She is known as no more than a myth, a legend, a bedtime story to scare little foals. Her name is Moonrise Drifter, and Twilight Sparkle is going to learn more about her than anypony has in a long time...
The story of 'The Mare that eats the Monsters' is an old, but still very well known Equestrian campfire and bed time story, often told to scare little fillies and colts into behaving themselves. It tells of a mare who loves Equestria and the ponies who live in it despite how frighteningly different she is. She protects ponies across Equestria from nightmarish creatures and monsters that would seek to kill ponies wherever possible. What most ponies don't realize, but what Twilight Sparkle is soon to learn, is that the mare of the story was and is very real.
And the stakes of her mission have never been higher.
(This story has the horror tag, yes, but it isn't the dominant theme here.)
Princess Celestia bit her lip as she looked once more over the scroll that had been for her eyes only, trying to make sure that she was reading the contents correctly. She hadn’t heard from Drifter in almost thirty years. She knew the mare was still doing her job, and quite well, but to go silent for so long and only now send word of a need for assistance with such a short time table? It had come as such a surprise that for once, Celestia was not able to be of assistance herself this time. Her royal duties took priority, dignitaries from a neighboring nation on their way to go over and update various contracts, treaties and trade deals between their countries and Equestria.
Celestia was jolted from her aggravated thoughts and worries for her friend as the large, heavily decorated double doors that connected Canterlot Tower to the rest of the large and formidable castle swung open. Princess Twilight Sparkle entered with a friendly smile as she drew closer, though Celestia could tell from the momentary flicker in Twilight’s eyes that she was taking note of her distraught appearance.
“Hello, Princess Celestia. It’s so good to see you again.” Twilight said, nuzzling Celestia when she was close enough. The white alicorn happily returned the gesture, affectionately draping a wing around Twilight for a moment.
“And you as well, Princess Twilight. I am so glad you could make it on such short notice.” Celestia replied, leaning away from Twilight and glancing once more at the letter she held in her golden aura. Twilight took notice of the sheet, as well as the highly unfamiliar seal on it. She tilted her head in curiosity.
“Who’s that from?”
“A mare named Moonrise Drifter. An… old, very good friend of mine that has done much for Equestria in her long life.” Celestia said with a fond, reminiscing smile coming onto her face.
“Moonrise Drifter? I’ve never heard of her…” Twilight said, trying to think of anypony she knew of that would match that description. Celestia laughed softly before standing to her full height from her partially kneeled position.
“Good. That means she’s doing her job rather well.” Celestia remarked with a smile. “She works behind the scenes, so to speak. It’s very rare for her to contact me for any reason.”
Twilight’s face scrunched up slightly in thought. “And what exactly is her job? What does she do?”
Celestia looked thoughtful before giving a slight shrug. “I must admit that the specifics of her work are not known to me… She isn’t technically a part of any organizations, nor is she formally in the Equestrian government, military or security force. She operates independently, but always with our best interests in mind.”
Twilight blinked and looked at Celestia in surprise. “Wow… she’s pretty secretive if even you don’t know much about what she does.” she gave a nerdy grin. “She sounds fascinating!”
Celestia tittered before giving a nod. “Indeed, she is that. The last time I spoke to her fifty years ago was… a truly interesting experience.” her face turned more serious as she looked to Twilight. “But this is serious. Normally, either I or Luna would assist Drifter personally when she contacts us for assistance, but this notice is so abrupt and so… remote, that neither my sister or I are in a position to do much right now.”
“Assistance? You mean, she needs help?” Twilight asked, glancing to the letter curiously, frowning slightly.
“Yes. The last time she sent me a request for aid was thirty years ago. She either contacts Luna or I, depending on the sort of assistance she needs. This time, she doesn’t seem to be picky about who comes to her aid… with the diplomacy sessions over the next week, however, I am in no position to lend my assistance and neither is Luna…” Celestia turned a strong eye to Twilight as she finished.
Twilight nodded in understanding. “I think I understand. You want me to lend that assistance in your place?”
Celestia nodded as well, a grimace flickering across her face very briefly. “It is a particular aspect of Equestria you will need to be aware of that Drifter does her work in. I feel she herself would be… far more suited to explaining the specifics than I, as engrossed as she is.” she leaned down towards Twilight and caught her eye with an intense stare. “Be careful, Twilight. This task will be dangerous, no doubt. Keep your guard up and stay alert.”
Twilight shrunk away slightly at Celestia’s firm gaze, but nodded. “Alright, I will. Where am I going, and when do I leave?”
Celestia gave a nod and reassuring smile before standing back to her full height. “There is a village up to the north called Little Lapis, just within Equestria’s borders in the Crystal Mountains before entering the Crystal Empire. It doesn’t adhere to the train tracks, as it was a border-station on a highway from long before those tracks were ever constructed. If you take the train to the Crystal Empire, you should be able to reach the village in no more than a day on hoof. Drifter should be waiting for you there.” Celestia looked out the stained-glass window depicting Twilight’s coronation with deep concern showing through her face. “You leave as soon as you have made your preparations. Take every precaution you can, but don’t take too long. The matters Moonrise Drifter deals in are… rarely, if ever, slow to develop.”
Twilight gave a nod before wrapping Celestia in a hug. While suprised out of her distant look, Celestia welcomed the hug gladly. The two shared their embrace before Twilight backed away to leave. “I’d best get going then, huh?”
“Indeed. Good luck, Princess Twilight.”
Twilight nodded enthusiastically before turning to canter from the tower. Celestia watched her go before bowing her head and letting out a long, tired groan, taking advantage of the moment of silence and privacy as well as she could to let the pent up breath escape her. She then glanced out the window and into the afternoon light, the sun gradually inching for the horizon. It would come to a stop soon enough, and she would have to move it down for Luna’s moon before long.
“Tread carefully, my former student… I would go in your place if I could, but I must stay here this time. Besides, you need to learn about this…” Celestia closed her eyes before opening them again. “I just hope the last two hundred years haven’t turned you cold, Drifter… but if they have, I feel I have sent the perfect pony to warm you up some.”
“Let’s see here… Scarfs, check. Coat, check. Boots, check. Map, check. Food and camping supplies… check and check.” Twilight gave a satisfied hum as she set aside her checklist of essentials she was taking with her on her trip. Rarity had helps with the boots, coat and scarf, Applejack had packed the camping supplies and food (mostly apples) and Twilight had copied down a map of the Crystal Empire and obscure settlements in the area marked on it from an atlas in her library.
“You sure you have to take off now, Twilight?” Spike asked, giving her his best puppy eyes, pleading with her to stay until morning. Twilight rolled her eyes before patting Spike on the head.
“I know you want to show me Ogres and Oubliettes, especially now that Discord can make it all… eh… what did you call it?”
“Immersive.”
“Right. And I’d love to really, but this is important Spike. I shouldn’t be gone for long, though. A couple of days, I would guess, then I’ll be back and you can teach me all about the rules of your game with time to spare.” Twilight said as she set her saddlebags onto her back and made for her castle’s main entrance, Spike following closely behind.
“And you don’t want me or our friends along?”
“No, I want you all to come with me, but Celestia said this is going to be dangerous, and said in that follow-up letter earlier that bringing you all with me would probably be a bad idea.” Twilight sighed dejectedly. “It’s a delicate matter, one that has to be handled with extreme caution and care. Bringing too many ponies along would just throw a wrench into the plan. At least, that’s what the Princess seems to think.”
Spike let out a sad sounding groan of his own before Twilight smiled and drew him into a loving embrace.
“If I need you or the other's help, I’ll send you a letter. I promise.” she said with a tight squeeze.
“Alright. Stay safe Twilight, okay?”
“I will. Take care Spike. I’ll see you soon.” and with that, Twilight opened the doors to her castle and exited the building as she made her way for the train station. She gave a few ponies in Ponyville waves and smiles as she went. For whatever reason, she just felt the need to acknowledge a lot more ponies than normal today. As though she wasn’t expecting to be home again for quite some time.
Finally, the train station came into view, the Friendship Express already parked and, by order of Princess Celestia, was awaiting Twilight to get on board and give the all clear for departure. A warm, happy smile spread on Twilight’s face as she saw her friends on the platform waiting for her. “Hey, girls!”
“Howdy, sugarcube. We jus’ thought we’d come and see y’all off.” Applejack said with a nod and smile of her own.
“I still don’t get why we can’t go with you! I mean, come on! We’re your friends! We’ve kicked plenty of butt before, why do we gotta hang back?” Rainbow exclaimed in frustration, throwing her forelegs wide for emphasis as she shot into the air. Applejack grabbed her tail in her teeth and pulled the prismatic pegasus back to the ground.
“Calm down, Rainbow.” She said sharply. Rainbow merely huffed and crossed her forelegs.
“I don't like it either, darling” Rarity agreed more calmly before looking at Twilight with a warm smile. “Oh, but you will let us know if you need us out there, won’t you Twilight?”
Twilight gave a nod and smile. “I will. Spike will belch out a letter from me if I need you.”
“How long will you be gone Twilight?” Pinkie suddenly asked, getting right up in Twilight’s face. “I can’t wait to start planning out your ‘welcome home’ party! But I need to know how long I have so I can figure out how much I can get done before you get home!”
Twilight simply giggled at her pink friend’s antics. “I’m thinking it will only be a few days. A day or so too and from and maybe a day or two helping out this ‘Drifter’ in between trips on the train.”
“Speakin’ of, Twi; what are y’all even s’posed to be helpin’ this ‘drifter’ mare with, anyhow?” Applejack asked curiously, Fluttershy, who had been silent the whole time, nodding behind her.
“I would like to know, too. That is, um, if it’s not too much trouble…” Fluttershy added weakly.
“I’m not totally sure, but Princess Celestia seems to believe I’ll be able to handle it just fine.” Twilight replied with uncertainty, a hint of trepidation slipping into her voice.
“Well, just don’t forget about us!” Rainbow proclaimed, marching up to Twilight and play-punching her in the shoulder.
“Yeah, keep in touch and write us when you can, even if just to talk about how much fun you're having!” Pinkie added cheerfully, her forelegs quickly gathering everypony together into a massive group-hug.
“I will, don’t worry.” Twilight said, basking in the warmth and comfort of her friends hugging her before slowly slipping out of the clustered pile of pony limbs. “At any rate, I should get going. See you later, everypony!” Twilight said as she made her way onto the train, smiling back at them as they began waving and calling out after her in farewell until the doors all closed and the train began to speed away.
It would be night, soon. The sun was already touching the horizon, casting an orange, slowly fading light over the foothills leading into the Crystal Mountains, sinisterly contrasted by dark snowstorm clouds that loomed over them. The train would be passing under those clouds and blotting out the sun soon enough. Already, mounds and sheets of snow could be occasionally seen blanketing sections of land as the train gradually climbed in elevation.
Twilight was making sure all of her things were in order before it was time for her to lay down for some sleep. The train would arrive in the Crystal Empire in the morning, meaning Twilight had plenty of time to get in her rest. The train had plenty of ponies on board, though most of them were in other carts, this one having been reserved for Twilight so she could think and keep her thoughts together without distraction.
She had been spending the last hour going over a list of spells she might have need of on this trip in her head. As she was finally satisfying herself with her completed mental list, her ears twitched as one of the cart’s doors opened. She glanced up and saw a scrawny looking stallion hiding behind the door at the front of the cart, one of his eyes looking at her nervously. “P-princess T-twilight? Uh, is now a good time?”
Twilight simply gave a warm smile. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna bite you or anything. Do you need something?”
The stallion entered with an uneasy look on his face as he glanced over his shoulder. “Um… well, it’s... I dunno how to describe it…” he prodded at the floor uneasily with the tip of a hoof, looking around as though worried something was about to ambush him.
“Take your time. I’m listening.” Twilight said gently, standing from her seat and moving to the center of the cart to stand in front of the stallion. He was sweating and looked horribly confused, putting a concerned frown on Twilight’s face.
“It’s my wife… she isn’t waking up from her nap.” The stallion finally managed, looking over his shoulder fearfully. “That isn’t normal. She naps like this constantly on our way to and from the Empire, but she always wakes up when I shake her… but, now she isn’t… I’m worried something bad’s happened to her… can you take a look?”
Twilight frowned, looking at him quizzically. “I’d love to, but why didn’t you ask one of the train’s medical staff?”
“I uh… it’s silly, I know, but… I didn’t want to cause any alarm for the other passengers.” the stallion mumbled uncomfortably. Twilight sighed softly but nodded.
“Alright, lead the way-”
She didn’t get to finish the sentence. The train suddenly shook violently, the wheels screeching loudly as the emergency brakes were put into effect. The sudden force of the stop sent Twilight and the Stallion sprawling to the ground and sliding to the front wall of the train cart, bumping and slamming into the rows of seats along the way.
Twilight could hear alarmed and frightened shouts and cries from the cart ahead of hers as she started to get to her hooves, the train having finally stopped. “What in the wide, wide world of Equestria is going on?!” she asked in a trembling voice as he got to her hooves.
The stallion didn’t reply. He was out cold on the floor, his head having hit the wall when he finally reached it. With a dizzy groan, Twilight picked him up in her magic before throwing the door to the next cart open. She froze at what she saw.
Everypony in the passenger cart was in a blind panic, stampeding and crowding in an effort to escape the train cart. The fresh corpse of a young mare was on the ground, a chunk of flesh having bit ripped away from her neck, allowing blood to pool onto the floor from her lifeless body. Twilight could feel her stomach churning and she had to make an active effort to keep from throwing up.
“Merciful Celestia…” Twilight breathed before her eyes shot from the corpse to the crowd ahead of her. The ponies were scattering away from two others in the middle of the cart, looking like they were struggling. Twilight felt her eyes widen and her pupils shrink as one of the ponies, looking far more like an animal, dug his teeth into the shoulder of the stallion he grappled with, drawing an agonized scream with the stallion before pinning him down.
Claws grew out of the cannibalistic ponies forehoof, slicing across the stallion’s face and instantly silencing his cries and screams, blood splattering across the floor and onto the panicking faces of nearby ponies.
Twilight was frozen in shock, wide eyed and filled with horror as the monster turned its hungry eyes slowly to her. A sadistic, sharp-toothed smile spread across his bloody face before a long, slithering tongue licked his teeth and lips. “The Princess shows herself…” he growled hungrily before lunging.
Twilight, acting purely on reflex, slammed the train car door shut in her attacker’s face, backing away quickly. The ravenous pony slammed into the door and swiftly tore it off it’s hinges with blade-like claws and impossible strength, maniacal howls of glee ripping from it’s throat as it stormed after Twilight without pause.
“GET AWAY!” Twilight screamed as she fired a beam of magic at the creature. The creature wasn’t even slowed down as the magic seemed to merely slide right off of it, as though it couldn’t touch it at all, so it went around.
Twilight let out a panicked shriek as the creature jumped for her. She ducked just in time for it to sail over her head. Her eyes widened as the stallion on her back was pulled off of her as the creature shot past her. She turned just in time to see it plunge it’s claws into the unknowing pony’s chest, ending his life instantly.
Thinking fast, Twilight shot a small, focused beam of magic at the floor beneath the monster. It leapt back, avoiding falling into the hole Twilight made in the floor of the train. As it did that, Twilight took the chance to charge her horn and teleport out of the cart and onto the roof of the train.
She turned around to look at the front of the train, another gasp escaping her as she realized that there were several breaches in the side of the train, ponies scrambling to get away as more of these things pounced and practically frolicked through the screaming crowd, slicing, biting shredding and tearing through it with those ever present smirks.
Then they all looked at her. Twilight quickly backed away fearfully, her eyes looking for something that could help her and the other passengers here. Nothing was immediately visible, the creatures beginning to bound and sprint for her specifically, forgetting everypony else and charging.
This is bad! Twilight mentally stated the obvious before taking to the air with a powerful flap of her wings. The creatures let out angry howls as she got out of their range. Glaring at her, their eyes began to turn sadistic once more as they looked back at the crowds of fleeing ponies. “If we can’t have the main course, we’ll make a meal of the appetizers…!” one of the beasts shouted at her before they began to jump into the crowds of running ponies again, outrunning them effortlessly.
What do I do, what do I do?! Twilight thought to herself helplessly as more ponies were brought to swift and terrible ends by these monsters. Her magic was seemingly useless against these things, and she had no chance in trying to tackle them without it. These ponies were dying quickly and she was powerless to help them!
From the front of the train, there was suddenly a bright orange flash. Twilight looked over and squinted as a large explosion went off, fire and shrapnel spreading everywhere as the force of the blast sent the front of the train flying through the air. Twilight yelped as she realized the train cart was flying right at her. She lowered her altitude and prepared a teleportation spell to get out of the way in time. A scream of pain flew from her lungs however, as one of the beasts below had seen her descent and leapt for her, sinking it’s impossibly sharp teeth into her right hind leg.
Twilight’s teleportation spell discharged improperly, a high-pressure blast of unfocused, raw magic exploding from the tip of her horn and kicking her into the ground below from the recoil. The train section had a hole blown in it’s side from the force of the spell as it fell down upon the Princess of Friendship.
C-c-cold! Twilight awoke and tried to open her eyes when she realized how cold she was getting, only to find that they were frozen shut. She let out a pained, shivering gasp as she tried to pry them open with some assistance from her forehooves. She bit down on her tongue to keep from shrieking out in agony as she realized one of her forelegs was pinned underneath the heavy weight of the train. As she shifted, cold, damp fluff slid off of her, informing her that she was partially covered in snow.
With a pitiful whimper, she lit her horn and cast a heat spell to banish the offending ice from her eyes and body so she could see and get some feeling back. Slowly, the ice and snow melted off of her and pooled beneath her into a small puddle. Hesitantly, Twilight opened her eyes to look at her surroundings. It was well and truly night time, now. A furious snowstorm had picked up, the cloudfront from earlier having migrated to smother the foothills.
Twilight groaned out as she pieced together her immediate surroundings. Her right foreleg was trapped beneath a section of the train. She found herself lying under the train, a section of its wall having been blown away by her botched teleport earlier. Luckily, it had landed and stayed in place so it would not crush her. Her foreleg gave an agonized throb to protest the thought.
Crying out and hissing in pain, Twilight used magic to dig at the soil and snow beneath her trapped foreleg so she could pull it out. She proceeded slowly and with caution as she finally withdrew the limb. It was excruciating, painful beyond anything she had felt before. The bones under her skin and muscle had probably taken severe damage, meaning that trying to walk was not an option.
Above, Twilight’s eye caught a glimpse of an orange flickering light reflected on the metal siding of the train. Testing her wings, she found they were flight worthy, even if extremely sore. She flapped her wings and slowly, tentatively drifted her way into the train cart proper. It was horrible. None of the creatures had come in here, it seemed, by the conductor and other staff in here when everything… happened… were not spared. Several, gaping holes had been melted into the front face of the cart, one of the snow-covered corpses showing the result of that explosion from before with a horrifically burned and twisted face and skull. Twilight felt her stomach twist in her gut, but she was able to force down her sickness for now.
With grunts of effort and pain, she made her way towards the door in the back and pried it open, despite it being sideways, and slipped outside. Immediately, the harsh winds lashed across her body like a flurry of daggers, snowflakes flowing with the wind at incredible speed. Twilight could see small fires burning away at various pieces of debris, wreckage and flammable materials that were sheltered from the snow and winds. The light they created was just enough to subtly reveal the absolute massacre that surrounded her.
Twilight dare not look. She focused her eyes on one of burning chunks of wood with good cover and few for it, using her telekinesis to bring over as many other pieces of burning or flammable material as possible. After wobbling in the air and gingerly setting herself down without putting weight on her wounded hoof, she had a small but serviceable campfire going. Now that freezing to death was staved off for a bit, she took a moment to think back on everything that had happened.
“A-A-Am I all th-t-that’s l-left?” Twilight jittered to herself through clenched chattering teeth, curling up into a ball and trying to use her mane and tail as blankets. The results were unsatisfactory.
A dry coughing noise caught her attention. Twilight perked up and listened to the voice, trying to figure out where it was coming from. Another cough and then a growl, putting Twilight’s ears to rest flat against her head as she realized it was one of the monsters from before.Twilight scooted slightly away from the light created by her fire and kept looking around for the creature.
“Comfortable...?”
Twilight shrieked in surprise as she swiftly stood and spun around to face the voice behind her, immediately collapsing as her injured hoof burned horribly in protest to the sudden movement. Gritting her teeth, she looked forward and saw the malformed face of that beast pony from before giving her a lopsided, sadistic smirk. It was pinned beneath another massive chunk of the train, only it’s head and one of it’s forehooves poking out. It was on it’s back, so speaking or breathing was probably difficult for it.
“I must say… that even if- ack! ...even if I only got a taste… it was worth it…” it licked it’s lips, still stained with blood and a few tufts of lavender fur now frozen to them. Twilight felt her face pale as she looked to the rear leg that had been bit earlier before looking back to the monster with horror, rage, fear, sorrow and confusion.
“What are you? W-w-why did y-you do this?” Twilight asked, barely able to raise her voice for how tired and cold she felt. The creature gave a weakened cackle, a glazed, euphoric look coming over its eyes.
“I am nothing important… I merely did what I wanted… when I was finally able…” the creature wheezed before gnawing on thin air, smile widening. “I just wish I had been able to taste more of you… just that bit of leg meat was… succulent…”
Twilight felt disgust and revulsion build within her. “You monster…”
“Monster?” The beast tilted its head at her, briefly losing it’s smile. It looked thoughtful before it’s massive, sickening grin returned in full. It laughed softly, than uproariously before breaking into a coughing fit, spurts of blood flying from it’s mouth. Finally, it regained it’s composure and smiled at her hungrily. “Yes, that’s perfect. A good name for me and my fellows. Monsters. Heh… heh… eheh-”
Twilight had heard enough. Almost without thinking, her horn lit and pulled one of the burning planks of wood on her campfire, swinging over before thrusting it into the creatures laughing mouth. The monster spasmed, gurgled, then fell silent and still. small trails of smoke could be seen lazily drifting from it's mouth, and the residual heat on the stick caused it's mouth to sizzle and pop. Twilight left the smoking plank in the monster's mouth, losing her focus as disgust and sickening feelings became too much for her. She pushed herself to the side so her ejected lunch wouldn’t be too close to her little camping spot.
Twilight sluggishly pulled herself back when her convulsions and heaving stopped, gazing into the fire and shivering horribly. She wasn’t sure, but the fire looked like it was getting dimmer. As the adrenaline from a few moments ago began to fade, Twilight couldn’t hold it any longer. She set her head down on the ground and began to cry as quietly as she could.
So many ponies… dead… she was all that was left at the scene, everypony else having either been killed by the monsters, the sudden stop of the train, the explosion or the snowstorm that only seemed to be getting worse. Twilight shifted slightly. Still weeping, she ignited her horn and pulled a strip of cloth from a nearby corpse. She was loathe to do so, but she had no other choice if she wanted to live.
With the scrap of cloth in front of her, she lit her horn and carefully burned the words ‘HELP ME’ into the cloth. With the last of her energy, she cast the spell that turned it into smoke and sent it to Spike. She watched as the cloth vanished and drifted away for Ponyville. It would no doubt take an hour at least to get there with the distances involved. Twilight sighed and curled up, trying to keep warm as best as she was able in the dark, snowy night
“Help me.. Help me… help me… help… me…” she found herself whispering over and over to herself as she lost her hold on consciousness.
Twilight woke to find that morning had come at last, Her fire was only smoldering cinders, but at least the blizzard had passed and sunlight was visible on the horizon, casting its glow over the area. Twilight almost found herself wishing for the darkness to return as the light revealed the scene around her. So much blood…
Not far away, among the debris and wreckage, Twilight heard metal creaking as it stepped on. She shot up, careful to not cause too much discomfort or pain in her wounded legs and looked around, listening carefully. Snow was crunching under hoof falls nearby. Twilight, for a moment, felt relief beyond measure and opened her mouth to call out; then she remembered the monsters from yesterday, how they looked like ponies in many ways. She clamped her mouth shut and held perfectly still.
Twilight felt her heart sink and her body wilt in despair as no fewer than six of the monsters from before began to make their way out of hiding, approaching slowly and watching her hungrily, hunched over and ready to pounce. Gradually, they took position, cornering her against the wall of her shelter.
“The main dish? Alive? Oh, no… this won’t do at all…” the monster in front said slowly, drawing his words out and peeling his lips back to show his teeth. “We came here to eat you, Princess Twilight. As good as these other ponies were as a snack… they aren’t alicorns.” They all began to lick their lips and drool profusely as they drew closer.
“Stay away from me…!” Twilight choked out, unable to find her voice through the paralyzing fear she felt.
“Eeeehhhh-!” One of them began whining, slamming it’s face down into the corpse it stood over and pulling back with newly acquired blood and meat dangling and dripping from it’s maw. “I can’t take it anymore! I am starving! Come on, can’t we just eat her already?!”
“Agreed. I grow rather bored of these cheap creatures.” another said drearily, swiping it’s claws at a nearby corpse, but not diving in for a bite. “It’s time for something that tastes good.”
“Please… no…” was all Twilight managed to whimper before screaming in absolute terror, the monster at the head of the pack lunging for her.
Twilight gasped and opened her eyes as she heard the sound of rending flesh, but not her own. Fresh, warm blood sprayed across her as the monster in front of her dropped dead over five feet away, a series of long horizontal slashes having appeared across it’s chest. The blood of the beast was smeared across the forehoof of a new arrival. She was a bright gray with a silver mane and tail. Her eyes were yellow with reptilian slits for pupils. Sharp fangs could be seen pointing down from her upper jaw. Large bat-wings extended and flexed on the mare's back. Curiously, she didn’t have a cutie mark.
The beasts immediately backed off, bristling growling and snapping at the new mare, screaming and shouting violently and wildly. “Traitor!” “Cannibal!” “Disgrace!” were just some of the words Twilight could hear being shouted from the creatures at the mare that now barred their path. Said mare glanced down at Twilight.
“Stay here and grab a weapon. Magic won’t work on their skin.” her voice sounded young yet ancient at the same time, not unlike how the princesses sounded. She turned a cocky eye and amused smirk to the monsters ahead. “Shame on you, boys. Didn’t anypony ever tell you not to play with your food?”
Twilight gasped as all four of the mare’s hooves seemed to grow long, sharp claws very similar to those of the monsters in front of her. The mare gave a snarl, her eyes briefly glowed and then, she charged.
The Mare’s long, sharpened claws plunged deep into the side of her target’s neck, piercing through the other side before she gave a swift tug, ripping the monster’s throat away from the rest of the body, the monster going limp as blood splattered and sprayed across the ground; as well as the mare, who was already turning to the remaining four creatures.
“KILL HER!” The farthest monster screamed before lunging at the thestral alongside his pack. She gave an irritated snort before ducking back out of the first strike from the pack. Another of the beasts came following her swiftly, claws thrusting forward in an attempt to slice her legs and prevent her from using her claws.
She was one step ahead of him.
With an agile swiftness that Twilight thought impossible for ponies without magic, the mare lifted herself above the swipe before bringing her own claws down on the attack before it could pass her by, pinning the offending limb in place. The beast howled in agony before the mare opened her mouth, revealing a maw filled to the brim with razor sharp teeth.
The monster didn’t get the chance to respond, her teeth having already sunk into its neck, blood spurting free and its eyes rolling into the back of its head as it dropped dead. The remaining monsters quickly scampered away for some breathing room as she dropped the fresh corpse to the ground. She gave a confident smile.
Twilight watched with wide eyed horror as the scene played out in front of her. This mare… who the hell was she?! Her speed, those claws, the teeth. She was not like any bat pony Twilight had ever seen. Her resemblance to the creatures she was fighting was uncanny. They were almost identical, save for her posture and less skinny build. She was in great shape and her body moved with timed experience and precision that made it clear she had been doing this for a very long time.
“Damn you, Drifter! Damn you! DIE!” Another of the monsters screamed in outrage at the sight of its dead companions, its own anger sending it into a careless assault. Drifter shot forward to meet it, sidestepping and dragging her claws across the entirety of it’s side, drawing blood and sending the mauled monster sprawling to the ground in a writhing, swiftly dying heap.
Twilight shrunk away even more. Had that monster just called her Drifter?! As in, Moonrise Drifter?! The mare she was on her way to meet before all of… this… happened? Twilight had no way of knowing for sure, but was suddenly snapped back to reality as one of the monsters turned to rush her. Remembering what the mare, Drifter, had said, Twilight’s horn lit with magic and brought over a slab of shrapnel in a large swing, just in time to catch the Monster and knock it off-course with bone-shattering force.
The creature came to a roll, growling in pain as its side began to turn purple and red in a massive, horrible bruise. Drifter was on the case with him, having just dodged a leap from the other, she lifted herself into the air with her wings before coming down onto the back of the wounded monster, sinking her rear claws into its flanks and her front claws into its spine, paralyzing it instantly. The beast howled and dropped, no longer having any control over anything below its shoulder blades.
Drifter stood from the disabled monster before turning to look for the other one. It was missing. Her eyes narrowed and shot left and right, looking for wherever it may come from next.
“What the hay is-”
“Shh!” Drifter shushed Twilight immediately, shooting over and putting a hoof, claws retracted, against her mouth. “Quiet!”
Twilight froze in fear but otherwise nodded.
“Stay here, keep your wits about you and listen. They’re here for you and will evade me if they can. This last one is going to prove difficult, I get the feeling. Keep that shrapnel handy.” the mare stepped away slightly, her claws coming out of her hoof once more. The sound they made as they pushed out of her hooves was enough to make Twilight cringe. “I’ll answer any and all questions you have when that thing is dead.”
Twilight didn’t get a chance to nod as the Mare suddenly turned and lifted into the air, quickly vanishing into the surrounding environment as though she were never even here. With a gulp and fearful shiver, Twilight held the shrapnel close in her magic, ready to swing it at a moment's notice.
Drifter’s eyes moved left and right, taking in every little detail of her surroundings as she slowly flew through the site of the wrecked train. She mentally scolded herself very briefly for having not predicted this. The Fiends were eager to see her dead, and any and all help she received from Equestria would be made an active target for elimination as soon as they were aware of it.
A chill breeze swept by, creating a haunting whistling sound in the air and causing the clothes on the many deceased ponies to flutter or wave in the wind. A metallic groan echoed across the snow-covered region from one of the train carts. Drifter glanced that way and slowly moved forward, careful to keep her wing beats subtle and quiet. Some gathered snow fell off of the top of the cart as she approached, proving to have merely been caused by the gradually building winds.
Shriek!!
Drifter turned just in time for the beast to pounce and slash across her right flank. A yelp tore from her lungs before her left hind-leg bucked on reflex, striking the creature in the side and sending it into a retreat. She turned and shot after it, bringing her claws up in an effort to strike it down before it could get away. She cursed under her breath as her claws met it’s own. With a grunt, the creature forced her back with a mighty shove before retreating once more out of sight while she regained her balance in mid-air.
“I see what you’re doing… hit and run…” Drifter whispered to herself, giving the claws on her wounded leg a slow, firm flex to try and relax the pained muscles. “Got in a good hit…” She took to the air again and resumed her careful, quiet pursuit, ears up and listening for any unusual sounds.
Drifter could feel the creature looking at her from somewhere. It saw her, she didn’t see it. That would be problematic. With a grimace, she took a deep breath and concentrated. She could react in time if she focused.
There was barely the sound of crunching snow as the monster came bounding at her from a sheltered position in the snow. Drifter turned around and screamed as it managed to sink its teeth into her shoulder. Thinking fast, she lifted the hoof under it into a stabbing punch into the beast’s gut, claws puncturing its skin and tearing out through its back. With a furious shout, she used the momentum of the punch to vault the creature over her and onto it’s back.
It twitched and looked up at her with maniacal glee before she bit down and ended its life a second later. When she pulled away, a large chunk of its flesh came with her jaws. She chewed absently before swallowing and wiping her mouth with a foreleg as her claws retracted.
“Bleugh! You new guys taste horrible. What is Horizon making you out of these days? Dragon shit?” With a grunt, Drifter rose to her hooves and tested her legs. Her hind leg gave a sharp throb of protest, but she’d had far worse. With a nod to herself, she lifted into the air on her wings and began to return to where Twilight should still be waiting.
Twilight had started shivering horribly when the mare’s scream echoed from some distance away. The following silence had almost sent her into a hysterical panic. She only calmed very slightly when she saw her returning, albeit with a few new wounds on her body. The mare set herself down next to the disabled monster on the ground, looking at it with disgust. It was still alive, but had lost consciousness from shock. She grunted in irritation before her left hoof extended it’s claws and stabbed the monster’s head, ending it once and for all. She retracted the claws and looked at Twilight.
Her nonchalant smile was worrying to Twilight. It was as if none of that had just happened for the mare. She seemed far too relaxed about this. “Hi, you must be the new Princess I keep hearing about. Twilight Twinkle, was it?”
Twilight levitated the shrapnel to float between her and the mare, pointing it at her threateningly. “Stay away from me!!” Twilight snapped fearfully, scooting away and trying to hide the pain she was feeling as best she could. The mare flinched away and sat on her haunches.
“It’s okay, Twilight. I’m not going to hurt you.” Drifter said gently, retracting her claws and smiling warmly. “I'm here to help you.”
“What is going on here?! Who are you?! What were those…. Those… THINGS?!” Twilight asked in a rapidly rising voice, hysteria setting again as it all started catching up to her. “What, might I add, are you?! You look like you’re one of them!”
“Well, that’s because I am.” Drifter said almost casually. A yip escaped her as she had to duck Twilight’s thrust with the shrapnel. “Hey, watch it!”
“Get away from me!” Twilight screamed before fully breaking down. She dropped the shrapnel and curled up as tightly as possible, hiding herself from the world with her wings and forehooves. “This can’t be happening… this isn’t happening… somepony help me... I-i just wanna go home…”
Drifter silently watched sympathetically as Twilight began to cry and sob her stresses out of her system. No doubt this was a horrifically traumatizing experience for her. She wouldn’t get over this any time soon… With a sigh, Drifter slowly approached as carefully as she could. “I’m so sorry this is how you had to be introduced to all of this…”
Twilight looked up at her only barely, her eye just peeking out from between her foreleg and wing. She was terrified. Drifter gave a soft smile before settling down, wincing only slightly at the pain her legs sent to her brain. Twilight shuddered. “Why is this happening…”
“That’s a long story, I’m afraid… I have a small hideout not far away. It has food, water, a fireplace and medical supplies. We can get patched up and I’ll tell you everything I know.”
Twilight flinched at the offer, falling silent for almost a minute before replying. “O-okay… fine…” she tried to stand, only to fall and yelp as her wounded legs gave out under her. “But I can’t walk like this…”
Drifter nodded solemnly. “Okay. Try and fly. I’ll give you support should you need it. Let’s go.” she said before standing and spreading her large, leathery wings. Twilight unfurled her own wings and carefully lifted from the ground into the air with a few, tentative flaps before she began following Drifter towards the Crystal mountains.
Twilight bit her lip and looked at the back of Drifter’s head uneasily as they went forward. The silence was growing so thick she could have cut it with her teeth. “So… did I hear that… thing right? You’re Moonrise Drifter?”
“I call that type of Fiend a ‘Duck.’ Magic slides right off of them like water off a duck's back. And yes, I’m Moonrise Drifter. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, miss Twinkle.”
“Oh, whoops. Silly me.” Drifter said in good humor before smiling back at Twilight. “Sorry. I’m not as ‘in the know’ with modern Equestria as I should be.”
“Princess Celestia said you have this really important obscure job that you do. She also said she hasn’t seen you face to face in a long time, but you look as old as I am. What’s the deal with that?”
“Ah, typical Celestia, leaving out details like that. Heh,” Drifter chuckled before performing a mocking impersonation of Princess Celestia. “I’m sorry, Twilight, I should have told you that Moonrise Drifter is a one thousand year old fiend that kills and eats other fiends! Maybe I should have also sent a guard squad with you so that your train isn’t a total sitting duck in the event of a fiend attack.”
Twilight gave Drifter a dirty look. The mare stopped talking and cleared her throat.
“Ahem- Ah, sorry.”
“Wait… a thousand years? You were around all the way back then?!” Twilight asked as that bit of information finally registered with her exhausted mind.
“Yup.” Drifter looked over her shoulder at Twilight again with an almost mischievous smile on her face. “Tell me… have you heard the story of ‘The Mare that eats Monsters?’”
Deep in an old, beautiful forest, the small, happy village of Hollow Shades was soon to begin its annual midnight celebration, a tradition held close by the bat-like ponies called thestrals that live there. It was to be a happy time, three days dedicated to offering thanks to Princess Luna for the night in which they could so wondrously thrive.
Visiting Hollow Shades at this time were a scholarly mare and stallion, happily married. They had been curious of the festival, and thus had come to observe and take part. The unusual and sometimes frightening appearance of the thestrals never changed the happy mood of the town for the couple. They enjoyed their time very much.
During one of the days before the festival, a small group of bat ponies had left Hollow Shades to gather food and supplies from the forest around them. The visiting mare, named Dancing Leaf, accompanied them out of curiosity.
When a strange cry caught her attention, Dancing Leaf was unsure what to make of it. She followed the noise, becoming separated from the rest of the group. She soon found an infant thestral filly, hiding under an old, dying tree, with no blankets or clothes to keep her warm. She was afraid and cold.
“Oh, you poor thing…” Leaf had whispered to her, gently picking up the lonely filly. “Who would ever leave you alone like this?” The filly seemed to calm down and find comfort in Leaf’s embrace, snuggling into the warmth she provided. The sight was enough to melt Leaf’s heart, for she had been wanting a baby for some time.
She took the baby back to Hollow Shades to see if anypony there knew her or her parents. Nopony did. Leaf was confused and disappointed that none of the bat ponies knew who the filly was. Leaf brought her husband the filly. Together, they agreed to raise her and look after her themselves.
The night of the festival came. As the moon began to raise into the air, a gentle breeze sent some of the fallen leaves of autumn drifting and dancing across the ground, the little filly finding adorable joy in the way the leaves moved.
For this reason, as well as how she was left alone, was the filly named Moonrise Drifter by her new, adoptive parents.
They returned to Canterlot, and years began to slowly tick by. Moonrise Drifter was an oddity, even among thestrals. Everypony in Canterlot knew that bat ponies could eat meat as well as fruits and vegetables, but little Drifter seemed to only like meat. She couldn’t stomach fruits or vegetables.
Despite the unease her parents felt over this, they were happy to arrange imports of meat from Griffonstone for their filly. They were happy for many years.
On Drifter’s tenth birthday, her parents decided to once again attend the midnight festival in Hollow Shades, to show Drifter where they had found her. They had never lied to her about her adoption; they loved her as any parent should.
Moonrise Drifter was so excited. She wanted to see where she had come from so badly. When they finally arrived, she spent almost the entire first day just talking to the locals and learning everything she could. She was happy to learn that the ponies of Hollow Shades remembered her, having all been there when her parents had found her and taken her in. She learned so much, and was so thrilled by how wonderful it all was. It was like a dream, she had thought.
On the first night of the festival itself, however, her wonderful dream would turn into a frightening nightmare. She was abducted while she slept by something scary. It moved with unnatural speed and pulled her, screaming and crying deep into the cold, dark forest.
“Who are you?” She had cried to her foalnapper
“Your family.” was all her foalnapper bothered to say.
They stopped in a secluded clearing, lit faintly by moonlight. “My family is back in Hollow Shades! Take me back!” Drifter had defiantly demanded of the pony before her.
“They saved you, and for that will earn a quick death. But you are naive if you think of them as family.” The foalnapper snarled, showing rows of sharp teeth. “Your real daddy has been waiting for you for a long time.”
Drifter found her heart falling into the bottom of her chest as the pony told her that neither of them were ponies in anything but appearance. They were Fiends. Ponies that had been created in a time before harmony.
“We eat ponies, little one,” the Fiend had said. “I am here to make sure you do as your blood demands.”
Drifter began to cry as she was told to return to Hollow Shades and eat her parents. “No! I won’t eat mommy and daddy! I could never do that!”
“You have no choice. I’ll be watching from afar, little one. If you don’t eat them, I will.” as he said that, the fiend vanished into the darkness, leaving Drifter to cry and argue with herself about what she should do.
“I can’t eat mommy and daddy…” she cried as she slowly began to return to Hollow Shades. When at last she made it it was to the concerned and relieved sighs and words of her parents. They had been looking for her all night.
She tried to tell them what was happening, but she couldn’t get her thoughts into words.
“If you won’t I will.” The fiend said as he emerged from the darkness.
“Don’t you dare eat my mom and dad! I won’t let you!” little Drifter defended, showing her own teeth to the approaching fiend.
“You don’t have a choice.” The fiend attacked. Drifter found she was no match for the fiend. He was faster, stronger. She was down before she could react. Her parents began to cry and scream as the fiend prepared to eat them, licking his teeth and laughing.
So absorbed was he in his advances that he momentarily forgot Drifter. In a terrified rage, claws grew from her hooves. She brought them upon the fiend, surprising him and making him fall as she stabbed him. “If you eat my mommy and daddy, I’ll eat you!” Drifter had said to the fiend.
The fiend had only laughed sickeningly as the two struggled. Giving in to her anger and fear, Drifter sank her long, sharp teeth into the monster beneath her, ending it’s life. She fell into a trance as she began to eat, almost oblivious to the world around her until her parents called out to her.
“I’m so sorry.. I didn’t know… do you hate me?” Drifter asked, beginning to cry.
“Of course not, sweetie. We love you. You are our daughter and you just proved it by saving us.” Leaf had whispered as she hugged and cradled her daughter, her husband joining her.
Drifter was happy to hear that. From that day forth, she dedicated herself to protecting her parents from the fiends that began to pursue them. She did a good job, able to keep her family safe, happy and alive until old age claimed them.
When her parents were gone, Drifter had grown into a fine mare. She knew the fiends would still come after her, and so she dedicated the rest of her life to hunting them down in order to protect Equestria, the place she had come to love and call home.
Even to this day, so much later, little Drifter continues to fight the fiends. She fights them and defends us from them so we can live happily and safely.
Twilight closed the seven hundred year old story book with a thoughtful expression on her face as Drifter finished applying the healing salve to her wounded hind leg, wrapping a bandage over it after she had done so. The cave was filled with a soft flickering light, cast by the fireplace in the center.
“That was the first ever publication of the story on it’s own.” Drifter explained as she moved to look at the book, a fond, reminiscing smile on her face. “Out of all the versions that have come to be over the years, that one is the closest to the truth.”
Twilight nodded solemnly. “I can tell that it’s definitely different from the current telling of the tale. Most of them say you wound up eating your parents and loved the taste so much you began to eat ponies and fiends indiscriminately. It’s a story used to scare fillies and colts into behaving themselves.” she recalled with a frown on her face.
“Well, that’s what happens when a story is passed down over a thousand years. Details are forgotten or changed to convey different messages to go with the time it’s told in.” Drifter said dejectedly before tending to her own wounds. She dipped her claws into the jar and scooped up a large dollop of the pale green goop before retracting her claws so it would rest on her hoof.
“So… how much of this version of the story is true?” Twilight asked hesitantly, looking at Drifter carefully. She paused for a second, going stiff with her hoof only an inch from her wounded shoulder.
“...Most of it. I grew up with my adoptive parents and I loved them more than anything. I could only eat meat, and they saw to it I had a steady supply of it.” she closed her eyes. “But I wasn’t as happy as the story says. They tried to put me in public school, but I wound up dropping out after only my first year.”
“Why?”
“Imagine sharing a classroom with a carnivorous bat pony who was a lot stronger and faster than almost everypony else in her age group.” Drifter said, a hint of bitterness and resentment creeping into her voice. “I got bullied a lot. The foals that didn’t bully me were too afraid of me to try and be my friend. I was alone the entire time. I saw so many other fillies and colts making friends and laughing and playing… and I always just sat on the sidelines and watched. On my own.”
“Oh… I’m so sorry.” Twilight said softly, looking sympathetically at Drifter.
“It was a thousand years ago. Don’t worry. I made peace with it a long time ago.” Drifter casually brushed off the sentiment. “I was home schooled in the end, and I think that did me a lot of good. I didn’t have to worry about the pressure of my peers and was able to learn my lessons directly from mom.”
“Alright. I can see how that would be nice. Still, though… ponies these days are a lot more accepting of the strange or unusual. I can think of at least thirty different ponies over in Ponyville that would love to be friends with you, and that’s just off the top of my head. The whole town would probably be fine with you as you are, and the same is true for a massive majority of Equestria’s population.” Twilight said reassuringly, smiling at Drifter.
“That is true. I’ve made a fair number of friends in the last hundred or so years.” Drifter smiled warmly as she thought on them. “Such amazing ponies…”
“Do you think I could meet them sometime?” Twilight asked hopefully. Her ears slowly fell as Drifter sadly shook her head. “Why not?”
“I’m over a thousand years old, Twilight… most ponies don’t get that sort of life-span. They’re all dead.” Drifter said softly, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.
Twilight shrunk away and mentally scolded herself for being so careless in her thoughts. “I… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-”
“It’s fine, Princess. I’ve had a lot of practice grieving over my long life. I’m used to it.” Drifter smiled at Twilight. “Still, I try to avoid making friends if possible. Even if I’m used to it, it’s still not pleasant and I’d rather avoid the feeling if possible.”
Twilight nodded silently, letting herself relax by the warmth of the fire. Drifter sighed softly before looking towards the Princess of friendship with a more serious frown on her face.
“Twilight, as nice as all of this reminiscing and chit-chat is, I did call for aid because there’s a situation here. A big one.”
Twilight looked at Drifter uneasily.
“The number of fiends is growing at an alarming rate. That can only mean one thing…” Drifter let a scowl cross her face. “Horizon has planted another garden.”
The square patch of cloth was covered in front with frost and the words had been burned into it with magic. Spike had felt his eyes shrink at the message that had torn him ruthlessly from his sleep. It was from Twilight; it had to be. Spike could feel a cold sweat start to run down his back and face. For Twilight to burn such a minimalistic message into a patch of cloth… it screamed desperation.
Something terrible had happened.
Spike had wasted no time in rushing out of the castle to get the others. He had started with Rarity, then went for Pinkie Pie while she went to get Fluttershy. Pinkie, upon hearing the message, went to get Rainbow Dash. Soon enough, they were all in the castle, sitting around a small table and staring at the cloth with varying responses.
“And yer sure this came from Twi, Spike?” Applejack asked uneasily, shifting from side to side as she looked at the fabric.
“Who else could it be? Nopony but the princesses know the spell to send me letters like this!” Spike said, gesturing at the cloth. “It has to be her! She’s in danger!”
“Then what are we waiting for?!” Rainbow demanded, slamming a hoof down onto the table and making it shake. “Let’s go help her!”
“She took the friendship express on its route to the Crystal Empire. We’ll need to wait either for it to return, or for the Crystal Empire train to come here to take us there.” Rarity added wistfully. “And who knows how long until then?”
“Then we can take the hot-air balloon!” Rainbow snapped, glaring at the fashionista. “I’ll pull it happily!”
“It won’t move as fast as the train, RD. It would also wear ya out pretty quick to carry all FOUR o’ us that far.” Applejack pointed out with an unhappy grimace on her face.
“Indeed. Waiting for the train will almost certainly give us better time overall.” Rarity said, though nopony missed how she was trying to hide the doubt in her voice.
“I can’t just sit here and do nothing! I’ll go crazy!” Pinkie said finally, her own agitation quite visible in her partially deflated mane. “Twilight needs our help, you guys!”
“Uh, girls…” Fluttershy spoke up, drawing everypony's attention. “Twilight’s train shouldn’t even be in the Crystal Empire yet…”
Silence filled the room. She was right. The time Twilight’s train had left meant that it still had at least three hours before it arrived if all was going well. Applejack’ ears wilted.
“So… that means…?” Applejack started, unable to finish the sentence.
“Her train was stopped…” Rarity breathed out despondently, her own fearful expression matching that of everypony else.
“Which means it probably won’t be coming back.” Rainbow snarled before lifting into the air with a flap of her wings. “I’m going to go prep the balloon.”
Everypony sat in uneasy silence as Rainbow shot from the castle in a flash. Spike looked between them all, rubbing his claws together fearfully. “What do you think happened to her…?”
“Ah hope nothin’...” Applejack said in response, adjusting her hat so it sat over her eyes a little more. “But… ah don’t think Twi would send us a message like this if that were true…”
Nopony had mentioned it, but they were all very aware of the small blood stain on the corner of the cloth. Spike watched curiously as Applejack turned to Rarity.
“Rares, what do ya think? Do we send her a reply sayin’ we’re on our way?”
“We definitely should. She can help us find her if we keep a line of communication going between us.” Rarity said before turning to Spike. “But we would need to keep Spike with us for that when we’re on our way…”
“Yeah, I’ll go along! I’ll do whatever I can to help Twilight come home safe!” Spike said pumping up his chest with enthusiasm.
“It will be dangerous, Spike…” Rarity pointed out solemnly. “If Twilight had to send us a call for help like this…” she gestured to the cloth with a forehoof. “...then I imagine it’s nothing like anything any of us has faced before.”
Spike wilted as she said this. “So… you don’t want me to go with you?”
Rarity smiled softly before patting Spike on the head. “That’s not it at all, Spikey-Wikey. I would absolutely love it if you came along; but I want to make sure you understand the risks before signing up.”
“Rares, ah don’t think we fully know the risks yet.” Applejack reminded her, looking at the cloth again.
“We know it’s going to be very dangerous if nothing else.” Rarity replied with a frown.
“I’ll come.” Spike said simply, nodding his head firmly. “I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
Rarity nodded. “Very well, then. We should start by letting her know we got her message and will get to her as soon as we can.” Rarity lit her horn in magic and pulled a stray sheet of paper off of a nearby stack, along with an inkwell and quill. “Applejack, Pinkie, you two should probably go make sure we have sufficient provisions for this trip.”
The two nodded before turning and galloping away without so much as a word. Fluttershy sat still, gazing fearfully at the cloth on the table. “I hope Twilight is okay…” she whispered to herself in a trembling voice.
Rarity nodded before wrapping a foreleg over her shoulders. “So do I, darling.. So do I.”
While she comforted Fluttershy, Rarity set about writing down their response.
Twilight, we got your message. Where are you, exactly? Where should we try to meet you at? What should we keep an eye out for? If you are able, can you explain what happened to you? We’re taking the hot air balloon and are taking Spike with us. Do let us know you’re safe, please.
-Rarity.
Rarity rolled it up and bound it with a simple string. “Send it.” She said simply, levitating the scroll to Spike. He nodded and did as was told, breathing the green fire that converted the scroll to smoke and sent it to Twilight for reforming and reading.
Rainbow Dash came back in only a few minutes later. “Okay, the balloon is filling up. If anypony needs anything, go get it now. Once we leave, I’m not turning around or stopping.” She made sure everypony still present was aware of her statement before shooting back out, presumably to get some items of her own from her home.
“A Garden? Horizon?” Twilight asked with mild confusion in response to Drifter’s statement.
“Gardens. It’s what I call them, anyway. They are places established by a powerful spell. With a base component, Horizon uses magic to turn a large area into a place that fiends are born in. They grow like plants and then leave to do what most fiends do; kill and eat ponies.” Drifter spat the last part out in absolute disgust. “As for Horizon… his full name is Luminous Horizon. He leads the fiends; presumably, he’s the first of the bunch.”
Twilight nodded slowly, waiting for Drifter to continue.
“Beyond that, though, I don’t actually know much about him. I’ve been trying to track him down for the last five hundred years, but everytime I catch up to him, he plants a garden and leaves. I then have to stay in the same area as the garden long enough to call for assistance in removing it permanently. I don’t have magic, so I can’t undo the spell that anchors it. I can only make sure I keep the number of fiends as low as possible.” She looked up at Twilight.
“Which is where I come in?” Twilight asked nervously, shifting uncomfortably.
“Yes. It’s an incredibly powerful and well warded spell. Undoing it is beyond most ponies. The princesses are the only ones I know for sure can manage to pull it off without bursting a blood vessel.” Drifter replied before standing and testing her legs. “We’ll need a day or so to rest up before we can really do that, though. The salve on our wounds should heal them by then.”
Twilight nodded and looked at her own wounds, wincing as she was reminded of them by a sharp sting. She then looked back to Drifter curiously. “I have a question, actually…”
Drifter looked to Twilight as she set herself back down. “Oh? What is it?”
“How did you know I was in trouble? I was all the way in the middle of nowhere when everything… happened…” Twilight said, cringing and shivering as she recalled the sights of the train wreck.
“You would be amazed at how quickly word spreads when the train carrying Princess Twilight is over an hour late for the border station.” Drifter said with a thankful smile. “I was lucky enough to catch wind of the train’s absence early enough to find the wreck and help you out.”
Twilight nodded and opened her mouth to say ‘thank you.’ The words caught in her throat, however, when she felt a tingle in her horn and on her ears. She instantly perked up and looked towards the mouth of the cave, through which another snowstorm had started since they got here. A wisp of green, sparkling smoke swirled into the cave, gathered over Twilight’s head and then ‘poofed’ into a scroll bound by string.
Drifter raised an eyebrow. “I’ve never seen mail delivered like that…”
Twilight ignored her, plucking the note from the air and tearing it open to read it. She scanned it for a few moments before looking back to Drifter. “Drifter, do you have a sheet of parchment and a writing utensil I can borrow?”
“Not at this hideout, I’m afraid. Those would be at my main base in this region.” Drifter replied with a slow shake of her head. “I was going to suggest we go there anyway. I have more supplies and even weapons there that we can make use of when we head for the garden.”
Twilight gave a slow nod, sighing dejectedly. “Alright…”
“Your friends, I take it?”
“Yeah. I called for their help last night. The distances involved mean that they only got my message and were able to send a reply an hour or two ago. It only now reached me.” Twilight explained, looking at the page with a longing look coming over her.
“Well, if we set off now, we should be able to reach my main base before nightfall.” Drifter muttered as she stood up, trotting over to one of the supply crates she had scattered around the room. “Here, wear this.”
Twilight glanced up before a thick, furry coat was flung over her face. She let out a muffled grunt before pulling it off of her with her magic. It would definitely keep her warm, there was no doubt about that. She went about getting it on while Drifter filled up her hoof-made saddlebags with medical supplies.
“We ready to go, then?” Drifter asked as she slipped the bags over her back. Twilight gave a grunt, her wings not fitting comfortably in the coat. It had evidently been designed for thestral wings. Drifter giggled slightly before stepping forward. “Hold still.”
Twilight squeaked in surprise as Drifter leaned down and widened the wing holes with a swift bite on each one, her sharp teeth swiftly allowing them to open to a comfortable size. Drifter stepped back to let Twilight flap her wings a few times to make sure it was a good fit. When she was satisfied, Twilight pulled up her coat’s hood with her magic and nodded. “Alright, I’m as ready as I’m going to be… let’s go.”
Drifter nodded before turning and trotting for the mouth of the cave. “Okay. Go ahead and put that fire out then follow me.”
Twilight nodded. With a simple spell, she reduced the flames in the fireplace to nothing more than a subtle warmth, plunging the entire cave into darkness. With a tired sigh, Twilight turned and followed Drifter in the freezing cold of the Crystal Mountain snowstorm.
The sun was beginning to set. The snowstorm had finally died down, the clouds giving way to clear skies and allowing the last, orange glows of daylight to paint the whitened landscape in long stripes. Twilight wasn’t sure, but she was under the impression they were now following a road that was merely smothered by the snow. They had been making their way up a steady incline for a while now in an almost perfectly straight line. For her part, Twilight was starting to slow down a little. She needed more rest then she had gotten in the remains of the train.
Finally, Drifter stopped as the incline leveled out and dipped into a natural bowl in the mountainous terrain. Twilight picked up the pace just slightly to reach her side and look for herself. Once she crested the top of the hill, she sat down for a moment to catch her breath. “Welcome to Little Lapis.” Drifter said with a warm smile on her face.
Twilight looked and saw that there was a village nestled quite comfortably in the center of the bowl. The homes were made of masterfully crafted wooden houses with foundations made up of massive stone bricks. A few ponies could be seen going about their day below, no doubt preparing to head indoors soon.
Still shaken horribly by what had happened back on the train, such a peaceful scene was a very welcome sight to Twilight. “It looks like a nice place…” She hummed quietly in her exhausted state.
“It is. Trust me. I’ve been basing myself out of a cave at the bottom of the old well just outside town. The ponies here are friendly and accommodating.” Drifter let her smile turn to a serious frown. “All the more reason for us to find and destroy that garden.”
“Right.” Twilight said as she stood back up, wobbling on her legs slightly.
“You need rest. Hay, I do too. I didn’t live this long by working myself raw. Let’s find an inn or hotel or something. I’m sure somepony would be happy to spread word of your survival.” Drifter suggested as she slowly trotted down towards Little Lapis.
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea to me.” Twilight agreed almost without thinking. The mere concept of sleeping in a warm bed made her body ready to slump over to an almost impossible degree.
Little Lapis was even more charming up close. Twilight felt a lot of the tension in her aching muscles start to fade away in the friendly ambiance around her. A few fillies and colts looked up at her from their little circle. Their eyes widened as they realized she was an alicorn and galloped over in a flurry of childish enthusiasm.
“Woah, Drifter! You never told us you were friends with a princess!” One of the colts piped up in awe, looking Twilight up and down like a hungry dog would it’s favorite toy. Twilight sheepishly waved at the mass of young ponies gathered around her.
“Is this Princess Twilight?” Another foal, a filly, asked, noting Twilight’s cutie mark.
“What’s it like down in not-snowy Equestria?”
“Are those bandages? Are you hurt?”
Drifter gently stepped between the crowd and Twilight, silencing them almost instantly with a soft smile and clearing of her throat. “Yes, this is Princess Twilight, little ones. But she’s had a very rough couple of days and I think she would appreciate it if she weren’t mobbed right now, okay?” she said, the motherly tone in her voice rivaling that of Celestia.
“Aaaawwww…” the fillies and colts groaned in unison, drawing an amused giggle from Drifter.
“I’ll tell you what. Let her get some rest and I’ll introduce you in the morning.” she suggested, earning excited nods from the foals.
“Well, do you have time to play tonight before you go home?” another colt asked.
Drifter nodded. “Of course. Give me just a few minutes to get Twilight a room. You lot can figure out what we’re playing while I’m doing that.”
The fillies and colts gave a simultaneous cheer of ‘hooray’ before chatting amongst themselves about what they were going to play when Drifter got back. Drifter simply rolled her eyes at them before turning back to Twilight and giggling at the look she was receiving. Twilight blinked and put on an appreciative smile. “Thanks. I had no idea you were so good with foals.”
“One thousand years, Twilight, remember? I’ve learned a few things.” Drifter said as they began to make their way to a nearby three story building. “Besides… I’ve always been gentle with foals. I remember what it was like for me to grow up as an outcast and don’t want anypony else to suffer through it if I can help it.”
Twilight nodded as they stepped into the building’s main entrance. Instantly, Twilight felt herself go weak in every muscle of her body as an absolutely heavenly warmth washed over her. It smelled like there was a fresh pot of soup being cooked in the fireplace on the far right side of the room, the fireplace generating the heat. I could pass out right here… Twilight mused before Drifter tapped her on the shoulder.
“Hey, stay awake just a minute longer, okay?”
Twilight grumbled in frustration but otherwise did her best to remain awake as Drifter approached the counter.
The stallion behind the counter, glanced up from a book he was reading, a massive grin appearing on his face. He was a large, muscular earth pony with a brown coat. His main and tail were blond and he had a thick, bushy beard on his face. He wore a fuzzy looking beanie and a thick winter coat was folded up nicely on the side of the desk. His smile practically screamed friendliness and good natured humor.
“Ah, Moonrise Drifter! Welcome back to Little Lapis!” He said jovially, his deep voice having an immense amount of passion and carry to it as he stood up from his seat.
“Good to see you, Lumberjack.” Drifter said with a nod of her head before gesturing to Twilight. “This fine mare needs a room for the night, best you have available.”
“Uh, actually, that’s not really necessary-” Twilight began before a firm look from Drifter stopped her.
“It may not be necessary, Twilight, but it will do you a lot of good right now. Rest comes much better when you’re comfortable.” A warm smile spread on Drifter’s face as she gestured to the pony behind the counter. “And if anypony knows comfort, it would have to be this one.”
“Howdy, miss Twilight- er, I mean, it’s a pleasure to meet you, your highness.” Lumberjack stumbled partway through his greeting into probably the most awkward bow Twilight had ever seen. Slamming his forehead into the desk in the process only made it worse.
“Just Twilight is fine. No need to be so formal with me in your own establishment.” Twilight said sheepishly, waving her hoof in the air in a sort of mix between brushing off his awkward greeting and waving ‘hi’.
“Ah, alright then!” Lumberjack was almost instantly perking up again, straightening out his mane with a hoof. “You sure?”
“Yeah, I am.”
“Well, if I don’t get to be formal with you, you don’t get to be formal with me, ya hear?” Lumberjack said as his grin grew even bigger. Twilight blinked in bewilderment.
“Uh… what?”
“You heard. This here is my inn and I make the rules. Formalities are just fancy rules, right? Well, feel no need to adhere to them here. Best room I got, free of charge for as long as you need it.” his grin turned into bombastic laughter as Twilight fell onto her haunches with an open mouth while trying to process what he had just said.
“No, I don’t think that’s necessary either…” Twilight finally managed to utter, looking at the big guy with her head tilted to the side a bit.
“Well, the way I see it, miss Drifter here is on important business. And from the fact that you, the Princess of Friendship, is here with her, I’m guessing that it’s really important business. I couldn’t in my right mind do anything to hinder that, be it taking your bits or denying you a good place to sleep for the night. You get the room for as long as you need it, and I ain’t taking ‘no’ for an answer.” Lumberjack said with a somewhat more serious, but still very friendly expression on his face.
“Trust me, you aren’t winning this debate.” Drifter said mirthfully, suppressing her giggles as well as she was able. “Just go with it. You’ll feel better in the morning.”
Twilight glanced to Drifter quizzically. “And what about you? Where are you going?”
“I’m going to go play with those foals, remember? Once I’m done with that I’ll be heading to the spot I’m using as a residence for my stay here. I’ll come get you tomorrow and we can talk more there.” Drifter explained before turning for the door.
“Oh, okay… goodnight.” Twilight said as the exhaustion in her bones once more reared it’s head. She almost passed out again before Lumberjack coughed to catch her attention.
“Here’s the key to your room, Twilight.” he said, passing her the thick, surprisingly heavy metal key. She took it in her magic and smiled at him.
“Thank you very much, sir.”
“Lumberjack’s fine with me if Twilight’s fine with you. And don’t mention it. You go have a good rest now, eh?” He said with a small smile before sitting back down in his chair.
“Okay… goodnight, Lumberjack.”
“Goodnight, kiddo.”
Twilight paused at that remark but chose to ignore it. There was a big bed with warm blankets calling out her name and she had no intention of denying it’s siren song any longer. With a notable, sleepy sway in her walk, Twilight headed for the room with the same number as her key.
Princess Celestia felt her eye twitch and her muscles tensed up as she looked over the contents of Spike’s recent message to her. She had been enjoying her morning routine before the dull monotony of the political proceedings, drinking tea and having a pleasant breakfast. The message than appeared in a poof of green smoke. She had instantly noticed the lack of a seal or red ribbon binding the letter. It was instead bound by a patch of cloth, which itself was also a message.
‘HELP ME.’
The actual letter filled her in on what little Twilight’s friends knew about this, as well as their intention to find Twilight and help her. Spike ended the letter by asking if she had any ideas on where to look first.
She had written back and told them of Little Lapis. That was the town Twilight was supposed to go to in order to meet up with Moonrise Drifter. Celestia ruffled her wings in agitation and let a frustrated sigh leave her system. She still had another two days before she would be fully done with all of the politics and diplomacy here, and that was if she really hurried everything along.
“Sister?” Celestia was jolted from her frustrated thoughts by Luna’s concerned voice. “What’s bothering you?”
“...This.” Celestia said simply, levitating the scrap of cloth and the letter over to Luna for her to inspect.
“And yet you remain here?” Luna asked bluntly, trotting up next to Celestia and glaring at her firmly. “I would have expected you to vanish the moment the message came to you.”
Celestia bit her lip and sighed. “I want to, I really do...” she shifted uneasily and glared out the window. “But I’m afraid...”
“Afraid?”
Celestia sighed heavily. “Lulu, you remember Luminous Horizon, don’t you?”
Luna grimaced at the mentioning of the name. “How could I forget? His ilk spilled no small amount of blood before I was banished. I imagine he spilled still more before you were able to remove him.” Luna’s expression turned curious. “But what does that old fool have to do with anything now?”
Celestia flinched at that before looking at Luna hard in the eyes. “Luna… I never said he had been removed.”
Luna’s eyes widened and her wings flared open in alarm. “You mean he yet lives and you didn’t mention anything to me?!”
“He’s a border threat at most these days. Moonrise Drifter keeps his spawn to a minimum at all times and is hoping to finish him herself when she finds him…” Celestia gave a huff. “...Twilight was sent to help Drifter destroy a newly formed garden. She sent this message only twelve hours after her train left.”
“If nothing else, it makes sense why you are afraid, now...” Luna said, drawing Celestia’s undivided attention. “But that means this matter is far more important than I anticipated. Go. Now.”
“But-”
“Sister, I will handle matters here and come to assist you as soon as all of this political nonsense is set aside. You go help Twilight however you can.” Luna said sharply, leaving Celestia no room to argue, much to both of their reliefs.
“Sometimes I appreciate how quick you are to act, Luna…” Celestia smiled and hugged her sister affectionately before turning and teleporting from the room. Luna nodded to herself before turning to handle her now doubled workload for the next two days.
“Sweet, merciful Celestia…” Rarity whispered in solemn awe, eyes wide with shock at the scene below the hot air balloon. Applejack had already pulled her hat off of her head and held it to her chest, going silent out of respect for the dead.
“What? What is it?” Spike asked, pulling himself up to see over the edge of the balloon. Rarity only briefly tried to stop him, but her own shock prevented her from doing more than twitching. Spike visibly shrunk, a shudder passing through him as his breakfest wanted to leave his system. “Oh… no…”
Fluttershy refused to speak, putting her back to the morbid scene, her face pale and her eyes searching for literally anything else to look at. Pinkie Pie had also gone silent, her mane falling completely flat against her head.
From the front of the balloon, Rainbow Dash could be heard growling before the dam broke. An enraged, desperate scream tore from her lungs as she pulled the balloon down with her as she sharply descended for the scene of the snow-covered train wreck. The balloon thudded into the ground just after Rainbow did. She wasted no team in unhooking herself from the reigns and galloping for the wreck. “TWILIGHT!” She called out.
Applejack sagged before stepping out of the balloon. “Spike, keep ‘er ready to go again, will ya?” she asked softly, earning a nod from the young dragon.
“I’ll keep him company.” Fluttershy added in barely more than a shaky whisper. Rarity and Pinkie said nothing as they departed from the balloon and went to follow Rainbow, who was still shouting and calling out for Twilight.
“Twilight! Are you here?!” Rainbow called once more as she peered into one of the carts.
“RD, please…” Applejack tried to sooth her, but Rainbow wasn’t having any of it.
“Please WHAT?! Calm down, is that what you’re gonna say, Applejack?!” Rainbow snapped, flying into the farm mare’s face with an unspeakable fury burning in her eyes.
“Yes! Rainbow, ah know this ain’t what ya wanna hear, but getting yerself into a frenzy will not help us find Twi.”
“Please, both of you! That’s enough!” Rarity cut in, stepping between the two to keep them, mostly Rainbow, from lashing out. “She may not even be here. Remember, Princess Celestia sent us that reply? We should try Little Lapis if we can’t find her here.”
Rainbow scoffed and looked away, the hatred and rage only barely cooling enough for her to reign in her aggression. “Ugh… fine! Let’s search the wreck and… if we don’t find her, we try Little Lapis.”
“What about all these dead ponies, though?” Applejack asked sadly, looking around at the horrible scene with a grimace. “Somepony needs to give them a proper burial…”
“You and I can handle that, Applejack.” Rarity suggested with no small amount of sorrow in her own voice. “Rainbow and Pinkie can search the wreckage.”
“Okay, then. Ah’ll start collecting the bodies…” Applejack visibly cringed as she said that. “A-and you find somethin’ that’ll tell us who all was on this thing when it… ya’ know…” she couldn’t help the sigh that slipped through. “...Ah would think their families would wanna know…”
“Yes. of course. The manifest...” Rarity said solemnly. With their tasks assigned, the four split up to look around the area.
Rainbow Dash could barely hold in her anger at the sights in front of her. But, though she would never admit it, her anger and focus on finding Twilight was equally out of legitimate concern and outrage as it was an effort to bury the horror and disgust building in her gut. She found she was almost happy to have not been here when everything began.
One particular corpse caught her attention. It was pinned beneath a turned over train cart, a long stick of wood jutting from its massive maw.. As she drew closer, she saw that it’s mouth was filled with razor sharp teeth.
Teeth that still had pieces of lavender fur and blood frozen to them.
Rainbow froze. Her buried horror and sickness was completely forgotten among the wave of white hot rage that spilled out. She couldn’t have held in her furious scream if she’d tried… and she did try.
“BUCK YOU!” She screamed at the top of her lungs before stomping down onto it’s already dead face. It’s skull cracked under the force of her assault. She reared back and struck it again. Finally, after numerous strikes, sufficiently caving in the creature's skull, Rainbow felt herself being pulled back by a pair of strong forelegs.
“RD! Calm down!” Applejack grunted into Rainbow’s ear, the latter thrashing against the hooves holding her in an effort to resume venting her anger.
“Let me go, Applejack!” Rainbow snarled viciously, her eyes still glued with murderous rage to the mutilated corpse.
“Ah know yer upset! We all are! But these ponies have been through enough! Just let their corpses be, won’t ya?!” Applejack shot back as Rainbow finally began to calm, albeit slowly.
“That is not a pony!” Rainbow snapped, pointing at the crushed skull with an accusing hoof. “Just look at it’s teeth! It’s jaw!”
“She has a point, Applejack…” Rarity said nervously as she reluctantly plucked one of the many, razor sharp teeth from the shattered remains. “These are not pony teeth, and… oh…” Rarity dropped the tooth and looked away with her eyes snapped closed. “I believe I can see why you lost it just now, Rainbow Dash…”
“What is it?” Applejack asked, slowly letting Rainbow Dash down. Rainbow had stopped struggling, falling limp and trying to calm herself with deep breaths.
“Twilight’s fur…” Pinkie suddenly said hollowly, drawing everypony to look at her. She was staring at the teeth around the skull with wide, stunned eyes. “...It bit Twily…”
Applejack looked and gulped as she realized they were right. After several moments, she cleared her throat. “Ah… ah don’t think we’re gonna find anythin’ else here… let’s get these ponies buried, find the manifest and then get to Little Lapis.”
Everypony silently agreed, setting about doing just that in a tense, uneasy silence.
“We’re coming for you, Princess…”
Twilight’s breath came in quick, panicking gasps as she rounded another corner of this awful maze. The metallic walls were made of train carts, blood oozing out of them where disembodied pony legs twitched and reached from holes., looking for something to grasp and hold.
Twilight came to a very brief pause to look left and right at the t-section she came to before choosing left. The right path was obstructed by a practical horde of these fiends, all feasting upon a banquet of fresh pony corpses. They looked up and began to cackle and laugh sadistically before giving chase.
“You can’t run from us, your highness! You can’t fight us!” the maniacal calls of her pursuers jeered after her down the endless corridors.
“I just want to go home…” Twilight whimpered under her breath, wanting nothing more than for this horror to end.
“You can’t go home, my dear Princess.” a new voice claimed. Twilight drew to a complete stop, her legs locking in place against her will.
A shrill scream sounded from Twilight as she struggled to move her legs. They were glued to the floor and felt as if they were filled with densely packed iron. The pack of hungry Fiends began to circle her, licking their lips and salivating excessively.
Another figure began to emerge from the darkness ahead. Twilight wasn’t sure what she was seeing. It looked vaguely like a pony, a unicorn to be exact, but there were no clear indications of that being the case outside of shape. There were no colors, no reflections. It was as if this figure was but a blind spot in her vision.
“Hmmm… I must admit that I am disappointed in you… and her. I would have thought Celestia would train a more… capable princess.” his voice was snide and smooth, cold and emotionless. A pair of bright blue eyes slowly became visible.
“Who are you…?” Twilight asked fearfully as the figure drew closer. The blind spot in her vision began to twist and contort, long, tentacle-like appendages sprouting from the figure’s sides where wings would be on a pegasus or alicorn.
“Oh, you mean you want to know? How interesting…” the figure drew past, one of the long arms he had grown pausing to brush under Twilight’s chin in a soft caress. That caress turned painful as a blade began to emerge from the tip, digging into Twilight’s skin as the figure drew it across her back. “But I bet you don’t want to know, do you? Nopony ever does. After all…”
Twilight gasped in pain as blood began to run down her side from the long slice the ‘pony’ had made. He was suddenly next to her, whispering into her ear in a voice that made Twilight go pale in terror.
“I was so feared, so hated, so despised… that your beloved princess Celestia erased me from history…” The calmness in his words was unsettling to say the least.
Twilight’s agonized cry died before it ever even began as the bladed appendage tore out the front of her throat, the figure having just stabbed it through the back of her neck. Fresh blood began to pour from Twilight’s mouth and her new wound in excessive amounts. She began to feel faint as the figure let her collapse to the ground, blade still in her throat. Despite the fatal injury, she wasn’t dying.
“I look forward to meeting you face to face, Princess Twilight.” The bladed arm pulled out of Twilight, leaving her to collapse to the floor beneath. She passed through it as if it never existed, falling into a seemingly infinite abyss that only became colder as she fell. “I’ll be waiting for you and Drifter on the horizon…”
“Twilight, wake up!” Drifter shouted, shaking Twilight from her sleep. Twilight sat bolt upright, the terrified scream she had been giving swiftly dying in her throat to be replaced by ragged gasps. She was matted by cold sweat and horrible shivers. Drifter swiftly rearranged the thick blankets on the bed to wrap Twilight up to calm her down and warm her up. “Hey, it’s okay, you’re okay, you’re safe…” she said soothingly.
“I… I…” Twilight stuttered between her pants, pulling the blankets tighter around herself in an effort to hide from the world.
“Shhh, it’s okay. Deep breaths, okay? Come on, deep breaths…” Drifter urged gently, giving Twilight reassuring, comforting pats on the back. Drifter looked up with a frown to Lumberjack, who stood in a stunned silence by the inn room’s door. “Get her some food; something warm.”
“Right away.” He gave a quick salute before breaking into a gallop out of the room.
Twilight shivered uncontrollably in the blankets, though her breaths were starting to grow more steady as she gradually calmed down. “That… that was terrifying…” she finally squeaked out.
“Sounds like it was a pretty bad nightmare…” Drifter noted gently with a frown. “I guess it was about being chased by the Fiends?”
“Y-y-yeah… in a m-maze… a-and… there was… s-somepony there… with me…” Twilight managed with a touch more volume.
“Who?”
“I d-don’t know… he said that Celestia erased him from h-history…” Twilight said as she recalled the sensation of having her throat so violently and suddenly stabbed. She tensed up herself as Drifter suddenly locked up next to her.
“What else did he say?”
“Um… that he would be waiting for us on the… the horizon.” Twilight felt her ears go flat against her head as it clicked into place.
“Luminous Horizon… that son of a bitch…” Drifter snarled in a hate-filled whisper.
“That was Horizon?”
“I imagine so.” Drifter gave Twilight a frown that soon shifted into a slightly joking smile. “Well, color me jealous. You’ve seen him before I have and I’ve been looking for him for five hundred years.”
“Drifter… no.” Twilight said flatly. Drifter cleared her throat and sighed.
“Yeah, not funny… sorry. I was just trying to lighten the mood a bit is all.”
“You don’t want to see him.” Twilight said hollowly before going silent and snuggling into her blankets even more.
Drifter had to admit that Twilight was right, but chose to stay silent and simply keep Twilight company while they waited for Lumberjack to return with food.
After a long, tense silence and an amazing bowl of soup, Twilight was soon following Drifter out of the inn and towards the old well that had been previously mentioned. Drifter had a frown on her face that made Twilight very uneasy. When they reached the well, Drifter descended it without even bothering with the rope. Twilight heard the impact with the stone ground echoing back up, wincing as she realized she would probably break her legs from a fall like that if she went that fast. Making use of her wings and some help from the rope, Twilight made her way down and was soon in the cavern itself.
A frozen, chemically colored water pool dominated half of the cavern’s large floor area. What sunlight there was seeping through the well touched the ice and was split into a rainbow-like kaleidoscope of colors, filling the pool and also illuminating the entire cavern in a gentle, hue-shifting glow. Drifter had made use of wood and stone to throw together a sturdy set of walls, though a roof was nowhere to be seen.
Following Drifter once more, Twilight entered into the space surrounded by the walls and couldn’t help but gasp softly in awe at just how much stuff was in here. There were weapons of all kinds, armor of all weights and potions of all types and strength. Numerous wooden supply boxes and barrels rested against the back wall and a makeshift oven stood over a central fireplace.
“There are a few sheets of parchment and a quill over there. Go ahead and write to your friends then find a weapon and some armor.” Drifter instructed simply as she herself went to the armor stands, looking through them for a specific suit it would seem.
“Oh, okay…” Twilight said uneasily at the dark and serious tone Drifter had so abruptly assumed. Without another word, she pulled a sheet of parchment and a quill from their place on a work desk and began to write down a quick message.
I’m fine, just rattled. I was lucky and got rescued by the very mare I came here to meet. We’re based in Little Lapis right now, so head there.
Twilight paused before glancing back to Drifter. “Hey, Drifter?”
“What?”
“Do we have enough time to wait for my friends to get here?” Twilight asked, immediately flinching away at the look Drifter shot back at her.
“I’m sorry, but no. The garden will only grow, and the rate at which it grows increases the longer we take. We do this now or not at all.”
Twilight nodded and sighed heavily. “Okay… I’m deferring to your judgement on this.”
“Good.”
After a moment of silence, Twilight returned to her letter.
With any luck, Drifter and I should be done with the garden by the time you get here. Try to stay out of trouble and be careful. If you see a pony you don’t know, make sure to keep an eye out for sharp teeth. If you find one, evade it if possible. If it finds you-
Twilight cringed and visibly grimaced at what she had to write down next.
If it finds you first, kill it before it kills you.
With a dejected huff, she cast the spell that sent the letter to Spike before looking back to Drifter. She was now wearing a suit of darkened armor, made of Naga scales it looked like. Thick, strong but very flexible. It was the sort of material used to coat the inside of the armor of royal guards back in Canterlot.
“A weapon and armor, Twilight.” Drifter reminded firmly. Twilight winced as she was reminded of Drifter’s fiend origins as she extended her claws on one hoof, using the other to run a whetstone over each of the long blades.
“What are we expecting to see there…? In the garden, I mean.” Twilight asked hesitantly as she began to look for something warm and lightweight that would still offer decent protection.
Drifter paused before letting out a long sigh. “It’s… we’re going to see everything I despise in the fiends. It’s abhorrent, revolting and disgusting on every possible level. Even after helping me with them dozens of times, I still remember the disturbed and disgusted expression Princess Celestia wore the last time we dealt with one together.” she looked at Twilight as though she pitied her. “It’s not a sight that gets any better, no matter how often you deal with it. You simply… learn to ignore it.”
Twilight gulped audibly at the description. “Ah… so, I should probably consider bringing a barf bag, I guess?” she tried to joke, but the sour narrowing of Drifter’s eyes immediately silenced her.
“Twilight, I take this very seriously. I suggest you do, too. There’s going to be a lot of newly born Fiends waiting for us and until you dispel the enchantment, more will keep coming. It’s going to be an absolute nightmare. Just be ready…”
“Uh… right.”
The next several minutes were spent in relative silence as Drifter continued sharpening the claws on each of her hooves. Twilight continued looking for armor that would keep her protected but also able to move freely. Eventually, she settled on armor made from thickly woven cloth and studded with metal points in a pattern across the surface, growing thicker in more exposed areas. Now, she just needed a weapon.
She eventually settled on a saber. The curved blade was well maintained and finely crafted. It felt good in her magic and had just enough weight in the blade to make slicing movements far easier while leaving it light enough to easily and quickly maneuver. It’s shape gave it a natural grace in the air.
Drifter retracted the claws on her left hind leg as she finished with her whetstone and nodded to Twilight. “Are you ready?”
“As I’m going to be…” Twilight replied, although she felt anything but ready for what was coming.
“I hope so. Let’s go; follow my lead and be as careful as you can.” Drifter said before taking to the air with a flap of her wings and making for the well. Twilight steeled herself and followed swiftly.
“How much further?” Spike asked tiredly from the corner of the balloon, curling up and shivering slightly from the cold air of the snow and high altitude.
“Ah dunno, Spike. We’re not gettin’ there today though, Ah reckon.” Applejack replied with a grimace of frustration on her face.
“Rainbow!” Rarity called out to the prismatic pegasus pulling them along. “How are you holding up, darling? Do you need a rest?”
“Urgh, I’m fine!” Rainbow called back with strain in her voice. Rarity glanced back at Applejack and sagged slightly.
“She’s not fine, is she?”
“Nah, she ain’t. She’s wearin’ herself ragged. She needs rest... Ah think we could all use a bit more rest, honestly…” Applejack answered, her own exhaustion showing through somewhat. None of them had slept well, if at all, the previous night, the disturbing images of the train appearing whenever they closed their eyes.
“I can hear you, ya know!” Rainbow said irritably, glancing back at them with a frown.
“Then set this puppy down and let’s ah’ll get a bit more rest.” Applejack shot back, earning a snort from Rainbow Dash.
“No! I’m not stopping until we get there!”
“We won’t get there at all if ya keel over from exhaustion!” Applejack said, trying to be the voice of reason.
Fluttershy, from where she sat gazing aimlessly over the snowy landscape beneath them, suddenly perked up a bit. “Oh, a bird?”
“I’m tougher than that, Applejack!” Rainbow retorted, much to everypony else's displeasure.
“Rainbow, please…” Rarity tried carefully. “You’re going to hurt yourself if you keep this up. If nothing else, slow down and let your stamina recharge.”
“I’ve never seen a bird like that…”
“I’m. Fine.” Rainbow insisted through grit teeth.
“Look out!” Pinkie shouted, prompting Rainbow to look and then duck as a truly bizarre creature shot past her on massive, bat-like wings.
“What the hay?!” Rainbow barked in alarm, swerving to pull herself and the balloon away from it. The creature now regarded them curiously, hovering and following at a steady distance. It’s eyes were not clearly visible on its elongated, pony-like head. Instead of a muzzle, it had a long, proboscis like beak that expanded and contracted very slightly, but very rapidly as if breathing. Its body was short and thin with elongated and distorted pony legs curled up and tucked into its underside to increase its velocity and aerodynamics.
“Shoo! Get gone, ya… crazy, hummingbird-pony lookin’ varmint, you!” Applejack snapped at it, waving her forelegs at it and trying to make herself look big. The creature tilted its head at Applejack, it’s proboscis quivering on it’s face for a moment before it began to drift closer, easily keeping pace with the tired and weighed down Rainbow Dash. “Stay away, Ah’m warnin’ you!”
The creature stopped just out of Applejacks reach and regarded the entire group with a contemplative look. After a moment, it looked up at the balloon before flying up and stabbing its beak into the side of it.
“Ponyfeathers!” Applejack shouted in alarm as the balloon began to deflate and be forced to the side as a result of the air leaving it so quickly.
“Woah! Hold on to something!!” Rainbow called as she tried to course correct their descent. If possible, she would turn it from a catastrophic crash to an aggravating one.
Everypony did as instructed, grabbing the nearest thing they could. Applejack and Pinkie wrapped their forelegs around the sides of the basket, Rarity held onto the pulled rope along with Fluttershy and Spike held onto Rarity’s hind leg.
The resulting impact with the snow-smothered ground was enough to throw everypony from the basket, sprawling into the cold environment in a dizzied daze. The creature looked at them from its place overhead, its beak quivering again as if it were thinking about following them to finish them off. It suddenly turned its head to the side, gazing deeper into the mountains.
Rainbow, as she began to stand up, could have sworn she heard it mutter “But I haven’t eaten yet! ...Fine, father.” in a whistling, hollow voice before darting off into the snowy haze.
“Ugh, Everypony okay?” Rainbow groaned out as she shook off her dizziness and looked back to her friends.
“I think so.” Fluttershy said meekly as she, too, began to rise to her hooves. Rarity was the next to rise, a still thoroughly dazed Spike sliding off of her leg and into the snow with a soft thump.
“Goodness me, whatever was that thing?” Rarity asked as she looked up to where it had once been. “It’s nothing like what I’ve ever seen.”
“Or me, and I know about all kinds of animals…” Fluttershy said uneasily, looking up as well.
“Well, whatever that varmint was, it ruined our ride!” Applejack remarked as she pulled herself up, brushing some snow out of her hat with a hoof. “This is gonna slow us down…”
“Can we fix the balloon?” Spike finally managed to ask in a jittering voice. Everypony looked at the hole to determine if it would be possible.
“I’m afraid not, not without more of the same material it was made of and some tools.” Rarity commented as she looked over the damage. Rainbow grumbled, lazily kicking the side of the balloon itself.
“Oh… well, now what?” Spike asked as he looked around.
“I can try to make rudimentary scarfs, socks or other pieces of clothing to keep us warm out here.” Rarity suggested as she looked over the material thoughtfully. “It’s thin but strong. Should keep us warm at least if I can make it work.”
“Alright, so let’s go find ourselves some shelter and get a start on that.” Applejack said with a tired sag, the adrenaline wearing off. “Come on, gals. Let’s get our stuff and go.”
As soon as Applejack finished saying that, Spike clutched at his belly before belching, a green torrent of flame turning into a simply bound scroll. Ignoring his complaining stomach, Spike immediately pulled the note from the air and unrolled it, studying the contents as everypony gathered around.
“Is it from Twi?” Applejack asked.
“Is she alright?” Rainbow followed.
“Do I need to bring my party canon?!” Pinkie asked loudly, drawing weird looks from everypony else. Her mane had poofed up again, even if only very slightly. “What?”
“She’s fine, everypony. Seems she got rescued and is based out of Little Lapis with somepony named Moonrise Drifter.” Spike said with immense relief in his voice. “She says she’ll meet us there.”
“Good! Let’s go!” Rainbow said enthusiastically before starting to fly away.
“Hold up, RD!” Applejack called after her, making her stop. “Remember, we aren’t as fast as ya, and this here cold’s gonna start taking a serious toll if we don’t get to some shelter and keep warm.”
Rainbow grumbled. “Fine…”
“There’s still something in this that I don’t get…” Spike muttered as he looked over the letter again. Everypony looked up at him curiously.
The tall winter trees blocked out a fair amount of sunlight, causing the surrounding landscape to grow gradually darker as Drifter led Twilight to the garden. By Drifter’s estimate, they would be coming to it’s outer edge in a few minutes. Twilight wrinkled up her nose and tried to resist the urge to gag as an absolutely abhorrent stench reached her nostrils.
“Stop.” Drifter whispered sharply as she herself stopped in front of a small wall of bushes, holding a foreleg up as her claws extended. Twilight did as instructed, slowing to a halt and looking at the Fiend mare expectantly. Drifter looked back to Twilight with a hesitant expression. “...Brace yourself.”
Twilight only nodded and did as best as she could. Drifter nodded after a few seconds before gently pushing aside the bushes that blocked their path, allowing Twilight to see what rested beyond. Twilight felt her eyes widen and her stomach convulsed as the sights, sounds and scents became clear.
In the center of the garden was a tall pod, covered in veins and organic tubes that connected to various other parts of the growth. The pod was open at the top, like a pitcher plant and was colored a sickly green. It was slimy and sticky looking. Black, heavily decomposed and corroded materials slowly dribbled down its sides from the top to form a large, horrid puddle on the ground.
Branching off from the central pod were massive, fleshy tubes that formed an unusual, twisted, spider web-like shape. The tube pulsed and writhed subtly as broken down materials were sent pumping through them into the dozens of membranous sacs that hung off of the tubes. Some of the sacs had been split open from the inside, their occupants, various types of fiends, spilling onto the ground and flopping around uselessly as their bodies began to grow into their full size at a startling rate.
The horrific odor of decomposing flesh, dry blood and the nameless, unspeakable fluids sloshing through the entire garden hit Twilight. It was all she could do to keep herself from throwing up. She looked away and covered her mouth with a hoof.
“...It’s only going to get worse until we get rid of it.” Drifter said solemnly without looking to Twilight, her voice dripping with venomous loathing for the creatures before her. Twilight groaned nauseously before looking back to Drifter.
“O-okay…. Buh, ugh… where is the enchantment usually placed?” she asked, gaging partway through.
“In the center, beneath the feeding pod.” Drifter said, pointing at the central point with a claw. “Raw materials are put in there. Fiends born with disabilities, mutations or physical hindrances are killed and put into the pod for recycling. Whatever you do…”
Twilight gasped as Drifter poked her sharply in the chest, not enough to draw blood, but enough to get her undivided attention.
“Do. Not. Go inside the pod. The adhesives, acids and corrosives will kill and digest you faster than I could hope to save you. All that would be left would be a formless black goop.”
“O-okay…” Twilight gulped and used her magic to draw the saber she carried from it’s scabbard. “I’m ready…”
“Good… I’ll go in first from the air, draw their attention. Try and sneak to the central pod and disable the enchantment while I have them distracted. I’ll do what I can to cover you while you're doing that, if the fiends start coming after you more than me.” Drifter laid out the plan before her claws extended fully. “Let’s go.”
Twilight watched with held breath as Drifter took to the air on her wings and soared over the garden. “Hey, plotholes!” She shouted down, drawing the attention of the entire population of infant fiends. There were at least thirty of them. “Catch me if you can!”
The air vibrated with the violent snarls, shrieks, howls and cries of the fiends as they began to close in on Drifter. Even with their varied shape, they all had two things in common; a vague resemblance to ponies, and an entire mouth full of rows of razor sharp teeth. Some had wings, others looked like worms or snakes, and of course there were the ‘Ducks’ that Twilight’s magic was useless against.
“Okay, I can do this…” Twilight breathed before quickly hopping from the bushes to the snow and dirt in the garden. She cringed and shuddered in revulsion as it squelched and practically bled unidentified liquids from her impact. “I can totally do this…”
On reflex, Twilight was able to look to her right and step back as a duck lunged for her, dodging it by mere inches. Acting fast, she drew the sharp blade of her saber across it’s side as it passed, drawing plenty of blood and sending the scrawny thing flailing to the ground in a quickly dying heap. With a gulp, Twilight broke into a gallop for the central pod, already searching for enchantments.
She found it and already didn’t like it. Even with as academic as she was, she had no desire to learn about this magic. Even knowing of its presence was enough to make her skin crawl and her fur to stand on end. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure she was in the clear for now. Most of the fiends were tailing Drifter, who was at present on the other side of the central pod from her, dueling in mid-air with a similarly built fiend to herself.
With that noted, Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could on dispelling the enchantment. Her mind instinctively recoiled and tried to shun the unorthodox, sickening magic as she studied it for a point she could break. Like the weakest link in a chain, if she could erase a certain component of the enchantment, the whole spell would be undone and the garden would begin to die.
“Look out!” Drifter shouted to her. Twilight snapped her eyes open and turned around just in time for a fiend that looked like a hummingbird with bath wings and pony legs to descend and plunge its proboscis deep into her chest. Twilight instantly felt a pulling deep in her chest as well as a liquid fire spreading through what was left behind.
Venom? Toxin? Poison?!
Twilight gasped and shuddered in agony as the creature pulled its beak from her chest, dripping with freshly drank blood. If Twilight’s lungs or vocal chords were working, she would have screamed as loud as she possibly could have as the fire in her veins felt like it was melting her from the inside out. She wobbled and fell down, clutching her forehooves to her chest and gasping in pain.
Drifter swooped down and plunged her claws into the winged fiend’s chest before tearing her forelegs outward, disemboweling the creature and practically pulling it in half. Blood and gore splattered everywhere, but Drifter didn’t seem to care. She quickly turned and reached into a small pocket in her armor. “Twilight, here!”
Twilight didn’t make out what Drifter said. Her vision was going blurry and all of the world’s sounds were becoming muffled to the point of being incomprehensible. The fire in her veins was still growing worse and the pain was so bad she couldn’t breath. She could only twitch and spasm uncontrollably in pure agony.
Then, she felt something touch itself to her lips. She reflexively began to swallow as a soothing, cool liquid began to dribble down her throat. It tasted awful, but she was fine with it as the fire in her veins began to fade away.
“Cannibal!” one of the fiends that now surrounded them snarled. Drifter turned as the potion emptied itself into Twilight, who slowly began to relax and return to her senses.
“You’ve got us boxed in. Congratulations.” Drifter scowled viciously, drawing her claws threateningly along the ground. It squelched and bubbled as more of the unspeakable liquids within began to bubble free from the slices she was putting into the surface of the garden. “Why not see why an animal is considered to be at it’s most dangerous when backed into a corner?”
“Traitor…” another fiend sneered as it prowled closer, its own claws quivering in anticipation and desire.
“I’ve heard every single name you buckers could ever throw at me. Trust me, I’m not going to be enticed into an attack because you taunt me.” Drifter shot back, putting on a cocky grin. Just back off… she thought.
“Heretic…” another one added as it drew around to one of her sides.
“Pfft. Please.” Drifter scoffed with a roll of her eyes. There was a long, strange moment of silence as the fiends all came to a stop. Then, with manic grins on their faces, their teeth proudly on display, they all spoke together in unison.
“Sister.”
Drifter felt a furious tingle run up her spine, but shoved it down. “Oh, getting creative are we? Well, congratulations, that pissed me off.” her own teeth began to become more visible. “But I’m not coming to you. You wanna kill me? Then come on!” she began tapping her claws against the ground as if she were growing impatient. “Standing here bickering with you abominations is all well and good, but I’d rather be pulling you bunch apart.”
Drifter’s eyes fell on one of the ducks in front, somewhat smaller than the rest and looking far more eager. Drifter felt her smirk widen a bit. It was young, still. Impulsive. Good.
“Awww, what’s the matter?” She cooed mockingly to the small fiend, earning an angry snarl from it. “Is the wittle pussy puppy gonna run away with his tail between his legs?”
In response, the fiend charged her with an enraged howl. Drifter smirked before lifting her claws and stabbing it in the chest, running it all the way through and then pinning it to the ground with a harsh thrust. Drifter showed it her fangs.
“See this?” she hissed, her eyes glowing and going wild as her fangs almost seemed to get longer. “This is what happens when you piss me off!”
The duck was silenced as she bit down onto it’s throat, teeth clamping around it’s spine within and pulling. Blood and tubes fell away and splattered everywhere as Drifter pulled with a mighty jerk of her head, bringing the entirety of the duck’s spine out of it’s body, it’s skull following through the new hole in the neck.
Drifter deliberately chewed, making sure the sounds of crunching bone could be heard before she hurled the spine and skull into the crowd. Her eyes glowed with bloodlust. “Any other takers?”
“No need.” Twilight said weakly from behind her. Drifter glanced back with a small smile forming as Twilight finished her spell, still in the same position she had been in when she had fallen. The entire garden shuddered and began to wither as the enchantment anchoring it into reality was undone. “Thanks for the distraction…” her words were almost sarcastic.
“Bitch at me about it later.” Drifter replied before turning her attention back to the horde of fiends. “We’re still in pretty deep here.”
Twilight nodded and began to get up. She paused and grew unsettled after a moment. “Wait… why aren’t they attacking us? Did you scare them or something”
Drifter went rigid as soon as she actually thought about it. “...Fiends don’t fear me, they hate me… just seeing me normally throws them into an uncontrollable rage.” Her eyes narrowed with suspicion as she studied the horde. “They’ve never been this calm around me before…”
“Well, to be fair, Drifter, I never told them to hold back.” a new voice said, causing their blood to go cold. Drifter and Twilight looked up, past the horde to the edge of the garden. A newcomer was approaching, a Unicorn. He was bright blue in color, a slight gradient making it somewhat darker at his hooves. He had no mane or tail, it seemed. His fur was missing in patches all across his body, the skin underneath having turned dark and lumpy. His eyes were deep blue and glowed with malice.
Just like Drifter, he had long, sharp teeth.
As he drew closer, the last surviving growing sac burst open next to him, a small, scrawny fiend falling to the ground, it’s body horribly malformed. One of its hind legs was fused with its belly and its head was bent backward to an unnatural degree, it’s neck having fused with its back. “F-father… I can’t… I can’t feel… can’t feel my-”
The unicorn didn’t let it finish it’s thought. His back suddenly rippled before six long, tentacle like appendages tipped with razor sharp blades sprouted, one such blade stabbing into the creature’s head and ending it instantly.
He looked to Drifter and smiled. “We meet at last, Moonrise Drifter.”
Drifter huffed. “Took you long enough to show up, Horizon.”
Luminous Horizon gave a smirk as his tentacles pulled back into his body. “Well, I hope you aren’t disappointed.”
“I’ll be honest, I was expecting more teeth, Horizon.” Drifter said snidely, watching carefully as all of the fiends in the putrid garden stepped away to make a clear path between herself and Horizon.
“I have plenty, little one.” Horizon said with a smirk as he drew closer. His eyes fell on Twilight, who looked to be frozen with fear. “Remember me, your highness?” he gave an exaggerated bow.
“Eyes off the royalty, Horizon. If you want to oggle something, I’m sure my teeth tearing out your windpipe will be perfect.” Drifter growled, snapping one of her wings out to shelter Twilight from his piercing gaze.
“Oh, come now. I’m trying to have a civil conversation and here you are, threatening me with such brutality? Dear oh dear, what would your mother dearest think?” Horizon asked almost playfully, a grin appearing on his face to reveal rows upon rows of jagged, serrated teeth and a long, forked tongue.
“You’re actions have caused countless ponies to die over the years!” Drifter snapped, her claws poking free reflexively. “I like to think my mother would be smiling at me and urging me on from her grave, you monster.”
“Fiend,” Horizon corrected with a scowl. “And even if that were true, it would help your statement if your mother were actually dead, Drifter.”
“Don’t start with that, Horizon. I attended my mother’s funeral when I was fifty years old. She’s been dead for longer than I’ve even known about you.”
“I don’t mean your adoptive parents.” Horizon said while claws began to grow from his own hooves; they were larger, thicker and far more vicious looking with serrations and spines all along them. “Your biological mother is still up and about.”
Drifter scoffed. “Tch. Some mother she turned out to be, leaving me in the forest to be found by the first ponies to trot by. Didn’t even bother giving me a name or a note to those who had to raise me because of her negligence.”
“Hmph... Well, I suppose when you and her next meet, you’ll be able to talk it all out.” Horizon’s voice grew more serious as the tentacles began to reach from his back once more.
“Well, I have work to do here, and I am going to do it. Now sit still and let me kill you!” Drifter said, a furious battle cry ripping from her throat as she sprung forward, eyes glowing brightly, teeth bared and claws extended.
Horizon quickly stepped to the side, Drifter impacting the ground where he had been with enough force to break stone and send dust flying. She quickly shifted and lurched sideways, tackling him in the front and knocking him back several feet before following up by plunging her claws into his chest. She was expecting blood to come flying, or perhaps some vile, rotting substance that allowed his perpetual existence.
She was not expecting her claws to crack and snap on impact, thin trails of blood spurting from the extension of her own limb. Her eyes went wide in shock, the white-hot pain shooting up her foreleg was so incredibly intense that she couldn’t even breath.
“I expected more caution, frankly.”
Drifter felt blood dribble from her mouth, a gasp and violent cough of pain running through her as one of the tentacles shot down blindingly fast, the blade on it’s tip effortlessly running Drifter through and tearing out through her belly.
“DRIFTER!” Twilight shouted out, lifting her saber in her magic to try and help. Three fiends of varying shapes pounced upon her, pinning her to the ground and knocking her saber out of the air. One of the fiends that Drifter called a duck pounced and clamped its teeth down on Twilight’s horn, stopping her magic entirely and drawing an ear-splitting scream of agony from her.
On her end, Drifter twitched and wheezed out a strangled groan of pain as she was lifted and held up, facing Horizon. His eyes were narrowed with a long list of emotions running through them. Anger, disappointment, disgust and pity. “I had figured you’d be able to guess that my own biology can’t harm me.”
“W-w-what the b-buck are- ACK!! ...grr, what are you t-talking about?!” Drifter grimaced and grunted out, writhing uselessly in her suspended state. Horizon sighed with a shake of his head before turning sharply, the tentacle that had Drifter impaled on itself whipped around, sending her flying into a tree at the edge of the garden with enough force to put a spider-web crack into its trunk.
“Where do you think all of the fiends were based from, Drifter?” Horizon asked with a scowl as he drew closer. “For the most pure of the bunch, I would assume you knew.”
“I don’t care what they’re made of. It’s vile and I’m going to end all of it, and you, for the lives they have ended!” Drifter shot back in a shaky voice, trying to get back to her hooves.
“Wrong answer.”
Drifter cried out in pain as another of Horizon’s tentacles lanced out across her side, putting a long gash across it and damaging the muscles under her wing. She tried to counter attack with her good foreleg. Horizon’s own forehoof came up, it’s long claws twisting and grabbing Drifter’s claws like a hand would.
“The fiends come from me. I am the genetic baseline.” Horizon explained in a hiss before pulling on Drifter’s immobilized claws. Her breath caught in her throat and she froze as he pulled her claws clean out, blood spurting free from the holes in her hoof where they had once hid. She fell with Horizon glaring down at her. “And of every fiend I have ever seen, you have the most of that base in you..
Drifter coughed and whimpered before glaring up at him with an unspeakable hatred. He was unmoved, leisurely strutting around behind her. She tried to turn in order to keep him in her line of sight, but the sudden presence of his own clawed hoof slamming into her spine and pinning her down stopped her.
“Every other fiend here is maybe two or three percent of my genetics. The rest, as you know, is made from raw material fed into the pod in the center of the garden.” He said into her ear as he stood over her. “But you…” his sharpened teeth snapped, tearing off the tip of Drifter’s ear and drawing out a breathless, pitiful wheeze. He chewed and then spat out the piece of flesh as if it were revolting. He glared down at her in disappointment. “You are far more. At least half of your biology is mine, through and through. The other half…” a chuckle slipped out as he stood up. “That other half belongs to your mother.”
Drifter hissed before coughing violently, blood flying free from her mouth to the garden floor. “W-what… what does that make you, then… my dad?” she asked in a hoarse whisper.
“Yes, actually. It does.” Horizon said almost casually. He pulled his claws from her spine and then wrapped both of his front claws around the bases of her wings, the sharp extensions cutting into the muscles and tendons. “And I am so… so disappointed in you. I had high hopes for what you could accomplish for dear old daddy. All you’ve done instead is ruin so many of his efforts and plans…”
Drifter’s screams amplified into long, tortured howls when Horizon began to pull. She thrashed violently but was unable to escape his grip. Twilight couldn’t see what was happening from her trapped position. She simply shivered and whimpered at the screams and sounds of tearing flesh and snapping bones.
“I’m ashamed of you, Drifter. No daughter of mine would side with the ponies who wronged me so horribly.” he leaned down to her good ear, letting up in his pulling just long enough for her screams to die down a bit. “I disown you.”
“ENOUGH!”
A blinding white light suddenly came into existence overhead. Every single creature in the garden tried to shield their eyes from it, including Horizon himself. In rapid succession, golden beams of magic shot from the source of the light, piercing the hearts of every single fiend in the garden. Except for Drifter and Horizon.
Horizon grunted as the golden light shot at him like a comet, colliding with him and sending him flying back into the forest, crashing through a tree trunk in the process. A second later, the glow faded.
“Princess Celestia?!’ Twilight asked in surprise, slowly and shakily getting to her hooves.
“I’m here, Twilight.” Celestia said before kneeling down to Drifter. “Goodness… what did he do…?” she whispered to herself, Drifter having passed out from the shock and pain. As Twilight drew closer, Celestia’s horn lit up and sealed Drifter’s wounds to stop the bleeding. “Your claws and weapons will regrow… just give them time.”
“Princess, what are you doing here?” Twilight asked weakly, looking down to Drifter and grimacing at the unpleasant sight.
“...I’m facing my mistakes.” Celestia said simply. Twilight blinked in confusion before looking back towards the trees. Horizon was returning to the scene at a leisurely trot, brushing off a bruised shoulder with a hoof like it were nothing. “Twilight, take Drifter and get back to Little Lapis. Find your friends and go home.”
“What?”
“Don’t make me repeat myself, Twilight. You’re work here is done, as is Drifter’s… get out of here.” Celestia said firmly, shooting Twilight a hard stare.
“But what about you?!” Twilight asked loudly, slowly stepping back. She hesitantly lit her horn and grabbed Drifter in her magic all the same, pulling her over to rest on her back.
“I need to do this alone…” Celestia refused to look at Drifter now, looking at Horizon as he stood, waiting patiently for her to be done. “I’ll tell you why when I return.”
“Your majesty…?” Drifter mumbled from Twilight’s back, slowly opening her eyes and looking up at Celestia weakly. “What… what are you…?”
Celestia lowered her eyes and sighed. “Twilight. Go… now.”
Twilight gulped and nodded before galloping from the dying garden. Drifter could see Celestia focusing on Horizon and opening her mouth to speak. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but before they were completely out of view, she thought she could see them smiling warmly at each other.
Drifter felt a shot of confusion before she fell away from the waking world once more.
“Well, you’re certainly as radiant as ever. Haven’t even aged a day.” Horizon noted with a soft chuckle. His voice took on a softer tone when he continued. “You haven’t changed a bit. You’re just as I remember you… I know I can’t say the same for myself.”
“The centuries of malice have not been kind to you, Horizon…” Celestia said sadly before stepping forward slowly.
“Nor you, I would guess. You’re an expert at hiding how you feel, but I know you, Celestia.” Horizon commented with a fond smirk. “I’m certain that I know what you’re going to ask. Go ahead; make me feel good for a minute. Heavens know I need it.”
“Horizon…” Celestia stopped not far away from him, looking into his eyes with deep regret in her own. “It’s not too late. I can still help you. We can still save you from this…”
Horizon laughed quietly but honestly before looking up at her with a sad smile on his face. “I’m sure you would love that to be true. But you and I both know it’s too late for that.”
“Lumen…”
“Oh, my old nickname?” Horizon asked with a chuckle. “Well, Tia, I won’t lie. I am happy to see you again. But we both know how this has to end…”
Celestia didn’t say anything, a tear sliding down her cheek.
“So, let’s end it where it started.” Horizon said softly, putting a mutilated hoof to her chin and tilting her head to look at him. “Let’s meet in Canterlot. We’ll put it all to rest where it all began.”
Celestia couldn’t help the soft smile that crossed her face for a moment before a subtle sob shook her system. “How very poetic of you… even after everything that you’ve done… all you’ve been through…”
“I’m a monster, Celestia. But I haven’t forgotten what it means to be a pony.” Horizon drew his hoof away before backing away.
“...Please… I still want to help you.”
“I know you do. You just can’t. Not anymore.” Horizon said simply before turning and leaving the clearing his garden had once inhabited, the last of the foul growth having vanished and rotted away, leaving a large, empty patch of dirt where it had used to be.
Celestia sighed before turning to leave as well.
“...I don’t believe that.” with that, she took to the air with her wings and sluggishly made her way back to Little Lapis. She had a lot of explaining to do and preparations to make in Canterlot.
“Sweet mother of a cheesemaker! What the hay happened to Drifter?!” Lumberjack asked in alarm as Twilight set the wounded and unconscious thestral look alike down on one of the lobby's lounge seats.
Twilight sighed and fell onto her backside as the adrenaline began to wear off. She was exhausted, the fight having been draining even with how small of a role she had in it. The poison had done most of the damage to her energy, leaving her sagging and sluggish even with it cured. “She got into a fight with an enemy she wasn’t ready to face. She was beaten… brutally.” she finally managed to say, looking up into Lumberjack’s wide eyed look of shock.
“Jeesh… Looks like the wounds are closed up, though…” he said, leaning in and getting a closer look.
“Yeah. A high level healing spell that used to be used by field medics in wars. The bleeding stopped, but we should probably examine her for infection or anything more serious.” Twilight said worriedly, her eyes starting to dart around as scenario after scenario began to run through her head.
“I’ll go get a first aid kit. I’ll be right back!” Lumberjack said before turning and galloping off for a storage room. Twilight nodded silently and sat still, simply looking down at Drifter. Her eyes were filled with immense worry and confusion, but not over Drifter. She’d be fine, most likely. Growing her claws back would take time, but she’d live and make a full recovery eventually. Probably...
No, Twilight was worried about Princess Celestia. She had seen the sadness in her eyes, heard the emotion in her voice. Something was going on with her that had to do with Horizon and his fiends.
“I’m facing my mistakes… You’re work here is done, as is Drifter’s… get out of here. I need to do this alone…”
The conviction in Celestia’s voice was unrivaled. Twilight had seen the solar princess show determination and commitment before, but never before had it sounded quite so invested, with the exception of when she fought Nightmare Moon so long ago.
“Twilight…?” Drifter mumbled from the couch, shifting slightly before hissing in pain. “Ack! Oh, that hurts…”
“Hold still, Drifter. Take it easy.” Twilight urged softly, resting a hoof on Drifter’s shoulder and pressing down gently but firmly to ease her back into the cushions.
“Oi… what happened? I feel like I got put through all of the factories in Cloudsdale.” Drifter asked weakly, staring blankly up at the ceiling.
“You’d probably be in better shape if you did, honestly.” Twilight remarked quietly before sighing heavily. “...Horizon did this to you.”
“Oh, right... tch… figures.” Drifter muttered quietly before her eyes widened a bit. “Wait… Celestia showed up, didn’t she? When did we get back? What’s- ACK! Piss!” Drifter yelped and cursed profusely as the hoof that once had claws in it rubbed against the couch, the still very tender and sensitive skin sending a spear of fire-hot pain through her system.
“Woah, easy, Drifter. Calm down.” Twilight said, even though she herself was in similar straights mentally. “Yes, Princess Celestia came to the rescue. She saved our lives and then ordered me to take you and retreat back here.”
“You mean Celestia stayed?!” Drifter asked through grit teeth, her pain still pretty intense.
“I guess… she was still there and hasn’t shown up yet. It seemed like they were talking to each other… but, well, then I got too far away and lost sight of them.” Twilight explained before her ears drooped slightly.
“...Strange... “ Drifter mumbled tiredly before closing her eyes to rest some more. “She’s cryptic, but not usually to such a degree…”
Twilight had only nodded when Lumberjack returned with the first aid kit. “Here we go.” he said as he set the case down next to Twilight. “We have a doctor in town who could make better use of that than you or I, probably. I’ll go get him and-”
“That won’t be necessary.” Came Celestia’s voice from the door as she strode in,her usually regal posture having deflated slightly. “I can take it from here.”
“Wha-what?! Your majesty!?” Lumberjack exclaimed before scampering to the side so that his bow wouldn’t obstruct Drifter’s space. His hooves slipped on the smooth wooden floor and he found himself colliding with his desk with a loud THUNK in his efforts to bow to the solar princess. “What a surprise!”
“I’m sure it is.” Celestia said with a motherly smile before turning her attention fully to where Twilight and Drifter were sitting. “What’s your name, my little pony?”
“Lumberjack, your highness.”
“Lumberjack, I would be in your debt if you could pass a request onto the mayor for me.” Celestia said while her horn lit up. A sheet of parchment was pulled from the desk along with a quill and some ink.
“Of course, your highness. Whatever you need.” Lumberjack said as he stood tall, awaiting the note he was to deliver.
Celestia scribbled some quick instructions, signed the letter and then rolled it into a scroll before materializing a red ribbon with the royal seal on it to neatly bind the message. She passed the scroll to Lumberjack and nodded. “Make haste, Lumberjack. This is important.”
Lumberjack gave a salute, albeit a sorely outdated one, before turning and sprinting from the room into the snowy town outside.
With that done, Celestia allowed her tall, regal posture to fade. She sagged and became sluggish almost instantly, practically dragging herself over to sit next to Twilight and look at Drifter.
“...Princess?” Twilight asked softly, touching a hoof to Celestia’s shoulder.
“The message is for a search and rescue party to be sent out in order to find your friends. As far as I know, they should have been here by now if they were taking the balloon. Besides, we all need to return to Canterlot as soon as possible.” Celestia explained bluntly before closing her eyes. “I’m sorry for sending you on this mission alone, Twilight… I should have come with you from the start.”
“Why didn’t you?” Drifter asked weakly from where she lay, shooting Celestia a look.
“...Shame. Guilt. Fear. I could easily keep listing off the emotions that held me in place. I won’t lie, Drifter. Every time you called for my aid, I was not always willing to go; the feelings of regret I harbor over all of this are just too great… I guess that, in the political situation in Canterlot, I saw an opportunity to excuse myself from all of this…” Celestia admitted quietly, looking away.
“Shame?” Drifter’s face scrunched up incredulously. “What do you have to be ashamed about with this situation, Princess?”
“Myself.” Celestia answered without even a moment’s hesitation. “...myself and the role I played in causing all of this to happen in the first place.”
Twilight looked at her former mentor in concern and confusion. “Celestia, what are you talking about? None of this is your fault.”
“What were you and Horizon talking about, Princess…?” Drifter asked slowly, narrowing her eyes at Celestia.
Celestia shuddered and sighed. “I… we… It’s a long story, Drifter…”
“I’ve got time.” Drifter said simply, drawing a flinch from Celestia.
Twilight watched in awe as a tear slipped out of Celestia’s eye.
“...Very well.” The princess took a deep breath before beginning her story. “...Horizon wasn’t always a fiend. He was a perfectly wonderful unicorn when I met him so very long ago.” Celestia closed her eyes and shook her head sadly. “He was chosen by the Tree of Harmony to wield the elements, just as Luna and myself were.”
“You mean there were THREE Element Bearers back then?” Twilight asked in shock, taken aback by this development. “Why didn’t any of the history books or stories say so?”
Celestia shot her a look and continued. “Because I erased him and everything about him from history. Every mention, every note, every written word… if he was mentioned anywhere, that mention was removed. Nopony knows of him because nothing exists to tell of him.” Celestia wiped a forehoof across her eyes. “Luna and I got our wings. We became Alicorns when we assumed the roles of maintaining the cycle of night and day. The unicorns were no longer able to do so, thanks to Discord’s chaotic mischief.”
“Luna and I found Luminous Horizon, a hero in his hometown, which had been largely sheltered from Discord’s chaos magic. He was sheltered from it. Which, by extension, means he had very weak resistances to it’s influence.” Celestia sighed and sagged even more as she recalled the events as if they had happened yesterday. “He went with us to find the elements so we could stop Discord. In his efforts to stop us, Discord was able to break down Horizon’s mind… as he did with you and your friends, Twilight.”
“But we reversed that with a memory spell… I’m guessing something was different with Horizon?” Twilight inferred hesitantly, earning a nod from Celestia.
“Yes… Horizon was in this state for far longer, his natural mind under the layers of chaos being damaged by the foreign energy. Eventually, the damages to his own mind became so great that the Tree determined he would no longer be a valid candidate for wielding the elements… a decision made at the same time that his chaos-induced madness led him to murder a family of ponies in cold blood.”
“So…” Drifter ventured uneasily. “He suffered permanent damage… how bad was it?”
“When we stopped Discord, Luna and I found him and helped him recover as best as we could. He was more or less back to his old, wonderful self. He was gentle, generous and loyal for as long as his mind remained intact.” Celestia shivered once more. “But he was… unstable. Easily broken. To make matters worse, nopony trusted him. Everypony was afraid of him, lashing out at him in anger or hatred. They had heard of the acts of mindless murder he had committed and… none of them truly knew what they were dealing with. They were dealing with the unknown.”
“And what we don’t know is what we’re the most afraid of…” Twilight muttered in realization.
“Exactly.” Celestia closed her eyes again. “I tried to help him… I did everything I could. He was my best friend and I was willing to do whatever it took to save him from his own mental scars and newly formed insecurities.” a soft smile slowly began to grow on Celestia’s face. “He was starting to fall in love with me, after a while. I must admit that it was a possibility I was very open to…” her smile faded and she choked down a sob.
Silence hung in the air for several moments before she continued.
“The last time I saw him as himself was when he proclaimed that very love at sunset.” the barest hint of a smile came to her face for only a second as she opened her eyes slightly. “I remember how touched I was… whether or not I truly loved him wasn’t clear to me, yet, but regardless…” she shifted slightly on her haunches. “We made love that night. It was the best night of my life. When I awoke, however… he had gone. He had left to get breakfast in a local Canterlot cafe.”
Twilight visibly wilted herself as she saw Celestia shiver and fail to hold in a shuddering sob that crashed through her.
“He was being harassed, as I understand it… somepony was throwing insults, taunts and ridicule. Humiliating him and deprecating him… he snapped. The last of his barriers broke and he lashed out. The pony… he… he killed the pony and then fled.”
“Oh my goodness…” Twilight whispered, putting a hoof to her chest as Celestia gradually began to succumb to an emotional meltdown.
“He told me later that… ‘if all they can see is a monster... then that is all they’ll get.’ He felt such bitterness, resentment and anger over how he had been treated for events that weren’t even his fault… nopony could see him any differently. He saw no point in being anything else anymore.” Celestia took a moment to pull herself together before continuing.
“He fled to the edges of Equestria. He used magic to change his own biology, starting by halting his aging, much like what Luna and I did to combat Discord. Then… he began to change his very nature. Soon enough, he was the being you met in the garden earlier. He began to use magic born within his twisted mind and made brand new creatures. The fiends. They were far from what they are now, but they were still dangerous.
“He began to launch attack after attack on settlements, slaughtering everything. Stallions, mares, animals, fillies, colts… it was of no difference to him anymore. He painted a bloody path across Equestria in his efforts to show everypony what they had been calling him. He was a monster in every sense…
“Nightmare Moon was born from Luna shortly after this matter came to my attention. I had no choice but to drive him back... “ Celestia opened her eyes and looked down at Drifter sorrowfully. “And… oh, little Drifter, I am so sorry I never said anything to you…”
“Said. What?” Drifter asked coldly, narrowing her eyes at Celestia with a fiercely analytical glare.
“When I pushed Horizon and his forces to the edges and they were reduced enough as a threat… I realized that I was pregnant with his foal.” Celestia lifted a hoof and pointed it at Drifter. “You.”
Twilight felt her ears snap flat against her head as soon as Celestia said that, looking between the two in shock. Drifter kept a blank face, hiding whatever she was feeling from Celestia expertly.
“But… the changes Horizon had made to his biological structure extended past his main body… it passed into all of him.” Celestia sighed. “Drifter, you were born half fiend, half pony… when I realized what had happened to you, I… I couldn’t…”
“You left me in the forest.” Drifter said bluntly in a low, cold growl. “Why? Out of Shame? Guilt? Fear?”
“Because I couldn’t stand to see you grow up with the curse my neglect of your father brought upon you…” Celestia said in barely more than a whisper. “I should have done more… but because I didn’t, I lost both of you…”
“I get it.” Drifter said dryly, looking up at the ceiling with a frown and her eyes closed.
“Drifter… I am so sorry-”
“Don’t.” Drifter snarled, silencing Celestia instantly. “My mother died a thousand years ago.”
“Drifter... come on, don’t be like that.” Twilight said softly, earning a cold scowl from the wounded hybrid.
“Celestia gave birth to me and then left me for somepony else to find. I was already over forty years old when we crossed paths.” her eyes turned to glare at the solar princess, whose head was hung in shame and regret. “Any mother worth her bits wouldn’t have given up like that. Not on their own child.” Drifter leaned towards Celestia slightly. “But you did give up. You abandoned me. Something I can’t say about the ponies who raised me.”
Celestia didn’t say anything, simply standing and slowly walking towards the front door, her hooves dragging sluggishly along the wooden floorboards.
“Tch… I figured.” Drifter muttered quietly. “Celestia… if you wanted me to ever call you my mother, you should have been the one to raise me.”
Celestia stopped by the door before glancing back to Drifter. The sorrow in her eyes was one that had grown over a thousand years of regret. “I know, Drifter… you’re right… I left you… and it is the worst mistake I have ever made.”
With that, Celestia left, the golden flash outside telling Twilight and Drifter that Celestia had used a teleportation spell. All Twilight could do was sit in stunned silence before Lumberjack came back, looking around in confusion for a moment before excusing himself from the tense silence of the room.
That evening, Twilight found herself waiting with no small amount of nervous energy on the outermost edge of Little Lapis, standing in the center of the road she and Drifter had followed to reach the small town. Word had been sent by Spike that they had been found and were being escorted to the town to meet up with her. He briefly apologized for having not shown up yet, mentioning that they had been attacked on the way by some sort of flying creature. Naturally, Twilight was worried that somepony had been hurt.
Of course, that wasn’t all that had Twilight so worried. Ever since Celestia left the inn, there had been no sign of her. Twilight couldn’t help the concern she was feeling for her former teacher. Celestia had always been so calm, collected and radiated an aura that spoke of confidence and calculated assurance. She always seemed to be in control, or at least sure she could regain control of any situation. But this…?
Twilight, in her entire life, had never once seen Princess Celestia so… broken. So vulnerable. She had never seen Celestia cry like that, save for when she saw her banish Nightmare Moon through the vision potion Zecora had made. But even then, she maintained her course of action and didn’t give up or back down. To see Celestia so quietly retreat from a situation like that… it rattled Twilight to her very core.
So distraught and lost in thought was she, that Twilight completely missed the fact that her friends were coming over the top of the hill to meet her until a missile of purple scales and green spines collided with her chest, knocking the wind out of her and wrapping her up in a tight, constricting hug.
“OOF!” Twilight gasped out with the wind having been forcefully knocked from her lungs in a harsh puff of air.
“Twilight! Oh, it’s so good to see you!” Spike said with enormous relief, clinging to her as if afraid she would disappear.
“Ah’m in agreement with Spike there, Twi. We’re all mighty glad to see ya.” Applejack said with a chuckle before gently prying Spike off of the princess. “But, uh, try not to strangle her with yer hugs, eh, Spike?”
“Eheh, um… sorry.” Spike said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head and smiling awkwardly. Rainbow was next for the tackle, though she skidded to a halt at the still dazed Twilight’s side, looking her over intently.
“You’ve got bandages.” She stated bluntly as she looked her over. “Any of them fresh?”
“Whaaa…?” Twilight wheezed out while catching her breath. Rainbow opened her mouth to ask again when a stern glare from basically everypony else made her shut up.
“Oh, come on! Enough with the chit chat! Time is hugs!” Pinkie declared before reaching out and pulling everypony into a group hug, making sure it wasn’t too tight out of consideration for Twilight’s need to breath.
For several moments, they all sat there just basking in the warmth between them in their embrace. Finally, Twilight managed to speak up. “It’s s-so good to see you all, girls…” she uttered weakly, tears of joy and relief coming to her eyes. It had only been a few days, yet it had felt to her like it had been years since her last big group hug with her friends. To be in such an embrace now was beyond comforting.
“Oh, Twilight!” Rarity suddenly exclaimed in surprise. “You’re wearing armor? And you have a scabbard for a sword at your side? What in Equestria have you been up to for you to need such attire?”
Twilight deflated and sighed. “It’s… complicated, and I barely understand most of it myself.” For several moments, everypony looked at her with concern before she slowly untangled herself from the hug. “Come on, let’s talk at the inn. Lumberjack can make us all some soup and Drifter and I can fill you in.”
“Sounds like fun!” Pinkie chirped, her mane finally returning to full poof.
“Ahm in, that’s for sure. Ah’m starvin’, an I reckon the rest of y’all aren’t too much better, eh?” Applejack affirmed, rubbing her belly and glancing at everypony else.
“Soup sounds lovely.” Fluttershy said quietly with a warm, gradually relaxing smile.
“Is Drifter that bat pony that Princess Celestia mentioned before we came out here?” Rainbow asked, to which Twilight simply nodded. “Alright, count me in. I’m kind of curious to see how well she flies.”
“...She can’t fly right now, Rainbow.” Twilight said uneasily, pawing at the snow absently.
“Why not?”
“Because she’s been horrifically wounded. She’s stable and her wounds closed, but a lot of damage to her muscles, bones and tendons will take a lot longer to heal… her wings were almost torn completely off. She won’t be flying anytime soon, I’m afraid.” Twilight explained before glancing back towards the inn with a somber expression. “And please, don’t mention Celestia to her right now.”
“Huh? Why?” Applejack tilted her head curiously.
“I… I’m not at liberty to talk about it. Just… don’t bring up Celestia, okay?”
Everypony shifted apprehensively, looking between each other before nodding slowly. “We won’t say a word, sugarcube.” Applejack said gently.
“Well, if that’s all settled, can we please get inside where it’s warm? I never exactly got the chance to make our new snowsuits out of the balloon…” Rarity suggested with an eager nod at the inn. Twilight giggled half heartedly before turning to lead them all inside.
“Sure. Come on, girls. Follow me.”
The sun was setting, Luna noted. In fact, it was setting sooner than it was supposed to by almost an hour. She glanced out the window and tilted her head in curiosity and concern. She knew that Celestia was still up north aiding Twilight and Drifter against Horizon’s fiends, so maybe she wasn’t sure of the time or something else was distracting her thoughts. It would not surprise Luna in the least if that turned out to be the case, considering the situation.
The doors to her chambers slowly creaking open drew her attention away from the last vestiges of sunlight. Luna turned and gasped as she saw Princess Celestia trudge in, looking exhausted and miserable, eyes downturned and movements sluggish and sagging. “Sister?!” Luna asked in a loud, bewildered tone.
“...Lulu…” Celestia croaked out in barely even a whisper, her body beginning to shake before she closed the door behind her with a lazy flick of her magic. “I… I spoke with him.”
Luna instantly brought herself tenderly to Celestia’s side, pulling her into a tight, warm embrace. “I’m sorry… tell me everything.” she said gently, guiding her ailing sister towards the bed so she could lie down and be comfortable. She needed all the comfort she could get right now.
“Horizon was waiting for Twilight and D-drifter… we spoke... “ Celestia almost smiled as she recalled their exchange. “He’s still in there, Luna. He can still be saved…”
“Tia, please… don’t delude yourself with that right now.” Luna said, instantly wincing and inwardly cursing at her choice of words. Celestia didn’t seem to mind though, continuing on as she and her sister nestled down into the blankets on top of the bed.
“He… he wants all this to end. He’s coming here to Canterlot.” Celestia finally managed, a few tears streaking down her face.
“Hmmm… to reveal himself so suddenly after so much time in hiding and retreat means he has some sort of plan… and if he is coming here to Canterlot…” Luna said softly, more to herself than Celestia.
“He’s going to duel me, Luna.” Celestia said sorrowfully, earning a cringe from her younger sister.
“And undoubtedly his fiends will follow him here, leading to an attack on the city itself.”
“...That’s not what distresses me so, however.” Celestia muttered, a shiver running through her as she struggled to force down another rush of tears.
“Sister?”
“...Drifter. I… she… she knows, Luna. She knows, and… it is as I feared…” Celestia stuttered before burying her face into the blankets, sobbing uncontrollably.
“She rejected you…” Luna said in an unbelieving whisper before pulling Celestia closer in their hug, wrapping her wing over her older sister for added measure. “I’m so sorry, Tia… you didn’t deserve that.”
“...I wish I could believe that, little sister… I truly, truly wish I could…”
“Okay, everypony, soups up! Come get it!” Lumberjack announced in his boisterous voice, drawing eager glances from every single pony in the room. Drifter smiled and glanced over to Fluttershy, who sat right next to her, looking over the damage to the muscles on her back and around her wing joints.
“I’m not going anywhere. Go get some food. You need it.” she said softly to the yellow pegasus.
“I’ll bring you some.” Fluttershy said with a smile before making her way to the large cauldron of bubbling soup. The aroma it emitted should have been a natural wonder in the world, as far as everypony was considered. Lumberjack was about as good a soup cook as there was in these parts, according to both himself and the locals and affirmed by Drifter.
“No, that’s fine, Fluttershy. I… I’m on something of a diet.” Drifter said sheepishly after Fluttershy, who looked back at her curiously.
“She’s not joking. She’ll be fine.” Twilight assured her gently, looking at Drifter worriedly.
Drifter herself nodded back before looking down at her hooves, very gently flexing the one that still had claws, even if they had broke. They were retracted at the moment, but Twilight could see the subtle movements they made under her skin.
“Whoo-ee, mister Lumberjack! Ah have tasted a lot of fantastic food, but this soup is absolutely delish!” Applejack grinned enthusiastically after a few spoonfuls of soup from the steaming bowl.
“I should hope so!” Lumberjack replied with a hearty chuckle. “I mean, it’s part of why I make such a good living with just this here inn. Sometimes, ponies come in just to buy the soup!”
“I can see why. Fabulous, absolutely fabulous!” Rarity chimed in with a smile of her own before downing another spoonful. “I must ask, what is your secret?”
“A secret.” Lumberjack said tauntingly, earning a pout from the fashionista.
“Well, you make sure somepony knows that secret before you’re gone, dude!” Rainbow suggested while swooping over and nudging Lumberjack in the shoulder. “It would be, like, a felony to die without making sure somepony can make this stuff!”
“I’ll think about it.” Lumberjack said before play-punching Dash in the side, drawing a grunt out of the pegasus.
“Woah! You hit hard!”
“I cut down trees before I started up this place. Muscles kinda build up when you do that sort of labor.” Lumberjack replied with a grin before trotting towards Twilight, who was nursing her own soup while sitting near Drifter. “Need anything, you two? You’ve been through a lot.”
“We’ll be fine.” Twilight said with a smile, Drifter nodding along in agreement.
“Yeah, I think you’ve done plenty.” Spike commented with a smile of his own. “I don’t think you need to- oom! Wha-”
BELCH!
“AYYIIIE!” Lumberjack squealed in a rather undignified manner as Spike belched out a torrent of green flame that coalesced and formed into a scroll bound with the royal seal. Everypony stared at him for a second with varying expressions of amusement or bewilderment. “Uh… ahem. Ima go.” He said stiffly before shuffling off to do something else.
“What does it say, Spike?” Twilight asked curiously as her number one assistant unraveled the scroll and read through it.
“Okay, let’s see… uh, it looks like Princess Luna’s calling us all back to Canterlot. Like, right now.” Spike said uneasily, pointing at the letter with a claw while turning it so the others could see.
“What, for real?” Rainbow asked with mild surprise.
“Yeah, uh, lemme see here… uh, she says that ‘there are efforts being made to evacuate the city and its population as fast as possible.’ Something big’s coming up, apparently, and she wants us to help with the evacuation and then make sure the ponies are safe.”
“Something big?” Twilight echoed quietly, no small amount of fear and trepidation slipping into her voice.
“Like what?” Rarity questioned uneasily.
“Like a full blown invasion.” Drifter said bluntly. Everypony swiveled their heads to her and her suddenly grave expression. She closed her eyes tightly and inhaled deeply.
“What…?”
“Horizon showed himself. In all the time I’ve been tracking him, that has never happened. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that a full blown emergency evacuation has been called on the exact same day.” Drifter opened her eyes, the pupils shrinking down to mere slits and a soft glow coming off of the irises. “No, it’s not a coincidence. Luminous Horizon is about to launch an attack on Canterlot. And I don’t need to tell any of you how vicious his fiends are.”
Everypony shifted uneasily, glancing between each other silently. Drifter slowly got to her hooves, wincing in mild pain.
“No matter which side wins, the aftermath will be the same.” Drifter scowled and glanced out one of the windows into the cold, snowy night.
Twilight Looked over the checklist in her magic with a scrutinizing gaze, hunting down any and all unticked boxes of any variety. It was all in order, save for one at the very bottom. ‘Triple check the checklist to make sure I didn’t miss anything when I double checked the check list.’
Twilight blinked as she vaguely recalled the first time she had used that particular item on a checklist. That had been a… weird day. Regardless, Twilight checked it and rolled up the impressively long sheet of parchment. “Okay, everypony! Everything checks out, let’s go!” she called out to the last batch of evacuating civilians, waving them along to get on the train. “Keep it calm and orderly, ponies! Don’t rush and don’t shove!”
The crowd was almost silent as they began to anxiously shuffle into the large train. The line ran back almost two city blocks. Twilight was glad that the evacuation train had so much space; and that it was heavily armored and would have a contingent of guards accompanying it to ensure it’s safety.
As the crowd filtered into the train, Twilight glanced up into the clear afternoon sky over Canterlot, feeling the cool mountain breeze extremely keenly. She glanced back towards the city proper, her ears drooping at the sight. It was practically a ghost town; this was the last batch of civilians to be evacuated. Twilight and her friends would be following along with the last train to help make sure it was safe and protected.
There had been numerous sightings of fiends in the last two days, growing more frequent by the hour, practically. Each one that came in depicted sightings drawing closer and closer to the capital city.
Drifter was beyond displeased when she had learned she would not be in Canterlot. Luna, presumably by Celestia’s request, had ordered that Drifter go along with Twilight and her friends.
“Twilight Sparkle!” Came the lunar princess’s voice from overhead as she swooped down from the sky, having been atop one of Canterlot’s towers to keep a careful eye on the intricacies of the proceedings. “I trust all is in order?”
“It is, Luna. This is the last batch of the ponies that live here. They’ll be ready to leave in a little under a half an hour; head counts and engine prep and all that.” Twilight replied before looking down slightly. “Are you sure we can’t try to help?”
“I’m sure you can help, Twilight, but I believe your efforts would by and large be better suited to protecting the ponies that leave Canterlot.” Luna replied solemnly, looking over the train herself. “You’re experience in battle is limited. As powerful with magic as you are, that alone won’t save you in the heat of war… and Canterlot is about to become a warzone. Besides, your friends have only ever engaged in battle once, during the Changeling Invasion some time back. Those Changelings used swarm tactics to overwhelm their adversaries… you won out against one wave, but were still captured.”
“You’re right… I wish there was more we could do…” Twilight sighed in defeat, shifting backwards slightly.
“If all goes well, Horizon will fall here when the battle ends.” Luna said coldly before turning her gaze to glare out into the distant terrain that their vantage point revealed. “...I just fear that my sister will hesitate.”
“...They were lovers, weren’t they?” Twilight ventured carefully, flinching back at the scowl that spread on Luna’s face.
“They were moving that way, once. But he betrayed all of that. His actions are not forgivable; the only salvation he should be granted is a swift death.” Luna’s voice grew in cold, hateful bitterness as she spoke, her teeth clenching and a fire flickering in her eyes. “Yet with the honeyed words he said to my older sister, she has started to fool herself into thinking he can still be brought out of it.”
Twilight didn’t say anything, merely looking down and shrinking slightly under the intensity of Luna’s anger, no matter the fact that it was directed elsewhere entirely.
“He will pay. If Tia won’t end him, I will.”
The sun was now slowly lowering to the horizon. Horizon’s first fiends would doubtless start making efforts to infiltrate the city and get at anypony still there; guards and soldiers, mainly. Celestia took the opportunity to look down upon the old, old city and fondly remember the long journey she had started on with so many other ponies to build it up into what it was now. Normally, even at this hour, there would be plenty of ponies up and about, doing their business.
Now, though, there were practically no ponies anywhere to be seen. Only guard patrols, each consisting of a half a dozen ponies each, searching and guarding numerous areas in the city along intricate routes. A soft breeze blew by, causing an old shop sign in one of the business districts to sway and creak, the sound almost deafening in the relative silence. A mouse scampered across from one side of an alley to the other, squeaking in unease and dread.
If any animals that lived in the city could leave, they already had. No birds chirped and there were so very few stray dogs or cats meandering the streets, seeking shelter from the nightmare they could sense was on the way. Celestia slowly looked up at the horizon as her sun began to dip below it.
“Please don’t prove me wrong tonight, Horizon…” she whispered, touching a hoof to her chest and shuddering with anxiety.
“Tia…” Luna called softly from behind her on the balcony, stepping up to her sister’s side from the interior of the castle. “Are you going to be okay?”
“I think so, Luna…”
“Good. I’ll be by your side the entire time. You won’t have to go through this alone.”
Celestia simply hummed and smiled softly. “Thank you, little sister.” she turned and nuzzled Luna affectionately. “I love you, Lulu…”
“Where did that come from?” Luna asked with a raised eyebrow, though she gladly accepted and returned the nuzzle.
“I just wanted to say it one more time. Just in case I don’t-”
“Sister.” Luna interrupted softly, but firmly, giving Celestia a long, hard stare. “Don’t think like that. Don’t even accept it as a possibility. You will not die tonight; I won’t let you.”
Celestia smiled softly and held her sister in a warm, shivering embrace. “...And that is exactly why I love you…”
The two shared an embrace for several moments before the sound of heavily armored hooves galloping towards them drew their attention. Turning, the two alicorns saw a royal guard with the dyed coat colors of a sergeant stepping onto the balcony, throwing a quick salute. “Your highnesses, urgent word from the upper districts! One of our patrols located a small pack of fiends and eliminated them.”
Celestia sighed and turned back towards the city view, knowing this would be the last time she would see it so quiet and peaceful…
“Thank you, soldier. Spread the word to prepare for battle; Horizon will be here any minute.”
The sergeant bowed and left in a sprint, his armor clanking and scraping as he disappeared into the castle. Luna turned her own angry eyes down to the city below, already searching for signs of fiends in the streets. Now that she really looked, she saw plenty… “Let us not stay this matter any further.”
“Of course… let’s go.” Celestia said uneasily before the two lifted into the air on their wings and swooped down into the city.
The atmosphere inside of the speeding train was tense, to put it mildly. Every single pony that sat next to a window looked outside anxiously, expecting something out of the darkest parts of what could be imagined to leap from the gradually deepening shadows at them and turn the train into a slaughter.
Twilight and the others wouldn’t allow that to happen.
Drifter, in her still recovering state, had taken on the role of making sure ponies were calm and collected, giving comfort wherever she could. Specifically, she was doing what she could to help a pair of earth pony siblings, a filly and colt named Wonderboom and Palmwood, respectively. Wonderboom had a bright green coat with a far brighter green in her mane and tail, making them almost white. She had big amber eyes and a timid posture.
Palmwood had a light brown coat with a mane and tail of dark brown that gradually grew lighter the further along the hairs got. His eyes were a bright, vibrant cyan. Neither of them had their cutie marks yet, and had been separated from their mother in the crowd boarding the train. They were both quiet and anxious, looking around in extreme discomfort at the nervous and even scared faces all of the adults were wearing.
They weren’t stupid; they knew something bad was happening, but their mother hadn’t told them anything except that they needed to go with everypony else and evacuate from Canterlot immediately. Drifter inwardly sighed in aggravation, but honestly, she couldn’t blame the poor mare for hiding the details of the situation. They were vague enough for everypony here, and still it was enough to make them all fidget with nervousness and deep-rooted fear.
“So, tell me more about your mom, kids.” Drifter said softly, letting them catch up to trot next to her before continuing at their pace.
“Um…” Wonderboom started in a quiet, reserved voice. “She’s really nice and sweet. She knows all there is to know about using plants as medicine and, uh… oh! She has just the most big and beautifully red eyes I have ever seen! They’re like big rubies.”
“Yeah, she works at the canterlot hospital. Something about dealing with venoms or toxins or something.” Palm added, scratching the back of his head absently.
Drifter smiled warmly. “Well, that is a very respectable job for a mare to have. She saves lives by the sound of it; I can respect that a great deal.”
“Yeah, mommy loves her job.” Wonder said with a happy grin, bouncing slightly in her stride. “She’s so nice and kind and stuff. She even gets stallions coming by the house trying to… uh… what did mommy call it, Palm?”
“Well, mom calls it ‘courting,’ but my friends at school keep saying ‘seducing’ would be a better word… what do those mean?” Palm said with a tilt of his head. Drifter hid her mouth behind a forehoof and giggled softly.
“So she has stallions looking for her romantically? That’s sweet~.”
“Pluegh! No thanks!” Palmwood stuck out his tongue and shook his head vigorously. “I do not wanna see some guy kissing mom! That’s gross!”
“But what if they love each other?” Wonder pointed out, earning a huff from her older brother.
“Even worse!”
Drifter laughed quietly at their foalish antics. Sometimes, she missed living in the world of a filly. Every day was a new adventure that brought new and exciting experiences and lessons. Now, though, every day was either a continuation of the last, or the beginning of some new, hellish nightmare that brought more blood and death than anypony should have to see in a lifetime.
“Drifter!” Rainbow’s voice suddenly called out before the cyan pegasus practically appeared in front of her, having been flying fast enough along the train to be a blur to most sets of eyes. “We’ve got a problem!”
“A problem?” Drifter asked, masking her tone so as to not scare the foals next to her. “What sort of problem?” she already knew.
“The fiendish kind…” Rainbow answered before glancing over her shoulder. “Some of the guards up top are saying we’re being followed by flying creatures.”
Drifter grimaced and then turned to look at the two foals, who were now definitely scared from the sudden shift in tone and atmosphere. She turned back to Dash with a hard stare. “Get to the engine room and get the conductor to get this thing into full speed.” she turned to the rest of the car. “Everypony listen up! Close your shutters and lock your windows right now! If you brought anything along that could be used to defend yourself, anything at all, then get them out NOW!”
The train erupted into a flurry of activity as Rainbow shot away to follow her instructions. The foals looked around in frightened confusion before looking to Drifter for answers. “Miss? What’s happening?” Wonderboom asked, on the verge of breaking down into terrified sobs.
“I won’t lie to you… things are about to get scary.” Drifter said gently, lowering herself to look them in the eyes. “We’re being followed by monsters. Terrible monsters that will stop at nothing to eat you, me and everypony else on this train. I won’t let them, and neither will Princess Twilight or the friends she brought along. We are going to protect you; all of you.”
The siblings shifted uneasily, huddling closer to themselves and also to Drifter. “Don’t be scared...:” Palmwood muttered to his shivering and crying sister, trying to sound tough. There was no hiding the fear in his voice.
“No.” Drifter said firmly, earning looks from them. “You should be afraid. This is a bad situation we’re all in. Heck, I’m scared, too.”
“But you don’t look scared…” Wonderboom mumbled up at Drifter doubtfully.
“I am scared, terrified even, trust me. I’ve just…” Drifter paused for a moment to think. “...learned how to control my fear. It’s fine to be afraid, you two… just so long as you don’t let it control you.”
Twilight felt her blood run cold as the sounds of fighting began to sound overhead, muffled by the sounds of the speeding train and the walls separating her from the conflict. The Lunar guards that Luna had assigned to accompany the train had engaged the fiends that had been tailing the train and already, it sounded horrific. A blood curdling scream sounded over her head, growing steadily louder. The voice went silent as the roof of the train cart suddenly indented down towards her, a horrific, sickening crunch accompanying the abrupt stop of the guard’s voice.
Alarmed and panicked screams were starting to sound all throughout the train. Twilight felt a cold sweat blanket her body to accompany the uncontrollable shivers she was experiencing. She stumbled slightly, memories of that first attack bubbling freely to the forefront of her mind. She began to hyperventilate, leaning against the wall and putting a hoof to her head. Somewhere, the wall of one of the carts was peeled away with a loud metallic shriek. Ponies screamed.
Get a hold of yourself! Twilight shook her head rapidly before making sure she still had her saber. Finding it still in it’s scabbard, she swiftly drew it out with her magic and then proceeded to the next cart. One of the fiends had just breached that one, leaving an opening for other fiends to exploit.
The door swung open and she cringed. A pony mare had just been pinned down, the fiend atop her sinking it’s unnaturally sharp teeth into her ribs and drawing a dying wheeze out of her. Everypony else was quickly scrambling away, holding their weapons between themselves and the creature. It was similar in shape and size to a duck, though bulkier and less agile looking.
With an infuriated shout, Twilight brought the blade of her saber down on the back of its neck while testing its skin with telekenisis. Thankfully, she could grasp it with magic. With a grunt, she hefted the partially disabled creature into the air and then hurled it out of the train through the very hole it made, making sure she dragged it on the ground for a moment before letting it go.
She went to shout out instructions, but another fiend, one of the hummingbird look alikes, stabbed its long beak down through the roof and began to peel away the metal. Acting fast, Twilight thrust the tip of her saber up into its belly as soon as it was visible. The creature let out a pained shriek before Twilight twisted the saber in its gut. With a grimace, she pulled the weapon out in a sideways slice, disemboweling the fiend and letting its corpse be lifted away by it's own wings.
“Everypony stay focused!” She shouted out at the panicking ponies before charging to the next cart. Applejack and Rarity should be in that one. Please be safe, please be safe… she prayed in her mind. Throwing open the door to the next compartment revealed Applejack stepping off of the fresh corpse of a rather large fiend, a horrified expression on her face. She had just strangled it to death with rope.
“Ah… Ah’ve never… ah…” she babbled incoherently, stumbling back. The fiend bore an incredible resemblance to a pony; almost identical, save for its teeth. “Ah ain’t never killed somepony... “
Twilight looked around for a moment, trying to spot Rarity. Turning her gaze to the corpse, she relaxed only slightly as Rarity rolled it off of her and dragged herself out, looking similarly traumatized, mumbling incoherently to herself and hyperventilating.
Even with what they knew and had already seen… being here when it happened was still more than they could handle.
“Applejack, Rarity, are you two okay?” Twilight asked quickly, glancing over her friends for any wounds that needed treatment.
“Ah’ll live…” Applejack mumbled out her response, her eyes boring into the fiend’s corpse disbelievingly. Twilight approached and rested a hoof sympathetically on her friend’s shoulder.
“It wasn’t a pony, Applejack… it’s okay…” she said softly, trying to comfort the distraught farmer as best as she was able.
Rarity hissed in pain from where she was. Twilight turned and winced at the sight of Rarity’s left hind leg. It was swollen around the knee joint. “It hurts! Sweet Celestia, it hurts!” Rarity gasped out, tears coming to her eyes.
“Let me look-” Twilight had to cut off her sentence early. Another fiend, this one with six legs instead of four, crawled into the cart from the hole in the wall as if it were an insect. It hissed and pounced for a still stunned Applejack, “Look out!”
Applejack turned and shouted in alarm, the fiend digging its teeth into her left forehoof before tackling her into one of the seating booths. “Aaagh! Twi! Help!” Applejack cried out, struggling for her life.
Twilight wasted no time in yanking the creature off of her friend with telekenisis before swiping the blade of her saber across its front. Blood pooled from the fresh wound before she blasted it out of the train with a high-powered blunt-force spell. Twilight looked at Applejack’s foreleg and grimaced. It was pretty bad. “Hang on, hold still.” Twilight muttered, trying to focus on a healing spell to stop the bleeding.
Outside the train, Twilight could still hear the Lunar guards fighting the fiends. She could also hear Rainbow Dash helping them out, by quickly shooting from one target to the next for hit-and-run attacks. It was creating distractions that gave the thestrals a significant advantage. Then, she heard the prismatic mare utter a scream that almost sent everypony in the car into a panic.
“LET GO OF FLUTTERSHY!”
Twilight fed more power into her spell, quickly patching up Applejacks wound in what she hoped was a sufficient manner before galloping to peer outside. Gazing down the train, her eyes widened in horror. Fluttershy was being forcefully yanked from one of the other carts further down, tears in her eyes and screaming in pure, unrelenting terror.
“HELP!” She screamed.
Suddenly, the fiend itself was pulled back inside the train. Fluttershy dropped out of it’s grasp, slumping into a frightened, shivering heap on the floor, watching fearfully as something happened that Twilight couldn’t see. A fresh spray of blood erupted from within, coating Fluttershy’s face and causing her to faint.
Drifter showed herself, fresh blood dripping down her face around her mouth. She glanced down the train at Twilight and nodded before carefully pulling Fluttershy’s limp form away from the hole in the wall.
“Fall back! There are too many here! FALL BA-” The lieutenant didn’t get to finish what he was saying. A fiend of impressive size, built like a snake, slithered forth and clamped it’s jaws down upon his head. His agonized, terrified scream was cut short almost as soon as he started as the teeth clamped down, severing the top of his head from the rest of his body. Blood gushed free from the mutilated stump, the corpse slumping to the ground and twitching with reflex aftershocks.
There was no other way to describe it other than absolute hell. A private let out terrified cries as he was forcefully dragged out of the central street by another fiend, his weapon out of reach and his efforts of melee resistance completely useless. He screamed out for help before going silent, his life cut short. Nearby, a pegasus pony in lightweight armor shot down into an upwards swinging arc, the spears aimed forward from his sides skewering a tall, bipedal fiend just as it was about to pounce upon one of his companions.
“Somepony send for reinforcements!” Another soldier shouted out over the chaotic din of the slaughtering ground they found themselves in.
“No time! Fall back to the bridge!” Another pony shot back, ducking away from the sharpened claws of a fiend that pursued him. He attempted to counter with the claymore he held in his yellow magical aura, bringing the massive sword down towards the beast in what he hoped would be a killing strike. The fiend sidestepped his swing before lunging, it’s claws slicing across his face, destroying his eyes and pulling a horrific howl from him before the fiend turned and finished him with a fatal bite to the neck, severing his spine.
A tall, bulky, heavily armored earth pony charged towards that very fiend, the immense weight of his armor allowing him to topple it. After only a moment of struggling, he reared back and brought down his hooves, covered in steel, pointed studs, onto the fiend’s head, killing it swiftly.
The chaos and brutality of it all was practically identical across all of Canterlot. Celestia grit her teeth as one of her royal guards was pinned down and practically torn to pieces by the writhing ball of snakes that made up the fiend atop him. With a snarl, Celestia’s horn lit in a golden light before a beam of raw sunfire reduced the fiend to less even than ashes.
This is insanity… Celestia thought before shifting her weight to avoid on oncoming fiend’s lunge. Her eyes lit up with a white glow before a beam of magic shot from her horn and sliced the creature in half, cauterizing the wound. There are so many of them...
“Tia!” Came Luna’s voice from overhead in a distressed shout. Celestia looked up, seeing her younger sister struggling to keep a flying fiend off of her, grappling with it and losing ground. Her magic seemed to slide uselessly off of it…
Celestia felt fury burning in her gut. With an enraged roar, she plucked a halberd from the stones and hurled it up to the fiend. It looked down just in time to receive the blade in the throat, blood spraying free, painting Luna in a thin layer of crimson specks. She grimaced before swooping down to stand next to her sister.
“Thank you, Sister.”
“Have you seen Horizon yet?” Celestia asked, brushing off her sister’s gratitude without even realizing it. Luna frowned but shook her head.
“I’m afraid not, Tia. He’ll be easy enough to spot, I assume.” Luna replied with a shake of her head. Her eyes narrowed before going dark, her horn lighting up. Celestia turned and watched as shadowy arms of magic ripped up from the ground around a fiend that was about to plunge its claws into Celestia’s spine, spearing it in several places before pulling it down into the shadowy portal.
“Thank you.” Celestia said with a thankful nod towards her sister.
“I said I won’t let you die and I meant it.” Luna replied firmly before moving to re engage a group of fiends that were currently locked in combat with a squad of Lunar guards. Celestia turned to engage another group of enemies as well, then froze.
Lumen…
There he was, atop a building not far away. He looked down on the scene of violence indifferently before the blue orbs settled on Celestia. They locked gazes for what felt like an eternity. His eyes spoke more than words ever could. It was time to end this. Horizon turned and vanished from sight, stepping away to what was presumably an isolated location for their duel…
Celestia glanced back towards Luna before taking off with a flap of her wings, pulling the halberd along with her. Indeed, Horizon awaited her in the center of of the main Canterlot plaza at the core of the city. This area was practically untouched. No blood, no corpses, not even any signs of chaos or that anything was out of the ordinary.
Celestia came to a landing and looked up at Horizon, trepidation in her posture.
“Here we are, then.” he said simply.
“Yes… here we are.”
“This is to be an end for both of us, you understand?”
“Of course I understand… one of us will die, and the other will have to live with the consequences.”
Horizon nodded solemnly before giving a low, respectful bow. “Live or die tonight, I will miss you in the morning, Tia.”
“And I, you.” Celestia replied sadly, giving her own bow.
The whole world seemed to fall still and impossibly silent...
Celestia looked up to Horizon, meeting his gaze once more, peering as deeply as she could for anything that she could use to save him from the nightmare he had wrapped himself up in. When she saw what she was looking for, she smiled softly.
I will save you, Horizon… no matter what it takes, I will do it to set you free…
Horizon grunted in strain as the bladed appendages sprouting from his back were abruptly severed by a swift, horizontal strike of Celestia’s halberd. With a wince, the limbs bubbled and began to regrow. Celestia herself sidestepped to evade his counter attack, which came in the form of a lunge. He anticipated this movement, however, and pivoted mid-step to tackle Celestia with all of his body weight.
Thunder boomed overhead; wild stormclouds that had gathered over the city now beginning to spill their contents. Celestia struggled with Horizon for a few moments, grinding her teeth with immense effort. She saw one of the now regenerated arms sprout its blade and lash out for her throat. Acting fast, she formed a barrier around herself and expanded it out, creating a powerful shockwave. Horizon was carried along by the dome and smashed through the side of a two story home. Dust and stone debris exploded out from the force of the impact.
Celestia dropped the barrier and took a moment to catch her breath. Horizon fought with an overwhelming amount of ferocity. She had only just now gotten a moment to breath and think about her next move. Her plans were disrupted when a beam of shadowy magic shot from the hole in the building, sparks of dark blue lightning crackling around it.
She teleported high into the air and looked down. The beam that struck the ground corroded the stonework and left it bubbling and smoldering as if struck by a potent acid. With a grimace, Celestia readied a spell of her own, sunlight radiating from her horn in an impressive, luminescent display.
Not far away, Luna caught sight of the glow. Her eyes widened. Tia, you fool! Why did you run off on your own!? With a quick flick of her magic, breaking the neck of the fiend that was charging her, Luna took to the air and bolted for Celestia’s location. A startled gasp was torn from her lungs as she was abruptly stopped at the edge of the plaza. Recoiling back from the sudden impact, Luna’s eyes widened as she realized that there was a disguised barrier surrounding the plaza; one that Celestia had put up. “Sister! What are you doing?!”
Celestia looked back at Luna regretfully before firing her beam of magic down toward the house Horizon was embedded in. The entire structure was reduced to rubble from the force of the blast. Large chunks of stone and flaming wooden support beams were sent sprawling across the plaza amidst a blinding white light.
“Tia! Let me in! NOW!” Luna demanded, pounding a hoof against the barrier. Celestia had no chance to respond. Horizon shot up from the debris, horrific burns covering his body. He ploughed into Celestia’s chest, knocking her out of her stable flight and sending both of them free falling to the stone ground below.
With a yelp of pain, Celestia was able to shove Horizon off of her in time to evade having her head taken off by a strike from one of his blades. It left a nasty gash along her cheek, but she could shake it off. The two landed on their hooves, pausing to catch their breath and consider their plan of attack.
“SISTER!” Luna shouted, amplifying her voice several times. The stones of the building beneath her cracked from the pressure of the sound waves.
“Luna.” Celestia finally addressed, turning a guilty eye to her younger sister. “This is my responsibility… Please.”
“Don’t you dare, Tia! You are not fighting him alone!”
“Please…”
“You don’t have to claim any responsibility for what HE did! Let me in, sister! NOW!”
“LUNA!” For the first time since she had returned, Luna heard Celestia use the royal canterlot voice. Her words echoed across the entire city and, even if only for a moment, all went silent. Celestia looked into Luna’s eyes. “...please.”
Luna took a step back, speechless. She had never seen that look in Celestia’s eyes before. She almost looked… resigned. As if she was aware of something nopony else was and had given up on changing it.
Without waiting for an answer, Celestia turned to Horizon, giving him the same expression. His eyes were all that seemed to react, shifting slightly with a brief flicker of worry. It was replaced swiftly by his stoic frown. Thunder boomed overhead. They charged each other once more.
Luna could only watch in awe at the display of power they were creating. Neither was holding back, it seemed. Fire, determination and sunlight clashed violently with acid, malice and a thousand years of torment. As the two continued their struggle, the battle in Canterlot gradually began to come to a halt. Both sides coming forth to gaze into the dome and watch the two warriors duel, knowing that whoever won would claim victory for their side.
Celestia’s voice erupted in a howl of pain, blood flying free as Horizon sank his teeth into her foreleg and tore a chunk of flesh away. In response, Celestia stabbed her halberd into his side with enough force to rip out his other side, brown, rotted blood bubbling free from the wound and splattering across the ground.
The two stepped away from each other, gasping for breath, covered from ear to hoof in numerous injuries. Horizon grit his teeth, slicing one end off of the halberd with one of his blades before pulling the rest out with his sickly telekinesis. Luna watched with bated breath, as did every fiend and every pony. Neither could keep this up for much longer. Luna looked over her sister, sizing her condition up compared to Horizon. With horror, she realized that Celestia would give out before Horizon without help.
“...Lumen.” Celestia said between pained gasps, her voice tired and weak.
“Yes… Tia…?” Horizon answered, trying to stand upright and failing, the still fresh hole in his body proving slow to close itself up.
Luna saw something in Celestia’s eyes, then. She closed them for a moment. When they opened once more, she seemed calm. Relaxed, at peace. As if…
Oh, no…
“I never got to say it, before… and for that, I am so sorry…” Celestia began, slowly limping towards Horizon, he tensed up defensively but let her approach undeterred.
“Don’t you dare, sister…” Luna whispered despairingly.
“What would that be…?” Horizon asked, unmoving as Celestia came into his range of attack.
“...I can’t begin to imagine how you must feel, Lumen. So much anger, resentment… I wish I could have done more to save you from this.” Celestia lowered herself slightly to be more on his eye level. “You’ve done horrible things, Horizon, because of how much you were hurt… all of that pain needed an outlet… it only ever got worse as a result…”
Horizon’s own eyes lost some of their intensity as he locked gazes with the solar Princess.
“But I know you, Lumen… so much better than anypony else here… I know who you really are… what you truly believe…” Celestia sighed and reached a hoof out to Horizon’s shoulder. “...I can see your true colors, Horizon… please… don’t be afraid to let them show… after all…”
Nopony heard what Celestia said next, as it was whispered into Horizon’s ear. A collective gasp and outcry of shock and alarm ran through the entire crowd as suddenly, Celestia kissed Horizon on the lips. He seemed stunned at first, eyes widening.
Then he stabbed her.
The despairing screams of ponies and the victorious, maniacal howls of the fiends sounded in unison as all six of Horizon’s blades stabbed into Celestia’s spine and sides, blood splattering everywhere. Instantly, Celestia went limp, falling forward and crumpling at Horizon’s hooves.
“SISTER!!!” Luna screamed, her magic coming to life and shredding what remained of Celestia’s slowly fading barrier. Horizon didn’t seem to care as the enraged lunar princess blasted him away from Celestia with an impossibly strong blast of blunt-force magic. He was sent flying backwards, crashing through several buildings and vanishing into the streets in a cloud of dust and debris. Luna turned and looked down at Celestia.
She was smiling, however faintly.
“Tia, you idiot, what were you thinking?!” Luna cried, struggling to compose herself and settling down at Celestia’s side, lighting her horn to try and stop the bleeding.
“I… I did all I could do, Lulu…” Celestia wheezed, coughing up some blood. “...I couldn’t win… but, hopefully now, he’ll have doubts…”
“What are you talking about?!” Luna whimpered, realizing with growing desperation and horror that her magic wouldn’t be enough...
“...He was a pony, Luna… he never forgot what that meant… and… just like anypony… he must grieve… grieve and mourn for the loved ones he has lost…” Celestia said, her voice growing quiet and weak.
“Tia…”
“...Thank you, Lulu… Equestria is… in… your hooves… now…” Celestia uttered before closing her eyes. She fell completely still and silent.
For what felt like an eternity, all was motionless. The realization swept over everypony present at the same time.
Princess Celestia was dead.
All at once, the fiends went from gleeful and overjoyed to confused and nonplussed. They all glanced around and at each other, as if to question something. Mutterings among themselves were filled with immense confusion and tortured anticipation. Then, begrudgingly, they began to withdraw. The ponies watched them go, silently hating the creatures whose master had murdered their princess.
Soon, all of the fiends were gone from the city completely including Horizon himself, leaving just the surviving guards and soldiers to gather around Princess Luna.
Even in death, the smile on Celestia’s face persisted.
At the train, the fiends began to gradually fall back before retreating outright, despite it being clear their victory was inevitable. Twilight sighed in relief, collapsing to the ground and panting for breath. Nearby, Drifter sheltered Palmwood and Wonderboom, who both stared fearfully at her, along with a very passed out Fluttershy.
The rest of Twilight’s friends were nearby, tending to each other in varying ways. Rarity had blacked out from panic and shock. Applejack and Pinkie were tending to her right now. Rainbow was by Fluttershy, looking her over for any injuries or wounds that would need treatment.
“This isn’t right…” Drifter muttered tiredly to herself as the train slowly pulled to a stop so a head count could be taken.
“Can we please just be glad for the reprieve?” Twilight asked in exhaustion, looking Drifter tiredly.
“The fiends were about to win… the train was tipping over! We were about to crash and victory would have been theirs. Why did they stop…?” Drifter pointed out, looking towards the distant silhouette of Canterlot, barely visible in the night sky.
“Could it be a trap?” Twilight questioned dejectedly. When Drifter didn’t answer, Twilight looked up. Drifter was looking out with wide eyes and a gaping jaw. “Drifter?”
“Look.”
Twilight did look. The storm clouds over Canterlot were parting, pulled away by magic. On the horizon, the glow of the sun could be seen ascending. “Wait… it’s not time for sunrise yet…”
“No. It’s not. But look closer.” Drifter pointed at the light the sun was making. It was… dimmer than normal. When it finally peeked out from behind the mountains, it wasn’t even enough to make anypony squint. It’s ascent stopped just as it reached about the same elevation as Canterlot, the glow it let off barely even what would be seen at sunset.
“What is Celestia doing?” Twilight asked worriedly before jumping down to the ground. Countless ponies were tending to each other, searching for family and friends among the survivors, calling out names and crying in either joy at finding them, or despair upon discovering they had perished.
All the while the sun hung overhead, the faint light painting all of the world in a solemn, sorrowful glow. Twilight felt a chill run down her spine and a bullet of sorrow in her heart. It was subtle and inexplicable, but still she felt it. She wasn’t alone either, it seemed, as everypony still alive seemed to shiver as well, many reaching their hooves up to wipe sudden tears from their eyes or to clutch at their aching chests.
One entire week had passed since the fiends assaulted Canterlot. One whole week since Princess Celestia died in battle against Luminous Horizon. One week since Luna had dimmed the sun to no more than the last traces of sunset, letting it’s dull glow tell all of Equestria the horrible truth. One week since Moonrise Drifter had been informed of her birth mother’s death and isolated herself away from everypony else. One week since Twilight and her friends were told, Twilight's cries, sobs and sorrowful screams being heard all throughout Canterlot.
Now, Twilight Sparkle, Moonrise Drifter, and Princess Luna all stood in front of Celestia’s grave, marked by a tall, ornately carved stone in the heart of Canterlot. For now, the stone held her name, the years she had lived, her titles and an etching of her cutie mark. Luna had ordered with no room for argument that Celestia’s memory would be honored far better than this. Some of the finest sculptors in all the known world had been contracted to carve a statue of Celestia to place here.
The sun was presently rising, Luna’s face twisting slightly with strain as she brought the substantially larger celestial body into it’s position while also lowering the moon below the horizon. When it was done, she dropped the spell and let out a breath.
“Has there been any sign of Horizon or his fiends…?” Drifter asked coldly, almost no emotion in her voice. Her eyes were glued to the symbol of Celestia’s cutie mark.
“I’m afraid not, Drifter… None of the scouts or patrols have seen anything, nor any of the towns or settlements across Equestria that we got in touch with.” Luna replied with a sigh. “But I know Horizon well enough to know that this is only a temporary reprieve. We aren’t done yet; not even close.”
“Of course we aren’t...” Drifter muttered quietly. Twilight looked at the two of them sadly, giving Drifter especially a quick examination. Her wounds were mostly healed; she should at least be able to fly without problems now, and her claws were steadily regrowing; on the hoof that still had them, at least. The others would take a lot longer to heal, as they needed to regrow completely from scratch.
Twilight looked back at Celestia’s grave and felt a tear slide down her cheek. “I… I still can’t believe it…”
“Nor I, Twilight Sparkle. Nor the rest of Equestria…” Luna sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. “We’ve done as much mourning as we can afford for now, though. Horizon is still out there. I have no doubts that he’ll be coming back to the forefront sooner rather than later.”
“So what’s your plan?” Drifter asked, looking between the two of them.
“I need to get back to Ponyville... “ Twilight started, smiling faintly at the fond idea of going home. “I’m going to need to make sure it’s extra defendable, make sure it has a guard post and training stations for getting recruits and ponies ready to defend themselves.”
“Indeed. Canterlot suffered much damage during the attack, so for now, my efforts shall be directed towards repairing that damage and plugging any gaps in security that fiends could exploit.” Luna added with a frown. “I also have to assume my sisters responsibilities over the sun…”
They all fell silent for a few moments. Finally, Drifter sighed and turned away from the grave with a slow trot.
“Where are you going, Drifter?” Twilight asked curiously, shifting to look at the back of Drifter's head.
“I have my own responsibilities to attend to… for one thing, I need to help Palmwood and Wonderboom find their mother… and failing that, I’ll take care of them.” Drifter shivered with subtle anger and grief, though she composed herself rather quickly. “And once that’s taken care of… I’m going to find Horizon. When I do, I’ll let you know. We’ll tear him apart for everything he stole from us.”
“Are you sure? We could really use your knowledge on the fiends, now more than ever.” Twilight asked gently, trotting to Drifter’s side.
“I’m sure. I’ll make sure to keep fiend levels as low as I can, just like before, and I’ll send you letters with information on the fiends whenever I can.” Drifter replied before looking at Twilight with a soft smile. “It was an honor to meet you, Princess Twilight. I hope we meet again someday soon.”
Twilight shifted uncomfortably at the use of her title. “Please, just Twilight is fine. And yeah, I hope so, too.”
“Take care of yourself Drifter. We’ll certainly need you in the near future.” Luna cautioned before giving a reassuring nod. “And if you need it, there will always be a place for you here.”
“Thank you…”
That said, Drifter spread out her wings and took flight, soaring into the air and turning north. Her destination was a small encampment that had been put together by various ponies who had lost their homes or families in the battle in Canterlot and the train. Palmwood and Wonderboom would be waiting for her there.
Turning her eyes up somewhat, she saw the sun slowly ascending higher into the air. Drifter winced as she felt a spark of sorrow run through her. She forced down her sob and glared ahead.
...Celestia saw Horizon’s true colors, eh? Drifter thought, recalling how Luna recounted the situation in great detail. A furious scowl crossed her face. Yeah, I see them too. I just don’t see them through some sort of love-tinted filter. A hate filled glow overcame her eyes and she bared her teeth on instinct. Her claws flexed eagerly under her skin.
Your true colors are those of an abomination. I am going to find you, Horizon… and when I do, there won’t be a power in all of creation that will save you from the fate you’ve sealed yourself into. With a growl and new resolve burning in her eyes and pumping through her veins, Drifter gave her wings a mighty flap, accelerating and vanishing into the distance.
