Both thestrals had been tied up with rope and held down by the free bat ponies that still served Nightmare Moon. Unfortunately, the one hit in the head with a coconut was still knocked out, but there was at least one still awake.
"Why did you do it?" a thestral yelled at the terrified would-be assassin.
"I told you! I had to!" She looked towards Moon resting on the floor, looking worse for wear but gradually recovering faster than the assassin had expected. "No no no!" she said in an increasing pitch. "You don't understand!"
Sunny pushed the angry thestral off the mare and looked her dead in the eyes. "I've read enough stories to know that all you're going to do is constantly skirt the question and never answer us when we ask you what you're talking about." His gaze deepened. "Just tell us why you did it. You clearly had well-intentioned motivations," he said calmly. "We can't understand anything you did unless you explain it all clearly."
Even Sunny was surprised by his thoroughness when he saw everypony staring at him, most with newfound respect. He was starting to worry that the alicorn's bluntness and aggressiveness were starting to corrupt him.
"...Okay," the mare acquiesced. "I was...approached. They told me that an alicorn had come into the world. That it had been in the moon this whole time. I was so excited like all of you!" she said to her fellows. "Ah, finally, after so long, I had learned that they weren't just stories." Her blissful smile slowly dissipated. "But then I learned more and more about alicorns, about what they could do and what they are. Of the threat they pose to everypony."
"What threat?!" a thestral shouted. She stomped forth. "An alicorn of the forest made this home for us without asking for anything in return! Are you telling me there was a hidden agenda?!"
The would-be assassin nodded. "Yes! I was told that that alicorn had been stopped and gotten rid of before they could enact their plan." She looked down and mumbled. "Don't know what the plan was, but it was dangerous." She started speaking up again. "I was told there was something wrong with the edges of the forest."
"I'm one of the gatherers, and I can attest to that claim," a stallion said as he stepped forth. "There are roots that stick out of the ground and a lot of black, ashy dust surrounding them. We waited there one day out of curiosity and realized that the roots were trying to grow but kept disintegrating after they reached a certain distance."
"That doesn't necessarily mean that the forest is an evil ploy!" the angry mare opposed. "Maybe the forest was meant to grow a little more, as do all forests, but her freaks stopped the alicorn from finishing everything!" She pointed at the assassin angrily.
"And what if it meant just that?" the gatherer rebutted. "We don't know what exactly it is the alicorns want, and we've seen our fair share of horrors in the lands, whether they be in Equestria or outside of it. How many of our stories mention the world almost ending during a time when the alicorns were here but no pony but regular ponies stepped forward to put a stop to the threat?"
"And we're meant to expect the alicorns to do everything for us? What was going to happen when they all disappeared, like now? Were we going to just die out, unable to even drink water properly?"
The heated argument continued, leaving the terrified assassin stuck between the two of them. Frustrated, Sunny went back to check on the alicorn. She was already sitting upright but wobbling left and right. It was clear to him that she was still going to need a lot of rest and recovery, but the cooks were stuffing her face with 'medicinal foods' as they called it. Whether that was true or not, it did seem to be working. The mare was already able to sit rather than stay collapsed limply on the floor.
The space around Moon began to shimmer and distort, and Sunny watched in horror as her fur and flesh seemed to crack and peel away along with the air around them, leaving behind a nebula of darkness with various cracks and streaks of light piercing through the veil. She almost fell down again before turning to face the stallion. Her face was pale and her eyes were barely open anymore. Stunned, Sunny Dimples observed as her face and horn's surfaces peeled away, leaving a face with black white eyes and 'smile'. Everything seemed to shimmer and wriggle around, like the alicorn was comprised of millions of tiny insect larvae. Her horn split into several twisted directions and spikes, and white cracks grew randomly along the surface. The thestrals were unphased by this event, as though it were completely normal.
The fake night sky shimmered and crackled as it, too, grew. Sunny saw multiple moons punch through a non-existent wall and grow in size within the fake space. He faced Moon again, seeing her having grown into a tremendous, shapeless mass of darkness with streaks of light. A hoof shot out of the mass, grabbing onto one of the moons as she hoisted herself up. Her body solidified into a vaguely pony-esque figure, but one thing remained on the forefront of the stallion's mind. No matter what direction her body turned or how it twisted and angled itself, her featureless white lights of eyes remained fixated upon the pony. Dozens of hooves stretched out from the mass, each with a white crack stretching along their forms and emitting a white light. They all shot towards him, but he was unable to move, then something covered his mouth and went down his throat. A really bitter, really hard something that scratched everything on the way down.
The unicorn closed his eyes then reopened them to see that the thestrals were holding him up and Nightmare Moon's horn was sparking with an intense amount of magic despite her weakened state.
"Under a dangerous spell, this one," one of the thestrals laughed.
"Better a spell than magic mushrooms," another slipped in. "Remember what happened with Apple Shrooms?" They scoffed. "Became Mellow Shrooms after that episode."
Sunny thrashed about, chasing the ponies off of him as he regained his senses. He breathed heavily and looked around. the alicorn was still the same and the fake night was still in place: Still a moonless void.
Only now did he realize his position. He was a mortal stuck in a world with gods pressing down on him from all sides. Nightmare Moon might look vaguely like a pony, but with all the power she might wield, what could she really do to the world if she put her mind to it? What if she lost interest or accomplished all her goals? She was immortal. there was no chance that she would just sit by and watch the world turn without her holding the crank that let it do so.
"He-he saw it too!" the assassin screamed. "You saw it too, didn't you! You saw what alicorns really look like!"
Sunny struggled to focus and shook his head. Every word that came to him sounded muffled, like he was submerged underwater. "What? What are you talking about?"
"I was shown, too! I saw what she'll become, what all of them would have become! They're a danger to every creature, not just ponies!"
The arguing thestrals shoved a cat-tail into her mouth, causing it to erupt in a strangling cloud of cottony fluff.
"That ought to shut her up!" The stallion grinned.
Every word felt like it took an eternity to reach the unicorn's mouth, but he needed to speak. "What about...the alicorn?" Sunny managed to get out.
Everything felt heavy, like the land itself was trying to drag Moon down. Through her weary, tired eyes she managed to get a glimpse of the stallion that was covered in strange symbols. Sunny wasn't going to be of any help to her now, so she needed to communicate better with the thestrals. Well, as best as she could.
"What do we do with him?" a thestral asked as he and a few others dragged the unconscious stallion forward.
Moon could, quite literally, smell the magic coming off of the pony. Her brows furrowed when she figured out what the spell was after recovering the bits and pieces of it still on the stallion.
"Not...his fault. Head spell. No control," she grunted. Every movement she made came with the risk of her collapsing on the floor.
"What's happening to the night sky?" a mare shouted.
Most of the ponies looked up to see that the many moons linked to Nightmare Moon had made their appearance. The largest taking up most of the sky while the others were small enough to just barely make it into view in front of the gargantuan satellite. Moon's body began to glow, and she felt her magic surge from within her like she was about to explode. The mare was lifted off of her hooves not of her own volition. Then, as quickly as it had happened, the spell of the false night exploded like a window punched through by a rock. The sun was shining above once more, making the thestrals drowsy. The mare was standing tall on the ground, baffled by the event; her eyes wide with shock.
She put a hoof to her mouth but couldn't hold back the tide. Everything came out all at once. A disgusting slurry of barely digested food and a sparking, reddish powder floating atop it all like the icing of a revolting cake. All of a sudden, the mare felt much better than she had previously.
"It's a miracle..." one of the thestrals said in hushed awe.
"It's already starting!" the would-be assassin screamed. She tried to escape her captors, but they held on tight. "She's going to doom us all! Let me go, I have to get away!"
"That one was under head spell," Moon explained as she pointed to the unconscious pony with a hoof. "This one was not."
This was the time for the thestrals to know how Moon ruled. A time for them to see her for what she truly was.
"What do we do with her, then?" one of the captors asked her.
Moon looked to the 'sleeping' stallion then back to the pony that was utterly terrified of her. "Treat him. Not his fault, but her," she started. Her eyes began glowing. "Did it of her own choice." With every word she stepped forward, closer and closer. "No excuses. No apologies. No redemption." Every hoof step seemed to get heavier and heavier the closer she got. "Death," her voice boomed.
The thestrals were awestruck and stared at her. They couldn't believe what she had just said. The only thing these ponies could do was watch as the would-be assassin was lifted into the air, limbs flailing and voice grating. With one flash of her horn, the mare turned to dust that was offered to the wind who took it greedily. The alicorn listened: Nothing. The ponies were looking at her silently. Only the vague sounds of nature and wind brustling through the leaves were reaching her ears.
She felt great, but everything seemed so heavy. Was the world always rotating like that?
"She passed out," Sunny wheezed.
"She killed her," Mango said. "I didn't think..."
"Didn't think what?" Cuttin' asked. "That mare tried to kill our alicorn after she came back to us." She pushed Mango aggressively and pushed her muzzle angrily against his. "She defended herself."
"She didn't need to kill her!" Mango cried. "She just needed to banish her or imprison her...I don't know!"
The obese cook came forward, giving Sunny a rich fruit salad to nibble on. "Cuttin' is right, I'm afraid," he said.
Mango looked at him like he had been betrayed by a close friend. "What do you mean? That was completely unnecessary!"
The chef raised an eyebrow. "Oh, and what would you have her do? That poor mare was clearly influenced by an outside party, and no matter what she was one hundred percent convinced of what she was told. She tried to assassinate the alicorn of dreams. If she was left alive and simply banished, she would have likely spread the word to neighboring areas and found like-minded ponies." He sighed and sat down, rubbing his fat forehead with a thick wing. "If stories are anything to go by, wanting to get rid of a threat is fine, but then the mobs that grow would start to attack us, I imagine."
"B-because they're related to us?" Mango asked.
The chef nodded.
"I don't think that was why she did it, but it's a good point," Sunny interjected. His lips were dripping with juice. "From what I recall from school, events like that where a threat is spread gets quickly deformed, and ponies would have likely tried to get rid of all of us. The intentions were good, but the results would be bad." He nodded to himself. "It happened to the minotaurs several times. That's why there aren't many of them in Equestria and most fled overseas."
The young thestral huffed and stomped around. Every point they made had some merit to it, even if it seemed to be somewhat poorly worded in the stallion's mind. They completely clashed with how he viewed the return of the alicorn, but that didn't mean that he was wrong!
"Fine!" he shouted. "I'll accept it, but I don't want to see her k-k..." He clenched his teeth and looked away as he tried to regain himself. "I don't want to see that ever happen again."
Sunny gave a warm-but-worried smile. "I don't think she would really care about that. If you really want her to change, maybe find a way to council her on better ways to do things?" he suggested. "It worked a few times when I did it."
Mango opened his mouth but nothing came out. That was an idea. What was the point in complaining about something if you don't do something to help change the problem when you're more than capable of it? Perhaps he could do that in the future, who knew?