//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 - Any other morning. // Story: Broken Dawn // by HIDEMYPAST //------------------------------// For Applejack, the morning had gone drastically different to Twilight's. It started off like any other morning, with the sun drifting through her curtains and waking her dead on half six. Then she'd drowsily wake herself up for the next half hour before trudging into Applebloom's room and waking her up. If Applebloom didn't get up? She got the cymbals. ''Alright, alright! Ah'm up!'' Applebloom shot up so fast she ended up on the floor. She glared at her sister, managing to rub her eyes without breaking eye contact. The two sisters stayed like that until a shout from downstairs signaled breakfast was on the table, and if they weren't there in less than ten seconds they'd have to go without. Applejack broke eye contact, then when Applebloom wasn't looking, she swooped her into a hug. ''Sis!'' Applebloom didn't sound nearly as annoyed as Applejack expected, which just caused her to squeeze harder. ''Come on, Applebloom. Ya'll know the tradition!'' Applejack chuckled, and Applebloom sighed, but this game had been a part of their morning routine as long as Applebloom could remember, and she knew they'd never grow out of it.. ''Is this the button, sis?'' She poked the older pony's ear, grinning, and Applejack instantly released her. ''Eeyup!'' Applejack grinned, and ruffled Applebloom's long hair. ''Ah'll be downstairs, defendin' the food from Big Mac. You hurry now!'' Applejack closed the door behind her, and quickly trotted downstairs. ''There y'are.'' Big Mac smiled, feigning annoyance. ''Now hurry up n' eat!'' A few minutes later, Applebloom practically galloped down the stairs. 'Have ya'll left some fer me?!'' Applejack chuckled, and pushed Applebloom's plate towards her. The yellow pony was just about to tuck into the meal, when a knock came from the door. ''Ah'll get it.'' Applejack stood up, and made her way to the door. She flattened her hair with a hoof in case it was somepony with a sales pitch. Once she felt everything was order, she pulled open the door. That's when, for Applejack, this became unlike any other morning, and became much much more. The start of an adventure. --------------------------------- ''So what ya'll are saying is Twilight's gone insane, tied Princess Luna up, an' then questioned her?'' Rainbow Dash nodded. ''Yeah. And then she just vanished At least, that's what I was told.'' She turned to the rest of the group. ''Any ideas as to what happened, girls?'' Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity shook their heads, and a silence followed, leaving the five of them to their thoughts. The group had been assembled at Canterlot Castle, and were waiting for the Princess to finish Morning Court so she and Luna could speak to them in private. ''I just hope the poor dear's alright. She must have had a reason for assaulting a princess.'' Rarity's sudden voice broke the silence, full of distress and uncertainty. She began to pace. Dash shook her head, stomping a hoof against the polished floor. ''You know what? I don't believe for a moment that Twilight, a nerdy bookworm, would even think of attacking anypony, never mind Princess Luna. Reason or not, she must've been framed or something!'' She shot into the air, flapping her wings angrily, only to be tugged onto the ground by her tail. She landed on her hooves, face to face with a stern looking guard. ''No flying.'' He growled. ''Sorry.'' Fluttershy put a hoof on Dash's shoulder. ''That's a good point, I guess, but...'' She trailed off, not sure if the group wanted to hear her opinion. ''But?'' Pinkie prompted. Fluttershy ducked her head, hiding behind her hair. ''I think I read about something, once. I didn't think it was important back then, when Nightmare Moon was here, but...'' The grand doors swung open, interrupting Fluttershy mid-sentence. ''You may see the Princess now.'' The same guard who had scolded Dash herded them in, shutting the doors behind them. Applejack looked up at the Princess, and led the group to stand in front of her. ''Elements of Harmony, I hope you are well?'' Princess Celestia's voice was calm as always, but Applejack could tell she was hiding something. The group nodded in unison. Dash stepped forward. ''Uh,if you don't mind my saying Princess, where is Luna?'' Celestia sighed. ''She's right beside me, we had to cast an invisibility spell to hide her from the court.'' ''But why?'' Rarity asked, then realized she had just spoke out of turn to a princess. ''Sorry!'' She squeaked, covering her mouth with her hooves. Celestia smiled slightly. ''I shall leave it to Luna to decide if she wants you to know or not. And please, girls, skip the formalities.'' Applejack's eyes widened in shock. ''Skip the formalities, Princess?'' Rarity had reacted the most, drawing a gasp so large she pulled herself onto her haunches. ''But you're princesses, I could never speak to you as such!'' Celestia's eyes saddened, and she looked down at her sister. ''I have lost a friend today, girls. The filly I raised attacked and bound my sister, and one of our oldest and most deadly enemies made her do it. So, please, feel free to speak as you want.'' A silence filled A voice came from beside the throne. ''Celly, we think you should make us visible again.'' Celestia blinked. ''Are you sure, Lulu?'' ''It will help with the explanations.'' Celestia sighed, but decided it would, in the long run, turn for the better. Her horn shimmered gracefully, and like pulling a cover off a table, Luna was revealed. The group gasped again, this time in horror. Rarity moaned a little and collapsed with a thud, and even Dash fell backwards onto her haunches. Where they had expected the small and meek Princess Luna, there stood Nightmare Moon. Dash shot into the air again, and launched herself at the figure. ''You're back, eh!'' She snarled, and lifted her hoof to land a punch when a golden glow seemed to secure her in place. She felt herself being pulled backwards, and then she was dropped gently next to her friends. ''Rainbow Dash, do not fear us!'' Nightmare Moon whimpered. ''We only look like this because the true Nightmare cast a spell upon us.'' Dash sneered. ''Yeah, right! We can see through your ruse - you may as well be saying 'I tricked Princess Celestia and am about seven seconds away from killing you and everyone else!'' ''Rainbow Dash, I think I would know if this was really Nightmare Moon.'' Celestia's voice was stern. ''Now please, be still and let my sister explain.'' Dash grumbled and settled down, but she didn't take her suspicious gaze off the supposed Luna. Luna swallowed nervously. ''Okay. It started only a day ago, when we discovered Twilight was our sister's student - the first one in over three thousand years. And alongside being our sister's student came a great responsibility, a great power that many envied...'' Luna spoke for a while, describing how they had intended to cast a cleansing spell that had been discovered in the past 1000 years. If you were to combine the power of two immortal alicorn and then cast it, it would be strong enough to completely destroy any evil or dark manifestations. When that had failed, Luna had flown to Twilight and invaded her dream, where she found her and the Nightmare deep in conversation. ''Now wait just an applebuckin' second!'' Applejack stomped a hoof angrily. ''Are ya'll saying Twilight was talking to Nightmare Moon? In a calm and orderly manner? No fightin' or anything, just...talking?'' Luna nodded. ''Yes. And from what we heard, the Nightmare was just about to use her deadliest weapon when it comes to infecting ponies.'' ''Ah'm sorry, Princess, but ah really don't believe tha-'' ''Neither did I.'' Celestia stood up, her ears drooping. ''I never expected my sister to be infected by it... But, when I finally realized she was, it was too late.'' Pinkie Pie whimpered. ''I want to hear what else happened.'' Luna nodded at Pinkie gratefully, and carried on. As she explained the dream confrontation, her ears slowly began to droop and her head lowered until she was looking directly at the floor. ''...and after they tied us down, The Nightmare...she...'' Luna's voice wobbled, and she stopped. ''Luna?'' Celestia put a hoof on her sister's shoulder. ''It's okay.'' Luna nodded, and straightened her posture slightly. ''She was inside our mind, forcing us to say such horrid lies to Twilight.'' Her voice dropped to a whisper. ''She...She made us tell Twilight we tried to kill her. Then we managed to escape, and told Twilight to run. We wanted to tell her to run from the Nightmare, to us. But that fiend cast a hex on us, forcing us take on her form and preventing us from speaking a definitive word of truth to her.'' ''That explains the Nightmare Moon get-up.'' Rainbow grumbled. ''Would've been nice to know that earlier.'' ''We expected her to understand our message, and that we'd have her safe and sound by sunset, but....'' Luna cut off, and Celestia understood she couldn't go on. ''When I sent royal guards to retrieve Twilight, she must have panicked and misunderstood Luna's message as a warning to run from us. She teleported away, and hasn't been seen since.'' Pinkie Pie's hair deflated scarily fast, her expression plain and simple. Despair. ''And now Nightmare Moon...Twilight...'' Pinkie burst into tears. ''Noooo!'' She wailed. ''Twilight can't be evil! I don't want to fight heeeeeer!'' The group tried to comfort Pinkie, to tell her that wasn't true, but they couldn't find the words to do so - after all, the same worry was rooted in their minds too.