Darkness Returns

by BronyNathan

Chaos begins

The dark creature continued down the beautiful halls of the castle leaving nothing but death in his wake. All who stood up to it failed miserably, their corpses left behind as grim reminders as to what should happen to all who stood in his way. It continued on to the dungeon and blasted the doors open.
Inside was a stone statue of a beast that looked like a hogwash of parts from various creatures. Even the creature itself was made of pure chaos.
He set his mighty black claw on Discord and the stone broke away in a million pieces. Discord shot up from the ground and was on the defensive. "Where am I? What happened?" He demanded.
"I freed you." The booming voice said as he looked over Discord. "I need your aid."
Discord began to brush himself off with the painstaking care that only the narcissist could muster. "Ahh, it appears the Element of Chaos is need once again. So do tell me, who might you be?" He asked, placing a finger on his chin, looking over the black dragon like creature standing before him.
"Caltroth." It bellowed, the name echoing through the dungeon. Discord smiled, "I've never heard of you." He said waving his paw at him. "But, you have heard of me and call for my aid. So, what is it you need from me old chum?"
Caltroth became inpatient with Discords playful demeanor. He was like a grown child, but a child who played the world like a game of chess, each move calculated three steps before hand. Caltroth knew the creature before him was an evil genius.
"I need you to distract the world, while my activities go unchecked. I'm going to bring all of Equestria into eternal suffering."
Discord got in close to Caltroth now wrapping his dragon like arm around him. "Ah, so you need me to be the diversion for your scheme. It seems you don't know who I am, do you?" He asked snapping his finger, bringing forth a glass filled with some type of copper colored beverage. He drank the glass leaving the liquid free standing in his hand.
Caltroth sighed at the parlor trick. "Your antics don't amuse me, Draconequue. So why don't you do the job i freed you to do. Or would you like to return to your prison?"
Discord gulped but kept his composure. "Oh alright. If it means I get to spread chaos over the land, then so be it." He disappeared in a cloud of smoke, set to wreak his revenge. Caltroth was about to do the same, when a familiar voice echoed behind him.
"You." Princess Celestia said as she lowered her head staring angrily at the creature. Caltroth smiled at the princess.
"Why Celestia. My how you've grown!" He said, mocking the Alicorn.
"How did you escape Tartarus?" She yelled, her voice echoing off the walls. Caltroth laughed an evil laugh.
"All magic weakens over time. You should know." He said pointing at the now empty pedestal. Celestia was horrified.
"You don't know what you've done!" She yelled and charged the Creature, but he disappeared before her eyes and she crashed into the wall behind where he stood just a second before.
Luna came running in, "Sister! I heard the commotion and came to-" She was cut off by the sight of her sister on the floor.
"Tia!" She yelled rushing to help her sister up. "Are you alright?"
Celestia stood and looked around the dungeon. "Caltroth has returned."
Luna shuddered, "But how? We trapped him in the seventh level of Tartarus! There was no escape!" She finished with defiance.
Celestia walked out of the dungeon, her sister in tow. "He's not all we have to worry about either."

Discord set his goal in motion. Turning anything that moved and lived into a walking catastrophe. Animals became hilariously disproportionate, ponies began to behave like wild animals and act like complete fools.
Woodwind stood in the kitchen with an awed look on his face at the scene unfolding. "Um, Fluttershy? I'm no scientist, but I don't think this is right." he said taking a sip of coffee.
She came downstairs and looked at the horrible scene. "Oh no! It can't be! Not again!" She yelled running out of the room. "What?" Woodwind asked, still standing there perplexed.
"No time to explain!" She yelled grabbing him and the kids. "We have to get to Twilights!"

Twilight was frantically trying to hold the library door shut as crazed ponies tried to break in. "SPIKE? Wheres that shield spell?!" She yelled as another wave of ponies bashed at the door. "I got it!" He said pushing aside the other four elements wielders and their family and friends who weren't affected by the chaos going on.
"Twilight? What in the heck is going on?" Rainbow asked perplexed.
"Yeah! Why is everypony acting loco in the coco?!" Pinkie finished.
"I don't know, but we have to find out." She said reading over the spell.
The girls turned as the door burst open, but it wasn't from the mob of crazed ponies;
Woodwind had kicked the door in and was busy pushing back the mob as Fluttershy and the kids entered.
"Fluttershy, darling!" Rarity yelled racing for her friend. "Are you ok?"
Fluttershy began to pale. "I think I'm going to be sick!" She said and raced for the bathroom.
Woodwind looked puzzled by her behavior, but let it go past him as he placed the door back into the frame and held it there as another barrage of ponies hit it.
"Do y'all have any idea whats happenin' ta Ponyville?" AppleJack asked rushing forward to help with the door.
"Not a clue." Woodwind grunted as another wave pummeled the unhinged slab of wood. "But on the way here Fluttershy said she thinks it's Discord? Does that name ring any bells to you?"
The girls began to look angry.
"How in tha hay did that psycho break free again?!" AppleJack yelled, placing her hind legs firmly against the door as yet another wave hit it.
"Hey, Twilight? That spell would come in handy right about now!" Rainbow yelled.
"Got it" She said as a purple bubble flew past them, sending their attackers flying away from the house. Woodwind and AppleJack let the door fall and looked outside.
Ponies were pounding on the shield like a drum, trying frantically to gain entrance. They let out a sigh and joined the others.
"If Discord escaped his prison, we should have no trouble sending him back, especially since we have a seventh element in our arsenal." She said pointing to Woodwind.
As if to mock them, Discord began to play his voice around the library.
"Oh i'm afraid it will be of no use." He said, seeming to come from everywhere. all the ponies stood, huddled in a tight circle around the children.
"Why don't you show yourself you coward!" Rainbow yelled defiantly.
Discord laughed at her attempts to coax him. "Oh i'm afraid we have bigger plans in store for you, so we won't be coming out to play just yet." Discord said sniggering.
"We?" Twilight repeated, perplexed by his statement.
"Oh, just a friend who helped me escape is all." He replied. "But don't worry. We'll come to you soon enough."
He bellowed another laugh and his voice faded from their minds.
"Who is this other clown who freed him?" Rarity asked, stamping her hooves onto the floor."Don't they know how dangerous Discord can be?"
"Jeesh! Everypony now a days really IS loco in the coco!" Pinkie yelled.
A bright flash illuminated the room, blinding everypony, and Princess Celestia appeared out of nowhere. The ponies bowed in unison.
"The Creature is known as Caltroth." She said as if her magical appearance were nothing.
"Cal-who?" Pinkie Pie asked scratching her head.
"Caltroth was the leader of the beasts that used to roam Equestria. They wanted nothing more than to bring tyranny and oppression to all the citizens of old. My sister and I soundly did away with them-" She hung her head low. "Or so we thought..."
Twilight went to reassure her old teacher. "It's not your fault, Princess. It's noponies fault that Caltroth escaped."
"No, Twilight. It is my fault." She said again, hanging her head lower. "I was the one who placed the spell on the seventh level of Tartarus, which was supposed to trap them all there forever."
Woodwind stepped forward, "So one escaped. It's not like we can't send him back right? I mean, we can use the Elements against him."
The others nodded in agreement at his statement.
"This monster is like no other." She said softly. "Even with all eight pieces of the Elements of Harmony, we still couldn't defeat him."
Twilight was awed by what the princess had said. Eight Elements? the book only said there were six, and Woodwind had just discovered a seventh. What could it possibly be?
"Princess, why is there no record of the last two Elements?" Twilight asked, looking at all the other confused faces in the room.
"Because, my faithful student, they vanished. The element of love went into hiding with his family in the Badlands, and the final element revealed itself only when the other seven were present."
Woodwind was confused. "But you said you couldn't defeat him even with all eight. How did you defeat him with six?" He asked.
Celestia continued. "We set up a diversion. One brave sole sacrificed his life to distract them long enough, so that my sister and I could unleash the six elements to trap the monsters forever in Tartarus."
The memory hit Woodwind like a train. He remembered the snapping jaws of the shadows below him as he used himself as a diversion for the princess'. But that was just an illusion played up by the stallion in the cave.
Wasn't it?
"Princess, might I have a word with you alone?" Woodwind asked. He wanted to keep this from the others and if it did mean something, then maybe the mysterious stallion was preparing him for this occasion.
He and Celestia went into the spare room of the library and shut the door.
"Princess, I need to tell you about what happened in the cave." He said gazing into her eyes.
"Of course. please." She said smiling at him.
"Well, you see, my first trial was that of bravery. I was transported back into a past event in Equestria history. There, I fought alongside you and your sister against horrible creatures. Tell me, What happened that day?"
Celestia was thinking long and hard about that day. It was one she hardly remembered, but she pieced together the memories as best she could.
*****
Luna and her sister were the only two left. The other wielders of the elements had perished, but not before bestowing their powers to the two young sister. To make matters worse, IronHeart, holder of the element of love, had run away with his family.
He had doomed them all with his selfishness.
Without him, the eighth element could not appear, and without it they had no hope of destroying the monsters over running the land.
The two sisters continued running for their lives, even though they had lost the monsters a while back.
"Luna, There!" Celestia shouted, pointing to a crevice in the cliff where they could hide.
They both bounded for it to see it was not abandon. inside stood a young light green Pegasi. Why was he out this far in the middle of a war?
Celestia ground to a halt with Luna on her heals.
"You! Nave! Luna bellowed at the confused looking pony. "Why art thou here? You are no warrior."
The pony cocked his head quizzically, "What do you mean?"
Luna continued on, clearly this pony was a little bit slow. "Thou art but a common pegasus. Why hath thou come to the land of shadow?"
"Land of shadow? What is that?" He asked still looking confused. Luna continued on. "The land of Shadow is where the enemies of Equestria call home! We must ask of thee, young pegasi. Whilst thou aid us in our battle?"
Celestia looked at her sister, then back at the Pegasus. Luna never would ask a lowly commoner for aid unless she truly needed it.
Things were not going well.
The colt murmured something under his breath and Luna answered him back, but Celestia was lost in thought.
This Pony seemed a little familiar. like she knew him somehow. She couldn't place her hoof on it. Luna continued talking about how they needed his help. He had agreed to and Luna was looking to her older sister to aid her in telling him how "Aiding them" really meant, "Your going to die playing hero".
"What we ask of thee is nye easy. But to save Equestria, thou must agree."
He nodded his head, letting them know that no matter what it was, he would do it. "Anything." He confirmed.
Luna made short work of explaining it. "Thou must act as our diversion, so we may use our power to banish the darkness off the earth."
The Pegasus scoffed at the task. To him it seemed like nothing, but the princesses knew all to well what happened to those who tried to attack the monsters head on.
Luna had to make him understand. "Thou doth not understand the consequences of thy actions, young pegasi." Celestia warned, stepping forward.
Luna marched forward as well, speaking for her sister, "My sister speaks truth. What we ask, will require your life."
The Pegasus looked somewhat nervous, "Is there any other way?" He asked, but Celestia confirmed his fears.
"Nay." Celestia said, stepping forward again toward the colt. "Thou wilt be caught in the blast. Thou shalt not survive."
He began to look nervous, but any doubt that he showed on his face before, quickly dissolved into determination.
"Alright. I'll do it." He said.
The two regal sisters let out a sigh of relief.
They had him follow them into their camp. Soldiers and guards stood at ridged attention as the two princesses marched through the camp, heavy looks on their faces. The pegasus just walked in silence, most likely preparing himself for what was to come.
"Art thou sure about this, Pegasus?" Celestia asked him again as servants began to adorn him with a set of jet black armor, encrusted with some of the finest jewels in all of Equestria.
He stood there in silence and nodded. "Alright. Luna, Pegasus? let us march. For we have a nation to save!
The battle was fierce. The creatures had been pushed back into the pit by Celestias light spell.
But it wasnt enough. Soon they would crawl out of the trap and be on them in seconds.
"Hurry, young pegesi!" Celestia yelled "If thou wishes to save thine home and family, thou must divert their attention from us so we may perform our spell!"
The Pegasus dove into the crater, flying nimbly through the mix of horrid monsters below. She saw their leader, trying to organize the attack.
Caltroth.
It was now or never, as Luna and Celestia focused their powers on the opening to Tartarus, preparing to trap the monsters there for all eternity. Celestia took one last look at the brave soul below them.
He was continuing the intricate ballet of war, dancing through the horrible creatures with the bravery and grace of a true warrior. She couldn't bare the thought of what the two of them were asking of the Pegasus. What if this pony had a home? A family? Children?
Luna called out to him in his last moments. "Thou art doing great, young Pegasi! Stories shall be told of your bravery!" She closed her eyes, "Farewell!" And with that, the two sisters released their powerful blast. The entire area was lit as bright as the sun; The screams of the dark army filled the air. The ground opened up, sucking them all into the depths of the earth.
What could have happened to the brave pegasus?
Was he vaporized instantly by the blast? Or did he survive it? He would suffer an eternity of agony and pain in Tartarus if he did.
The thought chilled Celestia to the core. Nothing could be more horrifying than staring death in the face. Not only that, but having death loom over your shoulder for more than a day, and still having the bravery to follow him into the howling dark.
Such bravery...
The two sisters hung their heads at the now baron waste land. While the Elements could not destroy the beasts, they were at least powerful enough to banish them to the lowest levels of hell.
"We have done it, Celestia!" Luna yelled in triumph. "The Earth hath been saved."
Celestia hung her head to her sister. "But at the cost of a brave young soul. We must not forget what hath been done here today Luna."
Luna nodded her head in solemn agreement. The day was won all thanks to the bravery of just one soul.