“And that, my lady, is why their destruction was necessary.” Rosalia moved closer from her place near the door, fighting back a smile. It wouldn’t do to gloat. “It is as I told you. The fire in her eyes, extinguished in a moment.”
“So it would seem,” Nocturne said, not taking her eyes from the stunned Scootaloo.
“The magic of harmony and the six who wield it. They are the only weapons these ponies know. You give them too much credit.”
“That remains to be seen. You’ve made your requests, Rosalia. It is time to send them on their way.”
“As you wish, my lady,” Rosalia said, bowing.
Nocturne stood and stepped down from her throne, towering over Scootaloo. “We shall say this but once more. If you and your friends value your lives, do not return. Take what you have learned here and share it with others.”
Her horn began to glow with a midnight blue aura, and the shadows underneath the ponies grew outward, joining together into a dark puddle that began to creep up their bodies and obscure them from vision.
The ponies tried to shy away from the shadows, but Lady Nocturne’s magic held them fast.
“And if you indeed value your previous way of life more than your actual lives, we shall see you again. We look forward to seeing which path you choose.” With that, the shadows fully enveloped them. The shadows dispersed, and the ponies were gone.
And now all that was left was to wait, Rosalia thought. If the ponies did return, it would be with no weapons, no plan with any real chance of success, and no hope of truly winning.
The last threat on the board, the final scrap of harmonic magic, would soon be taken. All she needed was patience.
“Do you think they’ll return?” Rosalia asked.
“Perhaps. These ponies are interesting creatures, if nothing else. It is a shame we were locked away before we could fully understand them.” She turned, and the doors to her throne room opened. “Come now. This delay has lasted long enough, and there is still much to do.”
“Yes, my lady.” Rosalia said, following.
*****
Scootaloo felt like she was falling through darkness. There was nothing for as far as she could see, just empty space. There was no wind to ruffle her mane and no visible reference point to gauge her speed. Just a vague sense that she was moving across a great distance.
Then light broke through the darkness, blinding in its sudden intensity. The shadows receded and she found herself lying on the ground. The earth around her was covered in a soft layer of plants. The area was well shaded by trees, but not dark. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Spike were near her, each getting their bearings as well.
“Anypony know where we are?” Spike asked.
“Ah think it might be White Tail Woods,” Apple Bloom said. “Hard to tell, but Applejack took me camping out there once. It looked pretty much like this.”
“That’s not too far from Ponyville, is it?” Scootaloo said, trying to remember.
“A little further than Appleoosa, Ah think.”
Scootaloo nodded. That wasn’t too bad, then.
“What now?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Nopony answered. Scootaloo could feel a heavy weight growing in her chest. She stared silently at her hooves as she wondered, what now? What could they possibly do after that?
If Nocturne had her way, Equestria would go back to how it was before the first ponies in Equestria had discovered friendship. Ponies would get hurt and even die. Scootaloo had meant what she said, she truly believed Nocturne had to be stopped.
But they couldn’t win. Not any more. She looked up, hopeful that somepony had something to say. Her three friends were all looking at her expectantly.
In her mind, she saw Thistleroot’s smug face. With a sigh, she shoved the thought aside. “I guess we need to find someplace safe first. From there we can figure out if there’s anything left we can do. We should find Thistleroot too, if Rosalia was telling the truth about letting him go.” She frowned, worry nagging at her. “She let us go, so I don’t know why he would be different. And I want to find out what she meant about Mimic not being our concern.”
“And Starswirl,” Spike said.
Scootaloo winced. “Uh, about that.”
The other three paused, faces falling as they took in her expression.
“No way,” Spike said.
“Oh no,” Sweetie Belle added.
“He got... hurt. Really bad, and then disappeared. I don’t know if it was Nocturne’s magic that made him disappear, or if he teleported away, but either way I don’t think he made it.”
Sweetie Belle’s eyes welled up with tears and Apple Bloom just looked on, face set in a grim expression. Spike nervously scratched the back of his head. “But, he’s Starswirl. Twilight said he was supposed to be really awesome. Maybe he made it out okay, right?”
Scootaloo frowned. They hadn’t seen it happen, didn’t know just how serious his wounds had been. It wasn’t surprising Spike might have thought there was hope. “I don’t know. But even if he did survive, I don’t know where he might have teleported to. If he’s alive, he’ll have to find us. For now, we need to find Thistleroot and Mimic.”
She checked her bag as she spoke, just to be sure. As expected, the fragment of harmony was missing once again, and this time they had no hope of stealing it back. She tried to keep the fresh disappointment from her face.
There was a moment before her friends nodded in agreement. “Alright,” Apple Bloom said, looking up at the sky. “Ah think East is this way.” She began walking and the others followed.
*****
“I’m pretty sure that’s Cloudsdale up there,” Thistleroot said, hopping up to the top of the rock face they’d been climbing and pointing to a colorful collection of clouds on the horizon. “That would make these mountains the Unicorn Range. We’re a couple days out from Canterlot.”
“Unicorn Range?” Mimic asked, climbing up after him. “That’s uncreative even for you ponies.”
“Hey, I didn’t make the map,” Thistleroot said, stretching for a moment before continuing along the path. “I’m just glad Rose didn’t have tall dark and freaky drop us off in like, Griffonstone or further.”
“I guess,” Mimic said.
Rose. Queen Rosalia, in reality. That was the first time Mimic had met the missing changeling queen. Her pulse quickened as the queen’s words came back to her. The others are free to go, but you, Mimic, are a changeling, and I am the last changeling queen. Your life is mine to do with as I please.
“You coming?” Thistleroot called back.
“Yes,” Mimic answered, wings buzzing as she closed the gap between them with a single bound.
“Cheater,” Thistleroot said with a chuckle.
“It’s not my fault not all ponies have wings. At least Nocturne got that part right.”
Thistleroot stuck his tongue out at her and turned back toward the trail.
I’m not angry, Queen Rosalia had said. Not in the slightest. You survived. That is to be commended. And I have no doubt you will continue to survive.
Mimic watched Thistleroot half-walk, half-stumble down the next decline. His attention was directed entirely onto the rock strewn path across the mountains.
All will be forgiven. You can move on, or rejoin the hive with your brother. The two of you can go home. You just have to perform one simple task first.
“Look at this view though,” Thistleroot said when he reached the top of the next rise, his back turned to her.
Kill Scootaloo and her friends.