Gathering Pieces

by Random_User

Unfolding Gambits

Stone's eye widened. “Rarity was the queen of the Nightmares?”

Rarity gave him an uneasy smile. “It was a short reign.”

“Why are you here?” Twilight asked.

Hope returned to her full height. “It is not our will that we remain,” Hope said, her voice amplified and her words touched with an archaic accent. “Something transpired that robbed us of our ability to return to the moon.”

Spike slid from Stone's back. “How many of you are there?”

“In this cavern, there are but four of us.” Hope turned her head toward the entrance to the cave and gestured with a hoof. “Out there, eight more have chosen to tread the path of fear and violence rather than that of diplomacy and negotiation.”

“Why are you hiding here with these three unicorns?” Grayson asked.

Hope's eyes closed and she drew a deep breath.“Forgive me, but I must return to the pool. Speaking with you has tested what little strength remains in me.” Hope walked the short distance to the mirror pool and dropped her head so that it was just above the surface of the water. Pausing in her actions, Hope cut her eyes towards Rarity. “Lady Rarity, it has been an honor to be in your presence again. While your reign was brief, your Sharing with us blessed us with insights into your kin and world that are still resounding in our minds.”

A healthier smile came to Rarity's features. “My time with you changed my outlook on a couple of things too.”

Hope turned back to the water. She let out a full breath, and the Nightmare flowed from her eyes, nostrils, and mouth, and into the water. After the last wisps of the Nightmare left her, Hope colapsed.

“I've got you.” Lyra's magic caught hope before she fell into the pool. “If you keep this up, you're going to make yourself sick.”

Hope, her voice unaltered, responded, “I'm just going to be tired for a bit is all.” She gave Lyra a teasing smile. “You had a furious marefriend to deal with. It would have caused all sorts of trouble, if she had attacked you while you were hosting Reve.” After Lyra's magic released her, Hope lowered herself to the floor.

Lyra trotted over to her. “I told you were giving too much.”

Sombra's magic aura surrounded Hope and lifted her from the stone floor. She kicked feebly, as she floated towards Sombra. “I am not an invalid!”

“At the moment, you might as well be.” Sombra shifted to the far edge of the bedding. Hope drifted over and landed against his side. “Don't move, or you're going to hurt me.”

Sighing, she settled down. “This isn't fair.”

“I'm the king of monsters. I don't have to be fair.”

Wincing as if Sombra's words had stung her, Hope closed her eyes. “I know you're joking, but I really wish you would quit calling yourself that.”

Looking guilty, he kissed her cheek. “I'm sorry.”

“How have you been?” Twilight asked, as she approached them.

“Very well. We both have been acclimating to the new Equestria.” Sombra chuckled. “It's amazing how things are the same and yet so different.”

“All of the Crystal Empire has been going through the same transition. It's not easy to adjust to a thousand years worth of change.” Twilight looked over Sombra's wrapped ribs. “How did you get hurt?”

“It's a bit of a story,” Hope said. “I'll tell it, to save his ribs a bit.”

The others gathered around Hope and Sombra, in a semi-circle and sat attentively.

Hope grinned. “It feels like I'm telling a story to a group of foals.”

“Most of us are not that youthful, but we are just as eager to listen,” Fierce said, sitting beside Bonsmara.

Puca froze, as Sombra's gaze fell on her. He tilted his head. “I have not seen one of your kind in years. How did you come to be mixed up in all of this?”

“I have a bit of a long story too.”

“Most of us here do,” Bonsmara said to Sombra. “However, we should focus on your story first and foremost.”

Hope nuzzled his cheek. “I'll tell them. You need to put your head down and relax.”

Sombra nodded and put his head on her forelegs, resting his cheek against her chest.

“After our encounter with the Umbras and Sombra being rid of his Umbra aspects, he and I began searching for the scattered pieces of Princess Amore. We didn't get very far, as there were only two of us and we had no way to locate the pieces without physically searching for them.” Carefully removing a hoof from under Sombra's chin, Hope rubbed a hoof along his neck and shoulders. “Sombra figured out a way for us to track the pieces using magic. He modified a lost item locating spell so that it had extend range and sought out the pieces of the princess specifically. We shared the spell with Celestia, and she wrote back that she would have her best ponies giving us help as soon as possible.”

“That must be the same spell that Twilight put in the location stones,” Rarity said, looking to Twilight apologetically. “Not to sound as if I'm doubting your talent in all things magical, but I wondered how you managed to create those so quickly.”

“During our search, we came across Lyra, who was searching for Equestrian artifacts as part of her studies,” Hope said, nodding to Lyra. “It turned out that sites containing the fragments we were looking for often had artifacts of other varieties.”

“As I told them, what I think happened is that Sombra's shattering spell did not send the shards to completely random locations, but to spots with other magically charged items,” Lyra said. “Magic items have a propencity to react to one another, so it would make sense that the spell and shards sought out other magical artifacts to head towards. It turned out I was right, and we began to find artifacts and pieces much faster, thanks to me knowing where such sites were thought to be and the spell pointing out exactly where we needed to go once we were on site.”

“That was really clever,” Bon Bon said.

Lyra smiled with pride. “While I'm no Twilight, I am a graduate of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns.”

“When we had gathered enough pieces, they began to resonate with each other. Lyra figured out how to use that with the location spell to increase its range and the accuracy.”

Grayson looked over Lyra, as if weighing a potential investment. “After this is over, maybe we can discuss hiring you when we get jobs to locate magical items.”

“It's nice to have someone recognize my abilities in a field other than music.” “I'm going to warn you, my services don't come cheap. You'll have to talk to my agent, Bon Bon here, about my rates.”

Bon Bon gave Lyra an unimpressed look. “Don't try to get back in my good graces with something like that.” Bon Bon turned from Lyra, to Grayson. “I can get her to do just about anything around the shop for some peanut brittle and small box of chocolates. If you buy them from me and offer them to her, I'm sure that she'll do whatever you say. Throw in some chocolate covered mints, and she'll follow you into Tartarus itself.”

Lyra winced. “That was harsh. True, but harsh. Still a little mad that I didn't get a message to you aren't you?”

“A little.”

“You realize that the main reason that works is that you're the one that makes the candies, so they're special to me. If it were just anypony's candy, whoever was bribing me would need a whole cartload to even get my attention.”

Bon Bon gave a relenting sigh and slouched against Lyra. “How can you be so infuriating one moment, and so sweet the next?”

Lyra leaned her head against Bon Bon's. “I don't know, but I'd like to think it's part of my charm.”

“Please, continue with your story before these two get too sappy for us to take,” Grayson urged Hope.

“When we tried the enhanced spell again, it indicated that there was a spot with a strong signature not too far away. When we went to the site, we encountered the Nightmares hidden in the remnants of an old crystal mine. I will let Reve tell what led them to be there, because I don't fully understand it myself, but they were sick and I convinced Lyra and Sombra that we should try to help them.”

Sombra chucked and winced. “Hope is always giving creatures like me a chance when most other ponies would have walked away and left us to our fates.” A sad look came to his eyes. “It would save her a lot of pain and suffering if she would leave foul things like us alone.”

“That was a little too close to to you calling yourself a monster.” Hope lightly tapped him on the nose. “Stop it.”

“I take it the Nightmares engaged in some kind of treachery for you three to sequester yourselves here,” Fierce said.

“There are four of us, and the Nightmares,” Lyra said. “Our other member went out for supplies.”

One of Fierce's ears turned towards the cave's entrance. “Speaking of your fourth, I believe they just got back.”

Every source of light in the cave abruptly vanished.

“In the dark again,” Rarity groused. “One should never do an illusion twice in the same show.”

“I don't know who you are or what you are doing here, but if you hurt my friends I will make you suffer in ways that have been outlawed since Celestia took the throne.” The sound of approaching hooves echoed in the cave with ominous intensity. “I have been taught by the master of fear and misery himself, King Sombra. I plan to honor my tutor, and leave you all quivering, weeping shells of beings.”

“Hello to you too, Moon Dancer.”

“Twilight?! What are you doing here?! I just went looking for you!”

“Good use of the light removal spell,” Sombra praised. “The touch with the sound enhancing enchantment on your hooves was clever, but you missed an important detail. Had you used a fear inducing spell as well, you would have enhanced not only your element of surprise but also the natural effects of the other spells.”

“You sure you really turned to the good guys’ side?” Lyra asked, sounding concerned. “It seems to me that you’re enjoying talking about this kind of stuff a little too much.”

“Old habits and all of that.” Sombra's horn glowed, and the cave returned to its natural, dim lighting.

Moon Dancer looked at the assortment of ponies and others occupying the cave. “This has got to be the most eclectic collection of individuals I have seen in a long time.” She walked over to Twilight and gave her a hug. “I tried to see you, but they Lunar Guards told me you were not there. They said that you had gone out on a mission of some kind and they didn't know when you would be back.”

“Well, I guess I saved you the trouble of finding or waiting on me.”

“Figures you would have found this place and come to see what was going on. It was Lyra's note that was the real giveaway, wasn't it? I told her not to leave that, good intentions or not.”

Twilight nodded. “We got some help from Bon Bon, which sped things up a lot, but I think we would have found you guys eventually.”

Moon Dancer looked Bon Bon over from her ears to her hooves. “Now I have met the mysterious Bon Bon. Honestly, I thought Lyra was making you up. I couldn't imagine somepony putting up with her enough to be her special somepony.”

“Hey!” Lyra protested. “I'm not that bad.”

“You’re not that bad, I have to agree, but you're not the run of the mill mare either.” Bon Bon kissed Lyra's temple. “You're an eccentric, intelligent, good-hearted, and loveable mess.”

“Thanks. I think.”

“What brings the rest of you here?” Moon Dancer asked.

“This young stallion here is the cause of us being here,” Fierce said, nodding to Cobalt. “Princess Amore reached him in his dreams and we ran into him and his brother while mutually searching for one of the fragments of the princess.”

Seated in Bonsmara's lap, Cobalt sat up a little straighter.

Moon Dancer adjusted her glasses with a hoof and looked Cobalt over. “Really? Would you tell me what happened?”

“Me?” Cobalt said, looking shocked.

Moon Dancer smiled. “Of course. One of the foundations of doing proper research is using primary sources, when they are available. Since you are a primary source, I want to know what happened from you.” She lit her horn, and a pad and pen appeared in the air.

“Moon Dancer, remember he is a colt,” Lyra said. “You can't interrogate him for hours to get every detail.”

“I am not going to interrogate a colt. I am going to ask questions of him.”

“Just because you are nice while asking him things does not mean it's not an interrogation.”

Moon Dancer let out an exasperated breath and explained: “Interrogation is an adversarial process. We are not adversaries. Therefore, I do not have to use an aggressive application of authority, employ deceit, or implement physical discomfort or pain to get the information that I seek from him. Therefore, what I plan to do will not rise to the level of a true interrogation.”

“That you can say that with a straight face, when discussing a colt, is disturbing.”

Moon Dancer turned looked back to Cobalt, who looked at her with apprehension. “I promise, I this will not be an interrogation.”

“Notice that she did not say it would not take hours,” Lyra said.

“Hush, you plunderer of ancient heritage, and let's find out how we all came to be here.” Moon Dancer smiled at Cobalt reassuringly. “You can tell me as little or as much as you would like. I might ask a couple of questions, but I don't intend to get every detail of what happened right now.”

As Cobalt described the events that had had led up to everyone being in the cave, Hope, Lyra, Moon Dancer, and Sombra listened silently. Moon Dancer's pen jotted down notes the entire time that Cobalt spoke, but she did not ask any questions.

After finishing his story, Cobalt looked at Moon Dancer shyly. “Did I do okay?”

“You did very well.” She flipped to a page in her notes, scribbled another note, and nodded. “There are a couple of things I want to know, but they can wait.”

Lyra put a hoof to her chest and acted shocked. “The ever studious Moon Dancer is not asking questions?”

“As I said, this was not to be an interrogation, and I can get the details later.”

Lyra looked to Puca and pointed a hoof at Moon Dancer. “Can you tell if she is a changeling? She's acting off, even for her.”

“Lyra, behave.” Bon Bon said, giving Lyra a light shouldering.

Moon Dancer's eyes remained on Puca. “Could you do such a thing?”

“Of course. We changelings can sense one another, even when we are disguised.”

“You would be an interesting research project all on your own.”

Mimicking the tone of a narrator to a horror movie, Lyra said dramatically, “Having failed in gaining the knowledge that she sought from the foal, our villain then turned her attentions to the changeling, who would suffer untold numbers of heinous experiments before satisfying Moon Dancer's all consuming desire to know the secrets of the world.”

Moon Dancer's frowned at Lyra. “What is it about me that makes you think I'm some kind of deranged scientist who would torment a foal and do horrible things to other sentient beings?”

“You live alone in a creepy, rundown house. You nothing but study. As a hobby, you try new spells that cause things in your house to explode or teleport randomly when ponies aren’t looking. You also have the habit of spontaneously laughing manically while writing in those journals of yours.” Lyra gave Moon Dancer a look that dared her to argue. “How do you not fit the profile of a mad scientist?”

A grin gradually broke through Moon Dancer's hurt expression. “I guess, when viewed through that lens, it might appear that I might have a couple of mental issues.” She turned back to Puca. “Let me clarify. If you consent, I would like to examine you and take measurements of your magic. I was not planning anything painful or invasive.”

“I would like to know more about changeling magic myself,” Twilight said. “Knowing more about you might help us in he ongoing negotiations with Queen Chrysalis. If we do not know what you need and what is important to you as a group, it makes it difficult to make any meaningful suggestions as to how we can work together.”

“If we are going to measure what occurs when she feeds on love, we are going to need a couple of more participants in the study.”

Somepony's stomach growled.

“Sorry,” Bon Bon said. “I was so worried about finding Lyra that I skipped breakfast. I think my stomach heard the word 'feed' and decided to remind me of that.”

“How about you and I go get everyone something to eat?” Lyra said to Bon Bon. “Hayburgers sound good?”

“Take these two with you as protection,” Bonsmara said, and motioned towards Puca and Stone.

Bonsmara looked down at Cobalt, who fidgeted in her lap while looking at Sombra. “Would you like to ask something? I am sure he would not mind answering.”

Cobalt blurted, “You said that you had found a lot of pieces to Princess Amore?”

Sombra smiled. “We did.”

“Where are they?” Cobalt asked, his voice heavy with concern. “Did the Nightmares take them?”

“No, they did not. We made sure that they did not make away with them.”

“Can I see them?”

“They are in the pouch behind Hope and me. You are more than welcome to see the pieces that we have here. We had gotten many others, and have sent them to Celestia before all of this began.”

As Cobalt walked around the pair on the bedding, he asked, “How many pieces have you found?”

“I do not know the exact count, but is has to be in the dozens.”

Cobalt’s ear’s perked up. “Really?”

Hope used her magic to open the bag. “There are nineteen more pieces in there.”

Cobalt looked in the bag and smiled in a way that showed both happiness and melancholy. “This one will make twenty.” As he started to take the pouch from around his neck, it began to glow in Sombra’s magical grip and would not be moved.

“You said that Princess Amore could reach you easier when you had that with you, if I recall,” Sombra said.

“She can. But if bringing the pieces together makes finding more easier, I need to add this one to the ones that you have. That’s more important than me talking to her.”

Stone walked to Cobalt, patted his shoulder, and then hugged him against his side. “I’m proud of you for putting the right thing first.”

“Yes, it is a noble, selfless gesture, but there is no need for you to give up that piece,” Sombra said. “We know where the final pieces are.”

“The way that said that makes it sound like that is not a good thing,” Puca said.

“It is not,” he said, his voice hardening. “The other Nightmare’s have them.”

“We're going to need Luna, then,” Twilight said. “She knows the Nightmares and her magic is the best suited to help them.”

“When is she due to return?” Sombra asked.

“Sometime tonight.”

He turned to look at the pool. He sat in silence, his expression one of concerned thought.

“What is it?” Hope asked.

“I am afraid we're on the horns of a dilemma. We have done all that we can for the Nightmares, but they cannot endure much longer without aid. Luna may be the best source of help for them, but I do not know how she will react to the idea that there are Nightmare's loose in Equestria.”

“You think she would hurt them?” Twilight asked.

“She wouldn't,” Rarity said, with confidence. “While my time with them was short and what I learned from them wasn’t all that clear, I know that Luna wouldn't do anything horrible to them.”

“We will have to hope that she still feels the same, now that she has been freed from their influence.”

“They are not evil,” Hope said. “They are just desperate. Luna will see that.” She returned to gently stroking a hoof down Sombra's neck and shoulder. “She helped you, even after you turned her to stone.”

“True, but I did not hold her hostage for a thousand years. Nor has she battled with me for even longer before that.”

Rarity bit her lip. “Now that you put it that way, she might have developed a teensy little bit of resentment towards them, especially after they tried to take over Equestria not too long ago.”

“Without her, they will die,” Moon Dancer stated. “If it means that there is a chance for them, even a slim one, we need Luna to be involved in this.”

“I'll talk to her, before I bring her here,” Twilight said. “If she seems like she might do something that would hurt them, I will send a letter to Celestia and get her to talk to Luna.”

“Let us hope is in a reasonable mood,” Sombra said, sounding resigned. “She has been known to let her emotions overpower her common sense.”

Twilight sighed. “I know that all too well. Remind me to tell you about Nightmare Night sometime, preferably when she is not around.”

*****

“What is she doing?” Cobalt asked, as he and Lyra watched Moon Dancer use her magic on herself and the pool simultaneously.

Lyra leaned close to him, and softly said. “She's giving them some of her inner fears and magical power. Without it, they would starve.”

“She looks like she's hurting.”

“It doesn’t physically hurt, but it's not fun.” Lyra licked her lips as if they had gone dry. “I've volunteered for it a couple of times. While I'll do it again if they need it, I really don't want to.”

“So they feed off of fear like Changelings feed on love and Umbras feed on hopelessness and misery?”

“That’s it in a nutshell.”

Moon Dancer took a sharp breath, and her magic faded. “I can’t give them anymore.” She lay down on her side and took deep, deliberately paced breaths. “Their condition is deteriorating fast, from what I can tell.”

“Do they need more?” Cobalt asked, as cautiously drew closer to the edge of the pool and look down into the water at the shadowy forms under the surface.

“Due to being so far from the moon for so long, they need all they can get.” Moon Dancer sat up and pointed a hoof towards a pile of gems at the bottom of the pool. “Sombra, using his knowledge of fear and magical crystals, created amplifiers and containers for what we can provide. The Everfree Forest and Mirror Pool’s natural magics also seems to help them retain their strength, but it’s still not enough.” She took a steadying breath. “If they do not return to the moon fairly soon, they will die.”

“I wondered what you had done with the gems,” Rarity said, looking up from the game of cards she, Bonsmara, Fierce, and Grayson were playing. “I volunteer to provide what I can for them.” She stacked her cards, placed them in front of her, and got to her hooves. “I know a bit of how they are feeling, having experienced that craving myself, and would like to do what I can to help the poor dears.”

“That will not be necessary, for I have come.” As she stepped into the cavern, Luna looked around as if searching for some small detail. “It has been many a moon since I last visited this place. It pleases me that it remains unchanged since then.”

Rarity moved so that she stood between Luna and the Mirror Pool. “Princess, what are your intentions for the Nightmares?”

Luna regarded Rarity with a thoughtful look. “I regret that we have not spoken since the last incident with the Nightmares. You and I are two of a very small count of ponies that have ever been taken by the Nightmares. I would relish the chance to hear your thoughts on the experience, once this matter has been settled.”

“I hope that settling things will not involve something as uncouth as violence against those who don't have the power to defend themselves.”

Luna gave Rarity a self-depreciating smile. “It would seem my reputation for being mercurial has affected your perception of me as well.” She turned to Sombra. “Twilight spoke to me of your misgivings. You both can set aside your concerns, for I do not wish to harm either these or the Nightmare’s who have secluded themselves.” She looked into the pool. “Speaking candidly, I must say there is a part of me that has greatly missed communing with them.”

“But they took you against your will,” Lyra said. “How could you miss them?”

“The whole of the story is much more involved than what is written in the books of this time.” Luna approach the pool and looked down into its depths. “While my sister and I have the power bring an end to such threats to our ponies, we restrain ourselves from doing so. A creature should not be destroyed due to its appetites alone. While Nightmares cause horrible dreams in order to feed on the fear they arouse, they are not a mortal threat to ponies except in rare occurrences.”

“No harm, no foul, kinda deal,” Lyra said, looking into the pool herself. “I got it.”

“Typically, when I send them from a pony’s dreams, my powers return them to the moon. Something seems to have occurred that bars that process for a select number of the Nightmares.”

“They mentioned that something happened not too long ago that affected their powers,” Moon Dancer said. “I can’t think of any major magical events or star alignments that would have such an impact on them.”

“I can.” Twilight said. “Were the Nightmares in Ponyville together not too long ago?”

“I didn’t even think to ask where they were when this all started, but I think so,” Hope said. “At least, that is what I have an impression of.”

Twilight hummed and nodded. “I bet you that they got caught in the spell that was meant to keep the tanabus from escaping the shared dream.”

“The who and the what?” Lyra asked.

“The tanabus was a being of my creation meant to torment my dreams as penance for allowing myself to fall under the sway of the Nightmares and causing my ponies anguish. It escaped my control, and sought to gather enough power through invading the dreams of the ponies of Ponyville that it could manifest itself in the waking world.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad.”

“If it had succeeded, it would have rendered Equestria a perpetual waking Nightmare.”

“I take back what I said.”

“If the Nightmare’s were affected by the spell meant to trap the tanabus, then they must have been very similar in nature,” Moon Dancer said.

“You created an artificial Nightmare,” Twilight said, sounding as if she almost did not believe her own words. “That’s what the tanabus was. How did you do it?”

“I will not detail how I accomplished the feat. My foolishness caused the death of a being and yet more suffering. Such is the toll for meddling in such magics, as I should have learned long ago.”

“Can you undo the effects of the spell?” Cobalt asked, as he cautiously
made his way close to Luna and the edge of the pool. “Can you send them home?”

Luna smiled. “I believe such a thing can be done. With the Element of Magic and Moon Dancer insights, the task should be done within a fortnight at the most.” She looked dipped her head low, almost kissing the surface of the water. “Till then, I shall give the Nightmares the sustenance they need.”

“You’re not going to go all Nightmare Moon on us again are you?” Lyra asked.

Luna raised her head from the pool and broke the following stunned, uncomfortable silence. “No, Lyra Heartstrings, I am not about to return to being that abomination. There are a mere four Nightmares in this pool. They do not have the power to overcome my defenses or my will. When I turned, it took the combined efforts of dozens of Nightmares and years of subtle maneuvering and manipulation for me to succumb.”

“We’ll be right here, if they try anything.” Lyra said.

“Lyra, dear, you don’t understand,” Rarity said, her words soft. “They can’t force themselves into someone’s mind. They allow you into their minds. Once you are connected to them, it’s an awful lot like being caught up in a crowd. Your personality gets lost in the mass of feelings and thoughts. When it moves, you move, whether you’re willing or not.”

Luna dropped her head back down. Her horn lit and the Nightmares flowed into her.

“Is it just me, or did her mane darken a bit?” Bon Bon asked.

“She’s taller too,” Lyra said.

“That is not surprising. This body now houses five, when it previously held but one. It has adapted to accommodate our presence and our powers.” Luna’s voice, while still feminine, had a deeper tone to it. “Grant us a moment. The transition has made us woozy.” Luna closed her eyes and smiled. “While our experience of being Nightmare Moon is not something that we would relive, these moments of letting ideas and impressions pass among us are something that we still cherish.”

“So you’re still driving the cart, right, Luna?” Lyra said.

“Luna is part of us. We are part of her. We are individuals, and have formed another individual as well.”

“So, you’ve gone loony.”

“No. Much like a voice joined in a choir, we each add our distinct voices to the whole, creating something distinct and more than we are as an individual. Since you are most familiar with the name given to Reve, we shall take it up. We believe the name is also symbolic in representing what can be achieved between our peoples if we do not let base emotions bar our progress towards higher aims.”

“You represent a dream, rather than a nightmare,” Rarity said.

Reve looked to Rarity. “We regret that we cannot include you in this. We have yet to discover a way to allow ponies to Share with each other in the same bond as we Nightmares do, even when we influence both at the same time. To attempt to now would destroy that which we have become. You would also face peril, due to drain that we would have on your magic.”

“I know.” Rarity smiled sadly. “I just...”

Reve hugged Rarity to her chest and wrapped the unicorn in her wings. “We have missed Sharing with you as well. You gifted us with an understanding of your world that has changed us irrevocably.”

Rarity rose up and hugged Reve around the neck, her white coat contrasting sharply against the darker color of Reve’s. “I can only hope that it was for the better.”

“We assure you it was.”

“So, what is the plan, now that the Nightmares aren’t going to starve to death?” Grayson asked.

“We will set you and your group after our brethren, before their plans can come to fruition.” Letting a wing linger on Rarity’s shoulders, Reve released her from the embrace. “You are the most suited for the task.”

“Hey! What about the rest of us?” Lyra said. “We’ve been here since the beginning! I want to be there to finish this myself!”

“Being unicorns, you would prove to be far too tempting a mark for them. Your presence would cause the others danger. I must ask you, Hope, and Sombra to remain.” Reve looked to Cobalt. “I ask that you remain with us as well. I know that you have faced dangers and trials, but not such with a desperate and keen intelligence behind it. My brethren would see you as a potential bargaining token, if they took you in body or mind.”

“What are their plans, exactly?” Fierce said. “They must have some stratagem, if they are gathering specific unicorns for it.”

“They seek to magically force open a rift that would allow travel to the moon, near the site where the Umbra’s entered this world.”

“Why go all the way up there?” Lyra asked. “There are a couple of viable portal locations close by that would be much less trouble.”

Bon Bon looked at Lyra, her face the picture of disbelief. “I thought something like that would have come out of Moon Dancer or Twilight.”

“Like I said before, I'm a graduate of Celetia's School for Gifted Unicorns.” Lyra said.

“They seek to open a rift to the moon, allowing all Nightmares access to this world, and to use it’s energies to open the gateway to the Umbra’s realm in the process,” Reve said solemnly. “After forging an alliance with the Umbras, they seek to turn this world into a place of constant fear and misery so they may feed as they will.”

“That is ambitious,” Moon Dancer said. “I doubt they could do it, even with the unicorns they have taken.”

“I'm not so sure,” Twilight said. “Sunburst recently disappeared. According to the guards that looked over the scene, he was taken by force.”

Moon Dancer’s expression darkened. “That is not good. Not good at all.”

“That’s an odd choice of a pony to ponynap, if they are looking for raw power.” Lyra said. “He could hardly cast a good spell.”

“They would not have taken him for his magical power,” Moon Dancer said. “He can be of use to them in two ways. First, his knowledge of the arcane surpasses almost all others and could be used to find a way to open the rift. Second, they can use him as emotional leverage against Starlight.”

“They have Starlight?!” Twilight said. “She was supposed to be visiting Manehatten!”

“We don’t know whether they have her or not, but we think they may go after her, Minuette, and Lemmon Hearts.” Lyra’s ears folded and looked towards the floor in shame. “The Nightmares asked who we thought could help them get back home, and their names came up, along with Sunburst’s.”

“They have Minuette and Lemon Hearts,” Twilight said, looking grim. “According to Celestia, they were the others that had gone missing.” She turned to Spike. “Send Starlight a quick note for her to send us a response of any kind as soon as she can.”

“Got it.” Spike looked to Moon Dancer. “Can I borrow your notepad?” After writing a quick message and ripping out the page, using his breath, he sent the note through the aether.

“You won’t be getting a reply,” Puca said. “If I had to bet, they’ve already got Starlight.”

“That’s a rather grim statement.” Bonsmara tilted her head. “What makes you think so?”

“It’s what I would do.” Puca moved her hooves as if manipulating pieces on a board and removing one. “By taking Starlight, you take a potential threat off the board and, if you can overpower her, gain an asset.”

“Such a tactic would also fit with the timing of events,” Reve said. “Having been foiled several times in getting unicorns to enter their traps, and facing running out of reserves, they would secure resources with the most possible value immediately before starting their final gambit.”

“Then we must get to the Crystal Empire as quickly as possible,” Bonsmara said. “If they open the portal, we might not be able to shut it again.”

“The next trail leaves in the morning,” Twilight said. “I will get you tickets and send a letter to Cadance and Shining...” A horrified look passed over Twilight's face. “Dear Celestia, no! Flurry Heart! She would be perfect for them to feed off of!”

Reve shook her head. “Fear not. Celestia thought much the same, earlier this day. Your niece is safe in Canterlot, under the care and guard of Celestia herself. Cadance and Shining remain in the Empire, to guard their citizens.”

Twilight slumped, as the tension left her. “I'm glad she's safe. I should have thought of her sooner.”

“Do not let such a thought trouble you. You had other matters demanding your attention. Without your efforts, we would not be in position to stop their machinations.” Reve smiled. “Celestia is enjoying the time with her niece as well.”

“When do we leave?” Grayson asked.

“How long will it take you to gather what you need?” Reve asked.

“A couple of hours, tops.”

“You shall depart soon after.”