Upon leaving the beauty district, the two began to notice strange vines growing out of the road. Following them led to the main castle. Or rather something else standing in its place. Replacing the Second Castle of the Two Sisters was a large stadium. Its walls were made of steel, with a large, open archway leading inside. They could hear the roars of the crowd echo within.
"Where is the Castle of the Two Sisters?" Timber questioned.
"I don't know?" Flash thought back to his memories of the map. "This is the exact place it was supposed to be." His eyes jumped at a rock near the stadium. "There is the foundation stone right there... see the blue pink and teal..." The pegasus slowly stopped at the sight of half the stone just gone.
Getting closer revealed that the half next to the stadium was vaporized while any side opposite the new building was unharmed. Timber rubbed the edges to see how fine the cut was. It was so perfect that there wasn't a sharp edge at all.
"Impossible, that stone was broken off of one of the hardest minerals in the land." Flash nodded to Timber, and he agreed that this would take far more than basic magic to rip this apart.
Turning back to the stadium things started to slot into place. But neither were completely sure yet, so they both stepped inside. The building had a large field in the middle and stands circling around the sides with a few doors here and there. The inner lining shined such a bright golden that it gave off perfect light without any light source at all.
Even stranger things were despite hearing noises all around them, there was nopony inside. The entire building echoed with the sounds of a cheering crowd, yet not a single ponies was anywhere. The chairs were empty, the floors were barren and dusty and the walls were free of any smutches.
"What is going on?" Timber raised his bow with caution.
Flash just shook his head and continued deeper in until they were at the center of the stage. The sound of a door creaking open caught their attention up to the balcony. Their eyes widened to see a purple long serpentine dragon with green frills climbing up the walls.
"Wait, is that?" Timber narrowed his eyes.
"Spike!" Flash called out, but the dragon didn't acknowledge him. Instead, it rushed up the balcony with a panic and shiver. "He looks so scared."
"Considering what happened earlier, I'm not surprised--" Timber was stopped as the stage below them shook violently.
The entire stadium roared with louder cheers, but still, no pony was in sight. Instead, the floor opened up and revealed something else neither of them was ready for. Both jumped out of the way as a distortion of flesh and bone rose up from underneath.
The monster looked like an over-sized pony, but not one they had ever seen before. Its skin was a mixture of different shades and textures of white and gray. There were no hair, mane or tail on its body, only patches of fur here and there. Disjointed smaller legs and arms spread over large primary limbs. A twisted horror of faces shined their broken eyes at the two soldiers.
"What is that?!" Timber jumped up to a corner to pull out a fury of shots from his arrows.
"It has to be another zombie..." Flash moved out of the way of a limb dropping down. He winced as it ripped apart the walls. "But I don't want to know what turned it into its current state."
Timber shot an arrow into one of the monster's legs. The tip broke against its hard skin. "It's tougher than the previous zombies." The stallion jumped back, avoiding its arms swinging at him. "It has plenty of strength too."
"Let's hope it isn't fast or smart." Flash rushed behind it, and the beast followed him with its multiple eyes.
"Keep its attention while I take out each eye." Timber nodded.
"Then I'll finish it from below." Flash kept moving around the arena, leading the creature away from the other soldier.
The archer took out his entire stock of arrows. With a smirk, he aimed for the sky and yanked back. The arrows flew outward and fell downward, landing their marks. Slowly each eye was taken out. Once they were blinded, Flash moved to the other side and pulled out his spear.
"Get ready." Timber yelled.
"I have it!" Flash readied himself. "Go."
Timber leaped up, pulling an explosive charge. Flash dashed forward, sliding under as the beast met the projectile. Holding his spear up as it tore through the flesh of the beast as the explosion sent it downward. The creature landed and began to squirm until it's guts squirted outward. It was just as it appeared on the outside, several hearts, lungs, and stomachs as if dozens of ponies were smashed together to create this beast.
"Damn, that's just screwed up." Timber stared down in horror as the monster finally lay dead.
"How could any creature live with all those organs... it's impossible." Flash looked to the dragon who watched from the sidelines.
"Such glorious work!” A new voice brought their attention away from the beast's remains and back to the balcony where the curtains had parted and revealed a throne of bones and skulls. An unknown unicorn draped in shadows sat proudly on the chair with a smug grin on his face. "You have truly earned my praise." His voice sounded so familiar to both of them, yet the features that couldn't be seen beyond his K-shaped mask were completely unknown to them.
What was even stranger was Spike, clearly Spike the dragon was wrapped around the unicorn's shoulders like a pet. The creature seemed like it was in utter terror in this stallion's presence, but never left his side at all. The unicorn even patted the dragon's head accordingly, giving him affection, yet the dragon shrieked as if in pain. Especially as the hand got closer to the long suitcase Spike was holding from before, still so tightly.
"Who are you? What have you done to the castle and the town!?" Flash stepped forward with an accusatory tone.
"Why the castle is right here and the town is still thriving." He held out his hand to the cheering sounds. "Can't you hear the audience booing at your victory?"
Timber yanked an arrow out of the beast and shot it right at the figure's hand, barely missing it and moving it away from Spike. "What have you done to him?”
The unicorn didn't flinch as he moved his hand away. "Nothing really." He shrugged. "Spike is one of my most loyal subjects, isn't that right." The dragon didn't answer.
"Spike has always been a kind and good friend to the legendary main six." Flash pointed his spear. "You are neither of them. Now, answer my question. Who are you, and what have you done to this place?"
"Who am I? Who are you? And what has happened to Canterlot?" The stallion smiled. "My, that is a question of the ages, every single pony that manages to make it here asks the same thing. But we will start simply with thus, you are both Flash Sentry and Timber Spruce, correct?" He pointed them out perfectly.
"How did you know?" Timber tried to gauge.
"I know more than that, younger brother of Gloriosa Daisy, son of Tyberious Strait and Luster Lily, grandson of Typhonus Freeze." He pointed directly at Timber and detailed his entire lineage before flipping back to Flash. "Older brother of First Base, son of Bold Guardian and Steam Gust, a descendant of Flash Magus, a previous holder of the element of Loyalty."
Both of them gasped at how much he knew about them from just a glance. It was far more than either of them had told anyone outside their immediate family. They couldn't even be that clear with each other about such stuff. Yet he knew them almost personally. Even stranger was the more they heard his voice the more it felt akin to a voice they always knew.
"How do you know so much about us?" Flash demanded.
"You've know more than I ever knew?" Timber shook, in place. "My sister is the only family I have... My parents are dead."
"Oh, yes..." The unicorn narrowed his eyes on Timber. "I know even more than you could possibly want to know. I even know why you are really here, Timber. Or do you prefer Cri--" He was stopped as Flash smashed his spear.
"No, we want to know who you are. What have you done to this place?" Flash gusted his wings to show his point. "Why is there no magic in this kingdom at all? Where are the main six and the princesses?!"
The unicorn rolled his eyes at Flash and snapped his fingers. Spike crawled off his shoulder and over to a rope. This unveiled five images in different directions above the five openings to the stadium. The two were shocked to see five images of the six ponies. Rarity's image was above the opening they came from, there was another for Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy. All of them were facing the balcony where two smoke clouds appeared.
"Fine, I shall answer all three questions in one." With another snap of his fingers, two crystal prisons shined out of the two smoke clouds. Within these were the two princesses, Celestia and Luna. Another image rolled out right above the unicorn, revealing Twilight Sparkle who was the only one crossed out. "What remains of the six can be found in the five districts of this kingdom. Claim them and I'll give you back the princesses."
"What?" Flash scanned over the central image. "Where is Twilight Sparkle?"
Hearing that name made the unicorn jump out of his throne and drop his smile into a grunt. "She is beyond your reach now..." His tone dropped, and his voice crackled like a whip. "My name is Nick Kray, but you can call me King!!" He roared as his crooked horn leaned out of the shadows and glowed brightly. Their eyes slowly narrowed on the changeling emblem on his robe buckle.
The grounds around them ripped apart, sending the two soldiers falling into a deeper pit than what the beast was being held in. As the darkness surrounded them, the last thing they saw was the unicorn glaring down at them. The look of pain and hatred burning in his eyes.
The last words they heard were from Spike, not Nick Kray. "Please find my friends before he does..."
******