Luna shot out of her sleep, cold sweat dripping from her brow. She looked around at her room before Celestia burst through her doors.
"Luna! You saw it didn't you," Celestia said.
Luna nodded and said, "They've returned and destroyed." Luna paused as she remembered the scene unfold in her nightmare.
"We must call the elements at once, we don't have much time," Celestia said.
---
Moment later, Celestia paced back and forth mumbling to herself, "where are they, I hope they haven't already gotten to ponyville," Celestia said before the doors opened and Twilight and her friends ran in along with Big Macintosh and Sweetie belle.
"Princess! Are you alright? I brought my friends along with Applejacks brother and Rarity's sister as you requested," Twilight said.
"Good. However, I believe another must attend this meeting," Celestia said before her horn glowed bright. A bright light flashed and Discord appeared. He sat in a lazy chair while watching a Television with cheese dust covering his chest and mouth. He blinked and looked around at all the ponies around him.
"Why hello Celestia," he said as he got up and dusted off his chest before the chair and TV disappeared as he added, "I thought we agreed, Tuesdays are my time off. They're my days I catch up on my stories."
"Discord," Celestia said before she was interrupted by him continuing, "I was just about to find out if it's Movieplex's filly or Iron Mason's."
"Discord! They've returned!" Celestia said. Discord stopped and turned towards her, his expression changed as he turned towards Twilight and her friends.
"Have you told them already?" Discord asked
"No, I summoned you so I could," Celestia said. Discord nodded before Twilight interjected, "What's going on, why have us and Discord here?"
"I believe a great evil has awoken," Celestia said.
"You mean like Tirek, or Chrysalis, or even Sombra?" Rainbow Dash questioned.
Discord chuckled before he said, "Any one of those wouldn't cause Celestia this much terror, no. The Four Ponies of the Apocalypse have returned."
"Who are they?" Twilight said as she cocked her head.
"They are the four most powerful ponies ever created by my sister," Celestia said. Everypony quickly turned towards Luna before Celestia added, "No, my older sister: Aurora." Everypony looked at Celestia in shock.
"Hold it there, I thought there were only two alicorn sisters," Applejack questioned.
"Yes, we've always been told that you and Luna are the only two naturally born alicorns," Rarity said.
"Yes, however, there are actually three," Luna said.
Celestia nodded before she explained, "Originally our parents gave birth to three alicorns: Myself, Luna, and Aurora. Aurora was the eldest of the three of us and presumed to rule over all of Equestria. However, my parents felt all three of us should rule together. My sister was outraged, saying she was the eldest and should rule. Her anger caused her to create what we now call: Chaos Magic."
"But why did she create these four ponies?" Twilight asked.
"She was angered at our parents and stated that if she couldn't have Equestria, no one would. She used forbidden magic to create life. Thus, the Four Ponies of the Apocalypse where born. Created by Chaos Magic, each was given destructive magical abilities," Celestia said.
"So they can create cotton candy clouds and make paths into soap?" Rainbow Dash said before she added, "How bad can that be?"
"Speaking of which, what about your promise?" Pinkie said looking to Discord. He chuckled and snapped his fingers as a stick of cotton candy appeared in his hand before he said, "Like I promised in my last letter Pinkie." She took the cotton candy and bit into it. Her mouth filled with the fluffy strawberry flavor mixed with chocolate as it dripped from the middle of the cotton candy stick.
"So good," she said, saliva mixed with chocolate dripped from her mouth before she took another bit.
"Yes well, what you all don't know about Chaos Magic is: there are two types, Destructive and Trickster," Discord said before he snapped his fingers again and a glass appeared filling from the bottom with chocolate milk. He downed the drink and threw the class before adding, "I use the Trickster magic because, let's face it, I'm only looking for a good laugh. I never want to hurt anypony."
"Could have fooled us," Rainbow Dash said.
"Come now Rainbow, Discord didn't really hurt anypony when he changed the very fabric of reality," Fluttershy said.
"He took both our wings and nearly ended our friendship," Rainbow Dash yelled.
"Yes, however he didn't really hurt us, physically," Applejack said.
"But how did her Chaos Magic get into Discord?" Rarity questioned.
"We had no other choice to use the Elements of Harmony against Aurora. Her physical body was destroyed, but her magical properties
disappeared and must have found their way into Discord," Celestia said.
"Yes, well. When I first learned about my new powers, I also learned about their distractive capabilities," Discord said as he lowered his head and added, "My first magical outing with them resulted in me eradicating all of my friends and family. I single handily extinct the Draconequus species. After that I vowed to only use trickster magic so no one would." He felt Fluttershy hug him as she patted his head trying to cheer him up.
"So you want us to use the Elements of Harmony against them?" Twilight said.
Celestia shook her head and said, "Aurora place a spell over them so the elements won't work to dispel them. However, there is a way to stop them."
"How?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"The Four Pillars of Hope," Luna said.
"When Aurora created the four ponies, we knew we couldn't take on all of them. So my sister and I had no choice but to create warriors of our own. Each one, the complete opposite of the Ponies of the Apocalypse," Celestia said.
"So call them back to fight once again," Rainbow Dash said.
"They gave their lives to seal them away in Tartarus," Celestia said as she shook her head.
"Hold on a second, then how did these four return? Strong magic like that couldn't have broken?" Twilight asked.
"That's what I'm still unsure of. I know, before Aurora was defeated, she placed a spell on the four so when she came back, she could resurrect her generals as she called them," Luna said.
"I may be able to answer that," a stallion said as he walked in. they all looked at him before he added, "My commander, Silver Cross told me of a spell he acquired through a dream he had. It told him about four great warriors that could turn the tide of the war with the changelings. He wanted to leave it as an ace in the hole."
"Aurora must have shown him the spell, telling him that so her generals could escape," Celestia said.
"So if the Elements won't work and the four pillars are gone, what can we do?" Fluttershy said.
"The Four Pillars of Hope's physical bodies might be gone, but since the Four Ponies escaped, then the pillars spirits will be used. That's why I asked you to bring a Stallion and Filly unicorn," Celestia said as she turned her attention to Big Mac and Sweetie Belle.
"Oh no, I will not subject my little sister to such foul creatures, I'll take her place instead," Rarity said clutching her sister.
"I'm sorry Rarity, but we need a filly for this. I promise your sister will be fine," Celestia said with a warm smile. Rarity looked at her sister and hugger her tightly before she let her go as Celestia added, "We also need a Pegasus." She looked towards Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.
"Oh, no I don't think," Fluttershy said before Discord interrupted, "I will not allow Fluttershy to face this evil." Everypony looked at him in shock before Rainbow Dash spoke up, "I'll do it."
"All that leaves is," Celestia said as she turned to Twilight and added, "I must ask so much of you yet again my fateful student. I need an alicorn and the only other candidate has been." She stopped herself as a tear rolled down her face.
"What's wrong?" Twilight asked.
"We'd hoped that Cadance would be the candidate so the burden wouldn't always fall on you. However, it seems these demonic ponies have already gotten to her," Luna said. Twilight's mouth opened as tears filled her eyes as she cried, "What about?" Luna shook her head.
"We felt Cadance, Shining Armor, and the entire Crystal Empire's aura disappear in an instant," Celestia said as she walked over and embraced Twilight. She felt Twilight scream into her coat as the tears flowed from her eyes. Everypony there felt the grief as Applejack took off her hat in respects to the dead. It felt like an eternity before Twilight was able to speak.
"What do I have to do," she asked. The pain of losing her brother and Cadance being replaced with anger towards the four who took them away from her.
---
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo walked out of Sugar Cube corner. Their mouths covered in frosting and sprinkles.
"It's a shame Sweetie Belle had to go with Rarity. She would have loved that strawberries and cream cupcake," Scootaloo said.
"Yeah, but she said it was an emergency," Apple Bloom said. She stopped when she realized her friend wasn't behind her. She turned to see Scootaloo staring at a tree. Scootaloo's nose was in the air as she smelled the sweet scent coming from the fruit in the tree.
"Scootaloo, haven't you had?" Apple Bloom said as she walked over to her. Her speech was interrupted by the scent of the fruit.
"That smells mighty nice," Apple Bloom said. Vines slithered from the top of the trees and presented the two fillies with fruit. Before the fillies could take the fruit, the vines quickly wrapped around their bodies and pulled them into the tops of the trees. Green gas forming at the base of the tree.