//------------------------------// // But Your Nightmare is in Another Dungeon // Story: At the Twilight of Harmony // by Rammy //------------------------------// 46 days since the fall of Traxti City 20 days since Legacy Chaser’s murder Early evening, Ponyville “Mangy! I said I wasn’t taking any visitors right now! I… oh it’s you Luna...” Twilight put her head back down to go back to sleep. She had passed out earlier from a combination of grief and lack of sleep since the approach of the Nameless One on Equestria's shores a few days ago. Her head snapped up when her brain caught up to the fact that Luna was standing there and she had basically yelled and dismissed her. “Luna! You should be resting!” “No.” Luna shook her head as she made her way to one of the windows and gazed outwards. She remained that way for a moment before she turned to face Twilight. “I am going to end this cult here and now. To that end I need help in finding the breach.” “Breach? What breach?” Twilight was momentarily confused. “The breach in Tartarus.” “...” Twilight blinked in continued confusion. The confusion only lasted a moment longer before she jumped up and all vestiges of tiredness left her. “TARTARUS HAS BEEN BREACHED!? MANGY!” Luna was nearly blown back by the force of Twilight’s yell. It had been a while since she had been subject to the Royal Canterlot voice at the level that Twilight had just used. She shuddered a bit at that memory. Twilight ears flatten when she realized that she used the Royal Canterlot voice on Luna. “Mangy!” Twilight yelled out again, this time much softer. A moment later the sounds of claws scraping on the crystal floors could be heard followed by the appearance of Mangy skidding into the council room. “Set up the magic enhancer!” “Right away Mistress.” Mangy quickly exited the council chambers to head to the lab in the basement. Twilight motioned for Luna to follow her. “In light of the revelation that the Cult was possibly trying to break into Tartarus I have been working out a way to detect a breach of Tartarus. During my research I found that that diamond dogs can feel the stone and earth at a much more primal level then even Earth Ponies. Mangy and I have been working on a way to enhance or adapt Diamond Dog magic to find it. But one of the issues was the vast area that needed to be scanned. So I had to create special equipment to increase Mangy’s abilities as he is the only diamond dog I know trustworthy enough for the job...” Twilight gestured to the equipment that now graced the back garden of the palace. “You think this will find the breach?“ Luna questioned as she looked at the hodgepodge of magi-equipment. She marveled on how fast Mangy was able to set it all up so quickly. “About 81.345% sure… it really depends on how far away the breach is in relation to the Narrow Band Diamond Dog Stone Magic Enhancer or the N.B.D.D.S.M.E…. This equipment is still experimental and there may be unknown variables that I am unaware of... I would have preferred more time but given the circumstances…” Twilight trailed off momentarily as she began to calibrate the machines as Mangy was kneeling on the ground feeling the ground. He was wearing a metal helmet with flashing lights and a set of metal paws. Both the helmet and gloves had wires that were wired into the equipment that Twilight was still fiddling with. “Mistress, Mangy found a fresh ‘hole.’” “Are they any others?” Twilight called out and stop fiddling with the dials. Everything appeared to be calibrated correctly if the readouts she was looking at were any indication. “Mangy don’t see any… Will keep looking.” Now that Twilight was finished with the calibration she had to wait until Mangy finished. As she found out from Mangy earlier a ‘fresh’ hole in rock even in places like Equestria that had a very small diamond dog population was more common than she liked. She wasn’t too worried at first as the granite that encompassed Tartarus was quite rare. Then she found out that the granite was much more common in Equestria then she figured. It just was rare because most was far underground. The problem was that if there was a breach they needed to deal with it fast. She but she knew that Mangy would not hesitate to smack her if she let herself pace while he was doing this. She absentmindedly rubbed the back of her head as she remember when Mangy repeatedly smacked her to stop her pacing as it was interrupting his ability to concentrate when they were developing and testing the N.B.D.D.S.M. “Mistress?” Mangy lightly tapped on Twilight who awoke after having passed out from exhaustion again. Her eyes slowly opened. “Mangy done. Only one new fresh hole found.” “Good, thanks Mangy…” Twilight yawned and stretched then made her way back into the castle with Luna right behind her, leaving Mangy behind to put away the equipment. “I tied the results to the map in the Council Room. So if all goes well then we should be able to see the location on it.” Luna and Twilight gazed down at the table map once they returned to the council room. A glowing blue arrow could be seen floating above it facing downward. As Twilight got closer she could see where it was indicating. Her smile and excitement that the results from N.B.D.D.S.M. had properly appeared faded once she saw where the breach was located. “The Everfree…” She grumbled. She had really hoped that it would not be there. But somehow it also didn’t surprise her. It was such an unexplored and (rightfully) feared location that the cult could operate with impudence and without interference from Equestria even with He of Everfree patrolling the forest heavily. He was but one dragon and it was possible that they were so delusional that they didn’t let the threat of a fiery and bloody death to stop them. “Why must everything monstrous come from there!?” Luna raised an eyebrow at Twilight’s frustrated declaration. Twilight gasp as she saw Luna staring at her. “Oh Luna! I didn’t mean you! That is I meant... uh…” “Relax Twilight… tis a valid observation. The Everfree forest is not exactly a hospitable place… Afterall many of the creatures that reside there are quite ‘monstrous’ in more than just appearance... timberwolves and cockatrices to name a few...” Twilight gulped a bit but managed to pulled herself together afterwards. After a few minutes of silenced Luna coughed. “The breach Twilight?” “The breach? Oh yeah, right!” Twilight snapped fully at attention as she pull out a scroll. “First I need to send off a letter.” “Why?” Luna asked calmly to the semi relief of Twilight. She had expected Luna to use the Canterlot Royal Voice on her thinking that she was trying to delay Luna. “Remember when He of Everfree Forest barred all ponies besides the Bearers of Harmony and Zeccora from the Everfree?” “Of course.” Luna answered and resisted the urge to hoof her face. “It caused all sorts of headaches from the nobles for allowing ‘a beast’ free reign in the Everfree… How my sister handle them for so long is nothing short of amazing. To think she had to weather them alone for so long… I fear I may never...” Twilight put a comforting wing over Luna. Luna was getting better and better but every so often she would slip into crushing guilt over her actions that caused so much pain. It was moments like this that reminded her of a price of immortality… to know the full effect of your mistakes, to see that ripple long beyond many lifetimes… And to think she still at times would panic and overreact over very small things… things that were in hindsight far, far, far less impactfull than what Luna did. “The question is how we are going to bypass the guards. It was a struggle to get them to stay out of sight and quiet…” Twilight mumbled as she started going over ways to get around them. They would not allow them to enter the forest alone normally and now with the country in active war even more so. He of Everfree made it very clear that all ponies besides herself and the girls would be killed on sight... Luna looked in concern at the slowly panicking Twilight as she attempted to find a foolproof way of getting away from the guards. “Twilight can you help me? My injuries need to be checked and the bandages redone.” Twilight was a bit taken aback as she was not that skilled in medicine and it might be wiser for her to go to a doctor given the nature of her injuries. The pleading look on Luna, however, broke her resolve. “Uh, sure… I have a medical kit in the bathroom…” “Lead the way.” Twilight figured she was wanting some privacy so instead of going to the public bathroom which was closer she lead Luna to her private quarters located in the upper castle. As soon as they had entered the bathroom and the door closed behind her she lit her horn and wrapped Twilight and herself in a bubble of magic and teleported them just inside the Everfree. “Well that should keep them away for now…” Luna commented happily before she noticed that Twilight was a bit dazed over the sudden change of location. Her smile faded as she realized she should have said something before teleporting them away. “Celestia and I are quite good at slipping away from our guards… I have an illusion of us set to come out of your bathroom soon which should buy us some time… However given that the table map shows our destination…” “Oh, no worries,” Twilight shook herself to get herself functioning from the jarring and unexpected change of location. She understood why Luna would have done what she did. She herself had done something similar in the past. “I blocked the table map from being visible to anypony that I don’t give express permission to see. If there was someone gazing at the table it would have been blank when we checked. Also as Mangy considers me his ‘alpha’ of his pack and he will not be swayed that easily... He of Hourglass is the only one so far to get information out of him…and that was only inferred information… through subtle body language.” “No doubt because of Sentinel…” Luna chuckled a bit before her mood darkened. “Possible…” Twilight mused sadly. She looked up and off towards where she thought Hourglass was located in relation of her location. He of Hourglass was not responding to her letters. She was sure that he was still to grief stricken to answer back just yet so she decided after three to not push any further. At least she was able to send off Discord’s report on the ‘Dark One’ to Twixt’d. Thankfully there was still a few guards in Canterlot that had form a camaraderie with him and as such had been given the necessary anchor. She lightly sighed before getting her mind back on track on what needed to be done right now. “He of Everfree will meet us at Zeccora’s hut.” Twilight and Luna had been waiting patiently at the Zeccora’s darken hut for about an hour now. Zeccora had taken He of Everfree’s advice and moved into Ponyville, or more specifically the guest room at Fluttershy’s home. This allowed the zerba to still have easy access to the medicinal herbs only available in the Everfree while be also remaining safe. Twilight was still very tired and if it wasn’t for the approaching darkness and being in the Everfree she would have let herself sleep as it could be a while longer before the dragon came as the forest was quite large and he could have been anywhere inside at the time she sent the letter. “Huzzah!” Luna suddenly exclaimed in happiness before her expression sobered. The events of earlier crashing down on her again. Her shout had been more subdued as well. “Your skills have not faded from your long banishment and overly peaceful Equestria… good.” Out of the shadows lengthening shadows and in that same area that Luna had shot off a light beam into came a large green dragon. He of Everfree smiled at the night princess and nodded his greeting to Twilight who was at the moment a bit taken back. She had the impression from the few times she had dealt with him and from what others, like Harmony, had said that He of Everfree was very much like Cranky Donkey. “And for the record, that makes it three hundred and five to six hundred twenty-six in my favor.” “A game of sorts between He of Everfree Forest and myself.” Luna leaned down and half whispered an exclamation to a befuddled Twilight. “It does serve a purpose. It helps hone camouflage skills in both in defecting it and using it.” “Enough.” He of Everfree growled out impatiently. “What brings you two to my forest this evening?” “Twilight has informed me that something may have created a breach to Tartarus inside the forest.” “Yes,” He of Everfree rumbled in thought, “I noticed a odd rumbling a bit earlier… if it is a breach of Tartarus then it needs to be sealed up and quickly. I assume you have a way to seal it up?” “It depends on the breach… if it is small if enough it will seal itself up without any intervention if it is larger it may even require the elements…” Luna explained. She really hoped it was not that large. “Very well… show me where we need to go.” Twilight quickly conjured a map of the Everfree with the location marked on it. He of Everfree peered at the vague map. The boundaries were clearly marked, accurate, and to scale but outside of a few very very well know landmarks within the forest it was bare. There was a single red mark that he assumed was the possible location. He knew where to go. There was a couple of caves in the area near the dot if the dot was in the right location. “I see where we need to go. Come, follow me.” He of Everfree began to lumber through the trees. Luna calmly followed closely to the dragon. Twilight on the other hand felt a sense of panic rising again. “Um, wouldn’t it be faster to fly?” “The location would be difficult to spot in the air in darkness…” He of Everfree grumbled. “And nothing will come near me as the predators here know to give me a wide berth. Or do you wish to question my ability to guard you?” Twilight gulped. She remembered what He of Everfree had done to then Harmony when the dragon had thought that Harmony was insinuating he was unable to protect his hoard. “No He of Everfree… I’m just worried about any delay in getting to the spot before any prisoners have escaped...” He of Everfree eyed Twilight for a moment before his gaze return to the front. Silence reigned for a while until the dragon looked over to Luna. “Night Princess you seem a bit down and I noticed bandages that are covering your barrel has the cult made their move?” “Against me? No… The Dark One has entered Equestria via the eastern coast and in a surprise attack utterly annihilated the city of Baltimare… and…” Luna found herself struggling to tell He of Everfree about Sentinel, “and Sentinel fell in battle with the Dark One…” “Hmph same as always…” He of Everfree cryptically mused. “I was wondering why your ‘huzzah’ was so subdued. Have you notified his clan yet?” Twilight answered this time. “Yes.” “Good.” He of Everfree growled in approval. He knew from his exchange with He of Hourglass nearly three weeks ago that Sentinel’s clan would stop at nothing to utterly destroy the ‘Nameless One.’ “I’ll leave it them to bring retribution to that foul beast.” Again the oppressive silence overcame the group. Only the sounds of their movement through the snowy underbrush and the dragons loud breathing broke it up.   “So tell me,” He of Everfree spoke again after a while. “how do you know that it’s a breach of Tartarus?” “Sentinel believed the cult was trying to break Nightmare Moon out from Tartarus. Apparently the bombs used by the cult have a particularly devastating effect on certain rock types. The rock barrier that surrounds the prison is one of the types of rock that is particularly susceptible.” He of Everfree growled and a string of words came out of his mouth that she was unfamiliar with. She didn’t think it was draconic and it definitely wasn’t any of the common languages and judging from Luna’s reaction whatever the dragon was saying was quite crude. “...those blasted animals!” He of Everfree finally finished his line of cursing and fell into mere angry growling. His movements then quicken and became more pronounced. Twilight had to use her wings to help steady herself from. Luna seemed to not be affected as much though several time she had to use her magic to keep the pathway clear as she was slightly in front of Twilight. A few minutes later the dragon stopped and growled issued from him. “Those lava shitting ponies!” Both Twilight and Luna back up slightly from He of Everfree, unsure of what the clearly ticked off dragon would do. He had become more and more rage filled as they went and something must have set it higher. Luna frowned at the fuming dragon. If the dragon’s rage didn’t come down soon he could become a serious problem and they had way too many right now to add more to it. In her inner musings on what could have set him off Luna remembered that just before his most recent outburst that he had been glancing at the ground. A look downwards at the ground and she saw tracks. Now tracks in a forest wouldn't be unusual but these were pony tracks. “Your quarry is most likely in the cave in the clearing ahead.” The dragon finally spoke. Both ponies could feel the palpable fury in each word. It was clear to both that the dragon was reaching his limit. Luna and Twilight entered the cave indicated and was followed by the dragon who immediately turned to face the forest and laid down grumbling. The very front of the cave was large enough for He of Everfree to enter but it sloped downwards to a small tunnel at the back too small for the dragon. “Okay…” Twilight conjured a book titled An Expert's Guide to Charting Unexplored Caves. “We should look for other entrances and wards them before we carefully map out the tunnels and the most likely route that they took…” “No, don’t,” Luna ordered, “while there may be another exit that they could use we don’t have time. Stay here for now… For the moment I shall deal with this personally. If I have need of assistance in sealing the rupture I shall return and ask for it.” “But Luna!” Twilight protested. “You are still recovering from your injuries you received over Baltimare. Nevermind the fact you could get lost!” “Bah.” Luna waved off Twilight’s concerns, “wings in tunnels can be a liability. And I know how to navigate caves.” Luna had a reputation of being a bit gruff and blunt with her opinions at times but that even with that in mind Twilight was a bit surprised over Luna’s nonchalant dismissal of wings. Though as she thought on it usually the only time Rainbow Dash wouldn’t hover was in narrow hallways or places with low ceilings. Even though she was an alicorn and had been one for about half of her life she still went about like a non winged unicorn she used to be. For example she still used her horn over flying when reshelving and getting a book. “Okay Luna, but please be careful…” Twilight relented. “I will.” Luna lit her horn and made her way into the darkness of the tunnel in the back of the cave.  The tunnel widen and split off into a system of caves, caverns, and tunnels which were a mixture of natural formation and diamond dog tunnels. As she went along she marked the direction she went with an invisible mark. Deeper she went down all the while checking for signs of recent movement in the cave floor. Luckily none of the caves and caverns were formed by underwater springs. Sections had signs that at one point there was diamond dog activity but she could see that it had been a long time ago. Either the caves never produced gems in the quantity wanted or the forest above became too dangerous…or both. After some time she suddenly found herself in a very roughly hewn section, even for diamond dogs. This section was also the oldest she had come across. Several pathways branched off. However, only the one on the far right had been recently traversed. She also could tell from the stifling air that there was no connecting tunnel to the surface further down that path. She had been in the stifling shaft for only a short while when she started to make out the sounds of arguing further on. Luna slowed her movements to to a crawl. The arguing, for the moment, would cover any sounds of her approach but that could end. She also changed the type of spell she was using for light so that only she could see the light being produced by her horn. There was no way to know if the voices were coming her way or if where looking in her direction and she didn’t want to reveal her presence prematurely. As she walked slowly forward the voices became more distinctive. So far she could hear at least three ponies engaged in the argument. Two stallions and a mare if she was not mistaken. Soon a light not from her horn could be seen coming around a bend ahead. She drop the light spell she was using and drop to a creep. A peek around the corner told her that there was more than three. There was a group of six robed ponies nervously gathered around a magical smokeless fire in small cavity. A hole had been recently blasted into the far wall. She could see a rocks and debris from the hole around the small cavity. A sickly red glow came through the hole. “Because we don’t want any prisoners escaping!” A robed cultist was screaming to another who was cowering on the ground near the hole that clearly went into Tartarus. “How true that beith…” Luna spoke as she revealed herself to the gathered cultists. All six of them stumbled back in shock and fear from the sudden and very unexpected appearance of Luna. “NO prisoners will be escaping this night. Thy foolishness is unbecoming. The Nightmare was destroyed not removed and imprisoned in Tartarus.” One of the ponies seemed to be speaking through a soft whimper. Luna could not tell who said it but she didn’t care. “Mercy? Thou want mercy!?” Luna voice and anger started to spike higher at the audacity of what one of the ponies was asking of her. “Thou art idiots! Eternal night means a frozen death worse than a wendigo winter or a death from a heat worse than dragon flame! Furthermore, where was thy mercy of those innocents thou blew up in thy bombings?” Luna could hear another one of the ponies mumble something and her rage exploded from the admission. “SHE IS OUR BELOVED SISTER WHOM DIED INSIDE THE NIGHT SHE BANISHED US. TO THIS DAY SHE FEELS GUILT…” She turned’’ away from the ponies her guilt so great to preventing her from looking even at them. “In my madness I hurt those who cared for me… she always cared for me even if she struggled to show it… Celestia cared… she just was unable to see the darkness consuming me until it was too late…” Luna suddenly spun around scaring the gathered ponies even further. “THOU ON THE OTHER HOOF! Care not for me but my power! I wanted love for ME! AS A PONY! NOT… not my power my abilities… The lies of that nightmare…” Luna began to take deep breath to calm herself from the rising bloodlust. She was Luna, Princess of the Night, not a vile nightmare that relished in misery and carnage… Still justice had to be served and to do that she had to be collected and calm not raged and bloodthirsty for that was vengeance. The cultists who had been quacking calmed down. That was until Luna opened her eyes once again. “Well no more!” Luna vowed. ”You want a Nightmare then you got it! WE SHALL BE A NIGHTMARE TO THOSE OF EVIL HEARTS! WE SHALL HIDE INNOCENCE IN SHADOWS! AND HIDE THEM FROM THOSE THAT WOULD DOTH THEM HARM!” Luna brought up her sickle and steeled herself from the the screams she knew were to come. “Bearer of Magic stop your incessant pacing!” He of Everfree grumbled. The thoughts of his coming Slumber and the quiet it would bring him and his affection for Sentinel were the only the reasons he didn’t skewered the pony. Though he had to admit that some of her scenarios of what could have happened were amusing. “I’m sorry He of Everfree!” Twilight quickly apologized as she struggled and fought herself to not pace. He of Everfree rolled his eyes at the display as he laid his head back down on his forepaws. Unfortunately, she was unable to stop her non stop chattering. “It’s just she has been down there all night! Celestia will be rising the sun any moment now! I should have gone down with her!” He of Everfree’s ears suddenly detected the sounds of something approaching from within the tunnel. He was glad for it as it meant ridding himself of a pony that was driving him crazy. Or it could mean BBQ’d evil pony which would allow him to vent on it instead of the Bearer. Either way he was going to be a happier dragon. “It is done.” Twilight spun towards the tunnel to see Luna appearing. “Are you okay Luna?” Twilight ran up to Luna. She looked over Luna who was dirty and dusty which would be expected but what worried her was that there was splotches of dried blood all over her. “Come Twilight…” Luna ordered walking past her with purpose, ignoring the concerns of the younger alicorn. “We have work to do.” “But Luna!” Twilight exclaimed as her brain caught up. She had to trot to catch up to Luna who was not even looking back to check to see if she was coming or not. What happened down in those caves? I have never seen her like this. “What happened?!”