The Real Nightmare Knights

by Bigwig6666

End Of The Line

The Friendship Express was quiet today, thought Glitter Drops.

Canterlot was usually so busy, it was a surprise to her that the train was mostly empty. Well, at least the back carriage was. Currently joining her would be an old pony sitting near the front, a family of four near the middle, a hoity toity looking unicorn on his own at the back, and in between them all was she herself, and of course-

“Mom, look!”

She turned and smiled at the frizzy haired filly sitting beside her, currently pressing her face against the window. “What’s that, honey?” she asked. “Is it one of the princesses?”

“Uh uh! You gotta guess,” Fizzy mumbled in awe, still with her face pressed against the glass. The little filly was almost the spitting image of her mother. Solid teal coat, with a mane only a few shades lighter and eyes just as bright and the same shade of indigo. The only difference was in the mane’s texture. While Glitter’s was poofy and well kempt, little Fizzy’s was wild and unruly, despite her mother’s best efforts. A feature from her father no doubt.

Glitter chuckled and wrapped a hoof around her foal as she rattled her brain to think of who the filly liked more than any of the princesses. “Oh? Is iiiit Songbird Serenade?”

“Uh uh!”

“Sapphire Shores?”

“Nope!”

“Fluttershy?”

“Mom, you know Rarity’s the best out of all of them! And no, darling, it’s not Miss Rarity either before you ask.”

Glitter rolled her eyes at the forced eloquence of which her child spoke in an imitation of her favourite Element of Harmony. “Well then who is it?” she chortled, nuzzling into the filly’s frizzy mane. “Oh, is it Uncle Spring?” Uncle Spring Rain. Her childhood friend, now happily married to a stallion of his own and living in Chicoltgo. She hoped it was him as she hadn’t seen that old scallywag in a good while.

Fizzy quickly pulled away from the window and wiped her hoof against it as her breath began to fog it up. Satisfied with her peeping window, she pressed her nose against it again. “Oh! Oh!” she cried happily, jumping up and down in her seat as she craned her neck to try and see whoever it was. “They’re getting on! Do you think I can ask them for an autograph, mom?”

Now that really caught Glitter’s attention. They? Who were they? Again, she racked her brains thinking of who Fizzy could be talking about. Then she remembered a few nights ago, when they had all been watching that alleged ghost haunting show Bump! hosted by those charlatans Flim and Flam. Suddenly she went pale and her chest grew tight.

“Sweetie,” she mumbled, “you don’t mean...?”

The frizzy haired filly happily clapped her hooves together as she spun around and perched on the edge of the seat in front of them, peering towards the entrance to the car. “The Nightmare Knights are so cool!” she cried. “Sooo much cooler than the Wonderbolts, blegh. I hope they sit next to us.”

Glitter Drops felt her blood freeze in her veins. When she had seen her old friend, and namesake of her daughter, on television traipsing around some dark woods with some of Equestria’s most terrifying bad guys, calling themselves the ‘Nightmare Knights’, in search of the Headless Horse, she felt like she had seen a ghost for herself. Nopony from Nowhere--the quiet little village she grew up in--had seen Fizzlepop Berrytwist in years. Not since... the incident.

She pressed her teeth into her lip. An awful guilt had hung over her head for years since that whole ugly affair. She was the one to throw that ball, after all. But Fizzy... Fizzlepop that is, had insisted on being the one to go get it, to be the one to venture into that cave. When she had gotten out of hospital and could play again, Glitter was ashamed to admit she was frightened of her friend. Her magic had become unruly and destructive, and despite wanting to still be friends, she caught herself more than once shying away from Fizzy’s offer to play. After that they just sort of... fizzled out as it were.

Then the teasing from the other kids started, and that horrid nickname soon followed.

The laughter and relentless bullying only stopped when Fizzlepop vanished without a trace one day. Glitter Drops and Spring Rain both spent countless hours gallivanting around the countryside, calling her name and begging her to come home, begging for forgiveness for not standing up for her, for not defending their friend when she needed it.

Several unbearable months later the search was cancelled and everypony moved on. Glitter didn’t, though. She always believed her best friend was alive somewhere, and when she had met her special somepony and settled down, she insisted they name their firstborn after her. Just in case they ever did meet again.

That just in case was apparently about to happen, and she gave the foal in her hooves a gentle squeeze as she felt her breath catch in her throat.

“Mom?” Fizzy looked up at her curiously as she turned around. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, um...” Glitter quickly shook her head and forced a smile onto her face. “Just thinking, honey. Which... Knight is your favourite?” she asked, having a dreadful feeling like she already knew the answer.

“Tempest Shadow, duh! She’s cool and tough, and strong. I wanna be just like her when I grow up!”

Momma Drops flinched as she remembered, in vivid detail, the ursa’s paw coming down, Fizzy crying out in pain, and all the misery that came after it. “I don’t think that’s the best idea, honey. See, Miss Shadow-”

“Commander Shadow,” the filly pointed out, and raised a hoof to her head as she turned to look at the door.

“Right, yes, sorry. Commander Shadow-”

Glitter froze. She felt a pair of eyes stare at her. A pair of purple eyes with a scar running over one of them. Slowly, she turned her head and looked up, directly into the eyes of Fizzlepop Berrytwist, also known as Tempest Shadow herself.

The dark pony’s pupils were small and her ears twitched top her head. Her tail flicked out sideways and her nose wrinkled. She flinched, and appeared to snap back to reality. “This one’s nearly empty. It’ll do,” she barked, turning her head to address those following her.

Cozy Glow, the once Bane of all Magic and most nefarious filly in all of Equestria flew into view and peered over the dark mare’s shoulder. “What, no buffet table?”

Tempest flicked her tail again and sighed. “How can you still be thinking about food? We’ve just eaten,” she growled, stepping to one side.

The small pegasus blew a raspberry at her and waved her hoof. “C’mon guys, Tempest doesn’t understand the idea of second breakfast.” She drifted passed the scarred unicorn and settled own into a seat at a conveniently sized four creature space directly across from Glitter and Fizzy.

Glitter Drops swallowed as the rest of the Knights trundled in after her. Lord Tirek was so big he had to hunch over to avoid scraping the ceilings with his horns, and Queen Chrysalis looked around disdainfully at the inside of the train and down at her fellow passengers with a mask of barely contained contempt on her face.

“Friendship Express...” she sneered. “Why do ponies insist on naming everything so annoyingly nice?”

Tirek snickered and slid into his seat. Glitter noticed he had one of his arms in a sling, and imagined what kind of frightful creature could have done that to him. He looked up at Tempest still standing by the door and frowned. “Commander, are you going to join us or stand there all journey?”

They all looked over as Tempest took a few stiff steps forwards and eventually sat down, just a couple of feet away from the pony of her past. She kept her eyes focused ahead like a laser, refusing to even twitch in Glitter’s direction.

Glitter herself sat upright, feeling on the spot and unbearably tense. Beside her Fizzy practically squealed in excitement and kept staring at the Knights, and outside the platform slowly begin to move as the train finally pushed off.

“H-Honey, come here,” the young mare said quietly, wrapping a hoof around the filly again. She hated how shaky her voice sounded, and cleared her throat quietly. She pulled her daughter in close and whispered in her ear. “They look busy. Maybe we should let them ride in peace?”

Fizzy looked up at her and began to pout. “But-” she protested.

“Butts are for sitting, not for sentences.” Glitter shushed her and shook her head, feeling her brow begin to dot with sweat.

“Hrrmm... yes, momma,” the filly grumbled sulkily and folded her hooves. The stern look she was getting didn’t stop her from looking over at the Nightmare Knights occasionally.

From the corner of her eye Glitter saw Tempest’s head twitch in their direction. She swallowed again and remained looking ahead in a frozen and awkward pose. What was she supposed to say? Was she supposed to say anything? A multitude of questions assaulted her mind, each one leaving her with little to no comfort. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself, just as the looming figure of Foal Mountain shadowed the train.

She released a shuddering breath and opened her eyes as darkness enveloped the train. The automatic lights flickered on and bathed them all in a soft orange glow. Fizzy nestled against her and shivered. “I hate this tunnel,” she mumbled quietly.

Glitter reached over to tousle her mane and smiled. “I know. It’ll be over soon, sweetie,” she said reassuringly. “Just you wait and see.”

The train trundled on for a few minutes more towards its destination. Glitter glanced over at Tempest once or twice in that time, and each time the dark mare simply sat with a stone cold and expressionless mask. She thought more than once about saying something, but again, what was she supposed to say? And how would she even broach the subject?

“Would you kindly tell your child to stop staring at us?”

Glitter blinked and roused herself from her thoughts as a stern voice snapped at her. Beside her Fizzy squeaked and buried her head into her side. She looked over at Chrysalis scowling at both of them and immediately began to pale. “Oh... oh m--I’m sorry, she--Fizzy I told you to not stare!” she stammered.

“I know, mom, I know.” Fizzy mumbled shyly, poking out from behind one of Glitter’s legs to stare at Chrysalis with big, shining eyes that twinkled like they were full of stars. Perhaps they were, as Momma Drops had seen that look many times before whenever the Knights were on the news.

“Apologise at once,” Glitter sternly told her, swallowing her anxiety to put on that mom voice.

Her daughter hung her head and gently pressed the tips of her hooves together. “I’m sorry, Miss Chrysalis, it’s just... I’m the Nightmare Knights’ biggest fan!” she exclaimed, unable to contain herself.

Chrysalis’s brow loosened from a deep scowl into a knot of confusion. “Our biggest... fan?” she wrinkled the end of her nose and leaned forwards. “Why?”

“Because you’re cool! A lot of ponies at school love the Wonderbolts or Princess Twilight and her friends, but I think you guys are the coolest group in Equestria,” the filly squeaked, gazing up at the changeling queen with wide, awestruck eyes before turning to look at her scowling mother. Her ears turned down and she swallowed. “B-But I’m sorry for bothering you. I’ll stop now. It was an honour meeting you, Nightmare Knights”

Glitter Drops nodded, satisfied with that apology. Her heart melted for her daughter, but she knew it was for the better. She tucked Fizzy under her leg and turned her away, and gave the quartet an apologetic grimace. “I’m sorry again,” she mumbled, bitterly thinking there goes her chance to speak to Tempest.

The Nightmare Knights looked utterly perplexed and somewhat bemused. Except of course Tempest, who still sat rigid and unmoving, simply staring ahead. An awkward silence carried for a few minutes more before Cozy Glow finally spoke up.

“Cool, huh?” the devious filly grinned. “I guess I am pretty cool after all. Who’s you’re favourite?” she chuckled, adding a wink on to the end of her question and leaned across the table between the Knights. “I mean, I already know, we kids gotta stick together against all these ‘grownups’ right? But humour the old guys.”

Fizzy began to giggle and grinned back. Glitter flicked her eyes up towards Tempest again, but the stoic mare remained... well, stoic and uncaring, and still just stared directly ahead. She sighed and released her hold, knowing that her daughter’s inner fangirl was about to burst now that her ‘idols’ were paying attention to her.

“Oh please don’t feed her ego anymore,” Tirek groaned, shaking his head as he pushed Cozy back into her seat. “If her head gets any bigger it may explode. Anyway it’s obvious that this small child is a pony of supreme intelligence, therefore, she’s actually my biggest fan, not yours.”

Chrysalis scoffed and bared her fangs at him. “And you are so painfully stupid sometimes, my Lord Tirek, that it is a wonder you’ve survived this long.” She flourished her wings and her mane and smiled sweetly at them all. “Clearly this child, whose name is...”

“Fizzy,” Fizzy declared happily. Glitter saw Tempest flinch out the corner of her eye, and saw how one particular vein in the dark mare’s neck began to swell and how her muscles tensed up.

“Fizzy,” Chrysalis continued, “is aware of the grace and beauty required to be a queen, and therefore I will allow her to be my biggest fan, so that she may spread the word of Chrysalis far and wide.” Her eyes shone and sparkled like two vibrant emeralds, and Glitter felt the teeniest, tiniest amount of apprehension as she ran her tongue over her sharpened teeth.

Fizzy meanwhile seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself and saw nothing wrong. She giggled again and held her hooves to her face as her cheeks turned slightly pink.

Cozy leaned in, almost as excited as she was. “So who’s your favourite, then?” she asked, subtly pointing at herself.

“Her,” Fizzy proclaimed, pointing her hoof directly at the sullen faced Tempest Shadow. “B-But I like you all,” she quickly stammered as the Knights’ faces fell and each looked disappointed. She beamed as she began to gush about them. “Chrysalis you’re so pretty, and Tirek you’re so smart, you must know more than Princess Twilight does, right? And Cozy Glow do you... do you think we can be best friends?”

Tirek smirked and adjusted the hem of his vest. Chrysalis looked rather pleased with herself and ran a hoof down the length of her mane, her eyes glinting with glee. Cozy’s face twisted into a lopsided grin and she held out her hoof “Definitely. You can be my apprentice after Tirek teaches me how to do magic!”

“When I what?” the centaur sputtered.

Fizzy hoof bumped the maniacal filly and beamed with joy. Glitter also beamed, but with pride at how her daughter could so easily make friends, even if that friend was Cozy Glow. “And Commander Shadow you’re just the coolest! How you chased Princess Twilight across Equestria, how you drove that big ship, oh! And how you...”

She paused as Tempest remained stone faced and expressionless, not even looking at the filly speaking to her.

Cozy turned to the commander and reached out to boop her on the nose. “Hello? Equestria to Tempy? You got a fan, aren’t ya gonna say anyth-”

Tempest moved as quick as a viper and grabbed the hoof a mere millimetre away from her nose and glared at its owner. The filly’s eyes widened in a mild terror, and even Fizzy’s indomitable attitude wavered. Tirek and Chrysalis both straightened up and swallowed, clearly feeling nervous and worried both. In a quite touching gesture, Glitter thought, the changeling’s wing flourished out towards Fizzy in a sort of protective manner.

A shadow seemed to darken the commander’s eyes as she looked around at them all and she silently released Cozy’s hoof. “Excuse me. I need some air,” she grunted. Chrysalis tucked her legs in as she moved passed and began to march towards the back of the train. She jerked the back door open and stepped out onto the bit with the railings, closing the door behind her with a gentle slam, but a slam nonetheless.

“Did I say something wrong?” Fizzy mumbled as a tear rolled down her cheek. Her lip quivered and she looked up at her mom with the biggest, widest eyes in the world.

Glitter felt a fire ignite in her belly. Tempest may have had beef with her, may have hated her and wanted nothing to do with her, but nopony, and nopony makes her little Fizzy cry. She tried to calm herself and not let her anger show as she patted her foal’s little, frizzy head. “No, you didn’t sweetie.”

She looked up, glaring at the Knights. They looked back, then towards where Tempest had gone.

Chrysalis swallowed. “A mother’s wrath is something to behold. I will not interfere,” she muttered.

“A sentiment I too share,” Tirek echoed.

Cozy gulped and flapped her wings. She drifted over to sit opposite Glitter and Fizzy. “Uh, hey, Fizzy? Wanna hear about our latest job?”

Fizzy’s face lit up. The excitable young filly’s eyes began to sparkle again and some colour returned to her face. “Oh! Were you fighting a banshee? Or a spectre? Ooh! Were you vanquishing a ten thousand year old Ponerian shape-shifting god of destruction threatening to destroy the world?”

As Glitter stood up, trembling slightly with fury, she hesitated. Everything she knew about the Knights claimed they were villains, monsters of the highest calibre. But here they were, and here she was entrusting her only daughter, the light of her life to them, and she was perfectly okay with it. Not only that, but Chrysalis appeared fearful of her for a moment there.

“Fizzy, be a good girl, okay? Momma needs to have a few words with Mss Shadow.” Her voice wavered only so slightly and her legs shook. The anger and anxiety had mixed into something unpleasant and she had butterflies. She gave the Knights a curt nod and kissed her foal’s head.

Fizzy nuzzled her back. “Don’t be too mean,” she ordered.

Glitter smiled. “Of course not. Just a few words, is all.”

With that, she turned, and marched towards the back of the train. The uppity unicorn from before had fallen asleep and leaned against his seat with his mouth open, a thin trail of drool hanging from his mouth. He reminded Glitter of her husband and Fizzy’s father, the aspiring drink aficionado Frobscottle. Oh boy was he gonna get a story later. She took a deep breath as she opened the door and stepped out into the cool air of the tunnel.

Just a few feet away Tempest Shadow turned, and upon realising who it was, promptly turned away with a snort.

Glitter closed the door behind her with a soft click and cleared her throat. “Miss Shadow,” she started, putting as much authority as she could into her voice. “I want you to apologise for upsetting my daughter.”

The cold shoulder she received as a response made her resolve weaken just a touch. She sighed, and wrinkled her nose before speaking again. “Fizzy, I-”

“Tempest,” Tempest snapped coldly. “My name. Is Tempest Shadow.” She turned again and sneered down at the young mare as she practically spat her words out. “I didn’t come out here for company, Glitter Drops. And I certainly don’t want to talk to you. So turn around and walk away--we have nothing to say to one another.”

If Glitter wasn’t furious, she would have been hurt by how her old friend was speaking to her. Her heart was both hardened by her mother’s instinct and protectiveness of her child, and currently ripping itself apart as a flood of happy memories that may never come to be again seemed to vanish in an instant. “You made my daughter cry,” she said plainly. “If you hate me, fine go ahead, but don’t you dare-” She strode up to her old friend and jabbed her hoof against her chest. “Don’t you dare, make my daughter cry, Tempest.”

The commander glared and grabbed her hoof. In one swift motion, she flipped the young mare around and onto her back, and pinned her beneath her heavy hooves. Glitter looked up in fright and alarm as the commander’s horn began to crackle and spark with lightning. “Don’t. Push me. Glitter Drops,” she growled.

Her eyes were glowing with magic and rage. And hate. She released her hold of the young mare and straightened herself up. “Now go away. If I have to choose between being alone or being with you for the rest of this train ride, then I choose to be alone.”

Glitter held a hoof to her chest and quickly picked herself up, her breath coming short and fast. She was frightened. In all the years she had spent imagining how this meeting would go down if she and Fizzlepop were to ever meet again, she had never expected it to turn out like this. And she was afraid. As she rubbed her eyes and tried to do something about her frazzled mane, her trembling legs finally gave way. She fell, directly onto the rickety railing.

There was a creak and a snap, and before she knew it she was falling even further, and the train tracks were rushing up to meet her. She flailed her legs out, trying to catch herself on something--anything. There was a sharp tug on her tail, and she turned her petrified eyes towards its source. To her surprise and somewhat relief, Tempest had grabbed a hold of her in her teeth and was trying to pull her back aboard the train, but she was too far forwards, too close to the edge. Glitter could see her hooves begin to slip, and her heart leapt into her throat.

“Fizzy, watch out!” she cried, a mere second too late.

Tempest lost her footing. As both mares tumbled through the air time seemed to slow down, and returned to normal when they hit the ground hard.

They bounced a few times amidst the little rocks and dirt of the train tunnel before coming to a complete halt. The lights of the train faded away into the darkness of the tunnel, and Glitter felt her heartbeat in her ears as she looked at where it had been just a moment ago. “Fizzy?” she whispered, listening to the rumble echo around in the dark, oppressive tunnel. “My baby...”

***

All Glitter Drops could think about was how her child was alone now. Sure she was being looked after by the Nightmare Knights, but other than that she was alone. A palpable, tasteable fear began to build inside her. What if she never saw her little Fizzy again? What if she could never get out of this tunnel? Oh Celestia, what was she supposed to do?

She took a deep breath and inhaled. “Relax, Glitter. You’re just in a tunnel. You’ve been through it loads of times. It has an end. First thing’s first, get some light going.” Upon her command her horn began to glow a soft teal blue. She was never that good at magic, but she knew the basics pretty well, as well as a pretty neat bit of healing magic that came in handy once or twice when Fizzy scraped her knees. She looked around now that she had some light and gasped when she saw her companion.

Tempest looked badly hurt--she had hit the ground harder than Glitter had apparently, for while the young mare had only a few bruises and sore spots, the commander had a nasty cut on her head and she was holding one of her legs close to her chest.

She groaned and grunted as she picked herself up. Her opal eyes glinted and shone in the light cast from Glitter’s horn. “Ugh... Are you okay?” she snorted.

Glitter nodded slowly and stiffly.

“Good. We need to keep moving.”

The young mare blinked. “But... you’re hurt,” she stated, watching as Tempest limped towards her. “Shouldn’t we... wait for rescue? Or at least until you can walk?”

“I can walk fine,” the Nightmare Knight growled, placing her injured hoof onto the ground gingerly. “And how long do you think that will be? Before or after another train comes through here?”

Glitter bit her lip and swallowed. “O-Okay, then...”

Tempest marched passed her without another word, grunting with each step on her bad leg.

A terribly awkward silence descended upon them as they walked. Glitter held her head up as high as she could, giving them enough light to see while also trying to keep an eye on the dark mare that had tackled her... and tried to save her.

“Why did you do it?” she murmured quietly, unable to contain herself or commit herself to silence for the entire walk.

“Ugh... do what?” Tempest grunted.

“Try to... to save me?”

“I’m a Nightmare Knight, it’s what I... hnng... do. We’re sworn to protect the ponies of Equestria, and... hnng... whoever else needs it, from all sorts of... hnng... dangers, not just ghosts.” The commander shot her a look. “Including clumsy idiots who don’t watch where they’re going.”

Glitter blinked back a fresh set of tears and grew indignant. “You frightened me,” she whispered. “And that railing wasn’t secured properly.”

Silence answered her. Well, silence save for Tempest’s grunting and their accompanying hoofbeats.

Glitter Drops’ mind began to race as they trudged on through the darkness. She thought again about how Fizzy was alone, and what if they didn’t get out of this tunnel before another train came? Just how long was the tunnel through foal mountain? They had been riding the train for a while so it shouldn’t be that much further, right? They must have been at least halfway through, surely. Celestia’s sake, that would mean they had to walk through half a mountain-

”Gliiiitterrrr...”

Her ear twitched and she stopped, cocking her head to one side as she did so.

Tempest also stopped when she saw the light source stop following her, and turned around. “What is it?” she grumbled.

“I thought I heard something,” Glitter murmured, listening intently. “A... voice calling out to me.”

The dark mare narrowed her eyes and cocked her own ear out for a few minutes. “I don’t hear anything,” she grunted. Her scowl loosened as she spoke, and she gestured forwards. “We should keep moving. Hearing... hnng... voices in the dark is usually a bad sign.”

Glitter agreed, and started to move again. Every now and then she heard a noise, like hoofsteps behind her, then in front of her. “It’s just your imagination,” she told herself. “There’s nothing in this tunnel besides you and...” Images of her daughter flooded her mind again and as tears misted her vision, she stumbled. Right into Tempest’s flank.

“Careful,” the dark mare said, catching her. They shared a look as Glitter readjusted herself. She sniffed and rubbed her nose, turning it up at the Knight. “You’re welcome,” said Knight sneered.

“You made my daughter cry,” Glitter snapped. “And then you attacked me. Now we’re stuck here, and you’ve already made your position towards me quite clear. So if it’s all the same to you, let’s just go.”

They glared at each other for a moment before Tempest snorted and nodded. “Fine by me.”

“Fine.”

“Fine!”

Glitter glowered at her company as they set off in absolute silence. After a length of time she kicked a rock out of her way in frustration. It bounced along the ground for a while, then fell away into nothing. A sudden endless, bottomless abyss too dark and too deep to see how far it truly went. She stopped just shy of it and peered down over the edge, and shined her horn as much as she could. Their path led them directly over it, over an old bridge made of rusted metal and worn concrete.

“Was there always a bridge in this mountain?” she asked.

“If there was, how often does anypony see it?” Tempest said coming to a halt beside her. “It’s too dark to see anything, and who’s looking out the window in this place?” Now that she was closer, Glitter could see the fresh blood running down her face.

“Do you want me to dress that for you?” she asked quietly. “Or tidy it up at least?”

Tempest stiffened and fixed her eyes on her. “With what, exactly?” she growled.

The young mother looked over her uniform. “A sleeve of your jumpsuit would do,” she said simply. “And... I know a bit of healing magic.”

Under the cold stare she was getting she shrugged and made to move on, only to hear the sound of ripping fabric a moment later. The commander pulled her sleeve off using her teeth and bundled it up. “There,” she said, throwing it at Glitter. “Do what you have to do, and hurry up.”

Glitter Drops scowled and took it in her magic. “If you’d sit down this would be easier,” she said, looking at the gash below the Knight’s horn.

Tempest sighed and reluctantly sat down.

Glitter took a deep breath as her horn began to glow brighter and a tendril of light reached out towards the wound on the dark mare’s head. “I’m sorry if this hurts,” she said. She was sorry--honestly--but a small, vindictive part of her, the mother side of her, took the tiniest ounce of joy in seeing the mare who made her baby cry wince in pain. Tempest grit her teeth and hissed. The blood trickling down her face stopped and began to turn backwards, and the wound closed up a little bit.

The teal coloured nurse took her position behind her old friend, holding both ends of the fabric in her magic and drew it around Tempest’s head. “Hold still,” she grunted.

“It hurts,” snapped Tempest.

“If you held still it wouldn’t hurt as much!”

“And if you had just turned around and walked away, we wouldn’t be in this mess would we?”

Glitter snorted and roughly grabbed Tempest’s head in her magic, losing her patience and fought to hold her still as she tied the makeshift bandage. “And if you hadn’t attacked me and frightened me I wouldn’t have had wobbly legs, and I wouldn’t have fallen against he railing. Would I, Commander?”

Tempest growled and bristled, wincing every few seconds. “I could have let you fall,” she grumbled.

The makeshift nurse sighed. “Well I’m glad you didn’t,” she muttered quietly as tears welled up in her eyes. “I’m glad Fizzy has a mother, still. Even if she is lost in this Celestia-forsaken tunnel.”

The dark mare shivered and flicked her tail along the ground. “How... how old is... Fizzy?” she murmured.

“Eight and a half, although you wouldn’t guess that from how she speaks. She loves books, almost as much as she loves you.”

Glitter added the last bit on out of sheer spite, hoping to elicit some sort of reaction from the grumpy mare she once called friend. To her surprise, Tempest’s head turned and she swore she caught some glisten of moisture dampening her cheek.

“Look... I’m, uh,” she began, only for a cold wind to blow down the tunnel, accompanied by a soft and almost sensual voice.

”Gliiiterrr... Teeempessst...”

Both of them heard it. Glitter swallowed and finished tying the bandage as best as she could. “That’ll have to do,” she said quickly. “Although your leg...”

“I can manage,” the dark mare said stubbornly as she rose to her full height. “We need to move,” she said with all the authority she had as Commander of the Nightmare Knights. “Across the bridge. Now.”

Glitter nodded. “I agree. Climb on my back.”

“I beg your pardon?” Tempest sneered.

“I can get us over this thing faster without you hobbling. Trust me.”

Both of them looked over the bridge. Its rusted metal groaned and creaked, echoing in the chamber around them. Patches of the concrete that formed the bridge had long since decomposed and worn away, leaving numerous potholes in their path. Not only that, but the seemingly endless abyss beneath seemed to almost creep up with shadowy tendrils on the edge of Glitter’s light.

“And you’re going to carry me, is that right?”

“Well... it’s that, or I pick you up with my magic. I figured you’d want a bit more dignity than that.” Glitter smirked coyly as Tempest’s ears turned down.

“Fffffine. No comments about how heavy I weigh, then.”

Tempest gingerly stepped forwards as Glitter crouched. To her surprise the commander was lighter than she looked, and nestled in quite comfortably on her back. Glitter fought to supress a shiver as her breath brushed against the back of her neck. “Hold on,” she said as she took a few tentative steps forwards, warily keeping an eye out for any potholes.

“If you drop me I’ll kill you myself,” Tempest warned.

It was meant as a joke, at least, Glitter hoped it was a joke, but it didn’t make her laugh. She was too focused on looking where to go. Even with her light she couldn’t see that far.

“Do you think we can have some more light, Tempest?” she asked the mare on her back.

To answer her Tempest’s horn began to sparkle and crack with lightning. She fired a big blast of magic into the air that exploded like a continuous firework, lighting up the cavern and sending several sparks shimmering down onto them and their path, and with it, Glitter could see plainly where to go now.

“Thanks.”

She braced herself to move quickly but carefully, examining the best route to take across this potentially hazardous structure. As she moved her hoof, she nudged a small rock beside the rail. Off it tumbled, over the side of the bridge, and down into the depths it went, down to join a series of strange little moving white rocks in the darkness. Glitter looked down at them and squinted when she saw them start to move.

“What... are they?” she murmured. “Some of them are moving, look.”

Tempest turned her head and looked down as well. She quickly gasped and dug her hooves into the mare underneath her, making Glitter whinny and squeal in pain.

“Hey, that hurt!”

“Shut up and run!” Tempest barked. “Now!”

The urgency in her voice and the fear her words were dripping with spurred Glitter on. With a hop, skip and a jump here, and a quick dash there, they reached the other side of the bridge in no time.

“Don’t stop,” Tempest said, climbing down off of her back to hobble ahead as Glitter caught her breath. “We need to keep moving.”

“Why? What are they? Those little white stones?”

“They weren’t stones, Dropsy,” Tempest said, looking back at her. The whites of her eyes were showing in spite of how big her irises were, indicating how fearful she really was. “They were eyes. And I’d rather not stick around long enough to find out what manner of creature they belonged to. Bad things live in the dark in places like this.” She turned without another word, letting her words hang heavy in the air, and marched on ahead.

Glitter paled. She glanced back at where the bridge was, and spotted two of the same white ‘stones’ peering at her from over the edge, where just a few seconds ago is where she was standing. They narrowed and just kept staring, like an ungodly pair of spotlights in the darkness. The fear those eyes gave her was real alright, and she hurried on ahead to re-join Tempest.

After another few short minutes, with her imagination running wild with whatever else lay in the dark waiting for them, Glitter thought about Fizzy and wondered how she was doing. If she even realised her mother was missing, that is. It killed her knowing that all she could do was hope the Knights had everything in hoof. What if they needed to get off the train for whatever reason? What if Fizzy looked around for her and saw she wasn’t there? A thousand what ifs. All of them involved Fizzy in one way or another. Her daughter, not her current companion, that is. She realised now how confusing that would be should they ever meet properly.

“There,” Tempest said after they finally stopped hustling. “That should be enough distance. I don’t think they’d crawl out of their hole just to chase two ponies. Whatever they were.”

As she opened her mouth to answer, Glitter’s ear twitched.

”Gliiiterrr... Teeempessst...”

Both mares turned to look back at where the voice had come from. Both sets of scowls appeared on their faces. “Speaking of chasing... that one is still following us.” Tempest growled. Her eyes narrowed as she stared into the darkness.

“What is it?” Glitter whispered fearfully, somewhat grateful and sad at the change of subject.

“I’m not sure. Could be a type of ghost, I suppose. Could even be our imaginations, but it’s hard to tell without seeing it.”

“How many ghosts are there?”

“Oh, hundreds, Glitter. You’ve got the six main groups of ghosts, then you’ve got subcategories of ghosts within those six: Sprites, disturbances, elementals are the sort of ‘weaker ones’,” she said, “while vapours, frighteners and finally horrors tend to be more aggressive in nature.”

Glitter nodded, not really understanding but glad that Tempest was speaking to her so nicely.

“Tirek knows most of them by heart and I bet he could tell you exactly what’s chasing us in a heartbeat, but the rest of us just have to take guesses.”

“Do you have any preference for what kind of ghosts you fight?” the young mare asked.

Tempest scoffed. “Obviously we all prefer a casual disturbance--your run of the mill bump-in-the-night types--or even a sprite--sometimes the ghost of a cat or dog--to, say, a demon or a revenant. A demon would be a horror, and a revenant is a particularly vengeful vapour,” she explained.

Although Equestria was indeed a magical, amazing place full of all sorts of wondrous things, the casual mention of demons and vengeful ghosts made Glitter pale, and all she could manage to say was: “Oh.”

She and Tempest both fell silent after that and she decided retreated back into her thoughts as they pressed on. She thought about home, about Nowhere and Spring Rain and wondered how he was doing. Then her little Fizzy wandered into her mind and she swallowed down another anxiety attack before it could take place. She swore she was going to drown that little filly in kisses if they got out of this tunnel.

“When,” she quietly corrected herself. “Not if...”

“What was that?”

She flinched as Tempest’s sharp voice rang out in the quiet tunnel and turned to look at her. “Oh, um... just giving myself a little pep talk,” she stammered, smiling awkwardly.

The dark mare continued to look at her for a while before nodding slowly. “I do that,” she murmured. “Sometimes. When the stares we get become too much, or when the team’s being uncooperative. Although that’s hardly ever now.”

The end of Glitter’s nose wrinkled as a curious thought pushed itself to the forefront of her mind. “Can I ask? What’s it like, hanging out with them all day?”

Tempest snorted. “It used to be worrying. The first few weeks after they were released I slept with one eye open to make sure one of them--not saying who--wasn’t going to try and smother me in my sleep or something.”

A few seconds passed between them in silence.

“...Chrysalis?”

“Chrysalis.”

Both mares laughed quietly together at that. A strangely joyful sound in this dark and dreary place under the mounting. Tempest shook her head and continued. “But that changed. Now... we’re friends, in a way. Despite Chrysalis’s best efforts and suggestions otherwise, and taking into account their constant arguing, they’re all good creatures deep down. It might not look like it sometimes, but we’re friends. I think. Sorta like Equestria’s most dysfunctional family.”

Glitter laughed and bobbed her head up and down. “I can tell. You know, I never thought I’d ever see them in person, or even speak to them--let alone leave my baby with them,” she confessed. “I was in Canterlot when they... uh, y’know.”

Tempest tensed up slightly and her smile faded. “A lot of ponies were. Those same ponies, despite how they’ve changed, still see them as villains. Still see me as a villain. That’s why when Chrysalis asked...” She swallowed and the pain flickering across her face was plain to see, even in this oppressive darkness. “Fizzy... to stop staring, well we all assumed it was because she was frightened of us. We’ve never met anypony who’s a fan before. I mean, sure ponies know us, and know of us, but we’ve never had anypony declare themselves to be our biggest fan... they needed that, I think.”

Glitter Drops smiled, more proud of her daughter than she had ever been, and made a mental note to herself to tell her so. “Well... just so you know, Fizzy adores you. Ever since you saved Canterlot from that giant... thing and swamped our house in whatever that stuff was, she’s been obsessed with you guys and followed all your adventures in the news.”

She spotted the corners of the Knight’s mouth quirk upwards. “Sorry about that,” she murmured. She sighed and came to a halt, holding her head up high. “Look, Glitter, I...”

Glitter also stopped and looked at her expectantly.

“I’m sorry. For frightening you. I’m sorry I let us fall, too.”

They shared a look and inclined their heads towards one another. Glitter didn’t realise how close they had grown to each other even as they walked side by side. She liked it, but had to stop herself from reaching out towards her old friend. She felt like they weren’t quite there yet. Yet.

“And... for what’s worth I’m sorry for making Fizzy cry, too.”

Glitter’s ears suddenly pricked up.

“That was wrong of me,” the dark mare said, sadly looking at her. “And I promise that when we get out of this tunnel... I’ll make it up to her, somehow.” Tempest’s smile may have been forced, but then it may have not been. Regardless, it was the intent behind it that mattered.

Glitter’s heart felt all warm and fuzzy and she felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders as she recognised her old friend from all those years ago, not Tempest Shadow, but Fizzlepop Berrytwist. “Thank you,” she said after a moment’s pause. “That... means a lot to me, and it’ll mean a lot to her, as well.”

They drew closer together for a moment, close enough that their breaths that hung in the air intermingled.

They both hesitated.

Tempest frowned and blew out the side of her mouth, watching the mist trail off into the darkness. “We need to keep moving,” she murmured. “It shouldn’t be much further now. Come on.”

Glitter nodded glumly and shivered. “Why is it so cold all of a sudden?” she whispered.

“Freezing temperatures indicates supernatural presences,” the commander explained. Hear ear flicked atop her head and she licked her lips, turning to give Glitter a knowing look. “We’re not alone here.”

As if to confirm her words, that soft, sultry voice from before whispered their names again, only this time, it sounded a heck of a lot closer.

“Gliiittteeerrr... Teeempessst...”

The pair of mares froze and slowly turned, and the light in Glitter’s horn flickered. She went cross-eyed as she looked up at it and swallowed hard. “Tempest...?” she squeaked.

“Get ready to run,” Tempest told her, scanning the darkness for any sign of movement. Her own horn began to spark and crackle. The light flickered again and faded completely. Glitter tried desperately to will her magic to come back, but a cold sensation took hold of her mind and she found that she simply couldn’t.

A firework of magic rocketed off from the commander’s horn down the tunnel. It hit something and exploded into a shower of light. The shriek that followed the explosion shook Glitter to her very core, and she took a panicked step back as whatever it was screeched and started hurtling towards them.

“Glitter, run,” Tempest ordered. “Now. Move!”

The commander remained still and held her head up high as she sent firework after firework down towards whatever it was.

The frozen Glitter managed to rouse herself from her fear induced stupor and snapped her head force towards her friend. “No, Tempest, I’m not leaving you again,” she said, sounding surprisingly calm in spite of all things.

“Please, just go. I’ll keep it here while you run. Go home to your husband and your kid, and tell the Knights to be good to each other.”

Glitter opened her mouth to protest further, only for her words to choke in her throat as Tempest’s magic lit up enough of the cave to reveal their pursuer. A colossal spider, horrid and covered in grotesque boils, stared at her with dozens of unblinking eyes, some pale, some red, all alive with rage and a desire to hunt, and feed.

“There you arrre...” it wheezed in the same sensual voice as before.

“Go!” Tempest roared as the spider dove forwards. Glitter gaped and froze like a rabbit in a spotlight. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t think. Despite how horrific this thing was, she couldn’t do anything, other than stare at it, and think about how this awful thing had been following them in the tunnel. Had it watched the train? How did it know their names? So many questions, and yet-

“Over here you eight legged freak!” her companion snarled. “Glitter, run! Don’t stop running! Just go!”

The commander’s order seemed to kickstart the young mare back to life. She took a step back and watched as the spider descended upon her friend, lunging for her with a snapping set of fangs. And then, with tears in her eyes and visions of her daughter flooding her mind, she turned and bolted down the tunnel. The coat on her cheeks quickly grew damp as she abandoned her friend again, although this time to a far crueller fate she thought. After a while of running, she didn’t know how long, she began to see light. Daylight. The end of the tunnel!

She gasped with relief and pressed on, but slowly came to a halt.

The cries of pain and another shriek of the creature sent a shiver down her spine, and a calm sort of serenity took the place of her fear. She stopped completely, so close yet so far away from the light of the sun, and realised how selfish she was being.

No. She wasn’t going to leave Fizzy behind. Not this time. This time she was going to be there for her friend.

Without a second thought, she turned away from the light and began to gallop back towards the darkness. Her hooves hurt from all the walking and her legs felt like they were going to turn to jelly at any moment, but still she galloped, begging and hoping beyond hope that her friend was still alive long enough to be saved. Towards the snapping and scratching and shrieking sounds she ran, and as she spotted the weak spark of Tempest’s horn, a fire ignited itself in her heart. Her own horn began to glow brighter than it ever had before, and with the mighty strength of a pony protecting its herd, she bellowed her best friend’s name and charged the spider.

“FIIIIZZYYY!”

The light from her horn fired forwards like a ray of Celestia-like sunlight, right into the beast’s side. It dropped Tempest’s body as it crashed into the wall of the mountain, hissing and howling in pain.

“Get away from her!” she roared as she came to a halt over Tempest herself. Growling and angry, she lowered her horn towards the spider as it began to pick itself up. With another shriek, it charged, and she charged it.

***

Once upon a time, there was a young filly, living in a village called Nowhere.

And that filly was a unicorn. A unicorn... who lost her horn. And when her magic stopped working like it used to, that filly lost her friends. She thought they abandoned her. She thought that they turned away from her in her time of need and betrayed her.

That little pony had everything taken away from her that day. Everything. Who she was, who she wanted to be, what she wanted to be... All of it was gone, ripped away from her in an unfortunate accident like a puff of smoke.

So she made herself a promise. Never again, she said. Never again would she have friends who could betray her. Never again would she put herself in harm’s way for somepony else. The walls went up, and never again would she ever think of anypony but herself.

Although her magic was virtually gone, her mind and her body grew strong. She learned how to control the destruction in her horn instead of fear it like the other children. She trained herself to use what wayward magic she had left and as fate had left her with nothing but the capacity for destruction, then she turned herself...

Into a warrior.

And decided that ponies everywhere, especially those she once called friend, that if they could not love her... then they would fear her.

That little pony grew. And then she found someone as ruthless as she herself was. From him she honed her destructive capabilities, and from him she turned herself into a living weapon. She became his right hand, the commander of his armies, and learned every dirty trick in the book.

And then, on the cusp of victory... he betrayed her too.

In her moment of glory, when she thought her horn might finally be fixed, he revealed he had lied to her and swiftly cast her aside. The unicorn was hopeless, and was ready to let it all go. But then a shining beacon of hope broke through the miasma of despair she was in, and in the end, a friend was made.

However long it was after that friend was made and she was afforded a second chance, she became the commander of a new group of creatures. Former villains, now good, sort of, but creatures she would one day call friends. She became a Nightmare Knight, sworn to protect her home from any and all threats of the supernatural.

But none of that mattered now, for the pony in that dark tunnel under Foal Mountain was still the same, frightened pony in that nameless cave all those years ago. After all the terrible things she had done and after twisting herself into an abomination and a disgrace to her people--all in the name of growing stronger--it all amounted to nothing in the end. She ended up right back where it all started, staring into the jaws of a horrific beast.

At least it wasn’t a bear this time.

It looked like a spider, but it was huge, and covered in disgusting boils and buboes. Its dozens of pairs of eyes twitched and blinked as it examined her hungrily, its fangs dripping with wretched fluid and venom.

“Glitter, run! Don’t stop running!” she bellowed, hoping that the young mare could at least get away before the bitter end. Bolt after bolt of magic fired into the beast, lighting up her surroundings with each flash. She stepped back and jumped up as it swung one of its legs towards her. Unfortunately, because it was so dark she didn’t see the other leg sweep from the side. It knocked the wind out of her lungs and as she landed, she felt a flash of pain sear through her already injured leg. Her horn sputtered weakly as she stumbled and tripped over. She gritted her teeth and rolled onto her back, hoping beyond hope that her sacrifice was only buying Glitter enough time to get to safety.

The spider lunged again, hissing in a way that sounded almost like it was cackling. She coiled her back legs towards her and prepared to kick it as hard as she could. With a grunt, she put as much force as she could into her kick, and made it stumble backwards.

It hissed and shrieked again, and circled around her. She saw a glint of something in the darkness as her lightning flickered weakly, and promptly felt a white hot pain shoot through her afterwards. Everything seemed to slow down as it withdrew its stinger from her belly. Its venom coursed through her, making her go as limp as a boned fish. She flopped to the ground, still aware of what was happening, but being totally helpless to do anything.

“Tempessst...” it hissed, the voice from earlier clearly belonging to it. “Do not worry, my little supperlugs... you won’t feel a thing...” She raged and roared inside her head at it as it began to engulf her in its wretched webbing. “And I’ll ffffind lit-tle Glit-ter too, soon enoughhhh...” A small dose of panic coursed through her as she thought about the young mare and what this thing would do to her.

All of a sudden, a bright flash of white light cascaded into the spider.

The light was blinding, and would still be blinding even if she could shut her eyes. As she couldn’t, they started to water and hurt like she was looking at the sun itself.

“FIIIIZZZZZZYYY!”

Somepony roared and raged her name, shaking the very mountain with their words. The spider was knocked off of her and sent hurtling away, crashing into the wall with the force of a small freight train, and a new set of legs stood over her.

“Get away from her!”

Glitter Drops...

The Nightmare Knight gazed up at the young mother as she fired blast after blast of the purest white light she had ever seen at the spider as they charged each other. It shrieked again and howled and writhed in pain, scratching and scraping at her in a vain effort to strike back, but her light just kept coming. Tempest watched, for it was all she could do, as the mare she hated fought on her behalf. As the mare who ruined her life... saved her life.

Soon the spider had had enough and hissed at them before turning tail and fleeing into the dark, softly whispering their names and promising vengeance one day as it did so.

Glitter huffed and nodded, satisfied it was sufficiently beaten. Her horn began to dim, lighting up only their immediate surroundings and not the entire tunnel it seemed. She sent a small bubble of light up into the air as she turned around, and gasped at Tempest’s limp body. “Fizzy... oh I’m so sorry,” she mumbled, stumbling over to her as her legs gave way.

Tempest felt her iron heart begin to melt as the mare pressed her ear to her chest. Her mane smelled faintly of bubblegum and cherries, very much like it did when they were kids.

“You’re alive!” Glitter cried through joyful tears. “Thank Celestia. Here... I think I c-can reverse the effects of the venom... hold... well hold still, okay?”

Jokes? Was Glitter telling a joke right now? Her fully working horn began to glow intensely again as soft teal magic engulfed Tempest. The commander gasped as air rushed into her lungs and the feeling returned to her body. Her foreleg still burned with pain and the pounding in her head made her see stars, but she was alive. All thanks to Glitter Drops.

The young mare, her saviour, patted her back and helped her stand on shaky legs.

“Fizzy... are you okay?” she mumbled, sounding like she was on the edge of tears.

Since the day Tempest lost her horn, she had fantasied about what would happen should she ever find herself in a position like she had all those years ago. But this... this was a scenario she never imagined.

“My name... is Tempest. Shadow,” she growled, pushing Glitter away from her. She curled her lip and bared her teeth in a pale imitation of how fierce Chrysalis could be.

Glitter looked shocked, horrified and distraught. “T-Tempest, I--I’m s-sorry, I just-” she stammered, quickly stepping backwards.

“Didn’t I tell you I wanted nothing to do with you?” Tempest grunted as she glared at the pony in front of her. “And didn’t I tell you to run? To leave and get out of here while you could? What if you died? Fizzy would be left without a mom, is that what you wanted? To abandon her like you abandoned me?!”

The mare’s face fell drastically. She turned her eyes down and sniffed. “I... I wanted to save you, Tempest,” she mumbled. “I c-came back, just for you...”

The commander sneered at her and took another step forwards, looking down her nose at her. “I was the commander of the Storm King’s army. I struck fear into the hearts of every creature I came across. Ponies quake at the very mention of my name even now!” She began to advance forwards, glaring and flaring her nostrils at Glitter, making her quickly jump back and stumble over her own legs. “I survived having my horn broken,” the scarred unicorn growled. “I survived wandering alone through the world. I made myself stronger because of it. I defeated armies, and princesses! I never need saving.”

Glitter stammered and looked her in the eye as her horn crackled and fizzled with magic. “I’m-I’m sorry, I--oof!” She stumbled again and fell over backwards, landing on her flank. She looked up, utterly petrified and on the verge of breaking down into a sobbing mess. “I’m sorry...”

A few seconds of silence passed after that. Suddenly Tempest threw her hooves around her and pulled the young mare into the tightest hug imaginable.

“And I am glad to have never been so wrong.”

She embraced the silently sobbing pony and nuzzled their necks together as her own set of sobs took a hold of her.

“Eh?” Glitter eventually murmured.

Unable to hold back the charade any longer, Tempest pulled away, smiling and letting the tears fall from her face.

“You-” the young mare mumbled. “You’re n-not mad? You’re not angry at me?”

“Of course not, Dropsy.”

Tempest could see something stir within her old friend at that moment. She ventured a guess as to why. Dropsy was her old nickname for her, and she last used it the day before she went into that cave, when they sat under-

“The oak tree...” Glitter mumbled. “You still remember it?”

The commander nodded. “I do.” Their night under the oak tree was just about the only happy memory Tempest had left of Nowhere, even if it was tainted with all the misery surrounding that village.

Glitter’s chin began to tremble. She rubbed her eyes and gingerly picked herself up as Tempest released her and took a step backwards. She realised her makeshift bandage had come loose at some point and was trailing over her eyes. She could feel the dry, sticky blood over her face and thought she must look like a right state. “Glitter, could you...?” she murmured, gesturing to it.

Without a word, the young mare’s horn began to glow and the bandage began to tie itself around the Knight’s head again. Then she spoke, in a little over a soft whisper. “It should have been me...”

Now it was Tempest’s turn to be confused. “What?”

“To go in that cave...”

“Glitter-”

“I’ve wanted to say this for years, Tempest. I... I need to say it,” Glitter snapped, finding her voice. She wallowed and gestured to her patient’s head. “So... please.”

The commander closed her mouth and nodded, watching her old friend with concern.

Glitter inhaled slowly and fought to keep her emotions from overwhelming her again as she did her best with the Knight’s ragged, bloodstained and blood encrusted bandage. “It should have been me...” she breathed. “I remember after when I had thrown that ball, we looked at each other for a moment, then you went ahead. You didn’t even ask. You were always so brave...” She hung her head and covered her face with her hooves as her body heaved. “But it should have been me... I should have been the one to lose my horn... or worse.”

Tempest blinked. She had thought about that cave every day since it had happened. But not once, not for one single solitary second did she consider that since Glitter Drops threw it, she should have been the pony to go get the ball... that she should have been the one whose horn was broken. Not once did she imagine anypony else going in there besides her. Something strange stirred within her at that moment, like a great weight was finally lifting off of her shoulders, or the clouds were breaking after a stormy night.

“I’m... I’ve thought about that every day...” Glitter continued in just barely over a whisper as she finished tying the bandage. “I felt so guilty that it was you and not... not me.”

“Dropsy...”

She blinked and looked up frantically as Tempest cupped her face with her hoof.

The commander had always looked at that cave as something terrible that happened to her, which of course it had. But she realised that if she had the option of turning the tables…of sending one of her friends in there…of Glitter Drops losing her horn instead of her… and knowing what would come after, she would always choose to be the one who went in.

She pulled her face in close to her friend’s, feeling the end of her nose twitch.

Glitter released a soft breath as she kissed her. It was a soft, tender kiss, only on the cheek, but one that said a mountain’s worth of words.

“I’m sorry, Tempest... I’m so sorry,” the young mother whispered, bringing her hooves around to embrace her friend.

“Shh. Stop that,” Tempest whispered back as she reciprocated the embrace. “It’s not your fault.”

“But it is! I left you, I-I should have b-been there for you, I should have-”

“Shhh. Everypony makes mistakes. It’s okay.” The commander began to rock gently back and forth, letting the mare in her hooves sob quietly into her chest. Her ear twitched as she heard a hissing in the distance of the cave. “Tell you what. What do you say to us getting the heck out of this tunnel, then we can talk as much as we want?”

Glitter laughed and sniffed. “Yeah... yeah I’d like that,” she said as she pulled away. “Before that thing comes back.”

“I think it’s already on its way. Help me up and... call me Fizzy.”

The young mare’s eyes shone like stars and her face lit up like a Hearth’s Warming tree. “Sure thing... Fizzy.”

Tempest felt a goofy smile cross her face as Glitter helped her stand. They shuffled off together, trying their best to ignore the soft pleading coming from the darkness of the tunnel. The spider was getting brave again it seemed, but neither of them took the time to worry about it now.

“So who’s Fizzy’s father?” Tempest asked, breaking the silence as they walked side by side towards the distant light.

Glitter began to sputter and cough, looking like she was choking on her own saliva. “Ahem, a, uh... stallion.”

“I gathered that, Dropsy,” Tempest chortled. The mirthic noise sounded strange to her now. Had she really not laughed properly in that long? Geez... she made a mental note to laugh more so it didn’t sound so strange. “Anypony I know? Spring Rain?”

“Oh no, Celestia, no!” Dropsy giggled, quickly waving her hoof through the air. “But him and his husband are Fizzy’s godfathers.” The young mother smiled, and Tempest fought to keep the hurt in her eyes hidden. Not very well it seemed. “I, uh... yeah, Fizzy’s father--Frobscottle--he’s in the fizzy drink business, and so he was more than happy to call her Fizzy when she was born.”

The commander’s eyebrow cocked upwards and her grin returned. “He is? Well isn’t that a coincidence?”

The teal unicorn’s smile also returned and her cheeks pinkened. “It is, but... well that’s not... entirely the reason,” she confessed. “No, I... I wanted to name her after a... good friend of mine. My best friend, actually,” she added, biting her lip.

“Oh?” Tempest murmured coyly as she bumped her hip into the pony beside her. “Somepony else I might have known?” Her tone was teasing and playful, but she could see Glitter was nervous all the same. “It’s a pretty good name, as far as names go, I think.”

Glitter giggled shyly and nodded. “It’s a wonderful name. Belongs to one of the bravest ponies I ever met. And... it’s the name of her godmother... if she’ll accept.”

Tempest snapped her head towards her and her eyes widened. “Are you... do you mean that?”

The young mare nodded again. “Tempest--Fizzy... I... I’ve loved you for a long time. I was devastated when you ran away--me and Spring Rain spent months looking for you. When everypony else gave up, I waited. I never gave up hope. I named Fizzy... Fizzy because I had hope that one day you would reappear... and I swore to myself that if you did I’d ask you to be her godmother, ‘cause I can’t think of anypony else I’d rather ask.”

“I’d be honoured to, Dropsy.”

Tempest smiled as Glitter pressed into her for another hug. The light of the day was getting stronger now, and the tunnel didn’t seem so dark.

“If you ride on my back I can get us there a lot faster without you hobbling along,” the young mare said cheekily.

Tempest stuck her tongue out at her. “No thanks. I wouldn’t want to spoil our wonderful memory of that bridge.”

They both laughed together at that, and stepped out into the sun. Ponyville was only a short walk away as well, they could see it down there, and saw the train still sitting at the station. It wasn’t even midday yet either. Glitter nudged her and nuzzled into her gently. “Are we okay, Fizzy?” she asked.

With an affirmative nod, Tempest nuzzled into her affectionately. “I think we are, Dropsy... I think we are...”

***

Tirek was playing Cozy at chess as they waited on the train station at Ponyville. Chrysalis, in an odd but kind move, had taken it upon herself to console the distraught child when they realised both her mother and the commander were missing, and was currently pacing back and forth the length of the train with a sleeping filly on her back.

“Gin!” Cozy cried as she moved a piece on the board.

He blinked and removed his hand from his face. “Gin? We’re playing chess, you simpleton,” he grumbled.

The filly frowned and rubbed her chin. “Oh...” she murmured. “And that means... it was Colonel Mustard?”

Silence and a glare answered her.

“In the lounge? With a candlestick?”

“I hate you. You’re doing this on purpose.”

“Aw c’mon, Terry,” she chuckled as he moved his piece. “You forgotten what my cutie mark is? I know how to play chess.” She moved her knight, and Tirek looked down as she slammed her hoof on the ground beside the board. “Checkmate!”

The centaur frowned. “That’s not...” It was. His king had nowhere to go. He gaped. “I lost? I don’t lose at chess!” he declared sulkily. “You cheated, you must have!”

“Keep. Your voice. Down,” Chrysalis hissed at him as she strode passed for the umpteenth time. “The little darling is sleeping.”

Cozy and Tirek both raised their eyebrows at one another as the former began to reset the board. “The way she talks about Fizzy, you’d think she was her mother or something,” she muttered quietly.

Chrysalis suddenly stopped and stared down end of the platform. Her wings unfurled and her horn began to glow as she lifted the small, sleeping Fizzy off of her back. “Fizzy, darling, it’s time to wake up,” she cooed softly, bringing the child around to her face. “Wake up, now.”

The little filly stirred and rubbed her sleepy eyes. “Wha... mom, is that you?” she slurred quietly.

“No. But it will be soon, my sweet. Look.”

The former queen pointed towards the two ponies stumbling their way onto the far end of the platform. Cozy and Tirek also looked, and felt their own hearts sigh with relief. Fizzy’s eyes opened wide, wider than any one of them ever thought possible, and her legs began to run, to sprint in mid-air! As Chrysalis set her down, she shot off like a wind-up toy, galloping as fast as her little legs could carry her when she spotted her mother.

“MOMMY!”

Chrysalis’s face twitched slightly as the filly darted away from her, and she had a sad, almost longing expression for a moment. It vanished as she began to swiftly follow her, with Tirek and Cozy hurrying behind.

Tempest smiled and Glitter breathed a sigh of relief at the ecstatic Fizzy bounding forwards. She practically tackled her mother to the ground when she reached them, and began to smother her with affectionate nuzzles and proclaim how worried she was.

“Took your time, didn’t you?” Tirek snorted with a grin as the commander drew herself up before them. He winced at the dirty, blood stained bandage around her head. “My word, Tempest, you look awful.”

“We ran into a little trouble in the tunnel. Nothing I couldn’t handle,” Tempest replied, smiling in spite of how she looked.

Chrysalis immediately grabbed her face with her magic and licked her hoof. “Hold still,” she grumbled as she began to scrub away some of the muck and grime and blood covering the dark mare.

In nothing short of utter bewilderment, Tempest glanced over at Tirek and Cozy.

“She’s on a sort of mother kick at the moment, I guess,” Cozy offered, grinning from ear to ear. “Boy it’s good to see you alive, Tempest. About five meals good. Right, Tirek?”

Tirek grumbled inaudibly and waved a hand at her. “Yes, yes, as we agreed I will pay for your next five meals.” He rolled his eyes even as Tempest’s eyebrows rose askew. “Commander you said you ran into trouble in the tunnel?” he asked curiously. “Anything we should know about?”

The commander straightened up as Chrysalis tutted and fussed over her, continuously scrubbing her face with her hoof. “First, I’m hurt, Cozy. I’m worth at least fifteen free meals, not five. Second, it was a spider. Big one. At least it looked like a spider,” she said, grimacing as the scrubbing intensified to an almost painful level. “It could... speak.”

The centaur’s eyes widened. “It could? How many eyes did it have?”

“Dozens. Too many to count. I was more concerned with its fangs to be honest. And it was covered in gross boils and buboes.”

“Well I’ll be... a Child of Ahhg, alive and well.” Tirek chuckled grimly.

Cozy rubbed her ear and twisted her face. “Ahhg? Who the heck is Ahhg?”

“What, not who, would be more precise, Cozy,” he explained. “I’ve mentioned him before, for he once sought out the Necronomicon. Ahhg was, in short, a monster; a creature spawned from the primordial depths of creation, and took the form of a colossal spider covered in blistering boils and sporting hundreds of eyes. When he was destroyed, I had supposed all of his wretched spawn were vanquished alongside him. Apparently I was wrong, should we perhaps alert the authorities?” he asked casually.

Tempest nodded. “I’ll let Director Starlight know as soon as I can. For now, though...” She looked down at Glitter nuzzling Fizzy and smiled. “For now... I have a promise to keep.”

Glitter looked up at her with tears adorning her eyes. “Fizzy...” she murmured.

“Yeah, mom?” Fizzy wrenched her head away from her chest and sniffed. The mare looked back down at her and blinked, then smiled and stroked her mane.

The commander laughed and shook her head. “Heh... no, honey, she means me.” She crouched low to look the filly in the eye and winked.

Fizzy blinked and frowned. “You? B-But... your name isn’t Fizzy.”

“Well...” Tempest chuckled slyly. “I’m gonna let you in on a little secret, okay? Are you ready?”

The foal’s eyes began to grow in size, and shone like they contained the night sky itself. “A s-secret?” she whispered, trembling and quivering with excitement. “What is it?”

Glitter quietly laughed and watched as Fizzy drew away from her and peered closely at Tempest’s face.

“My name isn’t really Tempest Shadow,” the once grumpy mare said. “It’s Fizzlepop Berrytwist, but my friends call me Fizzy.”

Fizzy’s jaw fell open. As did Cozy’s. “What?!” the young knight cried. “Your name isn’t actually Tempest?! It’s Fizzlepop Berrytwist?!”

Tirek was quick to clamp his hand over her mouth as Tempest’s icy glare found her. He nudged Chrysalis and gestured away with his head. “Come, Chrysalis. we should give them some privacy.” Chrysalis nodded and turned away to leave with a small smile across her muzzle. “Commander. I expect we shall see you shortly,” he said to the dark mare.

Tempest’s icy glare warmed up as she winked at him. “Sure, Tirek. Gimme five, okay?”

He thumped his free hand to his chest and followed after the former queen, Cozy Glow still struggling in his grasp.

Tempest shook her head and smiled, and looked back over at Fizzy. “so... now that you know my deepest, darkest secret, Fizzy, what do I do with you? I can’t have you running around and telling everypony. It’d ruin my street cred.”

“Iwon’ttellanypony!” she cried quickly, crossing her heart and hoping to fly, making the motion to stick a cupcake in her eye. “Promise!”

“Hmm...” Tempest tapped her chin and narrowed her eyes for a moment, then she began to grin and giggle. “You seem trustworthy, enough I suppose. And after all, I need creatures I can trust with the Nightmare Knights’ most confidential knowledge. How about I make you an honorary one? Would you like that?”

“Would I?!”

Glitter laughed and tousled her foal’s mane as she began to jump up and down and squeal in excitement. “Oh now you’ve gone and done it, Fizzy. She’s never going to let this go.”

“I try my best. Isn’t that what godmothers do?”

“God... mother?” Fizzy’s excitement stopped. She seemed to glitch out like an electronic system as her young mind tried to comprehend what was being said. “Wh...”

“That’s right, honey,” Glitter said, nuzzling in between her ears. “You see, Fizzlepop and I grew up together. She was my best friend when I was little, just like Uncle Spring.”

“She... was?!” the filly squealed.

Tempest nodded and crouched down again. “I was. And ‘cause I’m... what did you call me? ‘The coolest’?”

Fizzy began to blush and looked away. The commander reached out to her and turned her chin to look her in the eye, smiling warmly. “Well... yeah. When your mom asked me to be your godmother how could I refuse? You’re the coolest filly I know, after all, Fizzy.”

The child’s eyes began to water. She rushed forwards and swung her hooves around Tempest’s neck, giving her the tightest squeeze she could.

Tempest hugged her back, feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. She spotted a tall pony wielding a pocket watch and dressed in a finely pressed suit step out onto the platform from the train. He looked down at his watch, then up at the middling crowd waiting for the train.

Glitter touched Fizzy’s shoulder and gestured towards him. “Come on, sweetie. They must be getting ready to board now. And your dad will be wondering where we are.”

Fizzy reluctantly pulled away from Tempest and raised her little hoof to her head in a salute, melting both her mother and the dark mare’s hearts. “You’ll come and see me soon in Baltimare, won’t you Aunty Fizzy?” she squeaked.

The commander’s nose twitched. “Aunty Fizzy...?” she murmured quietly. After a pause and letting a goofy grin quickly spread over her face, she raised her hoof to her head and saluted the honorary Knight back. “Well, that depends. I wouldn’t want to impose at all or anything-” She stopped herself short when Glitter stepped forwards and pulled her into a tight hug.

“Dinner is always at six. Feel free to drop by anytime.”

Glitter pulled away, smiling and rubbing her teary eyes. She and Tempest shared a grateful look and some more happy tears, then she turned away as the train conductor cupped his mouth and called out for the passengers to start boarding.

“Alllll aboard!”

The crowd began to push off, seemingly come from nowhere.

“Come on, Fizzy,” Glitter Drops said, ushering her foal away.

“Yes. momma,” Fizzy replied cheerfully. She waved goodbye towards Tempest and the other Knights. “G’bye Aunty--um, Commander Shadow!”

Tempest waved back, unable to hide the wide smile she had, or the elated feeling of joy rising within her. “Goodbye, Fizzy. See you soon, okay?”

She watched as the mare and the filly boarded the Friendship express, and she continued watching--and waving--as they sped away down the railroad, heading off towards Baltimare. Still smiling, she turned to re-join the Nightmare Knights.

Cozy was red in the face and looked ready to burst. And now that she wasn’t too distracted she saw that Chrysalis looked oddly serene--the holes in her legs had filled up completely and she had grown an extra set of gossamer wings underneath her current ones.

Tirek spotted the commander approaching and nudged the others to attention. “Well? Is that it, then?”

“Uh huh,” Tempest nodded. “Let’s go home. I need a shower.”

As she turned to leave, the Knights followed her through the quiet streets of Ponyville. Cozy Couldn’t take it anymore, however, and broke their silence with an exclamation so loud it startled some passers-by. “Your name is Fizzlepop Berrytwist?!”

The scarred unicorn sighed and nodded as a couple of ponies walking passed gave them all frightful look and darted away. “It is. Am I going to regret letting all of you in on that secret?”

“Nuh uh!” the young Knight declared mischievously.

“Why do I get the feeling you’re lying to me?”

“You think I’m lying?” Cozy chortled. “Fizzy, I’m hurt.”

Tirek and Chrysalis both snickered as Tempest glared at her.

“Hey, she put me up to it!” the pegasus declared, pointing an accusatory hoof at Chrysalis, making her quickly silence in her snickering.

“I did not!” Chrysalis snorted indignantly. “And I would not appreciate being accused of such treachery, especially by one such as you, Cozy Glow!”

As the Nightmare Knights fell into another bout of arguing, Tempest smiled, glad to be back among them. As they reached the edge of town and entered into the dark shade of the Everfree Forest, she flinched subtly and paused, swearing she heard the soft whisper of the spider in the back of her mind again.

She cautiously looked around and wrinkled her brow ever so slightly, then disappeared after her team into the forest. Towards home.

***

While the Nightmare Knights finally entered their home in search of some much needed rest, over in Canterlot Princess Twilight Sparkle strode up to the reception desk of the Canterlot General Hospital and smiled. “Hi,” she said cheerfully to the mare behind it, who remained typing away on her keyboard without looking up at her approacher. “I’m here to see-”

“One second, please,” the mare snapped.

The princess’s jaw clapped shut. She knew better than to bother an official doing their job, as the old librarian of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns would happily testify. She looked around at the clean white walls and rustled her wings. A pony wearing a full set of scrubs dashed passed, pausing for the briefest of moments to look at her in amazement before hurrying off. She chuckled quietly and inspected her hoof, tutting at the fleck of dirt marring her coat.

“Okay. Name and occupation?” the receptionist barked, still without looking up.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight answered. “Princess of Equestria.”

The mare seemed to glitch out like a computer system and froze. Twilight could see the gears turning in her head and fought to stifle a laugh. She had quickly learned why Celestia was the way she was and found herself more often than not imitating the mischievous mare at times. The pony behind the desk jerked in her movements and slowly turned her head to look up at the princess. Her face dropped and her already white coat paled to almost translucent levels.

“Oh, oh princess I didn’t... oh.” Her ears turned down. Her pink eyes glistened and misted up with tears. “I’m so sorry your highness, I--we’ve been very busy lately. B-But that’s no excuse.”

Twilight waved her hoof and smiled. “It’s alright, really. Now that I have your attention, though, I’m here to see somepony.”

The mare nodded. “Of course, of course. Uh, what was their name?”

“His name is Crane. He’s a teacher? Luna brought him in a while ago.”

“Crane? Oh right, yes I remember. One moment please, Princess.”

The princess watched as the mare directed her eyes back towards her computer. Her hooves danced over the keyboard as she put in the information. Twilight’s eyebrow cocked upwards as the receptionist frowned and hummed.

“Is there a problem?” she said quietly.

“It’s just... Mr. Crane has been discharged from this hospital, miss--your majesty,” the receptionist stammered, wincing and inhaling between her teeth.

Twilight blinked. “Discharged?” she said in disbelief. “But...”

While Luna had shown her the ‘centrepiece’ of Mr. Crane’s ‘art’, she was sceptical at best of it accurately predicting the future. At least, she was, until the Nightmare Knights informed her Grogar might be attempting to make a comeback. If the old pony painting said pictures was missing? Then that didn’t bode well at all.

Inhaling sharply and exhaling softly, she rubbed her nose and smiled. “What time was he discharged?”

The receptionist nodded, reading over the information before her. “This morning, your majesty. A concerned family member came to retrieve him, and was quite insistent they left with him.”

The princess nodded her head reluctantly and her overanalytical mind got to work. “I see.”

She flicked her tail out sideways and bit her lip. If a family member had indeed taken him home, then who was she to intrude upon that? Even if she was princess, she didn’t want to disturb the old pony any more than he had been already. She shivered as she remembered how he looked: impossibly skinny with heavily sunken eyes. “Do you still have any documents or information regarding Mr. Crane?”

The mare began to type away again until she nodded affirmatively and looked up again. “Yes, in the archives, although all of his... ahem... ‘possessions’ were confiscated by Miss Luna.”

Twilight nodded. Of course they were. Probably for the best, she imagined. Luna would keep them safe and in the right hooves at least. She knew the danger, more than most probably, of knowing the future laid out before you. “May I have a look at your archives?” she asked.

“Of course, Princess.” The receptionist turned and pointed. “The archives are through there, down the hall and off to the left.”

“Thank you.” Twilight smiled and turned to leave. “Oh.” She stopped and turned back to look at the helpful receptionist. “I never got your name, miss...”

“Constant, your highness.”

Twilight smiled and bowed her head respectfully. “Thank you for your help, Constant.”

Constant smiled back. Her eyes gleamed with delight and her lips parted to show her teeth. “The pleasure is all mine, Princess.”

Comments

[Bigwig6666]

10922825
FINALLY SOMEONE GETS IT 7th Voyage is my favourite but I do like Eye of the Tiger too. With it being set in 'Arabia' I felt like it would be appropriate.

[Razzy]

Well, nothing like more trauma to help you get past your past traumas.

... Why doesn't it surprise me at all that ponies laid train tracks through a tunnel apparently going through some caves without actually checking them out, sealing or in any way securing them? Safety first!

You can laugh all you want, Cozy, before mommy Chryssie decides to tuck you in every evening.

Woe any changeling that Chryssie meets right now, for they will become 'the grub' for however long her mood lasts, regardless of their objections.

So, Tirek would be THAT kind of online gamer. 'Hax!'

'when she aw' - saw

'won’t mange it' - manage

'want ab it more dignity' - want to do it with more dignity? Dunno what you wanted to write originally.

'took th first' - the

'get of the train' - off

'in or way or another' - in one way or another

'She and Tempest both fell silent after that and retreated back into her thoughts as they pressed on' - either She and Tempest both fell silent after that and she retreated back into her thoughts as they pressed on; or She and Tempest both fell silent after that and retreated back into their thoughts as they pressed on

'Oh hundreds, Glitter' - Oh, hundreds, Glitter

'after they were released this I slept with one eye open' - remove this

'Sure ponies know us' - Sure, ponies know us

'bu a cold' - but

'her veyr core' - very

'totally helpless to do so' - to do anything

'turned away to lave' - leave

'an waving' - and

[Bigwig6666]

10922988
Cracks fingers. Cracks neck. Adjusts seat. Here we go time to clean up my sloppy 3am-7am rambling mess Thanks Unnofficialeditorman! Christ this ones bad looking back

[Bigwig6666]

10922988
Sorted cheers man I appreciate the spots 👍

Now for the funnies. Yeah trauma has a way of doing that doesn't it?

At best Equestria seems like its just chockas with really bad coincidences, at worst its like they actively avoid safety inspections or regulations. Honestly with all the bad stuff that happens, magical or non magical (cough Twilight and her friends cough) and not to mention Tempest straight up invading and capturing the princesses like that *snap* (srsly where were the guards?) it's like they just want everything to be sunshine and rainbows and ignore anything and everything else, which makes it funnier to me that the Knights are like the only group doing something about it. Might be an upcoming theme idk

I like thinking that yeah, cos Chrysalis was a mother she'd still have all these instincts. She may hate ponies and even her former subjects, but they were still her kids. Definitely something to explore sooner or later. :whyistherenochrysalisemoji:

[Razzy]

10923033

You're welcome. :3

'We did nothing and we're all out of ideas!'

Yeah, the severe lack of Chryssie emojis is shameful.

[asdtroi8895]

Great chapter! Loved the interactions between Tempest and Glitter. It was also very cute to see the trio interact with Fizzy in such a way. She really inflated their ego's. I especially like how Chrysalis's motherly side came into play. Sooner or late, she'll turn into a reformed form weather she likes to or not at this rate. I do wonder how long that spider was in those tunnels though.

The Nightmare Knight gazed up at the young mother as she fired blast after blast of the purest white light she had ever seen at the spider as they charged each other. It shrieked again and howled and writhed in pain, scratching and scraping at her in a vain effort to strike back, but her light just kept coming.

Damn, she must be quite the talented spell caster to pull that off.

As they reached the edge of town and entered into the dark shade of the Everfree Forest, she flinched subtly and paused, swearing she heard the soft whisper of the spider in the back of her mind again.

Methinks there may be more spiders in the future.

[Bigwig6666]

10925741
Glitter's more talented than she even realises haha. I like to think that that potential is in all unicorns, they just need the right spark.

I'd imagine Ahhg was similar to Ungoliant in Lord of the Rings, and this Nameless Thing similar to Shelob, also from LOTR. So it's been in that tunnel for a bloody long time, using whatever twisted magic it uses to lure unsuspecting prey into its lair. It could make another appearance, allying with those also sworn to darkness perhaps?

It's also a lot of fun writing Chrysalis to be this motherly figure deep down (not so deep now anymore I guess). Definitely gonna pop up in a later chapter or two methinks

[Test4Echo]

And now all Tempest needs to do is train Fizzy in the ways of the explosive side, and then she can have a sidekick who deals only with setting off fireworks whenever the Nightmare Knights come back victorious. I'm sure Cozy would have a fun time with that, too.

Great chapter.

[Bigwig6666]

10932697
Ooh there's an idea inb4 Fizzy starts a Nightmare Knight appreciation club

[J1990R]

It's the Great Black Beast of Ahhg!!!

[Bigwig6666]

10933232
As the horrendous Black Beast lunged forth with fangs glistening and dripping with venom, all hope for the Nightmare Knights seemed lost, when suddenly, the author suffered a fatal heart attack!

ERK! *Thud*

Thus, the written terror was no more and the story continued.

[Doctor_Den]

10960288
If you use this as a cover, then I will only be glad.

P.S. I don't know if you have it in the script, but in my vision, Tempest has a secret order in case "her teammates get out of control again", then she must neutralize them. That is why she has 3 spheres with which she turned princesses into stone statues in the film. (An interesting conflict can be built on this basis, or with the help of this information, an outside antagonist could sow the seeds of a split in the team)

[Bigwig6666]

10960300
Ooooh that's interesting yeah. I already had the idea for someone to sow the seeds of doubt, this can add to that

[Doctor_Den]

10961374
hatred between management and the collective can backfire. I have a couple of relatives who quit their job because they could not work with the leader. (Judging by their stories on the day of dismissal, they were able to notably ruffle the nerves of the boss 😈)

[Doctor_Den]

I didn't want to start reading this chapter because the available pages are running out and when the continuation will be unknown, but I could not resist and here I am.
it was interesting to watch the gradual resolution of the conflict between Tempest and her old friend. Interesting thought "Children should not suffer for the sins of their parents" :)

Quite strange to watch on a wooden bridge that is falling apart in the tunnel along which trains run. This passage struck me as somehow unrealistic.

Chrysalis healed its holes, but I didn't quite get one point. Does she have two pairs of wings now? I don’t remember that even the reformed Chaijlings had two pairs of wings.
Chrysalis in mother mode broke my cutie sensor.

Why report a spider in the tunnels if the Nightmare Knights themselves are likely to be sent to solve this problem? In theory, there should have been a scene in a couple of days where the spider was sharply illuminated with light and he turns around to see the nightmarish knights in full force with the phrase "* knock * knock of the exterminator called?" (it would be doubly funnier and more ironic if Chrysalis said this)

now when I have read all the chapters that have been released, I can say that some of the tags in the story are not entirely correct. In particular, I did not see "horror" here at all, "mysticism" or "mystery" would be more suitable here. Also, the story is an explicit "Adventure" but for some reason there is no such tag. Although I am not the author and cannot know the whole idea. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

P.S. I like the story, but unfortunately I can only support morally.

[Bigwig6666]

10963323
It makes me happy that this story sucked you in you couldn't resists another chapter Continuation will be... 'soon'

That's all I can say lol

An old rickety bridge is just what every train needs don't you see? Nah I get it seems a bit unrealistic, at least by Equestria's standards anyway. I was reading Metro 2033 when I wrote this bit and just wanted somethin spooky

Ah well see, Chrysalis is a different type of Changeling than the others, at least in my headcanon. She is a queen after all, that comes with extra perks. Liiike an extra set of smaller wings to go underneath her current ones. Other changes can include eventual fuzz, perhaps a pattern on said wings, who knows for now. It broke mine too writing it

I think a spider like that, Twilight might want to deal with it personally.

ffs i hit send when i wasnt done cos i thoght it was 'save chapter' ._. fml

[Bigwig6666]

10963323
continuing on cos im a fool.

But who knows, perhaps someone's already taken care of it. Someone powerful, working from the shadows.

I was thinking when making this it's going to be lighthearted but still about somewhat horror situations, thus the horror tag, like Ghostbusters. Although the next chapter will be based off a classic horror movie, take that as you will. I feel like all my stories have the adventure tag on them lately I could add the extra tags in there I 'spose. Maybe mystery would be better for some chapters

Boyo, commenting is all I want really I love reading and interacting with comments plus yknow, you did this fantastic artwork. If I had the funds I'd actually send something your way haha

[Doctor_Den]

10963372

I also read "metro 2033" and, to be honest, I don’t remember that there was somewhere a wooden bridge on which trains went. ;) (although maybe I just forgot this moment)
Moreover, as a person familiar with the Russian metro, in reality there are practically no bridges in the tunnels, and the bridges for trains are made of metal.
although it seems to me that an eerie atmosphere could have been created without the wobbly wooden bridge.

[Doctor_Den]

10963372
I understand that your vision of the final stage of the reformed Chrysalis is this?
Everyone has their own eyes, but personally I cannot perceive the shown character as Chrysalis. It is rather Thorax's "rule 63" or daughter of Thorax and Chrysalis. (besides, I don't like this color scheme.)
I personally like its original color better, but of all the versions of the "reformed Chrysalis" this one is the best in my opinion
https://www.deviantart.com/orin331/art/SPOILERS-What-could-ve-been-638819194

or if someone likes to be a little furry
https://www.deviantart.com/chrzanek97/art/Reformed-Queen-Chrysalis-Vector-805027147

[Doctor_Den]

10963383
🙃🤗 I felt +20 happiness points.
(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ ✧ﾟ thanks for all

[Bigwig6666]

10963394
Probably maybe. Oh there isn't a rickety bridge in Metpo, I just meant a spooky train tunnel haha

Probably could have, but that's a job for better writers instead of li'l old me

[Bigwig6666]

10963435
That third one was more of what I had in mind, maybe a mix of them all. Definitely envisioning her as some sort of moth-like creature ala Mothra, who is also a true Queen

[Doctor_Den]

10963450
in general, it seems to me that the path along which Thorax leads the hive is a dead end or an abyss. Because according to the laws of thermodynamics "energy does not arise out of nowhere and will not disappear into nowhere" from which it follows that "The consumer will never be able to generate more energy than it consumes.".
Changelings could integrate more actively into Equestria society, open orphanages, hospitals and theaters to collect love and gratitude. As a last resort, you can build a hive next to a crystal empire that throws love into the air. But instead of all this, they continue to sit in their old and distant place and organize "forums of feelings", this is the same as eating yourself when you are hungry.
(I say this thought to almost everyone, but they answer me "well, this is magic." what to throw dry leaves into a dying fire. The flame will burn brightly, but without additional firewood, it will go out.)

[Bigwig6666]

10963460
Ooh that's an interesting point actually. Very interesting, gives me an idea sort of

[Ri2]

So, should Glitter's husband be concerned?

[Bigwig6666]

11013951
I' sure he's fine

[Lex the Pikachu]

I've noticed that throughout the fic you've been using British English but in this chapter you've been using both American and British. Mainly in regards to the mother, Glitter, where you switch to American as you refer to her as "Mom" or "Momma" where as British English would have you use "Mum" or "Mummy". Was this intentional?

[Bigwig6666]

11026787
Yeah I'd say it was intentional. I tried writing mummy/mum at first but it just didn't sound right in my head, and mam (like us up in the north use) definitely didn't sound right, so I swapped it to mommy/mom. Strangely, though I write in British English, all the voices I hear when I write their dialogue are American even if their an oc I guess that's cos of the actual voice actors

[Snowdrifter]

10960309
Plunderseeds of doubt!

[Snowdrifter]

11026842
That and the Knights haven't said "Ni", sought a shrubbery, or fought a mummy... yet.

[Eroraf86]

10925870
Ah good, so I WASN'T crazy for thinking of Shelob and Ungoliant! Though, with the seductive voice, my first thought was actually more along the lines of the Jorōgumo. What can I say, I liked Chuggaaconroy's LP of Ōkami.