In the manor's observatory, many ponies were running around in a hurry, carrying various scrolls and strange copper tools. The room was filled to the brim with unusual machinery, among which a giant telescope. The dome-shaped ceiling was slowly opening itself as two guards in purple armor turned a large wheel with all their strength, sweating bullets both from the physical exercise and from the intense glare from their master, an indigo unicorn with a short-cut grayish mane. Apogée was barking orders left and right, their time running short.
"Hurry!" He yelled. "We only have a few hours left before the Great Return. Your failure means death. Have I made myself clear?!"
A cacophony of voices surged in the observatory, every underling answering as one. "Yes, master Apogée!"
"Good," he grumbled before turning to a group of unicorns inspecting a large silver pedestal above which floated a large copper sphere, as big as an adult pony. The sphere was covered in strange engravings of what appeared to be constellations at first glance but did not correlate to any existing one in the night sky. "Artificers! Is the catalyst ready?"
One of the unicorns, an old orange mare with a frazzled red mane and glasses too big for her face, stammered. "I- Sir, it's... I mean, master, we..."
Staring dagger at the mare, Apogée spoke again with a greater intensity, a growl following his voice. "Arch-artificer Gears, is the catalyst ready or not?!"
"N-Not yet, but soon! We only need a moment to get used to its workings, master! We, uh, we've never worked with this design before and-"
"You have exactly ten minutes to figure it out before I send you to the dungeon. Have I made myself clear?"
Gears, as well as the other unicorns alongside her, gulped. "Y... Yes, perfectly," she stammered before turning back to the strange orb floating above them, working with a renewed fire.
With a deep sigh, Apogée lowered his head. This would have been much easier if his idiot son hadn't been captured on his first outing in Canterlot. While the replacement artificers sent by Lord Comet were experts in their fields, none easily understood Aphelion's personal designs. Remembering the mission in which Aphelion was sent, Apogée couldn't help but feel like an idiot himself. Having learned too late that the letter had been altered and that he was the one supposed to make the trade, Apogée felt a deep shame at his own failures. It was a miracle that Lord Comet didn't demote him on the spot when the forgery was revealed, but Apogée knew he was now stepping on very thin ice. So, when Purple Comet came to him the day prior and claimed that a once-in-a-millennia event rumored to be entirely fake was just about to happen, Apogée jumped to the occasion to prove his usefulness.
That's when the second wave of shame struck. The event in question was the return of Nightmare Moon. The Nightmare Moon. The one that created their order such a long time ago. This was totally unexpected, even for Lord Comet, and so the Crescent Pact's preparations were extremely rushed as they barely managed to find the correct tools and relics on time to assist with the release of the mare-in-the-moon. The shame Apogée felt was linked to his own son's discoveries and research that dated back weeks prior to today, in which Aphelion was right on track to predict this event. And yet, Apogée had completely ignored his son, shutting him down and ridiculing him for investigating old fillytales. The mixture of shame, regret and anger Apogée had been feeling for the past day made him on edge, even more so than usual. The fact that most of the tools they possessed were a logistical nightmare to use due to their maker's absence certainly didn't help.
As much as he hated to admit it, Celestia had played her cards perfectly right and made a fool of the Pact.
Seething with anger, Apogée decided to take a moment to try and relax. Leaving the observatory in silence, much to the relief of every pony working there, he began walking the manor's long hallways, perfectly maintained, just like he wanted. Another constant source of annoyance was the outside look of the manor, purposefully made to look abandoned thanks to the careful use of well-placed vines and multiple enchantments to make the manor seem more decrepit than it actually was. While this was simply unbecoming of his self-perceived grandeur, Apogée knew some sacrifices had to be made. This led him to take pride in making sure the inside of the manor was pristine, any deviation from perfection enough to send him in a fit of rage.
Silently heading for his office, he kept a close eye on the few guards, maids and butlers stationed around, making sure they were perfect in their work. He saw the fear and anxiety in their eyes as he passed by them and reveled in their emotions, as they meant they would not dare to disappoint or anger him. His reputation among his own staff was another great source of pride for the old stallion. Feeling that their current work was acceptable, Apogée entered his office without uttering a single word. Slowly stepping toward the massive mahogany desk, he observed his perfectly stacked papers and scrolls with satisfaction. He sat in the large ostentatious chair in front of the desk, a sigh of relaxation leaving his mouth as he felt the soft touch of the red velvet cushions. Sparking his horn, one of the drawers opened on its own, covered with a cyan aura. There, a bottle of ridiculously expensive whiskey was laid on an even more expensive violet cushion with golden trims. Floating the alcohol to his desk, Apogée turned to a shelf nearby containing multiple glasses. He began floating one of the glasses to his desk when he noticed something completely and utterly inexcusable.
On the glass he chose, there was a large hoof print across its surface, barely visible. One that did not match his own hooves. Feeling his pulse quicken to dangerous levels, Apogée felt his eyes twitch as he crushed the glass with his aura, applying enough pressure to turn the glass back into sand. He began breathing heavily and thought about screaming at the top of his lung to order every single one of his servants to come to him. However, turning his gaze on the bottle of whiskey, Apogée instead decided to blast the top of the bottle with his magic, a cyan beam hitting the cap and destroying it, before grabbing the bottle with his bare hoof and drinking straight from the bottle. His lips began bleeding as they were punctured by the broken glass, but Apogée cared little about that. When the alcohol hit his tongue, he felt his anger quickly leaving. Closing his eyes, Apogée focused on the feeling of the alcohol making its way through his body, leaving the familiar burning sensation at the back of his throat linger and a usual warmth slowly spreading through his body. After drinking a third of the bottle, he placed it down on his desk, taking in a deep breath and began speaking alone.
"Tomorrow. I will find the pony responsible tomorrow. For now, I must focus. We can still salvage this disaster."
While Celestia's plans worked extremely well in disturbing the Pact's plans, she wasn't completely able to prevent them from realizing what they wanted to accomplish that night. Though she made it extremely difficult by tricking them into letting one of their more important members get captured, Apogée knew they still had a chance to be ready for Nightmare Moon's return. Letting his mind wander to the Pact's old prophecies, the ones he refused to teach his son as he believed them to be utter nonsense, Apogée still remembered exactly what the upcoming events would be.
The return of the Crescent Pact's creator. The escape of Nightmare Moon from her millennia-long banishment.
And her upcoming betrayal of the Pact.
All things that would lead to the Crescent Pact's rise to glory.
Apogée took another swig of the bottle.
"Misty, is that a..."
"A telescope. Whatever they're doing, they've begun their preparations. We need to get in there, now..."
The two mares stood in a small clearing in the woods, in front of the manor. With a clear night sky above them, Misty and Sandstorm knew they only had a few hours left before Celestia would raise the sun for the final day of the Summer Sun Celebration. With Misty's visions, they knew that they only had a few hours to prevent the Crescent Pact from accomplishing whatever it was they were plotting to do. Though they both felt exhaustion from a very long day spent almost entirely running through the forest, being so close to their goal gave them a second spike of energy.
Glancing at the unicorn at her side, Sandstorm couldn't help but to feel worried. It had been less than 24 hours since Misty woke up in the hospital. She also didn't know if she could trust her marefriend's visions, especially given their cryptic nature, but Sandstorm knew that questioning Misty was a terrible idea, especially whenever it involved her talent. With a sigh, Sandstorm looked ahead.
"Okay, so what do we do? Do we just... Go in? We may have to fight our way to the observatory..."
"Maybe we can climb the walls. Since the roof is slowly opening, we can try and enter that way... Though, I'm not sure how many ponies we'll find there."
Putting one of her hooves under her chin, Sandstorm observed the manor's walls. "Well... Climbing's not impossible. There's a lot of large vines that we could almost walk on. Also, here, on the left," she pointed to a large, uprooted tree next to the manor, resting upon one of the walls, "we could start there... Though, we'd pass in front of some of the windows."
"If we're stealthy enough, this might just work..."
"...Misty, are you sure you're in a good enough shape to climb, though?" Sandstorm asked, glancing at her marefriend's forelegs. There were still signs of the poison inside her body, and she had noticed Misty wince in pain at almost every step.
"I'll be fine. I can rest once we're done," Misty quickly dismissed Sandstorm's worry without even looking at her, her eyes instead trained on the manor's surfaces.
"Listen, all I'm saying is-"
"Shush!" Placing a hoof on Sandstorm's mouth and using her magic to force the both of them to the floor, Misty remained silent while Sandstorm looked at her with a confused look. Soon enough, Sandstorm understood Misty's actions as voices rang from behind them, slowly approaching their position. They glanced at each other then looked back, both mares preparing to pounce on whoever would come near. The last thing they needed right now was to be detected by the manor's private guards. Slowly moving away from the clearing and toward a nearby bush, the two mares braced themselves.
A dejected Aphelion looked at his hooves. "I... Really need a bath."
Next to him, Glaze chuckled. "C'mon, a little bit of mud won't kill you."
"That's more than 'a little bit of mud', though. It looks like we've taken a mud bath. I don't even think my father will let us in with the state we're in."
"I'm guessing he's a neat freak?"
"Yes. A control-obsessed neat freak with anger issues. He gets even worse when he drinks," Aphelion replied, his shoulders slumping. There were a few seconds of awkward silence between them when Aphelion felt Glaze pat him on the back.
"I'm sorry. Are you going to be alright seeing him again?"
"I... I don't know if I'll be alright. It's just something I need to do... If he's going to learn that I left the Pact, I'd rather have it coming from me than a third party. I guess I also want answers from him."
"For what it's worth, I think it's great you're confronting your folks. There's a lot of ponies that would've just run away," Glaze comforted the anxious unicorn. She did wince a little upon seeing the large mud stain she inadvertently left on his withers.
"Thank you, Glaze. Though, you were the one that gave me the idea to face my father," he glanced at her with a small smile. Seeing the look on Glaze's face, he turned his head toward his back and scrunched his nose after seeing the mud she left on him.
"Wait, really? I'm the one who inspired you?" she asked.
"Yes, when you said that what matters isn't what I did in the past, but what I'll do now," Aphelion calmly said while sparking his horn. Glaze looked at him in slight confusion as a yellow glow encompassed both of their bodies, the mud quickly disappearing and leaving them spotless.
"Well, I'm glad to have been of service. Also, I thought you didn't want to use your magic unless absolutely necessary?"
"Well, we can't enter if we look like we've spent a day trudging through a forest... Which is exactly what we did," he shrugged. Glaze couldn't help but notice the small beads of sweat on Aphelion's forehead.
"If you say so. So, do we enter through-" her sentence was cut short by a strange force pushing her violently to the ground, Glaze's field of vision taking a gray tint. She yelped as she saw a yellow figure fly over her and impacting Aphelion, forcing him to the ground as well, a yellow mare on top of him and digging one of her hooves on Aphelion's side causing him to grunt in pain. Glaze tried to yell, but her voice was silenced. Turning her head to the other side, she saw a confused pink unicorn stepping out of a bush.
"...Aphelion?" Misty asked. "What the..."
Sandstorm looked at him with wide eyes, only now being able to recognize him as she was holding him firmly in place. "...Huh?!"
"Misty? Sandstorm?! What the hay are you doing here?!" He asked, tears forming due to the pain. "Also, please, it feels like my body's going to break-"
Stepping away from Aphelion, Sandstorm offered him a hoof. Taking it, he stood back up on his hooves, then turned his head toward a flabbergasted Misty.
"...I'd appreciate it if you released Glaze from your spell as well," Aphelion added. Shaking her head and coming back to her senses, Misty dropped her spell, allowing Glaze to stand back up as well. "Alright," Aphelion continued. "What the hay is going on?"
"We came here because Misty had a vision. Something bad's happening and apparently, both of us needed to be here to prevent it," Sandstorm spoke up.
A worried Glaze took a few steps back. "...A vision? What does that even mean?"
"Scratch that," Aphelion said, "something bad's going to happen? Do you have specifics?"
Misty shook her head. "Not quite, I'm sorry. It's blurry and I'm still trying to piece out the puzzle pieces together, but I'm certain this is important. We need to get to the observatory and to prevent... I don't really know for sure, but I'm assuming the Crescent Pact is trying to make something dangerous return."
Gears began turning in Aphelion's mind. Glancing at the nearby manor, he noticed the opened roof and the large telescope pointing at the moon. "...Father never cared much for astronomy. I don't think I've ever seen him use the telescope."
"Right, so something's definitely wrong, then?" Sandstorm asked. "Whatever it is, we only have until sunrise to stop it."
"Sunrise?" Aphelion repeated. "Then, there's got to be something special about tonight... But what-"
Glaze gasped, causing all three ponies to turn toward her. "The Summer Sun Celebration! It's the 1000th one, right? It can't be a coincidence."
"I'm sorry, who the buck are you?" Sandstorm asked. Aphelion and Misty were silent, their minds trying to process what exactly was going on.
"Oh, my name's Apple Glaze, but please just call me Glaze. I'm one of Celestia's maids and was assigned to take care of Aphy here while he remained in the castle. I, uh, accidentally convinced him to confront his father."
"A maid?! You brought a bucking maid here?" Sandstorm turned to Aphelion, furious, causing him to snap out of his thoughts.
"Wh-Huh? No, Glaze followed me without my knowledge. If I knew she was with me, I wouldn't have..."
Glaze scoffed. "C'mon, give me some credit here. You know I can be useful. Without me, you'd have gotten lost at least twice in these woods."
"Everypony, shut the buck up!" Misty yelled, causing the arguing trio to yelp. "We don't have time for this. Listen, Aphelion, Glaze. We're going to the observatory, and we're going to stop whatever's going on. This isn't a good time to confront your father. I'd advise you two to turn back, or..."
"No," Aphelion calmly replied.
"I'm sorry?" Misty asked.
"No, we're not turning back. The four of us here... I don't believe it's a coincidence. You said you had a vision that told you the Pact was about to do something terrible, right?"
"...More like a dream, yes, but-"
"Then, I'm coming with you. Despite... Everything that happened, I want to trust you two. If my father's planning something dangerous, I have to do something about it. Besides, you need someone who knows the manor... And who has the key for the backdoor."
Sandstorm smirked and Misty smiled faintly, before speaking up again. "...Alright. Thank you, Aphelion. And, uh, Glaze, was it?"
"Yup. I'm coming too. Aphy won't get rid of me so easily."
Aphelion rolled his eyes, but still smirked a little. "Okay, okay, fine. Anyhow, let's see how we'll get inside..."
Flying high above the ground, Steady felt his wings touch the ceiling. Having been slowly making progress silently through a countless set of corridors and hallways, he began to wonder just how deep underground he was. Thankfully, his methodical escape was remarkably easy until now as very few guards were posted underground. This was, however, enough for Steady to understand that something was wrong: in any other situation, the hidden dungeon underneath the manor would be the most well protected area. Whatever was happening outside with the Pact, it was enough to cause Apogée to move most of his private militia away. Steady decided to investigate the situation as much as he could before exiting the manor.
His eyes locked on a large door with a sign above it, which read 'infirmary'. Usually, Steady would ignore this room and continue his escape, but with a simple touch on his left shoulder, he knew that his captor certainly did not disinfect his wounds prior to his imprisonment. He sighed as he silently reached the ground, deciding to move as quickly as possible inside the infirmary to grab medical supplies. Carefully opening the door, he peeked inside and saw multiple empty beds. Nopony was inside. Steady stepped inside confidently, still making sure to keep the noise he made to a minimum. Quickly flying to one of the shelves, he grabbed a first aid kit and opened it. Looking around, he saw another door, this time with the words 'bathroom' engraved on it. Making a mental note of it, he began patching himself up as fast as he could, his years of experience carrying his movements.
Just as he was about finished, Steady saw the bathroom door's handle move. Instinctively flying up to the ceiling, Steady held his breath and observed in silence the pony coming out. Much to his surprise, a tired-looking unicorn nurse stepped out, groaning as she stepped toward one of the beds. Making sure to always remain in her blind spot, Steady carefully glided through the air, making sure not to rattle his crossbow or his bolt pouch too much. Laying in one of the beds, the nurse floated some scrolls to her side and began reading them over. Positioning himself behind her, Steady narrowed his eyes and began quickly reading through the scroll.
The scroll, a report of some sort, described in great detail the physical condition of a pony affected by the Crescent Pact's most infamous tool, the Moon's Tears. Though it was difficult to read most of the lines due to the distance and the slight bobbing caused by his flying, Steady still managed to figure out a crucial point: the subject analyzed on this scroll was none other than Poison Dart. Steady wondered what happened after he fell unconscious but kept reading. Poison Dart's physical form had, according to the report, 'greatly evolved' and new gear had been found for him. There are mentions of multiple medical complications that required an almost constant supervision, which Steady assumed was the reason for the nurse's exhausted state. Unable to read anymore without getting dangerously close, Steady instead slowly flew toward the door when a new noise startled him, causing him to turn back. Thankfully, the noise in question was the nurse beginning to snore, having fallen asleep while reading the document in front of her.
Thanking his stars, Steady approached once again and grabbed the scroll carefully, deciding that its contents were too important to be left behind. The next few lines on the file were enough to make Steady panic.
'In preparation for the Great Return, the subject is to be given a mixture of drugs to ensure he remains awake through the night. He shall be posted in the main foyer, acting as a defense measure in case the tyrant Celestia sends soldiers during the ritual.'
Steady stared at the scroll, wide eyed, remembering everything Celestia shared with him a few weeks ago. "...Buck. I need to get to the catalyst."
Without another word, Steady flew away from the infirmary, no longer caring about stealth. If his fears were true, he had very little time before a disaster struck. Steady had to reach the observatory as fast as possible, though he knew his chances to succeed alone were slim.
This was going to be a long night.