The old castle was certainly showing it's age. From collapsed walls to caved in floors and shattered windows, complimented by the occasional patch of moss or other type of plant growing in the walls or floor. There was also no sign of the legion who just an hour ago occupied the structure.
That was good, it hopefully meant they had located and secured the elements. Now me and Delilah just had to slip away unnoticed.
"Woah, there really is an old castle here. I can't believe it" Rarity said.
"Guess we proved you wrong huh Night" Rainbow taunted.
"No comment" I replied. By this point the mares had all trotted through the front entrance, which left me and Delilah behind them.
"Once we make sure the legion secured the elements we're going to bolt, okay" I whispered.
"Understood sire, ready when you are" she replied.
"Come on Twilight, isn't this what you've been waitin for" Applejack called.
"The Elements Of Harmony, we found them" she proudly exclaimed towards a massive pedestal with five rocks carved with strange symbols atop it.
"Of course... nothings ever that easy is it" I sulked. Meanwhile Rainbow and Fluttershy got to work moving the boulders down onto the ground.
"Have you received anything from Asteria yet? I asked Delilah.
"No sir, I am beginning to suspect that something has happened. Or they are remaining silent for a reason" she replied.
"Indeed, be ready. We may have to get violent here".
"Right... wait, according to the book there should be six elements correct?" she asked.
"...Oh my bucking Faust!"
Meanwhile it seemed the mares had noticed this little dilemma as well.
"One, two, three, four, ah... there's only five" Pinkie counted.
"Where's the six?" added Rainbow.
"The book said, when the five are present a spark will cause the sixth element to be revealed" Twilight reminded us.
"Oh, uh right... I'm too bucking tired for this shit" I mentally added.
"What in the hay is that supposed to mean?" Applejack asked.
"I'm not sure but I have an idea" Twilight replied and crouched down towards the elements.
"Stand back, I don't know what will happen" she added.
At this point I was starting to get nervous. Although it looked like all Twilight needed to do was simply give a little spark from her horn and the sixth element would appear Nightmare Moon could show up at any moment and we had planned to be long gone by now. The fact we didn't even know where she was didn't help either. Although it seemed we we're about to get a break for the first time this night.
"Come on now ya'll, she needs to concentrate" Applejack said, and for whatever reason the five other mares just followed her out of the room. I was so surprised that I looked to Delilah as if to confirm what I was seeing. Sure enough she was just as stunned as I was and we smirked to each other.
Once Twilight summoned the sixth element all we had to do was simply knock her out and make off with them before the others or Nightmare Moon showed up. It was foolproof.
As Twilight attempted to get the elements to spark we anxiously waited for our chance to strike.
"They don't seem to be anything more than rocks sire, are you sure these are the fabled Elements Of Harmony?" Delilah asked me.
"This what we have to go off Delilah, and until something says otherwise we should assume these are them. Looks can be deceiving after all" I replied.
"Indeed but what if Celestia moved the elements and these are mere decoys?" she asked.
"...If she did then we'll adapt to the situation we'll find ourselves in" I countered. Delilah simply nodded her response.
When Twilight did finally make progress on the elements they did something completely unexpected. A blue mist began to form and encircle the elements. Before spinning faster and faster to the point it completely enveloped them in a practical tornado.
Twilight screamed and before myself or Delilah could react we we're all simultaneously teleported away.
Appearing in what seemed to be another part of the old castle me, Delilah, and Twilight stood facing Nightmare Moon. Who seemed to be charging us down oh buck...
Nightmare barreled straight into Delilah and slammed her hoofguards into her stomach which sent her backwards into a wall. Thankfully for her the armor she was wearing saved her life. But before she could get up nor could I launch a counter attack Nightmare teleported behind me and struck my right rear leg with the same attack. Breaking it and sending me to the ground with three good legs remaining.
"Night!" Twilight, who had been the most disorientated by Nightmare's surprise teleport screamed out in shock. While I slowly staggered to my hooves Nightmare teleported to Delilah and threw her into me via telekinesis. Then she turned towards Twilight.
"Well well if it isn't our sister's star pupil, Twilight Sparkle" the black mare taunted.
"You... how do you know my name?" she gulped.
"Mwahehehe, We have our ways little pony. We've had our eye on thee ever since that fateful day when thou became Celestia's student. Though We expected... more from somepony of thou's position" Nightmare replied.
"You won't get away with this, when Princess Celestia returns she'll - ahahahaha" Nightmare laughed and cut off Twilight.
"Thee still dons't understand do you. Thou's princess is gone, suffering the same fate she bestowed to us a thousand years ago!" she taunted. "Thou shoulds't be grateful that We have been as merciful as We have, though We suppose thou is't not much of a threat?" she taunted.
Twilight either didn't care or didn't show any distress.
"Then why have you hurt them!?" she angrily gestured towards us laying on the ground. Nightmare meanwhile actually looked confused for a second.
"What... what dos't thee...?" then she understood.
"Thee... thee does not know. Thee does not know! Ahahahahaha, thee does not even know!" she bellowed. Twilight meanwhile showed absolutely no reciprocation to Nightmare's humor.
"What are you talking about?" Twilight growled. While Nightmare continued laughing almost like a madmare Delilah helped me to my three good hooves and began slowly helping me towards the exit of the room we we're in.
"Ah... oh there is so much that thee does not know" Nightmare finally calmed herself.
"Now then" she started and teleported both of us to her side. "If thee wants to see this stallion and his mare live thou shall stay we're thy stands" she added while telepathically suspending me and Delilah in the air behind her, with conjured swords to our necks.
Twilight glared at Nightmare but relented, and the alicorn looked back and moved the swords away slightly.
"Good... now oof!" Nightmare cried and fell to the ground. Glancing ahead revealed Twilight was woozy with a slight amount of smoke coming from her horn.
With Nightmare's concentration gone the magic around me and Delilah faded. Which with that gone there was now nothing to keep us aloft in the air and gravity pulled us back to the ground, hard. While I landed less than gracefully with my broken leg Delilah took the opportunity provided by Twilight to attack Nightmare once again.
"You little foal, We shall crush thee!"
Which was probably not a smart decision.
Gazing up revealed that Twilight had probably shot some form of raw magic at Nightmare, if the blackened spot on her chestpiece was anything to go by.
"Quite a bit of p-power behind that too it seems" I thought.
Meanwhile going up against an enraged Nightmare Moon did not end well for Delilah. While she did manage to get a few strikes in with her sword Nightmare was still an alicorn, and therefore able to take an insane amount of damage and simply shrug it off. Which led to Delilah being marehandled by Nightmare's magic, struck multiple times, and then thrown into a support pillar.
Nightmare then shot a magical beam into Twilight. Who was sent back a good twenty or so hooves, and then turned her attention to me.
"Greetings Prince Flameheart" she smiled deviously.
"B-buck you" I oh so gracefully replied.
"Hehehe, do not worry my prince. Soon all thee's pain shall be gone. We can only imagine thou's burden. Being the only survivor of your family apart from thee's mother is already a travesty. Made even more so by the duties that being the only heir to the throne imposes" she continued.
"We should kill thee and raze thou's pathetic little city to the ground for attempting to interfere with our plans, however... We art feeling merciful this evening. If thee comes with and marries us we shall spare thyself along with thou's subjects entirely, though should thee continue down this rebellious path... We will promise that it will only end in pain".
My eyes couldn't have gone any wider.
"Wha, what!"
"Does't thee need it repeated, We understand that thee is a stallion and that it is harder for your gender to...". That was about as far as Nightmare got before my brain had to tune her out to keep any kind of function going.
"D... d... did Nightmare Moon just propose to me!? Am I dreaming!?"
"...and if thee comes and marries us we shall... is thou listening to us!?" Nightmare yelled.
"I... I... I..." at my quite honest pathetic attempts to form a coherent sentence Nightmare chuckled and placed a forehoof on my withers.
"We understand that this is probably a bit of a shock but We intend to make good on our promises" she smiled.
"I... wha, why...?" I skeptically asked. For a moment Nightmare actually dropped her off cocksure smile and replaced it with a smaller, more placid one.
"Because We... it gets... tiring, ruling over a nation. Holding court, holding audiences, reviewing scrolls, planning conquests... among other things" she then lowered herself so that we could look each other in the eyes and our muzzles almost touched. "Thee especially should know how tiring ruling can be. All We wish is to have a companion to come back to at the end of a long night. One whom will not suck up to us nor grovel at our hooves. One who can stand on an equal level with us" she added.
For a moment Nightmare looked more pony than like a god to me.
"What... I... I... I... - rah!" suddenly Twilight and Delilah both appeared from behind Nightmare with sword and spell, and it ended as predictably as last time. Delilah went for the horn and nearly succeeded while Twilight nearly managed to free me from Nightmare. But the dark mare was just too strong.
She managed to intercept Twilight but Delilah was faster. While Nightmare did manage to block her horn from the mare's assault that just made Delilah target her eyes in a follow up attack, which was successful. Delilah struck firm and true right across Nightmare's face with her sword. Crippling both of her eyes.
"Agh, thee will pay for that!" Nightmare yelled. She lit her horn and managed to pick Delilah up and throw her into Twilight. Then she conjured two throwing knives and threw them into Delilah's face. Thankfully her invisible helmet managed to stop them and left Nightmare confused for a second. Before she threw her to the ground hard and pinned her legs using magic.
"Invisible armor... very clever little foal. I wonder what it will look like once We break thee's horn" she chuckled darkly. Delilah's eyes went wide and she struggled to try and free herself. I knew I had to at least try and help her and so forced myself to my hooves and began to slowly and hopefully sneak up on Nightmare. If I could remove her magic from play, even if only temporary, would be a massive boost to us. Though I had failed to account for one factor, Twilight.
The purple unicorn was also sneaking up behind Nightmare, and when she noticed me she held out a hoof in protest to my plan. For once I decided to agree with her in matters related to the martial and let her attack Nightmare, first at least. I would right behind her. With or without her consent and knowledge.
Twilight positioned herself directly behind Nightmare and prepared to fire a spell of some kind before it all went wrong.
When Twilight fired the bolt of magic Nightmare simply turned around, intercepted it, and sent another bolt right back at Twilight, then teleported Delilah behind Twilight. The bolt hit Twilight and sent her careening into Delilah, who in turn was sent into me, and we we're then traveling at such a velocity that me and Delilah we're sent through a window at the back of the room. Twilight barely managing to teleport in time.
We fell about sixty hooves, landed on and then rolled down an embankment of some sort, and just before we came to a stop the ground beneath us suddenly gave way. Having us fall another fifteen hooves before rolling to a stop against a wall in what looked to be some sort of old quarters. While it could have been the fall making me dizzy though I swore I heard about three or so sets of voices come from the castle during our said fall.
"Night!"
"Flameheart"
"Twilight!"
Though I had more pressing concerns at the moment. Like where we we're and the magenta unicorn on top of me respectively.
"Ah, ow. That bucking hurt" I whimpered.
"I c... concur" Delilah wheezed into my chest. For about a minute we just laid there, trying to get air back into our lungs. Eventually Delilah found her voice first.
"We sh, should probably get moving sir. Can you walk?" she asked.
"I think I c-can m-manage a h--hobble" I wheezed myself.
"Come on I'll put you on my back and teleport us away from here" she said.
"Alright, we can always regroup and c-come back for the elements anyway" I replied.
"The elements, buck the elements, we should get you the buck out of here before Nightmare kills that foolish unicorn!" she said.
"Wha-whatever just get us out of... here" I trailed off as the ground beneath us began shaking, slowly building in crescendo. Delilah slid off to my right side as we looked above us through our entrance hole into where ever we we're. From our perspective we could only see the night sky and the top floor of the castle. Where a window now sported a large hole in it with a near blinding white light emerging from it.
"Delilah I think we should leav- noooooooooooo!" A massive magical surge of energy cut me off and nearly blinded the both of us.
"What the buck was that!" Delilah hissed.
"I don't know but I don't think we want to find out..." I trailed off once more as the night suddenly began turning to day above us.
"Did... did Nightmare Moon lose!?" Delilah asked.
"No idea, but again I don't think we want to be around here to find out. Now I care for you as a subject and friend, but please get us the buck out of here!" I shouted.
"Right" she replied, lit her horn, and screamed in pain. Falling back onto me while clutching her horn revealed that it had been cracked at the base. This obviously was quite detrimental to the unicorns magic abilities, but thankfully for her it could have been much worse. Nevertheless I held her and rubbed her head and back to try and take some of the pain away.
About twenty or so seconds passed before I spoke up again.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Yes and no, I take it that my horn is cracked?" Delilah replied.
"Yes it is, I take it that magic is a no go now?"
"Yes sir, I can still keep the invisibility spell on our armor since it's low level maintenance magic, though slightly painful. But casting is out of the question" she said.
"Wonderful" I sighed. I glanced back up at our entrance in the ceiling and concluded that we weren't going to be scaling the wall in our current condition. I also noticed that this room's rotten wooden support beams we're probably what gave way thanks to our hard landing above them.
Looking around the room while Delilah took a second to recover revealed that we we're most likely in a servants quarters. Judging by the beds and the other assortment of furniture. There was a door that hopefully led into some sort of hallway, though it would probably lead back into the main part of the castle.
"All right, we'll wait here for a couple hours, let you recover, and then we'll see if we there's a hallway on the other side of that door. With any luck it'll take us back into the castle and we can get topside that way" I said. Delilah nodded her thanks.
"That will not be necessary" a new voice called. Looking up revealed my worst possible nightmare, the one pony besides Nightmare Moon that I had hoped to never cross in my life. This pony went by many names, such as The Paragon Of The Sun, The Eternal Light Bringer, Knight Of The Order of Starswirl, but the most common and known title she boasted was the Ruler Of Equestria.
As Princess Celestia Radiatus Morningstar looked down upon us I could in shock only utter one singular word.
"Buck..."