Havoc, the homicidal chimera of chaos, has flung the Elements of Harmony into different dementions. This is Twilight's story.
Story one in a six part plot line.
Havoc, the bringer of chaos, has flung Twilight and the other elements into alternate dimensions. With the instruction to use their elements to complete the task he has handed them, they must get back home. How will Twilight service in a mirror world where she is now the antagonist? Will she play her role, or die refusing to hurt anyone?
Story line takes place in place of season 4 episodes 1 and 2.
"Thank you for coming girls. It is...good that you could make it," Celestia started off.
"Discord again?", Twilight responded.
"Sadly, yes. While I do not doubt his change for the better, he still has his juvenile sense of humor," Celestial looked sadly to the floor.
"Don't worry Princess, he'll be back to normal in NO TIME!", Pinkie happily jumped up, confetti flying from no decernable source.
"I have a bad feeling about this", Twilight thought to herself.
"Thank you girls! I just want him to stay out of trouble. You know how things can escelate," the Princess motioned to Luna, who was sitting on her throne in the next room.
"I understand Princess," Twilight spoke up. " We'll not use the elements as long as we can, but if he provokes us..."
"I know."
"Yeah, we'll go easy on him!", Rainbow reassured.
After much conversation and instruction, the girls left the castle and headed to Ponyville.
"Where was Discord seen last?", Applejack asked.
"Celestia said no pony actually saw him, but the chaos he's spread was about halfway between Fluttershy's place and Sweet Apple Achres."
"A little close the the Everfree was it not?", Rarity added.
'Cl-cl-close to th-the Everfree F-Forest?!", Fluttershy yelped and jumped behind Rainbow Dash.
"C'mon Shy, we've been there multiple times before. It can't still be that bad!", Rainbow Dash moved out from in front of Fluttershy.
"Maybe not for you, but I'm still terrified!", she cover her head with her hooves.
"It's okay Fluttershy. We're here with you," Twilight held out a hoof to her.
"O-okay...I'll come," Fluttershy took the hoof and pulled herself up from the ground.
"Now, we need to see what Discord's up to," Twilight resumed her path towards their destination.
The six ponies walked for about another thirty minutes.
"So...Twilight. What if we have to use our elements? Princess Celestia seemed emotional about it. I don't know how she'll take it," Rainbow Dash spoke up.
"Well Rainbow. Our elements are not here as a first resort. I doubt we'll need to use them."
"But what if...?"
"I don't know. Celestial told me that if I needed to use them...I had to. While I don't like to dwell on it, there is the possibility that he has changed."
Fluttershy's eyes went wide when she heard her friends' conversation.
"Um, Twilight. What do you think the odds are that Discord has changed?", Fluttershy quietly asked.
"Oh Fluttershy. I don't really think he's changed. It's just a precau-"
A massive explosion gripped the ponies' immediate attention. Smoke poured infront of them.
"Hello ponies. Have you come to share in this wonderful moment?", the voice came from an unknown source.
"Who's there? Show yerself!", Applejack shouted.
"You don't know who I am? The god of chaos?"
"Fluttershy spoke up. "B-b-but Discord has a d-d-d-different voice. Is this another trick D-Discord? Please don't lie to me," she smiled into the smoke.
"Trick? Yes! Discord? No!", the booming voice echoed out at them.
The voice was filled with power and strength. It didn't sound anything like Discord's usual ominous sarcastic voice. The voice sounded sadistic, and it shook Fluttershy to the very core.
"Not Discord? Who are you then? Show your face!", Rainbow Dash shouted at the smoke. "I'm not afraid of you!"
"Which one?", the voice replied sadisticly before revelling its lion head.
Another head, that of a dragon popped out of the smoke, then a goat head appeared.
The six ponies began to back away slowly.
"How many of you are there?",Twilight slowly asked.
"Oh, just the one," the lion head spoke up.
"Yes, we are one in the same," the goat head spoke, in a slightly higher form of the voice.
"And I am your worst nightmare!", shouted the dragon head in a much deeper voice.
The creature revealed its shoulders, which held up all three heads, the lion head in the middle with the goat head to the left and the dragon head to the right of it. It then began to slowly walk out of the smoke, slowly revealing more and more horrifying features. It had wings with spikes lining them, the hind legs of a ram, and a snake for a tail. As he came out of the smoke completely, he continued.
"Discord failed to do what I am here to see accomplished. Spreading chaos throughout the multiverse. This world has been the only world untouched by chaos for hundreds of years! We sent Discord, thinking that his stubborn, narcissistic thirst for chaos would bring about our goal. However, when the Princess sisters used the elements of harmony and turned him to stone, we thought all was lost. That was until a certain group of fillies came by and showed the chaos strong enough to give him the strength to break free," each head took turns speaking.
"We already know what happe-", Rainbow Dash began but body was turned to stone where she hovered.
The chimeric being's snake tail grabbed her and threw her against a tree.
"Hey-", Applejack began but a rope tied her to the same tree.
"SILENCE!"
The remaining four ponies looked on in fear.
"Now where was I? Ah yes. And then you came along, and reformed him with your friendship!", he spat the word.
The dragon head began to speak. "He has failed the council, and shall spend an hundred years in torment for it!"
"And your elements of harmony are useless against me!", the goat head shouted.
The snake head coiled around and looked from one pony to the other. "Where are they hiding?", his eyes focusing on Twilight's brief case. "There!"
The snake head opened its mouth and sucked in air. The brief case flew through the air and landed in its mouth.
"You will not need these where you're going," the lion head mumbled.
"My name is Havoc, and this is your test!", the dragon head shouted.
He held up his paws and all six ponies flew in circles around him, and all four heads spoke in unison as loud gusts of wind blew wildly about them.
"All six of you shall have a test. Each of you will use your elemental gift to fulfill this task. Fluttershy, you must use your kindness to mend the broken world you will be given. Rarity, you must band with an alien species and use your generosity to end the war between them and another alien species. Applejack, you must use honesty to help a rebellion win their country back. Rainbow Dash, you must be loyal to the allies you are given and stop the war between them and another race. Twilight Sparkle, you will use magic to become the villain of Equestria. Pinkie Pie, you will have to mend a broken world with laughter. If these tasked can be accomplished, you may keep your own world. But if not...", all four heads smiled wickedly.
All six mares gasped in shock.
"Become the villain?!", Twilight thought to herself.
Havoc glared over at Rainbow Dash and shouted in all voices. "Oh you could't even try!", his words dripped acid.
All of his heads' eyes glowed bright white and portals opened up behind each of the ponies, who were floating in a hexagonal shape around him, and he shot Rainbow through hers.
He turned to Fluttershy and muttered, "Oh no child, this will be much worse than aweful."
He shot Fluttershy through hers.
"Now be gone!", all the rest of the ponies flew through their portals save for Twilight.
He looked dead at Twilight and Muttered, "Yes. The villain.", and then he threw her through her portal.
Twilight raised her head and looked about the room she sat in. The room was dimly lit, with a table in the center. Many weapons of some sort filled the room, lying in piles against a couple walls. She looked down and found that she sat upon some sort of seat which was elevated at the top of a three step staircase. She looked to her left and found a door, shut. She groggily pulled her head to the right and found a window overlooking a valley. She was very high up, probably in a tower by the looks of it. She looked dead on at the table and found a map with many pins stuck into it all over.
"Where am I?", she shakily let out.
Suddenly, Havoc's form manifested into the room.
"Hello there," He appeared much smaller, probably so he could actually fit in the room.
"You!", Twilight shot upright in her chair and glared at him, instantly regretting the sudden action.
"Me?! What did I do?!", he responded with what appeared to be genuine confusion.
"You brought me here! Where am I?", she looked around and then suddenly appeared shocked. "Where are my friends?!"
"Go look at that map. It should tell you."
Twilight got up and walked over to the map on the table and began reading names and the writing under them.
"Applejack, Fluttershy; held up in Canterlot Keep. Rarity; formulating forces in Manehatten. Rainbow Dash; Gaining support in Cloudsdale. Pinkamena Diane Pie; Whereabouts unknown," she went from name to name on the map. Suddenly she felt a sharp throb in her head.
"Does that answer your question?", Havoc looked at her.
"No. What did you do with them?! Those aren't my friends! Those are the dolls you created for this world!", she glared daggers at him. Her head throbbed again.
"If that is what you want to believe," he crossed his forelegs, somehow standing on just his back legs. "I would suggest you stop talking to me."
"And why is tha-"
"Your highness! Are you alright?!", a voice called from the now open door to Twilight's left.
Twilight stood there looking off into space as if she had just been talking to somepony.
"Um..." The pony walked over and put a foreleg around her neck. "You need to be resting. Come along. Back to bed," he led her into a room behind the chair Twilight had been sitting on, which she now saw looked like a throne.
"Here you are. Now just lay down and rest that head of yours. Just leave the battle planning to us," he left the room after laying her down on the bed.
Twilight lay there utterly confused. What was wrong with her? Why did the stallion put her to bed like a child? Why did she wake up sitting on a throne? Why did she have a map that had information about where her friends were? Battle planning? It almost looked like she was...
"Am I at war with them?!", Twilight shot up in her bed, her head instantly rebutting her action. "No! This is just a dream. Or something..."
She got up from her bed, or the bed she assumed was hers, and began walking to the door, but found herself looking at the mirror.
"Holy horse apples! What happened to me?!", she looked at the mirror in utter shock.
Her left wing was bandaged up, but blood was soaking through so it was obviously bad. She had many bruises covering her body, one terrible on on her right side.
"How am I not feeling this?", she looked down and saw a magically timed medicine pump IV in her arm. "Ah, that would explain it."
She suddenly noticed that she could see her right eye and face were bandaged up, along with the rest of her head, leaving only the left side of her face and horn uncovered. Blood was soaking through those bandages as well.
"How have I missed all this?! Is it so bad that I can't even tell that I'm not even seeing with my right eye?!", her head throbbed. "And that would explain that."
She made her way over to her bed. Somehow it seemed that knowing about her injuries made them suddenly debilitating. That or the medicine had worn off.
Speaking of which, as soon as she climbed into the bed, the pump went off, sending a cold sensation throughout her entire body. She blacked out.
Twilight found herself standing on a rock looking towards Canterlot as soldiers in black and red armor similar to hers ran past her, shouting. She herself shouted insanely at the massive wall that lay before her. Five bodies, clad in armor varying in color stood atop the wall, looking right at her.
With a flap of her wings, Twilight shot off to her right and assisted a group of soldiers in ramming through the door at the base of a tower. Upon bursting through the door, she found the base of the tower to be guarded by Canterlot soldiers. Immediately, she shot a knife through one of the soldier's helmets, and as the soldier crumpled to the floor, Twilight gabbed their spear in her magic and shot it into the other soldier's chest, killing him. Twilight flapped her wings and flew through the tower to the top and blew the door off. The opening revealed about one hundred soldiers.
"I would stick around and chat but I have a date!", she flew into the air and began to fly away but a spear clipped her left wing. She shreaked and fell back to the ground. "Very well."
A second spear flew in her direction but was captured in her magic. She encased it in purple fire and sent it back into the crowd, impaling two soldiers and bluntly knocking the helmet off of another. Three soldiers charged her, one with a fireball charging up and the other two holding a spear and a sword. The one with the sword lashed at her, nicking her right ear as she ducked. She followed by spinning and knocking his legs out from under him. The one with the fireball threw it at her face, though she took it in her magic, the fireball turning purple, and threw it through the spear wielding pony. The spear she held was lifted and driven into the fireball pony's neck by Twilight's magic.
The rest of the soldiers charged her at that moment as she backed toward the open doorway to the tower behind her, thinking of what to do. At that moment, a large number of her soldiers came rushing out of the doorway, charging straight past her at the other soldiers. Twilight looked up to where the five ponies previously stood, but they were gone.
Just then, a pony slammed into her left side, further injuring her wing, sending her tumbling head over hooves into a wall. She clammered back to her hooves and sent a bolt of purple lightning at the intruder, but it turned blue and deflected into the wall above Twilight's head. The first intruder, a pegasus mare wearing red light armor, flew into Twilight, sending them both through the wall, and into the courtyard below.
Just before they landed, Twilight teleported ten feet away, leaving the pegasus to land on her back. The mare stood up quickly, cracked any misplaced disks in her back back into place and began to fly right at Twilight. The unicorn that owned the blue magical aura from before appeared to Twilight's right and began charging. Another pony from the five jumped down and landed to Twilight's left, wielding a whip, and began to charge as well.
Twilight thought fast. The unicorn was too skilled and well balanced, as well as the Pegasus. The earth pony with the whip would be strong, but definitely ill-balanced.
She turned to the earth pony, snagged the whip in her magic, and flung the pony into the pagasus, sending them bother through a nearby wall. The unicorn was unfazed and nearly caught up to Twilight. Twilight sent out a pulse of magic that knocked the unicorn for a loop, but the unicorn landed back on all hooves and readied a stance.
Now that the unicorn stood still, Twilight could see her uniform. She wore a dark purple, nearly blue hooded cloak. Her white hooves wore purple gauntlets studded with bright blue gems. Her face was mostly hidden by the hood, save for the smug grin that adorned her muzzle. Twilight stood there in no stance at all, as the unicorn readied a shot of magic and unleashed it at her. She deflected it and sent two shots of her own, one of fire and one of pulsing magic. The unicorn went for the more deadly one, the fire, and blocked it with her own fire blast. Twilight readied a stance, causing the unicorn to forget about the magic and ready for her opponent's next move. The magic made it's way around and blasted the back of the unicorn's head, knocking her hood into her face. As soon as her hood had blinded her, Twilight unleashed a fury of fire at the unicorn, striking her in her face, melting the hood away, and leaving her burned. The unicorn fell to the ground whimpering. Twilight picked her up in her magic and flung her into a wall, knocking her unconscious.
Twilight turned to walk the other way but two new ponies walked in on her. One moved fast and nimbly while the other hovered patiently in place. The spastic one jumped right for Twilight, but she moved and put her hoof out, and would have clothslined her but she caught her foreleg and spun up into the air, spinning Twilight onto the ground. The pony came back down with two hooves landing right where Twilight's head had just been. Twilight found herself back on her hooves and blasted the pony with magic, sending her spiraling into a nearby tree.
The hovering pony glared and began to make her way towards Twilight. The pegasus and earth ponies came back from the hole in the wall and began to walk towards her as well. The burned unicorn shakily got up and made her way over. The agile pony found her hooves and made her way to the circle now. All five mares surrounded Twilight.
A pony's shout from above caught all five mares' attention. Twilight's forces had taken the walls. Twilight could see a large group of soldier coming into the courtyard from further in Canterlot, not hers. All of them seemed to know this was their fight. The five mares looked at each other and nodded.
The Pegasus lunged at Twilight and knocked her into the ground, but Twilight used her momentum and flipped over her, into the air and kicked her into the far wall. Both earth ponies jumped at her, but she pulled the hooves out from under the agile one and then blasted the other away using her magic. The unicorn came from behind her and caught her by surprise. As Twilight turned around to counter, a blast of fire hit her face, knocking her on her back and temporarily blinding her. As she sat there, the unicorn took her in her magic grasp and threw her into a wall.
The soldiers on the wall jumped down and attacked the five mares. The soldiers in the courtyard saw them joining the battle and came in to take it over. A soldier grabbed Twilight and flew off with her while everypony was distracted. As Twilight looked back down over the wall into the courtyard, she could see her soldiers get overtaken, and this caused her much sorrow. They had lost.
Twilight shot up in her bed in a cold sweat. She looked around to see that she was in her strange new room still. She looked out the window to the right of her bed and could see the night sky. Judging by the position of the moon, she supposed it was around five in the morning.
This must be real. I've never heard of dreaming in a dream before. But what was that dream about? Who was I fighting, and what could it mean?, she thought to herself.
An image of the ponies she had fought formed in her head, and her friends' faces appeared on them.
"WHAT?! Oh no no no no no!", she got up from her bed and walked over to the mirror. She saw that all of her scars matched where she took the most blows in her dream. She looked down at the floor, and then out the window. "That was no dream."
"No. It can't be real, I mean it couldn't. It isn't," Twilight walked over to the mirror and observed herself.
"I can remember getting all of these injuries. It happened in my dream. I haven't read anything about the mind creating stories to back up what you see in the form of a dream. I was wrong. This is all real."
She began to lift her head dressing to get a view of the injury. Immediately she placed the bandage back with hurry.
"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh oh my gosh!", she looked out of her room past the throne and saw the door. "I don't know who these ponies are. Or at least I don't remember them from before I came here. I should try to be qui-", a sharp pain in her head cut her ability to speak off for a brief moment. "AAAGH!", she moved around the room swaying her head back and forth in pain, holding a hoof to it. When the pulse of pain finally subsided, she made her way back to her bed and climbed in, not wanting to be caught standing about by those guards this world's form of her knew.
She waited for nearly an hour. Nopony showed up. She continued to wait until she finally fell asleep.
Day break came, and sunlight flowed in through the window and hit her face. She mumbled something in her sleep and rolled over. Then, a knock at the planning room door woke her up and grabbed her full attention. She groggily climbed out of her bed and walked slowly out of her room and made her way to the door. The events from last night had left her weak.
She tried to open the door with her magic but found she didn't have the strength. She gave up and called to the door. "Come in."
The door opened and a pony stepped in. He was a grey stallion with a yellow mane. He wore glasses and a fancy leather jacket, and he carried a hard black briefcase in his magical grasp.
"Your highness. I hear you are not feeling well. I was summoned from beyond your force's reach to lend a hoof, and naturally, it took me a while to get here. How are you feeling?"
Twilight looked him dead in the eyes and said, "I'm sorry, who are you, what are you here for again?"
His eyes narrowed. "Ah, it seems you have forgotten. I am a neural scientist, the best in my field, as well as a trained fixer of the psyche. You could also call me a mental therapist, though that title is usually associated with the position ponies refer to as shrinks. I tell you, I am not a shrink. My line of work is on a far less emotional field. I am the best there is. You have sustained a highly scarring injury, if not emotionally, obviously physically, as well as mentally. I have been called in to fix you."
"F-fix me? But I was never broken. I just got hit with fire, in the face!", Twilight glared at him, not liking being called broken.
"Along with other traumatic blows to the head! Please, your highness. I believe there is more to it than that. A guard gave me a heads up and told me he saw you talking to nopony when he walked in yesterday. I believe this long time of injury can do things to an alicorn, especially when you take into account your inability to use magic that it caused. I do not think everything is fine. Please, let me try and help."
"How did you know I couldn't use magic?", Twilight asked in confusion.
"Your caring guards have been keeping an eye on you of course. That's how they decided they needed my help."
Twilight thought for a moment.
Well if I say no he may know I'm not really her. Aren't I? But if I say yes, I'll be cooped up in some therapist office for who knows how long. Then again, I may be able to learn a thing or two about the world I'm in. Wait! How would this worlds form of me act?!
Twilight looked at him in utter annoyance. "UGH! Fine! But hurry it up, I don't want to be kept from my uh, duties for too long."
"Of course your highness! Follow me and we should be done shortly. Oh, and by the way, my name is Clear Mind. Doctor Clear Mind."
"And my name is Twilight Sparkle, but you can just call me 'your highness'," she rolled her eyes and followed him down into a lower level and into an interrogation room.
"Please, sit. Make yourself comfortable," Clear Mind motioned to a not-so-comfortable metal chair.
Twilight sat down on the chair with a annoyingly loud metal creek. Clear Mind sat in one across from her.
"I really want to make a joke here about how you're feeling, but I need to get to the point," he looked at the one way mirror on the wall and nodded. The door shut and a heavy metal 'clank' could be heard. "Now. Something has been wrong with you since that day. The day of the battle in Canterlot. You haven't seemed yourself, well, at least while you've been awake you haven't.
Twilight looked at the door, realizing it had just locked, and what that meant."I don't understand. What is this about? You think I'm...crazy or something?", Twilight glared at him.
"Not quite, but we have many theories. While you were sane-"
"SANE?! Does anypony doubt my sanity?!", Twilight shouted, trying to correctly guess how this world's form of herself would respond.
"I hate to be blunt, but yes. Even now you act strangely. You act as if you do not know yourself. While you were sane, you made everypony promise, including me, that if for any reason, you acted strange or out of place, that we would get to the bottom of it. Be it a Changeling has taken your place, you go soft, or even lose yourself mentally, we had to fix it, no matter what you said during that time. We made a promise!"
"We? Were you in that group?"
"Yes ma'am, I was. In fact, I walked up three flights of stairs today to see you for the first time in a week. I never came from out of town. I am the internal investigator, tasked with finding any traitors, or in your case, something less purposeful. Unless..."
Clear Mind reared back and fired a blast of glowing golden magic right at Twilight's face. As she found that she couldn't move, it hit her. But it wasn't painful, it didn't do her harm.
"That was a spell to unmask you if you were a changeling, or using a magical disguise, but you are really you. So now I believe I know what's happened. You legitimately lost your memory. You have amnesia Ms. Sparkle."
"Wait, hold on. This is a lot to take in. First of all, how much else do I not really know about you? And secondly, I remember nearly my whole life!"
"Ah, yes, I am indeed a scientist of the neural degree. And part of my job includes anything from profiling, to fixing a pony from insomnia, to solving amnesia. Oh, and I had the door locked to insure you wouldn't escape in case you had been a changeling," he looked at the glass and nodded again. The door unlocked.
"Before we continue, do you have any intention of escaping?", he looked into Twilight's eyes.
"I do not, and I will go along with whatever you need to do to bring me back to normal."
"I do not see a lier in your eyes, but I do hear fear and confusion in your voice. Do not be afraid, I will help you find yourself. We can find you together. Now, how about we go somewhere a little more comfortable?"
Twilight and Clear Mind sat in a comfy, lounge-like room. The only thing that made it appear any less like a lounge was his large wooden desk in the center of the room. Twilight and Clear Mind sat in chairs on either side of the desk. They had been talking for hours, at some points nearly arguing. Twilight insisted that she was from another world, Clear Mind informed her she was wrong. Nothing seemed to change in either argument until Havoc strolled in.
"I keep telling you, I'm not from here! I was sent here by a great lord of chaos! He wanted me to come here to, to become this!", Twilight pointed at herself.
"Were you...something else before you came here?", Clear Mind played along.
"No, I mean, he sent me here to become a villain! He wanted me to become evil or something," Twilight huffed as she crossed her forelegs.
"You know he's lying. You aren't from here. You're from Ponyville," Havoc whispered in her ear.
"I know! But he just won't listen!"
"I'm sorry?", Clear Mind asked.
"I wasn't talking to you," Twilight looked from him to her right, where Havoc stood.
Clear Mind followed her gaze and saw an empty wall.
He's trying to pry into your mind. Don't let him!", Havoc whispered to her.
"Yeah! And he just keeps insisting I'm not me! So what do I do?! How do I even know I can trust you?! Who can I trust?!", Twilight screamed.
"Please, you must come back to us! This figment of your imagination is not helping you. Obviously it's hindering you. If you trust him, you may never return to normal," Clear looked genuinely concerned.
"I am normal!", Twilight screamed at him.
"You only have one enemy here, and I promise you it isn't me."
Twilight looked, genuinely hurting, at where only she could see Havoc. "Is this true?"
"No! Please. He's trying to get into your head! You mustn't listen to him!", Havoc yelled at her.
"Don't you shout at me!"
Clear looked at her. "You created this imaginary being subconceously so that you needn't face yourself. Your skull took multiple blows in the beginning, and then at the battle at Canterlot, you took more. And when you add the extreme damage Rarity's flames did to your face that day, your mind broke. Please, please remember!"
"How bad is my face?!"
"It is only as bad as you let it be. If you let it heal, and take care of your wounds, your face should have minimal scars in the end. Your body should be the least of your worries. Your mind needs mending, more so than your body."
"But why is my mind broken?! Why can't I just be normal?!", Twilight began to tear up.
"Because you chose this route. You chose for this to happen. You're at war because you chose to. And it's far too late to back down now," Clear Mind appeared calm. He knew he had to show as little aggression as possible.
"He's lying to you! You don't want to go down this road!", Havoc shouted from across the room at her.
"But why did I choose this?! I would never hurt my friends! They've never done anything to me!", Twilight ignored Havoc.
"Do you not remember?", Clear rubbed his chin with a hoof.
"Remember what?", Twilight looked at him, genuinely confused.
"Your amnesia is worse than I thought. It appears you have forgotten everything. Your friends are not innocent. You are against them for a reason. Try to remember."
"I am! All I can remember is being happy with them and being great friends."
"I see. It appeared your mind has kicked out your entire memory past the point of...what was the last thing you remember?"
"A being named Havoc appeared and sent us, me and my friends, spiraling into different dimensions. I woke up here yesterday. But I have no memory connecting the two periods of time."
"I see. So I would like to bet your apparition, your spirit guide is Havoc?"
"Yes! He's right here!"
"You and the other elements killed him. You sent him into the great abyss of Tartarus. That was the last thing you and your friends did together before...all this started. Are you ready to hear the truth, to become whole again?", Clear Mind looked at her.
Twilight looked at Havoc.
"You must not give your mind to him! He is here to destroy you! I am here to protect your mind from harm, that is why it summoned me.", Havoc pleaded with her.
"My broken mind summoned you. My mended mind will banish you!"
Clear Mind looked under his glasses at her. "Does that mean you're ready? I believe I know what needs to be done to fix you. You must remember what started it all, and I know what that was. Are you ready?"
"I am ready," Twilight looked over at Havoc, who looked defeated. "Leave. I do not need you anymore."
Havoc dissipated.
"Now, Twilight. What started this whole mess...Rainbow Dash had an affair with your husband, Flash Sentry. You had been married for two years when it happened."
Twilight's eyes went wide. Sweat began to form on her brows. "No! Rainbow Dash would never-she couldn't!", she paused, clenching her eyes shut. Every muscle in her face tightening. "She did." A tear fell from her left eye.
"I'm sorry you have to re-live this. It must be ha-"
Twilight continued. "I can remember catching them in the act. She and I were supposed to meet for flight training, but when she sent me a cancelation letter, I didn't get it in time and still went. Then I found them together. In an act of pain and extreme anger, I banished them both. Celestia was not happy with me, she said I had acted out of line, especially considering I was still newly a princess. She took away my title, telling me I could reclaim it through honor. She gave Rainbow Dash her citizenship back. We elements of harmony were to become great knights, protectors of Equestria, and I 'wrongfully' banished Rainbow Dash before we could go through the training. After we trained long and hard for years, I had Flash Sentry assassinated, and attempted to have her killed as well, but was caught and would have been killed for my crime, but I escaped. And since then I've been attacking here and there, always trying to be a step ahead of them."
"Very good! You remember! Do you remember what happened to you exactly, what made you lose yourself, why your face is bandaged?", Clear questioned her.
"I was in a battle with them at Canterlot. I fought all five of them at once, and they beat me. That will be the last time they beat me!", Twilight shot up from her chair so fast, it flew into the wall behind her and shattered.
She lit her horn and shot a purple fireball at the wall, obliterating it. She grabbed the desk in her magic and threw it behind her with a fury. The desk shattered against the wall.
"Yes! Who are you? What is your name?"
"Me?! I am Twilight Sparkle, rightful ruler of Equestria!"
"Yes!"
"Tonight, I control thousands. Tomorrow, millions!"
One Month later
Twilight walked out of Clear Mind's office after her weekly checkup. According to him, her mind had nearly healed completely from her mental breakdown. Her face had also healed a bit, and she didn't have nearly as bad of headaches as she had months before. She never really was happy, but she did find herself in a chipper mood today. She made her way to her room and looked in the mirror.
"I hope my face is healing as quickly as my mind.
She lifted her bandage and any trace of her chipper mood disappeared. The burn damage had gone down considerably in the past month, but it still hurt her emotionally to see it. She just couldn't look at it anymore, so she decided to go to sleep.
It was getting late, at least by her usual standards. It had just turned ten o'clock and her usual schedule had her in bed at 9:30. She had vented to Clear Mind, her therapist only for as long as it took her to completely heal, and she had been longer winded than usual. She fell into her bed, snatched her covers up over her, and sobbed herself to sleep.
Twilight awoke early in the morning to train and then head to breakfast. She may have been the leader but she gave herself little royalty. She ate, trained, and fought along side her followers. The only difference being that she was much more powerful, and she had a better room. On her way out, she checked her bandage-free face in the mirror. Her fur had grown back and she had complete control of her magic. Three weeks ago, it hurt to use magic, now she had absolutely no problem casting spells. She did still have a few scars around her eye, though fur covered most of it. She was content with how much her face had healed.
She smiled and then put on her training uniform. As she headed out the door, she flung a dart at a poster of Rainbow Dash with her magic, hitting it and making yet another hole in the poster. The poster Rainbow Dash's face alone had hundreds of holes and would be unrecognizable if not for her signature rainbow mane flowing from the hole riddled mess. As she exited the main tower, she found herself in a large courtyard surrounded by massive stone walls. She looked around, the size of her accomplishment never failing to fill her with awe. She looked out at the training grounds where soldiers took turns in various open or closed off spaces, performing different exercises. She took a deep breath and trotted over to a group of four ponies training together. She walked right up to them and joined their circle. The ponies were used to their leader's fondness of rejecting praise and reverence. She just wanted to practice with her soldiers. She hated being alone, and she valued their more personal bonding and respect of her personal relationship with each and every one of them. She walked into the group smiling from ear to ear. It truly brought her joy to see their familiar faces again.
"Hey there Wind Snapper, nice day isn't it?", Twilight cheerfully piped up as she approached.
"Good morning Ms. Twilight! Did you sleep well last night?", Wind Snapper replied.
"Actually, I did, in spite of the circumstances. Thanks for asking," Twilight responded as they began doing wing pushups.
"No problem your highn-sorry, Twilight. I keep forgetting about that," he stammered.
"No sweat. Hey Emerald, how's it going?", Twilight looked over to the green unicorn mare.
"Great! Thanks Twilight. I always love it when you join our exercises!", Emerald squealed out happily.
"No problem! I always enjoy training with you guys. I just try and pick a different group every time. Don't want anypony feeling left out. Speaking of...where's Ruby?"
"Oh my sister's in the doc's office. She's got a stomach bug," Emerald took a few quick strides and whispered in Twilight's ear. "I think it was the egg salad for breakfast yesterday. I took one bite and knew it was just barely too old but she insisted on eating it. But don't worry, the doc said it was just a stomach bug and that it would fix itself. She does feel awful though."
"Well I'm sorry to hear that. I'll have to pay her a visit on another one of our signature slow days. My calendar's so empty this week I could go tomorrow morning and not even look at my planner."
Emerald trotted back to her spot and continued her wing pushups.
Twilight looked over to the pony next to her and could tell she wasn't in the mood for conversation. Something must be bothering her.
"So...Cherry Bomb."
"I'm sorry Twilight, no offense but I don't feel like talking about it now. Maybe later," she smiled a weak smile that showed she was both tired and distraught.
They stopped their wing pushups and began jogging in place.
"Oh that's okay. I've had days where I would rather be alone than talk about it. You should go to the mess hall right now and give them this, my treat," Twilight pulled out a pink piece of paper that had a picture of Twilight's smiling face on it.
"Aw, a Twilight shake? I couldn't, it's not my birthday," Cherry Bomb stammered out.
"Take it, you need it. And then meet me in your quarters in an hour. We need to talk about what's bothering you. I may not be the designated therapist here, but I've had my share of helping friends out. Plus this seems like a more personal situation and a soldier's shrink would be better for helping with battlefield related illnesses. This isn't battle related is it?"
"Gosh. Thanks Twilight, I don't know what I would do without you. And no it's personal," she took the piece of paper and walked inside.
Wind Snapper began walking over to Twilight, obvious he had something more private to say, but as he got her attention, one of her higher ranking soldiers motioned for her to come over. The soldier was standing with other highly ranked and trusted allies of hers, all wearing battle gear.
Wind Snapper cursed himself as she walked towards them.
Twilight walked toward the soldiers in a happy-go-lucky pace. She then noticed the urgency in their faces as the one motioned for her to quicken her pace and began to look even more worried himself. Twilight began walking faster toward them. One of them opened the door to the barracks with his magic and looked into it with an obvious "Get inside!" in his eyes.
Wind Snapper cursed himself over and over again in his head. Then another voice began talking. "Now! Do it now! Our window is closing fast!"
Twilight was nearly to the door when she heard a scream come from where she just came from. She whipped around just in time to see Wind Snapper break Emerald's neck and jump across and stab the only other pony in that group in the chest with a hidden blade.
Twilight took a step toward them but the soldiers behind her pulled her into the door. Just as the door shut a group of five near the door jumped at it to no avail.
"Twilight." one of them said.
Twilight, who was zoning out, looked at him.
He opened a chest sitting next to him which held her armor. "You might want to put this on."
As Twilight threw on her battle gear, two of the other ponies were bracing the door. She reached in and pulled out her purple flame sword and hooked it onto her back.
"Ready."
"Opening the door in three, two, one."
The soldier exploded the door into the yard, knocking back the two changelings that were previously beating on it. Three more immediately jumped at them.
Twilight, in one quick movement, took the purple sword in her magic and sliced one of the changeling's head off. She then brought it back across and knocked the hooves out from under another one. The soldier next to her shot a lightning bolt into the third one's heart.
The five of them ran into the large group of now fighting ponies. Twilight went for the nearest visible changeling, and took off his head. She then turned and hit another one across the back, knocking it to the ground. A pony came from the crowd, looking like he had something to say, but as Twilight approached, he brought up a blade to strike her. One of her loyal soldiers took off the hoof the blade was in with a dark magic scythe. The pony fell to the ground screaming, holding his sizzling foreleg as black bubbles oozed from the stump. Obviously no longer able to concentrate on his spell, the changeling dropped the pony disguise and Twilight pierced his heart with her blade. Another pony charged her, obviously attacking. Twilight raised her horn, alight, and shouted.
"ENOUGH!", she bellowed.
She through her head toward the ground, sending a large blast out in a circle around her expanding rapidly as it engulfed the yard. Every changeling now stood naked of any disguises, as the spell stripped them of that power momentarily.
"KILL THE CHANGELINGS!", Twilight yelled in a fury.
The pony that was charging now turned to run into the crowd. This changeling looked different. Something about him made him seem important. Perhaps it was his armor, or perhaps it was the way he strode, definitely wielding a more powerful position. Twilight decided to chase him down.
The two weaved in and out of ongoing battles, ducking under swings and jumping over low swinging hooves. Twilight followed him until he ran into a wall. The two were alone. Twilight looked at him with a look in her eye that told him just how powerful she was. He immediately pulled out a dagger with his magic and jabbed it at her. She cut it in half with a dark magical blade. He shot a lightning bolt at her but she absorbed it in her horn and smiled at him.
"You really are powerful. Even much more than they told me," the changeling said. Twilight could taste fear in his stare.
"You will know my full fury if you do not back down," Twilight firmly informed him.
The changeling jabbed at her with his horn but she jumped over him and shot a fiery blast of an inferno down onto his head. When she landed behind him, he was laying on his stomach, moaning as his horn sizzled and crackled from the extreme heat.
"You're not going to kill me...!", the changeling weakly said.
"Oh I agree. Of course not...", she leaned in close to his smoldering head. "Yet."
She then created a black and purple bubble around him that slowly sank into the ground and disappeared.
Twilight could see in the distance that the fighting had nearly stopped. Now that the team of changelings had been uncovered, it was a matter of seconds before the nearly thousand strong group of ponies took over the small team of fifty changelings.
Twilight approached the crowd and noticed that they had captured a group of changelings and lined them up. Twilight looked at them, and then over to where she had just been talking to Emerald moments before, and saw her dead body.
"Who did this?!", she shouted, pointing at the corpse.
A changeling looked up at her and teared up. "M-me"
Twilight charged her horn full of black magic and sunk it into his chest. His face contorted into a silent scream as he writhed and fell over dead.
As she pulled away, she looked over at the body. "It started with her. How many have died since?", she looked over to one of her more trusted soldiers.
"About thirty. But that is only in this quarter of the yard, I have not seen the rest," he bowed somberly.
"We counted about fifty over here!", a pony shouted, followed by agreeing tones and sad murmurings.
"So possibly nearly eighty of my soldiers died in just," Twilight looked at the large clock on the training yard's wall. "Five minutes?!"
"Sadly," another of her higher soldiers spoke.
"YOU INSOLENT FOOLS! DIE FOR YOUR TREACHERY!", she shouted with fury as she shot a massive explosive fireball at the group of captured changelings. As the smoke settled, there was a crater left where the prisoners last stood, and not even a remnant of them remained.
"I hate to sound condescending, but will that not come to screw us over later? We could have used them fo-", the soldier was cut off.
"I understand you concern but I have a high ranking changeling in my custody. We can ask him all we want."
"My apologies."
"Everypony take the rest of the day off. We will work on repairing this damage tomorrow. Is Storm Glider still out there?"
After a few seconds, a pink pegasus in teal armor flew down next to her. "At your command."
"I want you to take your best pairs of eyes and make sure there aren't any more changelings on their way. Scout out the perimeter and make sure that was all of it."
"Yes ma'am!", Storm Glider saluted and then flew off.
"You four, my most trusted," Twilight looked over to the highest ranking soldiers. "I require your...assistance inside."
Deep underground, Twilight and her four most trusted soldiers were standing around a table in a dark room. Tied to the table was a changeling. The skin on his face and head were charred and disfigured. He looked up at them with a grimace both of hate, and of pain.
"So, how is our wittle changeling doing?", Twilight said in voice a mother would use on a foal.
"Get away from me you bi-", he began to hiss but was cut off as one of the soldiers slammed a hoof into his jaw.
"Now now, that's now way to talk to a princess...did your mama not teach you any better?"
"I dunno, your mom didn-"
"That...was a very sad comeback. I mean, maybe something along the lines of, "I was too bad to be taught," or "I usually don't, but your face compelled me," but a your mom joke?! And a bad one at that. Are you kidding me? How old are you, twelve?"
"Hmm, you want me to be twelve?", he changed into a younger colt. "Mrs. Princess Twilight, ma'am, why am I tied up?", he said in an adorable, obviously too young voice.
"I'm tired of these games!", Twilight shouted and then batted him across the face with her hoof.
"AH! Hng! I'll never talk!", his voice suddenly returned to normal as his figure returned to its original state.
Twilight leaned down to get face to face with him. She stood there, holding his gaze as he held hers, neither of them wanting to back down. After what seemed like a minute, Twilight had gotten what she wanted. She huffed and then turned away from the table.
"Hah! The almighty Twilight! The slayer of princesses! The future ruler of the world! And she can't even beat a broken changeling in a staring con...te-", he lost his train of thought as Twilight turned back around with a curved metal blade in her magic. She took it and hovered it just an inch above his right eye.
"You wouldn't."
"Try me."
Twilight sat there waiting for a reason to shove the blade into his eye. When he didn't give her a reason not to, she hovered it slightly higher and began to carve a path around his horn. As the circle was completed just in line with his nose, she began to make a path with it down his forehead. As the blade got in line with his eyes, she turned it, and began to carve the path towards his eye socket. All the while, the changeling screamed in agony and fear.
"PLEASE! Please spare my eye!"
Twilight moved the blade closer and closer to his right eye and it nearly fell into the socket when he shouted out what she wanted to hear.
"I'll talk! Please! Just let me talk...", he began sobbing.
She removed the blade and laid it down on his chest.
"I'm listening."
"The changelings that hit your refuge are all that we brought with us. There aren't anymore of us."
"That's it? I need more," Twilight made the blade shift on his chest. "This thing really wants that eye."
"We work alone, we don't kill foals, we don't ask questions when given a target. We-"
"What was that? Given a target? Are you mercenaries?!"
"Yes! That's what we are! It's nothing personal."
"Sure it isn't. Your pathetic little team killed eighty of my soldiers!"
"Then why call us patheti-"
"I slaughtered them all. And they tearfully cried for mercy as I ended them. Your 'organization' is no more."
"I still remain."
"For now...", she looked away, then jumped back at him. "TELL ME WHO PAID YOU!", Twilight raised the blade to his eye again.
The changeling began to tear up. "I don't know their name. It was dark, I don't remember mu-", the changeling looked as if he remembered something. "Oh! He was wearing a cloak that had a rainbow lightning bolt on it. I remember that because I thought to myself, "Isn't that the cutie mark of Captain Rainbow Dash?", so I think he worked for her."
"Rainbow Dash..."
"So, can I go now? Am I going to get out of here?"
"Oh of course you will. You'll get out of here alive...", Twilight motioned to one of the soldiers to come over.
The soldier walked into the darkness, and the sound of chains and heavy metal could be heard in the distance. After a few moments, the stallion came back levitating a metal chest covered in chains and locks over next to the table, and then opened it.
"Your ride's here!", Twilight happily shouted before shoving him in. She leaned into the chest. "Hope you enjoy the ride!"
The lid was shut and locked.
Twilight stood atop the tower, in a secret meeting place only she and her most trusted companions knew of. As her tower overlook the valley it was nestled in, she could see the river flowing nearby. As she looked out towards it, she could see two stallions carrying a chest in its direction.
"You wanted to meet with me?", Storm Glider said, approaching.
"I want you and your most nimble to scout out Rainbow Dash and report to me with any information on anything regarding her plans, schedules, or personal alone times. I want to know where she thinks is safe, and where she doesn't expect to see one of us at. I want you to find out anything that will get me closer to planting somepony on the inside. I want her dead, and I want her dead soon."
They watched as the two stallions dropped the metal chest into the river and watched it sink.
"No, I have not, nor word that Twilight and her followers have fallen. It has been three weeks, and I doubt they would wait that long to tell us. He failed, and we must plan our next move, as they no doubt are planning theirs."
"You are right. I must inform the others. Gather them for me please."
"Oh of course," Fluttershy walked out of the room.
Rainbow Dash was left to think to herself for a few minutes as she gazed out over the courtyard. She did not like the idea that the most feared group of changelings could not even fully crush Twilight and her force. The best part about it was that the fact that they were changelings made it impossible to be recognized, even in their changeling forms. They only did business in their pony forms, and the only beings to ever see their changeling forms were those that would die shortly after. Perhaps it was the shock that one had been infiltrated by spies that made Thilken like it so much, but that was his way. If he revealed himself to you, that meant that you were going to die, or that he trusted you with his own life, even to the point of jeopardizing his entire organization, which was entirely impossible. Thilken was a paranoid freak. He would never trust somepony so liberally. If you saw his changeling form you would surly die.
"If you're so powerful and skilled, then why haven't you come back with Twilight's head in a satchel?!", Rainbow Dash was flustered at the thought of another failure.
Rainbow Dash's eyes fell to Twilight's abandoned guard tower.
"It's been a long time. I still can't believe it happened. The blame can't all be mine...can it?"
The door opened and Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie came in followed closely by Fluttershy. As the door shut, Rainbow Dash returned her thoughts to the task at hoof.
"Hello friends," Rainbow greeted with a smile. "You may wonder why I've gathered you here."
The present ponies nodded.
Rainbow Dash's smile fell to a scowl of disappointment. "I suppose you all remember Thilken the changeling and his company?"
"What happened? Any news on their status yet?", Applejack asked.
"We have not heard a single word from Thilken, nor any of his changelings. I fear we must assume the worst."
"Well, I...um. Wow. I didn't expect that."
"Neither did I. If his reputation is to be understood, he is never late, and he never fails. The only way either of these happen is if they happen together. Only if he failed and is killed will he ever be late. I believe we must move on and continue preparations for battle," Rainbow Dash bowed her head and took a deep breath. She then looked back at her friends to continue. "I fear a full frontal attack is the only possible choice we have against her at the moment. All other avenues are closed right now, and we just can't afford to wait any longer."
"Are you sure? It seems a frontal attack is the most dangerous approach!", Rarity spoke up.
"I'm not sure what else we can do right now. We've only seen her fortress once before. It's sturdily built and nestled in between two mountains with only two sides open to approachable planes; one side, and the top. We might be able to sneak some ponies up the mountain but that all still needs to be planned."
Pinkie, with her straight hair and somber countenance spoke up next.
"Perhaps we could hide some troops atop the mountain, waiting for nightfall, and then they drop into the fortress from above. Then the ground troops will attack the front while they are distracted from the nuisances on the inside."
"I like that ide-", something large and gray crashed into the window, followed by the sound of quickly fluttering wings. "What was that?!"
Rainbow Dash walked over to the window and looked out. A grey feather fluttered down and landed on the window sill.
"What the hay?! Are those...pegasus feathers?!"
A loud and annoyed 'BAKAW!' could be heard just outside the window.
"What's that sound like to you, an eagle?", Applejack walked up beside Rainbow Dash.
"I dunno, it might have been a falcon..."
"Have you gotten word from Thilken?"
"Thilken? The changeling mercenaries! You don't think he's the one th-"
"SHH! They're still talking."
"No, I have not. Nor word that Twilight and her followers have fallen. It has been three weeks, and I doubt they would wait that long to tell us. He failed, and we must plan our next move, as they no doubt are planning theirs."
"Thilken must be the one Twilight killed."
"I thought he was a myth. Ya know, the whole, 'if you see his changeling form that means you're going to die' thing? I never believed that."
"I guess Twilight's more of a bad flank than we thought. She lived."
"But still, he's not a myth? I thought he was just an old pony tale."
"I've heard stories you don't want to hear. They seem to prove he exists."
"Oh trust me, I don't wanna-"
"Oh shh, shh! She has company. Keep listening."
Two pegasi, Storm Glider and her brother Slip Stream, sat latched to the wall just above the window that Rainbow Dash and the others stood behind.
"Hello friends. You may wonder why I've gathered you hear," Rainbow Dash's voice spoke up.
"I assume that means they're all there. I wish this was a lethal mission. Though I guess a little recon never hurt anypony."
"I suppose you all remember Thilken the changeling and his company?"
"What happened? Any news on their status yet?", the southern drawl made it clear this was Applejack.
"We have not heard a single word from Thilken, nor any of his changelings. I fear we must assume the worst.", Rainbow Dash's voice spoke up.
"It's true, they really did send him. We have what we need here, now we just need to wait for her to leave the complex. Tonight's her off night and as soon as she signs out and heads home, we'll have our final bit of information on her," Storm Glider spoke up.
"Okay, I say we go to the roof, we find a hole or crevice to hide in, and when she leaves, we follow."
"Alright. On three. One, two, thr-"
As Slip Stream prepared for the swift yet silent glide up the wall, his usually surefooted hoof slipped and he spun out of control. He didn't make much noise as he flew through the air, until he finally landed with a loud THUD against the window. Instantly he zipped straight up to the roof. Storm Glider, still latched to the wall, knew this was going to end badly.
Thinking quickly, Storm Glider belted out a loud birdlike, "BAKAW!", before zipping up to the roof herself.
"What the hay was that?!", Storm hissed at her brother.
"Sorry, my hoof slipped on a brick! But nice thinking. If she doesn't buy that, I don't think she'll buy anything."
"In any case, I think we've been speaking too openly, don't you think?", Rarity turned to Rainbow Dash, who was still standing by the window.
"I do believe so," she said, mentally taking note of the thick brown hairs stuck in between bricks of window sill. "Girls, our meeting will have to wait. I am going to need your help with something."
Rainbow Dash whistled happily as she trotted to a cabin not far from town. It was a quaint little abode that looked unbelievably old. Rainbow Dash looked around at the surrounding woods, then shrugged off what looked to be a feeling of worry. She pushed open the door which had no lock and went inside, followed by shutting the door.
Two shadowy figures lurked behind in the darkness. They watched as the door was shut and lights around the house were turned off, the one which appeared to belong to an upper room going out last.
"That must be her room. Have you made note?", Storm Glider asked her brother.
"Yes, and I have made note of our position on the map. We're just five miles from the city, going north down the path opposite the door that leads to the fort."
"Good. We have where she lives. The door surprisingly has no locks; odd. And if the schedule worked like when I was in the force, then by today being her off day, which is Monday, then that means she gets every third Monday to herself. Or at least that's how I remember it being in times of war."
"Yeah I think that's right."
"Good. Now let's report back to Twilight with our findings."
Cherry Bomb sat alone in the planning room just outside of Twilight's quarters. Twilight had arranged for the two to meet in private here, and so Cherry Bomb waited.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Twilight opened the door and walked in.
"Oh, I'm glad you could make it Cherry. How have you been doing?", she sat across from her.
"Good I guess, though knowing what we came here for I'm not quite sure...", she looked tired.
"I apologize about not being able to talk the other day like I had said. Stuff happened that needed my immediate attention."
"No I understand. Dealing with changeling mercenaries isn't exactly what any of us wants to do," she giggled to herself.
"Agreed," Twilight looked over at the wall, and then back at Cherry Bomb. "So what's been keeping you down? And don't worry, this will be kept between us."
"My brother joined Rainbow's legion. I mean, it wouldn't be as hard if it were a cousin or uncle. I could probably get over it since I don't really know them that well. But my brother? We were best buds growing up. I would call every girl he talked to his marefriend and he would kick any colt's flank who looked at me just slightly endearingly. Ya know, the usual sibling stuff."
"Sounds like you guys were pretty close."
"We were, until he sent me a letter telling me he had joined the imperial legion. Now he gets to go and kill my friends while I kill his. The thing is, I've been keeping it a secret, like I was commanded to, and now he expects me to be happy for him, like I should be happy he chose to ultimately try and end you. I can't love him now. My life goal became to aid you and follow you to glory as the new and rightful queen of Equestria. How can I be happy for him? This means he hates you, and if he knew who I really was, he'd hate me too," she leaned over and began sobbing into her hooves.
Twilight walked over and sat next to her, wrapping her hooves around her neck. "There there. It'll be alright. I bet if he knew you for who you are, he'd still love you, rebel and all," Twilight rubbed Cherry's back as the distraught mare sobbed into her shoulder.
"No, you don't understand. When we were foals, he made me promise to join the empire, that we were both going to become great warriors and be shield-siblings. When he turned eighteen, he ran off to go join the empire, and I stayed home for as long as I could. Then that thing came on tv about, well, the 'incident'. With a sudden vigor of hatred for Rainbow Dash, and the rest of the empire, I dropped my classes and joined the rebellion. Now, three years later, I'm here. And let me tell you, I have felt far safer in these walls, than I have ever felt surrounded by Equestrian soldiers."
Twilight smiled. "How old are you?"
"Twenty one. Why?"
"Pretty young to be fighting another pony's war."
"It became my war when the empire abandoned my family."
"What?!"
"After a battle near Las Pegasus, Equestria, in an effort to keep the Singulars out, kept everypony out, even our own supply ships. They neglected us for a week, and when my family began to starve, my motand snuck me out on a mission to find the highest ranking officer I could, and tell him about what's been happening. I flew until I couldn't fly anymore, then I walked. After a ay of walking, I ended up in Ponyville. Since Equestria had full control over it, I was able to travel freely by train to Canterlot. When I finally found the general. They wouldn't let me talk to Celestia. But when I walked into his office to tell him about the plight of Las Pegasus, he looked down his snout at me, and I knew he wasn't going to help me. I apologized for wasting his time, and I went back to Ponyville and sought out the Singulars."
"I remember that. That was you? Who knew a kid would be able to get our attention. Well, an older teen."
"Yeah. I figure if I started acting like the Empire was mistreating me, they'd try and help. You know, gotta keep that image right? Well, when I returned to Ponyville to take the train back toward Las Pegasus, I saw it. They found out I had sought you guys out, and put up wanted posters everywhere."
"They made it your fight."
"Exactly. I went for help and they ignored me. A helpless mare, trying to help her starving family. And they were surprised I turned to the next largest capable group of ponies? Pathetic."
"So it's become a personal vendetta."
"I swear, every single Imperial will know of our cause," she turned to Twilight and smiled. "And the ones I encounter will know about mine."
"It seems you have the fire. I would like to train you personally. You should be my apprentice. Your battle skills will be unmatched."
"But what if I meet my brother on the battle field," Cherry looked up worriedly, her hair partially covering her eyes.
Twilight looked down directly into her eyes. "He made his choice."
"Then...I," Cherry looked down, tears trailing down her muzzle and landing on Twilight's shoulder.
Cherry suddenly looked off into space, as if something inside of her broke.
"Are you o-", Twilight began but was cut off.
"I'll do it. The cause is more important than blood. To me his blood is no different than any other Imperials and will mean no more when I spill it."
Twilight looked down at her, worried about what she may have done. "You don't have t-", she was cut off again.
"I want this. This will be the ultimate test of my loyalty. I will not fail you my queen," she said, staring at the wall.
Twilight took her hooves off of her and began to get up. "Good...good. I think this will work."
At that moment the doors burst open and Storm Glider skidded to a stop.
"Your highness!"
Twilight fully stood up and looked at her. "What is it Glider?"
"It's Rainbow Dash. She's-"
At that moment, Slip Stream came into the doorway full tilt and ran right into Storm Glider. She got up and whopped Slip Stream on the back of the head.
"She sent Thilken."
"Well I assumed that," Twilight huffed.
"It's far worse than that. They are planning an invasion..."
Twilight waited for the part Storm Glider wasn't adding.
Storm Glider and Slip Stream sat in the woods outside of Rainbow's house. Storm Glider whistled like a bird, and an owl who replied, followed by a bird chirp. She chirped in reply and then began sneaking up to he house. As she and Slip Stream stepped into the moonlight, two other ponies stepped out from the woods to their left, and another on their right. As they met at the house, two more pairs came around from the other side. Storm Glider nodded and one of the other Pegasi slowly stood up and looked into the window. She sat back down and nodded. Storm Glider then nodded and the same Pegasus reached up and began to open the window. When she had opened it fully Storm Glider tapped her leg once, and she went in. The others slowly made their way in. Just as Storm Glider stepped into the window, she saw a shadow perched atop a tree in the darkness, which unnerved her. Determined, she stepped through and closed the window behind her.
When they were in, Storm Glider pointed a hoof at the front entrance and a red Pegasus clicked a button on her gauntlet and a small knife poked out. She peaked around the corner and then with a flap of her wings, shot toward the door. The quick sound of a knife slicing flesh could be heard around the corner. Storm tapped her leg once and two soldiers rounded the corner. She followed and found the red Pegasus standing over a dead guard, next to the door.
"I knew it was a trap. A royal knight with no lock on her door. How obvious can you be?", she looked at the staircase. "Let's go. We need to arrest Rainbow Dash, but if it comes to it, Twilight gave the order to kill her if all other choices are dr-", she stopped silent when there was a creak from the window they came from.
"What was tha-"
A large thundering crash of metal sounded from the window they came in. Storm Glider ran over and saw a wall of metal bars was covering it.
"What the-", another metal crash. "Slip Stream open that door, we're getting out of here."
"What is this some kind of...", Slip Stream opened the door to see nothing but metal bars covering the opening. "Trap."
"Oh no. I led everypony in here. I had suspensions but I ignored them! I doomed us all!", Storm Glider yelled.
"Wait. Would they leave one of their own by himself like this? If they knew we were here we wouldn't have been alone this long," the red Pegasus pondered.
Storm Glider looked at the body. "Who says we killed him? His throat was slit, there should be much more blood. Check him."
The red Pagasus leaned over and touched the flesh of the body. "He's as cold as ice."
Storm Glider glared and stated "Do you know what that means Cherry Bomb?"
"That he was planted here," the red Pegasus replied.
"And probably not even one of their soldiers. Remove his helmet," Storm Glider ordered.
As Cherry Bomb began removing the dead pony's helmet, a pair of unnoticed, greedy orange eyes watched from a small hole in the ceiling.
"By Celestia's parents!", Storm Glider exclaimed.
Cherry Bomb, along with a few others broke down into tears.
"I...it's Lemon Lime! They killed him! How could they?!", Cherry Bomb demanded.
"Who's Lemon Lime?" A voice said from the middle of the room.
Storm Glider turned and exclaimed, "He was one of us! He was my friend!", as tears ran down her face.
When she had calmed down, she noticed the unfamiliarity in the questioning voice, and the others had as well.
"Wh-who said that?"
All the soldiers began looking from one to another, scanning the room for the source of the voice.
One very frightened stallion spoke up. "What if it's a gh-gh-gh-gho-", he began to stammer out.
A large claw burst from the ceiling and grabbed the stallion's head, snatching him up through the floorboards of the next floor. A soul chilling scream sounded from above, accompanied by the stomach churning sound of sliced bones and flesh.
"What is going on?!", a pony screamed.
Storm Glider looked around and thought. There's nothing I can do. There's nowhere to hide! We don't even know what that thing is!
After what felt like hours in the silence, Cherry Bomb suddenly had an idea.
"Storm! I know what to do!", Cherry bomb yelled over to her.
"Not now I'm thinking!", she yelled back.
"Anything so far?"
She didn't reply for a a few seconds. "No."
"Then my plan it is," she walked to the middle of the room, looked back, and at the nod from Storm Glider, inhaled a breath, "I have an idea. Everypony huddle up."
All of the soldiers moved in her direction, forming a large circle around her.
"I want the stealthiest of you to sneak up the stairs. I want you to tap a hoof once if the creature is near the hole, and twice if it isn't even in the room. If it is close to the stairs but with its back to you, try to surprise it. If nothing can be done, remain silent. Got it?"
"Come on guys," a blue Pegasus stallion stepped up and raised a hoof. "Let's go kick some monster tail," he whispered.
"Wait," Storm Glider halted them. "I need you four," she pointed to a group huddled together, "Go to the far corner and have a loud conversation about what's happened so far. Sound scared. We don't want our silence to be too loud.
After the four ponies went into a corner and began to talk about how helpless their situation was, a group of three made their way up the stairs. When they got to the top there was no sign of the creature, so one of them tapped the floor twice with a hoof.
"That's good. We have a moment to breath. Let's go up and see what the upper floor holds," Storm Glider motioned for them to follow her.
As they were about half way up the first set of steps, the sound of metal creaking could be heard, followed by the screams of the three ponies above.
"It's come back," Cherry Bomb began to turn around but Storm Glider stopped her.
"We face this thing, right here, right now. No running. Everypony, attack!"