> Darkness and fear. > by DisharmonyandChaos > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Secret chamber > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight and friends were visiting the princess in canterlot for the weekend, as a gift the princess has gotten them all tickets to a wonderbolts show that was to start at 12:00 PM sharp. Rainbow dash was getting ancy and wanted to get there now to show off her stuff to the wonderbolts. She was the most excited out of all of them but they all were very excited to go. "Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygooooosh this show has been sold out for weeks! How did you get these tickets?!" Rainbows voice was full of pure glee as she flew around in celebration. Celestia smiled. "I'm the princess, i simply asked for them." "It was very kind of you princess celestia, will you be coming with us?" Twilight asked gently titling her head to the right looking curious. "Sadly my faithful student i will not be able to, i have a previous engagement to attend to. But you all go and you have a wonderful time." "Why this is the perfect opportunity to show off my latest creation!" Rarity gestured to the sunhat in a bag she was carrying. "C'mooooooooooon the show starts in 15 minutes.." "Alright y'all lets go before she blows a gasket,Aj said chuckling. They all said goodbye and left the princess alone in the throne room with just her and the 2 guards who constantly stood at attention just below her throne. The princess smiled until the door shut then sighed, "Leave me until further notice," She said. The two guard nodded and began to walk to the door but the princess added, "no disturbances from anypony," As soon as they were out the door she walked down from where she sat proudly as ruler of equestria, she walked to the chamber door of the elements of harmony, the most powerful ancient artifacts in all of equestria. She looked left to right then behind her making sure nopony was there,then she inserted her horn into the lock to which the door glowed. A click could be heard from the inside as unlocked and a glow along with it as the majestic door slowly opened. Within this chamber was the chest that contained the very elements used to turn discord the spirit of chaos to stone, she walked inside the chamber and past the chest that contained them, it was not what she was here for. Using her magic she gently grabbed the pedestal that the container of the elements sat upon, surrounding it in a gentle glow. Slowly she rotated it and continued to until another click could be heard, to which the pedestal lowered and the very ground beneath her began to open. It twisted open to a large winding staircase that descended downward. The princess began to walk down the stairs, slowly descending to the chamber below. She reached the bottom of the stairs and passed two jagged blade honor guards. The jagged blade honor guard was a secret unit of the royal guard that was not loyal to the state, but to princess celestia herself. The royal guard had a sacred duty to protect celestia and the kingdom when the time called for it. That did not apply to the jagged blade, sociopathic, unknown , super killers...that is what they were They got the name jagged blade from the sharp rough jagged blades they wore over their horn, being a unicorn was required to join. The armor they wear was black with red detailed lines on the eyes and legs, Their identity was completely concealed in their armor. They have only been seen in action one time by the public, they are believed to not exist at all. Celestia walked into the chamber to which she had descended to reach, inside was the single most well kept secret in equestrian history. against the wall, was the most advanced piece of tech in existence. A biological cryo containment unit, the only one in the world known to exist. Not far from the containment unit was a mixture of keyboards and high tech computer monitors. Slowly celestia approached the giant glass tube, inside was the very thing it was built to contain. Hooked up to various IV tubes and an oxygen mask was celestia's first friend...A human, the last human being to be precise. He is thousands years old but looks no older then a 17 year old human male would, for he had been in this cryo unit for about 3 thousand years. "Hello marcus.." She said sounding absolutely heartbroken to be in this very room. This was all human technology, the cryo unit, the monitors the keyboards. It was all the human technology that survived the catastrophic events of the past. With the last surviving humans and celestia's help they assembled this setup and contained the very being within its confines. It left of a blue glow, from the lights within it reflecting the liquid that surrounded him. Marcus looked peaceful in his cryostatis state, as if time itself had stopped to preserve him perfectly. Celestia placed a hoof up against the glass, holding it there and reminiscing of the good times they both shared. As she was lost in her thoughts, marcus's eyes began to open, they glowed with a piercing ominous yellow glow. no pupil or iris was even visible, just the yellow glow. "Marcus?.." Celestia said cautiously. Slowly his arms raise and bend behind his head then come forward against the glass in a bang. He continued to bang against the glass for a few more minutes. A tear slowly dripped from celestia's face. "I cannot let you out..you are simply too dangerous. Oh marcus...if only you hadn't become this." What looked like a black steam almost, began to irradiate from marcus's skin. He punched the glass and had a look that pleaded for his freedom, but celestia was not buying it. He began to kick and punch trying to break the glass to get out, but it was not working and there was no reason to try anymore, so he stopped. "I wish to let you out, really i do..but i cannot allow you to roam free once again..not until you change." She leaned against the containment unit and wrapped her forelegs around it as best she could to show she was hugging him. "Not until you change.." she repeated. Celestia hugged the unit for what seemed like forever, finally one of the two guards said, "Princess your student and her friends are back." She stopped the hug and frowned. "Until next time..i love you marcus." She wiped away another tear then accended the stairs, when she reached the top she twisted the pedestal back into place then backed out of the harmony chamber. "Princess Celestia?" Twilight said with a dumbfound voice. "Twilight!" she quickly turned around to face her student and friends. "How was the show?" Before twilight could say another word rainbow leaped into the air. "IT WAS SO AWESOME! THEY DID A DEATH DOUBLE BARREL ROLE! AND IT WAS JUST SO AWESOME!" She tried to mimic the move but spun out. "I still haven't gotten down yet..." "May i ask what you were doing in the harmony chamber?" Twilight said taking one step forward. "Oh i was just uhhhh..DUSTING! yeah i was dusting the harmony chest.." "you were...dusting? you a princess?" Twilight was not convinced. "Why in the world would you even lift a hoof! why id have one of my servants do it for me" She happily sighed at the very thought. Pinkie pie giggled and trotted into the chamber, "Sillies she wasn't dusting! She was twisting this thing!" Pinkie pie grabbed the pedestal and violently twisted it. "PINKIE PIE NO!" They all shouted. A loud crack is heard then the ground began to shake as the stairway entrance slowly swirled open carving its way into the floor. "Pinkie pie what did you do!?" Twilight yelled as she vibrated all around. "Oops.." Pinkie simply smiled apologetically. "No!" Celestia shouted as the staircase entrance finished opened and the ground stopped shaking. "Ooooooooooo winding staircase!" Pinkie said astonished at the sight. Twilight and the others walked into the chamber and looked at the stairway. "Princess celestia what is this?" Twilight and the others turned to face a horrified celestia who looked all around then let out a sigh of defeat. "I suppose i can hide it no longer..." > The secret is out > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Princess celestia led the girls down the stairs to the chamber below her throne room, her head lowered with a look of sadness. "I had hoped to keep this a secret for quite some time.." "Nice one pinkie," rainbow said in a aggravated tone. "I said oopsie!" "It is alright pinkie pie, its just..this is a very long story...and i might as well begin to tell it now.." Princess celestia said as she reached the bottom of the stairwell, the others arriving with her and staring at the technological marvel before them. "wooooooow...what is it princess?" Twilight said looking at the monitors then to the cryo unit. "What you are looking at twilight sparkle..is the last human being in existence." "A huwha now?" Aj said looking befuddled. "A human being, a primate like species that was once the rulers of the land we now call equestria.." "B-But princess! th-th-you sa-said that they are...just.myths! how can they exist if they are mythical!" Twilight sounded more angry about the fact that she was wrong then the fact celestia hid this from her. "They are no myth my dear student, they are far from it. They are in a sense the precursors to our very way of existence, they invented the very language we speak. Farming, many modes of transportation, and even the buildings they lived in were very similar to the ones we live in today. The list goes on..what they lacked in magic and wings, they made up for in their astonishing intellect." "So what makes this'n so darn special?" Applejack said tapping the glass to which marcus kicked it, applejack jumped back a bit. "Well, this human is indeed special. He was the humans referred to as a "Mutant" a human with altered DNA that have them abilities that a regular human would never have." "I-Is he dangerous?" Fluttershy said nervously. "Sadly dear fluttershy, he is indeed dangerous..what you are looking at is the embodiment of fear...and darkness into the human form. He feeds off of the fear of others, he was able to control and actually repress the fears of others. But he could also make your worst nightmare come true. He has an unlimited source of power, everypony fears something. Even the elements of harmony cannot stop him if he breaks out. Which is why i have him in this cryo chamber of anti magic. It prevents him from having any power." "What would happen if he were to break out, princess? Twilight asked sounding a bit nervous herself. "He would redo what he did before when he went on a rampage." "W-what exactly happened princess?" Fluttershy shook with fear. "....He wiped out his fellow humans in a siege of darkness." "WHAT?!" they all shouted in horror. "YOU HAVE SOMETHING THAT KILLED ITS OWN IN THE CASTLE?!" Rarity shouted in disbelief. "Girls i understand that you are nervous, but before i was princess..he was my best friends, i love him.. i believe there is still good in him, if there is i intend to find it and release him into the world again." "Hey whats this do?" Pinkie says pointing to a red button then pressing it. "PINKIE PIE NO!" Princess celestia shouted in vane as the door of the cryo chamber slowly began to open, the anti magic liquid beginning to pour onto the ground. "Oops.." "Quickly! press the button again!" before pinkie could even attempt to press the button, a pair of claws tore through the very thin opening in the cryo unit. Beginning to yank the doors open with force, the glass shattering and the the metal giving way. With one forceful push the entire unit is shattered. the IV tubed violently torn off of him and the oxygen mask ripped from his face. "GUARDS!" The two guards charge heads lowered, but to no avail. Marcus simply looks at them and uses the very shadows around them to stop the two in their place. His glowing eyes turned to celestia. He said to her only one thing. "YOU!" > Loose. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The princess flinched back at marcus's loud voice that called out to her, "M-Marcus i-" "SILENCE!" he screamed, slowly walking out of the shattered piece of technology that had imprisoned him for so many years, the blue glowing anti magic running down his skin. He breathed heavily, ether because he was angered with the princess or a little overjoyed to be breathing actual air and not from an oxygen tank anymore. "Nobody tells the princess to be quiet!" Rainbow dash said then flew full force directly at him. Marcus simply lifted his arm up and snapped his finger, stopping her directly in her place mid air. "ahhhh rainbow dash.." He slowly walked around her, her eyes looking all around with a look of terror. "What are you afraid of hmm?" "Marcus that's enough! Release her this instant!" Celestia stomped her hoof as if to intimidate the human, he simply brushed it off with a huff and snapped his finger, she dropped to the ground. "Oh sure celestia ill release her, because i know what its like to be trapped...and wanting out. Unlike you" "I did it for the safety of my subjects!" She responded, "Oh did you?" He turned to her, his long black hair gentle brushed out of his eyes revealing just how angry he truly was. "Or did you do it because you are afraid of anything more powerful then you are?" His voice was very mocking. "That is a lie.." "Oh is it?!" He approached her, only then did the others realize how tall this human was, he could look at her face to face. "I am more powerful so you imprisoned me in anti magic, Discord was more powerful then you, so you turned him to stone..sounds like you have a nasty little habit of incarnating your foes!" He shook his finger for some odd reason, it didn't make sense to the girls at all. Human nature is weird. "I believe everyone deserves a second chance, including you and discord..but what you did was simply," She paused for a minute and took a breath, "Horrible..." "What i did was a labor of love, and how did you repay me? YOU LOCKED ME AWAY!" He did what would get anypony banished from equestia, he got in the princesses face. "Now that is quiet enough!" Twilight yelled stepping forward. "Nobody, not even a human treats the princess that way!" "Id shut your mouth if you know whats good for you, we wouldn't want you to lose your friends now would we?" She gasped slightly. "H-How did..." "I know everything" He said in a chuckling tone, "EVERYPONIES FEAR" he paused for some dramatic effect. "I know, i am a construct of darkness, i live off of fear so if you are afraid of ANYTHING. I will know, and i know you are afraid of losing your friends. Now shut up or ill arrange such a matter." "WE WOULD NEVER TURN AGAINST TWILIGHT!" Pinkie shouted, hopping over to this human and her neck stretched out to abnormal lengths as she looked him eye to eye. "NEVER EVER FOREVER NEVER!" "Whatever you say miss pie, i can make anything happen. I can make it to where a pony will never smile or laugh because of you ever again" Marcus sounded cheerful at that, for he was enjoying the fact he CAN make their worst fears come true. A look of disgust appeared over pinkies face, "If you think for one second we would listen to such a beastly creature in a horrible black outfit you are sorely mistaken" Rarity said as she turned away feeling like she had insulted him. "Like id listen to a pony in such a disgusting outfit," Marcus snapped his finger making an rather ugly mismatched brown and green outfit appear on rarity. "OH FOR THE LOVE OF CELESTIA, GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!!!" She hopped all around fanning herself, nothing scared rarity more then horrible fashion. "Stop this right now marcus! This is the very reason i had to locked away!" The princess said, "I want to help you be that sweet boy who i was best friends again.." Her heart was in the right place, but marcus had a black heart. Her reasoning was not going to change a thing. "Friends do not lock their friends away and ignore their cry's for help." He turned away, "You had a chance many times for when you are locked away for so long you will do anything to be free..even change who you are. But you simply ignored me and refused to let me out, so now i will make you pay the price. I was wrong to think you ponies were ready to take our place.." "TH-THIS THING...WONT BUDGE!!!" Applejack said trying to help get the outfit marcus had places on rarity off of her,but it was stuck or something. "PLEASE GET OFF! GET IT OFF OF ME ITS HIDEOUS!" Rainbow ran over and began yanking off the outfit with applejack, "Princess what did he mean by..ready to take their place?" Twilight tilted her head in confusion. "I'm not sure, what do you mean marcus?" Even she was confused herself, which is a rare event. "I said it was a labor of love, humans had their run so i sped up the process for you ponies to rise to the occasion! But that was a clear mistake." He gently shook his head. "You killed your own kind for us?..." Princess said in a gentle almost hushed voice, she couldn't believe that he had done such a thing. It was disgusting, but in a way sweet as well. "Indeed i did," Marcus sounded proud of himself, "But i'm sure i can find a way to bring them back, Human warriors wont mind taking back their land." "You wouldn't." "Oh but i will, but first i'm afraid i must engulf your world in darkness. Shame i bet its so beautiful in the sunlight!" "As long as i'm still standing you will not extinguish my sun,! The princess took a defensive stance. "YEAH!" all the others said. "GET THIS OFF OF ME ALREADY!" Rarity shouted once more. "Yes that there is the problem princess..." A black shadowy smoke began to come off of him again, then he shot around, the soft pale white skin he once bared had was now turning black, the solid figure that was once his body now looked like it was composed completely of shadows and black smoke. His yellow glowing eyes now burned red, even they themselves left a red trail. "You wont be!" > When the sun went out. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Marcus lunged at the princess with unbelievable speed, he grabbed her and sent her forward towards the wall before phasing through the bricks. Leaving behind only a black stain on the wall that slowly moved across the wall. "PRINCESS CELESTIA!" They all shouted in horror, the guards struggled as hard as they could to break from the shadow that held them firm to the ground. "WH-WHERE DID THEY GO!?" Twilight shouted looking directly at where they had phased through. pressing her hooves firmly against the blackness that was consuming the wall. "c-c-can we go home now?..." Fluttershy said as she was laying on the ground covering her eyes and shaking violently. "No we cant go home! THE PRINCESS HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED!" Fluttershy only shook more when her friend yelled. "I-Im sorry fluttershy, but we gotta get out of here and tell princess luna!" "And how!" Applejack added in. "Come on lets go!" Twilight began to run up the stairs, the others following shortly afterwords. "W-wait you're just gonna leave us!?" one of the guards cried out. "We'll send somepony down to get you!" Twilight shouted. The 6 ponies frantically ran atop the hidden staircase, they did not bother to close the stairway or the harmony chamber, couldn't leave those guards down there. "Twilight what are we gonna do!? The princess said that he can't be beat!" Rainbow said flying along side the running purple unicorn. "Thats impossible! Everything can be defeated." "But she said-" "Well she may of been lying! you heard her say they were best friends she may of been protecting him!" As they ran along the dress he had forced onto rarity suddenly faded into nothing more then black dust which then blew away. "FINALLY!" she said with glee. "Now's not the time to be happy rarity!" Applejack said looking at her crossly. When the 6 made it out of the castle they quickly turned to the nearest royal guard who was at his post at the entrance. "Where is princess luna!?" Twilight said panting trying to catch her breath. Without so much as breaking his firm posture he answered, "Atop the royal keep" "Ill meet you guys there!" Rainbow took off, she was able to see her from where they stood, "Come on girls, we got a princess to save!" Twilight said then ran inside, the other following. "W-wait what?" the guard broke his posture then turned to see them running down the hall. "Stop!" he shouted The guard and his partner both then began running after them, but the girls were already running as fast as they could to the royal keep that they struggled to keep up themselves. As they ran and shouted it only drew the attention of every servant and guard they passed, the guards joining in the pursuit and the servants just looking confused. The girls practically busted through the door that would lead up to the keep as they rushed to get to luna. When they finally got to her, they were short of breath and sweaty. Barely able to say a word. But luna simply stared at the sky, listening to rainbow dash as she explained what had happened. "P-P-P" Twilight choked on her breath a second. "Princess luna! Princess celestia has be-" "Kidnapped?" Luna said not even looking away. "Did rainbow tell ya?" Applejack asked, fanning herself with her hat. "Yes, i cannot believe my sister would hide him from me..and now we will all pay for that mistake." "What do you m-mean pay?.." Fluttershy said looking nervous as usual. "See for yourself." She pointed to the sun. When they walked on the balcony of the keep, all were greeted by the sight of princess celestia's glorious sun, being consumed by a wavy blackness that slowly crept up it. The very sky itself was being darkened by pitch black clouds that formed over the land. "Did he...k-kill her?" Twilight asked luna she was shaking herself. "No he did not, i knew this human as well even with a black heart he would never be able to do so. But he has removed her from equestria some how. What did he say he planned to do?" She turned around looking at twilight. "Something about bringing human warriors back and covering equestria in darkness. could he do that princess luna? A-And is he really unstoppable?" "He has begun one twilight sparkle that must answer the second, and no he is not..we must go to the crystal empire. For there is the crown of light, it is the only thing that could possibly stop him." She said,looking to the stairway as the sound of hoofsteps traveled up to them. "Princess luna! these fillies said something has happened t-" The mare was cut off before she could finish. "I am well aware of what is happening, captain we must gather the guard and move to the crystal empire at once." She said, "And that is an order," The captain nodded and turned around to her troops. "YOU HEARD HER!" she shouted, "MOVE OUT!" The guards rushed out of the stairway to gather their comrade's and prepare to move out, within only a minute of giving the order the whole castle was bustling with activity. "What is this crown of light you speak of?" Twilight asks looking confused. "Ive never heard of it," "Come, i will explain on the way." Luna began walking down the stairs in a calm manner, the others following. "The crown of light is an ancient artifact that was constructed in the third human global conflict, it was an attempt by a small group of humans to stop the very thing that had corrupted the world with his dark ways. Marcus, a child infuriated with humanity." "y'mean to tell me a KID did all that to them humans?" Applejack said as they continued down the stairs. "Indeed, You would expect a human who gains his power from fear to use that as his weapon but no, he does that strictly for his own personal entertainment. He used the weapons humanity had created against themselves." "What kind of damage could a few spears and magic do, seems rather pointless to me" Rarity commented. "Humans had grown far past primitive weapons, they had invented war machines that would tear apart anything in its path, giant bombs that could destroy ponyville with a single use, machines that could fly past the speed of sound. Human modernization led to the most successful sentient species to ever exist on this world." "If they were so successful how did one human destroy them all?" Rainbow said. "He didn't, he used his powers for only awhile. He let his human brethren take care of the rest." "Where are all of the ruins of their cities then princess luna?" twilight asked as they walked out of the stairway and down the hall. "Much of it was destroyed on what the humans called, "Armageddon" The end of the world," "Th-th-the end of the world?.." Fluttershy asked. "Yes, the most powerful of human weapons was used at once, it completely ended the war and the human race in only 45 minutes, Us ponies however with the help of our unicorn friends, and celestia and i's magic managed to survive the blast and even rid the world of the fallout." "fallout?" Twilight asked. "We do not understand much about it, but we cleared out what we could. It took hundreds of years to do so. But in the time we fought against the radiation and the harshness that we bared, celestia and i completed the crown of light and she used it to defeat him. The very crown that gave her control of the sun." "She gained control of the sun because of humans?" Twilight said in shock. "I gained control of the moon for the very same reason, using her now all powerful magic she gave me control of the moon. After we had established that we noticed ponies were very human like in their nature, greedy, rude , hateful, Discord took advantage of that and began his rule of chaos." "Then you discovered the elements of harmony right?" Rainbow said, she then quickly rose into the air to avoid a running guard. "WATCH IT WILL YA?!" "Correct, when we discovered them we introduced them to the world. They wouldn't do this again but when those elements were brought to the world, the love and harmony they spread not only encased discord in stone, but cleansed the world of the destruction that it bared. The world became fresh and reborn, as did the ponies who inhabited it" As luna finished her story she walked outside with the others to see that the sun was now completely dark, as was the sky for now a thick layer of clouds had covered it. The wind blew aggressively to the east, plants were already starting to wilt and die. He was beginning the process of Armageddon once more. The captain of the canterlot royal guard ran up to luna and saluted. "We have 2 trains ready to move out your majesty!" She said in a stern strong voice. "Very good, begin loading the guard and prepare to head for the crystal empire." "At once!" She saluted once more then ran off. "Um princess luna?" twilight said looking up at her. "Yes twilight sparkle?" "Before we go...can you have a guard go to my home and fetch spike for me?" "I will do that for you." > Off to the empire. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight paced back and forth on the platform of the train station, anxiously waiting for spike to be brought to her. "Oh, i hope he is alright..he's probably terrified." She stopped a moments sake and looked to the sky which only 3 hours ago was filled with a beautiful sun, now it was black and riddled with clouds of pure darkness. The wind had not stopped, the plants continued to wilt and quite a few had already completely died. Why did this human want to do this? What would he possibly gain? Fluttershy walks up to twilight. "I-I'm sure he's ok twilight, i just hope my animals will be alright..." She said looking to the ground. "I bet they are just fine." she said reassuringly. As she resumed her pacing back and forth, a royal guard approached accompanied by a small purple baby dragon. "SPIKE!" Twilight ran to him and threw her forelegs around him in a big hug. A hug so tight that it made it difficult for him to even reply. "I-I MISSED YOU TOO TWILIGHT!" He struggled to say. She releases him then gestures to the train, "C'mon spike we have to go." "Where are we going exactly?" He asks looking at the train. "To the crystal empire," She said turning to the train and walking towards it, "Now come on we have to go," He nodded and walked aboard with her and so did the others, they would be riding on a train separate from the guard who would be on a train 10 minutes behind. Finally the doors were shut and the train slowly began to move forward, soon the scenery changed from a darkened canterlot, to the darkened landscape surrounding it. It was a very disturbing sight. "I-I don't like this" Fluttershy said looking out the window, "I dont like the dark.." "Don't worry fluttershy we will get the sun back soon" twilight said reassuringly Princess Luna walked into the car that the girls had decided to reside in the time being, sitting down next to twilight and letting out a depressed sigh. looking at the floor, observing the worn red carpet that it bared. "Something troubling you princess?" Rarity asked noticing her gloom. "I fear that lives will be lost today" She said, not looking up from the floor. "What makes you think that?" Twilight says looking at the princess, her eyes slowly closing and taking a deep breath. "Marcus was once such a sweet boy, he loved and cared about everything..despite his dark gift. But thats not who he is anymore, he is a very violent and dangerous individual. He is going to be at the crystal empire when we arrive thats why i brought the guard." "You're afraid he'll kill the guard..aren't you?" Fluttershy said in a hushed voice. "Precisely, he knows the crown is there. Marcus will do anything to make sure we do not get to it." "This crown of light, what does it do princess?" Twilight said looking interested. "The crown of light is a magical artifact that uses light in its purest form to destroy dark beings." She replied. "But that doesn't explain how it gave princess celestia control of the sun..." "Well light in its purest form is pure sunlight, the crown fused its powers with her to give her control of the sun to which she used to stop marcus, i believe if we use it again we could get rid of his dark powers for good." Luna looked out the window at the darkened landscape that rolled on by. "Why didn't she just do that in the first place?" Applejack said looking pretty confused. "She didn't want to hurt him, they grew up together she doesn't have the heart to hurt him." "Well that turned out for the better," Rarity rolled her eyes. "Aren't you afraid he will get the crown first?" Pinkie pie said, her face practically glued to the window. "If he gets it first that will be very bad, and if he has the crown we cant stop him! and if we cant stop him he will destroy us all! AND IF HE DESTROYS US ALL THAT MEANS! NO. MORE. PARTIES." "He only knows the crown is in the crystal empire, he does not know specifically where." "Uhh..what exactly is going on?" Spike asked. Luna only sighed for now she would have to tell the story all over again... > My little realm > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was quiet, as if all the sounds of the world have ceased to exist. Even in the castle was not this quiet. Celestia's eyelids felt heavy, and she was numb..every single feeling in her body was gone. As her eyes gently began to open, celestia saw a gentle light beneath her. Surrounding her though, was complete darkness. This frightened her, a look of worry and fear seemed to wash over her. Celestia had been in the dark before but never on this magnitude. "Whats the matter, afraid of the dark celestia?" Marks voice was condescending, mocking her if you will. "What is this place?.." She said in a weak, hushed voice. "This my dear friend, is where ive spent my centuries of incarceration. The very place you locked me away in." Mark walked out from the surrounding shadows, arms behind his back with a smug look on his face. "You like it? Lovely place to think about the fact your so called best friend betrayed you." "You left me no choice...you had already destroyed the world of men..and left equestria a barren wasteland. How could you do all those things?" She struggled to get on her hoofs but she was still numb. Mark looked up, placing a hand underneath his chin. this was some form of a human expression for thinking. "If memory serves i corrupted a few powerful leaders and made them launch their super weapons." Kinda cliche but it worked out rather lovely." He giggled a bit, he was truly a being of darkness. Felt nothing but joy from the death and destruction of others. "I don't understand..you use to be the sweetest boy..what happened to you?" Celestia said as she finally managed to stand. "You don't recall? Allow me to refresh your memory." Mark walked around her, his glowing yellow eyes returned to their normal green color. The joyful look he had only seconds ago had been exchanged for one of sadness. "The memory is painful but since you want to know so bad." He took a deep breath. "All those years ago, the day i went...mad. The school day had just concluded, everyday i walked through town. Twas part of my daily routine..but on that day as i walked home, everyone was giving me looks. Like i was some sort of monster, some even began to throw fruit and other objects at me. So i ran, i ran off trying to avoid this unprovoked act of aggression. I ran all the way home and what did i find? The police, arresting my parents..i didn't know what was going on. But before my very eyes...th-" He choked up a second, growing emotional in recollection. "They killed them before my very eyes...for what we were." Celestia did remember this day, she remembered it all too well. It was called "The Great Cleansing," A religious act of aggression that deemed mutants to be "unholy creatures," The results were not pretty, thousands of humans died that day, police, innocent civilians and mutants alike. Retaliation of this act was very brutal and the cleansing was of course unsuccessful and started a inter-species war. The war that would soon result in the end of humanity itself. "The cleansing.." she said to herself silently. "Is that why you did what you did?" "Why do you say it like I was the only one who did it?" Her eyes only widened, "You weren't alone?.." "No i wasn't, and i wont be after i accomplish the task ahead." Mark wiped away a single tear away. "What do you mean?.." Celestia paused for a second. "Mark you, you aren't planning to do what i think you're planning are you?.." Mark simply turned her, one word was all he needed for an answer. "Yeah," "Mark, sweetie i am BEGGING you to not resurrect anything." "Well beg all you want, im bringing back what was taken from me." "Not even i can bring back the dead, what makes you think you can?.." She slowly walked towards him. "I can't" Mark turned around, looking at celestia with a smile. "But the crown can!" "Bringing back your kind wont resolve anything!" She stomps her hoof. "I don't want to bring back my kind, i want to bring my parents back.." Celestia froze, this is not what she was expecting at all. She was expecting mark to do something chaotic and destructive. Not something..reasonable, his whole life was flipped upside down in only a day. Everything he ever loved was taken away, all because he was different. Well because THEY were different, the mutant race. "That's all you want?.." "Celestia the rage i unleashed on the world was not me being evil..what you saw was a child in pain. And you locked me away for it." His bottom lip began to quiver, eyes watering. This only made the princesses heart sink, she punished him for grieving the loss of his parents. "W-Well, it was a little extreme don't you think?" "You know me" Mark shrugged, he seemed far more calm and less dark then before. "Always had a bit of a temper." "Yeah, you always did." She looked at her surroundings. "Why am i here?" "I figured you would just try to lock me back up, l-look i said what i said cause i wanted to scare you. I didn't wipe out humans for you, i wasn't even alone in that. All mutants were lashing out, all i did was spread lies and corrupt." "But you survived the weapons, how is that possible? Even the equestrian race was almost wiped out." "With all that fear in the world i was practically invincible for the time being..But that's besides the point. I'll let you out of here as soon as i complete my task." Mark turned around, slowly walking away but just before he could. "WAIT" Celestia shouted, her hoof extended forward once more. "Let me help you, im sorry i locked you away. Let me help you. Please?" Mark was truly surprised for he thought celestia still objected to the very thought, but he knew that look in her eyes better then anyone. She sincerely wanted to help, mark couldn't hold back the joy he was feeling. Throwing his arms around celestia who was just a bit taller then him he hugged her for the first time in centuries. Princess Celestia slowly hugged back in her own manor. "Im so sorry for what i did.." Mark said finally, it was all she ever wanted to hear him say.