Twilight and her friends sat in the entrance hall of Canterlot castle. They were called by the princess but didn't have any idea why. The message said it was urgent so Twilight got her friends at the castle as soon as they could. Twilight was pacing the room, wondering what could be so urgent. Before she could talk, the door opened and Princess Celestia walked out of the throne room. She made a head movement telling them to come in, The six ponies walked inside the throne room and Celestia closed the door.
"I'm glad you got here so soon." Celestia told them, as she walked over to the middle of the throne room, "I have dreadful news. Twilight, did you ever read that book I gave you called The Dark Age?”
Twilight thought for a minute then shook her head, “I didn’t read it fully. I stopped at the chapter called Idcarus.”
“That is why I’ve called you all here. The demon Idcarus has escaped his sealment.”
The six ponies looked at each other. None of them had ever heard of Idcarus. Celestia walked to a door on the side wall and from it, pulled out a statue. It was a mask with a large mass of some substance behind it.
“This is a replica statue of Idcarus. Twenty thousand years ago, Idcarus appeared from nowhere and went on a rampage, killing every pony in its sight. He had killed about twelve villages and four cities before he was stopped.”
Rainbow Dash looked anxious to hear, “How was he stopped?”
Celestia looked a little saddened, “My mother lured Idcarus to an old forest, bringing some gems that contained dangerous magic, and sealed him inside his own mask. She had turned it to stone so he couldn’t get out but to do so... she had to sacrifice her life so the stone could become powerful enough to keep him inside. I have no idea how he could of returned but I’m afraid he’ll head toward Ponyville.”
“How dreadful!” Rarity stated.
“So you want us to stop him with the Elements of Harmony?” Twilight asked.
Celestia nodded, “Yes, but we need to prepare the village for if he gets to Ponyville anyway. Now, you six need to rest. It’s getting late now.”
The six ponies nodded, bowed and left back to Ponyville. Sweetie Belle was wandering the boutique, waiting for Rarity. When her sister walked in the door, she ran over, “What happened? Is something wrong?”
Rarity looked at her little sister and patted her head, “No, everything’s fine. Now, I do believe it’s your bedtime.”
“Awww! I don’t wanna go to bed!” Sweetie Belle whined, “I wanna stay up!”
Rarity pushed Sweetie Belle toward her bedroom, “It’s getting late and it’s past your bedtime.”
Sweetie Belle whined and complained until she was in her bed, tucked in and snuggled up. She still complained, just not as loud or constant. Rarity smiled as her sister basically fell asleep right when Rarity closed the door. She realised it was very late and went to bed early.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Idcarus was sitting in the middle of a tribal camp, looking around for any sign of life. The black mass was now similar to a cloak made of black smoky energy. The mask turned around to see the damage it caused. The tent were torn and stained in blood from the buffalo that were devoured by Idcarus. It turned around as it heard a train passing by. It made its deep chuckle and decided to follow it to civilization.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Applejack was in the fields, bucking apple trees. She heard a strange noise nearby and turned to look. There were only apple trees and buckets of apples. She shrugged and continued with the apples. She then heard the sound again. It sounded like a deep chuckle. She stopped and turned around in the direction of the sound. Applejack walked toward the sound, in the dark area of the Apple Tree field. The sound slowly faded. Applejack then saw something; a mask.
Applejack then looked down and saw a strange substance grab her hoof, “What in tarnation?”
Applejack then saw that the mask was part of the substance. She realised this was the demon Celestia was talking about. She tried to buck the mask but it moved away from her hooves. Applejack then remembered her hoof was caught. She tried to pull away but all it got was her hoof ripped off. She screamed in pain as her leg was pouring blood. Her hat fell off her head as Idcarus grabbed her leg. Applejack could feel her leg being slowly ripped off. She screamed loudly in pain as the leg was torn. The section of the mass had some blood falling from it. Applejack could hear her leg being crushed inside. Then she saw the area that looked lips on the mask split, creating a mouth. There were two rows of razor teeth inside. Idcarus looked at the earth pony and spread his jaw. Applejack let out one last loud scream.
Big Macintosh heard the scream from the barn. He let go of the cart he was pulling and charged toward the scream. He knew she was in danger by the tone of the scream. When he got to the source, he only saw her hat, stained in blood.
He shook his head as his eyes began to tear, “...N-... Nope...”
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
The next day, Applebloom sat at a small gravestone that had AppleJack’s hat on it, crying. Her only sister was now dead and no one knew how or by whom. She wiped her eyes as she heard Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo walking over to her.
“Applebloom... I’m sorry.” Sweetie Belle told her friend, hugging her.
Scootaloo joined the hug, “Yeah...”
Applebloom hugged them back, “It’s just... Wh-Who would killed ma sister? She was a good pony. She never did anythin
bad to anypony.”
The two fillies just kept their friend in embrace, trying to calm her down.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Twilight sat in her library, crying about the lost of her best friend, “... A-Applejack...” Now there were only five of the six Element of Harmony bearers to stop Idcarus. Could they still stop him with only five?