Past Sins
By Pen Stroke
Assisted By Batty Gloom
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Chapter 18
A Mare Against Monsters
====

The castle, which once bustled with ponies going about their work, now stood silently in the gem quarries outside Ponyville. Wind whistled through the empty halls, flitted through the windows, and, at times, made it sound like the old castle was singing some sad, lonesome, wordless chorus in an attempt to draw back the ponies who had once given it purpose.

Only one soul remained within the stone walls, a single resident who continued to haunt the halls like a restless spirit. At the moment, Nightmare Moon sat still in her throne like a statue, looking out across her empty throne room.

It had been one week of silence and solitude. One week since she had freed the Children of Nightmare and removed the cursed blessing that Nexus had infected them with. One week where she had barely tended to her own needs. She had eaten and slept, but had done little else. Her coat needed washing, her eyeshadow had faded and needed to be reapplied, and her armor had grown dull without its usual polish.

A chiming clock in a distant hall alerted Nightmare Moon to the hour, and, without moving a hoof or feather, she called on her magic. Her horn glowed, and the sky began to mark the age old progression from night to day. The moon set, the sky lightened, the stars faded, and the sun began its flight into the heavens.

The sun’s light filtered through the broken windows to fall on Nightmare Moon’s coat, and its warmth filled the throne room. A beautiful day was dawning over Equestria, but Nightmare Moon took little notice of it. She was numb to the world, trapped in her own mind.

Shutting her eyes, Nightmare Moon thought back to that moment when the deed had been done. She had gathered all the Children of Nightmare in her castle courtyard, even Spell Nexus. While the worst of his infection had been destroyed, enough still lingered to make him like any other cultist: blindly obedient and loving. Still, his continued loyalty served a purpose. She had him gather all the others, and, when she was sure every cultist and blessed pony was accounted for, she acted to remove the blessing.

She spoke to them, told them that they were going to receive a blessing like they had never felt, and, once they closed their eyes, she let her mane engulf them. She put them to sleep just as she had done to Spell Nexus. Then, once they were no longer conscious, she let her mane phase through their bodies to attack their infections. It had taken time, but she removed every blessing. Some infections were worse than others, and some infections fought back. In the end, however, she freed every pony.

Afterwards, she undid the spell that had been keeping them asleep, and, for a time thereafter, they all just lay there as if dead.

Then some began to rise, to open their eyes and look around. Nightmare Moon had smiled at the first signs of movement. The ocean of turquoise that had looked at her before was now a rainbow of colors. Browns, yellows, pinks, blues, greens, grays, ambers, magentas… but no other eyes matched hers. She alone had the turquoise irises.

The Children of Nightmare were bewildered. Some didn’t know where they were or how they had gotten there, but their memories began to flow back. One by one they remembered, and soon they were all staring at her, fear and resentment dancing in their eyes.

Nightmare Moon met those gazes for a time, but then turned her back to the crowd and offered a few words with a voice that was strong but not threatening. “I have returned to you ponies your freedom. Those who wish to stay may stay, and those who wish to leave may leave. I will hold no ill will against those who want to go back to their friends and family.”

After making her proclamation, Nightmare Moon used her magic to open the castle gates. She then just sat there and listened. She began to hear hooves moving against the ground and wings flapping in the air. She heard the sounds of ponies leaving, not just a few at a time but in droves. She sat and listened until all was silent again, and only then did Nightmare Moon dare look to see who had remained.

As she had expected, there was nopony left. Not a soul had remained… but what sensible pony would want to stay to serve a tyrant and a monster?

It all ended with Nightmare Moon turning to the one pony who had remained, the one pony she had called to be a witness to what she had done. She had summoned the Mayor of Ponyville to the castle, and, now that she had freed the Children of Nightmare, she gave the mayor a written message and instructions on what was to be done with it. After that, Nightmare Moon slipped into her now empty castle and shut the doors behind her.

It was just another painful memory to join Nightmare Moon’s growing collection. She felt a single tear stream down her cheek as she cracked open her eyes, looking across the room with a half-open gaze.

She had been such a fool.

Even if she would forever be remembered as Nightmare Moon, she was done. She would no longer be queen and would only serve Equestria as the one who raised and lowered the sun and moon. She knew it would be better if she just released the Royal Sisters and resigned herself to their judgment. Equestria would be better off with the sisters back and her gone.

For all she had done, Nightmare Moon knew what she deserved. She deserved to be sent to the moon, perhaps never to be free again. On more than one occasion she had begun to undo the spells that held Celestia and Luna captive. She had tried to free them. She had tried to find the courage to accept the consequences for what she had done. She had tried to fix her last remaining mistake.

She couldn’t do it.

She had been trapped within the moon for a thousand years, trapped in cold loneliness. When the sisters were freed, she would be banished to the moon once more, but this time it would be so much worse. She would not have her hatred to distract her, and the chill of solitude would sting far worse. Her happy memories, which carried with them warmth and laughter, would burn like salt in an open wound. They would taunt her with the life she had so foolishly thrown away.

The worst part was that, if she was ever able to return from the moon, she would return to a world where she knew nopony except the Royal Sisters. She would never be able to see her friends again, never again be able to embrace Twilight. She would be alone, and she would still be hated. Maybe… that was what she deserved.

But she didn’t want to go back to the moon.

Nightmare Moon ruminated on her own weakness, only to be drawn out of the vicious cycle of emotions and thoughts. Her keen hearing picked up on distant hoofsteps, a single echoing sound amid the castle’s painful silence. They were drawing closer, and, from the sound of the hoofsteps, it sounded like the pony was running.

Nightmare Moon did not linger to meet the pony. Instead, she became a cloud and drifted up to the ceiling. She hid amongst the glinting gems that elegantly depicted the nighttime sky and waited for the pony she expected to see.

Every morning since the Children of Nightmare had been freed, Twilight Sparkle had come to the castle. She would call out for Nyx and wander the halls for hours. She would only give up in the early afternoon when her empty stomach forced her to retreat back to Ponyville.

Nightmare Moon yearned to answer Twilight’s calls, but her guilt was too great. She could not face Twilight, not when it was her magic keeping Celestia and Luna trapped in the sun and moon. It was better if Twilight just forgot about her, and that was why Nightmare Moon hid. Twilight was searching for Nyx, but Nightmare Moon knew there was no Nyx to be found.

The hinges of the throne room doors creaked as they opened, and the sound of hoofsteps echoed across the interior of the throne room. Nightmare Moon expected it to be like the previous mornings. Twilight would arrive and start calling out to her. Yet when the owner of the hoofsteps called out, it wasn’t Twilight’s voice Nightmare Moon heard. It was far different, a smoother voice that spoke in rhyme. When Nightmare Moon dared to look, she saw it was no pony who had come looking for her, but instead a zebra.

“Where in these halls do you hide, Nightmare Moon?” Zecora shouted. “I must speak to you about impending doom.”

Nightmare Moon debated answering Zecora’s call for a moment. Twilight might have become sneakier and sent another pony in her place. Zecora, however, seemed honestly worried. So Nightmare Moon called on a little spell that would make it seem her voice was coming from everywhere in the room at the same time. That way, Zecora wouldn’t know where she was hiding.

“What is it?”

“Restlessness grows in the forest Everfree, the monsters are moving amongst its trees. Their hungry bellies groan and grumble. They march this way, making the ground rumble. I was forced to flee their advance, but I fear Ponyville has no chance.”

“The monsters are leaving the Everfree Forest?” Nightmare Moon echoed, making sure she had understood Zecora’s rhymes.

“That is what I said, it is the utter truth; the beasts come to sate their pony sweet tooth.”

Realizing that Zecora was dead serious about the threat, Nightmare Moon rematerialized her normal body right where she was in the air. She dropped down, landing with a thud against the throne room floor. Zecora jumped, but recovered quickly from Nightmare Moon’s sudden appearance.

“Why would they leave the Everfree Forest now?” Nightmare Moon asked.

“The monsters remained amongst the trees in fear, hidden from the princess of day’s celestial sphere. But now Celestia has been away far too long, the lingering scent of her magic is no longer strong. The monsters see their chance now that she is gone. They seek to rampage with their hunger and brawn.”

Nightmare Moon lowered her gaze, cursing to herself quietly. Just another thing she had done to cause pain to the ponies. Equestria would have been better off if she had never been resurrected. It would be safe, and she wouldn’t have to deal with the painful guilt that twisted in her chest.

“I’m sorry; this is my fault.”

“I did not come to watch you wallow, Nightmare Moon, nor to pour verbal salt in your still fresh wound,” Zecora said firmly. “I came here to speak and persuade, to ask our once dark queen for her aid.”

Nightmare Moon turned away from Zecora and began to walk back to her throne. “What do you expect me to do? I am Nightmare Moon. I don’t fight against monsters; I am one.”

Zecora ran around to Nightmare Moon’s side. Despite the difference in stature, Zecora stood firm and spoke with a scolding tone. “You are a crying child, and that is putting it mild.”

Nightmare Moon arched her head back like she had just been slapped in the face. Did Zecora just call her a crybaby? Nightmare Moon wasn’t sure, but she furrowed her eyebrows all the same. “Do I look like a filly to you?”

“You can say ‘neigh’ all day and can protest what I say. But you act like a filly who wet the bed. You have done everything to hide your head. You brought back the sun and freed your cult, but that does not make you an adult. You keep the Royal Sisters locked away, to avoid the punishment for stealing the day. Celestia and Luna you should have released before Ponyville was beset a horde of beasts.”

“Have you ever been sealed in the moon?!” Nightmare Moon asked, her voice rising to a shout. “All you can do is watch the world spin in cold solitude. You are taunted by the glow of cities where ponies have light, warm beds, and the company of others. You are trapped, and, if you are ever to return, any ponies you cared about are dead and buried. I won’t go back!”

“If you will not be dissuaded from this,” Zecora said, pointing a hoof at Nightmare Moon. “Then you must save us from death’s kiss.”

“I… I can’t. I’m just—”

“You are not hurt, and you are not ill. You suffer from neither fever nor chill. You are an alicorn and have immortal power. In your presence it should be the beasts who flee and cower. You are the dreaded Nightmare Moon. With rage alone you beat back a monsoon. You usurped the throne for your own. Now you must defend your home.

“For if you don’t, Ponyville will have a grim fate. Even Twilight will be food upon an earthen plate.”

The mention of Twilight being in danger lit a fire of rage in Nightmare Moon’s chest. These monsters believed that, with Celestia gone, they could turn Equestria into a buffet. Was she not also somepony to be equally as feared, if not more so? Had she not been the one to defeat Celestia?

And these monsters, they threatened the ponies she cared about. They threatened her friends. They threatened Twilight, and she wouldn’t let anything, be it monster or pony, hurt those she cared about… not again.

“How close are they?” Nightmare Moon asked. She strode towards the throne room door, forcing Zecora to gallop to keep up.

“Do not doubt that they draw near. We may already be too late, I fear.”

===

GRRRAAAAAAAAWWWRRRRRRR!!!!
   GRRRRRRAAAAAWWRRRR!!!!
GRAAAAAAAAAWWWWWRRRR!!!!
        GGGRRRAAAAAWWWRRRRRRR!!!!

“It’s a hydra!”

“Everypony run for your lives!”

“My daughter! Where’s my daughter?!”

“Hurry! Hurry! Don’t let it catch you!”

TTTHHHOOOOMMM-CCCCCRRRACCK-SCCCRRAACCKKK-TTTRRRACCCK!!!

Nightmare Moon took flight from the castle with Zecora holding tight to her back as she soared skywards. From the high vantage point, she was able to assess the situation. A hydra had reached the edge of town and was starting to rampage. It snapped at the ponies who were currently panicking in the streets and crushed anything that stood in its path.

No other beasts from Everfree had reached Ponyville yet, but Nightmare Moon could see at least two more hydras moving through the trees towards the town. The multi-headed monstrosities were infamous for enjoying the taste of ponies.

Having seen all she needed to see, Nightmare Moon folded her wings and dropped out of the sky like an attacking hawk. She plummeted, waiting until the last moment before spreading her wings again. She slowed her descent enough that she landed with a firm thud against the stone of Ponyville’s streets, though she remained on her hooves and unhurt.

“Get as many ponies as you can to the castle. It’s the safest place right now,” Nightmare Moon told Zecora as she kept her eyes focused on the hydra in the distance.

“I will direct all I can and ask them to pass the word; to the castle all of Ponyville will be spurred,” Zecora replied. She jumped down from Nightmare Moon’s back before starting to shout at any pony who would listen. In but a few moments, the flow of the panicked crowd was redirected. The populace of the town raced to the protective embrace of Nightmare Moon’s castle.

As Zecora began the rough evacuation, Nightmare Moon took flight again. She surged towards the hydra. Three of the monstrosity’s four heads were snapping at ponies running through the streets. One head, however, had some ponies cornered in an alleyway: a gray pegasus and a purplish filly unicorn, both with straw-blond manes. Ditzy Doo was doing her best to shield her daughter, Dinky, from the huge hydra head that was licking its lips mere feet in front of them.

Ditzy Doo would have normally flown away and carried her daughter to safety, but one of her wings was ruffled, a sign she had injured it. The injury was not bad enough that she couldn’t fly, but flying quickly was out of the question. She wouldn’t be able to pick up Dinky and get away before the monster snapped its jaws down on them.

The hydra head moved in a little closer, grinning at its first pony meal of the day. Ditzy Doo took an anxious step back but otherwise held her ground. She had her wings spread and her body lowered. She was trying to look as strong as possible, a natural defensive instinct, even though she had no chance of scaring the monster away.

Licking its lips one final time, the hydra decided it had waited long enough. It brought its head back, the muscles in its neck coiling and tensing as it opened its jaw wide. It was mere seconds from striking out, from enjoying the taste of a pony for the first time ever. Yet, before it could attack, something dropped down on the hydra’s head, smashing its jaw into the ground.

The thing that had landed on top of the hydra was Nightmare Moon. She had dropped out of the sky like an anvil, using her own weight and momentum to smash the hydra’s jaw into the ground. It was, at best, a small diversion, but that’s all she needed.

With a single fluid motion, Nightmare Moon took flight again as her mane stretched out to pick up Ditzy and Dinky. With the mare and filly safely in the embrace of her magic, Nightmare Moon soared skyward and, when at a relatively safe distance, set the two down on her back.

“Are you two okay?” Nightmare Moon asked as she glanced over her shoulder and leveled off.

“Yes… yes, we’re fine,” Ditzy replied through the tears in her misaligned eyes while she smiled and hugged Dinky tightly.

“Can you fly and carry her?”

Ditzy Doo nodded. “Yes.”

“Then go with everypony else and fly to the castle. It’s the safest place right now.”

After quickly picking Dinky Doo up in her legs, Ditzy took off from Nightmare Moon’s back. The pair flew a bit before Ditzy turned to look back and offer a “thank you” to Nightmare Moon. She, however, looked back just in time to see the hydra below stretching out one of its heads.

In a single, swift motion, it snapped its jaw down around Nightmare Moon, swallowing her whole.

Ditzy froze in midair, not wanting to believe what she had just seen. The hydra head that had eaten Nightmare Moon was smiling stupidly, licking and smacking its lips as it enjoyed the lingering taste in its mouth. The other heads glared at the first with fiery jealousy, obviously wishing they had gotten to enjoy the rare delicacy.

Yet, after a few moments, all four heads of the hydra stood up straight. Nauseated expressions formed on their faces, and each head let out a short burp. With each belch, a cloud of indigo, star-speckled smoke appeared. The four clouds, once free of the hydra’s mouths, quickly flew away, swirled together, and rematerialized into Nightmare Moon.

Nightmare Moon looked down at the hydra with a cold, merciless glare, and her voice seethed with anger. “Did you just try… to eat me?!”

The hydra backed up nervously and whined, its four heads looking at one another, debating a hasty retreat. Nightmare Moon, however, didn’t give it a chance to escape unscathed. Her eyes flashed to life, and, from her mane, small bolts of lightning surged out in rapid succession. They struck the ground around the hydra’s feet, and the monster quickly began to jump around, trying to keep its toes from being shocked.

This lasted for a few seconds before the hydra turned and fled in the direction of the Everfree Forest. Still, Nightmare Moon was not satisfied until she sent one final bolt of lightning shooting through the air to strike the hydra on the base of its tail, causing it to yelp.

Ditzy Doo almost didn’t dare to approach Nightmare Moon after that. The display of power made her want to just turn tail and flee with her daughter. Despite this, she dared to fly closer and ask, “Y-your Highness?”

“You don’t have to call me that,” Nightmare Moon said as she turned to face Ditzy Doo. “I’m not your queen anymore. Now, are you okay?”

“We’re fine,” Ditzy said, though she couldn’t help but hold her daughter tighter. “What about you? That hydra ate you like you were a bite-sized muffin!”

“I’m fine,” Nightmare Moon assured her. “Now, you need to get to the castle. It’s the only safe place right now.”

Not wanting to argue, Ditzy Doo bowed respectfully and turned to leave. Dinky Doo also offered a thank you. She twisted around in her mother’s legs so she could smile and wave. The small gesture brought a smile to Nightmare Moon’s face, and she couldn’t help but wave back.

It was a short-lived moment; the sound of crashing trees and wood drew Nightmare Moon’s attention back to the task at hoof. In the time Nightmare Moon spent fighting the first hydra, the rest of the creatures that were coming out of the Everfree Forest had reached Ponyville. There were hydras, cerberi, scorpios… but the worst that Nightmare Moon could see were the lupus minors racing through the streets of Ponyville.

“Horse-feathers, there are too many to fight one at a time,” Nightmare Moon cursed to herself. She flapped her wings and began to circle above Ponyville while assessing the situation. She could easily handle any of the monsters one-on-one with the full extent of her magic, but, while she was fighting one, the other monsters would have free reign to attack, injure, and eat other ponies.

If she was going to save as many ponies as possible, she needed to fight all the monsters at once. She’d need to draw their attention away, so the residents of Ponyville could flee. But she couldn’t be in that many places at once.

Or could she?

For a moment, Nightmare Moon remembered how she had infiltrated Celestia’s castle, how she had become a whole group of soldiers. She could divide herself, divide her magic, and face down every monster at the same time. It would let her protect the most ponies.

Yet there was a danger to it. The more Nightmare Moon divided herself, the more vulnerable she would be. Her strength, resilience, and immortality were caused by the sheer amount of magic she, as a full-blood alicorn, could contain. It meant she had more than enough magic to divide herself, but, the more she divided herself, the weaker and more vulnerable each piece would be.

It would not only put her at a great disadvantage against the monsters, but, if her clones got too badly hurt… or if too many of them fell… she could easily get herself…

For a moment, Nightmare Moon hesitated. She wondered if it was really smart to make herself that vulnerable. Her ears continued to pick up on the panicked screams and sounds of destruction. The ponies… they needed her help. She made up her mind. Shutting her eyes, Nightmare Moon called on her magic, drawing it to its peak. She then began the quick but delicate process of subdividing her magic, and thus, herself.

===

“Come on, this way!” Rainbow Dash called out. She waved a hoof as she led a group of panicked ponies through Ponyville. The group followed the directions to a T, rounding a corner and continuing their panicked gallop into the center of town. A few more directions from Rainbow Dash, and the group of ponies was running up the road to the castle.

Dash watched the group for a few moments to make sure there weren’t going to be any stragglers before she looped around and flew to the town hall.

Soon after Zecora had been dropped off by Nightmare Moon, she had met up with Twilight, who immediately took it upon herself to organize the evacuation of Ponyville. Twilight called on her friends for help as she saw them. The six ponies and one zebra were now doing everything they could to ensure everypony got out safely.

Rainbow Dash landed beside Twilight, who was currently looking over a table. On it was a map of Ponyville along with several lists. Twilight was holding one of the lists magically and using a pencil to check something off as Rainbow Dash said, “Okay, I found everypony on Horseshoe Street and got them out. What’s next?”

“I need a fresh scouting report,” Twilight said without looking up from her work, much like a field general commanding her troops. “Fly up and see where all the monsters are, so we know what streets we need to clear next.”

Rainbow Dash snapped her hoof up into a momentary salute before zipping skywards. With her trademark speed, she was soon high above the town and looking across the panic-stricken Ponyville. She began taking quick mental notes of where the monsters were.

It was a bad situation. The two hydras still hadn’t gotten too deep into the town, but the other monsters were starting to spread into areas that hadn’t been evacuated. Rainbow Dash saw one cerberus getting close to the clinic where Applejack and Rarity were working to help evacuate the patients. The three-headed, black-furred, red-eyed, size-of-an-elephant dog lumbered through the streets, sniffing at the ground, following the thick scent of ponies.

That cerberus wasn’t alone. There were other three-headed dogs on the prowl around town, and they were spreading quickly. Not only that, there were scorpios too. Like the Ursa Minor, the scorpios were constellation beasts, magical in nature, and obscenely huge. The key difference was, while the Ursa Minor was bear-like, the scorpios were like scorpions, and they had a preference for having ponies for breakfast. The scorpios were crawling across the Ponyville buildings, using their claws and tails to try and strike at the ponies who still lingered in the streets while smashing anything in their way.

However, the most frightening things attacking the town were the lupus minors, constellation wolves. They weren’t big monsters; a lupus minor was about the size of an average pony. What they lacked in size, however, they made up for in ferocity and speed. While the average pony was able to outrun or outmaneuver the larger monsters, the lupus minors had the speed and skill to chase down their prey.

That was what one lupus minor was about to do. Rainbow Dash saw two little fillies galloping as fast as their hooves could take them away from a pursuing lupus minor. The fillies had about a two-block lead on it, but, due to their small size and short legs, the constellation wolf was catching up quickly.

Dash didn’t hesitate for a moment. She flew down to intercept the monster. It was a deadly race, but one Dash was sure she would win. Just as the lupus minor managed to catch up with the fillies, she soared in, tackled the beast, and sent it bouncing down the street while she rolled once and jumped back on her hooves. She skidded to a stop, finishing off a move that would have made the Wonderbolts proud.

As the wolf reeled from the sudden sky attack, Rainbow Dash chanced a glance over her shoulder, looking at the two fillies. It was a familiar pair: Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. “You two need to get out of here! Now!” Dash snapped before turning her gaze forward again, so she could keep an eye on the lupus minor as it recovered.

“Come on, Silver Spoon, we’ve got to go!” Diamond Tiara stressed. She was trying to pull her friend off the ground. Silver Spoon, however, wouldn't budge; she was too scared. She had dropped down onto her stomach, covered her eyes with her hooves, and started to cry for her mother.

“Seriously, you two have to GO!” Dash yelled, taking a few anxious steps back. The lupus minor was back on its paws and creeping slowly towards the three ponies. It licked its lips and kept its eyes focused on them. Dash lowered herself and spread her wings, meeting the beast’s hungry stare while placing herself between it and the fillies. The beast growled as it prepared to pounce.

Rainbow snorted and pawed at the ground defiantly, like a bull ready to charge. The pair glared each other down for a time, each waiting for the other to make a move before Rainbow Dash finally shouted, “Are you all bark and no bite or what?”

The beast took Dash’s taunt and pounced with claws and teeth bared. The constellation wolf, however, soon found itself the victim of another sky-bound attack. A figure plowed into the wolf’s side, and both it and the wolf zipped across the street before crashing into a nearby market cart like a wrecking ball.

Rainbow Dash, Silver Spoon, and Diamond Tiara watched anxiously to see what had just saved them, only for the wolf to climb out of the wreckage first. It shook itself, tossing off a few shreds of wood that lingered in its coat before turning its focus back on them. That proved to be a mistake. While the wolf’s attention was on them, a smoky, star sparkled mane reached out from the wrecked market cart and grabbed the lupus by the hind leg.

The lupus minor was then promptly flung down the street, its starry body crashing into a cart full of hay. At the same time, another figure pulled itself out of the wrecked market cart near Rainbow Dash.

Nightmare Moon winced a bit as she folded her wings. She moved to the center of the street and positioned herself in front of Rainbow Dash. “Get them out of here,” she ordered while keeping her eyes focused on the far end of the street. The lupus minor was crawling out of the hay wagon, and, after growling, it began charging down the street again.

“NOW!” Nightmare Moon snapped as she unfurled her wings and stood to meet the constellation wolf’s charge.

Dash’s bewilderment ended with Nightmare Moon’s shout. She scooped up the fillies, carrying Silver Spoon on her back and holding Diamond Tiara in her front hooves as she flew skyward. She kept flying until she was sure she was at a safe distance, and only then did Rainbow Dash look back.

What Dash saw almost made her drop Diamond Tiara. There had to be dozens of Nightmare Moons all across town! The copies fought and distracted the many different monsters as the town’s residents fled in the direction of the castle. Rainbow Dash would have likely stayed there, if only to count all the Nightmare Moons she saw, but the crying and fussing fillies she was carrying reminded her what she had to do.

She would take Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara to safety, but only after she told Twilight what was going on.

===

“Hurry, Rarity, we’ve got to get all these here patients out of the clinic!”

“I am doing my best to hurry, Applejack,” Rarity replied, “but we can’t forget the medicine they need!”

Much like the unplanned sleepover the pair had at Twilight’s, Applejack’s and Rarity’s conflicting personalities were surfacing. Initially, the two had worked together flawlessly. Applejack had gotten straight to the important task of helping Nurse Redheart load the patients into a wagon that she was going to pull with the help of Big Macintosh, who was already hitched to the front. Rarity, on the other hoof, had used her eye for detail to gather any and all medical supplies they would need to make sure the patients didn't get any worse once they reached the castle. Each had been able to focus on their own, equally important, tasks.

Now, however, with time running short, tensions were beginning to flare.

“Girl, get that flank of yours in gear!” Applejack shouted. She had just helped the last patient, a pony with a busted up leg, into the wagon and was now waiting for Rarity to finish getting the last of the medical supplies. “We don’t know how long before them monsters—”

THHRRACCK!!

Applejack turned her head to the side abruptly, the loud crashing noise drawing her attention. For a moment, it seemed like the sound hadn’t come from anywhere, but, as Applejack listened, another crash reached her ears. That second crash was followed a few moments later by something bursting through the wall of a nearby shop, charging across the empty street, and slamming into the buildings on the other side.

“Horse-apples!” Applejack cursed, seeing that the thing that had just busted through a wall was a cerberus. “Big Mac, start pullin’ the cart!”

“Eeyup!” was all her older brother said back before he put his weight into the hitch. The cart budged and began to roll down the street, but it moved painfully slow. Rarity came galloping out of the hospital just in the nick of time, and she jumped into the cart just as it began to roll away.

“I thought you were going to wait!” Rarity half-whined. She set down the medical supplies she had been fetching and looked over the edge of the cart so she could glare at Applejack, who was trotting alongside.

“We were, but that was before that cerberus came barrelin’ through the side of a building!”

“A cerberus!?” Rarity gasped, looking back to see the three-headed dog, only for another gasp to escape her throat.

“What, what is it? Did we forget somepony?” Applejack asked, turning to look at the cerberus. That was when she noticed that the cerberus hadn’t just barreled through the side of a building because it felt like it. The beast had been fighting with something and had tackled it through the building before slamming it with bone-shattering force against a wall on the far side of the street. It was this same something that now lay limply on the ground, and it looked awfully familiar.

“What in the hay is Nightmare Moon doin’ here!?”

Rarity moved to the edge of the wagon, preparing to jump down. “I don’t know, Applejack, but we have to help her!”

“Help her?! Why exactly should we help her?!” Applejack half shouted as she skidded to a stop.

Rarity jumped from the cart, and, after a graceful landing, she trotted over beside Applejack. “Because,” she began as she used her magic to gather some banners from a nearby business, “she needs our help. Or, perhaps you would like to tell Twilight that we let Nyx get eaten?” Rarity’s sentence became punctuated with a small, magical pop as she transfigured the banners into a strong, sturdy length of rope.

Applejack opened her mouth to protest, but, after a few moments, she cursed and stomped her hoof. “Ah… ah shoot, yer right. Still, I’ll be the one doin’ the helpin’. You go with Nurse Redheart and make sure them injured and sick ponies get to the castle safely. I’ll do my best to help out here.”

“And you promise you’ll be okay?” Rarity asked.

“Take it from the Element of Honesty; no overgrown mutt’s gonna get the better of this rodeo pony. Besides, they need you more than I do.”

Rarity nodded and set the rope on the ground beside Applejack. “All right, but do be careful.”

“I will,” Applejack replied. She watched Rarity run to catch up with the cart before looking back down the street at the cerberus. She lifted a hoof to her head and gave her hat a gentle tap to make sure it was secure before she tied the rope Rarity had made around her tail.

Once she was ready, Applejack took a moment to focus herself. She took a single, deep breath and released it before galloping down the street. As she ran, she began working and spinning her tail, forming her lasso into a perfect circle in the air above her.

Nightmare Moon was lying limply on the ground next to the wall she had been smashed against, and the cerberus was just about to dig into the first pony meal it had ever gotten a chance to enjoy. Its center head reached out, fangs dripping with saliva.

Applejack didn’t let the monster get a taste of her. She tossed her lasso, and the loop of the rope soared around the center head’s muzzle. Applejack then stopped, took the rope in her teeth, and pulled, causing the lasso’s loop to shrink. The rope forced the cerberus’s mouth shut, and, before the beast could properly react, Applejack pulled hard on the rope, turning the beast away from Nightmare Moon.

With she and the cerberus now facing one another, Applejack resumed her galloping charge while keeping her rope in her teeth. The cerberus also charged, its attention now fully focused on the pony who dared to attack it. The center head of the beast still had its jaw shut tight by the lasso, but the creature’s other two heads were more than willing to bite down on Applejack if given the chance.

Applejack wasn’t about to give the monster that opportunity. When the cerberus was close enough, Applejack leapt up into the air. The timing of the jump allowed her to put her momentum to good use. She landed on top of the cerberus’s center muzzle and jumped off it like it was a spring board.

The second jump allowed her to land on the creature’s back, where Applejack proceeded to spin around and bite down hard on her rope. She then pulled back, drawing the rope taut and using it to keep herself on the monster.

“Come on, little doggie, let’s see how ya do against a rodeo mare!” Applejack grunted out around the rope in her teeth, and the cerberus was more than willing to put her to the test. It began to buck like a rodeo bull, trying its best to dislodge the pony who was standing on its back.

It was a fight the cerberus was destined to win. While it bucked and tossed for several seconds, the cerberus’s center head struggled against the rope around its muzzle. The rope held for a time, but, eventually, the strain proved too much and it snapped.

With the lasso broken, Applejack lost the one thing she had to keep herself anchored to the monster. The next time it bucked, she was thrown several feet upward. She tumbled head over hoof through the air like a rag doll, catching glimpses of the sky and the ground below. She flailed her legs, and, with enough effort, was able to right herself just as she began to fall back towards ground. She looked down to plan her landing, only for a fresh panic to rise in her chest.

The cerberus appeared to be smiling as it positioned itself beneath Applejack. It opened its jaws and began waiting patiently for the meal that was about to be dropped right onto its waiting tongue. However, in fighting Applejack, the cerberus had forgotten about the opponent it had been contending with earlier.

Nightmare Moon charged down the street and threw herself into the cerberus’s gut like a hoofball linebacker. The three-headed beast stumbled, whining from being hit in the stomach and having the air knocked from its lungs. Nightmare Moon, however, didn’t continue her assault. Instead she looked up, and, with careful positioning, she caught Applejack on her back.

“Are you okay?” Nightmare Moon asked.

“I… I reckon I am,” she replied as she tried to stand up on Nightmare Moon’s back. Applejack, however, put her hoof down on a tender spot, causing Nightmare Moon to wince and grit her teeth.

“But it looks like you aren’t,” Applejack added. She jumped down to the ground, so she wouldn’t hurt Nightmare Moon anymore.

“It’s nothing, just a bruised rib.”

“Bruised rib?! Now wait an apple pickin’ minute! I thought you were like the princesses, and aren’t they immortal?”

“We’re immortal because of the amount of magic inside us. But, right now, I’ve split myself and my magic amongst a number of copies. Each is still fairly powerful, but, with my magic divided as it is, I’m more vulnerable.”

“I guess that makes about as much sense as anything else. How many copies of yourself have you made?”

“A few dozen, enough to distract and fight most of these monsters and buy some time for everypony to escape,” Nightmare Moon replied. She watched as the cerberus recovered from being tackled in the gut. “I’ve gotten a few of the monsters to flee back to the Everfree Forest, but there are still so many of them left.”

“How do we get rid of them?”

“They’re here because they’ve realized Celestia’s gone, and they thought they could make an easy meal out of the ponies here in Ponyville. We need to show them otherwise.”

“I get ya. We put up too much of a fight, they start figurin’ we ain’t worth the trouble,” Applejack said, tapping the top of her hat to make sure it was secured. “Well, how much more punishment you think this here cerberus can take before it turns tail?”

“Not much, but this bruised rib is making it hard for me to breathe,” Nightmare Moon admitted. “These cerberi aren’t anything like their mother, the guardian of Tartarus. Still, even if they are pups, they put up a good fight.”

Applejack smiled, gathered up what remained of her rope and tied it into a fresh lasso. “Well, don’t you worry none. The two of us together will whip this dog back to the hills.”

===

One of the Nightmare Moon clones banked, staying aloft as she looked over the monster-ravaged Ponyville. The evacuation was continuing slowly. A lot of ponies had gotten out and to the castle, but there were still a lot who needed help. The monsters had spread all across town, leaving pockets of ponies trapped or fleeing for their lives.

So far, nopony had been hurt. Twilight and her friends were managing to lead the pockets of ponies to safety, but only while the small army of Nightmare Moons kept fighting the monsters, sending them back to the Everfree Forest or distracting the beasts long enough for the ponies in danger to escape.

The Nightmare Moon in the sky had taken up the duty of scouting, keeping a constant eye on what was happening. The clones didn’t share a consistent mental link, but, by using a bit of magic, the scout in the sky could shout messages to the Nightmare Moons on the ground, telling them of ponies in imminent danger.

Banking again, Nightmare Moon searched the streets for any brightly-colored spots. The natural coloring of ponies was very easy to spot against the simple streets of the town. One splotch of color drew her attention. It was bright pink and standing in the very center of an intersection with a lupus minor creeping up on it from behind.

It was Pinkie Pie, and she hadn’t noticed that she was about to be attacked.

With no time to alert any other of the clones, the Nightmare Moon in the sky tucked her wings in and went into a dive, rushing to save Pinkie Pie herself. The constellation wolf, however, was very close, and, even as Nightmare Moon dropped out of the sky like a stone, the wolf jumped, launching itself at Pinkie Pie.

It bit down, and Nightmare Moon expected to hear Pinkie Pie’s screams of pain. Instead, Pinkie Pie burst apart in an explosion of confetti and streamers. The first explosion was then followed by a second, which filled the intersection with a green cloud of smoke.

Spreading her wings wide, Nightmare Moon managed to slow her quick descent and land just outside the cloud. Then, after planting her hooves firmly on the ground, she beat her wings. The bursts of air she produced carried the cloud away, allowing her to see what remained of the strange double explosion.

The lupus minor was passed out on the ground, fast asleep. What Nightmare Moon had believed was Pinkie Pie was actually one of the training dummies from the castle’s guard room. Stepping forward, Nightmare Moon gently nudged what remained of the fake fabric pony. It was during her investigation of the strange doppelganger that she felt the street beneath her hooves shift. She stepped to the side and was surprised to see part of the street standing up. 

It was Pinkie Pie, the real one this time. She had been hiding in a low hole while wearing some fake dirt and stones. It was a perfect disguise, so perfect, in fact, that Nightmare Moon hadn’t even realized she was standing on top of a pony.

“Aww, only got one that time,” Pinkie Pie said like a fishermare complaining about the size of her catch.

Nightmare Moon blinked a few times, her brain having some difficulty understanding what was going on. “Pinkie Pie?”

“Yeperooni!” she replied happily.

“What… is this?”

“A distraction,” Pinkie Pie answered proudly. “When Twilight was giving everypony something to do, I asked what I could do, and she wasn’t sure at first. But then she thought of something and told me about all these training dummies she saw in your castle. So she said I should make some surprises for the monsters because I have a special talent for being a distraction and making distractions.

“But isn’t that silly?” Pinkie Pie continued with a giggle. “I mean, my special talent is throwing amazing parties, not being a distraction! Still, these meanie mean monsters don’t deserve a party, so I decided to try what Twilight suggested. I ran and got some of these fake ponies and filled them with my patented confetti and streamer surprise. Then Rainbow Dash said I should make the fake ponies a prank and fill them with some sleeping powder from the joke shop.”

Pinkie Pie began picking up pieces of the dummy. “And I was like ‘Whoa, that is such a GREAT idea!’, so I did it. I’ve been leaving my special surprise ponies all over town to distract the monsters, and, whenever any of those nasty monsters bite down on one of my surprise ponies, they get confetti, streamers, and sleeping gas!”

“Do… you need any help?” Nightmare Moon hesitantly asked.

“Nope, I got this. But, just so you know, you can tell my fake ponies from the real ones by their flanks. None of my surprise ponies have cutie marks. That, and they’re made of fabric, but that’s kind of hard to see from a distance. These dummies are really life-like!”

Nightmare Moon couldn’t keep herself from laughing a little. “Well, keep up the good work then.”

“You too, Queen Nyxie,” Pinkie Pie chirped before running down the street with the remains of the exploded dummy. It was a sight that made Nightmare Moon just shake her head and smile. She took flight and, once she was back in the air, spread the word to the other clones, telling them about Pinkie Pie’s decoys. After that, whenever any of the clones saw a cloud of green smoke and confetti shoot up from Ponyville's streets, they would crack a smile.

Yes, the world could be ending, but Pinkie Pie would still be Pinkie Pie.

===

Cheerilee’s muscles and lungs were burning as she started to reach the end of her endurance. When the monster attacks started, she had come across a scorpio entering a park. While her first instinct had been to turn tail and run in the opposite direction, she soon noticed the monster had seen some of her students. The fillies and colts were playing in the park and were unaware of the looming danger.

Thus, her love of children rose to full force, and Cheerilee galloped to the park and jumped right into the path of the scorpio. She hopped around, waved her hooves, and probably made herself look partially demented, but it had done the trick. She distracted the orange-colored constellation monster, drawing its attention away from the children and to her. Cheerilee then ran and, for a while, had managed to stay ahead of her hungry pursuer.

Panting heavily, Cheerilee rounded a corner and chanced a glance back. It was, however, a poor time for her to look over her shoulder. On the street ahead, a vegetable cart had been overturned, and its contents were spread across the street. Cheerilee’s hoof landed on top of a carrot, and, with a yelp, she rolled her ankle and toppled forward.

Cheerilee hit the ground hard, and the impact knocked the wind from her lungs and made her vision swim. Knowing what was pursuing her, she forced herself back onto her hooves and attempted to continue fleeing. She, however, winced the moment she put weight down on her front right leg. She had sprained her ankle badly, and, despite the adrenaline in her system, it hurt too much to put any real weight on the injured joint.

Looking back, Cheerilee saw the scorpio round the corner. The arachnid constellation beast snapped one of its pony-sized claws threateningly. It advanced down the street, approaching Cheerilee as the school teacher backed up, limping each time she was forced to put weight on her sprained ankle.

Unable to escape, she could only watch as the scorpio drew closer, looming over her as it opened one of its terrible pincers. Cheerilee could only shut her eyes, swallowing nervously as she muttered a small prayer, hoping that, if she was going to die for protecting the children, it would at least be over quickly.

“AAAUUGGGHHHHHH!!!”

Cheerilee’s eyes snapped open, and her vision was filled with black, swirling indigo and stars. She backed up a few steps, and an audible gasp escaped her throat when she realized that Nightmare Moon was being held in the scorpio’s pincer, a pincer that should have been squeezing down on her own body.

Nightmare Moon grunted, kicked her legs, and flapped her wings as she struggled to free herself. The scorpio was bewildered for a moment to find such a large pony in its grip, but then its mouth began to clatter eagerly. It drew Nightmare Moon close, preparing to take its first bite from her.

Not eager to be eaten twice in one day, Nightmare Moon called on her magic. With a sharp snap, a small bolt of lightning struck the creature where its pincer joined its arm. The joint sizzled and turned black under the strike, and the scorpio dropped Nightmare Moon with a pain-filled hiss before retreating back a few steps.

Nightmare Moon managed to twist herself in the air enough to land on her hooves, and, with her horn glowing, she grabbed hold of the scorpio’s tail. She lifted the insect constellation beast into the air and began to swing it around in a circle. Round and round she swung the scorpio, building up momentum before releasing her hold on the beast. It flew through the air in a high arc like a well-thrown Olympic hammer. It flew clear of Ponyville and eventually crashed down back inside the distant Everfree Forest, scaring a number of birds from the trees.

“Don’t you ever try to lay a claw on my teacher ever again!” Nightmare Moon barked at the beast, even though it was far out of earshot. She then fell to her knees, panting heavily as a few tremors ran through her body, signs that she was becoming acquainted with her latest injuries.

Cheerilee moved up beside Nightmare Moon the moment she dropped to her knees. She opened her mouth to ask if Nightmare Moon was all right, only to be interrupted by a similar question.

“Are… are you okay, Miss Cheerilee?” Nightmare Moon asked.

“Yes, I am. Thank you,” she replied, though her voice was shaky, not from facing Nightmare Moon but from how she was acting. The queen Cheerilee knew was a monster; that’s what all the old stories said. But… a monster wouldn’t have saved her from a scorpio like that… or asked if she was okay while ignoring her own injuries.

“Good, I’m glad I got here in time,” Nightmare Moon said before taking in a deep breath. She then grunted, gritted her teeth, and forced herself back onto her hooves. She stumbled a few times and would have fallen over if Cheerilee hadn’t rushed to her side and lent what little support she could.

“Nigh— I mean, Nyx, you’re hurt,” Cheerilee said. “We need to get you to Nurse Redheart, and—”

“Th-there’s no time,” Nightmare Moon replied just as she was finally managing to stand on her own four hooves. “There… there are other monsters that I have to take care of, but, first, I need to make sure I get you to the castle.”

“But—”

“I’ll be okay, Miss Cheerilee, I promise. Almost everypony has made it to my castle, and the monsters have started to flee back to the Everfree Forest, at least the ones that I haven’t tossed back out myself,” Nightmare Moon reassured her. “It will be okay, but I can’t rest yet. Now, you can’t run anywhere on that ankle. I’ll fly you to the castle, but then I have to go back out to help clear out the rest of the monsters.”

With that, Nightmare Moon’s horn glowed, and she lifted Cheerilee up onto her back. While Cheerilee obviously didn’t like the thought of Nightmare Moon doing anything in her injured condition, she didn’t protest. She instead just gave a thankful smile and a nod and did her best to stay balanced on Nightmare Moon’s back as she spread her wings and took flight.

===

Nightmare Moon leaned against a nearby building, closing her eyes as she took a moment to rest. The fight for Ponyville was still being waged, and, while the other clones of her continued to fight, this one copy needed a moment to rest. She had just beaten a cerberus back to the Everfree Forest, but the fight hadn’t been one sided. It had taken a lot to force back that one cerberus, and, if not for the building she was leaning on, Nightmare Moon would have been too weak to even stand on her own hooves.

And, if a predator is good at anything, it's sensing when its prey is weak.

A low growl caused Nightmare Moon to open her eyes, and she saw that she was surrounded by a trio of lupus minors. Nightmare Moon strained, trying to find the strength to face these new enemies… but she couldn’t. She was too tired. She needed more time to rest, though it was time the lupus minors were not going to allow her.

Shutting her eyes again, Nightmare Moon hung her head. She had learned, during her time impersonating a troop of soldiers, that by cloning herself she made herself weaker, but she had also learned that injuries the clones received didn’t just go away. Each wound would have an effect on her real body when she made herself whole again, though the effects would be dulled. Major injuries on a clone would become minor injuries for her real body, but, if a clone died… Nightmare Moon feared what that would do when she made herself whole again.

She would be the first clone to fall, but that was okay. She guessed she, as a whole, could survive if a few clones were lost, though it would put her in pretty bad shape when she became a single mare again. Still, if losing those clones meant she protected more ponies, then it was worth it in the end. Yes… losing one clone would be all right. She could stand losing one.

The lupus minors seemed to sense Nightmare Moon’s surrender. One licked its chops while the others sneered and inched closer. Their muscles began to tense; they were preparing to pounce on their injured prey.

“DON’T YOU DARE!”

Nightmare Moon’s eyes snapped open, turning her head to the source of the voice. It was a voice that was strong, firm, and commanding, but it was one she knew. It was a voice that was normally soft and gentle, and it belonged to the most compassionate and gentle pony in Equestria.

It was Fluttershy’s voice. She was standing between the lupus minors and Nightmare Moon… and she was furious. “I don’t care how many of you there are! I don’t care how big your fangs are or how sharp your claws are! You will not, I repeat: will. Not! Hurt! Her! You got THAT?!”

The lupus minors took an anxious step back, glancing between each other. One of the three wolves, however, found courage to face Fluttershy. It started to inch towards her, and it growled. Fluttershy, however, was unfazed. She turned her gaze upon the wolf, and opened her eyes wide. The orbs became as hard and cold as steel. The wolf froze up almost immediately, rigid as stone.

It was “The Stare”, and Fluttershy wasn’t holding back.

“Now,” Fluttershy began as she stepped towards the wolf that had dared to approach her until barely an inch separated her nose from its own, “you are going to take your two friends here, go back to the Everfree Forest, and I NEVER want to see you in Ponyville again.”

The lupus minor wilted, whimpered, and glanced over at the other two constellation wolves, who offered no support.

“Well, what are you waiting for!? SHOO!”

With that simple word, the three constellation wolves bolted and ran back towards the Everfree Forest with their tails between their legs. Fluttershy kept her hardened gaze fixed on the wolves until they were several blocks away before she softened and allowed herself to return to her usual, caring nature.

“You… didn’t have to do that,” Nightmare Moon grunted out as Fluttershy turned around.

“And you didn’t have to help us fight back the monsters,” Fluttershy replied with a gentle smile. She took flight and hovered in the air near Nightmare Moon’s head. “But you did, and, because of you, a lot of ponies are safe. I’m really proud of you, Nyx.”

Nightmare Moon looked away from Fluttershy, instead focusing on the ground. “Hasn’t Twilight told you? I don’t like being called Nyx.”

“Really?” Fluttershy asked. “She calls you that all the time.”

Nightmare Moon refused to meet Fluttershy’s gaze for a time, but eventually she couldn’t stop herself from looking up. “She does? Even after everything I’ve done and how I treated her… Twilight still calls me Nyx?”

Fluttershy nodded. “She still thinks of you as her Nyx. She thinks that, deep down, you’re not a bad pony… and I’m starting to agree with her. You’re not a bad pony, Nyx. You’ve just made some bad decisions.”

“Bad decisions… now that’s the understatement of the millennium,” Nightmare Moon grunted. She groaned and struggled to ease her weight off of the wall she had been leaning against. Her first try failed, but on the second Nightmare Moon managed to stand without aid. Only then did she look back to Fluttershy. “Answer me this: How many bad decisions can a pony make before she is a bad pony?”

“It doesn’t matter how many. If a pony is willing to apologize and do what’s right to fix her mistakes, then she’s never a bad pony. You’re a good pony, Nyx, and do you want to know why?”

“Why?”

“Because only a good pony would have come out here and faced down an army of monsters to protect the ponies she cares about.”

“You are kind as always, Fluttershy, the kindest pony in Equestria. This time, however, you are being too kind, but I appreciate your words nonetheless,” Nightmare Moon said before sucking in a deep breath and spreading her wings. “Now, I cannot ask you to keep the monsters away as I rest. I will retreat to the town square for now, and, when my strength has returned, I will fly out again.”

“There aren’t many monsters left, Nyx. You should just rest and let us handle it.”

“I cannot, and I will not let you put yourselves in danger fixing my mistake. This monster attack is my fault, and I will do whatever I must to set it right… once I’ve caught my breath.” Nightmare Moon took flight with those final words, and Fluttershy watched her join a few other clones before heading towards the center of town. Fluttershy let out a sigh and shook her head.

“Oh Nyx…”

===

The monster attack was finally drawing to a close as noon rolled around. All the ponies in Ponyville had been evacuated; the last few stragglers had been cleared out an hour before. The only ponies who remained were Twilight and her friends, who were staying behind to help the many Nightmare Moons fight off the remaining monsters.

And at ten minutes past noon, the last hydra was chased out of town. The four-headed monstrosity was running back into the forest like a crying baby, leaving in its wake a trio of Nightmare Moons who hovered in the air alongside Rainbow Dash.

“Yeah, you better run!” Dash called out before she snickered to herself and looked back at the three copies of Nightmare Moon, who all looked significantly worse for the wear than her. “Come on, let’s go meet up with all the other yous back at the town hall.”

The Nightmare Moons nodded and banked to follow behind Rainbow Dash on the flight back to the center of town. There, just outside of town hall, the small army of Nightmare Moons had gathered. The three clones flew to join the crowd while Rainbow Dash landed by her friends, who were on the veranda just outside the front door of town hall.

“Last hydra sent packing,” Dash proclaimed proudly.

“Good,” Twilight stated with a nod before placing a check mark on a piece of paper. “That should be all the monsters. Still, Rainbow Dash, I want you and Fluttershy to sweep through town and make sure everything is clear. I don’t want to bring any ponies back here until we’re sure that all these things are gone.”

“What about us, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.

“You take Rarity, Zecora, and Pinkie Pie and head up to the castle. Tell everypony there that we think all the monsters are gone and that it should be safe to come back fairly soon.”

“And what about you?”

“I’ll stay here until Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash have finished sweeping the town, and then I’ll meet you at the castle with them and Nyx,” Twilight assured as she stepped away from the table which had been her command center throughout the long morning.

All her friends nodded, and each quickly headed off to their assigned tasks while Twilight moved towards the crowd of Nightmare Moon clones. “Are there any monsters left?” the closest of the clones asked.

“No, I think we got them all. You can pull yourself back together now.”

All the Nightmare Moons nodded, and each turned into an indigo cloud before all the clouds gathered together into a single mass just a few feet in front of Twilight. It only took a moment for that single cloud to materialize into Nightmare Moon, and, a moment later, she collapsed to the ground with a painful whinny.

“Nyx!” Twilight yelped before quickly rushing over to her side. “Are you okay?”

Nightmare Moon coughed and struggled to pull herself off the ground. “I’m… fine… it’s just… when my copies… came back together… all the injuries… my clones received… are now affecting me.”

“All the injuries?!” Twilight exclaimed, and Nightmare Moon just nodded before pulling herself off the ground. Now, every injury she had endured was clearly visible to Twilight, and it made her lift a hoof to her mouth in shock. Nightmare Moon’s body was littered with cuts, she wasn’t able to put weight on her front right leg, and one of her wings hung limply at her side. On top of it all, Nightmare Moon’s breathing was labored, as if every breath caused pain to shoot through her body.

“We’ve got to get you to Nurse Redheart right away,” Twilight said firmly.

Nightmare Moon took a few gingerly limped steps away from Twilight. “No… I’ll be fine. You’ll need… need me here in case… there are more monsters.”

“No, I’m sure we got all of them. You should get to the castle and lie down before you—”

“TWILIGHT!!!”

The shout drew Twilight’s attention skyward, and she saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flying towards her in a rush. “What is it?” she called up to them.

“There’s one left, a lupus, but it’s way bigger than the others!” Rainbow Dash shouted while waving her hooves above her head.

“Where is it?”

“It’s coming this way!” Fluttershy answered while pointing a hoof. Twilight turned her head in the direction Fluttershy was pointing and felt the blood in her veins turn to ice. Charging down the street towards her and Nightmare Moon was a lupus, but it was not a lupus minor. No, this was a full grown lupus major, a constellation wolf as large as Nightmare Moon and four times as ferocious as the smaller, younger lupus minors that had been terrorizing Ponyville.

The beast barreled towards them like a runaway locomotive, closing several blocks’ distance at a speed that rivaled even Rainbow Dash’s. The two pegasi in the air were shouting for Twilight and Nightmare Moon to get out of the way, and Twilight couldn't deny her first instinct was to run.

Then Twilight glanced over at Nightmare Moon. She was barely able to stand and probably couldn't fly. There was no way she could get away, and Twilight wasn't going to leave Nightmare Moon alone with the wolf. She wasn't going to abandon her again.

Unwilling to flee, Twilight furrowed her eyebrows and put herself directly in front of Nightmare Moon. She lowered herself down and began to call on her magic in preparation for a fight. She was, after all, a unicorn that had handled an Ursa Minor, and the lupus major, while more vicious, was a lot smaller.

The lupus major was almost upon her, but Twilight was ready. She'd wait for the creature to leap up, and then she'd catch it in her levitation magic and throw it back down the street. It wasn't easy to levitate things so big, but she knew she could do it. She wouldn't let an overgrown wolf lay a paw on her daughter.

Twilight gritted her teeth as the lupus got close enough to pounce, and the constellation wolf threw itself into the air in a grand, arcing lunge. It was baring its fangs, and its claws were extended, ready to grab hold of Twilight and tear into her flesh. Twilight was just about to unleash her spell when a cloud of indigo shot past her, snapped at the wolf like a whip, and knocked it back several feet.

“Get out of here!” Nightmare Moon ordered Twilight, “I'll handle this.”

“No! I'm not—”

“THIS ISN'T A DISCUSSION!” Nightmare Moon bellowed as her mane flared. Before Twilight could shout another protest, the mane had lashed out and encased Twilight as well as Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Nightmare Moon’s eyes glowed white, and three bright flashes emanated from inside her mane.

She had sent the three mares away to safety; they were gone, and, as Nightmare Moon panted from the exertion of magic, she turned her attention to the lupus major. It was slowly walking towards her with a murderous intent in its eyes, and she met its glare with her own.

===

Twilight blinked, shook her head, and tried to grasp what had just happened. One moment she saw Nightmare Moon getting attacked, but then her vision had been blocked with Nightmare Moon’s mane. The next moment, Twilight was looking out over Ponyville.

“Where… w-what?!” Twilight stammered as she looked around. She, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy were at Nightmare Moon’s castle, standing on top of the gatehouse. The gallows that Twilight had almost been hung from had been removed, torn straight from the wall, giving Twilight a clear view of Ponyville below.

Dash recovered from the teleportation spell and jumped into a hover. “How the hay did we get here?”

“Argh! It was Nyx! She must have teleported us away from the fight!” Twilight shouted. She lifted her forehooves and placed them on the gatehouse’s battlements, so she could balance on her back legs and look into Ponyville.

“But, Twilight, does that mean she’s still—”

Fluttershy’s question was interrupted by a loud crash that drew the mares’ attention and made them look in the direction of town. From their position on top of the gatehouse, they could see glimpses of Nightmare Moon as she fought with the lupus major in the center of Ponyville. She was standing away from the wolf and was on her hooves, but her movements made it apparent she was injured, tired, and at a major disadvantage.

“What is she thinking?! She’s going to get herself killed!” Twilight shouted. “We have to get down there and help her!”

“Twilight, if you go down there, you’ll just get yourself killed,” Rainbow Dash told her. “Nightmare Moon can handle it.”

“She’s hurt, Rainbow, badly! If we don’t help—” Twilight’s protest was silenced as she felt a wave of magic wash over her. She looked to Ponyville and could not see Nightmare Moon or the lupus major anywhere. There was, however, something Twilight could see. From between a few buildings, Nightmare Moon’s swirling mane began to rise up into the air above the town. It went several stories up before it formed into a threatening cloud, a cloud that soon began to crackle with energy.

The energy and magic built up quickly, and then its power was unleashed. A single, thick burst of lightning arced down, cut through the air, and caused a thunderclap that could not only be heard, but also felt by all the ponies hiding in the castle.

The lightning strike threw up a dark cloud of smoke where it struck, obscuring much of Ponyville. Twilight strained her eyes to see what was happening, but it was impossible. She wanted to race down there to make sure Nightmare Moon was alright, but fear had rooted her hooves in place. What if she was attacked by the lupus major; what if she found Nightmare Moon dead?

For several minutes, Twilight could only watch Ponyville with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy by her side. The dust that had been thrown up began to drift on the wind, and the dark cloud that was Nightmare Moon’s mane fizzled and disappeared as well.

The first sign of life came from the lupus major. Twilight only saw glimpses of it at first, but she was able to see that it was running away from Ponyville. It was also limping, but the beast still managed an impressive pace despite its injury. It raced all the way to the edge of the Everfree Forest, and there it paused. It looked back at Ponyville and kicked some dirt in the town’s direction before disappearing back into the forest.

The next sign of life came a few minutes later, which felt like a torturous amount of time for Twilight. It was Dash who saw it first, and she quickly called out and drew Twilight’s attention to another part of town. There, a black figure had just rounded a corner and was now slowly limping up the road to the castle. She moved agonizingly slowly and looked to be in a lot of pain, but she was there. She was alive.

Twilight didn’t waste a single moment and broke into a gallop. She ran down the steps that connected the top of the gatehouse to the courtyard below, and she began pushing through the tightly packed crowd of ponies who had hidden in the castle’s safe embrace during the attack. It took a few minutes for Twilight to push her way through, but, after passing through a few final groups, she was free of the crowd and running through the castle gates. However, just as she got outside, she slid to a stop as her eyes grew wide.

Nightmare Moon was just a few yards away and was still continuing her slow limp towards the castle gates. To Twilight, it looked like Nightmare Moon was on the verge of collapse. She winced with each step, each breath was labored, and her injured wing dragged on the ground beside her. The lupus major had left her with several fresh wounds, though they were almost lost amongst her prior injuries.

The armor Nightmare Moon wore was torn to shreds. There were deep claw marks in several places, including one across the eye of her helmet. Her makeup was also gone, sweated and rubbed off thanks to the strain of battle. Even Nightmare Moon’s mane seemed injured. The usually full, flowing, star-speckled mass of indigo was pale, sickly, and came off of Nightmare Moon, not like a consistent cloud, but in thin trails and wisps.

“What did you do?”

For a moment, Nightmare Moon chose to ignore Twilight and just continued to limp towards the castle. It wasn’t out of rudeness, but from the fact that she was finding it difficult to breathe. Once she had gotten a little closer, Nightmare Moon stopped, gasped a few times, and then was able to find her voice.

“I… I couldn’t let you… attack the lupus… it might have hurt you. I was… fighting it… but it pinned me… to the ground… I couldn’t make… the lupus let go. So… I shocked us both… with a bolt of lightning.”

“But why would you do that? Why did you teleport me away? I told you I could handle it!”

“Because… I didn't want to see you… I didn't want to see anypony… get hurt. I… I can bear the pain. It's… better for me to be hurt… if it means… I can protect… the ponies I care about.”

Nightmare Moon grunted as she brought herself through the castle gates. She limped into the courtyard where the entire town populace was watching. The ponies made a wide path for her, much like they did when she had passed amongst them before. This time, only some stepped aside because of fear. The rest stepped back in respect.

With her slow steps, Nightmare Moon finally reached the center of the castle’s front courtyard. There, she stopped to rest and catch her breath. She wavered and tilted like she was about to fall, but then she took in a deep breath and looked across the surrounding sea of ponies.

Everypony… they were all safe. She had managed to protect them, and… she almost thought they were looking at her with concern, instead of fear and loathing… but, then again, she was feeling rather light-headed. Still, that didn’t matter. She had done it; she had kept them safe.

“The… the creatures of the Everfree Forest… have been driven back. Ponyville is safe, and you may return… to your homes,” Nightmare Moon called out, trying to give her voice strength. She then took another step with the intention of going back into the castle. She, however, did not make it five more feet before her hoof caught on an uneven stone.

Nightmare Moon fell and hit the ground hard. Audible gasps cascaded across the courtyard at the sight of the once greatly feared alicorn falling over and lying motionlessly on the ground. Still, none of them moved to help her. All they could do was glance anxiously amongst each other, unsure whether to help or not.

The only one that did not hold back was Twilight. She was at Nightmare Moon’s side almost instantly, looking over her in a panic.

“Nyx… NYX! Wake up!” Twilight shouted. She put her head down beside Nightmare Moon’s mouth. She was unconscious, and she was still breathing… but her breathing was weak. Twilight began to hyperventilate, nudging Nightmare Moon’s head. Nightmare Moon, however, didn’t rise, and her breathing was only growing weaker.

Twilight stepped back quickly and began calling on her magic. “Don’t… don’t you worry, Nyx. I’ll get you inside and get you patched up. Yeah, I’ll carry you inside and get you bandaged. It will be just like when I found you in the forest, and you’ll be okay, just like you were then.”

Twilight found concentrating difficult. The exhaustion of a long day and the stress of her own emotions were making it hard to focus on her magic. Still, she managed to lift Nightmare Moon and hold her a few feet above the ground in a levitation spell. Twilight then turned to the crowd watching her, noticing that some of them were frozen in shock.

“Quick, somepony find a first aid kit or something! She needs help!”

Despite Twilight’s call for help, nopony moved. They just stood there, watching with mixed emotions. Some of them couldn’t bear to look Twilight in the eyes. Others were confused and surprised. Some even looked on in anger and disbelief, as if she was doing something wrong. All this drew angry tears to Twilight’s eyes, and she glared at the crowd of ponies.

“What are you doing?!” Twilight screamed at the crowd, making a number of them step back anxiously. “She needs help! She’s hurt, and she got hurt protecting us! I know… I know you’re scared of her… but she needs help!”

Twilight grew hysterical, and desperation entered her voice. “Please… please… we can’t let her… please, I need help! I can’t… I can’t help her by myself. I’m not a doctor, I’m not even a nurse… I need help… she needs help! PLEASE!”

Twilight was crying openly at this point. Her begging eyes searched for somepony, anypony, that was willing to help her. Those nearby, however, chose to turn away, unwilling or unable to meet her gaze, the gaze of a mother who was terrified she was about to lose her daughter.

“You… YOU MONSTERS! SHE JUST SAVED YOU! SAVED YOUR CHILDREN! WHY WON’T YOU HELP?!”

Before Twilight could snap or break down, she felt a hoof on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Twilight, we’re here.”

Twilight snapped her head around and smiled through the panicked tears on her face. Floating in the air beside her was Fluttershy, and she was offering a very gentle and reassuring smile. Behind her were other ponies willing to help; they had been behind her the entire time, always willing to help. Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Zecora, and other ponies had stepped out from the crowd.

Nurse Redheart stood with saddlebags laden with medical supplies, and Cheerilee was beside the others carrying a first aid kit she had been using to tend to ponies with very minor injuries. It took her longer, because she wanted to speak with her daughter first, but Ditzy Doo also came up, ignoring her own injured wing. To top it all off, even Dr. Stable stepped forward from the crowd to offer his expertise.

These were only the first. Other ponies started to step out from the crowd. Some Twilight recognized, others she didn’t, but that didn’t matter at the moment. They were there, willing to help her… to help Nightmare Moon.

“We need to get her inside and start tending her wounds,” Dr. Stable told the growing group of ponies. “Twilight, continue to levitate her as gently as you can, and try to keep her as still and level as possible. Rainbow Dash, I need you to go back to the clinic in town. Find your way to the surgery room and open the big, blue cabinet. Inside will be a large black bag. I need you to get that for me as quickly as possible.”

“You got it,” Rainbow Dash said before quickly zipping off towards Ponyville.

Dr. Stable nodded and looked to everypony else. “The rest of you, help clear a path. We need to get her inside, now!”

The ponies nodded and went to work quickly. Most ran ahead and cleared a path to the castle doors. Others began doing anything and everything Dr. Stable needed. All the while, Twilight waited for her cue to move Nightmare Moon inside, and, as she waited, she drew Nightmare Moon close. Twilight then leaned in and gently nuzzled Nightmare Moon’s cheek.

“You’re going to be all right,” Twilight assured her, “I promise, you’re going to be all right.”