//------------------------------//
// 16. Hunt over 
// Story: Stallions of Harmony - Longest Night 
// by Jetto 
//------------------------------//

"...so then I said 'you can, but I left it...'" Steven snorted and held his tears back to finish the story  "'...UP THE RUMP!'"

Massive snorts later turned into a full blown laughter, as six stallions fell on the scaly hide, rolling and crying, just barely keeping themselves from falling into the icy cold river. Soarin wiped his eyes and climbed back on his hooves.

"Steven, stop it, or I'll," he snickered and held his a hoof at his mouth "I'll die! I-I can't breathe!"

Their laughter eventually died out, as they closed to their destination. They had to admit it, this sea serpent (away from sea, but they didn't ask) seemed innocent and mild, but he had some really intense stories to tell. It took maybe an hour, but unlike their previous misadventures, time passed much faster when they were in a cheerful company, exchanging stories, jokes and anecdotes, instead of worrying about every single thing in the forest trying to kill them. Everfree was still full of danger, monsters and chaotic magic flowing around it, but once on a giant serpents back, all of it just faded away. The river was far from safe, they could swear they saw alligators (or crocodiles they couldn't tell) passing through, or glowing, yellow eyes looking at them from treetops, but none approached them. For the first time in what seemed like eternity, they felt relaxed, all thanks to their host and ferry. 

But like any journey, this one had to end eventually, as Steven stopped near a small, empty beach, right next to an entry to a larger lake, where several streams connected.

"Well, that's as far as I can take you," he said, as ponies one by one jumped out of his back. He pointed far away at the horizon, where they could all see a lone, tall tower standing out from the trees, reminiscent of a the ones in Canterlot.
"The castle is right over there, just go straight forward, you can't miss it. I heard there's a large canyon out there, so be careful."

Six stallions nodded and smiled with appreciation. Though they've known him for a very short time, they already knew they would miss him a lot. It did leave them with one surprising insight, that Everfree forest wasn't just made out of evil magic, but some kindhearted beings as well. 
Shining Armor looked at the large lake before them, wide enough that he couldn't tell where the other side was, mostly due to thick mist, only illuminated slightly by wisps reflecting on the water. He did saw a few other figures though, all very tall, scaly and familiar.

"Hey, are those your kind?" asked Shining, pointing at the other serpents swimming in the lake. Steven turned to have a look, but just as he was about to answer, he gasped and took  quick dive, creating another wave. They only had enough time to scream, as it passed through them once again, sparing not even one of them, as even Soarin was on the ground this time.

"OH FOR PETE'S SAKE!" cried Prince Blueblood, once again having to clean his recently dried up mane. Steven didn't give them too much time to complain, as he emerged suddenly and leaned towards them.

"Oh my gosh, she's here! SHE'S HERE!"

They followed Steven's finger and looked upon the so hyped up female they heard so much about. Not a single lie has been told about her. She had shiny, light-ish purple scales, long, blonde hair tied in a neat ponytail, large eyes and small, red lips. All in all, to them, ponies, it was like seeing even more fabulous looking Steven Magnet... with lipstick and eyelashes. Their heads tilted.

"Well... she's something." admitted Thunderlane, smiling sheepishly.

"Yes, an ... exotic beauty." added Doctor, swallowing and looking away.

"Quite a view." Prince nodded, smiling.

"Umm..." started Shining Armor, scratching his head "... I like her hair!"

"Eyuup!" said Big Mac, so glad he was a pony of few words.

Soarin shrugged "I'd hit it."

You can only imagine the glares he was given in response. He hoofwaved and replied.

"Books and covers, guys. Books and covers."

"I don't want to know what you're reading." asked Prince, sarcasm dripping from him along with water drops.

Thankfully, if Steven heard anything, he didn't give it away. He was shaking strong enough to cause another wild current in the stream, Shining Armor preparing himself to cast yet another defensive bubble. Soarin approached the serpent and put a hoof on his hide, stopping the inevitable tidal wave.

"Calm down! Just go and say it!"

Steven looked into Soarin's trusting eyes, then over at the lake. Then back at Soarin.
"I'm scared! What if I fail? What if she hates me?"

"No more 'what if's', this is a moment of truth! Go and claim what belongs to you!" said Soarin, holding a hoof high in the air "If that's okay with her, that is." he quickly added.

Steven took a moment to look at his new friends. Soarin's eyes burned with passion and unmeasurable confidence, as he nodded with approval. That was a man who believed in him, probably the only one who ever did. Other serpents treated him like a joke, not once acknowledging him as part of the tribe or even a man for that matter, constantly ridiculing his appearance and mannerisms. Most of his friends were female for that matter, his best one being his biggest crush. He looked over at the other five. They weren't fully convinced themselves, but they had faith in Soarin, who had faith in him. 

“I'm going!” he finally announced “Wish me luck.”

“You won't need it.”

Without further delays, Steven took a deep breath and swam towards the middle of the lake, where his love (which he never named, now that they thought about it) awaited. Once she spotted him, she waved towards him, but suddenly raised her eyebrows when he got closer, probably surprised to see lack of mustache. They talked for a small bit, Steven nervously scratching his head. He took a peek back and looked at Soarin. The pegasus nodded with a smile, Steven replied with a small nod himself. He turned back to his sweetheart and said 'it'. Initial response was a jaw drop, as she looked baffled at Steven, who was about to submerge himself in the lake and escape. And then she smiled and started giggling. The ponies on the shore (aside from Blueblood) recognized this as the same kind of reaction that Flitter and Cloudchaser responded to Soarin's attempts. And then she closed herself to him and whispered something to his ear. Whatever it was, it turned Steven completely red and still. Moment later she submerged, while Steven slowly turned back to ponies, donning the biggest smile possible and gave them a thumbs up, whatever that was supposed to mean. Then he disappeared underwater as well.

“Well, somepo- serpent is getting laid today,” announced Soarin, as he proudly wiped a single tear from his cheek “my work here is done!”

And so he trotted away, humming under his nose.

"What are you?" asked Thunderlane, baffled.





"Say, Steven..." asked his lover, a blonde haired sea serpent, now all but official lover of one particular Steven Magnet "...who were these men you talked to on the shore?"

"Oh, they were some of the most amazing gentlemen I ever met. They were looking for old castle ruins, so I gave them a lift. Great guys, especially Soarin, that blue one with wings." he changed my life, he thought, but I'll tell you that some other day.

"I never seen zebras so colorful before," she hummed "then again, I only ever seen one. You think they're friends with Zecora?"

Steven scratched his head "Hmm, I forgot to ask. Oh well," he shrugged "let's ask her next time we see her."





"No, I'm sorry, I can't tell you!" insisted Soarin, for about third time since they left the river. He was slowly getting uncomfortable with others asking questions. It was understandable, he couldn't blame anypony for being curious.

"Look, it's not that I'm hiding it from you guys to keep all mares to myself, but..." he hummed, before continuing the thought "... it's just that I've seen many ponies use these... tactics, incorrectly and fail miserably. I'm fine with sharing some lines or assisting, but it's on a case by case basis, for your own good."

"So what you mean is 'mares are hard'?" asked Doctor.

Soarin thought for a minute. Talking to females was never a hard thing for him, it always just went naturally, proper words came by and before he knew it, they were enamored with him and ended in his bed, or he in theirs, whatever was more closer. Sure there was a mistake and failure here and there, but he managed to patch them up fairly easily. He had no idea why nopony else could do what he did, so he decided to not abuse his so called 'gift'. Too much. With mixed results.

"Yes." he lied.

Prince Blueblood snorted at that "Why thank you for that, Captain Obvious. I would've NEVER figured that one out myself."

Soarin snorted.
"Well, you're all welcome to join me next time I go on a 'hunt', I can teach you everything you'll need to know. All six of us together, we'll be unstoppable!"

Blueblood cringed at that. Not because he was getting some bad flashbacks, but that he was just being included in a 'hunt'. Like he ever needed help with that to begin with, with his face, lineage and money he had pretty much any mare he ever wanted, at least back in Canterlot. Heck, most of his acquaintances used HIM as a chick-bait to begin with! Celestia only knew what could happen if two of them went to a bar together, looking for dates. And now that he thought of her, he suddenly remembered why he's here in the first place.

"Make that five," said Thunderlane "count me out."

"Oh come on, why not?" asked Soarin as he bumped into him.

"Because I have a marefriend."

Suddenly, any sense of safety or humor they maintained since their initial meeting with Steven was gone, destroyed by a single line. All of a sudden reality caught up to all of them. Nightmare Moon, disappearance of Princess Celestia, Blossomforth and Spitfire turned into stone, and that was just the start. No more smiling, no more laughs, only harsh truth awaited them as they closed in on the castle, now visible through unnaturally thick mist covering the large open area in the middle of the forest. 
Reality was a wrong word for this though. To them, it was more like a bad dream, not unlike the one they experienced back in the cave, with the dream-eating ghost. And just like back then, they had something that held them together despite everything. 

Hope.

"It's here," announced Shining Armor, as he stepped forward as he eyed the ruined palace "we actually found it! The elements must be here!"

"That's of course assuming they are there to begi--" Prince started, but was interrupted by Big Macintosh putting a hoof on his back and shaking his head, as if telling him not to finish that sentence. Ever. So he didn't.

"Okay, I decided!" announced Soarin, as he flew forward and faced his companions "Once we're done with this mess, let's all go on a massive 'hunt'."

Thunderlane rolled his eyes and grunted.
"Soarin, seriously, this is not the time..."

"I'M SERIOUS!" 

They stopped at their tracks and stepped back, wide eyed. Soarin coughed and continued.

"After we deal with this mess and get some rest, I'm taking all of you to the coolest venue I can find, we'll all have plenty of drinks, jokes and hoofbumps after any of us score, making sure nopony is left behind alone. No, don't worry, I'll guide you if you're not sure what to say or do, trust me on that." he then turned to Thunderlane and stopped him as he opened his mouth "Blossom can come too, if she wants to. Heck, I'll find a foalsitter for Rumble and Dinky, so Ditzy can come as well. Little known fact- mares are among the best wingponies ever! Heck, double the power since they even  have wings!"

"I dunno..." started Shining Armor, scratching back of his head. Soarin once again was a step ahead of him.

"What if I'll try and force Spitfire to join us?" asked Soarin, making five sets of ears perk up "You guys would never believe how adorable she looks in her disguise (and yes, every Wonderbolt has one). Three words- cute, glasses wearing librarian... ok, that's four word's, not the point."

Blink. They tilted their heads.

"Cute." deadpanned Prince.

"Glasses wearin'." said Big Mac, blushing.

"Librarian." finished Shining Armor.

They all took a pause and closed their eyes, trying to picture Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts, out of her uniform, wearing reading glasses and... no, that was impossible to imagine. Wonderbolts were by nature well built and in top physical shape, so it wasn't unheard of that some became models in their time when not airborne (sometimes even then) and Spitfire was one of them, forced to take regular photo shoots by a very talented, if obnoxious, fashion photographer. Quality pinups and posters of her in different risky clothes, socks or even sexy lingerie were plenty and easy to find in magazines, movies and commercials, helping colts discover puberty way before their time, but what Soarin implied was beyond that. The view alone was probably worth all the effort.

Also, booze.

"I can think of worse ways to spend an evening." Thunderlane shrugged, blushing weakly. No harm if it's only watching. Besides, Blossom will probably fangirl even more then him.

"That sounds like a brilliant plan to me." admitted Doctor “Never a bad thing to explore some quality nightlife.”

"Eyup."

"Ok, if you insist." Shining Armor shrugged, totally not lured in by a famous flier in cute clothes.

Prince Blueblood did not give an answer. He didn't quite hate them as much as he expected, but that was mostly because they shared the same goals and required cooperation to survive. But hanging out with them of his own free will? Not a chance in million years. Especially not the 'hunt' (seriously, who talks like that?) and booze, which he was sick and tired of. He could probably consider it if they choose a different activity, like watching paint dry or playing miniature war boardgames for six hours straight. At least those were things he wasn't sick of after doing it for years and long ago lost their appeal. Well, that part after the successful 'hunt' (sweet heavens, I'm starting to think like him!) was still very fun, but that's beside the point. 

Having Soarin stare directly at him from a distance bordering on 'my precious private space' did not help.

"For the record, puppy eyes don't work once you hit puberty." he told him.

Soarin kept staring anyway, now with even more whimpering.

"No, seriously, it doesn't."

"Shush, they work on Spitfire, they'll work on you too!"

Prince facehooved "If I say 'maybe', will you stop?"

Soarin's eyes narrowed as he smiled smugly "Maybe."

Prince grunted heavily, fully considering punching Soarin in the face, if only to wipe the grin from his face. They hurt him five times already, might as well issue a payback right now. It's just one punch, they won't mind. Or two, just to be sure. Or maybe he could just agree and once they're done, issue a restrain order on him? He was being a threat of some sorts, their first meetings ended up with a severe head and full body aches in more ways than one.

"I'll think about it. Now, can we go back to saving Equestria, please?" 

"Sure thing, boss!" Soarin happily saluted, fully satisfied with vague answer, as he happily trotted forward. Prince grunted once again, as his urge to punch Soarin rose, along with the urge to smash the nearest tree with his own head.

While the road to the castle was short, they had to move on very slowly and cautiously, even more so than before, as the mist was getting thicker and thicker, covering the entire ground in white fog, similar to clouds, yet not solid enough for the pegasi to walk or touch it without blowing it away. On the plus side, it was barely neck high, any higher than that was clear as a night. Once again, they tossed it aside as Everfree magic, not even bothering to come up with logical, scientific or regular magical reasons.

"Be careful where ya step," said Big Mac "there could be a predator or carnivorous plant waitin' for us."

"Yeah, great," complained Thunderlane "because we weren't through enough crap, now let's all get gobbled by a frickin' plant!"

"Right, careful," said Soarin, as he gulped and carefully placed every step "don't step into anything, avoid traps. This is easYYYYYYYYYYYyyyy!!"

Their hearts stopped the moment Soarin's head vanished from their sight, as he fell down into the mist, leaving only trail of his scream, growing weaker with every moment. They ran towards where he disappeared, but one after another were stopped by Big Mac, as he pointed at the edge of what appeared to be a cliff. They looked over at Thunderlane, who nodded and extended his wings, but stopped when a lightning fast, blue figure emerged from the mist right into the sky. It stopped mid-air, showing himself only as a barely visible silhouette with moon at his back, before expertly landing right behind them. Once on the ground, he stood up in an epic pose, one hoof slightly raised, head up in the air, wings proudly raised.

Everypony just remembered that he was a Wonderbolt. To be fair, it's easy to forget it.

"Ok, that was badass!" admitted Thunderlane, everyone nodding.

Soarin stood like that for a moment... until his knees started shaking too hard and he fell on the ground in fetal position.

"OHMYGOSHITHOUGHIWASGONNADIE!!"

Prince had no more doubts- Soarin really was that stupid. 

"Well, I'm sure glad HE was in the lead this time," said Shining Armor, as he looked at the, who knows how deep, canyon in front of them. "no offense." he quickly added, but Soarin couldn't listen, as he was now in the blissful state of 'I'm glad I have wings', hugging and kissing them tenderly. 

"Steven said something about a canyon, now that I think about it." mentioned Thunderlane "wonder how deep it is, I can't see anything through that mist."

Doctor put a chin to his hoof and thought.
"Judging by how he didn't smash himself on the ground and managed to get enough momentum to fly this high... I'd say deep enough to declare that this forest makes even less sense the further we go."

As they helped Soarin get back on his feet, Bic Macintosh grabbed a pebble and threw it down the canyon, listening for the sound of impact. And listened. And listened. Nothing. They decided against examining how deep it actually was and concentrate on getting across. After confirming that the other side is only about a hundred hooves away, they started hatching another plan to get across.

"Let's just fly everypony over it, not a big deal."

"Oh no, I'm not risking falling there again!"

"Neither am I! I don't even have wings!"

"Why don't we build a bridge of some sorts?"

"That would take hours!"

"Oh yeah sure, makeshift bridges are a LOT safer than being carried by trained weatherpony and a fricking Wonderbolt."

"A wonderbolt who kept on falling and crashing into things... no offense."

"None taken."

Prince Blueblood wasn't including himself in that conversation, fully content with watching and listening from the sidelines, hoping they would figure out a better solution to something he never thought would become a problem. 

"What if there's a giant monster just waiting for us to be separated?"

"Which is why we leave Big Mac for last, he can take on anything! If you don't mind."

"Nnope."

"Ok, how about if Shining Armor made a long barrier over the gap..."

After tackling a manticore, dream eating ghosts and avalanches, Equestrias only hope was stuck on a frickin canyon. Prince couldn't help but facehoof and slowly massage his forehead, trying to stay calm. It was a lost cause.

"If only we had a plane..."

"Where would you even get one in the middle of the forest?"

"Where would you get one, period?"

"Ok, then maybe let's have Big Mac 'throw us' there, one by one..."

"That sounds even more dangerous then flying!"

"OH FOR THE LOVE OF SUN!" Prince finally yelled, as he moved towards them, magically grabbing Doctor, Shining Armor and Big Macintosh by one ear each, pulling them towards himself. Before they could voice any complains, he put his one hooves over them and made his horn glow brightly.

BLINK!

They screamed, as they fell on the ground, their hooves somehow failing them, making them all fall face flat on the grass, one next to another. Shining Armor was familiar with the feeling, but for both earth ponies teleportation was something... different. Their eyes and brains were still getting used to sudden relocation, as if they fell from a much greater distance, but there was no force behind the impact, or any air friction along the way. Worst of all, they couldn't blame it on Everfree magic this time. 
They couldn't quite trust their hooves to carry rest of their bodies, so instead opted on staying on the ground for a while longer. They turned their heads around, confirming that they were in fact, on the other side of the canyon, Soarin and Thunderlane barely visible as they flew towards them.

"Well... that did the job." announced Doctor, laughing sheepishly.

"Eeeh... yup..." agreed Big Mac, as he held his hooves over his mouth, desperately fighting the urge to throw up.

"Don't you think that was a little... sudden?" asked Shining Armor, as he slowly got up from the ground "Didn't you say you it was risky?"

"You stopped talking, it was worth it."

"Or you could do that." said Thunderlane as he and Soarin landed "You could have warned us, you know."

"I could. But then we'd spend another thirty minutes pondering if we should do something instead of, you know, DOING SOMETHING!"

Soarin snorted as he happily announced.
"Should we DO something? We should DO something?" but as expected, he was met only with confusion "Timer to Last Tragedy... nopony?" he looked over other five, completely oblivious. He rolled his eyes "Read a comic book! Not this one though, it was awful."

There was a matter of safety issues, trust between the group, taking unnecessary risk and all that teamwork things, but they decided to forget all about it, along with Soarin's obscure reference to... whatever it was. It was safer this way, for all parties included.

"Ugh!" Prince grunted heavily, as he grabbed his forehead and massaged it.

"Yeah, I also had a headache when reading it."

"No, it's not that," Prince sat on the ground and took a few deep breaths, as his head was killing him a lot faster then Soarin's jokes "I think I overdid it with that last spell."

"Are you alright?" asked Shining Armor.

"I feel like morning after a drunken orgy, except I didn't get laid... no, that's not fine."

"Woah, dude!" Soarin moved to Prince and put a wing over his back "That bad?" Prince just nodded, glad that at least one pony in the crowd knew that feeling. Great, he thought, now they were this close to actually bonding.

They decided to take a short break to let Prince recover from his headache. The correct term was 'overcasting', channeling more mana towards spells then necessary, where excess energy did not leave the body, but traveled back all the way through horn into the brain, causing fairly harmless, but not less painful, headaches. It was a common rookie mistake, often performed by foals just learning to use all their power lift small objects. More uncommon but still prevalent were older unicorns trying out new and different spells, or manipulating ones they already knew in different ways, but lacking experience in proper fields. Or, in case of Blueblood just now, casting under heavy stress and body fatigue. It faded with time thankfully, though he did regret not bringing any  medicament’s with him.

"So," Soarin stood up and walked closer to the castle, then turned to others "you still didn't give me an answer."

"To what?"

"The hunt. You coming or not?"

"I already told you, I'll think about it."

"Yeah, right. You'll bail out of the town before giving me an answer and then issue a restrain order on the basis of me ramming into you when we first met." 

Silence. Blueblood dropped his jaw, his eyes opened wide Soarin rolled his eyes "I'm a Wonderbolt, that's how our management deals with overzealous fangirls." still silence, Blueblood looked more terrified by the second.

"What? They can become dangerous if not..." he stopped and turned to other stallions, each one's expressions matching Prince's. This was far beyond a reaction to a bad joke. He knew exactly what caused it. And didn't like it one single bit.

"Why is it always me" he whispered to himself and gulped. Standing still and making no sudden movements "What's behind me this time? Giant space bear? Shmooze? Headless horse?" he quietly asked, way too afraid to actually look back. He did however, looked down at the ground, noticing that pearl white fog was no more. Now it was pure black darkness. His eyes widened at the realization.

"We meet again, my little ponies," said a malicious, female voice behind him "I was waiting."

Last shreds of dignity Soarin had were gone the moment he shrieked like a scared filly and rushed towards the group, hiding behind Big Macintosh. They couldn't blame him, for they would most likely did the same, given the situation at hoof. They expected it to happen eventually, but it was much too soon. Shining Armor gulped before announcing.

"Nightmare Moon!" 

The pitch black alicorn laughed as she slowly approached the group, her ethereal mane flowing along with the wind, the almost tangible darkness around her darkening the fog under her hooves where she stepped.

"Oh, so you remember me now? Funny. You spend centuries raising the moon, painting the sky with beautiful stars, protecting the dreams and land from danger... yet all it took to remember me was turning some ponies into stone! HA!" Thunderlane was barely stopping himself from rushing forward and bucking her good "If I knew that, I would've done that much earlier!"

"WHY YOU--" Thunderlane muttered through his teeth as he was close to lunging, stopped only by Big Mac's hoof, though he was almost as close to joining him right now.

"What have you done to Princess Celestia?" asked Shining Armor, as he stepped forward. He was trembling all over, but mustered enough courage to get closer "Release her at once!"

Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You didn't say please. Not that it would've mattered, your Princess is gone for good. If you want to live and enjoy your lives anymore, I suggest getting used to new order. I'll give you last chance." she extended a hoof towards them "Bow down to ME and swear eternal allegiance. Then I will spare you. In fact, I feel generous today, so I'll even turn your loved ones back to life. How does that sound?"

This gave them a pause. Thunderlane and Soarin perked and opened their mouths, not saying anything without thoughts. They looked at Nightmare Moon, then at the rest of their group. The others couldn't say anything mostly out of fear.

"Will you free Princess Celestia?" asked Soarin, as he stepped out of Macintosh's shadow. 

She laughed at him "You still have the audacity to ask for more when offered so much? The answer is no, sun will never raise again!"

"Then my answer is..." he took a deep breath, then quickly said looking her deep into eyes "... go to Tartarus and ** yourself with ** in the **, you ** **."

Thunderlane coughed "I would just leave it at 'buck you', but yeah. No way in hell I'll ever bow to somepony like you!"

Nightmare Moon looked at them both and raised an eyebrow. Her face betrayed no emotions, as she just shrugged.

"Pity. Then I have no use for you."

Her horn started glowing dark purple, as the stallions stood right before her, preparing for the impact. Shining Armor once again concentrated all his energy on a barrier to surround all of them, he couldn't help but feel like no matter what he does, it wouldn't be enough, just like last time. He gulped and awaited, sweating like crazy, mentally forcing himself to keep his eyes open and fixed on the black alicorn.

"WAAAAIT!"

Prince Blueblood suddenly jumped out of the formation, startling everypony, including Nightmare Moon herself, as she stopped the spell. He gulped as he looked her into her dark, cold eyes.

"I surrender!" an announcement was met obviously with shock on the pony side, although all reaction he could muster from Nightmare Moon was a curious raise of an eyebrow. He continued "I... we tried to stop you, b-but I know when I lost, so I surrender, I'd wanna live!" he ended that with a very low bow, earning the ire of his fellow companions.

"TRAITOR! COWARD!" yelled Thunderlane, once again barely stopped by others before lunging at the Prince.

It was the only way, he thought. They couldn't fight her openly and finding the elements was now out of question, at least not now. If he could just convince her, get close enough, then maybe, just maybe there will be a gap in her defenses, some opportunity to strike, then maybe he had a chance. He couldn't help but regret that he was the only one who thought of that kind of deception instead of playing defiant to the end. Here's hoping she'll bite the bait. And hope they'll get turned into stone instead of getting outright killed. She did mention that it could be undone and it was the only hope he had, so he had to cling to it as hard as possible.

"Interesting," Nightmare Moon mused over Prince as she approached him "so you wish to join me, of your own free will?"

"...y-yes." beads of sweat dropped from his forehead, but he kept kneeling.

"And you are ready to abandon these ponies behind you, and your dear Princess Celestia, for me?"

"...yes, mistress." endure it, he thought. Hold the tears, throw out any dignity and self respect I had left. This is the only way.

Nightmare Moon giggled "Do you think I'm stupid?"

He froze as he looked at her wide eyed "H-huh?"

"Did you really think you could fool me? Get close enough to backstab me once I lower my guard?"

Oh crap. The way she just said it, this could only mean one thing. Is she...

"Reading your thoughts?" she asked with a smug smile "Yes, I do. And I applaud your cunning, my little pony." she touched his chin with a hoof and lowered her head to look him very close in the eyes "But I'm afraid your words don't matter, for I have different pla--"

"NOW!"

She was interrupted by not only a scream, but also something breaking behind her. She couldn't bother herself to turn around, only tilted her eyes to notice splinters and remains of a stick that just got broken on her invisible force field. Soarin didn't really think that sneaking up behind and striking her would solve their problem, but he was hoping to get at least SOME reaction, after putting all his strength into that attack. It was then followed by Thunderlane who used these precious few seconds to gain enough momentum to deliver a massive flying kick, which was also stopped by a barrier behind her, hurting only his own hooves. It did however forced her to turn back and shoot a glare at the two pegasi, which was exactly what others needed.

"Don't just sit there!" said Doctor, as he ran to Prince and pulled him away "RUN!"

No sooner then they walked a few hooves away, Prince looked at Big Macintosh and Shining Armor, side by side, together lifting a giant boulder over their heads, which they then threw right at Nightmare Moon while her attention was turned to two pegasi, who flew away right before the impact. The stone crashed right into the alicorn, breaking into pebbles, sending dust flying everywhere, obscuring any view in or out of the crash zone. 

"Did we get her?" asked Thunderlane as he landed next to Big Mac and Shining Armor. 

"Nnope. We gotta run, now!"  

The plan was good- use the time Prince bought them and strike her with all they had. The problem was, they didn't have much to strike her with, aside from literal sticks and stones. And as such, it didn't do anything else then anger her even more. She sent a gust of wind around herself to disperse all the dust, glaring at the stallions as they tried to gallop their way into the castle. Her horn glowed once again and she sent a purple energy in their direction. The magical ball split itself into six small snake-like tendrils, each one aimed at a different stallion. 
First tendril struck Thunderlane, reaching his wings and tying them up like a lasso, extending even to his hooves, making him fall down on the ground face first, Soarin joining him right after. Doctor tried to outrun his, but it proved futile, as it grabbed his hind hoof and dragged him over to Nightmare Moon, ensnaring rest of his body along the way. Bic Macintosh fared no better, as even with his ungodly physique, he was no match for the dark magic that now covered him hooves to neck like a cocoon.

Shining Armor and Prince Blueblood were left alone, as Shining's barrier barely stopped the tendrils from reaching them, as they smacked repeatedly over the shield, causing it's user a bigger strain then he was ready for. The force of impact moved him a step back each time, until his hoof failed to step on the solid ground once he reached the edge of the canyon, sending few pebbles down the canyon.

"Any ideas?"

"Only one." Prince grabbed Shining by the shoulder and concentrated, imagining the castle in the distance, if only they could transport there right now, find elements and...

"ARGH!" he fell on the ground and screamed from pain. He cursed this piercing headache, that stupid conversation and most of all, his impatience. Of all times to get a magical backlash, this was the worst possible moment.

Shining Armor's barrier finally broke, as he winced in pain and fell, barely grabbing the edge of the cliff with his hooves, Prince quickly running to him and grabbing his hoof, desperately trying to get him up again, but failing not only due to headache.

"I gave you a chance," announced Nightmare Moon as she slowly walked towards the pair "but you had to play heroes. A shame, too. You fought valiantly, yet there will be no songs, no tales of your courage, no inspiration for coming generations. Only one thing awaits you."

A purple glow surrounded Prince and pulled him away from Shining Armor, who was barely clinging on for his life. She threw his other companions right next to him, all still entangled in the black tendrils, shaking and flailing, but to no effect. She held Prince up in the air however, as she looked at the others.

"Any last words?"

Shining Armor's hoof slid of the slope, but he kept a tight grip anyway, still looking at Nightmare Moon with determination.
"Equestria will never be yours!"

"Yes, I heard that before." she answered, as her horn glowed even darker "I didn't believe it back then, either."

The magical energy from her horn took a form of a lightning bolt, which struck the ground right before them. For a moment, nothing happened, but before they could say or do anything, it shook and cracked, dropping the entire section right into the canyon, leaving only weakening screams of five ponies falling into their deaths.

"NOOO!" screamed Prince, as he watch them vanish in the white mist below. He stared blankly into the empty void where all five of his companions disappeared. There were no more words he could muster, he could only stare into the void speechless, trembling too much to move a single muscle.

Nightmare Moon levitated him right before her face.
"Now to finish what I was saying before we were so brutally interrupted," she smiled "I have different plans for you, my little Prince."