//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8 
// Story: The Rise and Fall of Dark Fire and The Elements of Disharmony 
// by Shady pillow 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 8: The End Begins


Night Shadow stood on a cliffside in the Everfree Forest, overlooking the huge plains of Equestria. Looking down from the ledge, he couldn't tell the trees from the bushes due to the height. Looking up he saw the beauty of the full moon. He thought this would be the last thing he'd ever see…

"Twilight hates me, my friends abandon me, my family's leaving me, WHAT MORE CAN YOU TAKE AWAY FROM ME!?" Night Shadow screamed over the land. "Ever since I was born, my life has been a living hell, constantly feeling pain and losing loved ones! I have done nothing to deserve this. WHY… WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME!?" He asked, tears streaming over his eyes.

There was a long pause of silence as rain started to fall over Equestria.

"You think it's just a big joke Celestia, to just toy with somepony's life just because they don't follow your laws! You wanted me to submit to your power by DESTROYING EVERYTHING! I should have known that Twilight was to be your instrument of revenge for finally ending me… and it worked. It actually worked…and now, you can truly say that you've robbed me of every, single, thing that I have ever worked for." He said, approaching closer to the edge of no return.
"It not like they cared about me anyway… I will soon be forgotten by everypony. The only comfort I can give myself now… is that it's all about to end." He stated, taking his first step off of safety and into the depths of darkness.

Just before he met his fate, a red burst of light flung him back away from his doom.

"That's it, huh… you just give up?" The dark voice rang through Night Shadow's head.

"No… not now." Night Shadow begged.

"Throughout the time that I have watched, YOU HAVE BEEN NOTHING BUT A FAILURE! You have stood against your enemies for so long, and now you just give up?! No… I won't have any of it! Three chances I gave you, three times you failed, I believe you struck out. Now, IT'S MY TURN TO SHOW THESE PONIES WHAT TRUE POWER IS!"

"W-what are you doing!?" Night Shadow said, unable to control his right foreleg approaching one of his suppressors.

"WHAT I SHOULD HAVE DONE A LONG TIME AGO!"

Then, using Night Shadow as a puppet, he smashed one of the devices with his hoof.

"No… no… NO!" Night Shadow shouted, eyes bursting with bright red color.

"Now you will watch and witness what could have been yours." The dark voice continued to say.

"I-I'm not like that now, I don't want to hurt others anymore!" Night Shadow pleaded.

"I don't care what you want… I'm going to make everypony that ever hurt you pay for what they've done."

"Stop it… STOP IT!" Night Shadow screamed, trying to control the situation with magic, but realized the aura was red… and not his anymore.

Night Shadow continued to scream out of panic and pain as lightning boomed throughout Equestria and the rain grew heavier. His purple aura burst into a dark red , engulfing the screaming unicorn as he lost all control of his body. This continued for a while until Twilight finally found him. Aware of the situation, she screamed his name to get his attention. Suddenly everything stopped, giving Night Shadow control of himself once more.

"Night Shadow?" Twilight asked, still unsure and with regret in her voice.

Night Shadow slowly turned around to face her, looking darker than normal.

"Twilight… you did this to me." He said before his eyes flashed with red once more as the suppressors burst off of his legs.

Night Shadow let out one last cry before black aura engulfed him again. He exploded with a burst of red light that could have been seen for miles. What stood in the crater was a unicorn with the same features as Night Shadow, but only now… he was black with a dark red mane and tail. His cutie mark resembled a red energy ball surrounded by electricity. When he spoke, it sent shivers down Twilight's spine.

"I must thank you Twilight… for finally freeing me that is. However, that doesn't mean you won't suffer like the rest, I will just save you for last."

Twilight's eyes were now full of tears after realizing that Night Shadow was gone.

"Don't cry Twilight, for soon you will be part of a new era of rule, and you will have front row seats… to the fall of Equestria!" He said, laughing menacingly.

"You can't do this Night Shadow, Celestia and Luna will stop you!" Twilight shouted.

"My name is not Night Shadow anymore, you may address me as Dark Fire, THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS! As for Celestia and Luna, hahahahahaha… let them try to stop me!" He declared, confidently.

"I'm sorry Night Shadow… please; snap out of it, this isn't like you!" Twilight begged.

"You really don't know a thing about us do you? Night Shadow was trying to turn all of you against Celestia and help him defeat her. Don't you see, he was evil to begin with and never cared for any of you." Dark Fire stated.

"I don't believe a word you're saying!" Twilight yelled to him.

"You don't have to, it's not like your opinion matters to anypony."

Silence fell over the two as the rain continued to fall on both of them.

"Now I'm going to prove to all of Equestria that even a demigoddess like Celestia…CAN FALL!"

"I won't let you do this!" Twilight shouted as magic flowed freely from her horn.

"Do it then, try to hurt me!" Dark Fire declared.

Twilight tried to use whatever she could to somehow attack Dark Fire, but underneath all of the evil, she could still see Night Shadow's face, and drooped her head.

"That's what I thought… and if you have any more ideas of rebelling against me, just remember this."

Dark Fire went back to the cliff side that overlooked a huge portion of land and with one flash of light from his horn, destroyed everything with a magical blast of power. Nothing remained but a large crater of dirt and ash. He laughed at his creation before teleporting in an explosion of darkness and fire.

"H-he's completely lost his mind, I have to warn Celestia!" Twilight Shouted before teleporting to Canterlot.




Dark clouds enveloped the skies of Canterlot as the rain and lightning grew stronger and louder with every passing minute. Meanwhile two royal guards stood to watch over the main gate to Celestia's castle. Even under the harsh conditions, they didn't move or speak until dark fog from all directions, started to approach them. When the fog stopped dead in its tracks, the dark unicorn emerged slowly and walked towards the gates until he was two feet from it. The two guards then jumped in his way.

"Hault! Visiting hours are over, stallion. Return to your home or be charged with a fine." One of the guards ordered.

"Oh I'm not here for visiting…I'm here for much more than that." Dark Fire said, chuckling.

"That wasn't a request stallion, leave now or be fined."

"Such harsh punishments for something so little… do you even know who I am!" Dark Fire demanded.

"This is your last chance, leave now or-!"

"Yeah yeah, just one more question, can you open the gate?" Dark Fire asked before grabbing the stallion and throwing him into the golden gate, causing it to swing open. "Thank you very much."

"That's it, you're under arrest!" The other guard stated.

Dark Fire then vanished in a shadowy aura and reappeared, pinning the guard by his throat into a nearby wall.

"Tell your princesses that, just for name's sake, Night Shadow has returned for vengeance!" Dark Fire ordered before flinging the guard into a worm hole.

The guard soon reappeared in Celestia's thrown room, leaving everypony in the room shocked.

"What's the meaning of this!?" Luna demanded.

"There's a mad unicorn outside trying to get in the castle, he said his name was Night Shadow!"

The guards in the room didn't seem to care, but after seeing Celestia's reaction to it, they became worried.

"Guards, prepare to defend the palace!" Celestia ordered as they scrambled to different locations.




Dark Fire slowly trotted in the outer courtyard until reencountering the guard he threw.

"Sweet dreams." He joked before hoofing the guard in the face, knocking him out.

"Come no closer criminal scum!" A guard wearing more distinctive armor declared, standing in front of ten more stallions.

"Oh look, you must be the meet and greet group." Dark Fire mocked.

"Charge!" The guards shouted, running towards him.

Dark Fire laughed at their petty attempt before summoning a huge wall of fire before them, stopping the guards in their tracks. With them distracted, he leaped through the wall, knocking out two guards at once with his hooves. Using his magic, he magnetized the armor of the other eight guards, and pulled them towards him. Punching each one in the muzzle, he made two piles of unconscious stallions. The last guard with distinctive armor backed up a bit out of shock, but was stopped when he bumped into something. Turning around, he saw Dark Fire smiling evilly at him.

"Hey… that's some cool armor you have." Dark Fire complimented.

The stallion gulped nervously.




Inside the castle's main door.


"I hate this job!" One of the guards said to his friend.

"Dude, you get paid to watch a door, stop complaining." His friend said back to him.

"I just wish something exciting would happen soon, and fast!"

Just then the stallion that stood watched outside, was flung threw the door, knocking it down instantly. Dark Fire then walked in, indifferent of who saw or heard.

"You mean something like this!" The stallion said to the board guard.

"Exactly, let's get him!"

The two guards lunged at the intruder from both sides before getting back-hooved into the walls behind them.

"Stupid low paid teenagers." He remarked as he continued walking.

Fifteen guards from both sides approached Dark Fire as they encircled him. Dark Fire showed his indifference and confidence by allowing them to surround him until there appeared to be no way out.

"There's no way out for you, give up!" A guard of higher rank declared.

"Yeah, the narrator just said that genius!" Dark Fire scorned before punching him in the face.

The guards then started to attack him in all directions in pairs of twos, threes, fours and even fives, attempting to capture the unicorn. This all resulted in failure because of Dark Fire's superior strength. He defeated each one with simple punches and kicks. The ten remaining guards then retreated to the other remaining door and regrouped to make one last attempt. Dark Fire simply stood there, then he charged at them. The ten remaining guards charged to meet him in the middle for one last attack.

What they didn't expect was for Dark Fire to jump in front of them. He slammed his hooves together in a clapping motion, sending them flying into random decorations. Dark Fire then grabbed the higher ranked guard and slammed him into the next very large door. Everypony was instantly shocked at the sudden intuition, telling him that news of his arrival still didn't reach the level he was on. Regardless he could care less as more guards came from practically nowhere to try to fight him. This time however, it was a mix of unicorns and pegasi, giving him a bit more excitement.

Running in the center of the hallway, he blasted unicorns with magic and fought earth ponies with hoof-to-hoof combat. The pegasi guards were like the earth pony battalions, except way more agile, able to dodge him easier. That didn't stop him from punching their teeth out however, as he slowly but surely toyed around with every guard in the room. As more guards flooded the room, the bigger the body count became. After bucking a pegasus into a pillar, he saw some unicorns lining up side by side.

"READY!" A red unicorn captain shouted to his firing squad of twenty unicorns.

"AIM!" The voice boomed as the first ten crouched down to allow the others firing room.

"Fire." Dark Fire whispered, getting up on his hind-legs, deflecting every magic blast back at the casters.

The captain stood there in anger and fear as he summoned all the magic he had to fire one last beam at Dark Fire. Dark Fire then ran towards the unicorn at full speed, again indifferent of the situation. When the captain fired his wave of magic at Dark Fire, he lunged towards it, pushed all the magic back with his hoof and punched right through the blast, hitting the unicorn in the face. This sent him crashing into the twin gold-plated doors, however they did not open on contact.

"I'm impressed captain, not only did you fight decently, but you've left an impressive dent in the golden door."

"I… hate… you." The captain struggled to say.

"Who doesn't hate me?" He said, leaning the guard on the door. "Now be a good stallion and don't move, this will only hurt a lot!" Dark Fire said, laughing maniacally before bucking the captain all the way through the golden door.

The captain skid across the floor before stopping in front of a barricade of seventy royal and lunar guards of every pony race. Dark Fire looked around, slightly impressed.

"You made this barricade just for me, I don't know if I should be impressed or disappointed." He complimented.

"FIRE!" Everypony shouted, launching a barrage of magic towards him.

Dark Fire then stood up on his hind hooves and casted a magical shield that diverted thirty separate colored beams around him. Behind the barricade, twenty pegasi flew in the air in sync and dived towards Dark Fire while twenty earth ponies ran to tackle him. He waited for just the right moment before releasing the built up power in one explosive burst that instantly blew over every guard on the ground and in the air.

"This floor bores me… you, tell me where Celestia is."

"You won't find her." The lunar captain said before losing consciousness.

"Then I'm going up!" Dark Fire said before tossing him in the ceiling like a javelin.

Jumping through a hole in the ceiling, he casted a magical ball that magnetized every guard in the room, sending them into the ball and causing it to explode in a magical outburst.

"I've forgotten how big this place was, but she can't hide forever." He stated before blasting his way into another room.'




Celestia overlooked the castle, hearing and witnessing multiple explosions that shook the very foundation.

"Celestia… the platoon and I are ready, but if we fail, I need to let you know-"

"Don't think like that Shining Armor, you're going to make it through this, I know how Night Shadow is." Celestia said calmly to him.

"Yes I believe you, but by the off chance that we don't make it, I want to say that it's been an honor." Shining Armor said, making his departure.

"One more thing Shining Armor…take Black Blade with you." Celestia said before resuming her observation.

"Of course princess." He said before departing the room. 'Black Blade, the captain of Luna's guard? This is going to be harder than I thought.' He thought worried.

Celestia continued to watch as she slowly lost ground with her guards.

"Tia, what are we going to do?" Luna asked, standing next to her sister.

"Little sister, I need you to find whatever guards you can and get out of here while you can." Celestia said concerned.

Silence fell upon both of them as the rain continued.

"If he's that powerful, then you can't face him alone!" Luna said, not backing down.

"I can't afford to lose you to darkness…not again." Celestia said, still regretful.

"We will fight him together, like we always have with every threat we came across."




"FALL BA-!" A soldier attempted to say before being blasted with magic.

"How brave of you… but such a waste." Dark Fire scorned as he walked past multiple defeated ponies. "There doesn't seem to be any left on this floor, better check the next one."

He was about to blast another hole in the ceiling before four guards descended from separate pillars, standing on all four corners of the room.

"Elite Lunar Guards… I've heard stories of your training. Don't disappoint me." Dark Fire said, assuming a fighting position.

The four guards attacked him in synchronization, attempting to hit Dark Fire at least once with their punches and bucks, but all for not. Dodging every attack, he countered one of the punches and delivered a punch of his own. However, to his own shock, he wasn't instantly knocked out like the others. The dodging continued until one of the guards launched a purple magic charge at him. Deflecting it into the ceiling, Dark Fire then teleported into the next floor through the hole created. The four guards quickly followed, continuing their assault of punches until Dark Fire punched one in the stomach and side kicked him across the face into the wall.

"So you can feel pain? Pity, you're going to feel a lot of it." Dark Fire declared to the other three guards.

They growled in anger as they charged him again, soon afterwards Dark Fire knocked two of them away to deal with only one. The guard put all his weight into his punch and as a result to Dark Fire dodging, lost his balance. He took advantage of this and grabbed his hoof, pulling the guard towards him, and elbowing him in the jaw. With the guard distracted by the blow, he then delivered a massive hit to his chest with his hoof, slid upward to his jaw, picked up the guard by his neck, and fired a magical burst that launched him into the ceiling. As the guard came back down, the other two guards nodded to each other as they vanished in a dark smoke.

"They think I'm an amateur don't they." Dark Fire said to himself.

He then casted a ball of light that illuminated the room so brightly, that the room itself turned white from brightness. After two seconds, it vanished, revealing two dazed lunar guards. Dark Fire chuckled to himself before attacking the two guards again. Two minutes passed before the fight lead to the door where Dark Fire planned to go through. Ducking under, the guards smashed their hooves into the metal door and were unable to move. With that, he quickly gave both guards twenty jabs in the stomach.

With the guards completely immobilized, me smashed both of their heads together and knocked them unconscious. Dark Fire then kicked the door open, taking two steps forward before magical restraints hit him around his horn. He was then tackled by fifteen guards.

"We got him, we actually did it!" Shining Armor shouted joyfully. "Ok stallions, bring this criminal to the throne room."

As they carried Dark Fire off, he couldn't help but chuckle at them for leading him right to his target.

"What do you think about this, Black Blade?" Shining asked.

Black Blade was an extremely large earth pony. When they compared him to Celestia, they measured equally in height and length. He had a very dark blue coat with a spiked up purple mane and tail. He also had purple eyes and a shield with two crossed black swords behind it. What was unique about him, besides his height, was that his irises didn't reflect off any light, even bright sunlight. This made him a perfect candidate for captain of the Lunar Guard.

"Just get him to Luna." He said angrily.

"Are you ever happy with anything?" Shining Armor asked, relieved of the situation.

Black Blade simply growled at him before pushing the huge throne room doors open with ease. All of the guards and even Shining Armor were surprised at this feat. Dark Fire, however, took mental notes of his strength.

"Celestia, we captured the intruder!" Shining announced to everypony.

In the throne room was Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Blue Blood all gathered together.

"Wait, how did you bind him?" Celestia shouted, worried.

"Once we placed the magical restraints on him and put him in chains, he was easy to capture."

"You didn't use anything else!" Celestia stated, now in panic.

"He's a unicorn… why would we-"

"HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA! Do you inform your guard of anything Celestia? Your lack of information will get your guards destroyed!" Dark Fire stated.

"Silence pony, your rampage is over; you've lost again Night Shadow!" Luna shouted angrily.

"I'm not Night Shadow anymore, and as for you Luna… I have only just begun."

"Your strength is gone and your magic has been rendered useless, what could you possibly do now?" Shining demanded.

Dark Fire just smiled as he stood on his hind hooves and started to ascend in the air slowly, carrying all the guards that bounded him.

"How is he… what the!?" Shining asked, in complete shock.

"NO GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Celestia shouted to her guards.

"Magic isn't the only thing I can control, allow me to demonstrate." Dark Fire said, proudly.

He then crossed his hooves together in an "X" as red aura surrounded his body. He then shouted loudly as an energy wave erupted from his body, sending the guards around him flying in all directions. The explosion busted all of the lights, disintegrated the restraints and bindings on him. He then stretched his fore-hooves out of pride.

"It's been so long since I've done that…I've forgotten the feeling of energy manipulation." Dark Fire declared. "It's too bad that the guards couldn't take it though… such a shame."

Shining Armor and Black Blade were the only ones that weren't knocked out after the blast. The two captains brushed it off, getting ready to fight.

"I find it so surprising that you would still want to fight me, even after demonstrating my power. I don't know if you're being brave or just stupid." Dark Fire mocked.

Shining then shot a magic blast to hit Dark Fire, but when it made contact, the image of him vanished in a cloud of black fog.

"Where did he go?!" Shining panicked.

"You shouldn't use your eyes to rely on everything you do." Dark Fire said in the shadows.

He then reappeared through the floor and uppercut Shining in the chin. This caused Shining to skid across the floor and everypony to gasp in shock. Dark Fire then kicked Black Blade in the face, but instead of crashing into a wall like he planned, Black Blade simply looked at Dark Fire unamused.

"That's impressive." Dark Fire complimented.

Black Blade then lunged at Dark Fire to punch him square in the face, but missed when Dark Fire dodged out of the way.

"Ooo, I felt some wind on that." Dark Fire teased as the purple stallion continued to miss, becoming angered. "What's the matter, can't hit your target?"

"EEERRRGGHH SHUT UP!" Black Blade shouted as he punched the ground where Dark Fire used to be before he evaded.

This created a huge crater in the ground as cracks shot out from all directions because of the force of the impact. By this time, Shining had recovered and joined back into the fight. He created a magic bubble to shield him from any magical blows or attacks.

"Such strength, but too slow to hit your target, allow me to demonstrate how to properly use it." Dark Fire said, as his hair glowed bright red with energy and became spiked up.

"You won't be demonstrating anything Night Shadow!" Shining shouted as he launched a blue wave of magic towards Dark Fire.

He then blocked it and diverted the magic around him, blasting a huge hole behind him.

"For the last time… MY NAME IS NOT NIGHT SHADOW!" Dark Fire screamed in rage as he shot a red ball of energy at Shining.

Shining couldn't react in time as he attempted to shield himself with his hooves. Luckily for him, the magical shield repelled the blast, but was shattered when he hit the wall from the explosion. Dark Fire was about to throw another energy ball until Black Blade's hoof stopped him. Black Blade then attempted to punch Dark Fire, but he ducked under him and kick-flipped his chin. Black Blade was stunned for a moment, but it was a moment too long as Dark Fire sent a burst of air into Black Blade's chest, sending him into the wall. Not letting up, Dark Fire teleported and kneed Black Blade in his stomach.

When he bent down in pain, Dark Fire punched his muzzle back into the wall, making an even bigger crater within it, and then rapidly punched him while he was still pinned. Black Blade then went limp from the beating, but was magically held up by Dark Fire.

"I can feel so much pain in your heart… so many questions unanswered… so much built up anger and hatred. I can help you if you would let me, but only if you're willing to learn." He said, almost feeling sorry for him before releasing the magical hold he had on the stallion.

"I'm not done with you yet!" Shining yelled, as he charged Dark Fire.

Dark Fire then lunged under Shining and tossed him over his back, making him slide across the floor. Shining then fired one last blast of magic at Dark Fire, which he couldn't simply let pass by. Dark Fire then fired a magical charge of his own that collided with Shining's to make a beautiful but deadly display of power. After about thirty seconds, Dark Fire exerted more power into his blast until he defeated Shining in the duel.

"I'm sorry Celestia, Luna, and especially you Cadance… I've failed you." Shining struggled to say before fading into unconsciousness.

"Hey, what about me?" Blue Blood said, annoyed.

Dark Fire started to laugh menacingly and he approached the princesses.

"I don't know who you two are, but I'm here for Celestia and Luna… mainly Celestia so hoof them over nice and easy." Dark Fire demanded.

"Well I don't know who you think you are, but you're in no position to demand from us. We're royalty and I'm not going to listen to a peasant like you." Blue Blood stated arrogantly.

"Then listen to this!" Dark Fire yelled, casting a blue smoke around the arrogant prince.

When the smoke dissipated, the only thing left was a blue frog.

"What did you do to him!?" Cadance commanded.

"Can't you read what the narrator wrote, geez… I turned him into a frog, although I think this is one prince no mare would ever kiss."

"Change me back this instant!" The frog croaked.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think you're in a position to demand from me." Dark Fire said before conjuring a magically sealed cage and tossing him into it. "Do you have any more smart comments!?"

At this point, Cadance was caring for Shining, attempting to wake him up, while Celestia and Luna stood side-by-side at the foot of the throne.

'We must strike now Tia, while we still have a chance.' Luna pleaded telepathically.

'I-I can't Luna… I just can't.' Celestia said sorrowfully.

'Why have you always held back when we fought Night Shadow? We are trying to defend the freedom of Equestria, Tia.' Luna pointed out.

'Luna, I'm sorry that I have never told you this… but Night Shadow is-'

'Hey… what are you girls thinking about?' Dark Fire mocked, invading their conversation.

Luna had enough of this unicorn and was going to fight him with or without Tia. As her eyes brightened up to a pure white, conjured armor appeared from the shadows and attached itself to her. This was the same armor that Nightmare Moon wore, giving her a height and power boost.

"It's about time one of you mared up. Now, come at me bro!" Dark Fire motioned with his hoof.

Luna's magical aura grew three times its size as she lunged towards him. Dark Fire leaped to the left just before Luna hit him and bucked her to the side. The attack made a metallic clang noise, but nothing else. Dark Fire was confused at first because he couldn't remember Luna having armor that protected her sides, but when he turned around, he saw that Luna had blocked it with her hoof.

"At least you can recover quickly." Dark Fire stated, circling around Luna like a wolf.

"We have had enough of your talking, now start fighting for real!" Luna said, using the royal Canterlot voice.

"Oh, using your big boomy voice I see. Why don't I try it." Dark fire smirked as he took a deep breath.

Luna then teleported in front of Dark Fire for a surprise attack, but this is when he screamed at the top of his lungs. Luna was blown back a good twenty feet from the sound waves that Dark Fire was emitting from his voice, which also shattered the floor tiles in front of him along with what little windows remained.

"You see Luna, you had no chance to defeat me in the first place, just give up." He demanded.

"And give you Equestria? …We don't think so!" Luna declared.

She once again charged at the unicorn with great speed that could match up with the Wonderbolts, throwing hoof after hoof and kick after kick towards Dark Fire. He dodged and blocked every attack until he countered with an attack of his own. Luna reacted by smashing her hoof against his, causing both of them to fly back ten feet from the explosion of power.

"You disappoint me Luna… all those attacks and not one of them hit." Dark Fire mocked until he noticed a bit of blood trail down his cheek. "THAT'S IT, I'M DONE FOOLING AROUND, PREPARE TO PERISH!"

The entire room started to glow red as it heated up from Dark Fire's anger. His hair burst into an even brighter tint of red before completely being engulfed in flames. Luna spared no time as she opened a portal next to her and Dark Fire and leaped in to buck him in the face. Dark Fire then grabbed Luna's hind-hooves and tossed her into the wall. Seeing this done before, Luna leaped over Dark Fire before he struck the wall where she used to be, putting cracks into it. Luna then attempted to use Dark Fire's finishing technique on him to pin him to the wall, however, Dark Fire swayed left as she knocked down the wall behind him.

He then delivered a side tornado kick to Luna's chest cavity while she was on her hind-legs that made her skid back to the center of the room. Dark Fire then let out a blood-thirsty roar as he hurled a large, dark red energy ball at Luna. She stood her ground as she smashed her hooves into the ball, split the ball in two, and deflected them away from her and the others. Dark Fire then teleported into the distracted Alicorn and kneed her in the face. He then went for another punch with his right hoof, but was blocked by Luna's punch into his hoof with her right hoof. Dark Fire then tried with his left hoof; however Luna did the same, resulting in their hooves crossed in an "X."

Celestia could do nothing but watch the power struggle unfold before her eyes. On Luna's side of the room it was dark blue, but on Dark Fire's side, the room was bright red. Continuing the power struggle, the floor beneath them started to cave inward, forming a crater. After two minutes, both Dark Fire and Luna fired beams of magic into each other's horn, causing an even bigger light show to form.

"THIS IS THE END FOR YOU LUNA! I CAN FEEL YOUR POWER SLIPPING!" Dark Fire declared, making his last push.

"What are you trying to get out of all of this?" Luna asked, losing strength.

"Revenge… FOR WHAT YOU DID TO ME ALL THOSE YEARS AGO!"

Dark Fire then charged up to maximum power and launched Luna across the room in a large explosion, winning the power struggle. He then approached the fallen princess until he was right over her.

"You know Luna, that it's not the Nightmare that makes the mare, but the mare that makes the Nightmare." Dark Fire said, with an evil smile.

"No… NO YOU CANT DO THIS!" Luna begged as he put his hoof on her chest.

"By my will and my command… YOU ARE FREED FROM YOUR BONDS!"

Dark Fire then enveloped Luna in a black aura before ripping out her alter ego that she kept hidden and thought was destroyed. Before them all was the nightmare herself… Nightmare Moon.

"What have you… done?" Luna whispered before joining the others in unconsciousness.

"WHO IS THE BEING THAT REALEASED ME FROM MY PRISON?!" Nightmare Moon boomed.

"I am Dark Fire… the prince of darkness! You now owe me your allegiance… like I had when I served under you."

"NO PONY COMMANDS… Night Shadow, is that you?" Nightmare Moon asked, shocked.

Dark Fire let out a huge sigh.

"It's Dark Fire now… I'm the quote-unquote evil third of Night Shadow." He said with pride.

Nightmare moon stood there in a confused state.

"It's because I'm black isn't it?" Dark Fire said annoyed.

"No no no, you just caught me off guard and-"

"Just do your everlasting night thing-a-ma-jig." Dark Fire said casually.

"Fine then… I will just be going now." She said before disappearing.

Celestia stood at the foot of her throne completely lost in sadness. As Dark Fire slowly walked up to her, a pink blur appeared in front of him.

"I WONT LET YOU HURT HER!" Cadance screamed, defending Celestia.

Dark Fire then pointed his hoof towards Cadence and formed an energy ball.

"Move… or perish in fire." Dark Fire threatened.

Cadance's response was standing on her hind-hooves and extending her hooves and wings to the left and right of her.

"Then do it!" She said courageously.

Dark Fire's ball of energy grew three times bigger as he stood on his hind-legs. He then placed his other hoof under the foreleg charging the ball. Celestia was able to glance into his eyes to see that he intended to do his worst.

"NO!" Celestia shouted, diverting all the attention to her. "I'm the one you want, leave Cadence out of this." She said as she teleported in the center of the room.

"So you've finally given up?" Dark Fire laughed as he powered down the ball. "Just one more thing…"

Dark Fire then side kicked Cadence across the face, flinging the alicorn into a nearby stone pillar which then collapsed on top of her.

"CADANCE!" Celestia screamed before a red aura enveloped her.

Celestia was then slammed into the ground by magic. As Dark Fire turned around, she noticed his horn glowing as he wore an almost depressing look.

"I never wanted to do this Celestia… but it's not like you gave me a choice." Dark Fire declared as his horn grew brighter.
Magical chains then grabbed on to each of Celestia's hooves, spreading each of them apart.

"Everypony has been given the gift of free will, you can't deny this!" Celestia said to him.

More chains then emerged from the ground and bounded Celestia to the ground abruptly.

"THEN WHY DO YOU TORTURE ME LIKE THIS!" Dark Fire shouted, with sadness in his tone. "My entire life was filled with agony and pain… and then you came and took everything I loved away from me! What do you have to gain from this…nothing… YOU GAIN NOTHING FROM IT! You have punished me so cruelly for just trying to find a reason to live, you take from me because you can, you don't care for me at all!"

"You're wrong Night Shadow, I love you more then you could possibly imagine!" Celestia said in a calming tone.

"LIES, ALL LIES!" Dark Fire shouted as he punched Celestia across the muzzle. "You hate me… that's why you took everything from me!"

"I sent you forward in time to allow you to escape the nightmare that was haunting you."

"SHUTUP!" He shouted as he smashed Celestia harder into the ground. "YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING BUT RUIN MY LIFE WITH YOUR JUDGMENTS!"

"You were destroying and endangering everypony in Equestria, what choice did you give me?"

"What choice did I give you? WHAT CHOICE DID YOU GIVE ME!?" He yelled, bruising Celestia's side with his hind hoof. "TWICE HAVE YOU TOOK MY LIFE AWAY FROM ME, TWICE HAVE YOU TAKEN MY FRIENDS AWAY! …And now thrice that you have taken my loved one away from me."

"It is your fault that-"

"I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR TALKING… IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO FEEL MY PAIN! IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO SEE EVERYTHING TAKEN FROM YOU AGAINST YOUR OWN WILL, AGAINST YOUR OWN WISHES! TO SEE ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY, KINGDOM, AND LOVED ONES PASS AWAY BEFORE YOUR OWN EYES!"

The room grew silent as a shadow of a unicorn entered from the main door of the throne room.

"Night Shadow?" Twilight asked, with tears in her eyes.

"RUN TWILI-!"
Dark Fire cut off the princess by electrocuting her with magic that caused her to revel in agony.

"Well if it isn't Twilight Sparkle, the one who freed me in the first place… you just couldn't wait your turn?" Dark Fire snickered.

"Night Shadow… please… I'm sorry. I didn't mean those things I said… please come back to me… I love you."

Dark Fire halted his movements as he let those very words, "I love you," flow through his mind.

"Night Shadow is dead because of you…AND SO ARE YOU!"

Dark Fire then shot a gust of wind that launched Twilight out of the window behind her, where a 2,000 foot drop waited.

"TWILIIIGGGHHHHHT!" Celestia shouted, completely in tears.

"HOW DOES IT FEEL CELESTIA… TO HAVE YOUR LOVED ONES TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU JUST LIKE YOU'VE TAKEN AWAY MINE! YOU ARE HEARBY BANISHED TO THE SUN WHERE YOU SHALL SUFFER FOREVER!"

Celestia then vanished out of thin air, leaving Dark Fire the only one standing in the room.

"I have won! I HAVE FINALLY WON!" Dark Fire shouted happily before sitting down on the throne. "Now Equestria shall be truly… free."

As Twilight continues to fall, she couldn't help but think that everything was her fault. Even though she was warned of the coming tragedy… she did nothing to prevent it. Thus she accepted her fate. Her entire life flashed before her, from her childhood, to her acceptance as Celestia's student, and her friends in Ponyville, she remembered it all as she continued to let tears fall. Just before impacting the ground, a dark figure landed in the spot she would crash, and caught her in the nick of time. Twilight was already unconscious by the time the figure recovered.

"Your journey does not end here Twilight Sparkle… you still have much to do." It said before vanishing into the shadows.
\