//------------------------------//
// The Return 
// Story: Nightmares Over Equestria 
// by Ignimbrite 
//------------------------------//

Red Shirt's hooves were tied securely to four different stakes, each one in a different direction so that she couldn't move if she tried.  Her captors had already carved an image of a spiral galaxy over her cutie mark using the ceremonial knife, and they were now drawing pictures in the dirt.  From her vantage point, it was impossible to tell what they were.  

Once the drawings were complete, the lines of the drawings were filled with carefully sprinkled powder.  

They then set up a large clock near the circle directly in front of her face.  On top of the clock, they placed a glowing white crystal.  After that, the entire group waited in silence for about an hour.  She had no idea what they were waiting for.  

Finally, the leader spoke.  

"The time has come.  The time to expand Equestria until there are no nations left to conquer.  To bring fire upon our enemies and peace upon the world.  To bring her forth from the glorious empire of the past, and finish the task that our leaders left incomplete."

Turning, he faced Red Shirt and knelt down until his head was almost level with hers.  To her, he merely whispered a single word.

"Rise."

As he said this, the horns glowed, and the powder within the drawings began to burn with a blue flame.  Red felt the heat as they came closer, slowly, surely, guided by the magic in the air.  

Suddenly, she felt an unbearable pain in her flank.  Craning her neck, she saw that her cutie mark had caught fire.  She opened her mouth, but there was no scream.  The magic in the air had silenced her voice.  

Now all four of her legs were in agony.  

The ropes had caught fire as well.  She squirmed.  Maybe they would break.  

They frayed.  They loosened.  They broke.  

Her freedom from the ropes was but a false gift, however, as she found that the same magic that silenced her voice had also held her down like a weight that only became heavier when she tried to lift it.

The flames crept up her skin and engulfed her.  Suddenly, a new sensation occurred in her back.  Her flank, her legs, and her skin, she no longer felt, because whatever was tearing out of her back was so much worse that she could no longer feel anything else.  

The power of her screams overcame the power of the restraining spell, and if it wasn't for the secondary concealment spells, her voice would have been heard all the way to Canterlot.  

Then it ended.  Something, no, somepony had invaded her mind.  Whatever it was slowly burned her away until her world faded into silence.

A pony stood up in the center of the circle.  She was still on fire, but the flames seemed natural now.  She rose up above the six, and spread her wings as the flames finally died away to nothing. 

She was bright yellow, almost white at a glance, but her mane and tail were dark purple, like clouds just after the sunset.  Her eyes burned red with a glare that would wilt anything that fixed gaze with her for more than a few seconds.







Solaria had come.