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// 3 An Old Enemy 
// Story: Crossed Lines 
// by Bronyxy 
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Flutterbat flew down the corridors with speed and precision so unlike the demure animal lover that was her normal form, hissing vengefully at anypony who happened to be in her path. Most cowered at the sight; others froze and she simply flitted past them with grace and agility.

Approaching the throne room, she slowed abruptly, hovering just in front of the startled guards, eyes still red and scary.
“I need to see Twilight Sparkle” she demanded “Is she in there?”
“The Princess is engaged in a sensitive meeting with the leader of a foreign land …” announced one of the guards, eyeing her with intense suspicion.
“Yes, I know, Princess Ember” she completed impatiently, “This is an emergency!”
“I’m not sure that …” he began.

Flutterbat stared him in the eye and hissed menacingly, “I said I need to see Twilight Sparkle, and I meant right now!”
“Who are you?” he queried reaching for his weapon.
“I’m Fluttershy” she confirmed.
“What, the Bearer of the Element of Kindness?”
“Yes – Oh, get out of my way!” she demanded and flittered over them to reach the door handle and barge in.
The guards may not have met Fluttershy before, but knew of her, knew she was a primrose pegasus, and that she was very shy. As this pony ticked at least some of the boxes, the guards had sufficient doubt in their minds that she may have been who she said she was, so chose not to attack her as they would anypony they didn’t know trying the same stunt.

As she thrust her way into the room, she saw Twilight, Spike and a few advisers sat round a table with Princess Ember and other dragon emissaries engaged in what was probably a very good natured discussion, but had stopped abruptly upon the interruption.

“Fluttershy” greeted Twilight, “You know Princess Ember. Would you like me to introduce you to her party?”
“No time” retorted Flutterbat, adding as an afterthought, “Sorry.”
“What’s the matter?”
“Twilight” she said, turning them both away from the ponies and dragons around the table, “You have to shut down the Crystal Mirror, and do it right now!”
“What?” asked Twilight nervously.
“Something’s gone wrong and it’s opened a portal to somewhere that it really shouldn’t have.”

“Princess, you must excuse me” she said quickly turning back, “Something’s cropped up that needs my immediate attention, I do apologise and will be back as soon as I can. Spike – you’re in charge!”
“Right!” agreed Spike, happily stepping up as requested.
“Hey Fluttershy!” called Ember, throwing her friend a cheeky wink, “Love the new look!”

Flutterbat flew on ahead to the door and turned to see Twilight trying unsuccessfully to keep up.
“Oh confound this dress” she cried in frustration as it hobbled any hope she had of running or flying.
“Fluttershy, rip this darned thing off me would you please?”
The primrose pony looked at the dress, tilted her head to one side and then launched forward, sinking her extended fangs in to get a hold.
“Easy!” cried Twilight, “Watch those teeth!”
Then Flutterbat pulled her head back and ripped a large hole in the ornate dress, clawing at the remains with her forehooves until it was off.
As the members of the meeting stared to watch in horrified silence, Ember turned around in her chair and commented, “Well, I didn’t know it was going to be that kind of party!”
This broke the awkwardness of the moment and soon both mares had taken to the air and were out of the door, shredded remains of a particularly fine royal dress dumped in a heap on the floor.

The guards stood back as the strange primrose pony and a now naked Princess sped past them and down the corridor.
“Didn’t the Princess have clothes on when she went in?” asked one guard to the other.
“Yeah” replied his colleague nonchalantly, “This sort of thing happens sometimes when there’s a party at Canterlot.
“Oh” came the reply, “Don’t suppose we ever get invites to that kind of party?”
“Not a chance” snorted his colleague, “Not a chance.”

As the two friends sped down the corridors, Twilight’s mind began to race. What could be wrong with the Crystal Mirror, why was Fluttershy now Flutterbat and why was she so agitated?
She felt a pit begin to open in her stomach; first Spike and now Fluttershy, both times to do with the mirror.

Soon they arrived at the room guarded by an imposing looking earth pony and a more diminutive unicorn. Both were stood to attention, but something about them radiated apprehension.
“Good morning, Sirs” said Twilight, “Please would you let us in?”
The unicorn moved forward as he had been bidden and rattled his lonely key once again, opening the door for the two intense looking ponies.

Twilight was going to light her horn to see, but as soon as she entered the room she found it bathed in an ethereal blue light and moved forward cautiously, her friend close behind.
“I’ll close the door Twilight, just to keep the bats in.”
“Now what was it you needed to tell me Fluttershy, and why is the room blue?”
“These bats, Twilight; they’re from a world of endless night, ruled over by …”
“Me!” came a familiar voice from the end of the room. Both friends looked in the same direction and saw a swirling blue mist within which they could just about make out a pony with jet black fur and wings wearing light blue accessories of a livery collar and a helm …
“Nightmare Moon!” gasped Twilight.
The black figure cackled evilly, “Oh, I see you remember me.”
“We defeated you!” glowered Twilight, “What are you doing here?”

The sinister looking alicorn advanced from the protective screen of her blue mist with slow deliberate steps. She knew she had time on her side and was prepared to gloat, especially with the thought of having found somewhere new to conquer.
“I remember you too, although I would hardly say you defeated me. You teleported past me and escaped into this portal before I could follow you, you and your little assistant. I have had that portal watched constantly since, just waiting for it to open once again so I could follow you and track you down.”
“But that portal was opened by a magic spell and was closed when we left! It didn’t even lead here for pony’s sake – you couldn’t have followed us!”
“Well isn’t this awkward?” commented Nightmare Moon, “For you!”
“Your magic won’t work here, I’m not scared of you” said Twilight.
“Then explain the magic wall sconces lit by my aura.”
Twilight blanched. Nightmare Moon was right.

“You won’t be able to get back to your own timeline” observed Twilight, “You’ll be stuck here, away from your kingdom of eternal night.”
“I think not. This apparatus of yours is clearly the source of your interdimensional travel and so I will be able to master it, with or without your help, given time. And I am immortal - I literally have all the time in the world.”
Twilight knew this was true. She also knew that she couldn’t risk sending Nightmare Moon to the only destination that she knew the portal opened out to because that world had no Equestrian magic with which to defend itself. No, she had to keep her away from the Crystal Mirror, and maybe even break it to ensure the safety of her friends at Canterlot High even if that meant keeping Nightmare Moon in Equestria forever.

But how had this even happened in the first place?

While Nightmare Moon continued indulging herself in her egocentric monologue, Twilight racked her brains. Then she hit on something she had not considered before, namely that when the sirens had appeared at Canterlot High, Sunset Shimmer had contacted them by Equestritext and in response she had then rigged the Crystal Mirror using Celestia’s book to provide a constantly open portal between their two worlds. Fine, as far as it went, but every thirty moons, the portal opened by itself using a different magic. This meant that while there were two links emanating from within the mirror in the castle, the portal at Canterlot High could only handle one, and the other link had probably searched through time and space to find something to latch on to. Since they had used Star Swirl’s magic to get to Nightmare Moon’s world once before, it would have left an indelible signature, a beacon for this lost link to attach to!

As the thought crossed her mind, her face dropped visibly, and Nightmare Moon suddenly thought that something she had said had struck home to terrify the lilac Princess, allowing herself a victorious cackle. In fact, it wasn’t anything Nightmare Moon had said, but it was something that she herself had overlooked, and now it seemed that all of Equestria was going to have to pay!