Moondust

by Parallel Black

16 - The Matter of the Mountain

The plume passed and the shadows returned, and the sound of steel-against-steel began. The ruins of Blackwood Close passed below them at a steadily increasing speed, but the tall mare’s enraged screams still reached her.

Twilight looked up at her saviour. “Urm, e-excuse me…?” she greeted.

“No need for thanks, ma’am. I’ll take you to safety,” the stallion replied. The last vestiges of the invisibility spell flowed up his body and receded into the sharp, curved horn adorning his equally sharp-edged face. He was a changeling, Twilight was surprised to see, wearing a suit of black armour that glinted an ever-so-slight green in the moonlight. He glanced down at her. His pupils were narrow but soft, and were a deep scarlet.

His armour wasn’t that of the Royal Guard or the City Vigil, she was sure. “Can you take me back?” Twilight asked, giving a test wiggle and feeling the changeling’s legs hold her tighter. “I appreciate the thought, but I was kind of in the middle of something.”

He furrowed his brow, the defined edges of his light-grey face turning the simple movement into what looked like a scowl. He looked back, the sounds of clashing steel and the occasional scream pierced easily through the air. “That’s not an option, ma’am. I’ll be dropping you off outside the district where it’s safe.”

Outside the district…? Twilight looked beyond the wrecked streets, then up as a number of fluttering figures caught her eye. Some were guards, others vigil, but most were civilians, coming to see what had caused all the noise. “Wait,” she said, a flash of horror running through her mind as she foresaw the line of ponies being swept from the air. She gripped the forelegs that were wrapped around her front. “Wait, don’t bring me towards them!”

“Please don’t struggle,” said the changeling, sternly. “You don’t want to fall.”

She had to go back. She might die, but if Peace couldn’t find her then she would rampage through the streets until she did. Judging by the distant screams of rage, it wouldn’t be a stretch to think she might tear down every home and business she came across looking for her target. “You don’t understand!” Twilight cried. “She’s after me! She’ll follow me out of here!”

“Please, calm down!” he commanded, his flight dipping and rising as he tried to keep her steady. “That creature isn’t targeting just you. It attacked the Newlyweds beforehoof, so please, let my Brothers and I handle this.”

Oh. This guy was one of the warriors who’d charged after Peace. The Hammers were Sleipnir’s defenders of the faith, so of course they would join in. Peace would be enemy number one to these ponies for what she did. Twilight had no real concept of how powerful they were, however, so her goal remained unchanged. She wriggled more, using her softer coat to twist against the smooth metal of the changeling’s leg plates. He grumbled something under his breath, his grip only growing uncomfortably tight.

“You need to let me go,” she said, more calmly. “I can do this on my own.”

He ignored her this time.

Fine.

Doing this would definitely be a violation or two of the law, but this was an emergency and he was getting in the way. Twilight lit her horn and forced the changeling’s legs straight, slipping from his grip and down. “H-hey! What’re you doing?!” he yelled after her. The wind rushed past her ears as she fell, but moments after her hooves regained their glow, she heard the flittering buzz of his insectoid wings descending toward her.

Something was definitely broken or twisted in her legs, judging by the jolt of pain that ran through each as they instinctively tensed for the landing. Rudolf’s Run spared her the impact and she eased herself forward with levitation, aiming back toward the battle. A weight suddenly enveloped her thoughts. Her hooves graced the ground as her focus swayed, and she felt the changeling’s hooves wrapping around her again, pulling her away once more. No… stop… idiot…

“I’m very sorry, ma’am, but you aren’t leaving me much choice,” said the changeling, his horn crackling with a bright red aura.

Calm. Calm, said her thoughts. No. Be safe. Safety… calm… peace… The red magic looked pretty as it reflected off of her annoying saviour’s armour. Twilight looked back, her eyes feeling sluggish as her thoughts slowed. The glinting of the moonlight looked even nicer, twisting and shimmering in the midst of another plume of heat. Red and gold. Blades drenched in blood.

Something clicked and her senses returned, legs kicking and a yell of horror emerging from her throat. The buzzing increased in volume as the changeling sped up. The ruins beneath them were abruptly replaced by intact black monoliths, beyond which Canterlot proper would soon begin. The presence in her mind redoubled its efforts, and with her fear reaching a boiling point, her horn exploded with power.

Twilight wasn’t sure what happened next. Her entire body felt like it was stuck in place, the air rushing past her faster than she’d ever experienced, dragging her limbs and tail behind while her head pulled further and further forwards. She careened in place like a bullet frozen in time, the changeling’s grip replaced by an overwhelming sensation of pressure from every direction, as if she were being forced through a tiny hole in space around which the world flowed. She was being stretched apart, a blazing inferno of icy white magic blooming from the crack inside her forehead and blinding her as she went.

The next thing she knew she was back on solid ground, limbs and tail intact, but with an odd feeling of disconnectedness around the base of her neck. Her hoof shook as it rose, the pressure gone but the temperature of wherever she’d just been sticking to her skin. She felt the affected area: Nothing. Just her imagination. With juddering movements and a gasp of air to ease her frozen lungs, Twilight took stock of her surroundings. She now stood in one of the wider thoroughfares toward the lower end of the close, most of the road still visible between the piles of collapsed walls. From ahead came the clashes of metal, while in the distance off to the side, the changeling who’d mistaken her for a civilian was flitting to and fro trying to figure out where she’d gone.

“D-d-did I… j-just…?” It was odd; teleportation was meant to be warm, according to what she’d read. The light adorning her horn caught her eye and she slowly looked up. The aura was almost as big as her now, and a whole fleet of tiny white sparks called it home as they spiralled her horn. It seemed using the Spirit Layer for transport would take a long time to pay off. She recalled the looks on Spike and Moondancer’s faces when they begged her not to go. How much further can I get with this much magic? she wondered. She didn’t feel tired yet, but that was only because the spiritual payments hadn’t come due. Any more than this, she supposed, and she would begin to feel the drain. Spirit Magic is off the table, she decided, as if that hadn’t already been the case.

With her legs begging her to stop, she set off, her ears staying alert as the scene of the fight disappeared behind the ruins. The overturned walls blocked the moonlight, though the light of her horn was more than enough to penetrate the gloom. Whatever spell she’d used before seemed to be effective in disabling Peace’s attacks, but maybe those new weapons of hers would be enough to resist it. She tried to recall the magical process that had led to it, but she only remembered the horrid sensation of pressure around her head, trying to break her skull into pieces. The spell had been similar in nature to her shields, she could tell, but somehow “internal”, and it had allowed her magic to travel along Peace’s mane like a conduit.

The sounds of the fight grew close. Passing an overturned coffin, she noted there was nothing inside. She wondered what the spirits would think of having such a rude awakening, though the containers were likely just symbolic. Taking another glance at her hooves she realised her shadow’s pale twin had returned, the shade cast against a nearby wall by the occasional gap in the crypts. Its limbs stayed perfectly motionless as she walked, the hooves appearing to “flow” to stay connected to her physical ones. Where have you been? she wondered.

The occasional orange glow that had led her way had stopped and the sounds of clashing steel were coming to a gradual end. Had that changeling’s allies already defeated Peace, or had she killed them? The sky came back into view as she reached what was once the largest open area in Blackwood Close; its lone plaza. At the source of the flames lay nothing more than a pile of faded orange stones from which the magic had been drawn, the caster nowhere to be seen. Risking the lingering aura giving away her position, Twilight peeked around the corner to see Peace standing at the other side of the plaza. In her clawed grip she held a struggling stallion who bore the same armour as the changeling over his pure white coat, though this one’s suit looked a lot heavier.

Still, the tall mare held him without visible effort, her new weapons hanging unused by her sides while loose hairs flowed slowly around her general area. The stallion had little in the way of injuries, Twilight was relieved to see, but this situation was not good; Peace had a hostage now, and Twilight wasn’t sure she could keep herself hidden under that kind of pressure.

Revealing herself meant revealing her nature as the Element of Magic; the hero who saved the world. That fact still hadn’t quite settled in for Twilight, but she knew others were far more eager to recognise it, if the comments of her former classmates and the ponies of Ponyville, post-Night, had been anything to go by. There would be no going back, no chance to return to that nice, quiet life she’d enjoyed so much, no chance to visit anywhere without being recognised and depended upon.

She was just being selfish, she knew, so with a hesitant breath, she moved a hoof into the moonlight-

Are you an Octenist, perhaps? spoke her thoughts.

Twilight frowned and turned to see her would-be saviour looking back with a very patient look on his face. He must have seen the giant ball of energy stuck to her horn. His own was aflame with bright red magic again, but he didn’t seem to be in a rush to grab her this time. “Please… stop doing that,” Twilight requested. She could have counted on her hooves the number of changelings who had studied at the school over the course of her stay. Telepathy was thankfully something she and Celestia had toyed with on occasion, but she had other responses in mind if he tried his other trick again.

His aura faded and he gave a respectful bow. “My apologies,” he began. “Are you, by any chance, Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight felt a lump form in her throat. She knew this was the golden opportunity she needed, but she wanted to settle this so that she could go back to her normal life, not to increase her notoriety to the point of becoming a public figure. Still, worrying about the future would only rob her the chance to fix the past, so with a little sigh, she nodded. “Yes, that’s me.”

The changeling considered her for a moment. “My name is Away. Along with my Brothers I am a Hammer of Sleipnir,” he greeted with another short bow, “and as per religious law it is our duty to subdue this monster.”

“I appreciate your concern,” Twilight replied, putting on the polite voice she saved for nobles, “but I had the situation under control before you intervened. I don’t need… I didn’t need anypony getting hurt.”

“And it is good to see you aren’t injured. I can only apologise for earlier, Ms. Sparkle, I didn’t realise who you were. My brother only informed me of your presence after you… escaped.”

Twilight shook her head, the magical aura leaving a lingering trail in the air as it moved. “It’s fine. Can you tell your friends to stop fighting Peace?”

Away blinked, confused.

“I was in the middle of reasoning with her when you punched her,” she elaborated, unable to hide the frustration in her tone. “I have a spell that can disarm her hair, meaning we can lock her up instead of hurting her, or her hurting us.”

Away hesitated, then opened his mouth to respond, only to close it again in thought. His brow creased as he stared at the ground at Twilight’s hooves, before his horn flashed a number of times, prompting a nod. “My brother and I can agree to that, but I’ll have to inform the others in person.”

“Thank you.” That was easy, Twilight thought.

Another round of clashing steel preceded an angry yell as Peace was suddenly beset by another of Away’s allies. An ash-black pegasus weaved between her thrashing lengths, his mane and tail leaving vivid trails of yellow as he attacked. The chain-and-scythe in his hooves gave his movements the look of an eel tackling a fishing net. With a growl of frustration, Peace raised her arm and threw her bargaining chip into the air to tempt him off her. It worked, but as the pegasus followed his charge, his bright yellow eyes met Twilight’s, and he diverted.

The earth-pony stallion landed with a crash and a pained yell down one of the connecting streets, and Twilight let out something similar but far more girly as the pegasus grabbed her and Away in the midst of his chain. Peace had been about to turn down her own little street, but as Twilight’s hooves rose, the look on the tall mare’s face descended and she gave chase.

The pegasus was faster than her. Perhaps not faster than her mane, but he was definitely more agile. Holding the two of them close he passed the upturned coffin and twisted his way deeper into the ruins, leaving the moonlight behind once more, each turn leaving the golden blades with more options of where he’d gone. Soon, the beating of his wings faded to a flutter and they landed on solid ground, the sounds of the ruins being cleaved to pieces far behind them.

Twilight felt like her organs had rearranged themselves mid-flight. Her vision swam like a lake in a hurricane and her hooves bobbed across the cobbles like a marionette with a broken string. She felt a hard pair of hooves holding her up; Away must have been handling it better.

“Is this who I think it is?” came a strong Roamian accent with a hint of Equestria’s softer tones.

“This is Twilight Sparkle,” Away responded with what felt like a nod. “She’s here to help subdue Nightmare Moon’s subordinate.”

Twilight looked back at the pegasus, her head bobbing in place as she tried to follow the spinning world of her vision. Through the mess she could just about see him glancing up at the aura stuck to her head. “That answers a few questions,” he said.

“S-specif-fically…” Twilight managed, leaning heavily against the changeling, “non-violently, i-if possible.”

There came a pause before the pegasus simply nodded. “If there is a way, then I will hear it. I won’t promise anything where the public is involved, however.”

“Th-thank you.”

The pegasus flared his wings. “Before we continue, I believe I left something big and dopey behind.” He rose and vanished back the way he came. Less than a minute passed before he returned. “Nevermind, Dredge has him. We should move before that creature finds us; we’ll meet the others in the middle.”

Twilight rubbed her eyes, her vision finally stabilising and her innards settling back into place. Judging by the rough patches scattered across his ash-black coat the stallion heralded from a more experienced generation. Along with his odd weapon he carried a blade across his back, possibly of foreign design from the delicate stylings of its hilt and guard. Aside from that, he wore no other accessories and even lacked a suit of armour, bearing only the image of a sword and hammer crossed over an anvil upon either flank to suggest his affiliation. Perhaps the bandages around Rainbow Dash’s hooves really had been enough to slow her down.

The pegasus took the lead as the three of them set off toward the other Hammers. He looked back to Twilight. “Since we have the chance, I’d like to hear your plan, Ms. Magic. How are we going to take down a monster made of swords without cutting it in return?”

The image of Peace’s other arm falling to the floor briefly crossed Twilight’s mind. Even if they went in such a gruesome direction, Peace could make up for it all with her mane. “We… might need a little bit of cutting, but nothing permanent, if possible. I want to restrain her mane or take away its power, and then convince her to stop fighting.”

A strange look of panic flashed across his face, before he grinned. “You want to talk down the monster?” He laughed, but it faded quickly. “Surely there’s more to it than that?”

There wasn’t, just yet. “I-I need more information in order to make a proper plan…”

“We can start with names.” The pegasus held out a hoof as he walked. “Black Thunder.”

“Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight replied, giving it a shake.

“It’s an honour.” Thunder looked back to the road ahead. “I can handle close-combat and evasion. The stallion I was rescuing, Snow Drop, is a hoof-to-hoof fighter and may not be of use against this kind of enemy. Dredge is a combat magician and is very skilled with Nature Magic. Seldom can turn into powerful monsters, and you’ve already met Away.”

“Skycroft is here as well,” Away added, “alongside a civilian mare.”

A what? Twilight knew of only one mare who would try to join in on something like this. “A civilian? I-is she a unicorn?”

Away glanced between them before lighting his horn. He nodded. “My brother says her name is Moondancer, and that she was searching for you before the collapse.”

Twilight felt a numbness easing its way down one of her limbs as a chill pierced her forehead. This wasn’t the kind of surprise she needed right now, when she was busy trying to prevent the Spirit Magic from draining her remaining stores. What was Moondancer doing here, after she explicitly told her not to come? Where was Spike? “Is she ok?” Twilight asked. “What happened to her…?”

Away opened his mouth to respond, but a harsh rasp of a voice answered in his place. “She is safe,” spoke a patch of darkness a short ways ahead. The large figure moved and a pair of bright crimson eyes glared down at them. Black Thunder and Away continued unfazed, but Twilight found her hooves slowing the longer she stared at the new arrival. The behaviour of the others was reassuring, but something in the back of her mind was telling her to run away as fast as she possibly could.

The creature known as Seldom emerged, bearing more legs than his God would know what to do with. Twenty paces-worth of centipede body trailed behind his ponylike front, though even that looked rather misshapen. The proportions were wrong, like something from a painting whose colours had started to run. Twilight was no expert when it came to changeling family lines, but he certainly didn’t resemble his brother, despite the frills on their heads being the same shade of red.

Seldom gave a bow, his long, stiff neck doing most of the work. “Twil-light Spar-kle,” he spoke, an odd scratching sound beneath his mask making him struggle with the name.

“Er, g-greetings,” Twilight responded, as if the giant changeling had just emerged from a flying saucer. Scary as he was, Seldom’s abilities could be invaluable. The possibilities ran through Twilight’s mind, before she recalled the fact that changelings weren’t meant to be able to look quite so… interesting. The number and size of the holes scattered across his body suggested excessive transformation boosted by Dark Magic, but maybe… “Mr. Seldom, are you… Ascended?”

He nodded, then paused. “In a way. Alt-ered for the Smith, to do my work.” Whatever was under his mask scraped against the inside a few times. It sounded like a hard-pointed tongue, or something to that effect. “I can be many things.”

“That could work…” Twilight commented in thought. She only knew of one other changeling who had been granted the gift of Alicorn Ascension; Celestia’s personal aide, Sparkfree. The zealous mare was nothing like him, however, both visually and medically, but Seldom could have still gained the hardened carapace along with his improved abilities. Perhaps his method of ascension had been different?

If he could be many things, then what if…

“What if you turned into Nightmare Moon?” Twilight asked.

Seldom’s tiny pupils seemed to widen upon hearing that. He considered the idea in silence for a moment. “I could.” His neck turned so that he could glance at her. “What did she look like? Voice?”

“She was beautiful.”

The four of them went still. Twilight looked up as golden tendrils began to flow down the cracked walls around them.

“She was the most beautiful thing in the world,” said Peace. The tall mare glared down from where she stood, the Moon just out of view, its light reflecting off her body. “Her eyes shone brighter than the stars and her body was as black as a void that ate her foes.”

Black Thunder slowly spread his wings. Twilight felt her throat trying to clam up, and she flinched as she backed into Away. The changeling looked like he was feeling the same way. He glanced at the others, the blades creeping ever closer to their hooves.

“Her voice could tear apart any lie or trick-”

Seldom’s many legs quietly tensed themselves. His and Away’s horns flashed in unison, and the larger brother relaxed again. The broken walls were made of gold now, and the ground was covered in both directions, the blades starting to rise to seal them in the giant birdcage.

“-and her judgement was like the harsh glare of the sun.”

Rather than Black Thunder, it was Away who grabbed a hold of Twilight and bolted. Another spark of amethyst magic lifted the weight from both sets of hooves, allowing the changeling to buzz past the edged bars before they could snap shut. She spotted a trail of lightning-yellow vanishing in the other direction, while the cage collapsed inward around the only pony left. Seldom’s elongated body released a few flashes of red as it was bundled up and forced into a ball, before his motionless form was pulled up and out of sight.

“Ms. Sparkle, permission to take your form!”

The sensation of wind rushing past her ears snapped Twilight back into the moment. Her mind struggled to cooperate, the worry and terror flooding over her thoughts. “Y-yes!” Dread descended next as she spotted more tendrils chasing after them. “Wait, what’re you-”

“Don’t think about it!” He let her go as a wave of red magic flowed over his body. “Just f-ind the ot-hers and get out of here!” he commanded, his voice fluctuating as it changed to match his new, more lavender appearance. Away released her and flared her feathered wings. With a few strong flaps she rose into the sky, the blades continuing for a moment before they rapidly retracted to chase the wrong target.

Twilight just stood there in silence, Rudolf’s Run causing her to drift slowly over the cobbles as she tried to process what had just taken place. Was Away’s brother dead? Was that it? Was that what she just witnessed? Was Away about to face the same fate? So many considerations and possibilities flowed through her mind, and every single one of them pointed out the ugly truth of this whole mess.

It was her fault.

She should have been more forceful. The tall mare would have already been at her hooves by now had she gone in at full power from the start, as Peace had wanted her to. She should have left Peace alone. The disguised mare could have convinced a few of the less minded among the crowd of Nightmare Moon’s majesty and that could have been the end of it. She should have stormed into Canterlot Castle to make sure whether or not Luna was dead. She could have demanded to see Princess Celestia. The mentor had failed to keep everyone safe by not simply capturing Peace herself.

She could have stayed home today. She could have spent her last moments with Spike enjoying some nachos or reading a comic together. They could have spent it with Quilliam as he eagerly showed them his collection, or spent some time helping to fix Winter’s Break’s temple. Twilight had enough magic for that, surely. She could have stayed behind at Meadow View, just to make sure that dog fellow didn’t go the rest of his day feeling miserable for what Moondancer put him through. She could have finished off her mother’s work and paid her a visit for once, before coming across this fate when Peace inevitably happened upon her.

No. Staying indoors had done her and her closest friends enough damage already, and all anyone needed was patience when it came to Luna, if the implications of Peace’s words were true. Here, she needed to act. She needed to be a hero again.

Was it a sense of justice that drove her next action, a need to right the wrongs of Nightmare Moon and her allies? Was it a desire to end this mess and return to her normal life? Was it a rush of emotion, feeding on this chance to let loose her limits once more?

No.

It was guilt. An overwhelming, all-encompassing sense that all of this could have been avoided, from beginning to end. From Nightmare Moon and Peace to Seldom and Away, she could have done more, tried harder to convince the former to talk, and tried harder to defend the latter before things got to this point. Whether words or weapons lay in her future, she was done running.

Twilight’s horn glowed white, and with a great flash she vanished from the world of the material.

Comments

[Comickook]

Excellent work on this latest chapter. Again, great job on the exchanges, action, characterizations and future chapter set-up. Loved Twilight's dialogue with her rescuer. Yeah, they both had some good points (Twilight's rescuer in how dangerous this was and Twilight in how much worse it would be if Peace went looking for her again). And, yeah, I could see where Twilight might feel uncomfortable with being outed as a hero considering the quiet life she has led before, but she DOES get points about asking about Moondancer and Spike. And now Twilight knows a bit more about Peace's attackers and has at least managed to convince them to give her SOME chance to talk Peace down peacefully.

Definitely looking forward to more of this.