A War of the Mare's Tales

by Moonlight Gaze

3 - The Bloodied Leader

"Everypony, it is good to have you all gathered here today!" Celestia was regarding the room of ponies that now sat in front of her. The same ponies from yesterday were here now, but Wordsmith was added to the group. Sitting quietly, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Spike, Cadence, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were very curious as to who this new pony in front of them was. "We happen to have had another run in with a Mare's Tale last night. Wordsmith, the pony sitting with you now, found his way into the castle somehow. However, he is no longer of harm. Luna has made quite sure of it." Celestia smiled at her sister, having already teased her of the noises that came from her room last night. Luna, in reply to the look, blushed strongly.

"Yes, Wordsmith was a pony I'd know from the first time the Mare's Tales appeared." Luna regarded the ponies from the table, feeling the heat of their gazes. "Please, do not be alarmed. He is on our side now."

Twilight didn't seem to be convinced. "So, if he's on our side, why did he sneak into the castle last night?" She eyed Wordsmith with a cautious curiosity. She wondered why the princesses were so quick to accept him, but she then noticed how close Luna was to him. "Wait a minute...Princess Luna, are you and him...?"

Luna blushed more at the hinted accusation. She simply nodded her head in a quick movement to confirm Twilight's suspicions. Twilight simply smiled in reply, seeing as to why they accepted him. However, she was still not convinced. "Cadence...I don't mean to be rude, but can you please search Wordsmith's heart to show whether or not it's pure?

Cadence, having already done so, replied, "Yes, he is assuredly on our side. The heat emanating from him is the same as what I feel when I stand with Shining Armor." Wordsmith blushed gently at this, turning away.

Twilight, pleases with the answer, nodded. "Good then. I suppose we have nothing to worry about." She smiled warmly at the stallion, who smiled in return.

Celestia took the chance to regain control of the meeting. "So, now that we have all seen that Wordsmith is on our side, I believe I should allow him to introduce himself, and tell us all of the leader of the Mare's Tales." She gave Wordsmith a glance, and he rose from his seat.

"Yes, thank you princess. As you all know now, my name is Wordsmith. I am a Mare's Tale whose power comes from the way I can manipulate my words. While some may say that it's a useless power, I find it to be one of the most effective, since words can effect emotions, which have the strongest effects on ponies. But, continuing along, I do willingly share information about the Mare's Tales' leader. His name is Hidden Terror. He is of a taller stature, standing a little below Princess Celestia, and his mane is blood red, just like his eyes. His coat, however, is of purple and black. He is one of the easiest ponies to spot, but he is quite the force to be reckoned with. He is someone far stronger than you could ever imagine."

Rainbow Dash interjected. "Does he have some sort of special powers or something? Because if not, I bet that I could beat him." She used her natural self-satisfactory tone, which made Wordsmith laugh a little.

"Trust me miss," he replied, "the power he holds is far more than absolute. His power is something far beyond normal magic. It is made of pure darkness. Something that could never be quelled by even the purest of light." Applejack recognized this type of power.

"So is he something like what King Sombra was?" Applejack asked in her country twang. "Because if so, there's no need for ya'll to worry. We'll take care of him in no time."

Wordsmith simply laughed at the proposition. "No miss, he is far beyond the power of King Sombra. And his power is much darker. Trust me when I say this, you can not underestimate him. He is someone who is far beyond what anyone you have ever faced could even hope to be." At this, all of the ponies felt a sudden sense of fear. They all knew that his words were not simply a creative way of saying this, but rather the complete truth.

Suddenly, the floor of the castle started shaking. A guard rushed into the room. "Princess Celestia, this is of the utmost importance! A pony has breached the castle, and the first battalion was wiped out in a single hit! You must come quickly!" Without another word the guard rushed back off to the lower floor.

Celestia took no time to act. "Everypony, we have to move! Be ready to attack once we reach the lower floor! There is no time to waste!" Everypony in the hall rushed to the lower floor as fast as they could, where a robed pony stood in the center of the floor, surrounded by a large pool of blood and the bodies of twenty or so Royal Guards.

"O-Oh my...T-This d-doesn't look...G-Good..." Fluttershy was shaking as she looked at the pony in the center of the floor, fear having taken control of her whole body. She couldn't even take a step to hide behind Rainbow Dash.

The robed pony took no time to address his new visitors. "Ponies and princesses, what a pleasure to see you." His voice was rather deep and slow, almost soothing. Though there was something about it that brought even more fear to the ponies. "I figured that I might find you all here. I suppose I should introduce myself...Though I'm sure that you already know who I am." The pony removed his hood to show a blood-red mane with glowing red eyes atop his black and purple face, a large scar across the top of his muzzle.

Wordsmith winced at the sight of the pony. He was fear stricken, and he knew exactly what would come of this encounter. "Everypony...It would be far better for you all, and all of Equestria, if you ran now. There's no way that-" A dark struck Wordsmith in the head, killing him instantly as he fell over, blood oozing from his head.

Luna looked both horrified and outraged at the sight of her now-dead lover. "You...Damn...Fool! What have you done! What in all of Equestria have you done!?" Luna acted on instinct, and her mane began to darken. Her voice began to turn from its usual semi-lightness to the dark tone that it had taken when she was Nightmare Moon. "How dare you...You damned bastard!" Luna was now turning back into Nightmare Moon, the anger taking control of her.

Celestia watched in horror as her sister began her transformation again. "Luna, you must restrain yourself! We can try to heal him, but it won't be worth anything if you become Her again!" Luna looked at her sister and saw the tears in her eyes. She landed back on the ground and began to calm down.

"Sister...I'm so sorry. I let the hate take me over again. You're right." Luna calmly turned toward the one who killed her lover. "And I suppose you are the leader of the Mare's Tales? The "Hidden Terror" that Wordsmith so generously told us about?" Every word that she said dripped sarcasm and hate. Her voice, while having returned to normal, was toxic.

The pony in the center of the room simply laughed. "Yes, you are quite right. I am Hidden Terror, and you have seen only a fraction of what I can do. I just had to take care of the loose end that was giving away valuable information to you all." Hidden Terror looked exactly as Wordsmith had described him. He stood just under Celestia's height, with a blood-red mane and glowing red eyes. His coat was pitch black, with purple marks that almost looked like cuts in it. There was a dark aura coming from around him as well. It looked far more sinister than the ponies could have ever imagined. "Since my business is taken care of, I shall take my leave. I hope that we meet again soon, dear ponies. For at that point, I shall take control of this land." Hidden Terror disappeared before their very eyes, a cloud of black smoke vanishing him. The ponies simply stared at the spot where he was, dumbfounded and fear-stricken.

"Princess Celestia," Twilight said, fear in her voice, "I think we have a lot more on our hands than we ever thought." All of the ponies simply nodded in agreement.

Author's Note:

I apologize for the hiatus. I don't really know why I took it, but I did. I'm hoping that, after having grown up a bit and becoming more mature, I might be able to keep a better schedule. I can't guarantee that things will go how I want, but I'm hoping to add a chapter each week to this story. I also hope that, as I go along, it gets better and better. Any constructive criticism you may have, please feel free to comment it. I want to make a story that is not only fun for me to write, but also fun for you to read. I am only 16, but I hope that I can make a story that might be seen as great by all of you. Thank you all, and I hope that this story comes along well. :)