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?”
