We Rule the Night

by Solar Flare

Chapter 10, By Royal Decree

Chapter 10: By Royal Decree

Nightmare Moon floated into her castle and shifted back to her normal form. She was the only pony here, as Redstar and the rest of her worshippers had been dispatched to the four corners of Equestria, bearing the tides of her return.

This castle suited her far more than the one in Canterlot had, its foreboding stone towers and ivy coated walls bringing an aura of darkness. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, relaxing her tense muscles and resting on the padded granite throne.

Using her prehensile mane, the alicorn removed her helmet and collar and rested them on a table. Where they had once been, a thin soak of sweat could just barely be seen, darkening her black coat even further.

She rested here for a few hours, silently congratulating herself on her newfound victory. The chest containing the Elements of Harmony rested on the table along with her helmet, brought here by one of her pegasi.

Nightmare Moon’s rest was interrupted by the sound of wings entering the skylight. She turned her head upward to see a Pegasus stallion drifting down toward her. The pony had abandoned his usual cloak for a pair of saddlebags, which bulged at the corners.

He landed before the queen, bowing low and lifting the bags off of him with his wings.

“The books you requested, my queen.”

Nightmare Moon thanked the pony half-mindedly, gripping a book in her mane and looking at the cover. “Equestrian Law, Royal Decree and System of Justice, By Princess Celestia.”

The alicorn scoffed and flipped the book open, scanning through the pages. She was familiar with practically every law within, although some required some closer study. With another strand of her mane, she gripped a quill, jotting down some notes about certain laws without looking at her writing.

She continued to read, familiarizing herself with every last detail of every law that had been passed since her first defeat. The laws about magic had been altered the most, and punishments were now generally much more lenient.

Hours passed, random ponies drifting in and out of the palace, bringing offerings or news. Once she was satisfied with the first book, she rolled up the scroll she had written, sealed it with a spell, and waited, flipping through a second book more casually.

Redstar finally flew in, half-collapsing as he bowed, the dark fur on his eyes creased with lines of exhaustion.

“My Queen, I just paid a visit to Ponyville.” The Pegasus said through his panting.

“Catch your breath, Redstar. You’ve had a long journey.” Nightmare said, a hint of genuine concern in her voice.

Redstar thanked her, taking a moment to regain his usual composure. She knew that the way he acted near her was a ruse and that he bore a raging temper.

“As I was trying to say, your highness, I passed Ponyville on my way back here. Some magic appears to have gone rampant. Only one home was seriously affected, but I could feel remnants of the spell in the very air.”

Nightmare Moon chewed on her lip. “Do you know who cast the spell?”

“I spoke with a Pegasus who was flying away from the scene. He was upset, but I managed to get it out of him that it was Hood, a friend of Twilight Sparkle.”

Nightmare Moon sneered. “You didn’t harm this Pegasus did you?”

“Not much.”

“Whatever. Did you see Hood or Twilight?”

“No. A crowd had congealed around the building in question, but they were nowhere in sight, nor were any ponies that I could recognize.” Redstar explained.

Nightmare Moon nodded and handed Redstar her scroll. He gripped it in a fetlock and read it.

“And this, your majesty?”

“Have the scribes begin work on the new law books. I want one to be delivered to the town halls of every town and city across Equestria in three days at the very most. Deliver that scroll to Starquill and then get some rest. You’ve earned it.”

The ever-faithful stallion thanked her and flew off, the scroll gripped between his teeth. Nightmare Moon continued to read her book. The corners of her mouth were turned up as she read, but not in a malicious manner.

The cover of the book depicted a small pony with a sword gripped in his teeth, suited in shining armor. The pony was being stared down by an enormous black dragon, its terrible wings spread wide against the night sky. Above this scene, the words “Sir Moonlight and the Legend of Coroson the Dragon” were written in fancy golden lettering.

The story was Nightmare Moon’s favorite Pony Tail.

-

Rainbow Dash stretched and yawned, forcing herself awake. She didn’t know how long she had been asleep, and it was of course impossible to guess by the sun.

She blinked the sleep from her eyes and looked around, trying her best to adjust to the dim light. She did a double take when she realized she wasn’t alone in her cloud home.

Solar Flare was laying on the floor in the middle of her bedroom unconscious. One of his wings was clearly broken, and pointed skyward at a horrendous angle. There was dried blood in his nose and ears and both of his eyes were black.

Rainbow darted over to him, gingerly shaking his shoulder until he groaned.

“Ugh, R-Rainbow?”

“Yeah, buddy, it’s me. What in the hay happened? Did Hood do this?”

“Not… Hood. He… Hood had nothing to- to-“ The grey Pegasus struggled to get up, but gravity was the stronger force here and he plopped softly back to the cloud floor.

“Don’t try to get up, I’ll be back with help in a sec, I promise.” Rainbow said gently before flying out a window, leaving a rainbow colored trail in her wake. She made a beeline for Fluttershy’s cottage, a path she could take easily through sheer memory, even in the dark.

An upstairs window was open and she crash-landed inside, starting her friend awake.

“Rainbow Dash? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Fluttershy said frantically in her tiny voice.

“No, I’m alright.” Rainbow lied, rubbing the swelling goose egg on her head. “But my friend needs your help, come on!”

The two pegasi darted out the same window, Fluttershy trailing behind slightly. They approached the cloud house and flew inside. Solar Flare was still laying on the floor, groaning and barely moving. Fluttershy immediately went to his side.

“Rainbow, do you have a first aid kit?” Fluttershy asked in an urgent voice, looking over the injured pony.

“Yeah, just a sec.” The cyan Pegasus darted off once more, leaving Fluttershy alone with Solar Flare.

“Who…?” Solar Flare struggled to say, turning his head to Fluttershy. His eyes were swollen almost completely shut.

Fluttershy shushed him. “You’re gonna be just fine. I’m a friend.”

Solar Flare swallowed hard and relaxed again, tremors running through his body at regular intervals. Rainbow appeared once more, carrying a white box with a red cross in her teeth.

She spit it out on the floor, and waited as Fluttershy prepared a piece of gauze with some antiseptic. The yellow Pegasus hummed a comforting tune as she worked, her years of taking care of sick friends taking over.

“Now this might hurt for just a moment.” She whispered. Withouth giving him a countdown, Fluttershy ran the rag over one of Solar Flare’s many wounds, causing him to wince and cry out.

Without missing a step, Fluttershy wrapped another piece of gauze around the wound, sealing it tightly.

“Rainbow Dash, use this to clean off his face.” Fluttershy said, tossing a rag to where her friend was sitting. Rainbow draped it over her hoof and gently wiped the crusted blood away from Solar Flare’s nose, then his ears.

When all his open wounds had been addressed, Fluttershy turned her attention to his wing. She very carefully searched for the break with her hoof, every gentle tap causing Solar Flare to cry out. She located a certain point, seemed satisfied, wrapped a small wooden stick in gauze and stuck it in the stallion’s mouth.

“Bite down on that as hard as you can.” She said gently. He complied. She gripped the break between her hooves and wrenched it back into place.

Never before had Rainbow Dash heard anypony make a sound like Solar Flare did then, and she hoped she never would again. Fluttershy, however, seemed unaffected, setting the bone back into place and wrapping another stick with gauze securely to the wing, leaving it sticking out directly from his side.

The grey Pegasus collapsed, spit out the stick and said no more, his sides rising and falling gently with his labored breath. Fluttershy wiped the sweat from her brow and sighed, closing the first aid kit.

“Is he gonna be okay? Should we take him to the hospital?” Rainbow asked frantically.

“We can’t move him right now, but he’ll be fine. How he ever made it here I’ll never know, I’ve never seen a wing so badly injured.”

“Who could have done this?”

Fluttershy bowed her head grimly. “I think it was Redstar.”

“Who?”

“The same pony that put Big Macintosh in the hospital. He works for Nightmare Moon. He’s a big, bat winged Pegasus.”

Rainbow bit her lower lip. “I didn’t even know Big Mac was in the hospital. What happened?”

“The first time Redstar came to Ponyville, Applejack tried to tell him that Nightmare Moon was gone for good. He almost hit her, but Macintosh kicked him in the face. Redstar bucked him off the stage in town square.” Fluttershy explained.

“How in Equestria could anypony just stand there and take a kick from Macintosh…?” Rainbow asked, more to herself.

“I think he broke his nose, I was, um, well, I was upset at the time…” Fluttershy muttered shyly.

“This is my fault. I should have gone with him.” Rainbow sighed, lowering her head.

“No.” Solar Flare said. The two mares turned back to him. He was still lying down, talking almost against the floor. “If you had been… You’d have ended up like this too…”

“Can you tell us what happened now?”

“I… Hood… He was angry; some sort of spell went wild. He… He didn’t do it on purpose. I was… Flying away. I flew into some big pony. He knocked me out of the sky…”

“Oh my goodness, how awful…” Fluttershy whispered.

“He made me tell him… What I had seen, then he left me there. I’m… Not sure how I got here.”

“You just rest.” Fluttershy said, smoothing his mane comfortingly. He managed a weak smile before fainting again, the last of his energy spent.

Fluttershy turned back to Rainbow Dash. “I’ll come back later. For now, just keep an eye on him. He needs to conserve his energy.

Rainbow agreed and Fluttershy flew away. Rainbow watched as her friend left. Fluttershy had quite the way about her. The kindest pony alive, she would always do anything to help somepony in need, even a total stranger.

Rainbow lied down next to her friend, but avoided contacting him for fear of waking him up.

-

Fancy Pants was alerted by a knock on the door of his study. He pulled the door open with a spell to find his butler, Silver Platter, flanked by two black unicorns garbed in jagged armor.

“Uh, good day to you sirs. Something I can help you with?”

“We’ve been ordered to evacuate you from your home.” One of the black unicorns said, his voice utterly monotone.

“Erm, yes, well, I’m afraid I’m in the middle of an important spot of research concerning the moon. Is it really so urgent?”

“All will be explained to you. Pack only essentials and then leave Canterlot at once, by royal decree.” With that, the two armored ponies turned flank and marched away, leaving a very befuddled Fancy Pants staring awkwardly at his butler.

“Well, I suppose if the Princess deems it so important, then we should best be off. Have the servants rouse Fleur De Lis and pack some things for us, would you Silver Platter?”

“Very well, sir.” The silvery-grey earth pony butler responded.

Fancy Pants himself turned back his telescope. He figured he had at least a few minutes, as Fleur De Lis, his wife, would undoubtedly take a good while preparing. He looked through the intricate instrument, studying the inexplicable phenomenon that was the Mare in the Moon’s return.

After a while, a servant retrieved him, hauling a cart loaded high with suit cases. Fleur De Lis followed close behind, a look of aggravation on her usually stunning face.

“Would you mind telling me why I was awoken in the dead of night by the news that we need to evacuate Canterlot?” She asked, her slight accent showing through more vividly in her mood. A brush levitated by her head, brushing her hair seemingly of its own accord.

“Darling, it’s not the dead of night. It’s four o’ clock in the afternoon.” Fancy Pants replied with a slight chuckle.

“But it’s dark outside?”

“Yes, quite so. I’ve been looking into that myself, but I’ve yet to find a proper explanation.”

They exited the mansion, a parade of servants close behind, hauling wagons with undue amounts of packs, suitcases and trunks. Essentials indeed.

All through the streets, the black armored ponies were standing, barking orders or simply standing guard. They looked rather like Celestia’s guards, but her much more sinister looking.

Fancy Pants spotted his associate Jetset and his wife, Uppercrust, complaining openly to one of the guards, who ignored them completely.

Despite himself, Fancy Pants tried to avoid letting Jetset see him. The stallion was the biggest upstart he knew, and he was in no mood to suffer the sound of his voice.

Fancy Pants went with the flow of ponies leaving Canterlot. Several times he was stopped by somepony asking him what was happening, but for once, he wasn’t in the know. He simply did what the black ponies asked him to, exiting Canterlot and stopping amongst the enormous crowd that had gathered.

Across the road, more of the black ponies stood, their noses in the air. These ones were all pegasi, but their wings were unlike any Fancy Pants had seen. Instead of feathers, they appeared to have membranous wings, which were spread wide, forming a veritable wall of ponies.

At the head of this group, one singularly large pony stood. He scanned everypony as they approached, but remained silent.

This went on for some time, the hundreds of ponies living in Canterlot assembling. Many were beginning to grow impatient, unaccustomed to being told to wait. Fancy Pants found the fact that he had not yet seen either of the princesses somewhat disturbing, and even his patience was beginning to slip.

After what seemed like hours, the crowd stopped growing. The large Pegasus Fancy Pants had been watching took a step forward.

When he spoke, Fleur De Lis, along with many other ponies present immediately covered their ears against the mighty noise. His shout was like something out of a legend; it seemed far too loud for a normal pony.

“Ponies of Canterlot. I am sure that many of you are wondering why you have been assembled here. I am Redstar, herald of the night. I am here to inform you of great news ponies! Nightmare Moon has finally returned in her full glory and wrested her throne from Celestia!”

Fancy Pants felt a chill run through his body and gazed back at the full moon, the Mare in the Moon’s presence now clear to him. Fleur De Lis took her usual spot of leaning on his back, and he made no move to protest.

“I see many of you have taken note of the Mare in the Moon. That, ponies, is Luna! Nightmare Moon has defeated her and her sister and banished them forever within the astral bodies!”

Cries of outrage rippled through the crowd, but Fancy Pants remained silent, retaining his composure. Was this really happening?

“Now, you were not brought here for the sole purpose of being informed of this news. By royal decree of the new queen, Nightmare Moon, the city of Canterlot shall be demolished.”

“You cannot be serious!” Jetset cried, his face flushed with rage.

“Excuse me?” Redstar snarled.

“What do you expect us to do? Just trot off to our summer homes? We don’t all have one you know!” Jetset continued, his pompousness getting the better of him. Fancy Pants attempted to nudge him back.

“I couldn’t possibly care less what you do. But if you stay here, you will be destroyed along with the city.” Redstar said in a normal voice, polishing a hoof on his chest.

“And just how do we know you’re serious?” Another pony that Fancy Pants didn’t know shouted.

Redstar opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off as a whispy cloud of purple smoke shot past him, stopping in between the two groups of ponies.

The cloud shot apart, leaving a black alicorn where it had once been.

Fancy Pants’ jaw dropped. He had seen this pony once before, during his visit to Ponyville during the Summer Sun Celebration.

“Oh, my little ponies, he’s quite serious.” The alicorn said.

Many of the ponies from Canterlot gasped, and many broke rank and ran. Fancy Pants fully expected them to be pursued, but the black ponies made no move, simply staring straight ahead as if in a trance.

The alicorn spread her wings and flew upward, her immaterial mane spreading into thousands of strands. The strands dipped down into the city, stretching for miles as Fancy Pants watched in morbid fascination.

Nightmare Moon’s tail joined her mane, and the two began to course with a powerful magic glow. Fancy Pants wrenched his eyes away and turned toward the city. Before his very eyes, the buildings began to evaporate. The bricks, tile roofs, stone and glass shimmered for a moment, rose into the air like an ember and vanished at the touch of the alicorns mane and tail.

The entire city entered this state, causing a blaring glow. Every last home, shop and factory simply vanished, leaving absolutely nothing in their wake. The only building left was Canterlot castle.

The alicorn flapped her wings once, catching an updraft and lofting toward the magnificent palace. Again, her mane stretched into thousands of tendrils, wrapping themselves around towers, gripping turrets and spreading across walls.

Fancy Pants felt sick as he watched the beautiful piece of architecture dissipate. He had lived in the shadow of the building his whole life, and now he could do nothing but watch as it disappeared, wreathed in the power of this evil pony.

Many of his friends and associates, along with the common rabble of Canterlot collapsed in despair, some sobbing, others going into a frenzied rage. Of course, there was nothing they could do. They knew this.

Fancy Pants felt Fleur De Lis slide off his back and lean on his shoulder, her beautiful eyes overflowing.

“How could this happen?” She muttered rhetorically.

Jetset wheeled around toward Redstar, his face twisted into a look of pure rage. He shouted a very ungentle manlike cry and charged toward the huge Pegasus.

Redstar laughed and shot into the air, his cruel mirth following behind him.

“Why?! What would you do this?!” The angry earth pony screamed, his voice cracking.

Redstar said nothing but simply flew toward where the last of Canterlot Castle was disappearing, Nightmare Moon retracting her strange mane.

He hovered next to the alicorn, apparently talking to her. He did a flip in the air and then flew east. Nightmare Moon dispersed into her cloud form and followed behind.

Fancy Pants lowered his head, dropping his monocle, which shattered with a soft tinkling noise. Fleur De Lis laid her head over his shoulder, sobbing along with most of the other ponies.

-

Macintosh signed some release forms with a pen gripped between his teeth and limped out of the hospital, flanked by Applejack, Applebloom and Granny Smith. He was still bandaged heavily, and it hurt to move, but he certainly felt better than he did when he first came in.

On his way out, he passed a fellow farmer, Elderberry. The green earth pony gave him a nod but said nothing. His eyes were puffy, as if he hadn’t slept in a long time. The two said nothing to one another and continued on their way.

-

Pinkie Pie could just barely see as Canterlot Castle simply vanished, disappearing into thin air.

She sighed sadly. This had been the worst few days of her whole life. No matter how hard she tried to cheer ponies up, they all stayed gloomy.

She couldn’t let that happen.

She sprung to work, the kitchen in Sugarcube Corner filling with the sounds of clattering baking sheets and utensils. She baked and baked, making batch after batch of cookies and cupcakes. Mr. and Mrs. Cake joined her, the three finding a small spark of joy in baking together.

By the time they were done, they were all coated in a layer of flower and they had icing up and down their front hooves and legs. They all looked at each other and giggled.

No matter the circumstances, Pinkie Pie would still be Pinkie Pie. And that meant cheering up anypony she possibly could.