"And so are we...." a deep growl emanated from the night. At that, a series of loud wolf howls could be heard. Over ten Astral Wolves then began to circle the trio. "You were a fool for returning here... Nightmare Moon."
"You..." Luna whispered. "It appears not all have been so forgiving, I see."
"There is only one way we'd ever forgive you: lift this curse," the apparent alpha wolf demanded, its voice a deep, hoarse, half-whisper.
"I no longer have the power to do that," Princess Luna said with a hint of remorse. "For I am no longer Nightmare Moon."
"Yeah, so leave her alone!" Pinkie shouted. "She's a super cool princess again!"
Out of the corner of her eye, Chrysalis caught Luna smiling ever-so-slightly at that.
"It's true. Leave her be," the swarm queen said, noting the Night Princess giving her a small gesture of thanks as well.
The lead wolf's glowing yellow eyes narrowed. "It doesn't matter. Someone must answer for her crimes against our people. She allowed the spirit to possess her, therefore she is partially responsible for them."
Chrysalis shook her head incredulously. "Seeking revenge on the mother instead of the daughter. Flawless logic there."
"Don't lecture us on logic, changeling," the wolf snapped. "Stay out of this. Go back to your Hanging Islands and rot. You'll find no love here."
"Here. There. Anywhere," Chrysalis sighed. "Do you have any new news to report?"
The wolf ignored her and instead turned towards Princess Luna. "As for you; do you have any idea how it feels being trapped in these cursed forms? We can no longer taste fresh meat or feel the summer breeze on our backs. We can never again feel the joy at the birth of a father's child, we could only feel sorrow at the the passing of our remaining ones, our last link to the mortal world." His eyes then narrowed. "You wished to bring about eternal darkness? You'll find plenty of that in oblivion."
"Again! I am not Nightmare Moon, and I have already served the punishment for my crimes!" She glanced up towards the moon. "For one thousand years I was chained to that barren rock, floating in the infinite void; an island of hopelessness orbiting paradise, just so I could be teased. There I battled the spirit that had taken control of me, for there was nopony else who could of, and I managed to weaken it enough so that the Elements of Harmony could finally get rid of it for good, one of whom who stands beside me..."
"That's me!" Pinkie smiled with a little wave.
Luna continued to glare at the wolf. "I faced my punishment with dignity, and you should as well! For in both our cases the spirit cannot totally be blamed for what happened."
"You dare accuse us of-"
"I don't accuse you of anything. An accusation would mean there is still a verdict to be determined of your guilt. What I speak of is the truth!" She took a hostile step forward. "Face it. Your greed is in part to blame for where you have gotten. You should have known better than to deal with the likes of her and then pull a double cross. You dug for gold and you mined far too deep!"
"In other words, you shouldn't always take a cake and eat it too..." Chrysalis grumbled.
Pinkie cocked a curious head towards her. "Huh? What's the point of having a cake if you don't eat it!"
Chrysalis shook her head... slowly.
"Even if we could forgive the sins of the past, it would not be enough to prevent us from acting," the wolf said, lifting a paw. "For it is not solely out of vengeance."
Luna's eyes narrowed. "Then what is it?"
"Let's just say after one thousand years... we still mine for gold." With that, the wolves drew closer to the trio, the lead one taking a long, shattered, unneeded breath of the cool night's breeze. "Can you feel it Luna? For we can. There is something flowing in the winds... in the very fibers of reality. Someone is returning to this world who hasn't graced its presence for an age. And when he does...." He grinned slightly. "We intend to be on his... 'good' side. Perhaps with his help, he'll be able to let us pass... on."
"Who is coming?" Luna asked, worry lacing her voice. "Why does he want me dead?!"
Chrysalis couldn't help but feel a bit of it herself. It couldn't have been a coincidence that she was about to host a convention of wickedness near a time when an entity was apparently returning who would benefit from the death of Luna. To be frank, it chilled her to the bone. However, it was possible that the entity was completely separate from IGOM, or that the wolves were wrong. The walls of her universe were thinning after all, and there could be others out there who could benefit from this. With that, she glanced at the wolves, hoping they would give her the answer she sought. Unfortunately, that answer never came.
"Why does it matter to a walking corpse?" the wolf grinned, its fangs dripping with white mist that long ago would have been saliva.
With that, they again began to circle the three. In response, the trio backed their flanks towards each other to form a tri-force formation.
"Alright, what's the plan?" Chrysalis said.
"Plan?!" Luna barked. "The only plan is to fight! Magic should do the trick against them."
"Do you really think we can beat these wolfies?" Pinkie asked.
"I'm not sure..."
"Then just teleport out of here! They're only after you!" Chrysalis exclaimed.
Luna grunted at that. "I would, but that the spell I mentioned earlier will not discriminate between changeling and alicorn magic!"
The swarm queen gave her a blank look. "You have wings too, you know!"
"That's not happening," Luna growled. "Do you think I'm so foalish that I'd just leave Pinkie alone with you? Your ability to manipulate circumstances is not a false claim!"
Chrysalis shook her head in annoyance. "Fine, you can take her too! I'll cover you before flying out of here myself."
Luna turned her head towards her, eyes widened. "You would do that for me?"
The Queen of the Swarm narrowed her own. "I would do it for my mentor. You're not the only one who doesn't want to see her alone again, you know."
"But what about your people?!" Pinkie argued. "If you attack the wolfies, that's not going to make them happy! Do you really want to leave them alone?"
"I'll be fine, kid!" Chrysalis said, before sighing slightly. "Just get out of here."
With that, the Night Princess took a deep breath. "Fine, I shall trust you on this one, but you'd better cover me."
She then lifted up Pinkie with her magic.
"Eeeeeep! Please put me down! I really hate when unicorns do this!"
Luna chuckled. "Sorry Pinkie, but I don't think you'd like to try riding on my back, and that would be somewhat awkward for me as well!"
"Well exccccuuusee me, princess!"
She then took off into the night, Chrysalis in the meantime glaring down her adversaries.
"Alright, boys. Let's see just how good of hunters you still are!"
With that, she quickly charged her horn and fired forth a blast of green energy. It struck one of the circling wolves, it letting out a piercing shriek as what looked somewhat like electricity swam about his form. Within a moment, his white, glowing body began to dissipate.
Two of the other nine wolves let out howls and charged forward, ghostly whips of white flailing from their backs. Chrysalis braced herself for their advance, though to her horror she soon found it wasn't necessary, for instead of focusing their attack on her, the wolves instead took a leap into the air; flying as if they had wings right towards Princess Luna.
"Luna! Incoming!" Pinkie shrieked.
Luna gasped and twirled about as the wolves bore down on her.
"Chrysalis! Catch!" she shouted, dropping Pinkie from her magical hold.
"Eeeeeeep! Please do that please do that please do that!"
Chrysalis' eyes widened as the flailing pony neared the ground, her barely having enough time to grip her with green magic. In the meantime, Luna charged her horn and fired a bolt of lightning at the nearest wolf with a tremendous crackle. It shrieked and dissipated within a second.
"Hah! And sister says target practice is a waste of time!"
With that, she fired another bolt of lightning at the other wolf, though he was ready for it. Before it could graze him, it quickly dodged to the left before-
"AAAAACK!"
-sinking its ghostly fangs into one of Luna's wings. At that, she began plummeting to the ground, flapping them madly in an attempt to get the wolf off her, though it was to no avail. Kicking up a multitude of leaves, she slammed into the forest soil, conscious but disoriented. The wolf quickly released her before jutting towards her neck, ready to sink its fangs into it...
"Princess!" Pinkie cried.
Only for him to be blasted by a wave of green energy.
"Flying wolves... what else do you have in store for for me today, fate?" Chrysalis growled, her horn still emitting green sparks. She then turned towards Luna. "On your feet, princess! It's time to gather a few pelts!"
With that, Luna shook her head, snapping out of her disorientation before once again entering a tri-force formation with Chrysalis and Pinkie.
"How bad's your wing?" Pinkie asked in a worried tone.
"It will heal," Luna said, smiling towards her slightly. "What is important is that you are unharmed."
"Stop wasting time with sentimentality!" Chrysalis grunted. "How long would it take for you to get rid of that anti-teleportation spell of yours?"
"Too long," Luna replied, her tone harsh.
"Great..."
With that, a familiar voice echoed from the woods.
"Again, you need not fight us!" the alpha wolf growled, his pack pausing in their circling, glancing at Pinkie and Chrysalis. "We only want the Night Princess. Leave here and die another day!"
"You could, you know," Luna whispered sorrowfully. "Your people need their leader."
"They need you too," Chrysalis argued. "My people, that is. Do you really think I'd want a powerful opponent of Blueblood to die?"
"So much for caring about my sister..." Luna sighed.
"I meant that too! I don't want to see Celestia alone. She may be an idealist, but she was still the only person to..." She sulked her head slightly, "To...."
Luna smiled warmly. "I know, she's like that." Before turning it into a smirk. "And now who's wasting time with sentimentality?"
"Well, we have time to waste now," Chrysalis grunted in annoyance. She wasn't very used to being contradicted. Luna was indeed a worthy opponent in the snarky battlefield.
"What is your decision?!" the lead wolf interrupted, apparently unable to hear the conversation. He then glanced at Chrysalis. "Do you want to die a needless death for a people who throw yours towards the brink?!"
"Wow, he's even hammier than you two!" Pinkie said.
Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "Not the time for humor, kid."
Luna lifted a hoof. "And I do not understand. How do I resemble a mass of pork?"
"I think what she means to say is that the two of us speak in an unnecessarily epic manner."
The Night Princess smirked towards Pinkie at that. "Well, then to use a more modern term, 'old habits face the unyielding planes of death hard!'"
"Err...." Pinkie said, both her and Chrysalis glancing at each other with raised eyebrows.
Chrysalis then turned back towards Luna. "It's uh... 'old habits die hard', but nice swing at it anyway."
"Cursive modern language," she grunted, her eyes narrowing.
"Stop stalling! Are you leaving or not!?" the lead wolf roared.
"Nope! We're sticking to Luna like frosting to a cupcake!" Pinkie beamed, somehow still smiling.
Chrysalis' eyes narrowed. "And do you really think you can face the Queen of Savarance and the Night Princess of Equestria, or has your time spent in death made you cocky?"
"In other words, do you feel lucky, punks?" Pinkie grinned.
The lead wolf cackled. "We've beaten the reaper, and we can beat you too!"
Luna rolled her eyes. "Like that was a challenge."
The wolf shook his head in annoyance. "Enough talk! You have made your choice. You will join her in a single grave, though it's a shame we can't dig one for you!"
"Incoming!" Pinkie shrieked as four wolves charged them at once, two each for both Chrysalis and Luna.
"Well then, batter up!" Luna said, a confident smirk coming upon her face.
"Yay! I think you got that one right, princess!" Pinkie said.
"Hoorah! My knowledge of modern terms has been doubled!"
"Just shut up and shoot," Chrysalis groaned. "Three down seven to go."
"Ooooh, I've so got this!" Pinkie said, before gripping Luna's tail and beginning to spin it. "Gatling princess GO!"
Luna raised an eyebrow. "I don't understand... how is this supposed to- WOAH!"
Immediately, Luna's horn entered rapid-fire mode, launching a fury of projectiles at the two charging wolves, their glowing yellow eyes widening before they were struck.
"H-H-How ar-r-r-e y-y-ou d-d-doing t-this?!" Luna shouted, her voice stuttering as she fired on another three charging wolves.
Pinkie giggled at that. "Don't you know who you're dealing with? Are you silly or something?! I AM RANDOMNESS!"
With that, a mass of confetti launched from her, defying reality once again in a way that could make every physicist in the multiverse' eye twitch.
"Well, at least you're self-aware," Chrysalis grunted, firing a beam of green at a wolf and missing. Her eyes widened at this as the two grew ever closer. "Pinkie, Luna, I could use your help!"
"D-D-D-Duck t-t-t-hen!" Princess Luna shouted, Chrysalis quickly complying. She winced as a fury of blue projectiles flew over her, striking two shrieking wolves. With that, Luna began to gasp, her horn powering down. Apparently, she had run out of 'ammo.'
"Daw, sorry princess. I didn't mean to wear you out," Pinkie said as the princess fell to her knees.
"Worth it... that was a neat trick, Pinkie," the princess said, still panting heavily.
Chrysalis began to glance around the woods, seeing only one wolf left. The two narrowed their eyes at each other, though confusion gripped the queen. Why in the world was he still sticking around after what he had just seen?
"It seems I am a lone wolf, but that doesn't mean I can't end this in our favor."
Chrysalis let out a small laugh. "Don't kid yourself. There's no way you can take me on. All it would take is one blast!"
The wolf smirked. "Looks can be deceiving, for though I stand alone, my brothers are still with me."
With that, to Chrysalis' horror, the wisps of energy that had been floating about, the remains of the wolves that had fallen, began to float towards their leader. Within moments, he began absorbing them, growing in size and changing in shape. After a moment of convulsions, his body eventually became a monstrous being, standing upon two legs, nearly half the size of the forty-foot tall birch trees. It resembled something of a werewolf of ancient lore.
"You just had to say it, didn't you?" Luna wheezed.
"Boss battle!" Pinkie beamed.
"Not sure it's going to be much of a battle, kid. I'm already feeling pretty tired. I was wrong before, this is the end of the line," Chrysalis said as the trio began backing away from the beast.
Luna smirked. "Then it's time to fall back to the oldest combat tactic there is."
Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. "Run?"
"Yeah!"
With that, the trio began booking it away from the beast, it letting out a roar before breaking into a charge.
"We're never going to be able to get away from him on hooves!" Pinkie gasped, weaving between birch trees and bushes.
"We don't need to! We just need to get outside the range of the teleportation barrier!" Luna shouted.
"Smart thinking, princess," Chrysalis said. "But I'm not sure if either of us have enough juice to..."
And with that, her eyes widened. She sensed... something coming towards her; two bubbles of love.
"Y-You..." she gasped, glancing at the two as they smiled warmly at her.
"You stood your ground for us, Chrysalis. I think you've earned it," Luna said.
Pinkie merely nodded, still smiling.
"I-I-I..." she gasped as a feeling of warmth she hadn't felt in years enveloped her as the two bubbles merged with her being.
"How does it feel, not being on the brink?" Luna asked.
Chrysalis merely smiled, a small, single tear slowly etching from her eye. "Warm."
Luna nodded. "It's just what you need. Charge your horn, we're at the edge of the barrier!"
"Too late!" Pinkie gasped as a ghostly claw came down towards them from the beast that was now directly behind them.
A flash of green light.