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Banality of Evil - Chapter 4
Huge bulbous eyes tracked prey crawling through the underbrush of the Everfree. This time the predator was not only hunting food, but one of its most dangerous rivals. It crept ever closer as its unaware victim scuttled further along its way.
It lunged from the cover it was concealing itself within, spiked limbs at the ready to scythe and pierce. Its rival reared up on its back legs, raising its body in a show of aggression with fangs dripping with venom towards the sudden attack.
A deadly scything blade plunged down into the rival. In spite of its readiness spines pierced the body of the many limbed beast instantly killing it.
The victorious mantis drew its prey close, chewing though the hide of the spider, intent on enjoying its hard won meal. Only for the sky to suddenly fall upon it.
Mirai hardly noticed the crunch of carapace beneath her leather soles as she marched onward.
“Twilight, are you sure this is the right way?” A certain white unicorn whined from the rear of the group. “This path is so soggy; I can practically feel myself sinking!”
“Yes Rarity, this is the straightest line to the castle.” Twilight answered, forging ahead mud or no mud.
The troop of eight was all that was left after Twilight had come down the stairs from her room and made the proclamation that the Elements of Harmony could be found in the castle of the Royal Pony Sisters deep within the Everfree forest. The rest of the party goers had vanished instantly in pony shaped clouds of dust, leaving the room vacant and a confused elf who had been in the middle of a conversation with a mint colored unicorn.
Spike sat nervously atop his ride, head swiveling around to look at the dark and dangerous forest around them. His claws held onto Twilight’s mane tightly, afraid to lose his grip. In fact the entire group looked plenty nervous. The only anomaly was the elf he had spent a large portion of the day with. Mirai was marching alongside the herd of ponies with an alert but unconcerned expression on her face.
Mirai called the group to a stop and listened closely to the forest around them... though for what Spike honestly didn't know. “That way.” The elf said, gesturing off to the left.
The group made the adjustment and carried on.
“Hey!” Rainbow Dash swooped down beside Twilight, hovering in the air just beside her. “So you told us we had to do this to save Equestria, but you never told us who Nightmare Moon even was.”
Twilight looked off into space for a moment. “Did I not?” Five ponies shook their heads. “Oh... Well, Nightmare Moon is an evil pony who wanted to stop Celestia from raising the sun and for the world to exist in an eternal night.”
“Oh, that sounds just terrible.” Fluttershy said quietly. The rest of the ponies nodding in agreement.
“It’s a really tragic story.” Twilight went on. “Nightmare Moon was once Princess Luna, Princess Celestia’s sister who once controlled the moon. Her jealousy of the attention ponies paid to the daytime drove her mad and the princess was forced to seal her away in the moon for a thousand years.”
Mirai stopped walking.
“Why that low down, dirty...” AJ descended into colorful curses for a moment. “...turnin’ on her kin like that! And just outa jealousy!”
Twilight looked up at the moon, just barely visible through the leaves of the forest. The moon’s most distinctive feature, the ‘mare in the moon,’ was still where it had always been, much to her relief. “Looks like we still have some time.” She said to the others who nodded and continued down the path.
“Hang on!” Pinkie Pie shouted suddenly. The party mare zipped back behind them. The five mares wondered what was going on until Pinkie returned pulling an elf who was staring at nothing. “Nopony gets left behind!” she said, suddenly adopting a rough voice and a dire expression, not unlike a grizzled war veteran before dissolving into giggles.
The other ponies all crowded around Mirai, each with an expression of concern. “What ever is the matter darling?” Rarity asked, waving a hoof to get the woman some air.
“What was it you said Twilight?” Mirai finally mumbled after a solid minute of unresponsiveness.
“What? That Nightmare Moon wants to cause eternal night? Look I know it's bad but thats-” Twilight began before being interrupted.
“No, the other thing.” Mirai said, her voice beginning to grow in pitch. The other ponyvillians shared looks as the elf began to shiver violently.
“That Nightmare Moon was Princess Luna?”
Mirai nodded, her knees shaking. “I-If she was C-Celestia's-s-s sister...”
Understanding flashed through Twilight mind. “Oh...”
The rest of the gathered ponies shared another glance.
“Ok you lost me!” Rainbow Dash said, hovering over the group. “What's so bad about that?”
“It means she’s-” Twilight began.
“A G-Goddess.” Mirai finished.
The elf put her hands up to her face and let out a muffled scream into them. After several long moments of the ponies looking on awkwardly as Mirai had a miniature breakdown, she finally stopped.
“Ok...” Mirai said, more to herself than anypony. “We still have time to beat her to the Elements right?”
Twilight looked up at the sky, studying the moon before nodding. “Yes, we should hurry. If we can get to the Elements before her I’ll have time to discover how they work.”
Mirai nodded and steeled herself, silently praying to her own deities. She could still avert this, her mission wouldn't be for nothing!
The group continued through the Everfree. The news of Nightmare Moon being Celestia’s sister lit a new fire under Mirai as she pushed the group of ponies to move faster and faster. The group crashed through the foliage, scaring many native animals out of the way as the sound of hooves thundered by.
“Come on, move!” She shouted as she attempted to keep up her careful watch for danger. “Twilight you’re absolutely certain these things are going to be able to stop her?”
Twilight attempted to wheeze out an answer as she lagged to the back of the pack next to Rarity and Fluttershy. The more athletic ponies shot each other a look before beginning to slow to a stop.
Mirai continued on for a ways before realizing she had left them behind. She turned back with a scowl on her face. “Come on, we don't have time for a break!”
“Now hold on just a sec there sugar cube!” AJ interjected between the angry elf and the panting ponies. “Can’t ya see they need a breather? Ya been running em ragged!”
“No no,” Twilight said through her heavy breathing. “She’s right we... have to get... the Elements.” She took a deep gasp of air and seemed to get herself a little more under control. “I’m fine, just needed a second.” The dragon on her back shot her a skeptical look and shook his head. Twilight was a doughy library hound, no way she could keep up this pace.
“Even if you’re fine-” Rainbow interjected. “-Cant you see Rarity and Fluttershy need a rest?” The pegasus pointed with a hoof at the pair whom still had not yet recovered.
Mirai tsked and turned away, silently allowing the rest. She wanted desperately just to cast a rejuvenation aura and keep going but if she was going to have to fight a goddess she was going to need every drop of magic she could muster. Her eyes trailed down to her belt pouches and the mana batteries within... maybe she could stand to use one...
‘No!’ She scolded herself. She was going to need everything.
She regretted leaving her pack behind as one of her potions probably could have made up the difference. Begrudgingly, Mirai took a seat at the base of one of the trees and let the ponies rest. As Mirai sat she silently let loose another prayer that actually fighting wouldn't be necessary and tried her best to ignore the ponies. Instead she kept an ear open for anything that might use the opportunity to try to get an easy meal.
As she calmed Mirai took another look around. The twisted and gnarled trees drooped with the weight of dry moss and the sounds of animals in the distance were clearly audible. ‘Twilight did say that the forest was dangerous... wild animals, dangerous plants, unforgiving terrain.’ Mirai couldn't help but mentally compare the Everfree to her home. It reminded her most of the forests to the east of Eogan, the ones that bordered the human port city. She struggled for a moment to remember the place’s name but eventually gave up. ‘I wonder whats going to happen to them when we leave?’ The port was counted as a vassal to Eogan and had been for hundreds of years. Could they even fend for themselves against the greenskins? Or would they be washed away in the green tide?
Mirai shook the thoughts from her head and turned to look at her ragtag party of companions. In a strange coincidence each of the ponies were actually the ones who were handling the Summer Sun Celebration. There was Applejack, probably Mirai’s favorite considering how welcoming she had been... Then again this entire kingdom so far had been very hospitable to a degree that boggled the elf’s mind.
There was Rarity, her new business partner. Mirai couldn't help but giggle to herself as she thought about the mess Spike was getting himself into between her and the quiet Fluttershy.
Pinkie Pie who was currently speaking to Rainbow Dash about something involving sweets. Honestly the mare gave her a headache in any dose larger than a few minutes... Then again the way she behaved struck a chord with her and she couldn't help but wonder if Princess Assa had also gotten headaches because of the way she had acted herself. Back when running around in the tunnels under Dorast was nothing but a treasure hunt to her... back when everything was a game.
Mirai turned her head to look elsewhere, unwilling to allow herself to get too nostalgic for those old times. When she did she found Twilight Sparkle sitting alone some distance from the others her nose buried in the book about the Elements. The purple pony reminded Mirai of herself in a lot of ways, always looking for new pieces of knowledge to add to her mental repertoire. Though there was a major difference. She always sought knowledge for a reason and always had an end goal in mind when she went digging for facts. Twilight seemed to love knowledge for the sake of knowledge. No rhyme or reason to the search, just an insatiable need to know everything. At least that's the impression she got from her few short hours of studying alongside her.
Just as the group was getting their hooves back underneath them a bush on the other side of the path rustled. The ponies ignored or didn't hear it but Mirai’s eyes snapped up to watch the location carefully. The tension seeped back into her bones as she watched the bush, fully expecting some sort of nasty to jump out.
The gathered ponies, finally rested, stood and trotted over behind her. “Alright, we've had our break, we may journey on now.” Rarity said, holding out a hoof as if to invite them to continue.
Mirai’s eyes remained glued to the bush as it chose that moment to rustle again. The ponies took a apprehensive step back and shared a nervous look. The elf eased her hand back onto her mana cannon, ready to draw the lethal device at a moment's notice.
The tension continued to build until the head of a small bird popped out of the leaves and stared at them with oddly glowing red eyes. Mirai had begun to relax, standing up straighter and turning to get moving again before she heard the ponyvillians gasp and saw them suddenly avert their gaze. The bird emerged from the bush dragging a long reptilian tail and continued to stare intently at her. Its beady red eyes boring into her own like it was expecting her to drop dead from its look alone.
“Cockatrice!” Somepony shouted.
Alerted by the cries to the ‘danger’ that this thing represented, Mirai scoffed and - ignoring the cold feeling in her toes - cast her favorite combat opener. The little bird staggered and squawked in sudden pain as its body noticeably thinned. The ponies were horrified by what they saw. The creature’s bones suddenly stood out like it hadn't had a meal in weeks! A few feathers began to drop to the forest floor, falling out of palled and drooping skin as the reptile bird swayed on its feet before tipping forward and falling flat on its face. Without an ounce of mercy Mirai took one decisive step forward before bringing the heel of her sandal down on the back of the cockatrice's neck. The unnoticed stone that was beginning to creep up her feet suddenly receded as the beast’s neck shattered and it breathed its last.
“No!” Fluttershy shouted from the back of the group, pushing her way through and galloping up to the dead cockatrice. “You killed him!” The little pony wailed as she gently nudged the creature hoping for any kind of response.
“We don’t have time for this!” Mirai growled at her.
Fluttershy turned a heated glare on Mirai that had those native to the area gasping in disbelief. Fluttershy had never used ‘the stare’ on anypony before but that's exactly what was happening now. They were even more shocked when Mirai returned the look with a cold one of her own.
The other ponies took a step back hesitant to get involved in the growing altercation. All except for Rainbow who huffed and glared at the elf.
Fluttershy gazed into Mirai’s eyes expecting her to shy away in remorse for what she had done but the elves eyes only reflected a frosty indifference.
“Are you done?” Mirai asked, enough ice in her voice that it matched her gaze perfectly.
Fluttershy’s glare faltered and she flinched back, breaking the spell that had held the rest of the ponies.
A flash of blue and Mirai’s field of view was once again filled with angry pegasus. “Hey! You can't talk to Fluttershy that way!” Rainbow Dash shouted, poking Mirai in the chest with a hoof.
The elf batted the appendage away from her before turning the same look on a new target. “Have you forgotten what's on the line here?!” She shouted at Rainbow. “We have an extremely limited time to save your world from an evil Goddess and here you are worried about some stupid animal who attacked us!” Mirai turned the look towards the rest of them. “Get your priorities straight!”
The ponies flinched at her shouting but opted to keep moving instead, hurrying on their way instead of facing her.
Rainbow Dash lingered a moment longer, glaring steadily at the elf before turning and following the others.
Mirai paused for a moment before she followed and looked up at the moon. The cratered face was missing the figure that had only moments ago adorned it surface. A spike of fear shot through her and she turned to sprint after the others, even at their best speed it could already be too late.
Lagging at the back of the group Rainbow Dash huffed in annoyance. “Who does she think she is? Huh!?” The pegasus angrily muttered to herself.
Catching sight of Fluttershy, also at the back of the pack, Rainbow sped up slightly to pull alongside her. “Hey Flutters got a sec?”
“Um, yes?” Fluttershy replied trying to hide the sorrow in her voice.
Rainbow winced and looked off to the side. “Hey, I’m sorry about the cockatrice.”
Fluttershy closed her eyes and took a steadying breath before turning to look at her long time friend. “Its ok... She was right I... Dealing with him kindly would have taken too long. I just wish there had been another way.”
Rainbow Dash nodded morosely and hovered for a while in silence. She had seen Fluttershy like this plenty of times. Every so often even her talent with animals wouldn't be enough to save some poor critter who crawled out of the forest. All she needed was a little time and to probably stay away from that cold blooded killer Mirai.
Speaking of the elf... “Hey, what happened with your stare? I haven’t ever seen anypony just shrug it off like that.”
Fluttershy nodded slowly her eyes falling slightly as they ran. “She’s seen scarier things.”
“What?” Rainbow asked. “What do you mean?”
“It happens sometimes... with problem animals.” Fluttershy said quietly. “Usually they’ve been through something so bad out here in the forest that nothing scares them anymore.”
“Woah...” Rainbow grimaced and looked up towards the front where Mirai was just behind Twilight. “I wonder if-”
“-Don’t ask about it! ...um please?” Fluttershy hesitantly interrupted. “If she's gotten over whatever it was, bringing it up again will only make her worse.”
“I-” Rainbow Dash began before a shout from ahead caught her attention.
“Hey Rainbow, there’s ah bridge that fell.” came the voice of AJ. “Git yer tail up here’n grab the end so we can fix it!”
Rainbow shared a look with Fluttershy who nodded back. Confident her friend would be fine the pegasus took off to repair the fallen bridge.
Meanwhile in Canterlot Princess Celestia stared down at the twisted reflection of her little sister. Her eyes were flashing with anger and surprise that easily masked the sorrow of seeing Luna this way again and the anticipation of a millennia worth of planning coming to fruition.
“Good evening sister.” The dark reflection hissed.
With only a carefully choreographed moment of hesitation Celestia leapt from her throne, horn alight and ready to battle the Nightmare that had invaded Luna.
“Nightmare Moon.” Celestia said cooly. “I should have expected you would find a way out of your prison eventually.” The alicorn of the sun slowly circled the mare of the night, her gilded shoes clicking against the marble floors.
“That’s right,” Nightmare cooed. “You were always underestimating me! Now I have you exactly where I want you dear sister.” Nightmare’s horn lit and a spell was flung at Celestia who sidestepped. Knowing she at least had to give a good performance she fired off a few spells of her own. The Goddess’ power clashed more directly on a plane just the slightest bit removed from the reality most ponies lived in. Monstrous divine abilities were tossed back and forth with such power and ferocity that the citizens of Canterlot could feel every hair on their bodies stand up while chills raced back and forth along their spines.
“You have grown soft in these thousand years!” Nightmare boasted as another volley of destructive magic was flung at Celestia’s feet, blowing large craters out of the decor. “Where are you vaunted Elements of Harmony now?!”
The white alicorn rolled her eyes at Nightmare’s carrying on, the mare did like her villain monologues. Distracted, Celestia almost forgot to dodge one of Nightmare’s spells and teleported a short distance directly into a trap. Her sister’s magic coiled around her, restraining her vast power. It took everything Celestia had to restrain her elation. A few attack spells were flung at her while she was trapped but they were easily deflected once they were within her magic’s restricted range. “You’ll never be able to find the Elements before my subjects find a way to defeat you!” Celestia called to her twisted sister.
Nightmare Moon stalked closer and grinned a grin full of razor sharp teeth. “You always fell for that trick didn't you Tia?”
Celestia glared back not needing to fake anger at being called her childhood nickname by the monster that was holding Luna hostage. “I will get out of this and I will defeat you.” She said flexing her might and pushing the spell binding her to its limits. Having successfully played her part Celestia had to restrain herself from smirking as Nightmare’s eyes narrowed and her horn lit up again, pouring more magic into keeping her restrained. She could see the fatigue beginning to weigh on her as most of Nightmare’s divine power went into reinforcing the spell.
“Now,” Nightmare said, drawing herself up and doing her best to mask the strain she was under. “I believe I have an appointment to keep with your precious subjects.” The mare of the night threw back her head and laughed as she took flight from the ruined throne room... exactly as planned.
“This looks like the place!” Twilight called to the others as she ran into one of the upper rooms in the crumbling excuse for a castle. The interior thus far had been dusty, crumbling to the point of being open to the outside and filled with ancient traps that had slowed them down until they had the idea to send Rainbow Dash ahead to scout for them.
On the far side of the room five stone spheres rested within a strange statue. The purple mare quickly levitated the objects over to her as the room filled with ponies, a young dragon, and a wary elf.
“Alright!” Rainbow Dash shouted in triumph. “We got em now let's go kick some flank!” The pegasus made to speed out of an open window, only to be stopped by AJ who had held her back by chomping down on her tail.
“Hnnd non!” AJ shouted through her mouthful of pegasus hair. After a few seconds of frantic wing beats Rainbow finally noticed her lack of progress, stopped her flapping and dropped to the floor.
“Hey what gives!?”
“Twilight still has to figure out how the Elements work!” Spike said pointing towards the purple unicorn. When they looked over Twilight was rapidly flipping through the pages of her book with Mirai leaning over her shoulder. The two were mumbling technical details to each other and generally sounding like they were speaking in another language.
“Well, have you made any progress Twilight dear?” Rarity said walking up and taking a seat in front of the pair.
“Yeah! You got any macguffins for us?” Pinkie Pie bounced over and sat next to Rarity. “Preferably magic macguffins, magical macguffins of magnificence! Magnanimous magical macguffins of magnifying magnificence!”
The others quickly followed suit and took a spot in the lineup, all asking questions or making random suggestions about what the Elements could be. Finally Twilight had had enough. “Quiet!” The tiny unicorn shouted at the top of her lungs. “All we know so far is that the Elements each represent a character trait. Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, and Laughter... Though that last one doesn't really fit the pattern. It says that once you have those five a spark will activate the sixth.”
Mirai stood back and let the ponies talk. The short talk with Twilight had convinced her that the Elements were likely made for ponies and probably wouldn't respond to herself directly. She took up a position next to Spike by one of the walls and looked over the gathered group as they began bickering again.
“Hey Mirai.” Spike tugged on the end of her tunic.
“Hmm?”
The dragon waved a hand at the ponies and the grey stones they were squabbling over. “Shouldn't we take the Elements someplace Nightmare Moon won't be able to find them?”
Mirai shook her head. “No, Nightmare is a goddess.” She said as if it explained everything.
A long moment passed before Spike looked up at her. “So?”
“So if we tried to hide them she’d still be able to find us instantly.” Mirai waved her hand around dismissively. “Omniscence and all that.” A silent shiver went up her spine as she did her best to play off the weight of the fear now pressing down on her. Nightmare Moon would certainly arrive soon and when she did... the Elements would have to work or everyone would die.
Spike turned away looking somewhat sheepish. “Oh.”
“Well I think Applejack deserves Honesty! Everypony knows you can’t find a more honest mare in ponyville!” Rainbow Dash said loud enough to be heard over everypony else.
“And certainly my darling friend Fluttershy deserves Kindness.” Rarity chimed in. Fluttershy responded by whispering something about Rarity and Generosity before being drowned out.
“We don't even know if that's how they work!” Twilight shouted at the others who had begun discussing which one of them best fit the character traits represented by the remaining Elements.
“Well, that's mighty kind of ya to say Rainbow. I think ya deserve Loyalty myself.” AJ replied, ignoring Twilight completely.
“This pattern doesn't even completely fit!” Twilight almost whined. “Laughter is not a character trait! Who can possibly represent a bodily function!?”
The gathered ponyvillians all shared a look, “Pinkie Pie” they all said in unison.
Twilight grit her teeth and stomped her hooves, generally looking like she was about to have a breakdown until Rarity gathered her up and turned her head to look at the pink mare. Said pink mare was rolling around the room on a giant beach ball with a bright red nose strapped to her face. There was a long silence only broken by the squeaking of the rubber nose. “Yeah I guess that makes sense.” Twilight finally agreed.
Mayor Mare stomped back and forth behind the stage. “Where are they?” She muttered darkly. Fluttershy and Rarity had both failed to show up. Fluttershy she could understand, the poor mare had stage fright something fierce but Rarity? That mare wouldn't give up the chance to help announce Princess Celestia if you threatened her with tax evasion allegations. “Are the emergency backups ready!?” She shouted.
“Don't worry bout anything Mayor! Ah got this!” A voice shouted from behind her. Startled she turned to see Vinyl Scratch wheeling in a huge pile of sound equipment.
Instantly a headache began clawing its way around the Mayor’s cranium as one of her eyes twitched. She stopped one of her aides and pointed toward the DJ. “Is this really the best we could do?”
The aide nodded. “Yes, I’m sorry mayor I know her... style isn't really to your taste.”
“Two minutes everypony!”
“My taste? What about Celestia’s taste!?”
“No time!” The aide said, pushing the mayor towards the stage. “It's about to start!”
“Right.” Mayor mare grumbled before stepping out onto the stage, a much brighter expression pasted over her own. The Mayor glanced over towards the DJ who gave her a salute before starting the music. The introduction began sounding appropriately regal before the base dropped into a techno beat and various lasers flashed out from Pon-3’s sound equipment.
The mayor’s extremely forced grin began to crack as the music wound down for her speech. “*Ahem* Fillies and gentlecolts!” she began, trying her best to forget her annoyance. “As mayor of Ponyville it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!”
The gathered ponies cheered and stomped their hooves in applause.
The mayor basked in the attention her irritation abating somewhat. “In just a few moments our town will witness the magic of the sunrise and celebrate this, the longest day of the year! And now it is my great honor to introduce the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and moon each and every day. The good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria! Princess Celestia!” More techno music burst from the speakers thoroughly ruining her recovering mood. The curtains were pulled to reveal... an empty stage!
Looking around wildly Mayor Mare tugged at her collar and laughed nervously. “Now now, I’m sure there's nothing to worry about.” She said attempting to soothe the crowd.
One of the mayor’s aides peaked behind the curtain before uncomfortably announcing “She's not in there!”
Gasps rang out as the mayor surreptitiously grit her teeth in frustration.
A few tense moments passed before the crowd gasped again, this time in fear as a sparkling blue aura filled the stage. The aura convulsed, contracting down before rapidly expanding again to reveal a black alicorn on the stage.
The collected ponied glanced at one another in confusion.
“Ah, my beloved subjects.” The black alicorn began as she imperiously glanced around the room. “It's been so long since I’ve seen your precious little su-”
“Who even are you!?” A mint colored unicorn shouted from the back of the room.
The black alicorn paused to glare in that general direction. When no further heckling came she continued. “-sun loving faces.”
“Boo! Get off the stage! Where’s princess Celestia?” The same unicorn shouted.
Nightmare’s eyes narrowed and resumed glaring as an earth pony with candies on her flank stomped on the unicorn’s tail. “Shut up Lyra!” She hissed through gritted teeth.
Nightmare held her unamused expression for a moment before bursting out in sinister laughter. “Ha ha ha! Why? Am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?”
“Umm, your Princess Celestia’s long lost evil sister?” Lyra said over the dead silence of the rest of the crowd. The entire room turned to stare at her, the closest ponies taking a few steps away. Even Bon Bon abandoned ship as Nightmare Moon stepped off the stage and walked toward the isolated Lyra.
The black alicorn leaned down close to the mint unicorn as she drew near. “Very perceptive.”
“Wow I was actually right!?” Lyra said in astonishment. “I was really just guessing!”
Nightmare Moon’s expression fell at the mare’s answer. “Does my crown count for nothing now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs!?”
Lyra glanced around in confusion, an action mirrored by many of the gathered ponies.
“You’re joking?” Nightmare Moon sat back as her frown grew.
“Wait!” Lyra suddenly shouted. Nightmare looked down at her curiously as the mare hopped up and down. “I remember now! That crazy mare from canterlot said there was supposed to be an evil mare escaping out of the moon tonight!”
Her interest piqued Nightmare Moon gestured toward the pony “Go on...”
Lyra put her hoof to her chin, thinking hard. “Right!” She perked up and pointed a hoof at the black alicorn. “You’re Nightmare Moon!”
Nightmare looked down at the little unicorn at her feet, somewhat impressed. “Well well well, somepony who reme-”
“And you can only be defeated by the Elements of Harmony!” Lyra interrupted, hopping up and down as she remembered more of Twilight’s spiel.
Nightmare’s eyes narrowed and she bared her teeth at the mint unicorn. “And how do you know this?”
Lyra took a deep breath to explain the rest when the reality of the situation dawned on her. That mare from Canterlot, along with five of her fellow ponyvillians had left for the Everfree forest hours ago specifically to hunt down the Elements to use against Nightmare Moon. Lyra glanced around at the rest of the town cowering in fear... “Oh...” She said as her face fell. “I messed up, didn't I?”
“What a shame that you seem to have gained some modicum of self awareness.” Nightmare Moon smiled wickedly, teeth shining in the light as her mane began to coil around the mint unicorn. “If you refuse to divulge the rest of what you know then I’m afraid you're of no more use to me.”
“Bon Bon!” Lyra shouted in panic as she was hoisted up into the air. The black alicorn’s horn flashed as a mindwalking spell told Nightmare all she needed to know. With a growl of irritation and a flick of her mane the mint unicorn was launched out of one of the upper story windows. Shattered glass rained down over the panicking ponies as Nightmare Moon vanished in a flash of blue.
Mirai tapped her foot against the stone floor of the Element’s chamber. The sound being one of the only things audible other than the faint tinkling of Twilight’s magic as she tried various things to activate the artifacts. The other ponies in the group rested around her in a circle, the various unidentifiable Elements sitting inert in front of them.
“I don’t think this is working.” Spike muttered as he sat on the cold stone floor.
Twilight let go of her spell with a deep gasp of breath. She panted for a second as the other ponies stood up and stretched their limbs.
“I don’t know what I’m doing wrong!” Twilight shouted, stomping a hoof in frustration.
“Hey, just relax a sec shugar.” Applejack placed a hoof on Twilight’s back to calm her. “You’ll figure it out. A fancy Canterlot pony like yourself can’t possibly stay stumped forever.”
“Thanks Applejack.” Twilight muttered as she sat down to stare at the grey spheres.
“Yeah!” Pinkie Pie said as she bounced in place. “You have got to be one of the smartest ponies I’ve ever met and I’ve met a lot of ponies!”
Twilight grimaced but nodded as her horn lit up again. “I’m not going to let some rocks beat me!”
“Spoken like... me!” Rainbow Dash said as she did a little loop in place. “You got this!”
A flash lit up the far side of the room, interrupting anything the rest of the group was about to say. The party of ponies gasped as Twilight's horn fizzled out, The unicorn staring at the gaseous blue swirl in fear as a black hoof stepped out.
“Well...” The black alicorn said as she fully emerged from her own mane. “It seems that I was not fully forgotten after all. Your pursuit of the Elements of Harmony is pointless, they can never work without the sixth!”
The six mares from ponyville took a step backwards and leveled glares at Nightmare Moon. “You’ll never get away with this Nightmare Moon!” Twilight said, lighting her horn and lifting the inert spheres of stone into the air. “I will make sure that eternal night will never happen!”
Mirai had snapped to attention the moment the goddess had made her appearance. Her hand held the grip of her weapon tightly, just waiting for an opportunity to strike. The elf was under no illusion that she would be able to actually kill or harm the being across the room, at best she might be able to cause a distraction long enough for Twilight to finish her work. Her traitorous mind took the opportunity of Nightmare and Twilight’s posturing to remind her that if she were to die here than her entire species would be effectively doomed.
“Oh, I’m not worried little pony.” Nightmare said as she took a few menacing steps forward. “The elements lost their power a thousand years ago when one bearer betrayed another! You think that simple magic will reawaken them when they have been drained by such a travesty?” Nightmare lit her horn and pointed it at the defiant group of ponies. “Now I grow tired-!” The black alicorn was forced to alter the attack spell she was about to use into a simple shield as a bright blue beam of magic flew towards her out of the corner of the room. The beam struck her shield with a hammer blow, deflecting off of the barrier and blasting part of the ceiling to dust and debris.
Her family killed or taken by greenskins, Eogan in flames.
“What's this?” Nightmare said curiously as Mirai stepped toward the group of ponies, her cannon aim trembling only slightly as it remained fixed on the goddess. The alicorn’s eyes narrowed as she spied the smoking barrel of the weapon that had vaporized a small portion of the ceiling. “What manner of creature are you who dares to strike at me!?”
Assa, Fearghal, all of her friends, dead.
“Ambassador Mirai!” Twilight cried as the elf imposed herself between the ponies and the angry goddess. “Don’t! We can handle it!”
“Get to work Twilight.” Mirai said as she faced off against a physically present deity. The unicorn stared at her back for another moment before lighting her horn and returning to her attempts at activating the Elements.
The survivors reduced to huddling in the dark waiting for the end to find them.
Even as she stood resolutely in the path of Nightmare Moon, Mirai was panicking in her mind. She refused to show any obvious outward signs of her fear, as long years of adventuring had instilled a control in her that was being exploited to the limit as the seconds ticked by.
“Ah, I see. You are an acquaintance of my dear sister.” Nightmare said as a tooth filled grin stretched across her face. “What pathetic country do you hail from that I might send your broken remains back to them once I have taken the throne?”
The elf grit her teeth and tried to seem as threatening as possible. Her role wasn't to attack; it was to buy time for Twilight.
Her entire world in tatters.
“Answer me pathetic creature!” Nightmare Moon lit her horn and cast a simple attack spell that barely missed as Mirai vacated her previous position with a leap and roll. The elf came up firing another blast from her cannon, only for the shot to reflect off of the alicorn’s shield and into a wall. Nightmare narrowed her eyes and began casting attack spells as quickly as possible. The attacks chased Mirai around the room as she just barely managed to keep ahead of them, each exchange of fire blasting new holes in the already crumbling structure.
The ponies shrank away from the attacks, trying to hold their ground as deadly magic flew around them. Twilight’s horn flashed with this spell or that as she desperately tried to get the stone orbs to do anything. Spike huddled against one of the walls, wanting to run to his adoptive sister, but too afraid to traverse the space between them, filled as it was with missed spells and beams of deadly energy.
Mirai rolled to her feet as yet another mana battery was emptied and discarded. She wracked her mind for anything that could help her. One spell came to mind immediately, but would it even have any effect on a goddess? She lacked the time to ponder, however, and went with her instincts. Dodging Nightmare’s latest attack, she threw a hand forward and cast the same spell that had so effectively incapacitated the Cockatrice. Her invisible magic struck Nightmare Moon and the room suddenly went quiet as the rampaging alicorn stopped to stare at her.
Slowly a vicious grin filled with jagged teeth spread across Nightmare’s face as she looked down at her opponent.
“Oh how delightfully vicious of you.” The black alicorn said as she took a leisurely step forward. “It’s so nice to see the creatures my subjects associate themselves with at least have some backbone.” Nightmare Moon neared Mirai who shuffled back until she felt cold stone at her back. “You have-” Nightmare never finished what she was saying as the moment she neared the cornered elf Mirai lunged at the alicorn, stabbing her dagger into the malign goddess’ neck.
For a moment, the blade sizzled and glowed with power as spirit-slaying silver met with spirit-possessed deity, and Nightmare Moon shrieked, flinging the elf away and removing the dagger. It fell to the floor with a clatter as Nightmare Moon stalked forward, “You insignificant insect,” She hissed, wrapping her magic wrathfully about the elf and lifting her into the air. She squeezed, prompting Mirai to let out a yelp of pain.
“I have to give you some credit.” Nightmare crooned, voice dripping with false sweetness. “That last bit actually hurt.”
And then Mirai felt a sudden sensation of speed before she went flying through a hole in the castle wall, her body clipping the edge on her way out and spinning off course. She hit several more objects until an immense pain bloomed in her chest as she finally came to a stop. Her vision was rapidly failing, either from the blows to the head or the blood in her eyes but for a moment she could see something sticking out of her chest.
Spike watched in horror as Mirai was tossed out of the castle and into the trees on the other side of the ravine. The sound of her body crashing through leaves and breaking limbs finally came to a stop not too far into the forest. He crept closer to the hole she was ejected out of, hoping to get a better idea of where she landed. The alicorn who had thrown her had turned her attention back to the five Ponyville mares and his adopted sister so he should be able to get a look without drawing her attention.
“Well, now that’s over lets return to our business shall we?” Nightmare said, pulling the Elements away from Twilight and into an orbit around her head. The ponies, still in shock from witnessing their companion tossed out of the castle like yesterday’s garbage stood very still as they gaped at the casual brutality.
“Not cool!”
“My heavens!”
“Oh dear...”
The ponies finally shook themselves out of their stupor and fought the urge to try and help Mirai. If they lost against Nightmare Moon now, then Equestria was doomed anyway. That didn't stop them from being distraught at the probable death of one of their number, a fact the lavender mare among them was proving as she stared out of the hole with wide eyes. “You killed her...” Twilight said quietly as she focused on the blood splatter where Mirai had struck the stone, a few strands of her mane beginning to poke out of place.
“Oh did I?” Nightmare Moon said with a mocking tone. “Clumsy me.”
“She was my friend and you killed her!” Twilight shouted as her horn lit up again and the stone spheres orbiting around Nightmare pulled away back toward Twilight.
Nightmare narrowed her eyes and intensified the hold she had over the Elements. “Oh I think not.” The stone spheres halted their movement and vibrated in place, subjects of a magical tug of war.
Twilight pushed more magic into pulling but for every ounce of strength she could muster Nightmare Moon would equal it. The rest of the ponies watched while they silently rooted for Twilight, all except for Rarity. The white unicorn glared at the black alicorn from the back of the cluster of ponies before lighting her own horn and wrapping her own aura around the Elements. With her power added to Twilight’s they slowly but surely dragged them away from Nightmare.
Nightmare moon grit her teeth as she dug in her hooves. The ponies struggled for control, the Nightmare slowly losing ground. A smirk came to her face as a nasty idea wormed its way into her mind. Her horn flashed with magic the moment she released the Elements from her telekinesis, shattering the spheres into tiny jagged shards that were launched toward the ponies by the pull of their own power.
Twilight ducked her head and threw up a shield as fast as she was able, little bits of stone bouncing off of it as the group of ponies hid behind the protective field.
“It would seem you have indeed wasted your time.” Nightmare said with a smug grin as the ponies emerged from behind Twilight. “With the Elements destroyed you have no hope of stopping me!”
Twilight looked down at the shattered artifacts, her mouth falling open at their destroyed state. The other five ponies had similar reactions as they realized what had happened.
Twilight looked back and forth between the debris and the smug alicorn. “Fine,” She said as she squared her shoulders and pawed at the ground. “Then we’ll just have to beat you without the elements!”
“You? Defeat me in a contest of strength!?” Nightmare Moon tossed her head back and laughed like Twilight had just uttered the funniest joke she had ever heard.
Twilight lit her horn and levitated Mirai’s discarded dagger into the air. It had seemed to burn Nightmare when she was stabbed with it earlier, and without the Elements it was likely their last chance. She awkwardly stabbed the blade at Nightmare who cried out in pain as the unseen dagger scored a hit on her flank.
“Ow! You insolent little foal!” Nightmare hissed as she barely dodged another clumsy swing.
Twilight roared as much as a teenaged mare can and charged forward, swinging the blade in wild arcs in an attempt to vanquish the evil alicorn.
The other five ponies all shared a look.
“Come on everypony let's clobber us ah nasty alicorn!” Applejack shouted and sped off to assist Twilight.
“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash said as she flew up into the air. “I’ll show her why nopony messes with Rainbow Dash’s friends!” The pegasus shouted as she joined the fray.
Pinkie turned back toward a still reluctant Fluttershy and Rarity. “Come on you equines, you wanna live forever!?” a pair of whipped cream pies appeared in the party pony’s hooves as she chased after the others.
Rarity shared a glance with her dear friend Fluttershy. “Well, she has aided us a great deal...”
Fluttershy nodded. “She’s our friend.” The two long time friends nodded and crept into battle.
When the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed.
Twilight Slashed at Nightmare as the alicorn backpedaled away from the stinging weapon. The purple mare occasionally having to cast a shield to deflect the attack spells being tossed her way but so far had kept her opponent on the retreat. Nightmare reared back and lit her horn brightly as rage flashed in her eyes. Twilight could tell her short lived streak of success was about to run out and she braced for something big. The light coming from Nightmare intensified before it was suddenly snuffed out by a rope looping around her horn and pulling taught just in time for a prismatic pegasus to deliver a brutal, high speed buck to the side of Nightmare’s face.
The alicorn staggered back, pulling Applejack along as the farm mare refused to release her rope. “You will pay for that!” Nightmare hissed as she prepared to cast another spell only for it to fizzle under a cascade of whipped cream.
Nightmare pushed the pie tin from her face with a hoof and made a decent attempt to glare at anything and everything through blinding confectionary.
Twilight spotted Rarity holding a needle and thread in her magic and contemplating what exactly she was going to do with it when their target froze them all in her magic.
“Enough!” Nightmare roared loud enough to shake the stones the castle. She opened her mouth to deliver some final words before snapping her foes in half when they all unexpectedly dropped to the floor.
“What now!?” Twilight cried in panic as she was levitated back into the air, glowing rock fragments rising along with her.
Nightmare Moon stared in horror as each of the mares she was about to break had a golden piece of jewelry appear on their person.
Spike clambered down the crumbling castle wall. He could hear shouting and see the occasional flash of a spell behind him and he wanted desperately to turn around and go back to defend Twilight. However his short legs carried him onward over the rope bridge to the forest as he began searching for any trace of Mirai. The battle behind him was no place for him, as much as he heated to admit it. He would only distract Twilight and any distraction could be the difference between victory and defeat.
The foliage looked undisturbed along most of the treeline but a hole punched in the canopy gave him a hint as to where she ended up. His eyes scoured the ground looking for the shape of the fallen elf. The deep shadows the forest was already filled with didn't exactly help him as he searched and prevented him from seeing anything out of the ordinary as the trail of disturbed foliage gradually came to an end in the dark. Suddenly a bright light and a loud boom shook the ground he was standing on, throwing him off of his feet and face first into some leaves. He stood and spun around, looking back towards the castle where a rainbow light glowed brightly out of the gaps in the structure.
“What was that?” he wondered aloud as he stood up, a few leaves stubbornly stuck to his cheek. Worried for Twilight and the Ponyville ponies Spike turned and started back towards the ruin. Absentmindedly he reached up to pull the leaves from his face when he felt the sticky fluid they were covered in. He pulled them away and looked at them, noticing the dark smear on the leaves and on the ground where he fell. Fearing the worst, he looked up. A pair of dangling feet was the only thing he could make out in the dark but he was sure he had found what he was searching for. “Mirai!” He shouted up at her.
After a minute of no response he gripped the trunk of the nearby tree and used his sharp claws to quickly shimmy up the trunk. The elf was dangling by a huge tree limb that had she had been skewered upon at the end of her flight. “Oh no.” Spike whispered to himself as he climbed out towards Mirai, carefully placing himself on the limb so not to risk a fall. He looked down a forest floor to ponder what he should do next. The forest floor wasn't far below and if he had to he cou- A faint blue light shimmering against the tree trunk caught his eye, warily he looked around for the source only to find it coming from beneath Mirai’s tunic. Concerned, Spike lifted what little of her tunic he could to find the angular markings along her spine that he had spotted while she was bathing yesterday glowing brightly. “What?” Spike mumbled as he edged further out onto the branch to get a better look. His weight shifted and the branch that was now holding himself as well as Mirai creaked loudly. “Uh oh...” The branch snapped sending the two of them plummeting.
Spike hit the ground with a thud but other than slight disorientation and some scuffed scales he was left unharmed. He stood with a groan and looked around. Mirai lay beside him, the huge hole in her chest now free of the tree limb that dangled above them. He rushed towards the elf and looked her over; the horrible hole was only the most obvious of her injuries. She was scratched and cut and bruised all over but at the very least she still let out shallow, gurgling breaths.
Afraid she might drown in her own blood, Spike turned her head to the side and was relieved to hear the gurgling diminish as a small pool ran from her mouth. “Oh man, what do I do?” Spike began to panic as the initial crisis ended. He had no idea how to help someone hurt this badly and Twilight was still busy. Did they even win?
Almost as soon as he finished the thought the sun peaked over the horizon, filling the forest with a dim purple glow. “Well I guess that answers that question.”
A loud coughing behind him jolted him out of his thoughts as the elf rolled onto her side. She hacked and sputtered, spitting out globs of blood. After a few minutes she held up a hand over the hole in her chest and to Spike’s amazement it closed over with fresh pink skin. “Mirai? Are you ok?” Spike asked as he inched closer, nervously holding out a claw as if afraid to touch her.
“Yeah.” Mirai said with a rough voice. “I’ll be fine.” The elf rolled onto her back and stared up at the canopy as the leaves were steadily lit more and more by the rising sun.
She looked content to lay there but Spike was too curious just to let her lie. “What happened? I thought you were a gonner!”
Mirai smirked and patted herself on the chest. “Life mage, remember?” She said, smiling through blood stained teeth. “It takes a little more than an impalement to kill me. Though the loss of consciousness made this a closer call than usual.” Spike nodded and sat down next to the blood covered elf, he was already covered in the stuff anyway so he didn't let the sticky feeling as her chest steadily rose and fell bother him.
“So I guess we won?” She asked after a few minutes of silence.
“Looks like it.” Spike said as he looked over toward the now silent castle.
Mirai took a deep breath and exhaled, “Good.”
“Hey Mirai?” Spike said after another few minutes of silence.
“Yeah?”
“Where was <Twig> this whole time? Did he even come with us?”
Mirai stared up at the leaves as the sun brightened steadily. “...Mulch... I swear that useless little pile of compost is going to be mulch.”
A few miles away at Sweet Apple Acres Big Macintosh greeted the rising sun with a huge amount of relief. Figuring it was best not to let the farm work get too far behind the great red pony headed out to see to the saplings.
He hefted the watering can, moving from little apple tree to little apple tree, depositing the perfect amount of water for each one. A few hours passed as row upon row of trees were seen to and the work day was going smoothly, until he came across what was obviously an oak tree sitting in the middle of a row.
“...”
Big Mac leaned forward and grasped the little tree in his teeth. How did an oak tree get mistaken for an apple tree anyway? The idea that he and his younger sister never once spotted the little imposter was just plain preposterous. He began pulling, the little tree giving a fair amount of resistance as it clung to the soil.
Suddenly a root lashed across his nose causing the great red pony to let go in shock and pain. Big Mac stared at the little oak sapling as it waved a root at him like an angry fist before settling back into place.
It was too early to deal with this.
“Enope...”