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

Big Macintosh was hard at work when Pinkie Pie appeared at the edge of the field. She bounced over rows of crops as she approached him, but her face didn’t reflect her usual bouncy personality. Upon reaching the red stallion she flopped down in the freshly tilled soil, rested her chin on her hooves, and looked dolefully up at Big Macintosh.
“Hi Mackie,” she greeted him, and then turned her gaze back to the ground.
“Pinkie Pie, you look sadder than a snowpony in summer,” Big Macintosh commented. “What’s gotten you so down in the dumps?”
“I miss Applejack, Mackie,” Pinkie replied. “And Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy and Twilight and Rarity and Spike…” She sighed. “You know, this might be hard to believe, but sometimes it’s not easy to laugh… I don’t think I can even sing about it.”
Oh this is serious, Big Macintosh realized. He hesitated for a moment, and then leaned down and awkwardly nuzzled the top of Pinkie’s head. Pinkie looked up again and gave a small smile.
“Would it cheer ya up to talk about this rebellion we’re planning?” Big Macintosh asked.
“Maybe…” Pinkie said doubtfully.
Big Macintosh sat down next to Pinkie Pie. “Well, what’ve we done so far?” he asked. “We’ve spread the word, haven’t we?”
Pinkie nodded. Once Caramel and Lucky Clover had brought back news about how the unicorns had come to view Earth ponies, it wasn’t difficult to turn the Ponyville Earth ponies against Styxon. It was especially easy to win over the formerly elite ponies that had been ousted from their homes in Canterlot.
“But what else can we do?” Pinkie asked glumly. “It’s not like we have any power. We’re just dirty ponies that aren’t good for anything except work.”
“Exactly!” Big Macintosh exclaimed. Pinkie looked questioningly at him. “Uh, I mean, that ain’t true. But that’s our advantage! The unicorns in Canterlot rely on us Earth ponies fer food. Deprive ‘em o’ that, and they’ll realize we’re more powerful than they give us credit fer.”
“Would that really work?” Pinkie asked.
Big Macintosh shrugged. “It would get ‘em to notice us.”
Pinkie grinned mischievously. “Then let’s do it.” She sprang to her feet and leaned in close to Big Macintosh like she was about to tell him a secret. “By the way, Fluttershy really likes you,” she whispered. “She’s just too shy to say so.” Returning to her normal voice she said, “See ya, Mackie!” and bounded away, leaving Big Macintosh alone in the field, a smile forming on his face.


***


After escaping from Canterlot, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Thunderlane had decided to head in the direction of Appleloosa, thinking that would be the first place Applejack would go after leaving Ponyville. 
“Oh no,” Fluttershy realized aloud, “I forgot to thank the rats for helping us escape.” The three Pegasi were huddled around a campfire they had started in a small, rocky hollow in the desert, where they had decided to spend the night.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “I think we all had other things on our minds,” she scoffed.
“I never want to see another rat again,” Thunderlane said with a shudder.
Fluttershy stared into the flames for a moment. “We were really lucky to escape though,” she continued. “I didn’t think we were going to make it.”
“You know, I think we only managed to escape because Styxon Stones let us,” Rainbow Dash said, her expression grim. “If he really wanted to catch us, he would have. But he didn’t want the unicorns in Canterlot to see how vicious he really is.”
Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash, surprised and disconcerted by this insight. “So you’re saying he’d rather have the public trust him than fear him.”
Rainbow Dash nodded. “For now.”

A few minutes later, the three Pegasi began to get ready to go to sleep. Thunderlane curled up next to Fluttershy, who pulled away from him.
“Uh, Thunderlane,” Fluttershy began tentatively, “I really am sorry if anything I did gave the impression that I’m interested in you, but…there’s already a stallion in my life…and I don’t want you to get the wrong idea… Sorry.”
“There’s already a stallion in your life?” Rainbow Dash repeated, struggling but failing to hold back a grin.
Fluttershy nodded, putting on as stoic an expression as she could manage.
“Oh,” Thunderlane replied. His face fell and he moved over to the opposite side of the fire, turning away from the other two Pegasi as he curled up to go to sleep.
“Ohh, was I too harsh with him?” Fluttershy asked Rainbow Dash, concerned.
“Thunderlane?” Rainbow Dash snorted. “He’ll be fine. And wow, Fluttershy, first you break into the royal palace in broad daylight and then you turn down Thunderlane?" She looked at Fluttershy for a moment with an expression of newfound respect.
Then Rainbow Dash rolled over and within a minute began to snore.


***


“Spike, would you mind going down to the storeroom to get more parchment for me?” Twilight asked. She and Spike were spending an afternoon together in her quarters, Twilight addressing letters and doing other such tasks for Styxon Stones, Spike trying to occupy himself by reading a book, each day just like the previous one since Spike had arrived in Canterlot. Spike had hoped to spend some time with Rarity now that they were both in Canterlot, but the beautiful white unicorn rarely found time to interact with Twilight, let alone Spike. If she could be seen outside her quarters, it was almost exclusively in the company of Styxon Stones. So with the unavailability of Rarity and the absence of Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie, Spike had little left to do besides hanging out with Twilight, waiting for her to ask some favor of him.
So far he had been unable to discover information on any evil plans of Styxon Stones. Evidence abounded that showed how Earth ponies and Pegasi were being unfairly treated compared to unicorns, but nothing seemed to be enough to convince Twilight or Rarity that Styxon Stones was a tyrant. He’s brainwashed them, Spike kept telling himself as an excuse for their bigoted behavior. He could think of no other plausible explanation.
“Sure, I’d be happy to get that for you,” Spike answered, “but just out of curiosity, couldn’t you teleport and get it yourself?”
“Of course not,” Twilight replied. “You can’t teleport inside the walls of the palace. Styxon has placed an enchantment on the palace to protect the unicorns inside from any magical beast that may try to appear here.”
“Oh,” Spike said. “Have you tried using magic since I got here?”
“I haven’t needed to; there are always ponies to wait on me here."
“Could you try?” Spike asked. “Please?”
Twilight rolled her eyes in exasperation.
“Come on, Twilight,” Spike insisted. “Just do something easy. Try giving me a mustache. Please?”
“Okay, Spike,” Twilight gave in, “but nopony’s going around taking away the unicorns’ magic powers.”
She pointed her horn at Spike, screwed up her face in concentration, and struggled for a few moments to no avail.
Spike had never felt less happy to be right. Twilight looked mildly irritated.
“Twilight…” Spike began.
“I’m just out of practice, that’s all,” Twilight said dismissively, still looking slightly annoyed with herself. “And it’s possible I’m coming down with a cold.”
“What does it take to convince you that Styxon Stones is—“ Spike burst out, finally fed up with Twilight’s blind faith in the stallion.
“Spike, I don’t want to argue with you,” Twilight interrupted. “I’m Styxon’s number one assistant. Why would he want me to be less effective?”
“Because he—“
“Spike, just get me the parchment, please.”

Grumbling to himself, Spike descended the staircase that led down to the storeroom. Not only was he annoyed by Twilight’s refusal to consider facts, but he was also starting to lose any hope that he would ever make her see sense.
Spike arrived at the dim room that housed the spare office supplies and scanned the dusty shelves and closets for parchment. He was just beginning to consider what sorts of drastic actions he might have to take to expose Styxon’s true nature when he heard the sound of hoofsteps approaching from the end of the hallway outside the storeroom. Soon after that, he began to make out the softer sound of padded paws coming from the same direction.
The hoofsteps sped up to a trot.
Spike heard a second set of paws approach from the other end of the hall, and the hoofsteps slowed to a halt.
“Get in,” a voice growled. The door to the storeroom opened and Styxon Stones entered reluctantly, followed by two hulking Diamond Dogs. Thinking quickly, Spike hid behind a shelf before Styxon or either of the Dogs noticed him.
“We want to know,” the smaller of the two Dogs began, “when you plan on upholding your end of the bargain.”
“I’ve been giving you gems, Rover,” Styxon replied. “As many as you wanted.”
“We don’t need any more gems!” Rover barked impatiently. “When are you going to give us Ponyville?”
Spike got a sudden idea and hurriedly searched the shelves nearby until he found a tape recorder and a stack of cassette tapes. This is too perfect, he thought. He managed to load a tape and hit “record” in time to catch the end of Styxon’s answer.
“Soon, soon,” Styxon replied evasively. “Now is not the time for the coup. The Earth ponies are too strong. They might fight back. Just give me a little more time to get things ready. When the opportune moment arrives, I will let you know.”
The larger Diamond Dog turned to Rover and said, “I told you! He doesn’t want to give up the village!” He loomed over the unicorn and growled, “Power gone to your head, pony?”
“Fido, relax,” Rover admonished the other Diamond Dog. Turning to Styxon, he said, “See that you do spend your time ‘getting things ready.’ I don’t want to find out you’re wasting time chasing after more runaway Pegasi.”
“Never question how I run my kingdom!” Styxon hissed. “I am stronger than you Diamond Dogs could ever imagine! The entire weak-minded city of Canterlot has fallen under my spell! As long as the ponies trust me, I have the combined power of hundreds if not thousands of unicorns!”
“And what of the white pony?” Rover asked, ignoring Styxon’s outburst. “Miss…Oddity?”
Rarity! Spike thought.
“The white pony means nothing to me,” Styxon asserted. “I simply used a relationship with a common unicorn to win the trust of the other unicorns of Ponyville.”
Spike curled his claws into fists. He longed to jump out from behind the shelf and teach Styxon a lesson, but stayed put.
“If the white pony turns out to be a distraction from what we’ve discussed, then we’ll be back,” Rover snarled. “You have three days to give us Ponyville, or else all deals are off.” With that, the two Diamond Dogs slunk out of the room, not breaking eye contact with Styxon until they were out the door. Styxon remained in the storeroom, muttering to himself for several moments after that, and then he left as well.
Spike pressed the “stop” button.

“Did you get the parchment?” Twilight asked as Spike rushed into her quarters.
“Oops. No, I forgot the parchment,” Spike answered.
“Well, what were you doing down there for the past—“
“Forget the parchment, Twilight,” Spike interrupted. “Listen to this!” He set the tape recorder on the table and pressed “play.”
“Now is not the time for the coup,” Styxon’s voice came from the machine.
“Spike, what is this?” Twilight asked.
“I overheard Styxon talking to a couple Diamond Dogs,” Spike answered. “Shh, listen!”
“I told you! He doesn’t want to give up the village!” said Fido.
“Wait, Spike,” Twilight broke in again, “Styxon promised to give Ponyville to the Diamond Dogs?”
Spike nodded.
When Styxon finished his rant, Twilight pressed “pause,” squeezed her eyes shut, and held her front hooves up to her head, as if there was an internal battle raging in her mind. Spike waited patiently while Twilight vigorously shook her head. Finally looking up weakly at Spike, she asked, “I was under Styxon’s spell?”
Spike nodded.
Twilight’s eyes widened. “Did I really say those things about Earth ponies?” She threw her front legs around Spike and cried into his shoulder. “Oh Spike! I’m sorry I never listened to you!”
“Well, you were under a spell…” Spike said, resisting the temptation to say, “I told you so!” and patting what he could reach of Twilight’s mane.  “Hold on… You’re not under the spell anymore! Maybe that means you can do magic now!”
Twilight drew back from Spike, her hooves still on his shoulders. She concentrated for a moment and a mustache appeared on Spike’s face with a pop. “You’re right, Spike!” she exclaimed. Spike began to stroke his mustache in admiration, but all too soon Twilight caused it to disappear once more.
“Spike, we’ve got to tell Rarity!” she said urgently, and she and Spike went to go find Rarity, Spike thinking for the first time that maybe they had a chance of overthrowing Styxon after all.