> Darkening of Equestria
>  by DeejayShuffle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Thousands of years ago--
The air was stuffy, filled with smoke and the sharp scent of blood. Hundreds of Celestia’s soldiers had died here; and the tyrant who killed them cared nothing for them at all. That tyrant was Dracarthus, the ruthless stallion who had started this conflict. He had emerged from parts unknown with a massive army of his minions, bent on destroying Equestria. He started by destroying the Crystal Empire in quick and brutal fashion, taking the entire Empire by surprise, and conquering with only a few minor scuffles. Rumor had it that he had since left the Empire however, and left one of his most powerful underlings to watch over it. Despite all her efforts though, his motives for attacking were still unclear. Celestia’s forces eventually set up a front line on the border of the Crystal Empire to contain Dracarthus, but the army needed frequent help from Celestia and Luna when key points on the front lines were being attacked. His forces attacked without pity nor mercy. To him, warriors were not valiant stallions who fought and died for their nation, they were merely impudent obstacles to his conquest. This state of mind disgusted Celestia, but she also slightly admired it. After all, she would not be here repelling his forces if this way of thinking did not work.

She shifted her focus back to her current task; locating and destroying Dracarthus's forces in the area, before they captured this battle line. Suddenly, something appeared to move in the haze ahead of them. Celestia was alert, but far from panicked at this; she did however draw her large battle sword in case whatever was moving out there decided to strike first.

Celestia began to move deeper into the haze and smoke; but much to her regret because as soon as she did, one of Dracarthus's shadow warriors leaped out of the gloom in an attempt to take her by surprise. Celestia immediately whipped around and swung her sword to deflect the incoming blow. This foolish soldier had no idea who he was toying with. The two fighters exchanged blocks and lunges, but Celestia finished the amateur with a simple fake out. She thrust her sword into his gut, and watched as he dissolved into a blood-like ink before her.

Dracarthus's dark magic was admirable, he had an eye for detail; and his soldiers were well trained. They were nothing compared to Celestia’s skill and lethality though. 

“There’s bound to be more where that one came from!” A visibly nervous soldier exclaimed.

“These warriors are resourceful and well trained, keep your guard up,” Celestia said, as calm and tactful as ever.

“Of course your highness.” The soldier nodded to her in confirmation.

A deep, foreboding voice rang out from the smoke, “So, one of the spineless rulers of this pitiful nation has come to aid her troops?”

Celestia sharply inhaled, and her eyes grew wide. That voice only belonged to one pony, Dracarthus himself. Questions and fear whirled around in her mind. Why had Dracarthus finally shown up on the front lines again? What forces had he brought with him? She couldn’t be sure, but she had to be brave, or Dracarthus might prey upon such weakness.

She put on a brave face, and gritted her teeth. She was not fond of being insulted. “I am far more than a ruler and diplomat Dracarthus!”

Dracarthus chuckled. “Then prove it to me.”

In an instant, five of Dracarthus's elite shadow warriors emerged from the smoke, and poised themselves for battle.

“This is how a mighty all-consuming tyrant slays his enemies? By sending his underlings?” Celestia asked in a taunting voice.

Dracarthus growled in hate. “Miserable cow! Your pride will be your hubris! If you are so capable, then I will finish you myself!”

This was why he was here. Dracarthus had come to finish her. She was confident that she could win this fight. After all, now she had him right under her hoof. “Reveal yourself, Dracarthus!”

The smoke parted, and standing across from Celestia was the tyrant himself. He was clad in full polished obsidian battle armor which made his long and sharp horn stand out. His coat was a deep gray, and his mane and tail were a mystifying dark purple that rippled on its own. Despite his large frame, he seemed oddly thin for a stallion of his size; something Celestia took note of.

Dracarthus bared his razor sharp teeth. “Your move, princess.”

Celestia knew this taunt was meant to lure her into a state of rage, but she was smarter than that. She barreled at Dracarthus and raised her sword. 

Dracarthus grinned; she had taken the bait, and now he would end her quickly. Celestia appeared to come down for a strike, and Dracarthus prepared to block. At the last second however, she faked him out and bucked his side. Dracarthus grunted and stumbled backward, but he was still very capable of fighting her. He blocked multiple blows from her as he regained his balance, and once he was on his hooves again, he increased the ferocity of his attacks. The two titans exchanges strike after strike, blow after blow, for what seemed to be eons.

Celestia was worn thin. Bruised and bloodied, she thrusted him back with a massive magical shockwave and then shouted, “We are at an impasse Dracarthus, and you appear to be physically weaker than most. I can hold out longer! Concede and end this fight!”

Dracarthus was the more battered of the two. He was covered in cuts and blood, and his breathing had become wheezy and erratic. “You have a good eye for personal weakness, Celestia. I tire of this fight, but no matter the cost, I will kill you.”

Celestia frowned. “So be it.”

She galloped towards a weakened Dracarthus and swung her sword at him. He jumped to deflect the blow, but the damage had already been done. The sword came down on his right eye piercing its soft outer tissue. He bellowed in pain and blew Celestia back with a massive magical beam.

Dracarthus screamed in pain and shouted at Celestia, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!”

Celestia grinned. “What have I done? I have won this fight.”

Celestia’s horn lit up, and she used all of her magical power to cast a spell upon her sword. With so much power all concentrated in one place, Celestia’s eyes began to blaze with magical power, and the blade of her sword turned to flame. Bringing her sword down on the heart of Dracarthus, she impaled him; and the magic in the sword began to dissolve his body piece by piece. 

Dracarthus let out a scream and uttered, “THIS IS NOT MY FINAL GRAVE!”

With his last words uttered, the final bits of Dracarthus's body were dissolved.

Celestia let out a long sigh. “That finishes it. Soldiers!”

There was nothing but smoke and silence around her. Celestia let out a heavy sigh. How foolish of her to forget! Those shadow knights had to have gone somewhere. How dishonorable of Dracarthus to have his minions slay her soldiers while she was fighting him! At the very least, she hoped they would be the final casualties of this war. She spread her wings and took to the sky desperately needing a medic to tend to her wounds.

After a short but painful flight, Celestia landed in front of the medical tent. She walked in and waited to be tended to, when Luna walked into the tent.

Luna looked at Celestia puzzlingly. “You don’t look very good sister, did something unexpected happen on your elimination mission?”

Celestia grinned and chuckled. “Sister, you have no idea.”
				
> Premonitions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Celestia slowly raised the sun from atop her watchtower balcony, and was still impressed with her handiwork every morning thousands of years later. Feeling satisfied, she grabbed her cup coffee and stared at the massive flaming orb in the sky that gave her purpose in life. Entranced in her thoughts, she only remembered Luna’s presence when she loudly cleared throat behind her. Startled, but not shaken, Celestia jumped a bit at her briefly forgotten sister.

“I take it all is well if you are so catatonically calm, sister?” Luna jested with a comically raised eyebrow and a smirk.

“You know I think deeply in the mornings sister. It is when I am at my most energetic and aware. The day has just begun, and the possibilities are endless…” Celestia mused with a tone of wonder.

Unwilling to sit in the watchtower and listen to Celestia monologue about her wondrous day for another hour, Luna checked out with her sister and said her farewells. As she opened the doors to her chambers and began to slip into bed, she had a gut feeling that something was off. That the moonset had only marked the start of something terrible.

Celestia felt it too as she descended the watchtower’s steps and into her private dining area. A sense that something dark and evil was stirring in a faraway land. Concerned, and trusting of her gut instinct, she decided to keep a mental note of it as the day progressed.

When her waiter entered the room, she asked if she could have her daily papers be brought into the dining quarter so that her Chief Advisor could debrief her while she ate her breakfast. More then happy to oblige, the waiter dropped of her morning coffee cake and muffins and went out the door to find Celestia’s Chief Advisor.

A few minutes and bites of coffee cake later, Celestia’s chief advisor came through the door with a massive stack of papers, her mane and glasses in a mess, and a upbeat demeanor as always. I swear that mare is only rivaled by Twilight in her love of organization and checklists. Celestia mildly chuckled at the thought of an organization competition between the two.

“Something amusing your highness?” Celestia’s advisor asked with a cheery smile.

“Isn’t there always, Quill Whisk?” She replied with a knowing smile.

“Humor is essential to productive rule your highness, but you already know that.” Quill Whisk said humorously.

“If I didn’t, I would have gone mad long ago. Moving on, what has happened in my absence?”

Quill Whisks snout contorted into a concerned frown as she looked at the summary folder crowning the massive pile of papers now laying on top of Celestia’s dining table. “Well, the Crystalling spurred a lot of new press regarding your actions in the empire, and half-a-dozen papers all want statements from you.”

“Well then. I come back another near-death situation and the first thing I’m asked to do is deal with with the press? Wonderful.” Celestia rubbed the bridge of her nose, preparing for the stress of a massive royal catch-up day. “Why delay the inevitable then? Let us start.”

Quill Whisk bounced excitedly. “Good to hear! The whole of Canterlot will want to hear your recount of The Crystalling! Let’s get to it!”


o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o


Dracarthus’s ancient soul stirred in the black and shapeless void, hearing the Lost Ones calling to him. Concentrating his psychic energy, he established contact with the souls of the Lost Ones, who were lost somewhere in the formless abyss that surrounded Dracarthus.  

What is it oh great Lost Ones? Have you made another breakthrough? Are we one step closer to freeing me?

Even better. We have finally collected enough energy in your old form to free your mind from thisss prissson! It is indeed a good day, but we mussst act quickly if you are to make the jump into the mortal realm intact. Make hassste dark one! The mortal realm awaitssss!


Excellent. I have been away for far too long. Once I can accommodate to living in a flesh body again, Equestria will be ripe for the taking once more!

Good to sssee your prioritiesss are in order. Now go mighty tyrant, reclaim what is rightfully ours!

In a violent flash of light, a cyan vortex burst into the void and sucked in Dracarthus’s soul. As his very being was whipped through a storm of blue-green magic, he began to see his withered body reform around him. As soon as he was fully reformed however, he was brought to the end of the vortex, and his vision went black.


Waking up with his eyelids shut and his body under massive pressure, Dracarthus had no bearing as to where he was or what surrounded him, due to his eyes being unable to open. The only thing that he really felt for certain was cold. Piercing and painful cold. Realizing he must be under a massive amount of snow, Dracarthus focused much of his mana into a massive vaporization spell, and began blasting away at the snow above him. After evaporating most of the snowpack that encased him, Dracarthus climbed to the top of the nearly 7-foot deep hole and collapsed at the top. Utterly spent, he silently cursed his frail body. Despite feeling very weak and generally awful, he sensed an underlying wrongness in his body. Curious as to the origin of the feeling, he consulted the Lost Ones for answers. After taking his time to reconnect to the Void, he asked the Lost Ones about his feeling of lethargy and dirtiness.

Dark spirits, why do I feel as if something unwanted lurks in my body?

We wondered if you would notice. That isss a ssside effect of the love magic usssed to empower your body.

Love magic…? LOVE MAGIC? OF ALL THE MAGICS YOU COULD HAVE USED, YOU PICKED LOVE MAGIC!? I’m lucky my body isn’t violently convulsing and dying AGAIN! 

We knew that the love magic might have causssed you trouble in you weakened ssstate, but we had to take a risssk. Resssurrecting you wasss paramount, due to the risssing number of high-powered magic usssersss in the past few years. We feared that even you and your might may not have been able to ssstand up to sssome of thessse new magic wieldersss if given enough time. Ssseeing the opportunity, we ssseized the day and sssent you over.

Fine, so be it. Since I’m here now, do you know where the fragments of my power are located?

Unfortunately, time hasss not been kind to what’sss left of you’re your power, and the variousss fragments have drifted around Equessstria and found new formsss over time. However, one fragment of your power doesss ssstill lie in the Cryssstal Empire, although we are not sssure exactly what form it hasss taken or where it lies inssside the Empire’sss borders.

Any lead is a good one. I know the Empire is roughly northwest of here, but you know exactly how far. Do you?

Roughly three days walk from our estimates, but we cannot be sure. Prepare for a long journey.

Very well. I will begin tomorrow. Tonight, I draw from the power of the shadows and formulate a plan.

Returning to the conscious world, Dracarthus took in a heavy breath of cold air, and savored the feeling of being alive again. He took a long look at the landscape of barren white around him, and noticed that his vision was off by a bit. Feeling his eyes for gunk, he realized that one of his eyes was completely scarred shut. Angered and enthused at the same time, Dracarthus blew off his anger with a dark chuckle, and made a note to put a disguise spell or eye-patch on his eye later. Weary, but excited for the days to come, Dracarthus trudged off into the non-stop blizzard in search of a place to rest.


o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o


As Celestia lowered the sun, she began to feel the first waves of fatigue. It was unusual for her to tire so early, but today had been a lengthy press day, and those were always tiring. So many reporters always asking obviously dumb or instigating comments to try and get a reaction out of the princess. Nevertheless, Celestia had kept her poker face on all day, and it had helped shoo off the more frivolous reporters who wanted nothing more than a shocked face or angry rebuttal out of the princess. As soon as Luna entered the top turret of the watchtower, Celestia let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding.

“You seem worn down sister. Have those press-ponies been trying to squeeze headlines and interviews out of you all day?”

“Indeed Luna. I grow weary of the modern media these days. You’re lucky only a few reporters stay up this late for an exclusive interview.”

“Being nocturnal has it’s benefits sister.” Luna replied with a painfully smug grin.

After elevating the moon high enough to begin its rising course, Luna turned to Celestia with a concerned smile. “Go to your chambers and get some rest sister, I can take it from here. You deserve an early night.”

“Very well. I’m not exactly opposed to the idea of hitting the hay now. I will check in with you tomorrow morning as usual.” Celestia said with a sleepy slur added to her speech by a yawn.

“Fantastic. Sleep well sister, the night is in good hooves.”

“Isn’t always?” Celestia replied with a sleepy smile as she slowly descended the watchtower steps.

Even in her sister’s presence, Luna felt that something was out of place under her lovely moon; and as Celestia moved farther and farther away, the feeling of discomfort grew. Something was wrong, VERY wrong, but Luna couldn’t tell what was wrong, and it bugged her. Then, she felt a part of her very being slip away from her body, leaving her feeling incomplete. Now terrified, Luna scanned her magic’s to see what had been stolen from her, she found that her control over the shadows of the night had been stolen. In full panic mode, Luna’s mind began racing to dark and disturbing conclusions until she used the breathing technique taught to her by Cadence to calm her down.

Alright then Luna, think! Who could do such a thing? Who could take control of the shadows in the first place, much less pry them from my grasp? Well Sombra could to some extent, but I could have easily sensed him and overpowered him. No one else in recent history can control dark magic well enough to make this possible! Hmmm, maybe I’m thinking about the situation wrong. Could chaos magic be used to control the shadows? Possibly, but that would only leave…. Discord. I can’t inquire him unless I can collect evidence, so I guess I’ll just have to get Celestia’s approval so I can do some direct questioning. I’ll need to talk with her about this before I can pitch the idea though. Luna stayed deep in thought atop the watchtower, trying to unravel the mystery of who had taken the shadows from her control, and was becoming increasingly worried. If the shadows had truly escaped, then they could put all of Equestria in danger, which would lead to even bigger problems! Suddenly, as abruptly as they had left, the shadows returned to her control, and Luna felt just a bit calmer. However, she was now thoroughly concerned about the implications of all of todays bad omens, and this terrifying loss over her ability to restrain the shadows. Deeply troubled, Luna descended the watchtower steps back to the castle, and continued to think over her predicament. 


o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o


As soon as Dracarthus had found a small cave opening in the frozen tundra, he wiggled his way in, and fell asleep in the complete darkness. Hours later, Dracarthus awoke once more the piercing cold he had come to know and hate. It was also pitch black, which would not be problem for very long. The only reason he wore his wicked smile was because it was finally time to drain the accursed love magic from his body, and he could be filled with dark magic once more. Creating a magical wisp of fire for light, Dracarthus went to work carving the appropriate runes into the floor with small pulses of magic, and all of the assorted symbols required for the ritual. After a few minutes of carving, checking, and double checking the setup for the ritual, Dracarthus added the last requirement to the center of the rune complex: blood. Taking a sharp fragment of crystal that was growing on the walls of the cave, Dracarthus slashed his hoof open, letting it bleed all over the center of the center of the rune complex, watching in awe and excitement as the massive circle of magical symbols and words began to glow dark red and faint whispers began to fill the cave. 

“That’s it, don’t be scared... I’m back. I’m here to help you, and protect you from the puppeteer. In order for me to help you once more, I need you to help me. Give me some of your vast magical power, and I can begin to rebuild my strength again.”

The shadows were reluctant at first, not remembering his voice or touch, but as more whispers filled the room, they slowly remembered Dracarthus. His power, bloodlust, ferocity, but most of all, immense power with dark magic. They remembered how they had unlimited freedom, how they could do as they pleased within his lands, how they were free of her, and her imprisonment. Yearning to be free once more, the shadows drew together to lend their dark savior the power he so desperately needed. As Dracarthus was surrounded by the smoky and paranormal manifestations of the shadows, he began chanting in the tongues of Tartarus in order to begin the transfer of the dark magic that the shadows possessed. All the while, the shadows began to whisper louder and louder, until they were all yelling and howling in their incoherent language at the top of their lungs, the chaos egged on by their brief freedom from their entrapment. As the symphony of chaos raged around him, Dracarthus took it all in with satisfaction, knowing that the shadows would follow him to the ends of Equestria. Then, bit by bit, the shadows compounded their power, and began to drain it into Dracarthus.

As dark magic flowed back into him, Dracarthus savored every moment of it. The warm familiarity of such power made his dark heart beat faster with delight and exhilaration. He has forgotten how intoxicating power of this magnitude and type felt. As the transfer’s level of magic peaked, Dracarthus let out a savage, dark-magic fueled roar that as the array’s runes glowed bright green, and then faded to dust. As the runes crumbled, the shadows reluctantly returned to their imprisonment, but now with the knowledge that they would soon be free. Now laying alone, Dracarthus breathed heavily while a dark aura wafted off him. Now with basic magic once more, Dracarthus sat basking in the company of the darkness as he formulated his master plan.


> Beginnings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	As Dracarthus continued to march through the unforgivingly cold powdery wasteland, he had started to hate it more and more. Something he though impossible, because he already hated as much as he possibly could. Even though the Crystal Empire was heated with love magic, it was still heat, and Dracarthus couldn’t wait to get back to somewhere warmer for a change. As he crested another massive hill of snow, he finally laid eyes on the magnificent empire. Under its heating dome, the Equestrian spring was in full effect, with the crystal flowers and Ruby lotuses in full bloom, among other numerous exotic flora. Delighted to be inching closer to some of his old power, he continued to trudge closer to the Empire’s bubble, despite every instinct in his body screaming at him to get as far away from this much love magic as fast as he could. But he pressed on. 

Finally managing to get to the edge of the bubble, Dracarthus was astonished at the complete lack of border security around the Empire’s core, grinning evilly as he realized how easy travel in and out this place would be as long as he didn’t garner too much attention. Ready to begin his high-stakes scavenger hunt, Dracarthus slipped into the bubble, immediately overwhelmed by the sudden temperature change. He nearly passed out from shock, but managed to wobble upright, and continue to walk further into the core of the Empire. However, the closer he got to the castle, the less and less he was able to go on.

Curses! All this love magic is hindering my ability to go any further. It must be that Crystal Heart. It produces enough love magic to kill me in this state! I won’t push my luck any further. I hope the Royals are incompetent as ever, and my fragment isn’t near that wretched heart.

Frustrated, and wishing to get out of the rich part of town, Dracarthus began to head back to the outer rim of the empire, which was much more run down and seedy-looking despite the bright colors plastered over everything to cover up the immense class divide between the people here and in the center. Feeling safer and more concealed, Dracarthus subtly used a detector spell to scan for magical spikes in the area as he drifted into an alley to hide his activity. 

Absent-mindedly scanning, Dracarthus failed to realize that there were two pony thugs hiding in the alley. Just as Dracarthus was beginning to focus in on a strange power spike, his focus was broken by the more muscular Earth Pony speaking up.

“Well what do we have here?” The Earth Pony chuckled maniacally. “Fresh meat?”

 
         The slender unicorn in a trench coat appeared behind the Earth Pony. “It looks that way. It’s been awhile since someone was stupid enough to wander onto our turf. What a shame that was. So boring. Glad those times have come to an end.”

        Both thugs grinned viciously and started to advance towards Dracarthus, who was now backed against a wall and was beginning to slightly panic. His panic only mounted when the unicorn brought out a jade butterfly knife. Cackling murderously, the unicorn began to inspect his knife. “This here is Mr. Friendly! You’ll get to know him… personally in the next few minutes. Before you get acquainted with him, I’m gonna ask for all you bits and various valuables. Now.”

Putting on his most meek face, Dracarthus whimpered as pathetically as possible. “P-p-please! I have nothing! I just came into town for a job! Don’t hurt me! Please!”

Sticking lip out his mockingly, the Earth Pony adopted a patronizingly baby-like voice. “Awww… iz da wittle unicorwn scawwred? Well too bad! I’m gonna punch your lights out unless you fork over whatever you have on ya!”

         Formulating a plan to make use of his attackers, Dracarthus began to rapidly think while continuing to look weak. “I swear I have nothing on me! Like I said, I just got here! I have nothing of use to you!” 

        The unicorn looked at the muscle-bound Earth Pony and nodded to Dracarthus. “Shake him down, look for any hidden pouches or cloaked containers." As the Earth Pony approached him, Dracarthus tensed up in an attempt to look fearful. 

        “Please! No! I don’t wanna die! S-stay away!” Dracarthus squealed helplessly as the Earth Pony inched closer and closer to him, ready to give him an intense beat-down. Just as the thug was raising his hooves to pummel Dracarthus, he sprung his devious trap. From the shadows enveloping the walls of the alley, massive pitch-black talons erupted from the darkness and snatched up the two hooligans.

        “What the heck is happening!?!” The unicorn stammered in shock, dropping his knife. “What are these things, what did you do, why am I… Ughhhh…” The unicorn fainted as he tried to comprehend what ethereal objects had just seized him and his partner in crime.

        As for his partner in crime, he had begun to hyperventilate and flail madly in the grip of the dark arms, feebly trying to break free. His terror only grew as he saw a pair of dark tendrils branch off of the talons and begin to advance towards him and his Unicorn accomplice. As the spectral tendrils approached closer and closer to him, he let out a bloodcurdling scream which was quickly cut short by one of them entering his mouth. 

As the tendrils slithered into his gut, they detached from their main mass and filled his stomach with a oil-like goo. It started to bubble over as the tendril re-formed in the now overflowing goo, and the substance began to replace his cranium fluid. The tendril took its place wrapped around his brain stem, and then started transmitting Dracarthus's dark will into his mind. On the outside, the Earth Pony’s eyes were enveloped in the goo, which quickly mirrored his eyes so not to betray its presence. 

The transformation complete on both savages, Dracarthus now had the first two instruments of his sinister will. With his minions now free of the shadow talons grip, they both stood at attention with blank expressions and dazed eyes. 

“How may we serve our great and powerful lord of darkness?” Both minions said with their distorted voices in unison.

        Very pleased with his work, Dracarthus chuckled evilly. “You are to descend into the city and look for clues as to the location of my first power fragment.”

        “Your word is law, oh dark one. It shall be made so.” The minions said in harmony before they resumed normal behavior and left the alley.


o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

      
Luna anxiously fidgeted in her chair, awaiting her sister's arrival in the royal conference room. After what seemed like an eternity waiting, Celestia finally entered the room and took a seat across from her sister at the grand conference table. After a few curt nods and warm smiles, Celestia broke the ice. “Normally you’re asleep by now, so it begs the question. What’s so important that you waited until the afternoon to talk with me?”

       After taking a deep sip of her coffee, Luna gave a small chuckle and smiled. “Well, I wanted to talk with you about a strange and deeply troubling event that occurred last night.”

       Celestia raised an eyebrow quizzically as she ate some of her leftover coffee-cake. “Deeply troubling? I don’t hear that phrase much out of you anymore. What happened?”

       Luna breathed deeply in anticipation for what would spawn from this one statement. “Something took control of my ability to keep the shadows restrained last night. It seized control for a moment, and then the shadows returned to my grasp as quickly as they had disappeared.”

Celestia put on a concerned face “This IS deeply troubling sister. What kind of entity could possibly control a force as primordial as the shadows themselves?”

“I had a theory as to what could do such a thing, as only one magic still in-use fits the mold perfectly: Chaos Magic.” Luna said with a much more solemn tone. “And there is only one being that can use chaos magic to the degree necessary to accomplish this kind of feat.”

“Discord.” Celestia spat bitterly; feeling a mix of anger and betrayal. There was still a large question looming over her head, especially if Discord had a paw/talon in this. “What would a being such a Discord want with shadows, even more so if he knew you would sense it?”

“That has been the question on my mind sister. Precisely why I decided to come to you before launching any inquiries. Jumping to conclusions when dealing with a trickster such as Discord can have incredibly destructive ramifications.” Luna said while putting her hoof to her chin and mulling over what little she knew.

“I think that this hypothesis has some merit Luna. We should investigate this theory more closely, and try to get some answers out of Discord. Even if he isn’t responsible, he is resourceful, and could point us in the right direction.” As she talked to Luna, Celestia began to write a letter to Twilight, explaining the situation and asking for her help in questioning Discord.

With a happy smile on her face, Luna looked at Celestia’s letter. “I take it you will be enlisting Twilight's help in the matter at hoof?.”

“Who else but my most responsible, calm, and collected student? I can’t think of a better pony to question Discord. Although, I should ask her to bring her friends, in case Discords acts slippery and begins to avoid questions.” Celestia said with a thoughtful face as she finished her letter.

Ready to send her letter, Celestia lit the candelabra on the table with arcane flame, and burned the letter. It’s ashes then flew out the window, and the flames of the candles were extinguished.


o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o


“Encyclopedia of Griffin Culture, check! The Enthralling Nuances of Chariot Construction, check! Exciting Jungle Discoveries, check!” 

“Twilight? Twiiiilllliiiight!” 

“Frequent Everyday Uses of Teleportation Magic, check! Fruit and Vegetable Taxonomy Differences, check!”

“TWILIGHT!”

“Woah! Oh-um, yes, hi Spike! How are you?” Twilight said with a sheepish grin.

“I’m good, just got a letter from Princess Celestia for you.” Spike said in a sarcastically mocking tone with a smug face.

“Why are you all smug? Because you startled me? You know I get focused during my bi-monthly book alphabetizing!” Twilight said as her cheeks flushed and her sheepish grin turned to a playful frown.

“Yeah, but that look on your face when I startle you never gets old.” Spike said while chuckling.

“Whatever.” Twilight grumbled. “Didn’t you say you had a letter for me?”

“Yeah, it just came in from Princess Celestia. It has her seal in red, so it’s probably urgent news.” Spike forked over the letter to Twilight, and sure enough, it had Celestia's blazing sun seal in bright red.

“I hope it’s nothing too bad. We haven’t had urgent mail in forever!” Twilight exclaimed worriedly as she opened the letter and began to read it aloud.

Dear Princess Twilight,

I hope this letter finds you well, as I know princess duties can become quite tiresome after a while. I am pleased to let you know however, that I am in need of your assistance in my royal duties. While you will get a brief reprieve from your responsibilities, I am afraid what I ask of you is no easy task.

“Uh oh.” Twilight gulped loudly to emphasize her fear.

Due to some troublesome recent events, I will need you and your friends to go and question Discord.

“There it is. Boom.” Spike said flatly.

“Oh no! Anyone but HIM! Of all the beings to question!” Twilight groaned. “Why would Celestia POSSIBLY want to question Discord?”

Before you question him, I will need to give you some context. Confidential context. Last night, Luna lost her ability to keep the primordial shadows within her grasp. This is extremely worrying, as this means the shadows are being controlled or influenced by somepony else. If this goes on for long enough, the shadows might break free and bring chaos to all of Equestria. Me and Luna think that the shadows could possibly be controlled via chaos magic, since it’s based on dark magic. In short, we need you to either extract the truth out of Discord, or get him to divulge useful information. I thank you for your selfless service to the crown.

With love,

Princess Celestia

“Fantastic. Well, capere diem and such. Come on Spike, let go grab the girls and head to Fluttershy’s cottage. We’ve got our work cut out for ourselves.” Twilight said with a heavy sigh.

“Can do! I’ll bring writing and documentation supplies so everything he says is set in stone - er, parchment! That way he can’t deny what he said.” Spike said as he rushed around the library collecting supplies.

Half an hour and a lot of talking later, the all of the girls except for Fluttershy were assembled and on the way to her cottage. After taking the long dirt road out to her humble abode, Twilight stepped forward from her line of friends and knocked on the door. Hearing a light gasp and some stumbling, Twilight put on a big smile and waited for Fluttershy to answer the door. Sure enough, Fluttershy poked her eye out from behind the door to see who it was, and swung it open when she saw her friends standing outside.

“Oh my! Hi girls, how are you?” Fluttershy said excitedly, happy to see all of her friends.

“Doing well Fluttershy, we actually came over to get you!” Twilight said while still trying to seem as friendly as possible, despite dreading confronting Discord.

“Oh, um, well, you see, I’m a bit busy today, caring for the animals and such, so I’m afraid I’ll be unavailable today! Thanks for coming by though!.” Fluttershy said with a forced smile.

“Well you see, we actually came to see Discord! With you of course!” Twilight dropped her kind facade, making it clear she meant business. “I know you’re busy Fluttershy, but Celestia needs me to question Discord. With you.”

“Oh my, then come in! I can get some tea started and fetch Discord!” Fluttershy exclaimed as she moved out of the doorway and gestured for her friends to come in.

As Fluttershy disappeared into the kitchen, the rest of the Mane 6 could hear Fluttershy calling for Discord. Right on cue, Discord teleported into the room with a flash of light, fully dressed in a nightgown and hugging a teddy bear.

Discord yawned loudly, and stretched for emphasis. “Ugh! Must you wake me from my afternoon nap Fluttershy? You know I do love nap time!” Discord then looked behind him to see the Mane Six all sitting on Fluttershy’s various sofas and chairs while Fluttershy herself poured cups of tea for everyone. “Oh, you’re all here. What is it this time? Has some small child started crying, and Twilight needs to learn a friendship lesson to make it all better?”

“Actually Discord, we’re here to ask you some questions. Important questions.” Twilight stated in her most matter-of-fact voice possible to hide her irritation.

Discord quickly blinked out of his nightgown and into one of the chairs in the room as he bore an excited expression. “OOH! Questions! I love questions! What kind of questions? Guess Who? Would you rather? Horns up?”

“Not THOSE kinds of questions Discord! Questions about you!” Twilight groaned, already noticing the playful edge in his voice.

“Well, if you wanted to know about me, you could have just said so! I’ve been writing an autobiography for years! Although,” Discord snapped his fingers and a book tall enough to touch to ceiling warped in. “it is pretty long, me being thousands of years old and all.” 

“ENOUGH!” Twilight roared with a shout. “This is exactly why I didn’t want to come here and question you! All I want you to do is sit quietly and answer my questions when I ask them!”

Discord immediately snapped into a straight sitting position with a gross crunch as his curvy body was forced into stillness and straightness. Fluttershy fainted on the couch. “Dearest me! I’m so sorry I was being such a nuisance! I will try to conduct myself better so that you may obtain the answers you need,” Discord blinked into a brown suit with a quirky tie and glasses. “Professor Twilight.”

Twilight let out an audible sigh and facehoofed. “Whatever floats your boat Discord. Now, first question, what are the most extreme abilities you chaos magic is capable of?”

“Magic questions eh? Well then I have a lot of talking to do,” Discord blinked into a white lab coat and now possessed a clip board. “Don’t I? Well, you’ve already borne witness to some of my most extravagant feats. Turning Ponyville into chaos central and such. What you don’t realize is that all of that chaos takes a lot of energy to maintain, which is why I am the only one suited for such shenanigans!” Discord exclaimed proudly.

“Hmm, interesting. Next question, can you ever amplify the dark magic that your chaos magic is based on, and could you use that amplification to practice dark magic?” Twilight said with a concerned face.

“Well, yes and no. I always use the base dark magic when creating chaos, and the crazier things get, the more dark magic is added to the mix. However, you can’t ever make your magic 100% dark. That’s impossible. Say, what is all of this for anyway? A good magician never reveals his tricks,” Discord said as he donned a magician costume, took off his hat, and pulled Angel out. “and you’re about to make me a bad magician!” Discord said with a smirk as he tossed Angel across the room.

“Well, Celestia and Luna need this information for confidential royal matters.” Twilight said as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

Putting on a grim face, Discord’s magician getup vaporized, and he began to talk in an equally dark tone. “What kind of royal business?”

“None of yours, that’s what!” Rainbow butted in.

“Rainbow, please, I’m trying to hold a conversation with Discord. I’ll have to tell him anyway.” Twilight said with a stressed face.

“Don’t-cha think revealin’ Equestrian secrets is ah bit well, um, self defeatin’?” Applejack inquired quizzically.

“I acknowledge the silliness of this, but I think all of us, Discord included can agree that we will get nowhere by keeping everything super-secretive. It only fosters mistrust.” Twilight stated as regally as possible.

“Yes yes, oh high and mighty princess of friendship, we need to be more transparent. Now spill the beans! I will simply explode if you make me wait a moment longer!” Discord said while bouncing up and down in chair to prove his point.

“Well, here goes nothing.” Twilight took a deep breath. “Celestia and Luna need this information, because last night, Luna lost control of her ability to keep the shadows under her control. They think that chaos magic could be behind this, and that you could be the culprit. They wanted us to question you and see if you would admit guilt.” Twilight braced herself for Discord’s inevitable rage.

And then, the impossible happened. Discord broke out into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.


> Revelations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Twilight was dumbfounded. Discord was cackling madly on the couch, hooting and hollering through gasps for air. Why would Discord act like this? What was so funny?

        “What’s so funny Discord? Is there something we’re missing?” Twilight said with a face as confused as her emotions.

        “You ponies, oh you ponies! WIll you ever learn the forbidden arts? BWAHAHAHAH!” Discord broke out into another laughing fit as Twilight began to get more and more frustrated.

        “What do you mean? Why was that statement so funny? Answer me!” Twilight roared, now thoroughly frustrated.

        “Okay, okay! Heh-heh! I’ll talk!” Discord forced out though more hysteric laughing as he pulled out tissues from a box he had made appear out of thin air. “You see, the notion that I could control shadows is simply absurd! And HILARIOUS!”

        “You mean such a thing as the shadows would be impossible for you to control?” Twilight mused, although still making her frustration VERY apparent.

        “Of course! The shadows are a force that not even Luna can control! She just chains their essence to Tartarus and uses her innate magical abilities to help strengthen the chain! No being in existence that doesn’t completely channel dark magic can bring the shadows under their control! The fact you even considered that option in simply LUDICROUS!” Discord exclaimed as he finally began to calm down.

        “So you’re saying this was just a wild goose chase? That you were just toying with us?” Twilight said as her rage continued to build.

        “Well, you see… YES! Hahahaha! And my was it worth it! I haven’t laughed like that in forever!" Discord said as he wiped his eyes.

        “That waaas pretty funny!” Pinkie said while holding in a snort.

        “Pinkie. Quiet.” Twilight said with a voice about to burst with rage. To calm herself, Twilight quickly employed Cadence's breathing technique, and felt calmer. “I need you to stay quiet while I… sort things out with Discord.”

        “Caaaan do silly billy!” Pinkie said while giggling. 

        “I do apologize if I angered you Miss Sparkle, I just wanted to have a little fun! In all seriousness though, I have never even tried to do what you are describing, and I never have plans to! Because it’s impossible!” Discord said with the most wry smile ever.

        “Just great. Thank you for you time Discord. You may resume your daily activities.” Twilight said with yet another groan.

        “Yeah! You can help me clean up as payback for making me faint like that!” Fluttershy said with the most adorable frown.

        “Of course Fluttershy, I would be more than happy to help!” Discord exclaimed in a sincere tone.

        Feeling defeated, Twilight turned to her friends for help and advice. “What do you make of all this girls? I’m totally at a loss as to what I should do here. Any suggestions or theories?”

        “I, for one think that this is all incredibly exhausting, and that we should leave the other princesses to figure it out. If Discord knows nothing, then why would Celestia need you? Besides, Luna might just have felt something and mistaken it for a “Loss of power” or something of the sort. I say you relax and just submit what evidence you have and then drop all this hullabaloo.” Rarity sighed and daintily sipped her cup of tea to try and portray her exhaustion.

        “I think Rarity is close, we should pass the bit at some point, but why stop a super duper fun adventure here? We should look for more clues! OOH! It could be a mystery like that time on the Friendship Express!” Pinkie pie bounced up and down rapidly at the thought of another super fun mystery!

        “Why pass this up at all? This could be the epic adventure of a lifetime! We could fight shadow demons, discover ancient artifacts, fight King Sombra for control of Equestria, and return home heroes! If King Sombra is the one behind all this, that is.” Rainbow Dash said with excitement, pumped at possibilities of fame and glory.

        “King Sombra…. King Sombra… That’s it! Maybe he IS behind all this! What if ruling out dark magic in the first place was the biggest mistake? What if… Sombra has returned, AGAIN!?” Twilight began to panic at the horrifying possibilities if this was true. “Ok girls, me and Spike need to head back to the castle and do some research. Thank you for your time.”

        Rarity put on a concerned face, worried for Twilight’s emotional state. “Twilight are you sure you’re alright?”

        “I’m fine Rarity, I just need to… collect my thoughts! Yeah, that’s it! Everything is fine! See you later girls!” Twilight then scampered out of Fluttershy’s house and slammed the door. “EVERYTHING'S NOT FINE AT ALL SPIKE!!!!!!! DO YOU KNOW WHAT A DISCOVERY LIKE THIS MEANS???”

        “N-n-not good things…?” Spike said in a quivering voice.

        “TERRIBLE THINGS! WE NEED TO IMMEDIATELY NOTIFY CELESTIA!!!!” Twilight was now on the brink of hyperventilating, and her mane was beginning to frizz out. 

        Spike immediately went into meltdown-prevention mode. “Twilight, i’m only gonna ask this once. Calm. Down. You’re freaking out over possibilities, not certainties. We should send a letter to the princesses, and then wait. Nothing bad is going to happen, and the world isn’t going to end. We beat Sombra before, and if he comes back, then we’ll beat him again. Nothing stops the power of friendship!”

        Twilight visibly calmed down, and began to breathe in and out much slower, bringing her from the brink of a meltdown to stable. “You’re right Spike, we’ll just send a letter and do some research. Nothing bad will happen. Just take precautionary steps. Let’s go back to the castle.”


o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o



        Celestia was on her throne, signing and vetoing paperwork and bills from the Lords and Governors that hailed from all across Equestria. She had just begun to slip into her groove of signing and stamping when a trail of ashes carried on green fire flew into her chamber and materialized into a letter. Celestia handed her massive stack of papers over to Quill Whisk, and grabbed the letter in her magic just as it began to drift to the floor. “Give me a minute Quill Whisk, I have a highly important letter from Twilight Sparkle. Thank you for your patience.”

        “You’re always welcome Princess!” Quill Whisk said cheerily.

        Celestia’s face only grew grimmer as she read the letter.

Dear Princess Celestia,

As you requested, the girls and I went to question Discord. He decided to toy with us for some time before finally admitting total innocence. He said that using chaos magic to control the shadows is completely absurd, and that no one who didn’t use exclusively dark magic could even begin to harness their power. Which got me thinking about who it could possibly be. So I asked the girls for their take on the whole thing.

Rainbow Dash put forth the very interesting hypothesis that Sombra could have been resurrected for some reason, and that he could be the one attempting to seize the shadows from Luna’s control. I have my doubts, but this theory could hold water if I can find more information on the workings of dark magic. However, in order to see if this is even remotely possible, I would like to request access to the forbidden tomes of the dark arts in the Canterlot Library. Thank you for your understanding.

Your Faithful Student, 
Princess Twilight Sparkle

Celestia slumped in her chair and let out a heavy sigh. This was just fantastic, not only had Discord been a dead end, but the only information Twilight was able to get out of him was just bad news! Seeing no point in wasting time, Celestia tuned to Quill Whisk and told her to pen a letter Cadence informing her of the news and asking her to respond as necessary. She then summoned her Chief Librarian and asked to have their entire set of dark magic tomes teleported to Twilight Sparkle, post haste. As everything needed to prove Twilight’s hypothesis and keep Sombra at bay fell into place Celestia relaxed a bit, and decided to go and wake Luna to tell her the news. 

As she strode through the halls of her castle, she looked at the various stained glass windows that showed all of various quests that had succeeded in vanquishing the foes of Equestria. She saw the defeat of Tirek, Discord, Chrysalis, and even Nightmare Moon as she navigated the ancient halls of her proud home. On her way to Luna’s room, she passed through the halls of old, which showed the defeats of all the villains that had threatened Celestia and Luna during their adventuring days. She saw Tirek’s imprisonment, the sealing of the Crystal Empire, the petrification of Discord, all but one window that she passed by without a second thought. The slaying of Dracarthus, perhaps their oldest foe. After many memories, and a short trip to Luna’s room Celestia quietly and gently opened the door to see her little sister fast asleep in her bed. Her heart always warmed at the sight of her sister when she looked this peaceful. It reminded her of simpler times, when the most important thing to do was to discover what hid in the backyard.

Breaking out of her Nostalgia trip, Celestia walked over to the side of Luna’s bed and gently nuzzled her awake with her gentle snout. Luna gradually began to stir, until Celestia poked her and said “Lulu… wake up.” In as soft of a voice as possible. 

Then Luna sat up and groaned loudly. “Urrrr… Must you wake me so late in the day? You know I got terrible sleep yesterday sister.”

“Yes, but I have very important news pertaining to your shadow incident. Discord was a dead end.” Celestia said as she took a seat at the base of the bed.

Luna slammed a hoof onto one of her pillows. “Curses! I thought we might resolve this mystery quickly, or at the very least get some information out of him!”

Celestia cracked a smile, trying to remain optimistic so that her sister might keep up a positive attitude. “We actually did get some information out of him, and Twilight has formed a hypothesis with the help of her friends.”

Luna perked up at the small victory. “What did we learn?”

“Discord told us that anyone who doesn’t use exclusively dark magic can’t even begin to control the shadows; that even chaos magic is too weak. Which means we have a dark magic wielder on our hands. That plays right into Twilight’s hypothesis which is that Sombra has somehow been resurrected again to terrorize Equestria.” Celestia said with a more depressed tone.

Luna’s brow furrowed.“So this has only lead to darker discoveries… most concerning. I ruled out Sombra originally, because such a resurrection seemed impossible, and Discord was a far more likely candidate. If Discord was a false lead, then I just hope Cadence has a plan to contain Sombra, or whatever it is that lurks just beyond her empire.”


o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o



	

Cadence had just received and read a letter from Celestia marked as “Highly Important”, and she felt quite alarmed at the news. Sombra, back, again? It sounded impossible. It sounded like another Empire-wide crisis that she would have to manage with Shining. She turned to Flurry Heart, who was sucking on her hoof to keep herself busy while her mom looked over letters and other paperwork. Smiling, she picked up Flurry Heart and nuzzled her. “But our last crisis was an accident, wasn’t it you little crystal goober?” Cadence said with a motherly tone. Flurry Heart giggled madly and flared her wings in excitement. Cadence laughed with her as she spun Flurry Heart around the room. 

Sadly, the world called, and Cadence began formulating a plan to look for evidence as to Sombra’s return. She gave Flurry Heart a bottle and rocked her back and forth as she began to think of what to look for in the frozen wastes. That was it! The fragments of his body! If he was still dead, then Shining and her could easily find the remnants of his body! She would still need some royal guards and Sunburst to look after Flurry though, so she called in an messenger to relay the news of her plan to all parties involved.

About 2 hours later, Cadence, Shining Armor, and a small contingent of the crystal guard were standing at the edge of the Crystal Empire’s heat bubble, ready to begin the search for what was left of Sombra. As Cadence walked out of the bubble, she cast her heat spell of the small party, enveloping them in a small bubble of heat that was just weak enough so not to melt the snow and cover up evidence.

“Remember! Look for patches of black snow! That means a piece of Sombra is there, and is corrupting the snow!” Shouted one of the Crystal Mages as they descended into the furious blizzard.

“You got it! Honey, start scanning for pieces!” Cadence shouted as she recoiled under the force of the blizzard’s winds.

“Can do!” Shining Armor said as he began to probe for the magical chunks of Sombra’s body. “I’m feeling one from the Southwest. Pretty close!”

“Sounds good. Let’s move out! You, guard! Can you get a sound barrier up so we can stop shouting?” Cadence said as she began to trudge Southwest.

“Sure thing your highness!” The guard yelled as he set up the barrier.

Once the barrier was complete, the deafening winds quieted to a low howl, and everyone casting spells could concentrate better. Shining Armor was about to tell them that the search party was close, when Cadence spotted the black snow.

“I see the black snow. Containment team, go grab the fragment, and quickly!” Cadence said as she strengthened the heat spell to prevent additional heat loss from the movements of the containment team.

The team of 2 mages and an earth pony quickly approached the black snow, and began to dig at the snow with shovels to avoid contact with the shard. Once it was unearthed, the earth pony picked it up with a crude mechanical grabbing-claw and put in a glass case. The team then swiftly returned to the bubble to present their find. The chunk was a piece of Sombra’s ribcage, about the size of an egg and pulsing with dark energy. 

One of the guards took a look at the piece and was thoroughly unnerved. “That’s it. It’s definitely a part of Sombra. You can feel the dark energy radiating off of it. This is all the proof we need to prove Sombra is still dead. Let’s head back.”

“Not so fast.” Cadence said with a concentrated frown. “If he is truly dead, we need to find more pieces, and the big kahuna. His horn. If we can get his horn then we can rest assure that he is actually gone, and not rebuilding himself.”

The Royal Guard visibly shrunk with fear. “Alright then. Captain Shining, got another fragment on your magical scan?”

“Sure do! It’s a bit East of this location, so let’s move out.” Shining Armor said while trying to locate more pieces of the dead king.

Over several hours in the frozen wastes, Cadence and the search party found chunk after chunk of Sombra, but no horn.

“Where could it be!? Hours of searching, and still no horn!” Shining pounded his hooves into the snow in rage, and scanned the area again. That was when he picked up on a really strong magic signature running just north. “I got something! I think this might be his horn!”

“What direction?” Cadence jumped with excitement, ready to seal the deal and finally get out of the cold wastes.

“Just North of here. If this is his horn, we can all go home!” Shining began to hone in on the signature as the group slowly moved North, but only became more confused the closer they got. “Wait a sec, the signature forms a line! What is that all about?”

“Not sure sir, but we have visual on black snow, so we’ll move out to investigate.” Said one of the guards as the grabbed a shovel of his back and left the heat bubble.

The squad approached the snow, looked at it, and walked back.

“Where’s the horn? Why didn’t you dig?” Shining Armor asked, thoroughly confused.

“Sir, there’s no horn.” The earth pony responded.

“Wait a second... “ Shining armor went back over the signature, and found the line running north, and fading into the border of the Crystal Empire. “Oh no.”

“What is it?” One of the guards asked, incredibly worried.

“Someone took his horn… into the Empire.”

> Questions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dracarthus was mad. Very mad. He had searched for an entire day without any results, even with the help of his minions. He had combed the entire East District of the Outer Rim, and was beginning to get scared. He was on borrowed time inside the empire, and it was quickly running out. If he didn’t find his first fragment soon, whoever ruled this place might soon pick up on his movements and unusual magic signatures, and thwart his plans before they could bear fruit. 

He couldn’t let that happen, which was why he had called his two minions to his side as he began to head for the West District. However, as he approached the normally open South line checkpoint between the East and West Districts, he saw that it was closed, and that there were two border guards, one on each side of the gate. As Dracarthus approached with his two puppets, he looked at the wall with a confused face. Curious, he went up to the guard on his side of the gate.

“What is the meaning of this? Why is there a gate here?” Dracarthus played dumb to see if the guard would spill any new information. When he assumed control of his two underlings, he immediately took as much information as he could from their upper conscious. He couldn’t gain access to their entire brains just yet, he needed more power first to do that. It had, however given him enough information to understand the District borders, and that the gates here were usually open.

Sapphire Lance was immediately on edge as soon as he saw a group of three stallion thugs begin to approach the border gate. He tensed his wings and sized up the crooks. There was a fairly stocky and muscular earth pony with light brown fur and a white mane with grey stripes, along with a more slender unicorn that sported teal fur and a dark green mane flanking a far taller and more intimidating unicorn. He had dark brown fur and a blonde mane. His eyes were a deep purple, and his snout was dotted with freckles. It was hard to make his features out though, as he wore a black hat that cast a shadow over his face.

He anticipated a conflict, but instead was asked “Why is there a gate here” by the taller of the unicorns. He decided not to try and explain it all, and gave the stock answer. “The empire is in a state of “heightened security” right now. The empress went out to look for what’s left of Sombra, and something was wrong. I guess all of him wasn’t there. Rumor has it someone made away with his horn a while ago, and the Empress is just now noticing.”

Empress. Now there was a term Dracarthus hadn’t heard in awhile. “Interesting. Why do you call her “Empress”? Isn’t she a princess?” Dracarthus said while having no idea who ‘she’ was.
“All the central folk call Cadence a princess, but the people in the outer rim call her by her real title. Empress. That’s what she’s like to people out here anyway.” Sapphire Lance replied helpfully. Maybe this guy was smarter then he looked, and he just had hired protection. He certainly knew the benefits of having a friend to watch your back in these parts.

Dracarthus was gobbling up all this new info hungrily. “I see. Well, me and my friends here will be needing passage to the West District.” 

“Alrighty then, I just need ID from all three of you, and you can pass. Because of the security hike and all that.” Sapphire Lance said in a much more authoritative tone.

Well then. This was going to have to go down the hard way. Minions, cover me. His partner doesn’t need to see what’s about to happen. He communicated to his puppets though his link with them.

Your will is our command. They replied as they closed around Sapphire

As soon as the two lesser thugs encircled him, Sapphire tensed for a fight. The dark brown stallion put up a noise barrier, which was when he knew things were gonna go south. He immediately put a wing on his inhibitor stone pouch and issued a strong warning. “Don’t try anything! I have an inhibitor stone on me! I can render all of your power useless as soon as you make one false move!” He clutched the bagged magic-blocking stone tighter as the trenchcoated stallion put on a broad grin and began to laugh.

“Please, an inhibitor stone? Foals play!” Dracarthus said before letting out a sinister laugh. “Try me.” He said before dropping his disguise.

Right before him, the ordinary brown stallion disappeared and gave way to a beast that could only be described as a far more sinister looking version of Sombra, and suddenly missing an eye. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He thought Sombra was gone for good! That he was dead forever! Not back, and creepier-looking! Panicking, he tossed his inhibitor stone out of his pouch with a triumphant “AH-HA!”, but his feeling of heroism quickly melted away as he saw the inhibitor stone’s mana quickly be absorbed by the monster’s inky purple magic. It let out an even darker cackle that sent chills up Sapphire’s spine.

“What a shame. I was really hoping you guards would be real fighters, but it seems like everything has gotten weaker these days. No matter, you will still be of excellent service to me.” Dracarthus said as a tendril began creeping out from the ground beneath Sapphire Lance.

“I would rather die than be forced to serve you Sombra! For the empire!!” Sapphire Lance shouted as he drew his short sword and charged at Dracarthus. 

Dracarthus was ready to kill him in that instant, as he was craving bloodshed. He knew however, that such a course of action would be detrimental to his stealthy passage of the gate. Instead, he conjured up magical restraints to chain Sapphire to the floor. “Sombra? There’s a name I didn’t expect to hear again. It looks like he took on a life of his own.”

Sapphire was visibly confused. “Wait, what? You’re not Sombra? But then how…. Wha… That would mean... “

“That i’m even older? You got that right, but i’m afraid your little revelation will die with your free will.” Dracarthus let out a malicious laugh as one of his shadow tendrils started to approach Sapphire.

“No, not like this! I will never let myself become an agent against the empire! No! Long live the Empresghurgh…” Sapphire’s final cry of defiance was cut short by the tendril beginning its wicked work. A few moments later, and Dracarthus had a new minion, and even more information. Disbanding his goons protective circle, his spells, and donning his disguise once more, Dracarthus had Sapphire let them through the gate.

“You’re all set to pass! Have a nice trip in the West District!” Sapphire said with a fake smile.

“Why thank you. See you around.” Dracarthus said with an insidious grin.


o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o


Cadence sat on ther throne and mulled. She wasn’t pleased with the discovery at all. What bugged her the most about it was the lack of information surrounding the whole thing. No one knew when the horn went missing, who took it, why they took it, where they took it, or what they were planning on doing with it. Cadence didn’t like being kept in the dark, especially when it was out of her control, and her entire empire was at stake. 

She needed answers, and for those, she was going to need more modern records. After all, it had only been a few years since Sombra was defeated, so books on the topic either wouldn’t exist yet, or would have little to offer. Certain records could shed some light on the subject, she went across from the palace to the Crystal Library to ask for records. When she arrived, she saw an elderly librarian sorting through some books at the front desk until she saw Cadence.

“Goodness me! Princess Cadence! What brings you to our humble library?” The librarian asked with a glimmer of excitement in her eye.

“I’m actually here for some recent records.” Cadence said with a warm smile.

“Records? Sure thing! What kind of records do you need?” The librarian questioned as she began to lead Cadence to the records room.

“I need all of your records on business or public activity concerning Sombra since his second banishment.” Cadence said in a lowered voice to emphasise confidentiality.

“I’ll get them to you right away!” The librarian said as she began to pout over file drawers with a precision that only Twilight could rival. “S… N… M… E… Hm, that’s odd.”

“Something wrong?” Cadence asked with a concerned frown of worry crossing her face.

“Well, it seems that all of our records on business and news activity are here, but the public activity records are missing. Just, poof!” The Librarian looked just as puzzled and worried as Cadence.

“What do you mean public activity?” Cadence said while raising an eyebrow.

“Public activity is a broad term that covers charity events, organised religion, rallies, concerts, expos, fairs, or any other event the public can attend, be a part of, or is made broadly aware of.

“Considering the subject at hoof, I think missing records, especially public records is a problem.” Cadence said while beginning to show signs of panic. “We need to find out who took or destroyed the records. Our best chance is the last pony to request these records. When did you last see these records, and who requested them last?”

“Well, I went thought the records to add new files just last week like I always do, and I had to add a couple files to add to that folder, so it was there last week. As for the last pony, I could never forget! He came in a couple of days ago, middle-aged unicorn, covered in machine grease. He asked to see the records, and I asked him why he would want to see records on Sombra. Told me he was stuck in a dead-end job at a chariot repair shop in the West District, and that he wanted to become a history major and make more money. He said he wanted to study the records to learn more about Sombra’s relevance in modern times, so I let him go into the record room and read them. I thought he had been reading them, but he might be the one who took or destroyed them. No one else has asked for those records in forever!” The Librarian continued opening and closing file cabinet drawers, looking to see if the file had been misplaced.

“What did he look like, specifically?” Cadence asked with urgency in her voice.

“Oh, well, I didn’t get a good look at him. He was a dark blue, wore these overalls with pockets full of bolts and socket-wrench heads and knick-knacks like that, and he had a bolt for a cutie mark. That’s all I know.”

“It’s a start. Thank you miss!” Cadence said while rushing out the door.

“Glad to be of service Princess!” The librarian called just before the crystal doors to the library shut with a loud thump.

Cadence took flight as soon as she was out in the open and rushed back to the castle. She found Shining nursing Flurry Heart in her room, and asked him for a moment. After setting Flurry Heart back in her crib, Shining stepped outside the door to see Cadence.

“What do you need honey? You look stressed.” Shining said in a concerned tone.

“I need you to get me four undercover royal guards while I find a disguise. Can you do that for me?” Cadence said while dancing on her hooves.

“Um, I think you need to back up a bit. What is all this for? Undercover agents are important, and what is a disguise needed for?” Shining said with a playful smile.


“Well, I went to go look for public and business records relating to Sombra, and the public activity records are missing! Someone took them or destroyed them! So I need to find whoever is at the bottom of this, because then I can either get the records, or squeeze some info out of the offender.” Cadence stomped her front hooves righteously to prove her heroism.

“That sounds troubling. I can get you those guards, but where are you going?” Shining said while looking for a messenger around the castle with Cadence.

“I have a lead that the suspect might be in the West District.” Cadence put on a more business-like face, making it clear she would not be persuaded to another course of action.

Shining sighed in defeat. “You know I don’t like the Industrial District. It’s not safe for someone like you.”

Cadence put on an adorable smirk. “Shiny, I’ve saved this empire twice, I think I can handle some street thugs.”  

“Fine, have it your way. I can get you everything you need, and fast. Give me thirty minutes, and meet me in the main foyer. We can finalize your disguise and go over everything there.” Shining said before he took off into the halls of the castle.


o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o


Something strange was happening, something terrifying. Dracarthus could sense it. The powerful aura of love magic at the center of the empire was moving. Not all of it, but a massive concentration of love magic was moving into the West District. Curious, and eager to be alone, Dracarthus decided to send his minions to investigate. And remember you nitwits, keep your distance. 

Yes, oh dark one. We heed your rapturous word.

I need to make them sing my praises a bit less. It’s begun to bother me. With a small mental note logged, and his minions dismissed, Dracarthus looked for a quiet and secluded place to begin combing for spikes in dark magic. As he walked down the street, he noticed the tone shift from commerce in the East District, to Industry and repair in the West District. Weary of any new aggressors, Dracarthus sized up everyone on the street, seeing if anyone was tailing or watching him. Other sized him up as they passed by, but most thought nothing of a cap-wearing brown unicorn.

After a lot of time walking through street after street, Dracarthus found an abandoned shipping warehouse, yet to be condemned or demolished. Waiting for a lull in pedestrian traffic, Dracarthus managed to slip inside unnoticed. After finally finding a dark corner full of overgrown vines, he sat down, and concentrated on monitoring all of the magic pulses in the area. As he shut his eyes and began to focus in on the ambient magic around him, his horn began to glow a thick and opaque dark purple. 

He could see it in his mind, flashes of light all over, dotting his surroundings. Everyday magic surrounded him, but they were all tiny blips; insignificant, and easy to ignore. At the center of the empire, he saw the massive pulsing nexus of cyan energy that surrounded the castle, along with a cyan-gold pulse, and a magenta pulse in the nexus. Taking note of the two other magic signatures in the area, he moved back to the West District, where he saw it. Another massive ball of cyan magic, moving through the North area of the West District. Dracarthus and his minions had come in through the South border gate, but he knew it was only a matter of time before he had to run into this ball of love magic. He knew it would be ugly.

Interested to see how close his minions were, he focused in on two distinct blips of black energy, moving closer and closer to the ball of love magic. They were about 20 yards out, and Dracarthus new they would have visual soon. I hope they act wisely, for my sake.


o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o


Never thought I would ever need to wear a trenchcoat, much less one in Stallions size! I’m just glad Shiny doesn’t use it much, that way It doesn’t smell. Cadence thought as she tucked the fashionably streamlined hat she had received from Rarity farther down over her brow. She quickly looked around her, and saw that all six of her undercover guard were still ahead of and behind her. The trick to figuring out who they were was that they all wore jackets and aviator shades of varying colors and styles, and had a small heart patch sewn onto their jackets to prevent mix-ups with a similarly-dressed individual. As she walked down the street, most people didn’t notice her, and those who looked at her closely just shrugged off the similarities. The trenchcoats extra size helped, as it hid most of her mane, coat and tail without looking out-of-place. 

Focusing on her mission, Cadence was looking for an chariot and carriage repair shop, as the stallion in questions description fit the occupation perfectly, if his story was true that was. It was the only lead she had though, and with her empire potentially at stake, she had to act on it. With this in mind, Cadence began looking at the factories and warehouses all around her, searching for some chariot repair shop hidden amongst them.

Her first hit was towards the end of the North section, where she finally saw a chariots-only repair shop sandwiched between two larger manufacturing plants. She went in and found a red stallion reading a magazine at the front desk. Cadence cleared her throat to make her presence known.

“Oh! Um, hello and welcome to Rusties chariot repair and maintenance shop! How can I help you?” The stallion said.

“I’m looking for an employee of yours for debt collection. He’s a dark blue unicorn, with a silver bolt for a cutie mark. Wears pocketed overalls covered in grease.” Cadence said in a very stern tone, making her intentions clear.

“Sorry miss, but no one here looks like that. We only got 10 boys here, and no one here has that cutie mark.” The stallion said apologetically. “But all they guys at Super Shinee Chariot and Carriage Repair have those dumb overalls.” The stallion snickered that the thought of their outrageous attire.

“Where is this auto shop? I must see him soon, or his debt’s gonna get a whole lot bigger…” Cadence said maliciously, trying to sell her character to the stallion.

The stallion adopted a fearful voice.“Whatever trouble he’s in, I want none of it. The shop is two blocks down from here.”

“Thank you.” Pleased that her lie was believable, Cadence straightened her collar and headed for the door.

As she headed towards her new location of interest, Cadence spotted two figures on the sidewalk ahead looking at her. When she looked at them, they quickly looked down, and looked busy smoking their cigarettes. As she drew closer though, she noticed them groaning painfully and rubbing their temples. They then moved farther away from her. Their behavior struck her as very odd. Concerned that something was amiss, she tried to close the gap between them, but she was too far away, and they kept moving away. 

She decided to see if they were going to follow her, and she darted into an empty alleyway. She poked her head out ever-so slightly, and saw that there was a Earth Pony and a Unicorn. They Earth Pony was light brown with a white and grey mane, and the Unicorn was a teal color with a dark green mane. Both of them got closer to the alleyway, looking confused as to where Cadence had gone. She tucked her head back into the alley as soon as they got right into earshot of the alley. Then she heard them talking.

“You think she’s the source?” She heard one say. 

“Almost certain, so we need to keep tabs on her.” The other said.

“It would be a lot easier if she would stay where we could see her! My head not killing me would be nice too.” One said as she heard him grunt in pain.

“Yeah, what’s up with that? We get close to the area, and now we got splitting headaches.”

“What if she went inside one of these buildings?”

“Then we’ll have to wait her out. Let’s just hide out in the alley here until we see her again. I know she ain’t moving, because the aura is still here. URGH!” One of the goons pounded the brick wall next to him in pain.

“Don’t make a scene dummy! Let’s just wait for her in the alley and nurse these headaches.”

“Alright.”

Cadence tensed up in fear. They were coming into the alley!

As soon as they turned the corner, they stopped dead in their tracks and stared at Cadence. For 5 seconds, you could hear a pin drop. Then, the two thugs charged Cadence as she desperately scrambled out of their way to avoid their wrath. Then, something peculiar happened. Something horrifying. As both stallions managed to tackle Cadence, and started to pin her down, they began to scream in pain. Wailing violently, they both fell to the ground and convulsed violently. To Cadences horror, the eyes of the two thugs turned into black goo, which started running out of their eye sockets and then out of their mouths. Cadence screamed as her undercover guard burst into the alley, and then froze at the terrifying sight.

As the shrill cries of pure agony became sharper and more distorted, the black goo poured out even faster, until a mass of tentacles burst from their mouths. Squealing and lashing back and forth, the tendrils attempted to reach out and grab Cadence, and then her guards, but slowly withered and died until all of the black matter was dust, and the two stallions laid lifeless on the cold alley floor.

Cadence dropped to her knees, her jaw agape. “What just…. Oh my Celestia. Were they creatures of Sombra? Did I kill them? A-am I…. a murderer?”

One of her guards dropped down beside her, and laid a comforting hoof on her back. “Look, whatever they were, they weren’t going to hug you. They might have wanted to kill you. Especially if these things are Sombra’s spawn. What matters is that you’re safe, and that we still have a lead to follow.”

“I agree with you, the lead takes priority, but we’ll need to talk about this later. Where were you anyway when they started to close in on me?” Cadence said with a critical eye.

“We lost you after you darted forward to catch up with these characters. We couldn’t find you until your screams led us to you. You’re lucky we were able to shoo off prying eyes.” The guard said with an equally critical tone.

Cadence put on a sheepish grin. “I’m sorry I shot ahead, I’ll try to be safer next time.”

“There may not be a next time. Now come on, we’ll leave two guys here to deal with the situation. Stay closer to us this time.”

Cadence departed, now with 4 guards in tow, to discover her next lead. After a few minutes of walking, and more check-in’s with security, Cadence finally made it to Super Shinee Chariot and Carriage repair. Cadence stepped inside with her guards outside, and put on her tough exterior once more. She walked up to the main desk, where a blue-purple mare in overalls was at the front. “I’m here to collect some debt from a stallion one of your employees.” Cadence said in as gritty of a voice as she could without sounding male.

“Has anyone ever told you you look like Princess Cadence?” The mare asked her.

“I get that a lot. Bugs the heck out of me. Although the royal exterior does help with the job, some people find it more… intimidating.” Cadence said while beginning to feel extremely nervous.

“Well, you’re missing her vanilla and purple mane strands, so I guess it’s not all spot-on.” The mare said in a bored voice, expressing her disappointment.

I guess Shiny knew what he was talking about when he told me to dye my mane! It sells the disguise alright. “I’m not exactly eager to get called out more often, so i’ll stay the way I am. Anyway, back to business. The stallion i’m looking for is dark blue, and has a silver bolt for a cutie mark. Reportedly wears your shop’s overalls.”

“We got a guy that fits that description. Steel Nut. Nut for short. Trust me, he gets that nickname for a lot more than just shorthoof convenience.” The mare said with a twisted smile. “He came in this morning, I think he’s in the garage working on a chariot.”

Cadence, now thoroughly stressed out, breathed out heavily, and headed into the garage. As soon as she entered, she saw him. Tucked under a chariot, she could see his dark blue fur, stained overalls, and nut cutie mark. “Ahem. Mister… Steel Nut? I’m here to collect some debts that you owe.”

Nut rolled out from underneath the chariot, and dusted off his hooves. “Oh. It’s you. You finally made it. I knew it was only a matter of time, I just wondered how long it would take for you to connect the dots. The horn, the records, all of it. I must admit, you’re much faster than I thought you were.”

Cadence stood there, dumbfounded. “What? You’re connected to the…. But then….. What!?”

Nut smiled viciously. “Look at the time! I’m afraid you’ll have to connect the dots yourself!” His horn then began to glow and inky purple, and he shot a massive beam of energy at Cadence, where it landed squarely on her chest.

Flying backwards, Cadence smashed against the back wall, and yelled for her guards. They stormed in, magical spells at the ready. “What is it Princess? Who is this stallion?”

“He is an enemy of the crystal crown, that’s who he is. Seize him.” Cadence said with venom in her voice.

“Afraid you’ll have to capture me another day Empress!” Nut said as he blew open the wall behind him, and ran through the gaping hole. 

“Capture him at all costs! He cannot escape!” Cadence yelled as she flung off her coat and took flight after Nut. Cadence needed answers, and she wouldn’t let her only shot at uncovering this massive mystery slip away into the shadows.


o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o


Dracarthus raged internally as he watched the two black pulses of energy blink off the map, and felt his control over their bodies disappear. He knew it. Those stupid vessels had overestimated their abilities, and tried to head right for the source. At least he knew that the source of the magic was a somepony, and not a something. From what details he collected before his minions demise, he also knew that the carrier of the magic was female, and that she probably lived in the center of the empire, since that’s where the magic started moving from.

As he contemplated what little he knew, he saw a new blip of dark magic appear incredibly close to the massive concentration of love magic, and then disappear. Highly intrigued, Dracarthus re-focused on his mental map, and honed in on the area. Strangely, he found just a normal pony magic signature on the move away from the love magic aura. 

His curiosity piqued, he followed the seemingly ordinary magic signature as it moved faster and faster away from the love magic pulse. The love magic soon kicked off towards the normal signature, and both began to pick up speed. Interesting… Dracarthus thought. Keeping careful track of the moving magic auras, Dracarthus snapped open his eyes, seeing that it was early evening. Getting up, he slunk out of the Warehouse, and began to follow the two moving masses of magic. He smiled in glee, excited to get his blood flowing. So the chase begins.

> Hungerings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The signs of a reading binge were everywhere. The central chamber of Twilight’s castle was scattered with empty nacho plates and remnants of hayburgers, along with several dirty napkins and various note-taking supplies. In the center of it all was Twilight, curled up with her favorite fuzzy blanket and a large soda, focusing intently on the massive book that sat before her. Its pages were a fine yellow-brown, bound by a worn leather spine, covered with ornate stitching and dotted with rubies. The cover and back of the book were made of a thick black leather, stitched with other-worldly designs, made of a ghostly grey thread that seemed to shimmer on its own.


Twilight had been filled with morbid curiosity ever since the forbidden tomes had arrived at her castle. It was a whole new world of knowledge that she knew nothing of, and she was intent on learning everything she could about it. This was her 5th book, Apparitions of Darkness, and her terror only grew with each page. The more she learned of Dark Magic, the more she realized why it had become a forbidden art. She had learned about the basics of Dark Magic, and how those who wielded it fueled it with their bloodlust and hatred... the emotions that unlocked the vast mana banks of the wielder. She learned that mind control and manipulation was second nature to Dark Magic users, and how to change those that were under your control, from unwilling slaves to servants that worshipped you as their god.


It all deeply perturbed Twilight, as she hadn’t seen the things described in these books used by even Sombra, the most powerful Dark Magic user she had ever known. The list of unholy sins this forbidden art was capable of only became more vast as Twilight dug into Apparitions of Darkness, which discussed how you could summon dark minions in your own image if there were no living hosts available.


Her soda having run dry, she summoned Spike. “Spiiiiike! I’m out of soda! Can you get me another one?”


Looking extremely grumpy, Spike slammed open the doors to the main chamber. “Now I remember why I hated your reading binges at the old library... We’re out of soda; and before you ask for me to go get more, I’m getting you water, and you’re going to like it!”


“Ugh!” Twilight groaned, putting on a disappointed face in an attempt to guilt trip Spike into getting more.


“Twilight, no.” Spike stood his ground.


“Pleeeeeaaaassseee???” Twilight begged, putting on her best puppy dog eyes.


“All that soda isn’t good for you! Nothing is better than water! I’ll be back with your glass of it.” Spike said resolutely before shutting the doors.


“Fine.” Twilight grumbled to herself. “Have it your way.”


Right before she was about to go back to reading, Twilight spotted a lock of purple and cyan mane poking out from behind her stack of books. “Starlight? What are you doing here?”


“YEEP!” Starlight jumped straight up into the air in surprise. “Oh! Eh…. Um….. Well… You see….”


“Starlight. Don’t lie to me. Were you reading those forbidden tomes?” Twilight asked, with the most stern face possible.


Starlight cast a defeated and guilty look. “Yeah. My curiosity got the best of me. It’s almost like the book… wanted me to read it.”


“You, of all ponies, should know just how dangerous these strange spells and magic can be. I need to read over these first, and make sure they’re safe for anyone else to read.” Twilight said in an authoritarian tone.


“I’m really sorry, Twilight... It’s just that there’s so much unknown knowledge here, especially magical knowledge. It’s driving me mad that I can’t learn anything about it!” Starlight gritted her teeth in frustration.


“I know how that urge to learn feels, Starlight, but you’ll have to wait. I need to make sure nothing in these books is capable of subverting detection spells, so if you got any funny ideas... I’ll know about it.” Twilight put on a worried grimace.


“That’s what you meant by safe-to-read?” Starlight asked quizzically.


“In a way, yes.” Twilight responded with a sheepish grin.


“Huh. Not what I was expecting, but that seems fair. I’m gonna go and see if the girls wanna hang today. Have fun reading!” Starlight said before walking out of the central chamber.


Just as Starlight opened the doors, Spike came out of the kitchen with a pitcher of water and several glasses on a tray. Taking advantage of the open door, Spike rushed through through, and barely prevented spilling the pitcher of water all over the chamber floor. “That was close!” Spike looked at Twilight and grinned stupidly. “Your water.”


“Thanks, Spike. Sorry for being so temperamental earlier. I think all that soda put me in a bad mood. You were right, water is better!” Twilight smiled and poured a glass of water for herself and Spike. “Here you go! Have some water! I know you work hard to keep me happy during these reading binges. I just have trouble realizing it since I’m so busy reading!”


“It’s fine Twi, I get that you have to absorb all this knowledge in a pretty short amount of time. The least I can do is make sure you’re comfortable while reading this much.” Spike replied as he took a sip from his glass of water.


“I appreciate the understanding Spike. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to finish this book!” Twilight said with a giddy smile.


“Have fun you bookworm.” Spike snickered, and left the room.


All was quiet, and Twilight could once again focus on reading. This day was turning out to be a really fun one!



o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o



The day was going terribly for Steel Nut. Mi Amore had finally found him, and it was up to him to keep the heat off, and make sure she suspected nothing of the Order. Currently, that meant not getting electrocuted by the tazer spells she was blanketing the area with. She certainly had made the situation public, and fast. No cold or calculating response that he would have expected from a royal, just take to the skies and TAZE! Truly the mark of competent royalty.


BZZZZZZ!!!!!!


Okay, less roasting, more evading! Steel Nut banked left on West Main Street, and plowed through anypony and anything that got in his way. 


Behind him, he could hear Cadence shouting orders to her guards and civilians in the Royal Canterlot Voice. “MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!!!! GUARDS, SPLIT AND ENCIRCLE HIM!! DO NOT LET HIM ESCAPE!!!” She fared no better in the collateral damage department, as anything hit by her taser spell was charred a thick black, and sometimes caught on fire. 


Flying above did give her a minor advantage, but Nut countered by diving through narrow alleys and dense streets, making it difficult for Cadence to spot and taze him. However, he was running out of ground, fast! He could only run south for so long until he would hit the border gates, and then it would be game over. If he could make it back up North, he could get back to the temple, and would be safe from Amore’s wrath. Now, how to turn around a half-crazed monarch hellbent on tazing you unconscious?


The answer? Lose her in a crowded intersection! Running down East Main Street, he came upon the Eastern Traffic Circle. Filled with ponies, he could easily lose her long enough to turn the direction of the chase! After dodging through several taxis and chariots, Nut finally came back to Main Street, and started to blaze a trail North. Unfortunately for him, he forgot about the guards trailing Cadence, and ran straight into them. Both Nut and the guards were baffled for a second, until they got in gear and prepared for bloodshed. Nut unleashed a massive blast of dark energy, and bored a clean hole through one of the guards heads. He stunned the rest of the guards with a electro-pulse spell, which was, unfortunately, enough to make Cadence realize her error.


“THIS ENDS NOW PEASANT!” Cadence bellowed as she dived at him, taser spell at full charge.


“Oh boy.” Nut braced for impact, electrocution, death, anything. Instead, time slowed around him to a crawl. He felt another presence, too. It was warm, comfortable, familiar. He trusted it, just by the way it felt to him. Then, he felt it speak.


I can’t keep this up forever, so listen. Set up some entrapment spells around her, and then kill the rest of the guards and get as far away as you can before this wears off. Good luck. You’ll need it.


Heeding the mysterious presences words, Nut threw up several trap spells around Cadence, axed the remaining guards in his way, and hightailed it North. As he ran farther and farther away, time began to speed up around him, until it resumed its normal pace, and he heard the distant explosions of his trap spells activating. Two could play the maim game.


Soon, the streets and buildings became more and more familiar, until he finally found the Temple. Or at least, the building on top of the temple. It was Xenon Glow’s nightclub, the West District club to be after a hard workday. Starting under a small hatch in the basement of the club however, was the Temple of Sombra. A holy site for those who followed Xenon Glow’s teachings, known amongst them as the The Order of Sombra. Xenon was known to his followers as Father Venebris, and he was the sole conduit to their God and master, Sombra.


The story goes that Xenon’s order first began during Sombra’s second invasion, when Xenon himself started to mess with the dark crystals generated by Sombra. He was drawn to them, and took as many as he could back to his apartment, where he told his followers he extracted the energy out of the crystals and became a vessel of Sombra. Through his connection supposed of Sombra, he learned of Dark Magic, and came to realize how powerful it was. Seeing that Dark Magic was magic in its most powerful form, and that Sombra was the creator of this magic, he decided to find those “touched” by Sombra at his nightclub, and teach them his ways. Thus, the Order of Sombra was born.


In reality, Xenon was an idiot who tried to make the dark crystals into a drug to sell at his club, and when he tried to snort the powderized crystals, they infused him with Dark Magic. As he tried to control the new magic, the darkness resisted, and slowly made Xenon go insane. So in all actuality, Xenon was a raving lunatic in the basement of night-club, teaching those he had duped into believing him what could just barely pass as dark magic.


Desperate to get to safety and hide from Cadence, Nut used the back entrance into the club, and made a beeline for the basement. As soon as he found the hatch to the temple, he flung it open and descended the ladder the temple as fast as possible. Once down, he found his way through the tunnels and into the main temple area. There, he found Father Venebris at the altar.


Nut gasped for air, startling Venebris, and began speaking as fast as his hyperventilating mind would let him. “Father Venebris! She’s finally found us! The usurper Cadence put the pieces together, and tracked me down! She’ll surely stop at no end until we are destroyed!”


Venebris rose from the altar and calmly turned to Nut. His dark purple coat seemed phosphorescent in the warm candle light, and his soft green mane glowed in the darkness of his cloak. His eyes had once been a radiant crystal blue, but had since lost their luster, and now sported slivers of red. “This day has been a long time coming. Certainly unavoidable. Sombra has told me so. No matter! We have his horn, and we shall protect it with our lives. I am curious however, how did you escape the clutches of the usurper?”


“I’m still not entirely sure myself Father.” Nut sat down and tried to contemplate his escape. “I was losing ground to the usurper, and was dead for sure, until time froze around me. A strange presence talked to me, and told me to set some trap spells and run as fast as possible. I did as it said, and ran as fast as my hooves could carry me. Slowly but surely, time melted back to normal speed, and I made it here to the temple. I heard distant explosions, so she must have triggered the traps. That should buy us some time.”


Venebris looked very upset. “Why would you heed the word of an unknown presence!? How do you know it wasn’t the usurper tricking you?”


“Because it felt warm… comforting… familiar, empowering. It felt like something I could trust. So trust it I did. I may have been a lapse in judgement, but everything about its presence felt right.” Nut hung his head in shame.


Venebris stroked his chin in thought. “If you lead the usurper straight to our door, then I will need more power than I originally planned for. I must draw upon the power of Sombra’s horn. He has long told me of his power, but now I must wield it to protect us, and his legacy.”


Suddenly, a dark voice boomed out from behind Nut. “Not so fast. That horn belongs to me.”


“Who goes there?” Father Venebris yelled.


“Just someone reclaiming stolen property.”


A dark brown unicorn in a trench-coat jumped out of the shadows and was wielding a jade butterfly knife. “Here’s how this is gonna go. You’re going to take me to the horn, and I’ll take what’s mine. Refuse, and things get ugly.”


Nut dived at the knife wielding stallion, determined to stop him from bringing harm to Father Venebris. The unicorn moved in a flash and slashed Nut’s throat open. “Any questions?”


“You have toyed with the wrong stallion you thug!” Venebris yelled in anger as he fired a massive bolt of dark energy at the unicorn. To his amazement, he absorbed the blast and charged him. After wrestling him into a headlock, the unicorn put a magic block spell on his horn. “Pah! An inhibitor spell? That will do nothing!” Venebris charged up another massive blast, ready to fry the thug, when it fizzled out. “WHAT? HOW?” Venebris was dumbfounded. He had no idea there was a magic blocker for dark magic!


“Any more shenanigans, and I find the horn alone. You wanna end up like your pal?” The unicorn gestured to Nut, who was making grotesque gurgling noises as he flailed on the floor.


“Fine. You’ll never be able to wield all of its power! Who are you anyway? Some crook looking to make a quick buck? How did you find us? Find the horn?” Venebris grew increasingly frustrated as he was let go and showed the strange unicorn to the altar in the center of the room.


After pushing a secret button on the side, the top of the altar opened up to reveal Sombra’s horn resting upon purple silk. The mysterious unicorn shoved Venebris aside and picked up the horn to study it. After scanning it over with magic several times, the unicorn’s face cracked into a broad smile.


“Who am I? I am Lord Dracarthus, the conqueror of nations, the butcher of the masses, the topller of empires, the harbinger of a new Equestrian age!” Dracarthus said as he cackled maniacally.


He had finally found it. The first fragment. He should have assumed it would be Sombra’s horn. After all, it was probably the darkest thing in this whole empire. He was just glad he had tailed that peculiar blue fellow back to this dank basement and gotten his hooves on it before that crazy fool had tried to absorb its power. That would have things much more complicated. At last, he could be one once more with some of his old might.


Beginning the ritual, Dracarthus dropped his disguise, revealing an unassuming unicorn with fur so pale it could just barely pass as gray, as well as a dark blue mane that seemed out of place amongst his lighter coat tone and very faintly purple eyes.


He then brought the horn up in front of him, and impaled his chest with it. Everything went black, and he soon found himself back in the realm of the Lost Ones.

Excellent work…  You have done well. However, your quesssst isss far from over. Your next fragment liesssss insssside the throessss of a trading village to the easssst known as Rainbow Falls. Make hasssste dark one! The element of sssurprissse issssss a limited one. You time growssss ssshort. With our magic, we imbue you with the powersss of old! 


In the waking world, Dracarthus’s limp body levitated into the air and began to twitch as the horn stuck in his chest sunk in, and his blood electrified. Crackling and buzzing, his blood whirled around him, and re-entered his body through the opening in his chest left by the horn. The wound healed itself, and Dracarthus’s body began to change. It made cracks and groans as his skeleton grew taller, his coat became slightly darker, and his mane lengthened as well as donning strands of black-ish purple. At last, he opened his now light red eyes, and descended to the ground.


He took a deep breath, and stared at Father Venebris, who was now on his knees in reverence. “It appears you’ve had a change in attitude, however your past transgressions will not be overlooked.” He summoned magical shackles to bind Venebris, and walked over to examine the body of Steel Nut.


“Tsk Tsk. My. What a waste of good meat. He could have been such a capable minion. Come to think of it, why don’t we give my new power a little test-run, shall we?” He looked over at terrified Venebris.


“Wha-What are you going to do? He’s dead!” Venebris exclaimed in terror.


“Not for long…” Dracarthus replied with an insane grin. His horn began to light up, and Steel Nut’s body was wrapped in dark energy. As Dracarthus worked, he could hear the sounds of the body twisting and crunching. But something was wrong. The innate dark aura of the body was fighting him, as if it was rejecting his power. It writhed and clawed at his invading magic, desperate to keep itself in control. What resulted was the cocoon of energy exploding into tons of smoke. When it cleared, a horrifying eldritch creature that had once been a pony stood before Dracarthus. It had thick black tendrils that extended from Nut’s former right eye socket and mouth, with a plethora of other tendrils extending from his chest, skull, and belly. His mouth was clear, and now full of razor sharp teeth.


“Well then. What’s this little abomination?” Dracarthus closed his eyes and focused on the creature. He could feel its mind bound to his, but not all of it. He tried to make it move, but it instead meandered in a circle. So all I can do is influence you. Interesting… Next he tried tapping into its memories, and he was met with a flood of information.


Second coming of Sombra? A third princess? Hunting him? A Father teaching him dark magic? The princess wounded?


Hmm… All very interesting information.
To further test the creature's abilities, he tried to look into it’s conscious mind. He was met with the mental  equivalent of 110 decibels of static. Shocked and pained, Dracarthus ripped himself from the creature's mind, but came away with an overpowering feeling. Hunger. For flesh. This… thing wanted meat, fleshy meat. Badly.


Dracarthus asked it to stand still, and it obeyed. He turned to Father Venebris. “So it seems this thing is of your doing. Whatever dark magic you tried to teach this moron while he was still alive was rotten and hollow. As such, it corrupted my minion spell, and now he’s this creature. You know what he wants? Meat. Fleshy meat.”


Venebris’s eyes widened in horror. “No! Please! I-I-I can help you! I can give you more power! Find you followers! PLEASE!”


“Minion!” Dracarthus shouted, and the creature turned to face him. “Eat.”


“NO! NO! NOOOO-AAAAAGGGH!!!!!” The air was filled with the crunching and tearing of the creature, complimented by the screams of a chained and helpless Father Venebris. When his dead body had been eaten, his carcass was filled with a black goo, and he too grew tendrils and teeth.


“Well then. Looks as if you’ve got an infectious personality.”



> Gnawings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Go! Go! Go!




...




Cady? Are you there…?




...




I need to know if she’s gonna make it! I HAVE TO!




…








Cadence opened her eyes and observed her surroundings. She was in a clean white hospital room, bound in several different casts. The windows on the far side of the room were open, which brought in some warm sunlight and a cool breeze. When she tried to look around, her neck refused to move and erupted in pain. “AGH!” She screamed, “That hurts…”


A soon as she spoke, she heard sounds of surprise from across the room. A doctor, accompanied by two nurses, entered her field of vision. The doctor gasped, “Your highness, you’re awake! Do you feel alright?”


Cadence grumbled and tried in vain to shift about in her bed. Her front hooves were layered in cast material and suspended above her by pulleys and wires, making it impossible to move her front half. “I feel… numb. And tired. What happened?”


The doctor breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. The official report says you were hit by three class-four trap spells while in pursuit of a wanted individual. Your front hooves, neck, skull, and chest all sustained major injuries. Your alicorn physique was the only thing protecting you from certain death!”


Cadence frowned. “Certain death. Fun. You said I was chasing someone? Who?”


“You must be suffering from short-term post-trauma amnesia. You were chasing a unicorn by the name of Steel Nut who is now wanted for attempted regicide, evading the forces of the crown, and conspiracy against the empire.” The doctor looked over at the nurses. “How are her vitals?”


“Stabilizing. Her healing also seems to be moving at a much faster pace than normal. A couple more healing spells and tonics and you’ll be out of here by sundown your highness!” The nurses put on a broad smile to try and lift Cadences spirits.


Just as the doctor and nurses left Cadence to think, Shining Armor flung open the door with Flurry heart strapped to his chest in Cadence's baby carrier. The sight of it was too much, and Cadence burst out into laughter. “HAHAHA! That is too funny Shiny! I never thought I would see the day my husband carried our child in MY baby carrier!”


Shining Armor walked over to Cadence’s bed and wiped a tear from his eye. “I’m just glad to see that you’re okay and that your spirits are still high. These past few hours have been about as stressful as when we had our little munchkin!” Flurry Heart giggled and cooed in response to the attention. When she saw Cadence, she started squirming in her carrier and tried to reach out to her. “Not yet Flur! Mommy needs her rest! You can snuggle once she’s all better!” Shining said as he nuzzled her.


Not one to be outdone, Flurry Heart teleported out of her carrier, and onto Cadences face. She then giggled furiously and cuddled Cadence. “Aww… I love you too Flurry, but we can properly snuggle later.”


Shining Armor gently grabbed Flurry Heart and put her back in the carrier. “So, onto more serious matters. The pony who attacked you has been confirmed as Steel Nut, and we’ve placed him as the highest priority target possible. Funnily enough, your guards swept the rest of the West District and found nothing. No clues, aura, eyewitnesses, nothing. All anyone reports at the time of the incident was that there was a pony running down the street at ridiculous speeds. No one could say who it was, or where they were going, but our men suspect it was Nut. Do you know anything else?”


“He has something to do with Sombra. I’m not sure how or why, but he knew about how his horn was missing, which leads me to believe he could be connected. I don’t know, or remember much else. We can review this again once I'm out of this bed.” 


Cadence gritted her teeth in thought. I should be out on the streets, or on the throne. Anywhere where I could help catch that psychopath... and hopefully find the truth about Sombra.


“Alright, that sounds good. Anything el-- wait a sec, someone’s at the door.” Shining walked over to the door of Cadences hospital room, where she saw a royal commander talking to Shining Armor. He put on a concerned face began walking back towards her bedside. “The guard needs me. Apparently, there’s been a disturbance of some kind in the West District, and it might be Nut resurfacing to cause more chaos. I’ll get Flurry to Sunburst, and we can talk later once i’m back. Is that good?”


“Sounds great, hun. I’m not going anywhere fast, anyways. Heh. Be safe!” Cadence lifted up, kissed Shining on the cheek, and smiled.


“I always am. See you later!” With their final goodbyes said, Shining stood up and left.



o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o


Earlier...



Dracarthus was fascinated with the creatures he had created. He had spent hours studying them in every way possible. The first thing he discovered was that he could actually command them, but only with basic things that came naturally to the mindless beasts. Anything more complex than “go here” or “eat” just became a suggestion. When it came to their higher mental processes though, there was little to study. All Dracarthus could find inside the creature’s minds was an impulse to feed.


To an untrained mind, these things seemed like useless horrors that did nothing but kill and eat, but Dracarthus’s mind saw further, and realized their vast potential. They could become an army that could quickly replenish its own numbers, they could destroy entire villages, cities! ...Empires. In that instant, Dracarthus used all of the knowledge he had gained to put the pieces together. With the third princess looking for a fugitive, she would most likely put the empire on lockdown. These wonderful little abominations would serve as the perfect distraction to escape the empire, and would conquer the place for later use to boot.


He finished exploring the underground temple and came back to the altar room with saddlebags packed to the brim with supplies. It turns out that Xenon Glow was preparing for Sombra to bring about the end of days, as well as salvation. He called it the “rebirth” when describing it.


“I’ll never understand why you ponies think packing food and water will help you survive the apocalypse. You’re only delaying the inevitable. Besides, extending your suffering is my job.” Dracarthus flashed a razor-bladed grin at the two creatures that stood idle in the altar room. “I really need a name for you… things. I can’t keep using vague pronouns to refer to you. Hmm… they used to call magical-made diseases ‘scourges’ anyway, and I suppose that’s what you are. Scourges it is!”


Satisfied with the food and supplies he had packed, and ready to take on the Crystal Wastes to the east, Dracarthus donned his familiar disguise once more, and climbed the ladder out of the secret temple. Poking his head down the trapdoor, he motioned to the Scourges. “Come on now! You’ve got a long night ahead of you!”


The Scourges groaned in response and used their tendrils to climb the ladder. “Hurgglelarg… eat… hungry…” they moaned as they rose.


Dracarthus checked his bags one last time and smiled sinisterly at the Scourges. “I know you’re starving for some flesh, but you’ll have to stay down here until I give the word. Good?”


“Urrrrgh….” The scourges groaned again.
“Fantastic.” Dracarthus grumbled as he rolled his eyes. “Glad you’re so conversational.”


Ascending the basement steps, Dracarthus noticed that the sun was beginning to set outside. It couldn’t have been better timing. He could escape under the cover of darkness, and with the chaos caused by the Scourges, it would only get better with less light. Ready to begin his journey, he slipped out of the back of the nightclub, and onto the streets of the West District once more.


He would need to get to the southern border gate, and then take the southern exit to the train station, where he could catch the final train to Rainbow Falls. It would be one perfect fell swoop, but he would need to time everything down to the second, and make a few assumptions for it to all work according to plan.


Wasting no time, Dracarthus headed for the south gate as quickly as his legs could take him, and began to stake out the guard presence in the area. As expected, there were twice the amount of guards as normally posted, keeping watch over the gate, and thoroughly scanning down everyone passing through said gate. Melting into the crowd as he neared it, Dracarthus finally gave the mental word to his scourges.


Go my scourges! FEED! Sate your hunger, and further your kind as you so righteously deserve!


Dracarthus chuckled joyfully as he felt the hunger of the scourges rising through the roof, and their adrenaline spike dramatically. Ready to make his move, Dracarthus monitored the guards at the gate very carefully, looking for any sign that they might break rank to deal with the threat he had unleashed. He could feel the new minds appearing into his collective, giving their memories and free will to him, as well as undying loyalty. As the number of chittering minds grew, that ever-present feeling in the collective grew stronger and stronger. Hunger. A relentless, insatiable hunger for flesh, a never-ending thirst for blood, the instinctual desire to kill that Dracarthus hadn’t felt in a long time. It was something he loved, as it was that instinct that formed the backbone of his empire so long ago, and might form again in this new dawn. Continuing to look for a sign from the guards, Dracarthus profiled the entire gate staff, trying to see if anyone had received orders.


Then he saw it. In one of the paper checking stations at the gate, a scroll with a red wax seal teleported in, and the stallion in the booth fumbled in surprise and then opened it. It took a few moments for him to read it, but once he did, the stallion scribbled something on the scroll, re-sealed it, and then teleported it away. After sending off the scroll, the officer closed the booth and headed outside to talk with several of the soldiers posted at the gate. After what appeared to be a heated argument, several soldiers left the gate, as well as both paper checking stations. Dracarthus had nearly accomplished his goal. Almost. There were still four guards manning the gates, but Dracarthus knew that he would have to move now, before the gates became overrun by panicked citizens. The only way to get by would be a teleportation spell.


It would be risky, but it would be his last chance to get out of the Empire and to Rainbow Falls fast enough to get the next fragment before heads started to turn. Determined to make it, Dracarthus approached the gate terminal leading to the southern exit and began to focus.


“Sorry sir, but the gates are currently closed. There’s been some sort of unrest in this area, and Captain Shining Armor along with most of the guard are currently investigating the source of it... Sir?” The guard tensed up, and signaled to his fellow officers to ready for something.


Dracarthus was standing still, focusing as hard as he could, trying to prevent his horn from lighting up until the last second.


The guard was becoming more and more nervous. “Sir! Do not attempt to cast spells within the vicinity of this checkpoint, or you will be subdued with force! That’s your only warning!”


Finally drawing upon all of the magic he had available to him, he summoned it all in one giant burst and managed to teleport beyond the southern exit gate.


“HEY! YOU CAN’T BE THERE! STOP!” The guard drew his spear, and flung open the exit gate, barreling after Dracarthus. “GUARDS! HELP ME! STOP THIS STALLION!”


Two more guards left the gate to chase after Dracarthus, but he was hellbent on making it. Hiking turnstiles and weaving through closed areas, Dracarthus attempted to lose the guards as he inched ever closer to his goal: The southern train station. If he could melt into the crowds there, he might lose the guards and be able to grab a train. After rushing past several flustered construction workers, and sliding underneath several lengths of construction tape, Dracarthus had made it into an open area of the train station. Sure, they were the exit terminals, but it was progress. Hearing the guards closing in behind him, as well as the shouting and tearing of tape, he knew that if he wanted to make it, it was going to be close. Passing surprised citizens and the now rather angry security, Dracarthus frantically glanced at the signs around the station, searching for the train to Rainbow Falls as he ran closer and closer to the main platform, where there were two trains waiting.


Looking at the signs on each, he saw that the second train was the one leaving for Rainbow Falls. Leaving, as in leaving the station right now! Not wanting to be left in the dust to be tackled by station security, Dracarthus made it to the edge of the platform, made a massive leap, and managed to just barely grab onto the railing on the back of the caboose. 


Climbing up and onto the train, Dracarthus turned back to smile and cackle at the immensely flustered guards and security, of whom were currently standing on the edge of the platform. He mockingly waved goodbye at them, and opened the door to the caboose, entering his train to Rainbow Falls.



o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o



Shining Armor trotted into the West District barracks in his armor, curious as to why he had been summoned. Heading for the district commander’s office, Shining noticed dozens of soldiers, all bruised and battered, and some being sent to the med bay. Concerned, Shining opened the door to the commander’s office and cleared his throat.


“Commander! I’ve finally arrived. What seems to be the problem? I was told there was some civil unrest that needed my attention. Are there riots in progress? A band of criminals on the loose? Why are so many of your men in such bad condition?” 


Commander Ruby Quiver turned around in his chair to face Shining Armor with a somber expression on his face. “Whoever told you this was civil unrest was sorely mistaken. This is becoming a threat to national security.”


“Well everyone has been so vague about whatever ‘this’ is, so... what is it? What’s being so destructive that it’s becoming a threat to the empire?” Shining said, thoroughly irritated.


Ruby's tone turned dark and mysterious. “That’s just it, no one knows. All we have are the ramblings of panicked civilians and the hallucinations of dying soldiers to give us clues. It’s like some sort of phantom has been killing the ponies, and no one can tell what it is, or where it’s going. All we know is that whatever it is, it’s in the northern part of the West District.”


Puzzled, Shining stroked his chin in thought. “But how can we know where it is, but not what it is?”


Ruby sighed at his grim speculation. “It’s either not there, and everyone has caught some sort of infectious madness, or this thing is very good at killing ponies...”

> Biting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shining Armor exited Ruby Quivers office hungry for answers. He needed to figure out what was causing so much damage and panic in the northern section of the West District, and he needed to do it fast. “Guards! Those of you who are able-bodied need to suit-up and come with me! We’re gonna try to get to the heart of this panic, and figure out what’s going on!”


On of the guards spat out some blood on the floor and glared at Shining. “I’ll tell ya what’s going on. Everypony’s going nuts trying to get out of here, and beating up anypony that gets in their way. Whatever’s in the center of that stampede of jerks can stay hidden for all I care. Those basket-cases deserve their comeuppance for acting so selfish.”


“That’s exactly why we need to figure out what’s in the center! Normal ponies don’t act like this! Whatever’s traumatizing them is bad, and we need to put a stop to it!” Shining grabbed a spear and sheathed shortsword from a weapon locker, and then headed for the door. “So if anypony here wants to do their duty to the empire and help placate the populus, come with me!”


After much grumbling and shuffling, about 12 or so guards walked to the front and prepared to move out.


Shining Armor smiled. It was good to see that there will still some brave individuals in his forces. “Let’s move out! We’ve got a boogeymare to find! HOO-RAH!”


The guards energetically reciprocated Shining’s battle cry. “HOO-RAH!”


Pouring out onto the street Shining and his squad immediately noticed something, or rather, smelled it. Smoke. Something was burning. Looking up north, Shining saw smoke rising up from the area, but no flames. Yet.


Okay. New objective. Stop the flames from destroying the Empire! Shining turned to his squad. “Anyone here know the hydrodirect spell? Looks like we’re gonna need it!”


One guard piped up. “I was a firefighter before entering the guard! I know the spell!”


“Excellent! Our primary goal is now to put out those fires, and then solve this mystery! Let’s move out!” Shining Armor readied his spear and charged out onto the streets, making a beeline North. His squad followed suit, also readying their weapons for potential combat. 


Drawing closer and closer to the fires and screams emanating from the north, Shining noticed that the amount of ponies crowding the street and panicking was thinning, and the pungent smell of blood and smoke filled the air.


Now Shining was scared. Ruby was right. This wasn’t unrest. This was murder. Whatever had been here had killed a lot of ponies, but something was wrong. Something was off. There was blood everywhere, but no bodies. This deeply disturbed Shining, but also piqued his morbid curiosity. “Alright guards. There’s evidence of dead ponies in the area. Ready your weapons and move out.”


It was now obvious from their faces that each of Shining's squad members were also petrified of the atmosphere. They were quivering in their boots, and definitely re-thinking their decision to go with Shining Armor.


Moving deeper into the haze and smoke, strange chittering sounds became audible from farther down the street. They were soft and rhythmic, and turned the eyes of Shining's squad into the size of pie plates. Despite every bone in Shining Armor’s body screaming at him to run away as fast as he could, he pressed on and tried to find the sources of smoke.



After only a little more walking, Shining finally spotted the interior of a storefront being consumed by flames. “We got a fire here! Help me put it out!” Shining yelled over the sounds of the flames as he rushed over to a fire hydrant with the member of his squad who knew the hydrodirect spell. After Shining unscrewed one of the hydrants nozzles, his squad-mate cast the spell and got to work. Spraying the water all over the shop, and dousing most of the fire, the torrent of water was able to quickly quench the flames.


However, once the noise of the water and fire died down, the chittering sounds that had sounded far away were now louder, and presumably closer. Then the chittering became clicking, and then hissing. Terrified, the entire squad banded together in a protective circle.


One of the guards spoke up. “You wanted to find this thing? Looks like it’s takin’ the party to us.”


Then out of nowhere, a giant glob of dark goop fell out of the air and landed just short of one of the guards. The guard, Amethyst Mace, yelped in terror and fired a bolt of magic up into the darkness from which the goo came. The following magical explosion revealed nothing but the silhouette of something moving across the rooftops. 


“Belgh!” Amethyst exclaimed. “Sweet Celestia this stuff is gross! It’s all over me!” He wiped his face. “It’s even in my eyes! Disgusting!”


Shining did a quick check of his surroundings, and then faced him. “You can do a clean-up later, wipe it off and let’s keep moving so we don’t end up getting eaten by this thing.”


Brandishing their spears, and putting on brave faces, the squad headed deeper into the West District.




The farther and farther they walked, the creepier it got. The buildings and streets were abandoned and cast in shadow, with the smoke-blurred twilight being the only lightsource. Even more blood was apparent in the area, but never solid proof of murder. It wasn’t until they got to a farmer’s market and put out a few more fires that they heard any substantial sounds. It was a faint groaning, seemingly emanating from one of the stalls.


Curious, but wary, Shining stepped to the front of his squad, short sword drawn. He motioned for his squad to hold position, and began to slowly creep towards the stall where the noise was coming from. As he drew closer, he saw that the sounds were coming from a stallion laying on the ground.


Shining approached the groaning stallion with caution. “Sir? Are you okay? What happened here?”


The stallion rolled over to reveal that he was missing his left hoof and several chunks of torso. “So much death… the creatures… everywhere… spared me… no clue how or why… ”


“They? Plural? What were they? What did they do to you?” Shining said as his panic only grew. Now it was a certainty that ponies were dead, and not just a possibility.


The stallion's eyes widened. “Terrifying black creatures, moved like lightning… they ate everyone… took some of my flesh too… They’re out to feed… and nothing’s gonna stop them… It hurts so bad… Please help me…”


Shining began to shake in fear. “Feed? They ate the civilians? What?”


The stallion motioned with his remaining hoof. “Go… Get out while you can. Others tried. Others failed. Even you’ll be powerless to stop them.” The stallion began breaking out into violent coughing fits. “AGH! Hurry! Get away! They’ve already heard me! Go!” The stallion continued to cough violently as Shining ran away from him and back to his squad.


He motioned to the guards. “We need to find cover now! That thing is coming this way if that stallion is to be believed! Hide, and be quiet!”


After the rest of his squad scattered like roaches, Shining found an abandoned stall to hide behind. After it got quiet, the haunting chittering and clicking became noisier again, along with the coughing of the stallion.


Trying to resist was impossible, and Shining gave into his curiosity. He peeked through a hole in the stand’s base to view the stallion’s immobile body. He was still laying there, but his body was now convulsing in pain as he coughed and groaned even more. Suddenly, three dark shadows jumped off the rooftops and near the stallion's body. 

Shining had to stop himself from vomiting then and there. They were the rotting corpses of ponies, with slick black tentacles growing out of them which suspended them in the air. They dripped blood and goo, and made sickening hissing and grunting noises as they slowly approached the incapacitated stallion.


“No! Please! I want to live! Dear Celestia no!” The stallion wept for mercy as the faceless beasts shambled closer, rumbling hungrily. Razor-teeth bared. 


But his cries fell on deaf ears, and to Shining’s horror, the creatures lunged at the stallion and began eating him alive. His screams cut the air like a knife, and the sounds of brutal slaughter followed. Slowly however, the activity around the stallion’s body stopped, and all but one of the creatures moved on. The one that stayed spit on the stallion’s dead body, and then leaped back up into the shadows.

Just as soon as Shining was about to give the all clear, and begin the preparations for the stallion’s impromptu burial, his body began to twitch and writhe on the ground. After a sickening crunch rang out, a bloodcurdling screech filled the air, and the stallion rose from the ground.


His missing hoof now had a tentacle growing out of it, as well as numerous others appearing out of his missing chunks of flesh. After licking it's bladed teeth, the stallion leapt onto the roof and into the shadows to find it’s brothers.


It all made sense now. The lack of bodies, but the blood, the silence, the figures. This wasn’t a single entity, it was some kind of disease spreading and turning its victims into ruthless predators that infected others via their spit. Spit…


Oh sweet Celestia. Amethyst.


Shining popped up and gave the all clear for the squad to re-group at one of the abandoned houses. As soon as they re-convened, the looks of terror were obvious.


One guards piped up. “We heard sounds… What in the name of the Crystal Princesses preened feathers was that?”


Shining gagged, and clutched his spear tightly for support. “The stallion I found laying on the ground was eaten alive. By those things. Then they turned him into one of them, and he scuttled away.” 


Another guard made a puzzled face. “Wait, turned? Like they infected him or something? Did they bite him?”


Shining was terrified of what would follow, but he had to tell the truth. “They… they… they spit on him.”


Immediately, all heads in the room turned to Amethyst. He spoke. “Why’s everyone looking at… oh no. Oh no. Everyone hold on! It might not happen! I’m living! That stallion was dead when he was infected!”


Shining wore a grim expression. “Amethyst, we have to take any chance you could become one of those things as an absolute certainty. Either we’ll do the deed, or you can do it yourself. We’ll make it painless.”


“You can’t be serious! I might not be infected! I could be fine! Don’t do this!” Amethyst sputtered as Shining and the rest of the squad approached him. “No! You can’t do this! You’re all crazy!” Amethyst looked around frantically, and spotted a hole in the closing circle of guards. He bolted for the opening, only to be tackled by several of them.


“NO! LET ME GO! I WANT TO BE FREE! FREE TO LIVE! FREE TO FEED!” Amethyst began flailing violently underneath the bodies of the guards, and his screams turned to shrill hissing as his eyes glazed over and his tongue lengthened. After unleashing a demonic screech, the tendrils began bursting from his body and whipping away the numerous guards on top of them. 


“ARAGHHH! FEED! KILL!” the monster that used to be Amethyst shouted.


Just as it was about to lunge at the terrified guards in front of it, a massive spear protruded from its head. After was pulled out, the monster let out an ear-splitting shriek, and began melting into black goo until Amethysts goo-covered and hole-ridden body was all that remained. 


Shining stepped out from the shadows behind his body, clutching his now black and bloody spear. “We did what we had to do. Amethyst was a warrior in life, and a warrior in death. His sacrifice so that we could learn of the dangers here will not be forgotten. For now, we need to get out of here. It looks like everyone who was once here has been infected, and is moving elsewhere. We need to contain these beasts and quarantine the empire. Once we’re out of the West District, you’re all released to begin spreading the warning. Tell them you have my orders.”


The guards saluted him. “Yes sir!” They said in unison.


With their orders assigned, the Shining and his squad began to head back to civilization.









o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o



Cadence was jutted awake by the prodding of a nurse. “Ehrm… Dinner will be ready in a minute hon… Let me just put the baby to rest... “


The nurse poked Cadence again, and spoke. “Your highness? Wake up!”


Cadence shifted in her bed, and sat up. Her casts were gone, but she was still hooked up to some medical equipment. “Wha? Oh! I must have fallen asleep. What do you need?”


The nurse looked frightened. “We have to move you and your hospital bed back to the Castle.”


Cadence put on a puzzled face. “That sounds like good news! Why do you look so worried?”


The nurse smiled sheepishly. “It’s because the reason we’re moving you is due to the civil unrest in the West District is reportedly getting worse, and might begin causing chaos here in the North District! We need to move you back to secure grounds for your protection.”


Cadence was now the one who looked worried. “Oh my! I hope Shiny is ok! He went to the West District to investigate the disturbances.” Cadence shrugged. “Nothing my soldier can’t handle! But if moving me makes us safer, then go right ahead! I have no objections.”


The nurse bowed respectfully. “Thank you your highness. We’ll begin moving your bed in just a few minutes.”


After the nurse left the room, Cadence slumped down on her bed and wondered about the civil unrest situation. She knew when something was off, and whatever prompted her moving would need to be a lot more than “civil unrest” to cause action. Something wasn’t right, and Cadence needed to figure out what was really happening before something actually bad happened.


Suddenly, a royal guardspony burst into the room. “Your highness! The transport is ready! Are you ready to be moved?”


Cadence nodded. “Indeed. Why aren’t the nurses moving me?”


The guard signaled for his other soldiers to enter, and they began prepping all of her equipment and bed for travel. “Well, erm… we thought it would be safer if we oversaw the transfer.”


Cadence had had enough of this deception and lying. “I want the truth. That’s a royal order.”


The guard picked up Cadences bed, and swallowed nervously as he began moving. “You’ve got a keen eye your highness. The truth is that whatever is happening in the West District is still unknown, but reports have indicated it could become a national emergency. Your husband and his men should be returning shortly with preliminary scouting details, and we will know more with time.”


“Thank you for your honesty. I hope all is well, and this scuffle is over soon.” Cadence said as she was loaded into a covered medical carriage. “Let us move!”


“Can do!” The puller of the carriage said. 


With that the carriage was off, with one princess and five guards in tow. As Cadence looked out the window of the carriage, she saw distant smoke on the horizon, wafting up into the sky in thick black plumes. One of the guards took notice as well. “The people grow nervous. Already strange rumors flying around about dark monsters stalking the burned houses. Fire crews are doing the best they can right now.”


Cadence nodded grimly. “I wish them the best. This day only gets crazier.”


The guard grinned. “Don’t worry your highness. It’ll get better. The storm will pass.”


Suddenly, the guard whirled over to the left window of the carriage to see three figures running along the rooftops beside them. He turned to his comrades. “We got hostiles tracking the carriage at 3 o’clock, confirm more at 9 o’clock?


The guard on the right side spoke up. “Confirm another three hostiles at 9 o’clock. Prepare to engage.”


As soon as the Guards drew their shortswords, a sickening scream and crunch was heard from the front of the carriage, and the world seemed to move in slow motion around Cadence as the carriage was flung on its side and the roof was busted open. She was thrown out of her bed, and heard bloodthirsty screeches and roars mixed with the yelling and screaming of guards as her vision faded away, and the sounds of terrified bystanders filled the air. The last thing she registered was her body being hefted onto the back of something, and it moving as she blacked out.




o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o




It had been 5 minutes since Shining had exited the West District and broken up with his fellow guards. Things had only gotten worse since then. What was once the busy street Shining had galloped through to get to the danger was now another victim of it. Abandoned, smeared with the blood and possessions of once good ponies. However, Shining wasn’t far from the action, as he had slowly gotten closer to the sounds of death and destruction emanating from the center of the West District.


It was slow due to the fact Shining had to remain incredibly alert at all times. Every block he inched up was a fresh new mystery of potential danger, and one he had to brave alone if he wished to get any closer to saving lives.


But he was almost there. He could taste it. His anger mixed with the sounds of agony coming just blocks ahead of him finally took their toll, and Shining snapped. Drawing his skysteel shortsword and unleashing a primal bellow, he charged ahead at full speed, and exploded onto the scene.


The monsters were everywhere, dozens of them climbing rooftops, chasing down civilians, and eating the unlucky ones. They were all preoccupied with their mindless destruction until Shining stomped his hooves in the street.


“HEY UGLIES! YOU WANT A REAL CHALLENGE? BRING IT ON!” He yelled before leaping into the air and landing on top of one of the beasts.


He whipped his sword across its neck, and then drove it straight into the thing’s chest just to be sure. It was on now. With one of their own murdered. The other creatures re-focused on the actual threat and moved in to kill. From there, Shining was a blur of motion, slicing, shielding, zapping, and disemboweling. He hefted entire beasts like they were feathers and swung them around like maces. He shredded through them endlessly, 10, 20, 30, 40. They were like popcorn. Weak, endless, and immensely satisfying.


However, what was supposed to be a heroic intervention had become an exercise in survival. The more beasts he killed, the more flooded in from every crack and crevice. One creature died, and four took its place. Shining was wearing thin, but the creatures weren’t. They were an endless horde, throwing themselves at him endlessly. Shining finally realized that he had only wasted more time, and he had probably already killed the now-infected ponies he came to save. Desperate for a way out, Shining summoned as much mana as he could into one massive concentration, and then jettisoned it at the horde of beasts. Once it left his horn, he flung up the toughest shield he could muster, and watched as his field of view was consumed in pure white light.


Once the shock wave dissipated, Shining lowered his shield, and galloped as fast as he could toward the castle. It would be the only place with enough reinforcements to have stopped the advance of the creatures. He was determined to make the castle a safe-haven. The one place desperate ponies could come to seek refuge. He only hoped it still stood, or else he had just delivered an all-u-can-eat buffet to the growing horde of beasts.


As he ran onward however, his mind drifted, and soon focused on a terrifying thought. Family. Where could Cadence and Flurry Heart be? Could they have been… ?


Shining shook the terrifying thought from his mind. He needed to make sure his family could have somewhere safe to go before he rescued them, and not just wander through the growing death-trap of an empire after he found them.


Sunburst was smart. He could survive. Besides, he was usually at the castle anyhow when caring for Flurry Heart. What’s to say he wasn’t there right now? Shining breathed a sigh of momentary relief. Cadence was secure at the hospital in the area close to the castle, and Sunburst was probably already there.


Comforted, and now even more emboldened to stop his empire from crumbling around him, Shining galloped on through the streets, warning everyone he could and gathering those willing to fight with him. The more able hooves he had, the faster everyone could fight off the beasts. He just hoped the castle wouldn’t be taken from him too.





> Feasting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight was yet again perched upon her, now tidier, chair with her favorite blanket and a cup of coffee. She was bathed in warm candlelight as she pecked away at her final synopsis on the dark arts. In the past day and a half, she had consumed nearly every tome regarding dark magic Celestia had. Or at least, what Celestia was willing to fork over for study.


What Twilight had first only understood as a strange deviation of normal magic used for secret purposes had blossomed into something much more. She now understood dark magic for what it was, a tailor-made weapon that could be utilized for a multitude of sadistic purposes. Throughout her readings, Twilight had discovered even more insane feats capable with dark magic such as physical and mental enhancement, magic vampiric abilities akin to Tirek’s powers, and even custom contagious magical diseases that spread by themselves without the need of more mana support.


However, two things stood out to Twilight. The first one was how these abilities were used and unlocked. They couldn’t just be learned, the user also had to have enough base dark energy to make the spells possible. The more base dark energy a user had, the tougher and tougher spells they could support. This was completely different from normal magic, which was only limited by knowledge. 


The second was what truly disturbed her. The dark abilities Sombra displayed paled in comparison the things listed in Celestia’s tomes, including controlling raw shadow energy. Therefore, it stood to reason whoever had been messing with Luna had to have been orders of magnitude more powerful than Sombra.


Twilight was scared to believe it, but it might be true. Even so, who could it be? No one in Equestrian history had ever been that powerful! It had to have been a fluke on Luna’s part, or else there was just a walking paradox hiding somewhere in Equestria!


Despite her worries and the potential impossibility, Twilight still mentioned the possibility of a more powerful entity in her final report to Celestia. Twilight just hoped she had read enough. She wondered how much of it would be old news to Celestia, how much she already knew. After all, she had all of the tomes in the first place. But did she read them? Twilight kept wondering and musing the night away under candlelight as her report took shape.



o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o



It was late at night, and Celestia up in bed looking over another stack of proposals from the lords and ladies of the court. They all blurred together, becoming just another mass of paperwork she had wasted an evening on.


As soon as Celestia was getting into a groove however, a familiar magical puff came from across the room, and Celestia saw a large scroll with a purple wax seal lying beside her arcane candle. At long last, Twilight’s report had come in. Excited to do something other than royal paperwork, Celestia got out of her massive bed and trotted across the room in her familiar golden and silk slippers. She grabbed Twilight’s scroll and headed over to the fireplace at the back of her room. Laying down on the rug, Celestia broke the purple seal and began reading Twilight’s report.


It was thorough, no doubt. Twilight really didn’t miss a thing. As Celestia read, she slowly began to remember all of the many different exploits of dark magic, and just how terrifyingly powerful the medium was in general. It was a good refresher, and everything seemed fine until Celestia got to the conclusion of Twilight’s essay.


As soon has she read the three words more powerful being, everything clicked. In shock at her revelation, Celestia dropped Twilight’s essay and got up as quickly as possible. Flinging on her night robe, she slammed open the doors to her bedroom and ran through the halls of the castle as quickly as possible. Wasting no time, Celestia took the sky as soon as she made it outside, and booked it to the watchtower.


Sure enough, little Lulu was out there on the balcony with a cup of tea and a book, enjoying the full moon. As soon as she saw Celestia however, Luna closed her book and set down her tea, quickly making way for Celestia’s urgent landing.


Luna looked puzzled. “My my sister! It’s been a long time since you came up here like that! You look ghastly. What troubles you?”


Celestia exhaled feverently, tired from her rapid rush to the watchtower. “Much troubles me right now. I have made a terrifying revelation, and it’s repercussions if it is true could be dire.”


Walking inside, Luna motioned for Celestia to have a seat on the sofa inside the watchtower as she settled into a chair herself. She then began mixing some more tea. “Then what is it? Your leave me in suspense!”


Taking the tea Luna made for her, Celestia sat down and sighed. “So that report I asked from Twilight on dark magic came in, and I was reading over. Everything seemed spot on and unordinary, until I got to her conclusion. She concluded through her studies that due to the nature of the feat required in order to free shadow magic like that, the being pulling the strings would have to be orders of more magnitude more powerful. A more powerful being was how she put it.”


Luna’s face went from pondering to stone cold with fear. “Oh no. You’re not thinking what I’m thinking. Right?”


Celestia’s expression turned to one of loathing and hatred. “It can only be… Dracarthus. No one else fits the description better.”


Luna gasped in disbelief. “It can’t be true! You said you killed him with your own two hooves! It HAS to be somepony else!”


“Don’t turn a blind eye. It will get us nowhere. He’s the only one who matches the clues that closely. The shadows disappearing, the lack of other more powerful users, the missing horn. All of it.” Celestia said.


Luna only looked more and more worried. “Missing horn? When?”


“A few days ago, my informants gave me word, Cadence has yet to update me on the matter. I originally suspected this was because she was busy hunting for Sombra, but this changes everything.” Celestia took a sip of tea to calm her nerves.


“If the horn is indeed missing, then you think he might… ?” Luna said.


“I’m certain of it. We will see Sombra again in time if Dracarthus has already established even a minor foothold in the Crystal Empire. If that’s true, then it’s too late for a minimal force approach.” Celestia said as her face became more neural. She was slowly wading into deeper and deeper thought.


“What do you suggest then? I was always on the supply and deployment side of that war. My knowledge of tactics is limited.” Luna said as she shifted into her chair, readying herself for a long night.


“I’ll contact my informants and ask them for information, and see what we can do from there. As for preparation on our side, I will call for Twilight to meet us here in Canterlot as soon as possible. If he is indeed back, we’ll need Twilight’s fresher knowledge of dark magic and younger mind to assist us in planning for the future, depending on how this goes. Have any cake or pretzels up here? Planning always makes me hungry.” Celestia said as she looked around.


Luna lifted up her seat cushion to reveal a hidden compartment full of spare tea bags, chips, and a few mini-bowls of exotic fruit. “I always have a snack stash up here. Sometimes you get the munchies on these long nights.”


Celestia smiled. “I know that feeling. Thank you.”


In that moment, both sisters forgot about the troubling situation before them, and simply enjoyed their midnight snacks in the moonlight as sisters, not princesses.



o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o



Shining had been searching the streets for survivors for what felt like hours. To his surprise, He had found dozens of them hiding out in storm shelters and the basements of houses. He had sent them all to the same place. The castle.


After doing one last sweep of the block he was on, Shining looked to the center of the empire, and began his trip to the great towering crystal spire that pierced the skyline. Eager to find his daughter and Sunburst, Shining tore through the streets at a speedy gallop, quickly closing the remaining distance between him and the castle.


Finally making it past the last row of buildings obstructing his view, Shining gazed upon the castle, and witnessed a disgusting scene. The castle courtyard was in disarray, with medics and guards running around frantically, most covered in blood, trying to tend to as many injured and distraught survivors as possible. There were a few makeshift tents here and there, but most survivors were strewn out on the grass, laying still and moaning in pain.


As he walked through the courtyard and closer to the castle, he could smell the stench of rotting bodies mixed with waste permeating the air. Accompanying the awful smell were sounds of misery all over. Screaming, moaning, sounds of prayer, all of it deeply unsettling and out of place for a site as filled with love and caring as the Crystal Castle.


Once underneath the arches of the castle, Shining was finally able to spot a table near the center with several high-ranking guards leaning over it. Rushing up to them, Shining took his helmet off and flashed his chest plate brand. “Excuse me fellas! Captain Shining Armor of the Royal Guard!”


All of the guards at the table turned around to face Shining, and saluted him. One spoke. “Sir! Lieutenant Topaz Gauntlet and the rest of Zircon Squad reporting for duty! We’ve been managing the situation here since the emergency started. What happened to you sir?”


Shining put his helmet back on and walked over to the table. “At ease. I was investigating the source of the outbreak while, unbeknownst to me or my men, the outbreak was spreading. We were attacked, and I only learned of the further destruction once my men and I fled the scene.”


Topaz looked confused. “An outbreak? Like a disease? With all due respect sir, if this was a disease, we would know. There are people here who have sustained combat wounds, not come down with a disease. Ponies arrive here covered in black goo, missing limbs, I mean it’s rea-”


Shining cut him off. “Ponies arrive here covered in black goo? Where have you been sending them!?”


Topaz now looked even more perplexed. “...The red sick tent, why?”


Shining’s face turned deathly serious. “We don’t have much time. Come with me, and don’t ask questions.”


Without objection, Zircon Squad followed Shining as he raced through the camp, frantically searching for the red sick tent. Thankfully, it was set away from the other tents. Perfect for what Shining had in mind. As they approached, Shining saw a nurse exit the tent. 


He stopped her. “You there! Stop! What’s going on inside that tent?”


“We’re cleaning up patients and treating their wounds, why?” The nurse said flusteredly.


“Has it come into contact with your eyes or mouth?” Shining asked.


“The goo? Of course not! I’m a nurse, not a janitor!” The nurse replied.


“Are there any other guards or nurses in there?” Shining said nervously.


The nurse made a very confused face. “No, just me. I was checking on them. What’s with all the questions?”


Shining didn’t answer. “Good. Stay out here. Don’t let anyone else into the tent. Men, come with me.” With that, Shining carefully opened the flap of the tent, and was horrified by what he saw.


Dozens of ponies, some clean and covered with wounds, others splattered with goo and unconscious. A quietly as possible, Shining picked up a torch, and began to exit the tent. But in his haste, he bumped into one of the other guards behind him, and their armor made a resonating clang.


Several patients sat up and looked around, and then focused on Shining. They all mumbled confusedly until they began to twitch and convulse in spasms one by one.


“THEY’RE AWAKENED BY FLESH! GET CLEAR!” Shining yelled as he threw the torch right at a medical gurney in the center and dove out of the tent, him, Zircon Squad, and the nurse scrambling to get as much distance as possible.


Sure enough, the chemicals in the gurney caused a massive explosion that consumed the entire medical tent in a fireball. The guards and nurse stared agape.






The nurse lost it. “WHAT DID YOU JUST DO? YOU KILLED INNOCENT PONIES! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!?” She was quickly growing angrier and angrier until she too began to choke and convulse on the ground.


Shining connected the dots. She had been around all of the subjects. They hadn’t shown symptoms, despite being around an uninfected. That meant she wasn’t uninfected at all. When Shining snapped out of his train of thought, he saw nurse’s teeth growing longer and her eyes glazing over.


“What the heck is happening to her!?” One guard screamed.


Before Shining could get close enough for a lethal blow, the nurse began to grow the telltale black tendrils. But something was wrong, they were spiked, and the ones at the base of her body were larger.


Sweet Celestia, they’re evolving! Can this day get any worse? Shining thought.



It did, because in that moment, the now bloodthirsty beast lunged at and pinned Shining. Just as it was preparing for the final blow, Topaz Gauntlet flew in from the side and drop bucked the monster’s head clean off. The monster’s body shuddered once, and fell off of Shining.


“I hate to be crass sir, but you owe us an explanation.” Topaz motioned to the massive crowd gathered around him and the rest of Zircon Squad. “All of us.”



o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o



After bidding Luna a good night, sending letters, and making inquiries, Celestia was very tired. Ready to head to bed, she headed back to her bed chambers. Once inside, she took off her slippers and nightgown, and flopped onto her bed. As soon as she pulled the covers over herself and snuggled up, Celestia was out cold.


Fog. Darkness. Fire. Smoke. Blood. Everything was a blurry mess, but it slowly became clearer as time passed. The carnage that had been wrought upon the street was clear. Blood everywhere, along with fires and obvious signs of conflict.


Celestia got up and rubbed her head. Boy, that hurt. ...Whatever that was. Celestia couldn’t seem to remember much, only that she needed to move away from the obvious danger. Once she got moving, her headache got better. What had happened here? Why was there so much blood?


In the distance, Celestia heard loud and violent noises. Intrigued, but cautious, Celestia began to slowly head towards the source of the noises, lost in thought. Why was she here? What was all of this? Where was she?


Suddenly, a giant magical explosion rocked the ground, and a blue fireball began rising into the sky. Snapping out of her trance, and running as fast as she could, Celestia made it to the site of the explosion incredibly quickly.


At a loss for words. She fell to the ground and wept at what she saw. Everything made sense now. Horrified and angered, Celestia screamed into the air, looking for any way to escape the horrific scene in front of her.


“Sister? Wake up!” Luna shouted.


Celestia sat up out of bed with a start, tears streaming from her eyes.


“Are you okay? What happened?” Luna said, deeply worried.


“We are too late Luna. Dracarthus has made his move.” Celestia said as she broke down again.



o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o



“... So, that’s what lead me to believe they spread their disease via the goo. Overall, these things are lethal killing machines, infectious, and I believe they’re evolving.” Shining’s last statement drew gasps from the crowd.


“Evolving?”


“Impossible!”


“Lies! He’s crazy!”


Shining stomped his hooves on the ground to silence the crowd. “Maybe they are, and maybe they aren’t, but now isn’t the time to debate that! What I DO know, is that they’re hungry, and that we’re the biggest source of food in the entire empire! So listen up! I know that some of you are scared, or apprehensive, or unwilling to fight, but you have to! Fight for your families, fight for the empire! Fight so that we may all see the sunrise again, and that this great nation can prosper once more! Today we will destroy the monsters trying to undermine us as one! As brothers and sisters! As WARRIORS! WHO’S WITH ME!?” Shining shouted fiercely.


The crowd erupted into thunderous war cries and cheering. Reinvigorated and ready to fight, they headed back into the camp to prepare.
After giving orders to everyone and feeling satisfied his men could watch over the preparations, Shining began looking for the head medical tent. After a little searching, Shining finally found a white tent with a red cross on it, and the words “Head Medical Tent” scrawled beneath it.


Heading inside, Shining saw several nurses checking medical supplies and looking over paperwork. Unable to find one that wasn’t busy, he cleared his throat and caught the attention of all the nurses in the room. “I hate to interrupt, but I was hoping to figure out where I could find my child?”


One of the nurses set down her papers, and motioned to the other nurses to continue with their work. “So sorry we didn’t notice you when you came in Mr. Armor! You’re looking for your kid? No worries! The doctors in the castle’s sickbay have been looking after Flurry Heat, so you should see her too! I also got a report from the hospital about half an hour ago that you wife was moved to sick bay as well!”


Shining bowed his head respectfully. “Really? I can’t wait to see both of them there! Thank you ever so much miss!”


With that, Shining walked out of the tent, and headed for the castle as fast as he could. Once there, he located the sickbay and saw a nurse at a small table in front of the doors.


“Hello there! I’m here to check in on my wife and child and see how they’re doing. Cadence must be worried sick after all of this craziness went down!” Shining said.


The nurse smiled at Shining and flipped through her clipboard. “Let’s see… List of arrivals… F… Ah! Yes, Flurry Heart is here, she was just checked in here after she was found alone in her crib. As for your wife… C… She’s not checked in. She’s probably somewhere else in camp.”


Shining’s blood ran cold. “No, the nurses at the head medical tent said the hospital she was originally at sent a report saying they’d send her here.”


The nurse’s face turned frightened. “I’m sorry Mr. Armor, but if that’s true, then either your wife was sent to another area last minute, or is unaccounted for.”


He wanted to believe her, that she was here, and safe, but his real thoughts were too powerful to ignore. Cadence hadn’t gotten out in time. The hospital wasn’t safe. He had just told himself a lie. Fighting back tears, Shining asked the nurse. “Can I just see Flurry Heart?”


“O-of course.” The nurse stuttered as she opened the doors.


Walking to the sick bay, Shining immediately spotted Flurry Heart, as she was flying around and giggling crazily. One of the doctors chasing her spotted Shining.


“Shining Armor! Thank goodness you’re here! Your little munchkin has been driving us nuts! I-in a good way! Heh, Heh.” The doctor said.


He smiled. “She tends to keep most ponies on their hooves.” Shining looked up at Flurry Heart, who was hovering just above the doctors reach. “Flur! Daddy’s here! Come here you!” He said in an affectionate voice.


Excited to see her father, Flurry cooed and flew down to Shining, landing on his chest and tightly clutching it.


“You found her alone in her crib, right? Where was Sunburst?” Shining questioned.


“That’s the thing. He’s gone. We couldn’t find him anywhere around the castle. Some say he left for some groceries, others say he abandoned the castle as soon as word hit that there was an emergency.” The doctor said.


Shining squinted his eyes in suspicion. “Sunburst wouldn’t abandon his duties like that. He must have just gone to do something else outside the castle for a bit. I fear we may not see him again.” Shining began to choke up, but fought it down. He needed to be strong for everyone around him. They were already scared enough. His despair would break them. “Well, it’s good to see that Flurry Heart is okay. Unfortunately, I need to assist in beginning the defense preparations for the camp. Take care of her, alright?” Shining said with a concerned face.


“Of course sir.” The doctor nodded.



o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o



An hour had passed, and the sun was finally slipping beneath the horizon. Torches were being lit, and much had occurred since Shining’s speech. Everyone in the camp was ready for the monsters imminent attack. They had all armed themselves as best they could, with swords, shields, bats, pieces of wood and even sharpened sheet metal, really anything that could serve as a defense. On top of everyone being armed to the to the teeth, everyone helped haul debris from around the camp to the edge, creating a large outer-wall that was now fortified with some rudimentary spikes here and there.


Finally, everyone filed into their positions on the perimeter, and not a moment too soon, as the familiar spine-chilling clicking and chittering Shining had come to know and hate began emanating from the buildings beyond the camp and castle courtyard. Just barely out of the reach of the torchlight, he could see them skittering around on the rooftops, congregating. Plotting. Preparing.


They wouldn’t catch Shining off guard this time. They had taken too much from him. His officers, his friends, and now his wife. They would pay dearly. They would pay tonight.


Then, a smaller beast crept out of the shadows, and began to inch its way across the courtyard. Shining was almost ready to give the order to fire upon it, when it was suddenly gripped by a magical field, and electrocuted into ash.


As it was scattered to the wind, the Crystal Heart pulsed with energy, and a large band of cyan magic appeared around the edge of the castle courtyard. The heart was defending the castle! Shining was dumbfounded.


He had no idea that the heart was capable of defending itself! This was their chance, while the monsters were off guard. “The heart protects us! Open fire!” Shining yelled as he charged up a massive magical shot and flung it into the darkness beyond.


He drew first blood as it incinerated the building it hit, and rocked the structures around it. The telltale goo of the dead monsters was flung everywhere after the explosion, but it too was incinerated by the Crystal Hearts shield.


The battle began in earnest as the on of the beasts let out a savage bellow, and rushed the shield with dozens of other monsters. They slammed themselves against the shield, one by one as they were violently incinerated or electrocuted by the defensive magic. Other approaching monsters were taken out by the hail of magical and physical projectiles.


Arcane bolts and spears flew through the sky, tearing apart the flesh of beast and brick of buildings alike. No matter what the ponies did, the monsters kept coming in endless throes. Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands. What felt like the entire empire was slamming against the shield and mindlessly dying for one thing. Food.


They were truly the stuff of nightmares in combat. Their teeth glistened white, and their long tongues whipped at the air as they screeched and roared in fury, egged on by primal instinct. However, the sound of buzzing and explosive incineration began to fade, and the monsters were now able to bang on the shield as if it were solid.


All of the defenders panicked. They knew what it meant. The heart was weakening. Even the power of the Crystal Heart was beginning to falter under the assault of the mindless collective of horrors. Slowly but surely, cracks began to appear in the shield, and the terror of the defenders grew.


After all, if an omnipotent artifact couldn’t hold out, how could they? Shining too was scared, but he knew what fear led to. Desertion. He couldn’t let his defensive line break.


“KEEP FIGHTING! WE CAN HOLD THE LINE IF WE KEEP UP THE PACE OF OUR ASSAULT! SPREAD THE WORD!” Even then, Shining knew he was on borrowed time. He wouldn’t lead these people to the slaughter. They would need to fall back eventually.


As soon as the word began spreading, and the fighting continued with renewed vigor, it happened. The shield made one final cracking sound, and then it made a brilliant shattering noise. The heart pulsed, and put up a small shield bubble around itself, forsaking everyone else.


The monsters didn’t even notice. They simply kept moving forward, whatever obstacle that was once there now gone. The panic was just as bad as Shining had feared, and the line quickly dissolved into chaos as the primitive walls and spikes began to buckle and snap, and the defenders began to abandon their posts.


It was too late. “RETREAT!!!!” Shining screamed as he jumped off of vantage point on the wall and began to fall back towards the camp. But as he retreated, few came with him. Some stood on the wall in shock, only to be devoured, and others jumped into the sea of chaos, giving up all hope.


It was once they had broken through the walls that the monsters began spewing their vile goo at everypony the could see. It came down in thick globs, covering some ponies entirely, only for them to emerge monsters. They were taking back the lives they had lost, replenishing their ranks.


Now hiding out in a small supply tent, Shining turned to the others who had followed him. “I know things look bleak, and they are. But we have to make our last stand here. If we’re going to go, we have to take as many of these abominations with us as possible! This where we are going to be remembered! As cowards, or heroes. You decide, but I know how I want to be remembered.” With his words of courage said, Shining exited the tent, drew a deep breath, and drew his spear.


He mustered the most savage war cry he could muster, charged directly at the oncoming swarm of beasts. Spear and arcane shield in his grip, Shining did what he did best and tore through the ranks of monsters as they came at him, teeth gnashing and tendrils whipping. Not long after, the others from the tent joined him in battle, slaying one monster after another.


Soon they were deep inside the swarm, maelstroms of death and destruction that ground up anything that came at them. But little by little, Shining began to hear the sounds of battle close by fade, and distant screams echo over the cacophony of the fight. His men were dying, and he would be next.


As the world seemed to move in slow motion, Shining noticed how dark it was, and that his soft magenta magic was the only thing lighting up his surroundings. One last light in the darkness. He thought of his wife, Cadence, and all of the fun times they had had. His child, and the joys of taking care of Flurry Heart. And he thought of Twilight. His LSBFF, who was always there through the most trying of times, and was always the voice of calm and reason in a sea of chaos.


It was those he most loved that Shining Armor of the Sparkle family thought of as the last light in Crystal Empire was extinguished.