Somepony was screaming. It was making hard to hear the other voices. "Hold her down! Pinkie, hold her leg before she hurts herself!"
The screaming was entirely right, the correct and only possible response to reality. The other voices were just distractions. "What happened? What's wrong with her?"
The other voices should just go away. It would be awful if they knew the cause of screaming, and added their voices to the universal chorus. "I don't know! Owlysius came and said Twilight was in terrible danger, and I found her like this!"
The screaming just went on and one and on. "Where's Nurse Redheart? We need to sedate her or something!"
The things she'd been shown. Of course there was screaming. Anypony would scream if they'd seen the Ghooric Zone, heard the solar wind moan through the empty cities under Fomalhaut, or learned the unspeakable truth about sea ponies... "Ow! She bit me!"
She felt magic, cool and serene wash over her. It didn't stop the screaming. "Poni- what has happened? What is wrong with Twilight Sparkle?"
"We don't know! She won't stop screaming!"
She felt something gently touch her mind. "Sleep. Rest."
Luna looked down at the lavender pony on the floor before her. Twilight's eyes were still open, but she'd stopped screaming. Her limbs twitched, as if trying to cover her eyes, and she was still grimacing, and grinding her teeth. It was one of the most horrible things Luna had ever seen - but not as horrible as seeing her sister Celestia, Sol Invicta, Alicorn of Day, the eternal and perfect, reduced to a similar state. Celestia, at least, had overcome her fear within minutes. From what Luna had glimpsed in Twilight's mind, the unicorn might find it much, much harder to find her way back to sanity. She looked at the others - the other Bearers, and Spike, and Owlysius and Peewee, all crowded around their friend.
Twilight’s assistant was holding her hoof; the skin around his eye already bruising under the scales where she had blindly kicked him. He looked up the alicorn, eyes fearful only for the unicorn’s wellbeing, his own pain ignored. “I don’t know what happened, Princess! I wasn’t there to help her!”
Luna sagged with exhaustion. Three long-distance apportations in a hour, the battle with the tree-creatures, raising the moon twice in one night... there were limits to her power. “Spike... please... We must think.” Twilight would have to be transported to Canterlot – whatever had happened, she was clearly not safe in Ponyville. And since there was no way she could allow her sister to act alone against the threat she suspected – “Ponies. Mistresses Applejack, Rarity, Pinkamena, Dash, and Fluttershy. We must ask thou come to Canterlot. As soon as transport can be arranged, you must join us there. I will take Twilight Sparkle myself.” The dark alicorn looked down at their shocked faces, and felt a deep pang of guilt. She could guess the pain of their divided loyalties. “We know thou wish to continue thou search for thou sisters and friends, and the madmare Beatrice, but we cannot endanger the Bearers any further. Please, believe us when we say we wish it were not so. The Elements of Harmony may be required, and thou art vital to the defence of our realm.”
The six ponies, and the others, looked utterly stricken. Luna’s logic was obvious, but still... Spike's eyes were haunted. "Prin... Princess? Is Twilight going to be OK?"
Luna didn’t know. She didn’t know. “We will do our best. There are ponies in Canterlot who can help her, we are sure. But thou must tell us. Did the mare Trixie do this?”
Dash bit her lip. “We dunno Princess – we tried to follow those hoofprints, but Winona wouldn’t go anywhere near them, and those tree-monsters churned up the road like you wouldn’t believe anyway. We ran into A.J. and Rarity coming the other way, so we all came back here to regroup, and found Twi like this.”
Fluttershy looked at the owl beside her, who was hooting his distress again. “Owlysius says it wasn’t a mare, that they were wearing a mask. Um, that it wasn’t a pony? I don’t understand... what kind of cutie mark did they have, Owlys- oh... I’m sorry, Princess Luna, Owlysius must be very upset too, he’s not given me very clear descriptions... please don’t be cross at him, I’m sure he’s trying his best.”
Pinkie’s ears pricked up, and her hair wilted. “A masked pony?” she stammered. “I saw a masked pony, he said he was going to surprise Twili.”
The alicorn’s mane shimmered in the moonlight, the embedded stars trembling with her agitation. “Where, Mistress Pinkamena? Where did you see this pony?”
Rarity spoke up, voice devoid of emotion, her expression fixed. “I saw him near the windmill – but there wasn’t anypony with him.”
“Right! If some stallion’s done this to Twi I’m going to show him what I can do!” snapped Dash, and zoomed off towards the windmill.
“Rainbow Dash, wait!”
“ConSARN that mare. We don’t even know when he was there yet. Sorry, Princesss, we gotta get after her – wait, Twilight? You trying to say something there, girl?”
Twilight’s lips were moving, but her voice was even fainter than Fluttershy’s. The pegasus cradling her head leaned down to try and listen. “Don’t. Don’t let him show me.”
“Show... show you what, Twilight?” She looked up at the alicorn in confusion. Luna could only crease her brow in concern, as she weighed the risks of pursuing Dash, and leaving the others here undefended.
Pinkie was staring at the white unicorn. “When did you see him, Rarity? I sent him over here as soon as I met him.”
"Pardon me, Pinkie? Met who?"
"The masked pony. You said you met him near the windmill."
Rarity's confusion grew, and Luna looked from one to the other with mounting dread. "I did? How very strange, I'm pretty sure I'd remember meeting anybody like that, especially if I thought they'd hurt poor Twilight. I mean... wouldn't I? Why are you looking at me like that?"
***
"I must admit it makes a refreshing change to meet a stallion who cares about how he looks as much you do, Mister Herald."
Herald nodded, his mask never removed, despite Rarity's attempts to persuade him otherwise. "Thank-you, madam. I take appearances very seriously."
"And such a wonderful coat colour! There's so many ways I can complement it with my designs!"
"Indeed. I find that black goes with most things. Eventually."
"Well, I'm sure these robes will be just spectacular! Pardon me for asking, but are they - and that stylish mask of yours - for the eclipse ceremony?"
Herald nodded, as Rarity fused around him making the final adjustments. "Correct. But they won't be shown off to the public until the proper moment."
"Oh, naturally - knowing when to make your entrance is all part of the show!"
"Quite. Now, regarding payment...." he reached into the polygonal case he had had with him, when Rarity first found him in the Boutique. "Will this suffice?"
The gem blazed with colour, seeming brighter than the lights of the room, as it rested against the blackness of his hoof.
Rarity, of course, loved it immediately. "Oh, that's simply fabulous! What is it, I've never seen a gemstone quite like it!"
"I'm not sure how to describe it to you, but I can assure you that you'll never find another in Equestria like it."
"Well, this will more than cover the cost of your outfit, please, make yourself comfortable why I get you your change."
"That won't be necessary, please, keep any excess. But I was wondering - could I ask a small favour?"
"Oh, anything for such a charming gentlepony!"
Herald grinned, triumphantly. "I was hoping you'd say that."
***
Luna whirled and her wings snapped at the air. "We... I must stop Mistress Dash - stay here. If you see this stallion again do not look into his eyes."
The four Bearers stared at each other. "What's she mean? Is Discord loose again?" asked Spike.
Fluttershy's wings clamped shut, and she shrunk down to huddle against Twilight. "Oh no.... I hope not. That would be awful." she squeaked.
Applejack looked around. "No... I reckon we'd be seeing more signs of Chaos iffen it was him agin. But if it's not Discord, who the hay is it?"
***
Herald waited on the balcony of the windmill, enjoying the view of ponies dashing to and fro and picking through the wreckage for anything salvageable. A glow of magic off to the right was the Spellguard transporting the captured Dark Young to the railway station, for transport to Canterlot where it could be contained and studied. He chuckled at the conceit. On the balcony rail in front of him three tiny lights swirled in a jam jar, and shied away from the touch of his hoof on the glass.
He glanced up at the pre-dawn sky. A furious blue pegasus was headed straight towards him."Right on cue, Miss Dash." he murmured, and spoke a Word. Black light billowed up around the building, and contracted into a spherical shell. He picked up the jam jar, and stepped inside.
Dash broke hard, wings clawing at the air until she came to a halt a hair's breadth from the barrier. It looked a bit like Twilight's shield barrier, and a tentative poke proved it felt much the same. She'd seen somepony go inside, and when she cocked an ear against it she could hear a familiar voice chanting nonsense syllables.
"Trixie!" she snarled. These barriers might be tough, but she'd see how well they stood up to a Sonic Rainboom. Dash shouted at all the nearest Ponyvillians to back well off, turned in mid-air and took off for altitude.
Luna arrived moments later. The residents of the town were already taken cover behind houses, but the presence of the barrier and the absence of the pegasus was more important.
"Citizen! Where is the mare Rainbow Dash?"
"Up there, your highness! You'd better get behind cover, I've seen what she can do to old barns!"
Luna looked up - far above the evening's cloud parted in a perfect circle, a brilliant arrowpoint of electricity and condensation coming towards Ponyville at just under the speed of sound.
"Dash! No! Stop!" screamed Luna, as she felt magic move nearby.
The barrier vanished, a fraction of a heartbeat before Rainbow struck. The blast of sound and light shattered every remaining window in Ponyville, as it rolled across the town and half-blinded the inhabitants. A towering mushroom cloud of every colour roiled up into the night sky, as the building shattered, beams splintered, and it collapsed in upon itself, mechanisms and grindstones crashing to the earth inside the wreckage.
There was no sign of Trixie and Herald, when the ponies searched the ruins.
There were three smaller bodies.