//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3. My, my, you are a pretty one. 
// Story: The Last of the Dark Ponies 
// by Askre 
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Chapter 3

Twilight opened the front doors of the castle, wondering who was knocking. Outside stood Flash Sentry. The sergeant bowed when the princess opened the doors fully.

“Oh, Flash Sentry, I take it that since only you are here, my brother and Cadance are not coming?” the alicorn asked, feeling mildly dejected. She had rather hoped they would have been able to make it and beef up the security even more.

“They send their regards, Your Highness,” Flash Sentry said and produced a letter from his saddlebag and gave it to her. “They were just too busy to come, but they did send me.”

“Please, call me Twilight,” the princess said and allowed the guard to enter the castle. She had never really took to being addressed by titles and she considered Flash a friend, so saw no need for formalities. She took a moment to look over the letter, but it was just a note from Cadance, expressing her regret for not being able to make it.

Once Flash was inside, Twilight closed the doors and turned to the orange pegasus. There were a few things they needed to go over before going to the map room where the party was.

“Flash, have there been any more sightings?” she asked, carefully glancing towards the door leading to the party. Thankfully the door was closed and no sign of anyone trying to peek out.

“Not for a while,” Flash Sentry said and produced a folder out of the saddlebag and gave it to her. “The yaks rescued a few mountain goats driven mad with fear. The goats spoke of dark evil shadows, but it was all very vague. Since then, everything has been silent in the north.”

Twilight frowned as she opened the folder with her magic and went through the papers in it. It really didn’t tell her anything she didn’t know already. Several vague sightings all over, especially in northern Equestria. Various creatures found driven mad with fear, and sometimes plain dead from heart attacks, suspected to have been induced from something that scared them really badly.

The princess had noted one thing about these sightings, though - the majority of them had  happened in the north. She suspected that’s where Sombra had mainly been hiding, but any search parties Princess Celestia sent found nothing and they could only go so far north before encountering mountain goat territory and they were even more territorial than the yaks.

Then there was the distant nation of Artica, home of mountain ponies who downright hated Equestria and it was too dangerous for any Equestrian pony to venture there. If King Sombra was hiding around these areas, he had picked a perfect place to lay low.

“Well, it’s the same here in the south. The last possible sighting was weeks ago. We found some zebras who came fleeing from the west, speaking vaguely about some dark terror, but were too scared to speak any more of it,” Twilight sighed. She did not like it how silent King Sombra had become and they still hadn’t found him.

“You think he’s planning something?” Flash wondered. He had noticed how nervous the princess looked.

“I can’t shake the feeling. Even if the sightings were vague and sometimes even unconfirmed, they were regular enough that we suspected King Sombra was on the move, or at least had to venture out of his hole to fuel his dark magic,” she said and started to slowly walk towards the map room with Flash Sentry following.

“But everything going totally silent - that makes me more and more worried that for whatever he’s planning, he’s ready. The question is, when will he strike? Considering his interest in Private Iceland and Barricade, this party would be a perfect opportunity for him to attempt to snatch them,” the princess continued and stopped when they were in front of the door. She turned to face the sergeant.

“Flash, this is supposed to be a happy occasion. This is not just a birthday party, it’s a family gathering that hasn’t happened in years. Barricade is clearly trying to make amends, even brought presents for his daughters. So our job is to make sure it continues to be exactly that. Keep your eyes and ears sharp, but be discreet, don’t draw too much attention to it that you are here for security,” she instructed him.

Flash Sentry nodded that he understood and saluted. Twilight resumed her smile and opened the door. The two ponies walked in to join the party that was now in process. Pinkie Pie had already put on music and some of the ponies were already enjoying some of the food.

Coal broke away for a moment from her sisters to go greet the newly arrived pegasus, remembering him from the Crystal Empire. Flash Sentry was himself glad to meet the filly again and returned the hug from her.





Although looking dark and foreboding, the edge of the Everfree Forest looked very peaceful. Even so, the yellow pegasus that was trotting nearby didn’t venture too close to it. She was content on staying on the meadow that wasn’t too far away from her cottage. Behind her hopped a white bunny.

“Don’t go too close, Angel Bunny. We are only supposed to keep an eye on the forest, not go into it,” Fluttershy cautioned the rabbit who rolled his eyes. This was probably the third time she had warned him. She just couldn’t help it, knowing too well how independent and willful her pet was.

Fluttershy was also using the opportunity to check on some of her animal friends living around.  Her saddlebags were loaded with treats she wanted to give them. She had already given a local squirrel family some acorns and was now heading to a nearby creek where she knew of some moles.

The pegasus was still a little worried. Twilight had really stressed to her how important it was that she kept an eye on the forest. It was a good place to go unnoticed at the outer edges of Ponyville. Fluttershy really hoped though nothing would come - she could still remember that big, scary shadow-like smoke when the pegasus and her friends had first gone to the Crystal Empire.

“Oh hello there, little friend.” Fluttershy smiled when a sparrow started fluttering in front her. It chirped a little in a greeting. The pegasus reached into her bag and brought out a good scoop of seeds and put it on the ground. The bird landed and started to happily peck at it.

“Now don’t eat too fast or you’ll get a tummy ache,” she warned gently.

Angel Bunny sighed as he watched Fluttershy continue to talk with the bird. He was bored, wanted to run and play, but the rabbit had a feeling he better stick with the pegasus. He started to look impatiently around, wondering if they would be at this all day. Suddenly out of the ground in front him erupted a gopher. It started to squeak excitedly at him, looking alarmed. The rabbit gasped and immediately jumped over to Flutteshy and started pulling at her tail.

“Angel, it’s not polite to interrupt like that.” Fluttershy turned her head to look at the rabbit who was pointing at the gopher. The pegasus turned around when hearing the squeaks from the underground animal. “What? Please, sir, speak a little slower.”

The gopher took a moment to calm himself down before resuming his squeaks, but now slightly slower, all the while he pointed in a direction further away on the meadow.

“Oh my, how many?” Fluttershy asked alarmed, her eyes opened wider. “Oh dear, can you show me?”

The gopher pulled himself out of the hole and started running, the pegasus grabbed Angel and took to the air to follow the animal. She cringed a little when seeing their direction would take them even closer to Everfree, but her assistance was needed and she could never turn a blind eye to an animal in need.

Oh dear, Fluttershy didn’t like it when the gopher ran straight into the forest. Taking a deep breath she plunged in after him. Thankfully they didn’t go too far. They almost immediately got into a clearing and what she saw made her gasp in horror.

Strewn around were many animals in varying state of distress. Some looked seriously ill while others were wounded. A beaver looked like he had been in a big fight, a racoon was throwing up, a crow had both wings broken, to name a few.

“Oh goodness, what happened?” Fluttershy asked as she landed. The mare put Angel down and went straight to a snake that looked like something had tried cutting it. The pegasus cringed when all the animals started to chatter at once, making it impossible for even her to figure out who was saying what.

“Please, please, not all at once,” she pleaded as she looked disheartened at all the injured and sick animals. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you. Oh my, what could have done all this?”

While Fluttershy started tending to the animals, after ordering Angel to run to her cottage for her med-kit, she failed to notice a pair of red eyes staring at her from the shadows. Slowly a wicked grin formed under them.

“Yes, Fluttershy. Show them your gentle, tender care,” a dark voice whispered and slowly the eyes and the grin faded away.





“Apple Bloom, keep an eye on the stand, Ah have to go to the little filly’s room,” Applejack called to her sister who was standing nearby, trying to entice ponies to buy apples from their stand.

“Sure thing, Applejack,” Apple Bloom said and quickly jumped behind the stand.

Applejack trotted away and to the back of a few houses where she knew the outhouses in this area were kept. So far she hadn’t seen anything suspicious. She noticed Rainbow Dash up in the clouds close to the castle, but the rainbow pegasus had shown no sign of trouble.

The farm pony quickly entered the nearest outhouse and went about her business. She hadn’t been there long though when there was a knock.

“It’s occupied,” she called. “Plenty of others nearby.”

Hearing nothing else, Applejack paid it no more mind. Although she was supposed to keep an eye out for trouble, part of her mind was more on farming business. She knew they had to plow a new field soon and they needed to plant few more apple trees. There was another knock on the door.

“Oh, come on, they can’t all be occupied,” she called. She noted that something big was in front of the outhouse from what little she could see through the hole on the door.

“Fine, fine I’m almost done,” she grunted and rose up. The mare put a hoof on the door to open it, but it refused to budge.

What the? Applejack tried to push hard, but nothing happened. “Hey, you out there, the door is stuck. Can ya help me?”

Applejack started when an eye was suddenly pressed up against the hole on the door. It was red, intent, the pupil was slit and there was a green glow surrounding it.

“What in tarnation?” the farm-pony whispered, shrinking back as she could in the cramped enclosed space. Then she noticed black smoke pouring in. There was soft yet dark, cruel laughter from the outside.

Before Applejack could think of crying out for help the smoke filled up the entire outhouse. When it cleared the orange earth pony was encased in dark crystal that then vanished in a puff of smoke. The now empty outhouse opened, but nothing was outside. Nobody noticed a sliver of shadow sliding away, a faint echo of cruel laughter coming from it.





Rarity was busy. Although she had promised Twilight to keep an eye out for trouble, the fashionista had dresses she needed to finish for clients. She did make a point though to occasionally look out the windows in her work room, but so far everything looked peaceful and quiet.

“Hmm, this needs something,” she mused to herself as the unicorn looked over the blue dress she was working on.

“Oh, of course, silly me. I forgot she wanted some purple ribbons.” Rarity turned her head to one of her many supply chests and pulled out a purple ribbon roll. She went immediately to work adding them in appropriate places.

Now, if I could just get the hemline to look just right, she was so engrossed in her work that she didn’t notice that all her windows were darkening.

“Oh, now where did I put the gems… is it just me or is it getting dark in here?” Rarity looked up, finally noticing that the light in the room was much dimmer. Then it was completely dark in the room.

Rarity frowned and enabled a light spell on her horn. She didn’t like this one bit. It didn’t feel natural. Then the unicorn noticed that the blackness seemed to be moving, like dark smoke, but she didn’t smell anything.

“What’s going on?” she whispered, getting a little scared. The light spell barely illuminated her and the mannequin that held up the dress she was working on. She yelped and jumped back when the featureless pony head suddenly turned towards her.

The unicorn froze when the mannequin suddenly sprouted red, evil looking eyes, staring right at her. The muzzle sprouted a sinister toothy grin. Rarity’s screamed, but it was quickly cut short as she was enveloped by black smoke for a moment. When it disappeared, the pony was encased in dark crystal.

“My, my, you are a pretty one,” the mannequin whispered with a dark voice as it observed the crystal encased fashionista. “I’m almost tempted to keep you. You just had to have this striking white coat. What is it about white coats that thrill me so? Alas, maybe one day, but not today,” it said and fell silent.

The darkness in the room cleared, the windows brightened and the mannequin had returned to normal, but the crystal holding Rarity was gone.





Rainbow Dash was getting bored. So far she had just stayed on the same cloud, overlooking the castle and the rest of Ponyville below. So far nothing seemed to be happening. Ponies were going around their business and all was silent around the castle.

Ugh, I bet nothing is going to happen, the rainbow pony thought and lay down on the cloud, dangling her hind legs down from it.

Wonder if I can zip down to the snack stand to get something to eat, she thought and glanced down towards the town. She could see the market in the distance. It would only take her a few seconds considering the speed she could fly at.

“Arrg, I almost wish something would happen.” The pegasus rolled to her back, slightly envious that there was a party in the castle she couldn’t join. “I better get a cake out of this.”

As she continued to lay on her back, staring upwards, she noticed a dark speck higher up. Rainbow tilted her head as she focused on it. The thing was moving towards Ponyville but always maintained the same altitude.

Is that a storm cloud? Rainbow Dash rolled back to her legs and rose up, always keeping an eye on the speck. There aren’t any storms scheduled today.

Deciding this was worth investigating, the pegasus took off in a flash. It didn’t take her long to reach the mysterious speck. As the mare got closer, she could see that this was indeed a stray storm cloud.

“Oh this won’t do. Today is supposed to be sunny,” Rainbow Dash grunted and increased her speed, intending to pulverize the cloud with her hooves.

The pegasus sailed through the air, aiming for the cloud. Then just as she was about to smack into it, the cloud zipped away. Rainbow Dash halted in mid-air, blinking in surprise. The storm cloud had slowed down again, but was further away.

“Hey!” Rainbow shouted and rushed towards it again, but the moment she got too close the cloud took off.

Rainbow Dash growled and resumed chasing the cloud, all her focus now intent on this unwelcome intrusion into her airspace. To her frustration, every time she got close the cloud increased speed, always keeping just ahead of her.

“Oh come on!” she shouted and continued to race after it.

As Rainbow Dash chased the cloud, she was being watched from below on the ground. Red eyes observed the pony as she zipped across the sky. A toothy grin formed on a dark gray muzzle.

“That should keep you busy,” a dark voice whispered, the eyes then moved towards the castle. A cruel chuckle emerged from the muzzle. “And now for the main event.”

End chapter 3