Twilight watched as her friends and Princess Celestia leave the ceremonial hall, the latter's Royal Guards coldly closing the doors behind them. She blinked in bewilderment before coming to terms as to what happened just now. Hanging her head in defeat, she felt her hope gradually diminishing as a result.
Maybe I was being overprotective. I could've gained a sister. But instead... I just lost a brother...
Laying on top of the stairs, Twilight blinked away tears as she softly sang to herself:
After a few more moments, Twilight slowly rose from the stairs and walked out of the wedding hall, her head still hanging in solemn shame. Not just because of her swift dismissing, but also because her subsequent feelings towards said action. Why was she sad? A similar incident had occurred in the past (not-so-affectionately dubbed Lesson Zero), but they had learned their lesson: not to be dismissive of a friend's fears. Or so they say... She didn't know what to make of it; whether or not they were under the control of the Cadance imposter was anyone's guess.
Twilight entered her former tower and took a brief glance around. Multiple shelves of books and reference materials greeted her with a resounding "Welcome back, Twilight!", bringing her a slight comfort to her. The memories of this fond place of hers came rushing back at full force. The memories of her good life before... Before I met those backstabbing heathens... Walking around and searching for a good read, she finally settled on an intriguing title: A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L'Engle. Plopping down on a recliner, Twilight opened the book and began to read.
It was a dark and stormy night...
"This is it, Sunset. You're not going to take advantage of us any more. I'm sorry, but you did this to us. Tell whatever secrets you want...but we don't have to listen."
Sunset Shimmer watched as her friends abandoned and left her to wallow in her misery...one by one. Tears began to form in her cyan eyes the same time her knees began to buckle under the weight of her failure. Her self-proclaimed mission to make new friends as a means to atone for her past mistakes was not accomplished. She had failed her. She had failed herself. Adding insult to injury, a group of students who immediately saw her as the person responsible for ruining their holiday season slowly gathered around her and began shouting taunts, sneers, and barbs galore.
Enough... No more...
Sunset socked the first two people nearest and ran off, causing the other students to chase her down like a wolf to its prey. After a lengthy chase, they gave up and walked away whilst muttering indignant thoughts of her. It wasn't until nighttime that she sneaked out of her hiding place; she had watched from the bushes as they retreated, clutching her satchel with all her might. She wiped away any remaining tears and walked off as well, not noticing the presence of a young girl with red hair watching her in return.
Letting her satchel hang by her side, Sunset stopped until she reached the Wondercolts statue. It was only then that she fell to her knees and let the waterworks flow. A few moments passed on by, nothing but snowfall and silence accompanying her solemn atmosphere. Suddenly, the moment the moon shone upon the statue was the moment it began to glow its very color, catching her attention. She watched as the moonlight consumed the statue until it reached the bottom section in front of her, creating a ripple of sorts. Her curiosity getting the best of her, Sunset stuck her hand through it and discovered something quite peculiar.
It's a portal...
Upon realizing this, Sunset's hope started to rekindle somewhat. What if...? Of course! This was the solution I was looking for! It was right in front of me the entire time! I can finally...get away from it all! No more accusers... No more threats... No more...broken friendships...
The decision being made, Sunset stood up and bolted toward the portal, falling in and going out.
"WWWHHHOOOAAA!"
"My village was a sanctuary of equality where no pony's cutie mark allowed them to feel superior! It was a special place, and she... And she took it away! "
Starlight Glimmer glanced around the ghost town she found herself in. Sighing (or rather scoffing) to herself as she examined it, the unicorn then glanced down to her "cutie mark": a black equal sign. Her survey of the town complete, she walked off away from it and to a nearby river. Taking a seat near the edge, she gazed at her reflection in the water and only saw that immature filly of yesterday... And not that matured mare of today... She hit the water. She hit the water. And again. And again. And again, until...
"... Why are you even here?"
Suddenly, a buzzing noise filled her ears and caused them to twitch. Noticing that the sky had considerably darkened and the buzzing noise had grown louder, she feared for the worst as she glanced up. Of course, her worst fears were indeed a reality. A swarm of black creatures flew past her as they took to the skies. However, they didn't seem to notice her, let alone acknowledge her. She watched as the swarm flew past her village and towards...
Canterlot... But why...?
Her uninterested interest piqued, Starlight ran back to the village and her house, where she gathered any important belongings into a backpack and wrote a letter to her four trusted comrades that they were in charge. Well... Party Flavor, Sugar Belle, Double Diamond, and Night Glider... Now's your chance to see what you've got. Slinging the backpack over her shoulders, Starlight exited her house and charged off after the swarm.
Who are they? Why are they here? What do they want?
To see an empire fall...
"Come one, come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie! Anything you can do, I can do better!"
Trixie Lulamoon was an ambitious little pony to say the least. Having been interested in the art of magic since age 7 (bravo, young miss!), she strove to follow in her parents' hoofsteps and become a great and powerful magician as well. Of course, she was also a young and naive pony in spite of her bright ambitions. While her parents full-on supported her dream, they were quick to warn their daughter that the magic business had its pros and cons, instructing her to be very weary of them. Of course, fate is a harsh mistress, three certain boy bullies had the nerve to humiliate her on her first show. Sending her in a fit of tears was their first and only mistake.
In the present, Trixie made a rather decent living selling out both private shows and big-scale acts. With both fans and haters came the pressure of fame and fortune. As it turned out, with great power comes great responsibility...and even greater irresponsibility. Yes indeed, she may or may not have gotten a "little" greedy with her magic over the years, but there were a "few" times where the more appalling aspects were toned down.
You do see the quotation marks, right?
"The Great and Powerful Trixie didn't need Twilight Sparkle's help. In fact, The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't need anypony's help." Okay, this was not completely true; she did receive assistance from her parents and the rest of her family. However, they were considered the only exceptions because...well, they were her family. Anyone who was not considered her family was not considered worthy of her time. Then again...
Trixie shook her head in disbelief. No, Trixie. You need to stop doubting yourself. You need to get your head out of the gutter. You need to prove them all wrong...
Actually... You want to prove them all wrong...
The unicorn glanced down at the object around her neck and blinked her eyes, which she used to gaze back up at the mirror. Her eyes which glowed a blood red and caused her to step backward out of fear. Fear...? No. No, Trixie. This is not you. You can't be scared, Trixie.
No, Trixie... You have to be... You should be...
Suddenly, an earthquake shook the earth Trixie was standing on, prompting her to run outside and see what was happening. To her horror, a swarm of black creatures covered the sky and made her way to Celestia knows where. Much like Starlight before her, the creatures never seemed to notice ‒ let alone acknowledge ‒ her.
Speaking of which...
"OOF!"
Trixie suddenly found herself on the ground in disorientation. Behind her was a unicorn who shared the same feeling as her. This particular pony had a pink coat, a purple/teal mane, and blue eyes. Ugh, a Twilight Sparkle copycat...
"Who dares bump into The Great and Powerful Trixie?" Trixie reverted back to her hammy, over-the-top persona...something that didn't go unnoticed by the unicorn before her.
"Why are you talking like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like that. You sound like either somepony who is complaining about bees in their eyes or somepony who is complaining about their missing supersuit."
"... And if it's a combination of the two?"
"Yeah, that could work." The unicorn realized that she was getting off topic and began to apologize to Trixie, explaining her situation to her, "Look, I'm so sorry that I bumped into you. It was an accident, but I was trying to follow a black swarm of winged creatures. They were headed that way."
Trixie realized what she was talking about, but also realized what misfortune such an endeavor would bring to her. "Wait, why?"
The unicorn sheepishly smiled and shrugged, "Well...let's just say curiosity killed this cat." With that, she ran off and expected Trixie to understand her sticky situation. What she did not expect was herself being suddenly snatched and placed into a...runaway wagon?
"What are you doing?"
Trixie fastened her and her guest's seatbelts, practically shouting into her ear. "I'm coming with you! Obviously!"
"Why?"
The unicorn was taken aback when Trixie mimicked her own actions (and words) before introducing herself. "Well, let's just curiosity killed this cat. Trixie."
"...Starlight." Trixie and Starlight exchanged a series of greeting smiles as they both prepared for their bumpy ride to their smooth destination...
Something is coming. You can't stop it. Nothing will stop it...
"Not every pony is destined to become a Wonderbolt. Only the best of the best, right?"
It's worth mentioning that Lightning Dust, love her or hate her, was that big of a quote unquote egotist. Given her penchant for vigorous competition and willingness to engage with any trolls (literal and figurative), it's not hard to see why. Nonetheless, everypony has a Freudian excuse regardless whether or not they wish to listen. And hers just might be one of the most heartbreaking.
Eight months ago, she was accepted by the Wonderbolt Academy and personally invited. She was greeted by other Pegasi, including Thunderlane, Cloudchaser, and an unfamiliar Pegasus by the name of Rainbow Dash. The latter in particular was the subject of her fire-forged friendship because of their similarities in terms of speed, strength, and brash attitude. Especially brash attitude. However, to their great misfortune, Lightning Dust's stance further surpassed Rainbow Dash's own and only proved her inability to gracefully accept defeat; she was driven to prove her worth at any cost. Including the cost of innocent lives.
Indeed, it was Lightning Dust's hubris that was his ultimate undoing, when she conjured up a tornado that proved too uncontrollable to tame. Had not the rest of the Wonderbolts intervened in time, a total of five innocent lives would have been lost that day. She had been mostly unaware of the presence of her former friend's own friends until late into her decommissioning:
"Cadet Lightning Dust..." Spitfire didn't move in the slightest. This visibly unnerved Lightning Dust herself. "What is the Wonderbolts' central concern outside the mission objective, whether we're combating a squadron of heavily armed hostiles or performing in front of a crowd of hundreds?"
"The central concern of the Wonderbolts would be the protection of any innocent civilians, enemies of Equestria, and our fellow Wingponies...unless we are ordered otherwise by no more than three high ranking officers. The second concern would be to mind your surroundings."
Lightning Dust's readied response earned her a nod from the Captain...but the facial expression on Spitfire's face didn't go away. Not even in the slightest, "And when conjuring that tornado...that goddamn tornado...did you do either of those two things the manual specifically told you to do?"
"..." Lightning Dust's face began to blanch as she began to answer, but she never got the chance to do so.
"No... No, you didn't. You only tried to be the best and win. It meant nothing. It still means nothing. You were too focused on those two default settings of yours that you put the lives of yourself, your partner, and a group of civilians in danger. You were too focused on those two default settings of yours that you failed to fulfill the duty of preservation and got caught in the crossfire as a direct result. You were too focused on your...goddamn ego that you nearly got yourself killed!"
The sudden shift of tone in Spitfire's voice undoubtedly rattled Lightning Dust to the brink of tears. She was too caught up in her fury to even notice, let alone care. "Do you know what a pain in the flank you are, Lightning Dust? The rules don't apply to you in your own little fantasy. I see before me a young mare with potential, but not a young mare of humility. You think that mistakes are a mere thorn in your side, but there's going to a moment in your last moments when you realize you're wrong about that and get everypony under your command – yourself included – killed!"
"Well, what about you?!!" Lightning Dust suddenly snapped, not realizing her mistake a little earlier than she should. "If you're so smart, why didn't you help out?! What would you have done if you were put in my position?!"
"I WOULDN'T HAVE MADE A RECKLESS DECISION SUCH AS YOURS IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!"
Spitfire was at her wit's end when she literally climbed over her desk and stared down a beyond frightened Lightning Dust, who now realized her fatal flaw in her argument. "I WOULDN'T HAVE THOUGHT SUCH AN EVER SO DEMEANING AND CONDESCENDING IDEA IN LIEU OF AN ACTUAL STRATEGY! I WOULD HAVE TOLD YOU STRAIGHT UP THAT BEING THE BEST ISN'T BEING THE BEST! I WOULD HAVE TURNED YOU DOWN WHENEVER I HAD THE CHANCE!!!"
Little did she know, most of the Wonderbolts had heard the commotion from their respective locker rooms, the full-on rage unleashed by their superior leaving them disturbed beyond words. The Captain herself eventually calmed down before continuing, "If you're going to claim that those civilians weren't supposed to be there, I was going to refute that. They were allowed to...if they were royalty."
Royalty...? Oh, no...
"The purple unicorn who was there in the balloon was none other than Twilight Sparkle, the apprentice of Princess Celestia. The others were the Elements of Harmony, quite possibly the greatest defense the land of Equestria has ever harbored. Had not the Wonderbolts saved them in time..."
Then...Equestria would have been rid of a credible defense...and the Wonderbolts would be no more...
"I can tell you already got the idea. Save your planned apologies for somepony who cares. Take any remaining belongings you have..." Spitfire reached over and literally tore off the Leadpony Badge on her uniform, "...and leave."
Lightning Dust's tears began to seep through her closed eyelids and nodded in understanding, her head hanging in shame as she left the office.
That was exactly eight months ago.
It was only then that Lightning Dust realized that Spitfire had suspended her until further notice to keep her out of trouble, and it worked. For the most part. To say that her flock was furious would be an understatement. The first half was angered over her actions, the other half merely ignored her out of disgrace. Her father in particular had basically banished her from the household, screaming at her as she ran off to never tarnish the good name of their family ever again. It was only a few days after that incident when Spitfire paid them a visit and explained the situation. Finally realizing their mistake far too late, her family ultimately decided to make amends with her.
Of course, being missing for six months, this never came to fruition.
Suddenly, a series of shouts echoed throughout the barn she was hiding in. The feeling of pain and helplessness rushed throughout her body as her wings sprung up...and were swiftly torn from her back. An ear-piercing scream escaped her muzzle as she felt the blood run down to her hooves and tail. Something metallic (she could hear the screeching) had formed in the place of her torn wings. A few moments passed before the pain finally ceased and desisted, leaving a bloodied and withering Lightning Dust in its wake. After catching her breath, she slowly stood and made her way to a mirror to take a look at the damage sustained, wincing as she went. The moment she came to face to face with the mirror...was the moment she stumbled back in shock.
On her back, exactly where her wings used to be...were a new pair. A new pair of metallic wings. On top of this fact, when she turned to get a much clearer look, her wings flew off and pierced the wooden walls of the barn in a perfect row. When she turned back, the metallic blades flew back and arranged into her new and improved wings. Wings that can act as throwing weapons...? For one moment, Lightning Dust was both confused and terrified. The other?
She was intrigued and ecstatic.
"No more... No more will ponies doubt me. No more will ponies mock me and hold me in contempt. No more...will ponies disrespect me and disregard the name of the very pony who served them well." A black mist engulfed and soon dissipated a minute after, revealing a grinning, metallic-winged unicorn in the dreaded Shadowbolt costume.
"My name is Lightning Dust no longer. My name...is Archangel."