Twilight whimpered and curled further into a ball. The minute the blade of the knife plunged into her heart she had frozen, the look on Chrysalis's face was ingrained into mind she couldn't stop seeing it, then the world faded to black. Twilight knew she had died but here she lay, surrounded by a void of nothing.
"Is t-this the afterlife." She asked to no one she just wanted to hear something.
A loud chuckle greeted her question and Twilight froze. Slowly ten beings appeared before her. "No this is not the after life. We brought your soul to the Void." A man said as he walked toward her. He has no true physical features but he appeared as if he was a walking swirl of brown energy, he wore what may have been a hat . "Greetings young Twilight, I am Honesty."
Twilight slowly uncurled and looked at the other beings. "Who and what are you?" She asked shakily.
"We are the physical manifestation of what you call the Elements of Harmony." Another being said the form was that of a man though he appeared as nothing but swirling purple energy, he wore an ancient wizard hat and robes. "I am Magic." The figure said with a bow.
"I am his twin and opposite, Necromancy." the figure next to him said. Like the others he had no physical features and only appeared as a that if a sickly green energy. He wore what was most commonly identified as necromancer robes
Another stepped forward and bowed. "Greetings Twilight Sparkle, I am Deception Brother of Honesty." Unlike his brother, Deception appeared to be made of a light brown energy and wore what appeared to be a trench coat.
Two more figures stepped forward though they were both female, one appeared to be made of Light while the other of Lava. "Greetings Twilight Sparkle, I am Kindness." The one made of light said. She wore light female warrior armor. It was slime and covering.
The lava one wore feminine armor as well though it covered very little and appeared to be extremely erotic. She looked over Twilight and even though She had no face she felt as if she was judging her. "I'm Cruelty." He said with a bow before he walked off.
"Well you must have potential if Cruelty will bow to you." A female made of pure crystal said as she approached, She wore the robes of what appeared to be an assassin. Beside her was a man who was made of obsidian, He wore heavy armor that was reminiscent of King Sombra. "Greetings, I am Generosity and this is my hubby Greed."
Greed bowed. "Greetings Miss. Sparkle, It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance once again." He said. Unlike the others his appearance wasn't hidden and he looked exactly like King Sombra.
"S-Sombra!" Twilight gasped and crawled away from him.
"Please wait!" He cried out. "I wish to apologize to you Miss. Sparkle. The last we met I was not myself."
W-wh-what d-do y-you mean?" Twilight stuttered out.
"When we met last I was in the physical plain. The physical plain is like poison to us and slowly drives us mad. When you and your friends used the Crystal Heart on me it returned me to this place and freed me from my madness, thank you Twilight Sparkle. I am in your debt."
Twilight smiled shyly and nodded. "Y-your welcome."
"Well with that out of the way." A pink figure that appeared to where only basic cloths said as they clapped their hands. "Yo, names Pandemonium though you Know me as laughter."
The man next to him sighed and smacked him upside the head. "Have some respect brother." The man said grumpily. He was a darker pink almost red and he wore ancient Romane Legion armor. "Greetings I am Anarchy and I represent that of sorrow." The man said as he turned and saluted Twilight.
"Well with your introductions out of the way it's time you met the boss." Pandemonium said with a smile.
The others nodded and Kindness approached her. "We will meet again child but for now farewell." With that the other beings except for Pandemonium and Anarchy walked deeper into the void.
"This way." Pandemonium said with a flourish. Twilight slowly got up and walked forward following the two Elements. They walked for a time before they approached two new beings. "This is where we leave, see ya kid." Pandemonium said before jumping up and disappeared.
Anarchy sighed. Fair well miss." He said and bowed before stepping into the shadows.
Twilight took a deep breath an approached the two beings. When she walked up she saw they were meditating and sat down to wait. After a while she grew bored and began to examine them closer. One appeared as if he was the night and wore armor that was similar to that of a knight. The other however was far more intimidating. He had the appearance of that of a living shadow and wore the heavy armor of a Berserker. After sitting there for a few more minutes the the two opened there eyes and looked at Twilight.
"Greetings Twilight Sparkle and welcome to the Void. I am Loyalty." The knight said calmly.
"I am Betrayal." The Berserker said as he examined her. "You hold great potential but you are far from being prepared for my lessons." He said as he rose and walked away.
Loyalty sighed. "Please excuse him. Betrayal is a man of action. I'm his brother and even I can't get that close to him. So I assume you have a lot of questions. Have a seat, ask and I will tell." He said as he sat back down.
Twilight hesitated and then sat down in front of the being. "I guess the first question is who or what are you and the others." Twilight said slowly.
The being nodded. "A good question. Long ago we were the living beings that forged what you would come to know as the Elements of Harmony. To do this though we sealed our souls into the Elements we represent. Sadly this means we can't leave this place. As for who we were..." The being gazed off into the distance. "We don't really remember. Magic remembers he went by Starswirl the Bearded in life but has no memory of his life but he knows everything about magic. My brother was named Night Terror the Berserker and has some memory of his life, really the only one who remembers there past life is Greed. He was known as King Sombra, when he merged with his Element a part of him remained in the physical world and became a twisted monster. From what he's said, you and your friends destroyed the shadow."
"Why are there two versions of the Elements of Harmony?" Twilight asked.
"Harmony does not just represent good." Loyalty said. "Harmony represents two opposites coexisting. In truth the Elements are able to be used for both order and chaos. The true name of the Elements have actually been lost."
"What were they?" Twilight asked.
"Honesty and Deception represent the Element of Choice, Generosity and Greed represent the Element of Desire, Laughter and Sorrow represent the Element of Emotion, Kindness and Cruelty represent the Element of Empathy, Magic and Necromancy represent the Element of Knowledge and Loyalty and Betrayal represent the Element of Allegiance."
Twilight nodded in thought. "Okay one more, where are we and why am I here?" She asked.
The figure nodded. "This is the Void, a realm between the Physical world and Oblivion. Everything here is in a state of both life and death at the same time. As to the reason as to why you are here, I and the other Elements brought you here after you died to train you to be the Alicorn of Harmony."
"I don't understand what do you mean by the Alicorn of Harmony?" Twilight asked.
"You will train with each Element once you have mastered our power we will return you to the physical world and you will face Queen Chrysalis and her swarm."
"How long will this take?" Twilight asked.
"It will take you at least five hundred years to learn and master one Element. However time works diferent in the Void, once your training is done we will send you back and it will be only a few years."
Twilight took a deep breath. "When do I begin".
Canterlot Castle: War Room
Celestia and Luna sat at the head of a long table. To their left was the Chancellor of the Minotaur Republic, Iron Hoof III. On their Left sat the King of the Griffon Empire, Raven Claw. Next was the Crystal Empire, Princes Cadence and Prince Shining Armor were present though they seemed to rather be left alone. After them was the Tribal races such as the Buffalo, Zebra. The Buffalo had sent their chief, Chief Thunderhooves, while the Zebra had sent their lead shaman who surprisingly was Zecora. After them sat the Bat ponies, and Discord.
Celestia cleared her throat. "As I'm sure you are all aware of why you have been called here I will get strait down to the point. The changelings have declared war on Equestria-"
"And killed young Miss. Sparkle as well. Celestia, you know you have my aid." King Raven Claw interrupter shocking everyone.
"Why would the cold hearted Lightning King stand with Equestria?" Chancellor Iron Hoof asked in shock.
"Long ago when Twilight first came to the castle as Princess Celestia apprentice she and I meet. She was perhaps the only pony to not be afraid of me for being a griffon. She was very bright and we talked for quite some time. Despite not seeing each other often she and I were friends in a sense. The fact that one such as her was murdered in such a way... it is something I can't allow!" The King exclaimed as he slammed his fist onto the table.
The room was silent for a moment before Zecora nodded. "It is good that Twilight has such friends, perhaps together we can make amends. Twilight Sparkle was a dear friend I will miss, I will aid you in stopping the Queen Chrysalis."
"Twilight Sparkle as friend to our lady." A bat pony said as they stepped forward. "As long as this conflict lasts and Princess Luna fights then so shall we."
"Thank you my ponies." Luna said as tears fell from her eyes.
"Twilight was my sister," Cadence said as she looked up. "you have the full support of the Empire at your call Celestia." Cadences voice was laced with hate and for a moment her eyes changed becoming draconic. All the diplomats shuddered at the sight. When a Alicorns eyes turn draconic nothing good ever happened
A sudden knock came from the doors and a guard entered. "Princess the Dragon King is here." He said before he was shoved out of the way by a tall dragon.
"Where is that witch!" He screamed.
"King Inferno, please calm down." King Raven Claw said as he rose and walked over to the Dragon.
"I will calm down when that insect pays!" The King Inferno growled. "Twilight was a dear friend and I will see that the Changeling pays."
"Anger will only lead to brash action and clouded judgement." Raven Claw said.
The Dragon King turned to the griffon and looked at him. "Funny how almost every one of us has been effected by Twilight. Be it direct or indirect we each have been affected by Twilight." The dragon sad as he walked over to the table and sat down."
The Chancellor sighed. "No, she has affected us all. My son, Iron Will, went to Ponyville some time ago and met one of her friends Fluttershy." Iron Hoof sighed. "Finally put some sense into that boy, came home and became a damn good prince." The Chancellor snorted. "Even Discord is here and I know he is going to help."
Discord eyed the Minotaur curiously. "Oh, how so?" He asked.
The Chancellor laughed. "Cause you haven't said a damn thing or annoyed any of us. You seem... distant. Like a child who's favorite toy is broken and they know it cant be fixed."
Discord sighed. "Indeed this whole situation has made me... serious." Discord sad calmly. "Then again you all had no idea what she was suppose to become."
Celestia tilted her head. "What do you mean Discord?"
Discord sighed. "Twilight Sparkle wasn't going to be the Alicorn of Friendship. She was going to be the Alicorn of Harmony. Se would have been my equal if not greater, able to wield both Order and Chaos." Everyone stared at the Draconequus in shock. "But then Chrysalis had to go and screw everything up." Discord frowned and turned to Celestia. "You have my and my races aid. The Draconequus will fight for you Celestia."
"Then It's settled." Raven Claw said. "We will destroy the changelings, for Twilight." The other rulers and diplomats nodded.
"For Twilight." The others said their voices filled with determination.
Far off in the distance at the border of the Badlands the Changeling swarm approached the first outpost. "Go my children drain all there love and then kill them, kill them all!" Chrysalis laughed as the swarm charged and descended upon the outpost like locusts.