//------------------------------// // This Is the Night // Story: L'amore รจ femmina (Out of Love) // by Ospero //------------------------------// "Conformity?" Spike stared confusedly at Derpy. "What do you mean?" The pegasus mare's eyes twitched slightly. "I'm not sure I can find the words for this, Spike. I just know that what's behind that disc used to be Harmony, but it went bad quite some time ago." "So what do we do now?" Applejack asked. "How are we supposed to fight Harmony? We saw what the Elements did to the thing that had taken hold of Celestia. They were worse than useless." Twilight, who had been standing stock still, her horn glowing a soft purple, opened her eyes. "We can't fight it. This is not Harmony's battle, but we will be needed here." "How do you know that?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Don't tell me your Element has suddenly become Understanding too." "No, but I am the Element of Magic, and I haven't exactly forgotten about our battles against Nightmare Moon, Discord and Doubt." Twilight grinned. "One of the little things I developed is an analysis spell. And if I'm not mistaken, it should be ready right about ... now!" A ray of purple light shot out from Twilight's horn and streaked towards the disc, surrounded by small purple motes of light resembling eyes. When it hit the golden circle, its colour changed abruptly into a deep, shimmering gold, before it vanished. Twilight took several gasping breaths. "That was ... more draining than I thought." "Did it work?" Rainbow Dash stared at the purple unicorn expectantly. "What did you find out?" "Hang on. I'll show you." Twilight closed her eyes, and a sphere of light sprang from her horn, forming into a three-dimensional image in mid-air. *** "Our parents are gone." The green stallion looked at the assembled alicorns. "What do you mean, 'gone'?" A light pink mare that looked astoundingly similar to Princess Cadance got to her hooves. "Without Order and Chaos to guide our way, we are lost. And if we can't follow, how should we lead?" She made a wide, sweeping gesture with her right front hoof. "The ponies out there depend upon us, Virtue, as do the dragons and griffons. What are we supposed to do now?" A third alicorn got up, this one a stallion with a coat the light grey of an overcast winter sky. "What they used to do, Harmony. We shall lead." "Easy enough for you to say, Discipline. But none of us really have any experience in doing that." The pink mare - Harmony - looked at the two alicorns that had yet to say anything. "What about you two? Do you believe you can take the place of Order and Chaos?" The two - a deep brown stallion and a fiery red mare - looked at each other, then the mare turned her gaze towards Harmony. "I don't know if we can. But how could we ever call ourselves the offspring of Order if we did not at least try?" "What about the offspring of Chaos?" the brown stallion asked. "Where are they?" Virtue lowered his head. "They have vanished without a trace, probably following their - our - mother. They always were a little unpredictable." "They're not here, and we are," Discipline said. "If fate demands of us that we lead the ponies, dragons and griffons, so be it." Harmony gritted her teeth. "Yes. And if this is what the future holds, I will make sure to be the best leader I can be." *** "Sister?" Harmony looked up from her desk and saw Virtue standing there. She smiled. "Brother. How long has it been?" "Far too long, if what I saw out there is any indication." Virtue's face was set in a mask of grim determination. "What do you think you're doing, Harmony?" "Being the best leader I can be, of course," the pink alicorn answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the universe. "Do you take issue with how I rule my part of the world?" "Need you ask?" Virtue's eyes flashed. "I didn't want to intrude upon your realm, but things have gone out of control. I thought Discipline ruled with an iron fist, but compared to what you're doing here, he's like a summer breeze next to a hurricane. The ponies out there are suffering, Harmony!" "Yes, and don't you think it kills me a little every day to see them like this?" Harmony countered heatedly. "But I have an obligation to be the best replacement for our father I can be, and by Chalice and Banner, I will fulfill that obligation." "Our father would be horrified to see what you've been doing, possibly more so than our mother." Virtue stepped closer to his sister. "Change your ways, Harmony. Your ponies are starting to grow disgruntled. They've accepted everything you've done to them so far as necessary, but their patience is at an end - as is mine and that of our siblings. If they can't overthrow you, rest assured we will." With that, he turned and left the study. *** Virtue stared down at the battered, bleeding form of the - thing - he had once called sister. Harmony was unconscious, barely breathing, yet he couldn't find it in himself to kill her and end her insanity, the madness that had cost countless pony lives when she had expunged her chaotic side to become a better ruler. Instead, she had imposed the most tyrannical form of order ever seen upon her subjects, and finally the remaining Progeny of Order and Chaos had taken it upon themselves to remove her from power. It was the first war the world had ever seen, and it had been long and brutal, but with four of the five Progeny on one side, the outcome was never really in question. And now they had to decide what they would do with their sister. "We can't kill her," Virtue said. "Father's laws don't allow for the slaying of Progeny by Progeny's hoof." "Community lies dying," Power murmured, the gaping wound in her throat quivering slightly with every breath she took. "Discipline will never fly again after what she did to his wings. We need to make sure she never endangers anyone again." She slowly raised her head and looked Virtue in the eyes. "You have to make this decision, brother. What should we do?" Virtue closed his eyes and focused every last bit of power into his horn. A beam of pure white light streaked toward Harmony, flaring up into a blinding glare upon hitting her. When the light dimmed, six golden horseshoes lay on the ground in front of the pink alicorn. Power stared in wonder for a moment. "What did you do?" "I saved the parts of her that can still recover from her insanity." Virtue pointed at the horseshoes. "These contain the essence of who she used to be. They're the Elements of Harmony. This," he pointed at the body, "is beyond redemption and beyond hope, yet still I would not kill it. We shall imprison it." "Imprison?" Power whispered. "You do remember what Mother used to tell us about prisons?" "Yes. 'Every cell has its weakness, and can be escaped eventually.'" Virtue focused again, and a swirl of grey opened up in front of them, drawing Harmony's old body in. A brief flash of gold flashed up before the gateway closed again. "We are not immortal, Virtue." Power said, picking up the horseshoes. "And what will happen when we go, and the ponies forget what happened here?" "They will forget. But we will remain with them, if only in spirit." Virtue smiled, even as tears shone in his eyes. "We will do the same thing I did to Harmony." "You would have us die?" Power exclaimed in a hoarse whisper. "How should we protect our subjects when we're dead?" "We shall pick worthy bearers of our most important qualities to carry our torch. Ponies, even ones as powerful as us, will be forgotten eventually, but good qualities last forever." Virtue looked up into the blood-red sky. "Besides, Community and Discipline are near death as we speak, and I don't think you would make a full recovery either. I can't carry on alone, Power." Tears were streaming down the green alicorn's face. "I could not make it through a dozen millennia by myself. Not with the knowledge of what I had to do to Harmony." Power's horn glowed, and a wave of resolve washed over the two. "I'm not sure I could do that, brother, and I certainly won't force you to live like that. It might do worse things to you than what happened to our sister." "Then let us get Community and Discipline. We have a lot of work ahead of us." *** The assembled ponies, dragon and griffon stared at the projection as it froze on the image of Virtue and Power turning to leave. Finally Spike found his tongue. "That is what we're up against?" "Yes." Derpy swallowed hard. "I knew what we were dealing with, but I hadn't seen the full picture." "Why haven't we ever heard of any of this?" Rarity asked. "We should..." She broke off suddenly, her face turning slightly green. "Rarity? Are you okay?" Twilight asked. "I'm fine. I just wish this had picked a better time..." The white unicorn broke off again, retching violently. "What's wrong with her?" Spike asked. Fluttershy was staring at Rarity as if trying to figure out a stubborn puzzle, then suddenly the pegasus mare blanched. "Oh no. This isn't good." She bit her lip. "I mean, of course it's good, it's just exactly the wrong time." "What do you mean?" Twilight asked, feeling frustration rise within her. "What's happening here?" Derpy smiled. "None of you have been through this, but I have. Nausea attacks, and she hasn't eaten anything bad? You should recognize the 'problem'." She turned to Rarity. "Congrats, by the way." It took Twilight another second or two to put the pieces together. "You mean she's...?" Fluttershy just nodded. Twilight pressed a hoof against her forehead. "Oh dear Celestia, as if we didn't have enough on our plates as it was." Rarity seemed to slowly regain control. "This won't hinder us, darling. Anyway, where was I?" "You were wondering why we hadn't heard of any of this," Twilight said. "From what I can tell, all of this happened a very, very long time ago." "It must have been long before the war against the Ancient Darkness," Spike mused. "Six to seven thousand years, or even more." "Twelve thousand, actually." All eyes turned to Derpy, who smiled apologetically. "Sorry, that's all I know." Before anyone could say any more, the disc shook violently, and a flash of golden light washed over them. All went black. *** Spike came to, wishing instantly that he hadn't. His head was pounding, and he felt a strange itch at the back of his neck, as if some kind of insect was trying to chew its way through his scales. He scrambled to his feet and looked around. The other Elements of Unity were getting to their hooves, as were the Elements of Diversity. Twilight and the other Elements of Harmony were nowhere to be seen. His eyes fell on the disc - or rather, on where the disc had been. It was gone, leaving only a circle of absolute darkness. "Twilight?" "Where are they?" Sweetie Belle asked, looking around. "And what is that thing on your neck?" "Huh?" Spike reached up a hand and met with something soft and flexible stuck between his first and second spines. "You have something there too. AB, Scoots, you too." He stepped closer to his marefriend to get a good look at the thing. It was barely the size of his fist and glowing with a soft golden light, showing no other distinct features. "What in Equestria is that?" "It's trying to get into your heads." All eyes turned to Derpy, who was now clutching her head. "It's getting too much. Please, make it stop. I'm just a dumb mailmare, I'm not made to handle all this knowledge." Spike touched her cheek with one claw. "Yes, you are. You saved us all, more than once. Courage, Ditzy. You can do this." His element glowed softly, and Derpy looked at him with gratitude in her eyes. "Thank you, Spike." She turned to the others. "Those things on your necks are trying to get to you, but something is holding them back. I don't think they can get in unless you let them." "So where are Rainbow Dash and the others?" Scootaloo asked. "And if Conformity has broken out, why are we still here?" "Oh Celestia, no," Spike whispered, turning to Apple Bloom. "Do you remember that letter from Princess Luna?" "Yeah, but what..." She broke off, realizing what he was getting at. "How did that one passage go again? The battle of Eight and Six?" "No." Spike stared at the black void. "Not Eight and Six. Eight against Six." Six figures began to manifest in the darkness, approaching rapidly until the Elements of Unity and Diversity could clearly see them. The young dragon had to bite back a scream. Golden flames enveloped the bodies of the Elements of Harmony, and their eyes were blazing orbs of orange fire. The gemstones in their necklaces and crown were burning with the same golden light. But it was their facial expressions that really drove home that something horrible had happened to the six. Their lips were curled up into dismissive smiles, and behind the fire, their eyes betrayed the same contempt. Gilda was the first to find her voice. "Who are you, and what have you done to them?" Twilight's grin widened. "She showed us the way, griffon. Surrender while you can, or face the assembled wrath of Indifference, Allegiance, Authority, Brutality, Sacrifice and Control." As one, the five mares behind her stepped into line, and all six spoke in a chorus. "Submit now, or be destroyed by the Elements of Conformity."