//------------------------------// // Minions. Lots of Minions. // Story: A Dark Knight for Equestria // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// Canterlot. Royal Throne Room. "PRINCESS CELESTIA!" yelled a small guard-pony, bursting through the doors into the throne room. At this intrusion, everypony stopped and stared at her, waiting for her to regain her breath. When she finally could breathe again, she looked around the room and realized that she had interrupted an important meeting. Celestia, Luna, and the mayor of Stalliongrad were all there. Blushing, she stammered, "Um, I-I can just wait outside…" "No, let's hear what you have to say," responded Princess Celestia calmly, trying to soothe the guard. "Please tell us what has happened. It must have been important for you to interrupt a private meeting." "I-It is your highness," the guard sputtered. "I was stationed at Manehatten. My partner and I were just finishing up our patrol when we heard another guard unit call for back-up. We rushed to the scene and when we got there, we saw... we saw..." "Yes, what did you see?" asked Luna a bit impatiently. "It...It was a giant bat. I've never seen anything like it. There were at least three guards beaten on the ground. Only the officer of the unit was standing. My partner rushed the beast, but it tossed him like he was a feather. He tried to attack it again, but this time the creature snapped his wing nearly in half! One of the strongest pegasi in the guard was beaten in an instant! The officer ordered me to go get the two of you while he held it off. I ran here as fast as my hooves would allow." The guard paused here, breathing heavily with tears welling up in her eyes. Celestia pondered what the guard had said for a minute. Looking back at her, the princess asked, "Strongheart, isn’t it? I know the experience was painful, but I need to know what the creature looked like. Please tell me." Shuddering, Strongheart began to describe the bat. "It stood on two legs, but it didn't have hooves, it had feet similar to a dragon. It also had dragon-like hands, with five fingers instead of four. The beast was tall, at least a good two feet taller than me, and I could see the muscle through the bat’s skin. And it was powerful, so powerful! It beat my partner and the officer in a matter of seconds! But the scariest part was its eyes. The eyes were filled with rage, ferocity…and power…" As she stopped to take a break, Luna chanced a glimpse at Celestia. Celestia's eyes were open wide in shock and she seemed whiter than usual. The only other time Luna had seen her like this was when Discord nearly defeated them a thousand years ago. Celestia then said to the guard in a very small voice, "How long ago was this?" "Maybe twelve hours your highness; could be a little longer," Strongheart replied. "Then all the guards had received the letter I sent out telling them to be on the lookout for a creature like this?" "Yes, your highness, though most off the guards didn't take it seriously. That's why we were startled when we saw it for the first time. It was nearly identical to how you had described it." Luna looked at her sister in surprise. She knew what the creature had looked like? This was the first time they had heard of it. Was Celestia hiding something from her? "Where is the creature now?" asked Celestia after a minute. "We lost it, your highness. The creature was nearly impossible to track." Celestia sighed upon hearing it had escaped. Turning back to Strongheart, she ordered, "Tell all the guards at all cities and villages to double up patrols and to be on the lookout for a large, bat creature. We must capture it before anypony else is harmed." "Yes Ma'am," replied Strongheart with a salute, galloping out of the throne room. Turning towards the mayor, Luna asked, "Would you mind leaving us for a while, we must speak with our sister." The mayor nodded and with a bow, left the room. When she was alone with Celestia, Luna began asking questions of her own. "Celestia, what is this creature and how did you already know of it? Why did you not tell us as soon as it showed up? We could have been there to capture it ourselves. Why did you leave us in the dark?" Luna was surprised when Celestia looked at her, with despair in her eyes. Sitting herself on the floor, she gestured for Luna to do the same. When she had, Celestia began to speak. "Luna, the reason I knew of the creature was from news I had received early this morning." Swallowing hard, Celestia looked at her sister. "Hayfield is gone, Luna." "What do you mean, gone?" answered Luna. "I mean it's gone. Wiped off the face of Equestria," Celestia replied emotionally. "The entire town is now ash and all its inhabitants are gone." "How-" Luna began, incredulous. "I do not know. However, a farmer saw what looked like a bipedal creature with five fingers enter the city. Then it unleashed its power. According to the pony, its magical might decimated the town, destroying everything in its path. He then said that there was a blinding flash and everypony was gone. All the citizens and the creature. Upon hearing this, I sent out a letter to all guards in the region to be on guard against such a creature. I planned to tell you after the meeting, but then..." "We understand, sister," replied Luna, "you had to take immediate action. But why not trace the creature with magic?" "The first one seems to be able to hide its magical energy. The other one I didn't know existed until we were told. It also seems, as Strongheart said, impossible to track." "Have you alerted the Elements of Harmony?" "No, I plan to tomorrow. For now, you and I will go to Manehatten and see what we can find." "Alright, when do we leave?" "Now." ----------------------------------- Outskirts of Applepaloosa. In the never-ending outback, an azure unicorn with a wizard’s hat and cloak was pulling a wagon, mumbling to herself the entire time. The pony was Trixie, a traveling performer that had been humiliated when Twilight Sparkle humbled her in front of Ponyville. She had sworn revenge on the purple unicorn, promising to return. "The Great and Powerful Trixie cannot believe this," she grumbled. The sun was beating down upon her back and she hadn't been hired for a show in months, not since the Ponyville incident. "Forced to wander this wasteland to find ponies with the brains to appreciate Trixie's work. When The Great and Powerful Trixie gets her hooves on Twilight Sparkle, Trixie will have her revenge." "A desire for revenge is good, but you apparently have no idea of how to go about it, do you?" Whipping her head around to see the speaker, Trixie laid eyes on a creature she had never seen before—let alone heard of. It was around six feet tall, wore a green gown with a golden belt. It had hands with five fingers and stood upright. What interested Trixie the most however, was that it wore a mask of pure gold, hiding its face. Behind it was at least one hundred ponies, all of whom had the same vacant expression on their face. Stallions, mares, foals, every kind of pony was following it. "W-Who are you?" Trixie asked, unable to control the fear in her voice. "I? I am the most powerful sorceress in the known multiverse, but please, call me Morgaine," Morgaine replied, with a slight bow. "I was passing by when I happened to catch some of what you were saying. So, this Twilight Sparkle wronged you in some way?" She asked, her voice like silk. "Yes she did! Sparkle humiliated Trixie in front of an entire town and banished her from it! The humiliation Trixie had to endure was insufferable! When Trixie figures out how, she will take her revenge!" Trixie was on a roll, continuing to rant about how Twilight got lucky when she drove the Ursa Minor out of Ponyville. Morgaine listened the entire time, an unseen smile under her mask. She then asked Trixie a question. "How would you like me to show you how to get your revenge?" "How?" replied Trixie. "I can teach you some of the most powerful magics that your princesses have only dreamed of. All I ask is some... help, in return." "What kind of magic could you teach Trixie that Trixie doesn't alr-" Suddenly, the entire area around the two burst into flames. Moments later the flames turned into a dragon, which rose up and roared, before turning into a small bird, which flew off into the sky. Trixie's jaw was cemented to the ground as she looked at Morgaine, awestruck. "Do we have a deal?" asked the sorceress. "What do you need Trixie's help for?" "Ah, yes, see I have an item in my possession that is key if I want to return home. However, it is...acting up. I have found, much to my dismay, that my magic does not have the same effect here as it does in my world, so I need another magical being with tremendous power to help me...get it working." With this, Morgaine pulled the dimensional stone out of her sleeve and showed it to Trixie, who gazed at it with wonder. "So I repeat. Do we have a deal?" Trixie looked up with a smile. "Deal." "Good, now let us be on our way," Morgaine said, placing the stone back in her sleeve. Motioning to all the ponies behind her to follow, the two began to walk. "By the way, Trixie would like to know-" "If you are going to accompany me on this trip, you must stop speaking in the third person. Understand?" "Trixie...I understand. What I was asking was how did you get all these ponies to follow you?" Morgaine simply replied, "Mind control is one of the harder spells to perform, but I’m sure someone of your caliber will manage. You can refer to them as my...minions." Smiling to herself, Trixie knew that Twilight's reckoning was at hoof. 'Soon, Twilight…' Trixie thought, 'Soon I will have magic that you only dreamed of.' With a chuckle, the two “friends” with the ponies following them, continued on their way. --------------------------------- Ponyville. "Come on Twilight, you have to be somewhat excited," Spike said to Twilight. "No Spike, I’m not excited. Last year, only Princess Luna correctly guessed what I was for Nightmare Night. If other ponies can't recognize a 'Star-Swirl the Bearded' costume, then I won't go out in costume." Twilight was still upset that nearly nopony had been able to guess her Nightmare Night costume. "Well, if you don't want to that's your decision, I guess." "I take it you’re going then?" "Yup, but don't ask to see my costume. It's a secret." Rolling her eyes, Twilight went over to her desk. She hadn't received any letters from the princess in a few days. With Nightmare Night around the corner, she hoped nothing bad had happened. "Hey Spike, do you remember when the train with Fancy Pants is due to arrive? Rarity will have my mane if I forget to tell her!" Twilight shouted up at Spike. "The train should be here at around nine!" The dragon shouted down. Twilight let loose a sigh of relief. Fancy Pants, one of Rarity's biggest supporters, was coming down from Canterlot for a few days to see Rarity's new outfit line. The only thing left on Twilight's list was to meet him at the station and escort him to the Carousel Boutique. Once he judged Rarity's work, Fancy Pants would stay in a hotel until after Nightmare Night. Opening the door to leave the library, Twilight headed for the station. She just had to finish this one last thing, and then all her problems were over.