What Came Before

by Rocket Blaze

Desperation

It took the palace three days to prepare for the grand coronation ceremony, and it was then that Pinkie realized just how much time had passed them by while they waited at Canterlot for word of what, if anything, was going to happen. Tomorrow was Nightmare Night, and Pinkie hadn't given it a second thought. Perhaps because of her relative isolation at Canterlot, the goings on of the city were unbeknownst to her.

Pinkie found it odd that this didn't bother her more. It was a testament to just how much things had changed that one of her favorite holidays was about to come and go, yet she hadn't even picked out a costume. She wondered what she would even have gone as. Dressing as anything seemed too silly against the weight of what was happening outside Canterlot's walls.

Not that she even knew what that was. Night Rider still had not returned from whatever assignment he'd been sent on, and Pinkie was beginning to worry. The last she heard, there were disappearences cropping up all over Equestria: Manehattan, Cloudsdale, Trottingham, and even Appleloosa. They seemed to be isolated incidents, but it was a worrying indication that Malice was moving much faster than they were.

And then there was Twilight - Equestria's newest princess, who had no idea what to do with the role. Pinkie had tried to console her to the fact that what everypony needed most was something to look forward to, and somepony to look up to. It seemed as though Twilight was destined to be that pony, but far from content with the role, Twilight was begining to panic more than a little herself.

"Pinkie, I don't know what to do with this," she had confided. "I'm no princess, but ponies keep bowing down before me like I'm their ruler... But I'm not!"

Pinkie didn't have any better ideas about what Celestia expected from Twilight, but there was always the hope that it would be made clear after the coronation. The palace gates were opened to the public for the first time in a moon, and Twilight would have no choice but to show the strength that Princess Celestia so aptly believed in.

The sun and moon kissed through the high windows of the attendance hall. The eclipse would also be tomorrow, on the same day as Nightmare Night. How fitting, Pinkie thought.

"Pinkie, focus!" Rainbow Dash cautioned with a light jab to the haunch. "The procession's gonna move without us!"

She shook her head free of the distraction overhead and focused on what lay in front of her. The flagbearing mares to either side of the aisle were already marching forward into the Royal Attendance Hall. She quickened pace to follow them with Rainbow Dash at her side, towing Rarity and Fluttershy behind them.

Colored light danced off the shimmering silver aisle runner, casting the hall in a rainbowesque glow. The fanfare of bugles off to either side of the aisle lent an air of grandeur to the proceedings, but it was Princess Celestia standing proudly at its end that drew the attention of dozens of Canterlot ponies who had attended to see the main event.

I wish Applejack could be here to see this... she reflected bittersweetly.

At least she had Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy with her. After what she'd witnessed at the burning vale, Pinkie made sure that she'd never take her friends for granted ever again. Even with the celebration carrying on all around her, Pinkie reflected on just how close she'd come to losing them, only to get them back again in a brilliant flash of rainbow-stricken light.

The cheers and adulation of over a hundred Canterites brought Pinkie back to the present, as she trotted proudly along the aisle runner. The flags before her had parted, clearing her view of the platform at the end where Luna and Celestia stood proudly.

Twilight had yet to take the stage. She would be formally anounced by the royal sisters, and enter the stage bearing her crown. Unfortunately, she would not be seen with the Element of Magic on this day - the Canterlot Guard was still observing the elements, seeking to reverse Malice's dark spell.

Pinkie climbed the stage, taking her place next to Princess Celestia and Rarity. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash took their positions next to Princess Luna. There was a fanfare from the trumpeteers at the base of the stage, and the crowd silenced.

"Greetings, Canterlot!" Princess Celestia announced - her loud voice carrying far across the hundreds gathered in the open hall. "We are gathered here today to welcome one of our own into the fold of Canterlot royalty! This is a time of exhuberance and celebration, yet it comes amidst a great turmoil that has befallen this land.

"We know that a good many of you have been personally touched by these tragedies, and so we would like to honor you with a moment of silence. Please stand with us - united as one - in remembering those who have been lost."

A hush fell over the hall as a wave of bowing heads moved outward from the stage. Pinkie joined them, closing her eyes in rememberance. She did not have to try hard to remember. If anything, it would be harder to forget. Not that she wanted to.

She tried to name all of those she'd known, but there were too many. She started with Berryshine, and then Nurse Redheart, Green Jewel, Comet Tail, Mayor Mare, and many, many more. She could write a eulogy for each and every one of them, but what she wanted to know in that moment was whether or not any of the hundreds in the crowd were saying a prayer for Applejack.

Yes, Applejack had dealt much of the suffering that Pinkie and her friends had received, but the decision to do so was not hers to make as Pinkie knew all too well. She missed visiting the Apples on their orchard, dancing in the sun beneath the sweet-smelling trees at the cusp of apple bucking season.

How many families has Malice torn apart? Pinkie wondered. How many will he?

"Canterlot is working tirelessly to ensure that the creature responsible for what has happened is brought to justice!" Pinkie's head was still bowed. She did not realize that the moment of silence had passed. Looking around, she satisfied herself that nopony seemed to notice.

"At the forefront of this effort, is somepony whom we have known for many years. Our faithful student, Twilight Sparkle." There was a thunderous applause, reminding Pinkie that Twilight was, at one point, a citizen of Canterlot herself.

"Citizens of Canterlot! Without further ado, we are pleased to introduce you to the newest member of our royal family, Princess Twilight Sparkle!"

There was another fanfare as the curtains behind their assembly parted. Twilight strode onto the stage flanked by members of the Canterlot Guard. Pinkie couldn't help but turn to watch, though she was, thankfully, not the only one doing so.

And what a sight she was, bedecked in regalia made to accentuate the color of her coat by contrasting it with gold and white. Aside from the ornately fashioned train, trimmed in gold and held aloft by a pair of unicorns following closely behind her, her outfit was remarkably plain.

The image, to Pinkie, was that of humility in the presence of great responsibility. Whether or not Twilight saw it that way was another matter altogether. It might not have been obvious from the crowd, but Pinkie could see signs of unmistakable panic in Twilight's eyes as they darted back and forth from Celestia, to Luna, to the crowd, to her friends.

"You're doing great, Twilight," mouthed Pinkie when Twilight's eyes found her for longer than a moment or two. She responded with as imperceptible a nod as she could manage, but Pinkie noticed.

At the end of the stage was a decorative platform, designed to frame the speaker where they stood. From the audience, Twilight must have looked impressive standing amidst a seasonal patchwork of lilies, celosia, and yarrow.

The roaring crowd hushed as Twilight cleared her throat, but a rustling at the back of the stage caught Pinkie's attention. She waited until all eyes were safely on Twilight before she dared a glance back over her shoulder, and her heart nearly skipped a beat when she caught sight of Night Rider, slinking across the stage to take up his place just behind Princess Celestia.

"Um... Hello, Canterlot," Twilight gasped.

Somewhere to her right, she overheard Rainbow Dash mutter something to the effect of, "Very smooth, Twilight."

Twilight pressed on. "I'm going to be honest. When I was told that I had to speak before you today, I had no idea what I was going to say. It's true that I lived in Canterlot, but I did not keep friends the way I do now..."

Pinkie glanced over her shoulder once more, catching a gimpse of the still-waiting Night Rider. What struck her first was how exhausted he looked. What struck her next was the damage his armor had taken - its usual pristine surface was marred with pits, scorch marks, and tarnish. Pinkie hoped that what she was seeing on his face was only exhaustion, and not defeat.

Gulping, she looked back to Twilight. "...my responsibility to the ponies of Equestria! I do, and always will, take it very seriously. These times demand it! But as strong as I have had to be on my own, I could not have done it without these friends at my side. Through thick and thin, we have had to stick together. We have had to support each other at times, and even rely on each other when we could not rely on ourselves!"

As invested as Pinkie was in Twilight's speech, Pinkie's eye caught movement nearby. Night Rider had strode next to Princess Celestia and caught her attention with a tap of his hoof.

"Can't this wait?" Celestia whispered.

"I'm afraid not, Princess. We must decide what to do before this gets away from us."

"Before what gets away from us?"

Night Rider lifted a hoof to lower Celestia's head even further, whispering something directly into her ear.

"WHAT!?" she yelped, pausing Twilight in the middle of her speech.

A brief hush fell over the audience as well, but Twilight recovered the situation by clearing her throat and pressing on. "As I was saying, no matter what happens outside of Canterlot, keep your neighbors close. Be there for one another! Tomorrow will be one of our most festive of holidays, coming at a time where the heavens will align for us! The sisters have poured their hearts and souls into providing us a sight that will be remembered for generations, and the evil that is knocking at our door should not dissuade us from being true to ourselves, and each other!"

"How long ago?" Celestia whispered.

"Hours..." Night Rider reported. "We need to do something before word gets out. There will be panic in the streets. Canterlot can't handle this on top of everything else..."

There was an uproar from the back of the audience as somepony cried out. They were quickly escorted out by one of the other ponies from the crowd, but chatter had already begun to rise from the huddled masses.

"...It may already be too late," he warned.

Twilight flustered, stammering to regain their attention. "Canterlot, please. We have to stand united. We cannot let fear get the best of us!"

"What are you going to do to protect us!?" shouted somepony from the crowd.

Twilight turned to look back at the princesses. Pinkie looked as well. Celestia stepped forward and raised her wings to project the authority of a true ruler. "Fear not! We are protected here! As long as we stay strong, we will not lose a single life!"

A second voice cried out, "Is that what you promised Ponyville!?"

That jab hit Pinkie like an arrow to the heart. What hurt worse were the indignant cries of outrage from the back of the crowd. "YEAH!"

This time, Luna stepped forward. "Citizens, enough! My sister and I will protect you from the worst of this! Show some gratitude!"

"Sister. You're not helping!" hissed Celestia under her breath.

"My family lived in Cloudsdale!" shouted another from the back.

The anger in the crowd was beginning to boil over. Princess Celestia backed away from the edge of the stage as a stream of guards rushed past to form a line in front of them.

"How can you protect us when you couldn't protect them!?"

"YEAH!" they chorused in unison.

"Princess?" Pinkie asked fretfully. "What are they talking about?"

Princess Celestia had no answer. She kept her eye firmly on the crowd as it erupted into a disorganized cacophony of slight, anger, and despair.

Twilight, for all of her efforts to regain the attention of the crowd, seemed well aware that she could not succeed. "Please! Please, everypony, calm down!"

"Calm down!?" shouted a pony from the front. "CLOUDSDALE HAS FALLEN!"

Before Twilight could respond, a horseshoe rose up from the crowd. Twilight froze in place, but not before ducking just enough that the wayward projectile missed her by mere inches. She scuttled backwards as the guards stepped forward, threatening to leap down into the crowd if they did not recede.

Pinkie, for her own part, could only watch in horror as the situation unfolded. More hurtled objects of varying size and density indescriminantly plopped onto the stage, or back down into the crowd.

"Pinkie!" Twilight shouted over the din. "What are you waiting for! We need to go!"

Pinkie froze, unable to take her eyes away from the developing situation. The guards had collectively dived head first into the fray, pushing back the front row by any means available to them.

A crash came from somewhere distant as one of the statues arrayed to either side of the hall was pulled down by the mob. Fighting had broken out between the spectators and the guards, with more armored stallions streaming in to even out the numbers.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Twilight's hoof extended outward, waiting for her to accept the aid. Just before Pinkie could bring herself to exit the stage with Twilight, a blinding pain pulsated outward from her temples.

Pinkie crashed to the ground, her ears ringing and her teeth pressing together with such force that she feared they might shatter. For but a moment, she caught sight of Canterlot burning to the ground as Twilight looked onward - laughing.

"It begins..." Malice whispered from somewhere inside her own head.

***

They regrouped in the throne room, which remained barred from the public. The riot outside could still be heard through the open doors, but a messenger reported that the guards were pushing the angry crowd back towards the palace gates.

"Good," sighed the princess. "Their fear is understandable. I would not like anypony to be hurt in the response. Ensure that the other guards to not get... overzealous."

"It shall be done, princess!" proclaimed the sentry as he turned to leave.

"Princess!" Pinkie cried. "While I was out there, I felt... him. He told me that... well, something was beginning. What does that mean?"

Twilight, still draped in her coronation garmants, was the first to answer. "This could only have been his doing."

"Tell them about the dream, Pinkie," encouraged Rainbow Dash.

"I... I can't... I don't want to think about that!"

Princess Luna cleared her throat. "Then allow me. Pinkie, when Malice reached out to you earlier, I felt it, too. He showed her a vision of Canterlot under siege, but perhaps she wasn't the only one he reached out to. This panic has spread most unnaturally. I am afraid, sister... I am afraid for what this portends."

"Be still, Luna. We shall find a way to stop him, as we had back before we were princesses. Do not forget that we were the sword and the shield, and we were the ones who cast him into Tartarus. We will find the strength to do so again, if necessary."

"Princess!" called another guard from the throne room entrance. "The mob has been pushed back to the palace atrium. They are actively fleeing the palace, but I'm afraid the panic is spreading to the rest of Canterlot. There will be little we can do about this."

"Very well, Swiftmane. Notify the first and second garrisons that I am authorizing them to keep the peace in Canterlot; the rest of you are commanded to stand the gates and keep the crowd at bay."

"Understood, Princess!"

When he was gone, Celestia let out an uncharacteristic howl of frustration. "How could I have been so foolish? We should have acted sooner, but Malice has already done more damage than a simple eclipse will be able to fix. Sister, we may have to face the possibility that-"

"-No! We cannot... Not until we've exhausted all other options. We should not discuss this here."

"Wh-What is she talking about?" Fluttershy asked of Twilight.

"I don't know..." she replied. "Princess? What needs to happen?"

"I do not actually know, Twilight. Malice has extended his influence much faster than the last time I encontered him. I cannot lie to you - this situation is far worse than I had ever anticipated."

Rarity was trembling. "Does this m-mean that-"

"-It doesn't mean anything, Rarity!" declared Rainbow Dash. "We've been in worse spots before! Remember Discord? That was-"

"-Discord!" Twilight declared. "Princess, do you remember what I told you the other day?"

"I do, Twilight. And my thoughts on the matter have not changed. Discord is far too dangerous to be allowed freedom at this critical juncture!"

Rainbow Dash gasped, jabbing a hoof at Twilight. "Are you telling me that you actually want to set Discord free!? Wh-Why!? What possible purpose could that serve!?"

"Discord might have just as much cause to fight against Malice as we do, Rainbow! I found in my research that-"

"-Your research!?" Dash cried. "Did your research make you forget that he had us at each others' throats, and nearly turned Ponyville into the 'Chaos Capital of the World'!?"

"Ponies! Please!" Luna shouted. "Sister, have you considered the possibility that Discord might be... reformed?"

"Indeed I have, Luna. Were we living in a more peaceful time, I might have even allowed it. Discord is possessing of magic that could be incredibly useful were it used to serve harmony instead of chaos, but we cannot afford the liability right now."

"Um, Princess?" asked Fluttershy.

"Yes, Fluttershy?"

"Discord may have been a big meanie, but I don't think he's all that bad... I think that, um, maybe if we just talked to him, he would see that we really need his help. I think he wouldn't be so bad if he realized just how important he was."

Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Okay, Fluttershy. So if we just talk to him, he maybe won't turn the ground into a big chess board and make it rain chocolate everywhere? Good luck with that!"

"I don't know... I kind of agree with Fluttershy," Rarity decreed. "He was dreadful, sure, but he wasn't by any stretch as bad as Malice."

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "You too, Rarity!? Pinkie! You're not on board with this madness, right!?"

"Um..."

"Come on, Pinkie... Remember how angry he made you!?"

"Yes..." Pinkie conceded. "But at least he didn't make me hurt anypony. Not the way Malice did."

"Okay... I can clearly see nopony is going to listen to reason here. Does it even matter!? Last I checked, we were short a few Elements of Harmony. It's not like we could break him free even if we wanted to!"

Twilight shrugged. "You may be right, Rainbow. I wish this wasn't the best lead we had, but as it stands we have to find a way!"

Princess Celestia, as Pinkie noted, had been awfully quiet throughout the debate. Her face appeared skewed in concentration - perhaps she was seriously considering it. "Princess?" Pinkie asked. "You would know how to free Discord, right?"

"If I wanted to?" She paused... "Perhaps. His entrapment is tied to the Elements' magic. When I cast him to stone one thousand years ago, he remained that way for as long as I was in control of the Elements of Harmony. In effect, I was a conduit for the spell, but the power came from the Elements themselves.

"However, after banishing my sister, I decided to surrender my ownership of the Elements - although they represented the greater good, using them as a weapon against my own sister broke my heart far too much for me to hold onto them. And so, they remained dormant in the castle we had shared.

"You would recall that Discord was released following that period. Since I was no longer maintaining the spell through my connection with the Elements, the spell had weakened considerably over time. Following that, I had somehow allowed enough chaos into his garden that he was able to break free of his own accord."

"How does this help us now, Princess?" Twilight asked.

"Malice has corrupted half of the Elements. Their connection to you may or may not be severed, but it is certainly weakened. The spell may, as yet, be strong enough to contain him, but if it were to be disrupted..."

Twilight gasped. "...The spell you taught me!"

"Yes, Twilight. You are, as always, quick to catch on." Celestia smiled. "If you cast your spell on Discord, it would perhaps break the spell, but it would also disrupt his magic. He would not be able to flee, and we would be able to see what he knows."

"Um... Okay," Rainbow Dash conceded. "So what happens after the spell wears off? It only lasts for a few minutes, tops! Remember? Will he turn back into stone after that?"

"I doubt it," said Twilight. "The spell will already be weakened. Once he's awake, he would probably be too strong to succumb to it without us having the Elements there to actually project the spell onto him again. I'm afraid we've only got one shot at finding out what we need."

Rainbow Dash laughed sarcastically. "So, let me get this straight. We want to fight one of the most evil villains we've ever faced, by releasing one of the most chaotic villains we've ever faced, on the hunch of a single picture in a book that's probably over a thousand years old, because he may or may not have fought Malice before? Oh, and to top it all off, we don't have the means to turn him back to stone if this turns out to be a bad decision?"

"That's what I'm saying."

Rainbow Dash sighed. "Okay... Let's get this over with, then..."

"Princess!" Every pony's head turned to see Shining Armor standing in the doorway. "A status report - the rioters have been pushed back to the palace gates, and barred outside. At your request, first and second garrisons have been sent out into the city to keep the peace, but I'm afraid that's where the good news ends..."

"Very well, captain," sighed the princess. "Let us have it."

"I've never seen a crowd get angry like this out of nowhere. It's like they've divided into two groups. There are some barring themselves away within the city's infrastructure, but others are on the attack, setting fire to flush them out. It's almost as if this tension has been building up for weeks... but how, and why now?"

"Malice..." Pinkie growled, "just like in my dream."

"I'm afraid we cannot deploy any more guards to the outside, captain. We need every guard manning the walls if possible."

"Very well, Princess. I will return to my post..."

"Actually, wait!" called out the princess before Shining Armor could leave. "I may have use for you yet. Retrieve two spellcasters from the wall - I may have need for containment - and meet us in the garden."

"The garden? At this late hour? What for, may I ask?"

"That is my command."

"Very well, Princess. I will meet you there in fifteen minutes' time."

Comments

[-Frost]

This is getting more interesting and exciting as each chapter passes and I still can't find anything to fault you with. I am really enjoying this story, you are a good writer and once again you were simply worth following. As usual your pacing is on par and your character representations are spot on. I simply applaud you and commend you on the quality of your stories.

Keep up the good work, and I shall look forward to the next update and when Malice finally gets what comes to him. I am also intrigued in regards to the whole Discord thing...

-Frost