//------------------------------// // The Sacrifice of a Damned Friend // Story: Equestria's chain of conflicts // by Dranz_89 //------------------------------// "No matter how fast I run, how far, there's just no escape. I hid between Canterlot's alleys, but they seem to know where I am. Princess Cadance tried to protect me, but the darkness swallowed her in no time, then, it swallowed the whole city, the princess became one of them. One by one, ponies were vanished into darkness, and were turned into dark ponies, some of them just disappeared, maybe they were the luckiest ones. Why King Sombra had to appear now?" "Pssst! Diamond Tiara, over here!" A dark silhouette appeared from an alley close to Diamond Tiara, she had a familiar voice. The earth pony heard some steps getting close around the corner, and without thinking she rushed to the alley, and then, Diamond Tiara and the strange pegasus went inside a large box, when the dark ponies came to look for Diamond Tiara, they didn't suspect and passed by. "Ditzy Doo? Is that you?" Diamond Tiara tried to identify the familiar silhouette, apparently, she was right. "What are you doing here?" "These weird black crystals started poping out from the ground back in Ponyville, I came here for some help, but it looks like Canterlot is in worse shape." "What?! And what about the ponies in Ponyville?" Diamond Tiara's question was answered by a depressed sigh, soon afrer that, they were found by the dark ponies who changed their form into changelings who took away Ditzy Doo and Diamond Tiara. Meanwhile, Foskiá was sure he had victory guaranteed, waves of darkness and light, pushed the ponies and the dragons back, all the weak creatures were unable to fight, his white side became completely dark, his eyes' sclera turned green and his iris turned red, a sinister laughter echoed all across the Badlands, Foskiá was consumed by King Sombra's dark powers. But his victory was cut short when Princess Celestia's eyes and horn gleamed as she used her magic, the sun raised again, and suddenly, it launched a strong ray at Foskiá. The sunlight burned the dark dragon wherever he moved. "THOU HATH CHOSEN THE WORST TIME TO COME AND ANNOY US!" Princess Celestia exclaimed, "WE ARE IN AN AWFUL MOOD! HOW DARE YOU BACKSTAB US? THOU SHALT PAY FOR THY INSOLENCE!" The solar ray grew stronger. "The princess is out of control!" Pinkie Pie showed some concern upon watching the princess' reaction. "Can't you do something, Twilight?" "I'm sorry, Pinkie." Twilight wasn't worried to see the princess, but a little scared. "When the princess gets mad, there's no way out. She tries her best to not show it, but even she has a limit. Trust me, it's better if we stay out of this one." "Princess Celestia! Sister!" Shining Armor with Applejack suddenly arrived giving his report, only to find out that the circumstances have changed. "We saw a huge meteor! so we... what the..." "What in tarnation is going on here?" Applejack questioned as clueless as the general. "Applejack! Shining Armor! I'm so glad you're fine!" All the ponies reunited together and Twilight explained the situation. "King Sombra is back. He has Equestria under his power, and this dragon was under his orders from the very beginning." "WHAT?!" Applejack and Shining Armor both gasped in shock. "But what about Fluttershy?" Applejack asked. "Foskiá just used me and the other dragons for his own selfish purposes." Fluttershy answered and covered her face with her mane. "I'm sorry... I caused all of this." "Yeah, partly, you did." Rainbow Dash stated. "But that overly grown lizard is no match for our princess." Suddenly, Foskiá summoned dark clouds to cover the sun, he was impressed by the tremendous power that Princess Celestia could release. Upon regaining his breath, the dark dragon flew away trying to flee, but the alicorn teleported blocking his escape. The princess used a gravity spell on the dragon wich made him fall, he tried to fly but his efforts were futile, the spell had disabled his wings. "I have the total power over darkness. You will need more than this to defeat me!" Foskiá claimed before covering everything in darkness, everything was pitch black. Princess Celestia used a spell to illuminate, but the light only reached a small radius. Foskiá attacked the princess from the dark hitting her several times, until Princess Celestia fell to the ground. "No... Princess Celestia." Twilight rushed to help the princess get up. "Are you okay?" "That will not do it." Lednik commented. "As one of you said, your princess is out of control, she is powerful, yes. But she also looks desperate. Maybe... scared." "Scared?" Said Rainbow Dash. "No way! That guy is the one who must be scared of the princess!" "It's the truth, Captain Rainbow Dash." Princess Celestia frowned. "I've always had fear of the dragons, it's a phobia that I did never overcome. Even now, it's not rage what is making me fight back, it's fear. That's why I didn't want to share Equestria with the dragons, it's because I was scared. Fluttershy was right, I brought all of this myself." Foskiá was ready to finish the princess, he laughed in relief because he barely survived the princess' raging attacks, "Ha ha ha, Impressing, is not it? I can not believe it myself, you are even more powerful than Fluttershy said. But I prevailed, because of the terror you feel for me. Farewell, ponies!" But before he could launch his final attack, a purple mist appeared between him and the princess, and quickly turned into an alicorn. It was Nightmare Moon, and without saying a word, she protected Princess Celestia and Twilight with a barrier. The dark clouds that covered the sun faded by Nightmare Moon's magic, and then, she healed Princess Celestia's wounds. Foskiá threw his dark fire at Nightmare Moon, but she changed into the purple mist again, and took control over the dark fire, throwing it back at Foskiá. "Why? Why my dark powers do not affect you?" Foskiá desperately wondered. "You're not the only one with dark powers." Nightmare Moon smiled. "But unlike you, the moon is not only darkness, it reflects the light from the sun." She, then, stood beside Princess Celestia, and with a combined spell, the dragon was hit, without even the chance to scream, Foskiá faded into thin air, he was gone. Nightmare Moon, then turned at the rest of the dragons. "Am I a threat big enough to you, now?" "You... give her back to me!" Princess Celestia stopped Nightmare Moon. "Give me back my sister if you don't want to be sent to the moon again?" "Wait!" Sweetie Belle shouted and teleported in front of Princess Celestia, she then took a closer look at Nightmare Moon for a few seconds, then she smiled. "Princess Luna? Is it really you? The real you?" Nightmare Moon removed the helmet from her head, and smiled at the young unicorn. "Luna? What happened to you?" Princess Celestia also took a closer look at Nightmare Moon. "Thanks to you and your friends, Sweetie Belle." There was not a single difference, it was Princess Luna wearing the armor of Nightmare Moon. "I finally accepted that I will never be like my sister, I was afraid of my old self and my old power, so I played it safe, and acted like my sister would. But when you taught me I was wrong and that I should be myself. So I wondered who I was. Then, the answer came by looking at myself through the mirror. Envy turned me into Nightmare Moon, and released my true potential, but I'm not envious anymore." "We were meant to rule together, sister." Nightmare Moon turned a smile to Princess Celestia. "Would you accept my friendship?" Princess Celestia smiled back, and both sisters hugged each other, even if it was strange for the rest of the ponies to see Princess Celestia hugging Nightmare Moon. "Sorry for interrupting, your highness." Shining Armor said. "But we need to do something about King Sombra, Cadance is there." "You're right, General. There is no time to waste." Princess Celestia was ready to command again. "We shall return inmediately, and save Equestria from him." "Excuse us, Princess Celestia." Skyclaw talked directly to the princess. "Your student spared my life, I am willing to help her save your kingdom, and I will make Lednik and Quetzalcóatl help too." "Will you lend us your strength, Skyclaw?" Twilight asked. "Thank you..." "Dragons always pay their debts, besides, Fluttershy lend us her strength to us, too." So, ponies riding on the Sky Wanderer, and dragons flew together to Canterlot. Dark crystals were sprouting on the city's streets, the mountain where Canterlot was built, was surrounded by a dark aura, and all the ponies were turned into dark ponies, fighting each other, consumed by hatred, and those few who weren't turned into dark ponies were chased down, consumed by fear. "As you can see is worst than just King Sombra in Equestria." Nightmare Moon stated. "This is what would had happened to the Crystal Empire if Spike would have failed to protect the Crystal Heart." "But we do have the Crystal Heart, don't we?" Spike wondered upon seeing the horrible shape of the city. "No... The look of the city is proof that the Crystal Heart is already under King Sombra's power." Princess Celestia answered and turned to Twilight with a serious face. "The only way to confront King Sombra is with the Elements of Harmony." "But princess..." Fluttershy then interrupted. "I betrayed you. After all I've caused, do you still trust me?" "That doesn't depend on me, Fluttershy." Princess Celestia answered. "That depends on the rest of the Elements." "Of course we trust you." Rainbow Dash responded. "You were just making honor to your Element of Kindness, our elements conflicted back there, but you're still one of the Elements of Harmony, you will always be part of the team." All of her friends agreed with Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie said we still love you. "Very well" Twilight, performed a spell to summon the Elements of Harmony from her library, all the elemens appeared in a flash on each pony, her friends were amazed. "What a convenient spell, huh? It makes everything easier." Lednik raised its altitude for a few seconds and then came back. "This King Sombra is like nothing I have seen before. His power is spreading over the land even as we speak." "It does not look good, right Lednik?" Skyclaw laughed smoothly alongside with Quetzal. "That is a joke I am going to ignore." Lednik was a bit annoyed. "Ha ha ha. It WAS a good joke." Pinkie also laughed, and after a brief moment. "But I didn't understand it." "Lednik is blind." Quetzal explained the pink pony. "Perhaps you did not notice, but he is always looking somewhere else, he can only see the auras of the creatures that are near to him, their power, and sometimes, how they feel." "Oh my..." Rarity gasped. "So that's why you avoided eye contact with me all the time, and that explained why you didn't know Spike was a dragon, because you couldn't see him." When the creatures finally reached Canterlot Palace, they got inside the throne room from the balcony, King Sombra was sit on the throne as if he was waiting for them. "Ahhh, Princesses." He greeted, standing up. "What a pleasant surprise, I am honored by your visit." "Where is Cadance?" Shining Armor jumped forward ready for battle. "What did you do to her?" "Shining Armor!" Princess Cadance came in the throne room from the front door. "Cadance! You're safe!" Shining Armor met his wife and held her hoof. "But where are my manners?" King Sombra mocked the ponies. "Allow me to welcome you, like you never were before." King Sombra attacked the princesses with dark beams.Suddenly, Foskiá crashed through the walls and attacked King Sombra, the rest of the dragons also attacked them without hesitating. "You useless minion, you were supposed to be destroyed by Luna and Celestia" King Sombra was surprised, and dodged the dragon's attack. "You had them on a silver plate, and still, you failed." "I escaped using my magic! You deceived me to do the dirty work for you." Foskiá's dark colors turned completely white, illuminating the whole room. "I do not need your power, you will not control me anymore!" "I'm sorry, but I differ that." King Sombra used a spell, and then he turned into a shadow to flee, and the princesses chased him. But Foskiá went on a rampage, and the rest of the dragons tried to stop him with the help of Shining Armor and Guardian Sword, but Foskiá knocked all the dragons and the ponies, then, he jumped to attack the first pony he saw, Fluttershy. "Foskiá stop!" Fluttershy said, and the dragon stopped. "Fluttershy... I can not control myself." Foskiá was using all of his strength to hold himself back. "You must... stop me... Please do not... let me hurt you..." He went on a rampage again, but Fluttershy dodged the attack. Lednik. Quetzal and Skyclaw held Foskiá's claws with their mouths, Fluttershy took some distance and charged at Skyclaw's head, I am so sorry, Foskiá. Please forgive me, tears were dropping from Fluttershy's eyes as she hit Foskiá as hard as she could. "Fluttershy... Thank you..." Foskiá fell in front of Fluttershy, he could barely breath, and blood was pouring from the wound of the hit, passing through his right eye. "No... What have I done..." Fluttershy started crying on Foskiá's wound. It was the first time she killed a creature. "I am so, so sorry, I am supposed to take care of creatures, not to hurt them... Please forgive me..." "Fluttershy, do not cry for me... I am a traitor, I let him control me... I wished to be powerful enough to defeat the alicorns... And make Equestria a land of dragons... but that wish turned into greed when King Sombra gave me power... I am the one who must sorry... Please, forget everything about me, forget my whole existence... that is the only way to forgive those who deserve no forgiveness." Foskiá finally closed his eyes, and his breathing stopped. "How can you ask me that?!" Flutershy screamed in tears. "I'll never forget you... I'll never ever forget you... I could never..." "Flutters... I understand how you feel." Rainbow Dash tried to console her. "But..." "No, you don't understand!" Flutterhy shouted at Rainbow Dash. "You are a soldier! Killing is your job, you're used to it. It's easy for you!" "Shut up!" Rainbow Dash punched Fluttershy and made her stop shouting. "Do you think it's easy for me? Do you think I enjoy it? It's never easy! It doesn't matter how many times you do it, taking other creatures' lives never gets easier. It's not something you can get used to." "I... I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash. I wasn't thinking." Fluttershy cleaned her tears. "Everything Foskiá did was to help me, but him... King Sombra... He deceived him..." "SISTER!" A scream sounded from the top of one of the towers, after a surprising gasp, the ponies and dragons rushed to the tower's top, and they found Nightmare Moon lying unconcious on the floor, and Princess Celestia was trapped in King Sombra's shadowy spell. "Girls! Formation! Now!" Twilight stepped in front of King Sombra, and her friends behind her. "Let her go!" However, Princess Celestia's eyes turned green, the same eyes as King Sombra's, her white coat turned into a dark velvet color little by little from her feet to her head, and her rainbow colored mane turned red, Princess Celestia was another victim of King Sombra, she was turned into a dark pony. The Dark Princess Celestia used a spell, sealing the Elements of Harmony, and so, the Harmony Spell was stopped, leaving Twilight and her friends vulnerable. "What? What just happened?" Pinkie Pie touched her necklace. "Why didn't it work?" "Celestia's magic is now on my side." King Sombra smiled, and caressed Princess Celestia's chin. "This is a spell she had ready just in case the Elements of Harmony would be used for evil." "You... First Foskiá and now the princess!" Fluttershy rushed and attacked King Sombra, but she was knocked back by a dark beam that was shot from King Sombra. Skyclaw, Quetzal and Lednik tried to protect her, but it was trap, one by one, dragons were all trapped by a shadow who pulled them down to the floor, until they were completely swallowed. "Can you see how powerless you are against me?" King Sombra mocked Twilight. "Not even Celestia or her sister can stop me now that I control the Crystal Heart, I have already won." "Not if we have something to say." Twilight defied King Sombra with Moondancer beside her, showing the determination in her eyes. "I see. You must be Celestia's most faithful student." King sombra smiled at her, he turned into a shadow and appeared in front of her. "You caused me a lot of trouble back then, you know? But that's fine, I feel no rencor towards you. In fact, I feel pity for you." "I don't need your pity." Twilight said, and shot a light beam at him, but he dodged easily and appeared behind her. "You have so much potential and energy, but they are all wasted and held back by Princess Celestia." King Sombra started walking around her. "I know. I have been were you are, devoted to your princess, learning everything, as she holds you under her wing. Millenia ago, I once was Celestia's most faithful student, I learned everything about pony magic, until one day, she put me to the test to advance to the next level of my studies. In the Crystal Empire I found greater magic, even greater than Celestia's, I discovered that hate and fear enhance the magic, and allows to control weaker minds. So I took down the Crystal Queen and became the new king. And you, Twilight, you can be as powerful as I am, you can master even more magic than Celestia, if you accept me as your new teacher." "I would never study your ways of magic." Twilight answered, confronting King Sombra face to face. "It is a shame, Twilight. Your power is beyond mine was, when I was your age. That's why I can't let you go." King Sombra summoned the shadows and darkness was starting to surround Twilight, but suddenly, Twilight was pushed aside by Moondancer. "Twilight! Run!" Moondancer said as she was being swallowed by the darkness. "Moondancer! No!" Twilight offered her hoof to Moondacer, but she used her magic to push Twilight and her friends away. "Why do you do this?" "Don't waste this chance!" Moondancer smiled at Twilight while being covered by the shadows. "You can't use the Elements of Harmony, but there is another magic you can use. The Rainbow of Light is in my house! But to use it you will need...." Before Moondancer could finish the sentence, her whole self was completely banished into darkness. "This way, everypony!" Princess Cadance opened a portal and the ponies fled, and Shining Armor and Guardian Sword carried the downed Princess Luna on their backs. They passed through the portal before the darkness swallowed them all. The ponies appeared in the Crystal Caves below Canterlot, the place was filled with survivors helping each other. Every face they saw showed hopeless and sadness as Princess Cadance guided them through the caves. "Cadance, can I ask you something?" Twilight asked. "Of course. What is it, sister?" Cadance turned her attention at Twilight. "How dumb do you think I am?" Twilight's face turned serious, and everypony else gasped at her. "Twilight! What does that mean?!" Shining Armor frowned at Twilight, but he was ignored and Twilight insisted. "I don't fall for the same trick twice, Queen of Changelings!" Twilight said, and upon hearing this, Princess Cadance was surrounded by a green flare that completely covered her body, and when the flames faded, the Queen of Changelings was there, instead of Princess Cadance. "As clever as always, Twilight." The Queen of Changeling showed her true form, and some of the ponies changed into changelings as well. "How did you know it was me?" "I just realized, how could King Sombra take over Equestria without defeating Cadance first." Twilight answered. "But more importantly, what are you up to? Why did you used Cadance's form?" "Would you had trusted me if I showed you my true self?" "That's a good point." Spike added. "I woudln't had, but why did you help us?" "Because I asked her to." Princess Luna woke up, and began to explain. "I was ready to fight the dragons, but a dark cloud appeared on the Crystal Empire, it wasn't a storm cloud, it was King Sombra raising from the ashes. I visited Chrysalis to ask for her help." "And you agreed? just like that? Do you expect us to believe that?" Applejack skeptically asked Chrysalis. "Yes, I did." Chrysalis nodded with a serious face. "All I had to hear was the name of King Sombra, and I accepted Nightmare Moon's offer. Because I used to be the ruler of the Crystal Empire, I was the Crystal Queen. I joined King Sombra to dethrone Celestia and Luna, but he betrayed me, and I was turned into this, because of him." "You were the Crystal Queen?!" Rarity shocked and put a serious face. "That hideous King Sombra, uses everypony and everydragon to do the dirty work for him! He... must... pay..." "Right! And we need the Rainbow of Light. Just like Moondancer said." Twilight stated. "Can we reach anywhere in the city from this cave?" "Of course." Chrysalis gave a confident smile. After some indications from Chrysalis, the mane six were found their way to Moondancer's house, it was a big mansion with a rose garden. It was filled with dark crystals and the house was all shattered, the colors and life of the place were drained away by darkness. "Well... it's a... a lovely mansion." Rarity said, while contemplating the garden. "I didn't know she had such a high standard." "It's just King Sombra's decoration that makes the house look like this. Moondancer's mother was a heroine." Twilight closed her eyes and began to lecture her friends. "There is a story of three witches that tried to destroy the country of Ponyland, that is, what we now know as the town of Hollow Shades, but Moondancer's mother used the famous Rainbow of Light and saved the day. The Rainbow of Light has been in Moondancer's family since then." After walking inside the mansion while Twilight kept lecturing endlessly, she suddenly stopped upon seeing the Rainbow of Light, a heart shaped pendant, Twilight grabbed and hung it on her neck. "It doesn't look like a rainbow to me." Rainbow Dash raised one of her eyebrows. "It's not the pendant, it's what's inside it." Twilight answered. "Twilight, if you're watching this, it means Equestria is in great danger..." A hologram of Moondancer appeared from the Rainbow of Light's pendant. "Princess Celestia asked me to use the Rainbow of Light in case the Elements of Harmony can't be used, but if something happened to me, I could choose another pony of my trust to use it instead of me. I choosed you, Twilight..." "Wow... you are so clever, Moondancer." Pinkie Pie talked to the hologram, but she was ignored. "Pinkie, holograms can't hear you, they are pre-recorded messages." Twilight explained. "And be quiet I can't hear." "Wherever there is light, there must be darkness. That's why the power of the Rainbow of Light is not complete. First, you must find it's counterpart, the Rainbow of Darkness, but nopony knows where it is, not even Princess Celestia knows that, but she told me about one pony that may know. The Observer." The hologram, then, banished. "The Observer?" Applejack wondered. "Who in all of the hooves in Equestria is that?" "That's the case, The Observer is not in Equestria. It's a banished pony." Twilight closed her eyes. "But she banished herself, nopony knows her real name, nopony knows why she left, she just did, and lives in an observatory, always watching the stars. They say, that she knows everything that there is to know." "Alright... she's a mystery and she knows a lot. Maybe she can tell us where the Dark Rainbow is..." Rainbow Dash frowned, tired of listening to Twilight's tale. "Where do we find her?" Twilight watched the far away snow mountains through the window. "Even beyond the Frozen North."