Chapter Three
Rainbow Dash flew through the skies above Ponyville, wings pumping strongly, eyes locked on the wedding-cake profile of Carousel Boutique. It was a short flight, especially for Ponyville’s fastest flier, and right now she considered that a very good thing. It meant she had less time to think.
Rainbow was far from the most introspective pegasus in Equestria. Right now, though, her thoughts were chewing away at the fringes of her mind, and she was holding herself together with the very edges of her hooves. Images kept flashing through her thoughts; the fun of the party dissolving into sudden horror when the unicorns all started screaming like they were on fire, the spike of terror she’d felt when Twilight didn’t answer the door right away, Applejack dropping unconscious as the pitcher shattered against her forehead, and the boneless way the orange mare had rolled when she hit the ground. Rainbow hadn’t even paused to check on her friendly rival before shooting off, nor had she tried to find out whether or not Pinkie Pie was okay. Just another screwup. Just another failure.
She bit her lip. Gotta fight that. Can’t fall apart right now, Rarity and Twilight are depending on me! Frantically, she shoved the images out of her mind. Almost there!
Unfortunately, pushing those thoughts out had just made room for new ones. Now she was seeing her hooves shove against Hammer N’ Tongs’s shoulder, trying to push him away from Twilight. You’re a murderer, Rainbow Dash. She kept seeing the silver flame blossom in slow motion from her cyan hooves where she’d made contact with him, blasting outward like an explosion, leaving ripped and burned flesh in its wake. How did I do that? How can I keep from doing that? Does this mean I’ll never be able to touch anyone else ever again? No more playfully nudging her friends, no more impromptu wrestling matches, and if she forgot, even once, even for just a second…
Now she was trying to suppress mental images of her friends screaming and burning with argent light when she touched them. Rainbow shuddered mid-flight, narrowly avoiding spinning out when the motion disrupted the airflow over her wings.
The brief flight to Rarity’s boutique seemed to take ages.
Finally, she found herself in front of the big, ornate, round building Rarity lived in and worked out of. She landed heavily in front of the door, stumbling as her whirling thoughts robbed her of some of the fine muscle control she treasured. That caused a new round of doubts and worries to start chasing through her head. Stop. That. She told herself savagely, tapping a forehoof angrily against her head and wincing because she’d forgotten again about the bruise she’d acquired when she impacted the wall of the barn.
There was a light in the upstairs window, and Rainbow let out an explosive sigh of relief as she realized she could hear Rarity’s sewing machine rattling. The machine wouldn’t be working unless the designer was actively using it, so at least her numerous delays in getting here to check on her friend hadn’t caused any harm. Not that Rainbow felt any less guilty about them.
She stopped herself before she started pounding frantically on Rarity’s door as she had with Twilight’s. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door. Upstairs, the sewing machine stopped, and Rainbow heard the unicorn’s voice call, “Just a moment!” She sounded fine, like she hadn’t even noticed anything wrong.
A few moments later, the door to the boutique opened, and Rarity asked, “Yes, can I help… Oh my goodness! Rainbow Dash, what’s wrong? You look dreadful, darling, are you all right?” Rarity stepped forward to give her friend a comforting hug.
Rainbow backpedaled desperately, trying to get out of reach. “Rarity, no, don’t touch me! I don’t wanna oof!” Rainbow’s back hoof slipped on a loose pebble, and she fell on her rump. “I don’t wanna hurt you!”
“Hurt me?” Rarity had stopped when Rainbow moved away, and she now looked at the pegasus with concern. Rainbow was glad to see that the white-coated unicorn looked uninjured, though her purple mane was looking a little frizzy, as it sometimes did when it was stressed. “Rainbow, what are you talking about? Did something happen?” Rarity stepped forward carefully.
“Y- yeah! At the party!” Stress, memory, guilt, shock, and worry were all closing in on Rainbow Dash like a swarm of stinging wasps. She was still trying to fight them off, but she could feel her legs starting to shake. Noo… I don’t have time to break down right now! “I… It was… a-are you okay?” Rainbow’s voice was unsteady, betraying her increasingly-frantic efforts to hold herself together.
“Me? Darling, I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be? The better question is, are you all right?” Rarity edged closer, worry written on her face. The pegasus shook her head urgently.
“N- No! Don’t get too close! T- Twilight and I… w- we killed Hammer N’ Tongs! I burned him, j-just by touching him!” Rainbow tried to scoot back on her haunches, unsure whether she’d be able to stand with her legs shaking as they were
.
“Hammer N’ Tongs? The blacksmith?” Skepticism chased the concern across Rarity’s face. “Now why would you and Twilight kill him? Honestly, Rainbow, if this is another joke you and Pinkie cooked up, I will be very cross…”
“It’s… it’s not a j-joke, Rarity,” Rainbow sobbed, her fragile composure cracking. “Pinkie’s… she’s out cold, or she was when I left, Applejack too! I didn’t even ch- check on them! All the unicorns had gone crazy, and, and, I needed to make sure you were okay, n-nopony had seen you s-since… a- and now we need to check the other houses, see if a-anypony’s hurt…oof.” Rainbow’s shaking forelegs suddenly gave out, dumping her face-first onto the ground.
She quickly rolled onto her side in an attempt to get her legs underneath her again, trying to stand back up, but her body rebelled. She’d held herself together this long out of sheer willpower, but the fear she’d felt and the shock she’d experienced had finally hammered past her guard. She curled up, her whole body shaking as recrimination bludgeoned her, the little voice in her head that she could normally ignore now shouting at her, telling her how she’d failed, how she hadn’t been good enough. How she’d never be good enough, no matter how hard she tried. Telling her she was a killer, a murderer.
Rarity gasped, seeing the pegasus collapse. She swiftly moved to Rainbow’s side, reaching out in an unthinking attempt to try to help the panicking athlete. Rainbow tried desperately to warn her away, knowing she had to protect her elegant friend from the ruin she’d wreaked on Hammer, but her voice refused to cooperate, stammering out random nonsense syllables, and her quaking body wouldn’t even let her draw away. She could only watch Rarity’s hoof moving closer in what seemed to be agonizing slow motion, knowing that she was about to see her friend get horribly burned, and it would be her fault for failing to warn her. She squeezed her rose-colored eyes tightly shut, not wanting to see the silver flame, wishing with all her heart that she could cover her ears and not have to hear the screams.
Rarity’s forehoof touched Rainbow’s lower shoulder, and the pegasus flinched violently, but there was no heat, no flash, no scream. She felt the unicorn stroke her gently, and tentatively pried one eye open.
The elegant white unicorn was unhurt. There was no pain in her face, only concern as she carefully stroked Rainbow’s lower shoulder and foreleg with one precisely trimmed forehoof. Rainbow felt a tremendous surge of relief. She’s not burning! She felt relieved tears prickle in her eyes as she realized she hadn’t maimed or killed her friend.
“Rainbow Dash, darling, I am so sorry. I honestly thought you were joking. I had no idea…” Rarity carefully lay down next to Rainbow, tucking her body alongside the quaking form of the pegasus, heedless of the dust that was getting in her well-groomed tail. She nuzzled the athlete reassuringly, saying, “There now, it’s all right. It’ll be okay. You’re all right, and I’m all right, so just take a deep breath…”
They lay like that for several minutes. Rainbow shook, her occasional attempts at speech coming out as stammered nonsense, while tears poured from her eyes. Rarity tried to gently calm the pegasus, alternating soothing words with simple humming, just trying to be there for her friend.
Eventually, Rainbow’s shudders subsided, and she was able to get back to her feet. Rarity rose along with her, watching the pegasus carefully, ready to steady her if she fell again.
“Thanks, Rarity. Just… thanks.” Rainbow smiled at the fashion designer, who returned the expression. Rainbow took a deep breath, releasing it slowly, and then said, “Okay. I’m really, really glad you’re okay. Now, we need to check the rest of the houses in Ponyville, make sure nopony’s hurt and needs help.”
“Well… all right, Rainbow Dash, but can you at least tell me…”
Rarity was interrupted by a soft contralto voice coming from above them. “Excuse me.” They both looked up, as an exceptionally large pegasus glided down to land next to them. The mare had dark blue fur with a lighter blue mane and tail, and though she was clearly built like a mare, she was one of the tallest ponies either of them had ever seen. She turned to face them, and they realized the reason for her stature.
In addition to her wings, the pegasus sported the spiral horn of a unicorn. This was Princess Luna, one of the sister goddesses of Equestria. They both bowed.
“Oh, no, get up, please. I am looking for Twilight Sparkle. I believe you are both friends of hers?” The pegasus and the unicorn shared a glance, nodding. The Princess paused, sniffing at the air before continuing. “Oh… dear. Has something… unpleasant happened near here?” Rainbow nodded miserably, ducking her head so her flame-colored forelock hid her eyes.
The Princess sighed. “We had hoped that… never mind. Could the two of you please show me where Twilight Sparkle is? There are some things we need to discuss.”
“Uh, Twilight’s down at the Sweet Apple Acres barn.” Rainbow answered. “Hey, Rarity, would you mind walking the Princess down there? I’ll start checking houses.”
“Checking houses?” Luna asked, before Rarity could speak. “Checking them for what?”
“Wh- to see if anypony’s hurt! After all of the unicorns at the party freaked out, we were worried that somepony who stayed home might have fallen and hurt themselves, so someone’s gotta check on ‘em!” Luna’s gaze sharpened at the mention of the unicorns’ plight.
“The… disturbance. Was it near here?” The princess asked.
Rainbow shook her head. “No, it was up at the barn. Twilight’s there, trying to help everypony that got hurt.”
“Ah,” Luna nodded at the pegasus. “I understand your concern, but the farther away a unicorn was from the… manifestation, the less harm they will have suffered.”
“I didn’t even realize anything was wrong.” Rarity chipped in. “I’ve been working on an order all evening, and the only unusual thing I noticed was this odd shivery feeling a little while ago. I thought it was just a draft.”
“Were you using your magic at the time?” The Princess asked.
Rarity paused for a moment to think. “No… no, I don’t think I was. If I remember correctly, I was using my sewing machine, concentrating on getting an even stitch.”
Luna nodded. “Precisely what I would expect. As I said, this far away it should not have been strong enough to hurt anypony. If the two of you would accompany me to the barn, I’d like to speak to both of you as well as Twilight. Do you know where the other Bearers are?”
“Yeah,” Rainbow answered, her voice subdued. “We were all at the party together. Pinkie and A.J. got hurt, and Twilight and Fluttershy should still be up there with ‘em.”
Princess Luna’s teal eyes (almost the same color as Fluttershy’s, Rainbow noticed in a flash of irrelevancy) widened in surprise. “They were injured? How badly?”
Rainbow felt a surge of guilt smash into her again. She hung her head in shame. “I dunno. I took off to check on Rarity before anypony had a chance to check on ‘em. Applejack got hit in the head and knocked out; I didn’t see what happened to Pinkie.” Rainbow trembled slightly, but Rarity stepped up next to her, leaning comfortingly against the cyan pegasus’s side. Rainbow smiled at the unicorn gratefully, glad for the support.
The Princess looked troubled. “Please, could you tell me the full story on the way to the barn?” Rainbow nodded, and the three set off through the empty streets.
Haltingly, the pegasus related her account of what she’d seen and felt in the last half hour or so. (Had it really been that short a time?) The story took longer than it should have, as Rainbow had to pause occasionally to regain her composure. The Princess interrupted several times to ask questions, but for the most part, she let Rainbow tell it in her own way.
They had nearly reached the barn by the time she finished. The Princess’s face sported a troubled expression, while Rarity looked utterly shocked. “Oh, you poor dear!” The designer exclaimed, “That sounds absolutely horrific! No wonder you were in such a dreadful state when you came to find me, you must still be in shock!”
“I suspect that she is,” the Princess interjected thoughtfully, “though possibly a different kind of shock than you may have in mind, Rarity. Did no one tell the six of you the true purpose and function of the Elements you carry?”
Rainbow eyed the Princess warily. “‘True purpose and function?’ Whaddaya mean? They turned you from Nightmare Moon back into Luna, right?”
“Not… precisely,” Luna said slowly, “That is… not quite what they were made for, and it would be more accurate to say that the Elements burned away the creature that was partially controlling me.” The Princess paused. “The full explanation is something I would rather only have to give once, so I would prefer to let it wait until I could address all six of you.”
A sudden connection formed in Rainbow’s brain between the events of the party and what the Princess had just said. “Creature controlling you? D’you mean Nightmare Moon was like what happened to Hammer N’ Tongs?”
Luna gave the pegasus a respectful look. “You are very quick on the uptake. Yes, something similar, though the creature you describe was almost certainly far, far less formidable than the one that possessed me. As I said, I will give the six of you a full explanation when you are all gathered.”
The three walked in silence the rest of the way to the barn. Rainbow had to admit she was curious; she’d known the Elements were important, but somehow had never gotten around to asking exactly why. The idea that they might somehow relate to the horror that had befallen Hammer N’ Tongs was frightening, though. She didn’t want to think about that kind of thing happening regularly. Monsters, I’ve got no problem with fighting. Done that before, and somepony’s gotta keep Ponyville safe, the pegasus thought, but hurting somepony I know… doesn’t that kinda make me the monster?
She was still mulling over the unpalatable thought when they reached Sweet Apple Acres. There was a large crowd of ponies outside, milling around the farm’s large gazebo as the mayor attempted to organize them. (To do what, Rainbow had no idea. Maybe she was just organizing for organizing’s sake. That sounded like Twilight’s influence.) The murmur of conversation out in the field carried an ugly undertone of fear and shock.
“The Princess!” somepony called out, catching sight of the dark blue winged unicorn. “It’s the Princess!”
The sound of pony voices trailed off as more of the crowd spotted the goddess. Rainbow had half expected Luna to be uncomfortable as the center of attention; she’d seemed a bit shy when she’d attended the party after being broken free of Nightmare Moon. Instead, the Princess seemed to be holding up well under the focused gazes of the crowd; perhaps the intervening time had been enough for her to rebuild her confidence.
For her part, Rainbow Dash was uneasy with the overspill of attention that she was catching. Ordinarily, she’d have enjoyed the fact that she was being noticed, even though the notice in this case was secondhoof, as she was walking next to Luna. Of course, ordinarily she wouldn’t have been involved in the death of another pony a scant few minutes before. Some of the looks that were being directed at her were hostile, others were curious, and some were grateful. She really wished they’d just stop looking at her, a feeling that was totally alien to her normal attitude, and she resisted the urge to duck behind the Princess to avoid their gazes.
The crowd bowed as the three approached, lowering their heads to show respect to the Princess. That finally seemed to make Luna uncomfortable, and she quickly bade them to rise, much as she had Rarity and Rainbow Dash when she’d arrived earlier. The crowd complied, slowly, interrupted conversations resuming with a new, excited undertone replacing some of the previous fear. The Princess made a quick gesture, a flick of the wing, and as if by magic the crowd’s attention wandered, going back to speaking to their friends and neighbors. Rainbow was shocked; had the Princess used some kind of spell? She hadn’t seen any horn glow…
Motioning for Rainbow and Rarity to follow, Luna stepped over to the mayor. In an undertone that barely carried to Rainbow’s ears, she asked, “Excuse me. I do not see Miss Sparkle out here; could you perhaps tell me where I could find her?”
The mayor blinked, as though surprised to see the large winged unicorn standing there. “Oh, she’s inside the barn, with Nurse Redheart. I believe she was helping those who haven’t recovered yet.”
“And are Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy inside as well?”
The mayor nodded. “I think so. I haven’t seen any of them leave, at least.”
Luna smiled at the gray-haired earth pony. “Thank you, mayor.” She moved off, heading toward the barn as the crowd parted in front of her.
Rainbow sidled up next to the Princess, asking her in an undertone she hoped nopony else could hear, “Uh, hey, Princess, how did you get everypony to forget about you like that? Was that some kind of spell?”
Luna chuckled quietly. “No, there was no magic involved. The only spell I have used since I arrived was tiny bit of energy to sooth the psychic shock of being so near a daemonic manifestation. Redirecting their attention was a kind of… suggestion. Celestia is much better at it than I am; I doubt you would have noticed if she had done it.” The Princess paused, considering her words, and Rainbow noticed Rarity listening avidly on the other side of the tall winged unicorn. “It has to do with how ponies react to certain gestures, timing, things like that. It is a form of applied psychology; you could learn to do it, if you wanted to and had a few thousand years to study.”
“Oh, is that all? I’ll make sure to mark my calendar.” Rarity remarked sarcastically, drawing another chuckle from Luna.
The three ponies entered the barn, finding Twilight and Nurse Redheart speaking to one of the unicorns who was still lying on the floor. Fluttershy was talking softly to Applejack, as the latter brushed dust off of her hat, and Big McIntosh listened silently from where he was sitting next to his sister. They’d evidently just awoken, and were still wincing slightly at loud noises. Pinkie Pie was awake too, rambling somewhat incoherently about not bringing the “special” punch this time and wondering aloud why she had a hangover.
The sound of quiet voices ceased as the Princess’s presence registered, just like what had happened outside. And, just like outside, everypony bowed. Rainbow was starting to realize why Luna didn’t seem to care for the gesture; this was only the second time she’d seen it happen, and it was already getting a little bit annoying. She was impressed that the Princess didn’t show a hint of exasperation when she again asked everypony to rise, and the pegasus wondered how many times a day this kind of thing happened.
Luna paced over to where the stricken unicorn lay, and her horn glowed with a blue light. The result was nearly miraculous, as the fallen stallion heaved himself to his feet, shaking his head as though he’d awakened from a dream.
“Excuse me, everypony,” The Princess said, “I have a pressing need to speak to the Bearers of the Elements in private, so would it be possible for the rest of you to wait outside?”
The newly recovered stallion simply nodded and trotted outside. Nurse Redheart looked anxiously at Applejack, Big Mac, and Pinkie Pie, but complied after a short hesitation.
“Uh… my brother’s had one nasty knock to the noggin, Princess.” Applejack said hesitantly. “I reckon it might be better for him t’ stay put. Maybe we all could find someplace else to talk?”
“I’ll be fine, A.J.” The big red stallion drawled. “I felt worse last year, anyhow, and I was still fine when I helped with the harvest. I’ll wait outside.”
Applejack looked unsatisfied. “An’ I wasn’t happy ‘bout that, either, as I recall! Gettin’ smacked in the head with a pitcher ain’t much like havin’ a tree fall on ya!”
Big Mac snorted. “Six a’ one, half a dozen a’ the other, sis. Either I move or you do, and a thump to the noggin ain’t slowed you down none. Don’t see why it should me.” The hulking earth pony turned and slowly left the barn without saying another word.
As the stallion left, Luna motioned for the six friends to gather around her. They complied, eyes wide with curiosity.
“Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash.” Luna nodded to each in turn, going clockwise around the circle that had formed. “What I am going to tell you is history and knowledge known only to myself and Celestia. You must swear not to divulge any of this, to anyone.”
“Ooh, ooh, a secret!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. Her injuries evidently hadn’t significantly affected her outlook. “I’ll keep it, I swear! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” The pink earth pony accompanied her chant with a series of wild gestures, culminating with a mock jabbing of her hoof into her eye.
Luna stared at her, clearly unsure of how to respond to that. Rainbow stifled a giggle, as Pinkie grinned. Trust Pinkie to manage to leave a goddess speechless, the pegasus thought. Impulsively, she mimicked Pinkie’s gestures, though without the chant, and lost her fight against laughter when the other four did likewise. Laughing felt good, and she felt a bit of the tension that had been bearing down on her drain away. Thanks, Pinkie.
While Rainbow chuckled, Luna looked at the six like they’d gone utterly mad. “Are… all of you all right?” The Princess asked, finally.
“Well, of course we’re all right, silly! We’re just swearing a Pinkie Pie swear!” Pinkie piped up. “It’s the most serious -est of serious promises! You neverever break a Pinkie Pie swear, you gotta keep it for-EV-er!” The Princess cocked an eyebrow, glanced back at Rainbow Dash, who was nodding vigorously, and finally looked at Twilight.
The lavender-coated unicorn spoke up. “It really is a serious promise, Princess, even though it looks a little silly. You can trust us.”
Applejack shifted uneasily. “Uh… Princess, I ain’t sure I’m comfortable with lyin’. ‘Taint somethin’ I’m good at.”
Luna shook her head. “I will not ask any of you to lie. This is simply information you cannot share. Indeed, were it not for what you have already seen this night, I would not be telling even you.”
The orange earth pony rubbed her forehead, carefully avoiding the large knot left behind by the pitcher’s impact. “Well… all right then. I can keep a secret, if you’re sure it’s one as needs t’be kept.”
“It does.” Luna’s expression was grave. She took a deep breath. “This tale is a long one, so please be patient. To begin, I must tell you something of the way the universe is structured.” Rainbow noticed an expression of intense interest forming on Twilight’s face at the winged unicorn’s words. “The physical reality we inhabit is… adjacent, shall we say, to a different aspect of reality. This other aspect is called by many names: the Immaterium and the Warp are among the most common and least fantastical, and will suffice for now. It is a place composed entirely of energy and emotion, fed by the minds and souls of those who live in the physical universe.”
“A universe of emotion?” Twilight asked, fascinated, “I’ve never even heard of this, it sounds like a wonderful place!”
“It is not.” Luna’s response was flat. “The universe outside of this solar system is not a pleasant place, Twilight, or a happy one, and for whatever reason the power of negative emotions in the Immaterium is massively amplified over that of positive ones. The chief inhabitants of the Warp are four immensely powerful beings, gods of a sort. They each embody a collection of emotions, each discrete and separate from the other three. The chief emotion represented by one is rage, another’s is lust, the third despair, and the fourth, betrayal.”
Twilight blanched. “Oh.”
“Indeed.” Luna’s face was hard. “The denizens of the Warp are monsters, the closest thing to pure evil you will ever find. Long ago, Equestria had to contend with them. They preyed upon us, toyed with us, until Celestia and I were born.” The Princess closed her eyes, clearly reliving some old memory. “We sisters fought against them, held them back, but we could not be everywhere at all times, and our people continued to suffer in the most horrific ways. It was centuries before we found a more permanent solution.” Luna opened her eyes again, and Rainbow could see age and pain in her ancient gaze. “Celestia and I discovered the existence of sections of the Immaterium that had been walled off and protected from the creatures that lived there. It took us much study, and many trials, but we eventually learned how it had been accomplished, and determined how we could do something similar on a larger scale. It took us centuries more to build our fortress, enclosing Equestria and this entire solar system within a protected bubble, all the while watching as daemons preyed upon our people while our attention was focused elsewhere.”
“Demons?” Twilight interrupted with laughter in her voice. “Oh, you had me going there, Princess! Demons aren’t real, they’re just stories to scare foals!”
“Daemons are very real, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna said seriously, no trace of jocularity in her tone. “It is better for most of Equestria to believe that they are only stories, but here, now, it is important for you to know that they are most emphatically not just stories.” Twilight’s laughter trailed off awkwardly as the winged unicorn spoke. “They are normally kept at bay by the Veil that Celestia and I built millennia ago, but this night, a particular event allowed several of them access to Equestria.”
Twilight’s eyes got big, and she looked at the large scorch mark on the floor of the barn. “You mean…”
“Yes. You confronted and destroyed a daemon this very night. A very minor one, true, a Warp predator only barely deserving of the label, but a daemon nonetheless.”
“What, you mean Hammer N’ Tongs?” Rainbow asked, confused. “But he wasn’t a demon, he was just crazy…”
“A crazed unicorn whose flesh regrows?” Luna interrupted. “Whose form warps and mutates before your very eyes, and who acts nothing like how he has ever acted in the past? Who burns like a candle when the power of the Elements so much as touches him? And, most tellingly, who bears the emblem of the Enemy in place of his cutie mark?” The princess looked at the pegasus in sympathy, shaking her head. “No, Rainbow Dash, what you faced was no longer your town blacksmith. That was a daemon, wearing his flesh as a suit to stay in this world.”
Rainbow was speechless. That… hadn’t actually been Hammer? She was thinking furiously, trying to work through the implications of this revelation, when Applejack jumped into the conversation. “Wait… the elements were burnin’ him? Y’mean when Pinkie laughed at ‘im? Why?”
“Laughed at him?” Luna asked, and Applejack quickly recounted the events that had passed when Rainbow Dash had left the barn to get Twilight’s help.
Luna paused to gather her thoughts. “Another name the Warp goes by is Chaos, my little ponies.” The Princess said, “The Elements of Harmony were built long ago with a singular purpose; to oppose the servants of Chaos at all turns, and to defend Equestria from their designs. In past ages, the wielders of the Elements have confronted powerful daemons, even mighty Princes of the Ruinous Powers, and driven them shrieking from Equestria. Celestia and I harnessed their power when we built our great Veil, shielding this world from the Warp, and locking out its inhabitants, leaving them no access to our world until one of their number crept into my mind, turning me into what you knew as Nightmare Moon. When Pinkie laughed at the entity, her element of Laughter would have resonated with her mirth, and some of its power struck the daemon. I suspect that Pinkie came very close to destroying the creature in that moment.”
Twilight scratched her head. “But… if what you’re saying is true, and you were possessed the way Hammer was, why didn’t the Elements destroy you when we used them against Nightmare Moon?”
Princess Luna lowered her head, closing her eyes against a painful memory. “The circumstances were different. In my case, the daemon had not fully possessed me. It was whispering in my ear, convincing me that its lies were truth and its voice was my own. It pulled at my strings and I danced like a puppet.” Her voice gradually gained an edge of bitter anger. “Yet, even though it was a fell and terrible being, and had infused me with its power, I was still largely me, and because of my strength it could not fully control me, powerful though it was. When Celestia exiled me, the daemon’s presence was not yet strong enough to react to the Elements, and it was still hidden away in the core of my being. I slept on the Moon, and it whispered, gaining more control and convincing me to give more of myself over to it. Then, after a thousand long years, the daemon and the Four it served had given unto me enough power to return here.” The winged unicorn opened her eyes again, looking fiercely at the six friends that surrounded her. “And then, you came along. You struck at me with the Elements, and the daemon within me burned. And, with its burning, you showed me the truth of what it was, and you drove it out as I finally closed my mind to its influence. Without the six of you, I shudder to think of what I might have done. I owe you all a debt I can never repay, for you saved not only my life, but my very self.” With those words, the Princess sank into a bow.
“Oh, uh, Princess, we just did what we needed to do!” Twilight said uncomfortably.
“I know you did,” The Princess replied, rising. “To do otherwise never occurred to you. And that is even more remarkable.”
Twilight blinked, and shared a smile with the other five ponies gathered around the Princess. Something seemed to occur to her, and she tilted her head. “Um, Princess, that didn’t really answer my question; if your possession was similar to Hammer’s, why did the Elements not burn you the way they did him?”
“Oh, but they did.” Luna’s smile was brittle. “They burned away a part of me, the part infused with the daemon’s presence. Had I been any other pony, I would have died then. Instead, I was able to finally see the daemon for what it was, an invader, and not a part of my mind at all. In that instant, I fought it from within as you six burned it from without, banishing it back to the Warp. Doing so, casting it off, harmed me greatly, however. Or did you not wonder why I am now so much smaller than my sister?”
Rainbow didn’t understand at first. Then, realization struck her in a flood of nausea. The Princess must have sacrificed a part of herself when Nightmare Moon was destroyed, she had been burned just as Hammer had, and she had been diminished by the loss. The pegasus saw the same horrified realization on Twilight’s face, standing on the other side of the Princess.
“No, no, do not think that I blame you!” Luna said hastily. “As I said, you did what you had to do, and in doing so you saved me. Shapeshifting magic allowed me to save what remained of my body without visible damage, and though I am diminished, I can still fulfill my duties.”
“B- but… Hammer…” Rainbow choked out, looking around with the slightly mad impulse to see if some scrap of the blacksmith’s flesh had fallen in a corner somewhere and still clung to life.
“Oh, I apologize. I had not understood your concern.” Sadness filled Luna’s large teal eyes. “No, as I said, his case was different from mine. The Warp predator that took him lacked the subtlety of the daemon prince that corrupted me, and Hammer lacked the power to resist it. There was no scrap of him remaining; poor Hammer died in the instant the beast entered his flesh. All that you saw, the quaking, the unnatural words… that was simply the daemon learning how to use his body. Hammer, the real Hammer, was already dead by then. That is why the Elements burned him with the slightest touch: every scrap of his flesh was suffused and animated by a minion of Chaos.”
“He was dead?” Rainbow asked. “But, it said he was still in there…”
“It lied.” Luna interrupted. “That is what they do. Daemons can never be trusted, never be believed. Even when they tell the truth, they are still lying.”
Rainbow’s mind was engulfed in a maelstrom of conflicting emotions. He was dead? But Twilight was talking to him! How could he be dead? How could that thing have used his body like that? Wait… wait… if Hammer was already dead, then does that mean Twilight and I didn’t kill him?
The multicolored pegasus voiced that last question, seeing Twilight perk up as she did so. Luna shook her head. “No, Rainbow Dash. You did no harm to Hammer N’ Tongs; the only thing you destroyed was the creature that murdered him and stole his body. In fact, as what you’ve described of that creature’s behavior leaned somewhat toward the Prince of Excess, and somewhat toward the God of Lies and Betrayal, you as the spirit of Loyalty, or Applejack as the spirit of Honesty, had she been able to reach it, would likely have been particularly toxic to it, as would Rarity’s element of Generosity. I suspect your blow may have destroyed the creature utterly, rather than simply banishing it.”
“Good.” Rainbow spat venomously. Her friends looked at her with varying degrees of worry, unsettled by her vociferousness.
“Uh, sugarcube, you okay?” Applejack asked, moving so she could look past Rarity into Rainbow’s eyes.
“No, Applejack, I’m not.” The pegasus growled, spinning on a heel to walk a few steps away. The grief, shame, shock, and worry she’d been feeling swirled around, condensing into a knot of rage that was shockingly strong. Dash whirled and kicked a nearby table, smashing it to splinters and drawing a gasp from her friends. “That… that monster,” Dash wished she knew some decent profanity right at that moment. Ponies didn’t curse, but right then she could have. “murdered Hammer right in front of us, and we didn’t even know it! Then it used his body, kept us from knowing what it did while it hurt you, Big Mac, and Pinkie!”
“We’re all okay now, though,” Pinkie offered tentatively, and flinched slightly at Dash’s response.
“That’s not the point!” The pegasus shouted. “The point is that it hurt you, not that you got better! And then…” Dash gritted her teeth and kicked another table apart. “Then, Twilight and I killed it, only we still thought it was Hammer, so we both feel like murderers! But we didn’t have any other choice!” Tears of rage and pain prickled in Dash’s eyes as she met Twilight’s, seeing an echo of her own anguish there. The lavender unicorn had hidden the feeling better, managed it better than Dash had, but it was definitely there.
“I know, Rainbow Dash,” the academic said, quietly. “I feel it too.”
“But…” Applejack started, only to be interrupted by the Princess.
“I understand why you feel this way.” The goddess observed. “I think anypony would, at least anypony as goodhearted and decent as you two. But you must understand, in this case, that feeling is a lie. It is another lie the daemon has told you. In this circumstance, do not trust your hearts, but your minds and my words. Regardless of what it may have looked like, the creature you killed was not the pony you knew. Destroying it was a favor to him and an honor to his memory, as I doubt he would have wanted his body put to the uses the creature intended.”
Rainbow nodded, though she was still seething with anger. Anger over what she’d seen, anger over what had happened, and anger over how the monster had torn savagely into her heart, and her friends’ hearts, both with its deeds and its words.
“Uh, sugarcube, you may wanna simmer down some. It ain’t healthy to stay that mad.”
Applejack had a point, and Dash took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm herself. The red film over her vision cleared, and she was able to stop grinding her teeth, but she was still quietly furious, and suspected she would remain that way for a while.
The orange earth pony saw the tension ease in Dash’s frame, and simply asked, “Better?”
“A little,” Rainbow answered grudgingly. “Not a lot, but a little.”
The Princess spoke up again. “Though my sister would disagree with me for saying so, I suggest you remember that feeling. Righteous anger, not simple rage, combined with the power of the Elements makes for an extraordinarily powerful weapon against Chaos. I speak from personal experience.”
Rainbow took a few more deep breaths, trying to calm herself down more. It was difficult. Much of the night’s emotional stress seemed to have transmuted itself into anger, and dissipating it all was hard. She was trying not to bottle it up; she’d done that when she was a kid and that road could lead to some bad places. Instead, she just tried to let it pass, but she knew the others were waiting for her, and she felt like she was holding up the discussion. She waved for them to continue, still concentrating on taking deep, even breaths.
“Um, Princess?” Twilight asked, “If Equestria is protected by this ‘Veil’ you mentioned earlier, how did this demon get to you? And how did one get Hammer N’ Tongs?”
“The first was my own fault.” Luna sighed. “Especially powerful wielders of magic can sometimes hear the whispers of daemons, even from within the Veil’s protections. It generally poses no threat, but this one was exceptionally clever and subtle. It took the creature many centuries, but it eventually convinced me that its ideas were coming from my own conscience, and when I finally began to draw upon its power, I was doing so because I felt it to be the proper thing to do. That is why Celestia and I worked so very hard to ensure that nopony in Equestria knew about the existence of Chaos, and why we made daemons into silly stories that no one believes; if no one thinks they are real, it makes it vastly less likely that someone might reach through the Veil to allow them in.” Luna lifted her head, her eyes focusing past the roof of the barn. “And then something like tonight happens.” Twilight started to say something, but the Princess held up a forehoof to forestall her. “A moment, please. This is what I had come here to tell you about, and with this extra discussion I am growing short of time. A short while ago, the Veil that Celestia and I built so long ago was ruptured. Several entities from the Warp managed to squeeze through before I could block them, and I had thought Celestia and I had already dealt with all of them before I learned of the one that struck here.”
“It’s torn?” Twilight asked in horror. “Does that mean more of these things could attack at any time?”
“No.” Luna gave a quick, emphatic shake of her head. “We sisters are holding a temporary barrier over the breach. Nothing can come through, but doing so is consuming a significant amount of our energy and attention. Soon, we sisters must turn our attention toward repairing the Veil, but that will consume virtually all of our attention, and may take as long as a month, possibly longer. Which is why we have a task for you, Twilight Sparkle.”
“A task?” Twilight said, as Rainbow wondered whether her friend had gotten stuck on echo mode or something.
“Yes, and that was my reason for coming here. I did not expect to be telling the six of you the truth of Chaos!” Luna chuckled. “But I digress further. The tear in the Veil was not random; it was caused by the arrival of a ship.”
Twilight’s brow wrinkled. “But what does that have to do with me? The ocean’s nowhere near here!”
“Not an oceangoing vessel, my little pony. This ship sails between the stars on engines of flame, navigates tides of gravity and mass and forges through storms of unreality in the Immaterium. It is something ponies have never dreamed of outside of stories, and is crewed by beings never before seen on this world.”
Rainbow actually almost forgot about her anger, in the face of Luna’s statement. Woah… wait, aliens? Seriously? That’s awesome! Rainbow Dash had always gotten along well with non-ponies, and the idea of meeting beings that no pony had ever met before was kinda exciting. The other five made noises that mixed surprise and amazement.
Luna looked pleased by this reaction. Her words confirmed it. “I had hoped all of you would be interested in this news, as Celestia and I would like Twilight to be Equestria’s ambassador to these creatures, should they choose to land.”
“Me?!” Twilight squeaked. “Why me? I’m not a noble, or, or a diplomat, I’m a student!”
“And Celestia’s protégé. She trusts you, Twilight, and your friends as well.” Luna added. “In fact, my sister suggested you for this duty. Should these starfarers choose to visit Equestria, we have arranged for them to be pointed toward Ponyville, so that you may deal with them as Celestia’s chosen representative.”
The lavender unicorn looked overwhelmed. Applejack spoke up, reassuringly. “Don’t you worry, sugarcube. You’ll have all of us to help out if you need it.” All of Twilight’s friends nodded, echoing the sentiment.
“Pff. Yeah, you just try and keep me away.” Rainbow said. Aliens! This is like, the coolest thing ever! I’m gonna get to meet aliens! The feeling of excitement finally started driving out some of the rage and horror she still felt. The guilt seemed to be sticking around, though.
“Ooooo, I wonder what kinds of parties they like!” Pinkie mused. “I’d better have everything ready, just in case!”
Rarity had a rapt look on her face. “Oh, my, I wonder if I could get any ideas from them. I had the most delightful ideas for accessories after we met those buffalo…”
Only Fluttershy looked nervous. “Um. Do you have any idea what they… look like, Princess? Are they scary?”
“I… actually do not know for certain what they look like.” Luna said, embarrassed. “They are the same species as a friend Celestia and I had long ago, but we only ever spoke mind-to-mind, and I am not entirely sure what his physical appearance was.” She turned back to face Twilight. “And that, young one, leads me to a personal request I would like to make. If possible, if these visitors know anything of my old friend, I would very much appreciate it if you could learn what happened to him.” The princess’s gaze turned sad. “Neither Celestia nor I have heard anything from him in more than ten millennia. We are worried about him. Please, if you get the chance, ask if they know anything about one of their kind that is to them as Celestia and I are to you.”
Twilight’s jaw firmed, and a determined light entered her eyes. “I’ll take care of it, Princess.” She softened a bit. “I’m deeply honored by your trust.”
“And I know you will be worthy of it.” Luna turned, looking over her shoulder. “And now, I fear I must depart. Celestia and I must begin repairing the damage to the Veil. Once we have begun, we will be able to do little else apart from raising the sun and moon, but we will make time to read the reports you send us.” She turned back to the six friends. “Be careful, little ones. These creatures will be different from anything you will have ever encountered. They may be dangerous, but I believe you six can handle anything the universe throws at you.” With a final smile, the Princess’s horn glowed, and she vanished in the flash of a teleport spell, leaving the six friends to discuss how to handle something they’d never seen before.