//------------------------------// // 4 - Reconquista - Scheduled For Rewrite // Story: To Be Malevolent // by The Bannerlord //------------------------------// The mistform dark Unicorn drifted near the gates of Canterlot, not noticing many sentries, in fact, there were two unicorns lacking any protective equipment lazily standing around the gate. They seemed exhausted, both magically and physically. One wonders what horrors they face, and me. He would’ve snickered, if he wanted to be known to the entire Unicornian population of Canterlot, which, he discovered wasn’t called Canterlot, but rather Canterville. The six soon-to-be founders of Equestria were delayed due to a storm, a natural storm. So, Chaos could have his banquet of fear. He noticed these Ponies were miserable, and some of them were already terrified, most likely of the Windigos. It didn’t matter to him, as long as there was more magic to be gained, he was interested. My lust of dark magic, I crave it, it is driving me mad. Though he had warned himself of this in advance, the allure of forbidden magics still manage to break through. Chaos had attempted to stave off the hunger many times prior, but to no avail. His mistform dispersed as he entered the town of Canterville, in broad daylight. On the exterior, Chaos was terrifying, his visage was one of malice, of callous cruelty. But inside the mind, he was deeply concerned. This thought had to go; it must be purged. But that mattered not at this moment. Mist rolled into the sunny Canterville, shrouding all foolish enough to be outdoors. The poor Canterville Guards ponies were not given a second to react, practically all caught in the misty cloak before they could combat their assailant. “Ponies of Canterville, thou saviour hast arrived, now bask in mine glory and savour it, for it shalt be thy last.” He amplified his voice using the vast dark magic reserve within his jagged crown. “Know mine name. Chaos...” Chaos was said with added vile and darkness. “Purge thyself of thy weak emotions, if not willingly, then I shalt purge it myself.” Adding a chuckle at the end of the sentence, he wanted the Ponies to feel maximum terror. All around, Chaos could see the terrified Unicorns through his mist. Those adorable little Ponies were rearing back in horror, but what they will experience next is sure to scar them permanently. Chaos was hesitant to do this next act. Sure, he may have destroyed entire hamlets with this action, but their population numbered not more than a dozen. This was the biggest city harbouring Unicorn kind, and he was about to consume their magics, all of them. No, we are the Lord of terror, we shall not be scared of this simple action, fear itself must be purged from us. Chaos suddenly realised he said `we` instead of `I`, perplexed, but not letting thoughts distract himself, he raised his hoof and tapped the crown upon his head. Ponies all around shrieked in terror, writhing on the ground and crying out for support. Nothing came, only their greatest fears were there to greet them. Meanwhile, the dark Unicorn was having great fun, by great fun we mean going insane. His eyes twitched, he collapsed onto the floor and writhed. This was a lot of intake at once, and it was all converting into dark magic. Even his thoughts were of pain, though, he had gotten use to feeling a lot of pain. The constant torturing from the apparition has taught the Unicorn’s body to become physical resilient, mentally too, though not as much. Another a long few minutes, the Unicorn’s episode was over, and he rose up onto all fours, marching into the palace. Of course, the guards were busy writhing, recently having their magic pried from their very being. Inside, the throne room was filled with courtiers, henchmen to the pompous Princess and loyal retainers, who were all busy…With anguish. Chaos strolled up to the throne and planted his rear onto it, sitting in the most comfortable and pony-ish position he knew. “Hmph, I expected some more resilient Guards ponies to stand up against me. Is Clover the clever your most mentally prepared Pony?” He casually asked the pained Ponies cuddling the carpet floor. “As a matter of fact, who is your Guard captain? I’d expect every Guard captain to at least put up a fight.” He scanned the room, looking for the Pony with the single most ridiculous armour of them all, and, to his relief, none of them were the challenge he’d hope to find. Easily immobilising an entire city was not very entertaining, but necessary for his powers. The dark Unicorn heard hooves beating against the cold stone pavements outside, and then, bursting into the throne room was a Unicorn as tall as him, clearly this was the Captain of the guard. He was clearly very strong, clad in reasonably protective iron armour, much to the relief of Chaos’ rationality side. “Fiend! Thou shalt not place thyself on that throne for a second longer!” The Captain declared with a victorious voice. He stood strong and vigilant, spear in hand, ready for combat. To the Captain’s surprise, the dark Unicorn turns into mist, joining the shroud in the throne room, and suddenly reappearing directly next to him, grin on his face. The Captain reared back, expecting a strike from the Unicorn, but he did not immediately attack. “Tell me, Captain, what dost thou qualify as a predator?” He began, slowly approaching the slightly startled Pony, who recollected himself. “Ist it a manticore? Hydra perhaps? Windigo? There are many answers I expect from thee.” Chaos was having a hard time attempting to mimic the speech of the Unicorns, he wasn’t the best Shakespearean speaker of all time. “What art thou playing at, abhorrent?” The Captain kept his eye on the Unicorn, never faltering, extremely suspicious at his actions. “Dost, thou intend to terrify me? Fool me?” He readied the spear, pointed directly at the throat, standing in place. “There ist something beyond what thou simple mind could fathom. Nay, it isn’t what thou may think. Nay, it isn’t a great beast with dark adornments. Nay, it is a simple creature. But its capacity for malevolent deeds is beyond the vilest Pony thou could imagine.” Chaos didn’t even seem to care that spear was so close to his neck, only closing the distance. “Where it comes from, it hast conquered the world. The apex predator, not in physical strength, nay. In sheer intellect and tenacity. Hundreds of thousands of creatures from myriad species have fallen to it.” The dark Unicorn struck the Captain’s spear, which flew across the throne room and shattered into millions of shards. The Captain attempted to retreat a few steps, but found his hooves bound to the floor, connecting to them were iron manacles, he was surprised once more, yelping. “Nay, stay back!” He cried desperately. “I have studied its history almost all of my life.” Chaos gave up old English, preferring to utilise what he already knew. “Its conquests, its struggles, the wars that it had to go through, the weapons that could incinerate entire cities in the matter of seconds with power you could barely comprehend.” He conjured up a mental image, which was rather blurry and hazy of a Human being, clad in metal armour somewhat similar to the Gothic style of 15th century Germany, in its hand it carried a great sword. The creature manifested itself into a shade and charged at the now wavering Pony Captain. Its weapon coming down, hitting the poor Pony. There was a great screech of pain, but visibly, there was no damage whatsoever. “Tell me, what do you qualify as a predator? When you are so helpless against an attacking creature. When there is nothing you can do.” Chaos was now looking down at a cowering little Pony, instead of the tall imposing Captain from before. “Begone.” The shade disintegrated into the mist once more. “Now answer mine question, young Pony.” He still looked down, not a muscle moved, only the mane flowed gloriously. “T-thou… Thou hellish demon…” The Captain managed to utter. Then, a great shriek, his magic was being siphoned, but there was something else entering him, a poison, dark magic. Then he heard the clapping of hooves. “Thou art the second pony to be able to resist mine efforts, good. At least some resilience. Thou shalt make a fine soldier.” As he spoke, the Captain’s coat became darker and darker, or at least the visible parts not covered by armour. He lifted his hoof and pushed his new thrall’s head up by the chin. Staring into those now soulless eyes, his admired the creation. At that moment, those eyes began glowing, dimmer than his own but still infused with the same forbidden magic. “Now, thy weak thoughts shalt be purged.” His horn ignited and shot at the head. The formerly corruption-free Captain didn’t even make an effort to clutch his head, only awaiting commands. “And now, my reign shall begin.” Time Skip There was a sense of dread in the air, Clover the Clever could not understand why. When they left Canterville, the weather was terrible, but the townsponies were cheerful, they had an understanding of why the Princess was leaving, to save their people. Now, there was something inherently wrong, a melancholic atmosphere. Clover could almost hear the lament and sorrow of countless Unicorns. When returning to Canterville, he expected joy, merriment, relief and celebration. There was none of it. Princess Platinum could feel it too, this was something beyond what she had ever experienced. Malignant magics were at work here. The Six founders arrived at the gates of Canterville, where they found nopony, only a thick mist that shrouded their legs. To say they were worried would be an understatement. Pansy was downright terrified, Smart Cookie was feeling uneasy, Puddinghead was also quite frightened, Hurricane scanned the are for any interlopers, Platinum was worried sick about her city and Clover wasn’t feeling all to happy either. “We mustn’t stray too far away from each other, stay vigilant and do not show fear. I am afraid of the truth of our situation, but we mustn’t falter either.” Clover reassured his fellows in an attempt to reorganise them. For the most part, Clover’s words had kept the five others in line, even the rulers could agree to follow his words. As they walked through the city gates, they found a hollow street, devoid of life. The mist was much more prevalent here, so much so even the sky was darkened. Pansy could almost hear the word Fear being repeated. The mantra continued until all of the Ponies could hear, it was faint and distant, but was still heard. “The palace, we must head there. Surely, we could find refuge, or information there.” Platinum suggested, and the others felt obligated to agree. So, they began heading towards the castle, which was now much more imposing than before. “I have a bad feelin’ bout this.” Smart Cookie inputted, to which the others agreed with nods. Hurricane was looking back towards the path they took to the castle, which was now suddenly covered by a much thicker shroud. Clover pressed his hoof against the castle doors, which made a sickening creak and opened at a snail’s pace. The room was dark and the mist seemed most prevalent here, especially on the throne. As all six entered into the main chamber, the door slammed shut, the shroud seemingly closed it. “Within every single creature,” A voice boomed into the room, everypony froze in place, all with shivers down their spine. “there is a single emotion that will always be emitted in danger. Every primal life form, every sentient life form. Nothing is safe from that emotion, which is why some choose to keep that thought at bay, mentally barring it.” Clover recognised it, and regretted his actions from a whole day ago. Shade-like Ponies stepped out of the mist, standing to attention at the side of the carpet leading up to the throne. With a burst of flame, the chandelier lit up with a white flame. Lanterns decorating the walls also burst with flame. The mist in upon the throne dispersed, revealing the Pony behind the voice. His posture was regal, yet there was something inherently wrong about it. His body was clad in chainmail and iron plates. Draped along his back was a jet-black cape. “Ah, so the Princess of Unicornia hast come to attend mine coronation?” The Unicorn mocked, and one of his servants stepped forth with a crown in his hoof. “How thoughtful.” He grabs hold of the crown with his magic and placed it upon his head. One of the shade-like Pony guards stepped forth. “Unfortunately, mon cher, thou hast missed it.” Clover and Platinum could recognise that specific Guards pony from their height and equipment, it was the Captain. “What hast thou done to mine Ponies, fiend?” The Princess’ outburst was expected, but the others flinched anyhow. “Answer me, damn thee!” Platinum took an aggressive stance, ignoring everything regal. “Worry not, Princess, for they are all safe under my rule. All ready for a single command.” He punctuated the sentence with a chuckle. Rising up from the throne, he strutted down towards the Ponies. “Clover the Clever, thou have evaded mine wrath once, or rather, I required more preparation. Thy comrades magic was delicious.” He licked his lips. “I do wonder what the former pupil of Starswirl the Bearded has to offer.” He continued his approach. “Stand back, I shalt deal with him!” Clover exclaimed; he was worried he wouldn’t be able to challenge this dangerous being. Igniting his horn and aiming for the head, he fired a small beam of magic to test the dark Unicorn. As the beam nearly made contact with his opponent, a shield came up a second before it may contact. “Thou shalt try harder, Clover the Clever.” As the dark Unicorn finished his sentence, Princess Platinum joined in the fight and fired a great blast of light magic, which was promptly blocked by the annoying shield. The two Unicornians joined together their attacks. But no matter what they did, the dark Unicorn never faltered in his defence, only slowly approaching, as silent as the drifting of clouds. They had their back against the entrance now, nowhere else to retreat, nothing else to do. Hurricane wanted to push forward and face the Unicorn himself, but he could feel the others holding him back. Clover and Platinum were quite exhausted, having barely any rest since the previous confrontation with the Windigos, they had used up a majority of their magical reserves. “Usually, the confrontation would be over in mere minutes. I would fire off a blinding ray of light to daze my opponent and proceed to take their magics. But now, there is nothing to worry about. I am facing two magically exhausted Unicorns and the ensemble of magicless Ponies.” The Dark Unicorn finally spoke, and stopped his advance. “Dark magic is a disease, a malediction that corrupts minds. I have yet to find a solution to my problems. It would be wasteful to just disperse of this valuable source of power, and I ceased being wasteful as I turned to my newest form. The Unicorn continued. “None of thee lot know of my name, dost thou? Before I came to take on the vast amount of dark magic, I had no name, I was an outlander, foreign to you all, I would’ve possibly called myself Peregrine. But now, I have a truer purpose. I am Chaos, nay, henceforth I shalt be known as thy lord.” Dramatic pause. “Lord Chaos.” The Ponies change their stance to aggressive. Ready for action against this mad Unicorn. They see his horn ignite, and suddenly everypony begins to clutch their head. “Pins and needles, they hurt, don’t they?” Chaos approached Clover, looking down at the Unicorn, continuing his monologue. “Squirm as much as thou like, I had to suffer this many times before.” Dark magic seeped out of the horn of the dark Unicorn, striking at Clover and forcing itself into the poor Unicorn’s body. Clover could only plead and shriek, but his opponent only watched, how apathetic. “Rise, Clover.” Chaos commanded, and his dark magic inherited Unicorn obeyed his order. Releasing the others of the torment, Chaos watched as they looked in disbelief at their companion. Platinum was especially worried “C-Clover?” No response. “Clover?” she called out again, yet again no response. “Please, speak to me…” She approached the corrupted Clover. “Please, Clover…” She was right in front of the Unicorn now. Clover could only watch in anguish, his mind was in turmoil, battling with the magic that had forced itself into him. On the exterior, he looked soulless, a husk of his former self. “Advance.” As soon as Clover heard this word uttered from his new master, the Unicorn moved forward, pushing his Princess out of the way, walking directly towards the door. Slowly pushing open the creaking wooden door. The five Ponies looked outside to see a gut-wrenching sight. There were myriads of Unicorns stand in a massive gathering. They were all tainted, all looking dishevelled, lamenting, sorrow planted on their visage. They had all lost their natural coat, replaced by an ashen coat devoid of colour. Their eyes lacked any colour, not even the white of Chaos. Their cutie-marks were all black and white, and significantly more melancholic than before. “Princess Platinum,” Chaos suddenly began. “Thou wanted to know where thy Ponies were?” They were all staring at the five Ponies. “They obey me now.” He trotted pass them to get a better look at his handiwork… Or is it- Not a good time. Platinum felt defeated, even Hurricane, her hated rival joined her in lament. Staring out into the shrouded sky, and then back at Clover, who was standing by the side of the true threat. *How could a Pony be so callous, so cruel? Why has he done this? * The Princess, and by extension, the rest of the Ponies all prayed for somepony to come and safe them from this nightmare. Something. This day was supposed to be cheerful, the beginning of something new, Equestria. But it was instead the beginning of something terrible. Chaos heard the flapping of wings, a lot of wings. He looked up into the sky. Pegasi? What business do they have? Are they here to retrieve their precious Commander? He pondered, watching as his mist was being dispersed, and radiant light from the sun beaming through. What he saw could only be described as angels descending from the heavens. Thousands of Pegasi were in the air, the sun directly behind them. Their dark silhouettes were shining. It was beautiful, even to the dark Unicorn. But there were two that caught his eye, two Pegasi- No, winged Unicorns leading the charge. Wuh-wuuh-wuuuh-wha-WHAT?! chaos.exe has stopped working. Rebooting program. Chaos.exe is starting up. On the outside, Chaos kept his emotionless visage intact, but he did not anticipate the Alicorns, the flight of the Valkyries, or rather Alicorns. The Unicorns before him set up along the walls of Canterville and its castle. Clover and the Captain began escorting the five Ponies into the dungeons. One of the Shade Unicorns approached Chaos, “My lord, Earth ponies have been spotted heading towards our gates.” He turned around and looked towards the Canterville gate. “I want less Unicorns defending the gate, a majority of them will be fighting the Pegasi.” The dark Unicorn ordered, and his subordinate saluted and left. My reign may be cut short here. Those two are relentless, I can tell. There is very little chance I have against Alicorns, my magic has yet to reach the capacity to face two at once. Though, I could still put up a good fight. I feel like King Sombra right now, only it’s a couple of centuries before that. Happy thoughts for a Unicorn that just signed his own death warrant. Chaos snapped out of his pondering and headed towards the battlements, which was now filled to the brim with Unicorns wearing actually useful archaic armour. They would’ve covered their eyes, if they weren’t enhanced by dark magic, allowing them to see past the sun’s rays… Well it still hurts, a lot. The dark Unicorn cleared his throat for a great speech, or something relatively short so he could blast the Pegasi out of the sky. Deep breaths, after all, these Unicorns wouldn’t mind you mess up a line or two. “Hear me, legions of Chaos. What we face next are naught but simple-minded herd creatures. Their views are narrow, and they are effortlessly startled, and their decision-making is on par with a headless cockatrice. Fear them not, for we are the predators, and they are the prey. For centuries we shall reign. For centuries we shall dominate.” “We shall not falter in our mission; we shall not break. This day Pegasi and Earth ponies all over Equestria will learn true fear. We shall teach them obedience, for they are a herd of untamed sheep. Since they are sheep, there is no reason for them to be running free in the wild.” “The sheep will understand who they should fear. Soldiers, it is time for battle, it is time for conflict, and we shall never falter!” “HAIL TO CHAOS!” The Unicorns chanted in unison, or at least the dark magic puppet masters were. That speech went better in my head. Chaos thought as he finished. Looking up towards the sky, the sheep were already beginning their charge. “First row, charge thy beams and pick thy targets.” They did as order, awaiting next orders. “Second row, charge lightning bolts, pick thy targets.” The Pegasi were closing in, he could see the two Alicorns with them. “On mine mark, disintegrate them.” Chaos charged a bolt of magic himself, simultaneously moving the mist to shroud his city walls. He raised his hoof. “Eviscerate them.” Perspective Switch Sudden Strike was one of the Pegasi captains leading the charge, he had been confident that the battle would be swiftly over with most of the Pegasi easily swooping in and disabling the Unicorns. However, what he did not expect was the fact that the Unicorns were not retaliating, or rather, they were waiting. Then, he saw it, a great wall of Unicorn beams infused with vile magics. Accompanying it, was the Pegasi’s greatest weakness, lightning bolts. Attempting to call off the attack, he slowed down just in time to see many of his comrades disintegrate before his eyes. It was a tragic scene, Pegasi armour was falling at a rapid pace towards the valley beneath Canterville, whilst the ashes of the Pegasi disperse into the wind. The Pegasi sustained great number of casualties in the first charge, suffering hundreds of losses before they inflict a single Unicorn casualty. The two Alicorns that accompanied the Pegasi army sped ahead towards the battlements, protective shield around them. They were truly like goddesses descending from the heavens. Strike had a great/absolutely idiotic thought of chasing after them, believing victory was about to be snatched from the jaws of certain defeat. Inspired by this act, groups of Pegasi all followed Sudden Strike to the battlements, to their certain deaths. Time Skip Chaos knew the next scene would be akin to Pegasi charging trenches with magical machine guns. The Unicorns fired the next barrage, and that was the last mistake the Pegasi would make for a very long time. The dark Unicorn watched as Pegasi remains fall behind the Alicorns, who turned back, probably in horror and immediately turned back to their target, both firing bolts of energy. Chaos didn’t bother shielding his Unicorns, rather, he was too interested observing the Alicorns…Who were coming straight for him, of course. He noticed they were firing yet another beam of light magic directly at him, so he did the reasonable thing and leapt. Damn it, at least I could leave a lasting effect, maybe infuse one of the Alicorns with dark magic, prematurely creating Nightmare Moon, or Daybreaker? Chaos landed back on the paved ground of Canterville, firing retaliatory bolts of dark magic. I can indeed confirm that is the sun and moon chasing after me. The two Alicorns descended down onto the ground at lightning speed, carrying melee weapons with their telekinesis. They were donning contrasting armours, Sun alicorn with golden armour and Moon with dark blue-ish. The dark Unicorn smirked in the face of danger, scorning the two Alicorns. He decided to summon a weapon to call his own, a halberd. “Alicorns of the Sun and Moon, how predictable.” He scorned, not faltering even the slightest. “Give up and we shalt show mercy, or we shalt not hesitate to eradicate thee.” The Solar Alicorn began. “Release these poor Ponies this instant!” The Lunar Alicorn busted in. “But I am afraid, our conversation ends now.” The Alicorns and Unicorn were circling each other now. Hmph, they aren’t as old just as I thought, so this is about the time they were uniting Equestria. Chaos began formulating a plan. Mist around the combatants began creeping towards the two Alicorns, as they attempted to back away, it engulfed them completely. The Unicorn turned to mist and joined his shroud. Perspective Switch Celestia was on high alert, she scanned the fog, looking for the highest amount of dark magic concentration to find her assailant. She knew where Luna was in the shroud, so slowly approached her, ignoring all of the illusions the Unicorn was trying to create. “Celestia!” She could hear Luna call out from behind her, gripping tightly in her magic was a sword and she could see apparitions leaping towards her. The two were now back to back They destroyed apparitions left right and centre, but they were only illusions. Then, one of the apparitions manage to pounce Luna, out of sight from her sister, which prompted Celestia to yell her name. Now all of the apparitions focus on the Solar Alicorn. Nightmarish creatures appeared to form in the mist, they looked like twisted versions of Luna, wearing similar armour. Celestia destroyed each and every one of them, but they only pleaded for mercy, and their screams were to eerily similar to Luna’s. The Alicorn of the sun reminded herself that these were only illusions, not her sister. They eventually overwhelmed the Alicorn, pinning her down with magical manacles. All of the nightmarish creatures disintegrate into mist and reform into the dark Unicorn. Celestia barely had a second to react before she felt dark magic striking at her from all directions. The malevolent Unicorn only stood there, motionless, looking at her. Celestia wanted to scream, but found herself unable to, she wanted to yell, call for help, but her body never obeyed. Then, the apathetic Unicorn approached, raising the halberd, and bringing it down onto her. The next thing Celestia could see was darkness, she could not hear anything, taste anything or feel anything. Then, a desperate cry of her name, over and over again. All cognitive thought returned to her. “Celestia! How art thou feeling?” Luna was beside her, there was no mist anywhere, no sense of dread, nothing. “Luna?” She finally responded. “What hast happened?” Getting up, Celestia looked around, seeing that the Unicorns were no longer corrupted by dark magic, but by no means were they relieved. “The dark Unicorn escaped, taking all of his magic with him.” Luna quickly explained. “We fear that he hast scarred these poor Unicorns permanently, the vile fiend.” “Then we must prepare for his next actions.” Perspective Switch Elegant, as feather in the wind. It will be centuries before the dormant magic activates itself. But for now, it wouldn’t be able to be detected, neither will she remember even being given that in the first place. Galloping through the Everfree, Chaos was reflecting on his now perilous situation. Hunt me all you want, Ponies, but I will only become stronger. In addition, the entire Unicorn population will practically be feeding me on a daily basis! He laughed; he had already won. Myriad of Ponies had already witnessed the atrocities he had committed, they feared him. Powerful as I may be, I am yet to be a true opponent for the Alicorns. What I did earlier was pure illusionary, Celestia was very susceptible to it, but I doubt that she will fall to trickery again. Luna on the other hand was like holding back a crazed, wild starving animal. Once again, the deceiver formulated a plan. “If I can’t take a Kingdom, I will build one from the ground.” Time Skip Princess Platinum was quite poorly. First, her own advisor betrayed her, second, her own kinsmen were corrupted by forbidden magic and third, her coat and mane were dirty. She had been tossed into her own dungeon cell, by non-other than Clover the Clever. She couldn’t understand, this day was supposed to be a celebration, and now it had been turned into a nightmare. She, along with the other rulers and subordinates were all lamenting in great sorrow. They heard steps, all immediately huddling together in terror. What was Chaos going to do now? Take away another member of their formerly merry group? Coming into view of the rulers, was Clover the Clever, freed from his malediction. “Is everypony okay?” Clover immediately asked, great concern in his voice. He approached the cell and unlocked it. Platinum sprang up to her hooves and charged towards the royal advisor, lightly slapping him on the muzzle and hugged him. “You had me so worried, Clover.” She let go of her advisor and trotted beyond her cell. Clover, snapping out of his daze, gave a quick glance at the princess before heading to help the others. The others were suspicious of Clover, but eventually they accepted that he was no longer corrupted by dark magic, getting up and heading back out into the Canterville city centre Princess Platinum had to rally her Ponies. Even if the threat had been defeated, or rather it escaped. She knew that her ponies would still have mental scarring, many showing symptoms of extreme torment in the mind. Worse case scenarios were the Guards ponies, who suffered the most extreme pain and torture. As the Princess observed her subjects scrambling to the city centre, she conversed with the two Alicorns who had saved Uniconia and its people. Though, the cost had been great. Platinum once more looked out to the assembling crowd, which was made up of freed Unicorns, Pegasi and Earth ponies. She cleared her throat, closed her eyes, cleared her mind until she felt ready to begin. Once more, opening her eyes to see the crowd had finished gathering. “Ponies of Unicornia, of Pegasopolis, of Earth and beyond, we are gathered here today to mourn and celebrate. For today, we have routed great evils from the lands of Equestria. This day, we shall mourn those who had fallen to the corruption of dark magic, those who had fallen to the cold magic of the Windigos, those who had to suffer infighting, loss of family members.” “But this day is not only to mourn our fallen, but it is also to celebrate our unity, the unity of all Ponykind. For far too long we have been divided, far too long we have allowed others to exploit our disunity to their own malevolent goals. We celebrate those heroes who courageously fought for our freedom, for our very right of existence.” “This is the beginning of a new age, a new epoch. We celebrate the founding of Equestria, and the end of separation. For centuries, millennia onward, we shall celebrate this day with a holiday, Hearts warming, where the Ponies of Equestria put aside their differences, their hatred, their fears!” “Ave Equestria!” Countless Ponies began cheering for the founding of their new nation, they watched their leaders all step forth, raising their hooves and cheering. Then, the Unicorns noticed their liege bring forth two Uni- no, winged Unicorns forth. “As to respect our position as founders of Equestria, we have chosen the heirs to the new realm. Introducing; Celestia and Luna. They are Alicorns, Ponies who have inherited the abilities of all three tribes. After our eventual demise, they shall represent Equestria as its sovereigns.” Some Ponies were in objection to this, but most decided it was most likely for the better. They all watched as the Alicorns humbly bowed their heads, in a show of respect towards the assembled Equestrians. The next century would be prosperous, they could tell… But I won’t make it easy for them.