“Say, Twilight Sparkle, last hope of Equestria and greatest threat to Nightmare Moon’s reign of eternal night,” spoke Spike in a loud enough voice that practically anyone in the castle could hear him pontificating. The two of them had managed to maneuver through the castle’s catacombs till they found a way out and then made their way to the building’s old throne room. There they saw two wrecked seats on the far side of the wall with a long pair of tapestries hanging over them, one representing the sun and the other the moon. “It has been a while since we’ve seen any sign of the Shadow Bolts. Do you think they realized they were no match for us and flew the coop?”
“I doubt that,” answered Twilight, speaking just as obnoxiously loud as Spike was. “Chickens don’t fly. They probably ran off with their tails tucked between their legs. This just goes to show that a pitiful fiend like Nightmare Moon would have equally shameful henchmen like these at her beck and call.”
“Who are you calling chicken?” snapped Firestorm as she and the rest of her team emerged from a secret passage behind the thrones and flew high above the Unicorn and Dragon.
“Would you have preferred it if we called you turkeys?” asked Spike. “Or maybe dodos?”
“I don’t even know what a dodo is,” admitted Sunny Day. “But if it is another flightless bird then no way are we that. We’re at least ducks!”
“You’re not helping us,” Gale Force told Sunny Day before she looked down at Spike and Twilight. “So, where are your other friends, that orange Pony you were with and that pink one that just showed up and ruined our wonderful scheme. Also, where is that black and white one from earlier who ruined our other wonderful scheme?”
“Zecora didn’t come with us,” answered Twilight. “And they aren’t here. They already went back to Ponyville. It’s just the two of us now.”
“I bet they did,” Firestorm scoffed at Twilight. “They are probably hiding around here somewhere just waiting to ambush us.”
“N-No they aren’t!” answered Spike, hesitating a bit in his answer and only making them more suspicious.
“Yeah, right,” stated Nightshroud. “They are definitely nearby. You aren’t fooling us.”
“Maybe,” Twilight confessed. “But Nightmare Moon is fooling you too. How can all fall for her deceit? Can’t you see that she’s just using you to get what she wants and all for what? So you can all be discount Wonderbolts?”
“She’s not using us!” argued Nightshroud angrily. “It’s a quid pro quo. She gets what she wants, to be the new ruler of Equestria, and, in return, she has made us even better than the Wonderbolts. Now we are the best fliers in all of Equestria. Nopony can match our aerial prowess nor any other creature for that matter.”
“Better?” repeated Spike skeptically. “I sincerely doubt that.”
“What did you say you overgrown lizard?” growled Nightshroud.
“All I’m saying is that you didn’t prove yourselves through hard work to earn your positions. They were offered and you four were probably the only ones dumb enough to accept them.”
“What do you know about us?” cried Sunny Day. “We were good fliers, but never the best no matter how hard we tried. As much as we wanted to be Wonderbolts it was obvious that we’d never make the cut. The only way we could ever be Wonderbolts was in our dreams and that’s why Nightmare Moon picked us. We dreamed to be great fliers more than anypony else and she decided to turn our dreams into reality.”
“It sounds more like she saw four Ponies she could take advantage of,” countered Spike.
“Spike is right,” agreed Twilight. “There are plenty of ponies that have the same dream of being great fliers too. She didn’t see your passion to be the best. All Nightmare Moon cared about was the self doubt and envy you were all filled with. She took advantage of that to manipulate you into joining her and once you are no longer useful to her, she’ll discard you without even a second thought.”
“No,” retorted Firestorm. “That’s not who Nightmare Moon is at all. She understands us and how we felt to want something, but never unable to obtain it. She said that’s how it was between her and Celestia. They were both supposed to rule together and yet Celestia wanted to rule by herself.”
“That is all a lie!” snapped Twilight. “Celestia wasn’t the one who started all this. Nightmare Moon was jealous of Celestia and wanted to take Equestria all for herself.”
“And this jealousy wasn’t caused because Celestia wanted Equestria all for herself as well?” Firestorm countered. “And you think we’re delusional? What do you really know about Celestia? What do you really know?”
“More than you, obviously,” she spoke with confidence in her voice. “Celestia has dedicated her life to making Equestria a better place for everypony, including all of you. How could you so easily betray her like this?”
“Don’t waste your breath on them, Twilight,” Spike told her as he started walking forward. “They’ve already made up their minds, so there’s no sense in trying to talk any sense into them. Let’s just get the Elements and go. They’re down that hidden passage you four just came from, right?”
“Yeah, they are,” admitted Gale Force, flying down to block Spike. “But we’re not letting you two anywhere near them.”
“That’s one,” thought Twilight, remaining silent as she waited.
“Like you guys can really stop us,” scoffed Spike, attempting to walk around her, but Firestorm flew down to block him again.
“We already beat you before,” she pointed out. “We can easily do that again.”
“That’s two,” sweated Twilight trying to discreetly focus her magic without any of them noticing. “Come on Spike, you’re halfway there.”
“Yeah, when it was pitch black out and we could barely see more than two feet in front of our noses,” countered Spike as he looked up at the holes in the ceiling that allowed the moonlight to leak into the room. “But now, we can see just fine. So, why don’t you pretty peacocks just get out of our way before we decide to get tough.” Spike flexed his muscles to add weight to his words, but his small stature and meager physique didn’t scare any of them at all.
“Stop calling us flightless birds,” snapped an agitated Sunny Day.
“Ostrich. Penguin. Kiwi,” listed Spike, attempting to remain confident and smug, but his heart was up in his throat as he was drawing all their scorn his way.
“You’re just trying to get under my skin,” fumed Sunny Day as he flew down beside Firestorm and Gale Force, surrounding Spike on all sides. “And it’s working!”
“Three down and one more to go,” thought Twilight, trying to stay calm while Spike drew all their attention towards him. “We’ve almost got them right where we want them.”
“First, we have to lure the Shadow Bolts as close as we can to the ground and as close together as possible,” Twilight told the others as they listened to her plan. “If we can do that, then I can use my levitation magic on them all at once and trap them in place.”
“Kinda like what you did with that fruit bat back on my farm,” recalled Applejack.
“They’re a lot bigger and stronger than fruit bats,” added Twilight. “But if we can get them close enough to the ground, I should be able to take hold of them all at once.”
“And how are we going to do that?” asked Spike. “I can’t see them sitting still for you to use your magic on them. Why would they even give us a chance to do anything?”
“Because while you and I go out there to confront them, Applejack and Pinkie will stay behind, ready to ambush them. At least, that’s what we’re going to make them believe and because of that, they’ll keep their distance to avoid falling for our trap.”
“So, you’re going to make them think to think so they don’t think the things you don’t want them to think,” replied Pinkie.
“Uh, yeah, exactly right,” answered Twilight, not entirely sure what Pinkie just said. “And once we’ve done that, we’ll move onto the next phase of our plan, baiting them in close. That’s where you come in Spike.”
“I’ve got to bait them?” he asked, idea that he was involved with bait not appealing to him in the least.
“Yeah,” she nodded. “It’ll be your job to heckle them to the ground. You’re pretty quick with the snarky comments when you want to be.”
“I’d say it’s one of my best features,” he admitted with a smile, enjoying his ego getting stroked.
“This will give you a chance to prove it too,” Twilight told him. “It’ll be your job to draw their aggro and lure them as close as you can to the ground.”
“Draw their what now?” questioned Applejack, scratching her head.
“She wants Spike to draw them in afros,” explained Pinkie Pie with a giggle. “Now I can’t wait to get things started.
“Actually, it’s one of those words my brother uses when he’s playing an O & O campaign with his friends,” she explained. “Basically it’s when someone lures enemies to go after them so the rest of the team can wipe them out while they’re distracted.”
“I’ve been meaning to get into O & O myself,” admitted Spike. “I’ve been reading through the books and have even made my own character, so I’m fairly familiar with aggro tactics. Also, remind me when all this is over to see if I can join in on one of your brother’s campaigns in the future. I’ve been looking for others to play the game with.”
“I’ll make a mental note of it,” smiled Twilight, seeing the same dorky expression her brother would get when he’d get together with his friends for a night filled with dice, charts, and plenty of imagination. “Anyway,” she went on. “Can I count on you to pull it off?”
Spike answered with a confident nod. “Don’t you worry, Lady Twi,” Spike spoke in a bolder voice. “The great wizard, Garbunkle, shall complete this quest for you.”
Applejack tried to stifle a snicker while Pinkie Pie stared, starry-eyed with amazement. Twilight continued to smile, feeling nostalgic for when her brother got into character the same way. “Okay, Garbunkle,” she added. “Just remember that this isn’t a tabletop simulation, but the real deal. There is no saving throws, Uno Reverse Cards, or however those games work to pull you out of danger if things take a turn for the worse.”
“Well, when you put it that way,” worried Spike as his voice returned to normal. He was sweating bullets at the thought of attracting all their ire on purpose. “I don’t think I like this plan anymore.”
“Don’t worry, Spike,” Twilight assured him. “Once you lure them all down to you, I’ll use my magic to trap them in place before they won’t lay a single hoof on that scaly head of yours.”
“So, you feel like opening that big mouth of yours anymore, dragon?” asked Firestorm as she and the other two glared at Spike, just waiting to see if he had the nerve to insult them further.
“Uh, well,” mumbled Spike, struggling to come up with some more snark under so much pressure. “Yeah, I’ve got plenty more, but why don’t you get your other friend down here so I can tell you all at once.”
“You hear that, Nightshroud,” Sunny Day called up to him. “Come on down here so we can hear what this gecko has to say about us.”
“Yeah, not gonna fall for it,” Nightshroud stated as he looked to Twilight, seeing right through what was going on. “Nice try, but I see what you are doing.”
“Uh, I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about,” lied Spike looking even more nervous now that he was onto them.
“You think I wouldn’t recognize someone drawing aggro when I see it,” he pointed out.
“Heheh, I guess you play Ogres and Oubliettes too,” gulped Spike.
“My party meets up once a week to continue our campaign,” Nightshroud answered. “Are you a player as well?”
“Just starting and I’m hoping to get a game of it going if we somehow make it out of this mess,” Spike told him.
“I have my doubts that you will,” he replied to Spike. “Get him!”
Spike cried out and braced himself for the three Pegasi surrounding him about to attack. Without a moment’s hesitation, however, Twilight unleashed the magic she had been preparing and caught the three Shadow Bolts, trapping them in place and fulfilling her promise to keep Spike protected. Peeking out between his claws, Spike saw his would-be attackers immobilized within a purple aura. The Shadow Bolts struggled to move, but the magic held them tightly in place.
“What gives?” shouted Firestorm, shouting up to Nightshroud. “We can’t move.”
“But I still can,” he told them, demonstrating as he waved his front hooves up and down. “And I doubt she can trap me with her magic while she’s already holding all of you, so just wait a moment and I’ll free you from her magic.”
“Twilight!” called Spike, attempting to squeeze his body through the wall the trio of restrained Ponies created around him. “He’s coming to get you!”
“I know,” she called back to him. Gritting her teeth, she struggled to keep the three Ponies trapped with her magic. “But it’s taking all my focus just to hold those three still. If I even try to move, my focus could slip and they could escape.”
“So much for your little plan,” laughed Nightshroud. “It was, admittedly, clever, but you left too much to chance.”
Nightshroud swooped down at Twilight, curious to see how she would respond. “What’s it gonna be?” he asked her. “Are you going to stand there like a sitting duck or will you move and release your spell? Those are your only choices, but either way, you both lose!”
“I choose the third option!” she replied, confidently. “I’m going to trust in my friends!”
“Your friends?” he questioned her as he flew towards her, moving too fast to stop now.
“That was our cue, Pinkie,” Applejack said to Pinkie Pie after she overheard Spike calling out to Twilight. She was squeezed into Pinkie’s party cannon that was now large enough for a full grown Pony to fit in. “Is the cannon aimed correctly?”
“And ready to be fired!” she added excitedly. “Oh, this is going to be so much fun. It’s just like watching a pony getting shot out of a cannon at the circus.”
“Well, if I can pull off this crazy of a stunt,” replied Applejack. “Then I’m gonna see to making this a new rodeo event. Now, launch me!”
“Launching!” she announced and pulled the cord on the cannon, blasting Applejack out of it and down the passage towards where Twilight was standing.
As Applejack flew forward, she got out her rope and began twirling the lasso in the air. “Yeeeehaw!” she shouted finding this whole experience as exciting as it was crazy.
“Not to put a downer on your plan, Twi,” Applejack chimed in after they finished up Spike and Twilight’s roles in it. “But do you really think you’ll be able to fool all the Shadow Bolts into coming down close enough for you to use your magic on them? Do you think they’d all be careless enough to make such a big mistake?”
“To be perfectly honest,” she admitted. “The best case scenario would be if they all fell for it. The worst case would be if only one fell for it since I’d be stuck in place holding them still while the other three are free. If none of them fall for it, I’d at least still be free to help out. In my opinion, however, I believe we will end up somewhere in the middle and be able to trap two or even three of them. If we can accomplish that much, it’ll be a huge help in reducing their numbers.”
“But what about the ones still free?” asked Spike. “How are we going to take care of them?”
“Applejack and Pinkie will be the ones to take care of them,” Twilight continued to talk them through their battle plan. “You’ll be lying in wait till I’ve used my magic to trap as many of the Shadow Bolts as I can. If you hear us shouting like we’re in trouble, then that means we weren’t able to catch them all and you will have to hurry in to protect me from whoever is still free.
“That sounds all well and good, but how am I supposed to get there that quick to defend you?” wondered Applejack. “As fast as I might be, I’d never be able say out of sight one minute and then leg it over to you the next.”
“Which is why you won’t be running to my rescue,” explained Twilight. “Rather, you’ll be flying through the air with Pinkie’s help.”
“I don’t know where this is going, but I don’t think I’m going to like it,” Applejack admitted.
“You’ll be fine,” she assured Applejack. “Pinkie is just going to fire you out of her cannon and over to me in three seconds flat. After that, you’ll do whatever it’ll take to protect me from the Shadow Bolts.”
“And how in tarnation am I supposed to fit in Pinkie’s cannon?” the apple farmer Pony questioned Twilight and then looked down at Pinkie’s cannon. It was easily far too small for a Pony half her size to fit in it.
“That’s where the potion that Zecora gave us comes in,” Twilight told her.
“The growth potion?” asked Applejack, thinking for a moment. “Oh, yeah. She did say it’d work on anything.” Taking the potion out, Applejack sparingly dripped a few drops of the liquid onto the cannon. Before their eyes, it quickly grew in size.
“Oooooh!” gasped Pinkie in delight at her bigger party cannon. “This will be even more fun at parties, now.”
“I wouldn’t doubt that,” chuckled Applejack as she carefully dripped some more of the potion onto the cannon till it grew to a size she could fit into. “Okay, let’s see how she fits.” Climbing into the weapon of war back hooves first, Applejack managed to slip her whole body into it. “It’s a perfect fit.”
“Good,” Twilight told her. “And if and when you need to make your move, you’ll be in that cannon ready to fly in to protect me from being attacked. We’ll get you two in position before we do our part and then we’ll take the Shadow Bolts down with this two fold plan. So, what do you think?”
“I think you’re crazy,” Applejack answered honestly. “Do you honestly believe that I will be able to do anything while flying through the air like that?”
“But you managed to lasso a pig while you were riding a bucking bull five times your size in ten seconds flat at your last rodeo,” Pinkie Pie chimed in. “Remember, I baked the cake for the party afterwards.”
“Well, yeah, I did do that,” admitted Applejack. “That was one heck of a ride and I bucked the old record right out of the stadium.”
“And I bet a wild bull is a lot more difficult than simply flying through the air in a straight line,” added Pinkie Pie. Applejack had no retort for this.
“And I must be crazy to go along with you,” thought Applejack as she soared straight into the throne room and right over Twilight’s head.
Nightshroud saw her coming and desperately tried to adjust his trajectory and get out of the way. By a narrow margin, he managed to avoid colliding with Applejack and let her fly harmlessly by. “Ha! You missed!” he shouted with panicked relief. “You’re going to get smashed into the wall now!”
“Not if you don’t want to get smashed yourself,” warned Applejack, her lasso still held in her arms and muzzle on one end while the other trailed behind her. It snagged Nightshroud on his hind legs and yanked him right along with Applejack into the wall.
In a frenzy, he tried to break, grabbing air with his wings to help slow them down. It wasn’t enough to bring them to a full stop before they hit the wall, but it did slow them enough to make the impact soft enough for Applejack to take with her hind legs and leap back at Nightshroud. In a midair, she hogtied the Shadow Bolt in a flash and then they both landed safely on the ground panting hard after that extreme few seconds.
“Y-Y-You’re insane,” Nightshroud trembled as he squirmed on the ground against the rope that was tightly tying his hooves together.
“You want to see insane?” she asked him. “Then try stealing my hat. Oh, wait, you did.” Grabbing her precious keepsake from atop Nightshroud’s head, Applejack placed it on her own, returning it to where it rightfully belonged.
“Twilight,” Applejack said as she approached her. “Promise me that if I ever agree to do anything that crazy ever again, please hit me.”
“I promise,” Twilight replied to her, both smiling, happy that their plan worked out.
“It’s my turn! It’s my turn!” chanted Pinkie as she bounded over to them with her cannon in tow.
“Here comes another crazy one,” groaned Nightshroud as she kept chanting “It’s my turn!” and pranced around the room. “Your turn? You’re going to shoot yourself out of that cannon now?”
“No, not that,” she answered him. “Well, maybe later since that looked like a lot of fun. Now it’s time for my part of the plan.” With the bottle of growth potion in her hooves, Pinkie poured some more onto her cannon, making it big enough to fit four Ponies into it. Seeing this, the Shadow Bolts didn’t need an explanation for what was about to happen next.
After binding up the other three Shadow Bolts in rope and squeezing them into the cannon alongside Nightshroud, Twilight was finally able to release her magical hold on them, much to both sides' relief. “So, what now?” asked Firestorm. “Are you just going to blast us out of this cannon?”
“That depends,” replied Twilight. “Depends on whether or not you will cooperate and tell us what we want to know.”
“We aren’t going to tell any of you anything,” Gale Force replied. “Do what you want to us, but we won’t betray our princess.”
“Yeah!” exclaimed Sunny Day fidgeting around wildly in the cannon. “Tell them nothing by your name and favorite cereal! Sunny Day! Honey Bunches of Oats!”
“They seem like they are going to be a tough bunch of nuts to crack,” admitted Twilight.
“What should we do with them?” Spike asked her.
“We’ll let them stew in the cannon for a while longer,” she decided. “We still have to retrieve the Elements of Harmony.”
“Heheheh,” snickered the Shadow Bolts after hearing Twilight say that.
“What’s so funny?” Twilight asked them.
“You’ll see soon enough,” Nightshroud told her, the amused look on all their faces making Twilight worried.
“Don’t let them get to you, Twi,” Applejack told her. “They know they’re beat so they’re just messing with us. Let’s go grab the Elements and see if we can’t wipe those smiles off their faces when we get back.”
“You’re right, Applejack,” she agreed then turned to Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie, if they try anything funny, pull the chord and blast them out of the cannon.”
“You got it,” Pinkie told Twilight as she Applejack, and Spike headed to the hidden passage behind the thrones.
“Are you that it’s a good idea to have Pinkie in charge of watching them?” Spike asked Twilight. “If she fires them out of the cannon then we lose our prisoners and don’t we still need them to tell us all they can about Nightmare Moon and her plans?”
“I just said all that so the Shadow Bolts won’t try to escape while we’re getting the Elements,” she explained. “I can assure you, they won’t be going any-” KABOOM!!! The cannon went off and rocketed the four Shadow Bolts out a hole in the roof and across the night sky. “-where…”
Twilight, Spike, and Applejack raced back over to Pinkie and stared up into the sky, but all they could see was the glowing moon against the darkness. “Pinkie!” cried Twilight. “Why did you fire them out of the cannon?”
“You said to do that if any of them tried anything funny,” she replied.
“Yeah, and,” nodded Twilight wanting more details.
“That one named Sunny Day made a face like this,” she continued and stuck her tongue out and made fish lips. Seeing that, Spike couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s what I thought,” she went on. “And since Twilight said to send them flying if they did anything funny that’s what I did do.”
“Well, there goes any hope of getting the lowdown on Nightmare Moon,” commented Applejack. “I’d reckon they were blasted halfway across Equestria.”
“What’s done is done,” sighed Twilight taking a breath. “At least they’re out of our manes now and we’ve still got the Elements of Harmony. As long as we have them, we’ll be fine.”
Now with Pinkie Pie joining them the group once more made their way down the passageway hidden behind the two, old thrones. Once they reached the room at the other end, they discovered the pipe organ that the Shadow Bolts had been playing, along with a viewing orb. However, what they were most interested in was the large stone chest in the middle of the room.
“This has to be it,” Twilight said as she and the others approached it. Together, with all their combined strength, they slid the lid off and gazed down at the treasures they had come to acquire, but the light of hope quickly faded from their eyes and their eager smiles were swapped for jaw dropping disbelief. The box that they believed held the solution to their Nightmare Moon problem was empty, save for a layer of dust covering the box’s insides.
“It’s empty?” asked Spike. “We came all this way and there’s nothing here?”
“No, this can’t be,” worried Twilight. “The Elements should have been here. I’m positive of it.”
“Maybe the Shadow Bolts took them before we got here,” suggested Applejack. “That must be why they were snickering before.”
“And now they’re gone and we have no idea where to look for them,” added Spike. “We’re right back to where we started. No clues and no idea what to do now.”
“Why don’t we ask Nightmare Moon where the Elements are?” suggested Pinkie.
“Why would Nightmare Moon tell us where the Elements are?” asked Twilight, raising an eyebrow. “How would we even be able to contact her?”
“We don’t have to contact her,” Pinkie Pie explained. “She’s right there in that orb thingy.”
“Orb thingy?” repeated Twilight as she looked over at the crystal ball and saw Nightmare Moon’s image was in it. “Nightmare Moon!”
“Hahahah!” she cackled villainously, sending Spike to nervously hide behind Twilight as they cautiously approached the magic sphere. “I must say, I’m impressed, Twilight Sparkle. You’ve done exceptionally well. I never would have imagined that you’d make it this far. In fact, you’d already be in possession of the Elements of Harmony if I didn't have the forethought to hide them from the very beginning.”
“From the beginning?” replied Twilight. “You mean before you even faced off against Celestia? You had already hidden away all the Elements?”
“After waiting a thousand years for my return,” Nightmare Moon spoke. “Why would I not take every possible precaution to ensure my victory? I sent the Shadow Bolts here to bring me the six elements and, after that, I entrusted them to some of my more special Dreamers.”
“More special than the ones we’ve already met?” asked Spike.
“Much more,” Nightmare Moon promised them. “They are my six Nightmares and if you wish to have any hope in stopping me then you are going to have to defeat them all. But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. You still don’t have the foggiest idea where to search for them.”
“We were hoping that you might be kind enough to tell us,” Pinkie explained.
“Oh, sure, I’d be happy to reveal to you all my greatest secrets on how to defeat me,” Nightmare Moon spoke with sarcasm.
“Okey dokey lokey,” smiled Pinkie. “Does anypony have a pen and paper? We should probably write this stuff down.”
“There is no way in Tartarus I would reveal to you the location of the Elements of Harmony!” snapped Nightmare Moon. “You can go ahead and search every nook and cranny in Equestria for the next one thousand moons and you’ll still not find them. Not that you’d even be a match for the creatures I have guarding them.”
“That’s what you said when I came all the way here and that didn’t happen,” countered Twilight.
“In no small part thanks to the help those other Ponies were able to provide you with,” pointed out Nightmare Moon.
“Ahem,” Spike spoke up. “And dragon.”
“Whatever,” she replied uncaringly. “I can assure you it’ll take more than a handful of Ponies to take on the fiends I have that are just waiting for someone to make an attempt at the Elements they are guarding. But, by all means, go ahead and try to do the impossible. I look forward to seeing how well you will do. Will you manage to surprise me some more and acquire two or three or them or will you struggle to even get your hooves on one. It doesn’t matter how far you get if you can’t obtain them all, but I will enjoy watching you fumble about as you try. Gwahahahahahah!!!” Nightmare Moon unleashed a bone chilling laugh as she laid out her challenge to Twilight and the others. Her laughter went on for several seconds before she groaned a bit and rubbed her head achingly.
“Oh, ow,” she grumbled. “I think I over laughed.” Nightmare Moon stared at the group of four that were gazing back at her, their expressions, not the fearful ones she had hoped to see from her taunting, not after that last moment of awkwardness. “Uh, well, savor this victory while you can. “I’ve got much more important matters to attend to. I hope you all have a pleasant eternal night now.”
“After all this,” sighed Twilight sadly, once Nightmare Moon was off the orb. “After making our way through that forest, defeating the Shadow Bolts and everything else we did, it didn’t amount to anything at all. The Elements are scattered across Equestria and we don’t have any idea where to even start looking.”
“You can’t give up now, Twilight,” Applejack said, putting a hoof over her shoulder. “Don’t forget Zecora’s prophecy. She said so much herself that you’d find them. Maybe we can go back and see if she can look into where the Elements are.”
“That’d at least be worth a shot,” admitted Twilight, her spirits getting lifted by this possibility for new hope. “Let’s go ask her. Oh, but first, Spike, let’s send Celestia a letter to keep her updated on what’s going on.”
“Just leave it to your Number One Assistant,” Spike told her as he got quill and paper in claw. “Ready when you are.”
“Ahem,” Twilight cleared her throat before beginning to dictate her letter. “Dear Princess Celestia…”
“Dear Princess Celestia,” read the Princess of the Sun once Twilight’s letter reached her.
This is your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, once more, writing to you. And her trusty, Number One Assistant, Spike too. We hope you are doing well. Prisoner or not, Nightmare Moon better have the decency to be hospitable to you.
Anyway, I wanted to give you an update on what’s happened since I last wrote. First off, I’ve begun my quest to obtain the six Elements of Harmony. With a little work and research, we found out the whereabouts of your old castle where they were kept and made our way over. We faced some tough enemies that Nightmare Moon set against us, but, together, we managed to make it through, in no small part thanks to some friends I’ve made along the way.
Currently, Spike and I are traveling with two of them now, Applejack and Pinkie Pie. If not for them, I would never have managed to overcome Nightmare Moon’s Shadow Bolts and you’d probably be hearing from me as a prisoner alongside you rather than this letter sent via dragon flame.
To be perfectly honest, I didn’t think the fate of Equestria was going to rely on me making friends, but I would have never made it as far as I did if not for them. They have strengths and qualities about them that I don’t and even when I’m feeling down I can get back up because they are there to lend me a hoof or a claw. If… no, when I rescue you, I’d love for you to meet them.
“Twilight,” smiled Celestia warmly as she stopped reading for a moment to dry her eyes. “I have always hoped that you would make some friends one day. I wish it had been under less world-ending circumstances, but I’m happy for you nonetheless. From how you write about them, I don’t have any doubt that you have made some very good ones.” Wiping away her overflow of emotion once more, Princess Celestia went back to reading the rest of the letter.
While the good news is that we managed to reach your castle and defeat the Shadow Bolts who were supposedly protecting the Elements from us, we found out the terrible truth. Before we even began, we were too late. Nightmare Moon already had the Shadow Bolts retrieve the Elements for her and she has scattered them all across Equestria.
On top of that, each one is guarded by creatures she believes that I stand no chance of defeating even if I can manage to figure out where to go. That may be what she thinks, but I plan to get stronger alongside all the others to make sure that we won’t lose. After the battles I’ve already faced, I plan on working to improve my magic to prepare for whatever might come our way, no matter what it is.
However, even if I can manage to get stronger, that will not help us if we cannot discover the location of the Elements of Harmony. We are going to try to learn their locations on our end, but I was hoping to ask if you could help us too. If you could possibly know where Nightmare Moon might hide something as important as the Elements of Harmony, it could be a huge clue to us. Even if you don’t, I look forward to hearing from you again soon. Please continue to take care of yourself as well as have faith in me. I promise you that I won’t stop until Nightmare Moon is gone for good.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
“I should have known Nightmare Moon would have done something like that,” admitted Celestia as she reclined back onto her bed and looked up at the ceiling to ponder. “But as for where she would hide them, I could only guess. Even when we were kids she was good at hiding things and when it was something of mine it was quite irritating. I had to sneak a peek at her diary in order to find out where she put it.”
As Celestia said this, her eyes widened and she sat up. “She could still be using it,” she realized and hurried over to a portrait picture of a Pony General’s profile. Looking behind the frame was a hidden switch. Pulling on it, caused the wall beside the painting to silently slide open and reveal a passage hidden behind it.
“I do so love castles with hidden passages and tons of surprising mechanisms built into them,” she thought to herself as she ventured down the hidden corridor as the wall closed behind her. “Especially now that I finally have a chance to use them for something other than sneaking down to the kitchen for a late night snack.”
The secret passage was very long and had concealed entryways into all the rooms on the wing of the castle Celestia was currently on. As the Alicorn quietly opened each one, she peeked out to ensure it was empty before she ventured into the room to look around.
“Not in here,” she’d say after quietly searching beneath the pillows of the bed in each room she infiltrated. Then, as Celestia had nearly arrived at the last few rooms she could access from this wing of the castle, she ventured into the final room and once more and lifted up the pillow. This time, however, she discovered more than the bed sheet underneath. Along with it was a book carefully tucked away for safekeeping. The book was bound in black leather and had a white crescent moon symbol emblazoned on the cover. It also had a strap on it that was connected to a lock to ensure it couldn’t be opened without a key.
“Yes,” Celestia silently celebrated her discovery. “This is it. It’s been forever since I laid eyes on this, but there’s no doubt that this is definitely her top secret diary.”
Reaching into her mane, Celestia uncovered a bobby pin that was hidden beneath her mix of colorful, wavy hues. With what little magic she was still to draw upon, Celestia removed the hair accessory from her mane and maneuvered it to the keyhole of the lock of the diary as she worked to pick it.
“It’s been a while since I’ve had to do this,” she mumbled to herself as she worked to trick the lock open. “But I shooould be able tooooo…”
“Click!”
Celestia unlocked the diary.
“Got it!” she announced almost too
loudly, but quieted herself and waited to see if anyone heard her. When she didn’t hear any approaching hoofsteps, the alicorn princess opened the book to a random page and read it.
Dear Diary,
Today was not a fun day. Celestia decided to use magic to create a security system for our castle. She enchanted all the suits of armor to come to life when playing a pipe organ. How dumb is that? It’s such a ludicrous method to defend our home. When she went to test it, she decided to use me as her guinea pig and had them follow after me in the castle endlessly. Even when I blasted those stupid tin cans to pieces they simply rebuilt themselves and continued after me.
It took me forever to maneuver my way around them to reach Celestia and make her stop playing that infernal instrument. With that done, I was finally able to catch my breath. Meanwhile Celestia simply smiled amusedly and commented that our security system was working well, though a few more suits of armor wouldn’t hurt. I’ll admit that did get a chuckle out of me, but I was still very annoyed that she did that.
I’ll have to think of some way to get back at her. I’m thinking of perhaps sneakily moving the moon in front of the sun to block it out. Ha! I can’t wait till I pull that prank on her and then we’ll see who the funny one is.
“Yes and that was so funny,” Celestia rolled her eyes and started to flip further ahead in the diary. Eventually she reached a section that simply read, “Trapped in Moon. Plotting my revenge,” over and over again for every day. Celestia kept on flipping through chunks of the diary as she attempted to get past Nightmare Moon’s thousand moons of banishment and closer to the present. Finally, she arrived on the day prior.
Dear Diary,
Today’s forecast, cold with a great chance for revenge! Hahahah! Yes today has been a most splendiferous one indeed! As I vowed on that day, so many moons ago I have made my return from my banishment and have wasted no time in doing what I sought out to do so very long ago. I confronted Celestia and challenged her to our long-anticipated rematch and in spectacular fashion I WAS VICTORIOUS!!!
Oh, you should have seen her twist in the wind as she fell before my awesome might. This was a moment well worth waiting for and it was the sweetest revenge I could have ever hoped for. I was even fortunate enough to crush Celestia’s precious student right in front of her. Celestia did put a damper on that part, however, helping her to escape, but that hardly matters, not when Equestria is finally mine to rule and my rule shall be GLORIOUS!!! Hahahah!!!
“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed defeating me,” snorted Celestia as she read those words not meant for another Pony’s eyes. “But I didn’t ‘twist in the wind’ and I’d hardly consider how you won to be done in ‘spectacular fashion.’” Celestia rolled her eyes and then flipped to the next page.
Dear Diary,
It seems that Celestia’s little student, Twilight Sparkle, has decided to try and defy me even after the brutal defeat I gave her in the castle. She goes on and on about how great Celestia is and what a monster I am. She hardly knows the first thing about me or Celestia beyond the propaganda that Ms. Cake-loving Perfect Sun Butt has been spewing about me.
Ugh!
“Look at me! I’m Celestia. Praise me as I raise the sun. Sundials are way better than fireworks and what’s so great about romantic moonlit walks under the stars when you can have a blast on a sunny beach getting burnt red as a tomato and blah blah blah!”
“I do not talk like that,” huffed Celestia. “And sundials are a very practical thing that can be used every day to tell the time. Fireworks are fun, but who wants to constantly hear explosions in the middle of the night when they are trying to sleep?”
Anyway, little Ms. Bookhorse is planning on making her way to our old castle. I’ve sent the Shadow Bolts to try and capture her. I’d put their odds at almost guaranteed victory, but even if they somehow screw this up I have nothing to worry about. The Elements of Harmony are safely hidden throughout Equestria and there is no way she’ll be able to find them. I have one hidden and guarded all the way in the tomb of the pharaoh, King Trotandcanter. It’s hidden within the vast desert of Saddle Arabia. There is no way in Tartarus that anypony would even think to search for something that has been lost for even longer than I’ve been banished to the Moon for. The Element is safe in there, no question about that.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Celestia said after finishing that page and turning it to see that the next one was blank. “Looks like that’s as far as she wrote so far, but now I know where one is hidden. I will have to send Twilight a message with this information as soon as possible.”
“Step aside,” ordered Nightmare Moon to one of her guards. Her voice was coming from outside the door that Celestia was in. “I wish to enter my room.”
“As you wish, my princess,” the guard told her with a bow.
“I can’t let her find me,” worried Celestia as she shut Nightmare Moon’s diary and attempted to lock it, her nerves making her struggle with it. As she heard the knob on the door turn, her heart sank.
“Your majesty,” called another guard as he galloped over to the dark Alicorn. “The Shadow Bolts have returned.”
“That was fast,” surmised Nightmare Moon as she turned away from the door as she opened it. “They must have ridden that cannon blast all the way back here.”
“They rode the cannon blast?” asked the guard, raising an eyebrow.
“Nevermind,” she told him. “I’ll deal with them later. Just tell them that I may consider some leniency for their failure due to their unwavering devotion.”
“As you wish,” he saluted to her. “And we are all fully devoted to you as well, princess.”
“Thank you,” she smiled. “It is loyalty like that that will secure your future in my rule. Keep up the good work and spread the word to your fellow soldiers too.”
“Delighted too,” he answered before taking his leave.
Entering her room, Nightmare Moon paused and scanned the room around her. “Was someone in here?” she pondered to herself, but couldn’t see anything to indicate anything had been touched since she last visited it. Approaching her bed, she lifted her pillow and found her diary, just as she had left it. Groaning a bit, she rubbed her head as it throbbed.
“Maybe I’m just tired,” she said to herself and looked upon her bed. It looked wonderfully inviting to her. Nightmare Moon felt tempted to climb into bed and get some rest, but she shrugged it off and stretched. “No. I can rest in a little bit. First, I think I’ll pay Celestia a little visit. I can deal with the Shadow Bolts later.”
“That was very lucky,” thought Celestia after hastily making her way back through the secret catacombs to return to her room. Peering into it to make certain it was empty, she entered back into it and started to scratch out a letter to Twilight. “It seems that fate does not simply wish for Nightmare Moon to have her way after all.”
Celestia was halfway through her letter when she was paused, hearing the all too familiar voice of Nightmare Moon at her door. “Stand aside,” she told the guard, just as she did with the one before. “I wish to visit with Celestia.”
“As you command,” he answered, stepping aside for Nightmare Moon to enter into the Alicorn of the Day’s room.
“Greetings, Celestia, I have returned,” spoke the Alicorn of the Night as she approached Celestia after she had quickly hidden her note and relaxed casually upon her bed.
“It’s a shame you didn’t send me word in advance,” Celestia spoke coyly. “I’d have prepared some hot water for us to enjoy some tea. You do know how much I enjoy these little visits of yours.”
“Very cute,” replied Nightmare Moon, slightly amused at Celestia’s demeanor. “Enjoying my hospitality?”
“As much as I am trying to enjoy my staycation from being a princess,” she answered. “It is quite boring to be cooped up in this room all day… oh, sorry, I mean all night and the view from my balcony is very drab too. That barrier ruins the view and even if it wasn’t there, I would hardly be able to gaze at the scenery while all of Equestria is plunged in eternal night.”
“Sorry, but that is something that you’ll have to get used to,” Nightmare Moon told Celestia. “And I wouldn’t count on you leaving this room any time soon either.”
“Uh huh,” replied Celestia, hiding a smirk. “So, how has Twilight been doing? I’m sure you’ve been keeping tabs on her. Has she made it to our old castle yet?”
“Hmm…” pondered Nightmare Moon. “Did she? Did she reach the castle or did she stumble into a pack of timberwolves? Perhaps she attempted to cross a marsh full of cragodiles or she could have ended up face-to-face with a hungry hydra.”
“You know you can’t lie to me. She made it to our old castle,” Celestia said again, not falling for Nightmare Moon’s lies, but being careful with how she spoke to not let on that she had means of gathering outside information.
“Ugh, yes,” admitted NIghtmare Moon with an annoyed groan. “Oh, but she still had to contend with my squadron of Shadow Bolts and-”
“She defeated them,” Celestia finished her fellow princess’s sentence for her.
“Just barely!” added Nightmare Moon angrily. “However-”
“She didn’t get the Elements of Harmony because you took them from the castle long before she arrived,” Celestia cut her off again to her increased chagrin. Celestia looked at Nightmare Moon, restrained rage in her eyes. “Well, I could guess all that, but I have no idea where you might have hidden them.”
“Are you sure you can’t figure that out yourself, Ms. Smartypants?” snapped Nightmare Moon.
“Even if I can’t, I have confidence that Twilight will and that she will be more than a match for whatever you might put up against her,” Celestia countered. “And once she has all the Elements, Twilight will put a stop to you.”
“You can have all the faith in the world for her,” countered Nightmare Moon, rubbing her head as it started to ache. “But she will not succeed and I will not be stopped. My night will last… ugh… forev...er…” Groaning, Nightmare Moon started to stumble around. The room started to spin before her eyes and then she collapsed onto the floor.
“Are- Are you alright?” asked Celestia, shocked to see Nightmare Moon faint so suddenly. Hurrying to her side, she felt her forehead and her horn. “Oh, dear, you’re burning up! I shouldn’t be surprised. You were overexerting yourself, levitating this castle, casting the barrier around it, and creating this perpetual night, on top of any other magic you’ve cast. That’s too much for anypony to take on, even an Alicorn.”
Nightmare Moon groaned, regaining consciousness and lifted up her head to look at Celestia. “You fool,” she moaned. “This may have been your chance to stop me and yet you come to my aid like we aren’t enemies.”
“Just forget about that, for now,” begged Celestia. “Release some of your magic, please.”
“And what, let this castle plumet out of the sky?” she scoffed.
“No,” Celestia shook her head. “You know the one you should stop, now do it before you suffer any worse and your magic starts to fail anyway.”
“N-N-Never,” stuttered Nightmare Moon stubbornly. “My night shall go on forev-”
“Please! I’m begging you,” cried Celestia. “Please… Luna…”
Hearing that name, Nightmare Moon stared up at Celestia, tears running down the white Alicorn’s face. “...Fine,” she conceded, her horn glowing and then fading again. “You can have your precious day back… for now.” Staring out the window, Nightmare Moon expected the sky to brighten with the return of day, but the darkness remained. “Why is it still dark out? I undid my magic.”
“Of course it’s still dark, silly,” giggled Celestia. “It’s late into the night by now. The sun isn’t set to rise for a few more hours.”
“Ugh,” grumbled Nightmare Moon as she got back to her feet again. “Don’t start going all sappy on me. I may have been too hasty in moving so far ahead in my plans before I was truly ready. I’ll hold off on it for now, until then.”
“And what do you have planned, Luna?” asked Celestia.
“Do not call me that!” hissed the dark Alicorn. “I am Nightmare Moon now. That weak Pony no longer exists.” Turning away, she made for the door. “I am done speaking with you for now. I am going to get some rest. Enjoy your sunlight, for however long it will remain.” Opening the door and shutting it behind her, Nightmare Moon left.
“That’s not true,” sighed Celestia as she remained seated on the ground. “For just a brief moment, I saw her, my precious Luna.” Smiling a little, Celestia wiped her face dry and then returned to her letter to Twilight. She added a bit more to it and then, with a bit of magic, she sent it off.