Strawberry stayed sitting at the stump, shocked at his very core, for what felt like an eternity. He finally got back on his hooves, and he picked up his satchel with his magic. He leaned down, and he let out a sigh. He wondered for a second if he would burst out sobbing. He wondered if he might scream out in anger. He wondered if he would beat against the wood in pure frustration.

Yet none of those things happened, and the unicorn simply felt… empty. He couldn’t feel a thing. The wind on his face, the wet grass at his hooves, and everything else just bounced off of his senses. He headed down towards the path going to Ponyville. I suppose there’s… I don’t know. Would all of this confusion— new ruler, new laws, new policies— change any of the baking orders?

He paused. He then turned around and shifted his head up to gaze at the moon. As he expected, it brought back memories of night after night in which he had took in the scenery at that very spot. Practicing the guitar, eating, writing stories… Everything else… Alone. All alone. Right? Just like old times?

Yet he didn’t really get the notion that he was alone. It didn’t matter if Nightmare Moon wasn’t there. As long as he was a part of her glorious night, he could feel her. He could almost breathe it in— the beautiful shining stars, the radiant moon, the clouds smeared across the sky, and everything else. He raised his hoof, and he prepared to take that first step out of the clearing towards home. He halted his hoof the air a few inches above the ground.

“No,” he muttered. The unicorn found himself flipped around in no time. He put on a determined face, and then he trotted back towards Moon’s new castle.

As he moved down the path, though, little tingles of fear began to creep up his stomach. What if… If… If… He glanced around and couldn’t shake the feeling that the trees wiggled their branches at him— prepared to snatch him up at every moment. Every other bush seemed to have beady red eyes inside them. If she something terrible to Fluttershy, then what would she do… to… me… Mysterious noises erupted in the distance— bringing him to an immediate halt.

Strawberry took a very deep breath, and then he continued on. He quit walking. He ran. No! She’d never do anything to hurt me. When we love each other so much. It wouldn’t be. Never. He found himself straying off of the path. He went to move back on, but he tripped on something and tumbled down a little crevasse. He landed in a huge patch of gravel— the little jagged pieces ripping into his body.

Ow… He shifted himself around. “It’ll all be okay,” he said to himself. He brushed himself off best he could. I should stay fresh if our date is still on. He saw a bit of blood and a bunch of scratches on his hooves. He rubbed himself around a second time, and then he stepped out of the little bunker.

He saw a scene out of a war zone. He had never witnessed something like that before. He had read about in Twilight’s books, sure, but the real thing felt so much different. Gigantic stone boulders littered across a torn up field. Broken items— from bottles to cans to torn up bits of clothing— scattered across everything. Something that had once been a castle or something like it stood there.

Strawberry stepped a bit closer, and he immediately had a powerful sensation. Magic. Moon’s magic. Other unicorns would probably tremble in fear at the lingering elements. Yet to Strawberry it felt… comforting. It was as familiar as the back of his hoof.

“I’m not going to like what I’ll find here,” Strawberry said to himself. He wandered forward just the same. The smashed bricks, cracked windows, and other pieces of things blended into the background after a short while. He didn’t quite know what he was looking for. He knew, though, that he’d figure it out when he found it.

The unicorn hopped onto a group of rocks. He leaned over through what had once been a massive stone window. He spotted a little empty patch of ground far below him to his right. He saw the strangest thing standing there as well. A yellow… pony sized… blob? What could that possibly… be… Oh. Oh, no. The air looked wavy and distorted. Strawberry had the same sensation of hazy vision as one of his worst migraines.

He tiptoed from rock to rock— moving little by little into the clearing. He finally found himself flat on the ground. Despite standing right alongside the mysterious blob, he couldn’t make it out any better. The glowing batch of light, stuck in one place, looked almost like a large yellow lamp left abandoned. Moon’s magic felt so strong, although he didn’t feel any danger to himself… not at all.

Strawberry took a deep breath, and then he concentrated. He blew in the air, and he saw his magical aura blowing through as well. The yellow patch of light turned a little pink, and then he saw it.

“Fluttershy…” he moaned. She lied down on the ground, magically locked into place. The bright yellow pegasus had her wings folded over her back, and her front hooves prostrated over her head. Her eyes had shut tight. Her face contorted in a look of absolute fear.

Fetal position… For goodness sake, clearly she was begging for her life. She looks so scared. So helpless. So vulnerable. And she’s… frozen? Strawberry walked closer. He suddenly found himself placing a hoof into Fluttershy, and it moved right through her body like a ghost. That’s… some powerful magic…

The unicorn panted for a moment. He had no idea what to do. He had no idea what to think. Finally, he concentrated once again. He couldn’t hope to overturn Moon’s magic— especially not without a spell. Yet he had to try… something. He at least needed to understand.

Strawberry had the contours of the spell fill up his mind. He suddenly just sensed it— as if he had read a book, forgot it, and then remembered it again in an instant. Something about Fluttershy’s own essence had been stolen. Yet she wasn’t in pain. She didn’t have anything to worry about either. She just sort of had been saved— saved in place like a particularly good passage of a book with a long bookmark.

He could look for the other five friends. He could think about cracking the spell. He didn’t want to do any of that. He just wanted to head over to the large puddle a few feet away, take a seat, and then cry to the moon itself.

He saw his reflection. He knew he felt sad, but he surprised himself by how sad he looked. The tracks of his tears had gotten so thick that it burned up on his face. He closed his eyes, and he lied flat down on the ground. He tried to look up at the stars. Their beauty filled his heart, but— with what he had just seen— they also had a horrible subtext that he couldn’t ignore. Tainted. Wronged.

From about out of nowhere, a pang of anger appeared from deep inside of him. He kept it down, but it wouldn’t be refused. He found himself hopping back to his feet. His face clenched.

“WHY!” Strawberry screamed. He bucked up on his hind hooves. “WHHHHHHYYYYYYY!” The moon, the stars, the clouds, and everything else gave no answer.

“What was wrong with me?” the unicorn asked himself. His teeth gritted. “What was I thinking… going out with that… that… that… MONSTER?”