In the aftermath of Luminous Horizon's duel with Celestia, Princess Luna, Twilight Sparkle and Moonrise Drifter search for the father of all fiends.
(This story is a direct sequel to The Mare that eats The Monsters, and reading that story is highly recomended to understand what's happening in this one.)
The horrors of that one night are still fresh in the minds of everypony in Equestria, even now, two months later. Hundreds of ponies were mercilessly slaughtered and Princess Celestia was killed by Luminous Horizon, her duties falling to her younger sister. Despite how confident she had seemed that her sacrifice would not be in vain, things have only gotten worse since then. The sun's light is begining to fade, casting the world into an unsettling eldritch abyss.
With the sinister omen of the sun's waning light looming over all of Equestria and the hunger of the fiends ever growing, Moonrise Drifter now pursues Luminous Horzion, eager for answers and vengance.
All around her, Moonrise Drifter could see the mutilated corpses of ponies, young and old, big and small. Tendrils of inky blackness stretched across the endlessly stretching meadow of decay, picking away at the bodies as if to study their anatomy and biology. Drifter took a careful step, her grey hoof almost invisible to her in the horrific darkness that surrounded her. “Where am I…?”
Not far away, some of the corpses shifted. Turning to look, felt a wave of confusion overwhelm her. The sea of corpses was gone now. Instead, she stood in one of Canterlot’s many large plazas, drenched with rain and freshly running blood. Pillars of smoke were visible from deeper in the city and the sounds of a brutal battle could be heard all around her.
“...Lumen.” Celestia’s voice said between pained gasps, her voice tired and weak. Drifter turned and saw the solar princess, covered head to hoof in horrific injuries, gazing straight ahead into the deep blue eyes of Luminous Horizon, who himself sported numerous injuries if varying size and severity. The large hole in his torso was slowly knitting itself closed.
“Yes… Tia…?” He answered, trying to stand upright and failing, the still fresh hole in his body proving slow to close itself up. Drifter looked between the two, baring her sharp fangs and extending the claws on her left hoof, the ones on the right still regrowing. With a howl of rage, Drifter hurled herself at Horizon, trying to slice his chest, to bite his throat, to disembowel him. Every offensive effort was useless. She wasn’t here. This had already happened. She was merely reliving it.
Drifter’s immense hatred for the father of the fiends grew immeasurably, her blood boiling with uncontainable rage.
“I never got to say it, before… and for that, I am so sorry…” Celestia began with a cough before slowly limping towards Horizon. He tensed up defensively but let her approach undeterred.
“What would that be…?” He asked curiously, unmoving as Celestia came into his effective 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. Drifter could see the genuine connection they had in their shared gaze. It was clear that they still cared deeply for one another, even if circumstances demanded they fight to the death this night.
“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.
Drifter gasped as she returned to the ocean of bodies, rain having started to fall upon the endless expanse. Squinting, she could just see a faint yellow light appearing on the distant horizon, gradually getting brighter. Sunrise?
The glow grew sickly, however. As the sun rose, Drifter felt her heart sink. It was turning red, distorting and mangling into a writhing vortex of crimson light with a great deal of energy radiating from it in disturbing patterns. It was as if the sun was bleeding across all of the sky, the light it emitted barely even noticeable
Fires began to flicker up from between the decaying limbs beneath her hooves. Drifter took a step back, startled. A yelp of surprise tore from her lungs as a wall of fire erupted in a circular shape around her for a relatively short distance. The heat was intense and the scent of swiftly burning, half-rotten flesh sent a shudder through her.
Just ahead, she saw a body gradually rising from the mass of lifeless bodies. Drifter felt her eyes widen as she realized it was the corpse of Princess Celestia herself being hoisted free, held aloft by invisible hooks that held her at odd angles.
“...Does it hurt?”
Drifter turned and scowled. Luminous Horizon sat just next to her, the tentacles he used as weapons currently hidden inside his back. He looked at her slowly, his face reflecting no discernable emotion. Drifter growled and bared her fangs, spreading her posture into a fighting stance.
“Don’t bother. This is a dream, after all. Outside of a temporary catharsis, attacking me here will do nothing for either of us.” he said bluntly before returning his gaze to Celestia’s corpse. “I ask again… does it hurt?”
“Does what hurt!?” Drifter snapped venomously, glaring daggers at the fiend.
“...Celestia’s death.”
“Is it not supposed to?” Drifter seethed, a tremble of rage building up in her body. “Even if I can’t bring myself to see her as my mother, Celestia was still my friend and companion! You killed her in cold blood!” she stamped her hoof down, splinters and shards of bone rising from the impact. “Am I supposed to feel anything but hurt by this? Well?! AM I?!”
Silence fell between the two for several moments. Horizon sighed heavily before standing up. “...No. You are right to feel hurt.”
“Don’t you even...!” Drifter began, unable to find the words that would get her thoughts across. She swallowed and tried again. “You have no right to give comment on such things. You’ve never cared before, so why would you now?”
Horizon simply glanced at her before the flames began to close in, consuming him swiftly. He said nothing, merely shaking his head before being burned away into ashes by the swirling fire.
Drifter opened her eyes with a subtle intake of breath. Looking around after a moment, she found she was still in the small two-bed hotel room she had rented. Wonderboom and Palmwood were still sound asleep in the bed they shared not far away, shifting and murmuring to themselves with content smiles on their faces. Drifter sighed and glanced outside. The sun wasn’t even up yet.
Drifter silently slipped from the bed and trotted to the bathroom, splashing cold water in her face from the faucet. Once that was done, she looked at her own face in the mirror. She blinked before grinning so she could see her fangs, then let her claws extend on her left hoof, bringing them up and looking them over.
“...Drifter?” Wonderboom asked from the doorway, rubbing her sleepy eyes with a forehoof. “It’s really early. Why are you up…?”
“I should be asking you that, kiddo.” Drifter said with a soft smile and gentle voice. “I just had a bad dream and needed to think for a bit. It’s fine.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. Go back to bed now, okay? We still got a few hours before we gotta go and you need your rest,”
Wonder pawed at the floor absently while looking around awkwardly. “Um… can I ask you a question first?”
“Sure thing, sweetie.” Drifter said softly, trotting up to the filly and nestling down to better hear her inquiry.
“Do… you think we’ll find mommy?”
Drifter went cold upon hearing that. Wonderboom and her brother had been separated from their mother on board a train full to the brim with citizens evacuated from Canterlot once it was known that Horizon would be launching an attack with his fiends. That had been two months ago. Drifter had been trying to help the two find their mother ever since, checking towns in the vicinity and asking around. Nothing had come up. As much as she didn’t want to, Drifter had to tell them what she really thought; they were smart kids and lying would only make things harder on all of them.
“Wonder… I’m sorry, but I don’t think we’re going to. We’ve been looking for two months and nothing’s come up… I hope I’m wrong, really, I do, but… It just doesn’t seem likely anymore.” Drifter said as softly and as carefully as possible.
“Are you gonna leave me and Palm?” Wonder asked quietly, her eyes tearing up and her body beginning to tremble.
“Whatever gave you the idea that I would even think of that?” Drifter asked, genuinely taken aback by the idea.
“You’re not mommy or daddy. It’s not your job to take care of us, so… you’re going to leave us, aren’t you?”
“Absolutely not,” Drifter reassured firmly, patting her on the head. “While I’m not your mother or father, I am still more than happy to look out for you two for as long as I think is necessary. You have nowhere else to go right now, so we’re stuck with each other for now.” She playfully booped Wonder on the tip of her nose with a smile. “Now go back to sleep, okay? I’m not going anywhere.”
Seemingly satisfied with Drifter’s answer, Wonder hugged her leg before cantering back to bed and sliding in next to her brother. Drifter couldn’t help but smile at how cute they looked like that. Her smile faded when a thought crossed her mind.
I’m not going to leave you two… At least, I hope not...
Ponyville, to the untrained eye and uninformed mind, looked just as peaceful as it normally was. In many ways, that was true; but anypony who resided in the quaint village would swiftly confirm the contrary. Everypony was on edge, many of them still rattled to their very cores by the fact that Princess Celestia had died not more than two months before now. Many could still scarcely believe it.
To the particularly perceptive, it was clear that something big was under construction in an empty plot of land near the center of the town. It was being built out of sturdy wood and the finest stone available. The new Ponyville barracks.
Princess Twilight Sparkle could only grimace as she looked over the construction ponies doing their job, hammers striking nails and support blocks sounding out and echoing across Ponyville, the grating sound of sawblades digging into wood, cutting them to size even more noticeable. She took absolutely no pleasure in having to arrange this building’s construction, even stepping past the mayor to get it started as fast as possible.
But it has to be done. If we can’t defend ourselves here, we’ll be done for if fiends attack… Twilight thought bitterly to herself, an uncomfortable shiver running through her as she recalled the nightmarish events that had introduced her to all of this. The train headed north…
“Y’all alright, sugarcube?” Came the concerned voice of Applejack, who was trotting towards Twilight with saddlebags full of apples resting on her back. Twilight blinked and realized she had been zoning out, the memories becoming very vivid. It was like she was there all over again, watching the fiends slaughter innocents just to get to her…
“I-I’m fine, Applejack.” Twilight said quickly. Applejack knew she wasn’t. But in truth, that was nothing new. None of them were fine, given the circumstances.
“Ya sure?”
“Yeah… thanks for asking, though.” Twilight said with a small smile.
“Sure thing. Ah can't stay and talk, though. Gotta deliver these here apples to the construction ponies. They need lunch, too.” Applejack gave Twilight a gentle hug before trotting off to do her task.
Twilight gave a heavy sigh and sat down, closing her eyes to just be alone with her thoughts. They hadn’t heard anything from Drifter yet. Fiend attacks were scarce, but they were still happening frequently enough and sporadically enough to keep Equestria off balance. Combine that with Luna’s exhaustion and frustration with her doubled workload and the emotional trauma she must still be going through…
Twilight shook herself out of her thoughts and stood. The construction is on schedule… I don’t need to be here anymore. She thought absently before turning and sluggishly returning to her castle. Right now, she just wanted to lie down, bury her face into the longest comedy book she could find and forget the world around her even existed for a few hours.
Stepping in through the massive double doors allowed her mind and muscles to relax as she entered her home, the familiar space doing wonders for her overtaxed state. Spike was dutifully dusting not far off. He looked up and smiled warmly at Twilight, though the strain and worry he felt were plainly visible. “Hey, Twilight. How’s the building coming along?”
“Well enough,” Twilight responded tiredly. “The framework is more or less done. Right now they’re making reinforcements to the support beams and then they’re going to start filling in the gaps with stone and steel.”
“And the, uh… recruitment process?” Spike ventured uneasily, ready to quietly retreat from the room in case Twilight had another frustration fit.
“Nothing’s changed since last week…” Twilight mumbled irritably, striding past Spike into a lounging area and flopping down face-first into the soft cushions of the first couch she could find.
“Can’t you do anything to speed it up?”
“I’m not a soldier, Spike. I’m not a warrior or a fighter… I barely managed to survive every encounter I’ve had with the fiends to date.” Twilight reminded Spike while lifting her head from the cushion with a grunt. “I can defend myself, but I’m not a battle hardened veteran or a genius tactician… I’m the Princess of Friendship! My job is to make peace and come to understandings! I’m supposed to forge friendships! Not... “ Twilight took a deep breath, calming down her rapidly rising voice and shaking body. “...I’m not supposed to be recruiting ponies for war…”
“And there isn’t anypony else in town who has the experience or reputation to draw ponies to such a cause, right?” Spike surmised with slumping shoulders. Twilight nodded.
“Exactly. I mean, Rainbow Dash is technically a part of a military group, being a Wonderbolt and all, but they haven’t actually been in any sort of conflict for decades at least, probably centuries if we want to be realistic.”
“Right…”
“Shining Armor has to manage the military and recruitment up in the Crystal Empire, Luna’s got her hooves full with more than just soldiers and defences…” Twilight rubbed her face and groaned in frustration. “It’s a mess all the way around…”
“We’ll be okay, Twilight.” Spike said after a moment, patting Twilight on the shoulder and smiling comfortingly at her. “We’ve always made it through these things before, we’ll make it through this.”
Twilight sat up and looked at Spike blankly. “We never lost Princess Celestia against previous threats, though.” her words were empty and heavy, her ears falling flat against her head.
“Twilight…” Spike whispered gently, pulling himself up onto the couch next to her and hugging her tightly. He knew where this was going. It was almost routine at this point; a routine he dreaded having to attend. But somepony had to…
“Spike… I just… why did he…” Twilight struggled to find the words to ask her questions before burying her face in her forelegs and sobbing. The death of Celestia was fresh in the hearts of everypony, but Twilight had taken it especially hard. All Spike could do was sit by her and give her whatever comfort he could.
“It’s okay, Twilight… I’ve got you.” Spike hummed out soothingly.
Twilight said nothing for several minutes, simply crying out her pent up stress and sorrow. At some point she pulled Spike into a hug, pulling him tightly against her and clinging to him for warmth. Finally, she spoke. “...I… I know, Spike… thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” was all he could say back to her as she gradually got a hold of herself.
“Whew! Glad that’s all done. Ah need a break.” Applejack sighed in relief as she stepped into the fields of Sweet Apple Acres, her work for the day out in Ponyville having been at last completed. Glancing up to the front door of the house, she raised an eyebrow at the sight of Rarity looking around anxiously. “Rares?”
“Oh, Applejack!” Rarity said with a start, looking towards the farm mare with worried eyes. “Have you seen Sweetie Belle? She came over here to spend the night with Applebloom and Scootaloo. I want to make sure she has everything she needs, but I can’t find her.”
“Did ya check their clubhouse?” Applejack asked casually, though she had to admit already that Rarity’s worries were well founded, considering the events of the last two months.
“Thats where I looked first, dear.” Rarity deadpanned at Applejack before fidgeting in place, looking around once more and biting her lower lip nervously.
“Right… ey! Big Mac!” Applejack called out loudly. After a few moments, a second story window popped open on the house, the big red stallion poking his head out to look at her. “Have ya seen Applebloom or her friends, by any chance?”
“Nnope.”
“We’re over here, you guys!” Sweetie Belle’s voice suddenly chimed from the orchard treeline as the trio stepped out, smiling pleasantly.
“SWEETIE BELLE!” Rarity shrieked, sprinting over and wrapping her little sister up in a bone crushing hug. “Oh, you know that you are not supposed to leave the supervision of somepony until all of this fiend business is cleared up!”
Sweetie Belle merely wheezed out a strangled, agonized groan.
Rarity pulled back and gasped at the disheveled state of the young unicorn’s mane. “And good heavens! What have you all been doing to look like this?!”
“Uh… Rares?” Applebloom ventured bluntly, gesturing to a now very blue Sweetie Belle. Rarity ‘yipped’ in alarm and dropped her sister with an apologetic smile.
“Sorry, darling…”
“Ugh… It’s fine. Just, ya know, need a few minutes…” Sweetie wobbled a bit while catching her breath. The other girls present simply giggled at the display.
“Rarity has a point, y’all. What were ya doin’ out there without a grown-up ta keep an eye and ear on ya?” Applejack asked sternly as she approached the group, a disapproving frown etched deeply into her face.
“We wanted to go for a run, AJ. No big deal.” Scootaloo defended casually, though the glare from the farmer broke her nonchalant stance almost instantly.
“Big deal, Scootaloo. None of y’all can defend yerselves well enough to stop a fiend, and none of us know when one’ll strike here!”
“But we’ve been stuck sitting around for weeks!” Sweetie chimed in grumpily. “We’re bored and haven’t burned off any energy! It’s getting to a point where I can’t sleep!”
“Yeah, same here.” Scootaloo added while poking the soil with her hoof. Applebloom just nodded in agreement.
Applejack sighed tiredly. “Ah know, gals… I do, trust me. None of us are taking this mess well, but we don’t want y’all ta get hurt.”
“We know, big sis.” Applebloom said solemnly, looking down. “But at least give us somthin’ to do around town? Something that can keep us busy and help with… uh… whatever it is that’s goin’ on?”
Rarity cut in at about this point. “I’d love to allow that, but, well… you’re you. The CMC have a bit of a reputation of… oh, how to put this tactfully… um…” she put a hoof to her chin for several moments. “Oh, yes! You have a reputation of going off topic, so to speak.”
Applebloom huffed indignantly. “Say what, now?”
“No we don’t!” Scootaloo snapped with annoyance, earning a skeptical look from Sweetie Belle.
“Um… Scootaloo, don’t you remember last tuesday? With the cabbages and your scooter?” She reminded her bluntly. Scootaloo made a ‘shushing’ motion with her hoof.
“Ack! Sweetie! We said we wouldn’t talk about that!”
“We did kinda get stuck gatherin’ that merchants stuff fer several hours…” Applebloom added bashfully, shrinking down a bit.
“So that’s why y’all were so late delivering those apple pies to Pinkie…” Applejack mumbled in realization.
“Well, that settles that. Without somepony there to keep you on task, I don’t think I or Applejack are okay with that, girls. I’m sorry.” Rarity stated firmly, a stomp of her hoof solidifying her resolve.
The trio of fillies sighed collectively in disappointment and aggravation. “Fiiine…”
“Alright, now that that’s settled,” Applejack said a bit more light-heartedly. “Who’s up for some early dinner here at the farm? Mah treat.”
“That sounds like fun! Can we?” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, looking up at Rarity hopefully.
“Hey, I’m down.” Scootaloo answered with a shrug. “Rainbow’s doing something with the wonderbolts until tomorrow, so I’m pretty much free today.”
“What about yer parents?” Applebloom inquired quizically.
“Mom’s overworked with helping prepare food and rations in the event of some large-scale attack or something and dad’s out working on that barracks building. Their shifts won’t end until well after Celestia sets the…” Scootaloo trailed off as soon as she said that. Everypony went quiet. “...I’m sorry… Luna sets the sun.”
“It’s alright, Sugarcube…” Applejack sighed heavily. “Yer not the only one havin’ a hard time adjustin’...”
Several seconds passed in a despondent silence before Rarity cleared her throat. “Yes, well, ahem. I think an early dinner with you sounds positively lovely, Applejack. Count Sweetie and I in.”
Not far away from the group of ponies, a twisted monstrosity, even among fiends, whimpered and groaned near silently. It’s absurdly long, three-pronged tongue slipped from between its coiled, twisted teeth and licked hungrily at it’s own jaws. Spines quivered on it’s back, whiskers twitched on it’s face on it’s lips peeled back in lustful desire for flesh and blood. “Skeintooth want blood…” it whined out, lazily slamming the side of it’s head into the apple tree next to it.
You’ll get your chance, Skeintooth. Remember your first objective. Horizon whispered into the putrid monster’s mind, earning a nod from the near-feral fiend.
“Yes… Skeintooth bite Princess of friends. Skeintooth tear flesh from her. Give to you.”
Correct. And then?
Skeintooth whimpered in anticipation, slapping the ground in impatience. “Then, Skeintooth do same to Princess of Night. Then Skeintooth dig up sun’s grave and bring you bone and flesh of sun.”
Yes, good boy, Skeintooth. And just as soon as you have done this for me, I will let you kill, rip, tear, bite and feast to your hearts content. You can have all the meat you could ever possibly want.
“Skeintooth can’t wait... “
I’m sure you can’t. Now find a way to Isolate Princess Twilight from the others; get her on her own. It will be easier to get what we need from her if she’s alone.
“Fillies. Friends. Skeintooth take them away; Princess of friends looks. Skeintooth leads…” The fiend began to mumble to himself, a plan forming in his head. The long spines along his back quivered and bristled with bloodlust and murderous desire.
You have a plan?
“Skeintooth has plan, master. Skeintooth won’t fail you, master.”
See to it that you don’t; you don’t want to know what will happen to you if you fail me.
Skeintooth nodded and prowled away, eager to set his plans into motion. His long, snake-like tail whipped behind him, the small, bulbous pod on the end flickering with a pale blue light.
“Mmmm~!” Sweetie Belle hummed contentedly as she dug into her plate of food. Applejacks cooking was great as always. “This is wonderful, Applejack!”
“Heh, well thank ya kindly, Sweetie.” Applejack smiled and patted the little unicorn filly atop the head. Sweetie Belle beamed.
“Indeed! Very delicious, even by your already high standards, I must say.” Rarity complimented with a gesture of her hoof to Applejack, who in turn began to blush slightly from the sudden heaps of praise on her cooking.
“Aw, shucks. Cut it out, y’all… heh, yer embarrassin’’ me.” Applejack waved her forehooves at them dismissively.
“Nnope.” Big Mac added from his seat, a small, playful smirk spreading on his face.
“Oh, come on! Not you too?”
“Eeyup.”
“It is but the truth, darling.” Rarity smiled widely and took another lady-like bite from her meal, using a fork to pull the finely cooked bundle of hay to her mouth.
Applebloom smiled widely herself. “Hey, Ah helped! Don’t forget that!” she raised a forehoof into the air with a big, happy grin.
Scootaloo simply smiled, opening her mouth to say something. The words caught in her throat, her ears turning on her head and perking up to better listen to… whatever it was she was hearing.
“Come on now, Scoots. Didn’t yer folks tell ya not to eat with yer mouth open?” Applejack teased lightly, causing Scootaloo to snap her mouth shut and shake from her trance.
“Oh, sorry. I just thought I heard something.”
All at once, the happy and relaxed atmosphere gave way to uneasiness and tension. Applejack and Rarity looked between each other nervously. Clearing her throat to get Scootaloo’s attention, Rarity piped up. “Um… what did it sound like?”
“I don’t really know how to describe it… like… um… a ringing?” Scootaloo rubbed her head, seemingly flummoxed.
“Ringing?” Applebloom pressed, looking at her friend curiously.
“Yeah. Like… okay, say you took a really nice sounding bell? Like a hoof-held one, maybe a bit bigger, and then slowed the sounds it made? I guess?” Scootaloo’s face scrunched slightly as she analyzed her words to make sure it sounded right.
Big Mac, from where he was sitting, stood and made his way for the door. “Ah’ll take a look.” he said simply, opening the door and peering outside.
“Ah’ll go with ya. Rarity, stay here with the fillies, ‘kay?” Applejack added, also standing up and trotting over to Big Mac’s side.
“Of course.”
Sweetie Belle looked between everypony worriedly, but it was Applebloom who spoke. ‘What’s goin’ on? Do y’all recognize that sound or somethin’?”
“Not quite, sugarcube… Ah just ain’t taken any chances. It’s probably just a bird or somethin’, but best make sure. Stay here, y’all, alright?” Applejack looked at the room firmly, everypony nodding along in silent agreement. “Alright. Let’s go, brother.”
“Eeyup.” Big Mac added before stepping fully out, Applejack following and closing the door behind her.
Silence. The whole house was plunged into an uncomfortable silence for several minutes. Rarity was about to open her mouth to say something, strike up conversation to lighten the mood when a noise came to her ears. It was just as Scootaloo had described. It was like the echoing chimes from a distant bell tower, stretched out into a subtle, gentle drone in her mind. The fillies all perked up as well, hearing it at the same time.
“That’s the sound…” Scootaloo muttered when she realized everypony else was hearing it as well.
“What is it?” Sweetie Belle asked nervously, shifting to sit by Rarity, taking comfort in the presence of her big sister. Rarity, in turn, wrapped a foreleg over Sweetie and bit her lower lip.
“I don’t know… but… It sounds pleasant, if nothing else.”
“I mean, yeah, kinda. It’s relaxing, but still…” Scootaloo nodded along, crossing her forelegs and glancing out a nearby window at the evening sky. “Nothing I know about can make noises like that.”
A shadow bolted by the window. Scootaloo yelped in alarm and ducked under the table. At the same time, something struck the door, hard. Rarity immediately got to her hooves and stood in front of Sweetie Belle. “Girls, behind me! NOW!” The fillies were swift to comply.
The door rattled and then swung open, revealing Applejack without her stetson and eyes wide. Her breath was coming in rapid gasps and there was a small cut on her cheek. “F-f-fiend!” she sputtered, stumbling into the house and falling down.
“Applejack!” Applebloom cried out, swiftly leaving the cover of Rarity’s protective pose to go to her ailing elder sister’s side. “Are ya okay?! Where’s Big Mac?!”
“It’s got him! Th-that thing h-has Big Mac!” Applejack stuttered out, gasping for breath and slowly picking herself up. “Ah’ve never seen one like it… i-it moved so fast…”
“We need to warn Twilight.” Rarity said instantly, using her magic to lift Sweetie onto her back. “And the rest of Ponyville, while we’re at it.”
“But… but what about Big Mac?!” Applebloom asked fearfully, clutching to Applejack’s foreleg with her own.
“Rarity is right, AB. We won’t do any good for Big Mac if we get caught, too.” Applejack said solemnly before bending down. “Come on, up.”
A sadistic, raspy cackle sounded from the doorway, followed by a dull thud. Rarity went pale and frozen in fear, as did Sweetie on her back and Scootaloo behind her. Applejack slowly turned and beheld the fiend that had attacked them, Big Mac’s motionless form pinned beneath the long, coiled claws of its right front leg. It’s teeth were mangled beyond repair, coiling and twisting like springs and tree branches.
“Yes. Twilight. Princess of Friends…” The fiend cackled and slinked forwards over Big Mac, putting pressure on his belly as it passed, forcing the breath from his unconscious lungs. He was alive, then, if his instinctual inhale was anything to go by. The fiend licked it’s fangs. “I need Princess of Friends. Need her blood…” he shuddered with anticipation. “Need friends of Princess to get her… so, then…” it bared its teeth menacingly, tilting it’s head unnaturally far to one side, several pops and cracks sounding from it’s neck. “Come.”
Applejack cried out in pain as the fiend suddenly shot toward her at impossible speeds. She had no time to react; its long, sharp teeth sank into her shoulder and yanked, tearing free a substantial chunk of flesh and sending her dropping to the floor in paralyzing agony. Applebloom screamed in terror, toppling off of Applejack’s back and scrambling to get away from the monster.
“Rairty!” Sweetie Belle screamed out, clinging to her older sister for dear life. Rarity, however, was petrified with fear herself. She had no way of defending herself against this thing; it was too fast, too strong. It’s movements were agile, swift and wildly unpredictable.
“Skeintooth needs messenger…” the fiend snarled out as it drew closer to Rarity, teeth dripping with drool. “Somepony willing to obey... “
Rarity tried to back away, but had no chance. Skeintooth lurched forward, striking her across the front of her forelegs with a swipe of his claws. Rarity gasped and fell down, screaming in pain. Skeintooth smirked and smashed the side of his head into the back of hers. She fell like a sack of potatoes. Sweetie Belle screamed and cried, backing away from the creature until her back was to the wall, Scootaloo following her.
Behind the fiend, still near Applejack, Applebloom watched the proceedings with horrified eyes, not knowing what to do. She didn’t get the chance to decide on a course of action; the long, whip-like tail protruding from Skeintooth’s rear lashed around and clobbered her in the back of the head. She too was knocked out cold by the force of the blow.
Scootaloo was shaking uncontrollably, whimpers subtly slipping from her tightly constricting throat. Sweetie was even worse, breaking down into terrified sobs and screams of fear. Scootaloo gulped and did her best to put on her brave face. “L-leave us alone!” she barked, though there was no strength in her words.
“Too bold.” Skeintooth stated before opening his jaws and lunging for Scootaloo’s throat. She screamed and fell limp when Skeintooth’s jaws clamped around her neck. Sweetie Belle screamed and closed her eyes, half expecting a spray of blood to cover her face, for one of her best friends to be killed right in front of her. None came, though she still dared not open her eyes. “Tch. Too weak…” Skeintooth mumbled as he let Scootaloo fall to the floor, seemingly passed out from shock and fear. He hadn’t actually bitten her; merely forced her into submission.
“P-please… help me… somepony help me…” Sweetie Belle begged in quiet, frantic whispers, clutching her head and staring at the floor with wide, unfocused eyes. Skeintooth smirked widely with maniacal glee.
“You.”
Sweetie flinched and looked up at Skeintooth fearfully.
“You get to leave. Tell Princess Twilight to find Skeintooth in everfree woods.” Skeintooth leaned down closer to Sweetie Belle, making sure his putrid breath was washing over her. “She comes alone. If Skeintooth sees anypony else, Skeintooth kills and eats friends of Princess.” He leaned back slightly, looming over the still passed out Rarity. “Tell nopony else. Only Princess. Anypony else knows…” he pointed the tip of his claw at Rarity’s throat, jabbing just enough to draw a very small trickle of blood.
Sweetie Belle shivered uncontrollably, unable to move or really react.
“Understand Skeintooth, little pony?”
“I… I…”
The fiend began to drag his clawtip down Rarity’s body, leaving a long, shallow cut that bled just slightly. “Understand?”
“Y-y-yes! Yes, I understand! Please, just stop! Don’t hurt her anymore!” Sweetie Belle pleaded, bowing down completely and devolving into incoherent cries and sobs. Skeintooth’s grin widened before he began to withdraw.
“Good…” Skeintooth hefted the numerous bodies onto his back, his spines and quills curling around them like fingers and holding them in place. “Go on, then. Send me Princess of friends.” and just like that, he was gone. Skeintooth broke into a sprint into the orchard and into the woods beyond faster than Sweetie could track.
All that remained to show of what had just happened were blood splatters along the floor. Sweetie Belle stayed still for almost ten minutes before working up the courage to move. When at last she left the house, it was at a full gallop for Twilight’s castle.
Spike couldn’t help the massive yawn that escaped his lungs as he sat upon the couch with his newest comic book. It had been a tiring day for him, and he was having a hard time focusing on his book. Twilight wasn’t far off, tending to a few letters that she would need Spike to send before he went to bed tonight. Fairly important requests for updates, resources and other work related to the fiend situation.
“Spike, you awake over there?” She asked playfully, earning a groggy ‘uh-huh’ from Spike. A half truth, really. “Well, you can go to bed here in just a minute. I’ll make sure the recipients don’t send replies until tomorrow unless it’s urgent.”
“Uh-huh…” Spike mumbled drowsily, flopping over on the couch and putting his comic book down on the end table next to it.
Then came the knocking. Twilight perked up instantly, the stones of her castle reverberating with the furious, frantic knocks from the front door. Twilight stood and began to trot from the room. “Hang on, Spike. One sec.”
“Uh-huh…”
Twilight was already curious about who it could be, grabbing the front doors in her magic and pulling them open. “Okay, okay, easy on the- Sweetie Belle?!” Twilight’s voice went from annoyed to shocked at the sight of the trembling filly. Her mane was disheveled and her eyes bespoke a complete and utter terror that Twilight hadn’t seen in almost two months. There were a few specks of blood on the filly’s face, too.
“T-t-twilight… help me!” Sweetie Belle managed before collapsing to the ground and crying her eyes out, covering her head with her forelegs and curling up tightly into a ball.
Twilight stood still, wide-eyed with shock at the image before her. Sweetie Belle shook horribly, hugging herself tightly and trying to rock herself back and forth like Rarity or their parents would whenever she got scared or sad. There was no comfort to be had for her on her own, though. Swallowing her shock and setting her jaw, Twilight gently picked Sweetie Belle up in her magic and brought her inside, closing the door behind her with a soft click.
“Okay, Sweetie, are you calm enough to explain what happened?” Twilight asked very gently as spike came back into the room with a mug of hot chocolate for Sweetie in his claws. Sweetie Belle sniffled and nodded slowly. She had been curled up, crying and shivering on Twilight’s couch for almost ten minutes. During said time, Twilight had sent Spike to bring her hot chocolate and make sure that Twilight’s Sabre and Armor were ready to go. She hated having to ask that of him, but she’d had no choice…
“Y-yeah, I… I think so. Th-thanks, Spike.” Sweetie mumbled, taking the mug in her magic and sipping lightly.
“No problem, Sweetie Belle.” Spike said softly, hopping up onto the couch and sitting next to her. “I’m really worried, though. What happened?”
Sweetie Belle shrunk down at the question, hiding from the world behind her tail. A tremor passed through her small body. “It was horrible… a… a fiend came…”
“A fiend?!” Twilight sat bolt upright before looking to Spike. “Spike, letter. Now!” she barked at the purple dragon, who saluted dutifully and swiftly sprinted to retrieve the needed materials.
“NO!” Sweetie Belle all but screamed out, reaching up with her hooves and grabbing Twilight by the face. “Don’t! Don’t tell anypony! It will… It’ll kill them if you do!”
Twilight recoiled from the abrupt shout, but nodded at her and Spike. “Okay. no letters… start from the beginning.”
Sweetie sniffled again, shuddered and then began. “A… there was this ringing sound outside of Applejack’s house while we were having an early dinner with her. It… It caught our attention. Applejack and Big Mac went to investigate, and... and it... Big Mac, he…” Sweetie curled up and shivered uncontrollably at the memory.
“It’s okay, Sweetie. I’m here.” Twilight whispered soothingly, wrapping a wing over her and pulling her slightly closer. “You’re okay. Take your time.”
Sweetie hiccuped and nodded. “R-right. It knocked Big Mac out first… Applejack c-came back to warn us about it, said that she’d never seen anything move so fast… then it showed up.” Sweetie paled as she remembered the creature’s arrival. Silent as a gentle summer breeze and fast as lightning.
“Can you describe it for me, Sweetie?” Twilight asked carefully, giving a comforting squeeze with her wing. “Every little bit helps, here.”
“S-sure… um…” Sweetie bit her lip as she thought. “It was tall… taller than Big Mac. It stood on four legs, like a pony, but it’s face was… like a coyote’s. It had the most horrible teeth I’ve ever seen… they were crooked, twisted and… uuugh…”
Twilight soothed her again, waiting patiently for her to continue.
“It… uh, had spikes or something all along it’s back… it also had a really long snake tail with a glowing bulb at the end. Um… it’s claws were long and sharp, too.”
“Alright… what happened next?”
“It hurt everypony else… everypony but me. It hurt Applejack, Rarity, Applebloom, Scootaloo… and… oh my gosh…” Sweetie Belle shrunk down even more. “It told me to tell you and only you… this fiend took them away to the Everfree forest... he’s going to kill them if anypony but you shows up...“
Twilight bit her lip and nodded slowly. “...and it’s possible that it already killed them to tie up loose ends…”
Spike looked at her and wilted at the look on her face. He had seen Twilight get angry before, but never to this degree… he had not once seen the intent to kill shine in her eyes with such ferocity. If he was being honest, it was terrifying to see.
“What was this fiend’s name? Did it have one?”
“I, uh… I think it called itself Skeintooth…”
“...This ‘Skeintooth’ is waiting for me in the Everfree Forest, you said?” Twilight asked simply in a dark, cold voice. Sweetie didn’t seem to notice the underlying venom with which she spoke, and merely nodded. “Fine, then. Spike,” Twilight looked to him with a hard stare. “Stay here and keep Sweetie Belle company. I’m going to take care of this…”
“Twilight?” Spike asked uneasily as she stepped down from the couch. “Are you okay?”
Twilight turned a look on him with a furious scowl before shaking her head. “No, Spike. No I’m not. Can you name a reason why I should be right now?”
Spike shrunk away slightly from the hostility in her voice, saying nothing. Twilight, after a moment, sucked in a deep breath to calm her boiling nerves. It didn’t work.
“Spike… Applejack, Rarity, Big Macintosh, Applebloom and Scootaloo have all been wounded and abducted. Sweetie Belle was traumatized and sent to our doorstep to bring me a message from their assailant after seeing all of it happen. For all I know, they could all be dead now just to tie up loose ends!” Twilight began in a low growl, but by the time she had ended the thought, she was yelling. “I am not okay, Spike! I am not okay because several of my closest friends are hurt and possibly dead!”
From where she sat, Sweetie Belle shrunk under the alicorn’s rage, whimpering fearfully at the outburst. “Twilight, calm down… please…” Spike said carefully, putting his claws in front of him in a calming gesture.
“I don’t know how you can be calm at a time like this!” Twilight snapped, slamming a hoof down into the crystal floor with a enough force to dent it. “Rarity is one of the ponies at risk here! I figured you’d be having a panic attack over this!”
“Twilight, I’m just-”
“So please, tell me how you are managing to stay calm! I would really, really like to know your secret right about now!!”
Spike pointed behind Twilight, and she looked. The color drained from Twilight’s face when she saw how terrified Sweetie Belle was, looking up at her with wide, frightened eyes. For several moments, silence dominated the room before, finally, Twilight closed her eyes and took in several deep breaths, putting a hoof to her chest.
When she opened her eyes again, she seemed to have collected herself, though one could easily still see the furiously raging fire and fear inside her eyes. “I am so sorry, Sweetie Belle…”
“It’s… it’s fine, Twilight.” Sweetie whispered quietly, hiding behind her tail and hugging it close to herself. Twilight wilted before turning to face Spike.
“...I’m going to get ready to go.”
“Twilight…!” Spike called after her as she began to leave the room. She paused by the door and looked back at him solemnly.
“Yes, Spike?”
“Just… be careful… please.”
“I will. Don’t worry.”
Spike nodded in understanding as Twilight left before slumping down next to Sweetie Belle on the couch. “I can’t help it, Twilight… I’m worried for all of us.”
A blizzard was raging outside, the blasts of snow and frozen air creating ominous howls and whistles through the cavernous structure embedded into the mountainside. All along the numerous natural and artificially dug walls, growing pods were pumped full of raw matter by the countless tubes running through the entire structure. Fiends were hatching by the dozens every hour. All of the defects were taken by their functional brethren to be returned to a feeding pod for recycling. Often, they would only live for a few minutes, kicking and screaming the entire time.
At the highest point of the cave system was Horizon’s makeshift throne room. Carved into the stone by him alone, it was rugged, ugly and malformed. The thousand years of erosion from moisture condensation and the long dried mold of gardens of the past had done little more than make it even more unnatural looking. Atop his throne of broken stones, Horzion sat with closed eyes. All of the fiends in the structure knew to leave him alone right now. All that had interrupted him when thinking in the last two months had met swift, horrifying ends.
Horizon scrunched his eyes shut tightly as the voice came again. “Lumen… please, look at me.”
“Stop. Just stop.” He snarled out, refusing to open his eyes. She wasn’t there. She was dead in Canterlot. He killed her himself.
“I can’t stop and you know it, Horizon. I can’t let you go down this path any further.” the gentle, motherly voice said from his side. Horizon felt a hoof touching his shoulder, but he knew it wasn’t there. It couldn't be.
“It’s too late for that and you know it!” Horizon seethed, opening his eyes and glaring towards her. She wasn’t there.
“I don’t believe that, Horizon.” her voice sounded behind his throne. He got up and whirled around, bladed tentacles bursting from his back and shattering the seat into dust. There she was. Princess Celestia stood in the cloud of dust, covered in blood and wounds, just as she had been when he had last seen her in Canterlot two months ago.
“Get out of my head!” Horizon screamed, his horn lighting up with writhing, tainted blue magic. Celestia didn’t move as the acidic beam shot through her. She was unphased by the attack, it passing right through her as if she weren’t there. Horizon reminded himself yet again that that was because she wasn’t. Her body was in Canterlot, beneath seven feet of stone and magical wards with a statue of her presiding over it.
“I am not leaving until I’ve saved you, Lumen.” Celestia said sadly, sitting down and looking at him with tired, sorrowful eyes. “Please, just… just remember what it was like.”
“I remember, you delusion.” Horizon growled bitterly before turning away. “I also remember that I started down this path because it was so violently ripped away from me!”
“I know… and I can never truly apologize enough for allowing things to get so bad for you.” Celestia said gently, settling down next to him. He knew the warmth he felt from her wasn’t real, just a fabrication of this damned illusion. “...I want to make it up to you. I want to make amends for my mistakes.”
“You’ve done your part already. Allowing me to claim my retribution on you was more than enough.” Horizon spat out before standing and trotting away from her.
“Horizon… Lumen, please.” Celestia called after him weakly. “What about the night before?”
Horizon froze in place. He didn’t look back, or move in any way.
“You showed me who you really are. Even if only for one night, you let your true self break through the resentment and malice that was smothering your heart.” Celestia came up next to him again, rubbing her wounded body along his affectionately. “You told me you loved me…”
“I remember that night… and I remember that it was the last time the me you claim to know saw you. That lumen died wrapped in your embrace.” Horizon said coldly, looking away and closing his eyes.
“No. He is still in there. I know he is.” Celestia said firmly before nuzzling his neck. “I wouldn’t have let you kill me if I thought otherwise…”
“Shut up...”
“I know you, Luminous Horizon. I know the pony that you are trying to bury beneath all of this anger and resentment… and he is the pony I fell in love with that evening in my chambers.”
“Shut. Up.”
“Do I need to remind you?” Celestia asked sadly before nuzzling into him again. Then, she whispered into his ear. “I love you.”
“SHUT UP!” Horizon screamed, turning around slashing the air where she had been just moments ago with his claws. “SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE! I KILLED YOU! JUST STAY DEAD!”
Master Horizon! Skeintooth’s voice suddenly called into his mind. Horizon blinked and stumbled slightly, his delusion fading swiftly.
“Skeintooth… you tread a fine line by contacting me at such a time, and even finer by using my name.” Horizon seethed between clenched teeth.
Forgive Skeintooth, but Skeintooth needs master’s attention for a moment.
“Tch. Fine, speak.” Horizon growled before turning to his throne, reassembling it with magic.
Princess of friends is taking a long time. Skeintooth is so hungry… please, master! Can Skeintooth eat one of the fillies?
“No, Skeintooth. Show some discipline. Your objective is Twilight Sparkle’s flesh and blood. If you kill her during its acquisition, feel free to kill her friends and eat them, too, but otherwise let them live. You could use the leverage to your advantage in the fight.” Horizon instructed simply before cringing in response to Skeintooth’s miserable whines. “If you are starving, then go eat some wildlife or something. Just make sure to leave your lure where you intend to fight her.”
“Yes, master…” Skeintooth whimpered before turning back to his captives, all of which were pinned to trees by the same fleshy substance that made up the tubes of the gardens. The fleshy prisons secreted powerful sedatives to reduce the resistance his prisoners could supply to inconsequential levels.
“Wh...what are you doing… you… ruffian?” Rarity mumbled drowsily as Skeintooth made his way to the center of the forest clearing.
“Hunting.” Was the fiend’s only response before stabbing the tip of his tail into the soil. The glowing bulb came loose and embedded itself into the ground. Skeintooth grinned with maniacal glee as it began to glow even brighter alongside a gentle, rhythmic ringing sound. With a cackle, Skeintooth vanished into the woods at a sprint. Soon enough, the ringing sent all of the captives back into the realms of unconsciousness.
The treeline of the Everfree forest loomed over Twilight ominously. It had been quite some time since she went in last; at least a year. Without a word, she went through a quick mental checklist of all of her supplies.
Finally, she convinced herself she was as prepared as she was going to be and entered the forest at a brisk canter. Swiftly, the forest canopy smother much of what little daylight remained. Twilight slowed for a short while, allowing her eyes to grow used to the sudden dark before pressing on.
What little light she had from the evening sun was fading rapidly as it set. Twilight waited until she had no other choice before conjuring a ball of pure light on the tip of her horn. Some bushes and branches in the trees rustled as nocturnal wildlife scurried away from the sudden illumination.
Twilight continued her search for quite some time, unsure of how to find Skeintooth. She figured he would come to her, but she was more focused on finding her friends than the fiend at the moment. Still, she made sure to draw her sabre from it’s scabbard, angling it into a guard position. A pounce from the darkness would be the end of her if she wasn’t ready.
She was beginning to grow disheartened when her ears perked up. A soft, gentle ringing noise filled her ears, somewhere close.
What is that sound? Is that what Sweetie was talking about? Twilight thought to herself as she strode cautiously deeper into the Everfree Forest. Her armor felt unbearably tight against her skin, making her grit her teeth. She resented having to wear this, but knew it was necessary. Every bit of protection was invaluable against a fiend. Her sabre twitched next to her, anxious with dread and anticipation.
The ringing sound was soft and soothing. She could feel her muscles relax slightly as she drew closer to it. It’s a trap; it has to be. But it’s my only lead to go off of… Twilight stumbled slightly as one of her forelegs caught on a root that was jutting from the dirt somewhat. She grunted and pressed up, focusing on the adrenaline that brief moment of surprise gave her. Stay awake, Twilight.
Finally, she could see a soft blue glow not far ahead. It shone through the trees, blocking everything else out as she approached. For a moment, she recoiled, wanting to slam her eyes shut and turn away. It was fruitless; she was already entranced by the gentle pulse and sway of the subtle glow. Her hooves began to move on their own as she drew near, revealing the light was coming from inside some sort of small bulb, like a flower yet to bloom.
She settled down and looked at it with dreamy, unfocused eyes.
Focus, Twilight! Snap out of it! Twilight yelled at herself mentally, trying to make herself move. She couldn’t. The ringing sound and the gentle glow were all consuming. Come on! Skeintooth could be anywhere! MOVE!
A subtle static shock just under her horn made Twilight stand bolt upright in surprise. She looked up from the pod and saw Rarity pinned to a nearby tree by an awful smelling, organic growth. She looked sleepy, only somewhat awake. “Dodge…” she mumbled out before going limp again.
“Rarity-!” Twilight began to shout when her friend’s only word sunk in. With a blunt-force blast shot into the ground from her horn, kicking up dust and dirt to obscure her movements, Twilight shot to her right into a roll.
The bulb was crushed as a long, lanky fiend with mangled, twisted claws and teeth pounced where Twilight had just been, sliding over the bulb and crushing it. The fiend glared at her and bared it’s teeth in a wicked smirk. “Princess of friends.”
“I take it you’re Skeintooth?” Twilight asked carefully, putting her sabre in front of her, pointing the tip at the fiend.
“Yes,” he growled, beginning to circle Twilight with his long, three-pronged tongue flicking out against his teeth and licking his lips and some of his face. “I Skeintooth. Skeintooth has need of Princess of friends.”
Twilight scowled at the creature, keeping her blade’s tip between her and Skeintooth at all times. “Well, congratulations. You found me.” she flared the magic on her horn threateningly. “Now let. My. friends. GO!”
“Ah, ah, ah… Skeintooth needs you, Princess. Skeintooth doesn’t care what part of you he takes!” with that, Skeintooth opened his mouth and shrieked.
“Gah!” Twilight cried out in shock and alarm at the loud sound. It rolled over her and caused the grass to ripple and trees to shake numerous leaves from their branches. Her ears rang and her vision swam. Acting on instinct, she formed a magical bubble shield around herself. Skeintooth collided with it as it was still forming, his sudden movement and heavy body weight sending Twilight rocketing backwards several feet.
Skeintooth jeered in glee before slithering forwards quickly to where Twilight was trying to pick herself up. Twilight looked up and cried out in agony as his teeth sunk into her lower back, ignoring her armor entirely. It was excruciating. His teeth were incredibly sharp, but their twisted and mangled shape tore the flesh they bit into to shreds, scrambling it thoroughly.
Skeintooth reared on his hind legs, taking Twilight with him. He swung his head back and forth numerous times, each jarring turn bringing another scream of raw agony out of Twilight as her shredded flesh was torn further and further from her body. Finally, with a horrifying snap and squelch, Twilight went tumbling away from Skeintooth as the meat he had bitten into came completely free from the rest of her body. Skeintooth chewed once and then swallowed, his throat rippling. He gave a pleased shudder and gazed sadistically at Twilight.
“Damnit, damnit, damnit…” Twilight gasped and wheezed. The pain in her back was beyond description. She tried to stand but found she couldn’t, the muscles near her hips and waist having received serious damage themselves. She was immobilized. No… not like this!
“Is this all Princess of friends can do?” Skeintooth taunted as he lurked closer to Twilight, licking his teeth once more. “Skeintooth is surprised.”
“Buck you!” Twilight snapped breathlessly. Thinking fast, she closed her eyes, lit her horn and emitted the brightest flash of raw, focused light she possibly could. Skeintooth howled in alarm as the sudden flash of light blinded him. With that done, Twilight channeled her magic once more and teleported herself a fair distance away. When she reappeared, Skeintooth’s howls of aggravation were still quite audible, echoing through the forest.
Need… Potion.
Twilight could feel herself going faint. She reached into her satchel with her magic, fumbling with the flap and clasp before clumsily drawing out a healing potion. She could only hope it was enough before prying out the cork and downing the bitter liquid. It tasted awful, but almost instantly went to work. Her lower back grew warm and numbed itself somewhat. The flesh would take a little while to regrow, but, hopefully, it could allow her to defend herself more effectively.
She lay hidden for several minutes, catching her breath and trying to collect herself while fearfully awaiting Skeintooth’s pursuit. When it had been five minutes, his howls having faded four of them ago, Twilight couldn’t help the confused frown that crossed her face. Why isn’t he trying to find me? Why is he being so quiet?
Twilight tried to stand, carefully testing her hind legs. She hissed and slumped back down to the ground. Her back wound was still healing and the area was incredibly painful if she put any weight on it whatsoever. With a bit of help from her telekinesis, though, Twilight was able to get herself into a position where she could reliably fly without being in too much pain. With a grimace at the realization she had left her sword behind, she started back towards where Skeintooth had last been. Her friends were still there and needed her help.
Then a scream caught her ear. Rarity!
Twilight picked up the speed as much as she could, still trying to maintain a low profile. Once she reached the edge of the clearing she had been mauled in, she froze. Skeintooth was still there, only now he was savagely ripping Rarity out of the fleshy cocoon she had been imprisoned in. Her front legs batted uselessly against him in an effort to defend herself.
“Leave her alone!” Applejack screamed from her own imprisoned position, struggling against her confines to no avail.
“Silence, farmer!” Skeintooth shrieked at her. “Skeintooth is hungry! Skeintooth has what he needs! So Skeintooth eats! Skeintooth leaves!” his claws curled around Rarity before throwing her into the ground hard enough to kick up dirt. She screamed in a terrified panic, trying to scramble away. Skeintooth grabbed her tail and yanked her back. “That’s it! Be afraid, pony! Skeintooth likes scared meat!”
“HELP ME!” Rarity cried at the top of her lungs as Skeintooth came down on her.
Blood splattered across the grass around her, but it wasn’t hers. Rarity cried in alarm and covered her eyes reflexively. Skeintooth howled in pain and stumbled away from Rarity, his claws grasping at his upper jaw wildly. Twilight had just stabbed her sabre into his upper jaw and through his lower jaw. His tongue flailed in his now forced open mouth.
Twilight wasn’t done. With an angry shout, she sent a beam of raw magical energy from her horn into Skeintooth, pinning him in place. “Rarity! Get everypony out of these things and get close to me!” Twilight ordered through grit teeth and a strained voice.
Rarity looked up, nodded and swiftly sprinted towards the fleshy cocoon that held Applejack and Applebloom. “Hold on, you two.”
“Thank heavens ya made it, Twilight!” Applejack called out to the alicorn over the sounds of her struggle. Rarity set to work trying to sever the fleshy prison with a highly focused beam of magic. It was not her specialty, and it showed. She wasn’t cutting the flesh, only thinning it.
“I can’t sever this thing like this!” Rarity cursed in frustration.
“Find a way!” Twilight shouted in response.
Skeintooth howled in rage, his claws finally finding the sabre’s hilt and pulling the weapon out of his mouth in a spray of blood. Now he had fewer things distracting him.
“Rares, keep burnin’ it! Yer makin’ it weaker!” Applejack barked, pushing hard against the cocoon. “Applebloom, help me out here!”
“R-right!”
Rarity wasted no time in continuing to focus her magic into specific points, trying to weaken it structurally as much as possible. It was giving way…
Suddenly, the cocoon tore open. Applejack and Applebloom flopped out to the ground with grunts of pain and disgust. “You alright, darling?” Rarity asked breathlessly.
“Later, Rarity!” Applejack shot back, rushing to Scootaloo’s pod. The orange filly in question was struggling against her prison as well as she could, but was at such an angle that she couldn’t get any good leverage. Applejack grunted and looked the pod over. “These points. Here and here! Burn ‘em!” she barked at Rarity.
“C’mon, girls! I-gah! I can’t keep him down forever!” Twilight gasped, taking a step back to put more distance between herself and Skeintooth, who was still gradually advancing against her magic beam.
“Applebloom, help me!” Applejack said quickly before grabbing onto the steadily weakening points on the pod and pulling as hard as she could. The substance was foul and rubbery in her mouth, but she could deal with that later. Applebloom did as best as she could, yanking with all she had as well.
Twilight cried out in pain as Skeintooth suddenly shot forward and tackled her through her magic. The stream faded and she was sent tumbling backward, the back of her head cracking against a tree trunk before she fell completely still.
“Twilight!” Everypony cried out in unison. Skeintooth’s eyes shown with euphoria. He licked his fangs and reared back for a killing bite. Rarity, acting fast, stopped her flow of magic into the cocoon and instead lifted Twilight’s sabre from the grass. With a grunt of effort, she lifted it up and brought the blade down as fast as she could onto the tip of Skeintooth’s tail, severing it.
Skeintooth screamed out once more, glaring at the stub where his regrowing pod had once been. With him distracted, Rarity was quick to pull Twilight over in telekinesis. She was barely awake, eyes unfocused. “Twilight, teleport! NOW!”
Twilight didn’t answer, though she seemed to understand the command. With a sudden surge of magic, everypony was engulfed in a bright flash and vanished from the clearing, leaving Skeintooth to howl in bitter disappointment, frustration and ravenous hunger.
Drifter sat silently, gazing out over the dimly illuminated landscape. The sun would be coming up soon and she would then have to break Wonderboom and Palmwood’s peaceful slumber. They had been rather thrilled when Drifter told them they would be camping tonight. They were between towns at the moment, somewhere southwest of Ponyville. The edge of the Everfree forest was clearly visible to her, far off to the east. Her eyes adjusted somewhat as she turned her gaze back to the somewhat dimmed fireplace, the last of it’s light fading out.
She had gotten her rest intermittently, but had opted to keep watch after having been asleep for only three hours. She’d gone for days on less; not that it was pleasant. She looked to the left and saw Wonderboom and Palmwood snuggled into their individual sleeping bags, snoring softly in restful slumber.
She smiled softly at the adorable image before looking away and frowning. It’s gonna be dangerous for them to come with me any further… they don’t know the first thing about defending themselves against nature or the elements, let alone a fiend. She sighed and gazed towards the faint glow of sunlight starting to appear on the horizon. I’m going to have to teach them how to handle themselves if they keep following me.
“Drifter?” Palmwood’s voice asked drowsily. Drifter could only smile and laugh under her breath as the little brown colt slipped out of his sleeping bag and trotted up to her.
“Yes, Palm?” she asked with a soft smile back at him.
“Uh… are there any good bushes nearby? I kinda gotta… um…” He looked more than a little embarrassed.
Drifter giggled and nodded. “Yeah, a little ways over there. Kinda thorny, so don’t sit in them.” she gestured with a hoof and hummed in amusement as he hid his face and scampered off to answer the call of nature. She frowned for a moment once he was out of sight and started once again thinking about the two siblings and the immense risk they were in. When Palmwood returned, he wore a relieved expression and looked about ready to fall asleep again. Drifter put a hoof on his shoulder as he passed, stopping him.
Palmwood looked at her with a curious tilt of the head. “What is it, Drifter?”
“You want your sister to be safe, right?” Drifter asked simply, looking seriously into his eyes with a hard stare.
Palmwood shrunk under the intensity of her gaze. “Uh… yeah, of course. Isn’t that why we’re staying with you? So you can keep us safe?”
Drifter frowned and gently pushed him. “Sit down, please.”
Looking worried, Palm did as told and sat on his haunches. Drifter looked at him intensely, making eye contact and working her iris, adjusting how dilated her pupils were. A subtle means of intimidation she picked up from the animalistic traits of her fiend heritage. As she stared at him, Palmwood shied away and looked to the side.
“Look at me.” Drifter said firmly. Palmwood did so, shrinking under her gaze nervously.
“Uh… d-did I do something wrong?”
“No, Palmwood, you didn’t do anything wrong. I simply have to ask you right now; do you honestly believe you and your sister are safe with me?” Drifter asked slowly, never once breaking eye contact with him.
“Yeah, I do. You saved us from the fiends on the train, you’ve taken care of us since then while we looked for mom…” Palm said nervously, shifting away slightly. Drifter scooted closer and narrowed her eyes.
“Palm… how much do you really know about the situation? About who I am, or what I do?”
“I… uh…”
“I’m the mare that eats monsters, Palmwood. I’ve lived for a thousand years and danced with death on more occasions than you have hairs in your coat, mane and tail combined. I’ve lost friends and seen the worst the world has to offer. I am half fiend, half pony, and it shows.” Drifter explained slowly, letting her claws on her good hoof extend as she spoke. She flexed the claws subtly. “I have almost always traveled on my own, or when I did have company, it was from Princess Celestia herself.”
Palmwood went silent, watching Drifter anxiously as she slowly stood tall.
“I have never traveled with two foals before. You two don’t know how to defend yourselves… how to fight, forage for food, make a shelter or properly treat a wound to prevent infection and blood loss.” She looked towards Wonderboom and then jabbed her muzzle in the sleeping filly’s direction. “If you two come with me, I will gladly have you come along… but you have to understand that it’s going to be dangerous and I won’t be able to protect you two forever. You will have to learn to fight, to forage, to survive.”
Palmwood looked at his sister and wilted noticeably, his ears falling flat against his head.
“It won’t be an easy life, it won’t be fun, and it will probably be shorter than most. I want to know, Palmwood, right here, right now, if you are willing to commit to that. If Wonderboom is willing as well, then I’ll bring you with me and teach you everything I know… but if you don’t want that sort of life for yourself or for her, then I’m going to have to drop you off somewhere. An orphanage, probably…”
“...Are you saying you’re abandoning us?” Palmwood asked quietly, looking up at Drifter with misty eyes.
“No, Palmwood. I find you two a joy to be around; which is why I want to make sure you understand the risks of being around me.”
“Drifter... We have nowhere to go. You saved our lives and you took us in when nopony else would…” Palmwood said solemnly, surprising Drifter with his tone and the way he spoke.
“Palm, I’m not your mother. I never will be…” Drifter said softly, earning a nod from him.
“I know. But you are all we have left. If we don’t go with you, then we’ll have nothing.” He looked at her with watering eyes. “I don’t want Wonder and I to be alone… or you, actually.”
“Me?” Drifter asked in quiet surprise, leaning away slightly. “What do you mean?”
“You said that you’ve always traveled alone.I know I don’t like it when I’m alone. Wonderboom really doesn’t like being alone. I don’t think you like being alone, either.”
“...Well, you got me there, little guy. I hate being alone.” Drifter smiled softly.
“Then let’s make a promise! None of us will leave the rest. We’re sticking together so we don’t have to be alone.” Palmwood held out a hoof and smiled brightly at Drifter. She looked at him with a small smile and relented.
“Alright… I pro-”
“Wait!” Palmwood suddenly said aloud, turning and scampering over to Wonderboom.
“Uh, Palm, you should let her…” Drifter started, but stopped when she realized it was too late. Palmwood was shaking Wonder awake and dragging her out of her sleeping bag. Oh, the mind of a foal, how I miss you.
“W-wah… Palmwoob? Whath are you…” Wonder slurred in her still half asleep state.
“Come on, sis! We’re making a promise!” Palmwood declared excitedly, stopping in front of Drifter with Wonder next to him looking more than a little nonplussed and sleepy.
“Heh… y’know, I don’t think she approves.” Drifter said coyly, to which Palm only made a ‘pshh’ sound and waved his hoof dismissively.
“Whatevs. Wonderboom,” Palmwood took her hoof in his and then pushed them both to Drifter’s still outstretched one. “say ‘I promise’, okay?”
“What for…?”
“Just say it!”
“Okay, fine, whatever. I promise” Wonder grumbled and glared at her brother.
“I promise, too!” he added with a thump of his hoof on his chest.
“Can I go back to bed, now...?” Wonder asked bluntly.
Drifter tittered and nodded at her, shooting Palm a look. “Yes, Wonder, go ahead.” Wonderboom didn’t answer, simply staggering back to her sleeping bag and flopping into it to return to lala land.
“Well? Your turn.” Palmwood grinned up at Drifter in anticipation.
“Alright… I promise.” Drifter said simply, bumping hooves with Palmwood with a small smile.
“Woo!” Palm thrust a hoof in the air and then lost his balance. “Woah! Eh-heh… I’m still kinda sleepy.”
“Go get some more rest, then. I’ll wake you up when it’s time to go.”
Palmwood nodded, yawned and shuffled off to do just that. Drifter watched him go and then turned her gaze back to the horizon and the gradually increasing light. For several minutes, the two siblings tossed and turned, Palmwood uttering an apology to Wonderboom at some point before the two fell back to sleep. Drifter lost her smile and shook her head.
I shouldn’t make promises I can’t keep. She then looked back to the sky and frowned deeper. Odd… the light from the sun should be brighter than this.
She wasn’t wrong. The light was noticeably dimmer than it should have been. The darkening of the sun Luna had imposed lasted only until Celestia’s funeral. Drifter’s eyes widened when the sun began to poke over the horizon. At it’s current level of light, just starting to appear, she didn’t even need to squint like she normally would.
“What in the world…?”
“This cannot be right.” Luna said with wide eyes, her magic flickering slightly as she set the sun into its motion for the day. Not only was the sun darker than it had any right being this morning, but it also felt… wrong, when she reached out to it with her magic. It was as if the sun was sick, infected.
A sharp knock came to the door of her personal chambers, the voice of that night’s watch pony calling to her. “Your highness? Why is the sun dim? Is something amiss?”
Luna frowned and opened the door with a twitch of her magic before releasing the sun, letting the motion she had given it carry it across the sky until it was time for sunset. She turned to the guard, with a serious look. “I do not know why this is happening, but I intend to find out. I want you to inform the captains to increase their patrols until further notice. This could very well have something to do with the fiends, and I will not have us caught off guard, understood?”
The guard gave a salute before galloping off to carry out his orders. Luna turned back to the sun, grimacing with a deep unease. For almost a minute she stood silently. She was only drawn away from the unsettling image by the appearance of a scroll from Spike. She swiftly plucked it from the air after it appeared and opened it.
Dear Princess Luna,
Last night, Applejack, Rarity, Scootaloo and Applebloom were all abducted by a fiend calling himself Skeintooth. He was after me specifically and used my friends as leverage to get me to go to him. He has since fled the area and I fear he got what he came for. Me mentioned ‘needing a part of me,’ and during our fight he devoured a piece of my lower back. I don’t know what he is after, but I know he is incredibly dangerous. Be on guard.
P.S: Why is the sun so dark? I just now noticed it. Do you know anything about this?
-Yours, Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Luna lowered the note and peered once more at the sky. “What are you planning, Luminous Horizon... ?” A scowl formed on her face as she remember how the twisted father of the fiends had brutally murdered her older sister. “Well, whatever it is, you won’t succeed. I’ll make sure of it.”
With a subtle growl, Luna set about writing a response to Princess Twilight before turning and leaving her chambers for the throne room. She needed to consult her advisors and whoever there was in Canterlot that may have some insight into the fading of the sunlight.
That light is one of the most important things my sister entrusted me with… I will not let it fade away!
“You aren’t listening.” Celestia said to Horizon with an aggravated undertone. He stood at the very peak of his mountain sanctuary, knee-deep in the snow and gazing at the dim light of the sun.
Horizon didn’t answer her, continuing to gaze intently into the ball of light as if it were all that existed, wishing that Celestia’s apparition would just go away. She kept appearing to try and dissuade him, to make him stop, to ‘save’ him. The cries of a dead mare should not have had such a large impact on his mind! Yet here he was, doing his best to ignore the hallucination.
“Horizon, please. Talk to me.”
“No.”
Celestia sighed and looked down, the lacerated flesh along her body squelching as she did so. “Does it mean nothing to you? The time we shared before all of this?”
“...”
Celestia snorted in annoyance, stepping up next to Horizon and glaring at him. He refused to meet her gaze, continuing to stare into the object she had assumed responsibility over for a thousand years. She narrowed her eyes at him. “You still aren’t listening.”
“Go away.”
Celestia closed her eyes for a moment, sucking in a breath. “What do I have to do for you to listen to me?”
“You won’t manage it, so don’t bother.”
“Horizon!” Celestia’s voice went harsh as she barked out his name. He flinched and glanced sideways at her with a disinterested expression. She was gritting her teeth and scowling at him angrily. “Listen to me! You’re acting like a stubborn foal!”
“I don’t talk to hallucinations.” he said bluntly before turning his eyes up again. “Be gone.”
“...Fine, then. If you aren’t willing to listen on your own…” Celestia’s voice lowered into a cold, threatening whisper. Horizon looked towards her to see she was gone.
“What-”
“Than I will force you to listen!” Celestia’s voice suddenly rang inside of his mind, a spear of white-hot pain shooting through him. He grunted in pain and reached up to his temple with one of his hooves, hoping to suppress his sudden headache.
“Get out of my head, you corpse!” Horizon grunted, shaking his head violently and stumbling back. His vision was blurring, the world around him distorting and peeling away like paint melting from a canvas. Colors blended and split into an ash storm of madness all around him.
“You ignore my words! You slaughter innocents! I know you are in here, Horizon, that you see the monster you are projecting!” Celestia’s voice was distorted within his mind, ringing and twisting into something unnatural. “Let me show you what you are becoming!”
“None of this is real! None of it! WAKE UP!!” Horizon snapped, shaking his head before falling to his knees against his will. The agony in his body was immeasurably. His bones felt as if they had been turned to molten steel within his body.
“You say it isn’t real, but it is, Lumen!” Celestia shouted in frustration, her hoof reaching out of the murky world before him. It grabbed his throat like a vice and yanked him up to look her in the eyes. Her skin had shriveled and shrunk to the point it was form-fitting on her bones. Flakes broke away and ragged straps danced in the wind of the dark storm. Her eyes were empty sockets with pin prick points of white light within them. “Denying what has become of you will only ever stop you from escaping a poor fate!”
To Horizon, it felt as if his neck broke. His vision was jarred sideways and he fell limp to the ground, unable to move or breath while the storm buried him in pieces of the world. His eyes darted left and right, looking for Celestia or a means of escape, but none presented itself and Celestia had vanished.
“Look!” Celestia snarled into his ear, appearing over him. Her boney hoof wrapped around his throat and yanked him up so he was looking straight ahead. He wheezed in discomfort before realizing what he was seeing take shape in the storm. A unicorn stallion sat suspended in the storm. Chains with hooks on their ends dug into his ribs, forehooves and shoulders, holding him aloft and swaying lazily in the intense winds. His coat was a bright blue and his mane and tail were deep blue with vibrant orange streaks running through them. His cutie mark showed half of a sun and half of a full moon, intersecting in the center to create a horizon line.
“Please… help me…” The stallion whimpered as another horrific blast of the storm rattled him, the hooks pulling at his flesh and crunching the bones in his forelegs and ribs.
“You know what you’re looking at, don’t you?” Celestia hissed into Horizon’s ear before dropping him to the ground. His face impacted with a thud, his body still unresponsive to his wishes. “That is YOU! That is the real you! The part of you that has been buried under this storm of malice, anger, resentment and hatred!”
Horizon turned his eyes to Celestia and narrowed them. His neck gradually began to form back into line thanks to his regenerating body. “You… should know… by now that… that pony… is long gone.” He gasped out as control returned to his lungs. He stood and wobbled on his legs.
“YOU STILL AREN'T LISTENING!”
Horizon gasped as he felt his forelegs pulled over his head and speared. A scream of agony ran through him as more pools of agony formed across his body. His sides, ribs, collarbone and shoulders. He looked up and glared at Celestia as he was hoisted into the air in a mimicry of his old self in the storm.
Then he realized he wasn’t glaring at Celestia. In fact, he wasn’t even controlling his body. He was looking at himself… his current self. Standing ahead and looking down on him with contempt and disgust was the father of all fiends, his deep blue eyes burning with an ever present. unyielding sadistic rage.
Why can’t I move?! I can’t open my mouth! Horizon thought to himself as the body he was now occupying began to thrash against its chains at the fiend.
“You son of a bitch! Stop this! Let me out! NOW! How many ponies are you going to kill in this worthless fucking crusade?! How long before you realize none of it is worth it?! How long until you just let go?!” he screamed out at himself in a much younger voice.
“The real you is still in here, Lumen!” Celestia seethed as she appeared in front of his face, materializing from the storm as if she were a part of it. “And he is screaming for his freedom! Stop this! STOP THIS NOW!”
“ENOUGH!!!!” Horizon screamed at the top of his lungs, a pulse of sickening magic erupting from his horn and evaporating everything around him. He opened his eyes after several seconds of silence and heavy breathing, finding that he was still seated at the top of his mountain in the snow with the sun shining down on him with a sickly light.
He took several moments before returning to his hooves and shaking himself. The hallucinations were getting more vivid… Perhaps I should remove the parts of my brain that are defecting. They’ll regrow as they should be and I’ll only lose functionality for a day or so…
“Master?” Skeintooth’s voice asked in his mind.
What is it, hunter?
“Skeintooth has completed his work in Ponyville, master. Skeintooth now moves to Canterlot for bones of Princess of sun.”
Horizon smirked slightly. Good. I take it you have a plan for dealing with Princess Luna? She won’t be happy to find her older sister’s grave dug up.
“Skeintooth has plan, master. Princess of moon will be angry. Angry ponies act recklessly.” Skeintooth cackled in Horizon’s mind.
Indeed. Luna has always been known to be more reckless than her sister ever was. But all the same, show caution. Luna may be easier to anger and provoke, but she has the lethality of the darkest parts of the pony mind to back up such rash behavior. Do not underestimate her.
“Of course, Master… but, Skeintooth has one question.”
Horizon raised an eyebrow. Speak it, then, hunter.
“Skeintooth saw that sun has already grown darker. Does master even need flesh of Princess of friend, moon and sun?” Skeintooth’s words were filled with a deep interested. Almost scholarly, in fact. Horizon smiled.
I will need the flesh to finish the process. Were her corpse not so decomposed by now, I would only need a sample of Celestia. As it is, her bones carry a trace of her blood, stored in the marrow. The flesh of Princesses Luna and Twilight Sparkle will act as a… catalyst, if you will. It will draw out the energy I need from Celestia’s marrow. After all, those two were the ponies she loved the most. The connection will draw out everything I need.
“Skeintooth thinks he understands…”
Then get a move on and get to work. There is still so very much to be done.
Skeintooth obediently withdrew from the mental link, leaving Horizon to stand at the summit of Mount Eclipse. He looked at the northern behemoth of a mountain with a small smirk. Without another word, Horizon turned and left his position atop the peak, entering into the mountain-wide tunnel network that one could equate to being his personal palace.
“Why are we heading to Canterlot?” Wonderboom asked curiously as the trio trotted along down the dirt road leading to Ponyville. They were lucky to be in the area of that town, Drifter figured, as she wanted to make her way back to Canterlot as soon as possible to ask about the situation with the sun. And besides, passing through Ponyville would give her ample time to check in on Twilight and see if they all had any developments.
“I need to talk to Princess Luna. We’re going to be taking the train from Ponyville, but we’ll probably stop by Princess Twilight’s castle on the way. I need information, and she’ll hopefully be able to help in that department.” Drifter explained simply, glancing uneasily at the sun overhead.
“It’s about the sun getting darker, right?” Palmwood deduced, earning a nod from Drifter.
“Yeah. It should not be this dark at this hour, no matter the cloud coverage. And look! We have clear skies right now.” Drifter said, waving a hoof to emphasize her point. “That can’t be normal. The ceremonial dimming of the sun ended after Princess Celestia’s funeral, so it shouldn’t be this dim now unless it’s being tampered with or another pony of incredible importance died.”
Wonderboom looked at the sun herself and shivered a little, despite it being fairly warm out. “I don’t like it… it looks sick.”
“I would guess that it probably is sick, or at least is suffering from something similar to sickness.” Drifter nodded in agreement, turning her head forward to look at Ponyville again. “But we’ll save it. Us or Princess Luna and Princess Twilight, anyway.”
“Are you sure?” Palmwood asked nervously, looking at Drifter uneasily. “I mean, Princess Celestia died a while ago, but… do you think the sun is dying too? Like, they were linked or something?”
Wonderboom scrunched up her face. “That’s not how that works, Palmwood. There was day and night before the princesses took over, remember?”
“Er, no?”
“History class, Palmwood. Mrs. Bucksworth told us about the time before Celestia and Luna. Something about hearth's warming eve being even bigger back then than it is now? I think?”
“Oh… Well, I was kinda nose deep in a comic book.” Palmwood answered sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.
“How did you manage that?” Drifter asked with a playful smirk and raise eyebrow, glancing back at the earth pony colt.
“I hid it with the history book.” Palm declared with a huge grin. Wonderboom facehooved and Drifter smiled.
“Well, you’d better not be slacking off like that when I start teaching you survival and combat skills.”
“Yeah, yeah. My comics are still at our old house anyway…” Palmwood sighed and looked down. Wonder patted his shoulder comfortingly and Drifter frowned.
“You two did live in Canterlot, now that I think about it… we could maybe go through your old house while we’re there. Grab some of your favorite things for the road?” she suggested with a soft smile forming on her face.
“Woah, really?” Palmwood asked excitedly, perking up without missing a beat. If he had wings, they would be buzzing right now.
“Yes, really. Just make sure it’s easy to carry in a saddlebag and doesn’t take up a lot of space. A volume or two of one of your comic series’ should be fine if you tuck it to the side of the bags.” Drifter replied with a nod. Palmwood cheered and leapt for joy, kicking his hind legs together and then failing to land properly, crumpling to a heap on the dirt road.
“Ow…”
“Don’t hurt yourself. C’mon, you two.” Drifter smiled at them and looked up at Canterlot. “Let’s get you home…”
“You’re lucky, Twilight Sparkle. Had the fiend bitten any deeper, you would never walk again.” Luna said with a frown as she looked over the still healing flesh along Twilight’s lower back with a scrutinizing gaze.
“You didn’t have to come here to check on me, Luna. You should be up in Canterlot…” Twilight said yet again, though it was clear to everypony present that she was grateful for the lunar princess’s presence. Luna sighed and sat back, allowing Twilight to roll slightly over on the bed she had been resting on since returning from the Everfree.
“Canterlot will survive without me for a couple of hours…” Luna said before closing her eyes. “I wasn’t sure about you, though. Even though your letter claimed you’d be fine, and I have no reason to doubt you, I had to make sure for myself... “
“I understand.” Twilight nodded and fell silent for several moments.
“So, Skeintooth was it’s name?. Tell me about this abomination.” Luna said after almost a minute.
“I don't know much. My fight with him was short, if one could even call it a fight… I lost almost instantly and only lived because of a healing potion and the help of my friends.” Twilight shuddered, remembering the indescribable agony of his teeth shredding her skin and muscle.
“Hm. A physical description, then. And whatever you were able to piece together from your interactions about his personality.” Luna pressed, opening her eyes and frowning.
“Okay, um. He’s a quadruped, though not like a pony, in the normal sense. I’d compare him more to a massive hyena. He has a slight hunch and also has numerous spikes running along his back. They seemed to quiver when he got excited. His teeth and claws were mangled and twisted, branching and curling in unusual ways. He had a long snake-like tail with a glowing pod on the end. I know that the pod can act like the lure of an Anglerfish; it emits a high-pitched but gentle ringing. It relaxes and draws ponies in, and the glow itself is enthralling.”
Luna nodded along to Twilight’s description, each detail drawing her lips into a larger frown. “He was fast, you said?”
“To put it mildly. I couldn’t keep up with it at all. He got to me before I could really do anything to protect myself.” Twilight looked down dejectedly, sighing softly. “I’m no good in battle…”
“Do you think that Tia and I were good fighters when we started out?” Luna asked softly, drawing Twilight’s attention. She gave a warm smile. “We weren’t. Had we known how to fight effectively, we would have been far more efficient against numerous threats Equestria faced in the early days. Tirek was where we truly began to get a grasp of combat and how deep it’s intricacies ran.”
“Even when battling Discord?” Twilight asked with slightly wide eys.
“We pointed rocks at him and he became a statue, Twilight.” Luna deadpanned before smiling humorously. “It wasn’t exactly fencing.”
Twilight giggled and nodded with a small smile. “Yeah, I guess you’re right…”
“Don’t worry about it. I would advise studying up on combat techniques with that sabre of yours, though, since you seem so drawn to it as a weapon of choice.” Luna said while levitating over the weapon in question. It was in it’s scabbard.
“I suppose. I guess I just liked the way it looked and felt in my magic when I got it… didn’t really think much about it at the time. Drifter and I were kind of in a hurry.” Twilight explained, briefly thinking back on the battle in the garden with a frown.
“So I heard,” Luna added before looking towards one of Twilight’s personal bookshelves. “Well, a sabre is a backsword, which generally are good for fast cuts and thrusts. A versatile weapon with a natural elegance and grace, thanks to the curve. If you have any books that explain the use of such a weapon, I would devote at least two hours a day to getting in some training.”
Twilight hummed softly in agreement, wincing as her still healing flesh gave an intense itch. Luna glanced at her again and then frowned.
“...Skeintooth said he needed a part of you. I assume the chunk of you he ate is what he meant?” Luna asked with a more serious tone.
“I think so. What could he want with my… flesh?” Twilight hesitated on the word before saying it with a grimace.
“Any number of things. Blood and flesh can have powerful applications in magic, most of which are dark and were forbidden centuries ago.” Luna said thoughtfully. “But I don’t know if it has anything to do with the sun and how it’s light has dimmed. But considering the time frames, I doubt it is merely a coincidence.”
“Yeah, I had a feeling you’d say that…” Twilight murmured despondently, looking up at the ceiling and frowning. Luna stared at her for several minutes before frowning.
“You look at the sun much as I do now, I see.” she said sorrowfully, looking at Twilight sympathetically. Twilight merely grunted and nodded. “...An heirloom she left for all of Equestria.”
“Yeah… What could Horizon stand to gain from getting rid of it, though?” Twilight asked, scrunching up her face in confusion. “A lot of life forms, even his fiends, depend on the light and energy the sun provides, not to mention the warmth.”
“The warmth would be a lesser issue, as natural sources of heat, such as hot springs and volcanic activity would keep things warm for some time. But the light and energy would pose a problem… Unless he doesn't intend to completely obliterate it…” Luna pondered aloud, going deep into thought.
“What do you mean?”
“Destroying the sun outright would be counter productive, you aren’t mistaken. But, if Horizon intends to smother it’s light and heat, reduce both to lower levels…” Luna grimaced at the thought. “His fiends have been observed to operate better in dark environments and seem unphased by the typical range of temperatures a pony can survive in. It would give his fiends an immeasurable advantage over Equestria.”
“And the moon wouldn’t help illuminate things, either. It’s glow is reflected light from the sun…” Twilight added uneasily, widening her eyes as the implications started setting in.
“Right. But as it is, Horizon would need an unfathomable amount of power to smother the sun to such an extent. As it is, I doubt he can push it much farther without something to amplify the magic.” Luna said before scowling in frustration. “So why then would he need your flesh? As powerful as rituals of the flesh can be, they are mainly focused on the one the flesh comes from. You hold no direct connection to the sun, and nor do I.”
“I don’t know, Luna…” Twilight said morosely before closing her eyes. “...I think I’m going to get some more rest. Do you think you could check on Rarity, Applejack and the foals before you go?”
“Of course, Twilight Sparkle. Sleep well. I will make sure to watch over your dreams tonight.”
Twilight went rigid. “Wait, hold on. Dreams.” she said aloud, drawing Luna’s attention as she stood.
“Come again?”
“Horizon once contacted me in a dream, the night before we met. It was legitimately him, too. He engineered my nightmare to instill fear and dread, I think. I think he was looking for something in my head… maybe a weakness or my memories of Celestia. I don’t know, really. I was too caught up in the nightmare to notice much else.”
Luna nodded as the idea Twilight was getting at entered her mind as well. “Multiple beings moving through the dreamscape is incredibly unusual. He’ll stand out quite visibly if I am actively looking.”
“So, if he could enter my nightmares, maybe you can intercept him on his way to somepony else's dreams?” Twilight suggested cautiously. Luna nodded with a smirk.
“I won’t be able to destroy him as such, but nonetheless, it could prove useful for gathering information about him, his plan and where he is hiding.” Luna lost her smirk to a frown. “However, he’ll need to be actively entering the dreams for me to find him that easily. Otherwise, I will have to sift through the dreams of everypony in order to find his, and it’s possible that he has safeguards preventing that.”
“It’s worth a try though, isn’t it?”
Luna nodded. “It is. I’ll see to it once I return to Canterlot. Rest now, Twilight.”
Twilight nodded and settled under her blankets for some still much needed rest. Luna pulled the curtains closed and stepped out of the room, plunging it into relative darkness and quiet. Only the faint, dull orange glow of the fading sun entered the room, but smothered by the curtains as it was, it wouldn’t disrupt Twilight’s rest.
Luna gazed out across Canterlot with a firm eye that night. Everypony was going to bed, shutting off their lights for the night. She turned her gaze back to the door to her royal chambers and wove a quick sound-proofing spell over it. She had a feeling that the events about to unfold within her mind would draw quite a ruckus from her, and she did not want to panic her guards without good reason.
That done, she turned her eyes back to the moon and took a deep breath to steel herself. Then she closed her eyes and allowed her mind to slip from her physical self into the dreamscape. The world around her dissolved and was replaced by an infinite abyss of blue, nebulous energy. Bubbles to fragile, shallow dreams drifted among sturdy doors that led to strong, deep dreams. Luna peered through the expansive realm with an inquisitive eye.
There were no other beings moving through the dreamscape as of this moment, which meant she had to do this the old fashioned way. She mentally acknowledged the distinct, and very high probability that this outing would yield no results and that she should try again another time if so, then pushed on.
For what felt like hours, Luna drifted through the endless expanse of the dreamscape, peering into the occasional door or bubble to see if she could find any traces of Horizon. She knew she was neglecting numerous ponies that needed her right now, but she was hoping that if she could find Horizon and draw information out of his mind like this, she would be able to silence him and his fiends once and for all.
He murdered my older sister, after all. I can not let that go unpunished. Any road that sees him pay the price is fine with me.
Then she saw it. It wasn’t a dream, per se. It was unlike anything the dreamscape would normally have drifting within it. Most dreams were accessed via a bubble or door. This, however, was neither; it was nothing. An anomalous void in the dreamscape. Drawing closer to the rift sent a sickening chill down Luna’s spine. She knew this feeling.
I found you. She thought triumphantly before tearing into it with her magic. The void buckled and swirled around her assault before tearing open like fabric. With a smirk, Luna shot into the entrance and landed upon the ground within the mind.
The ground was covered in small, dry flakes of a paint-like substance, swirling away in an intense whirlwind. Jutting from the ground were towering spires of bone and muscles, miles tall, writhing and reaching into the sky like the tentacles of a squid grasping for prey.
“Be silent!” came Horizon’s voice from not far ahead. Luna felt her blood turn first to ice with a small spike of fear, then melt into magma with hatred and vengeful rage. Still, she couldn’t help but be curious about who he was talking to.
“LISTEN, HORIZON! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!”
Luna’s eyes widened in shock, and she felt a sharp sword of sorrow slice into her heart. That was Celestia’s voice! Horizon is dreaming of my sister?
“I said be GONE!” Horizon shouted. The dream rattled on its foundations as he released a burst of magic outside. Luna frowned and used some of her own magic to bolster the dream and hold it together. All the same, the storm quickly died away, the flakes dissolving into nothingness and leaving both of them standing in an empty wasteland of dust. The sun overhead was no more than a reddish ring with black, inky energy bleeding from it across the sky.
Luna glared hatefully at Horizon, who had his back to her, looking around in confusion.
“...Why did I not awake?”
“My sister has a point.” Luna cut in with a venomous tone, her horn lighting up with dark blue magic. "Enough is enough."
Horizon turned and scowled at her. “Oh, look at you. Little baby sister Lulu found my mind in the dreamscape, did she?” he gave a mocking chuckle. “I was wondering when you would try that.”
“You can say what you please. It changes nothing.” Luna growled as she began to advance on him.
“Is that so?” Horizon asked with a cocky tilt of his head. “As I recall, you said something very similar when I approached you about Tia.”
Luna halted, her face freezing into one of surprise and swiftly mounting rage. “Oh, I am going to enjoy this far more than I should…”
“The same way you enjoyed trying to pry your sister away from the ponies she held dear?” Horizon asked with a frown. “Last I checked, you found it rather amusing to see how angry and bitter I became every time you dragged her away for some royal duty or other that you could handle on your own. You took a sickening level of pride in depriving me of the only pony keeping me from falling apart.”
Luna felt her eye twitch as she began to draw upon the worst energies she could reach from here. “I will make this painful, Horizon. So, so very painful.”
“Spare your breath, Princess. You hurt me plenty already.” Horizon spat with no small amount of loathing in his voice. “Tell me, was it protective instinct? Were you worried that I would harm Celestia if you didn’t interfere? Or were you jealous? Jealous that she had found a lover and you hadn’t?”
Luna had heard enough. Her eyes went pitch black, filling in with anger, hatred and the unspeakable, nightmarish energies she was drawing directly from the dreams surrounding this one. Horizon grimaced and got into a defensive stance, his tentacles sprouting from his back.
Behind Princess Luna opened a dark rift, a twisted and vile gateway into the deepest and darkest reaches of the pony mind. The place where fears beyond conscious understanding were processed, where nightmares were born. Luna howled with rage that she could no longer hope to contain and hurled herself at Horizon, a shadowy mist of horror itself following close behind her, tainting everything it touched.
Hours before Princess Luna entered the Dream Realm to hunt down Luminous Horizon, Applejack, Rarity, their younger sisters and Scootaloo were still sitting in one of the countless numerous lounge areas in Twilight’s castle. Rainbow Dash was worriedly looking Scootaloo over, having just caught wind of the event that morning. Fluttershy and Pinkie had arrived as well. Starlight Glimmer was absent, but she had opted to head to the Crystal Empire to help them defend themselves against the fiends with her magical abilities. Twilight herself was still sleeping in her room, recovering from the wounds she had sustained in her battle with Skeintooth.
“Rainbow Dash, I’ll be fine.” Scootaloo said weakly, clearly not believing her own words. She was still horribly shaken by what she had been through, that much was clear as day for all to see.
“I know, I know, just, ya know, gotta make sure.” Rainbow replied with a small, forced grin as she looked at Scootaloo’s neckline. There were small scabs in irregular patterns from where Skeintooth had clamped down before she fainted.
“Let us be honest with ourselves, everypony.” Rarity cut in while looking disdainfully at her still very scarred forelegs. “None of us are doing particularly fine. We’ll recover, I’m sure, but... “ she went silent as Sweetie Belle snuggled into her, burying her face and trying to hide from the world in her big sister’s chest.
“I just can’t believe you were all hurt so badly.” Fluttershy mumbled sadly, drifting from Applejack to study the long, still red line along Rarity’s side and shoulder from Skeintooth’s threats to Sweetie Belle.
“Ah can’t rightly believe just how fast Big Mac and Ah went down. The thing was just… unnatural.” Applejack muttered her own thoughts, pulling her hat down over her eyes and pulling Apple Bloom closer.
“Where is Big Mac, anyway?” Rainbow asked, looking to the farmer with deep seeded worry.
“The varmint didn’t have Big Mac in the same pods as Rares and the rest of us. He was off in another location for some reason. Big Mac got out of his cocoon-thingy. He’s currently back at the farm, tendin’ to Granny.” Applejack replied, wincing.
“I just don’t want you all to get hurt again.” Pinkie piped up with a frown and trembling lower lip, shifting uneasily in the chair she was sitting in. “I can’t stand it when you all aren’t happy…”
Rainbow sighed tiredly. “Tell me about it…”
A knocking reverberated throughout the castle. Everypony looked up for a moment before Spike went scampering by in the hallway. “I got it!” he called out dutifully.
After a few minutes, he came walking back with a smile on his face. Behind him trotted Moonrise Drifter, Palmwood and Wonderboom. Drifter gave a friendly grin as she saw everypony. “Hey, everypony. What’d I miss?”
“You missed a lot of our friends getting hurt and foal napped by a really big fiend.” Rainbow said bluntly, though the warm smile she was wearing was an indicator that she was happy to see the hybrid.
Drifter, however, lost her smile. “Come again?”
“Everypony here was abducted by some new fiend called Skeintooth.” Spike explained, looking back to Drifter with a small frown. “It, uh, wasn’t pretty as I understand it. But Twilight went and rescued them!”
“And was grievously wounded in the process…” Rarity added under her breath, before smiling at Drifter herself. “It’s good to see you again, Drifter. I don’t think I’ve met the two foals with you, though.”
Drifter smiled and gestured back to them. “To be fair, I didn’t introduce them the last time I was around you all. I wasn’t expecting them to still be with me.” she knelt down and pulled them both forward to say hi. “This is Palmwood, a little knucklehead with some strong opinions on romance and kissing and stuff.” she said, ruffling said colt’s mane with a teasing grin.
Palm glared at her with a mighty pout. “Driiiifteeeerrr.” he groaned out in embarrassment from how she said that.
“Eh, suck it up.” Drifter chuckled before playfully shoving him. She then turned to Wonderboom. “And this here is the little wonder of the group, Wonderboom. She’s a real sweetheart and also a master of getting on Palmwood’s nerves just as much as he gets on hers.”
Wonder smiled at the room of ponies. “Hello, everypony!”
“Well howdy.” Applejack greeted with a charmed smile. “Ah won’t lie, ah’m curious as to how y’all wound up travelin’ together.”
Palmwood and Wonderboom shrunk back the moment Applejack said that and Drifter shot the farmer a stern look, shaking her head. “Let’s, uh, not go there, okay? It’s a sensitive topic for them…”
Applejack flinched and nodded, putting up her hooves. “Sorry, mah bad.”
“It’s okay…” Drifter sighed before giving the two foals a comforting squeeze. “Say, why don’t you two go and get to know the other fillies here?”
“That sounds like fun. C’mon, Palm!” Wonder said before trotting over to say hi to Sweetie Belle. Palmwood trotted over to Applejack and Apple Bloom. Drifter simply smiled at them before looking at Fluttershy. “So, Twilight’s wounded?”
“Um, yes, she’s hurt. She’s healing and will make a full recovery, but, uh, it’s gonna be a few days. The potions Zecora made can only heal so much so fast.” Fluttershy said morosely as she recalled the state the alicorn had been in.
“I’m glad to hear she’ll be fine. I assume she’s in her room, then?”
“Yes. Princess Luna just left about an hour ago. Twilight should be waking up in another hour or so.” Fluttershy replied with a timid smile. Drifter raised an eyebrow.
“Luna was here just an hour ago?”
“Um… yes?”
“Wow. Poor timing on my part…” Drifter sighed and glanced up towards a small window at the top of the room, letting in a faint shaft of dimmed sunlight. “I was going to ask her about the state of the sun… do you know anything, by any chance?”
Fluttershy only shook her head.
“Hm… well, thanks anyway.”
Drifter began to turn for one of the seats in the room, presumably to rest, when Fluttershy reached out and gingerly grabbed her by the shoulder. “Um… Drifter? Can I ask you a question?” She mumbled uneasily.
Drifter glanced back at her curiously. “Sure.”
“What… um, what happened to their parents?”
Drifter’s ears fell flat and she sighed heavily. “They… their mother almost certainly died in the train we were using to evacuate Canterlot civilians in when the fiends attacked it. I don’t think they ever even knew their dad, so... “
“...Are you raising them now?” Fluttershy asked quietly but firmly. Drifter went stiff and gasped slightly in surprise at the suggestion.
“I… I don’t… I guess I am, in a way.” Drifter said with a frown. “But I am not their mother. I never will be. I can’t replace her, either. We are all in agreement on that.”
Fluttershy frowned deeply and glanced at the foals, all five in the room now seated in a circle and talking enthusiastically amongst themselves. She then turned back to Drifter. “Maybe not, but, um… Maybe you can still be like a mother for them. Ponies their age should not go without parents of some sort.”
Drifter looked at Fluttershy with growing surprise at the firmness in her normally quiet voice. She then frowned and looked away. “I don’t know… I’m not really cut out for that. I live a pretty brutal and violent life.”
“Then why are they still with you?”
Drifter blinked and looked at Fluttershy with wide eyes. She then laughed quietly and pointed at Palmwood with a fond grin. “Because that little ball of spontaneous action and enthusiasm forced all of us to make a promise that we’d stick together.”
“And you’re letting them stay with you?” Fluttershy pressed, then shrunk down a bit when Drifter looked at her with a hard look. “Oh, I’m sorry… I can just, uh, go away now, and uh…”
“It’s fine, Fluttershy.” Drifter said solemnly. “But, yes. I’m letting them stay with me because they have nowhere else to go, and, well… they want to stay with me.”
Fluttershy simply nodded and backed off a bit. “Okay… I just wanted to make sure they will be okay.”
“You think they’ll be okay with me and the life I lead?” Drifter asked incredulously. Fluttershy simply nodded with a warm smile.
“With how much you want to protect fillies and colts, yes. I don’t think there is another pony more suited to making sure they’ll be okay.” with that, Fluttershy returned to the rest of the group to check for more wounds.
Drifter stood silently before turning and trotting quietly from the room.
That night, Skeintooth prowled through the streets of Canterlot, drooling profusely and breathing rapidly at all of the wondrous, delicious smells of living ponies in the air. He whined pitifully as she passed under another window with ponies sleeping just beyond. It would be so easy to break in and feast upon them, but he knew that doing so would draw attention that he surely did not want to draw to himself.
He rounded another corner of the alleyway, stopping briefly to smash his head into the stonework of the ground to crush a small bundle of flies that was starting to flit about his maw. He looked back up and then wiped the broken remains of dead insects from his face with a quick brush of his claws and a lick of his tongue. He shuddered in disgust. Insects were revolting to him.
“Hey, who’s there?!”
Skeintooth perked up and hissed instinctively before slithering swiftly back into the shadows of the alleyway. A lunar guard pony slowly trotted into the alleyway. He was a thestral, his eyes pulling in the images of the night as easily as daylight. He saw Skeintooth and swiftly reached for the sword sheathed on his shoulder.
Skeintooth was far faster. Before the guard could even utter a sound, Skeintooth lunged forth and dug his coiled teeth into the guard's torso. The bat pony could only wheeze out a gasp as the teeth crushed his windpipe and ruptured his lungs on the way through his flesh. He fell, truly dead. With a gleeful shiver, Skeintooth dug in, devouring the first pony he had eaten for sustenance in several days. Soon, there was nothing but a pool of blood with shrapnel that was once his armor scattered around to show that their had ever even been a guard here.
With new energy, Skeintooth shot silently through the alleys and streets, making his way to a very specific plaza. He felt his heart leap with joy as he found it. The statue of Princess Celestia, sculpted by the very finest of Equestria’s artists and masons, stood over the grave of the pony it depicted. Skeintooth grinned hungrily and stepped forth out of the shadows.
At the foot of the great statue, he saw that there were etchings into the base. Celestia’s cutie mark stood in the center with the shapes and designs of her regalia and crown below and above it, respectively. With a small smirk, Skeintooth let his claws extend before bringing them down onto the pedestal, splitting the etchings of cutie mark and regalia down the middle.
That done, Skeintooth dug into the stone, peeling it away until the coffin came into sight. It was a wonderfully well crafted item of bright silver with gold trimmings. The beauty and artistic value of the coffin was wasted on Skeintooth, who tore the box open at it’s center point. Princess Celestia’ corpse rested within, mostly decomposed. Her mane had gone grey and still, resting under her bones as if it were a cushion. What little flesh remained was brown and rotted considerably. All the same, Skeintooth merely needed the bones.
With a quick snap of his jaws, he tore away the last piece of flesh on the old bones, chewing it and letting the grotesque slime of decomposition dribble onto the bones below. Then he set about devouring the bones themselves. He consumed her skull, her pelvis, three ribs and her spine before deciding he had enough material for his master. With a sadistic smile, the fiend clambered from the desecrated burial place and fled into the alleys. He would hide and wait. When Princess Luna saw what had become of her sister’s grave, her anger would draw her to pursue Skeintooth recklessly.
That would be when he would get the sample of her flesh that he needed. With his smile widening with bloodlust, Skeintooth vanished into the night, waiting for the right moment to pounce and claim his prey.
Had there been a third mind actively drifting through the Dream Realm, they would have surely been awoken in a panic by the horrific imagery lancing out from Luminious Horizon’s mind. In the wasteland his mind crafted, Horizon let out a scream of pain as Princess Luna conjured another force of nightmarish power. Black spikes shot out of the ground under Horizon, puncturing his body in dozens of places before branching out and curling like fingers to hold him in place.
With his cohesion dulled by pain, Luna dove in and touched her horn to his, entering his mind directly with the intent of pulling out any information she could use. Horizon screamed once more at the intrusion; Luna made sure that no effort at all was taken to make it painless. Horizon thrashed violently before the spikes shattered and dissolved, his concentration returning. The tentacles on his back shot out, several of them slicing along Luna’s face and throat, blood spraying free.
With but a twitch of her magic, Luna repaired her image. She wasn’t physically here, after all. The shredded flesh stitched back together in only a second. Horizon glared up at her before the ground beneath him cracked, a circular island forming under him and breaking away from the flat plain. The fury on his face was just as prominent as the rage on Luna’s as he reached eye-level with her.
With a small smirk, Horizon suddenly vanished. Luna gasped and widened her eyes before looking around. A pained, breathless wheeze tore from her lungs as Horizon materialized behind her, digging his claws into her spine and stabbing his bladed tentacles into her belly and chest, twisting on the way in. He put his mouth next to her ear and snarled venomously. “My mind is nothing like the minds of anypony you have ever met, Luna.” His tentacles jerked, pulling her open. Luna would have screamed, if her projection still had lungs.
With her focus twisted by agony, Luna was helpless to stop Horizon’s own efforts to enter her mind. She locked up as memories and images of Nightmare Moon were pulled forth. Images of Ponies suffering under her jealousy and rage, of Princess Celestia staring at her through a rainbow-colored ray of magic with tear-filled eyes. The emotions she had felt then, as well as the guilt she felt after, were brought back into her mind and multiplied many, many times.
With a snarl, she was able to pull away from Horizon, her body reforming in a swirl of black mist. With a sharp twist, she plunged her rear legs into his chest and sent him careening back down to the dust below. Luna gasped for breath, clutching at her head and forcing the shivers out of her body. Then her eyes began to fill with black energy once again. “You are right, Horizon! You are nothing like a pony! You chose the path of a monster years ago!”
Horizon stood and glared up at her with bared teeth. “Yes, I did! At least I have the backbone and self-honesty required to admit it!”
“Silence!” Luna howled in rage, her horn lighting up once more, sparks flying off of it from the intensity of her magic. The ground beneath Horizon’s hooves bubbled and turned into an ocean of acid and snakes that pulled him in. His cries of alarm and pain were lost beneath the sizzling waves, blood boiling and evaporating on the surface as the snakes tore into him. With ragged, furious breaths, Luna converted the ocean of acid into an ocean of lava.
Horizon drifted up through the lava and broke through, the difference in heat and density forcing his body to the surface. His skin boiled, his eyes bled profusely and his muscles melted, causing his body to contort and sag horrifically. The strangled, smothered howl of agony was music to Luna’s ears. Suddenly, Horizon spoke into her ear again. “Look at yourself.”
Luna turned just in time for his claws to sink into her neck and his horn to touch hers once more. Luna went stiff in pain as Horizon sifted through her thoughts, emotions and memories.
“Dear oh dear, so much anger! So much hatred. Every time you think of me or any one of my fiends, you want nothing more than see us all die in painful ways. Me especially.” Horizon’s voice echoed in her mind as she saw the image of Horizon’s body melting and contorting on the surface of the lava. She felt Horizon emphasize how satisfying the image was to her. “If you take such pleasure in seeing me and my ilk die and suffer in such a manner, does it really make you any different from us?”
“SILENCE!” Luna’s words rattled the dream with their intensity. Horizon recoiled and gasped as Luna turned the tides of his intrusion, forcing her way into his thoughts and swiftly extracting a clump of memories and knowledge from him. Horizon’s form was torn asunder, his head blasted into pieces by the forceful extraction.
He reformed, layer by layer in a swirl of dust not far below and glared up at her. The ocean below was returning to the dust-covered ground from before. “You were filled with joy just then, weren’t you? Watching my head explode must be blissful to watch!”
“I SAID SILENCE, DAMN YOU!” Luna screamed in rage, her mane billowing out and the shadows swirling around her body before she hurled herself at him. Horizon grunted on impact, sliding back dozens of feet along the ground, digging his claws into the soil. Luna wasn’t even trying to dig into his mind anymore; she had already gotten all she needed in that department. Now she was just trying to make him hurt. The shadows bit at his skin like a swarm of flesh-eating insects, cuts appearing all across his body.
Horizon growled with effort and turned, shoving Luna to the ground beneath him and stabbing his claws into her chest, pinning her down. “I don’t take orders from you, Princess.” He snarled into her face before touching his horn to hers once more, the magic he poured into the intrusion exceeding any he had done thus far. Luna fell silent as her mind was completely at his mercy.
Celestia smiled and touched a hoof to her chest, touched by Luminous Horizon’s heartfelt speech of gratitude. Horizon couldn’t help but imagine his praising her beauty and grace helped put that blush on her cheeks.
“Oh, you’re too kind, Lumen.” She said, looking down at the bright blue unicorn with a loving smile. He smiled back up at her, taking a small step forwards.
“It’s only the truth, Tia. You’re the most wonderful thing to ever happen to me. You saved my life and my mind from Discord, you gave me a home where nopony else would. I can’t thank you enough. I owe you everything I have.” Horizon said before being drawn into a warm hug by the alicorn, one he delightfully returned, nuzzling into her shoulder contentedly..
“You needn’t thank me, Horizon.” she said softly into his ear. Lumen smiled and hugged her closer, basking in the embrace of the pony he had started to fall in love with. When the embrace at last ended, he looked up at her, opening his mouth to tell her how he felt. He saw her smile and, while his heart fluttered in joy at the possibility, his mind cowered in terror at the alternative. He twitched slightly and looked away from her.
“I still feel like I have to. You’ve gone so far out of your way for me…”
“Lumen, I’m helping you because I-” Celestia’s response was interrupted by the doors of the room swinging open. Princess Luna strode in, frowning the moment she saw Horizon so close to her big sister. Horizon looked towards her and wilted slightly. The animosity between them had been growing lately, even if Celestia had failed to notice it.
“Sister, there you are.” Luna greeted, trotting up to Celestia with a warm smile, though her gaze flicked to Horizon in a cold glare before returning to her sister. “May I borrow you for a while? Some more of the leaders of outlying townships are due to arrive any minute to discuss updates and reforms of trade policies. You’re expertise in such matters will almost certaintly be required.”
Horizon frowned bitterly at luna while Celestia sighed and stood back to her full height. “I suppose it can’t be helped. Royal duty calls.” She looked back at Horizon and smiled softly. “We’ll talk more later, okay?”
“Uh… yeah… s-sure.” Horizon mumbled, looking at Luna in exasperation. I’ve seen how these meetings go, Luna! Horizon thought to himself, his blood starting to boil in frustration. The ponies come, present their ideas, Celestia makes an adjustment on rare occasion and then signs them off! It’s not that hard! Just let us be in peace, won’t you? Please!
Celestia strode out of the hall with Luna in tow. The lunar princess shot frown back at Horizon before vanishing through the doorway. Now, Horizon sat alone, his heart racing with building frustration. He stood and began to make his own way out of the room, jittering slightly in his steps.
The doors on the other end of the room swung open and a pair of guards marched through, presumably to join the royal sisters at the meeting as the guards for that day's proceedings. One of them scowled at Horizon as he walked past, and noticing that Celestia was not nearby, the guard shoved Horizon down as he strode past. Horizon grunted on the impact and fell over to his side, a painful headache springing to life within his skull. He curled up on the ground and clutched at his head, groaning in discomfort.
“Why do the princesses let that murderer walk around so freely?” One of the guards asked the other, no small amount of contempt in his voice before they vanished into the next room, slamming the doors behind them. The sound echoed in Horizon’s mind, amplifying his headache to agonizing levels. Finally, though, after several minutes, the pain faded enough that he could focus his thoughts again.
He lay there, frozen. His mind rattled with confusion and frenzied emotions His breath slowly began to turn into a series of pained, ragged gasps. Finally, he stood, his legs trembling beneath him. With a shout of frustration, he pulled a flower pot off of it’s ceiling hook and smashed it into the stone floor with his magic, shattering it and sending soil and flower petals everywhere. His headache flared once more and he fled the scene, wanting to be alone right now.
Luna gasped as she returned to awareness within Horizon’s mind. He looked down at her blankly, the memory still fresh in both of their minds. “...You saw all of that as I lived it. Tell me… were you justified in pulling her along for such things? Were you justified in letting one of your subjects be forced to endure to such treatment from your guards? Do you think that you were in the right?”
Luna gulped and glared at him, though she couldn’t meet his eyes. “Of course not! ...My jealousy for my sister in every way was growing, then, and I did many things I have come to regret deeply! You weren’t the only one to suffer because of me! But you can’t honestly believe you are justified in your actions, can you?” Luna looked back at him and snarled.
“Let me tell you a little secret, Luna.” horizon said before pulling his claws from her gut in such a way that he pulled her intestines with them. “I stopped caring. The day I reached the edge of Equestria and became the first fiend, I decided that I didn’t care anymore. Justified or not, it makes no difference to me. I have my goal, and I am going to make sure you suffer greatly along the way.” He leaned in close to her, his eyes boring into hers. “Just like you did to me.”
Luna twitched faintly before Horizon dropped her innards and backed away. With a scoff, he turned and began to walk away.
“Now, get out of my head.”
Luna awoke with a start in the waking world, gasping for breath and covered in a thick layer of cold sweat. Her head was pounding with intense pain and her heart beat in a flurry of confusion and leftover, instinctual panic.Touching a forehoof to her head to calm her nerves, she checked a clock and nodded. Time for sunrise.
With a grimace, she set to work in lowering the moon and bringing the sun back up. The light was welcoming for her as it gradually peaked out from behind the distant mountains, though it was now slightly dimmer than it was at sunset yesterday. With a nudge to put it into its motion until it was time for night, Luna turned and tiredly began to make her way for her bed. She had been awake for far too long and she could really use the rest.
As she slipped into bed, she thought on the information she had managed to rip out of Horizon’s mind, scouring it for his base of operations. A half smile formed as she pinned down his location to be Mount Eclipse. It was an isolated colossus of a mountain peak that rested well beyond the Crystal Empire to the north. It’s name was derived from the fact that, for a small valley inhabited by a settlement of the old unicorn tribe, the sunrise would be concealed behind this mountain until almost midday. It made sense that he made that his base of operations; hard to reach and even harder to navigate around once reached. The scattered images of his hideout interior made it clear that it was formed to be akin to a maze inside.
Then a furious knocking came to her door, drawing an agitated groan out of the weary princess. She looked at the door with a glare before throwing it open with her magic. “Speak.” she said bluntly to the thestral who had so rudely interrupted her preparations for sleep.
He swiftly dropped into a very low bow. “A th-thousand pardons, your majesty, but I bring troubling news from the Solar Plaza!”
Luna raised an eyebrow. The Solar Plaza was the name they had given to the plaza in which Celestia was buried, renaming it after the funeral. “You have my attention. What is it, soldier?” she asked, slowly sitting up in her bed.
“It’s your s-sister’s grave, your highness. Something s-seems to h-have, uh…” the soldier shifted uncomfortably, trying to figure out how to word it in a way that would save him from Luna’s anger.
“Spit it out already!” Luna snapped, too tired to have any patience left.
The guard yipped and Ducked down into his bow like it were a hiding place. He stuttered for a long moment before responding in an uneasy voice. “Something has desecrated her grave, your majesty! It was dug up and bones are missing!”
Luna went silent, her eyes going wide. She slowly stood from the bed and walked until she loomed over the guard. Shadows were licking into her eyes from their corners. When she spoke, the guard was almost sure her anger alone could kill him with no effort at all, were raw emotions able to do such things.
That afternoon, Moonrise Drifter, Palmwood and Wonderboom stepped off of the train that had brought them to Canterlot. The two foals bore expressions of solemn remembrance, though they were trying to remain optimistic about the trip and about getting back some of their old things. They were busy talking to each other, so they didn’t notice what was instantly recognized by Drifter. Everypony on the streets looked distinctly uneasy, nervous, angry or even sad. Normally, chatter in the streets would be loud and hard to tune out. Now, though, it was almost silent. Ponies spoke quietly and solemnly to one another for only a few moments before moving on.
“Something’s wrong…” Drifter muttered to herself uneasily. Hearing her say this, Wonder tapped her gently on her right foreleg to get her attention. Drifter looked down to see Wonder’s worried eyes.
“What’s wrong?” The filly asked, Palmwood nodding along to show he shared the curiosity. Drifter let her ears droop and looked out at the city.
“I’m not sure, yet. It’s just too… solemn, I guess. C’mon, you two. Let’s go find your old house, okay?” She redirected, smiling softly to try and make them feel better. It was only slightly successful, but all the same, it was enough. The foals nodded and broke into brisk canters with a focused direction. Drifter followed along, casting glances at her surroundings uneasily.
After several minutes of meandering through the streets and, much to the foals embarrassment, a couple of wrong turns, they came to a quaint, two story home on one of the ‘lesser’ streets. It was by no means a poor neighborhood, especially not by the standards of, say, Ponyville or Little Lapis, but it was clearly of a somewhat older, smaller and less ornate architecture than the rest of Canterlot.
The foals looked it up and down, frowning and wilting considerably at the sight of their old home. It had not been touched, aside from a surface cleaning, since the invasion. One of the windows was shattered it, looking like it had been used by one of the fighters that day to kill an enemy. Drifter tried not to determine which side had done so.
“Head on in, kids. I’ll be right here.” Drifter urged them on softly, smiling at them.
“But… what if something bad’s in there?” Wonderboom asked, frightened at the unkempt appearance of her foalhood home.
“We’ll be fine, sis.” Palm tried to reassure her, but it was clear he was also worried. Drifter lost her smile before reaching out and gently hugging the two.
“You’ll be fine. If there is something or somepony in there that shouldn’t be, come get me and I’ll take care of it. But… this is your home, not mine. I won’t want to intrude.” she said soothingly, nuzzling the two comfortingly on the tops of their heads.
Wonder pulled back and frowned at Drifter. “But we want you to come inside!”
Palmwood nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah. You’re taking care of us now, so, it only makes sense. It does make sense, right?” he added with a frown after a moment. Drifter giggled softly and playfully nudged him.
“Sure, I guess… alright, but go on ahead and I’ll catch up, okay? I have something I need to do real fast. Won’t take long, I promise.” Drifter said she stood and looked around for somepony walking down the street that might know what was up in town today. The foals noticed her serious expression and decided not to question it. They went for the door which, surprisingly, wasn’t even properly on it’s hinges anymore. Giving it a push was enough to knock it down, kicking up some dust and revealing the dark interior, almost exactly as they had left it.
While the siblings stepped inside, Drifter spotted a stallion trotting down the street with the same solemn look in his eyes as almost everypony else. He had saddlebags slung over his back and they looked fairly full. With only slight hesitation, Drifter stood tall and approached the Stallion. “Excuse me, can I ask you something real quick?”
The stallion glanced at her gloomily, slowing to a sluggish stop. “I suppose.”
“Thanks. Did something happen here recently? I can’t help but notice everypony is looking rather… glum.” Drifter asked carefully, briefly looking over her shoulder to make sure the foals were doing alright. They seemed fine for the moment, looking around the front room of the house.
“You weren’t here last night, were you?” The stallion asked bluntly, his gaze falling to stare at the ground.
“No, I wasn’t. I just got here a little bit ago.”
The stallion sighed and shook his head. “...Princess Celestia’s grave was… desecrated.”
Drifter froze, her blood going cold and her eyes widening. She had to make an active effort to keep her fangs hidden. “Desecrated...?”
“Yup. Something dug up her grave, broke her coffin and... I don’t want to talk about it. Solar Plaza is up the street a ways that way. Go see for yourself.” The stallion then resumed his trot, moving significantly faster than he had been before. Drifter watched him go before heading inside the house with Palmwood and Wonderboom.
She couldn’t help the grimace that came over her face upon seeing the two foals coming back into the living room. Wonder had a framed photo hanging loosely from her mouth. Palmwood seemed more despondent. He had nothing to show for his search thus far. Both of them wore saddened faces. Wonder set the framed photo down on the floor, standing it up and then rotated it so Drifter could see. It was a family photo; Wonderboom, Palmwood and their mother, sitting in this very living room on what looked like Hearthswarming day.
Wonderboom sniffled. “I… I forgot this photo was here…” she uttered in a trembling voice. Palmwood didn’t look much better, despite his attempts at staying brave for his little sister. Drifter sighed and gingerly approached.
“Oh, you two… I’m so sorry.” she was going to say more, but didn’t really get the chance. Wonderboom lunged at Drifter and clung to her in a tight hug, burying her face into the hybrid’s chest. Palmwood stayed back, his face twitching and contorting as he tried to maintain some self control.
Drifter gently hugged Wonder back, gently stroking her mane in an effort to sooth the crying filly. She looked at Palmwood and frowned. “Don’t worry, Palm… come here.” she said softly, reaching out another foreleg. Palmwood shied away, his ears going flat. He ran a foreleg over his eyes in an effort to hide his tears.
“I… I’m fine... R-really, I am.” he stuttered before lowering his foreleg. Drifter frowned and shook her head slowly while still comforting Wonder as best she could.
“I know that face, Palmwood… you’re not. It’s okay… let it out.”
That was enough. Palmwood broke down and sluggishly pulled himself into Drifter’s embrace, holding his sister close and joining her in letting out their built up sorrows. All Drifter could do for now was hold them close, try to soothe them and shield them from the world by wrapping her wings around them.
Once they had vented suitably, they took one last runthrough of the house to find anything the foals would want to keep with them. They left with no more than the photograph. Nothing else that was still in the home was significant enough to take with them. Now, Drifter had a new destination with the foals trailing behind her quietly. The closer they came to the Solar Plaza, the fewer ponies there were. That was until they reached the entrance to the plaza.
Several solar guards stood at every entrance, armed and armored. They seemed just as stoic as usual, but it was easy enough for Drifter to see the numerous emotions they were each displaying in subtle ways. Anger, sadness, resentment. The list went on and on. The statue of Celestia could be seen from here, looking just as regal as it did last time she had seen it, if slightly more grungy from a couple months of wear and tear.
Drifter could see Princess Luna, as well. She was sitting in front of the statue, looking down at a hole in the stones with a distant, empty look in her eyes. Before she could say much more, however, one of the guards held up a hoof and stepped in front of her.
“Halt. Nopony is allowed into the plaza without explicit orders of Princess Luna allowing them entrance. Turn around and trot away.” he said simply, earning a grunt from Drifter.
“Oh, excuse me for wanting to pay some of my family a visit.” she grumbled before peering past the guard at Luna. “And from the looks of it, the princess isn’t exactly saying or doing much right now.”
The guard tensed up, opening his mouth to retort when Drifter glared at him directly in the eyes.
“Now, then. I suggest you let me through. I would like to visit my…” she paused before sighing. “...my mother’s grave.”
The guard flinched and looked at his partner, who looked between the two with heavy uncertainty. Finally, the first guard cleared his throat. “W-what’s your name, miss?”
“Moonrise Drifter.”
The guard went rigid and his colors paled considerably. “O-oh! I… I didn’t realize it was you! P-please, go on ahead.” he quickly stepped aside with a nervous look and a slight bow. Drifter sighed but continued on.
“These foals are with me. C’mon, you two.” she added gently. Wonder and Palm followed along silently, faces still turned to the ground. Drifter looked up to Luna and frowned deeply at the sight. The alicorn hadn’t even noticed Drifter’s arrival, eyes glued to the scene of disrespect in the ground beneath her. Drifter drew up next to her and instinctively hissed in disgust when she saw Celestia’s bones so ransacked. This jarred Luna from her trance, looking to Drifter distantly.
“Moonrise Drifter?” she mumbled softly, looking unsure of what she was seeing. Drifter merely nodded before sitting down.
“...It’s good to see you, Princess Luna. I just wish I had shown up at a better time.” she said softly, looking down into the grave with her eyes also going distant. She glanced back at the foals. “Hey, stay there you two, okay?”
“Huh? But…” Wonder started, but Drifter shook her head firmly.
“No buts. Stay there for now, okay? I don’t want you seeing this…” she looked back at the bones, her ears going flat against her head before she added in no more than a whisper, “You two have seen more than enough already…”
Luna looked at Drifter, then at the foals. “You are still taking care of them, I see…”
“Yeah.”
Luna nodded and looked at the statue of Celestia again, her face unreadable. “Tell me, then, Drifter.” she looked down at the hybrid curiously. “Have you made any discoveries? Anything important we should know?”
Drifter scoffed and pointed at the dull sun. “I think you probably know more than I do, honestly. It’s why I came here.”
“So visiting your mother’s grave was but a footnote on this trip?” Luna added with a small scowl spreading on her face.
“Luna, please… just… just don’t.”
“She was my sister, Drifter. I am afraid I cannot help but be offended if my sister’s daughter is unwilling to pay proper respects!” Luna said in irritation before looking away and breathing deeply to calm herself.
“You’re on edge.” Drifter commented with a small smirk.
“What gave it away?” Luna jabbed back. Drifter shook her head.
“Just about everything. I’d be lying if I said I was any different…” she slowly stood and closed her eyes, “Now, then. Do we know who it was that broke into the grave?”
Luna also stood looking down once more into the grave before shifting her attention fully to Drifter. “I have my suspicions. Are you familiar with the fiend called Skeintooth?”
Drifter narrowed her eyes, a soft glow coming to her irises. “In name alone. He wounded Twilight for a piece of her flesh.”
Luna nodded slowly. “He may be the one who took my sister’s bones from her grave.”
“Then I know who I’m killing tonight.” Drifter whispered venomously before looking into Luna’s eyes intently. “Let’s find this thing.”
Luna smiled dangerously. “I couldn’t be happier with your suggestion. Come, let us return to the castle. We can discuss our options more there.”
The trip to Canterlot Castle was largely spent in silence. Luna looked tired, her eyes struggling to stay upturned. Drifter kept her gaze forward, though one could spot her occasionally glancing back at the foals to ensure they were alright. It was only when they stepped into the castle courtyard itself that Palmwood and Wonder really seemed to notice where they were. Palm looked up, his eyes widening with surprise. Wonder looked around in awe, mesmerized by it all.
“Never been inside the castle?” Drifter asked quietly, falling back slightly so she could talk to the two easier.
“No. Neither of us has ever been in here…” Wonder said, barely even paying attention to Drifter as the hustle and bustle of the courtyard drew her attention.
“Well, I’ll show you around later. I need to talk to Princess Luna first.”
Palmwood looked over to Luna and shuddered, trying to hold in his swiftly returning enthusiasm. Drifter merely giggled and bopped him on the head. He pouted at her. “Ow. Don’t do that.”
“No promises. Don’t get in any trouble, though, and you’ll be just fine.” Drifter winked at him before trotting to catch up to Luna, her face once more shifting into a frown. Luna, however, was smiling softly, albeit sleepily, at Drifter as she fell into stride.
“If I were a normal pony, I might think you were actually their mother, the way you’re handling them.” Luna commented, earning a look of annoyance from Drifter.
“I’m taking care of them; but I am not their mother.”
“I know.”
The two fell silent. Luna’s horn lit with magic and the tall, double doors of the castle’s main entrance swung open into the public foyer. Ponies were going about their business, several of them giving quick bows of respect as the princess strode by. Luna’s reactions were very small in scale, consisting of barely even a glance or simple murmur of acknowledgement. Drifter’s frown deepened even further. “You’re tired.”
“Again with stating the obvious, Drifter? Shall I give you a medal?” Luna snarked out, though she still wore a small smile. Drifter shook her head with a smile of her own.
“No thanks. I gave up on trophies when my seventh necklace of fiend teeth fell into Ghastly Gorge. Just too much to keep track of with my lifestyle.” Drifter then lost her smile and gazed into Luna’s eyes worriedly. “But all joking aside, you are very tired. You need to go get some rest.”
“I have gone for longer than this without rest Dri… fter….” Luna’s response segwayed into a yawn halfway through. She frowned and looked away to hide the slight blush coming to her cheeks.
“Just because you have, or even because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Go get some rest. I’m sure everypony can take care of things long enough for you to get a few hours of shut-eye. You need it.” Drifter added firmly, gently touching a hoof to Luna’s shoulder. “We’ll talk about Skeintooth when you wake up, okay?”
“But, I-”
“Nuh-uh.” Drifter shook her head sharply. “No ‘buts,’ Luna. Go to bed.”
Luna frowned at Drifter with a raised eyebrow. “You know that you’re smart-mouthing a princess in the middle of the foyer, don’t you?”
“I know.” Drifter grinned, showing her fangs. “But I’m pretty sure ponies aren’t willing to mess with me just because I gave you a scolding on your sleeping habits.”
Luna chuckled before sagging heavily and nodding slowly. “Heh, very well, Moonrise Drifter. You have made your point. I shall get some rest... “ she turned and began to drag herself up the stairs that would see her to her personal chambers. Drifter watched her go before turning to the foals.
“Alright, let’s show you two around, eh?”
“That sounds cool. Let’s go!” Palm said with a smile starting to return to his face.
Drifter nodded, returning the smile warmly. “Alright. Come on, then. Let’s check out the kitchens. I bet you two are hungry.”
Wonderboom perked up immediately, giving Drifter an enormous and rather adorable grin. “Oh, yes! I could eat an entire mountains of hay at this point.”
“But you’d get fat if you ate that much.” Palmwood pointed out with a grin.
Palmwood frowned at him, visibly offended. “Yeah? Well, uh…” she stuttered, trying to come up with a come-back. Palmwood puffed out his chest with pride at having stumped her.
Drifter merely chuckled at their antics, shaking her head. Wonder stopped looking in her mind for a comeback and instead looked at Drifter with a small bit of worry coming to her face. “Actually, speaking of food, I don’t think I’ve seen you eat anything since you started taking care of us, Drifter.“
Drifter paused briefly before glancing back at Wonder with a reassuring smile. “No, I’ve eaten. I just eat when you two are asleep, usually.”
“Really? Don’t you need to eat more than that to stay healthy?” Wonder pressed, her face twisting slightly as she tried to piece this together.
“Not with what I eat, or how my body digests food. I’m not the same as normal ponies, remember?” Drifter said, absently licking her fangs as she remembered the last time she had eaten. It had been almost a week ago. Now that she thought about it, she was starting to get somewhat hungry.
“Oh, right… you eat monsters.” Wonder said solemnly, looking at Drifter with sad eyes.
“Yes… Yes, I do.” Drifter nodded before closing her eyes, reminded of the title she had been given so long ago. The Mare that eats monsters. She hadn’t really thought about it much, how greatly things had changed in the last two months. She was a household name before then, sure, but only as a bedtime story, oftentimes with the details skewed by the passage of time. Over the last two months, ever since Horizon began his campaign in earnest, Drifter was not just a bedtime story, but recognized as a pony of great importance to the situation. Ponies knew she was real; though it wasn’t common knowledge that Celestia was her mother by birth.
Drifter grimaced at that thought before opening her eyes. She still felt a deep, powerful bitterness towards Celestia for having hid the fact she was her mother for so long. To then go and die without giving a proper goodbye. From all accounts, she had let Horizon kill her. Granted, her intention was to sow seeds of doubt into him, but, well, with how things were progressing, Drifter was inclined to believe it hadn’t worked out as Celestia had hoped.
Drifter was jarred from her thoughts when Wonderboom suddenly gave an excited squeak. Drifter looked over to see they were right next to the kitchens. It wasn’t very active right now. A unicorn mare dressed as a maid was going through it and tidying up while sweeping the floor with a broom in a soft yellow magical aura. She glanced over at the trio as they stepped inside the room, wearing a warm smile. “Oh, hello there. Do you need anything?”
“Yeah, I’m hoping there might be some leftovers I could get for these foals? They haven’t had a decent meal in a few days.” Drifter replied motioning to the two while they vigorously nodded in agreement.
The maid shook her head sadly. “I’m sorry, but I’m not permitted to do that. You’d need to ask the chef-” she abruptly went silent as Drifter let one of her wings pop free so it was readily visible. “Oh… well, nevermind, then. Help yourself and, if you ask him, I’m sure the chef would be more than happy to let you make some fresh food for them. Have a good day, miss.” she bowed her head before trotting by, her work in the kitchen mostly done anyway.
Palmwood looked at Drifter with wide eyes. “Woooaaah. You can make ponies do stuff by showing them your wings?”
Drifter rolled her eyes. “Eh. Kinda sorta. I’m not really a myth anymore. Ponies know about me being real now and, well, they’re under orders to assist me if I need it.” she strode into the kitchen and made her way for the fridge. “Not that I’d ever make use of that assistance in a way that would put ponies at risk needlessly.”
For several minutes, Drifter rummaged around and set up a few plates of leftover food from the previous night’s meals. A couple of plates with salads, hay and a couple cookies each. Once they had been heated up, Drifter brought the two foals their food. She smiled as she approached, seeing them quite deep in conversation. Once she set the plates down, Palmwood almost instantly buried his face into the food, disregarding table manners entirely. Drifter frowned for a moment before laughing at Wonder’s loud squeak of protest.
“Palm! Use your silverware!” Wonder complained, shielding her face with her forelegs as bits of stray food went flying. Palm looked up with a euphoric grin.
“No!”
He then dug back in. Drifter simply chuckle before putting her hoof on Palm’s forehead and lifting his face out of the food. “Not in public, you silly little thing. Show some manners, please. You are in the castle, after all.”
Drifter simply smiled and sat down, watching the two enjoy their food. After a short while, Wonder swallowed another mouthful and then looked at Drifter curiously. “Drifter? May I ask you something?”
“Sure thing Wonder. What is it?”
“I heard Princess Luna mention earlier that you were her ‘sister’s daughter.’ That means you’re Princess Celestia’s daughter, right?” Wonder asked, to which Drifter lost her smile.
“...By birth only. I can’t see her as my mother.” Drifter replied before looking down solemnly. “She abandoned me when I was an infant. Left me near Hollow Shades for somepony to find.”
“Oh… I’m sorry about that. But, um, if that’s the case, doesn’t that mean Princess Luna is your aunt?”
Drifter’s ears instantly stood up. “...Huh. You know, yeah, it does. I never really thought about it.” she looked up at Wonder with a small smile. “Thanks for mentioning that.”
Wonder beamed and dug back into her food greedily. Drifter simply watched over the two while her mind began to wander.
That evening, as the sun was setting, Drifter stepped into a meeting room that Luna had decided would be where they would plan their pursuit of Skeintooth. Closing the door behind her, she studied the small room carefully. A round table in the center of the room with seating cushions for up to ten ponies was the most notable piece of furniture. A few shelves and filing cabinets were in the corners, presumably for maps or useful information to help make informed decisions. The table had a map of Canterlot and the surrounding mountains and foothills sprawled out on it. Luna was peering over a few sheets of parchment, probably reports sent in by patrols and scouts.
“I’m here, Princess.” Drifter said when Luna didn’t immediately look up. Luna jumped slightly before turning her gaze to meet the hybrid’s. The cold, icy fury in them was clearly visible.
“Good evening, Moonrise Drifter. I’ve received numerous reports and I think I know where Skeintooth is making his hideout.” she lowered the papers to the side and pointed to a spot on the map, marking it with a red ink quill. “Here. One of our scouts found a small bowl in the terrain with a blue, glowing pod that emitted a ‘lovely ringing sound’ planted in it’s core. Luckily, one of his comrades was able to destroy the pod with magic and bring them all back safely. The blue pod is one of Skeintooth’s methods of drawing in victims, if Twilight’s information is anything to go off of.”
Drifter frowned at the princess, easily spotting her eagerness to head out for vengeance. She set a hoof on the table loud enough to catch Luna’s attention.. “Slow down, Luna. Don’t get too excited here; you know how you can get rather reckless if provoked.”
Luna grimaced but then nodded. “...Yes. I know, it’s just that this thing violated my sister’s grave. You understand that I am rather distraught.”
“The feeling is mutual, Luna, trust me.” Drifter said calmly, looking over the map herself. “But I get the feeling that this ‘Skeintooth’ is preying upon your anger. I doubt he needed to take as much as he did, or do so much damage to the statue. It was probably in an effort to increase your anger and make you hurl yourself at him without a proper plan of attack.”
Luna nodded slowly, taking a deep breath. “...You’re right. What shall we do, then?”
“We’re still going to kill him, make no mistake. But we have to play it carefully…” Drifter hummed to herself more than anything, looking over the map carefully. “Okay, he would expect you to try and take a direct path. The trail of least resistance, as it were. Which would be the same road your patrol took, right?”
“Correct.”
“Then you can take the path of most resistance.” Drifter suggested, extending her claws and dipping it into the red inkwell. She painted a line on the parchment with the tip of her claw as she spoke. “If you follow along these ridges and peaks, you’ll be at a high altitude over his little hideout. By the time you get there, I’ll have already engaged him. I’ll keep his attention. When you’re in range, you can use a spell to stun him or hold him down. Then we can finish him off.” Drifter pulled up her claw before jabbing it into the point that Luna marked as Skeintooth’s hideout, leaving a small hole in the parchment with crimson ink spreading out from that point.
Luna smirked. “I like the way you think, Drifter.”
“I’ve had to do this for a living for a long time, Princess. I’ve picked up a few things.” Drifter returned the smile with one of her own, her fangs quite visible.
Luna stood to her full height and nodded. “Then let us begin.”
She could smell him. Drifter turned her nose up and sniffed at the air once more before turning slightly and continuing on her trek for Skeintooth’s little hideout. His stench was abhorrent; which was how she knew it was him. Fiends had a tendency to have particularly distinct aromas. Luna had already split off almost a mile back, ascending the mountainside with her wings and disappearing among a the snowy fog and mist.
It wasn’t snowy where Drifter was at, but it could very easily become so if the weather teams weren’t careful. Canterlot was visible in the distance, fairly far below and in the distance. It was just barely visible under the moonlight. Drifter looked up at the celestial body and grimaces. It, too, was getting darker. The light reflected from the sun was fading, making the night take on a subtle, crimson tint.
A ringing reached her ears at about thin point. Drifter instantly tensed up, folding her ears back and baring her fangs on reflex. Her claws shifted under her hooves, ready to spring free at any moment. Soon enough, the gradual incline she had been trotting along dipped into a sizable bowl in the mountainous terrain. There were a few dead animals scattered about, looking like Skeintooth had made a meal out of anything that got too close. The glowing blue pod was at the center of the bowl.
She grimaced as she realized there was a pegasus pony corpse among them. Probably a weather pony. His face, or whatever was left of it, was twisted into scream of terror that froze the moment he died.
With a scowl, Drifter strode to the pod and stomped it out, letting her ears stand up once that was done. It had been starting to get on her nerves, that sound. Good thing I’m half fiend. She thought to herself before looking around cautiously, eyes narrowing as she scanned the environment.
“Cannibal.”
Drifter turned and frowned as she beheld Skeintooth, looking down on her from an elevated piece of stone that stuck up from the ground like a spike. Saliva was dripping off of his fangs in obscene amounts and his tongue flicked out to lick his gums and lips. Drifter stood tall and glared at him. “I take it you’re Skeintooth?”
“Skeintooth was not expecting cannibal half-sister to show up here. Skeintooth wants Princess of Moon. Why is cannibal here?” Skeintooth asked curiously, nestling down onto the stone and letting one of his front legs dangle over the edge to swing lazily in the air. He looked about as casual as it was possible for him to look.
“I’m Moonrise Drifter. I eat monsters like you, remember? Or did Horizon neglect to educate you on such a simple detail? Considering how bad you are at speech, I can only guess so.”
“Skeintooth knows that cannibal eats other fiends. That’s why Skeintooth called her cannibal.” Skeintooth answered, pointing a clawtip at her with a frown forming on his face. “No, Skeintooth wonders why cannibal has come here to him? Skeintooth thought that cannibal would be looking for master Horizon, or perhaps playing mommy to orphan ponies.”
Drifter grit her teeth and let her wings flare out in a threatening display. “Are you trying to piss me off?” She hissed at him dangerously.
Skeintooth hummed and looked at his claws as if he wished to clean them of some unseen dirt. His eyes flicked down to her as he did this gesture, a smirk growing on his face. “Cannibal is evading Skeintooth’s question.”
“I came here to kill you and then eat you. You hurt my friend Twilight, you dug up Princess Celestia’s grave and desecrated her bones. I have no intention of letting you leave here alive, fiend.” Drifter answered, extending the claws from her hooves. She kept the claws in her right hoof pulled in, as they weren’t quite battle ready yet.
Skeintooth grinned widely before standing up slowly. Drifter had to admit, he was large and, from all accounts, he was fast, too. All of her focus was on him as she tuned the rest of the world out. Skeintooth let a sadistic cackle emerge from his lungs. This laugh soon turned into a gleeful howl before he knelt and sprung into the air, the stone platform beneath him crumbling into dust from the force of his launch.
Drifter looked up and leapt back to avoid the attack. Skeintooth landed right where she had been, his long, twisted claws rending the dirt and stone upon impact and kicking up a large cloud of dust. Without wasting any time, Skeintooth turned in place, using his tail like a whip and slamming it into Drifter’s side. She yelped in pain from the force of the blow, skidding along the ground before rolling back onto her hooves. Skeintooth was already in pursuit, teeth bared and angled to bite at her head.
With her own agility, Drifter ducked and thrust her good claws up into his chin. Skeintooth let out a pained roar as her claws punched through into his mouth, taking a few teeth out and thoroughly shredding one of the tips of his tongue. With a grunt, she made use of his momentum to tear her claws along his underside as he passed. He pulled up and off in a jump, her claws slipping free from his chest with a spray of blood.
Skeintooth turned and shrieked at Drifter, his teeth quivering in his mouth and the spines along his back flaring up. Drifter grunted and held a hoof to her head as the air seemed to ripple around her from the sheer volume of the noise he was making. Anypony else would be paralyzed by this kind of sound, maybe even lose their sense of hearing altogether.
Skeintooth maintained his scream until he was almost upon Drifter again, his head angled down. Drifter regained enough focus to jump up with a flap of her wings, evading his tackle by the skin of her teeth. She wasn’t able to fully evade the spines on his back as he rushed by, however. He belly and legs recieved numerous slices as he shot past her, their sharp tips cutting deep into her body.
“Gah! Son of a…” she gasped before giving her wings another hard flap to lift higher into the air. She glared down at the fiend, who was now circling her hungrily, snapping at the air and flicking his tail excitedly. “Alright, tough guy…” she muttered before shooting down at him.
Skeintooth rose on his hind legs to meet her advance, claws extended and jaws wide open to tear her apart if she messed up. Suddenly, just as she was entering his range of attack, Drifter tilted her wings before tucking them close to her body. She shot past his claws and mouth, rocketing like an arrow into a slight upward curve, tackling him in the gut. Skeintooth growled in surprise, the wind knocked out of him from the force of the attack.
Drifter was swift to get back onto her hooves, bringing herself up and stabbing her claws into Skeintooth’s hip as he fell toward the ground. A sizable cloud of dust was kicked up by the creature’s collision with the ground, briefly blinding Drifter to a lot of his body’s movements. This proved a problem. She let out a startled gasp as his front leg reached out, his claws grabbing her in a tight grip and yanking her from his hip viciously.
Skeintooth laughed maniacally as he brought Drifter down into the ground, pinning her down with his claws and smiling down at her with wild, excited eyes. “Skeintooth gets to kill the cannibal! Ooooh, master will reward Skeintooth so greatly!”
Drifter grunted before using her position to the best of her ability. She sunk her fangs into the skin between his claws, drawing blood and tearing away a substantial chunk of meat with a strong bite. Skeintooth hissed in pain, tightening his grip on her and slamming her down again. Drifter gasped, her vision exploding with swimming colors and sparks. Her body felt heavy, filled with lead before being jarred once more. Skeintooth laughed uproarisly with every slam he made.
Then he screamed. Skeintooth howled in agony as a beam of dark blue magic struck him in between his shoulder blades, burning the flesh and lighting what few hairs he had there on fire. Drifter slipped limply from his claws. In a bright flash of blue teleportation magic, she was gone. Skeintooth stood up once more and looked for the source of the interference. Another beam of magic lanced out from the newcomer, striking him in the right eye.
Luna smiled with satisfaction at Skeintooth’s reaction. He reached his claws up to his face and howled in indescribable agony, rearing up on his hind legs and thrashing wildly. “EYE! EYE! SKEINTOOTH’S EYE! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SKEINTOOTH’S EYYEE?!”
“Oh, if you think that’s bad, Skeintooth…” Luna began, shadows licking at the corners of her eyes, her horn lighting up with a sinister blue glow. “Just wait. We’re just getting started.”
Skeintooth writhed in pain before slamming back down onto all fours, the earth shaking beneath his feet. He glared up at Luna, revealing one entire side of his face had been partially melted from the blast, his eye on the right side of his face no longer functional and mixed in with muscle and skin tissue. It was a very nasty scar.
“Thanks for the assist, Luna… ack!” Drifter grimaced, slowly rising to her hooves again and wincing when she put weight on her hind legs. “Jeesh… he hits like a tank. Be careful.”
“You as well.” Luna said simply, flaring her wings out.
Skeintooth’s face shifted. Slowly to a grimace of frustration, then into a satisfied smirk. Suddenly, he screamed with a horrible bliss and lunged, dust springing up from his launch point. Drifter gasped at how fast he had suddenly moved. He hadn’t been this fast before!
With a shout of alarm, Luna managed to sidestep his charge, but only barely. Thinking fast, she discharge a concussive blast from her horn, sending Skeintooth rolling along the ground and past Drifter.
“He was not moving like this a second ago!” Drifter called to Luna before pursuing Skeintooth, flexing her claws in anticipation. She lifted into the air with a flap of her wings and shot for his prone form with the intention of tearing out his windpipe, if she could find it. She never reached him. The wind was knocked clean out of her by a strike from Skeintooth’s tail, which had whipped around and struck her in the side of her barrel.
“I was watching! I noticed!” Luna answered before lifting into the air as well, dark blue magic gathering around the tip of her horn into a concentrated ball of energy. Skeintooth rolled back onto his feet and sneered at her before charging once more. Come closer, you scoundrel… Luna thought. Wait for it… wait for it…
Skeintooth leapt for her, claws extended and teeth bared. He could practically taster her in the air. Her anger was prominently polluting the breeze, but there was another scent to be found on the wind. Her fear. Skeintooth’s eyes went absolutely mad with bloodlust.
Luna’s eyes, in turn, went wide as she unleashed her spell at point blank range. Skeintooth was hurled against the ground below by a large beam of magical energy, dust flying away from the point of impact. An angry scream tore itself out of Luna’s lungs, the ground below fracturing and cracking in a spider-web formation. Skeintooth’s agonized screams were being drowned out by the volume of the spell and Luna’s enraged roar.
She hated him. She loathed him. She saw how he had smiled at her a moment ago, how he had found such revolting glee and joy in this violence. How much he had desired to tear her apart, how he had enjoyed violating Tia’s grave and devouring her bones and destroying her statue’s base. Luna felt her blood boil with unspeakable hatred and an unquenchable desire for just one thing: To see this fiend die a painful death.
Abruptly, Luna’s spell faltered. The magical beam flickered and melted away, a small trail of smoke rising from her horn. She let out a gasp and reached her hooves up to her head and clutched them to it as if hoping it would suppress some unseen creature from bursting out of her skull. Her pupils twitched and narrowed slightly before she screamed. Thrashing wildly, Princess Luna could no longer sustain her flight and plummeted to the ground below in a dangerously accelerating freefall..Drifter watched with shock as tendrils of blackness began leaking out of Luna, faint wisps of red visible within them. Drifter knew what that meant. Luna let her anger get the better of her...
Without hesitation, Drifter shot into the air with a mighty flap, intercepting Luna’s fall and catching her. The lunar princess was thrashing wildly, groaning and growling in pain and effort. She opened her eyes and looked up at Drifter desperately.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you, Aunt Luna. You’re going to be alright, I promise.” Drifter said, using Luna’s actual familial relation to address the princess in hopes of helping pull her out of this state. For a moment, it almost seemed to work. Luna’s breathing gradually grew more controlled, her trembling body started to relax.
Then Skeintooth tackled them.
Drifter grunted in surprise as she was unceremoniously thrown off of Luna. She rolled to a stop on her side and looked up in time to see Skeintooth reach down for Luna with his jaws wide open. She was barely able to lift a foreleg in time to catch his teeth short of her neck, but still, he bit. Blood painted crimson lines down her foreleg as Skeintooth’s teeth sank in, digging into the flesh and pulling away a sizable chunk of her leg. Luna wheezed weakly, looking at her mutilated leg with wide, blank eyes. She twitched numerous times before falling still.
Drifter looked at Luna in disbelief, then to Skeintooth with wide, unblinking eyes. He… hurt her…
Skeintooth shivered in bliss at the taste of his newest victim. “Oooooh, so delicious!” he cooed, licking his lips and leaning back. “But master wants Princess of Moon to live. Skeintooth takes his leave, now.”
“No.” Drifter barked, slowly rising to her hooves on trembling legs.
Skeintooth tilted his head at her and smirked. “What is the cannibal going to do to stop Skeintooth?” he asked tauntingly. Drifter glared at him, her eyes glowing brightly in the darkness of the night.
“I’m going to hurt you. I’m going to rip your skin away from your body. I am going to pull your eyes from your skull and feed them to you.” Drifter growled, taking a step forward. Her claws clicked on the stone. “I am going to tear out your claws and pin you to the dirt with them. I am going to kill you, Skeintooth. I am going to kill you and I am going to make it painful.”
Skeintooth smiled at her in amusement. “Oh, how cute. Look at the cannibal! She can barely stand, much less kill Skeintooth!”
The sinister glow in Drifter’s eyes grew brighter and brighter. Saliva began to dribble from her mouth, dripping onto the dirt below as she licked her fangs. Her pupils went wide, taking in all light. Her gaze focused in on her prey, the fiend that stood so confidently over her. “I am going to eat you!” She screamed wildly before hurling herself at him in an animalistic rage.
Blood, agony, teeth, claws and screaming. Moonrise Drifter was barely aware of anything else other than those raw sensations. She screamed and growled like a wild animal, plunging her fangs and claws into whatever she could reach of Skeintooth’s body with almost no semblance of defense. His efforts to pry her off of him were painful; wounds were forming all over her body from their struggle. Blood splattered against her face, both from a fresh wound atop her ear and from the fresh bite she had just taken out of Skeintooth’s front leg.
“Get off!” He bellowed, swinging his leg out wide and flinging Drifter onto the cold, hard ground almost a dozen feet away. She was back on her hooves almost instantly, only faintly aware of the unspeakable agony shooting up her spine from her hind legs. One of them wasn’t working right, she noticed, bending in the wrong direction between joints. She only let that pain and the emotions it generated, fear and anger, fuel her desire to rip this fiend to pieces.
“DIE!”
Skeintooth grunted and stepped back, trying to avoid Drifter’s leaping slash with her claws at his face. Alas, he didn’t move enough. Her claws sliced into the still freshly melted skin and muscle on his face. Blood, flakes of burnt skin and a small spray of puss erupted from the wound. Skeintooth screamed.
Not far away, Luna still lay, bleeding and out cold. Blood slowly seeped from her foreleg, which rested across her chest. With a soft groan, she began to return to the waking world.
Dizzy… cold… she thought to herself, her mind feeling fuzzy and her body like it were made of ice. She opened her eyes to see the world as no more than fuzzy, dull blobs. The sounds of animals murdering each other ruthlessly was no more than a smothered and cacophonous echo to her blood-drained mind. Her eyes wandered down her body. Blood… hurt…
Her horn flickered to life with blue magic, instinct and reflex kicking in. The wound along her foreleg gradually began to stitch itself closed, albeit it was a very rough job. Anypony with even a hint about medicine and pony anatomy would easily be able to tell that her leg would still need urgent medical attention; she just wasn’t in danger of bleeding out anymore. Still quite dazed, however, Luna found it difficult to formulate thoughts or ideas of any meaning.
The earth shook beneath her. Something dry and powdery fell over her, coating her in a thin layer of grime. She heard agonized screams and a monster calling out in fear. Drifter… what’s happening…?
"COME BACK HERE!” Drifter screamed after Skeintooth as he broke into a hastey retreat, clearly limping and in considerable pain. “I’M NOT THROUGH WITH YOU!” She tried to scramble after him, but her horribly shattered left hind leg prevented her from doing more than causing herself pain. “DAMN IT!!!”
Her wings snapped open, despite one of them now possessing numerous rips and tears in the leathery membranes. With a guttural snarl, her wings beat rapidly, pulling her into the air and after Skeintooth, who already had passed out of sight, over the rise of the bowl and back into the mountains proper. She was going to lose him, but at this point, her blood-drunk mind had stopped caring.
Luna’s eyes refocused at this point. She saw Drifter flying away, her body mangled and mutilated in horrifying ways. Blood covered Drifter head to hoof, much of it her own. She was in rough shape, yet still she kept pursuing Skeintooth. Luna’s eyes widened in remembrance. The memory of Princess Celestia’s death coming into her mind. She just kept pushing on against Horizon, on her own, against all chance and horribly wounded
And she had died as a result.
No, not again! I won’t lose you, too!
Luna forced herself onto her hooves, wincing in pain when she shifted her wounded foreleg. She turned her gaze up just as Drifter disappeared over the edge of the bowl in the mountains. Taking a moment to ensure she was physically able, Luna took flight and gave chase. “Drifter! Wait!” she called weakly after the hybris, her voice not carrying at all.
As she went, Luna noted the trail of blood that Drifter left in her wake. She grimaced and beat her wings harder to catch up. She’s going to kill herself if she keeps this up! The rocky terrain gradually began to change. Luna followed the blood path down the slope of the mountain, entering into a forested region of pine trees, each one smothered by a thin coat of midnight frost. The blood was growing thicker the deeper she went.
Luna felt what blood she had left run cold as the void itself when a blood-curdling scream reached her ears. But it wasn’t Drifter screaming… nor was it Skeintooth. It was the frightened wailing of a wounded elk. Luna slowed down as she drew closer to the sounds of distress. A chill ran down her spine when another sound reached her ears. Thud… thud… thunk…
Luna felt her stomach twist in horror when she finally came upon the scene. Drifter had a full-grown mountain elk pinned to a tree trunk, her claws having stabbed into it’s front leg, pinning it. Her free forehoof was twisted in its antlers. Her eyes were wide and twitching sporadically, glazed over with bloodlust and feral instinct. With a predatory growl, Drifter slammed the Elk’s face into the tree once more. Chips of bark broke away from the impact and a few drops of blood dribbled from the elk’s nostrils.
The elk screamed again. Luna had seen enough. “Moonrise Drifter, that is ENOUGH!” she snapped, invoking the royal canterlot voice to get the thestral look-alike’s attention.
Drifter turned her gaze to Luna and hissed threateningly before slamming down the elk’s head once more. Luna winced when she realized it’s skull was starting to crack under the force of the onslaught.
Luna scowled, gritting her teeth and letting herself move forward slowly. “This elk is of no threat to either of us! It’s time to stop, Drifter.”
All Drifter did in response was smirk sadistically, then open her mouth wide and dig her teeth into the elk’s neck. It’s harrowing cries instantly went silent, the cut-off echoing shortly in the forest. Luna went stiff, watching Drifter dig into the elk’s corpse like it were a feast. She ate ravenously and almost desperately.
Finally, after almost a minute, Drifter froze. Her eyes lost their wild, animalistic glint and focused down on the corpse beneath her. It fell from her maw, slumping to the frosted ground with a wet squelch. Luna gingerly inched closer, concern showing on her face. “Drifter…?”
“I... oh, no…” Drifter whispered. Then, her eyes rolled up into her skull as her pain, blood loss and injuries overcame her. She fell to the ground with a soft thump, leaving Luna to gaze upon the scene with wide, horrified eyes. Finally, she got a hold of herself and lifted Drifter tenderly onto her back with magic.
“...You let the blood get to you, didn’t you?” Luna asked quietly, her eyes looking down at the ground sadly. “Just as I almost let my anger get the best of me… except I had you to pull me out of the nightmare.”
Drifter moaned uncomfortably, not hearing any of this. With a sigh, Luna lifted into the air on her wings and began the return trip to Canterlot. They would both need serious medical attention.
Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes slowly, a tired yawn slipping from her lungs. She glanced out her window and sighed. The sun was only just now starting to paint the sky and wouldn’t be up for another few hours, if the lighting was anything to go off of, though she couldn’t see it from this angle. Slowly, she slid out of bed, careful not to upset her back. She might have been functionally fully healed, but the muscles were still sore and would get quite painful if she moved them too fast or too suddenly.
When a furious knocking came to her door, she almost jumped out of her skin. “Twilight? Are you in there?!” came Spike’s voice from the other side, sounding frightened. “Open up!”
With a quick flick of telekinesis, Twilight opened her bedroom door to allow the small purple dragon entry. “What is it, Spike? What’s wrong?” she asked upon seeing just how distraught he was. He was visibly paler than normal and was panting fearfully.
“Did you look outside?!” was Spike’s answer, his eyes looking to her window. “It’s the sun! Look!”
Twilight frowned and took a more thorough glance out her window into the sky. Her blood ran cold at what she saw. “S-s-spike? Please tell me Princess Luna knows about this…”
“Yeah, she just sent me a letter a minute ago. It’s why I’m here waking you up.” Spike answered, showing her the note anxiously. Twilight didn’t say anything. She merely plucked the note from Spike’s grasp with magic and looked it over.
Dear Princess Twilight,
Skeintooth has made his move and escaped with a sample of my flesh and several of Princess Celestia’s bones. He has fled to Mount Eclipse, where Luminous Horizon calls home. Already I can see the signs of whatever foul magics he is using at play. You can no doubt see for yourself the horror our sky has become.
Please, Twilight, come to Canterlot at once. Moonrise Drifter and I are currently undergoing the highest level healing spells available and are gathering the best of the best of the royal guard’s elite. Four battalions, two from the solar and lunar guards each, are amassing in the Crystal Empire. They will be traveling with us alongside a battalion supplied by Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor.
We are planning to march upon Mount Eclipse and destroy Horizon and his rituals before any more damage can be done. I will not allow my sister’s bones to be defiled in such a manner. I am sure you will agree.
I do not expect you to fight if you do not want to; I am more than well aware of your disgust for bloodshed, but I still ask that you accompany the army regardless. If nothing else, you will be able to boost the morale of the soldiers and provide support with your magic. But we can speak of this further in Canterlot.
Yours, Princess Luna.
Twilight blinked and looked once more out her window into the midday sky. It was almost as dark as night time, albeit faintly red in color rather than blue. The sun had almost been entirely smothered in inky darkness. More of this darkness looked like it was bleeding out of the sun, painting a shadowy line past the northern horizon while still yet more blackness spread over the sky, rippling and undulating like drops of ink in water.
“...Spike, go get the girls, please.” she said softly, setting the note down on her desk and grabbing her favorite hair brush with her magic.
“...You're going, aren’t you?” Spike asked solemnly, looking down and rubbing his claws together with anxiety.
“Yes, Spike. Now, please, go get the others, okay? I…” she paused, looking at herself in the mirror with a distant, forlorn expression. She almost didn’t recognize herself anymore. She ran the brush through her hair a few times and then wore a small smile. “I need to say goodbye.”
“Goodbye?” Spike asked, looking at her pleadingly.
“In case I don’t make it back…”
Without another word, Spike nodded, turned and left the room, his claws clicking against the crystalline floor as he scampered away down the hall. Twilight took one more look at herself in the mirror, then reached for her saber from it’s position at the foot of her bed. If she were being honest, it felt good to hold it in her magic again.
That fact alone was more than enough to make her heart chill with fear.
“Drifter!” Wonderboom cried out with tears in her eyes, galloping into the private hospital room in Canterlot castle’s infirmary. Moonrise Drifter lay upon a wheeled bed that was currently held in place. Her entire lower body was put into a series of casts and were being held perfectly still. One of her wings was completely covered and was forced into full extension so as to heal properly. Drifter glanced over to the filly, a weak, weary smile coming over her face.
“Hey, there, Wonder. You doing okay?” she asked in a raspy whisper, barely able to hide the strain it put on her to speak.
“Drifter! Oh my gosh, what in equestria happened to you?!” Wonder asked, rearing back onto her hind legs and resting her front hooves on the side of the bed.
“I got beat up.” Drifter replied with a small smile. “I went down swinging, though.”
Wonderboom wilted. Her eyes screwed shut and she looked at the floor, crying quietly. Drifter lost her smile and sighed heavily.
“Hey… it’s alright, Wonderboom. I’m okay.”
“No, you’re not!” Wonder shot back, opening her eyes and gazing intensely into Drifter’s. “You’re hurt! Look at your legs! Your wing!”
“Shh, shh, I know… it looks worse than it is.” Drifter tried to soothe her, but she wasn’t having any of it, though she didn’t have a response beyond shaking her head wildly. Drifter looked at her forlornly for several moments before letting her head flop onto her pillows, staring blankly into the ceiling. “...Wonderboom, where’s Palmwood?” I need to talk to you two.”
“I’m, uh… I’m here.” came the colt’s reluctant response as he trotted in. His eyes were wide with horror at Drifter’s condition. “...You’re uh… not gonna die on us, right?”
Drifter chuckled lightly before wincing in pain. “Ack!... yeah, no. Don’t you two worry, I’m not dying from this. I’m going to feel like absolute shit for a few days, but, well, I’ve been there before.” she explained softly.
“I overheard one of the doctor ponies say something about your body hurting itself or something.” Palm replied, looking Drifter over with a scrutinizing eye. “What does that mean?”
Drifter closed her eyes and fell painfully silent for several long moments. “...You know the story about Nightmare Moon, right? How Princess Luna’s emotions can overthrow her better self if they get bad enough?”
“Uh-huh…” Wonder and Palm affirmed quietly, looking at Drifter worriedly.
“I have a… similar problem.” Drifter opened her eyes and held up the forehoof with the claws in them, letting them slide free to be visible. “I’m half fiend. Fiends have an almost insatiable desire to eat, hunt and kill anything they can. Heck, if Horizon weren’t keeping them focused on his own goals, they’d be running rampant…” she flexed the claws slightly. “But, well, I have some of that… bloodlust in me. That raw, ruthless, animal instinct that compels me to hunt, kill, maim and torture…”
“Where is this going?” Palm asked nervously, wrapping a foreleg over Wonderboom and pulling her closer protectively.
“If I go for too long without a good meal, if I… go hungry…” Drifter started, letting her claws shrink back into her hoof. “Then I become vulnerable to that instinct. When Luna and I were fighting Skeintooth, she got hurt, and so did I. I was furious. I saw how he hurt my aunt, and… I snapped. I attacked him. My body was already pretty beaten up, but everything else just tuned out. No pain, no fear…”
Drifter screwed her eyes shut, breathing in deeply through her nose before netting it out in a long exhale through her mouth. “Just… anger, hunger, blood, screams… it felt like I was starving and Skeintooth was the only food around. I pursued him without any consideration for the worsening condition of my body.”
“You could have died…?” Wonder whispered near silently.
“Mhm…” Drifter hummed out a soft response. Opening her eyes, she glanced at the foals. “The instinct only dies down when I’ve eaten something; enough to sate my appetite. I lost Skeintooth and… well… you don’t need to hear that part.” she gave a gentle smile. “I’m going to be fine, though, don’t worry.”
“Oh, thank goodness…” Wonderboom breathed out in a trembling voice, burying her face into her hooves. Palmwood pat her softly on the back in a comforting manner. Drifter closed her eyes again, bracing herself for what she now had to do.
“...Kids, I… I need to tell you something. I need you to listen to me, alright?” she finally said calmly, but firmly enough to silence both of them and draw their attention. After a short pause, she continued. “I’m… when I’m healed up in a day or two, I’m going to be leaving Canterlot. You won’t be able to come with me on this one, though.” she held a good hoof up to silence them before they could vocalize their questions. “I don’t like it either, but… it’s best if you stay here for now. Where I’m going… there won’t be any way for me to watch over you and do my work at the same time.”
“But you said you wouldn’t leave us…” Palmwood said hollowly, his eyes disbelieving from what he was hearing.
“I know, I did… but for this, I have to. I’m sorry, really, I am. But… you two are smart kids and, well, lying to you won’t solve anything for any of us. There is a good chance that I won’t make it back from this.” Drifter replied solemnly, looking blankly up at the ceiling.
“Where are you even going?! Why are you going there if it’s so dangerous?!” Wonderboom sniffled out, trembling and seeking comfort in her brother’s forelegs. Palmwood’s glare towards Drifter was cold as ice.
“I’m going to join Princess Luna, my aunt, along with Princess Twilight Sparkle and an amassed army of ponies in an assault on Luminous Horizon, the creature whose creations murdered your mother and whose end-goal is to see all of us turned into his own personal buffet. As for why…” Drifter opened her eyes, a flicker of determination, resolve and fiery anger burning within them. “It’s a matter of family. Luminous Horizon is my biological father. He’s turning everything in equestria into an abhorrent nightmare and…”
The foals looked at her expectantly. Finally, Drifter managed a weak smile and held out a foreleg to the two, gesturing them to come closer. They understood and were swiftly wrapped up in her warm embrace.
“...And I could never allow him to succeed without trying to stop him. I can’t let you two grow up in a world like that.” she whispered softly, pulling them close and burying her face into their collective manes. “I’d never be able to live with myself if I didn’t try to stop him... “
Palmwood slowly pulled out of the hug and looked at Drifter with tears forming in his eyes as well. “Just… just promise m you’ll come back to us alive, okay?”
“I can’t promise that.” Drifter answered morosely, her gaze falling. “I can only promise to try.”
“Well then you’d best try really freaking hard!” Palm snapped, wiping his eyes with a foreleg. “My sister and I can’t lose another mom…”
Drifter felt her heart skip a beat and a tear come to her eye. With a quivering smile and rattled voice, she reached out to him to pull him back into the hug. “I will try harder than I ever have before… y-you have my word.”
“Say what, now?” Applejack asked incredulously, looking at Twilight with narrowed eyes and a harsh frown on her face. Everypony else wore expressions of at least a similar sentiment; confusion.
“I’m being called to join Princess Luna and the combined forces of Equestra and the Crystal Empire in an assault on Horizon’s hideout and, well…” Twilight sighed heavily. “It’s quite likely that I won’t be making it back alive.”
“If you go on your own!” Rainbow snapped, throwing her forelegs wide in the air. “But you’re not! You’re going, we’re going with you! Plain and simple!”
“Darn tottin’. We ain’t lettin’ you go out there on yer own, Twi..” Applejack added, nodding along eagerly.
“Girls…” Twilight tried, but she lost her voice and let her head fall. Pinkie pie added her two-bits at about this point.
“Yeah! Besides, the armies are going to need to be well fed and cheered up for the big fight, right? I should go along so I can throw them all a big ‘good luck saving the day’ party!” the excitable pink mare declared, confetti popping out of a wall behind her. Another hidden cannon.
“As, uh, unorthadox as that is, Pinkie…” Rarity cleared her throat before continuing. “I am in agreement. We should all be going with you. We’re your friends, Twilight, and we can’t let you go on this mission alone. It goes against everything we’ve done together ever since we met.”
Fluttershy simply nodded along quietly.
“...I’m sorry, everypony, but no.” Twilight finally let out, her voice twisting and contorting with building emotion. She looked up to them with tears welling up in her eyes. “I can’t let you come with me on this one.”
“And why NOT?!” Rainbow demanded, flying right into Twilight’s face and giving her a harsh glare. “We’re your best friends! And you are the Princess of FRIENDSHIP!”
“Because good friends don’t put their best friends in danger!” Twilight finally blurted out, closing her eyes and visibly sagging in place. “...I know you want to come with me. I would love nothing more than to have you all come with me, but… not if you’re all going to be put at such risk.”
“We ain’t takin’ no for an answer, Sugarcube!” Applejack snorted, trotting up to Rainbow Dash and pulling her out of Twilight’s personal space with a yank on her tail. “We’re goin’ with ya. Ya ain’t arguin’ yer way out of it!”
“Of course! What would the princess of friendship even be if she didn’t have her friends with her?” Pinkie Pie added with a more calm approach, trotting to join Applejack and Rainbow Dash in front of Twilight. “I’m going, too!”
“It goes without saying, darling,” Rarity began as she and Fluttershy came to join the others in front of Twilight. “That we are all going with you.”
Fluttershy nodded along with a smile. “We love you, Twilight. We aren’t going to let you do this alone.”
“It’s what good friends do.” Rainbow finally finished off, holding out her forehoof in front of her. The others did the same, putting their hooves together in the center of a swiftly formed circle, looking to Twilight expectantly.
Twilight looked at all of her friends with wide eyes and a gaping jaw. Finally, she closed her mouth and smiled at them all with fresh tears in her eyes. “...I am so glad I know you all…” she reached out with her magic, pulling them into a large group hug. She let herself feel at ease in their comforting embrace. “Okay… you win. You can come with me.”
“Woohoo! When are we leaving?” Pinkie asked in a high-pitched, excited squeal, breaking free from the hug in an ecstatic bounce.
“Just as soon as Princess Luna sends me the letter saying it’s time to go. A day or so, tops.” Twilight replied, slowly slipping out of the hug and wiping her eyes with the back of her foreleg.
“Then I’m going to have to work extra hard for this!” Pinkie stated with determination before turning and sprinting from the room. Twilight watched her go and then chuckled lightly under her breath.
“She’s going to orchestrate a big party for all of Ponyville, isn’t she?”
“Yup, probably.” Applejack nodded along.
“Wouldn’t be Pinkie if she didn’t.” Rainbow added with her own smile gaining a playful jester sort of tilt.
“Twilight, dear, we might not return from this mission, so…” Rarity looked at the alicorn and nodded along. “Let’s just make sure we have the best time here in Ponyville that possibly can. If Pinkie is to throw a party for us all, I say let her make it the biggest and best party she has ever thrown.”
“Yeah, somethin’ for all of Ponyville to remember us by if we don’t make it.” Applejack nodded along.
“Yes, I think that sounds nice. They’ve all been so wonderful to us, it’s the least we can do.” Fluttershy added softly.
Twilight smiled and nodded to them. “Alright… okay, yes. Let’s do it. One more Pinkie Party for the road.”
Everypony nodded along and trotted out of the castle after Pinkie, who somehow already had invitations for all of Ponyville in distribution. Twilight lingered behind a bit. She looked back into her castle’s main hall, a small spark of magic drifting from her horn to the center of the room. The floor gently glowed for a moment before returning to normal. Twilight nodded in satisfaction before turning and leaving the castle as well.
Twilight smiled broadly at the party in motion. The sun had set an hour or so ago, though the lighting was pretty much exactly the same, the subtle undulations of the dark, inky energy still visible in the sky. Pinkie had gotten Vinyl and Octavia out to perform various songs, combining their styles to help keep things lively and optimistic. Right now, pretty much all of ponyville’s population was surrounding town hall, dancing merrily and forgetting their worries and troubles, even if only just for this one night.
Twilight let her smile slowly fade. “...This really could be goodbye, couldn’t it?” she muttered quietly. “To Ponyville, I mean.”
“It very well could be.” Rarity replied from her side, sitting on her haunches and sipping some punch. “I won’t deny that the thought frightens me…”
“It scares all of us, Rares.” Applejack added solemnly from Twilight’s other side, her own glass, which had been of cider, resting empty next to her. She smiled to Twilight, though. “But we ain’t gonna let that stop us.”
“I know you won’t.” Twilight nodded simply, looking down and closing her eyes. Fluttershy maintained her silence, looking between her friends anxiously. Twilight looked to her and smiled softly. “You sure you don’t want to go dance with Rainbow and Pinkie?”
“Um… yes, I’m sure. I want to save my energy…” Fluttershy nodded, shrinking behind her mane slightly.
“We don’t begrudge ya for it, Fluttershy.” Applejack reassured the timid pegasus, scootching over to her and wrapping a foreleg over her shoulders. Fluttershy snuggled into the embrace gladly.
“Indeed. Were it not carrying such an important sentiment, I would have retired for bed a while ago…” Rarity agreed with Fluttershy. “So saving your energy makes perfect sense to me.”
The friends sat in comfortable, companionable silence for a long while yet. The party went on and on, losing almost none of it’s energy or fervor with the passing of time. As the hours flew by, Rainbow and Pinkie returned to the others to settle in on a blanket Pinkie brought them, watching Ponyville dance the night away. Every so often, a few ponies would trot up to them to thank them for the party and bid them good luck and, in many cases, goodbye before going home to rest. There was still so much work that needed to be done, after all.
At one point, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom approached the group timidly. Applejack frowned when she noticed. “Apple Bloom, y’all are supposed to be in bed. Why are ya up so late?”
“Same goes for you, Sweetie Belle. You need your rest.” Rarity added, though she held a more warm expression. Rainbow simply stretched out a wing for Scootaloo to nestle under.
It was the small orange pegasus filly who spoke first. “We couldn’t get any sleep… sorry, everypony, but, well, between all of our excess energy, the party and, well… nightmares…” Scootaloo shivered slightly, sighing as Rainbow pulled her in closer.
“Yeah… and besides, we know what y’all are gonna do.” Apple Bloom said solemnly, looking at Applejack sadly. “Everypony dancin’ is talkin’ ‘bout it. Yer all leavin’... maybe even for good.”
Applejack’s frown turned into a morose grimace. “Ah... Ah’m sorry, little sis…”
“Nopony is forcing you to come along, Applejack,” Twilight pointed out gently, reaching out with a forehoof to rub soothing circles into Applejack’s shoulder. “You too, Rarity. You both have family here. I don’t think anypony would blame you for staying here to look after them.”
Applejack mouthed like a fish for several moments, but it was Rarity who spoke next. “I know, darling, but I’ve already made up my mind. Sweetie Belle isn’t a little filly anymore.” she smiled and gently pulled Sweetie Belle into a warm, loving embrace. “I know without a doubt she can take care of herself… and I would never be able to live it down if I let you go off to do this without me, Twilight. We’ve been through so much together, all of us.”
“We go out as a team or not at all!” Rainbow affirmed, giving her signature smirk. The uneasiness and dread in her eyes was clearly visible, though.
Applejack sighed heavily, pulling Apple Bloom into a hug herself. “Ah know, y’all… and Ah know AB can take care of herself, but… ah don’t wanna miss anything about you growin’ up, little sis.”
Apple Bloom closed her eyes and buried her face into Applejack's chest, silently letting a few tears slip out. Sweetie Belle mirrored the action with Rarity. Scootaloo snuggled closer to Rainbow Dash before speaking up.
“Don’t worry, you guys. We’ll take care of each other if something happens to you; but nothing bad will happen to you. You’ll save the day and come home in the morning like you always do. And we’ll be here to welcome you home, like we always do.” she said with a confident smile.
“Heh… that’s my girl.” Rainbow said with a smile, ruffling Scootaloo’s mane before nuzzling her affectionately.
Twilight smiled before glancing back at Pinkie Pie. “What do you think, Pink-... oh.” Twilight went silent and let a gentle, amused smile cross her face. Pinkie Pie was on her back, snoring quietly to herself. Everypony looked and gave the same look Twilight was.
“Aw, how precious…” Rarity cooed out quietly before nuzzling Sweetie Belle, who gladly returned the gesture.
“She’s plum tuckered out.” Applejack whispered. “Worked so hard to put this here party together on such short notice… heh, Ah can’t say Ah blame her in the slightest.”
“Yeah... some sleep sounds good to me.” Rainbow nodded along, her eyes getting slightly harder to keep open. “The dance was pretty energetic…”
Twilight looked up. Even through the inky darkness in the sky, the stars were still visible, shining through them like they would through the clouds any other night. Rainbow had cleared out all of the cloud coverage with permission from the mayor for the party; let the night sky be fully visible. Twilight looked past the darkness to the stars, resolving herself to abolishing the darkness smothering them. The sun, the moon, the stars… they will all shine brightly again. I swear.
One by one, the partying ponies returned home, the party gradually dying down into silence. A soft breeze swept over Ponyville, rustling the trees and bushes. Everypony on the blanket had followed Pinkie’s example, all of them settling down with pillows retrieved from the party grounds and falling asleep. Twilight was the last to do so, casting a final glance up at the sky before curling up with her friends and letting sleep claim her.
“Twilight…?” Spike’s voice came, drawing Twilight out of her slumber gradually. He was gently shaking her to speed up the process. “Twilight, wake up.”
Twilight slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes. When she lowered her hooves, she saw that it was morning; the red ring that was now the sun barely illuminating anything. She looked down to Spike, who was looking up at her hesitantly, a scroll clutched in his left claw down by his side.
“Uh… Luna sent this.” he mumbled out, passing her the scroll and stepping back a bit. Twilight unraveled it and examined the contents.
Dear Princess Twilight,
It’s time. Moonrise Drifter and I have recovered as much as our time frame will allow for. We are ready to go and the battalions are already en route to the Crystal Empire. Please take the Friendship Express to Canterlot. We’ll meet there and make our way to the Crystal Empire, then to Mount Eclipse.
I hope you’ve made peace with yourself as much as you can.
Yours, Princess Luna
Twilight sighed and nodded, setting the scroll down. “It’s time for us to go…”
Spike didn’t say anything. He simply turned around and plopped into a sitting position, looking over Ponyville mournfully. Twilight didn’t say anything either; there was nothing more she could say. Instead, she simply pulled him into a hug, nuzzling his head. Then, she stood and, one by one, roused her friends from their slumber. She told them it was time to get ready to go. Everypony quietly acknowledged this before briefly returning home to tidy up, have a meal and grab any supplies they felt they should bring with them.
Soon enough, they stood on the platform of the Ponyville train station, awaiting the arrival of the Friendship Express. Twilight looked over them all with an expression of unmatched fondness. Applejack was in a group hug with Apple Bloom, Big Mac and Granny Smith. Rarity was talking to Sweetie Belle in hushed voices. Pinkie Pie stood at the edge of the platform, talking to Mr and Mrs Cake, who had brought along Pumpkin Cake and Pound Cake. Fluttershy was not far off, sitting quietly with numerous birds nestled upon her back and shoulders and Rainbow Dash was playing catch with Scootaloo, content to not say anything.
For her own part, Twilight turned her gaze to all of Ponyville, as well as her castle in the distance, where Spike was. She could see several ponies watching with solemn anticipation from the streets. She smiled to each one, occasionally waving as one she knew more personally trotted by. When at last she looked away, it was to the sight of the train pulling into view from the distance. A loud whistle sounded, announcing its rapid approach to all of Ponyville.
The train pulled to a stop and the doors slid open. Twilight looked to her friends and nodded to them. “Go on ahead. I’ll be there in just a moment.”
Everypony nodded, said final farewells to their gathered families and friends and then stepped into the train. Twilight turned her gaze back to Ponyville’s streets to see many, many ponies approaching with sorrowful looks on their faces. Twilight took a deep breath and took a step forward to address them.
“Hello, everypony. As you know, my friends and I are leaving to join Princess Luna in an effort to stop Luminous Horizon and his fiends up north, past the Crystal Empire. I won’t lie… it is quite likely that some of us, or none of us, will return alive.” Twilight winced mentally at the despondent mood the befell the crowd. “But we’re doing all of this so the rest of you can live safely, without the fiends breathing down all of your necks. In the time I’ve lived in Ponyville, the ponies of this wonderful town have taught me so much. I owe all of you so much more than any of you realize.
“One way or another, you all taught me something invaluable. About me, about friendship, about ponies in general and... I am so proud and honored to have this town as my home, and to consider every last pony who lives within it my friends. Even if I don’t return, I know the sacrifices that we must make at Mount Eclipse will not be for nothing; We are doing this for the future and safety of Equestria, and I am doing it for my friends… all of my friends.” Twilight smiled down at the gathered crowd, who in turn returned her smile happily. “I am glad to have met each and every single one of your more than words could ever hope to describe. I hope this isn’t the last time we see each other… Goodbye, everypony. Take care.” she unfurled her wings and bowed deeply, letting off a small spell to illuminate the entire area in a bright lavender glow and blanket it in a wave of warmth.
Everypony breathed in deeply before the crowd gradually began to cheer and applaud her speech. Twilight stood to her full height and turned her gaze up to Canterlot, no more than a silhouette on the distant mountainside. It was time.
With the honest farewells and encouraging calls from the ponies of Ponyville at her back, Twilight turned and stepped into the train. She passed each of her friends, who gave her warm, touched smiles, nodding to her as she strode by. Twilight came to a stop and set herself into a seat facing Ponyville, looking out at the town and touching a hoof to the glass.
“I think we’re ready. Let’s go.” She said simply to the train conductor, who was standing in the door frame to the control room with watering eyes. He nodded, wiped away his tears and set about putting the train into motion. Twilight smiled reassuringly at the ponies of the town she called home cheering her and her friends on. Goodbye, everypony… she thought solemnly, her smile fading from her face.
About a day after departing from Ponyville, the Friendship Express pulled into the Crystal Empire, leaving the relentless blizzards of the frozen north behind as it rolled to a stop at the station. Twilight felt her heart sink at the sight surrounding the city that made up the empire’s core. Hundreds of very large pegasus chariots were resting in numerous camp-like formations all throughout the outer fringes of the city. Battle chariots, carried by pegasi and enchanted to be very lightweight, even when filled to the brim with soldiers, weapons and heavy armor. One chariot could carry about ten to fifteen ponies.
She estimated there were around two hundred fifty of these chariots, around fifty of which were made of crystal in place of the heavily refined steel and wood of the others. She could see the veritable army Luna had managed to assemble going about their business; maintaining weapons and armor, checking the chariots and reinforcing the enchantments, running last-minute exercises.
Twilight sighed heavily and slid from her seat. “We’re here. Let’s go.” she said simply, trotting for the exit. When she stepped out onto the platform, she was expecting a few things, but an abrupt tackle-hug from Starlight Glimmer was not one of them. Regardless of her expectations, though, Starlight lurched forward from where she had been anxiously waiting, crushing Twilight into a forceful hug.
“Twilight! Oh, it’s so good to see you made it safely!” Starlight said, squeezing her former teacher with great enthusiasm. Twilight gasped for breath.
“S-starlight! Ack, lemme go! You're going to crush my ribs!”
“Oh, whoops!” Starlight let Twilight go and stepped back. The rest of Twilight’s friends were standing off to the sides, smiling warmly. “It’s good to see you all again…” Starlight finally said more calmly.
“Likewise, Starlight.” Rarity nodded before glancing up. “Although I must confess, I expected Shining Armor and Princess Cadance to be here as well.”
Twilight frowned and straightened her posture as soon as Rarity said that. “Actually, yeah. Where are they?”
“Oh, they’re up in the castle with Princess Luna. She and Drifter got here a little while before you all did, and they’re going over plans and strategies right now.” Starlight answered, turning slightly. “Come on, we shouldn’t keep them waiting.”
All of them nodding along in agreement, the group of ponies began to move for the Crystal Palace at a brisk canter. As they went, Starlight fell back slightly and fell into stride next to Twilight, looking at her worriedly.
“Are you okay, Twilight?” she asked carefully, to which Twilight shook her head.
“Not really…”
“I guess I don’t need to ask what’s wrong. We’re all pretty much in the same boat, here.” Starlight muttered in response, looking ahead. “Things have gotten so bad here in the empire that Cadance actually had to partially disable the Crystal Heart just to keep things from getting worse in Equestria.”
“Wait, what?!” Twilight looked to Starlight in mild shock.
“It’s true. The Crystal Heart spreads the combined emotional state of the Crystal Empire’s inhabitants across all of Equestria, remember? We’ve been pretty miserable here, especially considering the constant raids and attacks on outlying settlements and farms from the fiends. Cadance blocked the Crystal Heart from spreading our emotional state so that Equestria would be able to better retain its morale.” Starlight explained, earning a nod from Twilight.
“I see. Well, let’s just hope we can end this with this assault. I don’t think any of us can take much more of this.”
“Do you want me to come with you? My magic is just as good as yours, I could be a big help.” Starlight suggested hopefully, looking at Twilight eagerly.
Twilight shook her head. “I’m already risking more than I would like by bringing the others here with me; I won’t risk anymore. Besides, if this assault fails, Equestria will need ponies with your level of ability to help keep it safe.”
“It won’t fail.” Starlight said firmly, stopping to put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “And don’t you dare tell yourself anything else. You’re going to win this fight, and you’re going to come home.”
Twilight paused and blinked at Starlight in surprise. “Wow. since when have you been so confident? You were pretty nervous about, well, everything back before you came here from Ponyville.” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Shining Armor and Sunburst have rubbed off on me, I guess you could say. While he isn’t great at practicing it, Sunburst knows a lot about the effects our outlook can have on what we do and Shining, well…” Starlight rolled a hoof before chuckling lightly. “Let’s just say he’s given more than a few lectures to me about my confidence these last two months. And not just me, either.”
Twilight smiled widely at this information. “Heh… yeah, Shining’s always been pretty big on his morale boosting speeches.”
“And it works.” Starlight added, poking Twilight in the chest. “Have some faith. You’re going to save the day; I know you will. Now, let’s get a move on. I’m pretty sure Shining was about to give Luna the same scolding he gave me when I came to meet you.”
When Twilight and Starlight finally caught up, they were in the palace outside of a makeshift war room. Sunburst stood outside the door, talking to Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. He looked up and readjusted his glasses on his face when he saw Twilight and Starlight. Applejack shot them a small frown.
“There y’all are. What took ya so long?” she asked simply.
Twilight rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “Sorry for keeping you all waiting like that. Starlight, uh…” Twilight looked to Starlight and smiled. “Was giving me a pep talk.”
“Well, Shining Armor just finished giving Luna a pep talk of his own, so I think you’re all ready to go in.” Sunburst said with an amused smirk playing at the corner of his mouth.
“Told ya.” Starlight added, jabbing Twilight in the shoulder and winking at her before trotting into the war room with the others. Twilight giggled and followed them all into the room.
Sure enough, Princess Luna, Shining Armor and Princess Cadance were standing around a large table with a roughly sketched map of the region they would be moving towards resting atop it. Moonrise Drifter was there, too, looking over the map carefully, though her eyes betrayed an immense amount of distraction.
Shining looked up and beamed. “Twily!”
“Hey, big brother.” Twilight smiled in response before allowing Shining to trot up to her and wrap her in an embrace. Cadance was quick to hug her when Shining was done.
“It’s good to see you again, Twilight.” Cadance said softly once their hug ended. Twilight nodded and looked over to Drifter, who still hadn’t let her eyes leave the map. Cadance frowned and trotted over to her, tapping her on the shoulder. “Hey, Twilight’s here.”
Drifter jumped slightly and looked up to Twilight. “Oh! I’m sorry… got a lot on my mind right now.” despite the distant tone to her voice, she managed a smile and gave Twilight a small hug, then looked to all of her friends. “You brought your friends on this trip?”
“Against my better judgement.” Twilight said, shooting them all a playful smile.
“More like we weren’t taking ‘no’ for an answer.” Rainbow shot back with her own cocky grin. “And we still aren’t going to, so don’t even think about it.”
Luna cleared her throat, getting their attention. Once all eyes were on her, she pointed to the map. “Now that everypony is here, we can begin in earnest.”
“Ah, right.” Shining nodded and brought Twilight over to the table next to him, with Cadance at her other side. “We’re trying to figure out our best plan of attack on this mountain. I’m leading the battalion of Crystal Ponies, and they have an innate resistance to the cold in these parts. Not perfect resistance, mind you, but enough to function better than you or I could.”
Twilight frowned and looked up at Shining Armor with disapproval. “You’re going?”
“I already tried to talk him out of it.” Cadance answered for him, sagging slightly. She then shot him a small smile. “It’s the only argument we’ve ever had that I let him win; and it’s not happening again, is it, mister?”
“No, ma’am.” was Shining’s only response to that.
“Yes, Shining Armor’s Crystal Ponies have thick coats and thicker skins than most ponies when it comes to the cold, so it would make sense for them to take more subtle positions.” Luna cut in, pointing to the map. “You can see, from the map Shining Armor’s scouts put together, that Mount Eclipse is at the end of a large, deep valley. It seems possible that there are numerous entrances to the inner workings of Horizon’s hideout in there.”
Drifter nodded along. “Yeah. So, with those factors in mind, Shining Armor’s crystal ponies could make use of their resistance to the cold to find hidden or obscured positions and vantage points. Shining’s battalion could have it’s unicorns provide magical support. Shield spells on compromised positions and large-scale explosive spells on groups of fiends. The crystal pegasi would be best for keeping aerial fiends off of the unicorns and helping them locate and identify important targets to hit.”
“Yes, and the earth ponies would keep the unicorns safe from ground based fiends.” Luna added before pointing to the tallest peak of the mountain. “But we need to prioritize reaching the peak. From what I got out of Horizon’s memories before he forced me out, he will most likely be there.”
“And that won't be easy, will it?” Twilight surmised bluntly.
“It’s fiends. Nothing is easy with them.” Drifter replied before tapping her chin.
“Hmm… well, reaching the peak is our goal, but trying to send too many ponies that way at once would be pretty risky…” Twilight thought aloud, scrunching her face. “What if we only send a few?”
Everypony shot her curious looks. “You have an idea?” Shining asked her.
“Maybe. Drifter, Luna and I have the most experience dealing with fiends out of everypony in this room,” Twilight began. “So, if the three of us make a straight-shot for the summit, then that leaves the rest of the army to keep the fiends off of us and provide assistance with Horizon if possible.”
“I won’t be able to help with Horizon.” Drifter suddenly blurted out, lowering her eyes to the mountain and cringing in disgust. Everypony looked to her in confusion, save for Twilight, whose expression was one of worry for the hybrid.
“Why not?” Cadance inquired, looking Drifter over critically. “You’re half fiend and have been doing this for a thousand years. One would think you would be the best choice for fighting Horizon.”
“I tried once.” Drifter said a bit more sharply than intended. She lifted her right hoof and extended the claws on it; or would have, had there been claws to show. Right now, all that came out of her hoof were a few stubs with sharp points, only an inch long each. The skin around them was horribly scarred. “I was destroyed. He made sure that I could never hurt him. His own biology is incapable of doing him harm. He’s a master of meddling with biology and the like with his magic.”
“Skeintooth will also be prowling the valley, no doubt.” Luna pointed out with a frown. “He’ll likely try to stop us when we go for Horizon, and be far more likely to succeed then his lesser bretheren.”
“I’ll handle him if it comes to that.” Drifter said with a nod. “He seemed to be designed specifically for taking down you two. I underestimated him last time we fought, but I won’t make that mistake again. I keep him off you and you two go and finish off Horizon.”
“I’m going along with you three, then.” Shining armor added with conviction. “You’ll need all the help you can get against Horizon, I’m betting.”
Twilight frowned fiercely. “But what about your army? They’ll need you to lead them if things get harry.”
Shining shook his head. “You’re my little sister, Twily. You’re going to have Luna and Drifter with you, sure, but I’m still your big brother and being protective just comes with the territory.”
“The captain of the solar and lunar guards from Canterlot can help with this. They will have ponies they can relegate to assisting the crystal ponies efforts in the event that they lose their captain.” Luna added before looking over the situation in her mind for a moment.
“Is it settled, then?” Drifter asked after a moment.
“I believe so. Shining Armor and I will speak to our battalions and get them up to speed and more specific roles for each one established. We’ll be leaving tomorrow at dawn.” Luna looked out the window at the red ring that was the sun. “Twilight, Drifter, all of you; go get some rest. You’ll need all the strength you can get tomorrow.”
“Alright.” Twilight nodded simply before hugging Cadance and Shining Armor. She then looked to Cadance. “Where’s Flurry Heart? I’d like to spend some time with her.”
“She’s somewhere. I’m sure she’ll show up if we let her know you’re here.” Cadance smiled and led Twilight out of the room, her friends close behind.
Drifter watched Twilight go with a frown on her face. She sighed and strode from the room for one of the guest rooms. “Yeah… I’m not going to get another chance.” with her goal set for the rest of the day, Drifter made her way for the room that Palmwood and Wonderboom would be staying in while she was away for the coming battle.
Drifter didn’t stop to greet anypony in the halls, even when some tried to ask her questions about the upcoming assault. She always bluntly redirected them to Luna or Shining Armor without stopping her brisk pace. However, once she entered one of the many guest halls inside the castle, she slowed her pace significantly. She saw the room ahead and stopped outside of it.
She could hear the foals talking on the other side.
“I bet this place is beautiful in proper sunlight.” Wonderboom said in fascination.
“Probably…” Palmwood replied dryly. Drifter heard Wonderboom shift around slightly.
“Are you okay, Palmwood? You’re kinda… I don’t know… out of it?”
“I’m fine… I just wish Drifter didn’t have to go.”
Drifter winced and slammed her eyes shut. After a few moments, she took a deep breath and opened her eyes again. She lifted a forehoof to the door, paused and then knocked softly before slowly pushing it open.
When the door swung open all the way,, Drifter was greeted to the empty, distant stares of Palmwood and Wonderboom. She locked eyes with them for several moments before sighing heavily, her ears falling flat. She closed the door quietly behind her and took a step toward the foals. “So… I’m going to be leaving tomorrow morning…” she said gently, looking between the two, looking for any sort of reaction.
Palmwood grimaced and looked away. Wonderboom simply nodded quietly and looked at Palm with a worried expression. Silence hung in the air for almost a minute before Drifter sighed and trotted over to a small, foal-sized bookshelf. She scanned its contents for a moment before looking over her shoulder.
“So, I have a question for you two. Did your mother ever read you two stories before bed? You know, back before… all of this?” she asked curiously, her eyes settling on Wonderboom as she perked up and nodded vigorously.
“Yeah! She’d read us a new story every time, and she always used to get more and more books for us every time she went to the bookstore!” she proclaimed at the fond memory, before her ears fell. “But… she’s gone, now. We don’t get stories like that anymore…”
Drifter frowned and looked away, but couldn’t help the small smile forming on her face when she decided her next course of action. “...Well, I might be bad at it, but…” she plucked a book from the shelf and looked it over. Satisfied with her decision, she turned to the foals and showed it to them. “Maybe I could give it a try?”
“Really?” Wonderboom asked excitedly, hopping off of the bed and scampering up to Drifter with a big grin.
“If you two don’t mind, then sure.” Drifter nodded and then looked to Palmwood expectantly. “What do you think, Palm?”
“Uh, you two go ahead. I’m not quite as into that sort of thing as Wonder, though…” he said with a mild shrug before looking out the window at the Crystal Empire.
Drifter let her smile fade and nodded softly. “Okay. Well, we’ll be over here if you change your mind.” she then turned to Wonderboom and guided her to look at the shelf. “Now, I already grabbed one, but if there’s one you’d rather hear, go ahead and-”
“That one!” Wonder declared before pressing her forehoof directly into a book that had somehow completely slipped under Drifter’s awareness. Drifter followed the hoof and gasped subtly when she saw the book in question.
“Heh… wow. Would you look at that…” she muttered reminiscently, pulling the book from the shelf with a fresh wave of nostalgia washing over her. A smile spread on her face as she looked over the almost pristine cover on the seven hundred year-old storybook. “Where did they get a copy in such good condition? It’s in even better shape than my copy, which I keep as well preserved as possible...”
In Drifter’s hooves was a copy of the first publication of The Mare that eats Monsters. It looked like it was preserved almost perfectly, though there was some very notable damage on it, still. Wonderboom got onto her hind legs and hung her forehooves on Drifter’s foreleg to get her attention. “C’mon. Please?”
Drifter smiled and nodded warmly. “Okay, kiddo. C’mon, over here.” she set the other book down and led Wonder over to the filly’s bed, setting her down on top of the blankets and then sitting next to her. She flipped the book open to the first page and smiled as the familiar words reached her eyes. “You listening?”
“Uh-huh!”
“Okay, then… 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…”
Wonderboom leaned in instantly, perking her ears up to listen with her full and complete attention as Drifter recited her own story. Her soft smile grew even wider the further into the story she got, the back of her mind making connections all over the place.
“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.” Drifter recited, remembering how her mother had once told her how she had been found, oh so long ago when she was still just a filly.
“‘Oh, you poor thing…’ Leaf had whispered to her, gently picking up the lonely filly. ‘Who would ever leave you alone like this?’”
Drifter looked down to Wonderboom, then over to Palmwood, who himself was listening with interest from where he was across the room. She smiled to both of them and continued to read.
I won’t leave you two alone, she thought to herself. I promise I won’t.
“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...”
It didn’t take long for Palmwood to get interested enough to trot over and join them on the bed. He looked into the book with fascinated eyes and smiled at his sister. Drifter gladly welcomed him to join them. As Palm settled down, Drifter wrapped her wings over both of them in a warm, soothing embrace. It was like a nice blanket for them both, relaxing their minds as Drifter returned to reading the book.
“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.”
“...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.“ Drifter finished, closing the book and looking down at the foals snuggling into her sides. She gave a charmed smile as Palmwood looked up at her sleepily.
“It was good…” he mumbled out drowsily before a face-splitting yawn escaped him. “I liked it... “
“Can you tell us another one? Please?” Wonder asked as well, also looking decidedly sleepy while pawing Drifter’s shoulder adorably.
“Sure, kids. What do you want to hear?” Drifter asked softly, nuzzling both of them on their heads affectionately. Both of them hummed pleasantly and cuddled into her even more, gladly returning the nuzzles.
“Um… something nice and, uh… romantic…” Wonder suggested, only half-awake now. Drifter giggled at the way the filly’s words were beginning to slur together.
Palmwood grumbled in mild annoyance. “No way… no kissing. uh, something with action in it…”
Drifter held in her laughing and gave them both a soothing squeeze. “Actually, you two sound absolutely exhausted. You should get some sleep.”
“Nuh-uh, Drif… I’m not tired.” Palmwood tried to retort before another yawn shattered his argument.
“Actually, that sounds good…” Wonder added, closing her eyes and setting her head down.
Drifter smiled and nuzzled Wonderboom’s mane gently. “Goodnight, little Wonder.” she then looked to Palmwood who, despite his earlier proclamation of not being tired, was already asleep. Her smile grew even wider. “And goodnight you little bonehead.” she giggled softly and nuzzled him as well.
Lying there, wrapped in her wings, a bedtime story fresh in their minds for the first time in over two months, they looked so much more peaceful than she had ever seen them be in the entire time she had known them. Drifter felt her heart melt happily at the sight and was unable to make herself leave their sides. Finally, she decided to simply lay her head down and get some sleep herself, pulling the foals slightly closer with a gentle tug of her wings.
She hummed contentedly and closed her eyes. I’m not your mother, you two. I never will be. But somepony has to be there for you… I volunteer gladly. With that thought firmly nestled in her mind, Drifter fell asleep with a wonderful feeling bubbling away in her chest. For the first time in a long, long time, Drifter felt something very special. Something she hadn’t felt in centuries, at least.
She felt the love of having a family.
“Hey you two, it’s time to wake up.” Drifter’s voice called softly to the two foals the following morning. Wonderboom murmured drowsily and glanced up at Drifter, wiping the sleep from her eyes with a hoof.
“Not now, Drifter… five more minutes?” Palmwood grumbled, burying his face deeper into the blankets.
Wonderboom gasped lightly when she saw Drifter adjusting the last of the straps on a suit of Nagascale armor she was now wearing.
“Palmwood, please… I’m not going to get another chance for this and I don’t have a lot of time.” Drifter said softly, reaching out and ruffling his mane after she finished adjusting her armor. Palmwood looked up and blinked in surprise. Drifter smiled warmly. “Good morning, sleepyhead.”
“Drifter…? It’s time for you to go, isn’t it?” Wonder asked in barely a whisper. Drifter instantly lost her smile and nodded.
“I’m afraid so… Everypony is mobilizing, getting ready for the assault. I had just enough time to come up here and say goodbye.” she said softly, sitting down and looking at the two foals with sad eyes.
Palmwood hopped off of the bed and looked at the ground. After scuffing at the floor for a moment, he spoke. “Just… come back safe, okay?”
“I will.” Drifter said with an ocean of determination in her words. She held out her forelegs to the two foals. “Come here, you two…”
Wonderboom hopped off of the bed and swiftly tackled Drifter, wrapping her in a tight hug and burying her face into the hybrid’s chest, crying softly. “I… I don’t want you to go…” she wept quietly.
“I know, sweetheart, I know…” Drifter looked to Palmwood and didn’t need to say anymore. He lunged into the hug as well, holding both of them tightly. Drifter gave them both a strong squeeze, nuzzling each of them atop the heads. “I’ll be back soon…”
Wonder let out a whine as Drifter stood up, the hug fading as she did so. Palmwood carefully pulled his sister into another hug and shot Drifter a look. “You’d better be...”
Drifter smiled and ruffled his mane gently. “I will… I promise.” with that, she turned and made her way for the door. She stepped just past the frame and looked back into the room longingly. “Bye…”
The red ring that was the smothered sun loomed overhead in the center of the sky, not to move again until Horizon was destroyed and his spell ended, by declaration of Princess Luna. With what little light it let off now, Equestria needed it as high in the sky as possible so ponies could see what they were doing. This went double for the army of ponies now trudging through a merciless blizzard with the colossal spire that was Mount Eclipse touching the sky in the distance.
The armies had set down about twenty minutes ago, disembarking from their chariots and now proceeding on hoof. Every Unicorn had a light spell going to ensure visibility, casting the entire army in faint spots of light, each one of a different color. Twilight raised a foreleg to shield her eyes from a harsh blast of snow and freezing air, her mane flailing wildly in the wind. Rainbow grit her teeth and groaned in frustration next to her.
“This wind is slowing us down too much!” She shouted to be heard over the storm. “We gotta get rid of this blizzard!”
“Much as I agree, trying to do so would be a bad idea. We would draw unwanted attention to our position and compromise any element of surprise we have!” Twilight shouted back, grimacing as another gust tore past them. Rarity shivered and pulled her scarf tighter around her neck.
“I-i-i sh-should have brought m-m-more scarves!” she whined, shivering again and chattering her teeth together noisily.
Not far away, Twilight could see a pegasus scout galloping up to Shining Armor to deliver a report.
“Report, soldier!” Shining ordered loudly.
“We’ve found the entrance to the valley. With a bit of help from a spell, we were able to spot several fiends already moving around inside. I don’t think they know we’re here yet!” the pegasus responded with a quick salute.
Shining Armor nodded and turned to face the rest of his battalion. “Alright, listen up! We’re coming up on the valley! Weapons at the ready and get ready to take your positions. You all know your roles, so let’s not waste any time. You, go find Princess Luna and let her know what’s going on.” he shouted to the soldiers before singling one out to bring the message to Luna. Everypony acknowledged their orders and set to work.
“Well, here we go.” Applejack, who was somewhat ahead of Twilight, turned around and said with a frown. “We ready, y’all?”
Everypony gave sharp affirmatives, even Fluttershy, though she had opted for first aid and medical aid and thus, would not be fighting. Twilight looked to them all for a moment and then gulped heavily. “Come here, girls! I need to say something first!”
Curiosity burning in their eyes and sharing confused looks, her friends gathered around her. Twilight’s eyes were turned down to look into the snow under her hooves, her lips drawn into a thin line. “You okay, Twilight?” Rainbow asked, patting Twilight on the back.
Twilight’s horn lit up and pulled all of her friends into a group hug. While somewhat surprised by the sudden and seemingly untimely display of affection, they returned it gladly anyway. They knew they may not get another chance to do so, after all.
Then, Twilight uttered but a single word that sent a spark of confusion through the entire group. “Goodbye…” Reaching back with her magic, Twilight felt the spell she had cast in her castle lobby was still in effect. Struggling to hold in a sob, she set it into it’s final stages, grabbing her friends in her magic as she did so.
“What the?! Twi, what are ya doin’!?” Applejack barked in confusion, her hooves leaving the earth. All of them were now drifting in the air, looking down at Twilight in shock and confusion. Twilight looked up at them with tears in her eyes.
“I’m sorry…”
“Twilight, no! DON’T-” Rainbow didn’t get to finish. Twilight finished the spell. With a bright flash and a swirl of magic, her friends all vanished into thin air, leaving nothing more than a stunned silence in their place. The soldiers surrounding Twilight looked on in stunned silence, unable to figure out what had just happened or why.
They didn’t have to figure it out for themselves, however. Moonrise Drifter slowly trotted up to Twilight and rested a hoof on her shoulder sympathetically. “I hope you were as sure of that as you said you were.”
“I am… I was. It’s done now. They’ll be safe in Ponyville. None of them will die today…” Twilight replied solemnly before allowing Drifter to draw her into a hug. After a moment, they broke the embrace and looked ahead.
“It’s starting… are you ready?”
“As I’m going to be.”
“Twilight, no! DON’T DO IT!” Rainbow Dash screamed out at the top of her lungs, thrusting a hoof out to reach for Twilight. She was too late. In a flash, the air around them turned blissfully warm and the intense winds of the blizzard faded entirely. The light faded and they were all dropped unceremoniously down to the floor back in Twilight’s castle.
Silence. Everypony was utterly silent for several long moments. It felt like an eternity. Nearby, a pair of double doors leading deeper into the castle swung open, revealing Spike on the other side with a wide-eyed look of shock. “What the… what are…” he choked out, gazing into each of their eyes one at a time.
“She… she…” Fluttershy whimpered, laying down and burying her face in her forelegs, hiding from the world, crying quietly.
“She lied to us…” Applejack breathed out disbelievingly, looking at the floor in shock. “Said we’d be there with her…”
Pinkie sat down, her mane deflating and resting flatly along her back and next to her head. “I… I don’t… how could she break our hearts like that…?”
“What was she thinking…?” Rarity mumbled, her eyes unfocused and wide.
Rainbow Dash grit her teeth. “Twilight…” she breathed before a guttural howl of anger tore from her lungs. She spread her wings and launched into an arc, flying out the doors of the castle hard enough to put a dent in them on the way out. Spike stood in silence, looking on them with a sorrowful look coming over his eyes.
“Twilight… what did you do…?”
“Alright, listen up and pay attention! Remember, we need a clear path to the base of the mountain!” Shining Armor called out to the army of gathered soldiers. “Keep the fiends off of us and keep each other protected! We’re not leaving until the darkness in our sky is gone!”
“The fiends are naught but mindless animals with the ability to speak! They will not show you any mercy, so you should feel no need to show them any.” Luna added at his side, using the royal canterlot voice to ensure she could be heard.
“Remember why we’re here!” Twilight shouted, flaring out her wings. “We came here for the sake of all of the ponies we love in Equestria! We came here so they can see a new tomorrow without the fiends looming over their shoulders and breathing down their necks! We came here to protect our friends and our families from them! As long as we remember that, we won’t lose!”
All eyes went to Drifter, who stood directly in front of Luna, Twilight and Shining Armor. After a moment, she lifted her eyes and gave a small smile. “Let’s go kill my dad, shall we?!” She called out to the gathered army, earning a mighty cheer in response. With a smile and a nod to Shining Armor, Drifter turned and spread her wings out. “I’ll help keep the skies over us clear. We ready?”
Everypony nodded along. Shining Armor conjured up a sword and shield in his magic. “THEN LET’S GO! MOVE OUT!”
The soldiers drew their weapons, readied their spells and did as commanded, pouring forth into the valley in numerous large groups, seeking positions to perform their roles from. Drifter took to the air with a mighty flap of her wings. Luna joined her, her horn lighting up with intense blue magic.
Twilight drew her saber from her side and broke into a charge alongside her big brother, taking as much comfort as she could from his presence. Already the horrid and spine-chilling howls and roars of the fiends in the valley could be heard, calling their brethren forth to join what they probably saw as a feast walking right in through the front door.
A blue explosion crackling with electricity not far away signaled the start of the fighting by the use of a large spell. Luna’s horn lit up and sent pin-point beams of magic to snipe away at flying fiends attempting to advance on her and Drifter.
When a fiend came barreling out of the darkness at Twilight, she barely even thought about it. Her sabre sliced out and bit deep into the creature’s neck, drawing a swath of blood and sending the creature to the snow, never to move again. Nearby, something large crashed into the ground, kicking up a thick cloud of snow and rubble which fell over Twilight and Shining.
“Keep moving!” Shining barked out, drawing closer to Twilight and urging her on, glancing back to make sure they weren’t being followed.
The lights and flashes of defensive and offensive spells going off across the slopes of the valley were accompanied by cacophonous booms, battle cries, screams of pain and the fowl roars of fiends. Twilight felt her blood run cold as she recalled her first encounter with the fiends, the way the ponies aboard the train had screamed in fear and terror. Many of the dying soldiers were no different in their final moments as the innocents aboard that train.
Twilight snapped out of it and shook her head. Focus, Twilight!
Another fiend, reminiscent of a snake, came slithering out of the darkness, snapping for Shining Armor, only to be reduced to ashes by an explosive spell launched from a nearby rocky platform. The crystal unicorn standing their nodded to them and gazed up to the pegasus over his head as more instructions were sent his way.
As the run went on, Twilight began to focus on the mountain. Nothing else matters. Just the mountain. Get to the mountain and stop Horizon!
Suddenly, Shining Armor let out a grunt of surprise and lifted his shield just in time to keep his head on his shoulders. The charging fiend was lanky with long legs and longer claws. It snapped at him viciously, drooling profusely and growling like a rabid dog. With a shove of his shield, Shining sent the creature toppling back. Twilight skidded to a stop and looked back at her brother worriedly. “Brother!”
“Don’t stop! GO!” Shining barked, plunging his sword into the fiends chest before it could stand. “I’ll catch up!”
“But, I-!” Twilight started before another explosion went off nearby. She yelped and dove back, shielding her head as a large chunk of soil writhed and fell away from it’s position, bringing two trees with it to crash into the soil.
“Prince Armor will be fine, Twilight!” Luna called out, vaporizing another fiend with a blast of magic. “We cannot delay! MOVE!”
Twilight stumbled to her hooves and, after a brief moment of hesitation, turned and continued her gallop for the mountain. Without her big brother next to her, Twilight’s senses began to go wild with all of the input. She saw a pony being torn limb from limb in mid-air out of the corner of her eye. Nearby, a fiend was screeching in pain, pinned to a tree with a spear through it’s gut. A unicorn nearby hurled a spell at it, reducing the fiend to a fine red powder and destroying the tree trunk.
Another spell went off almost on top of Twilight, blasting the fiend that had been pouncing at her from behind into chunks. Twilight let out a terrified scream as she was showered with blood and bits of stray flesh, but kept moving forward.
To her, it seemed like the run never ended. Time stretched on for her, the mere minutes she spent galloping forward distorting and slowing into hours and hours of madness, explosions, blood and death on all sides. Finally, she came to a stop when Drifter landed in front of her, pinning a struggling fiend under her before biting into it’s throat.
Luna landed next to her. All three of them were short of breath, especially Twilight. She collapsed to the ground and gasped raggedly for breath. Luna’s horn lit up and she passed a spell over the group to ease the discomfort and pain in their legs, restoring some much needed strength.
Drifter pulled away from the fiend beneath her and swallowed before wiping the fresh blood from her chin. “We can’t stay here. We’re pretty much at the mountain and I bet Skeintooth won’t be far behind us.”
Twilight nodded and stood, her legs wobbling beneath her. She looked to Luna pleadingly. “Is he okay? Is my brother okay?”
“I believe so. He’s tougher than he lets on, I believe.” she answered simply before looking up at the mountain.
“We need an entrance.” Drifter noted simply, reaching out to help Twilight keep herself steady.
“There’s one not far from here. Just up the slopes a little ways, if these memories are correct.” Luna answered, sifting through Horizon’s memories before nodding and taking a step forward.
“All three of Skeintooth’s favorite meals came to play?” a raspy voice called out behind and above them. Twilight felt her blood drain from her face and turned to see Skeintooth standing at the top of a small hill, a dead unicorn clutched firmly in his claws. His grin widened. “Skeintooth does enjoy a good banquet!”
Drifter scowled. “Damn… okay, you two get a move on and don’t worry about me. I’ll take care of this guy.”
“Be careful, Moonrise Drifter.” Luna urged before turning and galloping up the slopes of the mountain to seek out the entrance. Twilight looked at Drifter blankly, nodded and followed after Luna.
“Yes, flee! Make it a chase! A hunt!” Skeintooth jeered in excitement before bounding forwards to give chase, Drifter swiftly got in his way, lifting into the air with her wings and rising to his eye level.
“You’re not going anywhere.” She growled, extending her claws. “I will be your opponent. And II don’t plan on letting you live a second time.”
Once the trees fell, it had all become a blur. Turn, duck, slash, rise, block, stab. Shining Armor felt most functional thoughts fade into the back of his mind as instinct and reflex took over. The carefully practiced movements, hammered into his muscle-memory from years of drills and training excersizes, worked from his mind into his muscles. Another fiend was felled by his blade, blood dribbling from it’s maw as it fell into the snow beneath him.
His muscles burned, becoming desperate for even a second of rest, just a moment of reprieve, but none came. He kept moving through the motions, slicing, blocking and dodging with every fiend that came at him. He felt blood splatter against his face from another slaughtered enemy. His eyes twitched reflexively as the crimson substance painted his coat red dangerously close to his eyes.
Then the world went blurry. His muscles were jarred and white-hot pain filled his system, especially around his right shoulder. He cried out, hurling through the air with his ears ringing and his eyes filled with blinding bright light. Snow, ash and debris fell over him, smothering parts of his body. Now he could lay still and actually catch his breath.
As the violent rush faded, his mind refocused. Twily… gotta catch up to Twily. He thought, heaving himself to his hooves. His legs wobbled under his weight and he almost fell. Something was painting warm lines down his right foreleg. He threw out a forehoof to catch himself on a tree next to him, but cried out and fell over at the screaming pain from his shoulder. He looked and gasped. There was a lengthy piece of raw, charred wood jutting from his shoulder, sinking in deeper after he fell.
“Your highness!” somepony shouted. Shining Armor looked to see several of the crystal ponies he had brought with him charging for his location. The one in the front, a unicorn mare, came to a halt by his side and grimaced. “Oh dear, hold on.” she said simply, grabbing Shining by the back of his neck and his good forehoof. Her horn lit up with pink light, as did the wood in his shoulder.
Her magic gave a pull, drawing the wooden intruder from his body with a bone-chilling squelch. Shining screamed out before gasping rapidly, seemingly unable to form a coherent thought through the pain. The mare grimaced and tightened her grip on him.
“Please, hold still! You two, keep the fiends off us while I heal him!” she barked before returning her attention to shining armor.
“Twily… Luna, D-drifter! I g-gotta get back t-to them!” Shining stuttered through clenched teeth, hissing and groaning in pain.
“We’ll get you to them, but you can’t move in your condition Please, hold still as well as you can, okay?” The medic replied, lighting her horn up and quickly eyeing the wound once it was illuminated. “Oh, that’s bad…”
“Just get me moving again, dammit!” Shining snapped at her before slamming his eyes shut and huffing out several pained breaths.
“If I do this too fast, you may lose your leg afterword-”
“GET ME MOVING!” Shining shouted at her, his eyes opening to reveal the fury and determination burning in them. “I am not letting my Sister go into that mountain alone!”
“...Seek a doctor the minute we’re done here.” The medic relented, lighting up her horn and setting a healing spell into motion. Shining groaned once more while the skin and muscle began to stitch itself back together,
“We’ve got company!” one of the other crystal ponies shouted out in alarm. He raised his spear and thrust at the fiend that was charging him. It weaved around the thrust effortlessly, bending and twisting like a snake before ploughing into his, it’s teeth sinking into his throat.
“SHIT!” His friend cried out before bringing his own spear into the creature’s head with a sickening crunch. It slumped over, dead. Shining Armor winced a moment later.
“Okay, can you move it without too much pain?” The medic asked, stepping back with her spell completed. Shining tested the limb and nodded grimly. He didn’t get to speak a response though. The medic turned and shrieked in horror when a fiend pounced at her. It’s shape was like a pony, if said pony were stretched like taffy into a lanky and twitchy creature.
She shielded her face with a foreleg, expecting these moments to be her last. When no impact came, she looked past her leg to see that Shining Armor had tackled the fiend and was now pulling his sword of magic from it’s corpse with a grimace. He glanced back at the medic with a small smile and nod. “It’ll do.”
Moonrise Drifter swore mentally upon seeing Skeintooth hurl himself at her once again. His speed was just as remarkable as ever, and it was making it hard to keep up with him consistently. She quickly rolled to the side to evade the assault, kicking up snow behind her as she came back to a standing position. Skeintooth turned on her and snarled viciously.
The two stood for a moment, eyeing each other and waiting for the other to make a move. All around them, the battle seemed to be nothing more than dull background noise, not even worth paying attention to. Skeintooth pawed at the snow, digging trenches in the surface and licking his coiled teeth hungrily.
“Cannibal half-sister is being extra elusive today…” Skeintooth mused, beginning to slowly walk around her. She mirrored the motion, circling him just as cautiously.
“I know better than to let you hit me after last time.” She replied simply, her claws drumming in the snow with every step. Her lips twitched in anticipation.
“Good… the prey that learns is Skeintooth’s favorite…” the fiend replied in a low, hungry voice. The spines all along his back quivered with the thrill of the hunt and struggle.
“Really? I always found them more annoying, frankly.” Drifter shot back with the faintest hint of a smirk playing at her lips. Her claws clicked and scraped along a stone jutting from the snow in her slow, methodical stride. “Harder to kill my target if it has enough sense to pay attention.”
“Cannibal half-sister must not like the thrill of the hunt, then…” Skeintooth mused, narrowing his eyes dangerously.
“I like having fun and I like excitement. I just don’t like dying…” Drifter stated before very briefly glancing to her left. Her eyes returned to Skeintooth, who was already shooting towards her at breakneck speeds. With a grunt of effort, she kicked away, giving herself a boost with a flap of her wings and sailed past Skeintooth. He snapped at her as she passed, but came up short.
Drifter’s leap took her directly into the path of an airborne fiend that was en route to assault a group of ponies tending to their wounded. She sunk the claws on her good foreleg into its spine, as well as her teeth before turning around in mid air, carrying the wailing fiend with her. Skeintooth was once more in pursuit, bouncing through the air for her with his claws outstretched and jaw wide open. Growling venemously out through her full mouth, Drifter shot forward, holding the paralyzed fiend in front of her before using their momentum to send it flying at Skeintooth’s face.
He didn’t even hesitate in swatting the miserable fiend down, not slowing in his advance at all as he did so. But the use of his claws to bat aside the irritating distraction was all Drifter needed. Before he could bring his claws up to grab at her, she shot past his reach and sunk the claws on all of her hooves into his underside. Blood sprayed free, painting the snow beneath him crimson in long streaks and splotches.
Drifter quickly righted herself once she was past him, landing on her hooves and turning around to glare at Skeintooth. The large fiend was screaming and roaring in pain. His tail twitched and writhed like a whip, the rest of his body thrashing in discomfort. He turned his gaze on her, a furious red glow coming over his usually blank eyes. “Skeintooth will MURDER YOU!” he screamed.
“Bring it!” Drifter shot back, her own eyes glowing orange in response.
The furious, twisted shriek that tore from Skeintooth’s lungs was enough to silence the battlefield around them for several dozen yards. Drifter gasped and clutched at her ears, groaning in a great deal of discomfort. Her ears swiftly muffled all other sounds in favor of ringing loudly. Her vision went fuzzy for a second from the strain on her mind imposed by the air-rippling sound.
That second was all Skeintooth needed. He tackled Drifter with bone-crushing force, carrying her along with his head before stopping and bringing one of his claws up and down to slam her into the snow-covered ground. The impact kicked up a great deal of snow and knocked the wind out of Drifter. She gasped, a small trickle of blood spurting up from her mouth at the same time.
Skeintooth then lifted his other leg before bringing it down onto Drifter like a hammer. The ground dented under her, and white-hot pain exploded inside her chest. Several sickening snaps could be heard and her vision exploded into red and white. She screamed. Skeintooth struck her again and she screamed louder.
“Yes, scream for Skeintooth! Weep and howl for help like the helpless prey you are! Be afraid! BE AFRAID FOR SKEINTOOTH!” Skeintooth began chanting as he struck her again. Drifter tried feebly to roll away, but with the horrific damage her ribs were accumulating, she could barely breathe, much less move.
Is this it? This can’t be it, can it? I can’t die here! We have to stop Horizon and I have to get back to Palmwood and Wonderboom! I promised them! I can’t die here… I can’t… Drifter thought to herself. She tried to move, but could barely find any strength. She could feel her instincts giving up, believing she was finished and just… waiting for the end to come.
Then, however, her muddled senses became dimly aware of something warm and wet suddenly splattering across her face and a dull, muffled gurgling sound above her. Something heavy collapsed onto her and a pained wheeze left her lungs. With the relentless onslaught on her body ended, her senses gradually began to refocus.
Skeintooth lay atop her, nearly motionless and gasping raggedly for breath, his eyes flicking around in terror. A glowing lavender sword made of raw magic was sticking out of the back of his neck.
“D-drifter! You okay?!” Came Shining Armor’s voice. Drifter looked and saw him stumbling towards her, a clear and definite limp in his movements.
“I… will live…” Drifter replied shallowly, carefully easing herself out from under Skeintooth’s paralyzed form. She hissed and panted as pain exploded across her mauled chest from the movement. “Ack! Gah, but… n-no, I am n-not o-okay!”
Shining came to a stop next to her. He eyed Skeintooth with contempt and pulled his sword from the fiend’s spine, making sure the cord was well and truly severed on the way out. Drifter took a second to catch her breath before slowly rising to her hooves.
“Thank you…” she muttered breathlessly, clutching a hoof to her chest and leaning against Shining for support. He accommodated her as well as his own wounded state would allow.
“You’re welcome… but he’s still alive.” He said bitterly, lifting his sword to hover over Skeintooth’s eye. “Let’s fix that.”
“Wait!” Drifter suddenly blurted, reaching out and grabbing his shoulder with her forehoof to get his attention. He eyes her incredulously until she spoke again. “...let me do it. I think I earned it.”
Shining simply nodded and pulled his sword away. Drifter then pushed off of him and stumbled towards Skeintooth. His lips and face twitched, his eyes showing with pure, unrelenting terror as the realization dawned on him; he was about to die, and there was nothing he could do to change that. Drifter saw the look in his eyes and scowled.
She sat down in front of him, mouth near his ear. “You’re scared. I can see it i your eyes. I can smell it in the air.” She let the claws on her hoof extend again and let them rest gently above his eyes, leaning closer to his ear. “You are terrified of the death that you can’t stop. You are about to die and you know it; but you don’t want to. It’s a pretty horrible feeling, isn’t it?”
Skeintooth’s eyes merely looked at her pleadingly, his nostrils flaring rapidly in a desperate effort to breath.
“Well, take a second and let that feeling sink in. The way you’re feeling right now?” Drifter tightened her grip on his face, her claws digging into the first layers of flesh, drawing small amounts of blood. The muscles twitched in pain, but otherwise Skeintooth offered no response. “Is exactly how countless ponies have felt in their last moments because of you fiends.” She leaned in and whispered her next words to him venomously. “For the last one thousand years, Horizon has made you fiends kill, murder and torture innocent ponies… and they all felt just like this.” Drifter let her claws out of his skin and rested their tips on his throat.
Skeintooth’s eyes widened.
And then she slit his throat.
Drifter sat back and looked over her handiwork uneasily. Shining Armor slowly trotted to her side and reached out to grasp her shoulder. For a moment, they were silent. When another explosion of the battle around them went off, he gently helped her to stand up. “Come on. We’ve gotta get to Twilight and Luna.” he said softly.
“Y-yeah… okay, come on. Let’s-”
A sudden, deathly chill silenced her. Everything abruptly went quiet as pony and fiend alike stopped fighting and looked up to the peak of the mountain. They had felt it too, then. Drifter felt her ears pin themselves back against her head on their own. A reflexive reaction to whatever had just happened up there.
A faint blue glow could be seen at the summit of Mount Eclipse, pulsing gently against the darkness of the sky behind it.
Twilight groaned and opened her eyes when the blast of cold air washed over her. Snow swirled over her and her bones felt like they were made of ice. As the snow passed, she beheld an unsettling image. Princess Luna, just to her right, was slowly picking herself up out of the snow, shivering and trembling from the cold. It looked as though they were at the very peak of Mount Eclipse, the red ring of the sun looming over them threateningly.
“Princess Luna? How did we get here?” Twilight asked, bringing herself to her hooves as well. “I… I remember entering the mountain’s caves and then… this.”
“I don’t know, but I fear Horizon is behind it.” Luna replied simply, flaring her wings out and shaking the snow from her body. “Be on guard.”
“How very perceptive of you.” the stallion in question spoke from all around them. His voice was disembodied, going directly into their minds. “When you entered my abode I knew it would only be a waste of time to delay this. You would make it here regardless, so why wait?”
Luna grit her teeth and scraped her hoof along the ground. “Show yourself…”
“Fine.” In a swirl of putridly tainted blue magic, Horizon appeared before them, seated atop a throne made of loose stone. His tentacles were sprouted from his back and writhed in anticipation in the air. He leaned forward with a sneer on his face. “Here I am.”
“Luminous Horizon, I swear you will die today for everything you have done!” Luna seethed, her horn lighting up with a threatening display of magic. Horizon grimaced and leaned back in his throne.
“I highly doubt that.” he stated bluntly before gradually rising to his own hooves. His eyes shifted to Twilight and a small, cocky smile spread on his face. “In fact, I doubt any of us will be dying today.”
“Stop speaking nonsense!” Luna snapped, her eyes lighting up. “You would see us all dead! Why should we seek anything more from you?”
“Maybe because you have standards.” Horizon remarked dryly, stepping down from his throne and towards the two alicorns almost casually. “But, more probably, It’s because I have no intentions of killing either of you.”
“LIES!” Luna’s eyes lit up entirely white and a beam of blue magic shot from her horn. Horizon teleported before it could reach him, vanishing with a twisted and distorted pop.
“Let me finish, Luna. Common courtesy, isn’t it?” His voice came again, this time from above them. Luna and Twilight looked up to him. He was now lounging atop a spire of stone that almost resembled a fang jutting into the sky. “I won’t kill you two because I’m not done with you yet. I have no personal vendetta against Princess Twilight, who showed a great deal of bravery in making it this far.” he smiled at Twilight, visibly impressed. Twilight simply huffed and lifted her sabre. Horizon dropped his smile and looked to Luna. “You, on the other hoof, shall live only so I can see you scream.”
“You won’t touch her.” Twilight said coldly, coming forward to stand tall next to Luna and aiming the tip of her blade at Horizon. “I won’t let you.”
Horizon frowned. “Hmph… I suppose there is no longer any point in continuing this discussion, is there?”
“No.”
Horizon closed his eyes and stood to his full height. His tentacles along his back flared out threateningly, sharpened blades extending from the tips. His claws pushed out of his hooves, digging into the stone effortlessly. He opened his eyes and glared down at the two princesses. “Very well, then. Come, Princesses of Equestria. It is time we drew this era to it’s conclusion.”
For several seconds, the two sides faced each other. Finally, it was Horizon to make the first move. With an agile swiftness, he leaped into the air over their heads, his horn igniting with magic. Recognizing his plan, Luna formed a barrier around herself and Twilight, stopping the downpour of acidic magic before it could reach them. Once the beam subsided, Luna converted the shield’s form into that of a long javelin and launched it at Horizon as if it were a missile.
He spun to the side, avoiding the projectile. His hooves met with the ground, the stone beneath him cracking on impact and throwing up clouds of snow all around him. His blue eyes shimmered from behind the misty veil before he lunged forth, tentacles at the ready. Twilight yelped and quickly dodged to the side, barely avoiding a fatal decapitation. A new, paper-cut shallow slice appeared along her neck and left shoulder, stinging horribly.
Luna herself grunted with effort, choosing to instead catch Horizon’s assault with another barrier and attempting to hold him in place. When he saw the dark pool forming beneath him, Horizon was fast to teleport. The dark spike lurched out of the snow, but having missed their target, could only pull themselves back into the hellish void, unsatisfied. Luna cursed and turned around as Horizon re-appeared not far away.
Twilight quickly scanned the environment for something she could use to her advantage. A loud crash informed her of Luna and Horizon tackling each other, spiraling into the air above from the force of Luna’s wingbeats. Not finding anything in her surroundings, Twilight hauled herself back to her hooves and gave chase, her sabre assuming a guard stance in her magic as she took flight.
Luna abruptly let out a pained shout. Twilight gasped as the lunar princess lost her balance in the air, blood flowing down her side from a newly formed gash under her wing. Horizon took advantage of her state and drove his hind hoofs, claws and all, into Luna’s chest. More blood escaped in small sprays as several new puncture marks were put into Luna’s front. She spiraled to the snow below, barely able to slow her descent with magic and her un-wounded wing.
“Princess Luna!” Twilight cried out before returning her gaze to Horizon. She froze when their eyes met. He was directly in front of her, holding her perfectly still in his magic.
“Tell me, what do you see in her?” Horizon growled venomously. Twilight gulped uneasily, her eyes wide with fear.
“I… I see a Princess of Equestria-”
“As a pony, not a monarch!” Horizon interrupted her, jostling her in the air violently. “She is prone to vanity and jealousy. She became Nightmare Moon and yet here you are, fighting so hard to help her! Why?”
“B-because! That vanity and jealousy isn't all there is too her…” Twilight said, shrinking slightly from the fiend’s rage. “I saw her cry with guilt over how Equestria suffered because of Nightmare Moon and I see how hard she works every day to ensure that never happens again! She may be darker than Celestia ever was, but…” Twilight softened her gaze just slightly. “But darkness doesn’t have to be bad.”
Horizon merely narrowed his eyes, tightening his grip on her with his magic slightly.
“Ack! And... I think that, maybe, that was what Princess Celestia was trying to tell you…” Twilight finished carefully. “She said she saw your true colors… she knew there was a good pony in there.”
Horizon’s eye twitched and his lips peeled back to reveal his fangs. “Celestia was foolish to think that part of me was still around. He died a thousand years ago.”
Twilight narrowed her eyes dangerously. “No. That part of you began to die when you killed the pony you loved in cold blood!”
“ENOUGH!” Horizon bellowed, hurling Twilight to the ground below at a mind-numbing velocity. Her impact with the ground sent an avalanche of pure agony through Twilight’s right wing, as it was what connected with the ground first. She cried out and looked up to Horizon fearfully.
Luna pulled herself over to stand protectively between Twilight and Horizon. She glared up at him, but her furious scowl twisted into a face of bewilderment. Horizon’s eyes had gone blank and distant, his claws reaching up to the sides of his head and clutching at them in growing pain.
“Enough… you’re dead, Celestia! A corpse! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” His horn lit up and a shockwave tore itself violently out from him. Luna acted fast, forming a barrier around herself and Twilight. The shockwave tore away all of the snow, turning it to steam and turning much of the surrounding stone of the mountaintop red with the heat.
Luna watched Horizon come to a landing on the snow, his tentacles writhing in the air in agitation as his forehooves returned to keeping him standing. She scowled and tensed slightly, raising her guard once more. Horizon looked up at her furiously. However, when his expression of rage shifted into one of calm contentment, Luna felt a wave of unease wash over her. Then, he began laughing. Luna grit her teeth in agitation. “What is so funny?!”
“Oh, nothing… I just find it amusing how easy it has become to banish those hallucinations.” Horizon replied before lifting himself to stand straight. “But as it is, I think I have entertained your delusion of victory for long enough.”
Luna growled and charged him, forming a sword of magic next to her in the air. Horizon’s horn lit up and he vanished in a flash of blue light.
“Over here, your highness.” Came Horizon’s taunting voice from his throne. Luna spun around, ready to reduce this entire mountaintop to dust when her eyes fell on Twilight. Luna froze, her eyes going wide and her blood running cold. All magic she had channeling into her horn dispersed as she lost her concentration. Laying in the snow, now half buried, Twilight Sparkle was almost entirely petrified. Her left eye was all that remained, yet it wasn’t that way for long.
Luna looked up to Horizon in shock. A smirk spread across his face when he pulled a piece of partially chewed meat from behind his throne. It was covered in tufts of blood-stained lavender fur. Luna felt her blood boil with unfathomable hatred. “Release her!” she shouted, forming her sword once more.
“In due time.” Horizon responded coldly. Luna froze and gasped sharply as something solid and chilling filled her veins. Her eyes began to shake and tremble in their sockets, looking around helplessly. She couldn’t move! “She’ll be released at the same time you are.” Horizon said softly as he approached Luna, pulling the scrapings of her flesh out from behind the throne as well.
Luna wheezed out breath after breath, trying to speak but incapable of doing so. She could no longer feel the tips of her hooves and her mind was filling with the sounds of stone grinding on stone.
“Ah, magic of blood and flesh… Looking back, I am glad I kept your flesh handy after I smothered the sun. I didn’t need it until I realised what I could use it for…” Horizon looked to Luna with a malevolent smirk.
She could do nothing but watch and tremble uncontrollably as Horizon trotted up to her, circling her and examining her like a master craftsman would his student’s latest work of art.
“I bet you’re wondering why I’m not just killing you…” Horizon mused as he strode around her confidently. He stopped in front of her and looked her in the eyes. “It’s simple, really. Killing you like this will bring me no satisfaction, Princess Luna. You haven’t suffered nearly enough…” his face split with a sadistic grin. “But when you wake up, I’ll make sure that you return to nothing but ash and ruin. I will see your country burn and it’s populace slaughtered.” He stepped back and looked at Luna firmly. “And when I decide to release you, you will find that the land you swore to defend was reduced to dust without you.”
Luna gasped out, trying to shout at him, but she couldn’t feel her chest anymore. The numbness traveled up her neck and began to wrap around her head. From the bottom left, darkness began to form in front of her vision. Her mind began to grow fuzzy and unfocused.
“Goodnight, Princess Luna. Please, take your time coming back. There is no rush.” Horizon said mockingly into Luna’s ear before her body was completely encased in stone… and she knew no more.
Horizon gazed upon his two newest pieces of art, their faces twisted in confusion and horror, their bodies battered and beaten from the battle below and their struggle with him. He gazed upon them…
The silence was deafening. Even with the roaring winds of the snow storm and the still crackling fires reaching into the air from explosive magic. Not a creature, fiend or pony, dared speak or utter a single sound. For every last pony in the valley, a horrible weight pressed on their shoulders. Their hearts sank and they felt their courage and will to fight leaving them.
Then, the fiends began to howl together in unison, a victorious, blood-thirsty chorus of monstrous voices echoing all across the valley. Shining Armor looked around in confusion, his ears falling flat against his head. “I don’t get it… what’s happening?” he asked distantly, the weight just as firm on his shoulders as it was on everypony else.
Drifter was silent. She felt the weight, but even moreso she felt why the fiends were suddenly so happy, why they shouted together in victory despite the battle looking to have only briefly paused. Her blood tingled as the image of Horizon standing victorious over a petrified Twilight Sparkle and Princess Luna entered her mind.
“We… we lost…” she mumbled, stepping back and then falling to her haunches in shock and horror.
“What?” Shining asked, looking to her in confusion. “What are you talking about? There are still plenty of soldiers here! We can still do this!”
“No, we can’t!” Drifter replied, pulling herself back to her hooves and looking around in near-desperation. “And if you want those soldiers to be alive by tomorrow, then sound the retreat. NOW!” she barked at him before turning to look over the valley with disdain. Already the fiends had resumed their violent struggle with the ponies, only now, the ponies were seemingly unable to defend themselves. Shining felt his heart fall into the pit of his stomach as ponies died by the scores every second.
“But… but Twilight-” he started, but went quiet from the sorrowful look Drifter gave him.
“...We lost, Shining Armor. She… she and Princess Luna are gone.”
“Gone?!” Shining echoed, his legs going weak at the thought. “What the hay do you mean gone?!”
“I mean they lost! I’ll explain more later! For now, we have to move!”
“How can you be so sure?! HOW DO YOU KNOW?!” Shining Armor snapped, reaching out with his magic and pulling her up to look him in the eyes. “You’d best have a good explenation for why I should abandon my little sister here!”
Drifter grimaced and looked away, unable to meet his gaze. “...I’m half fiend, Shining Armor. Luminous Horizon is revealing his victory to every fiend here. They can all see what he has done and... I do, too.” Drifter sighed before tensing up. “Now put me down! We have to go, NOW!”
Shining Armor narrowed his eyes before slowly setting her down. “...Guh, EVERYPONY! RETREAT TO THE CHARIOTS! I REPEAT, FALL BACK TO THE CHARIOTS!” he shouted out, breaking into a sprint for the southern end of the valley.
Drifter fell into stride next to him, trying not to look away from her path. Ponies all around them were dying horribly, trying and failing to defend themselves against the onslaught. The screams in the air were haunting... Drifter looked over her shoulder and up to the top of the mountain where a sickly blue glow softly pulsed, a symbol of Horizon’s victory. She closed her eyes tightly and let her head fall without stopping in her retreat. “I’m sorry, Twilight… I’m sorry, aunt Luna. I swear… I’ll come back for you.” A tear leaked out of her eye and to the snow below, lost and buried among rivers of blood. But I have a promise to keep, first…
Horizon stood at the summit of his mountain, a blank expression adorning his face as he gazed over the slaughtering ground that had become the foot of his mountain. Ponies died everywhere, torn apart by his army of hungry fiends. It was something he never got tired of looking at. What he did get tired of looking at, however, was the visage of Princess Celestia, who once more stood next to him, her eyes boring into him pleadingly.
He turned his gaze to look at her, finally acknowledging her presence. She looked weak and miserable, all of her efforts had failed. All she could do was beg. Without a word, Horizon plucked her skull from it’s place with Luna and Twilight’s flesh and brought it over to hover in front of him. Celestia saw her skull and her eyes wilted, as did her entire posture.
Horizon lifted a hoof up to trace the jawline of the skull, remembering quite fondly how it had felt back when it had still been covered in skin. Then his claws extended and wrapped around the skull. With one squeeze, he crushed the skull in his claws, sending shards and splinters of it flying away in the wind and letting rest crumble into the snow before him. As he did so, the image of Celestia dissolved and swirled away, lost in the snowstorm around them.
With his mind set and his goals clear, Horizon turned and took step after step to his throne. His horn lit up and enveloped the stone seat with his aura. Bit by bit, the same fleshy substance that was used in the gardens began to grow from the stone like mold. It swelled and molded, forming a long set of stairs. Horizon’s hooves squelched softly on the steps of his ascension before, at last, he came to the peak where a new throne awaited him.
He turned and sat himself down in the seat, looking contentedly out over Equestria. He could smell the massacre already. The coming years would be immensely entertaining, of that he was certain.
Flanking the base of Luminous Horizon’s throne of corpses, standing frozen in their moments of horror were the petrified forms of Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship and Luna, the Princess of Dreams and the Night.
From his seat, the Father of Fiends heard the victorious howls of his children. He let a proud smile split his face and let the hunt begin.
