//------------------------------//
// Chapter Four 
// Story: Rise of the Dark Unicorn 
// by Sky McFly 
//------------------------------//

Styxon Stones gently set down his teacup and gazed across the table at Rarity.
“I am a very lucky stallion to have met a mare as beautiful as you,” he told her.
Rarity blushed. “Oh Styxon—“
“Come, let me show you the view.” Styxon extended a hoof and led Rarity to the edge of the balcony. Under the peach and lavender colored sky, the lights of Canterlot twinkled up at them as if the stars that were just becoming visible had fallen to the earth. Beyond the city of Canterlot, the valley spread out before them. Rarity could make out the tiny buildings of Ponyville and the dark, sweeping expanse of the Everfree forest off in the distance.
“It’s beautiful!” Rarity gasped.
Styxon drew closer and his scent became almost overpowering. It was the scent of a stallion, but without the awful stench of sweat and soil Rarity had come to expect from other stallions. She closed her eyes, breathing it in.
Their lips met. After a lingering kiss, Rarity pulled back and shyly gazed up at him. Styxon leaned forward and used his horn to brush Rarity’s mane out of her eyes. Then he gently touched the tip of Rarity’s horn with the tip of his own horn. Rarity felt a magical energy pass between them and spread throughout her entire body. She shivered with delight and nuzzled against him.
The sky had changed to a deep blue dotted with twinkling pinpoints of light, like sequins on an indigo velvet dress Rarity was making.
Styxon kissed her again, once on each ear, and then Rarity felt his lips move down her cheek to find her mouth again.
Suddenly they heard a loud knock come from the door. Their eyes locked.
“I’ll get it,” Styxon said. “Don’t go away.”
Rarity sank to the floor and watched as Styxon opened the door to reveal Twilight Sparkle.
“I’m so sorry to interrupt you,” Twilight gasped, out of breath, “but I just received an urgent report from the Everfree forest.”
The two unicorns conferred in hasty whispers while Rarity looked on from the balcony. Then Styxon returned to Rarity, gave her a quick kiss on the tip of her horn, and said, “I’m ever so sorry, my dearest Rarity, but I must go.”
Rarity watched as the stallion galloped out the door, unable to believe that such a perfect evening could come to such an abrupt end.
“Um…hi Rarity,” Twilight greeted her. Rarity glared at her.
“I know what you’re trying to do,” Rarity hissed.
“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked, taken aback.
“Styxon Stones is mine!” Rarity snapped. “He loves me, and only me! So stay away from him!”
“Rarity!” Twilight exclaimed in shock. “I’m your friend! I would never try to steal a stallion from you!”
Rarity narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
“I just had to deliver a message!” Twilight said in exasperation. “There is nothing between us!”
“Just—just back off, okay?” Rarity begged, bursting into tears as she galloped out of the room, leaving Twilight sitting alone in disbelief.


***


Rainbow Dash woke up to find all four of her legs shackled to a wall. She was lying in a cell that couldn’t have been more than eight feet wide or deep, with only a thin layer of straw between her body and the cold stone floor. She thought she saw a rat skitter off into a shadowy corner. Far above her was a barred window, through which she could see a bluebird framed by the bright blue sky. Rainbow Dash longed to fly up to the window, if only to breath in the fresh outside air, but the chains wouldn’t allow her to go more than five feet in any direction. Her entire body still ached, but her wings didn’t appear to be broken anymore.
“How long was I out?” she wondered aloud.
After a wait of what could have been hours, Rainbow Dash heard the sound of a door opening echo throughout the chamber beyond her cell. She then heard the clip-clop of hooves on stone and Styxon Stones came into view, followed by an enormous Diamond Dog, whose bulk filled the barred doorway. The lock glowed with magic and the door swung open.
“Well hello there, Rainbow Dash,” Styxon began, his voice silkily smooth. “I admit I nearly thought you would slip through my grasp. But nopony escapes me.”
Rainbow Dash stared blankly at the humongous Diamond Dog, trying not to consider what its purpose was.
“I just have a few questions for you,” Styxon continued, “and I hope this process can be painless for both of us.”
Rainbow Dash turned to look at the unicorn.
“First of all, why did you choose to flee Ponyville in the dead of night, during such a terrible storm?”
Unable to think of a plausible alibi, Rainbow Dash just snorted and said, “What’s it to you? That’s my business.” Twilight would be so much better at this, she thought.
Before she even noticed the glow of magic envelop her, Rainbow Dash felt a jolt of pain shoot through her body. Without meaning to, she squeezed her eyes shut and clenched every muscle. The pain stopped, and she was left curled up in a ball, breathing heavily.
“Let’s try again,” Styxon said calmly. “Where were you flying?”
“Should’ve just followed me and found out,” Rainbow Dash mumbled, eyes closed and head throbbing. “Would’ve been more productive for both of us.”
Without any warning, the pain hit her again. Rainbow Dash strained against her shackles and thrashed about on the floor, scattering straw everywhere. As the pain left her, she felt a residual tingling in her extremities.
“I would really appreciate it if you would try to be more cooperative,” Styxon said. “You wouldn’t want to make me angry, would you?” He paused. “Here, I’ll give you an easy one. What are your friends planning in Ponyville?”
Rainbow Dash struggled to lift her head from the floor and glared at Styxon defiantly. “I’m not telling you anything,” she growled through clenched teeth.
Pain wracked her body a third time. Rainbow Dash continued to tremble even after it ended. She struggled not to cry.
“That all you got?” she managed to gasp.
“Where’s Applejack?” Styxon asked, devoid of any signs of emotion.
“I don’t know,” Rainbow Dash muttered, trying to catch her breath. “If you wanted to keep track of her, maybe you should’ve kept her in Ponyville.” She closed her eyes, expecting another surge of pain, but was given a reprieve while Styxon appeared to be thinking to himself.
“It’s possible I’m going about this the wrong way,” he said slowly. “Sometimes it takes multiple tactics to break a pony.” He motioned for the hulking Diamond Dog to enter the cell, and then turned back to Rainbow Dash. “I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, ‘Styxon Stones may break your bones…’ ”


***


The morning after the secret nighttime meeting at the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ clubhouse, Styxon Stones and dozens of guards had shown up at Ponyville and forced all the Pegasi to leave for Cloudsdale. Three days later, Fluttershy still did not like her living arrangements one bit. There were reasons why she had chosen to live on the ground. Fluttershy just couldn’t get used to living in a city made entirely out of clouds. She still didn’t quite understand what kept Pegasi from falling through the cloud floor, and since she often forgot that she had wings, nothing was more disconcerting to her than the numerous roads at the outskirts of Cloudsdale that abruptly ended with dizzying drops to the ground thousands of feet below.
The morning three days after the move to Cloudsdale, Fluttershy was taking Pound Cake to the Cloudsdale supermarket to get more foalfood and diapers when a bluebird flew up to her and began chirping urgently.
“Styxon Stones has captured Rainbow Dash?” she gasped. “And he’s keeping her chained up in a palace dungeon?” She glanced around, at a loss for what to do. “Oh no… oh no, oh no, oh no…” Her first thought was that someone needed to rescue Rainbow Dash, but she had no idea who to talk to and doubted that anypony would believe on her word alone that Rainbow Dash was in any danger she couldn’t handle. She then yelped in fright when she realized that she would have to be the one to rescue Rainbow Dash.
How am I supposed to save Rainbow Dash? she thought to herself. I have no idea where to begin! And who will take care of Pound Cake?
She desperately glanced around the streets of Cloudsdale and watched as Derpy Hooves tripped over her own hooves and instead of landing on the cloud street, plunged through it, rising back up with a sheepish expression moments later. Fluttershy shook her head and then noticed Thunderlane chatting with Cloudchaser and Flitter. She gulped to swallow her nerves, picked up Pound Cake, and approached the three Pegasi.
“Um… excuse me,” she began timidly, “could I possibly ask you three for a huge favor?”
The three Pegasi looked up in curiosity. Thunderlane’s eyes lit up when he saw Fluttershy.
“Hey Fluttershy, what’s up?” he asked good-naturedly.
Fluttershy attempted to explain briefly how she, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Big Macintosh had begun to suspect that Styxon Stones was becoming an evil tyrant, how Rainbow Dash had been captured while trying to find Applejack, and how she planned to rescue Rainbow Dash from the palace dungeons.
“So, do you happen to know anypony who could take care of Pound Cake for a few days while I try to infiltrate Canterlot and save Rainbow Dash?” she concluded, her voice rising to a squeak as she realized exactly how daunting her task was. Trying to compose herself, she added, “That is, if it’s not too much trouble…”
Cloudchaser and Flitter squealed upon noticing Pound Cake.
“He’s so cute!” Cloudchaser gushed.
“I could take care of him forever,” Flitter offered.
“Really?” Fluttershy replied. “Thank you so much! I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay you—“
“You’re planning to sneak into the palace to rescue Rainbow Dash?” Thunderlane repeated in hushed excitement. Fluttershy nodded, her eyes wide with trepidation. “Want me to come with you?”
“Oh, you don’t have to—“
“Nopony can do it alone,” Thunderlane insisted. “Let me come with you.” He struck a determined pose. Fluttershy bit her lip in indecision. Based on what she knew about Thunderlane, “reliable” was not a word she would have used to describe him. But she had to admit that having somepony to accompany her, even Thunderlane, made her mission seem just a little less frightening.
“Well, okay,” Fluttershy squeaked, and followed Thunderlane as he leaped into the air, taking flight. Looking back, she thanked Flitter again and then joined Thunderlane as he sped off toward Canterlot.