When a father is denied the only thing that keeps him sane, he decides to take matters into his own hooves. When cloudsdale falls, will he succeed in his crusade, or will an unlikely group of heroes end the madness?
Taking place long after the thrilling conclusion of season 3. This story follows the coup of cloudsdale, as an unknown progressionist group, known only as SHIELD, takes over cloudsdale with the intent of delivering advances in modern technology and science previously unheard of. Follow the tale of the Hangmare test, as only the strongest are allowed life in this Celestia-forsaken land.
Rainbow Dash had just finished her day's work as manager of the Cloudsdale weather facilities. She had a lot going on in her life right now, what with the inspection coming up soon, and those freaky letters she kept getting. They all said the same thing, just in different ways, "watch your back". That wasn't the freaky part, the freaky part was that at the end of every letter instead of a signature, there was a picture of a shield.
She decided to fly around, just to clear her thoughts and calm down. She didn't have a destination in mind, she just wanted to relax and forget how stressful the last couple of weeks had been. She stopped at the park and enjoyed the view. It was perfect, really; above her were the dazzling stars in there cosmic beauty, below her was Equestria, in its full nighttime glory. Little lights dotted the country as they grew steadily more clustered the closer to the cities she looked. The cities themselves were the definition of beauty. Tall, amazing, larger than life skyscrapers shone brilliantly as the lights of the other buildings reflected off them.
Scoots would've loved this... Rainbow thought to herself. Then again, she was probably off somewhere with Rumble, she noted, an amused smirk slowly forming, Or maybe she was at home, taking care of her little colt... Man, had time flown, it seemed like just days ago she was trapped in Fluttershy's cottage about to be eaten by a bunch of furballs.
Days that had turned to years...
As much as she hated to admit it, she was getting up there in the age department, and although out of all her friends (well, maybe except for Pinkie) she still had the most youthful energy, it was starting to show. Sweet Celestia, the little filly that had idolized her already had a child of her own! That's not such a bad thing, she thought to herself, taking note of the grayish tint, her once vivid mane had taken to, at least I know that Equestria is gonna be in good hands... She smiled, as she slowly took in the scenery, thinking back to all the great times she and her friends had shared. It was almost a dream...
Almost...
"Hi there!" Rainbow turned and saw a neon green Pegasus looking at her with a large smile on his face. He had an even brighter shade of green mane with neon blue streaks. "My name's Novaglow." He said, the smile never leaving his face. "uh, hi... I'm-" Began Rainbow. "Oh I know perfectly well who you are!" he said, interrupting her mid sentence. "You do?" Rainbow replied, unsure of whether to be amused, afraid, or honored... "Yeah. You're Rainbow Dash! The element of Loyalty!" Continued Novaglow. Oh, thought Rainbow just another fanboy... "Yeah, that's me." She said, doing her best to fake a smile. "Yeah we've been keeping track of your awesomeness for awhile now..." Said Nova. Whoawhoawhoa... thought Rainbow, red lights going off in her head. "Yeah, and you know what we found?" Continued Novaglow. Rainbow was afraid to ask. "Ambition, in everything you did, you strove to be the best and then some, that's an attitude we could really use." Before she could respond he gave her a business card. "Don't worry about contacting us, we'll come find you." Wait, what was that? thought Rainbow, Did he just hide a smile? "Bye bye." He said, in an almost playful way, before taking off into the night. "Novaglow, huh?" Rainbow muttered to herself. She looked at the card and felt her blood run cold. There were no letters, no names, none of those dumb slogans. Instead, right in the center of the card, was a picture of a shield.
Rainbow stared numbly at the card. No way... she thought to herself, this can't be happening. She suddenly didn't feel very safe flying around alone this late at night. She kept feeling the looks of eyes that weren't there, studying her, waiting to strike. After what seemed like an eternity, she finally flew into her cloud home and quickly shut the door behind her. She quickly went to her bathroom, opened the cabinet, and took a pill. She then went into her room and, with the help of the pills, fell into a light sleep. This is your home, no one can hurt you in it, this is your home, no one can hurt you in it... she kept thinking. It was a minor comfort, but every bit helped.
She heard a noise in the dark.
As she groggily rose from her bed, reminding herself to remember to take off Tank's propeller before she fell asleep next time, she heard another bang. She snapped back to reality, muscles tensing, ready to combat any invader, she silently crept towards the sounds. As she passed her living room, something caught her eye, she wasn't sure if she imagined it, but she could've sworn she saw something silently moving in the dark. She readied herself for whatever was about to happen.
She leapt into the room, switched on the light, and turned to face any trespassers in a single, fluid motion. She scanned the room and relaxed. "See?" she told herself through shaky breaths, "It's nothing." She was about to leave the room when she felt something slam into her side, throwing her to the floor and knocking the wind out of her. She looked up in horror as two pegasi dressed in all black grabbed her by her forelegs and held her up so she has facing the hall. She saw a neon green pegasus slowly walk out of the shadows. "You!" she said, finally catching her breath. "Me." replied the stallion, with that same damn smile on his face from the last time they spoke. "I take it these are your 'friends?' " "A few." "What do you want?" "Well it's not what I want..." said the stallion, his voice trailing off. "It's what I want." Corrected a large black Stallion. She took a good look at him, he was pitch black, wearing a white mask that didn't allow a good view of his eyes and a single smile painted on in... blood? He had a neon red and blue tail, she wasn't sure about his mane as the mask didn't betray that feature either. His wings are what caught her eyes. They weren't normal Pegasus wings, they were metallic, being kept to his body by a mechanism that appeared surgically attached. He noticed her staring at his wings and gave a wicked grin that could scare off his own mother, if anypony could see the grin, that is. "You know, it's not polite to stare." He said. "Well it's not very polite to sneak into someone's home and knock the wind out of them." She replied. "Touché" "Back to my earlier question, what do you want?" "Easy, I want you out of the picture so that my plans can succeed." "Plans?" "Well you're rather chatty." There little exchange was interrupted by a voice coming from a box on the stallion's chest. "Workshop is ready." said the voice. "Thank you," replied the stallion, "dismissed." "Workshop?" asked Rainbow. "You'll see." said the stallion, steadily advancing towards her. "Whoa, what are y-" her sentence was interrupted by a devastating blow from the stallion, followed by darkness.
Novaglow stood over Rainbow Dash as she lay chained to the table, asleep. "Kidnapping an Element of Harmony," he mumbled to himself, "How did we get to this point?"
He stood there, silently contemplating just where along the road had his best friend since foalhood had finally snapped. He thought back to when they had first met, that fateful day... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Novaglow was new to Cloudsdale, recently moving there from Las Pegasus. It was lunchtime, and he was looking for a place to sit, he saw little groups of friends sitting at each table, talking and laughing as they ate. As he scanned the lunchroom, he saw a table with no one sitting at it except for a rather built black colt with a neon red and blue mane and tail. As he walked to the near-vacant table, he noticed the entire lunchroom had gone silent. Weird, he thought. As he drew closer the silence was soon broken by a lone whisper "Is he crazy?" which was soon followed by many others. "He must be if he wants to sit next to..." "Shhhhhhhh! Don't let him hear you!" "What would make him think that's a good idea?" It made him feel uncomfortable. Once he finally reached the table, the entire lunchroom had gone silent again. "Uh... hello?" he cautiously said to the lone colt. "My name's-" he was cut off by the colt promptly rising to his hooves, "Name's Facade." He said, then walked away as if nothing had happened.
The rest of the day passed by in a blur. Everypony was excited to hear everything about what had happened in the lunchroom. It's almost as if they weren't there... Nova thought to himself with an amused smirk. What he didn't know was that far away from the crowd stood a lone, black colt, with a neon colored man and tail, wishing him good luck with a sad smile on his face.
Days later, after getting a taste of the popular life, Nova decided that it wasn't for him. That day, he decided to keep walking once he reached his normal table with all his "friends" sitting at it. It's not like they'll miss me, he thought to himself, To them I'm just a story teller. No, he kept walking till he reached the lone black colt with the neon mane and tail. "Hey, Facade." He said with a cheerful smile. No response. "Hey, Facade, it's me. Novaglow?" He asked quizzically. Still no response. Whatever, he thought. He sat down opposite his "old friend" and they ate in silence. Later that day, his "friends" decided they weren't very happy with his choice of seating at lunchtime. As he was leaving school, they stopped him. "Hey buddy," one of them, said, he took a good look at the young pegasi, he was a dark gray, with a navy blue mane and tail, must be my replacement, he thought with an amused grin, "missed you at lunch today." They started advancing towards him. "when we saw you walking towards us we were ready and welcoming, but you didn't stop, you left us hangin', left us for that... that FREAK!" He spat out the last word like it was an ancient Romari curse. "He's not a freak!" Shouted Nova in reply, amazed by his quickness to defend the colt that so callously brushed him off. "Hmph." was all the colt said in response. After a tense silence, the colt broke the silence, "So, that's how it's gonna be... Wish I could say I regret doing this, but Mom said to never lie." He finished that sentence with a wicked grin, as him and his troop started increasing their speed as they walked towards him. "I guess it is." Nova said quietly with a grin. As the first pegasi charged him he calmly span around him, delivering a buck to the back of the colt, sending him sprawling. Another came, this one being a better fighter, and began throwing hooves. Nova blocked every single one with surprising speed and grace and returned the favor, slowly driving the young colt back as he delivered blow after blow. He was caught off-guard as another pegasi slammed into his side, knocking him to the floor and slightly dazing him. He raised his hooves in a way that covered his face along with some of his body and waited for the hits that never came. Confused, he shook off the dizziness and got back up, quickly scanning the scene to find two colts laying on the ground and a large black mass fighting back the others. "You!" the dark gray colt yelled. The black colt didn't reply as he continued fighting. Nova noted his unique style, whenever he was up against a single pegasi he took to the skies, using his rather large wingspan to pick up speed and deliver devastating blows that none of the young pegasi could shake off, yet when he was fighting multiple enemies he seemed to zone out, simply singling out a target and focusing on him while delivering powerful strikes to anypony who dared close the distance to try to interfere. it wasn't long before Nova was back on his feet and teaching his own class at the school of pain. The fight lasted about five minutes, but seemed to be over in an instant. He couldn't tell what his savior was thinking, but he knew it was the best fight he had had in ages. As he caught his breath the black pegasi turned around and extended his hoof in a sign of friendship. "Nice fighting Nova," he said with a smirk, "almost as good as mine." He said, clearly joking. "Yeah," replied Nova, also with a smirk, "well we'll just have to go at it ourselves." The black colt erupted in laughter "HAHAHAHAHA, oh my Celestia! I think we're gonna get along just fine." "I sure hope so, Facade" The colt looked shocked to hear his name spoken. "But-" "I never forget the name of a friend." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nova smiled, as he thought back to all the crazy antics they had been through together. That wasn't it... thought Nova, He was perfectly fine when we first met... so what was it? When did his friend break? He slowly thought through all the time they spent, inseparable since that fateful day. His blood ran cold as he stumbled upon the answer. No, he thought to himself, sweet Celestia I hope I'm wrong. But he knew he wasn't...
It was long after the accident...
Nova and Facade had been testing the new technology for several months. Some were successful, others were not, and so they both continued working until they made all of them a success. Nova was testing electricity on a machine designed by Facade by using a storm cloud the size of a pillow. Facade was busy sleeping on a nearby couch, exhausted from working all night, and giving a small snore occasionally. Nova ignored him; he was busy trying to shock the machine with lightning to see if it would start working. Nova pounded on the top of the cloud with his hoof to see if anything would happen, but received no results. He punched the cloud straight forward, again getting nothing out of it. What’s the matter with this thing? He thought. Nova gave the cloud a couple of more punches in various locations of the small cloud, each time nothing came out. Why isn't this thing working?! Nova thought, slightly enraged. Nova raised his front hooves above his head and brought them downward onto the cloud, knocking it out of its suspension in midair and onto the machine. The cloud suddenly gave a few sparks as it enshrouded the machine, powering it up. The machine grew to life as many lights and sounds came off of it, making a marvelous light show right in front of Novaglow’s eyes.“Facade!” He said excitedly, dashing over to the couch and shaking his friend back and forth. “Facade! Wake up! You’ll never believe this! I got your machine working!” Facade yawned and rubbed his eyes with his hooves, and Nova ceased shaking his friend immediately. “What? What’s going on?” Facade said as he sat up, looking around for the source of the commotion. “I got your machine working!” Novaglow repeated. Facade’s eyes widened. “You really did?!” He said with excitement in his no-longer-tired voice. Nova nodded with a smile. “Look behind you,” he said, pointing over Facade’s shoulder. Facade obeyed and spun around, gasping at the sight of the noisy, glowing machine
Facade was so excited to finally have some progress, "We have to tell somepony!" He exclaimed. "But who?" countered Nova. "Hmmmmmmmmmmm..." said Facade, clearly in deep thought. "I got it!" he announced. "Who?" asked Nova. "Just follow me."
And follow he did. All the way to Canterlot. "Oh, I see..." Said Nova, "You want to get some of the wealthier people to invest in us, smart." "Not exactly," replied Facade, his smile growing wider and wider. After a short flight they landed on the princess' balcony. "Whoa wait!" Exclaimed Nova, who quickly lowered his voice. "What the hay are we doing on the princess' balcony!?!" "It's okay, it's okay," said Facade, "I got us audience with them." He explained in a calm tone. "Just... let me do the talking okay?" He continued, obviously suppressing a laugh. They walked in to the throne room, each taking a generous bow. "Ah, Facade!" Said Celestia, "And how was your journey?" "Nothing we couldn't handle" he replied, never showing a hint of stress in his voice. Wow, thought Novaglow, I never realized how fitting his name was... "So..." continued Facade, "Where's princess Luna?" "Please, no need for the formalities. We can't thank you enough for everything you've done." "It's always a pleasure." "So, you said you had a 'breakthrough' to show me?" "Yes mam, right here as a matter of fact..." He took the small machine from his saddlebag, followed by a small storm cloud, which he referred to as a "charger". He place the machine on the floor and asked that the drapes be closed, as to block out any light. The princess was more than happy to oblige. Careful, as to make sure he was, in fact, aiming for the machine, Facade carefully placed a single strike on the storm cloud, which cause a bolt of lightning to flash, striking the object and causing it to illuminate for a few minutes before dying out. The princess watched in awe as the drapes were opened and Facade explained that what she had seen was a "Light Orb" as he called it... "...And that's the basic structure and function of the Light Orb." He finished. The princess looked solemn as she thought carefully about his words. "Facade..." she began. "Yes princess?"He replied, his eyes betraying the storm of emotions brewing behind that hopeful smile. "This is a remarkable invention of yours..." "Yes?" "And I could see how it would help life in Equestria..." "Yes?" His eyes showing more and more... "But, I'm afraid that Equestria is not quite ready for such a step forward..." For a second, Facade's eyes showed a sad mixture of pain, regret, guilt, and what scared Nova the most, anger. It was gone as quickly as it appeared, but Nova knew his friend for a long time, and learned to see past the.. well, the facade that his friend constantly had. "Ok, that's perfectly understandable.... thank you for your time." He bowed briefly and quickly gathered up the cloud and his orb, then quickly trotted to the balcony. "Wait! Are you sure you don't want anything before you go?" Asked the princess. "No, it's fine. Come along Nova." he said before quickly taking off, his metal wings propelling him forward faster than Nova had ever seen. What he didn't hear, what nopony heard was the message of hurt and betrayal Facade muttered under his breath. When Nova finally caught up, he quickly tried to get his friend to console in his feelings. "Just you wait," He heard his friend murmur, unsure if the message was meant for him, "I'll go up against the wrath of Celestia herself if it means keeping my promise..." Then he was gone, zooming far ahead, trying to get to his home as fast as possible... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Nova." He heard a familiar voice from behind him. he turned and saw his old friend walking up to him. "I want you to have this," he said, laying his mask on the floor in front of Nova. "For good luck." He didn't know what to say, his friend was parting with one of the most sentimental things they had created. "Thanks." Was all he could muster. "It's almost time to start, ready the troops." Said Facade. Nova nodded and picked up the mask, then exited the room. "And remember!" He heard Facade's voice ring down the hall, "I'm gonna be keeping an eye on everything that happens! I'll make sure you come back! Even if I have to face the wrath of Celestia herself!" Nova shuddered as his friend spoke those last words
"...And that's our plan of attack," Said Novaglow, "Okay, recap. Storm Splitter!" "Sir!" A Navy Blue Pegasus with a gray mane called out."My team is to cover the Northwest sector of Cloudsdale. Priority targets are the Zeus estates and flight school." "Excellent." Replied Nova. "Whirlwind!" "Sir!" A green pegasus mare with a purple mane stepped forward, "My team is to cover the Southwest sector of Cloudsdale. Priority target is the Weather Facility." "Good." Said Nova, with an acknowledging nod. "Whiplash!" "Sir!" A gray pegasus stepped forward. "My team has the Northeast sector of Cloudsdale. Priority targets are the park, the hospital, and the suburbs." "Well done." Said Nova. "Starbolt!" "Sir!" A yellow pegasus with a navy blue mane called out. "My team has southeast sector of Cloudsdale. Priority targets are the apartment complexes." "Nice and easy." replied Nova with a smirk and a punch to Starbolt's arm. "Alright! so now that you have your assignments, go to the briefing room for the specifics!" As the room cleared out one pegasus remained. "Nova..." A large black pegasus with a neon read and blue mane stepped forward. He immediately recognized the pegasus as his best friend, Facade. "What's up hard wing?" Nova replied with a smile. "I was thinking..." "Well that's a first." This earned a grunt of annoyance from the pegasus. "Hey big guy, what's bugging you?" "When I went home yesterday... I did a lot of thinking... about our little crusade, what we're about to do... I thought about her... about my promise..." "Hey... listen," interrupted Nova, not liking where this was going, "what was it that you always told me about leaving ponies alone with their thoughts? That it was the worst thing you could do to them, that there was no greater poison than a solitary mind. Who cares if we're about to raise Tartarus? What happened to that pony that said that he'd be willing to face the wrath of Celestia herself for our vision? When was he replaced by this overgrown marshmallow in front of me?" "Marshmallows are white." Said the pegasus, a smile slowly forming on his face. "Well then you're a chocolate marshmallow." Replied Nova with a huge grin on his face. "All right, all right. I get it, I just hit a rough patch is all." "Good, now let's go brief the task force." "Actually... you go on ahead. There's something I need to take care of first." Nova looked at him, checking to see if he had simply out on another brave face or if he really had business to take care of. "All right..." he said after a brief silence. "Just do me a favor." "Anything." "While the teams are setting up the blast spheres, try and see if you can covert the pegasi peacefully?" Nova was silent again. "...You got it." he said, relieved to see a change in heart in his friend. Maybe he's realizing that this isn't the best road to go down... _____________________________________________________________________________________
Facade was flying to visit an old friend. He did some final checks as to make sure his armor was functioning properly. It's not armor. He mentally scolded himself for making the very same mistake he had corrected countless others on. Whilst it did serve to protect him, it was only a mere chest plate with some armor on the back. The real defense came from within the metal casing. He had a solution to any problem that could arise during his... rendezvous.
As he neared his destination, he went over his mental checklist. Everything had to be perfect. After all, it wasn't every day you crashed a meeting of all the princesses in the land. He was now entering Canterlot, he looked to make sure everything was properly prepared, taking another mental note to give whoever ran the Canterlot SHIELD division a commendation for their exceptional services to the cause. He circled the castle, waiting. Finally he spotted some ponies making a scene at the gates of the castle. He saw some guards go try to usher them away before getting knocked out. Perfect, he thought as he saw plenty of guards rushing to the scene. Let's do this! _____________________________________________________________________________________
Princess Celestia had pulled Princess Twilight aside. "Now, my faithful student, it appears that Luna is beginning to make a coup on your kingdom." Twilight gasped, "B-but, that's impossible, she's played such a vital role in my expansion!" "I know how betrayal hurts, why do you think I wish to save you from its clutches?" "I don't know... Why don't we go check the board so you can help me get a better understanding of my situation?" "But of course." As they walked to the game board Celestia noticed Luna shooting her a piercing glare while she continued to negotiate with Cadence. It's called Diplomacy for a reason dear sister. Princess Celestia thought to herself as she began explaining everything Luna could do to usurp Twilight's throne, non of which Luna actually planned on doing. If you want her, you're gonna have to be a better speaker than I. Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud voice, "Well hello, Old friend!" _____________________________________________________________________________________
As Facade entered through the balcony unnoticed, he observed the scene before him. he saw Princess Luna and cadence chatting in one corner of the throne room, Whilst Shining Armor had pulled what he assumed was a member of the royal guard aside. He spotted his target taking Princess Twilight to the table in the center of the throne room. He gave one last check of his mental checklist before calling out to his target, "Well hello, Old friend." he emphasized the last words. "Facade!" exclaimed Celestia, "What is the meaning of this intrusion?" He gave her a hurt look, "What? can I not visit one of my dearest friends?" Again, he emphasized the last words. "But of course." Said Celestia, clearly taken aback by his choice of words. "But why enter without prior warning?" Oh you haven't seen nothing yet. He bit his tongue, instead choosing to simply ask the princesses to follow him onto the balcony. He turned Shining Armor and the blue-maned pony, "You two can go stand guard outside the door, make sure no one decides to interfere." Shining was about to object, but he was stopped by Twilight and Cadence who both ushered him and the blue maned pegasus, who they referred to as a "Flash Sentry", out the door.
He waited on the balcony, along with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. After a brief, and rather loud, argument the two princesses took their position next to Celestia an Luna. Facade shot Twilight an amused glance, "Nice use of the voice, by the way." Twilight blushed, she hadn't meant for it to come out, it just sort of did. "Anyways..." He continued. " I came today as the bearer of bad news." "Why, old friend?" Celestia inquired. Luna simply stared at him, observing every move he made, every word he spoke, all the while taking careful mental notes. "I need you to relinquish jurisdiction over Cloudsdale." Celestia, Luna, and Cadence all gave a collective gasp.
Twilight watched in wonder and embarrassment as her "good use of the voice" was put to shame by her mentor and her sister. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?!?!" Celestia began. "HAST THOU COMPLETELY LOST THY COMMON SENSE!?!?! WHAT WOULD POSSESS THEE TO THINK SUCH A DEMAND WOULD BE MET WITHOUT A FUSS!?!?!" Luna continued. Twilight stared at the pegasus, fully expecting him to back down immediately, but was met with a stunning surprise. "IF YOU WERE TO BOTH HOLD THY TONGUES FOR A MOMENT MAYBE I COULD EXPLAIN MYSELF AND SHOW YOU WHY I MAKE THIS DEMAND!!!!!!!!" Both princesses stared in wonder as the lone pegasus' voice boomed to surpass both of theirs. "Now..." he continued, "May I please get a word in?"
"First of all, allow me to apologize for my previous outburst." He said. Celestia and Luna simply nodded, whilst Cadence, who had silently been observing the scene unfold, walked up to him and delivered a blow across his face. The other princesses gasped and Twilight cried out "Cadence!" Facade merely laughed and said "Yeah... guess I kinda deserved that one. and from the Princess of love nonetheless." He quickly regained his composure and began, "Now, I wasn't making a demand before. I was simply asking for a favor, that we may not escalate to blows." He shot an amused look at Cadence that was met with a look of anger and disgust. "But now that I think about it, yes, it is a demand. You will relinquish jurisdiction over Cloudsdale." "And why would we do such a thing?" Celestia countered. Facade slowly opened his artificial wing, creating a long, metallic screech that was the equivalent of many blades rubbing against one another, revealing a small metal box with a red button on top that he carefully placed on the floor and slid over to Celestia.
"What is this?" Asked Celestia. "It's called a trigger, push the red button on top." He instructed. "What does it do?" She asked, unsure of whether to push the button or not. There was a tense silence, which was broken by the black pegasus, "Do you remember the last time I came, that fateful day?" "yes I believe so." was the princess' reply. "Do you remember the haste in which I left?" "But of course, you didn't even stay for tea." "D you remember how I lost my wings?" The princess was beginning to look uncomfortable. "Y-yes... you lost them protecting somepony from a raging inferno..." Her voice trailed off. Facade was doing everything in his power to keep back a smile, he was winning and he knew it. "And do you remember why I had to save that somepony?" The princess was silent but you could feel the emotion radiating off her. Facade pressed on. "These wings were of my design, made strictly for combat purposes, you heard, even opening them causes a metal shriek meant to pierce one's ears. After they were successfully inserted and were completely functional, I felt like I could take on the world! That I had truly accomplished something. I wanted to make life easier for everypony," he had to hold back his laughter at the obvious lie, "so please, consider this box a gift to you, from me. Think of it as a sign of what pony-kind can create, what we're truly capable of." Celestia gave her old friend a warm smile as she gingerly lowered her hoof onto the "trigger". It was cool to the touch and clicked as she slowly pushed it down. After a tense couple of seconds she let out a shaky breath. Then all Tartarus broke loose.
The princesses watched in horror as there was a series of deafening booms, followed by massive fireballs erupting across the city. They watched as everypony panicked, running to the first destination to enter their minds. They saw lifeless bodies litter the streets as more and more casualties were caused by the stampeding groups of frightened citizens. They saw survivors trying to escape, missing limbs, skin melted off all along their bodies, only to be trampled by large crowds. Shining Armor entered the throne room, "You're highnesses!" He called. "Send all the guard out to restore order and aid the wounded! Hurry!" Celestia called, paralyzed by what she saw. "Now," said Facade, "about my demands..."
"Unless you hand over Cloudsdale, this city will burn and many others will share its fate." "You won't get away with this..." "Oh? And why not?" Celestia ignored his question and turned to Twilight. She saw the horror and depression hidden deep in the mind of the Sun Goddess, "Twilight, call your friends over. Tell them to bring their elements." Facade couldn't help but laugh at the suggestion. "You mean you don't now? I guess your 'most faithful' student doesn't have a similar trust in you..." He said with a smirk. Celestia looked in confusion and asked Twilight, "What does he mean?" Twilight couldn't meet her mentor's gaze, "W-we haven't seen her in a couple of days... We all as-assumed that she had a lot of work to do..." Her voice broke as she began to tear up. "I'm so, so sorry Princess..." She looked up at her mentor fully expecting to find hatred or disgust in her eyes but was met with a calm, understanding compassion. "It's perfectly fine my student, if you didn't deem it worthy of my ears then there's nothing I say..." Facade couldn't contain his laughter any longer.
"Ohh Celestia, you're so predictable. Sister turns evil? Send in the elements. Ancient enemy beaks out of his stone imprisonment? Now where'd those elements go? Changeling invasion? Go get the elements as fast as you can! Old dictator returns from the grave to reclaim his crystal empire? Technically it's not within my jurisdiction but why the Tartarus not? Go round up the elements." He began taunting. "Oh Celestia, your reliance on the elements to clean up messes you know you couldn't fix on your own power has led to your downfall." Tears began forming in the eyes of the Sun Goddess. "Well I've made sure the elements can't be used this time around. And quite frankly, go ahead and intervene your majesty, I dare you-" His words were cut short by a bright purple aura surrounding him, pressing his wings to his body and suspending him mid air. He was turned to see an enraged Twilight. "What... did... you... do?" she asked, in a calm voice. He smiled, time to have some fun... "I'm sorry, what?" "I said... What... Did... You... DO!?!" The last word erupted with a maelstrom of emotion. "Well, I'd like to think I just came one step closer to making my plans succeed, but I guess that's up to the 'all mighty' princess of emotion over there." He motioned to princess Celestia, who was still paralyzed to the spot, a few tears flowing as she watched the carnage, unable to look away. He felt a rush of wind and was slammed against a palace wall. Twilight then brought him back to her till they were face to face. "I meant, what did you do to Rainbow Dash?" "That's for me to know and for you to find out." he said, making the best foal accent he could, he finished by sticking his tongue out. He felt another rush of air and decided he didn't feel like getting concussed today. He threw open his wings, the mental strain of the sudden exertion of force causing Twilight to lose focus which allowed him to escape. He was quickly grabbed by another wave of telekinetic power and brought to Cadence. Tsk, this is starting to get annoying. He thought to himself. As Cadence was about to question him a light on his chest plate briefly glowed, followed by the cyan aura around him shattering and cadence flying back, crying out in pain. "You can look but you can't touch, darling." He said, using his best Rarity accent. "Now, as fun as this little get together has been, none of what has transpired today is to be known by the citizens of Cloudsdale. Any ponies attempting to sneak in will be painfully tortured, then executed. Regardless of their intentions."
"You monster..."
He turned and faced the source of the voice. It was Luna, the only princess who hadn't tried to take a swing at him. He flew up to her, taking note of the horror in her eyes, and began, "Monster? MONSTER? Do you know the things your sister has done!?! the atrocities she's committed? All I'm doing is trying to make Equestria a better place! Better for me! Better for you! Better for-" His words were stopped as he choked back a wave of emotion. And for the first time, she saw him for what he truly was. She looked into his eyes and saw not joy for what he had done, nor did she see any malice behind his actions. She only saw fear, uncertainty, hurt, and a feeling of betrayal. She saw not a monster, but a pegasus willing to do anything for the one pony in his life that brought him joy, that he truly loved at all. She saw a broken father.
