The battle for Ponyville was over and the spectrals were gone. Trixie had done the impossible: with the help of her friends she had saved the city. It should have felt like a rousing victory, but it didn’t. Even after the army was vanquished a dark cloud still lingered in the air. The wind itself seemed to carry a note of despair in it.
The doctors carried the wounded Applejack away on a stretcher. By now she had fallen back into unconsciousness. The doctors promised Trixie that in time the Element of Honesty would recover – but she would never be the same. She might walk again, but her apple bucking days were over.
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, though, were well enough to stand. In fact, aside from some bruises and a pair of sprained wings they were fine. They wouldn’t be able to fly for another week, but they could still walk.
Rarity and Pinkamena lingered by their friends, but didn’t say anything. The darkness had gotten to them. It bothered Trixie to see Rarity, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash as dark gray ponies. They should have been full of color – but they weren’t. Fluttershy was the only spark of joy. Trixie wasn’t sure where the Mayor had run off to, but she was pretty sure the Mayor was going to make herself scarce. Trixie wished she could make herself scarce too, but she knew that wasn’t an option. She had a job to do and she wasn’t going to run away from it – no matter how badly she wanted to. Twilight did not die in vain.
Trixie gathered the remaining Elements of Harmony and addressed them. “Yes, Rainbow Dash, Trixie really does have a plan. Our next task is to obtain information – more specifically, accurate information that we can depend on. Celestia said that the Necromancer was hidden in the Everfree Forest and wouldn’t be able to mount an attack for several more days. As we now all know, her information was worthless and nearly killed us all. We need to find out what is really going on. Is the Necromancer in the forest at all? Has he established outposts elsewhere in Equestria? Where are his armies coming from? Until we know more about the situation we won’t be able to mount any sort of response.”
Rainbow Dash spoke up. “And just how do you plan on doing that?”
“It shouldn’t be hard. All we need to do is make a quick aerial survey of all of Equestria.”
Rainbow snorted. “Oh – is that all? Just all of Equestria, huh?”
“Absolutely. We must leave the Necromancer no possible hiding place. I see two possible ways to accomplish this. The first is for you to talk to your pegasus friends and organize the effort. Divide them all into teams, assign them to sectors, send them out over the entire country, and have them report back what they find. If we can get enough fast-moving squads, we should be able to gather a fairly decent picture of the whole country within 48 hours.”
Rainbow Dash frowned. “But that would require, like, every pegasus in Equestria!”
“Probably not quite that many. But you get the idea. The more pegasi that are involved in the effort, the faster it will go – and we need to move quickly. Every minute we waste gives the Necromancer more time to strengthen his forces and mount a counter-attack. We got lucky this time. We probably won’t get lucky again.”
“And why should they help you?” Rainbow Dash asked. “What do you expect me to do – tell them that the great and powerful Trixie wants a favor? You’re not exactly very popular, you know.”
“I’m not asking them to help me,” Trixie explained. “I’m asking them if they care enough about Cloudsdale to defend it from the Necromancer. Of course, it may be that all you pegasi are just cowards who couldn’t be bothered to defend your own homes if your lives depended on it. In that case I’ll save Equestria without your help. Luna has her own contingent of batponies, and she happens to be a friend of mine. I’m sure that with her help I can get the job done. Then, years from now, when your foals ask you what you did to save Equestria in her darkest hour, you can tell them “Oh, I was too much of a coward to do anything. I just hid in a closet while other ponies saved my rear.” Then the myth of pegasi loyalty will be put right where it belongs – in the garbage heap.”
“Our loyalty is not a myth!” Rainbow Dash shouted.
“Oh, you needn’t pretend. Trixie understands that you’re just too scared. So go on home and hide. Trixie doesn’t need your help to save Equestria. It’s not like there’s anything you pegasi could contribute anyway. You’d probably just blow it or something.”
Rainbow Dash glared at her. “I’ll show you! We’ll have that survey completed in 24 hours flat. Nopony calls us cowards.”
Rainbow Dash then turned around and galloped off into Ponyville.
Fluttershy looked at Trixie and smiled. “That worked out pretty well. I was wondering how you were going to persuade Rainbow to help you. You’re getting better at this.”
“Thanks. I just wish I could treat her as a friend instead of a wayward brat. Honestly, I really don’t know how she ever got to be the Element of Loyalty. She doesn’t have a loyal bone in her body.”
“Oh, she’s really not that bad, once you get to know her.”
“Really? Didn’t she once sell you into slavery in exchange for a book?”
Fluttershy blushed. “Well, yes, but she just got a little mixed up for a while there. Sometimes Rainbow gets excited about things. She did regret it in the end and try to make it right.”
Trixie shook her head. “With friends like that, Fluttershy, I don’t think you need enemies.”
Rarity spoke up. “Once your aerial survey is completed, what do you intend to do with it?”
“Fight, of course,” Trixie replied.
“Oh? With just the five of us?”
“Nope. Pinkie – Pinkamena, I mean – I’ve got a job for you. I need you to get a message to Luna right away.”
* * * * *
An hour later, Rainbow Dash addressed a large crowd of pegasi. Since she was too injured to fly (a fact that bothered her to no end), her fellow flyers had landed on the ground and were standing around her. Like Rainbow Dash, nearly every pony present was gray. “Does everypony know what they’re supposed to do?”
“Are you sure about all this?” Spitfire asked. The captain of the Wonderbolts looked very unhappy. “It sounds to me like you want us to do a favor for Trixie.”
“Aw, forget Trixie. All I care about is the Necromancer. He’s a threat to all of us, and if we don’t take him down now there’s going to be trouble. The only way we can defeat him is if we know where his forces are hiding. Once we’ve located his hiding place, then we can pound him into the ground and get rid of him.”
“But Trixie–” Spitfire began.
“I don’t care about Trixie! She’s not important. Here’s the plan: we’re going to find out what the Necromancer is doing, then us pegasi are going to knock him into next week. Are you trying to tell me that we can’t do that? Are you saying that this threat is just too much for you Wonderbolts?”
“Never!” Lightning Dust exclaimed. “I can handle anything.”
“Good! That’s what I want to hear. So I want all of you to take your teams and fly over your quadrants. Spread the word to the other cities and let them know what we’re doing and what the stakes are. I want all of you to be back here first thing tomorrow morning with your intel. Now get moving!”
“Let’s go!” Spitfire commanded.
The pegasi then leaped into the air and scattered all over Equestria.
Rainbow sighed as she watched them all fly off, leaving her behind. She desperately wanted to join them but knew that she couldn’t. “I’ll get you for this, Trixie,” she muttered to herself. “Just you wait and see.”
* * * * *
Spitfire led a team of three pegasi, all of whom were top-scoring rookies from Wonderbolt Academy. Her team had been tasked with surveying the area around Canterlot. Anything they found that was unusual or weird was to be noted in their report.
Once they reached the capitol, the ponies spread out and began scanning the ground for clues. The first thing that Spitfire noticed was the general sense of darkness that surrounded Equestria’s capitol. Even though it was still mid-afternoon and the sun was high in the sky, the sunlight seemed weak. It was almost like there was some kind of fog or smoke in the air, but Spitfire knew the air itself was fine. Somehow, something was robbing the sunlight of its power.
When the captain of the Wonderbolts flew over Canterlot, she noticed that the city was filled with gray ponies. Nearly everypony – just like herself – had lost her color. She didn’t know what it meant, but she knew it had to be significant.
After flying over the city, Spitfire began her survey of the surrounding countryside. That’s when she spotted something in the distance. “Do you see that?” she asked her squad.
“Affirmative,” Golden Tail replied. “It looks like there’s a structure of some kind hidden behind those hills.”
“Let’s take a closer look. Stay high and fly fast – don’t give them a clear shot at us. Remember what happened to Rainbow Dash! Don’t get careless.”
The squad hit top speed and did a fast flyboy over the area. What Spitfire saw was not encouraging. Hidden between two hills was a giant stone portal that was easily twenty feet tall and ten feet wide. The eerie structure glowed with dark magic. In the middle of the gate was a substance that almost looked like a shimmering green liquid.
As Spitfire watched, a spectral jumped out of the portal and landed on its hooves. It then took its position beside at least fifty conjured abominations. In front of the column of troops was a giant sorcerer.
Golden Tail spoke up. “I think we’ve found the source of the Necromancer’s army!”
“Or one of the sources,” Spitfire corrected. “How many more of those things does he have? Everypony – spread out! Keep looking!”
As Spitfire flew further from Canterlot, she took one last glance back at the glowing portal. She had so many questions and so few answers. How did he manage to build that gate? How long has it been there? Why did no one notice it before now? Is there some reason why it was built there, instead of somewhere else? Is there any way to destroy it?
Destroying it – now that was an encouraging thought. I’ll be back for you, she promised herself. The Wonderbolts will not let that gate stand. You are going down.
* * * * *
That evening, Pinkamena waited patiently in the throne room of Canterlot Castle. She had taken the train from Ponyville immediately after the meeting and had arrived about an hour ago. While she waited on the princesses, she took out a dagger and sharpened it. The weapon was so polished that she could see her dark reflection in it.
Meanwhile, Celestia the gray sat on her throne while Luna paced in front of it.
Luna finally spoke up. “We have to do something, sister! This situation is getting worse every day. Ponyville was nearly wiped out!”
“I did do something,” Celestia replied. “I sent Trixie to handle it, and that’s exactly what she did. I’m sure she can fix this problem – after all, the Elements have always handled these troubles in the past. I don’t see anything to worry about.”
“This isn’t like anything they’ve dealt with before. They’re not battling a sleeping dragon this time. The Necromancer has entire armies. You can’t expect Trixie and her friends to single-hoofedly win this war!”
Celestia shrugged. “They defended Ponyville just fine. It looks to me like they’ve got everything under control. I see no cause for alarm.”
“They just barely managed to defeat one army – and even that caused serious injury to poor Applejack. They desperately need more support. If they are going to save Equestria from darkness then they need all the help we can possibly give them. We must mobilize the troops that you promised to send them. They need everything we’ve got!”
“You worry too much,” Celestia said carelessly. “This is a good learning experience for them. After all, facing challenges is how a pony grows! This is just what Trixie needs. Once she overcomes this she’ll be one step closer to alicornhood. Or, if she fails, she’ll be dead. That is also acceptable.”
Luna frowned. “Reforming Discord was a challenge. Defeating the combined armies of all the undead is not a challenge; it is suicide. This isn’t a test, sister. The survival of everypony is hanging on this. We have got to take this seriously and do something! If we do nothing then ponies will die.”
“I am doing something! I’ve given Trixie her first job as the Element of Magic, and I’m going to watch her fail. Doesn’t that sound fun? Then when Equestria has burned to the ground it will be all her fault, and I can laugh in her face.”
“Enough!” Luna screamed. “You’re not my sister anymore; you’re just some monster. The loving and gentle pony I once knew a thousand years ago has been lost to darkness. She would never have been this cruel. She actually cared about the lives of her subjects.”
“Come now, Luna. I really do care about all the little ponies. It’s just that I care about some of them more than others.”
“Do you? I wonder. When Sombra threatened to return to the Crystal Empire and enslave everypony, you turned that life-threatening situation into a test for your star pupil. You knew of the crystal heart and its importance, but you did not bother to tell Twilight about it. Twilight could have kept Sombra at bay with the Elements of Harmony, but you did not offer to give them to her. Instead of doing everything in your power to save those poor crystal ponies, you treated the whole thing as some sort of alicorn exam! Did it never occur to you what might happen if Twilight failed? You wouldn’t even let me go and help her! Twilight could have died. All those ponies could have been enslaved again. How many times did you put Twilight’s life in danger for your stupid tests?”
“It worked, didn’t it? Everything turned out fine. I’m sure everything will work out this time as well.”
Luna resisted the urge to slap her sister. “You are a horrible, horrible pony. You care nothing for the safety of those entrusted to your care – but I do. If you won’t defend this nation then I will. Come with me, pony who was once pink; we have a country to save.”
“Don’t you dare leave,” Celestia snapped. “I won’t allow it!”
Luna laughed scornfully. “As if you had the power to stop me. When was the last time you actually helped anypony? All you ever do is delegate your problems to someone else.”
Luna and Pinkamena then left, leaving behind an outraged Celestia.
* * * * *
Lightning Dust and Soarin were flying high over the great expanse of the Everfree Forest. The day was now well spent and the raising of the Moon was close at hand. However, the darkness that hung over the forest was thick, making it very difficult for the two Wonderbolts to see anything. Any secrets that the forest was hiding were lost in shadow.
“It might as well be nighttime already,” Lightning Dust complained. “I can’t see a thing. For all we know there could be thousands of spectrals down there!”
“Well, we can see the darkness,” Soarin pointed out. “And we know that the Necromancer spreads darkness like a cancer. With this much darkness he’s got to be down there somewhere. I’d bet my last bit on it.”
“But where? Just look at all that! There are thousands of acres of trees down there – at least, there would be if we could see any of them. Which we can’t. Do you have any idea where the Necromancer might be hiding in all that mess?”
“If I had to guess I’d say he’s probably somewhere in the middle. It’s hard to say, really.”
Lightning Dust paused to think. “What do you think we should do? Should we go to the ground and get a closer look?”
“Absolutely not! Spitfire told us to do an aerial survey and report back to Rainbow Dash as soon as possible. Doing a ground survey would take far too long. We just don’t have that kind of time.”
“I guess you’re right. I just don’t like the look of this at all. There could be anything down there. Anypony who entered that forest would have no idea what they were getting themselves into.”
“Well, we already have some idea of what’s down there,” Soarin pointed out. “After all, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy fought off a whole army of undead just this morning. I’m sure there’s a lot more wherever those creepy things came from.”
“So what are we going to do?”
“Fight back, of course! Once we’ve returned our report, we’ll come up with a battle plan and defend our country. We are going to beat those undead monsters and kick them all the way back into their graves.”
“You bet,” Lightning Dust said confidently.
* * * * *
Late the next morning, Rainbow Dash gathered the final intelligence reports from the field. The aerial survey had been quick and thorough – just as she had promised.
“Has everyone reported in?” Rainbow Dash asked one more time. “Are there any teams that are still out there? Does anyone have anything else to add to their report?”
She took a quick look around. There was a large company of pegasi in the area, most of whom were utterly worn out from their work on the survey. Trixie, Fluttershy, and Rarity were also present.
When no one spoke up, Rainbow Dash continued. “All right then. So we know what we’re up against. I think we should–”
At that moment she was interrupted. A bolt of lightning crashed into the ground, and a peal of thunder reverberated through the air. Rainbow Dash glanced up at the sky and saw Princess Luna approaching. She was riding in her royal chariot, which was being pulled by four of her batponies. Pinkie Pie was sitting next to her. Behind Luna was an enormous cloud of flying, armored batponies.
Rarity spoke up. “Are those her royal guards? I had no idea she had so many!”
Spitfire grinned. “Now that’s exactly what we need! Now we’re getting somewhere.”
Rainbow Dash looked at Trixie. “Did you send Pinkie to go get Luna? Why did you do that? We can handle this on our own!”
“You most certainly cannot,” Luna called out as her chariot settled onto the ground. She quickly disembarked and walked over to her, as her loyal guards landed and followed close behind. “You have no idea what you are fighting or how strong it truly is. The situation is far more serious than you know.”
Trixie ran over to Luna. “Thank you so much for coming! We desperately need your help. We’ve gotten the results from the surveys, and we’ve discovered two Underworld portals. One is near Canterlot and the other is near Manehattan. It looks like the Necromancer is using them to build his army.”
Soarin spoke up. “We also flew over the Everfree Forest, your highness. It has a strong presence of darkness. We suspect that’s where the Necromancer is held up, but we were unable to gather any specifics from the air. The cover of darkness was too thick.”
“Thank you,” Luna replied. “For those of you who do not know, the Necromancer is not a new villain. Long ago, when Celestia and I were young and ruled over Equestria together, this evil creature attempted to overthrow us and enslave the land. In those days his name was Grogar, and his power came from a bell that he wore around his neck. Thankfully, we were able to defeat him and force him to return to the undead plane from whence he came. We had thought we had seen the last of him.
“Now, though, he has returned, and is stronger than ever. It appears he has found a different way to manifest his power. Instead of the bell, he has mastered the dark art of the Maelstrom Sphere. Those Spheres – made using the darkest of magic – are what powers his undead creatures, which he has conjured from his plane and brought into this world.
“This power, though, is also his source of weakness. His creatures do not truly have life in themselves. As Trixie proved yesterday, if the Spheres are destroyed then the creatures that were created with them will be destroyed as well.”
Trixie spoke up. “What about the Necromancer himself?”
“When Celestia and I destroyed him last time, he was unmade and lost his physical form. We believe that he, too, now depends upon a Maelstrom Sphere in order to survive. How he was able to construct one when he had lost his physical form I do not know. What I do know is that I have seen him in the dreamworld. On his head lies a dark crown of black onyx, and in that crown is a powerful Sphere. If you can destroy it, I believe he will be unmade and forced back into his plane. However, be careful. Spheres contain a tremendous amount of unstable dark magic, and the one the Necromancer is wearing is the most powerful one I have seen. When it is unmade it will explode with great violence, killing everything nearby.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Trixie said.
Luna nodded. “Now that you have conducted your survey, what do you plan to do next?”
When Trixie started to speak, Rainbow Dash interrupted. “Aw, who cares about her opinion! I say you should let us pegasi handle this. We don’t need her help.”
“You most certainly do need her help,” Luna replied. “Trixie is the key to this. She is the only one who can defeat the Necromancer.”
Trixie gasped. “What?”
Rainbow Dash laughed. “Trixie couldn’t defeat a paper bag! She’s utterly useless. Besides, she’s the one who caused all this mess in the first place. She needs to just go away and–”
“Silence!” the dark blue alicorn thundered. Her eyes flashed. “I have had quite enough of your attitude, Rainbow Dash. You are a disgrace.”
Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to say something, but Luna interrupted her. “I said silence! You have already spoken too much for my taste. The rise of the Necromancer is not Trixie’s fault. The blame for this disaster lies solely with my sister. She is the one who is responsible for all this.”
Fluttershy looked surprised. “Celestia? What did she do?”
“She broke the harmony that protected this land,” Luna said sadly. “My sister feels a terrible guilt over the death of Twilight Sparkle, and that guilt has driven her mad. Instead of dealing with it she has allowed it to overcome her and turn her light into darkness. Normally she spreads light throughout this world – the light of harmony and peace. Now, though, Celestia cannot spread harmony, for there is no harmony inside her.
“So instead she is spreading darkness and hate. She is radiating the two emotions that have come to possess her, and in doing so she is poisoning everyone. The first ponies she poisoned were Twilight’s friends, the Elements. She then used Twilight’s funeral to poison the rest of the nation. I begged her to stop, but she refused. Now nearly everyone is gripped by darkness – and that was just the opening that the Necromancer needed. Since the harmony that protected Equestria is gone, that weakened the barrier between his world and ours and gave him the opportunity he needed to appear. The darkness is rising, and Celestia continues to aid it.”
Fluttershy spoke up. “But she’s not doing it on purpose, right? I mean, does she know what she’s doing?”
Luna sighed. “She is beyond caring. I cannot help her, Fluttershy. I wish I could. Rainbow Dash, Rarity, all of you – listen to me! You have been poisoned by Celestia’s hate. That is why you are gray. The darkness that is threatening this land must be defeated, but it cannot be defeated by more darkness! We need your help to overcome the Necromancer, but we cannot do it while you yourselves are broken. You must let go of your hate. You must change and become yourselves again. If you do not change then there can be no victory.”
As Luna gave her speech, a number of the Wonderbolts regained their original color. Rarity became a shade lighter – but she remained gray. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash remain unmoved and unchanged.
Rainbow Dash glared at Trixie. “I don’t care what excuses your friends come up with. I will never forgive you, Trixie, and I will hate you with my dying breath. I cannot wait to see you get what you deserve.”
Luna looked at her sadly. “Rainbow, you do not know what you are saying. It is very possible that you will get your wish and Trixie will die in your embrace – but if that fate comes to pass it will be the worst thing you have ever felt. You will feel only pain and regret when you watch her die.”
“I think you mean if,” Trixie hurriedly interrupted. “If you watch her die. Because Trixie is definitely going to save the day and is not going to die in the process. Right, Luna? Right?”
Luna looked at the blue pony. It was impossible to read her face. “Do you want the truth?”
“What Trixie wants is for you to tell us that you’ve seen the future, and you are absolutely certain that we’re going to defeat the Necromancer and save Equestria. Trixie thinks it would be really good for morale to hear about how everything is going to be wonderful, and victory is within our grasp, and all we have to do is go out there and win. Don’t you agree?”
“Oh, of course,” Luna said hurriedly. “I do not doubt our victory at all. One day we shall look back upon this and say that this was our finest hour! This was the day we rose up and overcame. It will be glorious!”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s great,” Rainbow Dash said. “But we’re wasting time. Don’t you think we should get moving?”
“Of course,” Luna agreed. She turned to Trixie. “So what is your strategy?”
Rainbow Dash groaned. “Aw, not this again. Trixie doesn’t have a clue. Now, I think you should–”
“I said silence!” Luna thundered in her royal Equestrian voice. She glared at Rainbow Dash. “If I want your opinion I will ask for it – and believe me, I do not want it. You are the most disloyal pony I have ever known. As the Princess of the Night I hereby command you to stop harassing and tormenting Trixie immediately. If you continue to tear her down then, so help me, I will turn you into an earth pony and ground you for life.”
“What – are you gonna hit me with a spell or something? Rainbow Dash asked sarcastically.
Luna was immediately filled with pure rage. Her eyes turned white, and a mist of darkness swirled about her. She angrily stepped toward the gray-colored pegasus. “No, Rainbow Dash, I wasn’t planning on being that kind. I don’t need a spell to accomplish what I had in mind.”
Rainbow Dash gulped. She took a step backwards. “You – you wouldn’t! No way!”
“Perhaps you have forgotten, mare, but I once tried to murder my own sister and enslave this entire land. I am not as distant from the Night as you seem to suppose. Why do you dare to take my wrath so lightly? Do you need a demonstration of what I can really do?”
“Girls!” Fluttershy exclaimed. “Um, your highness, I mean. Don’t you think this is getting a little dark? I mean, can’t we just calm down and be friends? There’s no need for violence, is there?”
Luna’s eyes stopped glowing. However, her gaze never left Rainbow Dash. “Of course not. Not so long as Miss Dash here agrees to be a bit more… supportive.”
“Fine, fine, I get it,” Rainbow grumbled. “I’ll be a team player.”
“Promise me you’ll stop harassing Trixie.”
“What?”
Luna stamped her hoof. “I said promise me. I want your word – for whatever it’s worth these days.”
“All right, I promise,” Rainbow grumbled.
Trixie spoke up. “Thank you. Now, the end goal is obviously to defeat the Necromancer and send him back to his undead plane. However, before we can attack him directly we’re going to need to weaken him, so I think we should start by destroying his Underworld portals. If we can take out the two portals that he’s using to build his armies, that will cut off his supply line and put him in a bad position. Then we can draw him out of the Everfree Forest and strike whatever he’s got left.”
“That makes sense to me,” Luna replied. “A wise plan. So how do you want to divide up our forces? Or do you think we should concentrate everything that we have on one portal, and tackle the other one later?”
“No, I think we should hit both portals at once. That should catch him off guard and give us the best chance of success. So here’s the plan. I’ll lead the team to attack the Manehattan portal, and you’ll lead the team to attack the Canterlot portal. We’ll split the pegasi and batponies between us. The pegasi will be responsible for scattering the spectrals that are guarding the portals. Once the undead guards are scattered, Luna and I will lead our batpony troops inside our respective portals to shut them down.”
Fluttershy spoke up. “You’re going inside?”
Trixie nodded. “According to Twilight’s research, the portals have to be destroyed from the inside – there’s no other way. What we’ll need to do is find the Forged Shard – the magical thing that’s pierced the barrier between his plane and ours and is keeping the gate open. After we destroy it we’ll have a short window to escape before the portal becomes unstable and collapses. If we don’t make it out then we’ll be trapped there forever, which we do not want. The Necromancer’s plane is a terrible, terrible place.”
Rarity spoke up. “What about us? Are we supposed to just sit behind and do nothing while you and Luna save the day?”
“Nope,” Trixie said. “Rarity, you’re with me. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkamena, I need you to infiltrate the Everfree Forest and find out everything you can about the location of the Necromancer, the size of his army, and so forth. I want to know what we’re getting into before we lure him into attacking Canterlot.”
“Attack Canterlot!” Luna exclaimed. “Trixie, are you sure that is wise?”
“We don’t have a lot of options. There’s no way we can attack him while he’s in the Everfree Forest; it would be suicide. We can’t fight in that much darkness, so we need to lure him out. In order to reach Canterlot he has to cross the surrounding plains, which will expose his army to an aerial assault. It will be our best shot at destroying him. Once he’s exposed and in the open, you can hit his crown from a safe distance with the unmaking spell. That will vaporize him and all his forces in one shot. Since you’re an alicorn it should be pretty easy for you. He’ll be dead before he even knew what hit him.”
“I suppose you are right,” Luna said reluctantly. “But if that is our plan then I’m going to send word to Shining Armor to move his crystal ponies to Canterlot to help protect it. We are going to need every pony we can find. I’m afraid that my sister Celestia isn’t going to be of much help.”
Rainbow Dash spoke up. “Will Shining Armor come?”
Trixie remembered the train conversation she had with him. “Yes, he definitely will. Spitfire – send one of your pegasi to Princess Cadence. Tell her that Luna requests the use of every pony she can spare.”
“I’m on it,” Spitfire said. She grabbed a nearby Wonderbolt and began giving orders.
Rarity then turned to Trixie. “So you want me to enter that terrible portal with you? What, exactly, do you expect me to do?”
“Telekinesis,” Trixie replied. “You’re great at levitation – one of the best I’ve ever seen. We don’t need to win any battles, Rarity. All we need to do is destroy the Shard and leave. You can use your magic to shove guards out of the way and clear a path for me so I can cast my unmaking spell. We’ll rush in, smash the Shard, and rush out. It should all be over pretty fast.”
“And what are we going to encounter once we step inside?”
“Nothing we can’t handle,” Trixie said, with far more confidence than she felt. “According to Twilight’s notes, the Shard is in a giant tower of some kind. I’ve seen a picture of it, so it should be easy to spot. All we’ve got to do is make it to the top of that tower. Since we’re going to have a whole army of batponies with us, it should be quick and easy. As soon as the Shard is smashed, the batponies will grab us from the top of the tower and whisk us out of the portal. If we’re lucky they can fly us straight to the top, which would make things even easier.”
Rarity looked at Luna. “How many batponies do you have?”
“I brought 200 with me, so if we divide them evenly we will each have 100. I have also read the notes that Trixie mentioned and believe her plan is sound.”
“Um, excuse me,” Fluttershy said. “So, while you two are entering those portals, Rainbow and Pinkie and I are supposed to enter the dark, scary Everfree Forest?”
“I’m sorry, Fluttershy,” Trixie replied. “But someone has to go into the forest and tell us what’s lurking in there. It needs to be someone who knows the forest well and who can talk to the animals that live there. You’re the best pony I know for the job.”
“But we can’t fly,” Rainbow Dash complained.
“You don’t need to fly for this job,” Trixie said.
“But it’s suicide! How can we possibly survive?”
Luna looked at Rainbow Dash. “You know, Daring Do completed many perilous tasks while her wings were injured. If you would like, I would be more than happy to send you home and request her services instead. I happen to know where she lives, and I am positive she would never back down from a challenge.”
“Fine,” Rainbow Dash grumbled. “I’ll do it. What about you, Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy looked nervous. “I won’t say I’m not scared, but if it has to be done then I’ll do my best. I won’t let you down, Trixie.”
Rainbow Dash sighed. “What about you, Pinkie?”
Pinkamena whipped a knife out of her mane and clenched it between her teeth. She looked at Rainbow but said nothing.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Rainbow said.
Luna turned to Trixie. “When do you want to launch the attack?”
“Immediately. The longer we wait, the stronger the Necromancer will become.”
Luna nodded. “Then let us begin!”