//------------------------------// // All on a Quest // Story: Nightmare Moon over the Republic // by dramatic_spoon //------------------------------// The crowd remained silent as Nightmare Moon surveyed them. The alicorn smirked. “FEAR NOT!” Nightmare Moon boomed, “FOR NOW THAT DISCORD HAS BEEN DEALT WIT-” “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH DISCORD!?!?” an unseen pony in the crowd yelled. With that, the rest of the crowd moved into action, calling for Discord’s return and hurling insults at Nightmare Moon. The alicorn took a step back, shocked by their outbursts. “But, now I have sa-” Nightmare Moon was interrupted as a bottle flew out of the crowd and shattered upon her helmet. The alicorn fumed at the crowd and stomped her hoof in anger, bringing a crack of thunder. “WHO DAR-” The alicorn never finished her sentence, as more bottles, garbage and food pelted her. An apple pie splattered on her face, finally pushing the alicorn to her limit. “ENOUGH!” Nightmare Moon bellowed, followed by multiple cracks of thunder and bolts of lightning. “SO I AM NOT SATISFACTORY? DO YOU WISH TO SEE DISCORD?!? THEN GO WITH HIM!” Several purple clouds materialized and dived into the crowd, engulfing ponies. As they struggled against the clouds, other ponies tried to help them, only to be engulfed as well. “MAC! HELP ME!” Carrot Top and Roseluck struggled against one of the clouds. “HOLD ON, I’M COMIN’!” the stallion yelled. Before he could reach them, the cloud engulfed both of the mares. “LET GO OF HER!” a filly’s voice called out. Dinky, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle struggled to pull Scootaloo out of one of the clouds. As they continued to struggle, the cloud enlarged, engulfing the other three fillies. “RARITY!” Sweetie Belle screamed, “HELP!” “HOLD ON!” Rarity pushed her way through the crowd, followed closely by Dizzy Twister. Before any of them could reach the cloud, it dissipated, along with all the other clouds. “…no.” Dizzy Twister collapsed to her knees. “Now then…” Nightmare Moon smiled, “IF YOU WILL NOT SHOW ME PROPER RESPECT, THEN I SHALL FORCE YOU TO. ACCEPT ME AS YOUR NEW-” Nightmare Moon was interrupted for a third time, as more garbage and insults were hurled at the alicorn. Suddenly, a brick flew into the alicorn’s chest armor, leaving a dent. Nightmare Moon scowled at the group. “…It seems more drastic measures are needed.” She grumbled. “LISTEN!” the alicorn boomed, shocking the crowd into silence. “Until you have learned proper respect for your new ruler, you shall never see Discord nor you family and friends AGAIN!” The alicorn vanished in a swirl of blue mist, leaving behind a stunned crowd. The silence quickly exploded into panic as the full gravity of the situation sunk in. “Contact the Council!” Cheerilee ordered, “We need to inform them about what has happened before things get worse!” The mayor quickly scanned the crowd, “Where did that stallion go…” --- Time Turner ran through town, searching for something. “Where is the li…Ah-ha!” the stallion skidded to a stop in front of the library. “…what’s the likelihood that she locked the d-” Something whizzed past Time Turner’s face, embedding itself in the door. Glancing at it, Time Turner realized it was a screwdriver. He quickly whipped around, coming face to face with an absolutely livid Rarity. Time Turner took a step backwards, bumping into the library door, as Rarity brought out a claw hammer, wrench and a hacksaw. “You. You knew this would happen.” Rarity brought the hacksaw towards his face. “You’re working for her, aren’t you?” “N..No. No I’m not.” Time Turner stammered out, his eyes never leaving the saw, “I-” Thunderlane touched down by the two of them, “Woah, woah! Rarity, Let’s not do anything too drastic…” “HE KNOWS SOMETHING!” Rarity snapped, “Why else would he have been acting so suspicious before Nightmare Moon showed up?” “Yeah, but has it occurred to you that he might be tryin’ to warn other ponies?” Thunderlane countered, “If he was working for Nightmare Moon, why the hell is he still here, and why would he be trying to break into the library?” Rarity paused for a moment, before lowering her tools. “I suppose…” “Can you put the saw away too? Please?” Time Turner begged. “…Oh, fine.” Rarity placed the saw back into her bag, “Talk fast, and talk well.” She ordered. Big Macintosh, Lemon Hearts and a distraught Dizzy Twister joined the group. “Alright, Mr. Turner, th’ mayor’s tearin’ the town apart lookin’ for you. What exactly did you tell her?” Big Macintosh demanded. “…Can we go into the library and do this? I can talk more freely there, and might find what I need.” Time Turner responded, “Please?” “…What do you think?” Big Macintosh turned towards Lemon Hearts. “…I suppose so. If he tries to escape, I’m sure Rarity and you will keep him from getting out.” Lemon Hearts shrugged. The unicorn pulled out a key and unlocked the door. Time Turner pulled it open and began to frantically search the library for something. “…Big Mac, You were with him the longest, what do you think?” Rarity inquired. “I think he’s legit. He knows something ‘bout this, but ain’t sayin’ it.” Big Macintosh replied. “I just want to know how I can get Sweetie Belle back.” Rarity shook her head, “I can’t imagine what Dizzy is going through right now.” “AH-HA! Found it!” Time Turner leapt off the ladder with a book balanced on his back, “The History of Equestria.” “What good will that be?” Rarity shook her head. “…Oh right.” Time Turner paused. “Well, as you all should know, during the Equestrian Civil War, both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna succumbed to their darker halves and became…well, what we just saw.” Time Turner paused. “But they were sealed away with the Elements of Harmony at the end of the war and that was that.” “Evidently not.” Rarity deadpanned. “I was about to get to that. See, there was a prophecy, where Nightmare Moon was supposed to escape her prison, one thousand years after being sealed away.” “Which apparently was tonight.” Lemon Hearts nodded in understanding. “Yes! Exactly!” Time Turner smiled, “I…had some doubts about how permanent it would be, and further research proved me to be correct.” “How?” Big Macintosh inquired. “…It’s actually fairly simple. See, during Discord’s first reign as the Spirit of Chaos, the Princesses managed to seal him away with the Elements. I theorize that the continued instability in the kingdom allowed him to…build up his energy somehow. Once the Civil War was in full swing, he was able to escape and…well you know what happened next.” Time Turner motioned in the general direction of Canterlot. “However, I also theorized that the process of sealing away the princesses was incomplete, and might fail. Because we do not know much about what happened to the wartime Elements, it is very possible that they were not quite as unified as when the Princesses used the Elements, and created an incomplete seal, that the imprisoned alicorns could slowly work their way through and break free.” Time Turner’s face turned grim as he continued, “I was right. Usually I love to be right, but in this case, I would have rather been wrong.” “...So you basically think we need the elements to save Equestria again, correct?” Rarity added. “Yes.” Time Turner nodded in agreement. “Aren’t they in Canterlot, though? In the history museum or something?” Thunderlane cut in. “Those are fake.” Lemon Hearts shook her head, “they’re decoys to trick thieves and spies.” “Indeed, too valuable to leave in such an obvious place, so Discord hid them in their original facility.” Time Turner paused, “In the Everfree forest.” A silence swept over the room as the other five ponies took in the situation. “As much as I would like to wait for the military to move in, this is much too urgent.” Time Turner broke the silence and trotted to the door, “I have an idea where they are, and I need to do this. I knew it was coming.” The stallion looked down, “I could have stopped this from happening.” “I’m going with you.” Rarity trotted towards him. “No, this is my mistake, and it’s m-” “Shut up. She took my sister.” Rarity scowled, “Do not tell me that it doesn’t involve me.” “I’m goin’.” Big Macintosh agreed, “Ain’t gonna take no for an answer either, Mr. Turner. Ain’t no pony gonna mess with the Apples, not even a fallen princess.” “…Hell, I can’t let you do this by yourselves.” Thunderlane shook his head, “I’m goin’” “Thunderlane, there’s no need.” Rarity countered, “Rumble is safe in Cloudsdale, and you have nothing at stake here.” “For now.” Thunderlane countered, “Suppose you fail. Then the rest of Equestria is at risk, and there’s no way I’m gonna let it get that far.” “…I’ll come.” Lemon Hearts shrugged, “I’m sure I can make myself useful somehow.” “No offense Miss Hearts, but you ain’t exactly the outdoorsy type” Big Macintosh added, “and I reckon this…” “Macintosh, this is more important than that.” Lemon Hearts cut him off, “‘Courage is found in some of the most unlikely of places’, as they say. I am here, I am willing and I know the likelihood of surviving is fairly low. And I’ll still help you.” “Brave mare, that Lemon Hearts.” Time Turner commented to Rarity, “Let’s go.” “I’ll come too.” Dizzy Twister stood. “Dizzy, you don’t have to.” Big Macintosh told the mare, “You…” “My daughters.” Dizzy Twister shot a dirty look at Big Macintosh, “She took one of your sisters, but she took both of my daughters. Do not tell me I don’t have a stake in this. I will go there and fight Nightmare Moon to the death if it means saving both of them. Besides, I know more about the Everfree than all of you. You would not believe how often Scootaloo and Dinky like to go adventuring in there.” “Then it’s decided!” Time Turner kicked open the door, “We’re off.” --- “…You know I thought it would be more dark and ominous than this.” Time Turner stated as the group continued down the trail. “That’s because we’re barely inside.” Dizzy Twister informed him. The group continued into the forest, keeping a watchful eye on everything around them. “…What if?” Lemon Hearts began, “What if Nightmare Moon already knows they’re there, and has found them? I’m not saying she did, but what if?” “Then we’re doomed.” Time Turner shook her head, “Firepower and faith will be all we have left.” “And if she can activate it?” Lemon Hearts continued, “Then what?” “Then she probably wouldn’t have come into town and got mad when the crowd started to throw garbage at her.” Rarity countered, “Honestly, if she could do all of that, we wouldn’t be here, walking through a forest at night, discussing it.” “True.” Time Turner nodded. “So what I suggest we do is not worry about that, and continue along our jo-” “WAIT!” Dizzy Twister yelled. Everypony froze in place, staring at her. “We can’t go that way.” the mare shook her head. “Why not?” “It’s a poison joke field. It…it’s unpleasant. It turned Scootaloo into a large bird and shrank Dinky down until she was about six inches tall.” Dizzy shook her head, “We either need to find a way around it, or go over it.” “There’s a cure though, right?” Time Tuner took a step back. “There is. But it’s very time consuming to make.” Dizzy looked at the group, “I think our only real chance is to have the two of us carry you all over it. Mac you’re first.” “Why him?” Thunderlane grumbled. “He’s the heaviest, so it’ll take two of us.” Dizzy Twister explained, “Besides, if there’s something on the other side, he can hold his own while we bring the others. And if worst comes to worst, one of us can stay with him, until the other brings somepony else there.” “Makes sense.” Time Turner nodded. “Alright, grab his leg, and let’s go.” Dizzy took Big Macintosh’s left leg, as Thunderlane took his other leg. --- Nightmare Moon gazed down from a hidden area, high above the Everfree. “So... there are still ponies brave enough to challenge me.” A smug grin crawled onto the alicorn’s face. “Killing fools is always fun.”