Discord sat on his throne, filing his razor sharp nails out of boredom. The spell to open Tartarus was taking longer than he would have liked. He had Chaos to spread.
"Is this going to take much longer?" He whined. "I have destruction to rain down on this miserable world."
Caltroth was losing patience with him fast. Discord didn't take any threat seriously and he didn't believe in the power of the damned. He was an egotistical, narcissistic child.
"I shall be done soon. You must have SOME amount of patience in that miss-matched body of yours."
Discord smiled and gave an amused snort. "Ah. Someone is a little high strung. You need to loosen up a little, have some fun!" Discord yelled as he sent an avalanche of cotton candy into the small village below.
Caltroth rolled his bright red eyes and kept up the spell. If Discord hadn't been distracting him so much, it would have been done by now. "Discord, just go sit over there and let me-"
A blast of magic exploded the ground next to them. Discord jumped out of the way, nearly getting hit by the second blast. Caltroth stood his ground and glowered in anger at the dark princess raining fire down upon them. With her was a pegasus, who dove at Discord with tremendous speed, nearly taking the Draconequues head off.
"You know i'm not the only one here!" He yelled, pointing to Caltroth.
Caltroth strained his eyes at the pegasus, who was flying back into the sky. He was wearing a gold and crystal neckless. The kind of neckless he knew all too well.
An Element of Harmony.
He called to the night princess.
"It was foolish for you two to come here! I will take pride in turning you both into agents of evil once more!"
They ignored him and continued their assault. Caltroth had enough.
"Princess, this isn't working! What were we thinking!?" Woodwind yelled, shooting a beam of bright red light at the pair below.
"We can prevail, Woodwind! We just have-"
She was cut off as the two were grabbed in midair by an invisible hand, and slammed into the ground.
The wind was knocked out of Woodwind and he saw stars. He coughed and gasped as his lungs tried to fill back up.
Luna bolted to her feet and shot at Caltroth, Who disappeared in the blink of an eye-
Then reappeared in front of her, smashing her across the face with a massive black hand.
"Princess!" Woodwind yelled, hopping to his feet.
His Element glowed and shot another bright red beam at the monster. He quickly avoided it and launched forward.
The Element was firing on its own. Woodwind had little to no control over it. Caltroth appeared behind Woodwind, and swung at him the same way he did the princess.
His Element raised a protective barrier over him and the fist slammed into it, sending him flying.
Woodwind crashed to the dirt, dazed. Caltroth and Discord approached them both. Luna struggled to stand.
"Y-you! Stay back! You will regret it when my sister arrives!"
Discord and Caltroth looked over the princess and laughed.
"Oh, dear child-" Discord said, slithering over to her and putting his lion arm over her shoulder. "Do you really think anyone cares about what happens to the dreaded NightMare Moon?"
She turned away and banished the name from her mind.
"No! They will come for us!" She yelled.
Woodwind could tell she was breaking from the get go. Discords voice was both chilling and hypnotic at the same time. He could bend anyones will to his own, making him the most dangerous creature known to pony.
"Oh NightMare, why lie to yourself? You know your sister resents you. She would like nothing more than for her little sister of the stars to burn out." Discord pressed. Luna began to tear.
"My sister loves me!" She yelled louder and began to sob.
"We would never let anything happen to Night Mare Moon. The most powerful Alicorn in the universe. You could become so much more if you join us. Take back your crown as rightful ruler of Equestria, my dear. We will always be there for you, unlike your weak sister."
Woodwind couldn't take it anymore.
"Luna! Don't listen to him! He's tricking you! He just wants-"
Luna bellowed her voice, and her form shifted.
"No, Woodwind. He speaks truth! Who am I, the queen of darkness, to take orders from her?"
Her form became that of the terrible NightMare. Her size had doubled and her jet black armor formed to the now more slender, elegant form. "You would be wise to join me."
Woodwind stood, and faced the three. He was all alone now. Just a Pegasus against three of the most powerful creatures in the known world. His odds weren't so good.
Discord smiled and approached him, Woodwind backed away. "Why do you, of all ponies, join the loosing side? You were a soldier!-" His smile got even wider. "You were the leader of an entire race!"
Woodwind wouldn't let the monster get to him. "I know what you're trying to do! You wont get me! And I don't join the winning side. I join the side with the most nobel intentions!"
Discord took Woodwind around his arm and walked with him toward the cliff edge, ignoring the sappy answer Woodwind had given him and decided to press another way.
"Celestia never wanted you to live you know. Do you know why she saved you that day?" Discord asked him.
Woodwind remained quiet. NightMare stepped forward.
"I had asked her to save you, I had pleaded with her to save you! She said you were nothing but a human monster like the rest. I saved your life. You owe it to me!"
Woodwind hung his head low. Did Celestia really do that, or was NightMare lying to him?
"But my family, My friends..." he murmured, clearly feeling the effects of the hypnotic voice.
"You think they really like you? You're just a nameless human to them! What pony in the world would understand you? What you've gone through?" Discord pressed hoping the weight of his words would crush Woodwind.
"No! My wife, my daughters, my son! They all love me! I know they do!" He yelled, trying to get Discords voice out of his head.
"Do you think, that after what happened here today, you'll be able to see them again? Celestia will lock you and Luna away for treason! Your family will leave and forget all about you. You screwed up coming here. But we can make it your greatest moment!"
Woodwind broke. His eyes pooled with tears and he yelled as loud as he could. Discord let loose an evil smile.
Woodwind stood, his face heavy with the darkness now filling his soul. "What will you have me do?"
All three of the dark creatures smiled. Caltroth stepped forward. "In your form, you can do nothing, But I can make you into Something much more. Perhaps an Alicorn of darkness, much like NightMare Moon, would suit you?" He said pointing to the graceful princess of evil.
"Do it!" Woodwind yelled.
He rose from the ground, light and shadow mixing around his rapidly reshaping body. He had gained an extra five feet of height, his wings stretching into elegant and slender shapes, and a long, razor sharp horn sprouted from his head.
Woodwind had never felt power like this. He no longer felt the shackles of his old life around his ankles. All he felt was pure, dark power.
And it felt good.
He gracefully floated to the ground, his new mighty body wrapped in jet black armor. He let out a loud laugh. NightMare looked him over, obviously admiring his... strong appearance.
"A pony could get used to this... I don't know how held your power in check so long, Luna." He said looking over his new body.
She smiled and ran a hoof across his powerful chest getting as close as she could to him.
"I don't know either..." She said, just inches away, smiling an evil smile. She locked her lips around his.
Woodwind took the kiss in shock. Why was she doing this? Was she drawn to him for him?
Or his power? Either way, the kiss felt... kind of good. The fact that it was from the princess upped the wow factor.
An image of Fluttershy snapped in his mind and he quickly pushed the princess away, his cheeks a bright crimson red.
She looked at him and smiled. He felt a huge pang of regret for allowing that to happen.
"Ah, I can see you're weak when it comes to your emotions." NightMare said, with a mocking laugh. Woodwind shot her an evil, piercing glare. "Emotions make one weak." He growled.
He shot his head back at his own statement. But something inside him made him feel... right about it. He looked down as he felt a small weight fall from his neck.
The Element of Love fell into the dirt. He looked down at it, questioning why it fell. The crystal began to dull, losing its light from within. Something dark inside him scoffed and brought his hoof down, smashing the crystal to pieces.
"Oh, my my." NightMare mocked. "The great Element of Love is no more."
"Come, my puppets, we have work to do." Caltroth said as they followed him back by the portal.
Out of the pieces of the remaining crystal, only the butterflies remained. A breeze picked up blowing the tiny butterflies away.