> Pony Hill > by Dark Spark > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue: Gone > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mood: Revange Somewhere -One month after Luna's return- Luna woke up in a room that was dark. It took a moment until she noticed she was chained to a rock. "Where am I?" she called into the darkness. But nobody answered her, only her own echo came back. When she tried to break free from her chains, she noticed her magic was weak. She still hadn’t recovered from Nightmare Moon, that was why her mane and her tail weren't shining. She squirmed in her chains, which, of course, did not help. Her wings hurt because her restraints tugged to them. "The chains a breaking my wings" she yelped into the darkness again but just as little as before got an answer. After some time she heard a door open and somepony came into the room. The hoofsteps came closer and closer. As her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, she could see who came up to her. It was an old unicorn stallion with a robe, but she couldn’t spot anything further. Tatarus! She could not even see the walls or the ceiling of the room. "We will cleanse thee, Nightmare Moon" announced the old stallion. "Thou shalt be purified by this ritual, so that thou can never harm anypony again" "I'm not Nightmare Moon" Luna objected, again her voice was weak. However, the old stallion ignored her and continued. "We will lock thee up, lest thou never afflict us with" "NO" She screamed and wriggled her chains. "Let us begin!" On the stallion’s mark, ten Pegasi took off and started to fly in a circle. "Let in the sunlight!" Four Earth Ponies pulled a rope and a stone slab in the ceiling slipped aside. The sun shone straight upon Luna’s face and blinded her. She had to close her eyes as the light brightened the chamber. The old unicorn began to weave a spell and the light continually grew brighter. "Stone! Stone! Stone! Stone! Stone! Stone! Stone" chanted the Pegasi rhythmically. Luna screamed as her fur started to burn. Slowly and painfully, the flames were working ahead. Where the fire had raged Luna’s flesh was petrified and cracked. She cried and cried. However, it did not stop and the ponies around them increased the tempo of their chant. She cried and screamed until she lost consciousness -At night- Screams echoed through the room and told of her suffer. Luna suffered agonies which nobody could ever bear. She had been fossilized, though not completely restructured because she was an Alicorn. Long after all ponies had disappeared, the flames were extinguished. She continued to cry, it was a cry of hatred, suffering and revenge. Luna felt nothing except that. "I can help you" whispered a disembodied voice in Lunas ear. "I can exact revenge for you and punish those who did this to you" Suffering! I want them to suffer! "I thought so" purred the voice. "Set me free and I’ll lend you my hoof for your revenge!" Tears ran from Lunas eyes as she chose. "I'm sorry, Tia" she whispered. The once beautiful mare was broken! All she now wanted was her torturers to suffer. So she set her free. She could do what she wanted as long as she made sure that Luna got her revenge. "I'm so sorry…" > First Chapter: Hear! Hear! The Fair is here! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Golden Oak Library -One month after Luna's return- "... Bits ... Check! I think I've got everything", Twilight pondered. "Spike? ... Spike! Where are you? We have to go" she called and then paced to her room. There was Spike, lying in his basket and sleeping peacefully. "SPIKE" she called and nudged him with her right front hoof. "Not yet Rarity, just five more minutes", he muttered. Twilight waited for three minutes. She knew exactly what she had to do to wake him up. Back in the kitchen she levitated a glass, filled it with water and made it float to the upper floor. Sorry Spike, but you leave me no choice. She thought, and poured some of the cold tap water over his head. "Cold" he yelled as he woke up in fright and fell out of his basket. "What was that for, Twilight" he then asked wearily as he had recovered. "Sorry, Spike, but we have to leave, the girls are waiting" replied Twilight. "Why didn’t you say so in the first place" he called, all of a sudden already leaving the library. I'm on my way Rarity! "Wait for me Spike" Twilight called after him, while she was wondering how he had gotten downstairs so quickly. She followed him in gallop. This dragon is a hopeless case. Twilight smiled. Ponyville Fair "Yuuuuuhuuuu! We're here, darling" Rarity called when she saw Twilight. The lavender unicorn galloped directly towards her friends as soon as she had noticed them. "Sorry you had to wait for me to girls... It took a little longer." "Oh, it doesn’t matter! The main thing you're here now! Right? Right? Right? Right?" "Yes, Pinkie they main thing is that she’s here", approved Rainbow Dash. "Yeah, she's right Sugar cube! Now let's go." "Yeah", they all cried together. Mood: Creepy Fair -Dusk- "Twi ... Twilight ... Twilight..." "Wha ... What happened?" asked the unicorn mare lying on the ground, while for a moment her vision was slowly sharpening again. "You've just fainted Twi." "Awwwww my head..." She pressed her hooves to her temples. As soon as she could see clearly again she sat up and looked at her worried friends. "I'm fine girls. Really, I'm ok again" Twilight realized, getting up. "If you say so, Sugar cube", said Applejack, concerned. "We were worried about you", Fluttershy whispered. "Girls, I told you, I'm fine." The light of the rising moon fell into Twilight’s eyes and she decided to steer the conversation on that topic instead. "Hey look! Luna rises the moon", she called out, pointing to the appropriate direction. "Let's take a ride on the Ferris wheel! From there we’ll certainly have a great view" Twilight suggested. Welcoming the change of subject, her friends agreed with her, although Rainbow Dash was not that enthusiastic about it. She was virtually flying all the time, anyway. But she came along without a word; after all, they were her friends. "You were right, Twi! That view is great" said Rainbow Dash as they sat on the top of the Ferris wheel. "But how can this be so cool? I mean, I have the same view every day." "Because you look at the moon rise with your friends", Pinkie Pie happily squealed. "That's because with friends everything is beautiful, Darling" Rarity added. Spike called out and pointed with his claw at a column of smoke that slowly rose in the air and made its way around Ponyville. "Hey, girls what is that?" "I have no idea" confessed Twilight a bit concerned. As a circle of smoke had formed around the entirety of Ponyville, the black clouds sank back to the ground again. "Girls I have a very bad feeling" Fluttershy squeaked and as right on cue, the earth began to burst, where the smoke had hit it. Rarity cried "I ... It comes closer" From the Ferris wheel it looked like as if a noose, placed around all over Ponyville, would be tightened at a furious pace. But from where they were now, they couldn't get away. As the smoke had almost reached them, their gondola finally came to a standstill at the end of the ride. Most ponies had already fled. They galloped as fast but they could overtake them now. One could see that the earth didn’t really crack but more flaked off; the effect wasn’t limited to the ground below though, no, everything to come in touch with the ever tightening, invisible noose suffered the same fate: The profit booths and control stations the noose touched also began to flake. They weren’t destroyed, but oh no, it seemed they were aging about fifty to one hundred years; even the plush toys inside looked different. The plush ponies had become ugly disfigured monsters, or maybe it looked as if they had cannibalized. Other ponies because you could still see the drying blood on their nostrils and mouths. They weren't quick enough. It caught Fluttershy first, then Rarity, too. Next was Twilight with Spike on her back, then Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Only Ranbow Dash managed to escape for a while. She soared up to the cloud where her house was built, hoping to be safe there. But soon after Rainbow had slammed her front door behind her, the cloud suffered the same fate as the rest of Ponyville. "Bahahahahaha Ahahahaha" the evil laughter echoed through all over the town. "Welcome to Pony Hill! My little pony!" > Second Chapter: What are you? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Moode: City City of Fear Pony Hill The night was black and gloomy, although the moon was in the sky. There were no stars to be seen and the streets were deserted like in a ghost town. "Hello, anypony here" cried the orange mare whose flank was adorned with three apples. Slowly, she trotted along the road. "Twilight, Rainbow? Where are you? Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy" Nothing. She could only hear the wind whistling through the deserted alley. "Aaaaaaaaaaaa", a sharp scream suddenly cut through the silence. And a pony bolted out of one of the now downright dilapidated , skeletonized houses and dashed away from Applejack. Then the pony was gone. "Rose! What's going on" the mare called after her but she was already too far away. Slowly, carefully, she crept foreward and then abruptly stood still when she heard a noise from behind the door. It sounded so as if somepony was grinding something heavy across the floor. "H ... Hello? Is anypony here," she asked anxiously into the darkness. Carousel Boutique "Where we are?" Fluttershy asked anxiously, "And how did we get here?" "I have no idea, my dear, but this place urgently needs a dusting." Rarity acted firmly. She wove a little spell and made a small source of light appear at the tip of her horn. And had to realize that it was her boutique they were standing in. Scattered all about the floor lay mannequins and cabinets, piled and broken apart items; the wall paint flaked and was crumbling and the windows were smeared and shattered. Rarity’s collections for fall hung in shreds on some leftover dolls. As Fluttershy carefully examined one of the dolls it seemed to return the gaze of the scared to death Pegasus mare. "R ... R ... Rarity! It's ... it lives" she shrieked and started to desperately search for an exit. Rarity slowly walked onto the doll. She anxiously looked it in the eyes. They were purple and there was no more doubt that they lived for the doll blinked and after a few seconds it let out a deafening scream. Sugarcube Corner Candy canes and icing, icing and candy canes, candy cane decorated with icing. Large and small, Thick and thin. There were so many possibilities, candy canes in cake or in trees. Muffins with cream fillings, it was like a dream. All this disappeared as Pinkie suddenly woke up. She lay in Sugarcube corner, right by the door. "How did I ...?" She was interrupted by a loud clanking. The Sugarcube corner was almost unrecognizable. Biscuit and cake decorations on the walls looked as if something had been crushed behind them. A red liquid oozed out of some and the furniture was destroyed or completely restructured. The muffins were moldy and the prepared pies seethed with vermin. The light was weak and shone only through a hole in the roof. As Pinkie looked at the doors and windows she noticed that they were blocked and nailed up . How did I even get in here? she asked herself, and a queasy feeling spread throughout Pinkie’s stomach. As always in situations like that, she began to laugh out loud. Only this time, it didn’t help one bit and her laughter stopped dead. Then she heard taht rattling again, like metal clanking. Pinkie Pie could locate it, however. It came from the kitchen. Slowly she moved through of disgusting insects and bad pastries, to the kitchen. Golden Oak Library It was dark, very dark and tight as Twilight opened her eyes. It took a moment until she understood why she could not see. She was buried beneath a whole mountain of books. As she struggled free, she heard the laughter of a foal. She turned around but could not see anything. Twilight looked around in her library. The Golden Oak was obviously dead. Half of its trunk was gone and it had lost all its leaves. The wind whistled through a shattered window. Slowly, she realized something was missing. "Spike? Where are you Spike" Twilight cried in the hope that he was near. She galloped from room to room, but found no trace of her number-one-assistant anywhere. However, she could notice further changes in her room, as in the rest of the library. It was dark, even though the moon stood right in the middle of the sky. The bookshelves were wrecked and the books had been burnt or torn apart, one heap was even still smoldering. Her bed was broken in half and the feathers in their pillows were literally scattered all over the room. "Who are you" Asked a little filly’s voice from behind Twilight. She anxiously spun around on her hooves, but nopony was there. Right as she started over again to search for Spike, suddenly a little Alicorn stood in front of her. An Alicorn filly with a dark blue coat and a mane in light blue. "Have you lost something" the foal wanted to know. "No, I am looking for a friend" "A friend" she asked, confused. "Nopony’s here despite us” "That’s impossible, he was sitting on my back the whole time" “Then he has left you in the lurch…” "NO” Twilight replied in a hard tone. "He would never do that" "I can lend you my friend, if you want" "Your friend" Twilight asked, confused. "I'm sorry, but I can’t see anypony here" "But he is here" replied the filly and turned around. Twilight now saw something she did not expect. On the little pony’s flank was a black spot. Although the filly lacked an actual Cutie Mark it looked exactly like the one on Princess Luna’s flank. "What is your name" Twilight asked to uncover the truth. "Luna, but my big sister always calls me Lulu" Twilight’s jaw dropped. As the foal turned back to her she had a small plush doll in her mouth. "This is Spike, he is a wonderful friend. I'm sure he would like to be your friend, too” Pony Hill Applejack was frozen with fear. In front of her stood a unicorn, or at least she thought so. The light brown and very sturdy built stallion wore a helmet over his face so it was impossible to guess what he really looked like. However, this was not the strange thing: He wasn’t just wearing a helmet; it had the shape of a large pyramid. Out of the front protruded a giant horn, not only big but also broad; sticking to the truth it actually looked more like a sword than a horn. And it was obviously too heavy for the pony's head; he needed to grind it over the floor, it simply made it impossible for the pony to stand upright. Slowly he stepped towards her, closer and closer. The mare, paralyzed with fear, could only watch as he rose his head and pointed his horn towards her. Time seemed to stand still for Applejack. It was a moment of complete silence. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again, she was finally able to move. She jumped back just before the giant horn splitted the doorframe in half while also tearing a deep notch through the wall. "What the hay... What in tarnation are you" He didn’t answer, only heavy breathing could be heard as the pony, or whatever he was, freed his horn from the wall. And again aimed at her! But Applejack had by now fled, she didn’t know what in Equestria this creature could be, and she didn’t want to know in the first place. Carousel Boutique Rarity screamed even louder than Fluttershy and galloped towards the door, trying to remove the boards with her magic the same moment Fluttershy desperately tried to smash through one of them. But without success. Suddenly she heard a crack behind her. But as she turned around she could see nothing different. Everything looked exactly the same… Except for one difference! "F ... Fluttershy? D... Didn’t that doll just now have a h ... h ... hea?" the white mare stuttered. Fluttershy was too scared to answer, she could only make an incredibly high-pitched yet at the same time faint squeal, while she pressed herself against Rarity. Then they heard a clicking. It came closer, fast, very fast. Rarity couldn’t make a sound even though she had best wanted to cry out loud. That's impossible! The creature looked as if several dolls were crooked together. It had five heads and at least seventeen legs, the actual body consisted of dolls’ torsos and severed limbs and something that looked suspiciously like bare, red flesh held the whole together. Everything about it was just vile! "HEY! I’ll get you out of there" they heard Applejack's voice from outside the door. "Hurry up" both caged mares screamed simultaneously. And suddenly the door burst of its hinges and hit the puppet-monster, right before it could reach Rarity and Fluttershy. "Quick, get out of here" Sugarcube Corner Pinkie peeked through the kitchen door. What she now saw would haunt her forever in her nightmares: She saw a pony, or rather the outline of a pony, lying motionless beneath a cover of swarming insects. Slowly, she withdrew… And accidentally tossed a plate off of the counter. As it hit the ground with a deafening clank, whole crowds of insects started to stream out of pounced at Pinkie. She screamed and fed for the banisters to upstairs. Which she slide upwards ... yes, actual riding on top of them... As soon as she reached the upper floor, the mare bolted onto the balcony and jumped down without hesitation. Any normal pony would have probably been crushed by the height of the fall, but not Pinkamena Diane Pie! In slow motion she fell, and then pretty gently landed on the ground beneath. Now looking way better, she began to trot towards Golden Oak Library. Hopefully the girls were doing well… Golden Oak Library Twilight couldn’t deal with the fabric the Dragon Luna showed her looking exactly like Spike. She tore the stuffed animal out of the filly’s mouth with her telekinetic grip. "What did you do to him?" she turned to Luna. "H ... hey give me back my Spike, give back my friend", Luna cried , trying desperately to snatch her plush dragon while tears were shooting in her eyes. "I’ve got nopony but him," she pleaded. "I'm all lonely without him!" She had given up and started to sob uncontrollably. "Give him back to me! Tia, where are you?" To see little Luna so desperate broke Twilight’s heart. How could she be so stupid? Just because this doll looks kind of similar to Spike doesn’t mean that it actually IS him! How could I ever come to that thought? That's crazy, she scolded herself. "Hey, don’t cry, Luna, please", Twilight tried to comfort her and held out her stuffed dragon. "Here, I'll hoof him back, you see? I don’t know what has gotten into me all of a sudden… Can you forgive me?" she pleadingly asked the filly. "Mmmmhhhhhhmmmm… Yes," Luna hesitatingly replied, took back her soft toy with overjoy and crushingly hugged him as tight as she could. Then, after a moment she showed mercy to the plush dragon and embraced Twilight instead. "You still haven’t told me your name," the foal stated. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Twi ..." Twilight didn’t get any further for suddenly the door flew open and at once four mares stormed into the library. "TWILIGHT!” they cried out as one. Applejack had expected a lot as she slammed open the door. But not a little Alicorn filly embracing Twilight. Rarity and Fluttershy felt the same bewilderment; only Pinkie immediately got into a good mood. "Uh, who are you?" asked the pink mare, bouncing towards the little blue filly. "L ... Luna" she intimidatedely replied and pressed herself even tighter against Twilight. "You're soooo cute," Pinkie squealed and ruffled the filly's mane. The little Luna Cute