//------------------------------// // Darkness Falls // Story: Lighting Up the Night // by PlagueRatOfDoom //------------------------------// Twilight and Soarin were exhausted. They hadn’t gotten any sleep at the watchtower, and Twilight’s wound was still recovering. But they were at Knight’s Peak. So close to the Rainbow of Darkness. But by the time they had gotten to the mountain, night had already fallen. The crescent moon’s light glow shone on the peak, as the stars twinkled above. “So, that’s the Tomb of Darkness?” asked Soarin, pointing at a labyrinth surrounded by standing stones. “Yep,” replied Twilight. “Think you could fly me and Spike there?” “Sure thing!” The Wonderbolt then picked Twilight up and glided over to the labyrinth. “It’s said that those stones are Pre-Equestrian,” the unicorn said. “If only we could study them!” “We don’t have time for that!” Spike yelled. But none of them knew they were being followed. ----------------------- The Tomb of Darkness was scary, to say the least. It was one of those places that could strike fear into the hearts of fully-grown stallions, and terror into the hearts of anypony who entered its hellish depths. Searching every dusty nook and cranny for the Rainbow of Darkness would take forever, so Twilight resorted to looking at the scripts on the tomb’s walls. “It’s old Equish, but I think I can translate it.” Twilight got to work on translating it. “’The Heart of Darkness is over the abyss.’” “Well, that Heart of Darkness is obviously the Rainbow of Darkness,” Soarin said matter-of-factly. “So let’s look for this abyss.” The three then forged onto the next area of the tomb. --------------------- Queen Chrysalis and her changelings had watched the ponies and dragon. Most changelings didn’t know old Equish, but Chrysalis did. So when Twilight and her friends left the room, she went up to observe the manuscript. “’The Heart of Darkness is over the abyss…’” she deciphered the writing aloud for her changelings and thought for a moment. Thinking of the history that she had learned from her mother, Queen Lepidoptera, she knew of only one object called the “Heart of Darkness”: the Rainbow of Darkness. Placed here by the Princesses long ago, Chrysalis knew that if the Rainbow of Darkness was unleashed, the amount of love in the world would diminish, and she and her changelings would starve. But why would Twilight Sparkle and a Wonderbolt be searching for such a dangerous object? The changeling queen wanted answers. “Follow them!” she commanded to her subjects. “Those ponies must not get deeper into the tomb!” “Why?” asked a changeling. Chrysalis turned to look at the bug-ponies, fury in her eyes. “Because they are after the Rainbow of Darkness.” Every changeling gasped. “Why would they?” asked a shocked changeling. “We’ll know when you listen to me!” ------------------------ As Twilight, Spike, and Soarin soon discovered, the “abyss” meant a long chasm with a pillar in the middle. They slowly crossed the bridge to the column, unaware of the changelings spying on them. Twilight got closer to the center of the pillar, where there was a brown bag. Her heart leapt in joy. It was the Rainbow of Darkness. However, before she could pick it up, a green beam came flying towards her. “Stop now!” Chrysalis yelled, coming out of the shadows with her changelings. Twilight gasped. “Queen Chrysalis?! How did you get here?” she asked incredulously as many changelings surrounded her. Chrysalis approached Twilight, her eyes filled with anger. “The real question is why are you here?!” she said angrily. “Do you have any idea of what that thing is?” she said, pointing at the Rainbow of Darkness. Twilight took a deep breath. “The Rainbow of Darkness,” she said. “And it’s needed in Canterlot.” “WHY?” the changeling queen’s eyes narrowed. “That thing is filled with dark magic. My changelings would starve if its power is unleashed!” Twilight’s horn glowed. “Soarin, Spike, grab onto me!” she yelled. “STOP THEM!” Chrysalis shrieked, absolutely livid. “DON’T LET THEM ESCAPE!” The Wonderbolt and dragon grabbed onto Twilight, and she teleported. -------------------------- Reappearing in Canterlot, the Princess of Friendship felt a brutal blow to the back of her head. --------------------------- When Twilight woke up, she seemed to be in the Everfree Forest. “Thank you, Princess,” Grogar said as he teleported in. The ram’s horns glowed as he levitated the Rainbow of Darkness in front of him, then opened it up, blasting the seal on the Tree of Harmony’s cave. Twilight then felt as if she was being levitated, then chained to the cave wall. Waking up, she saw that Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were also chained. Before she could say anything, Grogar’s cold laugh echoed through the cavern. “The Elements of Harmony…” he said wickedly. “Are now mine.” He laughed louder as he shot the power of the Rainbow of Darkness at the Tree of Harmony. As the dark power of the Rainbow impacted against the Tree, the light began to fade. And the Tree of Harmony was no more. The six gems floated out of the remains of the Tree, circling around Grogar. “Laughter… Generosity… Loyalty… Honesty… Kindness… Magic… The six Elements of Harmony are resonating with their Bearers!” All six mares screamed as they felt an agonizing pain in their body, as it felt like the essences of the Elements themselves were being ripped out. The essences went into the gems, and Grogar absorbed them. “At last… The Elements of Harmony and the Rainbow of Darkness… I am now the most powerful being in the world!” Laughing wildly, the ram unleashed the power of the Rainbow of Darkness. Paying the Mane 6 no mind, Grogar left the cave and floated above the Everfree Forest, looking over his new domain. ------------------------------------------ All across Equestria, the sky turned dark and thunder boomed. From the nobles of Canterlot to the poor of Manehatten, all knew that Equestria was in danger, and nothing could save it.