//------------------------------// // Act II - Ch. 16 Clad In Darkness // Story: Justice Itself // by Autocharth //------------------------------// Here we are, chapter 16! Sorry it took so long, I was busy with my effort for bookplayer’s secret fic exchange. Shattered Stones, it should be up by now or soon. Give it a read if you feel in the mood. [Epic Editor Comments Action Command GO!] Sorry about the delay folks, I got all wound up in finals and the holiday season that time completely passed by without my notice. Thankfully I passed my classes without much trouble and I don’t have any more classes for about another month, so I will definitely be more available for this stuff. Happy New Year everypony! On to one of the final chapters of Act II. Enjoy the read! - Chapter 16 – Clad In Darkness *** “It has my friends!” wailed Fluttershy, sniffing back tears as she looked to Paladin for help. Mere minutes ago.... Fluttershy tended to Trixie, the unicorn merely huffing unhappily at the fussing. Being thrown from Paladin’s back was hardly the worst she had suffered recently she pointed out, but let the pegasus comfort her. After so long with only that....thing in her head, the comfort of a pony who truly seemed to care was more than Trixie thought she would ever feel again. In fact Trixie realised she was already feeling a lot better. She stretched and her aching body failed to protest too loudly. Sitting back down she let Fluttershy sit close to her side. They sat together on the edge of the miniature cliff outside the cottage. The frequent flashes of lightning made the meek pegasus twitch and shake every so often but she remained a warm presence at Trixie’s side. Indulging in the feeling of companionship she had so often been without Trixie let out a deep breath. There was just something nice about Fluttershy, something reassuring. Letting the feeling in, Trixie didn't notice that the more she simply enjoyed the feeling of company the less tired she felt and ache in her horn faded. It wasn’t long at all before she fell into a quiet slumber, leaning against the kind pony. Fluttershy smiled slightly at the snoozing Trixie. The unicorn’s sleep seemed peaceful and the tension she had displayed, like an animal constantly fearing a trap, was lost as she drifted away. Gently setting her down next to her comfortably, Fluttershy was contemplating going inside to look on Paladin and Zecora when something moved at the edge of her vision. She was too embroiled in her guilt to notice at first. ‘I didn’t mean to do anything.’ She thought miserably. Even after he had berated her with such anger she felt horrible about causing him distress. The fact Zecora had thought it necessary to knock him out because of it simply made her feel worse.’I just wanted him to understand how I felt.’ Trying to put it into a frame of reference was hard to say the least. Zecora had simply let her be, unable to offer any knowledge on her part save that whatever she had done to Paladin had caused his mind to retreat for a time, leaving his body with only its base instincts. Fluttershy frowned delicately in thought. The closest she could come was describing it as something stretching from her to him but that failed to really convey what it felt like. Noticing the shift of something in the dark at last, Fluttershy looked out. Her wings spread and she glided down while keeping her eyes locked on the source of the movement. She hoped it was one of her little animal friends coming back. Stepping closer Fluttershy froze when a pair of eyes appeared before her. She could vaguely make a form out in the darkness but save its eyes it was unnaturally obscured. “H-hello?” She asked in a quivering voice, choking back anything else as the eyes seemed to narrow. They were black and by all rights should have been invisible in the shadows yet she found them impossible to miss now. “Enjoy your freedom while it lasts, mortal.” A voice hissed suddenly. The sheer hate in it, not to mention its mere creepiness, elicited a meep and a retreat from Fluttershy even before it continued. “I do not know how you managed to defeat my hosts before I even became aware of you but whatever new power you have gained will not suffice. I am the stuff of Nightmares!” Fluttershy retreated from the dark figure, thankful that it didn’t approach her. “I...um, I mean-” The thing in the shadows hissed in dark anger. “You insult me, mortal. I shall not sacrifice another host to a trap! Cease your cringing and false-fear, I am no foal.” The words gave Fluttershy pause. ‘It thinks I’m pretending to be frightened?’ She thought, blinking a few times quickly. “Time is on my side, Kindness. Every moment that passes the time of my ascension nears. I already hold the physical forms of the rest of the Bearers, and Magic’s mind buckles at the fury of my power. She will be the first among you to host my true essence!” The dark thing sneered, retreating as its darker-than-shadows eyes became more distant. “She will bow to me where she first should have, in the shadow of power!” With that the figure vanished, disappearing into the gloom. Fluttershy remained frozen for a few seconds as she tried to understand what she had just been told. Eventually she gave up and resorted to madly winging it back to her home. Mere minutes later.... Fluttershy shook as she looked up to Paladin for help. Her eyes begged him to tell her he knew what they should do, knew how to save her friends. Zecora was already moving over to her, muttering soothingly yet the timid pegasus kept her gaze locked on his. It was too much like before and though he doubted she would be able to access her power again Paladin found himself flinching away from it. ‘Control yourself! I may no longer be an Archangel but I must remain firm.’ Doing his best to put the memory of the- -love, acceptance, friendship- - inadvertent mental attack aside, Paladin took a deep breath. “We must act carefully. This time there must be no running off alone.” He told Fluttershy, his tone stern but only slightly. Without waiting for a response he continued. “Did this shadow present you with any evidence? Did it show you something to reveal the truth of its claim? No? Then we must assume this is a trap.” Fluttershy blinked at his conclusion but Zecora nodded approvingly. “Sound reasoning and clear of thought, we will need both if this beast is to be fought.” Accepting the zebra’s words with a simple slight inclination of his head Paladin’s eyes closed as he thought. “Fluttershy, are you sure it said ‘in the shadow of power’?” He asked tonelessly. She nodded, blushing and murmuring “Yes” when she realised his eyes were still closed. The dark ears twitched at her answer. “‘Where she first should have’....” His jaw moved as though he were chewing something, although in this case the chewing was entirely mental. One eye opened slowly to regard Fluttershy. “Do these words meaning anything to you?” As Fluttershy tried to think of something and failed Zecora’s head came up at an idea. “It speaks in riddles and conceals it intent. Yet it made a great mistake, for of all ponies my riddles are the most frequent. Power comes in many forms, but in Ponyville only a few such places come to mind. Some say knowledge is power, while others speak of leaders but they are all you will find.” Understanding came to Fluttershy’s eyes at last, and she spoke as Paladin nodded his agreement. “Knowledge? It m-must have meant the library!” “Not merely the library. Leaders are individuals of power, and the only leader I know of in this region-” began Paladin. “-is the mayor of our fair village, a mare suitable to be taken by a creature commanding a legion.” Zecora finished with a satisfied expression. Merely raising an eyebrow at her rhyming off his words, Paladin still agreed. “The library or the town hall, where the Mayor works. The creature we fight has laid its ambush there. Get Air Raid, so we might coordinate my plan.” “U-um, P-Paladin?” Fluttershy squeaked, looking down when he turned his gaze on her. “A-Air Raid isn’t here.” “What?!” Frowning Paladin quickly moved towards the door. “Damnation, he must have been waylaid or lost his way. We no have time to wait, I shall trust that he will join us in good time.” Fluttershy stared at him in shock. “But he could be hurt!” “He is a trained guard. Fluttershy, I understand your concern but we simply cannot risk waiting for him.” Shaking his head he lifted a hoof and indicated for them to follow after him. “Come. We must leave this place. The enemy knows our location and that is already too much.” Preparing to again protest this apparent abandonment of Air Raid Fluttershy was stopped by a touch on her shoulder. Zecora shook her head with an understanding expression. “He is not abandoning this guard of whom you are concerned. His is a faithful soul; that much I have discerned.” The zebra soothed her. With that she urged the pegasus towards the exit, carrying the three sleeping fillies on her back. Paladin nodded as they passed him, pausing only to take some of Zecora’s burden by transferring Scootaloo and Apple Bloom on his own back. “I would never abandon another but there is only so much that can be done. I will trust Celestia’s training. By moving quickly to counter this trap I believe we will locate him regardless.” She stared back at him curiously. “Oh? Um, how?” “If he were in the grasp of this darkness opposing us it would have likely mentioned it as further bait. He must have merely gotten lost, and if that’s the case Air Raid will head towards the most prominent landmark. The town itself and the town hall where his comrades would likely be using as a command post.” He told her. Trotting past he hurried to the sleeping Trixie and nudged her awake. “Buh-huh?” Trixie came awake with a snort. She looked around in confusion for several seconds. “What?” “Come, we are leaving” Was the curt reply. She stared at him as he walked on, getting to her hooves when Fluttershy approached her with a shaky smile. “Where are we going....wait, isn’t Ponyville that way? Why are we going there?” She began to sweat, terror in her eyes. “Its there!” Paladin cast a glance back at her before snorting “Precisely. There are few ways to defeat a creature without confronting it. I intend to deliver justice upon this creature. Personally.” *** Around Ponyville, the Nightmare spread it tendrils. Shadow-clad guardsponies marched down the streets. The darkness had grown from their eyes to encompass nearly their entire bodies. Their once pristine coats were stained to the colour of pitch that drank the light from the air. Around their hooves the shadows stirred and strained like the edges of a torn cloak blowing in an ill wind. The changes were more than merely those visible to mortal eyes. The living darkness seeped into their minds with every passing second and began to devour the memories inside. Muscles’ memories were the first to find their way into the violator’s grasp. The bodies under its control marched with every minute of training they had been endowed with. The possessed town folk moved in swarms. They shared the guards’ new dark appearance. The entirety of the town was seen through the eyes of these unfortunate ponies. Mirrored behind every eye the dark thing within them grew heavy with anger. It beheld the town from countless angles as it searched it. Its prey, it knew, were coming. It had found that much through the elder of the Apple clan children. The loss of such a powerfully built host stung the Nightmare deeply and it seethed with the jealous anger only known to those who live in resentment. From a hundred different directions the Nightmare saw the trail of rainbow even in the gloom. It streaked across the sky with incredible speed. Every eye turned upward to track the movement of the blue pegasus who blurred through their sight. Dozens of wings snapped open simultaneously and the possessed pegasi rose as a dark flock. The air almost trembled at the force of their combined wing-power. Privately Rainbow Dash admired the show of coordination she doubted normal ponies could achieve. Flaring her wings widely for a moment, Rainbow Dash smirked at them as they charged through the air towards her. The flock stopped as they encircled her, hovering in the air with hate filled eyes. They spread above and below to surround her on three dimensions. “You have one chance, mortal. Sur-” “Surrender my body blah blah blah, yeah, I got the message. Sing a different song why don’t you.” Rainbow Dash snorted and rolled her eyes. She gave them a half-lidded stare of amusement. “I think we both – or, I dunno, all? How do you even tell? – know what my answer is gonna be. So how about we cut the talky and get to the chasey?” A hiss of anger came at her from every direction. An actual hiss, as best approximated by the throats of ponies. Spittle flew from their lips like rain. The pegasus snorted again. “I’ll give you points for trying something new, but next time, try actual words.” She taunted mockingly. Without another word the sphere of pegasi collapsed in as they fell upon her, a closing wall coming in from everywhere. Rainbow Dash threw her hooves up with an exaggerated expression of panic on her face. “Oh no, what am I gonna do?!” The Nightmare exulted in joy of its capture. Its hosts were a mere hoof reach away from the still calm pegasus when that joy turned to confusion and, originally, rage. A flash of light blinded it and with a thud it felt the collision of every host as they piled into a mass of struggling pegasi, all moving too fast to stop. Laughter reached the many ears of the Nightmare and one of its hosts looked up as it struggled to free all its bodies from the chaos. Rainbow Dash hovered a few metres away with a smirk on her face. “Oh yeah, I can totally teleport now. Didja forget?” She shook her head before laughing again. “GRAHHH!" A dozen pegasi broke away to leap through the air. Their hooves reached out and the shadows stretched from them like talons. With the ease of a practiced precision flier Rainbow Dash easily darted between them. “You know teleporting is getting easier every time I do it. I barely felt a thing after that one. So you wanna give up now or do I have to give you a taste of my hoof in every one of your mouths?” The clump of somehow still airborne pegasi burst apart that moment. Suddenly the eye of a dozen pegasi guards and every winged inhabitant of Ponyville was locked on Rainbow Dash. Each ocular orb burned with fury and loathing. “I’m gonna take that as a ‘no’.” She vanished in a flash of light to their other side. “Hey, Nightmare Goon, I’m over here! Think you’re up for catching the fastest flier in Equestria you old bag of ugly....ugliness?” Rainbow Dash called out, a sneer on her face. It screamed in rage with the voice of a legion as its hosts wheeled through the air to swarm in pursuit. A cocky grin on her face Rainbow Dash took off without a second’s hesitation. Her tail and mane left her signature wake behind her as she curved through the air. ‘That’s it, follow the rainbow.’ She thought gloatingly, looking back to make sure they were still on her tail. ‘You’ll never catch me, and now there’s no more eyes in the sky to see. Good luck girls, you’re gonna need it.’ Far below and on the other side of Ponyville, three ponies crept towards the town. Not even Rarity’s horn gave off light as they moved through the gloom with only the faint light that worked its ways through the storm wall and the occasional flash of lightning to illuminate the world around them. Applejack led the way, walking carefully as she eyed the edge of the town. Her orange fur was concealed by a long dark brown coat that covered the length of her body. Normally reserved for doing essential jobs in the rain it nonetheless managed a fair job of making her less conspicuous. It was serving the same purpose for both her friends although one in particular had been less than pleased at the thought. Even now Rarity shuddered in revulsion at the touch of the rough material. She was certain it was ruining her precious coat and leaving the most unspeakable of stains on her fur – sweat! Applejack had just chuckled ominously when asked about the last time the musty rain coat had been washed. She glanced at Pinkie who was actually walking instead of bouncing. Feeling her friend’s stare Pinkie looked at her with a grin. “Isn’t this is exciting?” She asked in an excited whisper. “We’re like spies!” “Darling, rain coats are hardly ‘spy’ outfits. Besides we’re sneaking into our own town.” Rarity pointed out. While Pinkie paused to think about that, Rarity walked past her to Applejack. “Do you see anypony there?” The farmer shook her head without turning her gaze from the edge of the town, “Nope. Don’t mean they ain’t hiding, but the coast looks as clear as it’s gonna get. RD has the pegasi following her on the other side a’ town.” “I imagine we won’t have another chance. Shall we?” Rarity took a cautious step from behind the bushes they were using to conceal themselves from prying eyes as their own eyes pried. Applejack was about to follow her when a black-clad form appeared between the two mares. Both jumped and Rarity nearly squealed in shock before she realised who it was. “I found my spy outfit!” Pinkie stage-whispered at them, waving briefly as she pulled her night vision goggles down over her ski-mask. “I wasn’t gonna use it yet but I just couldn’t resist! Oh, night-visiony.” “Where did-....never mind. Y’all got night-vision? Gimme those for a sec sugarcube.” Ignoring Pinkie’s pout as she passed over the goggles Applejack slung them over her eyes. “I dunno how ya get these things but right now Ah don’t rightly care....there!” Applejack pushed her friends back behind the bush without a moment’s hesitation. They landed in a heap. Rarity glared at them from the bottom of the pile as she felt dirt on her exposed legs and the rain coat rubbing against her. “Sorry sugarcube, but there was somepony out there” Explained Applejack quietly. She pushed the night-vision goggles up so she could look at them normally. “Couldn’t see who, but they was just staring out of the window over there. Ah think that’s Bon Bon’s place.” “Mhmm, bon-bons....” Pinkie licked her lips and reclaimed her goggles. She jumped off Rarity and struck a martial arts pose. “Want me to sneak over there and take ‘em out? Wa cha!” She hoof-chopped the air in front of her. Brushing herself off Rarity shook her head at her friend’s antics. “I’m sure that won’t be needed. We just need to get past without being seen.” Applejack and Rarity put their heads together, metaphorically speaking, as they murmured ideas. Watching her friends for a few seconds Pinkie finally just rolled her eyes. She peeked out again with a frown hidden under her ski-mask. She pressed a hoof against the bush, only a fraction of an inch from breaking through when her ear-tingled and her nose twitched twice. She didn’t know exactly what that meant but as she retracted her hoof it faded. Pushing it back the sense returned when her hoof reached the same point. ‘That must mean a mean meanie is going to see me.’ Pinkie decided, nodding to herself. To her the assumption made complete sense. She still wasn’t sure how this magic voice of hers worked. All that had happened before was that she had wanted to make something happen, to get ponies to do something. The first time it was simple to make those movers drop the piano and Pinkie had buried her concerns about suddenly having a magic voice. She was still relieved none of her friends had noticed the way she had been phrasing everything as a question or request for the next few days out of fear of her voice turning magic and making somepony do something they might not want to. The second time it had happened without warning when she wanted to prove to her friends just how much she wanted to help. Pinkie didn’t think it had done much, at least as far as she could tell. The third time she had wanted to make somepony do something and it had worked. While the strange feeling her commanding voice had left faded within hours of the first time it hadn’t left her since stopping the possessed Granny Smith. Pinkie could feel a tingle in the same place that went all light and warm when she was with her friends. Taking a deep breath Pinkie closed her eyes and concentrated. ‘I don’t know how you are doing this, magic voice, but time to give this a good old Pinkie Pie try.’ “Don’t notice.” She wanted the watcher to not see, to not notice. She wanted to go unnoticed and she wanted it with all her being. “Don’t notice. Don’t notice. Don’t notice.” Her chanted whisper rolled through the air. Sound fell far short but its intent kept going, sliding through the air unseen. Although she couldn’t see it Pinkie felt it stretching something from her soul into the world. The invisible wave struck its target through the glass of the window and Pinkie felt it snap back into her. She looked at the window she knew to contain somepony and suddenly she knew if she stepped out she wouldn’t be noticed. Within the darkened cottage the possessed Bon-Bon blinked. The thing within her looked through more eyes than any natural creature had and found this pair going unnoticed among its many other eyes. There were simply so many bodies to manage and having such a number was still new to the Nightmare. Its attention was focused on the hosts pursuing Rainbow Dash and Bon-Bon’s body was pushed to the side of its thoughts. Pinkie pushed a hoof back through the bush and smiled as she chanted. Her Pinkie-sense was quiet and nothing tingled or twitched. Without a backward glance she stepped through the bush. Behind her she heard the quickly hushed exclamations of her friends. “Pinkie!” Applejack hissed. She glared at the party pony through the hole she had left in the bush. “Git back here!” Rarity’s head appeared next to her and nodded along. Pinkie just shook her head back at them. She kept up her chant as she waved at hoof for them to follow her. She glanced back sidelong at them and they read the message very clear in her eyes. ‘Trust me.’ They exchanged an uncertain glance before nodding to each other and stepping out. Both cringed at the exposed feeling as they stepped out. Following Pinkie’s frantic gestures they slunk across the ground between them and the town. Passing within a few metres of the window they were able to see the still form of the possessed Bon-Bon, whose vigilant stare went right through them. They collected themselves in the alley behind the house where Pinkie leaned against the wall, panting. She grinned at her friends. “Magic -hff- voice.” “Ah’m guessin’ we got past without bein’ seen then?” Applejack asked, trotting over to support her spy-costumed friend. “Yupper-hff-duppers.” Applejack clapped her on the shoulder. “Good one Pinkie. Gettin’ a handle on yer magic voice? Might be useful.” “Indeed it shall. I’m afraid I’m still not quite on the up and up of my strange sight.” Rarity said apologetically. “It seems to have a mind of its own.” Even as she spoke Rarity felt her vision shift. She blinked and the world was subtly different. When she focused on the wall of the alley she saw like flashing neon signs the stress points along its surface and when she looked at her friends she saw the dirt that marred them with even more intensity then she normally paid to such things, which it goes without saying is a lot. “Oh.” She blinked. “I...think it’s working now.” “Neato!” Recovered from her non-stop chanting Pinkie sidled up to the corner of the alley and glanced out. “We’re in luck, Dashie has all the pegasi playing with her and there’s nopony down the road. The library is waiting for us!” “Y’all ready? We ain’t got any idea what’s goin’ on an’ for all we know there’s gonna be a mess o’ ponies we can’t risk hurtin’ lyin’ in wait for us.” Applejack cautioned the party pony as she joined her looking out. “Rarity, come give the road a look with those magic eyes’a yers.” With the fashionista surveyed the street and saw nothing particularly threatening or interesting. “It looks fine to me. Remind me, what exactly do we do once we reach the library?” “Spike should be there if this thing ain’t gotten ta him. Even if it has odds are Twi’ will be there or we can find something to help,” Explained the farmer. “Course we can look through the books a bit better if we got Spike but ain’t no promises there.” Rarity and Pinkie nodded in understanding. “Once we know how ta get the Nightmare outta the townsfolk we’ll find Twilight an’ teach this thing that Ponyville ain’t its playground.” She growled, stepping into the street. Cautiously her friends followed her. They set off through the streets, alert for the slightest sound or movement. *** Chains, Twilight discovered, were not pleasant things to wake up wearing. Perhaps ‘wearing’ was a tad unclear. They were clamped to every leg and gave her only a foot of space before they reached the end of their reach. Her memory of the Mayor’s words and the surprise attack that had rendered her unconscious came to mind clearly and it didn’t take long for Twilight to conclude that something was seriously wrong. More than just the Apex Prism Crystal it seemed. Her next thought went straight to Spike and worrying if he was okay. He was smart and could take care of himself if whatever it was that was making the Mayor act insane hadn’t done the same to him. Regardless of that there was still the crystal’s threat, very clearly risking the lives of him and every citizen of Ponyville. Her first duty was to free herself and find Trixie, no matter how much she wanted to gallop to the library and check on him. Awaking up chained to the floor of the town hall it hadn’t taken her long to discover something was blocking her magic. She could feel something tight clamped to the tip of her horn and each time she began to gather the power for a spell it came undone before even leaving her horn. Whatever it was served its purpose with unfortunate success, disrupting the output of energy as she struggled to shape it into a working spell. ‘So I’m chained to the floor of the town hall and can’t use magic. Ignoring why the TOWN HALL has chains in it for now, how did I end up here?’ Twilight thought to herself. Fifteen minutes alone with her own musings had only returned to her the memory of being struck from behind and the Mayor’s strange words seconds before. ‘I guess it wasn’t a trap for Trixie.’ she thought dryly. Leaning down Twilight looked at the chains binding her with a critical eye. There seemed to be no locks, the entire set seemingly made from smooth hunks of metal. The feel against her fur was strange as well. ‘Okay, not normal metal. Frost iron? No, I’d have frostbite by now. It’s definitely not orichalcum or truesilver, or any other metal I’m familiar with. It’s even darker than dark iron. Wait....’ Lowering her head Twilight scrapped her horn’s covered tip against the metal. The grinding screech set her ears flat against her head but she kept it up for several more seconds. Finally she lifted her horn clear and looked down where she had scored the metal. A gasp escaped her mouth. The metallic surface had been scrapped away to reveal solid shadow. “Magic.” Twilight muttered. Her frown turned thoughtful. In all likelihood the thing on her horn was of the same magical material. Gathering magic again Twilight let it build before trying to expel it into a spell. She scowled as it fell apart. Whatever it was she couldn’t use any external spells and her teleportation relied on her magic being able to reach wherever she wanted to go before her. A flash of lightning through one of the windows sent the shadows of the room shuddering weirdly. Twilight stared out the window, her eyes wide with sudden inspiration. “Trying to escape? I think not, mortal. I forged your bindings from my own shadow. Only my sister’s light could possibly even bend them, let alone break!” As the shadows snapped back into a pervasive gloom something appeared in the room with her. Twilight looked up and drew back as far as she could. The thing now before her only vaguely resembled a normal pony. Shadows seemed to have bloated out from the original body to carve a strange new form that flickered and shifted in the light. If she focused Twilight could just make out the Mayor’s body inside it, a few inches separating her from the shadow-fur of the form she wore. A sinister smile came to its face. “You admire my form, do you not? It is little compared to the majesty of my true body, but it shall suffice.” The unicorn’s mind digested what it was saying. A shadow crafted horn stabbed violently from the creature’s forehead and a pair of great wings flared from its back. Sister’s light, alicorn form, true body... “You’re the Nightmare!” Twilight gasped, staring at it in shock. “But...but we defeated you! Twice! The Princess told me you were the source of the Black Roots and that you hid in a plant in the Everfree after we freed Princess Luna from yo-” The monster erupted forth, planting hooves on either side of Twilight and shoving its face in hers. “There is no Princess Luna! I am the TRUE Luna, I am Nightmare Moon! The pathetic little thing is simply a fragment of who I once was.” A flash of lightning through the window threw the room into contrast again. It drew back and glared balefully down at her. Twilight gulped at the pure hatred it was staring at her with. She was thankful she couldn’t see the Mayor’s expression; she didn’t want to see the elder mare’s expression twisted by such an emotion. “You see, Twilight Sparkle, I am truly Luna. That thing you name is but a shadow I locked away when I tore away that which made me weak, released by the Elements to take my place. She is a lie, an incomplete creation with no claim to the moon. Why do you think she speaks in such a grand, royal way if not to compensate? She knows she will eventually be seen for the flawed creature she is and so she tries to impress upon all that she is true royalty.” It hissed savagely. Thunder boomed from outside as it spoke. “I don’t believe you.” The words were out before Twilight could stop them. Not, she decided, that she would have. Staring up into its eyes Twilight shook her head and repeated herself, “I don’t believe you.” A shadowed hoof crashed into the floor an inch from Twilight’s side, tearing through the wood and throwing splinters into the air. The thunderous crash of lightning at the same moment combined with the sound. Twilight let out a brief cry as she felt the wood shrapnel pricking her flank. They were small and not really that dangerous but they still hurt. Rage filled the Nightmare’s voice. “It does not matter what you believe. The truth is still the truth no matter how much my sister or you wish it were otherwise. In the end it shall not matter. Your body and those of the rest of the Bearers will be mine and the Elements will serve Eternal Night!” The proclamation was punctuated by a great rear, the Nightmare’s stolen hooves kicking at the air above Twilight. “Really?” It looked down in shock. Twilight’s voice dripped with sarcasm and she met its stare with more confidence than she felt. “You still want to bring eternal night? You do realise we can’t survive without daylight, right?” “You DARE mock Nightmare Moon?” Almost as if to emphasise its anger lightning struck, louder than ever. “I do!” Twilight shouted back. This was really not the smartest thing to do but she couldn’t help herself. This thing wanted to kill everypony in Equestria, every living thing on the planet, just to satisfy some insane whim and all the while it was claiming to be Luna. “Because Nightmare Moon is the shadow! Princess Luna could never be you and you could never be her! You’re just a big, ugly, jealous old mare who can’t get over herself.” The Nightmare actually froze, stunned by Twilight’s defiance. It drew back a hoof to slap Twilight when lightning crashed down with deafening sound. It turned, only remembering its hosts outside to look as well a moment later. Another bolt of lightning smashed into the ground only a metre from the town hall’s window. With the eyes scattered around Ponyville the Nightmare suddenly saw the increase in lightning around the town hall. It began to fall again and again, closer and closer. The Nightmare swung its gaze back to Twilight who wore a small but smug smile. “Something wrong?” She asked with an arched eyebrow. “What have you done, little pony?” the Nightmare demanded, stamping a hoof through the floor again. “Your magic is useless!” Twilight was already shaking her head before it finished speaking. “Oh, you’re mostly right. In fact a few hours ago I wouldn’t know a single spell that I could use. Unfortunately for you I just spent quite some time looking over very well made lightning rods. Duplicating the spells for a living pony and making myself attract the lightning out there was easier than I thought it would be, I was actually rather surprised.” The building shook as lightning struck it. The Nightmare turned an incredulous gaze upon its prisoner. “Impossible! Such magic is beyond even the greatest of unicorns, the spell should simply not work.” “You’re right, but a friend told me after our last meeting to be careful with elemental magic, particularly lightning.” Twilight smiled at the Nightmare’s stupefied expression. “If I’m right the latent magic of the crystal is causing this lightning meaning every bolt is at least partially magical. How much do you think it will take to break this thing off my horn?” She added rhetorically. A snarled curse was bubbling from the Nightmare’s lips when the ceiling shattered. Lightning that buzzed with arcane force tore through the building like no natural lightning could as it was dragged towards Twilight. She braced herself in time for the bolt to anchor in on her horn. A cry blew out of Twilight as she felt the power behind the lightning running through her. Where the shadow metal touched her sparks leaped up and she writhed in the grip of the spell lightning. Another bolt tore through the ceiling amidst the burning wreckage of the roof with a roar that nearly drowned out the Nightmare’s shriek of fury. A third bolt struck the metal capping Twilight’s horn. Despite being unable to expel magic through her horn Twilight had known this might work, turning her body into a living lightning rod for the spell-fueled lightning without her needing to cast the magic externally. Her body had become like a magnet and the first bolts to strike her were the most magical, the most potent in arcane energy that allowed them to ignore the natural laws governing lightning. A final bolt came thundering down, the last blow to the already strained cap of shadow metal. With a demonic shriek it exploded and with it all the magic of Twilight’s failed attempts to cast was detonated in a cone above her, more than proving the falseness of the Nightmare's claims to the toughness of her shadow magic. The burning town hall began to collapse in but Twilight just swayed in place for a few seconds. The Nightmare had fled with its stolen body before the second lightning bolt had fallen and Twilight was alone as she muttered “Well, the lightning didn’t turn me into a crispy pony at least.” Shaking her head to get her thoughts back in order Twilight narrowly avoided a falling wooden beam. Yelping she pushed herself as far as she could from it but her restraints remained. The first thing she did next was cancelling the lightning rod spell, shutting it down so no more lightning would hit her. She wasn’t entirely certain she would be safe without the horn-cap to protect her from the worst of the lightning’s effect. Next Twilight set her horn alight with power and winked out of existence. Just in time too, moments later a burning hoof sized hunk of wood slammed into the space she had been occupying between the chains. The unicorn staggered as she rematerialised outside the now destroyed town hall. Blinking a few times to get the dots out of her vision when she could see again, Twilight found that she wasn’t alone. A powerfully built pony in armour that resembled an evil parody of Celestia’s royal guard stood before her, its fur stained with living shadow that stirred at its hooves into talon-like shapes. It stared at her with the same dark eyes as the Nightmare’s more developed body. “How dare-” The Nightmare’s voice began only to be cut off by a burst of magenta light and a similarly coloured beam of magic. The host when flying back and the attack stripped its shadows to reveal the pristine armour of a royal guard. Twilight stared at him in shock. Before her eyes the stallion slowly got back up, the shadows spreading across his body once more until he was once more the menacing spectre that had surprised her. “You’ll pay for that, pony.” The Nightmare hissed. “Uh oh.” The possessed pony surged forth, front hooves extended like claws. Another blast of magic sent it tumbling back but before Twilight could flee another materialised from the gloom to her side. Turning the other way Twilight recoiled as a third appeared swiftly followed by a fourth, fifth and even more. Backing away became impossible. The Nightmare surrounded Twilight on all sides, encircling her with a ring of furious eyes. “Uh....” Looking frantically for a way out Twilight gave them – it – a shaky smile. “I don’t suppose we can talk about this?” A voiceless roar blew her mane into her eyes. “I guess not.” A flash of magenta light and Twilight was gone from the circle. *** Rainbow Dash tore through sky, grinning despite the threat from every direction. She curved down to slip between the outstretched hooves of two speeding guards. With a flap she levelled out and took on a burst of speed. The flock had long since become spread out when the Nightmare realised a single mass would never be able to catch the swift pegasus. Determined to keep the Nightmare’s fliers away from the library she taunted those nearest and dragged her pursuers every which way with no pause or relenting. Wings flaring she pumped them smoothly but quickly. The few times the Nightmare had manoeuvred her into positions that could have trapped her Rainbow Dash had simply teleported again. Each time was met with another angry roar. Yet a problem was beginning to emerge. The chase had started with each possessed pegasus moving clumsily, as if they weren’t paying enough attention to how they moved. As a mass it made little difference as time went on they became smoother. The Nightmare was starting to get a better hang on using so many bodies at once and filled the sky with greater efficiency. It was learning the limits of its hosts and how to coordinate in three dimensions beyond just making a big ball around her. The flash of lightning and the gloom weren’t helping Rainbow Dash. She couldn’t fly higher and use the cloud cover in case the Nightmare decided to look elsewhere. That wasn’t even considering the danger of flying amidst lightning like that. Rainbow Dash had to keep its attention firmly on her and that meant saying visible but out of reach. Breathing as deeply as she was able, Dash cast a look across Ponyville towards the library. She just had to keep the Nightmare on her for as long as possible and then teleport away. She smiled grimly. To Rainbow Dash ‘as long as possible’ just meant she would keep going until her wings were numb and her muscles creaked from the strain. With a flap she fell into a dive, a stream of stolen bodies falling in her wake. Rainbow Dash versus every pegasus in Ponyville plus a regiment of guards in a deadly game of tag as a storm raged all around them. This, she decided, was going in the clip-book alongside her Sonic Rainboom and saving Equestria twice. *** The library door clicked shut quietly behind them. The three mares crept quietly through, eyes darting everywhere. Despite a few minutes of watching for movement from outside with Rarity’s strange sight and Pinkie’s night-vision goggles they were still opting for caution. The library seemed deserted but they were taking as few chances as possibe. “‘s all clear. Pinkie, check the basement.” Applejack whispered, getting a mercifully silent nod from the party pony. Still clad in her spy gear she trotted without making a sound to the basement door and slipping through. Rarity nodded at Applejack and checked upstairs. “Nothing here.” She murmured softly down a minute later. Her expression was both relieved and worried. “Not even Spike.” “Right.” Taking a deep breath Applejack turned to the daunting bookshelves. “Darn, coulda used the little fella, an’ Ah’m kinda worried about him.” Joining her friend Rarity couldn’t help but agree. Approaching the bookshelves she began to inspect the titles, looking for anything to do with possession. In recent months Twilight had expanded the libraries magic and mystical section with more than a little of her own money to acquire obscure texts. She cited the strange situations they frequently faced had convinced her to look into less well known areas and books that might not immediately be of use. Possession seemed right up that particular alley. The basement door creaked open and Pinkie’s head emerged by the time her friends had looked. Her eyes were no longer filled with the fun of spying but were sad. Even her mane seemed less bouncy. “G-girls?” she whispered. “You really need to come see this.” Applejack and Rarity exchanged worried looks at her uncharacteristically sober voice. “Pinkie, darling, what’s wrong?” Drawing back through the door Pinkie just shook her head. “You really need to come. It’s...I’m really not sure but I think Spike’s hurt and I think he’s crying and I don’t know what to do!” She sniffled wetly, wiping a hoof across her eyes. Without waiting another moment Rarity began to push past her, Applejack following in their wake as Pinkie led them down. They abandoned stealth in favour of speed so that soon they were galloping hazardously down the winding stairs that ran deep beneath the library tree. Pinkie ran straight to the furthest corner where shadows cloaked the floor, the lights above blocked by a large root that had broken through the wall. “Behind there...he...” Pinkie’s eyes watered and she looked down. Taking a deep breath Rarity trotted closer until she could see the other side of the root. Her hoof flew to her mouth and she felt bile rise in her throat. Spike was curled into a shivering ball. Physically his scales showed clear signs of large, hoof sized bruises in several places. They screamed out to Rarity’s vision and she could see the stain around each one, a visible taint in the air. The Nightmare had done that and more. Stains of far greater darkness floated in the air around his head, wisps of evil that spoke of a memory of something done. Magic as foul as any found in old mare’s stories she had no idea what it did but found more than a few guesses coming to mind. It took Rarity only a moment to realise he was whimpering something, perhaps sobbing it. Her heart nearly broke when she realised what it was. He was crying out for his mother. Twilight Sparkle she might not and never be, but Rarity swept the little dragon up in her hooves, whispering to him. Mindless with fear he clutched at her for protection she felt scantly able to provide. “It’s okay now Spike, we’re here.” Rarity whispered to him. She could feel tears from his eyes wetting her fur and the very knowledge that some monster had dared do this to precious, innocent little Spike set her mind ablaze with fury. None of her anger showed, however, locked behind a Lady’s control. “You’re safe now I promise.” Applejack couldn’t see the magical stains as Rarity could but she had eyes and she had ears. She stared at Spike and at that moment she would have gladly beaten the Nightmare to death with her bare hooves. “S-she’s right Spike. Yer safe now. Ah’m here, so’s Pinkie, Rarity has got ya. Y’all are safe from the thing that did this.” She said. Approaching him and Rarity she leaned down until she was on his level. “Ya know an Apple never lies.” “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Pinkie still looked like she was about to start crying herself but found it somewhere to smile widely for his benefit. It was shaky and her friends doubted seeing this would do her good in the long run but the party pony’s determination in the face of pain was not something to be underestimated. “Nopony breaks a Pinkie Promise either.” Despite their reassuring words and soon Pinkie’s own it took them nearly ten minutes to get a single coherent sentence out of Spike. Considering his clearly distressed state Rarity found this miraculous. “I-I was just sleeping l-like always with Peewee when these guardponies came in.” He croaked, sniffing slightly as he told them. In fits and starts he explained that Peewee had reacted badly to their presence and the weird shadows in their eyes had tipped him off to something being wrong. He had managed to avoid them and fled down into the basement in a panic when he found the doors barred by more of their number. Cornered Spike had found himself wrapped into shadowy tendrils. What exactly they had done was lost, Spike clearly not able to talk about it. What he did say was that a voice had whispered things and shown him images, crafting nightmares around him as it tried to force through some barrier preventing it from overtaking him. “I-it wasn’t trying to take m-me.” He stuttered, staring up at them with wet eyes. “I-it said it wanted T-Twilight....but I couldn’t let it. Then it said it had Twilight and...and...” Spike sniffed again and the dam broke once more. Gathering Spike in her hooves for a second time Rarity did her best to comfort him. “It’s alright now Spike. I promise you, whatever that monster said to you Twilight is fine. In fact, I’m certain she’s working out a way to get rid of this thing right now. Don’t you agree, girls?” Rarity’s look told them quite clearly there would be hell to pay if they didn’t agree, so for their sake and Spike’s Applejack and Pinkie nodded and voiced their agreement. “This is Twilight we’re talking about after all!” Pinkie said with a shadow of her usual fervour in her voice. “She’s gonna appear in a burst of magic and tell us how to save the day any second now!” A moment after she finished speaking Pinkie saw a magenta glow light up the room around her. Turning she found a clearly woozy but conscious Twilight Sparkle swaying behind her. “Huh.” Was all Pinkie could say for a moment. “I was half-right.” “Girls!” Twilight blinked as her friend stared at her. “It’s great to see y- Spike? Spike!” Tripping over her own hooves Twilight still managed an impressive turn of speed as she brushed past Pinkie. Spike leapt from Rarity’s grasp to crash into the violet unicorn. Tears spilled from his eyes as she enveloped him in a hug. “Oh Spike, are you okay? I’m so sorry I left you here all alone.” Her friends looked on as Twilight clutched him tight and begged for him to be fine. “I’m fine now Twilight. You’re okay, I’m fine. You’re okay!” He hugged back hard enough for his claws to cause her discomfort but Twilight ignored it. Looking down Twilight’s senses tingled. Magic had been used Spike, on her little dragon. “Spike...what happened? What did it to do you?” She demanded fear in her eyes. Spike pulled back slightly and looked away. “I-I don’t know. It just said something about me being familiar and it was going to...to use me to get to you. I didn’t let in though! It kept making me watch you leave me or throw me out and it kept saying you’d get rid of me because dragons are all evil b-but I didn’t listen!” “Spike, I would never do any of that.” Twilight cried, pulling him in tighter. “I know! It...it didn’t get to me.” He managed a proud if shaky smile. “You’re the bravest dragon there is.” She agreed wetly. “Thank you for telling me this. I know this all been very difficult so I want you to do something for me. Just close your eyes.” Spike blinked but did as she said, too happy with her presence to question it. He couldn’t see the glow of her horn, first because his eyes were closed. A moment later it was because he was asleep, lulled into dreamlessness by Twilight’s magic. “You’ve done more than enough.” She murmured into his ear. “Just sleep for now.” Looking up from her sleeping dragon Twilight gave her friends a tired smile, “Girls. It’s great to see you. I had no idea you’d be here.” “Twilight, where in Equestria have you been? We were so worried.” Rarity whispered so as not to wake up Spike. Sitting down heavily Twilight explained what happened as quickly as possible, extracting her friends’ tale in return. The four sat in a silent circle as Applejack finished explaining their discovery of Spike. Twilight cradled Spike in her hooves, an unreadable expression her face. “I think,” she said at last. “I think I know what it was doing with Spike. I’ve told you about how I hatched his egg. Well, there’s a bond between us. A magical one I mean. Spike is technically my familiar.” “What, like those the crows an’ owls wizards got in old mares tales?” asked Applejack. Twilight nodded. “A bit. Of course most familiars aren’t creatures like Spike. Most are animals like Angel Bunny, extremely intelligent for their kind. The only other familiar like Spike is Philomena. But he’s too young. The Princess said the connection won’t really manifest in any noticeable way until he begins to grow and his natural dragon magic appears.” “But the connection is still there.” Rarity concluded. She looked down on Spike understandingly. “That’s why it was doing all that to poor Spike.” “To get to me.” Twilight’s voice was clearly filled with guilt and she bowed her head. “The Nightmare only came after Spike because of his connection to me.” Pinkie laid hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “Come on Twilight, we all know it’s that mean old Nightmare’s fault. Don’t feel bad because of what it did. There was no way you could have stopped it.” “I should have brought him to Canterlot!” The unicorn cried, pushing her friend’s hoof off. “If I hadn’t just left him here, if I hadn’t just treated him like an assistant...he’s so much more to me than that!” A slap caught her across the cheek. It was light and little more than a tap but it was enough to turn her head towards Pinkie. “Now stop right there! Unless you’ve got some Twilight-sense and haven’t told anypony then there is no way to have known anything would happen. You blaming yourself isn’t going to do you or Spike any good! If you want to treat him less like an assistant and more like you think you should be treating him, then you need to fix this whole thing and get rid of that nasty old Nightmare. Because if you don’t then it will use that crystal and you’ll never have the chance!” Pinkie’s hooves fell onto Twilight’s shoulders and held her so she wasn’t able to look away. Her blue eyes bore into Twilight. “So turn that frown upside down and let’s get to work saving the day!” Twilight stared into her friend’s determined expression for a few more seconds before slowly nodding. “You’re right. We don’t have time for me to wallow in self-pity. We are going to save the day....and I think I know how.” Seeing her rallied spirit the others exchanged hopeful smiles. Things were looking up. “What’s the plan sugarcube? Tell us whatcha need an’ we’ll get it lickety-split!” Applejack grinned at Twilight. They weren’t just running around now, they were about to go on the attack. Putting Spike on her back Twilight started towards the stairs. “The Nightmare knows I got free and I’m willing to bet it will check here before too long. It’s insane but not stupid. First I need to see if we have a copy of the book on sky magic Princess Luna gave me. After that we need to find Paladin.” “He went with Fluttershy into the forest, remember? Oh, I bet Fluttershy’s gonna come pounding into town on a bear!” Pinkie looked excited at the thought. The knowledge they were actually going to do something returned some of her usual energy. “If ya need some flank kicked, y’all know Ah’m right here.” Applejack pointed out. “Not quite what I had in mind. I think I know where the crystal is and it’s pretty clear the Nightmare was behind everything. The Nightmare has been using the Mayor’s body as its primary host but obviously it’s somehow learnt to spread to other minds. The Elements probably left us immune to it simply forcing its way in.” Twilight began to explain. Rarity gasped, a thought occurring. “Oh no, what about Paladin? He surely lacks the same protection as us!” Twilight looked thoughtful for a second, frowning. “I’m....not sure why but I don’t think we’re going to have to worry about that. Don’t ask; I have no idea why.” She sighed, rubbing her forehead. “But we need him, and we need to get back to where the chariots were.” “Why’s that?” Pinkie asked curiously, tilting her head to the side. They had reached the main room of the library now and were quickly scanning the titles. “Because,” Twilight smiled as she looked at her friends, confidence burning her eyes. “We’re going to do what Rainbow Dash couldn’t.” “Learn ta get up before dawn?” “Understand if she tracks mud into my boutique one more time....” “Grow a horn and become Rainbow Dash, Queen of the Skies!” The others looked at Pinkie who just flashed them a smile through her ski-mask and pulled a book from the shelf. “Here you go Twilight! It was under ‘S’ for Saving the Day...or maybe for Sky.” “Thank you Pinkie. And no, to all of them.” Perusing the book Twilight nodded when she reached the spot she needed before looking up. “We’re going to make Paladin fly, we’re going to defeat the Nightmare and we’re going to save Ponyville all at the same time.” ***