//------------------------------//
// “the stars, the moon, they have all been blown out...” 
// Story: Stories in Stone, Memories of Twilight 
// by TDR 
//------------------------------//

Stories in Stone
Memories of Twilight
By TDR






“the stars, the moon, they have all been blown out...”




“I want a report, Nicker. What is going on in my city?!” Celestia commanded, moving into the war room with a number of guards in tow. The magical map on the table now displayed a model of Canterlot with the Royal Gardens and a number of areas around them in bright red. Small dots of blue light shifted on the map, showing Guard positions. Three unicorns with glowing horns altered the map as a series of crystal communications boxes buzzed with the latest updates.

The earth pony she addressed glanced back at the princess with his one good eye before dismissing the guards he was speaking with. The dark brown earth pony was heavily scarred; his mane was shaved off and his tail was cut shorter than a recruit in basic training. He wore black guard armor as if he was a member of the Night Guard instead of the pony in command of all branches of the guard. A single large scar ran over his left eye and was covered with a black eye patch bearing Canterlot's Royal Seal in gold.

“Nothing good, Princess. The first reports came in a couple of hours ago. There's a massive force of changelings headed toward Canterlot, along with a number of shadowy creatures and crystal golems in their ranks. A sizable portion of the force has broken off and is headed to the nearby settlements as well. The main focus of these secondary groups seems to be Ponyville, but they are also targeting a few of the outlying farming communities like Oattown, and Maripony. We also have reports of a number of escaped prisoners from the garden being spotted in the city— several different raiding groups and a few monsters, nothing big, but more than enough to cause us problems. I also just received word that the captured changelings that were in the garden have been released as well, though both forces seem to be fighting each other just as much as the guards— small favors, I suppose. We've already lost three blocks of territory in and around the Garden itself, and the wall between the castle and the garden has been breached in two places by attacks, though we are holding the line. To make matters worse, the new alarm system is malfunctioning and we are having a devil of a time trying to get ponies into shelters. There's a mess of ponies already in the street and more than a few panicked mobs have rushed the front gates.”

Celestia's eyes narrowed as another few messengers ran, in giving a report to the map unicorns.

“Sir, Princess, we have new reports of another group of forces moving in from the market district. We have identified one group as the Red Hoof Raiders. They were spotted in the residential district along with a pony matching the description of one of the most wanted,” the unicorn reported.

“Which one, and where are they going?” Celestia questioned.

“The report's description of the pony traveling with the Red Hoofs fits the earth pony known as Claymore. There are also a number of cloaked figures moving along with them that could not be identified. Their destination seems to be the fourth block of the residential district. Hold on, I have confirmation that the group has entered the Platinum Music School,” stated a unicorn on the other side of the table, his hoof holding the receiver to his ear as he listened to the reports over the crystal radio.

“Was anyone in the building?” Nicker questioned.

“Hold on, sir. Yes, there is a report that a number of younger students are fleeing the building and have been stopped by several of the Guard. There are supposedly at least thirty still being kept inside, mostly teachers and older students.”
Nicker looked back at Celestia just as a scroll vanished in a puff of green fire from her horn.

“Orders, Princess?” Nicker questioned.

“You know your job, Nicker; you don't need me to tell you everything you need to do. All available forces will be mobilized and placed under your command, including Moskau's monster hunters.”

“What of the 42nd training?” Nicker questioned.

“If possible, send a messenger to them as quickly as possible. Send another to Ponyville to warn them. If able, have the citizens all board the trains to Canterlot. If evacuation is not feasible, a shelter system has been set up in Ponyville and they are to seek shelter there if able. Also, find out why the warning system is off line... no, scratch that, there is no time. Sound the horns along the walls; there's bound to be enough ponies that remember that call to arms that can inform those that don't know,” Celestia ordered.

“Yes, Princess.”

Celestia turned, looking at the two guards that were following her around. “I do not need your protection. However, there are three fillies in the southern wing's guest quarters that I want you two to take to the castle’s shelter as soon as you can.”

“Princess, our orders are to protect you,” the unicorn guard stated.

“My little pony, if something comes for me that is strong enough to pose a threat to my well-being, then you two would simply be another pair of casualties I do not want. I plan to remain here at any rate, so even if necessary, I am already well-guarded. You can help those foals, so I suggest you get going.”

The pair looked to Nicker, who nodded before they rushed off.

“Of course they listen to you,” Celestia muttered.

“You're not the one who rips them a new one if they screw up,” Nicker commented. “Hate to say it, Princess, but this doesn't look good. We are not prepared to repel a force of this size even if we ignore the attackers already inside of the city.”

“No, it does not.”

=========================================================

“Quit moving!”

“You quit moving, and you're crushing my ear.”

“Well, you set my tail on fire!”

“It's still there, isn't it?”

“Both a’ ya'll hush,” snapped Apple Bloom. “Ah can't hear what they're saying.”

The other two looked up at the farm filly as she pressed her ear to a vent high on the wall, listening to Celestia and Nicker talk on the other side. The three of them were still not allowed to stay in the same room, though they were allowed to eat together provided the fire emergencies were kept to a minimum. The trio had followed the Princess after seeing her rush by their room during breakfast and found the castle a buzz of activity.

Scootaloo was trying her best to keep control of her new abilities, but accidents still happened. Thankfully, Celestia had kept the fireproof spell going on the other two fillies, so aside from some singed fur, there had been no real damage. At the moment, 
Scootaloo was straining under the weight of Sweetie Belle on her back, with Apple Bloom standing on top of the little unicorn so she could listen at the vent to what Celestia was saying.

“Oh no,” Apple Bloom muttered.

“What is it?”

“Yeah, hurry up and tell us so I can get you two off my back.”

“They said somethin's attacking Ponyville!”

“What!?”

“Oh no, Rarity… and my parents!”

Scootaloo's legs finally gave out and all three fell down in a heap.

“What are we gonna do!?” squeaked Sweetie Belle.

“What can we do? We're stuck here!” Scootaloo grumbled.

“Hmmm. Ah know!” Apple Bloom beamed.

The other two fillies looked at each other, then to the smiling Apple Bloom as she darted off suddenly. The pair shrugged and raced down the hall after her as the pair of guards Celestia had ordered to watch them stepped out of the war room and rushed towards the fillies’ quarters in the other direction.

=============================================================

“It'll take us three days to get back to Canterlot from here. That's provided there's not a storm blocking us,” Rhede grumbled.

“I could try to fly us back, maybe go way over everything?” Bleu suggested.

“No good. You'd have to go high enough up that ice could start forming on your wings. Dash and I might be able to pull that off, but there's no way you could while carrying everyone,” Starfall replied, shooting down the suggestion.

“What about a teleport?” Rarity suggested.

“To move even this many ponies would require a degree of control and power I do not have. I was never very good at teleporting, anyway,” Luna sighed.

“No offense to you, Princess, but I was not directing that at you.” Rarity gestured to Twilight.

“What? Me? I can't do that!” Twilight stammered.

“Twilight, darling, you transported three times as many ponies as we have here, plus yourself, two magic-canceling swords, and a whole tree from the Everfree all the way to Canterlot and you put it all down in the royal throne room without a single thing being 
transported appearing in a wall or getting lost in between,” Rarity replied.

“Yes, and then I spent the next week unconscious. I still have the burn mark from where my horn heated up from over-channeling.” Twilight sighed. “Besides, this is a lot farther than the outskirts of Ponyville.”

Luna tilted her head. “I would have no problem channeling that much power, Twilight, but I would need you to direct it.”

“What? Well, I guess, but what about the amount of power that would take? It won't do us any good if we get there and you collapse,” Twilight countered.

“I would not worry about that. Between the four of us, I am sure we can get everyone back to Canterlot with no trouble,” Luna assured her.

“I don't agree with this,” Jer'rahd stated suddenly. “Don't include me in this little gathering. Not like my tiny bit of power will be much help, anyway.”

“You sound kinda scared, there. Why, does the great and powerful Kaisur not want a couple of mares to see how small his magic is?” Rarity cooed, getting a glare from Jer'rahd that could melt rock.

“More along the lines of there is a spiritual manifestation of the beast who shows up in the magical space. There is a reason I brought Twilight in to show the trainees how to combine their power, when I normally could have done it myself,” snarled Jer'rahd.

“Actually, Kaisur, that was something I was counting on.” Luna smiled.

“What?” Twilight and Jer'rahd stammered.

==================================================================

The thud of a hoof against wood jerked the large stallion awake; he was on his hooves almost immediately. The knocking stopped as a sound like a pair of coconuts colliding against each other filled the small room as Big Mac's head smacked into a low beam. 

The earth pony cursed, falling back onto the couch he erupted from. His sudden crashing weight collapsed the wicker couch into splinters, sending him tumbling to the floor with an even louder crash that shook the whole building.

Zecora sighed, sitting across the room sipping tea as she watched her cauldron boil. The zebra's ears perked up as the massive stallion invented a few new curse words and added some mixed in from both the griffon and zebra language.

“I must say that watching that was rather fun, though I am out a couch and I don't have another one,” Zecora chuckled.

“Ah'll pay for that.” Big Mac winced, slowly sitting up. “What happened?”

“You dozed off again, my friend. I question if this is becoming a trend.”

“Still tired after that griffon, ugh...” Mac rubbed his head, feeling a knot already forming as the knocking sounded again, “Not gonna git that?”

“No, I need to keep a close eye on the pot to complete this brew. Besides, I am quite sure that guard is here for you.”

Mac slowly got his hooves under him, ducking under the rafter and trying to make his way to the door. He slowly opened it and looked outside into the early morning. The sun had not come all the way up yet, though there was more than enough light to see and to cast long shadows over Zecora's small garden. He lifted his head, his back cracking as he was finally able to stand up straight.

“Woo, you have got to be Big Macintosh, then. Miss Smith was right, you can't be missed,” stated a voice.

Big Mac blinked, stifling his usual 'Eeyup' to try and find the source of the voice. A shadow dropped off one of the branches and then stepped out of the shadows, showing a small female pegasus half-dragon in Lunar Guard armor.

“You are Big Mac, right?”

“Eeyup.”

“I’m PFC Primrose. Major Rose and Miss Smith sent me to get you,” Private First Class Primrose stated with a salute.
“Somethin’ happen?” Big Mac asked with a yawn.

“That info's above my pay grade, though I was supposed to ask if a Miss Zecora had found anything out about the wells.”

“‘Tis indeed a hex more dire; if many are affected, we are from the pan and into the fire.” Zecora muttered around a vial as she trotted out behind Mac, tossing his saddle bags over his back and offering him the vial.

“What do you mean, miss?” Primrose questioned.

“The water was cursed with a potent charm spell. If most of the town drank the water, things will not go well.”

“Yah find a cure?” Mac questioned.

“Nothing fast-acting enough, I fear, and I do not have all the ingredients here. Ponyville General Hospital is where you need to go. They can make plenty more of this, that much I know.”

“Um, alright.” Primrose blinked, trying to follow the rhyme as Mac fixed his saddlebags and tucked the vial into one and started to trot off.

“Err wait, you should get into town, miss, and into one of the shelters. I think things are gonna start getting hectic soon,” the pegasus stated before darting off after the large earth stallion.

Zecora frowned as they left, looking down as a rat skeleton skittered over a root. The creature paused to sniff the air and look up at her with softly glowing red points of light in its eyes. The zebra crushed the undead with a hoof and flicked the powdered remains away. Her ears perked up, listening to the silence in the forest— no birds or insects about.

“‘Hectic’ is quite an understatement, my friend. If things go poorly, this may simply be the end.”

==============================================================

Rhede ground his teeth, glaring at Jer'rahd. Luna was pressed to one side of him and Twilight against the other. Rarity was pressed against Twilight's side, and all four of them were touching horns. It was maddening.

“Seriously, this AGAIN!?” Rhede shouted. “For a stallion who used to bitch that mares pay absolutely no attention to him, he practically gets buried in females far too often.”

Rhede staggered forward as Velkorn belted him in the back of the head with a hoof. [“He is not trying to have relations with them now, you idiot. They are working on getting us back to Canterlot as fast as they can. If you want to join them, grow a horn.”]

“I can grow a horn; it just makes the wrong kind of magic,” Rhede said with a sly grin, looking to Velkorn. The zebra blinked, blushing suddenly at the stare as she caught the innuendo. He was about to continue the flirt when a blue scaled tail belted him in the back of the head from the other side.

“Focus, Pelt. We need to be ready for this teleport,” Bleu stated, glancing over at the group of unicorns with a smirk. “I'm just glad to note that boss has better control of himself this time.”

===============================================================

“BY CELESTIA, YOU ARE ADORABLE!” Rarity squeed. The white unicorn nearly glowed against the dark backdrop of the star-filled void of the magic space. Her grin widened as she looked down at Jer'rahd, who was only a little smaller than Sweetie Belle compared to the white unicorn before him.

“Yes, thank you sooo much for that,” Jer'rahd growled.

“Oh, any time darling. I have got to ask Twilight if I can make a little bow for your hair...”

“I am not a Lettuce Patch Pony!” snapped Jer'rahd.

“Well, you are the proper size for one, though what is with the little necklaces you have draped all over you?” Rarity questioned.

“Necklaces? Aren’t these chains?” Jer'rahd questioned.

“Perhaps from your viewpoint,” Rarity beamed.

“FOOLS, I HAVE YOU NOW!” screamed a voice.

Jer'rahd and Rarity looked up to massive glowing green griffon towering over them, larger than Rarity by easily seven stories.

“This is new,” Jer'rahd muttered. “Who the heck are you?”

The griffon laughed. “I'm that book you sought to torment, fools. You made the mistake of coming here near me. That fool dragon fell to the same trick. Now you will share his fate!”

“Ewww, dried up and bony? No thank you, I will pass on that.” Rarity shuddered at the thought.

“Not like I am giving you a choice, mare!” the Jade Scroll screamed out.

“Actually, that trick won't work with us. You might have managed to take over a dragon, but this place is a natural spot for unicorns. Our horns anchors us to our bodies, so we will always be able to return to them, and anyone we don't want in won't be able to do so. Dragons don't have a focus like that, but for that matter, they don't often come here, either. How did you get a dragon here to take him over?”

“Who said that?” screamed the griffon.

“Look up, you idiot. We're standing on her hoof.” Jer'rahd sighed as the griffon looked up and into the face of Twilight Sparkle, or one eye, at least.

Twilight looked down at the trio on her hoof. She could barely see Jer'rahd and Rarity, and the griffon was little bigger than an ant on her hoof.

“So this is the power scale of magic between us, huh?” Twilight mused. “I thought the book would be bigger.”

“Indeed, though it does seem that Jer'rahd's power has increased a bit since the last time we were here. So have you, Miss Sparkle. And in such a short time, as well.”

Twilight blinked and looked up at Luna towering above her in the star filled void.

Luna smiled, looking down at Twilight. The unicorn was only a little bigger than the alicorn remembered Pipsqueak being. Still, considering the power Luna knew she possessed, it was impressive that Twilight was even this close in comparison.

>“Well, isn't this cute? It must be my birthday to have all of you here.”< snarled a voice.

Luna looked up and into the six eyes of the Beast as it stared down at her, just as large to her here as it was to her in the real world. Chains wrapped its form, clanking as it shifted, a grin spreading over its muzzle as it looked down at the two Elements of Magic and the others.

>“And look at the little book, too. If I knew how pathetic you really were, creator, I would have found you and crushed you a long time ago.”< The beast chuckled. >“In fact, I should end all of you now that you're here before me. It will save me the trouble of doing it later!”<

Luna looked down, seeing the chains running from Jer'rahd all the way up to the planet sized shape that was the beast. She considered a moment, and then shrugged, reaching up to wrap a hoof around the one that wrapped around the Beast’s muzzle.

“Entropy, sit,” Luna stated in an annoyed tone, yanking on the chain. The beast yelped as it was pulled down suddenly, crashing into a ground that didn't exist with enough force to knock everyone but Luna off their metaphysical hooves. Jer'rahd looked like he was yanked down at the same time as Entropy.

“I must say this is quite possibly the most madding thing I have ever witnessed.” Rarity stared up at the shapes that she assumed were the others towering over her as she clamored back up to her hooves.

“Princess, a little warning before you do that next time. That was very disturbing being pulled around like I was on a leash,” muttered Jer'rahd.

“Really? Not into that sort of thing then?” snarked Twilight.

Rarity gasped. “Did innocent little Twilight just use some innuendo?”

“She is in a relationship with my sister. That she is not as bad as Rhede yet is a wonder itself,” sighed Luna.

>“I will see your end, host!”< the creature growled.

“Blah blah blah, go chew on the griffon some while he's here. First thing's firs: I'm taking some of your power again,” Jer'rahd stated, feeling the creature’s eyes focus solely on him.

>“And what makes you think I will be giving you anything, host?”<

“Two bearers of the Element of Magic are here. If I recall correctly, you are forced to follow their commands,” Twilight pointed out.

>“HAH!”< the beasts chortled, shifting its gaze to Luna and Twilight again. >“I do not answer to you, Current Bearer. You had nothing to do with my binding to this insolent host.<

“BUT WE DID, AND YOU WILL OBEY US!” Luna bellowed in the Royal Canterlot Voice, causing everyone else, including the beast, to flinch.

“Volume, Princess!” Rarity whined.

“Don't start doing that again, marshmallow!” cried the griffon, pointing at Rarity and trying to cover his nonexistent ears from her whining.

“Can we get this over with already?” grumbled Jer'rahd, noting Twilight seemed to be trying to focus the spell.

======================================================

“This is bad,” Peach Blossom muttered.

“Really? Did you come up with that all by yourself?” Lion Heart snarled, glancing out the window as a mare ran past, screaming with a number of dazed-looking ponies stumbling along after her.

The pair had opted to stay the night and risk Celestia's wraith later. Lion Heart had been hoping that Rarity would be in and that perhaps they could go out for some tea, but the designer had not been home. Peach Blossom had simply been hoping to get a decent meal. Both had set out at first light and both had seen the city was a ghost town.

A few ponies were out, though none of them seemed to be very concerned with opening their shops or getting on with the day’s events. In fact, none of them even seemed to be concerned with anything at all. Mares, stallions, foals, and adults wandered aimlessly as if they were not all there in the head.

As the pair moved through the town, they were witness to what looked like a fight, but as they drew closer, a number of the dazed ponies were dragging a rather panicked looking stallion towards the town hall. One pulled the door open as another shoved the stallion inside. The pair had a brief glimpse of a number of other ponies in the building before the door was slammed shut and the dazed ponies went back to staring into space as they wandered the streets.

It was about that time that the crowd had noticed them.

After a quick chase, during which Peach Blossom couldn't help but hum a rather catchy tune he had heard, the two guards had 
taken shelter in a candy store.

They had barely closed the door behind them when they were assaulted by a cream colored earth pony mare and a sea green unicorn mare. After a frantic conversation, and Peach Blossom being strangled to death by strawberry taffy, the guards managed to convince the shop’s owner and her friend they were not zombie ponies.

Neither Lyra nor Bon Bon knew what was going on, just that as soon as they opened shop, one of the regulars had come in and tried to drag Bon Bon away. The pony in question was currently sealed in a hard candy shell with only his head free and the dazed look still on his face.

“What the buck?” Lion Heart muttered, looking out into the street as a new group of figures moved around the corner of a building, staggering as they moved.

“Hmm?” Peach Blossom poked his head up over the edge of the windowsill to look, his eyes widening. “By Celestia's vanilla-scented plot, why are there a dozen of my grandmas walking down the street?”

“Your grandma? I see my sire,” Lion Heart grumbled.

“Are those uncle Owens?” Lyra gasped. “But he died in that fire on the farm. There was only one of him, too.”

“That's my aunt Gumdrop. She helped me set up this shop.” Bon Bon winced.

“Something is not right here,” Lion Heart commented.

“You’re telling me. My grandma never wore that hair style, not since she was a much younger mare. I saw a picture once; it looked silly,” Peach Blossom confirmed.

“That's not what I…”

“Hey... Aunt Gumdrop never had an apron that color pink,” Bon Bon pointed out.

“And I don't think Uncle Owen had a t-shirt that read ‘Han shot first’, either,” Lyra protested.

“What does that even mean?” Bon Bon questioned.

Lion Heart poked his head up, wondering what those three had been smoking when he wasn't looking, when he noticed the scales on his father were all red rather than black as they should be.

“Illusion. So it's not perfect. Still, this is a worrying level of spell,” Lion Heart muttered.

“Could be changelings. Never heard of them doing something like this, though,” Peach Blossom pointed out.

“No, it is decidedly a spell of some kind. All of us are seeing something different. Sounds like it is designed to show us someone we lost, or who we miss most.” Lion Heart sighed."To make us afraid and hesitant about fighting."

“Geez, I hope not. Uncle Owen was kinda a jerk, and even though my cousin is little more than a whiny farm colt, Uncle Owen would never come into town for some reason or another,” Lyra pointed out.

“Alright, here's the plan, then,” Peach Blossom stated. “Lion, you head back to Canterlot and let the Princess know about this. Stop by the training grounds if you can and see if Rose will bring them all down here to help. I'll stay here and try to get everyone into a shelter or something.”

“There's a new emergency shelter built under town hall,” Bon Bon pointed out.

“I doubt that would work since that's where they are herding the unaffected ponies,” Peach Blossom commented.

“The farms on the outskirts of town have shelters, too. I bet the Apple farm has enough space for a bunch of ponies, given how big their family is,” Bon Bon suggested.

“Good. You two get there and let the Apples know what’s going on. If they wind up being infected, try one of the other farms,” Peach Blossom responded.

“Wait, wait, wait. Why am I flying to Canterlot and you're staying here? You're the faster flier,” Lion Heart questioned, pointing at the pegasus.

“Yeah, well, you'll get there slower, but you shouldn't be worn out like I would be,” Peach Blossom replied.

“So you're admitting I have better stamina and can last longer,” Lion Heart commented, smirking as the two mares giggled.

Peach Blossom rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well I have to put in more effort than you with my bigger wings.” He ignored another giggle from Lyra and Bon Bon. “Now before this devolves into a full on penis waggling contest, let’s get moving while the street’s still clear. 
Give the Princess my regards.” Peach Blossom grinned.

Lion Heart's eyes widened as he remembered why they were in town in the first place. He growled at the pegasus. “I think I hate you.”

“Just go.”

========================================================

Nocturne and Bloodtail strode the streets of Ponyville surrounded by an army of skeletons. Bloodtail had added another spell on top of the “animate dead” that made them appear as lost loved ones to any who saw them.

Nocturne had no one she cared about die, so all she saw were the skeletal ponies and beasts. Bloodtail seemed to revel in whatever it was he saw.

Silver Claw was on his way, though both he and Wind Razor had seen something from the air they wished to check out and were currently investigating that.

Scarlet was nowhere to be found, and even the books were having difficulty finding the mare. The best they could figure was that she was still in Ponyville.

Bloodtail, it seemed, had gone mad with power already.

The zebra had his hood pulled back. His red crystalline horn glowed brightly as he strode forward like a lost prince returning from conquest. A number of the townsponies noticed their approach; while more than a few ran off screaming, some tried to bow in whatever drunken stupor that held them.

Nocturne was both impressed and worried at the zebra's control over the villagers. She knew about the hex potion he had poured in the wells, though she had not expected it to work this well. She could easily see twenty or thirty ponies under its effects just at the edge of town and there were doubtless more scattered around Ponyville. It was also clear that quite a number of ponies had barricaded themselves in their houses and could be seen peeking out from between blinds and shutters.

Most of them would be dealt with in time, though a large number of ponies had tried for the shelter under the town hall at the first sign of trouble. Figuring that was as good a place as ant, Bloodtail had sent his thralls to bring any pony they captured to that building just so all the hostages would all be in one place.

Her gaze lifted from the streets to the sky, spotting the dark form of a pegasus zipping away from town, likely to go and warn Canterlot. She let it go, knowing if things were progressing as they should, Canterlot would be too busy to respond.

There was still much to do; once all the ponies who were unaffected by Bloodtail's spell were gathered up, she could cast her own spell and then prep them for battle against Canterlot. She could think of nothing that would demoralize her aunt and mother more than being forced to fight their own subjects.

===============================================================

“But you gotta take these letters. It's an emergency!” Apple Bloom whined at the pegasus.

“Sorry kid, but in case you didn't notice, there's a battle going on. I can't abandon my duties to run letters to your little colt friends,” the pegasus guard stated before darting off down the hall, leaving the three fillies alone in the mail room.

“Well, that was a bust,” Scootaloo sighed.

“At least we tried,” Sweetie Belle moped.

“No, there's got to be some way...” Apple Bloom started to say before a loud thud and the flap of wings drew their attention to a figure that had just crashed behind them.

A gray coated blond mare with amber eyes and bubbles for a cutie mark was pouring letters out of a bag into a bin, dumping more than a few on the mail room floor.

“Let's ask her. She doesn't seem like a guard,” Scootaloo pointed out.

“Hey miss, MISS!” Apple Bloom yelled, scampering over to the mail mare.

The pony looked up and the three foals skidded to a stop, returning her gaze, a little confused, as they were not sure which one of them the pegasus was staring at.

“Something wrong, girls?” the pegasus asked.

“We need somepony to take these letters as fast as you can. It's urgent!” Apple Bloom cried out, flailing her forelegs in the air as the other two nodded.

The pegasus took the three letters, looking them over curiously. “Wow, this is gonna take a while. These are going all over. It'll take a few days to deliver them.”

“Argggh, but we need them delivered naaaoo!. It's a crisis situation!” Apple Bloom flailed.

The mail pony looked towards the door, then to the three doing their best cute 'woe is us' expressions and sighed.

”Alright, I’ll see what I can do.” The mare smiled. “I know a stallion who can help me get these letters where they need to go so quick they'll be there yesterday. He'll complain, but if it will help out in the long run, he'll do it, Apple Bloom.”

The pegasus tucked the letters away and headed out the door, taking to the air as the three sighed in relief.

“Well, that turned out better than I thought it would.” Scootaloo smirked.

“I just hope she can get them there in time,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Wait, how did she know mai name?” Apple Bloom questioned, still wearing Celestia's disguise.

=========================================================

A brilliant flash of light filled the library, white light pouring out of the windows. A moment later, there were a few screams and the crash of a shelf collapsing, dumping books to the ground.

A number of the disguised skeletons looked to the library, as did many of the enthralled residents. The groups stared a moment, though when no more light or noises were forthcoming, they continued doing what they were ordered.

“What are we doing in Ponyville?” questioned Rhede, looking around from where he landed at the top of the stairs.

“Tactical decision, Rhede. We don't know if the throne room has already fallen, so we came here first,” Jer'rahd mumbled from under the fallen book case.

“Yeah, but the library?” Dash grumbled, pushing her way out from under a desk where she had wound up. “Why not an open field?”
Pinkie Pie popped out of one of the drawers suddenly and fell over onto Dash with a thud. “Woo, dizzy.”

“Sorry, it's one of the few places I can remember with the detail needed to cast the spell,” Twilight explained, pushing her way out from underneath the bookcase. The purple unicorn whipped her mane, her horn glowing, magic grabbing the case and lifting it back up against the wall to show Jer'rahd standing over Luna, where he had stopped the book case from falling on her.

“Your landing sucks, Sparkle,” Bleu muttered, trying to pull her head out of a wastebasket.

“Right, let's see you teleport twelve individuals of differing body types, two antimagic swords, and an unruly book three days’ travel from where you started and put everyone in a room half the size without having somepony end up in a wall or underground,” Twilight snapped.

“Bad time to point this out, sugar, but Rarity, Starfall, and Velkorn ain't here.” Applejack pointed out, helping Fluttershy out from under Twilight's bed.

Twilight's eyes widened, but the aforementioned trio burst into the front door of the library before the purple unicorn had a chance to say anything. Starfall slammed the door shut behind her as Velkon shoved the red couch Rarity had fainted on in front of the door.
Bleu blinked a moment, looking at the couch.

“Okay, why did we bring that back with us?”

“We didn't. Rarity has couches stashed all over Ponyville for fainting emergencies,” Pinkie Pie blurted out.

“What's wrong?” Luna questioned, moving away from Jer'rahd, a bit embarrassed that he had been standing over her.

“Loc...” Starfall muttered...
[“Baelit.”] stammered Velkorn.
“Snowball!!” Rarity whined.

The three of them blinked, looking to each other before throwing the couch out of the way and peeking back out the door.
The rest of the group crowded around the windows and the door, poking their heads out as well to see what the trio was talking about.

“Maw...” gasped Rhede.
“Hooper…”Luna stated with an intake of breath.
“Granny Pie,” Pinkie whispered.
“Pa...” Applejack shivered.
“Gilda!” Rainbow Dash blurted out.
“Mama...” whimpered Fluttershy.
“Sis...” stated Bleu, shivering.
“Mr. Bubbles!” Twilight bawled.

“What the buck are you all talking about? It's just some stupid looking orange dragon,” cursed Jer'rahd.
The group turned as one, looking at the annoyed gray unicorn.

“Clearly, what we are seeing is some kind of spell. Clearly, it is meant to bring up past loves who in our hearts still dwell,” Velkorn muttered.

“It may be a variation of the ‘want it, need it’ spell, though not one I've seen before. It is kinda silly seeing a pony-sized goldfish walking about on its flippers.” Twilight sighed, trying not to look at the single figure moving towards the library.

“The images are not quite right then,” Luna exhaled.

“True; Pa has his hat, an’ ah'm still wearing it,” Applejack stated, though not entirely convinced.

“A demoralizing tactic.” Starfall sighed. “Clever, and really dangerous to those who don't know what it is.”

“An orange dragon? Really, Kaisur?” Rainbow Dash questioned. “Something you're not telling us?”

“Shut up. That's what I see. If Velkorn's right, I should probably be seeing my grandfather, not some dragon I’ve never seen before.” Jer'rahd grumbled.

Rhede and Twilight winced at that statement. Bleu might have caught on as well, though she currently looked ready to spit fire.

“So this is just an illusion?” Bleu growled, lightning flickering along her spines, causing everyone to jump back from the pony-sized dragon. “HOW DARE THEY WEAR HER FACE!”

“Bleu, stop! Calm down!” Luna ordered. The dragonling glared over at the princess, the electricity fading, though she didn’t seem to calm any.

“Princess Luna is right: someone else made this spell, and considering what we found out from the Jade Scroll and what we already know, I can hazard a guess who did it,” Twilight muttered.

“Bloodtail,” whispered Fluttershy. “This is terrible. What are we going to do?”

“Where is that book, anyway?” Rhede questioned, looking over the room piled high with books scattered everywhere.

“Err, somewhere in this pile,” Twilight replied sheepishly.

“Great,” Rhede sighed.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it seems we have attracted a bit of attention.” Rarity pointed outside at an approaching horde of enthralled ponies, and what to her looked like a bunch of giant white cats. “There are a number of our own towns ponies with them too, though they don't look very well.”

“Bloodtail might have them enthralled if he's the one who wound up with Kindness.” Rhede pointed out.

“Alright, here's what we do…” Jer'rahd stated.
“Okay, I have a plan…” Twilight stated.

The two unicorns turned to glare at each other as the rest of the group glanced at them both.

“Arrrgh, fine, go ahead. You're the warrior,” Twilight sighed.

“Thank you. Bleu, I need you to head up to Canterlot after doing a sweep of the town. Celestia needs to know what's going on here.”

“Why don't we just send her a message?” Twilight questioned.

“Much the same reason we did not teleport to her: she may be in a situation where that sort of distraction could cause problems,” Luna replied. “The sending magic disrupts all other spells when it arrives. You have no idea how many tea cups Tia has broken when receiving one of your messages.”

“Akkk, I didn't know that!” Twilight yelped.

“Well, you haven’t been on the receiving end of that message spell like Princess Luna and I have. Granted, I received a small army last time,” Jer'rahd said with a grin.

“Alright; take Rarity with you, Bleu. She's known by enough ponies in Canterlot that you should be able to report directly to the Princess without being slowed down.”

“Take Fluttershy as well,” Starfall added, getting a few questioning looks and a death glare from Applejack.

“What the heck do you mean, ‘take Fluttershy’? Why can't she stay here?” Applejack shouted.

“Because you would be too easily distracted around her. I saw what you did to the dracolich, and even though it worked, that was reckless,” Starfall replied. “Besides, she'll be safer in Canterlot; there's far more guards there than here.”

“You ain't one tah talk about being reckless— none ah ya'll,” Applejack growled.

“That is true, but they are also soldiers, whereas you are a farmer. You may have some fighting skill, but not enough to protect both you and Fluttershy from what is likely here,” Luna tried to placate.

“They're right, Applejack; I'd just be in the way here,” Fluttershy said a little louder than normal. “I'll... I’ll go with Bleu.”

“Don't worry, Applejack darling. I will make sure she's fine,” Rarity stated, patting AJ on the shoulder.

“I gather there's a reason you want to send Bleu and not me, Major?” Starfall questioned.

“Or me,” Dash grumbled.

“Starfall, you need to get to the training camp as fast as you can and bring the trainees back here. They are a better position to help than anyone from Canterlot would be right now. Dash, I need you as an aerial scout here in town. You know the land better than Starfall and you're a smaller target than Bleu would be if she scouted with someone on her back,” Jer'rahd responded.

“I do know the lay of the land here, Kaisur,” Luna said coldly.

“Not as well as a local would. Besides, I need you and Sparkle to try and figure out what the heck is wrong with the civilians and see if you can find that damned book in this mess. Applejack and I will be keeping watch over you and Sparkle and dealing with those orange dragon things. Rhede, Velkorn, and Pinkie Pie should go about rounding up the dazed-looking civilians and putting them somewhere safe until we figure out what’s affecting them. Any objections, Sparkle?”

“Send Applejack with Rhede and Velkorn. Everyone may know Pinkie Pie, but the whole town trusts Applejack. That should make it easier to get anyone you find to listen to you. Also, I am not really thrilled that you are splitting us up like this in a unknown situation. We are in way over our heads here,” Twilight sighed.

“Nothing new there, then; you've been in over your head since you first heard about us. Still, that's a good idea. Pinkie Pie, you are with us, then.” Jer'rahd continued: “Rainbow Dash, try to keep a low profile in the air and keep each group informed of anything you see.”

“Hey, no need to single me out. I can keep outta sight if need be,” Dash snorted.

“Everypony, be careful. I expect that more than just Bloodtail is in town, and they have become gods now, so fighting them will be that much harder,” Luna warned. “If you see any of them, you are to find myself or Jer'rahd immediately. Out of all of us, we are the ones who have the best chance against them right now.”

“You have your orders. Move out.” Jer'rahd commanded.

=======================================================

Big Mac and the half-dragon guard Primrose dove behind a building as a number of the enthralled villagers shambled past. The pair had made it through town unnoticed thus far, something that the half-dragon was surprised about, given the size of the farm pony.

“How the heck are you managing to sneak around so well? I'm right next to you, and I can barely hear your hoof steps,” Primrose whispered.

“Got two sisters an’ Granny tah avoid at times,” Mac muttered.

“Why the heck would you need to avoid them? Miss Smith seems nice enough,” Primrose asked, ducking down behind some bushes and looking over the wide lawn around the hospital.

Her eyes narrowed as a number of the strange things that looked like her younger brother shambled past. She glanced back, seeing the big stallion flinch at the sight of them. He wouldn't say what he saw, though he did at least admit it was different from what she saw. The hospital looked untouched, though there were clearly a few desks and other things pushed up in front of the lower windows. The front door seemed fine, though there were a number of the enthralled ponies in front of it.

“That's none o’ yer business, miss,” Mac stated, moving behind a large tree. He paused, noticing something inside a hollow in the trunk. Digging a hoof into the hollow, he pulled out a bright red rubber ball.

“What the heck?” Primrose questioned.

“Pinkie Pie,” Mac said as if that answered everything. The large stallion hefted the ball, glancing at the townsponies in front of the hospital door, before flinging it off into the bushes far on the other side of them by the corner of the building. The drugged ponies all perked up at the sound and stumbled off towards the place the ball hit.

“Go,” ordered Mac, rushing out from behind the tree towards the front door with the half-dragon hot on his hooves. He didn’t slow down as he approached the door and simply barreled into it full force.

Primrose winced as the farm pony stumbled into the hospital lobby area, wood shattering on contact. The left side of the building’s double door entrance lay in splinters around him. The giant earth pony shook himself quickly, sending fragments of the door raining to the floor.

“B-Big Mac?” questioned a muffled voice from behind the reception counter.

He looked over as a number of nurses and doctors poked their heads up over the countertop, all armed with whatever they could grab, be it splints, an IV stand, and in the case of one small nurse, a mangled bed pan that already looked as if it had seen battle. Nurse Red Heart stood in the center, holding a bone saw in her teeth, likely the one who spoke.

“Eeeyup,” Mac stated, glancing back as the half-dragon flew in behind him. Turning about suddenly, her jaw seemed to unhinge, coupled with the sound not unlike a cat throwing up a hairball. Instead of a wet ball of matted fur, however, a blast of bright green liquid spewed from her mouth in a line, splattering over and rapidly melting three of what Mac saw as his mother, though the figured had his father’s cutie mark for some reason.

“Gah, by Celestia, that is disgusting. Takes forever to get the taste out of my mouth. Anyone have any bourbon or something?” Primrose hollered.

The nurses and doctors shook their heads quickly, but the little nurse pulls out a flask. “I've got scotch.”

“Good enough, gimmi gimmi gimmi.” The half dragon grinned happily, bouncing over as Big Mac shoved a couple of beds in front of the door, glancing down at the pool of acid and the melted bones still in the hissing puddle.

“What the heck is going on out there, Mac? We've had a number of patients coming claiming they've been attacked by other townsfolk. Then a couple hours ago, the hospital itself was attacked. We managed to fend them off and even knock a few out to lock in our psychiatric wing, but we have no idea what’s wrong with them,” Nurse Red Heart rambled.

“Magic,” Big Mac stated moving over to the counter and setting a vial of water on the table along with a small note.

“What's this?” one of the doctors asks.

“Something made up by that zebra out in the woods, Zecora or what not. Said it should cure them; she just didn't have enough of the ingredients to make a whole bunch. She sent Mac and me here to get you guys to make as much as you can and to make sure it works,” Primrose explained after draining the small nurse's flask.

Nurse Red Heart looked over the note curiously. “Alright, it's not like we have anything better to do. Doctor Bone Saw, do you think you can mix this?”

“Damnit nurse, I'm a doctor, not a bartender,” a brown maned older blue coated stallion in white coat stated, “but in this instance, I will see what I can do.”

Mac nodded, moving to a window to look outside and see how many others were still out there. He needed to get back to the farm and make sure Granny was alright, but he didn't want to leave the hospital to fend for themselves.

The stallion’s ears perked up at a high pitched noise. He lifted his eyes skyward just as the window exploded inwards and he was flung backwards to crash into a pile of beds, his yoke left spinning in midair where he had been a moment before.

“MAC!” the others shouted, rushing over to start pulling the beds off of him.

Yanking away a mattress, the group of doctors and nurses were surprised to see Big Mac flat on his back with a much smaller cyan colored and rainbow-maned pegasus hugging him. The moment she noticed the others looking at them, however, she zipped away from him and pretended nothing had happened.

“Err yeah... glad to see you're okay, Mac...” Rainbow Dash stammered.

===========================================================

“Down there, Bleu; that's my parents’ house. Thank you for allowing me to check up on them. I need to make sure that they take Sweetie Belle and head out of town as fast as they can,” Rarity said. “Try to avoid landing on the lawn proper. My father will have a fit if it's damaged.”

“Yeah, no problem. Just be quick; we need to get to Canterlot,” Bleu replied, landing lightly in the front yard of a split level home.

Bleu lifted her head, looking around. The rows of houses on either side of the path were exactly the same, save some landscaping and slight deviations in color. White picket fences guarded every yard; well-trimmed lawns and strange statues of little two legged things with big beards and pointy hats dotted the landscapes. There were also a number of strange pink plastic bird things and at least two bird baths that she could see, one of which had a small colt peeing into the middle of it.

Rarity hopped off the dragon’s back and headed towards a house with a large number of the fake pink birds in the yard. Bleu turned her head back to look at Fluttershy and the death grip she held on the dragon’s spine.

“Fluttershy, ease up. We landed,” Bleu sighed.

“Are we there yet? Did we make it?”

Bleu rolled her eyes. “Not yet. We stopped so Rarity can check on her parents and sister.”

“Oh, Mr. and Mrs Reighnolds? I haven’t seen them since last Hearth’s Warming,” Fluttershy said, slowly opening her eyes.

She looked about to say something else when a pair of ponies crashed through the picture window, landing on the lawn hard in front of Rarity.

Bleu blinked in surprise as both stallions quickly got to their hooves and started trading blows.

Both were older earth pony stallions. One was gray-coated with a brown mane and a white picket fence for a cutie mark. He wore a wide brimmed hat that hid his face in shadow. Every time Bleu thought she was going to get a glimpse of the pony, he turned his head or moved so she couldn't see his face.

The other stallion had an eggshell white coat and long brown hair with a bushy mustache on his muzzle. He wore a brightly-colored flower print shirt and had been wearing a straw hat when he landed, though he had lost it as he got up. His flank was marked with three footballs.

Rarity flattened her ears, watching the pair duel for a moment, then finally chose to speak when the mustached pony had a headlock around the other pony, holding the earth pony with one leg while pummeling him with the other.

“Daaaaddddy, stop fighting Mr. Wilson already,” she whined.

The mustached pony looks up. “Oh, hey, sweetie. Sorry, Mr. Wilson and I were just having a discussion about why he hasn't returned my weed eater. Say, is that a dragon behind you with your friend Fluttershy? Great to see her getting over her fears.”

“Again? Wait, are you and mother playing bridge with the neighbors?” Rarity asked with a pout. “You know the homeowners’ association still hasn't forgiven you for the damage from last time.”

“Well, I...”

“HiiiYAAA!”

Rarity's father glanced up as the cry came from inside the house, followed by an older pegasus mare flying out the window to crash into the group of bright pink bird things. A pink unicorn with two-tone purple hair poked her head out the window.

“That'll teach you to try and cheat me in cards, Blanche... Oh, hi, sweetie. What are you doing here?”
Rarity slapped her face with her hoof as Bleu's jaw dropped.

Fluttershy seemed mostly unsurprised by the scene as she glanced up at Bleu.

“Oh, um... errr, of interesting note, you really should see their house during Hearth's Warming. They really go all out,” the yellow pegasus muttered trying to change the subject away from her friend’s parents.

=====================================================

Jer'rahd growled, smashing another orange dragon's head under his hooves, the image fading until nothing but a pile of pulverized bones remained. He glanced back at Twilight and Luna as the alicorn smashed the last of the creatures against the wall of a building with her wing.

“This is not good,” Twilight muttered, still stressing over Rainbow Dash's first report.

They had found the book not long after everyone had left on their various missions. Dash had come back soon afterward to report that a massive army of what looked like Changelings was approaching the town from the southwest. There were also a few hundred Gildas and drugged ponies moving about town, a small number of shadowy creatures mixed in with them, and at least one big red dragon that was currently circling the approaching army.

There was no sign of any unaffected townsponies, though there seemed to be something going on at the town hall.

That was where they were headed now.

Pinkie Pie had been guiding them along the back streets and down seldom-used alleys that Twilight had not even known existed. 

Even so, they still had to cross open areas from time to time. Even moving quickly, they were forced to stop and fight off or subdue roving bands of enthralled ponies or the dead things before they could continue. The ponies they subdued, they tucked inside buildings or quiet corners, informing Dash of their locations so Rhede's group could come pick them up.

The trip had been somewhat productive as well. They found a number of townsponies were unaffected, though they had shut themselves in their homes. Pinkie Pie had gotten a few to talk and a few others to help Applejack and the others to try and moved the captured mind-controlled ponies to a safer spot.

They had also found out the attacks had started that morning. Many of the locals had been acting strange all morning, and then all at once, they suddenly tried to beat down or drag off anyone around them who was not affected. The enthralled ponies had been kept at bay for a time, though before any pony could start to try to figure out what was going on, the dead ones showed up and panic reigned.

As the group paused in an ally within view of the town hall, they spotted another group that they had been hoping had not entered town yet.

A small force of changelings was currently battling a number of enthralled ponies and the skeleton creatures.

“The changelings are not trying to capture anyone this time. They are simply killing them,” Luna observed.

“We have to do something,” whimpered Pinkie. “Those ponies don't know what's going on; they're just stuck in a spell.”

“Great, we have to take them alive or they come back and fight against us, but they have no such qualms,” growled Jer'rahd.

“It's worse than that,” Twilight added. “Look.”

The group glanced to where she was pointing, towards the changelings and enthralled ponies that had already fallen.

Despite most of them having clearly fatal wounds, all of them were starting to stir again, slowly rising back up to their hooves.

“Delightful. It appears there are ponies in the building as well,” Luna noted. “Kaisur, I don't suppose you had a plan B?... Kaisur?”
Luna glanced around, not seeing Jer'rahd or Pinkie Pie. She looked to Twilight, who slapped her own face with a hoof.

“He didn't?” Luna grumbled, already knowing the answer.

“He did, and so did Pinkie,” Twilight sighed.

The resounding boom of Pinkie's party cannon filled the square and sent a group of changelings flying.

Jer'rahd was already among the group of risen ponies, the Waning Moon whirling about him and ripping them apart. He blocked a hoof strike with the blade, watching the animated corpse suddenly fall over like a puppet with its strings cut. He blinked, then tapped one of them with the blade flat, watching it collapse as well. He looked back at Twilight and shrugged before charging towards a group of still-living changelings.

“Star metal disrupts the magic that brings them back to life; okay, they are already dead. I’m just making sure they remain that 
way, yeah, I can do this...” Twilight muttered to herself, rushing out into the crowd as well.

Luna blinked as she was left alone in the ally.

“My sister was right; Kaisur is indeed a bad influence on those around him.” Luna smirked, charging into the battle as well.

=============================================================

“Alright, I got it. I'll let the Princess and Twilight know all that. Dang, Zecora is good if she already has a cure made for this stuff,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Eeeyup,” Big Mac replied. “Be careful out there.”

“Hey, this is me, Mac.” Dash smirked.

“That's why ah said it.” Big Mac smiled at Dash's annoyed look.

“You're lucky I like you,” she huffed.

“Eeyup.”

“Not to break up the lovey-dovey stuff, but we have a situation here, and I need to get back to my squad to let them know. Also, the hospital needs protecting until I can get some of them back here.” Primrose snorted clearly annoyed at the pair.

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, let that Rose guy know that Jer'rahd and the Princess are probably at the town hall by now,” Dash said.

“You told me that already. Gah, never mind. I’m out of here,” Primrose grumbled, taking off and flying out the window Dash had come in.

“What's her problem?” Dash asked.

“Prolly me ‘n, you,” Mac commented. “Ah ‘spect she was flirtin’ at some point.”

Dash glanced around, seeing the hall clear before darting up and nuzzling into the big stallion. “Sorry, this one’s claimed. You be careful now, too. I think that griffon, Wind Razor or whatever, she seems to have it out for me and everyone I know. She already killed Gilda...”

“Eeyup, she said as much.”

“Wait, you met her? What happened!?” Dash sounded a bit panicked.

“What da yah think happened? Ah kicked her flank across tha farm an’ back again.” Mac smiled as Dash giggles a bit.

“Should have known. The Princess and Kaisur think she's a god now, though, so you need to watch out if she shows up again.”

“Eeyup, though yah better git going.”

“Yeah, yeah... I'll be back as quick as I can, Dash sighed, kicking off the ground and spiraling up into the air.
Mac watched her fly off before shoving a desk up against the window she had left from to keep changelings or anything else from coming in. He trotted back towards the doctors and nurses who were already rushing around trying to secure their patients and prepare for what they knew would be an influx of casualties.

He was trying his best not to worry about Dash, but seeing as she was out in the thick of it, he couldn't help it. He was worried about his sisters and Granny as well, but he knew none of them would take the same risks Dash would.

He wasn't sure what was going to happen now, but Princess Luna, his sister's friends, a whole group of specially trained guards, and the five most dangerous individuals he had ever even heard of were in town trying to protect it.

If that lot couldn't put a stop to this, no one could.

====================================================

Nocturne was not happy. Silver Claw had returned and brought with him the news that a changeling force was entering the city from the southwest. There was also a sizable contingent of guards moving towards town from one of the farms in the northwest. To top it off, at least two of the Beasts of the Moon and three of the current Element bearers had been spotted. There was local resistance at a hospital on the northeast side of the town and at the town hall where Bloodtail's minions were keeping the prisoners.

There had, however, been no sign of her mother or father. She knew they were here somewhere; she could feel them. She had been letting the others do all the work so she could conserve her energy for the fight with Luna. Despite knowing she was stronger than her mother, she was not one to take unnecessary risks. The sooner her parents were destroyed, the sooner she could focus on the changelings and Celestia.

Now, however, there was the issue of the already paltry force that had been created being decimated on two sides. The small number of shadow creatures she had created, along with the undead and the enthralled villagers, were enough to deal with the town, but not a trained attack force like the changelings and guards that were coming.

Silver Claw had taken to the air again to watch the advancing forces from above. He had not seen any sign of Scarlet, though Wind Razor had claimed she was going hunting before she vanished.

Bloodtail did not seem worried in the slightest about their situation. The zebra still had a rather amused grin on his muzzle as the pair stopped in the middle of the marketplace to wait for Silver Claw's return. Numerous bloodstains and piles of bones lay about the open air market, but no bodies.

Nocturne glanced down one of the streets, watching a small group of changelings and some of the thralls fighting. The changelings were quickly overwhelming the smaller group of Bloodtail's minions, although a few changelings were brought down as well.

After a moment or two, both the changelings and the fallen towns ponies staggered and clamored back to their hooves, all of them going after the still-living changelings.

She watched as one changed its hoof into a spear and drove it into another's chest. The second changeling was not even fazed and pressed forward further until its fanged maw tore out the throat of the first.

When the first changeling fell, its life blood running from it, the second changeling ignored it and moved to attack the others.
She raised an eyebrow, watching as the throatless changeling slowly rose back to its hooves and joined the attack on its former allies.

She looked at Bloodtail, the sickly red aura radiating around his horn, and the manic grin on his face. She was a bit disgusted with the display.

“Your doing, I assume?” Nocturne questioned.

[“Indeed. The spell itself is nearly self-perpetuating. Every death feeds its power. One zombie kills another creature and that zombie can last for much longer, remaining animated to find others to kill to extend its life further. The creature that was killed comes back and has time to go forth and kill another to continue itself. All I need to do is nudge control over them a bit and they do what I wish. The Changelings and the Guards can kill as much as they wish; every death swells the ranks of my army.”] Bloodtail chuckled.

“You mean my army, zebra,” Nocturne hissed.

[“I did not stutter, mare. You have done nothing but create a few useless puppets that have nearly been wiped out already, while I am doing the real work. I hardly think something as lazy as you is fit to call anything theirs, let alone lead. You yet have the luck that I have not turned my army on you. Do not push that luck,”] Bloodtail snarled. His growl changed to a cry of pain as a band of magic wrapped tightly around his throat, yanking him off his hooves and smashing him into, and through, a nearby store called Quills and Sofas. Nocturne's horn glowed, but she barely seemed to register the flailing zebra.

Bloodtail winced, rising to his hooves on the far side of the structure and shoving a sofa off his back. He had barely managed to get his hooves under him before he was again jolted and ripped back through an undamaged portion of the store, bursting out the other side in a shower of feathers to crash to the ground at the alicorn's forehooves.

The abused building groaned and quickly collapsed into a pile of rubble, sending quills and couch stuffing flying. Nocturne looked down at the Bloodtail. Her horn flared again, yanking him upright by his throat and bringing him to eye level.

“I believe you are developing a speech impediment, zebra. Sticking to your native tongue so long has clearly caused you issues with your speech. At least, that is how I chose to see it for now. Were I to see it otherwise, I would be pulling your limbs from their sockets, then letting them grow back so I could keep doing it until I grew bored and simply ended you,” Nocturne snarled. “I do not need you now. The bargain struck when I released you from the garden has been fulfilled on my end and I have gained what I wished. You still live because your future plans are not yet a threat to me and you have been useful. So long as you continue to remain so to me, I will allow some impudence, but I have my limits, zebra, and you have brought yourself close to them. You may continue to let your spell run free, but the moment I inform you to let them have their final rest, you will obey me. I have no desire to rule a land of the dead. Do not think to ever challenge me in words or deed again, zebra.”

[“Fine, mare. Have it your way.”] Bloodtail gasped, coughing, as he hung in the air struggling.

Nocturne dropped him, letting the zebra bounce off the ground before scrambling to his hooves with a number of curses. Bloodtail coughed, trying to catch his breath ang spitting up a bit of blood from where his ribs had punctured his lungs as he smashed through the building. They had healed already, but it hurt. The alicorn ignored him, looking up at Silver Claw as he landed.

“What now? Do you bring more bad news?” Nocturne asked.

“Do not raise your tone with me, mare, or I will leave and let you deal with this all yourself,” Silver Claw growled, though after glancing at Bloodtail, he didn’t press further. “The changelings are encountering the guards from the farm as we speak. That will hopefully keep them both off of us for a time. Wind Razor has found her prey and is currently waiting for an opportune time to strike. 
Aside from drawing some of them off, she will not likely be aiding us anymore. I have found Scarlet; she is currently tracking Pelt and Velkorn. I have no idea where she is now, though. The conversion plans are a bit delayed by the number of ponies who have sealed themselves inside of their homes. I do not know what these houses are made of, but the enthralled ponies and the undead are taking too long to break in to rip them out. I have also discovered what is going on at the town hall. A large group of changeling forces is gathered there. Our forces have already fallen, though among the changelings are currently the pair you are after.”

“Good. We will wait here, then,” Nocturne stated, looking around the marketplace with renewed interest. “Silver Claw, I want you to set everything on fire. Torch the main roads as well, and only leave one open from where they are to me. I wish to cause any survivors to flee this way so they may be enthralled or killed, depending on their usefulness. That action should bring my parents towards us as well. I would rather fight them on my terms.”

“What about the ponies who won't be able to get out of the fire to make it here?” Silver Claw questioned.

“Then Bloodtail's magic will raise them and they will serve us regardless. Now go, do what you wished before and burn this place to the ground.”

============================================================

“FOR THE EMPIRE!” screamed out Briar Rose, slamming hard into a feline-like golem made of black crystal and shadows. The massive crystal spear he wielded smashed through the construct with seemingly little resistance. The crystal pony yanked hard on his weapon, ripping it out of the side of the shattered creature. He paused looking back at the rest of his troops as the giant fell, shattering into black shards behind him.

The soldiers under his command had arrived at Sweet Apple Acres yesterday. A tent city had been quickly set up and the soldiers had started to harvest the apple crop under the direction of the matriarch of the Apple family, Granny Smith. The elder mare had explained the encounter with the griffon Wind Razor in greater detail and had a number of the soldiers help in rebuilding the farm house’s main wall.

While he was not fond of the training regime being interrupted, he had come to like the elder mare and had developed a healthy respect for her grandchildren who managed the entire farm by themselves.

They had just started the second day of the harvest when a number of ponies acting strangely and at least three versions of his dead wife wandered into the farm. Before any of the soldiers could react, Granny Smith had laid out two of the enthralled ponies and had beaten one of the creatures that looked like his wife into dust with a frying pan.

Things had gone downhill from there.

After sending out scouts, it became clear there was trouble in Ponyville, and even worse, that a sizable force of changelings was en route towards the town. One scout reported a larger force of changelings on their way to Canterlot and he had sent two of the fastest fliers to inform the Princess.

He left six soldiers to guard the farm house after Granny offered to get everything set up as an emergency fallback point. The farm was on the edge of the forest and it would be easy enough to retreat there from the attackers with any civilians. The enthralled ponies were quickly secured and the main brunt of the force started marching double-time towards the town.

They had barely made it in sight of Ponyville when they were attacked by a swarm of changelings and a group of crystal golems that Rose recognized from his time as a rebel fighting Sombra in the empire.

The trainees were making rather short work of the changelings, but their weapons were doing nothing against the golems. Rose knew the things were designed to be resistant, if not immune, to standard weaponry and all but strongest attack spells. While a number of the unicorns could probably cast something to take them out, it would take time to cast that neither the changelings nor the golems would give.

His spear, however, was grown for the sole purpose of destroying Sombra and his creations. It was fed with his blood and would not break until he did. That would not be today.

There were seven golems left now. He had taken down three of them, and one of the earth ponies had gotten the idea to use one of the defeated golems’ legs as a weapon and had managed to take down two others with the makeshift weapon.

“Sir!” shouted a voice above him. Looking up, he spotted Sergeant Primrose as she dropped down with a crash in front of him. Rose stared at her as she panted, still ready to crush her with his weapon if she turned out to be a changeling.

“Report, Sergeant. Did you find your target?” Rose questioned.

“Yes sir; the zebra supposedly has a cure for the enthralled ponies and Granny Smith's grandson and I brought it to the hospital on the far side of town to be mass produced.” Primrose said between pants. “Also, the Element bearers and Major Kaisur and his group are in town, along with Princess Luna.”

Rose raised a brow at that, but Primrose held a hoof up as she finally caught her breath.

“There's more: the town is being set on fire by the dragon Silver Claw and most of the population is hiding inside their homes. There seems to be a pattern to it, like he's trying to herd the survivors somewhere.”

Rose turned, looking off towards the town still far down the road. He could see the smoke starting to fill the air and the glint of a red form moving in the sky between the plumes of ash. Every so often, a gout of white flame could be seen, fired from the dragon into the structures below.

“Damn. Primrose, get back to the farm and inform those there what's happening. I left Lieutenant Terracotta in charge, but Granny Smith is probably giving the orders. We'll push through here and try to get the civilians out and send them back that way.”

“Yes, sir.” Primrose took off, heading for the farm as Rose looked over the golems and the changelings that were still delaying them here.

The bugs had changed tactics and were currently supporting the golems, keeping close to them and lashing out at the guards trying to take them down. He could see at least one half-dragon was down and one of the pegasi had a broken wing, though he was still fighting. His eyes narrowed, not seeing any of the Diamond Dogs anywhere. Cowardly creatures; probably fled at the first sign of real combat.

He was about to rush another golem when a high pitched whine caught his attention and a figure burst from the clouds above, soaring across a field from their left and impacting, then bursting through the other side, of a hydra-shaped golem. The gray and purple blur continued on, cleaving an arm off a monkey-like golem before smashing into and toppling a third that resembled a griffon.

The purple-maned gray pegasus yanked a pair of blue crystal blades from the last golem she hit, riding the black crystal monster to the ground as it toppled, then hopped into the air again just before the golem hit and shattered.

The first golem slowly collapsed in on itself and an earth pony started to beat the second to dust with its own severed arm.

Starfall kicked off the third golem as it fell, landing lightly on the ground and trotting toward Rose as she sheathed her blue crystal blades. She paused, looking back at the fray.

“I've been looking for you, Major.” Starfall smirked. “Next time you leave the base, you should leave a note or something. I almost went to Canterlot before I remembered you were supposed to help out the Apples.”

“I'll keep that in mind, Captain,” Rose grumbled.

“Actually, I think it might be General again. I forgot to ask the Princess on that one. Anyway, doesn't matter. what's the situation here?” Starfall questioned, looking back at a massive crash as several of the still-standing golems suddenly vanished from sight. The ground shook violently and several Diamond dogs popped out of large holes dug into the road.

Tunnel Rat and the large female, Jynx, were barking orders at the others. The six diamond dogs vanished back into the ground and the holes rapidly filled, burying the trapped crystal golems and a number of the Changelings that fell in as well. A few of the trainees that had fallen into the pit suddenly popped back up again, covered in dirt and really confused.

“Well, shit. Guess they didn't run,” Rose muttered, looking at the last three golems and barely a hoof full of changelings.

“Let's finish this up and get into town,” Starfall said, taking to the air again.

======================================================

Silver Claw landed in front of the large building, examining it curiously. It was not the structure itself that held his interest, but the symbol that held a predominant spot over the building’s entrance and on a sign in the front yard of the structure.

It was similar to something he knew from the past, though this was much cleaner and a great deal brighter than what he remembered. Even so, it gave him pause for a moment.

“Best keep moving. Nothing fer yah here, dragon,” a voice drawled out with an odd accent that seemed fairly familiar, even if the era was not.

Looking up, a red stallion stood on top of the building with what seemed like a steel flag pole resting lightly across his back. The pony was larger than any other he had seen in this era, even among the soldiers he had fought. Next to him stood tiny pale blue mare gripping a saw of some sort with her teeth and staring murder at him. Strangely, he was more worried about the tiny mare than the stallion.

“What is this building?” he questioned, looking again to the symbol over the door.

“S' a hospital. Ah woulda clobbered ya already, but we dun’ need a fight here with all the injured we already got,” the red stallion stated.

“A hospital… Tell me, pony: do they treat any injured here, or just your kind?” Silver Claw snorted.

The smaller mare pulled the bone saw from her mouth, glaring down at the dragon. “Any race that's injured, we treat, so long as they behave. It's part of the oath, though I'm a little more relaxed on the ‘do no harm part’, if you get my meaning.”

“So this is the end result of the Queen’s Cross. Perhaps the zebra was not as mad as I had thought,” Silver Claw mumbled to himself, ignoring the thinly veiled threat.

“Yah gonna leave now, or do ah have tah come down there?” Mac asked.

“No need. Unlike the others, I at least will abide by the rules of war. I cannot say the same for the Changelings or my companion's creations. This is an honorless slaughter with no purpose. It is one thing to drive civilians out of a place by destroying it; it is yet another to force even their dead to against them. However, one must obey a commander’s orders, no matter how demented. I suggest you prepare what burn remedies you have as well. Despite what I was told, I will leave a way for those in town to flee here as well. I may be your enemy, but I am not without sympathy and a great distaste for the tactics that are being used.”
Mac raised a brow as the dragon started to lumber off.

“Yer Silver Claw, right?” the large stallion questioned.

“I am.”

“How's Spike?”

The dragon paused, looking back at the pony curiously. “He is well and was still safe when I left him. He will not be involved in this conflict, if that was what worries you.”

Silver Claw launched into the air with massive beats of his wings, pondering why a random pony would worry about Twilight's former slave. Perhaps more had changed in this era than he had thought.

==============================================================

“This has been one shitty week.” Peach Blossom cursed, slamming the butt of his spear into the face of a changeling and forcing it back out the window of the town hall.

Another explosion rocked the building as something slammed into the wall outside, cracking the wood ,followed by a loud series of screams from the sixty-eight ponies taking shelter in the basement.

Out of all of them, there were only four who were willing to help him defend the building: a brown earth pony Stallion named Caramel, a minor noble called Filthy or something like that, and the two mares he had met in the candy shop, Bon Bon and Lyra. Of the panicked ponies, there were three he wanted to slap. Every time he had tried to calm them, one of the mares went off in a panicked montage of horrors, which caused all the others to freak out. Lyra had called them the flower trio and added a number of remarks that, while scathing, were also quite creative.

So here he was, Captain of the Royal Guard, a pony on a fast track to promotion because of his recent heroics, perhaps even to Guard Captain one day,now stuck in a building under siege with a gaggle of useless ponies depending on him with only four untrained civilians as his backup while changelings and golem creatures tried to batter their way inside.

The pegasus cursed again as he slammed a hoof against a changeling that had managed to get inside, wondering why he had thought it was a good idea to sneak in here to try and get every one out.

His musings were cut short as a wall suddenly exploded inward, a body crashing to the ground and tumbling across the room to smack the far wall before stopping.

A large bipedal creature made of black crystal poked its head into the hole, looking around at the ponies inside the building. Its eyeless head turned to regard the five frozen ponies, the motion being accompanied by a sound like a rock being scraped over wet glass.

“Okay, note to self: those things pack a wallop,” mumbled the gray form against the wall before the pony got to his hooves and shook the debris out of his amber-colored hair. The unicorn grinned, baring gleaming white fangs as the golem focuses its attention back on him.

“Major Kaisur?” Peach Blossom gasped.

The unicorn glanced over at the pegasus and grinned wider.

“Oh, good to see you, Captain. I don't suppose you have any of the others here as backup? No? No matter; get out here and lend us a hoof. These crystal things are a pain in the flank to take down,” Jer'rahd said, then charged across the room and leaped out the hole, smashing bodily into the black crystal creature’s face and sending it tumbling over.

Peach Blossom looked out the hole as a pink earth pony blew a hole in the creature with a cannon that seemed to be firing confetti and baked goods, though the shot that punched through the crystal creature seemed to be a bright pink bowling ball with three balloons painted on it.

“STEEEERIKE!” screamed out Pinkie Pie, bringing the weapon around on another target.

“Why didn't I listen to my mother and become a used cart salespony?” Peach Blossom questioned, taking off out of the hole to join the fray leaving the other four to guard the ponies downstairs.

=================================================

Queen Chrysalis looked down at the small force of ponies that was destroying the scouting force changelings and her love's creations. It was just a small group, really; she could have buried them in drones, though that would take away from the larger force that was attacking Canterlot.

It was quite impressive: an entire unit lost, and they only had two casualties, neither of them fatal. A number of other drones and warriors filled the air around her, buzzing about as they guarded their queen.

“Give word that the rest of the secondary force should move into the town. The rest of you drive these soldiers towards the town with the remaining golems and crush them between the two forces. I will separate the leaders from the rest and deal with them personally.”

The drone in charge nodded and flew off towards the burning town. Chrysalis lifted her gaze towards Canterlot where her love was leading the main force, then back down at the group below her, taking note of the gray pegasus below. She was one of the ones who invaded her hive the last time, a friend of that unicorn she had captured.

The love-cursed goddess snarled, diving towards the group below, her eyes flaring with green light. Payback for that attack would be sweet indeed.

The drones and warriors about her hesitated a moment, then rushed down with her to aid their queen.

===========================================================

Twilight muttered under her breath, her magic yanking hard on the leg of one of the golems, pulling it out from under the black crystal creature and sending it tumbling to the ground with a crash. Jer'rahd was on top of the thing, crushing its head, before leaping off and tackling a changeling that had gotten too close to the princess.

Rainbow Dash had returned with news that Velkorn, AJ, and Rhede were on the other side of town near the market and had a collection of civilians they were taking to the hospital, after which, they would meet up at the town hall.

Silver Claw had been flying around setting the town on fire, though he had been giving the area of the town hall a wide berth. It was probably a smart idea for him, as Luna would have blasted him out of the air, or simply thrown Jer'rahd at him. Neither of those options would have been a good thing for the dragon.

The princess would have likely been flinging spells at him anyway if not for the sudden flood of panicked ponies rushing from the town hall and swarming around her begging for help.

Dash, Twilight, Jer'rahd, and one of the guards from the training group, Peach Blossom, had moved to circle the princess and the swarm of ponies, making sure no changelings or golems came too close.

Twilight winced, watching as Luna's demeanor grew darker as the ponies nearly trampled each other and her while pleading for aid.

“YOU WILL BE CALM!” Luna bellows in the Royal Canterlot Voice, causing all of the panicked ponies to drop down to their knees and bow. Peach Blossom quickly got back to his hooves, looking embarrassed, but even Twilight had felt the urge to prostrate herself from the force of Luna's voice.

The princess sighed, lowering her voice as she looked over the ponies around her. “We command you all to make haste to the Ponyville hospital at once. Take shelter there and help those present if you are able. Now go!”

The gathered ponies quickly rose and started galloping away through the streets, following their princess’s orders. Jer'rahd smacked a changeling aside and trotted over to Luna, looking up at Silver Claw as he circled to land on the other side of town.

“He could have strafed us several times, Princess, yet he didn't.”

“Most likely, Nocturne told him not to because she wishes to deal with us herself,” Luna sighed tossing her mane and smacking a changeling into one of the burning buildings. “I would not put it past him to have a plan of his own right now, either. He did not seem the type to follow even for the scant time I knew of him.”

Jer'rahd sighed, raising a shield suddenly and letting a black crystal golem shaped like a spider slam against it in futility.

“We are going to need to do something soon. There’s still ponies taking shelter in their houses. This fire’s spreading too quickly for them to remain safe by hiding in their homes. Dash said that my trainees were at Applejack's farm and there was a shelter there. The hospital also seems to be a safe bet, considering where it sits on the edge of town. We need to get help evacuating and making sure every pony goes to one of those places.”

Luna nodded, looking at the black crystal spider curiously. Her horn flared black suddenly and her eyes turned to reptilian slits as the magic gripped the creature. Jer'rahd stepped back away from her as the spider golem stopped striking the shield and simply stood there. The black coloration quickly faded from the golem and it changed to dark blue, though black shadows still played among its form.

“Princess?”

“Huzzah, it worked! General Kaisur, get Twilight Sparkle to help you warn the others. I shall deal with these meddlesome changelings.” Luna smiled as her eyes went back to normal. The alicorn flapped her wings, leaping over the green shield landing lightly on the spider’s back. The crystalline creature shifted before skittering off and pouncing on a bear-shaped golem, ripping it apart. Luna laughed, glaring down at the changelings nearby, her form flickering back to Nightmare Moon's coloration. “Look, Precious: plenty of bugs to eat.”

The changelings she stared at suddenly screamed and start running away with the spider-borne princess in hot pursuit.

“Well, that's new. Every time I think I have that mare figured out... I'm going to have to ask where she got this interest in spiders from. SPARKLE!” Jer'rahd bellowed, trotting over to the purple unicorn and the pile of spell-stunned changelings and enthralled ponies around her.

“What? I am a little busy...” Twilight yelled, looking past Jer'rahd as he ran up, blinking. “Is Princess Luna riding a giant crystal 
spider?”

“Errr, yeah. Anyway, not the point. Do you have a spell to amplify your voice? Enough for the whole town to hear it?”

“Err, yeah, I guess. I know one, though it's designed to work with the Royal Canterlot Voice,” Twilight admitted.

“I don't suppose you know how to do that, too?” Jer'rahd muttered.

A group of changelings rushed past, being pursued by the spider golem with Princess Luna and Pinkie Pie waving her forehoovess in the air atop of it.

“Isn’t it just yelling really loud?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, pretty much. There's a command aura as well, but I suppose that doesn't matter. Just use it and let the townsfolk know to evacuate and go to either Applejack's farm or the hospital.”

“Won't that let Nocturne and the others hear that and know where everyone is going, too?”

The changelings ran by again being chased by the spider with Princess Luna, Pinkie Pie, and now Rainbow Dash, who was surfing on its head with just her back legs.

“Maybe, but that's if they know where either of those places are. We are going to head to the hospital as well, so if Nocturne does move towards it, we can catch her. If she heads towards the farm, the rest of my troops, along with Rose, will be able to hold her up, if not outright stop her. Dash should be able to see where they are going in advance, and even if she can't, Silver Claw should be easy to spot.”

“And what about the others?”

The changeling stampede ran past once more with the trio on the back, along with Peach Blossom, who was clinging to the back of the spider for dear life.

“Dash said Bloodtail and Silver Claw were the only others she saw. Best case scenario is that the other three are the ones attacking Canterlot.”

“That doesn't make any sense. Why isn't Nocturne in Canterlot?”

“Because she wants to kill Luna and me herself. Now go ahead and make the announcement. I'll go have a word with our spider riders and see if we can do something productive with our time.”

“Yeah,” Twilight muttered as she prepared to cast the spell and mulling over what she needed to say.

====================================================

“Well, this certainly isn't promising,” Rarity sighed, looking down over Bleu's shoulder as the dragon glided over Canterlot. 
“Changelings to the left of me, ruffians to the right.”

“And here I am stuck in the middle with you,” Bleu muttered. “How’s Flutters doing?”

“Well, she is still clinging tenaciously to your spine, though she has at least finally opened her eyes,” Rarity replied.

“Alright, so we go to the castle, tell Celestia what's happening, get you two secured, and then I get back to Boss and hope he hasn't killed everything in sight yet. I still need to cut loose after seeing all those things pretending to be… sis…”

Bleu braked hard in the air, causing Rarity to nearly tumble off the dragon’s back. Fluttershy cried out, tumbling off Bleu's back, though she somehow remembered that she could fly before falling too far.

“Bleu, what did I tell you about sudden stops... Oh my. Is that the music school?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah.”

The giant glass music sheet that made up the front of the building had been smashed and various instruments had been thrown outside to lie in rubble before the building. A small number of Guards circled the building, ducking magical fire from unicorns hidden inside the building.

None of that was what had Bleu's attention, however. What had forced her to stop was the large painting of Platinum that had been placed on the roof so someone in the air could see it. The image was defaced, with various vulgar graffiti and crude drawings of ponies doing things to the posing unicorn.

Bleu growled, causing Rarity to yelp as the electricity danced along her spines briefly.

“Fluttershy, take Rarity to the Princess. I've got some things to kill,” Bleu snarled, flicking the white unicorn from her back into the pegasus's grasp before roaring and diving at the building, her scales crackling with energy.

======================================================

Twilight's ears flattened as she looked dejectedly at the flames consuming Ponyville. She remembered the first time Princess Celestia sent her here. How angry and betrayed she had felt at being forced to leave Canterlot, how she thought her mentor was simply trying to distract her with something menial so she would stop bothering her about an old mares’ tale.

The source of that mares’ tale was currently astride a giant blue crystal spider swirling with shadow magic. Alongside of her was the first pony she had met in this place, Pinkie Pie. Meeting the party pony and her other friends living here had not been so bad, though Twilight could still recall how she had hated this place. But now watching it burn like this actually hurt.

All of her friends had been through a great deal since they first met. For that matter, so had this town. Ursa minors, parasprites, Discord, a rampaging Spike, a love-addled Big Mac and Cherrilee, and, of course, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, a long list of disasters that the town recovered from. That was not even counting what it had gone through before she was born.

Twilight smiled. She shouldn't feel bad; they would survive and the town would be rebuilt as well.

The fires had kept the Changelings away, giving them time to start pulling ponies out of buildings. Luna had loaded up the crystal spider with the injured and the enthralled and was on route to the hospital with Jer'rahd. Twilight suspected the pair was going to go after Nocturne as soon as the injured were secure, though both of them claimed they would come back here.

Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Peach Blossom remained with her to try and rescue anyone else they found.

The small group had helped a number of ponies out of the burning buildings, though Pinkie Pie had been far from her usual self, pausing often to stare down at her hoof with a look of panic that was quickly building on her face.

“Pinkie Pie... What's wrong?” Twilight questioned, trotting up to her friend as the pink pony looked around rapidly.

“The itchy hoof. It's back, Twilight... Who are we missing? Someone we know has got to be in danger.... OH NO! THE CAKES! I FORGOT THE CAKES!” Pinkie yelped, charging off down the street towards Sugar Cube Corner. Twilight glanced back at the others before running off after the pink pony with Rainbow Dash and Peach Blossom flying along after them.

Sugar Cube Corner, like most of the buildings in the square, was on fire. That fact did not even slow the pink earth pony down. 

Rushing towards the building, she burst in the front door, smashing it open and running into the smoke-filled building. Twilight and the two pegasi rushed in after her as Pinkie looked around before rushing into the kitchen.

Twilight's ears perked, hearing a sound of pounding on wood. Rushing into the kitchen, she watched as Pinkie shoved a fallen pot rack out of the way and yanked open the cellar door, showing a haggard-looking Mr. Cake and revealing the sound of two bawling foals from the basement, along with the softer tones of a mare trying to calm her children.

“Pinkie?” Mr. Cake coughed from the smoke.

“Mr. Cake! Are the twins alright? Is Mrs. Cake alright?” Pinkie paused as the stallion coughed again. “Are you alright?”

“We're fine. We managed to get into the basement before the attack began, but we were trapped...” Mr. Cake replied, stumbling back down the stairs to guide his wife and foals up.

Peach Blossom and Dash moved to help get them outside as Pinkie Pie started searching around franticly again.

“Pinkie Pie, we have the Cakes. What are you looking for...?”

“Gummy! Where's Gummy? my hoof is still all itchy and it's getting worse!” Pinkie shouted, blinking as Twilight lifted up her tail, showing a small green reptile with its jaws clamped firmly about it.

“This Gummy? He attacked as soon as I walked in the door. Just like always,” Twilight deadpaned.

“Gummy! Wait, if the Cakes are safe and Gummy's safe then why is my hoof... ARRRRGH, I FORGOT ABOUT HIM!” Pinkie hollered, dashing back out into the burning hallway and up the stairs. “Get Gummy out of here, Twilight. I'll be right out!”

“Pinkie, wait!” Twilight rushed after her friend, skidding to a stop as the stairwell collapsed in a gout of ash and flame. “GAAAHH!”

“Twilight, are you okay?” Pinkie's voice called from upstairs.

“Pinkie, the shop is collapsing! You need to get out of here. Head to a window— I'll tell Dash to get you from there.”

“I need to save him first; I’ll be quick and out of here in a moment. Get Gummy out of here; the smoke can't be good for him.”

Twilight looked at the little gator on her tail, whose expression had yet to change. She briefly wondered if the lizard would notice if he was on fire. A section of wall collapsing startled her from her thoughts and she rushed out the front door to the street, coughing heavily.

“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash yelled, looking up as the front of the store collapsed in flames behind the unicorn. “Where’s Pinkie!?”

“She went upstairs, said she forgot someone,” Twilight coughed, looking at the. Cakes. “Did you have someone else who was living here?”

“No, just Pinkie and Gummy. I don't know who else she was talking about,” Mrs. Cake sputtered still trying to calm her children.
“So help me, if it's Sir Turnip or Rocky again...” Dash growled.

“I'll fly up and check on her...” Peach Blossom said, crashing back to the ground as a black blur of shadow knocked him out of the air. The shadowy form shifted mid-flight, arcing up to smash through the upstairs window into the shop. “What the buck was that?”

Twilight's response was cut off by a high pitched scream that suddenly ended coming from the shop. A moment later, the black form burst out of the window, again landing on an exposed beam and knocking the weather mane aside.

Red and black feathered wings spread wide as the shadowy form solidified into a griffon. The griffon looked down at the three ponies below her, spotting Rainbow Dash, her grin widening.

Wind Razor chuckled as she lifted her foreleg, showing a massive clump of pink fluffy hair that was gripped by a blood-covered claw.
“Another target down, prey. Pity I couldn't get your mate, but I can collect her later,” Wind Razor chuckled taking off into the air as the roof of Sugar Cube Corner finally collapsed, the whole structure crumbling to the ground in a gout of fire and smoke.

Rainbow Dash screamed, launching herself off the ground after the griffon as Wind Razor flew towards the Everfree Forest, cackling madly.

Twilight shuddered, her eyes wide as she stared at the fire, not even noticing Peach Blossom take off after Dash or Rhede, Velkorn, and Applejack running up to her and the Cakes. Tears filled her eyes as she looked on with disbelief at the wreckage.

“PINKIE!!!”