//------------------------------//
// Return to Ponyville, Part 2 
// Story: What Came Before 
// by Rocket Blaze 
//------------------------------//

	They ascended the staircase in stunned silence, only broken when Rarity whispered through a crack in Twilight's bedroom door. "I'm in here. Please come in quickly. The-uh, guards can wait outside... If you don't mind."

"Rarity? What's the matter?" Twilight begged. "You sound distressed."

"Just... come in quickly. Please. Leave your guards outside."

Pinkie glanced over at the guards. Each one had a look of worry on their face, but when Twilight nodded at them to stay behind, they returned the gesture agreeably. "Be safe," Stormy whispered. Pinkie didn't think that they'd need to worry about safety, but after what she'd seen in Ponyville, she suspected that she'd be taking a risk no matter what she did.

Twilight pressed against the door, which opened but an inch or two before thumping against something heavy on the other side. "Oh, I'm sorry," said Rarity. "Let me get that for you." There was a sound like a rush of air, the scraping of wood on wood, and then nothing.

The door swung open as though on its own, but as Pinkie and Fluttershy followed Twilight into the room, she could see Rarity was behind it waiting to swiftly shut the way behind them. Using her magic, Rarity returned Twilight's bedroom chest to its place against the door before facing her friends and greeting them properly.

"There. Now we can talk."

"Rarity?" Twilight asked. "What is all of this about?"

"Yeah," agreed Pinkie. "Why are you hiding in here like this?"

"I... I'm not quite sure where to begin," she started. "When I came here to help, everything seemed normal enough. I had wanted to make sure they rebuilt my shop exactly as it was, you see. I'm very particular about my layout.

"But then things started happening. The workers just stopped coming, and I wasn't going to rebuild my home by myself. Day Break suggested we come here, but I had no way of getting word to you. I hope you don't mind, Twilight!"

Twilight shook her head. "It's not a problem, but are you okay? We got your letter this morning; you sounded really worried."

"Oh, yes. Spike sent that. He's sleeping in the-"

"-ACHOO!" The sneeze came from Twilight's closet. Pinkie wandered towards it and parted the doors. Spike was curled up in a pile of blankets that had been bunched together as sort of a makeshift bed. Looking up, Spike caught Pinkie's eye and said quietly, "oh, hi guys! I guess it's true that you sneeze when some pony's talking about you behind your back."

"Spike!" Twilight ran up to the closet, almost pushing Pinkie away as she lifted Spike up into the air with her magic and gave him a welcoming hug. "I've wondered where you were!"

Spike nodded as Twilight set him down. "I was waiting for you to come back, and looking after the place just like you asked. But then things got weird, then Rarity showed up with that pony downstairs. He's really scary!"

"Yeah... About that..." Twilight groaned. "What's his deal, anyway?"

Rarity spoke up. "I was just going to say, Twilight. He wasn't like this at all a few days ago! When we came in here, he insisted on standing watch. But then, he never went to sleep. He just stood in that room, watching the door.

"At first, I thought he was just being dutiful, but then I started hearing him say things. Then, at night, he was shouting at nothing. Just this morning he pulled out his sword in the kitchen and attacked the doorway, just as I was about to enter. He... He almost hit me! I-I'm afraid that he's going to hurt me... more than anything else in this town."

Fluttershy cleared her throat before anyone else could speak. "Um, if it was so bad here... well, why didn't you come back to Canterlot?"

Rarity sighed. "I wanted to take Spike and just run away, but the train wasn't running. And by that point, most of Ponyville had just up and vanished! It's the strangest thing... I started asking around, but it was like nopony cared.

"I did manage to find some of my sketching supplies, which I used to make some flyers for the town. I wanted somepony... anypony to care about those who'd gone mising! I thought... maybe it would help..." A lone tear traced its way along the curve of Rarity's muzzle, before falling gracefully to the floor.

Twilight patted Rarity reassuringly on the shoulder. "I'm sure it did, Rarity. We certainly noticed. I'm sure somepony else did, too."

"I... I just don't know, Twilight." Rarity shed a few more tears, and as Twilight placed her forelegs around to comfort her, broke down into a chorus of sobs. "I was just so scared... I didn't know if... If I would be... It was HORRIBLE!" She let out a pained cry that would surely have alerted Day Break downstairs.

Pinkie and Fluttershy both closed in on their wailing friend, offering up their own hugs to calm her down. "Rarity..." Pinkie whispered. "You're with us, now. We won't let those meanies hurt you!"

Sniffling, Rarity regained her composure, though her eyes were still shot with streaks of red; her blue mascara streaking down her otherwise pristine white coat. "T-Thank you... I just... I didn't know when, or even if I'd ever see you again. And Pinkie... It has been a long time. I would like to catch up on everything we missed together when all of this is over."

Pinkie smiled. "Oh, yeah! I'd like that a lot."

There was a loud bang on the floorboards outside which silenced all of the ponies in the room. "Let me in there! I heard her cry out! She needs me! She-"

"-Day Break! Have you gone daft? She's fine!"

The scrape of metal on metal accompanied the patter of hooves against the floorboards. There was another loud thunk, followed by the sound of shatering glass, and moar shouting.

"Stop! What are you doing!? No! Let me in there! RARITY! RARITYYY!" Rarity shrank within the cluster of her friends as a pounding against the door reverberated through the entire room. "Rarity! Please tell me you're okay! I was told to... the princess said... I..."

Thunk.

"Good work, Stormy," remarked Night Rider from outside.

Seconds later, there was a knocking at the door. "Uh, girls?" it was Sentinel Spark. "Not that there's anything to wory about, but we should probably get going. Assuming Rarity's okay in there, we should probably get her back to the Princess and tell her about everything we've seen here today."

Rarity looked up at Twilight. "Is that why you came back? To get me?"

Twilight nodded. "But we also want to find Applejack and Rainbow. The Princess told you about what happened to them, right?"

With a dejected glance aside, Rarity confirmed as much without needing to say a word. "I... I wish I knew where they were. I'm so useless..."

"No, Rarity!" Fluttershy encouraged. "You're not useless! Actually, you've helped us out quite a bit."

"I... I have?" she sniffled.

Twilight nodded as she helped Rarity stand. "You did. With those flyers you posted, we now have an idea of just how dire the situation here has become. We can convince the princess to commit more resources to fix our home."

There was another knock. "Ladies... I don't know how long Day Break's going to be out for. We really should go!"

"O-Okay!" Rarity called nervously. "We're... We're coming out!"


***


Rarity's confidence did not resurface until they were outside in the open air of Ponyville. "Oh, it feels so good to be out of that cave! Uh, no offense, Twilight. But, are you sure Day Break will be okay in there? He was acting strange, but I don't want anything bad to happen to him."

Sentinel shook his head. "I'm not sure of anything here, miss Rarity. But we have to keep light on our feet. We don't know what else to expect here, and if we're hauling his heavy butt around I'm afraid it might do more harm than good."

"Yeah," concurred Stormy. "Besides, I had to conjure up that last spell in a hurry. He could be waking up any min-"

"-Rarity!?"

"Aaaand, there he is."

Even outside, they could hear Day Break thundering down the stairs. "It's okay," commented Night Rider. "I hid his sword when he passed out."

Day Break appeared in the door, huffing angrily.

"S'okay there, hoss," Sentinel remarked pointedly. "See? Rarity's fine! Now, are you ready to get some air and calm down?"

Day Break cocked his head to the side, twitching his ears about as though trying to single out a particularly elusive noise. "Don't any of you hear that!?"

"Hear what?" groaned Sentinel. "I'm starting to lose my patience with you."

"He... He's calling me! He says for you to come! Come with me!" without a second's hesitation, Day Break galloped through the group, knocking Pinkie and Twilight to the ground.

"Oh, dear," groaned Stormy.

"Better go after him!" Night Rider declared.

"No!" cried Twilight. "Listen, if he's going after who I think he's going after, we can't... It's most definitely a trap!"

"Look, Twilight," he countered. "I appreciate your concern for our safety and all, and I know Day Break's acting really weird, but he's one of ours. We Canterlot Guard look after our own, understand?"

Pinkie prodded her friend to get her attention. "I think he may have a point, Twilight. Isn't this what we trained for?"

Twilight shrugged. "I don't think we should let him lead us."

"We don't have time to debate this!" Night Rider pressed. "We're gonna lose him!"

Fluttershy pitched in. "I don't see a choice, Twilight. Malice is going to find us, anyway. We might not be as prepared when he does."

After a second of hesitation, Twilight gave an acquiescing nod.

"Okay! Then let's go!"

All at once, the ponies took off after the fleeing Day Break, who was by that point a spot in the distance trailing a faint cloud of dust in his wake. "We're gonna lose him!" Sentinel called out to the ponies trailing behind him. "Where's he taking us, anyway?"

"I don't know!" Twilight shot back. "He's leaving town, that's for sure!"

Sure enough, Day Break disappeared over the crest of the next hill. Even though Pinkie's lungs ached from the running, and Fluttershy was struggling to keep up, they pressed onward. It seemed that they were running without a destination for hours, but as Pinkie looked back she could see that Ponyville was still well within sight.

It looked as though they were heading towards the Everfree Forest, which was a thought Pinkie didn't want to entertain. The forest was full of all kinds of dangerous and scary things - it would be just the kind of place for Malice to make his stand, and he would have a strong advantage if that was indeed where he was.

But their path veered clear of the forest, and after a few minutes their party slowed to a jog. "Huff... I think we, huff lost him," wheezed Twilight.

"Do you...huff Do you think so, Sparky?" Pinkie asked.

"I don't know, but he definitely came this way. There's only one track going this way. We'll keep following it."

"I don't think we need to," gasped Stormy, pointing a hoof down the road. "Look..."

Pinkie was studying the ground as though it would somehow grant her the energy to keep moving forward, but when she saw what Stormy was pointing at she suddenly felt a rush of adrenaline that would have certainly given her the strength to run much farther.

Out there, at the crest of the next hill, a hanging figure swayed from a line cast around a high tree branch. That alone would have left Pinkie breathless; the sight of another lifeless body dangling next to it - followed by another, and another, and another after that - nearly stopped her heart where she stood.

Was this the fate of all those who disappeared?

Was this their final resting ground?

They approached cautiously. Day Break was nowhere to be seen, but it was doubtless that this was where Malice had led him. "Malice... wanted us to see this..." Pinkie gasped.

None of their party replied. Even the guards stayed silent. There was nothing to say.

Drops of blood had stained the ground below each body. It appeared they did not die hanging, but the strips of flesh rended from muscle and bone alike left many of the bodies unrecognizable - not that Pinkie could suffer herself to look in the first place.

A chilling breeze blew in from the direction they were travelling in, bringing with it the cloying stench of decay. Pinkie cinched her nose against the assault, but she couldn't keep herself from retching. The sickening buzz of flies swarming over the violated carcasses of her neighbors and friends only made the horror of the situation even worse.

Twilight broke the eerie silence. "'Take them down... And join them'?" Pinkie looked to see what she was talking about, and saw the warning sign carved into the tree that bared the first piece of rotten, pony-shaped fruit.

"Why?" Pinkie implored, her voice straining. "Why would someone do this?"

"Malice..." Fluttershy growled through clenched teeth. Pinkie could see her legs trembling, her ears held back, and her eyes swimming with rage. Pinkie had never seen Fluttershy in such a way. "We need to stop him."

"We need to press on," urged Night Rider with an obvious effort to maintain his impeccable professionalism. Pinkie couldn't blame him for keeping focused - perhaps she even envied him for it.

However, something inside of her begged for the chance to lay these bodies to rest. "We... We can't just leave them like this! We can dig... We can put something up for them... We can't just leave them here!"

"I'm with Pinkie." Twilight declared, stepping next to her friend. "Malice wanted us to see this because he thought it would defeat us. Well, he's wrong! We will give the fallen the respect they deserve, and remember each and every one of them until the time comes to make him remember too."

Fluttershy and Rarity took their place next to Pinkie and Twilight, standing tall to declare their support. Even Stormy and Sentinel Spark looked convinced that this was the right thing to do.

Night Rider relented. "Very well. But come sundown, we will return to Ponyville for the night. I believe we'll be safe there if we keep a night watch in Twilight's library."

"Okay then," Twilight said. "Let's get-"

"-Wait," Pinkie interrupted. "I have a request."

"What's that?"

Pinkie scraped at the ground with her hoof thoughtfully. "I don't want us to use magic. These ponies... each and every one of them was important. Each and every one of them had their own life, friends, family, home... They deserve as much care putting them to rest as they put into living life."

All of her friends nodded in agreement. "Okay, Pinkie. No magic."

Even amidst all of the surrounding death, Pinkie felt comforted by the presence of her friends, and the knowledge that those Malice had so violently taken from them would be properly laid to rest.

"Thank you," she whispered.


***


The blue sky gave way to hues of yellow, orange, and red as the sun sank behind the endless field of trees beyond. Pinkie only took a second to appreciate it before turning her attention back to the dirt she had been moving for the last two and a half hours. Her hooves ached from the scraping, her coat was matted with sweat and tears, and even though her nose had grown used to the never-ending stench that wafted down from the trees above, her spirit had not.

Each and every pony that came down received a brief eulogy once Pinkie had identified who it was, though for some it was easier than others. Even the unknown - those Pinkie either didn't recognize, or whose bodies were too far desecrated to be recognized - received a few parting words of kindness in lieu of a proper speech.

Because time was short, the graves had to be shallow. Pinkie felt that, at the very least, it was better than nothing. She looked back on the progress they had made: a row of five heaping mounds lay side by side along the side of the road, where each one had been marked with a sun-shaped ornament that Rarity had fashioned from the nearby twigs and grass.

Five souls, properly laid to rest - Pinkie smiled at the good deed she had helped accomplish. And yet, as she looked farther down the path, she saw nothing but more death and suffering. "Will this nightmare ever end?" she asked herself.

"It has to," Twilight said, suddenly appearing next to her. "Look up in the sky." Pinkie did so, and saw a bright half-moon hanging directly overhead. She wasn't sure what it was supposed to mean, but Twilight explained before she could ask. "The moon is out much earlier than it should be. The eclipse is coming. Maybe it will be just what we need."

Pinkie shook her head. "It was in the vision, Twilight. Remember what Malice showed us? I'm scared that it'll only get worse."

"I know, Pinkie. I'm worried too, but here we are... There's no going back now."

Twilight wandered off to help Fluttershy take down the next victim, and to let Pinkie reflect. Their guards had already begun to dig the next series of graves, and Pinkie decided to help. It was the least she could do, since everypony else had a job to do.

Half an hour later, Pinkie was shoulder-high inside a hole she had dug on her own. She vaguely remembered Night Rider offering his assistance, but in her focus she must not have registered it until after the fact. Looking down at her cracked and bloody hooves, she was starting to wish she had taken him up on his offer.

She peeked from the hole and saw that hers was at the head of the line. Fluttershy and Twilight were helping the guards finish packing in the previous three, and she knew that pretty soon she would have to find as yet more words to convey how good these innocent ponies were, and why it was such a tragedy that they were taken.

Not that she minded - she honestly felt it was her solemn duty to do so - but every time she said her piece, it reminded her of the darkness and injustice that was being so unfairly thrust upon them.

She decided to join them before needing to be called. The other side of the grave was easier to climb out of, so she braced her forelegs and leapt up with little difficulty. As she straightened herself up, she found herself looking up at a much taller stallion who must have hitherto been hiding in the shadows of the waning daylight.

She let out a startled yelp as Day Break placed a hoof up to his muzzle.

"Shhhhh. Don't disturb them. They are resting," he whispered.

"D-D-Day Break..." she whimpered. "I t-thought you were-"

"-I said be quiet!" he screamed, with clear disregard for his own advice. Pinkie heard the digging behind her stop.

Day Break's eyes were wide yet vacant, as though he was seeing, but not noticing. His shrunken pupils flitted from Pinkie to the rest of her group, then to the bodies hanging from the trees, then back down to Pinkie. She wasn't sure where he'd come from, or how he'd snuck up on her so quietly, but his twitchy expression gave her the idea that she'd better not linger.

Edging backwards, Pinkie lost her footing and tumbled, tail first, into the grave she'd just climbed out of. As her back hit the ground, she found herself stunned long enough to see Day Break prepare to jump in after her.

"Stop it right there!" It sounded like Night Rider. Day Break hesitated long enough for Sentinel Spark to leap over Pinkie's head and tackle Day Break to the ground.

Day Break quickly tossed the smaller pegasus off of him, rolling to his side and jumping to his feet. "'Take them down and join them!' Don't you understand!? My master has burdened these servants of his with glorious purpose! He calls us to join them!"

"I'm getting really tired of hearing you talk," Sentinel groaned. "Stormy? Prepare your spell. He's clearly not right in the head!"

"I'm on it!" Stormy replied.

"Master is displeased that you have disrupted his good work!" Day Break cried, lunging forward to tackle Sentinel to the ground.

Sentinel unfurled his wings, but did not use his blades. He might have been smaller than Day Break, but he was more in control. "Look around you, Day Break! You think this is good work!?"

"'Take them down and join them!' Queen Death shall have her blood price paid!"

Sentinel wrapped his wings tightly around Day Break to steady him. "Stormy! The spell! Cast it n-AGH!" He was cut off by a sickening gurgle as Day Break bit down hard onto his neck and pulled away a large chunk of flesh. His wings fell limp to the ground as his hooves shot up to the wound, applying pressure.

There was a woosh as Stormy cast his spell over the pit, but Day Break had already leaped away from the downed Sentinel Spark - the spell missed him by mere inches. Pinkie rolled onto her legs and leapt out of the hole in time to see Day Break push Stormy to the ground.

"Malice shall inherit the earth!" he screamed, pounding his hoof hard against Stormy's face. "He has shown me a glorious vision of what's to come!"

Twilight rushed to aid the fallen Sentinel while Night Rider beat his wings hard to extricate the delusional Day Break from the fallen Stormy. "Stop this, now!"

Day Break did not relent in his attack. There was a sickening crack as Day Break bit down hard onto Stormy's horn, rending it and a sizeable patch of skin from his forehead with a violent yank. Stormy's blood-curdling shriek filled the night as his hooves shot up to the broken shard of horn still protruding from the bloody gash the tear had left behind.

Only then did Night Rider manage to wrestle Day Break to the ground, the latter cackling maniacally about visions of "beauty and suffering." "TWILIGHT!" Night Rider called "I need your magic, now!"

"I can't leave Sentinel! If I let go of his wound, he'll die! I need to take him to the hospital! I'm-I'm sorry!" And with that, Twilight and Sentinel Spark disappeared in a flash of light.

"He is coming now! Can't you see!? He can't be stopped! All of Equestria will BURN!"

"Okay, big guy," Night Rider quipped. "You go 'night 'night, now." There was an audible crunch as Night Rider rapped his hoof hard against Day Break's forehead, rendering him instantly unconscious.

Pinkie wandered over to check on Stormy. He had passed out - probably from the pain - but was at least breathing. "Oh, oh, oh... What do we do now?" she asked frantically.

Night Rider recovered a length of rope from one of the trees they had visited. "Rarity!" he called. "It's safe, you can come out now."

Rarity - who had retreated behind the tree line with Fluttershy - poked her head out of the bushes and examined the scene on the road. She was still shaking with fear.

"Rarity," he continued. "Can you wrap this around Day Break? Tightly, if you don't mind. He's going to wake up again, and I do not want him getting away from us a second time."

Rarity nodded slowly, but otherwise did not move from her spot.

Night Rider dropped the rope and approached her. "Rarity. I need you to stay with me now. I know you're scared, but we're safe now. If we're to keep it that way, I need you to listen to me. Can you restrain Day Break?"

"Y-Yes... Yes, I think so..." she muttered, retreating back into the underbrush before re-emerging with an equally frightened Fluttershy. Her horn glowed as the rope lifted itself from the ground before swiftly coiling itself around Day Break. All at once, the rope tightened, pinning all four of his legs tightly against his underbelly. "Th-There," she sighed.

"Excellent. Good work," Night Rider encouraged.

"Uh, oh..." Fluttershy gasped.

"What?" Pinkie asked nervously. "What is it?"

Fluttershy pointed at the horizon, which glowed brightly against the newly fallen night. "What's that? The sunset?" Pinkie wondered.

"It shouldn't be," Night Rider answered. "Sunset was several minutes ago."

Batting her wings, Fluttershy ascended high into the air. "NO!" she shrieked before flying off in a flash.

"Fluttershy! DON'T!" Pinkie called after her, but it was too late and Fluttershy was out of earshot. Pinkie made as though to gallop after her, but was stopped by Night Rider.

"Pinkie, don't. It's not safe out there!"

"I can't just let Fluttershy go off into danger all by herself. She needs me!"

"I was sworn to protect you, and if you leave nopony will be here to look after Rarity and Stormy."

Pinkie looked around frantically. "Well, where's Twilight? She'll be coming back soon! You can wait for her, but I have to go after Fluttershy. There's only one thing I know that'd make her fly away like that, and if I'm right she's going to be in big, big trouble, and I have to stop her!"

Night Rider sighed. "I have to stay here in case Twilight comes back. It doesn't sound like I can stop you, but I won't let you go unarmed." Rider brought the end of his wing to his muzzle, and deftly worked to detach one of the razors that clung to its underside. "Here. Take this."

The blade was only one section of many that lined the trailing edge of his wing - about four inches wide by three inches long, and it glinted brightly in the moonlight. Pinkie bit down on the back end, trying to ignore the taste of sweat that filled her mouth.

"Good luck out there, Pinkie Pie," Night Rider commented.

She nodded without another word. Stepping around her faithful guardian, she set off down the road as quickly as she could. There wasn't a doubt in her mind; she knew exactly where the trail of hanging bodies was leading her.