//------------------------------// // The seal is broken // Story: The God of Darkness // by Synthetic Soul //------------------------------// Barely any light made it into the long forgotten cavern. Water dripped down from the stalactites on the roof. The dripping was the only sound in the cave. Ancient carvings lined the walls, each one telling a story from long ago. Upon the ebony pedestal perched a small tripod, which held a long forgotten object. A crystal orb, dark as the night, with wisps of grey smoke whipping around inside it. Without any warning, a small crack appeared on the object. A stream of dark smoke shot out of the crack, amassing a few feet away from the pedestal. Then, the crack grew in size, and the flow of smoke increased. It drained from the orb, emptying it, causing the orb to become clear. The smoke began to take shape and form. It grew into an oval of about six feet in height. Then four strings of smoke spread from the shape. Slowly, the smoke began to materialize. Flesh, and clothing appeared. When it was finished, a creature stood in its place. Devoid of any fur except for the back neck length hair that fell down to its neck. It wore black boots with steel toes. Black pants, shirt, and trench coat covered the rest of its body. The creature examined itself, observing its full body. Then a wicked smile appeared on its face, revealing extremely sharp canines. Then, the creature started chuckling, in a male voice. The chuckling evolved into manic laughter. The creature threw his head back as he laughed. After a few minutes, the laughter died down, but the smile did not falter. "Hehe. At last, I am free of that accursed prison." the creature looked around at his surroundings, observing the cave. He walked to the wall of the cave, and pressed his hand against the carvings. Despite the incredible darkness, he could see perfectly fine. He traced his finger around the outline of the creature portrayed on the wall. It was a mismatched Frankenstein, composed of multiple body parts from multiple different animals. The creature in blacks face looked sad and sorrowful, but it transformed into a look of anger and hatred. "You'll pay," said the creature. His body then blew away as it transformed back into black smoke, and shot away, out through a small hole in the roof of the cave. It had been one week since the defeat of the evil centaur, Tirek. After the defeat of Tirek, a large tree shaped crystal castle appeared in Ponyville. Twilight Sparkle took the palace as her own place of residence, although her friends were always welcome. Currently, nine beings were in the castle. The mane six, princesses of the sun and the moon, and lastly the spirit of chaos Discord. They were all gathered around a table, drinking tea. "Mm, this tea is wonderful Twilight. If you don't mind me asking, what kind is it?" asked Fluttershy. "It's this new thing called oolong tea. It's from the far east," replied Twilight. "Well, its simply marvelous Twilight," said Rarity. "I must thank you for inviting me Twilight. Especially after, well, you know," said a solemn Discord. "You mean how you totally betrayed us to Tirek?" asked Rainbow. "Rainbow!" exclaimed Twilight. Rainbow just rubbed the back of her head, and smiled sheepishly. Twilight returned her gaze to Discord. "It's alright Discord. I'm sure you've learned your lesson." "Still, I feel awful," replied Discord. "Think of it this way Discord," said Celestia. "If you hadn't joined Tirek, you wouldn't have been able to give Twilight that amulet, and she wouldn't have been able to defeat Tirek." "Yes, but if I had apprehended Tirek in the first place, she wouldn't have needed to beat him," replied Discord. "Well, think of it this way Discord. If you hadn't joined Tirek, I wouldn't have this cool castle!" said Twilight. Discord Chuckled. "Well, yes, I guess that's true." "And I do believe that whole incident made our friendship that much stronger," said Rarity. "Hm. I guess you are right. Still, I feel bad." Fluttershy was about to speak up, when the group heard a knocking sound. "I'll get it," said Twilight. She got up and left the room. She then proceeded to trot down the stairs towards the door. She opened the door with her magic to reveal a familiar Pegasus. "Oh, hello Derpy." One hour earlier Deep within the Everfree forest, hidden from view of Ponyville, a grey Pegasus with a blond mane was floating in the air. She was suspended not by her wings, but by black smoke which bound her legs and neck. In front of her stood a figure dressed in black. Its hands were behind its back, and it was pacing back and forth. The Pegasus had tears in her eyes as she sobbed. "P-please l-let me g-go!" she sobbed. The creature stopped and turned to face her. "It would appear that I've been absent for the past, oh I don't know, 1000 years or so? So I need information. You are going to give it to me," said the creature. "A-and if I do, y-you'll let me go?" "It certainly wouldn't hurt your chances." "O-okay. Well, what do you want to know?" "Just tell me anything of historical importance." "Well, a little over 1000 years or so, the princesses defeated Discord by imprisoning him in stone using the elements of harmony." 'A fitting punishment for his sins,' thought the creature. "Tell me more." "Well, after that, Princess Luna transformed into the mare of darkness, Nightmare moon. Princess Celestia used the elements to imprison her sister on the moon. Then, a few years ago, she returned. The new bearers of the elements purified Nightmare Moon, turning her back into Princess Luna. "Where can I find these elements?" "They live in Ponyville. Their names are Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash." "Then what happened?" "Discord escaped his stone imprisonment, but the elements defeated him. But later, they released him and reformed him. Then-" "Hold on a second," said the creature as he held up a hand. "You're telling me that da-Discord is now an ally of the ponies?" "Y-yes," stuttered Derpy. "Anything else?" "Yes. Tirek escaped Tartarus, and convinced Discord to join him. He stole everyponies magic, then he betrayed Discord. The element bearers defeated him, but they didn't use the elements." "Why not?" "They had to return them to the tree of harmony." An evil smirk appeared on the creatures face. "Excellent. That is all." "S-so, now you'll let me go?" "Ehh, no." "W-what! You said you'd let me go if I answered your questions!" "I said it wouldn't hurt you chances." "You son of a-ack!" The creature held up his hand, causing dark smoke to pour into Derpy's mouth. She started to spasm and twitch, and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. As the smoke filled her, her mane and fur darkened, losing their color. When the last of the smoke filled her body, she slowly levitated down to the ground. She just stood there, staring blankly into the distance. "How about you and I pay a visit to Ponyville." "Yes master," said Derpy. But she sounded like a zombie, no tone or emotion in her voice. The creature smiled, and then the two flitted away. "Oh, hello Derpy." "Hello," replied Derpy. But Twilight noticed a few things different about her. Her fur and mane where a bit darker and less colorful. Her voice sounded empty and soulless. "Um, is there something you need?" asked Twilight. "Is Discord here?" "Um, yeah, why?" "That's all I needed." With that, Derpy reared on her back hooves, standing upright. Then, her skin began to fall off like wrapping paper. As the last of her flesh fell to nothingness, all that was left was a black smoke. Twilight screamed. The smoke began to take shape, and soon formed into a figure Twilight had seen before. "A-a h-human!" cried Twilight. "Twilight! What's going on!" Twilight turned around to see her friends rushing to her. Twilight walked back to the group. The human strode into the castle, with his hands behind his back. Twilight saw Discord step forward, a look of surprise on his face. "Dark? Dark Blade?" said a shocked Discord. Twilight and the other ponies looked to Discord. He knew this human? "Hello...father."