The moment she hit the floor, the ponies surrounding her erupted in panic. Applejack, seeing the danger from their hooves, barged her way through the crowd with her brother’s help to the side of the unconscious unicorn who had protected them all.
“Let me dear.” Rarity, who looked paler than usual, said as she levitated Twilight onto Big Mac’s back as Spike clambered onto Applejack’s. “We really should get her somewhere safe.”
“The library’s close.” Spike spoke up for the first time since Nightmare Moon had appeared, biting his lower lip as he watched his unconscious pseudo-mother. “All our stuff is there.”
“Then tha’ where we’ll go. Can yer carrier ‘er that far?” Applejack asked, turning to her brother who nodded.
“E’yup.” Big Mac, a huge red earth pony stallion with a short orange mane and tail and a single green apple for a cutie mark, was not too concerned about the weight on his back considering how much he hauled around on a daily basis for the farm.
“But how’re we gonna get through the crowd?” Rarity asked, deciding to come with them since it was clear she was no longer needed here and they would need her help to lift the other unicorn back down again.
“Everypony quiet!” The mayor bellowed over the noise of the panicked chatter and stomping hooves, “Please, settle down!” When that did not work she gestured to the only ponies who were not panicking, which, surprisingly to them all included Fluttershy, who had been settling her birds and trying not to think about what had happened too hard. “Take the back entrance and when she wakes up, tell her thank you and I’d like to speak with her.”
“We will.” Applejack tipped her hat to the mayor, “Thanks to yer too.”
The small group of ponies bolted out of the hall and down towards the tree that the library rested in. Halfway there Rainbow Dash rejoined them, looking irritated.
“She got away.” The pale blue pegasus complained as she flew above them, keeping up with the group easily. “She turned into a weird light and vanished into the Everfree Forest.”
“The Everfree Forest?” Rarity yelped. It was not only her features that fear crossed. The Everfree was dangerous. No pony could live there. There were too many dangerous beasts that roamed the dark and creepy forest. If Nightmare Moon had gone there, there was a good chance that they would never be able to find her amongst the twisting branches and boggy paths. That, if they thought about it, was probably what the dark sorceress had been going for when she had challenged Twilight to follow her.
“Never min’ that now.” Applejack said as they reached the library and Spike scrambled to open the door for them. “We can’ do nothing until Princess Twilight wakes up.” Big Mac preceded his sister into the huge hollow tree and Spike swiftly made up a bed of pillows for the unicorn on his back as the others followed him in.
“She didn’t tell us she was a Princess.” Rainbow huffed, “And where’d her wings go?”
“Twilight’s not a Princess.” Spike yawned, having trouble keeping up with everything, having not slept since before dawn the previous day, though he was not sure if it could be counted as another ‘day’ when the sun had yet to rise. “And I’ve never seen her do that before.”
“Her wings were damaged.” Fluttershy spoke, her voice little more than a whisper.
“With ‘er wings as messed up as they were, I don’t think it woulda mattered if she did ‘ave them out normally, Rainbow.” Applejack spoke over the end of Fluttershy’s sentence, having not heard the shy and quiet yellow pegasus.
“Applejack’s right, it might be a choice to hide them, darling.” Rarity spoke up, “I mean if I had wings and they were that badly damaged, I’d probably want to hide them too.”
“No, no!” Spike protested, frustration clear, “You’re not listening to me. Twilight’s a unicorn, not an alicorn! I don’t know how she did that but she’s not normally an Alicorn! She must have learned a spell or something without telling me.” Spike sounded kind of hurt at that, causing the ponies to wince and glance at each other.
“Perhaps she didn’t have time, darling.” Rarity offered as she levitated Twilight down onto the pillow bed. “She was rather busy yesterday.”
“But we share...” Spike paused, considering the golden trinket hanging from the ribbon around Twilight’s neck. Twilight had, as far as he was aware, never studied to become an Alicorn like her teacher and he had helped her with every spell she had learned in the last couple of years. Once he had proved to the unicorn that he could help, she had been more than willing to let him assist wherever possible and with something as complicated as this, he was sure that his friend would have needed his help multiple times.
However he had heard the tales that Treasure Trove had woven about the powers of the ‘Millennium Puzzle,’ the same puzzle that Twilight was wearing as a necklace. There had been horror stories and ghost stories and even the tale of an Alicorn Princess haunting anyone who held it but there was one thing that every story had in common.
The Millennium Puzzle was a powerful, magical artefact that granted its holder one wish and one wish only. The only thing that made any sense to Spike was that it was the Puzzle that had changed his friend, rather than anything that Twilight had done herself.
“Whatever she did, it worked.” Rainbow shrugged, landing for the briefest of moments before taking off again, expressing her nervousness in her inability to stand still for even a few seconds. “So all we got to do is get her to wherever Nightmare Moon is hiding and...”
“I don’t think that’ll work, sugarcube.” Applejack frowned, “They fought to a draw and that, that...”
“Blue creepy?” Pinkie finally piped up, seeming to have lost her tongue for a few minutes but having found it again in fine fashion, “Queen Meany?”
Applejack gave her a look that clearly said ‘seriously?’ and she was not the only one. Then as one they seemed to remember that it was Pinkie Pie talking and ignored it as Applejack turned to Big Mac and asked, “Can you look after the farm for me?” When he gave her a questioning look, the orange filly sighed, “Everypony’s probably headed back there and we could lose the whole crop if the sun doesn’t come back soon, besides you need to look after Applebloom and Granny Smith.”
The huge stallion did not look happy, but he nuzzled his sister and nodded, “You come back safe, okay sis?” He asked, his speech slow and clearly carefully thought out, belying the smarts hidden away in his brain.
“I will. Promise.” The earth pony promised her brother with a smile, “Dun worry ‘bout me. I’m tough as old horseshoes. You’re the one that has to herd the family.”
Big Mac actually flinched at that. He still had no idea how his sister managed like she did when the Apple horde descended onto Sweet Apple Acres, but she had done rather well so far, he just half expected the entire rest of the horde to try and follow his sister in to the Everfree if she went with the Princess to try and defeat Nightmare Moon.
“Spike?” The baby dragon forgot all about the conversation at the soft call. He wheeled around to look at the unicorn who had hatched him. She was blinking around at the gathered group and their surroundings like she could not work out how they had gotten there or why the others were present.
“Twilight!” Spike darted over and hugged the unicorn, who froze for a moment, startled and then rested her head on his shoulder. She could feel him trembling against her, his scales itching slightly as he clung tightly, “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“It’s alright Spike,” Twilight murmured, trying to ignore how the others were staring at them, “It’ll be okay. How did we get back here?”
“You passed out, darling.” Rarity informed her, coming over cautiously, “So Applejack’s brother carried you here.”
“E’yup.” Big Mac agreed, nodding and bowing, reminding the other ponies to bow to.
“Wh...why are you bowing to me? All I did was cast a shield spell.” Twilight asked, confused as the fillies followed the stallion’s lead. “Please, get up.”
“You were an Alicorn.” Spike told her, his voice trembling as badly as the rest of him, “I thought you were gunna collapse and then you changed and...”
“I’m not now though.” Twilight frowned as the others, slightly nervously, stood up. She could not remember changing. The last thing she could remember was thinking that she had failed and that she hoped Celestia would forgive her. It might have been something she had done accidently as she had blacked out but she did not know how.
“Are you alright, sugarcube?” Applejack asked, moving to her side. She looked worried, not about her but for her.
“That. Was. Amazing!” Dash interrupted before Twilight could answer, “You totally sent Nightmare Moon packing! She totally ran away with her tail between her legs.”
That was not how the other ponies remembered it and certainly that had not been the case up until the point Twilight could remember, but they were all alive and Rainbow seemed so convinced of her facts that Twilight could not help but want more clarification.
“What happened? After I changed the first time? My memory’s a little hazy, probably because of all the magic I was using.” She questioned, needing more details if she was to understand what had happened and attempt it again if, or rather, as she was half convinced after her last performance against the possessed Night Goddess, when, she needed to.
“It was simply awful, darling.” Rarity complained with an overdramatic swoon, “That horrid wave of magic was nearly through your shield and you nearly fell, I thought we were all going to...”
Rarity did not need to finish her sentence. Twilight had thought something similar as she had slipped into unconsciousness, unable to maintain the level of magic she had weaved into the shield against the tide that had been pushing against not only her magic but her mind and something deeper, some core part of her that she did not understand.
“Yeah, but you got back up and changed in a burst of gold light.” Rainbow Dash picked up where Rarity had left off. “Then you totally sent Nightmare Moon running. She didn’t know where to turn once your shield just soaked up her attack and she ran away to the Everfree Forest.”
Twilight had heard of the Everfree on the edge of Equestria. The two Princesses had once ruled from a castle in the middle of it called the Castle of the Two Sisters. She had not ever expected to have to enter it however. “Spike, has Princess Celestia sent a letter?”
The baby dragon shook his head, looking worried. “I haven’t had any letters to or from the palace since you sent yours, Twilight.”
That was not good news. She just hoped it was because her brother had yet to find out that something had gone wrong rather than because Nightmare Moon had gone to the palace in Canterlot first. “All right, can you send a letter to my brother for me?” She asked Spike, “Then I need to find out more about the castle in the Everfree, because I bet that’s where she’s going.”
“She did say she was going to the ‘heart’ of her old Kingdom.” Applejack remembered, “Can we help?”
“You...want to help?” Twilight was actually surprised. No one except Spike had ever offered to help her when she was on a research kick before. Not for years anyway once they had realised how much work was going to be involved. Maybe that was why she had offered, because she thought it was going to be easy.
“Why not?” Applejack asked as Pinkie Pie started bouncing around the room, searching for books on the Everfree Forest or the Elements of Harmony. It’ll all help and I’ve never shied away from a bit of hard work.”
“I hate reading.” Rainbow Dash grumbled as she started looking through the books that Pinkie had pulled off of the shelves.
Twilight smiled and let out an amused huff at that. She had heard the grumbling before. She seemed to be the only one who enjoyed trawling through books for hours to look for information. “Spike? You ready?” The baby dragon nodded and lifted quill to parchment. “Okay, dear Shining Armour.” Spike started scribbling it down as the ears of the other ponies perked up to listen to her words, hoping to hear something more about the situation, “I don’t know where Princess Celestia is or what happened, but Nightmare Moon is free. I fought her, apparently to a standstill but I don’t remember it. I’ve completed my Millennium Puzzle and that apparently comes with a title. As ‘Guardian of the Shadows’ I think it’s my job to go into the Everfree Forest after her and try and stop whatever she has planned so that’s what I’m going to do once I have a location. I don’t know what to suggest, I haven’t had time to sit and think of a plan, but then you were always better at that than me.” She sighed, “See you when this is all over. I’ll be at the Castle of the Two Sisters…one way or another. Your loving sister, Twilight Sparkle.” Spike finished it with a flourish, refusing to look at Twilight until it was sealed with her little insignia and sent in a puff of green flame.
“Twilight…” Spike hesitated before darting over and hugging her leg, “Don’t go?” He pleaded, “Please? You don’t know if you can do that again and…”He trailed off, still clinging to her leg.
“I have to Spike.” Twilight sighed, hugging him with her other hoof, “There isn’t anyone else. The Princess is counting on me.”
“You’re not alone, sugar.” Applejack promised, “I’m coming with you.”
“Yeah, me too.” Rainbow Dash nodded, “She messed with Ponyville and that’s not cool.”
“This eternal night will do nothing for my complexion darling.” Rarity added, “I’m in.”
“And the widdle-animals will get all upset if the day doesn’t come back.” Fluttershy piped up. “So count me in too.”
“The Everfree’s all kind of weird and creepy.” Pinkie Pie piped up, “It’s really exciting! Let me come too!”
“I…” Twilight paused. She was going to say no, going to tell them that it was a bad idea and they should not go with her. However there was one thing that was stopping her and that was Unity. She needed the other ponies, they had saved her from getting trampled and even if she was not sure they were her friends yet, they did, at least want to help.
If she was honest with herself she was going to need all the help she could get. She did not know how she had survived her last fight, she did not know if she would again without a little assistance. “Thank you.” She settled on finally, smiling at the others.
“You’re welcome sugar cube.” Applejack smiled back as Spike let go, feeling a little reassured as long as he knew that Twilight was not going to go alone.
“Hey, hey,” Pinkie skidded a book over to Twilight, an old text called, ‘The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide’ with a great big, bright, grin, “Will this help?”
“Yes!” Twilight practically pounced on it, flicking through the pages rapidly, searching through for something, anything that would make their search for the Elements easier or give them a more direct route to the castle. She did not like to admit it but as the others dove into whatever books they could find that might have useful information, she felt more like going back to sleep than going out into the Everfree.
That was not really an option though. Not with Nightmare Moon out there and waiting for her. If she did not go to the possessed alicorn, then she would come here, to her and the citizens of Ponyville could get hurt. She could not let that happen. She did not know why or how the alicorn, who was thousands of years old, recognised her but apparently she did and she hated her. There was no way, after that little display in the town hall that Nightmare Moon would let her just walk away and let her brother and his guards handle this.
She would have liked to think that she could handle this without the Elements, but she was no foal. She had only fought the Shadow tainted Alicorn to a standstill and that had been, relatively, rested. The next time that they met Nightmare Moon would have an advantage. They were going to her, rather than the other way around and the Alicorn formerly known as Luna would be well rested while Twilight was not even sure she could transform herself again. She needed them, needed the boost they would give her and anyone who went with her, if they were going to survive until dawn.
Not that Twilight had any idea of how to bring the sun back if defeating Nightmare Moon did not bring Celestia back. She did not know what had happened to her mentor to prevent her from being there in Ponyville when they had needed her, but she knew the Princess would never have abandoned her ponies when they needed her the most, so Nightmare Moon had to have done something to her. It was just another question to add to her expanding list for the next time she ran into the Alicorn.
“Ah ha!” She crowed as she found what she was looking for. The book was a lot more informative than anything she had in her own library back in Canterlot and as the other ponies gathered around, she started reading out the section that had caused her to cheer, “The marble forms of the first five Elements of Harmony, Laughter, Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity and Kindness, were placed on a statue in the courtyard of the destroyed palace while the sixth was never recalled but when asked, the Princess said that when a ‘spark’ is applied to the other Elements, then it will appear. Several scholars have researched what she could mean, while others have tried to ask Princess Celestia for answers, but none have been forthcoming.”
So we get to this statue, apply this ‘spark’ whatever that is, and kick Nightmare Moon’s rump. What’re we waiting for?” Rainbow Dash sounded sure of the outcome and Twilight wished she could have as much confidence as her. There was just so much that could go wrong.
“Uhhh, Twilight?” Spike asked, his nervous tone making the purple unicorn in question worried. She turned to look at the baby dragon, only to find that the horrid purple and black mist from before was seeping into the tree from underneath the door. “What is that stuff?”
“I don’t know.” Twilight admitted, though she hated to do so, “But I think it’s the Shadows.”
“The shadows? Rarity asked, confused.
“I hate to say it sugar cube,” Applejack pitched in, backing up from the mist, “But these don’t look like any shadows I’ve ever seen.”
“I’ll explain on the way.” Twilight promised as she bolted for the door, opening it to find that the dark energy was not just spreading through her home. The mist was spreading out across Ponyville and beyond. Whatever Nightmare Moon was up to in the depths of the Everfree was sending the dark magic outwards across Equestria. Twilight did not know what she was up to, but she was pretty sure that they were out of time to find out. “Spike, stay here, please?” The unicorn asked her charge as she got halfway out of the door.
“But...” Spike started as Twilight half turned to look at him, “I can help.”
Twilight was reminded how she had felt yesterday when she had realised that the Princess was sending her away. She had not really felt like Celestia had faith in her until she had read the letter this morning. She did not want to leave Spike feeling the same way, “It’s not because I don’t think you can help. If my brother comes, he’ll need someone to tell him what’s happened and where we’ve gone. Plus I have an important job for you.”
“Oh?” Spike straightened his back at that, ready to receive orders and not wanting to let Twilight down.
“I need you to go to the mayor and give her all the help you can. She might need to send messages to other towns and warn them, or she might have other jobs you can do.” Twilight informed him, “Think you can do that for me?”
“Yes but...” He hugged her leg for a moment and then let go, “Be careful.”
“I will.” Twilight promised him, hugging him with her other foreleg. He looked at her for a moment as if trying to work out how honest she was being, then nodded and scurried away. His friend let out a relieved sigh as she watched him go and then dashed away herself, only stopping when she reached the edge of the Everfree Forest.