Watching Us Watching Them

by Little Jackie Papercut

Night, Part One

A flash lit up Ponyville’s Town Hall, then another.

A pegasus colt grinned as he presented the couple with their photograph. The stallion dropped a few bits in the colt’s proffered cap. Featherweight then returned to where his friends were gathered, and they passed the camera around among themselves, taking pictures of one another.

Warm night air and lively celebration was a hallmark of the Summer Sun Celebration, but the tense energy Twilight felt was almost the same as the dead of winter. She and Shining Armor had checked every room and every point of entry twice and found no sign of danger. Still, Celestia’s shield remained in place.

She glanced at the window again to see that it was still early. With her thoughts racing the way they were, it seemed like it should be near midnight by now.

Her brother must have noticed, because he nudged her shoulder with a hoof. “Hey, while we’re waiting, how about I finally introduce you to my girlfriend?” he offered.

She glanced up at him, then nodded. “In all the excitement, I totally forgot you told me she lives around here.”

Spike jumped off her back. “While you do that, I’m going to mingle,” he said. “I thought I saw some pretty mares over there.”

Chuckling, Shining Armor patted him on the back. “Alright, then. Just don’t forget to introduce yourself later.” He then turned and led the professor toward a small gathering.

~#~#~#~

Spike made sure their attention was elsewhere, then turned and ambled toward the group of foals, doing his best to look stern. He crossed his arms and cleared his throat, waiting for them to notice him.

He quickly received the confirmation he was looking for as a colt stepped to one side and allowed a familiar filly to spot the dragon.

“Oh, Spike! It’s, uh, funny running into you here,” Moondancer offered with a small giggle.

He kept his stare fixed on her. “Oh, yes, very funny. Especially since you’re not supposed to be here.”

The filly blinked a few times. “Neither are you,” she pointed out.

One of his eyebrows shifted indifferently.

“...uh, I mean, I’m sorry. Please don’t tell Professor Twilight?” She clasped her forehooves together in front of her, affecting an apologetic pout.

The dragon sighed. “What’s going on right now is way over my head,” he admitted. “I kind of have to tell her, I just don’t want to interrupt her now. It’s not like there’s anything we can do for now anyway.”

“Hey,” interrupted a magenta pegasus beside Moondancer, “you’re a dragon, right? Can we see your treasure hoard?”

A brief moment of silence fell on all of them as they processed that request. The first to break it was her mauve friend.

“Really, Ruby? What have you been thinking about this whole time?”

“That’s not important right now.”

“In any case,” Spike asserted, pulling the conversation back on track, “treasure or no, I’m just going to have to stick around and keep an eye on you for now, if you don’t mind having a chaperone.”

Slowly, Moondancer smiled. “Alright, that’s fair,” she agreed.

~#~#~#~

“So all this time, that was the big secret?” Diamond Tiara huffed. “Well, I guess it makes sense now.”

“And we’re very happy to be a part of this,” Silver Spoon added quickly. “In fact, the timing couldn’t possibly be better. I've prepared something I think you'll like.”

“Yeah,” Tiara continued, “what good is it being us if we can't help make your dreams come true?”

“Uh… are you two sure you’re okay?” Apple Bloom asked, taking a step back. “It’s great you’re bein’ so supportive, but it’s also kind of weird and Tiara looks like she’s in pain.”

“Oh, she always looks like that.”

“Now that you mention it, yeah, kinda.”

The bejeweled filly sighed and rubbed her brow. “Don’t let me rain on your parade, enjoy yourself.”

A hoof on her shoulder presaged her friend’s reply. “We’d enjoy ourselves more if you’d loosen up and join in,” Silver said. “You can cheer for the fireworks just like anypony else.”

Diamond took a deep breath. “Okay. But I’m not letting my guard down.”

“If you insist. I’m going to get four cups of punch. Be right back!” the gray filly said as she slipped away.

~#~#~#~

“Easy, Lily!” Daisy advised, as her successor’s youngest apprentice nearly tripped over herself. “The night is young yet. Don’t spend all your energy before the Ceremony.”

Lily Valley spun around, a pinkish blur of motion. “Look, Madam Daisy! Town Hall is so beautiful tonight!” she called.

The filly could easily have been mistaken for Daisy’s granddaughter. Certainly, aside from the golden mane and eyes, she looked a great deal like Daisy had in her youth. Perhaps that was one reason the two had as close a bond with each other as they did with Roseluck, and why Daisy had taught Lily so much. The three of them had worked hard on the floral arrangements that brought a glow to the dusk tonight.

Roseluck smiled at her apprentice’s behavior. “It will be beautiful all night. There’s a lot left to see.” A primrose-colored ear perked, and she turned her head to scan the room. “Speaking of which, here comes the best part.”

“Ooh,” Lily intoned. “This is the one you’ve been talking about, right?”

“Just wait,” Rose replied, patting the filly on the head. “I promise you won’t be disappointed.”

~#~#~#~

“Oh, Mr. Mountainhoof,” said the freshly-starched voice, “I’m glad to see you here. I wanted to thank you for your help yesterday.”

The sunforged nodded. “It was a pleasure to assist, Ms. Harshwhinny. Is your regular assistant well?”

“Yes, but I’m afraid she’s not up to the task,” the librarian replied. “It can’t be helped. Few are, for tending a library is among the most sacred of all duties.”

Mountainhoof stood still, his posture not noticeably changing due to a lack of the complete system of nerves and soft tissue that would be found in a pony. “Then you will require more help.”

Harshwhinny waved off the idea quickly. “Oh, no, I’m planning to interview a new assistant tomorrow. One by the name of Albert. It’s a strange name, to be sure, but I must judge character before anything.”

“Albert, you say…” Mountainhoof considered the name, gazing out the window. “Perhaps I should be present, after all. You never know what to expect with Alberts.”

~#~#~#~

The figure in the cloak stood like an ill portent in the center of the room, not an eye resting upon it. Beside that, two smaller ponies stood, keeping a watch in either direction.

The unicorn filly stood fiercely on guard, keeping the unwary masses at bay. Across from her, the pegasus colt wavered drowsily.

“Hey, so, I don’t want to sound dumb, but why the costume?” he asked.

The larger pony turned her head in his direction, but did not look down. “Costumes are for ponies who are going to put on a show,” she answered.

He nodded slowly. “Yeah, okay, I see what you’re saying, but I don’t think that answers my question, exactly.”

“It means the show is about to begin.”

“Oh.”

A few moments of silence passed between them. Pound Cake focused his eyes on the group of foals talking with the dragon.

“But hypothetically, you know, if I still didn’t understand what you were saying,” he added, “what show are you talking about, exactly?”

“I’m going to fire off fifty party cannons at once,” Pinkie replied, her tone still as serious as a feyblooded pony who specializes in revelry and mischief could possibly be.

Pumpkin blinked and turned to her mentor. “Is that... safe?”

“Only one way to find out,” Pound ventured.

~#~#~#~

Shining Armor drew himself up, looking over the crowd.

“This is going to be so great,” he mused. “Hey, Rosie!” He waved as he pushed through the crowd toward her.

As soon as the way was clear, Roseluck hopped straight into a hug. “Hey, big guy,” she purred, meeting his lips with her own.

He gave her a squeeze and they parted as he turned to Twilight. “Twily, this is Roseluck. Roseluck, meet my sister, Twilight.”

“Ooh, finally I get to meet the genius sister.” Roseluck gave a little curtsy. “I met your brother at a county fair when he was on leave. Not to sound corny, but it was kinda love at first sight.”

“So I’ve heard,” Twilight said, nodding to the earth pony.

“You should come by our shop sometime,” Roseluck added. “You're part of his family, so I'll treat you like part of mine too.” The warmth of her smile echoed the invitation.

Lily slid up to them now, beaming up at Shining Armor. “Hi, I’m Lily Valley! Miss Roseluck told me all about you. You’re so cool! Here, I made you something!” She turned to a nearby table where she had placed a few small wreaths. Throughout the branches were woven daisies and lilies, but each prominently bore large roses. She scooped them up and placed one atop his head like a crown. “I’ve also got one for Miss Roseluck and one for Miss Twilight!”

Twilight couldn’t help a smile as she took the offered crown. “Thank you so much. It’s great to meet all of you. I’d love for us all to spend a little time together after the ceremony."

On the stage, the mayor tapped on the microphone. “Welcome, everypony, to the Summer Sun Celebration! It’s almost time for the fireworks display. I know most of you have been waiting for this, the millennial Celebration, and I assure you it will be–"

She froze halfway through her thought. The room had just gotten darker. None of the lights had gone out, but all the same, something had changed. She wasn’t the only one to notice, either.

“Is it time?” Shining Armor asked. Twilight nodded slowly. He gestured to the girls. “You three might want to get out of the room. Looks like that prophecy was the real deal."

The mayor tapped at one of the stage lights, as if hoping it would brighten the room again. She stopped when she noticed that in the center of the stage, a spot of shadow was deepening, and slowly but surely swelling upward. Then, as if disgorged from a cocoon of darkness, a towering mare emerged.

Her appearance was majestic and horrible in equal measure. She wore a helmet and breastplate of what must have been mythril, but dull and tarnished as though it had spent years steeped in the deadliest of poisons. The boots on her feet were much the same. Her face was as reminiscent of a dragon as a pony, with slitted eyes and cruel fangs. Her mane and tail were like living shadows twisting around her. And though she could not possibly have been mistaken for a normal alicorn, she nevertheless bore mighty wings and a long horn. As the mayor narrowly avoided falling off the stage, the tall mare sneered down at her. "Such a beautiful gathering," she intoned in a booming voice. "Who is it for?"

Nopony in the crowd could doubt who stood before them.

"Now!" Shining Armor roared. From the stage curtains erupted a mighty stag. His antlers caught the creature by surprise and delivered a crushing blow, which he followed with a twist into a full leaping buck.

The dark mare slid away from the attack and attempted to turn toward her attacker, but found she could not. A doe had emerged and was in a deep stance, a glow from her hooves tracing a twisting path to the vines that had just broken through the floor, wrapping around Nightmare Moon's legs and holding her in place.

An arrow struck her flank now, and she looked up to see a third deer taking aim from the balcony. With a wrenching motion she pulled herself free, only to be struck by a magic missile spell from one of the royal guards present.

Despite all of this, she remained standing. Her face slowly cracked from a snarl to a sneer once more. Her shadowy mane moved as if it was a separate entity, looking for something. Then with incredible speed it stretched out toward the archer and grabbed him from the balcony, fifty feet away, then whipped around and slammed him straight into the doe.

The rest of the guards joined in now, all charging at once. the three deer swiftly recovered and added their own strength to the offensive. A wave of flesh and metal engulfed the dark mare, pressing down on her. For a few moments she was hidden from all onlookers. Then a rumble came from the dogpile, and with a roar of anger Nightmare flung them all away. She looked over the defeated deer and ponies, and cast a spell. Shadows crept over them, and they seemed to sink into the floor.

“Enough,” she declared, advancing toward the crowd. “You should have known better. I am Nightmare Moon. Equestria is mine now. If you resist me, you will join these defenders of yours.”

Before she could leave the stage, the air in fromt of her seemed to solidify. Shining Armor and Flash Sentry had leapt up to oppose her.

“Two-one-two,” Shining Armor suggested, and Flash nodded in agreement. A second later Flash rocketed toward the enemy, winding up a punch, but feinted high, going right over her head to instead deliver a fierce stomp. At the same moment, the captain rushed in and hit her forelegs. Under the combined assault she stumbled forward, but managed to launch herself with her hindlegs, taking to the air.

Flash wasn't done with her yet. As she turned to face him he surged forward, hitting her square in the chest, the sound of his armor clashing with hers ringing throughout the building.

His momentum proved to be greater, and knocked her backward, only to collide with a new shield placed behind her by Shining Armor. The shield jerked suddenly, throwing her off of it, directly at Flash who met her with another kick and sent her right back.

Again the shield threw her, and again Flash caught her. Slammed back and forth like a ball, she let out a grunt each time as air was forced from her lungs. As she hit the shield on the sixth repetition, her horn lit up. This time, the shield didn't budge. The captain struggled, putting all his strength into pushing the shield against the enemy.

The only change was that now, the shield began to crack.

A few seconds more, and the shield shattered. The dark mare continued her path into the wall, and the wall crumbled on impact.

She came crashing back in through a window, now free of the barrier around the stage. As she landed, a powerful force like a hurricane seemed to push every pony in the hall back a step.

“Now,” she said, as calmly as if she hadn't just taken dozens of brutal blows, “Who will be the first to serve me?” Her eyes fell across Dinky's group. “Ah, it should always start with the little ones. I promise you will be happy as my subjects.”

Hooves approached swiftly, and in a moment, Diamond Tiara threw herself between Nightmare and Dinky. “Never,” she proclaimed as she raised herself into a bipedal fencing stance. She seemed to have picked up a sword dropped by one of the fallen guards, and pointed it right at the enemy. “I don't care about promises or threats. I have a duty to these ponies, and if you want them, you'll have to go through me.”

“Tiara, wait!” Apple Bloom rushed in now. Skidding to a halt, she raised a second sword. “This is stupid. You cain't possibly win this. And ah cain't letcha do it alone.” She assumed her own stance.

“My, the two of you certainly have some nerve,” the armored mare said. “That will serve you well when I make you submit.”

She reared back to strike, but a sudden blast of force pushed her back. Twilight had interposed herself now between the monster and the fillies. “Don't get ahead of yourself, Nightmare,” she taunted. “You aren't even close to winning. I've made sure of it.”

As she said that, an archway carved itself out of thin air a few feet away and emitted the glow of a fireplace. Out of the light stepped Professor Heartstrings, followed, one by one, by the Canterlot teaching staff.

“You think this scares me?” Nightmare scoffed. “Let me show you… what true fear really is!”

The air rippled with waves of dark, and from those ripples emerged hooves. Out of nothing crawled the shadowy forms of the recently defeated royal guards, and three deer. No eyes could be seen, but they turned their heads about as if looking at the assembled ponies.

The attack was easy to anticipate. Twilight sped toward the nearest creation, blasting its side as it raised a blade. It stumbled, and now there was a hole in its torso. Twilight gasped in shock, afraid she may have used too much power. A moment later, though, the hole filled itself in.

The other professors all engaged the monsters, as did Shining Armor and Flash Sentry. There were more attackers than defenders, but with the caliber of magic the professors had, one pony could wipe out several monsters at once. Professor Heartstrings had turned her lyre into a special weapon by attaching a spell-storing gem to it. Professor Lulamoon turned everything around her into an impromptu weapon of confusion. Somehow enemies seemed to be ignoring Professor Blueblood, which he exploited ruthlessly. And Professor Minuette was a blur of motion, her magic constantly speeding her up.

The locals were putting up a fight, too. The stronger ponies among them were simply plowing into the enemy, which seemed effective enough, while the rest were fighting in groups, ganging up on the enemies. Some of the pegasi began constructing weather systems indoors to unleash lightning.

Despite the apparent fragility of the enemy, though, their numbers seemed to remain constant. Something was up, and Twilight was beginning to get a good picture of what. This situation was definitely unsustainable, and she drew back.

Professor Heartstrings empowered her gem with a shatter spell, then strummed the lyre. The resultant sound hit the surrounding shadow ponies like a blade, causing several of them to dissipate instantly. Behind her, she heard the sound of heavy hooves landing, and she turned just in time to see a shadow deer’s incoming kick. The force flung her backward to the ground.

“Ugh, did anyone see the owner of that cart?” she asked, dazed. As her vision focused again, she saw an earth pony, a creamy yellow mare with a pink-and-blue curly mane, standing over her looking concerned.

The earth pony offered her a hoof up. “Um, thank you for helping us, but please try not to die,” she requested. She reached into a saddlebag and offered a small wrapped chocolate. “You’ll need this. I’ll start a tab for you.”

Heartstrings blinked in confusion. “Uh, sure, thanks,” she said. “I’ll settle that later, I’ve got to find somepony.” She popped the treat into her mouth as she hurried off and the bruise from the kick instantly faded.

“I’ve figured it out, Twi,” she said, drawing up alongside the purple professor. “There’s a castle in the forest. If we can reach it, the answer is there, in the tallest tower.”

At that moment, a scream rang out. The shadow creatures were grabbing ponies and pulling them down into their own shadows. They were going after the foals first, but anypony who got in their way was a target. A dozen foals had been taken already.

“Stop right there!” Flash Sentry yelled out as he rushed in, aiming for the back of Nightmare Moon’s head. He was too slow, and she grabbed him with her amorphous mane, She dangled him in front of her for a moment, then slammed him into the ground.

“Oh, it’s nearly over,” she assured him as the darkness began to swallow him. He glared back, unflinching.

Some distance away, Apple Bloom cried out as she slowly sank into the ground. Applejack let out a wail of sorrow as her sister disappeared, which quickly turned to a scream of fury as she too charged at Nightmare Moon. Rainbow Dash swooped down from above to join her, and they leapt through Nightmare’s defenses, striking rapid blows from multiple directions.

Unable to keep up with their movements, Nightmare Moon opted to put a stop to them altogether. Her horn lit up, and a wave of dark fire washed out from her in every direction. The flames clung to the two, and quite unlike regular flames, seemed to actually weigh them down, stopping their movements and pulling them into the dark.

And now a shadow version of Flash Sentry appeared. It made a beeline for Professor Blueblood, grabbing him and tossing him into a wall. The shadow Flash then dove into the ground, disappearing like it was diving below the surface of a liquid—and moments later it erupted from the wall behind Blueblood, tackling him to the ground.

As Blueblood slipped into the shadows, the creature went after Professor Gingersnap. The older mare fired a single blast of raw magic, but didn’t make much effort to resist otherwise. Inkwell was next, and by this time, the shadow Applejack and Rainbow Dash had emerged as well, now dragging foals away themselves.

“This is out of control,” Heartstrings said. “We need to go, now.”

Twilight took a deep breath and looked at her apologetically. “I’m sorry, Lyra, you’re going to have to finish it on your own,” she said.

In the next instant she was charging. “Spike!” she called, and the dragon jumped out of the crowd and onto her back. She knew he was smart enough to know what was about to happen. If Lyra pulled this off, she would make sure to thank him properly. She leveled her aim at Nightmare Moon and didn’t slow down.

She saw the attack coming, and she wasn’t about to go down without a fight. As the wave of darkness threatened to slam into her, she tossed Spike into the air, and then teleported. Spike soared directly over Nightmare Moon’s head, letting out a plume of emerald flame as he went. Twilight materialized behind Nightmare and fired a huge blast of magic, before catching Spike on her back once more.

By the time Nightmare turned to counterattack, Twilight was already in a new position, above her and to the right, and she already had another blast ready. The second shot visibly shook the dark mare, but failed to so much as dent her armor. Anticipating the next move, Twilight spun in a neat circle as she fell, and Spike created a fiery spiral around her, which repelled the dark creatures that attempted to surround her.

She went for three more teleports now, and three more shots, all in rapid succession. The next teleport was directly in front of Nightmare Moon’s face, where Twilight remained only long enough for Spike to breathe fire into it. Finally, she gave herself some distance, and a much needed moment to catch her breath.

Nightmare Moon scowled as she stomped toward Twilight. The motion was short lived, as a powerful jolt went through her body. She looked down in surprise to see a blank piece of parchment under her foot. “What… was that? A spell scroll?” she asked aloud.

“One of my personal catalog,” Twilight affirmed. ”And while your eyes were on me, Spike was helping me scatter them.”

It was true, around Nightmare Moon there was a carpet of spell scrolls, and as she watched, they all began to glow.

Twilight’s horn burned as she activated all the scrolls at once and packed them around Nightmare Moon in a giant sphere. The energy within the sphere continued to build, and the subsequent explosion lit the hall in blinding white for a full minute.

Nightmare Moon actually looked hurt now. For the first time it was clear that she was taking damage. But she was still standing.

It hurt, but Twilight had to keep teleporting. She was jumping from one position to the next so fast now that each time she hit Nightmare, the larger mare was still reacting to her position two or three teleports ago, and all the while Spike kept his flame trained on the target. But it wasn’t enough.

Of course it wasn’t. Nightmare Moon had already been hit with speed blitzes. She had already been hit with big spells. She had, in fact, been hit by both at once. She was simply beyond the scale of anything any of them had ever encountered.

And so after one final blast, Twilight tossed Spike into the air again, aiming him directly toward Shining Armor. “Keep him safe!” she shouted. Then Nightmare Moon finally caught up with her.

“You’ve got nothing left,” Nightmare purred. “But that won’t be a problem. Soon you’ll give me everything I need.”

Her bellowing laughter filled the hall as Twilight was consumed by the darkness.

Comments

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Damn, welcome back. One cracking chapter, here! I'm gonna have to go back and reread this one to remember what happened before.