//------------------------------//
// Prologue-Moonrise 
// Story: Broken Bird 
// by Liondancer17 
//------------------------------//

No, we would never hurt her. Not at all, so do not pity her. Not at all.
We love her, we truly do. We adore her with all of our hearts.
We love her.
We comfort her, we always do.
She is our Queen.
It is almost too easy.
Almost.
Why would you accuse us of hurting our Queen?
No.
We never lie.
Ditzy Doo was never sad. 
She did not understand what it was like to be sad. She did not know what it was to be cruel, or to be different.
She was a different girl, of course.
She was slow. She was clumsy. She wasn’t the brightest pony, nor the most beautiful.
She simply floated her way through life.
And that was okay.
She couldn’t see the world properly, anyway.
She was too pure to be treated the way she was.
We saw her beauty-and the light in her heart. 
That is what we truly need.
Purity and goodness-we know nothing of that. 
We love her, we worship her.
We can show her how she lives.
We can give her better.
We loved her.
Ditzy Doo didn’t notice when things began to change.
She didn’t see the eyes always watching her, or the way the shadows reached and stretched for her.
All she was the light, the simple joy in life.
And the shadows crawled into her heart, and took refuge in her soul.
With every nightmare Harmony destroys, the light grows stronger.
When light burns brightest, the shadows lengthen and swallow the light.
The Lonely Goddess, the Rarest Star, the God of Chaos, the King of Darkness, the Queen of Lies.
In the shadow of their souls, we thrive.
With every end, we grow and strengthen. We multiply, we take form.
And we gather around our new Queen.
And we worship her.
It started when Discord touched her.
That was when Ditzy saw the world clearly for the first time.
She heard the whispers that they said when her flank was turned.
She saw the stares, the glances, and the laughter.
Her own daughter was ashamed of her.
The stallion she loved for so many years was in love with the librarian, not her.
In fact, he hated her. He considered her a freak.
She was nothing.
Alone.
Unloved.
Unwanted.
And darkness settled behind her eyes.
Don’t you see?
We make her happy. We see her for what she truly is.
Perfect.
Without us, she is so, so alone.
And who wants that for such a lovable little mare?
We want nothing more than to make our Broken Bird fly.
We love her.
Ditzy hid her face behind her wings, ashamed.
Shadows caressed her feathers, gentle and kind.
Ditzy opened her eyes.
And slowly, they turned dark.
Let it begin.



It began with a slow hum, almost a whisper. A concept, a thought. 
Nothing serious, not to the loving ponies, anyway. 
What cause would there be for concern? Their glorious princesses always took care of them, holding their precious loved ones in their wings. The Elements of Harmony would always take care of them; the light of Equestria would forever shine.
Always.
The whispers came in soft lulls, hushes that tugged at the edges of the mind, barely there, always silent, always still. They came in gentle pulls, crawling over the edge of twilight, never overstepping their touch.
Within the center, the most precious one awaited.
She was glorious, as her subjects had always known. Cloaked in the silk darkness was she, cradled in the shadows of the darkest corners of the hearts of millions. She was glorious, stars glittering in her eyes, and tangled in her mane. She was the rare beauty of the night, the one queen, the one hiding in the corners of fear.
And she had yet to truly take form.
Spider webs of shadows reached from her, thin strings of black and silver, as sharp as glass. They hungrily preyed upon the light, piercing it, pulling it closer.
The air cracked, tens of thousands of tiny screams piercing the light of the day. 
And it was then that the sky was painted black. 
Stars were swallowed up in tongues of shadow, hungrily swallowing the light they so desperately desired.
The sun itself was nothing but prey to it.
The moon fell to the grasp of the darkness, nothing but just a little treat.
And the Queen was laughing, her head tossed back, eyes alight with the glorious darkness she had finally embraced.
They will not hate me anymore. They will love me. They will love me. They cannot ignore us. They will love us forever. Until the end of time itself!
Her wings were blades of obsidian, they were cloaked in darkness and spread for miles on end, reaching from heaven to Equestria, never ceasing in their brilliant glory. 
Her subjects-foolish little fillies and colts compared to her-were staring with wide-eyes at her, their entire bodies shaking, and she was laughing because finally, finally they were looking at her with something besides hatred. They were looking at her with love, with respect, and they weren’t laughing or pointing at her, they weren’t ignoring her, they were looking at her, and they would love her and love her and-
“Stop this at once.”
The Queen’s head snapped around, and she tilted her head like a curious child, smiling.
“My dear Princesses, such an honor to see you both.”
Her voice was the echo of thousands. 
At once, she vanished, and then reappeared behind the Princess of Light and the Princess of the Moon.
“And such an honor to be the one to kill you both, my beloved Princesses.”
It was over in just an instance.
The beautiful country of Equestria was no more in just one, inconsequential little second.
Because, in that one second, everything was gone.
Screams and cries rang across the land, as at once, every citizen somehow knew. Perhaps it was their love. Perhaps it was some kind of magic.
Perhaps it was because the Queen wanted them to know.
No matter the case, they knew. 
As the bodies of the two Celestial rulers fell like feathers, the Queen laughed.
And the world ended, and began anew, under the rule of shadows.