> Fading Embers
>  by Professional Scumbag
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Coming Storm
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thunder Talon:

Nobody comes here anymore, the world seems to be slowing down, taking it’s dying breath. Ever since Princess Luna went insane and she was banished to the moon things have seemed… off. Especially after the Elements of Harmony were stolen, it was the final nail in Equestria’s coffin.
“Hey buddy, I need some of that special something.” The white unicorn mare whispered to me as she jabbed her face close to mine. 
I jerked back, returning my focus to my job. “Special something? I’m not sure what you mean.” She looked really familiar, I swear I had seen her before...
“Look, I need some magic books.” She said glancing back and forth around the library which was empty except for us.
“What kind? Are you going to be a Necromancer or something?”
“No no, nothing like that. I need to spy on somepony.”
“Okay, not invoking dark magic, just peeping, that’s good.”
“Hey, I wouldn't do that! Probably.”
“That’s reassuring, how about this, I can scry for whoever you need to spy on and tell you what I see, okay?”
“Okay… You can’t tell anypony though, this is official Ponyville guard business.”
“Oh, now I remember where I saw you, you’re the captain of the guard, right? Blackjack?”
“SHH! Don’t tell anypony that I messed up- I mean I’m getting an outside consult for this important mission.”
“Alright alright, I won’t tell the hundreds of ponies I see everyday.” I gestured to the empty library.
“Okay, the Mayor has… gone missing.”
“Yikes, and she really needs to be here this week, with the Summer Sun Celebration and her election, this is pretty serious.”
“Why do you think I’m getting your help! Can you find Mayor Mare?”
“Alright, should be easy enough.” I began levitating a bowl and a waterskin over to my desk and filled the bowl with water. I opened up the drawers in my desk and levitated out the rest of the ingredients for scrying and put them in the bowl of water.
I reached out with my magic into the bowl of mixed ingredients began picturing Mayor Mare. I felt myself being pulled from my body, the experience was always a bit scary, it felt like being on the edge of a cliff and being slowly pushed forward until you started to float above a massive chasm. 
I saw the Mayor, she was in a dark room, strapped to a stone table with sharp instruments scattered around her. 
“Silver, we should move this operation somewhere else,” Someone said in an odd accent. “If they even suspect you then they’ll storm the place with the entire town guard.”
“Darky, you worry too much, they don’t think I’m capable of doing something like this, I bet you fifty bits that we will pull of the ritual without a hitch.”
“Then you better get your money ready you moron, they’re scrying us right now! We have to move or get more mooks, now!”
Going into a scry is a scary experience, being pushed out forcefully is incredibly unpleasant. Hence why when I was kicked out of this one I vomited on the floor before falling into the pool of vomit.
“Book guy! Are you okay?” Blackjack shouted.
“My name is Thunder Talon, though Book Guy may be a more apt title. And yes, though your mayor won’t be for long.” I cast a quick cleaning spell. “Know anyone named Silver or Darky?”
“Silvertongue, it has to be! I’ll round up the guards and-”
“He’s either going to be gone by the time you get there or he’s going to have enough undead mooks to mount a defense. Where exactly does Silvertongue live?”
“He lives at the base of the Diamond Mountains, near Deadtown.”
“A Necromancer who lives near Deadtown, so a dark mage with an army at his disposal, nice. We’re gonna need a plan…”
“We? Are you part of the Ponyville Guard now?” 
“No, I just want to help out, if you don’t need a skilled mage then I can stay here.”
“No no no! Please help me, you’ve got a lot of books, so you can do the brainy thing, right?”
I levitated a few old tomes onto my desk. “Brainy thing? You mean psionics?”
“No, I mean thinking and planning. Most of my plans end with pain.”
I opened a book about the architecture of the area to the chapter on Deadtown. “We’re gonna need a team.”

Lethal Scratch:

I always liked taking walks outside of Ponyville. You met interesting ponies, you got to experience nature and it’s always good to improve your mood. 
Who did I meet this time? Undead, lots of undead. I got to experience natural selection as I smashed and battered them into dust and it wildly improved my mood. There were only about twelve skeletons and they went down easy enough, shame there wasn’t anything fleshy to kick the flank of.
Although it was fun it wasn’t a good sign, undead ment bad guy, bad guy means that some hero wants to fight them, so I went to find the closest thing to a hero in the general area, the guards.
The guard post wasn’t much more than a tower with a few rooms at the base, but with a town like this you didn’t need much more. 
There was a skeleton crew at the guard post, only four armored ponies were crowded around a table with a map of Ponyville with various locations with red X’s on them. I levitated a pastry from one of the nearby desks and started munching on it. 
“So, you guys wanna know something cool?” I asked before taking another bite.
“Not now Lethal, we don’t have time to go on another one of you goose chases.” Said one of the guards I knew, I think her name was Twister.
“Although it is hilarious when you think there’s actually a manticore pack attacking, this is real.”
The grey pegasus turned on me with a glare. “Although I’m sure you’re just yanking my wings, what is it?”
“A pack of skeletal mooks were wandering outside of town, I killed them but I’ve still got the stab wounds to prove it.” I said, gesturing to the long cut along my side.
“Oh torrential downfalls, can this day get any worse!?”
I took a bottle of apple cider from another desk and chugged it. “Need a hoof? I always need some more money and I’m very good at… things.”
“I suppose, but we can’t pay you the normal price.” The mare said, looking at her hooves.
“Well, you always need to give a little charity, right?” I said with a smirk. “What’s the issue?”
“Mayor Mare’s gone missing, we’ve been sending out search parties and none of them have found anything. It’s like she disappeared.”
“Cool, I think I know a guy who can help.” I headed for the door. “He’s in an interesting situation though…”

Spring Valentine:

My cell was dark, wet and cold. I had a bench and a hole in the corner. I suppose that’s what I get for stealing a couple thousand bits worth of fine cheeses…
I heard the sound of hoofsteps and one of the guards came into view, along with a familiar white stallion with an electric blue mane.
“Hey Lethal, to what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you here?” 
“I need your contacts Valentine, a high value pony has gone off the map.” 
I got up and tapped on the lock of my cell. “There’s a slight issue with that, if I were free, then maybe I could help out.”
The grey pegasus mare grumbled as she took a key from her armor and clicked the lock open. I walked out into the hallway and grabbed my things from a shelf on the wall.
“I would recommend that you fix up these cells, they’re awful dark and don’t have very good plumbing.” I bumped the mare’s flank with my own. “Same time next week?”
“Don’t try your luck, criminal scum.” She said as she walked off with her wingblades extended threateningly.
I looked to Lethal with a shrug. “Mares? Am I right?”
“Look, I got you out of jail, again, now there’s an actual issue.” He said, nudging me to go forward.
“What? You, caring about something?” I put my hoof to my chest and spoke with a sense of hyperbolic surprise. “This I’ve got to hear.”
“The mayor’s gone missing.”
I gave him a look. “You know who the obvious target is, right?”
“Of course it’s Silvertongue, nopony else has anything against the mayor.”
“Then why in Celestia’s name do you need me?”
“Because we need killers.”


Fire Storm:

Red Heart barely dodged the hound bursting up through the ground, I wasn’t so lucky as one rammed me in the gut and sent me flying. Being a pegasus I could use that to my advantage. I swooped down and raked the back of the diamond dog with the blade I had connected to my right foreleg. It howled and lept to the side while its companion tried to no avail to hit Red Heart. 
“Storm!” The white earth pony shouted to me. “Keep ‘em off me and I can take ‘em down!”
I flew at the diamond dog attacking Red Heart and turned at the last second and kicked off of its face and zoomed at the other with my hooves outstretched until I slammed into its gut. Good news, I had their attention, bad news, I had their attention. One leapt at me with its razor sharp claws ready to rip me apart. I twisted with my leg out hitting the dog in the face and knocking it to the ground.
“Out of the way!” Red Heart shouted, I followed her direction by zooming straight up as a cascade of lightning flew out of her amulet.
One of the dogs was on the ground whimpering and the other was barely standing. Now was our chance to get some answers.
“Alright Doggy, you’re on the ropes and we’re just fine, so I’d like some answers or you’re gonna get another lightning bolt.” I said, getting closer to him. 
“Dog not tell anything stupid pony.” He growled. “Dog not going to talk about striped pony.” He instantly covered his mouth.
“Striped pony?” Red Heart asked. “You mean a zebra? Which zebra?”
“Pony must promise dog not to tell striped pony or silver pony.” He whimpered.
Me and Red Heart agreed and the dog reluctantly revealed the information. “Striped pony call self, Darkstripe, he live in big tower in bone town. He tell dog to get metal from old pony home. He kill dog if he know I tell you.”
“I won’t tell him, take your friend out of here and I’ll go speak to this Darkstripe.” Red Heart said. “What about this metal? Do you have it?”
The dog nodded and gave Red Heart a blue metal helmet. It was much bigger than a normal helmet and had a hole for a horn.
“Do not hit metal, it makes dog’s ears hurt.” The dog whimpered before taking his companion away into the forest.
“What do you think that means? It hurts the diamond dog’s ears.” I asked.
“Only one way to find out.” Red Heart drew her mace and tinged it against the metal.
It didn’t just hurt dog’s ears, it hurt pony’s ears. And their whole body, right down to the soul. It made my heart hurt, my muscles, my bones and all of my organs. I couldn’t think straight, I wanted to scream but I couldn’t. And in an instant, it ended, me and Red Heart just laid there for, Celestia knows how long.
“Okay,” I said after a while. “We need to find who this Darkstripe is.”

Thunder Talon:

I was almost trampled by the big white unicorn as he left to guard post. He looked down at me with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, somepony’s in a hurry.” He chuckled. He nodded at Blackjack before leaving with a tan earth pony stallion with a blonde mane.
“Damn it Valentine!” Blackjack said to the earth pony. “Stop breaking out of my jail!”
He looked at her with a look of feigned shock. “How could you insinuate- The nerve!” He slid into a sly grin. “Just kidding my sweet, I got released to help with,” He raised his voice. “Your little issue that you don’t want anypony to know.” 
Blackjack put a hoof in his mouth to shut him up. “Right, you guys know, you guys can help, we know who did it.”
Blackjack and the other two ponies all said, “Silvertongue” In unison.
Blackjack grinned. “Oh, good. We were looking for some able bodied fighters, now we got two.”
“Whoa whoa whoa.” The big white unicorn said. “We’re not going to be some lackeys, going to our deaths for you.”
I spoke up. “That’s why we have a plan.”
“Who’s this guy?” The unicorn asked.
“That’s Talon, he’s the librarian.” Blackjack said. “If you ever read anything you’d have met him, Lethal.”
Lethal waved his hoof. “Yeah yeah mom, I’ll go read up on the reproductive systems of sea anemone.”
“Blackjack! Blackjack!” A mare shouted as she ran toward us. “We need to go to Deadtown, something dark is going on over there.”
We all gave her a look. 
I raised an eyebrow. “Hey Blackjack, you remember that team I talked about?” I looked at the assembled ponies. “I think we’re good.”

We had decided to go through the Everfree Forest path to Deadtown, it would save us at least an hour. Unless we just happened to come across a pack of manticores. It wasn’t a whole pack, only about four of them, but we were ever so slightly screwed. 
Our team consisted of me, Thunder Talon, Lethal Scratch, a big white unicorn with a blue mane, Spring Valentine, a tan earth pony with a blonde mane, Red Heart, a grey unicorn mare with a white mane, Fire Storm, an orange pegasus with a red mane, Blackjack, a white unicorn with a red and black mane and Twister, a grey pegasus with a black mane.
Currently, these valiant ponies were having their flanks handed to them by manticores. Lethal and Valentine fought in tandem, Lethal would take a hit and Valentine would hit the manticore from behind and when it turned Lethal would lay a crushing blow. Red Heart and Fire Storm also worked together, Storm distracted the manticore as Red Heart called on Celestian magic to hit it hard. Even Blackjack and Twister were a team. They stood side-by-side, hitting together. Meanwhile I was running from the remaining manticore as it roared at me and tried to rip my hide off.
“No! Bad kitty!” I shouted as I tried to prepare a spell, but that was a little hard when a giant winged lion is trying to eviscerate you. 
I jumped up into a tree and tried climbing, I managed to make it to one of the higher branches. I clung to it, hoping the manticore got distracted by something else. I seemed to forget that manticores, A: have a good sense of smell, and B: can fly. The beast burst through the branches with a roar and lunged at me. I rolled off of the branch I was clinging to and dodged the attack barely. 
I landed hard on my back, all I could see when I looked up was the manticore pouncing onto me.

Gearbox:	

Today was an interesting day, usually I would wake up, have some breakfast, tinker with some clockwork a little. It was nice. Today however I woke up and happened to be about 300 feet in the air. Mind you, I’m an earth pony. 
I  wondered what caused this phenomenon as I sailed past a flock of surprised ducks. It could’ve been that I left by clockwork cannon’s loading bay open and sleep-walked into it. Or maybe my butler became rebellious and loaded me in. Possibly my cyber ducks thought I wanted to fly like them. Either way the cannon was involved as my tail was half singed off.
Being up in the sky, flying like a bird was supposed to be amazing. But it was just… higher. I could see all of Ponyville, from higher up. The gorgeous landscape, from higher up. The Everfree Forest, from not as high up as I was befo-
I crashed into the large furry monster with enough force to  knock the beast across the clearing. Thankfully my mental strength allowed me not to break my head open when it connect with the fuzzy creature’s face.
I stood up and looked at the battling ponies around the clearing, they looked like they were having fun.
“Wh- where did you come from?” I heard a stallion ask from behind me.
I turned to him and raised an eyebrow. “Why, up there of course!” I pointed to the skies above Ponyville. 
“How are you alive?” He asked.
“What a silly question you silly pony, you’re just a cornucopia of pure silliness. Hah!” I laughed.
“Are you insane?”
I thought for a second. “A little bit, yes.”
I felt hot breath on the back of my neck and a low growl. “Mister kitty, you’re back!” I said, turning to the monster.
“Stand back, I’ve got him!” The stallion behind me said. 
I stepped backwards and watched as he cast a bolt of lightning into the winged cat who convulsed and fell over. 
The rest of the flying kitties were either incapacitated or had run off so I went to examining the ponies around me. 
“Um, hello there, may I help you?” The grey pegasus mare in the guard armor said as I stretched out one of her wings and poked it with my poke-o-tron. “I-is that a fork?”
“May I ask, who the Tartarus are you?” The big white one said.
“Why, I am a doctor, Doctor Gearbox.” I said with a bow.


Thunder Talon:

With Gearbox in tow we made our way to Deadtown.  I kept glancing at the pony who had fallen from the sky onto a manticore. He seemed normal enough, brown coat, maroon mane. Though he was covered in odd gizmos and had pair of goggles on his forehead and an odd contraption on his right forehoof. 
We reached the edge of the forest and the sad little town surrounded by graves came into view. An oppressive tower loomed over the little village. There was a low stone wall around the graves and a wooden barricade around the buildings. 
We approached the town and hopped the little wall with ease. The graveyard was empty, not a single pony visiting a dead relative or honoring the dead. Even more ominous was the fact that many of the graves were dug up and the bodies were missing. 
A figure began approaching from behind one of the mausoleums, it moved toward us with a purpose. A tattered black cloak covered the thin frame of the pale white pony. It had a hat that covered its eyes but we could still see the horrible grin that adorned its face. A shovel was being dragged in its black magic. 
“Hey, don’t come any closer!” Blackjack shouted. “That’s an order!” 
It continued getting closer to us without caring for Blackjack’s order.
“I don’t think that pony is alive,” Red Hoof said. “It must be undead, I can handle it.”
She braced herself and began muttering. Her amulet began to glow and levitate. A beam of light flew at the thing in the cloak. A flash of light later, and it was gone. 
We entered the town, and found it empty. The doors all hung open, there wasn’t a sign of anypony here. No sign of a struggle either. It was like everypony just… left.
“Right, um.” Blackjack started. “Everypony spread out?”
Storm and Red Heart, Lethal and Valentine and Twister and Blackjack went off to search the town. Gearbox smiled at me as I let out a sigh.
“You know we won’t find anything here.” Gearbox said. “Any kind of villain is in that big tower.” He pointed a hoof to the looming structure. 
“I know, but there may be something useful here.” I pointed out. “Like, some sort of artifact or something.”
“Or maybe a secret tunnel that leads right into the tower so we can sneak in and get the jump on our enemy?”
“Yeah,” I said, opening a storage crate filled with rotting fruit. “That may be useful.”
“Well-”
“It seems like the ponies have been gone from here for some time,”
“About tha-”
“There was a high zebra population here, maybe they all went to the dark arts?”
“You kn-”
“No, none of the zebras I’ve met here did anything bad.”
“THERE’S A SECRET TUNNEL RIGHT HERE YOU MAGICAL SOD!”
I turned and looked to where Gearbox was. There was a trapdoor open in the ground. A zebra glyph was written on it that said: “To Silver Tower, no unauthorized access.”
“Huh, good job Gearbox.”
The earth pony facehoofed.

Gearbox was right about the town, there was nothing to find but that secret passage. Now we were all cramped in a small tunnel leading to the tower on the cliff above Deadtown. The only way we could see was by Lethal, Red Heart and my light spells, and only Gearbox seemed to know where we were going, which I wasn’t going to question. Valentine complained the whole way, saying this was degrading to him. 
Being in front, naturally when we hit the dead-end I was the first one to get my face knocked into something and the only one who kept their muzzle out of anypony’s flank. Valentine stopped complaining.
“We have an issue.” I said. 
I pressed my hoof to the wall, it was corporeal, so there was something too this. I pressed on the ceiling of the tunnel and it moved until I had lifted an entire floor tile out. I climbed out of the newly made hole and brushed myself off. I was in a study of some sort, it was full of all kinds of books and had some nice lounge furniture and a roaring fireplace. 
“Nice pla-” Then I noticed the zombies. 
A zombified mare and a zombified stallion stood by the door, watching me with a low growl from each. Twister crawled out of the hole with a blush followed by Valentine who looked too happy for crawling through a dark dank tunnel. Then Lethal, Blackjack and everypony else came out into the lounge.
“What’s with the stiffs?” Lethal asked as he looked at the undead.
Red Heart raised an eyebrow. “Shall I turn them?”
“Maybe not.” I said. “If I remember The Big Book O’ Necro correctly, then the less focused on control a necromancer is then the less life-like the undead mooks are. So if we get close then they’ll attack and warn whoever raised them.”
“So, if whoever raised them isn’t focusing on them, then what are they focusing on?” Gearbox asked.
“Okay then, we need a way out of here, not past the mooks.” I said, scanning the room.
“Ooh! Ooh!” Lethal raised a hoof. “I have an idea! We blow them to the Moon and back with magic!”
“That could work, except that necromancers know when a mook dies.”
“I have another idea then.” His horn glowed and all of the books glowed and were pulled off of the shelves. “Okay, that maybe didn’t work how I thought it would.”
“How did you think that was an intelligent idea!” I shouted, throwing my hooves up in the air.
“There’s always secret books that make passages appear in books.”
“Nobody has random contraptions that open passages into other parts of their homes.”
Gearbox whistled very conspicuously.
“Oh this is hopeless.” I leaned against the fireplace. Then I heard a click and the fireplace sunk into the floor and a passage opened.
Lethal smiled smugly as he crawled through. The passage led to a hidden staircase that went up to the top of the tower and down to… somewhere. 
“Right, which way do we…” I began as Gearbox walked up. “Guess we’re going up.”
Next to each door was a list of what was on each floor, Gearbox kept going until he stopped at a door that just said: “Lab.” 
He politely knocked on the door to which everypony winced and braced for some sort of attack. When there was no answer Gearbox shrugged and opened the door.
Inside was a large room full of tables covered in alchemical equipment and magical machines. The entire room was lined with bookshelves except for a large window which overlooked Deadtown and Ponyville. Next to the window was a large stone table where the Mayor was chained. Surrounding the table were pedestals with pieces of blue armor on them, one of them was empty but the rest were glowing with ethereal light. 
A zebra who was black and grey rather than black and white was at one end of this alter, a book was laid out on a pedestal in front of him and red runes floated about it. He was mumbling something that I couldn’t make out but sounded like an incantation of some kind. 
“Do you like my pet?” Said a voice like a noblepony. “He’s so very useful.”
“Show yourself criminal scum!” Blackjack shouted. 
“Blackjack.” I hissed. “Don’t test him.”
“Why not? He’s just some petty criminal.”
Mist started forming in front of us. It began to take the shape of a pony, and before long a 
white unicorn with a grey mane stood before us, his piercing silver eyes stared into me as he gave a little smirk. He wore a military dress uniform, a necklace hung from his neck, it was an ornate bottle filled with a cloud-like substance.
“You should listen to the librarian,” He said with a voice as smooth as silk that hid a knife behind it. “You might’ve gotten a quicker death.”
He vanished in a cloud of green smoke. I reeled back and pulled my scarf up over my face as the smoke wreathed around us. My companions began to fall as I lept out of the paralyzing smoke.
“Oh, you’re a smart one.” He said. “Not many ponies can recognize Burrow Flower gas that fast.”
“I’m guessing you’re not planning to stick your roots into my comrades.”
“No, more like my knives.” He formed again in front of me. “This may sound cliche, but I would like you to join us. Our master will soon rise again and it’s only a matter of time before the world is swallowed up by the darkness of chaos. We could use somepony like you on our side.”
“I’m sure you could.” I said glancing at the table behind the unicorn. “What exactly is it you’re doing?”
“Join us and find out.” He said with a smirk.
I weighed this in my mind, on one hoof I could gain incredible magical knowledge from these two, the pony I assumed was Silvertongue had a magical amulet that was far beyond anything I’d seen since I came to Ponyville. On the other hoof, I could cast an electric shock in roughly .3478 seconds.
Apparently he could turn into mist in .3477 seconds. The electrified mist flew up into the air and crashed into one of the tables, turning back into a pony. 
“I’ll take that as a no.”
He flew up into the air and blew pink gas at me which I evaded, though it almost hit my paralyzed allies. I used my telekinesis to move the six of them into the stairwell and closed the door after them. Good news, my allies were safe. Bad news, Silver had enough time to attack me. Green noxious gas stung my skin as it touched me. I rolled forward to escape the cloud, then had to keep running as he sent out another cloud of gas.
An idea hit me, his attacks were area attacks, it would be a shame if he were to hit an ally. I took cover behind the stone table which stopped Silvertongue’s barrage.
“Oh, now that’s hardly fair.” He said with a bit of annoyance. “I was having fun.”
“It looks like we’re at an impasse,” I shouted to him, looking for any way out of this situation. “I can’t hit you and you can’t attack me without hitting your friend.”
He rolled his incorporeal eyes. “Fine, if you want to be boring.”
He held up an charm and a side door opened. Ten skeletal ponies in armor wielding weapons marched out and moved toward me.
“Well then.” I said before I began running again. 
I wasn’t great at alchemy, but now that my life depended on it I thought I’d give it a try. I began looking for the ingredients for my least favorite magic compound in existence, while being chased by skeletons and dodging toxic gas. This was just one of those days.
I spotted two of the ingredients I needed, wolfsbane and hydra powder. I grabbed them and slid across the table. I used my momentum to leap onto the next table and grabbed a bottle  of ruby dust. I dodged more pink gas as I combed my mane until I pulled out one orange manticore hair. I tossed the ingredients into a bowl, but I had to leave them as the skeletons caught up and one almost took my head off with a halberd. I grabbed a pestle with my magic and began grinding the mixture as I ran around the room.
“This is getting boring scarfy. You were making something, what is your little concoction?”
I jumped over one of the tables next to the bowl which now had a glowing red goo in it. I lifted the bowl with my magic.
“This?” I smiled. “Magic-Dampener.” I threw it at the incorporeal unicorn.
He let out a scream of agony and wherever it touched he became physical, and it spread until he came crashing down onto one of the armor pedestals. He didn’t get back up.
As soon as the pedestal was knocked over the zebra opened his eyes and looked at me. He picked up a crooked knife and rushed over to where the mayor laid, without her chains, and put the knife to her neck.
“Silvertongue lost, eh?” The zebra I assumed was Darkstripe rumbled in a foreign accent. “He was weak, it’s hardly a feat.” 
“So, since Silver wouldn’t tell me what you were up to I guess you should tell me.”
“You will know what we are doing soon enough,” He smirked. “Sooner than I thought, you brought me the final piece.”
A mook walked into the room with the blue metal helmet in its mouth. It put it on the remaining pedestal and put the fallen one back up.
“Now, all we need is a sacrifice, and when the full moon is at its peak, we shall be victorious!” The zebra started cackling madly.
He dragged the mayor onto the table and placed the knife at her neck.
“Stop!” I shouted. “If you do this then the entire Ponyville guard will be after you.”
He smiled. “My life is no matter, if I can complete the ritual, then I shall live on as a hero. Now, now is the time.”
His smile faded and he let go of the mayor.
“I… Still… Win…” He fell forward onto the table with a knife in the back of his neck.
His blood began flowing onto the table, going into the many intricate nooks and symbols adorning it. Then it began to glow and in a flash Darkstripe and the pieces of blue armor vanished. 
Valentine stood behind the table smiling. “Heh, scrub didn’t even see what hit him.”
“You do realise what you’ve done, right?”
“Yeah, lost one of my good knives, and killed an evil necromancer. I guess it evens out.”
“No, you just completed his ritual, he needed blood, you provided it.” I shook my head. “The repercussions could be catastrophic. How did you even manage not getting paralyzed by that gas?”
“I work with poisons, saw how dangerous they were, prevented them being used against me with a little artifact.” He lifted a necklace up. “Got this from a duke who was paranoid of being poisoned, he died the week after… I wonder why.”
I walked over to Silvertongue’s unconscious form. I took his amulet and began looking for a paralysis antidote. Most of the bottles around the room were smashed during our fight so that was easier said than done. Eventually I found a bottle of yellow liquid which was marked “Anti-Paralyzer.” That was awfully convenient...
I looked around for Valentine but he seemed to have slinked off somewhere. I ignored him and went to give the rest of our group some of the antidote. As I helped my comrades to their hooves I worried about what that ritual did. I could only hope that it called for the blood of somepony who was considered “good” and not just anypony who happened to bleed on it. Darkstripe said something about his master, we were probably up for some dark lord or something rising up, but who? That armor must have belonged to whoever he was summoning, shame it disappeared and I couldn’t study it.
I walked around Darkstripe’s lab, looking for some sort of journal or incantation book. I found a few scrolls about how to do the ritual, they told how to do the ritual but not what its ultimate outcome was. 
I paced around the room thinking until I stopped at the window overlooking Deadtown. I often had this kind of problem, I get so focused on one task that I forget about other important ones. This task being finding the citizens of Deadtown who seemed to have vanished.
I turned to the group who were still recovering from the paralysis and ordered. “Right, Blackjack, Twister, Red Heart and Fire Storm. I want you to search the tower for the citizens of Deadtown, they’re most likely around this tower somewhere, maybe in the basement.” I turned to the remaining three. “You search through the documents around here and look for anything regarding rituals or the missing townsfolk.”
“What are you going to do?” Lethal said, sounding a bit annoyed.
I gestured to the window. “I’m going to see what our god wants.”
> Starfall
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	At first I hadn't realized what I was seeing, when I saw the white Alicorn and her retinue of the Wonderbolts and two sky chariots of earth pony and unicorn soldiers. They landed outside of Deadtown and began filing out, surrounding the Princess in case of attack.
I exited the tower via the front door, which was much more pleasant than the small tunnel leading up here. There was a nice set of stairs down to the town that I trotted down, feeling thirty pairs of highly trained eyes watching me all the while. I recognized three groups among her retinue. The Exalted Order, the Inquisition and the Wonderbolts.
The Inquisitors stood closest to Celestia, each wearing red and white robes. They wore golden jewelry and pages from their various texts and codexes. Metal masks prevented them from being individualized but I had seen some of those manes before. I remembered how the ones with more artifacts were higher ranked.
The Wonderbolts flew around the area, surveying the situation from above. They wore blue uniforms adorned with lightning bolts. Specialized goggles helped them see what was happening down here. They seemed like harmless observers, but I’d seen them in combat, and they were some of the most dangerous soldiers in Equestria.
The Exalted Order all wore heavy full plate armor with dragon-like helmets. They all wore capes, most of them had white, but a few had blue ones and the one that was approaching me had a red one with a golden trim. Although the majority were earth ponies this one was a unicorn.
“Halt.” He said out of his helmet. “Tell me what happened to the town.”
I looked around him at the Exalted Knights and Inquisitors surrounding Princess Celestia. “I’d rather talk to her.” 
“How dare you talk to me like that, peasant! I am Pyrrhic Victory, High Paladin of the Exalted Knights, Celestia’s private bodyguard and the head of my House! I shall not be-”
“Commander.” The Princess said in a voice that sounded calm and kind, yet required attention. “You may let this stallion through.”
Pyrrhic Victory grumbled and let me past. As I approached the Princess I felt like I was walking to my mother, who had a warm tray of muffins for me. But it also felt like I was walking toward a being of unimaginable power, who could vaporize me with a look.
I bowed in front of her. “My Princess, I am Thunder Talon, I run the Ponyville Library.”
She raised an eyebrow, then laughed. “Oh, you remind me of another pony of your position. You seem to be out of your element, like she usually was.”
“I was sort of drawn into all of this,” I said with a little smile. “I would assume you want to know the tale?”
She smiled and nodded.

Spring Valentine:

All of the potions and alchemical supplies I gathered from this place was going to be worth a fortune! Not to mention the lower floors were full of all sorts of treasures, I love robbing nobles, and I loved robbing wizards. This was my lucky day.
I entered a room that was empty, save for a glowing orb in the center. It looked like it would fetch a pretty bit. I went over to it and put a hoof on it. Suddenly it flashed and I was facing a zebra. He wore black armor and had a red cloak on. A spear was strapped to his right side and he had a sword sheathed on the other. A crooked scar went over his left eye and a band of cloth was tied over it.
A look of alarm spread over his face as he looked at me. “Who the Moon are you!?”
“Nopony in particular.” I said casually. “How about yourself?”
“I am Legate Starfall, or as you seem to be more casual, you may call me Zarius.” The
zebra looked me over before saying. “So, I take it you’ve killed my shamen.”
“The grey one? Yes, I have.”
He sighed. “A shame, he was going to be very useful, I knew I should I have brought my full force there. I still have new slaves though.”
“I’m guessing it was you who took everyone from Deadtown?”
“You’d be correct. Who do you work for? Celestia? The Burned Idol? The First Legion?”
“I work for me, I came here looking for loot, I found loot. I was going to take this orb but then you showed up and now I feel a little awkward taking it.”
“Very well then, have your orb. Thank you for the information.”
“Thank you as well.”
He stiffened before I shoved the orb in my bag and he vanished.

Thunder Talon:	
“...And then you showed up and I came out here.” I finished recounting the tale of us coming to Deadtown and the battle with Silvertongue.
She nodded, a grave look across her face. “I have much to think over. Return to Ponyville with your friends. I will speak to you in the morning, as it is the Summer Sun Celebration.”
I nodded and headed back to the tower to tell everypony else to head home. I found most  of them easily. Except for Valentine. 
I called his name on every floor until I got to the basement. There were two rooms in there. One was marked “Dungeon” and one was marked “Vault.” The vault door was slightly ajar so I went there first. 
The room was full of treasure. There were piles of bits, gems, and all sorts of artifacts. Swords, armor, jewelry, dishes and books that were worth more than my house were scattered everywhere. And Valentine was shoving it all into his bags. It must have been one of those magic bags that had a lot more space than it seemed to, as he was shovelling tons of loot into it.
“Hey Valentine.” I said.
He jumped so high he almost hit the ceiling before turning back to me. “Oh, hey Talon. I found some treasure for the group to share.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I want the books and my bag to be full of bits and I won’t say a thing to anypony else.”
“Deal!”

The nine of us walked into the Ponyville town square as the sun was setting. A few ponies were still finishing up the decorations for the Summer Sun Celebration. It looked pretty nice, a whole stage had been put up and banners saying various welcomes to our Princess. In about twelve hours she will raise the sun, like she does every year. I had a feeling our celebration would be short-lived thanks to Darkstripe.
“Well… what now?” Gearbox asked.
Blackjack shook the bound Silvertongue. “I’ll take this scum to the jail and we’ll proceed with the Sun Celebration.”
“No no, not about that.” The odd pony said, waving a hoof. “I mean, do we just go our separate ways and forget about this wonderful adventure?”
I hadn’t considered this, and I doubted anypony else had. They all began looking at each other, also wondering.
Lethal was the first to say anything. “I suppose we’ll see each other around, and we’ll have some more friendly faces around the town.”
“Oh yes.” Silvertongue said. “We’ll be a happy family! Take me to my cell or let me go.”
Blackjack nodded. “Fine. Twister, help me with this sack of onions.”
Twister gave an odd look at the expression but nudged the silver-eyed pony and they walked toward the tower near the edge of town.
The group members each left with various excuses. Red Heart had to return to the church, Fire Storm went with her. Valentine snuck off while nopony was looking. Lethal said he needed to meet with somepony. This left me with Gearbox.
“So, want to come back to my place?” He said with a grin.
“Uh, I gotta go back to the library, maybe some other time.”
I slowly trotted away as the pony looked after me with a forlorn expression.

Lethal Scratch:
The guard post was even emptier than this morning. Only Blackjack and Twister were in there, each with a mug of strong cider.
“Hey ladies,” I said sitting down with them. “What’s cracking?”
Twister looked up then glanced to the door that lead down to the prison cells. I looked over and saw the armored pony who looked at me through his helmet.
I trotted over to him with a smile. “Hey friend, what’s going on down there?”
The Exalted Knight’s helmet split to form a steel maw which grabbed onto his sword. “Back off citizen, this doesn’t concern you.”
I coughed. “You don’t… recognize me?”
The Knight repeated. “This doesn’t concern you.”
I shrugged then swiftly struck the side of his helmet and one of his knee joints. The metal jaws opened as the pony fell to the ground.
“Pfft, newbies.” 
I trotted down the steps where more Knights stood, along with some Inquisitors and two of the Wonderbolts. “Evening.” I said as I tried walking past them.
A familiar Knight blocked my path with a hoof. “Well well well, if it isn’t the Paladin who ran,” Pyrrhic Victory sneered. “How’s Outcast life treating you?”
I looked at him and his grin faltered but he kept his hoof in the way.
“Let me through, pup.” I growled. “Or I’ll show you what a Sun Guard is capable of.”
His grin regained its former confidence. “You lost that title when you abandoned the Princess to those zebra fanatics.”
I had had enough. I grabbed his leg that was blocking me and bent it. He screamed as I heard a crack, then I grabbed his helmet and bashed it against the wall, over and over. I felt swords stab into me, but that didn’t matter to me as I battered this little whelp. It felt good.
“STOP!” A voice boomed. It was the only thing that could pull me from this.
Celestia looked at me with the anger of the sun. “Lethal, I allowed you to keep your title and let you live here. If you attack one of my soldiers again then I’ll have to take drastic measures.”
I dropped the injured stallion and nodded. “My lady, I’m sorry.”
“You seem to be just in time.”
I looked up. “How so?”
“We need an interrogator.”

They had Silvertongue in a small cell surrounded by Knights. He seemed to be ready for anything as I came in. He saw the big, white unicorn. Covered in his own blood, still with a mad look in his eye.
“Clear out.” I said.
The guards left leaving just the two of us in the cell. I got up close to him.
“Hey there friend, remember when you paralyzed me?” I grinned. “I don’t like that, and I pay my debts.”
He flinched.
“Do you know what Red Ice is?” I asked as I circled around him. “It’s a substance that causes strength increase. Heightened senses. Regeneration. And mental instability.”
I stuck my face into his. “Some ponies are born with this stuff already inside them. After a long time, it starts to rot their brains, turning them into incredibly powerful lunatics. I suppose you can see where this is going.”
I drew a dagger from my saddlebag. “Shall we get started?”
The noble snapped. “It was the Legate! I swear!”
“What Legate? What did he do?”
“Legate Starfall, he sent Darkstripe to me and forced me to help him with the ritual!”
I got a little closer. “Tell me about this ritual, what does it do?”
That’s about when something hit me in the back of the head. It didn’t knock me out but it sure hurt. I turned to see two zebras wrapped in cloaks, already drawing glyphs on Silvertongue’s body. I lept up and headbutted one in the side, my horn pierced his cloak and dug into his hide. He coughed up some blood but kept writing the glyphs. 
The two zebras clapped their hooves and Silvertongue vanished. Leaving them to focus on me. The both stood on their hind legs and lashed out with devastating blows. I narrowly ducked under an attack and rammed the zebra in the gut with my shoulder. His companion took the chance to jump and kick me in the side with all four hooves. I felt something crack but kept fighting. I raised up onto my hind legs and backed up with the first zebra on my back. He let out a grunt and the other one kicked me in the stomach knocking me to the ground.
They saw an opportunity and took it. They beat me on the ground, I could hardly move from all the incoming blows from the two warriors. One of them took a knife from the sheath on her foreleg and raised my head, exposing my neck. I always wanted to go out fighting.
The mare howled as a spear was embedded into her side. I looked up to see Exalted Knights pinning both of the zebras to the ground. Then everything slipped into darkness.

Thunder Talon:
Books laid strewn around the little library in the tree. Mostly about magic and history, I kept searching for that blue armor but couldn’t find anything.
“This is hopeless.” I sighed as I looked at the mess I had made. “If only I could scry for it, or Darkstripe, but he’s dead so…”
I turned to the door that led to the basement. That was where I kept my less than reputable books and artifacts from Canterlot.
The room was full of all sorts of shelves full of dark artifacts. I looked at the shelf that contained the Mist Amulet that Silvertongue used. Next to it were some cursed pieces of jewelry and a toy bee that was stuffed with toast.
I walked over to the bookshelf that contained books on dark magic. I moved my hoof along the books which each held horrible power. One whispered to me of making me the most powerful sorcerer in the world, another told me it could help me make anything I wanted. I finally stopped on a tome that had a spine made of bone and had a horrible gaping maw surrounded by red runes adorning the cover.
I flipped through the book and stopped on the page the book knew I wanted. Cursed books were so handy. I looked down at the page and the “Corpse Find” spell it held.
I began muttering the words it told me to. Runes floated around me and my body began to ache. My mind flew through horrifying scenes of murder and gore until I stopped on the body of Darkstripe. He was surrounded by zebras dressed in robes adorned with talismans and charms who all chanted. The blue armor floated around his glowing body. Though, he looked different. His legs were stretched and his stripes had faded. Bones poked out of his sides and his forehead and his features looked more feminine. 
I looked behind this disturbing scene. He was in a castle that was in ruin, there were plenty of those in Equestria nowadays. A zebra in black armor with a red cape paced back and forth. A grin spread across his scared face. Two other armored zebras waited by him while he spoke to himself. 
Then he turned to one of the armored zebras. “Centurion Farsight, contact the second legion. Tell them we’ll soon be ready to make our move.” He turned to the other. “Centurion Earthshaker, head back to Shattered Hoof and contact the rest of our scattered warriors, we will need everyzebra on high alert.”
The two nodded and left. The zebra began pacing again. Darkstripe now had skeletal wings and a thin, short horn. A blue aura now floated around the body that seemed to not have a gender anymore.
This certainly wasn’t good, I pulled out of the spell. I felt, odd. Most of the time when I cast dark magic I felt odd. I felt like I lost a bit of me and something had violated my soul.
I shook my head, reacclimating myself to being in a body. Then I noticed the pony standing behind me.
“Casting dark magic I see.” The Inquisitor deadpanned.
“Yes, I’m guessing you have some words about that Brother Inquisitor.” I turned to the yellow unicorn with an orange mane. “I have just cause.”
“Speak it.”
“I have learned of the enemy’s identity. We are looking for a Legate Starfall, he in in a ruined castle possible in this area.”
The Inquisitor tensed. “Starfall, you’re sure?”
I nodded.
“This is very bad news, your cause for using dark magic was just, you shall receive no prosecution.”
“We must relay this information to the Princess.”

Me and the Inquisitor entered the guard post which had been converted into a base of operations for Celestia’s ponies. Red Heart and Fire Storm were here, looking over a badly injured Lethal. Blackjack and Twister stood off in the corner letting the Inquisitors and members of the Exalted Order organize themselves. I couldn’t see any Wonderbolts, I assumed they’d be outside, watching from above. Celestia herself was giving orders to two Knights who nodded and went out the front door.
“Celestia, I have news.” I said as I approached the alicorn. Her guards weren’t too happy about me moving so close but they let me past when Celestia waved a dismissive hoof.
“What is it Talon?”
“If have found information on the enemy. They are led by a Legate Starfall, and are currently performing the ritual in a ruined castle.”
“Pfft, anypony could’ve told you that.” I heard somepony say.
All the Knights drew weapons, looking for the unseen pony. Then he revealed himself by dropping down right next to me.
“Valentine, what were you doing in the rafters?” I asked the smug earth pony.
“Just seeing what these fools are up to, checking my information with theirs.” He said, his grin never fading.
One of the Knights whose voice I recognized as Pyrrhic Victory spoke up. “You’ve also been investigating, tell us what you know criminal scum!”
Valentine looked over at the paladin with a crumpled helmet. “Alright then, for a price.”
The paladin growled. “And what might that be?”
“Either you do me a funny little dance and sing in front of your men.” He looked over to the Princess. “Or I get a kiss from an alicorn.”
If I had the sufficient bucking power I would have sent his across the room. I think half the Knights were already considering that.
The paladin was seething. He slowly look to the Princess and back to Valentine. He sighed and began to shake his rump.
“Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my ragtime filly, baby my heart’s on fire, send me a kiss by wire.”
Valentine had the biggest grin I’d ever seen on his face as he watched the prideful paladin shame himself. “That’ll do. Alright, here’s what I’ve found from my eyes in the sky and various other places. There is a large group of zebras who look ready for war in the Shattered Hoof Ruins. A small detachment split off and went into the Everfree, led by Legate Zarius, also known as Starfall who I had a nice chat with. He also took all of the citizens of Deadtown, he’s using them as slaves to build up fortifications in that old prison.”
“The Everfree… You mean that they’re going to-” It finally hit me. How could I have been so stupid. I turned to Pyrrhic Victory. “Get as many troops as you can here as soon as possible. I know where they are and we don’t have any time.”
“And why pray-tell should I do that?”
“Nightmare Moon is returning. Tonight.”

Me, Lethal, Valentine, Red Storm, Red Heart, Twister, Blackjack, Pyrrhic Victory, 25 Exalted Knights, 12 Inquisitors and three of the Wonderbolts and the few town guard we could round up galloped as fast as we could through the Everfree Forest.
The full moon was almost at its peak as the abandoned castle came into sight. It stood on a plateau surrounded by a large chasm. The castle was once a beautiful palace but was now just a husk. A wall stood around a large main keep. A few towers dotted the walls and rose out of the keep.  A green light spilled out of the windows in the main keep.
I held up a hoof to get our team to stop. Zebra legionnaires dotted the bridge that spanned the chasm surrounding the old keep. A few windows of the castle had light flowing out where I could see lookouts. Some less conspicuous lookouts stood on the walls of the fort, each with a crossbow. 
“Alright, wizard.” Commander Victory said next to me. “Can you teleport us onto the other side of that chasm?”
I shook my head. “Not all of us, maybe about, ten.”
He nodded. “Paladin Stronghoof, Paladin Cold Shower and Paladin Rainy Days, go with Talon and his ponies.” He turned to the High Inquisitor who stood with her ponies. “High Inquisitor Balefire, send your best two with this group.”
She gestured toward two of the robed ponies with the most jewelry and scrolls strapped to them and they came forward, looking at me from behind their metal masks.
“What will you do Victory?” I asked.
“We’ll provide a distraction on that bridge. Good luck Talon.”
I nodded and motioned for my group to follow me. 
Lethal turned to Pyrrhic Victory and called out. “Have fun storming the castle!” Before following the rest of us.
We began going down toward the chasm. I looked around our group and at the castle we had to storm. I figured we should be better off now. We were more prepared than when we attack Silvertongue’s Tower. I had a spellbook and a few scrolls in my bag as well as some potions. Red Heart had some armor and also had some kind of tome. Red Storm had some light armor. Valentine has pretty much the same gear, but I guessed he had more up his sleeves than on them. Lethal now wore armor similar to the Exalted Knight’s but it had a golden trim and was in worse repair, a claymore hung from his side. 
A guard stood on the wall ahead of us and one watched from a window. This was the least guarded part of the fort, it still wouldn’t be easy though.
“Brother Inquisitor, Sister Inquisitor, can you cast any silencing spells?” I asked in a hushed voice.
“If you need one of these heretics dispatched without raising an alarm simply request it Brother Talon.”
“Stop calling me that, I’m not an Inquisitor. Just, deal with those guards so I can teleport us across.”
Their horns glowed for a moment and the guards stiffened and fell. I waited for any more guards and then teleported the ten of us across the pit onto the castle wall. I looked back to where the main force started to advance on the bridge. Arrows began to rain down on them. Magical shields surrounded our forces from the Inquisitors and spellfire flew back at the archers in the keep. The Wonderbolts flew in formation, each with a trail of dark clouds that sparked with lightning. They looped and struck the clouds releasing lightning bolts onto the zebra forces. 
“Don’t worry about them, Talon.” Red Heart said. “These are Equestria’s best.”
I nodded. “Alright, we need to make it to the throne room, that was where I saw them doing the ritual. Does anypony know this place well?”
The group all shook their heads. “Very well. We should get inside before we get spotted.”
We ran inside and were greeted by an emptied armory, a few armor racks stood around the room and a few knocked over weapon racks held bows. Bows were weapons that only unicorns could use so it made sense that they were left behind.
We headed to the left down a hall full of tapestries depicting the building of Equestria. I’d have to come back to look at these some day but for now we kept moving. The entire castle rumbled as the High Inquisitor Balefire and a few others cast a massive spell that leveled a good amount of the zebra forces.
A patrol of zebra troops ran down the hall in front of us, not noticing as they headed to the front lines. Then they ran back the other way, three zebras short. I cautiously walked forward and looked down the hall after the fleeing zebras. Then I looked the other way and saw him. A brown earth pony with a white mane stood on his hind legs. He was covered in clockwork devices, one of which was a claw on his right forehoof which grasped a great sword. Three zebras laid in front of him. He grinned as he looked at us from behind his goggles.
“Gearbox.” I said as calmly as I could. “How the Moon are you here?”
He sheathed his sword and dropped onto all four hooves with a cracking sound. “I was trying to conduct experiments in my lab when all of a sudden some zebras walked in and started making themselves at home. Now the whole place is getting bombarded by those accursed sorcerers outside. It’s really quite annoying.”
I shook my head. “Okay then, I’m not going to question this. Gearbox, do you know a quick way to the throne room?”
He nodded and grabbed one of the torch holders on the wall and pulled it down. A few moments later the wall next to it swung open.
“Celestia banish it, Gearbox.” I said before following the brown stallion in. 
The castle was full of secret passages and tunnels. If you walked for long enough you could probably get anywhere in the castle. 
Gearbox stopped in front of the outline of another hidden door and prepared to open it. “Shall we commence with the flank-kicking?”
I looked back at the ponies behind me then turned back to Gearbox and nodded. He pushed open the section of wall and we rushed out. About thirty zebra legionnaires stood about the room, all of them armed with spears or just stood on their hind legs, ready to fight with their hooves. Four heavily armored zebras with red capes and plumes stood guard around Legate Zarius. They all looked toward the main door at one end of the room. At the other end stood two thrones. One of them was made of marble and covered with yellow decorations and the other was made of obsidian and covered with blue decorations. A large sun was emblazoned on the marble throne and a moon was on the obsidian throne. In the center of the room was a fully fledge alicorn surrounded by green magic and zebra shamen. Her coat was black and her mane looked like the night sky covered in stars. There was no cutie mark to be seen.
“Legate Starfall! Intruders!” A nearby legionnaire shouted as she spotted us. 
The room erupted into chaos. About half of the zebra forces charged us while the other half stayed either by the main door or stood to prevent us from hurting Zarius or the ritual. The four Knights and Lethal got into a fighting formation instantly and held against the first wave who battered the armored ponies. Me and the Inquisitors formed up behind the Knights and rained spells onto the attacking zebras. Fire Storm grabbed onto Gearbox and flew him over the line of fighting equines. Red Heart stayed with me and the Inquisitors, casting spells on the Knights, keeping them in fighting condition.
I casted spell after spell into the enemy ranks. The Knights fought hard against the zebras and it looked like we were winning. 								      		        			The room exploded with light. Pain shot through me, I could hear the Inquisitors scream as the entire aether shook. My horn felt like it was on fire and I could only beg it to stop.
Then the pain faded to a dull ache and all the light left the room. Slowly the room began to glow a dim blue. Everyone stopped fighting to look to the center of the room. A mare with a black coat was crouched there. She wore blue armor and had a mane like the night sky. Her cutie mark was that of a patch of night sky with a crescent moon on it. She stood up and spread her wings wide and sighed. She opened her teal eyes and looked down at Legate Zarius.
“Zarius.” She purred. “Oh my sweet Zarius, you have done well.”
She slowly walked toward him, ignoring the unconscious zebra shamen lying around her. She put a hoof on the zebra legate’s face.
“It is good to see you in face to face, instead of just hear one another speak.”
“I agree my princess. You are more beautiful than I could have imagined.” The zebra said, little more than a whisper.
The main door exploded with a magical explosion. Pyrrhic Victory and Balefire walked through the door, troops followed them. When they saw the jet black alicorn they froze.
“Just in time, you made it in time to see my return.”
“Attack!” Commander Victory shouted and the additional forces charged Nightmare Moon. 
Her horn glowed and a wave of dark magic spread out over the attack ponies. They all flew back like ragdolls. Then she turned to us.
“So cute, you all think that you had a chance to prevent my return.” She chuckled. “But it was foretold by the stars that I would be here, and that I would change the world for the better. Which I intend to do.”
With that she sent dark magic all through the room. I saw the Knights in front of me collapse and then everything went dark.