The guards were the only ponies in the room who didn’t flinch at the sound of shattering ceramic. The conversations at the small luncheon died as all eyes turned to Princess Celestia. Whatever had made her drop her cup, it had their attention.
She was staring at a scroll that was levitating in front of her, eyes wide, ears laid back, nostrils flared. It wasn’t quite a look of fear, but it was close. When she finally spoke, the various nobles and officials found themselves hanging on every word.
“Clear the room.” Her voice was quiet, deliberately calm, “And fetch Princess Luna, no matter what you have to interrupt.”
Fifteen minutes later, in direct contrast to her sister’s silent reaction, the rooftops, trees, and airspace of Canterlot Castle shook with Princess Luna’s Full Royal Canterlot Voice:
“WHAT!?”
Ever Faithful Twilight,
I apologize that I could not convey this information in person, but the situation now necessitates that I, and my sister remain in Canterlot to aid in the hunt for the Blood’s Eye Cult.
There are things that you need to know about our history. When we met to first discuss Midnight Star, we were unable to inform you of everything that happened during the war with the Draconequi. Now, it seems that yet another of our old enemies from that time is staging their return.
His name is Demon Blood. Even in a letter as private as this, there are things I dare not write, so I must be brief. He is a Nightmare. The last time, it took all six of our alicorns and over a dozen other warriors to subdue him. The six Elements of Harmony now returned to the Tree were only a portion of the weapons we used.
You mentioned that Cheerilee was your informant. Again, I cannot go into detail, but know that if she is involved, your daughter could not be in safer hooves. Nor the filly Black Diamond that you mentioned. The entire world is a little safer if Nurtura Squad is coming out of retirement.
Returning briefly to the subject of Black Diamond, the sooner you can convey the information in this letter to her, the better. It is doubtful that she will remain in Ponyville much longer, now that we know that Blood’s Eye is operating out of Canterlot.
Stand aware though. Demon Blood has a nasty vengeful streak, and I doubt he will take the results of his previous attack on Ponyville lying down. It would be unsurprising if he tried again to capture the foals who escaped his forces, especially considering that he likely went after most of them out of vengeance the first time.
Be safe,
-Celestia
P.S. Luna wanted me to tell you thank you for the message from the Winter Star, and requests that if you see her again before one of us does, you pass on an invitation to visit Canterlot Castle. Luna’s chambers are currently being refitted to make Astral Manifestation easier.
Twilight awoke with a start. Somepony was in the makeshift office with her. She blinked repeatedly to clear her eyes and saw Diamond Tiara standing in her doorway. “Diamond? What are you doing here? I thought your family left town already.”
The filly nodded. “My parents left, yeah. I had to stay though. Black Diamond still needed me to be here. For that matter, so did Nyx and Sweetie.”
The mare stood up, stretching wings and legs to get the stiffness out. “I see. Do you need my help with something then?”
Diamond shook her head. “No, I came to say goodbye. I’m going to be leaving town tonight, but I wanted to thank you for all the help you gave me.”
“You’re welcome Diamond… Where are you going?”
She chewed her lip, then sighed. “Please don’t try and stop me, Miss Cheerilee already did.”
Twilight suddenly froze. “Why… You’re going after Blood’s Eye, aren’t you?”
“Is that the cult’s name?”
“Yes, didn’t Cheerilee tell you?”
“No, she didn’t really tell me much of anything, just tried to keep me from going.”
“I see… She might be right Diamond, these are very dangerous ponies. They killed one of their own ponies because we were going to be able to track him to them. Staying here isn’t a bad idea.”
Diamond shook her head. “I can’t sit safe at home while my friends are in danger. Not if I can help them.”
Twilight’s gaze became distant. “I didn’t say you’d be safe.”
“What?”
The mare shook herself. “Sorry… Look, I realize that I don’t really understand everything that’s going on here, so if you feel you have to go, I won’t stop you. But don’t go running off just to put yourself in danger. It’s stupid, pointless, and frankly you’d get enough of that around here.”
“What’s dangerous about Ponyville?”
“Aside from the usual?” Twilight floated over a scroll from her desk. “I sent a letter to Princess Celestia this morning, and got this in reply about an hour later. From what we can tell, this cult, Blood’s Eye, serves some being named Demon Blood. Celestia and Luna know of him, and apparently so does Black Diamond’s friend Midnight Star. Celestia only felt safe in describing him in a letter as a nightmare.” Diamond’s ear twitched at the word. “They’ll also probably be coming back for everypony who faced them when they were here.”
Diamond nodded slowly. “Then I really have to go. I can’t let them hurt my friends any more.”
Twilight gave her a small smile. “Just be careful, alright? I doubt your friends want to lose you any more than you want to lose them.”
“I will, don’t worry.”
“Never tell a parent not to worry, it makes them do it.” Twilight chuckled briefly, then sobered. “On the subject of parenthood, I need to check on Spike. He hasn’t come out of his room since I told him about Nyx.”
“Maybe I can talk to him?” Twilight turned to the filly in surprise. Diamond blushed, but continued. “I mean, I was there when she gave herself up, maybe it would help. Or maybe he just needs somepony to talk to who isn’t family.”
“…That’s not a bad idea.”
“Spike?”
“G’way Twilight.”
“I’m not Twilight.”
Spike poked his head out from under his blankets, wiping what little fitful sleep there was out of his eyes as he did so. “Oh. Who are you?”
“…Diamond.”
“Diamond Tiara? What are you doing here?”
“Honestly? I’m not sure.”
“Oh. You’re not here to cheer me up then?”
Diamond thought about it. “No, not really. Ponies trying to cheer me up didn’t help much after all.”
“Why would you need cheering up? Not like you were close to either of them.”
“…No… And I honestly regret that… But more than that, because I was there.”
“What?”
“I was there Spike, when Nyx surrendered herself. She was protecting me, Dinky, and Pipsqueak.”
“And you… you just let it…”
“There was nothing I could do. If it was just me, sure, but I had to protect Dinky and Pip too. I’m trying to make up for it now though.”
“How do you make up for something like that!?”
“I’m going after them. I’m going to bring them back.”
Spike paused for a moment, taking his time to register the words. Then he stood, throwing his blankets off as he walked over to a closet. “Give me five minutes to pack.”
He stopped at a hoof on his shoulder and turned to discover Diamond shaking her head. “No. You need to stay here. In fact, you should probably start attending school.”
“What? That doesn’t make any sense! Why would I–”
“Because they’re going to come back.” Spike stopped cold. “And when they do, my friends… Nyx’s friends, are going to need your help.”
Spike snorted. “I think these last few days just proved I’m useless.” He never saw the slap coming. He looked up from where he landed on the floor, gaping at Diamond.
For her part, she was doing her best to channel Nyx, figuring that that was what the dragon seemed to need. “I’m not apologizing for that. I am sick of dealing with unhelpful ponies, and you’re taking the cake right now. You. Are. Being. Ridiculous. What would Nyx say if she could see you right now?
“You think you’re useless, but you’re ready to run off with me to save your sister at the drop of a hat? You’re being an idiot Spike. On top of, how could you think you’re useless? Do you know how many times I’ve had to listen to Nyx brag about her big brother the dragon? Fire breath, bites through rocks, insane strength, dangerously sharp claws, virtually impenetrable hide and scales, fireproof, are you getting the point!?”
Spike mutely nodded and she continued. “Good. Because right now, this town needs you. Everypony in town knows that you think of yourself as a pony, but Spike – ” There was nothing but ice and steel in Diamond’s eyes – “when those cultists come back, you’ll need to be a dragon.”
Black Diamond was on her way out of town. She had detoured briefly to Sweet Apple Acres to leave the Cutie Mark Crusaders a message at their clubhouse – she was confident they’d be going there to plan a rescue mission in the next day or two – but now she was done. She had nothing left to do but leave.
She was actually down the road a little ways. She was grateful that Cheerilee had mentioned Manehatten, it made her search that much easier. Now she only had to search one city. She was musing over the little things she’d picked up from everypony when she heard an unexpected noise.
A tall figure stepped out of the bushes, and she found herself calling Blacklight out of the shadows almost reflexively. “No need for those my little pony, I’m a friendly.”
“Ponies coming out of shadowy bushes on dark roads at night aren’t usually very friendly.”
“They are for you Shadow. Still, some light may help this discussion along.” There was a sharp sound as the shadowy figure made a gesture with one of its limbs, and suddenly they were surrounded by a thousand floating lights – lightbulbs, candles, jack-o-lanterns, fireflies, glow in the dark stickers, and even a string of Hearth’s Warming lights.
As the figure was illuminated, Diamond realized why she had found the voice both familiar and foreign. Everypony in town knew the speaker, but they were always laughing, chuckling, cackling, or something similar. The ashen expression and somber tone they were now taking were completely uncharacteristic.
“Discord?”
“Yes. And your name?”
“Black Diamond.”
“Well met. Where are you going?”
“To hunt down Blood’s Eye, the followers of Demon Blood. I intend to put a stop to their plans and rescue my friends as well.”
Discord went from “extremely pale” to “monochromatic.” “Demon Blood?” He almost whispered, “Be very careful around him.”
Diamond nodded sharply. “So I’ve been told. Celestia apparently called him a nightmare.”
“And she means that more literally than you’ve taken it.”
Diamond felt he blood run cold. “You mean… He’s a Nightmare?” The capital letter was audible.
“Yes. He’s more dangerous than most ponies are capable of realizing.”
Diamond thought through the various threats to Equestria she knew about. “Like, Tirek dangerous?”
“No. Worse. Think ‘Nightmare Moon’ but without the convenient Get-Luna-Out-of-Jail-Free-Card.”
“Oh.” Diamond was suddenly feeling out of her depth.
“Don’t worry too much, he’s not back yet, or we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I imagine that’s his plan actually, coming back.”
“Any idea how to keep that from happening?”
Discord was silent for a moment. “That depends. What are you willing to do?”
“Whatever it takes.”
He seemed to consider her a moment longer. “Most imprisoned immortals can only act on the world through mortal agents. Like Midnight Star is with you. If you bring down this cult, it should stop his plans. Given the Shadow Rangers I know of… you may be able to delay him for as long as a century.”
Diamond grinned. “I’ll do my best. What are you planning on doing?”
Discord shifted uncomfortably. “I… I don’t really have many friends… I’m honestly scared of what might happen to them with him involved…”
Diamond nodded again. “Then do me a favor? Protect all of Ponyville please?”
Discord shook his head. “One, never ask an immortal to ‘do you a favor.’ It invokes powerful ancient magic. Have Midnight tell you about it. Two… Chaos magic doesn’t really protect – ” Discord drew the word out. “ – very well.”
Diamond thought for a moment. “Okay then. In that case, when Blood’s Eye comes, could you please make life extremely difficult for them?”
Discord gave another grin, this one feline, predatory, and feral. “They seem to like Tartarus, so that’s exactly what I’ll give them.”
Luna’s dreamscape rippled as Midnight stepped into it. She blinked in surprise. “You’re not with your apprentice?”
Midnight shook his head. “She’s on her way Luna. She’s awake right now, on the road out of Ponyville. Snowy’s keeping an eye on her for me so I can visit you.”
Luna chuckled, “I still can’t believe she’s the Winter Star.”
The stallion returned the chuckle ruefully “I can’t believe we didn’t figure it out. After all, she was trying to make a wishing star when you met her.”
“Still, if that blasted town could know how far she went…”
“That’s sort of the story of all Nightborn.”
“True…” The pair remained in silence for a while, simply enjoying each other’s presence. The scarce time they managed to squeeze in hardly made up for the thousand year gap. Finally, Luna spoke with reluctance, “Midnight… We’ve heard that Demon Blood is behind this.” The stallion sighed and refused to meet her gaze. “I know you daren’t say anything,” The mare hastily continued, “But… I’m worried. It took so much last time, if he escapes now… We won’t be able to face him.”
“…No. You won’t. With only as few alicorns as you have, basically no real warriors or battle mages, Trust still lost in the human world, and a nation of ponies with the complacency of centuries leaving them unprepared to deal with anything like this… Equestria doesn’t stand a ghost of a chance if he escapes.”
“What do we do?” The voice was smaller than usual, and when Midnight turned, he saw Moonchaser in Luna’s place. Accordingly, he shifted to his Inkwell form and laid a leathery wing over her in comfort.
“We do what we always do. What you and I are apparently good enough at to represent. We hope, and we dream. Praying helps too, maybe you could ask your mother to have a word with her Boss. Beyond that… we watch for a moment to act. Everything is riding on Black Diamond now.”
Diamond stopped again as she came around another bend in the road. There was a mare standing in front of her, waiting expectantly.
Which was very confusing, because the filly was quite sure she’d never seen this mare before in her life.
Diamond’s vision at night had been getting better recently, and she was able to make out the mare’s features. She was a pegasus, light red coat, white mane and tail, and a black umbrella cutie mark. She had a large bag next to her, which Diamond knew was called a carpet bag. Her old nanny had used one.
“So,” The mare spoke, “Would you like me to call you Diamond Tiara or Black Diamond?”
Diamond sighed dramatically to cover her surprise, “I need to get used to strangers knowing who I am, don’t I?”
“Possibly dearie, I expect you’ll be dealing with a lot of immortals one day.”
Diamond cocked her head. “So are you saying you’re an immortal then?”
The mare thought about it for a moment, then gave a sigh of her own, “I suppose there’s no point denying it, considering who you work for. Yes, I’m an immortal – after a fashion. I’m also bound presently, though not as tightly as most. My name is Poppinjay, you can have Midnight tell you about me. My job is to take care of foals. So I’ll be accompanying you for a while, to make sure you reach Manehatten safely. Then I’m going to come back here to help your friends.”
Diamond dipped her head. “Thank you.”
“You’re quite welcome. Now then, you never answered my question.”
“Your question?”
“Black Diamond or Diamond Tiara?”
“…Black Diamond. At least until this is settled.”
Poppinjay gave a curt nod, and the pair went on their way.
Dawn broke over Ponyville. Throughout the day there would be several occurrences linked to Diamond’s departure.
Randolph the butler spent quite some time trying to figure out who had put the blanket on him.
Silver Spoon opened her package and wound up going to school with a new accessory slung across her back. This would prompt the other students to start bringing their own accessories, culminating in Button Mash handing Applebloom his replica keyblade and asking her to “make it work.” Cheerilee drew the line after that – they were allowed to bring them, but no working on them during class. Still, recesses were converted by most of the students into Fortification Period.
Spike wound up helping with that, his uncanny abilities being put to good use as they dug trenches, erected walls, and built several ballistae and catapults. Again, Cheerilee had to draw the line, preventing them from using dragonfire to permanently weld some of these onto the playground.
Discord wound up helping too, providing some raw chaos energy that Zecora helped Applebloom bottle. Something of an upgrade on the Greek Fire she had been planning on using, although she kept that and the Poison Joke essence – they had finally found a patch – in reserve just in case ammunition ran low.
Filthy and Spoiled Rich returned to town around lunchtime – turns out, they hadn’t abandoned their daughter, they were just trying to give her a little space. Cheerilee and Twilight kept their respective lectures on parental responsibility to an hour each.
The Crusaders war preparations seemed odd to most, although the more out of touch individuals simply assumed it was just a new game. Those who were close to them however knew that they were responding to a simple message that had been left on their clubhouse wall: “Prepare for War, They’ll Come Back.”
In the general havoc, communications between Twilight and Cheerilee continued to fail, resulting in the former neglecting to find out about the latter’s past as she had planned.
All of this was unknown however to a black filly with blades on her hooves. She walked alongside a light red mare with a carpet bag and, as the sun finally cleared the horizon line, Ponyville dropped below it behind them.