• Published 8th Dec 2012
  • 2,836 Views, 72 Comments

The Element of Corruption - Fyronarion



When dark thoughts corrupts Twilight, she starts exploring the truth about her friends.

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Recovery

Darkness. Silence. That was all Twilight could see or hear. That is, until she groggily opened her eyes and found herself lying on the floor of the wrecked cabin. She tried to move, but to no avail. A large piece of rubble has fallen on her legs, and it was slowly starting to pain. Her head and hooves were aching from the crash, and she felt her legs slowly losing blood circulation as the rubble blocked the blood flow to her legs. Both her wings were broken too. As she tried to move them, pain flared through them. She yelped and stopped trying to use them.

She weakly tried to get up, but collapsed. Mustering all her energy, she gave out a small shout of help. A few minutes passed, but nopony replied. Twilight rested her head against the floor and looked up at the starry night sky, which was filled with the blazing inferno from the ship’s ruins. The crackle of flames was heard in the distance as it consumed the ship.

As her vision started to fade, she heard faint hoofsteps nearing her. She didn’t care if it was a friend or foe, as she resigned to the fate that she will die under from the freezing cold..

What an embarrassing way to die.... Twilight thought. As that thought went through her mind, she caught a white figure standing over her. She squinted at it, trying to make out who it is.

“Shining?” she asked. The figure trotted closer until he was standing over her. It wasn’t Shining Armor. He was a unicorn with a silver-grayish mane that was matted over his head, but he shared a common white hide like Shining. His face was covered in cuts and bruises, and his golden armor was ruined with dents and parts of it gone. He shook his head when she asked that.

“No, it’s Onyx, a Phoenix Guard. Your brother and his wife are safe. He sent me and Slipstream to find you.” he said. She nodded before looking down at the rubble covering her. He followed her gaze and gasped. The debris glowed and it quickly levitated itself off of her.. After he removed it, he grabbed her hoof and pulled her up.

“You okay?” he asked as Twilight dusted herself off. She nodded again.

“I’m fine. My hooves just ache and my wings are broken, but that’s it.” she said. Onyx nodded.

“Let’s go. Thank Celestia this part of the ship didn’t fall down into the chasm when I came to find you.” he said. Twilight stopped in her tracks and stared at him in horror, hoping that it was a sick joke.

“Are you telling me that this side of the ship is hanging off a cliff?!” she asked. Onyx nodded, and faint creaking was heard from the ship’s weakened chassis. He winced.

“Yeah, I think we have to go. I don’t think this part of the ship will stay up longer.” he said, navigating past a fallen steel beam. Twilight was still in shock as she followed him.

Suddenly, the cabin groaned. Both of them froze as it slowly tilted. Twilight lost her balance and started sliding towards the gaping hole of the ship, which opened up to a deadly chasm. Pieces of the ship fell into the pit, disappearing as the fog covered it. Onyx quickly grabbed a piece of the frame that was jutting out of the ceiling and hung on. Twilight felt her heart pounding against her chest as she slowly slid down into the maw of the pit.

Onyx looked around in desperation for something to help her. He looked to his side and found an iron rod hanging on the side of the cabin. He grabbed it with his hoof and ripped it from its’ socket.

“Twilight! Hang onto this!” he shouted, dangling the rod towards her. She looked up and tried to reach it, but she was too far below. Twilight looked up at him with pure fear. She was going to fall into the chasm any minute. The ship shook violently, and Onyx felt himself losing grip on the frame. He looked up, and his face suddenly broke out in terror as cracks started forming on the spot where the frame was sticking out. He closed his eyes as the frame broke free and sent him tumbling down towards Twilight, who too fell down before him.

As she fell down in front of him, Onyx willed himself to propel a bit forward through the air using his magic. He finally reached Twilight and grabbed hold of her by the waist. She put her face in his shoulder as both of them fell like rocks, screaming.

“Twilight! Use your wings!” he shouted. He looked down and saw the ground was slowly nearing them. Twilight had tears flying from her eyes as she shook her head.

“I-I can’t! It hurts too much!” she cried, holding onto him. Onyx cursed to himself loudly..

“Please, you can do it! Think what will happen if we both die!” he yelled back, almost breaking into full blown panic as the ground closing on them rapidly. Twilight pulled her head back from his shoulder and stared into Onyx’s eyes. They both looked at each other for a while as they fell through the air, contemplating their last moments. Twilight suddenly felt a tug inside of her, and she yelped. A moment later, her eyes and horn glowed white, followed by her wings. They flared to life, reducing the speed of both of them falling.

Onyx, who was staring at her in awe, felt themselves reversing as Twilight looked up and propelled herself and him through the air at an astonishing speed. They both flew straight up like a rocket before landing on a ledge that overlooked the pit. Onyx watched as the entire cabin of the ship tilt and fall into the chasm, disappearing completely by the blizzard. A faint boom was heard as it crashed into the ground below.

Twilight’s eyes slowly lost the white glow as it returned to normal. She moaned and leaned her head on Onyx’s chest, exhausted. He looked at her with a surprised yet thankful look. Feeling drained of energy, he leaned his head back against the cliff face and closed his eyes, hoping to take a small break...

Meanwhile at the ruins of the airship’s cabin...

Changelings were scavenging the ship, looking for any survivors or corpses. The drones were sifting through metal and pieces of cloth in hopes of finding something to feed off of.

Chrysalis overlooked this operation as she watched from a small snow mound. Nucleon was standing next to her, ordering the drones to look thoroughly. He had a stony expression on his face.

One of the changelings landed in front of them. He held out a shard of gold. Upon closer inspection, it was revealed to be Royal Guard armor.

“Guards again. When will these fools learn to stop interfering with our plans?” hissed Chrysalis, pounding her hoof in anger. Nucleon took the shard from the changeling and inspected it carefully.

“Your majesty, I believe this isn’t Royal Guard armor.” he said, turning it over and studying it. Chrysalis rolled her eyes.

“Well, what do you think it is? A Royal teacup?” she asked in sarcasm. Nucleon shook his head.

“No. This appears to be a fragment of Phoenix Guard armor. This narrows our search down to two ponies. The two stallions who snatched Shining Armor in front of our eyes. It must be one of them.” he said coldly. Chrysalis smiled at him.

“You’re not as dumb as you look. Very well Nucleon. I will order my swarm to look for those two. They cannot be far from the wreck.” she said, turning to the drones and raising her hoof. All of them stopped doing their jobs as they noticed her signal. They made a straight line and shuffled towards the Queen, waiting for their next orders.

In the distance, a dark figure appeared. The blizzard is at full blast right now, impairing their visions as the figure slowly limped towards them. Nucleon was the first to notice as the figure made its way up to them, panting. He glanced at two of the drones, who nodded and landed in front of Chrysalis.

“Halt! Who are you?” shouted one of them. The second one crouched, ready to attack if needed. The figure in the distance raised both its’ hooves in the air.

“Wait! No shoot me! I on your side!” it shouted. Nucleon stepped forward.

“At ease. He is a changeling. What brings you late to the search? The Queen ordered all drones to search this wreckage.” he said, trotting up to him. As Nucleon neared him, he noticed that one of his wings were bent at an odd angle. His eyes had bruises and his body had cuts.

“Don’t trust Twilight. She work for pony!” he said, breathing heavily. Nucleon’s eyes narrowed and Chrysalis looked at him sharply.

“What do you mean she works for the ponies? Twilight has made it clear that she was going to sabotage the airship, and she succeeded.” said Chrysalis. The drone shook his head.

“No. Ship crash because of us. We blow up engines. Twilight work for pony because she killed two allies. She going to kill me, but I escaped.” he said.

“But do you have proof for this? We cannot just take this by your word.” said Nucleon. The changeling shook his head, looking down at the ground. Chrysalis gazed at him.

“You know, I just realized that Twilight was supposed to report here hours ago. I sent a notice to all my drones to rendezvous here, yet she didn’t respond. Maybe she has defected from us.” said Chrysalis thoughtfully.

“No she didn’t.” said Nucleon stubbornly. Chrysalis smirked at him.

“My drones will search for any evidence that relates to this changeling’s report. If it matches, then I will hunt her down to the ends of Equestria if I have to for betraying the hive. No changeling has ever left under my rule.” she growled. Nucleon’s eyes widened when she said that. Hopefully, the search will turn up no results.

To the Elements...

“We have arrived!” declared Trixie. Indeed, the carriage had pulled over by the flaming wreck. Snow was falling furiously as the six mares disembarked from the carriage. Spike took a peek outside and immediately moved away from the door, insisting that he has to keep the carriage warm. They laughed as Trixie locked the door of the carriage before following them.

“This is awesome!” said Rainbow Dash, barely containing her excitement. Rarity looked at her strangely.

“You are calling the crashed remains of an aircraft awesome? You have a sick sense of enjoyment, Rainbow.” she said. Rainbow Dash shrugged and flew ahead of them.

“Oh my.” said Fluttershy quietly as they walked past a huge turbine. Its’ sides were charred and burnt, and the tips of it have melted.

“Ah have a bad feeling ‘bout this...” muttered Applejack. Fluttershy nodded in agreement. As they made a turn towards the forest, they encountered an amazing sight.

“Wow! What is THAT?!” said Pinkie with a mix of enthusiasm and fright. In front of them was a large tail rudder, firmly embedded in the ground. Flames were eating away at the fabric, slowly revealing the metallic skeleton underneath. However, under the rudder were the remains of a Royal Guard armor. Rainbow Dash flew forward and rummaged through the armor. Minutes passed and she shouted at them, a small note clamped in her hooves.

“Guys! Check this out!” she said, landing in front of them and holding up the note. It glowed blue until it was levitated from her hoof and onto mid-air as Trixie read it.

“All guards, go to your stations. This is not a drill. We have been boarded by changelings. I repeat, this is not a drill. Closer sightings have confirmed that Twilight Sparkle is among the enemy. If found, capture her alive and bring her to the bridge. Until then, pony your stations.” she read. The last part of the note was unreadable since it was burnt. Applejack scratched her head.

“So that means...Twi is near here?” she said.

“Trixie believes so. If she did crash with the ship, she cannot be far off.” said Trixie.

“What are we waiting for then? Let’s go!” said Pinkie excitedly, hopping towards the rudder.

“I am not participating in this search. I do not want to get my hooves filthy, thank you very much.” said Rarity. Trixie glanced at her and laughed before turning around and following Pinkie Pie to the rudder.

“Whatever you say Rare.” said Applejack, trotting after Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash...

Back to Twilight...

Twilight slowly opened her eyes. She found herself lying next to Onyx, and she quickly jumped up, feeling her face go red. What just happened?

As she scrunched her face in thought, she remembered. Both of them were plummeting towards their deaths, but Twilight felt a surge of energy and saved their flanks from being splattered.

As she stood up, she coughed. Her throat was really dry from the lack of liquid. That, and the fact that she did not feed from anypony’s emotions, which made her very weak.

Whenever changelings have enough love in their system, they can regenerate any injuries they have been afflicted with. It also enhances their strength and agility, making them competent fighters. Since Twilight had a measly amount of love in her, she was exhausted from the events that happened. She looked at Onyx and bit her lips. Regardless of how wrong it is, she still has to do it to survive.

Twilight walked over to him, letting her eyes travel over his body to find a good spot. The side by his ribs seems like a good spot. Her horn started to glow, and then she proceeded to make a small cut, not too deep but not too shallow.

Changelings who were learned in the skill of feeding did not need to make physical extraction of love from their prey. All they did was absorb the “love aura” that was being emitted from the being using their horns. That is how Chrysalis was able to quickly morph into Cadence and defeat Celestia, as Shining Armor and her had a tremendous amount of love that she absorbed.

Once she made the cut, Twilight went down and placed her mouth over the cut. She slowly sucked out a small amount of blood. A wave of nausea washed over her, and she felt like throwing up, but it was for her survival, so she continued.

As she continued drinking, the metallic taste of blood gave way to a sweet and milky taste of emotion. Twilight smiled as she continued to drink her fill, letting the sweet taste of love fill her up.

As she finished and wiped her mouth, images she had never seen before flashed before her eyes. It depicted a small colt with his parents, and then it moved on to him as a stallion, with a mare that shared his appearance. Twilight blinked, and the images disappeared.

She looked at the incision she made on Onyx, which was bleeding, and spat on it. The cut slowly started to heal itself until it nothing more than a mere scar.

A feeling of warmth started to spread around her body, like a fire being ignited in her stomach. It felt comfortable, and soon, her aching hooves and broken wings were mended. Twilight felt like Pinkie Pie after drinking a mug of Applejack’s Apple Anodizer (which is not for sale to the public due to the energy spike in the consumer. That and the ban by the Equestrian Health Commission to prevent sales in stores.)

As Twilight stood there, letting the warmth cover her body, Onyx stirred. He opened his eyes and got up, clutching his head.

“Ugh...what happened? I had this weird dream of a vampony drinking from me.” he muttered. Twilight suppressed a giggle as she helped him up.

“That’s very strange.” said Twilight, playing along. Onyx just shook his head and turned to a clearing of trees. The snow was really going in now. The wind speed picked up, followed by a distant whistle. He shivered. That whistling was strangely familiar.

Twilight’s ears perked up. Since she possessed much more advanced hearing than a normal pony, she was able to pick up the sound waves, and it didn’t seem to comfort her mood.

“We have to go where my brother is. Now.” she said, her expression frozen in fear. Onyx cocked his head in confusion.

“What’s the rush? We can get there by just trotting-”

“No Onyx. That whistling sound...do you hear it?” she whispered. Onyx raised his ears and heard carefully. Frankly, the whistling was getting louder by the minute.

“Yeah, I hear it. What’s wrong with it? I mean, it does sound familiar, but I suppose it’s just the blizzard.” he said. Twilight shook her head.

“That’s the sound of a changeling signalling another changeling. We have to get back to where my brother is. I sense a swarm of them arriving to our location.” she said, her voice on the edge of begging. She tugged Onyx to follow her towards the small clearing, and he heeded her request as they both turned to make a dash.

Just when they almost reached the clearing, something black darted past them. Twilight quickly stopped, and Onyx crashed behind her. Both of them fell on top of each other in the snow. As Twilight tried to get up, a changeling burst out of a nearby snow pile and flew towards her, eyes filled with malice. Since she didn’t have anything to protect herself with, she closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

All of a sudden, something jumped in front of her and uppercutted the changeling. He flew back and crashed against a tree, unconscious. The figure turned and looked at Twilight.

Twilight opened her eyes, curious about what happened. When she saw the pony looking at her, she squealed with joy and rushed into his hooves. It was Shining Armor.

“Sis, are you alright?” he asked. Twilight nodded as she continued to be held in his embrace. Shining Armor laughed sheepishly as he gently pried her off of him.

“Enough with the sappy stuff. Cadence would be jealous. Anyways, let’s get going back to camp. Slipstream found some berries and Cadence cooked them. I’ve already called for an evacuation from the Royal Guard. They will be here soon.” he said. Twilight smiled at that. Onyx soon got up, mumbling to himself and brushing the snow off. When he noticed Shining Armor in front of him, he quickly saluted his superior.

“Sir!” he said, standing stiffly. Shining waved his hoof.

“At ease, Corporal. Let’s get going. I’ll explain to you what happened.” he said. Onyx nodded, following Shining Armor past the clearing and into a small enclosure.

Unknowingly to Twilight or Onyx, Shining Armor’s eyes seemed to glint with a teal color before it reverted back to blue. He smiled as he led them back to the “safe haven”

Author's Note:

Yay! Didn't take two weeks to update this time :D
Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
If any mistakes are found, please point it out. Thank you.