//------------------------------// // The Ancient Ones // Story: The Cutie Mark Crusaders Bring About the Apocalypse // by BronyWriter //------------------------------// "No," said Applejack angrily. "No?" asked Apple Bloom. "You can't ignore a direct order from the future ruler of Equestria!" "You ain't gonna be the future rulers of Equestria!" said Applejack. "Sure we are," said Sweetie Belle. "The voices told us so." "Don't listen to them!" said Rainbow Dash. "They're lying to you!" "They haven't led us astray yet!" said Scootaloo. "Everything they've promised us has happened, every power they've said we'd get, we've gotten. Why would they start lying now?" "Because they're evil!" said Rarity hysterically. "What wouldn't they have to gain from lying to you!?" "Face it, you three are just their patsies," said Applejack. Apple Bloom sighed. "Deny this all you want sis, but this is happenin' whether you want it to or not." "You'll get used to it, we promise," said Sweetie Belle. "I don't want to get used to it, I want things to go back to the way they were!" said Rainbow Dash. "Okay let's see, Luna is back on the moon, Celestia is stone, and half of the wielders of the Elements of Harmony are encased in stone as well. Yeah, I don't see things ever going back to normal, even if we do destroy the book." "But they will!" said Applejack. "But we don't want them to," said Scootaloo simply. The three remaining wielders glared at the Crusaders. Sweetie Belle sighed. "Okay, normally this is the moment when we say 'join us or be destroyed' but why would we say that when we'll just make you join us anyway?" she said. "Don't you dare-" began Applejack but it was too late. The Crusaders fired up their horns and the six ponies were instantly teleported to the outside of the ancient castle where they had found the Elements. "We're heeeere!" said Apple Bloom. "AB, don't!" pleaded Applejack. "You know, we're going to save ourselves a lot of time if you just eliminate that word from your vocabulary," said Apple Bloom irritatedly as the Crusaders walked up to an empty spot and opened the book. "You don't need to do this!" said Rarity. "Same goes for that, sis," said Sweetie Belle. "We ready?" asked Scootaloo. "Ready," said Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle excitedly. The Crusaders took a deep breath and together, they spoke the last phrase of the ritual. "Transform the room until we are alone in the dark!" Instantly the whole forest began to shake as if the very Earth was coming apart at the seams. The trees around them began to splinter and one by one, they fell to the ground with a mighty crash. "This is it!" said Apple Bloom. The very stones of the castle of the ancient pony sisters began to dissolve in front of them and a mighty gust of wind blew forth and the ashes of the castle blew away, making it seem as if there was never a castle there to begin with. In its place, a bright light began appearing. The Crusaders looked eagerly into it as it grew brighter and bigger. The three wielders could do nothing other than sit and stare at the light, each wanting to tear their eyes away but not being able to. After a few minutes, the light expanded to the point where it was in their entire field of vision and three figures began coming out of the light. "Ooooh!" said the Crusaders in awe. The three wielders wanted nothing more than to run, to chance being in a place where the imminent end of the world would not affect them. Maybe they could find a new place to start their lives anew... However, it was clearly too late for that and the three figures each stepped out of the light. The first thing that struck the Crusaders was how odd they looked. They looked like ponies, but they were much taller than even Celestia. They were each jet black and had matching manes and tails. The one on the far left had an explosion cutie mark, the one in the middle had a football cutie mark and the one on the right had a video game controller cutie mark. "Greetings," said the one on the far left. "I am Yaeblamich, the Demon of Destruction." "I am Yuamesmiwot," said the one in the middle. "The Demon of Confusion" "I am Lowubel, Demon of Pride," said the one on the right. "Together we have come to bring destruction upon these lands!" said the three of them together. "Woo hoo!" said Apple Bloom. "We did it!" "You are the ones who summoned us?" said Yuamesmiwot. "We sure are," said Scootaloo. "And we're here to help you conquer the world!" "That won't be necessary," said Lowubel with a wave of his hoof. The Crusaders looked at each other confusedly. "But you said that--" "We lied," said Yuamesmiwot with an evil grin. "You have brought this upon yourselves and you shall suffer the same fate as the rest of these." The eyes of the Crusaders widened. "But you said we would be rewarded beyond our wildest dreams!" said Sweetie Belle. "We chose who to save and everything!" "Did we not already give you rewards beyond your wildest dreams?" asked Yaeblamich. "Have you not already experienced power unlike anything that anyone has ever experienced?" "Well yeah but--" "We never told you that you would get to keep it," said Yuamesmiwot. "You were rewarded and now you shall receive your eternal reward!" Scootaloo's eyes narrowed and she fired up her horn. "No, I won't let you do this!" She fired a beam of energy directly at the book. However, Lowubel fired up his horn and teleported the book out of the way before Scootaloo's attack could damage it. The Crusaders took up aggressive stances but the three demons merely laughed at them. "Foals, do you really think that you can stop us?" said Yaeblamich. "As powerful as you are, our leader can take it all away in an instant," said Lowubel. "As he has always been able to do," said Yuamesmiwot. Apple Bloom fired up her horn and began to attack, but she could only watch in horror as her horn's power stuttered out and faded away. "My horn!" she said. "What happened to my horn!?" "You all should have listened to your friends," said Yuamesmiwot. "Now you will pay the price for your lack of vision!" said Yaeblamich. The three demons stomped their hooves on the ground and instantly, the Crusaders were knocked back. The remaining wielders watched in horror as the Crusaders slowly began shrinking down. Their horns and wings either shrunk down or disappeared altogether and their bodies began rapidly shrinking. Soon they were nothing more than the three fillies that they had been before this whole mess had started. "NO!" said Applejack, reaching a hoof out to Apple Bloom. "No no, just go ahead and be stereotypical and overly-dramatic, we don't mind," said Yaeblamich. Applejack shot an angry glare at Yaeblamich and rolled her eyes. "Don't even get me started," she said. "It matters not how they act," said Yuamesmiwot. "Only our mission to our leader matters now." "You are right,"' said Lowubel. The three demons nodded to each other and they fired up their horns. The Crusaders and the wielders tried in vain to run away, but the demons proved to be too powerful and soon the six ponies found themselves in a completely white space. The white faded away to reveal that the demons had sent them to...the Crusaders' clubhouse? The six ponies stood up and looked around confusedly. "What in the hay are we doin' here?" asked Apple Bloom. Applejack looked outside the window. "I dunno, but I refuse to just sit here and wait for the end! Come on girls, let's go stop the demons! Maybe the Elements'll work on them!" The other five didn't have the heart to remind Applejack that the Elements were encased in stone right now along with half the wielders so they merely followed her outside the clubhouse. However, before they even managed to get five feet, they all blinked and found themselves back in the clubhouse once more. Applejack looked around wildly. "W...what!? I don't understand!" Scootaloo looked around for a brief moment before she sighed and sat down on the floor. "They're not letting us leave here," she said sadly. Sweetie Belle sat by her and sighed dejectedly. "No, I guess they're not," she said. One-by-one, the other ponies in the clubhouse all sat down until only Applejack remained standing. She looked at the group furiously. "So that's it!? You're all just gonna give up, just like that!?" "Just like that!? We've all put our blood, sweat, and tears into this fight. Celestia herself probably hasn't had to fight this hard against a foe like this!" said Rainbow Dash. "We did our best...no, we did better than our best but I'm afraid that it's time to hang up the sewing needles," said Rarity sadly. "Yeah...we're awful sorry for causin' the apocalypse," said Apple Bloom. "We really didn't mean for it to go this far!" said Sweetie Belle. "We'd take it all back if we could!" said Scootaloo. Rainbow Dash and Rarity wrapped the Crusaders in a hug. "We know that you were possessed by that book, kid. We know you'd never do anything to hurt us otherwise." "Besides," said Rarity. "What good is it spending your last few moments being angry at those you love the most?" Applejack sighed and trotted over to Apple Bloom and sat down. "Shucks," she said. "There's no reason we can't go about this whole thing with the utmost dignity." "I agree!" said Rarity with a nod. "I couldn't have picked a better pony to spend the end of the world with than my sister." She squeezed Sweetie Belle into a tighter hug. "Same here," said Applejack, squeezing Sweetie Belle into a hug. "Same here," said Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo looked up at her and her eyes filled with joy. "Do ya really mean it? Am I really your sister!?" she said. "Yep," said Rainbow Dash with a smile. "I'm making you my honorary sister until beyond the end of the world kid. You can be my kid sister forever if you want." Scootaloo gave a squeal of delight and hugged Rainbow Dash tighter than she had ever hugged her before. The other four ponies looked on with smiles of their own. Suddenly, Sweetie Belle was struck with an idea. She reached over and pulled her saddlebag over towards her and opened it up. "I was saving these for a special occasion," she said as she dug through her bag. "But now is as good of a time as ever, right?" "Right!" said Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle gave a grunt of triumph and she pulled the item in question out of her saddlebag. It was a pack of cigarettes. Rarity gave a loud shriek at the item. "Sweetie Belle!" she said angrily. "Where did you get those!?" "Pinkie Pie gave them to me," she said. "Pinkie Pie--" "Relax sis, they're only candy!" said Sweetie Belle, taking one out and showing it to Rarity. "Gosh sis, do you really think I'd be dumb enough to actually smoke a real one, even if the world is ending?" Rarity was still in shock but she calmed down some. "No...no I suppose not," she said. Sweetie Belle put the faux-cigarrette in her mouth and passed the pack around. Everypony took one and soon the whole clubhouse was having one last smoke. Rainbow Dash took a puff and leaned back on the wall. She gave a contented sigh and patted Scootaloo on the head. "You know, as last moments go, this isn't the worst way to go," she said. The others nodded in agreement. "I'm sure there are a lot of ponies out there who are spendin' their last moments in agonizin' pain and fear," said Applejack. "But here we are, surrounded by our family and smoking candy cigarettes," said Sweetie Belle. "One could do worse," said Scootaloo. "Do you think there's anythin' after this?" asked Applejack. "Are these our last moments forever?" "I don't think so," said Rarity. "I think there will be something beyond this, even if this world is coming to an end. "I doubt that ancient evil could destroy the afterlife too," said Rainbow Dash. "Well then," said Applejack as she ate the remains of her candy cigarette and pulled another one out of the pack. "I suppose I'll see y'all on the other side then." "To the other side," said Rainbow Dash, raising her hoof in the air. The others followed suit, wide smiles on their faces. "To the other side," they all said in unison. At that moment, a giant demonic hand crashed through the ground and obliterated the clubhouse in an instant.