They took their first steps into the Everfree; legs shaking but minds firm.
Twilight led the way, appearing far braver than she actually was. Her front right hoof twitched every other second, itching to check and triple check the map. But she held back. Logic told her that constantly checking a map every few seconds would actually increase the risk of getting lost. Not to mention at least half the party was already looking twitchy.
After another five minutes of walking she allowed herself a small break to glance at the map and 'rally the troops' as Shiny would have put it.
"The old castle is at the very centre of the forest so if we keep going straight we should come to it. I estimate, if we run into no significant issues, we will make it within the hour. Then we can stop the Nightmare and rescue Princess Luna and her sister."
Four of her companions nodded seriously. Twilight noted Rainbow looked rather downtrodden at the idea of no trouble. She was relieved to see however that Fluttershy looked rather relieved at the idea of an uneventful trip through the Everfree.
Applejack and Rarity exchanged a concerned glance. "Twilight are you sure.."
"But I thought the nightmare WAS her sister." Pinkie Pie interrupted, throwing herself dramatically over a nearby log. Her whining tone echoed the boredom of a mare whose plot in life wasn't progressing quickly enough for her. "How are we supposed to know who to aim the party cannon at, if Sunny Smiles and Solar Flare are the exact same pony?"
"Well from the little I've been able to gather, the Elements of Harmony do seem to have some sort of sentience. Judgement if you will. It's entirely possible they will see the harmonic imbalance and fix it. If not they are certainly capable of imprisonment, which will at least give us time to search for an alternative."
Rainbow Dash shrugged, rubbing her hooves together far too eagerly for Twilight's taste. "Either way we're here to kick butt. The quicker we get through this stupid forest, the sooner I can kick the butt of whatever it is Flame Head calls herself."
"If I were you, I would be more careful about whose butt you threaten to kick." spoke a disembodied voice.
As they watched the space in front of Rainbow Dash grew brighter and brighter. A ball of light spread through the clearing, blinding to look at and almost burning in its intensity. For a moment it seemed as though the Sun itself had entered the clearing.
When they could see again the Nightmare herself stood before them, only a bare inch from Rainbow Dash, staring down imperiously at the pegasus with a look of pointed disdain.
Looming over the hovering pegasus, her words hit like icy daggers. "It would behove you to think before you speak so carelessly. I do not believe you would enjoy the punishment for threatening royalty."
She leered forward, looking at each of the ragged band in turn. "A thousand years changes the faces but I still see the archetypes. The guard dog. The boor. The doormat. The hooflicker. The fool. All of them with you Twilight sparkle. I can see my sister chose well in her student. Your loyalty is admirable. But it is misplaced. Turn back now and I shall spare you. Continue on this path and there will be consequences. I have no use for traitors."
Twilight hesitated.
"But Princess Luna…"
The alicorn features softened, an almost hurt look spreading over her features. "Is quite safe." She quirked her head. "Do you truly believe I would harm my own sister? That I would hurt her the way so many of you little ponies have?"
Her look of indignation was convincing.
Twilight's determination wavered.
'Maybe she doesn’t want to harm anyone.' Twilight thought desperately. 'She DID catch princess Luna. There's no guarantee the Nightmare has to be malignant. This could all just be a big misunderstanding...right?'
She took a step towards Infernia.
Only to find a blue wing holding her back.
Rainbow Dash stepped in front of her, wielding her brashness like a sword. "Listen here Solar Square. You might be big and powerful. Hell, you might even be some long lost Princess for all I care. But you'll never be my princess. All you are is a big fat fake. So go crawl back to the Sun. Nopony wants you here anyway."
Infernia's hoof whipped out striking Rainbow Dash across the face.
The pegasus was thrown a good meter across the clearing, thankfully not hitting any of the trees. Fluttershy rushed over to tend to her, as Rarity glanced uncertainly back and forth between the fallen pegasus and the enraged alicorn.
She began to shift uncertainly towards Infernia when Applejack took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and stepped forward; placing herself firmly between Infernia and the others. "Look Princess. I ain't never heard of you before today. Ain't heard much of what you're spoutin' off about neither. But I get family. Far as I know, things mighta been way worse a thousand years ago. Might be Princess Luna actually needed protectin' back then. But that was thousand years ago. Things have changed."
Infernia's fury paused. Her agered face slid instead to intrigued analysis. Mentally Twilight sighed in relief.
Applejack shuffled her hooves, pawing nervously at the ground. "Look. Honestly, I don't you, you don't know me. You ain't got no reason to believe me. I bet you think you're protecting your sister, really I do. It was my lil sister you spooked back in the town square. I was furious. Just like you're furious now. But those ponies are dead. They died a thousand years ago when you were still stuck up in the sky not able to anythin' about it. But they are gone. Right now it ain't us that's hurtin' her. It's you."
"Lies." whispered Infernia. But all the conviction had left her voice.
"Look I bet we can still sort this all out. Just come back with us to Ponyville, bring back Princess Luna. We can still make this right."
"You're wrong Applejack." Rainbow growled. "It's too late for that. Just look at what little Miss Sunbutt has already done. There's ponies, innocent ponies,sitting in the hospital right now because of her. Applebloom, your own little sister is right now hiding in the storm cellar right now, because she terrified her so much she can't even bear to look at the Sun. That's not even getting into what she did to her own sister. Tell me, High and Mighty Princess of the Sun. What kind of monster are you that your own sister hates you?"
Internia blanched with rage. Smoke poured off her body as the temperature around her rapidly increased.
Rainbow paused, tensing in anticipation of the blow. Cautiously she opened her eye. Infernia's hoof was a millimetre away.
The alicorn stood frozen in place. Her hood shook in desperate fury, reaching to attack. But something held her back.
'Really Luna?' she thought angrily. 'A binding oath? Do you trust me so little? Does my word mean so little to you?'
Rainbow smirked. "Guess you aren't all that High and Mighty after all, Your Highness." she said smugly.
Infernia pulled back the hoof, looking for all Equus as if she would rather dash the Sun itself from the sky. Her features had taken on a maddened ferocity unmatched by any they had seen before. Liquid fire poured from her eyes, scorching the ground beneath her. The ground around her dried, then blackened as smoke curled up from it encircling the alicorn's legs as they slowly greyed from the ash.
"You are lucky I do not strike you down where you stand mortal." snarled Infernia, words bathed in bloody promises. "Be assured, when you do fail, and you will. I will take great pleasure grinding your traitorous bones to dust beneath my hooves."
"We won't fail. Before your cursed day ends you'll be the one eating my dust." She scoffed. "Some Lost Princess you turned out to be. Princess Luna must be so disappointed. She built you up to be a saviour, then you turned out a dirty traitor. You go on and on about how we're all traitors; about how loyalty means something to you. But you don;t even understand what it means. Loyalty is about standing behind your friends, behind your family. Maybe you were a good pony once. But frankly I don't care. All that matters is who you are now. And that pony is a dirty stinking traitor! And not one of us will listen to you! So you can take your stupid deal and stick it up your ass!"
Infernia turned red with rage . "SO BE IT!"
The forest around them grew scorching hot, phantom flames burning their skin as Infernia's form seemed to gasify. The whirlwind of light span faster and faster becoming a maelstrom of flame and smoke that ripped through the clearing for miles in every direction.
When at last the six companions dared to open their eyes again, everything around them had been reduced to a blackened wasteland. Everything had been burnt beyond all recognition. The great trees that had once shielded them from the Sun were now little more than charcoal skeletons. Everywhere they could see flames leapt up from the ravaged ground. The only places of safety were small rings of green around each of the six that the fire had left unscathed and a small line of green that encircled them all.
"Well that could have gone worse I suppose." muttered Rarity.