//------------------------------// // Reunion - Twiny on the Loose // Story: Nightmare Moon's Tiny Adversary // by CommanderX5 //------------------------------// Nightmare Moon's Tiny Adversary - Chapter 3 Part 3 “We’re here,” Overwatch stated mechanically. Already, there was a chariot with two pegasus guards at the entrance to the library, ready to take Twilight directly to Canterlot. “Damn, they move fast,” the charcoal mare muttered under her breath before she turned to the unicorn on her back. “I don’t see Steelie or Spike, so they’re probably still asleep or something. Even so, I’m sure they’ll be overjoyed to hear that you’re alive and well.” Twilight just crossed her forelegs in response, turning away from her guard. Overwatch took a deep breath, releasing it in a long sigh before she spoke again. “Twilight, listen. I understand that you’re angry with the princess, but she just wants to keep you safe and happy.” Twilight let out a huff, and Overwatch breathed out another sigh as she levitated the little mare off her back onto the ground in front of her. “Look, I know why you’re so angry. You feel that your mentor does not trust you, that she does not have faith in your abilities and skills, but have you even once thought about how she feels through all this? It doesn’t take a genius to see that Princess Celestia is shouldering a lot of pain and guilt.” “I… I know. She misses her sister and just wants her back after a thousand years, but that’s why I want to help. Why does my mentor no longer have faith that I can help?” Twilight asked, her expression crestfallen. “Is it because I’m small?” Overwatch let out a snort. “I sincerely hope you don’t think the princess’s guilt over her sister is the only reason for her problems,” she stated bluntly. “You are also a big factor in all this. Over the years, you’ve become a very important pony in her life.” “I-I’m glad. I did my best to make her proud—” “And it’s not about your studies, nor how hard you work. It’s how enthusiastically you handle every single moment of your life and how you never let anything bog you down,” Overwatch said earnestly. “Steelie and I have worked fairly closely with Princess Celestia over our time in the Royal Guard, and I have never seen her so happy or so open, to other ponies until you appeared.” “B-b-but…” Twilight stammered out, trying to say something, anything, to stop her guard. “Twilight, why won’t you realize that you’re like a daughter to her?” the unicorn guard continued, and the tiny pony in front of her deflated at her words. “You were always so focused on pleasing her, hoping not to disappoint your perfect mentor, that you’ve never realized how close to her lonely heart you’ve become.” “B-but I’m just her student! Her subject!” Twilight responded hastily. “Nothing more than a little pony under her mighty wings. As much as I have done to please her, I know that I am just one of the many subjects she cares about, one who will pass away just like every other pony she meets. Compared to her eternal sister, I’m not important at all—” “Twilight!” The little mare recoiled at her friend’s outburst, her ears ringing from the ferocity. Overwatch let out a snort, scowling, before she continued. “You are not just a mere pony to her. Please remember that! Everything that has happened tonight with Princess Celestia and Luna, every word you’ve exchanged with them, has accomplished nothing besides cause you and them even more agony and heartbreak. Twilight, it’s hurting me to see you all like this! Please, just stop!” she cried out, clutching a hoof to her heart. “No, that can’t be right. It’s not true,” Twilight mumbled, turning her head away from Overwatch’s pained expression. “She wants to keep you safe as much as she wants to save her sister, and the best way she knows to prevent the loss of two of the most important ponies in her life is to get you out of harm’s way,” the guard mare said firmly. Twilight turned back to Overwatch, her expression set and determined. “But I know how she can keep both of them. She doesn’t believe that I can bring her sister back, but I will prove her wrong!” she exclaimed, lighting up her horn and teleporting away before Overwatch could even register what was happening. The unicorn guard looked around in panic before she caught Twilight reappearing several meters away, galloping out of the town. The two pegasi at the chariot simultaneously freed themselves from the harness, flying straight for the tiny unicorn, who quickly teleported again before they could catch her. Overwatch caught where Twilight appeared the second time, and took in a deep breath as she prepared her shot. She narrowed her eyes in concentration before firing off her bolt, which flew with laser-like precision towards the base of Twilight’s head, striking as instantly as lightning and causing the tiny mare to tumble to the ground. The pegasus guards landed lightly where Twilight had fallen, looking with concern at her unconscious body as Overwatch trotted over. “Don’t worry, she’s fine. I just used a sleep spell. She should be out for at least an hour,” she said, levitating Twilight off the ground to her back as she walked back towards the library. To her surprise, however, Overwatch had not even taken three paces before her charge disappeared in a magenta flash. “W-what just happened?” she stammered out, swiveling her body around as she looked around in alarm. She finally noticed Twilight out of the corner of her eye sprinting into the cover of the nearby forest. “How?” the guard mare said in disbelief, her mouth agape. The other two pegasus guards had immediately taken up the chase again, a chase that Overwatch knew would ultimately end up fruitless. Somepony of Twilight’s size would be impossible to find in a dark forest with plenty of cover. Instead, she just plopped down into a sitting position, her head hung morosely as she murmured, “Figures she would have some way around my sleep spell.” “Whoa nelly, wha’s all this commotion about?” Applejack asked, catching Overwatch’s attention as she trotted over with a small group of familiar mares. “What are you ponies doing here?” the guard mare replied morosely. “Didn’t I tell you to go home and hide? Nightmare Moon is still at large.” Rainbow Dash swooped in much closer, pressing her nose against Overwatch’s and giving her a challenging glare. “And why we should care what you want? This is Ponyville, not Canterlot, and we’re not going to listen to a bully guard like you,” she said, jabbing a hoof at the guard mare. Overwatch shook her head. “Fine, do whatever you want. Foalsitting fillies like you isn’t really on my to-do list right now, “ she replied, her tone indifferent as she stood back up and trotted away. Rainbow Dash quickly intercepted her, landing with a stomp directly in the charcoal unicorn’s path and snorting aggressively. “Fillies, you say? Give me ten seconds and I’ll show you what a filly can do!” she said. With that, she attempted to charge forward to tackle Overwatch, only to be arrested mid-flight by Applejack biting onto her tail. “Calm ‘own, Rain’ow ’ash,” the farm mare said, only spitting out the tail when the pegasus’s hooves hit the ground. Dash let out a huff, though she still shot glares at the female guard. “Please accept our deepest apologies for our energetic friend’s rather rude behavior,” Rarity said with a tiny bow, ignoring the frown she received from Dash. “After Princess Celestia fought off that… monster, we noticed that the Royal Guards had become a great deal more lively, and we were curious as to why a large number of them were sent flying into that dreadful forest.” Applejack sighed. “In less fancy words, we came here t’ see wha’ all tha’ fuss is about.” “And...umm…” Fluttershy murmured quietly, tapping her hooves together nervously under the stony gaze of Overwatch. “I think what Fluttershy is trying to say is that we wanted to check on Twilight’s health too while we were here! I even brought her a cupcake!” Pinkie Pie said, a cheerful smile on her face as she whipped out a surprisingly bright purple and pink cupcake from out of sight. Overwatch’s brow furrowed together at the sudden pastry, but she quickly shook her head. “And how did you know that she would be here?” she asked, looking at them suspiciously. Pinkie quickly answered, “Well, Rainbow Dash told us that she knew that Twilight was still alive, and then Rarity went over and said that the princess was reviving her student just inside the giant hole in Town Hall accompanied by a pink alicorn and a handsome white stallion—” Rarity let out a brief snort of annoyance “—So then when Dash went over too and saw you and Twilight coming back to the library, I thought, ‘how about we all come and organize Twilight a “Thank You For Saving Ponyville” party’? So now we’re all here!” Pinkie Pie finished with a flourish of her hooves at the end. “What she said,” Rainbow Dash said. “That black monster gave even the princess a hard time, and Twilight still stood up for us against her. I mean, I tried to fight too, but Applejack got in the way of that plan, but the point is that the monster was like few hundreds, if not thousands, times larger—” “Rainbow Dash, you are exaggerating her proportions again," Rarity said, but the pegasus cut her off with a hoof. “Like I said, that monster was like a few hundreds times bigger than Twilight. She could’ve squashed her like a bug. Even I would have thought twice about confronting her if I was that small,” Rainbow Dash said, before she stopped for a moment, looking thoughtful. “Actually, forget that, I would have stood against her anyways, but that’s not the point. What’s important is that Twilight’s got the guts when the rest of Ponyville faltered. She stood up for all of us against a giant, and we figured that we should thank her for something that few others would do.” Overwatch opened her mouth to answer, but she was interrupted by the slam of the library door opening as well as by the pegasus guard suddenly in her face. “Where’s Twilight? Is she alright? What did Nightmare Moon do to her?” Steel Blade asked frantically, grabbing Overwatch in his hooves as Spike ran out of the library towards her. Overwatch looked uncertainly at the ponies surrounding her as well as at the baby dragon listening in closely, biting her lip nervously. “She’s… She’s gone,” she said finally. “She ran into the forest after Nightmare Moon.” “W-w-what?” Fluttershy suddenly burst out, her eyes wide in shock. "But why? Why pursue a monster?” Rarity exclaimed, just as surprised at the news. “W-we need to go after her!” Fluttershy continued. “I mean, we should go after her. She could get herself hurt in that big scary forest! Or even eaten alive!” Applejack nodded. “Fluttershy’s right. We can’t jus’ leave Twi alone t’ face down Nightmare Moon agin.” Overwatch pushed away Steel Blade, freeing herself from his hold, before looking squarely at the mares before her. “You… you would go into the Everfree after a pony you barely know?” she said. “Of course we would! We wouldn’t just abandon her! That’s what friends do!” Rainbow Dash said sternly. Overwatch stared at them with wonder, before bringing a hoof to her face and letting out a small chuckle. “Of course. Of course Twilight would have been right all along. I should have known.” “Known what?” Applejack said, her brow furrowed. “That this is just part of what love is, isn’t it? Putting somepony else’s needs before your own? It’s been in front of my face this entire time. I’ve been blinded by my own hesitation, but I won’t make that same mistake again. Not this time,” Overwatch said resolutely, looking around at the determined ponies and dragon around her. “We need to get going. I’ll explain everything along the way.” With Shining Armor leading his soldiers again in order to regroup search parties and aid wounded or unconscious guards, Celestia and Cadence had decided to search on their own. Any monster or animal who dared to get in the way ended up running scared and lightly singed, though the hydra had to be knocked unconscious, one head at a time. Cadence was surprised by the groups of unconscious Royal Guards scattered about or lying in tree branches, hurt but alive. Shadowy figures stood sentry over the bodies, scaring off local wildlife and retreating only when another group of Royal Guards approached to find and aid their fallen comrades. Celestia, however, seemed to be on the verge of razing down the forest, and she was loath to let the creatures of the Everfree off with just a warning. “Celestia, calm down. Please… Don’t let your anger at Nightmare Moon get the best of you,” Cadence said in an attempt to calm Celestia’s rage, but the powerful alicorn shot her a glare, causing her to back off slightly. "I'm not angry at Nightmare Moon!" Cadence blinked her eyes in confusion. “If not her, then who?” “I’m angry at myself,” she said, increasing her pace to a trot, “for failing to see Luna’s pain for decades before it was too late. For thinking that a few words would somehow lift her spirits after the continued abuses our subjects heaped on her! I don’t know when or how Nightmare Moon possessed my sister, and I fear that I have even less of an idea of who or what Nightmare Moon really is, but it’s clear that she’s not the monster I thought her to be.” “But she’s possessed Luna and killed many guards. You had to banish your sister to the moon because of her actions,” Cadence replied, the branches and leaves scratching against her wings as she tried to keep up. “The actions of Nightmare Moon were harsh and direct, but they came from desperation and distrust. She tried to help Luna in her own way, and it’s only now that I can finally see it. Just today, she spared the life of my student and showed mercy to her guard. The only pony I hate here is myself,” Celestia stated dispassionately, shooting a scorching fireball at the ground in front of a timberwolf as she passed, scaring off the creature before it could even think of acting. “And it’s true,” she continued. “I used the Elements of Harmony against Luna because I thought Nightmare Moon wished to bring about eternal night. I was hoping to purge the darkness from my sister’s heart, not banish her to the moon! Even the incident today where Twilight put herself in danger was a result of my original plans to use her against my sister. I cannot take back my mistakes, but I will make up for them. I can only hope that Luna and Twilight will forgive me one day.” Cadence just let out a sigh and followed. No matter how afraid she was of the monsters lurking in these woods, she couldn’t leave Celestia alone in her time of need, and she was going to do everything in her power to bring love back to Luna's heart. Nightmare Moon levitated another unconscious guard safely into the castle ruins despite the jolts of pain from the wound in her foreleg. More than once her injuries nearly caused her to crumple into a heap amidst the rubble, but she worked past it, spurred on by the memory of her talk with Twilight. The heartening discovery that Equestria not only enjoyed but even tried to discover the secrets of her night gave her the will to keep moving and the determination not to bring harm to anypony, despite her weakness and injuries. Anypony, except Celestia. “I’m sorry, Twilight. I cannot forgive my sister, but I will spare the lives of her soldiers,” Nightmare Moon said, breathing heavily. “That is the least I can do to prove to you that I am a queen worthy of your respect… Of your loyalty.” The dark alicorn lit her horn, and another batch of summoning circles appeared around her. The effort made her lose her balance and fall down to her knees, but she managed to finish the spell and bring in more of her shadowy soldiers. “Go… keep anypony from reaching these ruins until my strength returns to me, but remember, do not kill anypony, no matter what,” she ordered, before finally falling to her belly. From her position on the ground, she watched her shadows move towards the forest until her head become too heavy to lift. Slowly, she closed her eyes, a smile on her muzzle as the silver light of the moon washed over her wounded and exhausted body. Twilight galloped over twisted roots and hard rocks, swerving in and out of the underbrush as she dove deeper into the forest. The Elements. They’re the key to reuniting my mentor and her sister. Nightmare Moon’s desperate, and she would rather die than give up. I have to get to them before it’s too late. Twilight wasn’t entirely familiar with the insides of the Everfree Forest, but she had already stumbled across an old path during her escape and knew enough from her readings that it would take her towards the former Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. She knew better than to walk along it though. Patrols of Royal Guards passed by overhead even here, and they seemed to be following the same path she was. Sweat poured down her brow, but to Twilight’s surprise, she didn’t feel tired at all. Her energy seemed nearly endless. Furthermore, in the darkness of the night she was able to see through the gloomy forest just as clearly as if the sun had been shining down with all of its force. Even Overwatch’s spell failed to put me to sleep for very long. Twilight looked up through a break in the canopy at the moon as she passed, her hooves easily finding their way through the tangled undergrowth. Nightmare Moon, what did you do to me? Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud hissing from the bush in front of her, and she dug her hooves into the ground to stop, a shiver in her spine. “W-who's there?” she stammered, looking warily at the bush, only to let out a loud scream when out of the leafy cover sprang a giant snake, large enough to snap her up whole. She bolted without thinking, scrambling across the forest floor in her panic until she burst into an unexpected open expanse, an isolated field devoid of canopy cover, and ran straight into a massive lion paw. Twilight was swat from behind by another paw, tumbling helplessly into the middle of the open area. Her heart beat faster and her legs trembled uncontrollably as she looked up at the mighty beast approaching her. Her eyes trailed from its humongous red mane to the sharp teeth inside its hungry mouth to the large stinger waving about behind it. She slowly rose to her hooves and began to take a few hesitant steps back, not daring to look away even for a moment from the humongous beast. “So is this how it all ends?” Twilight squeaked out, barely audible. ”As a s-s-snack?” She shook her head. "No! I'm not gonna let this overgrown kitten stop me! I am the student of Princess Celestia! I can do this!" She gulped in nervously as the giant hybrid licked its chops, staring at her menacingly. "I hope..."