The waking nightmare strode through the world she had fashioned, yet despite all the work she had put in, she was not satisfied. The offender and her friends were still here, and her thirst for vengeance would not be sated until she had caught them.
“Leaving a lady waiting is quite unbecoming, everypony,” she called. “If that’s how you’re going to play, however, then I’ll just have to teach you to get the POINT!”
Her horn lit up, and all of a sudden all of the crystal spires and clusters began sprouting pointy spikes. And it didn’t take long before the sound of hooves could be heard, and she spotted the group running from behind one of the crystal formations, scattering. She would deal with all of them, but the broken unicorn needed to be taught a lesson first. Her horn lit up and she charged after her, breaking through the crystal formations with ease. Tempest saw her approach and stopped, sliding in the process, charging up her horn shooting a bolt of lightning at her pursuer, only to be split in twain as it hit the unstoppable force projected by the nightmare. It was approaching at high speed and she would be unable to dodge it when suddenly a pink beam shot at the charger and knocked her down. The dark mare rose, turning about to scan where the projectile came from, but there was nobody in sight, even the broken unicorn was gone. Then she spotted a pink beam, being reflected off several crystal structures until it was heading for her, but this time around, she dodged it.
“Well aren’t you clever, Twilight. Using my creations to your own advantage,” she smugly said. “But guess what: two can play at this game.”
Her horn lit up, sending out beams of light at all the structures in sight, causing them to bounce off several times. And as predicted, the alicorn eventually let out a shriek and flew away, trying to dodge the cluster of incoming attacks. And while she succeeded, it made her blind to her attacker, who promptly lept into the air and brought her down, pinning her to the ground. The princess met the dark form of her friend face to face, her gleaming diamond eye staring intently at her, accompanied by a wicked smile.
KRSSH!
Something hit the tall mare in the back of the head, breaking against her headgear, and as she turned, she suddenly felt irritation in her eyes, causing them to water. Through the blur, she saw a vague black and grey form, and she knew exactly who was responsible.
“You… you’re gonna regret doing that, Zecora!” she yelled, trying to clear her vision. “Once I’m done with Twilight, you’re next!”
FLASH!
The sound made her turn again, only to find the pinned alicorn gone, as she teleported away, and then quickly turning back to the shaman. “Let me rephrase that previous statement. NOW you’re next!”
Her horn lit up again and charged after the zebra. Her opponent was at a disadvantage this time since she had neither Tempest’s agility nor Twilight’s mobility. She tried to evade her around the crystals, but she would simply charge through them.
“Your short legs won’t help you, Zecora!” the night-mare bragged.
Suddenly, there was a cracking sound in the air. Lightning? Thunder? No. It sounded as if something was breaking. In her distracted moment and limited vision, she hadn’t noticed that Rainbow Dash was bucking at one of the giant crystal towers at the base. And with the final kick, the support of the structure gave out, causing it to fall, right in the way that the zebra was leading the manifested nightmare, crashing on top of her, and shattering into pieces.
There was silence for a moment, but soon, from the rubble, a beam of light shot out, and the dark mare jumped out, landing on top of the giant cracked remnants of her creation, surrounded by a luster shield, unscathed. At that precise moment, both the princess, the wonderbolt, and the shaman lept at her from cover, each of them attempting to execute their own attacks. She simply frowned, causing her luster shield to expand and knocking all three of them back.
“I have to say, you nearly had me,” she boasted. “But in the end, your attempts failed! You can’t touch me!”
“You’re gonna be eating those words.”
She was confused. She couldn’t pinpoint where that voice came from until it was too late. From the corner of her eyes, she noticed flashing, accompanied by a sparking sound… from under her. Between the cracks of the ruins of the giant crystal formation, the broken unicorn lurked, positioning herself right in the night-mare’s blind spot, and at the most vulnerable moment, unleashed her lightning strike. The Glamorous Dark was hit and sent flying into another crystal tower.
Before the dust even settled, Twilight quickly got back on her feet and flew off. She knew she only had a limited window of opportunity. If Tempest’s attack worked as it did previously, she won’t have much time to save her friend before her darkness rejuvenates. And she was right. As the dust cleared, revealing the walking nightmare, her chest was exposed, revealing the fashionista partly sticking out, regaining her consciousness just long enough to witness the Princess of Friendship fast approaching.
“Twilight! Twi-!“ she cried for help, as the dark tendrils silenced her, slowly rejuvenating the darkness.
Just before it fully healed again, Twilight managed to reach her and grabbed her hoof, trying to pull her out. But the inner darkness wouldn’t let go; instead, the tendrils reached out, beginning to wrap around her, until it dragged her into the darkened body as well. And the Glamorous Dark awoke once more.
“TWILIIIIIIIGHT!” Rainbow Dash screamed in panic.
Pink aura enveloped her horn to conjure a light source and a familiar feeling stirred inside Twilight. There was darkness all around her. She’s experienced this once before when she entered the Pony of Shadows, another darkness made manifest, belonging to an ordinary, no-name unicorn, Stygian. There was only one difference: she could hear sniveling in the air, coming from not far. And she only needed to make a few steps forward to spot the perpetrator. The white, purple-maned unicorn lay on the ground in a fetal position, her misery on full display.
“Rarity?” the alicorn asked.
Her head moved at the sound of the voice, slowly turning to face her. She instantly jumped at the princess and embraced her. Twilight froze, unsure what’s to come, only to hear her weeping.
“Twilight…” she cried, “please don’t go… My generosity was tossed aside... like it never mattered… I don’t want anypony to leave me… I don’t want to be left forgotten… Please…”
She couldn’t watch this. Her friend was being tortured with an unbearable mental torment, which in turn drew out her inner fear that made itself manifest. She had to put a stop to it.
“Rarity, listen…” she said, before stopping herself, as she realized words alone may not be enough; she needed a more concrete reminder. “No… forget what I just said. Instead,” she corrected herself before her horn began to glow in a pink aura, touching the white unicorn’s, “remember.”
A memory flashed in Rarity’s mind. It was an event in which she was at the bottom when she believed that everybody only acknowledged her because of her glamorous appearance, which had now been taken away from her. But in the end, THEY were the ones who came to reassure her.
And it was the alicorn that spoke first. “Rarity, you're not invisible. You're our friend. A friend that started a fashion empire.”
“A friend who made us all feel beautiful in her lovely creations,” the shy pegasus responded.
The wonderbolt joined in. “A friend who stuck by us, no matter what!”
“A friend so generous that she once chopped off her own tail to help a sea serpent,” the country pony finished off.
The memory faded, and the look on Rarity’s face changed somewhat, as her tears stopped streaming.
“You know full well that none of us would ever forsake you, let alone forget your generosity, Rarity,” Twilight said. “And that’s why you must know that what you’re seeing isn’t real, but only you can make it go away. Only you have the power.”
The crashing sound was constant. The nightmare manifestation was running after the three mares that were left to fend for themselves, now that the princess had been dragged into its depths along with the host. Their one chance to try and break their friend out had been snatched from the grasp of victory, and now it was the Glamorous Dark’s turn to play the game.
They couldn’t do anything about it, not even be able to split up, as it seemed that the crystal spires were growing spikes that kept extending, preventing their dispersal. It became obvious soon that they were all being funneled, positioned in a way where they inevitably got backed into a corner. The pace of the dark radiant beauty slowed down, reducing to a traipse, as she slowly moved toward her prey. In one last desperate attempt, Tempest shot from her broken horn bolts of lightning, but all they did was glance off the shield that the tall dark mare was projecting.
“Tempest, sweetie, you don’t know when to call it quits, do you?” Glamorous Dark said as she kept approaching. “I will make all of you look fabulous!”
Her horn began to glow brighter, and all of a sudden, crystals began to erupt from the ground around them, closing in on them, enveloping their hooves. They struggled to move, but could not budge an inch, as crystal coating slowly began to spread.
“Don’t struggle… friends,” she told them. “Instead, strike a pose that truly defines you. Embrace it, because you’re all about to be… IMMORTALIZED!”
Her eyes lit up, and the crystal began to spread even faster over their bodies. They were powerless to stop it. And just as it was coming up their necks, about to envelop their heads…
KRSSH!
The nightmare manifestation suddenly stopped, her eyes and horn ceasing to glow; the sudden cracking sound distracted her, getting her attention. She looked about, but couldn’t determine where that came from.
KRSSH!
There it was again. It annoyed her that she couldn’t see who was doing it.
KRSSH!
Suddenly, she caught an unexpected light source from the corner of her eye. Soon the gleeful expression on her face changed completely when she realized there was a giant crack on her chest. The source of the cracking sound as well as light… was coming from her.
KRSSH!
The crack slowly began to spread all over her body, and at the same time, the darkness all around them was beginning to crumble.
“No! It was not supposed to happen! IT CAN’T HAPPEN! I’M THE GLAMOROUS DARK! I’M THE ONLY REAL RARITY! I CAN’T-!”
The nightmare’s voice went silent as the light finally broke through every inch of her body, and all that followed was a shrilling cry, before an explosion happened, blinding everybody present.
The invisible veil that surrounded them and generated the nightmare vision shattered. And just like before, it turned into a shadowy horned equine, which roared loudly, and then disappeared.
They once again found themselves back in the tower’s top. Tempest Shadow, Rainbow Dash, and Zecora finally felt the paralyzing grip disappearing. Then their gazes turned to where the center of the nightmare was. Twilight Sparkle sat on the ground, with Rarity nestled in her embrace, passed out.
The princess sighed in relief, before turning her face to them. “She’s back.”
The sound of hoofsteps echoed through the hallways of the Crystal Castle, as one of the guards patrolled the premises, now that the Crystal Princess has left, and the empire was on a high alert. It all seemed calm, but he was unaware that, as he passed one of the doors, they slowly creaked open, and the head of an alicorn filly popped out, inspecting.
Flurry Heart stuck her head outside her room to check if anybody was coming close, while her guest patiently waited by the side of the bed. The old ram couldn’t risk exposing himself and getting caught, his plans would get ruined otherwise, so he let the naïve child do the work for him. As he awaited a response from her, his sight trailed around the room, until his curiosity got piqued, when he noticed a stack of papers by the side of her bed. There was something drawn on the one that was on the top but couldn’t quite make it out. He levitated it to his side to inspect it up close. The picture was colored all green, the little alicorn was on it, along with a purple, green-maned unicorn, undoubtedly Mistmane, and on the other side of her, he recognized himself. He couldn’t help but smile at the sight.
“Grandpa Gar, the coast is clear,” Flurry Heart said.
He heeded her call and put the picture back on the stack. The door slowly creaked open and one after another they left the room. Advancement through the corridors was really slow, almost sluggish. Every few steps they heard the incoming sound of hooves, forcing them to hide either behind the curtains or ridiculously large potted plants. And soon, it was getting too close for comfort for the little one.
“There’s too many, Grandpa Gar,” the filly whispered.
“You’re right, little girl,” he agreed. “If we want to stay hidden for good, then we’ll need a hiding place. Where do you think we should hide?”
She thought for a moment. “We could hide in the kitchen.”
“Do you like cookies, child?” he asked, to which she eagerly nodded. “If that’s the case, don’t you think that’s exactly where others will come looking?” the ram pointed out, and the enthusiasm in her look faltered. “Tell me, do you like books?”
“No,” Flurry heart answered, “they’re big, old, and smelly, with nothing but a lot of boring words, and you can’t even draw on them.”
The elder stroked his beard, pretending to think. “If that is so, then they likely won’t look for us there either. Does your castle have a place where there are lots of old books, little girl?”
“Well, we do have a place called lie-berry,” she answered.
“Is that so? Can you take us to this… lie-berry?”
The little alicorn nodded and trotted off, with the old ram slowly following her. They turned a corner, quickly dodging the sight of a guard that’s just passed before the filly stopped at one of the larger doors.
“It’s here,” she said, turning the doorknob, and pushing the door, only for it to make a loud creaking sound.
“Who’s there?!” one of the guards yelled as the sound reached him, and he galloped after the source.
When he arrived at the site where it supposedly came from, however, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. He looked about a few more times before he shrugged and resumed his patrol. Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, the grizzled ram was holding the little alicorn, pressing against the wall. After a few moments passed and hearing the hoof sounds distancing, he finally let her go.
“You need to be more careful, child,” he told her. “If you do not think ahead, you’re risking losing the game.”
“I’m sorry, Grandpa Gar,” she said in a sad tone.
“Never you mind now, little girl. We should be safe,” the elder said, looking about, reassuring himself that they were in the right place, as he saw numerous shelves covering the great room, filled to the brim with books. “Tell me, is there perhaps any other door that leads here?”
“Yeah,” the filly pointed, “there’s another one on the other side.”
“Very well then. In that case, you stay on this side of the room and keep your ears sharp. I’ll keep watch over the other side and let you know if anyone is coming.”
“Okay,” Flurry Heart slimed, pressing her head against the door, while the old ram walked away.
As he crossed the room and passed several shelves, he finally spotted another door. He pressed his head against the door for a moment to listen if anyone was passing by at that time, yet there was nothing. He stepped back, and his horns lit up, illuminating the doorknobs in dark light, until a heavy seal materialized, blocking the entry off.
“There… that should keep any unexpected guests down to a minimum… provided the kid does her job,” he thought to himself.
The ram then walked off in a different direction, towards a great window. His horns lit up again, and the bottoms of his hooves lit up, allowing him to levitate as if climbing stairs. Reaching the top of the window, he opened it and stuck his head outside. Looking about for a moment, he then ripped out a single small chunk of the side of the Crystal Castle, imbuing it with magic, before inscribing a strange rune on the castle’s exterior above him. After he finished, he descended once more, leaving the window open. He checked one more time to see what the alicorn filly was doing, peaking around the corner of a shelf, noticing her still listening to the other side of the door. He slinked away, slowly moving between the shelves. At his command, the books, one after another, flew off them, beginning to circulate the old ram.
“Now then…” he mused. “Which one of you holds the secrets to the shadows of the empire?”
The flames danced in the fireplace. The mares managed to descend to the bottom of the tower with Rarity in tow, returning back to the throne room. The fashionista was still not quite there, so they took time for respite. They gathered the broken pieces of wood and piled them up into a great fireplace that stood in the room, the princess setting it on fire with ease. They all needed some downtime with what they’ve all been through, except for one broken unicorn, who was still bursting with energy and had no intention of waiting when there could be potential victims in the vicinity, so she left to explore the rest of the castle, while the rest remained behind to recuperate.
A groan came from the white unicorn as she finally awoke, grabbing the wonderbolt’s attention. “Rares, you okay?”
“I’m fine, Rainbow Dash. I just…” She rubbed her head when Twilight levitated a beaker filled with warm tea to her, taking a sip. “Thank you, Twilight darling. As I was about to say, I had this really unpleasant dream. I dreamt that everypony decided to spite my giving nature, and I felt so crushed that the whole world turned black, before Twilight came and reminded me.”
Hearing that the fashionista was unaware of what happened, the pegasus gave the alicorn an awkward look. “Who’s gonna tell her?”
The princess glanced to the zebra, who was more concerned with keeping her hooves warm than anything else, before giving a reply. “We don’t have other options, do we?”
In the meantime, as Rarity took another sip, she suddenly noticed strands of her mane sticking out the front of her winter hat. She pulled it off, and a whole tangled mass fell out from under it. After making a low moan of frustration to herself, she immediately pulled out a mirror and a brush from her backpack. She looked into the mirror to start working on correcting her mess of a mane when she suddenly froze. A second later, a high-pitched shriek followed which could be heard all over the castle.
The galloping sound could be heard coming from behind one of the side doors of the throne room, growing louder, until they burst open, the broken unicorn charging through, her horn stump flickering with lightning. “What?! What is it?! What’s attacking us?!”
Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Zecora were lying on the ground in an awkward position. It seemed that the sudden spontaneous cry shocked all of them. Rarity, on the other hand, had her head buried in her hooves, holding her mane and tail, while wailing.
“It’s… it’s much worse than that, Tempest… I… I…“ she kept choking, trying to say the unthinkable, “I’VE GONE GREY!” The white unicorn stretched out her limbs, displaying a white streak running down both her mane and tail.
The sparking sound died down, and the former lieutenant’s expression went from alerted, to neutral. “Seriously? We’re risking potential attack from the enemy in an unknown territory, and you’re worried about the few white patches in your hair?”
The fashionista’s sight darted and locked right onto her, then stood up and marched right up to Tempest, who started to back away, as she came straight at her face with a really angry look. “Excuse me! But not all of us are meant to be conquesting combatants! I take pride in my mane! Now, look at it! I’m in the prime of my youth and I’ve. Gone. GREY!” She collapsed on her backside again and moaned once more. “How did this happen…”
“Erm… Rarity?” Twilight finally managed to get back up and get her attention. “Remember that dream you said you had earlier?”
Tempest sat by the fire, next to the shaman, holding a beaker of tea between her hooves, taking a sip every now and then, while the other two mares explained in detail what had happened. The fashionista brushed her hair, gently whimpering each time she saw the marks on her glamorous mane in the mirror.
“Hey, chill, Rarity,” Rainbow Dash tried to console her, “it’s not that bad. I’m sure you can make this work.”
“Yes… I suppose so… I mean, nothing a little mane dye can’t fix, right?”
“You’ll pull through this, Rarity, I know,” the princess reassured her. “Although I’m not sure how we’ll be able to handle King Sombra this time arou-“
A sudden snapping sound followed. In her anger, at the sound of the name, Rarity broke the handle of her hairbrush.
“Sombra…” she coldly fumed, ”he’s the one responsible for this entire mess in the first place. He’s going to pay!”
“No worries, Rarity,” the blue pegasus agreed. “We’re all in on this one. We just need to find the rest of our friends, track him down, and one friendship blast later… WOOOOOOOOOOSH! He’ll be gone.”
“Rainbow Dash, considering all the factors, I think the former is going to be a lot difficult before we even get a chance at him again,” the alicorn argued.
She gave her a confused look. “What factors, Twi?”
The Princess of Friendship pulled out of her backpack a quill and a piece of paper and began writing down. “Firstly, each time, just before the mirage is dispelled, whatever was maintaining it makes itself noticeable, so we know King Sombra is directly involved in controlling and maintaining the nightmares in which his victims are locked. Secondly, it seems that if one comes into contact with the one whose nightmare we’re witnessing, they become susceptible to the physics of that nightmare.”
“I’m… not following, Twilight,” the pegasus admitted.
“You weren’t there to see it, Rainbow Dash,” she proceeded to explain. “When we were in Tempest’s nightmare and I carried her, the environment became corporeal. I couldn’t simply pass through the solid objects anymore. That’s why I managed to trip and bash against the cave wall when I was holding her.”
The broken unicorn stopped drinking for a moment and looked at them. “But earlier we weren’t in contact with the last victim, yet the world around us was completely solid.”
“Yes… that,” the alicorn shifted uncomfortably, “that’s an issue I’m not quite sure I understand.” She turned to the fashionista. “Rarity, I know you too well, we all do. You’ve never really said much of ever having fears of having your generous nature being worthless to others, you’ve always held your head up in self-confidence and courage. So how did it come to this?”
“Courage?” The voice grabbed everybody’s attention; for a while, the zebra had been quiet, and only now did she finally break her peace. “You speak as though it’s the only partner in a marriage. Its counterpart is Fear, knowing this one first allows the latter to be brandished like a spear. The same is true if you compare Clarity and Doubt, the former springs from the latter, after a bout.”
There was a brief silence in the air, the sound of devouring flames ever so slightly breaking it before the white unicorn spoke. “There’s… always been this dread in the back of my mind, Twilight. I just learned to live with it, knowing I could always best it. I just never thought it would…”
“Bubble up on the surface?” the wodnerbolt finished.
“But Sombra’s never shown to have this kind of power before,” Twilight questioned.
“Then perhaps it’s the proof, when Mother of Fear had given him a helping hoof,” Zecora added. “As I had said before, when one takes their leave, those still in King’s grasp will have a lesser reprieve.”
The Princess of Friendship looked back at the list and wrote it down. ”Then for the third possible point… each time a victim is released, the control over those who are still trapped in his nightmare veil becomes stronger.”
The situation was really not set in their favor. King Sombra’s mother, the so-called “Mother of Fear”, who had brought him back, had made him stronger in some way they did not predict. She recalled back when the umbrum king returned for the second time; when he turned the crystal pony populace into his servants through his power, and the princess and her friends were put under his sway as well, she witnessed firsthand what that nightmare world looked like. Back then, it was the Elements of Harmony that sprung them out, but without them, as it was already made clear, the victim could only free itself from its own nightmare through the strength of its own will. They’ve proven that it could be done if they interfered in the nightmare veil where the prisoners are trapped, but after the last one… The last point made it clear that, even if they manage to free their friends, the nightmares in others will likely only get stronger, as a result, making the dispelling process even more difficult.
“Even so…” she finally spoke, “we cannot just sit here and not do anything. Others will still need rescuing regardless. The best we can do is to just deal with one problem at a time.”
“As long as we don’t encounter ghosts, I’m fine with it,” Rainbow Dash said.
Tempest gave her a frowned look. “Why would you think even for a moment that this place is haunted?“
The blue pegasus hesitated for a moment. Both she and Zecora knew what they saw earlier after they woke up, but she didn’t want to sound crazy. Although, considering the last few days, ghosts would be the last thing that would’ve weirded anyone out at this point.
“Well… earlier when I and Zecora woke up, we had an encounter with… somepony who had departed a long, long time ago,” she explained.
“Oh…” Twilight’s voice sank. “It was probably some unfortunate victim who couldn’t escape during the exodus to Equestria.”
“I don’t think so…”
“Why would you say that?”
Rainbow Dash looked at Zecora. Without saying anything, she already knew that was her cue. She pulled out the saddlebag they found near the remains and presented it to the princess.
“We found this by one who passed away,” she elaborated, “though its contents don’t match the suspicions you convey. And to make the matters even more unsure…” She opened up her saddlebag and reached inside. “What the leftovers did to our aberration, made the picture most obscure.” She pulled out the jar containing the shifting, violent, black mass.
Twilight bent down to examine the jar up close, and she immediately noticed the difference. “Did… did it just lose its pure black color?” She tapped the glass, to see if the creature inside would react, but there was no response. “How did that happen?”
“I dunno,” the wonderbolt gave an unsure answer, “we just pushed it closer to the remains and they started glowing, turned into blue light, and then got absorbed by the spark of light inside.”
The alicorn squinted, looking up close at the spark inside the black mass, thinking for a moment; something was at the back of her mind, something the old unicorn sorcerer told her. “Wait a minute… Rainbow Dash, Zecora, remember what Starswirl the Bearded told us? The spark of light, the one which he and the rest of the Pillars of Old Equestria used to create the seed from which the Tree of Harmony grew; he told us that, for it to grow, it needed proper sustenance. It required virtue to feed on. That’s the only possible explanation for what you described happened, and why the black mass isn’t... well, so black anymore.”
The four mares sat there, amazed, realizing what was going on. Only Tempest Shadow remained by the side, unsure what they’re talking about.
“Princess, your deduction is most sound,” the shaman concurred. “Though it begs the question, I seem to have found… Whose virtuous essence did the light’s spark take, and into what presence?
They all went silent. They didn’t know. But Twilight was sure where the possible answer lay, as her sight shifted to the saddlebag that Zecora had provided. She picked it up, noticing the image printed on it, resembling a yellow staff with two snakes coiled around it, with a pair of wings on top, before opening it. She pulled out all the contents, all various books, and papers, quickly skimming through them.
“These are all spellbooks for learning advanced magic… I mean, really old ones,” she answered.
“Well, Zecora went through them a bit, but even she couldn’t figure out who this was... except that he seemed to have known Sombra,” Rainbow Dash added.
The princess suddenly stopped, which the fashionista noticed. “Twilight, darling, is something wrong?”
She turned the book to their face, showing a seal printed on the last page of it. “This book… it’s from the Canterlot library. Nopony’s ever been allowed to acquire these books without the princess’s express permission! Unless…” She quickly picked up the stacks of papers and spread them around, quickly sifting through them until she stopped at one of them. It was an envelope, opened, but she recognized the broken seals on it; they belonged to the two sisters. Whoever this was must’ve been one of the special students, but the question remained who was it. She opened it and pulled out the letter inside. Even after such a long time, the text was still readable. She began reading through… and a gasp escaped her mouth, as she immediately stopped after reading only a few sentences.
“Princess, what troubles your mind?” Zecora asked. “Do you know who he was, which knew the umbrum king to find?”
Her gaze slowly lifted from the letter to look at them. “I know who this bag belonged to… and it was not a HE, but a SHE. And she… was Radiant Hope…”
For a split moment, there was silence, before the two unicorns and pegasus unanimously broke it. “Who?”
A bright light shined over the forest patch on the outskirts of the Crystal Empire. Princess Cadence flew above, providing the light source for her guards who were flying by her side as well as those below. They managed to chase the changeling swarm and their queen to another isolated forest, the same way as they did the day before. And just as the day before, the guards below went on the same routine of combing through the whole place in groups, to prevent infiltration. But some time had already passed since then, and the alicorn was beginning to worry. That’s when a trio of pegasi finally flew up from the treetops and approached the princess, but before they got any closer, the guards beside her put themselves between them, preventing their approach to the monarch.
“Though the light shines brightest before the dawn…” Cadence said, awaiting a reply.
“… it can’t compare to the one within our hearts,” the three pegasi finished the sentence.
She sighed in relief, she knew they weren’t imposters. “Report.”
“We managed to track down the changeling’s hideout, your majesty,” one of the guards said. “They dug a tunnel into the ground.”
Then the second guard resumed. “We sent squads inside and combed through the entire complex.”
“Good. I assumed you’ve managed to apprehend Chrysalis?” she inquired.
An awkward silence followed, after which the third guard finally spoke. “N-n-no, Your Majesty…”
“What?”
“The whole place is completely empty, Your Majesty. Neither the Queen of Changelings nor her swarm is anywhere to be found!”
She was dumbfounded. This was just like a few hours ago when the captain of the guard reported to her. How could this have happened for the second time? Where did they all disappear?