It's dark, so dark that only the sparkling moonlight illuminates the inside of the hall.
"I hate that damn moon, it reminds me of that silly girl." swore the stallion, still standing on his hind legs, joining his front hooves behind his back.
He walked along a torn and dusty red carpet, the members of his group were on either side of it, lifting his hoof as he went by. He walks towards a rusty, metallic object made of several horizontal and vertical iron bars. And yes, it is a cage, and it is not empty.
While he keeps smiling, his gaze is focused on the contents of this cage, six mares, their six mares, his six mares. They are lying on the ground, unconscious, which has the gift of making him impatient. He violently strikes the cage in front of him with his left hind hoof, creating a shrill and audibly painful sound in his ear.
Panic-stricken, Rainbow Dash is the first to startle, dropping a surprised scream, alerting the others. They wake up suddenly, thinking they are in imminent danger.
"DASHIE, WHAT IS IT?" the farmer shouted as her eyes began to open.
"There's something you've kept me waiting for, dear ladies!" He intervened nobly.
The six friends turned suddenly and discovered her face, lit by a moonbeam passing over it. The same grey mane on his forehead, the same look and the same smile, but it doesn't remind them of the charm he had before. His face even looks... scary now, or sneaky, sneaky yes, that's the word.
The mares backed up by reflex against the bars of their cage, except Applejack and Rainbow Dash who decided to face him, starting to stand up on their legs.
"YOU! WHAT'S GOING ON? WHERE ARE WE? ANSWER!!!" She screams her way through the compound of the vast hall.
"Are you the one who locked us in?" Asks less agressively Applejack as she sees that they are trapped.
"One question at a time please, starting with Dashie's..."
"I FORBIDDEN YOU TO CALL ME DASHIE!!!" She warns him by sticking herself to the bars, ready to jump on him.
The stallion intervenes simply by putting his hoof on his mouth to ask her to shut up, which she grunts at. Then he decides to go ahead anyway.
"I guess the time is ripe for a little story, isn't it?" He asked without waiting for an answer since he continued straight away. "In that case, I'll start with why I locked you up."
He tapped the floor with his right hind hoof and the other five stallions began to move out, heading for a room further down the hall. The huge hall is familiar to our friends, since they recognize the place where they defeated the Selenian mare, so they are in this castle that brought them together, and thus in the Everfree Forest. He had the field free for discussion.
"You surely remember your first meeting, when you fought valiantly against the terrible Selenian mare." he began, proudly raising his hoof to the sky. "He was clearly mocking them. Well, she didn't go crazy on her own, it was me who drove him to this rebellion." he confessed, shocking the entire cage, Luna had never spoken of a spirit or anything that had affected her.
"So, what exactly are you?" Twilight asked intrigued.
"Even for you it would have been too hard to understand, so let's say, as I like to say, that I am the embodiment of evil and hatred, I like that nickname you said." he said admiring himself against a broken mirror against a wall. "You only have to call me the villain of the story, that's what I am after all." he said, wearing a clog in his hair.
He turned back to his prisoners to see them in the same position as before, they seemed to remain still and concentrated on his monologue. He enjoyed being the center of attention, he smiled more visually and continued.
"And so, when Luna was defeated, I had to leave her body discreetly, you had weakened me quite a bit that day, I confess." he said, moving a few hooves away from the cage, almost face to face with Rainbow Dash who was pulling her head out of the bars. "And I've got the six of you to thank for that."
Surprising once again the elements of friendship, he continued.
"Whenever good grows stronger, so does evil, it is essential to the well-being of the world as we know it. Thus the elements of harmony brought... the elements of hate." he said confidently, stepping forward again, making eye contact with the element of loyalty.
"The elements of hate?" Rarity said shocked at such a revelation.
"I had to find six new bodies to stop you on your way up, and what was my surprise to see six poor stallions camping in the Everfree Forest." he said as the five stallions returned from their task.
"You monster! They've done nothing to deserve this, RETURN THEIR FREE..." Scream Rainbow Dash.
She was stopped in her tracks, the stallion closing her mouth with his own hoof, holding her firmly. She tried to free herself but couldn't, Applejack came to her aid and pulled her out of his grip, spanking them both to the ground.
"Did you see?" he asked. "The strength of this stallion is awesome, so why should I leave this perfect body ?" he said, staring at them, as if he could see through their own souls.
His face then suddenly took on a tinge of bitterness and anger, frowning.
"But then he FALLED THAT YOU WILL START BEATING THE OTHER FORCES OF EVIL." he shouted as he slammed the bars of the cage again, spanking the mares in the echo. "DISCORD! THE QUEEN CHRYSALIS! THE KING SANK! TIREK AND I'M OUT OF HERE!!!" Did he end up spanking the mirror behind him with his own voice.
"AND HAVE CONTINUED AS HE WILL FAKE HIM, AND YOU'RE NEXT!" The cyan pegasus intervenes by getting up, still facing him.
"You don't understand, you have created too great anbalance, and now the world will be lost if I do nothing." he said, pointing to himself and regaining his honourable composure. "You always have to keep your balance, it's killing me that you don't know that, so I'm going to do something about it!"
"And what did you hear?" Said Twilight as he joined Rainbow Dash.
"Plunging the world into darkness for millennians of course." he replied serenely, looking down on mares who are unable to stand on two legs like him. "And that's why you're here, you're going to give me back my old power."
Before he could call him out, he slammed his hoof to the ground and his five subordinates moved closer to the cage. One of them, bigger and stronger than the others, pulled a gigantic lever, creating a deafening clatter.
As they looked at the ever smiling stallion pointing up at the top of their cage, they raised their heads and saw a strange golden light. They closed their eyes reflexively and, while they wanted to move, stand up, talk and so on, they were unable to do so.
The light shining on their fur began to have some effect on them, starting to make them fall down again on the stone on the ground. They were not in pain, but she could feel their energies flowing away, like being sucked up by the light above their heads.
"Now we'll see what the elements of harmony are able." he warned as he moved around the cage, to the left.
With their eyes still open, they could see his hooves moving, until they stopped in front of a pedestal, but they couldn't lift them up to see if he was watching them decompose. Then a sound of glass could be heard, as if he was moving it on the stone. Then they saw his hooves facing them.
"Here's a vessel." he presented, having it in his hoof. "It contains all your power, the power of friendship, harmony and goodness that Celestia foolishly passed on to you." he swore again, spanking them with the gnashing of his teeth. "Now get up." he ordered.
Following this request, our friends regained control of their bodies, they stood up like that. The golden light above their heads was gone, and their bodies were not affected, although they had an itchy sensation. And they watched him drink a strange mixture of different colours, thinking of a rainbow. He swallowed every last drop on the tip of his tongue, before throwing the container away, caught by two of his henchmen before it broke.
He gave them another arrogant look, with that smile that used to be so charming. He bears his name well from the elements of hatred, and has betrayed and fooled everyone. Before he started swearing to stop him in his plan, the stallion's eyes took on a golden hue, he was changing as a result of this drink.
He kept smiling and admired his body transforming from the inside. Then he looked at them again, with his golden pupils quoting them.
"Now it's my turn to ask you a question, Dashie!" he shouted, annoying the mare. "Who's the fastest now?" He asked before he took off in a wing flap.
Its take-off created a gust of wind that deformed the straight ground, replacing it with irregular bumps. He flew so fast that even Rainbow Dash couldn't keep up with him, and she didn't believe it. She tried her best, but there was no way she could keep contact for more than a millisecond. He flew hundreds, even thousands of laps around the hall, blocking the moonlight at times.
Impact in three... two... one
The stallion who had operated the lever was also smiling, followed by the four others, posted in front of the cage, leaving the central space free for their leader. Before they understood why he had said that, their boss landed in front of the cage, raising a real tornado that was unleashed in front of him. The blast was so powerful that the prisoners found themselves propelled violently against the bars in a painful impact. The wind also destroyed the padlock of the large door behind them, letting the entrance open in a crash that felled some of the trees in the forest outside.
He enlarged his smile, visibly happy with his newfound power, to the detriment of the elements of harmony. He raised his head towards the bodies once again on the ground and writhing in pain.
"It's time to visit the princesses! "
Too late to forbid it, it had already evaporated into thin air when Celestia and Luna met. He would be there far too quickly with this speed totally surpassing any over-trained pegasus, even Rainbow Dash had to admit defeat.
His henchmen closed the big door, always smiling!
"Don't worry, you're safe here!"
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Flying through the forest of penumbra, the antagonist of the moment knew very well his next destination and what he was going to do there. Canterlot wasn't far from here, especially at his current speed, so he took five seconds at the most to cross Ponyville and reach the princess castle.
He made a sober tower entrance, creating cyclones around his passage that destroyed nearby buildings. He hadn't even made his announcement that Equestria already had a foretaste of its power. This was a blow to him, he didn't like to hurt his back. It's a lot more fun to watch your victim fall down in front of you.
When he reached the castle, he simply broke down the gigantic doors that separated him from his beloved acquaintances. He destroyed the last one with a great stroke of his hoof, as they crashed into the room between him and the princesses still on their throne.
"WHAT THE...?" said the princess Luna surprisely.
"CANTERLOT IS ATTACKED, PROTECT THE PRINCESSES!!!" Announced a guard over a special loudspeaker.
While the princesses were stunned by the arrival of a foreign stallion, dozens of guards rushed at him and tried to stop him... in vain. As he struck him continuously with their weapons, the pony's body seemed to be unstoppable, the totality of their assaults passing through him.
"Please gentlemen, this is becoming embarrassing." he warned them before acting.
They didn't seem to lose any confidence. Well... he thought before he made a dark sphere appear from his hoof as he landed on the ground, still on his hind legs. Tenderly closing his eyes, he did so and shot his orb down, creating a shock wave that destroyed the surrounding windows and depicted the walls, floor and ceiling.
When he reopened them, the soldiers were still standing to his surprise, surrounded by a rainbow glow. Since Dashie was not a unicorn, and not being there anyways, it could only have come from the princesses, protecting their guard.
"Guard, get away from that stallion!" Princess Celestia commanded before she came down from her throne, followed by her sister.
The guard obeyed and took a few steps back, still wielding their helpless weapons. If he had known they were all going to be killed at once, their reaction would have been quite different.
"You, who are you and what do you want?" Said their sister in a battle tone, preparing her magic.
"Oh, come on, Luna, you don't recognize me." he asked, puzzled and visibly disappointed. "You break my heart dearest, we've been together for so long." he said, dramatizing his words, putting a hoof on his chest.
The guards and Celestia turned to the Princess of the Moon, waiting for an answer. She thought of her past, and only one memory came back to her.
"YOU!!!" she shouted once she understood who had returned. "LEAVE EQUESTRIA BEFORE I SEAL YOU UP FOREVER!!!"
Celestia was puzzled by her sister's reaction, but she imagined there was no time for explanations. The stallion began to walk towards them, followed by the spears which always surrounded him.
"I'm sorry, but if I'm here today to save this land, I'm not your enemy!" He said, sealing his hooves behind his back, advancing gaily.
"YOU LIE LIKE ALWAYS! It's all you know how to do!"
"Technically I know how to be honest, but I do get itchy when I do something... good?" He was defending himself from being evil.
"Enough, we won't let you do it, no matter how your intentions are." Warns princess Celestia him by throwing a first ray.
The magic seemed to affect her, since he didn't let it pass through her. No, instead, he summoned a tiny black hole in her right hoof to suck out the energy. His smile had grown even bigger, and the guards began to really fear him, pulling back a little more.
"How are you going to stop me now? With your ladies busy at their nightmare festival?" He taunted them. "Before you ask me, they're safe where they are." he said, before lighting his left hoof with a glow that only princesses could understand.
That... glow...
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO US?" she exploded as learning that Twilight and their friend are not safely.
"Just what I need to regain my powers, and anyway I intend to make cyan the queen of the kingdom I'm about to create." he said with a sly smile and looked at Luna. "Too bad it could have been you then."
Then he spread his legs and crossed his front hoofs, mixing the two opposing energies. The soldiers didn't understand what they were doing and stayed around him, but they really began to tremble under the incredible power of the magic that was beginning to cover the whole room like an evil aura.
"Boom!" He said distinctly and lightly.
In the blink of an eye, Celestia and Luna disappeared with their entire guard, teleporting themselves away from here, onto the mountain overlooking the city. From the top, everyone had an incredible view of the spectacle that was unfolding before their eyes. The castle they were in had just imploded from the inside, thousands of pieces of debris now covering the surface of their home.
Fortunately, it seems to have spared the rest of the town, only the castle being in ruins.
"We must find them!" Said the princess of the sun.
"But without their powers of harmony, how will we find them ?" She said she was half desperate for help, her eyes breaking at the sight of the ruins.
"I don't know, but we have to!" She says she is in doubt. "Let's go to Ponyville!" She said distinctly as she turned to her guard.