Half-Hour Horses

by HoofAndQuill

Rarity Ascendant [Drama]

(The prompt: Another moon.)

"Twilight, darling, when you invited me to come out and help restore this castle, I didn't expect to spend the entire day underground."

Rarity walked gingerly through the dark, dusty corridor. The ancient castle of the Royal Pony Sisters had never been an entirely pleasant place, at least not for a thousand years, but the tunnels under the castle just seemed even more dark and miserable than the ruins above.

Twilight Sparkle turned and smiled tightly at Rarity. "I'm sorry, Rarity, I didn't realize how deep these tunnels went."

"To think that we should get lost in such a dismal place! I simply don't know what we'll do if we can't find the way out again!"

Twilight lit her horn and scoured another mark into the wall. "They can't go on forever. We'll find our way out, Rarity, don't worry!"

The two continued down the corridor, casting looks into each room as they passed. These old tunnels seemed to have mostly just been used for storage, and most of the materials in a palace like this didn't stay in usable condition for so long. Rarity's voice held all the weight of walking for hours in the dark. "Oh this is simply terrible, Twilight! It's so dank and musty down here, it will absolutely ruin my mane, and of course we are also likely to starve at this rate."

"Hey, a light! Come on, Rarity, that must be a way out!"

Both ponies broke into a gallop toward the lit doorway. Their hoofsteps echoed down the lonely corridor as they turned around the corner and stopped abruptly. It was another treasure room, but markedly different. Twilight's eyes darted over the glowing marks and etched protections on the walls, and she furrowed her brows a bit. "These marks look... familiar."

Rarity shied away from the glowing runes, but still looked around the room, hoping against logic for an open window or something. Instead, her eyes stopped on a glowing, jet-black gem, set on a pedestal in the dead center of the room. The gem thrummed quietly, though she felt it more than hearing it. It reminded her of little so much as King Sombra's crystals, and scraps of some sort of blue metal spun slowly around it.

She took a step forward. She wasn't usually quite this enamored with gemstones... well, that was a lie. But even so, there was something special about this one. She stepped forward again, only tangentially aware of Twilight talking.

"Rarity, I think these runes are a spell containment circle. It's a really, really old design... Rarity?"

Twilight looked up from the glowing markings, only to see Rarity approaching the pedestal in the center of the room. Twilight's eyes widened. "Rarity, stop! Don't touch that, we don't even know what it is!"

Rarity blinked, and shook her head quickly. "What... oh my, whatever was I doing? Twilight, I'm terribly sorry, but..." She looked back at the gem, and it seemed to fill her vision. "I'm... sorry, but this is absolutely the most perfect gemstone..."

Twilight blinked in confusion. "Gemstone? Rarity, it's just scraps of metal there, and a lot of magic. But whatever that is, somepony went through a lot of trouble to keep it contained. Besides, that almost looks like... Nightmare Moon's armor..."

"Twilight Sparkle! How can you miss such a beautiful stone?" Rarity spoke, aghast, as she reached a hoof up and dared to ever so gently take hold of the floating gem. She could see herself in the pristine facet of the jet-black stone. Her reflection looked back into her eyes. She was dimly aware of Twilight shouting something. Her eyes, in the reflection, suddenly flashed bright yellow, and the world fell away.

--

Pinkie Pie didn't need a huge number of ponies in attendance to have a fun party. Tonight it was only Applejack and Rainbow Dash, but the three of them were having a fun nighttime picnic out in the middle of Sweet Apple Acres. Three friends, some months-old cider, and a full moon, and they could have all the silly fun they wanted to.

Rainbow Dash continued her story. "So then Daring was all tired and worn out, and I had to fight Ahuizotl myself! Yeah, it's too bad you guys weren't there. You coulda seen how awesome I was!"

Applejack chuckled warmly while Pinkie Pie busied herself making sure all their glasses were full. "Come on now, Sugarcube. It sounds like y' might be sprucin' up the truth a little there."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well... maybe a little. But it was still pretty awesome..."

Rainbow Dash trailed off, staring upwards. A moment later, her friends realized something was up, and looked upward as well. There, in the sky next to the moon, was a gaping black hole. It was nearly another moon in itself, but instead of glowing with a soft light, it seemed to draw in the light around it. Far from the deep blue-black of the night sky, it was darker than any of the three had ever seen. Closing their eyes would have been brighter.

Pinkie spoke first, even her voice carrying a little bit of worry. "Ummm, what in Equestria is THAT? That thing doesn’t look fun at all!"

"I'm thinkin' we need t' go find Twilight. Right now."

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings, instantly a few feet upward. "Yeah, you two go find Fluttershy and Rarity. I'll go to the librar-"

A brilliant flash of light temporarily blinded the three, and when they opened their eyes, they found Princess Twilight Sparkle standing between them, panting heavily and sweating. She looked at each of them, and then looked up and visibly paled. "Rainbow Dash! Go get Fluttershy, and tell Spike to send a letter to Princess Celestia!"

Applejack stood quickly, standing defiantly as though she could push away the strange new moon with sheer willpower. "Twilight? What in the hay is goin' on here?"

Twilight Sparkle looked at Applejack, and then up at the moon. "The Pony of Shadows has taken Rarity, and we don't have much time to get her back."