//------------------------------// // The Midnight Hour of the Darkest Day // Story: Epica: The Fall of Harmony // by DaNumbahZer0 //------------------------------// It had been nearly a week since Twilight had visited Zecora. ‘Nearly a week and still no letter from the princess,’ Twilight thought to herself as she stared blankly out of her bedroom window watching the sun sink beyond the treetops. Something just seemed terribly wrong. Princess Celestia seldom took this long to respond, and when she did there would always be reason. Unfortunately, with the twists and turns of things lately anything that would keep the princess from replying to a desperate letter from her star pupil was not bound to be any normal royal affairs. She clucked her tongue in frustration and clocked her head on the window with a solid thud, breathing puffs of condensation into her sights. Beyond the foggy glass, Twilight noticed the familiar form of a certain pale yellow Pegasus walking slowly through the market across the way. It had suddenly dawned on her, that she had been so collected in her thoughts and tribulation that she had not left her home in the library since she had returned from that fateful trip into the forest. It was time to get a fresh perspective of these happenings, she thought. She needed to gather the five of her best friends and fellow bearers of the Elements of Harmony to discuss the issue that plagued her sodden mind. As quickly as her hooves would carry her, Twilight swung down the arced stairway and out the front door of her home to catch up to the yellow mare. “Fluttershy! Hey, Fluttershy, wait up!” Twilight hollered to her companion as she trotted her way up the cobblestone market street. The pink-haired pony spun around, wide-eyed. “Oh, um hi, Twilight,” Fluttershy said in her gentle whisper of a voice, “it’s so nice to see you!” The corners of the Pegasus’s lips turned up in a fit of implosive joy! “How have you been? Are you alright?” Fluttershy was beaming, but her eyes stuck to Twilight as she approached quivering with concern. “It’s really good to see you too, Fluttershy! Yes, I’m fine…. Er, well, more or less anyway,” The yellow mare gasped. Before she could question Twilight about the nature of her unrest, the purple pony had cut her off, “I’ll explain in a little while. Have you seen the others today?” She nodded gracefully, “Yes, I just came from Rainbow Dash’s house, and I saw Pinkie a little while ago over at Sugarcube Corner.” “Excellent! And what about Applejack and Rarity, have you seen them today, Fluttershy?” “Um, well, no, not exactly…. But I’m sure Applejack is somewhere on her farm, she’s always got things to do around there and all.” Twilight nodded in agreement, rubbing her chin with her hoof, “Yeah, I’m sure you’re right, AJ is probably over at Sweet Apple Acres, and I’ll bet my bottom bit that Rarity is neck deep in a dress order over at her place!” “Twilight, um, is there some reason you’re looking for everypony right now?” Twilight gave a vertical shake of her head, “Yeah, there is, but I’ll explain later! Can you get hold of Rainbow Dash and Rarity, and meet me back here in an hour? Spike and I will go round up Applejack and Pinkie Pie!” “Well, um, I would love to, but I’m actually just here in town to pick up a few ingredients for Angel’s favorite salad tonight, and I was going to go home for the night.” “Please, Fluttershy, this is very important!” Twilight protested! “But I….” The yellow mare began, but to no avail. “Pleaseeee! I really need to talk to you girls tonight,” throwing much emphasis on the urgency of her request. Fluttershy could see that Twilight really needed her friends. It was etched in every expression the pony made. After some quick and decisive thought, the yellow Pegasus agreed to track down Rainbow and Rarity. Angel was not going to be happy with her tonight. “Thank you, Fluttershy. See you in an hour then,” Twilight bid her friend adieux. She dashed back in the house and summoned Spike to the door, “C’mon Spike, we’re going to go get AJ and Pinkie. We need to tell them what’s going on around here.” Who knows, perhaps a few fresh perspectives on the ordeal would serve them all some good. After all, they were the Elements of Harmony; surely they could figure something out together. Twilight and Spike decided it would be quicker if they split up, so the purple unicorn tore off in the direction of sugary sweetness while Spike hustled his way to the farm as fast as his stubby legs would carry him. An hour soon had passed. Twilight and Pinkie were the first to arrive back to the library. They sat at the kitchen table nibbling on the tasty pastries the Cakes had generously provided when they overheard Twilight mention the six of them getting together this evening. Pinkie could tell that something was wrong. This wasn’t going to be a normal gathering and certainly not a slumber party, although she had packed her balloons and confetti just in case. Not that the cupcakes weren’t delicious, but Twilight had no appetite. She had a lot to explain tonight and the gravity of the situation had her stomach on edge. She felt as though she might be sick. “So, Pinkie, how have you been?” Twilight asked, breaking the awkward silence. “Oh, you know same old, same old. Been babysitting a lot for Mr. and Mrs. Cake! This month is the Big Bombshell Bamboozle Dessert Competition in Fillydelphia! They’ve been super duper excited about it, and the cake is even more scrump-diddly-umptious than the MMM! And I know you remember how amazingly amazing THAT was!” The ecstatic pink pony ranted excitedly, exploding with pent up vivaciousness. The ponies giggled playfully reminiscing about the crazy train ride they had all embarked on, transporting the Cakes’ delicious marvel to a similar dessert competition in Canterlot. It felt good to laugh, thought Twilight. She really should have come to her friends sooner with her troubles; a valuable lesson in friendship, indeed. She should write a letter to the princess about the inspiring revelation. Not that she would get a reply…. Soon there came a knock at the door, and a flood of ponies poured into the library like water bursting through a dam. Good. Everypony was accounted for, Twilight thought looking upon the colorful group as they entered. “Thanks everyone for coming over on such short notice,” The purple unicorn began, removing herself from her seat at the table to greet her beloved friends. “Aw shucks, Twilight, y’all know better than ta make a fuss over somthin’ like this,” the orange coated earth pony said in her rustic accent, “Now how ‘bout y’all get ta tellin’ us what’s got your tail in a knot, Sugarcube.” “Yeah, cuz you’ve been like, cooped up in here for over a week,” The rainbow-maned filly chimed. Had it really been a week already? Wow. “Yes, Darling I must say, we’ve all been a bit worried about you. When Fluttershy said you needed to talk to us we came just as fast as we could,” The brilliant white unicorn added, elegantly brushing her glistening purple curls that framed her gorgeous face from her sight. “So what’s up?” Pinkie questioned, having also gotten up to stand beside her friend.   Twilight smiled with a nod. She was so grateful to have such incredible friends. They would do anything for her and her for them. She had missed them dearly this past week. She realized that now more than ever. She drew a deep breath, adorning a look of grave seriousness and began the story of her trip to Zecora’s and the events that followed. She described the zebra’s dreams in avid detail, effectively sending cold chills down the backs of everypony, including herself. Reminiscing the day brought the ominous feeling back into the pit of Twilight’s stomach. She wouldn’t be able to stomach a meal for a week. She went on to describe the letters she had written to the princess about the predicted premonition, and how no matter how urgent the scripts were, no reply had been received. “And what’s worse,” Twilight almost whispered, staring at the crumbled remains of a once beautiful pastry, “I fear that something might have happened to the princess. Why else wouldn’t she reply to my letters?” She concluded, twisting her face in a miserable grimace. The rest of the Mane Six gawked at the purple unicorn with expressions of shock and awe. “Now hold on now, Twilight, we don’t know for sure that somethin’ bad has happened to the princess,” AJ spoke up reassuringly, wrapping a hoof around her friend. Twilight smiled halfheartedly and touched her hoof to Applejack’s. “Ah’m sure she’s just been really busy with her royal duties n’ all. It ain’t nothin’ to worry about til’ it’s somethin’ to worry about, hun.” “Yes, I must agree with Applejack, Darling, perhaps you’re reading a bit too much into this.” Rarity chimed in, adding to Applejack’s embrace with a silky hug of her own. Catching a glint of anger in Twilight’s eyes, the white unicorn realized that her message wasn’t conveyed the way she had intended, “I am not saying all this isn’t real, Twilight, just that we shouldn’t speculate on the princess being in danger simply because she has not been responding to your letters.” “Yeah, I mean there has to be about a gazillion things that Princess Celestia has to do this time of year with the Grand Galloping Gala right around the corner,” Rainbow added encouragingly. Twilight wanted to protest. She could feel fire licking at the back her throat, sapping what little moisture was there, but thought it best not to rustle up unnecessary contestation with her friends. ‘They are here to help,’ she reminded herself. ‘All of this is just a lot to take in. They haven’t been living with this foretelling for the past week like I have.’ “Maybe you’re right,” the purple coated mare breathed, “but I just don’t know what else to do. Zecora really believes this is all going to come true, and soon.” The mares all sat and pondered the happenings for a while. It could have been minutes, but it sure felt like hours were passing as they discussed the issue at hoof. Nothing conclusive could be decided amongst them. There just seemed to be too much missing from the equation, variables and unknown bits that prevented the mares from being able to decide what course of action to take. It was beginning to seem as hopeless as before. A sweet, timid voice rose up from the discord, “Um, Twilight.” “What is it, Fluttershy?” Twilight replied, surprised to finally hear the Pegasus speak up. “Well, um, since you said Zecora is really worried about all this, maybe we should all go see her. You know, um, that is, if you want to?” This made perfect sense. Why hadn’t she thought of that? It was so obvious. For all she knew, Zecora could have gained more knowledge on the fortune since she had seen her last. “That’s a great idea, Fluttershy!” “Mhmm!” The others agreed. “Well that settles it then! We’ll go to Zecora’s hut and hopefully find some answers!” Twilight beamed, a rising determination brewing inside her, hot and bubbling. The band of fillies packed a few saddlebags with a few necessities and hurriedly made their way from Twilight’s home in the direction of the Everfree Forest. Twilight called out to Spike over her shoulder, “See ya in a little while, Spike! We’re going to Zecora’s to hopefully find out more about all of this mumbo jumbo!” Her words fell upon deaf ears though; the little dragon was fast asleep, curled into a ball on his bed. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Not long after the girls had left on their journey to the zebra’s hut, the baby dragon was writhing in his bed. His insides were set ablaze and dank perspiration dripped from his every pore. His clawed fingers gripped at his bloated belly, trying to tear the fire from within his core. In his plight, he rolled off the bed, crashing hard onto the wooden floor with a loud thud. Shoulder now aching as well, the dragon crawled his way to the curving steps on his belly. He had reached the first descending step when it happened: a great eruption blasted its way from his mouth in a puff of black smoke and ruby red flames. The blast had caused him to recoil harshly, forcing him to lose his balance even on his hands and knees, and he spiraled down the bending staircase, landing squarely on his back and aching from the fall. Spike groaned in pain, pinching his eyes shut to fight back tears. He opened an eye warily, looking up into the plume of smoke that now shrouded the entire upper level of the house. Through the smog, he could make out flecks of burning embers, cascading like butterflies as they transmuted to ash. A burnt piece of parchment fluttered down slowly through the dark haze, its edgings all singed and blackened from the flames. The scripture landed lightly on the dragon’s belly, but the words etched onto the parchment in shimmering crimson landed on him like a meteor, crushing him solemnly in their wake. In the elegant swirls of Celestia’s magical script the letter delivered the gravest of news…. Twilight, I write to you now with great fear in my heart. I suspect my previous letters were intercepted. Zecora’s foreboding truth is real. There is nothing we can do to interject with the tidings of this great evil. I haven’t much time. They are already upon the castle. Do not make your way to Canterlot, my most faithful student. The capital has fallen. Run. The Elements of Harmony must remain or all hope is lost. Run and hide my student. I will come for you. Remember your training as it will serve you well. Until we meet again…. Princess Celestia   Spike ripped himself from the floor and tore open the door, calling for Twilight and the others, but it was too late. They were long gone; into the forest, and into the hands of the prophecy. A glimmering red star burning with rage above the canopies of the woods burst, showering Equestria in crimson hues as it cast its malevolent radiance upon the land, sky, and seas…. “….Blood light will shower land and sea, Drowning peace and Harmony….”