“How in the haystack did she do that while sleepin'?” inquired Applejack, giving Celestia and Twilight a wide-eyed gaze of desperation. “Please tell me y'all know how that's even possible!”
“Well...” Twilight put her hoof to her chin and stared at the ground for a second before looking at Applejack. “I have heard that sometimes a unicorn can use a little bit of magic in their sleep, like as a subconscious reaction to a dream or such. But it's only ever a small amount, barely an amount equivocal to a basic levitation spell. A full teleportation spell while sleeping... this is the first I've ever heard of and seen such a thing.”
“We have to figure out where she went and catch her before she wakes up and escapes!” cried Pinkie. “Otherwise... well you know!”
“I will do a tracer spell to track the trail of residual energy that was left behind,” said Celestia.
Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie and Rainbow all gave Celestia a surprised stare.
“Gosh,” said Applejack. “There's a magic spell for just about any occasion isn't there?”
“There are quite a few,” stated Twilight, “but they're more advanced than most unicorns are capable of doing. Starswirl the Bearded alone created over two hundred.”
Everypony went silent and watched as Celestia's horn lit up. After a few moments, a trail of silvery mist appeared. Everypony gazed upon the mist in amazement, which started on the ground where Chrysalis had been and rose up into the air the farther it got from the gathering of ponies. All eyes followed along the line and numerous gasps came from the ponies as it was discovered the trail was going straight to Canterlot.
The trail of residual energy wasn't the only thing that gave the ponies pause. The large dark orb still hung high in the sky above Canterlot, distinguishable from the night sky only by the bright white aura around it. The white magic bubble still covered the whole of the city, concealing it within its depths.
“Does this mean we could have just teleported straight to Canterlot through the barrier and saved a bunch of time?” Rainbow asked.
Twilight shook her head. “None of us created the barrier, so that's unlikely.”
“How are those things still there?” muttered Fluttershy. “Nightmare—I mean... Chrysalis was defeated wasn't she?”
Celestia kept her gaze fixed on the rift and the ghostly barrier covering Canterlot. The longer she stared, the larger the pit in her stomach grew. Her thoughts turned back to when she first encountered Chrysalis disguised as Nightmare Moon, and Luna under the mind-control spell, several weeks after the attack on Ponyville. She recalled Luna's dark, silent, soul-piercing stare, and the red aura covering her eyes. Even the mere memory of it caused the fur on the back of the princess's neck to stand and sent a chill down her spine.
Celestia took a deep breath and swallowed hard. “I don't think it was Chrysalis who opened the rift, and put a barrier around the city....”
Everypony glanced at Celestia.
“Now I know you're not suggestin' what I think you are, Princess,” said Applejack.
Celestia shook her head. “No, but Luna remains unaccounted for, and just because Chrysalis's plot against us has been exposed, it doesn't automatically mean Luna's been freed from the spell.” Her tone darkened. “Or maybe it's something else....”
Nopony replied and just kept staring at Celestia, a number of them with their ears flat and huddling closer together.
“I don't think I like where this is going,” mumbled Pinkie.
“Remember what I told you girls about my first encounter with Luna after she disappeared? She had this darkness about her that seemed a little off, even for known mind-manipulation magic.”
Twilight rubbed her foreleg. “I... I noticed that too... when I saw her during the attack on the Crystal Empire, and again in that one dream I had.”
While she hadn't been there to see that part, Celestia still nodded at Twilight. “Also, Luna never showed up to take the Elements of Harmony even after Chrysalis ordered her to. Finally, those shadow ponies we fought in Ponyville today... they weren't changelings....”
“Yes,” continued Twilight, “and just after the shadow ponies left, I saw another dark figure off in the distance.”
“Was it Luna?” asked Cadance.
“It was too far away to tell.”
Celestia cleared her throat. “Instead of being under a spell like we originally thought, these latest developments now point to the likelihood of Luna being—” She suddenly went quiet.
“Being what?” asked Shining Armor.
Celestia stared slightly down, avoiding everypony's inquiring and unnerved eyes. She swallowed hard. “Possessed...”
Several moments passed by in silence.
“P-p-possessed...?” stammered Rarity, also trembling. “As in being-controlled-by-an-evil-spirit possessed like in those fantasy and fiction novels I've read?”
“I always pegged you for a cheesy romance type,” stated Applejack. “And you even have time to read what with your fashion work?”
Rarity shot Applejack a fierce glare. “Yes I do still have time, and I do read other stuff too but this is far from the right time to be talking about that. I was asking a legitimate and very serious question. Honestly, Applejack! Focus!”
“Right. Pardon.”
Rarity let out a tiny huff. “And they're not cheesy,” she muttered.
Celestia nodded. “Yes, that kind of possessed.”
Nopony—not Cadance, Shining Armor, the Element Bearers, or the Ponyville ponies—allowed their gaze to stray from the princess and most of them were now noticeably quivering, and not because of the cold air of the winter night.
“Let me get this straight,” Rainbow said, waving her forelegs like she was trying to get everypony's attention. “So Nightmare Moon has actually been Chrysalis in disguise this whole time. Luna may not have been under her control like we thought, but by something else. Lastly, the shadow ponies, or Animus, if that's what they're really called, which I'm doubting even that now because reasons, are actually real?”
A few more quiet but tense moments passed.
Applejack let out a deep sigh. “I felt it in my gut... Like I told y'all that night in the castle garden... I could just feel that somethin' about this whole thing just didn't add up... but I never could have imagined this. What do you think, Twi?”
Twilight looked over at Applejack. Her ears were drooped, her mouth hung slightly open, she was frowning, and her breaths were hard. When she spoke, her voice was laden with dread.
“I was drawn here by the magic of this world.”
Applejack shivered slightly and rubbed the back of her head. “N-Nightmare Night? Everfree Forest? Old castle?”
Twilight swallowed hard and nodded, not paying attention to the terrified looks she and Applejack were getting from the Ponyville ponies.
“You do not yet know what hides within the veil,” said Celestia.
“Not every last bit of her dark magic went with her,” stated Applejack. “That magic takes the form of—”
“The Pony of Shadows,” said Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow and Fluttershy all together.
Twilight nodded again. “And when I saw Luna in that dream I had the night before we left for the Dread Frontier, she said, 'the night is falling, with its claw a sickle. Roses or thorns it is not fickle. So despair, little ones. You cannot hide your fears from her. The mare in the moon is the gardener.'”
Celestia listened intently to what Twilight recited from her dream. Suddenly, the realization hit her. First, she recalled the fateful day over a thousand years ago, and the exact moments that would change the course of Equestria's future forever. Second, she again recalled the dream she'd had the morning of Nightmare Night. In her mind she pictured Luna alone in that cold, dark room that was similar to the throne room in the old castle.
Then the dark cloud appeared in the memory of the dream, just as it had in reality that day. The one thing that the princess, in her distress over losing her sister, had never stopped to ask...
“I know it's probably not the best time,” she stated, “but what you just said, Twilight... I think I may have just figured out a critical part of the puzzle.”
“Shouldn't we be chasing after Chrysalis?” asked Fluttershy.
“I'll keep it brief. When Luna confronted me on that day and raised the moon to blot out the sun, a peculiar thing happened that I never really gave much thought to. I was just so distraught over losing Luna.”
“What peculiar thing happened?” inquired Shining Armor.
“Right after the moon blotted out the sun, a strange dark cloud appeared. It moved quick and with purpose. It enveloped Luna and she transformed into the creature we came to call Nightmare Moon. I saw a scene similar to that in the dream I had the morning of Nightmare Night. I didn't see a Pony of Shadows in either case; there was only the cloud. And in the dream I heard something say, 'the world within welcomes you.'”
Celestia paused for a moment to catch her breath. “Luna only brought forth the eclipse. She did not create the dark cloud. The one thing I never stopped to ask was... where did the dark cloud come from?”
There was silence throughout the area.
“Well,” uttered Applejack, “it could have been the Pony of Shadows who did that from a spot you couldn't see. We know now it was there before all of that happened—lurkin' in the background, nudgin' Luna along to doin' what she did.”
Celestia nodded. “That could be, but doesn't that still beg the question of where did the Pony of Shadows come from?”
Again there was silence in the area.
“In any case,” said Celestia, “we'll have to worry about all that after we've dealt with Chrysalis and found Luna. Everypony gather around,” stated Celestia. “It's a long shot but I'm going to attempt to teleport us through the barrier into the city.”
One of the royal guard stallions approached. “Us as well, Princess, or shall we remain behind to safeguard Ponyville in the event of another attack?”
“Take us with you!” cried a guard mare, holding her spear firmly by her side and giving the princess a pleading gaze. “We want to fight for Equestria too!”
Other royal guards voiced similar pleas. After a moment, the Ponyville ponies started to do the same one after another until almost everypony present was begging Celestia to let them come.
As much as Celestia's protective side wanted to ask the ponies to stay behind where they wouldn't get hurt, hearing their pleas, and looking into their determined eyes reminded her of her dream where they stood right beside her to light her way. Once again, she pictured them all with the glowing gold and silver orbs in their chests where their hearts would be. She thought back to the quick and overwhelming response to her plea for ponies to sign up for emergency military service. The memory and mental image swelled inside until it consumed her.
Their love burns like a million points of light, she thought, remembering the candlelight vigils all of Equestria held for Luna after it was discovered what had become of her following Nightmare Night. She beamed at the ponies as her eyes began to water and the tears fell. She made no efforts to hide her joy.
“Of course, my little ponies. We'll all go together.”
Everypony beamed right back at the princess and cheered before forming a large group that to an outside observer would look like a very large group hug.
“Just a reminder I can't guarantee it will work,” said Celestia. “I may not even be strong enough after that fight with Night... Chrysalis... to do such a mass teleport spell.” She gave the ponies a courageous smile. “Though I'll still try anyway, for Equestria.”
“For Equestria!” cried everypony present in unison.
After the raucous died down, Celestia closed her eyes and her horn began to glow. She winced slightly as her body and magical energies reminded her of their exhaustion from the battle, but she pressed on and felt the familiar warmth of magic start to surround her.
A voice suddenly called out not too far away.
“Going somewhere?”
Celestia's eyes shot open and she stopped channeling her magic.
Everypony startled.
“There's no need for that. I'm right here...”
Celestia's ears perked. She and the ponies all turned their attention toward the direction the voice had come from, finding themselves gazing toward the base of Canterlot Mountain which was barely visible in the darkness of the nighttime.
The ponies let out frightened gasps.
What appeared to be a globe of ghostly-white light was slowly approaching the area where the ponies stood. But as the light moved closer and closer, it was revealed to be a magical aura surrounding a tall pony-shaped figure with a large horn—a figure that was none other than Queen Chrysalis. She was walking as if she were going for a simple, leisurely stroll. The Alicorn Amulet was still around her neck.
The courage and resolve the ponies had summoned minutes earlier seemed to fade and they started to back away, making audible terrified whimpers along the way. Some of the ponies however were not so easily intimidated. Before anypony could stop them, they cried out in fury, charging full speed at Chrysalis whether they had a spear or not. Rainbow Dash was one among them and she was the quickest and loudest of them all.
“Stop, everypony!” cried Twilight. She tried to grab Rainbow and the other ponies in her magic, but she was too fatigued to get the spell up quick enough to stop them.
“This ends now, fiend!” Rainbow bellowed.
Chrysalis didn't even flinch as Rainbow came hurtling toward her.
A sudden loud crackle of magical energy shot through the air, followed by a pained cry from Rainbow as she was swatted aside by Chrysalis's bare foreleg like a bug. She rolled along the ground, stopping barely within sight of the others.
All of the other advancing ponies stopped in their tracks, until Chrysalis's horn glowed the same ghostly-white as the aura that surrounded her, and they too were thrown aside by her magic like they were weightless. Yelps came from all of them as they flew.
Throughout both instances, Chrysalis kept her gaze squarely on Celestia, the remaining Element Bearers and Shining Armor. Without losing a single step, she just kept walking toward them at a leisurely pace like nothing had even happened.
After the battle with Chrysalis still disguised as Nightmare Moon, Celestia and the ponies weren't at all surprised by this latest display of power, but that didn't stop them from trembling at the sight of it and of her. Everypony still standing who had a spear aimed it at Chrysalis threateningly, backing away as the changeling queen moved ever closer. When Rainbow and those who'd gone on the offensive didn't stand back up—just lied motionless where they'd landed—sweat began to pour from all of them.
“What was Rainbow thinkin'?” muttered Applejack. “Now we can't use the Elements. If I've told her once I've told her a hundred times not to be so reckless.”
“Rainbow...” said Twilight. “The others... they... they're not—!”
“They're alive,” interjected Chrysalis, coming to a stop several yards in front of the ponies. “They're just feeling a little wiped out.”
The changeling queen's tone was dark, yet casual at the same time. There was another quality to her voice: a second voice that was not her own—pronounced, ghostly, and all-around unnatural. The sound seeped into everypony's very core, causing the fur on the backs of their necks to stand and an icy chill to run down their spines.
Celestia peered into Chrysalis's eyes with a mixture of anger and fear, but it wasn't the Queen of the Changelings herself the princess was worried about. Celestia saw it in that soul-piercing stare and heard it in her tone... Chrysalis had the same dark presence about her that Luna did the night she reappeared following her disappearance.
Time seemed to cease. Celestia shivered, frozen in place and eyes locked. “You're not Chrysalis,” she said matter-of-factly after what felt like an eternity.
Chrysalis gave no reply.
Twilight stepped forward and stopped at Celestia's side. Though visibly she was trembling like all the other ponies, she spoke in a manner that betrayed strength and resilience. “I know you're not really Chrysalis. You're just using her as a puppet. You're that shadowy figure I saw in the old ruins in the Everfree Forest on Nightmare Night.”
Chrysalis grinned and spoke slowly. “I am the First Seed—the Shadow of Malice...”
“You've been pulling the strings from the very beginning,” continued Twilight, keeping up her firm tone. “Nightmare Night... my accident with the Crystal Heart... the Crystal Empire... our voyage into that dark land in the Undiscovered West... Everything, and everypony! You're Nightmare Moon—the real Nightmare Moon. You manipulated Princess Luna over a thousand years ago. I'm sure you manipulated Chrysalis into working for you. After everything I've seen since Nightmare Night, I'll bet you're even behind King Sombra.”
“You're a shrewd one, little unicorn.”
Celestia's scowl grew. “You've been giving me these dreams and visions to toy with me as part of this big plot of yours. Of that I am certain.”
“The dreams I've had too,” stated Twilight. “And the ones Trixie and Lightning Dust told us about. It had to have been you.”
“There is a hole in this world,” said Chrysalis. “The door that was opened was never closed, and soon the others will follow.”
Others? thought Celestia.
“The night is falling with its claw a sickle. Roses or thorns it is not fickle. So despair, little ones. You cannot hide your fears from her. The mare in the moon is the gardener.”
Twilight let out a little growl. “I've had it up to here with your cryptic mumbo-jumbo! There's no point in hiding behind your 'veil' anymore. Just show us your true form!”
Chrysalis suddenly leaped into a combat-like stance, crouching down a little and spreading her legs apart slightly. Her eyes suddenly turned solid-white, and her horn and the Alicorn Amulet glowed the same. “Fine then. We'll cut right to the chase!”
The quick movement made everypony step back.
Suddenly, a pillar of blinding, white light burst down from the sky directly above Chrysalis and a fierce wind kicked up. The pillar stretched so high into the sky that it appeared to rise all the way up into space.
The ponies winced and shielded their eyes. They pressed their hooves into the ground as hard as they could, but it did little to help them withstand the furious gusts, forcing Celestia to hurriedly conjure a magic barrier around everypony so they wouldn't get blown away. Clattering sounds could be heard as those that carried spears dropped them, followed by pained cries from everypony.
A sharp sting struck Celestia's horn that made her whole body go numb. The sound in her ears became garbled. It was enough to make her fall to her stomach, her magic fizzle out and her bubble to vanish.
An arcane pulse! she thought. Just like the ones before, and now we're right by the epicenter!
The ponies started collapsing one by one, with the unicorns falling first. After a few moments, only Celestia, the Element Bearers, and Shining Armor remained standing.
Every ounce of Celestia's being wanted to join the other ponies in their comatose state, but something kept her from succumbing to the explosion of negative energy—something warm and soothing.
Unknown to the ponies—as they were still shielding their eyes from the intense light, and staggering from the pulse—the Elements of Harmony had flared up on their own, engulfing their wearers, Celestia and Shining Armor in a gentle, rainbow-colored aura that occasionally flashed gold and silver. The aura flowed over them the same way Chrysalis's aura had over her before the pillar of light appeared.
The wind faded slowly, but the numbness and pain took longer to go away. By the time it was finally gone, it felt like a bolt had pierced Celestia's very soul. Sweat poured down her brow and she took labored breaths. Waiting several moments, she peeked her eyes open.
The pillar of light was still there, though its intensity had lessened enough to the point it wasn't blinding. Once again, in the center of the pillar, Chrysalis was passed out on the ground, just like the Canterlot guards and the Ponyville ponies were. She was still wearing the Alicorn Amulet.
Celestia froze, staring forward with her mouth agape.
Groans escaped Twilight and the others, all except for Rainbow who remained unconscious where she'd fallen earlier.
“I just had to open my big mouth,” muttered Twilight as she rubbed her eyes.
“It's all good, sugarcube,” said Applejack. “Y'all was just sayin' what we were all thinkin'.”
Rarity rubbed her horn endlessly. “Let me guess, another one of those... those... whatever you call them?”
Twilight was about to reply when she paused and stared forward in shock.
Everypony else did the same.
“I'm dreaming again,” said Twilight. “This has to be another dream!”
“It can't be!” cried Cadance, inching closer to Shining Armor.
Perfectly visible within the pillar of light, hovering several meters above the unconscious Chrysalis, was a tall, dark gray unicorn stallion with scarlet eyes and pitch-black mane and tail. His unnaturally curved horn was white at the tip, and slowly transitioned to gray at the base.
The ponies hadn't noticed it in their initial shock, but now that they were gazing upon the dark unicorn without so much as a wink, they saw he had wings as well.
The stallion fanned out his large wings, their span extending beyond the pillar of light he was magically suspended in. His cutie mark was a black and white four-pronged claw—the same claw that Celestia, Twilight and the others had seen throughout events since Nightmare Night.
“S-Sombra?!” stammered Twilight after several minutes of being frozen in terror.
Sombra sneered. When he spoke, his voice was pure venom—pure malice. “In the flesh... and better then ever.”