Chapter 14
"Sweetie Belle!! Scootaloo !!! Applebloom !!" the Cutie Mark Crusaders shouted in unison.
"But how ? Why?? Ya were jus' like... like ya fell from the sky" exclaimed Applebloom.
"Who cares? I am so glad I see you and we are all here together again" Scootaloo hugged her two best friends.
The trio moved closer to each other and started to look around. They quickly shared their experiences since they were separated.
"This is all bad, I tell ya ! Where are we ?" said Applebloom
"I don't know. But I think that questioning the rules this place follows is the last thing we should do." Sweetie Belle bit her lip
"Sweetie is right. We have to follow our emotions and maybe....maybe even go mad " whispered Scootaloo
Applebloom knocked in Scootaloo's head
"Knock, knock, knock, apple to chicken, apple to chicken..."
Scootaloo blushed
"I told you that I hate that codename like, I don't know, a thousand times ?" hissed orange pegasus.
"Maybe little more" giggled Applebloom
Sweetie Belle got up and interrupted the teasing.
"Applebloom, I think Scootaloo said something important. Besides, we didn't talk about one very important thing."
"What ?" asked Applebloom and Scootaloo.
"The prophecy. Or the revelation. You know, that poem which Princess Cadence heard from that mad stallion. The more I think about it, the more I feel that it can give us some clues" explained Sweetie Belle.
"Oh right ? That stuff. But..." Scootaloo was seemingly hesitant " shouldn't we find our sisters and their friends and told them about it ? I bet they will know better what to do with it."
Scootaloo was suddenly grabbed and turned around by Applebloom, so she looked red-manned filly in the eyes
"Scootaloo, look at me ! "said Applebloom, tears slowly flowing down her cheeks " If tha' what I saw was true, it may be too late for what ya are sayin'. Our sisters may be in great danger and maybe now it's time... to help them. The' saved Equestria so many times. Wha' if today is our turn to be the heroes ? We have to figure this out on our own. "
" Applebloom is right. There is no time for even for a proper search. Besides, I bet we will find ourselves with them in no time. " resumed Sweetie Belle
Scootaloo slowly nodded and looked at her to companions
"So... I guess none of you remember the text of the revelation ?" she asked
After a second of silence, Sweetie Belle raised her hoof
"Oh, oh, oh, I do , I do !!!"
Scootaloo's jaw dropped
"How in all of Equestria did you manage to remember all of this bla-bla-bla by hearing it just once ?"
Sweetie Belle shook her head
" I didn't memorize it. I wrote it down."
Applebloom gave a unicorn a look full of confusion.
"What the hay ?"
Sweetie blushed slightly
"When we were writing down our gossip column, I really enjoyed it. Even if we... missed the point with the topics. But even when we ended Gubby Gums stories, I still loved to make mine. And when we earned our cutie marks, I was still writing. So I always keep a notebook and quill nearby."
Sweetie pulled a quill and the notebook out of her mane.
Scootaloo facehoofed.
"HOW ???"
Sweetie rolled her eyes
"You were the one laughing when I decided to hang out with Pinkie Pie. Turned out that she can teach you some really hoofy tricks".
"All righ', all righ' y' all " now it was Applebloom's turn to silence arguing pair " Sweetie Belle, ya were sayin' tha' ya got somethin' written down ? "
Sweetie Belle cleared her troth. She found the wanted page and started to read:
"When darkness and light gets head down
Beware the eclipse of shadow and sun
Foe bended by heart only by another
May be killed to welcome a night as a brother
Be careful who you trust, look for reflection of sun
When doom returns, the flesh cannot be undone
Six by one and three in one might be the only cure
The only light will be see while darkness can endure
Sometimes the way to live is to choose the death
Only love can save you from your lasting breath
And the reflection may only be gone
When somepony will claim time as a rightful throne"
The trio were as stunned as when their first heard the revelation.
Scootaloo put her head on her hoof
"Nah, nothing so far. And you ?"
Applebloom climbed on small pile of rocks so now she was standing on a rostrum, like in their clubhouse.
"It's our job to see wha' is in there. Let's start from the beginin'"
Sweetie Belle began to slowly read again
"When darkness comes and light gets head down
Beware the eclipse of Shadow and Sun "
Unicorn sighed
"I think it is obvious that "light gets head down". We are in a castle that is... well... lightless."
"Beware the eclipse of Shadow and Sun... What is this part about ?" Scootaloo gasped " Do you think... maybe princesses turned evil ? They represent darkness and light, right ? Maybe they went bananas... Well, Celestia already went bananas but you know what I mean."
" I don' know Scootaloo. This sounds a littl' extreme. Didn' ya heard that Starligh' helped them get along ?" said Appleblom
Sweetie Belle touched her chin with her hoof once again
"But you all heard what Princess Celestia said about the disappearance of Princess Luna. Maybe Nightmare Moon really came back"
"But why ?" questioned Applebloom
Sweetie turned around and looked at the dark chamber.
"I don't know but whatever is the reason, we have to find it"
Appleboom nodded and added
"Beside' there should be Eclipse of Moon and Sun and that would ruin the poem's harmony"
Scootaloo frowned
"Since when you are a poetry expert ?"
Applebloom looked at Scootaloo with half-closed eyes
"Since am hangin' and helpin' Zecora, thank ya were much. Now Sweetie, wha' have we got next ?"
Sweetie Belle resumed reading
"Foe bended by heart only by another
May be killed to welcome night as a brother"
Scootaloo shivered
"It is getting worse with each new line"
"Bended by heart...how could somepony be bended by heart ?" muttered Sweetie Belle "There is something in my head... but it's keep slipping away"
Scootaloo looked at the revelation's text
"Be careful who you trust look at the reflection of the Sun. How can Sun have reflection ?"
You know that feeling when all is on place except one little element ?? Gaaahh!!!" Sweetie Belle yelled in frustration
Scootaloo read further
"When doom returns the flesh cannot be undone... Maybe somepony or something is rebuilding itself ?"
Sweetie Belle started to move towards chamber's walls, using only her back legs while keeping front ones by her sides
"Duuuummmmmbb braaaaaaaiinnnnn!!!!!!"
Applebloom gasped
"Scootaloo, I know understand, what did ya ment that we can allow them to die"
Scootaloo look at yellow earth pony
"You do ?"
Applebloom pointed at revelation's fragment
"Yeah, right there. The only light will be se when darkness can endure, sometimes the way to live is to choose death. Scootaloo, I bet this is a trick. Maybe this place is ruled by some strange rules. So life means death, death means life. If we will tryin' to save them, they will be dead. I can't believe that but... it seem' as rational as it can be in our situation.
Scootaloo pressed her hooves together
"But we can't just sit here and do nothing"
Sweetie Belle responded, still moving in circles
"And we won't. We are going to find one responsible for all of this and we will save our sisters"
Applebloom raised an eyebrow
"And how exactly we are going to do that ?"
Sweetie Belle got up on to her hooves and smiled to her friends
"I have no idea. But it is still a good plan, isn't it ?"
Applebloom and Scootaloo's hearths warmed with love for her friend. They hugged Sweetie tightly.
"Ya know what ? The most importan' is tha' we are together again. " said Applebloom
"Yeah. And we won't get separated no matter what" added Scootaloo
"Some destiny brought as here. And we all came through the darkness and learned something. That sometimes you embrace true love when you give it to others instead of attaching yourself to your own desires" whispered Sweetie Belle
"That who you are is defined by hope in what you dream and it makes you a better pony " said Scootaloo
"And there is no use in believing' in somethin' when ya are not belivin' in yourself and spread faith across those that ya cares about" quietly added Applebloom
The group stayed in a hug for a moment, until Scootaloo noticed something
"Guys... why are we glowing ? "
Two other Crusaders screamed when they acknowledged the presence of the bright light illuminating from their bodies.
Sweetie Belle was the first to calm down
She hugged her friends even tighter
"Just stay in friendship moment. I think that light is our saviour"
"But... how ?" asked Applebloom
Sweetie Belle shook her head " I don't know. But... we are related to the Elements of Harmony. For our sisters glowing is a daily basis. I once had a chat with Discord (since he is our honorary member now, it is easier) and I learned that sometimes you just have to trust yourself. AND DO NOT QUESTION THINGS. Come on, just hug me !!!"
And then the trio felt it. They looked in amazement as the wave of pure, white light crashed the walls around and raised them in the air. Everything went white...
*****************************
Cutie Mark Crusaders opened their eyes. The dark chamber vanished. Now they were in a main throne room of Canterlot Castle. But it was still darker than usual.
Three fillies looked at each other
"Wow, I didn't have any idea that we can do what we just did" shouted Scootaloo, doing back-flip in the air.
"Yeah, I guess it was pretty awesome... whatever tha' was" Applebloom nodded with enthusiasm.
"Girls!!!!!!!" Sweetie Belle's scream echoed through the throne room.
Applebloom and Scootaloo turned around. What they saw, froze the blood in their veins.
Shaking Sweetie Belle pointed hoof at the glowing hexagram, carved on the floor of the throne room. On the each arm of the star was one pony. Cutie Mark Crusaders needed only one look to know that those ponies were the incarnates of the Elements of Harmony. Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack. They all were there, simply standing and staring blankly in space. CMC stood there, feeling nothing but hatred for the mysterious foe.
"He... he is sucking their life forces" Scootaloo pointed at the stream of multicolour magic, flowing from the six ponies to the centre of the diagram, beating like a heart.
Sweetie Belle moved closer to Rarity. Beautiful mare's eyes were wide open, her mane was messed up and there were streams of tears constantly flowing down her face.
Applebloom and Scootaloo checked Rainbow Dash and Applejack in the same time.
" He will pay for this! Rainbow... she... she has everything broken. I don't know how is she even standing straight" said Scootaloo, with tears in her eyes.
"And Applejack looks lik' she is strangled or somethin'. But it doesn' make any sense. I saw them earlier. I saw them all, runin' and screamin'. What is goin' on here ? " Applebloom grabbed her head in her hooves.
Sweetie looked at hexagram.
"They must be stuck in a illusion or something like that. They look like they're in a...coma. This is no good. Look at Twilight, she is glitching, like she is not really here. And where are the princesses and...." she gulped " Spike ?"
She suddenly gasped and felt her mane rising on her head
"Sweetie, are y'all right, sugarcube ?" Appleboom gently put a hoof on friend's shoulder.
Sweetie removed the hoof from herself
"Stop Applejacking me. No, but if I am right... it all finally clicked together. Shadow...foe bended by heart... rebuilding itself... hatred and fear....illusions. I know now. He is someone powerful. His dark power was crushed and he was destroyed by heart. A Crystal Heart. He is The Master Of Shadows.... King Sombra.”
Roaring laughter came all around the ponies. Deep, hollow voice said
"Right you are, my little youngling. It was time to discover that. Welcome..."
Dark purple smoke started to flow from the mouths of the ponies on the arms of the hexagram. The smoke swirled, forming itself into the shape of a massive stallion with a eyes glowing with dark, green and purple light.
King Sombra smiled at three fillies frozen in place by fear. He slowly licked his lips and hissed
"Isn't this just a perfect day to die ?"