//------------------------------// // Chapter Five, Back Where We Began // Story: Nocturne // by Pony Boy //------------------------------// Nocturne Chapter 5 Back Where We Began “Are you girls ready?” Twilight asked once all six of them reached the outskirts of the Everfree Forrest behind Fluttershys’ Cottage. “As ready as Ah’ll ever be.” Apple Jack said. “Of course!” Rainbow Dash cried out with her usual bravado. “I’m ready Freddy!” Pinkie said with her optimism. “Yes, I am.” Rarity said. “R-r-r… Ready…” Fluttershy stammered. Ever since the meeting in the Dream World with Luna, she has been more skittish than usual. “Well, let’s go girls.” Twilight said swallowing her fear and doubt. “We can’t fail; we’re the Elements of Harmony.” Twilight said under her breath. “Twilight? Do you think that the Elements are in the Everfree Forrest?” Apple Jack said looking from side to side; the Forrest still freaked her out. “Well, I think it’s the first logical place to look in; I mean, Discord put the Elements in my book of the Elements.” “That is true, but what if they aren’t there and something happens when we’re gone?” Apple Jack rebutted. “I’m sure nothing too bad can happen in what, in hour or two?” Twilight thought. “I don’t know…” Rainbow Dash muttered skeptically, remembering what Discord managed to do within the few minutes within the hedge maze. Even though Midnight hasn’t reached Pony Ville or the Everfree Forrest, you could feel the influences; the air was damper and the nights became longer and darker. Passing where the brambles were thickest, Pinkie Pie spotted where Twilight closed up the Mirror Pond. “Ohh! Twilight! Twilight! What if we use the mirror pond to make more of us and go search for the Elements?” “Pinkie, I closed the entrance to the pond for a reason.” “Oh yeah…” Said almost like she previously had forgotten why. A few more minutes of walking, they spotted Zecora’s hut. “Hey, maybe we could ask Zecora if there have been anything weird going on around here!” Rainbow Dash said. “Yeah, she knows this place better than any pony.” Twilight said in agreement. Twilight knocked on the door. “Go away! There is no pony here today!” “Zecora, it’s us; Twilight, Apple Jack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie!” Apple Jack cried. The door opened slightly and a black and white snout poked out. “Ahh! There all of you are! I was hoping you haven’t gone out too far! Come inside so you can have a place to hide.” Zecora said in her usual rhymes. All of the six sat around in a circle in the middle of the hut with the cauldron in the center. “Zecora, have you noticed anything unusual going on in the forest?” “Like you wouldn’t believe, it all starts just at eve! Shadows move without a body, trees sound without a shake, and there are cries of animals that I have never even heard; it has become absurd!” Zecora replied almost frantically. Apple Jack looked at Rainbow Dash who in turn exchanged a glance to Pinkie Pie, Pinkie to Fluttershy, Fluttershy to Rarity, and finally Rarity to Twilight who is lost in thought looking down tapping her chin with her hoof. “This place has been giving me such a scare, I almost ran without a care!” Twilight perked her head up. “Zecora, has there been anything going on deeper in the forest, like at the ancient castle?” “It seems to me that that is where this chaos is centered to be.” The six exchanged glances again. “It seems as if we were right, girls.” Twilight said quietly. “Thank you for the hospitality Zecora, but we need to hurry off.” Twilight said standing up to her feet. “I’m sure that it is more important than being with me; now go to where you need to be.” As the heroines ran out the door, Zecora glared. She waited for them to close the door, and dissolved into a fine mist. As the girls descended deeper into the forest, a thick fog has been building. Fluttershy thought that she had seen figures racing in and out of the fog in her periphery vision, but concluded it was nothing. “Well, at least now we know we were right.” Rainbow Dash said trying to lighten the mood. “Yeah, ‘Ah just wish that it wasn’t so close to town, who knows what Nightmare Moon could have in store for us now?” Apple Jack said thinking of all of her family and friends still back in town. Rarity yawned. “Is any pony else feeling a little drowsy?” Apple Jack asked. “Yeah… I feel a little tired…” Rainbow Dash replied wearily. Even Pinkie hasn’t been her usual bubbly self. “What time is it?” Apple Jack asked stumbling slightly.” “We… uhhh… left at… we left at noon…” Twilight said feeling it herself. At that moment, Fluttershy collapsed. So too did Rarity, then Pinkie Pie, Apple Jack, and Rainbow Dash. It was at that moment Twilight comprehended what was going on. Her horn glowing lightly as she combated sleep, a gust was worked up. The strength of the gust increased and whipped away the mysterious mist. In turn, every pony that fell asleep woke up soon. “Ugh… What was that?” Rainbow Dash said rubbing her head. Rarity started vigorously rubbing the dirt and leaves out of her mane, tail, and coat. “It was Miasma; it’s a form of magical fog that does various things. But it shouldn’t have done the same thing to all of us…” Twilight was in thought again. “Well, let’s not wait for it to build up again.” Rarity said finally cleaning out her coat. “Hey, I remember that river!” Pinkie said skipping. “Oh, hello!” a familiar voice cried out. It was the purple, serpentine dragon that they met the first time they went through the forest. He still had the moustache that Rarity gave him from her tail, but he made the other side the same way. “What a beautiful style for your moustache.” Rarity said half complimenting herself and the dragon for mimicking the coloring and shape perfectly. “Oh, thank you!” he replied with a chuckle, “It took me weeks to get it just right!” “Not to break of the reunion, but we need to cross the river.” Rainbow Dash said with her indifference to fashion, style, and sophisticated personal aesthetics. “Oh, of course!” He gladly replied. “But be careful, there have been shadows moving to and from that old creepy castle.” Apple Jack looked over at Twilight. After they crossed, as the others ran off, Rarity and the dragon waved goodbye a second time. “Well, here we are; back where we began…” Twilight said almost sentimentally. “Eeyup…” Apple Jack said channeling Big Macintosh. The sky was black as night. “Uhh… Twilight? How long have we been out?” Apple Jack asked looking up at the starless sky. It was as if the sky was lower than it used to be. The Moon also had a face on it that hasn’t been seen since… “We haven’t even been out for two hours. I think our suspicions have been thoroughly confirmed.” Twilight said a she stepped on the old bridge. As she did, there were three forms of shadows that shot up from the abyss. They landed on the other side of the bridge; The Shadow Bolts. “Take one more step, and we’ll take the bridge down.” The one that seemed to be the leader said. Though wearing goggles, the friends could feel the glares from behind them. “Yeah? Go ahead and try!” Rainbow Dash said leaping into the air and hovering with her wings. The Shadow Bolts burst into the air almost immediately and started chipping away at the support ropes and the stone pillars holding up the ropes. “Rainbow, you need to stop them!” Rarity cried out, holding onto the bridge as they were trying to get back to where she stepped off from. “I’m trying! There are too many of them!” Rainbow cried out, overwhelmed on which one to go after. Twilight dug into the bridge to support herself. Her horn started glowing with a bright white light. Finally, it fired into a large, blinding ray. The other five shielded their eyes. Their eyes not accustomed to a light so bright, the Shadow Bolts scattered, blind. One crashed into the forest, one landed on a ledge in the chasm, and another that had regained composure flew off to its’ master. “Those guys were serious.” Apple Jack said as they finally crossed the bridge. They stood before the ancient castle. It hasn’t changed a bit in this mysterious forest, seemingly locked in in time itself. Large foreboding pillars with vines and plants crisscrossing, rooting deep into the cracks. Windows of broken glass gave it an even more eerie feel like a haunted house. The large wooden door still sturdy and strong after the thousands of years it has been here. “This place is timeless…” Twilight muttered to herself almost forgetting why she was here, to save the world and not study archeology. “Umm…” Fluttershy finally piped up after an unusual silence even by her standards. “Umm… Twilight?” “Yes, Fluttershy?” “Look.” She pointed over at where she was taken the first time with Nightmare Moon. There was a purple glimmering faintly emitting from the cracks and windows of the ancient building. “I think that’s what we came over for…” Fluttershy said quietly. Walking over the walkway that connected the two buildings, there were shadows moving in the darkness. Unusual shadows, shapeless shadows. The shadows you see in the corner of your eye, you look over, and it’s gone. As they reached the rear building, there was a pedestal that had not been here last time that they have been her, and upon that pedestal was Rarity’s favorite accessory, the Element of Generosity. “Careful, this could be a trap.” Twilight said cautiously. All of them have scanned the room tirelessly, looking for a hidden passage, a lever, a button, something. As their search came up negative, they prepared themselves. “Alright Rarity, take it.” Twilight said. Rarity approached the pedestal cautiously. She slowly examined it from top to bottom. Seeing no immediate threat, she lifted the necklace off of the pedestal and onto her neck. Admiring its sparkle, she hadn’t noticed that the column had slowly retracted into the ground. A large trap door opened and took all of the friends down into the depths of a cavern. Celestia sat in her room watching the Night and Day fight for control over the sky. She hadn’t let the Sun go down over Canterlot since Nightmare’s return; though it has taken a toll on her, she couldn’t allow it. She looked at the clock. Two o’clock. She sighed. Ever since she returned from the Nightmare’s Hold, she was over whelmed with worry from Shining Armor. How could she have let this happen to him, Twilight’s brother, practically her son? She tried to comfort herself saying to herself . “He knew what he signed up for; he’s the Captain for the Guard for a reason” but every time she made up a new reason, she felt even more guilty. She took a final look at the horizon and walked out of her room. She couldn’t stand to look at it anymore. Walking over to her sister, she hoped to speak to one who understood what was going on. She knew Luna was asleep during the day, but Luna has always been there when Celestia needed her; she longed that she would be there for her again. She silently opened the large, blue door. She poked her head in and saw the curtains we closed and all was dark. Luna was sleeping in her bed. She looked even smaller than when she had talked to her two days ago. She crept into the room, trying to not let too much light in as to wake her. She silently walked into the room and sat by her. “Luna…” Celestia whispered, nudging her small sister softly. “Luna…” She did it again. She was about it again, but as she did, Luna shot up and sat straight up, looking into Celestia’s eyes. Her eyes glowed black, and her horn glowed black, and her mane flared black and stood like fire in the wind. “You have allowed this! You were too weak to stop my return! Now you will see your world burn!” Luna called out. The voice was not hers even when she yells. It was clear that Nightmare Moon had managed to channel herself through. “Luna!” Celestia said shaking her and touching her horn to her head. Instantly, there was a small pop, and the black aura dispersed and her mane returned to its regular state and she fell back into her bed. As if just waking up, Luna stirred. “‘Tia…” she yawned. “What are you doing here?” said as she knew nothing that happened within the previous seconds. “I need someone to talk to.” She spoke not wanting Luna to know what just happened. “About what?” Luna said half childishly. “About Nightmare returning; when you were ‘in’ her, did you get a feel for how she thought?” “Yes, I did…” Luna said looking down at the covers. “She thought of pure hate and malice… though it was like I was thinking of it. It was scary to think like that.” Luna said with a shiver running down her spine. “I don’t know how a creature can hold so much anger within its body.” “It was a long while coming. I just hope that Twilight and her friends can change her to what she used to be.” Celestia said looking at the floor half ashamed, half hopeful, and all scared. “Yes… I do too.” Luna said leaning on her sisters’ shoulder, hugging her.