The Hour of Demise

by Tioko

Setting off

‘Then we shall be on our way!’, Luna had declared. As it turned out, some more things had to be taken care of before the group of six could truly be on their way. The Elements of Harmony had departed from Ponyville in extreme haste to respond to the summons of the Princess, but they had never expected to go out on a quest to the other end of the world to find their dying Princess and kidnapped friend. Most of them had ponies waiting back at home for them, and those that had to be informed. Luna didn’t want to waste much time anymore, so it was decided that letters would be written and sent to Spike, who would deliver them in turn.

Applejack wrote a note to Big Mac and Granny Smith telling where she had gone off to, and that they would have to run the farm on their own for a while, explaining the situation in her own simple, down-to-earth wording. Rarity did the same for Sweetie Belle and her parents, though she avoided mentioning the fact that the world could very well come to an end and that her quest would be dangerous. Fluttershy had animals back at home who needed to be taken care of, but she couldn’t write a letter to Angel. No matter how smart, the rabbit couldn’t read. So she instead wrote to Spike, to politely ask him to take care of the cute little critters. Pinkie Pie let Mr. and Mrs. Cake know, through a very strange letter that Luna couldn’t make heads or tails of, that she had gone of to lizard land to make Princess Celestia pinkie keen and teach new ponies how to party with cupcakes after they smeared a cake in the face of the meanie pants that had hurt the sun. As for Rainbow Dash, she only asked Spike to inform her boss at the Weather Factory that she was off duty for an unlimited period of time.

Princess Luna signed each of these letters herself and gave them a royal stamp and seal, to let the recipients know that the contents of the letters were the truth, and not some excuses of the five ponies to skip their chores and daily duties. Not that she thought it would be seen as such without her signature, but administration required it. Almost as soon as she finished signing the last letter, the Prime Minister came rushing in. The old stallion seemed quite relieved that the Princess hadn’t departed just yet, for he had scheduled an announcement later that day to inform the populace of the current affairs and events, and had brought the text of the aforementioned announcement to Her Highness for approval. Suffices to say it took the Moon Princess more than an hour before she was done with it, all the while wishing for the old days when the word of a Princess was absolute and if she said she’d be on her way it meant she’d be on her way with no needless paperwork. Not that the speech needed her approval, anyway, it was nearly flawless.

So when all things were said and done and they were finally ready to depart for real, the time had come to lower the Sun and raise the Moon already. After apologizing to the Elements for yet another delay, the alicorn excused herself and went to one of the many balconies of the castle. The Moon Princess felt uncertain about the whole thing. In all her years, she had never truly lowered or risen the Sun herself. Celestia and she had always stayed true to their respective celestial bodies, until of course the Sun Princess had no choice but to take up control of the Moon when Luna was banished. Celestia had experience with the Moon, Luna had none with the Sun. What made her especially nervous was the fact that the Sun had not moved all day long, meaning that it would require extra magical force to make it move before she could guide it to its resting place. That in itself would be a taxing experience, but she had to raise the moon after this as well. Nevertheless, she couldn’t let her uncertainty stop her. She closed her eyes, concentrated on her magic, and reached out to the Sun.

The now-red star responded to her call, just like the Moon always did. Yet it was a completely new experience for the Princess of the Night still. The Sun was a burning fire star, not a cold, silent planet, and Luna had to adjust to its magic.

Moments later, she felt something. Another one was present with her magic. It could only be...

“Celestia!!!” Luna called out mentally. Her sister didn’t respond. Regardless, it was a relief for the dark blue alicorn to discover some sign of life from her dearest sibling. But she forced herself to focus on the task at hoof. Celestia seemed to acknowledge her presence, at least, as she beckoned her sister to join forces. Luna responded immediately, and together, the two sisters pushed the Sun.

Pushing the Sun was no easy task. It was as draining for the mind as it would be draining for one’s body, and required extreme concentration and power. The fact that the Sun was already in a wrong position and not in its normal state didn’t help much. Regardless, the two managed to get the Sun going...

It was then that everything went wrong. The experience was similar to a failed spell, but the backlash the Moon Princess received was far greater than any other she had ever felt before. She could practically feel the evil force behind it, the taint that was now in the Sun. A dark force used her sister’s magic to keep the Sun in place. The magic Luna had gathered for her attempt exploded in a blinding flash of light and the alicorn was blown off the balcony by its force.

“Whoa...” She heard someone’s voice. She shook her head and opened her eyes, only to see herself surrounded by the concerned Elements of Harmony.

“Um... are you okay...?” Fluttershy asked quietly. Luna’s body shook while she slowly climbed back to her hooves.

“I... am fine... fair Fluttershy...” She whispered, breathing heavily. “I have verified that our dearest sister is alive... yet the villain has cursed the Sun. We cannot move it.” The Princess looked at the Sun and her worry grew, for she could see the blackened areas expanding. “The situation is even more dire than I had feared…”

“Oh my...” Rarity remarked, staring at the Sun wide-eyed.

“Oh no!” Fluttershy squeaked. “If... if the Sun won’t set... The night won’t come! And all those poor, darling little critters won’t get good sleep...”

Applejack frowned. “Not even talkin’ about mah apples and other crops.”

“It’s a disaster,” Rainbow Dash summed it up.

Luna regained her composure, and stood up proudly. “Hmph. Not if I can help it.” She said. “I am the Princess of the Night, and I assure you that the Night shall come!” She declared, accidentally switching to the Royal Canterlot Voice, making her fellow ponies cover their ears. Luna ignored it this time, though, and headed out to the balcony. An eternal day would be as much of a disaster as an eternal night, and she would have none of it. If the Sun could not lower, then she would darken it. Concentrating her magic, she reached out to the Moon, which was as comfortingly cold and obedient as ever. Slowly, carefully, she created her new masterpiece. Before her banishment, the phenomenon she was creating now was shown only on the greatest of festivities and celebration, as a sign of the unity of the royal sisters. Now she created it out of pure necessity.

A magnificent eclipse had become the new Night. Using the celestial body that corresponded to her, Luna had darkened the red sun, and prevented the birth of an eternal day. It was the best she could do for now. The Eclipse was not a true night, and her moon could not prevent all sunlight from reaching the world or cover it in the darkness of night fully, but it was much better than doing nothing at all. The only regret she had was that something so beautiful and rare would now become a common sight for as long as the Sun could not be lowered, robbing the Eclipse of its splendour. Sighing, the Moon Princess went back to her loyal subjects, the Elements of Harmony.

“We fear this shall have to suffice for the night…” she explained. “We must make haste and find our sister and restore the Sun to its proper state. The results of a Red Sun overstaying its welcome in the sky shan’t be anything short of catastrophic.”

“Indeed.” Rarity nodded, and the others agreed as well.

“So, now we depart?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“It can not be delayed any longer,” Luna confirmed with a nod. “We must find the magic trail our sister left in her wake, and chase it to the place of her disappearance.” The Princess then suddenly gasped and hit her face with a hoof. “We were so distracted with worry we forgot not all of us possessed wings!”

“Oh, oh!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “That’s okay, that’s alright! I’ll be back in a jiffy!” The pink party pony said, speeding off at an amazing speed. Almost instantly the next room was filled with sounds of clanking, bonking, hammering and chainsaw noises. Luna glanced at the remaining Elements of Harmony nervously.

“Should we be worried?”

“It’s... kinda hard to tell now...” Rainbow Dash admitted, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. “We must see the results...” She winced as she heard more loud hammering. Finally, the cacophony of building noises ended in an explosion, and Pinkie came dashing into the room.

“Ta-da!” She declared. Then looked around. “Oops.” She dashed back into the next room and came back with something really big covered with a white tablecloth. “Ta-da!” Pinkie repeated.

Several questions popped through Luna’s head all at once. Such as how the pink pony had made whatever it was in such a short time, how in the name of Equestria she had found all those tools they had heard her use, where she had found a tablecloth large enough to cover whatever it was she had built, how she had built it with no plan or blueprint to follow, and finally, just what the hay – she frowned at herself for using such crude language – it was that Pinkie Pie had made.

“Fillies and gentlecolts – except there are no gentlecolts, just fillies – may I present the new and improved Pinkiecopter!” With one fast move, she made the tablecloth fly off her creation. “Or, rather, it’s a Pinkieplane.” She corrected herself, giggling. Her revelation was met by six pairs of eyes popping out of their sockets, followed by six jaws hitting the floor. Even her friends, who were more or less used to her antics, realized that this time she had outdone herself.

It was clear that Pinkie had used the remains of her Pinkiecopter to make this, but it wasn’t the only thing she used. In fact, the most prominent detail of the Pinkieplane was Celestia’s flying chariot. How did Pinkie get her hooves on that, nopony knew or could ever imagine. Even so, Pinkie Pie turned it backwards – the plane’s ‘tail’ was where the driving stallions should have been harnessed, and Pinkie embedded a huge propeller on a pole into the chariot’s back. The space between the carriage and the tail was covered with tight-fitting cloth to give it a good aerodinamical shape of a gondola – Luna realized with growing dread that this cloth actually used to be a red curtain. On the tail itself was another, smaller propeller. And finally, the new contraption sported wings on its sides – made from what used to be a perfectly good dinner table and decorated with icing and candy that made them resemble gingerbread cookies.

“Alright, sugarcube, how in tarnation did ya come up with this?” Applejack demanded.

“Well! I’ve been wanting to improve my Pinkiecopter for a long time, because really, it’s chilly cold as you get high up, so I thought I could wear a coat while driving it, but hey, who wears a coat when flying? That’s just silly. And then I wanted to share the view with you, my friends, ‘cause the sky is awesome! Clouds are like cotton candy! Except, you know, white. And then I saw a flying lantern, and it hit me with an idea! One could keep safe and warm while flying! So I came up with this!” Pinkie chimed. The others tried to follow her rush of words, but mostly failed.

“That wasn’t really what I was wonderin’ about,” Applejack muttered to herself.

“You sure this thing will fly?” Rainbow Dash asked sceptically.

“I’m sure! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” The party pony performed the Pinkie Pie swear. “Or my name isn’t Pinkamena Diane Pie!” She added for extra assurance. She waved at Rarity and Applejack. “Hop aboard!”

“Ugh, I’m not going to board this fashion disaster!” Rarity exclaimed.

“Too bad, sugarcube, there’s no Twi around to make ya grow wings this time.” Applejack noted, then looked at the Pinkieplane, gulped, and got inside. Pinkie was already there, clad in a leather helmet with goggles and a white scarf. The farm pony wasn’t even going to ask where her pink friend got those. The marshmallow-white unicorn groaned again, but boarded the plane.

“Yay! Fillies and gentlecolts, captain Pinkie here, thank you for flying with Pinkamena Airlines.” The party pony chimed and pulled a lever, starting the propeller. “Off we go!” She declared, putting on her goggles. The plane sped forward towards the balcony at maximum speed, and for a moment, it seemed like it would crash into the rails, but no, the hastily built contraption actually took off and now soared through the air.

“We shan’t attempt to comprehend,” Luna whispered awkwardly, before spreading her wings and taking to the air herself.

“That’s the right course of action.” Rainbow Dash nodded. “Come on, Fluttershy.” She took the still shocked pink-maned pegasus by her front leg and dragged her along in the air. After shaking off her shock and amazement, Fluttershy hesitatingly spread her own wings and flew on her own strength. Just then, the Pinkieplane I soared past, its pilot waving giddily at the winged ponies.

“I don’t believe it, Pinkie,” Applejack muttered as she glanced over the railing to the ground below. “This thing actually flies!”

“Well, duh, I Pinkie Pie swore it would!” The pink pilot replied, grinning widely.

“How do you come up with these ideas, darling?” Rarity wondered aloud, still not feeling entirely safe aboard the contraption.

“It’s like I said! A paper lantern hit me! It even lit up when it did, ‘cause it’s a bright idea!” Pinkie explained. That made little to no sense at all to the white unicorn, but Rarity wisely decided that since this was Pinkie Pie anything was possible. “Enjoy the view, fillies!” Pinkie advised, taking another turn with her plane.

“I think ya should ask the princess where ya should take this thing!” Applejack advised.

“Silly, that’s what I’m about to do!” Pinkie giggled as she flew closer to the midnight-blue alicorn. “Where to, Princess?”

Luna, who had been hovering in the air, at first didn’t react. Her horn glowed as she cast the spell that would allow her to trail her sister back to where she had vanished. Pinkie was about to ask her question again, but Rarity put her hoof over her mouth, indicating that she should wait. The Moon Princess’ eyes snapped open the following moment, a triumphant smile on her face. With another simple spell, a glowing white path of magic appeared in the air.

“Steer your contraption to the end of this line, Pinkie Pie,” Luna spoke. “That is where our destination lies.”

“Okie dokey lokey!” Pinkie saluted and did as instructed. The alicorn glanced at Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, to see if they had heard the message as well. They did, and followed her closely, even though Fluttershy seemed to be a little tired.

“Hey, are you holding up, Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I’m... I’m fine...” The yellow pegasus smiled timidly.

“You sure? You seem a bit bushed,” the blue pegasus insisted.

“It’s... it’s okay... I just... don’t fly this far... this high... that often...” Fluttershy said quietly.

“Say no more!” Rainbow Dash grinned, and she took Fluttershy by the hoof and dragged her along as she raced towards the Pinkieplane. The self proclaimed fastest flyer in all of Equestria flew right next to it. “Rainbow Dash to Pinkieplane, do you receive me?”

“Hey yeah, I receive, what’s up?” Pinkie grinned and waved at her.

“You got room for one more passenger? We’ve got a pegasus in need of some wing rest here,” Rainbow Dash replied, returning the grin.

“Sure! Drop her right in!” Pinkie chimed.

“One extra passenger coming right up!” Rainbow Dash cheered, and before Fluttershy could protest, she dropped the shy Pegasus neatly between Rarity and Applejack. The Pinkieplane didn’t change course even slightly. It was clear that Pinkie had thought of having Fluttershy as a passenger when building it.

“Ehm, I apologise for the trouble…” the yellow Pegasus muttered quietly, looking at her hooves.

“No problem! I like having more friends around!” The pink pony smiled at her. “Isn’t flying fun! Whee!”

“Umm... I think it is...” Fluttershy said timidly, then carefully peered outside. “I like the view...”

“Well I prefer to keep mah hooves firmly on the ground,” Applejack said, still eying the Pinkieplane with some suspicion and apprehension. “But had no choice now, I suppose.”

“But the view is indeed marvellous, darling.” Rarity said, smiling gleefully. “Why, it even gave me an idea of a new ensemble for pegasi!” Then she glanced at the airplane itself and grimaced. “But next time you build one of these contraptions, do let me handle the design, alright?”

“Okie dokey lokey!” The pink pilot readily agreed. The plane continued on its way, flanked by Rainbow Dash and the Princess, following the magical trail of light.

Far away from Equestria, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, Twilight Sparkle was having much less fun than her pink friend. The purple unicorn did not know for how long she had been there. It could be hours, it could be days, she had no way of knowing. She was locked up in a cage made of black stone that looked a lot like onyx, only it had red lines running all over it that glowed like magma. She had attempted to break out or teleport herself to safety, of course, but either the cage was special or the Hound had cast a spell on it, for all her attempts backfired on her, leaving her bruised and battered by her own hoof.

As for where she was, she did not know that either. It must have been the residence of the Hound, or at least a temporal one. It was a cave of sorts, but not a natural one, it had been carved, manually or magically, out of the rock, similar in appearance to a gothic, dark and even satanic temple. There could be one chamber, or there could be many more, the pony didn’t know, she had only seen the circular chamber she was in, and the entrance that looked like it lead towards a hall of sorts. It felt as if she were trapped inside a volcano, for the heat within the Hound’s lair was unbearable. In the middle of the chamber stood an obsidian throne – the most gruesome, demonic piece of furniture Twilight had ever seen. She guessed it belonged to the Hound, though she had not seen him much since he had locked her inside this cage. Statues of demonic creatures stood near the walls, four in total, one in each wind direction. Pure lava flowed from their grotesque jaws like water in a fountain, and the molten rock flowed through open canals to a circular basin that surrounded the throne.

“I... I hope Princess Celestia is alright...” She muttered to herself, while fanning herself with her hoof to try and cool off a bit. Her eyes looked around the chamber again, and she couldn’t suppress a shiver once she saw the terrifying decoration that was everywhere. There were carvings on the walls and ceiling, portraying most horrifying events and creatures. Niches had been hacked out of the walls as well, in which the Hound had found it appropriate to place skulls of slain foes, and use those as lanterns. The hollow eye sockets of the skulls, lit up by the fire burning inside, seemed to stare at her and watch her every move. Twilight shivered. Why did villains always have such a twisted sense of beauty?

“It comes with the job,” somebody said, and in the blink of an eye, the Hound suddenly sat leisurely upon his throne. Twilight nearly jumped in her cage, startled by his appearance. “Though you wound me, my little pony,” the villain continued, staring at the claws of his fingers casually. “I was quite proud of my little home.”

“Each to his own... I suppose...” Twilight said. The Hound chuckled darkly, the sound sending Twilight backing away from him as far as possible.

“Then what do you prefer, my little guest? A sweet old room in a cosy library bathing in the light of the dying sun, per chance?”

“Yes...” Twilight said automatically, then gasped loudly. “Dying sun?!”

“Oh, did I forget to mention that little detail before? I apologise, I’ve been a bad host to keep you uninformed,” the Hound replied. He put a clawed finger to his jaws in mock thought. “Now, from what point on have you been out of the loop, my dear little pony?”

“Uh... Since you... dropped me here?” The purple unicorn said, smiling awkwardly and backing away some more. Not even Nightmare Moon had given her such shivers as the beast seated there on his throne.

“Well, to keep things simple…” the demonic dog answered, folding one leg over the other and clutching his hands together and placing them on his lap, acting entirely casual. “I did a bit of magic bait here, a bit of magic bait there, and of course, the Sun took it as I expected. You played your part well, little pony.”

“You used me as bait for the Princess?!” Twilight’s eyes widened. She kind of suspected that before, but the possibility of him taking her prisoner because of her magic potential was also quite high. “But... But what does that have to do with the Sun dying...?”

“Oh yes, I was about to get to that,” the Hound said happily. “So after her royal highness came after me, I lured her to these lands through a portal I had been nice enough to leave behind for her. After that, there was a bit of a fight between us, but naturally that ended with me putting my sword through her chest. Ever since then the Sun’s looking a bit red and black, you know. Nasty heat, too. Just think of the worldwide climate changes that’ll cause, the mass starvation and extinction! Dear me, I’d say I’ve done something quite awful!”

“You... y-y-y-you did WHAT?!” Twilight nearly screamed, hoping she had misheard something. But no, what he said was crystal clear. He was not lying either – the obvious glee in his tone told of his victory.

This beggared all belief. Celestia, her mentor, the wise, kind, eternal ruler of Equestria, the Goddess of the Sun... Impaled by a sword... And the Sun itself wounded...

“I plunged the world into sheer, utter, destructive chaos,” the Hound clarified, letting out a loud, barking laugh, clearly taking great satisfaction in it all. “Oh, the Blood Sun is quite the sight, believe me, my little pony.”

“But... but... but WHY?! Why do you need chaos?” Twilight demanded.

“To get what I want, of course,” the villain replied simply.

“And... what is it you want?” The pony asked.

“Curious little filly, aren’t you?” he smirked. “What fun would it be if I revealed that already? It would spoil the surprise once the moment is there. The hour of Demise is coming, my little pony. The world as you know it shall end, and I shall inherit its ruins.” His dark grin widened as he rubbed his hands together in gleeful anticipation.

Twilight gulped. This was new... this villain wanted to actually destroy the world... Why would anybody want this?

“Now that would be telling, wouldn’t it?” the Hound grinned, as if he had read her thoughts, which he very well may have.

“I guess...” Twilight nodded and sighed. This was just too much... Her entire world was about to be destroyed – figuratively and literally speaking. And he was entirely calm and casual about it! Oh how she wished to get out of here... To be back home, in her Ponyville library...

“How unfortunate, you wish to leave from my generous hospitality?”

“I wouldn’t call it quite hospitable...” Twilight admitted.

“Come now, a warm cage, a nice interior and hundreds of skulls, not to mention me, to keep you company, what more could a pony ask for?” the Hound chuckled. Twilight facehoofed and sighed. He had to be sarcastic. The demonic dog sighed.

“Of all hostages to pick, I had to get the one without a sense of humour,” he growled. Yawning, the beast rose from his throne and stretched cracked his neck a few times. “But since you’ve served your purpose…” He held out his hand and summoned his sword out of thin air to it. Twilight yelped and tried to get as far from him as the cage allowed. Surely he didn’t mean to...? The Hound walked up to the cage and raised his sword. Twilight curled up in fear, preparing for certain death the blade promised. But the deathblow never came, instead the demon merely tapped the cage with his blade, and the door swung open.

“Ah great Hell Wyrm, how I love melodrama,” the monster chuckled. “Now come on out, my little pony. You’re free to go.”

Twilight peeked from her curled up position with one eye. “I... I am?”

“Well, I have no further use for you, and if I let you in there you’d starve since I have no intention of feeding you,” he replied with a shrug. “Of course, if you would rather stay in there, be my guest.”

That seemed to convince the purple unicorn, and she cautiously stepped out of the cage, as if expecting the Hound to hit her with his blade anyway. The monster did no such thing. Instead, he vanished without a trace, only to reappear seated on his throne once more. He snapped his fingers, and a hole appeared in one of the walls. Through it, Twilight could see daylight.

“Leave through there, but I fear you’ll have to find your way back to Equestria yourself,” the Hound said calmly.

“Umm.... that’s quite okay. Thanks.” Twilight gave him a forced smile. “Bye-bye!” She said and then sped off into the hole as if her life depended on it. As soon as she was through it, the hole closed behind her, and Twilight found herself in a long narrow hallway. The walls were lifeless grey, smooth and straight, and about ten metres high at the very least. The ground beneath her hooves was just as smooth, flat and grey as the walls were. But at least she could see the sky above her. She couldn’t see the Sun from her current position, the walls were too tall for that, so she couldn’t confirm what the Hound had told her. Not to mention that currently the sky was black, indicating that it was night. Still, the sky looked... different, somehow.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard something roar, not very far away. It seemed to be coming from behind her... But there was nothing but a hole in the wall behind her back, was there? She looked behind her, only to find that there was no wall there at all, instead the hall just continued on.

“Oh no...” Twilight gulped and sped away from whatever was making the roaring sound. She heard a growl behind her again. She glanced over her shoulder once more, and saw a shadow appearing on the wall at the end of the hall behind her. She couldn’t identify the creature, but she felt like she didn’t want to. She had to duck behind a wall, she had to hide somewhere! She got at the other end of the hall now, only to find that it was a crossroad, a path going in opposite directions left and right of her. Taking a lucky guess, she went left. She ran as fast as her hooves could carry her, went around a corner, only to be faced with another split in the road. This time, she went right. But no matter where she went, she always just came to another fork in the road, or at times a dead end, which was even worse. And through the walls she could hear, at all times, the growling and panting of whatever was stalking her. This just wasn’t right. The Hound had trapped her in what seemed to be an enormous labyrinth!

And right on cue, the voice of her captor echoed darkly through the air and between the walls. “Oh, I forgot to mention, my dear little pony, that to get back home, you only have to escape from my little maze. Do beware of my pets, though, I think I forgot to feed them recently, so they might be on the hungry side, and probably won’t mind a bite of pony flesh.”

“Oh, so now you tell me...” The purple pony sighed.

“Well, yes, otherwise, it wouldn’t be called deceit, now would it?” the Hound laughed. Another roar sounded, very close by this time, and the purple unicorn could hear something breathing, as if it was standing right next to her. A shadow of a wolfish creature appeared on the wall, and the pony knew that the monster was right around the corner. “Run, my little pony, or meet your end. But can you find the exit, before my pets find you?”