My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is owned by Hasbro, The Hub and of course Lauren Faust who seems to have gone out of her way to make a show about pastel colored ponies with names like "Twilight Sparkle" completely awesome. This story is just for fun and no profit shall be made so please above mentioned people don't sue me. You're not gonna get much. Any OCs that pop up in this fic belong to me and can be used with permission. Please don't steal from me. Now with that out of the way, on with the show.
The Elements of Discord
Chapter 12: The Nightmare Becomes Reality
Deep within the Everfree Forest and even deeper inside the ancient remains of Canterlot Castle, Sledge stood alone amid long forgotten artifacts and magical relics. Of course he hadn't been alone a few minutes ago, but when his new "fearless leader" decided to go off on her own the rest of the Elements of Discord decided to go their own ways as well. Even Hammer wandered after Stampede in all his love struck glory. So that just left the grey stallion by himself to really sit back and think about what he was really getting out of this business arrangement. So far it wasn't much. In fact it was nothing. Sure he had been promised riches and powers but so far Dark Sky had yet to deliver. And if she really was going where she said she was, then there was every reason to believe she might not make it back. And if that was true then what exactly was keeping him there?
The simple answer was...nothing.
The more complicated answer was that if she did succeed then not only would he not get all the things he was promised but he could also be on the bad side of a fairly powerful unicorn and a boogeymare made flesh. Neither of which were very appealing ideas.
"Two minutes," he decided. "Two more minutes then I'm gone."
Fortunately, he didn't even have to wait two more seconds as a bright light suddenly filled the room and when it dissipated Dark Sky and Princess Luna were standing right in front of him. Although Luna wasn't standing for very long as the spell circle she was teleported into started to glow just before energy tendrils lashed out and forced her to the floor. As she struggled against the surprisingly powerful spell she saw Dark Sky walk up to her with a genuinely remorseful look on her face.
"I'm sorry Luna," she spoke softly, kneeling down to her eye level. "This was a spell I set up beforehoof and I was hoping I wouldn't have to use it but you left me no choice."
"But you did have a choice Sky," Luna remarked as she struggled against her magical restraints. "You could have chosen not to abduct me. You could have chosen to fight against Discord's influence. You could have chosen to come to me as a friend and let me help you."
"Oh Luna," the unicorn said softly as she reached out and gently caressed the princess's cheek with her hoof. "Can't you understand that I'm helping you? I'm giving you back the power of Nightmare Moon! We can take on your sister again and this time we won't have to do it alone! As I told you, the Elements of Discord reside in some ponies and I've gathered them all right here-they'reallgone!"
Dark Sky stared in disbelief when she turned around to find the room almost totally empty of other ponies. The only other pony besides herself and Luna she found was Sledge who seemed just as surprised and confused as her but for other reasons. Of course she wasn't interested in those reasons and only wanted to know one thing.
"Where is everypony?!" she bellowed at the grey stallion.
The held a hoof over his ear to try to tune out some of the mad mare's scream that reverberated off the stone walls then composed himself before he calmly answered.
"They left," he stated matter-of-factly.
"What do you mean they left?! I was gone for about five minutes!"
"And they all took off pretty much immediately after that."
"Didn't you think to stop them?!" she growled, glaring dangerously at him.
Despite the murderous look, he kept his cool.
"I'm not being paid to be a foalsitter. In fact, so far I haven't been paid at all," he remarked rather snidely.
"Oh for..." she groaned as she brought a hoof up to her face. "And here I thought Treasure Hunt was the Selfish one." She brought her hoof down and looked at him again. "Look I told you before, once this is all over you'll get plenty of riches. Heck you might even get your own country out the deal when you're one of the top stallions for the new Empress of the Night."
"I hear a lot of talk but I see no bits," Sledge snarked.
The silver maned mare growled then ignited her horn again and used her powers to push the bigger stallion against the wall.
"Or you could be grateful that I offered to pay you at all. I could just take over your mind and force you to do what I want," she threatened as she tighten her magical grip around him. "I can to do it too. There are plenty of spells in that book for just that reason."
"Okay, okay," Sledge choked out as he struggled against the blue tinged aura. "I'll stick with the original deal."
"Good," Dark Sky remarked casually as she let him go.
She barely acknowledged him catching his breath as she walked back over to where Luna was held captive. Once again her expression softened as she kneeled down to look her friend in the eyes.
"Don't worry Luna, this won't take long," she reassured her. "We'll have you back to your old self in no time."
"But I am my old self," Luna tried to convince her again. "It is you who needs to return to your old self. To the mare that was my friend. My only friend," she said with a soft sigh as she closed her eyes. "Who remained a nice, gentle pony even though life had been difficult to her. The pony who I should have tried to be like instead of listening to my own stupid, selfish needs."
"She was a fool," the unicorn growled. "She let other ponies push her around and torment her. She weak! She...she didn't deserve to be the friend of a princess," confessed, her eyes tearing up a bit.
"Yes she did," Luna replied in a comforting tone and tried to reach out to her friend but the energy bonds still held her back.
"No!" Dark Sky suddenly snapped, turning away from the bound Alicorn.
She closed her eyes to fight the tears back and when she opened them again light flash moved across her pupils.
"This is the only way," she reaffirmed in a more confident voice. "You'll see. This will all work out for the best."
With that she started to leave the room but stopped when she finally seemed to remember that Sledge was still in the room.
"Can I trust you to watch her?" she asked in a heavily snarky way.
Sledge let out a frustrated sigh but still nodded.
"I think I'll be okay," he replied with barely restrained annoyance.
"Good," Dark Sky nodded back but then quickly closed the distance between them. "But let me make one thing perfectly clear. You're just going to watch her. Do not touch her! Not even one hair on her head! If I come back and find anything different then so help me..." she threatened, making sure to poke him in the chest for emphasis.
"Alright, alright I got it!" the Earth pony snapped back.
"You better," the unicorn growled before she moved towards the door again.
"Sky please!" Luna pleaded once more. "I beg you not to do this! We can resolve this peacefully! I can help you! Let me help you! Please!"
Dark Sky ignored her friend's frantic pleads and continued to walk out of the chamber. She used her magic to close the door and once it was shut, she let out a deep sigh as her shoulders slumped.
"I told you Luna, I'm helping you," she said softly, almost regretfully. "I just wish you could see that."
She let out a deep exhale to rid herself of her unsure feelings and regain her strength so she could confront her "teammates".
"So I wonder just how much trouble they could get up to in such a short amount of time?" she asked herself idly as she started to climb the stairs to the upper chambers.
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
Her question was answered almost instantly when she reached the next level of the decrepit castle as she quickly found Stampede and Hammer bucking some of the smaller wall remnants. Or rather Stampede was doing the bucking while Hammer just watched from the sidelines and cheered her on.
"Yeah! You go girl!" the purple stallion called out as he waved on fore hoof in the air.
The black and scarred mare seemed to ignore his enthusiastic encouragement as she continued to kick over the last remaining bits of the wall. Once it was all knocked down, she let out a few tired huffs before she finally seemed to acknowledge Hammer's presence.
"Hey chunk-style, instead of standing there flapping your lips why don't you do something useful like throw some of those rocks my way?" she snapped at him, gesturing to some of the bits of rubble lying around with her right forehoof.
"Huh? What you mean these ones?" Hammer asked uncertainly, poking one of the rocks next to him. "Are you sure?"
"Course I am! Now shut your trap and DO IT!" she screamed.
He let out a high pitched squeal in surprise and involuntarily scooped up one of the bigger stones and threw it towards Stampede. Undeterred, the mad mare stood up on her hind legs and effortlessly knocked the bit of rubble out of the sky, smashing it to smaller pieces. When she came back down on all fours she actually seemed to smile a bit but of course it quickly faded.
"Not a bad start. Now quit playing around and launch one of those bigger pieces at me!" she ordered.
"Or you two could stop messing around and get back to chamber you were supposed to wait in!" Dark Sky growled, finally making her presence known.
"Oh goody, the bossy unicorn is back," Stampede snarled. "Get your princess friend to agree to come with you, did you?"
"Something like that," the mare responded flippantly. "Of course you would have seen that had you waited like you were supposed to!"
"You're not the boss of me," the earth pony muttered as she turned away from the unicorn.
"Actually, I'm exactly the boss of you," Dark Sky corrected.
"Uh...she kinda has a point," Hammer spoke up meekly.
"And just whose side are you on anyway?!" Stampede snapped at him.
The stallion sank down on his haunches as he looked nervously between the two strong willed mares. As his eyes darted back and fourth, his body began to shake uncontrollably and soon enough he brought his forehooves up to cover his head as he fell completely to the ruined floor.
"Please don't make me choose!" he begged.
"You won't have to," Dark Sky reassured him then looked back up at Stampede. "Just as long as both of you come along with me to get the others."
"Pfft! Whatever," Stampede grumbled as she kicked a rock away from her with her hind leg but nonetheless started to walk over to the dark blue mare.
Giving a quick sigh that the conflict as over, Hammer stood back up and followed closely behind the two mares as they went off in search of the rest of their unruly group.
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
Again the search wasn't too long as after only a short bit roaming the former castle grounds, they picked up on the sounds of somepony yelling. Upon following the ruckus they found Heartless hovering several feet off the ground and clutching something tightly in her forehooves. Though they couldn't quite make it out from their current position, whatever it was certainly held Treasure Hunt's attention as the orange Earth pony was frantically jumping up and down to get it from the Pegasus. Of course that didn't say much as it seemed everything held that pony's attention. But given her frantic wails and flailing this was much more important to her than anything she just found lying around. Which might actually be the whole point of this little exercise given how the very edges of Heartless' mouth were upturned very slightly to make a hint of a smile. The only hint that she was getting any kind of enjoyment out of what she was doing.
"Give it back Heartless!" Treasure Hunt cried out again as she jumped up towards the Pegasus once more. "Give it to me now!"
"No," the white winged pony replied in her usual soft, almost emotionless voice. "I've grown rather fond of it. Perhaps I shall keep it."
"NOOOOOO!" the Earth screamed in horror and her forehoof flailings become more erratic. "Gimme! Gimmie! Gimmie! It's mine! Mine! MIIIIINE!"
"Idiots," Stampede muttered irritable.
Though she didn't say anything, Dark Sky couldn't help but agree with the mad mare's assessment of the situation. Though she did try to hide her annoyance as she approached the pair.
"What are you two doing?"
She didn't do a very good job at it.
Regardless, Treasure Hunt seemed overjoyed when she saw the unicorn.
"Oh Sky! Good you're back!" she said as she trotted over to her. "Maybe you can talk some sense into her for me!"
"What exactly did she do anyway?" Dark Sky asked, glancing up at the still mostly blank faced Heartless.
"Well see, I was just looking around out here for stuff I could add to my collection and then that pesky Pegasus snuck up on me and took my precious lantern!" Treasure Hunt explained, glaring daggers up at her teammate.
Dark Sky let out a frustrated sigh that would make Stampede proud then looked up at the Pegasus.
"Heartless, why did you take her lantern?" she questioned.
"Because I was bored," Heartless answered matter-of-factly.
"Well could you give it back to her so we can get on with it?!"
"I...suppose..."
"Yes!" Treasure Hunt cheered happily.
Unfortunately, her happiness left almost instantly when instead of simply just handing the orange lantern over, Heartless slowly, agonizingly so for Treasure Hunt, held it out on one of her forehooves, letting it dangle there by the handle. The black maned Earth pony shrieked in annoyance and before she started her routine of jumping and flailing again.
Growing just as frustrated with the situation, Dark Sky rolled her eyes and in doing so caught a glimpse of the storm cloud that usually followed her around. She had been so busy and indoors enough lately that she had actually forgotten about it for awhile. Instead of letting it depress her like usual, she instead hit upon an idea on how to solve the problem before her in a timely manner. Closing her eyes and steadying her breath she focused on the cloud as she channeled her magic through her horn. Feeling the connection between her unicorn and Pegasus halves growing stronger, she reopened her eyes and concentrated on moving the cloud. Much to her delight it finally seemed to listen to her mental commands and with a satisfied smile on her face she ordered it to rush forward and knock into Heartless.
Which it did just that, roughly jolting the Pegasus to the side and causing her to loose her already tenuous hold on the lantern.
"My lantern!" Treasure Hunt shrieked as she watched her most precious possession fall to the ground.
She jumped forward with her front hooves outstretched and after a quick, and rather painful, slide on her stomach she managed to catch it safely.
"I got it!" she cheered then curled herself into a ball to clutch it as tightly as she could. "It's mine again! All mine! My precious."
"Yeah that's great," Dark Sky shrugged off. "Now pick yourself up and let's find Trixie and Crimson Streak and get this show on the road!"
"I'll still get more treasure for helping out, right?" Treasure Hunt asked.
"Yes. All you can carry and more!"
"Yay!" she cheered again then quickly picked herself and tucked the lantern back in her saddlebag before moving next to the unicorn.
Heartless landed near her as the Stampede and Hammer came up to her as well. Once she was sure they were all ready to follow her again she nodded then led them back into what remained of the castle to find the last two of their group.
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
Elsewhere inside the castle, in what used to be the Grand Library, Trixie walked amongst the dusty and rotted bookshelves. Or at least those that hadn't been completely ravaged by time and the elements. Unsurprisingly, those shelves that were still standing were completely barren. She knew it was a long shot but she had hoped there might have been something that was overlooked. A book, a scroll, even just a scrap of parchment. Something that might have given her the advantage over Twilight Sparkle when they meet up again so that she could humiliate her back. But there was nothing except emptiness and debris.
"Story of my life lately," she mumbled as she absent-mindedly kicked one of the half-worn bookshelves.
Much to her surprise the small nudge was enough to tip over that surprisingly unstable shelf and send it towards the ground with a thunderous crash. She jumped in surprise as the sound echoed off the ancient walls while splints and dust were sent into the air, causing her to have a small coughing fit.
"Well that was smooth," a voice in the darkness mocked her.
"What?! Who's there?!" Trixie asked, jumping up a bit in surprise.
"Don't worry, it's just me," Crimson Streak replied as she stepped out of the shadows.
"Oh," the blue unicorn remarked with a bit of a sigh. "So what are you doing here anyway?"
"I think the better question is, what are you doing here?" the crimson colored Pegasus asked back with a knowing smile.
"Trixie was merely exploring is all," she declared, slipping quickly into her stage persona.
"Uh huh," Crimson Streak nodded, unconvinced. "You know, for the 'Element of Dishonesty', you're not a very good liar."
"Trixie does not need to lie to likes of you! The Great and Powerful Trixie does not even need to acknowledge you at all!"
"And yet you're here talking to me. Funny that."
"Trixie is merely humoring you for her own amusement."
"Right, right, whatever you say," Crimson Streak nodded before she wrapped a foreleg around Trixie's shoulders and drew her in close to talk more conspiratorially with her. "Listen, Trix, we're both ponies who have a habit of...bending the truth. We're also not really ponies to let other ponies tell us what to do. So what do you say you and me make a pact? We play along with Dark Sky and her crazy idea until the opportunity arises for us to rise up and snatch power away from her. What do you say buddy? You and me? We could rule this kingdom together!"
Trixie's expression remained neutral as she slowly reached a hoof up to push Crimson Streak's hoof off her shoulder. She then took a few steps away from her all while keeping the unconvinced look on her face.
"And what reassurance does Trixie have that you won't betray her after we have betrayed Dark Sky and the others?" she asked.
"Um...my...good word?" the Pegasus replied back with a forced, friendly smile.
The unicorn stared at her some more.
"And you say Trixie is a bad lair," she scoffed as she up turned her nose and started to walk off.
Crimson Streak let out a slight huff of annoyance before she grinned again and trotted over to walk in line with Trixie.
"Okay, okay, fair point. But here, how about this? What if you and I-"
"So there you two are!" Dark Sky's voice rang out through the old library, cutting off the mare's suggestion.
She looked around as she walked up to them, truly taking in the dilapidation of the room that she had missed on her hasty stop off she had when she first broke out of her stone prison. A quick wave of nostalgia and sadness washed over her as she remembered the great times she and Luna had in here over a millennium ago. She was only brought out of her slight daze by a blur of movement out of the corner of her eye. When she looked back at the two mares before her she saw Crimson Streak had moved away from Trixie and had a rather guilty look on her face.
"What were you two doing in here exactly?" she asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.
"Me? Nothing! Nothing at all! Just taking in the sights is all," the red Pegasus answered a bit too quickly.
"Trixie was merely stretching her legs until you came back," the blue unicorn explained, sounding much more convincing.
Of course, Dark Sky wasn't convinced given the Elements the two represented. Unfortunately she didn't have the time to properly deal with them now but it was definitely something she would have to come back to in the future. Once everything was all said and done of course.
"Fine," she finally replied rather flatly. "Just come with me. Now that we're all back together and Luna is downstairs in the summoning chamber we can finally begin my true plan. And woe be it to any mare foolish enough to try to stop me."
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
Here we are, Born to be kings,
We're the princes of the universe
Deep inside the Everfree Forest, the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony walked side-by-side through the treacherous terrain. They wore grim expressions as they each mentally prepared themselves for the battle to come.
Here we belong, Fighting to survive,
In a world with the darkest powers
They steeled their nerves as they thought of the possible outcomes. Sadly, given what they now knew, even a victory didn't even mean a win. At least not for them personally. But they all knew this was bigger than them and that thought pressed them onward.
And here we are, We're the princes of the universe,
Here we belong, Fighting for survival
Still all of what could go wrong lingered in the back of their minds. Though they hoped for the best but were ready for the worst. It weighed heavily on them and put them in a somber state of reflection as they marched on.
Well, most of them anyway...
We've come to be the rulers of your world,
I am immortal, I have inside me blood of kings
"Pinkie, what the hay are you singin' now?!" Applejack asked in exasperation, surprised even she could still be jolly in the face of everything.
Pinkie, for her part, stopped mid-verse then arched an eyebrow in thought for a moment.
"Oh I don't know!" she replied, her usual wide grin reappearing. "It was just something that came to me and felt right!"
"Yeah but it's even weirder than your usual songs," Rainbow Dash remarked. "'We're the princes of the universe'? What does that even mean?!"
"Also we should be princesses of the universe," Rarity pointed out.
"Except that we're here to save a princess! Not be princesses!" Twilight spoke up, bringing them all back to the matter at hoof.
"We know sugar cube, we know. And most of us are focused on that fact," Applejack reassured her, sending a knowing glance Pinkie's way.
"Oh Applejack!" the pink mare giggled. "You can sing and still be focused. Thinking otherwise is just silly." Her eyes suddenly beamed even brighter. "Oh! That just made me think of another song!"
"Should Ah be scared?" Applejack whispered to Rarity.
"Probably," the white unicorn replied.
"Who's a silly pony?
You is!
Who is?
Applejack!
Bumping into gates and knocking over fences!
Who is?
You is!
Applejack!" Pinkie sang cheerfully as she bounced forward.
"Now wait just one dog gone minute there Pinkie Pie!" the cowpony snapped as she moved to stand in front of her, causing her and the rest of the group to stop. "Now Ah don't have a problem with your songs, heck some of them are even a might catchy, but Ah won't stand by idle while ya make one that makes me look some bumblin' fool."
"Well there was that one time..." Rainbow Dash began.
"Ifinna ya mean the time Ah tried to help you with your stunts, you know Ah was overworked and tired. Otherwise ya'll know Ah am not like that!" she insisted with a hard stamp of her hoof on the ground.
Unfortunately, that ground happened to be unstable and enough of it gave way beneath her to trip her up and send her rolling down the side of the hill they had all been standing on. The world turned into a spinning mass of blotchy shapes and colors until she quickly, and rather roughly, landed at the bottom of the small valley.
"Applejack!" Rarity called out in terror.
"Hey AJ are you okay?!" Rainbow Dash called out in concern as well.
"Ah...Ah'm just...fine. Just...a little...dizzy," the blonde mare replied as she tried to get her eyes to stop spinning like the rest of her body.
"You sure you okay?! Nothing broken or anything?!"
"No, no Ah don't think so!" she called back, bending her front and hind legs just to be sure. "Nah Ah seem to be fine!"
"Oh. Good! Then...ahahahahahahaha!" Rainbow Dash cackled, falling onto her back and rolling side-to-side.
"Gee thanks RD, now Ah feel..." she stopped mid sentence when she happened to catch a glimpse of something in front of her. "Hey ya'll get done here! Ah think Ah found something!"
"What is it?!" Twilight called out.
"Just come down and see!"
The others looked at each other before then shrugged and Rainbow Dash took the air and grabbed Twilight to carry her down the hill while Fluttershy did the same for Rarity. Pinkie, of course, chose to follow Applejack's lead and rolled down the hill, giggling happily as she did so. Once they were all at the bottom they moved next to Applejack to see what she had discovered. It turned out to be a tunnel carved through the mountain. A very old tunnel from the looks of it.
"Where do you think it goes?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Probably to someplace scary. So we, uh, we shouldn't go through it and just keep going the way we were going," Fluttershy advised in a slightly frightened tone.
"So where do you think it goes?" Applejack asked Twilight.
"I...don't know..." the purple unicorn asked half-heartedly as she stared intensely at the tunnel.
"What is it darling?" Rarity asked as well, interested in her friend's sudden fascination with this new find.
"Again I don't know but...I just have this feeling," Twilight responded as she slowly started to walk forward.
"You're not actually going in there are you?!" Fluttershy cried out in horror.
"You girls can go on the other way if you like but...something's telling me to go this way," she muttered. "So I'm going to follow my instinct and see where this path goes."
"Then we're going with you!" Rainbow Dash said proudly.
"We are?" Fluttershy squeaked.
"Well of course! You're not about to let your friend wander off into a dark, scary cave alone are you?"
"I..." the yellow Pegasus stammered as her eyes darted around in panic a bit. She then closed them and steadied herself. When she reopened them there was a surprising look of determination in them. "No. No I'm not."
"That's the spirit!" Rainbow Dash cheered, giving her an encouraging pat on the back.
"Yay! Adventure!" Pinkie cheered again as she bounced forward towards Twilight. "And Twilight's starting to use her Twilight sense!"
"What?! I don't have a 'Twilight sense'. I just have a...a...feeling!" she defended herself.
"That's how it staa-arts!" Pinkie nearly sang as she trotted into the tunnel.
The others followed suit but quickly found out what little light did shine in the Everfree Forest didn't go too far into the tunnel itself. Twilight and Rarity were quick to light up their horns to use as impromptu torches. Which quickly revealed real torches set into the walls.
"Where's Firestar when you need her?" Twilight mumbled half jokingly.
"Who?" Rarity asked.
"Oh that's right. I didn't get to actually tell you the names of the original Element bearers. Well you see..."
"Uh Twilight, look I'm sure we would all like to know about the ponies who came before us, but do you think you could hold off story time until after we're done with the mission?" Rainbow Dash remarked.
"Oh. Right," the unicorn replied with a slightly nervous giggle. "Sorry I just got caught up in the idea of telling another interesting story."
"Yeah I know but we got more pressing matters like you said."
Twilight nodded then started to walk forward, using the light of her horn to guide the rest while Rarity hung back near Applejack to even out the light for the group as a whole. They were quiet as they walked along with only the sounds of their hooves gently hitting the soft dirt floor beneath them filling the chamber. Even Pinkie seemed a little more reserved as she kept to merely humming her songs rather than flat out singing as before. After a few more feet of silence, Rainbow Dash finally spoke softly to Twilight who she had fallen in step with.
"You know, as geeky as almost launching into the story was, it was nice to see the old Twilight again," she said.
"Uh...thank you?" Twilight replied unsurely.
"Look I'm just trying to say you haven't really been yourself since this whole thing started. I know you're stressed about it, we all are, but you can't let it overwhelm you. Otherwise you'll freeze up at a crucial moment. Remember how scared I was of messing up my Sonic Rainboom as the Young Flyers Contest?"
"As I recall you were so scared you actually traded places with ponies behind you in line."
"Yeah and when have you ever known me to do that?!"
"Never," Twilight giggled.
"Which is the point I want to make. I know you want to save Princess Luna and that you're worried what might happen but you can't be too worried about it. You just gotta be worried enough to keep your head in the game but not enough to psych yourself out. You get it?"
"I think I do," the unicorn nodded. "Thanks Rainbow."
"Hey what are cool, fearless friends for?" Rainbow Dash remarked with a boastful grin.
"I thought they were for borrowing your books and taking their sweet time to return them," Twilight countered with a grin.
"Hey! I've just been busy! I'll get through that Daring Doo book eventually! I've...just been busy."
"Suuuure..."
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
Inside the summoning chamber, Luna lied almost helplessly on the floor. There really wasn't much else she could do. At least not physically. It seemed the more she struggled the stronger the magical bonds holding her became. Which she was sure was the point of the spell given who cast it. Sky always was one to carefully craft her spells. So with physical escape nearly impossible at the moment she decided to go a different route and focused on the tall, grey stallion watching over her.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked, gaining his full attention.
"Because Dark Sky told me to," Sledge answered flatly.
"I meant why are you helping her?"
"Well aside from the part where she threatened me, she also promised me a rather big payday when this is all said and done."
"And do you truly think she'll honor that agreement?" Luna asked pointedly. "Do you think Nightmare Moon will?"
Sledge shrugged nonchalantly. "Too late to worry about it now. Besides, from what I've heard Nightmare Moon wants followers, right? Do you think she'll care if she has to pay for one?"
"You don't know her like I do," the night princess said sorrowfully.
"I'm sure. But again I'm only here for one thing," he reminded her.
"So then are you the Element of Greed?"
"Nope. That's Treasure Hunt. And she's supposed to be the Element of Selfishness though she is more greedy than selfish," he mused with a light tap of his chin.
"The two are often interchangeable and never endearing," Luna practically admonished him.
"Yeah well I never said I was a perfect pony," Sledge shrugged off once again. "And if you're trying to trick me into letting you go then you're wasting your time. I wouldn't even know how to break the spell."
"Not that he could even if he did," Dark Sky's voice remarked.
Sledge jumped in surprise as he looked towards the doorway along with Luna to find Dark Sky leading the other Elements of Discord and Hammer into the room. She cast an annoyed look towards Sledge but quickly turned her focus to Luna to whom she gave a more frustrated and hurt look.
"You still don't get it, do you?" she asked, her voice quivering with mixed emotions. "If I do this we can be happy! Together..."
"We can be together without you defiling my soul," Luna shot back, own emotions somewhere between anger and sorrow. "Why can't you see that no good will come from reawakening that monster?"
"Because...because..." Dark Sky faltered as she struggled to think of a reason. Her eyes began to soften for just a second before they flashed once more and narrowed again. "Because this is just the way it has be! You'll see...one day you'll thank me for this!"
"And one day you'll see what a mistake this is. But no matter what happens I want you to know that I already forgive you. It is not your fault," Luna sighed as she closed her eyes and laid her head back down on the floor as if accepting her fate.
Dark Sky stared at her for a second longer before she finally started move towards the podium which held the book containing the spell that she used all those years ago. Though of course now she would need to alter it slightly but she was sure she had already figured that out
"Alright everypony, take your places," she instructed the others.
"What places?" Treasure Hunt asked.
"For the spell to work."
"Do we need to stand anywhere in particular?" Trixie questioned.
"Just stand by the marking of your Element," Dark Sky clarified, starting to grow frustrated.
"And what exactly are our stupid Element's markings?" Stampede growled.
Dark Sky then let out growl of her own as she slammed her face down on the book in annoyance. She then pulled herself out of it then stepped down and showed them all where to stand in the circle around the captured princess. Once that was settled she moved back to the podium and checked over the spell again.
"Alright. Now, let's begin..." she declared.
"Oh! Wait, I-" Treasure Hunt started.
"We're beginning!" Dark Sky snapped, quickly silencing the mare and cutting off any other interruptions the others might have been pondering. "Good. Now then..."
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
Not too far from the abandoned castle, the bearers of the original six Elements continued to make their way through the surprisingly long and well built tunnel. Their trek came to an abrupt stop, however, when the tunnel suddenly opened up into a rather large abyss.
"Whoa!" Twilight called out, grinding to a halt just before the edge. "Looks like the end of the line."
"So where exactly are we?" Applejack asked, trying to peek over her shoulder to get a better look at their surroundings.
"I'm not really sure," the unicorn confessed.
"Wait..." Rainbow Dash muttered before she jumped out of the hole and used her wings to carry her upwards.
She also used them to clear away from the heavy fog that seemed to permeate the area and when she did she could see about a yard above them an old, rickety bridge swinging lightly in the wind.
"Hey! That's the bridge from the first time we came here!" she called out. "We're almost to the castle!"
"How the heck did we end up here?" Applejack asked, scratching her head a bit in confusion.
"This must have been an old escape tunnel from the original castle," Twilight reasoned.
"An escape tunnel? Why ever would they need that? Or why would either of the princesses or any member of nobility want to go through these ghastly tunnel?" Rarity asked, completely appalled at the idea
"Well it's not like this was their first choice," Twilight pointed out. "Usually tunnels like this are only used when important heads of state or royals need to get away from an invading force undetected."
"That's great and all, but why exactly does it lead into a cliff side?" Applejack asked.
"Obviously this was built before the accident that created this chasm. They also must have built that bridge to move out of the forest when they decided to resettle," the purple unicorn mused as she gently tapped her chin. "And if this was all one piece at one time then..."
She let the sentence trail off as she stared out into the abyss and squinted her eyes to look past the fog. Though it was barely visible she could make out a matching hole in the other mountain across the way.
"Ha! I knew it!" she cheered then looked up at her friend. "Hey Rainbow Dash, then you can give us a hoof?! Or rather a wing?"
The blue Pegasus smirked as she immediately picked up on the other mare's meaning.
"You got it!" she said happily.
She then zoomed down to the level of the opening and began to flap her wing vigorously to sweep away the fog to reveal the second opening to the others.
"There we go!" Twilight smiled.
"So...um...how are we all going to get across?" Fluttershy peeped.
"Well you can take Pinkie while Rainbow takes Applejack then you can come back for Rarity and I," Twilight instructed.
"Pardon my intrusion darling but couldn't you just teleport us over to the other side?" Rarity asked her friend.
"I...I don't know. I might be able to but I've never done that with another pony before," she explained hastily. "Any number of things go could wrong. I could miscalculate the distance and sending us both to our deaths! Or there could be some horrible mix up when we reappear and it could merge us together as some horribly monstrosity!"
Despite her newfound reservations on the idea, Rarity merely brushed them off and put a comforting hoof on Twilight's shoulder.
"They could happen but they won't," she reassured her friend. "Because I believe in you."
Twilight's eyes watered a bit from how touched she felt by the other unicorn's trust in her but she quickly recovered and merely nodded in response. Soon enough they were enacting her plan with Rainbow Dash picking Applejack up and effortlessly and flying her across the pit. The same couldn't be said for Fluttershy though, who almost seemed like she was going to drop Pinkie until the Earth pony deployed some of her trademark balloons from her seemingly bottomless saddlebag that helped to even out the load. Once the other four were safely across, Twilight motioned for all of them to move back then looked over to Rarity. They each shared a confirming look before the unicorn's embraced each other and then disappeared in a flash. They reappeared in the other side of the tunnel just in front of their friends with only a slightly woozy feeling.
"Woof. Well...that went...well. I suppose," Rarity remarked, her head still spinning a bit.
"I told you hadn't done it with any other pony before," Twilight explained as she shook the daze from her own head.
"Apparently so," the white unicorn mumbled as she leaned against Applejack for support.
"Well now that we're all here, let's get going!" Rainbow Dash said impatiently, moving somewhat ahead of the others.
The rest nodded and quickly followed in her hoofsteps, though it wasn't long before Twilight took the lead again to light the way. This time their walk didn't take nearly as long as soon enough they came upon a set of stairs leading up to some kind of door.
"Hey, where do these stairs go?" Rainbow Dash asked Twilight.
Twilight glanced at them for a second before looking back at the Pegasus.
"They go up," she deadpanned before she ascended the stairs.
When she reached the door she pushed on it to get it to open but it wouldn't budge. She tried a few more times and nothing.
"I think it's stuck," she grunted as she continued to try to force the door open.
"Let me try sugar cube," Applejack offered.
The two switched places and Applejack turned around then braced herself against the well-worn stairs before she kicked the door with her hind legs. It moved a little more than it did for Twilight but otherwise stayed put. Growling, the Earth pony tried again and this time the door started to give way. With one more thunderous kick, it finally gave in and flew open, flipping out to crash into the other side of wherever it led.
That turned out to be the floor of the castle where the door had been disguised as just another brick. The six mares climbed out of the tiny opening and looked around at their new surroundings. Or rather their rather old surroundings. The castle was much as they remembered it from the last time; cold, damp and run down. Certainly a place they would never choose to go if they didn't have important business there.
"So which way do we go now?" Fluttershy wondered, not really enthused to go anywhere but knowing they would have to sooner or later.
"I don't..." Twilight started but then stopped when she noticed a bright flash coming from behind one of the ancient wooden doors. "There!"
They ran towards the door and once again Applejack used her impressively powerful legs to break the door in which gave away much easier than the trap door. When they piled into the room they where shocked by the sight before them. There, in the center of the room, suspended by some magical aura coming from six other mares was Princess Luna. She looked to be in some kind of trance or at least completely out of it as the magical field around her pulsated around her body. Though their sudden break in didn't seem to interrupt the process it certainly didn't go unnoticed.
"YOU!" Trixie growled, focusing her heated glare squarely on Twilight.
"Do not break the circle!" Dark Sky instructed. "They can't stop us now!"
"The heck we can't!" Twilight declared vehemently.
"No...you...can't..." Luna corrected her in an ethereal voice. "For...once...again..."
The glow around her suddenly intensified to the point where it was blinding. There was one last surge of energy before it seemed to erupt and force all those around her back. The air seemed still and silent for just a moment afterwards as all the ponies present recovered from the wave. Once they were able to open their eyes again they stood in awe, either happy or horrified, at the darkly majestic figure now standing before them.
"Nightmare Moon lives!" the Empress of the Night proudly decreed before breaking into a fit of maniacally laughter.
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: Well another season down and another chapter with it as well. In fact this is the second year anniversary of the fic here. Which makes this chapter's ending all the more fitting as an anniversary "event" type thing. Of course it was always going to lead here but the timing works out well enough. More or less depending on when this actually gets posted.
But for now Nightmare Moon is back! How will our heroines deal with her return? What part will the Elements of Discord play into the events about to unfold now? Will there be a massive take down battle between the two groups? Will darkness reign eternal throughout Equestria? Will I ever be able to make these updates on more timely manner again? Will anyone get the reference in the chapter title? Will anyone get this reference I'm making now?! Find out next time! Same pony time! Same pony channel!
P.S. or maybe that should be post edit. Anyway I remember something I forgot to mention above. Mostly because I finished this up at 2:00am and was literally fighting off sleep to get it completed. Anyway, the bit with Pinkie singing Queen's "Princes of the Universe". I did that becasue the way the scene played out in my mind, the soundtrack would be playing that song as the Mane 6 walked all badass in a line through the Everfree Forest and it was just too good to NOT put it in there. But of course it would seem a rather out of place as I don't have any other songs in this so far and didn't want it to become a song fit out of nowhere. Plus how do you fit a human song into a pony world without it's being too awkward. Answer? Pinkie Pie of course! Her randomly singing isn't out of place cause that's what she does and as for how she knows that song? Well...she's Pinkie. That's all the answer you need.