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The Stars of Nightmare Moon

by Mysterious Stranger

Chapter 12: Chapter 12: The departure

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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...

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