While he and Applejack were really only causal acquaintances, he still felt like a traitor. Probably because he was one.

"Look alive, ponies! four more go!" Eclipse called out. "Next one is Rainbow Dash."

The Dark Storm formed again and revealed Rainbow Dash, who was chilling on a cloud.

"What the hay?" she sputtered after she appeared in the cave.

"Hello Rainbow Dash. I'm Nightmare Eclipse. No reason to be scared. You'll be fine so long as you cooperate."

"I'm not scared of you!" Rainbow Dash said angrily.

"Really? That's good. I assume your legs are shaking because you need to use the restroom then."

Without any warning Rainbow Dash flew up and zipped off. With a remarkable display of reflexes, Eclipse spun and struck her in the wing with lightning, causing her to fall and hit the ground.

"See, that's the problem with cutie marks," Eclipse said as he walked over to where Rainbow Dash had crash landed. "All I have to do is look at your flank, and I automatically know what you're capable of. You lose the element of surprise."

"You're a jerk," Rainbow Dash growled.

"To be fair, I did warn you it would hurt if you resisted."

Some stallions moved in on Rainbow Dash, but Eclipse waved them off and motioned for some mares to help instead.

"Put her in a cell, but let her use the restroom first, just in case she isn't actually scared," he instructed.

As Rainbow Dash was dragged out yelling insults at Eclipse, Night Mist wondered if the element of surprise was the reason Eclipse hid his own cutie mark beneath a patch.

"Three down, three to go," Eclipse said as he walked back. "Rarity's next."

Within two minutes Rarity was in the cave. Before she could say a word, Eclipse lightly tapped her in the back of the neck with a hoof. He must have been using a little bit of electricity, because the white unicorn twitched at his touch and then collapsed like a sack of rocks.

"Was that really necessary?" asked Night Mist as more Stars moved in to carry Rarity away.

"Yes it was. This is taking way too long. I don't feel like saying hi six times in a row anymore. Pinkie Pie's next."

Night Mist felt rather drained after Pinkie Pie appeared in the cave. Eclipse took her down in the same way he did Rarity.

"Is this the last one?" asked a exhausted Shooting Star.

"Fluttershy's the last one," Eclipse promised.

Night Mist was barely able to stand as Fluttershy was summoned into the cave.

"Oh hey, you're even cuter up close," Eclipse quipped when he saw her.

Fluttershy stared at him in stark terror.

"What?" she squeaked.

Eclipse made a "bzzt" sound effect with his mouth as he repeated the neck touch maneuver, causing her to twitch and collapse. Eclipse sat down wearily as Fluttershy was taken out.

"Well that was exhausting," he remarked. "I'll do the interrogations after a nap. Should I be worried that I enjoyed that?"

"Probably," Night Mist said truthfully.

"Well too bad, it was fun. I'm going to bed now," Eclipse announced as he briskly departed the cavern. "Someone keep the prisoners separated, don't leave them unattended, blah blah blah."

All of the Stars silently watched him leave. Once he was gone, they started drifting out to do the same.

"Do you want me to lead you to a cell so you can take a break too?" Shooting Star offered Night Mist.

"Actually, I would prefer if you helped me find where Twilight Sparkle is being held," Night Mist said thoughtfully. "I have a few questions for her."

"I don't recall Eclipse giving you permission to question her," Shooting Star replied with a light frown.

"Do you recall Eclipse telling me not to question her?"

"Uh, no."

"So why would he object to me doing something he was already planning to do? It has to be done, one way or the other."

"I guess I can help you then," Shooting Star said uneasily. "So long as you're sure it would be okay with him."

"Well, you know him better than I do, so you would be the better judge of that."

"I'm sure he'll be okay with it," Shooting Star said with a little more confidence. "If not, he'll just have to get over it."

"Is someone feeling a little rebellious?" Night Mist wondered dryly.

"A little rebellious," Shooting Star conceded. "If I had to guess, Twilight Sparkle is being kept in the closest cell. It's this way."

"I've meaning to ask, why is that all the cells are far away from each other?" Night Mist asked as he followed Shooting Star out of the main cavern. "I noticed that there where no other cells near the one I slept in."

"Its funny you ask, because for the longest time, they were all together," Shooting Star started to explain. "After Umbra died and Eclipse decided he would be the next Nightmare, he made a lot of changes. His reasoning behind redesigning the cell locations was that if a prisoner that wasn't a Star escaped, they wouldn't be able to find any fellow prisoners and escape easily with teamwork."

"So if one got free, he or she would first have to find the other cells in order to free any allies, and they would most likely be caught before then," Night Mist mused. "Were there any others than wanted to be the Nightmare after Umbra died?"

"Oh, lots. In the past, the Nightmares would apprentice their own sons or daughters to succeed them, but all of Umbra's family died with him in the cave in. Eclipse was the one who stepped up and really took control though. He got everyone to rebuild and move on. No one's challenged his rule since."

"Did Eclipse lose anyone to the cave in?"

"Everyone did. Eclipse lost both of his parents when it happened. He was above ground to keep his eyes healthy at the time, that's why he didn't die with them."

"How many years ago was the cave in exactly?"

"Seven."

Night Mist gave a start at the number. That meant Eclipse had barely been a teenager when he became the Nightmare.

"The timing couldn't have been worse for him," Shooting Star went on. "I remember it so clearly. I saw him run down from the surface holding a giant leaf over his flank. He was yammering about how he had earned his cutie mark, but he wanted his parents to see it first. Needless to say, he didn't get the chance. He disappeared for a while after that, but once came he back he had that patch of his and he was wearing the star medallion."

"And he's never shown anyone his cutie mark since?" Night Mist asked in disbelief.

"Never. Said the honor of being the first to see it belonged to his parents, and his parents alone. Oh hey, we're here."

Night Mist glanced up and saw two Stars guarding a wooden door.

"Aren't you going to go in?" Shooting Star prompted.

"In a minute, I need to think first," Night Mist decided.

Night Mist closed his eyes and thought hard. Hearing how Eclipse came to power grieved him. He couldn't help but draw parallels to his own story on how he earned his cutie mark. Like Eclipse, his special day had been marred by circumstances. Would should have been a joyous event was now a constant reminder of the day he learned the truth. Night Mist had put up with seeing his own cutie mark, for the sake of keeping his secret. He couldn't help but wonder what the real reason Eclipse hid his to this day was. Was it because he truly thought it gave him an edge, like he had implied to Rainbow Dash, or was it because he still hated being reminded of the day his parents died?

Yet there were implications as well. Night Mist knew that every true thing, every fact, always led to a logical conclusion. In this case, it meant that Eclipse had been biased when he had decided that Nightmare Moon was being mind controlled. If she wasn't, then that meant she truly did want to disband the Stars. This meant that Eclipse's parents, along with many other ponies, had died for nothing. Night Mist's real parents included.

Moreover, a lot of other things pointed to Nightmare Moon's sincerity. If Celestia had known about the Stars, then naturally she would have told the Spirits of Harmony about them. Applejack hadn't known who the Stars were, so obviously she had not been warned. Furthermore, none of the Spirits of Harmony had been wearing the elements when they had been taken. Princess Celestia would have insisted they keep them on if she had known. The evidence all pointed to the version of the story he had heard telepathically. It had to be true. All he needed now was proof. Unless he had proof, Eclipse would never believe him.

"I know what I'm going to ask Twilight Sparkle," Night Mist announced as he eyes opened.

Shooting Star motioned for the two guarding Stars to let them through and then closed the door after she followed Night Mist inside. Steel bars and a steel gate with a lock were the only features in the room, asides from the torches on the stone walls. Twilight Sparkle was sitting behind the bars, and she glanced up when she heard the door.

"I remember you two. You're the ponies who suggested not cutting my horn off," she recalled.

"Yes, that was us," Night Mist confirmed, thinking it best not to mention they had technically met in Ponyville. "Do you mind if I ask you some questions?"

"Are you going to electrocute me if I do mind?"

"I can't do that, actually."

"Not allowed or unable?"

"Second definitely, not sure about the first. Not that I would if I could," Night Mist said hastily.

"You must think I'm stupid."

"What?"

"You think I can't see what your doing? It's really obvious. You're both the 'nice ones' who acts like you're on my side. You all set up the whole, how about we don't cut her horn off thing ahead of time, and the pegasus with the lightning is the 'mean and scary' one."

"Actually no, that's not it at all. That was totally unplanned," Shooting Star corrected.

"Oh I see, Mister lightning is the boss, and you two are just the underlings who are trying to help. Let me guess, you were forced to help kidnap me right?"

"That's not it either," Night Mist said with strained patience.

"So you helped out of your own free will?" Twilight Sparkle asked with a raised brow.

"Um, yes," Night Mist winced, realizing what he just admitted to.

"Why?"

"It's a long story. But right now I really need to ask you a few things."

"I don't feel very inclined to answer any questions."

What if we did it as an exchange? For every straight answer you give for my questions, I'll give a straight answer for your questions," Night Mist suggested.

"I don't think this is how an interrogation works," Shooting Star said disapprovingly. "Eclipse wouldn't approve of you giving out information."

"I don't really care if Eclipse approves or not right now," Night Mist snapped.

"What?!" Shooting Star said in shock.

"I'll do the question exchange, but only if I go first," Twilight Sparkle offered.

"Go ahead," Night Mist prompted as he placed a hoof over Shooting Star's mouth to silence her objection.

"How did I get here?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"A magic process known as the Dark Storm, which has the ability to summon or relocate anyone in the world, or the moon. Now for my question. Is there a way to tell for sure if somepony is being mind controlled by magic?"

"Yes, anyone that's being mind controlled will always have glowing green eyes. How is it that the pegasus from earlier was able to shoot lightning out of his hooves?"

"That pegasus inherited an ability that was given to his ancestors by Nightmare Moon. Where are the Elements of Harmony located right now?"

"I'm done answering questions," Twilight Sparkle decided. "I don't want to tell you that."

"I answered two of your questions. You owe me one more answer before we're even."

"Ask me a different question then. You never said it had to be your first choice."

"Fine. Did Princess Celestia warn you about the group of ponies you saw earlier when the Dark Storm summoned you?"

"No, I don't know who you ponies are. If she knows who you are, why wouldn't she tell me?"

"Loaded question. I don't actually know for sure if she knows about them, er, us."

"Very well. I have no more questions."

"Aren't you curious about why you're here?"

"I'll answer that one for free. I am, but eventually I'm going to find out anyway without giving out any more information that could possibly be used against me."

"Fair enough," Night Mist shrugged. "You've been very helpful all the same. Shooting Star, could you direct me to the library?"

Shooting Star blinked.

"Sorry, what did you say? I was thinking about something."

"The part about mind control magic always resulting in glowing green eyes?" Night Mist guessed.

"Um, yeah," Shooting Star said in surprise, " How did you-"

"I'm a detective," Night Mist said dismissively.

"Detectives don't kidnap ponies," Twilight Sparkle pointed out.

Night Mist cringed as he felt a heavy blow of guilt. Twilight Sparkle was dead right. Now it was very clear to him that he had been wrong. Wrong to not tell anyone about the Stars. Wrong to join them. Wrong to help with the kidnapping. Every move he had made had been morally, ethically, and logically wrong. He didn't deserve to be called a detective.

Shooting Star, upon seeing the pained expression of realization on Night Mist's face, turned wrathfully onto Twilight Sparkle.

"You can shut your mouth you-"

"That's enough!" Night Mist interrupted before he faced Twilight Sparkle again. "You're right, detectives don't kidnap ponies. In fact, detectives don't do a lot of the things that I've done."

"Wait, you're actually a detective? I thought you were being sarcastic," Twilight Sparkle said in surprise.

"No, ironically, detective work is what I do for a living. I've actually caught criminals who have done far less than what I've done." Night Mist said painfully. "It's clear to me now that I've been a hypocrite, and that I owe you an apology."

Both Shooting Star's and Twilight Sparkle's jaws dropped.

"I've had countless chances to prevent all of this from happening, but I did nothing for reasons that are, quite frankly, stupid and insecure. I've erroneously decided that morality was determined by whoever rules the land. Even if Nightmare Moon hadn't decided to step down from bringing about eternal night and succeeded in her goals, I still would have been wrong to support her."

"You wanted Nightmare Moon to win?" Twilight Sparkle sputtered. "Why?!"

"I'm a Star of Nightmare Moon," Night Mist explained. "Before Nightmare Moon was banished, she created a secret society, a cult, if you will, to free her. The first members of this society were my ancestors, and they were promised either they or their descendents would become the highest caste in a new Equestria after Nightmare Moon was freed."

"The Stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about night time eternal," Twilight Sparkle realized.

"You've read the prophecy?"

"Its how I found out about Nightmare Moon. I assumed that the stars mentioned were the ones in the sky, but now I get it."

"Good, because now I'm going to need your help to solve this mess that I've created. Do you know of any books that would confirm what you told me about mind control?"

"Magic of the Mind, by Aurora Light," Twilight Sparkle suggested. "He's a royal wizard from Canterlot, an expert on the subject."

"Um, are you planning to tell Eclipse about any of this?" Shooting Star asked. "He's going to want to know."

"I'm going to make a case to convince him," Night Mist revealed. "With the book as proof, along with a whole lot of other evidence, it should be enough to convince him to let the Spirits of Harmony go and disband the Stars."

"Unless the book was written by Princess Celestia, just to make it look like Nightmare Moon wasn't being controlled," a voice suddenly said.

Night Mist spun around. Standing in the doorway was Eclipse. It took Night Mist a moment to find his voice.

"That's highly unlikely," Night Mist countered. "If the book contained inaccurate information about how mind magic works, it would be rebuked by other respectable scholars in the wizard community."

"Unless Celestia controls them too."

"Come on, Eclipse. Princess Celestia mind controlling every wizard who knows anything about mind magic is ridiculous. Heck, I bet Twilight Sparkle could give us a demonstration and prove that glowing green eyes is always a side effect of mind control spells right now."

"Nightmare Moon is being mind controlled, Night Mist, that's a fact," Eclipse insisted as he stepped closer to the silver maned earth pony.

"That's an assertion without any evidence," Night Mist argued as he stepped forward as well. "Nightmare Moon isn't being mind controlled, and I can prove it to you."

"Then Celestia has you fooled, just like everyone else," Eclipse said stubbornly. "You've been suckered by her tricks and schemes."

"You're being unreasonable, Eclipse."

"No, you are!" Eclipse shot back without a shred of creativity as his rage broke loose. "You're a part of it too! It's all a scheme to get rid of the Stars! In fact, I bet you're the one who called in the army right outside the cave!"

Chapter 11: The verdict

It took Night Mist several moments to process what he had just heard. All the same, he had to make sure that he had heard right.

"There's a what outside of the cave?" he stammered.

"There's an army outside of the cave," Eclipse repeated coldly as he stepped in close to Night Mist and stared him down. "Hundreds of ponies. Now, I wonder who could have told them where we were hiding?"

"Wasn't me. My plan was to convince you to disband the Stars quietly, although the more I think about it the more I realize quietly become impossible after the kidnapping," Night Mist said carefully.

"Then who told?" Eclipse demanded.

Night Mist thought it was a good question. Then the answer hit him.

"Frazzle Spark," he realized.

"Who?"

"Friend of mine. He was with me when the Dark Storm first took me. You saw him when we took Applejack. He must have put two and two together and told Princess Celestia somehow."

"I was under the impression that none of the your friends knew about the Stars."

"I don't think he does. But I'm willing to bet that Princess Luma-"

"Luna," Twilight Sparkle corrected. "Not Luma."

"Oh, um, Princess Luna must have heard the news too and came clean about the Stars to her sister."

"So what you're basically claiming is that Nightmare Moon betrayed us." Eclipse said darkly.

"Um, I guess?" Night Mist said weakly. "Personally, I thought she should have come clean instead of trying to quietly-"

Night Mist was cut off as Eclipse shot him in the chest with lightning, slamming the golden eyed earth pony up against the cell behind him. Just as Night Mist slid to the ground, Twilight Sparkle fired a beam of pink light between the bars, knocking Eclipse right out the door. Twilight Sparkle's horn glowed again, and a pink force field appeared over the entrance to the room.

Eclipse picked himself up and glanced through the barricade at Shooting Star.

"I really hope you're not a part of this," he informed her.

"I'm on your side!" Shooting Star said frantically.

The red maned unicorn's words felt like a stab to Night Mist.

"Nightmare Eclipse!" a Star interrupted as she appeared beside the white maned pegasus. "Celestia's army is charging into the cavern! What do we do?"

Eclipse looked back at the force field again.

"Dang it," he snarled. "I have to go. I don't suppose you'd be willing to drop the shield and let Shooting Star out."

"No," Night Mist and Twilight Sparkle said simultaneously.

"Fine then," Eclipse growled as he turned towards the Stars who had been guarding the room. "You two, find a way to get Shooting Star out of there if she can't get free herself. I have to go settle this."

Eclipse extended his wings and flew out of Night Mist's sight. Meanwhile, the two Stars turned to face the force field and waited.

"Please let me go," Shooting Star begged.

"Did you not hear about how Nightmare Moon is not being controlled?!" Night Mist exploded, instantly causing his chest to hurt even more.

"Night Mist, please, just let me go. I don't want to hear this okay?"

"Wait, Night Mist? I met you before! You live in Ponyville!" Twilight Sparkle remembered.

"Not, nnngh, now," Night Mist rasped. "Shooting Star, what gives? Didn't you-"

"Look, you sounded right okay? But Eclipse sounded right too! So just let me go okay?!" Shooting Star sobbed.

"That makes no sense whatso-"

"Just let me out!"

Night Mist glanced at Twilight Sparkle helplessly. Twilight Sparkle sighed, grabbed Shooting Star with magic, and knocked the unicorn out by slamming her head against one of the bars. Night Mist winced at the sound the action made.

"If you can do that, why didn't you just do it to Eclipse?" Night Mist asked as he painfully got up again.

"I don't know, I guess I just- Why the hay are their eyes glowing?!" Twilight Sparkle shrieked.

Night Mist turned his attention back to the Stars just in time to see one of them turn to gas and fly right through the force field as the other let loose a barrage of lightning on the barrier. Night Mist shifted into gas form and collided with the other cloud type. Not sure if fighting was possible as a cloud, Night Mist simply flowed around and tried to block whatever the other Star was doing. The lightning type shattered the barrier, but Twilight Sparkle grabbed his head with magic and slammed him against the door frame for another instant knock out. Night Mist continued to flow around, until he realized that his opponent wasn't doing anything except float there. Twilight Sparkle bent the metal bars aside with magic, glanced up at the two clouds, and tried to run out the door beneath them. Night Mist's opponent shifted back into a pony and tried to drop on top of her, but Night Mist changed back too and tackled him from above. A third magic head slam from Twilight Sparkle finished the job.

"So... do... all the Stars... have magic powers?" Twilight Sparkle panted.

"Yes... but each one... only has one of four different abilities," Night Mist gasped. "Lightning, cloud, wind, and shadow."

Suddenly the ceiling shook, and a few pieces of rock fell to the floor. Night Mist distantly heard the sounds of yelling, fighting, and explosions echoing through the tunnels.

"What do we do now?" Twilight Sparkle asked as she and Night Mist left the room.

"I don't know, find the other Spirits of Harmony and escape?"

"My friends are here too?"

"Yes, but I don't know where they are."

"Do you know how to leave this place?"

"Um, no."

The area shook again, and Night Mist heard the sounds of battle getting closer. Then a group of eight Stars appeared around the corner at a full gallop, evidently charging into battle. Twilight Sparkle and Night Mist both bolted down another tunnel as the group got closer. Before the Stars could turn into the same passageway, Twilight Sparkle created another force field.

"Keep moving!" Night Mist urged while the shield began to crack under an assault of winds and lightning. Twilight Sparkle created a few more force fields as she and Night Mist continued to race down the tunnel.

"I can't keep this up for too much longer," Twilight Sparkle warned as they reached an intersection. "Sooner or later I'm going to get too tired."

Night Mist was about to tell her to talk less and run more when out of another tunnel appeared Sharp Wing, Rarity, three royal unicorn troops in golden armor, and one royal wizard sporting the traditional hat and cape. The wizard's hat was levitating above her head and she had a powerful green light emitting from her horn that lit up the normally dark tunnels very well. Night Mist also noticed that Rarity was wearing a golden necklace with a blue diamond on it, presumably one of the Elements of Harmony.

"Twilight!" Rarity exclaimed as she embraced the lavender unicorn. "Thank goodness you're okay!"

Night Mist glanced at Sharp Wing. The light gray stallion's reaction would vary depending on how much he knew about the situation.

"I'm glad to see you, but I ain't hugging you," Sharp Wing smirked.

"Found the Spirit of Magic, send me the Element," the royal wizard requested with her eyes closed. One second later a golden crown appeared with a flash in front of her, which she then magicked over to Twilight. "Here you go, put this on."

"What's going on?" Twilight Sparkle asked as she levitated the crown onto her head.

"Long story short, we're gathering the Elements of Harmony and lighting this dump up," The royal wizard explained. "Although its proving to be kinda hard finding everypo- Lightning type!" she hollered as an earth pony with lightning traveling all over his body appeared from yet another tunnel.

The earth pony fired off a bolt just as Sharp Wing drew out one of his swords by wrapping the tip of his gray wing around the handle. The blade harmlessly absorbed the electricity while the wizard returned fire with an ice spell that froze the Star in place. Night Mist was surprised to see that the weapon was faintly glowing green on the edges.

"Is that the lightning rod spell?" Twilight Sparkle guessed.

"Yeah, it works on anything made of metal," the royal wizard confirmed. "Now come on, we need to keep moving."

"How did you all find this place?" Night Mist asked the group of seven ponies as they continued on at a steady gallop.

"Frazzle Spark used Twilight's assistant to send a letter to Princess Celestia after you and all the Spirits of Harmony vanished," Sharp Wing explained. "After that the army rolled into town. Fraz is down here helping too."

"How did you convince the military to let you tag along?"

"Persistence," The royal wizard explained with an eye roll.

"Charm," Sharp Wing counter-explained, earning an annoyed glare from the wizard.

The tunnel the ponies were all racing down gave way to a larger area, and Night Mist realized he was now in the central cavern again. However, this time it was full of chaos. Royal wizards, unicorn troops, earth pony troops, and the Stars were in a giant two sided brawl. Lightning and magic spells flash across the cave, and ponies were being tossed around by powerful winds. For a moment Night Mist wondered why Princess Celestia hadn't sent any pegasi, until he released that pegasi would be pretty useless underground where they couldn't fly.

"I see the others over there!" Rarity exclaimed as she pointed.

On the other side of the conflict that filled the center of the cavern were the other four of the Spirits of Harmony. Night Mist observed that Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack were all wearing their Elements, yet Rainbow Dash was not.

"Royal Wizard Star Bright to Princess Celestia, I see five of the six Bearers equipped with their Elements. Do we still have the last one?" the royal wizard in Night Mist's group asked as she closed her eyes again.

"Lets try to circle around the battle and reach the others!" Twilight Sparkle suggested as she began to follow her own advice.

Rarity, Star Bright, Night Mist, and Sharp Wing followed her. Night Mist glanced over his shoulder and saw the three unicorn guards get swatted away by winds even as the last Element appeared in front of Star Bright the royal wizard. Night Mist didn't know which Element it was, but it was a golden necklace with a ruby red lightning bolt. Meanwhile, the other Spirits of Harmony noticed their approach and began running towards them as well. Despite the insanity raging around him, Night Mist noticed something odd about Rainbow Dash. Namely, that she was lagging behind the others. The detective pony didn't know Rainbow Dash all that well, but he could have sworn that she faster than that.

Star Bright cried out as a dark cloud swooped down on her and morphed into an earth pony that tackled her to the crowd.

"Keep going!" she yelled as she magically tossed Rainbow Dash's Element to Twilight Sparkle, who snagged it with her own magic. Just as Rainbow Dash reached Twilight Sparkle, Night Mist realized what was going on.

"Don't give her that Element!" he shouted.

Twilight Sparkle only had time to glance at Night Mist in surprise before "Rainbow Dash" snatched the Element, gave Twilight Sparkle a wicked kick to the head, and flew off as the illusion dissipated, revealing a shadow-type Star. Night Mist shifted into a cloud and chased after the imposter.

"The buck?!" Sharp Wing swore as he saw his friend change and fly off.

Night Mist pursued the pegasus high up above the furious battle between Celestia's forces and the Stars. Just as he caught up to her, she dropped the Element into the fray far beneath them. Through his blurry vision, Night saw Eclipse flew right up from the center of the battle and nimbly slip his head through the chain of the necklace. Just as he twisted in the air to unleash a barrage of lightning onto the crowd below, Night Mist tackled him from above, pinning Eclipse's wings to his sides. It took the pegasus only a split second to realize who had attacked him.

"You filthy traitor!" Eclipse screamed as both of the stallions began to plummet down to the stone floor of the cavern.

Eclipse fired off lighting wildly, but he couldn't hit the stallion holding him directly from behind. Right before they hit the ground, Eclipse twisted hard so that he was on top, and Night Mist had to change into a cloud and let him go in order to avoid being crushed. Eclipse saved himself with his wings and flicked out two fore hooves, letting loose a frightening display of electricity. Not caring to see if he could be hit by lightning as a cloud, Night Mist flowed behind him and wrapped his forelegs around the dark green pegasus in the same way as before.

"Stand down Eclipse!" Night Mist yelled into his ear to be heard over the sounds of the battle raging around them. "It’s a lost cause and you know it! Nightmare Moon doesn't want eternal night any more!"

"Shut up!" Eclipse raged as he tried to break loose. Several earth pony troops charged at him while he was struggling, but he blasted them away with lightning. "That's not true!"

"Truth isn't determined by preference, Eclipse! The whole scheme has been morally wrong, ever since the beginning!"

"My parents died for the cause you rotten backstabber!"

"I know! Shooting Star told me! Mine died for the cause too! But you can't let that-"

Night Mist had to stop talking as Eclipse threw himself backwards. Thinking quickly, the silver maned stallion undid the clasp to the Element with his teeth and yanked it off of Eclipse's neck as his own back was smacked painfully against the ground. Eclipse spun to face Night Mist and reared back an electrified hoof, but before he could shock the black earth pony into oblivion he was forced to jump back to avoid a swinging sword.

His vision spotty, Night Mist was barely able to make out Sharp Wing standing above him. The brown maned pegasus had the hilts of both his swords wrapped in his wing tips with the blades pointed at Eclipse. In turn, Eclipse experimentally fired some lightning at the other pegasus, only to have it absorbed by a sword.

"Well that's annoying," Eclipse scowled, ducking his head to avoid a magic spell. "Fine then, keep the stupid Element. It's useless without Rainbow Dash anyway."

Night Mist hauled himself up and dropped the Element onto his hoof so he could talk freely.

"It’s only a matter of time before Celestia's army finds her," Night Mist warned. "They've already found the other five Spirits of Harmony. You might as well give up now."

"Oh, they won't be finding Rainbow Dash, that's for sure," Eclipse smirked. "I made sure of that personally. Take a look around you, Night Mist. Perhaps you should give up and give me the Element, seeing as how your side is losing."

Night Mist risked a glance around and saw that Eclipse was right. A lot more royal wizards and soldiers were strewn about than Stars. Many of those who were still standing had tasked themselves with guarding the Spirits of Harmony, but their numbers were falling fast. Yet despite the dire circumstances, Night Mist felt that something was off.

"Why are you wasting your time trying to convince me to give you the Element?" he wondered. "There isn't any conceivable reason for you to do so, unless you think I can still do something with it to beat you."

"Nonsense," Eclipse scoffed, but Night Mist saw his eyes widen slightly.

"I don't think so. There's something I could possibly do soon, its the only explanation for you still being here," Night Mist deduced.

Eclipse twitched visibly, and without any warning he flew off down a tunnel in a panic.

"Hey!" Sharp Wing protested as numerous Stars noticed Eclipse's departure and raced after him. "What are- come back here!"

Night Mist glanced frantically back and forth between the retreating Stars and the ones who were still fighting. There were still enough remaining to win the battle, but quite a considerable number had just up and left. Unless he did something soon, it would all be over anyway. Night Mist's mind began accelerating as he began to concentrate his thoughts. Conceivably, Rainbow Dash could be anywhere. Eclipse should have had plenty of time to win the battle before she was found, yet clearly he thought he didn't. That could only mean that Rainbow Dash was close.

Sharp Wing suddenly cried out in alarm as a gust of wind blew him away, but Night Mist hardly noticed. Yes, Rainbow Dash was close. Very close, judging from Eclipse's behavior. But where? Eclipse had seemed so confident that she couldn't be found.

Oh, they won't be finding Rainbow Dash, that's for sure.

They, not Night Mist. Eclipse had been confident that the army couldn't find her. An army that was composed exclusively of unicorns and earth ponies. Rainbow Dash had to be hidden somewhere close by that couldn't be found by unicorns or earth ponies. Night Mist looked up, and found the answer. The ledge, that little ledge that Eclipse liked standing on. Night Mist clenched the Element in his teeth and shifted into cloud form. As he rushed up to the ledge, it barely registered with him that his head was still solid while the rest of his body was gas.

Night Mist reached the ledge and shifted back for a landing. There she was. Rainbow Dash, roped and gagged, lying near the back of the ledge in such a way she could never be seen from the ground. the cyan pegasus squirmed as Night Mist rushed forward, quickly freed her wings, and set the Element around her neck. Not bothering with the ropes around the rest of her limbs or the gag, Night Mist picked her up and heaved her off the ledge.

"Use the Elements now!" Night Mist hollered over the edge.

Time seemed to slow down as Rainbow Dash plummeted towards the other Spirits of Harmony. Then the gems in their necklaces and crown began to glow, and the hum of powerful magical energy began to fill the air. Rainbow Dash caught herself and hovered over her friends as six pairs of eyes began to glow white. Suddenly an explosion of rainbow colored light shot out from the Spirits of Harmony with a deafening roar. Through squinting eyes, Night Mist saw the rainbow lights wash harmlessly over the wizards, the soldiers, and Sharp Wing. The Stars however, screamed when the lights touched them. Then the lights reached Night Mist too. Instantly he felt a burning pain, yet at the same, a wave of bliss. It was a sensation he would never forget. Night Mist felt his soul and his mind get torn in two, and then get molded together again.

Just as quickly as it had started, it was over. Night Mist braced himself for the shock wave, but this time it didn't come. Down below, the Stars were shaking themselves off. Then one of them pointed a hoof a hoof at one of the wizards. No lightning came out.

"No!" The Star cried as he frantically began alternating hoof thrusts in a rather comical fashion. "No! no no no no!"

Night Mist saw Star Bright rise up from the ground and cause her horn to glow.

"Oh look," she said happily, "My magic still works."

With remarkable coordination, the other royal wizards that were still standing began to close in on the Stars, imprisoning them with a variety of magic spells, from force fields to summoning cages. Night Mist surveyed the battlefield. Many ponies were strewn around like rag dolls, but as far as he could tell no one had died.

"Night Mist?" Sharp Wing called up suddenly.

"Yes?" Night Mist replied, tensing up for the question that would surely come.

"What the hay just happened?"

Night Mist let out a long breath as he lay down on his stomach and wearily glanced down at Sharp Wing.

"I'll explain everything soon," he sighed. "But in the meantime, could you get me down? I'm pretty sure I can't fly anymore."

Princess Celestia gazed down upon Night Mist in a field outside of the Everfree Forest. Around them, many tents were in the process of being taken down by royal soldiers and being packed up for the trip back to the capital city of Canterlot. Sharp Wing stood off to the side along with Frazzle Spark, who was still covered in soot from heavy firecracker use. Nightmare Moon, or rather, Princess Luna, stood a little bit behind her older sister, her eyes on the ground. Twilight Sparkle and a little purple dragon who only could have been Spike were on the other side of the sun princess.

"Night Mist Mystery, are you aware of the severity of the crimes that you are confessing too?" Princess Celestia asked him.

"Conspiracy, treason, and kidnapping," Night Mist replied with a solemn nod. "I am aware of their severity."

"And I trust you are also aware that such crimes as you've committed must be punished?"

"Whatever punishment you give me is just and deserving," Night Mist said with his head hung low.

Even as he gazed at the ground, Night Mist was surprised to realize that he felt relieved that his secret of ten years was out. Whatever happened next, he would never have to worry about it again. However, he was not completely at peace. Eclipse had escaped, along with many other Stars. They were still out there, somewhere. Had he acted sooner, had he not been too afraid to speak out, they wouldn't have gotten away. It was right then and there that Night Mist swore he would find them. The very second he was finished with whatever sentence Princess Celestia punished him with, he would track them down and see that they faced justice.

"Take a note, Spike," Princess Celestia said formally. "I want this on record."

Spike pulled out a sheet of paper and a quill before glancing up at Princess Celestia to show that he was ready. Night Mist, in turn, closed his eyes and braced for the worst.

"On this day of June twenty third, in accordance with his crimes against Equestria and in light of his most recent actions, I, Princess Celestia, do hereby sentence the pony known as Night Mist Mystery with an act of community service, which is as follows," the white alicorn began.

Night Mist's eyes opened in surprise, but kept his head drooped.

"He will devote himself entirely to the task of tracking down the remaining cultists known as the Stars, and arrest them in my name," Princess Celestia continued. "As proof that he has the power to performs arrests in my name, he need only show this document. For the purpose of tracking down the Stars full time, he will be granted twelve bits a day to live off of. Once it can be confirmed that all of the Stars have been arrested, his sentence will be complete, and he will be free to resume his life as normally as he can."

"Normally... as... he... can," Spike muttered as he finished writing. "Got it."

Princess Celestia magicked a stamp in existence, stamped the document, rolled the paper up, and levitated it over to Night Mist.

"Your sentence starts tomorrow morning, that should give you enough time for preparations and good byes," she decided.

Completely stunned, it took Night Mist a moment to fully process what had just happened.

"Off the record, twelve bits a day would be roughly the same amount of Equestrian tax bits it would take to take care of you while you sit uselessly in jail," Princess Celestia added. "I think this is a much better use for the money, don't you?"

With effort, Night Mist found his voice.

"Thank you," he managed.

"You're thanking me for a punishment?" Celestia asked with a raised brow, but the faint traces of a smile revealed that she understood the earth pony anyway.

Night Mist smiled a little bit too, until he realized the hardest part was still yet to come. Slowly, he turned to face Sharp Wing and Frazzle Spark.

"If you two don't want to have anything to do with me anymore, I completely understand," he said painfully. "That being said, I suppose this is goodbye."

Night Mist studied the faces of his two best friends closely. Both ponies were looking at the ground, and while neither of them were saying anything, it was apparent that they felt hurt. Then, after what seemed like forever, they looked at each other, communicating far more between them than what actual words would have.

"Goodbye?" Sharp Wing said slowly, No, screw goodbye. I'm coming with you."

"Me too," agreed Frazzle Spark.

Night Mist was struck speechless for a moment yet again.

"I... I don't understand," he stammered. "I lied to you, both of you, for ten years. You have every right to hate me. Why on earth would you want to help me with my punishment?"

Frazzle Spark and Sharp Wing exchanged another glance.

"Well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't mad. But lies or no lies, you're still our friend," Frazzle Spark shrugged. "If tracking down those psychos is something you have to deal with, we want to help."

"What he said," Sharp Wing confirmed.

"Thy decision is probably for the best," Princess Luna suddenly spoke up. "A great deal of power was restored to us when Twilight Sparkle and her friends used the Elements of Harmony, but we sense we are not yet at full strength. The Stars who fled still have their powers. Thou will not be able to defeat a single Star alone."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Princess Celestia asked Sharp Wing and Frazzle Spark. "It will be no easy task if you do. It could be a very long time before you return home to Ponyville."

"Absolutely," Frazzle Spark said with conviction. "Although now that I think about it, I will have to hire and train sompony to run my store before I go."

"Um, you're not going to be able to accomplish that before tomorrow," Twilight Sparkle pointed out.

"I just realized, I have stuff I would have to do before I go too," said a crestfallen Sharp Wing.

Night Mist realized there was another problem with the plan.

"I have to leave tomorrow, but you guys won't be able to contact me and find me once I'm gone. I'm not going to have a mailable address living on the road."

Everyone gathered went silent as the predicament sank in.

"Um, Princess Celestia?" Twilight Sparkle said suddenly. "Would it be possible for you to do what you did with Spike so Sharp Wing and Frazzle Spark can contact Night Mist when they're ready?"

"That magic enhancement only works on creatures that can produce fire," Princess Celestia said gently.

"Oh! Um, I can produce fire," Frazzle Spark announced. "I mean, I can't control fire or anything like that, but I can set things on fire."

"Do you mean the ignition spell?" asked Twilight Sparkle.

"Yeah, that."

"I'm not sure if it would work on the ignition spell," Princess Celestia said thoughtfully. "But I suppose its worth a shot. Step forward, Frazzle Spark."

Frazzle Spark obliged, albeit nervously. Princess Celestia's horn glowed as a light shot out and hit Frazzle Spark's horn.

"There," she said. "In theory, you should be able to burn anything flammable and send it to whoever you like. Spike, could you give Frazzle Spark a inked quill and paper for an experiment?"

Spike held out the requested items, which Frazzle Spark brought to himself with magic.

"Dear Night Mist. Hi. Sincerely, Frazzle Spark," the unicorn said aloud as he wrote before he lit the paper on fire.

Frazzle Spark stared at the flaming paper with a disturbing fascination until it burned to a crisp and the ashes blew away. Within seconds, the parchment reappeared in front of Night Mist.

"I just sent mail instantaneously," Frazzle Spark said in awe.

"Try not to let it go to your head," Spike advised.

The words of wisdom were lost on Frazzle Spark as he slowly started to chuckle. Then, to everyone's alarm, he started to laugh like a maniac.

"Ahahahahaha!" Frazzle Spark cackled. "I just sent mail without paying postage! The government can kiss my flank! Ahahahahaha!"

"Um, you do realize I'm standing right here in front of you," replied a chagrined Princess Celestia.

Frazzle Spark's face turned beet red as the power high vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

"I didn't mean that literally, your highness," he clarified hastily.

Chapter 12: The departure

Shooting Star awoke with her head throbbing. Upon an inspection of her surroundings, she found that she was in a cave with a fire going. Eclipse sat on the other side of the fire, staring into the flames. His eyes were wet, as if he had been crying.

"Oh, good, you're awake," he said flatly.

"Where are we?" Shooting Star wondered.

"In a cave several miles away from home," Eclipse answered. "I found you unconscious and carried you out through the emergency escape tunnel."

Shooting Star sat up, wincing as she did. It had to be difficult for Eclipse to have done what he just told her. One the changes he had made when he became the Nightmare was the creation of a new and improved escape tunnel. Unlike the old one, it lead to a fast moving underground current, capable of taking a pony very far very quickly.

"Night Mist betrayed us," she said in disbelief as she recalled how she had been knocked out.

"That he did," Eclipse said distantly.

"How... how many of the other Stars got away?"

"No idea. There were others behind me, but I was too focused on keeping your head above water to pay them any attention. If they were smart, they should have split up to avoid being caught."

"Oh. I see. So what do we do now?"

"Well, short term, we need to get out of the Everfree forest. We won't last long by ourselves. I'm thinking we dye our manes, change our names, and blend in with the rest of the world."

"And long term?"

"Don't know."

Silence overtook both ponies for a while.

"I kissed him," Shooting Star blurted out. "Before, I mean. Before he betrayed us."

Eclipse's brows went up, but he didn't say anything right away.

"I considered him a friend," he finally admitted.

Shooting Star couldn't think of anything else to say at the moment, so she just looked at the ground.

"Do... you think he might have been right?" Shooting Star asked without thinking. Right away she wished she could have yanked the words back into her mouth, but mercifully Eclipse didn't turn on her.

"I don't know," he sighed. "I don't know what to think. I don't know what to believe. Maybe with time I'll figure it all out, but I can't right now."

Eclipse rose and walked out of the cave. Shooting Star scooted closer to the fire and tried her best not to think about anything.

"I still can't believe you said the government could kiss your flank in front of Princess Celestia," Sharp Wing remarked as he, Frazzle Spark, and Night Mist walked to the Ponyville train station.

"I was high on power," Frazzle Spark said defensively. "It wasn't my fault."

"How is that not your fault?"

"Maybe you should give Fraz a little slack," Night Mist suggested as he adjusted the collar of his light tan trench coat. "It was just a slip of the tongue, that's all."

It wasn't often that Night Mist wore his trench coat, but since he needed pockets to carry the paper that proved he could arrest ponies in Celestia's name, he had decided to take it take it with him.

"Did Princess Celestia say anything about it when she and Princess Luna spoke to you privately afterwards?" Frazzle Spark asked Night Mist.

"Well, she did use you as an example of why she and Princess Luna thought it would be best not to give me my cloud ability back," Night Mist admitted. "But honestly, you shouldn't worry about it Fraz. Sooner or later some other pony will say something even more awkward, and Princess Celestia will forget all about you."

"Or Fraz will get his own stained glass window in Canterlot castle," grinned Sharp Wing. "And become immortalized as the pony who told Princess Celestia to kiss his flank."

Frazzle Spark moaned and lowered his head.

"I didn't say that," he muttered. "I said the government could kiss my flank."

"Princess Celestia is the government," Sharp Wing reminded Frazzle Spark mercilessly.

Night Mist was about to tell Sharp Wing to lay off a little when he realized that he had reached the train station. All three of the ponies stopped as the purpose of the trip came back to the forefront of their minds. Being friends of ten years, it had been a very long time since there had been an awkward pause between them, but now there was one all the same. Abruptly a sealed envelope spontaneously appeared in front of Night Mist. The silver maned pony opened it and looked inside to find a ten bit receipt and two one bit receipts. No sooner had he pocketed the money in his trench coat, the brightly colored train rolled in.

"Well," Night Mist sighed. "I guess this is goodbye, at least for a while."

"The minute my store's taken care of, I'll send you a letter so we can meet up," Frazzle Spark promised.

"And don't arrest all of the Stars before I can help too," Sharp Wing added, "because that would be a real jerk move."

"All aboard!" called out the train conductor.

Sharp Wing held out a hoof for a hoof bump, but Frazzle Spark ruined it by pulling them all into a group hug. Night Mist withdrew, gave his two best friends a nod, and boarded the train. The golden eyed stallion watched his friends from the window as the locomotive pulled away. Once they were out of sight, he closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat. Despite the fact it wasn't over yet, the feeling of having no secrets was a tremendous relief to him. Everything was so much clearer now. The smart choice would have been to come clean ten years ago, but that could hardly be helped now. Sure, it had turned out okay for Princess Luna, and Princess Celestia had told him that her student Twilight Sparkle had made some friends out of the whole ordeal. But the fact of the matter was that he never should have held his tongue about the Stars. Truly, he was lucky to have friends like Sharp Wing and Frazzle Spark. Things would be different now, but he was glad they hadn't abandoned him like he had done to them.

Yet Night Mist knew that there were other things still unresolved. He still didn't know why information about the Elements had been suppressed, or why they had been left in the Everfree Forest. Did Princess Celestia have secrets of her own, or was there more forces at work than what could be easily seen?

Night Mist let out a tired sigh as he reached into his trench coat and pulled out a map of Equestria. He was getting ahead of himself. There were far too many mysteries for him to think about right now. He need to focus on the task before him. The rest could wait.

"Alright Eclipse," Night Mist whispered to himself as the gears in his mind began to turn. "Where have you and all the rest run off to, and what will you do next?"

To be continued...