Day & Night

by Reminisce

Postscript to Betrayal

Castle Nightingale

“Worthless.” The dark and desolate voice of Nightmare Moon spat as it tossed the husk of a body it had just drained aside.

There was a pile steadily growing in the corner of the open and bleak chamber she occupied. That however was only a byproduct of her hunger, her will to live. Her evil blue eyes scanned the chamber, she was sitting in the middle of what could be considered an auditorium. There were rows of long tables set on ascending levels, and they all faced the podium that she had recently destroyed. Nightmare Moon may have been sealed away for a thousand years, but she could remember the ruling chambers clearly, and they've desecrated it. Her children have strayed far from their intended path, this was supposed to be the simple task of returning and taking what she deserved and demanded.

Sniffing the air, the scent of her children was still strong. It frustrated the Nightmare to no end not knowing where they've fled. She may have been revived today, but she wasn't born today. They had a comprehensive plan laid out for her return, meaning there was a mortal foolish enough to attempt to outsmart a god.

“Master.” Black Star bowed with an unconscious chromatic mare draped over his back.

“Rise servant, what hast thou brought to thy hooves.” Nightmare Moon rose to her full height, looking down at the old stallion.

“A pony worthy of your greatness, she holds the strength to sustain you.” Black Star confidently responded.

“I'll be the judge of such a claim!” Nightmare Moon scoffed at his surety as it ascended from the destroyed podium.

Nightmare Moon could feel it, without even tasting the air around the mare. There was something special to her, the soul that her body housed was confused, distraught. Knowing that excited the Nightmare, it could mold it, make it anything it pleased. That soul was crafted for the Nightmare and only for the Nightmare, it was perfect.

Nightmare Moon unceremoniously snatched the unconscious mare with her magic and bit deep into its neck, drawing a copious amount of blood. Black Star stood unflinching as he watched the Nightmare work, the old stallion banished all thoughts from his head at the moment. But the Nightmare wasn't concerned with the old stallion anymore, she was savoring the taste of untapped power, her former strength flashed before her eyes. It couldn't simply drain this body, it had to truly claim it. And without hesitation the Nightmare did just that, her body instantly turned into a thin mist as she entered the wound she created. Black Star cracked a smile at his master's eagerness, in his mind it was all coming together, the prophecy would prove correct.

The body of the Pegasus convulsed and flinched as the magic of Nightmare Moon filled every orifice and traveled through her veins. After the mist completely entered its new host, Black tar began oozing from the Pegasus’s mouth, it moved life-like and covered the entire body, molding it. It took only a couple of agonizing seconds for the image of the dark Alicorn to be formed. Gone was its battle torn body, and zombie like appearance, now Nightmare Moon was back in full force. When the tar was done transforming the body, Nightmare Moon laughed maniacally.

“Yes!” Nightmare Moon shouted with fever. “The night will last forever!”

Black Star said nothing, he simply glanced at the wasted bodies piled in the corner of the room. He knew most of the faces and Destiny Marks in the pile, he would have spared them that fate if he was faster. Or maybe not, if they were foolish enough to not flee like the rest of the Children, maybe they deserved every second of their death.

“Servant, your job Is yet to be completed.” Nightmare Moon's new powerful voice rang out throughout the chamber. “Those insolent ponies and traitors are still encroaching, they will not interrupt thy moment… Destroy them, upon completion, you shall be the first to witness the birth of a new world!”

“Yes Master,” Black Star said without hesitation.

Turning around, he shot out of the council chamber with impressive speed. He needed no direction, he knew exactly where they’d be heading if they made past the obstacles that Nightmare Moon set.

Everfree Forest

“Huh, it's not down?” Pinkie said with a tilt of her head.

Rarity just stuck her tongue out to mock the pink mare from Applejack’s back. Fluttershy gulped at the sight of the long and narrow bridge that extended over a deep and exceedingly dark crevice.

“Is this thing safe?” Twilight asked, but then realized where exactly she was. “who am I kidding, of course it's not…”

“Hey, somepony is finally getting it.” Pinkie ruffled Twilight's mane as she trotted past her.

“Will you quit that!”

“I-” the words died in her mouth when she caught an all too familiar scent. She looked at Applejack and noticed she had already gotten into a defensive stance, even with a mare on her back.

Without warning, a black streak blasted right down the middle of the group. Dust and debris flew up from the impact, causing everypony to either yelp or scream in surprise. The dust settled fast, and everypony stood rigid when they saw Loyalty with Fluttershy in a headlock. Tears started to go down the eyes of the butterscotch Pegasus as Star tightened his grip. Black Star eyed Pinkie criticality, as if telling her to not try anything, she was the only one that could act to blindside him.

“Let her go!” Twilight yelled.

Black Star just looked at the group, his orange slits scanned all their injuries and noticed their fatigue. He shook his head in disappointment, they would all surely get slaughtered by the Nightmare in their current state. The old stallion knew they didn't make them like they used to. But he had to play his game just a little longer, he could feel the bond growing.

“Let her go, we ain't going to ask ya again.” Applejack growled, Rarity just gripped her neck, as there was nothing that she could personally do.

“You don't want me to do tha-” He was cut off by a pink hoof meeting the side of his head that sent him spiraling into the dirt.

Fluttershy rolled out of his grasp as well, and scrambled back towards the group.

“You blinked.” Pinkie spat, shaking her glowing tattooed hoof as if she had put everything into that sucker punch

“You underestimate me.” Black Star swiftly responded, mocking Pinkie's attack. Yet she was fast enough to dodge it. “You're not the only one capable of a surprise, child.”

Pinkie slid to the side, unsure on how he avoided going to sleep from her seal. She didn't have much time to dwell on it because Black Star renewed his attack. His element was fully released at that point, he took on a much more feral appearance as his strength and speed grew by the second. The bat pony rapidly threw a flurry of strikes at Pinkie, who in turn was doing her best to either dodge or block what she could. No pony dared to intervene, not that they could, Applejack even marveled at Pinkie's combat abilities. Not many could go hoof to hoof with an element of Loyalty, let alone a pony as skilled as Black Star, who is hailed as the Everfrees greatest warrior and strategist in generations. Still Pinkie proved not to be equivalent to the older stallion, because his speed and precise strikes through her guard slowly overwhelmed her and he was able to perform a sweeping kick to take her completely off her hooves. Then he continued his lightning fast combo by flipping midair to give a finishing downward kick to her gut, but he stuttered mid-attack, because she was long gone. He immediately looked up and saw nothing, and then he internally laughed when he realized his mistake. In that moment he heard the deafening boom from somewhere behind him.

Everypony shielded their eyes from the destruction. Twilight’s eyes couldn't even keep up with their actions, then all of the sudden she blinked and Pinkie had a loaded cannon. Logic itself must've abandoned them as Twilight looked at the large blue cannon in disbelief, then she glanced at Applejack and Rarity to see what they were staring at. Twilight gasped when she saw the destruction that the cannon caused, trees were destroyed and obliterated in a spreading area away from the cannon. The concussion of the blast was absolutely epic to cause such destruction, where was she hiding such a weapon, and why did she wait till that moment to use it. But a better question was what happened to Loyalty, could Pinkie have killed him in that instant?

“Y-your grandmother taught you we-well Pinkamena.” Star said from off in the dark distance, trotting right out of the epicenter of the carnage. His dark gray coat was bloodied as tree fragments littered his body like shrapnel wounds, and blood was dripping from his mouth. All of that combined with his terrible limp signaled the end of the fight, if not his death.

His tattoo stopped glowing as well, meaning his element was no longer released. But Pinkie knew it was far from over, she honestly had no idea how she’d outlast him, let alone bet him.

“Star…” Pinkie grimaced from the top of her cannon, the pull string was still tight in her grip.

Applejack backed up, knowing Pinkie, the crazy pink mare would probably decimate half of the forest just to buy time.

Black Star just smiled wickedly, he felt it, his part of the prophecy was complete. He began to chuckle to himself, He had been Loyalty for over fifty years, and not once he thought he’d be the one to break the chain. In the end he knew no pony could’ve done it better than him, it wouldn't take long for Nightmare Moon to realize the prophecy for what it truly was. The Nightmare whispered to him for many years, as it did to every Loyalty bearer before him. His family suffered the trauma of her darkness for many generations, never once yielding to her song. Nightmare Moon was a monster, dangling a little weakness and she would dive at it like a starving Timberwolf. He gave her everything she wanted, and she accepted his poison like the animal she was. Taking his eyes off Pinkie, he looked up at the beauty of the Moon. He had fought his entire life in the name of Loyalty, he was his father's apprentice for many years. As his father was an apprentice to his grandmother, to this day he didn't understand their decisions. Especially when they were fully aware of their future fate at the hooves of their own children. That was a product of the Everfrees ideology that had to go with the Nightmare, and it saddened the old stallion that it had to end this way.

He could feel it coming, coming for him, coming because of his true loyalties. Maybe, just maybe they will prove his old soul wrong and finish what he started. The way is clearly paved for them now, and if the five of them are strong enough, if Colors is strong enough, they'll live to curse his name.

“Star!” Pinkie yelled as he continued his slow approach.

“Loyalty awaits you…” Those were his last words before the same tendrils from before bursted from underneath the ground, impaling the old gray stallion several times over.

Fluttershy and Rarity both screamed.

“Guess I win?” Pinkie oddly concluded.

“Pinkie, move!” Applejack shouted as they had already started running across the unsteady bridge.

Pinkie watched for a few more seconds as more and more tendrils erupted from the ground in waves towards her, obscuring her view of Star. The pinkie mare decidedly hopped of the cannon and galloped towards the group, she was still stuck on Black Stars apparent suicide. There was so much more he could've done, she honestly didn't have a chance of beating that old bat and he just allowed himself to get gored.

Pinkie was the last one to make it across the bridge as the tendrils of darkness snapped the tethers holding it up. They didn't stop there, the group galloped for at least a half a mile, until the sound of the tendrils bursting out of the ground were no more. Twilight was the first to beg for a breather as they neared the large city of Nightingale. When everypony stopped, Twilight collapsed on the side of a tree, and Applejack was huffing heavily as she had extra weight on her back.

“You can let me down now darling…” Rarity more so pleaded than asked.

Applejack had no objections as she sat down and let Rarity slowly slide off.

“H-he’s dead…” Twilight gasped between breaths.

“Um.” Fluttershy signaled for everypony's attention as she held out her hoof with a red gem.

Applejack's eyes went wide at the sight of it. “How in tarnations did you get a hold of that!”

“I- well, he slipped it under my wing when he let me go… I thought he stabbed me with something, sorry!” Fluttershy whimpered, hiding behind her long pink mane.

“Loyalty awaits us?” Applejack thought back to his last words.

“It seems as though our dear Star may have been playing a grander game.” Rarity shakenly added in, while tending to her bandages.

“That's an artifact of harmony isn't it,” Twilight questioned, finally regaining her breath. “Can I see it?”

Fluttershy gladly hoofed it over to Twilight, wanting nothing to do with the thing.

“Amazing,” Twilight felt the immense magic the small gem contained, and that's when it dawned on her. “All of the artifacts are in the castle right, even ours?”

“Yes.” Applejack answered bluntly.

“And they all shine like this?”

“Yes…”

“I see, and only a bearer can interact with their own element, and if one dies, then what?” Twilight went into full study mode, trying her best to ignore the fact she watched a stallion get murdered.

“The artifact would go dor-” Applejack didn't even finish.

“Exactly, so somepony is the new element of Loyalty… somewhere.” Twilight concluded.

“Impossible,” Applejack swiftly shot Twilight down. “Our elements don't work all spirit like, Our elements are tied to us. It takes a ceremony to change bearers, and the ceremony of loyalty is…”

“Essentially a fight to the death, the killing Blow transfers Loyalty to victory. Which in the end is always the apprentice of whoever was the bearer before hoof.” Pinkie finished.

Fluttershy remembered the elder Buffalos story from before, it matched from what she could remember. But she remained quiet, there was really nothing she could really contribute to their discoveries anyway.

“That's illogical, what if somepony unrelated kills Loyaltys bearer in their sleep or somepony who is the furthest thing from loyalty defeats them?” Twilight skeptically questioned.

“Loyalty is considered the worldly element, its bearer is never open to death till a pact is formed between the bearer and an apprentice.” Pinkie answered.

“So they're immortal?” Rarity gasped.

“In a way, yes.” Applejack joined back in. “But Loyalty dictates their being, it would eventually force a pony to pass on the magic. Star held Loyalty for nearly fifty years, the bearers before him only held if for a fraction of the time. Maybe twenty years top, old age is something they often don't get to see.”

“I-is he not… dead?” Fluttershy cautiously asked.

“Oh no, he’s dead.” Pinkie cleared up inexplicably.

“I see…” Twilight thought about the old bat pony and the other two Lunar elements. What was the ceremony they had to go though, and how long could they hold it. But in the end that was an afterthought, they got an end of the world dilemma to deal with.

Pinkie looked up at the old stone castle that they were currently near. “So Colors is wrapped up in this somehow, she was Star's apprentice after all.”

“Just where in the hay is that filly then?” Applejack grunted.

“Loyalty awaits us, so I'm assuming ahead.” Rarity stated matter of factly.

Applejack then sighed, realizing their situation wouldn't get better by lounging around. “Yer right, we still gotta get the other gems, and with or without Loyalty we will face that monster.”

Everypony nodded in confirmation, even Rarity shockingly started to move under her own weight again. They were close to their goal, and the scariest part was that the entire city that surrounded the castle was empty. Not a single soul was around to witness their attempts at heroics, and every second of their trot towards the castle's rear gate was a calculated one.

“...” Fluttershy looked around, extremely frightened that something else would come out and grab her. The Pegasus desperately hoped that the same thing wouldn't happen to Equestria. It was a selfish thought, but she didn't want to lose Soarin anytime soon.

“Everypony is probably underground.” Pinkie answered the unasked question.

“Really, your ponies have underground tunnels?” Twilight asked.

“More like underground communities, this is only a fraction of Nightingale you see. The rest of it is underground, unlike you Equestrians, we tend to not build up.” Pinkie pointed out as if it was an obvious question.

Twilight was the first to look down at the city from the hilltop they were on with awe. If the city was built down it was very possible that it could rival Canterlot in size. Merchant stalls, a school, and what looked clearly like a library could be seen from their vantage point. The library was enough to make the bookish mare drool, they had textual knowledge that the little Unicorn had possibly yet to get her hooves on. On another note, her increasing suspicions were founded on solid ground now, the Children of the Night were a solitary power that has held its own throughout time. Twilight had yet to see the military, but she did remember the talk about the Shadowbolts, at this point everything was on the table of possibility.

Soon enough however, they reached the outer walls of the castle in no time, and everypony was surprised by the lack of protection around the castle if the Nightmare was supposed to be inside. Applejack fell at the nearly hidden double doors next to the chained gate, and the doors swung open after one testing push. Applejack raised a brow and looked to Pinkie for an explanation.

“No waking dreamscape.” Pinkie shrugged.

“Then we move forward.” Applejack reassured.

“This place feels different from the rest of the forest.” Twilight spoke up, she could feel the magic of the forest seemingly avoiding the castle.

“Wards, this is possibly the only place in the Everfree where a Unicorn can safely cast a spell.” Pinkie said.

Twilight didn't respond, she just felt relieved that she wouldn't have to face the Nightmare without her magic. Rarity also sighed in relief as well, it was hard for them to not just instinctively use their horns. Now they had sanction to do as they pleased with their magic once they entered, relieving much of their stress.

Each of them passed the threshold of the doors to finally enter the dimly lit corridor. Rarity sparkled at the sight of the exquisite looking red drapery. Then she set hoof on the plush carpet that was rolled out down the corridor, and immediately fell in love with the hoof stitched designs that ran the length of the carpet. It took her only a second to recognize the designs resemble the Lunar elements tattoos. Twilight on the other hoof was looking at the paintings on the wall, As they slowly moved trying to make no noise, Twilight was noticing that each painting was of a distinguished looking stallion or mare. They all shared the aggressive features that marked them as Children of the Night, but the paintings made them seem like so much more.

They didn't have too much time, because once they reached the end of the corridor, Applejack signaled everypony to stop. The large orange mare then activated her element, causing her tattoo around her left eye to flow blue, and then her eyes followed. She was scanning the walls around them, before looking over a particular painting of a bat pony mare rather critically. She then pawed at it a bit before tilting it right, and then everypony heard a soft click. The wall in front of them then slowly started to drop, the sound of stone grinding on stone made them cringe as if it was the furthest thing from quiet.

It seemed to take the false wall an eternity to drop, just when they thought that Applejack was going to rip the wall down, it finally fell the rest of the way. The new access revealed an extremely dark room, but when they cautiously stepped hoof inside, several torches instantly lit around the room. Twilight felt it for a moment, dark magic, now it made even more sense as to why she wasn't allowed to cast in the forest. The forest is filled with foreign and dark magic, enough of it to drive the strongest of Unicorns mad.

“Wow, they're actually here?” Pinkie commented while being the first to trot up to the six unassuming stone pedestals. One of them was already missing a stone artifact, which they all assumed to be the red gem Twilight currently had.

“There's our pink pessimist…” Rarity jokingly replied as she also limped closer.

“I think we have to activate them some way?” Twilight added in.

Pinkie shrugged. “I'm feeling this one.”

Before anypony could object, Pinkie harshly poked one of the spherical stones on the pedestal. The stone reacted strongly, first it dimly glowed blue, then it shined a bright pink. By time the intense light dimmed again, the stone was no longer a stone, it resembled something closer to a woven dreamcatcher. The flat and circular object had multiple strands of strange fabric strung tightly together to form a complex pattern in the middle of it; there were also three large black feathers hanging down from the object as well. Pinkie looked taken back by its appearance, but she picked it up anyway, fondling the thing. It didn't take her long to find out that the Dream catcher had pink beads hanging down from it as well, but the beads made it into some sort of necklace to be worn.

“Cool.” Pinkie said dully, once again threw caution to the wind and slung the thing over her head. When nothing happened, everypony else released the breath that they were holding. “Who's next?”

Rarity was surprisingly the next to step forward. The alabaster mare looked over each dormant stone and seemed to pick one at random much like Pinkie before her. The stone she touched shined a light yellow before changing to a bright light blue, Rarity didn't even shield her eye from the light. After the light faded, Rarity squinted to make sure she was seeing it right, before her sat a small sheathed dagger sitting on the pedestal. The young Unicorn was surprised to see a decorative diamond on the end of the hilt, and the sheath was expertly decorated as well. Gently picking it up with her magic, Rarity was astounded by its weight and texture. Not knowing exactly what to do with it, Rarity unsheathed it for a moment and marveled at the tribal like engravings on the blade itself. It was a rough ten inches long one sided dagger, and had a thick fuller grove on the right side of it, leading all the way to the base of the hilt. To Rarity the dagger seemed more ornate than anything, still she had no such desire to use the thing.

“Amazing.” Twilight marveled.

“I don't know darling, a dagger?” Rarity questioned in response as she sheathed the artifact.

“It's just that most weapons such as blades are usually crafted with hoof grips. The simple fact that your artifact doesn't have one means it would only be functional in the magic of a Unicorn.” Twilight was obviously enjoying every second of her discovery. “First a dreamcatcher of sorts, then a dagger… I think each element transforms according to the bearer's personal abilities!”

“Ok ok, how bout ya calm down.” Applejack hushed.

Twilight had to stop herself there, she was almost bouncing like a filly.

Applejack stepped forward next, repeating the process of the last two. The stone she picked glowed a dim blue like Pinkies, then shined a bright green when it transformed. Her stone transformed into a long coiled rope, several of the strands were the same shade of green as her eyes. Applejack immediately recognized the rope for what it exactly was.

“A lasso?”

“Fitting, is it not?” Pinkie said nonchalantly.

Applejack didn't complain, she simply picked it up with her hooves and looped over herself like a sash. Then she stepped back, allowing whoever wanted to go next a clear path to the pedestals. Twilight and Fluttershy both shared a glance at each other, the Pegasus was quick to relent her turn to the unusually giddy Unicorn.

Twilight wasted no time trotting towards the last two untouched pedestals. She was curious on how everypony else picked their artifacts from the unassuming and unmarked stones. The small Unicorn was quick to discover her gravitation towards the one in the center pedestal, she guessed that the artifacts simply attracted them to the right ones somehow. Touching the stone sphere, it lit up a dim yellow like Rarity's, then it shined a bright purple before transforming. Once it completed its transformation, Twilight’s eyes grew to the size of saucers at the sight of the large black book in front of her. Immediately grasping it with her magic, she discovered that it was virtually weightless and the cover was leathery in texture. Inspecting it further, she found a long purple bookmark that was made from some type of purple cloth hanging down from the first page of the hardcover book.

“Well, are ya gonna open the thing?” Applejack asked impatiently.

Twilight tried just that, and found that she was incapable of opening the book. It was magically sealed somehow, but she didn't have the time to figure it out just yet. The small Unicorn hoped that it would become of use if she activated her element, that was a gamble she’d have to take.

“Fair enough,” Pinkie dead-panned, she then turned her attention to Fluttershy. “Your turn, Pegasus lady.”

“Eep!”

Fluttershy timidly moved past the grinning pink Everfree pony as she stood in front of her dormant artifact. She stood there staring at it for what seemed like ages, that was until Pinkie casually bumped the Pegasus with her flanks. Fluttershy jumped in shock and accidentally booped the stone artifact with her snout, causing it to react in a similar fashion as Twilights and Raritys artifact. However in the end it glowed pink before dimming to reveal a butterfly, Fluttershy visibly calmed down at the sight of the thing.

“I think it's alive?” Rarity said, looking at it critically.

And like that, the thing started to flap upwards, shocking everypony. It then floated its way towards Fluttershy, who in turn stood stock still as the strange pink and yellow butterfly landed in her mane. Fluttershy could feel the thing settle in, and for some reason knew that it wasn't going to move. She gently lifted a hoof to feel that the butterfly felt metallic and was no longer alive it seemed. The Pegasus could help to gasp once she realized that the thing was now nothing more than a hair clip of some sorts.

Rarity looks enamored by the whole process. “And I got a butter knife…”

“Fluttershy?” Twilight broached, wanting to make sure their friend was handling it all well.

“I'm fine.” Fluttershy answered clearly, regaining much of the resolve she had when she first entered the forest.

With that said, everypony looked at each other and their new artifacts that had no clue on how to use. Twilight levitated her book to her side and turned towards the way they came.

“Well…”

“Let's carry on with our suicide mission shall we.” Pinkie finished for Twilight, and by the irritated look on the Unicorn's face clearly said that was far from what she was going to say.

“That is not very funny.” Fluttershy whimpered.

Pinkie turned around and looked sincere for a moment, and only a moment. Then she flashed the timid Pegasus a fang filled smile “I know.”