Dark Petrification

by bnewton

Prolouge: A Couple's Debate

'So they thought I was gone forever? Well I am not, but I will be soon. My life may finally end here, but my mark on all of this world will stay.' Thought Sombra as he lay scattered over Equestria in millions of little pieces. His defeat at the hooves of that pink Alicorn infuriated him, and so knowing he will die, has decided to dissolve into a fog that shrouds all in touches in stone and taint.

Princess Celestia was the first victim of the fog, which, incidentally, is now called Malum. Malum turned Celestia to stone, and proceeded to do so with all things that were completely pure and incorruptible. Celestia's form was cast down to the marble floor of the castle. Discord saw the horrible occurence, but, being chaos incarnate, could not be tainted by the Malum, despite his previous affiliation with disharmony. His shock held his gaze upon Celestia and froze his body in place, and he too, was petrified by Malum. However, unlike Celestia, his powers had such supreme potency that when he was turn to stone, he was still floating in the air. Luna was asleep, and as she herself was an Alicorn, she couldn't be corrupted by none other than herself, and she too, was taken, unknowingly, in her sleep.

Ponyville was in a state of panic, but while Rarity shut herself and her sister in the Carousal Boutique, she was petrified, whilst Sweetie Belle was corrupted. Applejack and her siblings dug underground in an attempt to escape to rapidly-approaching Malum. However, their makeshift bunker was drafty, and it too, was filled with Malum. Petrification was the fate that was met by each of the Elements of Harmony, each of them were unable to stop the Malum's spread.

With each new victim the Malum took, the faster it spread. Soon even Scootaloo, who took off in the opposite direction of the Malum, was turned over to the dark side. Soon even the skies were not safe from the evils the Malum bred. Soon, only ponies that had great love from another were spared from the Malum's dreadful influence. Dinky Doo's mother loved her so much, that while Derpy Hooves couldn't escape the Malum's power, Dinky could. Dinky Doo ran to the only source of light she could see in Equestria, the Crystal Empire.

Other such refugees were residing in the Crystal Ponies' homes, waiting for Princess Mi Amore Cadenza to make a move, waiting for her and Prince Shining Armor to reach a decision. It was common knowledge that they both agreed it was too dangerous to touch the Malum itself, even casting a spell on it would simply be too risky.

Cadence and Shining Armor are in the Library, arguing about the wisdom in using a summoning spell to bring a warrior down from the heavens to destroy the Malum.

"Come on, Shining! This is for the good of all of Equestria, which, I remind you, includes Twilight."

"But Cadence, don't you remember Luna's message? The Malum corrupts all it touches, this warrior from the heavens would simply be corrupted too!"

"Actually, according to Twilight's messages relayed to us from Luna, the hopes and dreams of our people would be channeled towards our summoned warrior, and should act as a replacement for the love-shielding effect."

"Cadence, you know as well as I do that we cannot trust to chance that Twilight's guesses are right, seeing as she is currently stone without a single way to read any books anywhere!"

"Which is why we are going to the library to look up any and all information about love's properties apart from the obvious. We may even learn more about how the changelings desired to use the love they harvested from ponykind on our wedding." Cadence explains enthusiastically to her husband, Shining Armor. Shining Armor sighs as he allows her to lead him to the library, where they and their citizens will read in search of information to verify Twilight's guess.

Several hours later, a stack of texts sit on a crystal table while Cadence, Shining Armor, and three Crystal Ponies are huddled nearby. Cadence begins with "I haven't found anything in 'Love and War'."

Shining Armor states "Nothing of value was found in 'An Idiot's Guide to Love'."

Ruby Cluster says "Nothing in 'What is Love and What You're missing out on'."

Pearl Ball simply mumbles "Nothing..."

Emerald Hill says "There wasn't much in 'Starswirl the Bearded's Notes on Love', but there was something. I can't remember what it was, but I marked the pages where he goes into detail about its more scientific properties."

Cadence beams and exclaims "Wonderful! Be a dear and fetch me those notes and then you can be off to your homes." They comply and the they trot out the door, happy to know that the Malum is closer to being gotten rid of. Cadence waits until the door closes and remarks "You know Shining, there really isn't anything to fuss over."

"Read the information first, then you can tell me 'I told you so' all you want."

"Okay, it says 'Love in its energy form is pink in color, and protects those it is directed at. It is similar to hopes and dreams in that it protects whoever is entrusted with it. Changelings can use the power of love they steal from another species to grow more powerful, just like they do with dreams. It is important to note that hopes and dreams are both purple in energy form. If one ever had a need for love's energies but couldn't access any nearby ones or make use of one for whatever reason, hopes and/or dreams of a large amount of people can be sealed into small crystals to achieve a similar effect as was desired of love.' ...Sounds quite convienent. Oh, and by the way, I told you so."

Shining Armor mumbles "I knew you were going to say it..." as he facehooves.

Author's Note:

Malum is the latin word for evil, just so you know. Bonus points for the prefix "mal" being in the word, which is used in such words as "malnourished" and "malware".
Chapter written on 2/21/13