Destiny Book 1: Dark Vengeance

by SirScribe

Enemies assemble

1 week before Twilight's coronation

Princess Celestia paced the throne room, continuously muttering under her breath. It was now sunset in Equestria, and as Celestia feared, Twilight had passed all of the tests she had given her. From Nightmare Moon to Sombra and the Crystal Empire, it seemed to the alicorn that there would be nothing to stop Twilight's rise.

That's what worried her.

Sitting at the throne was Princess Luna, who was found glaring at the journal in front of her. The writing inside was Starswirl the Bearded, but ever since Sombra's defeat, Luna had argued against what she had to do. She was told of what Starswirl had set out to do, yet the idea itself was madness. The circumstances surrounding the journal and Twilight's destiny was still too much to think about.

"Sister, please reconsider this--this madness! It is true that we must think about the future, but Twilight is young filly who still has much to learn! I beg you, Celestia, don't have her go through this," Luna pleaded.

Celestia stopped pacing the room. "You don't understand Luna. For a thousand years, I've given that test to all the students who had proven themselves, but none have managed to do so. I had to wait a thousand years so the timing could be perfect," she said.

"But the prophecy--"

"Luna, you and I both know what happens when somepony tries to run away from a prophecy. Most of the prophecy had already come to pass, just not in the right order."

"So I've heard. The rumor of the Gates?"

"Destroyed. I fear we will see many foes from Tartarus rise once more. Now is the time, Luna. Twilight is the one," Celestia argued. "You've seen her power!"

"The power of a filly looking to please her idol. You may not know, but she idolizes you more than any other, including Starswirl himself. If anything, she will be more dangerous with unlimited power that comes with alicorns. She needs more time."

Celestia sighed. "I fear we are out of time. I will have this journal delivered to her immediately. Have faith, sister," she said.

"I do have faith. This is why I worry. I shall continue to do as you have requested, sister. She must still not know?"

"Not yet. I know how eager you are to speak the truth, but this was a favor for me. Keep an eye on her please?"

Luna nodded. Celestia sighed as she walked out of the throne room. As the doors slammed shut as Luna looked out into the night sky. She sighed as she once remembered how much she wished for the night to be adored by everypony in the realm.

Those were darker days Luna, she thought to herself. But darker days are soon on the way.

---

7 months following Twilight's coronation

Thunder and lightning dominated the Canterlot night. With the storm passing over the Everfree Forest and parts of the desert, most ponies really had a reason to remain indoors for the night. The scheduled Galaxy Watch, the newest event hosted by Princess Luna, just had to wait until the storm passed. Little did everypony know that a bigger storm was headed their way. A storm unlike any before it. This storm had a cruel way of moving in, especially since the crowning of the newest princess: Twilight Sparkle.

Ever since her coronation, Twilight had taken every single royal job Princess Celestia threw at her. Being forced to travel across the planes of Equestria, Twilight had to say goodbye to her friends in Ponyville to familiarize herself with the land she was used to protecting. Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. Soon, the Mane 6 began drifting off in separate directions. While this destroyed Twilight, she felt fear that something will happen and the Elements will be too far apart to work properly.

In the darkened alleyways of Canterlot, a group of individuals met. Judging by the sizes of their shadows, there were three equines present. Two alicorns and one unicorn with an oddly shaped horn. The three were conversing with themselves when a slithering shadow formed next to the unicorn. "Are we all here?"

One of the alicorns nodded. "All except for the blue one. She proclaimed that she wasn't going ahead with this operation. And she actually defeated Twilight Sparkle!"

The snake-like figure nodded its misformed head. "I expected that from a friend of hers. Anyway, as long as we all are here, we can begin."

The unicorn stepped forward. "Who put you in charge of this operation? Out of all of us, I am royalty! I am to be given the right to lead us!"

"Nay, the powers of this group must be ours! We will not serve under the leadership of a failed king!" One alicorn said.

"I am also royalty! I am a greater power than all of you. Plus, I have an army and hungry Changelings!" the other said.

"You should've been there the last Hearts and Hooves Day, I heard there was a love poison involved," Nightmare muttered.

The snake sighed. "I don't have to put up with this. I assembled you all back from your defeat in hopes that you will aid me in this. King Sombra, I was able to find your horn and bring you back from obliteration so don't forget that. Chrysalis, let's not forget that it was I who sought you out after you were defeated!"

Chrysalis growled. "I don't care. Besides, I would've been fine without your help."

Sombra laughed. "You were thrown out of Canterlot by the power of Love. The very substance that you feed on! You're pathetic!"

"Says the unicorn who was defeated by a crystal. I was defeated by real magic! And you, Nightmare, what's your story?"

The alicorn shuffled in her place. "The Elements of Harmony, but I was never truly defeated!"

The snake laughed. "You were cornered by 6 ponies who barely knew each other, tried to destroy the Elements, and just stood there while the Elements were taking their new form. If I was you, I would've put down Twilight before her Element was assembled. At least defeat somepony," the snake said. “Besides, I saved you just barely so keep that in mind!”

"Oh please Discord! You befriended the enemies. How do we know you are with us?" Nightmare Moon stated.

"Because I was the one who found all of you and assembled you. I have big plans for Equestria after what happened over a thousand years ago. My empire was taken from me!"

"Mine too!" Sombra declared.

"Mine as well!" Nightmare declared.

"And my children were reduced to scavengers thanks to Celestia!" Chrysalis said.

Discord sighed. "Then we all have an understanding. The enemy is Celestia. Our weapons: the Elements and their bearers. If I understand correctly, all 6 of them parted ways for the time being. You all have your targets, yes?"

All 3 of them nodded. "Then by tomorrow night, Equestria will be ours, and Celestia will be out of the way. We will finally have our revenge."

All 4 laughed maniacally. A crack of thunder and a lightning bolt revealed the four villains as they laughed. The darkness was rising again.

---

Twilight groaned as she stirred to consciousness. Sunlight broke through her suite in Canterlot as she rubbed her head. She raised her head off her pillow and looked around. That was hard with crusty eyes and an out of control mane. She blew the biggest clump of her mane out of her vision to see clearly. Still crusty eyes, but what are you going to do when you spent the last 3 weeks doing damage control.

Word of Twilight's journey into the human world grabbed a lot of attention in Equestria. Ponies declared that the royal family had the power to cross dimensions and bring deadly creatures to their world. After a while, Cadence had to publicly report that the mirror disappeared. That calmed some tension in Equestria, but ponies were still outraged that such a secret was being kept from them. Ever since then, Twilight has had letters coming in, both good and bad. Some ponies called her brave while others claimed she was a traitor to her own kind.

She dusted all the letters from her bed and walked over to her mirror. She had bags under her eyes. Something nopony liked seeing. She used her magic to calm her mane, but it was still wild. At least it was a bit presentable. She extended her wings to get another look at them. Ever since she was torn away from Ponyville, she kept thinking that her ordeal in the human world and her wings were just a dream. She always imagined waking up in her library without wings and everything back to normal.

She never got that fantasy.

She sighed. "Another day of training Twi. Another day with Celestia."

Suddenly, she heard a burp originate from behind her. She turned. Turns out to be only Spike, who was half buried in letters he helped read the previous night. Next to him was a scroll wrapped in a gray ribbon. Princess Celestia probably, she thought.

She levitated the scroll to her and began to read. She had to reread the letter. It read:

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I'm afraid I will have to cancel our lessons for today. An emergency has arisen in Manehattan and I must be there to reassure the citizens that all is well. Meanwhile, I left Princess Luna in charge of the castle. Since you have shown a great improvement in your studies, myself and Princess Luna have agreed to allow you the whole day off. Go on and enjoy life beyond the castle AND library. The storm really brought out the beauty of Equestria.

Enjoy,

-Princess Celestia

Twilight smiled. She heard Spike groan from pain. "Who was it from?" he asked in his sleep.

"Princess Celestia. Something is happening in Manehattan and she left to take care of it. Why didn't she take Luna with her?" Twilight asked.

"Maybe Princess Luna was too tired of guarding the night," he said.

Twilight nodded. "Maybe you're right. Besides, today we have a day off. Wanna head out somewhere?"

Spike sat up. "How about we go visit our friends? It's been a while since we've seen the girls."

Twilight chuckled. "You just want to see Rarity, don't you?"

Spike blushed. "You make it sound like I don't miss our friends."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Do you miss our friends?"

"Of course, but I miss Rarity more."

Twilight laughed, and left to go wash up. She entered her wash room and immediately stared at the mirror. This is the face of a Princess, she thought to herself. I look hideous!

The lavender princess splashed water over her face before making her way to the shower. The warm water soothed Twilight as she allowed the heat to relax her already aching muscles. She had either been on her hooves most of the day or sitting down and responding to angry letters from ponies she didn't know.

As the water trickled down her back, Twilight's mind immediately went to the magic mirror in the Crystal Empire, and of course, her friends on the other side. They promised to help Sunset Shimmer with the transition, but even she was worried about her. She wasn't exactly kind to the students at Canterlot High. Some would probably enact revenge.

Twilight shook out of her train of thought. She shut off the shower and brushed her mane. She returned to her room to see Spike clearing his throat, probably so his voice would sound deeper for Rarity. Twilight rolled her eyes and laughed as she scooped Spike up. Together, they made their way to the outside of the castle where they would later fly off.

Meanwhile, the scroll that Twilight read suddenly grew a face. Discord had black ink written all over his face as he chuckled. "Phase 1 is a go," he muttered as he disappeared from the room.