The next day
Nopony ever went into the Everfree Forest without a very good reason. This made it all the more convenient for those who did have a good reason, as it was unlikely that they would be disturbed by anything sentient. The forest was also a nexus of magical power, which was why things acted on their own within its depths, and why Celestia, before Luna’s transformation into Nightmare Moon, had built her palace there.
Cumulus had spent a long time searching the archives of the palace in Canterlot even before his insurrection. There were many things besides Nightmare Moon that had plagued Equestria in the past, and though many of them were confined to Tartarus, there was still a way to bring them forth. Ancient magic, outlawed in nearly every society for its usage of blood, was the key to the gates of Tartarus, and he intended to open them, just for a moment long enough to let something out.
Number Eight joined him at the palace shortly before what he judged to be midday. “You’re late,” Cumulus said pointedly. “But no matter. Did you bring what I asked for?”
“Of course,” Number Eight intoned. “All of it is here. I had to ask a zebra living further out in the woods about some of the herbs here, but I acquired them all.”
“And what of the zebra?”
“She won’t be a problem. Trust me.” He started to lay out the items, one by one, as Cumulus moved them into various positions. The Pegasus drew a circle on the ground, filling it with runes as a griffon spellcaster would, only with a piece of chalk. As each rune was drawn, he lay a different leaf on top of each, crushing them into powders matching the runes’ shapes. The four different kinds of powders started to glow slightly, as a group of four departed souls were called back to open a gate.
Smiling, he drew a circle with blades of grass, creating a thin outline to contain all the runes, also in accordance with griffon magic. “What now?” Number Eight asked, standing just over the circle.
“You’ve done all that is needed,” Cumulus replied. “I just need one more thing...” Before Eight could react and cast even a basic spell, his throat had been cut, his blood leaking out onto the circle and spreading through the grass. The powdered runes inside the circle started glowing brighter, and the screams of the four filled the air, but Cumulus didn’t stand around to watch. He was already leaving; he’d done what he needed to, and the sooner he got to a safe distance to watch the fallout, the better.
An unearthly growl filled the air behind him, and he smiled to himself. Let’s see even the legendary Hakumen fend off a beast like Cerberus...
~
Of all the races of ponykind, Alicorns were easily the hardest to quantify. It’s clear enough that they have the attributes of all three of the other races at once, and usually at an above-average level for each as well. What’s less known is that each Alicorn has a special talent of their own that they can manipulate in ways that a mundane pony couldn’t even imagine. They only lived for the same length of time as a normal pony, whether they were born that way like the royal family of Neighpon or ascended like Cadence, with two exceptions.
Celestia and Luna were the only two ‘true’ Alicorns in existence, immortal and revered as gods by most sentient races whether they knew it or not. They were marked by their ethereal manes, and controlled powers beyond even the ‘mortal’ Alicorns. Luna had yet to regrow her ethereal mane from the amount of power that was stripped by the Elements of Harmony, but she was certain that it would return soon.
It was while she was pondering this that a wave of energy pulsed over her from the southeast. No mortal pony, even an Alicorn, could have felt it, but she knew it for what it was: somepony had opened a gate to Tartarus. For now, nothing had come through, but that was likely to change in the near future. The only point of note in the southeast was the Everfree Forest; whatever was happening was happening there, and they’d have to move immediately before anything happened.
Cloud Skipper had been standing guard in the throne room when he saw Celestia stand up. Gilda, learning the ropes from him, noticed as well, and she was concerned that the princess might have been insane, earning her a knock on the head. If Celestia heard the griffon’s comment, she paid it no attention as she cleared her throat. “There has been a disturbance in the Everfree Forest,” she said. “I would like the two of you to fly there and investigate. I shall close the Day Court early, so there is no need to continue guarding me. Shining Armor should be sufficient to guard my quarters.”
“How do you know?” Gilda asked, looking out the window at the forest. “I don’t see guano down there.”
“What you don’t see is more dangerous than what you can, most of the time,” Skipper replied. “Anyway, you should probably listen to Celestia. She’s kind of your sovereign if you’re going to be Day Guard.”
“Not officially. I’m just hanging around to get a shot at that Cumulus guy.”
“In that case, it’s entirely possible that he was behind this,” Celestia added. “Even if he isn’t there now, we may be able to find something. And we can’t just let him act.”
“Are you sure this isn’t just a distraction?”
“Nightmare Moon’s crystal may have been a distraction, but I’d hardly say it was ‘just’ one. Go and investigate, immediately. That’s an order.”
She looked down at Skipper, who looked right back up at her. She believed that a pony’s eyes were a window to their soul, and she could see the doubt behind the practiced hardness in his. It wasn’t long before he looked away, though, telling Gilda to follow him out to the flight deck. As they left, she turned to the Everfree Forest again. The pulses were getting stronger, and closer together. If the pair were lucky, they’d arrive late enough to see what they were up against. If not...
~
“So what’s the plan?” Gilda asked, calling back to Skipper in her tailwind. She was a more experienced flier, due to the time he’d been stuck on the ground in Chikatetsu. They’d both arrive faster if he flew behind her, he’d said. Gilda agreed, of course; she wasn’t comfortable having him right behind her, but she knew he was right. “Do we land outside the forest or try to fly over?”
“I’ve done flyovers before, and it never ends well,” Skipper replied. “It’s difficult to go through the forest on the ground, but there’s no way we’d survive in the air. But there must be somepony who know the woods. Maybe we’ll find a guide.” He looked down, seeing a cottage near the edge of the woods. “That seems like a good place to ask.”
Gilda looked down, following him. “Uh, yeah, you go ahead, boss. I don’t want to go near that place right now.”
“What’s the matter? Afraid you’ll get bitten?”
“It’s not me who’s going to be afraid. You’ll never get anywhere with that pony if I’m around.” She banked off, landing a short distance away and acting like she wasn’t involved. Sighing, Skipper landed outside the cottage, scaring a few of the smaller animals around it.
After the initial surprise of all the animals was gone, he knocked on the door. “Excuse me,” he said. “I need your cooperation for a matter of royal importance.” He kicked himself mentally for having come up with such a stupid line, but he hadn’t really had any practice before. Besides, it’d probably at least have gotten the message across.
The Pegasus that opened the door was a canary-yellow colour with a pink, slightly curled mane. She looked out at him through a crack in the door, unwilling to step out entirely. “Um, have I done something wrong?” she asked.
“What? No, of course not. I just wanted to know if there was anypony around here who knew their way around the Everfree Forest.” She whimpered slightly, looking around furtively before opening the door more widely. “I’m afraid I don’t have time to step inside,” Skipper said. “I just need to know if there’s a pony I could use as a guide around here.”
“Well...” she started again, before stopping to breathe deeply. “Sometimes, the animals run into the forest, and they get lost and I have to get them back. And there was this time I went all the way in, but we won’t have to do that, right?” As Skipper opened his mouth to reply, she added, “Oh, but it’s okay if you want to go further in. I mean, you are a Day Guard and all...”
“Do what you can. It’s all anypony can ask.” He turned to leave, then turned back to the door to ensure she was following. “Oh, and what’s your name? I can’t just say ‘hey, you’ all the time.”
“I’m. uh...” She stepped slowly out of the cottage, as though she was uncertain whether the ground was safe or not. She said something barely above a whisper, but caught it and repeated herself slightly louder: “I’m Fluttershy.”
“Alright then. Let’s get going, Fluttershy.” As soon as he’d said it, a noise came from within the forest. It had been dulled by distance, but it was still very loud, and unmistakable as a roar of some sort. Neither of them knew what it was, but Fluttershy immediately hid behind Skipper, using him as a shield as he raised his spear towards the unmoving treeline.
As Fluttershy poked her head out, she immediately pulled out the rest of her body, gasping in alarm as she saw a frightened chicken run into the forest. “Oh, no!” she cried, more loudly than anything else she’d said so far. “Gertrude, you can’t! It’s too dangerous!” Immediately, she ran into the forest, chasing after her lost chicken. Shrugging, Skipper followed, and Gilda slightly behind.
“See what I mean?” the griffon asked. “She’s afraid of her own shadow. A griffon would probably be too much for her. Besides... I kind of have a history with her. With this whole town.” Her tone suggested she didn’t want to elaborate. That was fine with Skipper; he didn’t have time for her life story right then. A pony was in danger, and it was possible that whatever had roared before would leave more than just her fearing for their lives.
Skipper suddenly started as something landed on his back. It was too heavy to be a leaf, and it was doing a remarkable job of holding onto him, but it wasn’t actually attacking. When he turned to look, he saw it was a white rabbit, pointing hurriedly in the direction that Fluttershy had gone. It seemed to have a strange intelligence in its eyes and its manner, and Skipper sighed, dreading the taunts he’d get from Gilda later for talking to a rabbit. “Fine, but you’d better not slow me down,” Skipper told it, and it held onto his neck again.
Thusly motivated, Pegasus, griffon and rabbit charged headlong into the forest after a pony and a chicken. Gilda thought it sounded like the start of a bad joke, but the humour quickly disappeared as the forest became denser and denser. All the sounds of the forest were gone, and a much louder roar from just up ahead made it clear what the reason was.
“Fluttershy’s probably either there, or running away back to her cottage,” Skipper told Gilda. The rabbit seemed to disagree, pointing towards the sound as though he knew his owner would be there. “Either way, we’d better check it out.” He kept moving forward until he heard the loud footsteps and the trees falling aside. Fluttershy was nearby, staring upwards, and everyone followed her eyes to see a beast that would most likely stay in their nightmares forever.
On the surface, it seemed like a dog that had simply grown to a monstrous size, as tall as a tree and easily five times a pony’s height. Its head was snarling and rabid, the saliva flying out and covering all the plants nearby. Its eyes were a pure red, eternally tilted downwards in a pose designed to strike fear into the hearts of anything nearby. But none of those were its worst qualities. The very worst thing about it was the other two heads on either side, equally enraged and unstoppable.
Skipper and Gilda had no idea what it was. Fluttershy whispered a name, barely heard under the growls of the creature:
“Cerberus.”
At the mention of its name, the centre head looked down, pausing in its constant growl. Fluttershy looked up, meeting its gaze for a moment before backing away. When she looked again, though, what happened next surprised everyone else nearby. Fluttershy’s gaze grew in intensity, and she flew up to meet the canine eye to eye. “How dare you. How DARE you run around acting like you’re the king of everything, just because you’re big!”
Cerberus shrunk away slightly, but Fluttershy didn’t let up. “You can’t just tear into somepony else’s home like you own it, just because they’re too small to fight back! Now go home and think about what you’ve done!” It seemed to be considering it, and for a moment Skipper was relieved.
Then the other two heads roared in unison.
The force of the sudden roar threw Fluttershy back into a tree, and she slumped down on the ground. Skipper launched himself into the air to avoid a swipe of its front paw, and landed next to Fluttershy as the beast set its paw down again, loudly raising a cloud of dust. “You shouldn’t stay here,” Skipper said. “Get back to Ponyville, find Celestia’s student, and have her get over here, as soon as you can.” She barely seemed to notice, stunned either by the impact or by Cerberus’ rejection of her.
He shoved her out of the way as its other paw came forward, pushing over the tree she’d been leaning on. “What are you waiting for? Go! All of Ponyville is in danger!” That, plus a kick from the rabbit, seemed to wake Fluttershy up, and she immediately took flight back down the path. The centre head snarled and took off, following her at a gait that its size should have made impossible. “Gilda!” Skipper shouted over the resounding steps. “Where are you?!”
“Did you see that thing?!” Gilda shouted back. “I can’t believe that even exists here! And it’s headed right for Ponyville! We have to get after it, and stop it!”
“Are you crazy?! It’ll kill you, if it even notices you!”
“And you’ll just let it follow her, and lay a whole town to waste?! Even if it is full of loser ponies, I can’t just let them all get destroyed! What do YOU suggest we do?!”
“I don’t know! Okay?!” Skipper stopped and took a few panted breaths, trying to vent his anger without actually hurting the griffon. “I don’t know,” he repeated finally. “I’ve never done anything like this. I’m not used to looking out for anyone but myself.” After a short pause, he added, “This is why I didn’t want to take over the Day Guard. I’ve mostly just been listening to Shining Armor. I can’t make leadership decisions, because I’m too focused on myself after...”
Gilda slapped him across the face suddenly. “Get a grip, will you? You need to do SOMETHING, or Ponyville is going to be demolished! And if you don’t want to lead, then I will. And I ORDER you to follow me back there!” She turned around and took off down the path, now much clearer with all the trees Cerberus had pushed down. After a moment’s hesitation, Skipper followed.
~
“Twilight! You have to write a letter to the Princess! Everypony’s in trouble!”
Twilight shook herself awake. Had she really fallen asleep while reading again? And why was Fluttershy shouting more loudly than she’d ever heard the Pegasus speak before? Actually, it was Fluttershy shaking her awake after a while. “Twilight! Where’s Spike?”
“Fluttershy? What’s going on?” Before she got an answer, she heard the rumbling sounds coming closer and closer. Out the window, everypony was in a blind panic, running amok through the town. It didn’t take long for the source of the commotion to appear: Cerberus. The centre head sniffed at the ground while the other two barked at anypony unwise enough to venture nearby. Fluttershy was shivering in place. She knew what, or rather who, it was sniffing for.
Twilight and Fluttershy ran out the nearby door, and Cerberus’ left head barked, leading the centre to roar and turn towards the two. “Spiiiike!” Twilight shouted. “Where are you?!” To think that now of all times is when I send him out on a list of errands... She started running for where the closest errand was being run, barely hearing the house being destroyed by the massive beast chasing her and the Pegasus next to her.
Fluttershy banked off, trying to get it away from Twilight and from Ponyville, even if it was only for a little while. The right head turned to follow her, and the left tried to snap at it across the centre, still focused mostly on Twilight. It stumbled back and forth for a little while before the centre head snapped at the left, leaving the right to follow Fluttershy.
When her wings finally gave out, she fell next to the wall of a building, cornered by the three heads blocking her from moving left, right or ahead. Whimpering, she closed her eyes and curled up into a ball, waiting for be bitten or mauled in half, or however the inevitable end would come.
A smacking sound came first, but Fluttershy couldn’t feel anything. It had been Skipper charging into the side of the beast, ramming his spear into the rightmost eye of Cerberus. It roared loudly, rearing up on its hind legs as he pulled it out, spraying its blood partly over the cowering pony. Before she could react, she was scooped up by another, pulled away from where its paws came down.
Gilda set Fluttershy down on her hooves, to the best of her ability, and pointed with a talon towards the northern edge of town. “Get towards Canterlot,” she said, ignoring the look of absolute fear that she was receiving. “It’ll be safer there. I’ll try to evacuate as many as I can. Get going!” Nodding slowly, Fluttershy started running, almost as scared of seeing Gilda again as Cerberus. Sighing and holding a talon over her beak, she flew back into town, shouting an obscenity that no pony would understand the true meaning of into the air to get the attention of as many ponies as possible.
Seeing her assembling the ponies, Skipper tried to lead the now-enraged Cerberus away from where she was gathering them, trying to prevent any more deaths than had doubtless already occurred. Gilda was right; he had to do something, and distracting Cerberus was the best he could do. He dived out of reach of another swipe, pulling up to avoid a bite, and laughing at how easy it had seemed.
Suddenly, he felt the grip of a Unicorn’s magic pulling on him. Instinctively, he tried to break free, but the Unicorn was stronger than most, and he was thrown to the ground in a rough landing. The reason for it became apparent as a massive fireball flew through the space where he’d been, singing the top of his mane. All three heads closed their mouths at once, growling at their target and the pony who’d taken it from them.
“Sorry about the rough landing,” Twilight said quickly. “I had to get you out of there.” As soon as she’d let go of Skipper, she was charging up for a second spell, releasing it into Cerberus’ open centre mouth and dousing the fire that was building up in it. This caused Cerberus to roar again, and this time it was Skipper who carried Twilight out of danger.
“You’re Celestia’s student, right?” he asked as he set her down again. “Nopony else could throw out a spell that quickly. Did you get a letter to her?” Twilight shook her head quickly. “Send up a flare. That should get somepony’s attention back in Canterlot. If we’re lucky, Celestia herself should be coming to help us...”
“What about the Day Guard?”
“There aren’t enough guards to deal with something like this.” He left out the fact that there were literally only four of them. “Just launch the flare.” Cerberus’ roar filled the air again, and Twilight snapped into focus, charging up a spell that she fired skyward, releasing what seemed like a massive firework in the shape of her Cutie Mark.
“What now?” she asked, as Cerberus stepped towards them.
“We keep the dog away from Gilda and the ponies she’s evacuating. We’ve already got its attention, now let’s put that to use!” He took off into the air and flew over Cerberus’ heads, even as it reared up to snatch him out of the air. It turned to chase after him, lumbering along through the town, paying no heed to the buildings in the way. Twilight tried to fire a bolt to get it to turn around, but it barely felt the impact. For a moment, she was reminded of the Ursa Minor that had come a few days earlier, but that had only had one head.
And it had been smaller.
Focusing on Skipper magically, she teleported as close to him as she could safely manage, and the right head sensed the magical burst. It snarled and spat a smaller fireball, which Twilight quickly teleported away from again. She landed in front of Skipper, and he quickly scooped her up again, flying over a building which Twilight recognised as Sugarcube Corner just before Cerberus crushed it under his massive frame. Pinkie’s not going to like that, she thought. If she’s still alive...
Skipper noticed she was slumping slightly as she looked at the building, but didn’t pay it much heed. He had to get her and Cerberus out of the populated area, and keep it busy until Celestia arrived. Ducking under another fireball at Twilight’s warning, he finally landed on the crest of a hill shortly outside the bounds of the houses.
“Well, I’m out of ideas,” he said as he looked up at the hulking figure bearing down on them. “Damn, if we’d gotten here sooner, maybe Celestia could’ve...” He stopped as everything seemed to light up, just before a beam of sunfire came down and struck Cerberus in the tail. It yowled with all three heads at once, turning to face its attacker.
Twilight would have bowed immediately if the situation hadn’t been too dire to waste on formalities. Her teacher, the oldest Alicorn known to exist, and the spirit of the sun itself, Princess Celestia.
“Let's get back in the game,” Skipper said. “We need to back her up, as best we can. Try to stay out of its range, but do anything else you can. You can do that, right?” Twilight nodded quickly, teleporting to a slightly safer distance as he flew up to a cloud, rubbing his hooves to create a static charge.
~
Wake up, my child.
Ever since she was a filly, Midnight had always come to the field of white flowers as a kind of sanctuary. Whenever she was sad, or alone, she would go into the forest and sit in the clearing for a while, the smell of the flowers and the sight of their dances lifting her spirits no matter how often she saw them. Her dreams also often took her to the field, and she would sit in the illusory flowers until life saw fit to return.
You must wake up, Midnight Blossom. Your rightful queen commands it!
She jolted awake, but the voice continued. Your inaction is dangerous for the ones you care for. The Pegasus will die if you do not act!
“Skipper?” she asked. “What’s going on? And why are you telling me this?”
My reasons are entirely selfish, I assure you. But if you do not get the lead out, then both of us will regret it. So move, before I MOVE YOU!!
Midnight cringed over as a force within her started to force its way out. She felt as though it was tearing through her skin from inside, and she screamed loudly, her eyes closed. After about a minute of screaming like that, she slumped over unconscious. When Shining Armor found her, and she opened her eyes again, it wasn’t Midnight in control.
Her eyes had turned the full turquoise of Nightmare Moon, and an illusory horn had grown on her forehead, made entirely out of a black magical aura. Before he could react, she had flown off past him as though he wasn’t even there, and he wondered at what was going on. He had to tell Luna about the development, he decided. If Nightmare Moon had fully taken over Midnight, then that would probably work against them.
Luna had come down to him first. “I felt the presence of Nightmare Moon coming from here,” she said. “It’s heading towards Ponyville. I can only imagine her purpose...”
“We need to stay here,” Shining said. “With everypony else gone, anything could be happening here. Cumulus isn’t the type to do anything in a vacuum...” He trailed off as he saw the shadows creeping over the ground.
“I have lost control over the moon,” Luna said quietly. “This is more of a problem than I thought...” The eclipse covered all of the palace before long, becoming a total eclipse not long after.
Shining suddenly looked up, as though he’d remembered something. “One of the security alarms has been tripped,” he said. “The archives! Somepony’s headed for the archives!”
“Go, Shining Armor!” Luna replied. “I shall catch up, once you have apprehended the villain!” She ran at a gallop back into the palace as the Unicorn teleported away, wondering why anypony would try to access the archives without being detected.
When Shining arrived just outside, the doors had been torn off their hinges, though he didn’t detect any magic from it. The interloper was most likely an Earth Pony, in that case, but a very strong one if he could break through such a door. He wondered why there was only an alarm on the door rather than any stronger protections, but pushed the thoughts aside as he entered, casting a light spell to try and flush his target out.
Too late, he heard running hoofsteps from the side, and turned only to be tackled by a mountain of an Earth Pony. His black coat and massive bulk seemed familiar, but the resemblance didn’t matter to Shining. He teleported just in time to avoid having his head crushed, standing up as his opponent turned around.
He created a shield spell, his Cutie Mark’s talent, to deflect the next charge. It didn’t seem to faze the Earth Pony, who simply backed up and charged again. It was then that Shining noticed the two puncture marks in his neck. He’d definitely seen that pony before, except that Midnight had definitely killed Blackguard. To see him alive and still attacking was impossible, unless Cumulus had somehow learned to raise the dead.
Blackguard didn’t seem to have much intelligence besides just attacking, but his strength plus the corruption of his dead body was taking its toll even on Shining’s magic. He dropped the shield spell and rolled to the side, watching Blackguard charge into a shelf, toppling it over. Shining quickly lifted the shelves and pushed them around, keeping the Earth Pony down. He knew it wouldn’t last long, and started to retreat, trying to come up with a plan.
A magical bolt from the shadows brought him back into focus, slamming into his side and knocking him over. “Not bad,” a mare’s voice called out. “But you’ve already lost, I’m afraid. I’ve already found what I’m looking for.”
“You’ll never get out alive,” Shining shouted back. “You can’t teleport inside the archives, and Princess Luna is coming even as I speak! You might as well just surrender!”
The mare laughed, a full, genuine laugh of amusement. “Oh, you foal. Did you really think I came here unprepared?” A bright blue flash of light filled the air, and Shining sensed that it was a teleport spell. He tried to focus on the remaining magical residue, but the sound of several books crashing behind him brought his attention back to Blackguard.
He charged again, but a blue aura surrounded him, stopping his charge. Before long, his body had completely crumbled into dust as Luna applied a spell Shining had never seen the like of before. All that was left of him was the dust, which fell apart as the Alicorn stepped on it. “What news?” she asked.
“It’s not good,” Shining replied. “There was a Unicorn here, I think she animated him. She took a book and left. Somehow, she removed the magical safeguards, including teleportation. I didn’t get a good look, but she had a light blue aura...” He sighed, looking down. “My apologies, Princess. I have failed.”
“You did all you could, Shining Armor,” Luna intoned. “Feel no guilt for your actions. But as for Ponyville, and my darker half... All we can do is wait for word from my sister, whenever it may come. Let us return, in the meanwhile.” Nodding, Shining left the room behind his monarch.
~
With Celestia’s help, it seemed like Cerberus could at least be hurt, but even she couldn’t bring the beast down fully. It continued fighting back, despite everything that was thrown at it, and the ponies couldn’t keep up forever. When Gilda turned towards the fighting, she saw Skipper make a hard landing, and took off in his direction.
The train of ponies behind stopped to look, but kept moving away from the area nonetheless, now that the initial panic had mostly subsided. Time, the efforts of the Ponyville guards (at Gilda’s prompting) and the arrival of Celestia had had a calming effect on Ponyville, and they all moved away from Cerberus without running or screaming. Everypony stopped and looked up as the shadow fell across them, and the sun was covered by the moon, its corona the only visible light.
Celestia was stunned, and barely managed to avoid a swipe from Cerberus. How had there been an eclipse that Luna hadn’t told her about? All of a sudden, she felt the presence of Nightmare Moon, and therein lay her answer.
The Nightmare had returned, though it was weaker than before. It was unmistakable, however, especially when she saw the vessel land, Midnight’s golden eyes taken over by turquoise. It didn’t immediately try to attack Celestia, however. Instead, it focused its energy on Cerberus, firing a beam of magic that tore into Cerberus to an even greater degree than the sunfire.
“Now, Celestia! Burn the wound!” it shouted, and without stopping to think about why Nightmare Moon was helping her, Celestia fired a beam of her own. The sunfire burned inside Cerberus, and it howled in pain, unable to get away from the attack. Both Alicorns, true and borrowed, fired their magic at Cerberus’ wound, finally bringing it down to the ground.
“Midnight...” Skipper said, seeing the fight continue. “She’s...” Gilda couldn’t get any more out of him, and she simply continued watching, her beak hanging open at the power on display. Suddenly, she felt Skipper kick her in the hindquarters, convulsing at something.
Nightmare Moon’s illusory horn was absorbing Cerberus somehow, tearing apart its body and taking it into her. As soon as the hound was entirely gone, Skipper stopped, falling unconscious. Midnight fell as well, as the Nightmare relinquished its control over its vessel. Celestia, Twilight and Gilda were left staring at one another, wondering what had happened and how to respond.
Nightmare Moon was returning, and clearly gaining in strength, but wasn’t immediately hostile to its half-sister. Skipper and Midnight shared its essence, but the Thestral was affected far more. Cumulus had summoned a beast from legend to attack Ponyville, and only the intervention of an ancient, powerful enemy had stopped it. Everything was piling on them at once, and there was nothing that anyone could think to do.
“Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity were all in tow behind her, and they all shared a sombre expression, even the Element of Laughter unable to find anything cheerful about the situation. She looked at Ponyville, wrecked and burning, a few dead ponies lying in the streets. All her friends looked to her, and she looked to Celestia.
“Twilight, you and your friends need to be here, to help Ponyville recover,” Celestia said at length. “I doubt that this is truly the end of the trials to come. I must return to Canterlot.”
“Wait!” Twilight shouted, as her mentor turned around. “Can’t you tell me anything concrete about what’s going on?”
Another long pause, until Celestia finally said, “Be glad that you are not directly the target of these events, Twilight Sparkle.” That was all she said as she picked up Midnight Blossom with her hooves, placing the smaller pony over her back as she flew off. Carrying Skipper in her talons, Gilda followed, leaving five ponies wondering why their homes had been destroyed to spite Celestia.
~
The Unicorn stepped into the pitch-black room, only able to sense the table and the Pegasus in front of her with her magic. “Is Ponyville gone?” she asked.
“Not quite, I’m afraid. It seems that the Nightmare is a more complex being than I thought. Perhaps she merely wanted Cerberus’ power, but either way, it was defeated. No matter. That was not my objective. Do you have it?”
“Of course.” She placed the book on the table and slid it across with her magic, still unable to see who she was speaking to despite the soft blue light. “Why did you want this book, specifically?”
“Oh, I have my reasons. I always do. That’s why, regardless of how many battles Celestia thinks she’s won, she’s going to lose the war.”
“I see. What do you want me to do, then?”
“Return home, for the time being. Act as though nothing has changed. My next course of action will require some time to prepare, but worry not. You shall get your chance to act soon enough, Number Six.”
“Understood.” She turned and left as she heard the book being opened, despite the darkness of the room. It wasn’t her task to understand all the things that Number One did. She shared his ideal of strength, and would act to carry it out. That was her purpose in life.
As she stepped out into the sunlight, though, her thoughts wandered back to Shining Armor. I look forward to our next meeting... We shall see your true strength then.