“You know what? I get it.” Sunset growled as she trotted through the old castle of the two sisters with her compatriots in hoof. Fire leaked out of her horn as she charged up a spell. Her fury caused the two stallions in the group to keep their distance behind her. “I really do. I mean, all these random corridors serve a purpose right? Confusing the enemy. Very intelligent…BUT WHY THE BUCK DO MOST OF THEM LEAD TO DEAD ENDS?!!”
“That’s not true,” Fiddlesticks said as the group rounded another corner. Said corner lead to about a few yards worth of hallway and then a dead end. “Okay, maybe it is.”
“Nine,” Sunset piped up. She grit her teeth, letting out a little snarl. Ever since she and her group had split off to find their way around, they had encountered nothing but mislead after mislead. ‘Is the universe against me or something? What the hay did I do to deserve this?’ She put a hoof to her ear and leaned over to Fiddlesticks. “Do I hear ten?”
“Okay,” Shade groaned. “We get it. You’re agitated.”
“I’m way past agitated,” Sunset reeled on him. Shade gulped and took a step back. “I have had a long night. A really long night. I’ve had way too much put on my plate as is and low and behold, I find even more annoyances thrown my way. If you want to point out the obvious, then let me do as well. Can’t you bucking use your shadow magic and find us a way out? Surely your leader had some way of coordinating his forces.”
Shade shook his head. “No, he kept that to himself. Something about trust issues and how we were all incompetents.” He sighed and lowered his head. “He was right in that regard.”
Fiddlesticks popped up beside him and put a hoof around his neck. “Now don’t go all gloom on us, Shade. Ya’ve been a big help so far.”
“I don’t know you all that well,” Ghoul spoke up. “But I like the cut of your jib. So good chap, do as the mare says and turn that frown upside down.”
Fiddlesticks pouted. “Ah was about to say that.”
Ghoul took off his hat, put it to his heart, and bowed. “My apologies.”
Fiddlesticks giggled. “No harm done.”
“Fiddlesticks, you can bang your ghoulfriend later,” Sunset rubbed her forehead. The remark caused Fiddlesticks to blush and sputter in protest as well as Ghoul. “Shut up and listen. We have to find the elements soon and when I mean soon, I mean NOW!” She roared the last word in their faces.
“Ya don’t need to shout,” Fiddlesticks stuck a hoof into her ear to clear it. “Whoo-wee, ya’ve got a better roar than a matnicore…hey, that rhymed.”
‘Better roar than a manticore?’ Sunset bristled at that comment, but said nothing. ‘The bumpkin probably thinks it’s a compliment.’
“Nah, manticores have prettier roars,” Shade snickered…and then ducked from a blazing bolt of fire magic.
“Say that again,” Sunset hissed through her teeth. Her eyes were almost literally boring into his very being.
“Just trying to get a chuckle out of your most beautiful voice,” Shade’s voice was shaken.
Sunset snorted. “Nice try, but false flattery won’t get you anywhere. Any last words?”
“…Cadance is best princess.”
Sunset seethed. “Wrong answer.” Her mind was filled with nothing but fire.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Ghoul pulled Sunset back. “Let’s not get hasty here.”
“Why?” Sunset pushed Ghoul away and pointed her horn at the shivering warlock. “I like to be hasty every once and a while. Gets my blood flowing.”
“Burning him alive isn’t going to get your brother back,” Ghoul sternly said.
Shade nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, what he said.”
Sunset glared at the warlock for a moment, before sighing. “Yeah…it’d make me feel better though.” She chuckled when Shade blanched. “Just kidding. I’m just agitated, okay. I tend to…burn things when I’m like this. Spike is usually here to help me out of it.”
“Well….” Shade said hesitantly. “Can you not burn me?”
“If you’d stop being an idiot,” Sunset snorted, pawing the ground in anger. “Then maybe.”
“By any chance,” Ghoul spoke up. “Have either of you seen Fiddlesticks?”
“Please don’t tell me she wandered off,” Sunset pleaded with the gods above for that to be untrue. ‘Or maybe true….gosh darnit, I’m being too morbid with her.’ Sunset sighed. ‘I really have got to stop thinking like that.’
“Ummm….” Ghoul started nervously. “So, would you rather I don’t speak?”
Sunset simply face-hooved in answer. She then walked off. “Best princess my firm flank. That mare couldn’t work a fire spell to save her life and who relies on love magic? I mean, seriously.”
“I say,” Ghoul spoke up once she was out of ear shot. “Why do you antagonize her so?”
Shade shrugged. “It’s fun. I like getting under other ponies’ skin.”
“Well, I would curtail that habit,” Ghoul trotted off after Sunset. “Lest you have no skin of your own.”
“She wouldn’t do that….” Shade gulped and rushed after him. “Would she?.....You know, her flank isn’t that firm looking….” The two noticed Sunset stop, her ears swiveling backwards to their direction. “….Oh shi…”
________________________________________________________________________________
Spike had so far this night faced many scale shaking threats: Nightmare Moon’s return, being torn away from his sister, being chained up and his ‘malehood’ threatened. That was all good and terrifying, but none of that held a candle to what he had to endure now. All those threats had shaken him, but his resolve had always been as firm and strong as a mountain. He had been trained by the best of the best in every field, whether it was in the art of offense or defense, diplomacy, or general etiquette. He was prepared for anything. ‘Anything but this. Oh mother in the sky, anything but this.’ He whined inward.
What tortured him to no end was something that no one should ever endure:
Terrible, off key, singing.
Most creatures would find it grating, but Spike had been born and raised by ponies. They were the greatest, most musically inclined species on the planet. Singing was their lifeblood and the better you were at it, the higher your station. In a way, Spike compared it to the nature of song birds. It was rare to find a pony who couldn’t sing.
It was just his luck he found two.
“Swankie swoodle piped a can, running through a store~” One of the Nightmare soldiers sang. The two soldiers had taken off their helmets, since they thought they were safe in here.
“No, no, no,” the other shook his head. “It’s ‘Rankie Poodle bit the dust, fading into the night~”
“Ugh, seriously? That’s not even remotely close to the actual song.”
“Oh like you’re one to talk. Who puts swankie into a song?”
“A lot of ponies.”
“Yeah, name one.”
“Umm…..” The first one scratched his chin. “Twilight Sparkle?”
“Twilight Sparkle puts a lot of things in her song….Actually; everything into her songs….That’s why kids aren’t allowed to listen to them.”
“I didn’t think anyone was allowed to listen to them.”
They laughed and shared a high hoof. Spike growled and wanted nothing more than to rip their heads off. His limbs fought once more with their casing, bearing no fruit for his efforts. Oh, the terrible singing was one thing, but besmirching a mare’s name in his presence? ‘Oh you just stepped over the line.’ While it was true that Twilight’s songs could get out of hoof really fast, and usually ended up with someone getting pranked in one way, shape, or form, it wasn’t that bad. She had a nice voice and her timing was impeccable. She knew exactly what to sing to get ponies to laugh….or feel violated. She switched constantly for the giggles.
“Twilight Sparkle hit the bricks, zany ever after~” The soldiers sang, laughing it up. “Stupid chaos sorcerers ought to die much faster~”
“That aint how it goes, ya numb skulls.” Fiddlesticks said.
‘Wait, what?’
Low and behold, Fiddlesticks had popped up next to the two cultists of Nightmare. Literally, she just popped out of nowhere. He would have honestly though she had teleported if she were a unicorn, or even a sanctioned chaos sorcerer. ‘Must have snuck up on us when we weren’t looking.’ Spike was going to go with that explanation and stick to it. Far be it for him to suspect someone of playing with forces most foul. He wasn’t an Inquisitor, even if he had trained with one for a time.
"How did you get in here?" One of the soldiers asked.
"Oh just followed by Fiddle-sense," Fiddlesticks scratched her ear. "It was itchin' up a storm, sayin' someone was messin' up a good song."
“Oh yeah,” one of the cultists spoke up. “How does it go then?”
“Glad ya ask,” Fiddlesticks smirked. She stood up on her hind legs, pulled her fiddle from…somewhere, and started up the song.
“Fairy Weather went to town~” She started in her country twang, tapping a hind hoof to the beat.
“Fairy Weather Julie~
Slapped a traitor in the face and then drank his smoothie~” She twirled around the pair as she sang.
“Fairy Weather keep it up~” She smashed her elbow one of their faces as she struck a triumphant note.
“Fairy Weather Julie~” She twirled, smashing her tail into the other one’s side, sending him sprawling. Earth Ponies had incredible versatility in their tails, not just for manipulating things, but for powerful strikes.
“Beat those baddies into the ground~
Oh, don’t you sweat it, Julie~”
Fiddlesticks finished and started laughing. “Oh, this is funner than a rodeo in a thunderstorm.” She turned her head to Spike. “Oh, there ya are. We’ve been lookin’ all over for ya. Best get ya out of those darn cuffs now.” She trotted over to him.
“You can’t open them,” Spike sighed. “Nightmare Moon enchanted these locks herself. There is no feasible way out.” Fiddlesticks touched a button underneath the table, releasing the confines. “Okay, one feasible way out.”
“A real easy one,” Fiddlesticks huffed. “Ya could’ve done it yerself with that long tail of yers.”
“Well, you see….” Spike frowned. While he had no idea there was a button there, he couldn’t help but wonder why Nightmare Moon would put such a thing so close to his tail ‘Maybe she was just so confident that I’d be too afraid to try? Maybe this slab was meant for griffins and other bipeds…Who know.’
Suddenly, the two of them heard screaming coming from the hallway. Stepping into a battle position, with Fiddlesticks putting her fiddle in her hat of all places, the two kept close to one another. They were ready for anything.
Such ‘anything’ was a scared out of his wits warlock who burst into the room. “I’m sorry! Your flanks are firm! Really, firm!”
Spike raised an eyebrow. ‘What the hay is he talking about?’
His answer came with the next pony: his sister. Sunset’s horn was ablaze. Embers scattered everywhere as she gave the warlock her best death glare. “And how the buck do you know that?!!! You seemed confident in your remark earlier.”
“I wasn’t thinking,” the warlock screamed, hiding behind Fiddlesticks. Spike thought about taking care of him himself, but he thought the warlock was better off in his sister’s hooves. “I just wanted to rile you. You have such nice flanks! HONEST!” He pleaded.
“If I didn’t know any better,” Spike glared at the cultist. “I’d think you were checking out my sister.”
“Now don’t ya be gettin’ on Shade’s case, Spike.” Fiddlesticks chided him as she kept Shade safely behind her. “He’s had a rough day…er, night.”
“Shade?” Spike raised an eyebrow and turned to his sister.
She had canceled her magic and was staring at Spike in astonishment. “You’re alive.” Spike simply nodded. The pair could feel and see tears coming to the eyes and the next thing they knew, they were in each other’s arms. Sunset nuzzled him and he returned the gesture.
“What took you so long?”
“I’m sorry,” Sunset nuzzled him in desperation as though she feared he’d disappear. “I got side-tracked: cultists, monsters, idiots. The usual.”
Spike chuckled through his tears of joy. He pulled back and took out a hoofkerchief to clear away her tears. “Sounds like you’ve had quite an adventure.”
“You could say that.”
Fiddlesticks ‘awwed’ at the cute scene. Then, she knocked one of the cultists out with a hoof to the face when he tried to stand up. Nopony was going to interrupt a heartfelt reunion on her watch.
_______________________________________________________________________________
“Hmmm,” Nightmare Moon stroked her chin with a tendril as she surveyed the newest blueprints for Canterlot. “I was thinking we should make it far more deadly, at least in appearance. We need to keep up the appearance of strength and fear. I want my enemies to run in fright from even the sight of the great city of Canterlot.”
Apostle bowed his head. The two of them were in one of the old war rooms. “Of course. Though, I doubt we really need to change anything. No being would be foolish to try and attack a city that you dwelled in. Well, unless they had a death wish.”
Nightmare Moon smiled. “True, but still. We need to paint the entirety of Canterlot in black and dark blue. Those are much better colors…and add some spikes to those towers. I want them to actually pierce the skies above.”
“Of course, Your Highness.” Apostle’s grin couldn’t get any bigger. He was living the dream and there was nothing that could get in his way.
A sound caught their ears and they turned to the doorway. A soldier of theirs was laughing up a storm as he tried to walk over to them. His knees buckled and he seemed out of breath, but still he laughed.
Apostle glared at the recruit. “Stop laughing. Do you dare laugh at our goddess’s presence?”
The cultist seemed to make an attempt to cease his laughing, but failed miserably. He even turned to Nightmare herself and tried to stifle his humorous outbursts. Nothing worked.
Apostle growled and lit up his horn. As well, he pointed his staff at the cultist. The staff magnified his power thricefold. He picked up the stallion with ease and shook him. “I said, stop laughing.” The stallion wouldn’t comply, so Apostle tilted his head so far back that the air cracked with the soldier’s neck. Apostle brought the now dead minion over to him. The soul already flying into Nightmare’s mouth as a quick snack. The warlock took a sniff and reeled back. “Poison Joke?” He stomped the ground in anger. “There’s somepony in the castle.”
Nightmare Moon’s eyes bulged in terror. “No…” Her voice quivered and her tendrils flailed about in panic. “The Elements. They’re after the Elements.” With that, the two raced off into the hallways.
_______________________________________________________________________________
After their heartfelt reunion, Sunset and the rest of them headed off to find the Elements. Of course, this was after explaining to Spike why they had a ghoul, who named himself ‘Ghoul’, and a warlock in their presence. The draconic prince wasn’t pleased by this, but he kept his mouth shut. It was kind of amusing to see the warlock get under Sunset’s skin and vice-versa.
The group was in luck as it didn’t take them long to find what they were looking for. The down side was that it was full of Nightmare Moon’s soldiers. The upside was that they were too busy laughing.
“Why are they laughin’?” Fiddlesticks asked out loud. “Did they hear a funny joke? Ah, dang it. Ah love jokes, especially that one with the snake and wombat goin’ on a….”
“Now’s not the time for jokes,” Sunset hissed back at her. “We have to figure a way through the mob….Wait, is that Poison Joke? Did someone actually whip up a PJB?” PJB: Poison Joke Bomb. 'Of course, that should be obvious.'
“Don’t ya mean ‘PB and J’?” Fiddlesticks rubbed her stomach. “Which reminds me. Ah really need to go get a bite to eat.”
“We’ll snack later,” Sunset rolled her eyes, only to see Fiddlesticks pull out a sandwich from her hat. The mare ate it in one go.
“Ya want one?”
“Actually….” Spike started, licking his lips.
“No,” Sunset barked. “No sandwich until we defeat the ultimate evil.”
“Ya can’t defeat the ultimate evil on an empty stomach,” Fiddlesticks huffed. “Taint right.”
“She has a point,” Shade nodded. “If I’m about to risk my life and die, I’d rather do it on a full stomach.”
Sunset ground her teeth together. “Okay then, you can eat up and stay here. You’d just get in my way with your sandwiches.”
“How would a sandwich get in your way?” Shade asked.
“You obviously haven’t seen Sunset in the kitchen,” Spike smirked, not even flinching as Sunset blasted his head with a fireball. “She is the worst cook ever. She can’t even make cereal right.”
“I can so,” Sunset snarled. “Just because I lit it on fire a few times, doesn’t mean I can’t just pour myself something to eat.”
“Maybe ya need to get fireproof cereal,” Fiddlesticks piped up.
“I can't, because they don’t sell ‘fireproof’ cereal,” Sunset rolled her eyes. “The cost alone would….Okay, why the buck am I having this conversation?”
“Because yer hungry,” Fiddlesticks held out an apple. “Here, if ya don’t want a sandwich, have an apple. Their good for ya.”
‘It’s come to this. Discussing food and their health attributes during the apocalypse…I’ve heard of stranger things, but not very many stupider.’ Sunset huffed and stuffed the apple into her mouth. She quickly cast a spell around herself, creating a sort of ‘shield’ around herself. It was a simple spell, designed to keep out poisonous fumes. It was first created to fight poisonous diseases that popped up during the days before Equestria, but saw more widespread use in more recent years, with the emergence of gas style attacks. She had seen some of the afflicted and it wasn’t pretty.
Sunset easily trotted through the sea of cultists and smiled as she stood beneath the Elements of Harmony. “Finally,” she muttered in relief. All the grief, the sorrow, her compatriots, all of that was worth it now. As her horn sparked into life once more, she heard a monstrous shout:
“NOOOOO!”
Instantly, the world around her started to grow hazy. Sunset’s gasped in shock as the Elements swirled in a dark cortex and knew Nightmare Moon was trying to snatch them away. “Oh no you don’t.” Sunset, without thinking, jumped into said vortex. Before she disappeared, she couldn’t help but hear the anguished cries of her compatriots calling out for her, before everything was black.