//------------------------------//
// III - The Hermit 
// Story: The Fall of the Sun 
// by Widow Peak 
//------------------------------//


Hide from the monster



A metallic shriek woke Twilight up. She blinked sleepily, and looked through the window. There was a train platform outside. Confused, the unicorn shook her head and looked down. Spike was sleeping on her lap. Then Twilight noticed the mint-coated unicorn sitting before her, and the memories came back. Sighing, Twilight shook the little dragon to wake him up.
 
 
The two mares and dragon parted from the conductor, who was still in a bad mood. Twilight hoped they hadn’t put him in a very bad situation by, technically, kidnapping him.
 
 
After fastening their saddlebags around their bodies, the two ponies crossed the station and entered the town itself. Twilight wasn’t used to be surrounded by such small houses. In Canterlot, space was precious, and such the buildings towered over the streets. Here, the cobblestone or dirt streets were broad and ample. It wouldn’t have been unnerving if it wasn’t for the complete lack of ponies on the streets.
 
 
Indeed, Twilight hadn’t seen a single pony since they had stepped out of the train station. After what had happened with the Sun, it would have surprised her to see ponies celebrating anything. However, the complete absence of them was even more abnormal. Where were the panicking ponies, the ground guards trying to keep them under control, the authorities assuring that they had everything under control and they had nothing to worry about?
 
 
‘Where is everypony?’
 
 
Twilight almost jumped at the sound of Spike yawning on her back. With her heart racing inside her chest, the unicorn stopped a second to take a deep breath and try to relax. She was being ridiculous. Lyra didn’t seem bothered by the absolute lack of ponies, so why should she? There was nothing lurking from the shadows between the buildings. Definitely.
 
 
Still on edge, Twilight improvised a couple of protective spells as she followed the other unicorn through the streets. Luckily for her, she saw Lyra turn left and head towards a very specific house. Twilight sighed in relief as Lyra extracted a key from one of her saddlebags and slid it into the lock.
 
 
“Bonnie! I’m home!” she called out.
 
 
Twilight winced, but a quick glance around confirmed that they were still alone. Lyra was motioning her to come inside, and the unicorn complied, perhaps faster than strictly necessary. Then Lyra locked the door behind them, and Twilight finally allowed herself to relax.
 
 
“Bonnie, are you home?” called out Lyra, lighting her horn and disappearing into a corridor. Twilight took a moment to regain her breath before following her. There was a kitchen on the right and a sitting room at the far end of the house, and then a set of stairs to the second floor. Twilight caught the green glow of Lyra’s magic upstairs, and headed there, carefully balancing Spike to make sure he didn’t fall off. She had barely reached the last step, when Lyra suddenly appeared a few centimeters from her face. “Bonnie isn’t home!” she shrieked, terrified.
 
 
Twilight grimaced at the undeserved punishment of her ears. “W-well, where can she be?” she stammered.
 
 
“I don’t know!” replied Lyra, pulling her mane. “There’s nopony outside, and Bon Bon is not home? Maybe everypony is in the Town Hall? But we walked past it and there was nopony there either. Where can she-” The mare went quiet immediately when she hears the sound of somepony knocking the door. Lyra looked at Twilight for an instant, before barraging downstairs, screaming the name of her mate.
 
 
Twilight blinked and flicked her ears, slightly annoyed.
 
 
She galloped downstairs, securing Spike with her telekinesis, and arrived at the foyer just in time to see Lyra violently opening the door. On the other side there was a mare of curly orange mane and yellow coat, with a pair of bulging saddlebags on her back, looking at Lyra in surprise. She, for a brief instant, looked like was about to tackle-hug the other mare, but then processes that the mare before her is not who she was expecting to see, and her shoulders sink. “Oh. Hello, Carrot Top,” she says, clearly disappointed.
 
 
“Uh…hello. Are you alright, Lyra?” asked the other mare, worried.
 
 
“I thought you were Bon Bon,” muttered Lyra, leaning into the frame of the door and slowly sliding down until she was lying on the floor. Twilight couldn’t help by roll her eyes at the drama.
 
 
“I was actually going to tell you where she is,” said Carrot Top with a small smile. That immediately caught Lyra’s attention, who sprung to her hooves. It was then when she noticed Twilight. “Who’s that?”
 
 
Lyra opened her mouth to answer, but Twilight was faster. “I am Twilight Sparkle. I am looking for a …uh, friend who came here this morning. She arrived in a royal sky chariot.”
 
 
Carrot Top blinked. “Well, there was a mare from Canterlot that came to check on the preparations for the Celebration.”
 
 
Twilight grinned. That could only be Sunset Shimmer. Perhaps she could help her understand what was going on. “Where is she?” she asked.
 
 
“Where is Bonnie?” asked Lyra, a split second later.  Carrot looked at Lyra, then at Twilight, undecided on what question had priority. A bit reluctantly, Twilight motioned to her companion. Carrot Top opened her mouth to answer, but then changed her mind and shook her head.
 
 
“I think you should just come with me. I’ll explain everything on the way.”
 
 
The company of three ponies walked through the streets of Ponyville, led by the yellow mare. In every movement she made there was uncertainty and insecurity, which got Twilight anxious again. Apparently, her initial uneasiness wasn’t unfounded. After a few minutes of walking, Carrot stopped and glanced down a street. Twilight followed her eyes and saw a tree with windows and a door. She gave the pony a questioning look, and she finally explained.
 
 
Nightmare Moon had been in Ponyville, not once, but twice. The first, to present herself to the village, much like she later did in Canterlot. The second, to say she’d stay in the town until she found a place that pleased her more. Namely, in the tree building Twilight saw before, the library. Then, it parted once again.
 
 
Deciding that they wanted to have as much distance as possible between them and Nightmare Moon, the ponyvillians decided to hide in a nearby forest, the Whitetail Woods. That was where Carrot Top was leading Lyra and Twilight. The student had many questions about Sunset’s endeavors, but decided to wait until they were at the Woods. She did notice, however, that Lyra had a happy spring on her step.
 
 
A few minutes later, the company arrived to the edge of the forest. After a short walk through the trees, Twilight saw a clearing opening in front of them. She noted many ponies standing in small or large groups. There were perhaps a few hundreds, and they all seemed worried and agitated. One mare stood on a small knoll, speaking up to a large gathering of ponies. Twilight assumed she was the mayor of some other politician.
 
 
Before Twilight could react, Lyra was already gone to find her lover. She and Carrot looked at each other and rolled their eyes, then laughed at the unplanned synchronicity. “So, about my friend?” asked Twilight.
 
 
Carrot Top’s smile dropped. “W-well, uh…I don’t really know where she is.” she said, pawing the ground. “She had a small face-off with Nightmare Moon at the Town Hall, but I haven’t seen her since.”
 
 
Twilight clicked her tongue at that. She hadn’t seen Sunset either, and the bright yellow mare was hard to miss. “Was there a filly with her? White coat, pink mane?”
 
 
“Ah…yes! Cheerilee took care of her.” Carrot Top pointed with her hoof to a small herd of foals, with a single adult mare standing right in the middle. Every single foal seemed to be trying to get the attention of the mauve pony at the same time, but Twilight was more interested on the tiny white unicorn resting on her back, apparently sleeping.
 
 
Twilight thanked Carrot for her help, and headed towards the swarm of little ponies. As she came closer, the mauve mare noticed her, and trotted in her direction, which Twilight appreciated. “Hello, can I help you?” she asked.
 
 
“Hi, my name is Twilight Sparkle, and you must be Cheerilee,” she began. She figured it would be better to fully explain her intentions, instead of just ask her to leave the filly under her care. “This morning, a mare arrived to Ponyville to check the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. I require her help, but I am unable to find her. This filly, however, may know where she is.”
 
 
Cheerilee raised an eyebrow. Twilight smiled nervously, hoping what she had just said didn’t sound too absurd. It seemed far-fetched, but it was the truth! Finally, after a pause that felt too long, the mare gave her hips a wiggle. The little unicorn blinked awake. “Sweetie, do you know this pony?”
 
 
The filly turned her head and eyed her for a second, then opened her eyes wide in recognition. Even if Sweetie Belle rarely saw Twilight, she had been Sunset’s assistant for two years, and knew both Twilight and Spike well. “Twilight!” she squeaked with her diminutive voice. The filly tried to hop from the back of the earth mare, but ended faceplanting instead. This didn’t seem to affect her at all, as she took a moment to shake the dust off her mane, before hugging Twilight’s foreleg. “What are you doing here, Twilight?”
 
 
“I’m looking for Sunset,” replied Twilight , giving the filly a little squeeze. “I figured you might be able to help me.”

 
“Who is this, Sweetie?” asked Cheerilee, clearly surprised by how familiar the filly was.
 
 
“This is Twilight Sparkle,” she cheerfully proclaimed. “She’s Princess Celestia’s other prote…protet…”
 
 
“Protégé.”
 
 
“That! She’s super smart, like Sunset! And that’s Spike, the dragon. She hatched him herself when she entered the School for Gifted Unicorns!”
 
 
Cheerilee eyed the unicorn with curiosity, causing her to blush. “I am very sorry,” she said. “I didn’t know you were…well-”
 
 
“No, no, it’s fine,” replied Twilight. “I am very thankful you looked after Sweetie Belle. I’ll take care of her now.”
 
 
Cheerilee smiled and bowed her head, before returning with the foals. Twilight let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, and gave Sweetie a look. “Sweetie, please don’t go saying that.”
 
 
“Why not?” she asked, tilting her head in confusion.
 
 
“I don’t like boasting about my skills,” replied Twilight. She shook her head and smiled at Sweetie. “I am glad to see you are okay. Do you know where Sunset is?”
 
 
Sweetie shook her head. “Nu-hu. After that mean black alicorn showed up, she, my sister and four other ponies went to the forest for…uh,” the filly furrowed her brow. “Something about finding elements.”
 
 
“Elements? As in fire, water, wind and earth?”
 
 
“No, it was something else,” Sweetie scrunched her muzzle in frustration. “They said they were powerful artifacts that could defeat Nightmare Moon, or something like that.”
 
 
“And later, she came back to the village, and ponies decided to flee,” guessed  Twilight, to which Sweetie nodded. “Any idea where exactly they are?”
 
 
“In a castle,” replied Sweetie. Twilight stared her, expecting some more information, but the filly just shrugged. “Sorry, Twilight. They said something about a castle in the Everfree, and then they were off.”
 
 
“The Everfree Forest?!” asked Twilight in disbelief. She had read hundreds of times that the Everfree was a wild place, escaping the careful control over the weather and the nature that ponies could do almost anywhere else. Obviously, Twilight wanted to find Sunset, but going into such a dangerous place with no idea where to go was suicidal. ‘I could cast a tracking spell’, though Twilight. But that would require something to track. Something with traces from Sunset’s aura would be ideal, like a comb or some piece of clothing. But, of couse, Sunset’s belongings were all back in Canterlot.
 
 
Twilight’s eyes fell upon the tiny saddlebags that Sweetie Belle had on her back, and a spark of hope light up. “What do you have there?” she asked, pointing to them.
 
 
“Oh. Wait,” Not wasting a moment, the filly took off the saddlebags and turned them upside down with her telekinesis, giving them a couple of shakes for good measure. A small assortment of items fell to the ground. A book and a notebook. Some pencils. A pair of small metal boxes. A few colorful beads. A bottle of soda, a piece of cake and many, many sweets. “Oh no! I forgot about the cake!” she lamented.
 
 
“Is this it?” asked Twilight, scanning the scattered items. Everything seemed to belong to Sweetie, who was currently trying to salvage the cake, with little prospects of success. She enveloped the entire thing on her magic, but her telekinesis wasn’t steady enough, and strawberries and pieces of frosting fell thought it, not to mention that she was accidentally mixing all the layers together. The cake was looking less and less appetizing by the second, but Twilight was somehow fascinated by the slow-motion deconstruction of the baked good.
 
 
Twilight noticed something on the ground. Below the vortex of cake, and being rained upon by bits of frosting, was a crumpled and dirty piece of parchment. “What is that?” asked Twilight, pointing at it. Sweetie Belle stared at it for a few second, thoughtful.
 
 
“Oh! That’s the letter that Princess Celestia sent to Sunset!” she replied. “I forgot about it!”
 
 
Twilight grinned triumphantly. The letter was already enchanted to go to Sunset’s location, and it could be easily tracked, perhaps even by eye, if it was like Spike’s enchanted flame. Almost giddy, Twilight lighted up her horn and prepared her spell.
 
 

***

 
 
The trip through the Everfree was surprisingly tranquil. Even if following the trail of purple magic from the scroll gave Twilight a lot of security, she had been expecting to find some sort of obstacle. That’s why she had left both Spike and Sweetie Belle under Cheerilee’s care, much to the little dragon’s displeasure.
 
 
At first, Twilight advanced with care, jumping from one shadow to the next, and trying to stay hidden. But despite the towering trees, which branches and leaves almost completely obscured the moonlight, at no point she faced any danger. The rustle of the branches, shaken by the breeze, and the gentle crunch of her hooves on the dry leaves were the only sounds. Soon, the unicorn calmed down and advanced much faster, although she always kept on guard, a defensive spell on the tip of her horn at all points.
 
 
After about two hours and a half of walking, Twilight arrived to her destination.
 
 
Like Sweetie Belle had said, the scroll was heading straight for a castle. The building, perhaps once an architectonic marvel, was now little more than an aggregate of half-destroyed walls surrounding piles of rubble. Twilight’s eyes followed the tracking spell, which ascended on the air and entered a half-demolished keep through a window.
 
 
It took the unicorn a few minutes to locate the entrance to that particular tower, as the spell she had used told her the exact path of whatever it was tracking, but not how to get to it. She had to climb and then descend two sets of stairs before finding the right one.
 
 
Twilight reached the top of the stairs, and two smells hit her at the same time. One was the acrid smell of burnt hair. Worried, Twilight increased the intensity of the light poured from her horn, although it wasn’t really necessary. The light of the Moon and the stars was enough to see the five bodies lying around the room. A quick glance was enough to know none of them was Sunset.
 
 
Twilight trotted to the first pony, and let out a sigh of relief. The mare, a large and muscular earth pony with a blonde mane, was simply unconscious. She had a couple of minor bruises and the tips of her mane were singed,
 
 
The second smell was more disconcerting. Magic. The place was soaked in a strange, powerful magic. Twilight deduced that was where Nightmare Moon appeared for the first time. ‘And Sunset came here to…fight her? Just like that? I must be missing something’.
 
 
Putting that question aside, Twilight made her way to the next pony. It was a white unicorn mare, with a long mane done in twirls. She had the same minor injuries as the previous pony, plus a cropped tail. That was obviously an accident, given how carefully made her mane was.
 
 
 
The third, yet another mare, was a pale yellow pegasus, with an exceedingly long mane and tail. Like the others, she had no major injuries. Twilight surprised herself studying the beautiful features of her face. Shaking her head, she moved to the next one.
 
 
At that point, Twilight had already guessed all five ponies were mares, and this one confirmed it. She had a vibrant rainbow mane and cerulean blue coat. She has also quite muscular, but different to the earth pony. This pony was thin and wiry.
 
 
Lastly, the fifth pony was a completely pink mare. Twilight raised an eyebrow at the peaceful expression on her face. She looked like she was sleeping comfortably in her bed, completed with a thin string of drool falling from her half-open mouth. Twilight blinked. She could swear that pony smelled like cotton candy, but it was surely the magic in the room, messing with her sense of smell.
 
 
Twilight deduced these must have been the five ponies that accompanied Sunset to this castle. ‘But, where is she?’ wondered Twilight, scanning the room once again. But apart from a plinth near the back wall, it was completely empty. The scroll was over there, in the middle of the room, but there was no trace of Sunset. That didn’t made sense. The scroll was enchanted to appear near the current location of the pony it was directed to. Twilight didn’t know the exact mechanics of the spell, but she was pretty certain that, even if the addressee were dead, it would still appear near their corpse.
 
 
Sunset was, simply, gone.
 
 
Twilight stared at the scroll for a few minutes, pondering her options. The five mares seemed to be alright, so there was no urgency. She couldn’t go back to the camp, not without Sunset. ‘Perhaps this magic is interfering with the spell?’ guessed the unicorn. It was perfectly reasonable. In that case, her only choice was to track Sunset herself.
 
 
Every pony has magic. And every being with magic has an aura, with a unique pattern for each creature. Much like a dog could track a pony with just their body smell, so could a trained unicorn track a pony with the remains of their aura. And Twilight knew Sunset’s aura, even if she couldn’t replicate it.
 
 
Some unicorns can ‘see’ the aura with the help a spell. Others can close their eyes and feel through their horns. Twilight, on the other hoof…
 
 
She let out a sigh and looked around. All the ponies were still asleep. Feeling extremely ridiculous, Twilight separated her forelegs and brought down her head until her snout was almost touching the floor. She swung her tail, annoyed. Much to her displeasure, sniffing was for her the most efficient way to perceive auras.
 
 
Twilight inhaled hard and immediately realized her mistake. The foreign magic ascended through her nose and tickled her brain, causing her to sneeze. Twilight sat up, rubbing her muzzle. ‘I should have seen that coming…’ though Twilight. She obviously wasn’t going to get anywhere with all that magic floating around. And by the time it dispelled, so would Sunset’s aura.
 
 
Strangely enough, Twilight could swear the magic felt familiar. It wasn’t her magic, not from anypony on her family, but she somehow felt like she knew that energy.
 
 
The unicorn bit her lip. She had no idea what to do now. She didn’t know where Sunset was, and she couldn’t track her either. Twilight turned around and looked at the five sleeping ponies. She had to bring them to the camp. Maybe after that, she would figure out what her next move should be.
 
 
Twilight trotted to the last mare she had checked and stood there for a minute, awkwardly staring at her. Finally, she took in a deep breath, and gently poked her on the shoulder with a hoof. “Hey, wake up,” she uttered.
 
 
The pink mare let out a loud giggle and flailed her legs, nearly missing Twilight. “Te-hee-hee! Noo, let me sleep a little more! Sun’s still down…”
 
 
Twilight froze at the unintentional truth of her words. She let out a sigh, before giving the mare a more decisive shake.
 
 

***

 
 
A grim caravan descended through the side of Mount Canterlot. At the head walked Prince Blueblood. He kept his head high and a proud stance, but the grief was obvious in his expression and the way he walked, almost dragging his hooves. He felt he should be an example for everypony else. After all, if there was something nobles could do well, it was pretending.
 
 
Behind him, a small group of guards advanced in silence. None of them had any desire to talk, especially after a novice royal guard had dived into the collapsing city to save a mare, and hadn’t come back.
 
 
Closing the retinue, Night Light and Shining Armor walked with a heavy heart.
 
 
A pony stood out in the middle of the guards. Taller than any of them, and covered with a brown cloak that failed to obscure the bright pink horn that poked from under the hood; Princess Cadance tried to camouflage between the others.
 
 
Her lilac eyes never stopped scanning the sky. More than once, she had sworn to see a dark silhouette cut against the starry sky. Every time, Cadance quickly looked away and pressed her wings against her body, praying for Nightmare Moon to not notice she was an alicorn. But every time had just been a false alarm.
 
 
The Princess let out a sigh and looked back. That’s where she should be, trying to comfort Night and Shining. But she was too afraid. Every time she accidentally ended at the edge of the group she, felt exposed and vulnerable, as if a pair of eyes with slit pupils pierced a hole through her.
 
 
For an instant, a shadow crossed the group.
 
 
Everypony stopped on their tracks. Cadance ducked between the others, while her heart raced inside her chest. For a minute, she scanned the sky, searching for a black shadow cut in the tapestry of the night. This time it hadn’t been her imagination, everybody had seen it. There were nervous murmurs between the guards, that couldn’t decide if they should keep going or stay still.
 
 
Another minute went by, and the ponies slowly calmed down. Then the sound of a sword being drawn out of it sheath made everypony look to the front in unison. Nightmare Moon was standing in front of the group. Even through the other ponies, her eyes were fixed on Cadance’s.
 
 
“Step aside.” said Prince Blueblood with all the aplomb he could gather, barely able to control the tremble in his voice. He would have held his broadsword in his telekinesis, but considering how much his legs were shaking, it wasn’t likely he would be able to keep the weapon steady. Nightmare Moon gave him a questioning look. “S-step aside.” repeated the prince, swallowing nervously.
 
 
“This does not concern you or the others.” replied Nightmare after a pause. Her tone wasn’t menacing, but curtly. It was more than enough to make the prince sweat. “Stay low, and you won’t be harmed.”
 
 
Blueblood threw a nervous glance to the ponies behind him. “I am afraid that is not going to be po-”
 
 
Quick like a flash, Nightmare Moon dashed forward. She toppled aside Blueblood with a single blow of her hoof, plowed through the guards and slammed into Cadance like a battering ram, throwing her a few meters backwards.
 
 
There was a quiet pause, cut only by the steps of Nightmare Moon as she advanced towards the mare.
 
 
“Did you think you would fool us?” asked the black alicorn. “Did you think we would not realize Celestia had ascended another alicorn? We won’t allo-” Her words stopped short when Shining Armor stood in her way.
 
 
For a moment, Nightmare studied the white stallion is silence. “Move aside.” she ordered. Seeing Shining was not going to obey, she tilted her head forward and lit up her horn. “Move aside, we said!” she yelled. The echo resounded on the mountain for a few seconds.
 
 
Shining not only didn’t move, but also light up his horn and raised a barrier between him and Nightmare Moon. The face of the mare twisted into an expression of fury such that made the stallion take a step back in fear.
 
 
“Shining,” muttered a delicate voice. All the eyes turned to Princess Cadance, who slowly got on all four. She gave Nightmare a long, serene look before speaking again. “I will deal with her.”
 
 
Nightmare Moon threw her head back and emitted a long cackle. “Do you think you can defeat us? Or is it that desperation has clouded your reason?” she mocked. Cadance ignored her words, and looked to her partner. Shining was frowning, trying to find a way to tell her to run away, that he would face Nightmare Moon.
 
 
Cadance guessed what Shining was thinking, and shook her head slightly. “It’s the only way.” she whispered, giving him a sad smile. She took a step and tilted her head forward to steal a kiss from her lover. Shining’s shield fell apart.
 
 
Nightmare Moon looked at them with a predatory grin. “Ah, we understand.” she muttered dryly. “Only a lover would be so foolish.” Cadance ignored the jab and took a step to her, ready to make Nightmare pay for her life.
 
 
Shining observed the two mares staring each other as if he was in a dream. His brain needed a moment to catch up with what was happening. By pure instinct, he raised the shield again and shot an energy blast to Nightmare Moon.
 
 
The attack hit the mare on the chest, causing her to recoil slightly. Nightmare Moon flicked a furious glare at him, her eyes overflowing with magic. Shining instantly realized of his mistake. He took a step back, eyes wide open from fear. Nightmare Moon grabbed him in her telekinesis and tossed him aside like a ragdoll.
 
 
This time it was Cadance the one to lunge into Nightmare, but the strike barely moved the mare back a few centimeters. The princess cringed, her shoulder hurting from the hit. She unfurled her wings and took off just in time to dodge the magic retaliation of her opponent.
 
 
Nightmare Moon chased her, laughing. Cadance was aware she couldn’t face her just with her magic, so she opted to use her speed and flight experience to try to gain an advantage. She pumped her wings until she reached the first clouds. From there she could attack Nightmare from an unexpected direction.
 
 
Still flapping, Cadance looked back, but the black alicorn was nowhere to be seen. The princess stopped mid-air, frowning. ‘Where is she?’ she wondered, carefully scanning the landscape below.
 
 
The cloud to the right of Cadance exploded into wisps. Nightmare Moon emerged from it, her horn glowing with blue magic. Cadance tilted her body in the last instant, and the beam of magic rasped her mane. However, she couldn’t avoid the charge of the mare, who managed to close her jaws around her foreleg.
 
 
Cadance let out a scream of pain when the sharp fangs of Nightmare Moon penetrated to the bone. She tried to shake her off, to no avail. Desperate, she shot a spasmodic pulse of magic. Nightmare Moon let go, and disappeared in the clouds again.
 
 
The princess clenched her teeth and examined her leg. The wound was very deep and the shaking had only made it worse. It was bleeding profusely. One of the fangs of Nightmare Moon had reached the metacarpal bone. Cadance could see the bloodied white through a tear in her flesh. She made a small testing movement, but the sharp pain convinced her that it was not a good idea. Blinking off the tears on her eyes, she tried to locate Nightmare.
 
 
Cadance could hear her heartbeats inside her head. The adrenaline that flowed through her body caused time to slow down. Through the fog of the pain, Cadance could feel how the muscles of her wings stretched and relaxed, keeping her amid of the air. She could feel how the air went inside and outside her lungs through her mouth. She could feel the pain on her leg, but it didn’t hurt anymore. She could feel how the blood flowed off the wound, streamed down her leg, and dripped from the tip of her hoof.
 
 
Nightmare Moon had turned her stratagem against her. She could have done so much damage with her previous attack. She was just playing with her.
 
 
Cadance closed her eyes, and let her mind expand.
 
 
A being as massively powerful as Nightmare Moon would have an equally powerful aura. Finding it proved to be easy, as the black alicorn hadn’t bothered to conceal it. The cloud of the left contained a surge of energy that would make a hurricane envious. Smiling slightly, Cadance tilted her head a casted a beam of pink magic that cleanly sliced the nimbus in two.
 
 
Nightmare Moon emerged from one of the halves and charged to Cadance. She replied with a new barrage of magical attacks, forcing the mare to stop her charge and dodge. One of the projectiles went through her ethereal mane, leaving behind a burnt hole. Another touched the tip of her wings and charred the tip of her feathers. And a third impacted the blue metal chest plate. The crescent-shaped gem exploded in a rain of shards.
 
 
Her rapacious grin turned into a hateful scowl. The princess saw in the eyes of her opponent a promise of death. A promise that she was more than willing to make her pay for.
 
 
Nightmare Moon lunged into her prey, slithering through the air like an angered snake. Cadance tried to land another attack, but the black mare was too fast. The black alicorn reached Cadance and gave her an uppercut that threw the princess several meters in the air. Her tiara got loose and plummeted to the ground.
 
 
Nightmare allowed herself a satisfied grin at the sound of a bone snapping. But Cadance recovered almost instantly, and replied with a slap like the black mare had not felt in millennia.
 
 
Nightmare Moon blinked in surprise, a pause which Cadance used to deliver a blow that would have made the previous one proud.
 
 
Nightmare Moon shook her head and spitted out a fang. It had been a long time since anypony had dared to hit her like that. Flapping her wings to propel herself, he thrust her head forward and nearly missed Cadance’s neck, snapping instead on her mane. Nightmare easily blocked the frantic attacks of her opponent, and responded with another strike to the face of the princess.
 
 
The mare of the night let go of the mane of her opponent, turned around and delivered a brutal buck against the chest of Cadance. The princess lost her breath and gasped in a desperate attempt to regain it. A new strike to her head blurred her vision. Then came a second, a third, a fourth…Nightmare Moon struck her one time after the other, eager to finish the fight there and then.
 
 
Cadance couldn’t do anything. Her attacks were weak and slow compared with her opponent’s. With each strike she took, she staggered. Almost blindly, she shot a deflagration of pink flames from the tip of her horn. Nightmare Moon teleported over her, slid a foreleg under her neck and pressed, while locking her rear legs over her flanks. Cadance tried to shake her off her back, to fight against the strangling.
 
 
But Nightmare’s intent was another. She tilted her head back, looking for the right wing shoulder of the other pony, and closed her jaws on the joint. Cadance emitted a cry of pain when the sharp teeth penetrated in her flesh. Nightmare shook then her head, shredding apart muscle and tendons, and letting the blood run free. She didn’t stop until the wing stopped flapping and fell lifeless to a side.
 
 
Cadance’s consciousness was slipping. The fear, the pain, the adrenaline and the blood loss fogged her mind. That wasn’t happening to her. That was happening to a mare very similar to her, but different. She was barely aware of the feeling of vertigo that came when Nightmare Moon began to drop, flapping her leathery wings to increase their speed.
 
 
The wind howled in her ears. Somewhere, somepony screamed her name.
 
 
‘Shining’ though Cadance, an instant before the impact.
 
 

***

 
“…and then the pendants lighted up, and magic began to pour from them. They lifted you in the air…”
 
 
“Yes.”
 
 
“…and just like that, the magic went out of control?”
 
 
“Correct,” replied the while unicorn, who Twilight now knew was called Rarity. “I am sorry I can’t be of any more help, but Sunset seemed to be the one in control of the entire spellwork.”
 
 
Twilight frowned as she carefully avoided a root that stuck out. She had woken up all five ponies, and after letting them rest for a bit, they had taken the path back to Ponyville. Now Twilight was trying to piece together Sunset’s day with the information provided by the other five mares. “Nopony else remembers anything?” she asked, looking around. All five ponies shook their heads.
 
 
“Ah’m sorry, Twilight.” drawled the large earth mare, Applejack. “Ah blacked out after that. No idea what happened to Sunset.”
 
 
“Nightmare Moon must have kidnapped her,” grumbled Twilight. “I don’t know why yet, but it can’t be for a good cause.” The student was honestly concerned about Sunset. She had run several possible scenarios of why would Nightmare need Sunset, and none of them bode too well for her.
 
 
“I hope she is okay,” said Fluttershy, who Twilight had quickly learned to be a very proper name for the meek pegasus. The six ponies continued walking forward for a while, each lost in their thoughts. Twilight had updated them on Nightmare Moon’s latest endeavors, and it was obvious they were still mulling over it.
 
 
“On a side note,” said Rainbow Dash, the mare of colorful mane and tail. “any clue when this headache is going to recede? I have had my share of bruises when training, but this is new to me.”
 
 
“Magic-induced headache usually disappears after one hour or so,” replied Twilight. “But I could be wrong. I have never heard of earth ponies or pegasi having a magic backlash, but the symptoms are exactly the same: Headache, sometimes accompanied with muscular pain, if there was a big magic exertion.” Rainbow huffed in annoyance. “Technically, you shouldn’t be capable of suffering these symptoms. Perhaps a pegasus, under extreme conditions, could suffer a backlash. Earth ponies have a more passive magic, so I don’t see how-”
 
 
“Maybe it’s because the Elements of Harmony used our energy like an unicorn would.” chirped Pinkie Pie as she bounced past Twilight for the fifth time. Even though she was probably as sore as the others, the pink earth pony was in an excellent mood, which Twilight found strange but also was willing to accept.
 
 
The student actually paused at Pinkie’s words. It could be that the Elements functioned like the horn from an unicorn, focusing and shaping the energy inside the pony to cast a spell. The five ponies had first heard of those artifacts from Sunset, and later found a reference in a book from Ponyville’s library. Twilight herself could swear she had heard or read that name before, but she had no memory of what they actually were. And the only information the other five ponies were able to give her is that they were six; they found them as stone orbs, but later became a set of bejeweled necklaces and a tiara; and that using them made them feel very, very powerful.
 
 
‘And then the Elements failed, and bearers fell unconscious.’ though Twilight. The lavender unicorn frowned. She had counted on Sunset to clear things up for her, but she was gone. And even though the five ponies had given her valuable information, it was obvious that Sunset had figured out more than she had told them.
 
 
The unicorn bit her lip. She was starting to question if going to Ponyville was the right idea. Her decision to go there had been hasty and stupid. She was so unprepared, and being here would probably make no difference. Sunset was gone, Celestia was gone too, and these ponies clearly didn’t need rescuing. They were fine. She should have stayed in Canterlot, with her family.
 
 
Twilight’s musings were roughly interrupted when her hoof got stuck on a root, and the pony fell face-first into the ground. “Oh my! Are  you alright, darling?” said Rarity. Twilight let out an affirmative grunt and noticed the white hoof right in front of her. Muttering a ‘thank you’, the mare got on all four and dusted herself off. “What is wrong, Twilight?” asked Rarity. “You seem lost in your thoughts.”
 
 
The pony shook her head and continued walking in silence for a while. Twilight knew Rarity was still expecting an answer, but she didn’t want to mention her mother. She didn’t want to think of her. She didn’t want to talk about her. “There are too many things happening at the same time,” she quietly said, after a few minutes. “Canterlot, the Princess, Sunset. It seems like the world is falling apart around me, and I am unable to prevent it, even though I am supposed to have the ability.” That was only part of what was troubling her mind.
 
 
Rarity pressed her lips together. “Well, darling, I am sure you’ve done the best you can.” she said with uncertainty.
 
 
Twilight shook her head. “But the best was not enough, not even close. All this…it is too much for me. It’s overwhelming. I have to find the way to stop Nightmare Moon, but I don’t have the slightest idea where should I begin. Usually, it is the Princess who gives advices me.” she tried to gulp the knot on her throat.  She still didn’t know of the Princess’ fate.
 
 
The group continued walking in silence. Rarity seemed to be trying to think of something comforting to say, but she remained quiet, as the other four ponies did. Pinkie was somewhere ahead, probably still bouncing. Twilight let her head hang and tried to blink the tears away. ‘I should have stayed with my family…’
 
 
“Mah granny always says,” started a voice on her right. Twilight looked up and saw the orange mare walking beside her. “when you have too many problems, take a step back and think small.” The unicorn stared, confused. “That’s it, don’t put yerself to such high stakes.” explained Applejack. “Decide something small to do tomorrow, and do it. And the same the next day. And then the next. And soon, ya’ll be done before you even notice.”
 
 
Twilight opened her mouth to reply, but closed it a moment later. It sounded easy, too easy. But somehow, the unicorn found Applejack’s gentle smile incredibly encouraging. She felt a fire light up in her chest. Sunset was missing, but that didn’t mean she had to give up. She had come to Ponyville with one mission. And even if she had failed to find the other student, she could still pursue her initial goal. The unicorn furrowed her brown and nodded, a determined expression on her face.
 
 
Applejack noticed the change on Twilight’s expression, and her smile widened. “Glad to be helpful, sugarcube.”
 
 
A pink mass crowned with a very puffy mane popped from a hollow trunk, a few meters ahead of the group. “Hey!” said Pinkie Pie with her high-pitched voice. “We’ve arrived!”
 
 
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous, Pinkie Pie,” she replied, shaking her head. “It took me a couple of hours to arrive to the castle. It’s impossible we could-” Twilight’s voice fell short when she heard voices. She turned her ears in every direction, but they were unmistakably coming from ahead of them. “No way!” The unicorn galloped up the next hill and indeed saw the refugee camp, just a hundred meters away. Twilight looked back and saw five mares giving her puzzled looks.
 
 
Twilight wracked her mind trying to come up with a reasonable explanation. The enchanted scroll should have followed the shortest route, and yet, the return trip had been shorter, despite the slower pace. ‘How…’
 
 
“Pinkie Pie?” she cautiously asked the mare, who was bouncing up the hill. “D-did you take us through a shortcut?”
 
 
“Nope!” she replied as she jumped past Twilight. “I was just following you!”
 
 
Twilight watched Pinkie descend the slope, loss for words. ‘M-maybe the forest’s magic affected the scroll?’  she though, as Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy reached the top of the hill. The unicorn shook her head, and descended with them.
 
 

***

 
 
The camp was bursting with activity. Ponies were running around, and arguing and shouting to each other. In the middle of the chaos, a few of them were trying to regain control of the situation, with little success. The six newcomers were completely ignored, as they stared in disbelief to the scene before them.
 
 
“Twilight! You’re back!” came the voice of Spike. Twilight turned her head and saw the tiny dragon running towards her to give her leg a hug. Twilight smiled slightly and nuzzled him. “And you’ve found them! That’s great!” said Spike as he broke the hug. “But where’s Sunset?”
 
 
Twilight grimaced a bit. “I’ll tell you later. What is going on here?” she asked, waving a hoof towards the commotion.
 
 
“Oh. Yeah, well. While you were gone, Lyra told everypony about what has happened in Canterlot, and uh…” Spike shrugged. “Some ponies want to leave for good, because they’re scared. And some others want to stay because they don’t want to leave their village. It started quiet, but it quickly went out of hoof.”
 
 
“Ah ain’t gonna let some eldritch alicorn scare me off. Mah farm is here, and Ah ain’t leaving it behind,” said Applejack, scanning the crowd with her green eyes. “Ah’m gonna see if I can find mah family.” she added, before trotting off.
 
 
“I should find Sweetie Belle,” said Rarity. “She must be worried about me, and it has been so long since I saw her. Again, thanks for your assistance, Twilight.” she gave the purple unicorn a gentle smile, and then headed for the crowd.
 
 
“I…have to check on my animals.” muttered Fluttershy, her voice almost drowned by the uproar. Twilight noticed that she carefully walked around the crowd, instead of through it.
 
 
The unicorn realized Pinkie had vanished at some point, and Rainbow Dash was the only mare that was still with her. “What about you?” she asked, stiffing a yawn. She was exhausted, which wasn’t entirely surprising. Even if she had slept in the train, she had been walking for hours. All she wanted to do was hit the hay somewhere.
 
 
Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I don’t really have anypony that is gonna worry too much about me here. Family lives in Cloudsdale, y’know?” The blue mare sat on her haunches and yawned. “They’re probably gonna argue for hours now. They’re too busy shouting to really consider what the others are saying.”
 
 
Twilight stared at the chaotic display in front of her. She could hear bits of the shouts, but her tired brain couldn’t keep up. It was like Canterlot, a few hours ago, but in a smaller scale. The unicorn blinked slowly. She wasn’t going to be able to sleep with that racket. She thought for a half a second of the most appropriate way to make them quiet, but she settled for the simplest, most direct solution. She charged a bit of magic on her horn, and shot a purple flare to the sky.
 
 
Everypony went quiet, and a hundred pairs of eyes focused on her. In any other circumstance, Twilight would have felt awkward, but right now she was too tired to care. “Hello,” she muttered weakly. “I got your neighbors back. Please rejoice. Now, if you all wouldn’t mind, I’d really appreciate if all of you lowered the volume. It’s been a terrible day, and I need to sleep. And besides, screaming to each other is not going to do anything productive.” Twilight made a pause and blinked, amazed that she had managed to say that whole sentence in a single go. For a moment, she glanced over the crowd, before walking away to find a patch of grass to sleep on.
 
 
“Wait!” said a pony behind her. Twilight looked back, annoyed and found the source of the voice: a light mauve mare with blonde mane. “Lyra says you come from Canterlot too. What can you tell us of Nightmare Moon?”
 
 
Twilight considered the answer for a moment. She could put it mildly, to prevent them from panicking, but she didn’t think that would have the effect it should. “Nightmare Moon is crazy,” she replied dryly. “If you face her and try to stop her, she will kill you. If you keep a low profile, she won’t pay any attention to you. Hopefully. If I were you, I would say out of her way.” Having voiced her opinion, the mare walked away, stumbling. She finds a patch of fresh grass behind a tree, and dropped her whole self haphazardly. The pony closed her eyes and fell asleep almost immediately.
 
 

***

 
 
Nightmare Moon observed each of the Guards that stared her. Despite there being almost twenty, the black alicorn didn’t waver. She knew anything they could try to harm her would be in vain, and so did they.
 
 
At her hooves laid the inert bodies of Night Light and Shining Armor. The two stallions had charged against her as soon as she had landed. For a brief instant, the Guards considered going to help them. That idea disappeared a second later, when Nightmare knocked both ponies out with a single swing.
 
 
“Anypony else?” she asked with contempt. The ponies glared daggers at her, but none of them said anything. “Very wise. We are glad to see that it finally entered your hard skulls who is in charge now. Unlike these imbeciles!” she said, emphasizing that last word with a kick to the ribs of Shining Armor. Some of the Royal Guards clenched their teeth and cursed under their breaths, but none moved. Satisfied, Nightmare Moon turned around. “Now, if you will excuse us, there is a certain alicorn that is still breat-”
 
 
The word died on her lips when she turned and found a metal blade hovering an inch away from her snout. The broad edge extended for several centimeters, ending in a golden guard and grip decorated with filigrees, enveloped in a pale blue telekinetic field. Behind the sword stood, proud, a pony clad in a heavy armor, also golden.
 
 
“I won’t let you put a hoof on her…again!” said Blueblood, barely keeping his voice steady. He felt his throat dry and his muscles were tense like wires. He was aware to be making a huge mistake, but sometimes a prince had to do what he had to do.
 
 
Nightmare Moon gave him a toothy smile. “And who may you be, if we may know?” she asked, both amused and annoyed.
 
 
The Prince Blueblood swallowed nervously. “I am prince Blue, firstborn of the noble house of the Blood, clan of warriors and strategists, to the service of Equestria since before your banishment.” At the mention of her punishment, the face of Nightmare twisted in hate. Blueblood took a step back.
 
 
“A noble!” barked Nightmare. “You are nothing but a parasite of society, a good-for-nothing! We are surprised our sister had not abolished aristocracy already! That shall be a matter that we address as soon as possible! Now, move! We don’t have the patience to bear with a fool like you!” The alicorn made an impatient gesture with her hoof, but Blueblood didn’t flinch.
 
 
The alicorn slapped away Blueblood’s sword, but the prince quickly put it back up against his opponent. However, he miscalculated the distance, and instead of holding it near the face of the alicorn, he drew a cut from one side to the other of her snout.
 
 
The mare recoiled. Even before she touched her nose and saw the blood staining her hoof, Blueblood was aware he had just signed his death sentence. Deciding that things couldn’t get worse, he tried to strike again, this time with an actual intent to cause damage. However, Nightmare Moon lighted her horn and enveloped his clumsy attack in a telekinetic field. The magic of the mare extended across the sword, enveloping the prince’s. For an instant, they crossed sights, one full of hate and contempt, and the other of the deepest dread. Then, the face of Blueblood contorted in a suffering grimace.
 
 
He had barely let out a whine of pain when his sword and horn exploded in a rain of shards of metal and bone. The prince fell, his eyes blank.
 
 
Nightmare Moon contemptuously stared Blueblood. Then she walked over the inert body of Cadance, making sure to step on the prince’s face when she walked over him. She then lit her horn. A fraction of her magic stretched and coalesced into an obsidian-blue spear. The weapon hovered for an instant, before violently driving itself into Cadance’s chest.
 
 
Nightmare Moon turned her head to the ponies that watched paralyzed by sheer fear. “May this teach you what shall happen to whoever stands in our way.” she stated dryly. Then she unfurled her wings and took off to the nocturnal sky.