//------------------------------// // Season 5 Intro - Free again // Story: My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship // by Danieru //------------------------------// Canterlot... Ponies were unconscious on the ground, the Royal Guard was defeated and even Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance were all banished to Tartarus. This was all done by Tirek, an evil creature who wanted to steal all the magic from Equestria. He was at first weak but with the help of Discord, the Lord of Chaos, who was supposedly reformed and intended to deal with him before he grew too strong, he managed to steal the magic from almost every pony in Equestria. This allowed him to grow far stronger than anyone else and made him almost invincible. Princess Celestia however, knew what to do. She knew that Tirek was after the magic of the three Alicorn Princesses and came up with a plan. The three Princesses had to give up their magic so that Tirek would no longer be able to steal it. They entrusted their magic to Princess Twilight Sparkle to keep it save. She was the element of Magic so she would be the only one who could control all of this magic and maybe even stand a chance against Tirek if she learned how to use it. Tirek was not aware of the existence from another princess but Discord recently informed him about it. Only moments before, the two went to Ponyville, Twilight's home, to go after her Alicorn Magic, ready to take it away from her. They left Canterlot in this sad state. There was nopony who could even attempt to stop Tirek and Discord. There was almost nopony left to even stand. Almost nopony... Inside of the Canterlot Dungeons, one pony was completely unaware of everything that happened. He was locked away, cut off from the outside world, left into a prison cell so that he could no longer harm Equestria in any way. "Hey!" Could be heard echoing through the empty hallways of the dungeon. "Is anyone there!?" The pony shouted through the hallway again. Normally, ponies from the Royal Guard were constantly patroling around the hallways, even if there was only one pony locked away at this moment. But no one was there anymore, which was the reason why this one pony got more and more aggressive and annoyed. That one pony was holding his cell bars and tried to look around the hallway to see if there was anypony who could talk to him. "Hello~!?" He shouted once more only to get his own echo back, followed by silence again. "Argh, forget it!" He then said before he gave up to waste his energy. The pony inside the cell was a Unicorn stallion with a dark-purple colored coat, a dark blue W-shaped mane, with yellow stripes on it, dark blue eyes and a dark blue mist cloud as a Cutie Mark. He also had a device on his head that prevented him from using his magic. It was the former leader of the Storm Wings and a member of the Outcasts: Mystic. After the plan of Fade, another member of the Outcasts, failed, he was imprisoned because unlike the rest of the members, he did not regret any of the things he did. His hate for Princess Celestia made him dangerous, and when it comes to magic, he was pretty strong as well. If would have set free, then Equestria would be a much more dangerous place. The Unicorn was walking around his small cell until he got tired and just laid down on his bed, looking out of the small window that was a few meters above him. "It's been a while since I saw a Royal Guard wandering around here," he said in a bothered tone. "Usually, I can hear them out there from this window but it's so quiet. First, one after another left those hallways, then everything outside became quiet, and now there is nothing. I usually have some of them checking up on me at this time of day. What is going on!? Did those Changelings attack again!? No. I would be able to hear all those Changeling if they attacked this place, right?" It was confusing Mystic but at the same time, he didn't care too much what happened. If there was anything that was out there attacking Canterlot, then it was not his problem. If Princess Celestia would suffer from this, then even better. The stallion decided to close his eyes and take a nap, nothing else he could do anyway. But then his ears perked up. Steps. At first, he didn't know what it was because he didn't hear any for a while now but it was definitely steps, and they came slowly closer to him. Mystic moved his head to the right. It wasn't long until he saw someone walking closer to him, emerging from the shadows of the dark hallways. Mystic narrowed his eyes to get a better look at who was walking closer. "Oh, you got to be kidding me," he said annoyed once he realized who it was. The figure revealed itself to be a Unicorn stallion wearing a gray hood. The coat of the pony was orange colored and while his face was mostly hidden under the hood, Mystic could see a dark orange mane and red eyes beneath it. It was Summershine, a pony that Mystic happened to come across before twice. Once after Mystic had escaped from the Storm Wings and when he was with the Outcasts, right before their defeat. Both of those times Summershine humiliated him. Needless to say, seeing this pony again ignited some anger in Mystic. "Great. As if things couldn't get any worse," he said annoyed. "I'll admit that I wanted someone to get here and tell me why everyone is gone but you were literally the last one I wanted to see," he said, not even slightly hiding his anger towards Summershine. But the hooded pony didn't respond. Instead, he used his magic to levitate something in front of his face. Mystic gave the pony a confused look after seeing what it was. Keys. Summershine used those keys to unlock Mystic's cell and opened it, freeing the purple pony. Mystic, again. looked confused but also wary at the stallion. "What's the meaning of this?" He said with a serious expression on his face. He wasn't even thinking about letting his guard down now. For the first time now, Summershine spoke. "I'm letting you out," he said casually. This short answer only annoyed Mystic more. "And why would you do that?" He asked. "Last time I checked, we both didn't seem to be on the same side. You ruined Fade's plan in the last second to save your precious princesses. And now you just show up and free me? After all that?" Summershine didn't reply again and just levitated the keys close to Mystic's head, to the device on his horn to be precise. He quickly unlocked it and the device fell to the ground. Mystic was now able to use his magic again. The stallion immediately focused his magic and was ready to shoot at Summershine, who was just standing firm and not intimidated at all. Summershine removed his hood from his head. "Is that the right way to treat someone who just freed you?" He said with a serious look on his face. Seeing how he didn't get a reaction out of the hooded pony, Mystic withdraw his magic again. He then began to chuckle. "Well, you should have guessed that freeing me was a bad idea," Now it was Summershine who chuckled. "Maybe. But I could use some help, so I am willing to take that risk," he replied. "Help?" Mystic asked confused, his eyebrows lowered in confusion. "You need my help?" He said in disbelieve. Summershine turned around. "I don't have much time. I need to be somewhere else right now. I know you don't trust me but I need your help..." he said before he turned his head around to look at Mystic. "...to take revenge on Celestia," he added before he looked straight ahead again and walked away. Mystic did have a hard time understanding why Summershine was doing and saying all of those things, given how he acted in their previous encounters but those last words were just enough to get his attention. In his mind, Mystic knew that Summershine was stronger than him and that he would have probably dealt with him if he wanted something and that is exactly what made him angry. But right now, he decided to follow the hooded pony to see what his intentions were. ... The two ponies were walking through Canterlot Castle. To Mystic's surprise, there was nopony to be found in the castle, not a single soul. Summershine didn't seem to be surprised by that but Mystic couldn't help but feel a little uneasy about this. The hooded pony approached a large door that was wide open. "Wait!" Mystic said. "Isn't that leading to the throne room?" Summershine ignored the stallion and just walked past it to head for the castle entrance. Mystic was following him cautiously. To the surprise of Mystic, Princess Celestia was nowhere to be found. He was sure that she would be in there. "Where is Celestia?" He said while he looked inside the throne room. "I'm not sure," Summershine replied. "I guess Tirek dealt with her," he threw out as a guess. "Who?" Mystic asked confused. Summershine stopped and pointed at a window in the throne room. Mystic looked to where the pony was pointing at and saw a picture on the window. It showed both Tirek and Discord who crossed swords, or in Discord's case, baguettes, victoriously. The purple coated stallion was not sure what to make out of this picture. Luckily, Summershine explained things. "Tirek, if I recall correctly, once tried to steal Equestrian magic but was stopped by Celestia and Luna. He seemed to have made a return and teamed up with Discord, the Lord of Chaos. I don't know what he did with Celestia but assuming that his goal is unchanged, he was probably after her and the magic of the other princesses. I don't know what he did to them but none of them are here." Summershine looked over to the throne where Princess Celestia would usually sit on. "I could hear how Tirek and Discord were planning to go to Ponyville so I assume that they are not done. And given how Princess Twilight is living in Ponyville, they seem to still don't have her magic," Hearing this long train of thought rather annoyed Mystic. "Somepony made his homework, I see," he said mockingly. "So basically, Canterlot is under attack?" He added. Summershine led the way outside. "Not anymore," he said before he opened the entrance door of the castle and showed Mystic what it looked like outside. For a moment, the scene that Mystic saw left him speechless. Royal Guards everywhere, defeated, laying on the ground unconscious. It was a strange sight but despite that, Summershine continued his walk as if nothing was wrong with Mystic following behind. "I heard the rest of Equestria looks just like this," Summershine said, pretty much taking the words out of Mystic's mouth. "Tirek stole the magic from almost everyone in Equestria. You were lucky to be locked up safely," he commented. "I guess," Mystic replied as he kept looking at the Royal Guards who he walked past. He couldn't help but to look at Summershine and keeping his eyes on him. "You still haven't told me what you need my help for," he said sternly. "Where are we even going?" He then asked impatiently. Summershine remained calm and answered. "We still need someone else," he said. A little later... The two ponies found themselves in the Canterlot garden, next to the castle. Mystic still didn't know what Summershine wanted from him, mainly because he was not very talkative to begin with. It began to frustrate Mystic and he started to lose his patience as well. Fortunately for him, Summershine came to a hold. "Here we are," he said as he stood in front of something inside the garden. "And what is here?" Mystic asked annoyed before he realized what Summershine was standing in front of. "That is..." he then said in a surprised voice. It was a statue. A statue that highly resembled somepony that Mystic knows. A Unicorn stallion wearing an armor. Fade... The former Captain of the Royal Guard, a member of the Outcasts just like Mystic, and the one who was responsible for kidnapping Princess Celestia and Princess Luna not too long ago. Mystic remembered how Fade was turned to stone by the bearers of the Elements of Harmony and ended up in this state. Mystic was not aware that Fade was in Canterlot just like him all this time. Summershine turned towards Mystic with a serious expression on his face. "Leave Canterlot. It doesn't matter where you go as long as you stay low. You will take him with you," he ordered. "Excuse me?" Mystic said bothered. "I never said I agreed to help you," he pointed out. The hooded pony was now beginning to lose his patience but he still managed to remain calm and collected. "You want to take revenge against Celestia too, don't you?" He asked. "Yes," Mystic replied. "I want to take revenge against Celestia too but that doesn't mean that I will let you order me around. Let alone that I will work with you in the first place," he added. Summershine smiled in response. "Funny, you talk like as if you are above me. If I remember correctly you lost twice already, against ponies that you thought were just weak," "What was that?" Mystic said, his teeth starting to show in his anger. He was about to show Summershine what he thought about him right about now. But Summershine continued. "What if I told you that this doesn't have to repeat itself again?" Mystic's anger got smaller and was replaced by curiosity. He decided to listen. "Your eyes remind me of my own. Celestia took everything away from me and I will make her pay for that! And I will do anything to archive this. Even if that means teaming up with someone that I don't trust at all," he said boldly at Mystic's face. "I know that you are strong but you proved to be not strong enough to archive your goal. I if you want to take revenge on Celestia I'll advice that you swallow your stupid pride to try everything on your own and make sure that you can actually make your wish reality," No matter how much he didn't like hearing it, Mystic did fail with his plans twice. He lost his position as Leader of the Storm Wings and even with the help of the Outcasts, he wasn't able to get revenge against Princess Celestia. He didn't know who this pony in front of him really was and it made him really suspicious but he decided to give in. He could benefit from helping this pony and if he would get closer to archiving revenge then all the better. "Fine," Mystic replied. Summershine smiled in response. "Good, then there is one thing left for me to do to you," he said before his horn started to glow in a red light. Mystic instantly backed away cautiously. "What are you trying to do!?" He asked angrily. "It's necessary that I use a certain spell on you, in case things go wrong in Ponyville for me. After I did that, you need to leave Canterlot and stay hidden, take the knight with you. If you do that, I promise to make you stronger. I will contact you again. One way or another," Summershine replied casually. By now Mystic was getting wearier again. This pony that he spent time talking to was a lot more different than what the pony he remembered meeting before. It was suspicious. Too suspicious. "You are not the same pony I met before, are you?" He then asked with a serious expression on his face. Summershine kept looking at Mystic with a serious expression on his face as well. "No, I'm not," "Then who are you?" Mystic asked. "If you really want me to help you, then the least you can do is tell me who you really are," There was a short silence. Summershine didn't want to answer that question but Mystic was a hard pony to convince so he found himself having no choice. In the end, he did answer him. The stallion let out a sigh. "Fine," Summershine replied before he answered and then used the spell on Mystic. "My name is... ... Ashgray..."