//------------------------------// // Darkness to Light // Story: Night Patrol // by Foxgear //------------------------------// Night Patrol Ch 21 By Foxgear From atop the giant pony P-Rex, Luna and several others watched the factory walls crumble and the ceiling fall. Ponies atop the giant’s head work tirelessly to keep sharp metal objects from hitting the giant pony carrying them to safety. Luna couldn’t help but sigh, angry at the fact she was forced to retreat from the battlefield with Yellowblood still alive. After their first combined attack took out the primary support structures, she had little choice but to heed Sixes advice and flee with the newly freed ponies, while he and Fierce Fury stayed behind to fight Yellowblood. She wished more of them could have stayed to help, but the newly freed ponies lacked fighting skills, talented and unique as they were, warriors they were not. It was better for everypony if they were out of the way. Of course, there was Nico Vega, but it was quickly determined that he would be better put to use at her side. Acting as her hooves as she was still immobile from magic exhaustion. On another note, there was one pony in particular that she found rather interesting, it was the white Rinin beside her. In a land of colorful ponies, white was a rare color to have. Most ponies dyed their coats to match Celestia in some way, shape, or form. What really caught her attention were the antlers on his head and the feathery wing as appose to leathery dragon wings. The antlers were almost like that of a deer’s, making him very interesting to look at, but it was his wings that really drew her attention. She didn’t know why, but she thought they look familiar. “Pardon, but what is your name?” Luna asked him, noticing he didn’t have a number brand like the rest did. “Don’t have one,” he replied, sounding eerily similar to Sixes. “I see. Shall I give you one?” She offered, smiling at the surprised expression on the white Rinin’s face. He nodded slowly, looking a little flustered as he opened and closed his claws with excitement. “Now, what name to give you?” Luna said aloud, rubbing her chin. (He has antlers, so maybe White Horn? No, that’s stupid.) His hair is blue, but nothing came to mind either. Then she noticed something shining on his coat, a little patch of red scales on his shoulder and flank, she smiled the perfect name coming to her. “Huzzah! I dub you Crusader, for the scales on thy shoulder remind me of the banner of the brave ponies that battled in the deserts of Saddle Arabia.” Luna’s excitement was tempered as she noticed Crusader's lackluster expression. “Do you not like it?” He smiled at her, “No, I love it. Crusader… it rolls off the tongue nicely.” Crusader rose, stretching his wings. “Named after a band of brave ponies, huh… I guess I should live up that.” “Wait, what are you doing… great.” He flew away before Luna could finish her sentence. Flying back the way, they come towards Sixes and Fury’s battle. “Come back here! You’re going to get yourself killed!” “I don’t think he’s listening.” “I can see that Nico,” Luna deadpanned. “What are you doing?” The small rinin was looking aimlessly at the ground. “I think he took my claw thing.” Luna blinked, “Claw thing?” “Yeah, it’s this cool looking weapon I found in this room with some weird monsters floating in a tank. I haven’t had a chance to really use it, except when I slit this one pony’s throat.” Luna raised her hoof for him to stop. She wasn’t in the mood for his ramblings as a sudden flash of white flew past them. “Celestia?” “Luna, you’re alright!” The elder Alicorn shouted, relieved as she landed on P-Rex’s back. Wrapping her younger sister in a tight embrace. “I’ve been so worried since Shadow Specter told me you were fighting Yellowblood, but here you are safe and sound and… why are your limbs limp?” Celestia asks, playing with Luna’s front left leg, moving it around like a wet noodle. Reluctantly Luna answered, “I have magic exhaustion.” “I see,” Celestia nodded, figuring that was the case, “Went overboard fighting Yellowblood, at least you defeated him.” Luna cringed, “About that…” “You haven’t killed him yet? Where is he? Is he chasing you?” Celestia’s head swoosh side to side, trying to find the noble pony. “No, Sixes and Fury are fighting him. Crusader, I guess went off to help them.” Celestia blinked, “Whose Crusader?” “He’s… never mind, we have other things to worry about, such as getting out of here, now…” “Actually,” Celestia interrupted, telling Luna what Shadow Specter had told her, she was surprised to find Luna didn’t know about the doctors trying escape. Shadow was looking very sheepish as he kept his distance from Luna. “I see. Then you will lead the squad to capture Madhoof and Hoofenstien?” Luna looked worriedly down the way they come, a massive steel beam falling onto the path. She wanted to get everypony out and leave the mad doctors to their fate, but it seemed it wouldn’t be that easy. It wasn’t right or fair, but Luna didn’t want her sister to go after them. She had a bad feeling in her stomach. Lucky Luna didn’t have to make that call, Gadget stepped forward with Overheat and said. “We’ll go,” He indicated to Overheat, Shadow Specter, and himself. “Between the three of us, everything should go smoothly. It is improbable they have any other defenses ready if they are evacuating, so Overheat, and Shadow Specter can take care of them, while I commandeer their technology. No sense to let it go to waste, right? Besides, we can’t risk losing either you this day, my dear princesses, the land is in enough chaos already with the ousting of the nobles, losing either of you might prove to be a tipping point for unrest.” The Lunar Princess took comfort in Gadget’s reasoning, knowing Celestia would agree with him. He was right, of course. With Equestria’s social structure in ruins, ponies would be looking to them for stability, and either one of them was to die here. Things could get very bad, very fast. She could see it all unfold before her as the group departs. If Celestia were to fall, the ponies of Equestria that love the day would be distrustful of her taking over. While she and the Night Patrol have made strides to protect ponies, most of their support was in small rural villages. In the cites of Equestria, her favorability was lukewarm at best. To the urban ponies, she has been spending the last few years doing nothing, along with any other rumors the nobles had spread about her. However, she was to fall here. Luna doubted Celestia would have any real trouble with the population. It was her own patrollers would probably prove to be Celestia’s biggest bane. Honestly, Luna wasn’t sure what they would do if she were to disappear. “Where’s my dad?” A small voice asked. Luna turned and saw Dusk waking up, Applejack attended to the little unicorn. The princess was rather impressed Dusk could stand while suffering from magic exhaustion. “He went on a last-minute mission, don’t worry, he’ll be alright,” Luna assured her as Nico moves her closer to the unicorn. However, something was strange, Dusk’s eyes, they were completely black! “No,” Dusk cried, “He won’t be alright! He’s going to get hurt! I… I have to save him!” Dusk’s horn glowed, preparing to teleport. Applejack leaped for her, but the unicorn flashed away a few feet to the left, still gathering more magic. Luna realized Dusk was preparing for a long-range teleport jump! There was no way Dusk could do that safety in her current condition! “Dusk, don’t!” She yelled, but it was too late, the unicorn was already mid teleport. “I got her!” A shadow dashed past Luna, it was Nico Vega. He flew right into Dusk just as the spell was completed, both of them vanishing into thin air. Sixes growled, dragging himself from the rubble of the wall he was just thrown through. Yellowblood was putting up a much better fight then he would have expected from the cowardly noble. He had heard the cowardly noble had been in the guards for a short time, but nothing remarkable was ever written about him. Seem through with his new body, he wasn’t afraid to use what would be considered “Last resort” techniques. Moves that did a lot of damage, but left pony using them vary valuable and open for attack, course when your body is made of metal, there was no need to worry about that. Puffing up his chest, Sixes unleashed another blast of lava, further distorting the already destroyed landscape. What was once a place of steel and earth is now overflowed with rivers of lava, which probably didn’t help the weakened support structure. Yellowblood stopped the attack with a yellow magic shield. “Fury!” Fury came rocketing down from above, spraying a streak of crackling fire onto Yellowblood’s back. The metal pony recoiled and fired a blast of magic at the red Rinin, but Fury dodged the attack and circles around. Yellowblood followed him, leaving his back exposed to a lava breath. The molten liquid covered the noble entirely and cooled, trapping him inside the hardened rock. “How long is that going to hold him?” Fury asked as he landed next to Sixes. He was panting slowly, the heat and drawn-out fighting taking its toll. Cracks began to appear as Yellowblood worked himself free. The two Rinin charged up their fire breath and unleash a duel stream of flames on the noble as he broke loose. The attacks had little effect. “Damn pests!” Yellowblood roared, charging at them. They move to dodge but found their claws anchored to the ground by Yellowblood’s magic. Sixes and Fury struggled against their bonds, but to no avail, they were stuck and right in the line of fire! They did not cower or wait for death, though. Instead, they blasted everything they had at the metal noble, sending sparks and flame everywhere their fire spraying off Yellowblood’s body. When it seemed their time had finally come. A beam of orange magic, bright as the sun, blasted Yellowblood away. “What was that?” The two ask aloud, following the direction of the blast. Up above stood the newest Rinin, the one created from Sixes' own blood. Between his two antlers, a small sphere of magic formed, and before Yellowblood could even stand on his hooves, he was hit again! “Stay away from my father,” The white Rinin growled, floating down to the two. He shattered the magical bonds holding them with a mere flick of his horns and gave Sixes a strange looking weapon. “Take this, it may prove useful.” “Ok…” Sixes replied, taking the weapon. In a flash, the white Rinin was on Yellowblood, slashing away at the noble ponies hide. “Kid wait!” “I’m not a kid!” The white Rinin roared, “I am Crusader!” Something amazing happened. A bright light appeared on Crusader's flank, revealing a big red cross. “Is that… a mark?” Fury gasped in awe of the sight. It was believed Rinin couldn’t get marks, but this, this changes everything. Sixes smirked as he equipped the weapon Crusader gave him to his right claw. “Yeah, it is, and I think it’s time to put an end to this.” The metal claw became enshrouded with orange magic, the tips of the nails sunk into the ground as pools of lava form around it. With a howling roar, Sixes rejoined the fray! “Crusader out of the way!” Sixes yelled the white Rinin jumping away, giving him the perfect shot. He dug his right claw in deep, sliding it across the entire length of Yellowblood’s side, leaving behind three hug slash marks. “Impossible!” Yellowblood reared up and tried to run away, but Sixes slashed at his back legs, cutting them at the joints. He fell to his side, his front legs flailing in the air, his back end sinking into one of the pools of lava. “No… this cannot be! This cannot be how it ends!” Sixes stood over Yellowblood. He could practically see the pathetic pony’s face behind the static metal. Claw raised high, Sixes thrust the claw into Yellowblood’s barrel and took hold of the amulet inside his body. “For your crimes against Equestria, you are now sentenced to death. Join the rest of your bloodline in hell.” With one sharp tug Sixes ripped the yellow Alicorn Amulet free, Yellowblood’s body sunk into the lava, leaving no trace of the Blood Noble. “Glad’s that’s over,” Fury said, walking up to Sixes, “Ready to get out of here?” “No,” Sixes replied, scowling at the amulet, “There are still somethings we need to do. We need to pay a visit to our “creators” and show them the fruits of their labor.” Sixes raised the amulet to his mouth and ate it. Dusk and Nico Vega stumbled to a stop… somewhere. The room they were in was still intact, bare of anything noteworthy, save for the two tubes with Pegasus foals floating inside. “Seriously, what’s with these guys and putting stuff in floating tubes, it’s really creepy.” Nico circled around the containers, inspecting the two fillies inside. One was blue with a rainbow mane, and the other was tan with a grey scaled rainbow mane. He wondered what their purpose was. What point was there to make regular ponies after making dragon ponies like him? Dusk walked up to the containers as if in a trance. She touched the tubes, and the fillies’ inside reacted, their eyes snapping open as they swam their way to the edge of the glass pawing at her. Nico took a step back as Dusk’s magic engulfed the glass, making it intangible. Carefully Dusk removed the two fillies from the tubes. “Taking them with you?” Nico asked, curiously inspecting the two fillies. They were defiantly twins. Dusk nodded, placing the two fillies in her saddlebags, only their heads sticking out of the flap. “Yeah, it almost feels like I’m supposed to take them, which may be why we ended up here and instead of with dad on the others.” “Or you just couldn’t focus because you’re suffering from magic exhausted, and you missed your target and ended up here. Not everything needs to be fated, somethings just happen.” “True, but I feel a bit of connection with these two. Who knows? Maybe they can be my little sisters or something?” Dusk said excitedly. “Or daughters,” Nico joked, earning a punch from Dusk. He laughed as she hisses in pain from accidentally hitting his armor. “I don’t look that old,” Dusk grumbled under breath as they exited the room. “Sometimes, I wonder, you never really acted your age since I’ve met you,” Nico joked as they left the room. They didn’t get far as the sound of galloping hooves came towards them. A pony with a crazy look in his eyes came to a dead stop. His eyes grew wilder when he saw the two fillies in Dusk’s saddlebags. “No! You won’t take them away from me!” The pony screamed, pointing his fake horn at Dusk, intending to run her through. Acting fast, Nico stepped in front of Dusk, grabbed the horn with his claw, and dug into the floor with his back claws, twisting the charging pony off course and sending him crashing into the wall. The pony fell to the ground, leaving a red bloodstain behind. “Guess I killed him. Oh Well.” Nico began to walk away in the direction the pony had come from. Dusk trotted to catch up. “You are far too casual about killing.” She commented, walking past a massive door. They came to a stop as the room they were passing was full of ponies, large crates, and pieces of equipment. The ponies in the room stared at them, and they stared back. Till one pony stepped out from the pack. “Get them! The pony yelled. A horde of ponies galloped at them, but they only made it halfway before Overheat, Gadget, and Shadow Specter came crashing through the wall, once again causing everypony to freeze in place. “Dusk?” Gadget yelled, running to his daughter. Confusion and anger on his face as he stood protectively in front of her. “What are you doing here?” Overheat came charging in crushing an attacking pony and stood in front of the father and daughter. He whinnied and snorted, making the enemy hesitant to attack. “No time for mushy stuff! Nico! On me! Slaughter these bastards!” “Everypony grab what you can and get to the teleports!” Hoofenstein ordered, throwing up a shield. Ponies scrambled, grabbing whatever they could as Overheat assaulted the barrier, engulfing it with fire. From the flames emerged Shadow Specter and Nico Vega. The latter was looking a little disorientated. Nico groaned, shaking his head from the tingling feeling in his spine. Traveling through solid objects was not as fun as it sounded, “Ugh, that was weird. Let’s not do that again.” “Hurry, we need to prevent the Doctors from escaping!” Shadow shouted, making a mad dash for Hoofenstein, Nico, right behind him. Nico snarled, “Don’t tell me how to do my job!” He reared back and fired a blast of lightning at Hoofenstein, only for another shield to appear and block the attack. A pony in a lab coat stood in front of Hoofenstein protectively, throwing several heavy crates at the two. “Madhoof!” Shadow growled phasing though the crate running right into Madhoof’s hoof. The blow sent the ghost pony skidding across the ground. “Number 0013, how nice to see you, and then there is you, number 088, another interesting idea that didn’t bear any fruit.” “I’ll show you fruit!” Nico tackled Madhoof, knocking him into Hoofenstein and causing the shield to drop and allow Overheat to join the fray. The flaming pony charged past going for the fleeing ponies, none of his targets stood a chance against him as he crushed them under his hooves. From the far side of the room, Gadget and Dusk were behind cover, firing at any pony they could get a lock on. The fighting intensified with the factory ponies taking cover and returning fire, an all-out battle was underway, when the sound of ear-deafening roar made them all freeze. Both sides look at one another with the same question on their faces. What was that? The roar sounds again, followed by the sound of hissing metal. From the ceiling, a drop of gold lava fell. Madhoof blinked, staring at the molten liquid as it burned into the floor, “Lava? “Sixes!” Nico shouted excitedly. The black Rinin came flying in through the hole the lava blast created, but something was different. He was surrounded by a golden aura of magic. There was a savage look in his eye when he spotted the two doctors. His torso puffed up, preparing a breath attack, and when he released the attack, a massive wave of gold lava was sent flying to the air, covering ponies and machines, nothing was spared! And then the factory began to shake again! “Everypony for themselves!” Madhoof yelled, making a mad dash for the teleport. The machine was arcing wildly, but he didn’t care, it would send him anyway from here at least! He was just about to enter when he felt something grab him from behind. “You’re not getting away!” Nico yelled. He and the mad doctor fell into the teleporter, the machine exploding as they vanished from sight. Dusk ran towards the wreckage screaming, “Nico!” “Dusk, get out of the away!” Gadget shoved her sending her stumbling into another teleporter just as several metal beams fell from the ceiling, crushing his leg. “Dammit!” He cursed as he struggled to free himself. More debris fell from ceiling crushing ponies left and right. “Overheat! Get everypony out!” Overheat smashed a pony against the wall and makes a beeline for Gadget, “I’m not leaving you.” The fire pony declared trying to lift the beam, but it was no use. It was too heavy! “Ghosty, get over here!” Overheat watched with barely restrained impatience as Shadow Specter stumbled his way over to them. He knew the ghost pony was still probably recovering from the attack to the head, but there was no time for it. They need to get out now!” “Hurry up!” “Right,” Shadow Specter replied, phasing Gadget free. “Sixes, we’re leaving!” The black Rinin ignored him and continued to chase after the fleeing ponies. “Sixes!” Sixes turned to them, still glowing with gold magic, turned to one of the walls, and blasted it with his lava breath. Light filtered in, meaning they had an exit. “Go, I’ll finish things up here,” Sixes said, his voice barely audible through the chaos. From above, Fury and Crusader flew down and grabbed the three and carried them out with Sixes staying behind. “You’re not just going to leave him, are you?” Overheat shouted, looking back at the factory, several blast of golden lava burst erupted from within the factory. It wouldn’t be long before the whole place collapsed. “I don’t like it any more than you,” Fury replied, clearly not sounding happy about it, “But that damned crystal he ate got him so powered up I don’t think he can handle it. He’s probably trying to burn it off.” Behind them, the entire factory exploded. Several hours later Luna looked over the ruins of the factory, Celestia, at her side, helping her stand with her magic. Before the sisters, every able-bodied Night Patroller was clearing the wreckage of the factory away in search of survivors, friends, or foe. So far, they have found more enemies alive then friends, but the fact some ponies had survived gave Luna hope. Hope Sixes was alive. “We’ll find him,” Celestia assured her, though it did little to comfort her. Between them, safely locked away in a magically sealed bag, was three of the four Alicorn Amulets put inside the nobles’ metal bodies. The fourth had been eaten by Sixes, according to Fury’s report. The idea that anypony would ever do such a thing was absurd to her, but then again, dragon ponies ate gems as part of their diet, and tests conducted by Gadget have shown if the gemstone is infused with magic if can affect the Rinin’s magic. Such in the case of Nico Vega, who could change the type of breath magic he used by eating a specific color. Luna choked back sobs thinking of the small Rinin that helped her so much in the short time they spent together. He brought her armor in the battle for the Crystal Empire and fought beside her through the duration of the fight, and then he bullheadedly snuck into the factory and sabotaged their shields and engines and even carried her when she couldn’t move. It was tough to think he was gone. While he may not be dead, according to the reports he had fallen into a teleporter while fighting with the pony Madhoof, one of the leaders of the factory, his whereabouts were unknown, and teleportation magic was tricky at the best of times. Inside a machine, they had no knowledge of, and with everything that was going on. The question may not even be where Nico and Madhoof ended up but when, which lead to the other pony MIA, Dusk. That brave little unicorn had seen and done a lot in her short life, and she was in the same boat as Nico, minus the mad doctor, but plus two fillies from what Luna understood. Where ever Dusk was she probably had her hooves full with those two. Most of the Night Patrollers took the news hard, but Gadget was the hardest hit. He lost his daughter. He did the only thing he could do at the time to save her, but at the same time, he might have lost her forever. To add insult to injury, his crushed leg would have to be amputated. “We found a pony!” One of the searchers yelled. Luna excitedly pointed for Celestia to take her over to them, hope filling her body only for it to be dashed away the moment she saw who the pony was, it was Vi, Vi Violetblood, the last of the ex-nobles. Vi looked up with one bright eye and gave a bloody mocking smile at the two princesses. “Come to laugh at this poor mortal, your majesties?” Two rods pierced the noble pony’s body, leaving a pool of blood beneath her, it was clear as day. She was a goner. “You got what you deserved.” Luna said coldly, “I will grant you whatever life you have left since you enjoy living so much, you can enjoy it down to the last. Painful. Second.” Vi smiled as she coughed up blood, “Such a cruel pony, but I’ll take what I can get.” Luna scoffed, gesturing for Celestia to move her away from the Noble filth. The elder sister was hesitant to leave the mare to her fate, so she motioned a patroller to at least give the poor pony some water. The Rinin pony 099, name BeeBee, accepted the order and lowered her canteen to the Noble mare’s mouth, never noticing the wide smirk on Vi’s lips as her horn glowed one last time. “Luna…” Celestia whispered, concerned, only to receive an icy gaze from the blue alicorn. “I don’t want to hear it,” The lunar princess snapped. She knew what Celestia was going to say, that she was too harsh on their defeated foes, too cold and uncaring, well it just so happened that her well of kindness and compassion for her enemies run dry. They wandered around the wreckage for several more hours. Finding more dead bodies of the factory ponies and some bodies of experimented ponies that hadn’t been in the prison cells. The sight of broken innocent bodies caused a stir among everypony. Both sisters looked away when they found a surviving factory pony. The shrill scream pierced the heavy air, and they lingered. Ignoring the dark, twisted, justice behind her, Luna looked to the sky and then to her sister. The time for the sun to set fast approached Luna was beginning to lose hope of finding Sixes. “Just a little while longer, Celestia, please!” She begged her sister, but the elder Alicorn shook her head. “I’ve delayed setting the sun for as long as I can, Luna. I know how much you want to find him. I want to find him too, but you know we cannot be so selfish with our power over the sun and moon.” Luna bit back an angry retort, knowing Celestia was right. She nodded, giving up the fight against her sister. The sun lowered, giving way to the star-filled sky, but it would be the brightest night in history! Gathering all her power, even tapping into her sister, Luna made the stars and moon glow more vivid than ever before! While still not as bright as the sun, it made searching in the dark much easier for her ponies. The search continued, Celestia left to deal with other matters. Luna lay on a boulder overlooking the search. Around midnight the Princess of the Sun returned, looking exhausted. Celestia’s eyes could barely lift, her head wobbled, and her stride lacked its usual grace. “Luna, you need to rest.” Celestia yawned loudly, unable to help herself. This would mark their third day without sleep and it was taking all she had not to just fall asleep on her hooves right this moment. Luna didn’t even look at her. She just kept staring at the wreckage. Refusing to give up. Every Night Patroller was special to her, but she would be lying if she said she didn’t have her favorites. Sixes… Sixes had been the first Rinin she ever met. He brought the others to her aid, he’s shown her loyalty without question and without end. She would not leave this place till he was found, alive or dead. “Princess Luna!” Luna’s head snapped in the direction her name, Applejack waved excitedly to her, pointing at some freshly cleared rubble. Not waiting for Celestia, Luna willed her body to move, she stumbled on the first few steps, nearly tripping over a rock, but she didn’t stop. She ran past Applejack, past Fury, past the medic ponies, and come to an abrupt stop in front of Sixes as he was eased onto a stretcher. She fell to her belly from exhaustion and relief, her eyes meeting his. He moved slightly and grinned. “Commander Sixes reporting in…” He said before passing out. Luna shook her head, a laugh escaping as she wiped away tears. “You stupid silly pony,” She cried while Sixes was carried away. Whatever had kept Luna going until now left her, because she collapsed, somepony caught her before she could hit the ground. Briefly, through tired eyes, she saw Celestia’s golden magic surrounding her, it felt warm. Her vision blinked out, and when it came back, she was in her cabin on the Moon Cutter. “Sleep tight, Luna,” Celestia kissed her on the forehead. Luna didn’t even have the energy to be embarrassed by the gesture and simply smiled at her sister, but it quickly turned to a concerned frown. “Do you think they are alright? Nico and Dusk, I mean?” Celestia smiled warmly, nuzzling Luna’s cheek, “I’m sure they’re doing just fine. They’re strong ponies, and one day we’ll see them again. Of that, I’m certain. Now get some sleep, Luna. You’ve earned it.” Luna gave one last yawn and then drifted away to the world of dreams. Nico’s Epilogue It was raining, but he didn’t care as he stumbled through mud running as fast as he could after his target. His body felt strange, no, it was weird, it was different from before. His claws were gone, and he walked on two legs. His body was something else, something he’d never seen. He didn’t know what he was or what his prey was. It didn’t matter. What had been his claws were familiar enough to kill with. “MADHOOF!” Nico yelled into the storm, his voice drowned out by the roaring thunder overhead. Ahead of him, the strange creature that is his target struggled to climb over a fallen tree, a lightning flash revealing the terror in his soft features. A root caught his foot, and Nico landed face-first on the ground. With a bitter growl, he stood on two wobbly legs, using tree trunk for balance. Snorting angrily, he sprinted again, stumbling over roots and rocks, but he persisted. Up ahead, Madhoof came to a stop, a raging river flowing blocking of the mad scientist, the width of the river too wide to jump. The doctor hesitated, but Nico did not and tackled the mad doctor into the raging rapids. They fought, each one trying to drown the other. Grabbing hold of the scientist’s neck with his new appendages, Nico tried to squeeze the life out of Madhoof, who randomly grabbed s at his face in a weak attempt to escape his grasp. Madhoof’s eyes roll back into his head, and Nico was about to finish the job when they collided into a rock in the middle of the river. The impact broke some ribs causing Nico to release his grip. He went one way, hitting a sandbank that led to the shore, while Madhoof was carried further downriver, his body disappearing within seconds. Nico crawled to shore, pain racking his body as he made it to the base of a big apple tree. His vision was fading fast, and he could hear the sound of footsteps in the mud. Another creature, female, kneed in front of him. Her face was… familiar. “Oh, God, are you alright?” She asked as his breaths became more ragged. “Momma! Momma! Come quick! This fella’s hurt!” There was a flash of green and white as an older woman peered around the tree trunk and gasped. “What in the Sam hell is he doing out here?” She asked, kneeling down for a better look. She frowned noticing his injuries. “I’ll go fetch Pa and one of the farmhands, you stay here and look after him Applejane!” The old woman yelled, running off. “I will,” Applejane replied, lightning flashed behind her, lighting up her features enough for Nico to see her clearly. He didn’t know why, but she reminded him of Applejack. “What’s your name?” She asked him. More than likely to keep him awake, so he answered, knowing it was necessary, he stayed awake. “Nico, Nico Vega, Patroller 088.” She blinked, probably confused by what he said, her expression made him chuckle, which hurt to do. “Well, I’m Applejane Apple, and don’t you worry Vega, I’m gonna take care of you.” Nico chuckled again, earning an irritated look from his savior. “What’s so funny?” She demanded, “And stop laughing. Your ribs are broken!” “Sorry,” he said, his vision fading fast, sweet Luna. He was tired! “No pony calls me Vega, just Nico…” Applejane looked at the man against the tree strangely as her Pa and Ma arrived with some ranch hands, who quickly placed the strange man on a stretcher. She stared at the man, her brow frown with confusion and curiosity. “Did he say pony?” She wondered, following after them. Shaking her head, figuring the thunder had distorted her hearing. Dusk’s Epilogue The night sky was dull and lacking its usual luster and beauty. A sad sight for any lover of the night for sure, but the most disturbing thing about this night was not the sky, but the moon. There was a shadow of pony’s head on the moon. Dusk lifted the newspaper with her magic again, reading the headline, “Celestia to celebrate 980th Summer Sun Celebration in Cloudsdale!” This disturbed her because she’s never heard of such an event, and then there was today’s date, or specifically the year 980 ANM. She had no idea what ANM meant, nor did any other pony, they simply answered that Celestia started the trend, but never gave a reason for it. Of course, there was something far more disturbing than the event she didn’t know, it was the fact that no pony knew of Princess Luna! They have never heard of her, never seen her, heck they even say Celestia controlled both the sun and moon! “Still stargazing, kid?” A voice said, startling Dusk from her thoughts. She turned and greeted the tan Pegasus with a brown braided mane with a nod. In the mare’s forelegs was one of the two rainbow twins that had been in her saddlebag when she was sent through the portal, it was the greyscale foal, now named Daring Do. The other with the rainbow mane was… missing. When she had come through the portal she had been dropped right into the sky and proceed to fall to the ground and ended up crashing through some cloud homes, it was there she lost the rainbow mane foal. From there, Dusk continued her fall to the ground, using whatever magic she could to slow her fall. In the end, she managed to pull off a teleport spell before she hit the ground and ended up crashing through her current hostess’s roof and now proud mother of Daring Do, the Pegasus, Tomb Raider. “You should get some sleep, you looked tired, falling from the sky will do that you know.” Tomb raider joked entering the patched together house while singing soft coos to the baby. Dusk finished putting the last patch in the roof and followed her inside. She was amazed by Tomb Raider’s antique collection, dozens of artifacts lined the walls, all rare and unique, but the most interesting to her was the most familiar one, a simple rusted helmet with the moon engraved on it. Dusk kept quiet about the artifact's exact origin, but she would know it anywhere, it was Luna’s helmet. She touched the rusty steel lovingly, remembering her talks with the Princess of the Night, the lessons her father taught, and all her friends back home. She knew very well the portal hasn’t just sent her to another place, but another place in time. She didn’t know when or how, but she would get home. A loud yawn escaped her mouth, promoting Dusk to hobble over to the spare bed for the night. “Are you going to sleep with that cloak on?” Tomb Raider asked her as she crawled into bed, pulling the blankets over her. As Dusk rolled over on her side, a single feather slipped out beneath covers and landed on the floor. He watched the Princesses' flying ship depart with all their remaining soldiers tucked safely inside. They had lost a lot this day. They lost their homes. Years of research and study and many great minds, even his most trusted partner Madhoof was gone, lost in time and space. He would probably never see him again, yet defeat was not what Hoofenstein felt, but victory. For clasp in his magic was a single vile of blood, blood found by a late researcher on his way to the teleporter. The scrap of armor nearby confirmed it, it was Princess Luna’s blood. Alicorn blood. “This minor setback will prove to be a great blessing.” Hoofenstein tucked the vial safety away as he walked to the east. He had a lot of work to do.