Sombra has a new power that threatens Equestria and all its residents. The Royal Sisters have divised a plan to stop Sombra. That plan involves a spell and Team RWBY. Can the 4 Beacon students deal with this new world at it's worst in their new forms
Sombra was defeated by the Royal Sisters many moons ago, cast away forever.
However, he left one thing in Equestria that would guarantee his return. One thing that would let him rule not only the Crystal Empire, but all of Equestria
And he did return...and lose. Thanks to one, small, miniscule baby dragon.
That just means one thing...
His weapon is getting stronger even now.
In the world of Remnant, Roman Torchwick has been arrested, the efforts of the White Fang have been halted, and the tournament has begun. Things are looking up for Team RWBY otherwise known as, Ruby Rose, Weiss Shnee, Blake Belladona, and Yang Xiao Long.
However, on their way to see their friends, Team JNPR, fight in the first round, Team RWBY find themselves being pulled into not only a new world, but a new conflict.
Oh, and they are all ponies now.
Can the Mane 6 and Team RWBY overcome Sombra's forces?
Or will shadows of past sins plague the land forever
In the far reaches of Equestria, is a beautiful and shining city, known only as the Crystal Empire. Normally, it's buildings shimmered in the sunlight, and glistened in the moon.
Normally...
Now the sun is obstructed by a wall of shadowy smoke. The crystals, that once sparkled and shined, now fall dull and lifeless. At night, a pony could barely see their hooves in front of their face. Even the crystal ponies, ponies whose coats and manes were almost as glossy as the empire itself, have become solemn and sullen, which is reflected by their dull and dark fur and mane. These ponies were slaves. Forced to mine the crystals that make up their empire and create statues of their evil tyrant ruler. It has been this way for many years. Now, however, this empire has one more chance for peace. The Royal Sisters, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, along with both the Royal Guards, and Luna's bat pony Guards of the Night, have made a push for the empire, and now sit on the outskirts of its border. The troops have been rallied, and Princess Celestia and Luna have readied their weapons. Celestia carried a halberd, covered in the color of her armor, a bright yellow. The halberd, had a very intricate design and could channel Celestia's magic into powerful blasts of energy. Both the sharp axe part and spear tip at the end where sharpened and polished to perfection. Luna carried a dark blue sword, the hilt carrying the symbol on her flank. This sword, also coming to an extremely strong point and matching the color of her armor, also had properties that reacted to her magic. She could create magical copies or duplicates of her sword to be flung at her enemy as well as create, what can only be described as portals that sped up her movements, allowing her to slash through her enemies.
The sisters readied themselves and flew toward a destination none of their guards could reach, the center of the empire, which yielded a massive castle. Inside this castle, was the pony they were looking for. But who was the tyrant. He is known by many names, but from creation, he was given one true title...
Sombra, King of Shadows
In his castle, Sombra looked out over the empire, his empire, and sighed. A rather normal and laid back reaction, for the king of shadows himself. It's almost as if he knew his fate.
A moving shadow approached Sombra, and stopped about two feet behind him. From this shadow, a pony rose up and materialized behind Sombra. This pony's face, if existent, was not visible, being covered by a suit of full black armor. An axe rested on it's holster on it's back.
"Sir, the two alicorns are..."
"On their way here? Yes, I guessed as much." Said Sombra, clearly knowing that the arrival of the sisters was inevitable.
"We should secure a perimeter in the throne room to hold them back from the Crystal Heart." the guard suggested.
"My thoughts exactly commander."
"Right! My men and I will..."
"...go hold off the ground troops." replied Sombra, finishing the other pony's sentence.
"But... my lord, why should we..."
"Commander, don't you see? The ground troops are obviously trying to storm the base of the castle with little resistance, we need to surprise them and fortify the base of the castle. Even I can't take on hundreds on ponies and bat ponies. Besides, what could you and your men do to an alicorn?" Sombra spoke calmly, considering the situation he was in, yet still had that sense of annoyance in his voice.
"Um, yes my lord. But what about you?" asked the commander reluctantly
"Me?" asked Sombra, with an obviously fake sense of concern in his voice.
Suddenly, a scythe, made entirely from crystals materialized from the ground, which he grasped with his magic. the scythe's handle was not a straight line either. It slants diagonally about half way up the scythe, which is where he is grasping it with his magic.
"I think I'll manage."
He then let his scythe rest on his "shoulder".
"Before you begin your defense, Is the Crystal Heart still on the top of the castle where I left it." asked Sombra, this time with a bit of legitimacy in his voice.
"Yes, my lord, it is still there, there is no way that anyone will figure the way down there without the knowledge of advanced shadow magic."
"Good, this combined with my other trap will ensure that Equestria will be mine... even if I do fall today."
"Other trap, my lord?" asked the guard without a clue of what Sombra was talking about."
"I have harnessed the power of the Crystal Heart, and with my magic, shaped that magic into something even more powerful."
"Really, my lord?"
"Yes, now go, commander, and hold the line as if you life depended on it, *scowls* which it does."
"Y-Yes my lord!" yelled the guard, fearing for his life. He then turned to shadow once more and scurried off
Sombra now made his way to the throne room to secure his position and guard the entrance toward the catacombs, which lead to the Crystal Heart.
"Heh heh, soon they will all fear me..." strated Sombra, who looked through the window at the ongoing battle.
"...and the power of the Shadow Heart."
----------
1000 years later
"Rainbow Dash! Give me back my hat!" "Or else what? You'll come up here and get me? Hah hah hah!" "Or else I'll hog tie ya up and feed ya to the nearest pack of Timberwolves!" On the far outskirts of Ponyville, 6 best friends, for now, where enjoying a picnic far from their town of residence, to simply enjoy the beauty of nature. As well as being as far away from Sweet Apple Acres as possible due to the Cutie Mark Crusader next crazy attempt at a cutie mark. The phrase...
"Cutie Mark Crusader Marching Band, Yaaaaaaay!"
...would give them nightmares for weeks.
Luckily, clear calendars for all Element bearers meant a perfect day for a picnic, and a perfect day for Rainbow Dash to be Rainbow Dash.
"Hah hah, hah hah, this is RICH. I've never... WOAH!'
The sudden stop was a result of a certain farm pony getting sick of chasing a certain multi-colored Pegasus for her hat and used her lasso to grab her legs and yank her to the ground.
"Uhhhh, heh heh, you weren't serious about the whole Timberwolves thing were you?" asked Rainbow Dash with her legs tied, and her confidence gone.
"Well, I am the Element of Honesty, not Kindness or Generosity, soooooooo." Said Applejack with a grin on her face and rolling her eyes for the last part.
"Please! No! I'm too talented to die! I'll never pull another prank again! Please!" said Rainbow, scared out of her wits. Not because she thinks AJ would do that, but because AJ NEVER goes back on her word.
"Pinkie Promise?"
"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye! Ok! Just PLEASE untie me!" bellowed the rainbow mare, doing the motions and all that.
"In that case." Applejack said before untying Rainbow Dash
"Heh, good, I was losing circulation in my legs, I wasn't scraed or anything though!
"Oh really?" asked Applejack
"I, ur, oh Fluttershy, are those cupcakes?" asked Rainbow, trying to avoid AJ."
"Heh heh, while that was really amusing AJ, you really shouldn't threaten ponies like that.
"And ponies shouldn't steal other ponies hats."
"Hmph. Touché."
"Wow, some Princess of Friendship you are." said Raibow sarcastically."
"Look on the bright side, at least now Rainbow Dash can't prank us anymore."
"What! I..."
*Applejack's glare*
"Uh, yeah, no more pranks from this mare."
"Finally my wardrobe is safe from, oh, I don't know, THUNDER STORMS DIRECTLY OVER MY HEAD!" screamed Rarity, clearly carrying personal baggage into this statement
"I don't know what your talking about."
"Hmph. Fine, be that way."
"Wow, Fluttershy, this food is amazing." said Twilight, in utter amazment
"Oh, thank you, Twilight. I just wanted to make this picnic memorable so I..."
"It's ok Fluttershy. We don't need to hear why you took MY job, that I usually do, that makes EVERYONE else happy." Pinkie rambled, getting more and more aggressive with each word. She then went to Fluttershy's ear and whispered...
"I'm on to you"
"Um, ok" Fluttershy whispered as hid behind her mane."
Twilight then got up and said...
"I'm just glad we could all make it here and enjoy this lovely day, I've been pretty busy with getting accustomed to being a princess and studying the map, that I'm lucky I had time to..."
Twilight was then interrupted by a message that would change her life, as well as her friends lives forever.
Above Ponyville, a large rectangle of magic floated above the city. Inside this rectangle, was a familiar face.
Princess Celestia
The ponies could only see her neck and above, so it was clear she was sending Ponyville a message. Twilight took a close look at Canterlot on the mountainside to see a similar rectangle above the city.
"What's happening? Why is the Princess sending us a message?" thought Twilight out loud, concern riddling her voice.
"And why does she seem so upset?" asked Fluttershy
She was right, the Princess had a grave look on her face, which didn't bode well considering the apparent urgency of the message.
This grave nature followed her through all her words.
"My dear citizens of Equestria, I am afraid a time of mass crisis is upon us, and I must act and speak quickly. Not particularly for my sake but for... yours."
"A dangerous threat is approaching you, all of you, all over Equestria. The properties, origins, or specifics of this threat is unknown, but one thing is for certain."
"It is deadly."
"The danger is some form of...creature. Creatures to be more specific. They are powerful and plentiful. Brute force alone with our strength, numbers, and technology will not put a stop to these creatures. They can wipe out entire cities. I know this... because they already have."
"They have already wiped out 3 cities, Las Pegasus, Trottingham, and... Manehatten."
*gasp*
"They have destroyed buildings, filled the streets, and... killed ponies in those 3 cities. My extreme condolences to all friends and family lost in the experience."
"I must protect the rest of my citizens, so, I will."
"I am forming barriers around all Equestrian cities still running as well as some other cities outside, but still close to Equestria."
"The barrier will fully close around you in 5 minutes. If your town is fine 1 hour after the barrier closes, executives, send a message via magic to me in Canterlot, and I will know to keep your barrier up."
"All ponies, not in their town at this moment please, for you own safety, run, fly, teleport, do anything you can to get back."
"And for anyone still outside their city after these 5 minutes... I'm sorry."
"Please stay safe."
Suddenly, the rectangle disappeared, and a flash shined above Ponyville and a force field slowly began to fall around the town.
And the hearts of the six ponies in that clearing fell deep into their chests.
"Wh-What was that?" asked a confused and scared Fluttershy.
"What kind of creatures have the ability to wipe out 3 Equestrian cities in such a short time."
"Who cares!" replied a hasty Rainbow Dash, who was extremely riled up.
"We need to get back to Ponyville before that barrier closes."
"Rainbow is right" Applejack was trying to remain calm in the stressful situation, and she was the only one to find success in that front, as all of the Element Bearers were frightened, with a matching look on their face. Even Pinkie showed considerable fear.
"There's no point getting riled up, Twilight can get us out of here."
"Me! How am I supposed to..."
"Teleportation?" asked Applejack, taking her out of her panic phase.
"Oh. Right, sorry, I'm just a little... frazzled after that message."
"I-It's alright darling." started Rarity, trying to hide her overwhelming fear. "It happens to the best of us at our worst."
"Yeah, there's no point in getting all worked up over it right now. We don't even know if these "creatures" have even made it out here yet." said Rainbow, getting over her fear after realizing that Twilight could teleport them back to Ponyville."
"Rainbow is right, now everypony gather around..."
"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh"
Twilight started to gather herself, only for her heart, as well as the other girl's' hearts to plummet straight back down again at the sudden menacing growl.
Turning around, the 6 mares were greeted with a sight that would haunt them for the rest of their lives.
All six of the ponies grew horrified looks and shrank down at the look of a horrifying creature that looked ready to pounce.
The creature could at it's core can only be described as a massive wolf. A wolf with massive teeth that could tear through anything, by the looks of it. A wolf with fur so dark that it would be almost invisible a night, if not for it's red eyes, with bright yellow irises. A wolf, that just so happened to be five time the size of a normal wolf. In height it stood just under the height of 2 normal sized ponies. In length, it measured about the length of 3 ponies, including their tales. The wolf had massive ears and crimson claws. At first sight these claws appeared to be stained in blood, when in actuality, it's their natural color. The fangs were this shade as well. It's tale was about two feet long and at the moment curved up, showing it's readiness for action. However, besides it's size, it's weirdest feature is the top of it's back. Instead of tufts of fur pointing op like most animals, it almost seamed as if the top of it's back was on fire. It clearly wasn't, but it looked as if the top of it's back was moving like a flame. It was natural, because it is clearly still connected to the body, but it still moved like a shadow. That's probably the best way to describe this massive, black beast...
...a giant shadow.
The beast simply glared at the group of ponies, an occasional growl reminding them they weren't just hallucinating. None of them had the courage to speak, fearing that sound would prone it to attack. Oddly enough, Fluttershy, while looking like she may literally die from fear, was the first to speak.
"W-what is t-that?"
"I-I don't know, I've n-never seen anything like it before." said Twilight, dazed not only by it's menacing appearance, but the fact that she had never heard or read of this creature in any of the books in the Canterlot Archives, The Castle of the Two Sisters, her own library, or any of the books Princess Celestia had given her.
"So, are we gonna run oooor, is getting eaten on out to-do list?"
"No, running would only provoke it to attack." Applejack answered, knowing about wolves due to their constant intrusion on her farm. Although she never had seen a wolf quite like this before
"What about flying, will flying work?"
"Aren't ya supposed to be the Element of Loyalty" asked Applejack while starring at the Pegasus.
"I really think that doing something would be better than nothing right now. I don't think a party will calm this guy down." said Pinkie as stressed as she has ever looked in her life.
"I agree with Pinkie, this beast doesn't look like the conversational type." Rarity replied, clearly wanting to get as far away from this beast as possible.
Twilight suddenly dawned a look of confidence and without taking eye contact off the beast said...
"Alright, everypony listen. I'm going to scream "now" and you are all going to run back to me and I'll teleport us out of here, ok?"
A collective group of "alright"s and "okay"s signified an understanding from her friends.
After a few seconds she yelled the signal.
"Now!"
Twilight then activated her horn. A lavender colored aura surrounded her horn and then began to spark. one flash of light later and Twilight disappeared and reappeared about 50 feet away. The rest of the ponies did their part of the plan and ran like their was no tomorrow. However, the beast chased them down with no hesitation, and turned a simple rush to Twilight into a life-threatening chase.
The beast was directly behind them snarling and growling which only made them even more scared, now knowing how close it was. Leading the front of the chase was Rainbow Dash and Applejack, whose athleticism kept them in the front of the pack. Pinkie followed close behind, putting her usual hyperactive behavior to good use. Rarity and Fluttershy followed up the rear. All their previous crazy adventures giving them the endurance and speed they needed to at least stay ahead of the beast. When they finally reached Twilight, they all piled behind her and got ready for her to teleport them.
"Alright lets get out of h..."
"Graaaagh"
*slash*
"AAAAAAH"
"Twilight!"
As Twilight got ready to cast the spell, the beast came up behind her and slashed her down her side with it's claws. All her friends saw it coming but were too petrified with fear to warn her. It wasn't as bad as it could have been though. Only 2 of it's 3 claws cut her and it wasn't that deep, but still deep enough for blood to seep out. Twilight was still on her feet, but still recoiling from the pain. Meanwhile, the beast had backed up and was preparing for the final strike.
"Twilight are you ok?" asked Fluttershy who was most likely seconds away from bursting into tears.
Applejack looked at her injured friend who was leaning against Rarity and writhing in pain, then turned to leer the beast.
"That's it!" she said, while gritting her teeth. `` She charged the beast, her face filled with rage. But the beast showed no fear. He knew he was stronger and faster than this pony and more importantly, it knew that pony was lower on the food chain. When Applejack got close enough, the beast tried a horizontal slash with it's claws. Applejack however ducked underneath it and turned around preparing to attack the beast. She reeled in her hind legs while still ducking and when she couldn't reel them back any farther, she sent her legs flying back, bucking the beast from underneath it's jaw. It staggered back in response.
"Yeehah!" celebrated Applejack. "Take that you var...mint." Applejack lost all confidence after seeing the result on the her attack had on the creature.
Nothing.
` The monster only stepped back a couple of times and showed no physical injuries or willingness to stop.
"What? H-how did it...?" Applejack was at a loss for words. She could knock down trees with her bucking power, but the beast simply shook off the attack as a minor setback, as nothing.
"Didn't you hear Princess Celestia, we can't hurt these brutes." Rarity said, setting Applejack straight
"Then what are we supposed to do to...*gasp!*" Apple began to ask, only to be interrupted by the beast.
The beast jumped up and came down on Applejack. It's crimson claw came straight down over the pony and gave her a gash that went even deeper than Twilight's cut, and went from the very top of the pony's side to the bottom of it.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH" yelled the farm pony who had three massive marks going straight down her.
The recoil of the attack sent her flying back several feet and writhing in agony. The initial strike was most likely the most painful thing she had ever experienced.
"Applejack!" shouted Rainbow Dash, who was hovering midair.
"Urrrrgh." the farm pony was barely conscious. The fear of what might become of her if she fell asleep the only thing keeping her up.
"Alright, my turn!"
"Rainbow! No!" Twilight called, not wanting another friend to get hurt. Meanwhile, Fluttershy was going to go make sure Applejack was okay, while Rainbow was charging at the beast through the air. Her body being chased by a line of red, yellow, and blue, she yelled as she approached the monster who had hurt her friend.
However when she arrived at the beast, it simply swatted her away like a common insect.
The mare went tumbling to side and ended up covered in bruises.
"Ugh." she mumbled while grabbing her shoulder
Twilight glanced over from Rainbow to AJ laying on the ground while Fluttershy made sure she was breathing healthily.
Twilight's expression then turned from fear to anger.
"Rarity, hold it back for me!" The alicorn ordered. Her horn then began to gather that same lavender aura and began to charge and store magic into it.
"Excuse me! How do you suppose I do that." asked Rarity still fearing for her life.
"Just use your horn and blast it while I get ready!"
"Oh dear." she whimpered after looking over to see the beast glancing over at the three of them and surrounding her horn with her own light blue magic.
The beast was now charging at the Pinkie, Rarity, and Twilight, and Rarity then began the blast bursts of magic at the beast. It, however, effortlessly shrugged it off and continued to keep on running at the three of them.
"Twilight, it's not working."
"Just keep going. I only need a little longer"
Rarity continued to blast away, but to no avail.
Rainbow Dash had gotten up and saw the beast headed toward her three friends and yelled...
"Run! Move! Just do something besides sit there! He's coming right for ya!"
Pinkie and Rarity both looked at Twilight in response to Rainbow's comment and realized she was still holding her ground, giving them the confidence and assurance to keep to the plan.
Twilight looked up to see the beast not being phased by Rarity's strikes and then turned to Pinkie, whose mane was half-deflated and looked extremely worried, and had an idea.
"Pinkie, do you have your... ugh, party cannon." Twilight asked, in pain from concentrating on her spell and dealing with her wound.
"I...yeah, I always have it with me. I don't think this is the right mood for using it though." Pinkie answered
"It doesn't matter, use it on...argh, that creature!"
"But I..."
"Pinkie." Twilight then looked at Pinkie with a reassuring smile. "Just show him a good time."
Pinkie looked down at the ground, like she was mulling something over. Then she looked up triumphantly, her hair all poofed up again with her own look of confidence on now, and said...
"Now that, I can do."
Then out of nowhere, a light blue cannon appeared, wielded by the pink pony herself. She aimed it at her massive target and yelled.
"For Glory!"
A stream of confetti and streamers blasted out of her weapon and hit the monster square in the face. it pushed him back a couple feet and he had to shake off the blow, but after he was back to charging and was feet away from his target. Luckily, that party cannon had given Twilight just enough time.
She looked up, her magic stored in her horn and her face gave a look of anger and rage.
"Enough!" she yelled before firing her attack
From her horn came a myriad of lavender blast sent straight at the beast that exploded on impact. hundreds of magical lasers blasted from her horn headed straight for her opponent.
The beast staggered and recoiled from the powerful attack. However, the attack took to much out of it, and the beast fell to the ground, head still facing the three ponies.
Twilight then readied her horn for one final attack. She then quickly thought in her head about what she was about to do,
"Should I really do this to a living creature. I've never done anything like...this to anything before."
She then looked over to her friend, Applejack and saw her struggling to move...
and that gave her the answer she needed.
Her look of deep thought then changed to anger once more as she set her sights on finishing the beast
She created a massive needle or spike above her, the tip aimed directly for the beast's forehead.
"This is for hurting me and my frends." she said dryly before driving the needle straight into the monsters head.
It made no sound as it took the shock of the blow...and died.
She didn't want to see anymore blood than she needed to, some blood still pouring out the sides of the wound, detached the needle from her magic and let it sit there clogging the blood
The lovable Princess of Friendship, had just killed the beast.
Pinkie, Rarity, and Rainbow in the distance looked at the beast in shock and surprise, only to be followed by Twilight's own look of surprise and horror at what she had done.
"I...I killed it."
She said sadly as tears filled her eyes.
She knew it was a beast, she knew it hurt her and her friends, she knew it tried to kill them. But she still was mortified by her actions of taking another's life away, even if it was an animal.
Fluttershy helped Applejack off the ground, the farm pony still cringing at the pain.
"T-thanks...sugarcube."
Rainbow and them trotted over to the other half of their friends, Applejack leaning against Fluttershy to stay up, and simply stared at the lifeless beast.
"I-It's dead." said Fluttershy in horror as tears filled her eyes as well
"Twilight, I'm not gonna lie. That. Was. Awesome. I di..." Rainbow began before being interrupted by...
"IT IS NOT AMESOME, I BUCKING KILLED IT."
All the ponies staggered at Twilight's sudden out burst, even Twilight after a couple seconds.
No one had ever heard Twilight scream or have any sort of moment like that before. No on had ever heard her swear either, which had shocked all of them even more. That's because she has never sworn before in her entire life.
"I-I'm so sorry Rainbow Dash. I just...I just killed it." Twilight apologized
"No, I'm sorry Twilight. I shouldn't said something so dumb like that,"
"Besides you were just protecting us darling, you didn't mean to..."
"No Rarity, I KNEW what I was doing. I KNEW I was going to kill it. I just...It hurt you girls and I wanted to...Oh Celestia why?" she said somberly, sitting down and covering her eyes with her hooves.
No one said anything, or knew what to say. The group was just filled with sadness and dodgy eyes.
Then, a group of slow hoofsteps broke the silence.
Twilight then felt a hoof touch her shoulder, making her look up out of curiosity to see a compassionate smile and a friendly face belonging to Applejack, who had stumbled her way over to Twilight, leaving Fluttershy's side.
"Listen Twi, I know you're feeling pretty down right about now, but we need to get back to Ponyville right about now before... you know."
Twilight then smiled and said...
"You're right. Lets go everypony!"
"What about teleporting back to Ponyville and getting cake. I added the cake part on my own. Almost being eaten really makes you hungry."
"I don't think I'll be able to teleport us all back that far away after using all that magic. Looks like I've screwed up once again." Twilight said in a tone of defeat.
"It's fine Twilight, a little running never hurt anypony!" replied Rainbow Dash
Everypony dawned a look of confidence except for Rarity who gave a disgusted look, as well as sending a glare right at Rainbow Dash.
All six of the ponies began running back toward their home with great speed. Some struggling more than others.
The barrier was more than halfway closed now, and closing more every second. The ponies, not sure they would get back in time, grew even more frightened by the large variety of strange noises they were hearing. As well as the variety of things they were seeing.
Creatures very similar to the one they had just fought (a smaller variety being much more common),a variety that stood on two legs that they didn't get a good look at, a variety with wings and a sharp beak, were all things they saw while running back. Twilight, out of the corner of her eye, thought she saw one that even resembled a pony as well.
These beasts either ignored them, looked their way only to then shrug them off, or gave chase for a short time only to give up. Only three of the smaller wolf creatures cared enough about them to properly chase them.
"Keep running!" yelled Twilight after looking behind her to see the threat behind her.
"Wasn't planning on stopping anytime soon!" yelled back Rainbow, an annoyed tone in her voice.
Ponyville was now in sight. The beast was still hot on their trail but the ponies kept running.
Rainbow Dash and Pinkie were the first to enter the town, gathering looks of worry, relief, curiosity, and fear from some surrounding ponies as they hurried Rarity in next.
Fluttershy was still trotting away from the beast with AJ and Twilight leaning against her sides also attempting to trot away. She somehow managed to keep up with the others despite this, however.
Twilight, who had calculated their distance and speed, as well as how fast Fluttershy could go without the added weight, put on grim look while saying...
"Fluttershy, you have to leave me, you'll never make it in time carrying me."
"No, let me go." started AJ. " I'm not as important as Twilight, leave me behind."
Fluttershy then put on an angry stare and yelled...
"Never!"
She then pushed AJ and Twilight into the town with amazing strength, then jumped into the air, spread her wings, and flew faster then she ever had before. The beasts responded by running even faster.
With almost no time left at all, Fluttershy flew much closer to the ground to avoid hitting her head on the barrier and barely made it into the town.
The barrier then closed, and the monsters began to claw on the impenetrable force field.
The ponies looked back, seeing three shadowy wolves clawing at the barrier. The same 3 wolves who had chased them down in an attempt to kill them all.
"That was WAY to close." said Rainbow, not taking her eyes off the hungry beasts
"Thank goodness for Celestia. If it wasn't for her barrier...well, we all wouldn't be here right now." thanked Rarity. She wasn't wrong. The barrier had saved their city, including all the innocent ponies as well.
"It's not just our city. Princess Celestia, said she would put barriers around all Equestrian cities."
"Twilight's right, The Princess saved, argh, all of us." agreed AJ, still hurting from the giant wolf's attack.
Suddenly, a mare with a silver mane and scroll cutie mark approached the group of friends. This pony was the mayor of Ponyville, Mayor Mare. She stopped in front of Twilight, a look of relief, but still a hint of worry, on her face.
"Princess Twilight, thank Celestia you are safe. I remembered you telling me to hold all requests and messages for you while you went out with your friends, and then Celestia sent that message, and I worried that you wouldn't make it in time, and..." started the mayor on a fearful rant, similar to one of Twilight's own rants.
"Mayor, calm down. Don't forget to breathe. Remember that technique from Cadence I showed you?" reminded Twilight.
The mayor then performed the technique a let out a long and slow breath
"Thank you Princess, I needed that" thanked Mayor Mare.
"Now what is it you wanted to tell me?" asked Twilight carrying distress all over her face.
"Ah, yes. Allow me to give you a report on the current...situation." said Mayor Mare, wanting to get straight to the point.
"As for those hideous beasts, none of them made it into the city, but as you can see they got extremely close. Nothing was cut off by the barrier except for two of our smaller crop gardens. All the gardeners managed to make it into town with little trouble at all, thankfully. Nopony was injured, but there were many cases of...extreme panic. Ponies were running everywhere yelling and screaming, but most stayed as calm as they could. We managed to calm all of them down, however. We also have gotten a majority of ponies taking refuge in our town after the message. We are currently trying to accommodate all of them at the moment. However, one of them is that magician pony that took over our town."
"Wait...Trixie!?" exclaimed Twilight, remembering the Great and Powerful Trixie's "visit" to Ponyville. If you asked Twilight whether she thought Trixie's first or second visit was weirder, she would reply "yes".
"Yes, she is currently in Sparkling Motel if you want to consult her."
"N-no, not right now, I need to...Oh my gosh!" Twilight said, remembering something of extreme importance.
"I need immediate medical help for Applejack, she was injured by one of those beasts!"
"Twilight, It's, ugh, fine. I-it's just a flesh wound."
"Applejack, there is STILL blood dripping from your wound, that's one serious flesh wound." replied Twilight.
"Yeah AJ. Don't go pushing yourself." said Rainbow Dash, showing concern for her dear friend
"I need her put in a room at the local hospital, and get her examined right away, if possible." ordered Twilight.
"O-of course Princess." started Mayor Mare. She was staggered by the size of the cuts on Applejack, as well as the amount of blood dripping out of them slowly.
"I'll write a letter telling the pony at the reception desk to...Oh my!" the Mayor gasped and turned Twilight to get a better look at the cut on Twilight's side that she just noticed.
"Princess! Y-you have been injured! Are you alright, do you feel faint, does it sting, will you..."
"Mayor, I'm...fine. I just need to mend it with my magic. Oh, Applejack let me mend you first since you need it more."
"Twilight, are you sure you'll be fine? That healing spell takes a lot out of ya and you've been through a lot today.
"I'll be fine Applejack, just stand still and let me work my magic."
Twilight activated her horn, and aimed it at the three scratches engraved on her side. Applejack's body illuminated and the farm pony waited for the moment of relief.
But it never came.
Twilight was straining to keep the spell going, but the injury would not disappear. The alicorn looked up, expecting to see her friend healthy and clean of any scratches, but only saw the same injured, cringing Applejack staring back at her.
"What?! How...why is the mark still there?" questioned Twilight
She then immediately tried again, much to the farm pony's surprise. After Twilight stopped the spell for a second time, felt just as tired as when she started, and looked up to see AJ still with three giant slashes on her she said...
"I don't get it. I'm positive I did the spell right. Why isn't she getting healed. Let me try it on myself."
She then cast the lavender aura around her own body and began to try and heal herself. The only difference was that this time it worked. Much to everypony's surprise, Twilights bloody wound began to mend quickly and before long, the two bloody gashes on Twilight's side had completely disappeared and she looked as good as new.
However, Twilight, after removing the aura from around herself, began to collapse from exhaustion.
"Woah there!" said Rainbow Dash as she rushed over to her falling friend, flying to her side so she could lean against her.
Twilight put hoof to her head and slowly opened her eyes, she then immediately jolted awake to check injury, realizing that her sudden fatigue meant that the spell must have worked.
Looking down she saw just that. Her wound had completely vanished.
"Twilight's injury is gone." observed Flutttershy
"Why did the spell work on me and not Applejack?"
"Beats me. I didn't feel a thing while you were casting the spell. Besides this, urg, pain from the cut."
Twilight was now deep in thought, thinking about this puzzling question until the only reasonable answer revealed itself to her.
"It can't possibly...could those beasts have magic disabling abilities?" asked Twilight looking up at her friends and the mayor.
"That certainly is a possibility, but then why did the spell work on you. You were cut by those beasts as well." Rarity replied, not positively sure about Twilight's conclusion.
"I wasn't cut that bad and it didn't go as deep. Applejack's went, well. look at it! It's massive!" answered Twilight.
"Listen, it doesn't matter! We need to get AJ to hospital. Fast!
"Right, lets hurry over..."
"Argh!" AJ keeled over, reeling in pain. She had her hoofs on stomach and tears were gathering in her eyes.
"Applejack!" Twilight exclaimed. She was now running to aid of her friend along with the others as well as some random pedestrians.
"Applejack, what's wrong! Are you ok?" asked a worried Pinkie Pie who has clearly taken more than she can take in one day, and was on the verge of breaking down at how fast the world was crashing down around her.
"It's...it's mah heart. I...I don't know what's wrong. Please help...me." Applejack was barely able to mutter out those few words due to the extreme pain she was going through."
Twilight didn't know what to do. She looked around frantically and managed to see the hospital on the other side of town. In a panicked and frenzied state, Twilight shut her eyes and yelled...
"EVERYPONY OUT OF THE WAY! WE NEED TO GET TO THE HOSPITAL RIGHT NOW!"
Even without using her voice enhancement spell she was able to yell loud enough to cancel out the sound of the entire murmuring crowd in her tired condition.
Much more in control of her emotions, she hastily asked Rarity after ponies made them a path....
"Rarity, help me levitate Applejack to the hospital."
All six ponies, as well as Mayor Mare made their way to hospital the now crying Applejack being levitated in the air.
"What's happening to AJ!?" yelled Rainbow Dash
"I don't know, it probably has something to do with that claw..." started Twilight who was answering Rainbow Dash's question
"No, what's happening to her NOW!"
"What!?"
The other six ponies looked up to see something that horrified them. AJ's fur coat was darkening. from head to hoof, all of her fur, while still showing a slight shade of orange, looked gray and lifeless. Grey and lifeless...where has Twilight heard that before. Not only that, her ears were changing, now ending in a slightly sharper point.
"What is going on!?" screamed Twilight, who was losing her own grip on reality
The hospital was now clearly in sight. The rest of the Element bearers looked on in dread, possible scenarios darting around in their heads about the fate of their friend who was now barely conscious with tears still dripping down her face. When visibly showing teeth due to pain, one could see that the mare was now baring a small pair of fangs as well.
When they finally reached the hospital, they entered and immediately stormed past the receptionist, not caring for decency at this point, and arrived at the main part of the hospital. They found a doctor and hastily approached him. Twilight, who was galloping with all of her might almost slammed into the doctor. She only, however, slid into him causing her to look up at him while speaking.
"Please sir, we need help. We-we don't know what is happening to her, but we know someone needs to properly mend that wound. Don't try healing spells, we already tried that and it doesn't work. Just....just please help my...our friend." pleaded Twilight. Sadness and despair were draped across her face with concern and pity for her friend.
The doctor's face turned from one of confusion to a new look of determination.
"Don't worry Princess. We are trained to handle situations like this. We're just gonna have to handle this the old-fashion way. Nurse Helping Heart, get a stretcher and get this mare to the nearest room , there's no time for formalities!
The nurse got one of the stretchers and the two horned ponies placed the poor mare on said stretcher. Meanwhile the farm pony was only crying while repeating the same words over and over again in a helpless and bleak manor.
"I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die."
The mares could only watch as the nurses and doctors wheeled their friend away.
The friends walked out of the hospital, one of the nurses informing them that it would be a while until the doctors would finish. The mayor added softly...
"Princess, I'll handle all of the...formalities, if you can even call them that, of this situation. Go take all of this in at your castle and...please rest."
"The mayor is right Twilight." Rarity started, adding on to the mayor's statement. "As long as Celestia keeps up these barriers, anyone in an Equestrian city will be safe. so just go and rest and..."
"NO!"
The ponies turned to look at the origin of the sad and angry shout. They were all surprised by the sight they gazed upon, mostly due to the fact of the pony who was shouting. The one who let out this scream was somepony who was now devastated beyond belief. Tears were now forming in this mares eyes at her current realization. This mare was now so troubled and sad that she didn't know if she could keep going.
That pony...
was Pinkie Pie.
"Pinkie what's wrong? Why did you..."
"This...can't be happening. I-I can't Twilight, I just can't!
This was not the pink party pony that Twilight had grown to know over 2 and half years. She was pulling her mane, crying, and had just knocked over a nearby picnic table.
"Pinkie! What is wrong! I can't take all of this sadness! Just tell me what's..." Twilight started only to be interrupted by
"It's...It's my parents!"
There was now silence. Twilight stopped what she was saying and backed up. She now realized what was going on. Why Pinkie was so crushed and upset.
"M-my parents...don't live in an Equestrian city, they live in the country. They don't even live *sniff* near any city."
No one knew what to say, how do you reply to a pony telling you their parents are now dead. Rarity put her hoof over her mouth tears building in her eyes. Fluttershy was on the ground. Her already silent cries were now being muffled by her mane. Rainbow put her head down and closed her eyes, trying to hold back the tears with no avail. Mayor Mare simply gasped and lowered her head in sadness. Twilight...Twilight was shattered, broken. She had watched two off her friends go through both the most extreme cases of physical and mental pain in their lives. All she did was cry and look away from Pinkie.
Pinkie was on the ground crying. However, unlike Fluttershy, they all could hear her sobs. It wasn't extremely loud, but just the right volume to make you feel terrible without being obnoxious. She looked up only to see all of her friends look away from her. They couldn't look at her in his state no matter how hard they tried. She just kept staring at her friends, waiting for someone to tell her it would be alright, that she was overreacting like she always does, or even just comfort her. But it didn't happen. Everypony knew, even Pinkie, that if those beasts could destroy three Equestrian cities, a small country house on a large flat rock farm would be child's play. They had virtually no hope for survival.
"Marble, Limestone.... Maud." Pinkie muttered. "I...I can't keep going. I..." She now realized that the same fate would apply to her beloved sisters as well and called out their names, wishing that they were there with her, telling her that they were ok. She couldn't stop her own crying. No matter how hard she tried to find any positivity within her, she just couldn't find a single remnant of joy or happiness . She only had her friends to console her, and even then, they could barely glance at her. All she could do was grieve, and grieve, and grieve.
After they disbanded and went their own ways, each Element bearer, besides Applejack, went home handled the situation in their own way.
Twilight went back to the castle to assure Spike of her safety as well as the condition of Applejack and the fate of Pinkie's parents. She also went over to Sweet Apple Acres to inform the Apple family of Applejack. Applebloom took the news the hardest. She denied it, called Twilight a liar, and eventually ran out into the orchard sobbing. After heading back to her castle, she wrote a letter to Celestia detailing the events of that day as well as the situations of her two earth pony friends. She told her that she was alright along with her town and her friends. After finishing the letter and preparing to send it, she handed it over to Spike and had him magically mail to Canterlot Castle in a puff of fire and smoke.
Rarity went back to her boutique to find Sweetie Belle who was in her room crying into her pillow. After learning of the fall of Manehatten, she then realized that that meant her fellow Cutie Mark Crusader, Babs, had...well, you know. Rarity's absence in this dire time didn't help because she knew of her sister's picnic with her friends. Assuming the worst for both cases, she couldn't take it anymore. After consoling her dear younger sister, Rarity wrote a letter to her parents in Hoofington, asking if they were alright, and assuring her, as well as Sweetie Belle's safety.
Pinkie barricaded herself in her room. She even threw Gummy out of the room to emphasize that she wanted to be alone. The Cakes, despite this, tried to talk to Pinkie, but with little to no success. All she did was look at her family portrait in her room and cry.
Fluttershy wrote to her parents in Cloudsdale, her letter containing almost the same basic purpose as Rarity's. Aside from that, all she did was lock up her cottage like it was Nightmare Night and comfort her animals in an attempt to distract herself from all the tragedy.
Rainbow simply checked on the members of her weather team, headed back to her cloud house and comforted her pet tortoise, Tank.
Princess Celestia, received Twilight's letter and let off a massive sigh. A huge worry in the back of her mind had been lifted and she could now more clearly focus on the more gripping matters at hand. Only four cities had responded to the Princess's message, not including Canterlot. Those cities being the following in order.
Cloudsdale, Ponyville, Hoofington, and Appleoosa.
The Princess was concerned. So many cities, if they did not reply in seven minutes would fall. So many lives lost. So many families destroyed. The only positive to this being that Celestia cannot hold all the city barriers up forever. Five however, could be managed. Especially since two of the five were small towns. Celestia pondered on Equestria's current predicament. Cloudsdale and Canterlot would run out of food if trade was not put in order. But could two small towns and a small rural city feed the second and third largest cities in Equestria and themselves. Celestia needed a solution to combat these new threats. She needed a way to end the problem once and for all. She needed to find her sister and head to Ponyville.
Once Luna was summoned from her quarters to meet with her sister, she immediately teleported to the main throne room. Faced with her older sister, she asked...
"What is the problem my sister?"
"We are embarking to Ponyville, my student needs my help and I think her and her friends might hold the key to stopping this."
"Really? I-I mean, please go on."
"Hmm. Twilight and her friends might not be able to stop this directly, but creating a solution that will help us stop this menace is something I believe they can do."
"What is it that you will have them do, sister?"
"I plan to have them bring a solution to us, from a place that could possibly be far, far away. In simpler terms, I'm having them make a call for help."
--------
In the World of Remnant...
"Ruby, what are you doing!? We are going to be late to the match!?"
In the courtyard of Beacon, three soon-to-be huntresses were waiting for their leader. A girl with blonde hair, a brown jacket, and two golden bracelets stood impatiently on he left of her teammates. Yang Xiao Long was more impatient of her teammate's constant yelling rather than the punctuality of her younger sister. Another girl with black hair, clothes, shoes, as well as a nice little black bow on top of her head stood in the middle of her two other first year teammates. Mostly, Blake Belladonna stood their to keep the other two from biting each others' heads off. Weiss Shnee, who was wearing her usual white skirt and high heels as well as sporting her usual ponytail, was once again shouting at their young leader Ruby Rose. Ruby quickly approached her an apologetic look on her face. She was also wearing a skirt, although this one was red and black. she had several belts of bullets wrapped around said dress and was also carrying a giant convertible scythe surprisingly. In fact they were all carrying their weapons, some more hidden than others. Ruby was carrying one more thing. A large case. One containing multiple Dust fragments and crystals, bullets that could be used in many different kinds of weapons, spare parts for weapons, rounds and magazines, and much more.
"Isn't your semblance supposed to be speed?" asked Weiss in an annoyed tone.
"Sorry, sorry, I just bumped into somebody and I dropped the case and I had to get..."
"Don't sweat it Ruby, Weiss is just a stick in the mud."
"Yeah, it's fine. We still have plenty of time before Jaune's team start their fight." Yang and Blake assured Ruby respectively.
"You better not have lost any parts back there, Pyrrha wanted to try and fix he weapon after the fight. And I am NOT a stick in the mud!"
"Hehe, yes you are...sometimes...most times...all the time...I'm gonna stop talking now." Ruby replied, trying not to be to offensive.
"So you think Team JNPR can win?" asked Blake as they started to walk to the shuttle station that flies them to the coliseum.
"Against Team BRNZ? Of course! If they can handle their sniper tactic, they can beat those pushovers. Besides, they have Pyrrha!" Yang replied.
"It's a good thing you are not the commentator." mumbled Weiss
"Listen team, we have taken down, the White Fang and Torchwick, we can win this tournament!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Ruby that has nothing to do with what we are talking about now." Blake said in utter confusion
"It doesn't? Oh sorry, heh."
"Whatever, lets just get to the coliseum before all the best seats are taken." Yang said nonchalantly
Suddenly, a bright flash blinded the entire teamed, forcing them to shield their eyes
"What was that?" screamed Weiss
When they opened their eyes the entire world was frozen. No one moved, talked, or even breathed. It was like the entire world was enveloped in a photo, no one moving out of place."
Looking around, each member of Team RWBY saw that none of them were affected by the sudden halting and were about to ask each other what was going on.
But before any of them could speak, a light formed around them and formed the shape of a hexagon. The ground then kept that hexagonal shape while all the other light lowered into that hexagon forming on the ground. Then the corners of the hexagon each started to glow different colors. Lavender, orange, cyan, yellow, pink, and white. The colors shone brightly on the ground, reflecting off the young heroes' eyes. Then there was silence. The first year students were too frightened to move and the light was not doing anything besides forcing them all to cover their eyes in fear of burning their retina . All of a sudden, the six lights each grew extremely bright and rose up circling the four students. The lights grew brighter and brighter until everything was going white. They all felt tugging on their bodies and were starting to lose consciousness. As they all felt their bodies changing and altering Ruby let out one final cry before the real changes began and they all passed out.
"Hold on everybody!"
That was the last sound they heard before the more serious changes began to happen to their bodies and they fell into darkness. Their bodies stretched out and became thinner. Their arms and legs grew bulkier and shorter to match their new forms. All their hands became to curl up into fists, only for their fingers to merge together removing any traces of digits. The bottom of their new hands became flat and hard, officially becoming hooves. The same thing happened to their feet as well. Their skeletons altered to fit a quadruped form. Their hips caved in to have them fall on all fours and a crack in their spines forced them to stay like that. Their shoulders also caved in to keep their front hooves in front of them. The joints, however, remained. from behind them, tales popped out matching their respected color. Their necks extended and grew in size before the last of the changes began. There head grew in size as their skull altered as well. Their noses and mouths came together and extended into a muzzle. Their senses of smell improved slightly, except for Blake. Blake's senses all weakened, especially sight. However her hearing stayed pretty much the same. The reason is because Blake is a Faunus. A half human, half animal hybrid. She was part cat. Or at least she was. All their ears moved to the top of their heads and grew pointed, except for Blake's whose ears simply moved to the left and right and lost their fur. Blake's bow now covered nothing but memories. Their hair and eyes altered slightly to match their new forms as well, and their teeth changed to better suit a vegetarian diet. Their skin now rapidly grew fur. In a matter of seconds, each student each had a fine layer of fur that looked like it was skin itself. Ruby's fur was the same color as her previous skin, Weiss's fur was basically white, Blake's fur was black with a slight mix of brown, and Yang's fur was a yellowish orange. Their clothes had altered for their new bodies but kept the same design and theme. Finally, a symbol appeared on each of the students' flanks: a rose, a snowflake, a drop of ink, and a small burst of fire.
The light then dimmed and four ponies were now laying upon a hard crystal floor.
Twilight fell to her bed, all her work taken care of and duties fulfilled. She could only rest her head and look at her crystal ceiling while thinking of all the events that had transpired that day. She had killed a beast that was, in her defense, trying to kill her. Even so, she still couldn't get past the fact that she had stolen the life of another sentient creature away. It tore her up inside that she couldn't have thought of a better solution, even now wondering if there was any other way she could have handled the situation. She sighed and put her hooves on her chest.
"What is happening." she softly said.
She turned to look through the window, seeing the yellow barrier protecting the town from the dangers that lurked outside it's safety.
"Why did everything go downhill so fast. How did everything go downhill so fast."
She couldn't believe the events that transpired that afternoon. Violence, pain, grief, sadness, you name it, it happened. Applejack was most likely still getting treated at the hospital and Pinkie was most likely grieving at Sugarcube Corner. Regarding the former, Twilight pondered what was happening to her friend. The slightly more pointed ears, the fangs, her fur.
"What could it mean? It had to have something to do with that claw mark, I know it! But what kind of creature can disable my magic and transform my friend with a single claw strike?" She couldn't think of anything. Nothing that fit it's physical features and abilities.
"Twilight, are you okay?" asked the small dragon who poked his head through the door.
"I'm fine Spike. Just...resting." Twilight assured her number one assistant.
"Then, uh, why are you...crying?"
"What?" Twilight hadn't noticed until that moment that tears were dripping from her eyes, and she was crying.
"I-I didn't realise I w-was crying. It's probably just the stress of the situation and....and..."
She couldn't keep going, her words were now starting to get muffled by her small sobs. She now knew that even as a Princess of Equestria, even as the Element of Magic, even as Twilight Sparkle, she couldn't handle this. She just couldn't do it.
"T-twilight! What's wrong. I..." Spike started as he went up to Twilight to comfort her by putting his claw on her back.
"Spike, I don't know what to do. I don't know how to fix this. Heck, I don't even know if we can fix this. This is more than me and my friends. Ponies aren't just being enslaved or taken over. Ponies are DYING. Ponies are being KILLED and I don't think we, or anyone else in Equestria for that matter can stop this."
Spike had no words of encouragement or kindness. He didn't know what to say or do. He just stood there next to Twilight, speechless.
Then, a single voice broke the silence. A kind, warm, and familiar voice rang throughout the two's ears and forces them to quickly turn around to see if their ears deceived them.
"I believe you are correct Twilight. That is why I have come up with a plan, and I will need the help of you and your friends."
Twilight turned around and looked in glee and happiness, at the pony before her.
Princess Celestia smiled and looked upon her fellow princess with happiness.
-------
After Princess Celestia and Princess Luna's arrival, the rest of the available element bearers headed to the castle after Spike sent them all letters, written by Twilight, to meet there. The ponies entered the castle one by one, and soon all had arrived except for Pinkie
"Do you think Pinkie is going to come?" asked Fluttershy.
"I don't know. She has been through a lot today. I think she needs some more time to herself." answered Twilight who wasn't expecting Pinkie to show.
"I can imagine I would do the same if I was in her position." said Rarity, who could only guess as to how Pinkie was feeling.
"Just give her some space and she could come around soon...hopefully." said Twilight , hoping Pinkie wouldn't seclude herself in her room forever.
"Does soon mean right now, because..." asked Rainbow pointing at the door to the throne room they were in. More specifically, the pony who had just entered the room.
"Pinkie!" they all shouted as they ran to their friend and hugged her. She had a warm smile on her face that wasn't nearly as big as her usual smiles, but still was genuine. Her mane had returned to normal size and fluffiness as well.
"Hey everypony." she said in a soft but still happy voice. "I got your letter Twilight. So where is Celestia?'
"O-oh, she's in the large guest room, unpacking her things. Luna is as well. But Pinkie, what about you! Are you ok?" asked Twilight in a concerned voice.
"I'm...I'm fine. Really! I just need to take my mind off it right now."
"That's great to hear." Twilight stated putting on a warm smile with tears forming in her eyes.
"Great to have you back Pinkie." said Rainbow Dash
"Thanks Rainb...Thanks Dashie." Pinkie said followed by her proceeding to wipe away the tears currently filling her eyes. Everypony looked at her and inside it felt refreshing to see Pinkie smile in this dire situation, if only a little.
They all turned to the door when they heard a pair of hoofsteps to see the two princesses enter the room.
"Ah, Pinkie Pie. It is good to see you in good spirits. I've been informed of your...situation and I am very sorry." Celestia stated somberly.
"Th-thank you...princess."
"Now then, I believe it's time we begin." Luna said, walking out past her sister.
"Begin what, Princess?" asked Twilight, who still wasn't entirely sure of the purpose of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna visit to Ponyville."
"We need to discuss what course of action Equestria will take and how we will respond to this threat." said Celestia calmly, yet sternly.
The five ponies looked at each other, then looked back at Princess Celestia and nodded simultaneously.
"Alright then...First..." started the Princess. However she was cut off by...
"Yah think you can go and have a meeting about the fate of Equestria without me?!"
The seven ponies turned and beamed at the farm pony in front of them.
"Applejack!"
The orange earth pony smiled and allowed her five friends to trot over and give her the biggest hug she has ever been apart of in her life. The embrace went on for quite sometime until a slight cringe from the recently injured friend made them all step back.
"Sorry, it's still a little sore."
"Applejack, you're ok!" exclaimed Twilight with tears of joy forming in her eyes.
"Yep." Applejack replied, with a satisfied grin on her face. "The doc fixed me up real good, take a look."
She then gestured down to where the scar previously resided to reveal a barely visible stitched scar. The group didn't really know how to feel. They were happy that their friend was feeling better, but were still torn that she got so injured and had to get that scar that would most likely resonate on her side for the rest of her life. Applejack picked up on their split emotions, sighed, and told them...
"Listen y'all, I feel fine. I know you girls are worrying about me, but don't think that I can't handle a couple of scratches and bruises. We are all in this together. We all need to trust each other and have trust that we can all handle everything and get through this, because crying and complaining over spilt milk never helped anypony." All the ponies nodded, gave reassuring smiles, or mulled the farm pony's words over in their heads. Twilight then looked up and said...
"Applejack is right. If we are going to fix this, we are gonna have to do this together."
After a couple of "yeah"s and "ok"s, the six friends gathered around for one more hug.
"Besides..." started Applejack with a sarcastic smirk on her face. "Did y'all really think ah'd get beat by a silly ol' wolf?"
Then, from behind the embraced friends, a serious, yet familiar voice grabbed the mares attention, having them all turn to see an equally familiar pony, especially to AJ
"Those things that attacked you were most certainly not regular wolves."
All of them turned around to see a stallion wearing a doctor's coat, a stethoscope around his neck, and a look of intrigue on his face. The reason that he had looked so familiar to the six ponies, is because this was the same doctor that had taken care of Applejack.
"Oh, Doc, it's you. I didn't know you were following me." said Applejack, happy to see the pony who saved her life, but was questioning in her mind what the doctor needed so badly that he had to follow her.
The doctor could sense the pony's fear and anxiety due to his presence and to reassure her, he said to Applejack...
"Don't worry Miss Applejack, your health and condition are stable. In other words you are perfectly fine. The only reason I am here is to fill you all in as to what those "wolves" can do. Princess if I may, I would like to intervene for a few minutes and report what I found while operating on this mare."
"Of course. Please Continue." The Princess said
The Doctor nodded and then looked over to AJ.
"When your friends, as well as the mayor, brought you in to the hospital, I will be entirely honest with you, I didn't know if we had the time, resources, and...the methods to fix you."
"The...methods?" asked Twilight, confused as to what the doctor meant."
"What I mean is...before I examined more thoroughly, I didn't know how or if you could be saved. I had never seen anything so severe and...strange."
"What? Yah mean...yah thought that I would..." Applejack was hanging on the last word in disbelief.
"...die"
The doctor was ashamed. Although he knew that being honest and informing the princesses of the danger was the best solution, but he still felt terrible inside informing this mare of her possible demise that would have been on his hooves.
"I would have informed you about this sooner, but...I felt that your family needed to see you in a happier state, and after asking around, learned that you were heading here to see your friends. Takes out two birds with one stone really." The doctor said, trying to change the subject.
"I see." said Applejack in a dull tone whilst putting her head down.
"Wait, what do you mean by 'taking out two birds with one stone?'" Rainbow Dash questioned to the doctor.
"You see, The information I have about the procedure is...interesting, to say the least. I was planning on sharing this information with Princess Twilight at a different time, but I guess that I can inform you both, as well as the Royal Sisters."
"Thank you Dr... Um, it seems that we have not inquired your name, What would it happen to be good sir." asked Luna, embarrassed of her of overlooking that detail.
"My name? Dr. Blue Cross Your Highness."
"Dr. Blue Cross, If you have something of importance regarding Applejack's condition or those monsters, please, we are all ears." asked Twilight, wanting to hear the doctor's findings.
"Anything would help, Dr. Blue Cross. Your findings just might be key in stopping this." said Celestia.
"I wouldn't go that far, but, regardless here is what we found."
Dr. Blue Cross closed his eyed and prepared to reveal his findings to the eight ponies in front of him. Standing up straight and gathering the courage to show these innocent mares how dangerous these beasts are, he began.
"As I said before, when I first laid eyes on the patient in front of me, I had...little hope for a successful operation. Especially when I heard that healing spells were ineffective. However, my interest then began to peak as I asked myself the pivotal question, 'Why?' There had to be a reason why these physical changes were taking place, why Miss Applejack felt extreme pain in her heart, and why magic wasn't working on the injury. That, besides saving you, Miss Applejack, was my primary objective. To do that, I would have to more thoroughly examine the claw mark. Opening the mark wasn't the tricky part, as our nurses had already rendered you unconscious and were keeping you that way with their magic. However, when we fully opened and examined the cut, we found something....unexpected. The inside of the mark seemed to be...smoking. Black smoke was rising from inside the injury.
"Wait...What?!" Applejack exclaimed, fear clearly present in her voice. "There was...smoke coming from that cut on my side!" Applejack was flabbergasted. No one in the room had ever heard of such an ailment.
"Yes. I admit that it sounds ridiculous and hard to believe..." started the doctor before a certain multi-colored pegasus cut in with her smart-alec nature.
"Um, Doc, I don't know if you noticed but in the past couple hours, we've ran from multiple ferocious shadow wolves into a force field surrounding the town created by the Princess followed by AJ growing fangs and wolf ears. So excuse me if I'm not blown away by this."
"Hmph, Touché." said the Doctor with a small, friendly smile plastered on his face.
"Please continue Dr. Blue Cross." Celestia said calmly.
"Yeah, did you find out where the smoke came from?" asked Pinkie with genuine intrigued coating her voice.
"I believe you all already know where it came from."
"...Oh, the wolf."
"Precisely Ms. Sparkle" said the doctor with a nod. "The wolves claws undoubtedly caused this puzzling phenomenon."
"Ok, but...how?" asked Applejack, was just trying to take it all in.
"Yes, that is the million bit question, isn't it." said the doctor with his eyes closed, thinking to himself, possibly mulling something over in the depths of his mind.
"So...you don't know?" asked Twilight, currently losing hope in the situation.
"Hmm. It seems "how" is one of the many other questions I can't answer at this moment."
"'One of the many?'"
"Who, for example." replied the doctor . "No one but him or herself/selves could tell you who is responsible for all of this."
"You think someone was behind these beasts and their outbreak." asked Rarity who, like the others, hadn't considered the possibility of someone puling the strings.
"It would explain the "what" of the situation quite nicely." continued Dr. Blue Cross.
"What do you mean by the "what"?" asked Fluttershy, curious about the doctor's logic.
"I mean what caused Miss Applejack's ailment."
"Well, yeah, it was the claw from that wolf, right?" asked Rainbow.
"Well, yes, but subsequently that caused the reason behind Applejack's...unique condition." answered Dr. Blue Cross, giving a side glance to AJ with a sad look on his face, causing the mare to sigh and gaze down at the cold, smooth, crystal floor.
The doctor looked back toward the main group and continued his story.
"After finding the cut wasn't infected or cut anything too important, we moved our operation to the second point of interest."
"Wait. The cut didn't do...anything?" asked a confused and concerned Twilight.
"There was nothing magical about it beside the smoke. But it didn't have any magical properties. Especially not any magic disabling abilities."
"But...that doesn't make any sense! You said that the claw mark caused all of those things to happen to Applejack. If there was nothing out of the ordinary with it, then what happened?" Twilight said now even more confused.
"Everything will make sense once I tell you that all the things that caused these things to happen to your friend in our next point of interest."
"What could possibly be more vital and interesting than the claw mark?" asked Luna, who was now getting curious and confused herself.
"Remember what Miss Applejack told you before you came to the hospital." asked the doctor.
The ponies then began to think back to a couple hours ago. Trying to remember the exact words of their friend. Even AJ herself thought back to that painful time, much to her dismay, wondering what she said that the doctor was so interested in.
"Oh, she said that her heart was in good deal of pain, correct?" Rarity remembered, looking with concern at her dear friend after recollecting the pain she had to go through.
"Oh yeah. That was...mighty painful." Applejack added.
"Precisely. Mayor Mare came back at my request to fill me in with some of the more particulars of the incident in a less...intense atmosphere. There she told me about the pain you felt in your heart, Miss Applejack."
"Okaaaay. So you checked my...heart. What did you...find." Applejack's words began to present a more prominent sense of fear in her voice, not knowing what the doctor had found and what he could have possibly figured out by searching there.
The doctor, who was gathering thoughts before telling the ponies of his findings, began to speak.
"When we dug deeper and discovered the heart, much like any other operation, we found something...disturbing."
Everypony in room looked worried after hearing this news. AJ, however, held a look of dread, as if she was being surrounded by all of her greatest fears with no escape. No one dared speak or ask what he found, not wanting to be the one to pile on the shock and fear any higher. Instead, the ponies allowed the doctor to carry on with his report naturally.
"When examining the heart, we needed no closer look, as the damage was...obvious beyond belief."
Letting his words settle, he soon continued.
"The heart was...it appeared to be...black." The doctor said solemnly, letting the ponies in the room take it in.
Everypony in the room gasp, save Celestia, who closed her eyes and pondered something in her head.
"B-b-black!" Applejack stuttered. Although she felt fine after the operation and she didn't know whether or not she was still in some kind of danger from this, she still was as scared and frazzled as if she knew she was.
"H-how is that possible! That ain't natural!"
"But the monster didn't even come close to her heart." Twilight stated hastily.
"Most likely, the magic migrated from the cut to her heart. That would explain why it took so long for the heart to be affected."
"So it was magic?" asked Celestia curiously
"Yes. The heart itself didn't turn black. It was coated with a black magic that seemed to be attempting to etch itself into the heart. That was where the pain most likely originated from. Luckily, the magic didn't fully surround the heart yet, allowing us to remove the magic from underneath through an opening. We found that the magic disabling power came from there."
Applejack didn't know what to say. Earlier in the day, everything was perfectly normal, even mundane. And even when tragedy struck, Applejack tried to be the level headed one, being there for her friends. Now, fear dominated her logic and reason. Thoughts in shambles she asked the question that still dominated her mind.
"Will I be...okay?"
"To be frank...yes."
A massive weight lifted weighted from the depths of her mind, AJ wiped her brow as the doctor smiled to ease her fear even further.
"All the magic was removed and all we had to do was mend your wound. As for the magic..."
"Do you happen to know what kind of magic it was?" ` Everypony turned to the Princess and gave a look of either intrigue or surprise at her interruption.
"Oh ho! Does the Princess have an idea already." the doctor rang out.
"Well upon first analysis we could not find out what find it was, only that it wasn't any ordinary kind of magic. We then proceeded to start a new test to see if this was some sort of Chaos Magic."
Fluttershy was shocked that the doctor would bring that up. Thinking that the doctor was accusing her friend, she spoke up.
"You don't really think Discord is behind all of this, do you?"
"We had to be sure. Chaos Magic is unpredictable and would explain most of these strange happenings."
The doctor seemed reluctant but still stood his ground without questioning his own methods. Fluttershy, on the other hoof, gave a solemn look and directed toward the ground.
"However, upon the tests completion we found that the magic sample was not any form of Chaos Magic."
Fluttershy, upon hearing this news gained a look of relief and dawned a noble smile.
"Than what kind of magic was it?" Luna was confused, not seeing many other sources of magic with similar properties.
"Yeah. If it wasn't traditional Dark Magic and it wasn't Chaos Magic, then what else could it be?" Twilight asked with her head turned and a familiar confusion filled look.
"The result of the tests indicated that the kind of magic that had infected Ms. Applejack, was in fact..."
"Shadow Magic?"
A collection of gasps filled the room. The doctor turned toward the one who had interrupted him, finding it to be the Celestia herself, yet again. Twilight proceeded to gallop to her mentor and looked up to her, her voice full of angst and perplexity.
"But Princess, there haven't been any traces of Shadow Magic, since we defeated King Sombra. No one practices that kind of magic anymore. Especially not at this high a level. Surely it can't be..."
"No Princess Twilight, Celestia was right. The results were very clear. It distinctly had a frighteningly large amount of similarities to modified Shadow Magic."
Everypony in the room besides the doctor and Celestia had an astonished look. Twilight in particular was blown away by this revelation.
"But...how?"
"From this we can conclude that those beasts are entwined with this magic. As Twilight has said, Shadow Magic is almost nonexistent in present time. Finding any manuscripts or spell books about it is near impossible, especially since Sombra's last attack. The only place that might have some knowledge on the subject is the Crystal Empire, but..." Celestia stopped, not wanting to tell her pupil the dire news she had hidden from her since she had arrived. Now was not the time to inform her of the Empire's questionable condition since the incident. Instead, Celestia, quick to find a way out of her word choice, said...
"Since the incident last year, the Crystal Empire has had all knowledge on Shadow Magic and anything like it kept secret, out of public hands, and only available to ponies with high enough authority. In short, no normal pony could learn something like this, or become powerful enough to harness and master it."
The room became silent as everypony pondered a solution. With everypony in deep, enriched thought, almost everypony missed the sound of one timid pegasus, who had something she had to say.
"Um, what if the pony already knew how to do it?"
With her barely audible voice, no one turned to answer the frail pony. No one but a dark blue alicorn, who had happened to take intrigue with Fluttershy's question.
"What was that Miss Fluttershy?"
Now everypony turned to the shy mare, not realizing the nervousness they were invoking with all the eyes in the room fixated on her. Then she quietly and timidly spoke out.
"Oh, um, I just thought...what if the pony who did this knew how to do this kind of magic before Sombra invaded The Crystal Empire last year?"
Everypony in the room besides Celestia, who holding her head down with her eyes closed in deep thought, began to look at each other and think about what Fluttershy had suggested.
"I suppose that makes sense." Twilight admitted.
"Not possible."
All eyes turned to Celestia, awaiting her to continue with an explanation that they all knew was coming.
"Even before last year's incident, all information on Shadow Magic has been monitored, guarded, and kept secret, after Sombra's first attack over 1,000 years ago. Unless a pony lived that long and still had the power to pull this off, we are still faced with an unnameable culprit.
"But that's DEFINITELY not possible!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Only alicorns can live that long, and there are only four. A normal pony can't live that long, so...who did it?"
"Hmm" Celestia once again went into deep thought. All the evidence points to a certain pony, but she still contemplated if it was worth bringing up. Luna turned to her, apparently getting the same idea she was.
"Sister, you don't think...he is responsible, do you?" Luna said to her sister, questioning her idea.
"He...is gone. How could he possibly pull something like this off?"
The Element bearers looked at each other quizzically, not knowing who Celestia and Luna were talking about.
"Um...who is 'he'?" asked Rainbow Dash
The two immortal sisters looked at each other, followed by Celestia turning around, closing her eyes and sighing, then begin to expalin.
"There is only one pony in all of Equestria that is capable of all of this. One pony with this kind of control over shadows and darkness."
Everypony in the room began to realize who she was referring to and gasped, some seeming even scared.
"Princess, you don't mean?" Twilight began.
"King Sombra."
Everypony in the room gasped, the sound of their exasperations filling Twilght's crystal throne room. Even Luna, who usually was in the know about her sister's suspisions, was shocked by her sister's allegations.
"But...we defeated him. The Crystal Heart...it..." AJ sputtered when she spoke. Her fear of what was happening becoming more apparent in her voice.
"Applejack is right. Sombra was defeated by the Crystal Heart and the light and love of the empire. We...we...oh. We...did we...?" Twiilight was in a state of raw shock. She looked around her. She never considered the ramifications after Sombra's defeat, but now...
"Did we kill Sombra?"
Everypony turned to Celestia, and after she gathered her thoughts and collected her memeories...
"No, Sombra is technically still alive. His physical form was destroyed, but his spirit and magic were sent into a state of limbo. He is simply banished."
Everpony in the room, especially Twilight, were relieved at this news, loud, audible sighs escaping their mouths in turn. The room, however, soon became silent.
"Simply banished?"
The loud booming voiced reverberated around the crystal room and ending the previous silence, simultaneously making the ponies freeze in fear. They all knew that voice. That ominous, deep voice. The shadows in the room all seemed to move, dancing on the floor and walls, and shifting toward the center of the throne room. Soon nopony in the room had a shadow behind them. The shadows climbed up the map that lied in front of the ponies' eyes and once the remainder of the shadows crept up the side of the map, the shadows seemed to sink down into it. The map then suddenly lost its glow and the seemingly holographic map of Equestria sank as well.
The ponies waited for a few moments before doing or saying anything. The sound throughout the room might be at a record low for all of Ponyville. Until one mare asked the fateful question.
"Did they break it" asked a confused Rainbow Dash.
Suddenly, the map slowly changed into a blood red hue before their eyes. The ponies, minus Celestia, were shaking. Even Luna looked petrified. Meanwhile, Celestia was glaring at the map, knowing the underlying cause of these event.
The maps red color began to shine where the holographic image of Equestria use to reside, and something new began to rise slowly. The ponies' eyes followed the image as more of it was revealed, their faces gaining more fear as it appeared to be a pony, starting at the hoofs and moving up. And when the image finally became complete...
The ponies stared at the King of Shadows while he grinned a menacing grin.
The ponies stood mesmerized, looking at the monster they defeated over a year ago, standing a couple a feet away from them. The face that brought them such terror had suddenly reappeared. The doctor, who was still in the room with them, was frozen with fear, his words escaping him as he stared at Sombra for the first time.
"What, you have nothing to say to your old friend?" Sombra said smugly staring at the with a devious smile.
The ponies continued to stare, however their looks changed from fear to spite as they began to glare at the shadow pony with fury in their eyes.
"You...you did this!" Twilight exclaimed hoof outstretched in Sombra's direction.
Sombra just continued his smugness and looked directly at Twilight.
"What gave it away?" He replied in a deep voice.
"Sombra," Celestia said her eyes pointed toward the floor "what you have done is beyond the realm of redemption. You have terrorized, traumatized, injured, and...killed my ponies all over the country. You have enslaved the Crystal Empire not once but twice. You have not only been sparred both times, but have been shown the mercy of not being banished to the moon or even the sun. This time however, you will face the consequences of your actions. So I will ask this once. Stop this immediately." All eyes, who were pointed at Celestia during her speech, moved to Sombra, who was closing his eyes, his smugness fading momentarily, and breathing a low sigh.
"Celestia, Celestia, Celestia. What ever happened to diplomacy and discussion? I would've thought you would want to talk about this over tea. I even brought the china."
"You miserable cretin! You crossed the line of diplomacy when you started to slaughter my ponies!"
The group was unfazed by Sombra's teasing. Despite the fear they should be feeling still resting inside them all they could do was stare with unspeakable anger.
"I thought we blew you and your ugly mug up last year." Dash yelled at the shadowy figure.
"Sombra, you coward! Why don't you come and meet us muzzle to muzzle!" Applejack commented. "I'm going to buck you into next Tuesday for what you did to me, Pinkie's family, and anypony else you ever hurt."
Sombra just laughed to himself. "Aren't you a tough one." Sombra looked at the scar on Applejack's side.
"I see you were introduced to one of my good friends." AJ just growled angrily. Sombra began to look closely at the pony.
"Strange, you don't look any different. I wasn't expecting you to look exactly like him but I though there would be something at least."
Twilight gasped at Sombra's statements while AJ was just confused and speechless as she had no idea what Sombra was talking about.
"This is between you and me Sombra! If you want to harm anypony, than harm me. I will submit myself to you if you agree to end this madness." Celestia pleaded, gaining Sombra's attention once again.
Sombra just smiled at Celestia. "I am going to have to politely decline my dear Celestia. The only pony I want is right here." He said, hoof outstretched in another direction.
"What?" Celestia asked shocked, surprised, and scared for the other room's occupants.
"Luna."
The Princess of the Night's eyes widened as the King of Shadows looked up and gazed at her eyes after saying her name, hoof pointed at her. Celestia just turned to her sister in confusion.
"M-me?" Luna said surprisingly timidly, causing Sombra to grin even wider.
"Oh Luna, what a tragic life you live. The moon shines down on ponies at night with a low silver light. That light coming from the result of the sun, Celestia's sun, shining even from the other side of the world and reflecting it down to you ponies." Sombra began, his words strung slowly and somberly. The rest of the ponies began to wonder where Sombra was going with this.
"However, the light Celestia has given you is barely enough to sustain life, barely enough to keep Equestria going and keep the ponies happy and safe. There is so much light that could be yours Luna. So much that Celestia hasn't shared with you. Things you have every right to have and know." Luna now scowled upon hearing Sombra's monologue.
"I don't need to hear your lies again after 1,000 years, tyrant!"
"Again?" Celestia asked herself curiously. This was the first she had heard from Luna about anything directly related to Sombra or anything he said during their battle in the Crystal Empire.
"Ha-ha, you never cease to amuse me Luna. Even after 1000 years, you still refuse to see what's been in front of you the whole time. That's a long time you spent in isolation. Alone, thinking. You must have realized it by now. If you wish to remain a pawn in Celestia's game even after she banished you to the moon, leaving Equestria entirely under her rule, then I guess I was wrong about you, as upset as I am to say it."
"I said 1,000 years ago and I'll say it again now, we are equals and sisters! I would never betray her willingly, nor would I ever wish to take over Equestria! Whatever you did to me back then, I...!" Luna's anger fell silent, turning to a look of regret as a tear fell down her face. She looked back to her sister who was worried and confused, as was the rest of the ponies in the room. She was about to say something to her sister, but Luna turned to look at the shadow pony. His conniving smile disgusted the Princess of the Night, she glared at him as his eyes locked onto hers. She dried her tears and spoke in a low and angered voice.
"I don't care what you have to say to me, tyrant. You WILL stop your assault on Equestria or else you will face the full wrath of our power. And trust me, if you remember what happened last time, consider that affair merciful, because we will show you no mercy."
Sombra's face was unchanging. His expression never altering, continuing to smile and stare at Luna as she threatened the King of Shadows. After she finished, Sombra looked down and laughed. He laughed and laughed and laughed. His laughter echoed around the throne room, causing Luna to adopt a shocked look and back away from the map. When he finished his cackling, he looked up at the group of ponies with his malicious grin.
"Hahaha, you ponies are hilarious in your attempts of futile intimidation. After all, you barely stood a chance against one of my beasts. What hope do you have against thousands upon thousands of them?" Sombra boasted, looking past the princesses and right at the group of six friends. Twilight glared back at the king, almost unfazed.
"So you are the one responsible for those monsters destroying everything?"
"You ponies are so predictable. Labeling anything that conflicts with your ideas of harmony and peace as monsters. Peace can't be achieved through such a narrow lens, young one. I can only imagine how hungry Chrysalis and her subjects are after you banished them from your land and left them to rot in isolation."
"Chrysalis overstepped her boundaries and imprisoned Cadence underground so she could hijack her wedding. We did what we needed to do to stop her and her Changelings from taking over Canterlot." Twilight retorted, not wanting to let Sombra criticize her home.
"That may be true, but you punished an entire species for the actions of a couple hundred. You banished all of the Changeling race to isolation, including all the Changelings that had nothing to do with the invasion, even the ones that have abandoned their queen in favor of, oh what is that word you ponies use so often, oh that's right, peace."
"Hey buddy that wasn't the first attack the Changelings have pulled on Equestria! It may have been awhile but they attacked a long time ago, and it was pretty much all of them trying to push against our borders and invade." Rainbow yelled back at Sombra, prompting all of her friends to give her a confused look, wondering how Rainbow of all ponies would know something like that.
"What? I read."
"Oh you're right. It's not like you six have done anything that hasn't effected the fate of Equestria." Sombra began giving an overdramatic apologetic expression. "Although didn't something happen very recently involving a town and cutie marks?" Sombra put his hoof to his chin in fake pondering of his own question.
The six friends all adopted different expressions ranging from shocked, to angry, to confused, and turned to look at each other.
"Oh now I remember! And judging by your expressions you remember quite fondly as well. Remember how you barged into a town you didn't even know existed before earlier that day, Excellent work on that one Princess, and degraded their philosophy. You even ended up running the leader of the town into a massive, almost unnavigable cave. Ponies, might I add, that were all perfectly happy with their equal life." Sombra stated, growing more and more condescending with each second.
"How...how do you know about that?" Twilight said quietly, her voice failing her as the rest of the room kept the talk going.
"Hey, those ponies went and held us hostage and tried to brainwash us." Applejack replied.
"Only after you started snooping around and demeaning their values and beliefs." Sombra retorted dryly.
"But it simply wasn't right." Rarity added.
"Exactly. It wasn't right with YOUR beliefs. They were happy until you took it away from them."
"Well that certainly was not what I meant. I meant that Starlight was lying to them the whole time."
"Yeah, she lied about having her cutie mark." Rainbow added.
"What did it matter?" Sombra once again stated laconically.
Everypony turned to look at each other "And what do ya mean by that?" AJ questioned.
"What damage was Starlight causing to Equestria? You didn't even know she existed half a day before you shut her town down."
"He even knows her name?" Twilight thought to herself, still trying to pay attention to what was happening around her.
"Hey! We...um, well." Rainbow Dash was about to make her signature snarky comeback and rub it into Sombra's face, until she realized she had nothing to say.
"Oh. No snide comments from the blue one there."
"That's it! When I get my hooves on you I'll..."
"Rainbow, that's enough!" Twilight called out to her friend.
Rainbow turned to Twilight and saw how serious she looked before taking a sigh and saying, "Fine."
Celestia, during the whole conversation was staring at Luna without end. She heard all that was said but barely paid any mind. What was Luna so worked up over? What happened to Luna when she was fighting Sombra while she was unconscious. These questions nagged her every thought.
"Okay Sombra, what is it you want?" Twilight asked begrudgingly. "I doubt you found a way to message us just to gloat."
"Oh, forgive my absent mindedness princess. I didn't mean to waste your precious time."
"Sombra, you..." Twilight began to before she was interrupted by a voice behind her.
"Why?" This voice said in a low, foreboding tone. The voice belonged to a mare. Her head pointed down, face obscured by her mane.
"What was that little pony? The adults are talking so if you have something you want to say you'll need to spe..."
"WHY! WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THIS! WHY DID YOU KILL MY FAMILY!" Sombra was cut off as the mare looked up, tears strewn across her face as she sent a look of hate at the King of Shadows and revealed herself as Pinkie.
"WHY DID YOU...why did you...why?" Pinkie slowly lost the look of anger that had been plastered on her face and slowly allowed more tears to cascade from her eyes and began to look at the floor.
Sombra hesitated for a moment, unprepared for such unbridled hostility. He cleared his throat and looked at the pink mare.
"Well isn't that something. Aren't you the one with the bubbly expression all the time? I didn't think you had that kind of rage in you." Sombra said, not cocky and sarcastic, but low and somber.
Pinkie one again looked back up from the ground and glared at Sombra again.
"Stop Sombra! Stop with the games, stop with the hazing! I asked you a question and you WILL answer me, or Celestia have mercy on your soul! WHY DID YOU KILL MY PARENTS! WHY DID YOU KILL MY SISTERS!"
Sombra continued his more formal tone, his face turning to a much more serious expression.
"You are under false impressions child. I did not kill any singular pony with any malicious intent or hate directed at them. I released my beasts into the world and they did what they were made to do."
"And what would that be?" Twilight, Pinkie unable to respond as she was choking up with tears and anger, responded.
"Bring this world to the brink of ruin and fill Equestria and its ponies with the same despair I feel."
Silence built up through out the room as the two groups stared at each other. Celestia had gotten out of her train of thought, yet still had the nagging question pandering her in the back of her head.
"You ponies are a disease. You have infected this world and I've provided a cure. And I will not stop until everypony, especially all of you have been eradicated."
"Why Sombra? Why do you hate my ponies so much?" Celestia asked, causing Sombra, for the first time, to scowl with a glare of anger.
"You Celestia, OF ALL PONIES, should not be asking me that! You call yourself a noble leader? You think your ponies deserve your love? Ha! Your ponies know nothing! Neither do your ignorant sister, nor your naïve pupil! What you did to me, what you had that dragon do to me, what THOSE ponies did to me will NEVER be forgiven! And despite all I've been through, you Celestia are the one who yields the blame for this. No, EVERYTHING YOU DID TO ME is what sealed your kingdoms fate! Rot in Tartarus, Celestia! Your lies have brought about your end!"
Sombra turned his back to the ponies, implying he was taking his leave. Twilight took notice and stepped forward.
"Wait, Sombra!"
Sombra stopped and half-turned his head back to the pony, implying he was listening.
"How did you do this? Use the map like this. How did you contact us?
The ponies awaited his answer, Twilights breath loud and heavy and Pinkie's small sobs in the background adding to the already present tension.
"Hmph. Every crystal shares the same reflection." And with that Sombra's image disappeared in a flash of light.
"No! Get back here! You will pay for what you did!" Pinkie yelled running at the map. Rainbow and AJ ran to her and held her back.
Twilight wouldn't stop staring at where Sombra's image last stood, eyes unmoving. Celestia turned to see her sister staring at the ground, contemplating. Rarity and Fluttershy stood motionless at the back of the group. Spike and the doctor stood beside them, eyes widened at the events that had just took place. Spike, in particular, was replaying what Sombra had just said in his head. And throughout all of this, the only sound that could be heard was Pinkie's cries.
"No! Let me go! I'll make him pay for what he did to Maud! Let me go! SOMBRAAAAAAAAA!
An hour had passed since the group had talked to Sombra. Dr. Blue Cross had gone to tell the mayor of what was happening, after having a quick conversation with AJ. Pinkie had passed out and was sleeping in one of the castle's many guest rooms. Rarity and Fluttershy stood outside her room as Pinkie got the rest she so desperately needed. Celestia and Luna were in their own respective rooms, processing what had happened as well. Meanwhile, Twilight sent Spike to get tea for the princesses, as well as Fluttershy and Rarity. Twilight herself was with Rainbow Dash and Applejack in her living room, also trying to unwind and process what had happened.
"Well that certainly was...interesting." Rainbow said, attempting to end the mind numbing silence. It was fruitless, as both AJ and Twilight sat across from each other, each delving into their own subconscious in an attempt to understand what was happening. Applejack thought back to what Sombra had said to her.
"Strange, you don't look any different. I wasn't expecting you to look exactly like him but, I thought there would be something at least."
Applejack had no idea what Sombra was talking about. Why would she look any different? He wasn't referring to the scar, as he noticed and even mentioned its presence. But if he didn't mean the scar, what was he talking about. His presence was a short one. He didn't say or reveal much to the group that they didn't already know. Did he appear just to gloat? To see the look on their faces? Or was their something else he had to gain. Twilight was thinking the same thing. It didn't make any logical sense for him to just show himself. Sombra was a very calculating pony, he wouldn't give up the element of surprise just to gloat. Their were two things that Sombra mention that especially irked her. The first thing, ironically was his last words. "Every crystal shares the same reflection." What could he possibly mean by that" He must have known somehow that the map was made of a crystal-like material. Why would he just appear and tell us how doomed they were? It certainly wasn't a very smart strategic move, as he made his presence known to his greatest enemies. He did seem very interested in Luna, but that was beyond her. Whatever happened 1000 years ago was obviously past Twilight's business and she should let Celestia and Luna talk about it themselves. So that left Twilight at a stand still. She didn't know why Sombra appeared, what his words meant, or how he was able to contact them, plus still being very concerned for Pinkie.
She was obviously putting on a brave face. That was another thing alluding Twilight at the moment.
Why was Pinkie trying to hold back all her tears?
She obviously let them flow upon her realization of what happened and when she confronted Sombra, but before she retreated to the guest bedroom, after calming down from when Sombra appeared, she hadn't cried, sobbed or said anything at all.
She was frighteningly silent, and Twilight didn't know why. She would've expected her, more than anypony, to be the most emotional. Of course, mourning the death of loved ones is very expected and appropriate emotionalism. But Pinkie was as quiet as a calm Ponyville night.
Speaking of which, considering the situation, it was eerily silent. She could hear a howl or growl coming from outside the barrier now and then, which she responded to by a jerk of her ears in a combination of shock and fear. She decided to cease her questions and retire to stare out her window. For what seemed like hours she just gazed outside and directed her attention at the moon. She did this until Rainbow's voice called her from her endless gazing.
Rainbow and Applejack turned to each other with concerned looks, then quickly turned back to Twilight.
"Are you sure you're okay sugarcube?"
"Yeah, I'm fine Applejack. Just worried about Pinkie."
"Pinkie will be fine." Rainbow assured Twilight. "She's tough. All she needs is a little time to get things straightened out in her head."
"I guess you're probably right. I just cant shake the feeling that she's holding something in from us."
Applejack dawned a look of deep thought and replied.
"Twilight, Pinkie is one of the most outgoing and honest ponies I've met, and that says a lot coming from me. If she had something on her mind, she'd tell us."
"But after everything she lost, don't you think its a little strange she hasn't said anything to any of us?" Twilight insisted, the concern visible on her face.
AJ and Rainbow remained silent, not knowing what to say. Applejack in particular, had something she did want to ask the two ponies in front of her, especially Twilight. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and spoke up.
"Hey, uh, girls." She began, gaining Twilight and Rainbow's attention.
"About what Sombra said. You girls...don't know anything about that do you?"
Both Rainbow and Twilight jumped at the question. There faces looked worried, despite their best efforts to hide it. Rainbow looked at Twilight, causing in Twilight to look back, expressing to Rainbow through her facial expression that she had no idea what to tell her. She knew what Applejack was referring to, anypony would. When AJ was being rushed to the hospital, she began to change. Her fur, her mane, even her ears and teeth all underwent some kind of metamorphosis. But how could she tell Applejack? She's gone through enough the past day already. What good would telling her do. All it would do was add weight to Applejack's already heavy burden.
Twilight was smart. She normally would know what to say in situations like these to avoid telling AJ the truth. Despite the fact she was the Element of Honesty, she wasn't immune from being lied to. All Twilight had to do was tell her she had no idea what Sombra was talking about or that nothing changed in her appearance. But instead, she stuttered, panicked, and told the most obvious lie she could have possibly told.
"Wh-what did Sombra say?" her voice was weak and unconfident, gaining an immediate reaction from AJ.
Applejack's face looked visibly hurt. She stared at Twilight, eyes widened at Twilight's attempt to lie to her. She then dawned a look of rage. Everyone took notice to Sombra's comment and Twilight was no different
"Whadd'ya mean 'what did he say'?! We all know what he said! About me looking different! What do you know about that?!"
Twilight looked terrified as Applejack walked toward her, her face filled with anger.
"I-I.."
"TWILIGHT!" Applejack yelled.
Rainbow Dash ran over to stand in between Twilight and AJ. She locked her eyes with AJ and spoke calmly.
"After you collapsed from the pain," Dash began. "you started to...change." She said, trying to remain calm
Applejack stepped back from Rainbow, shock filling her face. She looked at Rainbow with widened eyes.
"Whadd'ya mean...change?" she said eerily.
"I..." Rainbow began, only for Twilight to step in front of her. Applejack already knew now, there was no point in holding back.
"When we were taking you to the hospital, your body underwent some kind of transformation. Your fur started to lose its color, your teeth sharpened, your ears became pointed, and your mane became all scruffy and mangled. I'm not positive but, I think it was a kind of infection from the wolf creature, because...it kinda looked like you were...turning into some kind of ...wolf pony." Twilight eased her way through the explanation so she didn't freak out AJ. This was to no avail as AJ was aimlessly staring around the room, ears ringing and vision fading. She almost collapsed on the floor before Rainbow and Twilight hold her by her front legs.
"AJ, are you okay?! AJ, can you hear me!" Dash yelled. AJ shook her head quickly and looked up and turned to Dash.
"Yeah...yeah I'm fine Dash." she said, a little distant.
"Oh thank goodness, I thought you might have..." Twilight was cut off as AJ jerked her leg out of Twilight's grasp and glared at her, anger and dissapointment filling her eyes.
"Don't touch me." she said coldly.
"A-Applejack?" Twilight said, worried and confused.
Suddenly, Rarity and Fluttershy ran into the room looking a little worried.
"We heard Rainbow Dash's screams. Is everypony..." Rarity stopped and just stared at Applejack and Twilight, the former sending death stares into the latter.
"How could ya keep that from me? How could ya possibly think that I didn't deserve to know?" AJ's voice was getting significantly louder, however still not yelling yet.
"I..I tho..." she tried to speak, choking on her own emotions.
"Talk!" Applejack yelled.
"I didn't want to tell you because you've been through so much!" Twilight yelled. The room was almost silent, the only noise being Twilight's heavy breathing after raising her voice. She then began to explain herself.
"You...you have been through so much in these past hours. All day, it's been nothing but pain for all of us and other than Pinkie..." she paused. Applejack tilting her head down and to the left in sad recollection. Rainbow closed her eyes and took a breath while Fluttershy and Rarity looked somber in the doorway.
"...you've received the most pain. You almost died Applejack. You...you almost *sob* you.." Twilight began to tear up. Applejack looked back up at Twilight. After slightly regaining her composure, she continued.
"I just thought *sniff* that you didn't need the burden of...this adding to your stress. I just wanted you to see your family and...feel unburdened."
Applejack nodded a little before looking up at Twilight, her expression unchanged. Twilight was looking at the ground, looking very clearly guilty.
"When were you gonna to tell me?"
"Huh?" Twilight looked up to see the face of her friend who, while not downright glaring, looked upset.
"You heard me, when were you gonna to tell me?" Her face became more hardened, a harsh gaze forming.
"You clearly weren't gonna tell me now. So when. When was this extremely important matter gonna be talked about? Tomorrow? Next week? Next month? When something actually happens to me? When this kills me? When Twilight!"
Applejack was yelling now, her face filled with rage. Twilight just stared in awe. The words tried to leave her mouth, but remained imprisoned by fear and shock.
"I could forgive you if you told me now, but after all this, after what the doc said, you still feel the need to lie and hide this from me?" AJ questioned, walking toward Twilight slowly as she spoke. Twilight just chocked on her words, only able to sadly look at Applejack as she walked closer.
"This isn't something you can just brush off Twilight! You didn't know if what happened to me was a one time thing! What if I was with my family, Twilight! What if something happened! I would be clueless! But no, it was easier to just not tell me and hope, hope, nothing happens.
Twilight was in despair, the words just fell out of her mouth lifelessly like dying leaf from a tree.
"Bu-but the doctor said...he said you were fine."
"You didn't know that until an hour ago! You let me be around my family without knowing what was wrong what was wrong with me! Even if you did tell now that doesn't change the fact you put my family in danger!"
"I didn't..."
"I talked with the doctor, Twilight! He said that he was given instructions, by you, to let me go and see my family if I showed signs of recovery! He was told that you wanted him to let me go and let YOU tell me what was wrong, obviously wanting to keep this hidden from me! He only showed up because he wanted to tell us that that shadow magic or whatever was in me!"
Twilight looked at the ground, shame coating her expression.
"But you didn't tell me nothin! You let the doctor do all the heavy lifting for you and let it all pass by!"
"Applejack, no, I was going to tell you but"
"But nothing!" She yelled "I asked not five minutes ago if you knew anything about what Sombra said and you lied to me! If you weren't gonna tell me then, when I could try and process this, you weren't gonna tell me ever!"
"I..." Twilight didn't know what to say. She just hung her head in shame.
"I can't believe you Twilight. I told you we all need to trust each other. How am I supposed to trust somepony who lies about something this important! How, Twilight?"
"..."
"I thought you were the Princess of Friendship. I guess honesty doesn't fit into your whole friendship business."
One could almost hear Twilight's heart breaking in her chest. Her face was the definition of heartbroken as tears leaked from her eyes.
"Appejack I...I"
"Don't talk to me." Applejack said somberly, turning her head away from her previously close friend.
Twilight, crushed, turned and ran out of the room, head down and tears trailing behind her. She ran in between Rarity and Fluttershy who were too shocked to stop her. All the ponies in the room turned to Applejack, who was still facing away from the door, only seeing Rainbow Dash to her left. She walked right beside her and began to speak.
"AJ, are you ok?"
"*sigh*, not really."
Applejack then turned around walked right past the two ponies at the doorway without even glancing at them. As she was walking out she only murmured something under her breath before resigning to her room.
"Why would you lie to me Twilight."
A Little After Celestia and Luna Arrived
"Oh, Hello again, Princess. What can I do for you?"
"Its good to see you again Dr...."
"Blue Cross, Dr. Blue Cross Your Highness."
"Please, no formalities. You saved one of my friend's life after all."
"I was just doing what they taught me in med school. I don't deserve any more praise than any other doctor in Equestria."
"You saved one of the Elements of Harmony with almost no information of what kind of magic was used at a time of panic and stress. I'm not sure how many doctors can do that."
"I just did what I had to do. Worrying about the lack of information wouldn't do much to help Miss Applejack."
"I suppose not."
"..."
"..."
"Is there anything I can help you with Princess?"
"Yes...I just wanted to...see how Applejack is doing. She...she's OK right?"
"Yes, she is just resting after the surgery. We have extracted the magic from her system and are working on discovering its properties."
"*sigh* What a relief. Thank you. Thank you so much."
"You are very welcome Princess."
"So...I suppose you can't tell me what was happening to her can you?"
"I'm sorry Princess, but doctor-patient confidentiality seals my lips...for now. Of course, considering the nature of whats happening, we need all the information we can gather on what is going on and right now, what happened to Miss Applejack might be our best lead to do so. I'll tell you all about this after we finish our tests, but until then, she is a normal patient. So until she wakes up, you'll have to wait to hear it from her after I inform her what happened while she was unconscious. I can bring the findings from the tests we are doing on the magic used to do this to your castle after we finish."
"...That was what I really wanted to talk to you about doctor."
"Hm?"
"When Applejack wakes up, if she is feeling alright and has gotten enough rest, please just send her home to her family. She needs to be with them right now. And I think they need her too."
"With all due respect Princess, I can't just let her leave without telling her what happened. She was exposed to a dangerous, unknown kind of magic. Her body was changing rapidly. She needs...she deserves to know. We don't even know if all the negative effect of this magic are gone."
"I know, but...I need to tell her what happened myself. I swear that after she spends time with her family, I'll tell her everything. Just, please don't mention anything about her transformation to her. She...she's been through to much."
"Princess, I can't just..."
"Please Doctor. I have to do it myself. I'm not asking you as a princess, I'm asking as a pony. Please."
"..........OK. I'll tell her to go home and see her family after she wakes up, and that she should go to your castle to hear about what happened. She should wake up before we finish our tests on the magic so there isn't much more we can tell her besides the operation anyway. But after you tell her all you know, I'll make my way to the castle to deliver the results form the tests and to tell her what we found during her operation."
"Thank you Dr. Blue Cross. I really appreciate this."
"You're walking down a narrow path Princess. I recommend telling her this news as soon as possible. You don't want her finding all this out by herself."
"Don't worry doctor, I'll tell her as soon as she's done seeing her family."
"I have a bad feeling about all of this."
"I'm sorry, Applejack, but I'm doing this for you."
Twilight was in her room her bed wet from tears. She recollected all she did and only cried harder realizing how wrong she was about lying to her friend. The doctor was right, she did deserve to know. But, just as the doctor warned, she caught on and found out herself. Twilight still wasn't exactly sure why she didn't tell her when she asked. Was it really because she thought it was best Applejack didn't know, or was it because Twilight was just too scared to tell her? Either way, Twilight still ended up angering her friend, making her even more stressed and upset than she already was.
"Why...why did I do this? Why can't I just be honest like Applejack? Why can't I be brave like Rainbow Dash? Why...why did I lie? I...I was just too afraid to tell her. Now...now everything is worse. Why do I have to mess everything up?" She was choking on her sadness and regret. She almost forgot the situation Ponyville and the rest of Equestria was in, upsetting Applejack the way she did clouding her mind.
"I...I don't deserve these wings. I don't deserve this castle. I don't deserve...all that I've gotten. Even after all these years, I still can't be a good friend. I haven't learned anything." She had thought she was becoming a good princess. She thought she had finally gained enough knowledge to spread friendship around the world with the map. "How am I supposed to spread friendship through Equestria when I can't even maintain friendship in my own circle of friends?"
Twilight kept crying, wondering if Applejack even wanted to see her again after what she hid from her. She tried to dry her tears and think of something else, but her conversation with Applejack had sealed itself in her head. She decided a walk around her empty, lifeless castle was the best way to clear her mind.
The castle was quiet. Of course, a massive castle with only two occupants living in it would be a very quiet atmosphere. However, Twilight's saddened mood made the already imposing silence even more unbearable. She walked the empty hallways, not expecting to see anything meaningful or of any real substance. She just needed something to counter to the tears and grief. Apparently, the simplicity of movement was her escape. The slow, monotonous motion got the gears in her mind, not to stop, but change direction. She just wanted to think about something other than her falling out with Applejack. She walked around her crystalline abode for what seemed like an eternity. She only stopped and realized where she was after a sound shattered the silence like a broken window.
It was crying.
A quiet sob that sounded like it was down the hall. Twilight, who was a little out of it, followed the noise to one of the many doors in the castle. Realizing where she was, she assessed the door as one of the many guest rooms. Beside this door were two other identical door. In front of the door directly to the right of the one right in front of her was a doormat. This particular doormat being purple with diamond shapes that match a certain mare's cutie mark along the edges and the word "Welcome" in the middle.
"Well this is undoubtedly Rarity's door." Twilight said quietly to herself. She included in her letter to her friends it would be best if they stayed at the castle for the next couple of days to plan out what they were going to do and set all of them up in guest rooms.
"I'm almost certain Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie's rooms were right besides each other. That's why Rarity and Fluttershy were making sure Pinkie was okay in her room.
"So if this is Rarity's room, then..." She put two and two together and realized it was Pinkie who was crying. While this seemed normal, Twilight remembered something Rarity told her about two hours ago.
"She was in her room sobbing for about five minutes before...before going silent. She just stopped crying and we haven't heard her sense. I hope she is okay in there, poor darling."
Twilight found this strange. She had just found out her parents were killed, along with her three sisters as well. Anypony would grieve for longer periods of time then five to ten minutes. She noticed this when Pinkie showed up at the castle too. It was only a few hours after making her realization and there she was, seeming only mildly upset. She said she was okay, but something was definitely wrong. Twilight, who had seemingly forgotten her previous problem to help her friend, walked to the door. The sobs, while getting louder as she got close, were rather quiet. Taking a deep breath, Twilight entered the room.
"Pinkie?" she asked sheepishly after opening the door and walking in. Pinkie was laying on her bed on top of the blankets, the side of her head connecting with the pillow, her eyes locked on a rectangular object in her hooves. Taking a good, quick glance, Twilight determined what it was almost immediately.
A framed photo of her with her family.
Pinkie, hearing Twilight, stopped her crying, sat up, and quickly stuffed the frame under her pillow, putting on a fake grin.
"Oh, hi Twilight. I'm just...napping." Pinkie said hesitantly.
"Are you...okay?"
"I'm...I'm fine. Just a little tired and upset. I'll be fine." Pinkie replied, turning on her side in bed.
"Pinkie, everypony is worried about you. You've been in here for almost three hours. You haven't eaten since our picnic, which was seven hours ago, and you haven't really talked to anypony since then. We...we just want to make sure you are alright." Twilight said, visibly upset. Pinkie turned to Twilight, eyes widened, glossed over with moisture as she looked at Twilight and how upset she seemed seeing her like this.
"You girls are worried abou...you.......Don't worry about silly old me. I'm...fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Pinkie said, very unconvincingly.
"Pinkie, you have been through so much today. We would understand if you were upset. It's natural to grieve. But you've...you've been keeping it in. You spent two hours in here, silent. Why? Especially after what happened."
Pinkie couldn't look Twilight in the eyes as she spoke about what happened. She struggled to keep the tears in, her eyes closed and visibly shook attempting to contain them.
"I'm fine Twilight. I'm...I'm the Element of Laughter. I...I don't get sad...I...I don't cry. I...I" Pinkie kept looking down, eyes closed, her voice getting more and more strained.
"Pinkie, everyone gets upset. You need to talk about what happened."
"I...I...I don't *sob* I'm....I...I can't do it anymore!" she yelled, tears cascaded from her eyes while she looked up and put her hooves around Twilight. Her crying echoed off the crystalline walls and filled Twilight's ears from every angle. Pinkie's tears dripped onto Twilight's mane and shoulder as they overflowed from the pink pony's eyes. Twilight, while surprised at first, held the embrace, patting her dear friends back.
"It's okay Pinkie, it's okay. Let it aaaaall out. It's *sob* okay. Everypony's *sniff* entitled to cry."
They sat there together for Celestia knows how long, crying in their embrace.
