//------------------------------// // How darkness rules // Story: The Final Sunset // by Wonder //------------------------------// "What the hay? Where did they go?" Applejack asked, to nopony in particular. Sunset listened as the crowd began to whisper. They do that a lot. "This doesn't look good. We need to find those elements quick, before more of us are ponynapped." Sunset spoke to Rarity, who simply nodded in agreement. "And how exactly are we meant to find her?" Applejack said. "Unless you can track teleporting spells we ain' got a chance." The mayor was the next to speak. "She could be anywhere." Pinkie hopped in place. "Why don't we check the spooky castle?" "Why in the wide world of Equestria would she teleport to where we're going." Sunset shrugged. "We need to get the elements anyway, so it couldn't hurt to search it at the same time." "I suppose, but what are the chances?" The mayors ears sagged. Sunset turned her attention to the crowd. "Just to be safe, we will go into the castle in groups of five, so if one group is ambushed the next can assist." A lot of ponies hid behind others so they wouldn't be chosen first. Sunset mumbled under her breath. "Cowards." She spoke so people could hear. "Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy? You're with me." Fluttershy let out a 'meep'. "Me? Um, I could understand Applejack, cause she's strong, but why me." "You're all friends of Applejack, only seems fair you girls help first, that and I don't really know anyone else here." "Maybe I could stay here and help... um. Oh fine." She crawled forward slowly. "Great. Now the rest of you form groups of five and come in one minute apart from each other." The crowd shuffled uneasily. The ground of five mare trotted into the castle passing the stone archway into a large open room, complete with a missing roof. In the centre stood a large granite pedestal with five stone arms reaching out at different angles. Each arm carried a large orb with runes etched onto it. On the central pedestal sat the largest of all the spheres, four times larger than the rest. The group stopped. Rarity leaned back, slightly surprised. "Is that it? There just sitting here in the first room? That's a tad convenient." "Kinda good thin' though. At least is wasn't in a hidden dungeon or something." "I suppose, but I still think it's a bit quick." "Well this is the pilot. You can't expect a lot of plot just yet." Pinkie argued. "What?" They all stared at pinkie bewildered. "What the hay are ya talkin' about." "Nothing. Just something that popped into my head." "Um, ok." Rarity inched away from Pinkie, then whispered to Sunset. "I swear if there were more than one of her, the town would go crazy." Sunset giggle. "I can imagine." Sunset turned her attention to the orbs. " Okay girls, Prepare yourselves. These things may be booby trapped." Pinkie giggled and whispered in Rarity's ear. "Hehe, she said bo-" Rarity stuff a hoof in Pinkie's mouth, obviously unamused by Pinkie's antics. A green aura surrounded Sunset's horn, the orbs became surrounded in the same aura, before slowly lifting off their podiums. Sunset tensed, expecting some mechanism or dangerous spell to activate. But nothing happened. "That's odd. I was sure something this ancient and powerful would have been protected." She set the globes down on the stone surface. "Finally. Now we can-" "Uh, Sunset. There's only five." "What?!" She counted the orbs before her, there were only five. "Maybe it's the big one." She attempted to levitate the larger orb on the centre pedestal, but it didn't budge. Pinkie leaned over to Sunset. "Didn't the book say some like, when the five are present a spark will cause the sixth element to be revealed." Applejack raised an eyebrow. "That's exactly what it said Pinkie. How do you- no never mind." "I just hope this works." "Hope what works?" Sunset didn't respond. Sunset's magical aura surrounded the elements. They didn't move, but Sunset's magic seemed to change and pulse, like water pushing against a rock. Pinkie froze in place. "Uh, girls." "Not now Pinkie, I'm concentrating." "This is kinda important." "Unless Nightmare Moon is sneaking up on us, I don't want to hear it." "Oh, well in that case, Nightmare Moon is sneaking up on us." "Very funny Pinkie." Sunset ceased her spell on the elements and turned to Pinkie. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped simultaneously. A large blue shimmering cloud was heading straight for them. Applejack went to tackle it, but it passed straight through. She landed on the ground, and stopped moving. The cloud was still charging, but not towards them, but the elements. It flew in circles around the elements like a Twister, and began to move the elements into the air, where they started to spin with the cloud. Sunset yelled. "No, I have not come all this way to return empty hoofed." Sunset charged forward, and jumped into the cloud. They watched as the cloud shrunk and disappeared in a flash, taking Sunset, and the elements with it. "Where did she go?" Rarity asked to no one in general. "We have to help her." Fluttershy squealed. "Well we can't very well help her when we don't know where she is, can we?" "Applejack. Are you ok?" Rarity turned and saw Fluttershy leaning over the limp body of Applejack. "Oh my!" Rarity ran over to assist. "Um, Pinkie, you find Sunset while we help her, ok?" Pinkie galloped of toward and archway that Rarity honestly thought wasn't there a second ago. Rarity turned back to face Applejack only to be pushed away by Fluttershy. "Darling, what are you doing?" Rarity moved forward again, only to be pushed back again. "Give me space to work." Fluttershy almost yelled, or at least her version of yelling. Either way it scared Rarity enough to keep her distance. "Applejack I'm just going to flip you onto your back, ok?" No response. Fluttershy grabbed Applejack's shoulder and rolled her over. "Okay, this may be a bit awkward and I'm sorry. Please don't tell anyone about this Rarity." Fluttershy leaned over the limp ponies head. Rarities eyes widened when their mouths connected and Fluttershy began to perform CPR. Rarity barely moved. Please let her be alright. Fluttershy was thinking the exact same thing. Her vision was blurry. All she could see were grey outlines, and in a grey castle, that made things rather difficult. Slowly her vision began to return, showing that they were in another part of the castle. The room was vast and had large pillars lining the walls. The room wasn't very noticeable apart from a raised platform which probably used to hold a statue. But at the current moment the platform was occupied by a large, dark alicorn mare, laughing chaotically, the elements of harmony orbiting her. For some apparent reason, whenever Nightmare Moon laughed, lighting was summoned to emphasise her insanity, and that was still the case, as the following thunder echoed around the room. "Give those back!" Sunset got up on to her hooves. "You're a smart mare, right? Then tell me, why should I give you the only thing that can defeat me?" Sunset was taken aback by this. She had been expecting a fight. "It was a simple question." The dark alicorn smiled condescendingly. "Because... Because they're not yours." Sunset yelled. Nightmare laughed at this. "Actually, by definition, these belong to Equestria, so seeing as I am now it's ruler, ownership reverts to me. Any other reasons, my dear." Sunset snarled. "Stop playing games. You are not the ruler of Equestria, you are a tyrant. Now give those to me." Sunset charged at the alicorn, which given the distance between them, was a poor attempt at a surprise attack. Nightmare rolled her eyes. "Oh please. What do you hoped to achieve with such poor tactics." She summoned a bolt of lightning, which struck the ground directly in front of Sunset. The shockwave alone sent Sunset flying, the chunks of stone from the from left a few more noticeable marks. Sunset slowly got up, wincing with every movement. "Stay down foal, you'll only injure yourself further, and believe it or not, I don't want that." Sunset only glared at her. "Why do you care what happens to me?" "As ruler of Equestria, it is my duty to ensure their safety." "Well, your doing a great job so far." Sunset snarled. This got a chuckle from the mad mare. "Believe what you will, but I do not intend to spend the rest of my eternal life alone. I have already had enough solitude." Sunset flinched in pain. "What are you talking about?" "Do I have to spell it out to you." She sighed. "I want you to join me." Sunset pause, obviously taken back by Nightmare Moons words. After several seconds of silence Sunset spat. "Why would I join you?" This made Nightmare Moon laugh. "Because I have something you want." "You've already made it clear that you don't intend to surrender the elements." "You are correct there. No, I intend to trade you some else. Your loyalty for," Her horn charges and in a bright flash, a cage appeared next to her. "Your friend." In the cage sat a pegasus with a Rainbow mane. The mare looked around startled, and her eyes soon landed on Nightmare Moon. "You!" Rainbow leapt against the cage, her left hoof reaching between the bar, trying to grab the alicorn, but only missing by inches. "Let me out of here, and fight like a mare." She only responded by rolling her eyes. "Well, what will it be? Rules with me and I'll let your friend go, or serve under me and leave her imprisoned?" Rainbow took a moment to register this, then looked at the cage she was in. She winced. "Don't do it Sunset!" Rainbow yelled. "Take the elements and run." Nightmare turned to Rainbow, glaring at her. Rainbow was about to yell again, but a magical barrier appeared on her mouth, stopping her from shouting. "Think about Sunset. With me as your mentor, you can become the most powerful unicorn alive. What has Celestia taught you? Cheap parlour tricks and useless spells?" Sunset didn't respond, but Nightmare read her expression. "That's what I thought. She doesn't trust you with powerful magic? Doesn't treat you with the respect you so rightfully deserve." Sunset didn't see it, but Rainbow was shaking her head vigorously. "You deserve so much more than that and as my pupil, you will get everything you deserve." She let that hang ominously over Sunset. "But... What about everyone else, what will happen to them?" "Everyone will have their place in my kingdom. I will not let any of them be left behind, as long as they serve me. You needn't worry about them." Rainbow was trying to get her attention but Sunset was staring at the ground, deep in thought. "What about the sun?" Nightmare Moon took a step back. "What about it?" There was a slight look of anger on her face. "Will we ever see it again?" Nightmare Moon thought on this for a while. "Perhaps, in time. If you do serve me, I may bring out the sun on occasion." It was obvious that it hurt the alicorn to say this. Sunset was about to respond but was distracted by a loud clatter of hoofs on stone. From the entrance of the roof, Pinkie arrived. "Finally! This castle is huge. There was even this room with rows of pony armour." Pinkie took a few heavy breaths. "What was I here for again? Oh yeah! Sunset don't listen to whatever it is she's saying, even if it involves cake! Oh a balloon." Nightmare moon had summoned a balloon and sent it back the way Pinkie had come from. Pinkie bounced off after the balloon. "Are there going to be anymore interruptions?" She asked no one in particular. "Good, now what is your choice? I'm not on for patience so you might want to choose quickly. Just remember what I am offering you." Sunset had a look of deep concentration on her face. After what felt like hours but was only a few minutes, Sunset sighed. "I'll do whatever you ask, just let Rainbow go." Sunset didn't look happy about her choice but she wasn't showing any sign of regret either. Rainbows expression switched from one of worry to one of anger. She starting pounding on the cage, trying to yell something at Sunset but her muzzle as still gagged. "Excellent choice my dear, now if you excuse me I have some citizens that need... convincing." Nightmare Moon disappeared in a flash, and at the same time a key appeared in front of Sunset. Rainbow also felt the magical gag around her mouth disappear. "What the hay Sunset! Why did you do that!" Sunset didn't respond, but kicked the key over to Rainbow Dash. Dash grabbed the key in her hoof and unlocked cage door. But when she got out, Sunset was gone. Fluttershy kept switching between breathing air into Applejacks lungs and pushing on her sternum, hoping to bring the mare back. She was breathing more air into Applejacks lungs when Nightmare Moon appeared behind Rarity. Seeing the tall mare she scream, but it wasn't that audible, not because of her usually soft voice, but because her mouth was still pressed against the deceased mares. Rarity saw Fluttershy's expression and turned. Her reaction, to say the least, was dramatic. With a quick scream, Rarity put her hoof on her brow and feinted, for the first time in a long time it was not fake. The dark mare looked at Rarity, uninterested, then turned her attention to Fluttershy. But what she saw, she wasn't expecting. She had been expecting the mare to be cowering in the corner, but instead what she saw was a pony seething with rage. Fluttershy moved before she could react. Fluttershy leapt at her and tackled Nightmare Moon to the ground, all the while screaming at her. "How could you do this? What did she ever do to you?" Fluttershy brought her hoof down and hit the alicorn across the muzzle. She raised her left forehoof and brought it down again, this time hitting Nightmare Moon's neck. Without thinking, Nightmare shoved the rage filled Pegasus off her. Fluttershy tried to attack again but was held in place by magic. Nightmare Moon coughed, rubbing her throat with her hoof. "I must say, this was not the reaction I was expecting from you. The Rainbow one perhaps, but not you." Fluttershy kept screaming at her. "Cease your yammering!" She cast the spell she had used to silence Rainbow on Flutershy, and she became silent. "If you were to listen, before letting your emotions take control, you would have heard my offer. You care about your friend yes?" Before Fluttershy could respond, not that she could, Nightmare Moon continued. "I can save her, you see, it was my magic that did this, it is my magic that can fix her. But I have one condition. You are to serve me as my personal slave, you are to do as I ask and follow my orders. Just remember that your friends life," She paused for effect. "Is in your hoofs." The magic around Fluttershy's mouth dissipated and she was able to speak again, but all she did was cry. "Please. Don't let her die. You have to save her." The pegasus fell to the ground. "I'll do anything." "Then say it. Proclaim your servitude." "I-I am your slave. I will serve you." "That's more like it." The dark alicorn grinned. Her horn charged and Applejack bolted into a sitting position, breathing heavily. "Now, my little foal, since I have saved your life, I believe you owe me a life debt." "I don't owe you anythin'. Your the one that almost killed." "Not almost, did. And I would suggest you pay off your debt unless you want you apple orchards to die and you family business to fall into ruin." Applejacks ears flattened against her head. "You wouldn't." Her voice broke for a second, making her sound like an older version of Sweetie Belle. "You shouldn't under estimate me dear. I have already killed one mare tonight, even if I did bring her back to life. Don't think I wouldn't deprive a few trees of their sunlight." Applejacks head swam with visions of her farm in ruins and her family living on the street. A tear appeared in the corner of her eyes. She didn't say it in words but Applejack simply nodded. Nightmare Moon smiled evilly. "Glad to have found a reasonable mare among you. Now what to do with this one." She turned her attention to Rarity, who was still unconscious on the stone floor." You two, wake her up." She watched as the work horse and the timid pegasus slowly approached the sleeping unicorn. Fluttershy gently pushed on Rarity's barrel, trying to rouse her from her sleep, while Applejack tapped her whither. "I said waker her up. Not coax her from her sleep. Slap her if you have to." "But-" Fluttershy began but was promptly shut down. "I said slap her, slave!" Fluttershy winced, but did not want to break her promise. With tears in her eyes, she slapped Rarity's face, who to say the least, woke up startled. "What are you doing Fluttershy! There was no need to wake me up in such a manner." Rarity looked around the room. "Um, where are we... Oh right the castl-Nightmare Moon!" Rarity was on her hooves instantly. Slowly backing away from the evil mare. "Do not be afraid. I am not her to harm you." "Why should I believe you after what you did... to. Applejack? But you-you. What's going on here?" "I saved her life." Nightmare Moon smiled, trying to appear as friendly as possible. "And I hope to offer you an opportunity. Something that you have always wanted." "I' sorry but unless you have Sapphire Shores with you, there is nothing you have that I want." "Oh, is that so? So I'm guessing you don't want a suite in the Canterlot castle, or maybe it's the boutique in the centre of the city that you don't want. Hm, too bad." Rarity felt her insides turn. Her dream come true. "What could I possible have that would convince you to give me all that." "Well, a princess does need to dress well, does she not. I'm going to need my own designer. Think about it, you get to live your dream as a Canterlot designer and all you have to do is do what you do every other, make dresses." Rarity giggled, completely forgetting why they were there in the first place. "Oh my gosh, I-I-I don't even know what to say." "Good, I'll see you soon." With a flash, Rarity disappeared. Applejack's eyes widened. "Where did you send her?" Her voice was raised. "I would be careful of your tone. Not that it is any of your business, but I have sent her to Canterlot. Now you two best make your way back to tht small town you call a home. Wait for me there. There is business I have to attend to. Outside the castle, a crowd of ponies were busy thinking of what to do next. Not long ago, just as the second group were about to enter the castle, a barrier had appear, blocking the entrance and stopping them from entering. A group of pegasi had attempted to fly through one of the many gaps in the castle but it appeared that every opening had been blocked with magical barriers. They were now all waiting for something to happen, thinking of ways to continue with their quest when she appear. Much like when she first revealed herself, Nightmare Moon appear, a spiral of magical aura splitting apart to reveal the dark alicorn. "People of Ponyville! Your princess is here!"