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// Chapter 6: Reflecting On The Past 
// Story: The Spread of Darkness 
// by The Grimm Reaper 
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	“Ah don’t know sugarcube, the last thing Ah wanna do right now is mess with Spike and Twilight. They’re in a bad place with the dark magic stuff. And as much as Ah’m sure they’re aware of this, they know better than anypony that all sorts of magic will be needed to deal with them Gryphons.” Applejack rubbed her head as she leaned back in her seat.
“Well I for one don’t care for that kind of magic. Just look at what their presense is doing to my mane. It’s going black!” Rarity shoved a lock of her mane in the farm pony’s face. Applejack just shoved her away.
“Look. Would y’all rather have a black mane or be killed by them gryphons out there? We all know them better than anypony. When the time comes for us to stop them, we’ll know it, and Ah for one don’t think that time has come yet.” the others muttered their agreements, not entirely sure about Applejack’s judgement.
“Look, AJ… I know that I’m the Element of Loyalty, and I know I should be loyal to my friends, but my loyalty to Equestria comes first. Of course sometimes that is the wrong decision, so I should be loyal to what I believe is right. And I don’t think that helping Twilight push herself further into darkness is what I should devote myself to.” Rainbow said, walking up to the orange pony.
“Ah’m tellin’ ya. There’s nothing to worry about when it comes to those two. They’re just doing all they can to stay together. Wouldn’t you do the same for Gilda and Scootaloo, Dash?” Applejack asked. Rainbow Dash went silent, unable to argue the point.
“But surely she wouldn’t endanger them just to protect them through dark magic, Applejack.” Rarity spoke up.
“So you’re saying that if Sweetie belle was in danger and the only way to save her was to use dark magic, you wouldn’t do it, Rarity?” AJ challenged. Rarity held Sweetie belle closely, perishing the thought of abandoning the mare simply because she wouldn’t use dark magic.
“Ah didn’t think so.” AJ grumbled.
“But sis, what if they become a danger to us? The Elements of Harmony couldn’t stop them since Twilight is one of them.”
“Ah won’t let them near us, Applebloom.” Applejack replied, rubbing her head.
“If that knock on the shoulder you gave me the night we escaped that grumpy mob is any indication of your strength, I doubt you’d be able to stop us. Fortunately, we’ll never find out.” Spike emerged from the shadows of the hallway with Twilight beside him. She seemed happier, though her features were much darker than before.
“Sorry ya’ll. We’ve got ourselves an insurrection brewin’.” AJ said. Twilight looked at her friends’ guilty faces. She just smiled at them and stepped before them all.
“I understand that you all are afraid of my reliance on the dark magics just to survive this war, but I want to assure you that I will not use it to bring harm to any of you.” she said.
“But how can we know that you haven’t been corrupted by the dark magic, I mean look at yourselves. Twilight, you’ve got more greys than Granny Smith, and Spike… there’s nothing about you that reminds me of the baby dragon we played with.” Sweetie Belle said, walking up to Twilight. Twilight smiled sweetly at the young mare and patted her head.
“I can’t speak for Spike, but I know I won’t let the darkness corrupt me, because I’ve got something the others didn’t have.” the other ponies waited for her to continue. “I’ve got something to come back to. I love all of you and you’re all what’s keeping me fighting against total corruption. Not to mention that unlike the others, I fear the darkness. I don’t want it, but I need it and I’m always cautious of its presence.”
The others considered what she had said. While it sounded kind of sappy, they couldn’t deny that unlike King Sombra, Twilight had her friends waiting for her to return to them, and unlike Nightmare Moon, Twilight knew it.
“As for me, it’s too late. When I was reawakened, your nightmares tainted me and turned me into the monster I am today.” Spike added. The other ponies, somewhat relaxed by what Twilight had said, became quickly agitated by Spike’s words.
“You mean you’ll always be evil?” Applebloom asked. Spike chuckled.
“I was never evil, Applebloom. But the possibility of darkness overtaking me and turning me into a wild animal will always be present. I will always be who I am now.” The dragon sat down on the ground and crossed his legs, his arms resting on his knees.
“I wish you were like the Spike before. He was badass.” Scootaloo said. Spike chuckled again.
“That was a part of me that had been tainted by darkness for years, Scoots. I’ve just recently been tainted again. Don’t worry, I’ll be an ass soon enough.” the three girls laughed at him.

The Gryphon king sat on his throne. It was very different from Celestia and Luna’s. Crafted from the bones of his enemies, the king watched as only a few from the battalion returned from the war. Commander Reave was among them. The one-eyed Gryphon bowed before his King.
“Report, Commander.” the king ordered.
“My lord, our battalion was wiped out after securing the bay.” Reave began.
“After securing it? I’d have understood before or while you were securing it, but after?” the king seemed more interested in the possibility of such a defeat than the actual defeat itself.
“Th-the primary target, Spike, he showed up and took out all my soldiers. He sank the galleon and then vanished.” Reave argued.
“So you lost a whole fleet and a battleship to one dragon?” he asked. The king’s calm tone was more frightening than his usually enraged one.
“I’m truly sorry, your majesty. Please forgive me.” the gryphon begged. The king looked at one of the other survivors and pointed a talon at him.
“You there, come here, I need an example.” the gryphon complied with his king’s order.
“An example of what, Si–?” the king grabbed his subject by the throat and snapped it in an instant. He then threw the corpse to Reave who looked in horror at his fallen comrade.
“You see that sailor? That’s you if you ever fail me again, Commander. I’ve been lenient with you since your daughter decided to join the ponies, you even got to keep your rank. But one more disappointment from you or your family and you will be no better off than him.” Reave swallowed and bowed again to his king.
“I will not fail you again, your majesty.”

Celestia stood on the front lines of the battlefield, wearing her royal battle armour. It had been centuries since she had worn them. Her crown was bigger and sharper. Her chest plating covered her neck and shoulders. Her horse shoes were spiked and she donned a large claymore on her back. Luna’s armour was identical to her sister’s, only the armour took on her own colours, a silvery blue.
“Cadence says Twilight has Shining Armour in suspended animation. He’s on the verge of death, but the animation should freeze him as he was.” Luna said, reading her niece’s latest report. “She’s also expressed her concern about Twilight using dark magic.” she added.
Celestia sighed sadly. “I trust in Twilight’s judgement. She wouldn’t use dark magic unless it was necessary. We’ll pay them a visit when we’re done here.” she said, her horn glowing as bright as the sun. Luna followed suit, glowing like the moon as she dropped the letter. A large blue barrier appeared around the ponies they fought alongside, while Celestia’s magic focused on giant falling stars and fireballs from the sky. The attack landed on a Gryphon fleet of thousands, burning small groups to cinders.

A dark cave within the Everfree forest echoed with the hisses of seemingly serpentine creatures, further in, there was a bright green glow pulsating with life. A maze of tunnels intricately worked their way to a centre where the queen of the Changelings, Chrysalis sat perched upon her own throne. She seemed disturbed, troubled by the war on the surface.
“It must be so troubling for your kind during times of war. All the pain and suffering… love becomes scarce in such heartbreaking times. I can only imagine how starved you must be Chrysalis.” a voice rang through the darkness.
“What do you want?” she demanded. The voice growled low as it moved around.
“I want to help you, but it comes at a price, as most things do. I believe you know Shining Armour, the Captain of the Royal Guard?” the voice asked. Chrysalis shuddered. Howcould she forget the singular most humiliating defeat of her reign. She had Equestria, but the very thing she fed on was the very thing that destroyed her victory.
“He’s… in a bad way at the moment. He should have died on the battlefield, but Twilight Sparkle and her dragon are keeping him alive. I need you to kill him. I’d do it myself, only my presence might set off alarm bells.” the voice said. “You can do that for me can’t you?” a grey hoof emerged from the shadows behind her and rested on her shoulder. Chrysalis went stiff.
“And what will you do for me if I agree to help you?” she asked. The grey pony emerged fully from the darkness into the green glow on her hive. He faced the changeling with his sharp golden draconic eyes and kissed her on the spot. She suddenly felt herself being fed pure love through her mouth. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as the feeling of love flowing through her made her salivate with delight. All too soon for her liking, the grey Stallion broke their kiss.
“In exchange, I’ll feed you and your hive for the duration of the war.” Chrysalis’ eyes went wide as the answer revealed itself. “Do we have a deal?” the stallion held his hoof out to her.