I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR LOVE

Chapter 11: Pleased to Meet You; Hope You Guessed My Name

Luna glided over the dark forest, scanning the canopy for any sign of Twilight or any of her friends. She was studiously ignoring a certain structure further into the forest, but its presence was always there, lurking in the back of her mind like a predator waiting to strike. Alighting down in front of an enormous cave entrance, she cleared her throat and called out in the language of the stars, “Hail the cave.”

She waited for several moments and was about to call out again when a faint purplish glow could be seen getting brighter. A thunderous cadence could be felt through the ground, more than heard accompanied by a growing pressure within the æther. The glow, sound and pressure all reached a head as an enormous, lumbering creature came into view from the back of the cave. Its massive, purple bulk could barely fit in the cavern, and the great fangs jutting from its maw gave it a fearsome appearance. ”Hail and well met Lady. To what do I owe the pleasure of thy company this night?”

Luna was taken a bit aback by the Ursa Major's presence. It always takes us by surprise, her power. She nodded respectfully to the bear. “Hail and well met. Sooth, We wish t'were pleasure that bringeth us together this eve. It seemeth that our sister's faithful student hath entered the forest, intent on rescuing her lady love. We wouldst fight at her side, yet alack, We cannot find her amidst the foliage. Hast thou seen her?”

The bear tilted her massive, house-sized head. “The small, purple one? The one that returned my wayward child? You mean mine-”

“Aye. Her,” Luna interrupted with a light blush. “Hast thou seen or heard anything of her?”

The Ursa smiled briefly before shaking her head. “I'm afraid not, Milady. Though, there is something odd going on at thy old home. The energies emanating from there feel... malevolent. T'is all I can do to contain it and prevent its spread.”

“We see,” Luna replied grimly.

“One other thing,” the Ursa said, startling the mare of the night. She hesitated, trying to find the right words for what she was about to say. “It has been some time since Sirius and Procyon came around to bother us.”

Luna looked at her blankly for a moment as a feeling of dread settled on her heart. She looked to the sky, and noted two constellations missing. No, not missing. They're... dark! Now invisible to the naked eye, she could still feel the stars in their place through her connection with the night sky; but they burned with a black flame, rendering them indiscernible to the average laypony.

Looking to the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, the alicorn felt the dread turn to lead in her stomach.

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The winding passageway forked again, this time splitting three ways. Twilight closed her eyes, letting the sensor guide her. She looked carefully down all three tunnels and ground her teeth. A low growl escaped her lips as she stomped a hoof into the ground. She felt a hoof settle on her shoulder, and she turned to see Spitfire.

“What's wrong, Hon?” she asked, concern etched into her features.

“I... I lost the trail,” she answered dejectedly. “I have no idea which tunnel to take.”

“Why don't we take this secret passage?” Seven sets of eyes turned as one to Pinkie-Pie.

Applejack walked up to her saying, “Sugarcube, not every secret tunnel is gonna have a secret passage too. Why bother with that?”

Walking up to the wall next to the pink mare, Rarity carefully examined it. “Actually Applejack, dear, I think there is a secret passage here.” She pointed out some to crystal outgrowths with a hoof. “See here? This crystal has been partially covered; very likely by a secret panel.”

Rarity pushed against the crystal, and the outline of a door suddenly appeared as it was popped open. Twilight backtracked with her sensor glowing, and a smiled stretched across her face. “I see her scent again! Pinkie, you're a genius!” She kissed the earth pony on the cheek and trotted down the tunnel.

The party pony just smiled and waved her off in a “oh, go on” motion. “Aw, shucks. I'm just doing my part, Twilight.”

“Still don't explain how she saw it when the rest of us didn't,” Applejack grumbled.

Rainbow Dash shrugged at her. “It's Pinkie-Pie. I ain't gotta explain it.”

The group followed the tunnel in silence for many long minutes, until Twilight stopped. Rarity, who happened to be standing next to her whispered, “What's wrong, Darling?”

“I heard something up ahead,” the librarian muttered from the side of her mouth. She tilted her head and cocked an ear, trying to catch the sound again. A few seconds later, she definitely heard the sound of many small, metal objects. She looked back at her friend, asking, “Did you hear that?”

Rarity, who had her head and ear cocked too, nodded. “Indeed I did. It almost sounds like... bits?”

“I don't think so,” Twilight refuted. “Doesn't quite sound like coins. Definitely metallic, though.”

“What's the hold up?” came Dash's harsh whisper.

“Twilight and Rarity heard something up ahead. Something metal,” Trixie replied. She perked up in surprise. “Ah! Trixie hears it too!” she quietly exclaimed.

With even more careful stealth, they tip-hoofed forward, minding each step. As they progressed, they noticed a yellow light reflecting off the tunnel walls, and the sound was soon heard by all. It came with a regular rhythm, sounding off every few seconds. Reaching the bend in the tunnel, Twilight carefully peeked around the corner and gasped as she ducked back around. “You're not going to believe this,” she said as she faced them.

Putting a hoof to her lips, she beckoned them forward, and all eight of them peeked around the corner. Their eyes widened as they took in the large room. The tunnel they were in emptied out into the room about fifteen or twenty hooves above the floor of the room. A narrow shelf, barely wide enough for a pony to walk, circled the room at their height, connecting with another tunnel on the other side of the room.

The room itself was filled with piles of gold, silver, and copper. Each metal was in its own set of piles, carefully separated from the others. The metal was all raw and unrefined, most of it still locked into its rocky cocoon. Scattered here and there was bit coin and pieces of armor or weapons designed for pony use, glistening amongst all the raw ore. Each pile had to rise high as a pony's eye and spread out quite a bit, meaning that there was literally tons of the precious metals.

Of more immediate concern was the small army of crystalline creatures that continuously filed into and out of the room through a doorway on the lower level. They stayed only long enough to drop off a load of more ore before leaving again. Each creature stood on two legs allowing them to meet a pony's eye level if they stood up straight. They were all composed of different colored crystal, and between that, the shapes, and imperfections, it was easy to tell each apart from the others.

“What n'the Hay are those?” Applejack whispered.

“Crystal golems,” Twilight and Dash replied together. They looked at each other and smiled.

“Daring Do and the Crystal Kingdom?” Twilight asked.

Dash smiled back at her. “You know it,” she said smugly, hoofbumping her fellow afficionado. “Even with that ridiculous refrigerator scene, it was a decent read.”

Trixie quietly huffed. “Trixie hates to break up your book club meeting, but don't we have a mare to rescue?” She saw the hurt on Twilight's face, and immediately regretted her choice of words. “Tr- I- I mean-”

She was silenced by Twilight putting a hoof to her lips gently. “You're right. Trixie. We need to stay focused on Cheerilee.” She looked to the others and said, “Let's try skirting the room with the ledge. Just, everypony watch their step.” With that, the librarian turned and started on the trail.

The showmare was left with a sick feeling in her chest, like she had kicked a kitten. “But...”

As the others started gently passing her by, Spitfire nuzzled her cheek. “It's alright, Hon. She knows you didn't mean anything by it. She's just worried, too.” After a few moments, she said, “Come on,” and kissed her on the cheek. She looked back and swayed her hips suggestively, before moving on.

“Mother of Celestia, give that rump a medal.”

Trixie turned to see Rainbow Dash eying the Wonderbolt with undisguised lust. With a smirk, she said before leaving, “Look all you want, but remember; she's taken.” With a flick of her tail, she set off after the others. Dash and Pinkie gave each other smirks and brought up the rear of the group.

Crossing the room was an exercise in dread-laden tedium. They were too anxious to walk very fast for fear of either slipping and falling into the room filled with golems, or simply alerting the creatures to their presence. So, they took small steps and were very careful to watch where they stepped. Needless to say, this had a real detrimental effect on Fluttershy, and Spitfire, the next pony in line, had to nudge her along several times.

Twilight had almost reached the other passage when Rarity just behind her stepped on some pebbles and skidded a little. It wasn't enough to send her over the narrow ledge, but the sound echoed off of the rock wall, and the Crystal golems halted their actions. The ponies froze, still as statues. The quiet in the room was deafening. Each of the ponies thought that the thudding of their hearts would give them away. Sweat formed on brows, and legs trembled from being held in one position too long.

Fluttershy looked ready to bolt.

…

Applejack silently gulped.

…

Spitfire tensed herself to pounce.

…

Twilight readied a magical bolt of energy designed to shatter glass.

…

Pinkie-Pie inspected the bottom of her hoof in boredom.

…

Trixie brought a flashy spell to mind in case she needed to dazzle them.

…

Rarity repeated a mantra in her head. I did not just doom us all. I did not just doom us all. I did not just doom us all.

…

Rainbow Dash kept her eyes on Fluttershy in order to catch her when she fell.

…

The crystal golems... started moving, returning to their tasks. A collective mental sigh was given, and the ponies started continued their trek. When they were finally far enough removed from the room that they could no longer hear the metal being piled, they gathered together, and Rarity hung her head in shame. “I... I'm sorry, everypony. I lost my hoofing and almost gave us all away.”

“Yeah, what's up with that, Rarity? I expected that from Fluttershy, not you,” Rainbow Dash said, then quickly added, “No offense, Flutters.”

The butter yellow pegasus hid behind her mane and mumbled, “Oh, um, that's okay, Rainbow. None taken.”

“Now, hold on there, Dash,” Applejack interjected. “Any one o' us coulda slipped on that there patch of loose rock. Don't go takin' it out on 'er. She's only equine, just like alla us.”

Twilight stepped in between them and physically separated the two mares before their argument could build up any steam. “Hey, let's all remember why we're here, okay?” She looked to the pegasus, saying, “Rainbow, Rarity already apologized, so let's just drop it okay?” She turned to Applejack, “AJ, I know she's quote: 'the apple butter on mah toast' end quote, but you know Rainbow didn't mean any insult.” Both ponies looked away gruffly. “Now I hate to repeat myself, but we have Cheerilee and perhaps one or two other ponies to rescue, so let's stay on target.”

Spitfire reared her head back in surprise. “Wait, 'one or two other ponies'? Who else is down here?”

Twilight shook her head. “I don't know, but every now and then, I can pick up the pheromones of another pony, as well as something very odd. It's definitely equine, but the scent is very hard to pick out. It's almost like it doesn't want to be found. Whatever it is, I don't think it's using magic to hide, though I can't be entirely certain, since I can't track by that right now.”

“Is it the lingering aura?” Trixie asked.

The lavender mare sighed. “Sort of. There's that aura I sensed at the entrance, but more to the point, these tunnels were created magically.”

“So you mean...” Trixie trailed off.

Nodding, Twilight answered her unasked question. “Yes. Whoever created the golems and these tunnels, and stole Cheerilee from Ava was all the same person.” She looked off further down the tunnel, her sensor reappearing light blue once again, but far dimmer. “I can tell because all the magics we've encountered so far bear the same signature. Whoever we're up against, is a master at using earth magic.”

She pulled a purple crystal from the wall with her magic. “So this is what we're going to do when we find Cheerilee...”

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Luna nervously alighted in a glade near the ruins of the ancient castle. Even with a flight of pegasi guards with her, she felt trepidation at returning to the place of her greatest failure. She felt like if she were to just close her eyes, she would be transported to that day over a thousand years ago when she had her final confrontation with her sister. Neigh! Now is not the time; not when the Elements may have need of us.

Turning to regard the night guard before her, Luna said, “Commander, Vigil We wish thou to keep a squad aloft as spotters as well as emergency couriers. The rest shalt follow us into the ruins.” As he turned to relay her orders, she added, “Pray, have a care. We hath good reason to believe that yon castle be patrolled by forces beyond thy capabilities.”

He saluted and rattled off his orders to his lieutenant, then rushed to catch up to his Liege. “Your Highness, we are ready to accompany you. We already chased off the timberwolves in the area. Do you know precisely what else we may be facing by any chance?”

“Aye,” Luna replied with a nod. “The very stars themselves may very well turn out to be our foes this night.” She noted the pegasus's face pale and she smiled at him. “At ease, soldier. While it won't be the Ursa thou surely fears, t'will be bad enow. The dog stars may turn against us. Should that happen, We wish thou to take thy guardsponies, and forge on ahead. We shalt bring the curs to heel, whilst thou proceedeth on to aid Lady Twilight in any manner thou can.”

Vigil nodded as he walked beside her. “Yes, Your Highness.”

They proceeded on in silence, Luna leading the way through the ruins. They came to the room that once held the Elements, and she paused, remembering her first personal encounter with Twilight. E'en then, We could feel something special about her. Mayhap Celestia hath the right of it, after all.

Her entourage followed her into the room and spread out to search while she was locked in a battle with her memories. Unseen in the shadows, two pairs of eyes watched them fall out of their orderly position.

Luna came out of her reverie when her hoof came into contact with the pedestal that once supported the Elements of Harmony, now appearing nude without the stones. She looked down and gasped at a large crevice at the base. Zounds! The catacombs! Why didst we not see it afore? She turned to Vigil, urgency in her eyes. “Commander-”

She didn't get any further as she noticed movement from the shadows. Shadows, which in a moonlit night like this, held no mysteries to her. As the enormous star dog leapt from its concealment, right at her, she shoved the pegasus to the side and levitated the halberd up and across, letting the creature's jaws close on it instead of her throat. “Sirius! Heel!”

Unfortunately for her, Sirius seemed to be in no mood for heeding his mistress. The enormous dog was easily twice the size of Celestia; and his long, wolf-like jaws almost reached her, despite the haft of the halberd holding him back. Seeing him now in full moonlight, she could see that indeed, all his stars burned with a black light that actually chilled the air around him.

Luna took advantage of his impediment and soundly whapped his nose with her wing, causing him to reel back with a great yelp. She kicked the pedestal, knocking it clear across the room and crashing into the crumbling wall. “As we agreed, Commander! Down the hole! Find them, and protect them!”

Without wasting time for acknowledgment, Vigil shouted, “You heard Her Highness! Follow me, soldiers!” He then dived into the holes, following the stairs down.

A second, smaller star dog pounced from another shadow, intent on stopping the pegasi on their mission, but Luna vaulted into her path and knocked her away with a rearing backhoof. “Neigh, whelp! Thy fight layeth with us!” Her horn glowed briefly, and the hole irised shut until it was too small for either of the star creatures to enter.

Luna paced around them, trying to find an opening that she could exploit without leaving herself open to attack. “Sirius! Procyon! What hath happened to thee? Dost thee not recognize thy mistress?”

“We do, Milady, but our alpha commands us to guard this place from all ponies,” Sirius answered. Each dog paced around her, trying to get into her blind spot in the rear as he talked.“Would that we were not enemies, but we must follow our alpha's commands above all else.”

“Enough, mate!” Procyon growled. “You know what the alpha said would happen if we fail in our duties again. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not face his 'tender mercies' again if I can help it.”

“We can still help thee,” Luna said, maintaining the halberd's position between her and Sirius while trying to keep Procyon in sight. “We art the mistress of the night. The stars art our domain. Pray, allow us to render aid unto thee!”

“I've heard enough!” Procyon shouted as she leapt at Luna, trying to bite her rump. She instead closed her maw on her own tongue, as Luna bucked out, catching the star beast directly in the face with her powerful hind legs. Procyon fell with a yelp and lay still on the ground, unconscious.

Luna turned back to see Sirius as he pounced, saying, “Please forgive us, Milady.” As he did so, Luna swung the hammer end of her weapon, catching him in the side of his chest, and sending him flying to the ground.

The alicorn shifted position to keep both beasts in her sight. “Sister, dost thou hear us?”

“Luna? Are you alright? Have you found her yet? Is she alright?

“We art fine,” Luna replied. “Alas, We have not yet found her, though We still pursue the trail. We-” Luna stopped when she saw Sirius rise again with a shake of his massive head. He growled at her, then ran up to her, lunging for a bite; but was stopped short again by the halberd swinging at him.

“Luna! What's wrong?”

“We shalt have to return to this conversation anon, sister. We art quite preoccupied.” Luna was so distracted with her telepathic conversation, Sirius surprised her with a quick darting of his head and bit down on to a foreleg. The night mare gave a screech of pain, and flailed at him with her wings. Unfortunately, the angle was such that much of the power she expended was wasted motion.

Remembering her weapon, Luna levitated the halberd at her foe, smacking him repeatedly on the head with the flat of the blade. Each blow pealed out in the ruins like the ringing of a church bell. It took nearly a dozen strikes before he let go of her leg and fell to the ground senseless. The Princess inspected her injury to find that not only was she bleeding rather profusely, but the tendons were severed, making it useless. She brought the hoof down and hissed in agony. This will take some time to heal. Bringing the weapon before her, she groaned at its pitiable state. The haft of Celestia's oldest, and most favorite weapon from the Dragon Wars was broken about a hoof from the head, and the blade itself was warped into a bowl-like shape. “'Tia shall slay us...”

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Twilight peeked around the corner, but could find no sign of enemies. She was about to step out into the passage, when somepony from behind grabbed her tail, halting her in her tracks. The librarian looked back to see Spitfire holding said tail in her teeth. Dropping it, the pegasus whispered, “Hon, don't you find this all a little... convenient? We haven't seen hide nor hair of opposition since that weird treasure room.”

Putting a hoof to her chin, Twilight considered this. “Hm, I think you're on to something there. These tunnels are better worked than the others, suggesting they're more important. More important suggests more traffic, yet there's nothing.” She looked at her with concern. “You think it's a trap?”

Spitfire ran a hoof through her mane. “If not, then it's an awful big coincidence.”

“What do you suggest?” Twilight whispered.

Licking her lips, the Wonderbolt practically growled out, “Don't have much choice, do we? We must get Cheerilee back, as well as help anypony else stuck down here.” She took a deep breath and let it out quietly. “I suggest we proceed as we have, but the moment we're spotted, we rush 'em. Hopefully, we'll still have that much surprise on our side.”

Twilight nodded. “I guess that's the best we can do. Until we know what we're dealing with, we just have to stay loose and flexible, girls.” She looked to Trixie. “Still got the crystal, Trixie?”

Trixie parted her mane, showing the now glowing gem weaved into it. “Of course! Trixie will be ready to do her part with Spitfire.”

Twilight gave a nervous smile and kissed both her mares. “Let's get going, then.”

With a final nod from everypony, they proceeded down the tunnel, pausing at an open doorway. Just as Twilight was about to peek around the corner, the entire wall next to which they were standing, seemingly melted into the ground, and new walls erected themselves, blocking off the passageway. Where the wall once stood, was now open to a much larger room. Sitting on a throne of solid gemstone, Black Diamond dominated the room, looking almost bored. At his feet, lay the ponies he had captured, all muzzled and chained to the ground. Cheerilee lay with her head on his lap, while Cloudchaser, sporting some new bruises and cuts lay prone on the ground on the other side, and Plain Sight was serving as a cushion for his feet. Arrayed around them, stood many crystal golems; these being much bigger than the ones they saw earlier, and armed with crystalline weapons.

Cheerilee's eyes went wide, seeing her friends and lovers standing there. Black Diamond gestured to them in welcome. “Ponies! So glad you could make it.” He grinned evilly at the intruders. “Welcome to your doom-”

Before he could even finish his monologue, the ponies charged in, meeting with the golems who charged them in return. Applejack ran at a golem, swiveling around in mid-step to land a buck right into its chest, shattering it with a, “Yeehaw!” before it could even raise its weapon. Fluttershy stopped in front of a golem and gave it her angriest stare. The construct staggered back a step before melting into the ground and out of sight.

Rainbow Dash flew around the golems, bobbing and weaving through a deadly slalom course, narrowly avoiding strikes from their weapons and fists. “Come on, that the best you got?” she jeered. A golem ran up to Pinkie-Pie, only to be stopped when her party cannon fired off a blast, covering it in cake batter. As it slipped onto its back, she looked down the barrel and scratched her head, saying, “I could have sworn I baked the cakes this time.”

Rarity grinned at the three facing her down. “I say, you three will look absolutely stunning on my dresses! Just hold still, if you please, this won't hurt a bit.” Her horn lit up in the familiar light blue aura, and disassembled the golems, neatly stacking the gemstones beside her. “Well, it didn't hurt me, anyway,” she quipped. Trixie and Spitfire stood back to back, the unicorn pelting golems with a dissonance spell that sent waves of energy through them. By the time they reached Spitfire, a single touch from her was enough to shatter the automatons.

In the middle of it all, Twilight stood, glaring at Black Diamond, her horn's glow growing brighter. The light became too bright for anypony to see her face, and a wave of energy cascaded out from her, shattering every golem in the room. Shards and chunks as large as a pony's head fell to the ground like rain. “Give it up, whoever you are. You're outmatched.”

The dog rose to his hind legs, and stepped down from the dais, letting Cheerilee's heavy chain drag her head down to the floor again with a thud eliciting a whimper from her. Rising to his full nine-and-a-half hoof height, he said, “Black Diamond give up to ponies?” He clenched a paw and his eyes glowed white. “Never!” he hissed. Bringing both paws up like a conductor, the crystals reformed into golems, this time, each of them composed of a kaleidoscope of gemstones, and were joined by more golems that formed from the rock of the cavern. Pointing at his adversaries, he said, “Crush them! I want to dine on their bones!”

The golem waded in, swinging away at the ponies. Each time a golem was shattered, it became easier to break apart again, but Black Diamond wasn't letting up. As soon as it was shattered, he reassembled it and pulled another from the surrounding rock. “Yes! Fight ponies, fight! Struggle to survive! Your defiance will make my victory all the sweeter!” he laughed maniacally.

“What do you want from us, Black Diamond? What did we ever do to you?” Twilight shouted as she brought down four golems at once with an energy wave that neatly bisected them. “What do you gain from this?”

“I gain revenge!” Black Diamond foamed at the corners of his mouth as he shouted at them. “Revenge for defeat at your hooves, Magic!”

Twilight looked at him incredulous. “Revenge? We've never even met you before! What did we ever do to you?”

Black Diamond howled with laughter, clearly losing control now. When his eyes met his archenemy's, the slitted pupils made her gasp in recognition. “Oh, we've met before, Magic. Perhaps you remember me as an alicorn of darkness? Or do you remember meeting my other... works of art?”

Recoiling in surprise, Twilight shouted, “Chrysalis!”

He grinned at her, foamy drool dripping from his mouth. “Yes! One of my finer moments!” The mad dog tilted his head to the side almost ninety degrees with a sickening crack. “It's not easy to influence a hive mind like hers, you know. I had to be a lot more subtle than I like. But it was worth it, in the end. It was unfortunate that she threw off my yoke all those millennia ago, but I was overjoyed to see that the effects of my influence linger within her to this day!”

“What... what are you?” Twilight yelled.

“Come now,” Black Diamond growled, “Haven't you guessed my true name yet? I suppose I can't blame you,” he said, putting a claw to his chin in mock thought. “It has been over three thousand years after all.”

Twilight grinned at him. “Gotcha!” She teleported over to Cheerilee's side, and teleported all three captured mares back to the rescuers. “Now, Trixie!”

Without a word, the showmare's horn glowed, and a purple glowing crystal floated out of her mane. With a flash of light, all three prisoners, Spitfire, and herself teleported out with a pop. Black Diamond howled with rage. “Noooo! Where did they go? What did you do with my prisoners?”

“They're out of your reach, Nightmare!” Twilight shouted in triumph. “Your current host may be a master at earth magic, but it has no influence over what's in the air. All I had to do was to wait for your attention to slip enough for me to teleport them out of your grasp.”

A low, throaty rumble emanated from Black Diamond's throat, and his reptilian eyes glowered at her. “I'll have my revenge...” he growled quietly. “I'LL HAVE MY REVEEENNNGE!” He put his paws up in the air, and the room began to rumble and shake, nearly knocking the earthbound ponies off their hooves, as the rock of the cavern began to glow with a yellowish light. “THERE'S NO ESCAPING NOW! I'LL PUT AN END TO YOU IF I HAVE TO CONSUME THIS BODY TO DO IT! PREPARE YOURSELF, MAGIC. I SHALL BE YOUR DOOM!”

The cavern roof began collapsing on them all; the crystal golems standing motionless, forgotten in Black Diamond's rage. The ponies stood unafraid, all looking to Twilight, whose eyes glowed white with power. The six of them levitated from the floor, the Elements of Harmony magically appearing on their necks or head. The jewels decorating the artifacts shone with the brightness of a thousand smiles, a thousand promises upheld, a thousand orphans given a loving home, a thousand ponies given a hoof up, a thousand truths told despite the consequences... a thousand hearts filled with the joy of friendship.

Faced with such power, the evil that was the Nightmare stood no chance. Too weak from its previous defeats, and too much energy expended on this venture, the Nightmare evaporated as a black wisp of smoke under the onslaught of the rainbow of magic that was friendship.

The effect all this destruction had on the cavern itself was predictable. As the room began to collapse totally, the six ponies and one diamond dog vanished, letting the upper levels of the castle ruins above settle into their new home.

Author's Notes:

Well, that particular arc is over. All that's left now is the clean up. Time for things to return to normal (such as it is). Don't worry though, the next part will have plenty of sexy, sexy shenanigans.

The usual disclaimers go here. The arrangement of the words and Plain Sight belong to me. All else is Hasbro's and Lauren Faust's. I'm just borrowing them for a little fun.