She would have liked to think that she could handle this without the
Elements, but she was no foal. She had only fought the Shadow tainted Alicorn
to a standstill and that had been, relatively, rested. The next time that they
met Nightmare Moon would have an advantage. They were going to her, rather than
the other way around and the Alicorn formerly known as Luna would be well
rested while Twilight was not even sure she could transform herself again. She
needed them, needed the boost they would give her and anyone who went with her,
if they were going to survive until dawn.
Not that Twilight had any idea of how to bring the sun back if
defeating Nightmare Moon did not bring Celestia back. She did not know what had
happened to her mentor to prevent her from being there in Ponyville when they
had needed her, but she knew the Princess would never have abandoned her ponies
when they needed her the most, so Nightmare Moon had to have done something to
her. It was just another question to add to her expanding list for the next
time she ran into the Alicorn.
“Ah ha!” She crowed as she found what she was looking for. The book
was a lot more informative than anything she had in her personal library back
in Canterlot and as the other ponies gathered around, she started reading out
the section that had caused her to cheer, “The marble forms of the first five
Elements of Harmony, Laughter, Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity and Kindness, were
placed on a statue in the courtyard of the destroyed palace while the sixth was
never recalled but when asked, the Princess said that when a ‘spark’ is applied
to the other Elements, then it will appear. Several scholars have researched
what she could mean, while others have tried to ask Princess Celestia for
answers, but none have been forthcoming.”
So we get to this statue, apply this ‘spark’ whatever that is, and
kick Nightmare Moon’s rump. What’re we waiting for?” Rainbow Dash sounded sure
of the outcome and Twilight wished she could have as much confidence as her.
There was just so much that could go wrong.
“Uhhh, Twilight?” Spike asked, his nervous tone making the purple
unicorn in question worried. She turned to look at the baby dragon, only to
find that the horrid purple and black mist from before was seeping into the
tree from underneath the door. “What is that stuff?”
“I don’t know.”Twilight admitted, though she hated to do so, “But I
think it’s the Shadows.”
“The shadows? Rarity asked, confused.
“I hate to say it sugar cube,” Applejack pitched in, backing up from
the mist, “But these don’t look like any shadows I’ve ever seen.”
“I’ll explain on the way.” Twilight promised as she bolted for the
door, opening it to find that the dark energy was not just spreading through
her home. The mist was spreading out across Ponyville and beyond. Whatever
Nightmare Moon was up to in the depths of the Everfree was sending the dark
magic outwards across Equestria. Twilight did not know what she was up to, but
she was pretty sure that they were out of time to find out. “Spike, stay here,
please?” The unicorn asked her charge as she got halfway out of the door.
“But...” Spike started as Twilight half turned to look at him, “I
can help.”
Twilight was reminded how she had felt yesterday when she had
realised that the Princess was sending her away. She had not really felt like
Celestia had faith in her until she had read the letter this morning. She did
not want to leave Spike feeling the same way, “It’s not because I don’t think
you can help. If my brother comes, he’ll need someone to tell him what’s
happened and where we’ve gone. Plus I have an important job for you.”
“Oh?” Spike straightened his back at that, ready to receive orders
and not wanting to let Twilight down.
“I need you to go to the mayor and give her all the help you can.
She might need to send messages to other towns and warn them, or she might have
other jobs you can do.” Twilight informed him, “Think you can do that for me?”
“Yes but...” He hugged her leg for a moment and then let go, “Be
careful.”
“I will.” Twilight promised him, hugging him with her other foreleg.
He looked at her for a moment as if trying to work out how honest she was
being, then nodded and scurried away. His friend let out a relieved sigh as she
watched him go and then dashed away herself, only stopping when she reached the
edge of the Everfree Forest.
From what she could see of the deep, dark woods, the Everfree was
full of gnarled and twisted free with long, warped roots and low hanging,
jagged branches. Very little light from the stars above passed through the
thick, dark leaved foliage, leaving the forest beneath dark and difficult to
see through and the roiling mist wasn’t helping.
“Deep breath, Twilight.” The unicorn told herself as she stepped
forward, putting her hoof into the shadow cast by the huge, creepy old trees,
“You can do this.”
“Can you?” Twilight froze momentarily at the sound of someone speaking
from above her, surprise making her react too slowly to the voice. The speaker
swooped out of the trees and sent her tumbling to the ground at the feet of
Applejack and Rainbow Dash, both of whom had come up behind her.
The dazed student looked up at what had hit her, only to see a form
in the darkness, It was an odd, almost copy of Nightmare Moon. Close to fool a
casual observer but different enough that Twilight could see straight away that
it was not her. The thing in the Shadows was a stallion for a start, but not
like she knew one. It was more a beast of darkness, literally. It had the
rough, basic shape of a unicorn stallion, not much different in form in fact
from Sir Art Nouveau. However it looked like it was made of the same thing as
the mist and parts of its ‘coat’ of solid purple and black rolled off of it and
either vanished into the ether or joined that which was already coating the
ground.
“You think you can traverse my forest, little Princess?” The
stallion of darkness smirked at her, speaking with Nightmare Moon’s voice as it
bared its sharp incisors and took a threatening snap at the group, “And win my
game?”
“Game?” Twilight frowned as she got to her feet, glaring at the
shadow born stallion. This had to be a trick, she was certain of it, “What kind
of game?” She demanded as she stepped into the thicker mists beneath the trees
and faced down the creepy, ghoulish pony.
The stallion’s smirk grew at that, causing Twilight to realise that
she was being reeled in. “There are five tasks. Just five simple things for you
to overcome. If you pass, you can get to me and I might even let you see your
precious Princess Celestia again. If you lose, however,” The thing, for it no
longer looked like a stallion as it moved, its shape contorting and extending
far beyond what it should. It shredded more of its coat of Shadows and loosed a
dark and amused chuckle as its face stopped in front of the Guardian of Shadows
and they locked eyes. “But if you lose, you will lose much more than just your
chance to bring back the sun, little pony.”
“I’m not afraid of you.” Twilight lied, refusing to back down from
both the creature before her and the one hiding behind of it, “Come out and
face me.”
“I don’t think so. Why make this easy? Besides the game has already
begun.” The formerly pony shaped monster started dissolving into wisps, “You
accepted my challenge the moment you stepped under the trees and into my
domain. And so did they.”
“What?” Twilight gasped, glancing over her shoulder to find the
other ponies had already joined her under the trees.
“If you lose, little Princess,” The creature whispered as it faded
to almost nothing, “You and your little friends will never make it out of the
Everfree alive. My Shadows will devour your souls.”
“You guys should go...” Twilight tried to push Applejack back, only
to find that when the earth pony filly reached the edge of the trees, an
invisible wall flared up. It shimmered with a purple light for a few
milliseconds and prevented the pony from leaving the forest.
“Too late, little Princess.” The air itself seemed to shake with the
dark cackle that followed, “The game has begun. The only way out now is
victory. For any of you.” The voice got quieter and quieter as it vanished
further into the forest, “Good luck, little Princess, you’ll need it...”
“What the hey was that about?” Applejack demanded of Twilight as she
turned to look at the unicorn, “I thought you wanted our help?”
“I do but...” Twilight trembled slightly as she realised they were
trapped and she did not know what they were supposed to do to get back out
again. ‘Victory’ was such a poorly defined concept when they did not know what
the rules were for each task, or what would count as cheating, she did not know
enough to be comfortable in leading the other ponies into danger. At least when
they had agreed to come with her she had had some idea of what was going on and
what to expect. Now there was an entire game to worry about with poorly defined
rules and a huge ultimatum hanging over their heads.
“Hey, at least if we win we get to see Princess Celestia.” Rainbow
Dash offered with a grin, “And really, five little tasks? How hard can it be?”
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