It was early morning, and the group had been collected and well rested despite how early it was. They still had a few hours before Luna and Song would be coming in, so they decided to split into their groups and going to scout where they were assigned. Twilight gave a yawn, and Onyx put a hoof around in giving her a worried look.
"I'm fine, I'll be awake enough to cast the spell. Hopefully nothing does go wrong," Twilight said making him squeeze a bit tighter.
"Hey, remember don't jinx us. I mean you know that those words have a bit of a curse behind them," he said getting a glare from her.
"You know just saying some words won't actually bring a curse, a curse is a very complicated spell that issues bad luck or worse to somepony." Twilight explained, getting a smile out of him. "What?"
"It's just good to hear that this really hasn't gotten to you yet, you would make a good princess." He said, giving her a playful poke.
"Please, all I'm doing is learning about the magic of friendship and trying to bring back two ponies who might get themselves killed." Twilight replied.
"You would be surprised," he said.
After that, they walked in silence and coming to where Twilight had wanted them posted. They would be following Song, who was just beginning to understand how much more magic he had since finding out he had a lot of the creatures magic inside him. He could tell Twilight was starting to get nervous.
"Hey, just remember you're Princess Celestia's personal student. I know you can out due him in magic any day," he said giving her a nuzzle, and he could hear her give a content sigh.
"I know, but it still worries me. Why exactly is he coming this way when he was so close to the borders?" Twilight asked.
"Didn't the letter say?" He asked, tilting his head in slight confusion.
"No, all it said was that both of them were headed here for some reason. Luna from the east, and Song from the north. Again, that makes me worried if there is something that might be happening." Twilight answered.
"I'm sure we'll be able to handle it," he said giving another comforting nuzzle.
"I hope you're right," Twilight replied under her breath.
They went silent after that, keeping an eye on the horizon in front of them as the citizens of the city continue their daily business. Only a few who walked by them gave them a second glance before moving on. But that was mostly due to how close they were sitting to each other now, and before either of them spoke up they saw a figure in the distance.
"You think that might be him?" He asked.
"Yeah, the letter did say Song was wearing some kind of cloak and that figure is defiantly wearing one as well." Twilight replied.
"But how do we know it's actually him though and not just another pony wearing a cloak to help protect from the weather?" He asked, and he received a slightly annoyed look.
"Because, I already cast a spell that let me tell how much magic a pony has. It matched Songs level perfectly," Twilight answered.
At that, she cast a telepathic spell to send a message to let the others know Song had been spotted and should be ready. She received a message in return from a guard who had also spotted Luna flying through the air, and she couldn't believe the timing of the two. Though she quickly shook that off, and told everypony to wait and just follow for now.
They all did just that, once the two ponies crossed into the city they all went into stealth mode. Both groups followed their target and kept updating each other on where they were at, and which direction they were headed. Soon, they all felt a little relieved and tense as the two seem to finally be headed towards each other.
"Okay everypony, let's hope the plan works." They all heard Twilight say.
---
He knew that they were following him, but he didn't care. All he wanted to do was find Luna and convince her to turn back, even if it meant suffering through eternal mental torture. As far as he knew, he could probably even eventually block the creature from his mind with the magic he had now.
That's when he saw her, flying over head and he felt relief knowing that the bug hadn't lied to him. Knowing that was his Luna, he started heading towards where he saw her land. Though something in the air felt off, and it wasn't the fact that his friends were following him and probably also following Luna as well. Something wasn't right, and he had to make it to her.
---
"Okay, let's go," Twilight said as they started following Song again.
Though as she thought about it, it seemed he felt something off and she knew he probably knew they were following him but he didn't care. She felt uneasy now, knowing he did probably feel something wrong with the fact he was two hundred years old and probably had better sense than most. But one look at Onyx made her feel more confident.
---
"Luna!" He yelled, feeling relieved but still on guard.
"S-song?" She asked, looking at the cloaked figure knowing it form the attack in Canterlot.
"Yeah, it's me." Suddenly she jumped onto him, holding him into a deep kiss.
"I-I...How dare you for going after the creature who tortured you alone!" She yelled, and he pulled her in close.
"I know, and I'm sorry. But the creature is why I passed out on new years, it has been torturing me mentally for a little while now." He said, still holding her close.
"T-then why not tell me? I could have helped rid the creature from your mind," she said, and could feel him tense a little.
"I didn't want to bring you into this again, not when your pregnant. But Luna, you need to turn back to Canterlot," he said stroking her mane, and despite making a scene neither one of them wanted to move.
"Not without you," she whispered.
"Luna, it has tortured me for so long, and it has threatened to torture me for all eternity until my mind breaks. Even if you do help rid it out of my mind, I will still be connected to it and it will find a way back into my mind. I-it even threatened you and the baby, and I will not let it live." He said.
"I'm not going back without you, is there no other way though?" She asked, looking up and into his eyes seeing something in his eyes that told her there was. "What is it?"
"I-if I give it a baby of it's own, it will leave me alone and won't bother you. It said it's a way to gain it's power back without killing me, or possessing our child." He answered.
"I promise you this Song, I will not let that creature bother you again if you come home with me and not think about that offer ever again. And do you think that it would actually ever leave you alone? Leave me out of it if you did?" She asked.
"Of course, but..." He started but was cut off.
"There is no but about it, I came to bring you back. Or else I will accompany you to defeat that foul creature once and for all!" She said, her voice going into commander tone.
---
"Wow, I'm surprised it's going this well and we might not have to talk to them after all. But doesn't this seem to be going a little fast?" Onyx asked.
"Probably, but think about it. They are getting straight to the point of why they came here, Song wants Luna to turn back and Luna won't unless he comes back with her. Just be ready just in case something goes wrong though," she said still feeling uneasy about something.
---
"Luna..." He looked into her eyes and saw that if anything, she would beat him down and drag him back to Canterlot herself if it came down to it. Even if she did just say she would come, he knew better. "Fine, I'll come back with you. But we need to hurry up, somethings wrong with this city, I've been followed and not just by Twilight and her friends either."
"What? Twilight and her friends are here?" He nodded, and looked at her in the eyes again.
"Please, we really do need to leave right now, and if your listening Twilight get out as well!" He said loudly.
---
"But what does he mean we're not the only ones following him?" Onyx asked, making Twilight give him a somewhat frightened look.
"Onyx, he is wanted by the Changelings. I think they may have been behind this whole thing, why both of them showed up here, why we showed up here." She answered, making him confused.
"But why us?" He asked.
"Revenge more likely, we need to go now!" She said, sending the message telepathically almost instantly getting a response.
Though, that's when they saw some of the Diamond Dogs walking towards Luna and Song. Firing up her horn, she sent a spell at one and hit it square in it's back stunning it and making it's disguise drop. Which only confirm that the Changelings had infiltrated the city, and were after Song and Luna, and them as well as she took notice of some coming up behind them.
"Come on!" She yelled, and puled Onyx hoping her friends would be okay.
That's when everything started to go into chaos though as magic beams started to fill the air. From the look of the magic, they were aiming to kill not capture. Twilight managed to cast a shield around the two of them, and hoped that the cities guard would help them.
Though as they ran, she noticed that not one of the citizens were to be seen. Had they known about this attack and were helping the Changelings? But why would they do that when they were citizens of Equestria themselves? That's when a dark morbid thought entered, what if the Changelings had killed the citizens?
No, from the looks of it there were a lot more citizens than there a Changelings attacking. But where did they all go? She let out a groan knowing they probably went under ground as soon as they heard the fighting start.
An explosion near by sent them into a wall with rubble from a building that was half destroyed was falling around them. A particular large sized piece of the buildings wall landed on top of them, breaking her shield. Before she could cast a spell, she puled Onyx away from a blast that would have hit him in his heart.
"Come on, this way!" She yelled, and he quickly followed her into a alley.
Both of them were firing spells behind them, hoping that it would hit one of the Changelings that followed them. As the alley took another turn, they found that it had been blocked off by more rubble. They knew that they couldn't go over it, and Twilight barely knew the city so teleporting was out of the question.
"Get behind me now!" She yelled, and he did as she told him to, but before she could cast another shield around them a green blast struck her in her stomach making her release a loud scream.
"Twilight!" He yelled, managing to cast a weak shield around them knowing it wouldn't hold compared to Twilight's.
Though he knew it would hold long enough for him to look over her and to make sure she was alright. As he did this, he could see that she was breathing quite shallowly and the wound on her stomach was worse than it looked. He felt his anger build, his head started to hurt like a dam was trying to burst.
"I-I must stop the bleeding," he said managing to cast a spell to clean the wound, and taking a piece of his own clothing put pressure on the wound.
The anger was building, as was his panic and grief of seeing the one he loved look like she was about to die. He cast another spell he had picked up to slow the bleeding to a crawl, though sweat started pouring as his magic started to strain for some reason. His shield wasn't going to last long, he knew that and even when he kept pumping magic into it, it shouldn't be this much of a drain.
Though, as he looked back down at Twilight the dam finally broke at the sight of her not breathing. He lost all control, of not only his magic but his mind and body as well as his other personality finally broke free. But he didn't care, even if he didn't actually know what this other side was like, he didn't care if it was feed off his anger.