//------------------------------// // Taking Canterlot: part 3 // Story: Destiny Book 1: Dark Vengeance // by SirScribe //------------------------------// Luna sighed nervously as she entered through the secret tunnel of the castle. The Doctor and Twilight both agreed at sending herself and Ditzy ahead to retrieve the Elements was the best thing they could do at this point. While she favored a full frontal assault, sneaking in through the back didn’t pump Luna’s blood the way she wanted it to. That didn’t stop Ditzy from jumping right on it. With no resistance from the outside forces, Luna and Ditzy snuck through the gates and into one of the castle’s many secret entrances. Ditzy smiled. For the first time (well, first of many times), her derpy eyes came in handy. With both eyes in different directions, there was a slim chance of them getting jumped by any Shadow Pony or Changeling that may be hiding down in the tunnel. Throughout their years traveling with the Doctor, Ditzy and Luna had gotten very well with each other. The two didn’t see each other as princess and pegasus, but as sisters almost. The two shared many stories throughout their travels, including some of Luna’s many adventures when she was a foal. Whenever Ditzy asked her about her parents, however, Luna spoke nothing. She would always say that she never had parents in the first place. The gray pegasus didn’t push her any further than that. The two continued traveling through the tunnel in silence. Running through Luna’s mind was the Doctor’s plan, and it scared her. If they failed to retrieve the Elements, he would die. If they succeeded, he would still die, but the world would be saved. Luna had hope that the Doctor’s plan works the way he wants it to. That would mean putting her faith in Twilight as well. “So—” Luna said. Ditzy looked at the alicorn. “Umm, so how about those Wonderbolts?” Luna gave her a funny look. “These Wonderbolts are strange contenders. What is their sole purpose?” “Fly all fancy I think,” Ditzy said. Luna cocked her head in agreement. “My sister had too much time on her hooves to create a group of flying pegasi. Perhaps I will attend one of those Wonderbolt races,” she said. Ditzy smiled. They continued walking down the cave and eventually stopped at the end. There was a stone boulder in the wall. Chrysalis probably covered the hole to prevent anypony from sneaking into the castle. Luna reached to the boulder with her magic and attempted to remove the obstacle. As she did, Ditzy continued to watch the tunnel behind her. She thought she saw something follow her. When she turned to find the thing, there was nothing there. She rubbed her eyes and returned focus to the boulder that Luna was trying to move. With one more surge of magic going through her horn, Luna finally moved the boulder. With the boulder out of the way, the duo moved into the room. It opened to a simple bed chamber, probably a spare room for any guests. The door leading to the hallway outside was ajar. In the middle of the room was a blue cannon. Upon further inspection, Luna discovered that it was Pinkie Pie’s Party Cannon. She probably left it behind the last time she was there. Luna let out a curse. “We are far from the Element Tower. We’re going to have to be very quiet when going through the castle,” she said to Ditzy. The pegasus sighed. “Quiet but quick?” Luna smiled. “Quiet and Wonderbolt quick.” Ditzy smiled, and with their wings spread open, the two flew through the castle. Thanks to a pegasus’s natural agility, the two were as quiet as the wind. There were some Changelings in the hallways of the castle, but thanks to Luna’s Shadow Walker spell, they managed to continue without detection. Ditzy then considered what life would be like with magic at her own disposal. She washed her brain with bleach after imagining it. The two eventually arrived to the Element Tower. Luna and Ditzy clopped hooves with each other. Success. Luna opened the doors, and once she did, she felt her heart sink to the floor. Inside the chamber that harbored the Elements were a legion of Changelings and Shadow Ponies. In the very front of the group was Nightmare Moon, who was practicing her magic on a willing Shadow Pony. The Queen of the Dark looked up at the duo. “So, the rumors are true. Luna of Everfree and Derpy Hooves are here to save the day. How adorable,” she said. “Ditzy!” the pegasus exclaimed. Nightmare growled at the wall-eyed pegasus. “I was hoping for a real threat, and while you have Chrysalis and Discord on edge, I can assure you that I will not submit to legends. The cavalry in a flying blue box? Yeah, not the biggest threat to this new empire.” “Empire?” Luna pondered. “Yes. I am the ruler of the Night, Discord is the god of Chaos, Chrysalis is the Head of Military, and Sombra is King of the world. I must say, it worked out well, this idea of Discord’s. Now, will you submit to myself and the empire, or will I have to destroy you?” Nightmare took a few steps forward, but Luna stepped in front of Ditzy. Luna’s horn was charged up and ready for anything. The Queen of the Dark smiled. “Care for a rematch, Luna? Or are you going to surrender as you did almost 1,000 years ago?” “Trust me, there won’t much of a rematch,” Luna said. With that, she fired an arc of magic at Nightmare. Nightmare raised her wings to block the spell, but when it made contact, the queen of the dark was sent flying back through the air. She landed at the door of the Elements, squishing a Shadow Pony in the process. The crowd was now rowdy as they awaited their queen’s orders. Nightmare rose to her hooves. “I WILL NOT SUBMIT TO YOU!” The alicorn flew through the air. Luna had her horn charged, and when Nightmare came close, she raised a shield. Nightmare’s momentum forced her to go flying back once again, but she recovered in the air. The Changelings and Shadow Ponies were not to sit by any more. They all rose up and charged at the duo. Luna raised her shield again. Over a hundred magical bolts and shadows came at her with full force. Luckily for the alicorn, she learned defensive spells that proved to be greater than any in her personal spell book. Once the Shadow Ponies fell back, Nightmare came charging back. Luna grinned. She flew up into the air, and Nightmare followed. Blasting a hole through the roof, the two alicorns fought for control of the night. The Changelings and Shadow Ponies all gawked at the queen of the dark disappear, and once she did, all eyes fell on the wall-eyed pegasus. Ditzy looked at the army of foes in front of her and whimpered. They all growled at her and began to slowly advance. Ditzy started moving toward the exit, but they weren’t going to have that. Several Shadow Ponies formed behind her, and when she noticed, Ditzy had no choice but to move to the stained glass windows behind her. One of the designs was of Princess Twilight emerging from a lotus, possibly symbolizing her rise to the title of ‘princess’. Ditzy’s rear hit the glass. She was going to be swarmed by the demons advancing. She covered her eyes, waiting for them to attack. Dear Ditzy Do, whatever shall you do? The pegasus looked up. She heard that voice clear as day. None of the Shadow Ponies seemed to have been bothered by the voice. She searched for the source of the voice that spoke with the caring of a mother. Please Ditzy Do, remember the power in you. With eyes beyond and loopy, one may not expect one’s eyes so droopy. A fire ignited within Ditzy’s stomach. Her sight straightened for one moment, and the whole room was engulfed in a bright light. The light didn’t bother the pegasus, but she heard the screaming and cursing of Changelings and Shadow Ponies. When the light died down, Ditzy had to do a double take. Every single Changeling and Shadow Pony had wall eyes. They all stumbled around, trying to focus on their target. Soon, some fell over while others fired wrong spells at the wrong targets. Go Ditzy Do, came the voice. “Whatever you say, random voice in my head,” Ditzy said. With a wide grin on her face, the pegasus soared above the crowd of confused Changelings and demons. The door glowed as she approached it. For the first time ever, she was going to do something right. Sombra looked out the window and sighed. The empire he worked so hard to build was already starting to crumble before his eyes. Chrysalis was having a panic attack over the box she saw, and Discord was trying to stuff all the clown puppets back into their spring-loaded boxes. The Draconiquus, while he appeared calm, was breaking down inside. I promise you all absolute victory. Without their guardian Elements of Harmony, nopony will think about rising against us, he promised them the night they met. Before this month is done, this world will be ours. Boy did he screw up big time. Sombra loked over to see Discord practically not giving a pony’s plot about the situation. “DISCORD!” “I’m howling at the Moon!” he responded. Sombra face-hoofed. “You idiot, you promised us victory! Nay, you promised ultimate victory!” Discord sighed. “Breaking up the Elements may’ve backfired on us, but we still have one missing Element. Even if those ponies survived, Twilight would not able to rally them up. This rebellion is only because—” “Somepony organized a global revolution, Discord! You cannot say this is a random occurrence. My Crystal Empire has fallen, Nightmare Moon’s power has faded, Chrysalis is having a panic attack, and I’m here shouting at you for being a complete nutcase! Please do not say that this was randomly organized!” Discord raised a claw to speak, but no words exited his mouth. Sombra sighed and continued to watch the rebellion unfold. Discord shrugged and continued his chore when it happened. As Chrysalis calmed herself, there came a whirring sound. All ears turned to the entrance to the throne room. A light began to materialize along with what appeared to be a blue box. As the sound grew closer, the box began to take form. It was a large, blue box with a light on the top. The box had a set of doors with windows glowing white. The sound ceased, and the box came into existence. Chrysalis backed away from the object in front of her. The door opened, and stepping out of the door was Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Behind them came Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy. They all were wearing iron armor (gold for the Pegasi). Usually, they were agents of peace, but just by Rarity’s expression, it appeared as though somepony spilled white paint on a black dress. The girls all stepped out of the TARDIS. Chrysalis hitched a squeak as she got a look inside the magical box. The legends in her hive were correct. But no shape-shifting stallion? Without warning, the 5 ponies moved in. They all shouted their battle cry as they got close to Sombra. Thanks to his quick thinking, Sombra fired a Freezing Spell on them. The five ponies found themselves frozen in place in the middle of their battle cry. Sombra chuckled. “So this is the reason why the whole world is suddenly resisting us. Glad to know that my Number One commander deserted her post to rebel against me,” he said. “And my servant decided to leave Appleloosa with only half the job complete. In a way, I saw this coming,” Chrysalis said. Discord said nothing. He was in the middle of a scolding from Fluttershy, the one pony who believed in him. While he was completely on board in taking over Equestria, he expected it to be quick and painless, instead he got this. One of his friends were dead because of his plan. The feeling of betrayal loomed over the Draconiquus. A sudden thought entered the Draconiquus. Even they can’t plan a rebellion, unless… Sombra smiled. “Now it appears I have no choice but to eliminate you all. Which one will go first? Will it be the loyal Rainbow Dash?” His horn moved to the cyan pegasus, who growled at the King of Shadows. “Or the Earth Pony who burns with a fire that can outlast Equestria?” Applejack faced his horn. “Perhaps she will go first.” Before Sombra could conjure the spell, the magical hold on the five was immediately shattered. The girls all fell to the ground with loud grunts. The door opened again, and stepping out of the TARDIS was Twilight with her wings high in the air and her horn charged up. As she walked by her friends, they all stood on all hooves and ready to fight. Shock took over Chrysalis. She fired a spell that should’ve killed an alicorn. Discord, while visibly distraught, felt relief. At least he didn’t have a dead princess on his conscious anymore. Sombra, out of all of those in the room, was the most surprised. His heart began to beat faster than it was supposed to. “But-but you’re supposed to be dead!” “So you didn’t bother looking for my body?” Sombra immediately scowled at Discord. “You said she was dead!” “No, I said she was gone. I said nothing about ‘dead’.” The coil in Sombra’s brain snapped. “THAT’S IT! I’LL DESTROY YOU ALL, STARTING WITH YOU, TWILIGHT SPARKLE!” He charged his horn and fired a beam of dark magic. Twilight immediately raised her magical shield, redirecting the beam into the ceiling. Chrysalis snapped out of her fear and fired a magical blast along with Sombra. Twilight smirked as she deflected both. Discord snapped his claw and a chain appeared from one of the boxes. He ordered it to attack Twilight, but the alicorn princess smiled as her horn glowed. Using her magic, she created a monster mask. The mask roared, sending the chain back to momma. As Twilight dealt with Discord, Sombra smiled. He charged his horn, and with Twilight’s attention on the Draconiquus, he made his move. He fired his killing magic blast at the alicorn. Instead of hitting its target, it hit something else. A body hit the floor and everypony in the room stopped. The sound echoed through the throne room, and the only sound that existed was the sound of a heart speeding up. In front of her was a brown Earth Pony stallion. “DOCTOR!”