//------------------------------// // Girthy Turds // Story: Ernest Saves Equestria // by Emerald Harp //------------------------------// The monster erupted from the ground like lava from a volcano. Molten earth and rocks rolled away from the mound freshly formed in the soil. The creature beneath the small hill panicked at its sudden existence and self awareness. “Must get out,” it thought. With a roar the creature tore open its birth sac and easily lifted itself out of the hole. The monster breathed in the crisp night air and calmed itself. Moments later the memories came. Memories that were not his own flooded into his mind. He was a troll, a descendant from the Old World in the frozen north. He recalled the moment when his ancestors swore allegiance to Sombra centuries ago. His hands tightened around the haft of his weapon. This caused the troll to start. Was he born with this axe he now held? The answer came quickly. Yes. Yes, of course, the blessing bestowed by Sombra. All children of the black unicorn would never be born helpless and would be able to fight after their first breath. This weapon was as much a part of him as the tusks growing out of his skull, and in time, he would be as fearsome as Trantor. The moment he thought of the unicorn’s champion he remembered the Great War. The war for the Crystal Empire where all but one of his kind fell to the Crystal Heart, but victory had been achieved. The enemy had been beaten and broken before the might of Sombra and Trantor. The troll wiped the remnants of the afterbirth from his eyes and glanced around his surroundings. More trolls, dozens of them, were in the process of being born. But he was the first, the first true troll to be born in Equestria for centuries. The creature stood taller as that revelation dawned on him. He was home. He was back in Equestria. Even though he had never seen this place before with his own eyes, he knew where he was. But that would mean . . . Trantor was dead. Rotnart. Trantor’s last earthling son fled back here to save what he could, to resurrect the empire. But, something was wrong. Was Rotnart dead too? He did not know. The troll turned to see a mighty tree warped to the needs of his race. “Only one?” he thought. He remembered through his ancestor’s shared memory of entire forests given over to the creation of Sombra’s unstoppable hordes and whole cities looted of their children to power the trees. Those same trees that had birthed his great grandfathers were dead. No tree could survive after giving its very life-force to feed his kin. But this tree was different. He could feel untapped power still radiating from its trunk. Sure enough, new pods were forming where the old ones had fallen. The troll turned his attention to the tree’s base where he saw Rabuf stuffing dolls into a gap between some branches. The name of the troll came to him as the last of the memories stopped flowing. At last the river of shared knowledge had been dammed. In the future he knew his own memories would be viewed by the next generation of trolls. This thought pleased the troll as he advanced to meet his leader. ************************************************************************************* Rabuf placed the last doll into the tree. Inside of the trunk were dozens of hollowed spaces for dolls to reside, but only a few were full. He turned to look at his helper. “Are we out of opossum dolls?” Hctorc Retib nodded, her tail twitching nervously. “Yes, Troll King. The pon----, I mean the opossums are putting up a heck of a fight. Apparently all the younglings we didn’t get are all hold up in the town hospital. There’s a powerful opossum there that’s put up a magic shield that we can’t get around. Also all the opossum’s are armed with milk.” The Troll King thought for a moment. “What about the black opossum of the under-castle? Where is she at? I bet she could get in if we asked her nicely and offered her a bowl of Ol’ Roy dog food. Opossums love that stuff, right?” The female troll shrugged and turned to some of her surviving brothers that were grazing on nuts and grass. She caught the eye of one of the more attentive trolls and repeated the question. The other troll shook his head and went back to eating. “Apparently no one’s seen her recently,” answered Hctorc Retib. Rabuf was silent for a moment. He turned his back on his subordinate and regarded the corrupted tree of harmony. “We have another card we could play in this game of cracker jacks.” The smaller troll gulped. “You don’t mean surrendering yourself to the dark powers inside the tree do you?” Rabuf recoiled in disgust. “What? Eww, gross. Screw that with a bat wrapped in pig mat. Things would have to be a lot more FUBAR then they are now for me to even think about going into that thing. What I meant was . . .” At this moment Rabuf finally noticed the muscular troll with a great axe kneeling before him. “Wow, this thing works fast,” declared Rabuf. “I just put the first batch of dolls in a minute ago. What’s your name, son?” “Iruamas, my king,” answered the newborn troll. “Sire, allow me to sacrifice my soul and body for the glory of our race. I would gladly do this for you, my lord, if it would mean final victory for our people.” The Troll King shifted his weight from foot to foot. “First of all, I love your Chutzpa. It takes a special kind of suicidal enthusiasm to make it in this troll’s army. But I got a better idea.” ************************************************************************************* Minutes later, the newborn troll found himself surrounded by his brothers and sisters. They were all looking down at a crude depiction of the town they would be attacking drawn in the ground with a stick. “There is a saying on Earth by this one guy in the far east named Clifford, or maybe it’s Corn-hole, or Confusion . . . yeah, I’m pretty sure his name was Confusion.” Rabuf cleared his throat. “One small dry turd made by a dog eating grass will not fertilize a food plot. But many wet girthy turds created by a driver of an eighteen wheeler eating nothing but Taco Bell will destroy the plumbing of a city block.” Some of the slower trolls in the audience nodded at the sage advice of their leader. Iruamas for his part asked, “What do you mean, Troll King?” Rabuf circled the hospital with his pointer stick and declared, “You guys are the turds and you are going to clog that opossum’s sewer magic with your fat girthy bodies.” The trolls cheered at that, none louder than Iruamas. Rabuf raised his hands for quiet. When he had it, he drew the sword his brother had given him. “Now are we clear on the plan?” The army of trolls nodded. “Good.” The Troll King stepped forward and gave the sword to Iruamas. The fearsome firstborn kneeled and reverently accepted the boon. “Now bring home some opossum babies.” ************************************************************************************* Willie zoomed down the halls of the hospital on his rubber wheels, quickly checking the rooms for trolls as he went. Not one of the monsters had broken through Twilight’s barrier, but it paid to be careful when dealing with Trantor’s spawn. The robot paused for a few moments outside Spike’s room. Looking through the window he saw the hatchling’s head was covered in bandages. Near the dragon’s bed was Doctor Brighthoof and nurse Red Heart examining X-Ray scans of Spike’s cranium. The automaton considered zooming in on the scans and deciphering the data himself but rejected the idea. Sometimes there is salvation in ignorance. Willie pressed his metal fingers against the glass and muttered a brief prayer. Carefully, Willie climbed the stairs to the roof of the hospital. One hand gripped the railing while the other delicately held a glass of water. Not for the first time tonight Willie was wondering why Ernest had not just given him metal feet instead of wheels. At last he pushed the access door open and was greeted with an eerie silence, not even the wind could get through Twilight’s shield. A violet hue tinted the night sky as Willie scanned the night for trolls, but the only things in the air were nervous pegasi. “Did you see anything?” Willie turned his attention away from the heavens and carefully wheeled forward onto the sloping roof. Thankfully the pony he was charged to protect was nearby. Standing on the central ridge of the Ponyville hospital was Twilight Sparkle. Willie could tell the Princess was tired from the effort of keeping the force field up. Sweat dripped off the pony’s mane as the alicorn focused her concentration on maintaining the barrier. “Naw, lass. You’re doing a bang up job at keeping the wee devils out.” The robot sat the glass infront of the alicorn and backed away. A tendril of magic formed from Twilight’s horn. Using a fraction of her skill she enveloped the glass with her magic and brought the water to her parched lips. After drinking greedily from the tall glass she asked, “How’s Spike?” Willie paused and tried to quantify how to best answer the pony’s question. “Don’t worry ‘bout him. He’s in good hooves.” For the first time in a long while Twilight opened her eyes and looked at her protector. The pony’s watery eyes were bloodshot from exhaustion. “I can’t lose him too, Willie. I can’t loose anypony else tonight.” “And you won’t. Once Zecora comes back with me da, he’ll put everything back to right. You’ll see, dear. There is nothing Ernest P. Worell can’t fix once he puts his mind to it.” Twilight closed her eyes. “I hope you’re right. Thank you for the water.” “You’re welcome.” The robot paused not knowing what else to say. Finally he settled on, “Well, I think I’ll walk the perimeter one more time and . . .” The robot paused. “Willie? What is it?” “The roof, nay, the entire bloody hospital is shaking. I can feel it down to the ground floor.” From above, Willie could hear the sound of a pony being let through Twilight’s shield. A Wonderbolt came swooping downwards, nearly colliding with the roof but still managing to land gracefully before the alicorn. “They’re coming; the trolls are coming from the East,” Spitfire stated grimly. “Hundreds of them.” For a moment the barrier shimmered and dissipated altogether before reforming. The Princess fought down the fresh waves of panic threatening to break her concentration. Through clenched teeth she spoke to her bodyguard. “Willie, get to the basement and protect the foals.” The robot hesitated for a moment. In the span of a few heartbeats he ciphered through all the possible variations of what could happen when the trolls attacked and where he would be best suited to put up the strongest defense. “But . . .” the robot started to say. “Just do it. I’ll be fine.” snarled the alicorn. “Go!” Willie looked to the leader of the Wonderbolt for guidance. The Pegasus nodded. “They’ll have to get through us to get to her.” The robot gave Twilight Sparkle one last look of concern before climbing down into the bowels of the hospital. ************************************************************************************* They came down the dirt paths and cobbled stone streets of Ponyville, a screaming tidal wave of hate, muscle, and teeth. Unlike the previous wave of small nimble magic-wielding trolls, this next onslaught was a muscular juggernaut running through the town. All the way from where the Everfree Forest met the outskirts of Ponyville to the hospital, the trolls died in droves. The sorties from the winged ponies were relentless. Cartons upon cartons of milk were dropped from the heavens to land on the charging monsters below. The remnants of the dissolving trolls turned the dirt roads to mud, and still they came forward. At last the first trolls to reach the hospital crashed against the Princess’s shield. They died mere inches away from the ponies waiting on the other side. A phalanx of unicorns and earthponies nervously watched the slaughter on the other side of the barrier, clutching water guns and fresh gallons of milk. The trolls pounded on the purple barrier with everything they had, but not even their strength could dent the shield. But that was not their task. Their objective was never to breach the barrier that surrounded their prize. Their task was a diversion, a show of raw power that any troll would have been happy to perform. Iruamas did not have time to admire the sacrifice of his brothers and sisters. He and the remainder of the mutant chaos magic-using dwarves teleported from cover to cover underneath the very noses of the Pegasus that were dousing their comrades with milk. Soon, the small strikeforce had made it to within yards of the hospital on the eastern side. Iruamas eyed the barrier that sheltered the hospital appraisingly from the destroyed house he was taking cover in. With a grace that defied his size and girth he drew Trantor’s sword from its sheath. He looked at the faces of his small squad and said, “Once the shield is down search, the hospital and grab as many younglings as you can and get out.” The dwarf-trolls nodded. Iruamas slowly climbed out of his hiding place and advanced on the shielded building, first at a walk and then at a full sprint. A war-cry clawed its way from his lungs when he brought the ancient weapon down on the Princess’s dome of magic. ************************************************************************************* The barrier shattered like broken glass. Great cracks and fissures travelled up and across the shield faster than an eye could blink. The breaks and rents raced skyward until reaching the horn of Twilight Sparkle. The Princess of Friendship screamed as the split in her shield fed back into her very soul where she drew upon her power. As the shield cracked so did her magic, but still Twilight fought to rally her power. It was a losing battle; she had nothing left to give. After several brutal seconds of trying to reforge the shield around the hospital she collapsed, her head bouncing off the shingled roof. She tried to rise, but her strength failed her, and with a final moan of anguish, her world went black. ************************************************************************************* The great obstacle that had thwarted the trolls was gone. What trolls that had survived the pegasi bombardments surged forward, throwing themselves on their earthbound opponents. The battle before the hospital was brief but brutal. Trolls bowled over any pony that stood in their way, and many equines were turned to dolls. But the Equestrians were just as determined to keep the trolls out and away from their children. Soon, only the ponies were left standing as the last of the two-legged monsters were put down. Their victory was short-lived, when cries of alarm arose from several voices. “What happened to the shield?” somepony asked. “The Princess is down!” shrieked a pegasus. “She needs help!” “Are trolls in the hospital?” yelled a unicorn stallion. “Did any of them get in?” “My babies! I need to see my babies!” screamed an earth pony mother soaked in troll gore. But before any of the defenders outside the structure could rush into the hospital, a new midnight blue barrier went up around the building. The sound of blood-curdling laughter echoed down the halls. The terrified mothers and fathers pounded against the dark shield, but like the trolls they slaughtered mere moments ago, not one of them got through. ************************************************************************************* Minutes ago at Twilight’s Library “This’d better work,” hissed Apple Bloom “Believe me, kid. No one hopes this will work more than me,” replied Rotnart. The troll was looking down at the Luna doll seated in the center of an ink-drawn pentagram surrounded by lit candles. Pip and the CMC had four refilled super soakers all pointed at the sweating troll. Rotnart nodded to himself after gauging his handiwork. He stood there for a moment longer and gave a deep sigh. “Now comes the hard part.” “What do you mean?” ask Pipsqueak suspiciously. “You’ll see.” The true king of the trolls looked up at one of the upper rooms of the library. “That should do it.” He started to make his way towards the stairs when Scootaloo blocked his way. “Where do you think you’re going?” she asked. “Do you want this blue bitch restored or not?” snapped the troll pointing at the wooden figure. “For this ritual to work I have to give a bit of myself, blood bones you get the picture. So I am going to jump off that ledge face first into the floor. Do you have a problem with that?” Scootaloo smiled evilly and stepped aside. “Well, why didn’t you say so?” Rotnart exhaled through his huge hairy nose. “The things I do to stay alive,” he muttered. “And Luna’s not a bitch, you fugly wanker,” Pip called after the troll. The old king made his way up the stairs to the wall-less room with a window that overlooked the lawn. A small sofa was situated underneath the window where one could sit and read if they had wanted. The troll turned to look down on the four children who were staring up at him expectantly. “Do a flip!” shouted Scootaloo. The troll ignored the ponies and steeled himself. He took a deep breath and put his hands together like he was about to dive into a pool. “Wait! Hold on a sec!” hollered Apple Bloom. “For the evil love of Trantor just let me do this, and it will be done!” Rotnart screamed. The yellow foal galloped down one of the halls and returned with a large bag of rocks. The filly commenced to scatter the blunt and pointy objects all over the floor, much to the delight of the other kids. Once the deed was done, Apple Bloom looked up at the troll and grinned. “Will this help?” “Where’d you find those?” asked Pip. “In a closet while we were looking for milk. Applejack has a bag just like it back at Sweet Apple Acres. Pinkie Pie likes to hand out gifts from the rock farm.” Psyching himself up for what he was about to do, the troll took several deep breaths, clenched his jaw and his butthole, backed up as much as he could, and jumped over the edge. “F*#k you guys!” He yelled, just before swan diving face first onto a blunt rock. At the last moment, all the foals looked away just before the troll’s head connected. There was a sickening crunch followed by profuse swearing. The troll quickly got to his feet holding what was left of his face in his hands. “Mother F*#$ker, F*#k me, this hurts like a G)d D*(n, Son of a *#$().” Rotnart’s vision swam when he looked down. To his relief, he found some teeth, pieces of his shattered nose, copious amounts of blood, and a pool of troll saliva that was in the process of slowly melting through the floor. The troll wasted no time in gathering up the pieces of his smashed face and placing them in the pentagram by the Luna doll. “Are you okay?” asked Sweetie Belle “Fine, great, fantastic,” answered the irate troll. Once the wounded Rotnart was done arranging the pieces of himself, he rose and was met by the unicorn. She was offering him a handkerchief with her magic. The troll grabbed the fabric and held it to his face. “Thanks,” he murmured. After dabbing at his wounds, Rotnart brought his index fingers and thumbs together to create a triangle. He brought the triangle up to his dominate eye and advanced on the pentagram to where his feet were all but touching the outer ring. “For this next part, ladies and gent, you might want to close your eyes and cover your ears. It’s about to get weird in here.” “No way!” shouted the earth pony. “We’d be completely helpless.” “You’d turn us into dolls the second we’d close our eyes,” declared Scootaloo. Never breaking eye contact with the alicorn figurine, the wounded creature replied, “Do you foals really think I’d doll you after I went through all this trouble?” “Yes!” yelled Pipsqueak. “You were going to turn me into a doll a while ago.” “That was different,” Rotnart replied defensively. “How?” asked Sweetie Belle. The troll hesitated. “Okay, you got me there. But like I said earlier, we need to be friends right now to beat the Pony of Shadows. And as a gesture of our new friendship, I am telling you to protect yourself from what I’m about to do. It won’t be fun to watch or listen to. In fact, if I were you, I’d find another part of the library to hunker down in until this is over. But whatever, it’s your call. I’m just trying to keep you four from going insane from witnessing the dark magics I’m about to unleash to undo Luna’s prison.” The four friends glanced at each other nervously. “I gotta go,” Pip said in a strained voice. “What? Where are you going?” asked Apple Bloom. “Oh, sorry, I gotta poop pretty badly. I might be a while. You guys go ahead. I’ll be right back.” The troll shrugged, “Smart lad. Anyway if no one else needs to take a piss, I’m going to start now. And don’t come crying to me if anyone goes bat-#*$t crazy. I warned you.” Without further fanfare or warnings Rotnart began his ritual. ************************************************************************************* During this time Rotnart never broke eye contact with the Luna statue. He just stood stock still, hands raised in the form of the triangle, never stopping his chant. The infernal words poured from his mouth, each one chipping away at the alicorns prison. The descendant of the beast of Briarville continued in this manner for over a minute. The Equestrians watched and listened expectantly, but as time went by they became increasingly disillusioned. “What’s he doing?” whispered Sweetie Belle. “I don’t know,” replied Apple Bloom. “But whatever it is, it doesn’t seem to be workin.” “It’s not too late to shoot him, is it?” asked Scootaloo. “He’s just wasting our time.” As if in response to the pony’s criticism, Rotnart’s voice slowly rose in volume. Perspiration formed on the troll’s upper lip and forehead and ran down his ruined face, but still the creature chanted. The soft glow that the candles were emitting began to dim all at once. “Guys,” Scootaloo said nervously. “Something’s happening.” The little pegasus brought up her water gun and aimed it at the troll. With great care, Sweetie Belle brought her hoof down on the scared pony’s milk weapon. “Let him finish.” Bit by bit, second by second, the monster’s voice rose, and the shadows lengthened. Sweetie Belle could feel pressure building behind her eyes. She blinked and tried to clear her mind but the tension was still there and was getting worse. To her side she could hear muffled whimpering. She turned to see Apple Bloom on the floor crying, slowly rocking herself back and forth. Laying her pistol on the floor, the unicorn threw her hooves around her friend, “Apple Bloom, what’s wrong?” “I . . . don’t . . . know,” the earth pony heaved. “The . . . the music. C-cant you h-hear it? It’s . . . it, i--, it’s j-- just so s-- sad.” “Music? I don’t hear any mus--.” The unicorn looked over at her untrustworthy ally. The troll’s eyes were radiating magic. Dark magic. Purple, green, and black hues intertwined, bleeding out like liquid fire from the troll’s eyes. “Cover your ears! Close your eyes! Don’t look at him!” But she could barely hear herself talk. The pressure in her skull had transformed into a migraine. An increasing white-static noise was growing in her ears. “It’s all his fault!” somepony screamed. “He’s the reason I can’t fly. He’s why Rainbow Dash never hangs out with me anymore. He needs to die!” Sweetie Belle whirled towards the small voice she could barely make out. Her heart stopped in her throat. There was Scootaloo pointing a watergun full of milk at Rotnart. The white unicorn let go of Apple Bloom and advanced slowly towards Scootaloo. The pegasus trembled with rage. Blood vessels had burst in both her eyes giving her a demonic persona. The orange pony’s weapon shook as she slowly curled her hoof around the trigger. “I’m ending this now.” “No!” yelled Sweetie Belle. Throwing caution to the wind, she tackled her angry friend. She could taste the milk after Scootaloo had jerked back the trigger. Using her magic to supplement her strength, Sweetie Belle wrenched the pegasus’s weapon out of her hooves and threw it across the room. Scootaloo replied with a right hoof to her friend’s stomach. “Traitor!” shouted Scootaloo. “You’re no better than that filthy troll.” Tears streamed down the unicorn’s face from the pain in her gut and in her head. “Cover your ears,” she half whispered and half moaned. “It’s the dark magic. Fight it, Scootaloo.” “You’re pathetic, troll lover,” replied the raging filly. “What did you say? Squeak up.” Before Sweetie Belle could reply, a pony garbed in pirate regalia, wearing two eye patches came up behind the mad pony and replied, “G’night matey.” The next thing Scootaloo knew, a vice-like hoof was squeezing the muscle where her neck and shoulder met. Sweetie Belle watched Pipsqueak lower the now sleeping Scootaloo down to the floor. The little foal felt around the orange pony’s face. When he found what he was looking for, he proceeded to stuff pieces of cotton into Scootaloo’s ears. The little pirate lifted his eye patches for a brief moment to look at Sweetie Belle. He carefully made his way over to her and gave her a few more tuffs of cotton. The white unicorn quickly rolled the cotton up into a little ball before putting it into her ears. The pain in her skull ebbed. She shielded her eyes from the troll while slowly walking over to where the pirate was tending to Applebloom. “Let’s grab these two and go to a different room,” she shouted. Pipsqueak nodded. With her ears blocked, Applebloom calmed down considerably and was able to help her friends move Scootaloo to a different part of the library. When they were about as far away from the troll as they could get while still remaining in the library the group relaxed a little. The first thing Sweetie Belle asked was, “How did you learn to do that?” she said pointing to Scootaloo. The little foal’s cheeks reddened. “I, uh, I read a lot of star trot. This alien named Spork uses a neck grab that knocks ponies out. It doesn’t hurt them, it just puts them to sleep. This is the first time I’ve tried it out.” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom looked at each other. The yellow earth pony wiped away the last of her tears and smiled. “W-Well, I’m g-glad it worked.” “Me too,” replied the pony from Trottingham. “Hey, where’d you get the cotton from?” asked the unicorn. “Let’s just say I owe Twilight Sparkle a new pillow. As soon as I heard Rotnart start his babbling, I saw sinister things moving in the shadows while I was on the toilet. So I snipped it off, pulled up me pants, and got out of there. I was close to the bedroom, so I tore open one of Twilight’s pillows and stuffed the filler in me ears.” Apple Bloom blanched. “That’s good thinking. But I think I could have done with a little less information.” The three young ponies chatted on and off until Apple Bloom reached up and took out the cotton in her ears. “Hey, you guys here that?” Sweetie Belle and Pipsqueak stopped talking and unblocked their ears. “I don’t hear anything,” replied the little pirate. Then it dawned on him. “Luna’s mane! I don’t hear anything. Is that ugly git done?” Apple Bloom rose and hefted her water gun. “Only one way to find out.” Sweetie Belle nodded. “I’ll go with you.” She turned her attention to Pipsqueak after checking the ammunition in her weapon. “You stay here with Scoots. We may need you to rescue us again if we’re not back soon.” The pretend pirate saluted. “Yarr, you can count on me, ma’am.” Both Crusaders gave the little stallion a hug before leaving, much to Pipsqueak’s shock. “We owe you one, Pip,” said Sweetie Belle. “We wouldn’t be here without ya,” declared Apple Bloom. “Uh, err. Thanks girls. I, I, I just did what anypony else would’ve done,” replied the stunned pony as he awkwardly hugged the girls back. The two Crusaders let their rescuer go and slowly opened the door to the room they were sheltering in. Slowly, the ponies crept forward, low and slow. Weapons at the ready they advanced to the center of the library, a soft blue glow lighting their way. The pair halted in the doorway and gasped in surprise at the same time. Rotnart was not the same as when the Crusaders had left him. His arms were no longer outstretched and his hands no longer formed the triangle where he had focused his power. To the two ponies gazing at him, it looked like he would never move again. A life-size wooden statue was on his knees, fully prostrated before a wrathful goddess. Rotnart’s hands were on the ground, palms down. His entire body bowed before a fully restored blue alicorn. Luna was glaring down at the wooden troll in unveiled hatred, her horn glowing in violent majesty, ready to be unleashed on her tormenter. She turned her head when she heard the gasps of the two fillies. Seeing the fear on the faces of her two little subjects she closed her eyes and slowly dissipated the magic she had been gathering. With a voice dripping with scorn she commanded, “Get out of my sight. I’ll deal with you later.” Head still bowed the troll rose, his wooden joints creaking in protest. Slowly, awkwardly, Rotnart placed one foot in front of the other like he was learning to walk anew. He stumbled a few times but never quite fell. Using the wall and doorframe for support, he left the ponies to themselves. Sweetie Belle watched the changed being with a mixture of curiosity and worry. But before she could ask a question, she felt her body lift up into the air and was enveloped in one of the warmest hugs she could remember. “Oh, my sweet little ponies. I’m so sorry I didn’t recognize the evil that had befallen your fair town sooner. But fear not, this nightmare will be over soon.” She sat the ponies down and asked. “Now tell me everything that’s happened since my internment. Judging by the state of Twilight Sparkle’s library, I would venture that more trolls are afoot.” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom regaled the Princess about the events that had happened since she had been turned into a doll. The two crusaders were soon joined by a very happy Pipsqueak and a groggy Scootaloo. The alicorn listened intently until her subjects got to the part where they rescued Rotnart from the Pony of Shadows. Luna’s eyes widened in shock. “She is here? These are woeful tidings indeed. I will find her and deal with her personally and put a stop to my past sins once and for all.” The Princess’s horn flashed a dark blue, and her eyes became two pools of starlight. “Oi, Princess. What’re you doing?” asked Pipsqueak. “Hush, friend Pipsqueak. I am trying to find that piece of myself that calls itself the Pony of Shadows. She cannot hide from me.” The dreamscape of Ponyville unfolded before the Princess of the night like a book. Her spirit soared above the town like a hawk looking for its prey. The inhabitants of Ponyville appeared to Luna as islands of white light in a sea of midnight. The majority of the village’s population had gathered around the hospital. Their auras blazed like flames as they beat and wailed against a sinister black sphere of magic surrounding the building of healing. “There you are,” muttered Luna. There were ponies inside the hospital, and little dots of lights in the basement representing children. Luna’s breath caught in her throat when she saw bright blood-red flashes of light running through the lower levels of the building heading towards the basement. “Oh, no.” With all the speed she could muster, she flew her dream-self back to Twilight’s library. All the while an evil rancid laughter followed her, dogging her with each flap of the wing. “Come to me my sister-twin. Come. I have waited so long for you.”