The Impossible Dream

by Merc the Jerk

Rejoining

Together, Macintosh and Tilting Windmills braved the underground room and walked silently through the oppressive darkness that the lantern held in Mac's teeth barely cut through. The farmer wiped his brow with a spare hoof, wishing he was back outside. Of course, he quickly reminded himself, he was wishing to get away from the rain not even an hour before.

Mac was on edge, had been ever since they came through the threshold to the room. There was something about the dark surrounding the two that made him feel as if they were being watched. It wasn't anything obvious, like him catching someone out of the corner of his eye; it was the subtle wave of the thick, clinging shadows dancing on the floor and the outskirts of the lantern's light. The silence, however, was his biggest clue. The silence was oppressive in this room. He felt that whoever broke it would be in for one hell of a problem.

They came to a small flight of steps, each took the set carefully, so as not to fall.

“Ahead,” Tilting said, gesturing to the end of the lantern's light.

Macintosh glanced to where the Knight pointed. There was a round, chest high platform carved from stone about the width of a wagon. The farmer frowned, moving closer to the object to examine it. It was a well crafted piece, with nine deep notches the width of Mac's hoof evenly dispersed along the circle. What drew both of the stallion's eyes, however, was the object embedded in the center of the stonework.

It was a well crafted knife- one with an intricate design of golden vines surrounding a bronzed tree trunk on the handle, and a perfectly clear crystal at the pommel, with a small and sun design swimming freely inside. The tool was plunged deep into the stonework, to the brass handguard.

“The Golden dagger of Mambrino,” Tilting quietly spoke with reverence, staring intently at the weapon.

Macintosh raised a brow. “Should I know 'bout that or somethin'?”

The Knight ignored him, taking an enraptured step forward. “'Tis odd that the strongest weapon in Equestria is carried not by Celestia or Luna, but locked away in this labyrinth.”

“'Labyr-what?'” Macintosh repeated, blinking at his friends choice of language. After a moment, the red stallion recalled what the word meant. “Pardner,” Mac drawled, “It was a straight walk once we got through that one door. Ain't no maze we had to go through or nothin'.”

The Knight continued to ignore him; he approached the edge of the platform, licking his lips nervously, before reaching for the blade.

Something felt off to Macintosh. His senses screamed danger at Tilting's actions. “Wait!” He cried, but it was too late.

As the Knight touched the hilt, both ponies were engulfed by a bright orange light. As Macintosh shielded his eyes, he heard the unmistakable sound of hoofsteps drawing closer and closer.

000

“King me!” Breaburn gleefully said, rubbing his hooves together before setting them back on the dining room table. Applejack looked over the checkerboard spread between the two of them with a scowl.

“This game is horsefeathers,” the mare grumbled, sipping at a glass of water by her side as she took the three pieces the Cowpony jumped off the board.

“If ya knew chess, we wouldn't be havin' this problem,” Braeburn remarked to the farmer.

“Chess is borin',” AJ complained, stealing a glance out the window. She frowned, wishing the rain would stop so she could get some work done outside.

“Ya kiddin'? It's excitin', ya gotta plan ahead ta beat who yer playin' against, and have ta change how ya play on the fly ta fight their moves,” Braeburn gushed.

“Too much work. They're called 'games' fer a reason, hoss.”

“Seems like the only pony willin' ta play chess with me is Mac,” he said.

Applejack studied the board intently, before moving one of her quickly vanishing pieces forward. The cowpony adjusted his hat before leaping on her move like a wolf among lambs, jumping two of her pieces effortlessly.

“Shootfire!” The mare snarled.

Before the conversation could get ugly, there was a brisk, urgent knock at the front door.

“I reckon I should see who that is,” AJ stated, grateful for the sudden interruption.

She opened the door, and was nearly bowled over by Twilight Sparkle. The lavender pony quickly ducked into the hallway, and resisted the urge to shake her absolutely soaked fur dry.

“L-let me get ya a towel, sugarcube.” Applejack quickly ran off, nearly reading Twilight's mind.

The mare briskly cantered to the upstairs bathroom, before returning to the entryway and giving the unicorn a towel. She took it gratefully, levitating it with her magic, and performing a quick drying job over her body.

“Thanks. I appreciate it, Applejack.” Twilight smiled, running a hoof through her now messy hair. Applejack threw the wet towel onto her back, and moved the conversation to the comfort of the living room.

“So, ta what do I owe this visit? Not that I don't mind ya comin' by for a spell, but it don't seem like the nicest day fer a social call.” AJ joked, putting the towel on a coffee table, and sitting easily in Big Mac's oversized recliner.

“I need to see Tilting. It's important,” the mare said, taking a seat at the sofa across the room.

The farmer shook her head. “He went with Mac ta Zecora's place. I reckon it'll be a bit for they get back.”

“Just great,” Twilight said under her breath, rising and turning to leave.

AJ rose as well, taking a few brisk steps the other mares way. “Where ya goin', Twi?”

“To Zecora's.”

Applejack rubbed her chin in thought. “Must be pretty dang important if yer needin' ta talk ta him so fast.”

“Luna wanted to see him.”

“Luna?” Applejack repeated. “He in trouble or somethin'?”

“I don't know,” Twilight replied. “Luna's order was very terse. I just believe the sooner we arrive, the better.”

“I ain't gonna be happy with all this rain comin' down on me, but yer crazy if ya think I'd let ya run off like that,” she said, turning to trot back to the archway leading to the dining room. She stuck her head through. “Braeburn,” AJ called.

“Eyup?” The cowpony replied with a lazy smile, putting his hooves behind his head and turning in his seat towards the mare.

“Gonna have ta put a hold on the game. Me an Twi' have gotta head ta Zecora's fer a bit.”

His grin faltered a bit. “Everythin' alright?”

“I reckon so.” Applejack stated, giving a brief glance towards Twilight.

“Well, ya gotta do what ya gotta do,” he said, shrugging amiably. “We'll jus' call this one a draw, how's that?”

“I'll show you a draw,” Applejack spat under her breath.

“What was that, cuz?”

“Nothin' worth repeatin'.”

000

Macintosh's vision swam and dance as his eyes grew accustomed to the burst of light. Finally, his sight came back to him. To either side of the stallions, on the long disused and cracked walls were bright torches lined in five foot intervals. They lit up the gigantic room and drew their attention onward, to the far end.

Directly ahead of where they stood, not more than two hundred feet away, was a colossal double door made of iron. It rose to mind boggling heights, being larger than even the gates leading to the capital city of Canterlot. Despite the magnificence of the doors, the object in front of the architecture is what gave them pause.

It was a medium sized shadow. Not a flat, one dimensional absence of light, rather, a cloudy smoke of pure black that had obvious weight to it.

As Macintosh and the Knight watched, the cloud took action, condensing and twisting until it formed the shape of a large pony. When the cloud finished, and the air was still once more, a pitch black unicorn adorned in a light blue helmet, breastplate and hoofguards stood like a statue before them, its aurora like starry mane and tail blew gently in an unfelt breeze.

Macintosh stared hard at the creature before him. It couldn't be right, could it? There was only one pony that looked like that, and she had been defeated. “Nightmare Moon?” He quietly asked himself.

The unicorn snapped open its blue slitted cat eyes, boring holes into the farmer.

“We are,” it calmly agreed, its voice like sharp, piercing steel. Its tone and pitch made it hard for the red stallion to distinguish its gender.

Macintosh frowned. “That can't be right. My sister an' her friends took care of ya when they brought back Luna.”

It shook its head. “We may have been dispersed by the elements, scattered to the winds, but we still remain. Much of our essence remains trapped inside Luna.” It stopped, smirking. “For now, at least.”

It took a single step forward. Macintosh braced himself nervously, he could feel his heart about to leap out of his chest.

“We plan on changing that,” it calmly continued, “with the bodies we found in this castle, we will bring ourselves together, and be whole once more.”

“Bodies?” Tilting repeated. It dawned on the Knight what the monster meant as he was suddenly hit from behind by a blur of black, knocking him to the ground. The blur rose high above the earth ponies, before slowing down briefly, revealing itself to be a pegasus that looked nearly identical to the unicorn standing in the distance. It casually flapped its wings, looking down at the two with unabashed glee.

“Once we feed on you, we will began our plans to bring forth our endless night!” The unicorn exclaimed, cackling.

Tilting weakly rose, shaking his head to keep focused. “Monster!” He shouted, pointing a hoof at the creature. “Thou has no honor, striking me from the flank.” He scowled deeply. “But the worst, most unforgivable transgression thou has begot is besmirching Luna's fair name. The very gall thou has suggesting she houses such evil... 'tis deplorable!” He grit his teeth, his fury evident by the violent shaking of his body. “The time for words has long passed, demon! Have at you!” He bellowed, charging with the speed of righteous indignation as he held aloft the Golden Dagger.

“Tiltin', no!” Mac exclaimed, but it was too late.

As the stallion ran towards the unicorn, he was tackled from behind once more by the pegasus. Tilting awkwardly twisted in the air, landing hard on his back. As he started to rise, he was instead pounced on by the flying monster, getting pinned down by the creature's weight. It stared down and hissed, before drawing its razor sharp wings back, preparing to plunge them into the Knight's skull.

The farmer reacted instantly to the others plight, wordlessly sprinting toward the mockery of a pegasus. He shoulder checked the creature hard, knocking it away from Tilting. With one powerful hoof, he picked the Knight up.

A loud crackling noise drew him away from helping the Knight further, he snapped to attention just as the unicorn expelled a bolt of pure electricity from its horn. There was no time to dodge; Mac shoved Tilting to the side as a searing, black pain raced throughout his body from the spell connecting. The stallion's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed limply to the ground.

000

Applejack and Twilight carefully trekked through Everfree, following the path laid out before them toward Zecora's hut. Neither had spoke much, both distracted deeply by the thoughts swimming in their head.

Twilight paused as they came closer to the zebra's home, sniffing the air. She covered her nose, nearly gagging.

“Sweet Celestia, what is that?” Twilight asked.

Applejack seemed unperturbed, sniffing the air and pausing, as if measuring the scent. “I reckon somethin' bought the farm,” she drawled.

“Don't know how you can be so casual about it, it reeks.” The lavender mare moaned.

“I've just smelled it before, is all.”

They continued, ducking through the foliage and into the open field of Zecora's hut, where they both paused in mid stride.

There, standing in the rain, was Zecora and the corpse of a Timberwolf of unusual size. The zebra was carefully sprinkling a small vial over the beast, and both ponies watched in amazement as it started to almost instantly eat through its tough hide and muscles.

“Fascinating.” Twilight marveled. “The potency of that dissolving agent is astounding, especially considering that the rain must be diluting it.”

The zebra paused briefly to look over her work, before spotting the two. She beckoned them closer, gesturing inside the ruined hut. They quickly complied, all three taking at least a bit of shelter from the rain under a side of the home that still had some of the roof attached. Once they were as comfortable as they could be, given the circumstances, Zecora gave a wry smile towards the two.

“Twilight, to what do I owe this surprise?” She said. “I'm sorry if my hut brings tears to your eyes.”

“Oh, Zecora, this is nothing,” Twilight dismissed. “You should see the library when Spike has to take care of it,” She joked. After a pause, the unicorn continued. “I'm surprised, I thought Macintosh was going to help with repairs.”

“Tilting wanted to see where he was found. Besides, we wouldn't want to work with that corpse around.”

“Ya know where they're at?” Applejack asked.

“Travel east, merry band. They should be in a field at the lowlands,” Zecora stated, looking up at the damaged roof.

“Low ground, huh? I reckon we can find it from there,” Applejack said, rising. “Let's get to it, Twi.”

Twilight nodded, joining Applejack, and starting their walk east.

000

“Hmm,” The orange stallion grunted, looking over his son. The red colt seemed fine, save for the black eye and remains of a bloody nose. The silence was overwhelming as they both stood on the farm porch, looking at the gently setting sun. The elder ran a hoof through his brown mane in thought.

“So, ya got suspended fer a few days, that right?”

“Yes sir,” The colt confirmed.

The stallion sighed, a cross between irritation and acceptance. He wasn't the best pony with words, so heart-to-heart talks with his kin took time and a lot of thought on his end. At last, he asked what should have been an obvious question: “What happened?”

It was the colt's turn to sigh. He wasn't much of a talker either, got that from his pa. “There was a groupa ponies beatin' up a colt. I tried ta help.”

The stallion grunted, taking another look at his child. “Judgin' by yer face, ya didn't help much.” The adult smiled slightly, trying to lighten the mood. The younger one's frown deepened, not appreciating the jab.

“It's jus' cause there was a pegasus an' a unicorn with 'em,” The colt said defensively, before taking a step off the porch and sitting on its steps. He mumbled something to the ground.

“What was that, boy?”

“I said it ain't fair!” The red colt snapped. “If I had wings, or, or, fancy spells, I coulda fought 'em jus' fine.” He sniffed. “I wanna be as strong as those bullies, but I can't.”

The colt felt a weight by him, and glanced over, surprised that his pa had moved and taken a seat on the steps. Without a word, the father wrapped his foreleg around the colt's shoulder.

“Ya know, if ya had been the one ta start the fight, I'd a whupped ya and sent ya ta bed with no supper,” He said.

“Yes sir.” The red colt nodded.

“But ya didn't. Ya tried ta help somepomy when they needed it.” He seemed to pause at this, shifting his weight uncomfortably. “I-I'm proud-a ya.” The elder of the two looked towards the far distant horizon, considering something. He spoke again, “I'll tell ya somethin' secret, boy; they may have wings, an' fancy education an' spells, but there's one thing we have that's jus' as strong, if not stronger.” He turned back to his son. “Guts.”

The colt tilted his head in confusion, causing the other to crack a slight smile.

“When anypony else would have given up- when they can't take on one more step- we pass them.” He mulled over his thoughts once more. “Ya know what a war of attrition is, boy?”

“Sort of, sir.”

“It's when ya wear down who yer fighting so much, they can't handle the stress anymore. That's how ya fight off them fancy types. Ya understand, Mac?”

“Yes sir.” The colt nodded earnestly.

The stallion grinned tiredly at that, pleased at his child's response as he rose with a pop in his knees. He glanced towards the front door. “Alrighty then, let's go inside an see if yer Mama's got a meal fer us. We'll need ta put some food in yer belly if'n yer gonna help plowin' the fields instead of doin' school fer a bit.”

Macintosh nodded, trotting obediently behind his father.

000

Mac's eyes shot open as he lay injured on the stone floor. He sucked in a deep breath, and coughed violently, hacking up phlegm and spitting it to his side. He rose, wincing in pain, and at the smell of his own burnt flesh. The spell had connected hard with his chest, and he noticed a blackened, open wound. Blood slowly seeped through the cracks in the injury, and it glistened with sweat. He stopped looking at it, afraid he was going to be sick. Tilting was by his side instantly, steadying the stallion.

“Oh? You're not dead yet? Interesting, pony.” The unicorn dryly marveled.

The red stallion grinned sickly, tasting blood in his mouth. He must have bit his cheek earlier, when the magic spell the unicorn had cast hit him full force. “I'm jus full-a surprises.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hoof. “I'll let ya know one of 'em fer free: when I hit somethin', I hit it hard.”

The monsters laughed in wicked tedium at this. “You are nothing more than an ant looking at the sun.” The unicorn sneered.

“That so?” He asked, body tensed, and mind laying out the groundwork of a plan. “Well then, ya low down, no good snakes- try an' burn me.”

“With pleasure.” The monster smirked, its horn already turning a bright, heated red.

000

Twilight and Applejack followed the path, coming to the edge of a steep hill overlooking a field dotted with red. It might have been pretty, if not for the rain still pouring down and soaking the two. Applejack glanced around the hill they stood on, before shrugging to Twilight.

“We ain't goin' down here, sugarcube. Too steep ta get a good grip.”

Twilight raised a brow at the other mare's words. Without preamble, she wordlessly channeled a spell into her horn. It erupted in a blinding white light, engulfing the two ponies. When the spell faded, they found themselves in the center of the field they were overlooking moments ago.

“I kinda forgot ya could do that.” AJ admitted, scratching her head.

Twilight smiled, before looking around the open field, noting with discontent that there was no hide nor hair of Macintosh. “Where's your brother?” She asked.

Applejack shrugged. On seeing the field up close, there really wasn't may places to hide, save for a large rock just fifty feet or so away. “Ya reckon they mighta doubled back?”

“Doubtful. I think we would have heard them, as silent as Everfree's been today.”

AJ stroked her chin. “I suppose,” she agreed.

Twilight glanced down, and began to search through the weeds, an action that drew the other mares attention.

“Uh...” Applejack trailed off, debating on asking her friend what she was doing.

“Looking for hoofprints. Due to the rains we have been subjugated to all day, it will give us the perfect chance to-” She paused after a few steps, squinting deeply an area just a hair to the right of her face. “Ah-ha!” She exclaimed, pointing east. She took another look at the tracks. “Judging by the indention of their hoofsteps, they were going at a good pace.”

“Ya reckon somethin' was chasin' 'em?” Applejack asked, dreading the answer.

Twilight shook herself in a futile attempt to dry off. “I have my doubts,” she said, starting to follow the markings the stallions left. Applejack shrugged, following directly behind.

“There's not a third set of prints anywhere. And by the way it was a direct shot eastward, I can safely rule out them trying to evade an aerial assault,” Twilight said.

“Sounds like they were runnin' to somethin' instead, sugarcube,” AJ suggested, thoughtfully examining the prints they continued passing.

“That's precisely my hypothesis. I can o-” She suddenly stopped, both in sentence and walking. Applejack, paying attention to the markings, crashed into the unicorn's backside.

“What the hay?” Applejack spat ungracefully, looking past Twilight to see what the holdup was.

Just a few feet ahead of the lavender mare was a well hidden crevice. It was a miracle that the unicorn had spotted it in time in the rain soaked grass.

The farmer noticed the hoofprints in the mud, along with the odd, frantic displacement of the earth at the edge of the pit, and came to one conclusion. She put a hoof to her mouth, feeling sick. “Mac! Tiltin'!” She called, leaning her head as far down the pit as she could. “Ya'll alright!?”

The silence spoke volumes to her as the rain continued to pour down.

“I think they're fine, Applejack,” Twilight said. The farmer glanced up to to her friend. The mare pointed across the pit; AJ followed Twi's direction with her eyes, and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding when hoofprints peaked out of the grass on the other side.

“Where ya suppose those blockheads ran off to?” Applejack questioned, relief taking away the heat of the words.

“Only one way to find out,” Twilight replied.

000

Macintosh dropped prone as a blast of fire erupted from the unicorn's horn. He felt the intense heat singe his mane as it propelled over him, and his eyes watered from landing on the burn wound he carried from earlier. As the flames cleared, before anypony else could take action, he rose and stole a glance toward Tilting. “Try ta distract the unicorn. I got an idea.”

Tilting nodded his agreement, and took a few bold steps forward. He cleared his throat and pointed to the monster. “Thine Mother copulates with toads!” He viciously exclaimed, a glint of defiance sparkling in his eye.

The two beings of darkness stared blankly at the Knight. Even Macintosh stopped to briefly look the others direction.

Tilting frowned at the lack of agitation the words provided. “Well, where I hail from, 'tis a grievous insult.”

The unicorn turned its gaze onto the Knight, and started to channel a spell through its horn. Macintosh silently prayed Tilting did what the stallion expected him to do. As luck would have it, Macintosh was right on the bits. Tilting let out a yell, and charged for the unicorn. Mac saw the start of his plan come to fruition, and began to run as well, gaining speed until his bulky body was parallel with the overall clad stallion, Tilting no more than ten feet away to Macintosh's right. The farmpony panted and grunted with the strain, but stayed at pace with the Knight.

They swiftly covered the stony ground, moving ever closer to the unicorn. One hundred feet. Eighty.

Sixty five feet.

The farmer stole a quick glance up and noted with some satisfaction that the pegasus was lining itself up in the air, its angle suggesting to Macintosh that it was going to target his companion. The farmer pretended to not notice the flying creature, instead feigning interest in the unicorn.

The telltale noise of wind running through wings alerted Mac that the beast drew close. He waited until the shadowy blur of the pegasus was just barely in his peripheral vision before breaking, skidding to a stop and lifting one powerful hoof angled high into the air. As expected, the winged creature collided with his left foreleg, visible making Mac flinch from the sudden weight. The stallion didn't waste any time; he put his weight to the left and slammed the dazed pegasus hard into the ground.

Tilting continued his charge, oblivious to what just happened. He raised the dagger of Mambrino proudly above his head as he came closer and closer to the beast. The unicorn erupted a nightmarish and dark aura from the tip of its horn, Tilting flung himself to the side clumsily as the blast shot at him, barely missing where he was mere seconds ago. The overall clad stallion let out a pained grunt as he landed prone. He felt his grip loosen, and watched with widened eyes as the dagger he moments ago held aloft bounced on the stone floor, landing several feet away.

The unicorn saw an opportunity and wickedly grinned, charging up another spell to swat the fly lying on the ground.

000

The mares continued to follow the hoofprints into the woods, traveling in twists and turns through the mud caked paths of the forests. As they rose up a hill, Twilight paused, gazing in the distance. Applejack stopped herself, trying to spot what was so danged important to the other. Finally, the country mare noticed a familiar looking rope bridge farther ahead, and had a sudden realization at where they were.

“That what I think it is?” The mare drawled.

Twilight nodded, briefly overcome with memories of their friend Rainbow Dash, and how she stood against the Shadowbolts at that very bridge. “There's nothing really past here, unless they decided to go to the castle.”

“After all the talk Tiltin's said 'bout Guards an' Knights, I guarantee that's where we'll find them.” AJ smirked, already steady walking towards the bridge.

Twilight watched the stubborn mare start to cross, before smiling despite herself. “She's never been afraid to take initiative, that's for sure,” the mare muttered to herself, standing briefly in the rain as she mulled over thoughts.

The two silently traveled by the hoofprints in the garish woods for several minutes.

Every step brought them closer to the castle where they had defeated the unholy being known as Nightmare Moon, redeemed Luna to her true glory, and, most importantly, set the rock solid foundation of friendship with the other Elements of Harmony.

After wading through some peculiarly nasty brush, they came to a clearing with a severely damaged stone walkway that slowly, perhaps once regally, meandered to the front of the once majestic castle the sisters had called home.

The two entered the ruined entryway of the castle; as they once again shook the chill of the rain from their fur, they noticed something unusual- something that wasn't there the last time they visited this relic of a bygone era. There was an opening in the eastern wall. Not a hole crated by neglect or a weakness in the foundation- rather, it was squared off and pony made.

“What in the hay...” Applejack trailed off, taking a few steps closer to the opening. A flight of curving, spiraled stairs lead down into the black abyss. She squinted her eyes, trying to see farther, but was unable to pierce the black veil. “Twi, ya remember this bein' here?”

“No, of course not,” Twilight said. “It was just the main hallway and observatory we were able to get to, remember?”

“How ya suppose-”

“A pressure switch they accidentally triggered, maybe?” Twilight hesitantly guessed, interrupting the farmpony. She stepped into the darkness, and briefly focused, summoning a light to erupt from her horn. “Either way, we need to find them. The sooner we get Tilting Windmills to Luna, the better.”

Together, they began their descent.

000

Macintosh swore as the monstrous unicorn began powering up its horn. The farm pony did the only thing he could think of; he bent down and grabbed the dazed and winded pegasus in his front hooves. Then, using his toned muscles, the red stallion rose upright and started to spin on his back legs. Macintosh got up to an impressive speed, and started to feel the pegasus slip from his grip as inertia took over. He gave one more powerful spin before letting go, propelling the pegasus towards the unicorn.

A stronger flier such as Rainbow Dash might have managed to pull out from the sudden toss and recover. This creature, however, was no Rainbow Dash. It soared at high, uncontrollable speeds into its unicorn counterpart, slamming them both against the colossal doorframe. The spell the unicorn was channeling erupted on the impact, shooting wildly and missing Tilting. It smashed against the west wall, erupting electricity in every direction before dissipating. The monsters collapsed onto the ground, a tangle of limbs and semi-conscious thoughts.

The red stallion walked over to the still struggling creatures and eyed them sternly. “How 'bout that,” he said. “I reckon this ant jus' put a hurtin' on the sun.”

Tilting carefully approached his side, and stared down at the creatures. “What shall we do with them?” The Knight asked.

“There's a coil of rope in one of my bags. Grab it,” Macintosh said. He glanced away and pointed his nose toward which pack it'd be in.

That second was all the unicorn creature needed.

Instantly, a translucent aura rippled through its horn like a drop of rain onto a lake. By the time Macintosh and Tilting turned their attention back to the monsters, the unicorn had finished its casting, and now feigned weakness. It dully turned its head towards the two.

Mac glared at the creatures. “I'mma tie ya up. Any funny business, an' I cave in yer skull.”

“We wouldn't dream of it,” The pegasus said, its black coat slick with sweat. It reminded the red stallion of crude oil.

Tilting handed Macintosh the rope, and he easily looped it around the two complying creatures, tying it snugly to where they could barely move.

Mac was surprised he cowed them into submission so easily; Nightmare Moon didn't seem like the sort of force to give up easily, even if she (he? Mac quietly wondered) was weakened and without all its parts. The fact that its essence was less a single mind, but a collection of different substances was bothersome, and hard to believe, let alone imagine. The only way he could conceive it was by thinking that the two creatures he had tied up right now like were stragglers in a herd of cattle- The main bulk were still inside Luna, if the creatures had spoke the truth earlier. If they wern't, well, maybe the beasts before him were the last of their kind, and Nightmare Moon had no more sway over these lands.

At least, he could hope for that. Deep down, he had a feeling they told the truth earlier, about Luna housing the rest of their 'essence.'

Macintosh rubbed the side of his face as he thought about the frightening possibilities. Not for the first time, a member of the Apple family wished they could just leave the deep thinking for somepony else.

Either way, he had questions, and didn't trust the 'ponies' in front of him to give answers. He was being presumptuous- maybe even foalish- but he needed to get an audience with Princess Luna and ask if there was even the slightest chance that Nightmare Moon could somehow return. If there was, well... he'd worry about that little nagging, itching thought later. For now, he would take these creatures to Zecora, and see if she would know what to do to them.

The stallion was so lost in his thoughts, he didn't even notice the black unicorn's slight smirk.

000

Twilight and Applejack slowly walked down the dark, spiral staircase, the glow of the unicorn's horn the only source of light for the last several minutes. As they turned once more, they noticed the soft glow of torchlight peaking through the lower levels of their vision. Twilight quickly extinguished her horn, and they both crept down the flight of stairs. They came to a stone archway that lead into an massive, expansive room, one larger than even Princess Celestia's throne room. Torches on either side of the gigantic room showcased the ten steps toward the center, that led to a large, round alter. At the far end was a door that seemed to be almost structurally impossible to Twilight's eyes. It was colossal, stretching from the top to bottom of the room and made solidly from iron, and had steel knockers that were larger than any pony she had ever been in contact with. What drew both the mares' attention, however, wasn't the door. Rather, it was below it.

At the base of that gigantic construction were Macintosh and Tilting Windmills. They seemed to be standing over two black hued ponies tied up with rope, their astral hair and off blue armor made Twilight visibly flinch.

“Nightmare moon,” said Twilight. She stared, struck almost dumb by the appearance of the monster they had defeated with the power of friendship. Applejack gave a shake of her head.

“That can't be right, sugarcube. I mean, h-”

“I haven't an idea how, but that's her-” Twilight looked closer, correcting herself. “Er, them.”

“Wait,” Applejack said. She gave a skeptical glance to the mare by her side. “How are there more than-”

“I don't know.”

The farmpony looked over the scene before her. She took a few tentative steps into the room. “Well, least Mac got it taken care of. Somehow.”

Twilight followed closely behind, still staring daggers at the bound creatures in the distance. “Something's wrong.” Suddenly, she realized what her bad feeling was about. ”Look!” she said, pointing with a hoof.

Behind the stallions, there was a black blob slowly rising from the cracks in the floor. It grew and expanded, reaching about half a foot in height, before splitting off into ten parts. They began to grow as well, and started to seemingly harden, taking on the most basic shape of a pony- four hooves, a torso, and a small stump at the uppermost part of the torso, quickly growing into a head.

Applejack knew she had to warn Macintosh; she took in a breath, and yelled.

000

“Mac!”

The familiar voice of Applejack startled the red stallion, he could hardly believe his ears. Why his sister was was here was irrelevant at the moment. What mattered was that he made sure she didn't get hurt.

“AJ, ya gotta...” He started, turning around. His words failed him, however, as he saw not even fifteen feet away from him ten black earth ponies, all dressed in off blue armor and smiling viciously. Their aurora like manes gently swayed in an unfelt wind, and their wicked cat eyes drilled holes into the red stallion's resolve. Applejack and Twilight were in the far end of the expansive room, sprinting quickly towards the flight of stairs that would bring them to the center.

The red stallion heard the unicorn behind him cackling, but he refused to turn- that would just provide the creatures he currently faced an opportunity to attack him.

“Tiltin',” He gruffly said, his placid face flushed and narrowing in anger. “We stand flank ta flank.”

“At your command,” The yellow pony said, he got in position, facing away from the farmer's view, towards the unicorn and pegasus.

The combatants remained locked in a staring contest for the briefest of moments, before the ten black ponies simultaneously let out a ferocious war cry. The unstoppable creatures charged forward, straight for the immovable Macintosh.