Hidden Spark had taken quarters in Celestia's private chambers. The Solar Princess' place was a praise to the beauty of sun and light and summer. White marble walls, golden ornaments, forming flowers, suns, lines, craved in stone. The furniture was nice and ordered, almost fragile. Lightbrown wood. Soft, red carpet.
The chamber had a huge, brown bed with two white carpets, hiding the sleeping person from curious eyes. There was a mirror on a dressing table with several drawers. A cupboard with the dresses of Princess Celestia. Hidden Spark had already looked into it. She did not really liked the dresses. They were too fair in her liking, too much orange, yellow and even red, one of her favourite colours, was too bright.
The sun's light shone through two large, glassed doors with golden lines on the material. It leaded towards the white balconery, on which Celestia stood, when she rose the sun without a public. Hidden Spark was standing in front of the mirror and eyed herself in it. She was rather pleased with the last events. Celestia was gone, Luna was gone and the Elements of Harmony were defeated and in her grasp. Never before her aim had been so close.
Now to the next step. „You have finished the invitations?“ Hidden Spark turned around to face an unicorn stallion with a fluffy mustach. He had a sandbrown fur and a clock as his cutiemark. Kibitz, Celestia's former schedule manager and adviser, bowed.
„Yes, although I am still not sure, why you changed the place of the festival“, he replied.
Hidden Spark's horn glowed and she levitated a copy in front of her. Golden, baroque letters said Invitation to the Summer Sun Celebration in Canterlot Castle. Every subject – high and low – is welcomed. There was also an image of the rising sun and the silhouette of an alicorn mare. I just hope, it is not Celestia.
Kibitz added: „But I do not understand, why you want to have the celebration in the building. Celestia has arranged it in Ponyville. So why changing it?“ His obstreperousness left as soon as Hidden Spark rested her glowing eyes on him. Her horn flared and the adviser was forced down on his knees, his snout pressed on the ground.
„Perhabs you should remember, that I am the Princess“, Hidden Spark hissed, „And you are the servant. I make the decisions! I speak for the nation! So if you do not mind....“
„Mind?“, stammered Kibitz, „Why would I mind? Of course I do not mind! Everything will be arranged to your wishes, your Majesty!“
Hidden Spark flapped her wings lazily. „Then give a guard a copy of those invitations so that the words are spread. Oh, and bring the royal tailor to me.“
Kibitz stammered „Yes, your Highness“ and „Of course, your Highness“, before with a mumbled „I take my leave, your Highness“ and another deep bow, he left the room.
Hidden Spark had already turned her back on him as if he was not worth her time. She had only taken a simple, cold glance in his direction. They all were nothing but puppets and her mortal toys. She ate them hungrily and when she was finished, she burped them out. She was playing with them. And she would watch them die. And their children and children's children.
***
Pump! Pump! Pump! Twilight could hear the rythm of her heartbeat. It faded through the darkness. The mare could see everything, Hidden Spark saw, but she could not do anything. The darkness was pumped through her veins, floating through her body, caressing bones, organs and her mind. And she was trapped in her mind, in the backside of her head.
Oh, what have I done! Twilight had made mistakes and failed before. She had thought, after her almost fiasko with Starswirl's spell, she could not make a greater mistake. How wrong she had been! She had let this happen. The two Princesses were gone, half of Canterlot was under Hidden Spark's control and she was slowly making the next steps for her way to the throne. Everypony wants to rule the world.
Power. Like wine, when you had it. Like poison, when you lost it. Twilight felt, how it ate on her. Lost. She was trapped in her own mind and she no longer had any power of what she was doing. Every action Hidden Spark made, caused such deep regret and pain in her, it hurt. She had done something unforgivable.
Twilight had not just attacked and defeated the two Royal Sisters with ease. No, she had imprisoned her friends. She had thrown her friends into a dungeon! In chains! Twilight still saw Applejack's face in front of her as Hidden Spark had tormented her face. This desperation, sadness...her best friend had been a broken soul.
Twilight had shouted in Hidden Spark's mind. She had cried and begged the dark mare to stop. She had tried to stop her tongue, saying all these harsh words, she had tried to say „I am sorry. I do not want this.“ All those appologies. But her tongue had not obeyed her and her lips had been so numb as if Hidden Spark had sealed them.
Lost. Helpless. Full of regret and remorse. Twilight had never hated herself more. Why hadn't she tried anything to stop this destruction? Why hadn't she asked for help just like Spike told her to do? Twilight was a fool. An idiot! Just look at what I have done. What kind of Princess can I be, if I let this happen? What does this says about me? Do I even deserve being called the Princess of Friendship? I betrayed my friends and all those, who put their trust in me. Twilight wanted to cry. As Hidden Spark looked at herself into the mirror, the imprisoned alicorn saw her own face and that of a monster.
„Your Highness?“
Hidden Spark turned her head around. A guard stood in the doorway. He saluted in a stiff movement and tautened his shoulders. „The tailor.“
Hidden Spark grazed him with a simple glance. Reddish, puffed eyes. All under her spell.
„Bring him in“, commanded the mare.
She slowly walked through the room with long steps and rested herself on a reddish couch. Hidden Spark folded her front legs and turned her head around to face the tailor. He was a small, childish looking unicorn with big ears and a round face. His coat was as red as cinnamon and his Cutie Mark had the shap of a needle. Just like his name: Feeble Needle.
„Well?“, asked Hidden Spark and rose an eyebrow, „What have you brought me?“
Feeble Needle snickered nervously. „A masterpiece, your Highness“, he said and bowed, „I hope, its design will please you.“ His horn glowed and a display dummy came into view.
It was wearing a long, detailed dress. Bright red, golden ribbons, white quillings and several small red diamonds. The dress had two, long red feathers of a phonix on its collar. It looked really beautiful, but Hidden Spark's face eclipsed. „It is a nice dress“, she said slowly. Feeble Needle stood up and smiled. As he was about to say a thank you, he was cut short by a sharp explanation: „But I do not like the colour. It is too bright and friendly for my liking.“
Hidden Spark stared at the tailor with a grimdark look as if she was picturing him being skinned. Feeble Needle seemed to sense this villany in her glance as well, because he bowed shakingly and stammered: „O-of course, your Highness. I...I will redo it.“ This mare is a tryrannt! Twilight felt shivers, running through herself. She had never been afraid of herself.
Hidden Spark ordered coldly: „I want another colour.“ She whirled around, her tail hit Needle's frontlegs and she walked off in the direction of the balconery. „Dismissed!“ The tailor hastly picked up his stuff and rushed out of the room. Hidden Spark's hooves softly caressed the carpet as she walked over it.
The mare passed the mirror. Twilight dared to look at the reflection. She saw a dark mare, who was confident of her powers and who longed for the pain of others. Hidden Spark was obsessed with controlling other ponies. Twilight thought, she could spot some deformation in the body, but she could not tell what it was. And still the reflection showed her. In the core of Hidden Spark's movements, gesture and facial expression there still was something of Twilight Sparkle.
Hidden Spark stepped on the balconery. She put her head in her neck and looked at the sun, a bad smile on her face. Then her wings slowly enrolled themselves. The laughter climbed up her chest, her throat, before Hidden Spark released it with a mean, maniac, but smooth sound. Twilight shivered and cried in her mind as she thought: Is this, who I am supposed to be?
***
Spike, Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had hidden behind a large ball of hay. The three ducked between to boxes, full of apples. They had heard everything. Spike had seen the shock, sadness and anger in the Cutie Mark Cursaders' faces. When Shining Armor had declared, that the mane five were arrested, the dragon even had to grab Applebloom's wrist to stop her from jumping out of the hiding place.
As soon as the guards were gone, the four children ran out of their hiding place. They sprinted out of the barn and stopped. „They are gone!“, shouted Sweetie Belle. Spike stood there. He could hear a whimpering sound. Scootaloo was crying. Sweetie Belle seemed to be captured by her shock and Applebloom looked like she was about to kick the next intruder, who dared to show his ugly face at the farm, in the soft parts.
Spike could not believe it. This was a bad dream. It had to be. Twilight was no longer herself and now the others were captured and maybe even tortured. What can I do? What can I do? Spike scratched the backside of his head with his claws. He was a child. For goodness' sake! He was a child. Normally Twilight and her friends took on the dangers. And now they were gone.
Applebloom asked: „Now what?“ She looked at her friends and the baby dragon.
„I...I do not know“, replied Spike quietly and hang his head, „I am sorry.“
„We have to do something“, replied Applebloom, „I mean, what I have learned with the Cutie Mark Cursaders is, that one never lets a friend hanging. They need us.“
Spike looked up. He scratched his neck again. She is right. Of course Applebloom was right. Spike too would never let Twilight hanging or doing things on her own, he found to risky. He always had helped her to get back to her senses, when her paranoia had gotten the better off her. And now the thought of Twilight being possessed by some evil demon made him wanna shiver. And on the hand it filled him with an anger and determination. He needed to stop this madness.
Spike said: „You are right, Sweetie Belle. We may not be able to stop Hidden Spark. But we might be able to help the others, so they can help Hidden Spark.“
Sweetie Belle nodded. „I won't let her do anything to my big sister.“
„Me too“, added Applebloom furiously and stamped on the ground, „Zecora always said: „Many little people, in many little places, taking many little steps, can change the face of the world.“ Twilight and her friends had saved Ponyville and Equestria so often. Now it is our turn to save her.“
Scootaloo asked: „Then what are we waiting for? Let's do this!“ She pushed out her scooter. Two ropes tied it together with two skateboards.
While the Cutie Mark Cursaders climbed on their places, Spike added: „I say we first go to Ponyville and try to find out, if there is anything new and usefull for us, before we try to rescue Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.“
„Yup“, said Applebloom. Spike carefully climbed on the skateboard behind her. „Better hold on thight“, explained the yellow mare.
Scootaloo asked: „Wouldn't it be awesome, if we got our Cutiemarks from this adventure?“
Sweetie Belle sighted, chuckled shortly, before she said seriously: „Not now, Scootaloo.“
Scootaloo carefully spread her small, feathered wings. As she started to pull her scooter, the three Cutie Mark Cursaders started to sing: „Got the moves, got the mojo. No harder ponies around. We are a trio. Work as a team. We will be the first ponies out at the flag waving scene.“ Spike could feel an immense energy and trust, which laid in these words. The three fillies were confident of their skills.
The small scooter rushed down the dirty, dry path, which connected the town with the apple farm. Scootaloo's wings swirled through the air as she used the boost to push their small vehicle forwards. Together with the crunch of wheels one could hear the chorus of the Cutie Mark Cursaders: „We've got hearts as strong as horses! We've got hearts as strong as horses! We've got hearts as strong as horses! We've got hearts.....hearts as strong as horses!“
Spike looked around. The citizens did not really seemed to realize, that a drastic change had happened. Deeds need time. Not only to be done, but also to be heard and seen. They were shooting through the townstreets. The three Cutie Mark Cursaders were smiling at one another as they sang the last phrases of their song as if there was no tomorrow.
„And we're planning to win. As we gallop to glory, we can conquer any challenge we are in. We've got hearts....hearts as strong as horses. Hearts as strong as horses!“
At that moment Spike spotted a poster on a wall, which he had never seen. „Stop right there, Scootaloo!“, the dragon shouted. The orange pegasus pressed her hoof on the ground and the scooter stopped as fast as it had stopped. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were thrown off their scateboards.
Spike ran to the column and ripped of the poster. The dragon hold it in his claws and read with furrowed brow: „Invitation to the Summer Sun Celebration at Canterlot. Everypony – high and low – is welcomed. Wait! Hidden Spark wants to hold the celebration of Canterlot Castle.“
Sweetie Belle asked: „What if our friends are in the castle's dungeons? We could use the celebration to search for them.“
„Great idea, Sweetie Belle“, responded Applebloom with an ennerved expression, „We only would have to fight off thousands of guards and need to sneak into the castle. Thought about that?“
Scootaloo thought aloud: „I guess, the visitors would all wear awesome dresses and clothes. A bit like in the Grand Galloping Gala.“
Spike scratched his neck thoughtfully. His eyes dirfted around, until they rested on the ruins of Carsoul Boutique. It still gave him a sting in the heart to see it. The mane six may had been able to put the fire out, but most parts of the Boutique were destroyed. The upper floor had partly crashed on the basement floor and some collumns had ripped a few dummys apart. Spike guessed that most of the fabric had been burned down, but maybe just maybe a few balls of velvet had survived.
The Cutiemark Cursaders seemed to have realized, that Spike was staring at the Boutique. They trotted to his side. Applebloom asked: „You think, there are still some fabrics and stuff in there, that could be useful?“ The dragon nodded. The yellow filly carefully walked into the ruins. She started to peek around the corner and in cupboards and boxes, which had somehow survived the fire.
„Hey!“, shouted Applebloom as she pulled out a few rolls of velvet and silk, „Look.“ Scootaloo too was now searching through the mess and found Rarity's chewing mashine. It was covered in dust and ash, but it still seemed to work. Spike's eyes brightened up, but as he turned his face around, he saw Sweetie Belle, standing there, hanging her head.
„What is it?“, asked the purple dragon.
Rarity's younger sister explained: „Even if we have fabric and a chewing mashine, how are we suppose to make dresses? Rarity is the one, who makes the dresses.“
Applebloom was carrying their foundings towards them, while Scootaloo called: „Why, you, Sweetie Belle!“
She gasped. Then the white unicorn shook her head viciously. „No!“, responded Sweetie Belle, „No, no, no. I am not Rarity. I cannot make dresses for us. They would look dreadful. I am not even half as good as Rarity.“ The others looked at one another. Applebloom and Scootaloo hang their ears.
Spike wrestled his arms. His eyes became huge, as he said with a desperate undertone: „Please, Sweetie Belle! You know, how Rarity works. You have watched her so often. If anyone of us can make clothes for us to attend the celebration, then it is you. The others are captured. They need us to free them. If we cannot do this, Hidden Spark wins!“
Sweetie Belle lowered her head. Spike pushed further. „Do it for Equestria. Do it for Rarity. But most of all: Do it for yourself!“, he begged. The white unicorn staid silent for some time. Please, Sweetie Belle. I do not know, what else we can do. Suddenley her head yerked upwards. Sweetie's eyes flashed with determination.
„I will do it“, she said simply.
***
The evening painted the sky violet like Twilight's coat. The light of the dying sun was drowned in the heavy carpets, which closed the windows. Hidden Spark had ordered Kibitz and her guards to not interrupt her. She said, she wanted to prepare herself for the Summer Sun Celebration alone.
The tailor had brought her his new version of her dress. It now was bloodred with black ribbons and quillings. The two swanfeathers had been replaced with the one of a black phoenix. The long, silvery ribbon around her chest and hips was closed with an amethyst. Hidden Spark had been very pleased and even congratulated the tailor for his design. Not after saying the mocking words „Well, it works, hmm?“
Hidden Spark had ordered the kleinsmaids of Celestia to bring her several ribbons for her mane and a silver bucket with crimson paint and a brush. Now the dark mare stood in front of the mirror. She was lifting one of her hooves. Her magic had enwrapped itself around the brush, which was soaked with the paint. Hidden Spark dyed her hooves darkred.
She eyed herself in the mirror. Her long mane had been tuned up into an elegant knot. Several strands were hanging from her forehead, together with the silky ribbons. She had put on darkblue eyeliner. The mare was rather pleased by her look. One thing was for sure: She would make a wonderful impression and those fools would worship her.
Hidden Spark enjoyed the coolness of the paint on her hooves as she sang:
„This feast is going to be perfect.
The kind of feast of which I dreamed scince I was small.
Everypony will gather round,
say I look lovley with my crown.
What they don't know is that I have fooled them all.“
Deep down in her mind the imprisoned Twilight lifted her head. She could feel the eagerness and joy in Hidden Spark. The dark mare was certain, that her dreams, her deepest desires would come true tonight. But Twilight Sparkle only felt bitterness and regret. Her voice was thine and low as she too started to sing:
„This feast was going to be perfect.
The kind of feast of which I dreamed scince I was small.
But instead of having cake
with all my friends to celebrate.
This might not have a good ending for us all.“
Hidden Spark was walking around her room. Several dummies followed the dark princess with their blanc eyes. Their dresses throw shadows on the halls. The dark mare used her magic to made them circle around her, bowing again and again. Hidden Spark yerked her head upward and sang with all her fury and triumph, that made her drunk.
„I could care less about the dress.
I won't partake in any cake.
Words, I'll be lying when I say
That I do love the sun and I want them to be here all day.
The truth is, I don't care for them at all.“
Hidden Spark's horn started to glow. She hit one of the dummy's, which started to melt. Her head yerked backwards and she watched the doll being torn appart. Its head flew through the air and landed in front of her hooves. With a low shout of anger Hidden Spark kicked against it, squeezed it under her feet.
„No, I really hate the light.
I only love and worship night.
But I still want them to be all mine!“
Twilight stared at the shadows. They swirled around her, caressed her. The mare tried to move, but as soon as she did, the dark force wrapped black tentacles around her legs and neck and pulled her down. While Twilight kept struggeling, she somehow found enough air to sing once more.
„I must escape before it is too late.
Find a way to save the day.
Hope of escape, it is a lie, when I say.
I do fear this is a trap
And no one will hear it snap,
when someone tricks and manipulates them all day!“
Tears ran down her face and she whimpered. Twilight kicked against the black tentacles, but they wrapped themselves around her even thighter and squeezed her as a warning.
„For I love both, night and day.
I wonder, if they are okay.
Oh, my beloved friends
I have to make this horror ends.“
Hidden Spark already was entering the throne room. She knew that the guests awaited her. But she would let them wait. A true ruler only showed itself when it was the time for doing so. Hidden Spark looked at herself in the mirror.
„Finalley it is the beginning of the feast.
They all gather around me, the true beast.“
Twilight seemed to stumble over her next words.
„Oh, I will be too late
and they meet their worst fate.
Equestria will be.....“
Hidden Spark cut her off by laughing and with a few simple words, finishing their song: „Mine, all mine. Hahahahaha.“