“All right. Once we get out of this stinkhole, we’ll be free to take to the skies!” Chrysalis spoke to her Changeling Army. “Pupa, go check to see if the coast is clear. I want to be out of here before the guards wake up.”
Pupa opened the rectangular peephole and to the surprise of the changelings, his face got burnt by fire.
Chrysalis shrieked in anger, “WHAT?!!”
After Pupa fell to the ground in a daze, the queen rushed to the door and looked out the peephole. She saw two dragons growling at her and two of the enemies she despised the most.
She growled, “You again?!”
Discord said, “Yes, us again!”
Spike added, “And we’re making sure you never escape!”
Screwball said, “Not after what you did to our mommies!”
The Changeling Queen’s eyes flickered to the three fillies that were by Discord and Spike’s side. She mocked in a faux sweet tone to the draconequus and dragon, “Isn’t this charming? I never knew you both had it in you to create near-normal offspring.”
Discord snarled, “Don’t say a word about Screwball!”
“Screwball?” She then laughed wildly as she threw herself to the floor. When she composed herself, she snidely remarked, “Only the Master of Chaos would name his daughter ‘Screwball’.”
Sunset whispered to the fillies, “Don’t let anything Chrysalis says get to you.”
“Oh. And who do we have here?”
“I am Princess Sunset Shimmer, twin sister of Twilight Sparkle.”
“A twin sister? Well, this is a surprise. I was never told of a twin sister. Funny how you don’t look like Twilight at all.”
“We don’t have to look alike to be sisters.”
“Then how was it I could never find you? No colt ever grew attracted to you? Didn’t have time to find love?”
This troubled Sunset until Screwball shouted to Chrysalis, “Leave Aunt Sunset alone! Leave Equestria alone!”
“Oh, I would, but my subjects and I haven’t been fed today. Tell you what? I’ll stay here in the castle indefinitely if you provide food for us. We simply can’t take our revenge if we’re malnourished.” The queen rubbed her stomach for emphasis.
Discord groaned, “Here.” He tossed a bag of hayseed through the peephole and the bag grew large when it reached the inside of the castle.
Chrysalis gave him a glare and muttered, “This is cruel and unusual punishment.”
Sunset asked, “So do we have your word that you won’t try to escape?”
The queen answered, “For now. That doesn’t mean we’ll just sit idly by for the next century. We will be back, so you better watch out.”
Discord said, “Not on my watch, Chryssie. We don’t need two evil forces wreaking havoc on Equestria.”
This intrigued Chrysalis and she asked, “’Two’? Is there another force out there that needs to be dealt with?”
Spike answered reluctantly, “The Umbrum. They turned Princess Luna into Nightmare Moon and now there’s no day. Only night.”
There was silence until Discord teased, “What’s the matter, Chrysalis? No snide remark about the Umbrum?”
Chrysalis said, “The Umbrum are dangerous creatures. They are more fearsome than you can imagine and worse than even your worst nightmares.”
Apple Jewel asked, “Even you?”
The Changeling Queen stood silent for a moment before she answered, “Though I wish that wasn’t true, it unfortunately is.”
Just then, the hoofheld mirror Discord retrieved from the Everfree Castle began to chime. Discord grabbed it and said, “We have to take this.”
When Discord tapped the mirror, Pip appeared and said in an urgent tone, “The Umbrum are on the march! They’re headed your way!”
Screwball uttered, “Uh-oh…”
Sunset asked, “Where were they last?”
Pip answered, “They were near the Everfree Castle. They had already swept everywhere north of it.”
Discord said, “Maybe you can spy on our villainous quintet and find out what they’re planning next.”
Pip sighed, “I’m afraid I can’t. I tricked the sirens into singing loud enough to break the mirrors in their castle. I did it so they wouldn’t spy on you, but it seems that I cost us surveillance on them.”
Sunset smiled to comfort him, “It’s okay. You were thinking about our safety and willing to sacrifice information on them so we wouldn’t be in danger.”
Discord said, “Well, that’s just great. Now what do we do?”
Spike said, “I guess we look for the two missing pieces of Elemental Jewelry.”
Sunset said, “Yes, but we can’t look until the Umbrum reach the ends of Equestria and then go back to the Frozen North.”
Spike asked, “But where are we going to hide? It has to be somewhere the Umbrum are least likely to look.”
After a moment of thought, Sunset smirked, “Or maybe it’s somewhere they’ve already looked.” When the royals gave her confused looks, the unicorn explained, “The manor where I used to live is near Rainbow Falls. It’s likely the Umbrum already searched there. With a barrier spell over the manor, it could be the ideal place to be safe from the Umbrum if they decide to do a second sweep.”
Snow Pea asked, “But what about Starlight Glimmer? Maybe the spell kept her safe from the sleeping curse.”
Discord rubbed his chin and said, “Hmm…You’re right, Snow Pea. All right! We’ll just go to Starlight’s manor.” He enjoyed the possibility of annoying Starlight if she was awake.
Apple Jewel muttered, “I just hope she isn’t awake.”
Spike told the dragons by the door, “Now stay here and stand guard at the door until the royal guards awaken.”
Discord wheeled in a wagon chockfull of gems and jewels and grunted, “And this *unh!* should tide you over for *ergh!* the next two days.” The dragons looked at him confusedly and Discord looked up to see the moon, on which the peculiar shadow had now grown into a triangle with curved sides. He said, “Oh, right. There is no day.” He warned Chrysalis, “Now behave yourself and don’t even think about escaping.”
Chrysalis rolled her eyes, “Of course I wouldn’t. I don’t want to get caught on the business end of a dragon’s fire, do I?”
Spike said to the dragons standing guard, “Keep watch of her and don’t let her escape.”
The dragons nodded, “Yes, Your Highness.”
Before Spike turned to leave, one of the dragons asked, “Er, excuse me, Prince Spike? Can I get an autograph? My son is a big fan of yours. It would mean a lot to him.”
Spike nodded, “Sure.” After he signed his autograph, Spike went to meet with the royals.
Discord said, “Then we’re all set!” He began to sing, “Over the river and through the woods!” He then grabbed the royals and continued to sing, “To Starlight’s manor we go!” In a white flash, the royals all disappeared.
At the Umbrum castle, Rabia – the head of the Umbrum forces – reported to Belladonna and Nightmare Moon. She told them, “We checked all over the castle, Your Highnesses. I regret to say that all of the mirrors have been broken.”
Belladonna gave a growl and stomped her hoof. She then snarled, “Curse those incompetent sirens! Because of them, we have no way to spy on the princesses!”
NMM said, “I may offer a solution. I have the ability to overlook any area via the moon. It acts as a window for me, so I can spy on the royals without any mirrors.”
Belladonna smiled wickedly and said, “Looks like you are the perfect recruit after all. Very well. Go outside and use the moon to spy on the princesses.”
Nightmare Moon nodded and left the Umbrum world. She emerged from the red crystal and climbed up a snowy crest. She looked at the moon and felt something stir within her. Even though she had turned into Nightmare Moon, a part of Luna’s soul was kept awake so the princess wouldn’t fully succumb to the darkness. As long as that part of her was still aware, she wouldn’t lose her identity as Luna. Through the mind’s eye, the inner Luna looked sorrowfully at the moon.
Inner Luna then began to sing, “Sometimes I close my eyes…and say a prayer…that finally today will be the day…I watch the far horizon…No one's there…But somewhere you are safe and far away…”
She turned to see a patch of her dreamworld suddenly withering away. She continued to sing sorrowfully, “I’m sorry...Sometimes I wonder if you're still alive…How could you survive such a dangerous world out there? Beware, you all…Take care, you all…Take care…”
Nightmare Moon, however, remained as stoic as ever and knew that when the shadow completely covered the moon, the rest of Luna would fade away.
Meanwhile, the royals suddenly arrived at Starlight Glimmer’s manor.
Sunset sighed, “Well…this is it. Home sweet home.”
Apple Jewel asked, “But I thought you were being held captive there.”
“I was, but I didn’t know it at the time.”
Snow Pea asked, “Do you think Starlight’s awake?”
Discord said, “I’ll check it out.”
Within moments, he conjured up army binoculars and used them to scan the manor. He saw Starlight and said, “There she is, all snug in her bed. I wonder if visions of sugarplums are dancing in her head.”
The fillies giggled as Discord continued to scan the manor.
He said, “I’m looking all through the house…Well, not a creature is stirring, not even a – Wait! I think I see a mouse.” He removed his binoculars and twirled them as he chuckled, “Starlight will have to deal with the infestation when she wakes up.”
Screwball said, “Well, let’s take in the mouse since Starlight’s going to be mean to it.” She then rushed towards the manor.
Sunset cried, “Screwball, no!”
But to her surprise, Screwball just jumped through the barrier – and the door – as if they were just hoops.
Discord smiled, “You’ve got to give credit to Fluttershy. Screwy got her pity for animals from her mother.”
He then went up to the barrier and lightly tapped it. Within seconds, a hole began to grow from where Discord touched the force field. It stopped growing when the entire door was accessible.
He opened the door and gestured the royals in, “Well, shall we?”
Apple Jewel asked, “Um, shouldn’t we bring the guards in?” She pointed to the two royal guards sleeping at the doorway.
Sunset said, “We’ll take them into the house. After the danger’s passed, we’ll put them back outside…with comfortable necessities.”
Discord asked, “Why don’t you use those bracelets of yours? Didn’t the book say it would give you strength?”
“That’s true, but…” She caved in to the temptation of testing the bracelets’ magic, so she sighed, “All right. I am a little curious, anyway.”
She activated her horn and to her surprise, she was able to lift both guards as if they were only balloons. She carried them in with little effort at all. As soon as the royals were in the manor, Discord closed the door and the hole closed around the door.