//------------------------------// // Chapter Nine // Story: Harmony Undone: The Rise of Order // by Zodiacspear //------------------------------// As the rain pounded against the glass windows, a cloud of darkness appeared in the hallway. A second later, a startled Rainbow Dash tumbled from it. She pushed herself back up only for the cloud to vanish as it had never existed in the first place. Shaking her head to clear the dizziness, she looked around and found herself alone. “Twilight? Guys?” she called, looking around the hallway. When no answer came, she stood and stretched her wings. “All right, I can’t be hanging around here. I’ve gotta find the others.” An eager grin grew across her face. “Time to kick this into overdrive.” “That will not be necessary.” She heard a voice say. “You!” Whirling to the source, her hackles stood on end as Tyranny stood behind her. “You finally decided to stop hiding, huh?” The stallion stood tall, his expression faintly annoyed as he watched her. “An impudent lass,” he said, his tone dry as sand. “Still, one with its uses. You are Rainbow Dash, the bearer of the Element of Loyalty, are you not?” She spread her forelegs apart, ready to charge him. “That’s right. What’s it to you?” If he was perturbed by her stance, he didn’t show it. In fact, as Rainbow noticed with growing trepidation, he looked entirely too calm. “If there is one amongst the Elements I can respect, it’s the Element of Loyalty. Little is more important than dedication to the ones you serve. Rather that loyalty is born of dedication, delusion, or fear.” A flash of lightning illuminated the hallway. “There’s no way anypony would ever be loyal to a creep like you. I saw what you did to those ponies at the outpost and you’re going to pay for it.” She stood on her hind legs and jabbed at the air a few times. He tilted his head. “Then I cannot persuade you to be loyal to me?” Her laugh burst from her before she could even think of controlling it. “You’ve got to be kidding me? I would never serve somepony like you.” His eyes narrowed at her guffaw. “Hear my offer. Once I take control of all of Equestria, I will need one to oversee the pegasi and to lead my minions when I turn to other lands. I can think of none better than the Element of Loyalty herself.” Rainbow grit her teeth as he continued. “Think of it, you, Rainbow Dash, will be the leader of all the pegasi of Equestria and the commander of my airborne battalions.” As she continued to glare at him, she felt her determination was slipping. His tone and manner made it all sound so real and so plausible. Could she really do it? “The Wonderbolts will be at your beck and call. You would be subservient to only me. A far greater destiny than anything Celestia can offer you. All you need to do is accept my gift and swear loyalty to me, and all of this shall come to pass.” He held out his hoof and a flight suit appeared, hovering in the air. It was similar to the Wonderbolt’s uniform, yet was colored like Tyranny’s cutie mark, which was emblazoned across the breast. Rainbow felt her eyes drawn to the outfit. She could see herself as Tyranny explained: all the pegasi and even the Wonderbolts would be hers to lead. She had always dreamed of rising through the ranks of the Wonderbolts, but she had never dared to dream that she could be their leader. All she had to do was swear loyalty to Tyranny, and he could make that dream come true. Her legs started moving before she could register the movement, her eyes mesmerized by the suit. As she stood before him, she lifted a hoof for the suit. Seeing the smirk pull at his lips only made it sweeter when she grinned at him. “Psyche!” she yelled before leaping forward and driving her shoulder into his barrel. Grunting, Tyranny hopped back, the conjured suit vanishing in a puff of smoke. “You honestly thought I was going to serve you?” she asked even as she readied for another tackle. “Ha! You don’t know the first thing about loyalty.” Expecting an angered retaliation, she blinked as he gave her an approving grin. “You truly represent your element well,” he said, standing straighter and dusting off his curras. “Had you taken my offer, you would have been proven disloyal, and I would have no need of you.” He stretched his neck before looking back at her, his usual faintly-annoyed expression returning. “Enough of the games then, time to deal with you.” He leveled his scepter at her. She took off like a shot, determined to not let him get a spell off. However, before she could really get off the ground, a glowing sigil emerged from the tip of his scepter. The sigil had a diameter as wide as he was tall, and numerous runes swirled within. She tried to stop, flapping her wings frantically, but her momentum carried her into it. As soon as she touched it, she and the sigil both vanished. With a dismissive snort, Tyranny turned on heel and stepped through a cloud of darkness as it appeared. “On to the next one.” -0- The echo of Rarity’s hoofsteps ringed in her ears as she galloped down the hallway she had found herself in. She was not familiar with this particular hallway, but it didn’t concern her. Knowing the general layout of the Crystal Tower, and if one floor was similar to the others, she could find her way. ’Only now I need to find my friends before we rescue Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. I can’t let that knave, Tyranny, find me.’ As she passed a door that was slightly ajar, a metallic gleam caught her eye. She stopped in her gallop and turned back to peer inside. Looking around, she could see the light was being reflected by something made of gold. She paused and looked back down the hallway. There was nopony nearby, in fact, it looked like nopony had been down this hall in weeks. ’A small, exploratory, side trip couldn’t hurt. I’ll be quick.’ Pushing the door open with her magic, she saw a golden tiara with a fabulous black diamond, one of the rarest gems in the world, set in its center upon a dias. Black was not her color, she privately admitted, but such a rare gem could easily make her overlook that. As she looked the tiara over, ideas for fashionable dresses came to mind that would compliment the jewel and create a gorgeous ensemble. ’It is so odd though, I can’t ever remember Princess Cadance wearing it, nor ever putting it out on display for everypony to marvel at. It seems a crime to keep something so fabulous locked away like this.’ Her magical aura surrounded it and she set it upon her head. The tiara seemed to fit naturally, as if it was custom-tailored for her. She turned to view herself in a nearby mirror, and smiled at the sight; the tiara was simply stunning. She imagined herself wearing it and an equally stunning dress, while being adored by all the ponies of Ponyville. They all looked upon her with adoring and envious eyes as she basked in her glory. Mayor Mare gladly surrendered her office to her, for only one as regal as she deserved such an honor. The ponies brought her gifts in an effort to show their appreciation and adoration for the regal unicorn. She saw herself giving a tithe to her overseer. The one whose rule brought about true peace and order in Equestria. For only he was fit to— A gasp escaped her as she stumbled back, shaking her head. The tiara fell from its perch to hit the floor with a metallic clank. Her eyes widened in shock she looked at her reflection in the mirror. “Why would I imagine something so horrid?” she asked aloud. “Is it not your true desire?” asked Tyranny. She spun around and saw the dark stallion standing in the doorway. He glared fiercely at her, and she felt herself take an involuntary step backwards. “To be adored by your peers and have them shower you with praise and worship,” he continued. “Is that not what you truly wish for?” She ran her tongue over the roof of her mouth as she felt it go dry. “No, well, yes. But I wish to earn their respect and adoration from my own hard work. Not through the brute force that you so easily employ, Sir Tyranny.” She turned her nose upwards, hoping to hide the nervousness that chilled her spine. “It is unseemly, not to mention rude to sneak up on a lady.” His expression went flat. “I should imprison you as I have your friends. However, I could make use of somepony with your talents.” “Oh? Do you wish me to fashion a suit for you that is actually up to date with today’s fashion?” she asked sweetly, giving his gold-plate armor and bracers a look of distaste. “Armor is so last millennium’s fashion.” His glare hardened. “Insolent foal.” He growled, leveling his scepter. A sigil appeared—similar to the one that had taken Rainbow Dash—and rushed at her. The unicorn gasped and jumped aside, dodging the sigil by inches. She fired back with a magical attack of her own. “I might not have Twilight or Princess Luna’s magical ability, but I won’t stop me from defending myself!” Tyranny held out his hoof and her blast was halted without any apparent effect. “You don’t stand a chance,” he said matter-of-factly. Thinking quickly, Rarity used her magic to pick up everything she could and flung it at him. With a startled curse, he was forced to cover his head as furniture and other things bombarded him from all directions. Rarity did not remain idle; as soon as he was distracted, she bolted past him and into the hallway. She ran as fast as her hooves would carry her, not daring to see if he pursued her or not. She turned down another hallway, still running as fast as she could. Her eyes widened and she felt her blood run cold as the sigil appeared on floor in front of her. She tried to stop, but her momentum bunched up the rug under her hooves and she tripped right for the sigil. “No!” she screamed before falling into the sigil and vanishing. -0- Pinkie Pie bounded down the hallway, humming a happy tune. “I wonder where everypony went? I make a quick run to the bathroom and everypony’s gone. And here I was going to show them all where the stairs down where.” She shrugged mid-bounce. “Well, since I know where we’re all going, I’ll just wait for them.” A pensive frown tugged at her lips. “I wonder if I have enough time to get us a snack?” She turned down a hallway and stopped. In the middle of the hall stood Tyranny, looking at her in distaste. Despite his scowl, she gave him her brightest, friendliest smile. “Hello there, Tyranny, have you come to say hello or maybe throw us a welcoming party? It’s awful kind of you to do that for us.” He narrowed his eyes. “You are perhaps the one I despise the most. Embodied within you is chaos immeasurable. Only the Spirit of Chaos himself dares exceed it. Your frivolity and chaotic mannerisms would disrupt the order I would bring to this world.” She pishawed and waved a hoof at him. “The world ain’t so bad. Even if things do go wrong, it’s not anything a good laugh or song can’t fix.” She beamed another smile his way. “I bet if we throw you a big ol’ party you wouldn’t be nearly as cranky. I mean, a thousand years without a single birthday party? I can’t imagine anything worse, well...except for running out of candy for that whole time. But look at it this way; you have a thousand birthday parties to catch up on.” His glare hardened. “It astounds me that one such as you was chosen to be a Bearer of Harmony. Your friends represent their elements well, you, I fail to see it.” “Wait, you’ve already seen my friends? Did you try to turn them to your side or turn them all evil?” “Yes, and I’ve—” “Discord did it.” He blinked, his annoyed frown taking a confused turn. “What—” “Separating all of us and trying to turn us all evil and such? Discord did it first.” Scowling, he asked, “What does that have to do with anything?” “Weeelll, you’re supposed to be the opposite of Discord, right?” she asked, rolling her hoof at him. “I thought you’d be different and greet us all together and make us more good or something.” Her own visage turned pensive. “Wait, or would you? You’re supposed to be a bad guy, why would you make ponies good when you’re a villain? I’m confused now.” Scowling, he said, “You speak nothing but nonsense.” She turned her smile back at him. “Well, can you show me what Order’s supposed to be like? I bet you’d love to see my secret party planning cave, but don’t tell anypony about it.” Her tone took a conspiratory edge to it as she whispered to him, “It’s a secret.” A few strangled sounds escaped past his grit teeth. “Imprisonment is the punishment for your friends; for you however, the Realm of Shadow awaits!” He lifted his scepter and an ebon ray shot out. “Now that’s different,” Pinkie said before closing her eyes tight as the ray struck her, however, the ray did not have the effect Tyranny intended. Instead, she fell over in a fit of uncontrollable giggles. She rolled around holding her stomach laughing, as the magic tickled at her from all over. Tyranny’s eyes widened, his jaw dropping. “What?!” He fired a second beam and the giggling started all over again. “Stop it, stop it!” she said between giggles, trying to catch her breath. “It tickles so much.” As she rubbed away the tears from her eyes, she noticed that he was looking at the amulet she wore. She looked down to see the gold choker and balloon shaped gemstone had a faint glow about it. “Hey!” Pinkie shouted as she was levitated towards Tyranny, pulled along by her element. He studied the jewel for a moment before his eyes lit up in recognition. His lips pulled back in a snarl. “I see now,” he said, dropping her to the floor. “Owww…” Pinkie rubbed at her behind. “Well that was just mean. Why can’t you try being nice to ponies for a change instead of being a big’ol meanie pants?” He turned his scowl at her. “You should consider yourself fortunate. Your Element of Harmony is what keeps you grounded to this realm. Even if I were to remove it from you physically, your connection to it serves as an anchor.” “So it weighs me down?” She tilted her head at her element. “Funny, it doesn’t feel heavy.” Rolling his eyes, he turned away. “Indeed. Now be gone.” The sigil appeared under her and rose to the ceiling, taking her with it. He rubbed at the side of his head, a faint, annoyed groan escaping him. -0- Applejack charged down the hallway, making for the tower’s center. “All right, if I keep movin’ for the central stairs, I can get ta the holdin’ chambers and find the others. If that varmint Tyranny or his buddies try ta stop me, I’ll trample over them.” Her hopes of avoiding him vanished as the Spirit of Order stepped from a cloud of darkness, stopping her in her tracks. “Just where do you think you are going?” he asked as the cloud vanished. She set herself, ready for a fight. “Ya know exactly where I’m goin’, ya swindler. Now, get outta the way before things get ugly.” “Charming,” he muttered. “Have you, in your haste, a moment to speak?” She glared fiercely at him. “Ya got nothin’ I wanna hear. Now move it!” “Hear me out,” he said as he took a step closer. “A hard working mare, such as yourself, deserves the respect that she has rightfully earned. You and I need not fight, for I hold no hostility towards you.” “Only mah friends.” He snorted. “When this world is under my control, I will have need of strong work horses such as you. If you swear your loyalty to me, I shall see to it that your farm and lands shall always remain within your family. Nothing shall change in your life, save for the tithes that will be owed to me. Is that not what you desire most for you and your kin? A steady and secure future?” “I don’t need somepony like you tellin’ me who owns mah farm and who doesn’t. Princess Celestia gave the land ta mah family and it’s goin’ ta stay that way.” As his glare hardened, she felt a particular sense of pride knowing she riled him up. “Then I will find one willing to do as I command, and you and your family will become nothing more than rootless vagabonds.” She tugged her hat lower and readied herself to charge. “Ain’t happening.” “So be it.” Quick as a cat, he hurled his scepter at her. Ducking under the missile, she dug her hooves in and charged. Her eyes widened as the scepter appeared back in his hooves and jumped to the side as he hurled it again. The metal staff bounced off the tiled floor and she lept ahead and pivoted to buck. Tyranny crossed his forehooves in a block—similar to how he had against Luna. This time, however he was caught by surprise as the workhorse’s kick nearly sent him stumbling backwards. “Impressive,” he said as his tone carried a new respect. “Comes from many hard days a work; not that you’d know anythin’ about that,” she said, kicking at him again. This time, he sidestepped the attack and lashed out. His hoof caught her by the neck and he pinned her against the wall. Struggling, she tried to kick at him, but he merely stepped to the side. “It is useless to stand against me. A fact all of Equestria will soon learn.” Applejack tried to level a kick his way, or at least break his hold on her, but it all stopped as the sigil appeared on the wall behind her. A trap, she realized, that he had set before they even started fighting. “No fair,” She struggled to free herself. He gave her an incredulous look. “What made you think I would fight fair?” -0- In yet another section of the tower, all was quiet and nothing stirred, or so it seemed. A potted plant slowly, furtively moved from one part of the wall to another before stopping, silently making its way down the hall. At one point the plant lifted out of its pot to reveal a nervous-looking Fluttershy. She glanced around before hiding and moving down the hallway some more. The pegasus had found herself alone after disappearing from the entrance of the tower. At first, she had hidden and remained still in hopes that one of her friends would find her. When they didn’t appear, she grudgingly decided she had to go find them, thus she used the potted plant to move around so that Tyranny or his scary shadow guards couldn’t find her. As she moved about, she paused again to check to see if the coast was clear. Finding the hallway empty, she hid again and made her way down the hall along the wall. A small grunt escaped her as she bumped into something solid. 'Funny,' she thought, there was nothing along the hallway for her have bumped into. She slowly took a peek from her hiding place and saw a golden chestplate with an amethyst set in its center. ’Now that’s odd. If I bumped into that, then that means…’ An ‘Eeep!’ escaped her and she ducked into her disguise. “Come out,” said a stallion’s voice. ’Please go away. You didn’t see me. You didn’t see me.’ An annoyed grumble preceded the stallion saying, “As you wish.” Fluttershy blinked in surprise as the potted plant disappeared. When she looked up, she found herself before Tyranny, his scary eyes glaring down at her in annoyance. “The Element of Kindness,” he said, his voice dripping disdain. “As useful as she is brave. Tell me, how did your friends plan to stop me?” “We-we were not here for you,” she said in a whisper of a voice as she tried to back away. He raised one eyebrow at her, and a slow smirk crossed his face. “I see… ” He turned away from her almost contemptuously. The sigil appeared in the hall, but it made no move for her. “Your friends are through that sigil,” he said before starting away. He had meant for her to walk through the magic circle on her own accord, she realized. She looked to it then back at him; did he truly think of her as so weak as to merely follow his orders? By his own words he had already found her friends and had done something to them. As the thought simmered, Fluttershy found herself growing angry. How could anypony be so mean? So heartless? Remembering a few of the lessons she had learned from Iron Will, she planted her hooves down. “No,” she said hoping she didn’t sound too firm. He stopped and turned his head to regard her at her denial. “No?” She stamped her hoof again. “That’s right. I said no.” He turned back at her, an eyebrow raising. “You would dare defy me?” “That’s right, mister; I won’t let you bully me or anypony else. You should be ashamed of yourself. Stop what you are doing right now, and apologize to everypony for being so mean.” She lowered her gaze before adding, “If you would, please.” Tyranny looked at her, seemingly at a loss for words. After a minute, however, he began to laugh. Not the mocking laughter she heard him use before, but one of actual humor. Despite her resolve to stand firm, she felt herself shrink away as even it sounded menacing. “It is always the quiet ones who house the hidden strength,” he said. His eyes flashed and the sigil swooped over the stunned pegasus. Tyranny actually considered the entire encounter and laughed at the absurdity of it all. “Only one remains,” he said to himself. -0- Twilight rounded the last corner of the hall; the passage down to the lower levels was just ahead. ’Please, everypony, please be safe. Please don’t let anything have happened to you.’ Not knowing where they were or if they were unharmed made her pace for the stairs even more frantic. When she saw a pony standing near the door to the stairs, her heart leaped at the thought that her friends were waiting for her. Her run came to a skidding stop as the pony turned out to be the Spirit of Order himself. “Princess Twilight, we meet again,” the stallion said as he blocked the entrance to the lower chambers. “Did you come to surrender or plea for the release of your friends?” Her heart sank but she kept up her determination. “What have you done to my friends?” A snide smirk pulled at his lips even as he squared off with her. “They wait for you below. I can take you directly to them, if you so wish it.” Twilight growled to herself but found herself studying Tyranny closer. There was something… different about him. He wasn’t like he was back in the clearing when he fought with Princess Luna. There was something different about the magical aura that surrounded him. There, she felt his unique magical aura, a feeling of overbearing-control, but now, it was there but there was something else. Something colder. Even so, she realized, there were more important things to think about. “Sorry, Tyranny, but I don’t have time to deal with you.” She ran towards him, flapping her wings to give her an extra boost of speed. He scowled. “In too much of a haste even for conversation!” He hurled his scepter at her, the missile aimed directly for her chest. She dove under the scepter and rolled behind him. His back hoof grazed her tail as she rolled past. Not hesitating, she ran down the stairs away from him as fast as she could without risking breaking her neck. As she ran down the steps, she could hear his heavier hoofsteps echo after her. She hopped into the air and glided down the rest of the way. ’The holding chambers are just ahead. If I can get to my friends and family, we can stop him with the Elements of Harmony. We can stop him here!’ Entering the final hallway to the cells, her eyes widened as a shimmering aura appeared in front of the door, blocking her path. Recognizing it as a barrier, she gathered her magic and teleported. A pained grunt escaped her as she bounced back from the barrier, rubbing at her head in a daze from the failed teleportation. “That will be one barrier you will not be able to pass.” She turned to find Tyranny at the other end of the short hallway. A similar barrier appeared behind him, blocking the other way out of the chamber, effectively trapping them both inside. She rolled back to her hooves, her horn glowing brightly. “What have you done with my friends, Tyranny?” “They are with the princess and prince as my guests.” “As prisoners! Release them!” He snorted at her demand, and a quintet of his dark ponies appeared between them. “It is time I see what Equestria’s newest princess is capable of. Take her.” Soundlessly, all five charged her. Twilight gritted her teeth and lashed out at the creatures with a blast of magic. Three of them vanished in puffs of smoke, their armor clattering to the stone floor. The other two charged in. She dodged the tackle of the first but grunted as the second crashed into her. She rolled with the tackle and used her hind legs to heave the creature off of her. Her strength surprised her as the creature hit the wall hard and dissipated. The first charged in again, its hooves lashing out in punches. She kept away from its offensive, casting a quick look towards Tyranny, who just stood by watching impassively. Her gaze darted to the discarded armor as they started to stir again. Twilight hopped above the attacking shadow and stomped on its head. Whirling, she launched a blast of energy at the idle stallion. He didn’t even flinch as one of his minions intercepted the blast for its master. Her breath came out in pants as she felt the sweat form on her coat. “How long do you plan to just stand there?” she demanded. His gaze hardened, a faint hint of annoyance in his expression. “Until my minions are extinguished or you can no longer fight.” “Fantastic,” she muttered as the creatures attacked again. After defeating them, Twilight realized she was beginning to tire out. No matter how many times she beat them, they would just keep coming back. At this rate, she would not have the energy to use the Elements of Harmony at all. The five creatures surrounded her, and Tyranny snorted, appearing to have grown bored. “Disappointing,” he muttered. Together, the five dark ponies lunged at her. Seeing him turn away and knowing he had already captured her friends, set Twilight’s teeth to grinding. With a shout, she collected her energy and burst it out in a globe. All of the creatures vanished as they were struck; even their armor faded away into nothing. Tyranny whirled to face her, his eyes wide. Slamming his scepter into the ground, his own barrier appeared and her globe washed over him without any effect. Her magic nearly spent, she slumped to her knees. Panting heavily and with sweat rolling down her face, she knew she was at her rope’s end. “Is that all?” he asked as his barrier faded. “All!? No…” She stood up and gathered her magic again, meaning to battle him with all she had. “As long as you endanger my friends and family, I will stand against you!” A smirk pulled at his face, even as he regarded her with a new respect. “You have strength, child, I will give you that. I see why Celestia keeps such a valuable tool such as you.” She sputtered in outrage. “How dare you?! Princess Celestia is not like you! She never uses ponies with no regard to their feelings. She is no monster like you.” His grin took a sardonic turn. “If there is anything more useful than a tool, it is a disillusioned tool. It is beyond comprehension that one as intelligent as you would so easily believe her lies.” Remembering the words of Princess Celestia, she stood straighter and lifted her nose. “All you speak are lies, Tyranny, the lies of a despot.” He narrowed his eyes, but did not lash out at her impudence. “Have you never once questioned anything your beloved princess has asked of you? Were you not the one she chose to deal with her rogue sister? When she was more than capable doing it herself?” He spoke above her protests. “What of the dragon who threatened Ponyville with its smog? Or the changelings, or Sombra, or Discord?” He growled the last name. “She trusted me to do all of that!” “She trusted the tool to do its job.” Twilight shook her head, trying to deny everything he said. “How can you know anything about us, Tyranny? You don’t know anything of what we’ve done to protect Equestria from ponies like you!” A snort escaped him. “I know Celestia let her most beloved and faithful tool do her work for her. You dare insinuate that she is no different than I? You are a foolish disillusioned child.” Despite her best efforts to stop them, tears formed around her eyes but she shook them away. “Let’s finish this,” she said as she mustered the remainder of her magic. “Indeed.” Before she could react, the sigil appeared from above and swooped downward, sending her to join her friends at last. “We will speak again, and soon, princess,” he said to the now empty hallway. His gaze lingered on where she stood for a moment more, before a faint smirk crossed his face. “And we will have much to discuss.” His barriers fading away, he walked back for the stairs.