Before the Darkness

by Riku006

1: The Dusk before Dawn

Sunbeam imagined this was what Tartarus was like.

Outside her small wooden hut came the roar of battle, the cries of death and the sounds of horrors even her nightmares would flee from. The silver unicorn mare cowered in fear, putting her fore-hooves over her pale blonde mane as she hid next to the pile of her belongings that she had barricaded her door with. A yellow aura loosely still held it in place, though with each thud and blast from outside it strengthened a little more.

Although she knew the country was currently in the middle of the largest war the world had ever seen, she didn’t understand why it came here, to her small northern frontier town of North Hayton; a town that had been standing for barely two years before this day.

Despite the fear that ran rampant throughout her being and her head telling her that what she was about to do was a terrible idea, Sunbeam opened her emerald green eyes and slowly crawled towards the window while strengthening her hold over the barricade. Reaching the wall, Sunbeam rose slowly and peaked outside at the fighting.

The first thing that flashed before her was an arc of crimson liquid as the limp body of a unicorn stallion in obsidian and gold armour fell to the ground just outside her home, the image shocking Sunbeam as though someone had injected ice into her veins. She dared to look away and spied a creature standing on two legs. Its tangled, dirty fur was rust-brown in colour and its canine jaw smirking, revealing razor sharp fangs that had already tasted pony blood given the dark red stains around its mouth.

Before it could savour the kill, however, a shadow dropped from the sky and passed by the wolf-like being, creating another arc of blood to spurt into the sky. The shadow, now identified by Sunbeam as a pegasus soldier, turned and, wielding the feather-like blades attached to their wings, proceeded in carving more gashes into the beast before leaving it for dead and launching into the sky to continue the battle.

Staving off the urge to vomit, the sight that greeted Sunbeam confirmed her earlier assumption that her once peaceful small town had indeed descended into Tartarus.

The sky above her was dark with the smoke of the burning buildings of the town, and immediately made her grateful that her house remained untouched for the moment. Dark shapes soared overhead as aerial monstrosities did battle with brave pegasi soldiers. The battle was just as intense on the ground, as unicorns and earth ponies fought with sword, spear and magic against fell beasts even though their numbers were far less than those of their opponents. It was then, as the ring of clashing steel sounded continuously throughout the town, that the severity of her fate hit Sunbeam with the force of an avalanche.

North Hayton, and her along with it, would soon become casualties of the Discordian War.

A large explosion rang out and drew Sunbeam’s attention to the right of her field of vision. There she saw several soldiers – four pegasi, two earth ponies and a unicorn – doing battle against a singular opponent. She couldn’t see the evil beast as the ponies worked in unison to strike against their foe, creating a near-impenetrable sphere of whirling blades and magic. But then a dark purple light shone from within, forcing the soldiers back and giving Sunbeam her first look at the monstrosity.

He was a large creature, most likely as tall as Princess Luna if not Celestia. As he stood up on all fours, she saw his body was a mix of various beings; he had the grey-feathered forelegs and tail of a gryphon, the blood-red wings of a dragon, the dark chestnut coloured body of a stag as well as lithe reindeer horns and the steel-blue hind legs and head of a unicorn, his red eyes scanning the enemies surrounding him.

With little warning one of the pegasi dove down from behind, sword clenched within his teeth as he arched his neck to take the beasts' head. The stallion swung but the creature was faster; spinning left on his hooves he swatted the sword away with one claw and summoned dark magic to gather and swirl around his other before digging it think into the side of the pony’s face. The pegasus dropped dead within seconds, his cheek and throat now decorated with new air holes as the blood literally started pouring onto the hardened soil.

Two of the other pegasi landed, joining both earth ponies in charging the beast at once in hopes of cornering him. The beast evaded this with a mighty flap from his draconic wings, and was soon metres in the air. The third pegasus zoomed towards the beast, her wings extended as the blades running down the length of each primary feather stood ready to severe a limb, or at least leave a deep gash. But again the beast turned and caught the wing, allowing the mares’ momentum to break the wings’ bones at the joint before releasing his hold. Turning on the spot, he landed a strong, open claw into the mares’ chest before forcing her down to the ground, into the group that had tried cornering him mere moments ago.

As the dust from the landing settled, it was revealed one of the earth ponies was crushed underneath the pegasus mare, whose chest was now stained crimson due to the monsters’ claw. Without a word, the beast raised his blood-covered claw, dark energy once more surrounding it before he slashed at thin air, releasing dark energy slashes that cut clean through another of the pegasi and more creatures further away, be they pony or otherwise.

“DAMN YOU!” The beast heard the roar of hatred as he turned to see the last pegasus, a cream-coated mare beneath the black and gold armour of Equestria’s army, charged at him, a spear held in both forehooves with its tip aimed at his dark heart. The beast sidestepped the attack with barely any effort, and he just as simply took hold of the spear shaft in his mouth and yanked it from the mare before striking her with the blunt end and releasing the spear into the air just long enough for him to grab it with a claw and impale the soldiers’ head from above, watching as the life quickly vanished from her azure eyes.

Before he could enjoy it any further, the last earth pony leapt up onto the beasts’ back and tightly wrapped his hooves around his neck, hoping to choke the monster out. The monster bucked and bolted yet the earth pony’s grip may as well have been made of iron, as there was no way he was going to let go.

“You ain’t shaking me, varmit!” The soldier shouted in a southern drawl directly into the monsters’ ear. Agitated, the beast bent low and, with a large flap of his wings and pushing off the ground with his legs, rocketed into the sky and knocking a pegasus off course along the way. When they reached the apex of their climb, the monster angled himself so that his back, and the earth pony, when facing the ground before summoning two dark energy orbs in his claws and firing a large beam skyward. The force of the blast made sure it could be seen from over a mile away, as well as accelerating the two towards the ground at unfathomable speeds.

The landing sent tremors throughout the village, making it hard for Sunbeam to keep her balance. Once they stopped, she dared to look out the window again, and saw through the settling dust that the beast hardly looked worse for wear, and the only signs there was an earth pony was a lifeless hoof outstretched from the small crater they had formed upon landing. The beast spent one moment more looking at the pony that had dared to ride him like a bull at a rodeo before he got blasted by a beam of light blue magic. Sunbeam turned to see the unicorn from earlier standing his ground and firing beam after beam at the beast, hoping that he could strike the killing blow with magic.

Sunbeam watched on intently but the reality that she was in the middle of this warzone was realised when a loud crash sounded out very close by, and she turned to see another fell beast now standing in her home after tearing through its walls, looking at her like a timberwolf would at a helpless foal. This beast did in fact resemble a wolf, though it stood on its hind legs and its arms were muscular, one of them holding a dull, rectangular-bladed sword. Her emerald eyes narrowed to points as she backed up against the wall, fear freezing her in place as the wolf drew closer whilst raising its sword for the killing blow.

No, she prayed, hoping the princesses or someone, anyone, would come to her rescue. No, please… Help me… As the sword rose to its highest point, Sunbeam hid her head beneath her hooves like a small scared filly.

“Someone help me!” She screamed what she believed were her last words.

Only they weren’t. As the wolf began bringing the sword down, something flew through the window and knocked it out of his clutches. Sunbeam dared to open her eyes, wondering why she wasn’t dead yet, and almost lost her lunch at the sight of a severed pony head on the ground next to the sword, the head of the unicorn she had seen earlier. Then through the came a large beam of darkness, outlined in purple as the wolf was propelled back through the hole it made in the wall. Confusion ran rife through Sunbeam’s mind until she felt something standing just to her right.

“It’s so hard to find good help these days,” said a sly, confident voice. Sunbeam turned to see who it was only to shrink as low as she could in fear. Standing right next to her was the beast that had killed the squad beyond her window. Sunbeam couldn’t move, she couldn’t scream due to her all-encompassing fear. He looked down at her, his blood red iris’ meeting her emerald ones as he smiled a confident smile, like a cat that knows it’s cornered a mouse and now wishes to toy with it before the kill.

Before she could utter even a sound the monster lit up his horns, darkness surrounding them before summoning more of it to encircle the house in a cocoon of shadows. Yet despite this, Sunbeam could still see everything clearly even though the shroud blocked out the sun.

“There,” the beast said with a small yet satisfied expression before turning to face Sunbeam. “Now we won’t have any pesky distractions.”

“W-W-W-What do y-you want-” Sunbeam stuttered as she crawled away from it only to back up against a wall.

“Now now, there’s nothing to fear,” he replied, his face looking calm as if he was being truthful, yet this only scared Sunbeam more. “I promise that no harm will come to you.” Sunbeam simply stared at him in fear, her chest tight as she tried organising her mind through the fear in vain.

“You don’t believe me, do you?” He asked, mocking emotional pain as he already knew the answer, which was the mare shaking her head. “Very well,” he continued, bowing as he spoke. “On my honour as one of the Thirteen Sons of Tirek, I swear no harm shall befall you. There, happy?”

That name almost made Sunbeam faint in shock as the control over her breathing started to weaken and she sat back on her haunches. Tirek was a name only whispered in the darkest of shadows in Equestria, and here was one of his sons; a spirit created by his own twisted hands, standing in her house holding her life in his claws.

“W-Why are you sparing me?” Sunbeam bravely asked, though it was easy to hear the tremor in her voice.

“Ah, now there’s a good question,” the spirit smiled coyly as he walked over to examine the large hole in the wall. “Despite this war still being in our favour, something in my gut tells me that I will soon encounter Celestia again, and considering what I’ve done to her, chances are one of us won’t be walking away from a fight of that magnitude. So then I got to thinking, ‘who would carry on my craft of destruction if I’m banished back to Tartarus?’

“That’s when you decided to scream, my dear,” he turned to face Sunbeam again, a sinister smile now adorning his features as he slowly walked back to her. “And then it all came together for me. After all,” he leaned down, his muzzle inches away from hers, “what better being to inherit my legacy and power than an heir?”

“…No…” Sunbeam gasped as she realised what he meant, the cruel torture he had in mind for her. “No, please, anything but that.” A claw shot past and into the wall to the left of her head as the beast slowly drew near.

“Don’t worry my dear, it won’t hurt. Much.”

The land was still and quiet when the shield faded into dust on the wind and the beast walked through the hole in the wall before pausing to look back at the form of Sunbeam curled up, shivering on the floor.

“Well, that was fun,” he heartlessly joked, though no reply came. “I doubt we’ll see each other again so just in case you have any ideas…” He then fired a red beam from his unicorn horn, hitting its mark just above her flank. Yet the beam left no scars, not even a mark, and Sunbeam flinching when it hit proved she was still alive.

Satisfied, the beast turned and walked towards the large mob of fell beasts waiting for him amongst the smouldering ruins of North Hayton, the air filled with the metallic scent of blood as the setting sun looked red through all the smoke billowing from the fires. He stopped a few feet from the group, looking over the mostly unscathed detachment he commanded and noticing there were at least twenty of their number missing. Scowling at the thought, he looked back up at the group, now looking for one face in particular.

“Scrag, where are you?” He said calmly yet his voice carried the steely authority of someone not to be trifled with. Within moments the wolf-like creature stepped forward from the mob and knelt on one knee.

“Y-Yes, Lord Ragnarok?” Scrag asked worriedly, knowing his masters’ temper a fickle and ferocious thing to behold, and now he was within its crosshairs.

“While I understand you were just doing your job, what made you think that mare was worth killing?”

“Um, well,” Scrag stuttered, starting to sweat under the glare of Ragnarok. “She-She was an easy target, a-and you were busy with a squad of soldiers so I-I thought I’d save you the trouble and-”

Before Scrag could utter another excuse he was teleported at least ten feet into the air, and Ragnarok soon teleported beside him, grabbed his throat with a talon and slammed him into the ground, creating a small crater. Scrag, gasping for air through a throat being squeezed tight, looked back to see the silent fury stirring within Ragnarok’s eyes.

“Don’t ever claim to know my intentions Scrag,” Ragnarok told him, his tone as hard as diamonds as he ever so slightly tightened his hold on the wolf’s throat. “And if I want you to do something, I’ll tell you to do it.” He then looked back at their audience, most silently thankful they weren’t on the receiving end. “Understood?” Every single one of them nodded before Ragnarok turned back to his victim. “Understood, Scrag?”

“Under… stood, s-sir,” Scrag barely managed with little access to oxygen.

“Still, just to make sure the message got through…” Ragnarok inhaled deeply before spitting plumes of dark dragon fire forth from his mouth, burning Scrags’ face without a hint of mercy or regret as the rest of the horde looked on worriedly, knowing that their master wouldn’t think twice about doing the same to them. After a few moments, Ragnarok let up and released Scrag, who now had half of his face burnt and partially melted, gasped as he lay immobile due to the pain.

“Hm, having two faces suits you Scrag,” Ragnarok quipped before stepping out of the crater and looking back at the horde. “Do we have our next objective?”

“Yes Lord Ragnarok.” A rust-brown minotaur answered, stepping forward and kneeling before offering a scroll tied together with a stick of candy. “This message arrived from your brother while you were in the hut.” Ragnarok rolled his eyes at how the note was held curled up before taking it within his magic and opening it. From the paper grew a giant red arrow that soared skyward before turning at a right angle and pointing east, a scimitar dangling off of the tip of the arrow.

“Saddle Arabia?” Ragnarok asked in annoyance, looking at the scimitar. “That’s halfway across the planet! Why in Tartarus does Discord want us there?” As if to answer his question the head of a beautiful, familiar mare appeared impaled on the blade; with the exception of near her severed neck, her coat was the purest white one could imagine, with a long horn, rolled-up magenta eyes and a long mane with the colours of the morning sky hanging lifelessly in the wind.

At once Raganrok knew what Discord wanted and a cruel smile worked its way onto his face. “So, my gut instinct was right.” He murmured before looking back at his horde of minions. “Someone pull that filth out of the crater. We’ve got a date with Celestia!”

A bloodcurdling roar sounded from the horde as Ragnarok stamped a claw down on the ground, summoning a large, purple magic circle that soon encompassed his whole group. After building its power for a while Ragnarok grinned as he activated the spell and, in a flash, the monsters disappeared for their next venue of war.

Even long after the horde’s departure Sunbeam remained motionless, curled up on the floor of her wrecked hut with her blonde tail between her legs. She dared not fall to sleep, convinced that were she to move something would end her life, though considering what she had just survived she might have wished for death. But, when her sides started to ache from her curled up position, she eventually sat up, moving as gingerly as possible. Without a sound, Sunbeam turned and headed for the hole in the wall, her tail still between her hind legs making it a little awkward to walk.

When she looked up from the ground, the sight nearly made her fall back on her haunches. The buildings that weren’t still burning were reduced to rubble, and the flames provided enough light to see as the sun had now set on North Hayton for the last time. And then there were the bodies. Ponies of all kinds, as well as beasts of all shapes and sizes, lay motionless all around the town on grounds that were stained with their blood.

Sunbeam averted her eyes and looked south, towards the centre of Equestria. She knew that the refugee colony established by the princesses soon after the wars’ inception was the safest place in her right now but as she took one step out of the hut she hesitated, and though he was now far away she thought she could hear Ragnarok’s voice antagonising her.

There’s no point, she almost heard him say in the back of her mind. If Celestia couldn’t ensure your safety here, what makes you think you’ll be safer further into Equestria?

Even though she hated to admit it, the voice had a point. It was in central Equestria that most of the combat was taking place, as well as most of the distortion of the world brought on by Discord’s mere presence. And so, allowing a single tear to fall to the ground in remembrance of her former home, Sunbeam circled her hut until she was heading north and kept walking. She didn’t know where she was going nor did she care, for as long as it was away from the war it would be good enough for her.

On and on she trekked. Past the burning huts of her former neighbours and past the fields surrounding the town. Due to night’s dark embrace, she had no clue what time it was, how much time had passed or how far she had travelled. All of these facts didn’t matter regardless. Everything she had was gone, and would most likely be taken away if she returned to civilization. No, it was better she was alone, especially after her ordeal.

As hints of orange began filtering into the early morning sky on the horizon she finally collapsed, her strength spent and her vision fading. She was cold, tired and more than willing to let the darkness of sleep shroud her vision. But as she allowed the fatigue to wash over her body, a muffled shout reached her ears. They twitched in the direction of the sound and soon Sunbeam swore she heard hoofsteps coming towards her. As she turned her head and slowly opened her eyes, dark figures soon surrounded her, though even through slightly blurred vision she could tell the silhouettes were those of ponies, the largest of which now rested beside her.

One of them said something but it was far too muffled for her to understand, and she tried squinting her eyes to get a better look at her new acquaintances only to feel her eyelids droop in protest, denying her the knowledge. The last things she as and felt were her tired body lifted off the ground and onto something that felt cold and hard, but also strong and shaped like a pony. A dull flash filled what was left of her vision before she finally succumbed to unconsciousness.

Softness. That was the first thing that Sunbeam felt as she began surfacing from the darkness of exhaustion. She was encompassed up to her neck in something both as warm as a reassuring hug and as soft as the down of a baby bird, and her head rested on something just as comfortable. Struggling to open her eyes, the first thing she saw was canopy of green fabric that matched her eyes hanging above her, held up by four shimmering pillars.

Barely turning her head to her left, Sunbeam was starting to question if she was indeed awake, as she saw she was in a large bed, the covers the same colour as the canopy while she was within a large room that appeared to be made of crystal. Beside the bed was a small table, also made of crystal, upon which stood a three-piece candle stick that had since been put out. A glance to her left revealed a small drawer with a vanity mirror standing above it. Before Sunbeam could figure out where she was, one of the double doors on the far side of the room opened, its handle surrounded by a light green aura, as a pony entered the room while levitating a tray of food.

Only this mare was unlike any other Sunbeam had seen before.

She stood a few inches taller than Sunbeam did, and had an aqua-green coat complimented by a long silver and pale-lime green mane and tail that had a small streak of gold running through it. She also wore a silver torc and shoes and a small crown on her head. But the thing that stood out most was her long horn and a pair of folded wings.

Even though she was exhausted, Sunbeam realised she was in the presence of royalty.

“Ah, thank goodness you are awake,” She said in a sweet tone, like that of a relieved mother as she set the tray of food down on the bedside table and sat next to the bed.

“W-Where… Where am I-” Sunbeam asked as she tried sitting up, but quickly felt her chest tighten in pain and a magical aura gently push her back down.

“Easy now,” the new mare shushed. “You need rest. You should consider yourself fortunate my husband found you when he did. In your state I doubt you would have been able to escape should a monster have found you. May I ask what you were doing journeying so far to the north?”

Sunbeam was about to answer before, in the space of a few seconds, her memory came flooding back all at once. The battle, the monsters, North Hayton left in ruins, and him. By the time it was over, Sunbeam couldn’t stop her face from contorting into of fear and pain, one her guest quickly caught onto.

“Oh, I-I am so sorry,” She said, her unsure tone showing she understood. “I did not mean to pry.”

Sunbeam shook her head, looking back at the other mare. “N-No, it wasn’t your fault, Your Highness.”

“There is no need for formalities.” She replied with a smile.

“B-but you’re an Alicorn."

“Oh no, I am not an alicorn, at least not like Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Would you like me to explain?” Sunbeam barely nodded before her guest began anyway. “An alicorn is a powerful creature as they contain the power of all three of your pony tribes; the strength of an earth pony, the wings, speed and sky magic of a pegasus, and the magic and longevity of a unicorn. Alicorns are also ageless, rather than being immortal as some would suggest.

“I am, however, a winged unicorn, or a lesser alicorn if you will. Unlike pure alicorns like Celestia and Luna, I only have the powers of unicorns and pegasi, but lack those of an earth pony. Also, lesser alicorns are not ageless, but rather our lifetime is stretched far longer than that of a normal pony to the point where we seem ageless.” Coming out of her lecture, the mare realised that Sunbeam was staring at her, taking in all the information but remaining quiet all the same.

“Ahem,” the mare went on, blushing just a bit. “Forgive me, I do tend to ramble at times. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jade, Queen of the Crystal Empire. May I ask your name, miss?”

The unicorn tilted her head slightly in confusion. “Crystal Empire? I’ve never heard of it.”

“It makes sense that you have not heard of us, as we have remained hidden to protect ourselves. Now, your name miss?”

“Oh, I-I’m sorry for being so rude. My name is Sunbeam, Your Highness.”

“A pleasure to meet you Sunbeam,” Jade replied before her smile faded slightly, “Though, if I may ask a favour of you, please do not use my title when we are alone.”

“But why? You are a queen.”

“Yes,” Jade sighed. “But there is no need for you to do so; I already have an entire kingdom doing that for you.” Looking away, the queen turned and walked to a window just to the left of the bedside table. “Depsite being a lesser alicorn, ponies still treat my husband and I like deities, and our positions as king and queen do not help either. I just wish to have someone to talk to without them bowing and praising me with every breath, to rest at ease without a kingdom’s worth of burdens weighing me down.

“Sunbeam,” She said, turning to face the young mare. “I know this seems very sudden and I understand if you require time to dwell on it, but... well, would you be my friend?”

Sunbeam simply stared back at Jade’s pleading look as a small silence fell upon the room. For several moments her mouth made the attempt to reply only for her voice to disappear. Most fillies would have given up everything to have this opportunity yet, with all that had happened, Sunbeam wasn’t sure if she deserved it.

“Forgive me,” Jade spoke again when she saw Sunbeam would not. “I do not wish to overwhelm you. I shall give you some time to think it over.”

“No, wait!” Sunbeam cried out, her mouth suddenly faster than her brain. Jade looked back to see a scared look in Sunbeam’s green eyes, a foreleg stretched out towards the queen as she was now sitting up in the bed. Sunbeam herself didn’t know why she did this. Maybe it was because she didn’t want to be alone, which given what she had endured might have been the case, or maybe deep down she did wish to be Jade’s friend.

Regardless, the young mare lay back down, looking away in confusion and embarrassment for just blurting out like that in-front of royalty. There was no verbal response, however, as all that was heard were the sound of hoofsteps coming closer before their owner sat next to the bed before her, a compassionate smile on her face.

“Perhaps,” Jade began, placing a hoof softly on Sunbeam’s cheek, directing her to look the queen in the eye. “What you need most right now is not a friend, but merely someone to be here for you. Am I correct?” After a few moments, Sunbeam slowly nodded. “Then rest Sunbeam, and when you are ready, know that I shall be here for you.”

Sunbeam kept staring at Jade despite the fatigue of past events once more catching up with her. This mare, royalty or not, had extended a generosity Sunbeam knew she could never return and had elected to remain with her when fears of solitude raised their head, all for something as simple as her friendship.

“Thank you, Jade.” Sunbeam whispered as she faded back into the dark embrace of sleep, finally feeling safe once more.